#nct 127 scenarios

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☆ [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: Seo Youngho/Johnny (NCT) x fem!readerGenre: Fluff/SmutContains: Dry humping, hair pulling,

Pairing: Seo Youngho/Johnny(NCT) x fem!reader

Genre:Fluff/Smut

Contains:Dry humping, hair pulling, dirty talk, coming in pants/underwear

Word count: 1824

___

“Can you imagine? She says I deliberately seduced her!” Johnny fumes shifting on the chair in irritation.

“It’s not that difficult to seduce someone, you know. Sometimes it sort of just happens,” you muse swiftly untangling ribbons from his thick locks.

It’s truly a shame that you have to remove those brightly coloured strips from his hair as they create a strikingly beautiful contrast with his dark strands. In the same time you’re almost thankful he asked for your help – you don’t even want to imagine how he could possibly cope with it by himself. You’re sure that with his non-existent patience he’d end up half-bald by the end.

“Does it?” he huffs rolling his eyes as if done with you but in the same time pushes his head into your hands.

For Johnny there is nothing better than your fingers entangled in his hair, no matter the reason. Although he absolutely adores the way you gently play with his locks, sometimes he lets his mind wander and ponders over how it’d feel like if you pulled on them instead. He likes to imagine it, even though he’s too ashamed of those thoughts to voice them in your presence.

“Yeah, it does. You seriously can do it coincidentally.”

“That sounds like something you could do. Accidentally seduce someone,” Johnny snickers clearly amused by the very idea.

“Excuse me, you little shit,” you huff tugging on his hair in irritation.

He bites his lip hard and shifts on the chair uncomfortably as pleasure mixed with pain echoes in his mind. He can’t let it show how that one simple gesture affected him.

“Damn sorry, love, I got carried away,” you sigh apologetically stroking his head.

Johnny wants to tell you that you don’t need to apologize or be worried because he likes that. Instead, he quickly gets a grip on himself and shakes his head with a chuckle.

“No worries. You know what I changed my mind, I just can’t imagine you seducing someone when you apologize for pulling on my hair like that. That’s a ridiculous idea, really,” he shrugs with an amused expression.

“You think so?” you ask tilting your head in a wonder.

His amusement dies as you settle on his lap with a sweet smile on your face. His hands vaguely move to rest on your hips before he stops himself and lets them drop by his sides. Licking his lips nervously Johnny straightens just a little and clears his throat.

“Yes,” he chokes out in a weirdly strained voice.

You can feel the excitement coil in your belly as you observe him. The way he acts when he’s unsure of himself or self-conscious in general always makes your heart-beat speed up a little. It’s adorable how hard he tries to appear confident when you know all too well how far away he’s from that state of mind. In fact, you’re slightly surprised when you notice how stressed he seems to be right now by the unexpected turn of events. It makes you want to tease him some more.

“And why is that?” you ask then gently tucking a stray lock behind his ear.

You let your hand linger there for a brief moment before tenderly caressing his cheek with the tips of your fingers. Johnny’s breath hitches at that and his stare immediately drops to your lips. The idea pops in your mind out of nowhere but for some reason it feels right. It’s not like you never thought about it before anyway.

“I–I don’t…” he manages to stutter out before his words are cut short by your lips gently covering his.

The kiss was supposed to be brief and delicate, but then he’s kissing you back with all his might, and before you know it your tongue explores his pliant mouth. You put his hands on your waist, and he brings you closer until your chest is pressed flush against his. After some time, you move away and rest your forehead against his trying to catch your breath. His eyes are closed as he breathes deeply in and out as if trying to calm himself down.

“I love it when you prove me wrong,” he finally says hoarsely as his shaking hands caress your sides carefully.

Johnny’s smiling but for some reason he sounds miserable. You move away altogether straightening slowly and try to get a grip on yourself. Maybe you shouldn’t have kissed him – tasting his soft lips once makes you want to do that again. And maybe, just maybe, you want to taste more than just his lips.

“Did you want me to seduce you?” you ask in a wonder cupping his cheek.

He opens his eyes and this time it’s your breath that hitches: he looks like the most beautiful mess of a man you have ever seen. Brown irises almost swallowed by dilated pupils, cheeks and ears reddened, lips slightly swollen already. You’re so fucked and you know it.

“There is quite a lot of things that I’d like you to do to me,” Johnny answers in a playful tone, but his dark eyes are boring into yours in a way that isn’t playful at all.

“Is that so?” you hum lowly with a smirk.

When you roll your hips against his unexpectedly, the groan he lets out sounds like it was ripped from his throat. Still smirking you lace your fingers with his thick locks – you only managed to undo half of the ribbons before the situation escalated. Strangely, it makes him even more pleasant to look at: half of his hair neatly braided and the other one untamed, wild curls sticking in every direction. When you tug on them, it’s out of a pure curiosity, but then Johnny moans your name in a way that makes you shiver in pleasure. You want to hear it again, so you repeat the movement, and he doesn’t disappoint – this time he says it louder but just as breathlessly as before.

“You like it when I pull on your hair, love?” you ask moving closer to kiss the tip of his nose – just in time to feel the twitch of his cock underneath you.

Now that you’ve scooted closer you can feel his whole length pressed firmly against your inner thigh, and it turns you on even more. The last time you’ve seen him completely naked was when you two were still kids, so it’s a new territory for you. Thankfully, you’re one curious woman that likes to explore the unknown.

“Oh, and what do we have here?” you muse rolling your hips slowly against his, and he groans softly.

He bites his lip and looks at you from under his long eyelashes – a classic move from him but one you could never resist. His stare is dark and heavy, full of promises that make your core clench in anticipation.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” he answers in a low voice and turns his face slightly to the side to press his lips to your wrist.

You chuckle truly amused this time, but Johnny just stares at you wordlessly with those dark eyes. Those damned beautiful eyes that never fail to sweep you off your feet.

“I have a feeling that it’s something I’d like a lot, love,” you say a little out of breath.

Something is changing between you two at this very moment: the playfulness is gone. It got replaced by a heavy yet comfortable silence that makes your chest ache for some reason.

“I like that,” he hums closing his eyes with a content smile.

“What exactly?” you ask slowly threading your fingers through his hair, this time in a gentle manner.

He opens his eyes, and you just look at each other for a while in that soothing silence until he finally breaks eyes contact, smiles softly and hides his face in your shoulder with a sigh. You’re now the closest you’ve ever been with him: his arms circling your waist loosely, face hidden in your shoulder, your crotch pressed flush against his and the same goes for your chests. You’re going crazy but from the way he’s breathing heavily, arms trembling ever so slightly, you know you’re not the only one affected.

“I like it when you call me “love”,” Johnny murmurs quietly into your shoulder embracing you even tighter than before.

“Good to know, love,” you hum in the answer kissing his neck until his sweet whimpers and sighs are all you can hear.

“Honestly, you just sound too good for your own good.”

Johnny laughs softly at that, but then you rub your crotch against his, and he just chokes out your name urgently digging his fingers into your skin. His hands move down to your hips to support your weigh as you’re now steadily moving atop of him, applying all sorts of pleasure on his hard cock still trapped under the clothes. You change the angles from time to time trying to find the one that’d make him lose it while the friction works just right for you: your clit is throbbing deliciously from the constant stimulation.

“Fuck, I’m close already,” he groans throwing his head back and in the same time giving you unlimited access to the long column of his thick neck and collarbones.

Your fingers curl around his neck as if they have their own will while your lips slowly but surely move alongside his jaw and blushed cheek.

“No pressure, love, cum whenever you feel like it,” you whisper into his ear and bite it playfully.

His deep surprised moan combined with strong buck of his hips makes you come unexpectedly. Your thighs tremble as you rub your crotch against his hard erection enjoying the painful sparks of overstimulation resonating from your sensitive clit. Just as he said it doesn’t take long for him either – Johnny cries out your name before reaching his high, body trembling just as yours was mere minutes ago. His body slumps against yours as he tries to catch his breath.

“So about that seduction,” you say in a mischievous tone after a while of stroking the back of his head soothingly.

He straightens up with a wide grin that makes him look youthful, innocent even. Definitely not the vibe of a person who just came in their pants from dry-humping with their friend for the past hour.

“In my case you succeeded undoubtedly,” Johnny starts with a smirk playing with the stray strand of your hair.

“But?” you ask rolling your eyes knowing already where this is going.

“But you didn’t plan it, so it was, in fact accidental.”

You look at him for a few seconds wordlessly before pulling on his hair quite hard. Using the fact that his lips parted to let out a moan, you kiss him with all your might.

“It sort of happened,” you pant out between the kisses.

Just as you said.



Copyright © 2020-2022 by byzantiumshades. All rights reserved.


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Pairing: Lee Taeyong (NCT) x fem!readerGenre: Fluff/SmutContains: Dirty talk, hand job, nipple play,

Pairing: Lee Taeyong (NCT) x fem!reader

Genre:Fluff/Smut

Contains: Dirty talk, hand job, nipple play, marking, overstimulation

Word count:1297

___

“Babe,” he sighs shakily as he feels your arms tightly circling his slim waist.

“Yes?” you ask pressing your soft body into his hard one and place a kiss on his shoulder blade through the t-shirt.

“I’m busy,” Taeyong says trying to sound stern, but it’s almost physically impossible for him when you’re this close.

It’s not that he doesn’t like it, quite the opposite: feeling the warmth of your body and knowing that you’re here with him always makes him feel peaceful. Today, however, with your chest pressed flush against his back he can feel how rapidly your heart is beating, and he knows that your intentions aren’t pure in the slightest.

“But I’m not going to disrupt you, love,” you chuckle rubbing your face into his back breathing his comforting scent.

The amusement in your voice says something else, but there is nothing he can do, especially when he feels the wave of excitement flooding his body. With a sigh Taeyong comes back to slicing the meat he brought for the dinner patiently awaiting your next move. He doesn’t have to wait long.

“I went shopping today,” you start casually moving your hand up and down his chest.

Taeyong takes a deep breath trying to relax, but his heartbeat speeded up already. Your nails oh-so-accidentally graze his nipple from time to time in a lazy manner and he slowly but surely starts to lose his composure.

“Didn’t you go shopping a few days ago?” he asks trying to ignore the arousal coiling in his belly and focus solely on the task in front of him.

“Yes, love, but at the time I didn’t have enough money with me to buy a cute lingerie set I spotted there. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I came back today and bought it.”

One of your hands dips lower grazing the hem of his sweats teasingly only to come back to his chest mere seconds later. You repeat the movement a few times, teasing him with the promise of something much more interesting than just that insufficient touch.

“How does it look like?” Taeyong chokes out putting the knife carefully aside and closing his eyes slightly.

“It’s nothing fancy: just a pair of baby blue lacy panties and a matching bralette. I’ll show you later,” you murmur placing kisses along the neckline of his t-shirt.

Taeyong swallows quietly: everything looks fancy when you’re the one wearing it. No matter what it is, it invariably drives him crazy when he sees you in it. It’s all just an addition to your beauty.

“However, that’s not what I wanted to talk about,” you add finally slipping both hands under his t-shirt to massage his chest without the barrier of clothes.

“No?” he says breathlessly as your fingers play with his stiffened nipples, circling sensitive areolas teasingly.

“No,” you confirm softly, one of your hands moving lazily down his chest and abdomen to reach his waistband once again.

This time you don’t retreat it back up, no, this time your palm massages his length through the soft fabric of his sweats and Taeyong groans throatily as he bucks his hips slightly. You can feel him harden under your touch which makes you even wetter than you already were. The arousal pulses in your body as you rub your crotch against his butt trying to blow off some steam. The relief is only momentary, but it’s enough for you to regain your focus.

“When I was leaving the store, something caught my eye,” you muse slipping fingers past the waistband and wrapping them around his cock.

“W-what was it?” he stutters as his dick throbs in your hand.

His hands are now tightly grabbing the edge of the counter as he tries to focus on your words rather than on the overwhelming pleasure. The most delicate touch of yours is enough to make him hopeless, and he absolutely loves that. It’s no secret that Taeyong enjoys giving you the power over him just as much as you enjoy having it.

“A pair of lacy panties in the prettiest shade of dark green,” you whispered tugging his sweats down his thighs with the free hand.

“You cannot even fathom how wet I’ve become when the image of you wearing it flashed before my eyes.”

“Oh,” was all Taeyong was able to say dizzy from the lust that flooded his mind.

In the meantime you spit onto your hand and wrap your fingers properly around his length this time. Your hand moves up and down, slowly at first but gradually speeding up as Taeyong moans and groans and whimpers – a music to your ears and for your ears only. You deeply enjoy the firmness of his manhood in your palm, the bulging vines and pre-cum dripping from the slit. It’s your pleasure to say that your man is now a complete mess, and it’s all because of your doings.

“You see, I couldn’t get said image of my head for the whole day. All I could think of was how gorgeous your butt would look wrapped in that lace,” you murmur nipping gently at the skin of his shoulder.

You always like to leave traces of your affection on his body: hickeys all over his skin, red trails made by your fingernails, imprints of your hands on his thighs and buttocks. Every time he looks in the mirror all he can think of is you.

“And your cock, god, your cock,” you sigh tightening your grip and twisting your wrist around the head.

Taeyong is cursing under his breath as he fucks your fist in the limited space you left for him between your body and the kitchen counter. Everything just feels so good he can’t control himself any more. His mind can only focus on you: your touch, your voice, your smell.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how drenched my own panties would be if I saw your rock-hard dick covered by such thin fabric. I’d rip it off with my own fucking teeth.”

“Fuck,” Taeyong yelps throwing pressing his body firmly into yours as milky cum shots out of his cock.

Sticky substance covers your hand, the cupboards and his pants while you kiss his neck and whisper sweet nonsense into his ear. He’s breathing is heavy as you continue to slide your hand up and down his shaft not showing sign of stopping. A shiver runs down his spine as he realizes your plans, the pain of overstimulation mixes with pleasure bringing him to yet another orgasm.

“I think I’ll go and buy those panties, love. I want to ride your cock as you wear them, I want to ruin them with my juices until here is nothing left of them.”

The very idea makes him cum on the spot surprising you: you have no time to cover the swollen head and the sperm lands on his t-shirt replenishing the complete mess you had turned him into.

“Everything fine, love?” you ask peppering kisses on his covered back as he comes back from his high.

You can feel his legs shaking from the effort, cock twitching in your cum-covered hand.

“Yeah, just a little dizzy from all those orgasms. Anyway I have to finish the dinner,” he sighs, but you’re already shaking your head moving away gently.

“I’ll take care of that love, you take a shower and change. Is that alright?”

“Thank you,” he says turning around with the sweetest smile and kisses you deeply.

