This Concept Sounds So Cool, And I Loved Reading The Teaser! Cant Wait For The Series To Drop!

This concept sounds so cool, and I loved reading the teaser! Can’t wait for the series to drop!

↳ ❝ [temptation masterlist] ¡! ❞

⇢ ˗ˏˋ this is where you can find all chapters, special stories, and info for my series temptation

— yandere!faerie!txt x reader

synopsis— "After a shipwreck that left you stranded, you now find yourself stuck on a remote island. Distracted by the beauty, freedom, and five boys that inhabit the land, you fall further into the arms of temptation. That is, until strange events make you question what secrets lay buried beneath the sand."

last updated ; august 2nd, 2024

✧.* content tags . . .

peter-pan!au, yandere themes, obsessive behavior, stalker behavior, manipulative behavior, violence, dead animals, mentions of murder, more to be added...

✧.* main series . . .

00. teaser

✧.* special stories . . .

—nothing here yet!

© cybsoo2 2024, all rights reserved ‎

Looking forward to this!

The Time Will Tell Masterlist

(Picture from @ hyunsuwife on pinterest)

Cha Hyun-su x Fem!Kim!Reader

Warnings: Talk of past self harm, near suicide attempt, violence, monsters, slow-burn, angst, fluff, possible smut in future chapters. Total Word Count: 57k+

My Navigation and Masterlist

My Sweet Home Masterlist

My Cha Hyun-su Masterlist

Most would think moving back in with your parents was a weird and uncool thing to do.

You disagreed.

Moving back in with your dad meant seeing him and your two younger siblings, Kim Yeong-su and Kim Su-yeong. It also meant you were moving into an apartment complex that housed the cutest boy you'd ever seen.

After a few random encounters and then a monster apocalypse, you figure out your feelings for the boy. How will you navigate these feelings? Are they reciprocated?

Only time will tell.

Glossary

| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 |

| Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 |

| Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 |

| Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 |

| Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 |

| Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 |

| Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 |

Ooohh the angst! I’m loving it! Can’t wait for the next chapter.

DEJA VU ⏖ ꒪ 이희승

SYN0PSiS After your third comeback, you thought you had mastered being an idol. But what you couldn’t quite master was the concept of love and heartbreak. Though you had yet to experience one, you just might when you can’t seem to ignore the growing distance between heeseung and you anymore as his attention begins to focus on someone else. 

ㅤㅤ BASED 0N DEJA-VU BY 0LIViA R0DRiG0

𖥦 GENRE ⤿ smau, angst

∿ WARNiNGS profanity, cheating, tba

ㅤㅤㅤ̑̑៹FEAT. enhypen and my ocs

ㅤ⏱ PAiRiNG idol!heeseung x idol!reader

STATUS ongoing. ︿ STARTED 260823 ↷ ENDED TBA

𖥻 TAGLiST 𖥦 OPEN // send an ask or comment to be added

PR0FiLES ៳ epipen ◠ lunas

⏆ ⋆ CHAPTERS

TEASER ᶻz ONE | TWO

0001 heeyn disband!

0002 SHUT UP FRENCH.

0003 yolo ig

0004 heeseung back off!

0005 what if i CRIED

0006 YN LOOK AWAY

0007 I know Where you live.

0008 ok genshin player

0009 omg u poophole

0010 bffr

0011 MY GUY U ARE SCARING THE HOES

0012 side chick

0013 mb gang

0014 wake up and break up!

0015 ask me where i cared

0016 single and ready to mingle

0017 wah wah (written + smau)

0018 watch out 

0019 Oh. (written + smau)

0020 taylor swift era

0021 patrick star 

0022 love you, and always will (written + smau)

TAGLiST ∿ OPEN // bold cannot be tagged

@hoonvrs @imhuh @svarcq @wvnkoi @fakeuwus @flwrshee @soobsnow @homohoons @noascats @lucyinthesky-00 @jiawji @ilychee08 @kjrcrz @rikisly @imsiriuslyreal @jiaant11 @starryunho @iea-tsand @artstaeh @zellypop-main @enhajakeyy @infpistj @enhypenilycometoaus @heeswif3y @rosas-in-the-garden @lycxee @urfavouriteanon @secretyna @jakeyverse @realrintaro @jiyeons-closet @doublebunv @lostinneocity @maesvtr0 @suneng @roryirl @kuromheee @soobieboobiedoobiedaboobie @vixensss

PERM TAGLiST

@zuyairus @bubblytaetae @yenqa @redm4ri @hanniluvi @haechansbbg @taejaysreads @shinunoga-iie-wa @isoobie

© yeokii — do not copy, repost, translate any of my works on any platform

Heartbreaking :( this was a good story though, I enjoyed reading it!

Whispers of Gloom || Junhui

Pairings: Junhui x Fem!Reader

Genre: Angst, Established Relationship au!, Breakup au!

Synopsis: Your boyfriend has always been bad at communicating but when have you ever failed to see through him? So when he falls out of love evidently and struggles within, you decide to be his anchor for one last time.

Warnings: Junhui is in emotional constipation, breakup, regrets, tears, heartache.

Word Count: 2.8k

[ SVT Masterlist ] [ SVT Flick - Fic Masterlist ]

Jun returns to the apartment late, yet again. But instead of the usual darkness, he sees light flooding into the hallway from the dimly lit dining.

He's alarmed instantly when he sees you sitting quietly, eyes closed. Because you don't wait up for him, you used to but however you don't nowadays.

When the footsteps approach closer, you open your eyes looking at him.

"I made your favourite dessert.", you say getting up from the chair and walking into the kitchen, "Made your favourite dishes as well but you must have had dinner already so you can eat it tomorrow or whenever it's suitable for you."

Jun is confused, never a man of many words, he just pulls a chair and sits across from where you were sat.

You serve him a slice of blueberry cheesecake.

"Why are you still up?", he finally asks, taking in a bite, the flavours melting in his mouth.

"We'll talk after you finish eating.", you take a seat beside him. Though finding it odd, he obliges.

You run your hand through his hair, feeling the silky locks slipping through your fingers. You must have been doing it for a while because Jun grabs your hand, searching for your gaze.

Your eyes land on the empty plate and you take a deep breath, a small smile plastering on your lips.

"Am I missing an important date?", Jun asks in an edgy tone but you're quick to dismiss that.

"We've been together for 7 years. Before that, been good friends for another 4, so that makes 11 years in total.", you state as a matter of fact, "So I think I can claim that I know you the best, even better than you know yourself, right?"

Jun nods but his mouth goes dry for some reason, he isn't aware of.

"Now, whatever I'm going to say just repeat after me."

"What? Why?"

"Trust me one more time.", you say quietly, "I'll rescue you from another sticky situation, like I've always done. So just repeat after me okay?"

"Y/N, I'm--"

"Please.", your voice is stern, leaving no room for further questioning.

"Word by word okay?", you free your hand from your boyfriend's grip, "Say 'Y/N, I don't feel the same for you anymore, I've fallen out of love.'"

Jun freezes. He feels, he has been bared out. Was he acting so obvious? It's you, his partner who can read him like an open book.

He often wonders if you can read his mind as well.

"Y/N, I don't feel the same for you anymore, I've fallen out of love.", he repeats as promised, his voice almost quivering.

"It's okay, feelings change, you outgrow people.", you say, but every word you speak leaves a bitter aftertaste in your tongue, "Now tell me that 'I have been trying to tell you for a while but I wasn't sure how to do that without hurting you.'"

His head hangs low as he repeats after you.

"I have known it for a while. You might not be good at communicating but your actions speak volumes.", you pat on his shoulder urging him to meet your gaze, "I watched you turning from a partner to simply a roommate I share my bed with. We've stopped going on dates, we don't speak much. Intimacy is out of scope. Even though sharing this apartment, we don't spend time together. We've stopped kissing hello's and goodbye's. Heck, we didn't even have fights, it's like you gave up on us even before trying."

You try so hard to blink away the tears but how could you turn down a whole stream?

Your voice betrays you and with a croak you continue, "You don't have to stay late out just to avoid me. And the ring--"

His head whips up, eyes wide as he asks, "You knew about the ring?"

"I accidentally found it when I was cleaning the house one afternoon. I remember how I froze on the spot and screamed out in happiness. It was so hard to put it back in place and pretend like not knowing about it's existence."

Now it's his turn, you watch in pain as Jun sobs, hiding his face behind his palms. The distance forms a wall and suddenly you can't find yourself to engulf him in your embrace like you've always done.

"I waited each day for you to propose me. Sounds stupid, I know.", you try to joke, "But while doing so I noticed the changes in your demeanor. Tried to shake them off, thought it's just a phase, it'll go away. You love me so you'll eventually come back to me but I realized that five months is too long for a phase to stick in.", your voice grows quieter, your gaze fixated on your lap, "Then I was able to put it all together. You always act on whims so the outcome of one such episode made you buy the ring but your feelings started to change."

Jun's memories lingers back on how he had shut you out. Dismissed your every attempt of rekindle. He was only thinking about himself back then but now his mind burns with the hurt and disappointment those etched on your face everytime he did so.

"Do you think it was a wrong move to ask you out? Maybe it would have been better if we stayed as friends? You were still recovering from the breakup. I have always thought we had connection but what scared me was the thought of being a mere rebound. Maybe I started as a placeholder but we progressed. I was so proud of us, I was so in love. I still am."

He watches your dazed vision, as you speak your thoughts out in a monologue.

This makes Jun contemplate if feelings can really change? To be exact, if he really stopped loving you romantically? If so, then why is he breaking apart over the thought of losing you?

"Jun".

Not 'Baby'. He's not your baby anymore.

"I have marked all the important dates on the table calendar, make sure to set the reminders in your phone or you'll miss each one of them.", you say walking into the bedroom. Jun follows as if he's been put on an autopilot.

When you open the closet, his heart drops. It now has just his clothes, yours are gone. Your words fall on deaf ears as he looks in front. Somedays back you both had agreed on remodeling it because the space was becoming tight to keep both of your belongings and now there's so much space that it's almost empty.

He then follows you to the bathroom, none of your skincare products or medication, remains only his.

In the kitchen, you tell him that you've pasted all containers with labels having the name and expiry date written. You show him the cabinets and counter, informing him where he can find what all.

When you go to the verandah, Jun finally speaks, "You've taken the plants?"

You purse your lips in a thin line, "It'd be a hassle for you, anyways, it's my habit of growing them. It's been a week since I have moved them to Seungkwan's garden.... You were too pre-occupied to notice."

Leave behind something that's belongs to you, please.

His heart screams out the words, only if you could hear those.

"The Paris trip we planned to celebrate our anniversary, I cancelled the tickets and all the reservations.", you inform him, "I just a need one last favour from you. In the last drawer of the nightstand, there's the birthday gift for your brother. It's something he's has been wanting for long, so please make sure to give it to him."

How do I tell my family about what became of us? They love you more than me. They'll never forgive me.

You tell him a few more things which barely reach him.

Then a few moments later, you leave and re-emerge with your luggage.

Jun just observes, it's like he has lost his cognitive abilities. He wants you to stay, to ask where are you going at dawn hours, where is your accommodation, who's gonna stay with you but nothing gets past his lips.

"It's 4 already. Juhyun must be waiting.", you check the time and look at him. Wiping his tears you say, "I'll be staying at Juhyun's for the time being, though I have short listed some of the places, I'll try to finalize on one of them asap. Also, I couldn't take everything with me, so Jihoon will contact you to come and take the rest of my--"

"Can I hug you?", Jun cuts you off abruptly and you're instantly wrapping your arms around him.

He dips his nose on your shoulder blade, murmuring, "I'm sorry, Y/N. I don't want to let go and I know I'll be regretting everything. I don't even remember if I had a life before you, without you. Please let's stay like this for sometime."

You don't know for how long you both stay in each other's embrace in silence until you feel his hands trying to pull you closer which seems impossible considering the proximity. He pulls away only to rest his forehead on yours, "Was I a bad boyfriend?"

You sigh, "How do I set a bar for what's good and what's bad? I just know that I have loved you as the way you were, with all your flaws, with all your strengths."

He's so tempted to kiss your tears away but he knows he shouldn't so he wouldn't.

"And you're the best thing that's ever been mine. I-I'm just..", he trails off.

There's one more question that's at the tip of his tongue. Something he's not scared to ask but definitely scared to hear the answer of.

Will I see you again?

You read his eyes, your answer never spoken out.

I don't think I can handle seeing you once I leave because you fell out of love, I never did.

"I should really leave now.", you say taking off his hands gently while stepping away.

You don't wait anymore, not even a look at your now ex-boyfriend or the apartment, you just scurry away.

Because one look back at everything you once had was enough to dissolve your resolute.

Jun wonders if he's even prepared for his life ahead (without you in it).

There are pros and cons of having the same circle.

It's the wedding ceremony of Juhyun and Joshua today. Everyone is excited and happy. Months and months of planning, all just to see this day.

