Themes: richkid! au, college! au, enemies to lovers, rivals to lovers, modern fantasy, journalism major reader, journalism major taeyong, angst, SLOWBURN, sexual tension to the max baby we die like men, parts based off gilmore girls, fluff, mythological elements, arranged marriage (kind of), taeyong being a TEASE, hurt comfort
Warnings:lots of !! sexual tension !!, profanity, angst, insecurity, our lovely mc is a bit detatched bitchy but she gets better! food, neglectful parents, manipulative characters, minor crime (stealing of a boat lmao), allusions to sex, makeout scenes, kissing, some talk about sex but no sexual content whatsoever, PG 15
Summary: When you happen to give your enemy his coat back, you find yourself thrown into a vortex of chaos and a ring sitting pretty on your fourth finger.
Authors Note: GOD this fic is so self indulgent it is not funny but I had an absolutely blast writing it. First of all, thank you to @jensrose to beta reading this fic and letting me scream to you about it and to @neo-shitty for volunteering to be a character. Thank you to @sehunniepot nikki for letting me use Neiho here<3 I don’t know what possessed me to write 30k+ but here we are so uh i hope you enjoy it as i much as i loved writing it, and as always feedback is appreciated<3
You got out of your car, bidding the driver goodbye as you collected your books from the backseat. He nodded respectfully, pressing the button on the side of the door, the windows rolled up and you took a few steps away, watching the Porsche drive away.
OT7 x reader | Fantasy | Hybrid | Slice of life | Romance | 18+ | wc: 3100 out of 7300
╰ You leave the stress of everyday life for a simple life in the woods, but apparently, you aren’t the only one who wanted to get away. The goal? To find yourself. And maybe each other along the way.
⟶ warnings: Sadness, anxiety- and panic attacks, talk about death and cursing.
You could not remember how - or when for that matter, you had arrived home after you had been informed of the sudden passing of your foster parents. The only thing you remembered was how you had walked mindlessly around while the lawyer, Mr. Wang’s, words kept echoing in your head, a dark reminder of how you had not known of their passing before fourteen days had already gone by.
You had a hard time believing what Mr. Wang had told you, he must have been pulling a joke on you. A cruel one. They could not be dead. They simply could not. Even as you tried to contact them via phone and they did not answer, your mind kept coming up with alternative reasons for why: Maybe they were on vacation or had forgotten theír phones somewhere - it would not have been the first time. However, as hours went by the relation of the situation settled in, and you cried.
They were gone.
You squeezed your eyes shut tightly, trying to control the tears which were streaming down your face as your knees buckled under the mental and physical strain, collapsing onto the hardwood floor.
The pressure around your chest increased, making it hard for you to breathe.
Once again, it was as if someone was strangling you - or holding you underwater. No matter how hard you tried, you could not catch a breath.
For a short moment, your vision darkened, then flashed with a collage of heartbreaking memories. Memories that now felt empty without them. Your first time meeting Jihoon and Soobin outside of their flower shop, the day they invited you into their home, and the first time they told you that they loved you. The last time you had been more than one around the dining table, enjoying a home-cooked meal and the room was filled with love and laughter. You screamed as the memories blurred and darkness once again took over.
When your vision returned, your breathing had steadied slightly but your lungs were still burning, aching for oxygen. With what little energy you had left, you sought comfort in yourself; bending your upper body toward your legs and tucking your head in between them. You tried to remember the breathing technique you had learned earlier in life before Jihoon and Soobin came into your life.
It took a few tries before you had figured it out. Inhaling through your nose and holding it for a few seconds, and then exhaling through your mouth ever so slowly. Breath in through the nose, hold it, and out through the mouth. In through the nose, hold it for a moment, and then exhale through the mouth. You kept repeating until your breathing settled down and the burn in your lungs had subsided.
You no longer had any energy left in you, your eyes twitched until darkness consumed you once again.
The following days had passed by without you noticing. You could not remember much of what you had been doing the days after your mental breakdown. You only remember the overwhelming feeling of distress and hopelessness.
However, today seemed slightly better than the day before - and the day before that, and the one before that one too. It might have been because you had actually gotten a full night’s sleep without any form of nightmare, something you had not experienced since that day in the office.
