Synopsis: “Crown Prince Lee Jeno, of The Kingdom of Northcy, expected to marry Princess (y/n) (l/n) of The Modia Kingdom just before the new year. The two young royals say they are just ‘doing their duty,’ as their union ends the war. I think we can all agree this marriage will be the beginning of a new era for both kingdoms. From myself and everyone here at channel 6 news, we congratulate the Prince and Princess.” You watched the news anchor announce your marriage to your kingdom, ‘just doing my duty, as princess.’
Authors Note:This is the same story as the original, that just went through heavy review and editing to comeback better than ever. All of this, was possible with the help of the Amazing@urlocaltrash28 As much love as you give to me, please give to her as well.
Authors Note: I know I said this is gonna be updated every saturday and this is the second time that I updated on a sunday, I’m sorry guys. This weekend just wasn’t it for me. I’ll do better, I’m sorry. hugs and kisses to anyone reading <333
OH I FORGOT TO TELL YOU GUYS THERES NEW SCENES IN THIS CHAPTER LOL
—————-
Finally, you lay in your bed; you finished getting the Na family settled. There was Lord Na, and his wife Lady Na. The lord was the brother of the queen, and their parents also came. They insisted you call them Grandfather Na and Grandmother Na, instead of their names. Then Lord Na’s son, Na Jaemin.
When escorting the Na family to their chambers, you experienced a few minutes alone with the infamous Na Jaemin. The tales of Na Jaemin have made it around the palace more than once. As soon as the maids heard about the early arrival of the Na family, the talk was nonstop.
According to Fei and Mei, Na Jaemin was a ‘whore,’ a ‘flirt,’ the ‘ultimate playboy.’ The paparazzi of Northcy would picture Jaemin with a different girl on the weekly. There’s even the rumor that Jaemin doesn’t have a preference. When you saw him, his smile, the way he walked, how he talked, you understood. Jaemin always had his head tilted a little to the right. Whenever you spoke, he made direct eye contact. It was captivating, memorizing, it made sense why men and women praised the ground he walked on.
“You’re very beautiful, princess,” Jaemin said to you when you escorted him to his chambers, “my cousin is a lucky man.”
Those are the words that you thought about as you slept.
-
A luncheon with Grandmother Na, Lady Na, and the Queen, is where you sat at the moment: the middle of the palace’s private garden, wearing a peach tea length satin dress, across from Lady Na. She wore a shin-length straight skirt, that was a lavender color, a simple off-white straight-neck lined blouse, tucked into her skirt. She kept her head down during the majority of the luncheon, refusing to look the Queen directly in the eye. The queen never addressed Lady Na either, rather speaking to Grandmother Na.
“Jaeyeon, this isn’t your wedding, allow the girl to speak,” Grandmother Na spoke in a scolding tone, looking at her daughter disapprovingly.
“It’s quite alright, Grandmother Na,” you started, unsure what else to say. You preferred not to talk about the wedding at all, still hoping for a way out of this union.
“Well, it is your wedding, after all, you do have a say in this right?” Grandmother Na asked.
“Of course, Grandmother Na,” is what you opted to say, instead of ‘of course not. If I had any say, this wouldn’t be happening, if I had a say I would not be here. If I had a say this would never have even been an option.’
The queen had seemed to pick up on your discomfort of the topic, opting to change it. “How is home, mother?” The Queen looked to her mother with what appeared to be hopeful eyes.
“Home is just alright. Jennie has started a charity, the first event will take place just before the new year,” Grandmother Na said looking at Lady Na, her head remained lowered, though.
“This is the first I am hearing about this, I hope you didn’t plan to not invite me,” the Queen said, her voice sounding condescending as ever. It was like Queen Jaeyeon was becoming a different person before your eyes.
“Of course, you’re invited, Your Majesty, I would never purposely leave you out,” Lady Na spoke, her eyes not meeting the queen’s. It was obvious Queen Jaeyeon didn’t like her sister-in-law.
“By my name, must you act so high and mighty, Na Jaeyeon?” Grandmother Na spoke out, the same scolding tone returning just much worse this time around. “Jennie has done nothing but try to earn your approval, and nothing she ever does seems to meet the criteria. She was your lady-in-waiting for your wedding, didn’t ask for anything during her wedding, waited until after it was confirmed that you were pregnant to get pregnant. Shas continued to do good work while taking care of me and your father, as well as making your brother happy. The least you can do is pretend to like her for one lunch.” Grandmother Na slammed her hands down on the table looking at her daughter furiously.
After Grandmother Na finished her rant, the queen was red in the face, the anger clearly evident. Lady Na was the first to speak, after an overly extended amount of silence, “If you don’t mind, I shall excuse myself.”
“No, we don’t mind,” Grandmother Na huffed out, her eyes still trained on Queen Jaeyeon. “My dear princess (Y/n), please escort Lady Na back to her chambers,” Grandmother Na said, looking at you softly.
“Of course.”
-
You and Lady Na walked towards the grand staircase, up to the second level. The majority of the bedrooms remained on that level. Lady Na kept her eyes trained on the floor, almost like a maid would. The outfit she wore was too simple to be considered classy, it was too commoner-like. Her hands looked rough, like a laborer’s hands. Her skin seemed aged, too dry in certain areas and littered with sunspots. It was all too clear: Lady Na didn’t come from a prominent family; she was a civilian.
“I was a maid,” Lady Na spoke, almost as if she could hear the revelation you made in your mind. “I worked for the Na family. I arrived at their house when I was 14. My parents died in an accident. There was no money set aside for me, and the job of a maid comes with housing as well as food. When I went to work, Joon was only 16, and I didn’t try to weasel my way into a better life. I was content being a maid. I certainly wasn’t overjoyed with the idea of working, cleaning up after two spoiled brats, but I made peace with it. I had a job, a way of making money, I had a place to sleep and I had food, I was content. Joon and I didn’t start getting close until after Jaeyeon was engaged to the Crown Prince at the time. She left home and Joon didn’t have his best friend. He turned to the maid that was there from before. I didn’t seduce him to buy a ticket to an easy life. I love every part of my husband and no matter what Jaeyeon tells you, even if Joon had nothing, I would still love him.” Lady Na looked at you. She was tired, tired of trying to please an unpleasable woman. You feared your future would look similar. Will you become tired of trying to please Queen Jaeyeon?
By the time Lady Na finished, you were already outside of her chamber doors. “I apologize for my outburst, you didn’t deserve that,” she spoke to you. Before you could even think of a response, she was already shutting the door, leaving you to your thoughts: a maid has married the brother of the queen. That must’ve made quite the headline for the papers and evening news.
Slowly, make your way to your bedroom. It seemed as if now you never saw Fei or Mei. The two of them often moved in silence, seemingly coming out of the shadows when you needed them. They were nearby, though; you could feel their presence. As you neared, it looked as if someone was waiting by your door. It most definitely wasn’t your two guards, for it seemed like even Chan and Hyunjin got busy, leaving you more lonely than ever, even in a palace full of people. It was Jaemin, Jaemin stood outside of your doors, hands behind his back, looking towards the ceiling.
“Something interesting up there?” you asked, standing next to Jaemin, now looking at the ceiling.
“Ah, princess, I was wondering if I could have a private word with you?” Jaemin asked, looking at you, with the head tilt and direct eye contact.
“What would you like to discuss?”
“Privately, please,” Jaemin said, gesturing towards your doors. He wore tight white pants, with black boots that went over his pants, and a long-sleeved button-up tucked in, a pair of black gloves in one hand; you inferred he was just returning from a horse ride. ‘Jaemin and I are racing tomorrow morning,’ was what Jeno said the night before at dinner.
“Very well.”
-
Jaemin and you sat at the table placed in front of the large window. Fei had brought in a freshly brewed tea, shortly after she saw you enter your room. Jaemin sipped his tea, admiring the view of the courtyard, his head tilting side to side often.
“Do you want to marry Jeno?” Jaemin blurted out, now looking at you. No, Jaemin’s gaze was reaching deeper: he wasn’t looking at you, but looking into you, into your soul, your heart of hearts. “I am asking you as the cousin of your fiance, and I want you to answer me as my cousin’s fiance. Not Princess (Y/n) of the Modia Kingdom, but just (Y/n).”
“No, I do not want to marry Jeno.”
“Alright, I’ll make the arrangements,” Jaemin said, getting up from his seat making his way out of your chambers.
“Excuse me? Arrangements? What are you talking about?” You asked as you stood to follow Jaemin.
“My cousin doesn’t want to be married and neither do you, so I will make arrangements to get you out of this palace and on a flight back home in one week. We shall be in contact, princess.” Jaemin said, exiting the room, leaving you in utter shock. Can Jaemin possibly do that? Have you on a plane back home in a week? Technically, you could get yourself on a plane back home; it’s not like anyone was holding you hostage.
-
Before the arrival of the Na family, days bled into each other; meetings always seemed to overlap. Now that the Na family was here, it seemed as if the days dragged on longer and longer. Your lunchtime was always with a new person from the Na family.
Lunch with Grandmother Na was filled with stories from Jeno and Jaemin’s childhood. Apparently, those two were thick as thieves, always running around the palace, pulling absurd pranks, and causing trouble. Haechan played with them often.
Lunch with Lady Na was more filled with advice on what to do after the wedding: how to act, talk, walk and dress around the family. You felt pity for Lady Na; she never lived up to the expectations, and all she wanted was to feel like she belonged to the family.
Grandfather Na told stories of his time in the war. Lunch with him was the most unbearable. He spoke of his triumphs, the battles he won, the people he’s killed. Many of which were your people: the men and women you swore to protect, the people that willingly gave their lives to defend. By the time lunch was over with Grandfather Na, you felt sick to your stomach and tears flowed freely down your face. You even refused to go down for dinner, unable to sit and dine with that man. Rumor has it grandmother Na gave scolding to him, but the words were already spoken.
Lunch with Jaemin was filled with the plan to get you out of the country. You were to leave the palace at midnight and drive to a private airstrip, owned by Lord Huang, who apparently owed Jaemin a favor. There you would board a private plane that will fly to Teraha. In Teraha, you would spend a year traveling across the country eventually crossing the border into Modia. By that time, the union between you and Jeno will have been dissolved and you would no longer be “missing.”
“It’s perfect, princess. You would have been missing from Northcy for an entire year. There’s no way they would hold you to a year-old union. And if you’re unsure, you could always extend your missing period. If I didn’t believe in this plan, I wouldn’t have suggested it, Your Highness.”
“Are you sure, Jaemin?”
“Of course, I am, princess. The biggest issue isn’t what to do when you leave the country, it’s how to leave the country unseen. Luckily for you, I can provide passage out of the country undetected.”
Jaemin’s plan left you wondering if you truly could escape, leave this unwanted marriage? Have freedom? No one said you had to be “found”; you could pull out enough cash and exchange it for Teraha currency, to at least start a life there. There’s no doubt that as soon as you left Northcy, you could survive and not have to go back.
-
The day finally came. That morning, after Fei and Mei helped you dress, you made your way to breakfast with Lady Na, Grandmother Na, and the queen. There was more talk of wedding arrangements and guest seating. The conversation seemingly dwelled on and on, and you weren’t taking much interest in it.
You stared at Lady Na. She was perfect in every way: she was respectful when speaking about every member of the family, she never said anything outrageous, and chose all her words carefully. Even here at breakfast, she acted perfectly, her eyes trained downward, not to make direct contact with anyone unless warranted, she didn’t speak unless spoken to. Many probably wouldn’t even notice her presence. You wondered, is this how it would be as Jeno’s wife? Would you be expected to be perfect? The thoughts made Jaemin’s plans insatiably tempting: the idea of running far far away, living freely.
After setting up a life, you would write to Chan, under a name only he would know. He would find you and you guys would be free, free to live happily ever after. It seemed all too simple, too easy.
-
Finally, the sun set and you were back in your private chambers. You sent Mei and Fei away for the night already. You slipped a note to Chan, explaining you needed him for a midnight escapade. Chan was to meet you at the back garage of the palace, at exactly ten to midnight.
You grabbed a leather duffel bag out of the closet, throwing in a week’s worth of clothes inside, along with certain necessities. You change out of your pajamas, into something warmer and more appropriate for a midnight escape.
Earlier in the day, Jaemin slipped a note into your chambers, explaining the route to the airstrip. Note in one hand and bag in the other, you made your way down to the garage, and already there Chan was. He was in casual clothing: a pair of dark blue jeans, a hoodie, and a leather jacket thrown over.
“What is this midnight escapade you have me going on?” He asked, looking you up and down.
“I’ll explain, first get in.”
The two of you got in the car, you driving, and him riding passenger. Chan thought back to summer nights in Modia. You were restless some nights, so Chan would sneak you out of the palace and take you to car meets that he and some of his friends would attend. That’s where you first learned to drive, where you first did a street race, where you first ran away from the police. You were a different person in Modia, a different person before the third letter.
As you finished explaining what was going on, you pulled up to the airstrip. “My princess, are you sure about this?” Chan asked you as you both got out of the car to exchange seats. “I wouldn’t see this version of you doing this.” He came to your side of the car as you stood right outside the door.
“I was sure, but being here, I don’t know anymore,” you said. You are no longer who you were back in Modia. It was like when you go out and then all of a sudden life is drained from you and you just wanna curl up in bed. You were so excited, almost jumping out of your seat during lunch with Lord Na today, just aching to escape and be gone. You were prepared, ready for a new life. But now, being here, Jaemin and the plane ready to take you away in front of you, you weren’t so certain.
“Whatever choice you make, my princess, you shall always have my support,” Chan offers with a genuine smile and knowing eyes. Unable to form words of gratitude, a simple nod being all you could manage.
You made your way to Jaemin, stopping right in front of him. “Are you ready, princess? Lidia will meet you when you land, she’ll get you situated in Teraha with identification to help you get around the country. Teraha has been a neutral territory since the start of the war, so there’s no need to worry if someone picks up on your accent.”
“I can’t,” you start, Jaemin’s mention of the war throws you back to reality. This marriage, this union between you and Jeno was ending a century-old war. You wondered how you could have such selfish thoughts. With the alliance being freshly formed, there’s no telling what would happen if you were to disappear. Northcy could declare war on Modia for not honoring the union, Modia could declare war for losing the only heir. Mother and father would be absolutely devastated, they would think they lost all of their children. Not to mention your responsibilities, your people, your country. How could you ever think to turn your back on them?
“I’m sorry, Jaemin. I know this must’ve been a lot of work for you, but I can’t. I can’t run away from my responsibilities,” you said to the boy in front of you. He looked confused as if he didn’t understand the words coming out of your mouth.
“You’re gonna marry Prince Jeno, princess?”
“I am… it’s my responsibility to my people,” you said with a sigh.
“You will be an unhappy princess,” Jaemin said with a firm look. He didn’t agree with your decision. “You will be alone, in a marriage with a man you don’t love. Your maids and guards will be sent back to Modia, you will have no one. You will be unhappy.”
“Yes,” you breathed, pausing, unsure how to continue, “yes I will be unhappy, but isn’t it worth it? My unhappiness for thousands of lives? I will be unhappy and alone in Northcy, but I will save thousands of people, my people… it is worth it to me.“ You turned and began to walk away from Jaemin, back to the car where Chan sat, waiting to see your decision.
When you got in the car, the tears flowed freely, never stopping the entire ride to the palace. Chan placed one hand on your thigh and another on the driving wheel. You were painfully aware of what you’ve done to yourself, how you nailed your coffin shut. There was no turning back now.
“I’m proud of you, my princess,” Chan said, pulling your hand to his lips, placing a chaste kiss.
-
Jaemin stood there, watching the car the princess got in to drive away back towards the palace. He spoke into the walkie-talkie that he pulled out of his back pocket, “stand down, guard.”
Jaemin was never gonna let the princess escape. The plan was to entice the princess with the idea of escaping the impending marriage, allow her a way to get out of the country and when she boards the plane, palace guards will be there to restrain her and the union would have been broken. She would have been caught trying to willingly escape, going back on the union, allowing Northcy to invade the rest of Modia.
Jaemin wanted the princess to turn his proposition away, but he wasn’t hopeful for it. Nevertheless, Jaemin left the airstrip glad you turned him away, glad that you wouldn’t be held prisoner in Northcy, glad that you were going back.
-
Jeno paced his room back and forth awaiting news. The idea of catching the princess trying to escape was Jeno’s idea. He didn’t want to rule Northcy, he didn’t want to get married, so if the princess was caught trying to escape and go back on the union, that would throw his father for a loop. The union would be postponed, alliances would have to be renegotiated, Northcy wouldn’t enter a time of peace, and his father would stay on the throne. The ringing of Jeno’s phone pulled him from his thoughts. A picture of Jeno and Jaemin appeared on the screen, it was from a ski trip a few years back.
“Hello? Jaems, is she on the plane?” Jeno spoke into the walkie-talkie.
“You owe me ten Mons, dear cousin,” Jaemin replied.
“You’re kidding me, right? She didn’t get on? Did you tell her she was gonna be unhappy here?”
“I did, and she said it was worth it: her unhappiness was worth thousands of lives, thousands of her people’s lives.”
Jeno ended the conversation there, opting to quickly tell him to return to the palace and make sure no one heard of the event. Jeno didn’t like the princess, not one bit, but he sure as hell respected her. He respected the decision she made, the responsibilities she took on, the role she lives in. He wasn’t planning on making this marriage work, but he decided that he wasn’t gonna make life difficult for the princess. He sat on his bed and decided that he’d do whatever she needed to make her comfortable in the foreign environment.
-
To say Taeyong was unhappy with his younger brother would be an understatement. He had just seen the boy clearly protective of his fiance, and now he was doing beyond foolish things without enough thought. If their father would’ve heard about it, he would be livid, and that’s a sight no one wanted to see.
As soon as he found out that the event was organized by them, he went to knock on Jeno’s chamber door immediately. It wasn’t a hard knock, nothing that made his frustration obvious.
The door swings open, Jeno looking confused at the appearance of Taeyong. He was still thinking of how he could make things up to the princess, albeit without admitting any fault. “Hello?”
“Lee Jeno, you should be ashamed of yourself,” he starts the scolding right away, walking past the boy and into his room.
“What? Yong, what’re you even talking about?”
“You trying to trick the princess into abandoning the kingdom, you fool!” He exclaims. His eyes weren’t angry but no longer had the puppy-like innocence in them. Frustration was the main emotion visible to Jeno. “Why would you do such a thing?”
Jeno’s eyes widened. “H-how did you even hea-”
“Do you genuinely forget that I am the general of our army?” He sighs, rubbing his face. He didn’t expect this conversation to be filled with explanations. The fact that Jeno was clueless about everything was wearing Taeyong’s patience thinner by the second.
“Oh… yeah.”
“So tell me. Why?”
“W-well,” he pauses, feeling like a scolded child, “we both want out of the union, so it would be a simple fix.”
“Jeno… are you still a boy? I thought you were a man!”
“I am a man!”
“Men don’t do such foolish things!”
“Don’t act like I was being selfish; she wanted it too.”
“And that’s why she turned you down?”
Jeno opens his mouth to respond but Taeyong doesn’t let him. “What if she would’ve said yes? What if your plans went well? Do you think that, after she is imprisoned, she wouldn’t rat you out? The woman would have nothing to lose, and would likely want to get revenge. It was a direct back-stabbing before she’s proven she deserves anything of the sort.”
Jeno didn’t have anything to say to that; Taeyong made points he didn’t even think of. His mouth stayed pressed into a firm line. When Taeyong noticed he wasn’t going to argue, he sighs. “Jeno, I love you, but I sincerely hope you never do something this stupid ever again. Now go to bed.” And like that, he was gone.
-
The next morning came, your head aching from all the crying you did. You remembered laying in Chan’s arms crying as you two lay in bed, unsure of when you stopped or when you fell asleep. Chan wasn’t in your bed anymore and it was probably best he wasn’t, but that didn’t mean you didn’t wish he was. Fei and Mei made their way into your room, helping you dress. They ignored your puffy eyes and pale look, but you knew they knew. To anyone else, nothing seems out of the ordinary, but you knew better, you knew Fei and Mei.
You had breakfast privately in your chambers, grateful that no one called you down to eat; you wanted to do nothing but hide away in your chambers, curl into bed and watch the world around you fall into a black abyss. You pushed the food around, unable to bring the fork up to your mouth because nothing seemed to appeal to you.
“Take it away,” you said to Mei as she stood in the corner watching you with sad eyes. Fei just joined her side, having finished setting the bed.
“Yes, your Highness,” as Mei made her way to clean up your plate, there was a knock at your door.
“Send them away, I don’t wish to see anyone right now,” you said with a dead look.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Fei answered, she gave Mei a worried look, this was how you acted when the third letter came home. Fei made her way to the door and opened it to see Prince Jeno standing on the other side. Mei quickly made her way past Fei, carrying the tray of food out the door.
“Oh, perfect. The princess finished breakfast already,” Jeno said, pushing his way past Fei into your chambers. You stood against the windows looking down onto the courtyard, there were children down there playing, they were servants’ children. “Princess?”
You turned around to see Jeno standing there, with hopeful eyes. You didn’t have the energy for this, you needed time to mourn the loss of a what-if life. “Fei, I said I didn’t want to see anyone right now.”
“I apologize, Your Highness,” she turns to the man, “I am sorry, Prince Jeno, but now isn’t a good time.”
Jeno looked at you utterly confused, you weren’t doing anything, why would this be a bad time?
“Fei, leave us,” Jeno said with authority laced in his voice.
“Yes, Your Highness.” Now it was your turn to look confused; your maids never took orders from Jeno, they always looked for your approval before acting, but Fei quickly made her way to the door, not even sparing you a second glance.
“Princess, what is the issue?” Jeno asked, taking a stride to close the gap between you two.
“Your Highness, I am completely fine, there is no issue. Now is just not a good time.”
Jeno showed lots of emotion in his eyes, but so did you. For royals trained to not allow anyone to know what they thought, the eyes gave both you and your fiance away.
“I do not believe that, princess, would you like to try again?” Jeno was intimidating standing so close to you. You looked away not wishing to meet his gaze.
“Jeno, please,” you sighed, not wanting to do this right now.
“Alright, princess, but I need you to follow me.”
“Why?” you asked but Jeno ignored your question, grabbing your hand, lacing your fingers together, pulling you out of the room. Taken aback, you stared at your hand laced together with Jeno’s, it was odd how the two fit so perfectly together, almost made for each other.
As the two of you left your chambers, Chan and Hyunjin stared at you two, unsure if they should follow. After a moment they both followed you and the prince, Chan looked down to your hand, his heart hurting at the sight. Jeno had pulled you into his own chambers which were down the hall from your own. Chan and Hyunjin stopped and posted guard outside the door. The ache in Chan’s heart grew as each second passed on.
Jeno’s private chambers were similar to your own but larger and darker. The walls were painted a dark gray, there was a balcony, the floor was littered with books here and there.
There was a couch in the middle, across the wall held a TV as well as what looked to be several game consoles. Spoiled, you thought to yourself, the prince had many toys to keep himself occupied. In between the couch and tv there sat a nice wood coffee table, on top, a large package. Jeno gestured towards the package, “for you,” was all he said.
You took a step, closely examining the package. It was a puppy. A small Doberman puppy. The shock was all too evident on your face. You picked up the small gleaming puppy and held, what you assumed he, close to your chest. “Hi there, do you have a name?” you asked looking for a dog tag on the collar. “What is the meaning of this?” you said, looking towards Jeno, the dead look no longer present.
“I heard you had a dog, back home in Modia. This won’t ever be home for you, princess, but I hope this gift can offer some semblance of home,” Jeno said looking straight into you, just as Jaemin did only a little over a week ago. “You can name him what you want, it is a boy,” Jeno said, confirming your suspicions.
“Thank you, Jeno,” you said. Although your dog back home wasn’t a Dobermann, it was the idea that Jeno tried to make this new place a little homey that warmed your heart. Now turning to look at the puppy in your arms, “What should we call you, boy? Does your dad have any suggestions?” you asked, turning to look at Jeno not realizing what you said.
Jeno looked at you shocked, quickly recovering, “I don’t know, what about Gae?”
“No, no, Ilio?” you suggested.
“No way, Inu?”
“No,” you gave Jeno a disgusted look, “it needs to be a strong name,” you said as you sat down on the couch placing the puppy on your lap, Jeno sitting next to you petting the puppy.
“King?” Jeno suggested with a chuckle.
“Sarge?” Jeno grimaced at your suggestion.
