#nct 127 scenarios

˚ * .

╰ ♡ [MARK-0-CLOCK]

You FaceTime Mark, shameless singing and dancing to “Kiss Me Thru the Phone.”

Mark shakes his head and giggles at you as you semi-shout the lyrics at him.

He might have thought you were just being ridiculous, but you really meant every word you said.

[16:28]

“hey,” you utter softly. “i’ve missed you.”yuta’sgaze is tired yet gentle as he breaks into a small smile when he sees you, standing in the doorway of your shared apartment. he takes your hand gently and entangles his finger in yours, his jacket hangs loosely off his shoulders as he pulls you closer to him.

“i’ve missed you too.” he whispers at you, placing a delicate kiss to your cheek. though the kiss feels less warm than it used too. you look up at him, meeting his tender eyes, and smile shyly. yuta’seyes never meet yours and your smile never seems full-hearted. you both notice that but it seems you’re both too scared to tell each other.

his grip around your fingers feels less loving than it usually does, but it has a for a while now and you try to pretend it still does. he notices every time you kiss him on the lips, you never lean in fully like you used to before but yutastill grins back at you as if you had just kissed for the first time though his eyes always give it away.

it hurt to see this happen, you and yutaknew it. but there was a part deep inside both of you that was hoping that this was only temporary and that everything would go back to normal. it was probably a stupid choice that you and yuta choose to believe, normal felt so far from where you were right now. but maybe, it truly would go back to the way it was like once before.

[21:52]

you remember him on a summer night like this. golden eyes, bright smiles he felt like heaven. his hair was a soft chestnut brown that glimmered in the moonlight as he took your hand in his, wrapping his warm fingers around yours with his sunglasses perched low on his nose. you felt the sand crinkle between your toes as hyuck, now gone from your grip, stood alone on the rocky shore of the beach before beckoning you over, a small pout resting on his lips with his hand outreached expectantly for yours. as you took his warm hand, bracing yourself for the harsh ocean wind blowing your way with the sea crashing violently against the rocky shore, a look of worry graced his face for a split second before he turned to you.  you giggled as you glanced at him a lopsided grin plastered on his features with his windblown hair resting messily upon his head as you asked him. “why? scared hyuck?” you could almost hear him light scoff at your question, a gentle smile spread across his red lips. you felt his hand grip tighter around yours, a quiet giggle left his lips as he placed a feathering kiss upon your nose before quirking back, his eyes watching yours intently. “never y/n.” it was a beautiful night wasn’t it, you thought to yourself. a heavenly night with a heavenly boy. but with all boys like him, he was never meant to last.

WARM UP : 1ST PLAYER #JAEHYUN

JAEHYUNXW KOREA

(B-CUT)

wow idk who made these edits but these are just so… so— im lost at words.

|these are not mine. creds to owner.|

JAEHYUN LOOKS GOOD, EVEN IN B&W.

hq pictures

HAPPY JAEHYUN DAY

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

to our valentine boy,

happy birthday love, thank you so much for bringing joy and happiness into our lives, i know you have been working really hard and we will always be here to support you. i hope on your birthday you’ll stay safe and healthy. we are also cheering you on for your upcoming drama as well, which we know you are doing amazing with. thank you for everything jaehyun, nctzens and valentines will always be proud of you. we love you

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

SYNOPSIS. while you admittedly didn’t refuse the arranged marriage between you and jung jaehyun, that didn’t mean that you’d allow him to treat you like a doormat. for the emotional distress he had put you through during the months leading up to your engagement party, you ensure that he will pay for the way he had been treating you for the rest of his life. 

PAIRING. rich boy!jaehyun x rich girl!reader
GENRES. angst, drama, rich kid!au
CHAPTER WORD COUNT.1452 

WARNINGS.none. 

TAGLIST. @crescent-iak​ @ahtisa02​@ghostfacefricker6969​

[a/n]: lowkey surprised by the number of people actually interested in reading a series that contain no romance fksjfksjfksjf i guess everyone got a petty side to them too haha. send me an ask if you want to be part of the taglist and enjoy this chapter! 

← REASON #2 ||MASTERLIST||REASON #4 → 

REASON #3

You supposed this was Jaehyun’s way of getting back at you for what you pulled with his parents. 

But out of all days he could do this to you, he decided to do it on a day your families had asked you two to spend time together so that the paparazzi could take pictures, who happened to have lunch at the very restaurant on the 30th floor of the hotel you were currently residing in.

You tried not to roll your eyes at the way Jaehyun was smirking at you, almost as if he was proud of his little plan. Sure, that was annoying of him. Not to mention he found a little loophole in your prenup—there was nothing that said that the cheating scandals should only be avoided before the marriage.

You took a sip from your cup of tea as you subtly glanced over at Chaeyoung and the numerous paper bags that laid next to her, all of them from high-end luxury stores. You then looked at the said girl. You didn’t hate her, but rather pitied her instead. Here she was, being with a guy who was never going to be legally single because of your plans of making him suffer.

You didn’t know whether you admired her or found her foolish. You avoided all interactions with her as you actually felt awkward towards her. As if having lunch wasn’t awkward enough, Chaeyoung was having lunch with the woman who was marrying her boyfriend and that happened to be you.

“Lunch is on you, right?” Jaehyun said with a raised brow. “Since you’re the one who invited us out.”

You snorted into your cup. “Your mother was the one who forced us into doing this, actually. I wouldn’t mind paying for now, but should I bill it to your place after? Your mother wouldn’t want to know that her son forced a lady to pay for lunch, wouldn’t you? Especially not when that lady is her future daughter-in-law.”

“You’re despicable.”

You scoffed. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

“I can pay for myself.”

Both of your heads turned to Chaeyoung who spoke up for perhaps the first time during this whole lunch. Then again, all three of you barely interacted. You nodded once and waved the waiter over. The waiter brought over each of your checks. Jaehyun handed over his black card without even taking a glance at how much he had to pay, but you noticed that Chaeyoung’s eyes shifted in panic.

“Just charge everything to my room,” you said to the waiter before getting up from your seated and headed over to the elevator. Your phone vibrated with an incoming message from Yuta saying that he will arrive in the next five minutes or so.

“I didn’t ask you to pay for us,” Jaehyun angrily told you as he followed you to the elevator, Chaeyoung close behind. “We could have easily paid for ourselves—are you looking down on me now that I’ve signed your stupid prenup? You think that my family is desperate for more money?”

God, could Yuta come any faster?

“Jesus Christ, you wanted me to pay and now you’re complaining about the fact that I paid for everyone?” You rolled your eyes and entered the elevator before pressing the button for the main lobby. “Pick a damn struggle already.”

You couldn’t believe you took the time out of your busy schedule to entertain him. You enjoyed these small breaks in your schedule as you usually spent most of your days inside an operation room, but now you were slowly starting to regret asking for a day off.

You immediately stormed off to the exit, hoping that Yuta kept his word and that he was already waiting for you in front of the hotel. But of course by the time you got out, Yuta nor his car were nowhere in sight. 

Some friend he was.

“I hope I won’t get to see you again for the rest of the week,” Jaehyun said to you. “Seeing you once a week is more than enough.” 

You flipped him off without even sparing him a glance as he walked away to get his car. You weren’t sure if it was because he wanted to avoid you or he truly didn’t ask for valet parking, but regardless, you were grateful that you didn’t have to spend any more of your time with him. Truthfully, you had no idea how you even came to like Jaehyun, considering how nasty his personality was.

“You know, Jaehyun’s actually a very nice person,” Chaeyoung said from your side as you two waited for your respective rides on the hotel’s curbside. “But it seems like you bring out the worst in him.”

You raised a brow at the slight condescending tone behind her voice, but kept your eyes firmly on your phone as you didn’t want to give away your true reaction. While you didn’t appreciate her tone, you kept reminding yourself that it wasn’t Chaeyoung’s fault that she was in this position.

“Yes…” you replied coolly. “It seems that he brings the worst in me, too.”

A pregnant silence ensued before it was broken by Chaeyoung.

“You know, I could have paid for my lunch myself.”

Your brows furrowed. “I don’t think I’ve ever questioned your ability to pay for your lunch.”

“And whatever you pulled last time, at my workplace,” she continued, ignoring your words. “That wasn’t very nice of you.”

Your patience was wearing thin. While, admittedly, the way you treated her was certainly not befitting of you, you also couldn’t stand the way she spoke to you, as if she was better than you. Here, you were feeling just an ounce of pity for that girl—you were even considering, perhaps, befriending her. But her holier-than-thou attitude she was sporting was getting on your last nerve.

“Well, the tone you’re using right now to speak to me isn’t very nice either,” you replied snarkily. “So, I guess we’re even.”

“No, we’re not.”

Oh? This was slowly getting interesting. But you still mentally begged for Yuta to arrive faster.

“We’re not the same,” Chaeyoung added.

You huffed through your nose. “Of course we’re not.”

“I’ve worked my way up and wasn’t born with a diamond spoon in my mouth like you.”

While you agreed that you were certainly born with a privilege, you didn’t like that she insinuated the fact that you didn’t work hard for your job and position. 

How many times in a row had she insulted you now? 

Since you’d lost count, you thought to yourself that you held yourself back enough for her sake.

“It’s pathetic of you to lock Jaehyun down like that with an arranged marriage,” Chaeyoung continued. “You- you could have any man you want, so why choose someone who is already taken?” 

You crossed your arms as you ponder her question. You didn’t understand why she was so intent on painting you as the villain of the story. The only possible and logical explanation was that Jaehyun must have not given her all the story’s details. You refrained yourself from laughing out loud at the realization—what else was Jaehyun hiding from his girlfriend? 

Right on time, Yuta’s shiny black Aston Martin Victor came in sight and you evidently sighed in relief, glad to be rid of this situation. 

“I believe you just answered your own question,” you replied to her with a small smirk just as Jaehyun’s silver McLaren Speedtail arrived right behind Yuta. “Why, exactly, do I want to marry Jaehyun when I can have any man I want, as you said? But, I think you should ask yourself, why Jaehyun would even want to marry another woman when he has a girlfriend?”

“T-that’s because youlike him!” she exploded. “Youforced him into agreeing to the arranged marriage.” 

You tsk-ed and shook your head, before opening the door to Yuta’s passenger seat. “Don’t you know that it takes two to tango?” 

You immediately shut the door, not allowing Chaeyoung to retort. You believed that you let her speak too much, and the whole conversation you just had with her gave you a massive headache. Yuta snorted at how you were rubbing your temples, but chose to ignore the elephant in the room (which was the lunch date you had with Jaehyun and Chaeyoung). 

“So, when are you going to move out from the hotel and move back in again with your family?” he asked, instead. 

“Why?” you mumbled. “You don’t want me in your hotel anymore?” 

“You know that’s not why.” 

You shrugged nonchalantly. “Not anytime soon,” you answered. “I still haven’t punished them enough for this arranged marriage.” 

← REASON #2||MASTERLIST||REASON #4 → 

SYNOPSIS. while you admittedly didn’t refuse the arranged marriage between you and jung jaehyun, that didn’t mean that you’d allow him to treat you like a doormat. for the emotional distress he had put you through during the months leading up to your engagement party, you ensure that he will pay for the way he had been treating you for the rest of his life. 

PAIRING. rich boy!jaehyun x rich girl!reader 
GENRES. angst, drama, rich kid!au 
CHAPTER WORD COUNT.1643 

WARNINGS. mentions of drinking, female!reader on a war path. 

[a/n]: thanks everyone for their interest in my drabble (now titled reason #1)! thanks to that, i decided to make this into a small series comprised of 10 short chapters, hopefully all under 2k words. do note that there will be little to no romance for this series. i’ve always wanted to write a story from the “antagonist” pov, so here’s my first attempt at it! 

← REASON #1||MASTERLIST||REASON #3 → 

REASON #2

The engagement party was a drag and it took a toll on you emotionally. While you barely remembered what exactly went down as you drank more than you could handle, you distinctively remembered that you somehow came out with a goal from that party, and that goal was to make Jaehyun’s life a living hell. 

Despite the engagement, there was still nothing concrete about it. Your family had a verbal agreement with Jaehyun’s, but that wasn’t enough for you to actually proceed with the marriage. So, a few days after the engagement party, you invited him and his family to discuss what your marriage entailed. Your family got the gist that Jaehyun didn’t want to marry you, but they didn’t know the exact reason for it. Luckily for the Jungs, you spared your parents the details and told them that you’d handle it yourself this time, to which they thankfully didn’t object.

Af if God knew of your plans, the restaurant Jaehyun’s parents picked was the one where his girlfriend worked. You didn’t know if that was karma working for or against you. Nonetheless, even if you weren’t the one who picked it, it wouldn’t change Jaehyun’s opinion of you, so who cares?

“Let me tell you how Mr. Jung and I are so ecstatic of your engagement to our son!” Jaehyun’s mother gushed to you as his girlfriend was serving red wine to everyone at the table.

You ignored Jaehyun and his girlfriend the whole time and pretended that they weren’t there. In any case, you didn’t need to look at him to know where he was or how he felt about the situation; the smoke coming out of his ears were enough.

“I’m afraid that this dinner isn’t what you think, Mrs. Jung,” you replied as you motioned your family butler to hand you your briefcase.

“Please, we’re about to become a family, call me–”

You slid a few papers onto the table. “This is the prenup that my family lawyers drew up,” you cut her off and then took a sip of the red wine.

You grimaced at how gross it tasted and motioned Jaehyun’s girlfriend—what was her name again, Chaeyoung?—with a flick of your wrist. “Get me a bottle of Château d’Yquem.”

You didn’t fail to notice the flash of annoyance in her eyes. You relished this moment even more, as sadistic as it sounds.

“A prenup…?” the older lady then said, shocked. “I- I don’t understand.”

The look on the three of their faces were worth the effort. Mr. Jung looked fuming, his wife evidently devastated, and Jaehyun looked like he was going to burn a hole through your skull by the way he was glaring at you.

“Well, you honestly can’t expect me to marry your son when he, well,” you glanced at Chaeyoung subtly as she poured your wine with a frown, “comes with quite a baggage.”

“I can assure you that my son has cut all ties with that girlfriend of his,” Jaehyun’s father gruffly stated.

You almost snorted into your wine glass. How shameless of them to force their son into an arranged marriage with a complete stranger when they knew that he had a girlfriend? And you wondered if they knew whether that that girlfriend of his was the one serving them right now. If that were the case, you had to ponder whether this was a deliberate move on their part or not to bring you to this specific restaurant.

