Title: Do Stars Collapse Into Black Holes, Or Fall Into Something Unknown?Pairing: TA!Seokmin X TA!gn!readerGenre:

Title: Do Stars Collapse Into Black Holes, Or Fall Into Something Unknown? Pairing: TA!Seokmin x TA!gn!reader Genre: uni au, rivals to friends to lovers, idiots to lovers, fluff, angst, slow burn romance Wordcount: 7.7k Rating: PG 15

Synopsis: Starting your second year of your master’s degree in astrophysics, and your first year as a TA, you were stressed enough - but the universe knows no bounds for your suffering. Seokmin, your handsome and annoyingly smart classmate, just had to become your colleague. As if you weren’t hard on yourself already, Seokmin’s presence only proved to fuel your self-loathing. But does he hate you too, or do you need to open your eyes and come back down to Earth?

Warnings: angst, mentions of stress, academic pressure, self-conciousness

A/N: this is a collab by @gyuswhore and @highvern! thank you to @gyuswhore for helping me with planning for and reading through this fic! see the Back to School masterlist here!

Disclaimer: The scenarios and depictions in my works are fictional and do not represent real-life situations. They do not aim to reflect the complexities of any culture, city, or individual. All characters are entirely fictional, regardless of names or descriptions.

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Seokmin stood outside his supervisor’s slightly open door, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. The questions he had written down in his notebook were now floating around in his mind, lingering at the tip of his tongue. The golden light of the August sun filtered through the tall windows, casting long, cool shadows on the polished linoleum floor. He had come here to discuss a few pressing issues with his thesis, but as he approached, he heard a familiar voice from within the office.

Your voice.

Seokmin knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but curiosity got the better of him. He inched closer, careful not to let his presence be known. The door was left slightly ajar, and Seokmin decided to peek through it. Through the narrow gap, he saw you sitting opposite the professor, your posture tense, hands fidgeting with the edge of your notebook. It was how he saw you most of the time, other than the few times he would see you in the library - then, your shoulders were always relaxed, your nose was in a book so big that Seokmin seriously worried for the librarian’s back, and your eyes made it seem like you were in a different dimension, completely focused.

“What do you think about becoming my TA for the undergraduate class this semester?” the professor asked, his tone encouraging yet firm.

You hesitated, your eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape route. “I’m not sure, Professor. I mean, I have my thesis to focus on, and I’m not sure if I can handle the extra responsibility.”

The professor leaned back in his chair, a patient smile on his face. “I understand your concerns, but I believe this experience could be invaluable for your academic and professional growth. Plus, you’ve always been one of my top students. I have faith in your abilities, you should too.”

After a moment of silence, you nodded slowly. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

Seokmin's mind raced. This was an unexpected development. He had always admired you from afar—you're beautiful, absolutely, but more importantly he admired your dedication and your passion for astrophysics—but he never had a reason to interact closely with you. Until now.

An idea sparked in his mind. If you were going to be a TA, maybe he could be one too. It would give him the perfect opportunity to be near you, to finally break the ice.

Just as you started gathering your things to leave, Seokmin quickly moved back, pressing himself against the wall to avoid being seen. You walked out of the office, your face a mixture of apprehension and determination. You don’t see him.

Seokmin took a deep breath, steeling himself. Any thoughts of his thesis vanished as he stepped forward and knocked lightly on the open door.

“Come in,” the professor called out.

Seokmin entered the room, his heart pounding in his chest. “Professor, do you have a moment?”

The professor looked up, a hint of surprise crossing his features. “Of course, Seokmin. What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if there are any open TA positions for this semester,” Seokmin said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “I think it could be a great learning experience for me, especially if I decide to continue on my academic career after graduation.”

The professor's eyebrows rose in mild surprise, but he quickly nodded. “As a matter of fact, there is an opening… and I appreciate your initiative. I’ll put you with one of my other students for the undergrad course in astrophysics. The other TA was worried about it, I’m sure they’ll appreciate your help.”

Seokmin couldn't help but smile. This was his chance—not only to assist in the course but to get to know you better. As he left the office, he felt a sense of excitement bubbling within him. The semester was about to get a lot more interesting.

You step into the classroom on your first day as a TA, and a mixture of nerves and excitement coursing through you. The room is bright and spacious, with large windows letting in the morning light. The faint smell of chalk and old books fills the air. A smile appears on your face as you take it all in. Although you were nervous, this was your dream– or at least one step on the way to it. You set down your bag and begin organizing the materials for the lecture, trying to focus on the tasks at hand to calm your racing thoughts.

As you arrange the papers on the desk, you hear the door creak open behind you. Turning around, you're surprised to see Seokmin walk in, a confident smile on his face. He looks perfectly put together with his glasses on the tip of his nose, his button-down neatly tucked into his trousers, and his hair adorably messy. His presence catches you off guard, and you feel a knot of anxiety tighten in your stomach. You had seen him around before, always talking with someone in a way that you could never execute. People often told you, when you confided in them about your awkwardness, that people who were good at academics often had a harder time socially. Therefore, Seokmin stood out to you as an enigma - a goal that you could never meet. An irritating paradox of a human.

“Hey,” he says casually, setting his own bag down and pushing his black-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah, I—uh, the professor asked me to be his TA,” you reply, trying to keep your voice steady. “What about you?”

“Same here,” Seokmin says, his smile widening. “Looks like we’ll be working together.”

You force a smile in return, but inside, a sense of dread begins to build. Working with Seokmin is not what you had anticipated - and not what you needed.

As the students start to file into the classroom, you watch Seokmin with growing unease. He moves through the room with an easy grace, greeting the students warmly and making small talk with them. His confidence is palpable, and it sets you on edge.

In contrast, you feel more reserved, and your interactions with the students are much more subdued. You can’t help but compare yourself to Seokmin, feeling a pang of jealousy at how effortlessly he seems to connect with everyone.

When the professor arrives, he announces to the students what the course material is and the TAs tasks are for the semester. Seokmin is given the more engaging responsibilities: leading study groups, assisting with experiments, and even giving a few lectures. You, on the other hand, are assigned the more mundane tasks like grading papers and organizing materials.

As the professor continues to outline the responsibilities, you wonder why your professor ever even asked you to become a TA. Seokmin catches your eye and gives you a friendly nod, but you can't bring yourself to return the gesture. He’s been handed all the opportunities you had hoped for. While you aren’t much for small talk, you know that you could hold a lecture–talking about the subject you love most in life in front of eager listeners is all that you want.

The classroom buzzes with anticipation as Professor Jeon prepares for the next segment of the lecture. Today, he’s promised a demonstration, and everyone is eager to see what it would be. The whiteboard is filled with complex diagrams and equations, and the projector displays an intricate star map.

“Alright, everyone, I need a volunteer,” Professor Jeon announces, scanning the room. His eyes twinkle with enthusiasm behind his glasses. Most of the students are sitting still in their chair, their eyes revealing worry—as if the slightest movement would make the professor turn and pick them out of the rest.

Desperate to prove yourself, you step forward without having heard much of what the professor had said. “I can help with that, Professor,” you say, your voice steady despite the flutter of nerves in your stomach.

Professor Jeon smiles warmly. “Excellent. You’ll be representing a star in our demonstration.”

You take your place at the front, slightly confused over what he was doing. The room feels larger and the students’ eyes heavier as they focus on you. Seokmin watches with interest, leaning back in his chair with a curious grin.

“Now,” Professor Jeon continues, positioning you in the center of the room, “imagine that our TA here is a star in a distant galaxy.”

Seokmin can’t resist. “Look at you, shining bright like a star!” he calls out, his voice filled with mock admiration. The class erupts into chuckles, the tension easing slightly.

You shake it off and try to stay focused on the demonstration. Professor Jeon continues, explaining how stars form, their life cycles, and how they interact with other celestial bodies, using you as the centerpiece of his explanations. He moves around you, gesturing animatedly as he describes the various phases of a star’s life.

“Stars, like our volunteer here, go through stages of birth, life, and death,” he explains, pointing to you as he illustrates each phase. “From a protostar to a main-sequence star, and eventually, to a supernova or a black hole.”

Professor Jeon continues to explain the star's relation to other galactic entities, bringing up other students—now less nervous because of your contribution—to play different roles.

Throughout the rest of the lecture, Seokmin continued to refer to you as “Star.” After the class, you stay behind to organize the materials for grading. Seokmin approaches you, a friendly smile still on his face. “Need any help with that, Star?”

“I’ve got it,” you say a bit too quickly, trying to hide your frustration. “Thanks, though.”

“No problem,” Seokmin replies, still smiling. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

You nod curtly and turn back to your work, your mind racing. He continues to complete his own tasks before saying goodbye and leaving. How could someone who seems so perfect be so infuriating? As you stack the papers, you can’t shake the feeling of inadequacy that his presence seems to amplify. Your resentment deepens, fueling a sense of rivalry that you know will only make the semester more challenging.

As you leave the classroom, you take a deep breath, trying to push aside your negative thoughts. But one thing is clear: working with Seokmin is going to be anything but easy.

Seokmin loved the first day of the semester. It was a fresh start, a new opportunity to connect with eager minds—not to mention that he got to work by your side. When he first saw you as he opened the door the the lecture hall he found himself feeling giddy for the first time in a while.

As he moved through the classroom, he made a point to greet the students, asking about their summer and what they hoped to learn this year. His easygoing nature made the students feel at ease, and soon enough, the room was filled with animated chatter.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Seokmin asked one student, who responded enthusiastically about something you couldn’t hear. He laughed and shared a quick, similar story of his own, making the students laugh as well.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw you watching, a look of mixed emotions on your face. Seokmin wanted to include you, to make sure you didn’t feel left out. He knew how important it was for TAs to present a united front to the students.

“Hey, why don’t you tell them about that interesting project you worked on last semester? I’m sure they want to know what they could be doing in the future,” Seokmin suggested, turning to you with a smile.

You gave a brief, awkward nod and explained the project, but Seokmin sensed your discomfort. He tried to be supportive, but it seemed to make things worse. Nevertheless, he tried to seamlessly blend your short story with one of his own – taking away the attention from you.

Throughout the week, Seokmin continued his efforts to include you in discussions and tasks. While preparing for a lecture, he turned to you to share your insights.

“What do you think about this theory?” he asked, genuinely curious about your perspective.

You responded with a terse, “It’s interesting,” before quickly diverting back to your own tasks, having barely looked at what he was referring to.

Seokmin furrowed his brow, confusion clouding his eyes. “Have you really considered the implications of this? I’d love to hear more about what you think.”

You sighed, sensing his persistence. “I told you, it’s interesting,” you repeated, hoping he would take the hint.

Seokmin couldn’t understand why his attempts to include you were met with such resistance. He genuinely respected your intelligence and wanted to collaborate. He knew that the professor told him not to stress you out with lectures, but he couldn’t picture you as the type to get stressed out about talking about your thesis topic. Especially not when he had offered to take on the responsibilities that he thought would be the hardest for you to do. Nevertheless, every time he reached out, he felt like he was hitting a wall, further complicating the dynamic between you.

“Is everything okay?” he ventured cautiously, concern lacing his voice. “You seem... distant.”

You paused, looking up from your notes for the first time. “I appreciate your help, Seokmin, really. But I work better alone. It’s just how I am.”

He nodded slowly, trying to process your words. “I understand that, but teamwork is also important. We could achieve so much more together.”

“Maybe,” you conceded, “but I need to focus right now. Please.”

Seokmin sighed, reluctantly stepping back. “Alright. Just know that I’m here if you need anything.”