“Hades,” Jeno said, looking at the dog, it was no longer a suggestion.
“Hades,” you repeated, have chosen a name for the Doberman puppy that sat in your lap. You and Jeno spent the rest of your morning in his chambers playing with the dog. He got the dog plenty of toys to play with and plenty of doggy treats as well. Apparently, Jeno left the place early this morning and went down to the city to get the puppy and all his stuff. After hours of you and Jeno playing with the dog, you thought about how, maybe, this union wouldn’t be as bad as you imagined.
-
You laid on the couch, the puppy curled up next to you, taking a nap. Your eyes felt heavy as well. Jeno sat on the floor, back against the couch. There was a movie playing on the tv but you were too tired to try to pay attention. Jeno looked over his shoulder, looking at the puppy curled next to you, hoping that this would be enough for you for right now. There was a knock at the door, pulling Jeno from his thoughts and to his feet. The knock startled you awake, now sitting up. Jeno made sure you were presentable for a guest before opening the door.
“Come in,” Jeno’s voice was cold, calculated, borderline strained.
The door pushed open to reveal Jaemin and Haechan, the two making their way into the room. Jaemin dressed simply wearing jeans and some sneakers, with a hoodie on top. Haechan dressed a little more formally, having jeans, with sneakers but instead of a hoodie, he wore a nice dress shirt. “What is going on here?” Haechan asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Jeno,” You started, stopping to correct your mistake, “Prince Jeno, gave me a very generous gift,” you slightly bowed your head, showing the dog to the two others.
“(Y/n), relax. It’s just us; no need to be so formal,” Jaemin offered with a smirk, the head tilted to the right and the direct eye contact. Heat was rising up Jeno’s spine at his cousin’s blatant flirting.
“What do you two need?” Jeno’s question comes out a bit too rough, even causing you to slightly flinch at the tone.
Jaemin smirked, clearly seeing the effect his flirting has, “we were just wondering where you were; you didn’t attend breakfast this morning and you already missed lunch with the General. He wanted to see you, considering he won’t be back until the wedding.”
“What time is it?” Jeno asked, looking for a clock frantically.
“He left already, he assumed you were upset about what he said at yesterday’s outing,” Haechan responded to Jeno. Jeno was aware that more happened to cause the misunderstanding than what the other boys knew.
“Damn it,” was all Jeno said as he ran a hand over his face, not realizing he missed seeing his brother off. Jeno then turned to you, “I’m sorry princess, I must leave you now, feel free to stay as long as you please.”
All you could do was shake your head no, trying to tell Jeno not to worry about you. Jeno walked to the door, Haechan offered a small smile and a wave, while Jaemin shoved his hands in his pockets and gave you a knowing smirk. The three of them exit the room, leaving you and Hades alone.
You looked around the room, this was the first time you were ever in Jeno’s room. His room held some semblance of personality. There was a desk in front of the balcony doors, and a trophy case on one side of the room next to the double doors that opened up to the sleeping area. Jeno’s desk held a framed picture of him and his brothers, and another framed picture of him and a girl. She was stunningly beautiful, shorter than the prince, with long, sleek raven-colored hair. Her figure was thin but she had a nice tanned complexion. It was like everything you wanted to look like was embodied in one person.
You didn’t even know this girl and already you didn’t like her; you didn’t like that she was everything you wanted to be. You didn’t like that her picture sat on Jeno’s desk. You didn’t like that Jeno looked at her and not you when he worked. What is wrong with you, you thought. Why do you care, why are you so jealous? You know that there was seriously no reason to not like this girl.
“Gosh, (Y/n). Get a hold of yourself, you don’t even like him,” you muttered to yourself, moving away from the pictures, to the paperwork on the desk. There was a document that caught your eye. ‘Accommodations for the Modia Princess,’ the top line read. You scanned the paper, it was a list of accommodations that needed to be made to ensure your comfort here in Northcy. It wasn’t until you reached the bottom of the document that you were seriously confused. The document was written by the prince and was awaiting approval from the queen.
“Why would he make a list of things for me?” You muttered to yourself once again.
Among further investigation, or snooping, as your older sister would say, you came across yet another picture showing just Jeno and a girl. This one, however, put a feeling in your tummy which was far from jealousy. It was confusion, sadness, and a bit of anger. The girl was strikingly similar in features to Jeno. Same sharp eyes, straight, pink lips, prominent and charming nose. Blood-related. It couldn’t have been more obvious. Jeno had a sister which he never mentioned. He had told you scandalous facts of his family history, but he left her out. Why? What did she do to deserve this? What could be more inappropriate than his father impregnating a maid?
Hades interrupted your thoughts by coming to paw at your feet. You picked up the dog holding him against your chest. “Aren’t you a spoiled boy? Yes, yes you are,” you spoke in the baby voice to the dog. “Let’s go take you for a walk.”
You went to the basket that sat on the coffee tables filled with all of Hades’ things. Finding a leash, you attach it to the dog’s collar, exiting the room. There you found Chan and Hyunjin standing guard. “Look at my new gift,” you told the two.
“Very nice, princess,” Hyunjin said to you. You walked, Chan and Hyunjin were on your trail and you walked the palace halls, letting the puppy see everything.
Author’s Note: I am so sorry, Idk what possessed me to think that this was Saturday and not Sunday. BUT ITS BACK. MDAP is back, this is the revised version in collab with @urlocaltrash28 and far warning this is the longest chapter in the entire series, it’s really just because this chapter is the set up for the story. I am so sorry again that this is a day late, I really thought it was saturday and not sunday. anyway, hugs and kisses to anyone reading <3333
—————–
The trip from the north airstrip to the Northcy palace was a ten-hour flight and another hour-long car ride. The Princess arrived at Northcy’s Norhall Palace after a total of twelve hours’ worth of travel in the middle of the night. The only people there to greet her were the queen herself, and four maids.
“My dear, you must be exhausted, please hurry inside,” the queen said. She was a stunning and slim woman. She wore a rich navy blue jumpsuit, with a white long-sleeved coat that hemmed at her ankles. At the top of her head, there was a stunning silver crown, a sign of her being the queen. Although anyone could tell she was the queen by the way she carried herself. She held her head high and stood upright with proper posture. The queen and the four maids led you to your chambers. “You may wash up and when you’re done, Princess. One of the handmaids will inform me, that way I can personally see to it, that you have a meal before you rest,” the queen told you.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” you said as you bowed to the queen. Your two maids helped you undress and bathe as four of the queen’s maids made you some tea and prepared your clothing for the evening. The two guards stood outside the chamber doors because technically, you were still in enemy territory until the marriage.
After your bath, the queen herself escorted you to a private dining hall. The queen was about to have your maids be escorted elsewhere to eat, but you insisted they eat with you. The two maids, being Fei and Mei, were sisters from a family that has served your kingdom for generations. They have always taken care of you from the mere age of nine, when your parents decided it was time to have help. Although it was evident the queen didn’t agree, she allowed the maids to sit and dine with you. You assumed that the queen went to bed right after settling you in with the food.
“Breakfast shall be set in the garden courtyard. There you’ll meet the prince and the king,” the queen informed you.
-
As the queen made her way to her own chambers, she saw her son. He was pacing in front of her doors. “My boy, it’s very late, you should be fast asleep,” the queen said.
“Mother,” Jeno called out then turned to her maids, “please leave us.”
The queen nodded her head, permitting the maids to leave her side. “What is it, my dear?” The queen asked as Jeno walked with her into her room. Jeno gathered the tea set and poured his mother a cup as she sat down.
“Do you truly expect me to marry that girl, mother?” Jeno asked. “An alliance could be negotiated without marriage. That girl offers nothing of value to our kingdom or family. There are plenty of women within this council that would make a much better bride.” Jeno sighed; he barely wanted to be married, least of all married to a princess he didn’t know at all. “Mother, you can’t seriously think marrying princess (Y/N) is any good for anyone.”
Hearing her son complain about a girl he’s never met gave the queen a headache. The queen once met Princess (Y/N) long ago, during a summit meeting to discuss the end of the war. The little girl at the time was maybe only nine or ten years old, but she was far wiser than any other children the queen had ever met. Princess (Y/N) is only three years younger than her son and when the queen met the little girl on a visit to the Modia kingdom, she knew that princess (Y/N) would be a fine monarch.
“I do expect you to marry her, and I do think she be great, not only for our family but for Northcy as well,” the queen told her son. “So I expect you to be up early and be eager to meet the princess tomorrow morning”
“Mother, you’re kidding, right? You want me to wine and dine Princess (Y/n), the stubborn, unwavering princess that never once cared about her title?” Jeno asked the queen with a look of disbelief on his face.
“I am not kidding, Crown Prince Lee Jeno, and I expect you to be at breakfast prepared to meet your future bride. I expect there to be no complaints from you at all tomorrow morning,” the queen said standing up to dismiss her son out of the room. “Do I make myself clear?”
Jeno knew that whenever his mother addressed him by his proper title he was in trouble. “Yes mother, you have made yourself clear,” Jeno answered grudgingly, knowing he had lost this argument.
“Very well, good night my son.”
-
The sun rose bright and early the next morning. The princess made her way to the courtyard for breakfast with her maids and guards. Fei and Mei always trailed the princess, never standing in her way, while her two guards always led the princess, never allowing anything to touch her without permission. The two guards that the princess brought refused to leave her side. Even though there was an alliance between all the kingdoms, people could still have grudges against the princess.
“People will gossip if you two don’t leave me be,” the princess told her guards.
“My princess, we will be executed if anything were to happen to you, following you wherever you go is the best way to ensure that doesn’t happen,” stated the princess’ personal guard, Bang Chan. He joined the army at the fresh age of 18, became the princess’ personal guard at 20, fell in love with the princess at 22, and he is now 24. Fei, Mei, Chan, the other guard, Hyunjin, and the princess were all friends; they have basically spent the past three years together. The princess was only ever alone for a few minutes, when she lay in bed, in the middle of the night, before sleep consumed her.
“Princess (Y/n),” the queen called out, getting up from her seat at the breakfast as she saw the princess approach the pavilion. “Come, dear. Take a seat. You can dismiss your guards and handmaids.”
“Very well, Your Majesty,” the princess said as she dismissed the handmaids and guards, taking her seat. She gave them a look telling them to not make a scene. The princess and the queen began to chat amongst themselves. They were not allowed to start eating until the rest of the party arrived.
“My dear, maybe tomorrow you can come by my room and try on your wedding dress,” the queen told the princess.
“Wedding dress?” The princess asked, nearly choking on air “I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, but don’t think you it’s too soon? I haven’t even met the prince.”
“Never too soon, and it doesn’t matter because you’ll meet my son right now,” And that’s when reality set in for the princess, she was in enemy territory, meeting her fiance. Prince Jeno and the King made their way to the pavilion to sit and dine for breakfast.
The rest of breakfast went by in a blur for the princess didn’t speak unless questions were directed towards her; not many questions were. The king was kind but not very welcoming, just because the war was over didn’t mean all the problems were solved in the country. He still had many issues to tackle, especially with a wedding approaching and the two kingdoms alliance still fresh. Jeno remained quiet for the majority of breakfast because he didn’t want to anger his mother. That would only enrage his father and no one wanted to see an angry king. The queen tried her very best to get everyone to speak, but it didn’t work out as well as she had hoped.
The king had already left the table and just as Jeno was getting ready to leave, his mother called out. “Jeno, why don’t you take the princess and show her around Norhall, it’s her first day here,” Jeno was getting ready to argue with his mother until he saw the stern look in her eye.
“Yes mother,” Jeno answered. He looked almost pained to say yes.
-
You and Jeno walked around the palace in awkward silence as he pointed things out to you here and there. Jeno wore a simple pair of black dress pants and a light blue button-up dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His black hair was tousled, almost looking like he just rolled out of bed. The two of you entered a room that you could assume to be the palace library. It was something that was straight out of movies; the walls were lined with books from ceiling to floor.
“You don’t talk much, do you?” Jeno asked as you ran your hands across a shelf of books. Some of the books looked to be written in a language of Modia that was long forgotten.
“I was raised to only speak when spoken to, my father was keen to traditions,” you stated. Reading wasn’t something you found yourself doing often, but a desire to stay here and bury yourself into an enriching tale was there.
“Traditions? Something like women are only meant to be child-bearers?” Jeno asked with a quaint smirk. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, in any kingdom, that the Modia royals were traditional. Many things were considered unladylike, therefore disallowing your participation.
“Yes and no,” the princess started. “Growing up, men and women were equal to each other, but they had different goals to accomplish. A woman was to bear a child, to continue a king’s rule, a man was to provide a just and safe kingdom for his children.”
The rest of the tour was met with silence; Jeno continued to point out things to you and when the two arrived at your chambers, Jeno bid you a farewell until the evening meal, almost looking to be relieved to be done.
The princess’ comment on how she was raised stuck in Jeno’s mind. Was that all a king was meant to do, make a just and safe kingdom? Was that all the princess expected from him? No fairytale romance? No faithful, supporting husband kind of stuff? If ensuring the kingdom’s safety and the justice system was all she expected, Jeno could fulfill those expectations before an earth’s orbit.
-
The days bled into each other and winter was approaching fast; it had already been a month into the princess’ stay in the Northcy kingdom. Being this far north from the equator, the days started to get chillier. By the time winter came, the kingdom would have already seen snow.
Being from Modia, a tropical climate, the princess was excited for winter to approach because she had never seen snow before. However, the princess was not prepared for the chill of the approaching winter. When the winter comes and the snow falls, the princess will be constantly shivering due to the cold.
Ever since the first day of the princess’ arrival to the Northcy kingdom, her daily duties have been filled as well as Jeno’s. Jeno was already a member of the council as Crown Prince, for he needed to be fully aware of the duties as a king before ascending the throne. The princess was busy familiarizing herself with the kingdom and its departments as this would be her new home. Not to mention the wedding was to take place exactly two months from now, just before the new year.
There was much to do, and there wasn’t nearly enough time to complete all of the tasks. You spent most of your time with the queen, learning about the council members and their families. You already held a vast knowledge of the council of the Modia kingdom. Back home there were ten high houses while only three of the houses held any power, and the other seven were just for show. However, Jeno’s future council held 18 different noble families, a royal advisor, two extra seats for “special members,” and the general held two votes. As to why Jeno’s future council held two special seats or why the general had two votes was beyond you. The vocabulary was so different. For example, what Modia calls high houses were referred to as noble families in Northcy. The number of papers to review to remember all of the council was never-ending. Apparently, it was the queen’s duty to be informed of all noble members and their families. The queen’s duty was also to oversee the budgets spent on entertaining said families.
You and Jeno rarely saw each other, except for the evening meals together with the king and queen.
“Jeno, why don’t you introduce (Y/n) to your brothers tomorrow?” The queen asked her son during one dinner. When Jeno heard the question he nearly choked on his drink. The queen was kind and loving, but she always made it abundantly clear that Jeno was her one and only child.
“Very well, mother,” Jeno answered. This utterly confused you because Jeno was the only known heir to the throne. In the whole month preparing for life in Northcy, there wasn’t a single indication of Jeno having any brothers- not even in your years of schooling did you learn about the children of the Northcy king. All the books and classes said King Lee Donghae of the royal Lee family and Queen Lee Jaeyeon of the Noble Na family had one child, Crown Prince Lee Jeno of the royal Lee family. Such long titles did the royals have.
-
After dinner, Jeno took the opportunity to escort you back to your chambers. He couldn’t help how curious he was about you. Jeno constantly found himself watching you as you made your way through the palace, trying to catch a glimpse into the drawing rooms you studied in, or just watching the way your hands handled the cutlery at dinner.
“I wasn’t aware you had siblings?” You had asked Jeno during the walk to your chambers. The curiosity of it all forms the words for you.
“All half-siblings, I’m my mother’s only child but I’m the third son of my father,” Jeno answered. He didn’t even think of his only full sibling: his sister, Jia. Part of his unconsciousness pushed the memories as far down in his memory as possible.
“Third son? Your father had other women? Your brothers weren’t angry that the throne was given to you instead of them?” The questions seemingly come to mind one after another, not having enough strength to stop them. “I’m sorry,” you said, realizing you might be pushing onto an unsettling topic, “it’s not my place.”
“It’s alright,” Jeno said, smirking to himself. “The first three years on the throne my mother couldn’t produce an heir. The council insisted an heir be produced, by any means. My oldest brother, son of a nobleman’s daughter, an approved out of wedlock union, was crown prince for several years. He said he hated every moment of it. It’s a shame because he would have made a great leader, but he believes it’s not for him. Then my second brother, son of one of my father’s courtesans was never crown prince and he knew he would never be a Crown Prince but he never minded, he actually promised to stand by my side when I took the throne. And my younger, son of a lucky maid, we’re just a few months apart, however, has admitted he wouldn’t make a great ruler, but he promised to take over if something were to happen to me,” Jeno chuckled finishing his statement.
“Lucky maid?”
“My father is a just and fair man, he is a good father and a better king.” Jeno paused before continuing, wondering just how much to tell you, would it matter? “However, he is a terrible husband. If Modia had a beautiful queen doing its negotiation, who knows if Northcy would’ve put up a fight,” Jeno stated as fact. Like the world knew that the king would spend a night without his wife every now and then. Then again, father did always say ‘palace walls hear more than any other wall. “I say the maid was lucky because there was no evidence to suggest that my father saw her. However, when she laid her accusations at his feet, he accepted the child and paid the maid to say nothing,” Jeno finished off with a small shake of his head.
As the princess thought about this, she found that Jeno seemed to regret being born and taking the throne from his oldest brother. The princess would later learn, from Fei and Mei, through other gossiping maids, that Jeno never wanted the throne. He even tried to surrender it because he just wanted to live a carefree life without a nation depending on him. Oh, how you wished to do the same.
-
The next morning Jeno waited outside the princess’ chambers to walk with her to breakfast with his brothers. In front of her chambers stood her two guards. Jeno looked at the two men standing in front and he wondered how long they had known the princess. Jeno had two personal guards of his own; each of the princes had two personal guards, but they never followed Jeno around in the palace. The only time Jeno sees his guards is whenever he leaves the palace. He thought it was odd how your guards followed you almost everywhere, even within the palace.
A moment passed and you walked out ready for breakfast. You greeted the prince and he greeted you. As you walked, your two guards began to follow as they were trained to do. “You know you can dismiss them, I can handle escorting you to breakfast,” Jeno told you. You looked behind and noticed the two guards there.
“Chan, Hyunjin, you don’t have to follow us, I’ll be alright,” you told the dear boys.
It took everything in Chan not to be mad at how you so easily believed that Jeno could protect you. “With all due respect my princess, it is our duty to ensure your safety at all times, the best way to achieve that is to follow you all the time.” You smiled to yourself as Chan finished his statement. You knew he wasn’t gonna allow you to be alone with Jeno and his brothers.
“Very well” was all you said and continued to walk. The rest of the walk to the dining hall was silent. Jeno didn’t like the idea that the guards didn’t leave after you told them they could but he understood it was only their job, having to remind himself that the alliance was not technically complete yet.
When arriving at the dining hall, Jeno placed a hand on the small of your back, walking with you towards the table. Chan and Hyunjin remained at the door of the dining hall, far enough to watch, but could barely hear anything. When arriving at the table, Jeno introduced each of his brothers. The oldest is a tall, lean, and handsome young man. He had a sharp jawline with piercing eyes but a childlike smile. His name was Taeyong. The second brother had pitch-black hair, with round eyes and small lips. He was closer to Jeno’s age than the older brother. His name was Mark. The last brother was more tan than the first two and he had a much rounder face with puffy cheeks. His name was Donghyuck. However, they called him Haechan because of his bright personality that reflected the sun.
“Be happy that you have such a pretty bride, Jeno,” Taeyong told his younger brother. You sat beside Jeno, on one side of the table, across from you sat Haechan, and next to him sat Mark. At the front of the table sat Taeyong with the right side having Jeno and the left having Mark. Even though Jeno was the crown prince, he showed his older brothers the utmost respect. He never flaunted his title to any of them and he adhered to all their advice.
“(Y/n), my brother is a good man but he has an atrocious temper. I ask you to be patient with him. He means well but he doesn’t always know how to express it,” Taeyong addresses you. You’re able to tell despite his young age, Taeyong is a man that is wise beyond his years. Jeno doesn’t try to fight back his comment, he simply nods his head. Jeno was different here. You often ate with Jeno, almost every evening, but here Jeno seemed relaxed as if he was a simple 21-year-old and not a future king.
The rest of breakfast goes on with funny stories of Jeno’s youth and constant laughter. This would have to be the first time you saw Jeno ever laugh since your arrival. He had a beautiful smile that reached all the way up to his eyes. The way he acted around his brothers was an all too pleasing difference. He was calm, inviting even, it was like night and day with how different he was.
“We should go horseback riding, they say the first snow is gonna fall today!” Exclaimed Haechan. Northcy looked forward to the first snow. It was both a privilege and a tradition to ride horseback during the first snow. Both you and Jeno didn’t have any duties for the day, which was rare. The queen made sure that your usual duties were postponed. She had hoped that this day would allow you and Jeno to bond in a way. “Please, Taeyong. Come with us, you never hang out with us anymore since you took that position by father,” Haechan whined. You had learned that after Taeyong stepped down from crown prince when Jeno was born he went into the army and within the past year, he took the position of general in the army. He was actually one of the main reasons that Northcy continued to win battles against the Modia Kingdom. He was the general that was allowed two votes at the council, he is the general and a prince.
“Just for the morning, I have duties this afternoon,” Taeyong said, not wanting to disappoint his brothers. They all cheered, including Jeno. As the brothers got up to head towards the stables, you were about to bid them a farewell. Horseback riding wasn’t something you were permitted to do. Your father’s comment about it was: ‘there is no need for you to learn, focus on remembering council members instead.’
“You’re not leaving us, are you, (Y/n)?” Haechan asked, disappointment laced in his voice.
“I don’t know how to ride, I am sorry,” you stated matter of factly.
“Oh, who cares? You can ride with me, you won’t have to learn right now,” Haechan said as he grabbed your wrist and started to pull you towards the stables. The shock was evident on your face. Mark and your two guards were running after the two of you. Jeno was about to race after you until Taeyong grabbed his shoulder.
“He doesn’t mean anything by it, Jeno,” Taeyong said. Even if it was only a split second, Taeyong could see the rage and jealousy spill over his brother from how Haechan grabbed onto you. “You don’t want to scare the poor girl.”
“Tae, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jeno said, “I don’t have any feelings for her.” Which wasn’t entirely wrong, Jeno held no feelings for you, at least not the feelings you should have for the person you’re gonna marry. However, Jeno didn’t like that Haechan just dragged you away. He saw it as impolite and believed that the princess deserves to be treated with respect.
“Keep telling yourself that,” Taeyong said as he watched the gears turn in Jeno’s head.
-
You and Haechan were the first to arrive at the stables. Mark followed soon after and after Mark was Chan and Hyunjin. All three boys were panting, not realizing how far the dining hall was from the stables. After a while, Jeno and Taeyong arrived side by side.
“You tire yourselves out already?” Taeyong jokes to his two brothers. “Guards, I’m sorry you had to run all the way here, but you can leave the princess be already, she will be alright”
“I do no-“ Chan was about to speak until you interrupted.
“It’s fine Chan, you and Hyunjin go get some food or walk around the palace. I’ll be alright,” you said, giving Chan pleading eyes not to make a scene. You didn’t want to ruin such a happy moment for Jeno and his brothers. Chan understood, and he and Hyunjin left to ensure everything.
The stablemates prepared the horses for the princes. Taeyong had a serene white horse. It looked strong and sturdy as most horses do, but you could tell this horse belonged to Taeyong as when the horse saw Taeyong its face was immediately bright. Mark had a beautiful black horse, hair dark as midnight. Haechan had a brown horse, whose coat was shiny in the morning sun. Jeno’s horse was white as well but the horse seemed more like Jeno. Taeyong’s horse was white but it had a serene and elegant energy, while Jeno’s horse had a cold and chilling energy. Each of the boys began getting on top of their horses. Haechan was about to give you a hand to help you up onto his horse when Jeno came up from behind and stood between you and Haechan. “The princess will ride with me,” Jeno told his younger brother.
“Awh why? She doesn’t want to ride with you anyway,” Haechan said, not meaning to make his brother mad, but just to tease him. However, when Haechan saw the look his brother gave him he knew he made him upset.
