#wooyoung series | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mingigoo · 9 months

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Midnight Kisses || j.wy || (m.) || Part Five || final

Part five ⇢ forever love

🍓 pairing ⇢ best friend! Wooyoung x single parent! (fem) reader x new flame! San

↳ your heart tells you what’s right, and what’s right is wooyoung. You finally realize your love for each other, and fall into many midnights together. You explain it all to Nabi, who seems to already know it all. You have that forever love not everyone gets to know. He’s your everything, and you are his world.

🍓genre ⇢ single parent au, bakery au, best friends to lovers, smut, fluff, slight angst

🍓 chapter warnings ⇢ MINORS DNI, smut, unprotected sex, fingering, oral sex (female receiving), slight breeding kink if you squint but wooyoung just loves y/n so much so think of it that way, (let me know if I missed anything!)

🍓series warnings/tags ⇢this story is 18+, minors dni, talk of death (I’m sorry seonghwa ) relationship trauma, parenting, unrequited love but not at the same time, pining, single parent, loss, learning to love again, wooyoung is a total sass queen, wooyoung as a babysitter/wannabe father, San is a gentleman, oral sex (female recieving), fingering, sex toys, wooyoung watches y/n play with herself, kissing, hair pulling

🍓word count ⇢ 5.4k

🍓total series word count ⇢ 27.7k

🍓 taglist ⇢ @atinywhore @ch0isa99ie @jjhmk @yukine-smx @roe-sinning @meowmeowminnie @yeritheloml @y00nzin0 @yesv01 @halesandy @shegotboreddsoo @kangyeosangelic @gayliljoong @sanshineeeeee @kodzukein @baguette-atiny @seokwoosmole @nyeatinyjunkie @juliettechokilo @pockyddalgi @justaqueerbufoin @hwaightme @likexaxdaydream @ssaboala @gtr-skyline-lover @miriamxsworld @leeknowsnothing @knucklesdeepmingi @naiify @yeoyeoland @arya9111 @mdibby @8tinytings @angelicyeo @wooyoungjpg @lonewolfjinji @asjkdk @charreddonuts @mangishii @yeoyeoland @pink-hwaberry @wooyoluvrr @maru-matt @pearltinyy (if I missed you please lmk!! bold = can’t tag)

Midnight kisses masterlist

Wooyoung was always fit to be a father.

You may not have known it before, but you should've seen the signs as he took care of that role for Nabi even before she was born.

Seonghwa parted from the world when you reached your seventh month of pregnancy, leaving you a mess of emotions even worse than before. Your chest ached, you even forgot how to cry at some point, leaving you staring blackly at the walls he painted in the nursery.

Wooyoung stood in the doorway of what is now Nabi’s bedroom, but then it was an empty room covered in plastic tarp and paint cans. The walls were a soft pink, courteous to Seonghwa’s excited choice the minute he found out if would be a little girl.

You sat on the floor, your eyes heavy from the tears you haven't cried. The walls were still streaky from the single coat he had done—he had said he would get to it after work that night.

The tarp ruffled from underneath Wooyoung’s feet as he approached.

You didn't turn around at the sound—you knew it was him.

“.....y/n,” he hummed from the doorframe, his hands behind his back and his words shaky. “You should eat something.”

You continued to stare at the walls, feeling too much to the point it was like nothing at all. You looked down at your belly, the only thing left of him other than the little things he had sitting around the home.

“He wasn't the best painter, huh?” you scoffed, looking over your shoulder to see him. His eyes were puffy as if he were holding back his tears, too. “He bugged me so much to paint this room. He was so excited for her.” Your voice shook at the last word, and you turned back around to stare at the wall once again.

Wooyoung didn't say a word. He stood there for a second or two, but inevitably made his way over to you, sitting right in front of you so now all you saw was him.

“Hey,” he spoke softly, reaching out to rest his hands on your shoulders. “Leave the streaks. I think it's pretty much avant-garde.”

You looked up into his eyes, and you can’t help but let out a little chuckle.

His hands slid down your arms, trying his best to comfort you. He looked down at your bump, his heart nearly breaking for you. At this moment, even if his heart stops beating, you and that baby of yours will be the thing that brings him back to life. He is not going anywhere, and you will be his reason.

And you, even if you didn't realize it then, you needed him more than anything in the world—and you always will.

—

“So, it's over?” San asked you, his eyebrows knitted together with confusion. “Just like that?”

You sat in front of him at your kitchen table, rubbing the back of your neck awkwardly. “I just….it’s my own fault. I’m sorry I dragged you into my life for a short time.”

He blinked at you, his gaze falling behind you to see Nabi playing with her building blocks on the living room floor. “I…well, okay. I guess I just wanted to make you happy.” he paused, eyes back on you. “I enjoyed spending time with both of you.”

You're eyes widened. “Oh, you did!” you cleared your throat, trying not to seem too crazy. “I mean, you were wonderful. Nabi has a hard time adjusting to new people, so please don't take it too personally. She’s only three, so….” you trailed off, fighting off the lump in your throat. You hated having these conversations and hated breaking people's hearts.

“I get it,” he nodded, his pretty eyes smiling along with his lips. “Thank you for letting me into your life, y/n.”

You smiled back at him, grateful that he was understanding. He will find someone for him someday, and you hoped it would be someone deserving of his kindness.

As if on cue, Wooyoung walked through the door without a warning, neither of you speaking about the other night since it happened. After you found out you had kissed even before Seonghwa, you both relived the moment, not going any farther since Nabi decided to cry for you mid-makeout. That left you both curled up together on the floor in her room and left you without conversation till now.

“Woo!” Nabi bellowed, her hair still messy from her sleepiness. She nearly sprinted to him as he took his shoes off at the door, not even realizing you had company. He swooped her up in one arm gracefully, planting a kiss on her forehead with all the love in the world.

“Hi, my little butterfly,” he gushed, pinching her cheek and spinning her around before looking up to see San. “Oh, I didn't know you had…company.”

You couldn't read the expression on his pretty face, but it was soon gone as he put all his attention back on the little one in his arms.

“Oh, girl, your hair is a mess!” he exclaimed across the room, setting your daughter down on the couch. “I gotta fix this.”

San watched the two banter like father and daughter, and an epiphany came to him at that moment. He smiled at them, and then at you.

“You know,” he tilted his head at you, genuinely picking apart your expression. “It was never going to be me, anyway. And that’s all right.”

You knew exactly what he meant before even thinking about it.

“Thank you, San,” you smiled at him. “For everything.”

He nodded, about to take his leave.

He got to the door, you trailing behind him.

Before he left, he looked over to Wooyoung. “Take care of them,” he spoke kindly, offering one last smile before he left, the door separating you from what could have been.

You stared at the door just like you stared at those walls all those years ago, your chest feeling heavy once more. You shut your eyes for a moment, knowing that San’s departure meant that your life was now all for wooyoung.

You turned back to face your home, seeing Wooyoung giggling as he tied up Nabi’s hair into little buns on the top of her head. She giggled just like him. Spoke just like him. Acted just like him.

You couldn't deny it anymore.

He was her dad, through and through. Seonghwa will always be her father, and he will never be forgotten, but wooyoung was here. He was breathing for you, for your daughter, for the world that revolved around you. The ring on your neck felt heavier than ever, and before you ran into Wooyoungs arms, you knew what you had to do.

“Can you watch her for a little while?” you asked him, and he looked up from his seat on the couch. “I have to go somewhere.”

He knew immediately from the look on your face that you were going to the grave. His hands paused on Nabi’s space buns. “Why….why don't we all go?”

You thought about saying no. About pushing him away once more, out of your mind, out of your thoughts, out of your life. But now, you saw the future more than you ever have. And he was in it, and will always be in it.

You nodded slowly.

“Okay, let’s go, then. All of us.”

—

His grave was neatly kept during all seasons. You couldn't leave it overgrown for one moment too long.

His plaque on the ground read his name, his age, his end of life. You bit your lip at the word ‘father,’ wishing he got to see her in his short lifetime.

You sat down on the grass, marigolds encasing his grave. Wooyoung held onto Nabi, her expression filled with confusion as they approached behind you.

“Hi, love,” you spoke, feeling odd that you weren't alone. It was always hard to come here, but you couldn't just stay silent, even if he wasn't here with you.

He wasn't in the ground, no, he was in the sky, the streams, the little butterflies that flew around you. He was in the waves and the rush of the wind. He was the smell of honey, of all things sweet, and was always, always, with you.

“Remember when you said that you wanted me to always be happy?” you let out a shaky breath. “It’s like you knew you were gonna leave me early. And… and I miss you. We miss you. I…” you sighed, fiddling with your ring. “And I fell again. Just like I fell for you.”

Wooyoung stood still, his breath caught in his throat at your words. Nabi was abnormally content in his arms, and she tried to fully understand what you were saying through that young mind of hers.

“I’m here to tell you that I will always have you in my heart,” you smiled, looking down at your necklace. “You will live within me. With all of us. With our daughter. And I opened my heart up just like you said. And he deserves to stay there with you, so I hope you approve, or I’ll give him the boot—”

“y/n,” wooyoung whispered softly from behind you. “What are you doing?”

You haven't discussed anything with him, or Nabi, or even in your own thoughts, but everything is crystal clear for you. You were going to love the hell out of Wooyoung. And he was going to love the hell out of you.

You ignored him from behind you and continued. “I….he loves Nabi. I love..I love him, even if I was afraid to fall. I love you, too, hwa. Live on with us, k?”

Your last words hit you as you spoke them, not realizing you left a few stray tears fall from your eyes. Wooyoung came by you now. He set down Nabi and knelt down to wipe away your love.

“Oh, cupcake,” he breathed, a huge smile plastered on his face. He looked so beautiful in front of you, his hair dancing in the wind. You wondered if seonghwa was the wind, flowing through all of you like he approved of your happiness. “I want to kiss you right now, but I feel like he’s watching me.”

Nabi perked up at the word kiss, plopping her body down on your lap, right between both of you. “Kiss? You want to kiss mommy?”

Wooyoung smiled brightly at your daughter, looking at you for a moment before looking back at her. “Always. She’s just so pretty, no wonder you are beautiful. Your mom gave you all her perfections,” Woo cooed, picking her up out of your lap so you all can stand up. “I love your mommy, too.” he had said, but he was looking at you as he spoke.

The walk back to the car was quiet, but the silence wasn't deafening. It was comforting, knowing that you were both falling down that cliff, but at least you had each other to hold on to as you crashed to the ground.

—

“Nabi, we gotta go,” you exclaimed from the door, needing to leave to take her to preschool. You were already running late after sleeping through your alarms. Thank god wooyoung barged through your home at the right time.

And when you turned around, you saw wooyoung holding onto her, and she clung to his neck with an aggressive shake of the head. “No!” she cried out, hiding her face in his shoulder.

You looked at him, tilting your head in aggravation.

He shrugged, holding onto her tightly with a little bounce. He gave you a face, eyebrows raised and a smile peeking through his lips. “She doesn't want to,” he hummed, chuckling as he swayed.

“Wooyoung,” you groaned, running a hand through your hair. “Please help, she listens to you better than me.”

His gaze lingered on you for a moment too long before he spoke softly to Nabi. “come on, pretty girl. I’ll let you put makeup on me tonight if we leave for school, how about that?”

She pulled away from his shoulder, her eyes curious. “Lipstick too?” she mumbled, tapping his lips cutely.

“Lipstick, of course.” he smiled.

And just when you thought you were controlling your emotions well, you wanted to cry at them in front of you. You held back, though, and wooyoung followed you out of the apartment with a huge smile on that gorgeous face of his.

After you dropped her off, you sat in the car with wooyoung, debating on leaning over and kissing him as your life depended on it. You haven't exactly spoken about what your future would be, but you never did get to have that one time of fun with him. You now know that you wanted many more times than just one, but if that's all you can get for now, then you’ll dance with your hands tied in hopes of him freeing you forever.

You knew you needed him—and you wanted him more.

The minute he pulled into the parking spot in the dark, dreary parking garage, you both sat in silence for a moment or two. The radio played on in the background, filling the space with sound as you sat quietly.

He was the first one to speak. “I hope you know that I’m going to ruin you,” his voice was rough as if he were holding back forever, his eyes forward.

You squirmed in your seat, swallowing hard.

“....in what way?” you asked him, letting out a sharp breath as you looked over at him. He didn't look over at you, yet.

And when he finally met your eyes, you saw them tear you apart as if you were the last humans on earth.

“In every way.” he purred, and without warning, he gripped your face with his hands, pulling your lips to his.

He kissed you with everything in him, his tongue gliding against yours and the roof of your mouth. You took a second to react, but once you processed, you climbed over the center console to straddle him in the driver's seat, wrapping your arms around his neck in utter bliss.

He moaned into your mouth, breathed into you, took your breath away. His lips covered your lips, your cheeks, your neck, everywhere they can reach. You craved him more and more as he kissed you, your hands tearing into his soft hair.

“I’ll get rid of my place right now,” he muttered against your lips, inhaling sharply as you grinded against his hard-on. He hissed, gliding down the strap of your top swiftly. “Fuck, I’ll just live inside you, how about that? That sounds like a dream—”

“Shut up, shut up, fucking hell,” you groaned against his lips, biting and pulling his bottom lip as he smiled. “We…we can't do it in here. Let’s go up.”

“Yes, a hundred times yes,” he breathed, feeling it hit against your face. You opened the car door, tumbling out with your strap falling down your arm and your hair disheveled. You looked over at him, motionless in his seat.

“Why aren't you….” you trailed off, looking down and widening your eyes. “Ah…”

He smirked at you, fixing his hair quickly as he waited for his erection to go down. “You did this to me, cupcake,” he spoke lustfully, and your chest tightened as he stared at you with those dreamy eyes.

You looked away shyly, knowing that this was going to be your first real time with him. Even though you’ve slept with others, this time felt like nothing else. You just stood there, laughing at him, him laughing at you, you both laughing at how you ended up. Eventually, he jumped out of the car and locked the doors, and you made it up to your apartment in time before he ripped off your shirt as soon as you shut the door.

“Jeez, you couldn't wait a minute, huh?” you joked as he unclipped your bra and tossed it across the room, his lips already on your neck.

He grunted in response, causing you to fall right into his arms.

You nearly gasped for air as he took your breath away, clawing at his back, fighting for air as you drowned in his attention. He whispered against the skin of your shoulder as he kissed you, telling you things you'd never expected would ever come out of his mouth.

“I swear to god,” he moaned against your skin, pushing your back up against the door with force. Your back arched as his hot breath hit your bare skin, his hands finding their way up to grasp your breast. You held in a squeal, tossing your head back as his other hand slipped past your waistband. “I’ve been waiting for this forever.”

You smiled blissfully as his lips encased yours once more, his teeth clashing against yours in a grin. You've never felt this way for years—your body ached for it. He was now your addiction, and it will never only be one time with him. Who were you kidding? This was intoxicating. Arousing. Delicious. You could swallow him whole.

As his delicate fingers pushed past your underwear, you let out a groan the minute he touched you. He curled his fingers up, groaning himself when he felt how wet you were. “Fuck me, holy shit,” he murmured, his forehead slamming into yours as he shoved his fingers into you. He moved them rhythmically, gently, all at once. You wanted to cry out, but his lips muffled yours. He made love to your mouth, his kiss erupting new feelings you never knew you harbored. You bit his bottom lip, tugging it slightly as his hand fucked you, and at one point, it was just not enough.

“I can't take it anymore,” you ripped his hand out, causing him to back up slightly with worry. You smirked at his disarrayed look, feeling a sense of accomplishment. He looked so captivated, his hair a messy pile on top of his head and his ears bright red. His lips were painted pink from your gloss, as well as slightly swollen from your monstrous kisses. You blinked slowly, walking towards him until his back hit the edge of the kitchen island, his chest heaving as he tried to breathe.

“Your….god dammit,” he sucked in a breath, love dripping from his gaze. “Your boobs are fucking amazing.”

You looked into his eyes, watching the light in them twinkle underneath the dim overhead lighting. He was confused, but as you fit right into his arms, setting your hands on the hem of his shirt, he understood when you wanted.

He quickly tossed off his shirt, landing somewhere he couldn't care less about. He smirked into your mouth as you kissed him, in a hurry to take off his shorts as your hands glided down the plains of his chest. You felt the ripple of muscle underneath his soft skin, sighing comfortably while he gently tried to take off your shorts.

And then there you both were, clothes everywhere but on your bodies, chests pressed against each other, heartbeats aligned, destined. He kissed you like you were his entire world, cradling your face as if it were made of glass. You let all your walls drop for him, wrapping your legs around his waist as he lifted you up.

He walked to your room, dropping you gently against the duvet. You didn't get to make the bed earlier, and you flushed at how messy you left it. He watched you blush above you, his lean body hovering over yours.

“Hey,” he whispered, kissing your forehead with all the love in the world. “If you think that I care about a messy room, you got it wrong,” his hand reached out, brushing away the stray hairs blocking his view of your face. “I prefer to make messes, especially in the bedroom. Prepare for me to rock your world, cupcake.”

“God, Woo,” you winced at his cringy words, but without them, he wouldn't be himself. This wouldn't be…sex with him…without some sort of banter. You enjoyed it because it was him. You longed for his jokes, for his smile. You loved how he held you, and even as he was about to fuck you, he looked down at you like you were his entire universe.

He smiled at you, his hair framing his face perfectly. You flushed as he stared, feeling all the love you ever had for him rise up to the surface. His lips were shaped like they were made for yours, his eyes crinkled as he smiled. His nose was immaculate, his jawline cut from the gods. Everything, down to the little freckles on his face and the sparkle in his eye, made you want to love him forever. He was your forever.

You looked up at him as he spits on his hand, and you held your breath as he rubbed his fingers onto your core once more. You breathed in, inhaling his perfection. The world felt like it stopped moving as he lined up to enter you, and before he did, he spoke one more time.

“I hope you know that this is not only gonna happen once, I take that all back,” he leaned down to press a kiss to your forehead, and then to your nose. “For real, I plan to like, fuck you so much that your brain turns to mush.”

“Sounds delightful,” you chimed, almost breathlessly. “Now please shove that inside me before I shove you off the bed.”

He curled his lips up deviously. “Yes, mam.”

Slowly, he pushed himself into you, filling you up with his length with care. He watched you as you shut your eyes, your hands fisting the blanket underneath you. It felt like nothing else, as if you were on a cloud, far far away from the earth without gravity pulling you down. He pumped into you, starting off slow, cradling your head to his chest. You so desperately wanted to cry out his name, but breathing in his scent was enough of a high. He smelled like sweat and vanilla, just as you always loved about him. You heard him let out a moan as he sped up slightly, tossing his head back as he fucked your body for the first time.

For you, everything felt new. When his lips covered yours sloppily, you wrapped your legs around his hips, causing him to move faster with a grunt.

“Don't make me cum already, that’s just low,” he whispered in your ear, taking a bite of your lobe as if it were food. You hissed in pleasure as he licked your neck, moving against your body, in and out, smooth like he’s done it a million times.

Maybe he has, but that didn't matter to you. What mattered was that he was here, on top of you, making love to you, and only you.

“I love you, y/n,” he hummed against your lips, the chain around his neck dangling between you and him. The cold metal met your lips, kissing them just like he would, and he pressed his own against yours as he moved into you harder and harder. “I….think I always have.”

You took in a sharp breath at his confession. You knew it, but him saying it during an act of love made your heart swell with all your might.

“I love you, too, Wooyoung.”

Suddenly, he flipped you over on all fours, smoothly without pulling himself out of you. You gasped as he did it, and as he continued to fuck you, you arched your back as he hit a new spot.

“Say it again,” he murmured, his voice low as his hands tore into your hips. “My name, say it again.”

“Woo….wooyoung,” you cried out, his thrusts getting sharper and sharper. His hips backed against your ass, your face in the pillow to muffle your moans.

He let out a moan himself, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes tightly. “Oh my god, oh my god,” he whined, his grip on your hips tightening. “Fuck, fuck. I…oh my god. I love you. I love you so much. I don't care if I ruin our friendship at this point for fucks sake.”

You smiled into the pillowcase, his movements slowing down, and suddenly came to a stop. He pulled out of you, breathing heavily. “Flip around,” he demanded, straddling you.

You flipped over to face him, confused, but you didn't say anything. He took in a breath, his eyes meeting yours. “I’m gonna literally come so quick it's not even funny. I have to get you first or I’ll be super embarrassed.”

You grinned at his flush. His ears were still red as ever, his eyes hazy.

With one last look at your body, his mouth fit to your core like it was made for him. He ate you out with some sort of sorcery, you reached down to tug at his hair as you moaned. He slid his tongue inside you, dancing around you. He moaned against you, causing you to hiss sharply.

“Wooyoung, ah.” you breathed, looking down at him, catching you off guard as he was looking up at you from his position. That fucked you up, good.

He slid his fingers in while he sucked you dry, and right then, you felt your vision start to fade around the edges. You reached your climax with a rush, ears ringing and legs tightening around his head. He pulled back, wiping his lips with the back of his hand sexily, and then without warning, shoved his dick right back into you.

How could a man look so pretty doing something so sinful? You pressed the back of your head hard into the pillow, your hands grasping at his arms. He sucked on your breasts, cradling them with his palm while he pumped into you, biting your nipple like the little brat he was.

“If you don't tell me no,” he huffed, licking your nipple before looking up through his long, dark eyelashes. “I’ll come in you. I wouldn't mind a mini-me running around.”

You chuckled, not having a care in the world at the moment. You weren't sure if you were going to regret it, but it felt so nice, you wanted him to come inside you even though you knew the risks. You didn't have any common sense in your mind as you smiled, not telling him no.

“I’m gonna cum,” he hissed, eyebrows knitting together as his hips quickened. His breaths shallowed out as he reached his high, gripping onto your hand as he came. He emptied into you, and you felt the warmth envelope you. He collapsed on top of you, still inside you.

“Holy shit,” he said, his sweaty face in the crook of your neck. You felt the hotness of his breath as he spoke. “Best. sex. Ever.”

“Mhm,” you hummed joyfully, gliding your hand down his spine. “Why didn't we do this sooner?”

“Don't ask me,” he smugly said, pulling out of your embrace and out of you to lay next to you. “You were the one that didn't see my sexy ass.”

You sighed, turning to face him. He blinked slowly at you, like a cat in love. “So what are we, now?”

He scoffed, pressing a kiss to your lips. “Well, if anything, I will be the father of your future children. The grandfather of their children, the great grandfather of their children, the great-great grand—”

“Oh, shut your face,” you laughed, pushing your face into his chest. He wrapped his arm around you lazily, as if he was ready to sleep already at this time of day. “Seriously. Because if we do this thing, I don't know what I would do if we broke up. Or what….Nabi would do….”

“Cupcake, I promise I ain't going anywhere,” he breathed, nuzzling his head against yours. “I’ll grow old with you. I’ll definitely still be hot when I’m a grandpa, don't you think?”

You smiled, completely in love. “You would, of course.”

He gave you another kiss as if he’s kissed you all his life.

“I’ll be by your side,” he mumbled sweetly.

“For all the midnights we have left.”

—

Nabi sat on the couch, the buns wooyoung put in her hair earlier still intact. She looked between you and him as you stood in front of her.

“We have to tell you something, okay baby?” you hummed, leaning down to talk to her.

She blinked. “Okay.”

Wooyoung looked to you, and then back to Nabi. “I love your mommy.”

“I know that.” she babbled back.

“I love her like you love bananas.”

“That's hard.”

“Why?”

“I really really love bananananas.”

“That's not how you say it.”

“Yes it is, Mommy tells me I’m smart.”

“She must be on glue—”

“Okay, okay,” you sighed, kneeling down in front of Nabi. “listen. Mommy loves wooyoung very much, just like I love you,” you tried to explain, to which she smiled widely.

“Does Mommy want to kiss him?” she giggles, pointing at the man you've kissed almost a million times from the start of the day until now.

You nodded, careful with your words. “Yes, because we love each other.”

“I already know mommy loves daddy.”

Wooyoung choked on air.

“Holy shit—”

“Nabi,” you breathed, unsure of what to say. You looked to wooyoung, who was most definitely so happy she called him daddy, because, well, he raised her since she was born. He was a father to her.

“Your daddy went far away before you were born, remember?” you started. “And Wooyoung is also your dad. You have two.”

And with that, he looked over at you sharply, his eyes widening. “I’m what?”

“I know.” is all Nabi said, a huge smile on that cute face of hers. Seonghwa lives within that smile, and we will always be her father. However, Wooyoung deserves all he’s given her, and if he’s here for the long run, Nabi should be raised with a father figure.

“She already figured it out herself, baby,” he grinned at you, looking as happy as ever.

You smiled at him, unsure about the ache in your heart. You worried so much about telling Nabi, only for her to already know like the genius she is. You pinched her cheek with adoration, causing her to giggle in response.

The rest of the day felt like heaven. You did everything like you normally did—household chores, dinner, playtime—but this time, it felt complete. Wooyoung was always there, and you felt his true presence, as he played with your daughter, smiling with all the joy he could gather. He put her to bed for you, read her a story, and afterward, he sat back down with you on the couch. He laid his head down in your lap, and you ran your fingers through his hair.

“This is perfect,” he hummed from your lap, looking up at you. “I’m so glad I ruined everything.”

You scoffed. “You're such a schemer.”

“It’s my specialty.”

You paused, looking down at him as he looked up at you, your fingers gently caressing his cheekbone.

“Want to go to bed with me?” you whispered, so in love that it was starting to hurt your chest. You still hated him in ways best friends do, but best friends make the best lovers.

You followed him to your room, smiles ever-present on your lips. He made love to you again and again, careful not to wake his pride and joy in the other room. He dreamed of this, wished for this. You longed to feel this way once more.

It's the midnight kisses that you love the most. The way he looked at you—his eyes threatening you without words. He kisses you, you kiss him, and then you fall asleep in the comfort of his embrace.

Wooyoung, your love, your best friend. Your midnight love, your Sunday morning. He was your rainy day, your sunny day, and your forever, and ever, and ever.

End.

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darkphoenix07 · 7 months

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Elixir of 🕸️Death (J.W)

A vampire series by @darkphoenix07

Masterlist

Paring: Wooyoung x Reader

Genre: Dark Romance, Fantasy, Tragedy

Song suggestion 🎵 : Precious by Ateez

Warning ⚠️: Mentions of blood, Violence, Degradation, Death, Mention of suicide, Sympathy fuck, Blood sucking, Mention of death, Suicidal FL.

Synopsis: When the girl who doesn't have any will to live meets the demon whose only wish to slaughter humans.

"How will it help me if I drain your blood right now when I can use you anyway I want to?"

- Jung Wooyoung

Chapter 1

🍷"To the people who craves comfort and a single reason to keep themselves alive" 🍷

"How can I care about omens

If you are the worst one?

How can I think about death

When you will be the cause?"

Your lips start melting inside his once he starts kissing you on his own bed. You thought it was going to be an usual mad sex like normal strangers but there is something different in his touches. Specially the way he is holding your on wrist by his hand and pinning another above your head. There is a delicacy when he is nipping on your bottom lips and rubbing his nose on yours.

Your heart starts feeling heavy by the way he is kissing you, holding you inward.

"Suck my blood," you tell him but he sighs against your neck stopping his endless kisses.

"Last time I almost kill you. I don't want you dead yet," he tells you starting to kiss you again but you hiss.

"Just bite me, please."

"If you have a fetish for bitting then you'll have to go to a human to satisfy you because I can't bite you without my fangs digging inside you," his eyes glowed in anger and you feel frustrated not because he is not listening to you but his soft touches aren't the ones you expected.

"Why are you so scared to bite me then? I know you don't care if that kills me," your words make him pin your both hands above you as he cages you beneath him.

"Because I have no wish to do so. Let me do as I am doing," he says and waits for your reaction.

You are stunned, speechless by what he said.

"I don't like how you are doing it."

"Your body is not letting me in yet, how else should I treat you then? You are a lady after all. I can't just start by thrusting ins-"

You pull yourself up and kiss him bitting his bottom lip making him fall on you while his body melts with yours. You release all the tension you have in your muscles as he kisses you. He stops and moves your body around making you lay on your chest.

"I shouldn't have tied them up," he says and you chuckle hearing him as he starts untying the ribbons.

As your back becomes bare in front of him, he slowly touches you with his knuckles. His cold touch starts from your neck and reaches right above your hip. You squirm grabbing the sheets under you as he keeps making your body awake and comfortable to his touch.

It wrecks you thinking how a demon is pleasing you better than any other men you've slept with. They were humans but they treated you like an animal and satisfied themselves.

Whereas, he is satisfying you first, making you drink some comfort and feeding your soul not only your body.

As his hands clasp your shoulder, he makes you sit in front of him slowly dropping the dress from your shoulder to your waist. He kisses on the wet wound he gave you when he bit you.

It heals a part of you, you never thought was needed.

"Drink my blood," he demands and you look above yourself to face him.

Your shoulder is nothing compared to his which causes you to hide inside his body.

He gently touches your chin making you lean on his shoulder, "It will heal the wound I've given you."

"Drink mine first and I'll drink yours," you don't know why your voice sounds so soft when you spoke.

"Deal," he says moving you around and making you sit on his lap crossing your legs around him while your dress is still on your waist.

You didn't have any inner on, you are simply bare now where you were afraid of him taking advantage of you some hours ago. It's tragic and also surprising.

Maybe you are just vulnerable to comfort.

You feel his bulge against you when he starts kissing your neck moving your hair.

You start grinding against him while he clasp your hair inside his grip and keeps leaving soft bites on your neck.

When he nuzzles inside the crook of your neck, you hear him whisper, "Y/n, I might end up draining you."

"Is it a warning?" You ruffle his hair from the neck side pressing him against your neck, "Or a gift?"

"I'll just make it hurt so bad," he sounds like he is scaring you but you don't feel scared when he says.

He pulls the bandage on your neck and it hurts you making you grab him against you tightly.

"You can still deny," he says gulping as he watches the two holes he created.

He doesn't know why he feels this uncomfort in his chest but he is also dying from hunger. The monster inside him wants to drink the last drop of your blood but some lost part of him wants to stop.

"I don't want to. You said your blood will heal me," you tell him starting to grind again which wets the dress you are wearing.

"I'll make you regret it," he says and moves you away from him pulling your hair while his other hand supports you wrapped around your back.

He inserts his fangs on the start of your right breast making you dig your nails inside his shoulder. It hurts you more than it hurt your neck because of how soft your skin is there. It causes tears rolling down from your eyes and your breath hitches while he sucks your blood and you feel it all inside your body.

Digging your nails doesn't feel enough because of how much it hurts. Your body feels light and your fingers stop helping you endure the pain.

You fall on the bed while he is still above you sucking your blood.

"Oh God!" A plea leaves from your mouth but you don't want him to stop.

He has become a real monster now that he has gotten some blood on his lips. It washes over his head and he keep drinking until you scream not being able to take it anymore, "STOP!"

He barely pulls himself up and you see your blood dripping from his mouth while he smirks staring at you.

He licks away the last drop of blood and pulls you dress away abandoning it on the floor.

"Open your mouth, you are fucking bleeding," he urges but you don't.

"Fucking open your mouth. You told me you'll do so," he looks genuinely worried to you which concerns you.

"Damn you,Y/n!" he presses your cheeks with hand and bites his wrist then presses his blood dripping wrist on your mouth.

You try to spit his blood out from your mouth but his hard press makes you drink it making you want to gag.

You start coughing realizing how bad it tastes.

"Don't you dare spit it," he says helping you to sit down but you keep coughing endlessly. You forget about how bare you are in front of him, you forget about the purpose of coming here, you forget why you made the deal, you forget about everything that is around you without him shouting at you with concern.

You don't understand the cause and you don't know when you have stopped coughing.

"Thank God," his voice and his eyes on your neck makes you realize that your pain is gone, the scars he gave you are gone. Some drop of blood is left on you nothing else.

You don't know why your eyes don't leave him. You just keep staring at his eyes wondering how they would look if he was a human. Maybe dark brown eye color would suit him best.

"What are you staring at?"

He finally asks you and you smile.

"Your scary monstrous act is gone," you tell him and he makes an annoyed face.

"You haven't seen me eating human yet which is why your courage sounds concerning," he says and pick up the duvet from the bed to wrap around you but you hold his hands still looking into his eyes.

"Your blood grossed," you whisper and he looks at you.

His eyes look bright red for some reason and they dims again when he grabs your chin, "Do you still want to see the monster I am after how I have hurt you?"

The fear of him tearing apart is long gone from the moment you hear concern in his voice.

"That wasn't the part of our deal," you climb on his lap and wrap your legs around him once again.

When you start to unbutton his shirt, he looks down to your face watching you carefully undressing him.

When you are on the last button your head aches and you start to fall behind but he immediately captures you inside his arm,"You don't have to fill the deal now."

"I am scared, it's not about the deal anymore," and you unbutton the last one removing his shirt from his chest.

The view of his abs, his chest flashing in front of you triggers you to grope his neck kissing him. He tastes you with the same amount of hunger and leaves you breathless.

It is definite that he pulls you closer and your wetness hits his pelvis making both of you grown in pleasure. It's just the beginning of a storm yet it's too suitable.

His kisses become restless when he reaches on your chest. Your soft breasts feel like cotton candy against his lips. It does something to you that he starts leaving soft bites there, kissing you like a monster time by time.

Your head hits the headboard not being able to contain so much pleasure from his lips.

He is cold yet, he feels so warm against you.

"Please," you moan and his eyes fall on yours while the tip of his tongue is on your nipple making circles.

He removes on of his hands from your back and you feel it reaching your pelvis.

"Who are you?" He softly asks you and you feel his index and middle fingers rubbing you slowly avoiding your clit. You have soaked his fingers and it embarrasses you quite much.

"Fuck, this feels-ah" you moan sounds like a mumble against your lips when you feel his fingers inside you.

"Good?" He asks you curling his fingers inside you stretching your walls. It leaves a shock inside your body and you starts squirming when he keeps repeating this.

He is so fast and it is confusing your body feeling so much at once.

"Yes, yes...keep go-oh God," your eyes roll from his abuse and your body becomes a shaky mess getting so much pleasure at once.

He rubs your clit with his thumb while his fingers are still inside you and it leaves deeper shiver inside you making your body create a wave.

He keeps inserting his fingers knowing well that you just came on his fingers.

You grab his wrist and remove it from your core.

It gave him enough information for which he makes you sit on the bed while you lean on a pillow supporting on the headboard. Your body feels weak but you can't care less about it.

His eyes never leaves yours when he takes his pants off and crawls in front of you to come closer. It aches your pelvic floor but you welcome him giving your legs on his palm so he can make them wrap around him again.

You don't know why you are jumping into this hell but this is the only thing that is keeping you together.

He pulls you a little too hard keeping you into pieces and you feel his cock stretching you out all together.

