Once You See This, Say 5 Things You Like About Yourself, Publicly, Then Send It To 10 Of Your Favorite

once you see this, say 5 things you like about yourself, publicly, then send it to 10 of your favorite followers SPREAD THE LOVE! 💌

Okay, here goes…

1. My hair-it’s curly, and currently split dyed blue and purple!

2. My sense of humor

3. My intelligence

4. My tattoos

5. My singing voice

We love a good angsty strawberry Yoongi! As for me?…

How on the nose is this? 😂

I feel like this movie would be like a struggles of life romantic movie-Beomgyu and I would rescue each other from our troubles. “At the end of the world, forever together”? Please. 🥹🫠😭

Tagging @alpacaparkaseok @sunnysidefangirl @miksancheese!

— tag game —

instructions ; you’re starring in a movie with the last person saved in your camera roll and the last song you listened to is the title. who/what is it?

tagged by ; @sor-vette @jiminie-and-his-pinky-finger & @svgahigh ♥︎

well…this is an angst movie if I’ve ever seen one…hahaha I can’t avoid it y’all

no pressure tags ; @hyungieyoongi @delacyrose224 @casuallyimagining @alpacaparkaseok @tae-da-bae & anybody else who sees this & wants to play along~

Hacker!Seokjin is at 100 notes, thank y’all for reading and enjoying! He has a special place in my heart 🥺

Mr. Roboto

-Pairing: Shadow Hacker!Jin x Criminal!reader

-Words: 8.7k

-Rating/Warnings: SFW, cursing, kidnapping, terrible family dynamics, theft, physical violence

-Author's Note: Here it is, my part of the Seven Tales Collab! Please check out the other authors' works: @moon-write, @alpacaparkaseok, @btsrunmylife, @sor-vette, @btsroyalwilds!

-------------------------------

“Just a little closer…”

The screen in front of Jin adjusts to show more of what looks like a rather complicated lock on a safe, the key based on patterns rather than the usual numeric system. He stretches his hands out in front of him, fingers intertwined while a small smirk makes its way across his face.

Easy.

“Jeon? You still with me?” He speaks into his headset, making sure the muscle behind the operation is ready to go.

“Yeah, what do I do?” The younger man’s voice crackles through Jin’s headphones.

“Stick some gloves on first, you don’t want fingerprints traced back to you. After, I want you to take your index finger and spell out the word ‘Tomorrow’ without picking your finger off the interface. The letter t needs to start from the bottom of the screen, not the top.”

There’s a pause over the headset and no movement occurs on the screen in front of Jin.

“Did you run the system that fast?”

“I hacked security footage earlier today…I couldn’t zoom in enough to get a clear picture of what they were actually spelling, but I’m 99% sure I’m right.” He doesn’t even bother hiding the smugness that creeps into his voice. By watching each person that had accessed the safe room and knowing the name of the company, he could make an educated guess of what they were spelling.

Tomorrow Inc.

Tomorrow.

Really, could they be any more obvious and dense? Would he ever be challenged?

Jin watches as Jeon Jungkook swiftly swipes the word ‘tomorrow’ into the system, a green light and a small beep indicating that the safe has been opened. Jungkook opens the door wide enough to slide into the room beyond.

“Okay, Jeon, you’re going to want to-”

“I’ve had about enough of your insistent buzzing in my ear, nerd. I got into the safe, you did your part. Goodbye.” The feed on the computer screen in front of Jin goes black, and all he hears is static.

“Jeon? Jeon?”

Jin grabs his headset and hurls it across the room, breaking it into pieces and growling out one expletive.

“You ASSHOLE!”

—------------------------------------------

Working with Jungkook scratches his team off Jin’s list…never again. He refused to work with incompetent assholes that thought they were better than him because they were all muscle. Without his expertise, they never would have been able to break into Tomorrow Inc. and steal…whatever the hell they were after. Jin didn’t care, and didn’t ask questions, as long as his salary was promptly wired over to him.

He dumped his headset in the trash and went to the storage closet, rummaging through it until he found a replica of the one he’d just tossed-one of about 25 sitting gathering dust. He smirked as he looked at them all…roughly 9.75 trillion won stacked in his closet, all because he tended to have a short temper when dealing with idiots who didn’t respect him. Rather like his family.

“Kim Seokjin, are you ever going to take this seriously?” His father looks at him across his desk while Jin slouches in a chair.

“Why should I? We both know Dae-Hyun is going to take over the business. He’s older.” A dark scowl colors the younger man’s face.

“Yes, but you still have a role to play. Dae-Hyun may be the future CEO, but you could easily be the CFO, or any other role you want to have.” Jin’s father pushes back from his desk and stands. “Please, just tell me you’ll think about it. And try.”

Jin’s scowl becomes etched deeper into his face. “I hate this company, and I want nothing to do with it.” He stands to leave, but as he grabs the door handle, Dae-Hyun strides in with a smug look on his face. “What do you want, oh perfect-brother-of-mine?”

Dae-Hyun claps a hand on his brother’s shoulder, forcefully steering him back to his seat.

“Oh, I think you’ll want to be here for this one, baby brother.” The smug look turns into a full on sneer.

“Father, did you know that our very own Kim Seokjin has been embezzling company funds into his own personal bank account?” Dae-Hyun crosses his arms over his broad chest, looking pleased with himself.

Jin pales, but not because he’s ashamed of what he’s done. He’s ashamed that he was discovered this easily, and by his dunce of an older brother. He’s also surprised that his father doesn’t look angry, just disappointed.

“Dae-Hyun, you know this means you won’t be able to take over Kim Enterprises just yet, yes? I’ll have to clean up the mess your brother made, and we’ll have to do a lot of work to get the company back up. Once the press gets hold of the news of embezzlement from within the family, there’s no telling what we’ll have to deal with.”

Dae-Hyun’s face falls, and it’s Jin’s turn to sneer.

“Pleased now, you giant suckup?”

His older brother moves as if to strike him across the face, but before he gets too far, their father is grasping him by the wrist. He looks sadly across the room at his youngest son.

“You’ve done enough, Seokjin. You need to leave.”

And that’s how Jin had ended up here…a hole in the wall apartment, eating ramyeon on the couch after being paid a cool two million won for assisting Jungkook’s team with whatever they were after. It wasn’t a bad life, honestly. The business world had bored him to tears, he wanted nothing to do with running his father’s company, and now he got the ultimate rush from helping crime organizations do their dirty work as their ‘man in the chair’. Sure, he’d broken all ties with his family, but he’d never been close with them in the first place. Being alone and having only one close friend to speak of was how he liked things.

His motto? High thrills, low risk.

And it didn’t hurt that the money he’d embezzled from his father’s company was still sitting in his bank account. That too.

—----------------------------------------------

Meanwhile across town, you’ve received word that you’re being hired out by a large crime syndicate to help steal the newest art installation that’s about to open at the Hangaram Art Museum. You glance through your electronic dossier, skimming through to see what you’re after. You hope it’s something exciting, but it’s just some modern family relic of some sort that’s worth a ton because of how much the family’s worth. You’d much prefer something from the Impressionist period, but the syndicate’s paying you well, so you keep your mouth shut and accept what you’re given.

It seems like the team is small that they’ve put together…tiny, even. You’re used to working with snipers, musclemen, the works. But the only people working this case are you and some hacker dude they’ve hired to help take down the security system. Either they must think the job’s a piece of cake, or they want to keep things hush hush. You suppose you’ll find out when you case the joint the next day, with your partner on headset for an extra set of eyes on possible security setup.

—-------------------------------------

“Hello? Anyone there?” You tap on your earpiece made to look like headphones.

“Yeah, I’m here, stop tapping on the merchandise, it sounds ten times louder on my end!” A male’s irritated voice comes through the speaker, clear as day. However, you’re the only one able to hear it.

“Okay, mister grumpypants. Hands off the fancy tech. Got it. What’s your name, anyway? I always like to know who I’m working with.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know? You haven’t told me your name,” he snaps.

“Touchy, touchy. Since you won’t tell me your name, you don’t get to know mine…I think that’s fair.”

You hear rustling on the other end, silence, and then finally he speaks up again.

“Don’t you people have codenames or something?”