Seungkwan stands beside Jun as they both watch Jihoon singing to the crowd, fondly.

Jun's mind bears a sail of thoughts. All of them revolving around you. He looks at the couple of the honour, soon to be newlyweds.

Just like you and Jun, Juhyun and Joshua are also friends turned lovers. They've dated for around 5 years before deciding to the level up their relationship. There was a bet within the group to see which one among the two couples would tie the knot first.

Well Seungkwan isn't happy, obviously not because he lost the bet.

It's been almost a half an year since Junhui got to see you. You've done a great job in avoiding him all this time despite of sharing the same circle. Though it was upsetting but everyone understood when you straight up rejected their invitations for any celebrations. Their love for you, have made them patient.

So when Jun out of guilt stop attending the patties as well, they comforted him.

He misses you, before being his girlfriend, you were his closest friend, so loosing you substracted a partner and a comrade from his life.

Everyone knows you'll be coming today, no exceptions this time, you have to be there for the wedding because you're the maid of honour and Jun, the best man. This was decided way before you two broke up. Jun remembers how you joked about catching the bouquet so that you'd be next in line.

He is tired of pestering everyone else to know about your updates. You've stopped posting on your social media and you don't reply in the group chats anymore.

He just wants to see you. The tangent of his life took a hit with everything that happened. Didn't he make it evident that his feelings changed, so why is he hurting?

You take a deep breath. You're doing better but you don't know what will happen once you see Jun. It's not pathetic, you know, you chose not to move on yet because it's your feelings for him, still safe with you as long as they don't make you vulnerable.

As you step into the venue, you feel all eyes on you. You have no choice but to greet Jun as your whole group is sat at a corner and unfortunately or fortunately, he's a part of the same group.

You hug everyone except him. But it's impossible to avoid him any longer when you constantly feel his eyes on you. It's awkward when you both have to stand side by side on the stage when giving speeches and almost face to face from the opposite sides of stage during the entire ceremony.

You really wanted to leave as soon as the reception event started but you didn't want to upset them, they've been supportive specially Juhyun and it would have been wrong to not be entirely present during her and Joshua's big day.

Jun hesitates a lot about approaching you. He doesn't want to evade your personal space knowing he could be the reason you could leave the venue any moment.

"Just don't say something which would make us throw hands at you.", Jihoon says before giving him a hard push.

He almost stumbles upon and finds himself in front of you.

"Do you think there's a chance of reconciliation?", Seungkwan asks hopefully.

"I don't know if it would do them any good but they're both suffering so whatever makes them happy.", Jihoon answers.

"Are you okay?", you ask in concern, it comes out so easily, as a habit.

Jun clears his throat and nods before meeting your eyes, "It's nice to see you again. You're looking beautiful."

You smile genuinely at him, "You too clean up nice. You've grown your hair, it's suiting you."

It isn't as hard as you've imagined it to be. While being with the entire group, you actively participate in the conversations and don't cower away when talking to Jun. Everyone is relieved at your cheary persona, you are proud of yourself.

The night grows and you appreciate that even though you haven't drawn a prominent boundary but Jun is respecting it by trying not to engage or overbear you with his presence.

But his eyes, they don't leave you. He's not sure when he'll get to see again, so he's memorizing you, your voice, your scent, your features.

It's time to leave and Seungkwan ushers you into his car. You take the passenger's seat while he goes off to bid farewell to the rest.

You're scrolling through your phone when someone takes the driver's seat and you raise your head expecting it to be Seungkwan only to see Jun.

Seungkwan settles behind, rather lays down on the backseat.

"He claims he's tipsy, so he can't drive.", Jun answers before you could even ask.

There's an awkward silence looming over and Jun decides to break it.

"Yang loved your gift, he cried upon recieving it.", he says a soft smile gracing on his lips.

You nod, mirroring his smile, "How is everyone?"

"They're all fine. They miss you.", he says.

But I miss you the most. Do you hate me?

"How's your work going on? Did you submit your proposal?", he asks sweeping a glance on you.

"About that..", your twiddle with your fingers, "I submitted it and it went through."

His eyes widen, a big smile now etched on his face, "Congratulations! Oh my god, I'm so proud of you bab-- Y/N."

"Thanks.", your smile not reaching your eyes, "To get started on that, I need to work from Australia for two years. I have a choice to extend my stay as per my like and I'm leaving in the next two months."

His face falls instantly. Seungkwan suppresses his urge to scream and goes back to pretend like he's sleeping.

"Do you want to go?", Jun asks trying his best to keep his eyes on the road.

"I don't know.", you admit, "Leaving this place would be difficult but I think it would be a good change for me. It's not like I'm gone forever."

The rest of ride goes silent.

"Thanks", you say before sliding out of the car when he drops you in front of your apartment building.

As you walk away he calls out your name and you turn to see him running towards you.

"If you need anything, any help, just call me.", he pleads, "I know I'm probably someone you'd never want to see again but please do contact me."

You look at him bewildered before nodding, "Okay, I can't promise anything but I will keep that in mind."

As he watches your diminishing figure in plain sight, tear start to stream down his face.

Maybe it's just a wistful thinking, probably mindless dreaming but if love finds you two again, he swears he'd love you right.

→ Do not copy, re-post, translate, or share any of my works on other platforms! All stories are copyrighted, joonsytip.

attention, please !

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞(𝐬): 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟, 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 (𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩), 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐮 (𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚)

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐬): 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫!𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐭. 𝐣𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 (𝐢𝐯𝐞)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟏𝟎.𝟕𝐤 (𝐢 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐬): 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 (𝐞𝐱: 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰)

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦-- 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞; 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐛𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞.

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭!! 𝐢 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢'𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬!! 𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐝𝐨 <𝟑. 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞! 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢'𝐦 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞! 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭. 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞.

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @yunhoswrldddd @aubaee @kim2005bomi

—-----

sunghoon was never one to get rejected. he was the most handsome guy on campus, after all. he was charming and handsome, and people would come watch your university team play hockey just to see him. who else would they come see? (well, maybe some of them came to see his best friend heeseung, but sunghoon chose to believe everyone came to see him.)

all his life, sunghoon had always gotten what he wanted, the person that he liked at the time or whatever expensive item he eyed in the store window. being the handsome son of a ceo had its perks. 

so you can imagine the shock that shot through sunghoon when you were the first person in his life to tell him no. 

he had talked to you all night at one of yeonjun’s parties after noticing you in his class earlier that week. he remembered talking to his best friend heeseung about you, and the bet that soon followed after; if he could get you to fall for him, heeseung would have to do sunghoon’s laundry for a month. but if sunghoon lost, he would have to give heeseung $500. 

of course, $500 was pocket change for sunghoon, but he was never one to turn down a bet– especially one he knew he would win. and plus, not doing laundry for a month (especially during hockey season), was a blessing if sunghoon had ever seen one. 

sunghoon had observed you beforehand; you were cute, quiet, timid. you sat in class and took your notes like the good little girl you were, and even though sunghoon pretended not to notice, he saw you glancing at him throughout class.

he believed that it would have been easy to get you to follow him upstairs, to spend the night with him and fall in love with him like every other girl he hooked up with. 

he would soon find out that this was not easy at all. 

when he reached for your hand, you instead drew back. you didn’t jump into his arms the first chance you got. you didn’t even lean in for a kiss. 

you instead told him, “sorry, i’m not interested.” 

you weren’t interested in park sunghoon? 

he was the son of a ceo, he was handsome, he was charming, he was funny, and he chose to flirt with you all night yet you still weren’t interested? were you not stealing glances at sunghoon during class after all? if you weren’t looking at him, what else would you be looking at? surely there was nothing else interesting enough to look at. unless you were taking glances at the clock that was hung up on the wall behind him. and was that pity on your face? 

there was an awkward silence that fell upon you as sunghoon tried to compose himself. 

sunghoon had never lost his cool, and he definitely had never been rejected before. this seemed even more obvious to you as he nervously chuckled, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. 

the tips of his ears started to turn pink as sunghoon opened his mouth to make up some sort of excuse, anything to get rid of this awkward atmosphere. anything to redeem himself and his reputation. 

before he could come up with anything, you muttered “it was nice talking to you,” with an awkward smile and bowed your head politely, before weaving through the crowd of bodies dancing together.  

sunghoon watched as you walked away, approaching a boy in one of his other classes. his eyes narrowed as he saw you talking to jake sim, your smile bright and face slightly flushed. 

“hey sunghoon,” a familiar voice yelled over the loud music. heeseung was making his way over, a red solo cup in hand. he stumbled a bit on the way over, regaining his balance with the help of a girl on the dance floor. 

finally making his way over, he leaned against the wall next to sunghoon, taking a sip of his drink. 

“what happened to the girl you said you were gonna make fall in love with you?” he teased, his words slightly slurred. his breath reeked of alcohol. 

“ew heeseung, how much did you drink?” sunghoon grimaced, pushing heeseung’s face away from his. “she said she wasn’t interested.”

sunghoon had mumbled the last part, too embarrassed to say it loud enough for anyone to hear. the music blasting throughout the house was (thankfully) loud enough to drown sunghoon’s voice out, leaving a confused look on heeseung’s face. “she what? i can’t hear you, the music’s too loud!”

“i’ll tell you in the morning,” sunghoon replied. he didn’t want to have this conversation with a drunk heeseung. 

“who’s that guy?” sunghoon instead asked, feigning ignorance. he nodded his head at jake sim who still had your every bit of attention as he talked, which only annoyed sunghoon more. when sunghoon talked to you, you seemed like you were waiting for someone to show up. 

seems like now i know who it was, sunghoon thought bitterly.

“who, jake?” heeseung asked. 

“jake? is he american?” sunghoon replied. 

“no, australian,” heeseung responded, ignoring the scoff in sunghoon’s voice. “korean-australian to be exact.”

“he’s a cool guy, hoon,” heeseung continued, noticing the sour expression on his friend’s face. “he got in with a soccer scholarship, was the class president at his high school, got the highest grades, and from what i heard, he still does. i’ve hung out with him and his friends once, they’re really cool.”

“well who is he friends with?” sunghoon snapped. 

“jay, and some freshman named jungwon.”

sunghoon said nothing in response, watching as riki came to talk to heeseung, dragging him over to the dance floor. 

sunghoon bitterly took a sip of his drink, watching you once again as you talked to jake. he was now handing you a drink, a smile on his face as he said something, causing you to laugh. 

sunghoon couldn’t quite put his finger on the feeling he felt, watching as jake made you laugh. sunghoon wanted to be the one to do that, to make you laugh and smile and flutter your eyelashes.

it seemed like jake could feel his gaze on them, glancing over at sunghoon and nodding his head in greeting. sunghoon chose to ignore him, and chugged the rest of his drink before he went to get sunoo and heeseung to tell them it was time they went home to their apartment. 

—-----

monday morning, sunghoon was ready to go to his first class of the day. his first class was at 8 in the morning, which was usually not a good thing, but as he sat in his usual seat, a row behind jake, he found himself picking the boy in front of him apart. 

what did this boy have that he didn’t? what made you blush and giggle in ways that sunghoon apparently couldn’t do for you? 

sure, jake could speak fluent english with that stupid accent of his, and he can get the best grades in the class and play soccer. but sunghoon could do all of those things if he really tried! 

he could hire a tutor to teach him english and he could be fluent in a month if he really put his mind to it! sunghoon could be studious like him! he could get good grades and become top of his class in no time.

as if the timing couldn’t get any better, his professor placed a piece of paper on the table in front of him, mouth downturned into a frown.

a feeling of dread filled sunghoon as he picked up his paper, seeing a bright red 65 at the top of the page. he just barely passed. 

“what did you get?” jake whispered to the girl sitting beside him. her face turned a slight pink as she blushed. she was so obviously into him.

“just an 85, what about you?” 

jake showed her his paper with a wide smile, a bright red 98 on his paper. “if you need help with anything let me know, i don’t mind studying together!” 

if sunghoon said this, he would’ve sounded like he was flirting. but when jake said it, it sounded like he meant it. he seemed so earnest, so nice. 

the girl’s face reddened even more as she nodded her head before turning her attention back to the front, fixing her hair so that her hair was pushed back behind her ear. 

sunghoon watched in disbelief. 

sunghoon felt annoyed as he thought of you. why did he care so much about what you thought of him, anyway? you were just one girl out of hundreds that he could flirt with. 

but his thoughts kept drifting to you, your smile as you looked up at jake at the party, your head thrown back in laughter at something he said. how pretty you looked that night with all the jewelry you wore. 

he jolted out of his thoughts as he heard students packing their things up, signaling the end of class. he shook his head at his previous thoughts, chalking them up to just wanting to win his bet with heeseung. 

sunghoon hastily grabbed his things and threw them in his bag to leave before jake did. 

he knew it was immature, to make everything a one-sided competition with the boy, but he couldn’t help it as he speed-walked out of the class, even though his next class wasn’t until 11. 

