I Am Absolutely GIGGLING At This Like A Little Schoolgirl, So Jumin, Dear, You Aren't Alone At All. I'm

I am absolutely GIGGLING at this like a little schoolgirl, so Jumin, dear, you aren't alone at all. I'm so so EXCITED for the next chapter! This was so well written and I love love loved the little chatroom excerpts!! LIKE HELLO? It makes my heart go stupid fond because I just love the gang so much.

It's so adorable how Jumin isn't exactly sure what in the world he's doing and how he's supposed to do it, if he's still supposed to do it, the works. But all he knows is he wants to do it anyways, so he does 🥺 ITS CANON!! WAAH, I'm eating this fic in my MOUF. I LOVE IT, GREAT WORK!!!

love for the rich and emotionally stunted: a comprehensive guide

ch. 2/7 -- prev. -- next. pairing: jumin han x f!reader warnings: n/a series summary: in the months following the incident with his father's most recent paramour, glam choi, the corporate heir of C&R finds himself discovering exactly what it is that makes a person in love so blind. ao3 link

note: sticking a read more right at the beginning. u kno how it is. thank you for sticking around i'll try my best to keep updates within a week or so!

(weeks prior.)

Jumin Han has entered the chatroom.

Jumin Han

She talked to me today.

ZEN

??

Who?

707

She??

There’s a she?!

Jumin Han

Oh.

I must have neglected to mention it.

ZEN

????

Last time there was a “she”...

Jumin Han

… No.

There’s a woman at my office.

Jaehee Kang

Does she work for you?

Jumin Han

Yes

707

That took an awfully long time for you to type lolol

Are you sure~~

Jumin Han

Yes. She wears a lanyard.

Jaehee Kang

Do you not know her name??

Jumin Han

I should think it would seem impolite after… all that.

Jaehee Kang

???

ZEN

?????

All that WHAT?

Jumin Han

I only caught a glimpse of her lanyard. I don’t know.

ZEN

Dodged my question… T_T

Jaehee Kang

Is this that woman you see in the mornings?

Jumin Han

How did you ....

ZEN

?!?!

707

Is our Jumin finally getting some?!

I’m so proud. Haha T_T

Jumin Han

Getting some… what?

Jaehee Kang

I can look into her.

For research purposes. Of course^^

Jumin Han

;;;

I only just started seeing her this month.

At the door. Seeing her at the door.

707

Seeing her OTL

Maybe she’s your future lover come to save you^^

Jumin Han

I doubt that.

ZEN

Yeah lolol

I doubt it too

And right after the Choi thing?? No way.

707

T_T

Ur right

There’s no way...

-

“Do you play video games, Mr Han?”

That’s a new one. “Where would I find the time?” He asks, thinking of Yoosung. “It’s a useless hobby.”

“That was a quick answer,” you reply. “Who hurt you?”

Jumin raises a brow, inquisitive. “No one.”

“Okay,” you say, the beginnings of a grin playing on your lips. “Who ruined video games for you?”

He thinks of the dark smudges under Yoosung’s eyes, the awful typos and the messages at 3am. It’s only a little funny. The door closes behind them. “No one in particular.”

“You’re smiling, Mr Han. Just a little.” You smile too at this, tilting your head in that curious way of yours. When you reach the lobby and then your separate ways, Jumin spares a glance at you.

He wants to say something more, something lodged very deep in his throat that comes out dry breath. He’s never been too good at small-talk, not with colleagues, not with business outside of work. He wants to be, just a little.

He’s not quite sure how that came to be.

-

It’s beyond embarrassing the way he comes up to you in the cafeteria. “You work here,” he says, a very belated realization.

You blink a few times, as if processing. “Yes,” you say slowly. “I have a lanyard.” You wave the offending item around and Jumin finally, finally catches a glimpse of your name.

“I see,” Jumin says, because that’s all he really can say. “Work hard.”

