Here Are My Exact Thoughts While Reading This Chapter (that I Finally Got Around To Reading!).

Here are my exact thoughts while reading this chapter (that I finally got around to reading!).

Tattoo(s)!?!?!

Thank you, Binna, for telling her to jump on that man 😂

Mama Jeon taking a picture of the two of them when she was sleeping 🥺

Why is Sehun there 🤨

Wow, that is big of Sehun

Wait, why is there some random woman answering the door!?

WHO IS THIS WOMAN!?!?!?

You did it yet again, Maddie!! Although you have a lot of explaining to do for that cliffhanger!! Good thing I'm behind because I better get some answers in that next chapter!!

Amour-Haine & Co. | Chapter 15 |

series masterlist

word count - 10k

warnings - brief mention of assault and toxic relationships (I won't ever go into great detail with this subject, but I have decided to make it part of this series), pls let me know if I forgot something

"It might be a little less complicated now..."

As soon as you could feel yourself waking up, the numb feeling of your limbs hit you. Your eyes felt heavy, and you knew once you would open them, there was no way of going back to sleep.

You got a tighter hold of the fuzzy blanket that was thrown over your body and cuddled yourself deeper into the cushions underneath your head. If you had really wanted to, you could've gone back to sleep, but that's when it hit you. Your eyes opened instantly, and you turned your head to the side, staring blankly at the coffee table in front of you. With a groan, you pushed yourself up and rubbed your eyes, only then realising that there was still your mascara from the day before, and another groan left your lips.

"Well, aren't you delightful in the morning," the familiar deep voice made you look up - even deeper and scratchier than usual. Wonwoo grinned at you while you glared at him with squinted eyes since the light was still just a little too bright for an early morning.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" You complained, throwing the blankets off you when you were suddenly hit with the cold air hitting your bare legs, making you hastily cover them again, "Jesus! Why am I not wearing pants?!" Forgetting that you had changed out of your day clothes and into a shirt Wonwoo gave you.

Talking about the CEO, he looked at you slightly confused and slightly worried as he walked up to you, two mugs in his hands.

"Are you okay? How much did you drink?"

You looked up at him as he lowered one of the cups to place it on the coffee table right in front of you, "Not much," and got a hold of the cup right away, "thank you. Not that much... wine drunk is just different. I changed out of my clothes myself, right?"

As Wonwoo sat down next to you, you noticed what he was wearing and could feel your breath suddenly get stuck in your throat. Even with simple grey sweatpants and a black shirt, that man looked much more put together than you ever would at home. His hair was still slightly disheveled from just waking up. This was also the first time you had ever seen him in such casual clothing. You're used to finding him in suits and button-ups in the office - this simple fit on him was new to you. And if there had been someone to pinch you, you would've asked them too, but you could've sworn you saw gentle tattoos decorating his upper arm. A line wrapped around his bicep, travelling down, but you couldn't exactly tell what it was supposed to be, the sleeves covering up most of it. The bottom of what looked like a four-digit number peeked out from the rim of his sleeve as well, catching your attention as you tried to read it. Jesus... God really knew how to play with you. Due to the formal outfits, you were so used to, you had never gotten a clear sight of his skin in these places.

You decided to turn your head, hoping to get the ungodly thoughts that were running through your brain, out of your mind as quickly as possible.

"Yeah," he chuckled softly, "I gave you a shirt and some shorts, I don't know why you didn't put them on though. I didn't undress you in your sleep, don't worry."

You leaned back against the back of the couch, the blanket now just lazily spread across your legs, covering them only barely. You sent him an amused glance, "You've seen me in much less. I wasn't worried about that," making him chuckle while you continued with a nod, "So it wasn't a dream, good." You assured yourself since the memory of changing did cross your mind for a split second, but you weren't sure if it actually did happen. The heat of the mug warmed your hands, and you lifted it to take a sip. He remembered what you had told him last night - that you prefered tea over coffee.

The two of you fell into a comfortable silence, both just sipping on the hot liquids. That was until Wonwoo stood up again to bring his mug back into the kitchen. On his way, he cleared his throat and dared to open his mouth, "So...," he began, sounding slightly on edge for some reason, "You remember last night?"

Oh. Oh.

You immediately knew where he was going with his question. There was no possible way you could talk yourself out of this moment, and, to be completely honest, you didn't want to. The words of the night before still lingered in your brain, and if he hadn't put that question into the room, you could've sworn it must've been a dream. There was no way Jeon Wonwoo, THE Jeon Wonwoo, the bachelor, dougebag CEO, had declared his admiration for you.

"That I'm on my fucking knees for you, Y/N."

It should've made you chuckle. It sounded insane - unbelievable if anyone were to ask you for your opinion on a bold statement like this. But you would be lying if it didn't occupy your brain for the entirety of the rest of the night - which wasn't long, by the way. The two of you had stayed up for a little bit longer, and the last thing you remembered was chilling on the couch, where you must've fallen asleep and taken off your clothes, but that part was still a bit blurry.

"You have me wrapped around your fucking finger, and you don’t even realise it."

"Yeah...," you answered him. Of course, you remembered. You looked up into the kitchen, only to be met with his clearly tensed back. Wonwoo had put the mug on the kitchen island, but stood still on the side, not even moving a millimetre.

You stood up. You didn't know why, but you did. Your feet brought you over to the kitchen, but you held still in place right behind him. His heavy breathing was the only sound in the way too big for one person's apartment, and it made you want to breathe heavier too.

"Wonwoo-"

"I'm sorry for overwhelming you like that," he was quick to interrupt you, continuing his task of putting the mug into the dishwasher.

You glanced at him in confusion, not brave enough to get closer to him again, "What do you mean overwhelm me?" Was it surprising? Yes. Overwhelming? Kinda... not...

A deep sigh fell from his lips as he turned around and placed his elbows on the countertop, putting his head into his hands and brushing them over his face. 

"I don't know what came over me, and I want to apologise for that."

That stung. Why apologise? The sound of regret his voice was laced with stroke your heart like a sharp knife. He wasn't supposed to feel like that about giving in to his feelings. But then again, you already had told him the night before that he would regret it, and now you feared that it had become true.

You gulped, "So... s-so you didn't mean it?" Your nails scraped over the countertop when all you wanted to do was pick at your nails again, but there was already no nail polish left, thanks to the evening before. 

The slow shaking of his head made you suck in a gasp of breath. You could feel your teeth sinking into your bottom lip, biting down harder than you wanted but you suddenly had no control of it. That little movement of his was hitting you harder than it should. You didn't even know how you should react, what you were thinking, or what you were feeling, and yet, seeing the sign of regret on him just hurt.

"No," he whispered, making you immediately turn your head towards him. You opened your mouth, ready to react, but he was quick to continue, "I meant every single word that you heard from me last night." You didn't even blink when he looked up to meet your eyes. "But I know that it wasn't okay of me. It's not right, and it wasn't okay to just put this burden onto your shoulders. I'm s-"

"Stop." You interrupted him, making him raise his eyebrows in surprise. You had caught him off guard. "Stop apologising for that. You've said that word way too much within the past few hours." He raked himself up to stand tall again as you made your way around the corner, stopping in the middle to stand right in front of him. His eyes travelled down your body, reminding you that you weren't wearing anything but underwear and one of his shirts, making your cross your arms in front of your chest.

You gazed to your right, eyes trained on your pile of clothing on the other end of the couch. "I know, I didn't say anything yesterday...," and took a deep breath, "but that's just because... I..." his gentle touch on your chin as he turned your head to look back at him, made you stop. His touches were always so soft if it wasn't in the heat of a moment. Wonwoo put his fingers on you as if he was scared to cut into your beautiful skin. Even with the roughness of his hands, they felt silky against you, and you could feel your body wanting to lean into every single one of his touches.

"I told you, I don't expect an answer from you," he quietly spoke to you even though you were the only two people in the room.

You sneaked your hand up to wrap around his wrist as his fingers were still placed underneath your chin. Your thumb brushed against skin, petting it gently - you could've sworn you felt the hair on his arm spiking up.

"I know," you copied his tone, taking a small step forward to be just the littlest bit closer to him, "But you're making this really hard." Was all you could come up with on the spot. Wonwoo opened his palm and cupped your cheek. His eyes fell down to your lips before meeting your eyes again. You could feel him slowly pulling you in while also leaning in slightly. You noticed just how close you were when you felt his breath against your mouth, "Don't think too much about it. Just go with it."

You were about to close your eyes, letting the moment just happen, when the ringing of your phone echoed through the apartment, making you jump away from his touch. Your phone was still in your bag that hadn't been moved ever since Wonwoo had placed it on there. 

Suddenly out of breath, you rushed over, dropping the CEO's hand, snatching the phone into your hands, and taking a quick look at the screen, scrunching your eyebrows in confusion before accepting the incoming call.

"Bina?"

"Can you open the fucking door?! Where the hell are you?" She shouted through the speaker, making you have to distance your phone from your ear, "I've been knocking like a maniac for five minutes. What the fuck are you doing? You know that I'd rather catch you in the middle of fucking with someone than waiting in the hallway."

Once you were sure she wouldn't say anything anymore, you brought the device closer to your ear again and spoke, "Good morning to you too, and thank you for destroying my ear-drum first thing in the morning. What's going on?"

"I just told you what's going on, open the door, I'm waiting and I have some neeews," singing the last word happily. Her ask made you look down at your feet and stutter,

"Ehm... I...," your eyes fell on Wonwoo, who was eyeing you, clearly interested in what you had to say to the person on the other end of the line. "I can't... I-"

"What do you mean, you can't? Is there someone with you right now? Is it Won-"

"NO!" You quickly stopped her, scared that her voice might be too loud coming from the phone, "No, no. I just... I'm not home right now?" You made it sound more like a question than a statement by accident.

A gasp came from the speaker, "What?! But you don't start work until like an hour, where are you? I got out of bed extra early to catch you!" She whined, making you sigh and cup the bridge of your nose.

"Alright, alright, I'll be there in a bit, okay? Just wait."

"But where are you right now? Do you want me to come get you?" She kept on asking, to which you shook your head, walking over to the couch, to get dressed as quickly as possible once you would end the call.

"No, don't worry, give me just a few minutes, and I'll be there. I'll explain everything then, okay?" Hastily putting your phone between your ear and shoulder.

Bina huffed out a big chunk of air, "Alright, alright. You better have an explanation for this, young lady." You shook your head in disbelief before ending the call, throwing your phone onto the sofa and digging through your clothes to find your pants first.

Wonwoo took a few steps closer to the living room, "Everything alright?" You turned around, finding him on the other side of the couch.

"Yeah yeah, just a... friend emergency," you didn't know what else to call it and waved it off with your hand, "I should get going."

"Oh, you're already awake! That's good!" The cheery voice of Chaewon rang through your ears, making your eyes go wide when you realised how little you were wearing as she strutted into the open space of the apartment, looking as ready as she could be - hair and make-up done and dressed perfectly like the classy lady that she was. 

Wonwoo noticed your panicked reaction and did the first best thing he could come up with, which was to hurry to stand in front of you, covering your entire body with his.

"Hey mum," he greeted her, whereas you were only able to shyly wave at her with one hand while your other was trying to pull down the shirt to cover up as much as possible.

"Good morning," you quietly greeted her, a kind but nervous smile on your lips.

"Okay, so I was thinking," she immediately started ranting, not noticing the awkward situation she had just interrupted with her eyes fixed on her phone, "We could go for breakfast now. I found a wonderful little café around the corner. I totally forgot how beautiful some of the restaurants in the era are. Then after-"

"Mum, didn't you want to curl your hair?" Wonwoo suddenly asked her, making her stop in her tracks and lift her head to look at her sun. Her hands flew up to her head and touched her hair,

"What? I already did," she looked panicked, "Did I forget a strand? Doesn't it look curled? Oh no- wait, I'll be right back," before rushing out of the room, back into the bedroom where she had just come out of.

You chuckled at her reaction and hit the man's stiff back that was still in front of you, "You didn't have to say something like. You almost gave her a heart attack."

He shook his head and turned around, "She'll be fine once she sees that her hair looks perfect. And it made her leave, didn't it?" He looked down at you, a smirk playing on his lips, making you slightly more nervous than you would've wanted. 

It seemed as if he was about to say something, but decided to close his mouth again, opening it once he thought about the next words more clearly, "Get dressed before she comes back," and stepped aside, leaving you more room to breathe again. He got a hold of his phone on the coffee table and continued speaking to you while looking down, "I'm gonna call Hongseok so he can bring you-"

"No, stop." You snatched the device out of his hands, only to put it back on the table to your right, "I told you I don't want to be driven around by him." Wonwoo remained calm and kept his gaze on you, nodding gently, "Right, sorry. I'll try to remember that." And turned around to walk towards the entrance.

You took the time to put your clothes back on, starting the pants before taking your shirt, sorry, Wonwoo's shirt off, and putting your blouse from the day before on again. Right before you finished buttoning it back up, the deep familiar voice rang through your ears again, "Are you done? Can I turn around?" His question made you turn around, finding him standing at the dining table, his back turned to you. He held his head low, looking down at his hands. 

His stand made you chuckle as you walked up to him, stopping next to him, "You didn't have to do that. As I said, you've seen me in much less."

He positioned himself so you were chest to chest again, "Privacy is still privacy."

You squinted your eyes at him, slightly amused by the line that was playing in your head that you couldn't hold back, "Think about that the next time you rip my blouse open, leaving it with no buttons to close it again."

Your sudden comeback made him smile to himself and clear his throat as he played with whatever he was holding in his hands, "So you're saying they'll be another opportunity for me to do that?" Looking up with a proud smirk decorating his goddamn near-perfect face, watching a beautiful rush of pink come to your cheeks as you pressed your lips into a thin line.

Wonwoo chuckled at your reaction, "Just playing, kitten," he tapped your chin, "Thinking back to last night, I know I'll get another chance for that."

Kitten? Kitten?! Did he just-

"I'm gonna go now," you announced, your voice just as stiff as your body as he reminded you of what had almost happened just a mere few hours ago.

He nodded, "Okay," and whispered, waiting for you to walk away from him, but you kept up your interlocked stares for another good ten seconds before the voice of his mother came back.

"Wonwoo, I don't even know why I believed you, I forgot you-," she came to a halt once she spotted the two of you, "Oh, sorry for interrupting." You jumped back and immediately turned to face her,

"Oh, no no no, don't worry, I was just leaving," and approached the entrance door with quick steps. You found your shoes by the wall and crouched down to put them on, not seeing the disappointed facial expression of Jeon Chaewon.

"Ah, I see... I thought that... we could maybe spend the day together...," you raised your head, quickly meeting her eyes and once you did, the feeling of guilt spread in your stomach. This woman had so much power with just her words and expressions... for some reason, disappointing her was the last thing you'd ever want to do, and you had only just met her the day before. What a powerful woman...