—-------

you sat in your usual seat for your class at 11 am, taking out your laptop and supplies for the lesson ahead. 

you hated this class and cursed whoever invented it. you hated how it seemed like when you were in this class the minutes would just drag on and on and on. 

you glanced to your left as you heard someone take the seat next to you, a familiar cologne drifting in the air. it was none other than park sunghoon, his hair and clothes styled to perfection per usual, pulling a notebook out of his bag. 

you looked at him quizzically, wondering why he was sitting next to you. you knew he usually sat in the back so that your professor wouldn’t be able to notice him on his phone. not that you paid attention to him, of course. or so you said. 

you didn’t go out of your way to pay attention to every single thing sunghoon did, but you couldn’t say you weren’t the tiniest bit interested in him. maybe you would’ve been crushing on him instead of jake if he weren’t such a player. 

“you wouldn’t happen to have a pen i could borrow, do you?” sunghoon whispered to you, snapping you out of your thoughts. 

“yeah, here,” you handed him a pen from your pencil case. you tried to turn your attention back to the lecture but couldn’t help from stealing a couple of looks at sunghoon. 

your gaze worked its way down from the top of his head to his beautiful side profile, to the perfect angle of his jawline, and then eventually to the notebook in front of him. 

it was empty. it was opened to the first page and it was completely empty.

 not a single note was taken, and you were almost quite certain that he hadn’t even opened the book before today. you were halfway through the semester and it was like sunghoon wasn’t even in your class. 

he looked so confused at everything that your professor was saying that you felt a little bit bad for him. not too bad though. that’s what he deserved for worrying more about partying and girls than his academics. 

your class came to an end quicker than it usually seemed, with you rushing to leave with the other students in your class. “hey, y/n, wait up!” you turned to see sunghoon speed walking to catch up with you, hair slightly frazzled and only one strap of his backpack on.  

“hey sunghoon, what’s up?” you replied nonchalantly, hoping he wouldn’t bring up yeonjun’s party. you had hoped that he was just drunk, that you were just there and he forgot all about you rejecting him. but why else would he sit next to you in class? you had nothing in common with the boy in front of you. 

with his pretty boy features, shiny hair, and designer clothes he was almost your complete opposite. with how much you’ve been studying you were sure that the bags under your eyes weren’t hard to spot, and you couldn’t remember the last time you washed the sweater you were wearing right now. 

“about yeonjun’s party,” sunghoon started. 

“oh yea, yeonjun’s party! crazy night am i right?” you cut him off, starting to walk towards the direction of your dorm. 

“yeah no for sure it was a blast,” he chuckled awkwardly, keeping pace with you as you walked. “i just wanted to apologize, i think i came off a bit too strong.” 

you glanced over at him, hoping he wasn’t looking at you. of course, with your luck, you made eye contact with him, your face starting to feel hot as you felt his gaze continue. 

you composed yourself, standing up a bit straighter, “sunghoon, i meant what i said. i’m sorry, but i’m really not interested.” with an awkward smile and a bow, for the second time within two days, you were walking away from sunghoon’s advances.

“come on y/n one date, i’m begging,” you heard him shout after you. 

“never gonna happen sunghoon!” you replied, without even turning around to look back. 

—-------

sunghoon was hurt to say the least. or, well his ego was hurt. there was no way you weren’t into him. so sunghoon would have to be persistent, no big deal. but in order to do so, he would have to go to greater lengths than he ever had before.

“jungwon! over here!” sunghoon waved the boy over to where he was sitting in the cafe he was at.

the young boy looked over quizzically before he started to make his way over, “um, hi?” 

sunghoon had never cared for the younger boy, but he knew that yang jungwon was his ticket to a date with y/n. jungwon was her best friend, and he remembered that heeseung said the boy was also friends with jake. this was the best strategic thought sunghoon could’ve ever come up with. 

“why don’t you take a seat? let’s catch up! i haven’t seen you since high school, you’ve gotten so tall!” 

“we never talked in high school.” jungwon deadpanned. “what do you actually want sunghoon?” 

sunghoon sighed, “it’s y/n. i have this big crush on her, and she’s done nothing but reject my advances. i need help winning her over.” sunghoon internally cringed at his own sigh, hoping it didn’t sound too dramatic or too obvious that he didn’t mean the words he said. 

with a quizzical expression, jungwon finally took a seat, his interest piqued. hook, line, and sinker sunghoon thought. this will be a piece of cake. 

“are you sure we’re thinking of the same y/n? she just seems…” jungwon paused, trying to piece his words together in a polite way. “...a little too good for you.” 

“she is too good for me which is why i’m trying to win her over. jungwon PLEASE, i need your help.” sunghoon pleaded, his hands held together. “i need to know what she likes, what she dislikes, her hopes and dreams her everything PLEASE, I’M BEGGING.”

jungwon cringed at the volume of sunghoon’s voice, feelings the eyes of the strangers around him. “if i say yes, will you shut up?”

—-------

as you walked to your seat you realized that there was something sitting on your desk. glancing around, you noticed sunghoon sitting in the seat next to yours with a bright smile on his face. 

“good morning gorgeous!” he exclaimed. 

“oh shut up,” feeling your face heat up as you took your seat and examined the drink in front of you. it was a full cup of iced coffee, and from the looks of it, it was your usual coffee order. 

“i got that for you on the way here,” sunghoon said sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his neck. “i asked your friend jungwon what you liked, and he told me that you like iced coffee so i figured i’d grab you one.” 

“oh… well thank you,” you replied, taking a tentative sip. you weren’t going to lie, it was sweet of him to reach out to jungwon and to get you coffee. you don’t think anyone other than your friends ever bought coffee for you. surely, not your cheating ex boyfriend, you thought bitterly. 

 your eyes widened slightly as you took that first sip; he had gotten your order down to how much sugar you liked and with extra caramel. 

sunghoon watched as you sipped on your drink, throwing a smile your way in response to your thank you. i’ve got her exactly where i want her, he thought, turning his attention back to the professor. 

as the class went by, sunghoon tried his best to stay awake, feeling his eyelids getting droopy. he had been up all night trying to decide which date he would take you on. even now he was thinking of how pretty you’d look, and how good you smell, and how pretty your smile was, and oh no why did his heart beat a little faster at the thought of you?

he was suddenly wide awake and extremely cautious about how loud his heart was beating when he looked over at you. he shook his head at his thoughts, reminding himself that this was just a bet he wanted to win. he was just confusing real feelings with fake ones. that had to be the only reason why he thought about your (hypothetical) date so much. right? 

as your class came to an end, sunghoon started to pack up his things, as your professor announced, “guys please don’t forget to study for our upcoming midterm exam next friday! i wish you all good luck with your studies!” 

sunghoon felt a his heart drop to his stomach. what exam? since when did they have an exam? he racked his brain trying to remember your professor say anything about an exam prior to this day. 

he had a faint memory of her saying something about an exam while he was scrolling through tiktok on his phone last week. oh i’m cooked, sunghoon thought. 

“hey, did you maybe wanna study together?” he heard you ask. he was so grateful that you offered to study that he thought he heard angels singing. “it’s just that on monday i couldn’t help but glance over and saw your notebook was empty, and i wanted to repay you for the coffee today.” 

sunghoon felt his face heat up from embarrassment. instead of admitting his embarrassment though, he instead said, “yeah of course you were paying attention to me, you want me so bad.”

“yea, nevermind about the studying then, fend for yourself,” you deadpanned, grabbing your bag. 

“wait, sorry i was just kidding, please help me study, i need help desperately,” sunghoon pleaded, grabbing onto your wrist before you could walk off. 

you ignored the tingles that were sent throughout your body from the physical touch and replied, “fine. meet me at the library at 3 today. i’ll be in one of the study rooms.” 

you walked away before he could say anything else, knowing if he flirted with you again, you might just fold. sure, he never would want a serious relationship with you of all people, but damn was that man good looking. 

you let your thoughts drift towards sunghoon as you made your way to your dorm. you thought of the coffee you were holding in your hand, and his hand around yours. you thought of his pretty smile and how tall he was, before you pushed those thoughts away. he quite literally did the bare minimum and you were blushing over that? he’d have to try harder to gain your attention (not that he didn’t have it already, you realized with embarrassment).

as you arrived at your dorm, you let yourself in with your key, seeing a familiar figure sitting at your desk. “hey jungwon.” 

“hey, wonyoung let me in before she left for class,” he mentioned your roommate, just barely glancing up from his phone as you set your coffee on the desk he was sitting at. 

 “you stopped to get coffee on the way here?” jungwon asked.

“no, sunghoon actually got it for me,” you replied nonchalantly, absentmindedly twirling the ends of your hair around your finger. 

“sunghoon? he was asking me about you the other day. is there anything going on between you two?” jungwon asked suggestively, nudging you lightly with his shoulder. 

“no? kinda? i mean, it was sweet of him to ask you about my coffee order i guess, and he’s definitely not an ugly guy, and then there’s also jake, but i mean i don’t know,” you answered honestly. your thoughts were so scrambled you felt like you were talking in circles. “i just don’t wanna be another one of those girls that he messes with for a month and then moves onto the next.”

jungwon nodded his head solemnly in response, “yeah when he asked me about you i was definitely very skeptical because of what we’ve heard of him, but he wanted to know about you like really bad so i don’t know. technically you don’t really have to take him too serious either, you know. you’re young, pretty and single, you should flirt around a bit! you can’t put all your eggs in one basket with jake.”

“ugh i know,” you groaned as you laid on your bed with a slight thump. “it’s like that guy’s oblivious to everything. you know, i asked him if he wanted to go out for dinner, and i show up to the restaurant and he brought jay with him! like i did my hair and makeup all nice and i put on my prettiest outfit and instead of being on a date i'm third wheeling him and jay!"

"yeah jake might be a little… slow. but i mean other than that he's the perfect package, right?" jungwon asked, turning in his seat so he was facing you. 

"honestly i don't even know anymore, i feel like i'm going crazy. all i've thought of today was sunghoon, and i'm seeing him later to study, jungwon what am i gonna do?"

"oh no you got it bad," jungwon sighed. 

"please don't say that i think i'll have to throw myself off a cliff."

"oh don't say that, he seemed like he genuinely wanted to get to know you when i was talking to him," jungwon shrugged. "he practically begged me for info on you."

"i don't know, i'll just see how it goes, play it by ear. i'll keep you updated," you sighed. 

—-------

you had been waiting for sunghoon for 20 minutes now and he still hasn't shown. you didn't have his number and you certainly didn't know his socials so you didn't have any way to text him. 

you felt a little humiliated as you started to pack your things up. why would sunghoon actually be taking this class serious? of course he didn’t care about this class, you felt stupid for even thinking so. 

you knew deep down this wasn’t about studying for an exam for a gen ed class. you knew you were hurt because a tiny part of you was excited to see sunghoon. as obnoxious as the boy was, he was very easy on the eyes. and in some small way, you felt like if he took this seriously maybe he'd take you seriously as well.

you might have been reading too much into it though.

just as you had zipped your bag up, sunghoon rushed into the study room, his hair messed up like he just woke up from bed. 

"sorry i'm late, i took a nap and my alarm didn't go off and i've never been to this side of the library so i had a bit of a hard time finding where you were," he apologized. 

"sunghoon if you didn't wanna study with me that's fine but if that's the case can you just tell me beforehand so that you don't waste my time?" you snapped. "if you don't wanna take your studies seriously then i really can’t help you."

"i am taking this seriously!" he exclaimed frantically, worried you'd leave. "i really am sorry i swear, i really really need your help please, y/n." 

you felt your heart flutter as you heard your name escape his lips. "fine, but you better pay attention or i'm never helping you again."

"thank you so much," he sighed in relief. "i'm not gonna lie, i haven't been paying attention at all in that class and i need all the help i can get."

"yeah, i can tell," you replied, before you could think your words through. "not saying you're dumb or anything i just noticed how you were on your phone like all the time."

"oh so you did notice me?" sunghoon asked, an eyebrow raised in question. "i don't know y/n, sounds to me like you're in love with me."

"whatever," you replied, choosing to ignore his comments as you pulled your notes out. "alright, we've got a week until our midterm, so we've gotta lock in if you wanna pass."

of course, that was easier said than done. 

sunghoon couldn't focus on the material when you were sitting right next to him, with your pretty hair and pretty smile and pretty lips and god did he wanna kiss you right then and there. 

"sunghoon? are you paying attention?" 

"yea of course," he answered, picking up his pen to pretend he knew what you were talking about. 

you narrowed your eyes but shrugged it off. you had been there for 2 hours, and sunghoon felt like it was going nowhere. it wasn't your fault though, it was his. 

it was like all he could think about was you. he had never ever felt this way about anyone. i'm going insane, he thought. 

"alright, so that wraps up the first three chapters. she'll be testing us on only chapters 1-5 so you're lucky. i'd recommend reviewing what we went over together just in case and we can meet up on monday if you want?" you asked. 