Jeno offered you a hand and because you actually wanted to go horseback riding you accepted. Jeno places you in front of him with one leg on each side, back pressed into his chest. Then you guys were off. You expected it to be a slow ride, but that wasn’t the case at all. You quickly learned that Jeno and his brothers enjoyed racing. Jeno kept one hand on your waist, holding you against his chest to ensure you didn’t fall; you kept both hands on the saddle for the same reason. You never realized how tall a horse was until you were on top of one and looking down towards the ground.
The wind was blowing in your face, it felt freeing. The experience was new and exciting to you; this was something you would like to do again. Jeno wasn’t paying much attention to you, he was still just a young adult and the need to beat his brothers took his attention. In the middle of the race, snow began to fall, it was light, almost dream-like. Haechan was right, today was the first snow. You looked up in amazement, this was the first time you had ever seen snow in your entire life, the snow didn’t last though, melting before it even hit the ground. Soon the race was over, Taeyong trailed behind during most of the race until it was almost one and then he pulled ahead winning. After that came you and Jeno, then Haechan and lastly Mark. By the time you made it to the clearing, you were shivering from the cold already. Jeno noticed your shivering body, pulled you closer, and wrapped his arms around you to keep you warm. You leaned further back into Jeno’s touch, trying to embrace as much warmth that radiated off him. Jeno placed his chin on top of your head and smiled to himself. At that moment you guys did look like you were engaged.
Taeyong took notice of how his younger brother treated you and smiled to himself. Jeno was just a young boy who was expected to do great things. Taeyong was treated the same when he was born, but Taeyong was the lucky one. When Jeno was born, all the responsibility left Taeyong and was dropped onto Jeno. To most people Jeno would appear to be the luckiest Prince, however, Taeyong knew Jeno didn’t feel like it. Jeno was never allowed to have a normal childhood. During childhood, Mark and Haechan ran around the palace freely while Jeno took etiquette classes for council meetings. In middle school, Haechan and Mark began taking up sports, while Jeno had to take up hand-to-hand combat training. In high school, Mark and Haechan were allowed to actually go to a school, but Jeno had private tutors and began attending council meetings. Jeno took on all these responsibilities, never throwing a tantrum, never taking it out on his brothers. In the eyes of the people of Northcy, Jeno was a picture-perfect prince. Jeno is the picture-perfect prince.
-
You and the rest of the boys rode back towards the stables. You held onto the arm that was draped across your chest like a seatbelt. You felt as if you were in a dream. As you arrived towards the stable you saw Chan and Hyunjin. The look Chan held was chilling, causing you to shiver again. You let go of Jeno’s arm and wrapped your arms around yourself, practically forcing Jeno’s arm off of you. You dropped your head in an attempt to avoid Chan’s intimidating glare. You felt nothing for Jeno, except responsibility. Jeno was simply a way to save your people, he was your responsibility, your duty, and nothing more.
“Princess, are you alright?” Jeno questioned when you forced his arm away, he could still feel you shivering.
“I’m fine, just tired,” you said breathlessly wanting to go back to your chambers. You bid a farewell to each of the princes and excused yourself. Jeno stood there, utterly confused, thinking that the ride went well. Jeno saw you walk off with your guards and it looked as if one of the guards were speaking to you.
-
“Are you in love with him?!” Chan yelled in your face in the privacy of your bedroom.
“Why would I be in love with that prince?!” You screamed back.
“You seemed all in love today holding onto him like?!” Chan kept yelling. A single tear slid down your face. Chan’s face was immediately filled with regret. He shouldn’t be questioning you like this; he knew you didn’t want to marry Jeno. Chan pulled you close and you sobbed into his chest. He held you close for what seemed like hours. You loved Chan with all of your heart, you wanted to run away and live a happy and simple life with Chan. However, each night that you thought of that dream, the cries of your people pulled you back to reality. You had a duty to fulfill, no matter the feelings your heart held.
“Are you alright, my princess?” Chan asked as you pulled away.
“Please never yell at me again, I don’t know if I could handle you being upset with me like that again,” you said breathing heavily. Your heart hurts knowing you can’t be with the man you loved.
“Of course, my princess,” Chan said, wiping the tears from your cheeks. Chan felt terrible. He allowed his emotions to get the best of him. He needed to remember his place, and it was not right for him to be like this with you. “(Y/n), I’m sorry, I had no right to yell or question you like that,” your face in his hand.
“I don’t,” you paused trying to calm down, “I don’t love him, I love you.”
“I know,” Chan said with loving eyes, “but you can not continue to love me, my princess.” A sad smile painted itself on his face. Tears came welling to your eyes, you closed your eyes allowing the tears to fall and nodding. What Chan said was the sad truth.
-
After making sure you were feeling better, Chan left your side to go stand guard outside your doors. As Chan exited your room, Prince Jeno approached. The two made eye contact and Chan quickly looked down, not wanting to see the man that would take the love of his life.
“Has the princess gone off?” Jeno asked the other guard, Hyunjin.
“She still there?” Hyunjin asked Chan.
“Yeah, she’s about to have a cup of tea,” Chan said as he returned to his position. Prince Jeno made his way into your room, not stopping to knock.
“You seriously need to be careful,” Hyunjin whispered to Chan.
“Careful? Of what?” Chan attempted to act oblivious.
“Chan, she is the future queen of our nation. She is going to marry Prince Jeno whether you like it or not. It’s her duty, and you know how (Y/n) is, she isn’t gonna run away from what needs to be done. I know you love her and I know she loves you but you gotta let her go,” Hyunjin said with sad eyes. He knew how much his friend cared for you, it was truly a pity you two couldn’t be together.
-
Jeno wanted to chase after you after the horseback ride, but that wasn’t possible.
“Crown Prince Lee Jeno, General Lee Taeyong, Prince Lee Mark, and Prince Lee Donghyuck, your presence is requested by the king,” a palace servant called for the boys.
“Father wanted to see all of us, this must not be good,” Mark said as panic started to flood his face.
“Oh, please! We haven’t done anything wrong,” Haechan said.
“Really? You’ve caused no trouble in the past day or two?” Jeno asked his brother. Haechan always enjoyed a good prank.
“I promise, my future king, I have caused no such trouble within the palace walls,” Haechan said with an exaggerated bow to Jeno. Jeno hates being addressed like that, especially by his brothers. Haechan loved to do it because he knew it made Jeno mad. Naturally, Jeno started chasing him around to give him ‘what he deserved.’
“Hey, quit fighting already, do you want to keep the actual king waiting?” Taeyong asked his two brothers who were currently on the ground wrestling.
“No,” both boys said with their heads hung low. They all made their way to see the king.
Upon arrival, the four boys were greeted by their father and Jeno’s mother. “Your majesties,” Taeyong greeted and bowed along with the three other boys who remained silent. They were in the king’s private drawing-room. It was plain, simple, much more like a lounging area for the king to entertain during private meetings. There was a secret door behind the shelves of books that led to the king’s office. No one was allowed in the king’s office. Not once did Jeno, or his brothers, or his mother ever step foot inside the office. Only the king, and one servant, Jung, the king’s personal butler, were permitted.
“You’ve requested our presence, father?” Taeyong asked, standing straight and looking directly at his father.
“Yes, I want to make an announcement to all of you: after Princess (Y/n) and Jeno’s union, I am thinking of stepping down as king,” The king said with a bright smile upon his face.
“What, father?!” Jeno shouted in pure shock.
“Yes, I will step down from the throne after you are married and you will be crowned king, but before all that, my two sons, Mark and Donghyuck, I want to make you each member of the council,” the king said with a satisfied expression.
“Father stepping down? No king in the history of our entire kingdom has ever stepped down before, is that even possible?” Jeno asked incredulously.
“If it’s not possible, I will make it possible. You, my son, have served on the council for almost five years now, since you were 16. You are ready for the throne and your brothers will help guide the way for you. Taeyong is already a member of the council. Mark and Donghyuck are sure to catch on soon enough. Northcy is entering a time of peace; there’s no need to worry about ascending the throne too early,” the king said with a satisfied grin. Haechan and Mark were given off to two council members; they were expected to start learning their duties immediately. Only Jeno and Taeyong were left.
“Father, you can’t be serious,” Jeno groaned in frustration. “Even if you consider Northcy to be entering a time of peace, there is no telling how our people will react to this union,” Jeno stated, his voice clear and concise. Although his point was to defer his father from stepping down, all it did was further prove that the king could step down. Jeno was thinking about what was best for his people, and he held the confidence of a king.
“Jeno, my boy, I am stepping down, not dying. I will help you at every step of the way. The transition between me stepping down and you being crowned king will be lengthy.” The king looked at his son. “There is no need for you to worry so much.”
“Father, no, you cannot just step down because I am forced into a marriage. That clearly is not wanted nor needed,” Jeno stuck firm to his stances on the issues, the venom being weaved into his voice.
“My boy,” the king stood from his seat, placing both hands on Jeno’s shoulders, “you need not worry so much, all will be well. It’s best you boys head off. I’m sure you have much work that needs to be done, Taeyong?” The king asked to change the subject.
“Yes, father, the plans to bring home soldiers and redistribute soldiers in all parts of Northcy is an effect. I’ll see to it personally that everything goes well,” Taeyong states, pulling Jeno along to leave the king and queen in the drawing-room.
“Taeyong, I don’t want this, I don’t want to be king, I don’t wanna get married, why is father making me do this? Can’t you become king and ascend the throne?” Jeno asked his older brother as he exited the room. Anyone could see in Jeno’s face how much the idea of being king worried him.
“Jeno, you will make a fine king, don’t worry so much. Also, the princess is a beautiful girl. What’s the problem with marrying her?”
“The problem isn’t her, the problem is marriage, I don’t want it, not right now at least,” Jeno sighed, “and I want to get married to someone I know, someone I love, not some girl that father and mother presented to me.” Taeyong knew what he meant. If he could lift the burdens from his brother’s shoulders, he would, but this was Jeno’s duty as the only male heir of the true king and queen. Sadly, after Jeno’s statement, Taeyong was called away by a maid, leaving Jeno to his thoughts.
As Jeno walked away from the drawing-room, he found himself wandering towards your chambers. As he got near, he saw one of your guards exit your room. A princess in her private chambers, alone with a boy. Clearly, that would call for a scandal, not to mention the princess’ engagement.
“Has the princess gone off?” Jeno asked the other guard, Hyunjin, as he approached your doors.
“She still there?” Hyunjin asked The guard coming out of your room, Chan.
“Yeah, she’s about to have a cup of tea,” Chan said as he returned to his position. Prince Jeno made his way into your room. Inside, he saw you seated pouring some tea.
“Chan, I promise I am fine, go before people talk,” you said not paying attention to who had entered.
“Princess? It is I, Jeno.”
“Prince Jeno!” You said startled, immediately getting up to greet the prince.
“You don’t need to bow, princess, it is only you and I here,” Jeno said with a soft smile as he made his way near your table. “May I?” Jeno gestures asking if he could take a seat. Your chambers held little personality. The walls were painted pastel green, and the trim was off-white. There was no balcony in this room, but large windows that allowed an abundance of sunlight. There were two white couches with a glass coffee table in between and a small table that held the tea set was in front of a large window, overlooking a courtyard.
“Of course, of course, would you like a cup of tea? I was just about to pour myself some,” you asked frantically, still unsure why Jeno was in your room.
“Yes, please,” Jeno answered. You two sat in awkward silence, sipping your tea and waiting for the other to speak.
“Sooooooo…” you started but trailed off, you reminded yourself to just breathe for Jeno was merely a young adult, who happened to be the future king of your nation and was to be your husband. “Why did you come here?” You asked as you found your words.
“Right,” Jeno set down his cup of tea, turning to face you, “I wanted to make sure you were alright, you didn’t seem well after the horseback ride,” Jeno stayed, there was a look of worry within his eyes. His gaze made you feel cared for, something you thought the prince was incapable of doing at one point in your life.
“I am just fine,” you felt a blush creep up to your cheeks, looking away to hide from the prince. “No reason for you to worry.”
“Are you sure? You rushed off so quickly I was barely able to even say bye as you left,” Jeno pressed on further. Deep in his gut, Jeno believed you rushing off had something to do with the guard, but he pushed the feeling further down as there was no reason to think that just yet.
“I’m alright, Jeno.” That was the first time in your entire stay here you addressed Jeno by merely his name, not with his title. He actually liked hearing you say his name, he liked the way you spoke. Your tone was always gentle, kind, like silk to his ears. Jeno pushed further on, asking you questions about yourself and your family. In an attempt to avoid conversations about you personally, you spoke of your family. When that didn’t work, you asked questions instead of answering them.
You learned Jeno was a skilled archer and he preferred music studies over all others. Jeno has never seen a single battle or a moment of war for Taeyong took those burdens; he was the prince in the war. Jeno doesn’t know what it’s like to have a kingdom fall into poverty because his kingdom always had money and a large army. You also learned that Jeno wanted to join the army with his brother, but was denied by his father, saying Jeno isn’t allowed to die. Jeno wanted to learn music and how to paint but was forced into archery and history. Jeno’s life was a never-changing path that was decided, it was a set road, ready for him to walk.
Jeno has learned that you were not meant to be queen at all. You were the youngest child of the king and queen, with an older brother and two older sisters. However, when the war took lives faster than new ones were born, your siblings weren’t afraid to step up to the fight. Being royal children, you and your siblings were raised as equals, learning everything from cooking and cleaning to martial arts and war techniques. Your siblings being much older than you, when they left home to fight, you were still doing your schooling. After each letter made it back home instead of the authors, your parents knew they could no longer keep fighting this war. They had already lost millions of people and now three of their children.
After the third letter made it home, your father put in order 15: ceasefire but hold the line. The soldier at the war front was not to evacuate or move from their position but they were to stop firing at the enemy. The negotiations for peace began, not that Modia had much to negotiate anyway because, without a male heir, the kingdom would fall out of the family. The royal family line died with your brother, so the island that started it all would be left alone out of respect for Modia, all of Modia’s territories would be in control of the new king and queen, and Makena Palace in Modia would now become a summer palace. This was temporary, though, because Modia would only be in Jeno’s control after your father passed on.
-
As the two of you talked on and on, neither one of you noticed or addressed Fei and Mei. The two maids entered your chambers, helping in any way you saw fit. However, seeing you in deep conversation with the prince, Fei and Mei decided to go about their routine: pulling out the evening dress for dinner, fixing the bed, cleaning the bathroom. The two maids nearly complete all tasks in utter silence. It was until Fei and Mei entered the bathroom did either one of them decide to speak. Your bathroom was connected to the sleeping area of your bedroom, which was separated by a wall and double doors from where you and Jeno were.
“Getting cozy fast, the princess has,” Fei stated to her sister.
“Fei, watch what you say,” Mei stated in a rather hushing manner.
“Mei, no one else can hear us,” Fei started, “all I am saying is the princess seems to be getting along well with the prince, nothing more.”
“I hope Chan is alright,” Mei stated and Fei just nodded along knowingly. Anyone, everyone, in your kingdom knew the story. Knew of the princess and her personal guard. There was no denying the loving looks passed among the two of you.
-
The knock at your door pulled you and Jeno out of your guys’ thoughts, looking towards the two eggshell white French doors anticipating who would ruin such a divine moment. One door was slowly pushed open revealing the queen. Both you and Jeno immediately stood, bowing to greet the queen.
“My apologies, I didn’t realize you had a guest princess, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” the queen said, hand over heart.
“No apology needed, Your Majesty,” you said, slowly rising for your bowing stances, “your presence is no interruption.” ‘The presence of any queen or king is never an interruption to anyone. You must remember that even as royalty, it is an honor to be in the presence of a king or queen,’ Lady Kam’s lessons on proper etiquette play in your mind.
“My dear daughter,” the queen has taken a keen interest in calling you ‘daughter.’ The name makes you tense. “You must meet with the gardener, the flower arrangements aren’t set yet.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” you said. You would take memorizing noble families over wedding arrangements any day, but you can no longer avoid the duties. “I apologize, Prince Jeno, for I must leave you.”
“No apology needed,” Jeno said, looking at you, longing for a few minutes ago, when your conversation wasn’t interrupted. There were still so many thoughts in his head, so many things he wanted to discuss with you and get your opinion on. And memories… slowly resurfacing, much to his own horror, that he needed help coming to terms with. He specifically wanted your help, as he knew you could truly understand him.
-
You and the queen walked together to meet the gardener in the main foyer. You stayed a step behind her. Everything from the seating arrangement to the way you walked must be done in a hierarchical order. The queen had a higher status than you, so she led the group, you were second, then your maids, and lastly, your guards. It wasn’t common for your guards to follow instead of lead, but since this was the queen, they had to follow.
Even what you wore was a sign of status. The queen wore navy straight-leg pants, topped with a white bishop sleeve blouse that went up to her neck. A simple medallion necklace lay on her chest, her hair pulled back into a tight low bun and a simple silver tiara topped her head. The outfit was simple but classy, only something a queen would wear. It was certainly more elegant than what you wore: black tight dress pants with a deep crimson red wrap long-sleeved blouse.
As you entered the main foyer, there the gardener, an older gentleman, old enough to be your father, stood. He was a slim man, skin obviously tanned from the sun, his hair salt and pepper from age. Next to him stood a young boy, at first just looking like an assistant for the gardener. But as you drew closer to them, you could see the resemblance between the two: the same nose, the same cheekbones, the same jawline. They were father and son.
“Your Majesty,” the older gentleman stated as he and his son bowed, “I am Andrew and this is my son, Ramsey.”
“Pleased to meet the two of you,” the queen started before turning to you, “let us make our way to the palace garden, there you can see the flowers we have and what will work best for the wedding.”
All of you made your way through the palace to the private garden. It was the only area where the temperature remained regulated, warm. The queen and the gardener talked amongst themselves about the flower arrangements, never once asking your opinion. This is how most wedding arrangements went: the queen handled it all, every now and then looking to you for a nod of approval, which you always gave. There was no reason to argue, you thought; the queen will have the wedding she wants. If you truly got what you wanted, you wouldn’t even be in this palace.
The son didn’t speak at all either, he just held a tablet with a pen. He wrote everything that needed to be remembered, never allowing his father and the queen to venture out of earshot, always close enough behind to hear everything but not too close to get in the way. Oh, how you envied him, to be responsible for so little. A simple life as a gardener’s daughter festered in your daydreams as you looked on to the flowers. You walked away from the group, to the neglected parts of the garden. It was all taken care of, just neglected because no one seemed to enjoy these flowers as much as the others.
“Princess (Y/n),” the queen called, pulling you from your thoughts.
“Huh?” was all that came to mind to say
“I’ve been trying to get your attention, dear,” the queen looked to you with a show of concern, but under the concern was a hint of irritation that you weren’t focused on the task at hand. “How do red and white roses sound for your bouquet and then we’ll have blue carnations for all the arrangements?”
‘I held orchids for my bouquet; they were always my favorite flowers’ your mother told you one day long, long ago. “Instead of white roses for the bouquet, what about white orchids?” You asked, more to the queen than the gardener.
“That’s possible,” the gardener said as his son wrote.
The queen was in shock at you actually making a decision, smiling to herself, hoping this was a sign you’re coming around to the idea of this marriage. “Of course, my dear, whatever you want.”
The words meant to encourage and uplift you about the wedding did the exact opposite. Hearing ‘whatever you want’ from the queen caused you to physically flinch. What you truly want is to cancel this wedding and go home.
Soon enough, the meeting with the gardener and his son was over. You see the two of them off leaving the palace. All the flower arrangements set into motion.
“Tomorrow, you have an important luncheon with the noble Na family,” the queen stated, walking away from the foyer. You followed closely behind. “The noble families will soon start arriving at the palace for the wedding.”
“Already? We’re still two months out.”
“The Na family will be arriving late this evening, and the two of us will see to it that they are settled in,” the queen ignored your comment as if you never even said it, “and in a couple of weeks, the noble Min family will come and then a week after them will be the noble Kim family. By that time, we will only be a month from the weddings, and more families will continue to arrive. Take the next few hours and prepare yourself; it’s time to put all those lessons on the Northcy kingdom to the test.”
[10:49] Your thighs were sore, your eyes were rolling back, you were considerably fucked out of your mind, but your boyfriend was still absolutely conherent to everything around him. Jeno had looked completely unaffected as you bounced up and down his cock continuously. He even still managed to look behind you to the computer screen, when he noticed a notification pop up on the screen. You were nearly on the edge of the mind-blowing orgasm and your boyfriend was completely unbothered.
You wish you could say that you were irritated at his unethustatic reaction, but you really weren’t. You were extremely turned on by the fact that he remained completely in control. That he wore this cocky smirk as he watched you bounce up and down. That his hands rested on your hips, not at all controlling your movements but just resting there. That he looked at you with loving eyes, his pupils blown wide.
*ring*
Jeno’s phone started going off, stopping your movements. You calmed down a bit, sobering up just a bit. Jeno grabbed his phone off the desk looking at the screen to see Jaemin’s contact picture. He slid the button to answer the call, “hey.”
You could hear the muffled sound of Jaemin speaking, but you remained still waiting for Jeno to finish his conversation. “Hold on one sec, jaems,” Jeno spoke quickly, moving the phone away from his ear, “why’d you stop baby?”
You wanted to curl into yourself at this moment, completely shocked at Jeno’s question, “because you’re on the phone.”
“Did I say to stop?” Jeno asked, with an air of confidence. His voice dripped with dominance. You slowly shook your head, unsure where Jeno’s mindset was at. “Keep going baby.”
You slowly started back up again, going up and down at an insufferably slow pace. Jeno wasn’t satisfied, squishing his phone between his shoulder and ear. He placed both hands on your hips, this time controlling your movements. Bouncing you up and down faster than you were going initially. You had to grip Jeno’s arms to steady yourself. You threw your head back in ecstasy, the moans pouring from you. You felt the orgasm that was slowly built up over time, rushing back to you with light speed.
Jeno hummed along to whatever Jaemin was saying, as he moved one hand from your hip to your core. Rubbing soft circles on your cilt, speeding up your impending orgasm. You let a gut deep moan.
“Is that (y/n)?” you heard Jaemin’s voice clear as day in that one moment. You tried to halt your movements, but Jeno didn’t let you.
Instead he chuckled at Jaemin’s question, “I’ll call you back late Jaems,” he said with that same cocky smirk.
“Dude what the fuck, why…” Jeno ended the call before Jaemin could finish his question.
“Look at you baby,” Jeno teased, he started thrusting up, meeting your bounces, “couldn’t even control yourself when Jaemin was on the phone.”
“Jen… so” you were panting out of breath at this point, ready to pass out, “so close.”
“Go on baby, you can cum for me.” At his command you felt the wave of pleasure wash over you in absolute bliss. You threw your head back as you clenched around Jeno tighter than before. You rested your head on his shoulder, now feeling exhausted. “Feel good baby?”
All you did was nod and mumble something that sounded like a ‘yeah.’
“Don’t fall asleep, I’m not done with you yet,” Jeno teased further. You wanted to groan, and complain you were tired, but this was Jeno. You would never turn down the opportunity to get your guts absolutely rearranged by this man.
Authors Note: this week has not been it for me honestly, but nonetheless Jeno. hugs and kisses to anyone reading <3333
—————-
When you finally woke up, it was dark outside. Jeno’s arms were wrapped around you. You had half a mind to close your eyes and fall back asleep, but there was a phone on the nightstand. You reached out for it to check the time of 9:23 pm, glanced out the window, and thought ‘the day is over anyway.’ Closing your eyes again, going back to sleep already, you felt safest here, in his arms.
When you opened your eyes again, there was daylight shining into the bedroom. You still felt Jeno’s arms around you. Reaching out for the phone to check the time, it was 7:31 am. You decided it was time to finally get up. Sliding out from under Jeno’s arms, you left the bed, grabbed one of Jeno’s jackets, slipped it on, and quietly exited the room. You were making your way to your own chambers.
When you got there, you pushed open the doors. The room looked exactly like when you arrived. Going to the bedroom, pushing those doors open, you looked around the bedroom area. The bed was made, your phone sat on the nightstand, plugged in. It looked as if nothing happened. You grabbed your phone, checking the notifications: a few missed texts, but it was mostly social media. Shoving the phone into a jacket pocket, you went into your closet. You looked for a more appropriate outfit, instead of Jeno’s sweats. You were so deep in thought of what to wear, what outfit will make it seem like nothing happened, you didn’t notice the other person.
