Hello! Can I Request A Bad Boy Type Wonwoo Having A Soft Spot For Also A Cold Type Reader?

hello! 🤍 can i request a bad boy type wonwoo having a soft spot for also a cold type reader?

like they always acting so cold towards other people and even both of them acting like they hate each other.

and people are like "oh there is no way they can date", but wonwoo is only kind to reader and viceversa even without them noticing

Oh, and they dont even realized their feelings until reader feels jealous when they saw wonwoo with someone else and thats when they realized about it, but are afraid to said something since reader doesnt know how wonwoo will react

Kinda angst maybe, but fluff at the end

take your time btw! 🤍 it is also totally okay if is not possible, hope you are having an excellent day 🌸

Pairing: wonwoox gn!reader Genre: slight angst, fluff, slice of life Word count: 6.3k tags: mentions alcohol, childhood au, biker!wonu, frienemy!wonwoo, possible love triangle, reader called a bitch, presence of violence and imminent danger, analogy using car wrecks, mc and wonwoo stilling living with their parents as adults because that's normal ok, kinda messy, intimates kisses Summary: Hard to maintain a good acquaintanceship if it started off on the wrong foot, but Wonwoo tries to do just that, no matter how much you resent him from childhood. Now reunited as adults, you're questioning whether your negative impression of him has stuck since being away or have you grown up just enough to realize how much between the two you have changed? author note: this was collecting dust but finally she is here. just in time for wonwoo to be in my bias list 🙂

Tag: @shiningstar-byulxx @misssugarlips @tommolex @hoeforhao @goblinvern @dkakapizzaboy @junhui-recs @svtup @buffhoshi @meowmeowminnie @caratochan @lovebot4han @6969lilithcat @camisun93 @emmmui @toruro @jeonride @novalpha @nvmrljk @feat-sun @tinkerbell460 @aaniag @tacosandbitch

You will never willingly be associated with Jeon Wonwoo. 

His mom had just happened to be someone your mom knew. Someone that she hadn’t talked to or seen in a long time. Long enough to have built their own families and have their kids without realizing it. It was as if they fell back into place. A long-time childhood friendship that quickly rekindled in a grocery store one day. From that day on, your families were inseparable. As long as they were still friends, you’d see each other every day.

“Why would I babysit some weirdo kid? I have better things to do.”

The problem was he wanted nothing to do with you.

When you met him the first time, you were a child barely getting around to a bike without training wheels, and Wonwoo was meeting the first stages of fungal acne. He was a bit older than you were then and his mom had given him the duty to look after you, the neighbor’s kid. The neighbor’s weirdo kid.

His mom bragged to yours about how good of an older brother he was to his younger brother, Seonwoo, but that seemed that seems to be his limit. Having freshly turned a teen, it all made sense. Wonwoo didn’t know you, and all of a sudden in his growing years he’s stuck taking care of a kid he knows by association. Understandably, he’d have that teen angst.

You didn't mean to overhear. You just happened to eavesdrop behind a pillar that day in their obnoxiously nice house when you came across him and his mother talking privately. Admittedly, you hadn’t made the best impression, but you were any kid in their single digits: annoying, talkative, maybe skeptical. But you were a kid. A kid that got their feelings easily hurt.

Despite saying such hurtful words, Wonwoo listened. He treated you with care–consideration almost–following his mother's orders, but you didn't make it easy for him. Every group breakfast, every dinner, every ride to school. You became relentless. You knew how he really felt about your situation after all. Your mind was made up at that point.

If he wanted nothing to do with you, you wanted nothing to do with him. 

“Keep walking.”

Your eyes barely glaze over at the unfamiliar figure before waving off your hand as if dismissing a nuisance, which in this case was accurate. The unsolicited stranger scoffs, getting up from his unwelcome seat, hacking and spitting on the spot on the floor next to your chair. “I don’t fuck with bitches anyway.”

You roll your eyes as you shoo him away with the flick of your wrist again, then feel another unwanted presence join you in your once peaceful solitude. You tightly shut your eyes in frustration before taking a deep exhale, finding silence impossible under your circumstances. “I don’t want to hear it, Jeon.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything,” you hear Wonwoo arrogantly chuckle, shrugging off the thick leather off his shoulders and setting them on his lap as he takes a seat.

With your back turned to him, you imagine the pristinely lit smile on his face he gives when he’s amused, a rarity in these parts with the exception of you, someone he’s known long enough to recount every blemish that once appeared on your face. He watches you finish the rest of your drink, the bob of your throat shifting before you pull the glass away from your lips. Your resting bitch face is still intact after all these years.

“Good, keep it that way.” 

Wonwoo could have chosen to keep the peace as he said he would, but it was just too easy with you. Even after you’ve left for college and come back, he acts as if nothing has changed. In his eyes, you were still that same angsty kid who always has something snarky to say when he’s around. And man, did he always have just as smart a rebuttal. “It’s just, that was the fifth guy you’ve scared off—course, the guy was a moron—but you like dying alone, Frosty?”

Frosty. The Snowman. Much unlike the jolly creature, however, you were given that name being somewhat of a cold character, particularly to Wonwoo and anything he witnesses face the wrath of your harsh but honest judgment. 

You begin getting up from your seat, scowling at the abhorred nickname, the prediction of this dinner a mistake an accurate calculation. “Should’ve known you’d run your mouth. Tell mom I’m heading to the store across the street.”

Your mother was so proud to have you back home for a period before you’d find a new place again, and she insisted on holding a small intimate gathering at bar type restaurant. That meant sharing the space with other patrons, the Jeons, and unfortunately Wonwoo, who only grew more irritating than you last remember. 

“I’ll tell her, but I’m coming with.”

The caretaker role he was bestowed upon so long ago seems to resonate with him still, insisting on trailing behind you with nonchalance. To which you answer with a brash:

“Fuck off.”

Your eyes go to the back of your skull the nth time tonight before you’re off on your stroll, noticing the annoying scrap of Wonwoo’s heel following behind you after he waves your mom and the rest of the party farewell. You ignore him, darting towards the antique shop that warms your stomach with nostalgia, hearing the wind chimes clang when you enter with a cool musk breeze to follow.

“That all you have to say to me? Even if you hate me, there has to be some…sentiment.” 

You finger through the old hardcovers, eyes scanning over the aged wood of the shelves until they move on to the glossy wood of the cuckoo clocks on the walls. “Not even a little bit, Jeon.”

There’s the breathiness of his scoff that lingers in the musk air. He crosses your arms, the leather rubs loudly against itself. “Well, that’s sad to hear,” he responds, not sounding sad at all.

“Don’t you have an actual sibling to bother? Why are you being a nuisance to me?”

He simply shrugs. “Seonwoo isn’t back from his work-study just yet. Plus he’d be happy to know I kept you company.”

Unlike Wonwoo, Seonwoo was actually tolerable, pleasant even. If you were envious of Wonwoo for anything, it was having a nice little brother like Seonwoo. You weren’t exactly close but he was a nice kid, a lot nicer than Wonwoo anyway, and not at all that annoying kind of nice that chirps every two seconds.

You sigh. “Now that’s actually sad to hear.”

“I knew you’d say that. You always liked him better than me.”

Only because you never liked me in the first place.

“Mmhmm.”

“Oh my god, Wonwoo?”

A shrill voice beckons from the store entrance, an older version of a girl from your adolescence runs towards you both. “I thought I heard your gorgeous voice. Gorgeous face as well as always, how are you?”

Gina also grew up in the same neighborhood you both did and was typically nice, but around Wonwoo, she seemed to lose all train of thought since all her eyes could train on was him. She bats her eyelashes the same flirtatious way several years ago, and instinctively her body is drawn to him like mosquitos to blood, drinking in masculine appearance for all its worth.

If you were anything like her, you’d get it. Wonwoo is an attractive man by society's standards, but the truth of the matter is you can’t stand him. And you know deep down he can’t stand you. His fake politeness isn’t fooling anybody. Okay, that is a lie. His fake politeness doesn’t fool you, but his limitless charm made everyone else weak in the knees.

“Good, good.” He nods cordially, a smile drained from his face only leaving a straight stare, eyes only landing on Gina momentarily before they return to you.

Gina finds his gaze’s target before the light is slightly dimmed from her initially bright eyes. “And you too. Oh gosh, you must’ve got back too. Can you believe we’ve both graduated from college?”

You wonder if she does, considering you did graduate from the same university.

“Yeah, it’s…crazy.” You answer, sounding unintentionally sarcastic.

Gina awkwardly chuckles, eyes back on Wonwoo as if they never left. “All we need is Seonwoo and it’s like the musketeers again, huh?”

Hardly the musketeers when she only ever stalked Wonwoo the entire time. You’re surprised you didn’t find she didn’t follow him all the way to the bathroom too.

Wonwoo’s cold expression is a steel cage that lacks interest. He blindly nods, mumbling “sure,” and not giving any other sign of continuing the conversation.

“Well, you guys should totally make it to my housewarming party. I’m inviting all the other guys from the neighborhood. Invite Seonwoo too! It’ll be a nice way to catch up.”

“We’ll think about it,” Wonwoo answers, giving her another curt nod.

“I’ll be really, really grateful if you did.”

There are stars in her eyes, like a treat is dangling in front of it, that treat being a six-foot body of steel and perfect Wonwoo.

 “Right,” he grunts.

She finally waves you both goodbye before making it past the glass doors with a quirk in her step.

You continue to peruse the rest of the store, picking up that one wooden statue that’s never been sold, or if it has, it keeps getting returned. It makes you wonder if it’s cursed. “Just reject her already and let her move on. Even I feel sorry for her.”

“I’m not ready for the aftermath of all that.”

You really have to unlearn that eye roll of yours. You could tell it’s giving you a headache. “Of course you aren’t.”

“You’re not going, are you? The thing she mentioned?”

“This the first time you met me? Of course, I’m not going. You are?”

He shrugs. “A party never hurt anybody.” 

“Without an address?”

He pulls out his phone with a notification as clear as day, Gina’s Instagram handle ushering him with details of where the party whereabouts. “Who said I didn’t have an address?”

“She really needs to find a hobby.”

Wonwoo chuckles, tucking the phone back in his front pocket. “Ready to head back now? Unless you want to look through the store a second time.”

You groan. “Stop policing me. I’m going home.”

“I’ll take you.” 

You raise your brow. “On your fucking death trap? No thanks.”

He scoffs, crossing his arms, the leather of his jacket speaking out of turn again. “You say that as if people aren’t begging to the back of my Harley.”

“Only people with a death wish.”

That goes on for some time until you make yourself walk the mile before your feet give out. Wonwoo obviously is the first with a smile on his face before he forces you to get the rest of the couple miles on the back of his bike, which was admittedly prettier in person than the photos your mom showed you. 

There’s a bitter taste in your mouth as you get on—no doubt regret—questioning the proximity. “Hold on,” he says, to which you answer, “fat fucking chance.”

Your spiteful words are wasted as you find yourself tugging on him as you speed off on the vehicle from hell on the freeway.

“You’re an asshole!” You scream from your lungs.

“And I told you to hold on!” He screams back, a wide smile on his face you have no way of seeing.

You desperately wrap your arms around his torso, your life flashing before your eyes like a movie. All you hear is the wind in your ears while the traffic lights are hardly visible through your tightly shut eyes. You feel your soul leave your body, thinking nothing but the idea of an afterlife. If there was one good thing about the predicament you’re in, it’d be that he can’t see the terror in your eyes. He doesn’t know how much you want to scream bloody murder.

Before you know it, you arrive home safe and sound, the gas stopping at the curb of your house. He abruptly uses the bike break and you crash against broad shoulders, and you exude bumbling idiocy as you cling to him like a baby with separation anxiety. Oxygen finally enters your brain and you recognize your compromised position, forcing your grip off of him. You unbuckle and shove his helmet into his lap as you get off, a permanent scowl on your face. 

“Fuck you.”

“Glad to see you haven’t changed, Frosty.”

You don’t forget that encounter back then and you never get a chance to with your mom finding any excuse to see the Jeons day after day since your arrival. If that perfect apartment with affordable rent were to drop at your feet at a perfect time just when you so desperately needed it, it’d be now.

“Bring that in over next door. The Jeons will be thrilled to see their fridge stocked. And remember I’ll be gone until the morning.”

“We just gave them homemade wine yesterday. Mom, just because they live next door doesn’t mean we always have to plan to meet. We see them anyway.” You grab the cumbersome container of whatever it was anyway and hold it to your side like like a football, a strained expression on your face.

“You need to understand the value of lasting relationships. That’s why you’re still single, honey.”

You roll your eyes, groaning as you trod off, not wanting to start up another one of lectures why you're in your mid-twenties room with hardly any men in your books let alone in your court. Better off facing Jeon Wonwoo again than that, you guess.

You knock on their familiar white door, awaiting an answer from the other side. Soon enough you hear a masculine voice, but a voice that isn’t quite Wonwoo’s. The boy's fresh face on the receiving end piques your interest, an expression telling of a life of light and ease. Seonwoo stares back at you with a smile before politely waving. “It’s good seeing you! Been a minute.”

You find yourself returning a gesture, relaxing your arms. “It has. Mom wanted to send things over. Again.”

“Of course. Come in.”

You leave the box of goods in their fridge, feeling the presence of the younger Jeon follow behind you like a benevolent puppy. “Did you get in yesterday?”

“This morning. Early flight.”

You grin. “Singapore doing you good, I see.”

“Nothing like home though.”

You softly chuckle, “Yeah, there isn’t.”

Your conversation is cut short with another family coming down the stairs, one that looks ready to leave. They meet your eyes in amusement and his steps begin to falter in turn. “I saw you yesterday.”

“Don’t you dare make a joke about me missing you. It wasn’t funny any of the first five times.”

He’s smug as expected, entertained by the fact you’ve kept count. “I won’t, but it won’t make it any less true.”

You scoff. “Live in reality for once in your life, Wonwoo.”

“I will when you do.” He comes to the kitchen—briefly passing by you to do so and grazing your forearm—to fill a glass of water and downs it, his signature jacket thrown over his shoulders. He let out a refreshed sigh in your direction and put it away as soon as he finished. “I’m leaving now. When you change your mind about missing me, I’ll be at Gina’s party. Might actually find some fun there while you’re at it.”

The door closes behind him dramatically and your attention is right back on Seonwoo, the successful bystander. “Your brother is annoying.”

The young man smiles, finding the nostalgia in that small event. “Reminds me of the good old times.”

“Well, I should get going.”

“You’re going to the party too?”

You shake your head. “Not the slightest bit interested. Just trying to keep myself busy while I’m still in town.”

“Plan on leaving already? You just got here.”

“I can’t live on my parents forever. Need to make a living of my own you know.”

He softly laughs, a warm light enveloping his presence. He always seems to emit pure joy. Like there was nothing that could ruin this kid's day. “Nice to see you haven’t changed. Still self-reliant.”

You can’t help but smile back, “… Wouldn't be me if I wasn’t. I'll see you later, kid.”

You walk back home and go on with the rest of your afternoon by carrying on the duties of a college graduate with no job: endless job hunting. You let yourself go on that way for an hour, already bored by rereading your applicant details and sending in copies and copies of cover letters and documents. Your eyes have started to see stars shooting from either corner, warning signs of mental fatigue.

Shaking the numbing feeling, you shut off your laptop and notice the time on the clock. In the back of your mind, you’re remembering that party Wonwoo ended up going to. These parties weren’t by any means rare, but it had been some time since you let yourself give into environments as such. You said you wouldn't go but in dire situations of weary silences, perhaps it would hurt to take a second in a new subsubspace. Something to take off the edge of the weight of your undetermined future.

Against your initial better judgment, you force yourself out of that house to enter that very party you said you wouldn't go to. So like Gina to make an event over a normal thing like this. You don’t put much thought into what you wear and leave the house and when you arrive late as you were, you are unsurprised by the huge turnout. Five seconds in, you’re already regretting the 10 bucks you paid via UBER to get there.

The house was so Gina. As expected of one of the daughters of the wealthiest families in town. As you enter, all you hear is music, loud and rambunctious voices and laughter, and shouts of barely adults chugging whatever concoction in those house party solo cups. It all quickly reminds you of college and high school, times in your life you were relieved to know were over.

Why did you decide to come again if you knew this was going to happen?

You try ignoring the voices that seem to recognize you, evading and walking through the place for a potential drink to buzz you out of self-consciousness. If you were going to be in a place like this, a drink was warranted by all means.

“Wonwoo, come on!”

Gina’s voice, easily distinguishable, resonates from the other end of the room and sees how her presence bounces like a kite in the wind. You look in the direction of her gaze to find the person she seeks, ultimately having Wonwoo being dragged by the wrist, his hair sweeping the swift breeze of her force.  You were a bit relieved to see him, someone who is more similar to you in ways you’d never willingly admit.

You feel the urge to approach, curious how he’ll handle this one, but intentions all change of a brisk move, changing setting immediately. One second Gina looks up at him with doe eyes that speak longing and ache, another second her arms are looped around his neck and she pulls his lips against hers, massaging against them naturally as if rehearsed. Your feet stop, watching the unsightly scene like it’s a car crash as if in slow motion, taking you only a second to realize he hasn't yet let go.

Slowly then quickly, your chest pulls up like a marionette doll before it drops in a lump, repeating until the sound of your heart is rapidly pounding into your skull. You don’t understand it, but you don’t want to either. Swiftly, you duck back and turn your head in the other direction, having seen enough.

Then panic ensues.

People are harder to brush through than you realize. Colliding each one was like speed bumps in your way of a smooth departure. You were bound to have one person take a drunken offense to your rash movement and there it was: a subtle push that led to a spilled drink that stains the shirt of a man big enough to frighten children if he approached.

“Watch the fuckkk ya goin’!”

You don’t bother with the importance of apologizing or even acknowledging him. You realize it too late when he pulls at your collar back towards him, strangling you at the throat.

“S…stupid bitch can’t even see…fucking ruin my—hic—deink”

Your hands come around his grip, attempting to pry him off. “L-let me go. The fuck?”

“The fuck you say to me piece of shi—ah!”

He finally releases you when Wonwoo appears from behind him, tossing him out like an old ragdoll with no weight. The drunkard comes crashing down to the hardwood floor and before he realizes the cause of it, said cause whisks you away with his gril looping around your wrist.

“You’re going home right the fuck now,” Wonwoo grumbles, dragging you out of other guests' way and right out of the door, once again leading you to his motorcycle. “Bike now.”

“Wonwoo, what the fuck—“

“You aren’t an idiot. You knew what was gonna happen if I hadn’t stepped in. Now get on before fee fi fo fum finds out we left.”

“I’m not getting on that death trap again!”

His glare pierces right through you. “I know you'd rather be at home than here. Especially with the probability of becoming a statistic. Get on.”

He is right for the most part and even you’re seeing through your nonsensical defiance. Reluctantly, you follow his lead, knowing he’s left you with no other choice. You endure another near death experience, this time clutching on to him less resistantly unlike last time all the way back home. It is when you’re at the foot of your door you only realize the keys that were supposed to be in your pocket but left on the kitchen counter instead.

“Shit.”

Wonwoo quickly puts the pieces together. “No key?”

You shake your head, embarrassed slightly over your feeble appearance. “No, and mom won’t be back until the morning so I’m screwed.”

“Alright. You’re sleeping over.”

You scoff looking back at him, wondering whether he’s in the right state of mind to make that call. “You’re kidding.”

“Not unless you’re okay slumbering at the footstep of your door.”

Another choice made of your hands. You discouragingly follow after him as he unlocks the door across the street. Seonwoo was evidently still home with his loafers by the foot of the door but dead asleep upstairs in bed. 

“You take my bed. I’ll take the couch,” he offers nodding in the direction of the living room.

“No thanks, I’ll take the couch.”

He groans, giving that irritated look. “Don’t be difficult and just sleep in the damn bed.”

You huff, strutting over towards the couch. “Sleep in your own damn bed, Jeon. Stop treating me like you’re my babysitter.”

He follows after you, crossing his arms like an annoyed mother, “You’re really gonna be like this?”

“I’m not being like anything.”

“You know what?” He grabs the throw pillow off the couch, “Fine. We’ll share the couch.”

“Excuse me?” Your eyes narrow back at him.

The smug smile on his face says it all, knowing there was no rebuttal to follow. “Neither of us will take the bed, we’ll both will take the couch.”

Before you can argue, he ascends the stairs for more bedding and comes back to toss you a blanket and pillow. He keeps one of each for himself, sprawling on the other end of the massive couch, gesturing you to do the exact same. Cautiously, you mirrored his image, crawling under your borrowed blanket. Despite your feet not touching, you couldn’t help but feel suffocated by the close proximity, forcing you to crunch up your legs and bring your knees close to your chest. 

Wonwoo’s eyes drop in place, nuzzling into his thick blanket. “Good night.”

“Whatever.”

He softly scoffs with a smile, basking in the silence. Meanwhile, there was you, wondering why you listened to his instructions so willingly. You sigh, your eyes glued to the ceiling counting every bump and curve of its textured surface. 

“This is stupid it’s literally 10 pm”

“Sounds like bedtime.”

You peek back at him, his eyes still closed. “You did not go to a party to plan on sleeping at 10 pm.”

“You don’t know what my plans are. Sleep now.”

“I could’ve handled it, you know,” you argue.

“I bet you could’ve,” he responds dryly. “Wasn’t gonna take that risk though.”

“I’m serious…you didn’t have to, especially since…”

“What?” 

“You know,” you take a moment to form the words, “whatever that was with Gina.”

You hear him scoff, shifting on his side of the couch. “Nothing was happening with Gina.”

You let out a parched laugh, in disbelief of the words leaving his lips. “Wow, that lie comes so easy, does it?”

“Believe what you want. It’s not what you think anyway.”

“You’re so…obnoxious,” you sputter.

“Thank you.”

“So when did that happen? You and Gina?”

He huffs hot air out of his nose.“There’s no me and Gina. I don’t know what you saw, but…it’s nothing.”

“You were kissing.”

“You could call it that.”

“For a while,” You add.

“Just enough for her to find closure.”

“And did she?”

“Saved your ass before I could find out.”

You have no response to that and you let the silence take over for a few minutes. After those few minutes, Wonwoo was the one to break the peace.

“You asleep yet.”

“No, it’s not even 11,” you answer exasperatedly. 

“Well, I'm tired.”

“Go to sleep then.”

“You should sleep before I do.”

“Why?”

He shrugs, “I'm supposed to take care of you. It’s what your mom would want.”

“Why? I'm a grown adult.”

“I don’t think an explanation is needed.”

“Ever heard of personal space?”

“Make some smart decisions and I’ll consider it.”

“You’re such a dick,” you grunt, turning away from view.

“I’m only trying to protect you.”

This shit again. You pushed yourself up from the couch to sit up, fuming in his direction. “Because your mom asked. Okay, I get it, but you’re not obligated to anymore because I’m your mom's friend’s kid. Just stop.”

“That’s not why–”

“Stop lying–”

“I’m not fucking lying,” he says matching your stance. His gaze meets yours in anguish, urging you to drop it. 

You scoff, lying back down in a sleeping position with your back turned towards him. “Whatever.”

“...Despite popular belief, I’m actually concerned about you sometimes.”

“I guess…I don't entirely find that hard to believe.”

“Thank you. It’s not like I hate you.”

“Sure,” you answer, voice basted in sarcasm.

“I don’t.” You hear his body shift back down on the couch, finding comfort between the leather cushions.

“Then why are you such a dick.”

He sighs. “Sorry.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“...Sorry.”

You ponder to yourself, wanting to turn back the clock to the earlier conversation for unknown reasons. You turn your body, seeing how his body mimics your body seconds ago, back turned, eyes closed, and facing the couch. “So if not Gina–”

“There’s no one,” he cuts off, “I mean, I'm not seeing anyone.”

It reassures you. Not that it should’ve. “Okay. I believe you.”

“Okay.”

You’re unsure when you drifted off, you only remember it being mid-conversation that your vision started to blur, followed by darkness and soon the light of the following morning. You wake up in Wonwoo’s house unexpectedly alone, quiet enough to hear the sound of a pin dropping. You enter the kitchen, parched, and you find a plate of food. You approach cautiously, catching a glimpse of the note, immediately catching on to why it was so damn empty. 

Went to get stuff done. Keep yourself entertained for a bit. - Wonwoo and Seonwoo

With an impish grin, you quickly run your fork over and over into the balanced meal and nourish your body, but slow down as your subconscious reminds you of last night's events. It wanders to your impulse to attend a party out of sheer boredom, stumbling upon an unexpected scene, before immediately trying to escape it before you are caught. The kiss becomes a scene stuck on replay, playing the image like a broken record. You did not black out, though you wish you had, considering your uncalled-for badgering of Wonwoo’s relationship status you shouldn’t have cared less about. Yet do.

You try bruising it off if you can help it, quick to leave, and relieved to find your mom home to let you in. Your day begins a new, and with a new day, she already has stuff for you to do. You’d be annoyed if you weren’t so grateful to be let back in home, remembering to grab your keys this time as you left the house again following her request for grocery shopping. 

You drink in the town for the first time since being back, questioning yourself why you hadn’t done it earlier. The block isn’t that different since you left, perhaps more greenery and flowers, but otherwise everything looked the same. Same old town, same old stores, the only thing difference was the people. Fine lines got deeper, toddlers now taller, and you now a stranger. Even the grocery store has changed managers, one adolescent bag boy at a time.

Even long finished with grocery shopping, you’re still wandering the center of town, circling in steps of the alternating tiles of the ground. For a moment, you free yourself from your thoughts, your worries, your ambitions, and live in the moment. It had been so long since you felt like this. You expected the feeling to emerge in college but that had been just another thing on your plate and suddenly you’re reminded of Wonwoo. Knowing him, he’d like this sight of you, proud to see you experience another emotion for a change.

Then your eyes flit back to the scene several meters from you. He reappears in your vision just as he has in your thoughts, only now Gina embracing him, squeezing the life out of him just as the life is squeezed out of your chest. He meets your eyes, his pupils expanding, before lightly pushing the poor girl off of him, but not in enough time to stop you from trying to escape again.

“Hey!”

You ignore him, letting your feet take you where it guides you. You’re blind to the incoming obstacles, brushing past pedestrians, shoulder everybody you meet, and you barely register the busy road before your feet make an unexpected halt. You hear the blaring honks until you’re pulled out, face crashing into their shoulder, arms coming around your in strong enclosure.

“Are you stupid? Why are you running into oncoming traffic?”

You shove him off, heart beating louder in your chest than any bike ride he’s taken you on has, and you’re seething in an emotion that you never expected to be in. Never in this lifetime at least. “Wonwoo just stop. Please.”

“I’m not doing anything. I don’t get why you’re trying to push me away.”

“I’m just sick of this. Of you. I can’t do this.”

“Why? Why? What do you think this is?”

“Just, leave me alone, Wonwoo.”

He sees you trying to walk out on him again and he doesn’t let you. Taking you by your arm, he pulls you towards him, leaving only the width of your forearm as his gaze pierces right through you, brimming with a mix of concern and utter anger. Frustration. Impatience.

If there was one thing about Wonwoo, he may have looked like he came from an anger management class, but he did manage it well. When he didn’t, your feet would feel glued to the concrete, frozen in the fire of his eyes, for once fearing what the man had to say.

“You know what? No. I’m not letting you do this? I don’t understand what’s going on or why you hate me so much–”

“God,” you groan, “it would be so easy if I just hated you.”

“Then what is it? You don’t hate me. You don’t like me. What? I’m wracking my brain trying to understand you–”

You don’t let him finish. You aren't sure what was in the breakfast you had today but you find yourself pulling him by the collar to meet his lips only to push him away in that instant, barely a whisper of his presence in your mouth. You clamp your hand over your mouth before finally treading away shocked by your actions, scurrying away.

He doesn’t follow you and you don’t blame him. You retrieve your once-abandoned groceries from the intersection to then find your way home. Rain is close to follow, drenching from head to toe. As if things couldn’t get any worse.

When you get home, you’re alone once again. The door shuts with a clang and you’re left in your self wallow, regret burning the back of your throat. Your back slid against the wood, a deep exhale expelling from your lungs. “So that’s what’s wrong with me.”

Like clockwork, you feel a knock erupt from the same door. Conceding to whatever was on the other side, you brush yourself up from the ground and turn the knob, only to be taken aback. Wonwoo, wet like made from glass with his locks swept over his head, stands before you panting. On either hand is a bundle of flowers barely protected in the cellophane it came with when he bought them and his cell phone he’s death gripping in his hand, no doubt damaged by the rain.

You blink back at him, lips parting in confusion. “Wonwoo…You’re wet.”

“Likewise.” He invites himself in and sets the flowers on a table nearby, not even for a second letting his gaze stray from yours. “You left me hanging there. Kiss a guy and walk away like he means nothing?”

You shake your head in disbelief, processing this, him. “Why are you here…with flowers?”

“I really do have to spell out everything for you, don’t I?” he responds smiling.

The squelch of his shoes trod in your direction, the invisible string connecting you two shortening. Preventing your evasion, you feel the palm of his hand against your back and your lips crash in a lingering reunion. The squeak of his slippery leather doesn't make it past your ears, distracted by the heat of his lips in the clash of the coolness of his rain-stained skin. 

Your hand crawls up his neck to press him closer, feeling the strength of his arms wrap around you tighter before shutting the front door effortlessly with his foot. He lets you pin him against the door, lips tight bound to yours, and relief settles in his stomach as you show no sign of pulling away. He finds himself whispering a word of gratitude in every language, smiling against your lips. “No more excuses…I’m not letting anyone get in the way. Not even you.”

You finally break out in a smile, brushing it against his lips before reclaiming them, not minding the wet leather.

You spend the rest of the day in each other’s company. You put away the groceries before the room temperature worked against their favor and got yourselves changed out of your rain-dampened clothes, throwing them in the dryer. Even if he lived right next door, you allow him to wear your most oversized shirt after he insisted he should, watching the cotton fabric cling to his broad shoulders with the hem just hitting him at his hip bone.

Man, he’s a large man.

“Kinda snug.”

You scoff, crossing your arms in an attempt to hold yourself back. “You can get clothes next door. You’re just a few steps away.”

He grins, approaching you. “It’s raining…I could get sick.” His long arms land on either of your shoulders, reminding you of that cat that knew too much in a childhood cartoon. “You don’t want me sick…”

“You wouldn’t get sick taking two long strides to your house, Jeon,” you respond, rolling your eyes, unable to meet his.

“But you’d take care of me if I was, right?” 

You roll your eyes, accepting his advances of a hug and feeling his chin fit in the crook of your neck. “Kiss a guy two times too many and he follows you around like a stray cat.”

He grins. “You like it. Don’t act like you don’t. You probably even like my bike and you’re not telling me.”

“Okay well, no. Those are two separate matters.”

His arms wrap around you tighter before reuniting your lips, such tenderness and sweetness in his gaze as he thumbs over the curve of your cheek. “You don’t deny that other thing.”

“I thought was already point blank. You know, when I didn’t push you away, kicking and screaming.”

“Yeah, but,” he shrugs, his cheekbones only getting higher. “Hard to come by something nice from you. I want to hear it.”

You sigh, giving in. “Fine.”

Your head fit between the divide of his chest, hearing a quickened pulse underneath it. You close your eyes as your hand strokes against his back. “I have… feelings for you. Maybe for once good feelings. Just don’t get cocky about it.”

Overwashed with calm joy, he takes you tighter, inhaling the soap in your hair. “Too late.”

Fine Line (JJK)

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader.

Au: Enemies to lovers.

Word count: 2.4K

Genre: angst, smut, fluff (i am ninety percent sure I'll write a part two at some point with all the spice)

Summary: You hate Jungkook. Jungkook hates you. It's simple. Until it isn't.