“You people? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Up to this point, you’d enjoyed mildly aggravating this stranger on a headset you couldn’t see, but now it just felt like he was being difficult on purpose. How were you ever going to be able to work together if he wouldn’t even tell you his name?

“Like the people on the ground doing the dirty work, don’t you have a codename since you’re an agent for a crime org?”

You sigh, but then compose yourself. “You can call me Seurat.” Through your aggravation, a small smirk makes its way to your face.

“Seurat? Like the artist? Why?” You can imagine the man’s brows furrowing together in confusion.

“You ever watch the news? That was me who landed that piece last month.”

He gives a low whistle. “I’m impressed, Seurat. Call me Mr. Roboto.”

You can’t help the snort that comes flying out of your mouth, though you quickly attempt to turn it into a cough when fellow museum-goers start to look at you strangely.

“Do you have a problem with that?” The man’s voice drips with derision.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve got some emotions under that hard exterior, Kilroy. I think I’ll stick to that as your name.”

—-------------------------------------

Jin pushes back from his monitor, exasperated. He had been initially excited to work on this new project-an art heist was new for him, and he welcomed the challenge. What he wasn’t expecting was to be paired with a partner who ran incessant commentary about every single thing she looked at, asked a ton of questions, and just generally was annoying.

First she insisted on calling him Kilroy, then she gave him a running art history lesson on Impressionism, finally going downstairs to where the art installation would be.

From what he could tell, security was pretty tight. Any back storage rooms would have keycard access, and from the brief sweep past the security desk you had managed, it also looked like there was some sort of numerical keypad coding and handprint scan behind the keycard swipe.

Why had the org who hired him only put two people in charge of the project when from his calculations, five would be reasonable, if not more? He sets his questions aside as he’s distracted by a loud buzzing sound coming from the burner phone he’d been provided by the company as a means to communicate with his partner outside of when she was in the museum.

Unknown (7:35 PM): Hey Kilroy, it’s Seurat.

Jin laughs quietly at your nicknames for each other, though he’d never tell you he thought you were funny…he somehow just knew he’d never hear the end of it if he did.

He sends off a response, wondering what’s prompted you to text him in the first place.

7:39 PM: You are the only one who has this number, so I used my big brain to figure out who it was. Do you need something?

Seurat (7:45 PM): Not really. Just thought I’d bother you until you actually told me your name.

7:51 PM: Nice try, but no. Did you manage to figure out a way to get into that fancy gala they’re having in a few days?

Seurat (8:03 PM): Leave it to me, pretty boy…I’ll just bat my lashes and get us right in the door.

Jin shakes his head and rolls his eyes, the tips of his ears turning red from your words.

8:09 PM: You think I’m pretty?

He sends off his response before he can overthink it too much.

Seurat (8:17 PM): I can only imagine based on your voice, I’m sure you’ve got tons of ladies just begging for your attention…

Jin’s ears may emit steam with how red they are at this point, and he’s thoroughly embarrassed.

Seurat (8:19 PM): I mean…who doesn’t want a guy who doesn’t ever see the light of day and refuses to tell anyone his name? Sign me up!

8:23 PM: Screw you.

He tosses his phone away, annoyed with the whole conversation. How had she figured out how to get under his skin so quickly?

As he watches tv and later gets ready for bed, he finds himself mulling over what you had said. So what, he never left the house and didn’t tell you his name? What had you done to earn that?

Something about your easy manner and the way you took his attitude in stride made him feel bad about how he had responded to you. He grabs his phone, types out a text and turns his phone on silent to hopefully, finally, get some sleep.

11:52 PM: …you can call me Jin.

—--------------------------------------------

You look yourself over in the mirror and frown. You hated the way you looked, way too fancy and it all felt a bit ridiculous, to be honest. Sneaking your way into upper-crust society events was your least favorite part of your job. Dresses and heels made it much harder to move through a space, figuring out where important documents were held, what kind of security systems were in place, and who was guarding what. Nevertheless, you adjusted the long sleeves of your black gown and made sure you weren’t showing too much leg or cleavage. Another thing you hated about dressing up…it always brought more attention to your body than you were used to.

As a final touch, you slide on a pair of silver drop earrings with a matching cuff running up the side of your ear. Little did everyone else know, your audio feed was linked up in the cuffs, especially designed for you by the organization you were working for. You also had a silver necklace to match, a miniscule high tech camera installed. Sometimes it paid (literally) to work for people that seemed to have bottomless pockets.

You tap on the side of your cuff when you hear a slightly staticky sound.

“Jin, is that you?”

“Good guess.” You smile at his humor, glad that his camera feed hasn’t been turned on yet to see your amusement. “Are you decent, can I see what’s going on yet?”

“Hang on just a sec…” You swipe on a quick coat of red lipstick and back away from the mirror, ready to head out to the museum. “You’re good.”

Jin activates his camera system from his desktop, and as the room comes into view, lets out a low whistle that he hopes you can’t hear.

“...hello? Did the audio feed go out? I can’t hear you.” You frown at your reflection, hoping there hasn’t been a technology malfunction.

“I’m…here,” Jin replies, dry mouth induced by his surprise.

“Are you okay? You sound weird.”

“I’m okay. You look…amazing.” The end of his statement is much quieter than the start, and you find yourself flustered.

“Oh, I-thank you. See, you do have feelings buried somewhere deep down, Kilroy. I knew it.”

“That’s what you think…just keeping you on your toes, Seurat. Now, don’t we have a gala to get to?”

You nod curtly, grabbing a clutch and heading out the door. It’s a short car ride downtown to the museum, and before you know it, you’re entering through the doors you had just been through a few days prior. Except this time, you’re playing the part of a wealthy heiress interested in being a benefactor to the local art scene.

“How’s it looking?” Jin’s voice grounds you back in reality.

“The usual…rich assholes who think they own the whole city. Normal security detail, surprisingly. Only addition is a bouncer letting people in, but he looks pretty easy to take down. I could probably flirt him into letting me see the back rooms, to be honest.”

Jin grumbles in reply.

“What?”

“Do you flirt with everyone to get what you want?” You can almost see the look of disdain on his face. If you happened to know what his face even looked like…you’d have to settle for your imagination, you supposed.

“Why, does that bother you, pretty boy?” You smirk, knowing you’ve found a way under his skin again.

“Just stick to what we came here for, please…the exhibit.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” You pick up the hem of your dress to make your way to the bottom floor of the museum, and immediately see a crowd of people around the center of the room. Squeezing your way through with a series of polite ‘excuse me’s, you finally arrive at the front of the crowd, gathered and staring at the piece that you’d come to collect. Placed in the center of a thick glass casing, small spotlights trained on it as it spins slowly within the case. Inside is a dainty gold locket, with some sort of crest engraved on it. You move as close as the surrounding stanchions will allow to read a small plaque in front of the case.

“Generously donated by the Kim family.” You read out the inscription, partially for Jin’s benefit, but partially because you can’t believe that this is all you’re after. A tiny golden locket…couldn’t anyone go buy one of these at a jewelry store and get their own crest engraved on it? Who were the Kim family and why were they that important?

“Shit.”

Jin’s voice seems too loud in your ears, bringing you out of your own head and back into the present. You step away from the crowd so you can have a conversation without looking completely out of your mind.

“What? Do you know something I don’t know?”

Jin swallows thickly. You had just shown him that the art piece that you were after was his family’s prized heirloom that had been gifted by his grandfather to his grandmother when they were married. But you didn’t know that he was part of the Kim family. He didn’t want you to know…he didn’t even want to be a part of the family himself sometimes. The locket had been in his family for years, though. What did your organization want with it? You clearly didn’t know, so it wasn’t worth asking. He’d just have to suck it up and go along with it.

He clears his throat. “Not particularly, just that they’re wealthy and own almost a third of Seoul, it seems like.”

“Ah, so that’s why they’re after it. If they’re worth that much, I’m sure they’d pay a ton to get it back.” Jin mumbles his agreement, but seems more distant than before. Your thoughts are interrupted when you notice a previous client who’d hired you out staring at you from across the room.

“Jin, I’ve got to get out. I can’t snoop around, I’ve been spotted.” You’re whispering fiercely as you stride across the room, just fast enough to not raise suspicion.

“What do you mean, spotted? None of these people know who you are, as far as they’re concerned, you’re some heiress who loves art.”