Your breathing starts becoming irregular when he starts moving. His whole cock is inside you without any warnings and you only hear the cracking sound of the bed and the slapping sound of your skins.

It's madness, your inner self tells you.

But you keep looking into his eyes while he keeps going back and forth. Tears keep flowing from your eyes making your breath heavy but you give no reaction for him to stop and he doesn't until he makes you come. When it's his time, he removes himself from you and taint the bedsheets with his essence.

Maybe it took half an hour but he never left your eyes. His eyes is glowing the brightest now that you have made him come and for some reason it makes you proud of yourself.

You just have sex with a demon who slaughter everyone but refused to do it to you. Why does it leave you lonely again?

Sorry for being late <3

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wooyoungmybelovedhusband · 1 year

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𝓗𝓲𝓼 𝓑𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓓𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓻𝓮 [𝓙𝓦𝓨] 𝓟𝓽. 3

♡ Pairing : MafiaBoss!Jung Wooyoung x F!Reader

♡ Summary : He told you not to face his demons, but what he didn't know is that you knew his demons better than he laid eyes on them.

♡ Warnings : Angst, Wooyoung has serious anger issues, protective!woo, woo isnt really an asshole later on, Woo really isn't much of an asshole in this, mentions of other group members, reader is too good for her own good, a very soft reader, Suggestive themes at the end, Rough make-out session.

♡ Disclaimer : I strictly do not support this kind of behavior and that this is a fic, so read it as a fic. All the characters in this fic may be extremely cruel but do know this doesn't represent any characteristic of the real life people and that this is just a fic written by me.

♡ Taglist : @azriel-owns-my-heart @taehyungisminee @toxicccred @cherryxsang @atinyreads @yvyvluvr @michel-angelhoe @ate-ez @kbitties [Join the Taglist : Here]

♡ Aera's Note : Feedback on this is one is greatly appreciated!!

You were yet again, forced to join one of these fanciest clubs. Wooyoung had gotten you to dress yourself in the most tight fitting long white silk dress. Your hands were decorated with lacy white gloves and your hair was curled perfectly above your shoulder making you look seductive and innocent as ever. Your eyes showed no emotion just like your body didn't react anymore like before to his lingering touches. You had come to get yourself to love those trailing touches and kisses which were imprinted on your body. The long slit of your dress exposed your bare thigh for everyone.

You were sat next to Wooyoung when an unfamiliar guy entered the room. You noticed the instant shift in Wooyoung's gaze and the way his figure turned uncomfortable from his presence. The guy walked up to you, his eyes meeting Wooyoung's in a dark gaze and his lips instantly curl up in a smirk from noticing the change in his behavior. "Jung Wooyoung, didn't expect to see you here." Wooyoung's jaw clenches slightly, "Same goes to you too, Jung Yoon-Oh. It's been a while, isn't it?" It was now time for Jaehyun to clench his jaw, "Jaehyun. It's Jung Jaehyun for you."

Wooyoung's grins in satisfaction, only for it to be cut short when Jaehyun's eyes travelled to Y/n. "And Who is this pretty gir-" Jaehyun's voice dies down in his throat when his eyes glances over her collarbone to find Wooyoung's initials, 'JWY' inked onto her soft skin. Wooyoung's gaze instantly darkens again, but Jaehyun didn't dare question whatever he witnessed. He clears his throat before regaining his composure and moving his eyes back to Wooyoung. "I need to speak to you about something."

Wooyoung takes a deep breath, "I have nothing to speak about with you, Brother." He spats out, his tone laced with venom and hate. "It's about our father, and-" "We'll talk about this later. Alone." Jaehyun hesitantly gives him a nod, before going away from his brother. His eyes soften when he is completely out of Wooyoung's sight, his heart aches to see his younger brother be so heartless. The confined look on the girl's face made him realise how heartless his brother had turned out to be, it made him realise what a monster they had turned him into.

Wooyoung knocked on Seonghwa's office door, not caring if he heard a 'come in', he barged through the door making Seonghwa's attention swiftly switch to him. It had been about two months since their last fight, needless to say, Seonghwa certainly was still not settled with Wooyoung's actions."I don't want to talk to-" "I met Jaehyun hyung, today." Wooyoung spoke, walking towards the big white couch. "Wait, what?" "You heard me, hyung." Seonghwa quickly paced towards him, "What did he say now?" Wooyoung takes a deep breath before answering Seonghwa. "He wants to talk about our father, and his condition."

Seonghwa scoffed in disbelief, his hands fidget in anger and rage. "After ten fucking years, he had the the fucking guts to talk about your father with the first time you met?" Wooyoung's eyes twitch when he "This... This isn't the first time I met him after a long time, hyung. I met him two weeks ago and it certainly didn't go well." Seonghwa lets out a deep sigh after hearing his sentence, not being one bit fazed by his words. "Now that explains the bloodstains on your shirt and the dagger in your hand the other day. What do you plan on doing now? I can train the team for the attack-"

"Not yet hyung." That's when Seonghwa observed the change in his eyes. His eyes flickered with unknown pain and fury, which he held in with all the efforts, so he didn't hurt him. Seonghwa now really wondered what was going on in his mind.

You flinched hard every time your ears heard the sounds of loud crashing.

Flashback

Your younger self crouched down in the corner, hugging your legs to your chest in fear. Your little hands shook in fear from the loud crashing sounds coming from downstairs. You were ten, you were a literal child. A small fragile child who was trying to comprehend why those big black men entered your house when your family was going out for a long vacation with your family. Your shining eyes teared up from remembering the fear that shone over your parents faces when they rushed you to run to your room. That night, although you heard all those loud cries for help and loud noises, you failed to protect them.

You were pulled out of your trance when you heard the loud scream coming from Wooyoung's office, it sounded certainly very familiar to you. You stare at the plain wooden door, your hands reaching out for the door knob but you instantly flinch from the other loud thrashing sound escaping the room. Your hands shiver in fear and a tear escapes your eyes but you force yourself to turn the knob. You were welcomed by the sight of a completely messed up room, with all the vases and decorations shattered into pieces.

You looked around the room to be greeted by Wooyoung's broad back facing you, "Get the fuck out of here Y/n." This was the very first time he had called you by your actual name, and his furious tone made you shudder in your place. His eyes close shut in annoyance when he hears footsteps approaching his figure slowly. He turns around swiftly, pushing you against the wall making your back hit the wall harshly. His hands bring out his dagger from his back pocket in a second before pressing the dark black dagger against your throat.

"Why don't you fucking obey a rule?" His eyes finally met yours which were filled with utter fear and.. Pain? Your throat bobs slightly as you gulp down in fear. You couldn't believe who you were seeing, was it really him? The strange furious and crazy look on his face, and the dagger he pressed at your throat made you feel like it was the biggest mistake to walk through the door. After all those nights of ending up in his bed, your face pushed into the pillows as he pounded ruthlessly into you while he bruised your soft skin, you should have definitely known better.

You should have known that you were just his fucking puppet, his fucktoy. What would you even expect from this asshole?

But there was still a little hope in your little heart which tried to look for the reason. The empty reason as to why was he so triggered. Your heart pounds faster with fear from having contact with his sharp eyes which glinted with an unfamiliar rage. His dagger slightly dug into your skin, slashing through the thin layer of your skin. You do nothing but let out a wince in pain as tears continue to run down your eyes."P-Please." Your soft voice pleaded making him snap out his trance slightly.

His eyes unknowingly soften and his hand shake before letting the dagger slip out and fall to the ground. Wooyoung's eyes twitch slightly before he takes a deep breath, his anger not yet cooled down. "Get out" His finger presses over the fresh cut on your neck, making your blood stick to his skin. He got an unknown sense of relief from the sight of blood, while he felt an inner voice screaming at him to get away from you. He was too dangerous for your fragile figure, but wasn't he always this dangerous to your fragile figure?

He was cut off from his trail of thoughts when he heard your soft whimper, his head snapped towards you with widened eyes. "N-No. You n-need help." Your voice seemed so innocent and your teary eyes were now red from crying. His hands now come up to grasp your jaw, "You don't know what you are getting yourself into kitten. Get out." Your hands latched onto his shoulders, "I don't care what I'm getting myself into, you've already dragged me into this mess."

His grip on your jaw tightens if that could happen, "Then how will you help me? What can you fucking do, kitten?" The next moment you pull him down for a rough kiss, and your hands ball into fists, ruining his well ironed shirt. Your lower lip gets captured by his teeth in a harsh grip as he bites down on the soft skin and pulls away. "Use me, Master." You couldn't believe the words you let out but your mind has no space for thinking when his lips smash over yours yet again. His hands move down to your waist, squeezing at your sides.

"I fucking- Will, kitten." Wooyoung utters out in between your kisses before grasping your thigh with his large hands. You were unwillingly content with yourself for what you just did. Maybe all those nights weren't really forced, maybe you didn't hate ending up in his bed with your face pushed into the pillows or his hand wrapped around your neck while he pounds his cock into you. Maybe you preferred all that than knowing you left him all alone like everyone else did.

Maybe you finally were trappped into the love maze created by Jung Wooyoung just for you. Maybe he had set a burning desire in you too.

Okay so this took me long enough although it's a short chapter, but believe me, there will be longer chapters soon. 🤭

- 🔮

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ateezreactionsandscenarios · 1 year

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Behind Closed Doors - Chapter 4

Pairing: CEO! Jung Wooyoung x Reader

Genre: Slice of Life, Suggestive, Smut

CW: Degrading, teasing, bit of groping.

Word Count: 5366

Summary: Work life is just about to get even more interesting. Just be careful of what you do and where and most importantly who...you just don’t know what might happen.

a/n: Happy birthday to our best boy and my ult bias Jung Wooyoung 🥳

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Prompt List Series Masterlist MasterList Buy me a Coffee

Pinned between Wooyoung and his desk to the point the hard wood of the furniture digging into your lower back, not that you were taking any notice, your full attention was on the man in front of you, Jung Wooyoung, CEO of Ocean Media, your boss. His lips moulding to yours like they were made specially for you and only you, the mild taste of mint on your tongue as his fights yours for dominance in the heated kiss that had commenced. His large veiny hands wandering over every part of you they could reach, gripping your hips, then your waist, one hand trailing to grope at your breast as you moan into the kiss, wetness pooling at your core with every touch he gave you.

You were so intoxicated by him you didn’t realise he pulled away from you until your cheek made contact with the hard wood of his desk, his hands lightly trailing their way down your spine before tightly squeezing your ass.

“Such a pretty slut.” Wooyoung purred loving the way you were reacting to his touch, your small whines and gasps filling his office. Stroking your ass his fingers found their way to the hem of your skirt pulling it up to reveal your bare ass.

“No panties? It’s like you wanted me to fuck you.”

“Please Mr Jung...Please fuck me.” You beg, you didn’t care how pathetic you sounded, you’d do anything in your power right now just to be filled with his cock.

“Such a needy whore, you want to be fucked that bad you’re begging for it already.” He chuckled lowly giving your ass a firm slap which made you moan into your hand, the sting arousing you even more. The faint sound of a belt could be heard behind you followed by the sound of Wooyoung lowering his zipper. You attempt to turn your head to look at him but you’re stopped instantly by his hand on the back of your neck holding you in place. You feel him start to tease you with the tip of his cock, gliding it between your folds collecting the arousal that was dripping from you before finally...

“Hey, you good? Class is over and you haven’t budged.” You were ripped from your daydream by your classmate just as it was getting interesting. You looked around to see that majority of the class had already left while the rest stood packing their stuff away as fast as they could.

“Yeah, sorry I was miles away.” You chuckle shoving your things in your bag heading out from the lecture hall.

It was that time of the week again, time where you had to sit through lectures that went on for hours, lectures you wanted to pay attention to so much but lately you couldn’t. A few weeks ago you never would have thought you’d find yourself staring into space instead of rushing to take as many notes as you could before the lecture ended. A few weeks ago you were the student everyone in their heads wanted to be, acing every test, books full of colourful detailed notes and the work ethic of a workaholic, you were the perfect student. Not any more. Since you started your internship your attention in lectures started to diminish quickly.

You look down at the notes you attempted to take, you started off strong, your usual note taking format was in full swing but then you noticed how your writing became sloppier and sloppier the further you went down the page until your notes became indecipherable, letters merging together looking more like scribbles than words. Right now you didn’t care but future you will be cursing you out for being so careless. It wasn’t long before your mind had wandered off completely, notes abandoned as you stare off at nothing. The only thing you could find yourself thinking about was your boss Jung Wooyoung, but more specifically the events of yesterday.

You never expected Wooyoung to act the way he did towards you, the day of your interview you shrugged off, the memory of the club still fresh in both of your minds but yesterday you thought everything would have turned normal, professional even. The more you thought about him you started to feel your skin tingle everywhere he touched you, you thought you could feel his warm breath fanning over your face again as you remembered how he held you close to his chest by your hips the moment you tripped. The more the memory stews in your brain the more you begin to kick yourself for not acting on it, you had ample opportunity, Wooyoung was practically handing you a good fuck on a silver plate and all you did was push it away. As much as you wanted to be bent over his desk you tried your damnedest to control yourself, your future career could be on the line and all because your boss turned you into a horny teenager again.

Your mind left Wooyoung for a moment to recount the conversation you had with Clio when you got home. She was convinced just from the way Wooyoung was with you that you were already sleeping together. You remember her saying “Well if you’re not gonna sleep with him I’ll sure as hell try my luck.” Knowing Clio if she was in your situation she probably would be able to go through with it without a second thought, but what if you were like Clio for once? You started to daydream about what it would be like to finally give into your desires, to finally have Wooyoung touch you in the way you craved him to, to see what he was hiding away under that expensive tailored suit of his.

Walking into your shared apartment you let out a frustrated groan as you flick through you book of unsuccessful notes.

“Hey girl what’s up, what’s got you so pissy?” Clio calls in her usual upbeat manner. You throw your notebook down the the coffee table before collapsing onto the couch, face in your hands as you try to work out how the hell you’re going to make it through the semester, never mind the whole damn year.

“Do you want a coffee, no offence you look like you need one.” You slump back on the the couch, head tilted so you were staring at the ceiling.

“Coffee would be great right now, thanks.” Skipping into the kitchen Clio quickly whipped you up a large mug of coffee before joining you on the couch. After waiting for you to take your first sip she digs to find out what’s wrong.

“Now Y/n, what’s up, what happened?”

“Nothing happened, I’m just a little annoyed. I can’t concentrate in class anymore, my notes are practically non-existent, take a look.” You say as you lean forward grabbing your notebook passing it to Clio so she could see how bad it was.

“Ummm, Y/n, what does this say?” She asks pointing to one of the last words you managed to scribble down.

“See that’s my point, I don’t even know what that says and I wrote it. How am I gonna get through the semester if I can’t even understand my own notes?” Clio gave you a slightly worried look, she knew what this course meant to you and if you fail there was a good chance you’d lose your internship at your dream job and that was the last thing she wanted for you.

“When did this all start? What’s got you so distracted you can’t concentrate in class?” You tired to piece together in your head how you were going to explain it to her, you didn’t want to outright say you spent your time in class imagining yourself being bent over your boss’ desk while he rails you into next week.

“Well I guess since the job interview, I guess it could be stress of trying to make a good impression.” You lied and based on the look Clio gave you she wasn’t buying it.

“Really? You’re stressed about making a good impression?”

“What else would it be?” You ask quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Well if you ask me I think it has something to do with that hot boss of yours.” You kept as much of a deadpan face as you could, she was spot on but you couldn’t give in that quickly.

“And why would you think that?” Clio’s laugh filled the room.

“You’re not seriously asking that. I saw the two of you yesterday.”

“Clio you didn’t see anything because nothing happened, nothing is happening.” You argued back.

“Yet, nothing is happening yet. You two reek of sexual tension, wake up and smell the coffee y/n, he wants you just as much as you want him so why not give in for once and just get it over with, even if it’s a one time thing at least the tension will be gone.” As much as you hated to admit it, Clio was right. You and Wooyoung couldn’t be in the same room together without stealing glances at each other and small touches here and there followed by a forward comment from Wooyoung.

“Okay and hypothetically if I did want to sleep with Wooyoung I still couldn’t I could risk my job. It’s not very professional for an intern to fuck her boss Clio and even then what if he really doesn’t want to sleep with me and the way he acts is just him being himself, I saw how he interacted with his secretary yesterday, the way he spoke to her and the way she seemed to flirt back, it’s gotta just be the way he is.” She gave you a slightly defeated frown realising you had a point. The cogs turned in her head as she tried to hatch a plan for you.

“I’ve got it! There’s nothing wrong with a bit of indirect teasing, just small things you know, shit like bending down in front of him and what not. Test the waters, see where you stand with him.” It was a good plan and what made it better was you were working alongside him for the foreseeable future making opportunities plentiful.

-The Next Day -

You’d gone about your usual morning routine, slowly dragging yourself out of bed to grab your morning coffee. Entering the kitchen you realise how quiet it is, Clio must have left early for class, unlike her but you’re proud of her for making the effort. With Clio on your mind you can’t help but run through the conversation the both of you had the night before as you stand in the kitchen slowly sipping your coffee. “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of indirect teasing.” You smile to yourself thinking over how you could possibly go about doing such a thing without making it look like you’re doing it on purpose.

You were ready to drop the whole idea and opt to go for the usual day at work but that was until you started to sift through your closet. Pulling out a white button up and throwing it on the bed you needed something to pair it with, and there it was, the item of clothing that would help you go through with your plan. You pull out the skirt that caught your eye, a small black pencil skirt, you’d only worn it a handful of times since you’d bought it but now it looks like it was going to be your new favourite item of clothing.

Looking yourself over in the mirror you felt something was missing. The skirt was doing wonders, coming up a little above the knee and form fitting to show off every curve but it wasn’t enough. You scan over your room looking for what could be the finishing touch, sifting through your closet again to no avail and moving to your drawers. Your eyes lit up when you found a pair of long forgotten lace stockings you’d worn as part of a Halloween costume one year and never wore again. They came up to the thigh, long enough to be hidden by the skirt so you could pull off the facade of tights. That was it, that was the finishing touch, looking over the outfit you were happy with what you saw, it looked professional but also a tad bit sexy.

Walking into the office no one batted an eye at how you looked which was a good sign, it was discreet. You made a quick stop at your office to grab some supplies before reluctantly heading over to Amber’s desk, you don’t know what it was about her but there was something you didn’t like about her, sure she was nice enough but your instincts told you to watch out.

“Good morning Y/n.” Amber greeted you with a false smile.

“Hi Amber, is Mr Jung in his office?” The smug smirk she gave you made your blood boil.

“Oh you don’t know? I’m sorry Mr Jung got called into a meeting this morning and he’s not due back until after lunch.” If this information was given to you by anyone else you’d have just nodded and gone off to find something else to crack on with until he was back, but it didn’t come from anyone else. The way she spoke to you she sounded like those popular girls at school who thought they were hot shit for being close with the jocks, real pick-me-girl attitude, it seemed she was loving the fact she knew something about Wooyoung that you didn’t.

“Okay no worries, I’ll go look over my notes until he’s back, thanks Amber.” Your calm and sweet tone of voice made Amber’s act falter for a second, not liking how unaffected you were, her eyes burning into the back of your head as you walked off back to your office.

The time dragged as you looked over your pages and pages of notes, scribbling more down as ideas and small thoughts came to mind that you thought could be important to bring up later. Glancing at your phone you saw it was close to lunch and honestly you couldn’t wait, your stomach had been growling at you for the best part of an hour. Adding another sticky note to the page you were on your flow was interrupted by a light knock on the door.

“Come in.” You called out not bothering to look up.

“Hey girlie, I brought lunch.” Clio sings in her cheery manor.

“What are you doing here?” You laugh thanking your lucky stars.

“I just told you I brought lunch, I had some free time so I thought I’d pop over and visit you.” You will never know what heroic acts you did in your past life to deserve a best friend like Clio, she really was something else.

“Thanks Clio, come on I’ll show you to the break room.”

Clio looked just like you did on the day of your interview, her eyes like saucers as she looked at every inch of her surroundings.

“This place is huge.” Clio exclaims taking a seat with you at a small table in the break room.

“How do you know where you’re going, this place is like a maze.” You can’t help but laugh as you watch her take everything in.

“I don’t really, for now I only spend time in 3 rooms so as long as I know how to get to them I’m okay for now.” Clio looks at you a little puzzled, she’d gathered 2 out of the 3 rooms you were talking about were your office and the break room.

“And the third room is?”

“Mr Jung’s office.” You say nonchalantly taking a bite of the pasta dish Clio brought you. Her mouth hung open in surprise, not moving an inch. The silence became suspicious making you slowly look up at her gawping face.

“What?”

“HIS O...” You quickly covered her mouth with your hand to stop her screaming out, you guys weren’t in your apartment you were at work the last thing you needed was her screaming, ESPECIALLY about Wooyoung.

“Clio shut up!” You hiss slowly bringing your hand away from her.

“You’re telling me you’ve been to his office since the interview?” She yells quietly, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening in.

“Yes, he gave me my first project and wanted me to work alongside him for it.” You could see Clio was ready to burst, but luckily for you she was interrupted.

“Hey, y/n I was just...” Hongjoong stopped mid sentence when his eyes fell on Clio, curiosity filling his eyes.

“Hi, I’m Hongjoong.” He smiled holding his hand out for Clio to shake.

“I’m Clio.” You were surprised by how quiet she’d gone, her voice hushed and a light shade of pink covering her cheeks as she shakes the man’s hand.

“Nice to meet you Clio, so what are you ladies talking about?” Hongjoong asks taking a seat next to you, his eyes never leaving your roommate’s.

“Oh you know...girl stuff.” You smile shooting Clio a knowing look silently telling her to keep her mouth shut.

“I swear to god if you’re talking about periods or whatever then I’m leaving, I don’t need to know that stuff.” You can Clio erupt into laughter watch his face contort in disgust.

“Nothing like that, you’re safe.”

To your dismay lunch flew by, the hour felt more like 10 minutes.

“I best be heading off, Mr Jung is due back from his meeting and we need to get this work done.” You sigh going over to wash your food container.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” Clio announces getting up from her seat and making her way over to you.

“Have fun with Mr hot stuff.” She giggles placing a light friendly kiss to your cheek.

“See you later.” You roll your eyes at her choice of words and mentally pray no one heard her.

“Y/n?” Hongjoong asks walking over to you.

“Can you tell me more about your friend?” You raise your eyebrow at the man who stands next to you fiddling with his fingers.

“Well I’ve known Clio since we were kids, we met in school and have been best friends since. We got into the same university and now were roommates.” Hongjoong nods next to you nodding his head taking in what you’re saying.

“I know this is sudden but by any chance can I have her number?” Your eyes widen turning your full attention to him.

“You want Clio’s number?”

“I...I just thought she was really pretty, I want to get to know her a little better.” You’ve never seen Hongjoong look so shy, he’s usually so cocky and lively.

“Give me your phone.” You smile rolling your eyes at him, watching as he quickly fishes it out of his pocket placing it in your hands in a heart beat. You create a contact and punch in Clio’s number for him, locking the phone once you were done.

“No funny business Mr Kim.” You joke holding the phone away from him.

“I won’t I promise.”

You took the short walk back to your office to gather your supplies once again, your cheeks going a little warm knowing now was the time to put the “teasing” to the test. You grimace for a second realising you had to speak to Amber again but 2 seconds wasn’t going to kill you.

“Hi Amber, is Mr Jung back from his meeting yet?” You got the feeling Amber felt the same way when it came to talking to you as well.

“Yes, he’s in his office, I’ll let him know you’re coming.” and with that you made your way down the small corridor to his office.

Stopping at the door you took a deep breath patting down your skirt making sure it was tidy, then something lit up like a lightbulb in your brain. Your eyes trailed downwards to your shirt, a small smirk creeping onto your face as you toyed with the idea.

“Fuck it.” You whisper to yourself, fingers coming up to undo the top button of your shirt before smoothing it out. It was a small detail, the opening not low enough to really show anything but just low enough that, giving his height, Wooyoung would be able to catch a glimpse of your cleavage. This was so out of character for you but Clio’s words had been ringing in your head all day and you had to agree, what was wrong with a little harmless teasing?

Knocking on the door you slowly open it stepping into the large office.

“Good afternoon, how was your meeting?” You ask making slight small talk.

“A bore as usual all numbers and...” Turning around in his chair Wooyoung lost all trail of thought as his eyes scanned over your figure. Your skin heated up as you felt where his eyes dragged over. Hiding your smirk you stepped towards the desk, bending down slightly to hand him the notebook you’d been working in all morning, your idea working perfectly, giving Wooyoung a small glimpse at what you were hiding.

“I made some more notes I thought you might want to take a look.” You smile feigning ignorance to what you were doing to him.

Taking the book he calmly scanned through what you had written, nodding as he went along liking what you’d come up with, his attention breaking away from the writing momentarily, watching from the corner of his eye as you walk over to his side.

“These are some good ideas, when did you do all of this?”

“I asked Amber if you were in this morning but she said you were in a meeting so I made myself busy looking through what we already did and voilà ideas came to mind.” Smirking at you he slid the book across the desk back to you.

“You’re not just a pretty face, solid head on your shoulders...Well I knew that anyway.” Playing into his words you shot him a coy smile.

“Pretty face huh?” Wooyoung got to his feet, standing in front of you his chest pressed to yours, his eyes wandering quickly down to have a quick glimpse of the view once more before looking back to your eyes.

“So coy all of a sudden, what’s with the sudden attitude change Doll?” Wooyoung purred, his hand coming up to rest on your hip, fingers lightly grazing the side of your ass. You raise your eyebrow at him titling your head.

“What change in attitude?” He can’t help but scoff at your response.

“The last few times I’ve made comments like that you’ve dismissed them now you’re all shy. Why’s that?” Almost like it was a test, Wooyoung brings his face down closer to yours like he did the last time you were like this, his breath fanning over your face, but this time you made no effort to push him away.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Your voice was quiet but not nervous in the slightest, if anything you had a hint of sultriness laced in your tone which made Wooyoung smirk. Stepping back from you and dropping his hand to his side, huffing a laugh through his nose as a smirk grows on his face. He knew what game you were playing, you were playing him at his own game, but now it was time for the tables to turn, it was your turn to wait.

Moving away from you Wooyoung walked to the front of his desk leaning on it with both hands.

“What do you say? Should we get to work?” You nod lightly taking a seat at the desk and gathering your supplies trying your hardest to at the very least look like you’re able to concentrate, but in truth all that was on your mind, once again, was the man stood in front of you.

Once you got down to writing you heard a small huff of frustration come from Wooyoung. Glancing up you could see him looking over his bookcase in search of something which he was clearly having difficulty finding.

“What are you looking for?”

“That file we had the other day, you know the marketing one, I know it’s here I just can’t see it.” He answers not turning from where he’s looking, crossing an arm over his chest to support the hand he was resting his head on. Your view of him was insane, the way his shirt stretched from the position of his arms, showing almost all the contours of his back and shoulders. Now was your time. You looked over the desk and drawers in search of the file, you knew you’d seen it somewhere just where? It was by chance you looked at the floor under his desk, the file staring you in the face.

“Found it.” You call out catching his attention making him half turn towards you. Folder in hand you make your way over to him only to conveniently drop the folder.

“Oops.” You say to yourself innocently before turning to your side and bending at the waist to pick up the file. You could feel his eyes burning into you making sure your movements were slow. You were giving him one hell of a show, your slight cleavage on show, your skirt pulling tightly around the curve of your ass and the hem of your skirt rising up with it only to let the smallest peak of lace show, not that you think he noticed the stockings.

Wooyoung wanted so badly to turn the tables on you but watching you bend down the way you did, knowing full well you knew what you were doing to him, he became weak, breaking his own plan. Slowly standing up straight you watched as Wooyoung walked over to you, his eyes dark.

“Here you go.” You say innocently only to have the folder slapped out of your hand sending it flying across the room. You only got a second to watch the way the folder flew before you found yourself caged between Wooyoung and his desk, his face dangerously close, just the way you wanted it.

“What’re you playing at Doll?” He growled watching you tilt your head which only made him grip the edge of his desk tighter, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

“Don’t act innocent with me, you’ve been teasing me since you set foot through that door, the other day you would never have thought twice about doing something like this so I’m going to ask you one last time, why the change in attitude?” You gave in completely, your eyes taking on a sultry look as you stared him in the eye.

“I’ve been thinking about you.” You whisper, not breaking eye contact for a second.

“I can’t concentrate in class because all I’m thinking about is you.” A cocky grin was on his face now.

“Oh really, what were you thinking about?” His hands coming up to your waist to pull you flush against him sending goose bumps all over your body.

“This, right now, maybe a bit more.” You tease letting his imagination run wild with him.

“So dirty of you Doll, thinking of your boss like that.” He quips before leaning down to your ear.

“I could make those daydreams of yours a reality if you want.” His low voice paired with his warm breath fanning your neck made you shiver.

You turn your head to face him, your noses touching as your eyes look into his full of want. He didn’t need more than that to snap completely. Crashing his lips against yours with such force you felt yourself putting your hands back onto the desk for support. Wooyoung brought his hand up to the back of your neck, pulling your face closer to deepen the kiss making you whimper slightly as you kissed him back with just as much fervour. Wooyoung bit down on your lip pulling it back a bit just to watch it bounce back once he released his grip, his own little bit of teasing. He wasn’t away from you longer than a second, his lips going back to yours, pressing you even more against the desk slight frustration setting in over the desk being in the way.

He trailed his hands down your sides, taking a quick grab at your ass before settling his hands on the back of your thighs, hoisting you to sit on the desk and slotting himself between your legs making the gap between you both even smaller. He couldn’t get enough of you, he wanted to feel every inch of you all at once, his hands constantly roaming your body while your own occupy themselves in his hair, pulling lightly at the strands while you lose yourself to the battle your tongues are having.

You start to smile lightly into the kiss when you feel his hands slide up your thighs, knowing he’s about to come into contact with the small surprise you’ve had hidden away from him all day. Wooyoung stops the kiss the second his fingers find the lace of your stockings. Pulling back from you he looks down at your now pushed up skirt exposing your thighs to him and also exposing the top of your stockings.

“Oh you really are something else aren’t you Doll, how did you know I was a stockings guy?” He chuckles snapping the band of the stocking against your thigh and the hum you let out was like music to his ears.

“I thought you’d like them, picked them out specially for you.” He groans at your response, his forehead connecting with yours.

“You’re driving me insane.” He growls again before diving back into your lips letting his hands explore you blindly again.

Things were starting to get really heated at this point. One of Wooyoung’s hands clasped what it could of your ass while the other trailed it’s way up your thigh painfully slow, tiptoeing his fingers along the inside of your thigh, inching closer and closer to where your body begged to be touched. His finger was about to graze the edge of your panties when a knock on the door could be heard.

“Mr Jung I...” Wooyoung retreated his hands and lips from you faster than light before turning on his heels to be met with Amber who was stood in the door way wide eyed at what she had just walked in on.

“Sorry I didn’t realise I was interrupting something.” Amber says bluntly making eye contact with you while Wooyoung rushes over in an attempt to shoo her out. You took the time Wooyoung was with her to straighten yourself out before hopping down from the desk smoothing over your skirt. You knew you should feel embarrassed about being caught in a compromising position with your boss but you couldn’t help the smug smile that you had, you just hoped Amber hated every second of it. You could hear Wooyoung whispering something to Amber as he’s backing her out of his office but you couldn’t quite make out what it was, all you wanted right now was for her to be gone.

“Mr Jung...What...” Wooyoung lightly placed a hand on her shoulder pushing her back out the door keeping his head low.

“Look Amber, next time you come to my office a bit of heads up next time hmm?” Amber’s eyes flicked between you and Wooyoung trying to process what she’d just seen.

“What were you...” She stops herself seeing the glare he gives her.

“Nothing was going on but I’m trusting you here Amber I don’t want you saying anything about this, I don’t want people getting ideas.” Amber nods her head, her eyes going back to you watching as you smooth out your skirt with a shit eating grin on your face. Her blood started to boil at the sight. Turning around to head back to her desk, hearing the door of Wooyoung’s office shutting behind her, Amber pulls out her phone. She wasn’t going to let this slide, not without a fight at least.

Tag list: @kpopcrossworlds @kpopjust4u @whatudowhennooneseesyou @8tinytings @jenotation @grim-adventures58 @owjohny @ker1 @hellomingi @azeret98 @queenwiinks @tinkerbell460 @haylstoney @scuzmunkie @halesandy @multihunbun

126 notes · View notes

hongjoongscafe · 2 years

Text

✧*̥˚ The Doll *̥˚✧

-ˋˏ [Serieslist] ˎˊ

⚘ pairing: wizard!wooyoung×doll!reader (Jihyun)

⚘ genre: fluff, angst, smut.

⚘ summary: his loneliness made him desperate for a partner.

⚘ note: the AU suggestion was given by @nanibecute for drabble week. Then I kept thinking about wizard Wooyoung and then I came up with this idea and wanted to make it into a proper fiction so yeah. And thank you so much so this pretty edit💓💓 also, this fiction is made in a different world, like, it has power lights but not technology. It has coal trains and all. Basically, this is a couple/few centuries behind.

⚘ Lemme know if you wanna be tagged in the permanent or specific taglist!

⚘ Masterpost

⚘ DO NOT REPOST, PLZ

「Ongoing」

Part 1... In the moon and stars

Part 2... In the mystery assignment

Part 3... In the riddle brain

Part 4... In the???

65 notes · View notes

fantastic-bby · 2 years

Text

The King and His Angel

Jung Wooyoung got taken in by his uncle when he was eight. He learned how to ride his first bike at thirteen. He attended his first race when he was sixteen. His uncle died when he was eighteen. He bought his own bike when he was twenty.

Wooyoung’s 25 now and his life seems to have only begun.

Pairing: Street Racer!Wooyoung x Street Racer/Doctor!Yeosang

Word count: 3527

Chapter specific warnings: Minor character death | Cigarette usage

Chapter 1

Wooyoung’s 25 now, but he still doesn’t know where his parents are or where they could be.

The front door shuts with a click, his hand twisting the deadbolt lock before he turns around with a sigh. Wooyoung runs a hand through his flattened hair—a result of having worn his helmet for the past few hours. That’s one of the side effects of being a rider, having flat hair, but Wooyoung doesn’t really give it any mind since his hair usually bounces back quite quickly.

Wooyoung places the matte black helmet onto the kitchen counter and stares at it for a moment. He wonders whether there’s anything else he could add to it to make it more unique—excluding the black cat ears that poke out of the top and the multiple stickers he’s plastered over the back and sides of it.

“I’ll get you more stickers later,” he says while patting his hand in between the black ears, smiling fondly at the helmet before he makes his way into the bedroom. Wooyoung’s apartment is small; it was whatever he could afford and he’s been able to maintain it by working at the CU down the street and winning money off of street racing.