"Sorry..." you pushed yourself back up after closing the clasp of your shoes, "I-I ehm... I have to go to the office today- I mean, first home and then to the office. So..."

"Well then maybe tomorrow?" She wondered, "I can change my train ticket and go back home tomorrow evening, so we can spend some time together tomorrow."

"Sure!" Your mouth reacted before your brain could, not even thinking about the fact that the next day would be a normal day at work as well. After your brain registered the words you had left to linger in the air, your eyes travelled to the side, stopping on the CEO who was standing only a few steps behind his mother, gazing at him with raised eyebrows. "Right, Wonwoo?" The man smirked before walking up to you after getting a hold of your jacket and bag, putting it on his shoulder to help you put the outerwear on first. 

He put his hands on your shoulder, brushing along the fabric, "I'm sure if you asked nicely, you could get a day off."

If you asked nicely... he really had to do that in front of his mother?!

"If I asked nicely?" You wondered, meeting his gaze as he handed you your bag with a nod. "I'd love to spend some time with you tomorrow, Chaewon," you didn't go further into Wonwoo's demand and smiled at the older woman who clapped her hands excitedly,

"Great! I'll get your number from Wonwoo and will text you later, alright?" To which you nodded, watching her disappear into the kitchen.

Once she was out of sight, the CEO put his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants, looking at you a little confused, "I... I don't remember you asking nicely."

You secured the bag on your shoulder and grinned, "And you can wait for that to happen because I'm telling you now, I'm taking the day off tomorrow to spend time with your mother."

He copied your facial expression, "Alright." As you were able to turn towards the door, you felt his hand on yours again as he got a hold of it, lifting it up and opening your palm. Before you could wonder what he was doing, your felt something being placed inside of it, making you look down. As soon as his hand left yours, you found a car key in your grasp, "What's that?"

Wonwoo chuckled, "I think you know what a car key looks like."

"Yeah, but I'm wondering, what the hell I'm supposed to do with it," you kept your hand open.

"You know what a car key does? Open a car. You know what a car does? Drive," he simply answered, but you continued staring at him perplexed, reaching to grab his hand, and putting the key back into his hold.

"I'm not driving your car, are you insane? I told you-"

He put it back into your hand, "You said, you don't want Hongseok to drive you, and you really think I'm gonna let you get into a taxi? Girlfriend?" He teased you with the last word, smirking down at you.

You sighed in annoyance, "And you're just gonna let Hongseok drive you and your mum around town today?"

Wonwoo smiled at you, leaning down slightly to push a strand of hair behind your ear, "She doesn't like being driven around by him too much either, she's just as annoying as you about that. And besides, I have two other cars and a motorcycle waiting for me in the garage as well, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, princess."

You gulped, feeling a rush of heat coming to your cheeks again, making you push his hand away from you,

"Stop that," you spoke hushly, only making his grin widen at your reaction.

You felt his thumb stroke your cheek for a second, "But I really enjoy seeing you like this."

"I'm gonna go," you announced again, to which Wonwoo smugly replied,

"You've said that before."

"Yeah, and now I'm actually fucking going to," you looked down at your hands for a quick second before looking up again, catching him with raised eyebrows, awaiting another one of your complaints, "How do you know I'm not gonna crash it?" You knew you were provoking him. That was exactly your plan.

"Please be careful. We don't want you to get hurt, do we?"

"I was talking about the car."

He shrugged, "I have insurance."

"What if I spill something inside of it?"

A nod and a smile from him, "There are people that can clean that."

"What if it gets dirty?" That question got a deep chuckle out of him as he took a step closer to you, leaving you, once again, little room to breathe normally.

"The dirtiest thing that car could come across can only be you and your foul mouth." You gasped, immediately hitting him in the chest, only making him laugh out loud as he got a hold of your wrists, holding you closely against his body, letting you feel his muscles underneath his shirt. "Tell me I'm wrong."

You fought against him, amusing the CEO, "I'm not telling you shit, let me go." With another chuckle, he let go of you, and you were finally able to walk towards the door,

"I'm leaving!"

"Bye, babe! Have a good day at work!" He shouted through the apartment, making you turn around after you had opened the door. You glared at him, holding up your middle finger, earning you a whole-hearted laugh from him.

"Bye Y/N!" Wonwoo's mother's voice came from the kitchen.

"Goodbye, Chaewon!" You smiled as you left.

In the elevator, you let your back hit the wall hard. A deep breath left your lungs as you let your head fall back and you closed your eyes. Too much had happened in the last 12 hours or so.

Suddenly, you had a fake-dating scheme going on with the one person you swore off and told yourself to not get too close to, that exact same man admitted his feelings for you while slightly intoxicated, and then you crashed on his couch, woke up with him in the same room, wearing his clothes, and now you were on your way to go and drive HIS car. The world seemed to be moving a little too fast for your liking.

Yes, you had kissed. And yes, you even had fucked. But... whatever this tension was that was going on between the two of you was something different. It started off with being purely sexual, out of hate, mixed with desire and just impulsive actions. But now...

Even though you may have had a glass too much the night before, you were sure that if you had been stone-cold sober, your body would've reacted the exact same way to his words - they were still lingering in your mind.

On my fucking knees for you Y/N.

You have me wrapped around your fucking finger, and you don't even realise it.

Didn't you realise it? Did you really not realise it? Or didn't you want to realise it?

The gifts, the invites to events, the pick-ups, that fucking fake-dating shit that you suddenly had going on because Jeon Jinyoung couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut. It all was right there in front of you.

The fake-dating Wonwoo didn't seem to want...

I thought it was a good idea. I have no idea why the fuck I thought it would be a good idea. But this is just bullshit. I can’t do it.

If he really meant it, he was a good ass actor in front of his mother.

But not only could you remember his words. You also remembered his actions. His touch. His kiss. Kisses. As much as you'd want to deny it, and at that point... you were pretty sure you were above that, they felt good. It felt too good to deny it. Your body reacted to him whether you wanted it to or not. The last time someone had engulfed you into his arms like that, kissed you like that was... never. Chanyeol used the same amount of force, probably even more, but there was no passion. At least not compared to whatever the fuck Wonwoo was doing. Because THAT was... passion. It must have been.

Everything felt so good with him. From the first kiss in the meeting room, which was way too long ago, to the quick fuck in the janitor's closet, him bending you over his table, to the night before. Him hugging you. Tightly. God... fuck, so tightly. And kissing you. Deeper than you could've ever imagined.

You had wanted more. You remembered that. As drunk as you were on him and the alcohol, you vividly remembered where your little session had ended because you were ready to go all the way for a third time with him. But he wasn't... he didn't want to.

Not tonight, Y/N. Not here, not now. I want to do this right.

Jesus... even with him not even in the room, he was able to make you feel flustered as you noticed the damp feeling of your underwear and heat, not only between your legs but also in your face. The power the words of this man had on you...

You snapped out of your daydream and noticed the elevator had long ago come to a stop, and the doors were open, leading you into the garage. You had been here before but didn't remember it as well as you would've liked to. Looking down into the palm of your hand, you did the next best thing you could come up with, which was to press the unlock button, hoping to hear the sound coming from the car or see the headlights flashing up. Thankfully, you were surprised by both and quickly found the slick black, from what you could see, Bugatti.

You sighed deeply at the sight of the monster, "What the actual fuck." Fear washed over your body at the mere thought of driving that thing across the town and even having to park with it. You whined out loud, not even caring if anyone saw or heard you - people should know what this man was doing to you. The amount of trust he must have. Or he truly just didn't care since he had other vehicles as backup. You chuckled at the thought. 

Other vehicles as backup, you could only dream of that. But then again, who would even need multiple vehicles? You have one, that's great, and if something is wrong with that one, you bring it to a workshop, you get a different one in the meantime while they're fixing it, and within a few days, you have your car back. Owning more than one was just purely to boost your confidence and show off, you rolled your eyes. There was no other reasoning behind that, or so you told yourself. And there you had it, a red flag right in front of you. Right?

-

It is safe to say, the drive with Wonwoo's Bugatti was the most nerve-wracking thing you had ever experienced. The journey to your apartment was accompanied by multiple men rolling down their windows to tell you how cool the car was, wolf whistles from the sidewalk and hundreds of eyes that followed the vehicle. You couldn't imagine having to go through that every time you drove a car like that and wondered how Wonwoo was able to do this without it getting on his nerves, but again you remembered the Wonwoo you first met and the Wonwoo you knew from the past - cocky and full of confidence. It was attractive in some way, you hated to admit.

You parked in the garage and took the elevator up to your floor, where you were greeted by an over-dramatic Bina, who had taken a seat on the floor, and her back against the wall with her head hanging in an awkward position.

"Oh, thank God, the queen has finally made it!" She jumped up in ecstasy, throwing herself into your arms, "I thought I was gonna have to call the cops to come and get you."

"Jesus," you chuckled, "Alright, alright, calm down," and patted her back before pushing her away from you, earning yourself a growl from the girl.

She stood back with her arms crossed while you fished your keys out of your bag, "You know, I would've expected you to be a bit happier to see me. We haven't seen each other in like weeks, and you just push me away like that?" You rolled your eyes and opened the door, motioning for her to go in first, but after she gave you the cold shoulder, you got a hold of her coat and dragged her inside with a yelp coming from her.

"Shut up, you idiot. You know I'm always happy to see you," the two of you took off your outerwear before walking further into the apartment, "But where are the keys I gave you? I thought you had the spare one."

With a shy grin, Binna opened one of the doors of the cupboard in the hallway and took out what you had just mentioned. She held it up, grinning at you, "Sorry."

With a sigh, you brushed past her, walking through the living room and into the kitchen to get yourself a glass of water and make her the cup of coffee she always needed early in the morning.

"Soooo," she trailed after you, singing, "What did I interrupt? At," she took a quick look at the clock on her phone, "six in the morning."

"You didn't interrupt anything," you answered her before gulping down the entire glass.

She smirked, "Well... something or should I maybe say someONE did make you quite thirsty, huh?" Wiggling her eyebrows only made you roll your eyes once again. "Where the fuck were you last night, young lady?"

While Binna stood proudly next to the counter with her arms crossed, you leaned onto the sink, debating how to start this conversation as you eyed her outfit. A thin black turtle neck crop top with no sleeves, slick black leather skirt and thin see-through tights that were underneath knee-high socks. Interesting choice of outfit for the cold temperatures outside, but nothing too surprising from someone like her.

"Maybe I should ask you that," you smirked, knowing that she wore that exact outfit for most of her first dates - of which she had quite a lot, little miss no to commitment. 

With quick steps, she stopped right in front of you, taking the glass out of your hands before pointing at you sharply, "Don't you dare change the subject. Where were you?"

You couldn't help but smile for some reason, maybe because even just the memory of it was ridiculous, maybe because it kinda made you want to smile. "You're not gonna believe me anyways."

"Says who?"

Another sigh left your lips before you locked eyes with her, holding it for a second when you finally gave her the answer she had been waiting for, "I was with Wonwoo."

It didn't even take her a millisecond to react. The reaction came right away. She gasped, taking a step back, holding onto the counter, "Shut the fuck up, no you weren't."

You chuckled, "Yes, I was. But before you-"

"SHUT. UP." She smiled brightly at you, twirling into the living room, her giggles filling the apartment, "OH MY GOD. You spent the night with him?! You said it's complicated between you two! Is this your definition of complicated?!"

You inhaled sharply, sucking the air into your lungs between your teeth, "It might be a little less complicated now..."

-

"Hm..." was the only sound that came from Binna after you had finished the story of the night before, not leaving out the slightest detail. From the unlucky encounter with Jeon Chaewon to the evening you spent together, and the night you shared with none other than Jeon Wonwoo. But most importantly, the words he spoke to you, and the feelings that were currently messing with your stomach, your head, and your heart.

"Yeah...," you breathed out, taking a quick look at your clock to know when you should be getting ready to get to work on time. 

Your friends took the last sip of coffee that was in the mug before sighing, "Not gonna lie... I don't know if that makes the whole situationship you've got going on even more or less complicated."

"I don't know either!" You whined out loud, holding your head in your hands, letting your elbows rest on the countertop. "Binna... what the hell is going on?"

"You have to know that, babes."

Even though she was right, and you very well you that she was, you wanted to hit her so bad as soon as those words left her lips.

"But one thing's for sure," she started again, coming to put her mug into the dishwasher, "That man is SUCH A FUCKING simp, oh my god."

"Binna!"

"What?! He is! He even said it himself, Y/N!" She got a hold of your hands, "He said that he was on his fucking knees for you," she made sure you were looking directly at her as she spoke to you, "That man is down bad." She stared at you for a moment before continuing, "And I'm afraid... it's not much different for you."

"Huh?!" You snatched your hands back from her grasp, "What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you even dare try to deny it! You had a smile on your lips the entire time while you were talking about him," your hand flew up to touch your lips, "AND you were blushing when you got to the kissing and simping and disgusting loving shit."

With a groan, you hid your face behind both of your hands, hoping it would somehow disguise what you were feeling right now, but as every best friend would, she knew exactly what was going on.

"It's okay to give in, Y/N?"

"What do you mean?" You lowered your hands again, looking at her in confusion.

"I understand that you might be a bit hesitant now. First, because it's fucking Jeon Wonwoo we're talking about here, and second... because of... him... you know?" She didn't have to say his name, you knew what she meant and who she was talking about. "But Wonwoo doesn't sound all too bad now..."

"You said he was disgusting!" You chuckled with a desperate undertone. Why was this all so difficult?

"Yeah," she smiled, "At the beginning, because what the fuck was up with him. But now... from what you've just said... he's a lot different from how I imagined him to be, to be honest. And..." she took a deep breath before continuing, "I know it's hard to give in, but... he seems so much different from... Chanyeol."

You shuddered at the mention of his name and shook your head, "At the end of the day every man's the same."

"Just because Chan-"

"Not only him!" You argued back, "I have proof of that all around me, all the fucking time! And for all my life! Chanyeol, Jeonghan, my own fucking father! Wonwoo's father!"

"Yeah?" She threw the argument back at you, "And what about Mingyu? Or Jisoo? Huh?!" Binna knew you wouldn't argue about these men. "They're different. So why not Wonwoo too? He sounds like... not gonna lie, he kinda sounds perfect."

"A bit too perfect," you mumbled.

She shrugged, "Yeah, so what? Why not give it a try? Why does it have to be too perfect? Why can't it just be perfect."

"Because it never is for me."

"You never know unless you try." You looked at her in disgust, making her nod, "I know, that was a disgusting quote. I know, I know, I'm sorry. But I mean it."

You crossed your arms in front of your chest and let your eyes rest on your best friend. The woman that swore off true love. "That's coming from you? The person that said she doesn't believe in true love?"