"yea no of course," sunghoon answered. "actually why don't i give you my number," he muttered, scribbling his number down on a sheet of paper. 

he ripped it off and handed it to you with a grin. "thanks for everything today y/n, you're a lifesaver."

"yeah, you're welcome," you replied quickly, looking away before he realized just how nervous you were. 

of course, he didn't notice though. he was worried that you would notice how nervous he was. and worried about teaching himself chapters 1-3 since he was being an idiot and wasn't paying attention. 

"i'll just uh text you when i get back to my dorm." you gave him a little smile and a wave before you left. 

thinking about sunghoon once again, you suddenly couldn't wait until monday.

—-------

friday you arrived at your class with sunghoon, a slight skip in your step. you sat in your usual seat, slightly awaiting his arrival (not that you’d ever tell him). as the start of class started to near, you found yourself looking for sunghoon, wondering where he was. 

you thought of texting him, picking up your phone to ask him where he was, but suddenly stopped yourself. no, you were not going to fold. you barely knew sunghoon, and just because he bought you coffee once doesn’t mean anything. 

just as your professor was getting started, you heard the door open, glancing over to see sunghoon hastily walk over to the seat beside you, two cups of coffee in hand. 

“sorry i was running late, i went to grab coffee for us and it was crazy busy at the cafe,” he whispered as he started to take his notes out. 

he handed you your cup, your exact order sitting before you. “sunghoon, you really didn’t have to.” 

he was now searching his bag for a pen, a pencil, hell even a highlighter to write his notes with. he had never cared for this class, but for some reason he wanted to impress you. “yeah yeah, i know i’m the greatest, do you have a pen by any chance?” 

“oh wow look at you sunghoon, i don’t think i’ve ever seen you care about this class so much,” you grinned, handing him a pencil from your bag. “but seriously, thanks. you don’t have to buy me coffee everyday.”

“it’s no biggie, we’re friends, aren’t we?” sunghoon smiled at you. he usually said this to girls to get in their pants, but with you, he meant it. he found himself wanting to be sincere and honest whenever he was with you. “and plus, you’re a saint for helping me study.”

he wanted to throw up with how sickeningly sweet you made him feel. 

“sure,” you replied, turning back to the lecture. 

you didn’t believe sunghoon. he may be pretty, but not pretty enough for you believe everything he said. he reminded you of your ex– willing to say and do anything to get what he wanted. sure, sunghoon hadn’t done anything bad to you, yet. you weren’t quite sure what sunghoon wanted, but you weren’t going to be one of his victims. you refused to be. 

“hey do you want to get dinner tonight? give us a break from studying?” he whispered. 

“dinner? oh how forward of you sunghoon, if i didn’t know any better, i’d say you liked me,” you chuckled, not bothering to look up from the notes you were taking.

“who said i didn’t?”

you turned your head to see he was already looking at you, a small smile on his face. he had to be lying, you deduced. he hadn’t even known your name three weeks ago and it’s not like the class you were in was huge. there was maybe less than 30 kids present. 

sunghoon himself felt a little nervous as the words slipped. he wasn’t sure why though. sunghoon had been in this situation millions of times, and he was always successful in getting what he wanted, so why the hell were you making him nervous?

“yeah whatever,” you shrugged him off. “if you like me so much, pick me up at 8.” 

“it’s a date.”

he was so quick with his flirtatious responses. too quick, you thought. that’s how you know he’s done this countless times. “whatever sunghoon, don’t make it weird, we’re just friends.”

“right…” he trailed off. friends? he pretty much asked you on a date and you friendzoned him? of course sunghoon could just stop pursuing you, but oh how he liked a challenge (and your smile and perfume and your laugh and the sound of your voice). 

you on the other hand, could feel your palms starting to sweat as you thought of your (somewhat?) date with sunghoon. what were you going to wear, where would you go to eat, what did he want with you, was this even a real date?

—--------

sitting at your local thai restaurant, silence surrounded you and sunghoon as you sipped on your thai tea. you had spent the past hour getting to know each other, talking about your classes, your friends, your families. you talked about your favorite movies, foods, music. at this point, you felt like you knew everything about him. you were the only people left in the restaurant, your food waiting to be boxed up.

“hi, i’ll take the check,” you said to your server as they dropped off some to-go boxes. 

“oh, it was already taken care of.”

you shot a betrayed look at sunghoon as your server walked away, telling you to have a nice night! “sunghoon, i told you i’d take care of the bill,” you huffed, packing up your food. 

“this is a date, y/n. a date that i asked you on, i’m not gonna let you pay,” sunghoon responded, as if this were obvious. “you can pay for our next date.”

“whatever,” you replied, trying to hide the small smile creeping on your face. 

“oh, so this is a date?” sunghoon asked, eyebrow raised. 

“i didn’t say that.”

“okay but you didn’t deny it when i called it that.”

you chose to ignore what he said. 

“and you didn’t say no when i brought up a second one?”

“oh in your dreams, hoon.”

hoon? you were already on a nickname basis? sunghoon thought. hearing his name come from your mouth had to be the most beautiful thing he ever heard. 

“come on, let me take you out again,” he pleaded, pouting. you sat for a moment in thought. 

“i’ll think about it.” 

“how come you don’t have a boyfriend already?” sunghoon asked. 

“not trying to say you’re like undateable or anything,” he rambled after he glanced up at you. “i just mean, a girl as great as you, i don’t see how you aren’t taken already.”

a minute passed, and then two as you tried to figure out if you wanted to dive into your baggage with the boy sitting in front of you. you decided that sunghoon really wasn’t as bad as you thought. not a bad enough person to make fun of you, at least.

“yea well, with a cheating ex boyfriend, it’s kinda hard for me to get back into dating. now i just feel like every guy i meet is gonna fuck me over somehow, you know? it’s just hard to find someone new when the last time i fell in love, i got my heart stomped on.” 

sunghoon let your words process in his mind, watching as you swirled the straw in your cup around, almost absentmindedly as you sat in thought. you hated feeling vulnerable. you don’t think you told anyone but jungwon about your ex. as you glanced up at sunghoon, you saw his gaze soften. 

“i get that,” he responded. “i was also cheated on.”

you looked at him quizzically, because who was dumb enough to cheat on park sunghoon? sure, he was a little annoying and cocky sometimes, and he was a player. but he seemed nice and funny, and he was rich and good looking. he was almost the complete package. if anything, you expected him to be the cheater. 

you immediately felt guilty after that thought, feeling that maybe you had judged sunghoon too soon.

“yea it was back in high school and um,” he paused, trying to gather his thoughts. you waited patiently as he did so, taking a sip of your drink. 

“she was my everything at the time. i mean, i know i was in high school, but i thought i would like, end up marrying her,” he continued with a dry chuckle. “but then i found out she was hooking up with some guy from a different school. i caught them at a party she thought i couldn’t go to. i know dating around is a horrible way to cope with heartbreak, but i can’t get my heart broken again if i break the other person’s heart first, right?” 

you sat in silence for a bit. you started to feel a bond start to form between the two of you as you let what he said sink in. maybe sunghoon was right about how dating around wasn’t good, but at least he’s self aware! he just didn’t want to get hurt, and in a way, didn’t that make him like you?

you reached your hand across the table to hold onto his out of comfort, sending tingles throughout his body as he looked up at you,“i’m sorry, hoon. it sucks, i know. and thanks for sharing this with me. you can always talk to me about anything anytime, okay?”

a small smile formed on his face as he looked at you; so caring, so understanding, so perfect. 

“hey, y/n, sunghoon!” you heard a familiar voice exclaim. you could recognize that voice from anywhere, you realized as you turned to see jake making his way towards you. jungwon followed behind him, eyebrows raised at the sight of you and sunghoon together outside of a school setting. you quickly retracted your hand from his, fixing your hair, tucking your hair behind your ears. 

this didn’t go unnoticed by sunghoon, who felt a twinge of jealousy. just when he thought he had make a break through, here comes jake.

“what a coincidence bumping into you guys!” jake smiled. “i didn’t know you guys knew each other.” 

“oh yea, it seems like you know each other very well,” jungwon replied suggestively. you had never wanted to beat jungwon up so bad in your entire life. “are you guys here on a date?”

“no.”

“yes.” 

you and sunghoon both answered at the same time. you could feel sunghoon’s betrayed gaze on you as your face started to warm up. “no, we’re not on a date, we’ve just been studying so much we figured we’d get some dinner as a reward. as friends. because that’s what sunghoon and i are, just friends.” 

you felt your face get even warmer as you rambled on, wishing someone would stop you from talking. 

“oh okay!” jake exclaimed. “well jungwon and i were just picking up some food, and we were gonna head to my apartment if you guys wanted to stop by after your dinner? we’re doing a movie night.”

you glanced over at sunghoon, taking a second to try to decipher what he was thinking. you could tell he was upset that you said you weren’t on a date, but to be fair, was this even really a date? you were still trying to figure that out yourself.

“uh, no thanks jake. sunghoon and i are probably going out for dessert after this,” you replied. 

sunghoon’s head snapped up. you were saying no to hanging out with jake?

you on the other hand, had remembered what jungwon had told you earlier this week– how you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in jake’s basket. jungwon seemed to remember this as well as he gave you a smile and a small thumbs up. you only smiled and shook your head in response. 

being with sunghoon tonight just felt so right. in every way possible. you wanted to see where this would lead. sunghoon didn’t seem as bad as everyone else painted him out to be. 

“oh well that’s alright, there’s always some other time,” jake replied. “we’ll get going then, see you later guys!”

you waved the duo goodbye and waited until they were out of earshot before you turned to sunghoon. “so, wanna get ice cream or something? i’ll pay this time.”

“no, it’s okay,” sunghoon shook his head in response. “i think i’m just gonna go home, go to bed early.”

was that hurt that you saw on his face?

“hoon, i’m sorry-,”

“no, it’s okay,” he replied. “this wasn’t a date anyways, right? no hard feelings at all.”

there were hard feelings, you could tell. “i’ll drive you back to your dorm.”

as hurt as sunghoon was, he wasn’t going to let you walk home alone in the middle of the night. 

the car ride was quick. you felt like the drive home was faster than the drive to the restaurant, but you weren’t sure if it was because sunghoon didn’t want to be in the same space as you, or if you were simply overthinking.

there was a tense silence surrounding you as he pulled into your dorm building parking lot. “thanks for tonight hoon, i had fun,” you finally said as he put his car into park. “i guess i’ll see you monday? so that we can go over chapters 4 and 5?” 

your heart raced at the thought of seeing him again, your fingers moving to fiddle with the little charm you had hanging off your tote bag. you were nervous. you hadn’t even left his car yet and you were already getting excited to see him again. 

“i actually think i’ll be okay,” sunghoon responded, avoiding eye contact with you. “i’ll just see you in class.”

“oh,” you replied. you felt a wave of disappointment hit you as you unbuckled your seatbelt. “well then i’ll see you around.” 

sunghoon watched to make sure you got inside safely before backing out of his parking spot, driving back in the direction of his apartment. 

he felt like maybe he was acting a bit overdramatic, but he couldn’t help the hurt he felt when you were flirting with him not even two minutes before jake showed up, and then you wanted to act like you were nothing more than study buddies. or in your words, just friends! he was vulnerable with you, and he felt like maybe there was something between you now.

apparently not, he thought bitterly.

sunghoon knew he shouldn’t feel so hurt, because at the end of the day, he didn’t have the best intentions when he approached you at yeonjun’s party. he felt guilt wash over him as he remembered what you said about your ex, and then thought of the bet he had made with heeseung.

maybe this was a bad idea after all, he thought. sunghoon had never cared for any of the girls he met before you, and now suddenly you were all he cared about; he wore his nicest clothes when he knew he’d see you, spray his fancy cologne, do his hair extra nice. he’d even went out of his way every morning to get you his favorite coffee even though your favorite cafe was in the opposite direction of your school. 

oh, sunghoon had it bad. 

—--------

sunghoon had been avoiding you since your (sorta) date. you still weren’t even sure what it was, you just knew that being with him was fun. he was nicer than you thought he’d be, and he was really funny. to say you were surprised was an understatement. you had even had the same taste in music and movies. it felt like he was you in another body.

monday had rolled by and just as sunghoon said, he didn’t show up to the library. he didn’t even sit next to you in class earlier that day. you had tried to wave him over to take the seat next you, tried to catch up with him in the halls, but he had just avoided your gaze and sped-walked away. 

of course, any kind of rejection would hurt, but you took a hard blow to this especially. you weren’t sure why. you didn’t know sunghoon for long, but you never felt so close to someone in such a short span of time. you don’t think you’ve felt this way since your ex.

thursday, you sat in your usual spot at the library, doing some last minute cramming for your midterm the next day. it was late at night, and you had been studying for hours on end. you decided you studied enough, and that there was only so much you could do, as you started to pack your laptop and notebooks into your bag. 