You pull his sweats up and slap his backside playfully as he places open-mouthed kisses on your face and neck.

“Whose butt is that?” you ask mischievously tilting your head.

“Yours obviously,” he scoffs rolling his eyes.

“That’s right, love. Don’t forget that.”



Copyright © 2020-2022 by byzantiumshades. All rights reserved.


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  • 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.

image

♡ 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

Mark is packing for tour and it will be the first time in Mark and Y/n’s relationship that they are going to spend a significant about of time apart from one another. 

Part of the long term couples series. 

           Sitting crossed legged on Mark’s bed you watch as he opens one of his dresser drawers and pulls out some shirts and transfers them into the suitcase sitting next to you. You glance at the shirts he’s put in then follow Marks movements as he makes his way to the closet. This is going to be the first time that you and Mark are going to be spending a long period of time apart from one another since you started dating. It was a strange feeling to know that the two of you would not be able to see one another for over three months maybe even longer. Depending how long promotions took and if they added more stops to the tour. This does not leave a lot of time for him to come back to South Korea and it wasn’t like you could just leave your job and follow him around. You also didn’t feel like the two of you were at that point yet in your relationship. You hadn’t even spent the night at his place yet. It was definitely not time for you to follow him on tour.

           Maybe that was why you were feeling weird about him going on tour. Because your relationship was still pretty new, and you were worried about what this time apart would do to the two of you. Would this make your relationship stronger or would it end up breaking the two of you apart. It was something that you had to seriously consider. You were no fool and knew that many relationships like yours struggle to last when one person in the relationship was always gone. Relationships were hard in general and then you add distance into it, it’s just another added challenge.

           “How many sweatshirts do you think I should take?” Mark questions drawing you out of your thoughts. You look over at Mark and see that his arms are overflowing with sweatshirts, and you laugh at the sight. Getting up from the bed you walk over to Mark and take about half of the sweatshirts out of his arms.

           “You are able to do laundry on tour. So, you don’t need to bring all of them. Three is probably enough.” You start to refold his sweatshirts and placing then back in the closet while Mark does and put the sweatshirts you left him with in his suitcase.

           “I hate packing this is the worst part about going on tour,” Mark grumbles. Placing the last sweatshirt back in the closet you make your way back to Mark and wrap your arms around his and rest your cheek against his back. Mark rests his hands over yours and peers at you over his shoulder. You squeeze him before shifting so you are now standing in front of him.

           “You’re almost finished. I think you’ll survive,” you tell him. Mark nods his head in agreement then leans down to kiss your cheek before he goes back to packing and you reclaim your spot on his bed.

           As Mark continues to pack the two of you talk about what places he is looking forward to seeing. What songs he is most excited to perform and other random topics. He asks you about how you research into going back to school is going and you admit to him that you still aren’t sure what you want to do and don’t want to waste money on school until you know what you want to go to school for. As Mark zips up his final suitcase he smiles at you in triumph. You return the smile but feel like it is forced and Mark notices.

           He moves the suitcase off the bed and takes it spot. He pulls you onto his lap cradling you, you wrap your arms around his neck and take a moment to enjoy being close to him. Because you are going to have to let this feeling last you for a long time. Your eyes start to sting, and you blink rapidly hoping that Mark doesn’t notice. You don’t want to cry and make him feel bad for going on tour. You’re happy that he is doing this and want him to go. It’s just sad to think that he’s going to be so far away from you for a long time.

           “I’m going to miss you while I’m on tour. I think this is one of the first times that I have ever been sad about going on tour.” Mark admits.

           “I don’t want you to be sad about going on tour,” you tell him looking up into those wide eyes of his. “You should be excited about going on tour. I’m excited for you. It’s just a little sad to think about being away from you for so long.”

           “Some of the guys told me what it’s like to be apart from someone you care about while on tour. I used to think that they were being silly when we were on tour, and they talked about how much they missed the person they are with. I get it now. I haven’t even left yet, and I already miss you and can’t wait to come back.” Mark lets out a humorless laugh.

           “Bet you listen to your hyungs better now huh.” You tease trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

           “Don’t tell them but yeah I’ll listen to them from now on.” Mark smiles a little, but you can tell that it’s a forced smile.

           “Did they happen to give you any advice on how to handle a long-distance relationship? What works and what doesn’t?” You would have asked your best friend but the two of you were actually in the same boat and you didn’t feel comfortable yet asking any of the boys’ girlfriends.

           “They said that it was important to be honest with each other. Don’t lie about being fine when you aren’t. And that making your relationship a priority was important. That trying to connect with each other even if it was for a few minutes was important.” You nodded your head in agreement.

           “Maybe there will be a time that I can take off of work and come see you for a little bit,” you throw the idea out there then quickly add, “if that were something you would like.”

           “Of course, I would like for you to come visit me. If I could I would bring you with me for the whole tour.” Mark admits and you feel your eyes filling with tears again. This time you aren’t quick enough to stop them and have to wipe them away. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

           “I know and they’re not tears of sorrow. What you said was really sweet and it got to me. I’m going to miss you a lot while you’re gone. But I’m going to try and find a time to come see you.” You said with more determination in your voice. You were going to make this happen.

           “I’ll help you in anyway I can. We’ll be fine. It’ll be hard but I know we can make it through this.” Mark leans down to connect his lips with yours and as his lips touch your you know that he’s right. You two were solid and even though you were just starting off in this relationship you were going to make it work because you both cared deeply for one another.

Y/n does not get to spend her morning cuddling up to Taeil. But instead spends it helping Haechan figure out his love life and does a little trip down memory lane. 

Part of the long term couples series. 

Rolling over in the bed you reach out for your boyfriend but come up empty. Cracking one eye open you frown at the empty space where he should be. Closing your eyes again you debate if you want to go in search of him or hope that he’ll return to his bed soon.

As you’re laying there debating getting out of bed you hear the sound of running feet outside of Taeil’s bedroom door. The sound stops outside his door and is followed by knocking on his door and Haechan calling out to you.

“Y/n Noona are you in there? I need to talk to you it’s important,” groaning you sit up and tell him to come in.

Haechan waste no time in flinging the door open and launching himself across the room and into the bed. He snuggles into you and leans his head on your shoulder. Your hand instantly finds its way into his hair. You gently run your fingers through his hair.

“What’s going on Hyuck?” You question as he sits quietly beside you.

“I think I have a crush but I’m not sure,” he whispers like if he were to say it out loud that would make his feelings real. Where if they were barely heard then he could keep them at bay.

“You think you have a crush, or you do?” You prod.

“I don’t know,” Hyuck whines while kicking his feet about like a little child and curling further into you, “how did you know you liked hyung?”

You think about that for a while. How did you know that you liked Taeil? You think back to when you had first met him at the park. You were out walking your neighbor’s dog and he had gotten lose on you and ran towards Taeil. Was that when you had first liked him or was it the meet ups after that, or your first date?

“I’m not sure I think from the start I always had a crush on him and as we spent more time together my feelings for him grew.” You admit.

“Did it feel different when you first saw him? Like you just knew that this person wasn’t going to be like any of the other people that you’ve met before.” Your hand pauses in Haechans hair as you think back to the first time you saw Taeil.

It was different from all the other meetings you’ve had with other people. When he had looked up at you with his warm smile and laughed as he petted your neighbor’s dog you remember one of the first things you thought was that you could listen to that laugh for the rest of your life. That you would never grow tired of hearing it and then he started to talk to you and the conversation between the two of you flowed so easily it was like you two had known each other for forever.

“It was. But I think the feeling I had with Taeil was that it all felt so easy. Like we were always meant to be together, and it just made everything simple and right. Does it feel like that for you?” You glance down at Haechan he’s picking at the comforter as he thinks about it.

“No, it doesn’t feel easy and like we are meant to be. It just feels…warm. I know that sounds weird but when I first saw them to every time after I just get this warm feeling in my chest, and I like it. I feel pulled to them.”

“Sounds like a crush to me,” you confirm “so what are you going to do about it?”

Haechan groans and pulls the covers up over him and rolls away from you whining about how he doesn’t know how to ask someone out. And why does liking someone have to be so difficult. You laugh as he continues on with his little tirade.

That is how Taeil finds the two of you. You are sitting up in bed watching Haechan roll about and whining. Leaning against the door jamb Taeil raises an eyebrow in question. You roll your eyes as if to say it’s Haechan before reaching out and patting his head over the blankets.

“Poor Hyuck here has a crush, and he doesn’t know what to do about it,” you coo as an explanation for Taeil. Haechan sits up and glares over at his hyung.

“How and when did you know you liked Y/n Noona?” Haechan demands. Taeil eyes widen a bit before a smile crosses his face and he straightens up from the door.

“I knew it the moment I saw her chasing after her neighbor’s dog. The feeling I had was more like a push telling me that I needed to get to know this person. That I better not let them go because they were important and were going to mean something special to me.”

You let out a soft sigh and you’re sure that you have a goofy look on your face, but you don’t care because that is one of the sweetest things that you have ever heard Taeil say about you. Haechan from his side of the bed is making gagging noises. You shove him causing him to laugh as he rolls out of the bed.

“You two are disgustingly in love with one another. But surprisingly helpful,” Haechan tells you two as he makes, his way out of your room.

“Glad we could be of service!” You call, “and don’t forget we are leaving at one to look at houses.

Haechan gives a distant okay and you assume that he is heading to the kitchen to see what there is to eat and to ask the others that are dating how they knew they liked their significant other. You turn your attention to Taeil and give him a shy smile. He smiles back and makes his way over to you, leaning down to give you a kiss.

“Are you sure you want to bring him with? You know that he’s going to have an opinion about everything.”

“True but it’ll help him deal with you moving out. He needs this besides maybe he’ll tell us more about this crush he has.” You tell Taeil as you stand from the bed and wrap your arms around Taeils waist and lean in for another kiss.

“My moneys on it being someone from the hospital,” Taeil muses as he leads you out of his room and toward the kitchen.

“I just hope they work out. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“Me either,” Taeil admits. “Maybe he’ll be lucky and get a relationship like ours.”

You smile up at Taeil and hope that Haechan gets that. As you enter the kitchen you see Haechan bugging Johnny and his girlfriend and whisper to Taeil.

“And hopefully they can handle all that his Hyuck.” Taeil laughs and nods in agreement.

This is from Y/n point of view and what they are going through now that they have ended things with Jaehyun. After this I promise things will start to get better for these two.

Part of the long term couples series. 

“I want you Y/n. There is no one else that I want but you.” Jaehyun grabs your hands trying to pull you in closer to him, but you won’t let him and pull out of his hold.

“You say that now but there will come a time when you won’t want me anymore.”

“You don’t know that. There is no way to know if that will happen or not. Why are you ending everything on a maybe?”

“Let me go Jaehyun, just let me go. We both know that this isn’t going to work,” you cry as you angrily wipe away at the tears that are falling down your face.

Curled up in one of the most uncomfortable chairs known to mankind you shake thoughts of Jaehyun out of your head and work on updating one of your patient files. Your butt had gone numb a good half an hour ago and your neck was cramping but you didn’t move from your spot. One of the reasons was because you were determined to get caught up on all of your files and to be the best grunt that had ever worked at this hospital and two because you were punishing yourself. You deserved to sit in this uncomfortable chair, doing paperwork, and being miserable. Then there was reason three because this chair was facing your hardest patient’s room.

You wanted to be close to them in case anything happened which was silly because everyone including them knew that they were dying and that it was only a matter of time. There was nothing that anyone could do to change that outcome. Yet here you were sitting outside their room like just your presence alone could stop death itself from coming. The reason you felt you had to sit here for them you couldn’t figure out and you didn’t want to dig to deeply into why you felt the need to sit here. You figured that if you did you wouldn’t like the reason why.

“How long have they been sleeping?” Jumping in your chair you look up at your patient’s girlfriend. She comes every day to visit. Today is no different expect for the part that she looks worn. There are dark circles under her eyes and her clothes are wrinkled like she has either slept in them or grabbed the first thing her hand touched and didn’t care what it looked like.

“He’s been sleeping for a few hours now.” You tell her. “How are you doing?”

You pat the chair next to you encouraging her to sit next to you. She drops into the chair her eyes never leaving the man sleeping in the bed across the hall from you two. You look back over at him and then her. She loves him so much you can see it all over her face.

“Alright, he tried to break up with me yesterday or… or he did break up with me,” your eyes widen in surprise. “He said that he didn’t think it was fair that I date someone who was just going to die. That it would be better now to just end things before I get hurt.”

“Can’t you see that I’m trying to end things before you get hurt,” you shout. “We were only supposed to be fuc…”

“Don’t!” Jaehyun almost shouts. “don’t finish that sentence because we both know that we have never been that. We may have said that is all that we would ever be to each other but from the first moment we spent together we have been anything but that.”

“Jaehyun I’m trying to save you from being hurt.” You plead with the man who claims that you have always been more than just a hook up to him. Everything is going wrong you were supposed to avoid all of this. Neither of you were supposed to get feelings.

“To late Y/n, the only ways that you can stop me from being hurt are by not ending things with me or by us never of starting this thing in the first place. And it’s a little too late for the second one.”

“You’ll get over me. You think that you are hurt but by tomorrow you’ll realize that you don’t even miss me.”

“Stop telling me how I’m supposed to feel. You can tell yourself that if it will make what you’re doing to me easier. But I’m telling you that if you walk away from me tomorrow, I am going to wake up and feel pain.”

Biting your tongue, you swallowed the words you wanted to say and push back thoughts of your conversation with Jaehyun. You want to say that you understand where he was coming from. That he thought it best to break it off now while she could still walk away before things got worse, before she got even more attached to him. He was saving her from the pain that he knew was coming, that is unavoidable. But before you get a chance to say anything the girl continues on.

“The thing he doesn’t understand though is that it’s already to late,” she bitterly laughs, “from the moment I met him it was already too late. It doesn’t matter that he ends things now us being together or not isn’t going to make his death hurt any less. And shouldn’t I get a choice in the type of hurt I’m going to go through?”

You didn’t know what to say to that. The fact of the matter was that there was no way he was going to come out of this alive. It is only a matter of time for him. The only question is when will he die. There is no chance for a happy ending for them. There’s no chance of them walking out of this hospital hand in hand. One of them is leaving this place no longer breathing and the other is going to have to go on living. You both hear your name being called and look to see that your patient has woken up. You leave the chair and head over to check them over. You feel the girl’s presence behind you and don’t stop her from coming into the room as well. Once you are done checking him over you leave them alone and return to your chair.