You start breathing harder as you rush up the stairs, taking two at a time. “You don’t understand…I saw a previous client. I’ve worked for him before, but he’s dangerous. Once I finished his job, I refused to ever work for him again, but he wasn’t happy about it. I’m not sticking around to see if he’ll take me up on his threat against me.”

“His threat? What did he say to you?” You can hear Jin’s voice go sharp, concerned but with what sounds like a touch of anger bubbling underneath the surface.

“Don’t worry about it, Kilroy, it’s none of your concern. I can handle it.” By this point, you’ ve slid into the front seat of your car and are starting the ignition, rattled by the fact that you ran into your client unexpectedly.

“It is definitely my business if my partner is under threat from some hot-headed rich guy who thinks just because he has money, he can threaten her.” Jin’s voice is an octave deeper than normal at this point, deathly serious and sending shivers down your spine.

“Jin, it’s okay. I’ve got it handled. Really.” Your voice is quiet and reassuring, calming him down, at least somewhat.

“Okay, if you’re sure. I’m just saying, I can be more than the man in the chair if you need me to be. Let me know when you get home, I want to make sure you’re safe,” he breathes.

“I will,” you promise. The rest of the drive passes quickly, and soon enough, you’re opening your front door and collapsing onto your bed. You don’t even bother taking off your fancy clothes, only taking off your necklace and earrings. You shoot off a text to Jin, letting him know that you’re back in your apartment. To your surprise, he calls you in return.

“...hey. I just wanted to hear your voice say you were okay.” Even though you can’t see him, Jin flushes a bright pink and rubs the back of his neck with his hand.

You can’t help but smile at his concern. “Yeah, I’m okay. I made it back to my apartment. Didn’t even bother changing into pajamas before I flopped on the bed,” you laugh. There’s a short silence where neither of you says anything.

“You really did look beautiful tonight, you know. I wish I could have been there with you.”

Another silence.

“I wish you could have been too,” you reply with a shy smile that Jin can’t see, but he can tell is there.

“Can I ask you a question?” You hum in response, encouraging him to continue. “You know my name is Jin, but…what’s yours?” You can’t help but laugh at the simple question, surprised that’s what he’s asking.

“It’s Y/N.”

“Pretty,” he murmurs, then yawns.

“You sound like you need to go to bed, Jinnie. Too much action for the man in the chair for one night.” You chuckle, looking over to your alarm clock which only reads 11:30PM.

“I told you, I can be more than the man in the chair if you need me to be. But as it happens, I am tired, you’re right. I’ll check in tomorrow with you?” Jin pushes back from his computer, standing and stretching.

“I’d like that,” you respond, before drifting off to sleep still in your dress.

—----------------------------------------------

You awake the next morning to a knock on your door. You’re confused, because next to no one knows where you live, and you weren’t expecting anyone. You stumble bleary-eyed to the door, peeking through the peephole and you see nothing. It’s then that you look down and realize you still have your dress on from last night, though now it’s full of wrinkles from sleeping in it.

You open the door cautiously, and still seeing no one, open it wider and see a bag sitting on the ground with your name on the receipt attached to it. As you pick it up, you notice an iced coffee sitting behind it. You quickly take the items into your dining room and examine the contents…a breakfast sandwich piled high with toppings and a side of hashbrowns. The coffee turns out to be an iced vanilla latte, your favorite. All of a sudden, your burner phone buzzes loudly against the table.

Jin (9:47 AM): Did you get my present?

9:51 AM: I did…how did you guess about the vanilla latte?

Jin (9:54 AM): I didn’t guess, I figured it out. Just like I figured out where to send the delivery boy.

9:57 AM: By figure out, you mean hacked. You hacked me.

Jin (10:00 AM): It’s my job, sweetheart.

10:04 AM: Aw, have we moved from nicknames to pet names?

Jin (10:06 AM): I told you I would check in with you, so I did. Enjoy breakfast. :)

10:10 AM: A hacker with a heart…I think you might be the sweetheart here, Jin.

—-------------------------------------

“Are you serious?” Jin’s friend Jimin looks at him from across his living room, disbelief all over his face. “You’re telling me this is how you talk to each other, and you’re asking me to tell you what’s going on?” He tosses Jin’s burner phone to him.

“What do you mean? Yes, I’m asking you to tell me what’s going on, it’s weird. When I get hired for other jobs, it’s not like this.”

Jimin scoffs. “For a hacker, you are incredibly stupid…you should really get out more. See the sky. Breathe more than this stale gross air that smells like the ramyeon you ate last. I may be a back alley thief, but at least I can tell when a girl likes me.” He settles back into his chair smirking at Jin.

“No she doesn’t. She doesn’t even know me, we’re partners, that’s it.” Jin crosses his arms over his chest, a frown painted on his face.

“If you say so. She’s flirting with you, you’re flirting with her…you never tell people your name, and you bought her breakfast? You’ve got it bad and so does she. Just tell her. I mean, wait until she’s got whatever you’re after, and then tell her. You can be the modern day Bonnie and Clyde if you want.” Jimin shrugs nonchalantly.

The frown starts to slip as Jin thinks over Jimin’s words. What if he did like her? Then what?

“We need to focus on getting the installation out, that’s all we can afford to do.”

“And then?”

“...and then…I’ll think about what you said. How I feel.” Jin shudders at the thought of losing control of his emotions, unaware that he’s already started to slip.

A catlike grin makes its way across Jimin’s face as he stands up to leave.

“So much for low risk, high reward,” he laughs as he closes the door, leaving Jin to sit in his confusion.

—------------------------------------------

The next few days pass slowly, the two of you each preparing for the big break-in and theft. Jin spends hours poring over security footage, you spend time scouring blueprints of the museum, marking entry and exit points.

When the day arrives (or rather the night, you supposed), you make your way across town, parking several blocks away. According to the plan you’d created, the alarm system wouldn’t even trip, granting you plenty of time to get back to the car without arousing suspicion.

“Seurat, you there?” Jin’s voice rings clear in your ear, and you can tell he’s excited.

“Present.” You can’t help the giddy tone in your own voice-this was what you lived for, the thrill of the actual act. It didn’t hurt that your partner and you were closer than you were used to, just someone to share in the excitement.

“Okay, so I’m finishing up work on the main security system right now. By the time you get to the front doors, it’ll be set up where you have about a minute to get inside where the alarm will be disabled. I’ll erase that minute of footage where it just looks like a tech glitch for their records. Once you get in, head downstairs. There’s a keyswipe, but if you pick the lock on the security guard’s desk, you should be able to find a spare. Swipe in, then you’ll find the keypad. Code’s 61313. Last is the handprint scan. Luckily for us and stupidly for them, they used a newer software that hasn’t been on the market long, which means they haven’t had time to figure out how hackers like me can bypass it. I’ve logged into the software and found a way to get around it. When you get to the scanner, just let me know and I’ll code green it for you.”

Jin doesn’t bother hiding the smugness in his voice, and you can’t help but find his show of intelligence attractive.

“Anything else, genius partner of mine?”

“The locket should be pretty simple to lift once you get past the handprint scan. They kept it in the same case it was in the other night for the gala since they’re still working on the installation for the public. Little do they know when they go to move it tomorrow, it’ll be mysteriously missing due to the prettiest little thief I know.”

You roll your eyes even as your cheeks color. “I’m the only thief you know, really.”

“Incorrect, but that’s another story for another time. Any questions before we get started?”

By this point, you’re closing in on the museum. No lights, no cars in the parking lot, nothing.

“I’m good…I’ll keep you updated as we go along,” you whisper as you edge along the side of the building, out of the sightline of the camera trained on the entrance.

“Okay…here we go…alarm disabled in 3…2…1. Go!” Jin hisses, and you sprint for the door, opening it as little as possible and sliding through.

“I’m in, heading for the security desk.” You make your way past the foyer and around a corner to the main security desk, hoisting yourself over. You immediately drop to your knees to get better access to the bottommost drawer, taking a bobby pin out of your hair to pick the lock. After a few minutes, you hear the lock click, and you slide the drawer open to see files, miscellaneous personal items, and museum guides. As you sift through papers, you finally find what you’re looking for-a spare keycard at the bottom of the drawer.

“Bingo.”

“You got the keycard?”