You nodded, grateful for his understanding but still feeling the weight of the unspoken tension between you. As Seokmin walked away, he couldn’t shake the feeling of frustration and confusion. He respected your need for independence, but he couldn’t help but feel that there was more to your resistance than just a preference for working alone.

The library had always been your sanctuary, a place where you could immerse yourself in your work without distractions. Other than the librarian, Jeonghan, you didn’t have to speak to many people there–and talking to Jeonghan was hardly a difficult task for you. Although he acted as if he hated you for always asking him to bring out the “biggest and dustiest books he had ever seen,” you knew very well that he enjoyed your presence. But lately, even this haven was being invaded by Seokmin. Every time you saw him, he seemed perfectly at ease, balancing his research and TA duties with an effortless grace that you envied.

One evening, you walked into the library, your mind preoccupied with the growing pile of tasks. As you made your way to your usual spot, you saw Seokmin at a nearby table, surrounded by a stack of books and papers. He looked up and smiled warmly.

“Hey, how’s it going? How’s your thesis coming along?” he asked, his tone casual.

You forced a tight smile and replied, “It’s fine, thanks.” Inside, his question felt like a reminder of your own struggles, and it irritated you that he seemed to handle everything so easily.

Seokmin’s presence, once a minor annoyance, was becoming a constant source of irritation. His casual greetings and questions about your progress felt intrusive like he was keeping tabs on you. You tried to focus on your work, but his presence loomed large, a constant reminder of your perceived inadequacies.

During a late afternoon, as you were going to the professor’s office, you overheard a conversation that stopped you in your tracks. The door was slightly ajar, and the professor’s voice carried into the hallway.

“Seokmin has been doing an outstanding job,” the professor said. “His work ethic is impressive, and his contributions to the class are invaluable.”

You felt a pang of jealousy and frustration. Hearing the professor praise Seokmin so effusively only intensified your feelings of inadequacy and rivalry. It felt like no matter how hard you worked, you were always a step behind, always overshadowed by Seokmin’s achievements. It wasn’t like you could do something about it – the professor never allowed you to show what you were truly capable of. During the times that he had offered for you to hold lectures or seminars, Seokmin came in and took the opportunity away from you. The most you had managed to do was hold a few study groups, and it was only when Seokmin had been away.

As you walked away, your mind raced with thoughts of how to prove yourself, and how to step out of Seokmin’s shadow. The rivalry that had been simmering under the surface was now boiling over, driving you to work even harder, even if it meant pushing yourself to the brink.

The library was dimly lit, the scent of old books mingling with the sterile tang of late-night coffee. Although you appreciated Jeonghan letting you borrow the coffee machine in the librarian’s office, it truly tasted horrible–you were convinced the only reason Jeonghan liked it was that he poured in at least two packets of sugar in his cup. Around you, stacks of papers towered like miniature skyscrapers, each one a testament to the endless stream of work that flooded your life.

Grading papers had become a nightly ritual, sandwiched between frantic attempts to wrangle your thesis into coherence. The weight of it all pressed down on your shoulders like an invisible burden, threatening to suffocate any semblance of calm. Meanwhile, Seokmin got to have the job with all the glory and all the fun – at this point, you were starting to question if your professor had something out for you.

Fingers numb from hours of scribbling notes, you slumped forward, rubbing your temples in a futile attempt to alleviate the headache that had been your unwelcome companion for days. The clock on your laptop blinked mockingly, its digits crawling towards midnight with relentless indifference.

It was then, in that hushed sanctuary of knowledge, that the dam finally burst. Tears welled up unexpectedly, blurring the lines of formulas, calculations, and the horrible handwriting of some of your undergrad students. The sound of your own choked sobs startled you, but you were too exhausted, too overwhelmed to care about appearances.

Unbeknownst to you, Seokmin had been nearby, engrossed in his own research until the echo of your distress reached his ears. Concern etched lines of worry across his normally composed features as he approached cautiously, unsure of how to breach the invisible barrier that separated you. 

“Hey,” his voice was soft, tentative, like a gentle breeze through a storm. He offered a tissue from his bag, the simple gesture more comforting than any words could convey. “Are you okay?”

Your initial instinct was to brush him off, to hide behind the façade of resilience you had painstakingly crafted. But tonight was different. Tonight, you were tired—bone-deep exhaustion that rendered you defenseless against the kindness in his eyes.

“I don't know.” The admission was barely a whisper, but Seokmin heard. Without hesitation, he settled into the seat beside you, the library chair creaking slightly under his weight. He didn't pry, didn't offer unsolicited advice. Instead, he simply began to gather the scattered papers, organizing them into neat piles with practiced efficiency.

You watched him in silence, marveling at the unexpected gentleness in his actions. Here was Seokmin, the academic rival who had seemed so untouchable, now offering a lifeline without expectation of reciprocity. He continued working, dividing the papers that you had graded and the papers that were untouched into two piles. Then, he silently started grading the latter. No words were needed. You wiped your tears and picked up your computer to begin working on your thesis again.

Minutes stretched into hours as the two of you worked side by side. Seokmin handled the grading, his elegant script flowing effortlessly across the pages. Meanwhile, you poured your fragmented thoughts about your thesis onto the screen, finding solace in the rhythm of typing keys.

In that shared silence, a subtle shift occurred. Walls that had once stood tall and impenetrable crumbled, revealing vulnerabilities neither of you had dared to expose before. As the night wore on, Seokmin's presence became a lifeline, anchoring you amidst the storm of deadlines and doubts.

By dawn, the library was bathed in the soft hues of morning light. The papers were graded, and the thesis draft was finally completed. Jeonghan came in just as the two of you were packing up, his long hair tied up and his glasses sitting on the tip of his nose. He looked at you with raised eyebrows and a disapproving glance—while he did allow you to stay in the library even after closing, he didn’t exactly encourage it. You sent him a tired, apologetic smile. He started walking towards you and finally spotted Seokmin. Jeonghan cleared his throat, gaining Seokmin’s attention from the pile of graded papers he was organizing.

“I’m assuming you two stayed here all night,” he said, “Otherwise, you’ve broken in before opening hours– and then I’d have to call the police.”

Seokmin immediately got flustered, profusely apologizing. The blubbering mess he became was probably from shock and sleep deprivation, but you had never seen him like this. A smile appeared on your face, and you put your hand on his shoulder.

“He’s joking, it’s fine.” You looked up at the librarian. “Right, Jeonghan?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He waved his hand nonchalantly and started to walk away now that there was no more teasing to be done. “Clean up properly and be out of here in like ten minutes. I can’t have people knowing that I give you special treatment.”

You hummed and started packing up your things. Seokmin put the graded papers into a folder and stood up, stretching out his legs and arms.

“Do you do this a lot?” he asked.

“Not for this long, usually,” you muttered. “But yeah, why?”

“... no reason.” He shrugged and sat back down. “I thought that grading papers was the easier job.”

You scoffed and sent him an irritated glance.

“You’re the lucky one,” you said. “Holding lectures actually seems fun – most of the time, I’m just trying to decipher what most of these students are even writing.”

Seokmin nods solemnly and hands you the file. You stand up and bid him goodbye, before hurrying to administration to get the grades filed.

The lecture hall was almost empty, save for a few scattered students gathering their belongings after Professor Jeon’s rigorous class on quantum mechanics. Seokmin lingered near the doorway, watching you pack up your notes with a furrowed brow. He couldn't shake off the image of you from last night in the library, vulnerable and overwhelmed. Now he had to watch you sit through the professor’s lecture, pretending like you hadn’t just stayed up all night, and soullessly give out worksheets to the students.

Newfound awareness weighed heavily on Seokmin's mind as he replayed the events of the previous evening. He had always admired your intellect and dedication, but now, seeing the toll it took on you firsthand, he understood the gravity of your struggles. The pressure of expectations, both self-imposed and external, seemed to suffocate every moment of your academic life. He thought he had been nice to you, making your life easier by taking care of all the social aspects, but his perspective had been too narrow.

With a resolve born out of newfound understanding, Seokmin decided to act. He spotted you exiting the lecture hall, shoulders slumped under the weight of exhaustion. Without a second thought, he hurried after you, a steaming cup of coffee in hand.

“Hey, Star, wait up!” he called out gently, reaching your side just as you reached the exit. “I thought you might need this.”

Exhaustion still fogged your mind, the remnants of last night's breakdown lingering like a dull ache. He was holding a cup of coffee out to you, you looked down at the paper mug and then back up at him. At Seokmin's gesture of kindness, your immediate reaction was instinctive—a defensive snap, laced with frustration and misunderstanding.

“I don't need your pity, Seokmin,” you muttered, avoiding his gaze as guilt flickered in your eyes.

Seokmin's heart sank at your words, but he didn't retaliate. He knew your reaction stemmed from exhaustion and vulnerability, not malice. Taking a deep breath, he waited patiently, understanding that healing wounds of insecurity took time and patience.

The next day, Seokmin found you in the same lecture hall, buried under a mountain of textbooks and notes. This time, he approached cautiously, his usual confidence tempered by humility. “Can we talk?” he asked softly, careful not to startle you.

You glanced up, surprise flickering across your features at his persistence. Relenting, you nodded slightly, allowing him to join you at the table littered with equations and diagrams.

“I didn't realize,” Seokmin began quietly, choosing his words with care. “I didn't realize how much pressure you were under. If I had known, I would have never added to it.”

His sincerity resonated in the quiet sincerity of his voice, catching you off guard. 

“Added to it?” you questioned.

“I asked the professor to let me take care of the lectures and study groups,” he admitted. “I was truly only thinking of you, I thought I could make it easier for you.”

A bitter taste lingered in your mouth. All this time, this had been his fault – all of the doubt over whether or not your professor wanted to break your spirit had been nothing more than a request made by Seokmin. However, you took a deep breath, closing your eyes for just a moment before looking back at him.

“You wanted to make it easier for me?”

“I thought, since you don’t talk that much… it was dumb, I’m sorry.” He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, his glasses sliding up his forehead. “I’ll go tell the professor about it, we can reschedule things.”

“... thanks.”

The days following Seokmin's gesture of understanding were a delicate dance between acceptance and wariness. Despite the lingering skepticism, you couldn't deny the shift in dynamics between you. Seokmin's actions spoke louder than words, his genuine concern slowly chipping away at the walls you had erected. He asked the professor to change some of the duties, as he had promised, and even went so far as to offer to help you with your thesis. You allowed him to proofread it for you, and the two of you started spending more and more time with each other.

Reluctant acceptance crept into your interactions as you begrudgingly allowed Seokmin's presence and assistance. He no longer seemed like an adversary lurking in the shadows of your achievements but a partner navigating the same stormy seas of academia. His willingness to help without expectation of reciprocity was both unsettling and oddly comforting.

Late afternoons in the university's coffee shop turned into impromptu discussions about the mysteries of black holes that you were writing about as well as Seokmin’s thesis on altermagnetism. Your shared passion for space and astrophysics brought you closer together, each conversation revealing layers of depth and curiosity you hadn't anticipated.

One afternoon, amidst a lively debate on the implications of quantum entanglement, you found yourself sharing a piece of your past—the months you spent as a museum guide at the Jeju Starlight World Park and Planetarium. The memories flowed freely, painting a picture of a younger version of yourself enamored with the cosmos and its infinite wonders.

It was during this conversation that Seokmin proposed a trip—an invitation wrapped in sincerity and a hint of nervousness. “There's a free weekend coming up," he began tentatively, eyes fixed on yours with unwavering determination. "I thought... maybe we could visit the museum together."