He consults his phone right away, willing the heat from his face and opening the messenger app. It goes as well as expected when he mentions it so vaguely-- Hyun rags on him for his lack of conversational skills and Yoosung drops a line or two about his own miserable love life. In any case, Assistant Kang’s information on you had only reached him earlier today and in a way he’s still coping. It had been baffling to say the least, finally having everything in front of him rather than scattered in the bits and pieces of your dialogue.

You work, technically, in the same position Assistant Kang does. Only in the fashion department, of which Jumin had strategically ignored after Echo Girl and the Chois. It really isn’t his fault he hadn’t noticed you-- not since before this month when you began arriving so consistently.

“Something on your mind?” Assistant Kang asks, looking up from where she’s shuffling through a stack of papers. It isn’t unusual for her to break the silence with a quip-- she’s always been good at easing into a mode of conversation that takes the edge off. As a good assistant and employee should, of course. Jumin wonders if he should relay this to her.

“Nothing,” he says instead, because surely she already knows. “Is it polite to bring gifts for someone you’re sure you will be seeing every morning?”

She raises a thin brow. “Who-- that woman at the fashion department?”

Jumin deigns not to answer right away, looking down at the state of his nails and the tick of his wristwatch. “Surely there must be some etiquette about that.”

-

Jaehee Kang

Buy her coffee.

ZEN

Get her a promotion lol

707

A new car!!!

Yoosung★

Maybr a nicce pen

??

-

“Any favorite TV shows?” You ask one morning. “Personally, I’m fond of office romances.”

Jumin lags for a moment, waiting to catch up. It isn’t an unusual occurrence. “Is that an innuendo?”

You smile, a little flushed-looking, and wave a hand. “Nope. Not at all.” When you look at the second coffee in his hand, though, it seems you need a second to catch up yourself. You’d mentioned offhandedly how you take your coffee the day before, and today something had stopped him at the threshold of the coffee shop he stops at every morning. Funny how things work like that.

“This is for you,” he says determinedly, and you smile a little but there’s still an edge.

“You dodged my question.” You state simply. Jumin does not know what to say.

He thinks about it for a moment, really thinks about it. The only thing that really comes to mind are the Sunday morning programs, and he doesn’t really know them off the top of his head. Maybe the morning news. “No TV shows. Next question.”

“Okay then,” you say, “Any pet peeves?”

Jumin smiles a little. It isn’t really conscious, but he’s finally figured out a way to respond and he just hopes it takes well. “Women who stop me at the door in the morning.”

“Oh,” you say, taking a sip of your coffee. You hum appreciatively. He feels strangely, indirectly accomplished. “Shame. Mine’s men who give me three word responses when I ask them things.”

He scoffs, although it isn’t as hard as it usually comes out. “I answered that in a sentence.” He says, very assuredly. When he looks back at you there’s a softer smile at your lips, rounded at the corners and not quite so mischievous as he’s seen it look before. It looks fond.

“I know,” you reply. He feels a little warmer now, turning the corner where you two part ways. You offer him a two-fingered salute, a “See you in the morning!” and a final turn.

And then you’re gone.

-

The next time the conversation lingers long past the lobby it’s because you’ve coaxed him into talking about Elizabeth III. There’s a point where you’ve reached the elevator and he’s talking to you about her care routine and the minutiae of what it takes to keep her fur so soft and pristine (much of it is her own work and her natural beauty-- of course) and he’s only barely aware of how long he’s been going on, but he pauses to look at you. He doesn’t know what he’s expecting, between Jaehee’s hesitancy and Luciel’s rabid praise and Hyun’s outright disgust--

But there’s something about the way you’re looking at him when he’s finished, curiouser and half-curved into a smile. And he’s been on the receiving end of that before-- his father’s lovers, interviewers and subordinates-- but none of them have ever seemed so affectionate.