You watch as they talk and your heart squeezes. The conversation doesn’t look like it is going well, and you are about to get up and walk in there when suddenly the boy sits up and pulls the girl into the bed with him. He wraps his arms around her. Her face is pressed tight to his chest and her body is shaking. He runs his fingers through her hair, and you can see tears streaming down his face too.  He kisses the top of her head and must be whispering something to her as you see her head nodding occasionally. Eventually she sits up and kisses the boy before curling back up into him.  

“Looks like the two of them worked things out,” Tilting your head back you see the head nurse watching the two of them.

“For how long though. He’s going to die, it’s not like they know things are going to work out,” you didn’t mean for that to slip out, but it was something that you have been thinking about for a few days now ever since you ended things with Jaehyun. How could they stay together knowing that it was going to end? How could anyone be with someone knowing that it might not work out in the end.

“For someone who is extremely bright you are dull when it comes to relationships,” If it was anyone else talking to you like that you would have said something but this being the head Nurse and someone that you respected you stayed quiet.

“There is no way to know if a relationship is going to work out. There is never a guarantee. You just have to ask yourself if the person you are with is worth the risk and the possible heartache. Those two seemed to have decided that it’s worth the pain. That all the happiness they can have now is going to be worth the eventual pain that is going to come. And who knows maybe it won’t hurt as much as they think it will.”

The nurse walks away from you leaving you alone once again. You look back over at the couple who are holding tightly onto one another and have tuned everyone else out. Leaning your head back against the wall you close your eyes and let the last moments with Jaehyun wash over you.

“Stay Y/n, stay with me and let me prove to you that we are something worth fighting for. I can’t promise you that you won’t get hurt or that we won’t end. But I can promise you that I will do everything I can to prove to you that I am worth the risk of getting hurt because you are that to me. I want to be with you that I don’t even care that I could get hurt by you.” A sob breaks out and you cover your mouth to stop it. Your body is shaking from trying to keep the sobs in. You’re shaking your head at Jaehyun.

Jaehyun’s shoulder slump and he drops his head in defeat and you know that he gets it now. That he realizes you are not worth it. When he lifts his head back up there are unshed tears in his eyes and he locks eyes with you before speaking again.

“You can walk away. I understand that this is something that you think you need to do, and I won’t stop you. But Y/n just know that even though I am letting you walk out that door I am not giving up on you, on us. I will be here waiting for you, but you have to be the one to come back I won’t chase you. I need you to come back because you want to and because you believe in us.”

“Trust me Jaehyun you won’t want me to come back.” Somehow you manage to say the words without your voice breaking.

“I’ll always want you to come back,” Jaehyun replies without any hesitation. It doesn’t stop you from leaving. You still walk out the door and away from Jaehyun.

A tear runs down your cheek and you quickly swipe it away before anyone can see you crying at work. Pulling in a deep breath you focus on gaining control of your emotions again before you get up from the chair and make your way back into your patient’s room. You thought that the both of them were sleeping but as you’re adjusting one of the monitors you hear the soft deep voice of your patient.

“Can she stay the night? She didn’t get any sleep last night and I don’t want to wake her.” He watches you with hopeful eyes, you give him a small smile and nod.

“How are you feeling?” It was meant to be about his health, but he doesn’t answer it that way.

“Better now that she’s here. Yesterday I thought we would both be better off without each other. I was wrong, I’m better with her by me.”

“I’m glad you’re doing better,” you give his arm a squeeze before walking out of the room. This time you don’t even try and stop the tears. You let them silently fall down your face as you gather up your things to find a quiet place to finish your work where no one will see you in all of your misery.

Y/n is sick and Doyoung comes to take care of them. 

Part of the long term couples series

           Leaning over the toilet you empty your stomach once again you wonder how much could possibly be left in your stomach. This was your fourth time puking there couldn’t still be food in your stomach could there. Once you finished and flushed the toilet you close the lid and rest your head on top of the toilet seat. You need to get up and at least brush your teeth, but you are so tired, and the cool surface of the toilet seat feels like heaven against your hot skin. In the distance you hear your phone going off and you groan from the sound. Everything in you hurts and you just want to be in your bed.

           Eventually your phone stops ringing, and you let out a sigh of relief. Now you just have to convince yourself to get up off the floor. You couldn’t remember the last time that you had felt this sick and hoped that it past quickly. In the distance you hear your door being opened and closed followed by the sound of Doyoung calling out for you.

           “No! Go away,” you whine. The two of you had only been dating for two months and you were not ready for him to see you sick and miserable. Your relationship was too fresh, to young, him seeing you sick was something he couldn’t see until at least month six.

           “Y/n did you forget that we’re supposed to be meeting up with Taeil and his girlfriend?” Doyoung calls as he makes his way towards you. Groaning you hear his footsteps approaching and wish that the floor would swallow you up. You hear a gasp from Doyoung and then his hands are on your shoulders and he’s gently turning you to face him.

           “Y/n,” Doyoung gentles his voice and as you look at him you see the concern in his eyes as his one hand reaches up to touch your forehead. “How long have you been sick?”

           “I don’t know. A while.” You admit before closing your eyes again and slumping forward into Doyoung. You’re tired and weak and holding your head up was to much work.

           Doyoung doesn’t hesitate and soon has you up off the floor and cradle safely against his chest. As he starts to walk out of the bathroom and back into your bedroom. You find yourself snuggling in closer to him. While you are not happy about him seeing you like this you can admit that you like him carrying you and the warmth that you are receiving from his body. Doyoung lays you down on the bed and pulls the covers up over you. You turn onto your side facing him and curl up into a ball.

           Running his fingers through your hair you wonder just how greasy it is and if you should stop him. But he doesn’t say anything about the state of your hair and the feeling of his fingers feels good. When Doyoung stops and starts to pull his hand away you let out a whine. A soft chuckle comes from Doyoung before his fingers go back to brushing through your hair.

           “Have you eaten at all today?” Doyoung whispers to you.

           “I can’t keep anything down,” which reminds you that you still need to brush your teeth. “I need to brush my teeth my mouth feels gross.”

           “Okay,” Doyoung pulls back the covers and carries you back into the bathroom. He set you down in front of the sink. Keeping you pinned between him and the counter Doyoung reaches around you to grab your toothbrush and toothpaste. If you weren’t feeling like death warmed over, you would make a comment about how you are capable of putting toothpaste on your own toothbrush. But you don’t and are grateful for how caring he, is being.

           Doyoung places the toothbrush in your hand and rest both his hands on your waist while you brush your teeth. As you brush you look into the mirror at him. Doyoung stands a good foot taller than you, his hair has grown out and is going to need a cut soon. His eyes are watching you with a softness to them that you are starting to realize he only gives to you.

           “Finish up Y/n so I can get you back to bed,” Doyoung pulls you out of your thoughts and leans down to place a kiss to the top of your head. You rinse your mouth out and let Doyoung carry you back to bed. “I’m going to let Taeil know that we won’t be making it today and then I’m going to see what you have in your place for you to eat that won’t upset your stomach.”

           “I told you I can’t keep anything down.”

           “You should try to eat a little something, but you don’t have to eat until later. Right now, just try to get some sleep.” You nod your head as you curl up onto your side once again. Before Doyoung has a chance to leave you tug on his arm, “Stay with me until I fall asleep.”

           Nodding in agreement you slide closer to Doyoung. Grabbing his hand, you place it on your head hoping he’ll understand what you’re asking for. He does and soon his fingers are carding through your hair. As Doyoung watches you he starts to hum softly. With his other hand he pulls out his phone and messages Taeil to let him know that you two will not be joining them today. When Doyoung thinks you have fallen asleep he stands and starts to walk away only for you to call out to him.

           “I was worried about you seeing me sick,” turning back towards you Doyoung tilts his head to the side in confusion, “we haven’t been together that long, and I was worried that we weren’t to the stage of seeing each other at one of our worst yet.”

           Shaking his head at you Doyoung makes his way back to the bed and sits back down on the edge of the bed. There’s an amused smile on his face as he leans down to kiss the top of your head, “I like you no matter what. Always have, always will.”

           You smile at that and give Doyoung’s hand a squeeze before closing your eyes and letting yourself get the rest that you need. Still smiling down at you Doyoung gives you another kiss and tucks the blanket around you before he heads into the kitchen to see if you have everything he needs to make you some soup.

Y/n and Jungwoo were supposed to talk about their feelings for one another once things settled from the holiday season. But it took longer then either of them planned. Finally the two of them are getting some time alone to talk about how they feel about one another. 

Part of the long term couple series

“Soon,” Jungwoo lets out a breathy laugh. “Right now, let’s wrap these presents and then when we have a day that’s just the two of us, we’ll talk.”

As you sat in your car outside the airport you let those words repeat over and over in your head. Jungwoo had said that the two of you would talk soon. You figured that meant the next day. Oh, how wrong you were. Things had gotten busy for the two of you, family holidays, you are being busy at the bakery, Jungwoo having to travel for work. All of it got in the way of you and him sitting down and talking about how you had feelings for one another.

Which is how you found yourself sitting in your car outside the airport. When Jungwoo had called you and asked if you would pick him up you jumped on the opportunity. You were done waiting, done with not talking, and done with sitting in limbo with Jungwoo. Watching as people filed out of the airport you spotted a few of Jungwoo’s members but not him. Leaning forward until your face was almost pushed against the windshield you spot Jungwoo in the back.

He looks around the parking lot. His face lights up the moment he sees your car and gives you a wave as he calls out to someone pointing to your car. Jogging over to your car you step out of the car, opening your arms wide, and prepare for the impact of Jungwoo. When his body collides with yours you take a step back your body making contact with your car. Jungwoo buries his face in your neck, and you feel the slight brush of his lips against your neck, causing you to shiver.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” he breathes. His arms tighten just a little around you.

“I think I’ve got an idea,” you whisper as your arms tighten around him as well. The two of you just stand there for a moment enjoying being back in one another’s presence.

Pulling back slightly from you Jungwoo cups your face and smiles softly down at you. His hair has grown out and is red now. You like the new look and not thinking about it you reach up to push his bangs to the side revealing his forehead.  Jungwoo closes his eyes, enjoying the feel of your fingers running through his hair. He lets out a satisfied hum, causing a breathy laugh to escape from your mouth. Opening his eyes Jungwoo glances down at you.

“What?” he asked unaware of how adorable he looked and sounded.

“Nothing you’re just being cute, and I like it,” you tell him. “Come on let’s go home.”

Moving back so you can get into the car Jungwoo swipes your keys from you while stating that he’ll drive. Normally you would protest and remind him that it’s your car and not his. But you let it go this time. You rather be back at your place with him then standing in a car garage debating who should be driving your car. Sliding into the passenger seat you buckle your seatbelt then watch as Jungwoo starts the car and pulls out onto the streets of Seoul.

“How did performing and the interview go?” You ask as Jungwoo takes one hand of the wheel in search of your hand. When he finds it he pulls your hand over onto his lap and continues to keep your hands together.

“It went good but I’m glad to be back. I missed seeing you.” Jungwoo admits.

“I missed you too. Although we have been so busy at the bakery, I doubt we would have gotten to see much of each other. Things will start to slow down now that the holiday season is over. I’m looking forward to not having to decorate another Christmas tree cookie.”

Jungwoo gives your hand a squeeze before letting it go so, he can park your car in a spot outside of your apartment complex. Getting out of the car the two of you don’t say anything as you take Jungwoo’s luggage out of your car and head up to your place. It’s like there has been an unspoken agreement between the two of you. That it has just been decided that Jungwoo will be staying at your place. Leaving Jungwoo’s luggage at the door the two of you make your way out onto your balcony. Jungwoo grabs a bottle of wine and glasses for the two of you and you settle in for the evening.

Pouring wine into the glasses Jungwoo hands one over to you, when he settles down next to you, you lean into him and take a sip of the wine. The two of you sit watching as the darkness starts to set over the city. The cold of winter was finally letting go but you knew that soon the two of you would have to move back inside. You were already starting to feel cold as you snuggled in closer to Jungwoo. You were hoping that he would be the one to start the conversation but as the two of you continued to sit in silence you realized that you were going to have to be the one to start the conversation.

“I think that we are as alone and as settled as we are going to get. Now is probably a good time to have that conversation before we both get busy again,” Quirking an eyebrow at you, you smile up at Jungwoo with no regrets, being subtle was never your strong suit.

“You lasted longer than I thought you would. I thought as soon as we were in the car you would want to talk.” Rolling your eyes you sit up, turning your body to face his. Jungwoo mirrors your position and takes a deep breath.

“Okay, we both know that we have feelings for one another and that we are are…” Jungwoo starts to trail off and a blush start to spread across his face, he’s nervous and you find it adorable.

“Are physically attracted to one another.” You finish for him.

“Yeah, but Y/n you’ve only been out of a serious relationship for a little while. I don’t’ want you to feel like I’m pushing you to get into a relationship with me. I want to give you the space and time that you need to heal.”

Your heart swells at the words Jungwoo are saying to you. You must have done something in a past life to deserve someone as kind and caring as Jungwoo. Because you don’t know a lot of men who would wait months for you to heal and stay by your side while you took the time you needed to heal. But Jungwoo had done that for you. He never pushed you and let you set the pace for your relationship. The only push he made was when he came to the bakery to visit you and told you that he wanted to be friends with you. Even though he was kind and patient with you.

Setting your glass down you grab both of Jungwoo’s hands in yours and scoot in closer to him before speaking, “Thank you for giving me the space and time I needed to heal but I don’t need anymore time. I like you Jungwoo and I want to be with you.”

“Really?” and you almost laugh at his questions because how could you want to be with anyone else?

“Really,” you tell him, “Now are you going to kiss me or still make me wait for it.”

Jungwoo laughs at that before pulling you into him and wrapping his arms around your waist.  Bending your head back to look up at Jungwoo his eyes are dark with want and before you have a chance to think about anything else his lips are on yours. His soft lips press against your gentle at first and then more demanding. Your hands fist his shirt pulling him closer to you. You let out a soft sigh causing Jungwoo to groan low in his throat. Circling his arms tighter around you Jungwoo leans into you lay down on the bench the two of you share. He doesn’t break the kiss until your settled back on the bench. When he pulls away the two of you are breathing heavy and he’s watching you closely for any sign that you aren’t happy.

“Are you good?” Jungwoo whispers.

Smiling up at him you pull his head back down towards yours and say, “Never better,” before connecting your lips with his again.

Yuta and Y/n are driving home after having dinner with Y/n friends. While the evening went perfectly there is one downside to the night. Y/n lost the bet they had going with Yuta. 

Part of the long term couples series. 