Surprise mingled with nostalgia as you considered his proposal. The Jeju Starlight World Park held a special place in your heart—a sanctuary where stars glittered like promises against the velvet canvas of the night sky. Seokmin's offer to drive felt like an extension of his desire to understand you better, a chance to revisit a place where your love for astrophysics had taken root.

After a moment's hesitation, you nodded, a tentative smile curling at the corners of your lips. “I'd like that,” you admitted softly, the weight of uncertainty lifting with each heartbeat. In Seokmin's eyes, you glimpsed a flicker of gratitude and relief, a silent acknowledgment of the fragile bond blossoming between you.

The weekend arrived with a crispness in the air, promising a respite from the relentless pace of academic life. Seokmin pulled up in front of your apartment in his modest car, a hint of nervous anticipation in his eyes as you climbed into the passenger seat. He smiled warmly, trying to hide his nerves. "Ready for a little break, Star?"

You nodded, clutching your bag tightly. "I brought some work to catch up on during the drive."

Seokmin chuckled softly. "Of course you did."

The drive to Jeju Starlight World Park and Planetarium was long, and you were determined to work during the entire trip. You pulled out your laptop and began typing furiously, barely glancing up. However, as soon as the car started moving, the soft humming of the motor and the quiet songs coming from the radio lulled you into a sense of calm you hadn’t felt in weeks. Before you knew it, you had drifted off to sleep.

When you woke up, you were just about to roll up to the museum. You noticed that your computer was neatly tucked into your bag again, and that you had Seokmin's jacket draped over your lap. He must have stopped by the side of the road to help you, but you decided not to ask about it. Seokmin noticed you stirring and gave you a gentle smile. "Hey, sleepyhead. We're almost there."

You rubbed your eyes, a bit disoriented. "I can't believe I fell asleep."

"It's okay," he said. "You needed the rest."

Arriving at the museum, you were greeted by the familiar sight of the dome-shaped building, its façade adorned with twinkling lights that mirrored the stars above. Memories flooded back as you stepped through the entrance, the air scented with nostalgia and the promise of new discoveries.

Inside, the museum buzzed with activity. Visitors young and old marveled at interactive exhibits and life-sized models of spacecrafts, their faces alight with wonder. You led Seokmin through the exhibits with the confidence of someone revisiting a cherished haven, explaining the intricacies of stellar evolution and the beauty of the night sky.

In the planetarium, darkness enveloped you both as the dome above transformed into a canvas of celestial wonders. A hush fell over the audience as the narrator's voice guided you on a journey through the cosmos—galaxies swirling, stars born and dying in spectacular bursts of light. Beside you, Seokmin watched in awe, his usual composure giving way to childlike fascination.

After the show, you found yourselves outside under a sky strewn with stars. The air was crisp and cool, carrying with it the promise of a clear night. Seokmin broke the silence, his voice soft against the backdrop of the universe. “Thank you for coming with me, Star,” he said sincerely, eyes tracing the constellations above.

You smiled, touched by his gratitude. “It's always been a special place for me,” you admitted, your gaze following his to the heavens. “Even after I stopped working here, I used to come here to find inspiration when things felt overwhelming... I don't really have time for that anymore, of course.”

After a day filled with awe and shared moments at the Jeju Starlight World Park and Planetarium, Seokmin navigated the car through winding roads leading away from the museum. The sky had darkened, and stars peppered the canvas above, casting a soft glow over the landscape. Under the stars that had witnessed countless stories of love and longing, of dreams and discoveries, you and Seokmin found a moment of quiet peace.

“We should find a place to stay for the night,” Seokmin suggested, glancing at you with a gentle smile.

You nodded in agreement. Seokmin found a quaint motel nestled on the outskirts of town, its neon sign flickering a warm welcome in the darkness. The receptionist greeted you with a friendly smile, which you couldn't seem to return out of pure embarrassment, as Seokmin checked you in for the night.

“... and here’s your key,” the receptionist said and handed you one key.

“Oh, we’ll need two rooms,” Seokmin said.

“I’m sorry, we only have one.” The receptionist gave you an apologetic smile. “We could contact someone further down the road–”

“It’s alright,” you said. “We’ll just sleep in separate beds.”

“I’m sorry.” The receptionist paused and let out an awkward chuckle. “There’s only one bed in that room.”

Both you and Seokmin looked at each other. Neither of you were fit to drive, and even if you didn’t want to sleep next to him you realized that you would have to.

Entering the room, you were met with simple yet cozy accommodations—a bed draped in crisp linens, soft lighting casting a warm ambiance. The air hummed with the unspoken understanding that lingered between you, a growing tension that spoke volumes in the silence.

Moments passed as you both settled into the space, the weight of the day's experiences hanging in the air. Seokmin's eyes searched yours, his usual confidence giving way to vulnerability as he spoke softly, “Today has been... incredible.”

You nodded, mirroring his sentiment. “It really has,” you replied, your voice barely above a whisper.

You both got into bed, laying on your backs so as to not get too close. But as the night went on, neither of you could fall asleep. It was getting cold, and even the comforter wasn’t enough. 

“I’m freezing,” Seokmin admitted.

“Me too,” you replied.

“Star... do you… want to sleep next to me?” he asked tentatively.

“I already am, stupid.” You let out a nervous chuckle.

“No I mean–” Seokmin sighed. “I don’t want to be a creep, please just tell me if this is weird… but do you want me to… hold you? Just since it’s so cold, that's all.”

“... just because it’s so cold.”

The distance between you closed with each heartbeat, drawn together by an undeniable magnetism. Tentative touches turned into embraces, hands finding solace in the warmth of each other's presence. Words became unnecessary as the night unfolded, emotions spoken through lingering gazes and tender caresses. His heart was beating fast, but with every minute that passed he calmed down. Your arms wrapped around his torso, and he got comfortable under your head and slung around your waist. He smelled of florals, and something expensive and woody. Even his cologne was perfect. You sighed and nuzzled closer to him, and his embrace 

As dawn painted the sky in hues of pink and gold, you awoke to find Seokmins fingers tracing patterns on your skin. You pretended to be asleep for just a little longer. In that quiet morning light, amidst the remnants of dreams and the promise of new beginnings, you both understood that the journey you had embarked upon was far from over. Eventually, he got up and got dressed and you pretended to wake up as well.

Back at the university, the air between you and Seokmin crackled with new energy—a silent understanding that transcended words. Your interactions became charged with unspoken feelings, lingering glances that spoke volumes, and moments of shared laughter that echoed long after they had passed.

In lecture halls and quiet corners of the campus coffee shop, you found yourselves drawn to each other like celestial bodies caught in orbit. Seokmin's kind comments and gestures of support became a lifeline amidst the tumult of academic pressures, each act deepening the connection that had silently taken root.

One evening, as twilight painted the sky in hues of orange and purple, you found yourself seated with Jeonghan at the library. Although he would often tease you and be relentlessly cocky, he had always been a calming presence – his gentle demeanor and insightful advice made him a trusted confidant. 

“I've been feeling... confused,” you admitted softly, uncertainty lacing your words as you wrestled with emotions that had blossomed unexpectedly. “Seokmin... he's really been there for me recently, supporting me in ways I never expected.”

Jeonghan listened attentively, his warm gaze encouraging you to unravel the tangled threads of your thoughts. With each word, clarity began to emerge—a realization that the admiration and warmth you felt for Seokmin ran deeper than mere professional respect.

“He's not just a rival anymore,” you confessed, a hint of awe coloring your voice. “He's been impressing me with his kindness, his understanding...”

The admission hung between you like a delicate veil, its weight buoyed by the relief of finally voicing your inner turmoil. Jeonghan nodded knowingly, a reassuring smile gracing his lips.

“You like him,” he said.

“What? No, I don’t– he’s a friend.”

“You slept in the same bed together, didn’t you?”

“Friends can sleep together…”

“Friends don’t describe the way someone smells like you just did,” he argued, referring to what you had told him earlier of your time in the motel.

“But I can’t like him… that doesn’t seem right.”

“Sometimes, the heart finds its way through unexpected paths,” Jeonghan mused, his words carrying the wisdom of someone who had witnessed the ebb and flow of countless emotions within the walls of the library. “What matters most is how you choose to navigate this journey. Trust your heart, but also trust in Seokmin's intentions. He seems like a good guy.”

“I keep forgetting that you can actually give good advice instead of just sly remarks,” you teased him and Jeonghan scoffed.

“What do you want me to say?” He chuckled. “‘Let me know how big his dick is when you get there?’”

“Jeonghan.” You groaned as your friend laughed – you were lucky that no one was in the library at this late hour.

“Seriously, though.” Jeonghan wrapped an arm around your shoulders. “Seokmin seems good for you. You’ve definitely been less stressed since I caught the two of you in here-”

“You’re making that sound weird on purpose!” you exclaimed and Jeonghan grinned.

“Whatever, whatever…” He waved his hand as if to swat away his previous words. “Just think about it– by the way you’ve been describing him, he’s probably into you too. Maybe talk to him about it?”

With Jeonghan's words echoing in your mind, you knew that the time had come to confront your feelings, to acknowledge the unspoken connection that had blossomed between you and Seokmin—a connection that promised not just the possibility of romance, but a partnership grounded in shared dreams, understanding, and the quiet strength found in moments of vulnerability and acceptance.

After Jeonghan locked up the library, Seokmin ended up meeting up with you outside the faculty building. He looked tired, probably from grading papers or looking over reports, but he still smiled when he saw you walk past him with Jeonghan.  You excused yourself to the librarian and left to walk home with Seokmin – not without Jeonghan telling you to “Go get him,” of course.

The night draped the university campus in a serene quietness, the lampposts casting gentle pools of light along the pathways as you and Seokmin strolled together. Laughter still echoed softly between you, a rare moment of levity amidst the academic rigors.

In a playful jest you quipped, “You know, Seokmin, Jeonghan suggested you might be in love with me.”

The words spilled out almost reflexively, laced with a hint of nervous humor to disguise the vulnerability beneath. Your heart skipped a beat as you waited, half-expecting Seokmin to brush off your comment with a laugh. Seokmin stopped walking, and you followed suit. 

His expression shifted, his gaze intensifying. “Actually, I think I am in love with you,” he confessed quietly, his tone devoid of jest or uncertainty.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis at that moment, your breath catching in your throat as you processed his words. The playful banter melted away, leaving behind a raw honesty that shimmered between you.

“You... you're serious?” you managed to ask, your voice barely above a whisper, disbelief and hope mingling in equal measure.

Seokmin nodded, his gaze unwavering as he took a step closer. “I am,” he affirmed, his voice steady and sure. “I've been struggling to find the right moment to say it, but I've known for a while now.”

His confession washed over you like a wave, carrying with it a flood of emotions—joy, disbelief, and a profound sense of connection that surpassed the academic rivalry that had once defined your relationship.

In that quiet corner of the campus, under the canopy of stars that bore witness to your revelation, a shift occurred—a mutual acknowledgment of the feelings that had quietly blossomed amidst shared moments of vulnerability and understanding.

“I don’t know what to say…” you whispered.

“Don’t say anything, Star,” Seokmin said with a sad smile. “I don’t want this to get in the way of what you want out of your career – you shouldn’t be thinking about my feelings for you when you’re about to finish your thesis… we can always take it later.”

“... okay.” You nodded. “Please, don’t take this as me rejecting you.”

