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S𝗔ND BL𝗔NK𝗘TS ── yjw.

✶ : 0.6k, yang jungwon & gn!reader, angst and slight fluff, one-sided pinning, no set au. ⚠ : very brief mentions of food (s'mores) & drinking (jack daniels), but neither of the main characters are taking it, lowercase intended. ੭ : this was Very experimental since i absolutely suck at angst but yeah!!!!!

when the sun nudged the horizon line, bounded by the calm waves of twinkling water and sea foam, there was peace. innocent laughs bounced against the rocks surrounding the beach, committing to memory the afternoon of july eleventh.

with your feet buried in the warm sand, you snorted at jake and riki play wrestling in the sea and sunoo cackling loudly while floating around. heeseung was dead asleep on a hammock while jay and sunghoon had a drinking contest. 

your group chatted far away by a bonfire, and a distinct silhouette brought a shy smile to your lips. one of your friends — who you had been cultivating feelings for — clumsily burned themselves with their s'mores, blowing on their own hand with a pout.

the chilly wind nipped at your exposed skin, quietly reminding you of your current setting, and that the night would soon arrive. you shuddered, considering approaching your friends and crush before a person came to your side.

jungwon stood beside you with a fluffy blanket over his shoulders, preventing his own warmth from escaping. he had a white muscle shirt and shorts hidden below the fabric.

an adorable smile stretched his lips, long eyes imitating crescents as he glanced at you. “hi,” he sat down next to you on the tree stump, knees and arms touching.

“hey,” you beamed back, softly shoving his side. “eventful day, wasn't it?”

“don't even get me started.” jungwon feigned annoyance by rolling his eyes, but ended up bursting into a fit of giggles. his focus switched quickly to the two young adults downing cups of jack daniels, “i bet ten bucks that sunghoon's alcohol tolerance is better than jay's.”

“you're insane.” a gasp went past your mouth — you knew he was just teasing you. “sunghoon winning against jay? you better have that money on you.”

yang bit his lip to contain more laughs, turning to your shivering form, “you'll catch a cold like this.” he reprimanded you, wrapping your body with his arms and blanket. “you need to be more careful.”

watching him card his fingers through his damp hair, covered with sea salt, you muttered, “alright… thanks.”

“it's okay.” he waved you off.

your eyes rested, and you could only hear the calming sound of water and distant chatter lulling you into a deep slumber. the skies progressively got darker with each passing moment, and the weather got colder, but the temperature ceased to bother you as jungwon's coziness embraced you.

while in your best friend's hold, he pressed his chapped lips to your temple, basking in your presence. he let out little laughs when you groaned and shifted around to find a more comfortable position to rest.

in sequence, you ended up with your head on his lap. admiration filled his gaze to the brim, fixed on your side profile. a voice calling out for jay snapped him out of his trance, his eyes traveling to the person you loved the most.

his throat clamped at the sight of your crush walking around so freely, unaware of your mutual sentiments for them, but he was already conscious of the lovesick problems you were enduring because of this friend — you had broken jungwon's heart unknowingly early that morning, ranting your soul out about how you were fond of them.

if that wasn't enough, yang noticed the liking they had for you, ever so caring and kind. it was obvious how they would be the perfect partner, offering everything you deserved and so much more. they would do everything jungwon wished he could do for you. they would love you and long for you, though not as much as him (or, at least, that was what he liked to think).

jungwon could also be a good boyfriend, if given the chance. he would take you to adorable dates, litter your skin in tiny kisses, bring you over to meet his family and pets, and cherish you unconditionally like how he had been trying to do for the past years. however, that was not his case, and he could merely watch you sleep on his lap whilst your mind dreamed of someone else.

despite knowing that you didn't reciprocate his feelings, jungwon caressed your cheekbones as if you were his lover, heart crushed like the sand beneath his feet, though still alive and threatening to jump out of his ribcage. after all, maybe someday he would manage to sweep you off your feet, and you'd finally see him in the same lights he saw you.

⠀ ⠀ © soov, 2O23.

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

gamer/streamer!choi beomgyu x f!reader

1.5k words, fluff/comfort, reader has hair long enough for a claw clip, strawberries, est. relationship au, the background info dump in the beginning was for my own entertainment tbh

Choi Beomgyu loved you.

Sometimes he wondered how you could possibly love someone like him—a loser who streamed League half the day away, lived in his pajamas, and dropped out of college to play video games for hundreds of thousands of people online. He barely went out of the house, unless it was to touch grass, but he had managed to snag your attention nonetheless.

He liked to joke that you were in it for his celebrity status. It was made all the more ironic, since you had no idea who he was when he'd first introduced himself to you in the self-checkout aisle of a grocery store, and you'd stared at him like he was high. Beomgyu, humbled to all hell, had stuttered out an apology and bowed about ninety degrees—then asked for your number like a normal person.

Ah, good times.

He'd then somehow mustered up enough swagger to date you for two years and counting. And now, you were moved in and got to hear him yell at a handful of computer monitors for twelve hours a day. (Love was funny, wasn't it?)

But if forever was the sweetest con, then dear god, he hoped he could pull this one off.

It was during one of his streams that he heard the front door slam from his office. He had just finished a round, and when he had heard the door but not your voice, he pushed back from his desk so he could lean back and give you a holler. "Yn! Yn-ie! Babyyyyy!"

He waited a beat.

A frown curled his mouth downward when he didn't hear your reply. Uh oh.

Tongue in cheek, Beomgyu used his feet to bring him back to his computer screen. His eyes flickered with the pace at which his chat flew past. "Hey chat, I need to check up on my girl. I'll be right back. Go get a snack or something."

With that, he dumped his headset onto the desk and raced out of the office.

He flew out into the main living space of the apartment, his eyes scanning the premises for you. With both of your incomes combined, the two of you managed to live comfortably in a nice apartment complex just north of the main city center. You both shared a bedroom and bathroom, while also getting separate, small office spaces. You used yours a lot less than he did his, but it was nice to have one in case.

Instead of your figure, he found your keys and shoes by the door, and a grocery bag on the island counter.

He backpedaled over to the bedroom next, head poking into the darkened room. His voice came out low, "Babe, you here?"

"Yeah," came your small response.

He tracked it to the bathroom, where you were hunched over your sink in the dark, your hair pulled back in a claw clip. Your face was damp like you had just washed it, but he didn't miss the way you were wiping at your eyes. Something sank in his chest, something heavy that made his body slump in dread.

"Sorry, I didn't wanna bother you," you said, forcing stability into your voice, even if it still shook a little.

You reached for your facial towel to hide your melancholy, but Beomgyu liked to think he paid more attention than you were giving him credit for.

He wrapped his arms around your middle from behind, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. "Hey, you're never a bother; you know that," he replied softly. "What's wrong, hm? How can I help?"

Your body shook with a sob as you cried into the towel. Beomgyu's chest clenched at the sound, at the feeling. God, he was right here, and yet, he felt so helpless, so useless. "It's nothing—I… I just… I'm just tired," you managed to say.

You sniffled, avoiding his eyes in the dark mirror as you set the towel aside and began washing your face again.

Beomgyu pursed his lips and sucked in a breath. "Yn-ie, you know I'm not just gonna let you go to sleep this upset, baby."

When you'd patted your face dry again, you were left with reddened, puffy eyes. You turned around to press your face into his warm chest. His arms looped around you like second nature to hold you to him.

Beomgyu gently smoothed a hand over the back of your head, letting the tension from the claw clip loosen the headache no doubt forming in your cranium. He clipped the accessory to his belt loop, quietly trying to calm your muffled cries. "Come on. Let's get some food into your stomach, okay? It'll make you feel better."

He led you out to the kitchen, helping you onto one of the bar stools while he rummaged through the grocery bag you brought home. His chest panged when he imagined you going through the grocery store while holding back tears. Had you cried there, or perhaps it had all come flooding out here?

There were a few things to add to the fridge, but he found a carton of big, red strawberries at the bottom of the bag. He released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in—you'd managed to get yourself something. Good. He was glad.

Usually in your shared household, you were the one to wash and cut and peel fruit for him. You fed him all the healthy things, kept him a normal functioning human being. You kept him sane.

So Beomgyu took the carton of strawberries out of the bag and transferred them to a colander to be washed. He then carefully sliced the stems off each berry, sliced them into halves, until the colander was empty and the bowl he had on the counter, filled.

He wiped his hands on the towel hanging below the sink, then brought the bowl of glistening red fruit before you.

"For you," he murmured, one warm palm pressed between your shoulder blades, his lips brushing a kiss to your hairline. "I'll be right back."

Beomgyu hurried back to the office to find his viewers waiting.

He braced his arm on the desk, forgoing sitting down in the chair. He swept a lock of his long hair out of his eyes as he skimmed some of the live comments in the chat. A huff of laughter, then a shake of his head. "You guys are so weird. I'm signing off for the night though—no, I don't owe you an explanation... Okay, it's my baby—yeah, yeah, I see you rampaging in the comments, Chenle."

Beomgyu wrinkled his nose playfully. "I'm not a fuckin' simp, you losers. At least I have a partner. Okay, whatever. Later, guys."

He turned off the stream with a tap of his mouse, and then he was back by your side. You seemed to have calmed down a little, but what lacked your sobbing came a sad, startling quiet. Quiet from you wasn't unusual per se, but this one felt empty.

Beomgyu stood behind your stool, one of his arms curling around your middle as he peered over your shoulder at the bowl. You'd eaten a few slices of the fruit while he was gone, but it wasn't as much as he had hoped you would have eaten.

He released a light exhale, reaching for a strawberry slice and popping it into his mouth. He leaned his head against yours. "Wanna snuggle?" He asked you quietly.

A small smile pulled at the corners of your mouth, and he mentally high-fived himself. "Is that a yes?" He gasped with a childlike excitement. "You wanna snuggle with me?"

You nodded, not trusting your voice just yet, but that was okay. He heard you loud and clear.

You turned on the stool so you could wrap your limbs around his body.

Beomgyu cooed softly. "My sweet baby. I'm so sorry you have to feel this way." He kissed your head again, his arms shifting so he could hoist your body up and carry you over to the sofa with him.

He collapsed onto the sofa with a melodramatic grunt, then flopped backward so you were lying on top of his chest. He wondered, with your ear pressed against him, if you could hear just how much your proximity affected him. Even after all this time. If, maybe, you felt even a fraction of what he felt for you (just a fraction would make his heart soar). There was no way you didn't, right?

He wrapped both arms around you with a sigh. "I know you don't want to talk about it," he murmured, "just know it'll be alright. All of it. Even if it seems like the world is falling apart, even if you feel like a failure—you will get through this. I know you can; I know you will."

Your first words since earlier to him came at almost an inaudible volume. "And if I can't? What then?"

"Then I'll be here to help you," he answered. Yes, that was it. His breath was warm against your cheek, against your ear. "I'll always be here."

txt m.list

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murphy’s law!

masterlist | 1k celebration

pairing: choi beomgyu x gn!reader

genre: angst, fluff, high school au, troublemaker!beomgyu, stuco president!reader, kind of one sided enemies to lovers if you squint

word count: 3.2k (im so sorry)

warnings: none afaik? just burnt out reader

prompt(s): #5 — “why are you crying?”

requested: “hi! congratulations on 1k followers!!! for the event, can i have prompt 5 with beomgyu? what i had on mind was like highschool au and reader just had a bad day or smth and had to stay after school to clean, and started crying in the classroom alone and beomgyu was also in the school and heard reader crying and found that it was his long time crush? i hope this makes sense! sorry if this was too long too😓 thank you in advance!!♥️♥️” — @loveliii

authors note: omg the first drabble of the celebration... except apparently i can’t write drabbles so it’s more of a oneshot plz forgive me.

MURPHY’S LAW STATES: everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Now, you had no idea who Murphy was, but you used to always believe he was full of shit. There had been plenty of instances where things could have gone wrong, but they didn’t. 

In fact, when it came to your case, it seemed like things usually went right. You got good grades, and got along well with all of your teachers. You were the captain of your school’s volleyball team, and had even been elected your school’s student body president your last year of high school. Things always went well for you, which is why you had never really been a believer in what that Murphy guy had to say. 

At least, that’s what you thought before today. Because now, you were starting to think maybe you had taken your past ability to narrowly avoid disaster for granted. Because today, just like Murphy had once predicted, everything that could go wrong did just that: go wrong. 

It started with your stupid charger. The night before, you must have apparently unplugged it, because when you plugged it into your phone before going to bed, it never charged. Which meant your phone died, and that meant your alarm never went off. And that meant you woke up ten minutes before school started, and your bus was going to be there any second. 

So, in the quickest fashion you could muster, you brushed through your hair so you looked at least somewhat presentable then slipped into your uniform. You were incredibly impressed by how fast you’d managed to do that—just over 60 seconds! It must have been some kind of record. Less impressive, though, was the fact that even though you had been so speedy, you watched as the bus you were supposed to be on drove away in the direction of your school, leaving you behind. 

Thank goodness for all those years playing volleyball, you had built up enough stamina to (barely) get you from your house all the way to the school. You were twenty minutes late, sure, but hey, at least you were there, right? Your first period teacher was not so understanding, almost immediately assigning you to detention after school. 

Detention. You never got detention. In your four years at that school, working your ass off to be the best student you could be, a child your parents could be proud ofc, not once had you gotten assigned to detention. The realization that for the first time ever, you’d been punished by a teacher, was a foreign feeling as you sat at your desk and replayed everything that had happened. Detention, all because your stupid phone charger decided not to work the night before. 

“Damn, I thought you were immune to detention.” A voice behind you whispered, and you glanced over to see Choi Beomgyu grinning at you. Of course Beomgyu had seen that all. 

Choi Beomgyu was the exact opposite of you. He had fights with teachers basically on the daily, and you were pretty sure he was failing most of his classes. Not because he was stupid, by any means, he was actually really smart. He just didn’t try, he didn’t care about school the way you did. What he did care about, though, was teasing you as much as was humanly possible. 

And of course, he had just seen you, the student body president, run into class twenty minutes late and get detention. 

You had half a mind to bite back at him, because oh would that be satisfying, but you weren’t looking to talk in the middle of class and make your punishment worse than it already was. You instead gave him a side-eye glare, and he must have found it amusing since he started to giggle. 

Once class got out, you really shouldn’t have been surprised to glance over your shoulder to see Choi Beomgyu following you, hot on your tail like he was some sort of lost puppy. You groaned quietly to yourself, hoping that if you ignored him long enough, he would get bored and walk away. Unfortunately, Beomgyu was a very patient man. 

“I can’t believe you were late! What happened? Did your carriage lose a wheel on the way here, your highness?” He asked, using his long legs so he could get right up next to you.  

You stayed silent.

“Come on, you can tell me! I’m like, the king of being late. I won’t judge.” He nudged your arm with his elbow, with just enough pressure for you to fall out of your rhythm. Now, he finally had your attention as you turned to look at him, eyes narrowed.

“Look, I’m not in the mood today, okay?” You told him flatly, and you were expecting him to find your irritable mood amusing, and find a way to push your buttons further than he already had, but he didn’t. 

Instead, his face softened and he (surprisingly) went quiet. You didn’t bother sticking around to figure out what that was all about, not when you still needed to get to your class on the other end of the building, and you were not risking being late to a second class. So, you gave him a small nod, a thank you for leaving you alone, then walked away.

The rest of your day wasn’t any better. 

In your history class, you got your grades for a test you’d recently taken, and nearly fell out of your seat when you saw a big fat C staring back at you. And your horror increased tenfold when you saw it wasn’t just a C, but a C minus. Never in your high school career had you gotten a C minus. 

At that point of the day, you were starting to become convinced that someone had put some sort of curse on you. You didn’t really have any enemies who would have done that to you, though. Except maybe Choi Beomgyu, but you had a feeling putting a curse on someone was too much effort for him to be bothered with.

By the time the school day was over, you were completely exhausted. At lunch, your best friend, Sumin, accidentally spilled her drink on your uniform, and now you were wearing some extras from the lost and found that were much too big for you. You wanted nothing more than to go home, crawl into your bed and have a good cry, but you still had to do your detention. 

You weren’t really sure what to expect from detention, considering you’d never had to do it before. You knew you weren’t looking forward to it, though, and just hoped it wouldn’t be anything horrible--especially since it was your first offense.

Your first period teacher was waiting for you in her classroom after classes got out, and she greeted you with a sympathetic smile. “Y/N. You know you’re one of my favorite students, so it really broke my heart when I saw you come in late this morning.”

The urge to roll your eyes arose, but you managed to fight it. Here she was, acting like you had betrayed her or something, when really, it was her decision to punish you for something so small. 

“I understand.” You replied with a nod, avoiding her gaze. 

“Good. So, I figured out the perfect thing for you.” She stood up and began to walk out of the classroom, with you following closely behind. 

Apparently, the perfect thing for you was some storage room that clearly hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. There had been racks with boxes of textbooks that must have gotten knocked over, since the books were now all over the floor. And the room was covered in a thick layer of dust that made your nose itch the second you stepped inside. She left you with a singular rag, a bottle of cleaner, then left you alone.

You stood in the doorframe, assessing the room in front of you. Just from looking at it, you knew it was going to take you at least a few hours to clean the entire thing by yourself. Which meant it was going to be a few hours before you could go home, a few hours before you could go sleep this horrible, awful day away. Even worse, you were sure that something would go wrong during those next few hours that would prolong the time even longer. 

Throughout the whole day, ever since you first realized you’d missed the bus, you had felt tears pricking your waterline, but you had managed to hold them in. You were going to wait until you were in your own bedroom, in private, before you even thought of letting them out. But now, as you stood there, staring at the mess in front of you, you could no longer hold them in.

It was like the floodgates had opened up, and all of the emotions you’d been restraining all day were released. A sob racked through your body, and you were no longer able to keep yourself steady, your knees unbuckling beneath you and causing you to collapse onto the floor. It was wildly embarrassing, the way you became a mess on the floor of the dirtiest room you’d ever seen, where anyone could walk in and see you. 

And of course, because stupid Murphy just had to be right, that was exactly what happened. 

There was a soft knock at the door, and you hurriedly looked over your shoulder to see the absolute last person you wanted to see poking his head in. You were overcome with horror as you snapped your head around to look away, praying as hard as you could to whatever deity would listen that he hadn’t seen your tears. 

“Woah, are you crying?” He asked, and you shook your head.

“No. Why would I be crying?” You sniffled, picking up the rag and spray bottle you had dropped onto the floor and standing up. He caught a glimpse of your face again when you walked past, and he scoffed. 

“You’re totally crying. Why are you crying? What’s wrong?” He asked again, stepping further into the storage closet and shutting the door behind him. 

You shot him a glare as you attempted to stand one of the racks back up. “I’m not crying. Besides, even if I were, I’m not telling you. You’ll just make fun of me.” You mumbled the last part. Standing the rack up was proving to be futile. 

“No I wouldn’t!” He defended himself, watching as you struggled to push the rack up. “Here, let me help you with that--”

“No!” You snapped at him, and he backed up with his hands held up defensively. You tried one more time to stand it up, and let out a frustrated groan when it once again wouldn’t budge. You had no choice but to surrender, and move to the side so Beomgyu could help you. 

You were angry that you had to get his help to move the stupid thing. Now you were forced to be thankful he had showed up and barged in. “Thanks.” You muttered, brushing past him as you went to once again get your little rag and bottle.

“You’re welcome.” Beomgyu replied, and though you were facing away from him, you could hear his annoying, cocky smile in his voice. “So, are you going to tell me why you were crying?” 

“No.”

“Oh, so you were crying!”

“I didn’t say that.” You looked up at him as you sprayed cleaner onto the dusty shelf. “I told you already, didn’t I? I don’t want to talk about it.” 

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem as willing to drop the subject as he had earlier in the day. “Come on, Y/N. I saw you crying, you’re clearly upset, just tell me about it!” 

“You’re going to laugh at me.”

“No I won’t!” He exclaimed, sounding exasperated. You raised an eye at his outburst, and he cleared his throat. “Seriously. I won’t.” He softened his tone, looking at you with pleading eyes. 

You stared back at him, trying to figure out if you could trust him. This was Choi Beomgyu you were talking about, the boy who had tormented you for years on end with his constant teasing. But, he did look very sincere. And you were sort of itching to rant to someone. 

“Fine. My phone didn’t charge last night, so my alarm never went off, so I woke up late, then I missed the bus and had to run to school, and then I got detention, and then I got a C on my stupid history test, and then Sumin spilled her stupid soda on me, so I had to wear this stupid uniform from the lost and found, and-and then I had to come here and clean this stupid closet, and I’m just so tired, and I-I--” The next thing you knew you were crying again, your breath hitching in the back of your throat as the tears spilled onto your cheeks once again. 

The second the sobs slipped from your lips again, Beomgyu rushed around the shelf, slipping his arms around your trembling body and pulling you close to his chest. You were so desperate for any kind of comfort, you didn’t bother trying to push him away. Instead, you leaned into his touch, reaching up to grip onto the edge of his uniform jacket. He began to rub your back as you buried your face into his shirt, letting yourself cry--like, really cry. You thought you were going to pass out at any second from how difficult it was for you to catch your breath between sobs. 

After enough of his fingers rubbing circles into your back and his soft shh’s whispered into your ear, you were slowly able to calm down to the point you could breathe again. It was truly unbelievable that you were here, in some dusty storage closet crying into Choi Beomgyu’s arms. It was not a position you had ever predicted yourself to be in. And yet…

You didn’t totally hate it.