“hey,” you heard a familiar voice say in front of you. 

you looked up and saw sunghoon, out of breath. 

“hey.”

“sorry, give me a second, i ran here from your dorm.”

“how’d you know i’d be here?” you asked as you put your bag on. 

“your roommate told me where you were after i wouldn’t stop knocking on your door. and i knew the library closed soon and i just needed to see you now, before i regret not saying this.” 

“hoon, the library’s open all night now, they changed the hours like a month ago. what did you need to say-,”

“i’m sorry about how our date ended,” he cut you off. 

“okay wait, i’m not sorry for being hurt,” he backtracked. “but i am sorry about how i handled it. i just haven’t been on a serious date in a long time. so when you were talking to jake, i got jealous and i was hurt that you said that we were just friends, when to me it felt like we had something more. i should’ve told you then, like an adult, instead of icing you out, and i’m sorry.”

you felt guilt wash over you as you remembered how you acted, “hoon i’m really-,” 

“wait, let me finish first, please,” he interrupted yet again. you only nodded in response as he continued. “i was wondering why i was so hurt, and it dawned on me that i like you, a lot more than i thought i would. i think you’re funny, and one of the smartest and nicest people in the world if you would offer to tutor an idiot like me. i think you’re the only person i’ve wanted to take serious since high school, and i just hope that maybe you felt the same way?” 

he searched your face for a sign, any indication that you felt the same way. your expression was unreadable, still processing everything sunghoon had just said. 

at this point, everyone else in the library had left. a minute had passed, then two before sunghoon sighed. “it’s alright, you don’t have to give me an answer now.” he turned to do the walk of shame, already feeling the tips of his ears turning pink. well at least i went for it.

“wait,” you called after him, grabbing onto his wrist. he turned back around to face you, your face heating up as you continued. “i’m sorry for the way i acted. i was being an idiot. i think that night was the most fun i’ve had in a while, and i don’t think i’ve ever been so comfortable with someone who wasn’t jungwon. i just panicked when jake and jungwon saw us together, and i am so so sorry. i’m sorry if i made you feel like i was leading you on.” 

you don’t think you ever felt your heart beat so fast, and you really hoped your hands weren’t sweaty. you’ve never felt so nervous in your life, and you felt terrible for how you made sunghoon feel. you felt like the guilt was going to eat you alive if he didn’t forgive you. 

“it’s alright, i forgive you,” sunghoon smiled, much to your relief. god, his smile was perfect. 

“good,” you smiled, a sigh of relief escaping your lips. 

“you didn’t tell me if you felt the same way,” sunghoon responded.

you interlocked your fingers with his, hoping your hands weren’t as clammy as you thought they were, “i thought it was obvious.”

“apparently not obvious enough,” sunghoon grinned. 

—--------

it had been six months since that day and you were the happiest girl in the world. sunghoon was everything you ever wanted in a partner. nice, smart, funny. not only did he treat you well, but he also treated your family well. visiting your parents with him, he always helped clean up after dinner, always brought a bouquet of flowers for your mother, always helped your dad with anything he needed. 

everything was perfect. you even thought you were falling in love with him. you didn’t tell sunghoon this just yet though, out of fear that he didn’t feel the same way. 

you decided tonight would be the night though. after a night out with friends you were spending the night at sunghoon’s apartment, and that was when you would tell him, in the comfort of his home. to you, it didn’t have to be a big proclamation, it didn’t have to be at some fancy dinner or at some fancy event. to you, it was all about the little things, and as long as you were with sunghoon, nothing else mattered. 

so here you were, laughing at some joke heeseung had just made. the night was coming to an end, the rest of your friends had already left, leaving you and sunghoon alone with heeseung in his apartment. 

this wasn’t the first time you had hung out with sunghoon’s friends. they were all nice and funny, despite their horrendous reputations around campus. you found that just like sunghoon, they grew on you over time.

“you ready to go, my love?” sunghoon asked you. 

“yea, i just need to run to the bathroom before we go,” you answered, giving his hand a little squeeze before getting up. 

once heeseung heard the bathroom door close, he pretended to gag. “god, you guys are so gross.” 

“whatever,” sunghoon rolled his eyes. “i think you’re just jealous.”

these past six months have been the best of sunghoon’s life. he didn’t think he was even capable of being this happy. he loved you; every single thing about you. you were the sun that he revolved around and the air that he breathed. you were his everything. 

“so when are you gonna dump her?” heeseung asked, snapping sunghoon out of his thoughts of you. heeseung asked this so casually, as if he didn’t just ask when sunghoon would break up with the love of his life. 

“what are you talking about?”

“dude, do you not remember how this whole thing even started?” heeseung chuckled. “i thought you were just with her for our bet.”

“no that’s not-,”

“you won, by the way. honestly, i was scared you’d bring the bet back up, but now that hockey’s over i don’t think i’ll mind doing your laundry too much.” heeseung cut him off. “she is completely in love with you. like, she looks like she’d do anything for you man. now that you’ve won, you can just dump her. wasn’t that what you were gonna do anyways?”

sunghoon heard heeseung’s front door open and close, the sound of rapid footsteps following it immediately after. 

you had heard what heeseung had said. 

“fuck,” sunghoon muttered. he raced to grab his things and to follow after you, ignoring whatever else heeseung had to say. nothing else in the world mattered now, because how the fuck was sunghoon going to explain this to you?

you, on the other hand, felt like an idiot. of course park sunghoon wasn’t actually into you. of course you were a bet because what other reason could there be? you weren’t some fabulous daughter of a ceo, you weren’t a division one athlete, you weren’t even top of your class. nothing about you stood out, so why would he want to be with you of all people? 

“y/n please,” you heard sunghoon shout after you. you chose to ignore him, hearing rapid footsteps as he jogged to catch up to you, “y/n, stop please.” 

his hand wrapped around your wrist. you hated that even now, your heart fluttered as you heard your name leave his mouth, butterflies in your stomach at the physical contact of his hand around yours. 

“i know you’re mad at me, but let me drive you home.”

“i’d rather walk then get in a car with you, park sunghoon,” you snapped, snatching your hand out of his. he shrinked at the sound of his full name coming out of your mouth. you hadn’t called him that since before your first date. 

it started to drizzle at this point, and you weren’t sure if what you felt on your face was the rain or your own tears. 

“you’re so full of yourself. all you know is how to manipulate and hook up with whoever throws themself at you. you’re nothing but a pathetic loser who doesn’t know how to love because no one’s ever loved you.”

“but i thought you loved me,” he breathed, his eyes searching yours. of course, this wasn’t something that was spoken upfront. it was never confirmed by you, but you didn’t need to say it. he just knew that you loved him because he loved you. he was desperate now, eyes searching all over your face for some sort of confirmation, a small smile, a nod, anything, that indicated that you loved him. 

a wave of deja vu washed over the two of you, the moment almost exactly mirroring your moment at the library; the lingering touches, the desperate gazes. that was one of the happiest days of your life, and now you didn’t even know if sunghoon meant what he said that day or if he was just saying what you wanted to hear. how the fuck did the two of year get here?

“i don’t love you sunghoon. i never did and i never will. you’re an idiot if you think i’d love someone like you.”

you felt sick to your stomach. you didn’t mean what you were saying. it was like you couldn’t stop the words coming from your mouth, like you weren’t even in control of your own body. the words escaped your mouth so fast you couldn’t even process what you were saying. you couldn’t even register the guilt you were feeling until you took in sunghoon’s hurt expression; eyes wide with tears, nose starting to turn red and stuffy. 

“oh,” he replied, so softly that you could barely hear him. 

he sounded so small now, a stark contrast to how he seemed; tall, confident, outspoken. now he was like a lost little boy, and your heart physically felt like it was hurting knowing you were the one that made him feel this way.

it had started pouring by this point. you were gonna get sick if you stayed out in the rain, sunghoon thought. even when you were tearing his heart out, all he could think of was you. all he cared about was you. 

“i see how it is then, y/n,” he started to back away from you, eyes searching yours once again, giving you one final chance to take back what you said. he thought you had loved him, and he was so so sure he felt the same, because why else did it feel like his heart was being stepped on? why else did he feel like jumping off the face of the earth? why else did he feel so hurt?

“sunghoon i didn’t-,”

“yes you did,” he cut you off. “you meant all of it. and you were right. all i do is manipulate and hook up with people, but you? you are- were,” he corrected himself, taking a deep breath between words.  “you were the realest relationship i’ve ever had.” 

you took a deep breath as you felt yourself start to sob, your vision blurring as sunghoon continued, “i shouldn’t have made that stupid bet with heeseung, and i apologize for that. what we had might have started off fake, but trust me when i say that somewhere along the line, i really did fall for you. it was like one day you were suddenly everywhere; you’re the earth that keeps me grounded, you’re in every love song i listen to and you’re the air that i breathe. you’re my everything, y/n.”

you were never one to cry, but now you were bawling your eyes out, wanting so so desperately to tell sunghoon that you felt the same way, that he was your everything, that he was the only person for you, that he wasn’t perfect, but perfect for you. that he was made for you and you were made for him and that you forgave him and you loved him and all you wanted to do was be with him.

but how could you believe him? after what you found out tonight how could you know he wasn’t just lying to your face again? you felt like your head was spinning and you had a thousand thoughts running through your mind at once. you wanted to hug him, kiss his tears away, tell him that you loved him, that everything will be fixed and everything will be okay. 

instead of doing so, you stood your ground.

 “goodbye sunghoon.”

sunghoon let you walk away, despite the fact that he felt like he was dying. your goodbye sounded so final, you were slipping away and sunghoon was going to let you. he was letting you walk away because he loved you. god, he loved you more than the moon loved the stars and more than romeo had loved juliet. he loved you so much that he realized that he wasn’t good for you. that in order for you to be happy, he would have to disappear from your life. 

which is exactly what he did. 

—--------

a month had passed, and jungwon was begging you to go to yeonjun’s end of the year party.

you had kept to yourself after the breakup, focusing on your studies, basically living at the library now. you avoided heeseung and sunghoon, and everytime you had heard one of their names being mentioned by your peers, you simply tuned it out, not wanting to hear if sunghoon had already moved on or not. 

you were still not over sunghoon. it hurt hearing his name, hurt seeing old pictures of you two together, even thinking about him ruined the remainder of your day. you knew you were supposed to be mad at him. he lied to you, he betrayed your trust, he dated you for a bet. all of this made you feel guilty for missing him. 

you missed waking up next to him, you missed taking his dog on walks together. you missed visiting your parents together (who you didn’t have the heart to tell that you and sunghoon were no longer dating), you missed going out to that thai restaurant every friday night, and you missed fighting with him over who would pay the bill. you missed the way he looked at you, the way he’d play with your hair until you fell asleep. you missed his everything. 

yet here jungwon was, dragging you out of your dorm after finally convincing you to go to yeonjun’s party. “you know what they say! the only way to get over somebody is to hook up with somebody else.”

“i doubt i’m going home with anyone tonight,” you scoffed as you arrived to yeonjun’s house, the sound of music being heard through the front door. “you know i suck at having one night stands.”

“even if you don’t, i just want you to have fun,” jungwon replied earnestly. “i haven’t seen you happy in a while. you deserve to be.” 

you felt tears prick your eyes at his kind words, which you blinked away, “whatever, let’s just get to partying!”

an hour in, and you were already regretting your decision to come. you had lost jungwon somewhere in the crowd, and you didn’t have the energy to look around for him. yeonjun’s house was so big that there was no way you could find jungwon on your first try. 

you instead opted to explore the house you were in until you stumbled upon a bedroom which was (thankfully) empty. 

this is probably yeonjun’s room, you thought as you sat on the edge of his bed, making sure you didn’t mess up his sheets. as you looked around at the decor yeonjun had hung up on his walls, you heard the door open. 

your eyes met sunghoon’s and it was almost like the wind got knocked out of you. you didn’t need to look at the rest of him to know it was him. you knew his eyes from anywhere.

breaking eye contact, you studied the rest of him. he looked as good as ever, not a single hair out of place. 

“hey,” you said lamely, watching as his face sunk as he looked at you. ouch. “i can leave if you want, if you’re like, looking to hook up with someone or something.” those words physically pained you to say. leaving a room you were hiding in first so that your ex boyfriend could hook up with someone else? it sounded pathetic.

you started to grab your drink and your bag before sunghoon stopped you. “no it’s okay, i just needed to get away from the party and i was just spooked to see you. i didn’t think i’d see you again. and plus, i haven’t been seeing anyone since us.” 

us. you felt your heart squeeze a bit at the single word. you were so sure that sunghoon would start seeing other people after your breakup, and you felt like a loser for rotting in bed while you assumed he was out with other people. 

“oh,” you muttered.

you sat in silence for a bit, with you sat on the edge of the bed, and sunghoon stood by the door, looking as if he’d leave whenever you wanted him to.