“Oh, and the prenup isn’t the only thing,” you continued. “There are more things for him to agree to.” You gave them a half-smile. “You know, just to protect myself from future liabilities.”

Along with the prenup were a list of conditions that they had to agree to, if they wanted this marriage to move forward. Your demands were pretty ridiculous, but not ridiculous enough that they would straight-up reject them. You weren’t dumb, you knew there was more to this marriage than the two families wanting to join together.

Your mother was a famous socialite while your father’s side of the family owned a couple of private hospitals, known for providing the best healthcare in the country. Jaehyun’s family, on the other hand, was known for being in the pharmaceutical industry. A partnership between the hospital line and a pharmaceutical line would certainly be beneficial, especially for the Jungs.

Not to mention how your family’s net worth was around $1 billion, and Jaehyun’s was worth half of yours—in the $500 million, last you checked. While they certainly had a lot money of their own, it wouldn’t hurt to protect yourself and well, to also hurt Jaehyun’s pride in the process. Two birds, one stone.

It was only too bad Jaehyun was such a dick to you.

“If Jaehyun was caught in a cheating scandal, the settlement our family will have to pay–” his mother scanned the document and screeched. “This is ridiculous! How dare you ask us–”

“Well, of course, the same applies to me,” you reassured her nonchalantly. “If anything, I don’t care if he has mistresses on the side—as long as he doesn’t get caught by the media and drags my reputation to the ground. I’m afraid that’s going to be a little bit hard to get back to. Cheating scandals are fine and all since we can always refute them, but oh, if he gets someone else pregnant,” you tipped your wine glass to them, “thatwill certainlybe a problem.”

A moment of silence as the parents looked at each other, not even considering Jaehyun’s opinion or feelings at all. While the two elders were busy whispering amongst themselves, you smirked at Jaehyun, happy with the development of things.

“Oh, and of course, if Jaehyun signs this agreement,” you said and pulled out another document from your briefcase and slid it over. “Then, here’s the partnership agreement you’ve previously spoke about with my parents. And I can assure you that the terms are much better than the ones you previously set with my parents. My father’s and grandfather’s signatures and seals are, of course, already on it. Feel free to send it to your lawyers to authenticate everything.”

Of course, you ensured that your family wasn’t on the losing side of the partnership, but you also had to make sure that your offer was enticing enough for them to sign it. And surely enough, they gobbled it up.

“Get me a pen and my seal stamp,” Mr. Jung quickly conceded.

“Father–”

“You shut your mouth!” he shouted at Jaehyun, surprising even you. “You almost ruined our family with that little girlfriend of yours, you will not disobey my orders! You will sign this agreement or I will cut you off completely!”

Jaehyun looked furious as ever. His hand trembled as he signed his name on the prenup and then stamped it with his seal, his girlfriend witnessing the whole process.

You swore that you were going to make his life a living hell, and you were going to keep your word.

“Lovely doing business with you,” you said with a sickeningly sweet smile and shook all of their hands. “I look forward to see what this partnership will bring.”

“It’s only too bad that you’re a doctor,” Mr. Jung replied. “You would have made an amazing businesswoman.”

You smiled politely. “You flatter me too much.”

Jaehyun’s parents finally left and you two were alone in the private room. Your fiancé sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Are you happy now?” he asked with a sneer. “Are you staying here longer to torture me further and gloat?”

You scoffed and sipped at your drink. “Nonsense. I’m also staying because of how expensive this glass of wine costs.”

He rolled his eyes. “A glass of a 1997 Château D’Yquem only costs $1000—you make that every second. Not to mention, my family picked up the tab.”

“Of course they did,” you said with a small snort. “As if they’re going to make their future daughter-in-law pay for dinner.”

“You’re the one who invited us.”

“And rightfully so,” you snapped back.

You could tell that Jaehyun was surprised with your attitude, so different from usual. In a way, it was true yet untrue at the same time. You’ve always been know to be a force to be reckoned with, one to never back down from a fight. Yet somehow a man like Jaehyun was able to knock you off your horse for the past couple of months so it was high time for you to get back on it.

“I said I was going to make you suffer for the rest of your life,” you said as you got up from your seat, and threw your serviette onto the table. “I’m simply holding my word. As you can see, I’m not one to go back on it.”

You walked away from him and Chaeyoung, who had been as silent as ever for the whole duration of the dinner. You even stopped next to her and pulled out a few hundreds before shoving them into the little pocket of her vest.

“Sorry for the trouble,” you told her with a fake smile.

You made sure that your back faced them as you left the restaurant, your heels clacking loudly against the floor. After months of torture, you finally started enacting your revenge.

But this wasn’t nearly enough for you. This was nothing compared to the months of hatred and spite he held against you during the months leading up to your engagement.

Jaehyun hadn’t even a full taste of your fury yet. It was your turn to knock him down his high horse. And you looked forward to the day he will be on his knees, begging you for mercy. 

← REASON #1||MASTERLIST||REASON #3 →

MASTERLIST 

PAIRING. rich boy!jaehyun x rich girl!reader 
GENRES. angst, drama, rich kid!au 

SYNOPSIS. while you admittedly didn’t refuse the arranged marriage between you and jung jaehyun, that didn’t mean that you’d allow him to treat you like a doormat. for the emotional distress he had put you through during the months leading up to your engagement party, you ensure that he will pay for the way he had been treating you for the rest of his life. 

WARNINGS. little to no romance, swearing, mentions of drinking, leaning a bit towards the toxic side of a “relationship” (will be updated as we go). 

[a/n]: thanks everyone for their interest in my drabble (now titled reason #1)! thanks to that, i decided to make this into a small series comprised of 10 short chapters, hopefully all under 2k words. i’ve always wanted to a story from the “antagonist” pov, so here’s my first attempt at it! 

UPDATES ON. thursdays 
STATUS.ongoing 

CHAPTERS 

one:reason #1 
two:reason #2 
three:reason #3 
four: reason #4 
five: reason #5 
six: reason #6 
seven: reason #7 
eight: reason #8 
nine: reason #9 
ten: reason #10  

© SMOLL-TANGERINE [2022]. All rights reserved.

[11:50] within the minutes, the tension between you, johnny, and your friends rose little by little. that question you asked caught johnny off guard. he didn’t know why but he felt disappointed and it was irritatingly inexplainable on his part.

it made him grit his teeth, as if he wanted to say something but no words seemed to come out of his mouth. his eyebrows met in frustration just thinking about it. you looked so familiar yet you were so distant. his eyes drifted from your face to your hand. the clenching of your hand on your chest gave it away that you were uncomfortable.

all the reason for him to pick up the hint that he needed to leave right now and not make you weirded out because of his mere presence.

“s-sorry.” he stuttered, “i-i think should leave.”

johnny exited the little circle your friends shortly gathered in, his group looking at you intensely and with pity. your eyes welled and you couldn’t say anything. as you excused yourself to the toilet, you told the girls not to follow you. you needed the time alone.

“it’s so hard to just watch them both suffer. we can’t even do anything.” mark groaned, mouth slightly quivering.

“if i were her, i could never handle the trauma and crap she went through.” kun sighed, combing his hair back before placing his hands on his hips.

yeri looked up with tears almost falling, “who could? she had to lie to the person she loved and owed her life to.”

jaehyun pressed his lips, “and she’s carrying the guilt she wasn’t even meant to carry in the first place.”

you stared at yourself through the mirror, you couldn’t even fathom anything. your head was all empty until johnny appeared in front of you after months.

ah crap.

the sight of the man you loved made your heart pierce wide open, it was stinging and painful that your breathing lost control. by the time you exited the toilet you were heaving, it was getting harder to breathe and you wanted to escape, bumping into several students along the way.

johnny..johnnysuh..

you haven’t said his name in a while and right now that was the only word you so wanted, craved for, desperate to see and be in his arms.

you could’ve been though, if it weren’t for the accident that almost costed your life yet put johnny’sin shambles and pieces, pieces that lasted years mostly had you in it but went away in split seconds.

seeing him right now would mean blaming yourself and that guilt would envelope you like a blanket. but damn those feelings hurt so much you wanted it to stop.

you wanted to see him, you wanted johnny.

“y/n?”

no way..he shouldn’t remember you, correct?

“it’s y/n, right?”

<prev

[11:45] you stood by your locker, sighing because the ringing in your head seemed restless. aimlessly staring at a distance made you hear the chewing you did inside your gums.

yeri was worried, looking at you every now and then just to check your state. “y/n, we have to eat.” flinching as you unknowingly slammed your locker, sighing more than ever. she turned to seulgi with teary eyes, “eonni, she’s not getting any better.”

she patted her shoulder before wrapping her arm around her even though she has books on the other. “she will be, it just takes time.”

you went to the cafeteria, quickly grabbing whatever food your eyes landed on. a rough group of boys caught your attention- the hot sporty ones, as fellow schoolmates called them so.

one boy dressed in a black tee stood out not just because of his height, but because he was staring at you since he stepped foot. the way he stared at you made you feel nostalgic so you averted your eyes.

his name’s johnny. everyone knew him as the surf guy, well-mannered, and handsome. he didn’t even plan on breaking eye contact with you until you did. “johnny… keeps looking this way, it’s weird, and awkward.”

sooyoung patted your hands, pressing her lips to a thin line, “why not talk to him?” and as soon as she suggested this, johnny walked towards your table.

“sure..” you said, straightening your body as he approached closer.

taeyong and the rest of the guys just behind him and walked to seulgi was, “why did you let y/n be? you know they can’t meet.”

“it’s troubling her, don’t you see?” she reasoned, “she’s been sighing since-”

“hi, i’m johnny.” they whipped their heads to their friend, and their chests never felt so hurt seeing him introduce himself to you with a smiling face. the air around them never felt so tense and never had they ever expected this to happen so soon. even so, the innocent look on johnny made them feel bad.

they looked to you, who was clenching your chest.

“i’m sorry, but… do i know you?”

—

<prev|next>

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au jungwoo
another late birthday au….but happy snoopy day <3
find others here: johnny|haechan|taeil|taeyong|mark|jaemin|yangyang|yuta|sicheng|chenle|kun|yukhei|doyoung|jaehyun