"Not for me," she stated, "I don't think it fits for me. But for you?" Suddenly your face was cradled into her hands as she was squishing your cheeks, "You are such a perfect little person. The perfect woman that I want to see get married to someone that deserves her." You smiled as best as you could in that position. "And you know who that perfect someone would be?"

"Who?" You wondered with raised eyebrows as she dropped her hands again, sending you her signature smirk, "A man that admits that he's down on his fucking knees for you."

-

After dropping Binna off at the school she works at since she got a ride from a taxi to you, you made your way to the office. Getting out of the car, knowing that you'd never drive it again was one of the most relieving feelings you have ever felt. As much as your best friend loved getting a ride in that thing, you just couldn't befriend it. It was everything you didn't want in a car.

You made sure to lock it properly and walked up the few steps to enter the lobby, greeting everyone that had already arrived there just like you would every other morning. It was a little later than you had planned to get to work, but Binna's one-night stand story from the night before took a little longer than expected, and she had to remind you once again of the chance you were letting pass if you didn't 'jump onto the Jeon train, or rather Jeon body' as she put it. Thinking back to her comment in the car made you chuckle.

The silence you were surrounded with in the elevator was quickly interrupted by the messenger sound of your phone. You looked down into your bag to get it into your grasp. The screen lit up with an unknown number right at the top of your notifications. After opening it and tapping on the messenger app, you were able to read the message, but what caught your eye at first was the picture attached to it.

You, on the couch, laying comfortably wrapped up in a blanket, while Wonwoo was sitting in the corner of the sofa next to your head, his legs stretched out on the other side of the L-shaped couch. His hand was gently placed on top of your head as if he had been brushing through your hair only moments before the picture got taken.

A rush of heat went through your body, making the blood shoot into your cheeks. You took a deep breath to calm your beating heart and hoped for the weird feeling in your stomach to pass. Yes, I know, you told yourself. Fucking heart… always ratting you out. A quick glance at the message made you chuckle:

Don’t tell him I took this photo, but the two of you were too sweet, I could help it. P.S.: very excited for tomorrow! <3 - Jeon Chaewon

After you typed a quick reply, hoping to convey the same ecstatic emotion through it, you arrived at the right floor and exited the elevator, putting your phone back into the bag and trying to calm the multiple thoughts haunting your head. You hoped not many other employees had already arrived to see you come in later than usual and were greeted with exactly just that. Most offices were still empty, making you sigh in relief. Once you reached the open area that held more tables of employees, you were greeted by silence. You frowned. Is this usually how late the others arrive to work? Or were you just abnormally early on any other day?

You brushed the thought away and turned towards your private office room, noticing the lights had already been turned on. Someone was sitting in one of the chairs in front of your desk, their back facing you, making you jump when you realised it was probably just Mingyu waiting for you. But when you dared to take a closer look, you noticed the silhouette had absolutely no resemblance with the co-CEO. They seemed to be on the taller side as well, but the haircut was quite different, as well as the build of his shoulder. 

With slow and careful steps, you got closer to the door, opening it just as slowly, and just peeking your head in before you spoke,

"Can I help you?" You managed to keep your voice strong and steady, not showing just how nervous you were at that moment. The strong gulp that followed ratted you out though.

The figure jumped at the sudden appearance of you, turning around and standing up quickly, making you gasp as soon as you came to sight with who it was. As soon as your eyes met, his fell down to the floor, just like they usually would whenever you had met ever since the fallout.

"Sehun?" You wondered in shock, your eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

The man cleared his throat, scratching the back of his left hand, finding the situation clearly uncomfortable. "Hey, Y/N."

"What the hell are you doing here?" You raised your voice slightly, stepping into your office but keeping the door open, "Get out."

"No, wait," he raised his hand to stop, "Let me ex-"

"No! What the fuck, Sehun! You can't just walk in here. Do you want to get sued?! How on earth did you even get in here?"

"Hong Jisoo let me in," he simply answered, stunning you.

"What? Jisoo? Where is he?"

Sehun shrugged, "I don't know, he told me to wait here and threatened me that he would tell Mister Kim and Mister Jeon if I did anything stupid." You had to hold back a chuckle at the thought of Jisoo threatening someone. 

You sighed, "Sehun, I really don't want to see, so please get the hell out of here."

"Let me explain why I'm here," he almost begged, taking a step closer to you.

"I don't care why you're here!" You raised your voice once again, "You're not supposed to be here. Do you know how vital this can be for this fucking lawsuit?! You can't just wa-"

"I have evidence that will help you win this case." His interruption made you shut your mouth. You stared at him with an unreadable facial expression. Just straight. No emotion.

"What?" You let the door fall closed.

He turned around to grab something off your table. Holding up an envelope, he explained, "Here is everything you need." With two big steps, he stopped in front of you, handing the envelope over to you. You reached out for it hesitantly, trying to read his eyes, but it just confused you more because you couldn't tell whether he was lying or not or what the hell he was trying to do.

"What do you mean?" You tried digging deeper, walking over to your table to get your bag and coat off and opening the package. Your fingertips were tickling with anxiety as you fished out the pieces of paper. Documents filled with texts and pictures. You spread them out on the table.

"Everything that's inside here will help you guys. I promise you."

"Sehun, I don't understand, can you-"

"We stole your app." You looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. He raked his fingers through his hair, "That Parasound app that we're suing you for. We stole it from here- well, one of our employees did. For Chanyeol. It was never ours in the first place. It was yours." Before you knew it, he was standing right beside you, putting the documents into an understanding order, showing you each picture as he continued his explanation, "Here. These pictures were taken with your security cameras, but we took that footage with us and deleted it. Kinda deleted it... I found it again. First, one of your employees, Chen, came to your office. I don't know how they just let him through, but they did. He managed to get past everyone else and held some kind of presentation. Here." The picture of the security camera made you gasp. You remembered him. He was the guy you hadn't been familiar with. The guy you wondered what he was presenting when you met him in the meeting room. So he actually wasn't an employee you hadn't seen before. He never worked there in the first place.

"While he was doing that, Baekhyun managed to sway one of your employees to let him borrow her ID to get into the building and asked her about some security stuff. I don't know much about that, that's his speciality." You recognised that face anywhere. Nahee. That bitch. One compliment from a guy, and she's on her knees already choking on his dick. You rolled your eye in frustration, but Sehun continued.

"Then," he brought out a new set of pictures, "The night of the raid. Those were Minseok and Baekhyun. They managed to get in, turn off the alarm and then had around five minutes to get everything they needed, took the security footage with them and ran off. That's... how we got your stuff."

...

...

...

This. What the hell was this. What was happening?

Everything that happened in the past weeks, even months... suddenly everything came together. How on earth was all of that somehow connected to each other... How long had they been planning this?

You stumbled back, holding your hand in front of your mouth. Sehun stood on the side, watching you carefully, a look of guilt written all over his face. You didn't dare to even take a quick glance at him, not knowing what your reaction would be. There was nothing you felt at that very moment. What were you supposed to feel? Surprised? Shocked? Hurt? Stupid? Dumb? Because all of it was suddenly making sense. Because somehow no one thought of putting two and two together. But who would've thought of such a master plan? One man. There was one man that would do exactly that - and that was Park Chanyeol. What a menace that man was...

You expected a lot of bad things to come from him. You shouldn't be surprised. And yet you were. How were you supposed to imagine him doing such a thing? No normal person could ever come up with that type of plan, but then again, Chanyeol was anything but a normal person.

And now you had his best friend or past best friend, you guessed, in your office, showing you every single piece of evidence he had in his hands against the one person that had taken him under his wing and given him a job when he needed one. Chanyeol and Sehun had known each other ever since you could remember. It had always been Chanyeol and Sehun. They were known by the entire campus. Teachers knew them, students knew them, hell, even some parents were familiar with their names. They had built up their little empire of Exodus Entertainment and now Sehun was ready to throw that all away. For what was right.

"I'm sorry, Y/N-"

You were quick to stop him with a raise of your hand.

"Why are you showing me this?" Your voice was suddenly not much but a quiver, quiet and breathy.

Sehun sighed, trying to find something his eyes could be fixed on, "I don't know... I... I'm so fucking tired of this. I don't want to do it anymore. I don't know what Chanyeol was thinking when he came up with this plan... but I don't want to be any part of it anymore. I never wanted to," he quickly added, "But you know... you know how he can be sometimes."

You could feel tears coming dangerously close to dropping from your eyes, "Oh my god." Another shivering whisper.

"I know this is probably a bit much. All at once-" he lowered his tone, speaking carefully now.

"Oh, you think?!" A salty chuckle fell from your lips as you turned your head to glance at him.

He dropped his gaze to the floor, "I just really thought you should know about this. I'm sorry this happened, Y/N."

A moment of quietness washed over the two of you. You took a few deep breaths to gather yourself and pinched the bridge of your nose, hoping to get a clear mind again. There was too much going on right now.

"You shouldn't be the one to say sorry," you broke the silence.

Sehun nodded and lifted his head again to meet your eyes. He looked at you in agony. You could tell. You saw the boy you had met in the first year of college again. The quiet one who was too shy to talk to anyone, but suddenly was the life of the party around the people he was comfortable with. The quiet boy who loved helping you understand your homework better. The quiet one who never missed a study date, and would stay up late to explain everything in detail to you. The one Chanyeol always got overly jealous of whenever you spent 'too much' time together.

He wasn't the asshole that betrayed you. That used you. No. He was the good friend you had lost thanks to an asshole you now had to call an ex-boyfriend.

"Maybe not only me," he started, "But I have so much to apologise for... to you," and gulped, "I hope this might be a start to that." Your eyes fell down to his hands, where one was scratching the back of the other again - a bad habit he had never gotten rid of. With quick steps you approached him, wrapping your arms around him tightly, surprising him as he stood still, and just let the moment rest. After realising what was happening, he freed his arms from your embrace and wrapped them around you, holding your shoulders in comfort. You let your head rest on his shoulder, closing your eyes as you whispered,

"Thank you."

He squeezed you just a little tighter, "Thank you too."

With a deep breath in, you let go of each other, gazing into each other's eyes with a smile, remembering what the two of you used to be. Friends. Good friends. Alys. All before it was pulled away from you.

Just when you went back to look at the document again, Sehun spoke up again, "There's another thing," making you look up at him. He thought for a second before opening his mouth, "There's a USB stick in the envelope," you immediately reached for it, turning it around to let the stick fall onto the table, getting you curious, "There...," he lowered his head, "There are women... who..." He spoke slowly and seemed to be unsure of how to continue this conversation, careful with every word he was about to say. "There are women who... have similar stories to you... with Chanyeol," his statement made your bloodstream stop. "Very similar encounters. And they're ready to speak up on it and make sure he will never be able to run a company ever again. Their statements are on the USB stick. You can take a look if you want to," he took a closer look at you, trying to make sure you were okay with what he was saying, "You don't have to. But most of them would be ready to speak in court. I talked to them."

You met his eyes again. While his were full of pity and hope, yours were red. Red and filled with water, just waiting to run down your cheeks. 

"Are you serious?"

He nodded with a slight smile lighting up his face, "Dead serious."

"Why are you doing this?" You couldn't help but to let the question tickling your tongue fall from it finally.

Sehun sighed and shook his head, "I'm tired of this. I don't want to continue supporting a man like him."

You nodded in understanding, scared of what your voice would sound like if you opened your mouth. By closing your eyes, you hoped to suck the tears back into your body, just wanting the haunting memories of what used to be a relationship to rest in the past and be forever forgotten. Now was your chance to come clean with it. To let everyone know. To finally free yourself from the daunting reminders of 'love'.

Your gazes met for a last time, eyes sparkling with the reflection of the lights above.

"Thank you," you mouthed, making Sehun nod. You didn't need to speak. He knew.

-

Even though you were thankful that morning when you had stepped out of the Bugatti, thanking whoever was up there in the sky that you would never have to drive that thing ever again, you were even more thankful that you still had it as you had rushed to Wonwoo's apartment. You prayed that there was no speeding ticket awaiting you in the future, but that wasn't for certain because never had you ever driven around the city with a speed such as then.

The rain didn't help much and only scared you more. You didn't know you were scared of the rain until you had to drive at full speed in a sports car through a packed city during rush hour. Now you knew that you were scared of said thing.

Hastily, you gathered the envelope from the passenger seat and left your bag in the car as you exited it. You had parked on the side of the street, needing to get inside the building as quickly as possible. Plus, you weren't sure if they would let you into the garage or if you'd need a special card or key - who knew in a fancy complex like that.

With quick steps and your free hand shielding your eyes, not caring how wet you and your hair were getting, you made it to the entrance, looking for the right button to press, but there were no names next to them. Why the fuck were there no names written next to the buttons?! You whined in frustration and decided to just hit one button after the other, thinking that one of the people behind those doors must expect something or someone and might open up. To your luck, it only took five seconds before you heard a buzz, letting you know, you were able to open the front door. You pulled it towards you harshly before stepping in, rushing over to the elevators, only to assault the buttons there as well - sometimes logic helps and is good and sometimes your mind will convince you that the quicker and more often you would press a button, it would help the elevator to arrive faster.

After another moment that passed way too slowly, it finally arrived and you pushed yourself in, remembering the right floor and waiting for the doors to close.

One the entire way up, you couldn't help the anxious trembling of your leg. You looked down into your hands that were clutching onto that paper as if your life depended on it. Because in one way or another, it did. What you were holding was so precious. More precious than anything you had ever owned. You were certain that your brain still hadn't fully fathomed just what was going to happen once the information that you were holding would leak to the public, and most importantly, the court.

The familiar 'ding' of the elevator let you know you had arrived, making you look up and exit it the second the doors opened for even just a centimetre. You cursed as you walked towards the wrong direction and had to turn around but breathed out deeply as soon as you arrived at Wonwoo's apartment door. There was no time to be wasted. You knocked. Hard. If it hadn't been the most expensive-looking apartment complex you had ever seen, you probably also would've shouted out his name, but that was not the time to make enemies with the neighbours - there'll be another time for that.

On the other side, someone must have approached the door as you heard a faint, "No, wait!" Before the door opened. You raised your head, mouth already open to start rambling to the CEO you were expected to be met with. But that was not the case. In front of you was a brunette woman. Probably around your age.

You shut your mouth quickly and just continued staring at her.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was kind. Too kind, which immediately made you think negatively of her.