You had woken up from your slumber twenty minutes ago but had yet to leave the comfort - and warmth - of your bed. You shifted out from under the covers and into a half-sitting position with a book in hand. You were completely lost in the book; immersed to the point you had blocked the real world out. The noises of the waking city melted away. The cars, traffic, and voices became silenced and were replaced with a warm humming background noise.
A loud ringing abruptly brought you back to reality. It startled you, causing you to drop your book in fright.
“Fuck me.”
You had placed a hand on your chest and looked at the fallen book in disbelief before your eyes flickered around for the source of the sound. Your eyes locked upon your phone, screen flashing with an unknown number. You had seen the number before though. A few times actually.
You let out a deep sigh, a mixture of relief and annoyance as you reached for the phone.
“Hell-o-o”
“Miss Yun,” a deep voice pierced through the phone’s speakers.
Instantly, your back stiffened and ice ran down your spine; you recognized the voice as the elderly lawyer, Mr. Wang.
What could he possibly want? You were not ready for any more depressing news. You were not even over the ones he had given you a week or so ago - and you probably never would be.
“What do you want?!” you flinched as soon as the words passed your lips, you sounded so angry and frustrated that you felt embarrassed. This was not how you wanted to come across, neither was it how the Yun’s had raised you. You needed to be respectful towards others - especially your elders.
You became more and more aware of how inappropriate your tone had been as the silence filled the room.
“I am so so sorry, I did not mean any disrespect or hardship, sir” You apologized profusely and vehemently, but the words died in your throat as your ears perked up, registering a chuckle sounding through the phone. Your mind must have been playing tricks on you because you thought you heard him chuckle “funny girl”.
“There is no need to apologize, Miss Yun.”
You let out the breath you had held.
“I would imagine I would have been a little irritated myself if the position had been reversed” Mr. Wang continued.
“Still that is no reason for being disrespectful, sir”
“Do not linger on it, ____.”
It was the first time he had ever called you by your first name and, to be honest, it took you by surprise. It felt so out of character for him.
“Now as for the reason why I am calling: I have news regarding the settlement with the Yun clan and other information I would like to pass along to you.”
You were nodding your head slowly, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
“Would it be possible to meet up within the next few days?”
You hummed, still not quite sure where all this would end up.
“How does -” there was a short moment of silence, only the sound of what might have been him flipping through pages of his calendar, before continuing; “- Thursday at 1 pm sound?”
“Yeah, sure” you muttered, already knowing you had nothing planned and even if you had, you would cancel in a heartbeat for whatever information there was regarding your ‘parents’.
“Great! I will send a message with the place and time.”
“Yeah, whatever” you mumbled, hoping he did not hear it and if he did, he ignored it and ended the call with a curt yet quick farewell, then the line went dead. You looked at the phone in frustration and let out a heavy sigh, your mind was already overworking itself, making you fear what was to come.
Thursday arrived way too fast for your liking. Your nerves had been building up ever since Mr. Wang’s call and now that the day had come, they were reaching a breaking point. You had been anxious the whole day; pacing around your apartment since you had awoken and had tried to eat. But even the smallest amount of food had made you sick to your stomach. And now, you were squirming in your metro seat and picking at your cuticles out of habit.
You were not sure of how long you had been picking at your fingers, only stopping when a monotone voice sounded from the speakers, declaring the next stop which just happened to be your stop. As you took a hold of your bag, you noticed how the skin around your fingers was raw and inflamed. It was almost bleeding.
“For fuck sake” you mumbled annoyed, your skin had only just somewhat healed from last time. However, you could not linger on it for too long since you had somewhere to be, so with a heavy sigh, you left the comfort of your seat and went over to the doors, waiting patiently for them to slide open.
You exited the metro station with quick steps stopping shortly when you noted how the mass of people only seemed to grow even denser as you arrived at the street. Your heart raced at the sight of the packed place, starting to feel overwhelmed at the thought of having to go through the sea of people. You had to zigzag around people, making sure not to collide with anyone while looking for the meeting address Mr. Wang had sent you. Even as you frantically looked for the address, your mind was just as frantically coming up with what-if scenarios. You could not help it. You were not sure what Mr. Wang could possibly want to tell you, that could not be said over the phone. What if he had mistaken and your parents had not wished for you to inherit anything? Or what if it was even more devastating? Another death in the family, maybe?
