7 :

𝑇𝐻𝐸 7𝑇𝐻 𝑆𝐸𝑁𝑆𝐸: 𝑆𝑈𝑁𝐺𝐻𝑂𝑂𝑁

➪ pairing: dragon!sunghoon x female human!reader

➪ genre(s): angst, fluff

➪ tw: hoon's overworked in one scene, near injury incident, painful shifting scene (poor hoonie :c)

➪ wc: 10.3k

➪ with being the town's resident heartthrob, there isn't a time in your day where you don't hear sunghoon's name leave the mouths of fawning teenage girls. you've never really gotten the hype about him, though maybe that's because you just needed to be given a chance to talk to him for yourself. you quickly find that you're learning more about him than you intend and maybe, just maybe, you start to understand the incessant chatter about him.

a crisp morning breeze swirled around your walking figure and left tendrils of your hair blowing wildly behind you. you shivered lightly, closing the ends of your school uniform jacket tighter around yourself as you made a conscious effort to quicken your pace to the bus stop. the weight of your school bag had you hunching forward at an angle that certainly wasn't going to be helpful to the growth of your spine. you swore that by the end of the year, you'd end up with a back like quasimodo's.

you arrived at the bus stop where your few friends greeted you with equally hunched backs and quivering limbs littered with goosebumps. yuna immediately curled her arms around you and shifted your back to the direction the wind was blowing, effectively using you as a human shield.

"gee, thanks," you murmured less than enthusiastically, but you allowed her to remain hidden nonetheless. "i need to stop by the school library on the way to class to return my book. anyone wanna come with?" you invited, searching between each of your friends' faces and receiving the same sheepish expression in return.

"we kind of already made plans to watch sunghoon's morning practice before class started," ningning confessed apologetically, twirling a strand of her hair mindlessly around her finger. chaerin shrugged her shoulders, mouthing the word sorry to you.

you grunted displeasingly, though you should've expected as much. it seemed to you like every girl and their mothers wanted to bend over backwards just to breathe the same air as park sunghoon. you never understood why, though. you'd admit that he was extremely gifted in the genes department and you knew he was an above average student with exceptional grades, but that also applied to many other guys in your town. what made park sunghoon so different? was it simply because he could skate without falling on his ass with every step he took? jung sungchan could burp the alphabet backwards yet nobody seemed to be impressed by that mad show of skill.

the bus ride was as excruciating as ever having to listen to your friends giggle obnoxiously over the forbidden boy. you let a long sigh draw from your lips as you dug out your library book and began to read it for a third time in a desperate attempt to block them out. the ride could not have lasted any longer and as soon as it pulled into the school parking lot, you, being the ever so lovely friend you were, nearly knocked yuna into the aisle as you clambered over her to be one of the first to exit the bus.

you rushed inside to get away from the incessant sunghoon chatter and the biting wind gusts that nipped the tips of your nose and ears a dull shade of red. with your beloved book clutched firmly to your chest, you easily navigated through the slowly crowding hallways in the direction of the library where you had become a weekly visitor to. greeting the librarian with a warm smile as you slid your returning book over the countertop to her, you turned on your heel to scavenge through the fantasy section for the next book in the series you'd been invested in recently. after locating the next book, you briefly flipped through some of the pages to look for any rips or signs of damage, and to secretly get that bookish scent you weirdly liked.

a ping chimed from your phone in the pocket of your school bag and you hurried to snatch it out, feeling a little flustered at not remembering to have turned the ringer off before you entered the school. a text notification from chaerin asked you to snag a book she needed from the nonfiction section tagged with a bunch of hearts and kissy emojis that had you rolling your eyes fondly. you ventured over to the appropriate book section and began to scan the shelves for the requested book, finding it in almost no time at all. you whirled around in a hurry to check the books out and get to class early and somehow didn't notice the presence slipping along the wall of shelves behind you until your two bodies collided.

"ah, sorry!" you rushed out at the same time the other person had, both of you reaching out to steady the other purely on instinct. your two books tumbled to the floor with muted thumps that the rough carpet muffled slightly. glancing up at the person who you'd nearly ran over, you felt the oxygen inside of you come to a screeching halt behind the invisible barrier your throat had created as your eyes made contact with the forbidden boy's.

"it was an accident, no worries. are you alright?" a gentle smile easily graced his lips as he retracted his hands from you before bending down to gather up the two books you had dropped, handing them out to you after straightening back up. you accepted them back into your own hands as you tried to force your lungs to start working properly again, quickly dropping your gaze from his face so that you could do so easily.

"i'm fine, thank you," you echoed quietly, immediately clutching the books to your chest like you had done previously. what was wrong with you? more importantly, what was wrong with him that resulted in there being something wrong with you? "shouldn't you be at the ice rink?" you blurted out, surprising even yourself with the question that really was none of your business nor did you really care what the reason was...didn't you?

sparing another glance at his face proved to be a fatal mistake as you were once again left with dysfunctional lungs. a short chuckle reverberated from him as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his uniform's pants. "i'm just looking for something before i go. are you eager to watch?" something about the way he asked the question didn't seem arrogant like you'd expected it to, though that definitely didn't stop you from instantly becoming defensive in the face of fluster.

you scoffed, letting the puff of air pass humorlessly through your lips as you moved to take a step around him. "i'm not exactly the fangirl type. my friends are going down there to watch you so i thought you'd be there already," you objected, beginning to take slow and languid steps towards the front desk to check out the books. sunghoon's eyes followed you as you moved and you couldn't help but feel nervous under his burning gaze.

"oh, i see. well, you're always welcome to stop by if you ever find yourself with some free time, no fangirl label attached." he flashed that charming smile once more before turning to slink further into the library, leaving you to scurry to the desk and then to your class.

"you'd better never give that book back," yuna decreed with an envious pout casted in chaerin's direction from across the table. you rolled your eyes briefly before returning to the paragraph you were in the midst of reading from your newly acquired book, only half listening to the conversation at hand.

"it's checked out under my name, don't do anything unspeakable with it. i'm not letting any of you ruin my reputation as a responsible book handler," you quipped, your eyes not once leaving the pages sat open before you.

"forget about the book, y/n actually made physical contact with him. look, i think her skin is glowing now." ningning abruptly grabbed your hand to inspect it too closely under the fluorescent lighting of the classroom, yuna leaning in to observe your palm as well.

jerking your hand back to yourself with your lip curled in revulsion, you placed your marker in your book and closed it up just as the professor entered the room to start the lesson. you hadn't made it more than half an hour into the lesson when you experienced your lungs failing you once more. the professor started the class by briefly going over a new project you would be starting this semester, only the project was one half of a collaboration with another class that you weren't taking and each person would be paired up with someone from the other class. it wasn't that bad in your opinion, though you'd definitely much rather work with one of your friends. where it all went south for you was the minute the professor began to read off the pairing assignments aloud.

"chaerin will be partnered up with yang jeongin." chaerin shrugged, muttering something along the lines of how her partner could have been worse. "y/n will be partnered up with park sunghoon."

the millisecond the words had been uttered into existence, it seemed as though everyone collectively stopped everything they were doing and turned to stare you down. your wide eyes frantically searched your friends' equally shellshocked faces, their mirrored expressions letting you know that you had indeed heard the professor correctly. slowly, you slumped down in your seat as you could feel dozens of envious eyes boring holes into you from all angles of the room. a dizzying mix of emotions flooded you at once and left you barely functioning through the remainder of the class.

as you wandered down the hallway with your friends pestering you about your newly acquired project partner, the dread you'd been feeling amplified tenfold after rounding the corner and spotting the forbidden boy just at the opposite end with his own friends. you kept your head down and prayed to every god, goddess, and magical holiday being that he wouldn't say anything to you. of course, you'd probably forgotten to have a little chat with the tooth fairy or something as the exact opposite of what you'd been asking for happened.

"hey!" you'd planned to just pretend to not have realized that sunghoon was calling out to you, but of course your conniving friends weren't allowing that to happen. ningning grabbed at the nape of your shirt, promptly halting you in your steps and simultaneously nearly choking you out. you swallowed back the urge to groan aloud and forced a tight-lipped smile as sunghoon veered from his group of friends to stop directly before you. "you're y/n, right? i think we're paired up for that project."

you nodded stiffly. "yep, looks like we are." you were acutely aware of the stares you got from students passing by and the much unwanted attention had you shrinking in on yourself slightly.

"when should we meet up to start on it? i'm free after practice so if it works out for you, we can head to the library or something." an invisible cloud of warmth seemed to envelop you out of nowhere, causing you to squirm in slight discomfort.

before you could open your mouth to respond, ningning's voice spoke up on behalf of you much to your dismay. "she'll meet you there!" she chirped, successfully dodging the elbow you tried to land against her abdomen.

"cool, i'll see you later then," sunghoon answered before moving around the four of you to catch back up to his friends once more.

"did you feel that? he's so hot that he has his own climate," yuna hissed out in a harsh whisper as the group of you continued on towards your collective destination to the art room. you rolled your eyes, this time allowing the defeated groan to slip past your lips. though now your curiosity had been sparked knowing that the other girls had felt the wave of heat, also.

by the end of the day, you were sick of hearing about sunghoon more than usual. but, with all the unlucky energy you'd somehow managed to absorb over this 24-hour period, you found yourself begrudgingly following your friends to the school's ice rink for the first time in, well, ever. your lack of appearances to sunghoon's practices proved to be more of a disadvantage than you'd first thought after seeing your friends bundle up in warm coats and hats. thankfully, chaerin had additionally brought a blanket that she was more than willing to let you use.

you weren't sure whether or not to feel surprised by the number of seats in the stands that had already been taken up by female students of varying grade levels. did all these people really not have anything more important to do? following your eager friends into one of the rows closest to the front, you dropped your school bag to the ground and immediately fished out your book before slouching in the cushioned seat. you had no problem tuning out the noise around you as it had been a skill you'd learned to do quite quickly in your school career. however, it wasn't the constant buzz of conversations being held around you or even the sudden burst of cheers and encouraging words shouted from the stands as you imagined sunghoon gliding out onto the ice that distracted you, but it was the sight you caught from your peripheral vision of a lithe body launching up into the air in a triple axel before landing with such grace back onto the ice.

from all the talk you'd heard around school, you knew he was good at what he did though you did convince yourself that his talent was being a bit exaggerated by overenthusiastic fans. you definitely didn't expect him to be this skilled, and you couldn't help but let your eyes subtly follow him over the top of your book as he continued to flawlessly execute impossible looking tricks. with each successful landing, high pitched shouts of praise would echo into the rink and it didn't take long for your head to start ringing with signs of an impending headache. the chilly air definitely wasn't helping your case either and left your ears, nose, and cheeks dusting a light shade of red.

"ooh, y/n's interest has been sparked," yuna crowed teasingly above the noise of another cheer, giving your shoulder a playful shake. it didn't take long for ningning and chaerin to join in on the friendly banter at your expense. though you once more showed your displeasure with a signature eye roll, you couldn't mask the small smile that crept onto your lips as you tried to fixate your attention back to the words littering the pages of your book.

"he's alright," you admitted quietly. he may be alright, but that didn't mean you were going to drop to your knees at the mere sight of him. you simply had to tolerate him long enough to get your project finished with a decent grade, then you'd hopefully never have to be seen with him again.

clearly you underestimated the effort you'd have to put into deliberately avoiding the forbidden boy. it seemed as though every corner you turned, he was there with his flock of fangirls crowding him and his friends. and of course he couldn't go a single encounter without acknowledging you each time with a wave or a smile which effectively drew the attention of his fanclub to you. you couldn't even use the restroom without noticing a trio of girls whispering in the corner and casting pointed looks in your direction.

ningning and yuna brushed your concerns off each time you brought up the situation which only frustrated you even more. maybe they were right, though, maybe you really were just overreacting. you had nothing to hide, there was no secret relationship to keep from the eyes and ears of the student body. in fact, you wouldn't even consider there to be a secret friendship to conceal. you met up at the library after school each day to work on the assignment, rarely speaking about anything off the topic of such, then you'd pack up and head your separate ways after about an hour or two of working. there was hardly anything for anyone to be jealous about.

one thing that you could appreciate, though, was sunghoon's punctuality. every day after his practice, he was meeting up with you in the library at exactly 4:45 sharp to begin working. it had become an unspoken agreement that was shared between the two of you that 4:45 was your designated meeting time. so, when you'd glanced up at the wall clock ticking above the library door and saw that the time read fifteen minutes past, your brows furrowed confusedly. pulling out your phone to make sure that the clock on the wall wasn't just running fast, the digital numbers on your lockscreen confirmed that it was indeed past time and sunghoon was late.

it was only then that you slightly regretted not exchanging phone numbers, of course only for emergency purposes such as this. deciding you'd wait just a few minutes longer, you continued to work on your portion of the joined project. after glancing up a bit later and noticing that ten more minutes had passed with still no sign of sunghoon, you let out an irritated huff and began to pack up your things, swinging your bag over your shoulders before wandering out of the library. there was only one possible place you could think to look for him in which, unfortunately for you, was located at the opposite side of the school.

you made the three minute trek to the ice rink and pushed inside of the double doors leading into the stands. unusually, there were no students occupying the seats, but there was one person occupying the rink. sunghoon. you ventured further into the chilly arena with your arms folded protectively over yourself, a shiver creeping up your spine as goosebumps rose on the exposed patches of your skin. you opened your mouth to call out to sunghoon when another voice echoed much to your surprise.

"do it again!" scanning the seats, you didn't see anyone else out there which only served to confuse you more. taking a few more cautious steps down the aisle, you could just barely make out the top of someone's head on the other side of the rink's walls, the person watching as sunghoon glided around inside.

"i need a break," you heard sunghoon call back to the person, the exhaustion in his voice painfully evident as he bent over slightly with his hands braced against his thighs for support, his back heaving up and down with heavy breaths. copious amounts of steam rolled off of him and nearly enveloped him in a smoky cloud, and you wondered just how cold it really was in that rink.