Maybe he should find a more stable income that actually prepares him for the future, but Wooyoung can’t help it. He gets a certain rush from speeding down the empty highways once it’s after midnight. There’s something about it that just makes him feel a certain kind of freedom that he’s yet to feel doing anything else.

Wooyoung’s never known adrenaline until the time he was riding away from the police at age sixteen. He was using the motorcycle his uncle had given him before he passed. Wooyoung remembers that motorcycle vividly, mainly because it was the only thing that he had left of his uncle up until he bought his own when he turned twenty.

It was an old Kawasaki bike that was dark blue. It was honestly a miracle that it was still working when Wooyoung’s uncle passed it down to him from how old it was, but he made it work. A few tweaks here and there, and Wooyoung was riding down the streets with his friends after a few weeks.

After he passed away, Wooyoung moved out of his landed house and bought his current apartment when he was nineteen. He didn’t really have any other family members to live with; his mother left when he was a toddler and his father was slightly more than absent from Wooyoung’s childhood.

He only remembers his uncle coming to pick him up from school one day when he was eight and he hadn’t been in contact with his father since. “I’m taking care of you from now one, kid,” his uncle smiled as he ushered him onto the back of his sleek, red sports bike. Wooyoung never exactly knew why his father left him to his uncle’s care.

“He’s just not in a good place right now, Woo,” his uncle sighed.

“You told me that you’d tell me what happened,” Wooyoung stubbornly stated. His uncle looked at him, his hand pushing back his already greying hair as he sighed. “Who else am I supposed to call? Mum? Like I’d even be able to call her,” he huffed.

“Your father…” he trailed off, arguing with himself mentally before shutting his eyes. “You know what? I’ll tell you when you graduate from high school.”

“Uncle,” Wooyoung groaned.

“It’s not the right time,” he shook his head and stood up. He slid the dining chair back into the table and turned to Wooyoung. “It’s selfish of me, but I don’t want you running back to him after the years that I’ve spent taking care of you.”

“I would never do that to you,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well, he’s your father and I’m just his brother,” his uncle shrugged as he approached Wooyoung. “You’re a good kid, Wooyoung. There’s a lot of things that he’s done that I’m hesitant to tell you.”

“You’ll tell me one day, right?” Wooyoung looked at him with hopeful eyes and his uncle couldn’t help but smile and nod.

“I promise.”

He never got the chance to. Wooyoung’s uncle got sick when he graduated from high school. Too weak to actually leave the bed, Wooyoung could only take care of him until he passed away.

He stares at the picture sitting on his bedside table. Wooyoung was ten when that picture was taken. His uncle lifted him up onto his shoulders after teaching him how to bowl at the bowling alley a few streets away from their house.

Wooyoung’s eyes flit away from the picture and to the ground. He misses his uncle. He had spent the past five years living alone and he always wonders how different it would be if his uncle was still alive, but Wooyoung also thinks that maybe that’s a story for a different time; a time where he was meant to be happier.

His barely functioning iPhone 5 rings from inside the pocket of his jeans and Wooyoung pulls it out to see a message from one of his biking friends.

San:

Mingi and I are heading to the diner You wanna join?

Wooyoung stares at the message and bites the inside of his cheek, a small hint of annoyance lingering in the back of his head. Why couldn’t they have asked him when he was halfway home?

San:

Wait Nv Mingi said that you’re probably already at home so we’re climbing up balcony

Wooyoung:

What? Just come in through the front door like a normal person, dude I gave you a key for a reason

Mingi:

Attached image (1) San’s climbing the side of your building Lol He just fell Attached image (2) LMAO HE’S TRYING AGAIN WOOYOUNG THE OLD LADY DOWN HERE IS SWATTING WOOYU HLEP PLEASE

Wooyoung pushes open the sliding door to his balcony and is immediately met with the sound of yelling and whining. He peeks over the rusted black rail of his balcony to see San curled up into a ball while the old lady who lives right below Wooyoung whacks him with a rolled up magazine.

“Ahjumma, please! We weren’t trying to break into your apartment!” San cries in between the sound of smacking.

“Well, if I had a weapon, then you wouldn’t even be able to meet your friend!” the elderly woman huffs before slamming her windows shut.

“Having fun down there?” San and Mingi crane their necks to look at Wooyoung to see him smiling at them cheekily. “I told you to use the front door like a normal person. You’re lucky you disturbed Mrs Yang and not cranky Mr Seo right beside her apartment.”

“Let us in, please,” Mingi clasps his hands together and pouts.

“Only if you use my door. If you try climbing up the wall again, I’ll tell Mrs Yang to be my security guard.”

“We’ll be there in a bit!” he nods, grabbing San by the arm and dragging him into the apartment building. Wooyoung enters his apartment once again and closes the door just as the pair come barging through his front door, his eyes widen, face contorting in confusion because Wooyoung swears they were just downstairs.

“Hi, Wooyoung!” Mingi greets him brightly. “San and I saw a cat on the way up! It looked so cute—it only had three legs and I’m pretty sure it was missing an eye!”

“Mingi’s in love with the disabled cat downstairs,” San states just as he throws himself onto Wooyoung’s beaten up fabric couch. There’s a few coffee stains on the, previously light beige fabric, that Wooyoung’s honestly a bit too lazy to clean properly other than just wiping it down or shoving it into the washing machine every few weeks.

“I’m pretty sure that cat belongs to Mr Seo’s son,” Wooyoung wonders as he sits beside San, his legs sprawled across San’s lap.

“Ooh! It’s that really hot boxer, right?” Minho gasps while he lifts Wooyoung’s head and sits down, letting the apartment’s owner rest his head on his lap.

“Seo Changbin? Yeah, he’s pretty hot,” Wooyoung shrugs. “I’ve only spoken to him a couple of times, but I don’t think he really cares much for other people.”

“That dude is scary,” San claims with a laugh. “I once bumped into him on the way here and he glared at me like I had disgraced his entire family.”

“I think he’s kinda nice. He just looks scary because of all of his tattoos,” he hums.

Quite admittedly, he used to be scared of Changbin purely because of his appearance. His arms are littered with tattoos that most likely completely cover his torso since a few of them trail up to his neck. Wooyoung watches as San pulls a cigarette box out of his pocket. “Smoke on my balcony—no smoking inside,” he immediately says, which earns him a glare from San.

“Fine, but the smell’s still gonna come inside because I’ll leave the door open.” Wooyoung frowns before kicking him in the leg.

“Close the damn door if you wanna smoke, asshole.” San whines in response before leaning back against the couch.

“I almost forgot. We bought you cinnamon rolls from the bakery next to our place,” Mingi says as he pulls out a paper bag from his bright orange backpack. The brown bag is crumpled and Wooyoung’s pretty sure that the cinnamon roll is most likely crumpled as well. “We got you the oreo flavoured one.”

“Thanks,” Wooyoung hums as he takes the bag from him. Mingi pats his head adoringly before pulling out another paper bag, pulling out a giant chocolate chip cookie. “Are you guys going to ride again later?” he asks while taking a bite out of the cinnamon roll.

Oh God, it’s definitely too sweet for him.

Wooyoung looks at the roll weird but continues eating it nonetheless.

“Hmm, I’m kinda tired,” San sighs before turning to Wooyoung. “Mingi and I rode all the way out to the cliffside right outside of town. It’s really nice up there.”

“It seems like a good place to just hangout,” Mingo nods in agreement. “We’re probably going to try climbing Kang Medical Centre sometime soon—do you wanna join?”

“Kang Medical Centre?” Wooyoung angles his head to look at him. When Mingi nods, he returns his neck into a more comfortable position and munches away at the oreo covered roll. “What’s the plan?”

“Wait until after midnight, break into the emergency exits and climb all the way up to the helipad,” San explains.

“Christ, they have a helipad?” Wooyoung scoffs. “They’re the nearest hospital in our area and they’ve put half of the people living here in debt—and they have a helipad?” he sighs and folds the paper bag into a tiny square once he’s done with the cinnamon role.

Wooyoung’s always had a problem with rich people. He’s never exactly had a problem with hospitals, but if Kang Medical Centre was as good as they say they are, they wouldn’t turn away the people who lived in their neighbourhood. They’re one of the only hospitals that’s not a two hour drive away from Wooyoung’s neighbourhood, yet he’s seen them turn away patients who couldn’t afford to pay the medical bills.

“Well, when you’re one of the biggest hospitals in the country, I doubt you’d actually care about people who can’t even afford your hospital,” San shrugs. He throws his head back over the back of the couch, facing the ceiling with his eyes closed.

“What would you guys do if you had a million bucks?” Mingi asks with a mouthful of his cookie.

“I’d buy myself a whole strip club,” San muses, earning another kick from Wooyoung. “I’m just joking,” he giggles while showing his leg away. “I’d probably use it to get my sister into college.”

“Not even yourself?” he tilts his head with curious eyes.

“I mean, she’s my priority. I’d give her the world before I’d take it for myself,” he shrugs. “What about you?”

“I’d probably buy Yunho new clothes because that man does not know how to style himself up,” Mingi chuckles.

“You’re practically married to him—how have you not burned his entire closet?” Wooyoung snickers.

“He doesn’t have one! He literally wears the same T-shirts over and over again with the same sweatpants!” he groans loudly. “I’ve scolded him so many times because of it.”

“He would look so good in a long coat,” he hums.

“Hey,” Mingi snaps, “he’s my boyfriend. Go get your own.”

“It’s not my fault your boyfriend is built like a giant golden retriever.” Wooyoung sticks his tongue out at him and Mingi starts violently bouncing his leg, causing him to shake violently.

“Ah! Ah! I’m sorry!” Wooyoung cries out, his hands flailing about the place as he tries to get Mingi to stop. He only stops because Wooyoung almost rolled off of his lap and he starts to feel bad.

“What would you do if you had that money, Woo?” San asks.

“I don’t know actually,” Wooyoung confesses, lips pursing together as he thinks about it more. “I’d probably use it to give Mrs Yang a nice apartment. Maybe I’d use it to buy a gym that Seo Changbin could go to.”

“So that you can watch him work out?” Mingi wriggles his eyebrows.

“No! That’s so creepy!” he gasps. “Changbin has to walk like forty minutes just to get to his regular gym. There aren’t any gyms closer to our building and Mr Seo said that he gets worried whenever Changbin works until after midnight.”

“So, San would use the money on his sister first and you’d use the money on your neighbours.” Mingi raises an eyebrow and Wooyoung shrugs in response.

“I don’t have any family members to care for; my dad’s in unknown locations, I can’t contact my mum, and my uncle’s dead. I don’t have any partners like you do, so I might as well care for my neighbours,” he explains before letting out a small sigh. “Mrs Yang gave me cookies the other day. Apparently her grandson’s friend made them, so she gave half of them to me because she couldn’t finish all of them on her own.”

“She has a grandson?” San lifts his head curiously.

“Yeah, but I don’t know his name. I’ve seen him around a couple times, though,” Wooyoung says as he recalls the first time he had seen Mrs Yang’s grandson. He seems to be pretty good friends with Changbin because Wooyoung’s only ever seen the boxer hanging out with the guy.

“Is he cute?” Mingi asks.

“You have a boyfriend.” San whacks his chest lightly and Mingi raises his hands up in defence, scowling at him. “Okay, but is he cute?”

“Not my type,” Wooyoung shakes his head. “He’s probably a few years younger than us. How many years? I’m not too sure. I don’t think he actually lives with Mrs Yang, though. I’ve only ever seen him on the weekends.”

“Maybe he lives in the city and comes by to visit her on the weekends,” Mingi wonders. San opens his mouth to speak when a knock comes from the front door.

“I’ll get it,” Wooyoung sighs as he stands up. His back cracks as he does and the sound makes Mingi giggle.

“Old man,” he teases, but Wooyoung doesn’t hear him because he’s already at the front door. Throwing open the door, he’s faced with the very person they were talking about.

“Hey, Wooyoung,” Changbin greets shakily. He wipes his forehead with the back of his hand, his face painted with panic and distress.

“Oh, dude, you don’t look too good,” Wooyoung points out.

“I-I need your help,” he immediately says.

“I-I don’t know what happened,” Changbin mutters. Wooyoung, San, and Mingi step into his apartment and stare at his father who’s laying on the floor. “I don’t think he’s breathing.” Mingi crouches down and presses his index and middle finger against Mr Seo’s wrist.

“Dude, he doesn’t have a pulse,” Mingi declares heavily.

“W-What… he… he was the one providing for this apartment—I can’t afford this place on my own—I have Jinnie and—and I have debt to pay,” Changbin says while running a shaky hand through his hair.

“Do you have any other ways to pay for rent?” San asks, but he only shakes his head.

“Dad was using his pension money. If he’s gone, then that means his pension money’s gone, too.” Changbin stares at the corpse, San and Wooyoung exchanging a solemn glance. “I thought about asking Jeongin if I could stay with him, but he’s already living in his grandma’s guest room,” he mutters.

“If you’d like, you can stay with me,” Wooyoung offers as he takes a step closer. He holds onto Changbin’s shoulder, giving him a small reassuring squeeze which makes the man turn to him.

Wooyoung feels a chill running down his spine when he sees the way Changbin looks at him. His eyes are blank, Wooyoung would even call them soulless at this point. Changbin looks like he’s exhausted—his hair’s messy, his eyebags dark, and his eyes, which usually look somewhat full of life, just look empty.

It makes Wooyoung wonder whether Mr Seo had been sick this entire time.

“Changbin, I have an extra room that you could stay in until you get back on your feet. You don’t even need to pay rent if you can’t—just work to save enough money to get your own place.”

“I have Jinnie I need to take care of, though.” Changbin turns his attention to the black, three-legged cat that hops into the apartment and brushes itself against San’s left leg.

“I don’t mind the cat,” Wooyoung says as he bends down to pick it up. “I’m just not home that often at night, so you two will probably have the apartment to yourselves then.”

“Do you need help with a funeral?” Mingi asks once he’s stood up. “I don’t think any of us mind helping you out.”

“I don’t think we need a big funeral,” Changbin says as he crouches down and picks up his father’s body easily. “I don’t have any other family members to contact, so I think he wouldn’t have wanted me to go all out.”

“Is the cemetery even open this early?” San wonders out loud as he pulls his phone out.

Getting someone to help with the burial wouldn’t be that difficult since San has some questionable friends, but Changbin still technically needs a medical professional to announce his father dead.

“Do you know any doctors that can come down and help you with all of the paperwork?” Wooyoung turns to Changbin.

“I mean, there’s Jeongin. He knows a guy in the city who’s a doctor, but he might only come down in the morning,” he says as he carries Mr Seo over to the couch and lays him down. “I don’t know what to do with dad until then.”

“Is Jeongin still up?” Mingi asks, already halfway out of the door to knock on Mrs Yang’s door.

“You could check, but you might disturb his grandmother.” The tall man disappears before Wooyoung or San can interject, leaving the two to comfort Changbin who’s standing in the middle of the living room and blankly staring at his father.

The room falls silent, a sense of solemn filling the air. It’s not exactly thick, but there’s definitely some form of tension. Both Wooyoung and San are too scared to say anything, scared that Changbin’s too numb to react properly, but Wooyoung can somewhat relate to the man’s numbness.

Wooyoung’s the first to step forward; he does what he wished someone did to him when his uncle died. Approaching Changbin, he immediately pulls the boxer into his arms. Almost immediately, he breaks down.

Changbin crumbles in his arms, hands reaching to grab the back of Wooyoung’s red jacket. “It’s okay, man,” Wooyoung soothes. Mingi returns shortly after with Jeongin following, the younger man staring in shock at the sight of Changbin in Wooyoung’s arms.

“We basically need someone to come and get everything sorted,” Mingi explains softly while guiding Jeongin to the couch.

“Oh my god,” Jeongin’s voice cracks as he speaks. “I-I can call him over. I’m pretty sure he’s willing to drive down even now. I don’t think there’s anything to do but wait until he gets here, honestly.”

“Is that… ethical?” San asks. Jeongin turns to him and his shoulders raise into a shrug.

“I-I could ask my grandma, but she’s already sleeping. I wouldn’t want to wake her up,” he says, turning back to face Changbin’s father. “What do we do about Changbin?”

“He’s gonna stay in Wooyoung’s apartment until he can afford his own place.” Wooyoung pulls Changbin away from the conversation, letting Jeongin and Mingi handle the whole thing. He pulls Changbin to the ground, sitting down beside him when he lets go and resorts to hugging his knees instead. Wooyoung glances at him and swallows thickly.

It feels like he’s looking at a mirror of his past self.

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hongism · 5 months

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AND IT'S SNOWING... - A WINTER FIC FEST

brought to you by bee (@atzfilm) and caly (@hongism)

tis the season for fics that have absolutely nothing to do with christmas and everything to do with other tomfoolery! (aka we spent an hour and a half trying to figure out how to make our concepts be christmas-themed just to forgo the idea of christmas altogether...) from aliens to fae to the ex-turned-sugar-daddy, tune in this winter season for shenanigans... and it's snowing! ❄

all fics are rated m and not intended for underage audiences. please heed individual warnings attributed to each work.

WINTER BLOSSOM

written by atzfilm pairing: k.yeosang x reader genre: alien au, secret relationship summary: earth abandoned centuries ago, you travel the cosmos alone. you land on a smaller planet, meeting an exiled dweller that calls himself yeosang.

WHAT LIES BENEATH US

written by hongism pairing: c.san x reader genre: college au, established relationship summary: one busy semester is all it took for you and san to find yourselves struggling to find footing in the storm that is your relationship, yet rather than let go, he asked for one more week, one more day, one last chance to help get you back to shore

APRICITY

written by atzfilm pairing: c.jongho x reader genre: faeries au, enemies to lovers summary: with your kingdoms having been at war for centuries, it's only fitting that you would be kidnapped and locked in the room with your sworn enemy – choi jongho.

SWEET JUICE

written by hongism pairing: s.mingi x reader genre: witches/warlocks au, strangers to lovers summary: the new apothecary in your small village is harboring a dark secret, you're certain of it, if only because he bears a starkly familiar crest on his shop sign - one that denotes the presence of magic.

LOVERS IN THE NIGHT

written by atzfilm pairing: j.yunho x reader genre: sugar daddy au, exes to lovers summary: just out of your college with a freshly printed degree, you set out for a job that would fit your somewhat high standards. after a brief scroll through a sugar daddy website and a meeting set-up, you sit across from the one man you didn't expect to see — jeong yunho, your ex-boyfriend and apparently, a millionaire looking for someone to spoil.

SILLAGE

written by hongism pairing: k.hongjoong x reader genre: royalty au, first love summary: sillage — the scent that lingers in air, the trail left in water, the impression made in space after something or someone has been and gone; the trace of someone's perfume — it hardly takes much to fall

SEASONS

written by atzfilm pairing: p.seonghwa x reader genre: blind date au, friends to lovers summary: after failing over and over on every date you've gone on, your friends finally resort to setting you up on a blind date in the hopes of making things go right.

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

written by hongism pairing: j.wooyoung x reader genre: roommates au, fake dating summary: you imagine that you've cut yourself a rather decent deal in bagging jung wooyoung as your roommate, and yet, things that seem a little too good to be true have a way of cracking at the seems all too easily.

fics created and written by atzfilm and hongism, 2023. all rights belong to owners. do not copy, emulate, translate, or alter the works in any fashion without permission.

#ateez x reader #ateez smut #ateez fluff #ateez angst #ateez series #hongjoong x reader #seonghwa x reader #yunho x reader #yeosang x reader #wooyoung x reader #san x reader #mingi x reader #jongho x reader #ateez fanfic #winter fic fest 2023 #bee & caly shenanigans !!!!

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bvidzsoo · 5 months

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Heavy is the head that wears the crown

Author: bvidzsoo

Warnings: slight cursing, mentions of human trafficking

Pairing: Jung Wooyoung x female reader

Word count: 24,9k

Summary: Jung Wooyoung was a prince. Raised to be a King one day. Except that nobody asked him if he wanted to become one, it was his duty. Wooyoung thought he'd be able to travel the world, sail out and go on adventures, however that is just not how his story was written. So, one day, when he was only thirteen years old, he decided to take the pen in his own hands and change his own story. He became a Pirate. You, you were also a princess, soon to become Queen. Your groom disappeared when the two of you were thirteen and you figured you wouldn't get married now, so there was no reason to stay at your castle and live a boring life. You ran away, living quietly and humbly. That is, until Wooyoung came stumbling through your living room door. (Reader is called Oh Haneul in the following oneshots.)

A/N: Buckle up my friends, this one is a longer one; but it became my absolute favorite one lol. This oneshot now definitely has a special place in my heart. Next part won't be up too soon as I'm busy with things, I hope y'all can understand, I can't wait to write my pookie Mingi's part lol. I hope you'll find it as funny as I do and don't shy away, leave feedback! Enjoy now!

Taglist: @pingyu-in-wonderland @marievllr-abg @lelaleleb @loveforred @horanghae8 @jeonghanscarat7 @orshii @mundayoonimnida @m3tavita @silentcry329 @icarusignite @cooljuni @sharksandminhos @mountiiny

Series Masterlist ↭ Previous Part

The life of a princess was lavishing and comfortable. The people around you always had everything you needed and would deliver it to you before you could even ask for it. It was as if they could read your mind, anticipate your thoughts and actions. Princesses were supposed to be beautiful and humble, respectful, with a smile always on their faces. They were supposed to hide their mouths when they laughed, never too loudly, of course, and they weren’t supposed to keep eye contact for too long with a man. Princesses were supposed to be well mannered and studious, and able to hold a conversation about any topic. Princesses were supposed to speak softly and slowly so that everyone could understand them, yet they shouldn’t speak up first, unasked. Princesses were supposed to hold their chins up high and stand with their backs straight, almost gliding when they walked, never allowed to run. Or to skip their beauty sleep, meaning they always had to go to bed early. Of course, they weren’t allowed to be seen with any man, other than their betrothed, and they weren’t allowed to sneak around. Princesses weren’t allowed to talk back to their parents and they had to accept whatever future they built for them. Princesses couldn’t say no to ruling if they were next in line to the throne and they also weren’t allowed to choose their own lovers. Not when they were supposed to marry the prince in the neighboring kingdom who was the same age as them, their marriage unifying two powerful forces: The Sun Rise Kingdom and The South Kingdom. But what was a princess supposed to do if their betrothed disappeared one day without a trace? If he got kidnapped by pirates and then never returned to his parents? To his Kingdom? To fulfill his duties as a monarch and man? What was a princess supposed to do then? I still haven’t figured out that part yet, but for once, I decided to take the reins in my owns hands and write my own future. If my betrothed could disappear off the surface of Earth, then I could do it too. And that is exactly what I did when I turned twenty. I waited for my mother to fall asleep and then quickly packed everything I deemed precious and important for my journey into a briefcase, then dressed in my maid’s clothes and made sure to conceal my face. I had to be swift with my escape and if anyone recognized me, I knew my mother would never let me out of her sight. I wanted to live a free life, to see what I would become if I was stripped of my title. Would I still live comfortably? Would people be finally genuine with me? And not pretend to like me for the sake of a title I inherited by being born into the royal Oh family? I wanted to see if I could fend for myself. But most importantly, I wanted to get away from my mother’s scrutinizing glares and sharp words reminding me daily of who I was. Princess Oh Y/N, next in line to the throne, still waiting for her betrothed to return. At some point I had given up on the fantasy of ever seeing him again. But my mother, however, vehemently believed that my prince would return soon and fix all of his wrongdoings. To be fair, I only remembered his family name at this point, Jung, and barely the shape of his eyes and their color back when he was eleven. We’ve met once in our lives, when we were eleven, and then never again. Because three days later, he was gone. Apparently captured and taken by pirates. Many believed he was dead, many believed he joined those pirates willingly. His family shut down those silly rumors quickly and reassured my mother that he would return and then we’d finally get married.

But I didn’t want to wait for him anymore. It was useless. I didn’t even love him or want him. I didn’t want a total stranger as my King. And as I ran as far away from the castle, heart thumping wildly and feet aching from such strenuous activity for my sheltered body, I realized I didn’t even want to become a Queen anymore. Why would I even want that? To become like my mother? Rigid and vengeful, always having to watch my steps because someone was out for my head? Her own husband tried to kill my mother, my own father, did I truly want that life? For my King to abandon me and wish harm upon me? I did not regret escaping the safety of my castle, of my nation, of my Kingdom. The sailor ship I snuck on was nasty and dirty, filled with drunken sailors as they screamed their lungs out, too wrapped up in their songs to notice a woman struggling to pull her briefcase over the railing. They either didn’t care, or I just hid too well, because they never even bothered looking for me the following days. They never came towards the supply room I was hiding in, and if they did, they quickly grabbed the rum off the shelves and then left the room, whistling loudly. I counted the days, somewhere around five, by the time we decked down. I had no idea where I was as I made a run for it, knocking a few sailors off their feet as I got off the ship, panting and struggling to carry my briefcase. Their shouts were loud but they never bothered chasing after me. I had no idea in which Kingdom I was in, perhaps it was still the Sun Rise, just a smaller island of it. I hoped that wasn’t the case, because I would be back home in no time if anyone recognized me. But in the three years I’ve been living on my own, my identity remained a secret to the people around me, nobody ever recognized me or suspected me of being royalty. Perhaps it was because I lived on one of the Nordic island’s from the South Kingdom, perhaps it was because people never looked for too long at you. They rarely questioned your origins or your life story. Here, everyone seemed to be busy with their own lives and problems. People also weren’t as nice and friendly as back home, but I found it refreshing. For once in my life, I felt like I was truly invisible, left alone and unbothered. Nobody pried for something which didn’t concern them and nobody forced their kindness on you, expecting you to return it one day. If someone here did something for you, it was because they wanted to and not because they secretly wished for you to do the same for them.

I found it easier to live here, the town I settled down in was well off and progressive. Women here were allowed to do as they wished, and so, they opened an institute for the younglings, where governesses would teach them everything they had to know about our world. Girls and boys alike were welcomed, poor and rich, their differences placed aside. The institute is where I found myself working, as a smaller governess, someone who taught the children etiquette. It was a sudden thought I had one night, as I was wondering how I would earn my own money since the one I brought with myself from the castle wouldn’t last me forever, and I realized that for once in my life I could use all of those years of living as a princess to my advantage. Everyone loved well-mannered, well-spoken and studious people, I found myself perfect to do such a job. So, the next day I walked to the institute and proposed to teach said subject and everyone was thrilled by the idea. I didn’t demand for a high pay, the cottage I was living in was fairly cheap when I bought it, and food here seemed to be a lot more accessible than back at my own kingdom. The only pricey items were my canvas, brushes, and colors. I loved to paint and I couldn’t imagine my life without it. Whenever I had free time, which I had lots at the castle, I would sit in the gardens and paint whatever I felt inspired by. Here, in the town, I had less free time, but I managed to balance my attention onto everything. The young mothers seemed to adore me and often brought cookies and delicious meals for me at the institute as a show of gratitude for the work I put in with their children, I often found myself not having to cook anything at home. Living here for the past three years has truly been liberating, however, I couldn’t deny it, I did find myself missing the posh lifestyle from time to time. Sometimes I would wake up in the morning and unconsciously reach for the bell to ring for my maids to come open the curtains and window for me. Or sometimes I would find myself sitting at my stand, painting, and if I forgot something I needed, I would scream the name of my most trusted maid, only to realize she wouldn’t be coming around. There were evenings when I was so tired I wanted someone to warm up the water in the bathtub for me and cook me a chicken noodle soup, but unfortunately, I now had to do all that by myself. I couldn’t complain, unless my body was aching from having a strenuous day, which happened less often lately. It was a comforting thought. It means that I was finally becoming familiar with the chosen lifestyle.

I had just finished up my lessons at the institution and after locking up, I walked to the market to see if I could buy some vegetables. It was late in the evening, but some vendors stayed out until the sun was setting. My favorite vendor was still there by the time I walked through the square and I quickly approached her, greeting her with a warm smile.

“Oh, dear,” She smiled back brightly, her hair a light gray color, “I had a feeling you would come by today, I waited for you.”

“You shouldn’t have, Mrs. Chwe.” I picked up two carrots and three potatoes, placing them in my handbag once Mrs. Chwe saw them, “Let me walk you back home, then. The sun will be soon gone, you shouldn’t walk alone.”

“Do not worry about me, dear.” Mrs. Chwe chuckled and handed me two tomatoes with a wink, “I know my way around here better than you do. Nobody casts a second glance at an old dame, unlike you—a beautiful young lady. You better head back quickly.”

I chuckled and grabbed ten pennies from my pouch, “I insist, Mrs. Chwe.”

“And I insist too.” She was a stubborn old lady, “You had a long day, I heard you stayed at the institute all day long. The headmistress stopped by not long ago.”

“Of course,” I chuckled and handed Mrs. Chwe the pennies. The headmistress loved to gossip and talk nonsense, it didn’t surprise me she was quick to let everyone know of my packed day. She was a lady I didn’t quite like, “Are you sure you don’t want me to wait until you pack up at least?”

“No, no.” Mrs. Chwe shook her head and ushered me away with her hand, “Go home and cook something tasty.”

“Alright, have a good night, Mrs. Chwe!” I bowed with a polite smile and the old lady waved briefly before she turned around with a sigh and started packing away the remained vegetables. I turned around and walked the way I have come, until the main road came to an end and I turned to the left, walking down the deserted street. People were getting inside their houses and getting ready for the evening, the squeals and laughter of little children in the gardens the only sounds besides my footsteps. I sighed and stared up at the sky for a brief moment, taking in the tranquility of the evening. I liked it when nobody was around after a long day. It allowed me time to shake off the stress and plan what I had to do the next day. I turned to the right, walking down a dirt path, small cottages on both sides. A few of my neighbors were out in the gardens or standing in their doorway, conversing with each other. My little cottage was second to last on our street and I walked up to the short stone covered path which lead to the back of the house, greeting my neighbor in the process as he was sipping his tea, holding a book to his face. The entrance was at the back of the house, and I didn’t mind. It was actually what convinced me to buy it. I liked the intimacy it offered. No one could see when I came and went, I knew a few mothers on our street liked to monitor everyone’s steps. I placed the handbag on the ground and reached for the key in my pouch, feeling around for it until I found it. As I pushed the key into the keyhole, I realized my door was unlocked. My eyebrows furrowed and I stared down at my hand, wondering whether I have locked it this morning or not. Did I not lock it? How could I forget such important thing? I scoffed and gently pushed the door open, grabbing the handbag off the ground and stepping inside. Dusk settled upon and it wasn’t bright anymore outside, or in the house, but you could still see well without a light source. As I closed the door behind me and looked ahead, I froze. There, an unknown man, was standing across from me in the room. His back was turned to me and his hands were behind his back as he seemed to be staring up at the wall. At my paintings. I stopped breathing, fearing that he could hear me. He probably heard me enter, yet he hasn’t moved. I carefully placed the handbag on the ground as I kept my eyes on the man, slowly and silently reaching for the vase standing on a stand to the left of the door. It was heavy and old, I brought it with myself from the castle. It was my great-grandmothers. It could also serve as a weapon if necessary. I took in the attire of the man and realized he wasn’t a lieutenant or soldier from the Navy, so he couldn’t have been sent by my mother. But then…who was he? His black cotton pants looked loose around his frame and I could see a white collar peeking out from underneath the heavy coat he was wearing. The jacket looked odd, old and patched up in multiple places, different fabrics stitched to the original one. I didn’t dare assume who this man was, but he looked like he wasn’t exactly a good guy. The second he hummed I knew I had to proceed, so I threw the vase towards him, aiming for his head, but before it could touch him, he jumped away. The vase crashed into the wall and shattered into million pieces, making me frown at the destroyed relic. My mother would kill me right now if she were here with me. The unknown man sharply whirled around, his face morphed into shock as he gasped loudly, dramatically.

“That could’ve been my head!” The man’s voice was squeaky as he pointed at the wall, which the vase initially hit. My eyebrows furrowed at the man’s words and I scoffed, eyes falling onto the pillows I had on the sofa. I didn’t dwell much on the thought just jumped on the couch and grabbed two bigger pillows as I hauled them in his direction. The man screeched as one hit him in the stomach and he suddenly took off towards me, face red.

“Stop right there!” I commanded, heart thumping wildly as I held another pillow out threateningly. The man suddenly froze and he eyed the pillow with narrowed eyes, scoffing when he looked back at me. His face was chiseled and sun-kissed, his jawline sharp. His full lips were cherry colored and his nose big and fitting for his face shape. His eyes weren’t too sharp and held friendliness in them despite the situation we found ourselves in, a mole stood proudly underneath his left eye.

“So, will you throw that one too?” He raised an eyebrow, taunting. His voice was smooth, sounded nothing like the screech he let out mere minutes ago. I gulped and glanced at the pillow I was holding before looking back at the stranger, a handsome one. Without saying anything I threw the pillow at him and he caught it easily, lips pulling up in a lopsided smirk. I quickly took the other two pillows, the last ones, and stood up, staring him down. He dropped the pillow and raised both hands in a motion of peace, but that moved his long coat, the handle of a sword glinting. I gulped before I looked back into his eyes.

“You don’t have to be so aggressive; I didn’t even do anything.” The man said with a tentative smile and my eyebrows furrowed.

“You broke into my home!” I answered incredulously and suddenly realized how smart it was to have soldiers littered around your castle. There was someone who’d be able to protect you from intruders, yet here I was, forced to defend myself on my own. I had to run away while I still could. I had no idea who this man was and what he wanted from me.

“Not my smoothest move, I admit—” The man cleared his throat, still holding his arms up, “But all of your windows were locked.”

“Of course, they were!” I exclaimed, irritated with the man, “So that they keep people like you out.”

The man chuckled and lowered his arms to cross them in front of his chest, “Yeah, and look where that got you—”

I threw one pillow forcefully, managing to knock it into the man’s face. I bit my lower lip to keep myself from laughing as his eyebrows were furrowed and he looked appalled, “Right as I was about to tell you how pretty those paintings are…”

I glanced briefly at my paintings, but took a step back when the man took one towards me, “Thank you, I made them myself. Will you kindly walk out of my house so that I don’t have to scream for my neighbors to call for the constable?”

“Would you not report me if I left now?” The man asked with both of his eyebrows raised and I smiled, remembering all those hours at the castle where I had to learn how to hide my own emotions and how to be persuasive.

“If you don’t harm me, I won’t.” I said softly and the man narrowed his eyes at me, leaning a bit forward, as if he was trying to get a better look at my face. I kept my face neutral and looked him back in the eyes, trying to read his emotions. But his face was a mask of blankness, just like mine, that is until he smirked smugly, stood up straight, and ran both hands through his jelled back black hair.

“I’m not here to harm you, princess.” I couldn’t help the involuntary flinch of my body at the mention of the title, but quickly covered it by starting to fidget around as if I was feeling nervous all of a sudden. The man watched me closely, same smirk still on his lips, “I’m not a savage like that, you know?”