He’s seen the same look before when it’s Jaehee with a new photocard, the way Yoosung danced around Rika. It’s the glint in Luciel’s glasses when he gets to working and it’s something, something.

You look like you’ve seen something beautiful.

Which is understandable to him, really, having just shown you pictures of his Elizabeth III. What he understands less is the way you’re looking at him and not the open phone, caught up in a silence that seems way too heavy for a conversation about his cat. Even when the elevator dings it’s with some trepidation that you leave first, a memory, a discovery pulled taut between you two.

“I hope I get to meet her sometime,” you say.

Jumin nods, wordless. The delight on your face at such a simple gesture fixates itself in the forefront of his mind until he returns home to Elizabeth, flickering like hell and unbidden and unexpected but not exactly unwelcome. It’s just as confusing to him as it sounds on paper.

-

Somehow Jaehee gets to you first.

For all the time he’s spent working with Jaehee, working around her and in her general proximity, he doesn’t actually know what time she gets into the building. She seems like an inevitability, something constant and fixed and always there.

So when he holds the door open for two women, Jumin is feeling like he had seen something he wasn’t supposed to. Especially since the two of you seem to be chatting so jovially, shaking her hand with both of yours when you go to part.

There’s another something clogging his throat, a cloying want and a halfhearted desire to draw that same laugh from you, that same open brightness. He hasn’t let himself feel so much about one person-- one particular and fixed point in his life. Jumin feels like he’s chasing-- some feeling, some unnamed ball of fire-- a meteor, blazing and brilliant and too much to be real.

It’s too much to be compared to anything else, not when Sarah Choi was an unlit match next to what a beaming bonfire you are. Suddenly Jumin feels more tightly wound than he usually does.

And really, truly, it feels like a lot to handle, so he turns on his heel after silently handing you the coffee and begins to march. It feels like karmic debt for not having experienced these things as a schoolboy, and then only once as an adult. He doesn’t even know if the one time counted.

“Mr Han--” you say, and it happens at the same time he holds his breath to turn again. Just to look, to see if you appeared as off kilter as he felt. Maybe the world had rotated wrong today.

You stop there in your tracks and he really does believe for a moment that the world has gone astray-- because then it would explain the way air isn’t getting to his lungs right. He inhales just to make sure and before any other dialogue comes from your lips he asks, “Walk with me?”

You both take the elevator then.

-

Jaehee Kang

She’s a very nice woman.

Yoosung★

Huh?

707

U met her?!?!!

Tell me everything

-

It makes your mornings longer, the introduction of the elevator route. He isn’t sure how it became mutual agreement and routine, the same way the cup of coffee steams in your hands and the way you ask after Elizabeth III. The way the door gets held open.

Jumin isn’t sure how many mornings go by, how many of them are spent dreading the chime of the elevator, but one of them brings a much quieter you. And you’re usually such a whirlwind of life, pulling him toward and towards you-- he’d be lying to himself more than usual if he said he wasn’t worried.

You look like you’re steeling yourself too, and you’ve never done that-- there isn’t a thing you’ve said to him that was measured or prepared. You’re kind of like an overexcited puppy, and he’s never been too fond of dogs.

He feels something slide out of place, something like a realization that’s far grander than he knows, hovering at the tip of his tongue. He doesn’t know what it is yet, not really. He’s barely out of his head, ready to ask if you’re alright--

And you cut him off. Like you did that first morning, knocking the breath from his lungs and everything else out of place. Jumin likes things neat and tidy, likes things where they should be, where he’s used to seeing them. You aren’t too good for him, he thinks.

Then you ask, “Would you want to go out sometime?” And he has no reference materials and no forewarning and no prepared response. The odds are against him.

So against all odds and every simmering nerve in his body he says, “Yes.”

tags: @vandysgf @mrs-han

mystictober day 10: seven x mc + space station

seven x mc + space station

words: 638

wanna be tagged? dm me/comment!

