Song Mingi Fluff - Tumblr Posts

[12:38am] you smile in content as you lay on top of mingi, your head laid on his chest listening to his heartbeat, his limbs spread out with your own aligned with them, just like two starfish on top of each other.

𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙊𝙛 𝘼𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

Song Mingi x Fem!reader

Summary: Your relationship isn't as vanilla as you initially thought

Warnings: ft. Hongjoong, Language, Established Relationship, Honjoong as his own warning, Teasing, Mentions of Bruises, Possessiveness, Slight!Humor, Fluff, Smut (+18) Minors DNI, Marking, Rough Sex, Praise Kink, DUB/CON, Massive Degradation Kink, Rough Sex, No Aftercare, Breeding Kink, Dom!Mingi, Sub!reader, fingering, PIV, Unprotected Sex, Slight!Exhibition Kink

HE MAKES ME SO DELULU

Hongjoong's voice is loud and frankly hyperbolic when he decides to disrupt the serenity in the dorms by screaming, "What the hell is that?!"

Your head jerks upwards from Mingi's hard chest, effectively ruining your once blissful rest under candle scented clouds as you stare wide-eyed at your boyfriend's friend. Hongjoong had promised to make himself and the rest of the group scarce on this bustling Friday night, leaving you and Mingi alone in the dorms while they partied up the peroration of the weekend.

But he is still here.

Blocking the view of the TV with his blinding Saint Lairent sequence and attire.

Your downtime, your only time, which was meticulously carved out of both you and your boyfriend's busy schedule is suddenly being hijacked by a crazily grinning Hongjoong, cupping the front of his mouth in apparent shock.

"Aren't you supposed to be gone?" Mingi mutters, refusing to spare Hongjoong a single glance as he swipes through his phone.

Your boyfriend continues in his duties as the big spoon on the wide sectional. His other hand, in its callousness and recklessness, is draped over your hip. Throughout his doom scrolling, Mingi's hand has slipped under your camisole and has taken to rubbing, slow circles along your soft tummy, gradually exposing the dark, purple splotches which caught Hongjoong's attention, just as he was about to leave.

"Aren't you supposed to be a human?" Hongjoong replies smoothly before gesturing vaguely towards your exposed abdomen, "When were you going to tell us you're an undercover vampire? I always had a suspicion, but now I know -"

"Jeez-" You stammer, fighting to force out Mingi's hand and pull down your camisole before Hongjoong could get a closer look. Mingi's hand is an iron glove as he pushes you down by your abdomen, effectively securing you against him.

Without looking up from his phone, he says, "He's in our business,"

"Damn right, I'm in your business!" Exclaims Hongjoong, "Did you see the state of those marks, man?! Honestly, I applaud you-"

Sensing Mingi's already glacial patience waning, by the firm grip across your abdomen, you attempt to salvage the conversation. Mingi very rarely felt like speaking at the best of times, even more apparent was his abhorrence for explaining himself and so you do it for him.

"They're just love bites," You attempt to salvage, but to no avail. "And anyway, I think you better get going, now!"

"'Love bites!'" Hongjoong mocks in slight acquiescence as he begins to make his way to the front door.

Despite the flurry of teasing that he had been attacked with, Mingi is still indifferent as he finally places his phone down. In fact, his hand returns to its designated spot underneath your camisole, resting along your tummy, with his blunt fingernails skimming the softness of the skin under your breasts "You love everything I do to you," He murmurs in your ear loud enough for Hongjoong to hear who finally disappears behind the closed door with another loud cackle. Mingi continues rubbing along your skin as he buries his head in between your neck.

"Show them too me," He says, "I like seeing them."

There is no reality in which you could possibly explain to anyone that the marks you sported underneath your clothes are a product of your desires. One glance at your body, riddled with bruises and love bites, would have anybody sick. To you, however, they were a prize.

"I wanna see them," Mingi says, having suddenly found his deep, fiery, sandalwood voice, echoing throughout the living room.

He begins to paw at anything and everything to get to one of his many marks he left on you and once he peeks over your side, and sees what Hongjoong saw, the flurry of blue and purple bruises meshing into the depths of your skin - it has his resolve snapping in earnest as he pushes you easily onto your back, while he moves to hover above you.

He had not always been this handsy or demanding, and you're unable to stop yourself from thinking back to when things had been different...