“Then what do you want?” I asked quietly, feigning fear as I quickly made up my route of escape. I throw the pillow at his head again and dash for the door. Then I run down to my neighbor’s house and ask for help. Certainly this man wouldn’t follow through with his plans if I wasn’t alone anymore.

“Money, lots of it.” His answer sounded strangely genuine and I gulped.

“I don’t have much, but I can give it to you—”

“Here you don’t have much, princess.” The glint in his eyes suddenly made me nervous and I tensed, wondering whether that truly was just a nickname or he knew about my true identity. I let out a quiet breath and took the tiniest step towards the door, ready to proceed with my plan, “You wouldn’t have been able to bring much alone, right? Princess Oh Y/N?”

I gasped and gaped at him for a few seconds, millions of questions running through my mind. Who was he? Who sent him? How did he know? What did he want? But as he started looking smug again, I quickly jumped into action and threw the pillow at him, dashing for the door. I successfully flung it open and as I went to run away, a strong arm wrapped around my middle and yanked me back inside the house. I was pressed up against a hard chest and before I could scream, a foul-smelling handkerchief was pressed against my nose and mouth, the man forcing me to inhale it. I tried to wriggle out of his firm grip, but it was useless as suddenly the world started spinning around me, darkness wrapping around my mind before my body went numb, kidnapped by a dreamless sleep.

The first thing that bothered me was the overwhelming smell of cologne. It reeked of men in here as I blinked my eyes open, only to jump up from my sprawled-out position in the unknown bed. The room rocked from left to right violently and for a second I thought my head was spinning, but then I looked out the small circle window, eyes widening when a huge wave crashed against it. I whipped my head around, a horrible realization dawning up on me. I was in a room on a ship! My heart started thumping wildly as I jumped off the bed and stared with my mouth open at the two opened briefcases on the floor, filled with my belongings. Blank canvas and different colored acrylics were scattered around on the floor, and I looked down at my body, realizing that I was wearing my long black coat. That man! He kidnapped me! I wanted to throw something against the wall as I started pacing up and down in the room, realizing that whoever he was, his intentions couldn’t be pure. If we were still close to the shore, I could jump off the ship, and swim back to the beach. But if we were out in the open sea…I was doomed. Was he really here to take me back to my mother? I groaned as I ran my fingers through my hair, glancing at the door. Could it be unlocked? He wouldn’t be so clumsy to leave the door open, right? I hoped he was, because then I could try and escape. I took a deep breath and decided to try my luck as I walked up to the door and grabbed the doorknob. I counted to five before turning it and pushing the door open, making it horribly creak open. I grimaced and hoped nobody was in the corridor to hear it as I realized nobody stood in front of the door. My little moment of happiness was soon crushed as I went to take off towards the right but crashed into a firm chest, a gasp leaving my lips as I recoiled from the body. The sight of the same man who kidnapped me brought little comfort as he raised his eyebrows at me, hands placed on his hips, an almost scolding look on his face. I sighed and knew there wasn’t much I could do now, and as if he read my mind, he took a step towards me, making me take a step backwards.

“Escaping already, princess?” He asked with a chuckle, “I heard you’re good at that.”

My mother would’ve had a fit if she saw me rolling my eyes at the man. He took another step forward and I took another one backwards, back inside the room, “I don’t know who told you that I’m a princess, but they were wrong.”

The man’s face morphed into a fake pout, “I wonder how you made enough money in three years to buy that cottage then.”

“Sold the goods I owned.” My lie was too quick and simple. Nobody would believe it. He took another step towards me, making me back further inside the room.

“Sure you did, princess.” He scoffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, “There’s no use to lying, I can smell a princess from miles away when I see one.”

“Disgusting.” I scrunched my nose, making the man’s eyes widen.

“Not like that!” He defended himself quickly before he sighed, “You know…there’s a large sum promised to the one who brings you back to your kingdom.”

I gulped and took another step back when the man proceeded to walk closer, “I figured I should try my luck and try and find you. It was a lot easier than I expected, I bet your mother misses you like crazy.”

“Well, I don’t miss her.” I snapped and jumped backwards when the man reached out for me, “And I don’t want to return, so I demand you free me. I can still pay you lots of pennies and even gold—”

“Ah, ah.” The man smirked and I stumbled onto the bed when he took another step, too close for my liking, “I want the royal gold, not second hand one.”

“It wouldn’t be second hand!” My voice rose a few octaves, outraged by his assumption, “What do you take me for?!”

“A spoiled princess who thought she could get away until the end of times by hiding away in a painfully small village, way too close to her own kingdom.” I opened my mouth and was quickly left speechless as the man leaned down; head too close to mine for comfort. I tensed and leaned my head back a bit, looking up into his eyes. There was a playful twinkle in them and he licked his lips, chuckling, “I must admit, you look nothing like you were described.”

I gasped in offence, leaning back into the man’s face as I glared at him, “You are one to talk you—ogre!”

Indeed, I admit my insult was weak and didn’t even make sense. The worst thing was the shrill, high-pitched, almost crazy sounding laughter which left the man’s mouth, head thrown back as he started hysterically laughing. My cheeks flushed a deep shade of red as I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms in front of my chest, averting my eyes as the man started to calm down as he wiped away tears from the corner of his eyes, eyes falling on my face. I knew he could read the embarrassment on my face; it was futile to try and hide it now, “That’s the funniest thing anyone has ever called me.”

I huffed and refused to look at him, that is until I felt his soft hands wrap around my wrists. His hands felt cold as I glanced down at them and then back into his eyes. He had amusement still written all over his face, lips pulled up into a grin. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out what he was about to do.

“You truly are a princess, princess.” He chuckled, his hands moving mine away from my chest, “You can’t even curse me out normally.”

“Oh, I can.” I smirked at him, making him raise an eyebrow, “I just choose not to, my genius is above that.”

“What a well-educated and well-mannered princess.” The man whispered and I gulped as I got lost in his warm brown eyes. His hands didn’t feel too cold anymore, however I felt something foreign against the skin of my wrist, something harsh. By the time I looked down my right wrist was yanked towards the headboard of the bed by a rope around it.

“What are you doing?!” I exclaimed as I tried to free my other wrist from his grasp, but he was quick as he overpowered me and pulled my wrist next to my other one, the rope already binding them together. My mouth fell open as I tried to free myself, moving as much as I could so that he wouldn’t tie me against the bed, but it did nothing as the man made an intricate knot and huffed as if it was the hardest mission of his life to tie me up, “You—you monster!”

The man stood back with his hands on his hips, looking very unimpressed. He squinted his eyes at me and then smiled fakely, “I’m not a monster nor an ogre, princess, I’m a pirate.”

“That’s even worse.” I sighed out as I moved my wrists, checking to see if there were any chances I could free myself. The man chuckled and stepped back, looking down at my belongings.

“You’ll have to clean up this mess at one point, I hate it when a place gets messy—”

“You do it, then.” I cut him off with a glare, tugging on the rope to no avail.

“I’m not your servant, princess.”

“Stop calling me princess.” I snapped, eyebrows furrowed as a grin stretched onto his lips, “I have a name, you know.”

“And so do I, princess, but I don’t hear you calling me that.” I groaned as I threw my head back, wondering whether he was doing this on purpose. Trying to annoy me.

“Because I don’t know your name, pirate, that’s why.” For a second the man looked surprised and then he scoffed, acting as if he hadn’t forgotten he never told me his name.

“It’s Wooyoung.” The man, Wooyoung, said and I looked at him, his name oddly familiar. Perhaps I have met someone with the same name before.

“Thank you, pirate, now I’ll know exactly who the royal guard will have to catch..” Wooyoung suddenly became serious as he threw an unimpressed glare my way, before wordlessly walking away. I stared at him wide eyed as he left the room, grabbing the doorknob as he stopped in the doorway and glanced back. Was he about to leave me alone? Tied against the bed?!

“What are you doing?! Where are you going?!” But Wooyoung didn’t answer as he smirked and closed the door, which creaked very loudly once again, and then walked away while whistling loudly, leaving me annoyed and frustrated as I tried to free myself form the bounds, but the rope burned my skin the more I tried. I stopped and groaned loudly, kicking my feet, making a mess of the blanket which was underneath me. This couldn’t get worse, right?

Two days of pure anguish passed by way too slowly, my arms sore and wrists burning from being bound to the bed for so long. No matter how much I asked Wooyoung to release me at least when I was eating, he would act like he was thinking about the idea, and then he’d smirk and draw out a no, then walk out of the room and leave me on my own, struggling to even grab the fork to eat my meal. The food was rather good, but I would never tell Wooyoung; I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I appreciated at least one thing he did for me, which was as simple as bringing me food. In order to keep me alive, because eating is a necessity every human has. Even a princess. But to make matters worse, he’d leave the door slightly ajar, taunting me even more by how I couldn’t get to it. He made me want to conjure up all the swear words I knew and hurl them at him, curse him out like a sailor as if there was no tomorrow. Wooyoung was a very frustrating person. He would come and try and have a civil conversation with me, genuinely curious about the way I lived on my own for three years, and then suddenly, like a switch was flipped inside of him, he’d start grinning like a Cheshire cat, and the teasing that followed was relentless and sometimes even offensive. He loved pointing out the fact that I was a princess, and how I had everything always handed to me, acting as if I didn’t live on my own for three years without anyone’s acknowledgement of my true identity. He loved to blabber on about whatever he was supposed to do on deck, something about adjusting the sails accordingly to Jongho’s instructions, whoever that was. And then, as any regular man, he loved to show off his skills and talents. Yesterday while struggling to eat my dinner, he randomly pulled out his sword from his sheathe and took a step back in order to be able to show off his swordplay, shouting at nothing and stabbing the air as if his enemy stood there. I couldn’t help but gape at him, rice almost falling out of my mouth, which was very not princess like, until Wooyoung looked at me with the proudest expression on his face, making me burst out laughing. It was loud and so very unlike the way I would usually laugh, the feeling freeing, the shrillness of my squeals foreign even to myself. In my chaotic laughing fit I even managed to almost choke on the unchewed food in my mouth. Realizing what I was doing, I quickly covered my mouth with my hand and tried to quiet down, but one look at Wooyoung’s face made me burst out in laughter once again, tummy aching, as he looked at me with utmost confusion, eyebrows furrowed, and one hand on his hip as his other held the sword.

“Why are you laughing?” He had genuinely sounded offended, and I hiccupped as I forced myself to gulp down the food.

“Because—” I had to take a deep breath before continuing, “what are you doing, Wooyoung? Is this what pirates do? Fling their swords around in the air at nothing?”

“I’m not flinging my sword at nothing!” Aggravation filled his voice as he stared at me wide eyed, “I’m—I’m practicing this new technique San showed me.”

He didn’t sound very convinced, and I raised an eyebrow as I looked at him amused, “Is that it? Are you sure you aren’t trying to impress the princess?”

“As if!” Wooyoung scoffed appalled, and placed his sword back in its sheathe, “That’s least of my concerns.”

I grinned as I tried to lift the fork to my mouth to eat some more, “Yeah, well, I grew up around Navy soldiers, pirate, a weapon doesn’t impresses me anymore.”

“I wasn’t trying to impress you.” Wooyoung quickly defended himself, raising his chin high, the front strands of his hair falling back. His hair was relatively long, it framed over his face. I hated to admit it, but it looked really good. It suited him. I didn’t realize I had started staring until Wooyoung’s eyes snapped onto me, quirking an eyebrow as a smirk slowly etched onto his lips. I sighed loudly before averting my eyes, pretending that I wasn’t openly admiring him, just staring at him in disdain. I ignored the flush of my cheeks, knowing well that if I acknowledged it, then I would become embarrassed and blush even more. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he could make me blush. I dug around in my food, hissing when the rope cut into the skin of my wrist, unable to grab the last pieces of my rice, slowly becoming frustrated. I didn’t notice Wooyoung creeping closer, smirk still present on his face, clearly enjoying my struggle. I really hated being tied up. There was no logic behind it. Where would I run? Up on deck and then do what? Jump into the sea? I wasn’t suicidal, but it seems like Wooyoung didn’t want to understand that I had no intentions of running away. Because I had nowhere to run to. I hadn’t accepted my fate yet; I wasn’t going back to my Kingdom and to my castle, to my mother, to be locked up for an eternity while I wait for my long-lost betrothed. I didn’t want to rule. I didn’t even want to see my mother. I had asked Wooyoung to release me twice already, but he just shook his head and walked off whistling, a pleased look on his irritating face, annoying me like there was no tomorrow. I groaned quietly when I realized I wouldn’t be able to eat the last bite of my dinner, and clumsily threw the fork onto the plate, creating a loud clattering sound. I wonder how these porcelain silverware don’t break on a, sometimes, violently rocking ship. I raised my head with a loud sigh and my eyes widened when I found Wooyoung barely inches away from my face. He raised his eyebrows as I flinched back, putting distance between our faces, his breath fanned over my cheeks. I did not want him that close to myself. When he wouldn’t move away, I glared and placed the plate on the bed next to me, balling up my hands into fists, ready to fight if he tried anything. I didn’t know him and despite him looking harmless he was still a man, and a pirate. All the tales I have heard about them were horrible, and suddenly I felt unsettled as all emotion disappeared from Wooyoung’s face and he looked all over my face, as if he was trying to memorize my features. I gulped, suddenly flustered, my own eyes running over his handsome face. I always thought pirates would be ugly and old. Nobody has ever told tales of young and handsome pirates who returned princesses to their kingdoms. Wasn’t there a price on their heads? What horrible things has Wooyoung done? Suddenly, Wooyoung tsked, and I watched as his eyebrows furrowed.

“I swear,” He mumbled, rubbing his chin, leaning uncomfortably close, “I feel like I have seen you before.”

My heart somersaulted in my chest for an unknown reason, and my eyes briefly glanced at his plush lips, before I looked back into his eyes. I hoped he hadn’t seen my slip up, because I had a feeling he would definitely mock me for it later. Wooyoung, however, didn’t look familiar to me. I was positive I have never seen him before; his name, on the other hand, sounded peculiarly familiar.

“Of course, you have seen me before, idiot.” I snapped, trying to ignore the rapid beats of my heart, “I’m a princess. There’s portraits of me, you know?”

Wooyoung rolled his eyes, and finally, stepped back, but still not far enough. Our knees were touching as I sat by the edge of the bed, looking up at him as he huffed loudly, “I’m not talking about the portraits, silly.”

“Are you saying we have seen each other in person before, then?” I raised an eyebrow, intrigued by this peculiar thought of his. Where and how could we have seen each other before? It’s not like a pirate was often invited to join the socialite parties organized by the Queen herself. Unless Wooyoung wasn’t a pirate all his life. That thought made me gasp silently, and I allowed myself to look all over him again, eyes taking in his attire. Everything about his clothes screamed expensive and they looked fairly new. Not a speck of dust dirtied his outfit, and everything else looked exactly just like that on him, perfect. His buttons were all done, shirt tucked carefully inside his pants, and even the belt seemed to hang around his hips at a perfect angle. His hair, too, was styled and it seemed that he gelled it back in order to keep it out of his eyes. No dirt was smeared on his face nor clothes, and his stance seemed strong, shoulders pulled back, back painfully straight. I haven’t seen a pirate before, but this certainly wasn’t the way they looked. No matter how gentleman like they were.

“I doubt a princess like you roams places like the ones I do, so no, that’s impossible.” Wooyoung retorted, giving me a look which made it obvious that he thought I was dumb. My jaw clenched at his very subtle jab, but I just smiled at him sweetly, too sweetly.

“Unless you weren’t a pirate your whole life, Wooyoung, we might have crossed paths before then.” My sentence should’ve been laughed at, the thought quite out of place and nonsensical. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to be a pirate willingly. But the way Wooyoung’s body seemed to suddenly tense and eyebrows furrow was a reaction I did not expect. My eyes narrowed at him as he suddenly cleared his throat and stepped back, snatching the plate off the bed, “Do I happen to be right?”

Wooyoung didn’t answer straight away, just threw a glare my way before he grabbed the handle of his sword tightly. I eyed it as he scoffed, trying to play off the tense air around him, “A princess like you knows nothing, Y/N, stop being silly and shut up.”

“And a pirate like you wouldn’t be so defensive all of a sudden if I wasn’t right—”

“Ah, really, now.” Wooyoung cut me off with a smirk on his lips, again, leaning down to be eye level with me, “You just had to get mouthy when I was starting to debate whether to release you or not.”

My eyes widened as Wooyoung chuckled and ran for the door, just as my mouth opened, “Wooyoung! You nasty pirate, release me, right now!”

He was out the door before I could stop screaming at him, but he had the audacity to poke his head back inside with an amused look on his face, “You can’t command me around, I’m not one of your servants.”

“Yet you bring me everything I need, like a servant.” I fired back at it, a grin pulling onto my lips, the sudden anger disappearing for a few seconds, until Wooyoung slammed the door shut behind him without saying anything else. I let out a frustrated scream and trashed my legs around, until I registered the pain coming from my wrists, realizing I was straining the rope against the already damaged skin. My mother would kill me for turning up bruised after three years of not seeing me.

And I wished Wooyoung’s teasing stopped there, but it didn’t. The following day each time he came inside the room, he would somehow manage to pretend that he was going to release me, only to run away cackling as I just fell back against the hard mattress, biting my lip and blinking away the frustrated tears which threatened to fall. I did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. It wasn’t worth it. In four more days I would be released, perhaps I could survive that much. Hopefully the rope wouldn’t create an actual wound against my fragile skin. It was somewhere around late evening, the light coming through the small window barely strong enough to light up the room I was held in. I figured it was Wooyoung’s room when he came to retrieve fresh clothes this morning, of course mocking me for not having escaped yet. Perhaps if the bounds weren’t so tight I might’ve done just that. I was sitting on the bed, back pressed against the wooden wall, sighing as I played with the pencil in my hand. I somehow convinced Wooyoung to hand me my sketchbook and a pencil, desperate to do something since I couldn’t sleep and stare out the small window all day long. But the light wasn’t enough anymore for me to see the lines I was creating, and my wrist was aching from drawing all day long. Suddenly, the door was slammed open and I jumped, tensing as I thought it was someone other than Wooyoung, but it was him. He was holding a lantern in his hand as he strutted inside while whistling, looking awfully happy and smug, as he cast me a glance from the corner of his eyes. I scoffed and stared up at the ceiling, refusing to look at him after he pretended to cut the ropes while I was eating lunch today. I did not appreciate his humorless jokes. Especially since he was mocking me with them.

“Enjoying the sunset, princess?” Hearing the title roll of his tongue so smoothly only irritated me furthermore, and I refused to answer as he placed the lantern on the desk. He brought that in just for me, actually. But I’d rather sit in darkness than be tied up. Wooyoung paused and placed his hands on his hips, looking at me expectantly.

“Not in the mood to talk? That’s new, you always have something to say.” I had to steel myself from rolling my eyes at him as he jutted his lips out in a disgusting pout. How was this man a pirate? Even if he were to threaten me with taking my life, I wouldn’t be able to take him seriously anymore.

“I see you’ve been drawing today.” He muttered, more to himself, as he approached the bed. He leaned one knee against the hard mattress and leaned forward, grabbing my sketchbook. I wanted to swat his hand away, but I didn’t react as I kept ignoring him. Perhaps he’d get bored of teasing me if I didn’t react any way and he’d go away.

“Oh,” Wooyoung’s eyebrows rose as he glanced at me, “have you seen our ship before?”

We made eye contact but I didn’t answer him as Wooyoung raised his eyebrows even more, waiting for my answer. But I remained unresponsive and he rolled his eyes, “Fine, don’t talk then. The drawing looks eerily similar to our ship, princess. That’s why I asked.”

He was quite dumb if he thought a princess like myself has seen a pirate ship before, let alone this one. Wooyoung dropped the sketchbook into my lap, lips pulled in a straight line as he remained leaning close to me.

“I was in a good mood before I came to visit you, what a pity.” Wooyoung sighed dramatically, eyebrows furrowing and mocking my voice suddenly, “I really thought of releasing you, but—your attitude needs some fixing so I’m giving you a lesson by not setting you free, understand?”

That was the last straw. The tone of his voice, the mocking and malice laced into it made my blood boil as my head whipped forward, face scrunched into a scowl. Before Wooyoung could even react, his proximity allowed for my left hand to smack against his cheek. Despite it being the back of my hand, the slap was strong and loud as Wooyoung jumped back with a loud cry, holding his reddening cheek. His eyes were rounded as he stared at me in shock, and I was breathing hard, glaring at him furiously. Nobody moved or said anything for a few seconds, and suddenly I heard hurried footsteps barreling down the hallway, headed our way. Thanks to Wooyoung leaving the door open, I watched as two men tumbled inside the room, eyes wide and hands on the handle of their swords as they looked around, assessing the situation. They both were tall, but the one on the left was taller, and his black hair was wavy. The man next to him had sharper features and his long hair was pulled into a half ponytail, his corset showing off his delicate curves. My mouth slightly dropped open at the sight, hardly believing that these two handsome men were pirates. But suddenly, the taller one looked at Wooyoung and burst out into loud laughter as Wooyoung whined with a childlike frown.

“Seonghwa!” He exclaimed like a little kid, making me look at him with wide eyes. Why did Wooyoung sound like he was about to tell on me to his mother?

“What are you two—” The taller man’s laughter boomed around us, it brought a smile on my own face, and Seonghwa, the ethereal looking man, seemed to throw him a subtle glare as he had to raise his voice in order to be heard. But Wooyoung left him no chance to speak.

“The princess whacked me—”

“You keep teasing me—”

“Because you’re entitled—”

“I’ve been living on my own for three years, for Heaven’s sake, how am I entitled—”

“You’re still a princess and you keep commanding me around—”

“So you keep mocking me that you’ll release me only to walk away?!” Wooyoung and I were screaming over each other at this point, silencing the taller man’s laughter too, and making Seonghwa look at us puzzled, “It hurts! My wrists are sore and I can’t feel my arms, Wooyoung!”

“Well—well—” Wooyoung went to scream back something, but all he did was open and close his mouth, eyebrows furrowed as he started rubbing his cheek. The tall man snorted loudly, but one look from Seonghwa quickly silenced him. He pinched the bridge of his nose before he cast me a glance, eyes softening for a second, only to turn into a glare as he looked back at Wooyoung.

“Wooyoung,” He started, voice steady and soft, “Why is the princess tied up?”

My head whipped back to Wooyoung as I waited for his answer, glare burning into his forehead as Wooyoung seemed to be avoiding looking at me. He gulped, but said nothing. The taller man had to bite his lower lip as his body started trembling, on the verge of another fit of laughter.

“Yunho.” Seonghwa snapped, “Stop it.”

“Sorry.” The man mumbled, barely, as he rubbed his stomach and jaw, eyebrows furrowing in a funny way.

“Wooyoung, I asked you a question.” Seonghwa said with a sigh and Wooyoung suddenly crossed his arms, looking like a child.

“I tied her up, because—” Wooyoung shrugged, licking his lips as he rolled his eyes, “I wanted to.”

“You bastard!” I snapped, glaring at him, making Yunho snicker until Seonghwa elbowed him in the stomach harshly.

“Untie her, now.” Seonghwa said, crossing his arms in front of his chest, looking at Wooyoung unimpressed. He looked like a parent who was scolding their mischievous child. Definitely didn’t fit the image I had of pirates in my head. But perhaps Seonghwa was a leaderlike figure, because Wooyoung grumbled quietly to himself, but grabbed a dagger from his boots, and looked at me with a glare. If it weren’t for already knowing Wooyoung, I perhaps would have been scared to have a pirate look at me like that with a weapon pointed my way, but all I could do was smirk at him. Wooyoung scoffed as he very slowly approached me, drawing out the action on purpose, taking his time in cutting the ropes as Seonghwa and Yunho watched. The later more amused as he kept giggling, making Seonghwa sigh until he had enough and pushed Yunho outside. I let out a sigh of contentment when the ropes were finally gone from my skin and stared at my bruised skin, hissing as I touched it. This would certain require some time to heal and it also wouldn’t be as painless as I had hoped, but at least I was free. Wooyoung said nothing as he stormed off, punching Yunho’s shoulder in the process when he walked past him, making the taller man burst out into laughter again as he followed after his fellow mate.

“I’m sorry for the discomfort caused, princess, but I had no idea Wooyoung was treating you like that.” Seonghwa’s voice was oddly soft and friendly as he stepped further inside, grabbing the rope and gathering it up in his hands. His words made it sound like Wooyoung was doing something very horrible to me and I had the sudden urge to clarify the situation.

“He didn’t hurt me,” I spoke up, looking at Seonghwa warily as he shook his head slightly, “and he fed me regularly, it’s just that—I was rather frustrated by his constant teasing. Hence why I reacted the way I did, I know it wasn’t particularly nice.”

Seonghwa suddenly chuckled and looked at me with an amused twinkle in his eyes, “You’re rather protective of your kidnapper and captor’s actions, princess.”

“I am not!” My response was too quick, it made Seonghwa chuckle. I looked away embarrassed, and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“Well, then…” He cleared his throat and stepped back, pocketing the rope, “You’re free to do whatever you want while you’re on the ship, except jump into the water. I can assure you that we will not save you by sacrificing one of our own. Your mother wants you back safe and sound, princess, we’re not here to harm you, we’re here to collect the copious amount of payment.”

“You mean Wooyoung is? Since he was the one to find me…” My voice got small as Seonghwa hummed and headed towards the door.

“Indeed, Wooyoung is, but he’s nice enough to share it with his brothers.” Seonghwa grabbed the doorknob as he stepped outside, “I wish you a pleasant evening, princess.”

“You too, pirate.” I bowed my head as Seonghwa bowed his, and then he closed the door behind himself. I quickly jumped out of bed and stretched my legs and back, moaning at the pleasant feeling of my bones finally popping, and my muscles pulling. Wooyoung could’ve avoided all of this ruckus if he were nicer.

I couldn’t have been more excited to finally breathe in fresh air, so, after breakfast I was already up on my feet and changing into a baby blue silk dress, one of my favorites’, which I had brought with myself from the castle. It screamed richness as the collar was decorated with royal opal stones and it missed its matching headpiece, my tiara. I didn’t have the heart to bring that with myself when I left, scared that it would be a giveaway of my origins. After all, the royal opal was a significant gemstone of the Oh family and of the Sun Rise Kingdom. Seonghwa had been kind enough to show me where the washroom was, a small chamber with a barrel inside, which served as a bathtub; it was rather horrifying, until I reminded myself that I was currently on a pirate ship. I couldn’t wrap my mind around having to live like this. Wooyoung, for once, seemed to be avoiding me as he brought me breakfast and left wordlessly or without even glancing my way. I was ready to put our little shenanigans past us and greet him a good morning, but he barely stepped inside and placed the tray of food on the end of the bed before he was already gone, shutting the door after himself roughly. If it wasn’t for Seonghwa coming to check up on me thirty minutes later, I perhaps would’ve burst out crying from having to sit all dirty and coped up in this annoying pirate’s room, which still smelled strongly of cologne. This was also peculiar, because when I started walking down the corridors, all kinds of smells invaded my nose, making me feel nauseous. For a pirate, Wooyoung oddly smelled like a prince. Gripping the skirt of my dress, I slightly lifted it so that I could climb up the stairs, headed towards the blinding sunlight. The salty air felt refreshing as I arrived onto the deck, the wind slightly stronger than it usually would be on the beach back in the village I lived at. The sky was crystal clear, no clouds decorating it, and the vast sea was a beautiful deep blue, glistening and foaming as the ship sailed smoothly. I had approached the railing and looked over it, marveling at the beauty around myself, never having seen such sight before. When I escaped from my kingdom I was forced to hide under the deck the whole ride, I didn’t have the opportunity to look at the sea. There was something very calming and beautiful about it, I loved sitting on the beach in the evenings and watching the sunset. Suddenly, my heart clenched when I realized I would no longer be able to do that, the city where the royal Oh family resided was a four-hour long carriage ride away from the beach, my mother would never allow me to travel back and forth.

“Careful, you might fall over.” A very deep voice suddenly spoke up next to me and I was startled as I stepped back from the railing, looking to my right. A friendly looking man stood next to me; his lips pulled into a small smile. His angelic features didn’t match his low voice at all. I smiled at him and bowed my head slightly.

“Seonghwa told me you wouldn’t rescue me if that happened.” I said with a chuckle and the man’s eyebrows furrowed.

“That is quite incorrect, we don’t leave one of our own behind.” The man said with conviction and glanced past me, eyes slightly narrowing. I followed his gaze and my eyes settled on Seonghwa, who was gripping the wheel and holding a binocular to his eye as he gazed out towards horizon.

“Perhaps he was trying to scare me, then.” I chuckled and looked back at Yeosang, offering him my hand, “My name is Y/N.”

“My name is Yeosang.” He took my hand, and to my surprise, swiftly pressed a kiss against it, slightly curtsying, “Pleasure to meet you, Princess Y/N.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I pulled my hand back, having not been treated with such respect in the past three years. The feeling was foreign, yet it felt right. I didn’t miss it, but for the first time I felt like someone on this ship truly respected me. Unlike with Wooyoung, I could see myself becoming fond of Yeosang. And then, suddenly, there was a quiet squeak behind him, and he slightly turned his head, a fond smile appearing on Yeosang’s lips as he looked down. My eyebrows furrowed, and I tried to look over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. Then his lips moved, but his voice was low and the crashing of waves completely overrode his words. I stood watching curiously as Yeosang nodded, and suddenly, a head popped out from behind his shoulder. My eyes instantly widened as I looked at the young girl, her sharp eyes wide with wonder and admiration as her eyes quickly stopped on my dress.

“This is Hana.” Yeosang’s hand suddenly gripped the girl’s, their fingers intertwined. She looked so small next to him, she was smaller than even myself, and I wasn’t a very tall woman, “She’s shy, but she wanted me to tell you that she adores your dress.”

My lips pulled up into a wide smile as I beamed at her, gripping the fabric of my dress, “Thank you, Hana! It is my favorite dress, actually.”

“You’re pretty too, Princess.” Hana’s voice was velvety and quiet, but I heard her. I bowed my head and her eyes widened as she quickly bowed back, seemingly not knowing how to react. She was wearing clothes like the rest of the pirates, albeit the shirt seemed too big for her frame, and a belt held the pants against her narrow hips. She looked a bit malnourished, but her cheeks were full of color despite her pale complexion.

“Thank you, Hana, you’re very lovely yourself.” Hana’s lips pulled up into a huge smile and her head turned quickly as she beamed up at Yeosang. The man’s attention seemed to be on her only, his ears-tinged red, as he nodded at Hana, a proud glint in his eyes. Hana’s cheeks were pink and she hid herself behind Yeosang, completely disappearing. It was endearing watching the two, watching how Yeosang’s built frame offered the girl protection, shielding her from unwanted eyes and any harm.

“She’s still learning how to accept compliments.” Yeosang explained and I nodded, not wanting to probe for a reason, nevertheless still curious. Yeosang placed his hands in his pockets and slightly bowed his head, “We’ll be on our way, Princess, we’re quite busy today. Taeri and I have collected some new herbs, and I’m excited to make a new tea I have learned not so long ago.”

Taeri. So there was one more woman on this ship besides Hana. It felt nice knowing that I wasn’t the only female surrounded by slimy pirates, although they proved to be quite the opposite of slimy. Yeosang’s comment caught my attention, however, people who knew how to use herbs to make teas were usually healers, “Excuse me, Yeosang, do you happen to be a healer?”

“I’m a doctor, actually.” He corrected and I let out a sigh of relief before I slightly pulled the sleeve of my dress up on my left arm. Yeosang’s eyes fell onto my wrist, eyebrows furrowing when he saw the red skin and dark bruises, “That isn’t good. It hurts, right?”

I nodded wordlessly and noticed Hana just barely poking her head over Yeosang’s shoulder, standing on her tip toes, but she quickly cringed away when she saw the bruises. They didn’t even look that bad, but perhaps she had a reason why she reacted that way.

“I will stop by after lunch with some ointment and a tea, you’re staying in Wooyoung’s room, right?” Yeosang asked with a smile and I nodded with a long sigh, making Yeosang chuckle, “Well, then you’re never bored.”

“I wish I was.” I muttered as Yeosang and Hana passed by me, Hana slightly waving at me before hiding her face in Yeosang’s back. I chuckled and smiled after them, the scent of freesias’ strong as they passed by. I watched the two as they disappeared below deck, Hana bouncing off the stairs more freely when it was just the two of them. I couldn’t help but feel happy that nice people were present on this ship and that I felt like I was welcomed here. As I looked around, I noticed Seonghwa had abandoned his post and was leaning against the railing of the quarterdeck, nodding his head in acknowledgment as we made eye contact. Another man had taken his place at the wheel, significantly shorter than Seonghwa, and with eyes sharper, and an aura which screamed dominance. His hair was blonde and the back strands had reached his shoulders, a black cloth was wrapped around tightly over his shirt on his right bicep. It didn’t take long to realize he was the Captain. I sighed, and turned around, realizing that I still didn’t have much to do. I was free, but still captive in some way and since I was a princess on a pirate ship, I really couldn’t do anything else than stay in Wooyoung’s room all day long and come up on deck for some fresh air from time to time. And perhaps that was the smartest choice, because as I decided to head downstairs, I caught the eyes of some older looking pirates, which looked just like I had imagined them. They were leaning against some barrels, sharpening their knives and daggers as their eyes followed every movement of mine. I gulped and hugged myself around my middle as I straightened my back; a princess never shows weakness. The pirates chuckled, seemingly amused by my actions, and I held my chin higher as I went to take off, only for my upper arm to be gripped and slightly pulled back. The stench hit me first, before I could even turn around, and I yelped once I came face to face with a very old pirate who looked like, and smelled like, he hadn’t had a bath in years. One of his eye was fully white and his beard awfully outgrown, clothes ragged, and a stain on his cheek which I could only hope was some sort of oil.

“Royal flesh on the ship—” The pirate spat on the floor and I gasped, taking a step back but his grip on me didn’t allow for me to go too far, “Flaunting ye wealth while we rot away. Shark food is what ye are, rat. I might push ye over—”

“Easy, mate,” I never heard him approaching us, let alone unsheathing his sword, but it was pressing against the old pirate’s Adam’s Apple in a blink, “Don’t play with something that isn’t yours. Release her, now.”

“Claimed her as yers, eh?” The old pirate grinned sickly and a few of his teeth were missing, eyes twinkling as he looked Wooyoung in the eyes. I tugged on my arm, but the man’s grip wasn’t easing up just yet.

“The Princess is mine, mate, and I don’t like it when someone touches what’s mine.” Wooyoung’s voice dropped dangerously low and my eyes widened as I looked at him, his glare on the man menacing. The old pirate just laughed, a throaty and hoarse sound, before suddenly his grip was gone as Wooyoung’s sword was swiftly raised in the air, coming down towards the man’s wrist. The old pirate yelled and jumped backwards, clutching his unharmed wrist to his chest, eyes crazed and wide as he stared at Wooyoung, “Go tell your old little friends that if anyone touches the Princess their hands won’t be no more. Both hands.”