"what you need is to perfect that transition, now do it again," the person barked back mercilessly. your eyes grew slightly wide as you watched in silence, too afraid to make your presence known now.

without another word, sunghoon straightened back up and wiped at the sweat collecting on his forehead before skating a few laps around the rink to build his momentum back up. you noticed the way that he seemed to drag his feet as he went, and a small pinch of worry had your heart skipping a beat or two. as you'd seen him do the week before, he launched himself into the air in a perfect triple axel, then again in a double, and then– an involuntary shriek slipped past your lips as sunghoon's body collapsed onto the ice with a hard thud, your hands immediately flying up to cover your face.

"hey!" the man outside of the ring whirled around abruptly at the sound of your shriek. "we said no watchers today, get out!"

sunghoon's head lifted at the sound of you being scolded, the steam still rising around his body as he lay in a heap on the ice. "y/n?" he called out, tiredly pushing himself back up to his feet. despite the seething glare of the man, who you'd figured was a coach of some sort, you found yourself rushing down the aisle of the stands and hurrying to the gate leading into the rink. just barely making it to the wall before his legs began to buckle again, sunghoon grabbed onto your outstretched hand and hobbled over the threshold.

"are you okay? do you need to see the nurse? i think she's still here." you allowed sunghoon to lean against you as he slipped on the blade guards, the heat radiating off of him causing you to feel immensely hot in a matter of seconds. you pushed that to the back of your mind for the time being as you helped him over to the bench, gingerly lowering him down onto it.

"he'll be fine," the man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he followed the two of you over. wordlessly, sunghoon weakly lifted a finger to point behind you and you easily located the object he was asking for.

you grabbed the water bottle and even took the initiative to open the cap for him before handing it over, fixing a hard glare at the man standing over you shortly after. "i don't think that's for you to decide," you bit out harshly. "you should feel ashamed of yourself, he told you he needed a break."

a small chuckle sounded from sunghoon after he had lowered the water bottle from his lips, quickly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "i'm not hurt, y/n, promise," he assured you with a warming smile. "just a little tired." still, you shot one last unfriendly look towards the man before rising from your crouched position in front of sunghoon, crossing your arms over your chest.

"we need to get back to practice, so if you'd kindly take your leave–"

ignoring the man, you pointedly kept your attention on sunghoon. "you should get back home and rest, it seems like you've been here long enough." you weren't sure where this sudden urge to look out for him came from. just minutes prior, you were thinking up new ways to dodge him in the hallways and had even considered asking the professor to trade partners. you definitely still weren't one-hundred percent happy about the situation, though something inside of you now deterred you from your negative thoughts. maybe you actually felt bad for sunghoon, at least for now.

brushing off your words of concern with another pretty smile, sunghoon instead sat his water bottle down next to his feet before leaning with his back against the concrete half wall separating the three of you from the stands. "i'm sorry i didn't make it to the library today. we can work an extra day this weekend if you'd like to make up for it," he apologized sincerely, reaching up to wipe more sweat from his brow.

you were quick to shake your head adamantly. "no, don't worry about it. we're almost done with it anyways and we still have plenty of time before it's due."

sunghoon's gaze remained fixated on your face as you spoke, his eyes tracing over your features with a certain intensity that made you start to feel hot all over again. you swallowed thickly, shifting your weight to one side as you were the first to break eye contact with him. you hated that, you hated how you slowly began to see and understand the things that your friends gushed about constantly. sunghoon had a way of making you feel like you were the main love interest in a cheesy romance drama with the constant lingering gazes and endless smiles casted in your direction. surely it was your own mind playing tricks on you as you gradually found yourself beginning to think more and more about him regardless of your persistence to avoid him. no matter what it was that you were thinking about, it somehow always involved sunghoon.

clearing your throat awkwardly, you adjusted your bag on your shoulders and began to take slow steps towards the stands in order to make your exit. "so, you're sure you're going to be okay?" you queried, your brows furrowed with uncertainty.

sunghoon nodded. "i'll be okay, thank you. i'll see you tomorrow, y/n, and i promise to actually be there on time," he answered lightheartedly despite having nearly suffered a serious injury just moments prior. with one last wary glance, you nodded before treading back the way you had come.

"are you going to the dance?" your hand paused mid-writing and your eyes briefly darted up to glance across the table, finding sunghoon still working diligently. you narrowed your eyes slightly before diverting your attention back to your open textbook.

"no," you deadpanned in response.

"why not?" sunghoon pressed. "i'm going."

you snickered, "is that supposed to make me want to go?" perhaps it did a bit, but you were far too stubborn to admit it even to yourself.

sunghoon just laughed lightly in return, then it stayed quiet between you two as you continued working on the last bits of your project. it had been three days since the incident at the ice rink and neither of you had spoken about it since. in fact, neither of you had spoken at all until just moments ago; he had even stopped saying hello to you in the hallways. it didn't bother you...no, really, it didn't!

"are you not going with your friends?" he asked, sitting back in his chair after dropping his pencil atop the table with a short clatter. once more, you glanced up at him briefly before adverting your gaze away from him.

"no, chaerin's going with someone from another school, ningning will be out of town that weekend, and yuna's stuck babysitting for the night. besides, i have tests to study for," you sighed heavily, also dropping your pencil between the pages of your textbook before leaning back in your own chair. still, you refused to meet sunghoon's gaze.

"i'm sure if you asked someone to go with you, they'd say yes. you only get to experience high school once, you know."

you snorted lightly in response, crossing your arms over your chest. "unless you're lucky enough to repeat a year or two. besides, i don't have anyone i'm interested in asking."

sunghoon hummed softly, nodding as he reached out to begin twirling his pencil between his fingers. "i see, but what if there's someone who's interested in asking you?"

you raised your eyebrows skeptically, finally managing to spare the forbidden boy a few seconds of eye contact. "if you're implying that you want to ask me, then i'm sorry for bursting your bubble but i'm not going."

sunghoon's mouth dropped open for a few seconds before it closed again and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "uh, actually one of my friends, jisung, wanted to ask you. don't worry about it, though, he'll ask someone else."

you wanted to punch yourself. of course sunghoon wasn't going to ask you, why would you assume he was going to? your face flushed red with embarrassment and you were forced to look away from him. "oh," you answered dumbly, your fingers finding each other as they twiddled nervously.

"i'm already going with someone." of course he was, you weren't surprised at all by this revelation. were you disappointed, though? maybe just the slightest bit.

you forced a tight-lipped smile as you picked your pencil back up, hunching back over your textbook once more. "she must be a lucky girl, then," you ventured, indicating with your lack of enthusiasm that you were done with the conversation.

picking up on your cue, sunghoon let a long sigh draw from his lips before leaning over his own book. you sucked your bottom lip between your teeth as your brain failed to focus on the task at hand and instead opted to flood with thoughts about the dance. your school hosted its annual halloween dance the week before the spooky holiday and you'd never been interested in going until that point. of course the one year you'd decided to try coming out of your antisocial shell, the universe wanted to work against you by taking your friends out of the equation. not wanting to go alone, you had stuffed the thought to the back of your mind, but now that you actually had a chance to go, you were definitely starting to rethink your decisions.

finally getting fed up with your overthinking, you hastily opened up your notebook and tore out a piece of paper. you scribbled your contact information down before folding it up and shoving it across the table at an unsuspecting sunghoon. "give that to your friend," you spoke shortly before resuming your task, thankfully with much more peace of mind.

another silent week passed before the halloween dance was taking place and you were anxiously waiting in your living room with chaerin and her date for jisung to arrive and pick the three of you up. you felt that you looked like the female lead in a cheesy coming of age movie who'd just had her glow up, and you honestly couldn't decide whether or not it was an experience you enjoyed. with your hair twisted up in an elaborate updo and shimmering eyeshadow decorating your lids, it was safe to say that you hadn't felt this feminine in a long time and it made you a bit self-conscious.

glancing up at the sound of a car pulling into your driveway, you were met with a momentary wave of relief as you stood from your seat and smoothed down the silky material of your dress. however, that relief lasted all of five seconds when your overenthusiastic parents came scrambling into the living room with cameras galore, insisting that they get pictures of you with everyone before you left. your cheeks flared bright red as you opened up the door to let jisung inside, muttering a quick apology for what was about to take place before accepting your defeat and letting the slightly embarrassing photoshoot happen.

after your parents were satisfied, the four of you left in a hurry and you hobbled to jisung's car in your uncomfortable heels. you thanked him genuinely with a smile as he opened the passenger door for you and helped you inside, even going the extra mile to make sure the skirt of your dress was safely tucked inside of the car before gently closing the door. jisung was a sweet boy, that much you had come to learn quite quickly. he was prone to becoming a flustered mess in your presence and he ever so shyly asked if you wanted to match color themes with him for the dance which you couldn't say no to. there was definitely nothing wrong with him, but your mind constantly seemed to be somewhere else.

that proved to still be an issue as the next thing you knew, your door was being opened once more much to your surprise. trying to mask the fact that you had just completely zoned out the entire eight minute ride to the school grounds, you placed your hand in jisung's offered palm and allowed him to help you slide out of the car with grace. your arm naturally slid to link with his as the four of you made your way to the entrance of the school where each couple or friend group paused to have their pictures taken by the school's yearbook team.

a short wolf whistle caught your attention after the last photo was snapped, then the unmistakable voice of the class president bellowed above the noise. "is that miss y/n?"

your cheeks flushed with embarrassment as multiple pairs of eyes instantly drew to you. "shut up, chenle!" jisung hollered back before swiftly leading you into the gymnasium with chaerin and her date close behind.

the vast room was fully decked out in halloween decorations and pulsing purple lights lit up the otherwise darkened gym. orange and black streamers seemed to hang everywhere you turned and decorative tablecloths lined the snacks and drinks tables. a photo booth was set up in the far corner and students were already moving around on the open dance floor as overplayed songs bumped from the large speakers placed near the stage.

"let's go, what are we waiting for?" chaerin called above the sound of the music before grabbing both your and her date's hands and dragging you to the dance floor, your free hand instinctively clasping onto jisung's to take him with you.

you had no idea how to dance and you quickly started kicking yourself, thankfully not literally, for not thinking to learn different moves other than the awkward shuffle you had been doing for the last two songs. luckily, it seemed that jisung had no idea what he was doing either and both of you continued to giggle and poke fun at each other into the third song of the night. well, that was until jisung got suckered into the middle of a dance circle where he completely changed your assumption on his dancing abilities as he absolutely decimated the classmate who had challenged him to the small dance-off in the first place.

"where's sunghoon?" just as jisung had returned to your side after being congratulated with slaps on his back and encouraging words, a girl whom you were slightly familiar with had strutted right up to the two of you with her arms folded unamusedly over her chest. "i've been looking for him for ten minutes, text him or something. he's your friend, isn't he?" she demanded jisung with an unpleasant scowl on her otherwise pretty features.

jisung's lips parted slightly in bewilderment before hurriedly starting to pat at his various pockets to locate his phone. you quirked a challenging eyebrow in her direction, "you don't have his number?"

she scoffed, fixing her steely glare at you. "no, do you?" she bit back venomously, a satisfied smug look crossing her features as you remained silent.

"i'll come find you when he replies," jisung announced, locking his phone to slot back into his pocket when the device was abruptly snatched out of his hand.

"or," she snipped, "you'll stay with me until he replies."

jisung glanced back and forth between the two of you unsurely, prompting an irritated noise to rumble from within your throat as you bent down to hastily remove your shoes from your feet. "for god's sake, i'll go look for him," you sighed before whirling around and storming out of the gymnasium with your bare feet slapping noisily against the tiled floors of the hallway. you immediately knew where to look as should anyone who knew anything about sunghoon.

bursting carelessly through the doors leading to the ice rink, your voice immediately rang around the echoey arena. "park sunghoon!" as you marched down the aisle between the stands, you found the body of none other than the boy of the hour laying flat on his back in the middle of the rink with his limbs spread out. his head turned in your direction as you eventually made it to the gate, your figure already beginning to quiver with the cold that blew over your exposed skin. "what are you doing in here?"

"i like to come here when i need to cool off," he answered nonchalantly, not making any effort to move from his starfish pose on the hard ice. surely it was uncomfortable, right?

"right, because it must be such hard work being adored by the masses," you surmised, rolling your eyes despite the small smile that wanted to tug the corners of your lips up.

sunghoon's mouth dropped open in mock offense. "ah, if it wasn't so cold in here, i'd almost say that burned."

once more, you granted him another eye roll though this time a half-hearted chuckle managed to escape from your lips. the steam rolling off of him caught your attention once more, and this time you couldn't find it in yourself to let it slide. "wow, you really do have your own climate," you commented, leaning forward to drape your arms across the top of the gate leading into the rink.

sunghoon raised his eyebrows in question. "i do? is that your way of saying i'm hot?" the amount of heat that rose to your cheeks should've created your own shield of steam in the chilly arena.

you quickly diverted your gaze to somewhere off in the distance to refrain from showing him just how flustered that stupid question made you. "no," you asserted, "it's something stupid my friends say."

"right, of course..." he trailed off before finally pushing himself up into a seated position. "how did you know i'd be here?"

you scoffed, "please, you're so predictable. the school's ice skater disappears during a time where he's needed, of course the only logical place to look would be in the ice rink. it doesn't take rocket science to figure that out."

sunghoon laughed lightly, giving a short nod in response. "i guess you're right. can i ask another question?"

"you just did," you deadpanned, "but sure, go for it i guess."

"why did you come looking for me?" the teasing glint in his eye gave away exactly what he was thinking and you were quick to shut that theory of his down.