“Can I tell you something?” Beomgyu asked softly, and with a small sniffle, you nodded against his shirt. “The reason I tease you so much… It’s so embarrassing…” He laughed softly, and you gently pulled your head away, looking up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“What?” You asked, and as he gazed down at you, his cheeks reddened. 

“Um… When we were in first grade, I tried to copy off of your test, once…”

“Yeah, I knew that.”

“What?! No you didn’t, I was so subtle, you didn’t even notice.” He shook his head, and you rolled your eyes. “But anyways, that’s not the point. I was trying to copy off your test, but I remember, I made the mistake of looking at your face--”

“What’s wrong with my face?” You asked defensively, a frown befalling your features.

“Let me finish!” He snapped at you, and out of curiosity to hear the rest of the story, you conceded. “So, I made the mistake of looking at your face, and you were all focused, and had your tongue sticking out of the side of your mouth,” he paused to allow a giggle to escape his lips. 

“And I remember thinking you were so cute, and then I got so distracted watching you, by the time you got up to turn your test in, I had missed everything you had written down.”

You stared at him in confusion, trying to figure out what on Earth the point of this whole story was. “What…?”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, Y/N. You’re the top of all our classes, and you can’t figure it out?” 

You shook your head, and he let out a defeated sigh.

“I’m saying, Y/N, that I tease you because…” He paused, sucking in a shaky breath. “Because I like you, okay?” 

“Oh.” 

Oh.

Beomgyu liked you? Since first grade? You were unable to process his words, playing them in your head on repeat like some kind of broken record. He liked you. He annoyed the hell out of you, just because he liked you. What kind of middle school boy behavior was that? 

“Oh? Is that all you have to say to my heartfelt confession?” He asked in fake offense, and you quickly shook your head. 

“No! I’m just--it’s just--you like me? As in like-like me?” He nodded in confirmation, and you squinted your eyes at him. As he watched you, your gaze drifted down to his jacket, which you had been clinging onto just moments earlier, and the tear soaked fabric. 

You felt like you should be absolutely appalled by his confession, and wracked with disgust, or something. You weren’t supposed to like Beomgyu! You weren’t supposed to be able to even stand him! But, his confession wasn’t the worst thing you had ever heard. In fact, as your fingers reached out to graze the edge of his jacket, you thought maybe you sort of liked hearing it.

“Y/N?” He asked you quietly, and you hummed in answer. “You don’t have to say anything, you know. In fact, if you really want me to, I can leave. Or you can leave, and I’ll finish cleaning for you--”

Maybe it was because you were in an emotionally crazed state, or you were desperate to prove Murphy wrong, hell, maybe it was just because you liked him back, but whatever it was, something overcame you, and the next thing you knew, you were tightening your fingers around his jacket to pull him close to you and press your lips against his. 

The first thing you thought when you kissed Choi Beomgyu, was why hadn’t you done this sooner? You had been so consumed by your dislike towards him, and too focused on other things like your academics, you had never stopped to think of Beomgyu in this way. But now, as he immediately kissed you back, and wrapped his arms around your waist, you wished you had thought of him this way. 

Because kissing Choi Beomgyu was absolutely not wrong. Rather, it was very, very right. It was like his lips were made to fit perfectly against your own, as they moved together in unison. You started to think all the bad things that had gone down that day weren’t so bad if it meant they would lead to this. 

After what felt like an eternity of heavy breathing and hot kisses, the two of you finally pulled away, resting your foreheads against one another as you attempted to catch your breath. You glanced up at Beomgyu, a small grin spreading across your face to mirror his own. 

“Hey, do you really want to clean all this shit?” He asked quietly, cocking an eyebrow at you. You shook your head. “Didn’t think so. Let’s get out of here, we’ll just tell them I kidnapped you, or something. You’re the Pres, they’ll believe us.”

Running away now was risking even further punishment, but Beomgyu was right. You were the president, you could basically do whatever you wanted. Besides, you’d spent all day trying to do the right thing, and still, everything had gone wrong. So, why not live a little, right? And why not do it with the cute boy who just confessed he’d liked you since the first grade?

You nodded. “Okay.”  

permanent tag list: @jakeshands @therealhyunjingf @exohclipse @ttyunz @naveries @mazeinthemoon @luvsoobs @n0-thisispatrick @arizzu @dewyboi @yeonboy

enhas reaction to being jealous ⋆.ೃ࿔*

request: hi!! since you did the “enha reaction when you’re jealous” could you do “enhypen when they’re jealous? 🫶🏻🫶🏻

✘ PAIRING ! enhypen x gn! reader

✘ GENRE ! fluff comedy and jealousy ofc !

✘ WC ! 4.2k.. why do these get longer everytime help

✘ WARNINGS ! alcohol and being drunk in jay’s

a/n: thank you for the request anon! i enjoyed writing this even though i struggled to come up with more jealous scenarios for everyone all over again 🧍

make sure to read the prequel here :)

// LEE HEESEUNG !

something you’ve noticed throughout your relationship is that heeseung gets jealous very easily

i mean did you see what he said about the perilla leaf debate on fancall

he’s just naturally jealous, even if he doesn’t show it outwardly very often

but to his misfortune, you do find this funny and tend to rile him up on purpose a lot

it was a pretty regular day in enha’s dorm

the members are well

scattered around the place doing who knows what

while you, jungwon and heeseung are watching a movie

zootopia to be specific (aka the best disney movie, argue with the wall)

when you begin to feel a bit cold, only wearing pyjama shorts and a t-shirt

you’re guessing jay turned the ac on full blast again because apparently he needed to be in an igloo just to fall asleep

you wrap your arms around your legs, rubbing them to get rid of the slowly arising goosebumps

jungwon, who’s sat next to you notices your fidgeting, “are you cold?”

you look over at him, shrugging shyly, “it’s okay, just a bit.”

but being the good friend he is, he pulls off his green hoodie and offers it to you

meanwhile your boyfriend on your other side of the couch, who was once focused on watching nick and judy being chased down by the infected jaguar, whips his head to the both of you

“oh, thanks won.” you take the hoodie gratefully, pulling it on and sighing in warmth

jungwon grins, nodding cutely before turning back towards the tv

suddenly, you feel a strong grip onto your waist before you’re being lifted into the air and right onto heeseungs lap

you look at him in confusion, raising an eyebrow

heeseung was not one for much pda, so the sudden bold move was more than surprising

however it didn’t take you too long to figure out what exactly was going on by his ridiculously obvious frown

“yah, you’re seriously jealous ‘cause of a dumb hoodie? i was just cold.” you whisper, kissing his nose to cheer him up

he rubs your legs to help you warm up, “you should’ve told me though, i could’ve got you one of mine,” he whispers back grumpily, “his doesn’t even look as good on you.”

he was definitely lying, you looked adorable in the overflowing fabric jungwon’s or not

but he would never admit that

you raise an eyebrow, chuckling, “okay you big jealous baby.”

he pinches your thigh in retaliation, making you jump, “shut up, you’re interrupting nicks sad backstory.”

you shake your head, turning back to the tv

sigh

this is the oldest member of enhypen everyone

jay is most definitely the jealous type

jay is most definitely the jealous type

jay is most definitely the jealous type

and when it comes to you it goes to a whole new level

however he’s a lot more straight forward about it

if he doesn’t like something, he’ll make sure everyone knows :)

this also makes him very hard to tease because he just. doesn’t care

you and jay are at a party

more specifically, jake’s birthday party

it was getting later into the night, almost everyone was on the dance floor drunk out of their minds

jay was not one to drink much alcohol, but even if he wanted to, he was more preoccupied on making sure you didn’t throw up on anyone

yeah, you were having a pretty great time

you were currently dancing with sunghoon, who was so drunk that he nearly fell on you over three times now

everytime, jay just facepalmed in the distance, taking another sip of his pepsi from the bar

he wanted to let you have your fun, sure

as long as the idiot next to you knew his boundaries

you didn’t seem to mind everytime sunghoon wobbled around you, clueless and in your own drunk world

but suddenly, the song ends and switches to a much slower one

without thinking, sunghoon grabs your waist, pulling you towards him for the slower dance

jay frowns, watching as you drunkenly run a hand up his friends bicep, dancing along with him

when sunghoon’s hand starts to move lower, jay nearly catapults up from his seat, walking over in big strides

he rips sunghoon’s hands off you, “watch yourself, hoon. i don’t care how many shots you’ve had, back off.” he says grumpily, grabbing your wrist and pulling you away

while that probably sounded harsh to anyone else, neither you or sunghoon were phased at all

the boy just stands there and shrugs before walking off to find a new dance partner

meanwhile you clumsily follow your boyfriend through the ocean of party-goers, your shoes half falling off

“jaaayyyyyyyy~” you slur, practically running to keep up with his quick pace

he sighs at your clearly intoxicated voice, “y/n, you’re way too drunk. we’re going home.”

“but i was having fun with hoonie!”

jay scoffs, “yeah, too much fun.”

you pinch his cheek at that, smiling, “why? are you jeaaloouus?” you giggle teasingly.

he takes a glance at you, “yeah.” he deadpans

you pout at that, “you’re so lame.”

listen

you can’t expect much of a reaction out of this man okay

he’s not afraid to admit anything 😒

Keep reading

Fairy of Shampoo

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ genre and tags: fluff. based on fairy of shampoo! ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ warnings: none. ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ pairing: beomgyu x fem!reader. ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ wc: 925. ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ a/n: the way i haven't written in days and i suddenly pumped this out within 40 minutes has me dying.

“Beomgyu-ah, quit staring at the TV! You’ll damage your eyesight and then we’ll have to pay a fortune to get you glasses!!”

“Yes, mom!” Beomgyu shouted back, eyes still glued onto the screen of the old television that his grandpa had owned. This was one of the only TV’s that still played that commercial. 

An instinctive smile spread on Beomgyu’s face as soon as he heard the opening notes of the advert jingle. The low-resolution screen played the short commercial, and Beomgyu watched intently at the fairy-like image of a girl. He mouthed her name as she appeared. He had named her himself. A name that suited her appearance. Y/n.

Her hair seemed to shine and looked softer and smoother than silk. Her eyes gleamed in a twinkle that could hold the whole galaxy. Shiny bubbles danced in the air in front of her face and she smiled, blowing one of them away. Beomgyu smiled with her.

He had memorised this advertisement by heart. He waited every night at 10 pm for when it would play, and in 2 years, he had never been late or missed a day. He still felt his heart flutter in his chest at the sight of the smile she adorned.

“Beomgyu-ah!” A harsh smack landed on Beomgyu’s shoulder and he looked up.

“Okay, okay! I’ll wash the dishes like you asked.” He took one more look at the screen and smiled before jogging off to the small kitchen and the pile of dishes that awaited. As he scrubbed, he hummed the soft saxophone melody of the ad and smiled to himself.

“That boy…” Mr. Choi mumbled to Mrs. Choi.

She grunted in acknowledgement, “He spends every night staring at that old thing and never pays any attention to anything else.”

Mr. Choi let out a long sigh, “If the only girl that gets his attention is one in that shampoo advert, his good looks will be completely wasted.”

Mrs. Choi nodded, “Those poor girls at school will never get a glance out of him.” 

Beomgyu picked up on their conversation faintly. The topic was a regular in the household, and he was used to hearing his parents disapproval and concern. But, truth be told, Beomgyu didn’t care. So what if none of the girls at school got his attention? He liked the shampoo girl on the tv screen instead. None of the girls at school had silky hair or mesmerising eyes or a sweet soft voice or that charming smile. 

Turning off the tap, Beomgyu sighed softly. Maybe falling in love with the girl on the screen was foolish of him. After all, how could he ever expect to find a fairy in real life?

//

“Don’t forget to eat your lunch! You worry me every time you come home with it untouched!” Beomgyu’s mom shouted as he ran out the door, still putting on his shoes halfway down the street. “And one of these days find a pretty girl and introduce us to her!!”

“Sure mom!” Beomgyu called back with a grin.

Math was always the subject that bored Beomgyu the least, so he spent most of his time gazing out the open window in the classroom up at the sky. The soft blues looked just like the background in the commercial, and it wasn’t hard to imagine Y/n living up in the clouds.

“Is it nice up there, Y/n?” Beomgyu thought.

“Who’s Y/n?” 

Beomgyu snapped out of his trance, eyes focusing on Soobin who sat in front of him. “What?” He must have thought out loud.

“Who’s Y/n?” Soobin repeated, smile growing more mischievous by the second. “Is she your girlfriend? Crush? Lover?”

“What!? No!” Beomgyu glared at him, shutting the thought down.

“Is she pretty?” Soobin continued.

Beomgyu’s brain went back to the image of the girl and he nodded slightly. Soobin’s teasing went on for the whole day, and soon Yeonjun was teasing him about it as well. 

Beomgyu walked out of the school building and towards a small cafe that he liked. He bought a drink and walked to the park by the school, lying down on one of the benches and almost drifting off to sleep with the warm breeze. 

“Excuse me, do you happen to know where a convenience store is?” Beomgyu opened one of his eyes slightly, blinking a few times before he could see properly again. He sat up slightly and then froze, jaw dropping and cheeks burning.

“Are you okay?” You asked, peering at the boy on the bench with concern.

“Yeah,” Beomgyu stuttered, “I’m… I’m okay.” He rubbed his eyes and stared at you again. Then he smacked his forehead.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Yeah!” Beomgyu assured you, “How did I manage to hallucinate Y/n in the park-” He whispered to himself.

“Do you know me?”

“Huh?” He looked back at your face, heart almost melting on the spot. It was different seeing the face of a fairy in 3D instead of on the crappy tv monitor.

“You said Y/n, right?”

Beomgyu nodded, and then his brows furrowed in further confusion, “How did you get out of the tv?”

“Tv?”

“Nevermind,” Beomgyu smiled cheekily. He had a pretty smile. “I’m Beomgyu, by the way.”

“I’m Y/n.” 

Beomgyu let out a soft breath halfway between a laugh and a disbelieving sigh, “You said you were looking for a convenience store, right?” 

You nodded, “Yes. Are there any nearby? I usually don’t come by this neighbourhood.” 

“What are you looking for?”

“Shampoo.”

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ txt taglist: @kangtaehyunzzz,, @yeonjuns-bluehair,, @syrxiee2,, @90steele,, @ddeonudepressions

♡ OMG IT'S A LOVE LETTER ADDRESSED TO YOU ♡ if you recieve this ask, it means that you're appreciated and loved and beautiful ♡ whoever sent this to you hopes that you're taking care of yourself and staying hydrated ♡ remember to do things that make you happy and stay true to yourself ♡ feel free to pass on the love but it's totally alright if you break the chain :D

LMAO AW THANK U ANA THIS IS SO SWEET <33

HI HI IM MIA CAN WE BE MOOTS IM SO IN LOVE WITH UR WRITING AND EVENTUALLY I FALL IN LOVE WITH U AND I RLLY WANT TO KNOW U MORE <33333

AHH OMG HI MIA ITS SO NICE TO MEET U 🙁 U ARE SUCH A SWEETHEART CMERE I WOULD LOVE TO BE MOOTS N KNOW YOU MORE AS WELL !!! 😞😞💗💗

HOWS UR DAY GOING MY LOVEEE 🫶

♡ CUTEST PERSON AWARD ♡ Once you are given this award you're supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 people who deserve it. if you break the chain nothing happens, but it's sweet to know someone thinks you're beautiful inside and out ♡

HARU !! AUGSHSB THANK YOU UR SO SWEET ☹️🫶

Description. Making a drunk friend at a party was the last thing on your agenda, and she’s far different than what you’re used to. But maybe that’s a good thing? Enter her brother, who is convinced you are exactly what everyone says you are. Though, the two of you are far more alike than you think.

Pairings. Kang Taehyun x Female Reader

Genre. ANGST, Fluff?, Comfort. (This is a self ranting oops.)

Warnings. Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, Illegal use of marijuana, Parties, Peer pressure, Identity issues. Mentions of Sex. Throwing up due to drinking. Arguments. Wooyoung and Yeonjun are like morally gray.

Word count. 7.8K

Note: This is based on a true story honestly, I’ve gone through this in my life, and I’m sorry if you relate. It is better now and I feel at peace <3 Dm’s are open if you need to talk babes <3 

Sequel: When I’m Alone

Keep reading

HII EMA! IM TRYING TO BE MORE ACTIVE ON TUMBLR AND SEND IN ASKS TO PEOPLE BECAUSE I MISS THEM! AND YOURE MY FIRST STOP, SO HIIIII AND IMY! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?! 💞💞

AND YES, THE HIGH ENERGY IS NEEDED AS ALWAYS WITH YOU

OMGOMG WRONG ACCOUNT 😭 BUT LMAO HI SISI ITS BEEN A WHILE!!!! IM HONORED TO BE UR FIRST STOP IVE BEEN GREAT IM ON A CRUISE RN HEHE!! HOW HAVE U BEEN DEAR I HOPE EVEDYTHINGS A BIT BETTER?

✧˖°. 10:52 p.m. — choi soobin

genre: fluff, college au, a couple of introverts at a party LOL

wc: 1.2k

soobin isn't particularly fond of parties.

it's something that he’s made abundantly clear — raucous music results in a miserable headache; cramped, sweaty crowds cause his heart to pound and his stomach to twist in the worst way. soobin despises parties, really. his housemate, yeonjun, is more than well aware after soobin yelled at him the first time he threw one of the impromptu variety. the question is: does yeonjun care?

another bass-boosted edm song rattles the entire house. soobin gets his answer.

he drags a pillow over his face with an exasperated groan. there seems to be no sign of this particular party ending any time soon, much to his own displeasure. he purses his lips, sits up, and grabs his phone from the nightstand next to his bed. it looks like he won’t be getting much sleep tonight.

the rest of his room remains relatively dark while he cycles through the myriad of apps on his phone, yet none of them keep his attention for very long. he’s engrossed in a youtube video about some dog when his door swings open with a flourish of light and a wall of sound before promptly slamming shut. heart racing, he watches a complete stranger slide down his bedroom door with their face buried in their hands.

unsure of what to do, he sits frozen on his bed, staring down at your curled up form. he hears an almost inaudible sniffle come from you, a shock of concern shooting down his spine. though his mouth falls agape, he pauses before words can escape.

his eyes widen and his stomach flips when he realizes it's you — not a stranger, but, in soobin's eyes, something much worse: his pathetically long-term, same-major-as-him crush. what's worse: you barely know him, only ever having brief conversations in class if absolutely forced to. you've had more than a few classes together, sitting near each other but never too close. he finds it difficult to strike up conversation with you when you seem just as reserved as him.

despite it all, vines began to curl around his heart, squeezing every time he would see you, or speak a few words to you, even if those words simply pertained to an assignment. even now, those feelings don't seem to want to recede. though quiet, he's found you to be kind, bright, your smile lighting up his heart in a way that he's never felt before. again, he thinks of himself as pitiful, knowing that there is a slim to none chance of you ever getting together due to his own insecurities.

another one of your sniffles, louder now, shakes him from his thoughts. he gulps, steeling himself, and says, "are you okay?"

you flinch, and panic singes his nerves. he doesn't even realize that you've stood up, spouting apologies as your hand shoots for the doorknob. "i didn't realize i wasn't alone, i'm s-"

"w-wait!" he interrupts. your movements halt as you stare at him for a second, regarding him with an odd expression painted on your face. a beat of silence passes, two, as you stare at each other. he notices the sheen of tears that line your waterline despite the dimness of the room. it makes you look prettier, somehow — like dewdrops clinging onto spiderwebs.

"really, are you okay?" he tries again, praying that you don't try to bolt this time. he's nearly ready to jump out of his own skin when you choke a sob down.

"i…" you trail off for a moment, wringing your fingers. you look around his room, avoiding eye contact now, blinking away the tears. "yeah, um, i guess. just a little overwhelmed right now."

your face twists in confusion for a moment before you speak again. "you're…you're soobin, right?"

jumping at the sound of his name passing your lips, he scrambles to respond as nonchalantly as possible. "yeah! yeah, that's me. um, we have a class together, right?"

"a few classes, actually," you answer a little too quickly, gaze finding the floor. the smile you wear doesn't quite reach your eyes. you offer him your name, but he replies that he already knows. "well, um, it's nice to formally meet you, despite the circumstances."

"same here," he says, ignoring the frenzied beating of his heart. he never thought this would ever happen — you, standing in his room and actually talking to him. he sees you shuffling back towards the door, and his lips purse for a second. should he?

(you look about ready to say goodbye, but he's not sure when he'll ever be able to talk to you again.

he should.)

"um, if you'd like to chill in here for a bit, feel free. i mean! you don't have to, but um-"

your giggle has the words fading from his tongue in an instant. "thanks, but i wouldn't wanna intrude."

"you wouldn't!" he exclaims, cringing at his voice's volume. "you wouldn't. you don't really seem like the rager type."

"i'm not," you agree, moving closer to him. he moves to switch a light on, and when he looks back, you stand at the foot of his bed, front teeth worrying your bottom lip. "you mind if i, um, sit on your bed?"

