Twenty Four

twenty four

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

pairing choi yeonjun x fem! reader

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

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

masterlist | next

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

right, this was your engagement party.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘no,’ you whimpered. ‘please, no!’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

that was, until nightfall.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

camellia ⁺.⚘˚◞꙳ y.jw

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

PAIRING ! prince!jungwon x gardener!f!reader

WC ! 2.5k

GENRE ! fluff ft teasing princewon ^^

WARNINGS ! reader gets called a ‘filthy thing’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

you look down, and a laugh leaves your lips.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“why would i?”

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

you’ve had enough of this boy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

but it never happens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“how would you know anything about the—“

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

S𝗔ND BL𝗔NK𝗘TS ── yjw.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“it's okay.” he waved you off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⠀ ⠀ © soov, 2O23.

EMAMAMAMAMAA 😈😈😈😈😈😈

hellaur

hes so

LILLY BILLY 💗💗💗‼️‼️‼️ HIHI MUWAH

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

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

this man… 🦦

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

HARU !! AUGSHSB THANK YOU UR SO SWEET ☹️🫶

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

bravery at my nightmares — yang jungwon

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

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

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

WORDCOUNT > 6394 words

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

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

ACT 01.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, his hair. It was red. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Was he even scary looking to fit those rumors?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

Growling.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

“Weird,” Riki whispered.

—

The clock on Jungwon’s phone read 6:53 PM. He reached the convenience store only a minute ago and was shocked that nobody else was there. He leaned against the walls of the store while scrolling on his phone. 

The sound of panting and rushed footsteps grew in sound, causing him to look up from his phone. He watched you and Riki slouch over while catching your breaths. “How long have you been here for?” You asked as Jungwon slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Not long, maybe 1 minute.” He responded as Riki groaned. “And you made me run for nothing?! We were barely late, Y/n!” He exclaimed between pants. “Not my fault! I thought it would take longer, alright?!” You argued back while Jungwon smiled. 

“It’s fine guys, let’s just go now.” He suggested as you both looked up at him. “Alright but, could we walk a bit slow? I need to regain my energy,” Riki asked as you and Jungwon agreed. 

The walk to the karaoke place wasn’t bad. It was only tolerable if Jungwon ignored the looks Riki gave him. Before they even started walking, Riki placed himself in between the two so that he was in the middle instead. Recalling his words; “I’ll stand in the middle so I can hear both of you when you say something,” it was stupid but you both didn’t think too much about it. 

“Who’s going first?” You asked while grabbing the remote control. “Can’t we just do a duet?” Riki asked as you looked over at him. “Then what about Jungwon?” You cocked your head at Jungwon as he stared at you. “I’m fine! Don’t worry, you two can do your thing.” He reassured you as you nodded. 

“Okay! Riki, what song?” You waited for a response as your fingers hovered over the remote control. “Uh, ‘Tell me’ by Wonder Girls?” He suggested as you agreed. 

“Now playing ‘Tell Me’ by Wonder Girls,” the machine spoke as the song began to play in the background. You placed down the remote control on the coffee table while grabbing a mic. “I call the first verse, like always!” You exclaimed while rising from your seat. Riki rolled his eyes but agreed as he also grabbed his mic. 

Jungwon watched the both of you with a small smile. If this is what having a close friend looked like then he was ready for it anytime. “5, 6, 7, 8!” You counted as Riki stood beside you. You both started dancing together at the beat drop while Jungwon watched from his seat on the couch in disgust. This will be embarrassing. 

“Hey, I’m gonna head to the bathroom for a bit.” Jungwon said, excusing himself from the embarrassing scene. You held up an ‘ok’ sign as he rose from his seat and headed towards the door. 

On the other side, the song and your voices were slightly audible but mainly muffled. He walked away from the entrance as he headed towards the male bathrooms. He didn’t need to use it in any way, he was only trying to escape from that atmosphere. He really did want to become close friends with you guys but it seemed as though it would be a little harder than expected. It was obvious that Riki didn’t take a liking to him but it’s not like he could change that.