!! this i dedicate to jay, @galaxytastes, my one and only starboy. THANK YOU for bringing dear sev into my life.

You're on the moon.

This, you know because of the view of Earth before you- an image you had only ever seen on screen was right before your very eyes. Below you were craters of moondust, and you stand to look outside the glass pane that separates you from the moon’s atmosphere.

Fifteen.

There are fifteen little redhead children running around in circles, leaving clouds in their wake. They don’t seem to be wearing any spacesuits, nor you for that matter- a quick glance at your reflection confirming what you had already suspected. You were in your normal clothes.

“Honey?” a familiar voice calls out, reverberating against the steel walls of the vessel you stand in. Whipping your head around to face him, you greet your husband with a smile, beckoning him to join you. And here he was: the king of the redheads himself, wrapping an arm around you and pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “You should stop letting them have that stuff,” you hear yourself say matter-of-factly. “I know that’s what you just did.”

“What? Nonsense, angel! It’s important that they know what the superior soda is before anyone else can change their wee little minds! Even if they have to share one can,” he chuckles proudly, puffing his chest out.

“Sev,” your voice carries that tone reserved for situations like this. “We’re the only ones here. No one can tell them that anything’s better than PhD Pepper… except maybe me,” you giggle, and he shakes his head before wrapping his arms around your waist, carrying you to the other end of your moon-house.

“Oh yes, you…”

Your cries and protests are only met with tickles before he finally sets you down in front of a giant telescope.

“I wanna show you something,” Saeyoung whispers with a wicked grin, eyebrows wiggling in excitement.

“What did you do this time, huh?”

“Look into the telescope, my star.”

And so, you do, but not without giving him a look of suspicion.

You’re met with the sight of your name. Beside his, and now your, surname.

Toggling with the lenses, you zoom the telescope out a little bit to see what your married name had been on: a mountain. On Earth.

Your mouth falls into a gasp. Blindly, you reach over to smack his arm. “No, no you didn’t-”

He adjusts his glasses with a smirk that you can’t see.

“Why yes, yes I did, with the help of my trusty laser. Now everyone will know that I married you at the space station,” his voice goes from pride to fondness, pulling you away from the telescope and into his arms.

“Earth knows I love you. Mars is next,” a hushed whisper from your husband as he leans down to capture your lips with his in a chaste kiss. You feel yourself sigh against him as he pulls away, squeezing both of your hands.

“Naming all those stars was enough, you know?” you mumble, blushing.

“No way! I told ya, all the planets in the galaxy should know!” he chuckles and rubs your arms, kissing your forehead.

He feels warmer this time. You feel this forehead kiss even more than the one earlier and-

Your eyes fly open, met with the sight of your boyfriend pulling himself away from your face. He jumps back, glasses askew with a hand clutching at his chest.

You blink at your surroundings, at Saeyoung’s monitors glowing behind him, at the walls of the bunker- the chip crumbs on his side of the bed.

“Woah there angel, you scared me!” he laughs, coming back to cuddle you again.

“I dreamt of you,” you say, your voice a faraway thing while you try to sink back into reality.

“Of me?” he says overdramatically, his hand returning to its position on his chest. “What did this lucky alien boy do to make it in your dreams, huh?”

Seven ruffles your hair gently and presses a kiss to your shoulder before hooking his chin over it, awaiting your response.

“There were fifteen baby tomatoes, the moon, and a laser.”

“Tell me everything.”

WAH thank you so much, Lea!! We all know how much he loves a performance and you know that joining in would be the icing on the cake.

Honestly this was such a ride to write because I didn't know where it was going yet, all I had was the song. I'm happy the candy served its role properly, and that I was able to accomplish what I had hope to with the mood and how it leaves you! All your words mean so so much to me, all the time. Thank you.

mystictober day 3: candy

saeyoung + favourite chat / candy

words: 889

wanna be tagged? dm me/comment!