"not at all," he says, but he does, he so does. he thinks that he might just pass out at this rate, but as you begin talking — everything from classes and favorite colors to what you dream about for your futures, you moving closer until your sitting knee-to-knee — he somehow begins to relax.

you lean closer in a moment of boldness, asking if he'd like to hang out sometime, just the two of you. he finds himself admiring your lips, the urge to kiss you unable to win over his logical mind. he wants to take things slow with you, find out all of your little quirks, your likes and dislikes, the way you like your coffee, if you even like coffee. he wants to believe that maybe, just maybe, you like him back when you grin at his acceptance.

the mirage of peace is broken by a ding! from your phone, your friend telling you that she's ready to go and where the hell are you? you literally disappeared. you sigh, apologizing, as you rise from his comforter. he stands up to walk you out, and you turn around as you exit his room, him leaning against the doorframe.

"if you ever come to another of yeonjun's parties, you know where to find me," soobin jokes, causing you to smile. you tell him you would, and that you're looking forward to your classes together on monday. you leave with a gentle squeeze of your hand entangled in his and a demure smile, and he watches you disappear down the stairs before his door clicks shut.

collapsing back onto his bed, soobin decides that he may dislike parties, but he thinks that he may be able to bear them if you're there, too.

masterlist

© to agustdiv1ne. do not copy, repost, steal, and/or translate.

Unknown Number

Synopsis ☏ — Desperate for a math answer you text random numbers until one finally replies to you. What are the chances that it's your old online friend and a now famous idol? Well apparently not 0%.

Pairing — Niki x Desi!Reader

Genre ☏ — Online friends to strangers to ??? SMAU, Fluff, Crack, Angst (just a pinch)

Featuring ☏ — Enhypen, my moots, OCS, HYBE idols, JYPE Idols, + more!

Warnings ☏ — Kys/Kms Jokes, deez nuts jokes, I have the humour of a 13 year old boy alright, more to be added + warnings at the start of each chapter!

Taglist ☏ — Open! Send an ask please!

Status ☏ — Coming soon!

Started ☏ — ?

Finished ☏ — ?

Notes ☏ — Thank you Ela for the banner @dearhee <33. I wrote this when I was feeling goofy. Look I know the online friends part might look weird but I have a reason for that trust. Man this is just something...

Profiles

Car Engines | Emo Vampire M&Ms | Space Dust | Extras

Chapters

☏ — Pride and Dignity

☏ — Minecraft Dogs

☏ — #notabttocry

names of unreleased chapters can change!

enha taglist - @delcakoo2 @ddenoudepression @syrxiee2

desi taglist - @heephoriia

unknown number taglist -

twenty four

everything about yeonjun was infuriating to you. the way he assumed he had the right to toss other women aside simply because he was arranged to marry you, the way he didn’t care for the kingdom he was going to one day rule, and most importantly, the way he didn’t love you the way that you loved him.

pairing choi yeonjun x fem! reader

genre drama, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, royal au, prince! yeonjun, princess! reader, set in the past (unspecified)

warnings misuse of alcohol, mature discussions, minor injuries, minor violence, a horse dies, large amounts of blood, weapons (daggers and arrows), cursing, slight misogyny, gets a bit heated but not too far, mentions of death

masterlist | next

it was funny how alcohol could change so much. everybody shows their true colours, even if they don’t want to. people cheat, love is drunkenly expressed, confidence is boosted, awful confessions are spilled, mistakes are made. you had once vowed to never let your true colours show, no matter what. it would be more harm done than good. nevertheless, you couldn’t resist an invitation to drink.

just you and the other girls in flowing nightgowns, laughter filling the room. you would sing and dance and knock empty bottles to ground as you clumsily navigated your bedroom on a loop. gossip and the never-ending ‘who is doing who’ updates would be exchanged, your favourite aspect of the night. and much like your present, all of this would be a result of a mandatory ball or dining experience. the need to free yourselves from those obligations always ended in drinking until you passed out, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

the forced smile on your lips faltered for a moment as the boy standing before you looked you up and down. if it weren’t for the required formalities, you would have taken your hand out of his own and used it to shove him far away from yourself. as a princess, though, that was merely a fantasy. you could only dream of breaking character in a room full of watchful eyes.

your father was the king, or at least one of them. the land was split into two separate kingdoms thousands of years ago, as the two families totally despised each other. in a sense, you were the juliet of the story. your mother was forever searching for peace, and convinced your father to make a deal with the rival kingdom. that deal involved you and the other family’s son, choi yeonjun. you were to be married, and the two kingdom’s would be united into one. everybody was sick of war, and you were roped into their need for peace before you had even been born. now you were the queen-to-be, and had a reputation to uphold as their peace-loving princess.

you actually hated peace. you loved bad habits, both alcohol and boys. being queen was something you dreaded, and mostly because it meant being married off to a man who couldn’t care less about you if he tried.

yeonjun was quite like you. he loved socialising in rebellious ways, although he always got away with it. to the adults, he was a prince hard at work in preparation for his throne. to your generation, he was the biggest heartbreaker of both kingdoms combined. it didn’t taint his image, in fact it only made him more desirable. a king who valued fun and freedom over ridiculous activities such as hunting and fencing, and one who everyone on the land had a chance to sleep with. watching girl after girl sob and splutter about how yeonjun broke her heart at your secret, drunken parties always gave you a sickly feeling. how could a man be so cruel? and how come you were the only woman he wasn’t interested in?

‘would you excuse us?’ yeonjun spoke. talk of the devil and he will arrive. ‘i’d like to have a word with my betrothed.’

right, this was your engagement party.

‘of course,’ the man dropped your hand, and you smiled politely before following behind yeonjun.

‘i’m not a damsel in distress,’ you reminded. ‘i don’t need you to step in every time a man so much as looks in my direction.’

‘that man was eyeing you as if you were a bag of gold,’ yeonjun stopped and turned to face you. of course, he had to do this in the middle of the ballroom. ‘he has no status, so he’s not worth tainting your image over. a queen shouldn’t be seen mingling with commoners when she’s engaged to be wed.’

‘i was making polite conversation,’ you raised your voice slightly, before catching yourself and taking a deep breath. ‘i had no intention to sleep with him. i’m not you, i don’t just take every living, breathing thing home with me.’

‘i’m friends with enough of your previous lovers to know that’s a lie, y/n,’ he held out his hand to you, bowing slightly. ‘now, may i have this dance?’

‘absolutely not,’ you scoffed, but raised your eyes to see that everybody had turned to watch you. another forced smile made its way onto your lips and you took his hand. ‘just know i’m doing this for the kingdoms, and not you.’

‘that’s my girl,’ he flirted, pulling you in closer as the band began to play a slower song. ‘now look pretty and dance for the sake of our parents.’

the laughter didn’t seem to stop. you fell back against your bed, still giggling to yourself as your best friend hid her face out of embarrassment.

‘your turn, y/n,’ another girl spoke, running across the room to deliver a freshly opened bottle of mead to you. ‘we’ve been waiting on a story about how it is to be yeonjun’s girl.’

‘well, i am definitely not yeonjun’s girl,’ you pulled yourself to sit up. ‘although, he did refer to me as such at our engagement party. still, it’s only for show. we don’t share a bedroom, we’ve never kissed, i would rather eat coal than hold his hand, and he’s already slept with half of the women in this room. the most i can say is that he’s a swell dance partner.’

‘well, i can say so too,’ another girl spoke, sending everybody into another fit of laughter. ‘and of course, i mean outside of the ballroom.’

‘yes, yes, we all got it the first time,’ your best friend looked at you with pity in her eyes. ‘i think it’s time we left y/n to sleep, she has a big day ahead of her.’

after the room was cleared of drunken girls, you locked your bedroom door and hit your head against it a few times. hiding your jealously behind humour had became a very bad habit of yours, but it was the only way you could cope. you were being forced to marry the boy you had been in love with for your entire life, and he just didn’t feel the same. it was cruel and torturous, and yet only one other person in the world knew just how much it pained you to hear of his recent hookups.

it took mere seconds for the alcohol to knock you out, but it was only a few hours later that you were being forced out of bed again. a loud knock echoed throughout the room before the door was shoved open and yeonjun stepped inside.

you gasped, sitting up and using your silk sheets to cover your almost-bare body. the only thought running through your mind was that you were sure you had locked the door, and that only palace staff had access to the key. the words were about to leave your lips before yeonjun interjected.

‘i asked for permission to wake you up this morning,’ he smirked, closing the door behind himself. ‘from your father, and from the staff. i wanted to get a feel for what i’d be getting in the morning for the rest of my existence. so far, i’m not totally appalled by you. considering the fact that you’re hardly covering yourself with those sheets, especially.’

the sound you let out in response was a mixture of a growl and a gasp. you gripped the sheets harder and tried to shuffle further into them, while yeonjun stood there looking amused.

‘get out,’ you ordered, glaring up at him. ‘we’re not yet married so you have no right coming in here without my explicit permission. my father’s permission is not enough.’

‘i only came to deliver you a hangover cure,’ he brought his hands out in front of him and presented you with an old glass bottle filled with a brown liquid. ‘the kitchen recently received the recipe for coca-cola, so i asked them for a sample.’

‘just leave it by my dressing table and get out,’ you avoided his eyes, waiting for his next move. he simply raised a brow and tilted his head. ‘thank you, yeonjun.’

‘you’re welcome, y/n,’ he smiled, crossing over the room to place down the bottle. you watched his every move like a hawk. ‘and breakfast is in an hour.’

then he was gone. the door closed behind him and you did what could only be described as a child throwing a tantrum over having to do something they didn’t want to. but there was no choice about it, obviously. the servants would arrive shortly to dress you, and then you’d be carted off to village after village in search of peace.

you slipped out of bed onto the hardwood floor and hurried towards the bottle. the throbbing headache was kicking in, and you had all the hope that this would work.

‘your highness?’ a woman’s voice called, causing you to run back towards your bed and gulp down as much of the drink as you could. ‘are you awake?’

‘yes,’ you breathed out. ‘could you give me one moment just to bathe myself alone?’

yeonjun was flipping through an old book and producing different sounds based on how far he agreed with their views. you felt like throwing your knife across the long table and hitting him right between the eyes. of course, you had no choice but to put up with his annoying habit — although you’d bet he was simply putting it on in order to annoy you — whilst many servants surrounded the two of you.

the doors swung open and your father came towards you with purpose in his stride. you placed your cutlery down beside your plate and stood, assuming he’d ask to speak with you privately. that assumption was proven wrong when he began to speak in front of everybody.

‘a maid found an unregistered bottle beside your bed,’ he fumed, filling the room with his large voice. ‘you know the rules, y/n, and breaking them won’t do you any good when you’re queen. i won’t be able to step up and explain your mistakes, and i certainly don’t expect the prince to do so.’

‘it was me, sir,’ yeonjun stood. ‘i delivered the bottle to her early this morning, it was a new recipe i wanted to share.’

your father looked down the table and over at yeonjun, the anger in his expression slowly dissipating. you smiled down at your plate, mentally thanking him for saving you.

‘from now on, register every item that goes into and comes out of your rooms,’ he spoke in a softer tone. ‘when you’re married and crowned the new royals in charge, mistakes like this won’t pass. it only takes one servant for the word to be spread, and for your image to be ruined by the rumours.’

‘yes, father,’ you bowed your head. yeonjun stayed silent, but mirrored your actions.

‘the carriage is waiting outside,’ the king continued. ‘add some layers so you don’t freeze, and be friendly to the townsfolk who came to watch your departure.’

there were minutes of silence that followed. your father’s footsteps echoed throughout the room before the large, wooden doors creaked open and then slammed closed. servants began to whisper and yeonjun seated himself with a kind smile on his lips. it was all just for show.

your mother buttoned your cape at the collar before grabbing your face and pressing a kiss to your forehead. you smiled sadly and made a silent promise between yourselves that you would keep yourself safe. only another woman would understand the dangers of travelling alone with a man, whether that man was involved with you or not.

‘the king and queen to be,’ you were introduced, followed by the doors opening and the sound of cheering filling the area. both you and yeonjun put on a smile and he offered his arm for you to hold onto as he led you down the stairs. children jumped with joy at the sight of your dress, and women fanned themselves at the sight of the man on your arm. if it weren’t for the audience, you’d be rolling your eyes already.

the carriage was cramped, as always. you never minded if it was just you and your own family members, but being forced to sit that close to yeonjun was going to make for an awful few weeks. on the seat, there was a basket of baked goods and clothing items for the villagers. you wanted to question how the next basket would be delivered, but you assumed your parents would have already thought of that.

yeonjun helped you inside and took a moment to wave everybody goodbye before he sat beside you. you scooted as far away from him as you possibly could and faced the wall.

‘we’re going to be sitting here beside each other for the next three hours,’ he reminded. ‘maybe i can offer something more interesting than the wall.’

‘i actually think the wall will offer much more intelligent conversation,’ you shot back. ‘i want a peaceful ride.’

‘sorry, your peaceful majesty,’ he mocked. ‘i had no idea you were such a genius.’

‘how dare you?’ your head whipped around to face him. ‘i would have loved to go to school. i would have loved to read and to learn, not be forced to practice crochet patterns and piano. do not mock a woman whose only purpose was to marry, because i can assure you it wasn’t my choice.’

‘i didn’t mean to offend,’ he sighed. ‘i’m sorry, truly.’

‘gosh, yeonjun,’ you scoffed in disbelief. ‘i can’t believe so many women want to sleep with you when you famously can’t go three minutes without displaying that you’re a misogynist.’

‘you think too little of me,’ he rolled his eyes. ‘i only meant to throw an insult back at you. i didn’t think about the context, only how i wanted to fight you back.’

‘this marriage will never work if you can’t respect me,’ you turned your head away. ‘i’m not asking you to love me or even to like me, but a bit of respect would be nice. i’m not a joke, i don’t need saving when another man approaches me. i have fought my own battles for my entire life, and i want you to respect that i’m my own person and not just your queen.’

‘i do respect you, y/n,’ yeonjun sighed. ‘we’ve always been this way. you take the first chance to insult me and i take a jab back at you. just because we’re going to be married doesn’t mean we have to act all grown-up from now on.’

‘but i do,’ you met his gaze. ‘a queen has to be perfect. perfectly dressed, perfectly well-spoken, perfect manners, perfect attitude and a perfect reputation. a king merely has to fulfil his duties, and the rest is his business. he can have as many mistresses as he pleases, he can drink any day of the week at any time of the day, and nobody will blink an eye.’

‘and you think i’m going to cheat on you with every woman in the kingdom?’ he laughed. ‘drink myself to death? ruin the image my father created for our family?’

‘did you not invite one of my girls to your room last night?’ you raised a brow. ‘did you not grab a sample of coca-cola for yourself as well?’

‘no, i didn’t,’ something in his expression shifted. ‘i haven’t even looked at another woman since i proposed. this marriage is for show, so there’s no way i’m going to risk being caught being disloyal and ruin the whole illusion.’

‘you’ve gotten away with it for years,’ you clicked your tongue. ‘has all the secrecy and tiptoeing around finally gotten to you?’

‘you don’t know me, y/n,’ he frowned. ‘as much as you’d like to believe you do, you don’t. family comes first for me, and now that you’re part of my family, you come first. i don’t want to risk ruining you or us, so i’m doing the right thing. i’m sorry for spending my days of freedom doing the things i wanted before i would be inevitably made king of two kingdoms.’

‘freedom?’ you rolled your eyes. ‘and what freedom will you be losing as king? i, on the other hand, now belong to you. i belong to you. i’m your wife, i’ll mother your children, i’ll greet the townspeople everyday while you make all of the important decisions, and i’ll never get to experience love.’

‘oh, please,’ he dropped his head back against the seat, closing his eyes. ‘i’m done arguing with you.’

‘because you know i’m right and i’m winning,’ you had to get the last word in. ‘because you know everything i said to be true, and you can’t deny it.’

the first thing you noticed was that it was muddy. yeonjun had dropped down from the carriage already and was holding a hand out to you, but you only stared at the ground and then back at your dress. he groaned and lifted you from the carriage into his arms, before placing you down on solid ground. the women audibly gasped and cooed at the sight.

‘thank you,’ you smiled. yeonjun left your side to reach for the basket, before placing it in your arms.

‘prince yeonjun, and princess y/n,’ the carriage driver introduced, bowing as he did so. the two of you smiled and bowed too, before the townspeople came excitedly towards you. yeonjun watched as you were practically swept off your feet and brought into the village.

the carriage was parked elsewhere. you handed out the food and clothing while yeonjun gave hefty donations to each of the market stalls. the children swarmed around you and tried to play, some of the girls reaching for your hand and asking for you to dance with them. it was a fun interaction complimented by the live band that played jolly music. for once, you enjoyed the obligation. the people loved you and were thankful for you, and that made you feel so good inside. becoming queen was something you definitely didn’t want to do, but you thought it’d be a little bit easier now that you were loved and respected by your people. well, they were currently yeonjun’s people as you were visiting around his kingdom.

‘i think the queen would like to rest now,’ a woman spoke, placing her hand on her daughter’s back to pull her away from the crowd. the rest of the children began to space out, and you looked at yeonjun for help. ‘i can take you.’

‘oh, thank you very much,’ you smiled at the woman, and began following her through the village. yeonjun caught up with you and offered his arm, you wrapped your own arm around his and held onto his bicep for support. the ground was very uneven, that was the only reason.

the sun was starting to set when you were left alone in the room you’d booked for the night. yeonjun began undressing, unclipping his cufflinks and unbuttoning his waistcoat. you choked out a sound of surprise and spun around.

‘what’s the matter, princess?’ he pried as he shrugged off the waistcoat and placed it on the bed. ‘do you want me to step outside to change and raise suspicion?’

‘you could have warned me,’ you huffed. ‘watching you strip wasn’t part of the deal.’

‘these people have to really believe we’re in love,’ he began with the excuses. ‘for all we know, they could be peeking through our window right this second. and i can guarantee they’ll all be listening out for some bed squeaking tonight.’

‘shut up, choi,’ you snapped. ‘you can’t manipulate me into sleeping with you ‘for the people’.’

‘you can’t keep using my surname against me,’ he joked. ‘it’ll be yours in a matter of months.’

‘stop,’ you were furious now. ‘you’re being mean. i’m having my name and my freedom stripped away from me by you, and you think it’s all fun and games because you get to be king. the reality will hit you hard when you figure out that ruling isn’t as easy as you think it is. and i’m not going to become your wife, i’ll be the queen who stands just as tall as you will.’

‘and how easy will that be for you?’ he pressed. ‘you hate responsibility. you love drinking until you pass out and sleeping with the men who fall at the knee in front of you as soon as they hear of your status. you’re no better than me, in fact you’ll be a worse queen than i’ll be king.’

‘if i’m no better, why do you think so highly of yourself?’ you argued, and yeonjun had already spun around to start unbuttoning his shirt. that pissed you off. you ripped out the bows in your hair and set them down, before undressing yourself down to your undergarments.

the bed was going to be yours. you stomped around and huffed as you picked up yeonjun’s neatly folded clothes and tossed them to the ground. he spun around in disbelief and his eyes widened at the sight of your barely-clad self. you got under the sheets and pulled them up over your head, leaving yeonjun half-dressed in the middle of the room. he sighed heavily and moved to blow out the lamps around the room.

‘i wish you would stop fighting me,’ he spoke softly. ‘i don’t want to spend the rest of my life fighting with you.’

the rest of his life. the rest of your life. you were going to be trapped in a marriage with no love and no affection. you’d never get to experience sleepy morning kisses or intimate nights, you wouldn’t be introduced to his friends at parties as the woman he loves, your children would never tell stories of how dearly their parents loved each other. he wouldn’t hold your hand or kiss you goodbye, he wouldn’t fix together a poorly made soup when you’re sick or hold you when you’re struggling. a loveless, cold marriage doomed for eternity.

‘excuse me,’ you rushed out of bed and through the room until you were pulling open the door and leaning against it from the other side. yeonjun took a seat at the foot of the bed and he felt his heart ache. both for you and for himself.

it was miserable. you’d never get to be happy, and neither would he. your lives were dedicated to reuniting two rival kingdoms and combining them into one. the whole point of your trip was to convince everyone of your love and help them adjust to the collaboration, not a romantic getaway to test your love. you lived to serve your parents and your people. it was either you spent everyday feeling hopeless and miserable or you sucked it up and learned to be happy in an environment not built for happiness.

you let the tears fall. it didn’t matter. you sobbed and wiped furiously at your eyes, your vision turning blurry after the amount of tears filling it.

‘why so glum, princess?’ a man’s voice, and you gasped. he placed his hand over your mouth and held your arms behind your back in an attempt to keep you quiet. ‘make a sound or scream and i’ll kill you.’

your mother had taught you what to do in this situation. he’ll kill you even if you’re quiet, so you need to kick and scream and cry for help. and when you’re free, go for the weak spots. eyes, nose, stomach, and you know where. you squirmed aggressively and freed your arms, reaching forward to grab his hand and rip it away from your mouth.

‘yeonjun!’ you cried, still flailing around in the man’s arms. he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger, holding it up to your throat as a warning.

‘i mean it, princess,’ he spat. ‘i was sent here to snatch you, dead or alive. your father’s stupid for trying to get us to join him, i know hundreds who won’t do it.’

‘that’s not her doing,’ yeonjun interrupted. ‘get your filthy hands off my fiancée.’