A/N: here's my patreon for early access to all my works and exclusive drabbles and aneek peaks!

"You're beautiful," he speaks loudly to be heard over the loud blaring music.

"Thank you," you express your appreciation not only through your words but also through your red hot cheeks and shy smile.

His hand tightens around your waist as the both of you sway gently along with the music. "You're welcome, pretty."

Chuckling, you place one of your palms on his chest and look up at him.

The night has been filled with subtle touches, light teasing and full of laughter. You didn't expect you'd have this much fun when you agreed to go on a date with the guy you matched with, a few weeks ago. But it has been a pleasant surprise so far and you have been feeling glad over the decision of going out tonight.

You both dance with low giggles and occasional compliments are thrown in the air. That is until the music changes into something more upbeat.

"Would you like to go to the bar?"

You're relieved on hearing that question and couldn't agree sooner. It's not unknown to you that with the change of music comes the typical club activity aka grinding on each other. And you're not in the mood for that so it's rather wise to remove yourself from the dance floor.

One might question, why then did you choose a club of all places? Simple reason, a crowded place is safe for a first date. Why not a restaurant? Because you were not really that excited about the date at first and a restaurant felt a bit too intimate. What if there's no flow of conversation? What will you do then? Sit there awkwardly and enjoy the sounds of knives and forks?

Hence, clubbing.

You two sit yourselves next to each other on stools and ask the bartender to make the both of you drinks. Something sweet for you, something strong for him.

"What's the last book that you have indulged yourself in?"

You perk up at the mention of books. You had mentioned to him previously that you absolutely love reading books and you would stay in fictional worlds if you could. And you're impressed that he remembers that small piece of detail.

You tell him about the book you're currently reading and all the reasons why you love it. You get even more excited when he adds his recent reading experiences and from then on, there's no stopping the chit-chat between you two.

The conversation moves on from books to people in both of your lives and then to food and then lord knows, to what.

At some point, you both get tipsy and you can tell he's more affected by the drinks than you are. It gets to the point where you feel like it's better for him to head home now before he gets to a stage where he cannot get home by himself.

"You should probably stop with the drinks now," you suggest, softly. "Would you like for me to book you a cab?"

He dismisses your words with a wave of his hand. "Nah, sweetheart, I am only getting started."

He throws his hand in the air and before you can register what's happening, he's placing them over your shoulders. His fingers rub the skin of your arms and he grins at you. You squirm in your seat, suddenly finding his grin to be not that attractive. You try to tell yourself that there's nothing to be scared of, some people tend to get a little touchy when they get drunk.

"The night has only got started, sweetheart," he mutters, getting incredibly close to you. You think he's attempting that thing where someone whispers in your ears in a sexy gruff voice in hopes that it'd be attractive. But if anything, you shiver in disgust and fear.

You try to put some distance between the two of you but he doesn't budge. It's only when you put a little more force that you're successful at your attempts.

He's taken off guard by your sudden use of force but his surprise fades and he smirks. "Do you like it rough, babygirl?"

Okay, that's it.

"I need to go use the washroom," you come up with the most basic excuse ever but you doubt in his drunk state, he'd ever pay attention to how lame you sound.

You're right in your assumption that he doesn't pay attention. However, he's not happy that you're leaving him. "You should not leave me here. We should leave together for my place."

The lopsided grin on his face makes your stomach churn in a bad way. Before you can get a word out to come up with some excuse, a glass of shot is being placed in front of him.

"Sir, your order," the bartender says and that seems to be the magic words as he seems to forget that he had an issue with you leaving him moments ago.

You ease up a little bit and don't miss the look the bartender is giving you. She seems to be telling you with her eyes that she will make sure that your date doesn't follow you.

The relief on your face is the only thing that serves as a mode of expressing your gratitude as you quickly flee the spot. Not knowing any place better, you actually do find yourself in the washroom. What if you were to stand outside the club and somehow he catches up with you? In the washroom, at least there will be other girls.

You take your phone out and hesitate for a brief moment. Would it be the right thing to do to ask your best friend, Jisoo, to come and pick you up? You could take a cab but with the sudden turn of events, you feel scared to be alone.

Pushing your hesitance aside you shoot her a text, knowing she would be very mad if she were to learn you didn't text her when in need.

You: can you please come and pick me up?

Jis 🥵: sure can

Jis 🥵: but is everything alright?

You chew on your lower lip and decide this is no time to go into details.

You: I'll tell you once I reach home

Jis 🥵: sure

Jis 🥵: i can see your location

Jis 🥵: I'll be there in fifteen

You sigh in relief when you read the text. You wait for exactly twelve minutes before stepping out of the washroom, getting a little impatient to get out of the club.

However, the moment you step out, you're met with a figure that you recognise immediately. Jungkook. And by the looks of it, he looks agitated about something as he looks at his phone screen.

You're no fool to think that Jungkook being here is a mere coincidence and walk towards him. The sound of your heels catches his attention and he looks up, finally noticing you.

"Why are my calls not reaching you?" He asks, looking absolutely pissed. Any other time, you'd have felt extremely satisfied at that but you fail to feel any of that right now.

To address his question, his calls are not reaching you because you have him blocked. Why?

Before answering the why, you should probably get into how you and Jungkook know each other.

You see Jisoo has a boyfriend, Taehyung. And Taehyung, bless his sweet soul, has an absolute devil of a best friend, Jungkook.

You never imagined that you'd ever have this much animosity with your best friend's boyfriend's best friend. But for some reason unknown, you and Jungkook just simply do not get along. You both are involved in constant bickering, pulling pranks and throwing insults at each other.

Which leads to the why, you have Jungkook blocked. Last time, he posted an advertisement on his social media saying there's a need for someone who can do a good Minnie Mouse impression and put your phone number at the bottom of it. For several days people kept calling you asking if they can give you their demo. Some didn't even bother asking, they thought saying hello in the Minnie Mouse voice would earn them brownie points. It made you so incredibly furious that out of sheer pettiness, you blocked Jungkook.

"Why are you here?" You ask instead of answering his initial question.

"What? I'm your prince charming for tonight," Jungkook smirks, his previous agitation melting away and it immediately irks you. "I heard you needed a ride and so here I am."

Your eyes follow his and you immediately shake your head when you realise he's asking you to get on his bike. Jungkook and his bike go hand in hand, so much so that you hadn't paid attention to it when you first saw him. However, now you feel incredibly stupid for not realising any sooner that his bike is supposed to be your ride for the night.

"No, no, no, I'm not getting on that," you shake your head vehemently.

Jungkook raises a brow. "You have no other choice, sweetheart."

"I'll book a cab," you grumble, knowing very well that you are not quite fond of that idea.

"I'm already here. Just get on the bike Y/N."

You don't reply for a few moments before sighing when you realise how your argument is incredibly stupid. "Fine."

Jungkook grins and gets on the bike. He starts the engine and motions you to take your seat. You hesitate for a moment but then get behind him. He hands you a helmet before putting one on himself.

You wait for him to start the bike but you are confused when Jungkook doesn't do so. "What are you waiting for?"

"For you to wrap your arms around me," just by the tone of his voice, you can tell he's enjoying this thoroughly.

You scoff. "Why would I ever do that?"

Your question is answered when he revs the engine and the force of it makes you stumble forward. Involuntarily, your arms wrap around his torso as you cling to him for dear life.

"There's my good girl," Jungkook comments with a cheeky grin on his face and takes off.

With how fast he's going, you find yourself feeling scared and hold on to him tighter. His hard back presses against your chest and you rest your chin on his right shoulder, soon finding the position comfortable and despising it at the same time. You both spend the entire journey to your place in this manner and in absolute silence.

You're surprised at how quickly you reach your destination. It's like his motorbike flies. Untangling yourself from Jungkook, you get off the bike. You remove the helmet and throw it at him, not wanting to spend another moment in his presence.

But before you can walk inside your home, he grabs your hand. "Woah, woah, woah. Do I not get a thank you?"

"Fuck off, asshole," you roll your eyes and free yourself from his grip. You're aware that if you were to ask anyone they'd tell you, you are the one who's being an asshole but you and Jungkook simply do not share the kind of dynamic, where one thanks the other. If it were Jungkook in your place, he'd probably say something cheeky or call you names. He'd do everything but not say thank you.

You take the key out of your purse and are about to unlock your door, when you're swiftly turned around in the blink of an eye and the next thing you know, you are caged between your front door and Jungkook.

"What do you want, Jungkook?"

The corner of his lips lift up. "A simple thank you."

You smile too, the only difference being yours is sarcastic. "Thank you so much Jungkook for coming to pick me up because Jisoo asked you to."

"She didn't ask me to," he replies, immediately, shaking his head. The action causes a few of his curls to fall on his face and with him being this close to you, you let your mind drift to how easy it would be for you to just gently remove those strands out his face. However, you control yourself, getting annoyed with the whole situation.

"Of course, she didn't ask you to! You came because you wanted to really help me." Your words are so sweet that they drip venom.

Jungkook observes you closely, before curiosity gets the best of him. "Why do you hate me so much?"

You're caught off guard by his question. The hate between you and Jungkook has always been mutual and reciprocated. None of you have ever questioned it. Hating each other is what feels right, what feels natural. You never imagined that any of you would ever question it.

"Well…you know," you stutter, finding yourself at a loss of words.

"No, I don't," he challenges. "Tell me Y/N, what have I done for you to hate me so much?"

"Y-you know, y-you know you are not a good guy," the words sound lame to even your own ears but that's the best you come up with.

"That's it, huh?"

You roll your eyes and look away from him, not wanting to make it obvious that you do not have a proper answer to give. However, Jungkook grabs your chin and makes you look at him.

He leans in incredibly close and you feel his breath on your skin. It makes you wonder what he's doing, it makes you wonder if he's going to kiss you and it makes you wonder why you aren't moving away from him. Your breathing speeds up and your chest heaves to give testimony to that. Your eyes drop to his lips and for the first time you find the previously annoying mole under them, cute. Just when you think he's about to close the distance he goes straight to your ears.

"I think you want me to be the bad guy," he whispers. "Because you know I'd be too good to you."

He nips at your earlobe before backing away, causing a shiver to run down your spine.

"What are you doing?" You may not have been kissed but you sound just as breathless as one gets after a heavy session of kissing.

"Good night princess," he winks at you before getting on his bike. "Have sweet dreams."

What just happened?

---

feelin' thorny

rating: M pairing: seungkwan x gn!reader wc: 0.4k summary: florist seungkwan receives a bouquet from his rival — emotions are had warnings: slightly nsfw discussion, language tags: rival florists, the is the start of an enemies to lovers fic (that i will probably never write), soonyoung says some Wild Shit, reader is actually only mentioned in this sorry a/n: i know nothing about flowers or their meanings i just used google and then made shit up lol (also this was originally a vmin drabble i posted on twt two years ago)

Seungkwan looked down at the bouquet of flowers — beautifully arranged and wrapped in old newspaper and tied with a dainty blue ribbon — gobsmacked.

It was addressed to him of all people.

No one ever sent Seungkwan flowers. Because who would send flowers to a florist? Especially from his rival's shop?

And speak of the devil, the little card carefully attached to the ribbon simply read from y/n <3 in a distressingly elegant calligraphy.

He looked at the artfully arranged flowers more closely. There was an obvious yellow color scheme — hyacinth (jealousy - sport, game, play) and tansy (hostile thoughts, declaring war) and tarragon (lasting interest) arranged neatly around a single tall sunflower (haughtiness) — but a few white roses (I'm worthy of you) were included to help balance it out. It really was beautiful, and some unknown feeling did a little somersault in his chest.

And then the meanings sunk in.

You had just sent him a flower arrangement that essentially said "wow, you're so jealous, fucking fight me" but in the most annoyingly flirtatious way possible. It made Seungkwan want to commit arson.

"That absolute motherfucker."

"Okay, Kwan-ah, I'm confused," Soonyoung piped up from where he was re-poting some ferns in the corner. "Do you want to kill whoever sent those, or fuck them?"

Seungkwan choked on his spit.

Soonyoung blazed on, "Because the words you just said were mean but you look so grossly in love that I'm concerned hearts and rainbows are going to start shooting out of your pores like some kind of homoerotic pipebomb."

Or maybe murder was on the table after all.

"Kwon Soonyoung you are henceforth forbidden from ever opening your mouth inside my shop ever again." He threw one of the many flower-themed stress balls he kept lying around for this exact reason at Soonyoung's head, taking pleasure at the pained yelp Soonyoung let out as he failed to dodge out of the way and sprawled gracelessly across the floor.

Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the bouquet. "And to answer your question..."

The flowers stared up from where he was still clutching them with both hands, judging him. Waiting.

Seungkwan sighed.

"Both. Definitely both."

---

Please Love Me! | JJK

Pairing: Frat President Jungkook x Succubus Reader

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Comedy (my humor is broken), Light Angst (because everyone is an dumbass)

Summary: By thirsty popular demand, I present to you a small sequel to Please Teach Me? Your succubus self has been going back and forth to the human realm to be…friends with benefits??? With your first task, Jeon Jungkook. Though you only see it as him, finding the good in his humanity, and helping you with your training, Jungkook suddenly thinks otherwise. Yet, he's in denial.

Until he meets and sees you with Seokjin and thinks you're in a relationship with him??? But is Jungkook willing to break free from his infamous womanizing ways and finally admit his love for you??

Warning: We’re going on another adventure!, Seokjin is the bestest :D, granola x succubus reader, let’s all guess what the fuck is OC feeling rn, BUT GUESS WHO’S IN DENIAL, I wanna say seokjin x OC but let’s not LOL, jealous/possessive jungkook, someone becomes a straight up LOSER, idk what’s going on half of the time. Sir kink is back, dom sadist jk heyyyy, sub masochist oc, the size kink we all know and love, Ass slapping (once with a belt), tail pulling (remember when I said they’re sensitive ;-)), rope bondage, candle wax play fvhidsvsdil, fingering (lowkey fisting), oral (f. receiving), multiple orgasm denials, clit pinching, nipple pinching, dumbification again :D, dirty talk, degradation, again with the tail sucking…but different (oc and jk licking her tail together like a lollipop), cum play, unprotected sex, creamiest of pies, I tried to make it as nasty as the last time

Word Count: 19.3k (yes, small sequel indeed)

A/N: This can be read stand alone but highly recommend reading Please Teach Me? LOL I really wasn't intending a part 2 like I posted this MONTHS ago and dipped but SOOO MANY of y'all wanted sexc demon things so here we goooooo I really pulled this out of my butt and idk if I lived up to the first part's standard . But the smut was longer than expected hreoiheoihg

Also posted on AO3!~~

Flying through the corridors of the dorms, Seokjin’s mind raced faster than he could exclaim how handsome he was—which was a lot. Right now all his thoughts were from what the higher-ups have said…more or less affecting him. But all in all, it had to fucking deal with you.

And now, he needed to have a word with you pronto but has not heard from you for almost…thirty-six hours, which shocked him because he’d typically hear you bitching from a distance.

Once he reached your dorm door, he knocked fire-rapid fists and yelled, “Little one, open this door immediately! I need to share with you some details!” No answer. Then he began kicking in fury, “Fucking bitch, answer! This is important.”

Aggravated and impatient, Seokjin decided to throw in the big guns. With the light use of his highly-acclaimed incubus powers, the demon blasted an energy ball through the wooden entranceway, creating a rather larger-than-regular soot-filled darkened hole. Some of your things even got destroyed in the process, but nonetheless, he opened your door!

He entered fashionably, scanning if there was any sight of a dense yet adorable little succubus. Everything in your living space except your plants and half of your mirror remained intact and still. Bed was neatly made with the mountain of plush toys you’ve accumulated through the months. Books that you never read but were somehow open laid on your study table with your chair pushed out. 

He groaned, rolling his eyes at the discovery. Of course, you weren’t here when he needed you to be here again.

Sometimes, he regretted permitting you to play around with your little first task. 

-

“Hungggghh, sir!” You moaned as you attempted balancing and gripping the cold tiled wall, yet there was nothing to grip on.

Showers of water pricked your heated skin, heaps of steam circulated the closed space, and the echoed sounds of steady and heavy pumps, your whimpering, and his moaning filled the rest of the bathroom.

Jungkook thought it was an excellent idea to shower after practice to get ready for another school event he had to attend, but also have a little bit of fun with you in there. Think of it as killing two birds with one stone.

So now there you both were—you were going into your sixth orgasm while having to tippy toe to level with his fast-pacing industrial hips. You arched your back, pushing your ass at Jungkook so that his dick can go deeper into you. Since you were a lot shorter than he was, the angles were always harder to reach when the two of you stood up.

The slapping of his thighs to your meaty fat progressively grew in volume as he held onto your sensitive tail and the left side of your wing—the way he loved manhandling you. Your moans went a tone higher as you let out sobbing pleas. “Sir, pwease!” Your cramping legs were trembling, slowly losing their strength by the human. “I-I can’t!”

Though the frat president rolled his eyes, he accepted your begging, finding it absolutely endearing. You’ve grown to be accustomed to his wild kinks and likings, but you finally knew when you needed some care to his sadist ways.

He slithered his muscular arms around your soddened waist while keeping his piston thrusts in control. His front pressed onto your wings and back with your little demon tail swinging to the side. He nibbled on an edge of your wings, causing you to moan sharply before he smooched a kiss onto the same area and then maneuvered to the shoulder to peck more snogs.

“My little slut is tired?? We just started.” He smirked at your disheveled face. You didn’t just start, you were in here for almost an hour. His fingers were pruny!

You couldn’t even speak, just blabbering incoherent sounds. One of his hands steered lower to your soaking center, fingers trying to find your inflamed clit. Once you shuttered, he knew he hooked onto it. Making tiny circular motions, you started heaving heavily.

“Kooooooo!” You dragged your new nickname for him, almost like a warning that you were almost there.

His ears twitched pridefully at your calling as he quickened his tempo. His movements became messier, indicating he too was chasing his cloud nine. “Almost there, angel. Cum with me.”

At the immediate order, you snapped, going into ecstasy. Your left eye twitched as you found spots in your vision. Then, Jungkook slammed into you one last time before clenching his stomach. Your squishy cunt walls throbbed around his thickening cock, milking the cum out of him. He coated your insides with white, getting in a few more loads than usual.

Your tail sprayed like a sprinkler, feeling the orgasm wholeheartedly this time. Some of it goes onto Jungkook’s defined abs. But it didn’t really matter because you were in the shower.

Knowing how weak you were after sex, the best he could do right now was lay both of your bodies on your sides on the shower floor. You respired out so hard, he had to move your head to the water splashing your forms so that you can get some hydration. Once you were semi-stabilized, he finally pulled out of you. You winced at the stimulation but he kissed your forehead and murmured praises.

“___, are you okay?” Jungkook asked. Your eyes were closed, with your chest raising slowly.

You hummed softly with a nod before peeling open your eyes. “Why do you have so much stamina even after your practice?”

The human chuckled at your complaint and shrugged, “Maybe I always have energy when I’m with you.”

“Please use at least 25% of that energy into something else, like knitting.” You mumbled as you turned yourself to face him. “Are we done showering?”

“You still need to clean your body, maybe somewhat more since we made lo—I mean have sex.”

“Please clean me?” You always asked so sweetly, with no rush, no hint of irritation, but super whiny.

Yet Jungkook would always say yes to you. “Of course, angel.”

-

You were finally out of the shower. Jungkook carried your exhausted form back to his room. He puts on one of his shirts on you (you had the habit of sucking back your wings inside of you for this reason only) and even moisturizes your skin with a body balm. Once he finished getting you dressed, you situated on his bed like a starfish. He did the same routine on himself but only threw on a pair of boxers.

“Angel, I have something for you!” He bounced towards his backpack and ruffled the insides to retrieve the content.

“What is?” You were fatigued after the intense session. Even with having someone like a bunny-infused bouncy house like Jungkook, you never improved from your feeble power.

He dramatically pulled his “gift” to you and raised it over his head like he was enacting the beginning scene of The Lion King. Enjoying your entertainment, you went along and stared up, rasping at the big reveal.

You sat up and levitated up in joy, flying towards the human with grabby hands. “Granola!!” You cheered like a child.

“And it has honey-coated pecans and almonds.” He said proudly. “I got two packs…” You squealed, suddenly twirling in the air. “But just one for now. You inhale it and get a tummy ache if you get more.” Once you stopped your twirls, he handed you the bag of your favorite human treat. 

You snatched it off of him before hugging it like it was the love of your life. Distracted and mindlessly, you began drifting away to a corner of the room but Jungkook pulled you back down by the hips to sit you with him on top of his covers. He kissed your temple, gripping his hold around you. 

“Thank you, Jungkook! This is wonderful.” You continued to not face him, staring at the granola so you didn’t see the endearing and longing eyes that the human had on you. “I will save it for home.” You threw the treat into the tote bag that was wide open on the side of the bed. Jungkook got for you a while back when you kept carrying your treats and clothes with your arms. He said it was more efficient for you.

The human laid the both of you down as he nuzzled into your neck. You whined at how touchy he was being and didn’t help that it progressed the more you saw him. “Angel, you don’t like my touch? I thought you loved it.” You felt him smirking which caused you to blush red.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. But I would like my space.” You pouted as you distanced him away slightly, making him grumble. “You radiate much body heat for a human. It feels like I’m back in the demon realm.”

Jungkook hummed, faulty listening to your speaking only because he felt colder without you fully in his arms. “How is the demon realm? Is it nice there? What’s it like?”

There he went again. After every session or when you’re back on Earth (you learned that’s what the human realm was called), Jungkook seemed to be very interested in learning more about you. Whether it was about you, what you liked, and this time it was about the demon realm. Maybe he was just curious, which you didn’t mind at all, you were a succubus after all and it was the least you could do for him.

For the past months, you’ve been sneaking back and forth to Earth after completing your first task, Jeon Jungkook. Still the frat president of Beta Tau Sigma, still an active partygoer, still what humans call a fuck boy, but now your unofficial task helper. One of the reasons why was that you grew comfortable with him. You technically didn’t need to have a different human all the time when you were completing your training tasks, and Jungkook just so happened to be willing to help you without getting anything back besides your cunt and being.

Typically it was not a big deal as a succubus and other demons travel to the realm, but since you were still in training, it can be quite controversial. When you go on Earth, you always needed supervision in case something happens, especially with a demon like you.

Seokjin would be surveilling you or communicating with you through your minds when you do have tasks while documenting your experience. But when you weren’t completing anything, he doesn’t look over you like a child—though, at times, he begged to differ. So when you’re on Earth without guidance, there was really no telling what would even happen. You could kill someone and your authorities wouldn’t even know. You weren’t fully trained, and you obtained some powers, but overall you were still in need of oversight. Which was now. Seokjin didn’t know you were here.

But you didn’t think you were doing anything terrible. Sure, your exams were borderline passing, you still made your mentor uncomfortable, you were fucking a human behind the higher-ups’ backs and at times, you’d accidentally absorb some of Jungkook’s life force (but you always try to give it back), and you may have begged Seokjin to grant you permission to even do what you were doing, but you weren’t doing anything wrong.

In a way, you were surprisingly progressing! You’ve completed many tasks over the months with Jungkook, got to know more of the human culture, and learned new kinks that you liked with him, maybe even only him.

Though Jungkook was a bit rough around the edges, you swiftly learned that he was indeed a sweet human to you. When he wasn’t fucking your guts out and pulling on your tail like naughty mischief, he liked taking care of you. He washed you up, fed you human foods, gave you piggybacks, kissed you on your forehead, stared at you instead of completing his human studies…what else?? Oh yeah! He always complimented you in your dresses, called you beautiful or ravishing, and even exchanged numbers with the cellular device you kept to talk to or video chat with him when you were away. 

All that was listed made you think about how friendly he was to you! Get this—he was usually quite mean to his friends. You constantly heard from other succubi how humans can be really selfish and vile, but it wasn’t like that with Jungkook! He was so kind to you, except in the bedroom.

Nevertheless, you couldn’t believe how much good he had in him to be willing to help you. You couldn’t be any more grateful, such a wonderful human man!

“Oh! It’s much different to what humans think it is, especially when they like to affiliate Hell with us.” You simply replied as you shifted forward and laid your head on his chest. Jungkook liked that, so you did it. “The simplest answer is to say Hell but we’re far from Hell. There are many realms where many creatures like witches, trolls, and us demons reside!”

The human asked while he gently played with your horns, keeping you calm. “And where would that be for you, little succubus?”

“Naameth.”

“You always fascinate me every single time.” Jungkook blushed, but when he realized what he was doing, he slapped it off of his face. Yet you didn’t even acknowledge or see it.

“I guess so.” You shrugged, getting off his chest as you sat up. “I am a succubus and you’re a human. Many things are different from our kinds.”

“Do you think I could visit Naameth?”

“No, absolutely not.” You deadpanned.

Jungkook suddenly smiled smugly, assuming that there was a bit of poison to your tone indicating you were jealous. “Why, angel? You think my amazing human charm will attract other succubi and that I won’t want you anymore?”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “No, because you will die.” His fucking smirk vanished and his face went pale. “Remember that succubi feed off human men. I even did that to you on accident. I can give your life force back, but that won’t mean others will.”

Suddenly Jungkook’s eyes lit up, “So you care for me? Care if I die.”

You nodded slowly, “Yes. I need you.” For some reason, his heart fluttered at your reply. His lips curled upwards. “I need your help with my tasks.” Okay, it went back down. “I refuse to find another one.”

“O-oh, okay…” Jungkook couldn’t help but feel upset about that. He expected that feeling to be let go all those months ago, but it stayed and he didn’t like that one bit.

“I can take you to the other realms.” You added in, without realizing what you’ve done. “They’re as lovely as Naameth. We can go to the waterfalls, forests, maybe even hiking, I know you love those things. I can let you try other foods besides human food because…” You rambled on and on but Jungkook stopped listening to observe how eccentric you were being and planning trips in the future with him. It caused him to roar in glee on the inside.

While you kept blabbering off, he encircled his veiny arms around you and kissed your cheek, making you shut your mouth. You slowly turned your head, revealing the bunny smile you enjoyed seeing on him. He then proceeded to attack you with kisses to your neck, making you laugh, a sound that brought jubilance to his ears.

But before you could say anything, you both heard a knock followed by an opening of the door. Luckily, you were dressed, unlike in other instances. These men in this fraternity do not know how to wait.

On the other side was Jimin, one of Jungkook’s close friends, grinning at the both of you as he shook his head with his slit eyes. “Again, with your demon role-play? Jungkook didn’t expect you to like it that much.” You forgot that your tail and horns were exposed again. It was a miracle that his friends bought the whole “demon kink” and you weren’t levitating during the disruptions or else you’d be more fucked than you already were.

Shyly, you parted away from Jungkook and pulled your tail to your back. You grabbed a pillow to hold onto, covering yourself a bit. As a succubus, you were naturally comfortable with your body and showing some skin. However, you also didn’t like letting other men see you bare except for Jungkook.

Slightly annoyed, the frat president leered at his shit-grinning friend and asked, “The fuck do you want?”

“I wanted to talk to you about the event tonight. But I see that you’re nowhere near ready and we have to leave in less than an hour.” Jimin reminded him, checking his boxer-covered friend out.

Jungkook cursed under his breath as he palmed his face and rubbed his skin aggressively. The school event mentioned was a dinner with the university’s board of directors, ensuring a good relationship with not only the dean but maintaining excellent and sufficient status for the fraternity.

“Do you wanna talk out of the room or?” Jungkook questioned.

“Right here is fine.” The shorter man shrugged. “Nothing top secret that ___ can’t hear.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you while I’ll get ready then.” The frat president got off the bed. He opened his closet and then resumed the conversation with Jimin.

Meanwhile, you too had an unexpected chat but it wasn’t all that exciting as your stomach dropped in fear and scared the shit out of you. “Hello, you little motherfucker! Where the fuck have you been?”Your one and only mentor yelled into your mind out of nowhere.

You screamed and flinched from the ambush, flinging the pillow to the wall as a reflex, causing the human men to stop and look at you questionably. You made eye contact back before smiling and giving a thumbs-up that you were okay. Weirded out (well, more so Jimin), they continued their talk again.

“Seokjin, Seokjin.” You whispered so that the humans wouldn’t hear you. But it was so quiet that Seokjin found it slightly inaudible.

“Why are you whispering? This isn’t a time to whisper, little one!” Seokjin complained. “Are you in the fucking human realm again?” You couldn’t get in a word as he continued his rant. “Of course, you fucking are. That’s where you go if you’re not here. Look, now is not the time to bitch what I say. But you must come back here this instant.”

“Why?” You asked softly and he finally heard you.

“I have important news. In short, you’re kinda fucked.”

“Wait, what? Are you serious right now?” You unknowingly shouted, jumping out of bed as you paced around the room. “What do you mean I’m kinda fucked? What did I even do?!?!”

As you were distressed, Jimin raised an eyebrow while observing you. “Yah, is she okay? Why is she talking to herself?”

Though Jungkook knew what you were doing as you had to tell him when he first saw what Jimin was seeing now, he didn’t know how to explain the situation well. “Uhh, she’s praying?”

“Praying?” The shorter man questioned incredulously. “Doesn’t seem like praying…”

“It is…she does it randomly from time to time. It’s part of her faith.” Jungkook responded the best he can. “Just don’t worry about it. If you interrupt her, it won’t be good.”

Cue back to your freak out. “I say kinda fucked because there is a bit of good news. It may even be a relief for you.” Seokjin clarified.

“You could have fucking said that instead of telling me I’m fucked, Seokjin!”

“Seokjin?” Jimin faced back to you again. “What religion has a Seokjin?”

Okay, that was a name that the frat president heard but never understood but he couldn’t think further into it just yet. “Uhhh, Jinnism. It’s common from where she’s from.” His friend was about to protest but Jungkook beat him to it. “Dude, just fucking ignore her right now. Talk to me about what you wanted me to hear in the first place.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” You can sense Seokjin shrug casually and unbothered by your reply. “Either way, you must come back to Naameth immediately.”

You sighed, “Give me ten minutes.”

“No, you can’t tell me what to do. I’m supposed to tell you what to do.”

“Seokjin, give me fucking ten minutes. I’ll get there, I promise!” Again, Jimin eyed you and your “prayer” but decided to let it go.

“Fine. Do what you have to do before coming. I’ll be seeing you soon.” Seokjin huffed, giving in. “By the way, I made a giant hole in your room door.”

“You fucking dick! AGAIN? I have to get that repaired!!” You complained, but he was already gone and out of your mind. You rolled your eyes before plotting back on the mattress. You kicked your feet up in fury and whined into the duvet. You rolled like a fish on the sheets to exert more of your frustration. 

Jimin couldn’t help but scrutinize you once again for the last time. “Dang, that’s your type, man.” He mumbled more to himself, but Jungkook who was already dressed heard his commentary.

“Fuck off and get out of my room!” Before Jimin could see him in a blushing frenzy, the frat president pushed his friend out without warning. Though the shorter man protested, a slamming of the door sealed the demand.

The frat president exhaled while fixing his tie, loosening it for now. “___! What’s wrong, baby?” Oh my goodness, why the fuck did he say that? He didn’t catch himself before saying it. Fuck, he hoped you didn’t notice.

Though he hoped you did.

But like always, you don’t seem to bother acknowledging it. “I have to go back to my realm now.” You rolled to see him.

Damn, he wore black and grey checkered dress pants with a black dress shirt tucked into them, exposing his petite waist. Buttons on his shirt were unbuttoned. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow; his forearms were revealed with parts of his tattoos shown on the right of him. The thin fabric practically adhered to his skin as his muscles protruded out. All he needed to do was style his hair, but it didn’t matter either way because he looked so fucking hot you needed to cleanse your mind…and you were a sex demon.

“I think I’m in trouble.” You frowned.