• “congratulations and welcome to the team!”
• the overly peppy voice that comes out of the body of the middle-aged man somehow doesn’t match the soulless look in his eyes
• he hands you a whistle and a t-shirt, which when you unfold greets you with the name of the water park you’ve been cursed to work at all summer
• the font is big and bubbly and very, very, veryyellow - it’s almost nauseating
• you turn the shirt around and on the back, in that same childish font, is the word staff
• “jungwoo, glad to see you here again!”
• you turn your head to see the man, who is your shift manager, patting a rather thin and tall looking boy on the back
• he makes a gagging noise which the manager just laughs heartily at before dropping the same shirt and whistle in jungwoo’s palm
• “hey wait - which ride am i on this year?”
• “um let me see - you’re on …….. ah, the log flume with the new employee.”
• you motion to yourself because it seems like you’re the only new face at the orientation
• everyone else has cliqued up and is already mumbling about how much this is going to suck with each other
• jungwoo slinks over and throws the shirt over his shoulder
• “log flume kinda sucks, just so you know.”
• “really? i can’t imagine getting sprayed by residual dirty water isn’t a thrilling experience - especially when it happens a hundred times a day.”
• there’s a pause and then a large grin forms of jungwoo’s features
• “oh - i like you.”
• you affirm the notion with a little bit of a prideful shrug and smile yourself
• good, i think i like you too.
• of course - when you and jungwoo first exchange these sentiments, it’s nothing more than an employee-to-employee relationship
• jungwoo has a sense of humor that either tends to fly over peoples heads or offend them (sometimes both)
• but you catch on quickly and sometimes even beat him in a game of his own wits
• during an opening shift where you two are testing the ride and cleaning up the waiting area, jungwoo confides that when he was in middle school someone had pointed out that he’s “eccentric”
• you scrunch your nose up as you tie a knot around the garbage bag in your hand
• “eccentric is a polite way of saying fucking weird, you know that right jungwoo?”
• “do you think im ‘fucking weird’ then?”
• he does a pose and you shake your head with a little laugh
• “no i think you’re just….you.”
• he relaxes his limbs and tilts his head to the side, without a verbal answer you somehow sense that that was the one thing jungwoo really wanted to hear
• working the log flume though - is as hellish as expected
• most of your days are spent standing in those hot, cheap plastic ponchos and waving at families with screaming children or rowdy teenagers who barely fit in the ride with their bony knees
• despite your efforts to keep dry, you and jungwoo always end up soaked
• he’s forgetful and clumsy so half the time you have to share the towel you bring with him, not to mention your lunch gets gobbled up by him too
• you ask at some point why jungwoo just doesn’t bring his own stuff - you are not a one-stop 7/11 shop
• he laughs and takes a bite into the huge soft pretzel sold in the water park
• “why should i bring anything, you’ve always got everything we need!”
• a pang like the toll of a bell vibrates through the cavity of your chest
• we - what about “we”, there’s no “we”, there’s just…….“friends”
• a sour taste in your mouth accompanies the thought and so you push it to the back of your mind
• “still - at least start bringing your own change of clothes, you’re too tall for any of my shirts.”
• “crop-tops are in though!”
• you stare down at the switchboard that operates the log flume - the buttons with scraping labels, the emergency stop button, the little cubbies below where people leave their phones
• the park is closing in thirty minutes and jungwoo has scampered off to hand in your ticket collection to the manager
• the summer evening is hovering between the last beams of light and suddenly - alone at the top of the ride - something shifts
• you unfile the thought you had before, the idea of what 'we’ means to you and jungwoo
• and you come to a daunting realization that, after only a couple of weeks of laughter and grueling minimum wage work, the statement “i think i like you too” is starting to take a new shape in your heart
• “hey - did you drown up there?”
• you lean over the side and see jungwoo below waving
• even with the distance the essence of his warm shine floats up and tickles at your cheeks.
• you swat it away, but it doesn’t work.
• “no - the log flume ghost caught me, i can’t come down.”
• you joke back and he salutes
• “wait there, i will come save you - i have fought that ghost once before!”
• he’s joking, but something flutters its wings when you hear him rush up the steps with all the seriousness of coming to get you. to save you.
• when he reaches you - you mask the weird flush climbing up your spine - and pretend to be flailing
• jungwoo gives you a kindergarten laugh as he joins in on the fun - a fake punch to the face of a fake ghost
• he grabs you around the waist and tugs you toward him, and inches from his face, you see something behind the childish glint in the brown of his eyes.
• he’s so handsome.
• “saved you! let’s get out of here or the manager will accuse us of trying to sneak in overtime.”
• the weight of his hands on you is only described as comforting, easy. so very easy.
• so even when he lets go and you are trailing behind him and the rest of the park employees after closing you miss it, you miss the touch of a friend who is becoming a lot more than just that.
• “jungwoo’s being switched to the lazy river starting today, that place is such a cease pool of idiocy that i need more coverage on it.”
• a groan escapes jungwoo before you can even process what the manager is saying
• “what? but i hate that place most of all - do you know how many random dads get into fights on that thing?”
• “am i going to be on log flume alone?”
• your voice is way calmer than you expect it to be and the manager makes a passive motion with his hand, “yep - and i trust you’ll handle it fine.”
• jungwoo’s look is apologetic and slightly bitter, you reach out to give him a pat on the shoulder, but your palm hovers above the fabric of his shirt before pulling embarrassingly back to your side
• either he doesn’t notice or he chooses not to say anything because jungwoo turns and trudges over to the other three people assigned to the river
• without jungwoo, the weird gnawing feeling of a summer crush only gets stronger, because now that he’s not glued to your side
• you miss him so terribly it almost makes you feel sick
• coupled with the boredom of being alone the entire day with strangers seems to just worsen the symptoms
• a week into the switch, you make the choice to visit jungwoo on your lunch break
• you arrive just in time to see the aftermath of one of those dad fights he had mentioned
• jungwoo is waist-deep in the water with two of those inflatable tubes on either side. he looks like he’s negotiating a war truce between two disgruntled generals and he hands the tubes back as the men disperse to their respective families with scowls on their faces
• jungwoo is also not wearing a shirt
• “lazy river is much more hands-on then log flume”
• the line of his back is lean and there are some healing bruises under his ribs which you can only assume are from his rather clumsy nature, the other thought of what could have caused them makes your head spin
• “hey - i see you’re literally in the trenches”
• jungwoo turns and runs a hand through his wet bangs to get a better look at you. the action shouldn’t make your knees feel like jelly.
• “i hate this place, come over here and dunk my head underwater please.”
• you squat down near the edge and jungwoo wades closer to you
• you place a brown paper bag beside you and motion to it
• “im assuming you still aren’t bringing your own lunches and are surviving off scraps from everyone else?”
• he grins, “you know me so well”
• i know i do - you think to say, but keep the words in your throat - i know i do, which is weird because we’ve been friends for a little over a month.
• “hows log flume?”
• “boring without you.”
• jungwoo whistles and you catch the way the sun makes every little drop of water on him glisten
• “ill stop by on my break since you stopped by on yours”
• a second of comfortable silence passes and jungwoo jumps up and out of the river with an ease
• he grabs the lunch you’ve brought and is about to say something when a whistle from the other side of the river catches your attentions
• “ugh this place is supposed to be lazy.”
• he complains and before he turns to the direction of the sound, he touches your cheek with the slightly wet palm of his hand
• “thanks for lunch, see you later.”
• the gesture haunts you.
• you even ask someone in the line for log flume what it means and she gives you a side glare that can only be conjured by a specific breed of mom.
• you try to google it, but nearly drop your phone into the water.
• jungwoo doesn’t come by that day - he actually only manages to visit you the next day.
• he shows up in his trunks, no shirt, and the towel he never gave back to you after he borrowed it over his shoulder
• “sorry, do you know how many kids get food poisoning and decide the riv-”
• you put up a hand to stop him from divulging details and jungwoo leans against the post that controls the ride as you wave off the next bunch of people
• you feel him watch you before he joins you and helps start lowering the bar for the next log that splashes its way into the starting point
• as you two go through the rows with practiced repetition
• you meet in the middle
• your hands both reach out to touch the bar, bringing it down over the laps of two young-looking middle schoolers who are pretending not to be holding hands
• one of them giggles as you and jungwoo’s fingers brush
• the slight pass of skin on skin feels like a burst of electricity
• stepping back to wave the group off - jungwoo slips in beside you and asks with a kind of strained sarcasm
• “who takes their date on the log flume?”
• “i think it’s cute.”
• jungwoo doesn’t miss a beat and that’s what nearly knocks you backwards
• “wanna go with me on our day off?”
• jungwoo asks you on a date.
• that you’re sure off. but why - that’s the part that does not click for you.
• so is it a friend thing - are the 'we’ on this 'date’ just two friends running around the water park they work at with the freedom of having to not do their jobs? are the 'we’ on this 'date’ something completely different?
• the nervousness makes you jump when jungwoo meets up with you at the bust stop and he doesn’t look or feel any different than usual
• you start to accept that your first thought is correct - this is a platonic date - nothing more
• until you get to the waterpark and put your things away and jungwoo pulls a small container from his bag
• “what’s that?”
• “you’re always taking care of me, i want to take care of you for once too.”
• he opens it and inside are some lopsided looking cookies
• “did you- jungwoo did you bake this?”
• he poke his tongue out, but nods
• “well, a friend who is a better cook than me helped.”
• they taste better than you could have imagined, you take a bite and understand that no something is definitely
• different
• friends don’t hold their other friends hand the entire day
• friends don’t lean into their other friends shoulder while waiting in the line for one of the rides and then biting softly down on the skin, kissing it after like an apologetic kitten
• and friends don’t kiss their other friends in the dark, shady corner where a line of vending machines have been abandoned behind the pretzel stand
• the infamous makeout spot that every water park employee buzzes about
• when your date comes to an end and you and jungwoo are waiting for the bus back, you keep touching your lips.
• jungwoo tastes like citrus when he kisses
• there are some things i don’t know about him
• you smile to yourself when his pinkie brushes yours and hooks up with it as the bus approaches
• i can’t wait to learn all of them
• it takes the manager exactly forty-eight hours to figure out you and jungwoo are dating.
• everyone else in the park gets the memo the minute you two step into the staff room.
• there’s a little pushback against it, just because there is some stupid company policy, but the manager claps you both on your backs and whispers that whatever - it is summer - kids should have fun during the summer.
• maybe the fun means sneaking kisses on lunch breaks, visiting each other on your off days, swapping shifts so you two can arrive and leave together
• the fun of having jungwoo nuzzle his wet face into the back of your neck as he complains about work
• the fun of having you trace patterns on his arm as you two wait for the bus home
• the fun of seeing each other outside of work, sprawling across his bedroom floor and talking about nonsense
• the fun of jungwoo’s features shifting from languid and sleepy to acute as you shift your weight ontop of him and let your hands flirt with the hem of his shirt
• “cover those up jungwoo, we are a family-friendly establishment”
• the manager mumbles, motioning to jungwoo’s neck with his pen
• you thin your lips and jungwoo huffs, slapping a bandage or two on the slightly puffed skin
• when the days get a little colder and the droves of families dwindle slowly, you know that your summer job is coming to an end
• on your last days, you have back your uniforms and whistles and the manager makes a speech about how much good work has been done and how he’s holding back his tears, but he’s sure he’ll see you next year
• jungwoo mutters that you two can’t come back here next year - you two should look into summer jobs at the mall or something
• your last walk from the park gates to the bus stop home is calm, even a little chilly. jungwoo drapes a hand around your shoulder and pulls you into him for the warmth.
• “we never got to go on the log flume together”
• you suddenly muse and jungwoo coaxes his mouth into a frown
• “you really want to go together on that contraption? it’s not even fun.”
• “it’s sentimental to us.”
• “that’s a weird thing to say.”
• he looks at you and you poke his cheek
• “it’s an eccentric thing to say.”
• a number of summers pass until you and jungwoo ever follow up on the notion
• actually, the one summer you two end up sitting together on the log flume, is not even at the water park from your memories
• it’s somewhere abroad
• you’re on vacation together and jungwoo claims you dragged him onto this thing
• but you see the little smile he tries to hide when the bar comes down
• the two teenagers working the ride brush their fingers as they do so, catching the look of shyness that passes from one to the other you giggle and take jungwoo’s hand in your own
• “what’s funny?”
• he asks and you tell him oh, nothing.
• the ride starts and just as the log reaches the end of the dip - you let out a small shout of excitement
• jungwoo joins you, but he doesn’t just make a sound. he says something.
• “i love you!”
• oh, i think i like you too - the sweet taste comes back.
• “i thin- i know i love you too!”

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au jaehyun
exactly on time for the valentine boy!……..well…….
find others here: johnny|haechan|taeil|taeyong|mark|jaemin|yangyang|yuta|sicheng|chenle|kun|yukhei|doyoung

• how you end up here, you don’t know, but you blame johnny suh because when things get weird it’s usually his fault anyway
• johnny’s smile is a thousand and one watts - he reaches out to pass you the beat up guitar case and again, you don’t even take it by choice, it’s nudged into your hands before you can really even say a word
• “im not joining yourband.”
  
• “it’s not mine - it’s ours.”
  
• jungwoo twirls a drum stick between his fingers and grins from his spot on the garage couch
• “no johnny - we all know it’s yours.”
• your lips thin and the only reason you don’t fling the case to the floor is because you actually like the guitar that’s inside. 
• granted you haven’t seen it since middle school and it probably still has that horrible sticker on the back of it that you remember picking at until all the little pieces you got off were uncomfortably stuck under your nails.
• “guys - it’s summer. we have nothing better to do.”
• “says you, i got an engineering internship at samsung.” 
• jungwoo chirps again and you try not to roll your eyes
• we all know about the damn samsung internship dude.
• “yeah - and i have to work at the family bookstore.”
• mark lee walks in, holding as many redbulls as he can fit between his elbows, they spill out and onto the space beside jungwoo
• you listen to mark open one and johnny groan
• “ok you all have something to do, but we-” he motions behind him at you “don’t have anything to save us from the boredom that is about to take up two months of our youthful lives!”
  
• “hey-”
  
• you cut in and all three sets of eyes focus on you
• “i have something i want to do this summer.”
  
• johnny’s long figure straightens in anticipation while jungwoo cocks an eyebrow and mark gives you an encouraging smile
• “im not going to tell you what it is, but it’s definitely not starting a band with you guys.”
  
• you lean the guitar case against a nearby wall and add a half-hearted shrug
• “sorry.”
• the walk from johnny’s house to yours isn’t long, it takes about fifteen minutes if you’re really going slow. 
• plus you’ve done it so many times, you basically set your body to autopilot.
• you think about it - the thing you want to do this summer before you go away for university and home becomes a new place and a memory at the same time.
• you’re not known for being sentimental, johnny has even gone so far as to label you as a bit ‘apathetic’ . but still you know this is your last chance to really enjoy the place you grew up in.
• you turn the corner at the street that leads down to where you live and in the hot evening air you hear something
• it’s the sound of a bike, the pedaling is light but the frame must be old because it creaks a little when it slows down slightly to maneuver to the left and pass you.
• you look up and see a boy
• brown hair still wet from the pool or a shower maybe, dimples at the corners of his smile, the two sizes too big white shirt fluttering behind him in the breeze
• for what seems like longer than a second - you lock eyes - his match the color of autumn leaves and teddy bear fur 
• and for some weird reason can’t stop thinking about them even well after you get back home
• is he new in town? i’ve never seen him before?
• finally managing to shake off the curiosity, you fish the shoebox you’ve been keeping under your bed out and open it.
• inside there’s only three things so far: 
• a copy of your graduation photo, a copy of johnny’s graduation photo, and the prom invite ticket that has jungwoo’s chicken scrawl on the back (he was technically your date, because johnny got proportioned by half the seniors and mark was too nervous to ask if you’d take him)
• this is what you were talking about. this is what you want to spend summer doing.
• you want to spend it remembering, gathering fragments of your life so far in your hometown with your bestfriends, so that when you move on you have a tangible piece of the memories
• the reason you were keeping it a secret though was because…..even you had to admit…….this was a little much 
• and you had built yourself a little bit of a hard shell so imagining telling the people you knew that this was your summer plan 
• well, you could already hear johnny’s voice saying something like ‘hey, this isn’t a hallmark movie you sap and facetime exists. do you think im not gonna call you at 3 am from across the country like i do now anyway?’ 
• you close the box and tap your fingers on the top.
• tomorrow, i’ll start visiting all the important places.
• your phone pings and it sound echoes through the otherwise empty library. 
• a harsh shushing sound comes from the front desk and you quickly answer it, sliding down against one of the bookcases
• you’d come here to see if you could find that old series you loved as a kid, the magic treehouse, it’s the books you and johnny fought over when you first met each other years ago
• you abandon that though because poor mark sounds like he’s having a panic attack over the phone
• “hey, you need to get over here - johnny is holding auditions for a guitarist since you said you didn’t want to do the band”
  
• “ok, so what? it’s just auditions?”
  
• mark’s pleading gets louder, “it’s auditions with JOHNNY - he thinks this is eurovision or something i don’t know please i can’t reign him in and jungwoo’s at his internship - i am dying here!”
• you sigh, making it long so mark knows how annoyed you are
• “put him on.”
  
• mark’s voice drowns and johnny takes the phone from him
• “what did i say with conspiring with them? we are shunning them for quitting on the band! what do you mean you had no other options? what do you mean my egomania is coming out? - anyway hey whats up?”
  
• “stop torturing mark and all the poor kids that showed up to audition.”
  
• “first of all, im not torturing anyone. that would be illegal and distasteful, im just giving my constructive criticism. second of all, if you want to give orders like that then let’s make this a fare trade off. come over and help me judge - i mean hold the auditions and then i will cease my so called ‘torturing’ ala my ‘criticizing’.”
  
• you huff - fine, it’s one day out of the whole summer.
• “ok. but you better have snacks.”
  
• “do you think i wouldn’t provide refreshments? what kind of monster do you think i am?”
• there’s more people than you expect showing up to audition for this band. half of them are just there to sweet talk johnny or mark,  but the others are all just. bad. 
• you never knew how bad someone butcher playing an instrument, let alone a guitar, but you’ve had that eye opening experience today
• “how many people left?”
  
• you mutter, face first into your palms and looking up with happiness when mark says only one!
• “hey, im jung jaehyun.”
  
• you turn and see the boy from the bike, the one with the softest eyes you’ve ever seen, standing in the entry to johnny’s garage
• he’s carrying his own guitar case - black leather and well worn but loved
• “well jaehyun dude, i hope you can at least play the damn thing because i feel like no one in this town can!”
• johnny groans and you straighten up a little as jaehyun comes closer
• he sets himself up and you feel something inside your stomach turn when he bends down and you see a bit of the tanned skin of his back
• “im not amazing, but i can play some of the classics.”
  