‘what are you going to do?’ the man snorted out a laugh. ‘i’ve raised chickens with more muscle than you’ve got.’

you took the distraction as a chance to elbow the man hard in the stomach. his dagger sliced across your arm as he dropped the ground, and you winced momentarily. yeonjun grabbed you but you pulled your arm back and placed your foot firmly on the man’s hand. he groaned while you reached down to slip the dagger out of his grasp. once again, yeonjun reached for you and pulled you back, but you only slipped out of his hold again and returned to the bedroom.

you grabbed your cape and fastened it over your shoulders when you heard more disturbance outside of the room. when you stepped outside, the man had grabbed yeonjun by the collar and was holding him against the wall. you looked around for a solution, and noticed a table holding a single lamp. you blew the flame out and tossed it aside, spilling wax all over the wooden floorboards. as you lifted the table, you thought that maybe the hot lamp would have been a better choice.

still, you lifted the small table above your head and used your strength to throw it towards the man. it hit him over the head, and yeonjun quickly ducked out of the way onto the ground. the man dropped silently to the ground and blood trickled out from the small wound in his head.

‘we should go,’ you breathed out, feeling the ache in your arms. not to mention the sting of the slice you’d endured from his dagger. ‘quickly before another shows up.’

‘thank you,’ he cleared his throat, his eyes full of worry. ‘y/n, you’re bleeding.’

‘don’t pity me,’ you rolled your eyes. ‘i don’t need your pity, and evidently i don’t need you to come and save me.’

‘why’d you call for me?’ that same smirk was on his lips again. the sight of it made your blood boil and your body tremble slightly with anger. ‘if you don’t need saving.’

‘you seriously need a reality check,’ your eyes narrowed. ‘i can’t wait for the day somebody finally ruins your confidence.’

the sound of a door slamming cut you off, yeonjun grabbed your uninjured arm and began dragging you down the unstable stairs. if it wasn’t for the current life or death situation, you would have fought him on his need to act a hero once again. instead, you just followed along.

outside of the inn, a few more men were waiting. yeonjun began to run, but when he noticed the arrows flying towards you, he shoved you aside and ordered you to hide. you caught yourself before you fell face first into the mud, and ran towards the stables. the bottom of your white slip dress was now dripping and drenched in mud, and you had smudges of blood ruining the upper half.

you looked for your family horse in the stables, a smile lighting up your features when you spotted her. in a struggle to unlock the gates, you noticed hurried footsteps approaching you. but much to your delight, it was only yeonjun catching up with you. no words were exchanged as he squeezed his way past you and opened the gate easily. the usual huff or groan that you’d respond with was nowhere to be found, you simply looked at him with thankful eyes as he guided your horse out.

‘you first,’ he ordered, holding a hand out for you. you nodded and climbed up onto the horse. you grabbed hold of the reins as yeonjun sat comfortably behind you. your breath hitched when you felt the warmth of his body surrounding yours, and his firm chest pressing against your back. ‘we’ll be best off going through the woods if we want to lose them.’

you nodded in agreement and pulled on the reins, sending your horse into a hurried run towards the thick woods. the men followed the sound of her hooves hitting the ground, still clutching onto their bows as arrows repeatedly zoomed past you. it was unnerving, the whipping sound of arrows and the thump as they pierced into trees all around you. yeonjun tightened his hold on you in order to calm your nerves. the woods were getting thicker and thicker, branches scratching against your bare skin and tears beginning to form.

‘i won’t let anything happen to you,’ yeonjun whispered beside your ear, but his voice was shaky and unsure. ‘i promise.’

the moment was ruined when your horse stopped and began to refuse to move. you held on tightly to the reins, despite her insisting on throwing you off.

‘over there!’ a man’s voice announced, followed by the sound of more arrows flying past.

the tears began to fall. the horse finally agreed to move, but the amount of arrows in motion was becoming dangerous. you could hardly see due to the speed, the darkness, the amount of greenery and now your tears.

‘let go of the reins, y/n,’ yeonjun wrapped his arms around you waist and pulled you flush against him. you shook your head, letting out a sob. ‘let go!’

it was an order now. the reins slipped from your grasp and yeonjun dragged you down the floor with him. you landed harshly on a mess of twigs and mud, but yeonjun took most of the fall. he coughed, having been winded. your horse began to throw a fit once again, before a pained sound that you’d never forget echoed throughout the trees.

‘no,’ you whimpered. ‘please, no!’

yeonjun couldn’t stop you. you picked yourself up and began to run towards your horse. her beautiful white fur began to turn red from the multiple injuries she sustained from the arrows. she laid motionless on her side, and you couldn’t hold back the sobbing and screaming. blood soaked through your dress and began to paint your hands and arms, and then your face when you tried to wipe away your tears.

‘we have to go, y/n!’ yeonjun grabbed you by the arms and pulled you back, but you shrugged him off and went back to stroking over your horse’s lifeless snout. ‘if we don’t leave now, we’ll both be dead!’

as irrational as you wanted to be, he was right. you felt numb as he grabbed you and pulled you to stand. you didn’t really understand what was going on, your mind was hazy. yeonjun held you behind a tree while you tried to calm down, a hand placed over your mouth to silence your cries. you only snapped out of it when you heard him wince in pain, and noticed the arrow that had just skimmed past his arm.

this time, you grabbed his hand and began running with him. you had no idea of which direction you were running in, just that you wanted to get far away from your attackers. you began to grow hopeless after running yourselves to exhaustion, when you spotted an old, small house not too far away. the coast seemed clear, so you silently agreed on the plan with yeonjun and made a run for the house.

he tried the door handle first while you scanned the area in a paranoid and erratic manner. it was stiff, but he managed to nudge the door open. he grabbed your hand and dragged you inside before slamming the door behind you.

‘close all of the curtains,’ he ordered, and you did so happily. you liked this side of him. he was assertive and put-together. ‘i’ll block all of these doors off so they have no chance of getting inside, but we have to be quiet.’

it was almost half an hour of making sure they wouldn’t be able to break in, and all you could think of was wrapping up yeonjun’s wound. that thought made you feel stupid, because you knew the slice on your arm wasn’t bothering him in the slightest. still, you began searching the cupboards for anything to wrap it up. of course, it was practically bare. but if by magic, there sat some gauze on a high shelf. you climbed up until you could reach it, as well as grabbing the only knife left behind by whoever used to reside here.

‘come here,’ you called softly. ‘we need to wrap that wound up before you bleed out.’

you pulled out a chair and took a seat at the small table. it was incredibly dark, but your eyes were adjusting enough for you to make out the objects in your hands. yeonjun pulled out the only other chair and sat close to you. he grabbed your wrist and turned your arm over.

‘and what about you?’ he sounded tired, the sound tugging at your heart. ‘you’re grieving, y/n. i’ll wrap your arm up and you’ll go to bed, and i’ll take care of myself.’

‘yeonjun, please,’ your voice broke. ‘i’m too afraid to sleep.’

he ignored your words and went straight to wrapping your arm up in the gauze. when he got to the end, he held the material between his teeth and sawed away at it with the knife. then he tied it into a dainty bow, making sure to keep it pretty as he felt you deserved.

‘now—’ he tried to speak, but you cut him off immediately.

‘i’m not tired,’ you reminded. ‘let me do the same for you.’

yeonjun didn’t want to fight. he’d lost all desire to rile you up. he’d seen a new side of you, and his opinion was starting to change. you weren’t heartless, you cared so much about everybody and everything. he’d seen you break down over a horse you’d loved throughout your childhood, you saved his life, and you were begging for him to let you help him.

he didn’t see you as a person, that was his problem. as children, you were an annoying little girl who always wanted to be in his space. as teens, you were rude and could never see eye-to-eye with him. and as adults, you made it as clear as possible that you wanted nothing to do with him. it was rejection after rejection. you’d glare and roll your eyes, scoff and groan every time he spoke. he wasn’t invited to join you and your friends, he only ever saw you at formal events. you were cold towards any man in your path, including close friends of his that he’d grown up with. all of this just painted you as a dark, looming presence in his life. you always had something sarcastic to say, you snapped and broke character easily around him, you always had the perfect insult to throw his way and you wouldn’t dream of viewing him in any way other than the opinion you’d created of him in your mind.

you wrapped the fabric tightly around his arm, and he tensed his arm in pain. he looked down to meet your concerned gaze and he relaxed again, but he was hoping you hadn’t noticed.

‘you’re so full of surprises, princess,’ he whispered.

‘what’s that supposed to mean?’ expecting an insult, you pulled tightly on the bandage again. yeonjun grunted in pain, and you felt your body heat up.

‘perfect self defence, stamina for running, you can control a horse, you’re strong, and you know how to wrap gauze,’ he smiled, ignoring that you were totally taking everything he said the wrong way. ‘i was thinking you were just a girl dressed in bows and lace, dreaming of owning a castle.’

‘well, you don’t know me very well,’ you tied off the end of gauze, your hand lingering on the sleeve of his shirt for a little too long. your eyes dropped to the area of his chest visible due to the first few buttons being left undone. you guessed he didn’t find time to fix himself in between all the running and trying not to die. ‘i never wanted to be queen. i love bows and lace, but the new castle will be too lonely and too large.’

‘you have a point,’ he agreed. ‘it was built way too far away from the centre of the kingdom. and what will they do with the two empty castles?’

‘don’t you mean, what will we do?’ you sighed and stood up, placing the knife down onto the table and approaching the bed. ‘don’t you wonder who used to live here? and how come they left all of this behind?’

‘all of what?’ yeonjun followed you, stopping in front of you. you were only inches apart, but he stood taller than you. ‘it was poorly built, it’s cold, and it’s in the middle of nowhere.’

‘it’s quaint and beautiful,’ you whispered, realising there was no need to speak when you were this close. ‘much less lonely than a large castle with too many rooms to count.’

yeonjun grabbed your hand, interlocking your fingers. the both of you watched your hands before locking gazes.

‘what would you do?’ he whispered back. ‘with the castles.’

‘schools,’ you felt your body forcing you to step closer to him. ‘education for everyone, no matter their status. every girl—’

his lips pressed against yours. only for a moment, and it was the lightest touch, but it made you feel warm inside. when your lips parted, he was still only inches away from you. he dropped your hand and placed one hand in your hair in order to pull you in again. you moaned into his mouth and let yourself melt into the kiss.

‘i’m sorry,’ you pulled away, eyes closed and lips pursed. ‘i’m so sorry, i don’t know what came over me.’

‘why are you sorry?’ he leaned to place his forehead against yours, his eyes also falling shut. ‘it’s just you and me, princess… it’s just you and me for the rest of our lives.’

yeonjun didn’t sleep. you’d passed out with your head on his chest hours ago, and he laid thinking about you and the kiss you’d shared. never in a million years did he think he would fall in love with you, but now he was realising he just wasn’t allowing himself to fall. why did it bother him that you paid him no mind? and why did he enjoy poking and prodding at your nerves until you inevitably snapped? because he wanted to be something more to you.

the sun shone intensely through the gaps in the curtains. you whined and buried your face into yeonjun’s chest without realising what exactly you were doing. he lifted his hand and held it over your eyes, protecting you from the sun. he wanted you to keep sleeping, he wanted to keep thinking, he wanted to stay in this small space alone with you forever.

alas, your eyes opened and you were met with yeonjun looking down at you. immediately, you sat up and apologised. he just smiled and stretched his arms above his head, making his shirt ride up above his hips.

‘you look terrible,’ you commented. ‘you’re covered in blood.’

‘i could say the same for you, princess,’ he gave you a lopsided, half smile. ‘your mother is going to hate me.’

‘my mother loves you,’ you laughed shortly. ‘you could set a village alight and she would still defend you.’

‘we should set off to get home before nightfall,’ he suggested. ‘i’d rather deal with our parents now rather after two nights of us fighting for our lives.’

the walk home took several hours. it was easier once you’d made it onto the path, and once yeonjun had insisted on holding your hand so that you wouldn’t fall behind. walking into the castle grounds was terrifying, the stall keepers whispered amongst themselves and mothers covered their children’s eyes. who could blame them? the future king and queen were walking hand-in-hand, covered in blood and in clothing that had been ripped and stained black and brown. not to mention that you were both barely clothed, having had to flee from the inn mid-preparation for bed.

word spread like wildfire and your mother came running out of the castle to see if it was true. she pulled you away from yeonjun and into her arms, checking you for injury. then she ushered the both of you inside as quickly as possible.

you were taken away by servants to be bathed, treated and dressed in appropriate clothing. for the next few hours, all you could think about yeonjun. the way his lips felt, the way his fingertips rubbed against your scalp to send you to sleep, his warm hand in yours, the skin showing beneath his shirt, the way his gaze now softened whenever he looked at you. it made you feel giddy and childlike, and you were kind of thankful for the men who’d tried to hunt you down.

yeonjun didn’t seem to be around. he wasn’t seated at the table for meals, you didn’t see him walking around the castle, and you hadn’t heard anyone else mention his name. a part of you wondered if it had all been a dream.

that was, until nightfall.

the shock of everything you had experienced and the pain you felt every time you relived the memory of your horse being shot down had kept you inside. not just inside the castle, but inside of your room. so when it came to the night, you were finally free to walk around the castle.

you peeked through your door before opening it fully, and began walking towards the servant’s entrance into the kitchen. it was no longer mandatory for use, per your mother’s request, but you loved how quickly it took you into the kitchen. you stepped down the steep staircase and pushed open the door at the bottom, only to be met with a figure standing by the sink. they turned back at the disturbance and you realised that, in all his glory, it was yeonjun.

‘y/n,’ he practically sighed. it was obvious, even under the candlelight, that he was tired. he’d had no chance to sleep, not that you knew it yet, and was too shaken up to do so even if he’d had the chance. ‘i didn’t mean to disappear on you.’

‘i’m not upset, yeonjun,’ he loved the way you said his name when it wasn’t coming out as a snarl or mid-insult. ‘i was worried about, if i’m being honest.’

‘i had to talk with our fathers,’ he placed his cup down. ‘they’re going to put in a new law surrounding treason.’

‘and that is?’ you came towards him, stopping just a few feet away from him.

‘punishment of death,’ he sighed. ‘i don’t have hope.’

‘that’s awful,’ you agreed. ‘but we don’t have much choice, do we? it’ll either do well to scare them off, or we’ll be sentencing hundreds of men to their deaths.’

‘i’m worried that it won’t work,’ he admitted. ‘that they’ll come back for you and you won’t make it out alive this time. then does it really matter if they’re killed for their crime?’

‘we’re protected here,’ you reassured. ‘the world won’t take me away that soon, i’m not done bothering you yet.’

yeonjun couldn’t take it anymore, he’d been going crazy thinking about you all day. he placed his hands on either side of you and kissed you hard to try and portray at least some of the emotion he felt towards you. you wrapped your arms around his neck and reciprocated the kiss, no longer feeling the need to apologise for wanting to be this close to him.

‘and i’m not done loving you yet,’ he mumbled between kisses, making you pull back with a smile.

‘don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with me over the past twenty four hours,’ you smirked. yeonjun felt his heart skip a beat at this new flirty side of you.

he didn’t feel the need to answer, it was obvious that you were right about his feelings. he lifted your chin and placed another tender kiss to your lips. finally, for the first time, you actually felt at peace, and you didn’t feel like disrupting it.

be sweet (i wanna believe in you)

pairing: choi beomgyu x reader

word count: 2,876

summary / [request 💌]: the one where beomgyu accidentally breaks your heart

contains: beomgyu being an asshole sorry, he might be out of character, might not be 100% healthy but hey mc and bg are a work in progress, crying, mentions of insomnia, arguments, debilitating anxiety, nothing too serious

a/n: some of this is based on my life so 🤣 sorry for the self insert lmfao

things between you and beomgyu are good. that’s a fact outside of what you tell yourself because you don’t have the best luck in relationships. he lights up your world and he never fails to look out for you, the way you do for him.

arguments however interrupted that, even little comments that he probably didn’t even mean to say. there were still instances where you could be hurt.

and when he was angry, it was no different. you had never seen him angry at you, irritated at best over a handful of things, but today was different.

you’d stayed up the entire night studying for a test, your exam scheduled for the afternoon. beomgyu had had to wake up at five a.m. for practice, but the night before, with a kiss to your forehead, he’d reassured you that he would wake himself up with his alarm.

however, you had your headphones in, so focused, sitting in the kitchen overlooking your living room. that’s the reason why beomgyu had woken up late, ignoring his alarms since he’d been exhausted from the late practice the night before. but, in the heat of the moment, there was no room for explanation when you look up from your computer screen and it’s beomgyu rushing to put on a jacket, mouth moving a mile a minute. his bare face is so beautiful and long black hair messy, the collar of his shirt so wide so there was room to make him up. you missed having time to do that.

wanting to meet him halfway, you pick up the corner of your headphones to listen to his voice, but your smile goes away when you hear him: voice serious, increasing in volume slowly, an edge of accusation and anger to it.

“- and you’re not even fucking listening to me! why the fuck am i even bothering? can’t believe i’m fucking late because of this bullshit. so fucking exhausted and all you do is just sit there —“ you go back to listening to your study music, trying not to cry as he continues complaining, glaring at you while you pretend to type, blinking roughly. he finally leaves with a slam of the door that makes you flinch through your loud tunes. the worst part of that was that he had been saying all those things to your face, knowing you couldn’t hear. or maybe he’d wanted you to hear. your sweet, puppy boyfriend had never once been that cold. was it all a lie? you’d never seen him so mad, and he has never been this annoyed with you. was this going to be how it was from now on? your sensitive, pathetic heart couldn’t even fathom it. you needed him to be clear at all times because you could get so in your head so quickly.

beomgyu knows that. he knows that…

your broken heart and anxiety made it hard to focus and understand the content, but you pushed through your studying. everything must be grueling for him, so you decided to just try and forget about it. before you knew it, it was time for your exam, which took hours, including the commute to and from. walking back and on the subway back home, you didn’t feel any better, stomach in knots, delirious from lack of sleep, and anxiety making you physically weak. you returned home to find no one there, somewhat relieved at his lack of presence. anxiously awaiting his return, you tried to make food, unable to stomach it, so you placed it in the fridge and left a note on the table, so he’d know, just in case you wouldn’t be able to do it in person. you even sent soobin a text message, trying not to pry, but you couldn’t help your curiosity.

you: hi soobin, hope practice wasn’t too bad for u guys :C

soobingsu: hey yn thank you for ur kind words, its been hard but im sure u know since beomgyu has been on edge

you: oh ? is he ok ? are u guys ok ?

soobingsu: nothing to worry about too much, just as long as hes not giving u a hard time, little yn. we’re resting rn and we have photoshoots later so don’t miss us too much

you left him on read, too nervous to ask more and to dare to tell him what happened in the morning. soobin was your best friend outside of your longtime relationship with beomgyu, but work has been demanding for all of them, and you felt like you wanted to make yourself small about all of it.

you eventually had to go to work, unable to sleep and get the rest you’d missed. it distracted you well though, at least for a few hours, even when you opened the door when you got home. it was when you noticed the door was unlocked, the shower running that you grew more nervous again.

so, in an attempt to try and make the landing a little softer, you tried to heat up some of his food that was on the counter since it was cold, put his favorite playlist on your television, and dimmed the lighting so it wasn’t too harsh. somehow, when he left the bathroom and walked in the same room as you, your body knew before you did that things were not going to be easy.

“hey,” he greeted you lowly, not looking at you much, perhaps his senses were still muddled, dulled, fried, so you simply hummed in response, continuing your homework at the table. it was when beomgyu walked past you, not even giving you a hug or anything, and he went to the counter, that you felt like you were in trouble. it was in his sigh, which sounded so exasperated.

“did you reheat my dinner, yn?” he asked, vacant of joy. you looked up slowly and saw his back to you. he leaned his palms on the counter.

“y-yeah…” it was so quiet until he moved to throw away the entire dish, discarding the food in a bag, and slamming the plate in your bin. when you met his face, his face was so serious. “why’d you throw it away?” you sounded defensive because why else would he have been so dramatic? he rolled his eyes and stopped at the other side of where you sat. “because i had already reheated it. you fucking ruined my food, so thanks by the way,” your face grew hot, frown taking over, and as much as you wanted to immediately cry like a child, you scoffed instead. “well, i didn’t do it on purpose, beomgyu. what’s the real reason you’re so mad?” it seemed a valid question and he inhaled through his teeth. perhaps it wasn’t valid to your boyfriend.