“In trouble? Oh, fuck. Are you okay?” With enlarged irises, panic ran through Jungkook. “Holy shit! Will I be okay? Am I gonna die?”

“No, no, Koo. You won’t die.” You always tried to comfort him because he has had near-death experiences caused by you. That gave him a bit of relief. “I won’t let anything happen to you. If you die, it would be by the hands of me.” Never mind, his stomach churned and he felt like throwing up. “But I won’t kill you! I told you I would never!” You tried to save what little reassurance he had from you.

He exhaled, trying his best to stay positive and lighten the mood. “So you need to go back now?” You nodded. “Do you know why you’re in trouble?”

You shook your head, “No, Seokjin said I’m kinda fucked but he said there might be good in it.”

Again with that name.

The entire time Jungkook has been…friends with benefits??…with you, you’ve always mentioned someone or something called Seokjin. He assumed it was someone since you’ve always been talking to him through your mind, but he didn’t necessarily know who it exactly was.

It was constantly “Oh, Jungkook, I have to go. Seokjin is waiting for me,” or “Hold on, Seokjin wants to talk to me.” Even when you were fucking the human, you would be like “Seo-k-jin! Pl-please n-not right no—ahhhhh!”

The point he was getting at was he didn’t know who the fuck Seokjin was, and it made him annoyed. But he refused to ask about it because he thought you’d probably think he was jealous, which he clearly wasn’t. He was just fucking curious about who the fuck this Seokjin was and how important this Seokjin was for you to drop everything to go to Seokjin and not be with him?

He couldn’t resist it this time.

“Who’s Seokjin?” He began.

“Huh?” You gaped at him confusingly. You noticed how he bit his lip and met your contact with a much more intense stare.

“Who’s Seokjin? You’ve been mentioning and saying that name all the time.”

“Hmmm.”

That’s it? That was what all you had to say about Seokjin?!?!??!

“Oh, Seokjin. Yeah, don’t worry about him.” Him??? “Just another sex demon, he’s an incubus.”

First of all, Jungkook felt his chest twist when he heard it was a dude! Second, he was a fucking demon!! Of course, he would be. What else would he be? A gremlin? But the human betted this demon was ugly and revolting. Lastly, why did it sound like you were hiding something? Were you trying to change the subject to avoid it? What was going on?

Jungkook got pulled out of his mind when you changed into your clothes. “Anyways, I truly have to go which makes me sad because I was hoping to stay with you tonight.” You slipped out of his shirt and pulled over the purple sundress Jungkook bought for you.

His lips quirked up as he slowly walked to you. He patted your head before caressing your cheek. You were so short that you had to stretch your neck up. You reached the top of his chest and it made his heart melt. You made an innocent smile and he wanted to die in moe.

“Unfortunately, I also had plans tonight,” Jungkook spoke out, feeling rather bummed.

“That would have been okay! I would have waited for you in your room!” Now, why would you say that? He was going weak in the knees as is, you made it worse.

“Though that would be fun and kind of you, maybe going back would be good.”

“I promise if I don’t get punished, I’ll come back to see you soon. Okay, Koo?” Your Bambi eyes sparkled, swearing to your statement. You truly did want to stay, but you had duties…or shit that you had to deal with.

Jungkook had so much adoration when you promise things like that. As cute as you were, you kept your promises no matter what and that was one of the purest things about you.

“Of course, angel.” He pulled you into his chest, embracing you once more before you depart.

-

Jungkook walked down and outside with you as a courtesy and he wanted to spend a couple of more minutes with you.

Though you could teleport to your realm, he realized how suspicious his friends would be if you left without them seeing you leave. Most of the frat members liked to lounge around the kitchen and living room. Being in a household filled with testosterone, all the men could sense a woman or any feminine body in and out of the house like a built-in radar detector in their brains.

While you walked down with Jungkook, you had a habit of intertwining your fingers with his. You didn’t think much of it as you grinned casually towards the front door, but the frat president flushed like an idiot and cheesing a little too hard. Playful winks were on the two of you. His frat brothers noticed it, especially when their frat president was with you.

The human opened the door. You stepped out and he followed behind before closing it, giving a some privacy. He observed the area, perceiving that the coast was clear for you. You were ready to go, waiting for Jungkook to give you the go. But the human disliked seeing you off again. It was common for him to do this. You came often, but not as often as how he wanted. You’d come back a day or two later, but sometimes, it would be more than a week. If it was his choice, he never wanted you to leave.

You thought about how winsome he was every time you left. Your task looked so funny and lovesick that it felt so real. You then held his cheeks, pushing them together to puff them up.“Stop being sad, Jungkook.”

“I’m not sad!” He mumbled, leaning into your touch. “It’s just…”

“Do you want me to video call you when I’m done with Seokjin?”

The fuck you mean when you’re done with Seokjin? “Yes.” He said with no hesitation. “Text me when you get home too.’ You grinned, nodding like the adorable demon you were, and let go of his face. He sighed at the sight of you.

Jungkook bent down, closed his eyes, and puckered his lips. He hoped to feel yours on the other side, but the more he leaned in, the more breeze he got. He almost fell forward and ate shit. He peeled back his eyes to not see you in front of him anymore.

His head pivoted to the side, finding you skipping down the walkway. You looked back at him before saying, “Bye, Koo!” You fluttered your fingers at him, then you disappeared into thin air. You basically Houdini’d.

Despite that, Jungkook’s smile grew as he replayed the very memory of you saying goodbye. He loved when you said that nickname. He groaned in amazement and couldn’t wait to see you again.

With his rabbit teeth still on display, he went back inside. When he closed the door, he rested his back on the wooden surface. His eyelids closed shut as he tried stabilizing his heart rate. It was going faster than the last time. 

"Dude, you're fucking whipped."

He snapped his eyes open, finding all his frat brothers half-circling him with Cheshire Cat-like smiles. "Pfft, no I'm not." Jungkook pushed himself off and stood tall on his feet, attempting to be all cool and casual. “Just another fuck…”

“Just another fuck, yeah? What is this, the three hundredth time with her alone?” Hoseok retorted, rolling his eyes.

“Seeing you all bright and dandy like the Teletubbies seeing the fucking sun!” Yoongi mentioned. "She's practically curing you, a fucking angel if you ask me."

"So you think she’s an angel…" Jungkook side-eyed his friend.

“We refuse to hear your rancid details.” Namjoon gagged before making a sour expression.

“Well, I’m never telling you.” The frat president informed. “Not like I wanna tell you anything between me and her.”

“Oooo, keeping secrets instead of stories??? What’s going on? What happened to the Jungkook we knew and put up with?” Hoseok laughed, calling his hands to emphasize his statement.

“Fuck off, Hobi Hyung!” Jungkook couldn’t defend himself on that because what happened between the two of you was really between each other, especially with your succubus status.

"JK, this has been going on for months.” Jimin pointed out, trying to be a little mindful compared to the others. Though Jungkook was the frat president, he was the youngest amongst them which meant they can fuck around and get away with it from time to time. “You're never with the same chick unless…Oh my God, are you in love with her?"

“Jungkook in love? Has the world revolved counterclockwise?” Namjoon teased, raising his fingers to his opened mouth like he was in shock.

"Can't blame him. She's so pretty and kind." Yoongi reflected, thinking back to a memory of you back at the party where you practically met everyone. “A bit of an airhead though and has so much shame.”

Yes, all of us were being reminded of how much of a fuck boy frat president of Sigma Tau Beta, Jeon Jungkook, was. He had a different person at every party, every gathering, every lunch, every day, every hour, it shocked them how he didn’t catch anything. But finally, he did.

He caught feelings for you.

"She eats our granola though. How am I supposed to eat my yogurt?" Hoseok complained.

“Shut up you idiots, I'm not in love," Jungkook stated, shaking his head in denial. “She just wants my dick and she has such a great p…beautiful personality.”

YeAh, hE’S deFINitelY noT iN lOvE.

“You brought her to your family’s house during your birthday dinner!” Jimin countered.

“She was visiting that time! Remember she doesn’t go to school here anymore.” Jungkook reasoned, trying to cover the lies. You both had to create lies about you not being in classes with him and Jimin. “I didn’t want to leave her here!” 

“You could have left her here with us.” Hoseok alluded, a smirk morphing on his face.

“Absolutely fucking not.”

You, a clueless succubus, in a house alone with other men that weren’t Jungkook? Nope!

To be honest, he may have had to because though it may not be intentional, he guessed that due to your succubus aura, you kinda charmed his father a bit.

Of course, his mother was there to smack the sense back to him.

“You cuddle with her and fall asleep on the couch, and when you wake up, you carry her to your room!”

“I see you smiling at your phone and I look over to see you texting her. She barely even responds besides an “ok,” or “sure.” She doesn’t even get your memes sometimes.”

"You also take her out almost every weekend and if we have a party, you're either alone or with her. You don't even try anymore."

"What's your point?" Jungkook muttered, his attention roaming elsewhere but his friends. He even kicked his feet in frustration to ease off his embarrassment. 

"JEON. JUNGKOOK. YOU. ARE. WHIPPED. FOR. ___!" The older group of friends shouted in unison.

“No, I’m not! How many times do I have to fucking tell you that I don’t have any feelings for ___?” The rosy-coated cheeked frat president was persistent, he refused to believe such accusations. “If I did, which I’m not, she doesn’t even like me!”

“Huh, well, we’re unsure about that too,” Hoseok told them. “We don’t see any part of her liking you.”

“She did make him a gourmet meal when he passed an exam!” Yoongi notified, snapping his fingers.

“She does praise you even the smallest shit.” Namjoon scoffed. “But you shouldn’t compliment the bare minimum in my opinion.”

“She even is willing to role-play JK’s demon kink!” Jimin boasted, adding to Jungkook’s humiliation.

“Okay! All of you, for fuck’s sake, let this go. Nothing is going on with us. I don’t love her and…she doesn’t love me.” In that last part, the frat president said it to convince not only them but himself. “We’re only fuck buddies, that’s it.”

“Oh, sure, and if Hoseok and I make out, we’re just bros, right?” Namjoon snorted jokingly. “There’s always one person that catches feelings.”

“And it’s you, bud.” Yoongi patted his youngest friend’s back in empathy. “And you’re downright bad.”

“Yeah, you may be feral for her, but that doesn’t mean she like that back.” Hoseok brutally mentioned, which earned a few glares around.

“Hobi Hyung! Don’t say that. We don’t know what she thinks.” Jimin lightly pushed his friend as his scolding. “But Jungkook, he is lowkey right. I mean didn’t you play with others’ emotions before?”

“Yes, but not for months!”

“So? Girls are much more cunning than we are. She’s probably waiting until she destroys you.” Namjoon shrugged.

His friends were not helping at all. They were throwing shade about how much of a player he was too. In fact, they were making him question his relationship with you, which was good…in a way? 

“I’m not sure if you’re trying to support me or insult me. But either way, you bitches suck ass right now!” Jungkook exclaimed.

“We just don’t want you to get your hopes up if she doesn’t like you. Unlike you, she’s not obvious with her emotions besides confused and whining.” Jimin voiced out. “We've never seen you like this. It’s wild and scary.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes, getting immediately tired of this conversation. “Look, Hyungs. I’m not obvious nor do I have feelings, and that is my final answer. You’re all being insane and stalkerish, like observing me and her? Do you even have lives beyond this story?”

“Probably, not,” Jimin answered. “We’re only saying.”

“Well, stop.” Then Jungkook finally ended the discussion as he stomped away from them and back to his room.

When he slammed his door shut, he felt the heat intensify in him. He rubbed his face with his palms as he treaded around his bedroom, thinking about what his friends said. Him being in love with you?? Thinking about that…it would take a deranged enchantress to make him head over heels, with googly eyes, and on his knees to be in love.

Well, for starters, you weren’t deranged…he assumed. As for an enchantress, you certainly weren’t that. You were a demon, a sex demon, a succubus that uses human men to gain power. As a matter of fact, Jungkook was expected to fear you the moment he saw you. But that didn’t happen, considering he threw you around like a cum cloth the first meet.

Yet as time went on, nothing bad overall—highlighting because you would accidentally drain Jungkook’s life and burned him sometimes—happened. If anything, a budding bond flourished between the two of you. How was it that a teeny succubus like yourself was able to get him through your cute smile? Your compassionate presence? Your everlasting patience? Your baffling innocence? Your exasperating oblivion? Fuck, this was bad.

He wasn’t in love, he couldn’t, he can’t. It wasn’t right, it was against all his values and beliefs.

Yeah, right. When did his values and beliefs incorporate a demon into the picture?

Despite getting to sleep with you, any other thing with you was deemed pointless in his upsetting reality. You weren’t as cuddly as him, you didn’t initiate kisses, and you answered his questions objectively. All were similar to what he does to women from his fuck boy mindset.

Yet he hasn’t been with any other apart from you when you came back into his life after the initial time. That’s what’s frightening about all of this. He was willing to drop everything to be with you. He chose not to be with other women. Instead, he thought about what places to bring you like the carnival, wrestling, sky diving, or any rigorous physical activity he could think of to make you fit. He hated it but wanted more.

You know what? Fuck you. Perhaps he should be done with you and your ways. He should tell you that he refused to help you any longer because you’re fucking up his lifestyle, the person he was before and quite enjoyed. He had no regrets prior, and now he was contemplating all his pondering decisions apart from his choice with you.

So basically fuck you and your bomb-ass cunt.

A buzz rang through his room. His phone vibrated on top of his bedside table. He went up to grab his device before unlocking it. It was a simple message from you.

My pretty Angel 😇😩😍🥰: home!

Human Jungkook: Please safe and good luck angel! Text me when you’re done

Human Jungkook: Actually video call me I wanna see your face :-(

Five minutes later…

My pretty Angel 😇😩😍🥰: ok

Jungkook didn’t realize how much he was beaming like a damn idiot. Heart thumping at your two short ass replies. He sat on his gaming chair and giggled like a schoolgirl, swinging his legs up. Oh, how he wished he look at you again. Pulling his phone to his sternum, he yearned for you and hoped you were alright.

Yup, definitely not whipped.

-

“Listen here, you little shit! You can’t keep disappearing on me like that!” Seokjin scolded you as he floated around the office as you sat on his desk with your head hung down. “I already permitted you and hid it away from the higher-ups. The least you can do is notify me before you’re going to your dick appointment!”

“I-I’m sorry. I took advantage of your consent, I should have told you I was on Earth.” You nodded, taking in his yelling.

“Yeah, well. For that, the higher-ups found out and now they wanna expel you!”

“What?!” Your head snapped up with your bottom lips pushed out. How was that even possible? You were a succubus, all succubus had to go through this training no matter what. It was part of your life! Was there even such thing as expulsion within your training? Was there anyone else who got expelled? Were you the first dumbass to get kicked out? “Really, Seokjin? Awww, noooo.” You shivered in panic and you started crying. Tears falling down your reddened puffy cheeks and weeping gradually escalated. You’ll be nothing anymore, you weren’t worthy enough to call yourself a succubus.

“Nah, I’m just fucking with you.”

His fucking windshield wiper laugh belted over your softened cries, echoing off his office walls. “You should have seen your face. It looked like I stole a part of you and annihilated it!” He slapped his knee because it was that funny he pranked you like that. But an immediate glare from your blinking ruby-infused irises drilled through your mentor’s delight, causing him to stop himself promptly. His spine aligned upwards and he cleared his throat, apologizing feebly.

“It’s nice to fucking know that my own mentor wants to see me crash and burn!” You hissed, crossing your arms over your chest. You levitated up and rushed to him with your scarlet vision and newly developed fangs that grew last month. Seokjin winced in fright, trying to hide behind his lamp. “That was so fucking mean! You know how much I wanna complete this training!”

“Put those fangs away!” Seokjin shrieked. He wished he developed to be a little bit more mindful. You weren’t as weak anymore compared to when you first started, having obtained powers and other features. You were pretty fucking weak in contrast to him anyways, but it still freaked him out.

You moved backward, morphing your teeth and pupils back to their normal size. Your burgundy wings fluttered behind you while your tail slithered like a serpent. Your mentor got out of his hiding place and adjusted himself before continuing his thoughts. “Okay, consider that as punishment for not telling me where you were.”

“Whatever,” You rolled your eyes but there was still sadness in them. “Am I really expelled though?”

“No, you aren’t,” Seokjin reported honestly, relieving you. “But the higher-ups did find out.”

“How?”

“For the record, I didn’t know. But when I would turn in your completed tasks, they noticed a pattern and got suspicious of how you were able to complete so many with ease.” He explained. “Makes sense, considering you’ve been in this training for years and this is a year-and-a-half preparation.” You shrugged as you understood that part. “They didn’t tell me specifically, because they knew I’d tell you, but I think they hired someone to follow you back on Earth. They saw you with your human.” You gasped. “They brought me in today to inform me about it.”

“What did you say?”

“I naturally said that this was all your fault and that you should take all the blame because that’s what you wanted in the first place.”

So much for him protecting you…

“So am I in trouble?” You were perplexed, creasing your eyebrows.

“This is where the good news comes in. You’re actually not.” He reassured, releasing all the stress that has been built up today. “They weren’t mad because you’ve made tremendous progress in the past months as opposed to starting years. To be honest, all they want is for you to fucking pass and if it involves indirectly cheating or using a human for assistance, they’ll turn a blind eye to your case.”

This was good, you didn’t need to worry about keeping secrets and sneaking around. You could go into the human realm without thinking you’d get caught. A weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

“However, they wanted safety precautions, knowing that you are a walking hazard,” Seokjin informed, grabbing your file from his desk drawers. “Seeing that you have a human task helper, they thought it was a great idea that I meet Jungkook.”

“Why do you need to meet him?” You asked, not seeing the purpose of it all. You weren’t killing the human!

“Well, while I instruct, give you advice, and keep a record of your training, it’s only fair I meet the person that’s helping you.” Your mentor clarified. “We’ll be able to collaborate and work together with what’s best for you. You know improve your skills, maintain and enhance your strengths, analyzing in-field observations.”

“Like a damn parent-teacher conference?” You questioned, showing a face of “are you serious right now?”

“Correct, little one.” Seokjin grinned, blooping the tip of your nose. “Plus, I also wanna get to know who Jungkook is besides that task folder. Like how the fuck he was able to get you in a chokehold for him? I can’t even put a leash on you!”

“But who’s who?” You wondered aloud, thoughts going in another direction and ignoring Seokjin. “Would Jungkook be the pare—”

"I'm gonna stop you right there because that's wrong on so many different levels." He interrupted you, trying to steer it back to the main topic. “In conclusion, I must see him. It's only fair if he's helping you and I'm your mentor. After that, higher-ups would want a full report on how capable this human is. They think he’s a wizard since he can even deal with you as is.“

-

Seokjin meeting Jungkook was somewhat concerning. Though your mentor was present at that frat party where you met your task, Seokjin didn’t officially meet him. All your mentor knew was through the paperwork he had for you and that was it.

If you learned anything about Seokjin, it was that he was a fucking menace to you. Though you had a tendency to fuck things up yourself, at times he liked making things worse. He said that it was to challenge you but it was a load of bullshit. Always making damn excuses.

Still, you never saw Seokjin interacting with human men and that idea terrified you. What if he exposed your secrets? Like when you had to practice oral with a cucumber to impress Jungkook! You didn’t want him to know. 

What if he was mean to Jungkook and scare him away? You couldn’t have that; you didn’t want to stop seeing Jungkook. You liked being with the human. His presence made you feel comforted. He always cheered you up when you felt like you weren’t a good enough succubus. He made you feel safe even when being a sadist in the bedroom. You didn’t want anyone else but him!

Like who was also gonna help you with your task??!! You didn’t wanna go through that process again.

But it had to happen whether you liked it or not. If Seokjin meeting Jungkook was the only way for you to get away with in succeeding your training as well as obtaining permission from the higher-ups, then so be it.

Currently, you were video chatting with Jungkook as promised. He kept yapping his mouth about what happened during the school event while you rested on your bed listening in and out. “Overall, it was sooo fucking boring and they expected us to dance on the dance floor.” Jungkook scoffed as he loosened and undid the tie around his neck. “Like how can I shake my ass to Party Rock Anthem? Like at least Gasolina!”

“What are those words?” You rolled over to the other side of your bed.

Jungkook opened his mouth but quickly closed it, “I’ll tell you later. Als—” He stopped for a second, observing your fallen expression. “___, what’s on your mind?”

“Numerous things and one of them has to deal with you.”

The human smirked cheekily, thinking something else about what you said. “Baby, be more clear. I wanna hear the words out that pretty mouth of yours.”

“The higher-ups of my succubus training, aka the succubi and incubi council, found out about you.” You notified. “They saw that I’ve been sneaking to Earth when I’m not supposed to.”

Jungkook felt like he was about to throw up. “T-t-they found out about me? Oh my God, AM I GONNA DIE?”

“No, Koo, you’re not gonna die!” You had to tell him again. “I need your help…”

“What do you mean? Aren’t I helping you already?”

“It’s another thing. I’m sorry I keep asking you for all of this. You must think I take too much from you.” You gloomed, letting out a few of your inner thoughts. You didn’t want Jungkook to think that you were taking advantage of him. You constantly tried to make it up for him somehow.

“Angel, I wouldn’t have helped you if I thought you were taking advantage of me. I know my limits.” He assured but lied because there were no limits when it was with you. “Now what were you going to ask me?”

You paused, breathing in and out before saying, “Seokjin wants to meet with you.”

“Uhh, excuse me. What the actual fuck? Why?”

It wasn’t because he didn’t want to meet Seokjin…wait, that was exactly the reason why. Why would he meet this mystery demon that is very close to you?

“The higher-ups thought it was a good idea for him to meet you since you’re helping me with my tasks.” You clarified further. “If anything, they seem to like you because you helped me progress in my studies!”

“…but why him?” His tone sounded flat but on the inside, he was burning.

“Because he talks to the higher-ups and I guess he knows me better than any other demon.” Your vague answer felt like a shot to his chest. He didn’t even care how you said it, he cared about the words. So this Seokjin demon knew you better than any other demon, huh?

Well, does Seokjin know how you sneezed like a kitten? Does Seokjin know your tail waves happily when you get granola? Does Seokjin know how much joy was in your laugh when you see something funny? Does Seokjin know that you liked to cuddle with something when you’re sleeping? And when you slept over, you’d have your arms wrapped around his torso like a koala?

Seokjin may not know everything about you.

“Please meet him? I promise it’ll be okay. He won’t lay a finger on you. If he does, I’ll try my best to rip him off of you.” You pleaded with your shimmering eyes that you didn’t know was one of his ultimate weaknesses. “Of course, he is one of the most powerful demons in our realm…”

As always, you asked so preciously. He couldn’t say no to that face of yours. It may be the hidden power you had over him or maybe not. Yet Jungkook wasn’t going to sway his decision.

“When do you want us to meet, angel?” He gave in to your request.

You squealed, bouncing off of the bed as you held your phone. “Really? You’ll do it?” He nodded in confirmation before you got elated. He’d do anything to see that stunning pearly whites. “I must tell him now! We’ll have everything set up and I’ll tell you the details, okay Koo?”

“Of course, angel. I’m only a call and text away.” He chuckled, gazing into his device.

You checked the time and calculated how late it was for both of you. “It’s already late, and you have class early tomorrow. You should hang up and sleep.”

Jungkook hummed in response, “I’ll start getting ready for bed soon…but you should hang up first.”

You tilted your head in wonder. “Why? Shouldn’t you hang up first?”

“No, you hang u—”

“‘Kay! Good night!” He didn’t even give you a response as you hung up so hastily. You tossed your phone onto the mattress. You rushed out your door—that was fixed and paid off by Seokjin—and went to your mentor to announce the news.

Meanwhile, Jungkook stared blankly at his darkened phone screen for a good minute after you ended the call. He tightened his grip on his smartphone as he bit his lip in an aggravating manner. He took deep breaths, soothing himself. He needed to relax on this whole thing. 

He doesn’t love you. You don’t love him.

That’s that.

But why does he feel so sad about it?

-

“Why are you in a suit?”

Okay, quick little update—It has been a week later and you and Seokjin decided to have Jungkook meet the two of you at the house that Seokjin stole—you honestly don’t know but you have it again—since it wasn’t safe for the human to come to the demon realm.

You haven’t seen Jungkook since because you prepared for the conference. You planned the dinner, begged Seokjin what certain topics of discussion were off-limits, took a midterm that you probably failed, and overall mentally prepared for your mentor and human to meet.

Though you prepped, with Seokjin, there was no telling what was happening. He was being vague with what he had intended and usually shoved a fucking hundred-page intake form in your face. You were nervous, flying around the living room and keeping your hands busy with cooking just hours prior.

Now it was happening and you opened the front entrance right after Jungkook texted you that he was here and afraid. Mainly because the house appeared otherworldly and resembled a murder scene.

When you opened the door, you raised your brows in bewilderment, seeing the human clean cut, looking too professional compared to your pastel green baby doll dress under the strawberry printed apron you had over and bunny house slippers. 

Jungkook wore an all-grey suit with black Chelsea boots. The attire included a matching fabric belt that wrapped around his waist, accentuating his proportions. Underneath, he wore an ebony button-down shirt and the same colored tie. But the best part of it all was that his hair was gelled and pushed back, revealing his supple sexy forehead and bold brows with his lip and ear piercings on display. Lastly, in his hands, he had a bouquet of purple roses.

This was a prime example of how he can get you naked with the faintest look to you.

It wasn’t that you hated him dressed like that. You pondered why he was so formal for a dinner inside an abandoned building.

“Wanted to dress to impress.” More like dress to feel better than that fucking Seokjin guy because I am better.

“You do realize it’s only us three. I’m boringly dressed like this.” You presented your dress even twirled around. Your succubus form was mellow and revealed. You didn’t like hiding your wings and tail because it can get cramped for you. You felt at peace when you didn’t need to hide when you were around Jungkook.

Your hair was pushed back by a green headband, making you extra lovely in his eyes. Though obvious with the seductive succubus stereotype, it fascinated the human how…contradicting you were. Most of the time you didn’t know what you were doing especially with other human men, there were times when you made the room feel disturbingly awkward, you were shit at flirting, and every flirt directed to you was in and out of your ears.

Regardless, that was what made you you and Jungkook loved everything about it. You had your own charm and approach to things. When others expected you to do one thing, you do it in another way. You kept your kindness high and on lock. Sometimes thinking of others before you.

An advantage that Seokjin may have used in the past…for education reasons of course.

“And you look so pretty, ___.” Jungkook complimented you in awe of your beauty. He hasn’t seen you for over a week and finally seeing you in person instead of on his phone screen, he wished to never part with you anymore.

“Aww, thanks, Koo.” You cooed and felt a little heat creeping on your cheeks. “I guess you don’t look bad yourself. Very handsome.”

“So you think I’m handsome?”

You giggled loudly and awkwardly. That was…concerning to him. “Yeah…” You almost sounded bored and he regretted bringing it up. You paused for a bit until you finally brought up the flowers he brought. “You brought flowers?”

“Oh, yeah. I got them since tonight felt pretty important.” He replied, handing them to you. You examined the pretty petals and blooming of the roses before sniffing the aroma. “They’re actually for y—”

“They’re so pretty, Jungkook! Seokjin’s gonna love them!” You interrupted him as you went towards the kitchen to find an empty vase for them, leaving the human standing like the emoji. He watched your form disappear to another room before you shouted for him to follow.

Once he reached you, you planted the flowers on the granite counter while you searched through the cabinets for the flower holder. As you did so, Jungkook brought up a question. “So…where is Seokjin?”

You finally found a vase when he asked. “He had to do something in Naameth before this. He should be arriving any minute.” You said as you filled it up with water.

“Huh? Late to the meeting? Doesn’t seem like a reliable person…” Jungkook tried to be discreet but he really wasn’t.

“You’re both late. Almost an hour and a half.” You pointed out without thought as you positioned the purple roses inside the jug and decorated them at the center of the kitchen table. “At least he told me beforehand.”

You weren’t scolding the human, though you were blunt and stated facts. It caused Jungkook to feel ashamed because he was indeed late, but didn’t bother to speak up about it. “Sorry, I got nervous so I had to use the bathroom a couple of times before coming here.”

“Oh, Jungkook!” You chuckled at his shy state, turning back to him. You’ve never seen him like this before. “There’s no reason to be nervous. I think Seokjin will like you.”

Why were you making everything about Seokjin? That wasn’t why he was nervous. “No, it’s not that.” He denied, holding the edge of the kitchen surface.

“Then what is it?” You came forth, grabbing and holding his hand with your two smaller ones. You looked concerned, almost like you wanted to take action to make his worries away.

He still was in denial.

Jungkook could only open his mouth when the two of you heard a loud bang erupt, making you both flinch and search for the noise. It came from the front, so you scurried together and passed the living room to find the cause.

In all his fucking glory and shining ego, your one and only mentor arrived like a celebrity on the red carpet. The Seokjin wore a white double-breasted blazer with a dress shirt that matched underneath. The shoulder pads of the jacket made his wide-set shoulders even more like the hypotenuse of a Pythagorean theorem. The right side of it draped down reaching his thigh, giving an asymmetrical look. Instead of going monochrome, the incubus opted for black pants and boots.

Seokjin’s hair was also pushed back, but there was a ridiculously enormous ivory fedora sitting at the top of his head. What made it even worse was a gold feather attached to it. Though it sounded outrageous, the demon somehow made it work.

Seokjin’s eyes strolled around the house until they landed on your puzzled ones. A smile beamed on his face then he spreads his arms wide open before strutting up to your stature. “My darling love!!”

Once he got to you, he pulled your body into his chest and spun you around. After that, he puts you down and kissed the top of your head, leaving you flabbergasted and Jungkook’s jaw clenched. What the fuck Seokjin?

“Uhh, Seokjin, what are you doing?” You questioned, not understanding what was going on. You stepped away from him and moved closer to Jungkook.

“What do you mean, little one? I’m greeting you.” Your mentor responded oh so causally.

“You’re not really lik—”

“Ahh, you must be Jeon Jungkook.” Seokjin ignored what you said when he immediately faced contact with the only human in the room. “It’s great to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many things about you!” He extended his hand for a handshake.

Hmmm, that seemed to give Jungkook a bit of satisfaction so he accepted the introduction and shook his hand. “Same for you…but I never knew she talked about me.”

“Yes, of course. She does…when we’re in her room alone together.”

Jungkook’s face sank. His head craned to you to see you…nodding???

“Yeah, and sometimes in his office.” You agreed. Uhhhh, was this going well?

“Anyways, shall we get started Jungkook?” Seokjin recommended. “You and I can chat in the dining area while our ___ here will finish up cooking. She’s making her signature dish! It’s incredible. Believe me. I’ve had it before.” He exaggerated the last parts towards the human while rubbing his stomach.

Jungkook’s right eye twitched and it doesn’t go unnoticed by a close-lipped smile from Seokjin who seemed unbothered.

Meanwhile, you didn’t see anything. “I wouldn’t call it my signature dish, but I wanted to be mindful of Jungkook’s taste. He doesn’t like anything too sour and many of demon’s dishes taste quite sour.”

Again, you were acknowledging his preferences, being so cautious with him. Jungkook’s heart palpitated quicker than before when you ended your statement with a smile and gaze at him.

“Plus this dish doesn’t have garlic and Seokjin is allergic to that!”

It was great while it lasted.

-

While you were preoccupied in the kitchen cooking and listening to this band that shined through the city with a little funk and soul, Jungkook was alone in the dining room with Seokjin. They sat across each other on the long table, one sat on the farthest end and the other did the same on the other end. Their posture was straight with their hands intertwined, resting on the table, almost like they were mimicking one another.

Though it only has been five minutes, nothing was said just glares. More so, towards the nonchalant Seokjin who kept his eye contact, Jungkook leered aggressively at the sight of the demon. All because he had three reasons to act this way.