“you can come sit if you want,” you patted the bed beside you. “there’s enough room for both of us.”

sunghoon raised his eyebrow in question but didn’t hesitate to sit beside you, his familiar cologne hitting you. 

“hoon, i miss you.”

sunghoon wasn’t sure if you meant what you were saying or if you had one too many drinks. he didn’t want to get his hopes up. 

“are you sure you haven’t had too much to drink?” he chuckled dryly.

“no, this is just sprite, i didn’t wanna get too drunk, i have a final i still need to study for,” you responded. 

the awkward tension sitting between the two of you made you want to jump out a window. things were never awkward between you and sunghoon before and you hated that it was awkward now. fuck, why isn’t he saying anything? you thought. does he not miss me? this is so embarrassing. 

before you could stop yourself, just like the night of your break up, you suddenly started talking faster than your brain could process.

“i’m sorry for what i said the last time we saw each other. i was hurt and i also felt betrayed that you would do that to me because i loved you and you knew about my ex, so it kinda felt like a slap to the face,” you rambled. “but i miss you. there hasn’t been a day that i haven’t missed you, hoon.”

sunghoon didn’t know what to say. he felt like he was dreaming. you missed him?

“you loved me?” sunghoon asked instead, not believing his ears. he needed to hear you say it again, needed to hear those three words fall from your lips one more time. he needed this reassurance that his feelings were reciprocated.  

“i still love you, i think. it’s just hard for me to fall for you again when things ended the way they did,” you continued. “hoon, if we do this again, i need you to be honest with me. about everything.”

he slowly inched his hands toward yours, scared that if he moved too fast you’d leave. when he saw you weren’t moving away, he grasped your hands in his, the feeling of your hands interlocked was the feeling he had missed most of all. 

“i promise things will be different this time,” he said earnestly, his eyes searching yours for any sort of uncertainty at the words he spoke. “i meant every single thing i said that night. i love you y/n, with every fiber of my being. i know we can’t immediately go back to the way things were, but i will do everything i can to gain your trust back. i’ll get on my knees right now and start begging if i have to.”

“well that doesn’t seem like a bad idea,” you teased. “do you really love me?” 

“i thought it was obvious.”

“apparently not obvious enough.”

This was so good! The writing was fantastic and I can’t wait for the next part.

Strawberry Wine - Part 1

Pairing: Lee Jihoon (Woozi) x Fem!Reader

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Strangers to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Fake Dating, Smut (not in this part) MDNI!

Synopsis: After breaking off your engagement to your cheating fiancé, you decide to take the planned trip to Paris anyway. A vacation alone with the honeymoon suite all to yourself seems like the perfect distraction. Just that, due to an internal error at the hotel lost soul Jihoon, who still isn't over his first love's death five years ago, is staying in the same honeymoon suite as you.

Warnings (in this part): mentions of cheating, alcohol consumption, angst, probably a not so good description of paris tbh, the word "cock" is mentioned once, slight sexual tension

Word Count: 7.9k

A/N: hi everyone!! this is part one of my story for the world tour collab hostes by @svthub!! check out the masterlist here! this one is a bit of a... beginning, i guess, lol. the real drama and smut and all that will be in part two. but i still think this is a a fun part to get to know our characters! this not beta read and i might edit it later... thanks for reading i hope you enjoy <3 header & divider credit to @okiedokrie!

one; the author

The flash of the camera goes off and you’re almost sure your eyes were closed. The teenage girl next to you smiles brightly and waves at you once more before rushing off to go over to her mother. You lightly smile back and look over to your right where Minghao is giving you a thumbs up. Apparently, so you interpret his gesture, you’re holding up quite well for someone who just caught her fiancée cheating two weeks ago. 

You’re aware that you could have canceled the book signing today. No one would have been mad. But even though your heart is shattered to a million pieces and you don’t think you’ll ever heal from this hurt - you still need to earn money and make those who give you that money happy. Just sucks that the person you build this with is somewhere on the Bahamas with your biggest rival on the romance book market. Or, well, as your publisher says: your bestest friend on the romance book market. Since you’re both making money, of course. You can’t count the times you and her have been sent to events together, not saying a word to each other on the way there and playing happy family the second you are in front of the cameras. 

Her books weren’t even good! Boring and predictable if anyone asked you. Your ex had always agreed with you, even if he was her agent as well as yours. But Jaehyun was slick - he told her the same about your books. 

“Hi, oh my god, I love your books so much! I can’t wait for the next one!” It’s a boy with the brightest and whitest smile you have ever seen and for a second you can forget your sadness.

“Thank you so much. What name do you want me to sign?” 

The book signing ends about half an hour later. You’re in the car with Minghao who’s typing something on his phone as he sits in the backseat with you. 

“You did great, you know.” He says, not looking up. His words make your stomach turn uncomfortably even though you know he means well. 

“Thanks,” is your mumbled response, your head slowly turning to look out of the window. Minghao sets down his phone, realizing his words didn’t come out the way he wanted them to. He sighs.

“Best friend dearest,” he starts, “you know what I meant. Considering you have been in your room with no lights on and Adele on repeat for the last few months - you did exceptionally well socializing with people you don’t know.”

“It’s my job after all, isn’t it?” 

“No, your job is writing brilliant books, Y/N. This is just a bonus. Your books would sell wonderfully even without you doing this.”

Three months ago this would have made your chest fill with pride. You’d be beaming and agreeing with Minghao, content with your life and what you had made it to be. But now, it’s different. 

Now, all you feel is ache in your chest. No sense of pride, no smile in sight. No contentment with how your life is going. Joy has been missing in your palette of feelings for a long time. 

The city lights are what keep you awake. Exhaustion and the feeling of sadness that you have become so used to are close to make you falter, to make you want to go home and put those Adele songs right back on repeat. It’s not fair, you think. Not fair that your life was ruined this way and you can’t get back up. That all you’re able to do is live because you have to, not because you want to. And the closer July 17th comes - the more you feel yourself falling deeper into a hole. 

It’s hard to believe that three months ago you were a completely different person. A person who loved to laugh, who had fun game nights with her friends, cooked every day, went for runs in the morning, planned a wedding. You were a person who loved to love. All of this was accompanied by the person you had been sure you’d spend the rest of your life with: Jaehyun. He was tall, handsome, kind. You had met him through work - he had been assigned your agent when you switched publishers. He was your muse. Helped you with your books, made the sales sky rocket with the way he marketed you. 

For five years he was your everything. In some ways (ways you loathed) he still is. Your whole life revolved around him. Wherever you went - he did too. Whenever you fell - he was there to catch you. Nothing in the world could have ever prepared you for what was going to happen. But then again, when is someone ever prepared to be cheated on by the person they trusted the most in their life? 

To say it was a shock would be an understatement. Accidentally finding the messages he sent to her on his iPad. Confronting him and seeing his face fall, his expressions change into something you had never thought possible. He looked caught. Mainly because he was. Also because he never thought the truth would come to light. You had been the only one left in the dark. Everyone at the publishing house knew what he was doing. He and her. 

It wasn’t fair, you knew that, but in the beginning you couldn’t handle being mad at Jaehyun. Instead you focused all your anger on her, all the hurt you felt. It wasn’t like you had particularly liked her before - she was your rival, the person everyone always compared you to. She was younger than you, didn’t have as much experience - but she was more successful. At least to an extent. Her books regularly went viral on ‘booktok’, mainly because she wrote them like she worked in a factory. Every couple of months there’d be a new one - and people ate it up. You, on the other hand, liked to take your time, liked to write stories with captivating characters, with characters people could relate to - fall in love with. 

Suddenly your biggest rival became the person you hated and wanted to be like the most in the world. To be her would mean to have him. Him, who you still love so much, who still means everything. 

It is a little different now. 100 days later and you feel like you don’t love him as much anymore. Yes, it still hurts like hell and, yes, you want to stay home most of the days. But you don’t miss him as much as you used to. 

“Do you want to grab a drink?” Minghao asks now even though he already knows the answer. Gosh, you wish you could give him a yes. A smile and a yes. Instead, you only present him with the first, stretching out your hand and reaching for his.

“I need to get home, Hao. Today has been a lot.”

Minghao nods slowly, a sad smile on his pretty lips. He understands, he really does. But he also misses his happy best friend. Misses the way your eyes crinkle when you smile wholeheartedly , misses the sound of you honest laugh. No matter how many time will pass, he doesn’t think he could ever forgive Jaehyun for what he’s done to you.

Fighting with a french man on the phone at the crack of dawn surely had not been on your agenda for today. 

“I’m sorry, miss, but the cancellation period ended two weeks ago, there is nothing we can do.” 

It’s too early and you are too tired. He is probably too by now, considering he has been saying this sentence at least five times in the past seven minutes. You pull a hand through your hair and let it drop back onto the mattress after.

“My wedding isn’t happening anymore, and you really won’t let me cancel the honeymoon suite?” Usually, you’d never snap at anyone over the phone - especially custom service personnel, but this is different. What he’s implying means you won’t get any money back from one of the most expensive purchases you’ve made. Worst thing about this: you paid for this yourself. Jaehyun had paid the location - which of course could still be canceled. But the freaking hotel stay in Paris of course was set in stone! 

“I am very sorry, miss. I wish there was more that I could do. Perhaps you can take the trip yourself and enjoy our beautiful honeymoon sui-“

You hang up on him. It’s not polite, you’re aware. But just the thought of being alone in the suite you were supposed to enjoy with your freshly baked husband… no, absolutely not. Then, fine, you’d have to live with having spent thousands of dollars on a hotel suite you wouldn’t be able to use. 

As if life isn’t horrible enough already.

When you sit at brunch later that day with Minghao and your mutual friend Mingyu, they both stare at you like you’ve just told them you decided to get Jaehyun’s face tattooed on your thigh. 

“Are you kidding me? You basically get to have a Paris vacation for free for yourself!” Mingyu says, the glass of mimosa he is holding in his hand is almost spilling with the way he moves his arm. You scoff.

“What do you mean “free”? I literally paid for it months ago!” 

“Okay, and did you already make that money back?” Mingyu continues and raises his brow. You stay silent for a moment. 

The restaurant Minghao chose is filled with people enjoying the vegan food made from scratch. Your own very delicious avocado toast with a side of fresh fruit and soy-yogurt is laying in front of you, waiting to be eaten. The mimosa Minghao had ordered for you remains untouched. 

“She has.” Hao decides to answer for you as he sips from his mug of matcha. You shoot him a glare.

“So what! I’m not going to go to Paris by myself when this was supposed to be my honeymoon!” You try to stay quiet, looking from Minghao to Mingyu and back. Judging by their faces, they don’t seem to understand the big deal. 

You envy them. God, how much you wish you could just do it. Go on that already paid for vacation by yourself, not give a single damn about Jaehyun and his new girlfriend. Your heart sinks. Just thinking these words is making you feel like crawling back into bed. 

Minghao groans and puts his mug back on the table. 

“Y/N,” he starts and his voice sounds more serious than you’ve ever heard him talk before - even Mingyu seems startled, “I get it, okay? I get that he hurt you, that he made you believe in something that was never going to work. He is an asshole, if not the biggest asshole walking freely on this earth. But you’re young! You’re young and you deserve better than this! Keeping to yourself, barely leaving your apartment - your bed, honey, it’s not good for you. I understand that you want to stay away, that the world is a fucking scary place without the person you thought was your person right there next to you,” he grabs your hand over the table, “but do you know what all of this means? That your person is still out there! That you can still find them! And what better place to start than Paris, the literal city of love!”

He means well. Just like the other night after the book signing. He means well and he wants just what’s best for you. No one wants you to feel better as much as he does. Then why does it make you so mad that he is asking this of you? That he is calling you out this way? 

You pull your hand away from his and grab your purse from the free chair next to yours. Both men gawk at you, startled.

“Y/N-,” Mingyu tries, but you raise your hand to interrupt him.

“You get it, Hao? Really? Has your significant other of five years also cheated on you with your biggest rival? Did you also have to cancel a wedding you put hours and hours of work and money into? Because I don’t remember this happening to you! So, I would really appreciate it if you gave me the time I need to grieve this relationship and decide for myself when I am ready to get out again!”

Without giving them another look, you storm out of the restaurant. Everything around you is a blurr and you only notice that you’re crying when you reach your car. Cursing to yourself, you move to open your car, tears dripping from your cheeks down onto your shirt. God, what a pathetic little woman. Crying in your car after yelling at your best friends for what? For caring? For only meaning to help? 

It takes a while before you manage to start the engine and get on the road to drive home. The radio is silent and for a second you wished you could turn off your brain the same way. Just one switch and all thoughts gone. All the self doubts and the hurt, all the thoughts of what-if and the wish to travel back in time and never have you take his iPad. 

You stop at a red light and wipe away some more tears. You don’t dare to look into the mirror and check your make-up. 

Never finding the iPad, you circle back, if you had never found it, you wouldn’t be in this situation. No, you’d most likely still be in a relationship with a man that cheated on you. That didn’t love you half as much as he claimed, that didn’t deserve the time and care you’d given him. 