“because!” he raised his voice and you felt the blood leave your face. “because i’m so fucking tired, i’m so, so goddamn tired, and it’s even more tiring have to wear myself thin because you just don’t know anything. you get to be in your own little world all the time while i have to pick up the pieces. give me a fucking break, yn.” he tugged at his eyes, roughly rubbing his face.

your breath quavered, your bottom lip folding and shaking, but no matter what, you didn’t want to cry in front of him - and it made you even more heartbroken because he was the only person you had ever felt comfortable showing your tears to.

you slowly packed your laptop and your backpack, letting him watch you in silence, letting him watch you walk out the door without another word. as hot, thick tears flooded down your cheeks, you bit your lip to keep your wails at bay. you slept over at your friend’s house that night, turning your phone off.

later, when it was past midnight, beomgyu eventually texted your friend, asking where you were. your good friend however said you were safe but that you needed your space, which was true. one night over turned into two nights, three days creeping into three nights.

however, despite all this time away, you still hadn’t been sleeping much, too much in turmoil.

despite not talking and blocking beomgyu for the past few days, you still worried immensely about him.

soobingsu: hey yn sorry im texting you again for the eighth time today but wanted to let you know beomgyu is taking a nap and we all ate earlier, so did he

you: oh thats good, thank you scoob <3

soobingsu: how are you tho :( seriously

you: im better, im gonna go home today so u can let him know

soobingsu: are u sure ? about everything ?

you: yeah

soobingsu: if u need me to kill him i will

you: scooby sooby take a chill pill omfg, we’ll be alright

you: at least i hope

when you got home that night, beomgyu immediately came to you on his knees, shyly but crying and apologizing profusely. so, you forgave him, much too sensitive to his tears. but you still wondered in your head if he meant what he said, if there was truth, if that was such a burden as he’d indirectly relayed to you.

you really wanted to believe that he was only upset because he had a bad day, but how bad of a day must it be for what he said to have been justified? what makes it okay and that he can get away with hurting your feelings? no matter what, it still felt like it was your own fault.

about two weeks passed since that dramatic moment between you two. you should have just gone with the flow, letting and indulging in every sweet interaction that beomgyu would have for you, doing his best to make up for being so cold to you, you were too swept up in trying to be everything he didn’t need or that he needed a break from. it was true; you didn’t know anything, you liked to be as transparent as possible about your sensitive and naive spirit, but it was too much.

so since then, you made it a habit to keep to yourself, to learn how to do most things by yourself, hold yourself back from reaching out constantly, and slowly you lost your smile, your laugh, and a bit of yourself. you felt like you were alone completely, even if things with beomgyu were “normal”.

but, beomgyu had caught on. he knew he was in deep shit, the deepest shit ever for having had the nerve to have broken your heart that night.

he noticed he had gone too far when you had left your apartment, and he had returned to the dorms, soulless, until the boys noticed and asked about you. only you and beomgyu knew what he had said, but only you knew just how deep the nerve he hit. beomgyu thinks that if the others had saw what a beast he’d been, they would have torn his ass in two, and he deserved it.

so, beomgyu struggled but decided to do something special the day you came back from a long shift at work, visibly exhausted as you walked through the door. he lit up candles and was arranging your favorite take out on the table in the living room, smiling brightly like the happy-go-lucky puppy he always is.

in return, though as touched as you were, you remained quiet for the most part as he welcomed you, embracing you in the warmest of hugs. he squeezed you so tight in his arms, and he didn’t want to let go, encouraging you to “relax, baby. you can let it go. welcome home, you can let it go.” he kept saying it over and over again, tenderly, and too taken with how you wanted to cry, you pulled away, clearing your throat.

he stayed put in the living room, watching you walk over to the connected kitchen and fetching a kettle to boil water.

his eyes filled with tears, heart hitting rock bottom because he was so scared that he had hurt you without any chance of undoing all of the pain.

“yn…” he said your name painfully. hesitantly, you turned to meet his eyes. beomgyu kept his distance and his unruly, long hair fell over his face. “tell me everything i did wrong, so i can deny it, and fix your heart, please.”

you squeezed your eyes shut, hugging yourself. you didn’t feel quite ready to talk about this, especially be so vulnerable just yet. it felt like it’d been weeks without sunshine, without any sign of rest, without comfort in your relationship with beomgyu, who was simply just a stupid boy.

your mouth opened, but all that came out was a shaky breath, tears collecting around your bottom eyelid.

“beomgyu…” you started, and your boyfriend shook his head. “i know that tone. just tell me, my sweet, sweet, lovely baby, tell me. please… i miss you.” your hands ran up and down your arms soothingly. “i—it’s just that… you meant what you said, didn’t you?” his eyes widened, heart breaking. you looked so small and in agony, like a puppy who had been kicked over and over again. he shook his head some more, wildly, really. “no! no, no, no, fuck, no, any thing that i said or did, i didn’t mean at all. i was just frustrated and tired.” you glare at him, tears gathering at your eyelashes and it blurs your sight. he’s just spots of color. you don’t want to blink.

“then, why else would you have said that if you didn’t mean it? you wanted to hurt me didn’t you? you knew it hurt me!” you palmed your mouth because soon, you were sobbing, another hand coming to shield your eyes. it was all an attempt to soothe yourself. beomgyu joined you in your cries, immediately taking you in his arms and throwing his attempt at giving you space away. you slumped in his arms, body so worn in his embrace.

“i was just cruel. i didn’t care what came out of my mouth, baby, i’m sorry. i’m sorry. you don’t deserve that. you’re so precious, you’re the most precious person in the world, and i’m sorry for all the pain i caused you. fuck - i didn’t mean a single thing. i’m just stupid, baby. yn, honestly, please —“ he stopped to sob, head leaning against your own. “i’d do anything to undo all that i did. you’re just too kind and good to have given all that i gave you back to me. i’m so, so sorry!”

he cried louder than you did, in the end. he rocked you in his arms once you calmed down, and when you made an attempt to comfort him, he tsked and brought your face to his for a deep kiss. beomgyu blindly wiped your face with his even wetter fingers. with every move his lips would make, he’d tell you he loved you in between, licking into your mouth and holding you by the shoulders. your back hit the counter. you gasped for air finally when he pulled away, breathing so harshly, and his glossy eyes searched endlessly in your own. for what? you didn’t know.

“what?” you giggle and some more tears fall, loose still. he smiled gently, wiping them with his thumb. “i’m going to do whatever it takes to treat you as preciously as you are to me, my baby yn. the last thing i would ever want to do is purposely hurt you. i swear. and please don’t be afraid to call me out on my bullshit.” that makes you giggle, exchanging a few more kisses with him.

“okay, gyu. i got it. i know. i just…” he nods at you to keep talking, so you continue. “you just scared me and i shouldn’t have been so sensitive about it now that i -” he shakes his head, shutting you up with some more kisses. beomgyu seems like your lips have given him life with the way he is attached. he kisses you one last time, plump mouth wet, and making an even wetter sound with the kiss. “no. you don’t have to do that, yn. you don’t have to be apologetic about one thing about yourself.”

you smile against his lips, teething showing, and he feels like this is the first time the sun has met the earth, the first time that joy has returned to your beautiful face.

“okay, beomgyu…” you whine, teasingly, and he shakes his head with a chuckle. “i don’t deserve you one bit, baby.” he murmurs, you pout at that. heart feeling so complete and not as broken as it had been for so long.

beomgyu spent the rest of the night, and very much forever, treating you, loving over you, making you feel loved in every single way you wanted to be, reassuring you endlessly. you are finally able to find rest and sleep that night, dreaming peacefully about the reality that beomgyu was real: sometimes a mess, but a beautiful one at that. he was yours, just the way you were his.

AAAHHHH fantasy aus >>> every other au . omfg this was just amazing and beautiful and so well done i have no words T-T the scene where soobin made mc use her powers and didnt even ask if she was okay after was so powerful and PAINED ME SO BAD LIKE FUCK YOU SOOBIN and then when mc saved his life after all that LITERALLY SOBBING N CRYINF THIS WAS JUST SO NICELY WRITTEN AND PERFECT 😭😭😭💔💔 i was lowkey the most excited to meet fire prince yeonjun (i am not biased at all ‼️) but the ending was still very well done and timed <\3 thank u for sharing author i enjoyed this a ton and highly recommend 💗💗

eclipse rising

❝ if you keep going down this path, you’re going to die, soobin. ❞

PAIRING ▸ choi soobin x fem!reader

GENRES ▸ fantasy, fluff, angst, royal au, elemental prince au, friends to enemies to lovers

WARNINGS ▸ soobin’s the water prince but he’s scared of water, mentions of character death, mentions of war, soobin becomes a dick for a while, one makeout scene, ft. elf prince park sunghoon

SUMMARY ▸ chaos was a ladder and its rungs were slick with blood. if you couldn’t save soobin, he was bound to fall.

PLAYLIST ▸ can’t you see me by txt • where’s my love - alternate version by syml

WORD COUNT ▸ 11283 words

TAG LIST ▸ @shiningstar-byulxx​ @jjuniefiles​ @wintermer​​ @ladynightmareii​​ @yeonjxnnie @mcu-incorrect​​ @sooshibot​​ @hyukacity 

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ hello !! i apologize for the wait but (finally) here’s my piece for @soobmint​​’s ‘the five princes’ collab! my storyline is going to be connected with @honeyju​​’s yeonjun piece! please check out the other author’s installments and i hope you enjoy !! ♡

FROM THE MOMENT YOU MET HIM, CHOI SOOBIN REMINDED YOU OF THE SEA.

The more time you spent understanding the infinite blue, the more you realized how unpredictable it truly was. One moment its waves could be a gentle wash over the shore, and the next it could be a strong current of water crashing against the rocks. Rough storms often angered the tides, the strong current sweeping away anything that would lay in its wake.

Yet, despite all that, the sea was the most beautiful sight to behold.

The Kingdom of Nymphe resided by the sea, so you had grown up observing its mysteries and wonders. Most children were born with a power based on their element. Yours was hydromancy, the ability to utilize water and see visions or insights of time. Thus, you weren’t expected to train like most elementalists. However, you longed to train alongside the other children at the shoreline, but the most you could do was observe their abilities. Water generation and aquatic breathing were relatively common amongst most kids, but you quickly learned that your ability was on another level.

Being born into nobility and having such a unique gift drew a lot of attention to your powers. Your parents were the Duke and Duchess of Nymphe, so you were expected to uphold expectations that exceeded far beyond what a normal elementalist was asked of. From a young age, your training was separate from the other children. Thus, you were distant from the other Nymphians (as the citizens of Nymphe were often called). Instead, you were individually trained by experts in divination and clairvoyance as no one had seen powers like yours before.

On top of that, it became your duty to befriend the crown prince, Choi Soobin.

Keep reading

soulmates, i guess

PAIRING ▸ choi yeonjun x fem!reader

GENRES ▸ soulmate au, fluff, crack

WARNINGS ▸ profanity

SUMMARY ▸ when you first meet your soulmate, their first words to you are tattooed on your wrist. choi yeonjun’s first words to you are “ew, you stepped in dog shit,” and you beg the universe for a do-over because those are the words forever inked on your wrist.

PLAYLIST ▸ angel or devil by txt 

WORD COUNT ▸ 2252 words

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ hello this drabble was inspired by writing @soobmint​‘s name on my wrist and panicking because it wouldn’t come off. also disclaimer: i like mint chocolate chip pls don’t come for me

THIS WAS, BY FAR, THE WORST MORNING IN THE HISTORY OF TERRIBLE MORNINGS.

It started with your alarm deciding not to go off after a long record of reliability. This led you to wake up thirty minutes later than usual, practically flying out of bed to get started with your day and get ready for school. Waking up late wasn’t the end of the world, but you were so frazzled that you ended up starting to shampoo your hair with a bottle of Nair.

On the bright side, you didn’t start massaging it into your scalp, but the ends of your hair were coming off as you desperately tried to wash it out. Needless to say, you started off the morning being a sobbing mess.

“Y/N, are you cutting your hair?” your best friend, Choi Soobin, asked over FaceTime. “Before school? This is a mistake. Please stop.”

Keep reading

Perfect Harmony ‣ cbg

‣ pairing: palace attendant!beomgyu x princess!reader

‣ genre: implied f2l, royal!au, fluff, some angst, sorta slice-of-life

‣ wc: 5.7k

‣ summary: “A perfect harmony… that’s what they are”; alternatively, you're slipping and stumbling for with anyone but Choi Beomgyu—but maybe it's a good thing…

‣ warnings?: reader keeps worrying about an upcoming event (a ball) and experiences near-humiliation surrounded by a group of people, lots of question asking (overthinking?), ending might be rushed bc I write at like 4 in the morning

‣ an: this was cuter in my head :( and I rly just pulled this outta nowhere because I wanted to write something but thanks to @hoonieji for helping me a bit with this

The ball happening at the end of the week was all for you. Its purpose was to find a gentleman that was to take the place of the king once your mother chooses to step down as the queen. This was why your mother was making a great deal out of everything. So great, that you can almost see the veins popping out of her forehead from stress.

The entire situation was bittersweet. 

Although, you admit that it is more bitter than it was sweet.

It was sweet because you loved big gatherings. You loved spending time with people who have travelled miles just to attend your party, as well as the people who resided in your own kingdom. There was also a small part of you that was rather curious about the gentlemen your mother deemed candidates and the fact that any of them can be your future spouse.

It was bitter because this wasn’t how you wanted to find love (or at least, what people defined as love). You always imagined yourself finding love on your own. Whether it be by accident or having seen it from afar… you just wanted to find it on your own. Not through the judgment of your mother. 

You were afraid that these ‘gentlemen’ would turn out to be roach-like, or put into simple terms, disgusting. But you wanted to give your mother the benefit of the doubt. If she was able to choose a kind-hearted man like your father, then she would also have the ability to do the same for you. 

Or at least you hope.

“Princess!” 

You’re knocked out of your thoughts by the sharp voice of Mr. Geum, who was impatiently standing at the centre of the ballroom. He had his hands on his hips, weight shifted to one leg while he tapped his foot against the cool floor, “I am here to assist you with your ballroom dancing. Not watch you get lost in your daydreams.” 

Moving swiftly, you stand up from the chair placed at the corner of the room and towards Mr. Geum. One last reason that this all falls under bitter. 

You had to dance.

When you were younger, your mother would point out how dancing was often related to elegance and how elegance was a significant trait that every princess must possess. You remember thinking that all of that was nonsense. Only because elegance could be indicated by many other things. Not just dancing. 

And although dancing didn’t always signify the elegance of a princess, you started to realize that it did play a role in the trait. Especially when ballroom dancing was one of the most considerable parts of a ball. It created opportunities to showcase yourself, and you figured that knowing how to ballroom dance was important in finding your future Prince. 

“Today’s lesson is close to finished,” Mr. Geum points out, “We need to use all the time we have to see improvement, Princess.” Smoothing out his shirt, he gestures for you to raise your elbows as he’s taught, and along with your arms, you straighten your back. 

You don’t say a word. Instead, you sigh and follow Mr. Geum’s orders. One of the ladies at the side of the room starts the music, and through muscle memory, you begin moving your feet. They move in a box-like motion, the waltz, while Mr. Geum leads you across the dance floor. 

You follow proper ballroom dancing etiquette, counting by fours in your head. Although you’re certain you’re following the steps right, you begin stumbling over Mr. Geum’s feet, which causes him to trip over yours. He tries his best to correct you, pulling and pushing you in a way to fix your positions. This doesn’t work.

“I apologize, Mr. Geum,” you say at the song's end. If you’re doing this horribly with the waltz, you can’t imagine how terrible you will be with the foxtrot. The corners of your mouth turn down into a frown, brows furrowing in frustration, “That was all my fault.”

Mr. Geum waves off your apology, “No need to apologize, princess. You’re learning, so it’s understandable that you make mistakes. I have noticed that you’re following the steps well.” 

“That’s what I don’t understand, Mr. Geum,” you say, “I’m not uncoordinated. I can comprehend everything you’ve taught me and translate them into dance moves. I don’t understand why I can’t complete the dance.”

Mr. Geum nods in sympathy, bringing a hand up to his chin as he’s sucked into thought, “I have taught many students who have gone through similar situations as you have… it sounds absurd, but partners do affect how the individuals act together within a routine. You can think of it as two different notes creating a perfect harmony.” You watch as he goes back into his thinking pose, spinning on the spot. 

As if on queue, Beomgyu, the palace’s attendant, and one of your best friends, enters the room, layers of cloth napkins in his arms. He’s out of breath and restless. But even so, Mr. Geum calls on him, “You! Boy! What’s your name?” He waves Beomgyu over, to which Beomgyu complies. 

“It’s Beomgyu, sir,” he answers quietly, trying to catch his breath, “Princess.” He bows to you, and although he normally doesn’t do this when it’s only him and you in the room, he still makes sure to show you respect when there are others around. 

“Do you know how to waltz?” Mr. Geum continues, “The princess needs a partner that may help her prove her skill.”

Beomgyu nods, “Yes, sir, I do.” He looks between you and Mr. Geum, still slightly nervous. 

Mr. Geum claps his hands together, “Ah, perfect! Let’s see it!” He makes his way to the music player, motioning for you to set yourselves up. His attention is kept on you and Beomgyu, and you admit that it’s a bit nerve-wracking. 

“You know how to waltz?” You ask Beomgyu, “What other secret talents do you have?” Raising a brow, you take one step forward towards the boy. The space between the two of you is small. You would feel Beomgyu breathing on your forehead if you stood up straight. 

“It never really came up,” he says quietly, “May I?” His left hand hovers above your waist, closer to your shoulder blade, raising the other hand at the level that you would be holding your right hand. 

“Of course,” you grinned. With one hand you take his raised hand in yours while bringing your other up to his shoulder.

Mr. Geum counts down and begins the music. When it was time, the both of you began moving your feet in sync, Beomgyu leading and you following. 

Almost instantly, you feel a difference between the way Mr. Geum leads and how Beomgyu leads. When Mr. Geum leads, you can feel that he was much more commanding. The push and pulls were forceful, though they weren’t forceful in such a way that was considered rough. In the way you danced with Mr. Geum, it was evident that he lives up to his role as your instructor, leading you as if you had no knowledge of what you were doing. You guess it made sense, but you weren’t an amateur. 

You liked the way Beomgyu led. 

Instead of simply leading you, or almost dragging you along like Mr. Geum, Beomgyu made sure to move you along with him. It was almost as if he was waiting for you to follow in his footsteps although you both had to execute moves at the same time. Beomgyu was gentle. He knew how to move as if you both were one piece. 

The way Beomgyu leads lets you show off the knowledge that you have managed to acquire over the lessons you have taken. Your confidence is heightened, and you can’t help but feel relieved because you now know that you have the ability to dance with elegance. It all just simply depends on who you’re dancing with. 

You look up at Beomgyu, who is already looking down at you. His eyes are glistening—you don’t know why. You smile. You wish you could dance with Beomgyu at the ball. 

You’d probably feel the most confident with him.

“Beautiful!” Mr. Geum exclaims from the side. He stops the music and approaches you and Beomgyu quickly. He has a smile on his face, hands clasped together with pride, “That was a perfect example of what it looks like to find someone you, with lack of words, harmonize with.” He pauses and continues, “You two looked wonderful!”

You drop your hand from Beomgyu’s shoulder and turn to your dance instructor. Your eyes light up at the compliment, a smile following it, “Thank you, Mr. Geum. I’m glad I can show you what I learned from you.” Mr. Geum nods and begins to list what he’s prepared for tomorrow’s class, seeing that you’ve finally reached his current expectations. 

As you nod along to the upcoming plans, you don’t realize that you’re still holding onto Beomgyu’s hand. He’s looking down at your joined hands, unsure whether or not he should let go. He tries loosening his grip, but that’s when he realizes that it’s you that is maintaining the hold.

Finally, Mr. Geum concludes the class, “The lesson is over for today! I will see you next time, Princess.” He goes in for a fatherly hug and that’s when you let go of Beomgyu’s hand. 

Even then you don’t realize, and Beomgyu’s left confused.

°•. ✿ .•°

Beomgyu feels like a fool. 

And not because he was sitting on the filthy floor of the stables. 

He feels like a fool because he can’t get the feeling of you holding his hand out of his head. He shouldn’t even be feeling this way towards you but he can’t help it. He blames you, but not in a way where he’s angry at you.

Sighing, he shifts in place and glances out at the setting sun. He can feel his clothes getting filthy by the second, but he also doesn’t mind because he knows the day’s almost over. He can change into his pyjamas and then he can go to sleep. And by then, he hopes he can forget about the things that happened in the morning. 

“There you are!”

Beomgyu jumps slightly and his head turns quickly towards the direction of the voice. He sits up a bit, hands pushing him up so he’s not laying on the unused pile of hay.

Beomgyu’s eyes widen at you making your way into the stable. You shut the stable door behind you and make your way down towards Beomgyu, who’s evidently confused. 

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” You halted in front of him, “And turns out you’re just here.” You plop down to his right, using the back of your dress as a makeshift blanket to sit on. “What are you doing here?” 

Beomgyu stretches his legs out and shrugs, “Thinking.” He has no other way to put it. He’s been sitting here for the past hour just… thinking. His eyes flicker to your crossed hands, then to his toes, “What are you doing here?” 

“I wanted to talk to you,” You say nonchalantly, “I want to get my mind off of the ball.” You almost shiver at the thought of the anticipated event. 

“So I’m just here to distract you?” Beomgyu jokes. He raises an eyebrow, “Am I just that to you?” 

You lean forward and push him lightly, though it’s still strong enough to make him fall back into the hay piled up behind him, “Of course not, Gyu.” Sitting back up into your original position, you continue, “It’s just… every single person in the palace… hell, even anyone I encounter in the town… all they want to talk about is that ridiculous ball. I feel like you’re the only person I can talk to that will talk to me about anything else and understand.” 

Beomgyu hums a response, a sound that lets you know that he’s listening and, just as you said, that he understands. “Well… what do you want to talk about?” 

“Anything but the ball,” you snort, “You suggest something.” The sun has sunken deeper under the horizon, though it’s still peeking over it in the slightest. The blue of the sky is more light than it was navy. There was still plenty of time to talk.

For a moment, Beomgyu’s stuck with no topic to talk about. To be fair, his head has practically been occupied by you, and only you, for the past hour. Then he suddenly remembers, “How about Mr. Geum’s toupee?” Beomgyu looks over at you with a knowing look, trying not to burst out laughing at the image of Mr. Geum’s toupee that had been sliding off of his head. 

“I wasn’t the only one who noticed?” You let out a hearty laugh, “I couldn’t stop looking at it! I swear that that was the reason why I kept losing my footing with him! I wanted to fix it so bad.” This wasn’t just a one-time thing. During the past few classes, you constantly kept getting the urge to push Mr. Geum’s toupee up higher on his head. You were unsure whether it would have been more embarrassing for the man to have you do that for him, or have it flop to the floor without warning.