Number one—Jungkook was pissed off because Seokjin was fucking gorgeous and hot. He was wrong. How was this level of sexiness possible? You informed him that sex demons were born to be visually pleasing, but this fucking dude took the prize of most handsome and went home within the minute. He dreaded it so much but had to give props to the incubus.

Number B—was the way Seokjin held and kissed you…and like you accepted? He never wanted to see you in the arms of another, that idea made him want to vomit his brains out. 

Finally, letter 3—it was almost as if Seokjin indirectly challenged him, eyeing the human out every chance he had. Was that it? Does Seokjin want a competition? What was his catch? Weren’t they supposed to discuss your training and abilities? Why was this turning into who gets to claim you?

Well, you shouldn’t be claimed regardless…but in Jungkook’s defense, you were his.

“So are we gonna discuss ___ and her training?” Jungkook was the first to break the ice as scowling at the strong demon was going nowhere. “I want this to be productive for not only her but myself too.”

“Wow, you seem to care a lot about her, human,” Seokjin commented, slowly nodding his head as he wrote down something on a piece of paper in his opened manila folder. “Do you know why I wanted to see you? Better yet, do you know why I’m talking to you?”

The human cocked an eyebrow. “Uhh, ___ said that the higher-ups said we needed to meet.”

The demon hummed in response as he leaned back into his chair. “Well, that’s the main reason, but there are other answers to that question.”

Jungkook grew confused. “What do you mean?”

Seokjin sagged his head to the side to look past Jungkook to watch you dancing stiffly. “___ is a special demon. So special that she had to get a task helper for her training.” He began. “And so special that she’s important to me.”

Okay, we’re getting to the good stuff because Jungkook squinted his eyes at the demon in front of him. “She’s important to you?”

“Yes, why do you sound like it’s shocking?” Seokjin replied, eyes testing the human. “I mean you had to meet me for her sake.”

“Isn’t it the other way around?”

“Nope, because the higher-ups needed me to see how capable you are. You think a strong, powerful, and handsome demon like myself would willingly want to meet an egotistical zealous human like you? You’re practically a side bug ready to be flicked away if I say you go.”

“What even are you to her?” The human scoffed, not caring if he was being rude to a demon who kill his ass with one hit. “You’re acting so high and fucking mighty. You could be meaningless in all of this.”

“Funny you ask that…” The incubus chuckled darkly. He leaned forward as if he was telling a secret to him despite the one-and-a-half meter distance. But with his powers, Seokjin whispered, “She’s my little play toy.”

Though soft-spoken, his words traveled loud and clear in Jungkook’s ear. The tone mocked the human’s ego and pride, his possession over you. He hated it. He fucking hated it. 

And to make matters worse, Seokjin had the power to replay those words in his head. She’s my little play toy. She’s my little play toy. She’s my little play toy. She’s my little play toy. She’s Seokjin’s little play toy.

Jungkook gritted his teeth as he held onto the table tightly to ease his anger. He needed his positive mindset to overcast the shit Seokjin was doing. You were not his play toy. You weren’t Seokjin’s. You weren’t his to play with.

It should be him. But not as a play toy. But one to be with and to be cherished by him. He should be the one to call you his. He should be the one to hug you and twirl you around. He should be the one to kiss your forehead. He should be the one to call you “my darling love.” He should—

“Dinner’s ready!” You announced flying in all perky and filled with joy. Your horns wiggled in delight at the food. Wings flapping in the air, you patted Jungkook’s head, snapping him out of his trance to gawk at you.

Your puffy smile and crinkled eyes consoled his inner turmoil. How was it possible that the sight of you washed away his worries yet made his heart ache so bad he felt like he was about to explore? What was going on with him on the inside? He couldn’t understand it. He didn’t want to understand it. There was no way.

You flew towards your mentor, ready to slap that goofy grin off his bothersome face when Seokjin grabbed you by the arm and tugged you down. You landed on his lap unexpectedly, making a “humph’ sound. You blinked profoundly at him before saying, “What the fu—”

Usually, Seokjin interrupts you by talking and not caring about anything you say, but today was different. He halted your complaint by kissing you on the lips. Your eyes widened, and you didn’t dare to kiss back. Sure, they were soft but fucking disgusting. It was like kissing an uncle.

It was also different from what you’re used to and you couldn’t help but compare.

You stayed still like a dead fish as your mentor tried deepening the kiss. You were too shocked to even push away. But it was a voice that you knew all too well that ultimately stopped your interaction with Seokjin.

“NO!” Jungkook slammed his palms on the table, standing up from his seat.

Seokjin parted away from you and didn’t even bother to look at your disturbed expression. On the other hand, he was very much interested in finding a furious and raging Jungkook before him. Seokjin swore he heard growls from the human. This human must be a different breed, the incubus thought.

Livid heat dragged down his neck, his jaw sharpened and clenched, and steam blew out of his nostrils. Jungkook charged toward the two of you. Though you were innocent and puzzled by all of this, the human snatched you off of your mentor by the waist with one arm, carrying you. 

With his vacant arm, Jungkook thought it was a fast and effective solution to beat the shit out of Seokjin. So using all the force and techniques he learned through boxing, he punched Seokjin once, causing the demon to fall to the ground.

However, it seemed that Jungkook was done with Seokjin as he began to walk away with you now in both of his arms. You said nothing, not knowing how to contribute to this. But you chose to glance over to your mentor.

Knowing Seokjin, he doesn’t hold if someone attacks him. But at that moment, he watched the two of you walk away calmly before winking at you cheekily.

Seriously, what the fuck was going on?

You spoke no words to Jungkook as you migrated elsewhere into the house. It was when he threw you onto a bed, you realized he brought you into your bedroom. You followed his moves when he locked the door and removed his jacket from him. With piercing irises meeting your fazed doe-eyes, he loosened his tie before taking it off as well. He rolled up his sleeves up to his elbow to his comfort and liking.

He stalked around the bed, eyeing your every move, every facial expression, every breath. You sensed his dominating presence radiating the whole area, growing by the second. You surely understood what was going to happen when he was like this but still unsure of why was it happening right now and before dinner.

You feared him in an arousing way because you were excited to do this with him. It has been a while since Jungkook has been very clingy lately. You thought you anticipated his every move but tonight, you were going to be wrong and sorry that you assumed in the first place.

Your submission gradually exposed itself, afraid to speak up but you needed to know. “U-uh, Jungkook, why are you—”

“It’s sir to you, angel. Have I not been clear from the fucking start?” His dark voice spat venom, leaving no signs of care and cuddles for you.

“Yes, you’ve been clear, sir. I’m sorry, sir.” You hiccuped, you felt yourself shrinking before him. It was the way you both loved it. His mouth twitched but restrained himself from showing anything else but this. He came forth, being on the end of the bed, and leered down at you with that familiar stare. “S-sir, I’m just wondering why you—Eeek!”

Perhaps it was Not Let ___ Talk Day because you couldn’t finish your sentence when Jungkook flipped you over effortlessly by your waist. He pulled your legs and rested your knees onto the mattress, ass raised high in the air. He used his other hand and pushed down your back, bending your spine while your face was smushed into the sheets.

You wiggled as a reaction, but Jungkook wasn’t having it. He lifted the skirt of your dress, revealing your purple lacy thong that barely covered your tiny but chubby pussy. Though he wanted to let out a sigh of please, he was on a mission. With a heavy hand, he smacked your ass to keep you still.

You squeaked at the stinging sensation but felt yourself getting leaking down your hole. You couldn’t help it…he was that attractive, you were a sex demon, and you wanted more.

 “You should know to keep still, you fucking slut!” He spat, giving you another spank and you groaned. “Do I have to repeat myself?”

“N-no, sir.” You sniffled, digging your face into the comforter.

Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Each slap got harder and harder. You swore your ass cheeks were getting numb from the ache. Your skin probably had his hand imprint, feeling raw and tender from his continuous slaps.

You heard the noise of unbuckling and a belt slithering out. You waited quietly until you voiced out a cry when the leather strap touched your swollen red ass cheek and coccyx. “Nooo, Koo!”

The evilness in Jungkook softened when he heard your pleading cry. He dropped the belt and crawled beside you. He helped you move your head to face him. You were flushed, and tears threatened to fall down your cheeks but he found the lust still in your eyes. He noticed how your ass trembled, but your tail looked in shock by it. 

“Angel, did I hurt you?” With no words, you nodded timidly. Fuck, Jungkook wanted to beat himself up for pushing your limits. “Fuck ___, I’m so sorry. I’m such a shithead. We’ll stop this right no—”

“No, we don’t need to, sir.” You reassured, giving him such a precious grin. “Just no belt, please?”

He saw you, serious and promising as ever. He didn’t deserve you at all. Yet you still took him in with all your might and will. You wanted him to continue, he knew it. It was all over your face.

He smiled ever so gently, truly taking you in. He moved down to kiss your ass cheek and caressed your tail which made you inhale sharply. He went back to you grinning once more before came the cynical expression. 

He stood up from the bed, observing your position. You daringly wiggled your behind once again, releasing any guilt Jungkook previously had. Shit, you’re such a tease.

He gave you one last spank before rubbing your pained bottom. You jolted from time to time, experiencing the ghost of the slaps. Once you seemed laxer, Jungkook turned you over on your back and wings. His stare leering at you while you peered open with eyes that screamed “more!”

“Take off everything, slut.” Jungkook demanded.

So with the blink of an eye, your clothes and undergarments were gone, leaving you bare. One interesting power you obtained from the past months was your ability to take your clothes off when you feel like it without even moving an inch. You were confused by it, even telling Seokjin about it. But your mentor told you succubi can develop special and personal powers on top of the standard skills. It was great for you, extra great for Jungkook. 

He paused for a while, pupils dancing all over your supple body. It was something he knew he would never get tired of seeing. From the top of your head, down to your plush breasts, the curves of your waist and hips, and your captivating legs. But in between your legs laid the cunt he wanted to devour for years.

You were already practically flowing a river, drenching the bedsheet under you. He could see a translucent string connected from your hole to the dampened area. You were always so ready for him. 

He grunted softly, his mouth watering at the sight of your center. He wanted to taste it, yet he still had other plans with you. Grabbing his belt off the floor, he walked steadily to your form. “Arms up.” You obliged within half a second. He hoisted you up the bed. Tying your wrists with the leather, he attached it to the headboard. He tugged on making sure it wasn’t too tight for you, so when you nodded, you were ready to go.

He climbed the bed. Your eyes met with his, his warm breathing hit your cheek. He gulped then clenched his jaw, demeanor hardening the more he kept his gaze. “You deserve to be punished, you stupid whore.”

Your irises enlarged, growing puzzled by his statement. “Why do I have t—“

“Did I say to fucking talk?!?!” He fumed, making you flinch. You quickly shook your head in denial. “You talk when I tell you to, and you do as I fucking say! When I ask you a question, you better answer! I’m not gonna repeat myself. Am I clear?”

You nodded cowardly but it wasn’t the right answer. Jungkook groaned in frustration, which led him to reach over to your nipple and pinch it hard. You winced at the pain yet pleasure of his touch. Your body wanted to submit to him. “Yes, you’re clear, sir!!”

“Good little demon.” He finally complimented and your horns twitched, which doesn’t go unnoticed by him but won’t acknowledge out in the open.

Jungkook had his hands on your knees before spreading them wide to get a clearer view of your glistening cunt. Fuck, he wanted to die. So pretty and swollen, just for him. He bent down to be on eye level. You felt him lingering before he lightly blew into your heat. You moaned softly, the cool air touching you though it wasn’t what you wanted. But you stayed quiet so that Jungkook doesn’t get angry. 

He pulled back and it killed you, almost barking back. But when he shoved two fingers in your sudden hole, all thoughts disappeared and a high-pitched whine snapped out of you. He was not slow and steady. He wasted no time pumping hard in circular motions into your pussy, trying to find your sweet spot. When your voice raised higher, he knew he had already found it.

He then pushed in another finger to help you get more stretched out. It was immaculate how tight your cunt was despite taking in his thick dick. He cursed under his breath, watching you having a harder time breathing from all the mewling you did. Your face was already so enamored with what little he did to you, making him grin like an asshole.

“Such a little slut. Do you like it when I finger this tight fucking cunt?”

You nodded like a child wanting candy. “Yes, I love it, sir.” He kept hitting your g-spot and you got so dizzy. Jungkook decided to test your limit again by adding another finger in you. It was a snug fit but he was still able to continue his thrusts. His palm was practically inside of you getting messed up by the amount of essence you spurted out.

The stretch gave a dull pinch, but you handled it well. You dug your fingers into your palm as it was the only thing you could do besides attempting to break free from the belt which was unsuccessful. But holy shit, so many of his fingers touched your nerves. Each swipe to your rough patch made you go crazy. Your petals sang choir songs to his ears, body, and soul. You felt the knot in your stomach breaking, getting closer and closer to your finish line. Jungkook could feel you reaching your high, so he fastened his pace.

You moaned loudly, knowing what was about to come. However, the human decided to pull out of you a second before you came. You winced as your stretched-out walls pulsed around nothing. Your soaking cunt dripped and ached in pain from the denial. Tears escaped your eyes, your nose getting stuffier than before, and the painful eyes you gave to an unbothered human.

“I didn’t say to cum. You cum when I tell you to.” Jungkook growled, then slurping all of your wetness from his palm to the tip of his fingers. 

“P-puh-please, s-sir.” You tried to speak, but you were getting intoxicated by the horniness you had for that man. “C-can…I…cum?”

“Aww, you’re begging. How cute.” He spoke condescendingly yet you gave no fucks because all you wanted right now was his dick. Which by the way looked insane hard and large in his pants. “But no, you don’t deserve it.”

“H-huh?”

“You wanna cum, you gotta earn it.” He sneered before slapping your inner thigh so close to your wet folds but not close enough. You could only let out a pliant sound, watching his menacing aura boost. “Do you still have those red candles?”

In a haze, you nodded. A while back, one of your tasks was the use of BDSM and you got provided a box filled with toys and other items to use. Besides rope, blindfolds, and ball gags, there were scarlet strawberry-scented massage candles. But they were never used because there was no time and that task went on for AGES.

However, Jungkook thought now was a good time to use them. “Bring them in.”

To his command, you magically brought it from Naameth. They were displayed on your nightstand, unused and neatly placed with the violet-colored lighter next to them.

Jungkook reached over for one of them and the lighter. Concentrated on what he had in his hands, he examined the two. The long candle presented hefty due to its thickness but it weighed light. He wafted the fruity aroma and hummed in delight before igniting the wick.

Ember appeared before him, illuminating a small bubble around it. He waited until he started seeing a small pool of liquid for the real games to begin.

Hovering it over your intoxicated cunt, he titled the candle. The ruby fluid flowed down and dripped onto your sensitivity, making you yelp at the burn. He moved all over your form, going from your nipples, your navel, back to your center, your neck, and any of your parts he knew you were sensitive in. 

The stinging pain electrified your body, cascading a new tsunami of emotions you’ve never experienced before. Streams of wax trickled down and solidified on your burning skin, marking you.

“You like this?” Jungkook interrogated while you measly nodded, quaking as more of the candle wax landed on you. “Of course, you do. You filthy demon.” He scoffed, rolling his eyes before placing the still-lit candle on the table.

Suddenly, he flipped you over in the same position you first started in. Your wrists rubbed along the belt, probably going to get bruises. He wasted no time slapping your ass again once. He retrieved the candle back, which had melted an abundance of fluid that created a deep pool.

Jungkook enjoyed seeing you in painful pleasure when a sinister smirk morphed on his hot fucking face. Without thinking any further, he had the candle over your back and poured all of it on your wings.

If Jungkook had seen your face, he would have seen your eyes shrink into beady dots. An elongating shriek fled out of you, froth foaming around your mouth. Your burgundy tail rested on the side, hiding away from the utter surprise. Your wings fluttered out of control, shaking like two Christmas ornaments filled with mung beans but not at all in a fun way. 

You tried breaking free but you were scrawny as shit. The burn rushed through your blood and went straight to your agonizing cunt and oozing more of your wetness on the bed. A pleasant sight for the human behind you. The sensation didn’t hurt as much as you expected, but fuck, you were about to go pray to the heavens for something to happen. You sobbed harshly into the pillow because though you felt so much but not enough to reach your peak. Your thighs quaked like a wet cat. you wanted to fucking cum, but he wasn’t letting you. 

“I’m impressed that you’re still not talking and taking it like the whore I know you are,” Jungkook commented before blowing out the candle. The smell of smoke mixed with the artificial strawberry scent lingered in the area.

You didn’t bother turning back to him. Instead, you dug your head into the duvet and unconsciously arched your back lower to accentuate your rounded ass. Jungkook groaned at his perfect vision of you. He guessed you deserve something. “Just for that, you deserve a little treat.” Putting his hands in the dips of your waist, he hoisted the lower half of your body up in the air.

Being so small, it was easy for gym rat boxing galore Jungkook to carry you like you were a feather. He settled the tops of your thigh onto his shoulders. You practically were levitating since Jungkook was huge even when sitting down. He pushed your spine down and you don’t even know what position this was. He was lucky you weren’t human because you were practically shaped as a “u.” Thank you demon bones.

Jungkook had such a delicious view of your petaled sex, so bloated and drenched just begging for him. He scooted closer to the headboard, bringing you with him. Now only your head was shoved onto the bed because you hung upside down. His strong arms wrapped around you with your shivering thighs still on him.

He leaned his head before sticking his pink tongue into your cunt, making you mewl like the needy little thing you were. The muscle then swiped up and down, pushing its way into you. Then the tip found your clit, causing you to shudder. Tears broke free but they went straight to staining the sheets. You were too stimulated and not enough to feel the release.  

Fuck, you tasted better than the last time like he was eating sweet cherries freshly picked out from the farm. He loved that you can actually change your essence’s flavor but honestly just as it was natural was the best one in his honest opinion.

Then your horns twitched.

Suddenly the arousal changed to your original taste, shocking Jungkook as his eyes widened but didn’t complain one bit. It only gave him more reason to latch on to your sensitivity and suckled the way you loved. Your legs trembling in ecstasy but he kept you still in his arms. Your moans increased by the second, wanting to speak his name but you didn’t dare to.

Until he gripped your tail.

“Sir!” You wept out, turning your head to breathe some oxygen. Jungkook surprisingly didn’t punish you and continued stroking your appendage. His thumb applied pressure, amplifying the state you were in. If you weren’t a moaning mess before, you most certainly were now. Your mind turned into cotton. Your eyes rolled back as your hips pushed towards his face.

His lapping tongue embedded your shaking center while the tip of his nose poked your aching bud. He ran his fingers from your tailbone to the heart tip. He went back to your base and pulled on it not too harshly but not too lightly either. You swore you were about to see stars from all this stimulation. The build-up in you got stronger and stronger, almost toward the finish line. “O-oh, I gonna cu—”

Subsequently, he stopped again. He released your tail and plopped your body back onto the mattress, bouncing from the impact. “No, you’re not.” He scooted away from you, legs spread open as he felt himself losing patience with him.

You whimpered, hot streams going down your cheeks. Dammit, you were so close. As sadist as Jungkook was in bed, this by far had to be the cruelest thing he has ever done to you. You’d rather have a bajillion orgasms than get denied them.

“Remember what I fucking said, slut. You can’t come unless I say so and you don’t deserve it after what you did.”

You were on the verge of losing the 3% of insanity left in you. You weren’t understanding your position right now. Yes, you loved the pain and the pleasure he gave but why did he do it right before dinner time? Tonight was supposed to be important but now you’re suddenly blamed for reasons you don’t know. So you spoke without caring about the consequences. You twisted onto your back to face his darkened blushed expression. Your wrists were hurt from the constraint. “W-why can’t I c-cum? I ne-never did a-anything!”

Wow, you finally yelled back. It took you long enough. But Jungkook, being stubborn and never wanting to back down, wanted to punish you. Unfortunately, his feelings for you were in the way and he had to let out his thoughts, or else, he was about to explode. “Because you let Seokjin fucking kiss you!” He spat out. “You don’t get to cum until you realize you don’t need him in your life!”

You blinked dumbly, taken aback. What the fuck was he talking about? Seokjin was your mentor, you needed him! Even after you finished your training, he was your mentor for all eternity. “Wh-what? I do need him! He can’t go away!” A bit of logic crept into your brain, trying to understand what Jungkook was getting at.

“Wrong answer, angel.”

Jungkook got off of the bed, pupils never leaving yours. Button by button, he unloosened his shirt, exposing his glistening tan skin and chocolate bar abs. Once he flicked it off of him, his sleeve tattoos were fully visible. He unzipped his pants, freeing him from the clothing. The outline of his hardened girthy dick and the wet spot on his boxers was clearly shown and it made your mouth water. Damn, this human was so defined. You wanted to throw up at how sexy he was.

He cupped himself to relieve some discomfort he went through. He bit his lips while staring into your gleaming pupils, so clueless about how he truly felt yet you still managed to bewitch him regardless. He removed the last article on him, now bare with his curved cock bouncing from his movements. He played with his lip ring, smirking at how you got unconsciously rubbed your thighs together as he played with himself. “What do you want?”

You gulped, “I-I-I want you, sir.”

Jungkook snorted haughtily, “Yeah, right. Go to Seokjin, maybe he’ll give you the half-ass orgasm that you deserved.”

You furrowed your eyebrows again. What the fuck does Seokjin have to do with all of this? You would never let him touch you the way Jungkook does. Why does he sound like he has so much hatred for your mentor? They fucking met an hour ago.

You shook your head naively, “No, I want you, Jungkook. I always have.”

Your voice and words stabbed his heart. How could you even say that when you’re with Seokjin? Wait, hold on…are you cheating on the demon with him? Are you a cheater? But doesn’t Seokjin know that you’ve been fucking him? Maybe it was an open relationship? What the fuck was between you and Seokjin?

But Jungkook realized—he was only your task helper. Nothing more, nothing less. That was why Seokjin was okay with all of this. That was why you weren’t acknowledging what he did for you. It was mindless. You needed a human to help you with your training, and that was what you got.

Your relationship was nonexistent, and it ached Jungkook. Fuck, he can’t do this anymore. He couldn’t suppress it any longer. Demon or not, you were you and he was him. You were vulnerable and dense to everything, you almost killed him by accident every single time, but he loved it because you still had a good heart and you cared wholeheartedly. You were the literal perfect being in his life.

He was in love with you and there was no way of stopping him.

Was this how the hookups and flings felt? Because it was hurting him on the inside very deeply. This was probably karma.

“Jungkook?” You called out, snapping him out of his trance.

The human blinked a couple of times before acknowledging you again. You were naked, legs spread apart. Your perspired skin glowed under the warm light. Breasts were perky and nipples were pointed. Your arousal leaked down your perineum, even landing on your puckered anus.

He thought this was the last time that he would see you like this. He had to stop seeing you. It was no good for his human heart. He didn’t want to go through this unrequited love any longer. He had to give up immediately. Well…after he fucks you into oblivion as a last hoorah, then he’d give up.

Like a hyena attacking its prey, Jungkook was back in bed. He felt his emotions threatening to get to him through his tear ducts. He couldn’t do that right now, he had to suck it up and release all of it through fucking you. He blinked rapidly to keep his cool. His hands reached the back of your thighs, opening you up.

His eye contact was fierce, scrutinizing your soul. It made your demon heart skip a beat at how intense he looked at you. Without breaking, he took himself and positioned it to your slit. He didn’t ask if you were ready as he was already going in but slower than usual. Inch by inch, he disappeared in you and you mewled at the stretch of him. He pushed in once more until the head touched your tiny cervix, promptly making you go unhinged. 

You were drooling, getting the drug you finally wanted. You talked nonsensically as you bit down on your lower lips. You could practically cum, but you knew you couldn’t. How was it possible for a human dick to ruin your entire existence? That, you don’t know but you weren’t complaining.

All you could think about was Jungkook, his body, his cock, his personality, his soul. Jungkook, Jungkook, Jungkook, Jungkook. It was all about him.

He didn’t ask to move; he just did. Knowing you, you also wanted him to start now. However, he wanted to make this last as long as he could. But he felt too stimulated he thought he was going to burst in you once he filled you up. The love he had for you overpowered his control, his dominance. His pace was different, it was slower yet way harder than usual.

Each thrust made you squirm under him. You looked so pretty, cross-eyed, with hair sticking on your forehead, and trying to escape your confinement. You pleaded to get out of it by weeping high-pitched noises. You badly wanted to touch him, hold him. “Pweesh, t-t-toush you!” You yanked on the belt, attempting anything. You were numb on your wrists, only sensing the cock pounding you like there was no tomorrow. “Toush you!”

Jungkook refused for him to touch you because it will only break him into a million pieces. If you laid a hand on him, he wouldn’t want to let go of you. But he was selfish, so so so selfish. He needed this way more than you did. It was for his one last time and his everlasting memory. 

Without contemplating any longer, he penetrated deeper into you. With one hand on your hips for stability, he untied your wrists. When you were free, the weight of your hands felt heavier as they bounced onto the wrinkled covers. They were much more tired than expected but Jungkook took your wrists with his hand to examine the marks that formed around them, noticing the red and purple sores.

He held them to his lips and pecked endless kisses like it was medicine to the pain. It was sort of like that because they weren’t as delicate as they appeared. His tongue lapped around the bruises. Your hands were lighter than before, allowing you to wrap them around his nape. You caught him by surprise as his big bunny eyes widened.

You pulled him near you, your noses meeting. Your lips were swollen and red, relentless moans escaped your mouth. You ran your fingers into his damp raven hair, securing hold onto him. You had no brain anymore, no thinks, no words. You lived and breathe to obey him. You were now and always will be Jungkook’s pocketpussy.

You stretched your head, puckering your lips to finally meet his, also shocking him and his brain. His heart thumped faster than normal, especially when you swiped your tongue over his teeth. The kiss grew messier, slobbering around the rims of your mouths and exchanging and swallowing each other’s spit. 

Jungkook stopped tonguing you but his mouth was still on yours. “Say you’re mine. I wanna hear you say it.” He grunted. His long cock dragged in your battered pussy. “Fucking say it!”

“Y-yours, sir! I yours!”

“No, say my name right now!” Jungkook commanded. Even though he loved his sir kink, he needed to hear his name out of your mouth. “Whose are you?”

“I’m yours, Jungkook!”

“That’s right. Fucking slutty demon creaming around my big cock, you better be.” His pace increased roughly, making the pressure in your abdomen come back again. Your walls ached in hopes that you weren’t going to be rid of another orgasm. The connectedness between you two sounded sticky and wet as his dick collected the ring of foaming white from you. 

“I am—hunghhh! I-I-I’ll always be.” You truthfully said, but Jungkook didn’t believe you. You were drunk in carnality. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” There was envy and wrath in his voice but it was to cover his frail judgments. “You take what you fucking get.”

“But mo’! More! Mo’!” You begged brainlessly, wrapping your legs around his waist. “Pweesh, sir!”

“I must have fucking spoiled you. Begging for more that you can’t even handle, slut! Bad demon!” He ridiculed you, but you loved it so much. Your weakened succubus mind loved his cruel insults.

“I not bad!!!” You sobbed, tears bubbling up around your eyes from the stimulation.

“Yes, you fucking are. Bad to me because I can’t get enough of you! Bad to my body, bad to my cock that only wants to be wrapped around this tight fucking pussy.” He impaled you rampantly, your cunt bawling at the crude action. “Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!” With each thrust, he emphasized and then pinched your inflated clit in between his index finger and thumb. 

You screamed as you knew you couldn’t hold it in any longer. The knot in you played tug-o-war. Body vibrating endlessly like a cellular device’s alarm, you were about to die if you kept it in. “Cum! Cum! Cum!” You chanted, wishing he’d finally let you. “Cum! Cu—”

“Cum all over me, baby.”

Once he said those words, the sound that came out of you was neither inhumane nor demonic. Your eyes crossed, making you smell the twinkly little stars around. The warmth coursed through your blood while your brain melted into a puddle. You wailed, gasping for air, sounding like a dying pig that was about to turn into bacon. Body convulsed, shuttering every millisecond while helplessly holding onto the solid man above you. He guided you through your high, rocking into you. You clenched tightly around his flaming cock, making him whine that how he was getting closer to his high.

When you finally came, your tail swiveled out and up then sprinkled cum all over your bodies. Jungkook snatched your squirting appendage, causing you to yelp at the sensitivity. He pressed the tip of it into your slightly parted mouth. “Suck up your cum.” Moaning, you succumbed to his command and opened your mouth as he inserted your spewing heart-tailed end. With your tongue sticking out, you tried swallowing your non-stop cum, but it ended up splashing all over your fucked out face.

Jungkook leaned down and joined in on your slurping session. Both of your tongues glided up and down your gushing limb. He followed the pattern of your tail, shaping around smooth ripples. Your muscles met at the tip, drinking in your pool of essence. You were intoxicated and delirious with passion and overstimulation. Your skull was hollow as an abyss. Nothing from you made sense.

He parted away before gripping back onto your hips harshly and faster, causing you to purr. It was too much, but you sucked it up. His dick continued thrusting inside of you, but he was in shambles from also trying to chase his high. 

“Wanna get stuffed?” He grumbled. You could only nod, tongue lolling from side to side. “Get filled by my golden human cum.” You nodded needier. “Are you worthy of it? Are you worthy of me?”

You thought you said yes but gibberish came out instead. But it was his cue to finally cum too.

His head dropped to the crevice of your neck. He pumped into you once more before stilling himself. He whined in your ear, calling your name like a mantra. His trembling abdomen squeezed hard and his grasp on you tensed as he shot out ropes and ropes of sticky white in your battered cunt. He painted your inside, your exhausted body taking in the warmth.

Your eyes glowed scarlet again, absorbing his semen into your powers. Jungkook felt a slight tingle when you unknowingly took particles of his life force again, but he was used to it by now. It was going to come back to him anyways.

He delicately removed himself from you, but you still wailed. He peppered light kisses on your shoulder to ease you. He sat up, seeing how fucked out you looked with his cum spilling out of your wheezing hole. You looked so gorgeous like this and it was all because of him. Not Seokjin. Fucking him.

Fuck, Seokjin.

He didn’t want his cum to go to waste so he scooped the excess from the sheets and pushed it back into you. You let out a long moan, trying to push away his hand but you were too tired to. Once he was satisfied, he lay beside you, gazing at your blushing expression. You were panting heavily, as usual, never going to catch up with his energy. But you were so beautiful, it pained him. 

You turned your head, drooping eyes saw the sparkles in his. He was utterly out of this world. A star shining above the rest, yet he was next to you and you wouldn’t change it anywhere even if you were realms apart.

Your shaking hand engulfed his cheek, your thumb rubbing his sweaty skin. You closed your eyes and moved towards him to close the gap, but you suddenly felt him pull away. Your eyelids snapped open when you saw him staggering out of bed.

“I-I-I have to get out of here.” He announced, rushingly scanning the room for his clothes. He had to leave now or else he was never backing out.

Though you were in a disoriented daze from post-coital, him saying he had to leave triggered your senses. You jolted up, watching him collect his garments. You never saw him this frazzled or in a hurry before. Every time you had sex, he enjoyed cuddling with you or keeping you in his arms. You were baffled and actually peeved off he was acting like this and he wasn’t telling you why.

“Koo, what’s going on?” You questioned, but you grimaced at how groggy your voice was.

“Don’t you fucking Koo me!” He swore at you. Though Jungkook was vile in bed, he was never like that outside of it. This complete 185 frightened and sorrowed you. “You know what you fucking did.”

“No, I don’t.” You informed but it sounded like a question because you didn’t know what you did. Damn, did you fuck up on dinner or something? “Jungkook, why are you so heated? Right now, in bed, more heated than usual.”