“Caaaandy~”

Your boyfriend sings as he selects his assortment from the shelves, holding the bags of sweets in his arms and dropping them into the cart you were pushing along.

Saeyoung smirks, coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist, positioning his lips right at your ear.

“She's sweet like candy in my veins~”

No one else was in the aisle, and so, no one else was there to see it when he swayed you as he sang- when he kissed your cheek and let it linger. You can't help the grin that breaks out on your face, blushing and reaching out to pinch his cheek.

“You're going to eat all this candy alone?” you giggle, shaking your head at the copious amounts of sweets he had chosen. It's not like the bunker would be part of trick or treat. There was certainly no giving out of candy to children.

Well, except for the overgrown child who was paying for them in the first place.

“Wouldn't you like to know, angel?” He winks with a ruffle of your hair. Still behind you, he grabs hold of the handles and pushes the cart to the counter with you between his arms, his chin resting on your head. The sleeves of his jacket had draped over your shoulders, surrounding you with his warmth and the distinct smell of a certain soda. Of course he spilled PhD Pepper on his jacket.

When you get to the register, he one-handedly unloads all his treats onto the conveyor, internally laughing at the way people behind you in line were staring at what you were buying. You were used to this, having witnessed strangers survey the contents of your own shopping cart all the time, but the grocery store wasn't Saeyoung's natural habitat. And in true Saeyoung nature, he finds a way to make it entertaining.

“Honey, do you think this is enough for the kids?“ he asks, rubbing the side of your arm and holding you close.

In a snap, you've gotten on the same page with him, smiling brightly and cooing at the man fondly.

“Of course, dear. There's enough for seconds and thirds and any more or their teeth fall off!“

The redhead smirks, looking down at you with that proud twinkle in his eyes. All he does in response is kiss the top of your head, reaching over and handing the cashier some money to pay. Everyone's eyes widen at the thought of children consuming that much candy, and so, the mission is accomplished... but when has your boyfriend ever stopped at the bare minimum?

“Oh! The dance recital, isn't that today?“ Saeyoung looks at you with faux worry, mirroring the expression of a forgetful dad as he carries the bags for you.

“Yes, darling, it isn't for another few hours. We have some time to kill before then,“ you purr suggestively, leaning up to run the bridge of your nose along his jaw in front of the entire supermarket. Make him proud and beat him at his own game. That's the plan.

He chuckles wordlessly and squeezes your side as you walk out. You don't see the darkened look in his eyes as you head towards his shiny red sports car that looked way out of place in this parking lot. Oblivious, you smile to yourself, climbing into the passenger seat while he swings the bag onto the center armrest. And then he swings himself into the car, too. In the time it takes to push the key into the ignition and turn the car on, you've somehow managed to snag some sour tape from his purchases.

The candy is hanging from your mouth when he turns to face you, and he bursts out in laughter at the sight. With a smirk he leans over and bites onto the other end of the tape, wiggling his eyebrows and throwing a flirtatious wink at you.

“C'mon, ya know ya wanna taste some of this sugar too~“ he says, but it's muffled by the candy in your mouth. You giggle, and together, you create your own version of the Spaghetti Kiss from Lady and the Tramp, your faces getting closer and closer with each bite. The heat rising in your cheeks doesn't bother you- it's something you've gotten used to when you were around him.

The silence is thick, weighing down on you like a blanket; but it doesn't suffocate you. His eyes never leave yours, something playful dancing in those golden pools of honey that you know you will be meeting very soon. But time seems to slow, and it's as if you can't nibble on the sour tape fast enough. You can feel the warmth of his breath on your skin now, the telltale sensation that lets you know what's coming next.

When the very last bit of candy disappears, Saeyoung hooks his fingers under your chin and pulls you in, a little mmmf pressed from your mouth to his as he kisses you deeply, tongue running over the remnants of sugar that coats your lips. You're not exactly sure what he's intent on devouring- the candy, or you, but as he pulls away, you don't miss the glint that shines in his eyes.