Beomgyu lets out a laugh, “It was the first thing I noticed when he called on me.” He grabs a handful of hay and crunches them up, “How could I not? It doesn’t look even close to his real hair!” 

You continue to laugh, “I’m telling him that you said that!” Beomgyu doesn’t sense that you’re joking, and at this, he feels the need to poke your rib. 

“Ow!” you whine, using one hand to clutch your side, “I was joking!” You’ve sunken closer to Beomgyu, almost laying down. You fix yourself up, clearing your throat, “That reminds me… where did you learn how to dance? You were good! I think you’re better than me.”

Shrugging, Beomgyu purses his lips. “It’s not really a special story.” He’s actively recollecting the moments related to dancing.

You furrow your brows, “I still want to hear it.” 

Beomgyu looks at you as if he wanted to make sure that you were fine with him taking over the conversation. You gesture for him to begin. He nods, “You know how my mom would always bring me to the balls the queen held when I was younger? When I wasn’t obligated to be there?”

Your face lights up, bringing a hand up to your mouth, “Of course I do.” Beomgyu’s mom was your mother’s lady-in-waiting, so she would often be found at her side, waiting for any orders. Your mother never minded Beomgyu tagging along with his mom, just as long as he didn’t cause any disturbances. She was lucky that Beomgyu was a good kid. 

“Whenever it was time, I would always watch everyone dance, and I memorized it all by observing. It sounds odd, but I stood back and watched the same routine be performed every ball.” Beomgyu looks over at you, “And when you see it happen tens of times a year for many years, I guess it just makes sense for me to memorize it without being taught it.”

Beomgyu finishes his short story, and you're left finding it endearing how Beomgyu had actually managed it memorize the ball dances simply through watching. Many people would see these dances happen would but would not bother watching the entire routine. “That’s amazing.” 

Even though you asked Beomgyu not to direct the conversation towards the ball, you decide to do it. “I want to save you a dance at the ball.” 

It was an impulsive suggestion, although you wouldn’t even consider it a suggestion. It was more of a statement, a sure one at that. It should have been a question, but there was a great part of you that truly wanted Beomgyu to dance at the ball. 

Beomgyu’s slightly dumbfounded at what you just said, not quite certain if he heard you properly, “What?” He didn’t mean to come out as disrespectful. He was genuinely confused. He needed you to repeat yourself.

“I want to save you a dance,” you say, “Dance with me at the ball.” 

Eyes widening, Beomgyu shakes his head, “Y/N, I can’t do that.” 

“And why not?” You raise a brow, sitting up straighter before crossing your arms. He better have a good explanation. Beomgyu tended to lie to get out of situations. You can still recall the times he admitted to lying to his mom to get out of certain duties. It was simply Mrs. Choi’s mistake for believing the boy every single time. 

Beomgyu flicks up some straws of hay towards you, “I’m part of the staff… I have a job to fulfill during the ball.” He shakes his head again and starts fiddling with more hay. He’s somehow grown nervous over nothing. 

“I can tell them to let you—”

“And I don’t want to take the spots of the gentlemen the queen has lined up for you, Y/N,” he interrupts, “Imagine what they’ll say if they see that someone from your staff is taking up time that someone else could be using?” 

If Beomgyu was going to be honest, having the chance to dance with you at the ball would be… nice. Sure, he already his chance to be your partner during your lesson, but the atmosphere at the event will be different. There would be people watching, you both would be dressed in formal attire, and there would be live music. Everything about the idea of dancing with you at an actual ball is perfect, but there undoubtedly were factors standing in the way of it happening. 

You frown, “I don’t care about them, Beomgyu. That just says something bad about them if they’re like that. Besides, I think I’d enjoy it more if you were there with me.” It was true. Despite the fact that your friends will be present at the ball, Beomgyu being there would help ease the stress you already knew you would be feeling that night. 

I think I’d enjoy it more if you were there with me.

How can Beomgyu react to that? 

Beomgyu thinks fast. He mentally rakes through all the luxuries that will be present at the ball, all the people you loved building relationships with, and the music. He feels as if all those things would easily drown him out. Then he scoffs. “There’s no way you would enjoy the ball more with me there.” 

“Of course, I will,” you sighed, “Why would I not?” You look at Beomgyu as if he’s said something remarkably ridiculous. 

Before Beomgyu could think up an excuse, you hear a voice call for you from the palace. Only then do you realize it’s much darker than it was when you first found Beomgyu. You stand up in haste, brushing off the back end of your dress, “I need to go… Please consider it, Gyu.”

Only to please you, Beomgyu nods his head, “I will. Goodnight, Princess.”

You roll your eyes at the title, “Goodnight, Gyu.”

°•. ✿ .•°

The guests will be arriving soon and despite the fact that you should be looking forward to it all, you were sitting in your room lacking the spirit to leave. A list of the gentlemen, the suitors, that your mother invited for you is staring right back at you, and you couldn’t help but grimace at some of the names on it. 

Sure, there were some names that you weren’t as displeased with, but there was still that one name lingering at the back of your head that you wish you could easily substitute for a name on the list. 

Your finger plays with the corner of the list, pursing your lips. 

“Y/N?” Your lady-in-waiting, Chaeryeong, knocks at the door, peeking her head in, “The first guests are arriving. The queen asked me to tell you to get ready for your entrance.” She knows how you feel about the event, hence the hesitant smile on her face. 

Your heart briefly tightens at the mention of the guests, your stomach twisting soon after. You turn to her, presenting an uneasy smile,  “Thanks, Chae. I’ll be in position in a bit.” She nods before slipping back out of the room, leaving you alone.

You take a few moments to relax and catch your breath. You want to admit. Although you’ve attended and hosted many galas and promenades before this one, you have never felt this nervous about a ball. It was the purpose of this ball that snatched away the carelessness you often had when attending these celebrations. 

Sighing, you stand up from your chair and smooth out your ball gown before leaving your room, still feeling your heart pounding against your ribcage. Opening the door, you squeeze your eyes shut as if it’ll help you ease your worries. And even if it doesn’t, you use it to help you focus on your breathing. Then in one motion, you step out and swing the door closed behind you. 

This is just another ball, you convince yourself, There is nothing to worry about.

Expecting there to be an empty hallway, maybe a knight or two standing guard as normal, you’re startled by the presence of Beomgyu, who’s patiently standing, waiting, against the wall across your room. Your eyes habitually scan his attire, which is what all the other male staff were wearing—a white dress shirt, a suit vest, slacks, and black dress shoes. 

“I’m here to escort you,” he smiles, holding out his arm, “You look beautiful.” 

Your heart leaps just for an instant, “Thank you.” Grabbing onto his forearm, he begins leading you down to the top of the staircase, which is the place you were to be for your introduction. Many of the other staff you pass compliment you on your appearance. Their comments bring you temporary solutions to your current predicament. They almost help you forget that you were expected to keep an eye out for a possible future spouse in less than an hour. 

Others comment on how the invited gentlemen are going to swoon, and that’s where you’re taken back to the reality of it all. You turn to Beomgyu, “Are you… sure you don’t want me to save you a dance?” At this point, you don’t care if you appear desperate. 

No. “Yes, I’m sure,” Beomgyu replies, tapping his index finger against the back of your hand, “My reasons are still the same. I don’t want to cause any conflict between you and the gentlemen.” 

“But you saw how well I danced with you the other week,” you reason quietly, “What if I mess up with the suitors and they decide that they—”

“If you mess up and they don’t like it, then they don’t deserve you,” Beomgyu says in a hushed tone. He’s not looking at you but at the staff members waiting for your queue to enter, “Remember that, okay?”

Everything, in the beginning, went by in a blur. You were only aware of the conversations you had with your friends, the delicious food, the lovely music—you wished it was like this the entire ball. But once your mother had announced the commencement of the special portion of the ball, everything was back to its normal pace. Maybe it was just your mind doing you a favour. Only because you did have to choose carefully.

You were instructed to proceed to the centre of the ballroom, and once the music started the gentlemen were allowed to approach you and ask for a moment with you. 

You didn’t think anyone would have the courage to be the first to dance with you. Many pairs of eyes settled on you, awaiting the suitors to come up and ask for a dance. But once the music started, a handful of the suitors approached you swiftly. You decided to go for the one directly in front of you, “May I have this dance, Princess?” 

You nodded, almost reluctantly, offering a gentle smile. 

“My name is Sungchan,” he introduces, “Jung Sungchan.” 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Sungchan,” you reply. You couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. His smile was eyecatching, and he had this mysterious glint in his eye that enticed you. You now wonder what criteria your mother used when inviting these suitors. 

Was it through appearance? Success and wealth? Personality? 

He holds out his hand, and you accept it, taking this as a sign that he was going to begin dancing. Just as you were taught, you start following the steps that you practiced many times, counting mentally, while simultaneously listening to the things Sungchan was telling you.

“How has your night been?” He drops his hand from your waist and he spins you, “Good, I hope?”

You giggle nervously, “It’s been… busy.” Unexpectedly, you step on Sungchan’s toes, causing the two of you to stumble slightly. “Oh, I’m sorry! It’s–“

“Don’t apologize,” Sungchan interrupts, “Accidents happen.” 

You feel a sense of relief in your chest. Even if there shouldn’t be any excuses for such mistakes, you’re thankful that Sungchan seems to genuinely understand the occurrence. 

He leans forward, “I’m nervous, too.” Sungchan squeezes your hand and continues to make conversation. His movements are quick and sharp, which makes you feel like you’re obligated to move along to his tempo. Unlike Mr. Geum, he makes sure that you’re caught up with him before making the next move, and you believe this is why you aren’t tripping any more over his feet.

After you and Sungchan have danced together, another gentleman approaches, “May I take it from here?” He’s bold enough to bring a shoulder to Sungchan’s shoulder. 

Sungchan nods, “I hope to see you again, Princess.” He brings your hand to his lips and kisses it, backing up to give you space.

You smiled genuinely, nodding him goodbye before moving on to the next suitor. You know who he is. Yoon Jaehyuk. 

You’ve heard of many things about Jaehyuk from your friends. He’s got the reputation of being stubborn especially when it comes to business deals. If he wants it, then he gets it. You think that this was likely why your mother had invited him as a suitor. He was powerful when it came to connections and was rich as well. 

“Let me sweep you off your feet,” he winks, “I’m Yoon Jaehyuk.” 

Immediately, you feel Jaehyuk push and pull you similar to how Mr. Geum often did in your lessons. It felt like he will quite literally sweep you off of your feet, and you’re worried. Your mind flashes back to your lessons with Mr. Geum and how you did poorly with your instructor, and just as you expected, you step on Jaehyuk’s toes. 

You apologize quickly, eyes widening, “I apologize!” Jaehyuk shakes his head and tells you not to worry about the accident, continuing to lead you with the dance. Jaehyuk doesn’t seem to understand, nor regard, that you were struggling to keep up with his movements. But then again, ballroom dancing required two people, and you weren’t fulfilling your half of the sequence.

Jaehyuk brings up the topic of his travels, having travelled from two kingdoms over just to be here, “Your region is the prettiest.” He comments, “The flowers here are beautiful and they are unique compared to those in the others.”

Before you could reply, you stagger in your footsteps and interrupt the tempo that you both were following. The unexpected disruption causes Jaehyuk to pull you towards his own body a bit harder than anticipated, and before you know it, you’re falling into his chest. 

You regain your balance on your own, trying to catch sight of Jaehyuk who made a noise of frustration. 

“I’m sorry,” you repeat frantically, “I just–”

Jaehyuk doesn’t say another word, instead, he lets go of you and he walks away, shaking his head. You can’t tell if it was out of irritation, disappointment, or embarrassment, but you felt a huge sense of remorse for what just happened. 

If you mess up and they don’t like it, then they don’t deserve you. Beomgyu’s words echo in your head. 

You squeeze your eyes shut and then open them again, scanning the crowd for the other suitors. All of the room’s attention was on you, and after what just happened, you didn’t like it. 

“Next suitor?” You hear your mother’s voice bound from behind you. The music is still playing, waiting for bodies to dance to its melody. 

Your heart was beginning to beat faster and you felt as though the temperature in the room was rising rapidly. Again, your eyes scan the crowd, and to your left, you see Jaehyuk whispering to the other men words that you cannot hear from where you stood. And although you don’t want to assume the words are about you, his eyes continue to flicker to you, almost signifying that you were the topic.

“Next suitor?” Your mother repeats, voice wavering. No one dares to move forward and you’re not sure why. 

Was it because of your mistake? What was Jaehyuk telling them? Were you simply imagining everything?

Then, your mother’s voice appears in your head. The ability to dance signifies elegance. 

Did that one misstep give them the impression that you didn’t have elegance? Why did this even matter?

Questions are running through your head and you’re unable to stop them. Not when everyone’s staring at you. Not when no other gentleman is willing to take his turn. Not when you think you’ve actually blown your chances of finding someone that will take place as king. 

Your head falls in between your shoulders and you close your eyes, only hoping for all of this to end. Why couldn’t this all go by in a blur? Where was Beomgyu when you needed him?

As the music continues on quietly in the background, you start to hear commotion somewhere in the crowd. You choose not to look, afraid that whatever is happening will only cause you more stress. There’s whispering, though you can hear it gradually increasing in volume. 

Then you feel a hand on your shoulder.

You lift your head, opening your eyes so that you could graciously face whoever it was saving you from your embarrassment.

“Y/N.”

You open your mouth but nothing comes out. And you know he understands the reason for this. Without hesitation, you took a big step towards him, the front of your dress pressed up against his legs, and you let your forehead fall onto his chest. 

You close your eyes. “Beomgyu…” 

You feel like crying. It’s not clear whether you want to do it out of humiliation or built-up stress, but you know for sure that part of the urge is from relief. You’re relieved that someone’s here to join you at your side, despite the numerous people watching, and judging. You’re even more relieved that this someone was Beomgyu—the boy who you want to admit brings you comfort no matter what the situation.

“Still have that dance saved for me?” He whispers. He nudges your forearm with the back of his wrist in attempt to lighten up your mood. Beomgyu can feel all eyes on him as much as they were on you. But he turns a blind eye to them, his priority being you and making sure you are okay. 

Lifting your head, you nodded, “Always.” 

A smile rises upon Beomgyu’s lips at your answer before he steps back to bow, “May I have this dance, Princess?” 

You nod, mirroring Beomgyu’s smile.

In one swift motion, you and Beomgyu bring your hands up to  appropriate positions. Once you both were set and ready, your feet begin to move along to the music, counting to fours mentally. Your eyes travel from Beomgyu’s chest and up to his eyes. He’s already staring back at you, lips permanently propped into a gentle and comforting grin. 

Anyone who’s watching from the surrounding crowd can see how well you and Beomgyu danced together. As if the floor was ice, you both glided across the dance floor with ease, almost as though you practiced the routine for endless hours. 

As the song continued, you feel the worry in your chest begin to diminish, your confidence level slowly increasing as moments go by. The guests soon start to disappear from your peripheral view, almost as though as you and Beomgyu were the only ones in the room. Your mother was gone, your friends were gone, Sungchan was nowhere to be seen, and Jaehyuk? You couldn’t care less about where he went. 

It was just you and Beomgyu. 

As you and Beomgyu waltzed, your mind wanders back to the words that Mr. Geum had described how two people connected when they were dancing. You couldn’t help but ponder over his metaphor because here you were, dancing almost perfectly with Beomgyu, when not even minutes ago, you were stumbling roughly over, not just your own feet, but even another’s. 

If you were a musical note, you simply did not harmonize with Jaehyuk or Sungchan. And although it was a shame that you may not even get a chance to dance with the other gentlemen, dancing with Beomgyu made it evident that your notional musical note is compatible with his. 

Unbeknownst to your knowledge, Mr. Geum stands at the edge of the audience, a sense of pride growing steadily within his chest. His hands are crossed together, palm-to-palm, and brought up to his chin as he watches the two of you in endearment. 

“A perfect harmony.” Mr. Geum says this under his breath—so quiet that he believes that he is the only one who is able to hear his statement. Only, he doesn’t take notice of the queen who quietly positions herself at his side.

“Perfect Harmony?” She has a brow raised as she looks to Mr. Geum for an explanation. She says this out of curiosity, not quite understanding the meaning behind the instructor’s words. 

Mr. Geum nods and repeats himself, “A perfect harmony… that’s what they are.”

°•. ✿ .•°

hope you enjoyed this!

tags: @k-radio @whipped-kpop-creators

HELPPP LILYMA SOUNDS SO GOOFY 😭😭

lily x ema 4ever for realz!!!

LMAO WRONG ACC BAE HOW DID U GET HERE 😭😭😭

EMAMAMAMAMAA 😈😈😈😈😈😈

hellaur

hes so

LILLY BILLY 💗💗💗‼️‼️‼️ HIHI MUWAH

the way i gasped, cried, slid down the wall and fainted HE LOOKS FUCKING UNREAL GN 😟😟😟 istg its always the low q pics that get me 🧌

if we’re talking iconic enha airport looks tho,,,

this man… 🦦

NOOOO OMF :( have a warm drink n lie down bae i hope they go away soon 💔

HI

HELLO THAT IMAGE WAS THE LAST THING I WAS EXPECT8NG 😭😭😭 THE BOOBS GODDAMN ⁉️🤨

HI ANGIE DARLING HRU ?!?! 😟😟

SOOBIN WINS MOST RELATABLE IDOL AWARD ISTG 🙁💔 STOTPFKFK IM SO EXCITED FOR THE ENHA ONE NOW OMGOGM YES ‼️‼️‼️‼️

GUYS I MADE A TXT DATE QUIZ GO TAKE IT AND RB TO SHOW UR ANSWERS CAUSE IM CURIOUS!!! quiz here!! HAVE FUN MY ADORABLE MOOTS <33 @blue-jisungs,, @yeonjuns-bluehair,, @ddenoudepression,, @syrxiee2,, @delcakoo2

p.s I may or may not do this for more groups (probably) so yeah... look forward to that pspspsps

not what it seems

➳ You’ve signed up for a VR company’s beta testing for their new innovation, but you would have never thought that you and Jay - the son of the CEO - would be the two testers who actually get stuck inside the game.

➳ Characters: rich boy!Jay x reader/you

➳ Genre: experiment au, game au, kind of futuristic au, biotech au, action, comedy

➳ Words: 10.1k

➳ A/N: The levels are inspired by the settings in the Enhypen MVs in order, namely Given-Taken, Let Me In, Drunk-Dazed, Fever and Tamed-Dashed. Merry Christmas @dat-town! I love you more than words could explain! 💖

➳ A/N: Click here to be added to the TAGLIST and to let me know about your fic preferences. 💖

➳ Check out: my Enhypen masterlist

Keep reading

SOBBING CRYING THROWING UP RAVE UR REBLOGS GIVE ME LIFE FR. dont even talk YOUR WRITING >>> EVERYTHING EVER OK. you’re too sweet ☹️☹️ AND HELP ME THE THIRD PARAGRAPH MADE ME GIGGLE BSJSHDJD 😭😭 so true tho sooha needs to know her place !!

THANK U SO MUCH RAVES :(( my gf the best fr all of u back tf off. 😇😇😇😇

camellia ⁺.⚘˚◞꙳ y.jw

SUMMARY ! the last thing you expected was to find a boy sniffing your flowers at past midnight, but when you see him pluck a harmless rose from it’s stem, of course you must furiously chase after him! if only you knew that it was the prince of your kingdom whom you’d just tackled to the ground..

PAIRING ! prince!jungwon x gardener!f!reader

WC ! 2.5k

GENRE ! fluff ft teasing princewon ^^

WARNINGS ! reader gets called a ‘filthy thing’

a/n: i suppose you can take this as a lil thank you for 1.7k followers ^^ please enjoy and lmk what u think :D

with knees planted in the deep layers of powder, you exhale peacefully and emit a cool cloud of smoke from your mouth. the moon has only appeared to you in a crescent form tonight, yet it still brings wonderful shimmers of light down onto your plants.

as a gardener, winter wasn’t the most eventful time of the year, nor the season you ever found yourself looking forward to.

for one, there were much less species of plants that you could choose to nurture in comparison to spring or summer. not as many blossoms would thrive under snow and longer hours of moonlight; the crushing winter wind and snow breaking most flower’s delicate petals.

and secondly, when you did decide to plant one of your winter flowers, you’d have to gear up in jackets and mittens and hats all so you wouldn’t shiver and chatter to death.

though, considering it was your first week working at the great yang family’s palace, you were absolutely determined to be the best gardener their home shall ever have. it is also how you were to be found outside in the middle of the night; snow flowers much preferred moonlight and darkness rather than sun and light.

you already had a plan for the front of the castle. there’d be some of the larger and elegant snow lavenders near the entryway and all adorning the path leading up to it, then there would be some snow lilies prohibiting the edges of the river. what you were planting right now would soon become a small, delicate witch hazel, one that needed much attention; something you took note of as you continued patting the seed into the snowy ground.

once the seed become firmly seated, you proudly pick up your shovel again, about to move on and plant more when the sound of footprints nearby makes you pause.

your breath hitches in your throat nervously. you weren’t exactly the biggest threat right now; a young girl at midnight with nothing but a shovel and some seeds in her laced basket.

only a few lights were around the outside of the castle, rusty lanterns attached to lampposts that gave off dim light underneath it’s surroundings.

and below one of them a great distance away was a young man sniffing your flowers.

his side profile was extravagant; an eye closed and lips shut as he inhaled the scent of one of your snow roses. he had fluffy, coal shaded hair, body attiring a matching set of white satin pyjamas. he would look like any other town boy if it weren’t for the way he appeared extra tidy and well kept; hair combed and recently washed and face without a speck of dirt on it unlike most commoners.

his beauty didn’t stop a frown from moulding onto your face.