Were you at the wrong door? No. There was no way. The apartment behind her looked exactly like Wonwoo's. But then... who the hell was she? And why was she wearing a sweater just a little too big and cut too differently to be an oversized one for women...

taglist: @nctxtrash @leicy0756 @hoe4wonwoo @jeonwonhi @nothingbutadeadesceane @smileywoo @angelarin @onewoowonderboy @goodforgyu @kavvs @sugarmilkchan @sweetheart-gs @wonforgyu @lilactangerine @meltinghershey @wonw00t @soonchanshua @jayswifeuwu @allorysayshi @shaurenlaw @drama-1998-girl @yoonren07 @malakasae @sseuyeon @venusprada @jeminiepabo @billboard-singer @safsaf1980 @monmarguerite @ji-jii-visha @renjunphile @haogyuslut @destinyg237 @taestrwbrry @renkkuri @travelleratheart101 @love-svt @sunshinein17 @morklee02 @wonuziex @pwwarkjisung @hokuuu @clvudisan

Stop, squishy and cute Wonwoo!!!! I didn't know I needed this today, but I did!! He's just too precious! 😍🥺 Thank you for writing this and sharing this, Khione!!

conclusion number three | jeon wonwoo

➝ Wonwoo x Reader

➝ fluff / slice of life / nonidol!au

➝ total word count: 1.4k

➝ notes, warnings: just them being cute. not proofread. wonwoo can be a lil ooc. Inspired by this post. i just love wonwoo so much, this is a wonwoo simp post. enjoy!

summary: you have a hypothesis you'd like to prove.

Wonwoo, you've come to realize, loves being complimented.

He doesn't say it out loud, doesn't do anything that screams "compliment me!", but he's not very subtle about his smile either when someone genuinely compliments him about something.

It's something that you've only noticed recently, and you're still keen on proving this hypothesis by throwing in compliments on random intervals throughout the days just to see how he'd react.

"You look very nice today." You say out of nowhere when Wonwoo is looking down at his coffee.

He blinks, a little confused, though you don't miss the shy smile he sports that's gone as quick as it appears.

"Thank you? We've been sitting here for an hour, though?" He doesn't say out loud the question of why you're only saying this now, but it's there and you shrug carelessly.

Conclusion number one: compliments about his look doesn't bring as much as a reaction from him even though it's there.

When you pass by a pretty flower wall, you ask Wonwoo to take a picture of you, something that he happily complies with and never complains about. 

After taking a few shots, he proudly shows you the pictures and says that the pictures came out nicely though he can take more if there’s a certain angle you prefer. You're looking at him instead of your phone, haven't even properly looked at the pictures, but your hypothesis is more important now so you say it anyway.

"You're very good at taking pictures, aren't you?"

He tilts his head before he looks at you, then smiles before he adds nonchalantly as he scrolls through the pictures he’s just taken, making your whole face warm with his comment.

"You're just very pretty."

Conclusion number two: he can brush off compliments about his skill easily though he seems pleased either way. (Need to confirm by complimenting his other skill that can't be turned back to you. Smooth bastard.)

You stumble upon a small festival on your way to dinner. Deciding to eat there instead, you and Wonwoo make you way through the festival, looking at the stalls along the street. You swing your hand as you walk through the sea of people, a little too excited to notice you've been swinging it a little too much.

Wonwoo grabs your hand with a chuckle, and when you look at him in question, he shakes his head without offering any explanation.

Looking at your hand in his, you hum before you tighten your hold and feel Wonwoo returns the gesture.

"Your hand is very warm, I like it."

He stops in his tracks, his eyes soft as he pulls you closer to him.

"You're very cheesy today, aren't you?"

Hm. Of course he'll catch up. At least he'd never know why you're doing this.

"What? I can't compliment my boyfriend?" You try to sound nonchalant, accompanied by a shrug that Wonwoo doesn't really buy.

He doesn't prod though, because what's the use in prodding when he can just accept compliments from the person he loves? There's no reason whatsoever for him to hold it against you. So he shakes his head and you feel the soft brush of his thumb against your knuckle before he pulls you to walk again. 

You stop by a crepe stall because you're craving sweets, your body swaying a little due to your excitement; you can’t remember the last time you went to a festival, probably a few years back during university, and to be here with Wonwoo of all people makes everything exciting–even waiting for an overpriced crepe because you have him by your side.

You press your lips together to stop the embarrassing squeal that’s trying to get out of your lips when the food vendor hands you your crepe, which says a lot about how enthusiastic you really are about the whole thing. Wonwoo chuckles yet again, keeps it in his mind to find more festivals to go to if you're this enticed by the thing.

Seeing an empty bench a while ago, you make your way back there in hope it’s still empty so you can eat your crepe and the takoyaki Wonwoo has just bought in peace. Thankfully, it is still empty, an old couple sits on the bench next to you and a group of three guys on the bench next to them.

Wonwoo sets the takoyaki and the bubble teas between the two of you, enjoying the festival vibe as he nibbles on a piece of takoyaki. You happily eat your crepe too, though you eye his food and wonder if it’s good. You don’t usually like takoyakis, but they seem good today and you blame it on the vibe around you.

“Want to try some?” He asks when he notices you frowning at the treat he’s holding.

Your lips purse in thoughts, and he breaths a chuckle before he pushes it in front of your lips. You take a full bite, and regret it immediately because it’s hot and you panic when your crepe almost topples from your hands.

The sound of Wonwoo’s laughter fill your ears despite the noise around you, and even though he’s laughing, his hands are already busy taking the crepe from your grip and handing you your bubble tea so you can cool the inside of your mouth down. He hands you a napkin too, something you gratefully take as you cough into the thing.

You say a bunch of incoherent things which Wonwoo guesses is just you telling him to shut up, but the way your cheeks turn completely full and you’re flailing your hands are just nothing but adorable to him that he can’t help grinning despite his worry.

When you finally manage to swallow the takoyaki (which does taste good and you would’ve appreciated had the prior incident not existed), you hit him square in the shoulder for laughing at your misery.

“Good to know my boyfriend likes seeing me suffer.” You glare.

“You know it’s not that.” He says softly, the smile never leaving his face. Before you can say anything back, he absentmindedly reaches out to wipe the corner of your lip with his thumb, then licks whatever that was there and continues with his meal.

You blink continuously, your whole face warm and you have to bite your lip from smiling too hard. 

What the fuck?

It seems like something he does without even realizing, because when he notices you’ve frozen in place, he looks genuinely confused and asks what happened like he didn’t just do what he did in a very public place.

Wonwoo has never really been one for public affections though he takes care of you the same. He doesn’t mind holding hands; but that’s about it–everything else he does behind the comfort of your door.

“Hey.” He pokes your cheek. “Why are you lagging?”

“Not funny.” You look at him unimpressed before you take your crepe back in embarrassment, though that doesn’t discourage him to grin at his own little joke. “Also, nothing.” 

“Ah, young love.” You hear the grandma next to you say to her spouse, something that Wonwoo seems to catch too because he shares that look with you. “Remember when you used to do that to me, too?”

The grandpa’s voice is too small for you to catch on, but what she says next gets your heart beating in an arrhythmical beat and you force yourself to lock your gaze on Wonwoo despite your embarrassment, his eyes avoiding yours, the tip of his ears blazing red, and he’s pressing his lips together so hard as if to contain a smile.

“They seem very in love, don't they? The young man takes care of the girl so well, I hope our son takes care of his wife like that too.”

“You take care of me well, huh?” You whisper, and he pretends like he doesn’t hear you regardless of the way he looks down to hide his smile that he’s no longer able to contain.

You grin at this, and you take his face in your hands so he’ll look at you. You’re a little surprised at how warm his face is, and you decide to spare him from the teasing you were originally about to do and you say another thing instead.

“You do take care of me very well; I’m glad I have you with me.” 

Conclusion number three: Wonwoo loves it very much when someone compliments him on the way he is with you.

This was a sweet fic about our sweet Boo.

when it's your turn to be patient and love in silence

a/n: nothing. I miss seungkwan and it's been some time since I wrote anything for him. Comfort fic, bc Seungkwan is my comfort🩷

Seungkwan is a gentle lover.

He always tries to communicate without being too forceful nor does he make you feel bad when he doesn't understand what you're trying to say.

He pries in the best way possible; rearranges your words when your sentences are too much of a mess and holds your hands through everything when you need him to.

For the whole time you've been with him, it feels like he's always the one comforting you. Now that it's your turn to be there for him, you're embarrassed to say you're not sure what to do.

You'd usually try to joke and make him laugh, perhaps distract him with activities outside.

But you can tell that's not what he needs now.

No.

He doesn't need a distraction.

He needs to feel whatever’s bothering him right now and lets it pass whenever it will pass. You're not certain how to deal with him when he's like this, but perhaps he doesn't need you to do anything special.

"I've always liked your scent, have I ever told you?" You say quietly, plopping yourself right into his embrace.

Seungkwan jumps a little, but wraps his arm around your shoulder like it's second nature to him before he readjusts your position on the sofa.

Usually, he would've teased you about it to hide his embrassment, always so weak against your compliment. But he simply smiles and rests his chin on top of your head.

"Really?"

"Mmhm." You nod, your finger caressing his arm. "They make me feel calm."

He chuckles, the sound is weak but you're glad you can hear it.

"I better not change my parfume then."

You let go and frown at him, and he tilts his head in confusion. He's adorable like this, but it's not the time so you click your tongue before speaking.

"I don't mean your perfume." You bop his nose. "I mean your smell."

"I have my own smell?"

"You do." You nod and returns to your previous position, satisfied that your message is delivered. "It's just... your smell. I can't describe it."

You feel his chest vibrate as he chuckles once again, making your heart warm at the sound of it.

If this was your usual Seungkwan, he would've prodded about it; asked why you liked it, how did it smell, and why you've only said it now. But Seungkwan settles for: "I'm... glad that you like it then."

"You know I like everything about you." You say without missing a beat, though you do miss the way his heart skips one and the subtle way he holds you a tiny bit tighter.

"Thank you." He whispers against your head.

You nod and buries yourself tighrer into his chest, hoping that your warmth reaches him this time around, able to give him comfort no matter how small.

---

Maddie!!!! What a chapter!! I'm so happy I finally had the time to read this and sad I didn't get to read it when it came out! Mama Jeon, fake dating (although is it really fake, because I feel they've kind of been dating), alcohol, too much alcohol...what a ride!! And FINALLY some communication!! I was surprised that it was Wonwoo who actually started the conversation (and subsequent confession!?). I love these two and can't wait to see what happens!!

Amour-Haine & Co. | Chapter 14 |

series masterlist

warnings - swearing, alcohol, mentions of emotional abusive parents, toxic relationships

word count - 14.3k

A/N: this one here... ui... I deleted this chapter so many times bc I wasn't happy with it. now I'm uploading it like this. It took a different route than expected, but oh well... I hope you enjoy it :)

"That I'm on my fucking knees for you, Y/N."

Mum?!

"Wonwoo!" The woman ran towards the CEO, her arms open wide and a big smile decorating her already beautiful face.

Mum???

Wonwoo took a few steps forward to welcome her with a hug, the shocking impression still on his face while your feet seemed to have rooted themselves into the floor. You eyed their interaction from your position, your mind somewhere else but in the room, but your ears caught enough of their conversation to earn your attention.

"Jesus, have you been working out even more?" Jeon Chaewon released her son from her embrace, holding onto his forearms tightly, "I told you to stop that and start taking care of yourself like a normal person," and hit his arm gently. "How dare you not contact me, by the way? You bought a new company together with Mingyu, I have to find out you're in a relationship through your father, out of all people, then you're getting sued and you don't even call me-" hold on, what did she just say?

The CEO interrupted her questioning, taking her hands off him and embracing them into his, "Mum, calm down. What are you even doing here?"

She chuckled, "Is that how you greet your mother after a year of not seeing her?" And shook her head, "Unbelievable..."

"Mum-"

She stopped him with a smile and another slap, "No, 'mum'. I know it's very unexpected, especially now with everything going on, but still..." Neither one of them knew how to continue the conversation, and you weren't about to interrupt their little reunion. The scene was just as overwhelming for you as it seemed to have been for Wonwoo.

Unsure of how to go about the situation next, you decided to slowly and quietly make your way into your own office, giving the pair the privacy they deserved. 

Just as you turned around, your ears perked up at the sound of the woman speaking again, "You've got a lot of explaining to do, young man."

The deep sigh that came from Wonwoo was unlike anything you had ever heard. Deep. And heavy. Something you knew from yourself only too well.

"I know..." his voice was quieter than before - and much softer. As soft as you had only ever heard it once before. "Let's go to my office." She nodded but didn't follow her son when he turned around, 

"You're not coming?" You were about to open the door, but stopped mid-action when she continued, "Y/N?" You thought you would be sly with your disappearance. 

"Hm?" You turned your head, immediately meeting Wonwoo's panicked gaze before ignoring it and giving his mother all your attention.

"Oh no, mum, I'm sure Miss Yoon's got work to do," he tried to reach for the woman's arm, who sneakily avoided his touch, only to hit him across the head, making Wonwoo flinch.

"How dare you talk to her like that. You don't address your girlfriend by her last name, even with other people around," she scolded him, immediately catching you off-guard,

"Wh-"

"Right, I'm sorry," he quickly apologized, sending you a quick glance, raising his eyebrows for the shortest second possible. You got the sign but had to hold back a deep sigh. Where was he going with this?! What was he trying to do?

You wanted to interfere, but as soon as your eyes found the awaiting gaze of Jeon Chaewon, you just couldn't. Her eyes were sparkling like the brightest stars in a dark night sky. Like the fireworks you'd only get to see on New Year's Eve, right there in the form of her eyes. Only the eyes of a loving mother could hold that gaze. A sight you remembered very well and which you hadn't seen in quite some time.

"I-," you what? What were you going to say? How could you now say no to this woman in front of you... 

Frantically, your eyes met Wonwoo's for a quick second before you put your best fake smile on, "I'll be with you in a minute, I- I just... have to check on something in my office," and covered your nervous lying. 

It seemed to have satisfied Miss Jeon as she sent you another one of her bright grins before turning around, passing her son and entering his office before him as he was still standing in the same spot, his eyes fixed on you. He was about to say something, but you just shook your head and headed to your private room right away, not wanting to spend another second in this uncomfortable situation.

With quick steps you were in your office, immediately throwing your bag onto the couch in the corner. You ran your fingers through your hair, getting annoyed when they suddenly got stuck in the knots that had formed. Frantically, you pushed your hands down, flinching at the feeling of some strands getting caught under your rings and getting ripped out of your scalp. You sighed.

That was not how you had planned your day to start. That was not what you could have ever expected to happen. Wonwoo's mother just showing up suddenly? Her mistaking you for-... how did that come about... 

Once again, you found yourself caught up in the memory of her voice. Her calm tone, her loving gaze, that spark in her eyes, only a mother could hold.

Your feet brought you deeper into your office, closer to the couches, where your bag had tumbled down onto the floor, the content spreading across the floor. You cursed under your breath, got rid of your jacket and threw it onto the cushioned seats before kneeling down to gather everything that had fallen out. 