He definitely breaks a few speed laws getting back to the bunker.

mystictober day 7: favorite cg / matching

saeyoung + favorite cg + matching

words: 525

wanna be tagged? dm me/comment

!! reader is wearing a dress, but nothing other than that is specified.

also, this isn't my favorite cg cause i cannot pick one, but it's definitely one of them <3

You feel yourself go still as his hands wrap around you, as his chin hooks over your shoulder. He has you surrounded now, and you know well enough that there's no getting out of this. There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide- not in this bunker, not when you're in the hands of God Seven himself.

The heat of his breath tickles your skin and coaxes bumps to come to its surface. You swallow thickly, and you can hear it in your ears when you do- in fact, you can hear almost everything in your ears, including the hammering of your heartbeat. His hands are large enough to splay over your back as he slowly pulls down the zipper of your dress- and this, this you can hear too, every little click that each pair of teeth from the zipper makes resounds in your ears. It's this very sound that seals your fate.

You can feel the fabric slipping down your shoulders almost torturously, grazing against your elbows as it falls down your arms.

Maybe it should scare you, the fact that you're standing almost fully bare in your boyfriend’s arms, but you don’t feel an ounce of fear at all. With hands on his shoulders, thumbs hooked under the collar of his jacket, you rest your head against his as you push his jacket down until it falls to the floor, joining your dress.

As much as Saeyoung wanted to rid himself of the rest of his clothes, this was a game. He had to be patient, had to take a deep breath as he felt the pads of your fingers brush against his muscled abs before you lifted his hoodie off. He cups your cheek and presses his lips against your skin languidly, trailing down until they linger in the crook of your neck.

So that’s how you want to play?

You act as an exact mirror of him, both hands coming up behind his neck to cradle his head, lips leaning in to start kissing right below his jaw, getting lower and lower until you make it to the very same spot he chose to focus on.

Exhaling slowly, the feeling of your warmth makes his little hairs stand on their ends, their own special greeting for you. You can hear it, the way you breathe, the way he breathes, each gentle brush of skin on skin and every little kiss you give each other.

It’s a game.

With an upwards drag of your tongue flat against his neck, his free hand clutches at your shoulder, jaw falling slack to let his teeth graze against your pulse point.

Maybe it’s something beyond your comprehension, something more powerful than the both of you that connects you both together. Maybe it’s all the time you’ve spent together, or maybe it’s simply because you’re the 606 to his 707-

But when you bite down, he does too, teeth sinking into skin, lips latching, sucking; tongues laving down at each other’s fresh bruises, at the matching marks you’ve made for the world to see.

He chuckles darkly against your skin.

This is only the beginning.

mystictober day 8: jaehee x mc / vacation

jaehee x mc + vacation

words: 1,076

wanna be tagged? dm me/comment

It may have been a passing comment, but it was one that had stuck to you ever since you attended your first RFA party.

“I must ask Sherlocking to retrieve my lost vacation days,” Jaehee says with a little laugh after welcoming the detective and checking the his name on the guest list. It was said lightly, but you felt the truth in her words, especially after the soft sigh that escapes her before you both move on to the next guest.

So naturally, you burst through the doors of C&R one day, fully clad in a detective outfit- complete with a briefcase and a magnifying glass. The borrowed coat you had on was way too big on you, but it only made you look all the more endearing.

“I found them, I found them!!” You exclaim as you enter Jaehee’s office, and she makes a very confused face at you, before looking back and forth between you and Jumin’s door, motioning for you to lower your voice.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Han is currently on a conference call with our associates from Japan,” she says apologetically, using a finger to lift her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. The assistant motions you to come closer. “What was- what was it that you found?”

Her eyebrows furrow as she blinks twice, taking in your appearance. What were all these stuff you were bringing? What in the world was your reason for this attire?