“hey you!” the boy’s head snaps up at your booming voice, his feline-like eyes gaping adorably. before you can finish stomping your way through the snow towards him, he’s plucked one of your roses and ran off.

you audibly gasp, the sight of only an empty stem remaining making your heart shatter and only encouraging you to jolt after the criminal, shovel tightly grasped in your hand. he’s annoyingly fast, holding your flower close to his chest as he sprints through the castle garden. your garden.

“get back here at once, coward!” you demand, boots plodding annoyingly through the heavy powder.

when he turns a corner around a line of tall bushes, you growl in amusement. there is no point in trying to lose me, i know this garden like my own home. you snort, the amount of time you’ve spent surrounded by these plants in the past week alone was enough to name it that.

when you turn around the snow covered bushes just as the boy had, you pause at the sight of him nowhere in sight. however, the sound of running had come to a stop, indicating he must be hiding nearby.

you look down, and a laugh leaves your lips.

“ah.. i wonder where you could be..” an evil smirk is plastered on your lips as you drag your shovel eerily through the snow, being extra careful as to not touch the perfect trail of footprints leading you right to your target. how sad.

you don’t know why, but this little game was getting more and more thrilling for you. how ready you were to bring this little thief to the castle guards, your decapitated rose stolen back from his defeated hand.

and there the boy sat, eyes closed behind a particularly round bush with his arms around his legs, breathing heavily in prayers that you’d lost him.

“gotcha!” before he knew it, you had pounced on him like a predator would to it’s prey, a strangled yelp leaving his mouth as you pin him to the ground. your legs straddle either side of his waist while you hold his upper half in place with your hands, shovel dropped lifelessly next to your figures.

you both pant in recovery from the tiring chase, simply surveying each other's features. you find yourself cussing inwardly at the fact that he’s even more perfect up close.

eventually, he licks his lips before speaking up, “who are you?” you press his body further into the snow out of rage, and the boy winces as if he’d never been touched so harshly in his life.

“who am i?” you bark, “who are you?! and why were you in my garden?!”

at that, his lips perk up as if you’d just told him a ridiculous joke. “your garden, huh?” he taunts, “you really don’t know who i am?”

“why would i?”

instead of answering your question, he sighs. “y’know, you’re quite cute. if you’d just stop screaming in my face..”

you’ve had enough of this boy.

you remove your arms from his, reaching down to grab your weapon with a frown. at the threatening sight, the raven haired boy quickly begins squirming beneath you in a pathetic attempt to escape.

“woah woah— hold on, i’m sorry! i’m- i’m jungwon!” he blurts, raising his hands in defence. you lower your shovel an inch. you’ve definitely heard that name before, but you couldn’t quite put your thumb on it.

jungwon seemed to notice that his name didn’t ring a bell, and for whatever reason, this emitted another entertained giggle from his throat. “look, if you just get off of me, miss — not that i mind you sitting on me — it’s just.. i’m getting a bit chilly.” you roll your eyes, making no effort to move. “in return for my freedom, i can offer you absolutely anything you need.”

you raise an intrigued but untrusting brow, and jungwon only smirks further at your hesitance, leaning his head against his hands casually despite the icy frost below him. in all honesty, he didn’t look that weak, you began to wonder why he didn’t just throw you off of him.

“what could some town boy like you have to offer?” you inquire.

he chokes, “town boy?” suddenly he’s laughing again, eyes turning into crescents as he kicks his feet childishly below you. feeling riled up, you point your shovel at his throat again frustratedly. he swiftly quiets down at the raised gardening tool, but a mocking grin and dimple continues to pierce his features. “you’d be surprised, miss. say..”

before you can even process his movements and pin him down again, jungwon has fully sat up, resting his hands in the snow with his face so close to yours that you could feel every exhale. “if you tell me who you are, tomorrow i’ll bring you a new set of gardening tools.” he glances down at your rusty, old shovel disapprovingly. “i promise they will be much better and stronger than this.. artefact.”

you gulp, feeling distracted by the unwanted heat rushing to your cheeks at the close proximity of the boy. by the smug glint in his eyes, you’re sure he has noticed it as well. “a-and why should i believe you’d keep that promise?”

he ponders for a moment before looking down at you with a grin. “i can offer you something now as proof.” before you know it, his face is inching closer breath by breath.

the stolen rose long forgotten, you close your eyes as his hands finally come up to brush your waist, anticipating the plush of his lips against yours.

but it never happens.

“would you like to come have a drink in the castle with me?”

you snap your eyes open, watching as his face tilts mere centimetres from yours.

“oh, did you expect something else?” he sneers in delight.

feeling a tad humiliated and disappointed in yourself, you hurriedly remove yourself from the boy’s lap, boots rooting into the snow as you march your way back to your previous planting spot.

forget the flower, this was clearly just a waste of your time (and pride).

“w-wait!” jungwon stutters in the background, “i’m sorry, if you really want a kiss i wouldn’t be opposed!” he offers, quickly getting himself back on his own feet to catch up to you.

you simply huff, thrusting your shovel deep into the ground. “leave me alone. i have no interest in you,” you grunt mid-sentence as you stomp your foot onto the tool’s edge, ploughing dirt and snow to the side of the crater, “or your plan of sneaking into the royal family’s home,” you finish strictly.

jungwon facepalms at your obliviousness, watching as you crouch down to scavenge through your seed basket. “please, just trust me,” he pesters. “c’mon, when was the last time you had hot chocolate? or perhaps a boiling cup of tea? the dining room has everything you could crave!”

“how would you know anything about the—“

“your majesty?” a high pitch voice calls out suddenly.

both your heads snap towards the castle’s giant entrance nearby, pausing your movements against the snowy ground.

jungwon stiffened from behind you, his black locks bouncing as he swivelled around in a desperate search for an escape. “shit, shit!”

before you could even get a word out, the boy had already raced off to hide behind another bush just as a young woman in a maid dress approached you.

“ew..” she mutters, scanning your figure. you glance down in confusion, taking in your awfully filthy clothes and appearance; bits of dirt, snow and leaves were stuck to your jacket and overalls, and you cringe inwardly when you pick a blue flower petal out of your hair.

“are you homeless?” she asks with a strikingly rude tone, “you know trespassers are strictly forbidden, right?”

you clench your jaw, resisting the urge to defend yourself with just as much sass. “no, ma’am. i was hired by the queen to be the palace’s gardener.”

for whatever reason, the maid rolls her eyes, staring off into space as if you weren’t worth a single glance or speck of her time. “whatever. anyways, have you seen the prince? it seems he’s snuck out once again, and if i don't find him soon, we’ll have to call a search party,” she yawns.

the prince? what on earth would his highness be doing out at a time like this, especially in such chilly weather?

“um, i don’t think so. what does he look like?”

at that she chuckles, crossing her arms over her chest. “oh, of course you wouldn’t know anything about the prince,” she sighs. “he’s about 5’9, black hair, should be wearing all white pyjamas..”

you freeze. white pyjamas..? the rest of the woman’s words fade out, mind turning blank. it couldn’t be.

“..and his hair is also a bit curly, but at night it gets—“

“what’s his name?” you interrupt desperately.

she gives you the most judging stare she could muster, but you didn’t care much anymore. “seriously? yang jungwon, you filthy thing.”

and right on queue, jungwon magically appears from behind the bushes. he doesn’t give you a glance, eyes piercing with rage in the direction of the maid. at the sight of the prince, she smiles brightly for the first time all night, quickly running over to give him an awkward side hug.

“your majesty! i was so worried,” she exclaims cheerfully, “come now, you must get changed out of these grimy rags.”

jungwons grits his teeth, trying his best to gently push her body away. “sooha,” he snaps, voice drastically changed from the playful tone he’d used with you, “please refrain from speaking to my personal gardener that way again, or i will not hesitate to have you fired at once,” he spits unmercifully before turning to face you.

sooha’s smile drops, spinning around to watch as you move to bow on one knee nervously. his gardener? you gulp, but what if he has you fired for calling him a town boy? or perhaps executed for threatening him with a shovel to his throat?

“your- your majesty, i’m so, so sorry for everything.” it was tranquil, the only sound being light footsteps travelling your way. you squint harder, anxiously gripping your bent knee.

unexpectedly, a warm touch suddenly covers your gloved hand, fingers intertwined with yours while the prince lifts you back up to your standing height. your heart instantly melts at the knee-quivering smile plastered across his face, glancing down at your intertwined hands and the snow rose poking out of his pants pocket.

“there’s no need for that, i had lots of fun tonight,” he whispers before abruptly reaching for your hair, pulling out yet another tangled flower petal and giggling cutely. “see you tomorrow, my flower?”

you involuntarily blush, scoffing as you look away sheepishly. “maybe.”

jungwon seems to be satisfied with that, ever so gracefully removing his hand from yours with a final nod of goodbye. you watch in a slight daze as the stunning boy makes his way towards the castle, uncaring to wait for sooha to catch up with him.

“your majesty! wait!” she sends you a final dirty glare, stomping desperately through the snow after him.

as the castle doors shut tightly behind them, you embrace the newfound silence of the once chaotic night. the only remaining evidence that leads you to believe it wasn’t all just a dream is the decapitated snow rose snuck into your jacket pocket, and your poor old shovel, soon to be eagerly replaced tomorrow.

that is, if you choose to indulge in whatever the prince had in store for you.

if you enjoyed, reblogs and comments are very appreciated <3 if you want a part 2, at least say you liked it as well, and maybe what you’d want in it T-T

© delcakoo on tumblr. all rights reserved. do not rewrite, cross-post, translate, copy, etc.

perm taglist: @duolingofanaccount @strawberry-sunset-skies @scented-morker @koshinene @boowoowho @sultrybaby @yunjinlvrr @lov3niki @yujiecho @monstaxdirtywonk @dekusgirl @l1lac-dreamer @kodzukii @yjjungwon @miou45

kayla ate again LITERALLY SCREAMED THIS WAS ALL SO GOOD?!?! SO MUCH HAPPENED IN THIS CHAPTER WTF AGHHHH RIKI. im gonna kms kayla WHY DO I ALWAYS LOVE THE SECOND CHOICE PLEASE I SECRETLY WANT RIKI TO END UP W YN NOW. THIS IS SO 💔💔💔 AND SROP why was jungwon so cold to them at first 💔💔 like ik hes in his emo era btu DAMN YN WAS BEING SO SWEET . JUNGWON SHUT UR TOMATO ASS UP ugh . and ofc FUCK HYUNG LINE HE ALREADY MOVED SCHOOLS CUZ OF YALL CMON WHYRE THEY BEATING HIM AGAIN ☹️☹️ i’m so glad yn and riki punched them I WASNT EXPECTING A FULL FIGHT THO DAMN. mc so slay w her taekwondo??? anyways. im honestly curious ro what’s happening next like WONS REPUTATION BETTER GET FIXED 😞 IM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAP KAY U BETTER SEND IT TO ME FIRST BECAUSE IM THE BEST ‼️‼️‼️

bravery at my nightmares — yang jungwon

SYNOPSIS > after being expelled from his old school for something he didn’t do, life for jungwon only got harder. everyone avoided him and claimed that he was “bad energy” or a “terrible influence.” so, why did you have to be different than everyone else and actually try to get close to him while gnoring all the rumors about him?

PAIRING > junior!jungwon x junior-fem!reader (ft. enhypen hyung line + jungwon and ni-ki, hoshi from svt, nagyung from fromis_9, and taeil from nct).

WARNINGS > EVERYTHING IS FICTIONAL (severe?) bullying, blood, swearing, toxicity, fighting, the staff force jungwon to open his backpack, a teacher almost hits jungwon, the school staff are really rude, angst, fluff, mentions of cigarettes, and mentions of food.

WORDCOUNT > 6394 words

NOTE > act 1 is finally here!! (it’s been like thirty minutes PLSS) still this is mainly all fluff (?) TRUST ITS GOOD 🤞 my fave scenes r in here so.. ENJOY!!

TEASER / PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3 / PART 4

ACT 01.

Jungwon got only a day off from school before having to attend a new one because of his father. Jungwon’s father was aware of what his son was going through but couldn’t do anything to help and felt awful for son.

“Just trust me, this school will be better.” Jungwon’s father's words replayed in Jungwon’s head as his grip on his backpack's straps tightened. His father had also said that about Decelis but it ended up being way worse than middle school.

Surprisingly, he had hope for this school, BeLift Academy. It even sounded promising. 

He walked up the front steps of the school as other students did the same. He stood in front of the entrance, staring at the building. It was huge and covered in moss, leaves, and vines. 

He shook his head as he got himself together. He looked around, noticing all the weird looks he was getting from the other students. Ah right, he wasn’t wearing their uniform. 

He looked down at his outfit and then back at them. They were pointing at him and whispering to each other; it confused him. What else could they possibly be staring at? He headed towards a window to see his reflection as they all moved away from him, clearing the area. 

Oh, his hair. It was red. 

He forgot about him dying it the other day — he thought changing his appearance could make him more confident in himself, but that didn’t seem to help in his case. He combed his fingers through his hair while sighing. Maybe he shouldn’t have done this. If only he knew about the weird looks he would get from the other students, he wouldn’t have done it. Oh, well, too late now. 

He stuffed his hands in his sweater pockets and entered the front doors of the school. The more steps he took to the school, the number of students that moved out of his way increased. It was weird. Why would they move out of the way for him? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

“Isn’t that Yang Jungwon?” A student from the nearby staircase whispered. “Who?” Another whispered in more of a questioning tone. “I’m not sure if it’s really him, but, I heard from a friend that he’s the student that got expelled from Decelis for robbery, severe bullying, and he even broke a teacher's car!” They exclaimed as their friend covered their mouth from the random outburst. Jungwon looked over at the two friends; a male and a female, that looked back at him. 

“Shh, he’s looking over here!” The boy whisper-shouted as the girl apologized. Jungwon’s look didn’t mean to be stern or scary, it only recently became a habit after his last ‘fight’ with Sim Jaeyun. They bowed, apologizing for their gossip, and ran up the stairs as they disappeared in plain sight. 

Jungwon raised his brows out of shock after letting their words sink in. The urge to reveal to everyone that all those rumors were lies and that he was the one who got bullied and forced to ‘confess’ about doing those things felt overpowering. He wanted to tell everyone the truth so badly but he also didn’t want them to know about his past, he wanted to forget about it himself. 

Although he hated the thought of lying about himself to others, it was the only way he could keep these secrets hidden. It was already too late to change his reputation and deny the rumors anyway. The whole school seemed to know about what happened back at Decelis. But in a different way and not the actual truth. More of a lie. 

Jungwon continued his walk down the school hallway, ignoring the stares he received from the other students, either because of his hair, uniform, and/or the rumors spreading about him. It wasn’t bothersome, but it was awkward. He wasn’t used to getting stared at in fear. It was always students looking at him pathetically and him being the one to stare back in fear. 

Was he even scary looking to fit those rumors?

“Riki, chill! It wasn’t even that serious,” a familiar voice exclaimed while running down the stairs, clearly out of breath. “You stepped on my shoes, I just got them!” Another voice exclaimed while running down the stairs. 

Jungwon looked over at the commotion only to see a teen boy chasing another teen girl down the stairs. “Okay! I’m sorry. Here, let me wipe it.” The female said while crouching down to wipe the light brown mark. “See, it’s all gone! Not that bad, was it?” She said as the male playfully rolled his eyes. “Whatever, you’re lucky it was muddy outside or it would’ve been worse.” He replied as the female kneed him in his shin. 

“Hey?! What was that for!” He exclaimed while limping after the female who ran with a cheeky smile on her face. “Y/n, wait up! I can’t run that fast anymore.” He attempted to pick up his speed and chase after his friend. 

“Wait, be careful!” Riki tried to warn Y/n, but he was too late. You were brought to an abrupt stop as you felt your body collide with another. You let out a humph sound as your face smashed right into their chest. 

“Y/n,” Riki exclaimed while running to her and rubbing his shin. He grabbed your arm while pulling you back toward his figure. “Be careful next time, you could’ve gotten seriously injured.” He placed his hands on your shoulders while examining your figure for any injuries. “I’m fine, I promise.” You reassured while letting out a short laugh. You looked at the body beside you, apologizing for your previous mistake. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to — wait a minute. You look very familiar,” your apology cut short as you stared at the familiar boy with narrowed eyes. “Don’t bother with him, he’s bad news anyway,” Riki said while sending Jungwon a glare and grabbing you by the arm. “Aren’t you that boy from the convenience store? Right, you are!” You pointed at him with a smile after remembering the memory.

That was you? You were the cashier who helped with his wounds? 

“What are you talking about?” Jungwon asked with a raised eyebrow. Even if he knew exactly who you were, he couldn’t let everybody know about his past just because of you. “You’re the boy who had multiple wounds on your face, right? Wow, who would’ve thought we’d meet again!” You smiled as Jungwon and Riki both looked at you weirdly. 

“Y/n, are you okay?” Riki questioned as you looked at him with a confused expression. “What do you mean? I’m perfectly fine,” you said, causing Riki to shake his head. “Let’s go, I think you’re low on food or something,” Riki said while grabbing your hand, pulling you away from Jungwon, and heading towards the cafeteria nearby. 

At least your friend pulled you away before things escalated. He didn’t have any excuses left to say if you had stayed any longer. Man, the whole school must really hate him by now.

— 

Cafeterias weren't Jungwon’s favorite places to be. At least not anymore. After the incident back at Decelis, they just always felt uncomfortable. He sat alone at a table near the exit door while everyone watched his every move. It felt too awkward to take a bite of his food. They could see everything he did, maybe he should’ve sat somewhere where nobody could see him. 

“Come on,” a voice from in front said. “I told you I don’t want to go! Y/n, he’s not good to be around, why won’t you listen to what I say?” Another voice said. “Riki, you always believe rumors! What if he’s not what they really say he’s like?” The footsteps that approached him got louder, causing him to look up from his food tray. 

“Hey, I’m not sure what your name is so… Tomato head it is!” You said with a smile while taking a seat. “His name’s Jungwon, Yang Jungwon,” Riki said while placing his food tray on the table and taking a seat too. He sent a glare to Jungwon as you nudged his shoulder. “Can you stop? At least get to know him better,” you whispered at a level so only Riki could hear. He rolled his eyes and whispered back a ‘fine.’

You looked back at Jungwon as your eyes examined his figure. “The bandaids, they’re still there. Were the wounds that bad?” You questioned as he stared back at you. His gaze wasn’t frightening nor was it mean. It was neutral. A few moments of silence went by with no response from Jungwon. “Aren’t you gonna answer? She asked a question,” Riki said with narrowed eyes and a harsh tone. 

“Lay off of him, would you? He doesn’t have to respond to everything I say,” you looked at Riki with a stern expression as he looked away and ate his food. “Well, do you have a uniform?” You asked, trying to get an answer out of him somehow. “Then, why were you expelled from your old school? Are the rumors really true–”

“Why are you asking so many questions? Gosh, you’re so nosy.” He muttered while looking away. Riki looked up from his food and grabbed him by the collar. “I don’t know what you did at your old school, but, I’m not letting you repeat that here.” He warned as they both stared into each other’s eyes while gasps erupted in the cafeteria. “Riki, let go of him.” You grabbed him by his waist and pulled him back down to his seat. “He’s right. I’m sorry for being nosy, I was just curious.” You apologized while Riki grabbed his food tray and rose from his seat. “Let’s go, Y/n. Clearly, he doesn’t want us here.” Riki started walking away as you rose from your seat with your food tray in hand. 

You waved goodbye to Jungwon, turned around, and ran to Riki. Jungwon looked back at his food tray in disappointment. He could’ve made a friend just now but his word choices made things worse.  

“Why do you even bother with him? He seems like an ass,” Riki scoffed as you sighed. “I don’t think the rumors are true. Trust me, who comes to a convenience store at 11:47 PM with multiple wounds and blood dripping from any open spots on their body?” You said while thinking back to the night. “A boy who just got into a fight? He must’ve got his ass beat by other people after what he’s done,” Riki said as you softly pushed him to the side. “Hey, what was that for?! I almost dropped my soup,” you laughed at him as he looked down at you and rolled his eyes. 

“Whatever, I’m not becoming friends with him. I don’t care about your opinion,” he shrugged his shoulders as the two of you exited the cafeteria. “Doesn’t mean I won’t!” You said with a smile. 

Your new main goal was to become friends with Jungwon, but clearly, that would take a lot of attempts. 

—

Although lunchtime was only an hour long, it still felt too short. In English class, you were assigned to bring today’s homework to the teacher’s office, and despite how tired you were, you had no option but to agree.

You walked down the hallways of your school while your eyes read over the notebooks in your arms. Some notebooks were labeled ‘English,’ while others only had the owner's names on them.

“You’re not wearing the school’s uniform, you show up with your hair in a vibrant shade of red, and you have piercings?” The principal's voice was loud but muffled through the door. You stopped in front of the office doors after the sudden outburst. 