"funny you should ask. your date is holding mine hostage until you return, so unless you'd like to explain to her parents why you're returning her home damaged, then it may be in your best interest to come claim her."

sunghoon held your gaze for a few moments longer before nodding and pushing himself up onto his feet. taking slow and stiff strides towards the gate, he once more grasped your outstretched palm and stepped over the threshold onto solid, non-slippery ground. the heat he radiated engulfed you just as it had done before and the goosebumps and incessant shivering you'd been enduring ceased at once. something about it felt odd to you, no person should constantly be running this warm. previously you'd just chalked it up to him overworking himself in the rink, but this time he had simply been laying there. your curiosity got the best of you as you fell into step next to sunghoon while making your trek back to the gymnasium.

"are you feeling okay?" you asked, twirling the strap of one of your heels around your hand as you walked. you peeked at him through your peripheral vision and noticed him doing the same in your direction.

"yes, i'm okay. just a little nervous, i guess. why do you ask?"

you almost wanted to ask why the hell he of all people would be feeling nervous, but you were sharp enough to see what he was trying to do. "you're always abnormally hot, and before you let it boost your ego, i mean it quite literally."

sunghoon breathed out a small laugh. "i wasn't going to think about it like that, anyways." he shook his head slightly before continuing, "i guess i just always run a bit warmer than other people. i get that from my father's side, he's quite a heater, as well."

you sucked your cheeks in slightly, not buying his story for even a second. but, for argument's sake and because ultimately it wasn't really your place to poke your nose in his business, you gave a simple nod and paused just outside of the gym to slip your heels back on. a sharp intake of breath filled your lungs as sunghoon stopped alongside you, then knelt down to begin fastening the straps of your shoes after you'd slid them back on. wordlessly, he rose back to his feet and flashed that swoon worthy smile of his before entering the chaotic gymnasium with you following in tow, your mind void of all things except for the forbidden boy.

"hey, y/n!" a voice hissed in a loud whisper. you turned to your left, ready to use the book in your hand to defend yourself with until you recognized who the owner of the voice was. you let your guard back down with a small sigh, clutching the book to your chest as jisung came trotting up to you. "are you busy this friday?"

you hesitated before shaking your head negatively, your brows creasing together slightly. "no, why?"

jisung scratched the back of his neck which, you'd learned in the few days prior to your date to the dance, was a nervous habit of his. it was endearing, you decided. "well, some of my friends and i are gonna go trick or treating and i wanted to see if you'd like to join us," he explained in a hushed tone, shifting from one foot to the other as he glanced between the library book shelves.

"oh," you started, "uh, who specifically does that include?"

"me, chenle, taehyun, jinha..." he listed off a few more students before the name you were silently hoping you wouldn't hear; or, maybe you did hope to hear it, "...and sunghoon."

you swallowed thickly before shifting your focus to your worn shoes below. "do you mind if i bring some of my friends?" you finally asked, bringing your eyes back up to meet jisung's once more. he nodded rapidly, and you found yourself agreeing to tag along much to his delight. he quickly told you where the designated meeting spot would be before bounding further into the library with a giddy smile. you knew how he felt about you, he was really quite horrible at hiding it whenever you were around, but you couldn't find it in your heart to shut him down. you'd never had anyone crush on you before, at least not to your knowledge, what were you supposed to do with this information?

it didn't take very much convincing for your three friends to agree to going after you'd said the magic word, that being sunghoon. so, that friday night you found yourself waltzing to the decided meeting spot dressed as one of four ninja turtles to correspond with the three others your friends represented. you honestly couldn't remember what your turtle's name was, but you did enjoy the fact that you got to carry around a huge wooden staff. at least you now had a reason to yield a weapon to knock yuna upside the head with if she pestered you about the forbidden boy too much.

"are we ready to go?" ningning asked aloud after the four of you had arrived, swinging her empty pumpkin bucket around.

"no, sunghoon's not answering," the only other girl there answered with a harsh huff, and you immediately recognized her from the school dance.

you frowned a little, glancing around until you caught jisung's eye from across the group. he only shrugged animatedly and glanced back down at his phone like he was waiting for a notification to suddenly pop up.

"has anyone checked up on him at his house or anything?" you questioned, a scoff of disbelief falling from your lips as everyone shook their heads. "some friends you are," you sighed heavily. "then maybe we should split up to search for him? some of us check at his house, some check at the places he's at most, and the rest can check at the school. maybe he got held back during practice or something."

slowly but surely, the group dispersed in small search parties which resulted in you traveling to the school with jisung and jinha. "hey, geniuses, how do you plan to get into the school? we can't break in unless we want to start criminal records," jinha nagged from the backseat.

"chenle snagged his mom's id card so we can get inside," jisung replied, holding up the school staff badge that all school workers wore clipped to their shirts during the day.

you took the badge from jisung's hand to examine it, seeing that it was indeed the vice principal's id stamped on the front of the glossy plastic. "why does he just randomly have this?" you implored before handing it back to the boy just as he pulled into the school's parking lot.

"he stole it last year and made her think she lost it so she'd get a new one. he keeps this one in case he needs to get inside for...certain activities." sensing that jisung wasn't going to elaborate any further, you didn't push for more details and climbed out of the vehicle.

"great, so now i'm associated with a criminal," jinha pouted as the three of you charged up to the entrance, jisung hastily swiping the card across the reader panel before the doors unlocked with a loud clunk.

you rolled your eyes, leading the way inside where you were met with nothing but darkness. "don't worry, i'm sure your boyfriend will find a way to bail you out," you retorted as the three of you collectively fished out your phones to utilize their flashlights.

"of course he will, but i still don't want it on my track record."

"i think we should split up to look," you announced, quickly growing fed up with jinha's whiny attitude.

"you're insane, there's no way in hell i'm wandering around this school alone! that's how the characters all die in horror movies. jisung, you're coming with me," she stated firmly before grasping his wrist and yanking him down the east wing.

"good riddance," you muttered to yourself as you made your way down the west wing. you had to admit, the school seemed much more daunting at night with the eerily quiet hallways and the usually blocked out sounds of various electrical units running. your heart began to thud harder and faster in your chest the further into the school you crept, and eventually you had to stop and lean against the wall of lockers to collect yourself. you'd finally gotten your breathing and heart rate back to normal when you heard it, and your blood turned to ice immediately.

you held your breath, the thumping of your heart rising again as you strained to listen for the sound to come again. you took a few hesitant steps forward with your flashlight shakily guiding you before you heard it a second time. a cry of pain, it was distant but you definitely heard it and it only served to frighten you more. immediately, you began to back up the way you had just come from when a sudden feeling struck you hard.

go look.

the feeling was intense and it had you halting in your backtracking steps. why would you want to investigate? you had no idea what or who was making that noise, and you wanted no part in whatever was happening. but, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't shake the incessant feeling that begged you to go see what was going on. with a final deep breath to clear your body of its nerves, you began to move forward down the hallway again. you weren't sure where you were supposed to be looking, but you guessed you'd just follow the sounds. another anguished cry faintly tickled your ears, then–

the ice rink.

swallowing down the urge to break down under the immense fear coursing through your veins, you bolted for the arena and came to a halt just outside of the heavy metal doors leading into the stands. you pressed your ear against the door to listen for any signs of life inside and jumped back with a yelp of surprise as the heated metal made contact with your cheek. why was it so hot? was there a fire inside? what if someone was trapped?

clutching your phone tightly in your hand, you busted through the doors and were met with a wave of unbearably sweltering heat that choked you up for only a moment or two. the air was thick with humidity and it didn't take long for your body to begin reacting to the overwhelming warmth of the arena.

in the center of the ice rink, a thick cloud of smoke nearly hid the hunched silhouette of a person who emitted the same pained cry that you'd been hearing. it couldn't be...

"sunghoon?" you called out above the loud sizzle that echoed off the walls of the vast room. throwing caution to the wind, you charged down the aisle and over to the gate where you had stood all those times prior. the closer you drew to the rink, the hotter the air became until you were sure your hair would singe if you moved any closer. "sunghoon, is that you? what's going on?" you called again, watching with squinted vision as the shadowed figure curled in on themself after letting out a guttural groan.

"leave!" he growled out quite literally, the sound unlike anything you'd ever heard a human produce. it shot a spike of fear down your spine, but regardless you remained planted by the gate. the ice around him was rapidly melting into water and evaporating into the air, adding to the thick fog encasing his body.

"i'll call for help, just stay put!" you called out once more, your shaky hands fumbling with your phone as you tried to navigate from your flashlight to your phone app to call for emergency services.

"no, don't!" the same gravelly voice grumbled, effectively stopping you from proceeding with your actions as you glanced up with wide, panic stricken eyes. slowly, he began to drag his body out of the curtain of steam and a stunned silence fell over you as a pair of brightly glowing green eyes met with yours. your phone fell to the ground with a clatter and your lips parted in a silent scream that never made it out. "y/n, please, don't tell anyone," he pleaded before dropping to the ice with another cry, his body twisting and writhing around in discomfort.

red scales painted his bare torso in random patches that ran all the way down his arms and crept up his neck, and his spine visibly rippled as small spikes began to push through his skin. if you weren't in such a state of shock, you'd almost be sickened by the sight of it, though that shock quickly morphed into concern as you watched him drag his nails against the ice in a feeble attempt to relieve the pain undoubtedly coursing through his body. now, you felt bad, bad enough to have you pushing the gate open and crouching down to scoot along the melting ice towards him.

"y/n, i'll burn you. stay back," he wheezed out, taking immediate notice of your presence creeping closer to him. against your urges, you heeded his warning and remained planted in your spot near the rink's wall.

"what are you?" you couldn't help but ask as you watched more tiny spikes travel down the length of his spine.

sunghoon's green eyes tiredly met yours, then a small amused grunt tumbled from his lips. "what are you?"

sensing that he wanted a distraction from whatever it was he was going through, you found it in your heart to play along. "i'm a ninja turtle, duh," you proclaimed, pointing to the colored bandana tied around your head. "leo, i think," you mused, racking your brain for all names you could remember.

"you're donnie, y/n. he's the super smart one," sunghoon corrected with a fatigued laugh which quickly turned into a whimper as he winced in pain. your body screamed at you to crawl over and console him, but your brain won the argument and you remained seated.

"oh, well then i guess i should take that as a compliment since my friends threw this costume at me," you chuckled, gesturing to the props and clothing covering you.

"he's also kind of a nerd and hopelessly in love with a girl he can't have."

"there's always a catch, isn't there?" you sighed dramatically, leaning back on your palms. "well, i guess he and i aren't very different after all," you admitted, your face flushing even hotter than it already was. was this really how you were going to confess your feelings? in a melting ice rink with some sort of hot demon boy rolling around in front of you? the thought alone was absurd enough to pull a laugh from you.

"you like a girl?" sunghoon teased, and you soon found yourself wanting to use your staff to whack him with but decided he was already suffering enough.

"no, stupid, i like–" you cut yourself off before you could say it out loud, swiftly moving your attention to the watering layer of ice beneath you. "never mind."

you felt the air heat up even hotter for a split second before it suddenly died down, like a bucket of water had been thrown on the blazing fire heating the room up. taking a glance around, nothing seemed to have changed other than the cloud of smoke that had now moved to encompass the both of you. sunghoon pushed himself up with shaky limbs and began to crawl closer to you much to your surprise before dropping down right beside you with his head in your lap.

he was still burning up and the heat was highly uncomfortable, but the way that he instantly sighed in relief upon making contact with you had your heart doing somersaults in your chest. with a weary hand, you gently brushed the sweaty locks away from his forehead and allowed him to nestle his cheek into the palm of your hand. the blood rushed through your veins tenfold as little sparks of something ignited inside of your chest. there was no point in denying it now, it was inevitable from day one and you knew it no matter how hard you tried to deny your feelings.

you liked park sunghoon.

"you know," he cleared his throat, his eyes slipping shut, "i hopelessly like a girl who i can't have, too." you tried so hard to not stare at the sharp canines inside of his mouth as he spoke.

"oh please," you scoffed quietly, "name one person in this school who wouldn't throw themselves at your feet."

"you," he answered without missing a beat, a small smile gracing his lips as his eyelids fluttered back open to greet you with his glowing irises. "i wanted to take you to the dance, you know."

your mouth fell agape at the revelation, your brain turning to absolute mush as you tried desperately to form a single coherent thought. between the heat of the room and the heat of sunghoon's stare trained on your lips, you felt like you were mere minutes away from ascending to the afterlife.

you shook your head slightly to wake yourself back up, your brows drawing together slightly in confusion. "then why didn't you? you could've asked me before you asked jinha," you queried, finally able to collect yourself enough to speak again.

sunghoon scoffed, "did you not see the way you reacted to me when you thought i was asking you? i knew you'd reject me, it's kind of your thing."

"oh," you answered dumbly, busying yourself with combing his damp locks back away from his face as they insisted on falling down to cover his forehead.

"plus, jisung had already expressed that he wanted to ask you and it would've been shitty of me as his friend to ask you first." he sighed, pursing his lips as his gaze dropped back down to your own once more. "can we have a do-over?"

you blinked, your eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "right now? while you're like that and i'm like...this?" you gestured to his obviously exhausted figure laying in a heap before motioning to the ridiculous halloween costume you were sporting.

sunghoon shrugged, "why not? are you bad at dancing?" a glimmer of a challenge twinkled in his eye and you found yourself caving at an alarmingly fast rate.

"as a matter of fact, i am bad at dancing, especially on melting ice," you shot back, giving his shoulder a playful shove.

not taking your excuses, sunghoon began to push himself up to his feet and steadied himself before stretching his palm out to you. "you can just step on my feet then, come on," he smiled that same beautiful smile that you hated yourself falling for each time it showed. clicking your tongue defeatedly, you grabbed ahold of his hand and allowed him to pull you up onto your wobbly legs.