“What are you doing here?” a voice asked, you whipped around to see Jeno standing in the bedroom, looking at you. His voice, lower than normal, almost sounded rough. His hair was flat, almost covering his eyes completely. He wore a hoodie with some sweatpants, his hands shoved into the hoodie pockets. He looked so comfortable, so relaxed, so informal, but for some reason, you felt so intimidated. He had this way about him that made you feel small.
“I just wanted some clothes,” you tried to sound calm, and unbothered, but you felt the wavering of your voice.
“Fei or Mei could’ve got your clothes from here,” Jeno made his way towards you, pulling at your waist, “you didn’t need to come here yourself.” Jeno pulled you close, he was pressed against you, standing in your closet.
You felt your heart start to race. “I know,” you let out a breath, not daring to meet Jeno’s eyes. His fingers pulled at your chin, raising your face to look at him. “I didn’t want to trouble them some more,” you felt the urge to say more.
Jeno nodded, let go of you, and took a step back. You let out a breath as you watched him go. “Grab what you need, and we’ll take it back to my room,” Jeno said as he walked out, leaving you in the closet. You took a moment to catch your breath before grabbing the leather duffle bag, and about four days’ worth of clothes; you also neatly folded a dress, just in case. After packing the clothes, you grabbed some of your makeup, and some shower stuff too, shoving it all in the bag.
When you finished, you made your way into the seating area, to see Jeno sitting on the couch, playing on his phone. You cleared your throat to grab his attention. Jeno turned his head to look at you, standing, shoving his phone in his pocket. He made his way around the couch, towards you. He reached out for your bag and you handed it over. You never would’ve thought that you enjoyed watching the way he moved, or how he took control, or how he was gentle with every gesture. There were many things about the prince that you love. Jeno took your bag into one hand and interlaced your fingers in the other. The two of you walked hand-in-hand back to his room. It was never discussed, but it was like the two of you just fell into this routine of being a couple. When you guys got back to his room, a pinging noise from Jeno’s phone started to go off. He set your bag down on the bed. You looked at him expectantly. He pulled out his phone, examining the text. You watched as his face changed, reading the texts over. He looked up at you, the look in his eyes held so many unidentifiable emotions.
“I’ve got to go,” Jeno looked at you, now looking worried, “are you gonna be okay?”
You nodded your head, not trusting your voice to reassure him. Why does he care so much?
“I’ll send someone up here so you’re not alone,” he was rushing and you nodded, not wanting to keep him. You realize that he’s worried about you because you quite literally almost died. He came up to you, kissing your forehead, just like it was a routine thing to do. You felt your heart pounding against your chest. He opened his mouth to say more, but then he closed his mouth, opting not to. You watched as he made his way to the door, all but running out. He stopped at the chamber doors and looked back to you, “I’ll be back soon,” he said, before exiting, now jogging down the hall.
You looked around the room. It felt so cold now. Abandoning the bag, you walked into the seating area, looking around there. You remembered the first time being in Jeno’s chambers alone. It felt like a lifetime ago. You walked to Jeno’s desk, papers still scattered around. The last time you were here, there wasn’t a laptop, but now it was laid out on the desk. There was something missing too: the picture. The picture of him and Jisoo wasn’t there. Instead, it was a picture of Hades, sleeping on the couch. There was a person behind him. You examined the new picture closely, realizing the person laying on the couch behind Hades was you. It was from the day Jeno gave you Hades. You lay on the couch, Hades curled up by your stomach, sleeping peacefully. You must’ve dozed off for a minute, not remembering Jeno ever snapping a picture. Your face wasn’t in the picture, but you could tell it was you because you remembered that top you wore. You smiled to yourself, feeling pride that your picture, even though no one would be able to tell, sat on Jeno’s desk. You wondered when he even had the time to print it out, or frame it, or why he did it, but you were happy he did nonetheless.
-
As I walked the princess back to my own chambers, my phone started to go off. I put her bag down on my bed, looking at it.
Jaemin: The guy is talking
Jaemin: He wants to speak to you
Jaemin: He says he’ll talk to you or the princess
Taeyong: Come down to holding
I was confused as to why this guy wanted to talk to me. “I got to go,” I said to the princess. I really didn’t want to leave her, but had to. “Are you gonna be okay?”
She nodded. I want to stay and I feel like I should. “I’ll send someone up here, so you’re not alone.” She nodded again. I came up to her, kissed her forehead. The three-word phrase of ‘I love you’ wanted to escape my lips, but I couldn’t get myself to actually say it. I turned back around before exiting. I have to say something to stop myself from looking weird, “I’ll be back soon.”
As I nearly ran down the hall, I think about how I should’ve said it. I can go back and say it. No, I didn’t say it, I can’t just go back to say just that. What if I’m love-bombing her? How do I know I love her? She nearly died, and now I can’t stand the thought of being in a world where she doesn’t exist. Is that love? Is loving someone feeling like you want to shield them from the world? Is loving someone feeling like they are who you should spend all your time with? I loved Jisoo, but I always knew I could live without her. Now I don’t know if I could live without the princess. I should’ve said it. Why didn’t I say it? She knows I feel that way, I told her I felt that way, right? I should’ve just said it.
I almost forgot where I was going, finally making it down to the underground level, the holding: a place that hasn’t actually been used in decades was constructed when the palace was built as a place to hold prisoners. It was for when attacks on royals were a weekly thing, but I don’t think there has been an attack since before the war. I looked to one of the guards that were down here. “Can you send the princess’ maids to my chambers please?”
The guard nodded and left awkwardly, probably thinking that finding maids wasn’t in his job description.
I entered the room. It had been renovated, everything in the room looked like a modern police integration room. Mark, Jaemin, and Johnny were standing, watching the interrogation through a window. Taeyong had just entered the room through another door, wiping blood from his hands.
I made my way to the window, looking at the guy on the other side. He was handcuffed to a chair, his face so badly beaten. It didn’t look like the same guy that I pulled the mask from. What happened?
“He was being rude,” Taeyong said, watching me observe the guy. It was like he heard the voice in my head asking questions, “he should learn to be respectful.” Taeyong, my older brother, was so soft, so caring, that I would often forget he was a general. I forgot how scary he could be at times. “He wants to talk to you, and better you than the princess. How is she by the way? I heard she can’t be alone.”
“She’s better than earlier,” I didn’t know what to say. How would any of us feel having almost been killed?
“It’s gonna take time,” Taeyong nodded, seemingly satisfied with my response.
“Do we know why he wants to talk to me?” I asked, turning my attention back to the guy inside, everyone shook their heads.
“All we know is he entered the palace through the kitchen entrance, and that he isn’t here on his own accord,” Taeyong said, coming to stand next to me.
“Someone planned this?” Why would someone plan an attack on the princess?
“It seems like it,” Taeyong started off, putting together the pieces of the puzzle just as I am, “I don’t think whoever planned this intended to kill the princess, just scare her.” Taeyong now looked at me. He had an idea of who did it, and so did I.
I walked into the room. The guy chuckled when he saw me. “About time, Your Highness,” the guy spit some blood onto the floor.
I pulled a chair that was stranded against a wall, into the middle of the room, across from the guy. “What’s your name?” I wanted to be angry with him, but the more I looked at him, the more I felt pity.
“That doesn’t matter,” the guy chuckled more, “you know, I’ve lived my entire life on the edge.”
“I really don’t have time for this,” I said, getting up from the chair.
“The princess looks stunning when she lays in the moonlight,” the guy paused. I felt the anger roll off onto me. “She looked so helpless lying there.”
I tilted my head back, slowly breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth.
“I wonder if she’s gonna have nightmares about me.” The guy smirked and all the pity I once felt disappeared.
“What do you want?”
“My life was a dance between me and death.”
I sat back down. Apparently, if I’m gonna get anything from him, I needed to listen to his ramble.
“I never thought I would be honored to die by the general prince’s hands.” He isn’t the first to think that, “You know, Your Highness, your family has come to me for many things.”
This statement actually caught me off guard, my family?
“I have lived my life as the criminal for the royal family. The pay for this job is really good though.”
Hansol, that’s the name he went by, I don’t know his full name.
“Your father asked me to find your mother a kidney one time. That was a very messy task; I don’t care for the amount of blood that comes with organ harvesting.”
Mother was sick for six months, with kidney failure. “The former queen, that lady, she’s scary, had me run my car through a business. No one was hurt though, luckily.” He smirked while saying the last word, almost like he could have hurt someone if he wanted to.
“I don’t need to hear this,” I got up again. I should be with the princess, not down here, listening to nonsense.
“But this task,” I started to make my way to the door, “scaring the princess,” I stopped, hand on the door, “that was the first time he came to ask for my help. Pretty young too.”
Maybe I misheard.
“Aren’t the two of you close, as well?”
Who is he talking about?
“Jisung said he was just helping his sister.”
I felt my heart sink, the young boy, Jisung was like, no, he was a little brother to me.
“Don’t be too mad at him, said he was doing this for her; she didn’t want her to get her hands dirty.”
Of course, it was her! Anyone with half a brain could tell that she wanted the princess gone. “The boy did say not to hurt the princess, just scare her, make her want to leave Northcy.”
“Then why did you?” I was still facing the door not trusting myself.
“She looked so helpless, I couldn’t stop myself, almost thought about taking more of her,” he laughed out loud.
I left the room, not wanting to hear anymore. If I would’ve heard one more word, his head would be separate from the rest of his crooked body. After closing the door, I had to stop to breathe. Jaemin placed his hand on my shoulder. I doubled over, feeling the urge to throw up. I don’t even know what I would throw up; I haven’t eaten anything yet.
“His background checks out, he’s telling the truth about who he is,” Taeyong said, holding his phone, looking at me. I stood up straight, gaining my composure, “bring in the Park siblings, have them separated,” Taeyong told one of the guards standing by the door.
“I need to go.” I should’ve stayed with the princess.
“Jeno,” anyone could hear the worry in Jaemin’s voice. He always did know me best.
“I’m gonna go.” Even though I felt like shit, I needed to do what was best for the princess, and that wasn’t lingering in the basement. She needed me.
-
You had changed out of Jeno’s sweats, into a turtle neck with sailor pants. Whatever part of your neck still showing was covered with concealer and powder. You were standing in Jeno’s bathroom, staring at your reflection in the vanity mirror. You changed, did your hair and your makeup. You finally thought that you looked normal as if you weren’t the victim of a vicious attack. You looked around the counter and the rest of the bathroom, realizing you made a mess. Every outfit you put on and tore off was thrown around the bathroom, the countless makeup wipes you used from removing and reapplying, the plethora of bobby pins and hair ties thrown all over.
“Damn it, damn it,” you mumbled to yourself, pulling the bag from the floor, shoving clothes inside, “Jeno’s gonna be furious.”
“Why am I gonna be furious?” As if your life was a movie, Jeno walked into the bathroom, hands shoved into his hoodie, looking around the room.
“I’m sorry, I promise I’ll clean up, it’ll be like I was never here,” the words tumbled out faster than your hands worked to clean.
Jeno chuckled at your distraught figure, kneeling on the floor. With how you acted these past 36 hours, no one would have ever thought you to be a princess. “Princess,” he called softly, pulling you off the floor, “don’t worry about it.” He smiled at you warmly, but you couldn’t look at him, just staring back at the mess you made. “Where’s Fei and Mei?” He gently pulled your jaw, forcing you to look at him.
“I sent them to get some tea, and my schedule for the day.”
“Schedule?”
“Yes, I can’t play victim forever.” You had responsibilities to maintain. “The wedding is just a little over two weeks away and I already wasted a day away.”
Jeno gave you a look, the disagreement written all over his face. He opened and closed his mouth several times. The knock on the chamber doors provided the perfect interruption for him. You pulled away, walking into the seating area to see Mei standing with a tray of tea and Fei with a paper in her hand. “Yes?”
“Your tea, Your Highness,” Mei stated with a bow, moving to set the tea on the coffee table.
“I have requested your schedule with Queen Jaeyeon. She said that for today and tomorrow, your schedule will be filled with rest and eating,” Fei said with a smirk. She had told you before she left that you shouldn’t be worried about duties right now.
“That’s good,” Jeno said, coming up behind you, “if you ladies don’t mind, I would like to be with the princess alone.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Mei bowed, pulling Fei along with her out of the room.
Jeno pulled you into his embrace, his head tilted as he looked at you and smiled.
“What?” You felt embarrassed by all his staring.
“Let’s go out,” his body felt so warm against yours, “we’ll do anything you want today,” the idea of spending your day with him felt too good to be true, “let’s just get out of the palace.”
You couldn’t help but nod at the suggestion. “Good, I’ll go change.”
You watched Jeno walk back into his room, thinking back to the mess on the bathroom floor. Making your way there, you began picking up the clothes tossed aside, shoving them back into your bag.
Jeno caught you in the middle of cleaning, “leave it, princess. I really don’t mind the mess.”
You looked at the prince that now stood over you. He wore an all-black outfit: jeans, a plain tee, and a leather jacket. He was so simply handsome, you thought.
He pulled you up, interlacing your fingers and kissing the back of your hand. You and Jeno made your way to the garage and hopped into his car. You had no idea where you would be going, but you enjoyed the ride.
You arrived at a cathedral, standing outside, looking up at the massive building in awe. The architecture of the building was beautifully done. You looked back to Jeno, who stared at you instead of the building. “Why are we here?”
-
Northcy’s cathedral, I found myself driving there as we left the palace. I felt my phone buzzing the entire way. I knew it was Jaemin, but whether it was an update or a check-up I didn’t know. I pulled up right outside the main entrance of the building. The princess stepped out, taking in the beautiful site. It never failed to put people in awe.
“Why are we here?” she turned back to look at me.
In all honesty, I don’t know why I felt the need to drive here. “Beautiful isn’t it?” I nodded towards the building, making my way towards the princess.
“It is,” she looked at me expectantly.
I had to answer her question. I grabbed her hand, leading her up the steps into the building. “This is where the ceremony will take place,” I said as I entered. It was my family’s tradition to be married here.
“Cathédrale du Nord,” the princess read the inscription on the side of the building, she stood just in the doorway.
“It just means cathedral of the north or something along the lines of that.”
She nodded, finally entering the building. “This is where we’ll be married,” I don’t know if it was a statement or a question but I nodded anyway. “Didn’t know your family was religious,” statement, this time.
“We’re not, the cathedral was built long before Northcy,” I looked around the building, not recalling the last time I was here, “past generations of my family were religious, having attended mass nearly every Sunday, but that hasn’t happened since before the war.”
“Why?” She looked at me like I was there when they decided to stop attending.
However, my schooling taught me the answers nevertheless, “mass was canceled in the beginning. This place was a shelter for those who had homes on the front line.” Modia and Northcy share a border, which at one time was a free passage, or so the books say. “After a while, I guess my great-great-grandparents just stopped going.”
I don’t know the exact reason why they stopped, the books say war made them too busy, but any believer would argue ‘no one is too busy for God.’
The princess just nodded, looking around the building, I checked my phone finally.
Jaemin: we’re in the middle of questioning the Park siblings.
Jaemin: Taeyong is talking to Jisung, you know Taeyong always had a soft spot for the boy
Jaemin: Taeyong refuses to allow me to talk to Jisoo
Jaemin: Johnny is talking to her, Taeyong says it’s since she doesn’t know him
Jaemin: She threw Jisung under the bus immediately, wtf? This bitch is saying that this is all Jisung.
Jaemin: All the evidence points to Jisung, he made a huge cash withdrawal, Hansol confirmed to meeting with Jisung, there are images of their meeting. This isn’t good.
Jaemin: Mark is gonna talk to her, and pretend he doesn’t know anything yet
Jaemin: Dude now that it’s mark, she’s bawling, wtf? I’m telling you, I never liked her.
Taeyong: Jisung says he’ll confess to everything if we agree that Jisoo gets full immunity from all current and future evidence regarding this case.
My fiancée was almost killed by my ex-girlfriend’s brother and Jaemin had still managed to make me chuckle at his commentary of the situation. Jisung didn’t do this though, he didn’t come up with this idea to scare the princess, this was all Jisoo, right? I type a quick response to Taeyong: ‘No, this has Jisoo written all over it. We can’t allow Jisung to take the fall for this, not yet at least.’ The death sentence is illegal in Northcy, but considering the attack was against the princess, she can have him extradited to Modia and tried there. I don’t know what will happen to him then. I texted Jaemin back as well, ‘I know you didn’t like her.’ As soon as I hit send, it seemed like the flashing dots appeared to show Jaemin typing, his response coming up even faster.
Jaemin: you good? I know you loved her
He was right.
Me: emphasis on lovED
I shoved my phone back into my pocket, turning back to the princess. She was up by the alter while I still stood in front of the doors. She looked absolutely breathtaking up there. The father, priest, pastor, pope, the guy in charge, came out of the woodworks. It seemed he and the princess were exchanging words, I could see her expression fall, I made my way closer to them. When I was close enough to hear.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself,” the father was angry, “coming here, in this house where many mourned for your war, you dient girl.”
“Father,” I questioned, I knew my tone held a rude, defiant tone, “what is the meaning of this?” I looked at the princess, whose tears were falling slowly. It seemed as if all she did when she was with me was cry and it pained me inexplicably.
“Your Royal Highness,” the priest tone softens, “this girl is not welcomed here, she has done nothing but caused pain for the people.”
“Father, she is my fiancée and the future queen of Northcy, she will be welcomed wherever she pleases to go,” this man was nearly thrice my age, maybe older, I should not be taking this tone with him, “she is the reason millions more won’t lose their lives.”
“Well, she is not welcome here, so long as I am the high priest.” Oh, so he is a priest, glad to know I was correct about one thing.
“Well, father, it looks you’re out of a job then,” I stated, grabbing the princess’ hand pulling her out of there.
“You don’t have that power,” the priest yelled as I increased the distance between us, “only God has that power.”
“No, Father. I have that power because your house lies in my land,” I yelled back, now turning to be facing the man. I was beyond furious, no longer caring about my image, “you’re done, father. You’ll never work as a priest anywhere in my kingdom. There are more priests than just you.” I took a few steps, closing some of the distance between me and him, “I will find another to replace you, and I’ll have God on my side as I do so,” I spoke the last part in a normal voice. The priest was red in the face. Seeing him so angry made my own anger subside.
Turning back around, I led the princess out of the building back into the car. She wiped the tears that had fallen away, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the father was gonna act like that.”
“It’s fine, not your fault,” she offered me a small smile.
“What happened anyway?” I started to drive, who knows where now.
“Father said I looked familiar, asked if I had been there before. I told him no, I’m not from here. He asked where I was from. I said I was from Modia, and then he recognized me, said I was the Modian princess that the prince was gonna marry. I said yes. He became furious, telling me that it was shameful that I walked where widows of soldiers walked. I should be ashamed of myself.” The princess was struggling to continue on.
“He said ‘dient girl’, what does that mean?” I didn’t recognize the word.
“It comes from a script, ‘le roi unt matent e dient roi, mena son palpel ea mete dit. Pezon nona scape, monne, fonne, infene, sufre de don cupidite.’ It means ‘the king now being a dient king, lead his people to their death. No one was spared: men, women, children, suffered for his greed.’ It comes from a story of a king who became so obsessed with power, that he killed all of his people to acquire their land. The story is meant to teach young royals that we rule over people, not land. We are in this position because they say that it’s okay, and if we abuse that power, like the king in the story, we become nothing but monsters. The story became a Modian favorite, but the word dient was twisted over time; it wasn’t even a word me and my siblings were allowed to mutter. Mother thought it was a dirty word.”
“Oh,” I was at a loss for words. How could I make this better?
“Dient, it’s from an old Modian language that is seldom used and mostly forgotten by the majority. A rough translation of the word is devil.” She paused, calming herself down, “a more accurate translation, it means ‘something or someone possessed by pure evil, only meant to bring pain and suffering to those around them.”
“You’re not.”
“Excuse Me?” The princess looked at me from her seat.
“You’re not a dient girl, you’re not possessed by something evil, you do not cause the people around you pain and suffering. You are not evil,” I looked at the princess, she was staring back at me. I wrapped my hand around hers, “you’re not a dient girl.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, pulling my hand into her lap, continuing to hold it.
We spent the rest of the day out of the palace. I tried taking the princess to places that wouldn’t have lots of people, but it seemed as if wherever we went, there was somebody. Most of the people that saw us were kind, the majority stared, some gave dirty looks, but none were as confrontational as the priest. I had sent a text over to Jung, Father’s butler, about what I said to the priest. Jung confirmed that they will have a new high priest and the other guy will be out of a job before the weekend.
I got another text, this one confirming that a surprise for the princess has arrived. Jaemin gave me continuous updates. Apparently, they brought in Lord and Lady Park. Jaemin says Lord Park was clueless to all of this and there isn’t any evidence suggesting that he or Lady Park had any involvement in it. However, Lady Park did throw Jisoo under the bus, saying that her daughter wanted the princess dead, and it isn’t a surprise that she would go this far. Taeyong says that Lord Park believes Jisung is more innocent than guilty, Jisoo always did have her younger brother wrapped around her finger. But Jisung technically already confessed.
Authors Note: Ahhhhh I finally did it correct and updated on a saturday lmaoooo. Also an updated WIP is coming out, I know I have behind on updating you guys but I will. hugs and kisses to anyone reading <3333
————–
With the wedding in a month, you and Jeno have become closer these past few weeks. Instead of just not liking each other at all, there was mutual respect. One could even argue that you and Jeno have become friends; you spent most of your mornings together, playing with Hades as much as possible. It seemed as if the mornings were the only time you guys got to yourselves, for the afternoons were full of meetings with different members of noble families, wedding arrangements, council meetings, and endless amounts of public appearances. Every day, there was a fifteen to twenty-minute appearance in the public to interact with the people.
Everything in Northcy was different from Modia. Back home, your family never had public appearances, you never had private meetings with the high houses, nor you didn’t have to attend council meetings. The list of new tasks seems to be never-ending. Fei and Mei became distant, they always silently did the work no longer stopping to whisper little gossip they heard to you. Chan and Hyunjin started acting like guards as well, not conversing unless you spoke first, obeying all orders without much argument. You were constantly surrounded by people but felt more alone than ever.
One morning, you woke up feeling your heart drop into your stomach. Your head was spinning and you felt as if you had to double over to throw up. Swallowing the nausea, you got up to begin the day. With the wedding approaching so soon there was no way you could have a sick day now. Finding the will of God himself, you put on the mask and prepare to embark on your day. That morning you had breakfast with the ladies of the council, all the wives of lords and their daughters. The last of the noble families were to be arriving today for breakfast and were planning on staying for the entirety of the month up until the new year. Thankfully, most of the ladies didn’t focus on your presence, mostly occupied with pleasing the queen in any way, whether that be complimenting her outfit, or by marveling at the decor of the palace. Few did pay attention to you, like Lady Qian. She was the wife to Prince Qian Kun, who was second in line to the throne of Varpol. Prince Qian Kun was in Northcy for the wedding as well as a royal ambassador for Varpol. Lady Qian made sure she introduced herself to you personally. She also said, “I hope my husband and your future husband stay in good fortune with each other, for the time to come.” She wanted to ensure that you made sure Jeno didn’t cut off the alliance with Varpol when he took the throne, is what you thought. Varpol was a small country that didn’t offer much to Northcy but asked for a lot in return.
Lord Huang Renjun was the same age as Jeno. It was tragic, his father died at war. According to your lessons, Lord Huang, Renjun’s father, controlled the air fleet; he was flying into enemy territory when they took fire and his plane was shot down. Just as Renjun was going into war, the terms of the union were agreed upon. Lady Huang gave you a confused look, she was angry because you were the enemy, you killed her father-in-law. However, you being here saved Renjun from that fate, so she eventually decided to be grateful for you.
Lady Park was older, but couldn’t be much older than your own mother. The way she carried herself told you that she did this rodeo, one too many times. There was another girl with her, she looked to be about your age, maybe a year or two younger. Her face, figure, her hair, everything about this girl seemed all too familiar to you. She was thin, with a nice tanned complexion, her hair long straight and raven-colored. She was everything you wanted to look like. Then it hit you, this was the girl in the picture that was on Jeno’s desk. The Noble Park family is the most powerful noble family after, of course, royal relatives like the Na noble family. The Park Family controlled the power plants throughout the country; they literally lit the country. The family consisted of Lord Park, Lady Park, their son Park Jisung, and their daughter Park Jisoo. There was a rumor that Jeno and Jisoo had dated for a few years, but no one spoke of how or when it ended.