Finally, as the crowd seemed to thin out, you could look around a little easier and as your eyes flicked around they locked upon a building. Then your eyes darted to your phone, making sure that you were indeed at the right address. You were. So you tucked the phone back into your shoulder bag and your eyes - once again, locked upon the building.
The whole building was made of glass, reflecting the beautiful blue of the autumn sky to glowing with orange hues from pale peach to tangerine whenever the sun peeked through the clouds. It was stretching itself toward the sky, almost as if to break through to the heavens.
Then your eyes slowly traveled back down from the top of the building, until they settled upon the entrance. Immediately, noticing a black-suited man standing in the foyer of the building, staring at you with a stern look almost as if to tell you that you did not belong here. However, you already knew this, but Mr. Wang wanted to meet up here and you could not back down now.
Or could you?
No.
No, you could not do that. You had to know what Mr. Wang could possibly want. He wanted to meet up instead of simply telling you over the phone - like most people would and it had piqued your interest. Moreover, since it was most definitely about your deceased parents, you had to know.
You inhaled and exhaled with a sigh, then began the short walk toward the entrance with shaky legs. You could feel the stern-looking man’s eyes on you as you neared the entrée. It made you uncomfortable; the way he was burning holes into you, confirming you that you did not belong there.
But then again, where did you belong?
You wrapped your arms around your stomach to shrink into yourself, lowering your head in an attempt to make yourself even smaller. With your head bowed down, you distracted yourself by counting the cracks on the pavement.
You were so preoccupied that you did not notice that someone had opened the door for you. It was only when the warm air slapped you in the face and a gasp slipped past your lips, you realized that you had stepped into the building.
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
Immediately, you whipped your head around and your eyes traveled over the man until they landed on his face, still as serious and stern as a stone. A few seconds went by with you simply looking at him and not uttering a word, so the man rephrased his question.
“Do you have an appointment with someone today, ma’am?” the man asked, face softening slightly as he noticed your disheveled appearance; swollen eyes, cheeks flushed and splotchy, and hair slightly tousled.
“-Yes, sir,” you said timidly. You loosened the scarf around your neck in an attempt to cool yourself down from the sudden heat. In addition, to reduce the uncomfortableness you had felt ever since he had settled his eyes on you.
“Can I have the name of the person you have an appointment with?” He asked and fished out a tablet from the inner pocket of his jacket.
“Oh. I am here to see Mr. Wang.” As soon as the name passed your lips, the man’s eyes flicked back to the tablet and tapped on its screen. A few moments went by when he suddenly looked at you again, this time with a brow raised; “Miss Yun, I assume then?”
You nodded.
“Do you have any ID on you miss?”
You nodded once again, opening your bag and started looking for your identification card. You scolded yourself as you roamed through the bag, it had to be there somewhere in the mess of a bag. When suddenly your fingers brushed against the chapped sides of a card. You could not hold back the small victory wiggle as you pulled the card out.
The man simply took the card from you.
He glanced at you to make sure that you were indeed the same person as the one in the photo. His eyes flicked from your face to the card and back. Unable to bear the scrutiny in his eyes, you looked away and started fidgeting with the few loose threads from your scarf. You found yourself getting hotter and hotter, afraid that he would not recognize the person in the photo. You had changed since the photo had been taken.
“Everything seems to check out, miss Yun.” The stern look washed away from his face as soon as your identity was confirmed, a loose smile finding its way onto his face instead. “You will have to take the elevator to the 42nd floor where Mr. Wang is staying, either he or his secretary will be there to welcome you.” He continued while pointing you towards the elevator.
“Thank you,” you said, a shy smile painted on your face. You gave a quick bow, then walked down the long hallway toward the elevator. You did not have to wait long for the elevator - maybe a few minutes, but no more than three.
You leaned against the elevator wall as soon as you entered and waited for the doors to close. As you stood alone inside the empty elevator, the nerves you had tried so hard to ignore ambushed you: you were staring blankly ahead of you while your heartbeat increased to an alarming pace, it felt as if it was about to jump out of your chest. Blood rushed to your ears, flushing out all other noises than the sound of your overworking heart.