           Glancing down at your fingers that are laced with Yuta’s a small smile forms on your face. The two of you were driving back to your place after having dinner with your friends. The evening had gone better than you had expected. You should have known that it would. Yuta was easy to like, and your friends were amazing. It shouldn’t have surprised you that they hit it off right away. They got along so well that a part of you wished that you would have told him sooner that you wanted to take things to the next level. Then the two of you could have been going on group dates like this for weeks now instead of this being the first one.

           “I like your friends. They’re funny,” Yuta voice pulls you out of your thoughts and you look up at his side profile. His hair is grown out and red now. Today he has it tied up in a half ponytail and with the earrings covering his ears he looks like your dream anime character.

           “Good, they loved you. They keep messaging about you and how they want to hang out with you again.” You tell him giving his hand a squeeze before leaning over to kiss his cheek. The side of Yuta’s mouth twitches up letting you know he liked the kiss.

           “At the risk of ruining this very romantic moment I do have to tell you something,” tilting your head to the side you furrow your brows wondering what could possibly ruin this moment.

           “Okay…” you hedge.

           “I just want to point out that I win!” Brags Yuta and for a moment you blink at him in confusion until it dawns on you. Pulling your hand out of Yuta’s you cross your arms over your chest.

           “That shouldn’t count! It’s not my fault my friends ratted me out,” you complain. Yuta body shakes in silent laugher causing you to narrow your eyes at him.

           “If you want to spend the night, I suggest you stop laughing right now.” The threat has no heat behind it. Yuta and you both know that there was no way you would spend the night apart. Not after weeks of not seeing each other.  

           “Whatever you say Y/n!” Chuckles Yuta.

           You grumble for a few more seconds before reaching back out for Yuta’s hand. He laces his fingers back with yours before raising your hand to his mouth to give the back of your hand a kiss before settling your hands in his lap. You look out the window watching the city night pass you by.

           “Since you know what I do for a living now are you going to tell me what you do?” You feel Yuta stiffen, looking over at him you notice that he looks almost worried about answering your question. “You know I don’t care what you do, unless your like in the mafia then we might have to talk about that one.”

           Yuta relaxes a little and shakes his head no at the mafia comment. He still doesn’t answer you and you start to worry about what his job actually is. What if it is something illegal? You have been with him for months now and for all you know he’s selling peoples kidneys on the black market.

           “Is it bad?” You hedge.

           “No, it’s not bad it’s just… I am a little worried about your reaction. I shouldn’t be it’s silly that I am.” Yuta admits.

           “It’s okay to be worried.” You assure him. Nodding his head Yuta takes a deep breath before blurting out his career.

           “I’m an idol.” He says it so fast that at first, you’re not sure if you heard him right. You stare at him processing what he just said. ‘I’m an idol’ that’s what he said, those are the words that came out of his mouth. You just can’t believe it because you are positive that you would know if you were sleeping with an idol or not. Then again, your friends did always tease you about how clueless you were when it came to anything going on in the world.

           “Um not to rush your or anything but it would be nice if you’d say something,” You nod your head before realize that Yuta is busy watching the road and can’t see you nodding your head.

           “Right, sorry, it’s just…an idol? You are an idol and I had no idea. You’re on tv, the radio, in stores and I had no clue,” you ramble.

           “I’m not sure I’m following you?” Yuta admits.

           “I can’t believe how unaware of things I am. I should have been able to figure this out right away and won months ago!” You complain causing Yuta to look at you with questioning eyes. “I deserve to lose this bet with how easy it was for me to figure it out and here I am months later only finding out because you told me.”

           “Are you upset about me being an idol?” Yuta questions.

           “No why would I? I think it’s cool and it explains your moves in bed,” Yuta rolls his eyes at that comment because him being an idol has nothing to do with his moves in bed. “I just can’t believe I didn’t figure it out sooner. You know that I’m going to be listening to everything you have put out once we get home right.”

           “Hang on. Let me get this straight. You don’t care that I’m an idol but are more upset that you didn’t figure it out sooner because it should have been easy for you to figure out?”

           “Yes! Being an idol isn’t easy to hide. I should have gotten it right away. Oh well I’m winning the next bet we make.” You determinedly state causing Yuta to throw his head back and laugh.

           “What?” You smile over at him as he continues to laugh.

           “Nothing, I’m just lucky to have found someone like you.” He tells you.

           “Well, I can’t argue with that.” You agree before leaning over to kiss the side of Yuta’s mouth. “I’m lucky to have found you too.”

Jaehyun and Y/n break up and Jaehyun is trying to deal with the fact that you left but he’s finding it difficult. 

Part of the long term couple series

Waking up to his alarm Jaehyun reaches over for his phone to turn off the alarm before rolling onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. For the past two days Jaehyun had slept like crap, and he can’t get the thought of you out of his head. When he had returned to South Korea two days ago, he was happy and excited to see you. Now he was laying in bed trying to figure out how everything had gone wrong. He replayed your conversation again in his head trying to figure out if there was something that he could have done differently.

“Jaehyun, we need to talk,” those words made Jaehyun freeze. He could tell by the sound of your voice that it was something serious and fear was gripping him. Ever since he left for his concert in Japan and returned you have been different towards him and now, he was going to find out why.

“Okay,” Jaehyun turns back towards you but keeps a few feet between the two of you. It felt like you wanted that, needed it and he was afraid that if he got to close you would take off on him. “What do we need to talk about?”

He watches as you take a deep breath. Your eyes close for a moment before opening again and it looks like you are fighting back tears. He starts to take a step towards you but stops when you hold up your hands telling him to stay where he is.

“I want us to end things between the two of us.” The words hit Jaehyun like he has been slapped. He knew that you were hesitant about relationships, but he didn’t think that you would end things with him. Not when they had been going so well. Well, they had been until his recent trip.

“Why do you want to end things? I thought things were good between the two of us. But ever since I got back from Japan you have been acting weird and now you want to end things?”

“I think that it would be best if we just ended this  now.” Jaehyun can’t understand why you want to end the relationship you keep avoiding the question and he needs to know why.

“Tell me why. Give me a reason why you think we should end this.” Jaehyun demands.

             “Because we’re not going to work out!” You shout. “We both know that you are eventually going to meet someone else and want to be with them and me being with you is only going to hold you back.”

             Jaehyun couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could you possibly think that he would want anyone else when he has you? Don’t you get that you are all that he has ever wanted. You are someone who doesn’t hesitate to tell him the truth. You don’t care about his looks, talent, or money. You are the only person besides his members who understand when he needs time to himself or silence. How could you possibly think that he would want someone else?

“I want you Y/n. There is no one else that I want but you.” Jaehyun grabs your hands trying to pull you in closer to him, but you won’t let him and pull out of his hold.

“You say that now but there will come a time when you won’t want me anymore.”

“You don’t know that. There is no way to know if that will happen or not. Why are you ending everything on a maybe?”

“Let me go Jaehyun, just let me go. We both know that this isn’t going to work,” you cry as you angrily wipe away at the tears that are falling down your face.

“Jaehyun are you up? We have to be at the studio in an hour.” Jungwoo voice pulls him out of his thoughts. He hears the quick wrap of Jungwoo’s knuckles on the door before he walks down the hall to knock on the next persons door.

Pulling himself out of bed Jaehyun runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. He doesn’t want to go to the studio. What he wants to do is go to your place and try to get you to see reason and get back together with him.  Jaehyun knew that you had doubts about relationships that was obvious from the very beginning when you told him that you didn’t believe in relationships. But stupid him he thought you were changing your mind about relationships. Who didn’t believe in relationship and yet spent almost every night either at his place or let him come to theirs?

Walking out of his room and heading downstairs to get into one of the cars that would take him to the studio Jaehyun saw Yuta and girlfriend walking hand in hand to the elevators. Yuta was smiling down at her as he leaned down to take a bite out of the bagel that she was holding up for him. She then rests more of herself against Yuta as the continued to walk towards him. Going back inside his place Jaehyun waiting a few minutes until he was sure that the two of them were gone. He couldn’t handle riding in an elevator with the two of them.

Jaehyun was jealous of Yuta. The two of them had started seeing their significant others around the same time. The funny thing was that both of them had started to fall for people who claimed they wanted nothing more than casual hook ups. If anyone could understand what Jaehyun was going through it was Yuta. That was until things changed for Yuta, his supposed fuck buddy admitted that they wanted more and the two went from keeping things casual to a full-blown relationship. At first it had given Jaehyun hope that that would be where the two of you would end up. That all came crashing down when he returned to South Korea, and you told him you wanted to end everything.

Finally making it downstairs and into the van Jaehyun noted how everyone in the vehicle was looking at him but no one said anything. Then again what was there to say? They all knew what happened between him and you. Some of them had even heard the two of you arguing and then him asking for you to stay, begging you to let him prove to you that he was worth being in a relationship with. Closing his eyes Jaehyun leaned his head back. When there was a nudge into his side Jaehyun peeked open one eye and looked over at Johnny who was watching him with concerned eyes.

“She’ll come around she just needs some time,” Johnny whispers to him so the others won’t hear. Nodding to get Johnny to leave him alone Jaehyun closes his eyes again and tries to keep thoughts of you out of his head.

“Stay Y/n, stay with me and let me prove to you that we are something worth fighting for. I can’t promise you that you won’t get hurt or that we won’t end. But I can promise you that I will do everything I can to prove to you that I am worth the risk of getting hurt because you are that to me. I want to be with you that I don’t even care that I could get hurt by you.”

The car comes to a stop and Jaehyun doesn’t wait for the others to move before he is sitting up and exiting the vehicle. He has to get out and move. Once out of the vehicle he takes some large gulps of air and tries to shake off the memory that keeps haunting him. A hand lands on his shoulder causing him to jump. Taeyong stands next to him holding him in place letting everyone else file inside before he speaks.

“Go check on her. Maybe it’ll help you relax or just take a walk but don’t come inside. You’re out of it and there’s no point in you trying to record today.”

“I’m sorry,” Jaehyun starts but Taeyong stops him.

“Don’t be. We all have had times where we couldn’t work. Go do what you need to and if your ready we can record your part tomorrow.” Taeyong gives his shoulder a squeeze before leaving him.

He doesn’t mean to go to your place of work. When Taeyong had suggested that he go check on you he didn’t think it was a good idea. He was going to just walk back to their dorms, but he found himself walking towards the hospital that you worked at. He found you easily, he had hoped that he wouldn’t be able to find you and then could walk away with the knowledge that he tried but that it was pointless for him to come here. But there you were in the hallway sitting in one of the chairs, with charts stacked up next to your chair.

You weren’t looking at the chart in your hand but at something across the hallway from you. Whatever you were looking at it was causing you to look upset and you were about to get up when something in the room must have changed. You lowered yourself back down into the chair and a look he wasn’t sure how to describe crossed your face. It looked like you were sad but also happy. You jump when one of the other staff stops next to you and the two of you talk before looking back at the room. When they leave you get up and walk into the room that you had been watching.

When you leave the room, your shoulders are slumped and Jaehyun can tell that you are crying. He wants to walk up to you and pull you into his embrace. To hold you close to him and to tell you that it’ll be okay, that whatever is making you upset will pass and that you can let it all out. That he’ll be right here to support you, but he doesn’t. Because he told you that he would let you go, that he’d let you go but would be waiting.

“You can walk away. I understand that this is something that you think you need to do, and I won’t stop you. But Y/n just know that even though I am letting you walk out that door I am not giving up on you, on us. I will be here waiting for you, but you have to be the one to come back I won’t chase you. I need you to come back because you want to and because you believe in us.”

“Trust me Jaehyun you won’t want me to come back.” To him it sounds like you are lying more to yourself than to him. That you’re trying to convince yourself that there is no possible way that he could ever want you.

“I’ll always want you to come back,” Jaehyun replies without any hesitation because he means it. No matter what he knows deep in his bones that he’ll always want you.

On one of yours and Taeyong’s dates Taeyong decides that it’s time to take things in your relationship to the next level. 

Part of the long term couples series. 

             Walking down the street you glance in the windows of shops that you passed by not paying a great deal of attention to what you were looking at. You were just killing time while you waited for Taeyong to meet you. He had the day off and the two of you made plans to spend the day together. As you pass by the many shops windows you let your mind wonder to Taeyong. Things had been going good between the two of you. When you had first found out that he was an idol you thought that it would change the dynamics of your relationship. Surprisingly though things between the two of you only got better.  

           After your movie date with Taeyong the feelings that the two of you shared for one another only grew. Taeyong quickly became the first person that you would message when you woke up and was the last person that you spoke to when you went to bed. Your worries about if the two of you would be able to manage his idol career and your demanding dance career became a distant memory. It was like you both had an unspoken agreement that you would prioritize your relationship and it was working for the two of you.

           You stop in front of one of the store windows and look at the display of jewelry. Your eyes scanning the rings, earrings, and necklaces. Normally you didn’t wear a lot of jewerly but that didn’t stop you from admiring the display. As your looking at the display you feel a pair of arms wrap around you and pull you back into a firm chest. A pair of lips touch your cheek, and you smile as you turn to face Taeyong.

           He’s wearing a black baseball cap that he has pulled low, making it so you can only see a few strands of his now bleach blonde hair. He’s wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a long black jacket.  You lean in and touch your lips to his. When you pull away Taeyong smiles broadly at you and gives your waist a squeeze.

           “Were you waiting long for me?” Taeyong questions as he rests his chin on your shoulder at looks at the displays in the window.

           “No, I’ve only been walking around for a few minutes,” you assure him, and you turn back towards the display as well.

           “See anything you like?” You shrug causing Taeyong’s head to bounce up and down with your shoulder.

           “I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, so I wasn’t really looking seriously at any of it,” Taeyong nods in understanding and starts to sway the two of you back and forth before he moves from behind you and grabs your hand to pull you into the store.

           “Taeyong!” you gasp as he pulls you into the store, “I told you I don’t wear jewelry.”

           Taeyong ignores you and continues to pull you into the sore with him and stops when he is next to one of the display cases. He pulls you back in front of him and once again wraps his arms around your waist and rest his chin on your shoulder. You look down at the display case to see rows and rows of rings in front of the two of you.

           “I know but would you wear a ring if we had matching ones?” It comes out a whisper like Taeyong is worried that if he says it to loudly it’ll scare you and you won’t answer him.

           Turning to Taeyong he’s already watching you with wide eyes and has a nervous smile on his face. When the two of you had planned to get together today the last thing that you thought the two of you would be doing was looking at rings for each of you to wear.

           “Depends,” A smirk crosses your face, “do I get a say in what the rings look like.”