• “wonderwall?” mark asks and johnny snips at him as you try to think of something to say, but suddenly….your brain is fuzzy
  
• “play anything!” 
  
• so jaehyun does, he plays, and he even sings and the fuzziness in your brain turns to white noise and the little drop in your stomach is a whole bundle of butterflies
• you barely realize the johnny is already befriending jaehyun and mark is staring at him with those big, impressed eyes
• when you get up and jaehyun smiles at you
• “so what do you play?”
  
• johnny throws an arm around your shoulder older brother style and rolls his eyes before you get a word in
• “you’re actually taking their spot because they’re too busy to be in the band.”
  
• something seems to cast a sad shadow over jaehyun’s features - “oh, you’re not going to play with us?”
• words float through your head, none of which you can grasp onto, so you just shake it instead and let johnny ramble on about your so called betrayal
• you look at your phone and of course it’s nearing ten and there’s no way you can go to any of the other places on your list so you motion to mark that you’re going to head home
• “oh - i have to go too.”
  
• jaehyun slings his guitar case over his shoulder, “but ill come by tomorrow for practice?”
• johnny shoots him a big grin and then haggles all the social media jaehyun has out of him
• you don’t know why you just don’t start walking - but somehow you end up leaving with jaehyun, making that left turn where you first passed each other
• “do you live on this street?”
  
• you jump a little as you nod, “yeah - i think i actually saw you yesterday. you were on your bike so you probably didn’t notice me.”
• there’s a polite distance between you two, but jaehyun is smiling when he answers
• “oh no, i definitely noticed you.”
• you end up thinking about those words the same way you couldn’t stop thinking about his eyes 
• except this time, instead of it lasting a day, the thought lasts nearly two and a half weeks
• it seems jaehyun is doing a good job fitting in with your friends, considering you don’t get anymore calls from mark 
• and you actually start to make progress on your summer project
• you manage to get some ticket stubs from old movies, an old science project you did that’s still hanging on the walls of the highschool (open for summer classes), and pressed flowers from ontop of a hill where you almost break your elbow back when you were a freshman
• you’re plunging yourself into your past, but weirdly enough every now and then you’ll remember that 
• oh no, i definitely noticed you
• the six little words make you feel giddier than whatever memento you’re seeking out to tuck into your shoebox
• you try to tell yourself it’s just because jaehyun is new - he’s new and the memory of him isn’t old enough to try and find anything to represent him by 
• and he kind of represents everything you’re nervous about - new places, new people, new friendships …… the prospect of a new love
• love? 
• you look up at the sky as you swing back and forth on the playground you’ve come to collect something from for your memory box 
• that’s ridiculous. i’ve had one conversation with him!
• you swing your legs back and forth, slowing down and you think twice about jumping off when suddenly you feels someone gently push your back
• the swing goes a little higher and you turn your head in surprise to see
• “j-jaehyun?”
  
• he smiles and his dimples greet you before he does
• “i saw you on my way back from johnny’s.”
  
• he gives you another soft push and you hear that fuzzy noise that always turns the gears in your brain when you try to say something around him
• “is - is johnny being nice?”
  
• is all you can muster and jaehyun laughs, the sound melodic but low, just the way the baritone of his voice is when he sang
• “very nice, but he is a lot to handle sometimes.”
  
• you kick your legs down and dig your heels into the grass a little, jaehyun grabs the two chains of the swings to help you stop it
• when you turn you notice his bike is laying a couple of feet away and so is his guitar
• “what about the band stuff?”
  
• “johnny is trying to write songs and stuff, but actually mark is the one that i think has the talent for it.”
• you can’t help but feel the corner of your mouth lift up a little, he already knows the two of them pretty well.
• “what about you - do you write songs or music?”
  
• jaehyun lifts his bike back up and you take the guitar case to help him
• before you know it - you and him are walking side by side again 
• “a little, but it’s more about playing the guitar for me. that’s the part that makes me happy.”
  
• you play with your fingers behind your back, old nervous habits rising to the surface
• “by the way - why did you not want to be part of the band? johnny said you were busy with something but you didn’t say what.”
  
• you stop 
• i should lie, make something up.
• jaehyun stops too and the sounds of the bike wheels and footsteps float off into the air
• but for some reason, i don’t want to lie. not to him.
• “im……leaving after the summer, going to school in another place. so im spending my summer kind of…..im kind of cataloging this place. this town. i’m doing the whole put your memories in a shoebox thing which is so-”
  
• “awesome! i think it’s awesome that you want a part of your home with you, sometimes people are way too excited to get away from their roots.”
  
• you look at jaehyun, who returns the look with a comforting warmth you’ve never experienced before.
• it’s a different comfort than the one you get from your friends or your family, it makes your heart beat flutter - slow for a second, then so fast you think your body can’t keep up
• he starts walking again and you do too
• the silence isn’t weird. it’s a conversation in it’s own way between your two bodies.
• when you get to your house - you look at jaehyun again and you have two thoughts
• one is that you should kiss him. because he looks so…..kissable.
• the second, the one you ultimately choose, is to widen your eyes and go:
• “promise you won’t tell the others about it though, they would not let me live it down.”
  
• jaehyun laughs and hooks his pinkie with yours - his skin soft under the setting sun - “i promise.”
• and after being caught up in thinking about jaehyun’s eyes, or the way he speaks, you find yourself in the same repeating cycle again
• this time. it’s your regret. 
• you should have chose option one, because it’s looking like another opportunity to kiss jung jaehyun is not coming any time soon.
• and like the two times before, you throw yourself into your summer project to try and not think about it 
• (although you do, multiple times throughout the day, at one point blushing at the image of what could have happened if you DID kiss him and then getting snapped at by the angry man at the local deli)
• another couple of weeks pass and you swing by johnny’s because it’s a location on your summer memory list and also….
• you are curious about how the band is going …
• and you kind of a little want to see jaehyun again……
• you arrive and hear jungwoo’s voice to your surprise, followed by the sound of drums and johnny’s sharp “stop, stop, STOP!”
• “jungwoo, what is going on - did working at samsung make you into a robot who can only produce code and not drum to save his life?”
• “what do you know about drumming johnny? or coding? or anything in general?”
  
• “hey watch the attitude, you’re embarrassing me in front of jaehyun.”
  
• jungwoo snorts and you try to hide your own laugh but everyone turns to you just in time for you to hiccup it back
• “ah - the traitor is here!” 
• johnny sings and jaehyun gives him a soft elbow to the ribs
  
• “what’s up?” 
  
• mark smiles from his place at the keyboard and you cross your arms
• “nothing, hows it going - book any shows? write an album yet?”
• “actually, we did book a gig for your information”
  
• johnny waltz his way from the microphone and to a stack of flyers from his couch
• he hands you one and this time you do burst out into laughter
• the flyer, pink and way over the top, is an invitation to johnny’s end of the summer party
• well it’s actually his going away party his parents have planned for him, since he’s also leaving for school
• “johnny - you didn’t book a gig. you’re playing your own party.”
  
• “the parents are shelling out twenty dollars to each of us so money makes it a gig.”
  
• you look at jaehyun who secretly rolls his eyes
• “sure, sure. can i keep one of these?” 
  
• you fold the flyer and slip it into your pocket, this will make a good addition to the shoebox
• “oh are you going to put it in-”
  
• jaehyun starts and you rush over, hand flying over his mouth as the three other people in the garage stare
• “going to put it in……the trash. yes. going to throw it right out because really johnny did you use paint-”
  
• johnny flips you off in the kindest, best friend way possible
• you let go of jaehyun and throw him a look that he mouths an apology too
• somehow, instead of leaving, you end up staying and listening to them practice
• you consider it a break from your project and the day is filled with what you’d expect from all of them, laughter and jokes and banter that is only ok between the closest of people
• when they finally finish practice and jungwoo and mark accept a gracious ride home from mr. suh 
• you say you’ll be off too and jaehyun trots up right behind you, “ill walk with you.”
• this time, you hear less of the fuzz in your head and can actually keep up a decent conversation without staring at jaehyun’s lips
• you feel closer because of the time you spent today and you almost walk past your house until jaehyun points to the porch
• “oh by the way. can i see what you have in the shoebox?”
  
• you look over your shoulder at him, “like right now?”
• he gives a casual shrug
• “is that ok?”
  
• and now jung jaehyun is standing in your room. well he’s standing in it and then he’s sitting on your bed and rummaging through some of the most personal memories you have.
• his long fingers pulling out ticket stubs or notes you passed in class
• he chuckles at the graduation photo of johnny and dangles yours over your head when he refuses to give it back 
• you tackle him for it and he falls down against your sheets and you make the worst (or arguably best) mistake of your life
• when you straddle his hips and rich out to grab it
• only to look down and see him splayed open like the pages of a beautiful book
• and you remember your regret
• it makes your head spin, but you watch in slow motion as the photo falls from between his fingers and you lean down to catch it, but jaehyun presses up and catches your mouth with his.
• it’s sloppy, awkward - but only for the first few seconds - until you can both adjust yourselves from your position and do it right and then it is 
• astonishing
• because it feels like you’re kissing someone you’ve been kissing for years. decades. millennia’s. eons. 
• it feels like you and jaehyun have been doing this since the big bang.
• since humans first came to exist. 
• since, gosh you don’t know, since pangea freaking broke apart.
• you make out for so long that you lose track of time and it gets late to the point where the darkness of the summer almost makes you ask him to stay over
• but jaehyun is just so mannerly that he slips out the back door of your house with a final kiss and a promise to call
• which he follows up on earlier than you expect, showing up on your doorstep to take you out for breakfast
• only to end up with you two back in your room an hour later, kissing again, and again, and with more hands and less of his shirt or yours.
• the only thing that unglues you from him is his phone ringing for what must be the tenth time
• “it’s johnny”
  
• you breath against jaehyun’s neck finally
• “how do you know?”
  
• “only he calls ten times in a row.”
  
• and like your summer project, you don’t tell your friends about what’s going on between you two
• jaehyun says it’s kind of hard to hide the obvious evidence on his body - but you tell him to say it was your other neighbor, or someone from another town
• jaehyun agrees just because you pull the doe eye trick on him and he really is learning he can’t say no to that or to you in most situations
• but everytime before and after band practice - he’s with you
• sometimes he joins you on your little visits to the places still on your lists
• when you tell him the sentimental value behind them, you get a little fidgety because being vulnerable is hard 
• but jaehyun listens and he says that each memory of yours he gets to watch you relive, helps him learn something about you
• you don’t say it out loud - but hearing that makes you want to cry and kiss him and cry again 
• an other times, you two don’t do anything heartwarming or special, you just roll around with him, tangled up in one until he has to go
• with each day, summer comes closer to 
• and end but you fall deeper into each other at a pace that might be alarming if it was any other two humans but the both you
• and before you know it - it’s the day of johnny’s end of summer slash going away party 
• jaehyun is supposed to be there from like nine in the morning but he stops at your place before he bikes over
• kissing your forehead he drops something in your palm
• you open it to see his guitar pick 
• “won’t you need this for when you play?”
  
• “i’m using my backup. i just thought you might want to put that one in your shoebox……..since it could remind you of me……”
  
• he flushes and you bite back your lip, part of you is happy because he’s just so cute it isn’t fair but the other is coming to the daunting idea that 
• soon enough - im leaving too, will jaehyun just be another memory to me?
• instead of dwelling on it, you peck him again and ask, 
• “ill see you at the party?”
  
• the party is most definitely a johnny suh party
• the food is amazing, everyone on the planet is invited, and johnny is wearing something so bright it beats out the sun
• when you arrive, his mother spends half an hour asking you to take care of him when he finally leaves and you don’t remind her that you’re going to two different places
• you don’t see jaehyun or mark or jungwoo around - you assume they’re practicing somewhere for the performance while johnny is juggling both front lead singer and host
• the party is fun - it really is - but the words “going away” somehow still make you a little sick
• you’re about to escape to somewhere a little quieter, when you hear someone tap the mic on the makeshift stage in johnny’s backyard
• you see him - and the rest of the band - gather on as johnny introduces them and shouts excitedly that this song they’re going to perform, written by keyboardist mark, is all about new beginnings!
• jaehyun finds you in the crowd, a secret little smile on his lips before the music starts and to your surprise - and probably everyone elses - they actually do pretty good
• the lyrics are so very mark, but johnny brings a flare to the way he sings it
• jungwoo seems to have remembered how much he adores drumming again and the way jaehyun looks playing guitar is so enticing that you can’t help but feel a little pride in the fact that you’ve been tasting all of that for most of the summer
• the sick feeling in your stomach turns into excitement which turns into just pure enjoyment as you watch your friends and your boyfriend up there having fun
• when it’s over and they hop down to mingle back into the rest of the party, you really can’t help yourself and throw your arms around jaehyun
• you kiss him - which earns a gasp from mark, a half smirk from jungwoo, and a loud clearing of his throat from johnny
• you and jaehyun admit what’s been going on and when johnny just whistles you ask him if he’s not mad
• “even if i was mad, you would still keep liking each other right - so what’s the point?” 
• you hug johnny, and mark, and jungwoo, and like nothing has changed you all fall back into the swing of it
• the comfort of being around each other
• when you five are the last people in johnny’s messy background you finally decide to tell them all about your summer project
• “i knew you’d all say it was lame so i-”
• “hey hey hey - it isn’t lame. it’s not what i expect but i get why you’d want to do it.”
• johnny pats your shoulder and you feel jaehyun’s hand on the small of your back
• it’s the kind of moment you want to never end. 
• really, you just want this summer to never end.
• but when it does - when the day comes for the temperature to drop and for you to be on your way to a new place
• you feel the sadness come in a big wave
• johnny, mark, jungwoo, and jaehyun all come to say goodbye and you hold the shoebox in your hands - now heavy and filled to the brim with all your memories
• before you say it though, each of them adds something
• jungwoo drops his samsung internship ID into it
• mark places the paper he wrote the draft of the lyrics to the song they performed at the party into it
• and johnny chucks a burned CD version of it into the mix
• finally, turning to jaehyun, you take in a deep breath
• “i know the distance will be big so if you want to break up and-”
  
• he kisses you before you can finish your sentence and slips a small box that you don’t open until you’re already in your new dorm
• inside is a small bracelet, engraved on the inside are the words
• “i definitely noticed you. it was love at first sight”
  
• years later - jaehyun says those words again
• as he’s reading his vows 
• and you’re feeling the fuzziness, the butterflies, the comforting warmth, everything like a tsunami of all the things that are you and jaehyun
• and when johnny shows up to present the rings to you two
• they’re in that old shoebox 
• two little bands at the bottom of all those memories
• at the reception, you lean over and whisper to your now husband
• “where did you find that old thing by the way?”
• jaehyun nuzzles his lips against the cusp of your ear as you watch jungwoo and mark make fools of themselves on the dance floor 
• “under the bed, where you put everything you care about.”