"one thing first," you paused before he could bring you any closer. "i want to know what's going on, sunghoon. what's happening to you?"

he let out a drawn sigh, glancing down at the scales covering splotches of his skin before turning back up to your concerned face. "it happens every time during this year. the lunar cycle makes everyone like me go haywire, though i guess i'm one of the lucky ones. not everyone can remember who they are during this time..." he trailed off before taking another deep breath, his voice shaking slightly as he declared his next words. "i'm a dragon, y/n."

you took all of ten seconds to digest the information before pushing it aside, instead stepping forward and nearly collapsing into sunghoon as your feet slid on the slippery ice. with quick reflexes, sunghoon caught you and brought you into a tight embrace until your feet were securely planted on the tops of his own. you'd have time to think more about it later, but right now the atmosphere was far too uncomfortable for you to give yourself a headache over it.

sunghoon's hands planted firmly on the dip of your waist whereas your arms found their way around the back of his neck, your fronts pressing flush against each other as he began to take small swaying steps that somewhat resembled a slow dance. your cheek found rest against the bare skin of his chest, and the once unbearable heat didn't seem quite so unbearable now.

"you're not hurting any more?" you asked softly, glancing up at him through your lashes as he continued to maneuver the two of you around.

shaking his head slightly, he smiled adoringly down at you. "not enough that i can't handle it any more. you took it away," he confessed with a hint of shyness crossing his features.

you pulled back just enough to look him in the eye properly, then your gaze drifted downwards to rest on his pink lips. "sunghoon," you whispered breathlessly, and as if reading your mind, he wordlessly leaned in and pressed his lips against yours in a gentle, perfect first kiss.

you slammed your locker door shut after gathering the materials you needed for your next class, struggling to hoist all the books up off the floor. suddenly, a pair of hands began grabbing a few of your books off the top of the stack and you followed up the length of the arms until you were met with the sight of an all too familiar face.

"this seems like deja vu, doesn't it?" sunghoon smiled warmly as you gathered the remaining books before straightening back up on your feet. gently, he placed the books back on top of your stack before turning to follow you to your next destination.

"thank you," you blushed, the heat rising to your cheeks amplifying as you felt sunghoon's arm snake around your shoulders protectively. "did you pass your portion of the project?" you asked, desperately trying to find a distraction from the attention being drawn to the two of you as you traveled down the hallways.

"i got a 96% so i'm pretty happy with it. how did you do?" he asked in return, never once removing his arm from around you until you stopped in front of the door of your classroom.

"i got the same," you smiled back, that expression only growing wider as he leaned in and planted a kiss against your warming cheek.

"good, i'll see you at lunch?" you nodded, trapping your bottom lip between your teeth to keep from giggling obnoxiously at the show of affection before bidding him goodbye and venturing into your class.

"y/n," yuna blurted out the second you'd sat your things down on the joined tables your three best friends occupied, "you have some major tea to fill us in on."

you sat down and watched as all three girls leaned in with eager smiles and twinkling eyes, and for once you found yourself excited to talk about sunghoon with them. you spent the entire class period filling them in on your newly acquired boyfriend, though you made sure to leave out the whole part about finding out he was a living, breathing dragon. the more you thought about it, the more ironic you found the situation to be. the school's ice prince turned out to harbor a creature inside of him that could easily melt the ice he skated on, and you'd watched that very scenario play out just a few nights ago. then, it slowly but surely began to make sense to you in your head.

it all explained the heat you'd feel whenever he was nearby and it explained why it seemed like he was always in that rink. the uttered confession of "i like to come here when i need to cool off" clicked perfectly like one of the many pieces of the puzzle you'd been trying to solve for weeks now. of course back then you'd assumed he meant it as a way for him to relieve stress, but now you saw that he meant it quite literally. it both amused you and made you feel a bit silly for having not read all of the clues so easily before.

"ugh, i'm so happy for you but i'm so jealous," ningning sighed heavily, dropping her chin into the palms of her hands.

"you have such a hot boyfriend, y/n," yuna agreed with a wistful sigh of her own.

"oh, i know," you snickered lightly to yourself. "i definitely know."

© enhasfever

OH GOD I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY BUT IMMA SHORTEN MY THOUGHTS HI 🏃

first of all AUTHOR DID YOU THINK OF THIS ENTIRE WORLD?? LIKE THE TERM GRISHA AND KETTERDAM AND ALL THE DIFF GANG NAMES BWCAUSE IF YOU DID THAT IS AMAZING? your creativity is literally insane AUGH this whole au is SO UNIQUE AND JUST AHHH as soon as i read assassins i was like YES THIS GOING TO BE GOOD I HAD TO MAKE SOME TEA N EVERYTH8NG 😼😼

i love yeonjun and kai THE WAY EVEN YOUR SIDE CHARACTERS ARE SO LOVEABLE AND INTERESTING TO ME?! when kai was first introduced i was a bit sus but HES ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE AND HIS ABILITY TO MAKE STUFF IS SOSO FUN ?! and yeonjun being like “darling!! 💖” one second then shooting bullets in the wall the next is just 🙏🙏 I LOVE HIM AND HIS DUALITY him and yuna were so so cool lord

and ofc our mc, absolutely love them they’re so independent and badass, i love their airbending ability thing (i am a huge avatar fan so i was like 😱🙏) and how you incorporated it into the fights?! JUNGWONS THING TO HEAR PPLS HEARTBEATS WAS ALSO SO FCKN CUTE AND INTERESTING I WAS LIKE AWW wait so can he hear whenever yns heart is beating fast around him?! 🤨🤨 SPEAKING OF THE ROMANCE it was the perfect amount!! you still focused on the story but those lil moments of calling each other cute from a distance and blushing i was like AWWWHH THEY’RE CRIMINALS BUT THEYRE SO ADORABLE !! 🥰

MY FAVORITE SCENE WAS LITERALLY YEONJUN AND MC IN THE BAR IM SORRY I JUST THINK THEYRE BESTIES. ANYWAYS AUTHOR YOUR WRITING STYLE IS SO JUST. EASY TO READ AND SO ENJOYABLE and I LOVED THIS A LOT !! PRAYING JUNGWON GIVES YN THAT DAMN DAGGER HE BOUGHT FOR THEM SOON LMAOO

For Any Price

genre; fantasy au, non idol au, childhood friends to lovers, fluff

pairings; gn!reader x jungwon (enha), yeonjun (txt), yuna (itzy), & kai (txt)

synopsis; The most feared assassins in Ketterdam, you and Jungwon have made a name for yourselves. When your creditor comes knocking on your door demanding you pay off your hulking debt immediately or risk being dragged back to the place you escaped, you and Jungwon have to find a way to get that money, and quick. Luckily, you two weren't called the best Grishas of their generation for nothing.

wc; 9.4k

warnings; death, violence, mentions of alcohol

notes; First and foremost, I want to express how sorry I am to leave this FAP crew. No, like I genuinely adore them. Moving on, this is for cici's (@iyeonjuni) power of love collab!! Go check out her works (and everyone who was a part of this collab)! I would also like to thank jas (@crispy-chan) for beta-reading this!! Your comments made me smile so much. (PSA: This fic is based on the Grishaverse. All references made can be explained on the fandom page and other informational texts about the Grishaverse.)

You’re cleaning your collection of knives when you hear a knock on the door of your flat. Reluctantly putting down the dagger you were polishing, you grab two others, tuck them into your sleeves and get up to open the door. You look into the peephole and are met with the sight of a person you’d hoped you’d never see again. You stiffen, steeling yourself before you open the door.

“Nice place you have here _____,” The Slave Pirate sneered at you. You didn’t know his real name and you doubted many people did. Jungwon loved to joke about how cheesy the name was.

“What are you doing here?” you narrowed your eyes at him. He moved to walk past you but you blocked him with your arm, shoving him back. “Answer the damn question.”

“Someone’s on edge,” he said as he looked you up and down. “I’m here to get my money so stop acting like a scared child and move.” 

You glared at him as you stepped aside to let him in. Saints, where is Jungwon, he should be getting back soon. He looked around your living room with his nose upturned. “For someone with a reputation like you two have, I was expecting something luxurious.” 

You ignored his comment. “The final payment isn’t due for another two months. You have no business speaking to me till then.”

He smirked at you, “You forget your place. Some things have changed and I need that final half million kruge each now. You have two weeks. Or else… well the Little Palace will be learning the whereabouts and… occupations of two of their Grishas.” 

You scoffed, holding his stare with the fiercest glare you could muster. “You’d never do that. They find out about me and Jungwon, they find out about you too.” You told yourself that if he ever let slip to the Palace where you were, you’d do whatever it took to hunt him down and mail his parts to the Little Palace yourself. The thought was almost comforting. A question then popped into your head. “How did you find me?” 

“First, like you, I cover my tracks well, so it’d be challenging to find me. And second, I’ve had a person on you two since the day you paid me for new identities.” he sneered as he stood up. “Bet you didn’t expect that one, did you? Pity, your reputation was quite impressive, but I suppose like all things, it’s built on a mixture of lies and truth.” 

You fixed him with a steely glare as you moved to hold the door open. “Save it. Get out,” you ordered. 

You reached to shut the door but he grabbed it before you could fully close it. “You have two weeks,” he said before turning on his heel and walking into the street.

Disgusting piece of scum, I cannot wait till he gives me a reason to get rid of him. You thought to yourself as you sat down at your desk, your knives glittering enticingly in the window light. You grabbed four of them and walked to the other side of your flat, where a giant piece of cardboard was attached to the wall by four small daggers. 

You weaved two of the knives between your fingers, thinking of where to aim them. The cardboard was littered with knife indents and holes, the material used and worn out. Focusing on the air around you, you conjured a vacuum of air from your knife tip to wherever you choose as your target. You fixed your eyes at an empty spot in the bottom right corner and threw them both at the same time, watching as they spun gracefully through the air and landed perfectly next to each other, their ends pointed at you. You moved the vacuum a few feet above them. You threw the other two knives, smiling to yourself as they nailed a perfect landing on the cardboard, their pearl-studded ends the only part visible along with a glint of its steel blade. Throwing knives were almost therapeutic for you, calming your nerves and allowing your mind to hone in on what it did best, take aim. 

You were a Squaller, an Etherealki Grisha. You could summon or control air and gaseous matter, from strong winds, pointed currents or removing/adding air from anywhere. Jungwon was a Heartrender, a Coporalki Grisha. He could control human bodies, manipulating any aspect of a body to his will. You stared at where the second dagger hit, recalling your days training as a soldier of the Second Army at the Little Palace. You had been better than most of your classmates, garnering relentless praise from your teachers, and Jungwon was the same. But you left that place (for good reason) and now your home was here, Ketterdam, the city of trade. Stinky, humid, built-on-a-swamp Ketterdam. 

You grabbed a few more knives from the table and scattered them across the cardboard, turning back to get some more when you heard something from the door. Knock knock. Knock. Knock knock. Jungwon. You sprinted to the door, throwing it open. 

“Jungwon, where the hell have you been? Get in!” you rushed him inside, locking the door before turning on him. “You should have been here thirty minutes ago Won, so you better have a good explanation for where you were.”

He smiled sheepishly as he took off his boots and coat. “I got caught up in something. Sorry _____, it won’t happen again.” 

You scoffed, glaring at him. “You made me deal with it on my own,” you said, sitting down at your table and massaging your temples. 

You felt his eyes on you as you stayed silent, knowing you had something to say. You took a deep inhale and looked up. “The Slave Pirate was just here.”

Jungwon’s eyes widened as he took in what you said. “What? How? Why?” The fact that The Slave Pirate knew where you two lived made him feel uneasy. 

You sighed, staring at the piece of cardboard you loved on the other wall. “He wants the rest of our payments in two weeks.”

“But it’s not due in two months—”

“I know,” you cut him off. “Served along with a threat to expose us to the Palace.”

Jungwon grimaced. He never wanted to go back to that place, not after what happened. “And how’d he find us?” he asked, feeling like you’d know. You always did.

“He has a spy. I think you know who that is,” you said, glancing at him. “Take care of that.” 

Jungwon nodded as he watched you get up and grab your coat and knives. “Got it. And where are you headed to?” he said, throwing a lopsided smile at you.

You smiled back softly. “I have something I need to do,” you walked towards the door before turning back, your lips curling upwards. “And Jungwon? Don’t make a mess.” Torture them for information if you had to and make it a clean kill.

Jungwon grinned, “Don’t worry _____, I’ll make them talk.”

You strolled down the streets of Ketterdam, passing the stalls of exotic fruits and fabrics going for the highest prices tourists would pay. You mostly kept to yourself in this city, some of the only people you were somewhat friendly with were the Dregs. Led by Kaz Brekker, or “Dirtyhands” as they called him, was the most feared gang in the Barrels. No job was too morally repulsive for Dirtyhands and you supposed that’s how he and his group of criminals climbed the ranks so quickly. 

But you weren’t headed towards the Dregs. You turned on the West Road, passing the gambling dens, motels, and pleasure houses of West Stave until you got to the Tiger Club. It was an eye-catching building with red and yellow accents, two tiger statues flaunting the sides of the entrance. You nodded at the bouncer, a big man named Barty, as you walked inside, immediately being hit with the smell of alcohol and cash. It was a busy night with all the tables filled, but you weren’t here to gamble. 

You had left that life a long time ago. On the other hand… it hadn’t been as easy for Jungwon. You sighed internally as you recalled the money he used to waste while gambling. 

Spotting your destination, you navigated your way to one of the bigger tables in the back. You found Yeonjun overseeing a card game, standing a few feet away as you watched him taunting and egging on the rich-looking gamblers so they spend as much cash as possible. Choi Yeonjun, one-half of the Choi Twins. He and Yuna, his twin sister, owned this club. They were skilled sharpshooters with an apparent taste for business. When you first arrived in Ketterdam, you and Jungwon had done many favors for them and maintained a good relationship since. You could always go to them for help. 