“Princess (Y/n), pleased to make your acquaintance,” Lady Park spoke to you as she bowed. You put on the mask your parents had constructed; your face held no emotion but pleased. “I am Lady Park Jihyo and this is my daughter, Park Jisoo,” Lady Park said, gesturing to her daughter as she did a small bow as well. Jisoo was furious to bow to you. It was clear to anyone paying attention, the fire behind her eyes lit.
“It is very nice to meet the two of you,” you said, standing straight, refusing to bow to them. Normally, and most likely under different circumstances you would bow, but this is different, you have to show them that you will not become a pushover of a queen.
“It must be very lonely to be away from home without a single familiar face,” Lady Park said, trying to jab at any wounds. The mask you put on refused to break and show the lonely feelings that were festering inside.
“Sometimes, but the queen and her family have done nothing but make me feel welcomed here,” you said. You had to present the front that you and the royal family were united.
“That’s good, I hope you are also pleasing the prince as well,” Lady Park said, reaching for something that wasn’t there. “If you ever need to know what the prince likes, Jisoo here is well versed, I’m sure she could help.” You were wrong. Lady Park wasn’t reaching for your feelings for Jeno, but your feelings of incompetence. Lady Park knew that royals didn’t like the feeling of needing help from anyone, and that’s exactly what she made you feel.
“Thank you for such a gracious offer, Lady Park,” you refused to allow the mask to crack, “but I’m sure I won’t be needing that anytime soon, the prince and I are very happy.” You’ve done it, you put Lady Park and her daughter in their place, but most definitely not for long. The short exchange left you more exhausted than ever, but now was no time for naps. You and the queen had to see to the arrival of the last family member: Jeno’s grandmother, the former queen of Northcy, a rumored fighter pilot in the war, Queen Lee Hye-Young.
-
You, Grandmother Na, Queen Jaeyeon, King Donghae, Jeno, Haechan, and Mark all waited in the main foyer for Queen Lee Hye-Young to arrive. After what seemed like hours of waiting, but was probably only a few minutes, a servant announced the arrival. Everyone fixing their attire and standing straight, Jeno’s parents stood in the front, the king and then the queen, Grandmother Na slightly behind on the queen’s left. Jeno, Mark, and Haechan are behind Grandmother Na, and you on Jeno’s right, slightly behind. The doors opened, revealing Queen Lee Hye-Young. She was a thin woman. Her face had natural signs of age, there was no indication that she ever tried to alter her appearance. Her hair was cut short, a simple bob that rested just below her ears. She wore light makeup, almost as if it were nonexistent. Her outfit consisted of a royal blue satin tea-length dress with silver two-inch heels. She didn’t carry a handbag, wore only a huge pear cut sapphire ring, her wedding ring, a simple string of pearls, and a silver braided tiara that didn’t hold any jewels. Her presence alone commanded attention. She was stunning, absolutely stunning. You could only dream to age as nicely as she did.
“Mother,” King Donghae spoke first, grabbing your attention, he opened his arms to welcome her into a hug. She seemed so small compared to him. “How was the trip?”
“Fine. It was just fine,” Queen Hye-Young said. Even her voice was elegant, she was memorizing in every aspect.
“Welcome home, Your Majesty,” Queen Jaeyeon spoke, bowing to Queen Hye-Young.
“Thank you, my dear. I see you have not aged since I last saw you.” What sounded like a nice compliment was actually a jab at Queen Jaeyeon spending all her time on her appearance and nothing of importance.
“I see time has not made you kind, Hye-Young,” Grandmother Na spoke to Queen Hye-young. You were taken aback by Grandmother Na’s bold words.
“Hello, old friend,” Queen Hye-Young said with a smirk painting itself across her lips, she pulled Grandmother Na in an embrace, and the two shared a small fit of giggles. “Let me see my grandsons,” Queen Hye-Young said, pulling away from Grandmother Na, allowing her to pass through to see Mark, Haechan, and Jeno. Queen Hye-Young pulled each boy into a hug, whispering something different to each of them. “Where is my boy, Taeyong?”
“He’s working, Grandma. He’ll be back for the union,” Haechan answered.
“You best not be working him too hard, Donghae.”
“Of course not, mother.”
“And who is this?” Queen Hye-Young asked, slightly pushing Jeno aside to get a better look at you. She stared you up and down.
“This is Princess (Y/n) of the Modia Kingdom,” Jeno answered, stepping to your side, placing a hand on the small of your back. “She is my fiance.”
“Ah, so this is the princess,” Queen Hye-Young looked at you once more, “it is a pleasure to meet you, princess,” she said bowing to you.
“The pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty,” you said a little too quickly, bowing a little too low, absolutely flustered that Queen Hye-Young bowed to you. Queen Hye-Young’s lip twitched a little watching you, your fluster was all too evident, and she seemed to enjoy it.
-
You were set to have lunch with the Ladies of the council once again, but as soon as you made your way to the queen’s private dining area, you were called away. You had no idea where you were going and were just told to follow the maid. She led you to a french door that you assumed led into a private chamber. The maid knocked on the door and then opened them walking in, you followed.
“Princess (Y/n), as you requested, Your Majesty,” the maid said. As she moved to leave the room, you saw Queen Hye-Young and Grandmother Na sitting, eating lunch.
“Thank you, you may close the door on your way out,” she spoke to the maid. The maid bowed and did exactly as Queen Hye-Young instructed. “Sit, dear,” you sat. “How are you this morning?”
“I am just fine, Your Majesty.”
“Do you plan to take up a consort after the coronation?” Queen Hye-Young asked, getting straight to the point; there was no beating around the bush.
“Excuse me?”
“Are you planning to undermine my grandson during every decision he makes?” Queen Hye-Young continued to eat her breakfast like she was asking about the weather.
“Huh?” You were at an utter loss for words, not knowing how to answer any of her questions.
“Do you plan on making this marriage work, or is this just business? Will we have to fight for you to produce an heir?” Your stomach did flips, palms sweating. You wanted nothing more but to leave. “Are you planning on cutting off Northcy’s alliances with smaller kingdoms? Will you open the palace up for the people to see? Are you ready to manage the budget of our kingdom?” Your head started to spin and wondered when you last ate. You were so busy that you barely felt as if you had time to consume food. “Do you intend on allowing Jeno to have a courtesan? Will you take on one as well? I heard a rumor about a little guard in your favor.” There was a ringing in your ears, Queen Hye-Young’s voice sounded far away. “Do you plan to uphold our family’s traditions? Or will it be only your family traditions from now on?”
You felt your eyes flutter close, only wanting to blink, but couldn’t pry them back open.
-
I was sitting for lunch with Jaemin, Haechan, and Mark, taking a simple half-hour to rest before being stuck in meetings with various Lords.
“Jeno, hello. You there?” Haechan called out, grabbing my attention.
“I’m sorry, what?” was all I could manage. Haechan, Mark, and Jaemin just laughed and shook their heads, going back to whatever conversation they were having before. I waved down a maid for a new glass of water. All I wanted to do was lay in bed, but I barely had a moment to myself. I wonder how the princess feels right now, and what she’s doing.
“Crown Prince Lee Jeno,” a maid called out, standing enough distance away to be respectful. All of our heads turned to face her. “Queen Hye-Young has requested your presence.”
“Very well,” is all I could muster to say, as I stood to follow the maid. I waved back a bye to the guys sitting at the table. Ever since Jaemin arrived, the three of them are always together just like before. I wonder if the princess’ maids are doing alright here. I looked at the maid that I followed. I didn’t see much of Fei or Mei. We made our way up to the second floor, where the chambers were. She said she was going to be having lunch there with Grandma Na.
As we approached her doors, people were running in and out. “Call a doctor,” Grandma Lee yelled out, her military voice suited. She was running past the maid to the bedroom. Did Grandmother Na get hurt? I ran into the room, there Grandmother Na sat on the floor, the princess’ head in her lap. Grandma Lee was checking her pulse. Maids were coming in with supplies for the princess to be comfortable.
“Where’s the doctor?” The question came out as a whisper, quickly drowned out by my grandma’s shouts. My body went numb for a second, so many haunting memories fighting even harder to cloud my consciousness. I never thought I’d see the day where the snippets of my life that I pushed so far back into my mind were exploding back in front of my eyes.
“Excuse me, Your Highness?” a maid asked.
“Where’s the doctor?!” I yelled, rushing towards the princess’ side, pulling her out of Grandmother Na’s lap and towards myself. “Have the doctor meet me at her chambers, she shouldn’t be left on the floor,” I said, gaining control over my voice again, picking the princess up and all but spiriting towards her chambers.
Finally making it to her room, I laid her on the bed. She was looking up at me. “Princess, are you alright?”
“I’m alr-”
“Don’t lie,” I cut her off, my tone more rough than intended. The princess has this habit of telling people what they want to hear.
“My head hurts and I feel nauseous,” the princess sighs. Now she’s actually telling the truth.
“The doctor should be here soon, princess.” As if my words were magic, the doctor walks in. Most would’ve gone to a hospital, but we royals tried to maintain public appearance whenever it was humanly possible.
I stood in the back of the room against a wall, while the doctor did his examination. I knew Grandma Lee and Grandmother Na were right outside the doors because they were quick to follow me when I moved the princess. Looking at the princess, I realize she’s thinner than when she first arrived at the palace. I felt guilt pile in my stomach, my mind taking me back to when I was fifteen, peering down at the frail body of a girl far too young to be hungry, cold, and helpless. I couldn’t save Jia, but did I miss the opportunity to help (Y/n)? Was this my fault?
“Your Highness,” the doctor addressed me, “the princess is alright, she fainted, my guess is from a lack of food and an increased amount of stress. She needs to rest and eat good food.” The doctor’s words confused and worried me: ‘lack of food.’
“Thank you, doctor.” The doctor left, leaving me, the princess, and her maids. “Leave us, please.” The maids looked to the princess, who nodded in approval. The princess sat up on the bed, she was trying to stand up. “Hey, hey,” I said, walking towards the princess, pushing her to sit back down, “the doctor said you needed to rest.”
“Jeno, please. I have things I need to do, I can’t spend all day in bed.”
“Yes you can, even if I have to stay here and watch you,” I said, rubbing my temples, “you haven’t been eating?”
“I have, I-” she started, not knowing how to continue. There was a knock at the door, a perfect interruption for her. Grandma Lee and Grandmother Na were there, standing in the doorway.
“May we come in?” Grandma Lee asked. I looked at the princess who nodded her consent.
“Come in,” I said.
“Are you alright, dear?” Grandmother Na asked, rushing to the princess’ side. She sat on the bed next to the princess, rubbing her arms. Grandmother Na always had a warmer personality than Grandma Lee.
“I am just fine, thank you,” The princess was calm, she wasn’t afraid to be in my grandma’s presence.
“Princess,” Grandma Lee started, she was distant, almost sorry, “I didn’t mean to-”
“Your Majesty, this is not your fault,” the princess cut off Grandma Lee, “I don’t have answers for your questions right now, but I will before long. I plan to work with the prince and be a queen that my and your people deserve.”
Grandma Lee smiled and nodded. I looked between the two. Grandma Lee turned to me and nodded. She approved, that’s what she was telling me, she approved of my union.
-
Neither you nor Jeno was able to have a proper lunch, so he requested food be brought to your chambers and you guys would dine together. Fei and Mei both carried a tray of food each. They set them on the table before you and Jeno. It was chicken noodle soup with rice. You smiled as you looked at the tray. It was a dish your mother made whenever you felt sick.
“Thank you,” you said to Fei and Mei as they exited your room. You brought up a spoonful of soup to your lips, the warm liquid danced across your tongue and ran down your throat. The burn felt magnificent, and you couldn’t help but eat like you have been starved for a lifetime.
“Good?” Jeno asked, looking at you, he mindlessly mixed the soup with his spoon.
“Perfect.”
As Jeno continued to watch you eat, he thought about what made you so special to get Grandma Lee’s approval. Jisoo never received Grandma’s approval, even though she spent years trying to earn it. You only personally knew Grandma for less than a day and you already earned her approval. What made you so special?
“Are you not gonna eat?” you asked, looking at Jeno’s bowl.
“Do you want some more?” Jeno asked, looking at your now-empty bowl. You gave a small nod. Jeno just smiled at you and handed his bowl over. He just continued to watch you eat. It was incredible how you looked absolutely stunning even while eating.
“It’s rude to stare,” you said, looking up from your bowl, meeting Jeno’s eye.
“It’s not rude to admire, though,” Jeno said with a smirk. You smiled at Jeno’s comment, feeling a small heat bloom on your cheeks.
Jeno spent the rest of the day with you, waiting on you hand and foot, refusing to leave. Something about ‘you’re not gonna rest if no one is watching you.’ He did leave you for a few minutes to get Hades from his room, but he made sure Fei and Mei knew that you weren’t allowed to leave until he got back. The only time Jeno allowed you to do anything by yourself was when you had to go to the bathroom. Snacks and drinks were constantly being brought up to the room, per Jeno’s request. He needed to make sure you were more than okay. He couldn’t let another person he cared about leave him through tragedy.
Finally, it was time for the evening meal. All the Noble families were at the palace for the holidays, as well as the wedding. Evening meals have become a feast; everyone sat on one long table, with King Donghae sitting at the head, Queen Jaeyeon on his right, Jeno on his left. Your seat was always next to Jeno, for any event, and if he wasn’t there, then you sat next to Queen Jaeyeon.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Jeno leaned over to whisper to you while you guys were eating the main course.
“What I do every day,” you said in a hushed voice, loud enough to him while you continued to eat, “follow your mother around.”
“Spare your morning for me,” Jeno whispered, “let’s go on a date.”
Red crept up your neck to your cheeks and the tips of your ears. You can’t deny that after spending the few weeks taking care of Hades with the prince, he was definitely more than just a pretty face, but your feelings were more complicated. “What do you hope to achieve with this?” You asked, putting on the mask.
“Princess, I know you don’t have feelings for me, but there’s no reason not to try,” Jeno said, turning, looking directly at you.
“Alright, your highness, a date tomorrow morning,” you said looking at Jeno. This is gonna make things more complicated.
-
I was set to meet the Princess at 9 am. At 8:51 am, I was in front of the princess’s chambers.
“Chan, correct?” I asked, looking at one of the guards posted outside of the princess’ chambers.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“And Hyu…?” I couldn’t quite remember the rest of his name.
“Hyunjin, Your Highness,” the other guard responded.
“Right, my apologies,” I said to be polite. “Chan…”
“Yes, Your Highness,” he looked stoic with his response, almost awkward with the interaction.
“I know you and the princess are more than just friends,” I started. I knew. I knew from the moment I first saw the princess with her guard. I knew but I denied it, and now no more.
“Your highness, I have no-” I raised my hand, stopping Chan from speaking further.
“I want to try a relationship with the princess.” It looked like his heart stopped, all color draining from his face. “I trust you won’t interfere, but I ask that you be there for the princess should I fail.”
“Your Highness, I don’t understand.” He looked confused.
“I will have to marry the princess no matter what, but should our relationship not work, I will insist that you remain in Northcy for her,” I hoped that my voice remained calm, “this will be away from any family and friends you have in Modia, will that be alright?”
The princess is gonna lose so much, the least I can do is try to make it somewhat bearable. “That will be, Your Highness,” he looked pleased, almost understanding what I asked of him.
“I know this isn’t easy, but I thank you,” I bowed my head to him. It takes a lot to give up the girl you love. I know that feeling well.
I knocked on the door at three to nine. This will be the first time I ever knocked to enter her chambers. Mei opened the door and bowed as she let me enter. I told the princess that we would go into the city this morning. I want to take her to this one cafe called Norts.
Inside, the princess sat at her table drinking a cup of tea. She wore a black turtleneck, with an amber leather skirt and black stockings. There was a long, gray winter coat on the other seat. “Good morning, Your Highness,” she said as she got up from her seat, there I saw the pendant she wore, it was a crown. Thinking about it now, the princess had the title to wear a crown or tiara, but she never did. The most she ever wore was a metal jeweled headband, and that was only for evening meals.
“Good morning, princess. Beautiful necklace,” I said, holding my hand out to her. She placed her hand in mine, grabbing her coat.
“Thank you, it was a gift from my mother,” she said as we exited her chambers, “a subtle way to let people know you’re royalty.” Her voice is as lovely as ever.
“Why?” Was all I could manage, hoping it was enough to encourage her to talk more.
“Mother didn’t want us to be flamboyant; she didn’t want us to flaunt our titles,” she smiled to herself, looking down. We walked down the steps to the main floor, “she thought we shouldn’t act better than everyone, even if we are.” As she finished, she giggled, hand covering her mouth.
“Is your mother always so humble?”
“Actually, quite frankly, no,” she laughed, hand still placed over her mouth, “my mother truly believes we are better than everyone. She just refuses to act like she is.” Her laugh died down a little but was still there. God, her laugh. We were towards the front entrance, my own guards standing by the door.
Once we made it out the door, my car was there, and our guards were behind us. I stepped out in front of the princess, opening the car door for her. “Princess,” I gestured to the passenger seat of the car.
“You’re driving, your highness?” Her voice sounded pleasantly surprised, “don’t you get chauffeured around?” This time, she was teasing.
“For formal events, yes, but this is just me and you.”
She smiled, finally getting into the car. I let out a breath, I can’t recall the last time I actually went on a date. My guards were in the car upfront, her guards in a car behind us. I got into the driver’s seat, started the car.
“May we listen to music?” She looked at me, her eyes were soft, almost doe-like.
“Put on whatever you want, princess,” I handed her my phone, opening it for her first.
“What kind of music do you like?” She scrolled through the options of songs.
“Put on your music, princess,” I glanced at her.
She smiled while looking down at my phone. She put on ‘war with heaven’ by Keshi. She leaned back, smiled, and closed her eyes for a minute.
“Do you know how to drive, princess?”
“I do,” she’s hesitant.
“And?”
“My parents have forbidden me from driving,” she giggles a little to herself. This must be a story.
“Why do they forbid you?”
“I was driving over the speed limit, but it wasn’t really by much. It was only,” she bit her lip, “sxtver…”
“Princess, speak up,” I said, glancing at her, red creeping up her cheeks again.
“I was driving,” she let out a breath, “60 over.”
“60 over?! How fast were you going?!” The shock was clearly evident on my face. Why in the world would she be going 60 over?
“I was doing 160kph (100 mph),” she looked down to her shoes, “well when the officer caught me, it was 160.”
“Why would you be going that fast?” I asked, sliding my hand down my face.
“Racing,” she stated so calmly.
“Racing?” I looked at her again. She gave me a small, timid smile.
“I was different in Modia,” she looked out the window. We were entering the city.
“Different how?” The cafe was only another 2-3 minutes away.
“I had no responsibilities, I wasn’t the heir and was the third daughter,” she looked to be deep in thought, “I was allowed to be a child.”
“And?”
“And so, I went out,” she smiled to herself, “car meets were my favorite. Chan would sneak me out, and I would ride with him, the passenger in his car. He and his friends were big, they were racers, and I was his passenger.” The smile is still on her face. We pulled up to the cafe.
“And you became a racer?” I asked while parking my car.
“I did,” I got out after her answer, rushing around to open the door for her. My guards were already up ahead by the entrance of the cafe, her guards stayed by our side.
“Maybe you should drive back,” I said, opening the door to her. She giggles at my suggestion.
“You wanna experience a police chase?” She questioned.
“Maybe,” we walked arm in arm together into the cafe. They sat us more towards the back, her guards took a table up at the front of the cafe, watching the entrance, and mine took one closer to us. Not close enough to hear us, though. “Did you at least win when you got caught?”
“Of course, I won,” she smirked, as she sat, “have you ever been to a meet?”
“I have not, cars are Jaemin’s thing. I enjoy cars, but not as much as him.”
“Your thing?”
The waiter brought us some water and menus.
“Music.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I enjoy playing the guitar and biking.”
“I wanted to learn how to play,” she looked at the menu, “but never had the patience. What do you usually get?”
“I usually get something more healthy like egg whites, but I think I’m gonna get something like waffles,” I looked at her. She was still staring down at the menu.
“I think I’m gonna get the french toast,” she put the menu down, taking a sip of her water, “it’s my favorite breakfast food.”
I put the menu down, looking at her, “you know I could teach you.”
“Huh?” Her face filled with confusion, eyes going wide. It was the most adorable look ever.
“The guitar, I could teach you.”
“Oh,” she looked down, fiddled with her finger for a second, “I would like that.” She looked at me and smiled. Her smile was only a half-smile, but by god, she was more beautiful than Aphrodite herself.
We continued our breakfast, talking about her life in Modia and about my hobbies. She was most definitely different in Modia, she lived a life that many of us aren’t allowed to live. I felt almost jealous, jealous of the life she got, the life that I wanted, but the look in her eyes made me feel guilty about those thoughts. Her eyes became glossy when she spoke of how she changed: when the third letter came. I didn’t have a right to be jealous, I didn’t lose what she lost.
We were in the car, on our way back to the palace, my guards in front, hers in back. “Care for a detour, princess?”
“Well I have the time,” she smirked at me, “your mother cleared my schedule for the morning when she found out about our date.”
“Okay then.” There were a few more streets before we left the city. I took a sharp right turn, down another street, stepping harder on the gas. She laughed, holding on to her seatbelt. Her guards were still on our tail. A left turn, a right, and then another right, and they were gone.
“Where are we going?” She was still smiling.
“It’s a surprise,” still speeding just by a little, we drove deeper into the city, past the café. I didn’t think I was gonna take her here, but I want a memory with her here.
“A museum?” She looked out the window at the building. I got out of the car, rushing to her side to open the door, holding my hand out for her to take. “It’s a music museum, commissioned by my grandfather, a gift.”
“Gift? For?” She looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“For me,” We walked into the door, arm in arm. The staff bowed at us, at me, “my grandfather died when I was four. He never saw the results.”
“I can’t believe you got a whole museum as a gift,” she smirked, teasing, “the best I ever got was a car.”
“Let me show you my favorite section,” we walked up the steps to the second level, into a back section, a small room that held a collection of all kinds of stuff. The princess let go of my arm and looked at the collection.
“Is there a theme here?” she looked at me confused, rightfully so.
“No,” I watched her look around, “these are my favorite pieces from everywhere.”
“So this is just your personal collection, within your personal museum,” she’s teasing again.
“It’s not my personal museum,” I stated.
“Right, it’s just a gift,” she smirked, looking back at the collection, fixated on a violin, “what’s the story behind this?”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I stepped next to her, looking at the violin with her, “it was mine.”
“Yours? You play?” She looked at me. I stared at the violin.
“I used to, I haven’t played in a while, I’m not sure if I even could anymore,” I looked at her. She held care in her eyes.
“You said,” she looked down, hesitant, “you said your grandfather, the late king… how did he know you were gonna be in music?”
“After his passing, the museum project was left to Grandma Lee. She decided it was gonna be a music museum when it finished,” I looked back at the violin, tilting my head, “she said that she saw it in my eyes: the love for music.”
“It’s a very large museum for just music,” she looked out into the doorway, peering into other sections.
“It holds every part of music,” I stood by her, looking at the museum, “every genre, every instrument, every part of music you could imagine.”
“Amazing,” she was in awe.
“Let me take you around the rest of the museum,” I grabbed her hand, leading her away and onto more of the museum.
We didn’t talk much as we walked and enjoyed the rest of the museum. Her smile never seemed to leave her face. Time stopped, it was only us, the two of us in this little world looking at old pianos, time never moving. If someone shot me right now, a bullet through my head, heart stopping, I would die a satisfied man. Satisfied that I got this opportunity to be in this moment, to be here, to be with her.
-
“Princess (Y/n),” Queen Jaeyeon yelled at you when she saw you running into the palace through the garage door, Jeno right behind you. “Crown Prince Lee Jeno,” Queen Jaeyeon’s face was red, “the two of you have missed meetings with lords, luncheon with your grandmas, and neither of you thought to tell me about a dog you allowed in my palace.”
You wished Queen Jaeyeon hadn’t yelled; her voice sounded so demanding, so chilling, it set more fear in you than anyone else who’s ever yelled at you. “I’m so-”
Jeno placed a hand on the small of your back, stopping you from apologizing, he took a step, standing right beside you.
“Mother, don’t overreact,” Jeno’s voice was calm, caring, “we took a detour, we’ve been in meetings with lords since their arrival, we can reschedule lunch with grandma, and the dog wasn’t in your section of the palace.” He smiled genuinely; it seemed to calm his mother a bit.