           Before Taeyong gets a chance to answer the two of you are greeted by the salesclerk asking what the two of you are looking for today and jumps quickly into sales mode when Taeyong tells them that the two of you are looking at rings. They don’t waste anytime in bringing out a variety of rings for the two of you to look at. They start to ramble off facts about each of the rings and you start to feel a little overwhelmed with all the information that the sale clerk is throwing at you.

           Taeyong feeling your unease ask the clerk if they can give you some time alone to look over the rings and that he’ll let them know when they have made a decision.  When the clerk walks off you relax back into Taeyong and look down at rings in front of you. They were all beautiful rings you weren’t sure how the two of you were going to pick a pair.

           “Take your time and pick the pair that you like. I’ll like whatever you pick out.” Taeyong encourages as you look over the rings, picking up some to try on and skipping over others.

           “I want you to like them as well. It can’t just be my choice,” Turning to Taeyong you grab his hand and slide on one of the rings. “What do you think of this one?”

           Taeyong examines the ring then looks up at you. You’re waiting patiently for him to respond, when he doesn’t say anything, you let out a small laugh before sliding the ring off his finger and putting it back. You reach out for another ring one that is less flashy and is instead a simple black ring with a small silver strip on the edges of the ring.

           “What about this one?”

           “I like this one. What does the matching one look like?” Taeyong looks over at the rings spotting the one that goes with his. He picks up the ring that would go on your finger. It has a black band as well the only difference from his is the small diamond that lays in the band. Taeyong grabs your hand and slides the ring onto your finger.

           “Do you like it?” You study the ring before lacing your hand with Taeyong’s.

           “I love it. Does this mean that we’re official now?” You lean into Taeyong, resting your hands on his chest.

           “Absolutely, I don’t just buy anyone matching rings,” Taeyong smiles down at you before kissing the tip of your nose. He calls over the salesclerk to let them know that you’ll get the rings and to set up a time to come get the rings once they are size for the two of you.

           Leaving the shop, you lace your fingers with Taeyong and swing your hands back and forth. He laughs as he spins you around and then pulls you into him. “Are you happy with your ring?”

           “Yes, but just so you know I would be happy even without the rings. This is just an added bonus to today.” You tell him.

           “I know but I’ve been thinking about getting us rings for a while now. Actually, I’ve been thinking about it ever since our movie date and then when I came to find you today there you were standing in front of the jewelry store, and it just seemed like the right time to get them. To make things official.”

           “I think so too.” You smile up at him as the two of you make your way down the street. “Who would have thought that a night of dancing in a club would have led to buying rings.”

           “I knew. I knew from the moment I saw you dancing that it was going to lead to this.” Taeyong tells you with certainty causing you to look up at Taeyong with wide eyes. He looks down at you and gives you his adorably shy smile before looking away and focusing on making sure the two of you can walk down the street together without tripping.

           “What else do you know?” You ask.

           “You’ll just have to wait and find out.” Taeyong teases and you just shake your head at your boyfriend and lean your head against him.

Y/n went out last night with their co-workers and is feeling the pain of it the next day. They are suppsed to be going on their frist date with Johnny but a hangover changes those plans.

Part of the long term couple series.

            Rolling over in your bed your head pounds, your mouth tastes like regret, and you can feel what you like to call it sweaters on your teeth. Pulling the blankets up over your head you groan and wish that you could remove your head from the rest of your body. You hate being hung over and you should have stopped drinking last night but you were having fun and had lost count of your drinks and after a while you stop caring how much you were drinking and was just focused on having a good time with your co-workers. You hoped that the rest of them were feeling just as awful as you were.

            Closing your eyes, you pray that you’ll find sleep again and that when you have reawakened your headache will be gone. As you are thinking this you hear your doorbell go off and almost cry. Why, why were you being punished for having a good time last night. You lay there thinking that if you don’t answer the door whoever it is will just go away. Unfortunately for you that is not the case and whoever is at the door continues to ring your doorbell. Flinging the covers off yourself you sit up and instantly the room spins. Dam you really need to learn to cut yourself off.

            “I’m coming,” you call and wince at the own sound of your voice as you make your way towards the door. Pulling it open you lean heavily against the door jam and look up at the person outside your door.

            Standing there looking handsome, healthy, and annoyingly not hung over is Johnny. You narrow your eyes at him and wonder how much it would hurt your head to tell him off. Probably a lot you figure so you settle for just glaring at him. Johnny for his part just smiles down at you and holds up a coffee carrier. You don’t hesitate to reach out for the coffee. He laughs as you pull the cup towards you like it’s the most precious thing you have ever set your eyes on.

            “Party a little to hard last night?” You ignore him and move into your apartment and settle onto your couch with your coffee. Johnny follows behind you laughing as he shuts the door to your place and takes a seat on the opposite end of your couch.

            “Y/n if I would have known you would go this hard last night, I would have told you to cancel your evening plans. We can’t go out and do what I planned with you hung over.” Johnny shakes his head at you in disappointment. You know that he’s joking but you are not in the mood for Johnny’s teasing.

            “Stop talking,” you groan as you curl up on the couch and take another drink of your coffee. Why did he have to be so annoying when you were suffering.

            “Alright I’ll take pity on you. But only because you’re suffering,” Johnny tells you and you note that he has lowered his voice as he tells you this, “You owe me though. I had the best date ever planned.”

            “Johnny,” you whine.

            “Okay, I’m done. I’ll get you some pain meds.” He gets up and starts to walk pass you when you reach out and wrap your hand around his wrist.

            “Will you also order us some really greasy food and not judge me when I walk to the bathroom holding my head so I can brush my teeth to get rid of the sweaters?”

            “The sweaters?” Johnny questions and you nod your head slowly.

            “On my teeth.” You tell him, Johnny smiles and gently pulls you up and moves you towards the bathroom. “I won’t judge you at all.”

            He kisses the back of your head before shutting the bathroom door behind you with a promise to bring you a change of clothes and tells you to take a shower, it’ll make you feel better and when you come out the food will be here. You shuffle your way to the sink and brush your teeth already feeling better with the awful taste and feel out of your mouth. You get into the shower and sigh at the feel of the hot water. Johnny was right it would make you feel loads better. You heard the door open and turn your head towards the door.

            “Just bringing you a change of clothes.” Johnny continues to use his gentle voice and you hear the door click close once again. You spent more time than you normally would in the shower, but it felt good, and you figured you deserve to spend a little extra time in the shower than normal.

            Exiting the bathroom, you are greeted with the smell of food, and you stop waiting to see how your stomach is going to react. When it grumbles in hunger you sigh in relief. At least you’re not so hung over that the smell and thought of food makes you sick. You’re already feeling better after your shower and you’re hoping that the pain meds you took will kick in soon and you’ll be feeling more like yourself in no time.

            Making your way back into the living room you find Johnny sitting on the couch with a burger in his hand. On the coffee table is your burger and what you are hoping is a cup full of diet coke. You shuffle around your couch and flop down onto the couch. You reach out for the burger and take a huge bite out of the burger and let out a satisfied moan and then reach for some fries. Johnny chuckles at you but doesn’t say anything else. Which surprises you he usually has a comeback waiting to be delivered.

            “What no smart-ass remark to make?” You question as you reach for some more fries with your one hand and take another bite of your burger with the other.

            “I’m going easy on you today, don’t worry though I’ve got them all saved up here.” Johnny taps the side of his head. You roll your eyes and take another bite of your burger. Johnny let’s you eat in silence and your thankful for it. Once you finish eating you feel more human again.

            “Thank you for getting me some food,” you tell Johnny as you lean back against the couch. Johnny leans back as well causing your shoulders to touch.

            “No problem. You know that you can call me anytime for anything,” you know that Johnny means it and it just makes you like him more. Rolling to the side a little you lay your head on Johnny’s chest and drape one of your arms over his stomach.

            “How amazing was the date that you had planned?”

            “It would have gone down in the history books as the best date ever. Lucky for you I’m quite fond of you and still plan to take you on said date.” You look up at Johnny and see that he has a determined look on his face.

            “Fond huh?”

            “Fond.” Johnny confirms looking down at you his hand comes up to tuck some loose strands of hair behind your ear. Johnny starts to lean down towards you, and you know what he’s intending to do and before his lips can touch yours you start to pull away.

            “I just ate a burger with onions,” you protest but that doesn’t seem to matter to Johnny. Who hooks his arms under your armpits and pulls you closer to him so you two are only a breath apart?

            “Don’t care, I’ve been wanting to do this forever and I’m tired of waiting.” With that statement Johnny connects his lips to yours. It starts off gentle with just a touch of his lips to yours but once you let out a sigh Johnny doesn’t hold back. He wraps his arms around you and his tongue finds its way into your mouth. The two of you continue to kiss until you have to break apart for air. But even then, Johnny doesn’t stop. He trail’s kisses along your jawline and down your neck.

            “Johnny,” you pant trying to calm your breathing.

            “What Y/n?” Johnny asks in between kisses.

            “I know this isn’t the date you planned but I’m putting this down as one of the best dates ever.” Johnny laughs into your neck causing you to smile. He pulls away and frames your face with his hands.

            “Good to know but I’m still taking you on the date. Now kiss me.” You don’t hesitate to reconnect your lips with Johnny and it’s while you’re kissing him that you realize your headache is gone. Who would have thought that kissing Johnny would make your headache go away? Or maybe it was the pain meds, but you liked to think that it was Johnny’s kissing that cured your hangover.

Y/n is enjoying wrapping presents and when Jungwoo messages to see if he can bring his gifts over as well Y/n is more then happy to help. What is supposed to be just friends getting together to wrap gifts though soon turns into something else. 

Part of the long term couples series. Can be read as a stand alone.

           Christmas music was playing softly in the background, your Christmas tree’s lights were on, along with the million other lights you had strung up throughout your apartment, and a cup of hot chocolate was sitting next to you as you hummed to yourself while wrapping presents. You had about 10 rolls of wrapping paper out. Christmas bags and tissue paper were scattered all over your floor, along with an assortment of ribbons and bows. You personally were having a great time and was a little upset that you were running out of presents to wrap.

           While you were finishing up another present your phone pinged and glancing over you saw that it was a message from Jungwoo. Your heart started to beat a little faster at seeing it was a message from him. Things between the two of you had started to change ever since you moved into your new place. In those three months that you had been living in your new place you noticed that Jungwoo would often be at your place. Not that he didn’t visit you at your old place but now that you were living alone, he seemed to stop by more.

           You had also noticed that the two of you were starting to get more comfortable with one another. It wasn’t uncommon for Jungwoo to put his arm around you but now you found yourself seeking out his touch more. There were times that when he was sitting on the couch that instead of taking the space next to him you would curl up in his lap. And let’s not forget the numerous times that you were certain Jungwoo was going to kiss you. Just thinking about those times made you blush. Pushing those thoughts aside you grab your phone to see what he was messaging you about.

Jungwoo: If I bring you food will you help me wrap everyone’s gifts?

Y/n: You don’t even have to bring food. I love wrapping gifts!

Jungwoo: Got it just bring food for me.

Y/n: Noooooo I was joking I want food!!

Jungwoo: Alright I’ll get you food as well. I’ll be there in about 15 minutes

You sat your phone back down and did a little happy dance in your chair at the opportunity to wrap more presents and having food brought to you. There were many things that you were good at but sadly cooking was not one of them. How you worked in the bakery always amazed you, but it helped that the only thing you were in charge of was decorating, packing them up, and collecting the money. If you had to actually bake Taeil’s girlfriend would have either fired you or gone out of business by now.

Going back to the presents in front of you, you refocused on wrapping and let your thoughts wondered back to Jungwoo and the most recent time that you thought he was going to kiss you. The two of you had been watching a movie together and had fallen asleep. When you had woken up Jungwoo was on his back, and you were sprawled across him your head resting under his chin. When you had lifted your head Jungwoo had woken up and the two of you had locked eyes. Neither one of you moved and Jungwoo had started to lift his head towards yours and just as your eyes were starting to close you felt your body going sideways and Jungwoo was no longer under you.

When you had opened them, you were now lying on the couch and Jungwoo was sitting on the edge looking down at you with a look on his face that you had never seen before. You weren’t sure what to do but Jungwoo seemed to. He had given you a soft smile, told you to go to bed and pulled you up and out of the couch. Before he left, he gave you a hug and a kiss to the top of your head. That was the closest you figured you were ever going to get to kissing him. And it made you frown as you taped down one side of the present in front of you.

“Y/n,” Jungwoo called causing you to jump. You hadn’t even heard him opening the door. “Do you wan to eat at the table or in the living room.

Jungwoo soon came into your line of sight with two bags containing food hanging from his hands. His eyes scanned the table and floor taking it all in before he stated, “Couch it is then.” And disappeared into your living room. You finished wrapping your one present and then followed after him. Jungwoo had everything out on the coffee table by the time you joined him.

“What did you get?” You ask as you take a seat next to Jungwoo.

“Some Japchae,” Jungwoo replies as he hands you your chopsticks. The two of you start to eat and talk about how your days have been going. Yours was more relaxing then his since you didn’t have to work, and he did. But Jungwoo was in a good mood even with having to work. Once the two of you finished eating you headed back to the table to work on wrapping Jungwoo’s gifts. Jungwoo came in with bags full of gifts and dropped them on the table.

“Alright how do we do this?” Jungwoo questions.

“What do you mean? Like how many are you wrapping and how many am I wrapping?”

“No like how are we wrapping them.” You stared at Jungwoo and then it dawned on you.

“Jungwoo have you ever wrapped a present before?” Jungwoo looks to the side then back at you with a sheepish look on his face.

“Someone has always done it for me.” He admits.

“Come here. I’ll show you how to wrap a present.” You wave your hand in a come here motion and Jungwoo steps up next to you.

“Okay let’s start with an easy gift,” you pull out a gift that is in a box, “First pick out what wrapping paper you want to use and then unroll some of it.”

Jungwoo does as he says and grabs some wrapping paper and rolls some of it out onto the table. You set the box down on the wrapping paper and walk him through how to measure how much paper you’ll need to cover the whole gift. Where to tape it and then the fun part picking out the ribbons and bows to put on the gift to make it extra pretty. Jungwoo listens to everything you say following your instructions exactly.

“How do I make the ribbon curl?” Jungwoo looks to you as he holds the scissors and ribbon.

“Like this,” you step behind him, leaning over you place your hands over his and show him how to run the ribbon over the scissors to make it curl. When you turn to look at Jungwoo, he is already looking at you and freeze. Jungwoo is looking at you so intensely it makes you want to run away but you hold your ground and look right back at him.

“Y/n what would you say if I told you that I wanted to kiss you?” Jungwoo asks. You slowly blink and wonder if you heard him correctly. Did Jungwoo just tell you that he basically wants to kiss you.