“The Captain will hear about this—”

“And he’ll do nothing about it,” Wooyoung smirked smugly as he pressed the sword against the wooden floor, leaning his weight against it as his hands rested on top of the handle, “I’m sharing the prize with him, do you think he won’t side with me?”

“Royal scum.” The old pirate spat and wobbled off, his comment making Wooyoung laugh as he placed his sword back onto its sheathe. I watched as the old man joined the pirates who had been previously eyeing me hungrily and spoke furiously to them, probably recounting what happened just seconds ago. Wooyoung looked at me for the first time today, and I couldn’t help but let out a shuddered breath. I wasn’t so safe on this ship, after all, and not all pirates were like Wooyoung. Or like Seonghwa, Yunho, and Yeosang. I subconsciously rubbed my wrist, wincing at the pain; I had forgotten they were bruised. Wooyoung’s eyes followed my actions and he gulped when I showed signs of pain, but didn’t speak up.

“Thank you for that.” I said quietly, suddenly feeling shy as I looked away. Wooyoung hummed and rubbed the back of his head, patting his sleeveless tank top down. His clothes seemed to be fresh once again. How did a pirate constantly wear a new set of clothes, wardrobe never seeming to empty out? Did they even have that much money? Why did the pirate say royal scum? Did he refer to me? Then why did he say it to Wooyoung? My eyebrows furrowed as I looked back at Wooyoung, who seemed rather modest despite helping me out. I thought he’d be smugger about it.

“No need to thank me, it’s the least I could do.” He shrugged and cleared his throat, “Uh, you’re—you’re not mine, I just had to make sure that man wouldn’t bother you anymore. Pirates tend to be…more possessive of what’s theirs so, uhm, by saying you’re mine I made it clear that if he touched you he’d be facing punishment.”

I could’ve sworn Wooyoung was blushing, but he turned his head around, pretending to be looking for someone as his eyes searched the deck. I appreciated his explanation, but for some weird reason I didn’t find it infuriating that he pretended to claim me. By no means was I an object to be claimed, but the way he said it…it felt different. Like it meant more than just a simple claim. Before my thoughts could steal me away from reality, a man called out for Wooyoung.

“Stop flirting with the Princess and bring your ass over here!” It was Yunho, and he was standing next to a man I hadn’t met yet, but he was glaring at the arm Yunho had slung over his shoulders before he went and brushed it off, “Jongho is upset again, you overslept and didn’t do your duties.”

Wooyoung groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as he glanced back at me, “Sorry, princess, but I have to tend to my real duties now.”

I couldn’t help but allow a smirk to sneak onto my lips, “So, you do admit that the other day you were just trying to impress me if whatever you’re about to do is your real purpose on this ship.”

“Yeah, I—what?!” Wooyoung exclaimed appalled and his eyebrows furrowed, “I wasn’t trying to impress you, stop making things seem like something they aren’t!”

“But you just almost confessed to it.” I smiled sneakily and Wooyoung groaned.

“Go have a beauty sleep, princess, you look like you need one.” I gasped, but before I could throw an insult back at Wooyoung, he ran off to Yunho and Jongho, I assume, getting tackled into a headlock by the man I wasn’t familiar with yet. I held my chin high and turned around, storming down the stairs and towards Wooyoung’s room, knowing that he stored a mirror in one of his drawers, eager to see whatever he was talking about. There was no way I didn’t look spectacular today, I made sure there were no signs that I barely got a wink of sleep since I had gotten onto the ship. Outrageous. Wooyoung was so annoying.

Another day had gone by fast without much happening on the ship. Wooyoung was busy with that Jongho pirate, apparently he had been slacking off lately and the Captain had summoned him this morning, asking for an explanation. When Wooyoung didn’t show up with breakfast, I thought about wandering around in search for the kitchen, but Seonghwa beat me to it as he brought me breakfast and let me know that I might be seeing less of Wooyoung the following days. I didn’t mind, in fact, I was grateful that he wouldn’t chew off my ears anymore; at least now I had a little bit of peace of mind before we reached my Kingdom and castle. It gave me time to figure out a plan which would help me escape my mother once again. I knew she’d hate me and probably exile me from the Kingdom, but it’s exactly what I wanted. To get rid of my royal duties as next in line to the throne. I didn’t want to rule in a place which felt like a prison, in a place which wasn’t complete without its King, and in a place where I would never be taken seriously. All of my mother’s advisors dislike me, and had always been against me inheriting the throne, always encouraging my mother to try for another baby in hopes of it being a boy so that he’d bear the crown. But my mother didn’t want another child as her labor was difficult with me and she almost lost her life in the process of giving birth. I was her only hope, and despite that, all I kept doing was disappoint her. I should’ve felt bad about it, but I stopped caring when she started becoming more and more demanding and pressuring. Perhaps if I could somehow convince her that I was back for good and intended on staying, that I have matured and grown to regret my decision, I would earn her trust again, after all I am her only child, then perhaps she’ll crown me and unknowingly fall into my trap. She’d willingly and legally hand over all the fortune which I would run away with later, once I have ruled for enough time to get everyone off my back. But for that…I need someone on my side, someone who would help me. But who would be that person? I didn’t know many people who would do that for me, let alone whom I trusted enough to tell the plan to. Perhaps…would a pirate be interested in playing along with me if I promised enough gold in return for their services?

That was a question I didn’t know the answer to, and I sighed as I glanced back up at the horizon, sky coated in dark shades of pink mixed with purple and a little bit of orange. The sun was setting, creating a beautiful landscape as the ship swayed gently side to side. A few clouds decorated the sky here and there, promising a storm free night. The breeze was gentle as I sat by the railing, feet pushed through the gaps and dangling off the side of the ship as I swayed my legs from time to time, trying to avoid numbness in them. My right hand held my sketchbook as I held a dark blue crayon in my left hand, drawing out the waves onto my drawing. A few more colored crayons sat carefully by my thigh as I made sure they wouldn’t roll away; my heart would break if I lost any colors. I couldn’t live without painting or drawing; it was the one thing I couldn’t leave behind alongside with my title.

The setting was peaceful, and I enjoyed the fresh air and solitude for as long as I could, no pirate in sight as the deck was empty. I thought they never left the deck unsupervised, but perhaps so far out in the sea there were no dangers of other people showing up. Or perhaps these pirates were just confident about their combat skills and they didn’t have to be on the lookout at all time. However, the girl sitting next to me was so quiet, that I completely forgot about her existence if it weren’t for her sneezing, making me jump. My eyes widened as I turned my head and looked at the petite girl, her cheeks rosy as she looked away embarrassed. She has been sitting by my side for the past hour, not saying a word, just watching my drawing. She looked curious as her wide eyes watched carefully each swipe of my hand, her fingers sometimes itching as she reached out, only to sit back and place her hands underneath her thighs. I didn’t know if she whether wanted to be acknowledged or not, so I remained silent, and allowed her the choice to speak up or remain silent. She seemed content in my presence, and it made me smile to myself as she gasped when I created ripples in the water on my sketchbook, leaning forward on her hands as she pocked her head closer.

“Are you feeling cold, Hana?” I asked as I stopped drawing, looking at the younger girl. She jumped and quickly leaned back; cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Her nose was red and she had started sniffing as she sneezed again. When Hana realized I wouldn’t continue drawing until she gave me an answer, she quickly shook her head no. I nodded, but decided to take off my shawl from around my shoulders, and hand it over to her. Hana eyed the piece of clothing curiously, reluctantly taking it, “You keep sneezing, wear it, so you don’t catch a flu.”

“Oh, Princess—” Her eyes widened as she bowed her head deeply, her hands clenched, “I really shouldn’t—”

“You most certainly should, Hana,” I chuckled and placed the shawl on her lap, “I insist. Besides, I’m sure Yeosang would be rather worried if you suddenly were to become sick.”

“I’d rather not have him worried about me again…” Hana whispered and quickly wrapped the shawl around her shoulders, the orange fabric complementing her skin tone. I hummed and went back to drawing, the late evening breeze was colder, and it made goosebumps erupt on my skin. I should follow my own advice, and head back to Wooyoung’s room soon, get ready for bed and dinner. It wouldn’t be long until he’d bring me dinner, perhaps I still had time to quickly wash up. I watched from the corner of my eyes as Hana followed each movement of my hands with her eyes, lips opened in awe, looking like she was trying to memorize each line I was drawing.

“Tell me, Hana,” I spoke up as I grabbed the orange crayon, “Do you happen to enjoy drawing?”

Her eyes widened and she nodded eagerly, her lips pulled into a wide smile, “I do, Princess! I have made a few sketches myself ever since Yeosang gifted me some canvas and pencils.”

“I actually prefer to paint, but I think the pirates would’ve been outraged if I brought my whole equipment up here.” I rolled my eyes and Hana chuckled, hiding her blush with the shawl.

“Some of them are actually really nice, and Taeri is very helpful and attentive—” Hana abruptly looked away, it looked like she was about to cry, “they take good care of you here, it’s weird. I bet you expected them to be barbarians, Princess, and yet sometimes these men act like little children.”

I laughed quietly and nodded, thoughts straying to Wooyoung. He definitely didn’t act like a pirate, his antics resembling that of a spoiled little child. Taeri I have met earlier today, when she came to Wooyoung’s room, asking if I needed anything or if Wooyoung was bothering me in any way. She had a very motherly aura as we conversed, and I was surprised to find out that she had been living on the ship for ten years now, a pirate herself. Before our conversation could stray to the reason why I ran away from home, Yunho came looking for her, boyish grin on his lips as Taeri told him she’d be joining him in a second. Apparently, they had to check out the supply room, making sure we had enough of everything until we reached land. As I went to close the door after Taeri and Yunho’s departure, I caught a glimpse of Yunho pressing his lips against Taeri’s neck, pushing her down the corner as they disappeared from sight. I closed the door with a shake of my head, wondering if Wooyoung had anyone like Taeri in his life. The thought was sudden and surprising, and before I could dwell more on it, I quickly shook my head and went to dig through my briefcases, searching for something which would keep me warm if I went up on the deck.

“They certainly left an impression on me,” I said with a chuckle, making Hana nod, “but I can’t help feel resignment towards them, especially Wooyoung. He’s the one who captured me, and he is the reason why I’ll be seeing my mother in just a few days—”

“But being a princess must be so nice, I can’t find a reason why I would run away if I was in your place, Princess.” Hana cut me off, words tumbling out of her mouth eagerly, as her eyebrows were furrowed. I hummed and looked off in the distance, eyes unfocused as my grip loosened on my sketchbook. Yes, perhaps, this is how outsiders think of a privileged life. They don’t really have a chance to find out about our hardships, and even then, are we allowed to whine and complain? Are we allowed to wallow in desperation when other people have it so much harder? When other people barely have anything, and are fighting to survive day to day, meanwhile I cry myself to sleep because my mother wouldn’t allow me to paint unless I have attended my etiquette class? As I turned to look at the girl next to me, I couldn’t help but wonder about what her life was like. Wonder what her biggest worries and fears were, anything which would take my head out of the gutter and ground me back to reality. Here I was, on the verge of throwing a fit about not wanting to return home, when the girl next to me seemed to jump at any loud sounds, seemed to become smaller when a man came into sight, seemed to hesitate every time she spoke up, seemed to have scars peeking out from underneath her long sleeves. She was pure and innocent yet the look in her eyes made her look older, tired, and horrified of the world around her, as if she’s seen horrors nobody else has. I didn’t have it in me to tell her the reason why I didn’t want to return home, it felt like I would be making fun of her, taunting her even, so, instead I dodged her question as best as I could.

“Please, call me just Y/N,” I smiled at her and watched as her cheeks turned pink, “I haven’t been a proper princess for three years, it doesn’t feel right.”

“Oh, alright, I shall do that—” Hana seemed to struggle for a second until she ducked her head and whispered, “Y/N.”

I smiled fondly at her and nodded, looking down at my almost finished drawing. The sun had almost disappeared and the air has turned cold, making me shiver. I grabbed a purple crayon and quickly finished the sketch, bringing it up to my eyes, making sure it was finished. I could see Hana lean closer, wide eyes filled with curiosity as I turned towards her and handed her the sketchbook. She looked surprised, but eager as she took it from my hands, staring at the sketch in awe. Her small fingers delicately traced the same lines I had done minutes ago, eyebrows furrowed as she examined my technique.

“It’s for you, Hana, you can keep the drawing.” I found myself saying, taken aback when Hana looked at me with tearful eyes. She was smiling still, but she looked overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to do or say, taken aback by her reaction, so I settled for, “It’s a gift, so you can’t refuse it.”

It made Hana cry and my eyes widened as I panicked, thinking that I have said something wrong, but she quickly clutched the sketchbook to her chest, and smiled so widely her cheeks must have hurt, “Nobody has ever given me a gift so beautiful!”

I felt my heart warm at her words and I chuckled, leaning forward to wipe a tear off her cheek, “Don’t cry, Hana, your eyes will be puffy in the morning.”

She giggled and wiped her tears away quickly, bowing her head in thankfulness, “Thank you, Princess Y/N.”

“You said you only had pencils?” I raised my eyebrows as I grabbed the crayons from next to me. Hana nodded as she carefully ripped the page I have gifted to her out of the sketchbook before she handed it back to me. I took the sketchbook and grabbed her wrist, turning her palm, “Take the crayons too. The world would be so grim without colors, I’m sure your drawings will look even prettier with them.”

I placed the crayons in her palm and Hana gasped, gaping at me as I stood up and dusted off the skirt of my dress, bringing my arms around myself in order to try and warm up. Hana scrambled to her feet, and having noticed that I was feeling cold, she went to hand back the shawl, but I stopped her with a raise of my hand, “Keep it, I have plenty of shawls like that one.”

“Oh, Princess—” She brought a hand to her mouth as her lower lip trembled and I just chuckled, feeling slightly concerned. What has happened to this girl before that she was reacting in such way? I’ve never seen anyone so overwhelmed at the simple action such as receiving gifts, “I am so grateful! Thank you so much! I don’t—I don’t even know how to repay you—actually! Come join us for dinner tonight…Ara will sing for us, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Her voice is so pretty, and she’ll be so happy to sing for a Princess like you, Y/N.”

“There’s another girl on the ship?” I asked surprised, eyebrows raising as Hana grabbed my arm softly, and started pulling me towards the stairs.

“Yes, but she rarely leaves her room. She’s—” Hana stiffened for a second, I wouldn’t have caught it if she didn’t stop walking, “San doesn’t like letting her out of his sight, he’s—Would you like to meet Ara before dinner?”

I listened to Hana with furrowed eyebrows, taking in the new information, slightly confused about who San was. Wooyoung mentioned him once briefly, something about learning something from him, but I haven’t seen the man yet. I hadn’t even known there was another woman on the ship, nobody ever talked about her, it was peculiar. But Hana seemed very eager, and so I nodded, not wanting to ruin her good mood as she pulled me after herself, leading us underneath deck. She turned to the left and walked down the corridor, we passed by four doors, until she suddenly stopped walking. I almost ran into her, but noticed in time. Hana was suddenly tense, and I looked down at her, eyebrows raised, but she quickly let go of me and pressed herself up against the wall.

“Her room is the last on the left—” A loud crashing sound echoed down the corridor and Hana sucked in a deep breath, “I—I can’t go closer, I’m sorry, I should walk you there, but I—”

“It’s fine, Hana.” I stopped her rambling, offering her a comforting smile. Hana gulped loudly and nodded, looking down at the floor, “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

She nodded quietly and slipped past me, figure tense, “I’ll see you at dinner then, Y/N. Thank you for the gifts.”

“Of course, I’ll see you later then.” I bowed my head back as Hana curtsied, and turned back towards the end of the corridor, wondering why Hana wouldn’t walk me to Ara’s door. I thought she would like to see the girl, but perhaps I was wrong. I sighed and took off again, but the closer I got, the louder the voices were from one room. As I came face to face with the door Hana told me about, the mentioned voices seemed to come from inside, loud and angry. It was mainly a male voice, shouting about something he didn’t care about as he claimed that it was his job and nobody could stop him from doing it, and then, a shrill feminine voice shouting back that he couldn’t do this, that he was hurting people and ruining lives. I gulped and was about to walk away when the feminine voice shouted for the man to get out, and suddenly, the door was ripped open and I found myself face to face with a fuming man, who’s sharp eyes looked like they could kill anyone if he stared at them long enough. His chest was heaving, jaw clenched as he took me in. I glanced behind him and found a shorter girl, crying, as her big brown eyes stared back at me. Why were all the girls crying here? Suddenly, the man hissed, and I straightened my back, giving him a glare.

“What do you want?” He snapped, glaring me down.

“Is that Ara?” I asked as I glanced at the girl again, who was quick to wipe her tears away and pat her short hair down.

“What do you want from her?” The man now blocked my path, chest puffed out and stare pinning me to my place. But that wouldn’t work on me, I have been facing scarier looking men compared to him since a young age.

“I would like to talk to her—”

“No, walk along now—” The man didn’t even let me finish my sentence as he cut me off, nose flaring as he became angrier. Perhaps this person was San, Hana did say he never let Ara out of his sight.

“I am here,” I was the one to cut off his words now, taking a step closer as we stared each other down, “to talk to Ara. Whether you like that or not, it will happen, pirate. Step aside.”

The man scoffed and narrowed his eyes at me, sneering, “We aren’t in your fucking palace, Princess, you won’t command me around. Do you even know who I am?”

I chuckled, crossing my arms in front of my chest, “Do I have to know? Clearly, you are a very overbearing person who’s getting on my nerves right now. You should do what I ask while I’m being nice, pirate.”

“Listen here, spoiled brat—”

“That is not how you talk to a Princess!” Ara shrieked and before the man or I could react, she was by his side, pulling him away from me. I watched the two with narrowed eyes, glaring at the man as he scoffed, but looked at Ara when she grabbed his bicep, “San, treat her with respect, she’s royalty. The next Queen.”

“I don’t give a fuck about who she is.” He chuckled, but it was humorless. Ara bit her lower lip and spare me a quick glance before she took a deep breath.

“San, please—”

“I said no, Ara, you’re not going with her.” San snapped, and shook Ara’s grip off himself, “So that she can feed more bullshit into your head?! Like Taeri has? No, Ara. Get lost, Princess.”

San’s eyes snapped onto me, glaring as he went to slam the door in my face, but before I could react, Ara was stood in front of him, standing in the doorway, and not allowing him to close it. I watched with furrowed eyebrows as Ara grabbed San’s cheeks and brought their foreheads together. San’s body grew tense and his jaw clenched as the girl clung onto him.

“Please,” Ara’s voice was barely over a whisper, I strained my ears to hear her words, “I—I will stop. Everything. San, please, let me walk with her. No more Taeri, I will never talk to her again, I promise just—let me talk to the Princess. It’s my only chance to be around royalty, you know that.”

San swiftly grabbed Ara’s nape, leaning slightly down so that they would be eye to eye. He raised his right hand and pointed his forefinger at the woman, “You better keep your word, angel, or else you will regret it.”

Ara nodded wordlessly and after an uncomfortable moment of silence, San released her and stepped back, sharp eyes falling on me. His demeanor seemed to change, he almost looked calm, almost. He pointed his finger at me, “You have twenty minutes with her.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I grabbed Ara and pulled her out of the room, slamming the door after ourselves. My blood was boiling as I took a deep breath, trying to assess the situation and the relationship these two seemed to have. Ara was an anxious mess next to me as she fidgeted with her fingers and when I glanced at her, she gasped.

“I am so sorry, Princess, he shouldn’t have treated you like that nor spoken to you like that! San has issues controlling his temper, I can assure you that he didn’t mean any of that—” I placed a hand over Ara’s shoulder, she quickly averted her eyes.

“Do not apologize for him, Ara, and do not defend him when he behaves like that with you. He meant everything he said, no need to try and turn his words around.” I couldn’t help but feel aggravated as Ara chewed on her lower lip, suddenly bowing deeply.

“I apologize profusely, Princess, this is certainly not the way I hoped to see you for the first time—” She suddenly sniffed and my heart clenched, “I am so embarrassed right now, I can’t even put it into words.”

I sighed and grabbed Ara’s hand, making her stand up straight. I offered her a small soft smile, raising her chin up as her eyes were filled with tears, “Your actions are admirable as many would’ve cowered in front of him. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Let us walk then…”

Ara forced a smile onto her face as she stood next to me, and we took down the corridor. I had no idea where we could walk to, but perhaps going to Wooyoung’s room for starters was a good idea. If she didn’t leave her room often, I didn’t know if bringing her on the deck was too smart, maybe it would make San leash out on her again, and I didn’t want that to happen.

“My name is Y/N, Hana told me you would be singing after dinner tonight?” I spoke up when the air was filled with tension. Ara’s shoulders were suddenly pulled back, her demeanor changing scarily fast, as a very charming smile appeared on her lips.

“Yes, Princess Y/N, I shall be your entertainer tonight, my name is Im Ara.” She curtsied quickly and I chuckled, intrigued by her change of character.

“Have you entertained aristocrats or royalty before?” I asked curiously, her attitude way too professional. It certainly didn’t seem like this would be her first time speaking to important people.

“You would be the first one, Princess Y/N.” Ara bowed her head slightly and I looked at her surprised as we reached Wooyoung’s room. It was on the other end of the corridor from San’s room.

“What is an entertainer and a beautiful lady like you doing on a pirate ship?” I asked, genuinely curious, as I pushed Wooyoung’s door open, the room empty. He was always absent before dinner, I wondered where he disappeared to every day. Ara seemed to tense because of my question as I led her inside, suddenly embarrassed about the mess in the room. My things were thrown all around the room, dresses falling out of the briefcases messily, and my paintings were laying around on the floor. Ara took in the sight surprised, but when we made eye contact she quickly masked it with a pleasant smile and placed her hands behind her back.

“I was kidnapped by San.” The look on her face didn’t match her words, and my eyebrows furrowed as I stared at Ara, waiting for her to tell me the real reason. But when she just continued staring at me with an emotionless smile on her face, my stomach dropped.

“He—you what?” I asked shocked, and Ara’s smile fell as her face turned solemn.

“I was walking home from the Inn I worked at one night. My boss warned me that Ateez were in town, but I thought I was safe, that nothing would happen to me. That’s when San kidnapped me to sell me off to a wealthy man, but as you can see…I had the misfortune of staying with him—”

“This is horrible!” I gasped as I placed a hand over my mouth, watching her in horror as Ara seemed unaffected by whatever she was saying. Like she had accepted her fate.

“I begged him to let me stay with him, I wanted this,” She sighed, her shoulders slouching forward, “Trust me, Princess, staying here and living with him is a lot better than whatever fate was waiting for me once I was sold.”

I shuddered just at the thought of getting sold off by someone, “Does he do this often?”

Ara chuckled humorlessly, “It’s one of the many businesses he gets by, we were just arguing about it earlier before you came. I don’t understand why I bother to try to change his mind, it’s fruitless. But I—I can’t just stand by and watch as he ruins so many lives—not when I went through that. Not when I know the kind of thoughts which cross your mind during those moments, the dread which fills your body, the despair and uncertainty of what will happen to you. I have to stop him, Princess, I’m trying so hard, but he’s—too strong. He holds too much power, and he doesn’t care at all about the consequences of his actions.”

“He seems to care, since he gave in so quickly to you.” I muttered and Ara shook her head sadly.

“He only gave in because he got something out of it.” I gulped at Ara’s words, feeling the weight of them.

“Will you—stop? What you were doing before, whatever that is?” I inquired quietly, and suddenly there was a glint in Ara’s eyes, but she quickly masked it as she frowned, looking around with fake sadness etched onto her face.

“It’s best if I don’t bother a Princess with such topics, isn’t it?” I smiled, understanding the hidden message in her words, and hummed, looking around, eyes falling on my gowns. I looked back at Ara, noticing her gaze on the gowns too. I smiled and walked up to the briefcase, picking up a beige colored cotton gown, glittering golden like stripes decorating the long sleeves of it. Ara’s eyes widened as she stared at it longingly. I let my eyes run over her form before I looked down at the gown, mentally comparing her frame to my gown. She was slightly taller than me, but seemed to be around the same dimensions as myself, so, with a big smile I extended the gown towards her. Ara’s eyes widened as she looked at me, taking a step back taken aback.

“What—what are you doing, Princess?” She asked alarmed. I chuckled and approached her, pulling her hands from behind her back.

“The entertainer must look stellar when on stage, especially if they have a Princess in their audience.” Ara’s eyes widened as she grabbed the gown, hugging it to her chest, “I think it will fit you nicely, Ara.”

“Thank you, my Princess,” Ara bowed her head deeply, beaming with happiness, “I will forever be grateful and indebted to you.”

“Oh, well,” I chuckled and waved her words off, “you could start by simply calling me Y/N, and I suppose your debt would instantly disappear.”

“I could never do that, Princess!” She gasped and watched me as if I had two heads, “You deserve respect and to be properly addressed to.”

I chuckled and pretended to think, “Well in that case, keep the gown. It’ll show just how grateful you are.”

Ara’s eyes widened and she bowed again, making me bow back, alarming her as she quickly pushed me to stand up straight. I giggled and Ara huffed, as if I had been a disobedient child antagonizing her. She seemed lovely and very well mannered.

“I shall go and get ready, I look forward to seeing you later, Princess.” Ara curtsied and I nodded with a smile, waving at her as she left the room. As I went to close the door after her, I heard a high-pitched squeal echo down the corridor, making me chuckle to myself as I debated whether I should wear or not a representative dress of the Oh family to make Ara even happier.

I didn’t want to out dress Ara as I had given one of my most beautiful gowns to her, but I knew she would absolutely love seeing me in the Oh family’s colors, therefore I chose to wear a dress which has been passed down for generations. It was a cotton dress, dark blue with silver highlights and a belt decorated with royal opals. The dress was heavy and different from the gowns in our times, but it always had a special place in my heart. I couldn’t leave it at the castle, secretly hoping that I would have a reason to wear it at least once. And Ara offered me just that chance, making me feel excited as I pulled the front strands of my hair back and tied them into a braid. The dress was warm and I was thankful as I had been feeling rather cold since coming back downstairs, the fabric sitting snugly against my body. Once I was ready, I left the room and searched for the kitchen a little confused, each room’s door was closed on this corridor and no loud chatter came from the insides. Pirates wouldn’t be so quiet at dinner, right? And then, just as I was about to give up, I remembered the corner Taeri and Yunho rounded yesterday, and I headed towards it, finding a new set of stairs leading downstairs. I grabbed the skirt of the dress and raised it above my ankles as I carefully made my way downstairs, finding less doors on this hallway. And just as I took off towards the right, the louder chatter I expected echoed down the hallway, a cacophony of sounds as I couldn’t make out one comprehensible word. The door was closed, yet it wouldn’t make much difference if it wasn’t, in my opinion. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, pulling my shoulders back as I exhaled. I knew everyone would be staring at me, especially when I was wearing such a dress screaming of my origins and wealth. I had to remind myself that I was doing this for Ara, that thought would stop me from running back to Wooyoung’s room. The woman seemed so sad and tired, I felt like this was the least I could do to cheer her up. She held so much respect and admiration for me as we talked, my heart would break if I were to disappoint her. So, masking all emotions from my face, I placed my hands in front of me and straightened my back as I pushed the door open, pretending that I was walking inside the throne room during one of my mother’s extravagant balls. You don’t look at anyone, you don’t make any faces. You can’t hear and you can’t see. You focus on how you walk and hold your chin high, shoulders pulled back. Your one and only mission is to reach your chair next to your mother. These were the words I was taught in etiquette class, I never thought I would have to actually remind them to myself. Especially not on a ship infested with pirates.

As I stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind me, startling me, but I didn’t react. The chatter continued for another split second, until the vast kitchen went completely silent, all eyes on me. My blood froze over and suddenly I started sweating as all the pirates stared at me, some openly gawking. I didn’t know where to sit. I didn’t even know if I was welcomed here. The older pirates watched me as if I were a prize, something they could play with until they got bored of. It made my skin crawl as I stepped further inside, eyes sweeping over the long table. There weren’t many vacant places, and I noticed Wooyoung’s absence from it. Where was he if he wasn’t having dinner? Seonghwa had a pleasant smile on his lips as he nodded briefly in acknowledgment, however, the cat-like eyed man next to him didn’t look too pleased as he took in my attire. He was the Captain. Hana was nestled close into Yeosang’s side as she sat in between him and Taeri, who’s lips were pulled into a huge smile as she stared at my dress. Yunho was grinning as he nudged the man sitting next to himself, who’s mouth had fallen open at the sight of me, and I could see the rice he still hadn’t chewed, making me scrunch up my nose in disgust. He quickly closed his mouth and looked away embarrassed, pressing a ring clad hand against his face in an attempt to hide himself from my eyes. I almost chuckled as Yunho started whispering something to him, making the man’s eyebrows furrow as he elbowed him. I noticed San wasn’t here, nor was Ara. Would she not sing tonight? Did I mess up by interfering with their fight and by giving her the gown? My heart beat picked up as anxiety coursed through my veins; perhaps coming here was a mistake. And then, suddenly, I heard dishes clanking loudly, and suddenly, Wooyoung’s head popped into view as he gaped at me blatantly. He threw his hands out and gesticulated towards my body, face scrunched up in shock and mild disgust.

“What are you wearing?!” He asked alarmed, eyes taking in the ancient piece of clothing, “What if food gets on it?! That’s anci—”

My eyebrows furrowed as Wooyoung sharply sucked in a breath, cutting himself off. He seemed dumbfounded by his own reaction as he gulped loudly, adjusting his shirt all of a sudden as he averted his eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him and stepped closer, his words replaying in my mind. Did he just recognize my dress? Of course, it wasn’t hard to recognize when it screamed of royalty status, but those who weren’t in close contact with the royal families wouldn’t know the real meaning of it, or the ancestry of it. Royalty were taught about each other’s emblems and relics, family heirlooms, and anything which was representative of their family’s name. Unless Wooyoung was seriously invested with royal families stories, he had no reason knowing about the origins of my dress. He couldn’t have so easily recognized it as if it was burned into his memory. Suddenly, someone from the table cleared their throat and spoke up.

“Wooyoung, your food will get cold, come sit and eat,” It was Seonghwa, voice pleasant as he gestured towards the empty seat from across him, “You too, Princess.”

“Thank you, Seonghwa.” I bowed my head and he smiled pleasantly as he glanced around the table, throwing a glare at the pirates who haven’t stop staring, making them quickly avert their eyes. The Captain just sighed loudly and shook his head, grabbing his cup and drinking from it. He almost looked fed up. I looked at Wooyoung, whose face was expressionless as he turned around and walked to his spot, looking back at me lazily.

“Wouldn’t a princess want to sit down while eating?” He raised one eyebrow, making me squint at him, “I bet your fragile legs wouldn’t last for long if you were to stand on your two feet the whole night.”

I huffed as a few pirates snickered, but didn’t let my irritation show as I walked up to Wooyoung, pushing him over to make space for myself. He gasped as he almost fell into the pirate who Yunho had teased earlier. Wooyoung whipped his head around and glared at me flabbergasted. I grinned as I graciously sat down where Wooyoung was supposed to sit, nodding at the pirate next to me who was taken aback by my presence. The man quickly scrambled to pour some wine into my own cup and I chuckled as I quietly thanked him. Wooyoung scoffed loudly and wriggled himself in between myself and the taller pirate next to Yunho, glaring at my profile as I carefully took a sip of the wine, expecting it to taste awful, but it didn’t. It was actually very tasty and almost sweet. I haven’t had wine like this before.

“Of course,” Wooyoung grumbled as he pulled his plate towards himself and away from me, “you came here to show off, didn’t you? Do you enjoy the attention everyone is suddenly giving you? Of course you are, you are a spoiled princess after all.”

I rolled my eyes and turned to look at Wooyoung with a fake smile on my lips, “I love how you answer your own questions, Wooyoung, it’s like you’re talking to yourself.”

The man on Wooyoung’s left suddenly snickered, hiding his face when Wooyoung’s head snapped towards him to glare at him. I chuckled and thanked Yeosang as he handed me a clean plate for dinner. I looked around the table, finding a lot more food than I was expecting. Perhaps the cook made a special dinner since Ara would sing for us tonight. I placed a bit of chicken meat on my plate and a few vegetables which looked very tasty, thanking Hana when she eagerly pushed some rice onto my plate. She looked away shyly when I complimented her lovely outfit. She wore a white dress with floral imprints on it, the orange shawl I have gifted her earlier wrapped around her shoulders tightly. She seemed to be leaning into Yeosang’s side completely, and as the man was finished with his dinner and sipping on his wine, I noticed the protective arm he had around her hips. Hana seemed happy as she ate her dinner, paying attention to the conversation Yeosang was having with the Captain. I quietly enjoyed my dinner, completely impressed by the cook’s talent as rich flavors exploded in my mouth. Everything was so tasty. It seemed even better than the previous days Wooyoung had brought me food. I took a sip of my wine to wash down the meat, and hummed contently. Wooyoung was quiet for once as he carefully ate his dinner, and I couldn’t help but stare at him. He was holding the silverware correctly as he carefully cut up his meat into equal pieces, and he never rushed as he ate, never putting too much food into his mouth. He chewed slowly and would pat his mouth from time to time with a handkerchief, only grabbing for his cup of wine when he was finished with his food. My eyes narrowed as my thoughts started wandering, thinking of how much etiquette Wooyoung seemed to be aware of. I even dared to think that he was acting like a prince would at the dinner table with his family. When Wooyoung’s eyes fell on me, I quickly averted my eyes and took another gulp of my wine, embarrassed that he caught me staring.

“I didn’t choke despite you wishing for me to do so.” Wooyoung mocked, yet I never wished for that to happen to him, however, I didn’t tell him that.

“Pity,” I muttered over the cup before clearing my throat, “I wonder who the cook is. I’ve been intending to tell them how tasty the food is. You pirates are lucky to have him, otherwise you’d be long dead without him. Especially you, Wooyoung. I bet you’d be the first one to starve to death—”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence before the man next to Wooyoung moaned loudly, barely gulping the food down in his stuffed mouth, “Mate—Wooyoung, you really outdid yourself tonight. I haven’t eaten anything this good like—ever!”

“Thank you, Mingi.” Wooyoung smirked smugly as his eyes fell on me, one eyebrow raised. My mouth fell open, I couldn’t help myself even if it wasn’t princess like. Wooyoung was the cook? And I just accidentally complimented him while also insulting him? I hated how quickly my face flamed up, but I acted as if I didn’t feel it, staring Wooyoung down as he looked at me challengingly.

“And you were saying, princess…” He clicked his tongue loudly and I huffed as I looked away, licking my lips in frustration. I would certainly never hear the end of this, “I’m glad you enjoyed your dinner, the cook, myself, is rather flattered at the moment.”