“That doesn’t negate the fact that a wild animal is in my palace, and the two of you ignored your duties!”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. Our detour took longer than we had anticipated, I will personally see to the Lord’s family, Grandma Lee, and Grandmother Na to apologize.” You wanted nothing more than to leave right now, you still had to meet with the priest of the wedding.
“Mother, isn’t that enough?” Jeno asked, hand still on your back.
“Don’t make me bring up the fact that the two of you also abandoned your guards, which should anything happen to either of you, could have led to yet another war,” Queen Jaeyeon was still very angry. Both you and Jeno looked down to your feet.
“I have rescheduled the meeting with the priest, and the two of you will be in attendance. For today, all of your prior engagements are canceled. I expect the two of you to be on time to dinner tonight.” Queen Jaeyeon turned away, Jeno started to laugh after she was far enough not to hear.
“That was fun,” Jeno sighed, calming down from his laughing fit.
“You nearly got me killed,” you look distressed, hitting Jeno’s chest, “no more damn detours,” you huffed, rubbing your temples, after giving Jeno a firm look.
“Understood, princess,” he looked at you, making direct eye contact, tilting his head a little to the right. You thought ‘damn he and Jaemin really are related.’
After getting scoldings from Queen Jaeyeon, Jeno walked you back to your chambers. Hades was inside waiting for you. Jeno left you to play with Hades by yourself, you missed enjoying him by yourself. Before long, it was time for the evening meal. Jeno met you at your chambers and walked you down to dinner. Chan and Hyunjin followed you as usual. Chan looked as if he was happy. It confused you.
summary. it was bound to bite both your asses eventually. just plain ‘ol comedic luck that you and your best friend’s shared tradition of petty bets get you two to finally cough up years of repressed feelings for one another.
pairing. y/n x nct’s jeno
genre. college!au, best friends to lovers!au
word count.17k
warnings.swearing,fem!reader, underage drinking, emotional constipation lmao, hyuck and yeri hustle often, general dreamies tomfoolery, hyuck and nana are like dumb and dumber, honestly just super chaotic since it’s slice of life :)
i feel like i did a pretty bad job rounding this fic up, my bad… still hope this lives up to the hype from the teaser! to those tagged, many hugs and kisses!! tysm for the interest <3
also biggest thank you to yunn aka @kdyism for being my beta reader and just being super helpful on absolutely everything for this fic! it def got finished faster bc of ya, much love bun :3
“WAS HE DROPPED on the head when he was a kid?”
You can’t help the snort that passes your lips, making a satisfying slap to Jeno’s arm. “Don’t be mean.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Jeno raises an eyebrow.
“Eh… maybe like once or twice. Not that I would know, I was the same age as him but I’m just guessing.”
You two continue to watch the disaster in front of you befold. Hyuck was currently bothering Yeri. Apparently, he didn’t know the limits as to when to stop because the older senior’s ears are burning red. You’re sure if you were in a cartoon right now, Yeri would have smoke coming out of them, nostrils flaring.
“Should we intervene?” You side-eye Jeno and he’s the least bit concerned, eyes blearily watching the soon-to-be wreck happen in slow motion, cheek squished against his palm.
“Nah. This is way more entertaining than continuing my stats homework.”
You peer over his notebook and he has the word problem and equation written down. Humming, you bring your attention back to the stars of the show and see Yeri grip her notebook tighter, knuckles going white.
“Here we go.” You sing, Hyuck’s screams of protest soon alerting everyone in the campus plaza of his pain.
“He never learns his lesson, huh?” Renjun finally joins, his boots making the fall leaves on the ground crunch. Throwing his book bag on the table, it scrunches Jeno’s current page in his statistics work but the latter doesn’t care.
The two of you nod simultaneously. You and Jeno halfheartedly discouraged Hyuck from going to poke at Yeri around five minutes ago, soon after the three of you had sat down at your usual spot under the only weeping willow tree on campus. It was honestly impressive how quickly your mutual friend could annoy someone so quickly.
“We should time him next. See how long it takes for Yeri to lash out at him next.” You mutter the idea, Jeno pursing his lips after the two shift left and right around Yeri and company’s picnic table, a textbook held high in Yeri’s nimble fingers. Wendy and Seulgi are ducking as Irene begins trying to stop the madness, scolding Joy for cheering on their youngest.
“Not a bad idea to be honest. Bet?” Jeno grins and you shake on his hand without looking at him.
“Bet.”
It was just getting good. Hyuck doesn’t have the endurance to continue but Yeri does. Pilates has done her well.
Renjun quirks an eyebrow, pulling out his laptop as an apple slice is shoved into the corner of his mouth. “You don’t even know the conditions of the bet yet.”
You shrug, thoroughly entertained as Hyuck sits on his knees, his hands rubbing together furiously as he begs for mercy. “Next time, he gets Yeri to go after him in under two minutes.”
“I say three.” Jeno nods and he offers a hand again which you shake.
“You underestimate that little lady’s body. She can hold a lot of anger.”
Jeno hums in response, ending the conversation quickly as Hyuck stumbles his way over, a pout sat on his lips. The well-beaten idiot rubs at his forearms, mumbling curses under his breath as he plops down beside Renjun.
“Didn’t end well, did it bud?”
At the smug expression you have plastered on, Hyuck’s pout deepens. “It’s not funny. I need her to partner with me in Psych. I’ll go fucking crazy if I actually have to work with Felix.”
“Felix’s a sweetheart. I don’t know why you have it out for him.”
Hyuck rolls his eyes, running his hands through the ruffled brown strands. Yeri managed to grab a bunch of pine needles and aim correctly enough, even with the air resistance the leaves have.
Renjun beside him plucks a long green one out the battered boy who’s seated beside him, slouched over on the picnic table. “You can’t have two eggheads who don’t pay attention in class paired together. Isn’t that so, Hyuck?” Renjun baby-voices, the latter placing his chin on his stacked wrists to glare.
“It’s justified.” Hyuck huffs, turning away from the new arrival. You scoot over, bumping into Jeno’s large body to allow Chenle to sit.
“Why are you so meaty nowadays? Take a break from the gym, will you? We can barely fit eight people at this table as it is.” There’s playful malice in your voice but a little truth in there. The asshole was getting too bulky for your liking.
“Ohplease. Mark hardly swings by for lunch with us anymore. And why by chance are you bothered by me bulking up?” Jeno leans closer, eyes impossibly close to yours, “Are you swooning yet?”
Ignoring your heart racing faster, you slap a palm to his forehead, pushing Jeno further away from your face. “No, I’m sick of these freshies asking me for your number, that’s why. You want to know how many have asked for your digits indirectly through me this entire week?”
Chenle and Renjun have suddenly started bickering about something and you have to raise your voice a little.
“Five.Fivepeople. Four girls and one guy. I’d be proud of you if it weren’t for the annoyance starting to kick in.” Jeno raises his eyebrows at the number, finally flattening down his stats paper.
“And what’d you tell ‘em?” Jeno bites distractedly at the cap of his pen, seeming to hit the realization his work has to get done by midnight.
“That they should ask you themselves,” You’re rolling your eyes, nudging at Chenle to back off on his squishing, practically half his body across the table to try and snatch at Renjun’s sliced apples, “I’m kind of sick of your posse trying to scour me for your personal information.”
“Get your own, dingus! We get our rations per month at the commons!”
“I’m not giving up a precious coupon just to get one apple slice, come on!”
“Tell them to stop then.” Jeno tries to solve.
You laugh incredulously, watching Jeno’s concentrated (confused more like) side profile. “You think that deters them? They regenerate into different people every week. The message is not passed on from generation to generation apparently.”
Jeno makes that endearing ‘huH?’ sound and you grab at the notebook yourself, having taken Statistics 101 before. He thanks you under his breath, which you nod at before Jeno slumps onto your shoulder, sighing heavily.
“Sorry. I know it bothers you. I would go around and tell them to back off of you and me personally but I don’t know all their names.”
Glancing at Jeno, it irritates you helplessly that you know he’s not even trying to sound dickish. He’s just that sweet and kind of a guy that makes other people not want to talk to him and ask those types of questions themselves. You know those people that seem too perfect to want to approach? Yeah, that’s Lee Jeno in a nutshell. If you looked up the definition of that type of person in a book, Jeno would be grinning that Samoyed smile of his from on that cursed page.
“I should tape a sign to my back that says, ‘Ask Lee Jeno himself. I’m not his personal owl,’” You peek at his face, “What do you think?”
He slightly smiles, eyes crinkling almost shut even at such a small gesture of amusement. “Okay. I’ll add my signature to it so that they know it’s approved by yours truly.” He looks up to your face and you’re glad the cold can disguise your flustered face easily with this type of weather.
Guess it’s time to actually settle this officially since it’s been clued at a little, but yes: You do have a crush on Jeno. And no, he does not know because when does telling one of your best friends’ that you’ve been crushing on them ever worked out?
No, not in the Wattpad story kind of way, you mean trulyworked out. Because personally, you’ve never heard of it working out ever, especially since you’re practically in the you’ve-seen-him-in-his-boxers and he’s-seen-you-shirtless stage of friendship. Don’t ask, it’s a long story that’s already too long for this kind of boring read.
So,no, you will not take your chances, thank you very much. There were many signs flashing neon that told you Jeno didn’t see you in a romantic or sexual kind of way but the glaringly obvious sign was actually the one you two are discussing currently.
What’s the appropriate way of acting if your crush is being berated by other peers on campus to give them your number? You’re not confident in what it actually looks like because for one, you’re not on the receiving end in this imaginaryscenario, and two, it’s exactly that; an imaginary scenario. You can’t even seriously dream of Jeno liking you if you could. It was just that bizarre.
In the two years you’ve known the boy, he’s never even once mentioned another human being that he could potentially be interested in on campus. It’s not a problem of him not being comfortable telling you either because he’s told you upright that he’s not interested in anybody here (including you who’s enrolled in this stupid university). You’ve even nonchalantly asked Jaemin before and he’s confirmed that even in high school, this kid did not have wandering eyes.
You had wondered if Jeno was asexual, aromantic, or something along that line in the spectrum, eventually having the courage to ask him one day and he shook his head no quite confidently, a small smile laid on his lips.
You don’t know what Jeno’s deal was but the risks in finding out really didn’t lean in your favor. And that’s fine, considering how many fish are available on Earth’s wide sea of potential mates. You’ve killed off even the chance of dating Jeno and that’s all good in your book. You’ve been attracted to your guy friends once and twice and they faded away with time exploring their weird quirks or horrible habits. And even if Jeno was a strange case where you’ve even seen the dude have beer dripping from his nostrils from a shitty keg stand and you still manage to harbor feelings for him… eh.
Time brushes away a lot of problems if you’re desperate and willing enough. Luckily for you, you checked off both boxes easily with this special instance.
You open your laptop and scour your documents for your old stats notes on chi-square tests. Bleh.
Pretending to gag in your mouth at the sight, Jeno smothers a laugh that shakes your shoulder and you share the document his way before scrolling and finding the right topic. You do the problem with few difficulties and write a quick message in the corner of his notebook page.
‘Actually study this because Y/N did the example and took time from her day to do so, thank you.’
“Thanks,” Jeno chirps as he takes his notebook back, removing himself from your shoulder (to your well-hidden disappointment), “I owe you one.”
“You’re right. A coffee works just fine, thank you.” You pipe back, folding your hands on the table cheerily. Jeno is shaking his head in mock annoyance but you knew the next time you two meet, you would not be disheartened, a warm cup pressed in hand.
“A four-dollar coffee is worth one solved problem in your book?” Jeno argues.
You fire back without hesitation. “It’s statistics. And I just sent two semesters’ worth of notes to you. You’re very welcome.”
“You’re right,” Jeno turns, stowing his notebook away, “That’s like seven coffees then.”
“And a scone if you’re feeling nice. A croissant works too.” You beam.
“Now you’re pushing it. Those things are stupidly overpriced.”
“Even for me?” You playfully place your chin in your cupped hands, blinking slowly and looking through your lashes.
Jeno sighs, placing a hand on your head of hair. “Fine. You win, you spoiled princess.”
In times like these, you knew you really asked to be put in these types of situations. And you’re not one to start being a saint and stop being hypocritical but… you deserved what you were putting yourself through, saying these types of things and teasing like this. Trying to get a stir and playact with being more.
Maybe it was a little cruel, somewhat tricking Jeno into saying sweet things to you, just to let your mind wander for a second. Call it… taking advantage of his friendship to pretend a little. Harmless but still adds into your ledger of sins for Judgment Day right?
“Why are Jisung and Jaemin taking so long? I’m running out of apples.” Renjun whines, looking at the bag that’s been emptied. You’re almost one hundred percent sure it was the two other hungry animals sitting at this table and you weren’t even listening to their argument earlier.
“They’re carrying seven people’s worth of food. I think that warrants a little patience.”
“I wouldn’t be nearly upset if these two idiots didn’t steal myapples.” Renjun spits out, glaring. The two culprits wholly ignore the oldest.
A whole two minutes later, Jaemin and Jisung arrive, lugging four plastic bags of takeout. Jisung’s thin arms are shaking with the effort to hold them, Hyuck getting up to relieve him.
“Wah, took you two long enough. Thanks for losing the bet last week.” Chenle slaps a hand to Jisung’s heaving back.
“We just walked… half a mile carrying all this.” Jisung breathlessly collapses beside Hyuck, bent over with his hands on his knees.
“Why didn’t you take Jaemin’s car?” Jeno mumbles around his hamburger.
Jaemin laughs, out of breath as well. “I left my fucking car at Yangyang’s from Friday. I didn’t even remember until today because I can walk to my Monday classes.”
“What the fuck did you do without a car on the weekend?” Hyuck wonders, chipmunk cheeks stuffed full of fries.
Jaemin makes a suggestive face and everybody recoils, not willing to be curious anymore. The culprit laughs airily. “Why are you all assuming bad things right now?”
“You didn’t go crawling back to Eunji or something, right?” Hyuck squints, “Because I saw you talking to her that night and that would be pathetic to hear about right now—”
“No, I’m not that kind of asshole—”
“At least you can acknowledge you are one…” Jisung comments under his breath.
“I simply asked her how she was doing. It was completely innocent,” Nana’s wide bunny eyes scan the table, “Really! I conked out in Hendery’s room after the party.”
“And just so happened to leave your car at Yang’s which is directlyacross from Eunji’s dorm—” Hyuck continues before Jaemin cuts him off with a scoff.
“Again. Not that kind of an asshole. Besides, if you had looked closer Hyuck, we were civil Friday night. I doubt she would ever let me get near her that way again… except for maybe with a baseball bat.”
The table stifles laughs at that, chowing down the food. Everyone murmurs a quick thanks halfway through every food item getting demolished.
“Can you even afford this Jisung?” You mention on second thought, considering the younger boy sat diagonally from you.
“Jaemin owed me too so he paid for everything.”
“Man, you just rack them up, don’t you?” Jeno pityingly looks over to his best friend at the end of the table.
He shrugs, not all that bothered. “I’ll eventually learn my lesson, right?”
“Not if you keep agreeing to our daily bets, stupid.” Chenle quips past his tenders, shoulders shaking in mirth.
“That’s true. You walk right into them when we bring it up.” Renjun supports.
“You should be glad you’re never around to accept Ten’s though. I like to think you would fall for them easily.” You crunch at Chenle’s fries, the younger boy not noticing your swiping.
“What do his bets look like?”
“Skinny dipping. Egging houses. And occasionally, seven minutes in heaven.” Jisung answers for you, which you backtrack at. In fact, everybody does.
Hyuck blinks owlishly at him. “What?”
“How do you know these things, kid? Spill.” You threaten with a long fry of Chenle’s, the soggy potato cut flopping as time goes by.
“You’ve never seen me at Ten’s?” Jisung spills. Everyone gapes.
“Why the fuckwould we see you at Ten’s!?” Hyuck laughs in disbelief, hilarity at the situation peeking at the twinkle in his eyes.
“Yeah, what the heck? Why am Inever invited?” Chenle sulks.
Jeno scoffs. “Because you two are freshmen, that’s why.”
“What are you, fucking Casper the ghost in the corner? How come we’ve never seen you?” Nana is skeptical as well, the only one upset that his baby freshie has managed to sneak into an upperclassmen party.
“Johnny invites me sometimes. When he remembers.” Jisung shrinks at all the attention, nervous with the sudden interrogation.
“Johnny is a bad influence,” Jaemin argues with a fold of his arms.
“Like you’re any better, Nana.” You laugh, bringing an arm around Jaemin to offer comfort. You don’t see Jeno shift at the contact.
“And you don’t take part in the bets, do you?” Renjun implores before he shakes his head, “Wait, no, I definitely would have heard of Jisung having seven minutes in heaven with someone.”
“Oh,no. I’m not insane,” Jisung shivers at the thought. “It’s fun to watch Taeil go crazy though.”
Hyuck slaps a hand to Jisung’s back, the latter wincing at the battering his body is taking today. “Welcome to the real deal, man! My god, why did I not know you came to upperclassmen parties? You sneak in sometimes?”
“What? No! Do I look even close to a sophomore to you?” Jisung looks to make a point, gesturing towards himself. “There’s your answer.”
“I think Johnny favors you then. He has a soft heart for freshies, who knew?”
“Where is my invite then?” Chenle whines, still sulking.
“I’ll take you as my plus one.” Jisung placates his best friend with that and he continues to happily chew on his cheeseburger.
“When’s his next one? Oh, I can’t wait to see how Jisung acts wasted.” Hyuck wiggles in his seat, giggling like a happy toddler.
“Oh no, noton my watch. Baby Jisungie is not getting wasted at any party, ever.” Jaemin acts tough, glaring at the youngest of the group.
“Oh, please Grandpa. You didn’t even realize I was present at these until I just told everyone.”
Nana bursts at that, screeching a scolding noise that startles a pair of girls walking by. “Because I never even expectedyou to be at one! That’s why!”
Jaemin looks to you, eyes wide. “My baby chick. At an upperclassmenparty.”
Giggling, you push at his jaw to turn his gaze towards Jisung again. “Jisung’s got a fair point. Who are you to stop him?”
“I never get wasted anyway. I just come to watch the chaos.” Jisung grins, munching on his chicken tenders like Chenle. As you watch longer, you understand why Nana babies the youngest so much. He’s cute in moderation and it looks easy to want to mother him.
“Whatever,” Nana grumbles, “Guess I have to watch out at parties and babysit now.”
“Oh,pleasedon’t.” Jisung’s face scrunches up.
“This Saturday. You coming, Jisung?” Hyuck grills, pocketing his phone which you didn’t even realize he pulled out to text presumably Johnny or Ten.
“I guess… if Johnny asks me.” Jisung drags out, glancing at Hyuck.
“This sounds like a disaster now that everybody knows.” Renjun leans across to whisper to you and Jeno.
“You two should come to watch the shitshow with me,” You grin, wiggling your eyebrows, “I know you two usually don’t come but sometimes they can be fun.”
“I don’t wanna drink to have fun.” Renjun wrinkles his nose at that.
Waving a hand at that, you offer a tip, “Just fill your cup with a liquid. Nobody is sober enough to check you like a cop.”
Jeno hums at that, Renjun saying that he’ll think about it. Hyuck pockets his phone once again, having pulled it out to ask about Jisung.
“You got the go-ahead, dude. Ready to party with the big boys?” Hyuck wrestles Jisung’s long neck into the crook of his elbow as the younger boy cringes.
“I don’t know about thatbut…”
Jaemin stands up dramatically, slapping both hands on the table. Your cup of soda spills a little when it knocks over, Jeno cursing as the two of you rush to correct the drink’s position.
“Oh,noton my watch, you won’t!”
The table is quiet, absorbing Nana’s usual dramatics.
Chenle raises his hand a little. “I’m going too, right?”
|—————|
It took a little more convincing for Renjun to come. You and Jeno usually like to watch havoc together, pure rapture and popcorn shared between you two. You seriously considered bringing the movie snack to the party but in the end, was unconvinced by the others. Using the microwave at a frat party didn’t seem so smart, especially if your attention dragged away and someone nagged the bag from the microwave before you could notice. Would just be a waste of popcorn.
Jeno and Renjun swing by your dorm building, waiting outside in the cold for a minute or so before you pop out.
You shiver, pulling at your black jean jacket. “How many more layers do I have to put on to not be cold?”
Renjun shakes his head, observing your legs. “You’re wearing thin ass tights, Y/N, what were you expecting?”
Teeth chattering, the three of you begin to walk to the 127 house. “Jokes on you, I’m wearing leggings underneath. These are fake tights with fleece in them.”
“Why are you so cold all the time? Is your body just that weak?” Jeno genuinely queries, your black skirt flying a little too high with the current wind for his comfort. He slows to walk behind you, conscious of the nonexistent people on the deserted streets looking.
“Yeah, you’re actually shaking. Do you wanna turn back to change?” Renjun offers kindly and you shake your head, committed.
“I look cute right now. Fashion sacrifices, am I right?” You grin impishly, eyeing your company’s outfits.
Following your act of observing everybody’s clothing choices for tonight, Renjun laughs at all three of your different fashion senses. “We look ridiculous walking together right now.”
Jeno peeps up from the back of the two of you leading the way. “How? I think we look fine.”
You hum in agreement. “We look like college students going to a party.”
A bark of laughter escapes Renjun’s mouth, tugging at Jeno’s jacket zipper. “Yeah, three differentparties. Jeno looks like he’s about to rob a store. Y/N looks like a grunge girl and I look like I’m heading to the fucking library.”
He’s not that wrong. Jeno’s wearing all black, cargo pants, tee, chunky boots, and zip-up hiding his good figure in the darkness of his clothes. A navy blue cardigan covers Renjun, wearing similar beat-up Converse to you, with a white tee and light blue jeans. Looking down at your own outfit, you pluck a piece of lint off your gray sweater.
“But we all look great. Killing the fashion game. Fabulous.” You strut forward with confidence, the other two amused at your antics.
The 127 frat house lays ahead and you speed up to get out of the cold. Mark greets you with a hug and shout of happiness. You can smell the alcohol reeking his breath and the entire vicinity already. The floor bumps beneath your feet, everyone else in the building bobbing their head to the beat.
“Hi, Y/N! Oh shit, what?” Mark calls out to Jeno and Renjun, dapping them up as his Solo cup dangerously leers to the left. You hurriedly correct it in his hold, not willing to get beer stains on your nice clothes this early into the night.
“What the fuck are you two doing here?” Mark shouts down to you, a dopey grin implanted on his expression, “You convinced them to come for once?!”
“I know, right? It’s a rare occasion tonight!” You yell back, a contagious smile growing on you at Mark’s infectious mood.
Jeno leans closer to break your close proximity to Mark, “Hyuck is gonna get Jisung to let loose. Seems like a good disaster to watch unfold.”
Mark shakes his head fondly at that, grabbing a hold of Renjun’s shoulder and leading all three of you into the kitchen. It’s crowded with humid heat, too many bodies in one room for comfort.
“Grab a drink and toss any cups just laying around, please. I gotta get back to door duty but have fun!” Mark sings, planting a brave wet kiss to your forehead in goodbye before he’s off, shoving to the front of the house again.
You wipe at your forehead, deciding to make fun of sober Mark for this innocent kiss later. Jeno bristles at the sight, grabbing three red cups and pulling out the unopened liter of Coca-Cola in the back of the line of sodas.
Renjun holds the three cups gladly, there being no counter space to easily maneuver for pouring, before passing on the beverage to you. You press your cup to the ice machine and grimace as no ice chunks come flying into your cup.
“Lukewarm Coke it is.” You toast the other three, clinking your Solo cups together before sipping. Getting out of the small kitchen, your eyes scan the crowd.
“See Jisung, Chen, or Hyuck anywhere?” Renjun queries, yelling over the thumping bass. You climb onto the step bar of a stool someone’s currently sitting on, placing a hand on Jeno’s shoulder for support. The height lets you look over the big jumble of people in the large living room, not noticing any familiar heads.
“I see Jungwoo. Maybe he knows.” Jeno calls out, before stepping into the mass of moving bodies. He abandons the two of you for a total of thirty seconds before dragging not one, but two of the 127 boys over.
Doyoung gives a quick side hug, shoving at Jungwoo who comes to lift you off your feet. You make an impact sound at the tall puppy’s strength, patting at his arm to let you down.
Jungwoo’s blonde head of hair is all mussed up and you brush at the strands, laughing. “How much have you had to drink already?”