“Sure did, and all I needed was a bobby pin.” You grin in triumph as you swipe the keycard up, closing the drawer.

“You’re erased from camera footage from the entrance. I’ll work on the other cameras while you do the dirty work.”

“The dirty work is the most fun, you should try it sometime,” you tease, hearing Jin laugh through your earpiece.

“Maybe next time I can join you…we can steal a Banksy, I’m sure he’d love that.”

“Next time?” You can feel your heart race a little faster, and you know it’s not only because you’re breaking and entering.

“If that’s okay with you…I may have gotten ahead of myself.” Jin’s voice is much quieter than usual, and he sounds unsure of himself.

“I’d like that,” you smile, hoping he can hear your expression through your words.

During this exchange, you’ve made your way downstairs, and typed the code 61313 into the keypad to the back storage rooms. In front of you is the dreaded hand scan. You’ve usually had to pull fingerprints from people to get past these, and no hacker you’ve worked with has been able to work the software.

“Okay, I’m here at the scan. Work your magic.”

There’s a brief silence on the other end, and you can hear lots of typing, and Jin mutters a curse word. More typing. Silence.

“Abracadabra.”

The scanner in front of you lights up green and the door unlocks. You slide in, in mild disbelief that your partner was so easily able to work the system.

“Nice work, we’re in!” you exclaim, albeit in a hushed tone. You move towards the center of the room, where the locket is held under that same glass case. As you come closer, you let out a low whistle. The piece of jewelry is more stunning than you had thought, the engraving intricate and detailed. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

There’s a silence on the other end that doesn’t feel like the previous one. “Jin? You there?”

Nothing.

“...Kilroy?”

Something was wrong, you could tell.

Little did you know just how wrong things could get.

—-------------------------------------------------

Jin slowly opens his eyes to a splitting headache, though there’s not much light in the room he’s sitting in. One minute he had been monitoring your progress via security camera footage, the next there had been a loud banging noise and he had been knocked out cold. Wherever he was now, it certainly wasn’t his apartment.

As he looks around, he notices a large wall of monitors that are all blank. He’s ziptied to a chair, the plastic rubbing too tight against his wrists. There’s no one else in the room…that is, until a large metal door opens across the room and a large man dressed in all black comes in.

“Pretty boy’s awake now, hmm?” The man laughs, leaning down in front of Jin as he draws close. “It was way too easy to find out where you live.”

Jin struggles against his restraints, but they won’t budge. “Who are you?” he spits harshly, glaring at the man in front of him. “What do you want?”

“It’s not what I want, now is it? You just stuck your nose in the wrong place, coming after the Kim family locket…the boss isn’t going to be happy about this.” The man smiles coldly.

“Who’s your boss? And why do they care so much about the locket?” Jin pulls his wrists up the chair column they’re wrapped around, tugging them towards himself in hopes of loosening the ties.

The man in front of him frowns, grabbing Jin’s chin and forcing him to look into his eyes. “Why don’t you just…relax?” Jin is suddenly falling sideways onto the floor, nothing to break his impact. A large crack works its way across the left lens of his glasses, making it even harder to see anything in the darkened room.

A low pitched laugh suddenly comes from by the door, and a second man starts to walk towards Jin.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Jin manages to choke out, even in his position on the floor.

“Pick him up.” The larger man scrambles to upright the chair with Jin still attached. “Better.” The newcomer’s voice is soft, cold, and dangerous. Jin still can’t make out what he looks like, as his face is still in the shadows. He is wearing a suit though, which means this must be ‘the boss’ that the other guy had mentioned.

“What do you want?!” Jin repeats, his voice louder and filled with a false bravado.

The man steps forward into the light, a menacing sneer on his face.

“You, baby brother. You’ve been the plan all along.”

—----------------------------------------------

Jin’s eyes go wide. “Dae-Hyun? What?”

“Ever so eloquent, weren’t you? Yes, it’s me. My men kidnapped you and brought you here. Can’t go doing the dirty work myself.” The older man picks at his fingernails as if bored.

“So what do you want from me? You can’t be after the locket, seeing as you probably donated it yourself…worried more about money than family, no doubt,” Jin seethes.

Dae-Hyun tsks as he draws closer to Jin. “Are we that different? You left the family behind, and for what? To be a criminal? Disappointing.”

Jin rolls his eyes. “So this is what this is about? Revenge for not being able to take over the company when you wanted?” He laughs derisively. “What are you going to do, kill me?”

“Oh no, that’s much too boring, you wouldn’t be missed. Father already thinks you’re dead anyway since you disappeared and never showed your face again. I’m going to ruin your life.”

Dae-Hyun leans in, eyes glinting with a sort of madness. He reaches into the pocket of his dress pants and pulls out a small device. With a click, the wall of monitors lights up. At first, Jin can’t tell what he’s looking at because of the crack in his glasses, but as he squints, the image becomes clear.

It’s you. Endless loops of footage, all of you. The entrance to your apartment. The food he sent. Breaking into the museum. The gala. The first time you’d ever talked, wandering through the museum.

Jin’s eyes grow wide and his mouth goes dry. “How did you…?”

“Your lovely little accomplice used to work for me, back when I needed a little help getting to the top. She was quite handy, you know. Once she’d fulfilled her contract, she refused to ever work for me again…something along the lines of ‘you’re ruthless, you’d do anything to get what you want’. Since when is that a bad thing? So once I saw her at the gala, I knew she must have been hired to steal the locket…and lo and behold, my men pulled footage and saw her casing the museum a few days prior. And once we started following her and listening in on her conversations, what a pleasant surprise when I figured out that she was working with my dear baby brother, the family’s biggest disappointment.”

There’s nothing more that Jin wants in that moment than to punch Dae-Hyun in the face, but instead he uselessly tugs at his restraints as he goes red in the face.

Dae-Hyun chuckles darkly as he begins to circle around Jin. “But you know what the best part was?” He lowers his voice as he whispers in Jin’s ear. “When I realized that you had become more than partners…you care about her.”

“Leave her alone!” Jin’s voice wavers through the room, higher pitched than he intended.

“Leave her alone!” comes Dae-Hyun’s mocking voice from behind him. “No, I don’t think I will, brother. You see, you’ve been ruining my life since the day you were born…so I think it’s my turn to ruin yours. Say goodbye to your little girlfriend.” He looks over to the man who had tied Jin up. “Give the signal, it’s time to finish her.” A large grin takes over his face as he steps over to the door, following the boss’s orders.

As he opens the steel door, he’s met with an unexpected guest.

“Finish me? And here I was thinking we were just getting started.”

—--------------------------------------------

You push your way past the large man in black standing in front of you, who’s too stunned to try and stop you.

You stop in front of Dae-Hyun, a scowl painted on your face. “Somehow I’m not surprised you’re behind this.”

“Nice to see you too, Y/N. A pleasure, truly.” The man moves toward you, and you take several steps backwards. Though he may seem physically nonthreatening, you know better from your previous work with him that he's dangerous.

As Dae-Hyun comes further out of the shadows, your face falls as you notice Jin. You had hoped that your first time meeting would be under more pleasant circumstances, not while he was tied to a chair, broken glasses and cuts across his hands and cheeks. Even while wounded, you can’t help but notice how handsome he is shining through all the scrapes and bruises, which causes a small smile to work its way onto your face. You attempt to move closer, but you’re stopped by Dae-Hyun’s hand wrapped tightly around your wrist.

You try to slip out of his grasp, but he digs his fingers into your skin and turns you to face him. “You two really are pathetic, you know that?” His words drip with derision.

“What do you want with him?” You demand in return, ignoring his initial comment. Dae-Hyun looks from you to Jin, his face slowly lighting up into a deranged grin.

“She doesn’t know?” He’s looking directly at Jin, who almost imperceptibly shakes his head.

A loud, barking laugh erupts from Dae-Hyun’s chest. “What an unexpected surprise…you see, Jin here is the one and only Kim Seokjin. My disappointing excuse for a younger brother.”

It’s your turn to look between the two men. “What?” you breathe out in disbelief. You train your attention on Jin, who can’t seem to hold eye contact with you for more than a few seconds.

“It’s true.” He’s looking at the ground.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Enough of this.” Dae-Hyun jerks you toward him, away from Jin. You trip from the force of it, almost falling on the floor. He nods towards the man guarding the door, motioning for him to leave. “I want to be the one to ruin your life, baby brother. I want to watch your spirit be destroyed.” The man in black walks out, locking the door behind him.