I would’ve rolled my eyes if it wasn’t for Wooyoung’s sudden proximity. His strong cologne invaded my nostrils as I felt his breath hit my ear, his warmth engulfing my slightly tingling body. I haven’t drank alcohol in long, and it was hot inside the kitchen, it was slightly getting to my head. But I gulped and sat up straighter, turning to glare at Wooyoung. However, I found myself speechless as I was face to face with him, his skin flawless from so close. My eyes fell onto the mole underneath his left eye and I gulped, looking back up into his eyes. Wooyoung watched me curiously, and I felt his fingers sneaking towards my wrist, feeling the fabric of my dress. I looked down the same time he did, my heart racing in my chest. Why was I reacting in this way?

“Why would you wear this to dinner?” He asked in a whisper, looking back up into my eyes. I gulped as I stared into his eyes, suddenly mesmerized by the color of them. Wooyoung had really pretty eyes.

“I promised Ara I would come watch her perform,” I whispered, feeling like a cocoon fell over the two of us as the pirates loud chatter downed out our quiet voices, “I figured wearing something specific for my family would make her even happier. She seemed rather taken by me.”

“Her life purpose was to sing for the royal families and aristocrats,” Wooyoung’s lips pulled into a small smile, I felt his finger graze against my skin, where my bruises were already fading, “She’ll appreciate your gesture, Y/N.”

The breath caught in my throat. Wooyoung has never called me by my name before. As I fought the smile off my face, hating how badly I was blushing, Wooyoung seemed to realize his slip up and he quickly cleared his throat, withdrawing, and looking away. I gulped and reached for my cup of wine quickly, catching Taeri and Yunho’s knowing glances, my body shuddering at whatever those two were trying to imply by the simple look on their faces. Wooyoung was insufferable, there was no way I was starting to take a liking to him. Before I could dwell more on my mixed feelings for Wooyoung, the kitchen door opened, and Ara walked inside. The gown fit her perfectly, accentuating her curves and complementing her skin. Flowers were placed in her short hair and there was a slight red blush to her cheeks, unnatural. Her lips were redder than before and she threw a beaming smile our way. Nobody would be able to tell how she truly felt, her eyes were empty of any emotion and her face was a mask of calmness. My lips instantly pulled up into a huge smile and as Ara’s eyes fell on me, they widened, and she placed her hands over her heart. The gown had a sweetheart neckline, a simple pearl necklace sat around her neck snugly.

“Good evening, lovely ladies and gentlemen—” Ara extended her hand, pointed towards me, “my Princess, Oh Y/N, from the Sun Rise Kingdom.”

She curtsied and I bowed my head, smiling at Ara’s adorableness. She would’ve been so beloved if she would’ve been able to follow her dreams. My mother would’ve certainly loved her for her adequate manners and deep respect.

“Tonight, I, Im Ara, will be your entertainer.” She bowed slightly and the pirates started clapping furiously, everyone seemingly liking the lovely girl. Ara waited patiently for the room to quiet down, I couldn’t help but join in on the clapping, “After my opening act you are all welcomed to requests songs and join me on the dance floor.”

The pirates roared again and I chuckled, looking around impressed. I would’ve never thought I would witness such things one day.

As the night progressed, the atmosphere seemed to get livelier and livelier as the drunk pirates enjoyed themselves. If anyone would’ve told me a week ago, that I would be sitting on a ship full of dangerous pirates, who gather around in the kitchen and sing their hearts out as they drink their sorrows away, I would’ve probably laughed in their face. Ara was like a bright star in the late hours of the night, guiding you through the darkness. She laughed and twirled around, her beautiful voice carrying through the vast room, allowing the pirates to pull her into their arms as they danced around. She was glowing, and when I decided to join the dancing circle, her face lit up even more and her voice rose a few octaves, her song turning even livelier as she sung about a hidden treasure, about a lost woman finding herself while on the hunt for it, and about a rather dumb man who fell head over heels for her, worshipping her as if she were the last woman in the four seas and four kingdoms. The pirates seemed to love this little tale as they joined Ara, their manly voices booming over hers, making me laugh as I was suddenly pulled into a hard chest. My eyes widened when I realized it was the Captain, but the displeased look was gone from his face and his eyes weren’t as sharp as before, his cheeks flushed from the alcohol. I chuckled as he made a comment about my dress, before twirling me around until my head was spinning and I had to excuse myself, stumbling into the wall near the exit. As I caught my breath, I noticed movement from the corner of my eyes, head still spinning, and I turned to see who was standing in the doorway. It was rather surprising as San and I made eye contact, his eyes narrowed as he threw me a warning glare, probably telling me to shut up. I didn’t say anything as his eyes fell back onto Ara, who was in the arms of Mingi, giggling and helping him stand up straight as he has had too much wine. If it weren’t for San’s clenched fists, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that he was bothered by that simple gesture. His face remained emotionless until he sucked in a harsh breath and stormed off, body rigid. Before I could dwell more on the man’s actions, Taeri was gripping my hands and asking me to join her in a dance as the pirates took over with a sailor’s song, Ara just laughing as she continued struggling to dance with Mingi. However, I had to refuse Taeri as my legs were aching, not having danced this much before. The stuffiness of the room was also getting to me as it was making my head spin more, the hotness of the room bringing a flush to my cheeks. When I thought nobody was watching, I made sure to look around, I slipped outside the kitchen and took a deep breath as cool air instantly hit my face. I raised the skirt of the dress above my ankles and carefully padded down the corridor, headed for the stairs. I sighed as my feet felt heavy as I climbed them, yearning for some fresh air. Instead of going to Wooyoung’s room, I went up on deck, raveling in the tranquility around me. The breeze was slow and small, the cool air felt refreshing against my flushed skin. I walked towards the railing and gripped it, staring up at the clear sky. The moon was beautifully reflected in the seawater, ripples disturbing the image as a wave would crash occasionally. I have missed this. Gazing up at the stars as the world was quiet around me.

The soles of my feet felt sore and I stepped out of the high heels I have found nestled underneath my dresses in one of the briefcases. Wooyoung, surprisingly, has packed a lot of my things. Things which I wouldn’t have even considered bringing with myself if I were to come willingly. My thoughts seemed to fixate on Wooyoung as the image of his eyes and that one mole underneath it plagued my mind suddenly, making me sigh as I allowed my head to fall back. My eyes fell on the Evening Star, and I couldn’t help but compare it to Ara. It was bright, beautiful, and so far away. Ara seemed to be a sweet person, but whatever was happening to her because of San was dimming her light. It made me feel helpless that I couldn’t help her in any way, it made my blood boil. How could someone be as horrible as San? Did he not have a mother? A sister? Did he have no respect for women? My throat closed in on me as I forced my thoughts to stop spiraling more about the mistreatment Ara must go through because of that horrible man, and instead, I found myself feeling grateful that the only thing Wooyoung seemed to be doing to me was to annoy me. He fed me since the beginning and even tried to hold a civil conversation at times; there was an attempt at trying to get to know me better. Besides the fact that he was a pirate, who quite frequently dodged his duties, and cooked for his crew, I didn’t know much about him. I wondered where he was from and why he was living this life. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the crew, something about the way he held himself and spoke set him apart from the other men. Seonghwa was an elegant man, but his façade would slip frequently, and you could see that he was simply just a man, raised by probably someone very savage. The Captain couldn’t even be compared to Wooyoung, his exterior and behavior were rough. The only person who came close to Wooyoung was Mingi, who’s steps were light and posture always straight, as if it had been grilled into his mind that was the adequate way to carry himself. And yet, Wooyoung dressed in expensive clothes, smelled expensive, and more often than not acted like someone who was raised in posh conditions. His skin was flawless and hands soft, despite handling a sword, no bruises decorated his palms. He spoke freely yet was careful with his words, and I have never heard him cursing. His gaze was intense when he watched you, attentive and analytic, yet never intrusive. Even tonight, I could feel his gaze on me almost at all times. I supposed he was keeping an eye on me since the older pirates were there with us and would look at me like I was a piece of meat. Perhaps Wooyoung’s warning hasn’t been harsh enough.

The wood cracked behind me and I flinched, head whipping around quickly, praying that it wasn’t any of those awful pirates. I probably wasn’t powerful enough to overpower them and with the fiesta happening downstairs, nobody would hear my pleas for help. And to my fortune, it wasn’t a scary pirate. It was just Wooyoung. Which made my heart beat fast all of a sudden, the cool air doing nothing against the flush of my cheeks. He came closer, eyes watching me carefully before a small smile appeared on his lips. I didn’t say anything, but I returned the smile, a bit reluctantly, as he came to a stop next to me. He left little distance between our bodies as he leaned against the railing, looking off in the distance. His gaze seemed unfocused as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes lightly. The soft breeze brushed against his dark hair, and I noticed he let it sit freely for once against his face, framing it. It made his features seem sharper, and I gulped as I looked away, blaming the alcohol for all the things I was noticing about him. We remained silent and the silence was comfortable around us, pleasant even. Wooyoung’s hand rested close to mine against the railing, if I were to extend my pinky finger, it would poke his. My eyebrows furrowed at the thought and I cleared my throat just as Wooyoung turned his head to look at me. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for some reason, so I continued gazing out towards the dark sea.

“Are you feeling alright, Princess?” Wooyoung asked quietly, as if to not disturb our serene surroundings. I looked at him slightly surprised and nodded wordlessly, chewing on my lower lip.

“It felt too packed inside the kitchen, I needed some fresh air.” I explained and Wooyoung hummed, his eyes never leaving mine. I couldn’t help but gaze back into his, taken by the glimmer in them. His features were soft, for the first time, he didn’t look like he’d say anything malicious.

“The dress Ara is wearing tonight…you have that to her, didn’t you?” Wooyoung asked quietly and I nodded with a small smile, “And the orange shawl on Hana, is that yours too?”

“Yes, I gifted them to the girls.” I said nonchalantly, shrugging my shoulders, “I also gave Hana my crayons. Once I’m back in my kingdom I’ll be able to purchase tons of them—unless my mother bans me from drawing or painting ever again, of course.”

My voice turned a bit sour and I averted my eyes when Wooyoung looked at me with confusion, “Did you know Hana loves to draw?”

I knew he wanted to ask about my mother, but I didn’t allow him as I quickly changed the subject. Wooyoung seemed to be thinking for a second before he quickly shook his head no. I smiled and stared at the moon’s reflection in the sea, “All of the ladies living on the ship seem to be lovely. However, Ara—you should take more care of her. Forbid San from going close to her.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that, princess,” Wooyoung’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked away when my heated gaze fell on him, “We don’t meddle with each other’s businesses. Whatever San and Ara do is between the two of them—”

“What if one day you all wake up to find Ara dead?” My voice hardened and Wooyoung’s jaw clenched.

“Then she’ll have a funeral and people who’d mourn her.” I scoffed at Wooyoung’s harsh words, taken aback. His eyebrows were furrowed as he turned to look at me, face pulled into an irritated grimace, “We’re on the sea, princess. You’re surrounded by pirates. You’re on Ateez’ ship, we’re known to be merciless and dangerous. The laws from your kingdom don’t apply the same way here on the sea, on this ship.”

“You should treat people more decently, at least.” I snapped and Wooyoung rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Tell me, princess, were you not treated decently while traveling with us?” I bit my tongue, unable to deny his question. I was treated well, a lot better than I expected, but what about all the other people who weren’t? Who died by their swords? Who were tortured and taken away from their familiar lives? What about them?

“This isn’t about me.” I whispered, gulping when Wooyoung shook his head, seemingly annoyed.

“Then who is it about?” He pressed; voice laced with annoyance.

“Everyone else who suffered a fate worse than mine.”

“Quit acting like a kind soul who’s worried for everyone around them.” Wooyoung’s voice hardened and my eyes widened at his next words, “You abandoned your people. You ran away from home, because anything is allowed for a princess. Because you got bored one day of the comfortable life you were living and ran away, proving my point that you’re a spoiled brat. You think anyone can just do that? Leave everything behind and build a new life without consequences? Live comfortably despite having nothing?”

My blood boiled at the hear of his words and my jaw clenched as I took a step closer to him, shoulders squared back as I glared at Wooyoung, “You sure know how to judge and hold a speech about someone who you don’t even know, pirate. I couldn’t care less about what you think of me, but when you make such outrageous claims about me I won’t remain quiet. Not when—someone who’s hiding his true identity preaches to me about what’s right and wrong. I know you’re not a pirate Wooyoung.”

Wooyoung’s lips parted in surprise and his eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at me, just a few inches between the two of us. My heart stuttered in my chest, but I paid it no mind as my cheeks flared from anger, glare hardening the longer Wooyoung remained silent. It only further proved my theory. He wasn’t a pirate. I had caught onto his poor façade.

“You’re right,” He cleared his throat, lips pulling into a tight smile, “I am not a pirate.”

“Then who are you?” I quickly questioned, anticipating his answer. My skin suddenly tingled for I was right. I saw through his little act and now he was about to confess his true identity to me. I shouldn’t have felt so victorious over such a small thing, but I couldn’t help myself as my glare disappeared and my eyebrows raised in urgency the more Wooyoung stalled with his answer.

“Jung Wooyoung,” He breathed out, looking uncomfortable as the next words left his mouth, “Crown prince of the South Kingdom. I ran away when I was thirteen on a whim, and joined Hongjoong’s crew. I never wanted to rule, my parents forced me into taking a decision. Be the crown prince or be forever locked away in a castle far from any humans. I craved a life full of adventure and freedom, far from my controlling and ruthless parents.”

My eyebrows were furrowed as I listened to Wooyoung’s story, heartbeat picking up again as I looked at him confused. He was Jung Wooyoung? The next in line of the South Kingdom? He was…he was the thirteen years old Wooyoung I have met all those years ago? A pang, which felt like a dagger to my heart, traveled through my body as I gasped and took a step back, staring Wooyoung down. My eyes ran over him, and suddenly all the repressed memories of the little boy came rushing back. The pretty eyes, the mole underneath his left eye. His loud laughter, which was ear piercing and irritating. His put together attire despite him constantly running and hiding in impossible places. His mischievous nature and his snarky comments. The whispered promise before we parted ways of us conquering the world together, of fighting our hardships together, of a love which would be eternal. And then…not even a week later, the news of the little prince going missing. The many letters his parents sent apologizing and promising to find him, promising to wed us as soon as he’d be found. Jung Wooyoung, the missing little prince, presumed to be dead, yet never quite forgotten.

My lips quivered at the discovery and I shook my head as Wooyoung watched me with a confused expression, reaching out, but I slapped his hand away, “No. You—you’re here preaching to me about what’s right and wrong—about running away when you did the same thing! When you abandoned your duties, when you—when you left a little girl worrying and waiting for your return for her whole life! You made her life miserable with your departure, and you never even considered the repercussions of your actions! You don’t get to talk to me like that, Wooyoung, leave me alone. I don’t need you bringing me meals anymore, I know where the kitchen is. I don’t want to see you ever again.”

I stormed off with an aching heart, tears streaming down my face. My betrothed had been right by my side all this time, almost making me second guess everything I had done in the past three years.

Wooyoung respected my request, for the past two days he hasn’t come near me. I haven’t seen him during breakfast, lunch, nor dinner. I didn’t know where he went when I was in the kitchen, and I wasn’t curious. I was beyond hurt and mad at him. I couldn’t believe the prince I was supposed to marry was the one who’d return me to my mother, make me a prisoner of a life I didn’t want anymore, meanwhile he would return to the life of a pirate where he had no care in the world, no commitments, and no troubles. The thought didn’t sit right with me, it made my blood boil. I couldn’t let that happen; I couldn’t allow Wooyoung slip through my fingers unpunished. But if I wasn’t smart about it, then the both of us would be doomed for a lifetime. Therefore, the plan I had been twisting and turning in my mind, found its perfect side character. Jung Wooyoung, the man who would pretend to be in love with me, get married to me, and then…run away with me. If I were to follow my heart, I would leave him behind, but he could easily find out about my whereabouts and then all my efforts would be in vain. I couldn’t let that happen. I didn’t have much time, the sun was close to setting, anchor already settled as we have reached the coasts of the Sun Rise Kingdom. I was nervous as I paced up and down the hallway in front of Wooyoung’s room. I left the door open when I left, that’s how I knew he was inside. There was no better time than right now to rope Wooyoung up into my plan. There was no time left. I had to act now. So, I pushed the door open and closed it behind me quickly, turning to march up to Wooyoung all confident, back straight and chin held high. But the sight in front of me halted me in my steps, making Wooyoung cry out as his wide eyes fell on me. The pants he wore hung low on his waist, undone, and a black tank top was clutched in his right hand. My strong façade broke as my eyes traveled down his bare torso, skin tan and smooth, muscles hard and worked. His stomach wasn’t lacking either as a six-pack stared back at me. Staring so blatantly was very much so not princess like, but it wasn’t often a man stood half naked in front of me. Let alone a handsome man like Wooyoung.

“Hey!” Wooyoung yelped, suddenly snapping out of his initial shock as he clumsily covered himself with his hands, “Stop staring at me! Just because I’m a man doesn’t mean I don’t deserve privacy! This—this is outrageous and unacceptable! Get out, princess—”

“Stop fussing, and shut up.” I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms in front of my chest, “You wouldn’t be exposed anymore if you used your brain and put on that tank top you’re holding.”

Wooyoung opened his mouth to fire something back, but realized I was right, and he quickly whirled around as he dressed himself, doing the lace of his pants as I rolled my eyes at his childishness, “What do you want? I thought you said you didn’t want to see me ever again.”

“I changed my mind,” I snapped, watching as Wooyoung faced me again, his cheeks tinted pink from embarrassment, “You’re not allowed to say no to what I’m about to tell you. And you need to keep your mouth shut about it too, can you do that for me, Prince Jung Wooyoung?”

“Don’t call me that, I haven’t been a prince for—” Wooyoung’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed and he looked appalled, “You can’t command me around, Princess Oh Y/N, I won’t listen to you or do whatever you want me to do.”

“We’ll see about that later,” I muttered with a smirk as I walked closer to Wooyoung, raising an eyebrow at him, “What’s my name?”

Wooyoung looked at me like I grew two heads all of a sudden, “Are you dumb or something—”

“Say my name.” I snapped, glaring at him when he didn’t want to do what I told him to. Wooyoung scoffed and placed his hands on his hips, looking irritated.

“Princess Oh Y/N.” He finally said, making it sound like it was forced out of him, it might as well been.

“And you’re Prince Jung Wooyoung.” I said firmly, making Wooyoung look at me confused. Uncomfortable silence fell around us as I kept staring at him, hoping that he’d realize by himself, but apparently Wooyoung was too daft for that, “Didn’t you have a betrothed, prince? From the Sun Rise Kingdom?”

“Yeah, I did,” Wooyoung rolled his eyes, “But it was ages ago, I don’t even remember what she looked like, except for her name which stuck with me, because she loved gazing at the stars at night and her name meant sky. Princess Oh—”

A wide grin spread onto my lips as Wooyoung’s eyes widened, mouth dropping open. He shakily raised a finger and pointed it at me, making me chuckle amused, “That’s right, Wooyoung. It’s me, I’m that girl. I’m your betrothed. I don’t understand how you didn’t figure it out straight away, you’re quite daft, have you been told that before?”

“I am not, I—” Wooyoung seemed speechless as he exclaimed, huffing loudly, “I just…didn’t make the connection because I made sure to forget everything about my life before I became a pirate.”

I licked my lips, heart clenching weirdly at the knowledge of Wooyoung purposefully wanting to forget about me, “Well now you know. And you’re going to help me out. I don’t want to rule either, not when I know my mother’s men will make my life a living hell. All I want to do is paint and live by the sea, gaze up at the stars at night, and perhaps teach etiquette to little children. And for that to happen, I need your help, Wooyoung.”

The prince’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked very repulsed by the idea of mingling into the life of a royal, but as he was about to refuse me, he looked me in the eyes and paused. I was grinning at him, skin tingling just at the mere thought of my plan working out, of having Wooyoung by my side in the process. Something in his demeanor changed as a light glimmer appeared in his eyes, the mischievous boy I remembered suddenly stood right in front of me.

“What’s the plan, Princess?”

For a second all I could hear was the loud pounding of my heart as my mother’s scrutinizing gaze rooted me to my spot. Nothing really changed around here. The Throne Room was still decorated the same, still as cold as it had always been. If it weren’t for the presence next to me, for the warm hand gripping my hand back tightly, I probably would’ve fainted on the spot from my nerves. I was sweating, I was feeling hot and cold at the same time, and my head was thumping wilder than my heart. This was the day everything would change. I heard Wooyoung suck in a quiet breath next to me as my mother and her most precious advisor took off, headed towards us. Wooyoung and I stood in the middle of the Throne Room, their trek strenuous and nerve-wrecking as they took careful and slow steps towards us, almost as if they couldn’t believe the Princess was back. I couldn’t imagine how Wooyoung felt after so many years of evading his Kingdom and origins to be standing in a Throne Room, about to utter some crazy words. I felt like I couldn’t breathe for a second as my mother stopped a few steps away, her advisor standing behind her, glaring harshly at me and at my joined hand with Wooyoung. His palm was sweaty, but our intertwined hands would never allow the other’s hand to slip away.

“Child,” My mother’s voice was hard as it boomed around us, and I gulped drily, “you have returned, I see.”

Wooyoung and I acted at the same time, my body folding in two as I bowed in front of my mother, in front of the Queen. Wooyoung got down on one knee, bowing his head deeply, showing her the utmost respect. After a few seconds of not moving, I dared raise my head and peek at my mother. She watched us shocked and as she cleared her throat she spoke, “Stand up, you fools.”

Ah, yes, her affection never ceased to impress me. I tried to keep off the sour grimace from my face as I stood up straight, shoulders pulled back, and Wooyoung got back to his feet, averting eye contact as he stared at the red carpet we stood on.

“Princess Y/N, how pleasant your presence is,” The advisor spoke up, making my jaw clench, “Almost as if you haven’t been gone for three years. Did you enjoy yourself?”

The insult was on the tip of my tongue, but Wooyoung’s slight tug on my hand stopped me from saying anything to the blatant mocking of the insufferable man. My mother hissed in his direction and raised her hand, that was a first. She adored listening to that monkey of hers.

“I want to hear what this is, right now.” She gestured to Wooyoung and I, glare falling on our joined hands. I allowed a small smile to slip onto my lips, everything carefully planned out last night. The spotlight was on Wooyoung now, he better be a good actor.

“Your Majesty, Queen Oh,” He bowed his head again, bringing his free hand up to his heart, “My name is Jung Wooyoung, the South Kingdom’s crown prince.”

He paused for dramatic effect and I almost rolled my eyes, his words made the advisor gasp as my mother’s eyebrows furrowed, “I know my return is sudden and unexpected, but after the pirates kidnapped me I was lost. I was merely a child, I couldn’t tell wrong from right, I thought their lifestyle was something to envy. That is until I realized my mistake and ran away from them, going into hiding out of fear that they would find me and kill me for good this time as I had stolen gold from them to fend for myself. I lived in a humble town for years, alone and scared most of the time, until…until your daughter, Your Majesty, showed up and reminded me the joys of life and—love. Until she showed me what it felt like to feel loved, to be in love. I am in love with Princess Y/N, Your Majesty.”

My heart fluttered at Wooyoung’s words and I could only hope it had a similar effect on my mother and her advisor, “I—I regret running away, mama, but if I didn’t do it—I would’ve never found the Prince, mama. I love him and I want to marry him. We’ve been sheltering our love for the past three years, scared of returning because we didn’t know what was awaiting for us. We were scared to face your wrath and his parents wrath, scared that you would separate us despite us being betrothed at an early age. I realized how much my people mean to me; and Prince Wooyoung and I want to rule together, we want to join the Kingdoms and become the next King and Queen under your blessings, mama.”

I watched my mother’s strong façade waver for a second as her eyes filled with tears, a reaction I would’ve never expected from her. She didn’t even cry at her own husband’s funeral. She glanced behind her, at her advisor, and I quickly nudged Wooyoung as they weren’t paying attention to us.

“Your Majesty, we—” He looked down sheepishly, cheeks flushed, making me wonder how he made himself blush so easily, “We would like to get married this week, if possible and allowed. I do not wish to separate from the Princess, therefore may I ask for a letter to be sent to my parents?”

“Oh, what a shocking change of events!” My mother exclaimed, pressing a hand over her mouth, the advisor not looking happy at all, “I thought I lost you, my child, forever, and here you are! Doing the right thing! I am so proud of you!”

Of course, she was only proud of me because I was doing what she wanted, not what made me happy. I almost scoffed, but Wooyoung’s quiet sigh grounded me, making me focus on the task at hand.

“I give my blessings for the weeding to happen this week, but your parents also have a say in it, Prince Wooyoung, they haven’t seen you in too long, they might not be as lenient as myself.” My mother’s eyebrows were furrowed as she placed her hands in front of her. Of course, she was only lenient because I came back with my betrothed wanting to get married and take over the throne. Pathetic.

“I am sure Your Majesty will be able to work things out with them, they have always had a spot for you, my Queen.” Wooyoung, always the sweet talker and charmer, smiled at my mother with a dashing smile on his face, my eyes staying on his face for a second too long. He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes and I quickly averted my gaze, suddenly turning red as a tomato. Why was I blushing so hard?

“Very well, Hugo, go prepare a parchment and my pen, this is an urgent matter!” My mother clapped her hands together, and I couldn’t help but allow a victorious smile stretch onto my lips as Wooyoung squeezed my hand once, biting his lower lip to stop himself from smiling too hard.

“Yes, my Queen.” The advisor muttered with distaste and after a nasty look sent our way, he stormed off. My mother was smiling expectantly at us and I gulped, realizing that we weren’t exactly displaying any joy at the outcome of the events. So, I quickly took action as I turned towards Wooyoung, letting go of his hand and cupping his cheeks as he faced me instinctively.

“Oh, Wooyoung!” I let out a dreamy sigh, faking that I was on the verge of crying, “The world will finally know about love. I’ll be finally your wife—”

“And my Queen.” Wooyoung cut me off, mesmerizing eyes boring into mine. My breath caught in my throat as I gulped nervously.

“And you shall be my King.” For a second, nothing happened, but then Wooyoung’s eyes fell onto my lips and my heart started beating fast again, breath faltering as he leaned in closer. I knew we had to do this because my mother was watching, waiting for us to slip up despite her acts of kindness. So, I closed my eyes when Wooyoung’s lips brushed against mine barely, my whole body flaming as I pushed my head forward, connecting our lips firmly. My mind blanked for a moment and I didn’t dare move, as I felt Wooyoung’s hands on my waist, pulling me closer. My hands on his cheeks tightened and I almost gasped as he suddenly moved his lips, capturing my lower lip in between his as I returned his kiss. His lips were soft and warm, they fit perfectly against mine as we found a rhythm comfortable for the both of us, the feeling of kissing foreign. My skin tingled as the kisses were slow, until I forgot about the presence of my mother and I found myself pressing into Wooyoung’s body, breathing in his strong cologne as his lips picked up their pace, more urgent than before, and my head was suddenly spinning. My fingers dug into his cheeks painfully as Wooyoung’s grip tightened on me as well, lungs screaming for air, yet I couldn’t pull away just yet. Something felt addictive about his lips, about his kisses, about his warmth and his cologne. Wooyoung was the first to break the kiss, much to my dismay, and as I gasped in a deep breath of air, a short but deep kiss was pressed against my lips once again, our eyes slowly opening at the same time. I was breathing hard as we stared into each other’s eyes, Wooyoung’s chest rising and falling rapidly, his hot breath hitting my face in quick puffs. I chuckled, biting my lower lip at the absurdity of the situation. Wooyoung’s eyes quickly looked to the side, but my mother was gone. It was just the two of us. I don’t know when she walked away and I didn’t care. As Wooyoung looked back at me again, my eyes fell on the mole underneath his eye and I had the sudden urge to press a kiss against it, but I willed myself not to. I shouldn’t give in to some absurd urges so early on. His lips seemed slightly plumper and redder than before; I supposed mine looked similar.

“I have to admit you might be a genius, Princess.” Wooyoung whispered and I couldn’t help but grin at him.

“And you might just be the partner in crime I needed, my Prince.” Wooyoung’s lip twitched up into a handsome smirk and I stepped back embarrassed, our hands finding each other again as our fingers intertwined.

My fate might’ve turned out to be even better than I could’ve ever dreamed of. With a Prince like Wooyoung by my side, I knew success would follow. And perhaps a lifetime of adventure, danger, and mischief. And maybe…an abiding love as well.

Next part (divider)

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kwanisms · 11 months

Text

The Library of Illusion :: Cult of Dionysus Event

Welcome to the Library of Illusion. A place where legend and reality go hand in hand.

Enter each section if you dare. Your task is simple: collect the keys to unlock the Restricted Section and find the treasure hidden within. Will you suceed?

Updates at 7PM CST on Wednesday and Friday.

➥ ateez ot8 × fem!reader

summary: After finding a box full of information on the infamous Library of Illusion, something only spoken about in her childhood, and the hidden treasure it contains, Y/N decides to track down the library and find out if the rumors are true.

genre/themes/au: non idol au, fantasy, science fiction, horror, history, crime/mystery, adventure, supernatural themes, slight biblical & demonic themes

warnings: adult dialogue, sexual content (mdni 18+), elements of bdsm, female reader × ateez, see each part for further warnings

a/n: this has been a long time coming. I'm so excited to finally be able to unveil this event as we've been holding onto it for a while now. Please make sure to check out the other wonderful works by the other writers on this masterlist!

Thank you so much for reading, as always this is a work of fiction and all characters are not reflective of their respective irl counterparts. Banners made by me with help from a template made by @imlevis. All my works are ©️ kwanisms. If you enjoy these works please reblog!

permanent taglist: @yoonguurt @wonderfulshinee @candidupped @dejavernon @violagoth @tigermoonbiss @katsukis1wife @luvsooby @thesolarplanetarysystem

ateez taglist: @2hodefender @cixrosie @pyeonghongrie-main @flowerboykun @sanjoongie @anyamaris @stardragongalaxy @kpop-stories-21 @wooyoungmybelovedhusband

special tags: @thelargefrye @hwasdollie

join my taglists: permanent | ateez.

»»» E N T E R «««

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The Witch & the Lamb ⛧ Of Saints & Hellfire ⛧ The Library of Illusion

↬ dive into the backstories of the Demon & and the Keeper of Keys to learn how Hongjoong became a demon, why Seonghwa made a deal to become a vampire and how the Library of Illusion came to be. »» coming soon

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#cultofdionysusnet #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez fanfiction #ateez fanfic #ateez angst #ateez fluff #ateez smut #ateez x reader #seonghwa x reader #hongjoong x reader #yunho x reader #yeosang x reader #san x reader #mingj x reader #wooyoung x reader #jongho x reader #series: library of illusion

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whimsicalwritingsandmore · 1 month

Text

Ateez soft hours: jung wooyoung

Pairing: ateez x reader

Genre: soft hours with jung wooyoung <3

Word Count: 337 words

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

Before meeting Wooyoung, you were very much in tune with having your personal space uninterrupted, especially after a long and exhausting day. All you wanted to do after a wave of exhaustion hit you was spend time alone until your social battery recharged to at least 3% for you to trek to the kitchen for dinner.

It had become a norm for you but during the times when everything had culminated into an avalanche for weariness and fatigue, you did inwardly crave for the comfort of someone.

And maybe that’s why the universe sent your boyfriend Wooyoung who was there for you every step of the way.

One of the things that had you fall in love with him was his understanding towards the way you were. He took the time to understand you, even though it didn’t happen overnight of course, Wooyoung patiently unravelled all the tricks of the trade when it came to you after having a draining day.

When you arrived at your shared apartment, he was in the kitchen preparing a hearty and nourishing soup that was your favourite one. You had already texted him about your day so he had a heads up. You tiredly mumbled that you were going to take a five minute nap and pecked him on the cheek before retreating to your room.

After 10 minutes, you awoke, and came back to a dinner table of your favourite dumplings, egg rolls and soup. The two of you would eat in a comfortable silence with subtle grazes of tender affection to indicate that everything was still okay.

Afterwards, while Wooyoung began to clean up, you trekked towards him and wrapped your arms around him from behind. You wouldn’t see it but he would have a tender smile and move around so you could be in his embrace instead, a snug place of warmth and coziness, the perfect place to be after a long day.

Those were the times it hit you, that during these times, you weren’t alone anymore.

#ateez x reader #ateez series #ateez fluff #jung wooyoung fluff #wooyoung x reader #jung wooyoung x reader #wooyoung x you #wooyoung fluff #ateez soft hours #ateez soft thoughts #ateez scenarios

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darkphoenix07 · 7 months

Text

Elixir of 🕸️ Death(J.W)

A vampire series by @darkphoenix07

Mental health request

Masterlist

Paring: Wooyoung x Reader

Genre: Dark Romance, Fantasy, Tragedy

Song suggestion 🎶: House of cards by BTS, Done for me by Punch.

Warning: Mentions of blood, Violence, Degradation, Death, Mention of suicide, Murder, Abuse. Synopsis: When the girl who doesn't have any will to live meets the demon whose only wish to slaughter humans. "How will it help me if I drain your blood right now when I can use you anyway I want to?" - Jung Wooyoung

Chapter 1

🍷"To the people who craves comfort and a single reason to keep themselves alive" 🍷

"Am I pathetic because I am careless?

Am I a disgrace because of what I love?

Will I ever be free from these?

Will I be saved from these miseries?"

"I will feed you and kill you everyday. Because blood doesn't taste good when you don't have any fear in your veins."

His words start echoing in your head but you are adamant. You don't want to give him what he wants.

"Good luck with feeding me anything," you smirk back raising an eyebrow at him and he squints his eyes at your response.

"You think highly of yourself, don't you?" He asks you while his hand starts traveling down touching your collarbone and stops right on your chest.

"Do you think everyone is like you?" You ask him back and he chuckles looking down.

"What's your name?" He is the first one who asks you facing you, changing the subject.

"Y/n. What would you do with it?"

"My name is Jung Wooyoung. I've lived here for 1027 years," his casual words start making you feel uncomfortable. Which makes you more uncomfortable that his cold hand hasn't left your chest yet. It's just your chest, right in the middle but your heart his thumping crazily.

You didn't think it would be this bad when someone touches you but right now it feels like a disaster. What if he wants something else without your blood?

But he finally removes his hand from your chest and wraps it around your waist pulling you closer to him. You can feel how cold his body is but the way he holds you in his arms give you warmth in your chest. You don't remember when was the last time someone wrapped their hands around you like this, like a side hug maybe.

Is he hugging you?

He takes you towards the dinning table and makes you sit on a chair. He leaves and comes back in an instant then wraps a cloak around you, "Wait here."

He says and vanishes again. In a few seconds, he appears and you see stakes in front of you and a candle lighting up. You realize there is just a chandelier in the dinning room. He doesn't use light. Maybe he doesn't need light.