“A good, healthy amount! I’m on water for the rest of the night!” Jungwoo happily confesses with a thumbs up, all his perfect white teeth on display.
“You two know where Hyuck is?” Renjun bellows.
Jeno adds on, “Or Jisung! We’re here for them!”
Doyoung makes a pulled face at that, Jungwoo bending over in laughter. “What!? Jisung is here?”
The younger of the two frat boys begin darting over the crowd, trying to locate the tall beanstalk.
“What would Jisung be doing here?” Doyoung is puzzled, a little concern crawling into his expression.
“Apparently all Johnny’s doing. Or Hyuck’s, we don’t know at this point.” Jeno shrugs.
“We’re here for the shitshow to commence!” You revealed a little too happily, Doyoung making a forced smile.
“I don’t know anything about this. Johnny’s DJing right now! You can go ask him though.” He points to the far back of the living room. The black-haired senior is head bobbing to the music, a set of headphones half on his head as he waves his gigantic arms around.
You giggle nervously at the obstacle between you and reaching him. “Oh hell no,” You push at Jeno’s arm, “This tough guy is going to go ask for us.”
Doyoung cradles his favorite underclassman by the neck and joins him in his journey to the front. Jungwoo’s a little ways away, dancing wildly. Renjun laughs at the sight, bringing your attention to the silly junior.
“I dare you to join him.” You challenge playfully, and Renjun shakes his head adamantly.
“Fuckno! You think I dance at these parties?!”
“If you have alcohol in you, anyone can dance!” You try to convince Renjun, pulling his lips down.
“Good thing I’m not drinking tonight then!”
Jungwoo gets swept out into the dance floor again, not allowing the three of you to converse more before Jaemin joins the two of you out of seemingly nowhere. He cheers at the sight, ruffling Renjun’s well-styled hair, much to the older boy’s disappointment.
Jaemin grasps at your opposite shoulder, leaning on your head to heave some of his dead weight.
You nudge his side, Nana yelping at the contact. “You know where Jisung is?”
Nana widens his eyes at your question, suddenly remembering his self-proposed babysitting job.
“Ohshit!I forgot! Where is that idiot?” Jaemin gasps, helplessly looking around.
“Trust me, we’ve been trying to navigate this mess for ten minutes since we’ve arrived. Just wait here with us!” Renjun pulls at Jaemin’s belt loop, yanking the same-birth-year boy back into your talking circle.
Jeno arrives a minute later, lugging a slouching Jisung on his back. Hyuck is laughing his ass off, pushing the hair off of Jisung’s forehead to catch the youngest’s drunk face better.
Jeno practically throws Jisung on the now-available stool this stranger just gave up, blowing out a breath of relief. “This kid is way heavier than he looks!” Jeno complains.
Hyuck is still dying of laughter and you and Renjun can’t help but follow in line as Jisung groans, pulling at Jeno’s waist to cuddle him. The latter is halfway between uncomfortable and endeared at Jisung’s affectionate behavior, who’s mumbling nonsense.
“Jesus, why did he drink so much?” Jaemin worries, patting his baby chick’s head.
“Dude, I didn’t even need to say anything! Chenle is the bad influence here, not me!” Hyuck throws his hands up at Nana’s deadly glare. As if on cue, the second youngest of your friend group gathers everybody’s attention in the crowd, pulling 127 boy Jaehyun on the table he’s standing on to make a speech.
“There’snodamn way…” You whistle at the sight, Jaehyun patting the underclass man in pride.
Jisung mumbles something into Jeno’s stomach and the older boy leans down to hear him better.
“Hm… w-wanna go… home…” Jisung hiccups, eyes barely open and Jeno nods.
“I better bring this idiot home. I’ll probably have to sneak his dumb ass past the RA, I’ll be right back.” Jeno grunts as he wraps Jisung’s long arms around his neck, practically carrying the beanstalk like a backpack.
“It’s okay, I’ll do it!” Nana rushes to switch off with Jisung’s dead weight. He groans, looking to Jeno with a grimace. “Ugh, you were right. He is a lot heavier than he looks.”
“Are you sure? I can help?” Jeno halfheartedly makes sure, to which Jaemin nods resolutely.
“I need some fresh air anyways, been here too long!”
“Do you want me to go with you?” You offer, only because you knew sneaking around the RA would manage to get rowdy with just the two of them alone.
“Nah, it’s okay. I better have a drink after getting back from this though.” Nana jokes and you shove the pair towards the door.
Jeno stuffs his hands into his pockets, low-key relieved that he doesn’t have to go back into the cold night. He had just gotten here and despite how disgusting it was thinking about how much heat was being produced, it was better than freezing outside.
“There’s our entertainment for the night.” Renjun lifts his cup in salute.
Hyuck nudges everyone to watch Chenle though, who wants to crowd surf but fails to, nobody willing to hold him up. Everyone starts cackling at the sight, peers practically making space so that Chenle won’t be convinced to just commit and dive onto them.
“Up for a game of beer pong, anyone? I’ve been trying to play all night!” Hyuck hooks around the boys, dragging everyone over to the foyer where two tables were set up. Tons of spills made you almost slip and split your head open. Thankfully Jeno is like a solid wall behind you, not fazed by your clumsiness.
He gets close behind you, hands still on your waist and breath tickling your ear as Hyuck and Renjun take the other end of the pong table. “Wanna bet Mark comes in for a celebrity shot later?”
You laugh nervously, getting hot under his hold and turning to look at Jeno’s expression. “That is oddly specific. How are you so confident?”
Looking over to Mark, he’s chatting with Mina and completely distracted from answering the door now. You’re sure that Johnny, the brother he’s been shadowing in the frat, would not be happy with Mark ignoring his job. Or maybe he would, knowing Mark was actually shooting his shot with a girl.
“I don’t wanna tell you why. Then you won’t agree.” Jeno argues, finally getting his hands off you to roll up his sleeves. You slightly roll your eyes at his words, trying to subtly look at the veins in Jeno’s hands’ flex.
“I think he’ll come in later too. But I say it’ll be for us. Not for Hyuck or Renjun.”
Jeno makes a tutting sound, collecting the empty cups on your side and making the triangular shape. “You’re trying to sell me out here, no way. You’re just gonna convince Mark to come over by…”
Your eyebrows lift. “By what exactly?”
Jeno shakes his head, a small smile sat on his face. You poke at his side, curious. “By what? Now you’ve intrigued me!”
“Whatever. I’ll make a better bet,” Jeno nabs Renjun’s missed shot, to which Hyuck whines, “Mark is gonna ask you out tonight.”
Sputtering on the soda you’ve been sipping on, you watch Jeno whip his ping pong ball like straight butter into your opponents’ cup. The other side’s loud protests distract him from your obvious gaping, confused at the sudden thought of Mark likingyou.
Jeno eventually eyes your expression, making a weird face. “What?”
“What? What do you mean, what?Are you insinuating Mark likes me?!” You angrily whisper, afraid that somehow the person you two were talking about would hear over the loud music flowing throughout the house.
“Why are you so surprised? It’s very obvious! At least in my eyes.” Jeno shrugs. The ping pong from Hyuck hits your stomach, confusing him. You grab at it, just tossing it without a care. The ball whooshes in and you don’t notice, still frazzled.
“You’re joking, right? This is a sick joke of yours?” Peering over at Jeno, he scoffs.
“No. Don’t tell him I said this but when we first introduced you to him, he said you were pretty.” The deadpan way Jeno utters this makes your eyes squint.
“That seems like an innocent compliment to me.” (News flash, you’re denying reality here.)
Jeno lifts a dark eyebrow at that. “When has Mark Lee ever gone out of his way to intentionally compliment a girl?”
You scrunch your nose at that, rubbing at the kiss he planted on your head earlier. “This changes things.”
Jeno only chuckles, plucking the ball from one of your cups and setting it aside. He closes one eye, practically doing the same with the other as he aims. He groans with a failure, looking back to you. “Do you not like him? He’s nice, though you haven’t known him as long as I and the others have.”
“No, no, he is nice! I like him.” The last sentence is pronounced like ‘I like him as a friend’ in your head but Jeno interprets it differently. Maybe the bass from the speakers morphed the tone of your words in his thick skull.
“Youlikehim?” Jeno’s voice tilts high. Hyuck’s next horrible shot plonks straight at Jeno’s forehead, which he ignores in shock.
He’s never shown incredibility like this to show you. You’re diverted to denying his words instantly, not thinking of the consequences.
“He’s… a nice guy.” You look to Mark again and this time, he senses your gaze, throwing up a nerdy gesture of a peace sign. You wave back with a smile and don’t catch Jeno’s suspicious tonguing of his cheek at the interaction.
“Are you accepting the bet or not?” Jeno holds a hand out, which you wait to contemplate after absolutely dunking your next shot. On a roll.
“Mark’s wingman now, are you?” Your tease causes Jeno’s jaw to shift. He acts it off as confidence, nodding with reluctance.
Maybe he had gone too far with the little game of bets now.
“Okay! Bet!” You perk up, wanting to win this easy wager. Mark wouldn’t ask you out, no way.
Accepting the deal easily, you shake on it and smirk internally.
Jeno was easy to read. An open book, you could say. Everyone in your friend group knew it as well, which made him the butt of jokes and teases all too often. He made it too fun to poke at him and you’ve joined in on the game plenty of times. This was just another game of prodding the naive Samoyed you had, though a little different.
You didn’t really understand the reasoning behind Jeno’s disturbance all that much but he was the one that brought Mark’s supposed “crush” to you. And you’re not one to fuck with someone’s feelings that far, especially with sweet ‘ol Mark’s.
You were pretty confident the older boy did not fancy you though; he was never around you in the first place to hint at the notion. Mark was pretty private with his romantic life so you’re not all that surprised you don’t know much. He was glued to the frat more often than usual and has been hanging out with you and company less often.
To be fair, if Mark was with someone, hopefully, he was not blatantly kissing your forehead without care. You were never as close to Mark as the other boys like Jeno had stated before. You suppose if he did happen to ask you out tonight, it wouldn’t be so bad. But the desire to win this bet burns in your veins, even more than usual with the bizarre behavior Jeno is exhibiting at the mere thought of you returning Mark’s so-called “feelings”.
“If you’re making a bet to win this game right now, you’re gonna eat shit!” Hyuck brags, practically vibrating in excitement because the two of you were somehow tied up. Even with this dude drunk, he could be somewhat decent at games. How irritating.
Biting the corner of your lip, you ignore Hyuck, plan to win this short game of cup pong, and then win this bigger game of bets with Jeno. To gain this extra favor initializes a step-by-step scheme of what you were going to do. There was no way Jeno could beat you.
Jeno watches greed grow in your irises, probably confused.
“So you’re confident he won’t ask you out.” He drags out his words, making sure you understood what you just shook on.
“Yeah,” You bob in place now, trying out his strategy of closing one eye to shoot, “Mark won’t ask me out. He’s not thatdrunk.”
“Really?” Jeno feigns interest, throwing his head to Mark fast approaching you, “You sure about that?”
You don’t get to answer, Mark’s alcohol-hazed eyes crinkling. Mina follows close behind, waving a greeting to the both of you. “Hi, Mina! Mark— oomph!”
Thinking Mark’s walk trajectory would stop before reaching so close, the junior bumps chest-first into you.
“Hi!Can I take a celebrity shot?!” Mark yells, overcompensating his volume when you’re glued to him. He swarms your space, placing a touchy hand on the small of your back before standing on his tippy toes and stealing your ping pong.
His mouth is instinctively making ‘Oh!’ noises as he readies it, failing miserably and pouting at the loss. “I could’ve sworn that was close, dude!”
You and Mina share a smile. She knew her friend was a little touchy when drunk so the two of you chalk it up to being just that. Jeno doesn’t though, burning eyes watching the tight hold Mark has on you.
Mark blinks rapidly down at you, pleading with big doe eyes, “Just one more shot I steal. One more celebrity shot!”
You nod, easily agreeing with a laugh. Maybe you had underestimated how turnt your dude was right now. Mark leans backward a little, losing his balance and almost toppling you over with him. Mina pulls Mark away from your space, probably deciding he’s had enough of bothering you.
“Sorry, he is sowasted right now.” Mina apologies, pushing the boy away from your beer pong table to the kitchen for water.
Jeno makes a face that reads “I told you so”, forcing you to bend over in laughter.
“Jeno, you can’t be serious. He acts that way with everyone!”
“You think that Mark touches up every girl like that? He kissed your forehead earlier too.” Jeno genuinely notes and you pause. Just for a split second.
“We’re friends.” It’s as if that statement alone will end this argument and Jeno rolls his eyes.
“And we’re friends too, dimwit. Wedon’t act like that, do we?”
You shift at his words, uncomfortable at the sudden lodging of your throat. Oh, how you wish Jeno did. At least then, you’d have a pathetic hope he had an inkling of an interest in you too.
Instead of replying to him, you turn and take Jeno’s shot for him to end the game. The last cup is yours for the taking and Renjun groans with his head thrown back, almost flying off balance at the shove Hyuck gives his partner for more space.
“Okay, okay! Redemption shot, I got this!” Hyuck steadies his hand and bounces off the lip of your side’s last Solo cup.
“FUCK!”
“YOU ABSOLUTE DICKHEAD, LEE DONGHYUCK!”
There’s a forced smile on your lips at the victory, one that only Jeno can notice is fake up close. Thankfully, he doesn’t pry on it more, seeing as he knew you weren’t going to give a truthful answer in this setting.
You were starting to wish you had a bit of alcohol in your system, as much as you hated the taste of it on your tongue.
|—————|
By the end of the night, you had won the bet as expected. But Jeno being the sore loser he is, tried to convince you to drag the bet on. He was super confident that Mark was into you. Maybe his friend was too wasted to ask or remember your answer if he were to come up to you about a date.
“I’ll sleep on it,” You had said, “Especially since I pity you and I haven’t decided what I want the favor to be yet.”
With that, Jeno breathed out a sigh in relief as he walked you home.
|—————|
You didn’t realize how committed Jeno was to this particular game. And you don’t know why because you had honestly forgotten about it yourself the morning next. Maybe it was his pride and stubbornness stopping him from giving up.
When Jeno swings by your dorm, texting you to come downstairs quickly, you’re confused.
He’s in comfy clothes, hair a little frizzy as he hands you a croissant and a warm cup of coffee that heats up your body temperature.
You blearily squint your eyes at him in suspicion. “What are you buttering me up for right now?”
With no RA in sight, you usher him into the warmth of the dorm lobby, virtually no people around to notice your blatant disregard for rules.
“I’m not buttering you up. I just wanted to be nice this morning.”
Staying silent, Jeno watches your expression breathe incredibility.
“Really! I didn’t know it was a crime to be nice to you anymore, jeez.”
The bet comes to mind and you mention it. “You’re hoping I’m not going to make you splurge your money on my favor, aren’t you?”
Jeno laughs, the sound deep in timbre as the sun rises higher in the cold blue sky. “No, I swear. Although talking about Mark, he is going through it right now. I woke up to a video Doyoung sent me of him vomiting into the toilet.”
You suck your lips in, holding back a laugh. “You know, if you’re trying to sell your man to me right now, describing his hangover is not working.”
Jeno quirks the corner of his lip at that. “He probably drank half his body weight last night.”
You roll your eyes. “And here you were, thinking he was going to be sober enough to consider asking me out. Alright.”
Your friend shrugs, sipping at his drink. “I’m not wrong, Princess. I’ll show you with your own two eyes Mark Lee has the hots for you.”
Cringing at the way Jeno phrased his words, you stuff the pastry you were kindly gifted into your mouth, muffling your reply. “Plea don’ efersay if like ‘at again.”
Jeno’s shoulders shake at your antics. “You’ve slept on my proposition now, ma’am. What’s the deal?”
Swallowing roughly, you mutter, “Can I raise the stakes to three favors?”
Jeno scratches at his hairline at that, face in a grimace. “Fuck. Is this worth it?”
At the hesitation in Jeno’s eyes, you jump like a hound to the smell of meat. Or in this case, a perfect opportunity to score on some free meals.
“Yes!Yes, it’s worth it. I accept your deal!”
“Woah woah woah! I haven’t agreed yet!” Jeno is shaking his hands in front of him, dangerously leering his hot drink side to side. He licks at the lid, the brown liquid sloshing everywhere.
“You brought this new condition up in the first place so,” Taking Jeno’s distraction as a chance to dunk cheaply on him, you take his free hand in yours, shaking on it, “Bet.”
|—————|
It was game on from the damn get-go.
Any chance that Jeno got, which was within a hundred feet radius of a certain junior named Mark Lee, he bolted to the boy’s side.
Poor Mark is so confused at the sudden ramblings Jeno has of you. He’s also even more conflicted because Jeno is going in on his compliments of your smile, smarts, humor, you name it. Mark wasn’t sure whether his friend was either crushing hard and needed to only confide in him, or whether Jeno was trying to make him like you indirectly through his selling words.
Another thing the boy stuck in the middle of this mess notices is your sudden disappearance from his vicinity. You two didn’t exactly share a class but shared a professor, who taught two subjects back to back.
Usually, you would wait around in the auditorium-shaped classroom to catch up with him, just say hi. But no, apparently you now bolt as soon as the professor calls it quits for the day. Mark had a greeting on the tip of his tongue opening up the doors, only to scour your usual seating arrangement and come up empty.
Poking his head out down the sidewalk, you’re speed walking away like your non-existent pet was on the verge of death.
Mark would brush it off to some urgent duty you had but… at the odd behavior of his two friends, he decides to swing by the willow tree at the end of the week. Maybe start his own experiment on what was going on. It just didn’t seem like a coincidence to him.
Andrighthe was in his thoughts.
At the sight of Mark approaching the table, your eyes widen to the size of saucers, whipping your head around to Jeno. You want to slap his smug face right off.
“What the hellis Mark doing here? Did you convince him to come?” You spit out in a whisper, Hyuck none-the-wiser as he hollers for his best friend to sit beside him.
Jeno shakes his head no innocently, lips pouting out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Swearing under your breath, you plaster a smile onto your face, breathing out a greeting to the upperclassman. He grins at you, to which your cheeks heat up for some reason.
Maybe it was because this dudebeside you had been bragging about you to Mark. Jeno had told you his genius plan of planting unconscious thoughts of you in Mark’s head a few days ago and its effects are now catching up to you, sweat building on your hairline.
Jeno misinterprets it as you getting nervous in the presence of Mark, probably wishing rain to fall on his head at manifesting his final Lee brother to sit down this afternoon.
“What’s up, man?” Mark exchanges a handshake with Jeno as he swings his bag to the ground and tucks his legs under the table. He watches with rapture as you busy yourself with the textbook splayed out in front of you, eyes skittering.
Before Jeno can give a general reply to Mark, Hyuck bumps Mark’s shoulder. “You should text Renjun your order from that Mexican place down the street.”
“Who’s favor are we using today?” Mark asks in curiosity.
You raise a hand rather timidly, to which the entire table is bewildered and bemused. The bewildered people are only Hyuck and Mark because they don’t know the absolute pain-enduring embarrassment to which bemused Jeno has cursed you to withstand. You’ve always been very comfortable with the guys, including Mark, so the oblivious two not in on this bet are raising their eyebrows at your behavior.
“What did Renjun lose against you again?” Jeno pretends to ponder deeply while you throw a heated glare his way. You wish you could burn his eyebrows right off in this moment.
“Oh!” The bulky meathead gasps, “He lost ten-to-two against a game of naming capitals of countries. Isn’t she so smart?”
Jeno is being soobvious. You grit your teeth as he pets your head.
“Take your hand away before I biteyour pinky finger off.” You seethe past closed lips, the audience not hearing your threat.
Jeno jolts his limb away at that, instead, grinning a Samoyed smile toward Mark. The latter is mainly lost in trying to navigate what the fuck was going on.
Hyuck only rolls his eyes, a little more used to your duo’s antics. “They’re probably betting on something right now.”
Mark blinks at that. The picture was becoming a little clearer. He wasn’t sure which way to start investigating this dilemma next.
“No!” The two of you deny instantly, sitting up straighter. It’s even more cause to believe Hyuck’s point.
“Ignore them,” Hyuck acts like an exasperated mother to you and Jeno’s Dumb and Dumber act, pulling out his phone to show Mark the Mexican place’s menu.
As the other pair get lost debating what to order for Mark, you turn to Jeno with a death wish written in your eyes.
“Are you crazy, Lee Jeno!? Whatare you doing right now, you’re practically on the verge of cheating! You’re going to give this entire thing away!”
“No,” Jeno drags out in denial, acting like you’re a child that doesn’t understand his obvious tactic, “I’m just telling him of your intelligence. I have no clue what you’re on about.”
You’re heavily tempted to close your textbook and go bonkers Yeri-on-Hyuck style on him but Mark butts into your killer thoughts before you can pull through.
“What are you ordering, Y/N?”
You stutter to Jeno’s, albeit bitter, amusement. “Um, a chimichanga. It’s… pretty good from there.”
“Okay!” Mark perks up, tapping at the phone in Hyuck’s hand, “I’ll get the same.”
Jeno giggles into your ear and irritation bubbles to the surface of your skin.
“I swear to fucking—”
Mark interrupts your threat once again and you paste another pleasant smile on. “Y/N, I missed you before my class on Wednesday. You were gone before I could even say hi.”
“Oh, yeah. I uh…” You rush to make an excuse, “I really had to water my— plant. Yeah.”
You want to punchyourself.
Hyuck snickers as he texts Renjun Mark’s order. “What the fuck…”
“Yeah, what the fuck? You don’t even havea pet plant in your room. Everything you attempt to raise dies.” Jeno feels the need to contribute. You’re seething at this idiot’s audacity.
Clarifying your mistake in excuse will only deepen the hole you’ve dug for yourself so you shut up, wanting the ground to swallow your entire being whole instead.
“Huh,” Mark chuckles, “Okay. You’re not avoiding me for some reason, right?”
“What? Oh, no. Not at all!” As if to prove a point to Jeno, you give the most convincing smile you can to Mark.
“Okay, that’s good.”
Renjun saves you from continuing this conversation as Hyuck’s phone rings, pressing the speaker button to the call.
“What’s up?”
“Could two of you come to the restaurant real quick? I’m going to need help carrying all this food back.”
“Why didn’t you use your car, dumbass?” Hyuck whines.
“Because it’s a two-minute walk from campus grounds? Come help me!”
Jeno pipes up, “Make Jaemin and the two youngest help you. They haven’t shown up here yet.”
“Wellobviously I had thought of that, Jeno,” Renjun sasses back, “They aren’t answering.”
“I’ll go!” You practically trip in getting up from the picnic table, dying to get away from this awkward atmosphere.
The other three make eye contact.
“Not it!”
“Not it!”
“Not—!Ugh.”
Forfuck’ssake. Your luck is actual dog water.
“Why are you so slow at this game? Your reaction speed is usually good,” Hyuck questions Mark, who groans as he gets up.
“Well, why do we alwaysplay “Not it” then? It’s targeting mespecifically.”
You wholly ignore Jeno’s disgusting grin of satisfaction as the two of you begin to tread down the street. You curse to all above that Jeno gets kicked in the shins one day. It was looking like you were going to be the perpetrator more and more these days.
“So…” Mark drags out, his hands in his pockets, “Do I even want to know what it is I’m currently stuck between?”
You hum as you genuinely consider Mark’s words. “I can’t tell you. It’ll break the bet. And I really want to win.”
Mark’s eyes crinkle in mirth. “The two of you are so competitive. It might take forever for you to win at this rate…”
“Are you willing to be on my side?” You raise an eyebrow, secretly wishing.
To be fair, there were no very clear-cut boundaries to other methods of getting the dub. After all, Jeno is practically begging Mark to get the idea to ask you out.
You could still cheat but not… outrightcheat.
“I guess so, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.” Mark shrugs innocently. You fold your hands together, laughing under your breath as you close your eyes while looking up.
“Damn, this is serious, dude.” Mark laughs boisterously, observing your silly act of gratitude.
“It’s on three favors,” You mumble past your silent prayers to the sky, “Of course this is serious.”
“Three?Shit… Well, you have me at your disposal as long as you don’t tell me what the bet is, right? What should I do?”
You smirk, finally looking at Mark with sinister eyes.
The ball is in your field now.
|—————|
“Huh.”
Jaemin looks up from his laptop to Jeno who makes the noise of discernment, watching two figures from afar. Following his best friend’s eyeline, you and Mark are walking side-by-side toward the commons. You’re grinning as Mark laughs, bent over with difficulty while walking.