You erupt in laughter for a moment before you remember yourself, eyes widening while your hand comes up to stifle the laughs. As much as Jaehee adored the sight, the sound- she couldn’t tell you not to be quiet.

“I found them,” you say in a hush now, as if you’ve unearthed the biggest secret in the world, as if you held the very key to life in your hands. The briefcase is lifted onto Jaehee’s desk by your hands, an air of importance surrounding you. She tries sitting up straighter, higher to get a peek at what’s inside as you open it, but it’s obscured from her view.

You pull out a folder that held travel documents inside, an all expenses paid week-long trip to paradise as handpicked by you and Zen, and financed by none other than mister director, Jumin Han.

The briefcase is shut as you lay the folder on her table and slide it across in an official manner, like in a movie you’ve watched with her just to see Zen’s cameo in it.

“What is all this… ?” she asks quietly, a puzzled expression on her face.

As she opens the folder, you lean in and grin widely.

“Your lost vacation days!”

You can’t help but giggle again, excited for the overworked assistant. With eyes scanning through the details written down, she slowly begins to smile, but then her mouth falls back into a hard line.

“This cannot be possible. Is this one of Seven’s pranks, are you in on it this time?” She asks in disbelief, once again surveying your outfit.

“No no no, I swear-” you try to explain before Jumin himself walks out of his office, steady beats of his Oxfords slowing to a stop as he reaches the two of you.

“Assistant Kang, this is perfectly serious. We discussed this beforehand, everything has been worked out. Is that any way to show your gratitude?”

“Mr. Han- I didn’t- and,” Jaehee begins to fumble, caught off guard.

“It’s alright,” you swoop in and save her, laughing it off and waving your hand in reassurance. “I see why it would seem too good to be true. But it is true, I asked this guy right here,” you smile as you jut your thumb outwards towards the man in question.

Jumin only nods.

“I- How did you manage this? I’ve been trying to ask for so long…” she responds, still in shock, going through the files in the folder.

“Easy. I have seven cat-sitting days Jumin can redeem whenever he needs them,” you smile proudly, shoulders straightening out as you tug on the collar of your trenchcoat.

The director shares one of his rare smiles too, and gently lays a hand on your shoulder, nodding in approval. He turns to Jaehee and gives her a curt nod as well, before walking towards the elevator without another word.

The assistant finds the tickets and holds them up, staring at her own name printed on them. Like it’s a mirage that’ll disappear. Like it’s a hallucination she’ll snap out of soon.

But she feels the paper in her hands and- oh, why is it so thick?

Her thumb slides forward as her index slides backwards in an attempt, and to her surprise, the second ticket comes into view. Curiously, she places her ticket behind and gasps at what she reads on the second one.

Your name.

“You’re coming with me?” she asks, eyes still glued to the ticket.

“Of course I am!” you say, blushing sheepishly. “What good is a vacation if you spend it alone, am I right?”

Jaehee actually grins this time, finally setting down the documents and looking into your eyes once more. She looks so happy, you think you could almost melt right here, in your entire ensemble and everything. Magnifying glass included.

Nervously, you ramble on.

“I don’t know if you saw it yet but we’ll have time to go to some spots where Zen filmed for his latest movie!! He gave us all of the directions, he even helped me fix our whole trip! And there’s lots of cute coffee shops near where we’re staying, they do all the latte art and-”

You don’t notice that Jaehee’s made her way around her desk already to wrap her arms around you tightly, the way they are now. But you do notice the smile on her face and the way she has her eyes closed, the way she holds you tightly and oh my god, she smells so good-

You’re blushing, but she is too. Sighing happily, you tenderly hold the side of her head close to you as you relish in the warmth of your embrace.

“Thank you,” she murmurs most gratefully against your hair, and you’re so dizzy that you can’t tell if its the ghost of her lips that you feel brushing against your temple or the breeze on this office floor.

You secretly hope it isn’t the latter.