“I’m not.” He gave you a big grin. “It’ll be my motivation to finally finish my thesis.”

You smiled at him in return. As you continued your walk, the air between you hummed with newfound depth and possibility—a promise of a future yet to be written, illuminated by the light of a love that had bloomed unexpectedly, nurtured by the guidance of friends like Jeonghan and the quiet courage to embrace the unknown journey ahead. Your hand brushed against Seokmin’s several times on your walk home, but neither of you mentioned it. You only relished in the sparks the small touch ignited – waiting patiently for more.

As the final weeks of our graduate studies drew near, the campus was abuzz with anticipation and fervor. It was the climax of numerous years of hard work, late nights spent poring over books, and scholarly pursuits. Both you and Seokmin immersed ourselves in meticulously shaping our theses, balancing the demands of being teaching assistants with unrelenting commitment and a strong, unwavering sense of purpose. Somehow, you got there in the end. Your theses were approved, your opposition went smoothly, and you finally got to graduate together.

Amidst the excitement and wistfulness on the morning of graduation day, the campus bustled with energy. The sight of fellow graduates dressed in gowns and mortarboards filled the air with a sense of anticipation. In the midst of it all, you and Seokmin were inexplicably drawn to each other, the atmosphere around you filled with unspoken emotions.

As the festivities and goodbyes filled the air, Seokmin decided to take you to a secluded section of the campus garden. His face held a serious, yet affectionate, expression, creating an atmosphere of warmth that couldn't be missed. You couldn’t read through his gaze, but the silence between you was deafening. 

“I heard Professor Jeon gave you a reference for the new doctorate position here, congratulations,” you said to break the silence.

“Ah, thank you… you already got accepted, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Only because I was so pushy with my reference–” You downplayed your achievement but stopped yourself once you heard what you were saying. “I did.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

Confess to you.

“Why did you take me here, Seokmin?” you asked. “Isn’t the ceremony about to start?”

“Just a minute, I won’t be long… I want to say something,” he began, his voice carrying a clarity and certainty that resonated deep within you.

Seokmin, with the depth of intimacy that comes from sharing emotional journeys across galaxies, once more poured out his feelings, this time with an unshakable and unwavering conviction. “I love you, Star,” he declared, his eyes locking with yours, laying bare the depth of his emotions.

When he professed his feelings for you, you found yourself overcome with a rush of emotions. Your response was filled with a deep sense of appreciation and a newfound bravery that filled your heart. “I love you too,” you whispered.

He blinked at you, momentarily speechless, his carefully thought-out plans unraveling in the face of raw emotion. His stunned expression was almost comical, and you couldn't help but laugh softly. The sound of your laughter seemed to break the tension, and you reached up, your fingers gently cradling his face. His skin was warm under your touch, and you could feel the slight roughness of his day-old stubble.

Seokmin's eyes fluttered closed, his long lashes brushing against his cheeks as he savored the delicate touch of your lips. His hands settled lightly on your waist, fingers barely pressing into the fabric of your clothes, as if afraid to break the spell. The kiss was brief, a mere whisper of the deep emotions swirling between you. When he pulled away, you could see a myriad of thoughts floating in his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice soft and sincere. Almost immediately, Seokmin groaned and put his palm against his forehead, realizing how awkward his words sounded. You couldn't help but laugh at his comment, the sound light and teasing.

“I don’t want the first thing I say after our kiss to be ‘thank you,’” he muttered, looking embarrassed.

He gave you a sheepish smile, his cheeks tinged with a hint of pink. “Don’t laugh at me…”

“Sorry–” you said, still giggling. Then, with a playful glint in your eye, you pulled him down to your face a second time. “That one doesn’t count, then.”

You kissed him again, a quick, soft peck, and then pulled back, looking at him expectantly. Seokmin's mind seemed to be spinning as he searched for something to say. Your kiss had left him so dizzy he could hardly tell up from down.

“You’re out of this world, Star,” he finally managed, his voice breathless and sincere.

You let out a groan, shaking your head at the cheesiness of his words. Seokmin couldn’t help but laugh, the sound warm and genuine. He then pulled you into a tight embrace, resting his chin on top of your head, holding you close as if he never wanted to let go.

The tender moment was interrupted by the intercom crackling to life once more, reminding the students to proceed to the grand hall for the ceremony. With a sigh, you both reluctantly pulled apart, the reality of the event bringing you back to the present.

The graduation ceremony was a blur of speeches, applause, and the bittersweet feeling of an era ending. As the sound of applause gradually faded away, you and Seokmin found yourselves standing side by side at the entrance of the university building. The excitement of the moment mingled with a deep sense of nostalgia, the weight of the years spent here settling over you both.

You looked at each other, the shared understanding that this was both an end and a beginning reflected in your eyes. With fingers intertwined, you walked hand in hand towards the grand doors, feeling a profound sense of achievement and anticipation for the future.

Outside, the world seemed to hold its breath, waiting for you to step into it. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the campus, and as you walked together, you knew that this was just the start of a new journey. The path ahead was uncertain, but with Seokmin by your side, you felt ready to face anything. Together, you stepped out into the world, ready to embrace whatever came next.

feedback is always welcome!

taglist: @enhacolor, @shuabby1994, @junhui-recs, @dkakapizzaboy, @just-here-to-read-01, @loviehan, @userjunhuii, @novalpha, @bubblymoon, @aaniag, @d0nghyuck, @fantasy2wonderland, @seunghancore, @woozixo, @niktwazny303, @lllucere, @uniq-tastic, @wonwoospartyhat, @stariightjoyy, @hyneyedfiz, @cali-snow, @crazywittysassy, @yeosayang, @wonuvs, @dokyeomkyeom, @kyeomiis, @gyuguys, @notevenheretbh1

other people’s weddings | choi seungcheol

pairing: seungcheol x fem!reader, some mingyu x fem!reader other cast: soonyoung, jeonghan, seulgi, johnny (sorry to johnny for this), saerom cameo, jihoon mention genre: rom com, fake dating au, slight love triangle au, friends to lovers, idiots to idiots in love warnings: language, mature themes, some suggestive content sprinkled throughout and allusions to sex (nothing explicit at all), reader uses she/her pronouns throughout word count: 15.6k

“Remind me again: which wedding is this one?” you ask, head resting in your palm as you sit at your best friend’s kitchen table at 10:30am in your emerald green (and slightly stained) cocktail dress. 

Seungcheol glances at you in the reflection of the mirror in front of him, hands halting briefly in the process of tying his bright blue tie. “You didn’t bother to look at the invitation this morning?” His expression straddles the line between bemusement and annoyance. An expression you’ve come to know quite well over your many years of friendship. 

“No,” you shrug, taking a small sip from your iced caramel macchiato. He audibly sighs. A performance of his annoyance with you–another thing you’ve gotten used to. “You know where we’re going, and since I’m going with you, I just have to show up and look pretty.” you wink at him as he levels you with a slight glare and furrowed brows. “Don’t look at me like that, we have like…six weddings to go to this summer.” Seungcheol rolls his eyes at the exaggeration before turning his attention back to the strip of fabric hanging around his neck. 

Keep reading

18+ / mdi

content: newbf!vernon, based off this quote, appearance from some svt members, afab reader, smut(?), suggestive, etc.

wc: 1848

a/n: this is such an odd premise but it caught my attention so yeah<3

masterlist

"i dont get the joke," seungkwan cocked his head to the side in a questioning manner.

"yeah, april fool's was last month?," added joshua.

"there's no joke. we're dating."

even as you and vernon found yourselves cuddled up on the couch, – in a manner only a couple would intertwine with each other – your friends seemed unimpressed by the mere suggestion of the two of you dating.

"so you've been besties for twelve years and suddenly you're dating? no warning, no nothing? not very believable", answered mingyu, staring at you in nothing short of annoyance.

"why is this so surprising? you guys knew that i had a crush on her," argued vernon, feeling a bit annoyed at the way all his friends were currently staring him down. meanwhile, you appeared to be completely chill as you nuzzled into his side, watching videos on his phone and ignoring the conversation altogether.

"i just don't buy it."

"yeah, i don't get the joke, but i'm not falling for it."

"she's out of your league anyway."

seungkwan, seungcheol and jeonghan all expressed their sentiments to vernon as he groaned in frustration, unable to understand why it was so difficult to accept that he had finally grown the balls to ask you out. alas, he gave up as his friends grew distracted by something else, opting to go back to watching cat videos with you on his phone.

this was a brand new change in your dynamic, so maybe it'd be hard to grasp at first. but it was fine. vernon didn't need his friends to acknowledge his relationship in order to make it real. he'd simply continue to love on you like he'd been doing since you accepted to be his girlfriend, damning any denials from his friends.

~

acting unaffected by his friends' constant refutals of his new relationship proved to be harder than vernon had first anticipated. they'd gone above and beyond to attempt and disprove your relationship, claiming that it simply didn't make any sense.

any time you posted a picture with vernon it'd get spammed with comments from all twelve boys declaring the falsehood of your relationship.

jeonghanieyoon: booo 🍅

joshuacoustic: drop the fake bf and date me instead 😘

dk_is_dokyeom: ok u guys are starting to look believable 🧐

sometimes they'd even respond to vernon's stories about you and slide in his dms just to call him a dumbass for attempting to make this 'a thing' when it was clear you two were lying.

from: pledisboos - stop being a coward and ask her out for real

from: feat.dino - clearly fake. try harder next time!

in retrospect, maybe vernon only had himself to blame for this. after years of liking you, he never once gave any indication of attempting to leave the friendzone. his friends had all given up on hyping him up to confess to you years ago, leaving his crush as a dormant subject of conversation. it was quite sudden how you and vernon ended up together, and your dynamic hadnt changed too much, so your upgrade from friends to lovers was likely not noticeable to the naked eye.

however, this did not excuse the damned booing vernon had to endure any time the two of you walked into a room hand-in-hand. it also did not excuse jeonghan and mingyu's continuous flirting with you – they were doing it to prove a point, they said. and the most frustrating aspect of it all was how nonchalant you were about it all, always giggling along with his friends and never backing vernon up when he'd try and argue with them.

this was quite out of character for vernon. his demeanor had always been extremely chill and laid back, never one to be bothered by any outside forces (much less his dumb friends). you, however, were not helping manners in any way. you found the whole situation funny, telling vernon not to stress over it as you giggled over how passionate both vernon and his friends were about such a benign subject.

so, vernon gave up. he guessed that since you found the running gag about your 'fake' relationship amusing rather than frustrating (as he did), then he would just leave it alone. he was never one for pda anyways, so attempting to prove his relationship to his friends was kind of like beating a dead horse.

what vernon forgot to consider, however, was how nosy his friends were.

when it was time for all fourteen of you to spend the week at mingyu's beach house, he had let his guard down far too much, leading to a situation he'd like to consider both a win and a loss.

despite the sheer size of the beach house, housing fourteen people proved to be quite a difficult task, meaning that roommates were a must. with six rooms, everyone was separated into twos, with two rooms containing one extra roommate each. you and vernon always paired up together with no questions asked, except this time you were teased and mocked as you settled into your rooms, all while they assigned you chan as an extra roommate with the sarcastic intent of him keeping an eye on the two of you – "just want to make sure you don't get down to any funny business," had sad dokyeom in a mocking tone.

it was quite common for everyone but vernon to go out and play some badminton or basketball during these types of outings. he just wasnt a sports guy, and he was well loved despite his lack of participation. you'd occasionally join the guys, but would mostly hang back with vernon, which was what happened this time around. usually, you'd simply lounge around and watch a movie, but now that you were finally together, vernon decided to make better use of your alone time.