His glare on you softened when he realized the dim-wittedness lurking in your pupils. Not a damn thing in you figured out what was going on. You still knew nothing. “Forget it. It’s nothing but I have to—”

"Okay, even I know that's a straight-up lie." You interrupted him, not buying anything he was saying. You wanted to understand his reasoning. He looked so angry and frustrated. Yet you weren’t, so you wanted to calm him down and be mindful of whatever you did to make him this upset. "Talk to me. I've been easygoing, haven't I?"

"No."

"What do you mean?" You pouted cutely, and it only angered him even more.

"You're so frustrating!" Jungkook groaned, then paced around the room with his flaccid dick swinging around like a pendulum. "You really have no sense of what's going on, do you?”

Okay, that offended you. You gasped, “Now you're sounding like Seokjin—“

"Oh, Seokjin now? Wow, me sounding like him. Pfft, you might as well go to him instead of getting someone like him."

“I am confusion!”

"You're confused? You're confusing me!!"

"Jungkook, what the fuck is going on? Be clear with me!” You probed for the last time, losing your unwavering patience. You stood up wobbly from the ruined mattress. Though your legs were practically falling apart, you stood your ground. “Do human men also have periods?"

He paused his steps and pivoted towards you. He encircled an arm around your stature, chests pressing each other. He kept your balance when he picked you up and rested his forehead on your shoulder. He needed to say it before he was free from you. "I love you, ___."

Your jaw dropped, stunning you with his confession. Sadly, for the both of you, you don’t react well so you said, ”Uhhh, excuse me?? What the actual fuck?"

He chuckled but there was so much sadness to it. He knew it was too good to be true. He lifted his head, then touched your forehead with his, smelling his warm garlic bread breath (when did he have garlic bread?), and graze your nose. "I said I love you…and I'm embarrassed and miserable because you're with Seokjin."

You morphed a face of horror when he revealed that. “Huh? I’m not with Seokjin. Fuck that!" Never in your whole life would ever think to be with that conniving, irritating, egotistical, yet handsome incubus. You never had a level of attraction to Seokjin as opposed to Jungkook. 

Now Jungkook grew more puzzled. “Then what the fuck is he to you?"

"He's my mentor!! He guides me through and is in charge of my training. As a mentor, he is with me for all eternity!” You explained.“He's the one who wanted to meet with you. I thought I made that clear!"

"No, you didn't!"

"Oh."

You were flabbergasted, you assumed you told him everything about Seokjin. But when you thought about it a little longer, it seemed your explanations were empty and filled with avoidance. In your defense, you never wanted to think about your mentor, especially when you were with Jungkook.

“Yeah, he's touchy and affectionate with you, even calling you pet names. I assumed you were with him before meeting him too.” Jungkook was distraught, reminiscing about today’s incident in his mind. The way Seokjin held you, and talked to you, it all seemed so real. “Like why else did he kiss you and call you his play toy?”

"Because I like to fuck around!" Seokjin burst through the door unapologetically into the sexed-up scented room, hearing everything that was done and said. You both flinched from the sound, spotting the incubus appearing amused. At first response, Jungkook was quick to protect your body from being shown to another. You weren’t as alarmed. Seokjin saw you naked before due to a physical examination. You glanced blankly at your nosy mentor. "She’s my play toy as in I like to play around and mentally scar her.” Your mentor’s eyes wandered around the mess before landing on Jungkook’s bare ass. “I knew you loved her! Even the higher-ups could see it! You were just being stubborn and ___’s a fucking dumbass to see it!"

“So…Jungkook loves me?” You finally recognized his feelings towards you.

“Did he or I just fucking say that, you dipshit?” Seokjin complained, shaking his head at you.

"But you don't love me either way," Jungkook muttered, peering down at your toes.

"Who said I didn't love you?" You fussed rhetorically. You thought you pointed out your feelings towards him well. "That has to be clear!"

"No, you are immune to my affection. What the fuck?"

“This is spicy.” Seokjin’s commentary was made aware when you leered at him.

“Can you leave us alone?” You yelled. It wasn’t even a question. He needed to leave now.

“Fine, I’ll be right outside by the door.” Seokjin huffed before exiting the broken door and frame. Though he closed it completely shut, the entire door fell, breaking into shattered chunks of wood and leaving the incubus to hear anything you both said. 

"No, I'm sorry! I do love you!" You confessed, taking his large hands into yours. “I’ve always loved you!”

“Finally, fuck!” Seokjin cheered.

Jungkook’s pupils dilated. His heart palpitated faster at your declaration. Was he dreaming? “Stop, no. Really?" You nodded, smiling at his disbelief. “B-but how? You're a demon! I'm a human!"

"So? I love beyond what I am." You simply shrugged before resting your chin on his pectorals, your neck extended to see his face. "I'm also not the first succubus to love a human. Why else did I keep coming back to you?"

"For sex? To help with your training?"

"Well, yes…” He did say something matter-of-factly, so you couldn’t help but agree. But it made him deflate, and you realize it right away. “But also I love being with you because I'm in love with you, Koo!" You tried mending the damage. “I think I can remember my horns twitching during sex. If you thought of something you may like or want on me, I can automatically change it! That only happens when a succubus is in love!” You started saying all kinds of things that were truthful and how much you loved him. “I love spending time with you, I love your kisses, I love your cuddles, I love when you get nasty, and you have very nice penmanship too!”

Your continuous list made his inside warm and flutter like butterflies. He loved every bit of it. He finally glowed brightly with that bunny smile you adored. 

He clutched an arm over your waist before bending you backward and dipping down. “I’m in love with you too." Your noses touched and your lips were only centimeters away. "You've changed me. I don't know if it's because of your powers, or your charm, or your fucking obsession with granola, but I can't think of and refuse to be with anyone else but you, my beloved angel."

“Then please love me, Jungkook?” You asked oh so sweetly and lovingly, curling your lips with the bats you were getting in your tummy.

“Baby, that shouldn’t even be a question. I’ll always love you.” He chuckled before meshing your lips perfectly together. A kiss that was filled with so much love and devotion, neither of you wanted to let go. You were both fucking dumbasses who were in love with each other but had miscommunication to thicken the damn plot.

Fuck you, writer.

Jungkook pecked little kisses on your lips, cheeks, and forehead, making you giggle. He then pulled back and placed you back on your feet. “But you must take responsibility for turning me into a loser who giggles at your short text messages."

"That I will!" You jumped and clapped, beginning to float into the air. Your wings and tail danced happily. “I’m glad to have had you as my first task!" You smooched Jungkook’s cheek, hugging his muscular form.

"You were bitching at me about him!" Seokjin came back into the room with his arms folded into his chest.

Not bothered by your mentor’s interruptions, you rolled your eyes and whined, ”That was beforehand! I didn't know him!"

"Yeah, whatever. So are you all good and together I assume?" Seokjin grinned with the “okay” sign before reaching Jungkook’s attention. "Don't worry, human. She was never my type—whiny and a pain in my gorgeous ass."

"Hey!" You fretted.

Jungkook focused on the sex demon. Maybe Seokjin wasn’t all bad. Though he did it in a fucked up way, the human comprehended how much Seokjin did care for you and he assumed himself too since your mentor helped your relationship finally blossom. He just didn’t like saying how much he cared outwardly. “We're good! Thank you, Seokjin. Sorry for punching you.”

“It’s fine. I felt like I was in a drama and I was the antagonist though I like to consider the anti-hero in this fanfic.” Seokjin glanced at the reader through the screen. You and Jungkook stared at one another, not sure what Seokjin peeked at. "Well, anyways, everything will be fine. I’ll send a positive report to the higher-ups. But Jungkook, you must be okay with helping ___ with her tasks. Some are more far-fetched than others."

"It should be fine with me. We've been experimenting plenty in our love life." He glimpsed at you rubbing your cheek onto his chest, even inhaling his musk. He kissed the top of your head with satisfaction.

Seokjin hummed in response, knowing what he would say may be bad news to the human “However, I did notice the uncompleted tasks that require a bit…more."

"Like what?"

"A threesome, and considering your jealous dick, you wouldn't like that." The incubus informed, making Jungkook’s smile fade.

You halted your cheek rubbing to stare at your official boyfriend miserable at the discovery. “Jungkook, please! I need this for my training." You begged, intertwining your hands together in front of you. "It won't mean anything, I swear!"

Though he understood it was part of your school, he was still wary. ”Does it have to be human?"

"Not necessarily. Just more of a being." Seokjin answered, watching the situation go slightly bad for the human. "But at least one of you has to be a human, which is you."

“Fine.” Jungkook sighed, pessimistically giving in. But your animated cheers put the grin back on him. “So I'm not letting any of my frat brothers near you like that. Do you have any potentials, my love?

"Hmmm, not really.” You replied, tippy-toeing to kiss his cheek. “Many demons try not to perform sexual activities with each other—wait! I do know one!"

"Who is it?" Your boyfriend cocked an eyebrow.

"He's a warlock from Wennale, the witch realm! He goes by Taehyung!"

"Ahh, yes. Taehyung! Gotta love him, so nice and real talker." Seokjin had a hand over his demon hard with the cheesiest yet wicked grin plastered over his beautiful damn face. "Saw him a few times with little one. Real deal if you ask me.“ He directed it towards Jungkook.

"I'm sorry, what?" Your boyfriend asked monotonously.

"It was nothing serious!” You waved it off. “He did take my virginity, what humans call it, and we did see each other a few more after it. He was sweet, called me pretty, gave me flowers, even tied me up and fu—“

"NOPE! I WILL NOT LET YOU NEAR THAT FUCKING GUY."

A/N: The end…for now. AHAHAHA JK PLS that’s it for the couple as an actual fic. Maybe Drabbles who knows. But thank you for reading <3 Also yes, they were talking to seokjin naked ;-;

All rights reserved for ©️ icedmatchatae 2022 (｡●́‿●̀｡)

---

「✦」 oh, how i adore you

joshua x dokyeom, non-idols, fluff, angst, humour, mutual pining, friends to lovers, inspired by the song 'jump then fall' by taylor swift

total word count: 22.2k+

warnings: adults drinking alcohol near the beginning, seokmin is scared of heights? but hes good at dealing w it, overuse of "shua hyung"s bc seokmin is a Simp, kissing

summary: "and joshua... well, joshua had realised something. seokmin's laugh was, without a doubt, one of the best sounds that he had ever heard." - in which joshua never really realised that he'd fall for seokmin, but always has and always will do anything for him. and perhaps that should have been his first sign that he'd well and truly fallen for seokmin a long, long time ago.

notes: it's here!! vv heavily inspired by that one lyric in ms. swift's song that goes "without a warning/i realise your laugh is the best sound i have ever heard" bc it's just sooo seoksoo coded. pls b kind to the fic bc it actually took me forever to write lmaoo and enjoy ^^

The day Joshua fell in love with Seokmin started out like any other.

Well, no. That was a lie. But with friends like Joshua’s, it was impossible for any day to be classed as ‘ordinary’. 

On the day he fell in love with Seokmin, he woke up to someone poking him in the shoulder.

Which was weird, because Joshua lived by himself, and his first thought was that it was some intruder coming to murder him as he slept. He couldn’t find it within him to be scared about that, though, still in a mostly-asleep state as the bony finger continued to poke him incessantly right in the shoulder bone.

He was too tired to be dealing with this. Trying to bury his face into his pillow, Joshua reasoned that if someone was trying to murder him, then it was highly unlikely that they’d want to wake him up first, right? 

Either that, or they were an incredibly polite murderer.

“Shua hyung,” the polite murderer whined, and Joshua groaned as the familiar voice finally registered in his ears.

With a heavy sigh, because he now knew exactly who this intruder was, he let himself be manhandled up into a more upright position, propped against his headboard. His eyes were still shut, refusing to accept this disturbance to his sleep.

“Shua hyung,” the person said again, and Joshua could hear the bright amusement in his tone. “Shua hyung, it’s gone 10 in the morning. You promised me cookies.”

Defeated, Joshua blinked slowly as his shoulders were shaken back and forth, making his head loll drowsily like a doll. He squinted blearily.

“Good morning to you too, Seokmin.”

Seokmin beamed again, wide and happy as if he hadn’t just forcibly woken his hyung up and was now shaking him around like a baby rattle. He was practically sitting in Joshua’s lap, having clambered over him in order to shake his shoulders, and Joshua really was beginning to feel like nothing more than a toy doll at this point. 

“Good morning, hyung!” Seokmin chirped, and sat back on Joshua’s knees, making the elder let out a small ‘oof’ at the sudden weight. “Now hurry up, you said you’d bake me cookies.”

Joshua sighed yet again. He really needed new friends.

───────────── ‘✦,

Joshua had met Lee Seokmin for the first time during his third year of university. It had been an odd encounter, but it had been an encounter brought on by one Yoon Jeonghan and so, when Joshua thought about it, by that man’s standards it hadn’t really been all that odd in the slightest.

“Joshuji,” Jeonghan had declared one afternoon, opening the door and flouncing through the small dorm into their kitchen, dragging a tall boy by his oversized hoodie sleeve behind him. “Meet the first-year that I’ve collected this year.”

Joshua, who had been peacefully sipping his fifth coffee of the day, didn’t even bat an eye at Jeonghan’s declaration. “Another one?”

Even in the present, Joshua could very truthfully admit that Jeonghan had been the sole reason he’d decided to carry on going to uni in Korea and not turn on his heel and return to the States three months after the first day. 

It was because Jeonghan had had this… thing, where he liked ‘collecting’ first-years in their literature department who he wanted to take under his wing. During their first year at uni, he’d latched onto Joshua, who’d been a confused Korean-American student that Jeonghan had, for some reason, taken an immense liking to. Their second year, it had been Lee Jihoon, prickly and snappish but who had a hyper boyfriend who Jihoon stared at with hearts in his eyes.

It was a weird, almost mother hen-like act from Jeonghan, but it was a sweet habit, and Joshua had long since given up questioning anything that he did. 

And so, a little absently, Joshua had turned to look over at Jeonghan’s newest adoptee, a polite smile on his face, before promptly freezing.

“Meet Lee Seokmin,” Jeonghan had said, proudly, like a mother introducing her favourite son. “Isn’t he just the cutest?”

Joshua blinked rapidly, because goodness, Lee Seokmin really was cute.

He was biting his lips nervously, tugging at the sleeves of his hoodie before Joshua finally made eye contact with him, and his eyes rounded as if surprised that Joshua had looked his way.

And then Seokmin waved, before ducking his head, as if attempting to (unsuccessfully) hide behind Jeonghan’s much shorter form. The action was so startingly cute that Joshua couldn’t help the genuine smile that tugged at his lips, giving a small wave back even if Seokmin looked too busy avoiding his gaze to see it.

“Hello,” Joshua said, and awfully, his voice managed to crack on that single word. Jeonghan stifled a snort. In an attempt to cover the awkwardness, Joshua apparently decided it was best to do something even more awkward, and stuck his hand out in Seokmin’s direction. “I’m Joshua Hong. Or, Hong Jisoo. You can call me whatever’s easiest.”

Seokmin had stared down at his hand for several seconds, confused, and Joshua wanted nothing more than to turn back time and restart this entire interaction because really, how much more embarrassing could this get?

Before he could retract his hand, trying to forget the handshake and hopefully forget the new layer of awkwardness, Seokmin leaned over and grasped Joshua’s hand, strands of hair falling into his eyes as he looked up at Joshua, eyes startlingly warm and earnest.

His hair was awfully fluffy, Joshua realised suddenly. And he had big eyes.

He looked like a large, adorable puppy, if adorable puppies were tall uni students who drowned themselves in oversized hoodies.

Seokmin’s cheeks were rather flushed as he shook Joshua’s hand, eyes wide. He had a brief thought that maybe Jeonghan had chased him around their apartment block until he finally reached their floor.

Jeonghan did that sometimes.

And then Seokmin smiled, so brightly that it was like a blinding beam of sunlight, his earlier perceived shyness completely forgotten as he released Joshua’s hand and instead lunged forward to engulf the elder in a hug.

“Hello!” Seokmin chirped, arms still wrapped around Joshua’s shoulders, and when he pulled away, he was still smiling so widely that Joshua felt a little dazed. “It’s nice to meet you, Jeonghan hyung’s told me a lot about you. I like your eyes! Can I call you Shua hyung?”

Joshua blinked rapidly, surprised by the sudden and random bout of chatter coming from the boy, but Seokmin’s eyes were lit up with that white gold light and he was so cute that Joshua couldn’t be anything but endeared.

“Sure,” he said amusedly, and marvelled internally at how Seokmin’s eyes crinkled and he seemed to vibrate happily on the spot. “You can call me Shua hyung.”

Seokmin let out a small laugh, delighted. “Shua hyung!” he cried, and then launched himself into Joshua’s arms again, pulling him in for another hug as the elder stumbled back, arms wrapped securely around Seokmin for balance.

Jeonghan had met Joshua’s eyes over Seokmin’s shoulders, face set in a curiously indecipherable expression. When Joshua furrowed his brows, he just grinned, nodding proudly. “Seems like I chose my first-year very well.”

And, well, Joshua couldn’t say anything at that, because Seokmin still had his face buried in his shoulder and he was just so warm and friendly and also because—

Because Jeonghan might have been the tiniest bit correct.

───────────── ‘✦,

Five years later, however, as the Joshua of the present tried to stop Seokmin from drowning his cookie batter in sugar, he wondered whether Jeonghan had, instead, been very, very incorrect.

“Hyung,” Seokmin complained, when Joshua forcibly wrestled the bag of sugar out of his hands. “Hey, Shua hyung, let me help! I wanna help!”

“You can help by staying away from my poor cookies,” Joshua said firmly. 

When Seokmin wilted pathetically, bottom lip jutting out in a pout, he just poked him in the cheek as he set the sugar far out of Seokmin’s reach. 

“Put the pout away, Min-ah,” he said, using the affectionate nickname that always managed to make Seokmin melt and eventually agree with whatever Joshua said. ““Remember the last time I let you do what you wanted with my cookies?”

Seokmin hung his head. “I almost gave everyone food poisoning,” he muttered miserably.

“You almost gave everyone food poisoning,” Joshua agreed. “Besides, you barged into my house at 10 in the morning to demand that I make you cookies. At least let me actually make them, you know?”

Seokmin rolled his eyes, leaning against the counter as he watched Joshua pick up his wooden spoon and continue mixing the batter. “I didn’t barge in. You gave me the passcode.”

“For emergencies.”

“This was an emergency.”

Joshua shook his head. “Whatever you say, Seokmin. Whatever you say.”

“I do say!” Seokmin said, nodding vigorously. “You promised, hyung. And it’s very important that you keep your promises.”

“Because you always keep yours?”

“I do!”

“Then why haven’t you paid me back for all those times I paid for your food back in uni, hm? When you somehow forgot your wallet while going out for dinner with us?”

Seokmin opened his mouth wordlessly, frowning as Joshua chuckled at him. “Hey,” he said finally. “Don’t bring up my dark past like that.”

Joshua laughed properly, and Seokmin’s face brightened into a smile, as if an automatic response to the sound of someone’s happiness. It was kind of cute, and had Joshua laughing again, leaning over and pinching Seokmin’s cheek with a sticky hand.

“Look at you. You’re like an adorable puppy,” he said, grinning at the residue of sticky dough smeared against Seokmin’s cheek when he pulled away.

“Thanks, hyung,” Seokmin chirped. “So does that mean you’ll allow me to help?”

“No,” Joshua said bluntly, heart squeezing with something warm when Seokmin dramatically made a show of looking disappointed. He leaned over and pinched Seokmin’s other cheek, smearing more cookie dough on his skin. “Just sit there and look pretty while I bake them for you.”

Seokmin grinned, all blinding light. “You think I’m pretty?”

Joshua hummed. “Sure. Not when you have cookie dough on both your cheeks, though.”

“Hyung! You—”

Seokmin huffed, rubbing his cheeks and turning his nose up annoyedly at Joshua, before Joshua offered him a cookie dough-covered spoon not seconds later, and he instantly opened his mouth to obediently lick at it. 

“You really are a puppy, huh?” Joshua shook his head, smiling, and turned back to the mixing bowl. “There. Now shh. Eat that and let me finish your oh-so important cookies.”

Was it kind of weird that Seokmin had barged into his apartment because he wanted cookies? Well, yeah, but that was the kind of friend that Seokmin was. And Joshua was the kind of friend to let him.

If Joshua thought really hard about it, there wasn’t actually any real reason for him to be making Seokmin cookies at all, though. 

There was no special event coming up soon, no celebration or holiday or any reason why Seokmin couldn’t make the cookies himself (save for the fact that he may accidentally leave someone horribly incapacitated in the process).

But last night, Joshua had spent several hours on the phone to Seokmin—something which had somehow become a weekly thing for the two of them, which worried Joshua a little but only if he thought about it for too long—and inexplicably, their conversation had turned to cookies. Seokmin had whined that his favourite strawberry and chocolate chip cookies were no longer being stocked in stores, and before Joshua knew it, he’d promised to bake Seokmin those cookies as soon as he could.

Honestly, the things he did for Seokmin.

Joshua looked over at Seokmin again, who had somehow managed to hop up onto his kitchen counter and was now swinging his legs like a little child, chattering mindlessly while watching Joshua make his cookies for him, and he couldn’t hide the exasperatedly endeared smile that tugged at his lips.

Joshua was always doing things for Seokmin, really. He should start making the guy pay for his services.

Probably.

Seokmin made a delighted noise when Joshua scooped him another spoonful of cookie dough to eat, and Joshua tried not to think too much about why Seokmin’s joy made him feel light too.

“There we go,” Joshua announced, setting down a plate of still-warm, home baked strawberry and chocolate chip cookies onto the table, along with a glass of milk. “Your cookies. Now eat.”

Seokmin lit up, and positively beamed up at Joshua, clasping his hands together. “Oh, wow. They look so good.”

Joshua smiled, pulling up another chair and collapsing into it. “Yeah?”

He watched as Seokmin stuffed a cookie into his mouth, eyes instantly widening as he began nodding his head vigorously.

“The best,” Seokmin said honestly, words muffled, and there was a pink stain of strawberry on the corner of his mouth already. “Shua hyung, how are you always so good at baking?”

Joshua didn’t reply, and just watched Seokmin stuff his face with the cookie, laughing a little as the younger sincerely expressed his compliments, words garbled and unintelligible, and smiled and told him to chew his food properly.

For all of their bickering and teasing whenever the two of them interacted, Seokmin was a soft person at heart, sincere compliments spilling from his lips as easy as daylight.

Speaking of daylight, however, the morning had well and truly come and gone, the early afternoon sun spilling through Joshua’s windows and reminding him that Seokmin had been in his apartment for a good five hours now. He ought to kick the man out soon.

“You’re going to choke yourself if you keep shoving them in your face like that,” Joshua said, nudging the glass of milk closer to Seokmin. “Take your time, the cookies aren’t going anywhere.”

“Yeah, and that’s the problem,” Seokmin replied, cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk as he sipped the milk. “These cookies need to be in my mouth. Right now.”

Joshua chuckled, leaning back in his chair as Seokmin finished off the last of the three cookies on the plate. The rest of the batch were sitting on the cooling rack, waiting to be put into a container for Seokmin to take home, of course. Joshua wasn’t going to go to all the effort of baking cookies if he was only going to make a few.

“Happy now?” he asked, smiling again when Seokmin nodded fervently, beaming, cookie crumbs around his mouth. Joshua shook his head in faux disbelief. “I can’t believe you forced me to make you those cookies.”

“It’s because I’m Shua hyung’s favourite,” Seokmin sing-songed, grinning cheekily. “I’m your most favourite friend in the entire world.”

“Wrong,” Joshua deadpanned. “That’s Jeonghan.”

“Just because Jeonghan hyung’s your best friend doesn’t mean he’s your favourite,” Seokmin said, and Joshua wanted to point out that it kind of did, but Seokmin was already carrying on. “Speaking of Jeonghan hyung though, don’t forget that he’s taking us all to a restaurant for dinner tonight.”

Joshua blinked, closing his mouth. “Really?”

Seokmin looked at him, head tilted, and then grinned. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

“No. Of course not.” Joshua stood up, taking the plate and empty glass and walking into the kitchen. “No I didn’t.”

Seokmin laughed, following Joshua into the kitchen and watching as he washed the crockery. “Oh, you definitely did!” he crowed delightedly, and it was such a Seokmin thing to be delighted by that it had Joshua smiling again, even as he tried to maintain a long-suffering frown. “Can’t believe you forgot all about it. Good thing I reminded you, huh? What would you do without me, Shua hyung?”

Seokmin sounded so endlessly smug, eyes shining for reasons that Joshua couldn’t quite fathom. The warm afternoon light from the windows spilled over his face and gave him a golden glow, and so Joshua finally broke, laughing and drying his hands before ruffling Seokmin’s hair, moving away from the sink and over to the rest of the cookies.

“I dunno. Die?” Joshua suggested, making Seokmin laugh suddenly at the answer.

“Maybe not that extreme,” he said. “You’d probably just miss the dinner that hyung planned to celebrate our friend group’s 2000 day anniversary. Which, actually, on second thoughts, probably would lead to your death,” he added thoughtfully.

Joshua smiled, beginning to deposit the cookies into a plastic container. “In which case, thank you for saving me from certain death, Seokmin.”

“You’re most welcome!” Seokmin said brightly, with a grin. “Do I get a cookie?”

That made Joshua chuckle, looking up from the container to raise his eyebrows at Seokmin. “This entire batch is yours, Seokmin. You can have as many as you like.” 

He placed the container into Seokmin’s hands, and then started walking out of the kitchen.

“Also, you have cookie crumbs all around your mouth.”

Seokmin’s loud whine of annoyance echoed throughout his apartment. “Hyung!”

───────────── ‘✦,

And so that was how Joshua’s morning had gone. Relatively uneventful and, truthfully, rather ordinary (well, as normal as a morning could be when you had Lee Seokmin for a best friend). So Joshua wasn’t truly expecting anything different during dinner that evening.

Their overexcited yells blurred together and echoed noisily throughout the BBQ restaurant, and Joshua laughed into his glass of water as half of the table shouted over each other for some reason or other.

They were getting a fair amount of concerned stares from the general public, which was understandable, because Soonyoung was vibrating like he was due to explode any minute and half of them weren’t even sitting in their chairs anymore, but this was how their dinners out together always went, so Joshua didn’t even bat an eye.

“I’m sure if you strap a jet pack onto the ostrich, then it could definitely fly,” Mingyu was insisting, and Seungkwan stared at him in utter disbelief.

“If you strap a jet pack onto a hippo then it could definitely fly!” Seungkwan screeched, and Wonwoo nodded vigorously in agreement. “Doesn’t mean that ostriches can fly!”

“It does!” Mingyu said, but his eye twitched as he talked. It was a sure sign that he knew he was basically talking nonsense, but Seungkwan looked far too irate to notice. “Flying is when stuff goes into the sky, right? I fully believe that a hippo can fly too.”

Wonwoo’s eye was twitching, too, and definitely not for the same reason that Mingyu’s was. “You think that hippos can fly.”

Mingyu grinned. “I do.”

“I support him!” Soonyoung cried out suddenly, and everyone exploded, eager to take part and voice their opinion.

Their conversation had long ago strayed from being in the realm of anything that made sense, and at the end of the long table that they were all eating at, Jeonghan was quite peacefully picking meat off of his barbeque grill, him and Seungcheol making pleasant conversation and ignoring the shouts coming from next to them.

Joshua shook his head. Typical Jeonghan behaviour.

Ducking his head to avoid Soonyoung’s flailing arms as the younger vehemently defended Mingyu’s (frankly very stupid) opinion, Joshua reached over the table for the bottle of soju, filling up his shot glass and knocking it back, observing his friends with a grin on his face.

So far, the dinner had been going incredibly normally. 

They’d taken part in drinking games, and Mingyu and Seokmin had made a show of cooking the meat for everyone, and the conversation had switched topics hilariously fast a span of fifteen times. 

And Joshua was having a great time. He’d been seated between Chan and Hansol, who were actually rather good people to be seated between, because Hansol ended up dozing off three hours into the dinner and Chan ended up disappearing to sit somewhere on the other side of the table, leaving Joshua in peace to observe and laugh at his friend’s antics.

He’d been doing what he always did at their friendaversary dinners: replace half his shots with water, watch his friends’ drunk arguments (and occasionally interject with one random statement to rile them all up again), and also eat as much beef as possible because, well. Jeonghan was paying. He may as well make the most of it.

Joshua listened to the shaking, booming voice of Wonwoo going “What do you mean you’ve never heard of a penguin before?”, and chuckled. 

Everything was indeed going very normally. 

“Shua hyung,” a voice said in his ear, one bony finger poking right into his shoulder blade before a cold hand pressed against the nape of his neck, making him yelp and turn around.

Seokmin grinned at him from Chan's previously-empty chair, eyes looking a little too bright to be wholly sober.

“Shua hyung,” he said again, his grin full of mischief. “Don’t look so excited to see me. Desperation isn’t a good look on anyone.”

Joshua just rolled his eyes, tweaking Seokmin’s ear for good measure. “As if I’d be excited to see you.” Seokmin pouted, and pressed his entire cold palm against Joshua’s cheek just to be mean. “Hey, don’t put your gremlin hands on me, you brat. Why are your fingers so cold, anyway?”

Seokmin shrugged, holding his hands up and looking at them like he’d never seen them before. “Guess they just get cold really easily.” He looked up, and his smile seemed to widen even further, holding his hands out to Joshua. “Warm them up for me?”

“Warm them up yourself,” Joshua said, but he was already reaching out for Seokmin’s hands, warming his fingers between his palms.

Seokmin just beamed, pleased, like he’d known that Joshua would immediately give him what he wanted. Hands still being held by Joshua, he turned back to the rest of their friends, observing them with bright eyes.

He grinned at something that Junhui said, and Joshua watched him, smiling a little. 

There was always just something about Seokmin’s happiness that made one feel happy too. Back when they first met, five years ago, it had been one of the things that had endeared Seokmin to Joshua in the first place.

Joshua looked back at the rest of their friends, listening as Soonyoung was yet again doing his terrifyingly accurate impression of Seungkwan. He smiled, but didn’t pay attention for long, because next to him, Seokmin slipped his hands out of his grip, clapping delightedly and then raised his hands to cover his mouth.

And then Seokmin laughed: loud, brightly, full of golden light as he tipped back in his chair before leaning forward, yelling encouragement to Soonyoung on the other end of the table.

He laughed again, and Joshua just—

Joshua just watched him. 

He was unable to tear his eyes away as Seokmin snorted inelegantly, bursting into fits of laughter and collapsing into Joshua’s shoulder, seemingly unable to hold himself up due to the force of his laughs.

All he could do was stare down fondly at Seokmin, giggling into him. Seokmin, whose eyes had crinkled so they were nothing more than overjoyed crescents, whose laughter was ringing in the air, and even the yells of their friends had become muffled in Joshua’s ears, his focus solely on Seokmin by his side and his bright, unabashed laugh.

Seungkwan said something then, and Seokmin looked up, eyes bright with mirth as he made to stand up. 

“Hey! Seungkwan!” Seokmin yelled, getting up from the chair and leaning on the table. “Look, you—”

And then he cut himself off, bursting into laughter as Soonyoung said something, arms waving in the air, and Seokmin hurried over to them before Seungkwan could get his hands around Soonyoung’s throat, still laughing the entire time. 

“Hey, let me go! Let me go after Soonyoung hyung! This guy deserves it for sure—”

Seokmin was waved off by Seungkwan, but he still kept a close distance, hovering over the younger with his face crinkled into a smile and seemingly unaware of how he'd left Joshua with his head in shambles on the other side of the table. 

And Joshua… well, Joshua had realised something.

Seokmin’s laugh was, without a doubt, one of the best sounds that Joshua had ever heard.