Jungwon walked with his head low as he tried to get rid of his overwhelming thoughts. 

“Hurry up, I’m starving!” A voice exclaimed as he kicked the vending machine. “Clearly, I’m trying. Be patient or you won’t get anything in return,” another voice said in an annoyed tone. 

Jungwon was brought to an abrupt stop by another figure. 

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” A voice warned from in front of Jungwon. He backed up as he prepared to apologize but instead, was now met with the eyes of a familiar boy. “Wait a minute, guys look! It’s shithead,” he laughed, alerting the boys who stood next to the vending machine.

Jungwon stiffened at the familiar nickname as he looked up he was met with the four familiar faces. Park Sunghoon who stood in front of him as Lee Heeseung, Park Jongseong, and Sim Jaeyun all stood around the vending machine. 

They all looked at Jungwon then to each other and let out a laugh. “What did you do with your hair? And the piercings, woah you changed.” Sunghoon said while touching small pieces of his hair and looking at his earrings. 

“I heard you’re known as a ‘bad boy’ at your new school, seems like you let the little title get to your head, huh?” He said as he poked Jungwon’s forehead. “Glad to see the title of ‘asshole’ hasn’t gotten to your head yet,” Jungwon muttered, causing Sunghoon to stop for a moment. “What did you just say?” He asked while raising a brow at Jungwon. 

Jungwon looked up with a ‘glare’. “I said, I’m glad to see the title of ‘asshole’ hasn’t gotten to your head yet.” He repeated as Sunghoon clicked his tongue and looked away. “You little shit,” he mumbled while slapping Jungwon across the face. Jungwon held his reddening cheek with his hand.

“I guess you forgot to change your stupidness while changing your features. You still don’t know when to watch your mouth,” Jaeyun said as he walked over to the duo. “Could we take this outside? Just looking at him is making me mad.” Jaeyun looked at the two boys who stood behind him and Sunghoon as they nodded in agreement.

Fuck, here we go again. 

Jungwon wobbled on his feet as he tried to keep his balance. “Why won’t you just stay down?!” Jaeyun said while kicking Jungwon in his guts. He let out a nasty cough as droplets of blood fell from his mouth. 

“You’ve became even more annoying, you know?” Jongseong headed over to Jaeyun and Jungwon while pressing his lit cigarette onto the walls nearby. “It’s only been a week ever since your last appearance at Decelis, your new school must’ve changed you, hm?” He questioned in a teasing tone. He watched the droplets of blood fall from Jungwon’s lip in satisfication. 

“I think it’s best for us 4 to remind you of who you truly are,” Jongseong raised his fist as he pulled it back. “Stay still for this one, it’s gonna hurt.” He warned while aiming for Jungwon’s cheek. 

Jungwon prepared himself for the next hit, he wasn’t going down that easy. He waited and waited but nothing came. Opening his eyes, he was met with a shadow. He tried catching his breath from the previous hits as he watched with squinted eyes and a blurry sight. 

Thud. 

“Wow, I haven’t done that for a while.” The person in front of Jungwon said while dusting off their hands. “Are you okay?” They asked while turning around to face Jungwon with concerned fill in their eyes. They held out their hand to Jungwon as he hesitated. 

“...Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks, Riki.” He said while taking his hand into his. Riki helped him straighten up as he dusted off Jungwon’s clothes. “You’re bleeding a lot,” he said in a lower volume as Jungwon coughed again. 

“What the fuck was that for?!” Jongseong’s voice reeked with anger as he stood up, recovering from the previous attack. “Aw, looks like you have people to stand up for you now, don’t you?” Heeseung teased from the sidelines with crossed arms. Riki turned around while stretching his limbs.

“Look, I have no clue who you four are, but that doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to hurt my…friend.” Riki said with some hesitation in his voice. Heeseung scoffed while pushing himself off the wall. “Is this some joke?” He asked with knitted brows. Riki looked at him cluelessly while raising a brow. “No?” He said unsure if that was the right answer. 