After watching Yeonjun work the table a little longer, you walked over to him. “Hey Yeonjun,” you said, nodding at him. 

He spun around, his gelled-back hair not moving an inch. “Darling! I haven’t seen you in a long while,” he exclaimed, grabbing you by the shoulders and directing you to an empty chair at the bar. “You wait here while I finish this up… Hey! You there,” he pointed at a barista and then at you. “Anything they want.”

He winked at you before turning back to his customers. You rolled your eyes. Yeonjun was like this to most people and you being younger than him didn’t help things. You didn’t dislike it though, he was a breath of fresh air in a city like this. 

You sipped the Bellini you ordered, the alcohol mellowing your senses. Your eyes roamed over the room, watching the gamblers spend their savings on the probably rigged games. You enjoyed trying to figure people out at casinos, reading their moods and body language to guess their next move (and their chances). It was like a game to you, a way for you to relax and let your mind wander and come up with different scenarios that explained how they wound up in here. 

A big-bellied man at a nearby table was sweating heavily, eyes nervously darting from the dealer’s hands to a large number of chips in front of him. You guessed he had just gambled too much and was about to pay for it. You chuckled to yourself, moving on to a woman dressed in rubies and gold two tables away from him. She looked Zemeni, with dark skin and a tall, slender build. She smiled confidently as she looked at her fellow players, fingers tapping the side of the table as she waited for the play of cards. You sipped your drink again, raising an eyebrow as two burly men sat next to you, whispering to each other. Bored and drunk, you slightly leaned over to catch what they were saying.

“I can’t believe boss turned down that offer. 3 million kruge!” one said, waving his hands dramatically.

“For what the merchant asked of us, 3 million is a low price… And he refused to up the money so his loss,” the other replied, shrugging. “What was the merchant’s name again?”

“Dedrick, I think.” 

You leaned back into your chair, having heard enough. 3 million kruge… for what kinda job? What was worth that much? You thought to yourself, tapping your fingers on the counter. 

“Darling!” Yeonjun said, sitting down on your other side. “How’s the drink?” he said, waving towards your glass.

“Delicious,” you smiled, leaning in towards Yeonjun. He raised an eyebrow before mirroring you. “Hey, who are those men over there?” you whispered, nodding your head towards them. 

“Hmm,” Yeonjun replied, taking them in. “Look like gangsters… My guess is Razorgulls,” he said, waving at their bodies. “The build. But… want to find out?” 

He flashed a dazzling smile your way before taking out a revolver and sending a bullet towards the wall at the other end of the bar counter. You had barely registered what happened before he was slipping off his chair and rounding the room to examine the dent it made. He rocked on his heels for a few seconds before turning towards the room, looking over the people. He slowly turned towards the two men next to you, walking over to them.

“Men, was this you?” he asked. They didn’t respond, sharing a nervous look as a lazy grin spread across Yeonjun’s face. Then Yeonjun’s expression was stone-cold and menacing, two shiny revolvers pointed at the men’s heads. What a showoff. But it was amusing and slightly frightening to see the Yeonjun most people knew, a sly, quick, deadly man with a talent for inserting bullets where he wanted them. A bit foxy, if you did say so yourself.

“Tattoo,” he ordered, hand unwavering. 

The men couldn’t have rolled up their sleeves fast enough and you stretched your neck to look at their arms. Five birds in a wedge formation. Razorgulls. You turned back to your drink, rolling over this new information in your mind. So why would the Razorgulls turn down that offer… They weren’t exactly the brightest and most decisive gang in the Barrels.

You heard a sound next to you, looking up to see Yeonjun sitting back down in his chair. “That was quick.” He winked at you, though it wasn’t really a wink and more of a delayed blink. You learned early on that one way to know if Yeonjun was distracted was if his winks… weren’t exactly winking. 

“So… what about them?” Yeonjun asked, leaning back and looking over the tables. “You got into a quarrel with their gang or something?” 

You grinned at him, remembering the time you and Jungwon helped Yeonjun and Yuna drive off a group of aggressive Razorgulls a couple years ago. “Actually… I overheard something.” From the corner of your eye, you noticed the two men get up and leave. 

He looked back at you, cocking his head to the side. “Oh really?”

You leaned in again and he did the same, lowering your voice. “Apparently, the Razorgulls were offered a job from a rich merchant, Dedrick, for—” you paused for dramatic value. “ —3 million kruge.”

Yeonjun raised his eyebrows, letting out a low whistle. “I’ve heard that name. I wonder what the job was… or how difficult it was that they would turn it down.”

“Well, I plan to find out,” you said, pushing your empty glass towards the barista. “I need that money.”

“Oh really?” Yeonjun replied, staring at you. “What for?”

“I have debts I need to pay. And soon.” “So do I.”

You grinned at him, gathering your things. “I’ll be back soon. Also, where’s Yuna?” you asked.

“In the back. I’ll tell her you came. And about this new information,” he grinned at you, leaning against the table. “And the bill is on the house.”

You smiled at him, nodding. “Till next time, Yeonjun.”

“Watch your back!” he called after you as you navigated your way to the entrance.

“Before your front!” you replied, as you stepped out into the cold, humid Ketterdam night.

Jungwon groaned as he held his forehead, trying to keep from stumbling in the dirty alley. He had gotten caught up at a casino, going in with a promise to himself and you that he would only spend a maximum of 50 kruge and leaving with a loss of triple that. He winced as he imagined what you’d say if you knew about this. 

“Jungwon?” He heard someone say, drunkenly turning his head towards where it came from.

“Fucking Saints, Jungwon, why are you this wasted?” You. He felt you grab his forearm, steadying him. 

He let out a giggle, sidling up to you. He heard you give a defeated sigh before he felt you stiffen next to him. 

“Jungwon, who the hell is that?” you asked. He followed the direction of your stare to his friend from the casino, Kai. He hadn’t been aware Kai had been following him this whole time. Kai was smiling up at your face, eyes glassy.

“Oh that’s—” he weakly waved toward Kai. “A friend from the… bar I was just at.” His words slurred as he tapped his chin, suddenly remembering something important. “He’s also a Grisha!”

He giggled at your alarmed face, waving his hand again dismissively. “It’s okay, _____. No one can hear us.” It was true, he could hear no heartbeats except for yours’ three. Perks of being a Heartrender. 

He giggled for a third time when you shot him a pointed glare. Everything was funny right now. “Okay…” you said, straightening him up again. “Let’s go home. And you, Kai, get home too.”

“Wait, wait, _____, can he please come with us? I promised him he could stay with us for a night.” He distinctly remembered making that promise, struggling to recall it as his head swam. 

“You know what, whatever. Just start walking.” Your voice felt like it was fading away.

And then the world went black.

Jungwon moaned as he came to, his head feeling like it would split apart down the middle. It was morning, the sunlight filtering in through the window bouncing off the glass of water and pancakes (already drenched in syrup with a big block of butter, just how he liked it, he noted) on the table in front of him. He could hear you opening and closing drawers in the kitchen as he slowly sat up. Across from him was Kai, the boy from last night. He looked a lot better now, wavy blonde hair framing his face as he snoozed peacefully on the couch.

He had met Kai at the casino, the two pairing up at one of the tables. He had responded with glee when Kai showed him his metal-laced playing cards, allowing him to know exactly what cards someone held. He later learned that Kai was a Fabrikator and had grown up on a farm in Kerch. When his parents learned of his abilities, they had hidden him from sight till he turned eleven, when the Grisha testers came to take any Grisha children to the palace. Jungwon had lamented on that part of Kai’s life, wondering how different his own life would have been if he was never tested and taken to the Little Palace. Later in the night, Kai confessed he was currently homeless and Jungwon, with his big heart and fondness for Kai, had agreed to give him a place to sleep, at least for a little while. 

And that’s why he was currently wondering what would be the first things you’d say to him, watching you set down a plate and glass of water for Kai as he munched on his breakfast. You could be frightening when you were angry and while watching that anger directed at others was entertaining for Jungwon, he would rather it was never pointing at him. 

You turned to look at him. “Wake him up and then follow me,” you ordered before walking away to your bedroom. 

Jungwon gulps down the last of his food and walks over to Kai, shaking him roughly. “C'mon, Kai. Wake up,” he said as Kai stirred. He gave him another good shake before Kai let out a huge yawn and sat up. 

He said nothing as he squinted around the room, taking in the place. “It’s nicer than I expected.” He stretched his sore arms, eyes lighting up as he spotted the breakfast on the coffee table in front of him. “Oh! Tell _____ thank you so much for me,” he said as he picked up the fork and knife, digging into the food.  

Jungwon shook his head, smiling as he watched Kai scarf down the pancakes, letting out little sounds of contentedness. “I’ll be back,” he called as he headed towards your bedroom. 

You were sitting on your bed, flipping through a stack of papers. You didn’t look up as he closed the door behind him but stopped sifting through the papers, waiting.

He nervously fiddled with the ring on his left index finger. “So…” he trailed off, stretching out the syllable. . “That’s Kai, someone I made friends with last night. He’s currently homeless so… I thought he could stay here for a while. And you already know he’s a Grisha.”

“What kind?” you responded, still looking at the papers. But your posture slightly relaxed, and he gave an silent sigh of relief. 

“Fabrikator.”

“Hm. I figured. After you passed out, I dragged you home and he followed behind me. But he was very silent. His steps made no sound. I guessed his shoes were Fabrikator-made.”

“Well, you were right! He probably made them himself,” Jungwon exclaimed. 

You got up then, placing the papers down at your desk. “Anyways, while you were bar-hopping,” you shot him a pointed look, “I paid a visit to Yeonjun.”

Jungwon raised an eyebrow, a grin spreading across his face. “So did you drink or gamble?”

You turned to him, raising your own eyebrow. Jungwon swore he saw you push down a smile. “You’re ridiculous, you know that.” You rolled your eyes as he gave a playful shrug. “I… I have a plan. To get the money in time. Or half of a plan.”

“Wait, what?” Jungwon blinked. “What kind of plan? …Is Yeonjun involved?”

“Yes, somewhat. I’m still working out the finer details,” you said as you pulled on a leather jacket and newsboy cap. “I’ll be back. There are some chores to do and lunch so don’t forget about that. And keep an eye on Kai.”

Jungwon nodded, watching as you walked towards the door.

You looked back at him, your hand on the doorknob. “I’ll fill you in when I get back, kay?”

He nodded again as you closed the door behind you and listened as your heartbeat got fainter and fainter, till he couldn’t hear it anymore.

You hauled the two overflowing bags of supplies through the door, sighing when you dropped them in the hallway. 

Jungwon was nowhere to be seen but Kai was sitting on your couch, turning a radio over in his hands.

“That’s broken, by the way,” you said, gesturing towards the radio.

“Not anymore,” he smiled at you. “Fixed it.” He tossed it at you and you caught it, switching it on. You raised your eyebrows, impressed, as a channel started playing, some Kerch talk show. 

“Oh,” you said, “Thanks.” You hadn’t known Kai long enough to form a solid opinion of him, but so far… he wasn’t that bad. He had this energy about him, a lightness, that made him seem harmless. He had an oval face with a tall, sharp nose, and dark brown doe eyes. Wavy, blonde hair framed his head, bangs brushing over his eyebrows. Honestly, he was kinda cute. Focus, you told yourself as you shook your head. But another thought fought its way into your mind. Not as cute as Jungwon, though. You didn’t even want to imagine what Jungwon would say if you called him cute. Probably remind you of it. Every. Single. Minute. 

You threw your jacket on the couch, unpacking the bags. Two yards of thick rope, a sewing kit (you wanted to add some knife pockets on each side of your knees), blade polish you had picked up, and other things to restock your supplies. You put them all away, walking towards the kitchen when Jungwon appeared with a tray of food in one hand and one with drinks in the other, shooing you towards the living room. 

You both sit down, Jungwon taking a seat next to Kai. “Ooh, you went all out didn’t you Jungwon? You rarely do this for me,” you exclaimed, grinning as he blushed a bright pink.

“Yes I do, we just don’t usually have much time for lunch,” he mumbled, looking away. He placed the tray on the table before taking a seat, handing you each a plate.

You all ate in silence for some time before you pushed your plate away and looked at the men in front of you.  “Before I go into detail about what we’re going to do, Kai, let this be your only warning that if you betray us: I will not hesitate to kill you.” To Kai’s credit, there was no fear on his face.

You let that sink in for a few seconds before telling them about everything that happened yesterday and today. Meeting Yeonjun, the Razorgulls, the turned-down offer from Dedrick, going to see Yuna today and making a plan with her, and where you all would meet the twins to head over to Dredrick’s house. 

Jungwon fell silent, brows furrowed. “You know… I knew you were cooking up something,” he paused, sighing, “But this is risky.”

You shrugged. “We’ve done much riskier. Like the Exchange raid. And we need the money.” A year ago, you and Jungwon stole sixty thousand kruge from the safes under the Exchange. You chuckled softly to yourself at the memory.

“I could help, I have a few things I’ve been working on,” Kai said, leaning forward. 

Jungwon slowly nodded. “Fine,” he said, looking at you and then Kai, his from morphing into a determined smile. 

“Let’s do this.”

Three hours later, you were hunched on a roof near the merchant’s house in a black cloak, watching the windows for any sign of the man. There was a light on in what you assumed was the master bedroom, moving a few feet to the left to get a better view. The man you saw through the window matched Yuna’s description of Merch Dedrick; tall, burly, and with a brown mustache. You pulled out your small square mirror, flashing it twice. You got three flashes back. Good. You had planned that whoever first spotted Dedrick would signal to the others. You had left Kai at home with instructions to put together his best and a variety of bombs. He had accepted the job with an almost gleeful face. You felt someone crouch down next to you.

“It looks like he’s not alone. There’s a woman in there with him,” Jungwon said.