"are you sure we should be doing this?", you pulled away with a heavy breath, tilting your head back so vernon's lips could trail down your neck.

"it's fine, baby. they're all busy. they don't even believe we're dating, so they probably just think we're watching a movie," he explained as his hands attempted to get you to sit on his lap.

you didn't seem to need convincing as you slid over onto his lap, allowing his hands to guide your hips against his own. even through the pajamas you were wearing, he was sure you could feel his hardness under you.

"fuck, you're so fucking warm," he murmured as his hands went under your shirt, feeling up your warm skin and throwing it off in the process.

his lips went back to yours, groaning against you as your hips sped up against his own. easily frustrated, he laid you down, bringing down his pants and boxers to his mid thigh and leaving you in just your panties, adjusting his hardness so it'd grind itself perfectly against your clothed folds. the wetness seeping from your panties drove him insane with desire, but he couldn't stop grinding into you, growing easily obsessed with the stimulation. his lips had made their way back to your own, groaning endlessly against them while your hands pulled at his hair in a way that made his eyes cross.

"hmm, nonnie ..." you'd murmur every so often, making his resolve break little by little.

"fuck, is this okay, baby? just- wanna make you cum like this. i'll fuck you, i promise. just feel so fucking good like this," he groaned as you licked into his mouth, refusing to entertain any amount of separation.

eventually he reached down to your tits, tonguing at them like a starved man in search of his next meal. he was shameless in his desire for you, having wanted you for far too long and finally having you all to himself. no other thought occupied his mind at the moment. the touch and sight of your pretty body under his own was all his brain had the capacity of entertaining.

which was how neither of you noticed the boy suddenly intruding the scene, screaming in absolute shock at the nasty sight in front of him.

"oh my god?! you weren't lying?!"

what was even more unfortunate was how chan's yelling immediately alerted the rest of the members (or at least the nosier ones), leading to the door being filled by about seven spectators within seconds.

the only fortunate thing about the situation had been how fast vernon's protective instincts over you took over, covering you up with a blanket the moment he saw chan enter the room, preventing all the nosy men from having a peek at the nudity only vernon was allowed to see (and apparently chan too, as vernon had not noticed his presence until after the fact).

however, even as he covered you up, he left himself completely bare, having to take on all their shocked commentary whilst fully nude, barely able to pull up his boxers a few moments into their intrusion.

"no way, you're actually dating?!"

"either that or they took this joke a little far ..."

"man, channie's gonna be jacking off to this for ages."

"how the fuck did you score her??"

"do you guys want a third?"

these were only a few of the comments thrown at you and vernon within the first twenty seconds of the guys' presence in your room. however, to vernon it felt like a whole hour of scrutiny before he finally shook the shock off and began yelling at them to leave.

"get the fuck out! and never look at my girlfriend again!", he got up and began pushing them out as a few of them giggled at his anger whilst some others remained in shock at the situation.

in the meantime, you had pulled up the blanket over your head as you sat crisscross on the bed, likely too bashful to face the situation until your friends took their leave.

once vernon closed and locked the door, grabbing a pillow and throwing it outside for chan (who would not be allowed back in, by the way), vernon sped to your side, uncovering you, fully worried that you might be mad or petrified at what had just happened. to his surprise, you began laughing the moment you first made eye contact, causing vernon to furrow his eyebrows in question.

"baby, what the fuck? you find this funny?", he wasn't mad, but more so extremely confused.

"you got want you wanted, nonnie. there's no way to deny we're dating now," you grinned, crawling to sit on his lap again.

"god, i take it back. i'll never be able to fuck you again in peace. i was just about to cum, too."

"'was'?", you asked, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and leaning in closer, "you don't wanna anymore?", you tilted your head in fake curiosity.

"i mean-"

"they already know we're fucking. might as well have fun with it. right, nonnie?", you grinned.

chuckling at you, he couldn't help but agree with your horny logic. his boner was still half-there anyways.

"c'mere, baby."

[00:16 AM] one of me is cute, but two, though?

pairing: seungkwan × fem reader

genre: smut, timestamp

warnings: mdni, dirty talk, unprotected sex, penetration, cumming inside, descriptive, mention of wanting babies

masterlist

it's almost ironic how every talk you have with seungkwan about your future kids turns into a twisted scenario in the snap of a finger. you know you always have heart eyes everytime he tries to convince you (even though you were never against it) that your first child have to be named boo haneul, because just the thought of naming someone after the blue sky is just so beautiful to him.

all the times he called you mrs boo, that always sounding prettier coming from his mouth, saying that the house just misses a little toddler running around. or two. maybe, three. he tries to convince you it's time to start "practicing".

his sweet words always get through you, and you are not one bit sorry about it, shamelessly. "should we start trying? i bet you wanna feel how it is like to be stuffed by me, don't you?" his voice so low and his face looking so true to his words that makes goosebumps spread all over your body and your cheeks burn red.

"i want to make you full of me, hm? how does it sound?" you cant help clench around nothing, your eyes closing as you battle yourself to still be compose "you like it, dont you?" he smirks. he hasn't touched you one bit, and you still feel your panties starting to stick to your core just by his dirty mouth "look at you.." he says amusingly.

seungkwan loves how weak you get for him. he can throw you around the bed like a light doll just for him to fuck you senseless. he also loves how you get just as fucked up and wet as him by the thought of having him cumming inside you.

today, it wasn't different. your wasted form under his tight grip as he pounds into you. his growls and low moans filling the room as well as your whimpers and heavy breathing. your eyes roll back when he brings your legs up his shoulders. you're so into it, so into him, that you wanted to wrap your legs around his waist if you could, just to keep him like this forever. not a cohesive thought on your mind just needy moans of his name on the tip of your tongue.

"so pretty" he praises "say my name louder, baby. let them know who you belong to" he grunts. his pace fastening as he feels close too.

he puts your body to the side, keeping one of your legs up his head under his grip. this position making him get deeper inside you. the sounds of skin slapping getting louder, his core hitting your clit sinfully each thrust.

"fuck, seungkwan!" you scream, feeling the familiar knock forming on your lower belly.

"im cumm- mi- ing" he stutters, growling. "will you take everything like a good girl, won't you?"

"please, cum on me. please, let me cum"

"that's my good girl" he praises lastly "cum with me" he demands while fucking you. you see his head going back, a moan slipping out of his mouth as he shoots his cum inside you. you see red, your whole body trembling, feeling his hot cum hitting your sweat spot inside as you let go.

your cums mixed together as he refuses to stop pounding into you. he fucks his cum inside you, not letting a single drop come out. the sloppy sounds are nasty and feels like you both won't evet stop cumming from how good it feels.

he keeps his cock warm around your walls as you can't stop clenching around him. "so fucking needy" he whispers, his face encountering the nap of your neck as you both stay like this.

lie to girls.

pairing: scoups x f!reader

genre: angst, mature

word count: 475

summary: If they like you, girls will lie to themselves. Like you, girls will lie to themselves.

a/n: I'm such a big Sabrina fan and lie to girls is my allllll time fav song of hers.💓 this is my first fic on this blog. this post contains mature topics such as mentions of alcohol and implied alcohol abuse.

tags: @wannabelife - thanks bestie for bonding w me over svtxsabrina!!!

There was an edge to the tension palpitating through the room. You could feel it like an erratic heartbeat, thumping across your body. He was faced away from you, a fifteen foot distance between your bodies and yet you could smell the drinks on him. 

He couldn’t bear to turn around and drown in the pool of guilt that were your eyes.

“I swear I didn’t-” 

“Seungcheol, stop.”  

He can’t deal with it. Neither can you. 

For different reasons, of course. 

“I promise it’s been so long since I last drank, I didn’t even mean-” 

“-Seungcheol stop.”

At this point you didn’t know if this issue had been going on for weeks, months, or even years. Your boyfriend, he was your best friend. You told yourself over and over - “He’s just the life of the party”, “He’s just so social!”. But what party lasted weeks? Lifetimes? 

He wasn’t a bad boyfriend. No, he was the best! He just had a few issues, you could work on them together, for sure. If you left him now, who would he have? The hollow of his eyes spoke volumes, the rouge of his cheeks gave away the whole story. Yet, he stood there, his eyes finally connecting with yours.

He stands there and lies through his teeth.

“You don’t have to lie to me-” 

“-I’m not lying! I didn’t touch anything, it was just a on-”

“A one time thing yeah.”

You had to fight for this. You had to fight for him, because who else would? He certainly wouldn’t. He’d wash himself away under the pretense of self searching at the bottom of a pint glass of whiskey. This was your responsibility. He was just a boy falling sick, nothing else. He was your boy. Yours.

It didn’t matter that he stumbled into your apartment drunk on your birthday, touched you for the first time in months, hugged you for the first time in what felt like years- kissed you. His fumbling hands on your red dress that he had bought you when things were still okay. No, things are still okay. Everything is fine. 

It didn’t matter when you canceled your yearly family dinner with your family to clean vomit out of your white persian rug. You tried to talk to him about it then, but he just called you crazy, saying ‘it’s just a bit of fun, babe. You should try it some time’. 

So now, he didn’t have to lie to you. 

“I-I’m really sorry.” 

His arms wrapped around your frame, his slurring voice whispering into your hair. 

“For what?” You asked. 

“Everything. I’ll make everything fine again baby, I promise.” 

You let yourself melt in his arms, because now, he didn’t have to lie to you. 

‘I’ll make everything fine again’ 

He lied to himself enough.

‘I promise.’

And you lied to yourself in return. 

sweetest thing

pairing: chwe hansol (vernon) x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff, strangers/uni classmates to lovers, bakery worker!reader x window shopper!vernon

word count: 7.5k

warnings: lots of food mentions, mutual pining, vernon is down bad, emergency room/hospital visit for an injury (don’t worry, it’s not super bad!), seokmin and seungkwan best wingmen, forehead kiss near the end, let me know if i need to add more!

synopsis:

when you finally find out the name of the cute regular who never buys anything, you don’t expect to get to know him better…or for him to be so sweet.

author note: yeah i really have no idea how i wrote so much 😭 my first vernon fic, and it’s a huge one…anyway, this fic wouldn’t be possible without seungkwan so everyone say thank you seungkwan 🫶 lots of love, and i hope you enjoy reading ♡

masterlist

running a small business is hard.

you know this from experience, seeing your boss run pang! sweets all by himself before you came along—mingyu’s a strong one, that’s for sure. well, he’s strong literally as well; he’s always at the gym if he’s not checking in on the bakery. 

though you only started at pang! for the money—you’re a university student; there’s always something you have to pay for—you have to admit you’ve gotten a bit attached to your part time job, finding solace in the arms of the small lot mingyu rents out. 

and that love for your job is exactly why your eye is twitching and your voice is strained as you talk to the regular customer in front of you—well, he would be, if he actually bought anything the bakery offers. “do you need any assistance?”

the man in front of you raises his head to look at you before shaking his head, turning his attention back to the croissant in front of him. 

yes, he’s cute and seems to be around your age but he also comes in every morning and buys absolutely nothing. he stands there in front of the display stand, and analyses every single detail in the cinnamon rolls you make early in the morning on the weekends, as well as the assorted pastries mingyu bakes up. 

you turn and walk in to mingyu singing along to the radio as he finishes up decorating his third batch of cupcakes for the day. in signature mingyu style, there’s frosting everywhere; he may be a good baker but he’s a messy one.

he grins at you, wiping frosting off his cheek before tilting his head and frowning at your stiff expression. “is something wrong?” 