After getting everything back inside your bag, you were about to stand up when the sound of your phone ringing again made you reach for it. You fished it out of the bag and, just as expected, were faced with the caller id of your father. A deep sigh tumbled from your lips. How much longer could I ignore him, you wondered. His name has been popping up ever since that morning. He had found out about the lawsuit. Of course, he did. You knew it. There wasn't a way that he wouldn't have found out at some point, but you had hoped to be able to push it further away from you for as long as possible. There was no going back now. You pressed the green button to accept the call.

"How fucking dare you!" The alarming voice of your father rang through your ear, and the volume of it made you shove it away from your ear. "I trusted you with this company! You're getting fucking sued, and you didn't even dare to tell me?! Are you really that fucking dumb?! And how dare you ignore all of my calls?! I've been trying to reach you for hours, and don't come at me with some stupid fucking excuse, I'm so tired of that shit!" 

"Dad-" you tried to stop him from continuing throwing these words at you, but you knew about his anger, and you knew there was no way you were able to stop him.

"NO! I really thought I raised you better than that!" You closed your eyes and let the phone rest on the couch, your knees still the only support on the cold floor. His voice was loud enough, you didn't have to put him on speaker. "At first you embarrass me with that sudden office romance you've got going on with Wonwoo, and now you won't even tell me about a fucking lawsuit?! What kind of daughter are you?! This is not only embarrassing but even humiliating to me! What do you think this makes me look like, huh?! Have you thought about that?! I bet you haven't!"

"Dad, please-" your voice was too quiet for him to even hear.

"I don't know what the fuck is going on in that head of yours, but you better fix it, or I'm going to fix that position you're in. How dare you even believe you deserve that spot as COO. Jesus Christ...," he took a deep breath before continuing, "You fucked up, Y/N. You fucked up bad, I hope you know that. And I hope you know how-" The call suddenly ended. With your eyes still closed, you enjoyed the sudden moment of silence. You expected that reaction from him. You expected every harsh word that fell from his lips. But hearing them from the man you had to call your father... that hurt. Denying it wasn't helping. As much as you would've loved to pretend his words didn't hit you, you couldn't.

"Don't listen to him." The familiar deep voice spoke up from behind you, making you open your eyes. You stared at the bookshelf in front of you, only seeing the silhouette of the CEO getting closer from the corner of your eye. "He's mad and probably doesn't even know what he's saying." His comment made you let out a chuckle. A chuckle filled with hurt and pain. So much pain.

You lowered your head, "He knows exactly what he's saying." It was only then that you felt the tightness of your throat. It made you gulp.

"Y/N-" his soft tone was trying to comfort you, but you pushed it away.

"What do you need?" You changed the subject, still not facing him.

Wonwoo was silent. He took a few more steps closer to you, stopping in front of you and kneeling down. "My mother was worried because you said you'd be with us in a minute, and it's been a bit longer than that. She made me come check on you."

You quickly forced the corners of your lips to lift before running your hands through your hair to push it out of your face and lifted your head. That's when you found the man's worried eyes glued on you, expecting you to say something.

"Right," you nodded, "Sorry." You were about to push yourself back to stand up, but Wonwoo's hands on your wrists stopped you, your eyes immediately looking down at his touch, before going up again.

"Y/N-"

"I'm okay." You were quick to interrupt him, answering the question he didn't even ask. "It's okay. I'm good." 

For a second too long, his gaze interlocked with yours. He reached out with his hand, his palm stopping at your cheek to press against it gently as his thumb wiped away the tear that had made its way from your eye. A touch you would have never let happen weeks ago. Not even in your head, would you have let Wonwoo touch you that softly. But right then, your body almost betrayed you as you felt the need to lean into the warmth of his palm. 

You lowered your head in shame, not realising you had started crying, making him take his hand back.

Wonwoo gulped, "I'm sorry."

You raised your head in confusion at his statement, "What are you sorry for?"

He cleared his throat, "For not thinking about the consequences of not telling your father even though you wanted to tell him. I didn't think he'd react like that." His words were filled with honesty. His voice sounded like pure regret. Even in his eyes, you could see the sincerity behind everything he had said.

A sad smile formed on your lips as you slowly shook your head, "He would've reacted like this either way..." your voice getting shakier and shakier with each word, "He... he's already disappointed in me...for multiple reasons... one more won't hurt, right?" The theoretical question brought even more tears to your eyes as you locked with his gaze again. You pressed your lips together tightly, hoping to suppress them from shaking as the tears were dreading to spill. The whimper sat in the back of your throat just waiting to come out. Just like you had done many times before, you let your head fall back, trying to blink the tears back into your body before standing up, making Wonwoo do the same just a second later. He kept a concerned facial expression on you while you shook your head and tried to make yourself appear normal by fixing your hair and outfit.

"You don't have to-"

"I said, I'm okay," maybe by repeating them, you could convince yourself that you might actually were. When, in fact, you weren't.

"I wasn't about to ask you that," the CEO let you know, lowering his body down to pick up your bag and placing it on the couch, next to where your phone- where was it? It had been there only a few minutes ago.

You nodded and shifted your gaze down to your shoes, eyeing his feet that were coming closer to you, stopping only a few centimetres in front of you.

"I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to pretend that his words didn't just affect you."

You shrugged, "They didn't," and crossed your arms before looking up again after you didn't get an answer back from him. But as soon as you faced him again, he only glanced at you with raised eyebrows and his hands hidden away in his pockets. 

For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence. Nothing but the two of you, staring into each other's eyes, both knowing what you had just said was far from the truth, and both waiting for the other one to continue this conversation.

"So?" You started again, "For how much longer do you want to keep your mother alone?"

He breathed in some air through his teeth and made his way to your left, making you turn towards him, your back now facing the window wall behind you. "For as long as it takes you to admit that you're not okay," he eyed you, switching his gaze to something behind you for a second, "Besides, she's watching us anyways."

"What?!" Your eyes widened as you turned around to find the smiling woman's gaze longing at the two of you. "Oh, god," your head snapped back, and your hands immediately flew up to brush over your cheeks, hoping to wipe away any access trails the tears had left. "Okay, okay," you spoke mostly to yourself while looking around the room, trying to locate your phone. You patted down the side of your pants, thinking that you may have put it into your pockets without realising. But you didn't. You decided to ignore it and focused back on the man in the room,

"What do I do?" But he just looked at you confused and surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"With your mother," you nudged your head slightly towards her direction, "W-Who does she think I am? What does she think... we are?"

Wonwoo nodded at the sudden realisation of your question and leaned back against your desk, his arms crossed in front of his chest, "She thinks we're dating."

"But why?" You sent him a confused glance, "She... she mentioned something about her ex-husband..." and trailed off.

The CEO sighed, "My father told her." You continued looking at him with the same facial expression, making him continue with a smirk, "You remember the dinner? We're great actors." And then the last puzzle pieces snapped together.

"And he told his ex-wife about that...?" Your eyebrows scrunched as you let the scenario run through your head. What an interesting conversation to have with someone.

Wonwoo shrugged, "I'm surprised as well, trust me. The fact that he even dared to call her because of some bullshit like that. He knows he shouldn't, but that man doesn't care."

"He shouldn't what?" You wondered, but he brushed it off,

"Doesn't matter," and pushed himself off the desk, standing back steadily on both of his feet, "So?"

"Hm?" You hummed, wondering what he meant.

Suddenly a warm smile appeared on his face. A smile that caught all of your attention. It was kind. Welcoming. It felt comforting. Somewhat familiar.

"Are you okay?"

You caught yourself being caught off guard as your eyes lingered a little too long on his lips, making you shake your head and find his eyes quickly. A forced smile made its way to your mouth and your quiet voice filled the room, "As okay as I could be at this moment, I think."

The young CEO pressed his lips together and nodded, even if it was hesitantly, "I can accept that as an honest answer."

"You have to," you shot out before thinking well enough about what was gonna come out of your mouth. What even was that supposed to mean? 

Wonwoo grinned, taking a step closer to almost tower over you, "Oh, do I?" The close proximity of your bodies let your heartbeat quicken right away. Just like it did in the elevator when you went to meet him. Just like in front of the courtroom when he tried to comfort you. The same way as when he had put his hand on your shoulder for the first time. Or his hand on your lower back before he pulled you in closer as he swept you across the ballroom floor-

"Y/N?" His voice made you snap back into the present as you found his longing gaze on you. 

"What?" 

He chuckled at your reaction but kept his eyes closely on yours, the grin tickling his lips.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," you answered quickly, shaking your head maybe a little too fast, but you pushed that thought aside and were quick to turn around, walking towards the glass door. You opened it and motioned for him to walk out first. Wonwoo approached you with a smile before raising his arm to get a hold of the door above your head, holding it open and nudging for you to walk out first. You sent him a quick look that he just knew exactly what it meant. Still, you followed his order and stepped out, but waited for him to close the door, so the two of you would walk up to his mother side by side. 

The walk to his office was no longer than 15 seconds (if you walked slower than you usually would), but those few seconds felt like an eternity at that very moment. Having Wonwoo next to you was the only thing that kept you from turning around and leaving the building - your body assured you of that. 

He took a few bigger steps to be ahead of you, opened the door to his office and ushered you inside, where his mother had already been waiting for you, now sitting on one of the couches in the corner. You opened your mouth to excuse yourself for being late, but a familiar ringtone caught your attention. The sound of your phone ringing made you turn around to see where it was coming from. You came to sight with Wonwoo fishing it out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket, making you glance at him in confusion, but he didn't even raise his head to look at you. Only after he took a look at your screen, he dared to look up, meeting your eyes. You were about to walk up to him, raising your hand to get a hold of the phone, but he stopped you,

"Sorry, I'll be right back," and sent a nod to his mother, "I gotta take this call," before leaving the room again. Your eyes followed him until he had rounded the corner, making sure he was no longer in sight.

And there you were. Alone in a room with the mother of your CEO, or boyfriend as she thought. 

"Always so busy..." her soft voice filled your ears, "I told him to take it easy, but he won't ever listen to me." You turned around to give her a smile, followed by a chuckle. "Oh well," she returned it, "Maybe you'll have better luck with that."

"I'll try," you lied to her. Lied well. You had no other choice. That woman in front of you was ecstatic about the apparent idea that her son was in a committed relationship - and you weren't about to ruin that feeling of joy.

You had your eyes focused on the corner Wonwoo had just disappeared behind, not noticing the older woman getting closer to you. Only when her hand reached for yours was when you snapped back into the present situation you were stuck in.

"So please, Y/N," she made you follow her towards the two couches in the corner before she dragged you down to sit down right next to her, "I would love to know a bit more about you. I'm sure you must be an interesting individual if you have caught my son's eye."

You chuckled nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that, to be honest," your gaze switching to the side in hopes of finding the man you were looking for.

"But I'm sure, love," she assured you with a pat on your knee, "I mean... you are the first girlfriend he ever introduced to me, so that must mean something, you know? I know, I did get here by myself, but I was expecting him to deny everything his father told me or maybe even tell me that he just wanted to annoy him by pretending to be in a relationship," her voice drifted into a sadder tone before she looked up again, meeting your eyes with one of the brightest smiles you have ever seen, "but I cannot explain to you how happy I am that that's not the case," she engulfed her hand in yours, giving it a tight squeeze, "So, tell me a little bit about yourself."

Oh no. Oh no no. This was bad. So bad. She was expecting this to be fake. Wonwoo could've just simply told her that she was right with her suspicion. But he didn't... that idiot didn't do it. And now you have to put on the best act you possibly could, to convince her of your and her son's happiness. You had to push all the nerves that had started to form in your stomach further down, suppressing them as well as possible and putting the fake smile on that had been carrying you through your entire career.

"Okay," you smiled at her, "Well... I... ehm...," you gulped. Fuck... this was going to be harder than you thought. Concentrate. 

You wanted to meet her gaze, but as soon as that happened, you were scared that she would be able to see right through your lies, so you decided to let your eyes travel around the room, holding still on her only for a few seconds.

"I've been working here for quite a while... way before Wonwoo and Mingyu took over. And... ehm," you cleared your throat, "But I've gotten the position as COO once they became CEOs."

"Oh, what were you before that?" She seemed truly interested in what you were telling her, somehow bringing you ease and making facing her a lot easier.

"President. My father made me the President," you answered her with a tight smile on your lips.

She looked enraged once the words had reached her ears, "Only president?!" The woman didn't shout, but it was clear how she felt about what you had told her. She scuffed, "Oh well, doesn't surprise me, thinking about what I've heard about your father." Once she had finished, it seemed like she realised what she had said as her facial expression changed in an instant, "Oh god, I'm so sorry," she covered her mouth with her hand, "I didn't mean to talk badly about your father, I hope you don't-"

"Don't worry, don't worry," you chuckled, instinctively reaching for her arm to hold, "I'm not on good terms with him anyways." For some reason, it felt okay to let her know that.

A relieved sigh left her lips, "Thank god not," she laughed, "I got so worried, I'm so sorry," she grabbed your hands once again, making you look her in the eyes, "I'm truly sorry that you had to work for him. Like that. Even if just half of the things I've heard are true... I don't want to imagine what it must've been like with him. I know how difficult men like that can be..."

You shrugged, "I lived." But it was so much more than that. You could've said so many more words, but you chose not to. 

"I did too," Chaewon sent you a sad smile, "But that doesn't mean that it was right, because it most certainly wasn't. I had to learn that the hard way..." as she went quiet for a second, you didn't interrupt the silence, feeling like there was more to come from her. But before she could continue, if she had wanted to, the two of you were interrupted by Wonwoo, who had come back in through the door, closing it on his way in.

The woman turned around, coming face to face with her son, her hands still around yours, "How did it go?"

"Huh?" The CEO seemed to have been caught off guard, breaking the gaze the two of you had been holding ever since he had walked in.

His mother grinned, nodding towards his hands that had a tight grip on your phone, "Your phone call. How did it go? Anything interesting?"

He made his way over to you, nodding in understanding, "Oh," he sat down on the other couch to your left, "No, not that interesting. Just... casualties." Your eyes never left his form. They continued following him all the way until he was sitting next to you, but even then you made sure to keep them on him. He noticed your wondering look and decided to interlock his gaze with yours again. "But I managed to clear everything. Nothing to worry about anymore." You knew he was answering his mother's question, but with his eyes so fixed on yours, you could feel the words not being directed towards her. Because there was nothing she had to worry about, there was nothing you had to worry about anymore.

"But I want to talk to you later, Y/N," he announced, catching you off guard at the mention of your name.

"Me?" You wondered, almost wanting to slap your face when you noticed how weird it sounded.

Wonwoo placed your phone on the coffee table right in front of you, never looking away from you, "Yeah. You." You nodded, showing him you understood what he had said. Even though you didn't. The moment felt like an out-of-body experience. Something just felt... off. Weird. You had never been in the same room as your boyfriend AND his mother. And now you were stuck with the man you had to pretend you were dating to your left and his overjoyed-by-the-news mother to your right. No wonder this didn't feel real. Even saying it in your head didn't sound right.