Yuna arrived at your vantage spot next, leaping nimbly from roof to roof like a cat. “That’s not his wife,” she said, grinning. “It seems the Merch has a mistress. Saint’s, imagine what would happen if his wife knew.”

You tilted your head. This was interesting. “Who’s his wife?”

“A well-known lady from one of the richest families in Kerch. She practically bathes in money. Dedrick? Not so much. It’s only because of his wife that he’s a rich merchant now.”

“And I’m guessing neither she nor her family would enjoy the news of the merchant cheating on her.”

“Not at all,” Yuna replied.

You turned back to the house. “Well,” you said, “That certainly changes things. Jungwon, tell Yeonjun to drop in from the window in the hallway and block the doorway. Go with him. Your powers will make it easier and quieter. Yuna, you’re with me. We’re going to need some time for our lovely talk with Dedrick.”  

Jungwon nodded and got up to join Yeonjun. You looked at Yuna. “Like old times?”

“Whip up a windstorm, _____,” she replied, flashing you a toothy grin. 

You nodded, chuckling. “Let’s do this.”

Yuna moved to the edge of the roof, bending her knees as she measured the distance of the jump into the merchant’s open window. You stood a few feet behind her, focusing your mind on the air around you, the direction of the wind, and the small breeze that ran over your fingers. Air was like a wave, sometimes moving so slowly you couldn’t feel it, and sometimes becoming a harsh crashing force, threatening to throw you off your feet. You sent a small current Yuna’s way, flicking your index finger down as you directed it towards the window. A few seconds later, Yuna gave a nod, and you began counting down. “3, …2, …1!” you said, sending a strong gust of wind at Yuna after the last number. She leaped, stretching herself out like a diver.

And flew like a bird into the window, rolling as she landed.

You chuckled to yourself at the shriek of a man, probably the merchant, before taking a running leap into the house after her.

Jungwon ducked as a club went swinging towards his head. He squeezed his hand, cutting off the guard’s air with his powers. The man clawed at his throat as if he could open a passageway for air, then crumpled to the floor. Across from him, Yeonjun brought down the butt of his revolver on another guard's head, knocking him out. Jungwon arched his hands out, feeling out the heartbeats of the six guards they took out. It felt like a steady drum, underlined by a lively thrumming of life. He grasped onto the six strings of life tangled up in front of him, and pulled, lowering the heart rate of the guards. That should keep them out for a while. 

He heard a yell from the bedroom. You and Yuna must have gotten inside. He didn’t doubt that you could do the job (and do it well) but that didn't keep him from being worried. Friends worry about their friends, right? He shook his head, pushing down the question to the back of his mind. He had a job to do. Yeonjun and he took their positions at either side of the double doors, adorned with golden swirls and intricate patterns. A screaming hawk perched on a branch was carved into the middle, the family symbol of the merchant’s wife. Imagine having all that at your fingers and throwing it away for lust and novelty. 

He felt eyes on him and glanced to the side to find Yeonjun staring at him. Yeonjun gave him a small smile. “Long time no see, Jungwon.”

“Do we only talk to each other on jobs?” Jungwon replied, returning the smile. Yeonjun wasn’t a bad person but… you got along better with Yeonjun than him. He guessed charming and suave plus charming and suave was too much for the universe to handle.

Yeonjun chuckled. “It seems to be so.” He tilted his head at Jungwon. “I’ve been wanting to ask, did you ever give _____ that gift?”

Jungwon blushed a deep crimson at the mention of that. A few weeks ago, while on a job with Yeonjun, Jungwon had come across a Ravkan trader selling draggers. And not just the normal kind, these were bejeweled Ravkan nobility fighting knives, crafted with painstaking attention to detail by a Fabrikator. Yeonjun had confirmed it when he examined the dagger. Jungwon had immediately bought it for you, not caring that his money pouch felt painfully empty. But you weren’t there when he got home and those hours of silence were enough for Jungwon to overthink how you’d react to the gift, eventually putting it away to be gifted at a time where he wouldn’t be so anxious over it. Thus, you never got your beautiful dagger. 

He felt a tap on his bicep, pulling him away from the memory. Yeonjun gave him a knowing look. “When are you going to do something about it?”

He looked down at his shoes, fairly embarrassed. Was he that obvious? He liked to think he hid it well. He didn’t even know when he developed feelings for you, when it went from something platonic to something more. The next thing he knew, all he could think about was you, and it drove him crazy to not be able to figure it out. You were caring and kind to him, sure, but you were also like that to Yuna. And he didn’t think he would survive it if he revealed his feelings and you didn’t feel the same way. He really didn’t.

“Well, I just… not sure about what _____ thinks of me. Or considers me,” Jungwon mumbled.

“They might not show it, but Saints, is it annoying to hear the way _____ constantly talks about you. All praise and mushy stuff,” Yeonjun chuckled. “My point is, they care deeply about you and I think you shouldn’t rule out the possibility just yet.”

Jungwon sighed, throwing his head back. The thought of you praising him to Yeonjun or someone else sent his blood rushing to his face. He’d work up the courage to tell you how he felt… someday.

And as he heard a yelp come from inside the room, this one at a higher pitch, he knew the day was not today.

Yuna was walking over to the other side of the room, near the doorway, hood pulled low. The merchant was gaping at you and his woman… you saw her jump under the covers of the bed. He sputtered, spit flying out and his face red. “Get the hell out of my house! You lowlife thieves!” he exclaimed, enraged. 

You tilted your head at him, flipping a dagger in your right hand. “Calm down. We were sent by the Boss.”

“The Razorgulls boss? Well, tell him that he already refused the job and to get fucking lost!”

“Mm, sorry, no can do. He wants to renegotiate the offer,” you replied cooly. You didn’t know much about the Razorgulls boss actually, probably cause he never shows his face and instead sends his lackeys. 

The merchant—Dedrick—swallowed, throat bobbing. Once, twice, three times. “What I offered was plenty enough.”

“Three million kruge? For a job like that? Don’t kid me.” You kept the details vague, waiting for him to fill in the blanks.

And he did. “How hard could stealing the artifact from a museum be?” Bingo. So the job was an artifact.

“What kind of value does the artifact have to you?” 

He swallowed thickly. “A lot.” You guessed so, or else he wouldn’t be emptying his pockets for it.

“The Boss decided to take back the offer. For an additional two million kruge,” you said, keeping your voice firm and steady.

“Two million… five million kruge?! Absolutely not,” he glowered, huffing out his chest.

You shrugged. “The job is not an easy one. Five is quite reasonable. Or perhaps we instead could… I do enjoy a good drama,” you mumble sweetly, a menacing glint in your eyes.

He glared at you, furious. “My personal life is none of the Razorgull’s business.”

“Perhaps, but you look like you need a little nudge in the right direction.” You tilted your head, holding his gaze as you slid a dagger into your palm. “Either your wife finds out about your infidelity or… five million kruge.”

His eyes darted back and forth between you and his mistress cowering behind the desk. “Five million for your silence.”

You grinned at him. “Five million for my silence.”

You memorized the papers that the merchant gave you before you left his house. The blueprint of the Global Museum including its underground safes and the realistic rendition of the artifact you would steal. After having a pleasant chat with Merch Dedrick, you met up with the rest of the crew and updated Yeonjun and Jungwon on what you and Yuna learned. Jungwon was oddly flustered on the way back home but you didn’t pay it much mind past asking him if it was an allergic reaction. He then got even redder and went fully crimson when you called him cute for his reaction. You shook your head, smiling at the picture. Jungwon could be adorable sometimes.

 Jungwon slid through the door, plopping down on your bed. “Done lasering them into your brain?”

“Oh zip it, you should also be memorizing this,” you replied, rolling your eyes at him from your desk.

He popped a piece of pie into his mouth. “Already did, I was waiting for you to look up from that so we could discuss a plan.”

What’s gotten into him today? You thought. Snarkier than usual. You shelved the papers away, getting up to stretch. “This is not going to be an easy job.”

“Obviously, or else Dedrick wouldn’t be offering so much,” he replied, standing up after you. “Also, Kai has something to show you. This way, milady.” He flourished his hands towards the doorway, grinning at you.

You rolled your eyes at his dramatics, sending a gust of air his way as you walked past him to the living room. 

Kai looked up when you entered, a wild smile alight on his face. “For you and Jungwon,” he said, reaching behind himself to grab a box. He handed it to you. “Open it.”

You raised your eyebrows in curiosity, lifting the lid off the box. Inside sat two pairs of arm and leg sleeves, made of smooth dark brown leather. They had lines of small, almost undetectable stitches. You ran your finger across one. Was that… a knife inside? You looked up at Kai, surprised and a little delighted. “What are these?”

Kai grinned at you, standing up a little straighter. “My newest creation. They’re sleeves with thin but relatively long daggers hidden inside the fabric. You release them by pressing down on the button at the bottom of each dagger—except for the wrist ones—you release those by flicking your wrist. They go back in by pressing the button, which you can also use to get them out if you can’t do the flick. The leather is reinforced and impenetrable, and the daggers have been enhanced to stay sharp.”

You looked between him and the box. Once. Twice. And then you gave him the biggest smile you could and rushed forward to hug him. “Thank you, Kai,” you said, and you really meant it. You never liked spending on yourself—mostly from your years being dirt-poor—but this was such a thoughtful gift and so useful. You wanted to dance imagining how handy it would be.

Kai blushed, hugging you back. “It’s the least I could do for giving me a place to stay. I should be saying thank you to you two.” You pulled back from him, instantly feeling a wave of embarrassment for being so over the moon over a practical gift.

“I appreciate it,” you told him, and he nodded. He glanced at Jungwon, weirdly looking away quickly from him. But when you turned to Jungwon, he looked as pleasant as always. Odd.

You walked back to your room, Jungwon hot on your heels. “Can I get a peek at the gifts now? Unless you’ve forgotten it’s not all yours,” he teased, reaching over your shoulder for the box.

“Okay, wait wait.” You set the box down, grabbing the pair with your name on it. It slid on easily, molding around your arms and legs like a second skin. You tried out the wrist knives, flicking your wrist two times before a dagger popped out with a soft zhink. Okay, so it’s more of a curve. You thought, putting it back in and out again. Jungwon was testing his own sleeves, pressing the buttons on his legs. He looked up at you and gave you a smile. “Would I be superstitious to say this feels like an omen from the Saints that we’ll do well? But imagine the Saints blessing a bunch of assassins. How scandalous.”

You smiled back at him. “Scandalous indeed.”

Days later, after creating a plan with the twins, trips to the Exchange to gain a feel of the place, and endless scheming and worrying, you were standing in front of the Exchange. You wore a fluffy, pale pink fur coat that grazed your calves with a wide-brimmed cream hat. You had bright red lipstick on and were sporting bejeweled sunglasses, with rings stacked on your fingers. You fanned yourself in the humid, hot Kerch summer, looking at every part as the rich, classy tourist woman. You squared your shoulders and strutted into the wide glass doors of the Exchange, purse swinging at your arm. You gave yourself a few seconds to act like you were thinking of where to go and walked over to a clerk who looked like he might pee his pants helping customers.

“Young man, is Alfred here?” you drawled, watching as the clerk took you in and gulped visibly. You waited a few more seconds before repeating yourself. “Young man, I asked if Alfred Krum was here,” you snapped, letting the annoyance clearly show through your voice.

“I- Yes ma’am! He’s h-here.” He stood up, wringing his hands with sheer nerves. “L-Let me take you to him.”

You nodded, checking your watch. “I am a very busy woman. Do not waste my time. I need to see Alfred immediately. An empire relies on your efficiency.”

He paused, looking you up and down. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

“Christine Welverd Krum.” The effect was immediate as he gulped again and stared at his desk nervously. “Right this way, ma’am.”

He led you to the elevator. He murmured something to the guards flanking the elevator, and they gave you a long look before nodding at the clerk. The elevator doors opened and you stepped inside. The clerk clicked a button and stood in front of you, shifting on his feet. The doors opened and you walked into one of the grandest hallways you had ever been in. The Executive Hall of the Exchange. Even the Little Palace was never this grand. The walls were made of smooth marble, with veins of gold, emerald, ruby, and sapphire running on their surface. Four white doors lined the hall on both sides and at the end stood a door with a gold knocker. A wolf’s head. Fitting, you thought. You and Jungwon had described the people who ran this place as rabid carnivores many times.

You heard someone step behind you and turned around to ask the clerk why he was dilly-dallying around. But then something big and heavy hit the side of your head and the world went black.

You woke up as he was tying you to a chair, being careful not to move and keeping your breathing even. You were stripped down of your designer clothes and accessories and left with the suit you had on underneath. At least you still had the sleeves on. He had brought you to a small square room, dark and gray with the door facing you. You furiously thought through all of your options, clocking your captor—the clerk—rummaging in a desk on the left wall for something. You were somewhat impressed, honestly, he had played you well. Acting the nervous inexperienced youngster so you would let your guard down. But that was enough admiration for now.

You flicked your wrist, feeling the daggers slide out. Let’s make this quick. You swiftly sliced through the ropes, throwing your chair back with force as you used your power to suck the air out of the clerk’s airways, waiting until he dropped unconscious. You tied him up with rope sitting on the desk and took the duct tape from his hand (that he planned on using on you), taping his mouth shut. Good, that should keep him occupied for a while. You dragged him to the back of the room, stretching as you walked over to the door to examine it. It was a slab of steel with a lock and handle. You spotted white paint on the side of the door, like it was painted from the outside and splashed onto the other side. So you were in one of the white rooms in the Executive Hall. Nice, that made things simpler. You looked at the clock above the desk. Four thirty in the afternoon. Shit, you needed to be quick.