Dae-Hyun reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out a pistol. Both yours and Jin’s eyes go wide, and Dae-Hyun uses your shock to pull your arms behind your back, restraining you from moving.

“Brother, please…don’t do this. I’m sorry I kept you from taking over the company. You don’t need to kill her, she hasn’t done anything to you!” Jin’s voice is pleading, his arms fighting uselessly to be released from their restraints.

“You should have thought about that before you stuck your nose where it didn’t belong…say goodbye, Seokjin.”

Just as Dae-Hyun goes to cock his pistol, you use his momentary distraction to your advantage. You leverage your weight into your elbow and strike his diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. As he doubles over, you pick up your foot and land a swift kick into the side of his head. The force of the kick propels Dae-Hyun backwards and as his body falls, there’s a loud crack as his head hits the concrete floor.

You rush over to Jin once you see that Dae-Hyun is no longer moving, reaching for your belt and grabbing a knife. Flipping it open, you make quick work of the zipties binding Jin’s wrists. He wraps his hands around bright red marks, creating friction to restart circulation, before standing up and rushing around the chair that’s between you. Before you can think to say anything, he’s wrapped you in his arms and your face is buried in his chest.

“He was going to kill you…he found out that you were gonna steal it…that we were working together.” Jin’s voice vibrates through his chest to you, his breath ragged. You pull back to see a few errant tears making their way down his cheeks, which he quickly swipes away using the sleeve of his sweater.

“Hey, hey…Kilroy, I’m fine, it’s okay. They didn’t get me, but more importantly, they didn’t get you.” You reach up to his face, your fingers ghosting over his wounds. Even the gentlest of touches makes him wince, looking down at the floor. “Let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?” He nods, before looking over at his brother, who’s still laying on the floor, a puddle of blood forming under his head.

“Is he…?” Jin can’t quite bring himself to finish the question. He hated Dae-Hyun, but even he didn’t want him dead.

You step gingerly over to Dae-Hyun, bringing your fingers down to his pulse point. It’s faint, but you can just make out a heartbeat. “He’s alive. He needs to go to a hospital though, and soon.” You reach into your pocket, pulling out your burner phone and making a quick call to 911 to make sure they know where to find the man who had tried to end your life fifteen minutes before.

“They’re on their way, now let’s go. We don’t need anyone asking us why we’re in a crime lord’s comms room.” Jin chokes out a laugh. “Come on.” You hold out your hand to the man in front of you, and he hesitates.

“I’m sorry.” You quirk a brow in confusion. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you it was my family’s locket. I’m sorry you got wrapped up in this mess with my brother, and it put you in danger.”

“Jin…it’s not your fault.” You give him a soft look laced with concern. “Come on.” This time, he grabs your hand, fingers interlocking with your own.

“What will be your fault is if we get caught here…let’s avoid that, shall we?” He laughs, and the two of you race down a side corridor that you had discovered earlier, avoiding any further mishaps with Dae-Hyun’s goons or the first responders that were en route to the scene.

—------------------------------------

A short car ride later, you’re leading Jin into your apartment, making sure you’re not being followed. He makes sure to remove the camera that had been recording your front door-because he knew there was one, it had been extremely easy for him to spot it once he looked. It made him feel guilty all over again, knowing his brother had been watching you for a month, possibly more.

“Earth to Jin…hello in there.” You wave your hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his own thoughts. “I know you’re feeling bad again, so let me just explain a few things. Sit down, I’ll make us some tea.”

Jin plops down on your sofa, feeling relief to not be against a metal chair. A few minutes later, you’re bringing over two steaming mugs. You hand one to him before sitting down beside him.

“I knew Dae-Hyun was watching me, and I let it happen.” Jin’s mouth drops open in surprise.

“W-what? How?” You smile ruefully and continue.

“I’d worked with him before, so I knew it was probably a matter of time before he had me followed. He doesn’t like being told no.”

Jin snorts into his tea. “You could say that.”

“What I didn’t know is that the locket I was supposed to steal belonged to his family. And I most certainly didn’t know that I was working with his brother…you know, you’re much more fun than he made you out to be when I worked for him. Cuter, too.”

Jin’s ears go pink.

“Anyway, once I saw him at the gala, I knew he was keeping an eye on me. I started to notice his guys trailing me as well…they thought they were slick, but when you’ve worked in the crime world this long, you see the signs. When the line went dead after I got into the safe room, I knew something was wrong, and I put the pieces together and Dae-Hyun was at the center of it. So I snuck in and rescued you.” You can’t help the triumphant grin that sits on your face.

“What I can’t figure out is…why was he threatening you with killing me? Wouldn’t it make more sense to either just go after me or just go after you if he wanted familial revenge, or whatever he was going on about?”

Jin’s ears are flaming red by this point, and the color is starting to creep across his cheeks as well. “Well, um…you see….” He’s looking everywhere in your apartment but at you.

“What? I see what?” Jin buries his face in his hands, dragging them across his features as he looks back up at you.

“He threatened you because he knew that’s what would hurt me the most.”

It’s your turn to be flustered now as Jin continues.

“I dropped off the face of the earth a long time ago after I embezzled money from my father’s company. Dae-Hyun was supposed to inherit the company, but I slowed that process down because the company had to deal with the press field day that happened after the news broke that I stole from my own family. So I left. Became a hacker. Apparently my family thinks I’m dead, according to Dae-Hyun. More likely he told them I died.” Jin’s eyes flash with rage, before returning to normal. “Long story short, I’m nothing to them. I have one friend who’s a petty thief. No one would care if I disappeared. So he figured out…that I cared about you. About what happened to you. And if you were killed because of me…” His face contorts with guilt, his eyes glossing over. “...I would never be able to forgive myself.”

“Oh, Jin,” you reach out, pulling him to you in a tight embrace. After a few moments, you pull back, making sure he’s looking you in the eyes. “First off, I would care very much if you disappeared, so that’s not allowed. Secondly, your brother is a complete asshole. I think you know that already, but just for the record. And third…”

You place your hands on either side of his face, gently running your thumbs across his cheeks, careful to avoid his injuries.

“I care about you too. What happens to you matters so much to me. In fact, it’s taking everything in me to stop myself from immediately rushing you to the bathroom to clean off all your scratches right now.” Jin lets out a breathy laugh, covering your hands with his own.

“Would it be okay if we did that right now?” You laugh as well, nodding and holding your hand out. He grabs it, relishing in the warmth he feels from both your actions and your words.

Once you reach the bathroom, you make him sit on the counter, making him closer to your height. From this angle, you can see just how deep some of his cuts are. You slide his glasses off, placing them on the counter and pull out antiseptic and bandages.

“You know this is going to sting, right?”

“I’m a big boy, Seurat. I’ve got-agh!” Jin lets out a groan as you press the soaked cotton pad onto his cheek.

“I thought you were a big boy, Kilroy?” You smirk while placing bandaging across the area you’d just cleaned.

“You play dirty, that wasn’t very fair!” Jin pouts.

“I do the dirty work, remember? I thought you said you would join me one day.”

You can’t quite place the look Jin gives you, but as you lean in to inspect your handiwork, you suddenly feel his hand on your waist. You glance down, and as your gaze returns to the man in front of you, he’s a lot closer than he was before.

“I’ll join you every day, if you’ll let me.” And with that, Jin is leaning even closer, his lips ghosting over your own in the lightest of kisses. As he pulls back, you chase his movements as if your body has a mind of its own, your mouth inviting him into a deeper kiss. You can feel him sigh into it, his other hand gripping the other side of your waist, fingers digging into your skin on both sides. His teeth pull at your bottom lip, and you let an involuntary groan. Just as he’s gathering your shirt in his hands and making to remove it from your body, you draw back.

“Every day, hmm?”

Jin nods, eyes blown out.

“Well, we’ve got plenty of time then. You’ve got to earn your place in my inner circle…not just anyone can pull off what I do.” You reach into your pocket, and show him the golden chain hanging from your fingers.

“Is that…?” He gasps as you nod in affirmation.

“But how?!”

“I never leave a job unfinished,” you grin. Jin suddenly captures your lips in another kiss, though this one is short and sweet.