“the window shopper’s back,” you simply say, gritting your teeth and biting the inside of your cheek so you don’t end up yelling in frustration.

mingyu sighs before wiping his hands on a nearby towel and fixing his posture, slapping his biceps to seem bulkier than he already is. “okay then. it’s time for operation scarecrow, isn’t it?” 

you nod at him seriously before holding the curtain separating the kitchen and the front open for him, giving a clear view of the opposite light pink wall. (mingyu always corrects you when you call it that, saying “it’s rose quartz, for god’s sake!”)

mingyu walks by you with the scariest expression he can muster and falters as he takes a step out, looking out to the front door. he turns back to you, confused. “there’s no one here. i guess he left.”

you go out to join your boss, and let out a silent scream at the lack of customers, annoyed at the fact that he got away again.

operation scarecrow hasn’t worked yet—a fancy way of saying that mingyu intimidates the window shopper to get the hell out of his shop—because the damn guy never stays around long enough. 

mingyu rolls his eyes in amusement before coming over and patting your head, getting leftover frosting on you. “it’s okay! we’ll get him next time, partner.” 

you can’t help but huff out a breath to calm yourself down at mingyu’s smile. “wait, did you get frosting on me? mingyu! what—” you’re cut off when mingyu races into the back, and holds the curtains closed so you can’t tell him off. 

“mingyu! this isn’t fair!”

you’re running late, and barely surviving on two coffees since you woke up in a rush after helping mingyu the night before finish up a huge order for, funnily enough, the university you’re making your way hurriedly to now. 

you get in the lecture hall just as the professor makes his way up to the podium, and pick a random seat in the middle to get comfortable in, the class already starting; professor kim has a habit of droning on and on about things that appear on his tests, according to the school forums, so you can’t miss anything he says.

you don’t notice the people next to you until the professor tells everyone to take a break after he goes through the first set of slides, and you look up to see a red haired man beside you and next to him is…oh my god. it’s the damn guy you’ve been looking for, peering over his glasses down at his laptop.

 you smile politely at the guy closest to you first, introducing yourself. thankfully, your excitement at finding the window shopper is disguised as one stemming from potentially making a new friend. he grins at you before fixing his sweatband. “i’m seungkwan! and this is my friend,” he leans back so you can see the man beside him properly, “hansol.”

“you can call me vernon though,” hansol—vernon, you suppose—says without looking up from the screen in front of him. 

you stare at him for a second, giddy on the inside because you finally have a name to the face you’ve seen way too often in the past weeks. since vernon hasn’t looked up, you’re guessing he doesn’t know it’s you yet, and you’re thankful for that—you can’t have him running off on you before exacting revenge, can you?

you excuse yourself from talking about the course work with your new acquaintances, and pull out your phone to text mingyu excitedly.

you ❙

KIM MINGYU.

i found him. 

mingoowner ❙

not the full name lol

???

you ❙

THE SHOPLIFTER

HAHAHA WE GOT HIM NOW

mingoowner ❙

OH that’s great!

lmk details when you come for your shift later

oh also where’d you put the egg substitute? i can’t find it 😭

you ❙

should be in the second cupboard to the left of the sink

mingoowner ❙

okay found it thanks

i’ll see you later ;)

you put your phone on top of your notebook, and notice seungkwan staring at you with a smirk on his face. “ohohoho, does our new friend have a partner?” he says, singing the last word. 

vernon pauses as he types, giving seungkwan a weird look before finally noticing you.

he blinks at you, the same expression on his face as always, as if he’s daydreaming all the time. he breaks eye contact, putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, causing seungkwan to jump a little at the contact. “it’s not our place to ask that seungkwan, we just met them.” 

huh. you suppose he’s a decent guy after all—or at least abides by social norms. 

seungkwan grumbles under his breath about vernon being no fun, and smiles at you sheepishly. “sorry if that was too much. you are cute though, so i wouldn’t be surprised if you did have a partner! right, vernon?” seungkwan nudges his friend, who’s already back to his work. 

vernon nods without looking up, but his face seems brighter than before. eh, it’s probably just the blue light emitting from the screen he’s staring lasers into. (when did blue light turn someone’s face more red though?)

you laugh and shake your head, your attention back to seungkwan—you don’t notice how vernon looks at you through the corner of his eye, and that his eyes crinkle a little when yours do.

“no, i don’t have a partner. i was just texting…” you shoot a cautious glance at vernon before mumbling, “my boss at the bakery i work at.” 

vernon tenses slightly as seungkwan looks at you in admiration, and claps you on the back in approval. “wow, you’ve got a job at a bakery? that’s so cool!” seungkwan winks at you, continuing. “you should let us have a discount because we’re your friends, right?”

you look at the red haired man in front of you in astonishment. you just met each other? why is he…so friendly already, as if you’ve known each other for ages? you're not lonely at school; you have friends from other classes but…maybe being friends with seungkwan won’t hurt, especially because he seems to be besties with the guy you’ve been hunting for the past month or so.

you roll your eyes before nodding, looking pointedly at vernon. “yeah, if you guys come by and actually buy things, i’ll give you a discount!”

vernon flinches slightly at your words, caught off guard. seungkwan looks at vernon before he seems to realize something, his hand hitting his friend’s shoulder excitedly. 

“OH MY GOD, IS THIS—” seungkwan only goes so far before vernon cuts him off with a slap over his mouth with an apologetic expression on his face—wow, this is the most expressive you’ve seen him.

“sorry, he can be a bit…loud at times,” vernon says in your direction before glaring subtly at seungkwan, telling him to shut up before he spills too much. 

you see them exchange another look before seungkwan pulls vernon’s hand away from his face, and smiles at you knowingly. “hey, do you work at pang! sweets?”

you nod, and vernon mumbles a few curses under his breath before pinching seungkwan’s thigh desperately, whose grin only becomes bigger. 

“i’ll make sure i visit then!” seungkwan says. when the man beside him clears his throat, seungkwan adds on with a smirk, “well, with vernon, of course. he would hate me if i didn’t take him with me because he has such a huge—” 

“sweet tooth!” vernon yells, not letting seungkwan finish his sentence, his exclamation catching the attention of everyone in the hall. 

“well, vernon, is it? it’s…nice to know your preference in food but we really should be covering this next topic instead,” professor kim says with a raised eyebrow, moving back to the front and putting the next set of slides on the screen for everyone—right, you’re still in class.

seungkwan giggles under his breath as vernon rolls his eyes at his friend’s antics. he glances over at you, analyzing your confused expression before letting out a breath in relief. you don’t know anything, do you? he prefers it that way, at least until he’s ready.

“hey, seokmin! what’ll you have today?” you ask the regular in front of you, now at your second home. 

“oh, just my usual, thanks!” seokmin smiles at you brightly as he slides a crisp bill over to pay. 

despite only knowing him through mingyu, you clicked with seokmin easily when you first met, and have since made sure to remember his order, considering he visits quite often.

you ring him up, pull out a pizza bun from the display case in front of him, and give it to seokmin with extra napkins, like always. you call out to mingyu in the back when you take inventory of what’s left to be displayed. “gyu, we got any more croissants? there’s only three outside.”

mingyu brushes aside the curtains with a flourish as he walks to where you are. you wait patiently to make his way to you as he waves to his imaginary fans, even though there’s no one to wave to other than you and seokmin—tuesday afternoons aren’t usually busy. you’re used to his dramatics, having worked with him for a while now but seokmin still claps in admiration, as if he isn’t a musical actor himself. 

mingyu brushes his bangs back before smiling when he’s in front of you. “you called?”

you stare at him silently, pointing to the croissants on display. “we need more, your highness.”

mingyu scoffs before going into the back once more and bringing out a tray of fresh ones, and he squats down to place them meticulously on the wooden tray for displaying, relying on seokmin to tell him if he’s doing it right.

mingyu doesn’t look at you when he speaks, focusing on placing a chocolate croissant on top of another. “so, you never explained what’s up with finding the window shopper.”

you snap your fingers, suddenly remembering that you forgot to tell him, and start talking rapidly. “okay so basically, it turns out he’s in my class? like the one with professor kim, and he looks like some sort of nerd with his glasses on? like it’s cute but i didn’t expect that from him.” 

mingyu and seokmin exchange a look through the glass separating them, and seokmin advises mingyu to sprinkle sugar on the pastry on the edge on the tray eventually, and mingyu agrees before they nod in unison for you to continue.

“and so i made a new friend i guess? his name is seungkwan, he’s sweet and i think they’re besties? they gave off that vibe, and to be honest…the guy, vernon—or hansol, or whatever! he seems like a nice enough guy? i mean, he was decent and maybe…he’s just really indecisive or something.”

seokmin laughs wholeheartedly at your conclusion—he’s filled in on the drama, of course; you always complain about this mystery guy whenever he comes by—and mingyu gets up, putting the now empty tray onto the counter, making you groan at how you’ll have to clean it up later. 

“i—i thought you hated this guy?” mingyu says your name in disbelief, holding your shoulders and staring into your eyes. “have you fallen in love or something and that’s why you’re switching sides so fast? cause this is…not very normal of you.”

you stare at him, pushing his hands off you lightly before laughing, and the two guys in the shop join you before they get weirded out by how long you continue. seokmin says your name uncertainly before stage whispering to mingyu, “i think they’ve gone mad!”

you stop laughing maniacally at this before gasping loudly at your friend’s accusation. “no, i haven’t! i haven’t fallen in love or anything either lol.”

your friends look at each other slowly and mingyu stutters on his words, as he puts his hand on your shoulder again, mostly to ground himself as seokmin looks on with horror. “did you…did you just say lol out loud? like—like the letters out loud?” 

you pause, realizing you’ve slipped up, and maybe your friends are right. you’ve gone mad, lost your sanity even. over a man? you put your head in your hands, trying to figure out where it all went wrong. when vernon first came into the bakery, four monday mornings ago, with his leather jacket and pushed back hair? was it when you saw him wearing a varsity jacket earlier, his glasses perched on his nose as if they’d been made to fit him? you have no idea.

seokmin looks down at his cold bun and then at the two of you, this time not even trying to soften his words. “yup, they’ve gone mad.”

“oh also, can one of you warm this up once they’re done with their mental breakdown? it’s cold,” seokmin adds on, pouting when mingyu shoots him a sharp glare. 

after your…madness the other day, you can’t even look at vernon for more than a few seconds.

seungkwan definitely knows something is up; you’ve only known each other for a little bit but he’s in tune with your body language already, which is why he invited you to get coffee with him in class earlier. of course, he had invited his best friend but vernon had declined, saying something about how he needed to finish an assignment—even though he’d never say it, he was slightly disappointed that he couldn’t spend time with you outside of class for once. 

seungkwan animatedly recounts his day to you as you walk to the coffee shop together, and you order quickly. he insists on paying for you and you relent when his whines cause the other customers to look at the two of you in confusion. you’re about to sit down at a small table inside the falling for u cafe when your phone dings multiple times. 

pizza bun ❙

ummm mingyu did something weird…

he told me to text you cause he says that only you know how to tame the oven?? whatever that means 😭

you ❙

WHAT 

IM ON MY WAY RN

SEOKMIN WATCH MINGYU DON'T LET HIM TOUCH ANYTHING.

pizza bun ❙

OKAY GOT IT BOSS 🫡

you hurriedly put your phone in your pocket before explaining quickly. “my boss is gonna set the bakery on fire, i have to go, i’m so sorry!”

you run to pang! which is thankfully only half a block away, leaving a dazed seungkwan behind.