Which was a good thing, Joshua mused, watching Seokmin from across the table, watching him say something and then burst into laughter at his own words. Seokmin was a chronic smiler and chronic laugher, and could never be seen without his lips curling upwards at something or other, letting out at least a small snuffle of a laugh.

Joshua had heard Seokmin laugh hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Never before had he realised how good Seokmin’s laugh sounded, though. Or how good he looked when he laughed.

Happiness was a good look on Seokmin.

Sometimes, his laughter scrunched his face up hilariously, and sometimes, it turned into loud shrieks more than actual laughs. Even so, Joshua thought it was rather endearing, and still sounded like golden chimes in a spring breeze.

It would be incredibly easy to fall in love with a laugh like that.

Joshua froze, mind going blank as Seokmin tilted his head back, laughing and smiling widely, his golden laughter ringing in his ears. 

Oh.

Oh, no.

“Alright, you three, shut up,” Jeonghan finally interrupted, seemingly having had enough of their fighting. “You’re gonna give me a headache. And you’re going to wake poor Hansol up,” he added, gesturing to Hansol who was still sleeping in the chair next to Joshua.

Seungkwan whined immediately. “Hyung! Soonyoung hyung’s doing crazy stuff again!”

“So is Seungkwan!”

“I know,” Jeonghan said, “but you’re both being ridiculous. Sit down. Why don’t we play a nice, quiet game?”

“Or,” a voice said, “you can leave.”

One of the restaurant workers was frowning at them, and handed Jeonghan the bill. 

“In fact, please leave.”

Jeonghan blinked down at the bill in his hands, before his eyes widened and he made a slight distressed sound. “Who ordered this much beef?” He looked around, eyes wide. “Who ordered all of this?”

Seungcheol grabbed his arm before he could work himself up into a fit. “We’ll be on our way, thank you,” he said to the server, bowing. “Our apologies. Jeonghan, come on, you said you’d pay.”

“I’m not paying for all of this,” Jeonghan said stubbornly, even as Seungcheol pushed him towards the desk. “Cheol, split it with me. Look at this! This is crazy! I swear, when I find out who ordered three different cuts of wagyu beef I’m gonna—”

Their gathering split up rather quickly after that, though it did look like Wonwoo had a difficult time trying to drag an incredibly drunk Chan out of his seat. Joshua was rather grateful though, partly because he didn’t want to stick around if Jeonghan managed to catch a whiff of who’d ordered the most expensive meat on the menu, and partly because it would give him the chance to process the sudden realisation he’d just had.

Jihoon was putting very little effort into dragging Soonyoung away from Seungkwan, while Mingyu was bodily hauling the younger man out of the restaurant. The sight would have made Joshua laugh, only he was too occupied with gathering all of his own things and booking it out of the restaurant and back home as soon as possible.

“Shua hyung!”

A hand suddenly squeezed Joshua’s arm, making him whip his head upwards, almost knocking right into Seokmin’s chin as the younger leaned over him.

“Oh my g—Seokmin,” Joshua said, stepping back a little so they weren’t practically nose to nose. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Seokmin said, and then grinned. “Are you walking home, hyung?”

Joshua looked over at the counter, where Jeonghan seemed to still be arguing with Seungcheol about splitting the bill. “Probably,” he said. “It looks like those two’ll be arguing for a while. It’ll be, like, three in the morning by the time Cheol drops me back off if I wait for them to be done.”

Seokmin’s lips twisted, eyes round with concern. “You shouldn’t be walking home by yourself at this time of night, hyung.” His face lit up. “D’you wanna come with us instead? Myungho and Junhui hyung are driving me back home. I’m sure they could drop you off too.”

His first instinct was to say yes, of course and that would be great, but his heart was racing unusually fast in his chest, and looking at Seokmin’s bright, earnest eyes for even a second too long made Joshua feel all warm and melty inside, and considering the obscene amount of alcohol he’d consumed (even with his half-water scheme going on) it probably wasn’t a good idea to spend a whole car ride next to Seokmin.

“No thanks,” Joshua said, rather too hurriedly, and then looked down to adjust his shoulder bag, embarrassed at his own abrupt answer. “I mean—I don’t live that far away. I’ll be fine.”

Seokmin looked at him for a long moment, and he must have been more drunk than Joshua thought, because his eyes were coloured with a glittering expression that made him pause.

Seokmin looked almost disappointed.

And then he blinked, and the expression was gone, replaced with a slightly lopsided grin as he pulled Joshua in for a hug then instantly stepped away, wringing his hands together. “Well, goodnight then, Shua hyung,” Seokmin said. “I’ll see you?”

Joshua managed to dredge up his own smile, giving a small wave. “Yeah. See you, Min-ah.”

So Joshua bid him goodnight and the rest of them goodbye, and walked out of the restaurant, his heart thumping in his chest, Seokmin’s smile glowing in the back of his eyes.

And the knowledge that he was in love with Seokmin etched into his brain.

───────────── ‘✦,

Joshua and Seokmin’s friendship went something like this.

They teased, bickered, pinched each other’s elbows and pressed palms against faces. They doted, coddled, cared for each other and talked over the phone until the wee hours of the morning. Seokmin would whine for something, and Joshua would give it to him. Joshua wouldn’t even have to say a word, and Seokmin would be reaching out to hold him, in an instant knowing exactly what Joshua needed.

Seokmin was loud, almost obnoxiously so, but when Joshua went out seeking solace he went to Seokmin first, because Seokmin was always, always soft and comfortable for Joshua.

Joshua sat down on his couch and stirred the sugar into his coffee with a teaspoon, frowning down at it thoughtfully.

Jeonghan was Joshua’s best friend. The other half of his soul.

But even if Jeonghan was half of Joshua’s soul, then Seokmin was the soul that was made to fit with Joshua’s. Not an identical copy of his own, but something that melted and moulded into his edges, slotting together as if they’d been designed to fit into each other all long, like they were—

“Puzzle pieces,” Joshua said to himself, smiling a little fondly. Seokmin was terrible at puzzles. 

He couldn’t help but think of that one jigsaw puzzle that Jeonghan had bought Seokmin for his birthday, and the two of them had bickered for fifteen minutes straight on whether Seokmin would actually be able to complete it. Seokmin said that of course he could, and Joshua said he definitely could not.

(In the end, it turned out that Seokmin could not, but Joshua helped him finish it anyway.)

When Joshua pushed, Seokmin pulled.  Where Joshua was cat-like, easy grins and quick thoughts, Seokmin was puppy-like, bright and boundless energy and endless kindness. Seokmin could never say no to anyone, and while Joshua was getting a little better at it, he could still never say no to Seokmin.

A myriad of not-quite contradictions, of almost-opposites and nearly-differents. Of “Shua hyung?”s and “Yes Seokmin?”s and “Nothing, I just wanted to see if you were still listening to me”s.

Soulmates, but in the truest sense of the word—the person whose soul was meant to reside next to his.

Joshua set down the teaspoon, frowning thoughtfully. When he put it like that, it did sound an awful lot like they were in love. Perhaps he should’ve realised he’d fallen for Seokmin a lot sooner.

Because that was what it was, wasn’t it? Joshua had fallen for Seokmin, perhaps long, long ago, fallen for his entire being and everything he was.

And it took him listening to Seokmin’s laugh to finally realise.

His phone rang, then, a wonderful tune of Jeonghan screaming really loudly that the man had set as the custom ringtone for himself, and with a sigh, Joshua set down his coffee and picked up. 

“What do you want?” 

“Let’s go out.” 

“No thanks. I’m flattered, Han, but I don’t like you in that way.” 

“Idiot,” Jeonghan said, and Joshua chuckled. “Come on, let’s go for a walk down the river.” 

Joshua hummed, looking down at his coffee, tracing a finger over the rim of the mug. “What if I have plans? And what if I don’t want to go out?”

“Joshuji. If you were busy, you wouldn’t have picked up so fast,” Jeonghan said, tone patronising, like this was obvious. “It’s a very nice day for a walk today, you know. Also, Seungcheol’s coming. We all wanna go on a walk together, so join us.”

That made Joshua wrinkle his nose. “No thanks. I don’t have plans to be a third wheel today.”

There was a pause.

“I’ll ask Seokmin to come too.”

Joshua blinked, and then cursed his own heart for jumping hopefully at the mere mention of Seokmin’s name. “And why are you telling me that?”

“Just because,” Jeonghan said, and Joshua could almost picture his flippant shrug. “He said he hasn’t seen you in a week. Have you been avoiding him, hm?”

“No,” Joshua said, and then coughed. Jeonghan hummed sceptically at his words.

“Sure.”

“Why would I be avoiding him?” Joshua continued. “He can come invade my home whenever he wants. He’s done it before. I’m not avoiding him.”

Joshua was definitely avoiding him.

It had been a week since their friendaversary dinner, and Joshua hadn’t seen Seokmin once, too preoccupied with sitting on his couch, staring blankly at the wall and contemplating the fact that he was in love with Seokmin.

He couldn’t bring himself to see Seokmin, not just yet—not before he was sure that he wouldn’t do something utterly ridiculous when they next saw each other. He wasn’t keen on abruptly professing his love the moment he saw Seokmin’s face. Or ruffling his hair and kissing his cheeks and staring, wide-eyed and in awe as Seokmin did something painfully ordinary, like breathing or being alive or just smiling even remotely in Joshua’s direction.

Joshua blinked rapidly as suddenly, his thoughts conjured a vivid image of Seokmin beaming at him, his sunshine smile glowing prettily in his mind’s eye.

“Maybe Seokmin wants you to be the one to come and see him first,” Jeonghan suggested when Joshua didn’t say anything.

Joshua ignored him, dragging a hand down his face. “Why would you telling me that Seokmin’s coming change my answer, though?”

“Oh, it will,” Jeonghan said cheerfully. “I know things, Shuji. So come on out, we’ll meet at the front of Cheol’s house in fifteen minutes. See you.”

He hung up, then, leaving Joshua to stare down at the blinking contact, shaking his head and wondering whether Jeonghan actually knew something or if he was just being Jeonghan yet again. 

And then, he got up from the sofa and went to his room to get ready.

───────────── ‘✦,

Yoon Jeonghan, that little rat.

“Yoon Jeonghan, that little rat,” Joshua muttered, watching as Jeonghan walked away, arm slung over Seungcheol’s shoulders. It was a bit of a struggle, because Seungcheol was one broad guy, but Jeonghan managed.

Of course he did. He'd do anything to ensure the success of his schemes, and this was all part of his ploy to abandon Joshua with Seokmin.

Seokmin, who was pressed close to his side, as they both watched Jeonghan and Seungcheol walk away.

Seokmin, who just turned to Joshua with a bright smile, seemingly undeterred by Jeonghan’s horrific betrayal. 

“Well,” he chirped, eyes crinkling prettily, and suddenly Jeonghan’s betrayal didn’t feel so bad. “Guess we get to spend the rest of the afternoon as just the two of us!”

Indeed they did.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol had been with them for a total of forty five minutes before suddenly, an inescapable emergency emerged, one that urgently required both of them to rush home and leave Seokmin and Joshua alone. Not before insisting that they had to finish the walk together, of course.

Cursing Jeonghan inwardly, Joshua plastered a smile onto his face, a smile that softened into something a little more genuine as Seokmin continued beaming.

“Yeah. Seems like it’s just us.”

The gentle rushing sounds of the river seemed to gurgle in harmony with Seokmin as the younger resumed his chattering, the two of them continuing their leisurely strolling alongside the river.

It really was a nice day for a walk. Joshua hadn’t really had the chance to appreciate how pleasant everything was that day, too busy avoiding Seokmin and even trying to squish himself between Jeonghan and Seungcheol so that he didn’t have to talk to Seokmin for too long and stare into those pretty, pretty eyes.

But now Joshua had no choice but to walk with Seokmin and so, accepting his fate, he was able to look around and acknowledge that today truly was a nice day.

The sun shone brightly, glistening and glinting off of the waves of the river, off of the leaves of the trees, off of the sparkles in Seokmin’s eyes. There was a pleasant breeze, rustling the reeds and ruffling Seokmin’s hair and giving him an adorably windswept fringe that he kept brushing back with one, delicate finger. It was a nice day to look out at the picturesque river, at the general public going about their daily business, at Seokmin’s adorable eye crinkles as he animatedly told a story.

Okay. Maybe Joshua spent half the time staring at Seokmin’s face rather than doing anything else.

It was kind of unavoidable, however, given the way that Seokmin was comfortably pressed into his side, his hands warm as they tucked themselves into the crook of Joshua’s elbow, clinging to him in a way that Joshua, admittedly, thought was very adorable. And Seokmin kept talking, his voice bright and bubbly and every time he smiled, Joshua had no choice but to direct his full attention to Seokmin and Seokmin only.

“And I just watched them the entire time, seeing what they would do after they saw the seagull slip on the log and fall off. Because surely they’d try to go around the log, right? But then the ducks just—” Seokmin cut himself off, one hand coming up to muffle the laugh that escaped his lips, and Joshua found himself smiling too.

“The ducks did what?”

“They just waddled up to the log and one by one slipped off and landed into the water,” Seokmin laughed, and mimicked a duck’s waddle with his head before putting on a dramatically surprised face and pretending to fall into imaginary water.

It had Joshua laughing, endeared, steadying Seokmin as the younger stumbled into him. They really were walking quite close together.

This was the unfortunate thing about being friends with a Lee Seokmin for five years. The man developed a complete lack of understanding for something called ‘Joshua’s personal space’. 

It was a concept that didn’t exist. Not to him, not when they’d known each other for far too long after Jeonghan had introduced Joshua to him all those years ago. For Seokmin, it was totally natural to be practically walking together as one person with Joshua as they made their way down the riverbank. Totally normal for him to be leaning into Joshua most of the time, rather than actually standing on his own two feet.

Joshua wouldn’t normally have a problem with it. He was well aware of Seokmin’s clinginess, and would either respond by pushing him away or letting him do what he wanted, without thinking too much about it.

Now, though. Now things were different. 

Because he was in love with Seokmin, and that made everything a lot harder.

“Did you know that ducks are half-nocturnal?” Seokmin said abruptly, and Joshua blinked.

“I did not know that,” he said. “Why do you know that?”

Seokmin just shrugged casually, his shoulder bumping against Joshua’s. “Got bored,” he said. “Remember, like, a month ago, when you just kept talking about all your different cousins for an hour straight and you accused me of not listening to you?”

“I do. You started sulking.”

“Yeah!” Seokmin grinned, like it was no big deal. “Well, I lied to you, hyung. I wasn’t listening. I was searching up duck facts.”

“Wow.” Joshua stared at him. “You’d choose searching up duck facts over listening to your own hyung talk? I’m hurt, Seokmin. How could you?”

Seokmin only laughed, reaching out for Joshua when the elder dramatically ripped his arm away from his hold, beginning to speed-walk down the path away from him. It didn’t take long for Seokmin to catch up with him again, latching himself to his side once more, even when Joshua refused to look at him.

“Shua hyung, I didn’t mean it like that,” Seokmin whined, pouting. When Joshua didn’t react, he whined again. “Shua hyung! Hey, hey, pay attention to me.”

Joshua steadfastly avoided looking over at Seokmin. Part of it was to keep up the act of being mad at him, but part of it was because if he looked over at Seokmin at that moment, there was a good chance that Joshua would simply combust on the spot.

When Seokmin pouted like that with his huge, round puppy eyes and made those whining sounds in the back of his throat, it was so utterly endearing that it took everything in Joshua to not just fall to his knees right then and there. Seokmin was quite easily one of the most adorable people that Joshua knew, and what made matters worse was the fact that Seokmin didn’t really seem to know just how adorable he really was.

“Shua hyung,” Seokmin said again, very sadly, and Joshua finally looked at him. The moment they made eye contact, Seokmin’s entire being positively lit up, and Joshua had to look away again.

Goodness. It was so hard being in love.

“Alright, I forgive you,” Joshua said, before Seokmin could do something ridiculous like pout all pathetically and whine out a sad Shua hyung again.

“Cool!” Seokmin said instantly, beaming, the earlier sadness wiped from his expression like it never even existed in the first place. “That’s good, ‘cause you’re my favourite hyung, Shua hyung, so I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

Seokmin sounded like he was teasing, when he said it like that, but Joshua couldn’t be too sure. Thinking about it for too long made his head feel all dizzy.

Woah. This really wasn’t good.

While Joshua didn’t necessarily dislike being in love with Seokmin, because it was impossible to put the word ‘dislike’ and ‘Seokmin’ in the same sentence, it dawned on him now that it made it very hard to function normally around the younger man. It made him feel all melty and gooey inside whenever Seokmin so much as looked over at him, and when Seokmin smiled, Joshua could feel himself melt and could hardly even think straight for several seconds after.

But, well. Seokmin was grinning widely at him, tugging his arm to pull him along the path and saying there was normally a very nice lady selling roses on the riverbank and wouldn’t Shua hyung like a rose too?, and he was being just so very Seokmin that it made Joshua smile.

“Of course,” he said, chuckling, as Seokmin slipped his hand into his and they began jogging down the path. “Of course I’d love a rose. Only if you’re paying, though.”

───────────── ‘✦,

“I'm in love with Seokmin,” Joshua declared, loudly, the moment he opened the door to Jeonghan and Seungcheol’s shared apartment.

Seungcheol blinked at him from the hallway, a half-eaten slice of toast on the floor from where he’d dropped it in surprise at Joshua's sudden entrance.

“Um. Nice to know?” he said. “Took you long enough, though.”

Joshua blinked back at him. “Where’s Jeonghan? Why are you here?”

“Hey. I live here, you know,” Seungcheol pointed out, before bending down and picking up his slice of toast. He winced down at the crumbs. “Dang, that’s gonna bring in ants. Also, why are you here?” he asked, in Joshua’s direction. “And how did your date with Seokmin go?”

“It was not a—wait, if you knew I wasn’t in love with Seokmin yet, why did you set us up like that? How did you know I’d fall in love with him in the first place?”

“Because you’re you,” Jeonghan said, emerging from somewhere with a handheld vacuum cleaner in hand. He handed it to Seungcheol, who stared at him like he was some sort of holy saviour. “And because Seokmin’s Seokmin. It was bound to happen at some point.”

Joshua frowned. “That doesn't make sense.”

“Believe what you wanna believe,” Jeonghan said, shrugging. “Anyway, why did you barge into our apartment like this?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Joshua frowned again. “I hate you for abandoning us today at the river.”

“Hey, we were being helpful!” Jeonghan said, over the sound of Seungcheol noisily vacuuming up the crumbs. “Did you not have a good time? Seokmin even bought you a rose, it seems.”

“What?” Joshua looked down at the plastic-wrapped rose in his hands. He’d come straight from his walk with Seokmin to Jeonghan’s apartment, and he’d completely forgotten that he was still holding the rose. “How can you be so sure that Seokmin bought it for me? Maybe I bought it for myself.”

Jeonghan smiled, all-knowing. “This is Seokmin we’re talking about, Joshuji.”

“So?”

“So,” Jeonghan said, “you should come in. Or do you wanna stay by the doorway forever?”

Fifteen minutes later, Jeonghan had ushered him into the living room and seemed to be attempting to stuff Joshua with all the snacks in the world before he left.

Joshua sighed. “Come on, Jeonghan, why are you—”

Jeonghan simply shoved a lollipop into Joshua’s mouth, effectively shutting him up. “Shh. Let me do the talking, okay?”

“Hey, I’m the one who came to talk to you,” Joshua protested, taking the lollipop out only for Jeonghan to shove it back in again. “Why are you—What do you even have to say to me—”

“I have a lot of stuff to say to you,” Jeonghan said, and then his face abruptly morphed into a stern expression. “I am very displeased with your behaviour, Joshua-ssi.” He waved a finger in Joshua’s direction. “You haven’t been treating Seokmin well.”

Joshua choked on his lollipop. “What?”

“You’ve been avoiding him,” Jeonghan said, still in that stern tone. 

“Avoiding him? What do you mean?”

Jeonghan straightened, adjusting imaginary glasses and began listing off of his fingers. “First, you talked to Seokmin for a grand total of 7 minutes and 43 seconds during our friendaversary dinner the other week. Out of a five hour gathering? That’s terrible.”

“Were you timing us?”

“Next, you ignore him for a whole week. You don’t call him, nor do you reply to his texts, nor do you even text him first.”

“I never reply to anyone’s texts.”

“And then today,” Jeonghan declared, throwing his hands up like a grand climax, “you did everything in your power to avoid him entirely while we were all walking together. I’m terribly displeased with you, Joshua-ssi.”

Joshua raised a hand confusedly, the lollipop held in the other. “Okay, Jeonghan, what are you talking about? Why are you displeased?” he asked. “Also can we, uh, backtrack a bit? You didn’t fully acknowledge the… thing.” He reddened slightly. “The fact that I have, uh, feelings for… him.”

“Hm?” Jeonghan unwrapped a chocolate, offering it to Joshua before abruptly popping it into his own mouth. “Oh, I knew about that.”

Joshua’s eyes widened. “How?”

“That dinner, for starters,” Jeonghan said with his mouth full. He shook his head at Joshua’s surprise, the ‘you’re being weird right now’ tone clear in his voice. “Honestly, did you black out for the entire evening? You were watching Seokmin the entire time, Joshua. Seungcheol even has a video.”

“I do,” Seungcheol said, his voice appearing out of nowhere right over Joshua’s shoulder, making him jump.

“Oh my—Where did you come from?”

Seungcheol just grinned, whipping out his phone and showing Joshua the video.

And the video was… pretty incriminating. It was a little blurry, made ambiguous by the haze of smoke wafting from the meat and the frankly terrible cameraman-ship, but Joshua could recognise himself easily. 

He watched as video-Joshua sat back in his chair, glass in hand, and there were about five people standing up and yelling at each other on screen but video-Joshua’s gaze was unmistakably, undeniably fixed on Seokmin and Seokmin alone, eyes crinkling adoringly, smiling so ridiculously wide as Seokmin just continued talking, entirely oblivious.

Seokmin said something intelligible, words lost to the noise of the restaurant, but video-Joshua just smiled even wider, eyes turning into endeared crescents and Joshua could almost see the hearts emanating from his own gaze. 

“Huh,” he said weakly, once Seungcheol vanished after showing him the video. Like he was nothing more than a cameo in Jeonghan's entire interrogation, or something. “Well.”

Jeonghan nodded, smug. “Although, I did know even before that,” he added. “I predicted it from the moment you first met him. I wanted to show you the video, though, because it makes it pretty obvious.”

“The mome—you know what, I’m not going to ask,” Joshua said, and then sighed. “Alright, so you know. And you have nothing to say about it?”

“Other than the fact you should stop being mean to Seokmin?” Jeonghan shrugged, taking out another chocolate and eating it. “Nope. You guys would be great together.”

“What?” Decidedly ignoring that last statement, Joshua waved the lollipop he was still holding in Jeonghan’s direction, annoyed, and in answer, Jeonghan just shoved it back in his mouth again. “I’m not being mean to him. When am I ever mean to him?”

He took the lollipop out of his mouth again  and then set it down on the coffee table, ignoring the affronted noise Jeonghan made when the sticky sweet came into contact with the wood. 

This entire conversation was not going how Joshua thought it would. He’d expected at least some degree of surprise from Jeonghan, maybe even a little bit of comfort whilst Joshua had a small mental breakdown in front of him. He certainly hadn’t expected Jeonghan to somehow already know everything, even before Joshua knew. Nor had he expected to be scolded for how he’d dealt with his feelings.

“This past week! I just told you, Joshua-ssi,” Jeonghan said. 

“Can you stop calling me ‘Joshua-ssi’? It makes it sound like you’re mad at me.”

“I am mad at you,” Jeonghan responded, sniffing and turning his nose up. “Okay, but seriously, Seokmin thought that he’d done something wrong. He thought you were upset at him, which is exactly why I made you come out on that walk today.” He stabbed a finger in Joshua’s direction. “You, sir, are terrible at handling your feelings.”

Joshua sighed. “Can you blame me, though? Being in love is—is weird. Seokmin is just so…” He paused, wringing his hands. “He’s so sweet and kind and genuine and realising that you’ve fallen for someone like that is, I think, a very justifiable cause for having a breakdown for a week.”

Jeonghan frowned. “It makes it sound like you don’t think he’d like you back.”

“Of course he wouldn't,” Joshua said, like it was obvious. “He’s Seokmin, and I’m—” Joshua swallowed, a lump rising in his throat. “I’m just me.”

“Just you?”

“Look at it this way,” Joshua explained, since apparently Jeonghan didn’t understand this horribly simple concept of Joshua being literally a potato compared to Seokmin. “Seokmin is a star, a brilliantly shining ball of light. And then this is me.”

Joshua unwrapped one of the chocolates, holding up the brown ball. Jeonghan blinked at it, before taking both the wrapper and chocolate from him, popping the treat into his mouth.

“I still don’t get it,” Jeonghan said. “So what? Chocolate is yummy.”

“I like him too much to risk melting away under his Sun, if I get too close,” Joshua explained, and then shook his head. “Seriously, I like him so much, Jeonghan. Him and his smile and his laugh and that ridiculously loud voice of his…” He smiled slightly, and then sighed. “I like Seokmin far too much to risk even thinking about if he could like me back. It’d ruin our friendship.”

Jeonghan tilted his head. “Is it really that absurd to consider that Seokmin may like you back?”

Joshua thought of Seokmin and his golden smiles, his beautiful bright voice and his gentle hands and his warm presence, and swallowed.

“Yeah,” he said, a little hoarsely. “I think it is.”

There was a short silence then, as Jeonghan bit his lip, seeming to soften a little at Joshua’s answer, a complicated expression filling his eyes.

Then he leaned over and hit Joshua over the head with the chocolate wrapper.

“Hey!” Joshua protested, brushing at his hair. “Why did you do that?”

“Because you’re an idiot,” Jeonghan said matter-of-factly. “You think it’s absurd? I think you’re absurd, Joshuji.” Oh, good, at least he wasn’t calling Joshua ‘Joshua-ssi’ anymore. “You're being a coward. Don’t deny it, it’s true. Taking a whole week to process your feelings? Please. You were just hiding because you were scared.”

That made Joshua wince a little, because Jeonghan was, unfortunately, quite correct.

“Just take that leap,” Jeonghan said, gentler. He poked Joshua in the cheek affectionately. “Jump. Jump towards Seokmin, Joshuji, because I promise, he’ll be there for you. Even if he doesn’t feel the same. Which, I assure you, is highly unlikely.”

Joshua’s eyes melted, irises looking a little shiny. “But what if I jump and just… fall?”

“He’d never let that happen,” Jeonghan promised. “Jump and fall into him, Joshuji. He’s there to catch you.”

───────────── ‘✦,

It was only a few days later that Joshua realised Jeonghan had essentially told him to confess. Luckily for Joshua, though, there was no way on Earth that was happening.

“You’re an idiot,” Jeonghan said into his ear. “The biggest idiot I’ve ever met. Even more of an idiot than Mingyu, which is definitely saying something.”

“I’m not doing it, Jeonghan,” Joshua said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know why you thought that I would.”

“I gave you a whole emotional speech and everything! Of course I thought you would!”

Jeonghan had called him five minutes ago, asking if everything had been going well in regards to ‘The Business’, where it had been revealed that Joshua a) had no idea what ‘The Business’ was, and b) had not gone through with it at all.

“Listen, Joshua. Seokmin, he’s always talking ab—” Jeonghan cut himself off again with a frustrated groan. “I’m friends with idiots. All of you are idiots.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Please do it,” Jeonghan said, and now he sounded like he was begging. Joshua didn’t quite know why. It wasn’t like the world would end if he didn’t confess. “For my peace of mind, please confess.”

“For your peace of mind?” Joshua repeated. “What?”

“The weather looks pretty good next weekend,” Jeonghan added. “Seokmin hasn’t gone to the amusement park in a while. He’s always said he wanted to go on the ferris wheel, even though he’s scared of heights. And you know how much of a romantic at heart Seokmin is.”

Joshua frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You know why.” Jeonghan didn’t add anything further to that statement. “Anyway, I gotta go. See you. Make use of this info, okay?”

“What am I even meant to use it f—Jeonghan? Jeonghan?” Joshua looked down at his phone, where Jeonghan had abruptly hung up on him, mystified. He really wished sometimes that Jeonghan would do things that made sense.

He set down his phone, tilted his head back, and sighed. He was sighing an awful lot these days. He was just considering whether being in love could give you some sort of illness that caused excessive sighing when his phone rang again, but this time with a different ringtone: Seokmin’s ringtone.

Joshua had annoying and clingy friends who, apparently, really loved customising their ringtones on his phone.

“Hello, Seokmin,” Joshua said, unable to stop the small smile spreading across his face as the name left his lips. “How are you?”

“Good evening, Shua hyung,” Seokmin chirped, and he sounded so lovely and bright that the smile on Joshua's face widened a little. “I’m doing good! I was just calling because it’s a Friday, and we normally call on Fridays, so I was just—I wanted to call you.” He fumbled with his words, stumbling a bit before hurriedly adding, “Of course, if you’re busy, we don’t have to talk! Since, like, we didn’t call last week, if you don’t want to from now on then I totally respect your decision, you know?”

“No, it’s okay,” Joshua interrupted, before Seokmin could begin spiralling. “I mean. Yes. I’d like that. For us to continue calling, that is.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Yeah,” Joshua said, biting his lip to stop himself from smiling ridiculously wide to himself. “Yeah, really.”

“Oh,” Seokmin said again, after a flusteredly warm silence. He coughed a little. “Um, in which case, I’d really like that too.”

Joshua closed his eyes and leaned back, smiling into the phone and trying desperately to calm down his heart because goodness, it should be illegal for someone to make him feel this fluttery on the inside.

“So, anyway,” Seokmin said, and even Joshua could detect the smile in his voice, “I heard that it’s going to be really sunny for the next week or so! Seungkwan wants to plan a long weekend where we all go to the beach to make the most of the sun.”

“Does he really?” Joshua said, with a laugh. “Just because it’s sunny doesn’t mean it’ll be warm, though.”

“That’s exactly what I told him! But he’s still insisting we go,” Seokmin complained.

“What, all of us?”

“I think so. He’ll definitely drag me along, at the very least. Me and Soonyoung hyung and Hansol and Chan. Chan’s definitely going to ditch, though,” Seokmin said conspiratorially. “I think he’s gonna make up some pretend event that he accidentally double-booked himself with so that he doesn’t have to go.”

“Oh, really?” Joshua said with a laugh. “Seungkwan’s not gonna like that at all.”

Seokmin laughed too, bright and delighted, and if possible, Joshua’s smile widened. “He’s really not. I’m also really hoping he’s joking. Because otherwise, I might have to accidentally double-book myself too so I don’t have to go.”

“What would you double-book yourself with?”

“Hm, well…”

Joshua liked talking to Seokmin. Not only because he was in love with him (a fact he was slowly getting used to, having repeated the words so many times to himself) but because Seokmin was an incredibly fun person.

Without a doubt, every time they talked, Joshua would find himself laughing, either because of something he’d said or in response to Seokmin’s own laughter. 

And as Seokmin continued talking, little laughs escaping him whenever he thought of something particularly funny, Joshua listened intently, the smile still on his face. Seokmin really did have such a wonderful laugh, he thought, a little fondly. Beautiful, like golden bursts of light.

“Poor Hansol’s gonna get dragged into Seungkwan’s whole thing, though,” Seokmin was saying, and then laughed. “He's so whipped that he’ll literally do anything that he wants, no questions asked.”

Joshua chuckled. “That sounds like a very Hansol thing to do.” 

“Yeah,” Seokmin laughed, “So Seungkwan’s telling us to keep next weekend free. So of course, I’m gonna do my best to book up my entire weekend.”