“May I?” He holds out his hand for the locket, and you give it over. To your surprise, he moves behind you and fastens the clasp around your neck. He leans close, whispering in your ear.

“Beautiful.”

“Jin, no, this is your family’s, I can’t wear this!” you protest, moving to unclasp the necklace. He closes his hand around yours, stopping you.

“Yes, it’s my family’s. I am a part of my family, and I’m giving it to you. I’m certainly not giving it back to Dae-Hyun, he can rot in jail for all I’m concerned.”

“Are you sure?” Jin nods emphatically, and you smile in response. “Well…thank you. It’s very pretty.”

“Just like you.” At his words, you find yourself getting shy, but you manage a witty retort anyway.

“I knew there were feelings buried in there somewhere, Kilroy.”

Jin smiles. “Yeah, yeah…you know, my motto for the longest has been ‘low risk, high thrills’. Hiding myself behind a wall of technology and sarcasm. But you changed that…you were high risk. Dangerous.”

You move closer. “Dangerous, huh?” Your fingers dance up his tattered sleeves, making their way into his hair at the nape of his neck. Jin hums in response, drawing you to him for another kiss.

“But now…” His lips grace your temple.

“...I think…” Your cheek.

“...high risk…” Your jawline.

“...high thrills…” Your neck.

“...might be the way to go.”

He lands a final kiss on your lips, taking your breath away.

“So what do you say, Seurat? Partners in crime?”

You can’t help the smile that overtakes your face as you nod at Jin, who immediately breaks out into a grin even wider than your own.

“Okay, Mr. Roboto…deal.”

—---------------------------------------------

Taglist: @alpacaparkaseok @hyungieyoongi @derinxfam

Check out my other work here!

Because I really just need to screech into the void about this…

BEOMGYU IS DOING A SOLO STAGE DURING THE MOA X TOGETHER FANLIVE AND I’M NOT SURE I WILL EVER RECOVER.

Happy Friday, everyone.

One of my personal faves I’ve ever written just hit 200 notes-I appreciate every person that’s taken time to read this! 🥰

Message in a Bottle

-Pairing: Beomgyu x reader

-Words: 4.8k

-Rating/Warnings: SFW, non-idol AU, rock band AU, best friends to lovers, mentions of drinking, mild cursing, fluff, angst

-Author's Note: This Taylor Swift song has been begging me to write a fic, so here we are! Beomgyu just won't leave me alone these days, so here's a New Year's Eve fic centered around the one and only Mr. Choi. Enjoy!

------------------------------

“For the fancy lady with the new job.”

You roll your eyes as your best friend exits the ice cream shop in front of you, gloved hands clutching two soft serves as he smiles at you. Eye roll aside, you take the strawberry confection out of his hands. Though it makes next to no sense in the dead of winter, a hallmark of your friendship with Beomgyu is getting ice cream together, no matter how the weather protests.

“I’m not fancy,” you finally say around a mouthful of ice cream. Beomgyu simply shakes his head, rolling his eyes back at you.

“Okay, whatever you say. Just a new job then, in a nice building downtown, with a pay raise. Not fancy at all.” He grins goofily across his cone to you as you give in and laugh. “But seriously…how do you feel about starting a new job right before the new year?” Concern laces his features-he knows that you’ve been searching for a new job for a while, but he also knows how change makes your stomach churn, which is exactly what it starts doing when you reply.

“I’m nervous. Excited, but nervous. What if everyone thinks I’m incompetent? Or just doesn’t like me?” You scuff your boot against the sidewalk, back and forth.

“Well one, you’re not incompetent because you wouldn’t have gotten the job if you were, so there’s that off the table. And if they don’t like you? I’ll come kick their asses.”

You know he’s joking, but as you look up at Beomgyu, you can’t help but notice a hint of steel behind his usual mischievousness.

“You couldn’t kick anyone’s ass if you tried,” you retort, swatting your arm towards him. You’re surprised when he catches your wrist in a tight, strong grip, the veins in his forearm standing out a little when he takes a step closer to you.

“Don’t forget I’ve been working out lately…don’t try me, or I’ll kick your ass.”

You stick your tongue out in response, which leads him to pick you up and sling you over his shoulder. You squeak out a gasp, and immediately start pounding on his back, demanding he put you down. He cackles, and doesn’t comply until he’s dropping you off at your apartment doorstep a block down from the ice cream shop.

“I told you, don’t try me. Have a great first day of work at your new job tomorrow!”

He’s gone before you can even respond.

—------------------------------

The first week and a half of your new job goes by in a blur. You’re learning new systems, new coworkers’ names, and just generally it feels like an overload of information. Even with everything happening with a learning curve, you don’t feel incompetent, and you feel well-liked to your pleasant surprise. However, what you didn’t expect was your boss to tell you about the company’s New Years’ Eve party…and how excited he was to see you and your plus one there in a few days’ time.

You don’t have a plus one.

Unless…?

“So how’s the new job going? Tell me all the juicy gossip, I want to know everything!” Beomgyu shouts into the phone over the noise of wherever he’s at.

“There’s nothing that juicy to tell, promise. I’m still learning everything, it’s been fun though. So far, so good!” You can’t help smiling as you talk, the giddy energy from your job change still coursing through you. There's silence before you continue.

“But…”

“But what? Do I need to kick someone’s ass? I told you I would,” he laughs.

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s just…the company has this fancy New Years Eve party in a couple of days…”

“...so? Sounds like a good time.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But, my boss just told me about it yesterday. And he’s expecting me to bring a plus one, everyone is.”

“Okay, so ask that dude from your last job that you liked. Soobin, isn’t that his name?” Beomgyu sounds nonchalant, like nothing you’re saying should be of any concern.

“Okay, one, I would never do that. Two, Soobin isn’t even interested in me like that, he told me so when I asked him out for coffee once.”

Beomgyu sputters into something he’s drinking, you’re not sure what.

“Why am I just now hearing about this, exactly? Also, he’s completely stupid to not be interested in you, any guy would be lucky to date you,-”

“Thanks for the pep talk, Gyu, but that’s not why I called you.” You pick nervously at your nails, and though he can’t see you, he can tell that you feel uncomfortable.

“So why did you call? Are you okay? Did something else happen?” He’s soft in his response to you, and you know if he were here in person, he’d be drawing you into his side.

“I lied to my boss.” You swallow thickly, your gaze darting around your living room where you’re now pacing.

“Lied? What did you say?”

“...that I had a boyfriend?” you reply quietly.

“Okay…who? Who did you mean?”

“...you. I told him I was bringing my boyfriend, Beomgyu.”

There’s a long, long silence that hangs in the air as you wait for your friend to say something. Anything.

Suddenly, there’s a loud barking laugh from the other side of the phone.

“That’s all? Please…I’ll be the best boyfriend you’ve ever had. Your boss will be impressed because I clean up well, your coworkers will be swooning, and you’ll be the life of the party. What a fun time!”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“No, never! At least not for something like this, anyway. I’m excited! I’ve never been to a fancy New Years Eve party, this’ll be great. We should go shopping for outfits tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure. I’ll see you then, I guess,” you reply before ending the call.

What the heck had you gotten yourself into?

—--------------------------------

The next day passes in a rush of shops, suits, and sequins until the two of you settle on an outfit each for the party. You still feel guilty for lying to your boss and roping Beomgyu into pretending to be your boyfriend, but he repeatedly reminds you throughout the shopping spree that he is absolutely fine with the whole thing, citing ‘being able to practice acting’ and a love of fancy parties as reasons to not be worried about it.

However, you can’t help but worry as you slip into a bright sequined jumpsuit on New Year's Eve. It’s flashier than anything you would ever wear normally, and no matter which way you move, light dances off the silver sparkles covering your body. A small sigh escapes you as you resign yourself to the attention you’ll surely draw, and the sigh turns into exasperation as you attempt to pull the zipper of the jumpsuit fully up, only to get stuck at the middle of your back.

“...hello?” You hear Beomgyu’s voice echo down the hallway towards your room, causing you to glance over at the clock by your bedside. 6:35. Shit. You’d told him to pick you up at 6:30, and you hadn’t even heard him knock.

“You didn’t answer the door, so I just used the spare key…are you okay?” His voice sounds closer, and you hear the door to your bedroom open slowly.