“I would say that I want to kiss you too.” Jungwoo smiles at that and leans into you. You hold your breath waiting for his lips to touch yours, but they don’t. Instead, his forehead rest on yours.

“I want to kiss you and I’m thrilled that you want me to kiss you,” Jungwoo starts off, “but I’m not going to kiss you right now.”

You start to pull away, but Jungwoo places his hand at the back of your head and holds you gently in place and you don’t try to pull away from him. You look into his eyes and wonder what he is thinking.

“Y/n I think that we need to talk about somethings before we take this any farther. I want to do this right and know what we both want and were we stand with everything. So, I’m not going to kiss you right now but once we talk, I promise you the first thing I’m going to do is kiss you.”

“Let’s talk right now then and then get to the good stuff,” you urge him. You love that Jungwoo wants to do this right and that he is being kind and gentle with you. It’s something that you need especially after your last relationship but in this moment all you can think about are his lips touching yours.

“Soon, Jungwoo let’s out a breathy laugh. “Right now, let’s wrap these presents and then when we have a day that’s just the two of us, we’ll talk.”

“Okay as long as it’s soon,” you agree. Jungwoo gives your neck a squeeze and you know that you’ll talk soon.

“Let’s finish these presents.” Jungwoo says as he let’s you go. You straighten back up and move to sit beside Jungwoo. You watch as he goes about measuring the paper for the next present and smile to yourself. Maybe your Christmas gift from Jungwoo would be himself you were hoping so because right now he is the only thing that you want for Christmas.  

Y/n has one goal and one goal only. To make a gingerbread house. It shouldn’t be hard right? When Mark walks in to Y/n’s place though he’s not sure what to think when he sees what you’ve been working on.

Part of the long term couple series. Can be read as a stand alone.

           Scooping out another large glob of frosting you are determined this time to make sure that the walls of your gingerbread house stay up. When you had gotten the brilliant idea to make a gingerbread house for Christmas you didn’t think that it would be this hard. But it was proving more difficult than you thought it would be. Every time you got three walls standing the last wall would somehow fall and you knew that if you couldn’t get the walls to stand on their own there was no way that they were going to stay up when you put the roof on. Carefully adding frosting to the bottom of your stand and the gingerbread wall you move it into place once again.

           Holding your breath, you push the wall up against the other two walls hoping that they’ll all stay standing this time. Slowly moving your hand back, you pump your fist in the air when the walls stay standing. It had only taken you four tries, but you finally managed to get the walls to stay standing. Now all you had to do next was get the roof on and then you could really start to decorate. Glancing over at the clock on the wall you knew that Mark would be to your place soon and while you had hoped that you would have the gingerbread house done before he got to your place you didn’t think that was going to happen anymore.

           Turning your attention back to the gingerbread house you focused on getting the roof on without any of the walls collapsing. Somehow you had managed to get the roof on with all of the walls standing up. Maybe the hard part was over and everything after this was going to be easy.

           “Are you kidding me why are you falling!” Mark hears as he opens the door to your apartment.

           “Y/n?” Mark calls as he walks further into the apartment. He wasn’t sure what was going on but from the sound of your voice whatever was happening was making you upset.

           “In the kitchen,” you call back to him. “Why are you leaning to the side?”

           Mark enters the kitchen and sees your kitchen table is covered with a variety of gumdrops, m&m’s, frosting, and other candy. He also sees what he is assuming is supposed to be a gingerbread house though it looks more like a pile of cookie, frosting, and candy. Mark then looks at you. Your hair is thrown up into a messy bun, pieces of hair are falling out of it. You have frosting on you and some red dye smeared across your face.

           “Do I even want to know what is going on?” Mark is approaching you like you are a wild animal and that any sudden movements by him will cause you to either bolt or strike out at him.

           “I’m trying to make a gingerbread house,” you tell him barely giving him a glance as you try to shift the leaning house back into an upright position. “But the stupid house won’t stay standing, the roof is collapsing in, and I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten my weight in chocolate because I’m getting stressed out from this stupid thing.”

           “Okay why don’t you just calmly set down the frosting and butterknife and we can figure out a way to fix this.” Glaring at Mark you can’t decide if he’s being serious or if he is teasing you.

           “Mark, I swear if you’re teasing me about my gingerbread house, I’m going to throw it at you.” What you don’t do is set down the frosting or the knife. Instead, you focus back on the leaning house and wonder if you could use pretzels to support the house and keep it upright.

           “I’m not teasing. I’m being serious just set everything down and take a step back. Maybe what you need is a break and when you come back with a fresh mind, you’ll be able to get it to stand upright.”  Mark does have a point. You have been working on this house for hours maybe you should step away for a bit and come back to it later.

           “You might be right,” Setting the frosting and knife down you really look at your boyfriend and while you know he is being serious you can see it in his eyes and the twitching of his lips that he wants to laugh but won’t.

           “Making a gingerbread house is harder than it looks!” You defend yourself. Though you’re probably the only person on this planet who has struggled as much as you have with getting a gingerbread house made.

           “I’m sure it is,” Nods Mark. He moves towards you and leans in to wipe the frosting from your face. “I think even with your gingerbread house leaning to the side and the collapsing roof it still looks great.”

           “Really?” You question because glancing over at the house you think that it looks like a mess, and you don’t think would give Mark the same complement if your places were reversed.

           “Maybe it’s not great but I like it because you made it.” Mark admits causing you to laugh and Mark joins you. It’s as the two of you are laughing that the house leans even more and eventually the whole thing collapses into a pile of cooking, frosting, and candy.

           Your eyes widen and you look over at Mark who is looking at the pile with wide eyes as well before he turns to face you. He’s waiting for your reaction your sure of it. He probably doesn’t know if you are going to laugh, cry, or scream. And while you want to do all three laughter wins out. You throw your head back and laugh. Mark joins you once again and moves towards you to pull you into his arms.

           “Still think my house is great?” You laugh into Marks chest. You can feel Mark’s body shaking and you look up into his laughing face. He leans down to kiss you while the two of you continue to laugh.

           “I think anything that you do is great. Even a collapse gingerbread house.” Mark reaches out to the gingerbread house and picks up one of the pieces that is covered in frosting and candy and holds it out to you to take a bite. The house may not have turned out, but it sure does taste good.

It’s Christmas Eve and Y/n is not expecting Jaehyun to be home until Christmas day. But it seems that Y/n is going to be getting an early Christmas present.

Part of the long term couples series but can be read as a stand alone.

           Jaehyun quietly unlocks the door to your apartment and toes off his shoes in the entryway before he silently makes his way down the hallway towards your bedroom. He had told you that he wouldn’t be back until Christmas day but him and the rest of his members had been able to wrap up the video shoot early and were back in Korea by Christmas Eve. Jaehyun had thought about calling you and letting you know that he was going to be back sooner than planned but he had decided to wait and surprise you instead.

           As Jaehyun makes his way down the hallway he looks into the living room and sees your Christmas tree with the lights on and a few presents sitting under the tree. Jaehyun remember when you had dragged the fake tree out of your closet and told him that the two of you were going to decorate the tree together and you didn’t want to hear any complaining from him. When he was about to open his mouth to protest you quickly shut him down by saying “We are doing this as a couple, and I know it’s lame, but I want to do this.”

           That had gotten him to shut his mouth and help you set up the tree and decorate it. Once the tree was done Jaehyun had to admit that he enjoyed decorating the tree and he had a strong feeling that the reason had to do with the person who was standing next to him admiring the work that they had done together. Jaehyun adds his present for you to the rest of the gifts before he turns off the lights and continues down the hallway.

           Gently pushing open the door to your room Jaehyun sees you laying on your side, legs tucked up close to your chest, one of your hands is tucked under your cheek. Jaehyun found it cute that you slept like that whenever he wasn’t next to you. As much as you liked to claim that you weren’t a cuddler in sleep you were. Once you started to drift off to sleep you would turn into him and thrown a leg and arm over him. There had even been times when he had woken up on his side with you curled around him face pressed into his back.

           Moving to the bed Jaehyun sat down on the side and reached out towards you. He ran the back of his hand down the side of your face causing you to stir. Your face scrunched up in annoyance and your eyes started too slowly open. You looked up at him and blinked away the sleep and confusion at seeing him earlier than you had planned. Jaehyun smiled down at you letting you wake up and get your bearings.

           “Hi,” you whisper your voice filled with sleep. “When did you get back?”

           “Landed about two hours ago and came here as soon as I could.” Jaehyun told you. You nodded your head in understanding still not fully awake. You scoot over in the bed making room for Jaehyun.

           “Lay with me,” you tell him. Jaehyun smiles at you before he crawls into bed with you. The two of you lay on your sides facing one another. You waited about two seconds before you moved right into Jaehyun space.

           “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you until tomorrow.” You tell his chest. Your hand starts to trace up and down his side. The touch of your fingertips is so soft Jaehyun can barely feel it and he finds the motion calming.

           “We finished early and were able to convince management to let us go home early to be with those we care about for the holiday.” He tells you his voice starting to fade out as he starts to let the tiredness from work and traveling set in.

           “I’m glad that you’re here,” you whisper as you notice that Jaehyun is starting to drift off.

           “Me too. I was worried that I wouldn’t get to spend Christmas with you,” Jaehyun admits. You snuggle in closer to him and kiss his chest.

           “You made it, with plenty of time to spare,” Jaehyun nods his head in agreement.

           “Made it in time to spend Christmas Eve with you and then wake up and do Christmas day the right way. Now sleep Y/n otherwise Santa won’t come, and you won’t have any presents to open on Christmas day.”

           “You can just tell me that you’re tired Jaehyun you don’t have to make up stories about Santa coming. I’m an adult and know the truth.” You inform him.

           “Shh, let’s just pretend for tonight that he’s real and embrace all the magic that Christmas brings with it. Now close your eyes and dream of sugar plums.”

           You’re about to tease Jaehyun and ask him when he became such a knowledgeable man about Christmas. But you can see the exhaustion that is written all over his face and how he is fighting to stay awake and talk with you and while you want to you talk more to him and enjoy having him back home you know that you’ll have all day tomorrow with him which is more than what you were originally going to get.

           “Alright, let’s sleep and dream of sugar plums,” you stretch up and gently touch your lips to Jaehyun’s “Merry Christmas Jaehyun.”

           “Merry Christmas Y/n.” Jaehyun tells you before he drifts off to sleep. You snuggle into him with a smile on your face, eyes closed, and instead of dreaming about sugar plums you dream about yours and Jaehyun’s first Christmas together.

After a bad break up you are finally moving into your new place. As you’re moving into your new place you are reflecting on the past month and mostly on how your friendship with Jungwoo has grown and started to change.

Part of the long term couple series. 

             Looking at all the boxes that filled your new apartment a giant smile spread across your face. You were finally free! Never again would you have to worry about walking into your place and seeing your ex and his new girlfriend sitting on the couch making out. You wouldn’t have to sneak out of your room and cautiously make your way towards the bathroom and pray that she wasn’t in there. And best of all you no longer had to keep all your anger in and pretend to be nice. That had to be the worst part of living the last month with your ex. Acting like it didn’t hurt to have his new relationship flaunted in front of you and that it didn’t make your heart ache at times.

           The only thing that had made the last month even slightly bearable was your new friendship with Jungwoo. You weren’t sure at first if you and Jungwoo were going to work as friends. For starters Jungwoo was a lot touchier than you and he liked to communicate, a lot. When you had called him a day later after seeing him at the bakery, he instantly started in on you and how it had taken you to long to reach out to him. Then when you two had hung out in person he was always touching you in someway be it his foot touching your, his arm around your shoulders, he had somehow managed to make sure there was some form of contact between the two of you.

           This had been nice when the two of you were at your shared apartment. When your ex had come in with his girlfriend you had instantly stiffened and Jungwoo had noticed it right away. The arm the was resting casually around your shoulders wrapped tighter around you and pulled you in closer to him. When you looked up at him Jungwoo’s kind eyes were looking down at you.

           “Don’t give him that power,” he whispered, you nodded your head in agreement and gave him a hesitant smile. “Remember he’s not worth your tears.”

           After that things had started to get easier between you and Jungwoo and he had become an important part of your life. Jungwoo was the person that you texted when you were having a bad day or found a funny meme. He was the one who had come with you to all of your showings and helped you decide on the place you were currently standing in. He was also the person who had helped you move and was staying to help you unpack.

           “I think we gained more boxes somehow. Because I do not remember carrying this many boxes out of your old place,” Jungwoo huffed as he dropped the last of your boxes onto the floor without a care in the world. You would have yelled at him if the box wasn’t clearly labeled clothes.

           “I don’t know what to tell you. The number of boxes has not changed. Maybe you’re just getting weak.” You tease Jungwoo as you start to open boxes.

           “No, that is definitely not it,” Jungwoo shook his head as he made his way towards you and peered into the box you had open. Jungwoo didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around your middle and rest his chin on your shoulder. Like you had said Jungwoo was someone who liked contact.

           “Can we please eat first before we continue to unpack. Everyone else got to eat but you and me!” Jungwoo wasn’t wrong when he had brought over his friends to help you unpack you had ordered food for everyone as a thank you, but you hadn’t had a chance to eat. You were to focused on getting everything out of your apartment and Jungwoo had helped you with that. While everyone else waited for you at your new place to unload and carry everything up. Giving them all time to eat. At the mention of food your stomach gave a loud grumbled.

           “Let’s get food.” You laugh as Jungwoo giggles beside you. Before he lets you go, he gives your neck a quick peck and moves away from you to grab his phone. You stare after him as he goes. Jungwoo has never kissed you before and you’re not sure what to make of it.

           “Where do you want to order from?” Jungwoo calls as he scrolls through his phone unfazed but what he just did.

           “Um,” you start causing Jungwoo to look up at you and you feel a blush creep across your face.

           “Why are you blushing?” The question is innocent but there is no way that you are telling Jungwoo that his lips are the reason for your blush.

           “Am I?” You play dumb, “It must just be from all the work we have done. Just ignore it. Order from wherever you’d like you know my order.”

           You go back to the box you were unpacking and listen to Jungwoo as he places your order. He then rejoins you in the living room. Glancing over at him you take in all that his Jungwoo. When you had first met him, you had found him cute but were too heartbroken to really take him in. Then as your friendship started to grow you guess you never really focused on anything but that and mending your broken heart and ego. Now though, as you looked over at Jungwoo you were suddenly very aware of him. And not just in his looks which were suddenly very noticeable to you. Had Jungwoo’s lips always been so soft and plump looking and why did he suddenly seem taller and to move with a gracefulness you hadn’t noticed before.