A sudden ding chimed and the doors slowly slid open. Your eyes widened and darted over to the screen where the floor number shined brightly. 42nd. The floors had passed by way too quickly for your liking. You did not even have a moment to collect yourself before you stumbled out of the elevator with wobbly legs. You steadied yourself against a wall just outside of the elevator, taking a deep breath while closing your eyes, trying to calm yourself down. Luckily it did not take you long before your heartbeat slowed down to a somewhat normal rate.
With shaking legs you began your small walk down the corridor. Your eyes darted around, trying to find either Mr. Wang or a secretary - anyone for that matter, but none came into view.
You kept walking until you came by an empty desk. You look around, trying to see if anyone was near still, none were to be seen. Then your eyes landed on a dark mahogany door with four golden letters on it: ‘WANG’.
It had to be here.
You took a few steps towards the door and knocked on it, still somewhat scared about what may happen in there. Somehow you were still holding on to the hope that your parents would be standing in there, but you knew better. It would only happen in dreams. And this was anything but a dream.
You fidgeted with your jacket while waiting for any kind of response when suddenly the door was ripped open. A gasp passed your lips as you came face to face with a pair of kind eyes behind a pair of brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. There was a hint of kindness and somehow they seemed to calm you a little - but only a little.
“Thank you for coming, Miss Yun. I hope it was not too much of a problem for you.” Mr. Wang said, stepping aside for you to enter the office. You shook your head to make it clear that it was fine (even if it had been a problem, you probably would not have said anything).
“Then please sit down,” he said, pulling out the chair for you. The corner of your lips quirked up in a small smile in gratitude before sitting down in the chair he had offered.
“Would you like anything to drink? Coffee? Water? A soda?” He asked while walking behind the desk you now sat in front of. The question threw you slightly off, reminding you why you were there. This was not going to be an easy or short conversation.
It was going to be a difficult one, you already knew it.
“Just water, please.” You answered timidly, suddenly not having the courage to speak any louder in fear of your voice breaking.
He gave you a small nod, walking over to the bar cart in the far corner of the office before grabbing what you assumed to be a water bottle and poured it into two glasses. He strode back to the desk, placing one of the glasses in front of you before taking a seat. He took a sip of water and turned to you with a gentle smile.
SUMMARY | when you found out your late grandmother has given you inheritance, you were obligated to return to the old town you grew up in. you weren’t expecting a house that needs renovation to be your inheritance, hell, you weren’t expecting that the person renovating your inheritance would be your ex.
CONTENT WARNING | none for this teaser - will put them on the main fic !!
GELA SAYS | well- i’m working on one of my collabs;; hopefully i’ll be able to post this on december or before the new year comes (lets just hope god gives me the motivation to finish most of my wips)
RELEASE DATE | tba
The wooden door creaks out loud even if you open it gently and quietly as possible, your old stuff was put in boxes on top of the naked mattress. Three boxes were labeled and one small box on top of it caught your attention. Y/N and Sungchan’s memories. The handwriting was familiar, it was your grandmother’s. Curiously, you opened it. The dust that was gathered on top caused you to sneeze and cough, and your eyes widened when you saw some of the gifts your ex boyfriend had sent you before. With a notebook resting on the side of the small stuffed toys, a box of jewelry and the cute letters Sungchan has sent to you before. You took one blue post-it note and read:
Good luck on your first day, my future engineer! I believe in you. I love you. XOXO, your future architect.
“Huh,” you mutter, putting it back on the box and grabbed the notebook, opening the hardcover of it. To Y/N and Sungchan.
How easy it is for another to kill you. No force, no hands on the throat - just their mere presence suffocating you.
It was so weird but you craved it. As if you had a morbid attachment to death by his hand. More and more. You didn’t care that your head felt light when he smiled or that your heart stopped its beats as you exchanged a look - you wanted to suffocate in him.
“… and it was sold-out.”
“Wow,” you blinked suddenly, gaining awareness. The crowd around you started to buzz again and the flashing party lights invaded your irises.
“Yeah.Wow,” your friend rolled his eyes at your monotone voice. He swiftly turned around with a sigh, arms crossed on his chest, staring at whatever you were staring at instead of his pretty face.
“I guess that comment wasn’t on my ability to sell out a whole ass theatre but on Doyoung’s rude waist in those tight slacks.”