Joshua chuckled, about to say something before blinking, Jeonghan’s weird information dump from earlier suddenly hitting him like a lightning bolt, as if someone had struck him on the head with it to remind him of Jeonghan’s words.

“Hey, Seokmin,” he said after a moment. “If you’re trying to book up your weekend, then do you want to go to the amusement park with me?”

A pause.

“Seokmin?”

“Sorry, sorry.” Seokmin sounded a little wheezy, like he’d run a marathon in those last three seconds of silence. “What did you say?”

“I was asking if you wanted to go to the amusement park with me,” Joshua repeated, trying to keep his voice steady and calm. If he started having a breakdown at that moment, there was a good chance that Seokmin would say no. Maybe. Probably. 

Another pause.

“Seokmin?”

“Yes,” Seokmin replied, the word leaving him as a rush of air. “Sorry, hyung, there was just—something. I had something in my, uh, ear. But yes. I’d love to go to the amusement park with you next week.”

Joshua breathed a silent sigh of relief, the beginnings of a smile making the corners of his lips twitch upwards. “You would?”

“Yeah, of course I would!” Seokmin said a little too quickly, and then coughed. “I mean. Yes. You’re my favourite, how could I not?”

That made Joshua laugh, certain that Seokmin was teasing, just like how they always teased each other. “You’re my favourite too,” he said back, smiling. “Okay, in which case, I’ll book the tickets and text you the details, okay? Would you prefer Saturday or Sunday?”

“Any. We can even go both days so I can avoid Seungkwan’s trip, if you’d like,” Seokmin offered, and Joshua laughed again.

“Got it. Well, I guess it’s a date,” he said, too delighted at the prospect of spending time with Seokmin like this to fully process the words until they had left his mouth.

To his surprise, however, Seokmin didn’t seem to freak out, or pause for a scarily long time that made Joshua rethink his entire life’s decisions.

Instead, Seokmin laughed: a sweet, melting sound, all delicate and tiny, like little stars.

“I guess it’s a date,” he agreed, almost shy. Joshua didn’t get to dwell on it for long, though, because Seokmin was already launching into the next conversation topic that popped into his head, rambling about some new training regiment thing that Mingyu recently dragged him into that left him with an aching body for days on end.

And Joshua listened, the smile dancing across his lips, the blush warm on his cheeks, realising that he’d finally accepted that he was in love with Seokmin, now, and he wanted only one thing.

To stay close, by Seokmin’s side, and jump and fall right into his arms.

───────────── ‘✦,

“So that’s how I ended up securing this date,” Joshua finished, and Jeonghan stared at him, eyes wide, mouth open.

“You actually did it,” he said, the surprise evident in his tone. “Wow. I thought you’d chicken out again.”

Joshua punched Jeonghan in the shoulder, giving the man a wry smile. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said dryly. “This isn’t even a real date, though. I don’t know why you insisted on coming to drop me off.”

The two of them were waiting outside the amusement park entrance, because Joshua had told Jeonghan that he’d booked the tickets for himself and Seokmin, and the man had instantly insisted that he’d drive Joshua there and hear all about how it had happened.

So here they were, chatting and standing around, waiting for Seokmin to arrive. 

Jeonghan shrugged. “I wanted to hear the story.”

“Of course you did,” Joshua said, not unkindly, a small smile raising the corners of his lips. “No but, also, I realised something, during that conversation.”

“What?”

“I had time to think it all over, right? And I was just thinking that I didn’t really want to run away from him,” Joshua explained. He smiled, his gaze distant. “I want to stay close to him. ‘Cause I really, really like him a lot.”

Jeonghan looked over at his best friend, noting the way his eyes had softened in the way they only did when he was thinking about Seokmin. He smiled to himself, before punching Joshua in the arm as payback, shaking the man out of his thoughts.

“Good,” Jeonghan said with a smile. “It’ll break Seokmin’s heart if you try to stay away from him.”

Joshua chuckled. “You’re saying that as if Seokmin has a crush on me.”

Jeonghan wiggled his eyebrows. “He might. Who knows? Maybe he’ll end up falling for your ridiculous charms today.”

Joshua laughed at that, properly, and then punched Jeonghan in the arm just because, prompting the two of them to get into a childish little punching fight. Eventually, Jeonghan conceded with a haughty sniff, as if he’d abruptly decided he was above such petty disputes.

Then he stuck his tongue out at Joshua, making him laugh.

“So, anyways,” Jeonghan said, simply carrying on with the previous conversation as if they’d never stopped, “remember. Seokmin likes the ferris wheel, so take him on it, will you? He might talk about it, but he’ll be too shy to offer to go on it, so you need to be the one who asks,” Jeonghan said.

“Why do I need to take him on the ferris wheel?”

“Because Seokmin wants it.”

“Oh.” Joshua thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. “Sure. I’ll do that. Anything else?”

Jeonghan hummed thoughtfully, before shrugging. “Nothing that you don’t know already. He loves the snacks. Buy the matching headbands if he so much as mentions them. Don’t go on any roller coasters unless he sounds like he wants to go on them. Make sure that you win him at least one plushie otherwise he’ll sulk for hours.”

Joshua smiled a little at that, because he really did know all of that already. “Got it. It’s a good thing I’m better than you at those fairground games, huh?”

He received another punch on the arm for that comment.

“Shua hyung!”

A bright, delighted voice made him look up, however, and when he finally pinpointed the voice, there was Seokmin, a brilliant beam on his face as he ran over to where Joshua and Jeonghan were standing, and Joshua’s heart positively swelled at the sight.

“Hi,” Seokmin said, a little breathless, when he finally came to a stop beside him. His eyes were shining. 

“Hi yourself,” Joshua said back, smiling. 

Seokmin beamed, before seeming to finally notice Jeonghan’s presence, looking over at the elder who was watching them with a slight smirk on his face. Almost imperceptibly, the smile on Seokmin’s face wavered.

“Oh, Jeonghan hyung. Are you, uh, joining us?” he asked. “Is it gonna be me, Shua hyung… and you?”

Jeonghan blinked, and then chuckled. “No, no. I just came to drop Joshua off, and make sure you arrived safely too. I wouldn’t want to impose on your date.” He patted Joshua on the shoulder, and then pinched Seokmin’s cheek, steadfastly ignoring the way both of them looked a little flushed. “Be safe, you two. Don’t stay out too late.”

“It’s an amusement park, not a club,” Seokmin laughed, and he eagerly waved Jeonghan off, already interlinking his arm with Joshua’s. “Bye, hyung! Drive safely!”

Joshua watched Jeonghan go, and had the pleasure of having a scarily intense conversation through eye contact with him, one that was mainly full of messages of Be good to him and You better take that leap today otherwise I’m coming after you before Joshua finally turned away.

Damn. Jeonghan really could be intimidating when he wanted to.

“Well,” Seokmin said brightly, making Joshua look over at him. He looked like he was glowing with excitement. “Shall we go in?”

His lips lifted upwards, a soft pink curve of happiness, and Joshua smiled too, using their linked arms to ever-so-subtly pull Seokmin just a little closer into his side.

───────────── ‘✦,

“Oh, hyung, look at that! Are those balloons? Are they selling balloons?”

Going to an amusement park with Seokmin, Joshua was quickly realising, was a lot like venturing into a sweet shop with an excitable child.

Chaotic.

Seokmin was a ball of energy, bouncing on his feet and vibrating by Joshua’s side the moment they entered. The golden-brown puppy ears of the headband he was wearing bobbed up and down with his movements as he dragged Joshua around the park by the hand, eagerly pointing towards the man selling large, obnoxious metallic balloons like they were the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Joshua just laughed, letting Seokmin pull him along, the ears of his own headband flopping against his head. He was wearing a headband too, because of course he was, because Seokmin had picked up the white bunny ears and claimed that they fit him so well, so who was Joshua to refuse?

They almost looked like a couple, with their adorable headbands. 

Thinking about it for too long made Joshua feel all squiggly and happy inside, though, so he tried not to think at all and instead let Seokmin do whatever he wanted.

“Can we buy one, Shua hyung? Please?” Seokmin asked, turning to Joshua with big, shining eyes, and really, it was like this entire day was trying to test whether Joshua really would never say no to Seokmin.

“Sure,” Joshua said, smiling when Seokmin’s eyes crinkled delightedly. “Which one do you want?”

Seokmin glowed. “That shiny strawberry one!”

And so, the rest of their date-not-date carried on. Joshua held onto the string of the strawberry balloon, following Seokmin around as the younger man bounced across the amusement park, hyped up on all the sugar that Joshua had been feeding him. Seokmin looked around the park with a child-like fascination, eyes big and round like he’d never been to an amusement park before, and it made Joshua laugh, endeared, offering Seokmin more candy floss and churros and letting Seokmin grab his wrist and pull him through the park.

“I haven’t been to an amusement park in ages,” Seokmin said to him when they were riding the carousel for the third time in a row. He leaned over to Joshua, bobbing up and down slowly on his horse, nudging the elder in the side with a grin. “Thank you for taking me here.”

“Of course,” Joshua replied, eyes crinkling, patting Seokmin on the back. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

Seokmin’s eyes sparkled. The flashy golden lights of the carousel made him look like he was glowing from an ethereal light within as he beamed widely.

“I’m having the best time,” Seokmin confirmed. “Way better than Seungkwan will, anyway.” Joshua tilted his head with a smile.

“Oh?”

“I bet the others are suffering right now,” Seokmin confided gleefully, as his horse gently rose up and down. “Seungkwan managed to beg Junhui hyung and Chan to come with him.”

“Wait. They really went to the beach?” Joshua asked, surprised. 

“Mhm!” Seokmin nodded. “Kwan didn’t let Chan double-book himself, and then he went all sulky on Junhui until hyung caved. And then Hansol’s with him too, because duh.”

Joshua chuckled a little at that. “I can’t believe he went through with it. Well, it certainly is sunny today, so maybe they’ll still have a good time?”

Seokmin laughed. “It’s going to be so cold along the coast,” he said, delighted. “They’re gonna freeze!”

His obvious joy at their friends’ misfortunes was rather adorable, and it had Joshua laughing properly, the squeaky carousel music and Seokmin’s laughter ringing in his ears.

After they’d ridden the carousel thrice, Seokmin took Joshua to the photobooths, and then went hunting for more snacks, adamant about avoiding all the rollercoasters with a determined pout on his face that Joshua, devastatingly, thought was terribly cute. 

Joshua was content to allow Seokmin to dictate whatever they did, paying close attention to the younger’s expressions, dutifully carrying around that strawberry balloon, buying snacks, watching a rip-off ‘Punch and Judy’ puppet show with him, and taking all the pictures for Seokmin whenever he wanted.

That was what they were doing right now, the balloon string tied around Joshua’s wrist so he could use both hands to take pictures of Seokmin with the giant shiba inu plushie that Joshua had just won him.

It had taken him a good half hour along with an obscene amount of money, and he’d almost given up countless times, but Seokmin was vibrating so hopefully by his side, so he’d carried on. Even when the guy manning the coconut shy stall looked at him like he was mad for putting so much effort into a silly fairground game, the look of utter joy on Seokmin’s face when Joshua handed the plushie to him more than made up for the struggle.

And it seemed that it was yet another item to add onto the list of ‘Ridiculous Things That Joshua Hong Would Do For Lee Seokmin’.

“Oh, wow, you look adorable,” Joshua said, amazed, as he looked through the photos he’d taken of Seokmin. “Look. The colours of your headband’s ears match the plushie, too.”

Seokmin leaned over, chin resting on his shoulder as he peered at the photos. “Oh, you’re right!” He laughed delightedly as Joshua handed the camera back to him. “Thank you so much, Shua hyung. These are so pretty.”

Joshua chuckled. You’re prettier, he wanted to say, but he swallowed the words down, smiling. 

“It’s ‘cause the plushie is so pretty,” he teased, laughing as Seokmin glared at him. “Why? Do you not like it? Should I take the plushie away?”

Seokmin danced out of Joshua’s reach as the elder made as if to take the toy out of his arms. “No! No, never! You gave it to me, so it’s mine now,” he said, incredibly seriously, squishing the plushie protectively against his chest. “No take-backsies.”

He glared in faux anger, and Joshua laughed, relenting, putting his hands up placatingly. “Okay, okay, I won’t. Are you gonna give the plushie a name?”

“Hmm.” Instantly, the glare melted from Seokmin’s face, replaced by a thoughtful look as he drifted closer to Joshua again, patting the head of the shiba inu, bumping shoulders with him as he did so. “I’m not sure.”

“How about ‘Mingyu’?” Joshua suggested, grinning, chuckling when Seokmin elbowed him in the side. 

“Never. He doesn’t get the honour of having the same name as something that Shua hyung won me,” Seokmin said, pursing his lips thoughtfully as he held the shiba inu up. “How about Seokmin Junior?”

Joshua wrinkled his nose at that, shaking his head. “No. That’s a terrible idea.” 

Seokmin pouted, and Joshua just pinched his cheek affectionately, still thinking. He crossed his arms, and the movement made the metallic balloon (still tied to his wrist) shift too, the floating, bubblegum-pink strawberry balloon bumping against the side of his head. He looked over at it thoughtfully as he swatted it away.

“How about,” he said after a moment, “How about ‘Berry’?”

“Berry?” Seokmin repeated, and then looked at the plushie contemplatively. “Berry the shiba inu.” He looked up at Joshua, grinning. “I love it! It can be Berry the shiba inu.”

Joshua smiled, endeared by Seokmin’s sheer happiness as the younger hugged the plushie tight, pressing a kiss to its soft forehead. And then, because he couldn’t help it, he reached over and ruffled Seokmin’s hair fondly, and began to lead them away from the coconut stall.

“Alright. Where do you wanna go next, Seokmin?”

───────────── ‘✦,

They ended up in the line for the spinning teacups ride.

It was well and truly the afternoon now. They had been there since late morning, and Joshua’s feet kind of hurt from the amount of walking and standing they’d been doing, and even Seokmin was beginning to look a little uncomfortable as he shifted from foot to foot.

Nevertheless, neither of them suggested going back home, and Joshua couldn’t help but feel a little touched at the notion that Seokmin wanted to spend time as just the two of them just as much as Joshua did.

So here they were, patiently waiting in line, because Seokmin had suddenly gotten an eager, shining look in his eyes and insisted that he wanted to ride the spinning teacups even when Joshua had told him that it might make him sick. But Seokmin had been adamant, so here they were, leaning against the railing and watching the people getting into the teacups.

“Remember when we all went to the amusement park a few summers ago?” Seokmin was asking. He was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, vibrating. “It was so hot that day, and half of the rides had been shut down for maintenance, but we made the most of it.”

Joshua smiled a little. It had been a fun outing. They didn’t go out with all thirteen of them often, because it was a huge group of people to manage, but whenever they did, they split up into smaller groups for most of the day. 

“You weren’t in our group, unfortunately,” Seokmin carried on, a smile spreading across his face as he reminisced, “but, oh, I really wish you had been! Myungho lost a game of rock, paper, scissors and had to be the one to go on this teacup ride with Jeonghan a total of seven times in a row. Seven!”

Joshua laughed as Seokmin animatedly recounted the event, his eyes round and earnest as he delightedly told Joshua all about how queasy Minghao had felt afterwards and how as karma, later on, Jeonghan ended up getting utterly soaked on the water boat ride.

Seokmin always recounted every story like it was the most important thing in the world, with a sincerity that was rather adorable, and Joshua would be lying if he denied paying attention to the gentle curl of Seokmin’s lips and the way they softened into the most endearing pout as he formed certain words. 

He had a very soft mouth, Joshua thought idly. Despite the amount of talking Seokmin did, Joshua thought he had very kissable lips.

It would probably ruin a thousand things if he leaned in and kissed Seokmin right then and there, unfortunately, but oh, how much Joshua really, really wanted to.

Stars in his eyes, he watched as Seokmin talked animatedly, seemingly oblivious to the way that Joshua's entire inner monologue was nothing more than a chant of “please kiss me please kiss me please kiss me” repeating over and over again. 

“So,” Seokmin finished, clasping his hands together, and Joshua finally zoned back into his ramblings. “I’m hoping our experience goes better, hyung!”

Joshua blinked, having heard the words that Seokmin was saying but only able to think of how utterly adorable he looked with his eyes shining like that. So as Seokmin beamed, bright and beautiful, he just smiled, reaching over and pinching Seokmin’s cheek, endeared.

“Of course,” Joshua said, and then winked cheesily. “Don’t worry. I’m here to protect you, Min-ah.”

Seokmin stared at him, his gaze coloured with playful disgust and another emotion that Joshua couldn’t quite name. He was about to say something else before the line finally started moving again, and it was at last their turn.

“Oh, hyung! Hyung, it’s finally us!” Seokmin exclaimed, delighted, the earlier emotion completely dissolving, replaced by giddy excitement. “Come on, we gotta go sit in the cup that spins the most!”

Seokmin dragged Joshua into the teacup that he claimed he’d seen spin the fastest, and after the brief safety introductions, the ride finally began.

“We have to spin it as hard as we can, okay,” Seokmin said, incredibly seriously. “Okay, hyung? Can you do that?”

“Of course. Can you?” Joshua teased, and Seokmin rolled his eyes. 

“Duh! Hey, move over, you're taking up so much room on the wheel. Why are your hands so big?”

“As if you don't have huge hands too, Seokmin-ah—”

They bickered over having enough space on the wheel to spin it properly, but it didn’t take long for them to get going.

Seokmin relinquished control over the wheel a few seconds into the ride and Joshua ended up with both hands on it, spinning them around at a rate that was definitely not good for anyone's stomach because Seokmin kept on insisting they go as fast as possible even though he genuinely sounded close to tears and—well. This was the reason that Seokmin didn't go on rides often. 

He was screaming with laughter, mouth open wide and refusing to close, and Joshua hardly thought he was able to breathe with how much he was laughing. Seokmin’s hands had slipped from the wheel and had instead found purchase in Joshua's shirt, doing nothing other than clinging to him and curling into his side, still screaming the entire time, sounding like he was both scared out of his mind and having the time of his life.

“Seokmin? Seokmin! Should I slow down?” Joshua yelled, because the wind was whipping in his ears, and he was sure that they looked like utter idiots to anyone who was watching them in the line.

Seokmin just screamed even louder, eyes squeezed shut, shaking his head rapidly and holding Joshua’s shirt like a lifeline. “If you slow down, I’m going to kill you!”

Joshua just laughed, tugging the wheel so hard that he almost sprained his wrist, but it made Seokmin yelp and squeeze himself further into Joshua’s side, the screams dissolving into laughs, and the bright, overjoyed sound was all that filled Joshua’s ears. 

It was beautiful. Joshua was reminded, yet again, just how much he loved Seokmin’s laugh.

If it were up to him, then for as long as he lived, Joshua would make sure that Seokmin would always, always have a reason to laugh like this.

Eventually, the ride came to a stop, and Joshua let the wheel go, allowing the teacup to slow down at its own pace, the pink-fond chuckles lingering on his lips as Seokmin continued laughing, forehead pressed against Joshua’s shoulder.

“Oh, my God,” Seokmin breathed out in between giggles, breathless from how much he’d been laughing and screaming. “Wow.”

They exited the teacup, wobbling and stumbling around like baby deer on new, spindly legs, and Seokmin just giggled uncontrollably at his own uncoordinated state.

“We left the stuff over there, Seokmin,” Joshua said, staggering forward on unsteady feet towards where they’d left the shiba inu and the giant strawberry balloon and their headbands, because Seokmin had fretted that they'd lose them if they wore them on the teacups. 

He tugged on Seokmin’s arm, because the man was walking in the completely opposite direction. The younger stumbled into him with a giggle. 

“I knew that,” Seokmin laughed, and he sounded mildly drunk, the sound giddy and loud and making Joshua chuckle. As Seokmin grasped the balloon tied to the fence, however, he tripped on his feet, hands giving the balloon a sharp tug and suddenly, somehow, there was a loud pop as the balloon inexplicably burst in Seokmin’s hands.

They both jumped, and Seokmin stared wide-eyed at where the popped balloon pieces were scattered across the floor, plastic string in his hand, before turning to look at Joshua.

“Oh,” Joshua said, after a moment, and that was all it took for Seokmin to start giggling.

“It popped,” he laughed, almost in disbelief. “Hyung, the balloon popped!”

“What did you do?” Joshua asked, laughing a little as he shook his head, amazed. “How did you manage to pop the balloon just like that?”

Seokmin shrugged, giggles subsiding as he just grinned at the string in his hands. “I dunno. That’s so weird.” He pouted suddenly. “Aw, no, that means my strawberry balloon’s all gone.”

“There, there,” Joshua said consolingly, placing the puppy ears back on Seokmin’s head before picking up the plushie and handing it towards him too, beginning to lead them out of the spinning teacups area—albeit rather slowly, since they were both still wobbly on their feet. “But look, you still have Berry the shiba inu with you, don’t you?”

Instantly, Seokmin brightened, though it took a second for him to be able to hold the plushie without dropping it. He blinked his eyes hard several times, gaze focusing and unfocusing on the shiba inu as he pouted in concentration to get his vision steady again. Joshua could almost see the little cartoon birds flying in circles around his head as he kept a wobbly pace next to Joshua, grinning dopily down at the plushie before directing that same grin up at Joshua too.

Adorable.

It took several minutes, along with a good sitting-down session on a nearby bench, but eventually both of them stopped feeling like the world was being rattled around like a snow globe, and they sat side by side in comfortable silence as they watched the people walk by.

The sky was streaked with yellows now. It was nearing the end of the day, and Joshua calculated that they probably had time for one last game or snack before they eventually had to leave.

Then, his date-not-date with Seokmin would be over.

Hm. Joshua glanced over at Seokmin, heart twisting sadly. That was a sad thought.

“Seokmin,” Joshua said, nudging Seokmin in the side, “we’re gonna have to leave soon. Is there anything you want to do before we have to go?”

Seokmin turned to him, and Joshua had the wind knocked out of him for a second because wow, Seokmin was so pretty. The sun hadn’t dipped quite low enough for it to be classed as a sunset just yet, but the grey-yellow light across Seokmin’s face brought his cheekbones into sharp relief, silvery shadows being painted down his cheeks from his eyelashes every time he blinked, the soft shape of his mouth scrunched up in thought.

Humming contemplatively, Seokmin’s gaze slid away from him for a moment, and now that he was no longer staring right into the eyes of the most beautiful person on Earth, Joshua felt like he could finally breathe a little easier.

“Let’s do something that Shua hyung wants to do,” Seokmin said, smiling, and Joshua’s poor heart jumped into his throat once again. 

“Something that I want to do?” Joshua asked, a little croaky. “Do you not have anything that you want?”

Seokmin just shrugged, smiling, strands of hair falling into his eyes as he ducked his head. “We’ve been doing the stuff that I wanted to do all day,” he said. “We should do something that Shua hyung wants, too.”

Joshua’s lips quirked into a fond smile, and he resisted the urge to tell Seokmin that all he wanted was to see Seokmin happy.

Instead, he just pinched Seokmin’s cheek affectionately, and gazed out at the rest of the park, looking around for something that he’d like to do.

But, as always, his gaze drifted back to Seokmin again. Seokmin, who had his eyes fixed on one certain structure in the distance, looking at it almost wistfully, and Joshua remembered what Jeonghan had told him several hours before.

“How about the ferris wheel?” he suggested softly, and smiled a little at the way that Seokmin instantly whipped his head round to blink at him, wide-eyed.

“The ferris wheel?”

“Do you not want to?” Joshua asked, double-checking, because while he was 90% sure that Jeonghan would never feed him false information that would make Seokmin uncomfortable, it was always good to make sure that he was really okay with it. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No! No, I—I want to.” Seokmin swallowed, and there were stars in his eyes. “I wanna ride the ferris wheel with you, hyung.”

Joshua smiled, heart feeling full to bursting as he reached over and brushed away the hair that fell into Seokmin’s eyes. Then he held out his hand, smiling impossibly wider when Seokmin reached for him without the slightest hesitation.

“Come on, then. Let’s go.”

───────────── ‘✦,

The line for the ferris wheel was relatively short, given the fact that it wasn’t long before the amusement park shut for the day, and Joshua and Seokmin didn’t have to stand in line for long before it was their turn.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Joshua checked for the fifth time as they boarded the carriage. “It goes relatively high, Seokmin. If you don’t want to, then it’s fine.”

Seokmin laughed as they each sat down on a bench in the carriage. “I’m fine, I promise. I think it’s a bit too late to get off, anyways,” he said as the wheel slowly began moving. “Besides,” he added, a little shyer, “I really did want to ride the ferris wheel with you, hyung.”

Aw.

“Aw,” Joshua said out loud, and it came out more adoring and in-love than he’d intended. He coughed. “That’s so cute, Min-ah. You wanted to spend time with hyung like this, hm?” he tacked on, grinning teasingly and leaning forward to ruffle Seokmin’s hair and tug at the puppy ears of his headband in an attempt to mask his previous sincerity.

The younger man didn’t pull a face and try to lean away, however, unlike how he normally acted around Joshua’s exaggerated coddling. Instead, he just smiled, eyes crinkling, shoulders rising towards his ears bashfully, and he really looked like a small, shy puppy. 

“Yeah,” he said, the sunlight golden on his face. “Yeah, I did.”

The sun was very much beginning to set now. Yellow light was replaced by something warmer, and the coppery colours spilled in through the windows of their carriage as the wheel continued spinning them all the way to the top.

Joshua checked on Seokmin constantly, making sure that he wasn’t too scared by the heights, but the man seemed to genuinely be having a great time, staring out of the window with wide eyes, Berry the shiba inu sitting forgotten on the seat next to him. 

“It all looks so pretty,” Seokmin said, voice hushed in awe. “Look, hyung, you can see all the places we went to from up here!”

Joshua leaned over to look down at where Seokmin was pointing. “Oh, wow. We’re so high up.” He looked at Seokmin again. “Are you really sure that you’re okay?”

Seokmin laughed a little, raising his gaze to look at Joshua. The golden sunset spilled caramel-coloured light across his irises. 

“I’m really fine,” he promised, eyes crinkling. He reached out for Joshua’s hand, interlacing their fingers. “It’s okay, ‘cause Shua hyung's here with me, isn't he?”

He squeezed Joshua’s hand, once, and then turned back to the window, and Joshua’s ears positively burned.

The wheel spun them a total of three times, and on the third round, Seokmin finally leaned away from the window, sitting back in his seat and beaming at Joshua. Joshua blinked back, and tried to pretend that he hadn’t been gazing adoringly at him the whole time.

“Thank you for bringing me here today,” Seokmin said, all sweet and sentimental and sincere. “It’s been so much fun.”

“Of course,” Joshua responded simply, smiling. “I’m just glad you had fun, Seokmin.”

Seokmin beamed, then, and Joshua smiled back, and they sat there smiling at each other for a good few seconds longer before the ferris wheel creaked to a stop at the top of its rotation for the third and final time.

“Oh!” Seokmin’s eyes lit up, and he scrambled to reach for his phone. “We need to take our last pictures of the day before the ride finishes.” He nudged Berry to the side, and then patted the empty space next to him. “Shua hyung, come sit here.”

And so Joshua went, squishing between Seokmin and the plushie, and he’d barely had time to make himself comfortable before Seokmin was huddling even closer into his side, phone raised in front of their faces.

He let Seokmin bully him into as many different poses as he wanted, with v-poses and finger hearts and cute little pouty faces that were utterly adorable on Seokmin. Eventually, Seokmin lowered his phone, but before Joshua could get up and return to his own side of the carriage, Seokmin was holding his hand, interlacing their fingers to keep Joshua by his side.

Joshua looked down at their hands, and then up at Seokmin, but the younger just blinked innocently at him.

“The sunset looks so pretty,” Seokmin said suddenly, and Joshua looked behind him to follow Seokmin’s line of gaze.

And then he looked back at Seokmin, watching the sunset light his skin up gold.

“Very pretty,” he agreed.

Seokmin’s lips twitched up into an almost wistful smile, as his gaze slid away from the window to look at Joshua, eyes sparkling. 

“Thank you for bringing me here,” Seokmin said again, smiling. “I think it’s prettier because I’m here with you.”

Joshua chuckled, squeezing Seokmin’s hand once. “Of course,” he said, and Seokmin smiled even wider. “Anything you see will be prettier because of me, you know.”

Seokmin’s eyes crinkled. “Really?”

Joshua quirked a grin. “I’m just that handsome.” 

The wheel was slowly descending now, the warm sunset light dipping behind the tall amusement park structures, and Joshua had the most beautiful view of the rays brushing and fading away from Seokmin’s face.

“So,” Joshua continued, mesmerised by Seokmin’s smile, “I think you should only see these pretty things with me. So they’ll always look even prettier.”

His words hung suspended in the air, golden and full of eternal promise, and Seokmin’s eyes widened. Joshua’s eyes widened at his own words, too, stunned at how his internal thoughts had somehow escaped his lips, but every syllable rang true. He wanted to see these beautiful things with Seokmin and Seokmin alone.

“Shua hyung,” Seokmin whispered, eyes meltingly warm. And then he didn’t say anything else.

He truly was just so beautiful, Joshua thought. With his sunlight-clear smile and those eyes, big and glittering and crystalline: Seokmin’s eyes that captured Joshua’s own and kept him mesmerised, unable to do anything other than gaze adoringly as Seokmin did anything at all.

And those very same eyes were the ones holding Joshua in place right at that moment, so awed that he hadn’t even noticed that Seokmin had drawn closer. He was so close that there was merely a miniscule distance between them, and Joshua could count every one of Seokmin’s lashes again, so close he could see the way they fluttered nervously as he took a quiet breath in.

So close that eventually, the miniscule distance between them became no distance at all.

Seokmin kissed him, gently, slowly, a warm press of lips on lips that had Joshua simultaneously melting and freezing up because Seokmin was kissing him. Seokmin was kissing him.

And, oh, his lips truly did taste as soft as they looked.

It was heart-achingly sweet, and only Seokmin would have been able to kiss him so chastely and yet still make his brain crash and shut down because of it. He wanted to have Seokmin’s lips on his forever, to lick into his plush mouth and find out what Seokmin liked and what he adored, wanted to press him against the wall of the carriage and kiss him and kiss him and kiss him—

Seokmin pulled away, then, before Joshua even had a chance to pull him closer and kiss him in the way that he deserved.

He blinked, dazed, far too disoriented to even think of forming words, and it was a little crazy how Seokmin managed to render him utterly non-functional after such a brief kiss.

Only Seokmin, truly.

But he was staring at Joshua now, eyes bright and almost hopeful, and the terrible thing was that Joshua’s brain was still in its melting, post-’first kiss with the love of his life’ state, and he had no idea what Seokmin could be hoping for.

He coughed, licked his lips, heartbeat thrumming far too loudly in his head.

“Huh,” he said, incredibly eloquently. “Oh.”

It was an “Oh” of utter besottedness, Seokmin having successfully removed Joshua’s ability to form proper words, but it turned out to be the wrong thing to say because he watched, confused and worried, as the light slipped off of Seokmin’s face in an instant.

“Oh,” Seokmin echoed, but the syllable sounded utterly heartbroken as it fell from his lips. “Oh, no.”

Joshua blinked as Seokmin backed away, scrambling to kick-start his brain back into action. “Wait,” he said. “Wait, wh—”

“I’m so sorry,” Seokmin rushed out, and he dropped Joshua’s hand like he’d been burned. “Sorry, sorry, please forget about that, I’m so sorry, I—”

“Wait,” Joshua said again, still not quite comprehending what was going on. “Seokmin-ah, you don’t n—”

He tried to move forward, and Seokmin instantly stumbled back, plastering himself against the back wall of the carriage. It rocked slightly, swinging back and forth, but still Seokmin stayed against the wall, like he wanted to be as far away from Joshua as possible.