“When did they get closer?” Jaemin asks in bewilderment. Jeno stays silent as Mark holds the door open for you and the both of you disappear into the commons.
“Don’t know,” Jeno mumbles, finally looking down to his device and rereading the same paragraph over again.
Jaemin makes a face at that, having been able to read his buddy for a while now.
“So…”
Jeno sighs, knowing that Jaemin is obviously hinting at something. “Spit it out.”
“What bet did you make with Y/N?”
Jeno side-eyes Jaemin with annoyance. “How do you even know anything about this?”
“I have my ways,” Jaemin concludes mysteriously, “Answer me.”
“We bet at Johnny’s party two weeks ago.”
“On what though?”
“I said Mark would ask her out.”
Jaemin snorts at that, going back to his laptop. “He’s not into her. He likes Mina.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t really seem that way anymore. They’re getting all giggly and close with one another.” Jeno has a tone of temper growing in his words.
“If the bet is over then, why is this dragging on?”
“I raised it to three favors now. It’s indefinite.”
Jaemin glances at Jeno again with fingers halted on his keyboard, holding back laughter. “Why would you ever, under anyconditions, accept that? Against Y/N of all people too? She’s going to drain your wallet for food.”
“She’s convincing.”
“Oryou’re whipped for her.”
“I’m not.” Jeno gives a dirty look to the poor paragraph he’s been on for five minutes.
“You’re in deepdenial, bud. I’ve been saying this for an eternity.”
Jeno scowls at his best friend, not appreciating the entertained, twinkling eyes shot his way. Jaemin tilts his chin toward his neck, looking up through his long eyelashes at Jeno.
“Deny it all you want but I know my shit. She likes you, you like her. It’s simple.” Jaemin chirps.
“Oh, and you’rethe love expert, aren’t you, playboy?” Jeno’s exasperated, practically pouting. “I don’t likeY/N.”
“Really? Why are you bothered with the idea of Y/N being with Mark then? You’rethe one that suggested to her Mark was interested. Now that Y/N is entertaining the idea, you’ve backed off on trying to win,” Jaemin lands a slap on Jeno’s back, “You’re deserving of what you’re putting yourself through, man.”
Jeno sighs as he folds his arms onto the table, laying his chin down. “I don’t like it when you speak sense.”
“For one, I’ve always been speaking sense. But I’m glad you’re finally acknowledging my genius good points. I’ve been trying to get through your thick skull about her for two years.” Jaemin nods in gratification, glad Jeno is opening his eyes a little, even if it took some good ‘ole jealousy to stir his best friend’s heart around.
|—————|
“Ow!”
You cringe, the corners of your mouth reaching your ears. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to do that.”
“S’okay.” He grumbles at the way, rubbing at the eye you just poked.
Pressing the face mask firmer on Mark’s already milky skin, you fixate on a bump and attempt to smooth it over. Once you’re satisfied, you wipe your hands on your pajama pants and clap in completion.
“Perfect!” Twisting Mark’s shoulders around so that he shifts on the bed to face his mirror, he immediately ruins your hard work by bursting into laughter at the sight of the sheet mask on his face.
“Mark! You fucking ruined it!” You can’t help but fall in line with your friend’s contagious sounds of amusement, slapping his arm lightly for him to face you and fix it again.
“I’m sorry! I look so stupid, I can’t—”
Urging him to sit up straight, you shake your head side to side, not able to be actually mad when Mark was so humored by the new experience of night skincare.
“Whatever. I guess I don’t care since you paid for dinner and I paid for this.” Grinning down at him, knees planted on the bed, Mark naturally returns your smile and regrets it as you lightly pinch his ear in retaliation for again, messing up your hard work.
“My bad, my bad. But it’s whatever. Pizza isn’t expensive.”
“That restaurant is kind of expensive though.” You mutter under your breath, brushing Mark’s hair from his head and adjusting his baby lion headband you bought for this tiny sleepover.
“It’s chill. No big deal.”
Settling back to sit on your heels, you raise a teasing eyebrow. “And if I make you sleep on the couch in the living room?”
Mark falls line and sinker, pouting a little. “You said we would put pillows between us tonight.”
Laughing lightly, you rush to reassure Mark. “I’m joking, you know I am,” Throwing yourself back to the pillows on your friend’s bed, you pat the spot beside you and Mark follows, “What movies do you wanna watch?”
He hums, tugging his laptop from its charger on the bedside table, “Didn’t we decide on binging the Tom Holland Spiderman movies earlier this week?”
summary. it was bound to bite both your asses eventually. just plain ‘ol comedic luck that you and your best friend’s shared tradition of petty bets get you two to finally cough up years of repressed feelings for one another.
pairing.y/n x nct’s jeno
genre. college!au, best friends to lovers!au
word count. 2k (of around 17k currently still in the works!)
warnings.swearing,fem!reader, hyuck and yeri hustle LMAO, humor if you can call it that somtimes, general dreamies tomfoolery (all these listed for just the teaser)
taglist. none! (if you would like to join, please comment on this post!)
making a lovelycomeback from my angst train to hit u with the classic college!au featuring ma boy jeno!! this is currently the longest fic i’ve ever written and i’m trying to gain some hype for it right now (started this beast in january can u believe that…) please repost if u want to see it out soon!!! estimated release is early june!!! see y’all soon <3
“WAS HE DROPPED on the head when he was a kid?”
You can’t help the snort that passes your lips, making a satisfying slap to Jeno’s arm. “Don’t be mean.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Jeno raises an eyebrow.
“Eh… maybe like once or twice. Not that I would know, I was the same age as him but I’m just guessing.”
You two continue to watch the disaster in front of you befold. Hyuck was currently bothering Yeri. Apparently, he didn’t know the limits as to when to stop because the older senior’s ears are burning red. You’re sure if you were in a cartoon right now, Yeri would have smoke coming out of them, nostrils flaring.
“Should we intervene?” You side-eye Jeno and he’s the least bit concerned, eyes blearily watching the soon-to-be wreck happen in slow motion, cheek smushed against his palm.
“Nah. This is way more entertaining than continuing my stats homework.”
You peer over his notebook and he has the word problem and equation written down. Humming, you bring your attention back to the stars of the show and see Yeri grip her notebook tighter, knuckles going white.
“Here we go.” You sing, Hyuck’s screams of protest soon alerting everyone in the campus plaza of his pain.
“He never learns his lesson, huh?” Renjun finally joins, his boots making the fall leaves on the ground crunch. Throwing his book bag on the table, it scrunches Jeno’s current page in his statistics work but the latter doesn’t care.
The two of you nod simultaneously. You and Jeno halfheartedly discouraged Hyuck from going to poke at Yeri around five minutes ago, soon after the three of you had sat down at your usual spot under the only weeping willow tree on campus. It was honestly impressive how quickly your mutual friend could annoy someone so quickly.
“We should time him. See how long it takes for Yeri to lash out at him next.” You mutter the idea, Jeno pursing his lips after the two shift left and right around Yeri and company’s picnic table, a textbook held high in Yeri’s nimble fingers. Wendy and Seulgi are ducking as Irene begins trying to stop the madness, scolding Joy for cheering on their youngest.
“Not a bad idea to be honest. Wanna bet?” Jeno grins and you shake on his hand without looking at him.
It was just getting good. Hyuck doesn’t have the endurance to continue but Yeri does. Pilates has done her well.
Renjun quirks an eyebrow, pulling out his laptop as an apple slice is shoved into the corner of his mouth. “You don’t even know the conditions of the bet yet.”
You shrug, thoroughly entertained as Hyuck sits on his knees, his hands rubbing together furiously as he begs for mercy. “Next time, he gets Yeri to go after him under two minutes.”
“I say three.” Jeno nods and he offers a hand again which you shake.
“You underestimate that little lady’s body. She can hold a lot of anger.”
Jeno hums in response, ending the conversation quickly as Hyuck stumbles his way over, a pout sat on his lips. The well-beaten idiot rubs at his forearms, mumbling curses under his breath as he plops down beside Renjun.
“Didn’t end well, did it bud?”
At the smug expression you have plastered on, Hyuck’s pout deepens. “It’s not funny. I need her to partner with me in Psych. I’ll go fucking crazy if I actually have to work with Felix.”
“Felix’s a sweetheart. I don’t know why you have it out for him.”
Hyuck rolls his eyes, running his hands through the ruffled brown strands. Yeri managed to grab a bunch of pine needles and aim correctly enough, even with the air resistance the leaves have.
Renjun beside him plucks a long green one out the battered boy who’s seated beside him, slouched over on the picnic table. “You can’t have two eggheads who don’t pay attention in class paired together. Isn’t that so, Hyuck?” Renjun baby-voices, the latter placing his chin on his stacked wrists to glare.
“It’s justified.” Hyuck huffs, turning away from the new arrival. You scoot over, bumping into Jeno’s large body to allow Chenle to sit.
“Why are you so meaty nowadays? Take a break from the gym, will you? We can barely fit eight people at this table as it is.” There’s playful malice in your voice but a little truth in there. The asshole was getting too bulky for your liking.
“Oh please. Mark hardly swings by for lunch with us anymore. And why by chance are you bothered by me bulking up?” Jeno leans closer, eyes impossibly close to yours, “Are you swooning yet?”
Ignoring your heart racing faster, you slap a palm to his forehead, pushing Jeno further away from your face. “No, I’m sick of these freshies asking me for your number, that’s why. You want to know how many asked for your digits indirectly through me this entire week?”
Chenle and Renjun have suddenly started bickering about something and you have to raise your voice a little.
“Five.Fivepeople. Four girls and one guy. I’d be proud of you if it weren’t for the annoyance starting to kick in.” Jeno raises his eyebrows at the number, finally flattening down his stats paper.
“And what’d you tell ‘em?” Jeno bites distractedly at the cap of his pen, seeming to hit the realization his work has to get done by midnight.
“That they should ask you themselves,” You’re rolling your eyes, nudging at Chenle to back off on his squishing, practically half his body across the table to try and snatch at Renjun’s sliced apples, “I’m kind of sick of your posse trying to scour me for your personal information.”
“Get your own, dingus! We get our rations per month at the commons!”
“I’m not giving up a precious coupon just to get one apple slice, come on!”
“Tell them to stop then.” Jeno tries to solve.
You laugh incredulously, watching Jeno’s concentrated (confused more like) side profile. “You think that deters them? They regenerate into different people every week. The message is not passed on from generation to generation apparently.”
Jeno makes that endearing ‘huH?’ sound and you grab at the notebook yourself, having taken Statistics 101 before. He thanks you under his breath, which you nod at before Jeno slumps onto your shoulder, sighing heavily.
“Sorry. I know it bothers you. I would go around and tell them to back off of you and me personally but I don’t know all their names.”
Glancing at Jeno, it irritates you helplessly that you know he’s not even trying to sound dickish. He’s just that sweet and kind of a guy that makes other people not want to want to talk to him and ask those types of questions themselves. You know those people that seem too perfect to want to approach? Yeah, that’s Lee Jeno in a nutshell. If you looked up the definition of that type of person in a book, Jeno would be grinning that Samoyed smile of his from on that cursed page.
“I should tape a sign to my back that says, ‘Ask Lee Jeno himself. I’m not his personal owl,’” You peek at his face, “What do you think?”
He slightly smiles, eyes crinkling almost shut even at such a small gesture of amusement. “Okay. I’ll add my signature to it so that they know it’s signed by yours truly.” He looks up to your face and you’re glad the cold can disguise your flustered face easily with this type of weather.
Guess it’s time to actually settle this officially since it’s been clued at a little, but yes: You do have a crush on Jeno. And no, he does not know because when does telling one of your best friends’ that you’ve been crushing on them ever worked out?
No, not in the Wattpad story kind of way, you mean trulyworked out. Because personally, you’ve never heard of it working out ever, especially since you’re practically in the you’ve-seen-him-in-his-boxers and he’s-seen-you-shirtless stage of friendship. Don’t ask, it’s a long story that’s already too long for this kind of boring read.
So,no, you will not take your chances, thank you very much. There were many signs flashing neon that told you Jeno didn’t see you in a romantic or sexual kind of way but the glaringly obvious sign was actually the one you two are discussing currently.
What’s the appropriate way of acting if your crush is being berated by other peers on campus to give them your number? You’re not confident in what it actually looks like because for one, you’re not on the receiving end in this imaginary scenario, and two, it’s exactly that; an imaginaryscenario. You can’t even seriously dream Jeno liking you if you could. It was just that bizarre.
In the two years you’ve known the boy, he’s never even once mentioned another human being that he could potentially be interested in on campus. It’s not a problem of him not being comfortable telling you either because he’s told you upright that he’s not interested in anybody here (including you who’s enrolled in this stupid university). You’ve even nonchalantly asked Jaemin before and he’s confirmed that even in high school, this kid did not have wandering eyes.
You had wondered if Jeno was asexual, aromantic, or something along that line in the spectrum, eventually having the courage to ask him one day and he shook his head no quite confidently, a small smile laid on his lips.
You don’t know what Jeno’s deal was but the risks in finding out really didn’t lean in your favor. And that’s fine, considering how many fish are available of Earth’s wide sea of potential mates. You’ve killed off even the chance of dating Jeno and that’s all good in your book. You’ve been attracted to your guy friends once and twice and they faded away with time exploring their weird quirks or horrible habits. And even if Jeno was a strange case where you’ve even seen the dude have beer drip from his nostrils from a shitty keg stand and you still manage to harbor feelings for him… eh.
Time brushes away a lot of problems if you’re desperate and willing enough. Luckily for you, you checked off both boxes easily with this special instance.
You open your laptop and scour your documents for your old stats notes on chi-square tests. Bleh.
Pretending to gag in your mouth at the sight, Jeno smothers a laugh that shakes your shoulder and you share the document his way before scrolling and finding the right topic. You do the problem with few difficulties and write a quick message in the corner of his notebook page.
‘Actually study this because Y/N did the example and took time from her day to do so, thank you.’
“Thanks,” Jeno chirps as he takes his notebook back, removing himself from your shoulder (to your well-hidden disappointment), “I owe you one.”
“You’re right. A coffee works just fine, thank you.” You pipe back, folding your hands on the table cheerily. Jeno is shaking his head in mock annoyance but you knew the next time you two meet, you would not be disheartened, a warm cup pressed in hand.
“A four-dollar coffee is worth one solved problem in your book?” Jeno argues.
You fire back without hesitation. “It’s statistics. And I just sent two semesters’ worth of notes to you. You’re very welcome.”
“You’re right,” Jeno turns, stowing his notebook away, “That’s like seven coffees then.”
“And a scone if you’re feeling nice. A croissant works too.” You beam.
“Now you’re pushing it. Those things are stupidly overpriced.”
“Even for me?” You playfully place your chin in your cupped hands, blinking slowly and looking through your lashes.
Jeno sighs, placing a hand on your head of hair. “Fine. You win, you spoiled princess.”
In times like these, you knew you really asked to be put in these types of situations. And you’re not one to start being a saint and stop being hypocritical but… you deserved what you were putting yourself through, saying these types of things and teasing like this. Trying to get a stir and playact with being more.
Maybe it was a little cruel, somewhat tricking Jeno into saying sweet things to you, just to let your mind wander for a second. Call it… taking advantage of his friendship to pretend a little. Harmless but still adds into your ledger of sins for Judgement Day right?
*please don’t street race lol it is very illegal and dangerous.
mark:
the definition of friendly competition.
random but he prefers circuit courses
a polite winner but internally lovesdestroying his competition
winning by a landslide is so much more fun for him than the close call of racing to the end side by side
has a really dumb name for his car that all his friends clown him for but it’s endearing so whatever
cleans and repairs his own car (mechanic…. mark lee…. checking the bonnet…. on a hot… day… in a white… shirt…. and…. rolled up… sleeves…)
cupholders filled with coins lolol
always a good handshake at the end of a race
does not, absolutely refuses, to drive on wet days. no rainy races for mark.
races in his pyjamas sometimes
lost his first and only high stakes race and hasn’t done a large bet ever since. only person that could maybe push him to that edge again is chenle.
knows how to dirtbike too
renjun:
loves the sound of revving engines, the initial start is his favourite part of the race.
cocky asshole; drives into the finish line slowly if his competition is far behind.
sees jeno as his rival and thrives on challenging him
actually a very chill and civilised driver when he isn’t racing. races flip a competitive switch in his head.
a cheater, your honour.
loves drifting into alternative roads and routes for shortcuts just to confuse the other racer
prefers group races rather than 1v1
the dickhead that ditches everyone as soon as there’s a police threat. he’s gone by the time everyone’s shut their doors.
hehe, i can see him choosing an item of clothing to match whatever paint job his car currently has. fashionable and speedy.
sarcastic when he wins
renjun puffs out in exhilaration, fingers brushing back the hair in his eyes, “i mean, you weren’t too far behind. step on the gas a little harder and maybe you’ll lose by 20 seconds instead of 40.”
jeno:
drives a ford muscle car
personal races with yellow lights to just pass it before it turns red. depending on his mood he’ll either run the red light or get super pouty about it when he slows down
prefers night races
manual driver… mmmm… <3
favourite part is the police chase. in the moment his mind goes completely blank but he loves the thrill of swerving traffic.
always has someone in his passenger seat for the fun of it. maybe a hookup, someone cute from the audience, jaemin because besties support besties.
such a good winner/loser, always smiling after a race no matter how it turned out and asking for another race if he liked the other person.
except for when the one dude swerved into his lane a little bit too suddenly for his comfort.
usually just lets his friends hype him up while he gets ready to race
was the one who taught haechan burnouts
jaemin:
largest collection of cars out of all the boys
is a nerd for tyres. studies his racing sites to know what tread patterns are most efficient. rim is always absolutely spotless and shining.
has a specific air freshener he hangs as a good luck charm
loves picking people from the crowd to start the race, like they’re his own personal flag girl/boy for the day
custom car mats hehehe
a very underrated driver, not known in the scene to be really really good but he’s definitely scary competition
thinks scheduled races are kinda stupid, has more fun with spontaneous challenges from chenle or haechan, but takes it up if there’s a large prize
challenging and cocky smile to the other driver just before the race starts, sends a wink if he thinks they’re cute.
is an absolute whore for police chases, the ring of sirens and flashing lights behind him is so exhilarating. especially when he gets caught speeding during a race; avoid the police and crush the other racer? easy competition
haechan:
petty argument? beat him at a street race or you’re wrong.
not a sore loser but absolutely does hold a grudge. mental noting of wins and losses with every person.
a total dork for burnouts and donuts
basically just a show off. it’s not all bark though, he’s good behind the wheel and he knows it.
signs his competition’s car when he wins like an absolute dickhead. he doesn’t tell them but it’s like his signature by now so people expect it.
starts little races with strangers on the freeway or red lights, whether or not they know about it, he just needs to be faster than them.
the best at shit talking, either to throw off the others or just work them up.
has a specific set of rules and only races with those rules. super strict on everyone else following them but definitely breaks a few if he knows he can get away with it to win
changes car paint when he gets pissed from losing
when he first started racing, he messed with the other car’s tyres until he landed a black eye and learnt to just race fairly
“id obviously beat them whether or not i touched the thing, it’s just cute to see them all angry and confused.”
chenle:
lives for drifting.
road skid marks are his guilty pleasure.
that and round-a-bouts lol
so obnoxious, plays music on full blast with his windows rolled down. it makes him feel cooler when he wins.
loves his car to bits but is so awful at taking care of it. he has to go get it repaired and inspected after every race.
basically a reckless driver
taeil is chenle’s mechanic
its a white luxury car with butterfly doors.
whether or not he loses, definitely a double or nothing person. thrives on the high risk, high reward gamble of racing.
if his competition works him up enough, he’ll bet on their car just for the high stakes. absolutely does not need or want a second car, just thrilling.
“keep the thing,” he teases, shrugging off his jacket with a grin, “just wanted to scare you.”
jisung:
i dont know how but he’s the most cocky yet humble one. maybe he’s just really shy about his skills.
absolutely so annoying. lies and randomly shouts that authorities are coming when they are absolutely not.
the typical movie type pose of leaning against his car with his arms crossed and a stupid playful smile.
bumper sticker baby hehe
not too well known but definitely leaves an impression when he absolutely and unexpectedly destroys them
very dejected when he loses, works himself up and asks for an all or nothing lap
chenle is the best with indulging his sore losses, always raising the stakes until jisung calls chenle a fucking idiot for betting something so outrageous.
probably drives some sort of convertible because he thought it looked cool and likes the feeling of the wind
gets so very flustered when the anyone flirts with him before/after the race because huh? he’s here to race but oh my god they are kind of cute too.
tinted windows
asks jeno to race him when he’s bored because chenle always gets too competitive
complains about gas prices but always leaves his car on for the show of it
“can we run?” you whisper, voice soft with fingers gripping jeno’s wrist in a bruising hold.
“away?” he asks, already knowing the answer. feels the need to confirm for his own comfort he supposes, perhaps he hopes for a no this time.
you nod, and cut him off before he says what he always does, “i know you can’t just leave everything behind here but i can’t stay here anymore. i have nothing to want but an escape.”
“but here you have me.”
he’s not wrong, your boyfriend has been your shoulder to lean on for the last few years, watching as this life consumes everything you have to offer until you’re nothing but tired. maybe it’s a bit dumb of you, jeno probably thinks so, to find the idea of leaving so romantic, to start from scratch and leave everything behind, see the sky from a different angle, but there’s no stopping your wildest dreams.
“jeno,” you sigh, fingers loosening ever so slightly with a guilty inhale, “that isn’t going to be enough forever.”
you can practically hear the blood pause in his veins, his eyes blinking stupidly as he processes what you’ve just said. you rush to slap on the bandaid, “i love you. i really do love you so much. you’ve been the best and so much more than enough since ive known you. you aren’t disappointing me at all. im just not satisfied with where i am right now and…”
it’s all just gibberish, summed up with a burning ‘its me, not you’ in jeno’s head. your words are met with distant attention, your boyfriend left to wonder if this is heartbreak that he’s feeling right now.
“…and if it means-” you cut yourself off, moving yourself from jeno completely to avoid this being anymore hurtful than it already is, “-if it means i have to leave you behind then im sorry to say goodbye.”
Warnings: profanity (swearing), dirty jokes (like, one) and alcohol intake.
Synopsis: Unrivalled, to be the best and to win. Jeno is a team player and it’s all he has ever known, but when one fateful night leads him to you, he realizes that one must never play games especially when hearts are at stake.
a/n: hi there! i am so excited to be sharing this story with you all. it’s been under the works since April of last year in collaboration with a group titled ‘Hiraeth’. I hope you enjoy! Reblogs are appreciated, tell me what you think :] Also, please let me know if you want to be added to my permanent taglist. Happy reading!
i. Empty words
Parties have always been your scene, and tonight you found yourself in yet another one since the start of your third year of college. Lip locking with someone you just met, their identity unbeknownst to you. It’s not like you could give two shits with all the alcohol in your system at this point.
The crowd that gathered around you were upperclassmen like yourself. The room is doused in darkness and strobe lights scattered the vicinity while the loud music vibrated through the walls. You’ve spilled half your drink dancing against this stranger. You really couldn’t tell if it was a girl or a boy in the darkness. It could be anyone. Again, not like you cared.
“Hey,”they purred in your ear. Short and simple… boring, but it sent shivers running down your spine. So it’s a man, you know this much. His breath tickled your ear and you turn to face the stranger, looking up at him through your lashes. Lee Jeno stood before you in all his glory, white shirt unbuttoned dangerously low, chain peeking out from it.
It must be the alcohol in your body, but you wrap a hand around his neck and pull his face down to meet yours. A kiss, full of want and desire. His mouth tasted like beer, lips molded with yours perfectly. You would definitely be regretting this in the morning.
Pair: Jeno x reader Genre: Angst, fluff, hinted exes to lovers, college au, sports au (american football) WC: 2.5k Synopsis: The final game of the regular season should be an easy win against a subpar team, but the team struggles, especially Jeno. His mind is not with his body on the field, and as he tries to figure out what’s happening, the walls only close in on him tighter. Amidst his sudden mental distress, all it takes is a familiar voice to pull him back. Warnings: Detailed panic attack
Chants grow muffled and the boom of the announcer’s voice begins to ring. Colors streak around him, but he can’t discern the faces behind the masks or read the names on the jerseys. Jeno files into position every play, situates himself where he needs to be without consciously knowing where exactly he is. Muscle memory is stepping forward, calling the shots, and his body is following the cues.