"Eat up," he says sitting beside you.

"I don't have an appetite," you tell him looking away.

"Listen to me when I am being good. Eat some of it. It's beef nothing else," he says with a calm voice but it gives you chills.

You are with a inhumane being and you are being your usual stubborn self. What worse can happen?

"I am not here to listen to you," you tell him gawking at him and he thumps his hand on the table.

But you don't flinch.

"If you don't eat anything then, I'll help you die. You know, how?" He says grabbing your arm again, making you stand up. This time his grasp tight, forceful, "By starving you and leaving you beside a broken window. I think you will love that."

"Do you think you are scaring me?" You ask him and he looks more mad.

"You'll know once you are inside," he says and starts dragging you upstairs.

"Let go off me. I want to leave now. Let go!!!" You keep screaming but he doesn't listen at all.

"Jung Wooyoung! Let go off me," he stops in front of a door hearing you.

As he looks down at you, you think you see his eyes glowing more.

He makes you stand up and opens the door. Then throws you on the bed getting on top of you. You keep moving backwards but it's of no use. He already grabs your hands, intertwines his fingers with yours pinning them on bed.

"Don't act like a fool calling a vampire with his full name. You have no idea what I want to do to you right you," he says as a warning and a tear leaves your eye.

"Do something I haven't seen before. You men are all bastards. Vampire or humans. Doesn't matter," you tell him like you don't care but your lips are already trembling. You are scared of him right now and the way he smiles right now tells you he can smell your fear in your blood.

His bloodlust has increased on an alarming level.

"I will tear you apart," he says.

"Do it."

"Eat you piece by piece."

"Do it."

"There won't be anything to bury."

"Just do what you want."

He looks annoyed right now.

"You are scared to die. That's why you have come to me."

You think you stop breathing as he saw right through you.

He bends over in the crook of your neck and breathes, "I bet you will taste good now."

"Why don't you taste then?"

You know he can feel you shaking under him that makes him proud of himself. But you not running away, not defending yourself makes him feel pathetic.

You feel him licking the side of your neck and a shiver runs through your whole body making you tremble a little bit more.

"I can taste you from your skin already," his raspy whispers leaves you breathless. But you know you can't do a thing right now.

"I will stop if you tell me to," he says like he is some gentleman doing you a favor.

"I won't tell you to stop," you tell him making him smile against your neck.

"Good girl," he says pressing your hands tighter than before.

It feels like he kisses your neck softly and you close your eyes. You didn't want this to happen. You just wanted him to drain you.

"I'll put you to a good sleep," he says and you feel his fangs digging into your neck slowly, painfully. It's like some sharp blunt blade digging inside your veins and your blood is spilling inside a hole.

You start squirming and shaking your leg from the undying pain in your neck.

He stops and looks at you while your blood is still spilling from the holes his fangs created.

"If you want me to stop. I will."

You feel light headed, like something is taking out all of your energies but you shake your head like a stubborn kid staring at him. Part of you thanking him because he is setting you free, part of you wants to end this pain removing him away from you.

"Alright then," he says and on the next second, his fangs are again inside your neck dragging blood from your veins.

You body gives up at a point as you lose strength to move. Tears roll down from your eyes as they start closing up from the aching. They get tired from the lose of blood and you don't know when you lose your senses.

Wooyoung gets up realizing your body going numb and chuckles shaking his head, "I didn't even drink much and look at you. Such a fragile body."

He licks the spilling blood from your neck and your neck stops bleeding.

He keeps staring at you positioning himself on his hand. He moves the baby hair from your forehead and reads you while you are lying unconscious beside him.

"What made you think a monster can save you from this cruel life?"

He asks you but it's like he already knows the answer. He doesn't wait.

He keeps his hand on your swollen, pale hands, "Humans feel cold when they don't wear something heavy around you and look at you, torturing yourself. Sleep well for a while and become beautiful again. I'll tell you then what I want to do with you and your life."

He gets up and stands in the balcony. A crow comes in his hand and he whispers something to it before it flies away through the winter breeze.

After a while, someone knocks in his door and he carefully opens it.

"You are late," he says to the tall guy with a brown overcoat wrapped around him.

"I was in a surgery. I am not your maiden or something. Why did you call me?" He asks getting inside the house while Wooyoung closes the door.

"What do you give someone when they don't eat the food they are given?" Wooyoung's question makes the other man curious.

He raises an eyebrow and crosses his hands, "Which type of animal are you trying to feed now?"

"I am not talking about animals?"

"Then? Vampires? You know better than me. You've lived more years."

"Jeong Yunho! She is a woman. Not a woman, a girl. Pale, thin, broken."

Yunho looks at him and then around his surroundings. He shoots Wooyoung a death glare, "I told you to leave these humans after compelling them. What is in your head right now?"

"I am not holding anyone hostage. She is here by her own will. Maybe she doesn't have a home. Or maybe," Wooyoung walks towards the living room and stands by the window, "She has a home but can't call it one."

"Jung Wooyoung feeling had for a human after thousand of years. Who caused it? You've killed women before. Why not her?" Yunho asks with pure curiosity making Wooyoung annoyed.

"I don't have to give you any excuses. Let's go upstairs and give her the medicines she needs," Wooyoung starts walking through the stairs and Yunho ends up following him upstairs.

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

"She is on the verge of death. I have to say," Yunho says after checking her.

Wooyoung gulps and his lips part a little hearing Yunho. Yunho looks at him and he rolls his eyes, "Well, she deserves to."

"Then why not let her die?" Yunho asks, "You can drain the rest of the blood away from her you know. Fixing her will be a long cause."

"What do you mean by long cause?" Wooyoung sits on the sofa of the room where Yunho can't see his face well.

"I can give her saline now which I'm sure you don't know about but it will give her some strength. But she needs real food you know. Vitamins, minerals, protein, fat carbohydrates. All of these or else she will die from malnutrition and thanks to you, you've lessened her hemoglobin level for sure," Yunho says and Wooyoung stands up.

"What are these things? Can't you just suggest some food?" He looks frustrated and pissed at the same time not understanding the terms.

Yunho smiles and nods, "I'll send the foods. Make sure to feed her if you want to keep her alive this bad."

"Okay, leave now," Wooyoung says while his eyes are on you.

Yunho keeps a hand on his shoulder before passing him and says, "Taking care of a human girl will lead to something you'll never be prepared for and if she becomes your weakness, it'll be easier for them to remove you from the coven."

"What are you trying to imply?" Wooyoung asks while his eyes are still stuck on you.

"A stranger human girl walking in the woods and ending up in your own bed where you let nobody in. Her wanting to kill herself and you wanting to save her, don't you find it very simple?"

"You better not do any complications with me. Say whatever it is in your twisted mind."

"She may be your fate you know. Shouldn't you keep her away knowing the prophecy?"

This time Wooyoung glares at Yunho but he doesn't move an inch.

"He will do everything to remove you from the coven throne. Keep her away from you. I don't want you to lose your position."

"She means nothing to me," Wooyoung says averting his fiery gaze.

Yunho chuckles leaving his shoulder, "It's so obvious, Wooyoung. You aren't the type to sympathize with some mortal girl. You know that too. Get rid off her as soon as possible."

Before Wooyoung can say another word, Yunho vanishes into thin air leaving him stunned and worried.

"What if the prophecy is right? I can't... I can't lose my position and hurt the people of my coven," his mind goes blank as he starts pacing back and forth.

He looks at you again. He doesn't remember covering you in a blanket and putting a bandage on your neck. He doesn't remember moving your hair away from your neck so they don't poke your neck. But he did all these though he got to know you a few hours ago.

"No, I can't let you live if you'll be the cause of my demise," and he removes the blanket from your body, rips apart the syringe from your skin and takes you in his arms firmly.

In a moment, he is outside of his house and in front of the cold, deep river alongside the red forest of this town.

"Sleep forever if that's what you wished for," that's the last thing he says before throwing your body into the water.

He keeps standing there, watching your body go deeper and deeper. He sucks in a deep breath realizing you are not even fighting to come out, screaming to save you. The cold water is consuming your body piece by piece.

"Goodbye human. Rest in peace. I promise I'll bury you warm once you are done."

Y/n died?????? What do you think the prophecy is?

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wooyoungmybelovedhusband · 1 year

Text

New Mini Series

"You were not Mine, but I'll make sure you are, by the time I'm done with my plan"

Pairing : MafiaBoss!Jung Wooyoung x F!Reader

Warnings : Angst, Smut, Fluff, Yandere Behavior, Sadism, Knife Play, Gun Play, Kidnapping, Killing of people, torturing, Toxic behavior.

Summary : That day, when he laid his eyes on her, there was a burning desire that arose in him, the desire to claim her as his own. And he was sure to do what he desired...

Disclaimer : I do not support this kind of Behavior, and this is just a fic so read it as a fic.

#ateez #ateez smut #yandere! ateez #yandere ateez #ateez yandere #ateez wooyoung smut #wooyoung series #wooyoung yandere series #ateez wooyoung series #ateez wooyoung Yandere series #yandere! ateez series #ateez yandere series #yandere! wooyoung #yandere!wooyoung

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ateezreactionsandscenarios · 1 year

Text

Behind Closed Doors - Chapter 6

Pairing: CEO! Jung Wooyoung x Reader

Genre: Slice of Life, Smut

CW: Mentions of alcohol, office sex, both Wooyoung and y/n are not drunk just a little buzzed, oral (F and M receiving), brief fingering, slight hair pulling, wall sex.

Word Count: 4725

Summary: A late night session with Wooyoung takes a turn when tensions start to get high.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Prompt List Series Masterlist Master List Buy me a Coffee

Wooyoung’s office was quiet, so quiet that if it wasn’t for the rustling of papers you’d be able to hear a pin drop. You’d both been working on your joint project for the last 6 hours, you started with your usual chatter back and forth but the conversation soon fizzled out to nothing, the two of you sucked into your own little worlds of deep concentration.

You were now at the point you didn’t even know what you were reading, all the words seemed to blur into one and no matter how many times you closed your eyes or shook your head it didn’t help. Wooyoung had noticed this too. For the last 20 minutes every time he glanced in your direction he could see you were still reading over the same page, and probably the same sentence too.

“Come on.” He said quietly, pulling the paper from your hand and setting to the side.

“What?” You looked up at him confused and quite frankly a bit startled as it took your eyes a moment to adjust so you could see him clearly.

“We’ve been at this for a long time, I think we both need a break, especially you, so come on.” He turned on his heels and headed for the door, holding it open as he waited for you to walk out.

Walking out of Wooyoung’s office you notice it seems the whole floor is empty except for the two of you. You take a quick glance at the clock and realise its already 7:30pm.

“It’s that time already?” You ask with a sigh as you stretch your arms above your head.

“I thought it was a bit quiet, everyone must have gone home.” Wooyoung shrugged glancing over at you, his eyes quick to notice how your shirt rode up a little as you stretched, exposing the smallest amount of skin to him. Swallowing hard he continues his walk over to the break room.

Wooyoung is quick to fix up the coffee for the both of you, sliding the hot mug over to you when it was ready. Neither of you decided to sit down, you both thought it was best to stand up for a bit to stretch your legs since you’d been sat down for 6 hours already.

“So how are you feeling now?” Wooyoung asks you taking a sip of his coffee, glancing at you over the rim of the mug.

“Hmm?”

“You know, after yesterday, are you okay now?” Being caught up in all your work you’d forgotten about Amber for a bit but now it’s all come back to you.

“A little bit yes, I guess I needed that time to clear my head so thank you for that, at least now I’m okay with giving her the cold shoulder instead of wanting to rip her head off her shoulders.” Wooyoung tries to stifle a laugh at your comment, almost spitting his coffee back into the mug.

“One thing has been playing on me though.” You say, mirroring his actions in taking a sip while he looks at you curiously.

“What did you mean when you said you should have learnt from last time?”

“Ah, it’s nothing you need to worry about, really, it was all in the past anyway.” He shrugs you off quickly, it wasn’t a conversation he was willing to have with you yet, if ever really. You thought it was odd and it was like he was keeping something from you but you knew better than to pry knowing it was a lost battle before you even started.

The rest of the time in the break room was spent talking about University, Wooyoung seemed to be interested in your course and how you were doing and from the way he was asking you questions and really listening you don’t think he was just making stupid small talk. With the coffees finished Wooyoung takes your empty mug from you and places it in the sink.

“I’ll wash those you go on and head back.” You say moving towards the sink and grabbing the small sponge from the side.

“No, no, I made the coffee so I’ll do them, don’t worry about it.” Wooyoung argued back taking the sponge from you.

“No, it’s the least I can...”

“Y/n.” He cut you off, giving you the warning look you grew to know, the exact look that told you you’d already lost the argument.

“Okay, thank you for the coffee.” You smile, placing your hand on his arm gently as a kind gesture before walking off. Little did you know the small touch drove him insane. What happened between the two of you the last time you worked together was still crystal clear in his mind and he’d hate to admit how often he thought about it. He was so close to finally having what he’s been after since that night at the bar, if only Amber didn’t go and fuck it up he wouldn’t be having sleepless nights finishing the scenario in his head as he lay in bed.

Getting back to the office you felt more awake and more with it now that you had some caffeine in your system. Wooyoung soon steps into the office behind you. While you go back to your seat and pick up another pile of paper your eyes fix themselves on Wooyoung who was now making his way to a cabinet along the back wall. You try to shift your attention back to your work, wanting to get it done as soon as possible so you could go home, but the sound of glasses clinking caught your attention again.

“Drink?” Wooyoung asks, holding up a whiskey decanter.

“Should we be drinking in work?” You tease, raising an eyebrow at him before getting to your feet to join him at his desk.

“Well we’re the only ones here, it’s after hours and, oh wait, I’m the boss.” He quips back with a playful smile, pouring himself a glass and once again holds up the empty one. “So drink?”

“Go on then.” A proud smile crept onto his face as he poured your glass and carefully slid it over to you just like he did with your coffee. He held up his glass to you in a cheers before you both took a sip, your face contorting slightly from the slight burn of the alcohol doing down your throat and Wooyoung starts to chuckle.

“What?”

“Funny this...It’s like we’re back at the club again the day we met, me getting you a drink and all.” You can’t help but chuckle along with him as you remember the night.

“Yeah just this time you’re not hitting on me.” You joke to which he doesn’t give a reply, just a smirk and a raise of an eyebrow.

You never thought you’d be so thankful to have a glass of whiskey, while you sat on the couch getting work done you kept feeling the slight chill that was filling the office, the cold night air causing a chilly draft that made goose bumps erupt all over your body, but the occasional sip of your drink helped you to warm back up a little and there seemed to be a steady flow of it as every time Wooyoung noticed you had a mouth full left he’d top it up for you and then his own while he was at it.

After a while the alcohol started to set in, you weren’t to the point you were drunk but you could feel a slight buzz and you could tell Wooyoung was the same. The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed and it didn’t feel like you were in work anymore especially now with how comfortable the both of you were getting on the couch. Both your shoes were kicked off and put to the side of the couch, you’d pulled your hair out from it’s tight ponytail and raked your fingers through it to make it look a little less wild, which didn’t go amiss by Wooyoung who’d watched you intently from the corner of his eye. He didn’t know if you were intentionally teasing him or not, you seemed oblivious but the way you fluffed up your hair a bit more than usual and the way you pulled all your hair to one side showcasing your neck to him he couldn’t help but get a little hot under the collar, so he got back at you.

Your attention shifts to Wooyoung who stood from his spot next to you and you watched as he shrugged off his jacket and rolled his sleeves up to the elbow, the veins in his arms were so prominent making you swallow hard as your eyes raked over every inch of them. Wooyoung did well in hiding his smirk, he noticed the way you were looking at him and he felt like he had you right int he palm of his hand, so he went further, hooking one finger into his tie to slowly loosen it before pulling it from his neck completely and tossing it onto his desk along with his jacket.

The warmth that hit you was now more than what the alcohol had provided you and the majority of the warmth seemed to be pooling at your core all while the memories of the day Amber caught you came flooding back. As Wooyoung sat next to you again you realised he’d undone the first two buttons of his shirt, giving you the smallest glimpse of his chest, you knew what he was playing at and like hell were you giving him what he wanted without having a little fun yourself. You stretch in your seat, holding your hands above your head and arching your back while one leg straightens out in front of you and you succeed in catching his attention, his eyes trying not to look at how your shirt had rode up and desperately trying not to look at your stocking clad legs. The look you gave him was innocent but he could see the underlining of it, and it was far from innocent. Sitting back up straight you lifted one leg to cross over the other, intentionally ignoring how your skirt rode up with the movement, revealing to Wooyoung the lace top to your stockings. That was his breaking point.

Throwing his papers onto the coffee table Wooyoung turns to face you fully, watching how your wide eyes look at him a little confused by his sudden actions.

“Are you trying to drive me insane?” He asks in a low whisper, his face inching closer to yours. You could feel a small blush rush to your cheeks but you did well to conceal it, playing along with him.

“I don’t know what you mean.” You answer with a coy smile and an innocent tone, turning to face him, bringing your legs up onto the couch with you as you watch how his eyes fixate on how your skirt rides up even more.

“You’re doing it again.”

“What?” You ask leaning forward, your hands brushing down your calves to settle at your ankles and your chest pushed into your knees.

“Driving me insane.”

There's a shining in his eyes as they struggle to steer away from the perfect view that you're giving him. His lip gets caught between his teeth and a low growl leaves his lips.

"What's the matter? What's distracting you from your work?" You continue to play on the innocence, fluttering your eyelashes at him, accentuating the doe eyes.

Without answering you, a hand cups your face, thumb on your bottom lip as he drags it down, watching it bounce back into place. This makes you stiffen up, but what else did you expect? You're the one teasing him in the first place but nothing could prepare you for what he's going to do next.

His lips replace where his thumb was, leading on a passion filled kiss which you melt into in an instant, hands fumbling with the buttons of his shirt whilst his hands are busy grabbing at your sides until they reach your ass. He gives it firm grab before pulling you a bit closer to him to the point you were almost laying flat.

Laying you down onto your back on the couch, he hovers over you with the widest smirk on his lips. That smirk that's probably the pin point of all of your troubles. When you met him at the bar, you'd never thought you'd be under him like this, his lips gently pressing against your neck, planting soft kisses, occasional bites and kitten licks to soothe it, your quiet whines egging him on even more.

Slowly, he moves down your torso, hands under your shirt on your warm skin. His hands cold, enough to make the hairs on your arms stand up as your breath hitches. The more he kisses down your torso, the more your heart is racing out of your chest.

"Wooyoung-" Your breath hitches, the sensation of his lips making contact to the bare skin of your stomach sending butterflies flying mad inside.

"What's the matter, doll?" A fake coo comes from him, looking up with a fake apologetic look.

Making eye contact with him, you lose all morals, you need him and need him here and now. A free hand makes it's way onto the back of his head, fingers tangling in his beautiful locks as you're rendered speechless.

"Can I continue?" He smirks, scoffing lightly when you nod in desperation and his fingers trail down the skin of your stomach to the waist band of your skirt, down the seams and to the hem, pulling it up to expose your black lace panties.

Grunting in lustful admiration at the sight, he kisses the flesh on the inside of your thigh on both sides, alternating after each peck he places. Eventually, his hot breath could be felt through your underwear, making you squirm at the feeling.

Licking up the front of your covered core, you whimper at the slightly contact, his tongue pressing hard against it until it flicks up and off, just to see your reaction. That's when he can barely hold back himself.

"Let's get rid of these, shall we?" He asks, but more as a direction of what he's going to do, slowly pulling down the fabric down your legs, letting you kick them off to the floor.

His eyes didn’t leave your core for a second, a low groan leaving him as he sees the slight sheen from your arousal. His hands massage along the side of your thighs as he lowers himself back down, his warm breath ghosting across your core sending a chill up your spine. He wants to tease you, have you begging for him but the sight of you sprawled out on the couch like this, all for him, has driven him past the point of insanity.

The insanity gets the better of him, looking up at your pleading eyes once more and finally makes the move. His tongue slips up your core again, earning a much more vocal whimper from you, flicking at your clit, Wooyoung repeating it, just to get a taste at first but nothing can hold him back now.

With your fingers going back to being tangled in his hair, you start to tighten your grip with every move his tongue makes, losing all bodily function when his lips purse around your clit and sucks on it lightly, making your back arch.

"Fuck-" You cry out with a high pitched moan, eyes rolling to the back of your head, even more so when he introduces a finger, toying at your entrance, covering it in your slick before inserting it. He curls it upwards just where you needed to be, thumb replacing his lips and rubs your clit to catch a breath, taking a moment to capture the picture of your perfect face as you moan over his fingers. He seizes this opportunity to capture your lips with his once again, letting his tongue slip into your mouth letting you taste yourself eliciting a muffled moan from you again.

“So sweet.” He breathes out looking over your already fucked out face before going back to eating you out like he was a starved man. Replacing his thumb with his mouth, Wooyoung alternates between harsh sucks to small kitten licks on your clit making your walls clench slightly around his finger. Your breathless moans soon turned into a gasp when you felt him slide another finger inside you, scissoring you open and hitting all the right spots, sending shocks of electricity through your nerves. You could feel him smirk against you as your hips started to move on their own and your moans got increasingly louder the closer to the edge you got.

“Fuck...Wooyoung...I...” It took everything in you to try and string together even a basic sentence, your mind rendered to mush and the only thing going on up there was the pure pleasure Wooyoung was giving you with just his hands and mouth.

“Go on doll, cum for me, show me how good I’m making you feel.” He punctuated his sentence with a harsh thrust of his fingers straight to your sweet spot followed by a small nip to your clit. If there was any breath left in your lungs you’d have screamed from how good it all felt and the knot in your stomach was ready to snap at any moment. It didn’t take much longer for you to break, his name spilling from your mouth slowly turning into a moan as you came on his fingers and tongue. Wooyoung lapped up every last drop of you, helping you ride out your orgasm, his fingers slowing down before coming to a full stop and pulling out from you.

“Taste.” He said with a smirk, slipping his fingers into your mouth so you can taste yourself again. The sight of you sucking on his fingers and the feeling of your tongue wrapping around them made his cock twitch in his now unbelievably tight trousers. You moaned around his fingers as you sucked them clean, the need for more quickly taking over you.

After your senses fully came back around you managed to lift yourself to sit up, pushing Wooyoung against the back of the couch before straddling his lap. Your lips find purchase on his neck, the way he drops his head back gave you more access and the temptation to cover his neck with marks was crushing you. You lightly nip at the sensitive skin, feeling how he tenses underneath you. You pull away for a second sensing you might have crossed a line.

“I didn’t tell you to stop. Mark me all you want.” Wooyoung whispered in your ear, sending a shiver down your spine as you attached your lips to his neck again, biting and sucking it leaving behind a pretty purple blotch. With a slight roll of your hips you could feel how worked up he’d gotten and you only felt it fair to return the favour.

“Where are you going?” He asked wide eyed watching as you got to your feet. You didn’t answer his question, only giving him a knowing smirk before dropping to your knees between his legs. Your hands slowly teasing their way up his thighs until they reach the top of his trousers. Looking up your met with the sight of his chest rising and falling as he pants, his eyes burning into your own as you maintain eye contact with him while popping open the button of his trousers.

Your pace was too slow for his liking, desperation was starting to set in and he needed to be touched, he didn’t care how all he knew was he needed you on him now. Lifting his hips he helped you lower his trousers and boxers, his cock springing free already leaking precum making your mouth water just from the sight. You could feel him twitch from the sensitivity despite your fingertips merely ghosting along his shaft, you couldn’t help but wonder how he’d react when you wrap your lips around him if he’s already so responsive.

Taking his cock in your hand properly you give him a few pumps before leaning down, sticking your tongue out to lap at the beads of precum. Wooyoung’s breath became shaky, his brows furrowed and his hand gripped the back of the couch tightly needing something to ground himself. His reactions spurred you on, you were getting to him in all the ways you wanted to.

You lick a long stripe along the prominent vein and feel how his whole body shudders. You don’t take your eyes of him when you slowly start to take him in your mouth, a smirk growing as best it could on your face when you watch how his head fell back against the couch and a breathy groan flowed from his lips. You work him slowly, bobbing your head sinking a little further each time and your tongue swirling along his tip every time you came back up.

“Ah shit.” Wooyoung hisses through his teeth and managing to lift his head back up to be able to look at how you’re taking him. The sight alone was enough to almost send him over the edge, your dishevelled hair hanging in your face ruined his view though. Reaching his hand out Wooyoung swept your hair to one side before gripping it in his hand holding it out of your face to reveal just what he wanted to see, your doe eyes looking up at him as you take him all in, drool slightly running down your chin while you bob your head faster. Sloppy...just how he liked it.

“Fuck...Wait.” His fingers wrap tightly around your hair before pulling you off him, the slight sting in your scalp making you whimper.

“I’m not done with you yet.” Wooyoung pants out getting to his feet and bringing you with him by your hair. He’s quick to fully remove the clothing on his lower half while your fingers fumble at the buttons on his shirt and he quickly makes work of tugging your skirt and panties down to join his clothes in a pile on the floor. He pulls you in close to him by your hips before leaning down a little, gripping the back of your thighs sweeping your legs up to wrap around his waist.

You let out a small “oomph” when your back makes contact with a wall. Your lips find their place at Wooyoung’s neck again and your hands weave their way through his black hair, tugging at the strands making him groan. You were so lost in making your mark on him that you didn’t notice the small movements he made as he lined himself up with your core until he finally thrust into you.

“Fuck!” You moan, the sudden feeling of being filled taking your breath away. Wooyoung’s hands held the back of your thighs in a vice grip sure to leave finger marks behind, perfect for you to look at and remember this moment. His thrusts were fast and somehow he found your sweet spot with ease, like he already knew your body like the back of his hand. The searing pleasure you were feeling was so good it made your toes curl and your nails dig into the flesh of his shoulders.

“Feels so good...You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this.” Wooyoung groans in your ear, nibbling at the lobe. Your mind is too hazed to form a response, all that came out of your mouth were lough shaky moans. You could feel the knot building in your stomach again and with this position and his pace you knew you weren’t going to last much longer. Wooyoung can’t help but smirk against your neck as he feels you tighten around him, freeing one of his hands to rub small circles on your clit.

“Are you close for me? Are you going to cum for me again?” He whispers in a teasing tone. You can only nod as your grip on his hair tightens pulling him away from your neck to mould your lips together again, his kiss swallowing every moan you give him. The combination of Wooyoung’s fingers on your clit and hit cock hitting your sweet spot had you crumbling in moments, your whole body tensing and pulling him closer to you as he rode out your orgasm. Your walls clenching around his already sensitive cock had him hurtling closer to his own orgasm.

“Since you got here...fuck...all I’ve wanted to do is bend you over my desk.”

“Do it then.” You finally manage to say, earning you a smirk from Wooyoung. Your back leaves the wall and you’re being carried over to his desk and you whine when he slips himself out from you to set you on the floor.

“Don’t be like that doll, now bend over the desk for me.” You do as you’re told in an instant, wiggling your ass a little as you wait for him. You’re pleased to hear low sigh he gives out as his hands smooth over the plush skin of your ass, his fingers digging in as he gips it. You lurch forward on the desk as he starts to thrust into you again, his speed piking up more than earlier as he tried to chase his own high. It doesn’t take him long, the sight of your ass bouncing with every thrust and your moans filling the room has him teetering on the edge.

“Ah fuck!” He growls, pulling out from you to spill his cum onto your ass. His low moans are music to your ears making you clench around nothing as you fee his hot ropes of cum coat your skin. Getting his breath back, Wooyoung takes a moment to admire the sight of you bent over his desk covered in his cum.

“I could get used to this.” He thinks to himself before walking over to grab his boxers, sliding them back on.

“Stay there for a second.” He tells you, running a hand along your back before going over to a draw in his desk, pulling out a handful of tissues to help clean you up. once you were cleaned up Wooyoung gathers your clothes and hands them over to you, letting you get yourself dressed as he fixes himself back up.

“So, do you do this to all new female staff or am I just lucky?” You joke with a small giggle.

“Do you fuck all your bosses or am I just lucky?” He quips back casually avoiding your question making you laugh again as you gathered how this must look to him.

“Well I guess now Amber really does have a bit of truth to her bullshit.” Wooyoung laughs at you with a slight roll of his eyes at your comment but he can’t deny the fact that you’re right.

“Well I guess it’s safe to say we’re not going to get anymore work done tonight after that.” He states as you both look over to the scattered pile of abandoned papers.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I’ll call us a cab, I would drive you home but we’ve both had a drink.” You nod at his offer and thank him.

After a while the cab turns up and you look over to Wooyoung confused as to where there was only one.

“Come on, lets get you home first.”

“But you live in the opposite direction to me, you don't need to come with me I’ll grab my own cab it’s okay.” You argue slightly waving your hands at him.

“I only called one for a reason, I’ll make sure you get home safe and then I’ll be on my way so get in.” You nod thanking him again and slide into the back seat first. You try to hide the small smile that’s taking over your face. First you get fucked by your hot boss in his office and now he’s being a gentleman and taking you home, it filled your gut with butterflies but you knew you were thinking too much into it.

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#ateez #ateez scenarios #ateez smut #ateez series #wooyoung #wooyoung scenarios #wooyoung smut #wooyoung series #jung wooyoung #jung wooyoung smut #jung wooyoung scenarios #jung wooyoung series #ateez wooyoung #kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop smut #kpop series

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berryunho · 3 months

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THE ANSWER: XXVII

Kim Hongjoong doesn’t like the word ‘cult.’ He prefers ‘sect.’ pairing: ateez x fem reader genre: cult au, thriller, angst check warnings on AO3

← previous || next → || masterlist chapter word count: 8,561

You take in San’s words, blinking aggressively. You pull your face away from his, your questions clear from your expression.

San squeezes his eyes shut, unable to look at you for too long. “I can’t explain it now. Or, well, I’ll explain it all soon, but we need to leave.”

“Leave? Like, the farm?” You question, your words coming faster than you can control them. “What? San? Did something happen?”

He opens his eyes, then, staring into yours. The pain is evident in his face, his internal struggle still battling.

“After today, I can’t predict what Hongjoong will do to get you to break.” San admits, tears welling in his eyes. “He’s going to hurt you, and if he can’t, he’ll kill you.”

“What happened to you, San?” You ask, more concerned by his disheveled appearance than by the revelation of the thoughts that you’ve had hundreds of times.

He shakes his head. “It’s not important, I promise. I’m fine.” He pauses, sucking in a breath. “How do you feel?”

“I’m fine, San, just shaken up, I guess. Do you know how Hongjoong did that?”

His hands squeeze your forearms tighter, gripping you like he’s going to lose you. “I have no idea. But if he’s willing to go this far, I… fuck, I can’t believe it. I have to get you away from this.”

You can only gape at him. You can’t believe that San is saying these things to you. San had always been so loyal to Hongjoong, even leading up to the very moments before the ceremony. What could possibly have made him flip his entire script so quickly?

It’s almost touching to realize how much San must care for you. If he’s willing to abandon this for you… Fuck.

“San, when can we go?” You try to not sound so eager, but the prospect of getting away is so sweet.

He presses a kiss to your forehead before replying. “I have to think on it, but I swear that it will be soon. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to figure it out.”

You want to ask what it is that he’s figured out or what made him realize, but that sits in the backseat compared to the thought that suddenly rises to the forefront of your mind. “What about Haseul? And Mingi?”

San freezes, still searching your face. He opens and closes his mouth a couple times, but no words come out.

“San?”

“I,” he pauses, biting his lip, “I’ll have to think about it more. We might have to come back for them.”

You don’t like that idea, but you had thought it yourself a few times before. It would be a lot easier to get yourself out and come back with people that could actually stand a chance against this group rather than try and sneak out with someone else, risking all of your lives in the process.

“Just trust me, yeah?” He smiles, letting go of your arms to readjust his shirt.

You nod, throwing the blanket off of your legs. This is as good of a time as any to get out of the infirmary. Whatever had been going on with San, they must not care too much if you’re back with him considering the fact that he’s here now.

Once San is reassembled, he offers you his hand again, helping you stand as you swing your legs off the bed. The two of you leave the room, passing by Nayeon as you walk down the hallway. She waves, smiling while you go.

San drops your hand once you’re outside, but keeps one on the small of your back. He could reasonably pass that off as just helping you stay upright.

By now, it’s mid-morning, almost 11. The sun is high and the fields—

For the first time since you had arrived at the farm, you saw the farm equipment actually being put to use. A huge combine harvester moves through the field, still relatively close to the barn. You’re awestruck to actually see work being done, amazed that the time has passed so quickly.

You halt in your tracks, lifting a hand up to shield your eyes from the sun so that you can watch the machine move. It doesn’t move particularly fast, but, by God, is it freaky looking. You wouldn’t want that thing coming to run you down, that’s for sure.

Which only reminds you of the time that you had tried to escape. And then resorted to hiding in the corn.

When all of the corn is harvested, how will this place look? Barren. Cold. You don’t want to picture it; all that land with nowhere to hide. Will you even have to see it? Maybe you’ll be gone by then.

A waving figure catches your eye off in the distance. You’re easily able to identify Yeosang once you look fully at him, and you raise your hand back in greeting, having to squint your eyes against the sun.

San doesn’t wave back, instead ushering you to turn back toward the compound and keep moving.

“Are we in a rush?” You ask, allowing him to steer you toward the door.

San glances around, “I wouldn’t say that. But I’d feel better if we were alone in our apartment.”

Well, okay, you guess. You would think that it would be a bit suspicious if you both suddenly started acting differently, but it’ll probably be okay for right now. At least until you can talk to San about everything.

You head inside, trying to walk to the stairs. But you’re stopped before either of you can make the first step, a voice calling your name behind you.

It’s Wooyoung, you realize, before you even turn around to face him.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

You glare across the foyer at him, wondering what kind of nerve this kid must have to be talking to you like you’re best friends again.

He has a point, though. You turn your attention to your stomach, but you’re not surprised that the general sense of nausea and unease still lingers there; nothing like hunger. “I’m not hungry.”

You know better than to directly accuse him of drugging you again. You really don’t know if he did… it’s possible that he didn’t. But, really, looking back on it… Ugh, you’ll just ask San later. He had already told you what he thought, but… you don’t know. Just, whatever.

Wooyoung squints, a flat expression on his face. “Are you feeling alright after everything? Not just anyone can say they stood down a Guardian.”

That’s really rich, coming from Wooyoung, you have to admit. The guy that basically told you that you need to accept your role in this place because he isn’t happy with his, either. Maybe he’s trying to sympathize with you, as a fellow skeptic. You won’t take the “compliment” at face value, but you still don’t appreciate the remark.

“I’m perfectly fine,” you shrug, hoping to end the conversation there.

He doesn’t look convinced. “I’ll have someone run some food up for you guys.”

San thanks him for you, clearly ending the conversation there. He ushers the both of you up the stairs and to your apartment, swiftly locking the door behind you once you’re inside.