"Anyways," Mrs Jeon's clap echoed through the room, making Wonwoo's eyes change to her direction, "As I mentioned earlier, I want to get to know Y/N a little bit better," her hand found yours again, "And I thought that we could maybe do that over dinner. Tonight?"

Your eyebrows shot up as you looked at the CEO, who kept the calmest possible demeanour, "Mum-"

"Only if you're not busy, of course," she quickly added, falling into another one of her rants, that she seemed to have quite often, "I know, things right now might be a bit stressful, but you never know, maybe a quiet and comfortable nice dinner might just be the thing to help you out. I'm sorry if this comes off too strong, but I haven't seen you in over a year, and suddenly I'm getting thrown over with so many news, I hoped you would unders-"

"We'd love to."

You turned to the side to face her, your free hand coming up to wrap around hers. You hoped the smile on your face would ease her. "Right, Wonwoo?" with the same facial expression, you directed your question to the CEO on the other couch. In addition, you sent him a warning glance, raising your eyebrows just enough for him to see and for his mother to not notice. 

He quickly followed with a deep breath and a nod, "Of course. We have time, don't worry, mum."

A heavy and happy sigh left Chaewon's lips as she freed your hands from her grasp, "Oh, I'm glad," you could see her eyes shining again, "That makes me so happy. Alright then, I have a table reserved at 7, is that okay? If it's too early, we can-"

"It's perfect," you interrupted her, looking up at her as she had stood up, her bag in her hands again, "We'll be there."

"Great!" She clutched tighter onto the handle, "Wonwoo, I'll send you the address." He nodded in agreement before she continued, "And for now, I'll get going and leave you to your important business stuff," walking closer towards the door with a chuckle. The young CEO was quick to stand up and beat his mother to the door with his big steps, opening it before she could get a hold of the door handle. You stood up as well but decided to stay in your spot, following her with your gaze as she got closer and closer to the exit.

"It was very nice to meet you Y/N, I can't wait for tonight," she sent you a kind grin. Even with the extra wrinkles that appeared when she smiled, she somehow managed to look even younger. That's what living happily must do to you.

"Likewise, thank you Mrs- Chaewon," you corrected yourself, hoping she didn't catch your slip up, but her chuckle told you otherwise, "See you later," and waved her off.

The woman gave her son a quick hug, whispered something you sadly didn't catch into his ear, making him roll his eyes, and after another round of goodbyes, she left the office. Once she was out of the room, Wonwoo and you stayed still in the same spot. Your gazes travelled along with his mother, waiting for her to round the corner until she was out of sight. As soon as that happened, you let yourself fall onto the sofa with a big sigh tumbling from your lips. Before you could let your head fall back, you crouched forward, resting your elbows on your knees and holding onto your head with your hands.

"Jesus," you breathed out, "That was even more stressful than I imagined."

"Really?" Wonwoo wondered as he approached your form, filling the seat to your right that his mother had left empty. "You seemed awfully calm. Kinda worried a bit."

"Did I?" You straightened your back immediately, "Calm? Really?" His nod assured you, "Wow... I mean... I'm glad, because I feel like my heart," your hand flew up to touch your chest, "Is about to jump out." It was then that you realised just how fast it was beating and probably had been beating the entire time already.

"No, don't worry, you were doing better than expected," he admitted, leaning back to get comfortable on the couch. As you turned your body to face him better, your knee touched his. Both of you noticed it. Neither of you moved to change it.

You scrunched your eyebrows, "What do you mean 'better than expected'? What did you think I was gonna do?" The question was tickling your tongue, and nothing was holding you back from asking him.

Wonwoo chuckled, "Why did you agree to that dinner so quickly? I thought you didn't want to play along."

"I never said that," you snapped back without hesitation. Instead of answering verbally, the young CEO raised an eyebrow, making you scoff, "What? I was just surprised. I never said that I wouldn't play along."

"Alright," he simply nodded and thought the subject was done, but you had some more to say.

"And did you really think I would just break your mother's heart like that? Did you see the way her eyes lit up when she talked about us?"

A smirk slowly but surely made its way to Wonwoo's lips. He bit down on his bottom lip before opening his mouth, "Us? What us?"

"The us she thinks we are. The us that makes her eyes sparkle and her lips turn into such a beautiful smile. The most beautiful one a mother could have." You found yourself reminiscing in the memory of sitting next to her, feeling the comfort of her presence hugging you.

For a second, the CEO was quiet before he sat up straighter, "So basically you did it because you wanted to see her happy?"

"I guess so. I mean... what other reason would I have had to keep up this lie?" You answered him honestly, your mind somewhere else as could be heard by your voice.

Wonwoo shrugged, "I don't know, was just a question," and sighed. "So," he suddenly changed the subject and got up from his seating position, "Now that you've set up a date for us tonight-"

"Don't say it like that," you warned him, "That makes it sound weird." It made it sound real.

He chuckled, "What else should I call it?"

"I don't know," you mumbled, "Meet-up with your mother?"

"Alright," he nodded, "Now that you've set up a meet-up with my mum at 7pm, which is by the way during our work time, I'd love to hear how you expect us to be there and here at the same time?"

You stood up as well, taking a few steps to pass the coffee table, taking your phone with you, "We can just leave a little earlier. The guys will be fine without you and, just in case anything happens, Mingyu is still here."

Wonwoo looked at you in wonder, "You're just gonna ditch work?" Then scoffed, "I don't think your boss is gonna like that, you know?"

You smirked, "Well, tough luck then. I'm the COO and I'm saying that he and I are gonna get off work earlier so we can make his mother happy."

"Interesting," he raised his eyebrows while an amused grin played on his lips, "What a confident COO we have here." He reached into his pocket and got out his own phone before rounding his table, taking a seat on the big leather chair behind the desk, "Then I'm gonna call Hongseok and tell him he doesn't have to pick you up this evening."

"And he doesn't have to pick me up tomorrow morning either, tell him that too," you remembered that morning when you planned to get to work by subway, but were surprised by the CEO's driver waiting for you in front of your apartment complex. He assured you that he was here on request of Jeon Wonwoo and that he was not allowed to leave until you got into the car. "He didn't have to do it today either... Do you know how weird it is to just get picked up randomly?"

"He only came because I couldn't make it today, I'm sorry. I'll be there tomorrow again," he tried to assure you, but you quickly shut him down,

"No, that's not what I meant," your comment caught his attention and made him look up from the screen, "I also told you that I don't want anyone picking me up. I'm fine with using the public transport until I get a new car. I don't need a driver AND," you added right away as you saw him already opening his mouth, ready to say something, "I also don't need you to pick me up."

Wonwoo leaned back in his chair, a heavy sigh falling from his lips, "I told you I don't mind."

"And I told you I don't want it."

"What if I don't want you to use public transport. Imagine someone catching the COO of one of Seoul's biggest businesses taking the bus to work," another one of those eyebrow raises, gosh...

You shrugged and crossed your arms as you stood right in front of his desk, "Well... then they'll think I'm doing something good for the environment. We should do more about that anyways."

But Wonwoo only shook his head, "No. My COO isn't taking any kind of public transport. Not happening."

You scoffed at the use of his words, "Your COO?!"

"Yeah, my COO. Who else do you think you're working for?" He must've known he was testing your temper. He must've. There wasn't another reason you could've thought of as to why he would throw out a comment like that. 

You squinted your eyes at him, the fists your hands had formed tightening as you had to bite your tongue to hold back the statement playing on the tip of your tongue. You had two options there. Either, you don't hold back and another argument will break out because both of your personalities are too big for their own good. OR, you were going to be the bigger person, hold back all the things you would regret and get out of this situation quietly and just move on with the day. There was just one problem. And that was that the second option was never really there, thanks to your temper.

"Are you forgetting who you're talking to?" You snapped at the man, walking up to stop right in front of his desk. Wonwoo let go of his phone and set it down on the top of the table. He directed his gaze to you, looking up from his seated position, the corners of his lips curling slightly. He looked to the side with a chuckle, huffing out a little amount of air - he seemed gladly amused by your reaction as if it was right where he wanted to get you.

With a confident grin, he leaned back in his chair, his eyes gliding over your entire form. "I know exactly who I'm talking to, don't you worry."

"Then you should know when to shut your mouth," you kept an unamused facial expression, hoping he would get the message, but that fucking smirk on his lips was just a little too distracting, even for you to truly be annoyed.

"Why should I if I get to see you like this?" His question confused you. Was he getting that much of a thrill out of making you annoyed at him? Was he liking it that much? What was he trying to do...

You scrunched your eyebrows, "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

Instead of answering, he widened his grin, keeping his mouth shut, but his glance interlocked with yours. 

Something in the way he looked at you wanted you to smile like an idiot too, but you controlled it by letting out a salty chuckle, raising your hands in defence,

"I'm not giving into that. I'm not gonna be annoyed anymore."

"Sure you won't," Wonwoo nodded amusingly, blinking at you with that stupid smirk still plastered on his face.

Just when you were about to open your mouth, another snarky remark tickling your tongue, your phone in the pocket of your pants rang, catching your attention as you fished it out. A look at the screen made you let out a big huff of air, closing your eyes to contain your emotions.

The young CEO noticed your reaction, "Is it your dad?"

You nodded, "Obviously," and let your finger hover just a few millimetres over the 'accept' button, even though you knew you'd regret answering his call.

"Don't."

The deep voice made you look up, finding the dark eyes of the man in front of you immediately. He dropped his eyes down to the hand that was holding onto the phone before coming up again, staring into yours.

"Don't answer it."

Before this... he had your phone... and accepted it when it rang...

"Why?" You wondered, suddenly feeling the smallest amount of anxiety coming up in your body, "What did you do?" You followed his silhouette as he stood up, walked passed the desk and stopped in front of you. On his way, you had turned around, your ass now right at the edge of the table while he stood tall opposite of you.

He shook his head, "I didn't do anything. Just don't answer it." When you noticed him reaching forward, attempting to take the device out of your hold, you snatched your hand back, further away from him. He sighed in annoyance, but he was in no position to be the one irrigated by this situation.

"And who are you to tell me whose calls not to answer," your sharp tongue always acted before your brain could. Great character trait.

"You're boss, so give me the fucking phone," he tried to get a grasp of your phone once again, but you leaned back, extending your arm as far as possible. Another aggravated sigh, "Y/N, I swear to God..."

"You swear to God, what?" You raised your brows. Two can play that game. Both of you knew that, you've done it before. You've had moments like these before. This already felt familiar. If he could get a kick out of infuriating you, you could do the same to him.

Wonwoo lifted his head to meet your gaze. He didn't say anything. Just looked at you. Your phone was no longer ringing. There were no sounds anymore to fill the room and yet, it didn't feel quiet. You weren't sure where to look but decided to do just like him and just kept your eyes on him. Wonwoo had gotten dangerously close when he tried to reach for the phone the second time, and he hadn't backed away yet. One small lean in and your noses would've touched.

The moment that you shared in silence didn't feel long enough when he broke it with a deep sigh. Not an annoyed one. Just deep. You wondered why, but got your answer with his next action. His hands suddenly found your hips and he lifted you to sit on the desk. A gasp fell from your lips as your hands had reached for his arms for stability. His movement caught you off-guard. He surprised you once again.

Right after he had put you down, he let his hands rest on each side of you, leaning forward to lean in, getting closer to you for just the littlest amount.

"You really like playing smart, don't you?" His breath tickled your lips.

"I like getting proper answers, mister I-always-talk-in-some-kind-of-code," you sassied back, getting a chuckle out of him.

He shook his head softly, "Give me the phone Y/N. Please."

You only then noticed that your hands were still on his arms when you let go to hand him the device, this time not questioning his actions. He stood up straight, took it from your grasp and turned it around to ask you to unlock it.

"4596," you simply answered him, not even looking down at the phone as you told him your code.

Wonwoo put it in and started tapping on the screen. You noticed he had started texting someone and could already guess who it was. 

"I thought I made it clear," he mumbled, making it hard for you to understand him, but you caught it. It confused you, but you decided not to question him, mesmerized by the man standing in front of you. 

When he put it back down on the table next to you, your eyes followed his hand. You noticed the ring on his pinky and wondered how you had never caught that before.

"What did you do?" 

"Something that will hopefully keep him from calling you from now on," he let you know, his hands back on each side of you, but he wasn't leaning in as much as before.

You took a deep breath, "He's my father, I can't just ignore him-"

"He was disrespecting you. He talked to you in a way no father should ever talk to their daughter, and you still march to his tune. Hold yourself up higher. You're better than that."

The way he thought he knew you better than you did yourself infuriated you. "I'm not marching to his fucking tune. I just don't want to create useless arguments between us. I want to clear things up and move on. But with this way and just ignoring his calls, he's only gonna get angrier and-"

"And what?" He picked at your statement, "Who cares if he's angry? He's been angry before, he'll be angry in the future. He'll get over this because he's gonna find something or even someone else to shout at."

You shook your head, "You don't know him like I do."

"That's true," Wonwoo nodded, "I don't. And honestly... I don't want to. Because God knows what I'll do if I ever catch him talking to you like that when I'm in the same room as him." That caught you off guard. 

He let that statement roll off his tongue as if it was the most casual thing to say. His eyes were fixed on yours. Still. And he didn't even blink when he said it. He also didn't look away afterwards. He continued staring right into your soul, making you gulp. You had to break the eye contact, afraid of what could happen if you didn't.

"God," you sighed, "Why do you care so much about that..." your voice laced with something similar to irritation, but then again not really... because you weren't, you could never be. You were curious. You were wondering. He seemed so invested in something that had nothing to do with him and everything to do with you. 

Instead of answering, Wonwoo took a few steps back and made his way back behind his desk. You hated whenever he did that as it wasn't the first time.

"Wonwoo-"

"Just don't answer his calls, alright?" He interrupted you. You turned around to look at him again as he sat himself down in his chair, "You are under no obligation to listen to whatever that man has to say."

"And what if he suddenly shows up here? What the hell am I supposed to say then?!" It wasn't an impossible scene to happen. What your father wanted, he got - even if it was an argument with you. Even if it meant just showing up to shout at you. He would do that, you were convinced.

Wonwoo's attention was fixed on the computer when he answered, "I'm your boss, and I don't want my COO to be distracted by private calls during her work day."

You didn't correct him.

-

Shortly before the clock on your wall hit 7pm, there was a knock on the open glass door to your office. You looked away from your computer screen, and your eyes found the form of the CEO standing in the doorframe.