“Sorry,” Seokmin said, yet again. “I just— You took me out for this whole day, and I thought— But then I— And then you didn’t— So obviously you don’t feel like that and I’m just so, so, so sorry. I’m so sorry, hyung, please just forget that happened.”

And oh, now Joshua realised, and his eyes widened in panic, because Seokmin had gotten everything completely wrong.

“No, wait, Seokmin, no, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Seokmin didn’t seem to hear him, continuing to babble apologies over and over again, the syllables blurring together as his eyes also seemed to blur with tears. 

This was really, really not good. Seokmin had leaned in and kissed him, and what had Joshua done? He’d just sat there and let himself be kissed, and when Seokmin pulled away, he’d done nothing but mumble a small “Oh” that could have been interpreted in a whole range of different ways.

And Seokmin had interpreted it in the worst way possible.

Joshua opened his mouth, and had half a mind to just surge forward and kiss Seokmin again to show him the truth when the carriage door swung open, and the park attendant was standing in the doorway and politely asking for them to leave.

Instantly, Seokmin took the opportunity to grab Berry and lunge past him to make his escape, and Joshua wanted to wring his hands together in desperation.

“Seokmin!” Joshua called out, almost tripping over his feet in his haste to exit the carriage. “Seokmin, I— Wait!”

He caught up with Seokmin as he was speed-walking through the park back towards the entrance, resting a hand on his shoulder and hating how Seokmin instantly flinched back.

“Hyung, please—”

“Seokmin,” Joshua said, softly. “Listen to me.”

Seokmin visibly swallowed, holding Berry tight. His eyes were big, almost looking like they were turning down at the edges and, coupled with the ears headband he was still wearing, he looked far too much like a devastated puppy that Joshua felt his heart tighten in his throat.

“Seokmin,” Joshua started again. “You don’t have to feel bad about it. I… I didn’t mind it.”

Joshua smiled gently, but to his horror, Seokmin’s eyes began to well up with tears.

“I really am sorry for what I did, hyung,” he said, voice wobbly. “You don’t have to say those things to try and make me feel better. I’m okay. It’s okay. I know that what I did was wrong so please—please just leave me alone.”

And with that, he stepped back, and began to make a dash towards the park entrance again, leaving Joshua standing there, dumbfounded.

“Wh—Seokmin!”

Seokmin didn’t listen to him. He continued speeding towards the entrance as Joshua called out to him, even as groups of people blocked his path and he walked into a small child more times than he could count.

How had Seokmin managed to misunderstand what Joshua was saying so, so horribly? With a helpless sigh, Joshua watched as Seokmin disappeared around the corner, before promptly apologising to the little girl he’d bumped into and beginning to follow Seokmin again.

Joshua managed to get to the amusement park entrance at last, just as Seokmin seemed to be trying to leave without talking to him at all.

“Seokmin,” Joshua said desperately, jogging up until he was standing in front of him, preventing Seokmin from walking off into the late evening. “Please, listen to me. You don’t have to feel all guilty like this. Let me—”

“Hyung, it’s okay,” Seokmin said, cutting him off yet again, and Joshua wanted to cry in desperation.“It’s okay, Shua hyung, I’m okay. You don’t have to try and comfort me.”

“No, Seokmin, listen, I actually—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Seokmin said, and tried to smile, but his voice trembled too much for it to seem genuine. “I’m so sorry for doing that to you. I’m really sorry, so I hope you don’t feel too d-disgusted.”

His voice hiccupped on the last word, and oh, Seokmin was properly crying now, the sadness spilling out of the corners of his eyes and dimming their shine.

Joshua had made him cry. 

“Just let me go home, hyung, please,” Seokmin said, quiet, and the soft begging tone in his voice made Joshua’s heart plummet to the depths of the Earth.

He swallowed thickly. “At least come home with me and Jeonghan,” he said, giving up on trying to talk to Seokmin about this. “I don’t want you going home by bus, all by yourself. Especially when you’re like this.”

Seokmin didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then nodded, lips pressed tight together as the tears continued silently spilling down his cheeks.

It made Joshua’s throat feel tight. Unthinkingly, he reached over and brushed at the wetness under Seokmin’s eyes, flinching back when Seokmin skittered away at his touch. 

“Sorry,” he whispered, voice thick. Seokmin didn’t reply.

They walked back to the entrance, and Joshua texted Jeonghan to let him know they were finished and wanted to go home. And then, with nothing left to do, they loitered around, waiting for Jeonghan to arrive, a stiff silence falling between them.

There was a great deal that Joshua wanted to say, countless words to explain himself and tell Seokmin just how terribly, terribly in love he was with him. 

This was all a terrible misunderstanding, he wanted to say, and he was totally okay with the kiss. More than okay, and in fact, he wanted nothing more than to kiss Seokmin again and again for all of eternity.

He looked up at Seokmin, who was quivering a few feet away from him, clutching the plushie like a lifeline as he stared resolutely out at the car park. A chill was setting in now that the sun had gone down, but Joshua knew that Seokmin’s shivers had less to do with the cold and more to do with something else.

Couldn’t Seokmin see? Just how much he had Joshua wrapped around his finger? Had him clinging to every syllable that fell from his lips, every twinkle of his eye, every bright, ringing laugh?

It was truly bewildering, how Seokmin apparently had no idea. Joshua wanted to explain this to him, wanted to tell him just how deeply he'd managed to fall for him, but the feelings of warmth and light and clean-cut gold were far too big and precious for words. 

He wanted to try, because he truly would do anything for Seokmin, but right now, there was no point. Not when Seokmin wasn’t in a state to truly understand.

Jeonghan arrived some minutes later, pulling up near the park entrance, and Seokmin wordlessly climbed into the shotgun seat while Joshua sat in the back. Jeonghan beamed, entirely oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

“So, how did your day go?” he asked, all pleasant. “Did you guys have fun?”

Seokmin simply buried his face into the plushie.

“Can you just take me home, please?” Seokmin whispered, voice muffled, but there was no way that Jeonghan wouldn't have been able to hear the tears in his voice. 

Jeonghan’s expression changed, and instantly, he eyed Joshua in the rearview mirror, his gaze a searing accusation. Joshua just winced helplessly, and hoped that the desperation in his eyes could help soften Jeonghan’s glare just a little.

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes, before turning to Seokmin again, gaze softening. “I like your headband,” he said gently, tugging at one brown puppy ear. “They suit you.”

Seokmin didn't look up from the shiba inu. He gave a small, wet sniff. 

Jeonghan looked back at Joshua, observing the white bunny ears headband which were on his head, and then the pieces in his head began to click together, and he raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Joshua just stared back.

Pulling out away from the amusement park, Jeonghan glanced over at Seokmin and then at Joshua through the mirror again, before giving a sigh. The “I’ll talk to Seokmin” was clear in his eyes, and Joshua’s shoulders sagged in relief.

Whilst Joshua really, really wanted to talk this over with Seokmin himself, he knew that Seokmin wasn’t in the right headspace to listen to him. But still, there was a chance that he would be able to listen to his beloved Jeonghan hyung who, hopefully, would be able to express a calm thought process that Seokmin would listen to, even if he wasn’t willing to listen to Joshua.

That was okay, though. Because Joshua didn't even know how he would express his thoughts, other than perhaps screaming “I really really like having your lips on mine and I kind of want to kiss you forever”, and he thought that that maybe wasn't the best way to explain how he felt. 

Thank you, he said with his eyes, when Jeonghan looked back at him again.

Jeonghan just nodded once, and looked over at Seokmin again before turning back to the road. 

The car was silent for the entire ride back.

───────────── ‘✦,

“I’m already on it,” Joshua said, when he opened the door to Jeonghan standing on his doorstep the next morning.

Jeonghan blinked, and then shut his mouth with an audible click, nodding approvingly and stepping into Joshua’s apartment. “Good,” he said. “I’m proud of you, Joshuji.”

Last night, Jeonghan had dropped Joshua off home first, with a silent message of “We’ll talk tomorrow” in his eyes. It had been clear that Jeonghan had wanted to spend that evening talking with Seokmin first, which Joshua thought was a good idea since Seokmin had definitely been the most visibly distressed out of them.

Even now, though it had been over twelve hours since Joshua had last seen him, the memory of Seokmin’s tears still made his chest feel tight.

As it was, he hadn’t had the chance to talk to Jeonghan until today. That didn’t mean he hadn’t been busy thinking of ways to resolve this whole situation, though.

“You need to make things up to him as soon as possible,” Jeonghan said as he took off his shoes. 

“I know. That's why I'm already on it.”

Jeonghan nodded again, mildly pleased, before his face melted back into a frown. 

“Still, I wanna say that you’re both idiots,” he informed him. “Both you and Seokmin. Utter idiots.”

“Thanks,” Joshua remarked dryly, and walked back into the kitchen, Jeonghan trailing behind him. 

“You’re welcome. So you better be planning a really good thing to make it up to Seokmin, because otherwise—oh my God. Are you baking?”

Jeonghan stood there, surprised, looking at the mixing bowl and the bags of sugar and flour and the baking trays, lined with greaseproof paper, neatly placed on the table as everything else overflowed across Joshua’s counter.

Joshua grinned, pleased at Jeonghan’s surprise. “Strawberry and chocolate chip cookies,” he said, picking up the mixing bowl again. “Seokmin’s favourite.”

“Huh.” Jeonghan smiled, nodding approvingly. “Good choice.” He sat down at the table, watching as Joshua continued mixing the cookie batter.  

“I know,” Joshua said, a little proud, looking up from the bowl to smile at Jeonghan, all bashful and dusty pink cheeks. “I figured that they might help cheer him up.”

Cute, Jeonghan thought, and then his heart melted at the idea of Joshua baking for Seokmin. There was something so domestic about that, and he knew that Seokmin would really love it.

Seokmin had been utterly distraught yesterday, tears quietly streaming down his face as he recounted the “disastrous” events in a wobbly voice. Jeonghan had feared the worst: Seokmin, for all his gentleness and emotional openness, still hated to cry around other people. So for him to burst into tears in front of Joshua and Jeonghan, it meant that something truly terrible had happened, and Jeonghan was more than ready to (get Seungcheol to) gently beat up Joshua for being the cause of his tears.

Jeonghan thought it would be something horrific, like Joshua had… well, done something really bad. He hadn’t actually had an idea of what Joshua could have done, but he’d been terrified all the same.

He had definitely not been prepared for what Seokmin had told him instead.

“What’re you gonna do with the cookies?” Jeonghan asked, leaning forwards as Joshua set down the bowl, looking for spoons to use to scoop the batter onto the trays.

“I’m going over to his place today,” Joshua said, rummaging through the drawers. “And I’m going to talk this out with him. No matter what it takes.”

Jeonghan tilted his head, smiling a little, a curious sense of pride swelling up inside of him. “No matter what it takes?”

“No matter what it takes,” Joshua confirmed, turning back to face Jeonghan, spoons in hand. “I won’t run away anymore. Seokmin deserves to know that I love him too.”

“I definitely think so,” Jeonghan said, and his tone was dry but his smile was warm. “Especially considering the fact that he kissed you yesterday and then proceeded to have a breakdown because you didn’t kiss him back.”

Joshua winced. “Let’s not talk about last night.”

Jeonghan shrugged. “I think it was a good bonding experience.”

“I don’t need a bonding experience. Seokmin and I are already friends.” Joshua furrowed his eyebrows. “How was that a good bonding experience, anyway?”

“Hey, at least now you know that Seokmin’s as pathetically in love with you as you are with him,” Jeonghan pointed out. “I think you should look on the bright side, Joshuji.”

“I think you’re talking too much,” Joshua said, waving the spoons beratingly at Jeonghan. “If you’re gonna be in my home, then you need to help me. Come on, get some spoons and make the cookies with me. Why are you even here, anyway?”

Jeonghan begrudgingly stood up, rolling up his sleeves. “I came here to see whether I needed to beat you up or not.”

Joshua snorted. “You and those noodle arms?”

“I was assessing the situation first,” Jeonghan said, and sniffed disdainfully. “If you didn’t show evidence that you were trying to make amends instantly, I would have.”

“Good thing I was making cookies then.”

“Exactly. I also came to check up on you, though,” Jeonghan added more sincerely. “To see how you were doing after being kissed by the love of your life.”

That made Joshua chuckle, beginning to spoon the batter onto the trays laid out on the table. He nudged Jeonghan in the side, a silent demand for him to start helping, and Jeonghan reluctantly complied.

“I’m fine. I had my entire worldview altered because apparently Seokmin likes me back, but other than that, I’m doing great,” Joshua said with a grin, and Jeonghan laughed.

“See? A good bonding experience.”

Joshua shook his head, still smiling. “Yeah. A great bonding experience. 0/10, would definitely recommend.”

The sarcasm made Jeonghan laugh again, looking over at his best friend as he diligently bent down over the baking tray, making cookies for the person he was in love with, big hands having turned soft with gentleness and care. 

Joshua’s hair was all over the place, as if he’d rolled out of bed and then immediately started making cookies for Seokmin without even stopping once. Half of his bangs were falling in his eyes but he hardly seemed to notice, and he straightened up to blink at Jeonghan, who was standing there with the spoons unmoving in his hands.

“If you don’t want to help, then you can just say so,” Joshua said wryly, eyes twinkling. “Though Seokmin might be heartbroken when I tell him that his favourite hyung didn’t help make the cookies.”

Jeonghan snapped out of his reverie, busying himself with helping Joshua. “You’re Seokmin’s favourite hyung. You know that,” he retorted, a little sulkily. Though he’d long ago accepted it, he was still a little annoyed that Joshua had stolen one of his dongsaengs from him.

“Nonsense. He was your friend before he was mine, wasn’t he?”

“That means nothing,” Jeonghan said dismissively, waving a spoon around and accidentally flinging cookie dough into the wall. “Whoops. Anyway, you’ve been Seokmin’s favourite since day one, Shuji. Surely you know that.”

Joshua sighed long-sufferingly at the spoonful of wet mixture sliding down his wall. “You’re cleaning that up later.”

“Sure. But seriously, he’s always been in love with you. I promise.” Jeonghan punched Joshua lightly in the arm. “Why are you thinking so much about this, anyway? You know that he loves you.”

“Hm.” Joshua twisted his lips thoughtfully, and he gazed off into the distance, eyes going melty soft and Jeonghan just knew that he was thinking about Seokmin. 

Disgusting, Jeonghan thought affectionately. It reminded him of the way that Seokmin’s eyes never failed to shine just a little brighter whenever he thought of or talked about Joshua, even when he was in tears. These two truly were made for each other.

“Seokmin thinks the world of you, you know,” Jeonghan said gently. “He always has. Ever since he first met you.”

Joshua’s face, somehow, melted even further at that. Jeonghan had been worried that his silence was a sign of insecurities creeping in, a sign of his hesitancy to continue taking that leap for Seokmin, but Joshua’s face was softening into the softest, sweetest smile, and Jeonghan knew that there was nothing that could deter Joshua now.

“Well,” Joshua said, light and full of love, “It’s a good thing that I think the world of him too.”

───────────── ‘✦,

It was some hours later that Joshua ended up on Seokmin’s doorstep, wondering whether he should ring the doorbell or lift his hand and knock.

Jeonghan had shooed him out of the apartment (Joshua’s own apartment) with a pat on the head and a half-serious threat to “Go make out with Seokmin or there will be consequences”, pushing the basket into his hands and telling him to just be himself.

Apparently Seokmin liked that, or something.

So Joshua now stood at Seokmin’s doorstep, resisting the urge to rock back and forth on his heels as he contemplated which would be the best way to drag Seokmin out of his wallowing.

He hadn't been nervous when Jeonghan had come over, too focused on making Seokmin his favourite cookies and thinking about how he needed to make Seokmin not sad as soon as possible, but now that he was here, he had to admit that there were definitely a few butterflies in his stomach.

Confessing to the love of your life was no easy task, after all. 

But, like always, Joshua would do anything for Seokmin, anything at all, so after taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.

It took a few moments, but the door eventually clicked open to reveal Seokmin, sleepily rubbing his eyes, nose scrunching adorably as he suppressed a big yawn.

“Jeonghan hyung, I told you, I’m f…”

His voice trailed off as he realised who was standing at his door, and his eyes widened, the sleepiness falling away from his face almost instantly. Joshua smiled, a little awkwardly, giving Seokmin a wave.

“Hello.”

Seokmin stared at him, and then began to slowly edge behind his door, hiding behind it until only his face was visible. “You… You’re not Jeonghan hyung.”

“I’m not,” Joshua agreed, and his heart twisted at how Seokmin had instantly retreated away once he learned that it was Joshua at his door. “Is it okay if I come in? I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday.”

Clutching the edge of the door a little tighter, Seokmin squeaked out a small “Oh dear” that Joshua had a feeling he hadn’t meant to say aloud.

“Maybe we shouldn’t?” Seokmin suggested meekly. He retreated further behind the door, hiding away so that Joshua couldn’t see his face anymore. “Maybe… Maybe that’s not a good idea.”

Joshua bit his lip. “Please?” he asked. “I even baked you cookies. If you want them.”

A pause. And then Seokmin slowly peeked out from behind the door, eyes widening in surprise as he noticed the basket in Joshua’s hands before his gaze dropped to the floor again. He shook his head.

“Please just go. Shua hyung, please let me—Let me deal with this by myself first,” Seokmin said softly.

It sounded so gentle and reasonable when he said it like that, and Joshua would have believed it, would have accepted it, if he didn’t know Seokmin as well as he did. But Joshua did know him, knew him like the soul that fit perfectly against his own, and he knew that Seokmin was using this as an excuse to wallow in his sadness. He’d only make himself more miserable if Joshua let him be.

“Please,” Joshua said again, pleading. “I think we should talk about this. Please, will you let me in?”

Seokmin swallowed but didn’t say anything, gaze still directed at Joshua’s shoes rather than his face. His fingers pressed into the side of the door as he clung to it, still not quite opening it fully, but Joshua felt a little comforted by the fact that Seokmin was considering it.

“Min-ah,” Joshua said softly, ducking his head to get Seokmin to meet his gaze. Seokmin blinked in surprise, but he didn’t look away. Joshua straightened slowly, and smiled as Seokmin continued to keep his eyes on him. “Please. I’m not mad about what happened, I promise. I just think that you and I need to talk. Please, Min-ah?”

Seokmin’s eyes widened even further at the nickname, a splotchy blush reddening the apples of his cheeks in a way that was still utterly endearing in Joshua’s eyes. And then he nodded, opening the door wider. “Okay. Okay… you can come in.”

Joshua smiled again, a smile of relief as he stepped into Seokmin’s apartment, clutching the basket of cookies in his hands. 

“It’s a little messy,” Seokmin said, a little sheepishly as he led Joshua through the apartment. “I wasn’t really expecting anyone. I didn’t think anyone would come over.”

“That’s okay. I wanted to check up on you.”

Seokmin looked over at Joshua, too many colours swirling in his irises before he blinked rapidly and looked away,

“Oh. Thank you.”

As Seokmin led them to sit on his couch, however, Joshua realised that he hadn't really planned what he was going to say. Which, in hindsight, he really should have done, but it was too late to wonder about that now. 

And besides, he was talking with Seokmin. The right words would find their way to him, especially if he was trying to confess to the love of his life. 

“So… cookies,” Joshua started, and then held the basket out to Seokmin. He smiled a little. “They're your favourites.”

Seokmin gasped, momentarily seeming to forget his apprehension at Joshua’s visit as his eyes widened, taking the basket from him and peeking inside. “Strawberry and chocolate chip cookies?”

“Strawberry and chocolate chip cookies,” Joshua confirmed, resisting the urge to laugh at Seokmin's adorably awed expression. “And don’t worry. I made sure that they won’t give you food poisoning.

Seokmin, already stuffing a cookie in his mouth, gave a petulant huff. “Hyung, that was one time.”

Joshua laughed, unable to stop the delighted warmth bubbling up inside him as the natural cadence of their interactions came peeking through, Seokmin relaxing now that he had something sweet in his mouth. Seokmin looked up at him, a little surprised, before his face melted and brightened at the same time, eyes crinkling.

“So,” Joshua said, still smiling, “I was hoping that we could talk about yesterday.”

At that, Seokmin’s expression changed, and he slowly swallowed. He rubbed at his cheeks, attempting to brush away the crumbs and only kind-of succeeding.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” Joshua rushed to carry on, before Seokmin’s face fell even further and Joshua’s heart fell along with it. “I’m sorry for how terribly our day at the amusement park ended.” He gestured to the basket. “The cookies were kind of an apology present to try and make up for it.”

“Oh,” Seokmin said softly. “No… It’s—It’s okay, hyung. It was kind of my fault, anyway,” he added, laughing a little stiltedly. “I was the one who, well, you know.”

Seokmin bit his lip then, teeth sinking into the softness of his bottom lip, and Joshua remembered with startling clarity how his own mouth had been over Seokmin’s less than twenty-four hours ago.

Joshua blinked rapidly, trying to dispel his thoughts so he could focus on the conversation at hand.

“It was just me being an idiot. You don’t need to apologise, Shua hyung,” Seokmin said, attempting to smile. “It was all my fault. I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t, though,” Joshua said, taking a breath. Seokmin was still biting his lip, a nervous habit, and it was kind of cute and wholly distracting and it took everything in Joshua to keep his gaze on Seokmin’s warm, warm eyes rather than on his soft, soft lips. “Min-ah, it’s okay.”

He smiled, then, as gently and as reassuringly as he could, putting on his prettiest smile for Seokmin to try and comfort him.

Seokmin’s eyes widened and softened at the same time, before he looked away. “Please don’t look at me like that,” he said, all mumbly. There were still crumbs on his cheeks, and Joshua wanted to lean over and dust them away.

“Like what?” he asked, before giving in to the urge and brushing a finger over Seokmin’s cheeks, wiping at the crumbs. And then, using that same finger, he guided Seokmin’s chin towards him so they were facing each other again. “How am I looking at you?”

Seokmin huffed a little, and pouted. “Like… I dunno,” he said, cheeks turning red, “like you love me. Like—Like you didn’t actually mind the… the thing.”

Joshua’s gaze softened, and he lowered his hand to find Seokmin’s knee instead, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “What if that’s true? What if I didn't mind the kiss?”

Seokmin was shaking his head before Joshua could even finish speaking. “Don’t say things like that, hyung,” he pleaded, almost a whine. “I’m sorry for kissing you yesterday, I really am. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

“What? No,” Joshua said, a little mystified, wondering where on Earth Seokmin had gotten the idea that he didn’t want it to happen again. “No, Seokmin, I want it to happen again. I want you to kiss me again. And again, and again. Forever, essentially.”

“Wait.” Seokmin’s face scrunched up, confused, and goodness, Joshua was hit with the fact that he truly did adore him. “What?”

“I like you,” Joshua said, the three golden words leaving his lips and spinning through the air, and he could almost hear the magical ding as they landed like little chimes in Seokmin’s ears. “I like you, Seokmin. You and your smile and your kindness and your gentleness and the way you make me feel so happy, always. I like you so much, and especially your laugh—” Joshua took a breath, feeling the flush rising up his cheeks— “Oh, I love your laugh, Seokmin. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”

Seokmin’s eyes had steadily widened the longer Joshua had carried on, and there was that familiar, warm, beautiful shine in his irises once more, all full of hope. “Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Joshua laughed, smiling widely. “I like you. I love you. I adore you. All of those things. I think you’re wonderful, truly, and it’s like my heart belongs only to you.”

And then, his Seokmin-owned heart made a little whooshing sound as Seokmin’s eyes rounded, and Joshua couldn’t help but laugh. It was kind of incredible, how saying those words didn’t feel like taking a leap, like jumping and hoping that when he fell, someone would catch him.

Rather, it felt like coming home.

Seokmin’s frame melted, the biggest pout forming on his face as his whole body relaxed, seemingly just as comforted by Joshua’s confession as he was. His irises looked a little shiny as he blinked, hard.

“You love me,” Seokmin said, almost to himself, like he couldn’t believe it, all tiny and adorable. And then he looked up at Joshua again, face crumpling into something between a pout and a giddy smile. “Oh my god, you love me.”

He said it in an almost awed way, words getting all blubbery-sentimental and he held out his arms, reaching for a hug that Joshua instantly gave him, smiling as Seokmin wrapped his arms around his neck to bring him even closer, burying his face into Joshua’s shoulder. Seokmin was always so warm and lovely but right now he seemed even more so, melting into Joshua’s arms, the thumping of his heartbeat matching the cadence of Joshua’s own. 

He nuzzled even closer into Joshua's shoulder, making small, content noises into his shirt, and Joshua could feel something in his chest bursting into a spray of cerulean blue joy. 

“I love you,” Joshua said again, just because, just to marvel at how light and perfect those three words felt. “I love you.”

Seokmin pulled away, arms still looped around Joshua’s neck, eyes shining brighter than the brightest, sunniest summer day. “I love you too,” he breathed, and then he laughed—that soft, beautiful laugh that Joshua loved far too much. “I love you. I’ve always really, really liked you, truly. So much. Ever since we met.”

Joshua chuckled a little, tilting his head. “Since we met? That’s a long time.”

“I know,” Seokmin said, almost whining, and it had Joshua laughing again. “You have no idea how hard it was to be loving you for so long. You’re so loveable, hyung. I can’t help but just—love you. Always.”

“I can’t help but love you too,” Joshua said back, and it was incredible how those words managed to make Seokmin’s smile light up even further. He leaned forward and nudged his nose affectionately against Seokmin’s, adoring the delighted giggle that it elicited from him. “You can ask Jeonghan, if you’d like. He’ll tell you how pathetically in love I’ve been with you for weeks.”

“Weeks? Hyung, I’ve been in love with you forever, I swear,” Seokmin said, and the earnest truthfulness of his words made Joshua’s heart swell, hands tightening around Seokmin’s waist. 

“I think I’ve been in love with you before I even knew that’s what it was,” Joshua returned, just to try and one-up him, and laughed softly at the affectionate huff that Seokmin let out.

“Whatever you say,” Seokmin said, playfully rolling his eyes before beaming at Joshua again. His arms were still around Joshua’s neck, his weight still pressed comfortably in Joshua’s lap, and as he continued beaming at him, it was like Joshua's vision was filled with nothing but the gentlest, prettiest, most breathtaking golden light. 

He could have stayed like that forever, actually, with Seokmin in his lap, his weight draped over him like a sure and solid promise, positively glowing with happiness despite the fact that he'd looked close to tears not even 24 hours ago. 

It made him realise that Seokmin really did love him, had loved him forever, and thinking about it like that made him short circuit because oh—

Seokmin loved him. 

And they were just smiling at each other, smiling and grinning and smiling like a pair of idiots and it was all because Seokmin loved Joshua just as much Joshua loved him. 

As if he knew all of Joshua's thoughts, Seokmin smiled even wider, eyes crinkling happily, and Joshua knew that he really would do anything to see Seokmin smile like that forever. His lips were stretched wide, emanating light, and happiness truly did look so beautiful on him. 

Joshua wanted to kiss him.

Oh. He hadn't kissed Seokmin yet. How had he not kissed Seokmin yet? 

He needed to kiss him. Right now. 

“Can I kiss you?” Joshua blurted out, completely out of the blue, and he would admit that it wasn't the best way to ask for a kiss, but Seokmin always made him do weird and awkward things. 

Seokmin blinked in surprise, a blush rapidly rising up his face, but he nodded almost immediately. 

“Yeah!” he said, the eagerness clear in his tone before he blushed even further, shoulders rolling inwards shyly. “I mean. Yes. Yes please.”

And then he beamed, his expression so open and loving and filled with wonderful golden light that Joshua couldn't help but smile too, leaning in closer, one hand releasing Seokmin's waist to slip upwards and cup his cheek, brushing a thumb over the smooth softness of his cheekbone. 

“Beautiful,” Joshua whispered, quiet, and could feel the blush that spread across Seokmin's face as he adjusted his hand, held him more firmly and finally connected their lips in a kiss. 

And, oh, this kiss was even better than that first one they'd shared. The instant Joshua kissed him, Seokmin melted impossibly further into him, hands threading through his hair to bring him even closer, soft lips pressing against soft lips. 

It was dizzyingly sweet. Seokmin tasted like strawberries and chocolate and sunlight, and when Joshua gently nipped at that plush bottom lip, his heart positively soared at the small noise that Seokmin let out, easily opening up so Joshua could kiss him as deeply and as fully as they both desired.

Seokmin twisted his hands in Joshua’s hair, kissing him even deeper, and it made him laugh into Seokmin’s mouth, his head feeling all happy and bubbly light. Seokmin laughed too, an automatic response to the sound of Joshua’s happiness, and they ended up smiling into each other’s mouths rather than actually kissing once they finally parted.

Joshua opened his eyes, watching as Seokmin still kept his eyes shut, drawing back with an adoring smile on his face like he wanted to treasure the moment.

It was so heart-achingly endearing that Joshua leaned in to press a light kiss to Seokmin’s mouth, smiling as Seokmin’s eyes fluttered open at last, a white-gold shine making his irises glow.

“Oh,” Seokmin said, soft, his kissed-pink lips spreading into a wide smile. He still had his hands in Joshua’s hair, still had his knees spread over Joshua’s lap, and he looked so beautiful. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Joshua echoed, amused, the hand on Seokmin’s cheek moving to brush away stray hairs as they fell into his face. “What’s up?”

Seokmin’s eyes just shone even brighter. “You love me,” he said, and he sounded so happy that Joshua laughed again, so in love that his heart felt like it was floating towards the heavens as Seokmin continued to look at him with all the awe and wonder in the world.

“Yes, Min-ah,” he said, devastatingly fond, and Seokmin scrunched his nose in a way that was just so endearing, very clearly delighted by the nickname. “I love you.” 

Seokmin beamed adorably wide and launched himself back into Joshua’s arms again, clumsily pressing a kiss to Joshua's cheek before burying his face into his shoulder, and Joshua could feel him grinning with happiness. 

Joshua had jumped towards Seokmin, taken that leap, but instead of falling, he’d floated right back up towards the sun instead. 

In fact, it hadn’t even felt like falling, he mused, as Seokmin drew away from his shoulder, smiling shyly before leaning in and kissing Joshua softly once more. 

He cupped Seokmin’s face, kissing him again and again until they were smiling so hard that they couldn’t kiss properly anymore, and yet they still tried, smiling lips meeting smiling lips over and over, the taste of sunlight sitting gently on Joshua’s tongue like that was where it belonged.

Perhaps, Joshua thought, it was because Seokmin had been beside him all along. All he had to do was walk right into Seokmin's arms, right into Seokmin who already had, and always would, adore him with the entirety of his heart.

And oh, how Joshua adored him too.

thanku for reading! pls rb w a comment if you liked this :)

taglist: @my-moarmy-heart @ofcoursewhynotmongyu @cottoncheol @i-dont-give-a-fok @leigh-darling @belladonna-is-alive @weird-bookworm @dokyluvie @isabellah29 @bangantokchy @ahuiahoe @yooboointhemood @animesoul2021 @official-eunwoo

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Pairing: Haechan x cat hybrid!reader

Genre: smut

Rating: R 18+ MINORS DNI MATURE CONTENT AHEAD

Warnings: hybrids, language

Smut Warnings: unprotected sex, light degradation, light spanking, tail pulling, clit play

Word Count: 803

Note: this is entirely @raibebe​‘s fault (never put our feral brains together we do bad (good) things) and I promise that I’ll try to have Shiba!Hyuck out this weekend or the beginning of next week!!!

໑˖ ݁، ݁ ˖ 𖥔 ࣪ ˖ 𖤐ʾ   ̨𖥔 ִ ་  ، ˖ ࣪◞ ໑˖ ݁، ݁ ˖ 𖥔 ࣪ ˖ 𖤐ʾ   ̨𖥔 ִ ་  ، ˖ ࣪◞

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