You look around your apartment, almost expecting something to have changed, but nothing has. Everything is just how you left it this morning, not a single thing out of order.

“Are we talking about this now, then?” You question, looking to San as he paces in front of the couch. He doesn’t stop pacing, but he does gesture for you to sit down, “you’re really worrying me, San.”

He halts in place then, frowning, but not sitting next to you. “I’m sorry, it’s just…” he lets his sentence hang in the air, “I can’t believe… I can’t believe it.”

“What happened to you while I was out?” You want to reach out and grab his hand, but you can’t, he’s moving too much.

San starts pacing again, “well, first of all, sorry for disappearing on your right before the ceremony.” You nod, encouraging him to continue. “Seonghwa appeared out of nowhere and pulled me aside to talk about literally nothing and then, by the time I realized what was happening, the ceremony had started and I couldn’t have helped you.”

He freezes, as if recalling the memory, “and then the ceremony happened. And, and that thing appeared. I hope to God that Hongjoong or Seonghwa or someone was able to explain that to you, because I can’t. I don’t know what that was, I’ve never seen anything like it or heard of Hongjoong—” he stops abruptly. “I mean that I don’t know how that happened. And I saw it grab you and I seriously, I thought that it was now, that, that Hongjoong had enough of you and— I thought you were going to die.”

It’s only now that his voice falters, breaking with his last sentence. You’re no stranger to San’s emotions, but his tears always have an effect on you. To his credit, he does a good job of keeping it mostly together as he keeps speaking.

“But then it was over, and you were on the ground, and I tried to stand up to go to you, but Seonghwa held me down, and I couldn’t do anything. I felt so helpless watching Hongjoong pick you up, watching Mingi run to his side to take you off of his hands and carry you out. I tried to get up again, but Seonghwa wouldn’t let me go. I almost fucking hit him.” He shakes at the memory, his voice thick with both anger and his tears. “We stayed there for a long time. We just waited until Hongjoong came back, and he sure fucking came back. He was incensed. Didn’t even say why. Even Seonghwa looked nervous as he screamed and bitched and threw shit around.”

.・。.・゜✭ ⧖ ・.・ ⧖ ✫・゜・。.

“You will not take her from me!” Hongjoong screams, at neither man in particular. “I don’t care which one of you it is; I forbade it for a reason and I will be fucking respected!”

Seonghwa doesn’t move an inch at San’s side. San doesn’t say anything, either.

Hongjoong’s rage permeates the chapel. “Why isn’t she scared? Why isn’t she terrified, whimpering and begging for her life at my feet?” He starts pacing up and down the aisle, kicking copies of The Answer that he had thrown to the ground. “Doesn’t she realize that I am the only thing standing between her and a cold grave?” He whirls to face the other two men. “Answer me!”

“I think she is scared of you,” San mutters, “but she’s good at hiding it in front of you.”

Hongjoong’s face contorts into a smile, and San knows that he’s fucked up. “Is that it? How do you know, San? Do you hold her at night while she cries in your arms at my cruelty?”

San only blinks, unable to respond in a way that would please his leader.

“She doesn’t know about Haseul yet. What is she going to think when she finds out that her boyfriend let her die?”

“Hongjoong—,” Seonghwa cuts in, “She can’t know about Haseul, even if you want to scare her. It’s invaluable for us to be able to hold this ove—”

“You will not tell me what I can and cannot do, Park Seonghwa!” Hongjoong yells, “I am in charge here! I am! If I want her to know about Haseul, she will know about Haseul.”

“Of course you are, Hongjoong, you don’t need to be so angry.” Seonghwa tries to console Hongjoong, to absolutely no avail.

Hongjoong puts his palms together, resting his index fingers on his forehead as he thinks. “I cannot take this disrespect much longer.”

The chapel remains in tense silence, neither San nor Seonghwa wanting to be the first to say something.

Apparently that’s not what Hongjoong wanted, either. “Seonghwa,” he gets the man’s attention, “hold San steady for me, would you?”

San knows what’s coming. Hongjoong’s had it out for him for ages, and this is finally it. He’s outlived his purpose, his presence is only backfiring, it’s time for him to go. He knew that it was coming, he should’ve known that it would be now. His death would utterly destroy (Y/n), there would be nothing for her to do except accept her fate.

Seonghwa does as Hongjoong instructs, standing behind him to hold his arms in place. San doesn’t struggle. He has to be strong. Go bravely. That’s what he wants.

But Hongjoong surprises him. He takes a step toward him, smoothing his own ceremonial shirt before grabbing the hem of San’s and pulling it out of his pants.

Oh… San really hadn’t been expecting tha—

But then Hongjoong hits him. Just once.

“We’ll see how she feels when you’re not so pretty.” Hongjoong spits, literally, onto the floor of the chapel.

San can hardly hear him through the pain rippling over his jaw, but the message is clear enough. He doesn’t need a mirror to taste the blood, or feel it pouring down his chin. Seonghwa lets go of his arms and it takes everything in him to not double over. Instead, he looks up at Hongjoong, unintimidated.

Hongjoong stretches his hand. “She asked for you, Seonghwa. Better go comfort her.” He glares up at him. “But not too well.”

.・。.・゜✭ ⧖ ・.・ ⧖ ✫・゜・。.

Of course, unbeknownst to you, San leaves the… sensitive details out as he recounts Hongjoong’s tantrum for you. Not a single word of Haseul is spoken to you, but the rest is mostly accurate.

You sit in horror as San recounts these details to you, unsure how to even react. You’ve always known that Hongjoong is capable of violence, and Seonghwa, too, but to hear of them acting such violence onto San, of all people… it’s almost unthinkable. At some point in the not too distant past, Hongjoong had trusted San to watch over you at all times of the day, and now? His own paranoia has driven him to violence?

Your thoughts wander to Seonghwa against your own better judgment. Seonghwa is his own person, he’s taking care of himself. He doesn’t want you meddling in his relationships, and he has made this more than abundantly clear.

But how does Hongjoong treat him? It can’t be kind. You’ve seen the slights between them, seen Hongjoong deny Seonghwa of even the simplest pleasure. Behind closed doors, what do they talk about? How does Hongjoong act around him?

Though you’re loath to admit it, you have to worry for him. If Hongjoong is violent with you, the person he considers to be one of the most important figures in his religion… that doesn’t bode well for Seonghwa.

“San,” you bring your thoughts back to the present moment, “I’m so sorry that you went through that for me.”

He doesn’t stop pacing, almost ignoring your sentiment all together. “Hongjoong is crazy.”

“I’ve known that for a while now.”

San smiles. Smiles. “I don’t think you understand the extent of it.”

You find that hard to believe, but there probably are things that San knows about Hongjoong that you don’t.

“But that’s not important for right now. I just need you to keep your distance from him as much as possible; I’ll ask Seonghwa for his help—”

“Seonghwa?” You’re astounded. “You’re going to ask Seonghwa to help us escape?”

San shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut, not looking at you. “No, but he’ll keep you away from Hongjoong. That’s basically his number one priority, anyways.”

It makes sense. If Hongjoong is as volatile as he was with Seonghwa and San earlier, he’s a danger to be around. Even more so than usual. But getting Seonghwa’s help… “Won’t it be obvious what we’re trying to do?”

“You already avoid Hongjoong,” San says. “I don’t think it will be a drastic enough change to draw attention, as long as you’re not refusing to see Seonghwa.”

The way with which San says this last sentence… is different. He’s not stuttering anymore, you realize. He hasn’t been for a while, now. When San is upset, his stutter is more pronounced than anything else, its absence is suddenly so jarring that you have to wonder why you didn’t realize when it stopped.

There’s no emotion in his voice anymore. No personality, no San.

You stare up at him, watching him walk back and forth in front of you. He’s not upset, not anymore, at least. What is this?

“San.” You try to get his attention. “Are you alright?”

He finally stops walking, if just for a second, to give you a good look at his face. “I’m fine,” he states. His eyes aren’t red, his breathing is perfectly even, his expression flat. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re scaring me,” you say. “What’s going on?”

San resumes his pacing. “You should be scared, I should be scared, I should’ve been this whole time; But I’ve been so stupid and now isn’t the time for me to be some sniveling boy.”

You can’t respond to that.

“I think I know when we can try to get out. I’m not going to fail you this time, (Y/n), I swear.”

“San, wait, hold on,” you start, shaking your head, “what about your laptop? The phones? Can’t you just call the cops?”

San smiles tightly, “I considered it, but there would be issues. Hongjoong has a plan, and things would not end well if law enforcement got involved and Hongjoong had more than five seconds to think before he was arrested or killed.”

“So you’re seriously proposing that we run away, leaving everyone else here… forever… including the children?”

“Would you rather be alive and here or dead and buried?” San blinks. “That’s what this comes down to for the rest of the group. We can find a way to get Mingi and Haseul, but it’s not feasible to save everyone knowing that Hongjoong has a plan for this exact situation.”

Your stomach rolls over itself as he explains this. How can you just leave? How could you leave everyone behind and forget about them? How could San even suggest something so horrible?

The thought of freedom is enticing, but the weight that would remain on your conscience… It makes you sick just thinking about it now.

Whatever. Fuck San. You’ll remedy the situation yourself once you’re out. There’s not a chance in hell you’d leave all of these innocent people to rot on this farm.

San’s apathy is so jarring. Maybe that’s what waking up after years of brainwashing does to a person.

You don’t want to judge him when he’s so clearly doing this for you. To protect you. You can hardly complain that he’s resolved in this situation.

… Yeah, no, it still rubs you the wrong way.

But you’ll shrug it off for now. “When can we go?”

.・。.・゜✭ ⧖ ・.・ ⧖ ✫・゜・。.

San explains the general idea to you, which he’ll refine in the coming weeks.

With the beginning of the harvest starting, that puts the farm about one month out from the conclusion. Apparently, they don’t actually own that much acreage, just enough to surround the commune itself, so harvest doesn’t take very long. Throughout the month, there are various ceremonies that all culminate into one, final, grand ceremony at the end of the harvest. After this ceremony, there’s a party.

It was about here when you realized where this was going.

The party is huge, apparently. Like, all-out, rager huge. Everyone gets drunk (apparently this is part of the ceremony) and everything gets a bit wild and confusing. San’s proposal is that the two of you make a break for it when everyone is (a) extremely inebriated and (b) distracted by the celebrations.

It’s kind of cliche, but you have to imagine that it’ll work, especially if this party is as crazy as San explained.

If it doesn’t work… the thought puts a bitter taste in your mouth. You’re not going to start pondering what you’ll do if you get caught for a second time.

Really, this plan should work. San has access to the vehicles. With a car, you can be fifty miles away before anyone even realizes that you’re gone, so long as Hongjoong lets you out of his sight for even just a few minutes.

With all of the noise and distractions, no one will hear the car starting. No one will hear you guys peeling out, the terrible crunch of the gravel under the wheels that you had heard what felt like so long ago.

You think back to the night in the corn field. What a shitshow. You had to give it to yourself, you were very brave. And you got quite far for the amount of preparation that you had done. But that night…

Remains one that you want to forget. But you’ll never forget the fear coursing through your veins, the feeling of your heart in your chest, your ears twitching with every sound that you heard. When Seonghwa was chasing you, when Hongjoong reduced you to a puddle at his feet.

It was like being hunted for sport.

You have to hold out hope that the car will make all of the difference here, which you’re sure that it can. Where you’re going to go… you aren’t sure.

Surely, you know that you have to get law enforcement involved, but what San said is weighing on your mind… Maybe, if you fully explained the situation, you could get some sort of covert mission operating… But that would probably have its pitfalls, too. It’s hard to know what’s right, but you trust that you’ll figure it out once you’ve saved yourself.

There’s also the option that the police will entirely write you off and think you’re just some crazy lady. Especially if San…

No, wait, pause. San would tell the truth, right? Like, he would be your witness? He wouldn’t actually just let this keep happening once he’s out…

God, the fact that you even have to weigh this option is exhausting. Why can’t you just trust him? You’ve had no problem with it before, so why should it be an issue now? Has San ever done anything to betray your trust? Minus him being a high-ranking cult official, but, like, that’s just part of the deal. You have to trust him, especially now. If you can’t trust San, who can you trust?

Your mind wanders to your apartment, your old college dorm room, your childhood bedroom. How dreamy would it be to be anywhere but here? You miss your big bed and your pantry full of snacks you actually like and your bookshelves stacked with your books. You miss sleeping alone, but hearing your neighbors through your thin walls; when you didn’t have a sanctioned bed time that everyone obeyed.

On your nightstand at home, you have a framed picture of your friends. You try to picture their faces, all of them. Changbin, Mingi, Soojin, Haseul, Juyeon, and Jungeun. And, of course, your own face. When’s the last time you looked in the mirror? You think of your features, your hair, the color of your eyes and your smile.

Horrifyingly, you can only picture Hongjoong’s smile.

You stop trying to picture yourself.

Mingi comes to the forefront of your mind. Mingi. Do all roads lead back to Mingi? It feels like it. San had said that Mingi had run to you when you fainted, that he’d taken you from Hongjoong and carried you to the infirmary. You try to picture it, the feeling of Mingi’s arms wrapped around you again. Had he held you close, like a friend, or sterile, far away from his own body, the act of an EMT? Had he let your head hang upside down, over his arm, or did he support your neck like you would a baby?

You don’t know what feels right. You only know that Mingi had held you and Mingi had cared.

Maybe he threw you over his shoulder like he used to do when you refused to follow him somewhere. Probably unlikely. But you smile as you think about it, anyways, how he always used his height to his advantage and how he would sling you around like you weighed nothing.

How many times did he have to carry you to the library? How many times did he carry you out of the library? What does carrying someone mean? When is it an act of love and when is it an act of control?

Haseul had been carried. Where is she, now? In a little room? Is Wooyoung talking to her, keeping her company? Has Mingi been a good companion to her? Is she being subjugated to Hongjoong and Seonghwa, yet? Are you going to have to attend her own Choosing ceremony, soon?

Hongjoong wouldn’t trust you to just silently watch her ceremony, you know that well enough. It’ll probably just happen and you’ll be told after the fact. When its too late to warn her. The next time you see her, she’ll probably be in the infirmary, recovering from a fucking stab wound.

Your own scar tingles. Would Hongjoong just kill her? He had made it clear that he decides who lives and who dies. He could just lethally aim the knife. And wouldn’t that be the ultimate punishment? Not knowing she’s dead until being told after the fact? Not being able to see her one last time?

San wouldn’t let that happen. He would warn you, he would try to help her again, you’re sure of it.

So you just have to focus on yourself, for now. Keep your head down, wait it out, and trust San. That’s really all that you can do. You can’t help Haseul while you’re stuck here, just like you can’t help Mingi, either.

.・。.・゜✭ ⧖ ・.・ ⧖ ✫・゜・。.

You had half expected Hongjoong to give you a break for a few days, considering your encounter with… whatever that thing was, but that illusion is quickly destroyed when Seonghwa comes knocking on your door at the usual time the next day.

San answers, quickly lowering his voice in what sounds like an attempt to plead with Seonghwa to leave you alone for the day. You sneak up behind San, making eye contact with Seonghwa as your appearance calls his attention.

“What do you think, princess?” He sounds as pissed as he looks. You can imagine that he wants to be here just as much as you want him here.

Resting a hand on San’s shoulder, you tell him that you’re fine to go. Afterall, how else are you supposed to keep up appearances? And you need to learn more about what this month has in store for you.

San steps aside as Seonghwa offers you his hand, which you take. Strange, though, that he doesn’t take your arm as he usually would. Is this his way of…

Your last conversation echoes in your head. Seonghwa seemed genuinely concerned. And quite rattled. And he was honest with you, as much as you could expect him to be. Maybe he’s feeling bad. Or sentimental. Or protective.

… Pft, who are you kidding? He probably didn’t even think twice about taking your hand instead of your arm.

Hand-in-hand, you walk silently to Hongjoong’s apartment.

Fuck. You can only hope that he’s not there. You could probably play off your curiosity about the month as your worry about what’s going to happen to you, but something tells you that Hongjoong is going to be looking for reasons to be cruel. Or you’re going to be in for some intense attempts at gaslighting you into believing…

You have to resist a shudder at the memory. With enough effort, you probably could believe that that shit was real. Didn’t you have to beg Seonghwa to tell you that it wasn’t? You still don’t understand what the hell that even was or how it could’ve been faked, but you really can’t bring yourself to think of it.

Seonghwa drops your hand to open the door, holding it open behind him to allow you to enter as well.

Hesitantly, you glance around the apartment.

“He’s not here,” Seonghwa says. “But he wants you here when he comes back.”

The door shuts, and you sit at your usual spot on the couch. Seonghwa flops into his chair, facing you.

“When will he be back?”

He just shrugs, folding his arms across his chest. The image takes you back to a certain other night the two of you have been alone, and you have to clench your jaw to drive away the thoughts, looking anywhere else but at his body.

“I suppose you have more questions.” Seonghwa doesn't ask you this, but tells you.

Yeah, you have a lot of questions. The primary ones you either can't ask Seonghwa or you've asked him already, to no avail.

You look at your nail beds, trying to be nonchalant. “Are you still jealous of San?”

Why that's the question you decide to ask, you have no idea.

Seonghwa scoffs. “Really?” He asks. “That's where we're going?”

Shrugging, you try your best to resist looking at him. “I just thought it was strange that Hongjoong didn't want me to see him yesterday. I can't help but imagine that you must still be feeding him lies,” you say. “He also told me that it was you that had to physically hold him back when I fell.” Not to mention the other holding he did.

Though you don't look at him, you can imagine his displeasure spreading across his expression. “I don't know why you insist that there's nothing between you. It's nothing to be ashamed of, minus the fact that your misadventures could only cause harm to San.”

“Exactly,” your eyes flit up to his face, “I'd never put him in danger.”

“Your loyalty to a man you hardly know is admirable,” Seonghwa says through a sneer.

“I know San better than I know you.”

You could swear his eye twitches. “Sure you do.”

“Is there something you want to tell me?” You blink. “I have no reason to not trust San, and every reason to not trust you.”

Seonghwa shakes his head, smiling. “I think you're forgetting your situation, Princess. San is your punishment, and you're his.” He brushes his bangs out of his eyes. “I never said you had to trust me. I think you do, anyways.”

You stay silent, knowing that he's at least partially correct. You probably do trust Seonghwa, at least more than a lot of the people here.

“Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked for me to calm you yesterday.”

“I asked for San, first.”

“And what would he have told you?” Seonghwa leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Not what you wanted to hear. He wouldn't have been able to assure you of anything. I did.”

Again, you know he's right. San hadn't been able to do much to calm your nerves, despite tell you his plan for your escape.

You lock eyes with him, planning to defend San, but your gaze betrays you. Seonghwa leans back in the chair, knowing he's got you.

“Who was in the costume?” You ask instead.

Seonghwa deigns to look confused. “I'm not sure what you mean.”

The frustration of the prior day comes back at full force. Why can't just one other person acknowledge the fucking insanity of this place? Why can't Seonghwa just say what he means? Why is he so insistent on agreeing with Hongjoong, no matter the cost?

“Do you ever get tired of being Hongjoong's lapdog?”

“Lapdog?” He smiles. “Come here.”

You swallow as he gestures for you to stand in front of him, recognizing the gesture from weeks prior. “No.”

Seonghwa stands instead, stepping around the coffee table to be able to stand before you. Forced into looking up at him, you hate this upper hand he's suddenly gained through your refusal.

He bends, using a hand to grip the sofa behind your shoulder. Face to face, he mockingly pouts. “That's what you think of me?”

You keep your mouth shut, hoping your gaze is burning through him.

“You said it yourself,” he leans closer to you, “you hardly know me.”

With his face so close to your own, you hardly even feel like you can breathe, like it would be encroaching on his space. You glance between his eyes, trying your damnedest to not look anywhere else. If you looked at his lips… his pretty, plump lips…

Fortunately, or, perhaps unfortunately, the doorknob starts rattling a few feet away from the both of you, and Seonghwa quickly leans out of the compromising position. Slipping a hand in his pocket, he stares down at you once more. “This isn’t over.”

The door opens, but neither of you turn to greet who you know will be in the doorway. You’d have to imagine it’s quite a sight to see, the both of your staring daggers at each other, unwilling to be the first to look away.

Hongjoong isn’t pleased by your ignorance. He slams the door behind him as he enters his apartment, and Seonghwa finally relieves you of his look.

Your eyes only move to Hongjoong when he comes to stand next to Seonghwa, his hand resting on his bicep.

“Well, well, well,” he says, “having a lively conversation? Without me?”

Hongjoong gently turns Seonghwa so that he’s angled to sit on the couch, pushing him down until he’s sitting right next to you. Your thighs brush. Hongjoong moves back to sit on the chair Seonghwa vacated, settling himself in before speaking again.

“Have you had time to reflect on what happened yesterday?” Hongjoong inquires, tilting his head. He’s wearing his glasses, the overhead light reflecting off of them, obscuring his irises. “If I seemed frustrated with you, I must apologize. You have to understand that it was a very scary experience, even for myself. And I forgive you for the way that you reacted, as well.”

You squint at Hongjoong. As if you had anything to be sorry for. He’s the one that got himself all mad for no reason. He should be apologizing to San.

But you can only imagine how this conversation will go if you continue to argue with him about the validity of the… thing. And San requested you to keep a low profile. He probably wouldn’t want you bringing up his mistreatment. So you nod a couple times, hoping that he doesn’t want you to vocalize an apology.

“You must have been in shock,” Hongjoong continues. “Which would explain your inability to accept what had happened.”

Nodding again, you try to figure out where he’s going with this. Does he want you to start asking questions? Does he seriously, genuinely believe that you’ve lost it, now? He can’t.

So, what? He just wants you to act like you have? He must know that it would just be a ruse, so why does he want you to go along with it so badly?

Seonghwa certainly knows that you’re not fooled, and you can expect that he told Hongjoong this after you spoke to him yesterday. Who is this act for, exactly?

“As important as you are, it makes sense that you were targeted. The Guardians, in fact, are responsible for the loss of your predecessor.”

Okay, so, that’s a lie. Hongjoong told you as much himself. He’s really going to go back on his word, gaslight you into forgetting what he already said? He might be able to get you to forget what he told you about Haneul, but not so soon after you found out about her.

Haneul’s memory is alive and well in your head, despite the fact that you never met her. You owe it to her to remember the facts of her life, and her death, as best as you can. It awakens a tinge of anger in you to even hear Hongjoong so blatantly disregard her truth. He told you, to your face, that he liked you more than her. So he got rid of her. Not these “guardians” or whatever the fuck he’s trying to blame for her death.

“The Guardians,” you say, plainly. “Are… what, exactly?”

Hongjoong leans back in the chair, crossing his arms. “Well, there’s quite an extensive explanation in The Answer, but I suppose it could be beneficial to hear about them from me.

“The Guardians, simply put, are our antagonists. They protect the Sign, keeping it in the hands of those that oppose us. When we’re close to reaching the Sign, or when the barrier is thinner than normal, such as during a ceremony, they can appear. They’re rather frightening, and they can kill or bring Followers back to their dimension.”

… You blink at Hongjoong, remembering to nod periodically through his explanation. What are you supposed to say to that?

“So, yesterday, then, it was trying to… kill me?” You ask, sensing that Hongjoong wants something to bounce off of.

He tsks. “I don’t suspect kill, but rather kidnap. If they know that you’ve been Chosen, they’ll continue to target you whenever the barrier is thin. Surely they know that we would go to great lengths to recover you if they were able to steal you away.”

Hongjoong speaks with such a conviction that you can see how people are led to believe in him. If you had a weaker mindset, his crock of shit might just make sense. Or be just scary enough to make you want to believe that he could protect you.

“But you scared it away? Yesterday?”

Hongjoong nods gravely, closing his eyes. “They fear my presence, thankfully. Very rarely can they stand to be in the same room as me.”

You smile, hopefully not sarcastically. “That’s very lucky for me, then.”

“It is,” Seonghwa cuts in, surprisingly. “Hongjoong will always be with you, so you’ll always be safe.” Even more surprising than his words, Seonghwa slides his hand into resting on your mid-thigh, assuringly squeezing you. You turn toward him with wide eyes, about to question what the hell he thinks he’s doing, when his expression makes it very clear to you that you should drop the subject.

Bizarre. Why would Seonghwa be warning you to stop talking about what Hongjoong so clearly wants you to speak about?

So you turn back toward Hongjoong, who’s agreeing with what Seonghwa said, seemingly oblivious to his little boyfriend’s hand on your thigh. “Is there any way to protect myself, if I am alone?” You ask instead of heeding Seonghwa’s warning.

He squeezes your thigh harder, but you ignore it. What the hell is he trying to steer you away from? If he doesn’t want you to talk about it, surely it’s something that you’re going to want to know, right? Seonghwa can’t be looking out for you, not when Hongjoong is in the room. He has his priorities in order, and Hongjoong far outweighs yourself.

“Great question,” Hongjoong smiles approvingly. “So long as you have a Sign of the Answer on your person, you can fend them off yourself. They revere the Sign, they won’t harm someone under its protection.”

If that’s the case… you would’ve been fine, yesterday, then. As always, you had been wearing a Sign pinned to your shirt, somewhere. Though Hongjoong would probably try to argue with you that you must have been missing it, otherwise the Guardian wouldn’t have been able to attack.

But then that also raises the question. Is kidnapping someone the same as harming them? Maybe it wouldn’t have killed you, but could it still have taken you? Assuming that Hongjoong isn’t just some very creative psycho, that is. Purely for thought exercise, you have to wonder what the Sign could really protect someone from. Was yesterday an attack? Or merely an appearance?

You sense that Seonghwa is trying to warn you away from the areas that Hongjoong doesn’t have fleshed out. For all you know, yesterday is the first time that a Guardian has ever appeared in the flesh. Hongjoong might not have prepared for every possible question that you could ask.

The questions that you’re most curious about are things that you can’t ask him. Who did he have dressed up? How did they make that stature, that outfit, that… aura? Where was the face? Were you drugged? Was everyone drugged? Did everyone see the same thing that you did, or is everyone collectively lying to you to help their leader? Seriously, where the fuck was that thing’s face? How did they do that? If it wasn’t for that gaping maw of nothingness, you’d have a much easier time writing the entire experience off as the complete joke that you logically know it must have been. You push the thought away for now.

“I’ll be sure to always wear my pins, then.” You motion to where you have one pinned to your collar. “I have questions about the ceremonies in general, though, Hongjoong. Can I ask a few things?”

He motions for you to proceed, and Seonghwa’s hand doesn’t tighten its hold on you, so you do. “Will there be more sacrifices?”

Hongjoong nods. “There’s a sacrifice for each ceremony.”

“What is the sacrifice for? To what deity?”

A hint of exasperation crosses his face as Seonghwa slides his hand a little higher. “I’ve explained this. Sacrifices are sent to different universes as aid for our clones. There’s no God in particular the sacrifice is for, except for me.”

“So they can even use animals, in the other universes? The situation is so dire?”

Seonghwa pinches you instead of squeezing. Hongjoong’s exasperation melts into wry acceptance. “Yes, it is. Have you ever gone months without eating meat?”

… Yeah, probably. But you’re not going to press him harder on the subject. “I was just curious, I didn’t mean to question you. How many more ceremonies will there be this month?”

Seonghwa’s hand doesn’t move, and it’s right about now that you’re starting to feel a little bit insane because of it. Why would he put his hand on your thigh, of all places? Why does it keep migrating upward? Why don’t you just say something to stop him? Or use your own hand to move his away? Why is the warmth of his palm seeping through your jeans so quickly? Why hasn’t Hongjoong said something yet?

“There will be one ceremony each weekend.” He says, calmer, now. “But you won’t have to participate in all of them. The most important ceremonies, the first and the last, are different and thus require the Bearer’s presence.”

Well, that takes a bit of the pressure off, at least. Knowing that you don’t have to personally participate in every ceremony, though, no doubt, you’ll have to be present at each of them, makes you feel just a tad bit better. You have to imagine that Haseul’s Choosing ceremony will be soon…

“Hongjoong, did I do good yesterday?” You ask, trying to feign your most innocent look. “Can I see Haseul, soon?”

He gives you a small smile, but his answer doesn’t match it at all. “No. You made me quite mad, yesterday.”

The response is actually slightly shocking. You knew you had made him upset, but for him to vocalize it to you? To deny you seeing Haseul because of some bullshit that he orchestrated himself?

“But—”

“No buts about it,” Hongjoong says. “You’ll be able to see Haseul once you’re behaving on a consistent basis.”

“Won’t she have a Choosing ceremony?” You blurt, hoping that you weren’t the one to put the idea in his head. Maybe he had been planning on just keeping her locked up and not actually indoctrinating her. Had you even considered that?

Hongjoong sighs. “I haven’t decided. Is she worthy of one?”

What the hell does he mean ‘worthy?’ He’s seriously not going to jump at the chance to bring her in? If he wanted to, he could just kill her then and there; wouldn’t that be his dream? To end her life in front of you? Wouldn’t that just tickle his fancy? You don’t understand.

Unless he’s taking a certain pity on her, which you highly doubt.

He must see your confusion painted plainly on your face, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand. “It’s no matter. You’ll see her when you deserve to. Seonghwa,” —he abruptly changes the topic and his tone— “where exactly is your hand going?”

Seonghwa’s hand flies off of you, landing promptly back into his own lap.

“That’s what I thought.” Hongjoong tuts. “Do we need to discuss the lines that must not be crossed, again?”

You shake your head. You do not need the sex talk again from Hongjoong. God. And it's not like you were feeling him up.

“Seonghwa, you look particularly guilty. Do you need to tell me something?”

You suspect that, if Seonghwa looks or feels guilty of something, it's not the hand on your thigh. It's the warning you to stray away from topics that could upset Hongjoong.

But, glancing over at him, you’re surprised to see how red his face has gotten. Do you really get him going so easily? You could almost laugh, if not for the circumstances. Surely he's not so embarrassed just to have been seen with a hand on your leg. Its not like Hongjoong walked in on his hand down your pants or anything. And hadn’t he been all up in your face before Hongjoong arrived? Where’d that confident asshole go?

Hongjoong’s presence makes all the difference, you suppose. Hopefully he's able to play off this little episode as embarrassment about touching you. If Hongjoong realizes what he was doing, he'd probably get in trouble.

Which is still perplexing. Why had Seonghwa done that? Since when does he want to protect you? The way he's been acting, yesterday and today, just doesn't… align with the picture you have in your head.

Seonghwa looks literally anywhere else than at you or Hongjoong, shaking his head as well.

Slowly, he uses his hands to slide himself farther down the couch from you. Hongjoong chuckles from your opposite side, bringing you back into the reality that you temporarily abandoned.

“That’s pathetic, Seonghwa, really.”

Seonghwa simply looks back toward the coffee table, his face pink. Hongjoong is so harsh.

“Anyways,” Hongjoong calls your attention back towards him, “anything you want to tell me, (Y/n)? How’s San?”

This obsession with your relationship with San is infinitely annoying. What makes them think that you’re ever going to admit to what they suspect of you?

“San is perfectly fine.”

Hongjoong’s eyebrow twitches. “Oh? I only ask because he was rather… upset, yesterday, is all.”

“Wasn’t everyone a little upset?”

“Not so personally.”

You shrug your shoulders. “I don’t know how many different ways I can tell you that you made us live together, so it’s only natural that we care about each other.”

“Well,” is Hongjoong’s entire response.

The room falls into a rather uncomfortable silence.

You look back at Seonghwa, but he’s just looking at his hands, folded in his lap, now.

Hongjoong looks at his nail beds.

“Are we done, then?” You ask.

“You don’t have any more questions?” Hongjoong responds with a question, not looking up at you.

You rack your mind for anything else. Sure, there are plenty of questions, just not ones that he would be happy to answer.

“I guess not.”

Hongjoong looks up, flicking his eyes between you and Seonghwa. “Shall I escort you back to your apartment?”

You look back at Seonghwa, who’s now looking between you and Hongjoong.

“I don’t have a preference,” you say, even though you definitely do.

“I can take her,” Seonghwa springs up, offering you his hand.

Taking it, you also stand. “I actually have one more question, Hongjoong.”

He has to look up at you for once. He simply waits for your question while you gaze down at him.

“Is the sacrifice always an animal?”

He smiles. “More or less.”

Great. Wonderful. Perfect. You absolutely hate that response. More or less? Thats the most non-answer answer that he could've given you. And it definitely means that its not always an animal. Which makes you wonder when… and who…

Stunned into silence, you say nothing. Neither does Seonghwa.

“Hurry back.” Hongjoong requests, dismissing the two of you without another word.

Once you’re outside of Hongjoong’s apartment, you debate teasing Seonghwa, but decide against it. Though it would be quite fun, the poor guy is probably going to get it from Hongjoong already, no need to add to his torment. Plus, he was just trying to help you.

He walks you in silence, again, hand-in-hand, back to your apartment.

No sooner than you’re saying goodbye and shutting the door behind you does San appear in the entryway, grabbing for you.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?” He frantically asks, looking you up and down and all around, his hands flying around your limbs to check for injuries.

Stunned, you stay still. “I’m fine?”

San sighs in relief, guiding you back toward the couch, sitting and pulling you onto his lap. “I was so worried they’d somehow found out. That you’d be hurt.”

You shuffle around so that your back can rest against the armrest of the sofa, your legs still resting over his.

“They absolutely cannot find out, no matter what,” San says. “Can you tell me what you talked about?”

So you explain the conversations for him, using a free hand to card through his hair as you do. He seems to relax after you’ve elaborated, though you leave out the part about Seonghwa and his hand.

Part of you wonders if you should feel guilty about messing with Seonghwa. Not for his sake, but for San’s. What even is going on between the two of you? You probably shouldn’t be flirting with the enemy anyways, but San probably wouldn’t be overjoyed to hear about the things that have happened between yourself and Seonghwa. The fact that you leave it out when recounting the meeting must prove that you know that it’s wrong.

“Come here,” you open your arms to him.

He slips out from under you, realigning himself so that he can rest his head on your chest. “We’ll get out of here, together.” He wraps his arms around your waist.

You do the same, continuing to run your fingers through his hair. There’s nothing you can do but agree with him. The two of you will escape together, and soon. After that, you can forget all about this place.

… Yeah, in your dreams. The real horror might start after you’re gone. You have to believe that San is telling the truth about Hongjoong. Revealing the cult to the authorities will only end in horror if you’re not careful.

And you find it hard to believe that you’ll be okay once you’re gone. You’ve considered it before, the way that this sort of trauma affects someone. How long will you have to recover? Will you be able to go back to your old life?

Will San be part of it?

You squeeze him tighter and he reciprocates.

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#ateez angst #ateez series #ateez x reader #kim hongjoong x reader #park seonghwa x reader #jeong yunho x reader #kang yeosang x reader #choi san x reader #song mingi x reader #jung wooyoung x reader #choi jongho x reader #the answer #update

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