“Aren’t you sweet, defending your little ‘friend.’ I wouldn’t trust him if I were you, he caused many problems back at Decelis. I’m sure you know of them too,” Sunghoon said while helping Jongseong from his previous spot. 

“I don’t like you,” Jaeyun said from beside Jungwon with his hands in stuffed into his sweater pocket. Riki turned around to see Jaeyun kicking Jungwon in his shin. Jungwon fell to the ground after losing his balance. “Don’t touch him,” Riki warned. He was too distracted by the sight in front of him that he wasn’t aware of the fist that was heading his way. 

“Pay attention to your surroundings,” Heeseung said as he watched Riki slouch over from the sudden attack. Riki looked up at Heeseung with a fresh new cut on his bottom lip. It was a 4v2, how was that fair? Those boys were way stronger than those two combined, especially with Jungwon’s strength. They were bound to lose. 

“What’s taking you guys so long!” Your voice rung out, alerting all the boys as you’d hit Jaeyun. “Riki, I sent you to go find Jungwon in the bathroom, not outside!” You exclaimed while looking at Jungwon’s fragile figure and Riki’s slightly injured one. “I can never leave you two alone,” you mumbled as a smile grew onto Riki’s face. The possibility of them losing reduced by 10%. With your help, something could be done. 

“Not my fault he wasn’t there, be grateful that I found him anyway!” Riki argued back as he spat out blood. “You’ve got to be lying. A girl, really?” Sunghoon laughed from beside Jongseong. Riki looked away from you as he narrowed his eyes at Sunghoon. 

“Focus,” you said to Riki as he stood up while wiping his bleeding lip with his thumb. He threw a punch at Heeseung as he stumbled over his feet. Riki fought the other three boys as you ran over to Jungwon. 

“Hey, you okay?” You asked while helping him up. He coughed to the side as he nodded. “I’ll help with your wounds after, alright? Just… hang in there for now?” You ressaured him while rushing. The rustling noises from beside the two of you caused you to look over at the slightly injured boy. “You see, just because you’re a girl. That doesn’t mean I won’t hold back,” Jaeyun said as you patted Jungwon on the back. “I wasn’t asking you to but okay!” You stood up from your previous spot and walked towards Jaeyun. 

You stood in the fighting stance as Jaeyun stood in front of you. He scoffed at the sight, “Are you really going to fight with m—” 

You threw a jab at his jaw as he backed up from the impact. Jungwon’s eyes widened at the sight of both you and Riki fighting against his ‘bullies’. It was something he could never do but it was still cool to watch. 

“You did Taekwondo? No wonder why your moves are so familiar,” Jaeyun mumbled while rubbing away the pain from your hit. You didn’t let his words get to your head as you waited for another opportunity to strike. 

“Well, me too.” He said while getting into the same fighting stance. He went in with an uppercut which was blocked by your forearms while you kicked him on the neck. 

You and Riki were too busy fighting the four boys and didn’t hear Jungwon’s warning. He stood up from the ground while gaining his strength again. “Guys, the police,” he said but it was too faint for anyone to hear. He placed his hand on the bricked wall beside him for more stability while the other rested on his knee. 

“The polic–” Jungwon cut himself off as the sirens of the police cars became audible. “Shit,” Jaeyun said while stopping mid-attack. You, Riki, and Jungwon all looked at each other with widened eyes. “What should we do?” Riki mouthed to you. “I’d say we run,” you mouthed back. 

He pushed Sunghoon and Jongseong away from him while you ran over to Jungwon, grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him along with you. All three of you ran at full speed with Jungwon falling behind by a little bit. 

“Why are we running so fast?! Shouldn’t it be the other way around!” He exclaimed in between breaths. “No, silly! That only happens in shows, but who said we had to follow the rules?” You said with a smile heard in your voice. 