"You ready?" He asked you. You took a quick look at the clock in the corner of the screen and answered him with a smile and a nod,

"Yep." After closing the tabs you didn't need anymore, you shut down the PC and got up. While you scanned the desk for anything important you may leave behind, you noticed some files that were still spread out, making the space look messier than you wanted to, so you decided to collect them and put them into folders on the shelves next to you. As soon as you turned back around, Wonwoo had gotten closer to your desk, waiting patiently with your bag in one hand and your jacket in the other. You quickly made your way over to him, thanking him quietly for the gesture and took your belongings to yourself, carrying the bag over your shoulder and holding onto the jacket, knowing you wouldn't need it since you'd be in a car.

The two of you exited your office and made your way to the elevator, only making simple conversation.

"Did you tell Mingyu where you're going?" You wanted to know, remembering that you had mentioned him earlier in your conversation. Wonwoo nodded, at the same time the elevator had arrived, and he ushered you inside before entering as well.

"I told him we're meeting up with my mum," he simply answered you. Silence probably wouldn't have been awkward, or maybe it would have been... but you weren't about to test it, so you tried to keep the conversation up on your way down.

"What did he say?"

He turned to the side, raising one eyebrow at you, "About this? What was he supposed to say about it?"

You shrugged, "I don't know... kind of weird that I'm going out to eat with you and your mother... if I were him I'd be questioning it."

Wonwoo shook his head, a soft chuckle falling from his lips, that he hid by putting one finger on his lips, "No, he...," he straightened his back before continuing, "He was just mad that we didn't invite him."

"Has kind of become a casualty," you grinned, laughing to yourself in your head while your fingers tightened around the handle of your bag.

"What has?" Wonwoo questioned.

You turned your head, meeting his gaze, "You taking me to things instead of Mingyu... even though Mingyu would make more sense."

The CEO scrunched his eyebrows, "I mean... I don't know how believable Mingyu and I could fake being in a relationship." His comment made you chuckle and lower your head. Also true...

"I don't how believable we're gonna be if I'm being honest," your voice was laced with worry. Wonwoo caught that and immediately made you look at him, by moving his entire body to face you, leaning onto the wall behind him.

"We already convinced my dad. You have nothing to worry about anymore. It'll be easy," he tried to assure you, but it only helped so little.

"Easy...," you mumbled once the doors opened again, letting you into the garage where Wonwoo had parked his car.

Easy. This was going to be easy. 'It'll be easy', pff yeah, maybe for you... but it should also be for-

"Are you coming?" His familiar voice brought you back to the present as you snapped out of the mental conversation you had just had with yourself. Without answering, you followed him quickly, jogging a little to catch up with him.

Arrived at his car, Wonwoo made sure to go to the passenger side first, opening the door to let you step in. You stopped before getting in,

"I can open it myself, you know?" Turning your head ever so slightly, only then realising how close he was if you did that.

Your comment made him chuckle, "Yeah, I know. Come on," and nodded for you to get in. After making sure that you were sitting comfortably, he took his hand away from the upper doorframe where he had placed his hand as you had lowered your head to get in and closed the door to get to the driver's side of the car.

The short drive to the restaurant was spent quietly, listening to the sounds that the radio blessed you with. It was when you arrived at the restaurant, parking in front of it, when the nerves suddenly hit you. Wonwoo was about to step out, but you reached out to hold onto his forearm,

"Wait," you stopped him. His head snapped to you, glancing at you with worry filling his eyes. Before he could ask you what was going on, you continued your rant, "We should've thought about this better. W-we know nothing about each other. That's not what a couple does. Couples know each other inside and out. I don't even know what your favourite colour is, o-or... or your favourite food, or movie, or whatever. How the hell am I supposed to pretend to be a good girlfriend that your mother likes when I don't even know that stuff."

Suddenly you felt the warmth of his dry hand on top of yours as he moved it away from his arm to get a good hold of your hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Probably black, anything without fish, but I really like Pizza, and Me Before You," he grinned, "anything else?" You looked into his eyes, waiting for him to laugh at your reaction as you continued to stare at him with a scared facial expression being replaced by a surprised one. You didn't have time to answer as the doors of the car were opened, revealing staff members of the restaurant that were waiting to be able to park the car.

Wonwoo let go of your hand and exited the vehicle, leaving you in the car too hesitant to get out. With a soft whine, you got out as well, clutching onto your bag tightly, leaving the jacket on the seat, not thinking about bringing it along. The young CEO was already waiting for you, standing patiently on the side. He took a step closer, and as soon as he was right next to you, he opened his arm, offering you to interlock yours with his. Without wasting another second, you just as he asked without using his words. You had been in a similar position before. The way you were standing next to each other wasn't foreign to you. 

Only a second later, you managed to feel just as comfortable as you did on the night of the event you had attended together. You also remembered that you had to be convincing, so interlacing your arms with each other but still standing enough far away from each other for another person to fit in between you, wasn't going to look very convincing. You took a step closer and let your other hand come up, holding onto his bicep. He didn't even budge. This felt natural. Maybe a little too natural. But you didn't mind. It felt nice with him next to you. Even walking up the stairs to the extremely fancy-looking restaurant didn't make you feel anxious. Not with him by your side.

At the entrance, the host for tonight greeted you with a smile. Wonwoo let him know about the reservation of his mother and their last name and you were let in, being brought to the table, where Jeon Chaewon was already waiting for you.

"Being on time was never one of your strong points, Wonwoo," she commented as she stood up, thanking the waiter.

He cleared his throat and freed your arm, making his way closer to her to hug her, "I'm sorry, mum, we couldn't leave the office earlier."

"I know, I was just kidding," she assured him with a chuckle, passing her son to walk up to you, her arms open wide, happy to greet you as well. "I'm so glad you managed to make time for this," she whispered into your ear before letting go and ushering you to take a seat at the table for four. You expected Wonwoo to sit down on the opposite side of the table but were surprised when he joined you on your side, taking the seat right next to you, while his mum sat down right in front of you.

"And," she started a conversation, "How was your work day?" You felt Wonwoo's eyes on you and could tell he had looked at you out of the corner of your eye, but you kept your head low, pretending to look at your nails, in hopes of him answering. You have nothing to be anxious about, you tried telling yourself. Even if you were to mess up, you were sure at this point that Wonwoo would manage to cover it up perfectly.

"And how was it for you, Y/N?" You looked up at the mention of your name, meeting the kind eyes of Chaewon as she smiled at you.

You nodded and managed to get a quick glance at Wonwoo, before looking back at her, "Good. All good. Nothing very interesting happened, to be honest."

You were thankful when the waiter arrived with the wine card, ready to take your order.

-

"So... have you been talking to your father?" Chaewon suddenly asked while the three of you were enjoying the third course of the night, the dessert. Wonwoo dropped the fork, making you direct your attention towards him. Your eyes immediately fell on the clenched fist on the table. He was clearly clenching it hard by the way his knuckles were slowly but surely turning white. Like a reflex, you put reached forward to place your hand on his and took it off the table. At first, you wanted to let your hands just hang in the air underneath the table, but out of comfort, you let them drop into your lap. Thanks to the smaller size of the table, you were sitting close enough without it looking awkward. Naturally, you let your thumb run across his knuckles, feeling his hand slowly getting looser.

He took a deep breath, "Why on earth would I be talking to him?"

"I don't know," his mother was quick to defend herself, "I was just surprised when he called me and randomly started telling me about you two. I was wondering how on earth he knew about that and thought that you maybe have told him."

"And why did you pick up the phone when he called, you know-" he started, but she interrupted him

"And you know how he reacts when I don't answer calls. I know you said to ignore them, but I can't do that to a man with a temper like his." Her words sounded familiar... very familiar. You scrunched your eyebrows but got distracted when you suddenly felt your hand getting engulfed in someone else's. Looking down, you found that Wonwoo had freed his hand of the tight fist he had formed, and replaced it with holding onto yours. But gently. Very gently. He wasn't squeezing it but keeping it tight enough to make sure you wouldn't let go. Now it was his turn to let his thumb travel across your fingers, brushing over them softly, almost sending a calm shover through your body as your eyes were fixed on your lap.

"But no," Wonwoo continued, "I'm not talking to him. And I won't," he looked over at you, catching you with your head still low, "He found out about us because Y/N's dad invited us to a dinner where he also brought him. Along with some other guests."

Chaewon nodded, "I see... so you've already met him, Y/N?" Directing the question at you. You lifted your head again, trying to block out the warmth of the other hand that was still holding onto yours.

"Yeah," you quickly answered her, "But... I didn't- I mean, we didn't... really talk to each other. I just saw him. From across the table."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Of course. He can't even introduce himself to his son's girlfriend."

"Mum," Wonwoo suddenly mentioned her, his voice in the warning tone that you had already heard before.

By then you had realised that the topic of Jeon Jinyoung was something that you should avoid at all costs. It seemed to be a very touchy subject no one wanted to elaborate on. But that's what made it even more interesting to you... But you also knew that this wasn't the time nor space to find out more about the man Wonwoo called father. 

"So," you changed the subject, catching both of the other people at the table off guard, "How long are you staying, Chaewon?"

Her eyes lit up at the question, and the corners of her mouth curled up. She put the cutlery down and her elbows on the table to place her chin into her hands, "Well, I was planning on only staying until tomorrow. I really wanted to meet you and catch up with Wonwoo, but I would love to stay a little longer. Maybe we could do something together." You didn't expect that to come out of her mouth. Before you could answer, Wonwoo bet you to it,

"Where are you staying?" His eyebrows were scrunched up as he eyes his mother.

"I rented a room in a hotel, it's only for a night, but I'm sure I can extend-"

"Why didn't you call me? You could've stayed at my place" He didn't even let her finish. You felt his hand clench around your fingers again, making you put your other hand on top of it, hoping to ease him just a little bit.

Chaewon sighed with a smile, "Because I didn't want to disturb you two. And it's only for a night anyways."

"Mum," Wonwoo shook his head, clearly annoyed at her answer, "We don't- you wouldn't disturb us, please. Cancel that room, you're staying with me."

"You have one bedroom, Wonwoo," she reminded him, using her strict mother voice.

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm gonna take the couch."

"You can't just decide that Wonwoo, what about Y/N, you didn't even ask her," this made you shake your head immediately.

"Oh, no, no," you were quick to stop whatever was going to come out of either one of their mouths next, "We- we...," you glanced over at your pretend-boyfriend, who just kept an amused facial expression. He was enjoying this. "We don't- we don't live together. You can stay with him, it's no worries. Don't worry," you finished your rant with a nervous chuckle, feeling a tight squeeze from his hand, making you want to slap it away, but at the same time, you enjoyed the warmth of it and decided to keep it that way.

"But still, Y/N," she started again, "If you wanted to stay the night together, I don't want to-"

"Mum," Wonwoo repeated again with the same strict voice, "Don't. Please, I'm asking you to cancel that room. Or I will."

Chaewon looked at her son for a few seconds, silence overcoming the table before she sighed, "Jesus...," she shook her head as she got out her phone, going after the CEO's ask, "I don't know how you can handle him, Y/N."

You laughed nervously, tucking a strand of her behind your ear, looking down once again, "It's okay," hoping she hadn't caught it since your voice came out quieter than you intended to, and you weren't sure if there was an appropriate answer to her comment. But somebody else had heard it and chuckled at your words.

-

After assuring you over and over again that he in fact wasn't too drunk to drive home, you were on your way to Wonwoo's car. Somehow, and the alcohol in your system had definitely a lot to do with it, you let yourself get talked into coming along to Wonwoo's apartment by Chaewon, who wanted to spend some more time with you and, more importantly, drink more wine with you. You knew it wasn't a good idea. You would regret something about that decision, you were sure of it. But you had to play along, as Wonwoo reminded you. It'll be easy.

Thankfully, Jeon Chaewon was, very unlike her son, a bright and bubbly person, who somehow always found a topic to talk about. She filled the car ride with questions and topics, keeping you entertained and your worries in the far back of your brain. Talking to her seemed to become easier and easier with each minute you spent together. Like the comfort of a good mother, she made you feel at ease. The anxiety from the beginning of the date was long gone when you had reached Wonwoo's apartment and went up. But something else replaced those nerves. The memories. The memories of THAT night. The night that had started so well and ended dramatically, leaving you in anger and sadness. And the bad started right here in his apartment. You tried to push the reminders of that night away and begged for them to not return for as long as you were there. 

Right after you had entered the flat, Wonwoo informed his mother of the location of the wine and assured her to take whatever she wanted.

"Same goes for you too, of course," he turned his body towards you while he was looking down at his phone, sending a message to Hongseok to pick up Chaewon's bags from the hotel and bring them to his place.

You nodded hesitantly and didn't even bend down to get your shoes off, "This doesn't feel right," you commented quietly, hoping for the other woman to not overhear your conversation. 

This made him lift his head and put the phone into the back pocket of his pants as he got rid of his suit jacket, "What doesn't?"

"This," you motioned around, "You don't find it weird that I'm here?" You couldn't hold it back anymore.

Wonwoo grinned, "Well, you've been here before, so..."

"Yeah, and we know how that ended," you snapped back, not realising how sharp it sounded by accident. He nodded understandingly,

"Do you want to go home? Hongseok can bring you once he's here?"

You shook your head quickly, "No, stop, I told you, I don't want him to bring me anywhere."

"You're not coming in? Don't you want another glass too?" Chaewon looked around the corner into the hallway, three glasses in one hand and a bottle of white wine in the other.

"No no, don't worry, I'm coming," you assured her, making her nod happily and disappear again. And once again, your mouth was quicker than your brain. You closed your eyes and let out an annoyed huff of breath. The sound of a deep chuckle made you open them again, coming to sight with a clearly amused Wonwoo.

"I can't say no to her. Why can't I say no to her?" It was more of a rhetorical question, but he still answered with a smile.

"It's impossible, I know." Suddenly, he kneeled down in front of you and before you could question his actions, you felt his fingers move against your ankle. "Hold onto me," he tapped his shoulders, and you did as you were told.

He opened the clasp of your shoes, letting you step out of them slowly while you steadied yourself with your hand on his shoulder. You looked down. Your eyes fell on how gentle he was freeing your feet from your shoes, how careful he was with the buckle he had to open. "If you start feeling uncomfortable, let me know, and I'll get you home, alright?" 

You nodded softly and answered him with a whispered, "Yeah." After he got up again, he also reached for your bag, took it off you and brought it over to the dining table, placing it on top of it. Just like he did THAT night- no, stop. Stop thinking about that. Different times, different scenarios.

Chaewon was already waiting for you excitedly, gliding the glasses over the countertop, making it easier for you to reach them. You followed her into the kitchen and got a hold of one of the glasses, just like she did. The two of you waiter for Wonwoo to join you and clinked your glasses the second he got a hold of his.

-

Two wine bottles later, Chaewon had announced that she would be getting ready to go to bed, leaving Wonwoo and you alone on the couch in the living room. At this point, a blind person could have been able to tell how intoxicated you were. Your makeup was long gone, your hair had somehow gotten messed up, and you forgot at what point you thought it was a good idea to open the first two buttons of your blouse.