“Leave my office,” Mr. Choi said while chair scraping echoed in the room. You backed away from the door as you watched the doorknob turn with Jungwon appearing right after. “Oh, Jungwon, hey.” You said with a smile, attempting to make the fact that you heard him get yelled at less obvious as his head turned to face you. 

Your eye contact only lasted a few seconds before he looked and walked away. “Wait up,” you exclaimed while catching up to him. “You’re really bothersome, you know?” He said after you reached beside him. 

“That won’t stop me from at least trying to become friends with you.” Your grip on the books tightened as you looked ahead. Jungwon looked down at you with slightly raised brows. 

Friends? That was the first time he heard someone say that word to his face. “Friends,” he muttered, causing you to look up at him. “Did you say something?” You asked in a confused tone. He shook his head and looked away as you raised a brow at him. “Okay then, I have to stop here. Get to class safe!” You smiled while pointing at the sign beside Jungwon that read ‘Faculty office.’ 

You waved at him and walked into the already-opened entrance, greeting the teachers while closing the door behind you. 

Jungwon continued to walk down the hallways while shaking off his previous thoughts. “Jungwon,” a voice from behind him called out, but he ignored it and continued walking. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” they muttered as their speed increased. Jungwon heard the footsteps behind him become louder. It felt like déjà vu. Out of instinct, Jungwon’s footsteps also rose in speed. 

Their hand gripped Jungwon’s shoulder and pushed against the wall. Everything was happening too quickly for Jungwon to comprehend. All he saw was the face of a familiar boy standing in front of him. 

“You heard me didn’t you?” He questioned as Jungwon’s eyes grew in size. “Look, I don’t know why Y/n is trying to get close to you, but I don’t like it. If you mess with her, I won’t forgive you.” He said while tightening his grip on Jungwon’s top. 

The door down the hall opened with a click, alerting the two boys. He removed his hand from Jungwon’s top and straightened it for him to pretend that nothing bad happened. “Riki and Jungwon? Shouldn’t you both be in class, what are you doing out here?” You questioned while heading their way. 

“I went out for a walk after finishing up a test in chemistry and I ran into Jungwon,” Riki explained with a smile as he patted Jungwon on the back. Jungwon was baffled. How could he act as if nothing happened not even a minute ago? “Ah, how was the test?” You asked while standing in front of them. “It was pretty good, I probably got a few questions wrong. How about we head back to class now? I don’t want my teacher to worry or anything.” He said as you nodded in agreement. “Bye Jungwon!” You smiled and waved as he did the same. 

You walked ahead of Riki as he watched you walk with a smile. He turned around, sending Jungwon another glare before looking away and walking behind you. 

Did Riki really not like him or did he just really like you? 

—

Walking home at night always scared Jungwon. He was never sure when he’d run into those boys again and he wasn’t prepared for it to happen. 

You closed the front door of the convenience store as you locked it. Work for the day was finally over. You let out a sigh of relief while opening one of the ice creams in your hand. 

You popped it into your mouth as you walked down the bumpy pathway. Streetlights and the store signs illuminated the area. The books for English class weighed you down as you adjusted your backpack on your shoulders as you walked.

The neighborhood was peaceful. There weren’t many incidents that happened here which attracted a lot of residents. 

You looked up from the ground to be met with a familiar figure. “Jungwon?” You squinted your eyes at the boy who walked in front of you. “Ah, it is you!” You muttered while running up to him. “Hey,” you tapped his shoulder from beside him as he flinched in return. 

“Oh,” he said while looking at you. “Hi,” he greeted as he looked away. “Do you want?” You questioned while holding out the second ice cream you had. “I’m fine,” he shook his head as you shook yours too. “I doubt I’d eat it myself, here take it before it melts.” You pleaded while pushing the ice cream into his hand. He refused again as you titled your head at him. 

Growling.

You both stared at each other out of shock. “What was that?” You asked in a cautious tone. “Uh,” Jungwon started while thinking of an excuse. “Oh, was that your stomach?” You stifled a laugh as realization hit you. He looked away, embarrassed. “It’s not that funny,” he defended as you stopped yourself. “You’re right, I guess. But clearly, you’re hungry, so take the ice cream!” You urged him to take the ice cream for a third time. 

He hesitated for a few moments out of embarrassment but eventually accepted it. 

The wrapper crinkling echoed through the empty streets as you both walked side by side. “Knowing that this is where we first met is kinda crazy. You even said we wouldn’t meet again!” You exclaimed while looking at him with narrowed eyes. “Well, I thought we wouldn’t. I didn’t plan on meeting you again either,” Jungwon responded while taking his first bite of the ice cream. 

“What even happened that night?” You asked, catching Jungwon off guard. Should he really tell you what happened or should he lie? “Well, Riki had a thought and said you probably lost a fight. But you know, he’s really self-centered and really protective of me.” You explained while looking up at the stars as Jungwon stiffened beside you at the sound of your friend’s name. 

You looked over at him with a puzzled face. “You good?” You questioned as he nodded in response. “Yeah, don’t worry. But I can see that he’s very protective of you.” He said, ignoring your whole question, but you paid little mind to it. “Literally! He knows I can fend for myself but still doesn’t trust me. Do you know those overprotective siblings? He’s like that but worse,” You took another bite of your ice cream and Jungwon looked at you confused.

“Fend for yourself?” He asked while looking down at you. “Yes, I’ve been doing Taekwondo for 2 years now. I’ll tell you this, I’m pretty good at it!” You cheered with a smile. “Ah, I tried doing that before. I gave up after a week, it became tiring and didn’t work out well.” He chuckled at the memory of his 4-year-old self complaining to his father about it almost every day. 

“But you know the basics, right?” You asked as he shook his head in response. “I always got hurt instead. I was pretty different from the other kids, you know? I was always flimsy and weaker than them, and still am.” He said as he took his last bite of the ice cream. “Really? Then what are the rumors for?” You raised a brow at him as you took your last bite too. 

“Oh, yeah.” He mumbled. He spoke too much about his past, it definitely blew his facade. “Wait, I don’t think I have any time for that.” You said as he looked over at you with a confused expression. “My house,” you pointed at the structure beside the two of you as his eyes averted from you to the structure. “Oh‌, okay. Bye.” He waved at you as you did the same. You walked up the pathway to your door as Jungwon stood there in silence. 

“Hey, wait,” he started, causing you to turn around. “Thanks for the ice cream. I enjoyed it,” he thanked you as you smiled. “You’re welcome! See you tomorrow, Jungwon!” You cheered and waved goodbye to him again. You continued your way towards your front door as Jungwon looked at the ground while a smile grew on his face.

This was the first time Jungwon was excited to go to school tomorrow. Maybe the thought of having a friend doesn’t sound all too bad.

—

Jungwon stood at his locker as he placed his belonging into an open spot. He let out a sigh while shutting his locker shut as you and Riki appeared from behind it. “Jungwon!” You exclaimed as he flinched. “Did I scare you? My bad,” you apologized as he waved it off. “It’s fine, what’s up?” He asked. “Riki and I–”

“I didn’t agree to this, don’t include me,” Riki said while looking away. “Okay then... We’re going to do karaoke after school and I decided to invite you as well!” You smiled at him as he looked at you, surprised. “Invite me as well? Why?” You looked at him dumbfounded. “We’re all friends are we not?” You asked.

“I never said I was friends with him—Fine, I guess we are, but that still doesn’t mean I trust you,” Riki said, switching his sentence midway after the warning glare you sent him. “Wait, are you even free?” You asked again as he nodded. “I’m free, so why not.” He said with a slight smile. “That’s great! Meet at the convenience store at 6:50 PM?” You questioned as he agreed. “Great!” You cheered while raising your hand. 

In return, Jungwon flinched slightly out of habit. You and Riki both looked at him cluelessly. “High-five…?” You said while reaching for his hand and raising it to meet with yours. “Oh, right,” Jungwon said while regaining his composure and clearing his throat. Riki watched things unfold with a confused expression but shook it off a few moments after. 

“Weird,” Riki whispered.

—

The clock on Jungwon’s phone read 6:53 PM. He reached the convenience store only a minute ago and was shocked that nobody else was there. He leaned against the walls of the store while scrolling on his phone. 

The sound of panting and rushed footsteps grew in sound, causing him to look up from his phone. He watched you and Riki slouch over while catching your breaths. “How long have you been here for?” You asked as Jungwon slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Not long, maybe 1 minute.” He responded as Riki groaned. “And you made me run for nothing?! We were barely late, Y/n!” He exclaimed between pants. “Not my fault! I thought it would take longer, alright?!” You argued back while Jungwon smiled. 

“It’s fine guys, let’s just go now.” He suggested as you both looked up at him. “Alright but, could we walk a bit slow? I need to regain my energy,” Riki asked as you and Jungwon agreed. 

The walk to the karaoke place wasn’t bad. It was only tolerable if Jungwon ignored the looks Riki gave him. Before they even started walking, Riki placed himself in between the two so that he was in the middle instead. Recalling his words; “I’ll stand in the middle so I can hear both of you when you say something,” it was stupid but you both didn’t think too much about it. 

“Who’s going first?” You asked while grabbing the remote control. “Can’t we just do a duet?” Riki asked as you looked over at him. “Then what about Jungwon?” You cocked your head at Jungwon as he stared at you. “I’m fine! Don’t worry, you two can do your thing.” He reassured you as you nodded. 

“Okay! Riki, what song?” You waited for a response as your fingers hovered over the remote control. “Uh, ‘Tell me’ by Wonder Girls?” He suggested as you agreed. 

“Now playing ‘Tell Me’ by Wonder Girls,” the machine spoke as the song began to play in the background. You placed down the remote control on the coffee table while grabbing a mic. “I call the first verse, like always!” You exclaimed while rising from your seat. Riki rolled his eyes but agreed as he also grabbed his mic. 

Jungwon watched the both of you with a small smile. If this is what having a close friend looked like then he was ready for it anytime. “5, 6, 7, 8!” You counted as Riki stood beside you. You both started dancing together at the beat drop while Jungwon watched from his seat on the couch in disgust. This will be embarrassing. 

“Hey, I’m gonna head to the bathroom for a bit.” Jungwon said, excusing himself from the embarrassing scene. You held up an ‘ok’ sign as he rose from his seat and headed towards the door. 

On the other side, the song and your voices were slightly audible but mainly muffled. He walked away from the entrance as he headed towards the male bathrooms. He didn’t need to use it in any way, he was only trying to escape from that atmosphere. He really did want to become close friends with you guys but it seemed as though it would be a little harder than expected. It was obvious that Riki didn’t take a liking to him but it’s not like he could change that.

Jungwon walked with his head low as he tried to get rid of his overwhelming thoughts. 

“Hurry up, I’m starving!” A voice exclaimed as he kicked the vending machine. “Clearly, I’m trying. Be patient or you won’t get anything in return,” another voice said in an annoyed tone. 

Jungwon was brought to an abrupt stop by another figure. 

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” A voice warned from in front of Jungwon. He backed up as he prepared to apologize but instead, was now met with the eyes of a familiar boy. “Wait a minute, guys look! It’s shithead,” he laughed, alerting the boys who stood next to the vending machine.

Jungwon stiffened at the familiar nickname as he looked up he was met with the four familiar faces. Park Sunghoon who stood in front of him as Lee Heeseung, Park Jongseong, and Sim Jaeyun all stood around the vending machine. 

They all looked at Jungwon then to each other and let out a laugh. “What did you do with your hair? And the piercings, woah you changed.” Sunghoon said while touching small pieces of his hair and looking at his earrings. 

“I heard you’re known as a ‘bad boy’ at your new school, seems like you let the little title get to your head, huh?” He said as he poked Jungwon’s forehead. “Glad to see the title of ‘asshole’ hasn’t gotten to your head yet,” Jungwon muttered, causing Sunghoon to stop for a moment. “What did you just say?” He asked while raising a brow at Jungwon. 

Jungwon looked up with a ‘glare’. “I said, I’m glad to see the title of ‘asshole’ hasn’t gotten to your head yet.” He repeated as Sunghoon clicked his tongue and looked away. “You little shit,” he mumbled while slapping Jungwon across the face. Jungwon held his reddening cheek with his hand.

“I guess you forgot to change your stupidness while changing your features. You still don’t know when to watch your mouth,” Jaeyun said as he walked over to the duo. “Could we take this outside? Just looking at him is making me mad.” Jaeyun looked at the two boys who stood behind him and Sunghoon as they nodded in agreement.

Fuck, here we go again. 

Jungwon wobbled on his feet as he tried to keep his balance. “Why won’t you just stay down?!” Jaeyun said while kicking Jungwon in his guts. He let out a nasty cough as droplets of blood fell from his mouth. 

“You’ve became even more annoying, you know?” Jongseong headed over to Jaeyun and Jungwon while pressing his lit cigarette onto the walls nearby. “It’s only been a week ever since your last appearance at Decelis, your new school must’ve changed you, hm?” He questioned in a teasing tone. He watched the droplets of blood fall from Jungwon’s lip in satisfication. 

“I think it’s best for us 4 to remind you of who you truly are,” Jongseong raised his fist as he pulled it back. “Stay still for this one, it’s gonna hurt.” He warned while aiming for Jungwon’s cheek. 

Jungwon prepared himself for the next hit, he wasn’t going down that easy. He waited and waited but nothing came. Opening his eyes, he was met with a shadow. He tried catching his breath from the previous hits as he watched with squinted eyes and a blurry sight. 

Thud. 

“Wow, I haven’t done that for a while.” The person in front of Jungwon said while dusting off their hands. “Are you okay?” They asked while turning around to face Jungwon with concerned fill in their eyes. They held out their hand to Jungwon as he hesitated. 

“...Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks, Riki.” He said while taking his hand into his. Riki helped him straighten up as he dusted off Jungwon’s clothes. “You’re bleeding a lot,” he said in a lower volume as Jungwon coughed again. 

“What the fuck was that for?!” Jongseong’s voice reeked with anger as he stood up, recovering from the previous attack. “Aw, looks like you have people to stand up for you now, don’t you?” Heeseung teased from the sidelines with crossed arms. Riki turned around while stretching his limbs.

“Look, I have no clue who you four are, but that doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to hurt my…friend.” Riki said with some hesitation in his voice. Heeseung scoffed while pushing himself off the wall. “Is this some joke?” He asked with knitted brows. Riki looked at him cluelessly while raising a brow. “No?” He said unsure if that was the right answer. 

“Aren’t you sweet, defending your little ‘friend.’ I wouldn’t trust him if I were you, he caused many problems back at Decelis. I’m sure you know of them too,” Sunghoon said while helping Jongseong from his previous spot. 

“I don’t like you,” Jaeyun said from beside Jungwon with his hands in stuffed into his sweater pocket. Riki turned around to see Jaeyun kicking Jungwon in his shin. Jungwon fell to the ground after losing his balance. “Don’t touch him,” Riki warned. He was too distracted by the sight in front of him that he wasn’t aware of the fist that was heading his way. 

“Pay attention to your surroundings,” Heeseung said as he watched Riki slouch over from the sudden attack. Riki looked up at Heeseung with a fresh new cut on his bottom lip. It was a 4v2, how was that fair? Those boys were way stronger than those two combined, especially with Jungwon’s strength. They were bound to lose. 

“What’s taking you guys so long!” Your voice rung out, alerting all the boys as you’d hit Jaeyun. “Riki, I sent you to go find Jungwon in the bathroom, not outside!” You exclaimed while looking at Jungwon’s fragile figure and Riki’s slightly injured one. “I can never leave you two alone,” you mumbled as a smile grew onto Riki’s face. The possibility of them losing reduced by 10%. With your help, something could be done. 

“Not my fault he wasn’t there, be grateful that I found him anyway!” Riki argued back as he spat out blood. “You’ve got to be lying. A girl, really?” Sunghoon laughed from beside Jongseong. Riki looked away from you as he narrowed his eyes at Sunghoon. 

“Focus,” you said to Riki as he stood up while wiping his bleeding lip with his thumb. He threw a punch at Heeseung as he stumbled over his feet. Riki fought the other three boys as you ran over to Jungwon. 

“Hey, you okay?” You asked while helping him up. He coughed to the side as he nodded. “I’ll help with your wounds after, alright? Just… hang in there for now?” You ressaured him while rushing. The rustling noises from beside the two of you caused you to look over at the slightly injured boy. “You see, just because you’re a girl. That doesn’t mean I won’t hold back,” Jaeyun said as you patted Jungwon on the back. “I wasn’t asking you to but okay!” You stood up from your previous spot and walked towards Jaeyun. 

You stood in the fighting stance as Jaeyun stood in front of you. He scoffed at the sight, “Are you really going to fight with m—” 

You threw a jab at his jaw as he backed up from the impact. Jungwon’s eyes widened at the sight of both you and Riki fighting against his ‘bullies’. It was something he could never do but it was still cool to watch. 

“You did Taekwondo? No wonder why your moves are so familiar,” Jaeyun mumbled while rubbing away the pain from your hit. You didn’t let his words get to your head as you waited for another opportunity to strike. 

“Well, me too.” He said while getting into the same fighting stance. He went in with an uppercut which was blocked by your forearms while you kicked him on the neck. 

You and Riki were too busy fighting the four boys and didn’t hear Jungwon’s warning. He stood up from the ground while gaining his strength again. “Guys, the police,” he said but it was too faint for anyone to hear. He placed his hand on the bricked wall beside him for more stability while the other rested on his knee. 

“The polic–” Jungwon cut himself off as the sirens of the police cars became audible. “Shit,” Jaeyun said while stopping mid-attack. You, Riki, and Jungwon all looked at each other with widened eyes. “What should we do?” Riki mouthed to you. “I’d say we run,” you mouthed back. 

He pushed Sunghoon and Jongseong away from him while you ran over to Jungwon, grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him along with you. All three of you ran at full speed with Jungwon falling behind by a little bit. 

“Why are we running so fast?! Shouldn’t it be the other way around!” He exclaimed in between breaths. “No, silly! That only happens in shows, but who said we had to follow the rules?” You said with a smile heard in your voice. 

“She’s right, it’s okay to break rules sometimes. They’re there for a reason!” Riki said while grabbing you by the arm. “I think we might need to go faster, what if they rat us out!” He panicked as he picked up the speed with both you and Jungwon now falling behind. 

—

The three of you sat at the table outside of the convenience store. The ointment bottles, used cotton swabs, and bandaid wrappers were scattered on top of the table as you all ate your ice cream. “Feels nice, doesn’t it?” You asked while smiling at the night sky. Jungwon looked at you with curious eyes. “What does?” He inquired, causing you and Riki to look at him.

“Actually, I’m not sure. But just the three of us sitting here together feels comforting.” You explained as you looked at them back. “So, Riki. Are you two finally ‘friends’ now?” You teased while leaning over the table. He playfully rolled his eyes at you with a warning glare as you laughed in return. “Don’t push it,” he said, causing Jungwon to chuckle. 

It felt like the world shifted at the sudden sound. You and Riki both looked at Jungwon with shocked and judging expressions. “Just ‘Heh?’” You both mocked in unison. “‘Heh?!’” You said again while Jungwon looked up at you with confused eyes. “What’s so shocking…?” He asked, unsure. 

“You literally just laughed! Nobody has ever heard you laugh yet. There’s even a rumor about you never laughing for years!” You pointed at him still in shock. “I’m human too, you know. I’m supposed to laugh eventually,” Jungwon said back as Riki nodded in agreement. “He’s got a point, Y/n.” He said, resulting into the two of you to start an argument. 

Jungwon was thankful. He was thankful to have met you that day, his birthday. It felt as though you were supposed to be his gift instead of that beating he got. 

He was glad that he had people to call friends. 

—

It was cloudy and slightly gloomy outside. 

“Alright, hit me.” Riki said as Jungwon looked at him confused. “You can at least throw a punch right?” He asked while Jungwon shook his head. “So, you have no fighting experience?!” Jungwon nodded as both you and Riki facepalmed. “Gosh, okay. Y/n, I’m gonna need your help for this one.” You stood up at the sound of Riki’s words and headed over to the two boys. 

“Okay, Jungwon. Hold your hands like this,” you grabbed his wrists and positioned them to shield his face. “This will help at the start of fights. Since I learned Taekwondo, I’m not able to teach you combat fighting, so Riki will do most of that.” You explained while backing up from him. 

“Now, to throw a hit at someone, just swing forward. Still try and have power into that swing and hit for a critical spot! For example, the face.” Jungwon nodded as he took in all your words.

You moved out of the way, causing him to face Riki again. “Try hitting me now,” Riki insisted as Jungwon hesitated for a while. “Just do it already—”

Jungwon threw a punch at Riki’s jaw, cutting off his sentence. His eyes widened while watching the impact his hit had on Riki. “Was that too hard? Are you alright?” He questioned as he placed his hand on Riki’s back.

“Could Have warned me, you know?” He said with pain lingering in his voice. “Sweet! That was perfect, Jungwon. Keep practicing those and you’ll eventually be able to fight Riki! Maybe even beat him,” you whispered the last bit but it was still audible to Riki. 

“Pardon?! Don’t boost his ego, he can’t get past me yet!” He exclaimed while straightening up. “Uh, I’m pretty sure it’s you with a boosted ego.” You retorted as he rolled his eyes. “Moving on, let’s do that again! This time, I’ll for sure block it.” Riki said while getting back into position. 

© haknom 2023 - do not copy, translate, or plagiarize my work on other platforms!

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