           “Y/n are you feeling, okay? You’re staring and you look a little flushed?” Jungwoo breaks you out of your trance and your eyes fly to his that are watching you with concern.

           “All good. I think I’m just more tired than I realized, and it’s suddenly hit me,” you tell him.

           “Let’s take a break than. It’s not like you have to get everything unpacked today and I don’t have anything going on tomorrow I can help you then as well.” Jungwoo grabs your hand and pulls you towards the couch. Of course, your tv was set up. The guys had claimed that was something that had to be taken care of right away. Although why it took almost five them to get it set up, you’ll never know.

           Jungwoo pulls you into his side and turns on the tv. He soon finds a mindless show for the two of you to watch. Knowing that right now you are not going to be able to focus on anything new and you like how he knows that without you having to even say it. Halfway through your show your food arrives and it’s exactly what you like. Jungwoo hands you your food with a smile before he returns his attention to the tv.

           “Jungwoo,” you call. He gives you a distracted hm and continues to eat and watch the show.

           “Thank you for all of this.” You tell him as you scoot a little closer to him. Jungwoo looks over at you and studies you for a moment.

           “Why do I feel like you aren’t just thanking me for the food?”

           “Because I’m not.” You admit. “I’m thanking you for everything. For letting me cry at your place the first time we met. For coming to the bakery to check on me and for everything after it. I don’t know what I would have done this past month without you, and I just wanted you to know that I’m thankful for it all.”

           Jungwoo’s face softens at that. He sets down his food and takes yours out of your hands so he can pull you into a hug. You wrap your arms around him and breathe in the scent that is Jungwoo. You don’t know how you had gone on so long without knowing him but you’re glad that you know him now.

           “You don’t have to thank me for being there for you. I’ll always be here for you.” Jungwoo says it with such seriousness that you don’t question it or make a joke. Instead, you just squeeze him a little tighter before pulling away and return to your food and the tv. Jungwoo does the same and for the first time in your friendship you’re the one to initiate contact. You slide closer so you and Jungwoo are touching from hip down. Jungwoo doesn’t say anything, but he does tangle his one leg with yours and you notice the side of his mouth twitch up.

Taeyong comes to walk y/n home after work and with teh snow falling and him feeling romantic. Taeyong takes you on a romantic winter stroll that leads to dancing with the snowflakes falling around you.

Part of the long term couple series. Can be read as a stand alone. 

           Locking the door to the studio you pull on your gloves before turning to face the snow fall that greets you. Thankfully it was a warmer night for winter and there was no wind. Making the snowflakes that were falling more enjoyable. You look up at the sky watching the snowflakes gracefully make their way down to the ground. You always liked watching it snow it was something that you found calming. Stepping out from under the awning you tilt your head down to avoid getting snow in your face and start the short walk back to your place.

           As you’re walking you hear a ping from your phone. Pulling it out of your pocket you smile as you see it’s a message from Taeyong. Opening your phone, you stop walking as you read the message.

Taeyong: Turn around. I want to walk with my girlfriend in this romantic setting

Turning around you see Taeyong standing a few feet away from you in a black peacoat, with a scarf wrapped around him, and gloves on. His nose and ears are a little pink from the cold, and he smiles at you as you make your way towards him. You stop in front of him and tilt your head back causing a few snowflakes to fall on your face. Taeyong reaches out to wipe them away and leans down to kiss you on the tip of your nose.

           “Hi,” he whispers to you causing your stomach to flutter and heart to race. Only he could do that to you with one simple word.

           “Hi,” you whisper back. “I thought you had to work late tonight?”

           “We finished early, and I thought I’d walk you home.” Taeyong reaches out for your hand and then pulls you in close to him before he starts to walk in the direction of your place.

           “I’m glad you did. You get to now have this romantic moment with me as you pointed out earlier.” Taeyong nods in agreement. He glances down at you and smiles.

           “You look pretty with your cheeks and nose red and snowflakes in your hair and eyelashes.” You smile at the compliment.

           “Thanks, you look pretty good yourself.” You tell him back. You like walking with him like this. It’s comfortable and you are enjoying the chance to have a moment alone with your boyfriend. “Are you cold?”

           “No? Why do you ask?” Taeyong pulls you in closer to him thinking that maybe you are cold.

           “If you’re not cold I was wondering if you would be okay with making the walk a little longer?” You weren’t ready to give up this moment yet and wanted to make it last just a little longer.

           “I think I can handle that.” Taeyong smiles down at you and the two of you turn right instead of going left towards your place.

           The two of you wander the streets not really paying attention to where the two of you are walking. Soon you find yourself in the park. Surprisingly the Christmas lights are still on, and you can hear Christmas music playing through the speakers that are placed throughout the park. Taeyong starts to slow his steps until the two of you are at a standstill. You turn towards him and without a word Taeyong positions the two of you, so you are ready to dance. When you look up at him, he gives you a small nod and doesn’t move until you give him a returned nod letting him know that you are ready. Then he takes his first step, and you follow his lead.

           The two of you move about like you have been dancing with one another for years. There is a comfortableness that is there that usually only comes after dancing with the same person for years. You trust in Taeyong and his movements. You know that he won’t lead you astray. As Taeyong glides you around your eyes stay locked with his. You don’t bother to look anywhere else. As the song comes to an end and another one starts up Taeyong easily changes the speed at which the two of you are dancing to.

           He starts to slow the two of yours movement and you go from gliding to a much slower pace and instead of large movement they become smaller and more precise. Eventually he slows the two of you down until you are just swaying back and forth in one another’s arms. Taeyong pulls you in closer to him until you are flush against his front. You curl your arms around him and bunch the back of his jacket between your fists. You turn your head to the side to rest your head against his chest. Taeyong’s one hand stays to rest on your back while the other glides up into your hair. Taeyong hand strokes through your hair as the two of you stand there in one another’s arms, the snow falling down around you.

           “You really know how to make a moment romantic,” you whispered not wanting to have the moment ruined by any loudness.

           “You bring it out in me,” Taeyong whispers back. The two of you continue to stand there rocking back and forth slightly. Neither of you are ready to let the moment go just yet. Eventually the cold starts to seep into your body and a chill runs through you.

           “We should head back before the both of us get sick,” Taeyong pulls slightly away from you and readjust you to his side.

           “Alright,” you sigh wishing that the moment could last longer but understanding why the two of you need to head back. Your cold and staying out here just to prolong the moment will only lead to you or both of you getting sick.

           Before you two leave Taeyong brushes some hair off of your hair and smiles down at you. He leans in towards you and presses his lips to yours. You lean into Taeyong your eyes closing as his lips touch yours. The kiss doesn’t last long but it has quickly become one of your favorites. Because it was with Taeyong the man who wanted to walk  you home after work, who took you walking because it was romantic, and then danced with you in the snow.

summary:“i’m scared to walk home alone in the dark and every one of my contacts are either busy or not answering so my desperate ass googled up call boy numbers and you answered but I have to explain to you that I don’t want sex I just want to talk to somebody!”

pairing:johnny x reader

genre:office! au, call boy! au, fluff

You walked through the halls of the office, papers in one hand and a cup of steaming coffee in another. You sent warm smiles to the few amount of people who passed by you, who nodded in return. Arriving in front of a door with the name “Seo Youngho” engraved on a plaque, you set the files down and knocked.

“Come in,” a muffled voice sounded from inside. You opened the door and peeked inside, finding your boss hunched over his desk, focused on doing paperwork. His circular specs were almost falling off his nose, but he made no move to push it back up.

“The papers you asked photocopied for the meeting tomorrow morning and your coffee, sir,” you said, not too loud in fear of disturbing his focus. He waved a hand to his desk dismissively.

Stepping outside once more to grab the files you had put down, you used your back to push open the door and readjusted the heavy load to ease the discomfort on both your forearm and hip. Walking forward, you tentatively set down his coffee on his desk and the files beside his paperwork.

“Thank you, (Y/N).”

You hummed, waiting a little until he finished signing something. Noticing you were still there, he looked up at you from under his glasses in question.

“Did you need something?”

“Um, with all due respect, sir,” you fiddled with the ends of your shirt nervously, “It’s getting quite late and I still have chores to do at home…”

You trailed off. He got the message, eyes trailing to the clock on the wall.

“Ah,” he rubbed the back of his nape in slight embarrassment, “You’re free to go, then.”

Nodding, you turned around and exited his office with a small “Have a nice day, sir.” You walked down the now nearly empty hall, spotting a few cubicles still alive with the sound of crunching keyboards and light filtering under office doors. Shaking your head, you continued down the hall and grabbed your bags, shrugging on your bomber jacket over your white blouse and pink skirt. You fished your phone out of your pocket, clicking the home button and frowning at the time. 9:42 PM.  

You passed by the front desk, the receptionist already snoring softly. Chuckling softly to yourself, you walked out through the spinning doors and stepped onto the streets outside. The night wind was chilly, the moon covered by the cloudy sky. Suppressing a shiver, you unlocked your phone and called the number of your best friend.

“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is currently out of reach. Please try again lat-“ you ended the call before the it could finish. Furrowing your brows, you scrolled down your contacts and tried calling your brother instead. It rang thrice before the automated voice greeted you once more. You let out a frustrated sigh.

You spent a good fifteen minutes in front of the office, dialing different numbers of your friends and either receiving no answer or quick, hushed explanations that they were busy and hanging up before you could even get a word in. Your parents were no option, either—they were abroad enjoying the vacation of their lives. It was expensive, and plus, you didn’t want to disturb them. Running a hand through your hair distractedly, you bit your lip and considered your choices.

Your house was just barely within walking distance, but it would still take you a good amount of time. Before you started working at the office, you were convinced that you could walk or take a bus home, but you certainly weren’t expecting to come home at this ungodly hour. Unfortunately, the nearest station that entertained 24-hour buses was a four-mile walk. You clicked your tongue in annoyance at your misfortune.

It wasn’t that you were scared of the dark or anything, but walking home alone at night wasn’t exactly the safest thing for a woman. You tightened your jacket around yourself, remembering the stories your mother had told you about the dangers of the streets after the sun had set. They were just stories until one of the girls at your campus was stalked and mugged after walking home at night alone. That was when you made it a habit to call someone every time you were doing so – they may not be there with you, but their voices calmed your nerves. Plus, you read online that if you were being stalked, you could inform the person at the other end of your whereabouts and situation updates. It was a foolproof plan; if only people had the time for it.

An idea struck your head. Not a good one, but it was an idea nonetheless. You took a few minutes to contemplate it, but then realized the longer you took the time to think, the darker and more dangerous it was going to be for you.

“I’m really out of my mind,” you groaned, chiding yourself mentally. But you don’t get anywhere being sane, right? A small voice responded in your head. You sighed. She had a point.

Mind made up, you opened your browser anyways and turned on incognito mode. You didn’t want anyone snooping through your history seeing what you were going to do today. Cheeks blushing, you searched up ‘call boy numbers’. Within seconds, an array of results popped up. Ignoring their provocative titles, your fingers tapped the first website that showed up on your screen. The red tint of your cheeks deepened as the webpage loaded; the titles and advertisements were far too vulgar for your taste. Your eyes averted over the images, wisely choosing to pretend that they did not exist.

You scrolled down to find a list of names and individual phone numbers. You read over them, finding one name that snagged your eye. Johnny,it read. The name sounded American—maybe calling a foreigner would bring less shame to your family. Bonus points if he didn’t understand a lick of what you were saying.  

With a deep inhale, you clicked on the green call button. Your screen darkened and you tentatively brought it up to your ear. After a couple of seconds of ringing, it stopped. Your heart felt like it was going to leap out of its chest —a quick glance at the screen showed that you were connected.

“H-Hello?” You started hesitantly, “Johnny-ssi?”

“That’s me,” a deep voice responded, and you felt a shiver run down your spine,  “What would you like me to do, babygirl? Do you like it when I call you that?”

Your cheeks were on fire, “A-Actually, I was wondering if you could just stay on the line instead of coming over? I’ll still pay your company, of course, just without the sex part?”

Your voice had dropped to a whisper, and you looked around to see if anyone was watching you. No one was in sight, fortunately. You heard a chuckle from the other end.

“If that’s what you want, babygirl. You don’t want daddy to see you pleasuring yourself, do you?” There was a sharp intake of breath from the phone, “You’re such a bad girl. Should daddy punish you?”

At this point, you were as red as a beet, “I don’t—oh my god, I can’t believe I’m actually doing this—Johnny-ssi, can we talk normally? Please?”

There was silence for a few moments. Afraid that you pissed him off, you were about to launch into an apologetic spiel, but he beat you to it.  

“Yeah, sure, what’s up?” His tone was casual now, almost relaxed. You were taken aback at the sudden change and difference in his voice, but you recomposed yourself.

“It’s just that, um,” you started, “I’ve just finished work at this hour and I’m terrified at walking home alone, but all of my friends were either too busy or didn’t pick up so in my desperation I had the stupidest idea to, I don’t know, google up call boy numbers and call one—Johnny-ssi, are you there?”

You pulled your phone away and stared at the screen for a quick second, showing that you were still connected.

“Yeah, I’m still here. Continue,” he prompted. You sighed softly.

“So will you talk to me while I walk back home? Just for peace of mind, you know?” You asked, cringing at yourself as you imagined all the possible ways he could reject you, “Plus, someone needs to know if I got murdered or not.”

It was silent for a few seconds. Just after you thought he hung up on you, you heard, “Are you serious?”

“Yes!” You were almost reaching the point of begging, “Please! It’s just until I get home, I promise. If you don’t want to hear from me ever again I’ll never even look at your number. At least it makes for a good story to tell, right? Will you do it?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” he cleared his throat, “Is it a long walk to your house?”

“No, it usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes,” you bit your lip hesitantly, “So, Johnny-ssi—it’s okay if I call you that, right? Do you have another name that you prefer to be called with?”

“No, no, Johnny’s fine,” he chuckled.

“Well, um, Johnny-ssi, what are your hobbies and interests?”

With that, you began your walk home. You didn’t know if it was the call boy charms or pure charisma, but conversation was light and easy between you two. He even made you laugh a couple of times, especially with his corny jokes.

“Enough with embarrassing me,” you could hear his smile from the other end of the line, “What about you? I’ve never had a client quite as interesting as you with their requests.”

“What is this, twenty questions?” You laughed lightly, but then mulled it over, “On second thought, that’s actually not that bad of an idea. Should we play it?”

“If you want to. I’ll go first, then; ever had a pet?”

“Sadly, no,” you sighed, “I’ve always wanted one but my mom’s allergic to fur. I had a goldfish once as a kid, though; Concrete didn’t last very long.”

“You named your goldfish Concrete?” You heard his flabbergasted tone and let out a small laugh.