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au doyoung
late birthday post for mr. kim! i am never on time for these posts, apologies. 
find others here: johnny|haechan|taeil|taeyong|mark|jaemin|yangyang|yuta|sicheng|chenle|kun | yukhei

• a sinking feeling has you rooted to the floor. staring at the lock of your front door as someone knocks politely over and over again.
• “what are you doing?”
• your mother’s voice gusts past you like a breeze, she leans over your frozen figure and turns the knob.
• you step back to avoid being hit by the door and dread the light that washes over your mothers face
• “doyoung! come in!”
  
• he steps through and all you catch is a bit of side profile, hidden behind the gigantic plant he’s holding
• “oh! that’s the orchid your mother was just up in a fit about? come here sweetie, place it on the kitchen table -”
  
• his footsteps echo and you shrink a little, he didn’t even look at me. 
• you’re thankful for your mothers insolent obsession with being a good host and trudge your way back to your room
• doyoung is in your house. 
• which is weird, the first time he was in your house - you knew, obviously, but he was uninvited. your mother didn’t welcome him through the door.
• now - for the past month - after both his mother and yours had come to a unbreakable bond over their indoor houseplants 
• doyoung has very much been a presence, an invited presence, a presence everyone but you seemed to be delighted about
• “he’s such a nice boy, he’s spending his summers tutoring younger kids and i see him biking all around town.”
  
• your mother gushes almost every time at dinner after doyoung leaves - delivering whatever ailing plant his mother has sent to yours to fix and play botanist with
• you pick at your food
• yeah, he’s a nice boy. that’s what makes this all so much worse.
• now - you’re laying on your sheets with your hand on your stomach and staring up at the wall thinking very much the same thought.
• he’s so nice, and so perfect, and everything anyone ever dreams of. why am i such an idiot for not wanting that?
• you drum your fingers and again spiral back into the memory that keeps itself wedged between you and him like a piece of food that’s stuck so sternly between teeth, no pushing at it with your tongue helps.
• summer starts in ten days, officially you know - by the university calendar.you’re supposed to be focusing on a final paper for some elective politics class you took, but you’re not. you’re staring at the back of doyoung’s neck. he sits in front of you for most lectures.
• “hey, do you know anything about this military-first politics and nuclear armament essay prompt the professor gave us?”
  
• doyoung turns slowly, blinking at you from behind his thin-wired classes, “yeah - it’s been the topic of discussion and reading for like a week.”
• you know you sound kind of stupid to even ask - but you will admit, politics isn’t your thing and it seems to really be doyoungs - so you smile, with a please pity me kind of look in your eye. doyoung sighs, but he gets up and slides into the seat beside you - opening up the half blank word document on your laptop.
• that’s it. that’s all it was going to be. doyoung helping you skid by, so that your summer isn’t ruined by a shitty grade. 
• but that’s not what happens. at all. 
• doyoung instead spends a lot of time helping you write a good enough paper to pull through a B-. 
• that means a lot of alone time in the library, in study hall, in the empty halls of the school buildings where classes have ended and no one is around.
• it’s a lot of being shoulder to shoulder with him, realizing how nice he always smells - how long his fingers are when they type - how he doesn’t have a significant other because no one except his friends ever end up interrupting you.
• it’s the day after you get your grades for the semester, something about getting the paper back sparks a fire in you
• you scope doyoung out at the coffeeshop and exclaim that you and him did it!
• a couple of heads whip around, did it?, you quickly add some mumbling about the paper.
• doyoung laughs, it’s the first time you’ve heard the genuine sound, because most of the time he just makes a half-sided smirk or chuckle.
• you buy him an iced latte as repayment and somehow end up walking out of there with side by side.
• doyoung asks if you live near by if you don’t dorm, you say you do. he does too. that’s weird - you’ve never seen him around the neighborhood.
• after that you pretend it’s a blur. because truth be told it isn’t.
• you and doyoung are going to be taking the same train anyway, why not take it together. you and doyoung are going to know the same little places around town, why not talk about them.
• why not? why not? why not? 
• why not invite him inside when you’re back in your hometown, why not lead him up to your room just so he can see it and why not kiss him when he leans over you.
• people your age do it all the time, they hookup. that’s the only answer to that stupid hanging ‘why not?’
• so when you felt doyoung’s fingers graze down your side and he’d clumsily gotten his glasses off just in time for you to pull his shirt up over his head 
• you were convinced it meant nothing. you were convinced he thought the same.
• then it all happens and you can’t take it back. 
• especially not the part where you’re laying on your bed, just like you are now, waiting for doyoung to start gathering his things and instead a hand loops around your sweaty waist.
• “aren’t you going to leave?”
  
• the words blurt out of your mouth before you even think about it. 
• the tension that stalled in the room had been so horrible you swore you’d felt it seep into every pore, damn near trickling itself down the walls.
• doyoung had darkened, pulled himself away from you, and disappeared before you could string together your next thought.
• part of you had been relieved, the other part felt like the biggest asshole on the planet.
• you were just grateful the rest of the summer could easily be passed by keeping away from each other - until your mother had found her new best friend.
• downstairs you can hear doyoung shuffling around with your mothers plants, you can’t make out what they’re saying, but you’re sure your mother is inviting him to stay and eat with you. asking doyoung about his amazing future plans to become a lawyer. enthralled by everything he is as a child and that you, most likely, are not.
• when he finally leaves and the commotions die down you can’t get up
• this is the most confusing moment. 
• not the whole ignoring each other when he pops over, not the whole reliving the past from just a glimpse. 
• it’s why - when it happened, you had been so content with it just staying nothing - you had been the one to make that decision for the both of you
• yet
• why does it seem like you’re wallowing in it, clinging to it, imaging it all over
• every time he comes over
• because you didn’t just want a hook-up. you wanted doyoung and were playing it off because having a crush on him isn’t worth it right?
• your mind coils itself through a storm
• you thought he only wanted to sleep with you too, because the thought of someone as good as doyoung liking you just doesn’t make sense?
• despite the summer heat, you feel cold
• you’re not good enough to actually be liked, to be the person doyoung chooses for something more than just your-
• your phone rings and you sit up so fast it gives you a headache, you feel around and bring it to your ear without checking the number
• “hello?”
  
• “our mothers are trying to set us up on a date.”
  
• you want to be anywhere in the world, but here. 
• doyoung’s blank expression doesn’t let you know if he feels the same, but the way he won’t get in at least eight feet of you is telling enough.
• you’re in his backyard, well technically you’re in his neighbors backyard, because he doesn’t want to be visible behind the hedges
• rather be caught dead than be next to me, right? 
• you shrill at yourself and try to bury the wince you make internally
• “i think you should just tell them you have another boyfriend.”
  
• “i can’t lie to my mother.”
  
• you start and doyoung watches you chew on your lower lip and retreat defensively a step back
• “why not?”
  
• “she’s noisy - she’ll find out. she’ll insist until i die to meet this ‘other boyfriend’. plus i’m not a good liar.”
• “really? could have fooled me.”
  
• doyoung straightens himself as he says that, eyes unblinking behind the frames of his glasses
• i probably deserve that. well actually-
• “doyoung, i never promised you anything when we-”
  
• the words wilt and doyoung suddenly looks over his shoulder.
• “you’re right, you never promised me anything. im the one who was a fool for ever thinking it was something.”
  
• you look at the grass. 
• you wonder, if you had not said that one sentence - aren’t you going to leave - would this summer be different?
• would you and doyoung be spending every second together, holding each other at the beach? kissing under the fireworks? sharing ice-cream and diving into pools filled of water and your laughter?
• the thought blooms something in your chest
• i wish - i wish it was that.
• “you say i should lie, but you’re pretty good at it too doyoung.”
  
• “excuse me?”
  
• “it’s not like you - it’s not like you really wanted it to be anything more than it was.”
  
• you think the grass is going to burst into flames with how hard you’re concentrating on it.
• “what, you’re telling me-” you swallow “you’re telling me you actually wanted to be with me after? our mothers are trying to get us to go on a date and you called me out here just to avoidthat.”
  
• he leans forward
• “if you are trying to make me the only guilty party here-”
  
• he’s closer and you feel your voice shake a little, but you try to push to the end of your thought.
• “im not, you never made any effort to make it seem like you had any genuine emotion so am i so wrong for just assuming it was just se-”
  
• his hands, large and gentle, manage to find your shoulders and doyoung presses his lips to yours 
• you stiffen from the external shock, but then relax under the light grip
• his breath smells sweet, like he’s been chewing bubblegum, he’s wearing the same cologne he does at university
• “i don’t just sleep with people.” 
  
• he whispers against your mouth
• “nothing against it, but i don’t think there’s a point to sharing something intimate with someone who i don’t want in every possible way.”
  
• when you and doyoung agree to go on a date - both your mothers lose it. they’re convinced you’re soulmates.
• although you and doyoung both agree they’re thinking way too far ahead in the future - it doesn’t mask the fact that the attraction that ends up forming between you two is undeniable
• doyoung is so determined and intently goal orientated that you would think there isn’t the capacity to have fun in one bone in his body, but that’s not true
• when he’s comfortable, he’s charming and full of humor - he makes you double over with laughter more than you could have imagined
• and you aren’t as spacey and shy as doyoung might have assumed either, you have a competitive streak and you make doyoung feel like this is the summer of his life
• the summer of his life that someone could probably make a decent coming of age film out of
• he brings it up after you two exit a movie that was just about the same topic and you look down at your hands intertwined and shake your head
• “no they’d never cast the right people to play us.”
  
• doyoung sees the reflection of the milky way in your eyes, but he doesn’t say it
• “no one on this planet is like you.”
  
• he returns this sentiment with a small kiss that bumps this glasses against the bridge of your nose.
• you get nervous sometimes when you think about how the summer started, it’s not like you’re living in the middle ages where intimacy is a sin before eternal commitment or anything
• no you just get nervous because the reason you ever even made that situation as bad as it was, was because of your insecurity
• does doyoung actually like me? did two weeks of being together at school make him realize something about me is worth it?
• you can’t ask him that - even though sometimes you want to, so you can explain why you hadn’t just rolled over and nuzzled yourself into the dip of his chest
• much like you do now - you fit so perfectly right between his arms
• instead it sometimes gnaws at you until doyoung is cleaning his glasses over your sink and you’re sitting in the bathtub looking at him
• your parents are ironically over at doyoungs for some wine party or whatever and although your mothers are in awe about you two being “a cute lil couple” 
• they see that - cute, part of it makes you snort. you and doyoung sometimes act more mature than they do.
• “i always knew you were staring at me in lecture.” he starts and a little smirk pulls at his long lips
• you flick some of the water at him and he leans against the counter
• he doesn’t like baths, he prefers showers, but he still stays in the room with you when you take them 
• “i wasn’t staring at you.”
  
• “you were staring at the back of my neck.”
  
• you look away because fair, not like he spends a lot of time looking away from the professor.
• “so i knew you liked me, or something about me. that’s why it hurt.”
  
• “when we-”
  
• “yes and i like being logical, so not having a real answer for why that all happened like it did still haunts me.”
  
• he tilts his head and you see the line of his thin collarbones through his shirt
• “i thought you’d say it first.”
  
• he blinks
• “i thought you’d say something like, that was cool. ill see you at uni come fall. and then leave. so i mean, i didn’t even say go leave - i asked, aren’t you going to leave?”
  
• doyoung is smart so he gets what you’re saying in the most roundabout way possible
• he walks over and squats down, leans over the ridge of the bath to kiss you and doesn’t complain when you bring your soapy hands up to cradle his neck
• “im sorry i did leave, i should have just said what i felt right there.” 
  
• he mutters and you nod. you should have said it too.
• when you and doyoung graduate and he goes on to law school and you start working, you almost break up - twice - because of the stress
• but somehow neither of you can ever ask the other one
• aren’t you going to leave?
• because neither of you ever really wants to.
• so you don’t, you stay through all the hardships, through every argument and bump in the road. 
• you stay, you choose to stay and so does he and you might not even fall asleep next to each other on some days but the heat of the person you love is always there.
• and then doyoung gets his first big promotion at his job, runs all the way home with the news and ends up breathing hard and talking nonsense to you in your shared kitchen
• “you need a shower.”
  
• you say, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he shakes his head, no. he needs a bath.
• you lean back against his chest, stronger and broader as he’s aged. 
• he looks down at you and even the eyebags that have gotten darker with all that work he does don’t do anything to make him less attractive
• you peck his chin, because it’s what you can reach.
• “if we sit here any longer we’re going to prune.”
  
• “are you going to be the first one to leave?”
  
• he asks and you shake your head. 
• you’ll sit here forever if that’s what it takes.
• on the counter of the bathroom, there’s one of the houseplants your mothers keeps shipping to you. 
• you don’t notice that it’s the same orchid that doyoung carried into your house all those years ago, when you thought he hadn’t even looked at you when your mother opened the door.
• he curls a strand of your wet hair around his finger.
• he had looked at you, quickly, but he had done it. 
• even half covered by orchid leaves, you’d made his mouth dry. 
• “no seriously though - we will prune.”
  
• “i’ll get up if you get up?”
  
• i’ll never leave, the only way i’ll leave is if it means im taking you with me. 