“KIM MINGYU WHEN I FIND YOU—oh,” you yell as you walk in, quieting with an apology when you find startled customers sitting at the tables inside. 

seokmin peeks his head out when your voice echoes off the walls, and waves you in quickly, updating you on what exactly happened. “so basically, i think he accidentally whacked the side of the oven with his whisk while he was trying to make meringue, and then he got water in his meringue bowl, so now he’s…” seokmin gestures towards the bakery owner as you draw closer, who’s crouching on the ground, a mixing bowl held protectively in his hands. “he’s like this.”

mingyu looks up when he notices the two of you, and pouts. “i made a dent in the oven…”

you close your eyes, trying to control the urge to tell mingyu off. 

“mingyu,” you start, leaning down to give him a hand so he can get up and face you at his full height. “you are a strong, wonderful man but OH MY GOD GYU, I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL AFTER LAST TIME!” you yell, reaching up to pull his ear down as you scold him. 

“last time” was when mingyu had somehow dented the old oven, and you had to replace it because it was just that bad—somehow all the buttons stopped working when you pressed them, and he had to pay for a new one, which you had now. 

mingyu yelps out in pain as you pull him down more, and calls out to seokmin for help, not realizing that his so-called friend went back to his table to finish up his pizza bun for the day.

you let go of his ear when you realize the customers may be able to hear you and speak in an authoritative whisper. “you will not touch anything for the time being. i’ll call up the repair people because someone,” you give him a look, making the bakery owner flinch, “has made sure that they know pang! sweets on a first name basis.”

you turn and walk out without looking at the pitiful man behind you, plastering a smile so the customers don’t think anything is wrong—the walls are thin; the couple near the counter heard everything and were trying to keep from laughing. 

after a short call to the repairperson from last time, you look out to the sunny street and the people walking along the sidewalk, a familiar redhead in the mix—wait, is that seungkwan?

you squint to make sure, and the familiar figure waves through the window, dragging along…oh my god, he’s brought the window shopper.

a familiar twinkling from the bell attached to the door accompanies the two as they walk in, and seokmin gets up to greet them warmly, giving seungkwan a hug and a soft smile to vernon. he drags them over to where you are, and when you look at him confused, he explains. “oh, i know these two from before! i’m really close with seungkwan because the two of us and soonyoung—well, you wouldn’t know him because he’s always in his practice room but i’ll bring him over sometime—are best friends!”

seungkwan nods as vernon looks at you and waves, as if he hasn’t seen you for multiple weeks at this exact same spot—though he hasn't been coming ever since you formally met him. “hey.”

“…hey,” you reply, and seokmin and seungkwan exchange a wince at the awkward air surrounding the four of you—mingyu’s still sitting on the kitchen floor in timeout. 

you busy yourself with making sure the counter is clean, inspecting the marble as if you hadn’t just cleaned it mindlessly while on call with the repair place as the three men talk.

“oh, isn’t it your birthday soon?” seungkwan says to vernon, loud enough for you to hear, and quickly corrects himself when seokmin clears his throat. “and yours too, of course, minnie.”

you raise an eyebrow. “they share a birthday?” seokmin nods and you continue. “that’s pretty cool actually! seokmin, you should’ve told me.”

seokmin only shrugs before grinning. “wait, you’re baking something for me like you did last year, right?” he lowers his voice to a whisper as he continues. “i know i’ve known mingyu for longer and should technically trust him more but like, i feel like your baking is a lot more…clean compared to his, you know?” 

you nod before staring at vernon, who’s back to talking to seungkwan on the side about…bears? you don’t even know, and frankly, you’re not sure if you want to know.

maybe you should make something for him too, considering it’s his birthday and you know, you’re making something for seokmin anyway.

seokmin smirks as he follows your line of vision and moves to join his friends. “he’s allergic to peanuts by the way,” he nonchalantly says on his way, shooting you a wink before he drapes an arm over seungkwan’s shoulder. 

well, one thing’s for sure: you’re not planning on making peanut butter cookies for the eighteenth.

mingyu would’ve been mad at you for sitting at the counter if you hadn’t closed already, it being past nine pm—actually, he couldn’t be mad at you anyway, considering how much you do for him.

he walks over to you scribbling ideas down in your notebook and crossing them out right after. well, so much for keeping his gift to you aesthetic. 

so far, you had thought of nothing for vernon’s—and seokmin’s, of course—birthday gift. even though you don’t know him that well, you want to see him happy with a huge grin on his face like when he was talking to seungkwan in professor kim’s about chan, their friend, and smacked his best friend's shoulder, to seungkwan’s annoyance. you groan as you straighten your back, your spine aching from bending over to write. 

mingyu pats your shoulder from behind and looks over at your list. “need any help?”

you turn to look at him, sighing deeply. “yeah. do you think i should text seungkwan to see if he knows anything?”

“seungkwan knows everything, trust me. but yeah, i think you should. maybe then you’ll be able to notice the cookies i baked just for you, my favourite worker.” mingyu teasingly says, giving you a wink before pulling out the small container of your favourite cookies, fresh from the oven that apparently, had nothing wrong with it despite the dent made on the outside.

you take a huge bite out of the one he hands you before taking out your phone to text the friend who’s on your mind—okay, maybe his friend is the one on your mind.

you ❙

hey kwannie <33

um do you know what kind of cookies vernon likes? 

or like any type of treat at all that i can make at the bakery

kwannie 🍊 ❙

OH MY GOD I KNEW IT

someone’s got a crushhh

you ❙

i’m just asking in advance just in case he comes by !! and actually wants to buy things lol

kwannie 🍊 ❙

sure…🙄

anyway he likes choco cake and cheesecake 

always see him munching on them after finals

oh he’s allergic to peanuts btw so be careful

wouldn’t want to hurt your bf before you’re official am i right 😓

you ❙

BOO SEUNGKWAN. 

kwannie 🍊 ❙

yes this is he

you ❙

…no comment.

seokmin alr told me about the peanuts thing 🙏

okay thanks for the info ily <3

you put your phone down before sighing. you know what, that made sense; vernon always used to pay extra attention to mingyu’s phenomenal cheesecake and chocolate cake slices out front, as if he needed to memorize the placement of each particle on the wooden trays. 

mingyu looks at you curiously and you show him seungkwan’s messages. “oh yeah, that makes sense. i say make chocolate cake cause seokmin will like it too! that way you’re only using one recipe—i'll lend you my book so you can look through it.” 

okay, chocolate cake. you can do that. right?

you take a look at the time, and realize that it’s probably a good idea to go home, considering how late it is. you pack up your stuff quickly, and wave to mingyu as he locks up the shop. 

“i’ll see you day after tomorrow, gyu! be safe!” you call out as you walk backwards towards the way home, and turn to face the lit up sidewalk…and the slightly menacing person walking towards you, with an all black outfit and hood up, a mask covering most of their face (also black of course, they have a theme going on). 

you’re not too scared though because they’re walking normally—although a bit…uniformly, hands not moving from their position by their hips—and don’t seem to be under any influence, at least from what you can see. they also seem distracted by their phone and you can see their headphones on. 

that doesn’t mean you don’t walk quickly, suddenly remembering all the stories of ghosts of previous university students haunting the grounds they stayed at before their passing.

 as you pass them and let out a breath you had been holding before feeling a soft tap on your shoulder. you turn to face the person you saw before, and you see yourself stare back in their big brown eyes—wow, those are some nice eyelashes. 

“hey, i didn’t know you were gonna be here,” they say, muffled enough by their mask so you can’t recognize their voice. you take a step back from them, clutching the straps of your work bag on your shoulder. 

“i’m sorry, do i know you?” you say confused, taking another step back, and the person in front of you chuckles, taking off their mask. 

oh god, of course it’s the man who’s been plaguing your thoughts. you smile awkwardly and wave. “oh…hi vernon.”

he raises his eyebrow as he smiles back, his voice soft as he calls your name. “hi…did you really think i was gonna hurt you or something?”

you nod your head seriously before gesturing to your surroundings: a barely lit entrance to the alleyway that leads to a small neighbourhood before you hands end up pointing at his mask. “have you seen where we are right now? also, this is an awfully suspicious get up, dude…i was kinda scared.” 

vernon’s hands go back to the nape of his neck as he chuckles, embarrassed. “sorry ‘bout that. i just—i didn’t see you until you passed by because of the…” he trails off, realizing that what he was distracted by is a little too cute for the image he’s trying to build up to impress you. 

you frown, and he finds you adorable as he clears his throat and mumbles, “cat videos i was watching.” 

you sputter, moving forward to leave a hand on vernon’s shoulder to ground yourself as you laugh lightheartedly. “you—why are you so embarrassed by that?” 

your eyes shine in the dim light the streetlamp over the two of you provides, and he can’t help but appreciate them for a few seconds before he looks away, his hand automatically going back up to his neck. 

vernon laughs awkwardly before responding. “well, uh…i was worried it would ruin the whole ‘cool guy’ thing i’ve got going on, according to seungkwan.” 

you raise your eyebrows before chuckling and vernon finds himself joining in, the two of you smiling at each other softly before you break eye contact and look away, the yellow light from above doing little to hide the red creeping up both your faces. 

his phone dings multiple times before he takes it out of his jacket pocket and he sighs, showing you the contact name. “speak of the devil.”

you shrug before giving him a sneaky look. “well, you can’t keep him waiting, can you?” 

vernon nods before he smiles at you shyly, clearing his throat. “hey, would you want to come over? we’re having a little get together actually.” he shakes the plastic bag in his other hand to bring attention to it—huh, you hadn’t noticed it before. “we’re having ice cream…” he sings, looking at you expectantly. 

you yawn involuntarily and give vernon an apologetic look. “i think i’ll have to pass, sorry. i should probably go home and knock out for the rest of the night, it’s been a long day.”

he agrees with you, nodding even though you can see how his face falls slightly—is this just because you’re paying way too much attention to the way his eyes smile more than his actual mouth? maybe. 

vernon sends you on your way home with a promise to text him, and inputs his number into your phone so you can actually contact him (he hopes you don’t notice his hands trembling just the slightest bit). 

as soon as you enter the doorway of home sweet home, you toss your things to the side and grab your phone, sitting down on the couch in the living room giddily. you smile at his name in your contacts before debating on what to text him. you decide to introduce yourself first, making sure he can save your name as well.

you ❙

i made it home! 

vernon ❙

sweet

we have an early class tomorrow so sleep well

i’ll see you in kim’s

you ❙

see you then vernon! 

oh dear god, you feel so awkward. however, just the fact that he responded (and wished you a good sleep!) is enough to make you weak in the knees, and get up to your kitchen, texting mingyu for the recipes he mentioned earlier. as you look at the measuring equipment spread neatly on the counter, you take in a deep breath. 

time to make the best chocolate cake vernon’s ever had in his life. (and seokmin!)

at first, he only wanted to see the selection of the fairly new bakery near campus.

it had good reviews online, and vernon expected it to be nice—which it is; his opinion isn’t different from the online forums he read in advance—and was pleasantly surprised by how much he could buy, considering that it was fairly priced as well. 

he was leaning down to see the cinnamon rolls (maybe he could get one for seungkwan…he should ask) when he heard your voice for the first time. “do you need any help?”

he looked up and had to do a double take, disguising it as him seemingly making sure nothing was on his sleeve. 

were all bakery workers supposed to be this cute? 

vernon couldn’t help but freeze under your warm stare, and even though he knew you had a customer service smile on, he wanted to know what your real smile was like. 

you had giggled awkwardly when he didn’t respond and he immediately stood up properly, hand rubbing the back of his scalp—seungkwan says it’s a habit vernon does when he’s nervous, and he’s probably right. 