When the light turns green, you continue your way, your thoughts still roaming around the what if. And while your heart yearns for him back, for what you believed you had - your head knows it’s better this way. Jaehyun isn’t the one for you, as much as you would have loved him to be, Minghao is right. It’s just that the thought of starting over with someone new makes you cringe, makes fear rise within you. Someone new to give your heart to and hope they don’t break it the way Jae had. 

Once you’re on the highway you think back about the time you had decided to travel to Paris for your honeymoon. It had been your idea, your wish. Your first ever book, even if it never made it onto a bestseller list or into the mouths of the best romance critics - it was set in Paris. The city of live, the city you decided would become your favorite even though you had never been. Spending two weeks there with the love of your life after becoming his forever, seriously, nothing had ever sounded as wonderful as that. 

Minghao’s words ring in your ear. Your person is still out there, he said. And that Paris, as the city of love, would be the perfect place to go look for them. Your knuckles turn white around the steering wheel. You never wanted to spend time in Paris with anyone but Jaehyun. 

Or maybe, you think as you take the exit leading to your neighborhood, the only Person you need to spend time with in Paris is yourself. 

two; the lost soul

He never should have listened to Jeonghan. No one should ever listen to Jeonghan. The cab driver is speaking in quick french that Jihoon knows he wouldn’t understand even if he spelled out every word for him. Then again, he isn’t even sure the driver is talking to him or just about him. Jihoon can’t really blame him. After all, he is the stupid American with the stupid big guitar case and a backpack almost bigger than himself. 

The backseat is hot and Jihoon’s sunglasses do little to keep the sun from blinding him. 

Paris in the summer sounded better on paper than it does actually experiencing it. It’s nothing compared to the summer in Arizona, where Jihoon grew up, but having lived in Vermont for a while now, he wasn’t used to the burning hot, scorching sun that threatened to give him the sunburn of his life if he didn’t re-apply his sunscreen every few hours. 

Tara had always laughed at him and his easily burned skin. She never burned, no, she got a tan right away, looking beautiful in the rays of sunshine dazzling on her skin like they belonged there. 

Right now, he misses her more than he has in a while. When he passes the beautiful architecture of his first love’s favorite city, he smiles even with the sun shining directly into his eyes. 

In all seriousness, Jihoon doesn’t know why he is here. It feels wrong to be here without her, but it also felt like he had to take the invitation from his friend. She would have never forgiven him, if he let this opportunity fly. Visit the city of love, the city she had always dreamt about, he knows as wrong as it feels, it’s the right thing to do. 

A few minutes later, the cab stops in front of an old looking building. Without saying anything, the driver takes Jihoon’s Euros and drives off after heaving Jihoon’s suitcase out of his trunk. 

Jihoon looks after the car, his dark hair falling into his forehead. Once the cab takes the next corner, he looks at the building, something stirring in his stomach. This… doesn’t look like the pictures on AirBnb at all. Quickly, he fishes his phone out of his pocket, happy he booked the data package at the airport back home. Opening his app, he feels like he’s about to throw up his airplane food.

It’s not there. The apartment is gone from the app, not newly put in under a different name, not just gone because of a glitch. It’s like it never existed. Jihoon curses, moving his fingers over his screen, calling the customer service only to be met with a french speaking automatic voice that doesn’t help him in the slightest. 

Hanging up again, he stares at his phone for a few seconds. He shouldn’t have come. It feels too much like a sign. Maybe he should try changing his flight to this evening, maybe he should try to run after that cab and-

The phone in his hands rings and he quickly picks up.

“Hello?”

“Jihoonie!” It’s Jeonghan, the only reason he is in Paris in the first place, “did you make it to the city of love?”

“Yeah, and I wish I didn’t,” Jihoon mumbles in response, brushing his hair out of his face.

“Why? What happened?” Jeonghan does sound concerned, which might be a first.

“My Airbnb doesn’t exist.”

Silence. Jihoon just knows his friend is trying his hardest not to laugh. Oh, to be Yoon Jeonghann and always get entertained by his friends’ miseries. 

“Jeonghan, this isn’t funny, okay? I’m about to call another cab and get my ass back home.”

“No! No, you can’t go home! You’re here and I’m going to make sure these will be two of the most amazing weeks of your life, alright? Look, instead of home, get your ass to my hotel. I think I might have a solution for your problem.”

When Jeonghan texts him the address and Jihoon hails another cab, he doesn’t dare to hope that his friend has an actual solution. 

Perhaps Jihoon should have asked Jeonghan more thoroughly what kind of Hotel he works at. Because this looks very different to the building Jihoon just left. This is art, this is a fancy hotel in the middle of Paris’ most elegant streets, people in expensive clothes walking around Jihoon who has only a backpack and a guitar on his back. Jihoon gapes at the building, words he has read a million times suddenly filling his head, suddenly coming to life.

The façade of the hotel stands proudly on the bustling Parisian street, an exquisite testament to classical elegance and modern charm. The building’s cream-colored stonework is adorned with intricate carvings and ornate embellishments, each detail meticulously crafted to perfection. Above the entrance, a grand arch frames a large window, its glass shimmering in the soft light of the early evening.

Striped blue-and-white awnings shade the windows, their cheerful colors contrasting beautifully with the building’s stately architecture. Delicate wrought-iron balconies extend from the upper floors, offering glimpses of lush potted plants and inviting chairs, perfect for an intimate evening under the stars.

The entrance is framed by deep blue columns, and a passageway, warm light spills out from within, hinting at the luxurious interior that awaits guests. A pair of elegant lanterns flank the doorway, casting a gentle glow on the stone steps below.

Above the entrance, a crest adorned with elaborate scrollwork and a regal shield stands as a proud emblem of the hotel’s storied history. The name of the hotel is etched in graceful letters, a promise of the enchanting experience that lies within. 

He doesn’t dare to move from where he is standing. Doesn’t dare to step foot into the hotel that looks exactly the way he had envisioned the one Tara would always read to him. Goosebumps erupt all over his skin and he swears there are tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. This must be a dream, a different reality, because there is no way Jeonghan works here. 

But when Jihoon lets his eyes wander over the façade and into one of the magnificent windows - he spots his friend. Spots him on the phone behind the wooden counter, writing something down. He is here and this is real. 

So, Jihoon slowly moves. One foot before the other, eyes glued to the entrance, nis heart beating in his chest. He feels silly, but he wonders if Tara had seen this as clear as he had back when she had read the book to him over and over again. 

A welcome warmth meets Jihoon inside. It’s just as beautiful as the outside, he finds, his stomach turning over once more. 

The lobby exudes a warm, inviting glow, courtesy of the golden chandeliers that hang from the high ceilings, casting a soft light over the polished marble floors. Rich hues of deep blue and soft gold dominate the color palette, creating a sense of opulence and sophistication. Jeonghan stands behind the mahogany desk, still talking on the phone, still not spotting Jihoon. 

Jihoon, who feels so insanely out of place in his worn out jeans and the old leather jacket, with his hair unkempt and his eyebrow pierced. He moves over to the front desk, trying his hardest not to care about the stares he is getting from the people who clearly know he doesn’t actually belong here.

Jeonghan’s eyes light up when he sees him, a wide smile now on his lips as he holds up a finger as if to tell Jihoon to just be a little more patient. Jihoon carefully puts his hands on the top of the counter, his eyes roaming the lobby again. 

“Of course, we can’t wait to have you back here again so soon, Miss Jones. Have a great day, bye bye!” 

Jihoon’s eyes fly over to Jeonghan again when he hears the phone click. 

“You’re actually here!” Jeonghan’s smile grows and he moves forward to give Jihoon probably the most awkward hug of his life over the counter. Jihoon laughs at that, patting his friend on the back. 

“Well, it’s either this or the streets,” he smiles, “you never told me how… grant all of this is.” He gestures with his hands, as if to make sure Jeonghan knows he means the hotel. His blonde haired friend chuckles.

“Yeah, I thought it would come off like bragging if I did say so. I never would have heard the end of it from the boys.”

Jihoon nods. He knows exactly what Jeonghan means. Still. He can’t shake the feeling that if he had known about this… his stomach drops again.

“It’s beautiful.” Is all he eventually says, ignoring the worried look of his friend. Jihoon doesn’t know (and Jeonghan will never tell him) but there was a reason he had never mentioned this to him. 

“That, it is,” Jeonghan finally responds, wiping the worry off his face and replacing it with a broad smile, “and you will get to live here for the next two weeks!”

“I will what?!” Jihoon’s eyes widen in surprise, “Jeonghan, I can barely pay rent at home, what do you-,”

“Obviously for free, dummy,” Jeonghan chuckles, “we have a free suite that has already been paid for, full price.”

Jihoon raises his brows, his hands feeling damp on top of the fancy counter.

“How come it’s free when it’s fully paid?” He asks.

“Well, there was supposed to be a wedding and…. now there isn’t one. They didn’t meet the requirements for the full or the partial refund. So, it’s free for the next two weeks since we can’t legally double book. You want it?”

It feels a little bit too good to be true, but Jihoon is in no place to turn down Jeonghan’s offer. The little voice in his head is trying to get to him, trying to make him speak the words to himself. It tries to get him to admit that this feels a lot like fate. Like a sign from above, from Tara. He doesn’t let it get to him. He’s not ready for that, and he’s certainly not melancholic enough for thoughts like this - even as a songwriter. 

“I do, thank you, Han, I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you right now.”

“Oh, most certainly sleep on the streets. Find a rat for a friend, or maybe a pigeon. They are crazy over here,” Jeonghan sings as he types something in the computer, scanning one of the key cards he takes from the drawer beneath him. Jihoon watches him with his heartbeat in his ears. 

“Yeah, never been a big fan of rats. Or pigeons.” Jihoon dares to look around the lobby again, seeing all those people living their life, probably never worried about any of the things he worries about. He wasn’t lying when he said he has trouble paying his rent. Work hasn’t been easy these days. 

“Aaaaand, here we go!” Jeonghan grins brightly, “your key, Mr. Lee.” He holds it mid air, pulling it back slightly as Jihoon is trying to grab it. The latter gives him a funny look. Jeonghan pouts as he thinks.

“That rhymes. “Your key, Mr. Lee”.” Jihoon closes his eyes for a second. Jeonghan chuckles happily.

“Watch out, I’m coming for your job.”

“Well, stop it and do yours instead,” Jihoon replies, allowing himself to grin back at his friend and take the card from his hands, “where is this suite you promised me?”

-

Jeonghan hadn’t mentioned what kind of suite this is. There is nothing Jihoon can do but stare at his surroundings with his mouth and backpack dropped, his guitar slowly sliding down his arm. 

He is in the honeymoon suite. In retrospect, it makes sense. Jeonghan did say a wedding had been canceled. 

There are three rooms. Right now, Jihoon is standing in the enormous entrance way. Golden and blue like downstairs, with wood accents, a big round table in the center of the room that connected all the different rooms, a centerpiece of flowers as beautiful as a summer day adjoining it. The walls are high and plastered with fine drawing, ornating through all of the hallway and over to the other rooms. Flowers and patterns so elegant Jihoon doesn’t know how to even describe them. 

He feels out of place as much as he feels content. Letting his luggage rest on the floor, he moves into the first room. It’s a large sitting room, probably as big as his whole apartment back at home. Two couches of rich dark blue; cushions in different colors, some of them reminding Jihoon of the ocean, some of the sky, rich blues and light blues, and then there is the color of dawn, orange and yellow. 

A majestic cremé colored carpet lays beneath the sofas, a glass table standing between them. On top of it magazine stacks and a glass tray holding what looks like whiskey and two glasses. High windows let the sun shine through and Jihoon spots a balcony leading around the living- and bedroom, holding his breath as he imagines himself out there softly strumming his guitar with a glass of whiskey or wine. His heart warms at the thought of finally having peace. Peace in the city his former lover had loved so much. 

Next up he walks into the bedroom, a king sized bed greets him with white linen covers and pillows almost as big as his torso. It looks incredibly comfortable and he couldn’t wait to lay down and relax after the day he’s had. Golden curtains sway in the wind let in by an opened window, and the view is so poetic he almost feels himself tear up. Quickly, he looks away and instead finds his way into the master bathroom. It’s all held in gold as well, gold and white for a change, an enormous tub next to a high rain shower behind a glass wall. He sighs.

This is perfect. And he most definitely needs a shower right now. 

So, he retraces his steps and grabs his luggage, setting everything down next to the bed and letting his guitar rest in the corner of the room. He decides to actually unpack his backpack that probably doesn’t even hold as much clothes as he probably needs for this trip (he did think he had a washer, though) and places everything in the large closet opposite the bed. 

Finding himself humming, Jihoon allows a little bit more of that earlier peace to find place in his head and heart. Perhaps there is no reason for him to be worried - to look for something to go terribly wrong on this trip. Jeonghan is off work by now, and they’ll go catch dinner together, then he’ll come back here and maybe watch a movie, fall asleep to the sound of Paris outside his window. He doesn’t know what it sounds like just yet, but he’s already excited to find out. 