☆: pastry chefs/bakers!au taeyong
a little bit of a rivals au, but mostly oblivious pining that stretches for way too long like please just tell each other you’re in love. also i dont know anything about baking sweets so…ignore any of my mistakes..
tw: worrying about your career lol, drinking

• in your first year of culinary school, you realize cooking is a language full of its own rules and century-old traditions.
• cooking is like french, or pashto, or russian
• but baking - is a completely different dialect
• baking exists in the world of cooking, but it sets its own path that you end up falling in love with
• and your once dream of becoming an executive chef at some fancy, flashy restaurant turns into a dream of owning your own bakery
• a place unique to the skills you start to hone with a vicious passion that leaves most of the other students around you confused
• you find out one of your professors has had a decorated career in pastry making and immediately seek him out to take you as an understudy
• and that’s when you meet lee taeyong
• he’s got big eyes like molds full of warm chocolate and stands thin in frame under the white uniforms you all wear
• in his front pocket is a wrapper from the milk buns they sell down the street
• he’s not intimidating at all
• but when you get closer to him you smell the familiar scent of sugar and you start to understand why he’s there too
• “im here to talk to the professor about becoming his apprentice.”
• you say it because the silence between you two is awkward
• also - you want to read him
• you want to see what his reaction will be, you wonder if he’ll snort at you and tell you to back off, he was here first
• but all taeyong does is bat his eyes at you like a baby deer caught in the headlights
• “oh. me too.”
• although you both live in the realm of sweets - you and taeyong are on opposite ends of the spectrum in every way possible
• for one, you are excitable and energetic and want to get elbow deep into any ingredient, familiar or foreign
• taeyong is reserved and usually sleepy during the early morning classes. he observes and takes every step of his routine with caution.
• your fundamentals are the same - cookies, cakes, and bars. these are staples to any baker or patisserie’s book
• but everything else you and taeyong make couldn’t be more different
• you always lean into the comfort kind of dessert: brownies, puddings and pies. you can make a doughnut fancy - but why should you? the most important part is that it tastes like a place somewhere you know.
• but taeyong is a scientist, a designer, and completely out of your loop.
• he pushes forward crème brûlée’s, strawberry eclairs, and makes meringue’s with his eyes closed.
• when you put forward your desserts, one always looks like you could get it at a street fair and the other looks like it’s only available for a week at some snotty european bistro
• you sometimes don’t know what in the world he is even making until it’s done
• and the first time you learn what cream of tartar is - taeyong looks at you with the same innocence he always has painted on his face - “oh, i use this all the time.”
• you won’t lie - in the beginning you were a bit disheartened by the gap between you two
• and it would have been easy to think that just because his ingredients were more expensive and sometimes harder to pronounce that he was the more deserving apprentice
• but you managed to crush that thought for all your time at school because sure he could do his own thing and you could do yours
• and you could both be great at it
• “except, what if you like apply for the same job?”
• you ruffle through your sparse choices of outfits for graduation. all of them are not as great as you thought they were when you bought them.
• “hmmm, you mean me and taeyong?”
• your friend who said they’d come over and help you pick is not doing that at all.
• instead, she’s sitting cross legged on your bed and looking at one the polaroid’s on your wall.
• she taps a nail on the one that has you, taeyong, and your shared professor on it
• you join her and look at taeyongs small face on the photograph
• “i mean i doubt it. he’s probably going to go work in paris or milan.”
• “he has the looks for it, that’s for sure.”
• you purse your lips and turn to look at your friend with disappointment but she just deadpans back
• “c'mon, all this time together and you’ve never thought he was hot?”
• you shake your head before you can really register an answer
• you look at him and he’s got his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. his uniform looks like he’s ironed it.
• you have what might be sugar on yours, and your hair is a bit of a disheveled mess.
• “i guess he’s cute.”
• graduation comes and goes in what seems like a blur - you can officially call yourself a baker now, although you think the journey started for you a while back
• the last person who want to share a tearful goodbye with aside from some friends and other graduates is your instructor
• you head to where you think you’ll find him - only to find taeyong waiting outside of his office just like on your first day together
• dressed in a pale blue, tailored suit and with that signature lost look on his face he holds a white box in his hands
• “is that a cake?”
• you ask for the sake of conversation
• “dacquoise.”
• “ah. i made snickerdoodles.”
• he hesitates as if he wants to say something, but before he can the door opens and your professor smiles fondly at the both of you
• but he turns first to taeyong
• “congratulations on the job!”
• you blink and feel your mouth dry slightly, “y-you already got a job?”
• taeyong’s ears go red and you can see him clutch a little at the box he’s still holding
• “yes, i got an invitation to work with the patisserie at the shilla hotel.”
• unable to control your expression, your eyes go wide
• the shilla hotel - the most expensive hotel in the city?
• “i called in a recommendation for taeyong as well, im proud to have a student of mine pushing the boundaries already!”
• a recommendation…..he didn’t offer me a recommendation…
• “really, it’s not that gr-”
• taeyong’s voice drowns out and the world starts to feel like it’s rapidly shrinking
• “are you going to apply for some manager positions at some of the bakery chains around here?”
• your professor asks - taking the cake from taeyong’s hands and not hurrying to reach for what you’ve brought along
• manager position? is that what all my work is going to come down to?
• you force on a smile and shake your head.
• you want to be strong and say with confidence - “im going to forge my own way ahead. im going to be the baker i always dreamed i would be.”
• but the words are lost and suddenly, you’re embarrassed
• you’re embarrassed to be standing beside taeyong.
• to be holding these cookies that just don’t compare.
• it goes over your professors head, but taeyong tenses and you suddenly make up a reason for having to leave
• they both say something to you - something that gets lost in the spiraling, sickening feeling of dreaded realization that is gripping you
• we were never on the same level. taeyong was always running a mile ahead of me.
• you feel too ashamed to go home and call your family like you had planned, and you are feeling too small to go out onto the big city streets of seoul
• so you find yourself at the post graduation party the students of your school have thrown
• and you find yourself in front of a bottle
• you are not a drinker, and you are not really a party person either - unless you get to mingle and watch people try your desserts. but this is the only thing you can think of doing
• i thought we were always going to succeed, the both of us. what’s a roll of homemade bread to a world class five star tart - the worst part is
• you draw a circle on the rim of your drink
• the worst part is taeyong isn’t even being selfish about it. he probably didn’t even think it was a competition.
• someone sits at your table, off in the corner and you look up
• just as if he’s sprung from your thoughts - it’s taeyong. and he looks uncomfortable to be in a swarm of so many people.
• “don’t come here to pity me.”
  
• you say it with conviction and the confidence of a little bit of drinking
• he winces, as if it really stings, but you don’t notice and go back to your own thoughts
• taeyong swallows and says something you barely hear over all the noise
• “i can’t pity someone who inspires me.”
• to be frank, you think you imagine the sentiment
• but it’s weird because you can’t decide if you did or if he really said that. why would he? you and him learned side by side together for a long time and you’ve never heard something like that before
• you finish your drink and get up without a word
• taeyong follows and stutters out what he thinks will make you stop from leaving
• “i’ll tell the hotel to consider you instead.”
• all it does is make you angry, you scoff in response
• “you didn’t hear me did you? i said don’t pity me.”
  
• you turn on your heel, rushing toward the door as the world spins slightly in a blur around you 
• you manage to make it out of whatever bar you were in, until you trip against the uneven curb of the sidewalk and hear something split under the platform of your shoe
• you kick up your left foot and see that the bottom is peeling, broken completely off at the edge
• “are you kidding me?”
  
• you try to force it back into place, but it doesn’t work and when you nearly tip over from losing your balance - you put your hand out - only to land on the soft fabric of someone’s shoulders
• it’s taeyong and he puts an arm out to support you that you try to swat away weakly
• all it does is make you wobble into him even more
• when you’re stable, he squats down to look at the damage and his fingers are cool on the skin of your ankle
• from the outside - you probably look like a couple
• the ever doting boyfriend, worried about their partner. there’s an intimacy between you two that you are both oblivious to
• until it hits you from the glances of people who walk by and you pull yourself away
• “it’s fine. im going to walk home.”
  
• “do you live close by, i’ll help you.”
  
• you purse your lips - “actually i have to take the subway so if you could just move-”
• he doesn’t, instead taeyong mutters that his place is luckily just around the corner and he’ll let you borrow something of his to help you get home in
• you refuse - vehemently because you are not trying to look even more embarrassing in front of him than you apparently have been looking all this time
• but taeyong doesn’t sound or looks as meek as you remember when he points out that your shoe is falling apart and you aren’t going to be safe in this kind of state when it’s already so late into the evening
• somehow - you end up in front of taeyong’s apartment - you watch him punch in the code and furrow your eyebrows
• “haha” you start dryly “your code is my birthdate.”
  
• the tips of his ears dust pink but you convince yourself it’s just a weird coincidence 
• taeyong’s place is as neat and as organized as he is, there is a fish tank that grabs your attention and a bookshelf full of cookbooks
• “just let me borrow some slippers and i’ll be gone.”
  
• taeyong disappears into another room and comes out with a pair of fuzzy, clean, nearly brand new looking slippers
• he puts them down by your feet 
• “can i tell you something before you go?”
  
• you want to refuse, but you feel so much of your self worth has leaked out of you in front of him today that you just nod
• “i’m serious about being inspired by you.”
  
• his voice is calm and collected
• “you taught me how to bake the most delicious bread i’ve ever had in my entire life. how am i not supposed to look up to someone like that?”
  
• you blink back an initial wave of shock that nearly gets you sober
• “wh-what are you talking about?”
  
• taeyong doesn’t look up at you so you don’t see his small smile
• “two months after we started our apprenticeship - i told you i’d never made bread from scratch before.”
  
• you can sort of remember the time he’s talking about, but the memory isn’t super clear in your mind
• for most of your time with taeyong, you always thought you were kind of in a secret race, small moments that he’s talking about seemed to have flown over your head
• “instead of just letting me do it myself - you taught me, step by step how to do it. i’d never seen someone do something so easily, like you were born for it. i know it sounds childish to say this but watching you do it felt like watching a movie.”
  
• you can tell taeyong isn’t used to this long of a dialogue and that he’s taking time to choose his words
• “i didn’t think anyone could love baking as much as i did - but i felt in that moment that i met my match in you.”
  
• you stand up, far to quickly than you should, and taeyong has to leap up to catch you from stumbling forward
• this time you don’t try to pull back right away
• you look at him - those big brown eyes that always seemed aloof and far off are concerned and seeping into your own
• “is that wh-is that why the code to your door is-”
  
• taeyong’s face turns nearly crimson
• “yes, because the day after that day was your birthday and when i asked you how to repay you for the lesson you said-”
  
• “-just make me something sweet for my birthday tomorrow.”
  
• something in the room shifts. 
• you don’t know what it is, but it’s like the quickening of a pulse
• you lean forward, but taeyong stops you gently
• “i’m scared you won’t remember if you do that right now.”
  
• you agree, and let taeyong help you sit down. 
• “i don’t want to be a manager.” you hiccup suddenly and taeyong takes in a breath “i want to own my own store. i want to be my own boss. but taeyong, i don’t think i can do it.”
  
• there’s silence and the weight of adulthood and responsibility weaves itself onto both your shoulders
• “i know you can do it. and i want to help if you’d let me.”
  
• the sincerity is almost heart wrenching. you’ve waited to hear those words from everyone, you’ve wanted them from the people you thought should be saying them.
• but hearing them from someone who really believes in you - hits in a whole different way.
• at some point you put your head on taeyong’s shoulder. the night is spent talking about all the things you haven’t been able to share
• even though you spent so much time elbow to elbow in the kitchen
• when your eyes close, you feel safe with taeyong and he doesn’t do anything to betray this newly formed bond between you
• the morning sun through the blinds hurts your head a little. 
• you sit up in the white, clean sheets of taeyong’s bed
• you’re still wearing all your clothes and your shoes and the pair of slippers he brought out for you are on the side of the bed
• when you shuffle into the living room, taeyong is sprawled out on the couch asleep
• you try to be quiet as you sit down in front of him on the carpet, studying the architecture of his face
• “wake up…” you mumble, but he doesn’t seem to hear 
  
• you trace the strong, but somehow inviting lines and says it again a little louder
• taeyong shifts in his sleep and his shirt rides up his flat stomach
• “there’s something i want to do taeyong, please wake up.”
  
• after a moment of stirring, his eyelashes flutter open and he gets caught between a flustered blush and a smile of happiness that you’re still here
• “good mo-”
  
• “can i kiss you now?”
  
• it’s soft, quick, and sweet. somehow taeyong even tastes like sugar. he’s wide awake when you pull back.
• “don’t you have a job to get to you?”
  
• you say to break him out of his trance, he fumbles up and off the couch as you follow too
• but then he stops in his tracks
• “i - i really meant it last night too, that i’d give my recommendation up if you want it ins-”
  
• you put a finger to his lips and taeyong gets the message
• “i’ve decided i am going to work toward my goal and you work toward yours. after all, you said i inspire you and taeyong you inspire me too.”
  
• he looks like he’s biting back giddiness
• this time you two kiss for real, and you nearly drive taeyong up onto a wall which he’d gladly let you continue doing if it weren’t for the alarm that goes off on his phone that breaks you two apart
• you hurry him along and say you’ll make coffee before he has to go
• when you open the cabinet, there are two mugs with little cat faces on them
• when you pull them out you think,
• i’ve learned the language of baking - but now i think i have to learn the language of lee taeyong. 

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au yuta
im not late for once! hehe happy birthday yuta! 
find others here:johnny|haechan|taeil|taeyong|mark|jaemin |yangyang

• “so,,,,,,,where exactly did you find them?”
• the boy infront of you scratches the back of his head, his eyes shifting nervously to the floor
• “outside the skate park.”
• “someone just put them there? in a box?”
• “yeah, like i told you - one second there was nothing and i was you know - skating - and then i looked back at the same spot and there was this box with -”
• he motions and you look down at the four baby kittens, all curled around each other, all matted fur and raggedy looking tails
• “ok. and you brought them here, which was the right thing to do - um-”
• you look at him for a solid moment, piercings in every ear, nose ring, oversized hoodie, beat up board under his arm
• “yuta. my names yuta.”
• “well yuta, if they’re not yours then ill be taking them in as strays.”
• he straightens up
• “are you going to ….. are going to take care of them? or are you going to-”
• you get what he’s insinuating from the way his face pales a little with fright
• you shake your head, no - this isn’t a kill shelter first of all, and also kittens are always in demand to be adopted so once they get in healthy shape a loving family will probably take them in
• you explain this all to yuta, who fidgets in front of the counter, and then leaves without a word when you ask him if there’s anything else you can help with
• you are a little ticked at the rude exit, but a small and hungry meow shifts your focus
• maybe four days pass - when the door to the shelter opens again
• you’re on night duty, the other volunteer - taeyong - is in the back working on some adoption paperwork processing 
• and so you stand up and expect someone to scurry in as usual, looking ashamed and embarrassed, handing you off their ailing cat or misbehaving puppy 
• which isn’t the animals fault at all - but usually the incompetency of a novice owner
• but instead you see yuta. again.
• “are the kittens ok?”
  