“She’s right, it’s okay to break rules sometimes. They’re there for a reason!” Riki said while grabbing you by the arm. “I think we might need to go faster, what if they rat us out!” He panicked as he picked up the speed with both you and Jungwon now falling behind. 

—

The three of you sat at the table outside of the convenience store. The ointment bottles, used cotton swabs, and bandaid wrappers were scattered on top of the table as you all ate your ice cream. “Feels nice, doesn’t it?” You asked while smiling at the night sky. Jungwon looked at you with curious eyes. “What does?” He inquired, causing you and Riki to look at him.

“Actually, I’m not sure. But just the three of us sitting here together feels comforting.” You explained as you looked at them back. “So, Riki. Are you two finally ‘friends’ now?” You teased while leaning over the table. He playfully rolled his eyes at you with a warning glare as you laughed in return. “Don’t push it,” he said, causing Jungwon to chuckle. 

It felt like the world shifted at the sudden sound. You and Riki both looked at Jungwon with shocked and judging expressions. “Just ‘Heh?’” You both mocked in unison. “‘Heh?!’” You said again while Jungwon looked up at you with confused eyes. “What’s so shocking…?” He asked, unsure. 

“You literally just laughed! Nobody has ever heard you laugh yet. There’s even a rumor about you never laughing for years!” You pointed at him still in shock. “I’m human too, you know. I’m supposed to laugh eventually,” Jungwon said back as Riki nodded in agreement. “He’s got a point, Y/n.” He said, resulting into the two of you to start an argument. 

Jungwon was thankful. He was thankful to have met you that day, his birthday. It felt as though you were supposed to be his gift instead of that beating he got. 

He was glad that he had people to call friends. 

—

It was cloudy and slightly gloomy outside. 

“Alright, hit me.” Riki said as Jungwon looked at him confused. “You can at least throw a punch right?” He asked while Jungwon shook his head. “So, you have no fighting experience?!” Jungwon nodded as both you and Riki facepalmed. “Gosh, okay. Y/n, I’m gonna need your help for this one.” You stood up at the sound of Riki’s words and headed over to the two boys. 

“Okay, Jungwon. Hold your hands like this,” you grabbed his wrists and positioned them to shield his face. “This will help at the start of fights. Since I learned Taekwondo, I’m not able to teach you combat fighting, so Riki will do most of that.” You explained while backing up from him. 

“Now, to throw a hit at someone, just swing forward. Still try and have power into that swing and hit for a critical spot! For example, the face.” Jungwon nodded as he took in all your words.

You moved out of the way, causing him to face Riki again. “Try hitting me now,” Riki insisted as Jungwon hesitated for a while. “Just do it already—”

Jungwon threw a punch at Riki’s jaw, cutting off his sentence. His eyes widened while watching the impact his hit had on Riki. “Was that too hard? Are you alright?” He questioned as he placed his hand on Riki’s back.

“Could Have warned me, you know?” He said with pain lingering in his voice. “Sweet! That was perfect, Jungwon. Keep practicing those and you’ll eventually be able to fight Riki! Maybe even beat him,” you whispered the last bit but it was still audible to Riki. 

“Pardon?! Don’t boost his ego, he can’t get past me yet!” He exclaimed while straightening up. “Uh, I’m pretty sure it’s you with a boosted ego.” You retorted as he rolled his eyes. “Moving on, let’s do that again! This time, I’ll for sure block it.” Riki said while getting back into position. 

© haknom 2023 - do not copy, translate, or plagiarize my work on other platforms!

TAGLIST: @soov @redm4ri @ox1-lovesick @urszn @feeeli @taejays @hanniluvi @dakkisz @dimplewonie @ddenoudepression @xiaoderrrr @ja4hyvn @mmaplepastries @essmarye @w3bqrl @axartia @yjjungwon @jennaissantes @yenqa @chaechae-23 @annoyingbitch83 @hawkins-hs @shinsou-rii @wanna-live-yn-life @luvhyun3 @astrae4 @naddii @4yjwonnn