Oh, Lea... my heart.

I know I explained this before but I'll do it better this time- I'm so overjoyed that the feelings and emotions, the reader's love for Vanderwood were so very crystal clear to everyone.

Realistic... because it's real. And I didn't know how to admit that until I read your review. I don't know how else to explain it other than. Than. I love him SOBS I love him, plain and simple.

This was obviously very very self-indulgent which is why I was nervous to post it. It was just one chunk of feelings without ANY dialogue, none whatsoever. That being said, I'm so so crazy happy that you enjoyed the read. How you described it is always what I am for with everything I write: honest and emotional. Thank you, Lea.

mystictober day 1: favorite character/ring

vanderwood + ring

words: 730

wanna be tagged? dm me/comment!

You carefully threaded the beads one by one, meticulously bringing your design to life. Eight white beads, four black beads, two purple beads, and six smaller gold spacers arranged around one letter-

The letter V.

You secure the ring with a knot, tugging a little and ensuring it was tight enough before trimming the string. Satisfied, you try it on your left hand and hold it up to the light, admiring how it looked.

In restrospect, it might have seemed like a silly little idea. But with your boyfriend-who-isn't-your-boyfriend away on a mission, what else could you do?

Really, you found yourself filling in idle moments of the day by staring at the ring, brushing your thumb against the beads and absentmindedly fiddling with it. You never took it off, not really.

You wanted to keep him with you, even if he wasn't around.

You didn't know when he was coming back. If he was coming back. Where he even was. Such is the life of an agent, you remember him saying one night, his arm around your waist and his fingers twiddling with the material of your shirt.

There was no way for you to contact him. All you could do was hope.

You looked at the facts. This was Vanderwood- the man was built like a machine, his scars proof of his continued survival from mission to mission. This was Vanderwood- a man who has been in this business longer than Seven has, a man who was too stubborn to ever go down easily.

This was Vanderwood.

Surely, he would come back to you.

Right?

You pretended not to count the days, to be unaware of how much time has passed since he left. But every night you'd sleep on his side of the bed, pull the sheets up to your nose and drown in whatever was left of his scent, try in vain to replicate the warmth he always wrapped you in- but to no avail.

It was always worth a try though. There wasn't much else you could do.

At least you could sleep at night.

Vanderwood, however, could not.

The man was never of many words, but somehow, he had gone even more quiet. During the mission, all Seven could do was glance at him sympathetically when he wasn't looking. The redhead didn't want to push, but he knew one thing was for sure:

Vanderwood just wanted to get this over with.

He would never say it aloud, but for the first time in his life, he badly wanted to come back. To make it out alive. Yes, he had always tried his best not to die, but now- but now-

He had you.

Vanderwood was not a selfish man. It was less about losing you and more about you losing him. He couldn't do that to you. Couldn't bear to think of how that would make you feel.

You would not waste your tears. He would make sure of that.

The night he makes it back- because of course he makes it back- he finds you fast asleep in bed, clinging tightly to his pillow. Moonlight pours in through the glass of the window, making it seem as though you were glowing. But the light shines on your ring, making the beads glimmer in the dark of the night.

For a man as large as he was, Vanderwood remained quiet, soundless as he moved closer to get a better look at the ring. It wasn't there when he left. The worst scenarios immediately run through his mind, worry flooding his system before he zeroes in on the very center of the ring, on the letter surrounded by his signature colors- the letter V.

He sighs in relief, almost even feels his eyes go misty- not that he'd ever confess that. Instead, he carefully climbs into bed and holds you, succumbing to the best sleep he's had in a while.

In the morning, you wake up with familiar, strong arms around you. You don't have to open your eyes- you know he's still sleeping. So you inhale deeply, breathing him in before pressing the softest kiss on his chin. Your arms embrace him, and the world outside each corner of the very bed falls away.

The rest of the world could wait. Your world was already here, right where it belongs.