• you register the question and narrow your eyes
• “listen if you didn’t just find them and were actually their owner you can’t jus-”
  
• “no, no - id never abandon them like that - i-if they were mine.”
  
• his eyes blaze a little and by the way his voice goes higher you realize he’s probably telling the truth
• he has the some board under his arm and the same old looking hoodie - this time his hair is more messy, as if he came here in a rush
• “i just wanted to make sure they’re ok.”
  
• you tap your fingers against the counter and sigh
• “follow me.”
  
• he breaks into a smile but you snap your fingers and point to the board
• “that thing stays out here.”
  
• he obliges, leaning it up against one of the walls and tailing behind you as you open the door to the back
• taeyong only shifts an eyebrow at the sight of you too - but goes back to flipping through papers as you stop in front of an incubator
• “two of them are in here because they were in a critical condition, but the other two are over there - probably romping around with the others.”
  
• yuta looks through the opening and the light reflects back on his face, the worried look he had been wearing turns into a heartwarming smile
• and he coos at them a little before you almost have to drag him away
• back behind the counter, you watch him pick his board up
• this time he thanks you before he goes and asks;
• “are you the one taking care of them?”
  
• “for the most part, but other volunteers do too when im not on my shift. why?”
  
• he pushes the door open and shrugs
• “you seem like you’d do the best job at it - taking care of them and all.”
  
• before you can even respond, and you can’t because the shock of the statement kind of paralyzes you, yuta is gone
• all you see is him get on his board and skate away through the window
• we’ve met once - well twice - but it’s nice i gave you such a good impression?
• you check your watch two weeks later when you’re on night duty again. there’s no way he’s coming, but this is around the time he stopped by-
• “hey.”
• you look up and yuta’s at the counter. no board this time, but the same hoodie. 
• if you had known each other longer, you might have realized he got another stud in his right ear.
• “are you here to finally adopt them?”
  
• you ask, because you’re genuinely curious, also what other reason would he have for showing up here a third time
• he shakes his head
• “no, i can’t take care of them - even if i wanted to.”
  
• you are about to tell him that’s a lame excuse, but you hear him mutter after
• “i have to figure out how to take care of myself first.”
  
• so you don’t answer, instead you motion for him to follow you
• this time, you let him play with one of the kittens and you see the way he giggles and holds them carefully, they lean into him and although skittish with most
• they seem comfortable and almost serene in the palm of his hands
• you know you shouldn’t really be letting him back in here, but the happiness painted across him in the moment washes away any caution you would have harbored with anyone else
• when you have to say goodbye this time, you are surprised that yuta asks when your night shift ends
• “6 am.”
  
• “woah, isn’t it still dark out then?”
  
• “it’s the middle of summer so the sun comes out while im on the train.”
  
• he nods, waves, and disappears again.
• when your shift ends - you pack your things - and say goodbye to the animals and taeyong
• you shrug your bag over your shoulder and don’t even realize yuta is sitting on the curb outside until you turn in the direction of the train and hear him go
• “hey - wait!”
  
• you feel slightly weird, but not unsafe as he walks beside you
• “how long were you out there?”
  
• “not that long, i went back to the skate park - skated till like 4ish with friends then just went down to the beach.”
  
• “is that what you’ve been doing with your summer nights?”
  
• you mean it as a bit of a joke, but he nods - running a hand through his hair - “not much else to do.”
• “isn’t anyone worried you’re staying out that late?”
  
• “no. no one tends to worry about me.”
  
• you think about that phrase on the ride home. 
• realizing that you should have asked yuta about it when you had the chance
• so instead you show up the next day at the skate park
• you look around, and then you see him
• he’s leaning against the fence - his board on the ground beside him, with his hoodie pilled ontop and a half finished energy drink
• he’s got a sleeveless black tanktop on, messily tucked into scuffed looking jeans. 
• some other skaters are talking to him and he’s laughing 
• but he has his arms crossed and even though he looks part of the group
• something about him is defensive and keeping others at bay
• you don’t meant to stare, and you start thinking this was actually foolish of you to do, until he turns his head and catches your gaze
• he jogs over - some people from inside the park wolf whistle and he flips them off
• “i know you didn’t miss me or anything, so what are you doing here?”
  
• you narrow your eyes - that’s the first thing he thinks to say?
• “well, i just was thinking about something and- well ill just ask.”
  
• he puts his hands in his pockets and looks at you in a way you are not used to being looked at
• like he’s searching inside your expression for truthiness 
• or maybe safety
• “is that why you brought the kittens to us. because you thought like you, no one else would worry about them?”
• your voice is low, almost a whisper and the look on yuta’s face softens
• “yeah.”
  
• he chuckles, but you can tell it is sad
• “kind of pathetic, huh?”
  
• “no.”
• you reject
• “taking care of others is never pathetic.” 
• a silence quilts the conversation, but you don’t feel like it is depressive at all
• instead you suddenly announce
• “ill do it.”
  
• “do what?”
  
• “ill worry about you, so for starters, stop hanging out here until 4 am and go home and sleep.”
  
• he’s smiling when he asks and so it betrays what point he’s trying to make
• “hey, i didn’t ask for you to worry-”
• “too bad. im making the decision to on my own. also, if you want to see the kittens, come during the day.”
  
• surprisingly, yuta takes you up on the order
• he shows up the following week at a normal hour of the day and when he’s playing with those kittens again
• the light on his face is somehow stronger
• he waits for you again to finish work, this time you ask him why - it’s light out and you don’t need to be walked to the train
• “oh im not here to walk you to the train.”
  
• “then why are you here?”
  
• “to take you on a date.”
  
• the date is - as you might have guessed - at the skate park
• where you wobble around on the board as yuta holds you steady by the waist
• you keep almost falling over so in due time you just tell him to let you give up
• the two of you can go spread out on a bench and drink something cold instead
• yuta agrees, but he insists that with more practice you’ll get better. you just don’t think so.
• and this little day, becomes an almost weekly endeavor 
• you work your job at the shelter and yuta picks you up
• you two usually end up doing absolutely nothing together, just walking around and talking 
• and yet it feels at the same time that you are doing everything together
• everything that people do to survive
• eating, talking, breathing, touching 
• when yuta first kisses you it is on the steps leading down into the train. 
• he kisses with an intensity you have never experience from anyone else before
• so much so that you get shy and stop him because you are in public and it is broad daylight
• “are you suggesting we continue somewhere more dark and private?”
  
• he tickles against your ear and you push him playfully away 
• escaping down into the train before he can pick apart your embarrassment
• needless to say, it does happen - how can it not when yuta ignores you telling him to not wait around after your night shift ends
• and he’s there, and the summer darkness is sweltering, and he is too
• and taeyong is off on sick leave, no one else is there to watch the animals with you and the little office in the back is cramped but it fits two people just perfectly
• you mutter when you’re both getting dressed again that you hope the animals didn’t hear anything
• and yuta, with just his jeans on - prances out to check on the kittens
• then the day comes - when a young couple stops in and decides they’re going to adopt all four. 
• it’s bittersweet to let them go, and it almost hurts to tell yuta about it later on
• with you pressed into his arms. but he just squeezes you.
• “im happy they find someone that’ll worry about them.”
  
• you agree and then his lips speak against your hair
• “im happy i found someone who will worry about me too.”
  
• you pull back and yuta waits for your reaction you lean in and kiss him gently
• “im happy i get to worry about you, yuta.” 
  
• he grins and mumbles that you can’t say things like that and expect him not to keep falling more and more crazily in love with you.
• but that’s exactly what you expect, and you expect that he’ll keep feeling that way
• because you do
• even years later 
• when it’s both your turn to finally worry about something together
• “can we adopt four?”
  
• “no, only one yuta.”
  
• “fine - but what if we find four kittens like i did when we first met?”
  
• you roll your eyes, “that’ll be a miracle.”
• you walk through the doors of the shelter and are greeted with a wave from the receptionist
• “are you guys looking for a dog or a cat?”
• “we’re looking for a kitten, do you have any?”
  
• yuta’s arm is around your waist and you want to tell him to stop looking at you and pay attention when the receptionist brightens
• “yes! we actually just got a whole litter, would you like to see them.”
  
• you nod and catch yuta’s wide eyes - he mouths
• “a litter? isn’t that more than four? are we about to adopt like eight ca-”
  
• you pinch his cheek, tell him to stop dreaming, but he just nuzzles in against your ear
• the receptionist giggles into her palm at the affection between you two and you mumble that gosh, looks like you already adopted a big kitten all those years ago.

☆ ko-fi request: sci-fi inspired!au
intergalactic thief! johnny suh x very confused astronaut! you

• when you wake up on what marks the one hundredth day you’ve spent in space mapping out the asteroids that surround the small new planet scientists sent you out to investigate 
• you don’t expect to hear a knock on your spaceship
• for one, you don’t expect it because you are literally in space. 
• how can something - or someone - just knock on your spaceship
• but also, you’re groggy and tired 
• and so somehow your better judgement goes out the window and you peek to see what is making that sound
• your suspicion is some kind of space rubble
• but all you see is ………… a person?!?!
• you rub your eyes to make sure you aren’t dreaming
• this is a solitary mission, no other space shuttles or stations are anywhere in this vicinity 
• at least not to you - or nasa’s knowledge
• and also
• this person………..isn’t wearing an astronauts suit………..they’re just……….floating
• you hear the knock again and then watch as the figure floats over from the side panel of your ship to the window where you are standing and smiles
• it’s definitely a man
• a handsome man
• but how in the world is he alive without any oxygen
• he points to your side panel, then makes some kind of weird signals with his hands, and you shake your head
• you touch the patch on your pajamas, the nasa patch with your name and station number and he seems to snap his fingers
• from the belt around his waist he unsnaps a small foldable black device which projects a hologram up and in front of him 
• the blue text starts
• ah you’re from earth? 
• my name is johnny. my ship was destroyed. i was wondering if i could get some supplies from you?
• you blink and shake your head
• no, if there’s one thing space school didn’t teach you but the movies did, it’s that you don’t let unidentifiable…..persons?…..on your ship when you’re alone in the middle of the galaxy
• he seems to heave a sign and the text pops up again
• im not interesting in any of your human research. i just need something to eat.
• also, if you haven’t guess i have human features so 
• some oxygen would be nice too
• you swallow - if what he’s projecting is true it’d be against your human ethics to not let him inside
• he doesn’t look like he needs oxygen now, but maybe he’s wearing some kind of depletable device?
• you sweat it out for a second, but you can’t have someones life on your hands - that would make this already lonely expression - much much worse
• so you put up your hand - as if to tell him to wait
• you look at your controls and open the small hatch on the side panel that can catch pieces of asteroids or other matter for you to collect and then deliver it to you without you having to actually step out of the space ship
• johnny gets the idea and somehow squeezes himself in
• and in a moment he’s being spit out onto the floor of your spaceship
• and you are frozen in shock because, despite what he might have said about needing oxygen
• you don’t see a tank or anything like that 
• which means he has to be 
• “im not an alien. well im not a full alien.”
  
• he gets up on his feet and dusts himself off
• you blink and cant help but get embarrassed, but as a scientist you have to know
• “then how can you survive out there with no suit?”
  
• johnny taps the side of his neck, you step back when you see two gill like pores open 
• “that’s the half alien part in me, i guess you people on earth know that some fish need oxygen right but can still swim under water? that’s what im like. except - with space.”
  
• you blink 
• “can i have a sample of your dna?”
  
• johnny puts a hand over his heat
• “what a rude thing to ask! we just met!”
  
• “i just think it’d be a fair exchange,…..i did let you on my government funded space ship.”
  
• “government funded?”
  
• you shake your head, and tell him it’s not important, but then you realize that on that belt of his are other thing attached 
• a rucksack of some kind, which looks like it’s full of something round
• a pocket knife clipped to his other side and a set of dangling keys
• “are those the keys to your ship, how did it get destroyed?”
  
• he looks around and then meets your gaze again
• “ah, you could say i have some enemies on saturn.”
  
• you light up
• “there is life on saturn?”
  
• he nods, “there’s life everywhere little earthling.”
• you scurry past him, digging your observation notebook from the pile of sheets 
• you open it and jot down his name, and then ask him - “so how are you part human, is the alien side of you from saturn?”
• johnny scoffs - he plucks the notebook from your hand and shakes his head - “im not going to tell you, not at least until you at least give me a snack-”
• “hey, im letting you breath my ‘earth oxygen’ so tell me again, about the creatures on saturn-”
  
• johnny start to touch things, switches and paperwork and whatnot, you ask him not to but he just says something about that snack you promised
• you get up close
• half to stop him from bothering your things and half to take a look at those pores on his neck
• and the rest of him too
• he has a beautiful, slightly tanned complexion and his eyes are long and highlighted by dark eyelashes
• he looks almost cat-like, curls at the ends of his mouth
• and when your eyes travel down, just as an observation, you can see a scar that jags down his chest
• “how did you get that?”
  
• “all these rude questions! my mom never said they were this rude on earth!”
  
• you clap your hands - “so your mother was the human?! how interesting, and how did she-”
• suddenly your ship gets another knock
• you narrow your eyes and look at johnny, “is that one of your friends?”
• he puts a hand on the rucksack and shakes his head
• “no, i don’t think those are my friends.”
  
• “wh-”
  
• a shadow overcasts through the front window and you turn to see the bottom of a large - rocket? no, it’s something larger - something twice the size of the ship you’re in
• again, you were not aware of any other stations or scientists in this area
• “ah, they always know where i am.”
  
• “sorry - who?”
  
• johnny shakes his head, mutters something about the INTERGALACTIC POLICE FORCE, and you have to pinch yourself 
• because he’s joking right
• another knock hits your ship, which has been sitting idly for one hundred days, and almost knocks you off your feet
• you bump into johnny
• and he in turn catches you, but slips backward too
• the rucksack on his belt opens and out spills glowing, purple orbs
• your eyes widen
• “wh-what are those?”
  
• “they’re the jewels from a palace off mars. can you get them, if they break my ass is going to get nailed by my buy-”
  
• “im sorry - the palace? mars? your buyer?”
  
• he huffs, pushing his hand out to grab one of the orbs as they roll toward him
• “ill explain later, by the way - can this ship fly?”
• “FLY?”
  
• johnny points to the looming shadow - “they’re going to destroy it and both of us if it doesn’t.”
• you don’t know how to explain that this is a ship built to be a home, as in sit in one spot and the only flying it does is to get you back to earth
• but another knock shakes you and you end up jumping against johnny’s arm
• he holds you and gives you a kind of look like - seriously, im not joking.
• you rack your brain, and then ask
• “so are you a criminal, why are they after you?”
  