The two of you were sitting close together on the couch, his fireplace lit in the background behind the dining table while the TV was turned off. The room was as quiet as it could be, only the sounds of your breathing filled the room. 

"I'm gonna go," it was then when you decided to stand up, quickly realising that that hadn't been the best idea as you stumbled slightly. Wonwoo's reflexes were quick to catch you from falling back, holding you until he was sure that you weren't going to trip over. His hands left your body as you turned around to face him, "I'm gonna head home." His hand quickly reached up again, getting a grasp of yours, catching you off guard and making you turn towards him again. Your eyes fell down to your intertwined hands as he spoke,

"You can stay." But you shook your head, regretting it right away,

"No, I have to go home." You wanted to turn and walk towards the front door, but his grip on your hand tightened. Your eyes interlocked when you gazed at him again.

"Stay," he spoke softly, "Please." His eyes were glassy from the alcohol, and even his cheeks had turned into a softer shade of pink, and you couldn't take your eyes off him. This side of him was new to you. Not only drunk but also... this. So... soft.

You shook your head, "Wonwoo, you're drunk-"

"I'm not that drunk, trust me," he told you, still not letting go of your hand, but rather tugging on it gently, making you slightly stumble closer to him.

"You don't even realise what you're saying, Wonwoo-" a deep sigh coming from him made you stop. The young CEO threw his head back, looking up at the ceiling, letting out a deep but somewhat sad chuckle,

"Jesus..."

"What?" You wanted to know, stepping just a bit closer, by your own choice - you told yourself the alcohol had taken over your body, making decisions for you. You were lying to yourself, and you knew that.

Wonwoo tilted his head slightly, just enough to meet your gaze. He looked at you with a smile. A warm smile while he let his head rest against the back of the couch.

"You really don't know, huh?" If you weren't as drunk as you were, you could've sworn he sounded desperate - like he was about to wine. As if it hurt.

"Don't know what?" His question confused you. 

He kept the lazy grin on his lips.

"That I'm on my fucking knees for you, Y/N."

He didn't even care to look away. But neither did you. The two of you continued your conversation with your eyes because that's all you could get yourself to do after hearing those words from him.

I'm on my fucking knees for you.

"Everything you do," he suddenly continued, pulling you the last bit closer and sitting up straight, so he'd have you standing right between his legs. With his hands on your hips, he looked up at you, "Everything you say. I swear you have me wrapped around your fucking finger, and you don't even realise it."

You tried to look away. You tried so hard. But your body wouldn't let you. Your hands found his.

"Wonwoo, you're drunk-" No, he wasn't. You knew that. He had half as much to drink as you and had a much higher alcohol tolerance. You ignored him shaking his head. "You don't know what you're saying." Yes, he did. He wasn't intoxicated enough to forget or not realise what he had let come out of his mouth.

"On my knees, Y/N," he spoke again, his voice still as quiet as before. He pushed himself up, standing only a paper width away from you, towering over you as he cradled your face in his hands, "And I can't fucking do this."

"Do what?" You only let out a whisper, you didn't think you could've spoken any louder even if you had wanted to.

"This fake dating shit," he sighed with a shake of his head, "I thought it was a good idea. I have no idea why the fuck I thought it would be a good idea. But this is just bullshit. I can't do it."

He spoke with so much sincerity. If his hands hadn't been on your face, your legs would've given in already. Just to make sure, you wouldn't crumble at whatever words were going to come from him, you reached out to grab onto his arms.

"Wonwoo... I...," you wanted to say something so desperately. You wanted to shout something, to say something pure from your heart, but something was holding you back. You just couldn't get it out. "I don't..."

He shook his head, "I know that you might not understand or feel something like this," and looked down before meeting your gaze again, "And it's okay, Y/N. Don't feel obligated to say something now. I just needed you to know because I don't know for how much longer I could've done this." It truly felt like you weren't the only one that was about to fall apart right then and there. The way he was running his fingers over your cheek, staring into your eyes, never even wanting to break the eye contact, he must have felt a similar way. You knew there was no way any proper words would leave your mouth. Wonwoo had just... confessed to you, and you didn't know what to do. Your body suddenly shut down. Was he really saying this because he meant it? Does he need something? Does he want something? Why else would he just say that? But the words he had used...

On my fucking knees.

"You're going to regret that tomorrow," you spoke honestly. It didn't feel real. It didn't sound like something that would ever come from someone like Wonwoo. He was going to regret it. And you didn't want him to.

"I've never regretted anything in my life," he assured you with a soft facial expression, "And I could never regret this."

You let your actions, controlled by the alcohol in your system, speak for themselves and just threw yourself against his body, smashing your lips against his, making him tumble back onto the sofa. The second he was sat, you got onto his lap, wrapping your legs around each side of his hips. Your hands were on his hard chest, feeling the muscles move underneath his white button-down. His rough hands were still on your face, bringing you in closer and deeper if that was even possible anymore. Within only a few seconds and before you could tell them to stop, your hands were travelling down his body, going for the belt opening, but suddenly another hand stopped you. Your kiss got interrupted.

"No," Wonwoo look into your eyes, "Trust me, I really do want to take you in every goddamn way possible, Y/N. But you're drunk."

You quickly shook your head, "No, I'm not, I swear. Should I walk in a straight line?" You were about to get up, but his grip on your hips stopped you.

"Not tonight, Y/N. Not here, not now. I want to do this right." You weren't sure why exactly he had meant, but the only thing that mattered was that his voice was like a freaking melody to your ears. You could've come right then and there if we were being honest.

"I promise you," he continued, standing up with your legs wrapped around his torso as he carried you into the kitchen, "If you ask me to, I will take you in every way you could possibly imagine... But I can't do that now," and sat you down on the kitchen counter.

His hands were back on your face, brushing over your cheek and getting some hair out of your face to reveal your forehead. He leaned forward, and before you knew it, he had planted a kiss right above your eyebrows. You softly gasped at the soft touch. You didn't remember when the last could've been that you had a man touch you that gently. You tried to think of if anyone had ever touched you that gently. You couldn't think of a single time.

A deep breath left his lips once he was face to face with you again, "I really needed you to know..."

"But what am I supposed to do now? I don't know... what to say..." You could feel the slightest of quivers in the back of your throat, but you pushed them down with a gulp. It wasn't the time for tears.

His rough finger was laying softly against your cheek as he shook his head, "You don't have to say anything, princess. Don't say anything."

-

The two of you had fallen into a comfortable silence while you were still sitting on the counter, sipping on the tea Wonwoo had just made for you, while he was working on making himself a cup of coffee. It was three in the morning, who cares. By now, you had definitely sobered up a comfortable amount, and tea seemed to have helped you as the world wasn't spinning anymore. But one word from Wonwoo, and that could be changed very quickly once again.

"There's something I do regret," he suddenly spoke, making you look up, only to find his gaze already on your form.

You were confused, "Huh?"

Wonwoo filled up his cup and walked up to you, setting the cup down right next to you, "Earlier I told you there's nothing I regret in life," he took a deep breath, "But I lied. There is one thing."

"What is it?" You carefully wondered, wanting to know, but by his reaction, you got scared for the answer.

“I told her I hated her,” he took a sip of his coffee.

"Hate who?" You sat your own cup down, now invested in his story. He was opening up to you. For whatever reason... but you didn't question it. You were thankful.

 "My mum," he simply put it, not daring to look you in the eye, "“Without even knowing what was going on. That’s the one thing I do regret. That I regret the most in my life.”

“But everyone says that at some point to their parents without really thinking about it,” you tried to ease the tension, but you quickly realised how much deeper this conversation was about to be by Wonwoo’s demeanour and dead look in his eyes.

“Not that time," he lifted his head to glance at you, "She left. I didn’t know why and I just told her, I hated her when she had every right to leave that god-forbidden family.”

“Why did she leave?” You carefully wondered, genuinely concerned.

He took a deep breath and put both hands on the counter, and let his head drop forward slightly. Your hands were begging you to touch his shoulders in comfort.

“My father is a terrible man. Always has been, always will be. He didn’t care about my mother. Not in the slightest. The way he talked about her… is just… disgusting. But I was so young I didn’t realise just how bad it was.” He gulped, “He’s everything I don’t want to be. When I found out what had happened, I promised myself to be better than him in every way possible… he belittled my mother until she couldn’t take it anymore. I saw what it did to her. She just kept accepting it. She never defended herself. Not once. And that just made him keep going. That fucking bastard…”

“Wonwoo, I’m s-“

“I don’t need your pity,” he stopped you softly, “I wasn’t the one who suffered.” He took another big gulp, downing the rest of the warm liquid in one go even though it was probably still way too hot. That gave you time to answer, but you couldn’t find the right words.

He turned his head to you, finding your gaze quickly, “That’s why I don’t want you to take shit like that. You let yourself get talked down way too much.”

“I do NOT-“

“Yes, you do. Men make comments all the time and you just accept them.”

“I-… well…”

He raised his eyebrows, “You take everything that gets thrown at you. Every misogynistic comment, every harsh statement. From those bitch ass men. You shouldn’t let stuff like that just slide. Not even from asshole men like me.”

You couldn’t help but smile, “But you never belittled me.”

He nodded, “Maybe not that, but I did make you do some of the crappiest work someone could do.”

“And I did defend myself because of that!” You exclaimed, but he just shook his head, “Not enough, Y/N.”

You squinted after being quiet for a few seconds, “Are you teaching me about feminism right now?”

He let a chuckle escape his lips, laced with a hint of sadness, “Someone has to,” before locking eyes with you again, coming closer, “This might be a wild guess, but your father doesn’t faze me as one to talk to you about stuff like that.”

You smiled, “Your wild guess might be right.”

The two of you sat in another round of silence for a few more seconds before you continued, looking down at your fingers, “My father never wanted a daughter. I could tell that ever since I was little.” You sighed and tightened your grip on Wonwoo's hand the second he grasped yours, “He would kill to have a son like you," a salty chuckle tumbled from your lips, "Hell, he would kill me with his own hands if he was guaranteed a son like you.”

“Don’t say that,” Wonwoo’s voice was stern and strict, not liking a single word of what you had just said.

“It’s the truth,” you smiled sadly, feeling tears prickling in your eyes. “And I never wanted it either. I never wanted to take that path of work, but I didn’t have a choice. It was only ever us two, so when he suddenly had the idea of building up his own company, I had to help. I was what? 16? A 16-year-old girl shouldn’t have to worry about finances or the income of her father’s company and his business partners and whatnot. I didn’t attend most school events because I had to help him. No excursions, no prom.” You couldn’t help but to sniffle as you looked out of the window on the right, “That office... is the result of my work. I built it. Not him. Out of him wanting to do this and that became him telling me to do this and that. That prick didn’t even lift a finger most of the time. Everything there…” a sigh left your lips, your eyes down, fixed on your smaller hand in his, “That’s why I was so mad when he sold the company… to you.” Once you looked up, smiling sadly at the man next to you, you found him already looking at you, but with much more agony than before. “All of a sudden everything I worked for… was gone… ripped out of my hands without even telling me about it.”

“I’m sorry-“ Wonwoo began but you shook your head,

“I also don’t need your pity," and repeated his words.

“That’s not my pity. This is me being genuinely sorry about not knowing about this and taking everything away from you.” Suddenly, he brought your hand up to his lips, brushing his over your knuckles, placing the softest possible peck onto them. You didn't pull back. You couldn't.

“You didn’t take everything away from me… at least I’m still here…”

“You’re doing great.” He assured you all of a sudden, feeling like you needed to hear this and oh, how right he was, “You’re amazing at your job. And everyone would be more than lucky to have you work for them or with them.”

“Thanks.” And the tears fell. That was the first time someone has ever said that to you. Telling you, you did well.

You're doing great.

Wonwoo’s hand carefully reached out to touch the tears on your cheek, wiping them away softly as he smiled, “I guess fathers are just a little fucked up.”

You giggled, looking to the side to catch a glimpse of him, “A little?”

“Just a little bit,” he smiled back.

A few moments were spent in silence. Another comfortable silence. Neither of you had to say anything. You were just happy to be there. Together. There for each other.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you," Wonwoo broke the quietness.

You smiled and shrugged, "Well… now that I know about your intentions, I guess it’s fine. You just wanted to help me.”

“And did it?”

“Did it help the feminist in me?” You wondered, chuckling at his question. He nodded, making you smile. “You know… you tell me. I don’t know how feminist girl boss it is to fuck their boss in a janitor’s closet at the first event they attend together.”

He grinned, “And in his office, and almost in his apartment. Twice-“

“Alright!” You slapped his chest, giving him the perfect opportunity to get a new hold of your hand.

“I think that’s pretty feminist girl boss of you.” He stopped for a second before adding, “I never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth.” 

His comment made you laugh. Genuinely laugh. Maybe it was the last bit of alcohol in your system, but he actually made you laugh.

He looked at you wide-eyed, pleasantly surprised by the sudden exclamation of you. He did that. He made you laugh.

Taglist: @nctxtrash @leicy0756 @hoe4wonwoo @jeonwonhi @nothingbutadeadesceane @smileywoo @angelarin @onewoowonderboy @goodforgyu @kavvs @sugarmilkchan @sweetheart-gs @wonforgyu @lilactangerine @meltinghershey @wonw00t @soonchanshua @jayswifeuwu @allorysayshi @shaurenlaw @drama-1998-girl @yoonren07 @malakasae @sseuyeon @venusprada @jeminiepabo @billboard-singer @safsaf1980 @monmarguerite @ji-jii-visha @renjunphile @haogyuslut @destinyg237 @taestrwbrry @renkkuri @travelleratheart101 @love-svt @sunshinein17 @morklee02 @wonuziex @pwwarkjisung

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Khione, this sounds so good!! I can't wait!!

dear autumn / jeon wonwoo (preview)

➝ Wonwoo x Reader (ft. Joshua)

➝ nonidol!au // angst // romance // fluff // drama...ish??? // soulmate!au // somewhat past life!au

➝ word count: 18k (lol🧍🏻‍♀️)

➝drop date: 17 July 2023 00:00 KST

➝ playlist

In a world where everyone bears the soulmate mark to find the one heaven perfectly made for them, Wonwoo is an outlier with no marks in sight. But he has more pressing matters to attend to because he remembers his past life and the promise he made to his soulmate that he’d find her again no matter what. Alternatively, He didn’t think he’d be reborn in a world where you are made for someone else.

A/N: WELL HELLO i didn't think i would actually finish this, nor that it would reach 15k lol and as i reached the final scene it suddenly hit me that this might... not what people might be into. but, well, i wrote this for wonwoo's birthday and i've had this idea for a while. hopefully, you'll look forward to this anyway!💙 now i just need to edit it and put it on queue💃🏻💃🏻

HOLY HYUNJIN

one of a kind

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