“Can you…ugh…help me…with this stupid zipper?!” you exclaim, giving one last tug before letting your hands fall to your sides.

“I’ve got you.” You feel his hands sweep your hair over your shoulder so he has access to your back, and in one swift move, he’s got the zipper pulled to the top of the jumpsuit. You look up into your full length mirror to see Beomgyu gently readjusting your hair to cascade down your back again.

He then leans in over your shoulder, hands loosely covering your hips. “You look lovely,” he murmurs in your ear, the low baritone of his voice causing goosebumps to rise on your bare arms.

As he steps away from you, you can see he’s chosen to wear black dress pants with a white button down, black tie, and a black leather jacket.

He looks good. Really good. So good, you don’t realize you’ve been staring silently until he says, “Yeah, I really leaned into the whole ‘I play guitar in a band’ aesthetic. It’s not too much, is it?”

You attempt to respond only to be met with a dry throat. You cough, trying again. “No, Gyu. You look so good. Great.” A steady heat is making its way up your neck and face, which isn’t helped when Beomgyu seems like he’s suddenly getting shy, hand reaching to rub the back of his neck.

“We should head downtown, don’t want to be late!” you chirp cheerily, trying to make things less awkward. Beomgyu seems to snap out of whatever headspace he was in and his usual grin makes his way across his face.

“After you, m’lady.” You roll your eyes, and he just pokes your side as you both walk out of your apartment.

—--------------------------------

The ride downtown is comfortable, both of you having recovered from whatever had happened in your bedroom. Beomgyu parks his car in the garage of a towering skyscraper downtown, and you’re shocked to see that your company has rented out one of the most coveted views in the whole city. The two of you head inside, duck into an already crowded elevator, and head to the 15th floor.

As everyone piles out, your best friend reaches for your hand, which you jerk away from without thinking.

“Hey, I’m your boyfriend tonight, remember? We’ve got this.” Beomgyu reaches for your hand again, and this time you let his fingers intertwine with your own. Though the feeling is foreign, it’s comforting all at the same time. You glance over at him, clearly nervous, and he gives your hand a gentle squeeze. You steel yourself, and head into the party.

Turns out you needn’t have worried about most of the night. As predicted, your jumpsuit does garner a lot of attention, but with that attention come a lot of sincere compliments. Beomgyu is a hit with everyone-your boss is impressed with his day job, and your coworkers are fascinated with the fact that he’s in a band and he writes a lot of the music they play. You even notice a few of the women you work with giving him side glances when they think you’re not looking, which makes you laugh.

All the while, Beomgyu plays the part of the doting, attentive boyfriend. When your boss chats with him about his work, he makes sure you’re a part of the conversation. While coworkers are asking about his band, he pulls you close and keeps an arm around your waist while he’s talking, telling them all about his latest song which happens to be about you. You thought he hadn’t noticed the stares from other women, but it seems every time you catch one, he’s whispering in your ear, kissing the top of your head, or asking you to dance with him.

All of the attention feels so natural, it throws you for a loop. There’s a flush coloring your cheeks every time Beomgyu dances with you, both from the effort you’re exerting and his warm gaze that seems to travel up and down your body watching your every move. You’re enjoying what might be your tenth or twelfth trip to the dancefloor, when suddenly Beomgyu’s hands wrap around your waist, pulling you so close that you’re chest to chest.

“Hi,” he murmurs into your ear, just loud enough to hear over the music that’s shifted into a slow song.

“...hi,” you squeak out, looking up to find his deep brown eyes gazing down at you.

“Have I told you how pretty you look tonight?” he hums, a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.

“You told me earlier before we left my apartment. And then again earlier tonight while we were talking to my coworker.” You raise an eyebrow questioningly.

“Funny, I can’t remember either of those…guess I’ll just tell you again. Silly me.” He takes your confusion as an opportunity to spin you out and back again into his arms.

“Beomgyu…what’s gotten into you? I know you’re pretending to be my boyfriend, but no one can hear us over the music right now.”

“I know. There’s just a guy over by the drinks who keeps looking over here at you, hoping I don’t notice. Except I have…and I don’t appreciate it.” You follow his glare over to one of your new coworkers, who sure enough is looking your way, though he tries to poorly cover it up once you both are staring at him.

“Are you…jealous?” You can’t believe the words that are coming out of your mouth, but you don’t know what else to call Beomgyu’s behavior other than jealousy.

“I, in fact, am not jealous, thank you for asking. I just don’t appreciate that he thinks it’s okay to openly stare at someone that for all intents and purposes has a boyfriend tonight, that’s all. C’mon, let’s go up to the roof and get away from creeper over there.”

Beomgyu laces his fingers with yours and creates a path through the partygoers, through a small door and up a staircase to the roof. You gasp as you walk up to the edge of the building, the skyline in front of you taking your breath away.

“It’s beautiful.” You can’t think of a better word to describe the scene in front of you, and you look to the man beside you to see if he agrees, only to find him staring at you instead.

“It really is.” His gaze never wavers, and he steps closer to you. “Check the time,” he whispers softly.

11:59.

“Happy New Years, lovely.” His breath fans out over your face, and you find yourself drawing closer as if by some unseen force until your lips are meeting his.

It’s not what you expected, to be kissing your best friend on New Year’s Eve. Or ever. But you can’t say you’re too upset about it. Beomgyu’s lips are soft and full, gentle with you as if you might crumble beneath him if he’s too harsh. His tongue softly prodding against your lips is what brings you back to reality, pulling away with a dazed and panicked look on your face.

You just kissed your best friend. Beomgyu just kissed you.

You clear your throat and take a step to distance yourself from him. Even though you see him try to school his features into neutrality, you know him too well-there’s a ghost of hurt flickering behind his eyes and your heart sinks into the pit of your stomach.

Before you can even say anything, he beats you to it.

“Here, you’re shivering. I’ll take you home.” He wraps his leather jacket around your shoulders and heads back down the staircase to the party, making sure you’re following him every so often.

The ride home is just as silent as the one downtown, but this time it’s not comfortable. You keep wanting to say something, but keep your mouth shut in fear of making the whole situation worse. You didn’t know how you felt, and you didn’t want to mess things up further by saying something completely stupid. Side glances at Beomgyu tell you nothing, as he’s managed to shove whatever he’s feeling so far down inside, all you can see is the neutrality he’d been attempting earlier.

Once you get to your apartment, you hand back his jacket wordlessly. As he turns to leave, you reach out and grab his arm. He looks back at you, a small flicker of hope igniting in his gaze.

“See you tomorrow?” It comes out in a small, weak voice.

Beomgyu shakes his head, trying to smile but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’m leaving for our new year gigs tomorrow. I won’t be back for a week and a half, and I’ll be hard to get ahold of. I’ll see you when I get back, okay?”

You nod meekly.

“Beomgyu?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we okay?”

You see him shift his weight from foot to foot as he suddenly can’t seem to look you in the eyes.

“We will be. Take care of yourself, okay? Since I won’t be here to do it for you.” A small laugh escapes him as he turns and walks away. You stare after him long after he’s out of sight, wondering if you’ve just ruined the closest relationship you’ve ever had.

—-------------------------------

The following week drags on forever without Beomgyu. At work, it feels like you’re on autopilot, not quite paying attention to things you’re being asked. Your mind keeps wandering back to New Years Eve, and the fact that you had kissed your best friend. Obviously he must have gotten swept away in the moment, pretending to be your boyfriend? Or maybe he did have feelings for you. But where did that leave you? Did you have feelings too?

It doesn’t help that communication between the two of you is sporadic, as his signal goes in and out as he’s traveling, and when he’s in a city, he’s practicing, playing a gig, or hanging out with his bandmates. The best you can manage is texts sent that he responds to hours later, if not days. As if he knows you’re thinking about him (but when have you not been this week?), your phone pings with an incoming text message.

You (10:05 PM): Hey, hope you and the band got to your hotel safely!

Gyu (11:37 AM): Hey! Sorry it took so long to respond, but yeah we did. The gig last night was sick! :D

You don’t bother texting back since you know it’ll be another day before he responds. You sigh heavily instead and gather your belongings to head home since you only work half days on Friday. At least it’s the weekend, and Beomgyu will be home in a few days…hopefully things can go back to normal soon.