“I wasn’t very creative as a kid,” another bout of laughter pealed out of your lips, “How about you?”

You heard his chuckle from the other end of the line, “That’s something we have in common. I had a dog named Flower before I moved away.”

You let out another giggle before you could stop yourself, “Good to know I’m not alone in this world, then. Speaking of pets, do you happen to have any pet peeves, Johnny-ssi?”

Surprisingly, Johnny and you had more in common than you thought. The both of you talked about everything there was to talk about. Your opinions that contrasted, though, made for good conversation topics—the both of you spent a good chunk of your walk debating whether or not water was wet.

By the time you turned the corner to your street, you found yourself more than a little disappointed. You had to admit, there were times that you found yourself walking slower than usual just to prolong the conversation you had with him. The house that before seemed far away was just a few strides away now.

“Hey, Johnny-ssi? I’ve arrived in front of my house,” you rummaged your bag for your keys, and once you found them, held them tightly in your grip before inserting them to the door, “Thanks for accompanying me all the way back. Well, on the other side of the line, anyway. I really appreciate you not hanging up the moment I told you this, um, honestly less-than-bright idea. As promised, I wouldn’t bother you again, right?”  

“The pleasure was all mine,” he replied. You felt your stomach drop slightly. A second of silence passed before he spoke up again, “For the record, I wouldn’t mind in the slightest if you wanted to bother me again. You know my number, don’t you?”

“I—Yes, I do?” It came out more as a question than an answer. You were surprised, to say the least. He chuckled.

“Well, it’s getting late—you should get some sleep. Make sure to sleep well.”

Still flustered, you managed a flimsy reply, “G-Good night, Johnny-ssi.”

“Good night to you, too. Dream of me, will you?”

You heard him laugh before you hung up on the call, face lighting up like a christmas tree. Call boy charms indeed.

                                                                -

You sighed, bringing the cup of steaming coffee to your lips as you leaned on the countertop of the pantry. You relished the feeling of the warmth flowing from your mouth to your throat, warming up your stomach.  The cold air nipped at your bare arms, biting all the way to your bones. Not only was it freezing, the office was practically abandoned.

“Oh? (Y/N), you aren’t going home yet?” Nakamoto Yuta walked in, blazer off and only clad in black slacks and a white dress shirt. His usually neat hair seemed messy, almost like he had run his hands in it multiple times. You couldn’t blame him, though—working in this particular company could be stressful at times.

“Nah,” you shrugged, looking at the clock carefully positioned on the wall from under your lashes. You brought the cup of coffee down, “Youngho-ssi likes to work late.”

“It’s almost eleven, though. Want me to walk you home?” He winked before walking over to make his own cup of coffee. You simply let out a small snort, which he chuckled at.

Yuta, although stationed at one of the higher-ranking positions in the office, had a reputation of flirting with the new interns. You had been here long enough to be immune to it.

“Seriously, though,” he frowned, but the twinkle didn’t disappear from his eye, “It’s really late. Are you sure you’ll be fine? Just because Youngho works late doesn’t mean you should, too.”

“S’alright—It probably gets lonely for him. And you practically live on the other side of the city.”

“You’re right,” he chuckled, walking back to the door and putting a hand on your shoulder, “Don’t hesitate to knock on my office if you need me.”

With another wink, he breezed out of the pantry. You brought the coffee cup once again to your lips and tilted it upwards, only to find that it was already empty. You let out an irked sound and pushed yourself off the counter, throwing the paper cup to the trash can before walking to the coffee machine to make another cup for your boss.

You swiped the Americano from the coffee machine, pouring half a packet of creamer into it and quarter a packet of sugar, just how he liked it. Mindlessly, you started to hum to I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. It had been stuck in your head all day—your brother had been having his own concert during his hour-long showers and you just so happened to have overheard him singing the song. You grabbed a spoon and started to stir the cup of coffee, eyes glancing at the clock on the wall. To be fair, it was a good hour or two later than your usual late hours.

You took the spoon out and left it on the sink, turning around only to be faced with a broad chest. You let out a little scream of shock, nearly dropping the mug. Your boss’s face stared down at you, eyebrows up in question at your panicked attitude. His hair was disheveled and tie undone, giving him an unkempt look uncharacteristic of him.

“You should go home, (Y/N). It’s really late.” He said, and you took a moment to calm yourself before nodding.

“Yes, yes, I—right,” you held out the cup of coffee to him, “Your coffee, sir. Have a nice day—night. Remaining time left of the day.”

You cleared your throat awkwardly. He took it from your hands, and you diverted your eyes to the floor before slinking beside his frame to exit the pantry. That was embarrassing.

“Make sure to get home safely, (Y/N)!” You heard him call out as you walked away.

You made sure to mutter a “Thank you!” before grabbing your bag and shrugging on your jacket. Before the day could get any later, you made your way out of the building into the cold night. The sound of your phone ringing the other side of the line was a welcome buzz to your ears.  It’s been a month or two since you started regularly calling Johnny, and the time you spent walking back to your house has, admittedly, become the favourite part of your otherwise routine day.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I was starting to wonder when you’d call,” came the familiar voice. You smiled, heart lightening already. “You’re going home a bit later than usual, don’t you think? They better be paying you overtime.”

“It’s fine—well, kinda,” you snorted softly, “It is a bit closer to midnight. S’alright, though. How’s your day been?”

“Pretty uneventful. You have anything going on for you?”

“You wanna hear all the boring stuff?”

“Of course. I love listening to you talk,” he purred. You sputtered, cheeks flaming up as he laughed. “Are you blushing yet?”

“Oh, shut up, you,” you walked leisurely under the street lamps, “I started off the day kind of late. Got to the office, had a couple of meetings, worked on this one partnership proposal my boss is having a hard time approving. Ah, I don’t know. I’m definitely going to work on it again once I get home. What else? The weather’s getting colder, and it’s not helping that the office heaters are either broken or constantly on low heat. I’m not very good with the cold, if you can’t tell. My brother has been obsessed with I’m Yours by Jason Mraz and I think it’s infecting me, too. I’ve been trying to get it out of my head by humming but it’s just not working. And I think I’m rambling again. Sorry about that. Johnny?”

There was silence, then a rustling sound. “Hello?”

“Oh. Sorry. You… got cut off for a bit there,” he cleared his throat, voice underlined with an emotion you couldn’t quite place. “By I’m Yours, you mean the one that goes…”

You listened to him sing, a small smile playing on your lips. “Yeah, that’s the one. You never told me you sang, Johnny.”

“What can I say, I’m a man of many talents,” you rolled your eyes. “But I’m curious about your office life.”

“I’ll tell you about it if you do that parrot impersonation one more time.”

“You’re gonna record it!”

“Only for research purposes!”

                                                               -

“Are you done with the partnership files, Jaehyun-ssi?”

“Hmm?” Your coworker looked up from packing his documents to his briefcase, blanking out for a split second before his mind returned to his head. “Oh! The papers! One second—it’s here somewhere…”

He looked around his desk, flipping through some piles of paper and upturning others. He eventually grasped a thick bundle held together by a binder clip at the bottom of his messes, pulling them out and handing them to you.

“Thanks. Make sure you get home safely, Jaehyun-ssi.” You knocked twice on his cubicle wall, turning around with a wave.

You heard him call out “You too!” as you walked down the quiet hallway, making your way to your desk. Lately, you’ve found the office more bearable—heaters all around the floor had been turned up, and someone had even put in a maintenance request for the broken ones. A small smile turned up on your lips at that.

You settled down on your desk, ready to finish up on a report. Not even five minutes had passed before someone broke your concentration.

“Knock-knock,” you let out a small yelp, turning your head to the side to see your boss leaning against the wall beside your desk, eyes glimmering with an emotion you couldn’t decipher. His tie was loose, strands of hair escaping his usual neat hairstyle. “Earth to (Y/N).”

You blushed, embarrassed, “R-Right! What is it, sir?”

“There’s not much to do tomorrow,” he licked his lips, shoving a hand in his pant pocket, “You should wrap up and get back.”

A glance at the clock instantly made you understand why he was worried. “Right. Okay. Thank you. Are you sure you can…”

“I’m sure. Make sure you get home safely, (Y/N). And stay warm,” his eyes followed you as you shoved your laptop into your bag, grabbed your phone before standing up, “Do you need a ride?”

“I’m fine! It’s walking distance, but thank you,” you brushed yourself off and handed him the partnership files, “They’re from Jaehyun-ssi. Make sure you get home safely too, sir. Good night.”

He waved goodbye to you, and you made your way to the lobby. It took a while for your cheeks to regain their original color. Although you had been working under Seo Youngho for quite a while, you didn’t fail to notice how attentive he was starting to be. Of course, how incredibly attractive he was didn’t escape your radar, either. As his secretary, though, it was absolutely important for you to keep up your professionalism—even if he was really hot.

You rummaged through your bag to find your jacket, only to realize you had completely forgotten it by your coat hanger. Drat. You cursed yourself for your own stupidity. Oh well.

The moment you took a step outside, the wind instantly nipped at your exposed arms. You withheld a shiver, looking at the sky. It wasn’t thatlate yet, and the street lamps illuminated the sidewalk quite brightly. Just for tonight, you were going to walk alone.

Despite having a lot of fun with Johnny, you didn’t want to impose on his work too much. Plus, he had been acting a little oddly as of late. It wouldn’t kill you to be a bit more independent for a couple of nights. You huffed, gripping your phone tightly in your hands as you walked down the streets.

Not a lot of people were out and about, and you could spot a couple a ways up ahead and a guy walking on the opposite side of the street. It calmed your heart a little, at least. It was quiet for a while, the wind biting your arms and swaying the trees. As you walked through a reflective store display, though, you spotted somebody walking a bit behind you.

Wait, wasn’t that the guy who was walking in the opposite direction before? Your brows furrowed. No. He probably went the wrong direction. It’s alright. He’s just trying to get home, like me.

Despite you trying to convince yourself, your heart started to beat a bit faster. You walked a bit faster, but also heard his footsteps speed up to match your pace. The couple who had walked in front of you had long disappeared. You gripped your phone tighter.

Before turning the corner, you stopped. Your heartbeat was in your ears, and you made a show to open your phone and open google maps before looking up at the street sign. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the man stop and stare at you. After a solid three minutes and no sign of him moving, you started to feel your blood rush and curses fly through your head. He was wearing a hoodie and a cap, swaying slightly in the wind—obviously intoxicated. You swore under your breath, shaky fingers opening your contacts as you took a step forward. He did the same.

You scrolled wildly for Johnny, clicking the call button at once and putting it to your ear as you speed walked. Your breathing was labored, mind already in overdrive.

Pick up, pick up, pick up! You begged. Please!

“Hello?”

“Johnny!” You breathed out, voice small, “Please call somebody—Gwangmyeong sam-dong, hurry!”

“Are you okay? Are you safe? What’s happening?”

“Please!”

“Stay on the line with me—do not end the call. That is an order. What’s happening?”

“There’s someone following me. He’s—he’s right behind me. I can’t talk too loud. Please. I’m going to make a run for it.”

You heard crackling sounds on the other side, “Is your house far?”

“A bit more. I have to—” you gulped, “I have to unlock the door with the keys.”

“Wait—”

You heard the footsteps behind you gaining speed. You braved a look, and the man smiled eerily at you, causing you to walk faster and faster until you were sprinting.

“Johnny!” You cried out, but you felt a hand grab your arm and pull you back roughly. Their nails were caked and dirty, hand grimy from filth. You screamed, dropping your phone.

Before you could look up to see their face, something forcefully ripped him away. His nails scratched your arm, but you could barely register the pain. You heard a loud crack and a thud, and you shut your eyes in hopes that everything would just go away.

When you opened your eyes, you saw the stalker sprinting away back in the direction you came from and the back of a man clad in a black blazer and pants. He was panting heavily, hair messy. His figure was familiar, and it wasn’t until he turned to you did you realize who he was.

“(Y/N)!” Before you could even register what was happening, he was already embracing you, pulling back to inspect you and make sure you didn’t have any injuries. “Are you alright? What did he do to you?”

“Youngho-ssi?”

“Your arm—you’re bleeding, (Y/N), let’s—”

You drop wordlessly, your arm still linked with his. Your breathing was still heavy, the thump-thumpof your heart and blood rushing loud in your ears. Out of a sudden, you felt a heavy weight on your back and shoulders, heat engulfing you. You look up to see your boss squatting in front of you, only wearing his pants and crinkled button-up.

“I thought I told you to stay warm,” he chided, adjusting his blazer over your shoulders to make sure it blocked out the wind. He placed something on your hand, and you looked down to see it was your phone—albeit with a crack on it. “You should probably end that call.”

The line was still connected to Johnny, and you stared at it for a moment before bringing it up to your ears.

“J-Johnny?”

“Here,” your head snapped up to see your boss with his phone beside his ear, voice both audible in front of you and through the phone speaker. “(Y/N)?”

You drop your phone once more, tears now flowing freely down your cheeks. Youngho’s face twists into a mix of surprise and panic, clearly at a loss of what to do.

“Oh my god—(Y/N), why are you crying? Please stop crying. I didn’t mean to—that guy is gone. Oh no, please stop crying.”

He brings you up to engulf you in a hug once more, rocking you slightly. You wrap your arms around him, tears wetting his shirt.

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid Johnny, Youngho-ssi, whoever you are,” you wail, “I can’t believe you’re my hot boss. Why are you my hot boss? You could have been literally anyone else, and I’m so embarrassed and it’s all your fault. I’m sorry—I just really, really like you and—oh my god, please let the ground swallow me up whole.”

“Yes! Yes, it’s my fault. It’s all my fault. Please stop crying, (Y/N). I’m also really glad you think I’m hot, and I really, really like you too, but—oh no, I made it worse. I’ll do anything, I promise. I’ll walk you home every day after work, and I won’t ask you to make me coffee anymore, I’ve even quit my side job ever since you started calling me. Please feel better.”

“You quit your side job?”

“That’s not the point here, (Y/N). Really,” he stared you down, eyes softening, “I promised myself I wouldn’t make you cry. I’ll do anything to make up for it, okay?”

“Even the parrot impersonation?” You manage between sniffles, already letting out a small laugh as you pull back to wipe your cheeks.

He grabbed your hands, cupping your face and wiping your tears away with his thumbs. “Even the parrot impersonation.”

He leant down and gave you a chaste kiss, pulling back so your foreheads and noses were touching. He kissed your tear marks away, pulling you into another embrace once he was finished.

“Please kiss me a bit more. Then we’ll call it even.”

“Fair enough,” he smiled, leaning down to kiss you once more.

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