Ridding himself of his clothes and feeling another threat of tears when he touches the towels hanging in the bathroom, Jihoon finally lets himself step into the shower and wash all of his worries away. 

three; the mix-up

You don’t think your heart has ever beaten as fast as it does when you walk out the Charles de Gaulle airport and right into the arms of the driver Minghao has arranged for you. It’s not about the driver or the airport - but where you are. 

Paris, the city of love, the city you feared to visit after what had happened with Jae. Yet, here you stand. Handing the driver your luggage and fishing for your phone in your purse, texting Minghao you already found your driver and are now on the way to the hotel. It all feels surreal and like you’re going to wake up any second.

Minghao forgave you without hesitation. Hugged you close to his chest and cried with you as you told him you were sorry and that he was right. You needed to do this - needed to face your demons. Together, the two of you had finalized the plans, popping open a bottle of expensive champagne and gossiping about Jaehyun and who he left you for. Little by little, you knew, you would find yourself again. And perhaps Paris was the perfect way to start. 

The drive from the airport to the hotel was spent staring out the window. First you saw the highway leading from the airport to the city - greenery with trees on each side, all passing by you in a blurr. And then the beautiful streets of Paris. The fine architecture, the elegant bridges over the Seine. Heart warming at the sight of the city you dreamt about so much. Your first ever book had taken place right here, you had let your main characters kiss for the first time right there on that bridge leading from one side of Paris to the other, so close to the Louvre, to the glass pyramid you made them fight and make up all the same, just months apart. The sun is dazzling onto the dark water of the river, light dancing on the surface. 

The driver comes to a stop in front of the hotel about 45 minutes after your departure from Charles de Gaulle. He holds open the door for you and helps you out of the car, smiling at you warmly and finally getting your bags out of the trunk. You thank him in some broken French and he nods at you before finding his way back to the driver’s seat. 

One of the bell-boys spot you right when you walk in, their English sounding a bit like your French just now. You thank them and hand over your luggage, letting them help you carry it to the mahogany reception.

It is exactly like you remember it. You had never seen it in person, no. But you’ve found this hotel during your research, falling in love with it right away. It was a no-brainer that your honeymoon was to be held here. 

You felt overwhelmed at the sight of the colors you had tried so hard to bring to paper, at the sound of soft music in the background, at the knowledge this was real and you were gonna stay here for two whole weeks. 

Finally, you reach the counter where a small man stands and smiles up at you, his hair styled back.

“Welcome, how can I help you?” He says in perfect English and you place your hands on top of the counter.

“Hi,” you tell him your name, “I have a reservation.”

The man nods, looking up the reservation and finding it right away. Not marked as checked in, he notes and gives you another big smile.

“It is wonderful to have you, Miss. Will your husband be joining you?” 

You expected as much. While it does hurt a little, having to say these next words, you know it’s a step in the right direction.

“I will be staying here alone, thank you.”

It is more beautiful than you could have imagined and it takes you a whole lot not to start crying. Your luggage gets brought up by the nice bell-boys and you thank them by tipping them each 50 Euros. Their smiles make the loss of the money worthwhile. 

Once the door closes behind them, you dare to look around. See the beautiful entrance way in all its glory. See the living room in all it’s elegance, the high ceiling and windows, the smaller bedroom with a queen sized bed and a little reading nook, two ceiling high bookshelves standing around a comfortable looking loveseat. This must be what heaven looks like. 

There is nothing that can wipe that smile off your face. Everything inside you tingles with happy excitement, moving to go look at the master bedroom with the on-suite bathroom you remembered staring at for at least five minutes when you booked the room. Imagining yourself in the enormous bathtub with a glass of champagne and classical music playing, letting all the stress and hurt from the past months fade away with the notes. 

You don’t notice the closet and how there are clothes hanging inside it. Neither do you see the guitar case in the corner of the room. It fascinates you - how your mind tricks you into thinking you already hear the sound of water running, accompanied by humming along to a tune. Magnificent, what the mind can do. 

When you finally reach for the doorknob to push it down, yanking the door open in one swift move, you realize perhaps your mind isn’t as magnificent as you thought.

Jihoon doesn’t notice you until you scream. He swirls around, which is inherently a foolish thing to do inside a wet, slippery shower, his eyes widening whe spots you, reacting to your scream by screaming himself. He realizes he’s naked and tries to find something to cover him, taking a step forward to reach for the towel and forgetting there is literally a glass wall separating you two. 

Watching the man walk face-first into the glass and stumbling back, slipping on the wet floors and falling onto his ass would have made you laugh if it wasn’t inside your shower. 

“What the hell!” You yell, turning around so you don’t look at the naked man any longer.

“Who are you?!” He yells back and you almost gasp.

“I should ask you that!”

The two of you need to yell because Jihoon has not yet managed to turn the shower off. Only now does he (while rubbing his hurting back) get up, struggling in the process, his hand finding the lever to turn off the water. His nose hurts and his ass and his back. 

He moves out of the shower without running into glass this time, and wraps one of the soft towels around his waist. 

“I’m Jihoon,” he finally says. You think you’re suddenly stuck in a really bad movie.

“That- you’re telling me your name?!” You turn around again, staring at the stranger with disbelief in your eyes. 

“You did ask who I was, didn’t you?”

For a few moments the two of you continue to stare at each other. With every passing second you notice just how naked he is. Yes, there is a towel around him now, but you certainly did not… miss what was under there when you first walked in. As much as you don’t want to, your eyes scan the stranger, or well, Jihoon as he told you, stopping at his wet torso, the defined abs and the broad chest. He might be small in height but the rest of him seems… big. 

You swallow.

“If you’re done checking me out, would you mind telling me why you’re in my room?”

Heat spreads through your body and right into your face, your eyes jumping from his torso to his face.

“Your room? I’m sorry, this is my room!”

While Jihoon did hit his head, he isn’t hurt enough not to understand that you’re most likely telling the truth. But Jeonghan had said the wedding was off… that you wouldn’t come here. So, why on earth, where you here?

“I- I can explain,” he begins, taking a step forward only for you to take a step backward. He holds out his hand as if to signal he wasn’t going to do anything.

“Go right ahead,” you hate that your voice is shaking, but it’s not like it is an everyday occurrence you find a beautiful stranger in your hotel room. If this wasn’t your actual life but a book this might have been sexy, might have led to the bed behind you finding the two strangers entangled, giving in to the sexual tension between them. Not that there was any of that in this situation.

“My friend, Jeonghan, he- he works here. He told me this suite wouldn’t be used and so I- well he asked me if I wanted to stay here for my trip after I told him my airbnb didn’t actually exist and I needed a, uh, a place to stay.”

You blink at him.

“He just- he gave you my honeymoon suite for free?

Jihoon swallows.

“Well…,” he thinks a little longer on his answer, “yes. Yes, he did.”

Telling the truth is probably his best bet. 

You take a deep breath, turning away from him, clenching and unclenching your hands.

“As you can see, I am here. So, please, find somewhere else to stay.”

Jihoon saw it coming, obviously. It was all too good to be true. Without saying anything else, he walks over to the closet, ready to dress himself. Just that he didn’t quite calculate the new luggage now laying in front of the bed. 

It all seems to happen in slow motion.

Jihoon tripping over your suitcase, his hands desperate trying to find something to hold on to before he falls. As if on reflex, you grab his arm, yanking him up so he doesn’t fall flatly on his face, just that you somehow manage to yank him so hard, you fall off balance. With a high pitched squeak, you fall onto the bed, Jihoon landing on top of you, his towel falling off in the process of the fall and save. 

A naked man is on top of you, brown eyes wide with shock staring into yours. His hands somehow moved right to the sides of your head as if to catch himself from falling even further on top of you. 

You can feel him. Feel his breath on your face, his skin on yours, his friend against your thigh. More heat rises, your face, your neck, your chest, your core. It’s bad. This shouldn’t be happening right now. 

The two of you are so engulfed in the moment, you don’t even realize when the door opens yet again. When voices you would normally recognize without trouble seem to fail your ears this time. Jihoon’s face so close to yours - way too distracting.

“What the fuck?!” 

Realization hits you at the same time as recognition and you gasp, your knee coming up, right into Jihoon’s lower parts, a yelp escaping him as he slides off the bed, hands now covering his private area and his face in a grimace of sheer pain. 

You don’t even notice it. Not really, at least. Now it’s not his face that’s distracting you but the one you used to love for so many years.

“Jaehyun?” You whisper. And for a second you think he came here to make amends, to win you back, to get on his knees and apologize - then you spot her walking in, her eyes scanning the room with distaste. 

“Who is that?” Jaehyun asks and you feel your blood boil. 

“What are you doing here?” You ignore his question. He isn’t looking at you, but at Jihoon still on the floor. 

“Oh, well, you know. We thought that it would be such a waste to let this suite go to waste,” it is her who answers you now, her deep red manicured hands now curling around Jaehyun’s biceps. 

This bitch. Your blood starts boiling. Anger makes you see red. 

“You brought her here?” You hiss at Jaehyun who has the decency to look guilty at least. You snort. Then, your eyes find Jihoon who’s still on the ground, Jihoon who is still naked. Jihoon, who desperately needs a place to stay. 

God knows what makes you do what you do next. Desperation? Foolery? Who knows. But you move to help Jihoon up, grabbing the towel and holding it in front of his lower half. 

“Y/N,” Jaehyun starts but you interrupt him.

“I see that we both had the idea to bring our new partners, or in your case old partner, to the suite we booked together, Jae. But since I was the one who paid for it, I would kindly ask you to leave.”

New partner. Jihoon needs a few seconds before he grasps what you just said. 

“New- new what?” He mumbles, but you clear your throat to drown out his voice. Jaehyun’s face is priceless and you don’t want the bluff to be uncovered so quickly.

“That is your new boyfriend?” She asks, her brows raised. You can see that she’s checking him out - his abs, his cest, his pretty face. It makes your insides turn with hatred and disgust. 

“Got a problem, Sierra?” You reply, your jaw tense. Her eyes only briefly meet yours.

“Oh, absolutely not. I’m glad to see you finally got out of that moping phase, honey. It really didn’t suit you.” 

Your grip around the towel tightens. 

Slowly, Jihoon begins to understand what is going on. Who these people are. There was supposed to be a wedding and a honeymoon, but neither of these happened. You are the bride, or well, were supposed to be the bride. And he, the man you called Jaehyun and who had caused all the color to fade from your face, surely seems to be the groom who… never got to be the groom. And judging by the way you reacted to him and her, he guesses the reason the wedding didn’t happen was… the woman you’d called Sierra. 

Blinking a few times, Jihoon realized that you were trying to convince him that he was your new boyfriend. That you had brought him here, to this hotel. It was ridiculous and straight out of a bad movie, but somehow… even if he didn’t know you, he felt like he should help you. And so, he let his arm wrap around your waist, catching you by surprise. 

“I would kindly ask you to leave us be. You have done enough.”

Your head swirled to look at the man next to you. His stern face and his wet hair. Drops of water sliding down the side of his neck. 

“How long has this been going on?” Jaehyun asks, ignoring Jihoon’s request. You turn to look at him again.

“That’s none of your business. You heard him, Jae. Leave. This isn’t your room anymore.”

Another beat of silence falls between the four of you. You try your best to ignore Sierra and cling onto Jihoon’s hand like it was the only saving grace. Perhaps that was true. Holding Jae’s gaze and trying to calm down your hurting heart, your wishes to throw something at him. 

“Fine. I heard the honeymoon suite in the Hilton is much nicer than this one, baby.”

It is then that you see it. The rings on her finger. Your stomach drops. He married her. Oh, you’re about to throw up. Jihoon seems to notice your change of emotions, quickly clearing his throat.

“Great. Have fun in Paris then.” 

He carefully takes the towel from your hand, wrapping it around him fully again. Then, he looks at you. The overwhelming urge to give you a hug is almost unbearable.

“Maybe,” Jaehyun said, “since we are both seeing other people and have moved on - we could grab dinner sometime this week. All of us.”

Jihoon sees the way your eyes shake at the suggestion. And he is just about to say no, that that’s not a good idea, when you push your shoulder back and hold your head high.

“What a lovely idea. We’d love to, isn’t that right, baby?” You interlock your fingers with Jihoon’s and he stares at you for just a second, before nodding.

“Sure,” he breathes out, looking at Jaehyun and Sierra. 

It most certainly isn’t a lovely idea, he is well aware of that. This whole thing isn’t a good idea. But here he is. Holding the hand of a woman he barely met twenty minutes ago. A woman who has seen him naked, a woman who had his half hard cock against the inside of her thigh. A woman he had been closer to than any other in the last five years. 

No, this wasn’t a good idea. This was an awful, horrible idea that could only go so, so wrong.