You bent down to examine the lock. A Belton lock, more complicated than a standard lock but still easy to pick. You sent a tendril of condensed, thick air, feeling out the pins. You applied pressure to the pins and plug of the luck, mapping out the air. Nothing yet. You adjusted the pressure, lifting the condensed air from the nearest pin and then lowering it back… continuing through the lock to see if you missed any inner pins. Wait, there, a missed pin. You pressed one of the buttons on your leg sleeve, releasing a thin dagger. You turned the lock. Click. You checked the clock again. A minute and thirty seconds. You smirked to yourself.

You focused, feeling the air outside for movement or form. Just the furniture. You opened the door, sliding out and locking it behind you. According to your intel, Alfred Krum, the Exchange head, was at a dinner with some foreign benefactors right now. At four thirty-five, Jungwon and Yuna would meet you in Krum’s office (they would come in through the vents and your disguise as Krum’s niece would quell any questions or interruptions) where you would get into his safe and retrieve the artifact. You would then use your powers to propel all five of you onto the roof, where a helicopter (and Yeonjun, who was the pilot and lookout) was waiting for you (courtesy of an acquaintance who owed you a debt).

You briskly walked to the door and scanned it for cracks and slits. The bottom was sealed but the hinges had a connecting space. You felt around the room, registering the form of two people. Jungwon and Yuna. You sent a breeze into their faces, as you had planned before. The knob turned and then the door, bringing you face-to-face with a frustrated Jungwon.

“You’re late. What happened?” Jungwon asked, moving aside so you could make your way to the back of the office.

“Why do you think something happened?” you replied, lifting the huge full-body portrait of Krum from its place. The safe door glinted invitingly at you. “For someone as rich as him, he’s pretty lax with his security. Businessmen.” Thought their money and name were protection enough.

Jungwon stood in front of you, forcing himself into your view. “Because you’re never late. And you dropped the look.” He gave you a vertical scan to prove his point.

You shrugged. “There was a setback. It’s handled. Or would be if you would move.” That sounded harsh. Stress made you snappy. You pressed your lips together. “Please just let me work,” you said, softening your tone.

His eyebrows furrowed but he stepped back, going to join Yuna on watch. This was a Quad lock, a type that needed the four identical keys to be turned two at a time, but not with longer than a five-second gap, or else you would have to start over. You worked swiftly, forming the key shape with your air, pressing your eyes shut as you pictured the pins in your head. Two clicks as the first locks turned. You quickly worked the other two.

The safe door whirred. And swung open.

You pumped a fist into the air. “I’m in.” you breathed to no one in particular.

The dark room seemed to welcome you.

Jungwon smiled to himself as he watched your excitement at unlocking the safe. You were so cute sometimes. Now was the third phase of the plan, where you and he would secure the artifact and get out with minimal obstacles. He trailed you into the safe, the bright lights flicking on when you stepped into the room, illuminating the various collectibles, souvenirs, and artifacts. The item they were stealing was a hand-sized bone from an animal he couldn't remember.

You spotted it before he did, making a beeline to the right corner of the room. You pulled out a small pen-like gadget from your sleeve, clicking a button that turned on a laser, which you aimed at the glass enclosing the artifact. You seared a perfect circle into the glass, wrapping the artifact in a cloth and throwing it into your bag. He noted to ask for a similar tool from Kai.

You looked at him, eyes sparkling. “Let’s wrap this up.”

He grinned at you. “Let’s.”

You both dashed to the safe door, securing it behind you and putting the painting back in its place. He sped-walked to the window, easing it open. So far, except for whatever it was that you faced, the mission was going smoothly. That just made him more nervous. Jungwon sent a quick prayer for success to the Saints, hoping they’d heed the call from a Grisha in need.

Yuna came over to you two, giving you both a determined look. “Okay, _____, let’s jump this ship.”

He glanced at you to catch you giving Yuna a weak smile, which you stifled when you noticed his attention shift to you. He moved to stand right in front of you, looking you in the eyes. “You got this. You’re the strongest, smartest, most capable person I know. You can do this.”

You stared back at him, the anxiety clear in your eyes. “I just… If I fail, we’ll all die.”

“Then don’t fail,” he replied, grinning at you. “Find an anchor in your mind. Ground yourself. Take it one step at a time.”

You nodded, glancing at the window. “I’ll do that.”

“Good. Now if it motivates you, I have been gambling lately and lying to you about it. So you can’t kill me now, it’s too early.”

You whipped your face towards his, glaring at him. “I’ll make sure your death is to your standards.”

“Appreciated. I can’t die like a nobody,” he winked at you, ushering you towards the window. He’d planned on fixing his gambling addiction (or so he tells himself every time he loses) but if the promise of murdering him worked… he’ll take it. Even if it wounded his soul to see you look at him like that.

“Okay, then-” you were cut off by the sound of shouting outside the office, followed by banging on the door.

“We know you’re in there, thieves. Come out.”

And then he heard the click of a lock turning and the door swung open.

Shit.

The clerk barged in, followed by Alfred Krum and a team of security men.

“You’re more capable than I thought,” the clerk sneered, glancing at Jungwon and Yuna who were flanking you. “And these are your cronies? How cute, the three musketeers.”

You snarled at him, flexing your fingers. “It seems I made a mistake by not killing you last time.”

He didn’t get a chance to respond as you lunged at him, giving him two deep cuts on his thigh. And then the fight began. The man was better than you thought, avoiding a third swipe at his throat. He threw a punch at your face and you nimbly dodged it, bringing your hand up to cut into his shoulder. Blood gushed from the cut and he stumbled back, clutching the wound in agony. You took the pause to scan the rest of the room. Jungwon had a pile of unconscious guards around him, currently taking out the eighth. Yuna was shooting down the ones in the hallway, aiming for their hands and legs. You leaped over the guards, moving towards Krum. He was red-faced and waving his hands wildly, shrieking for backup. You slid behind him and held a knife to his throat.

“This is how this is going to go. You are going to go to sleep and forget this ever happened. And if not…,” you sucked the air out of his lungs, watching as he shook with restraint to not thrash and cut his throat with your dagger. You put the air back into his airways and Krum took gulping breaths. “Understood?”

You inched the dagger away from his throat and he furiously nodded. Jungwon met your eyes, done with the guards and you nodded. Jungwon lifted his hand and Krum swayed, before crumpling to the ground.

Yuna holstered her revolvers, running a hand through her hair. “Let’s get out of here.”

You nodded in agreement, pocketing your knives. You ran a hand over the window frame, taking a deep breath. In. Out. In. Out. You turned to face your two friends, people you’ve known for years, and in Jungwon’s case, would trust with your life. You nodded and they returned it. You moved aside so they could crouch on the window, ready to jump. You stood right behind them. What if I fail? You pushed the thought away. After all, you had a Jungwon to maim.

The city clock chimed for five o’ clock, and on the fifth clang, they jumped.

You leaped out after them and sent all three of you soaring upward through the air.

Assassin of the Air and Wind. It had a nice ring to it.

You fell onto the helipad, tucking into a roll. Jungwon rushed up to you, lifting you up and spinning you as he hugged you so hard you knew what your victims felt like. You laughed and patted his shoulder, “Let me down, Won.”

“Fine,” he said, grinning at you. “That was awesome. I knew you had it in you.”

You grinned back. “Well, a certain someone let me know of my next hit. A very important one, he said.”

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry… I really did try to stop.”

“Well now we’re rich, so all debts are lifted.”

He chuckled, leaning in so your face was inches away from his. “Forgiven, then? For the lying?”

You tilted your head to the side, pretending to think it over. “We’ll see.”

He didn’t respond, staring at your eyes. His gaze slowly lowered, landing on your lips.

You glanced at his. They were smooth, salmon pink, and slightly tilted up at the ends. You forced your heartbeat to stop furiously beating, knowing he could hear it clearly.

Oh, for Saint’s sake, just kiss him.

You put a hand on his cheek and pressed his lips onto yours, swooning at how nice and soft they felt. He stiffened, before putting his hand on the nape of your neck and kissing you back. Your movements were slow and languid, yet still electrifying, and you enjoyed how nice it was to kiss Jungwon compared to your past flings. It was intoxicating, setting the nerves in your lips and brain on fire. He pulled back and smiled softly, touching his forehead to yours. You smiled back, still high from the kiss.

You heard a whoop and clapping, turning to see Yeonjun and Yuna smirking at you two.

“Took you long enough,” Yeonjun chimed, and Yuna nodded in agreement.

She hoisted herself into the passenger seat of the helicopter. “Now, if you’re done snogging each other, we have to leave. Now.”

You both scrambled into the back, strapping yourselves in and securing your headsets.

“Lovebirds, no funny business while I’m flying. Especially you, Airbender. I don’t need you to get excited and send us flying off course.” Yeonjun deadpanned into the microphone.

You chuckled to yourself, watching as the helicopter lifted you off of the ground. Jungwon entwined his fingers with yours, tilting his head to the side in playful question.

You laughed and stretched your arms, turning towards him. “Forgiven,” you mouthed to him.

He beamed at you and squeezed your hand. You squeezed back.

EPILOGUE

You flipped through papers, checking off every Grisha still left in Kerch. It was months after your Exchange job, collecting your money and paying off your debts to the Slave Pirate. Kai had taken his share and moved out, opening a gadget shop that attracted youngsters and eccentrics from around the world. The twins’s business was booming, becoming one of the biggest names in Ketterdam.

You and Jungwon had begun a Grisha safety-and-smuggling practice, keeping an eye on all the Grisha in Kerch and helping those who wanted to leave sail undetected to Ravka. You heard the door open and close and got up to meet Jungwon in the living room. He dropped the bags he was carrying next to the kitchen, slumping onto the couch.

“Tired already?” you teased, sitting down next to him. You ran your fingers through his hair and he visibly relaxed, melting onto the couch.

“That was like… seven delivery trips. I’m spent,” he smiled at you, “But worth it.”

You hummed in agreement. “Well… there’s some chocolate ice cream in the back of the ice box.”

The words “chocolate ice cream” seemed to breathe life into him and he jumped up, round eyes sparkling as he stared at you excitedly. “Say no more.”

© celestialgyu | do not copy or translate

ADORABLE

dear bus noona — n.rk

pairing: non-idol! nishimura riki x noona! reader

genre: romance, fluff, letter, bus crush (i know cafe crush is kind of a genre but what about bus seatmates?)

inspired by: my bus rides lol

summary: in which ni-ki writes a letter to the noona who’s on his bus every day :)

wc: 646

warnings: older crush(?), mentions of crying, cat canvas bags, sad books (???i liked it so im not sure if it needs a warning)

dear bus noona:

the first time i met you, you stole took my seat. my favourite seat!!! the window seat. and because you were sleeping, your head blocked my view so i nearly missed my stop >:(( next time sit on the outside okay? but you looked kinda cute when you were asleep…

then i started seeing you on the same bus. every single day. IN THE SAME SEAT. i caught a glimpse of your id while you were putting away your bus pass. that’s how i know you’re a noona. clever, aren’t i? :> but anyway. at least you weren’t asleep the second time. you know noona, you should sleep more, instead of relying on the horrible-smelling coffee you carry around all the time. sometimes you stare at the trees passing by, and i guess it relaxes you because after 5 minutes on the bus you look less tense than when you first get on.

last week, you started carrying a really ugly canvas bag. noona, i love cats too but please stop carrying that bag around the poor kitten’s face is misshapen. the manufacturer of your bag doesn’t do cats justice. seriously, the cat face print looks more like a pig than a cat. return it if you bought it, unless you got it as a gift, which in that case please never bring that out in public again. it’s an eyesore.

the other day, you had a new keychain on your bag zipper, with cha eunwoo’s face on it. does noona find him handsome? are you really a cha eunwoo fangirl? i’m even more good-looking than him what’s your favourite kdrama then? i’ve watched a few of the really popular ones but i don’t really know what else to watch. can noona give me some suggestions? so long as they don’t have cha eunwoo in them.

noona, you looked so funny on the bus last wednesday, crying while reading that english book that i can’t remembering the name of. (was it swing sideways? i don’t know.) i’m sorry for laughing at you. but if i hadn’t laughed you wouldn’t have yelled at me for teasing you! so you should thank me for laughing, ok? don’t be mad at me…i just thought it was cute that you could be so worked up about books. even though i’m not close to noona, just watching you has already told me so much about what you’re like. our chat was really fun, and you’re really fun too.

ahhh, noona, sometimes you’re so cute when i see you. your fashion sense makes me wonder if i’m older or you are. you’re so weird, noona! you’re such an odd person, and i can’t help but want to be friends with you. so dear bus noona, talk to me more ok?

with love,

the kid on the bus who squished your crocheting project by accident ♡

riki sighed, head tilting backwards as he leaned back into his chair. the white light from his desk lamp illuminated his ghostly complexion, and he realised he’d been up far too late for a kid who still had school the next day. twirling his favourite pen absentmindedly, riki reread his letter one more time, before humming in satisfaction when he found no more areas to be corrected. in went the fancy parchment paper, and all that was left on riki’s desk was a lavender-scented manila envelope held in place by a piece of twine. (he’d borrowed konon’s perfume, and he’d make sure sola took that secret to the grave.)

unbeknownst to riki, there was a small smile gracing his lips as he went to bed that night. he needed the sleep, after all tomorrow was going to be a big day. with the flip of a switch, the room was plunged into darkness, but the tiny flame of hope in riki’s heart glowed brighter than anything.

a/n: so…here we are. i just think ni-ki’s adorable. i’m not even older than the beloved maknae so why am i writing about being his noona T-T but anyway! this is my first time writing fluff in a long while so im very rusty but it’s my soft hours so enjoy it while it lasts

All of the "Pro-lifers" that are celebrating right now I sincerely hope you or your daughters never have a Miscarriage that they cannot naturally pass, because a D&C is an abortion.

I hope you don't have a ectopic pregnancy, because the procedure that will save your life is an abortion.

I hope you don't have a still born baby that your body can't naturally pass because that induction is an abortion.