—--------------------------------

Turns out the weekend can’t even save you. As you go through the motions, you realize just how closely intertwined your life is with his. Ice cream trips. Movie nights with takeout. Walks in the park catching up on your week. Doing all of it by yourself feels wrong, like you’re cheating on your best friend by not including him. But that’s absurd. Right? You’re staring at your ceiling in bed on Sunday night, thinking about the last time you had a sleepover with Beomgyu. You had both been a little drunk, giggling over the smallest things, and even though he had been further gone than you, he helped you get ready for bed. Used a makeup wipe to gently remove your mascara, made you brush your teeth while he watched. He’d then patted you on the head once you’d crawled into your sheets, saluting you as he clumsily made his way to the couch to fall asleep himself.

You turn to face the empty side of your bed, wishing he was here beside you.

…wait.

What?

You roll back immediately to stare at your ceiling again. You wished he was here beside you? He never stayed in your bed with you, even on your drunkest of nights…he was always on the couch. So why did your brain suddenly think that? Flashes of New Years Eve come crashing back into your head, Beomgyu’s lips insistently pressed against yours, tongue seeking entrance to your mouth before you had stepped away. The memories make you feel warm and tingly all over, wishing again that he was laying beside you. And you remember how you haven’t been able to get him out of your head all week, even though he’s gone to do shows before. All of it together suddenly makes sense, and you want to hide from yourself at how stupid you’ve been.

You just might be in love with your best friend.

—-----------------------------

Your realization haunts you through the next day. You want to wait to talk to Beomgyu until he’s home, but something keeps tugging at you the whole day to reach out before then. A text seems entirely too casual, plus what would you say? ‘Hey I think I love you?’ Absolutely not. You’ll call him.

Except when you finally sit down to do so after dinner that night, it goes to voicemail. Of course it does, he has a show tonight. Nevertheless, you brace yourself to record after the beep-you’ve thought way too hard about what you need to say to chicken out now.

~Beep~

“Hey, Beomgyu, I hope your show is going really well tonight…um, I just wanted to call because-nothing’s wrong, so don’t worry about that! Anyway, I just thought it was too important to send via text so here I am, leaving a voicemail…”

You take a deep breath, realizing that you’ve started to ramble and aren’t making a ton of sense.

“-like I said, this is important. One, I am so sorry I stepped away from you on New Years Eve, I think I just freaked out? There was absolutely nothing wrong with you kissing me, at all. It was nice, actually. Two, I miss you a stupid amount. This weekend every time I did anything, I wanted you with me…which leads me to three. I realized because of how much I missed you that I want to spend time with you all the time. I found myself wishing you were sleeping next to me last night? So that was new. Anyway, all that to say-I miss you. I miss hanging out with you. I figured out I miss your lips and that kiss from New Years as well, so what I’m trying to spit out is…I think I love you, and-”

You’re suddenly cut off by the beep of his voicemail box, telling you you’ve reached the message time limit.

“Dammit!” you curse, hurling your phone against your couch. You let out a shaky breath, and pick it back up.

There’s nothing to do now but wait.

—--------------------------------

You fall asleep waiting, and wake up to a singular text from Beomgyu.

Gyu (9:59 AM): Are you coming to our homecoming show tonight?

Okay, so maybe he didn’t listen to your voicemail. That’s okay, right? You’ll just see him in person. And tell him your feelings. In person.

You (10:02 AM): Front row, wouldn’t miss it! :)

Your response seems nonchalant, but your stomach is churning and you feel like you might throw up. You decide that working from home might be the best plan for the day, and so you turn to spreadsheets, emails, and reading articles to distract you from what might be the end of your world as you know it.

Soon enough, 6:00 rolls around and you shut off your laptop as you finish off a quick dinner you had made for yourself as you finished up the day’s tasks. You decide to treat tonight as just a normal show you’re going to, throwing on a distressed band tee (Beomgyu’s band MOA, artfully bleached and torn by yours truly) with black jeans and stomper boots, accented with a red lip.

You grab your purse off the counter and quickly dash out the door to walk the few blocks to the dive bar MOA is playing, making sure to get there early so you can be front row like you promised.

Sure enough, you’re one of the first people there and it’s easy for you to choose a spot right in front of where you know Beomgyu will be playing for most of the show. Ten minutes after you arrive, he and the rest of the band walk out to tune their instruments. You give a quick wave to Yeonjun, the band’s lead vocalist, and he nudges Beomgyu, turning his attention to you. He quickly jogs across the stage, leans down and throws his legs over the edge and pulls you into a tight hug.

“Hey stranger, feels like ten years since I’ve seen you. I missed you,” he mumbles into your hair.

You pull back, attempting to fix your hair. Noticing his shaggy black hair’s gotten mussed as well, you push it off his face. Before you can draw your hand away, Beomgyu’s covered it with his own, squeezing it softly.

“You look good in my shirt.” His eyes sparkle mischievously as he motions to your band tee with his other hand, and you roll your eyes even as you can feel your cheeks color.

“Yeah, yeah…don’t you have to get ready for the show, rockstar?”

“I do,” he pouts, “but I’ll come find you later, okay?” You nod, and he stands back up and wanders over to his guitar, picking it up and making sure it’s in tune.

More and more people start to crowd around and behind you, and before you know it, the show has started. You’re scream singing the lyrics just as loudly as anyone else, cheering your heart out at the end of every song. Every so often, you catch smiles that Beomgyu is sending you, and it makes your heart feel like it’s leapt up into your throat. Even though it makes you nervous, you can’t help the smiles you send back in return.

Towards the end of the show, Beomgyu steps up to his mic, addressing the crowd.

“Hey everyone, thanks so much for coming out tonight! Our last song we’re going to play for you is an exclusive-we just workshopped this today, mostly because I just wrote it today. Let us know whether you like it!”

Cheers immediately erupt through the crowd, and simmer down once he starts strumming his guitar and steps up to the mic.

“I know that you like me

And it’s kinda frightenin’

Standing here, waitin’, waitin’

And I became hypnotized

By freckles and bright eyes

Tongue tied”

Beomgyu looks over at you and sends a cheeky wink your way. Wait a second, is he singing…about you?

“Cause you could be the one that I love

I could be the one that you dream of

Message in a bottle is all I can do

Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you

You could be the one that I keep, and I

Can be the reason you can't sleep at night

Message in a bottle is all I can do

Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you”

You feel rooted to the spot, staring at the boy in front of you as he sings, staring straight at you, no trace of embarrassment or shame on his face. You barely notice when Yeonjun takes over singing the next verse, your eyes following Beomgyu instead as he pulls his guitar strap over his head, placing the instrument onto its stand.

He walks in front of your spot in front of the stage, and sits down with his legs dangling over the edge, just as he had before the show. He reaches out toward you slowly, but with purpose, gently cupping the sides of your face. You barely register the screaming and whistling that’s happening around you as the other audience members witness the private moment between the two of you.

Beomgyu slowly slides his thumb across your cheek, his eyes glimmering with mischief and something you can’t quite place as he leans towards you.

“Is this okay?” he whispers, barely audible over the song.

You wrap your arms around his neck in response, pulling him to his feet off the stage, crashing your lips onto his. His lips are full and soft just like you remember, and that warm and tingly feeling from before is even stronger, prompting you to be the one who gently asks for entrance to his mouth with your tongue, which he eagerly grants. You’re not sure how long the two of you stand there, too wrapped up in each other to care what’s happening around you. Beomgyu finally pulls back for air, a huge smile on his face that he can’t get rid of. He leans his forehead against yours as he breathes heavily, and begins laughing. It feels contagious, and you’re so giddy you can’t help but join in.

“You are the one I dream of,” you breathe out between giggles.

“I’m glad…because you’re the one that I love. I love you too,” Beomgyu states simply, landing another kiss on your lips.

“I take it you got my voicemail?”

“Of course I did, and I saved it. Just figured I’d respond in person. With a song that I wrote for you…among the others I’ve written about you, this one just happens to be the only one that’s seen the light of day. And it’s a hit!” He gestures around you, where Yeonjun is finishing out the song and the crowd has erupted into raucous cheers.

“There’s…others?” Your eyes widen in surprise.

“Many others…I’ll play them for you if you’re lucky. I’m just glad you got my message in a bottle.”

—-------------------------------

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