• he sighs
• “earthling, we can talk about it all later  maybe even flirt a little but one more knock and this little ship is going to go-”
  
• you put a hand up and start working the switchboard, putting in the only other coordinates you know
• for earth
• you tell johnny to follow you to a special section of the ship and he does so
• “where are we going, uranus’s moon? the outskirts of the milkyway?”
  
• you look at him with narrowed eyes
• “we’re going to earth.”
• he looks down at the orbs in his hand and then at you
• “fine, ive always wanted to visit. but are you going to do weird experiments on me with your nasa frien-”
  
• before he can finish, there’s a loud sound and johnny explains that those are the, fire blasters the intergalactic police carries
• you groan
• what is happening 
• but you hear your ship come to life, the red alarm blaring and a crackling voice asking you if you want to initiate emergency return to earth
• “yes!”
  
• you look to your side and johnny grins with a thumbs
• “and i have a passenger.”
  
• before your ship can get knocked again, it manages to dodge and the coordinates for home are set
• you push johnny into a seat and take your place opposite him
• “i cant believe im taking an alien home. an alien THIEF no less.”
  
• he holds the rucksack close and shrugs
• “at least im handsome though, right?”
  

• pairing. prince! jeong jaehyun ✗ fem! reader
• genre. romance, royalty au, lowkey there’s some sexual tension
• warnings. implied smut??, not proofread

author’s note. wow it’s been a hot minute.

[ 10:24 PM ] “Tell me, my prince,” you traced along his jawline, eyes never straying away from his alluring lips. Countless times have you gained the liberty of feeling them pressed against your own, tasting his love. And that privilege went further beyond your lips. You felt them against the expanse of your neck, down the slope of your shoulders into the dips of your curves. He travelled north and high to south and deep on your body, and you let him. And even when you were apart from him, you could still feel the ghosts of his kisses on your skin. Enthralling, he was, for you could never get enough of it.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?” you asked.

You can feel his eyes on you, the corner of his lips lifts a fraction to which your eyes took notice of. You were already aware of his response to your question, having known him thoroughly in and out on the back of your hand. But you still wanted to hear him say it, to hear what your royalty has to say.

“Is it wrong for the prince to visit his lover?” he chuckles.

“Oh, forgive me, Your Highness. I was unaware of this relationship we had together.”

“Blasphemous, how unforgiving of you to say after calling me yourprince.”

“Your Highness, with all due respect, if I may say,” you jested, eyes filled with mirth, “you never once established the title you’ve bestowed upon me.”

“Oh, then I must beg for your forgiveness.” And with that, he lifts a hand to your cheek, thumb softly caressing your skin. You gazed back up to his brown orbs and, Gods, they were the prettiest browns you’ve ever casted your eyes upon. It would be a bitter injustice to call them any short of enchanting. Browns so deep, yet so warm—you could get lost in them forever.

He inches closer to you, closing the distance between your bared souls as his warm breath tickles your chin. You’re one step closer to salvation, your willpower holding you back from sinning you back to hell.

“In this lifetime, if you allow me, you are my lover, as much as I am yours. And in another life, I promise,” he whispers one last time before reaching solace in a place he craves so much, “… I will never forget you, for your and my souls are of the same.”

You’ve tasted the Gods and the heavens above, and you’re not planning on coming back down so soon.

♡ 2.6k, fluff  =^._.^= ∫

• you first met Mark on a Nature Republic photo shoot where your friend was a hair stylist 
  
• she called you frantically because the SM staff caught multiple employees from each department posting on their personal social media stories the location and whereabouts of the members and dismissed them from the site
• they were shooting at an island in the middle of nowhere which you were conveniently writing a thesis on different landscapes of South Korea 
• you had no experience of styling other people and only did it for yourself but you knew you couldn’t leave your friend deserted so you came to help in any way that you could
• half of the staff were fired on the spot so they immediately pushed you towards the members to prepare them for their next shoot after threatening legal action if you decided to act as stupidly as the other stylists did 
• you saw your friend quickly adjusting the collar of theHawaiian shirt that was roughly put on Jaehyun and she gave you an apologetic look and mouthed a ‘thank you’
• you were assigned at styling Mark’s hair, which you were scared of because you had never styled a man’s hair before never mind a celebrity but you squared your shoulders and hoped for the best
• he was already used to the chaos but he was slightly concerned at how well you would perform considering that your eyebrows were furrowed and had sweat rolling down your temples as you scrunched the ends of his hair with mousse to create beachy waves
• every stylist that he met was always either professional and stoic or overly friendly to try and get with the members romantically but he tried to suppress his laughter when he saw your distressed face under your medical mask
• in such a stressful and hectic situation, he would never talk to the staff to help them focus but he couldn’t help but strike up a conversation with you
• you looked younger than him too so he felt more comfortable
• “first time?” he asked with a smile on his face as he looked up at you
• your hands stopped in the middle of combing the fluffy mousse through his hair and your face dropped slightly, “you could tell?”
• Mark covered his laugh with his hand as he didn’t want to discourage you but couldn’t help but chuckle at the cute expression on your face 
• “yeah,” he answered but then realized that it came out meaner than he had intended
• “but you’re doing a great job! Keep going!” He tried to encourage you by motioning with his hands to continue
• you patted his hair into place for finishing touches but you pouted under your mask when you realized, “how would you know? You can’t even see it” 
• there were no mirrors in sight except for the hand mirrors that stylists held on their belt
• he choked on his saliva out of embarrassment and rubbed his hand awkwardly on the back of his neck
• “well let’s see then!” He exclaimed and you begrudgingly gave him the hand mirror to see 
• you were bracing yourself in case he thought you made his hair into a bird’s nest and demanded you to be fired on the spot but he let a “wahh” escape his mouth as he admired the hairstyle 
• “this actually looks great!” He said a little too excitedly 
• “we were both expecting it to look bad then, huh?” You joked but really you were relieved that he thought it didn’t look atrocious 
• Mark shook his head to deny but you held his shoulders in place to not disrupt his hair 
• his face went pink and you realized that you just touched a client, a very influential client 
• you lifted your hands off of him quickly and stepped back so that he could stand up from his chair and go in front of the cameras to prepare for the shoot
• “thank you” he said and you both exchanged bows before awkwardly getting back to work 
• you stayed on the set with your friend for the rest of the day until the sun went down and the sky turned a bright pink from the previous ocean blue 
• luckily, that was the last hair and clothes change that NCT needed and everyone started to pack up after the photographer and managers shouted “thank you for your work” and everyone bowed and clapped to each other 
• while each member started to load into their vans to get back to the city for their next schedule, Mark ran up to you and asked if you were apart of the SM staff or were for hire from another beauty boutique
• “oh, I just came last minute,” you said 
• “I’m not actually licensed for this I came to help”
• he let out a disappointed “oh” and decided not to take your number down since it was unprofessional and knew that after the fiasco today that there could be anyone around to expose him if he did 
• “good night, see you around,” he said in hopes that he would see you again
• you doubted that he would see you around but you repeated what he said and waved at him as he ran into the van 
• the other members were confused as to why he ran off to greet you and were ready to tease him since they noticed that you were his type physically 
• but he knew that they were about to so he lied and said that he forgot to take a bracelet from you and pretended to fall asleep so that they couldn’t question him further
• you thought about that was a once in a lifetime experience until 2 weeks later the campaign was a hit and everyone was fawning over Mark specifically since he looked like boyfriend material in a white button up shirt and blue jeans with messy beach hair 
• your friend called to tell you that she recommended you as a freelance hair stylist after they asked her who did Mark’s hair 
• as a broke college student living in another country you took the offer but felt guilty getting an amazing job with no credentials so you got licensed at a beauty school within 2 months 
• the next time you saw Mark was on the Punch music video set 
• he had everything on except makeup and hair 
• you were taken aback at how different he looked with the leather pieces, chain jewelry, and overall bad boy vibes
• he was sitting in front of the dressing room vanities and his face lit up when he saw you stand behind him with your cart of hair products and tools 
• usually he’d stay still in his chair but this time he turned around to face you, “hey! I thought you said you weren’t even licensed?”
• “I decided to after getting offered a job” you smiled 
• he turned around and looked at you through the mirror’s reflection, “or did you come back because of me?” 
• you coughed through your mask and felt the heat creep from your neck all the way to your cheeks and temples
• Mark smiled to himself when he saw your bright red face and was even more excited for the music video shoot knowing that the stylist he thought was cute would be doing his hair on a regular basis and could see him act cool on stage
• to not let you out of his sights again, Mark pulled his phone off of the vanity table in front of him and went straight to his Instagram search page, “can I have your Insta by the way?” 
• you were combing the translucent gel through his hair when you tilted your head out of curiosity of why he would want your socials 
• “I send what kind of hairstyles and concepts I’d like to try to stylists on here,” he said 
• in actuality Mark wasn’t one of the idols that really cared of how his stylists dressed him like Johnny or Jaehyun but he wanted an excuse so that his interest in you was too obvious
• “oh sure,” you spelled out your Instagram handle and you saw him follow you right away
• for the rest of the shoot for the two days that it took place, Mark would admire you every time you came up to him between scenes to wipe the sweat off his forehead and to spray his hair with setting mist 
• although you were a fan of the group, you didn’t want to make them uncomfortable so you invested all of your focus on making them look their best
• Mark appreciated that; you weren’t completely cold and professional but you also didn’t cross any boundaries by asking him about his personal life or interviewing him like some new stylists did 
• when you got home you decided to look at Mark’s profile and saw that he was only following his family, friends from Vancouver, idols friends, and a few celebrities that he looked up to 
• you were the only staff member that he was following other than his managers
• but you didn’t think for a second Mark liked you
• even though during promotions he would text you on his time off about your day and ask you about yourself 
• “because I don’t want to be to formal” was his excuse to his unofficial game of 21 questions 
• even though after promotions when he was on his break, he’d ask you to go shopping with him “to get some inspiration from uh hair stuff” 
• at one point he was bold enough to ask you to go to a cafe because he said he felt like you two were friends at one point
• behind the scenes, Johnny caught on quickly at how Mark was on his phone more often when he’d usually just use it to play mobile games or listen to music 
• “I don’t think you left the bracelet with the pretty stylist,” Johnny would tease Mark one day when he saw him re-reading your texts and smiling to himself 
• “you left your heart,” he’d say and slap himself on the knee from laughing too hard at his own joke
• “can you get out of my room?” Mark would retort in embarrassment but it was worse for him from there
• Johnny told both floors that Mark had a big fat crush on the young stylist and was flirting with them 24/7 
• Mark wasn’t really the type to get in his feelings 
• sure he’d find different celebrities or employees that he’d work with attractive but he knew it was for business or that they’d just be really good friends in the industry 
• but you felt like home 
• like he could imagine that if he was back in Vancouver that you two would meet at a library or something and he’d ask you for a coffee after you asked him to watch your bag to go to the washroom 
• that was what he’d imagine before he went to sleep at night anyways 
• half of the time he’d stay up thinking about asking you out officially and keeping your relationship as a secret and the other half of the time he’d kick his blankets scolding himself for even thinking that because it would put both of your careers on the line and he didn’t want you to feel the burden of dating in secret
• you also had feelings for Mark but thought that he was just friendly and flirty 
• even if he did have feelings for you, you thought that it would be best to just stay as friends because you didn’t want to get in the way of his career
• one day Mark couldn’t take it anymore and went to the convenient store by himself instead of riding bikes with Haechan and Renjun like he originally planned to 
• they noticed that he didn’t get embarrassed or annoyed at the teasing anymore and just kept to himself so they followed him to the store and found him outside on a bench with a beer in his hand
• both of them sat beside him and Haechan grabbed the beer and took a swig, “just tell her” 
• Mark placed his elbows on his knees and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, “I don’t want to ruin it for us… Or for her”
• Renjun placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, “if you both have strong feelings for each other then it’ll always work out in the end” 
• Mark shook his head although he appreciated the support, “what if the stress gets us to break up? What if I make it awkward for her at work?” 
• Haechan stopped him and told him sternly, “I see the way you two look at each other and I know that she’d accept if you asked. If the press or pressure causes you to break up then at least you tried.” 
• Renjun added on more gently, “do you just want to continue suffering forever? What if she’s waiting for you too?” 
• Mark didn’t want to think about it any longer and as a lightweight, the 2 cans of beer in his system were already giving him courage
• if he had another night to think about it, he’d probably never confess to you so he decided in his tipsy state to confess right then 
• with urgency, he told you to meet you at Hangang River right away 
• “thank you guys,” he said while standing up too quickly 
• he stumbled a little bit before starting to walk towards the meeting place, “I can do it!”
• “you can do it!” Renjun laughed while holding up too fists to show his support
• Haechan on the other hand held up his phone and started to record Mark walking clumsily towards the river, “don’t mess up loser!” 
• you were finishing up on your readings when you got Mark’s text 
• it sounded like he was going to confess but you shook the thought out of your head at the thought of a global star asking you out 
• “probably wants to de-stress with a friend,” you thought before putting on a hoodie and jeans before walking to Hangang
• when you arrived you could smell a mixture of beer and mint in his breath
• His face was flushed pink which was a result of the alcohol and the 2.2km he had just walked
• “why did you call me out all of a sudden?” You asked 
• “will you go out with me?” He said a little bit too loudly
• you quickly looked around to make sure that no one was within a kilometre near you too and asked in a hushed voice, “what?”
• “I like you!” He nearly shouted, not aware of his volume due to the nervousness of the chance of rejection
• “I tried not to like you ever since I met you but I can’t get you out of my head,” he avoided your gaze and couldn’t believe how cheesy he sounded
• Mark continued regardless, “I know that we have to date in secret if you do like me but I promise to protect you and I won’t regret my decision if anything happens. So uh-”
• “yes,” you grinned. “I’ll go out with you”
• he was surprised at how you accepted with ease, “oh wow I wasn’t expecting this. Thank you for listening to me talk on haha, I don’t even know what to say I-”
• to stop his blabbering you held onto his arms to steady yourself for when you went on your tippy toes to peck him on the lips
• “that’s not fair” he pouted
• “what’s not fair?”
• “that’s it?” He murmured under his breath 
• “then get some more” you teased
• his hands cupped the sides of your face and bent his neck down to reach your height
• your hand wrapped around his waist to pull him into a hug while his warm lips pressed onto yours