I hope you are never in a place where carrying a baby full term would mean your death (as mine would, my doctor looked me in the eyes and told me if I get pregnant again I WILL NOT MAKE IT, and fuck you all because my kids need a mom more than they need a sibling.)

I hope you don't find out your baby has a condition that will mean being alive for how ever long will cause them excruciating pain, that you don't have to birth your baby and watch them die a horrific, painful death in your arms.

I hope you aren't raped and forced to carry that baby to term no matter the detriment to your mental/physical health.

I hope you aren't forced to give birth to your abusers child, giving you no way out of the relationship.

I hope your 10 year old is never assaulted and have to carry a baby to term that will almost definitely will kill her.

I hope that you don't go to jail when they investigate your miscarriage and determine that something you did made it YOUR FAULT.

I hope you realize you and your daughters will die from laws you created.

I hope you realize the consequences of your actions because you may have to suffer through them.

THIS WAS SO CUTE, ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE 😭

all i want for christmas is you

PAIRING(S) | nishimura riki x fem!reader

GENRE(S) | fluff, crack, rivals to lovers, fake dating au, high school au

WARNING(S) | profanity, lots of teasing, riki is constantly flirting with the mc, childish banter, nosy families, and last but not the least, a fluffy kiss!! 

WORD COUNT | 5471

SUMMARY | agreeing to accompany nishimura riki to a christmas party was probably the most stupid decision you made that day. or so you thought.

PLAYLIST | all i want for christmas is you by mariah carey, i see the light by mandy moore and zachary levi, christmas tree by v (listen to this one once the kissing scene starts) 

AUTHOR’S NOTE | hi!! i’m rly excited to repost this fic since it’s my proudest work and features my bias :”) why am i posting a christmas fic in the middle of march? bc i can’t wait till december to share it with you guys and bc riki is the only person i haven’t written for yet LOL feedback is always appreciated! i would love to hear what you guys think :D 

You wondered if the universe hated you and had decided to fuck you over, or if you were just plain stupid. 

Definitely the latter, you concluded as you watched the most horrifying scene you had ever witnessed unfold before your eyes. 

You probably deserved everything coming your way for trusting Nishimura Riki earlier that day, but as a wise person had once said, even a girlboss has her weak moments. 

And on the 25th of December, you were at your weakest.

Not only had your parents ditched you on Christmas to go on what they claimed was an urgent business trip but had also left without so much as a goodbye.  

You’d woken up to a house as silent as the grave. For a moment, you’d thought you were sucked into the Home Alone universe, what with the way you were shouting their names like a child lost in a crowd and wondering why the fuck they weren’t answering you. 

You’d called and called and called their phones, but each time, you’d received the same monotonous response: the number you are calling is not reachable. 

The first two hours, you were in a state of absolute panic. You had no idea where your parents were and why they weren’t picking up their phones. There were no post-it notes stuck to the refrigerator, and their bed was already made. 

Where the hell were they? 

Keep reading

## marriage discount. — p. sunghoon

from the world of buy one, take me.

synopsis: after endless of weddings that sunghoon attends to, he's been spending non-stop. so, upon hearing about a discount for married people even if it's just in the dry cleaners, sunghoon tells the employee that the girl, who happens to be you, walked in in the shop is his wife. even if he doesn't know you.

pairing: sunghoon x fem!reader

mentions of: botm!heey/n, botm!jay

content/genre: just a short one (i'm not sure if i will give part 2, but hey let me know), fluff, slight crack

warning(s): swearing. sunghoon jokingly calling heeseung 'daddy' 😭 if there's something, let me know. unproofread

note: this is rlly just short but i think its still cute lol,,, hopefully u guys enjoy this vv short piece HKVDBSHDF im sorry that its short, i rlly wanted it to be long, but yeah HBDSJHSF,, u dont need to read the smau, but for context, 'flower' is hee's nickname for mc in the smau

wc: 2k

sunghoon was annoyed lately. everyone he knows is getting married, so it annoyed the hell out of him. oh, don’t get him wrong. he’s not annoyed because everyone is getting married but him. he’s annoyed because of the fact that weddings are so much work and have to spend money for decency. speaking of money, he’s almost out of it.

sunghoon recently just got promoted in his job and had a raise, but the money just went by a snap because of the said weddings. he had to buy a tux, and it’s the only tux he’s been wearing in weddings. he just attended one the day before, now he’s here in the dry cleaning shop to have his tux cleaned. next month will be jay’s wedding.

he’s happy for them, he really is. and heeseung, too. heeseung recently reconnected with flower and he was insanely happy about it, but sunghoon can’t help, but think that it would heeseung’s wedding next and his money is out again.

“good morning, sir!” the employee greets. he was a bit younger than sunghoon, probably riki’s age or younger. sunghoon mumbles a hello, giving the boy his tux. “where’s your wife, sir?”

“what?” sunghoon asks.

“it’s just, we have a discount for married people.” the boy says and sunghoon, of course, will do anything for discounts. so, when the next person pushes the door open to get in, he wasn’t even thinking.

“there she is.” sunghoon says, pointing at you causing you to stop. he nervously looks at you as you just look between him and the employee.

“what?” you say, raising an eyebrow at him.

sunghoon’s doomed.

“i’m just asking him where his wife is, ma’am. he said it’s you?” the boy asks for confirmation and you look at the man who said that you’re his wife. hm. he’s fucking gorgeous, why not?

“he’s cute.” you mumble under your breath, but you knew they both heard when the man’s cheeks started to grow red. “sure, yeah!” you say and the boy raises an eyebrow. “i just like complimenting my husband. what is this even about?” you ask, chuckling nervously.

“we have discount for married people, ma’am.” he says and sunghoon swears he saw your eyes shine when you heard the word discount.

“really?” you ask and he nods. sunghoon softly smiles when he watches you. “how much?”

“20%.” the employee answers and you nod. “but ma’am, i don’t see any ring on either of you.”

sunghoon softly curses under his breath, but of course, just like sunghoon, you would do everything for discounts. “we pawned them last week.” you lie and sunghoon looks at you. “you know how tough life is lately.” 

“right, i’m sorry. is this tux and that gown all you have for dry cleaning?” he asks and you look at sunghoon.

“yup, that’s all.” he says as you give the gown to the employee. he immediately hangs it on the rack along with sunghoon’s tux and puts it together. “it will be ready in 24 to 48 hours. you can pay for it by then when we text you to pick it up. can i have any of your numbers?”

“sure.” sunghoon says as he takes the pen and paper that the employee gave. “okay, thank you.” he says and the boy says thank you as well. you and sunghoon come out of the dry cleaning shop, turning to the left right away.

“i’m sorry about that—”

“no, no! i needed the discount, too. i should be thanking you.” you say and sunghoon laughs, shaking his head. “you don’t have anyone, do you?”

“no, no!” sunghoon says, shaking his head. “you?”

“no,” you say, chuckling. sunghoon clears his throat, nodding as he doesn’t know what to say anymore, but he needs your number. he was about to speak when you beat him to it. “there’s this bakery that sells these insanely expensive cakes, but they’re good. they give discounts to married couples.” 

sunghoon smiles. “is it that bakery just downtown?” he asks and you nod, smiling. “we need rings, first.” he says and you chuckle. sunghoon talks to you as he drags you to an apartment building, exchanging names, numbers and information that you two need to know about each other until you two started talking about the most random things.

turns out, you were in the same university as he was.

“really? for discounts, you’re pretending to be married to someone you barely know?” sunghoon friend says, then he looks at you. “please don’t take offense, you seem like a lovely person.” he says and you laugh lightly, shaking your head.

“none taken, i know how it sounds.” you say.

“as if you didn’t take flower as a freebie in jay’s bouquet six years ago.” sunghoon says and his friend glares at him. “you barely knew her that time, yet you still did.”

“i didn’t take her as my wife!” he defended and sunghoon only raised his eyebrow at his friend. “and you know i can’t lend you their wedding rings, jay will fucking kill me.”

“how about the wedding rings you bought for you and flower?” sunghoon asks and his friend sighs. “i’ll return it safe and sound, not even a scratch. i promise. and like, let’s be real, you wouldn’t propose right away when you two reunite.”

“excuse me?” he says.

“come on, it took you a century to admit you like flower.” sunghoon says and he feels a poke on his arm. he looks through his shoulder to see you shaking your head.

“not helping.” you say and his friend sighs for the hundredth time. “and you know what? there’s an arcade somewhere where there’s a wedding booth for some reason, let’s just ask them for some fake rings.” 

“no, no.” his friend says, turning around to go to the nearby desk and pulling a drawer out. he grabs a velvet red box, giving it to sunghoon who is holding his hand out. but his friend pulls his hand back. “listen,” he says and sunghoon hums. “you’re going to be careful with this, you’re going to return it to me in the same state that it is, you’re not losing this, and you owe me, okay?”

“yes, daddy.” sunghoon says, jokingly, raising his eyebrows and his friend shakes his head, rolling his eyes as he gives sunghoon the box. “thank you!” sunghoon laughs as he turns around, exiting the apartment as he grabs your hand on the process.

“thank you by the way!” you exclaim and sunghoon’s friend nods. you jog along with sunghoon as you two stop outside of the building. sunghoon puts the ring on you as he puts the other on him. “wait, was that lee heeseung?” you ask. 

“yeah!” sunghoon says. “why?”

“i just remembered the one time i was in flower’s aunt’s shop. she was there with him helping her, but he wasn’t much of a help, actually. he was just goofing around and clinging on flower, trying to pull her away from her work. he kept saying he wanted to go to the movies with her.” you say, remembering six years ago as clear as a day.

sunghoon smiles. “i bet flower said something about kicking seungie’s ass?”

“she did. heeseung stopped and flower just glared at him, putting the flowers down and grabbing her coat, causing heeseung to smile widely.” you laugh, shaking your head. sunghoon chuckles. “anyway, bakery?” 

turns out, not only did the bakery give you a discount, they gave the cake for free and with some drinks. the employees were pretty convinced you two were recently married. sunghoon was just thanking the universe that you were the one who entered that dry cleaning shop.

“well, free lunch. that was great.” you said, walking out of the bakery with sunghoon holding your hand in his. he laughs, nodding. 

“and heeseung thought we were insane.” sunghoon says to which you nod, chuckling. “so… would you mind going around for a bit?” he asks, stopping as he faces you. “i kinda wanna see what more we can abuse with this thing.” he says, pointing at the ring on his finger. you laugh, nodding.

“sure, of course. you wanna see, i don’t know, there?” you say, pointing at an arcade. you look at sunghoon who was just looking at you to which you smiled.

that was the whole day. you two went around town to see if you can get any discounts, even with the stuff you don’t even know. you both acted like a married couple and it was honestly nice. and hey, sunghoon even got a discount for his wedding gift for jay. 

around 11 in the evening, you and sunghoon were silently walking on the way to your apartment. not that you two were tired of talking and got tired of each other, but it felt nice being in comfortable silence with each other as sunghoon softly holds your hand in his. he insisted on walking you home to which you, of course, did not decline. 

park sunghoon is pretty damn cute, after all.

you never know why you never noticed him back in college.

“this is me,” you softly say, stopping as you gesture on the building and sunghoon nods, smiling at you. “today was pretty fun.”

“it was nice being your husband for a day.” sunghoon says and you laugh, nodding. you remove the ring from your finger, giving it to sunghoon as he takes it and puts it in the box, along with his. “i’ll text you when we can get our tux and gown from the dry cleaning place.”

you nod. “thank you, sunghoon.” you softly say and he smiles. you sigh, nodding as you start to walk into the building, but sunghoon was quick to stop you.

“hey, y/n?” he calls.

you turn around right away. “yeah?”

sunghoon gives a soft gentle smile which he gives when he’s shy. “you maybe wanna,” he clears his throat, shrugging. “i don’t know, go on a date after we get them from the dry cleaning place?”

“sure, why not.” you softly say.

“i’ll pay this time.” sunghoon says with a smile. “no pretend marriage for a discount, but as two people on a date where we… get to know more about each other.”

you smile.

“and then, i don’t know,” sunghoon chuckles, shrugging. “from there maybe we can see where it goes.”

“i would love that.” you say, nodding. “um, you have my number, just text me.”

he nods, smiling. you keep your hands in your pocket, smiling as you nod. you were about to go inside, but you stop, turning around to sunghoon and walking up to him. you press a kiss on his cheek, smiling up to him through your lashes.

sunghoon, like the entire day, didn’t know what he was thinking. he leans in, pressing his lips against yours as impulsiveness takes over him. he pulls away, looking into your eyes filled with shock. he nervously chuckles, shrugging.

“i’m sorry.” he apologizes. “i just couldn’t wait for the date, you looked too beautiful up close.”

you chuckle, shaking your head as you bashfully look away, hand on your mouth to cover up your smile. a guy who you didn’t know went to the same university with whom you went around town pretending to be married to get discounts just kissed you.

the guy you know for less than 24 hours has kissed you.

and you wanted to do it again.

you looked at him, chuckling as a big grin grows on your lips. “one more,” you say, holding your hands out to cup his cheeks. sunghoon softly laughs, hands on your elbows as he presses his lips against yours as he feels you kiss back.

eventually, you two had to pull away as you two were smiling too wide, sunghoon resting his forehead against yours. “alright, good night.” you mumble and sunghoon smiles.

“good night.” he softly says and you smile as you pull away, turning around to go inside the building. sunghoon turns around when you’re out of sight, smiling to himself as he walks home.

he stops when he hears his phone ping, he takes it out and reads the message. it was from the dry cleaning place. they can get it tomorrow before lunch right away. sunghoon grins as he goes home.

too excited to see you again.

and who knows, maybe the next wedding he will attend after jay’s is finally his own.

a/n: if botm!heey/n is "she fell first, he fell harder", botm!hoony/n is "proof that you can fall in love within 24 hours". im sorry if this was boring ahbdsjksfhb but yas thank you for reading <3