“oh, uh…i’m good, thanks,” he says quietly, looking at the floor instead of your face, which was suddenly too bright to look at. 

thankfully—well…vernon did want to look at your face more but it was probably better when you moved away from him, satisfied with his response, and started to wipe the counter, making sure the slightly dirty spots were clear enough to see your face in—the same face he was staring way too much at. 

vernon brought his attention back to the pastries in front of him but his mind quickly wandered to…well, you. 

oh my god, is this what they call love at first sight or something? he shook his head, and your head snapped up at the motion to look at him. 

he mumbled under his breath, “no, no, it’s probably just being attracted or something, that’s all.”

so why did he keep coming back into the shop…just to see you? 

“and that’s how vernon fell in love,” seungkwan says, giggling as vernon finishes telling his story of how he met you to seokmin.

“wow.” seokmin’s hands go up to cover his mouth as he gasps, surprised by vernon’s words. “that’s pretty romantic actually…”

seungkwan agrees, almost jumping up and down as they stand around seokmin’s kitchen island, where the small birthday party for seokmin and vernon—affectionately called the 218 bros—is being held.

vernon sighs, his face red, not being able to lie to his friends. “yeah, yeah…whatever seungkwan said.”

seokmin takes out his phone, looking at it thoughtfully before at vernon. “should i call mingyu to tell him to close the bakery earlier so they can be here before we cut the cake?” 

“no need. they’re not working today, so i think they’re just a little late,” vernon says, shaking his head.

and he’s completely right because you’re rushing to pack the treat you’ve made him in time to leave with mingyu, who swears he’ll leave you behind if you take more than five more minutes. 

“but gyu!” you whine, balancing your phone in between your ear and your shoulder before making sure you don’t get frosting all over your clothes. “you can’t leave me, i’m your only employee!”

mingyu sighs over the phone before pausing. “hey, do you think i should hire seungkwan instead of you? that’d be a nice change.”

you snort, taking the two large boxes in your hands and putting them down so you can lock your door. “you could never replace me, and you know it.”

mingyu hangs up as you make your way to his backseat to deposit your gifts and grins when you settle into the passenger seat beside him. 

“yeah, yeah…” he rolls your eyes as you put your phone into your pocket, pausing when you see a notification from one of the men of the hour. 

vernon ❙

hey are you on your way?

we’re gonna cut cake soon

wait nvm we don’t have the cake

you ❙

yeah i’m almost there! 

just got a little late, me and mingyu are on our way

vernon ❙

sweet me and seokmin will meet you out front if you need help ?

apparently the cake is with you guys 

you ❙

yeah sure! thanks :D

vernon ❙

of course :)

you squeal, clutching mingyu’s arm as he looks at you before back at the road immediately. “hey, i’m driving here!”

you apologize, and grin when you pull up to seokmin’s home. mingyu gets out and opens the backseat door as you wave to vernon, who’s out waiting for you on the lawn. 

vernon moves to help mingyu with the boxes but the other man only winks as he carries the two cakes in his hands easily.

you smile as you join vernon on the grass and start to go in for a hug before pausing and patting him on the shoulder awkwardly. “happy birthday, vernon!”

he raises an eyebrow before patting your back in a similar way to mock you, and smiles. “thanks.” vernon gestures towards the front door. “should we go in?”

you’re greeted with a big hug from both seokmin and seungkwan as you enter, and vernon smiles at your excitement to see your friends before immediately deadpanning. he can’t get caught, especially not by seungkwan—he would be teased forever.

seungkwan casually wraps an arm around your shoulder and smirks at vernon’s slightly clenched fist before saying your name loudly. “did you really make the cakes all by yourself? wow, that’s so impressive, they look so good!” 

you nod sheepishly, a small blush forming on your cheeks as vernon blinks and claps you on the back, subtly replacing seungkwan’s position beside you. “wow, that’s really cool of you. i appreciate it a lot, dude.”

you grin at him, and vernon doesn’t even notice how his friends scooch away to marvel at your sweet creations in the kitchen because he’s too busy focused on the way your eyes are somehow brighter in the lit entryway of his friend’s home. 

“vernon?” you call out concerned, waving a hand in front of his face. “you there?”

he blinks, and his hand goes back up to the spot on his neck that it always does. “uh, yeah, i’m here.”

you smile at him again, and he’s entranced. “right, so the cakes have a ton of chocolate, and i didn’t know what you and seokmin liked best so—!” 

vernon immediately puts his hand around your back, shocked at how you almost fell while taking a step towards him. you wince, and he looks up, locking eyes with mingyu before he looks down at you, calling your name in a panic. “are you alright? did—did you twist your ankle?”

you groan, gripping onto vernon’s arm as you pull yourself up to stand on your right foot, as putting pressure on your left hurts. 

you breathe heavily and look down at your foot, already seeing an angry red forming as your ankle swells underneath your sneaker. 

“okay, okay, uh…” vernon thinks out loud for a second before calling over mingyu and telling him to start his car. he squeezes the arm he’s still holding, and gives you a nervous smile. “you’re gonna be alright, okay? um—i’m gonna take you to the hospital and we’ll be with mingyu and—”

he gets interrupted by seungkwan grabbing your other arm so they can help you walk out the door, and onto the lawn. seungkwan looks at you concerned as he helps you into the backseat of mingyu’s car, and to your surprise, vernon sits down in the seat beside you. 

you’re not the only one surprised, as mingyu gapes at vernon through the rearview mirror. 

“what?” vernon looks at the both of you weirdly before sighing. “come on, mingyu, we need to hurry!”

as mingyu pulls out of seokmin’s neighbourhood, you think you’re going mad, just like he said you were only a few weeks ago. you start to giggle incessantly, unable to stop even when vernon glances at you worriedly and pulls you into his shoulder so you’re supported. 

“i—i’m so sorry,” vernon says suddenly, his knee bouncing up and down as he frowns at you. “this is all my fault.”

you stop giggling and frown as well, groaning in pain as you shift to face vernon better—god, this hurts. 

“what are you talking about?” you ask vernon before another giggling fit comes on, and you manage to squeeze out, “i’m the one who went whoops! and fell down, not you!” 

vernon stares at you, realizing that this…is probably just your body’s way of distracting yourself from the throbbing of your ankle, and he moves to remove your sneaker so that the nurses don’t struggle with it later.

you giggle again, and you try to push the wrinkle in between his eyebrows away, the adrenaline getting to you and making sure you have no self control at all. “the only thing you did to make me fall was stand there with your beautiful face—oh, and your long eyelashes and nice voice!”

vernon’s eyes widen and you can count every vein in them, coursing with the same liquid that’s now flooding his cheeks. “uh—i…”

your moment is ruined as mingyu sputters, trying to hold back his laughter, and vernon goes to look at him as he fails. wiping his tears, mingyu gestures to the building on the left, not trusting himself to speak just yet, and—oh, you’re at the hospital already. 

to be completely honest, vernon doesn’t know what he’s doing here, sitting in the chair beside you, and listening to the person on the other side of the thin screen separating the beds in the emergency room. all he can do is stare at your intertwined hands as you sleep, the adrenaline high from before wearing off—thank god, because he doesn’t think he could take more of the cheesy pick up lines you’ve thrown at him.

he still can’t believe you said he was so beautiful, you fell for him—quite literally, as your swollen ankle shows it.

mingyu comes back, the necessary paperwork in his hands and pauses, raising an eyebrow in concern. “vernon? you’re really red, do you need to get checked out too?”

vernon raises the hand that’s not being held tightly by yours to his cheek, and realizes that his friend is right—he’s burning up, but he’s pretty sure that’s an after effect of your words, and not because he has a fever.

he shakes his head at mingyu, and the other man excuses himself to make a call to seokmin to explain, and vernon can hear seokmin and seungkwan screaming at mingyu through his phone speaker to the point where his friend’s phone is a good few inches away from his ear. 

vernon squeezes your hand, and pushes a stray strand of hair back from your forehead to plant a soft kiss—hopefully, that would speed up your recovery and wake up sooner, like his own version of sleeping beauty.

it’s been a few weeks since you twisted your ankle—and basically ruined seokmin and vernon’s birthday party, though both of them don’t blame you for it—and you’re finally back at work, actually feeling useful for the first time since you got back from the hospital. 

of course, mingyu’s a good boss, and a caring friend but that should be common knowledge, and he just about tied you down to the rolling chair he forced you into at the beginning of your shift, and he now makes sure to watch you so you don’t get up, not even once. 

you sigh, cleaning the counter without thinking and wonder what the hell vernon thinks of you now.

apparently, according to mingyu at least, you were flirting with him on the way to the hospital, and vernon didn’t know how to respond at all. you groan, putting your head into your hands before the bell at the door tinkles, signalling a new customer.

“hi there, what can i—” you falter when you see…of course, it’s vernon. “hi!”

he nods at you in greeting, holding a bag in his hand as he comes up to the counter. “hi.”

you raise an eyebrow at vernon with a chuckle. “are you actually going to buy something for once, vernon?”

when he nods again, you’re surprised. does he mean he’ll no longer be a window shopper and actually contribute to the bakery?

he sputters, unable to hold his laugh in. “you…you have such a shocked look on your face, i’m sorry.”

embarrassed, you compose yourself, clearing your throat. “well, i didn’t expect you to upgrade from window shopper to actual shopper anytime soon, so i’m pleasantly surprised.”

“well…for that i have to make a purchase, right?” he smiles at you softly. “can i have a slice of cheesecake, please?” 

you nod eagerly, and roll to where the slices are kept, taking one out carefully. as you put it in a paper bag for him, vernon fidgets nervously with the handles of the bag he’s holding, and you ring him up.

he pays with his card—and tips you generously; you shoot him a grateful smile. vernon puts the bag he brought earlier down on the counter to grab the one with the cheesecake and wipes his free palm on his jeans. “uh, that—that’s for you.”

you put your hand in the bag carefully and pull out a small box, opening it carefully as vernon watches you. 

it’s a…cupcake? you pull a cupcake that’s a bit flat, and has something written on it with frosting.  though you can’t tell what it says exactly, you make out a question mark at the end and look up at vernon. “uh…thank you? sorry, i can’t read what it says.”

vernon’s mouth turns into an o as his cheeks heat up, and now you’re even more confused. 

“i um…” vernon says quietly before he blurts the rest of his sentence out. “i’m asking you on a date.” 

your jaw drops open as he continues and by now, you both are a deeper shade of pink than the walls surrounding you.

“i’ve actually liked you for a while now.” vernon continues nervously with a chuckle, rubbing the nape of his neck as he looks down at his sneakers. “that’s why i kept coming back here, even though i couldn’t afford to buy anything—i was here for you.”

“i really like you too, vernon.” he looks up and smiles nervously at you, and you can’t help but grin. “and i’m happy we both feel the same way.”

vernon pretends to wipe sweat from his forehead, saying, “phew, i’m glad that’s over with.”

he folds the top of the paper bag holding his cheesecake and bites back another grin. “so…wednesday at six? i’ll pick you up if you’re working from here, and we can watch shrek or something at my place, so you can sit comfortably.”

you grin, taking vernon’s hand in yours gently. “i would love that.”

a/n (again): thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed and if you did, please tell me :D i would love to know <3 lots of love, moon.