You remember the softness of Mingi's hands your first night spent together. How he hovered behind your bent over frame, clenching his jaw as he eased his leaking cock inside of you at snail pace,

"I don’t have anywhere to be, Babe, take your time," you had joked with a lazy smile while Mingi's jaw ticked.

"Carry on with your little jokes and I might not be so forgiving," If only you knew that the further your pussy swallowed his dick, the more his patience was waning. His limbs ached with the need to wrap around you. Adrenaline from the earlier performance was still running through his arteries, heightening his senses. He needed to go quicker. He longed to fuck you harder. This gentleness was going against everything in his very nature. His body burened for him to make a mess inside you, clamp his hand around your mouth and fuck you in front of the greenroom mirror until you begged him to stop… until you would have the marks to prove it.

But he liked you too much

And he had never felt this way before.

And as his hand dug into your soft sides, he promised that he would never let his recklessness steal this away from him.

But you felt him twitch inside you, and you peered up at his brown eyes now squeezed shut,

"What are you thinking about," you had asked him softly, as Mingi began a slow rhythm with his hips- the tip of his cock barely grazing that plush bundle of need inside you.

"Don't worry about what I'm thinking about," He blew out a hot and heavy breath, "what the fuck are you think about? You're gripping me like a vice, you fucking slut," He did not mean to say that. He did not mean for the words to slip out.

Or maybe he did.

There is an immense burst of pleasure spanning inside him, having him rut just a little quicker inside you - inside his beautiful fucking slut.

"Fuck,"

"Holy shit"

A dam had been broken. A holy grail was discovered as you watched Mingi and his slightly parted lips through the mirror. His eyes had snapped shut and a pained, completely fucked out expression overtook him. It had Mingi's cock seeking further, more violent entry, while your thighs framing his hips only locked tighter. The noise of post-perfomance celebration outside was no match for the bass in Mingi's voice that night.

"What are you thinking about?" All thoughts lead back to the present with Mingi presently stationed between your thighs on the big, open couch. Your breath is shallow as you reply, "Guess,"

A slow, almost proud smirk lightly pierces the end of his lips as he sits back on his haunches to splay a kiss against your steepled knee. Your eyes flutter shut as his plush, pillowy lips make contact with your skin, "Osaka?" He asks, voice as husky as it was in that deserted green room, where he forced you to take everything he had to offer while still wanting more.

"Osaka." You nod with finality, allowing your eyes to flutter shut as Mingi's kisses grew slightly more frazzled along your legs. Soon, you're gasping into the air as you feel his sneaky hand drift further and further along your inner thigh, like a serpent on a mission. He remains cool and collected on the outside but his bulge is raging against his sweatpants. It's the lack of immediate gratification on both ends that has your wetness seeping onto your underwear while you begin to paw helplessly at your breasts.

"You know…" Mingi's fingers lock onto your underwear, which he gradually pulls down. His kisses cease, and you frown at the skin-to-skin disconnection as your eyes flutter open, "Your skin is looking a little too boring down here. Not a single mark in sight," He peers up at you from between your rattling thighs with unmistakable innocent eyes.

You arch your back off the couch, already triggered by a deep wave of arousal as you bring your cunt to meet his hand while you reply through clenched teeth, "You can't… on my legs- They'll see,"

"You think I care if any of them see?" It is a question asked in darkened curiosity. You moan with ferocity as Mingi's fingers spear your aching cunt as his head tilts to the side, "You think I care if anyone sees how pretty you look when you're covered in my bruises like this?" He's completely sunken into his wayward domspace as his fingers drift in and out of you with complete focus and determination. You're a mewling, moaning mess as your fingers dig into his choppy dyed hair and you lift your hips to meet each and every obscenely cruel thrust.

"Another finger, Mingi, Please. I need m-more," he was wrecking you with middle finger alone, savouring the way your cunt gripped around him, imagining it was his cock. "Such a cute little slut," He mutters, almost to himself as he obliges and slowly sinks his index fingers inside your soaking walls. Your cunt is eager to pull his fingers in before pushing him out and pulling him in again. Mingi is utterly transfixed, watching you fuck yourself silly on his fingers until they're glistening.

"Lift your top," he says, "I wanna see you." You comply without fail, scrambling to lift your camisole until the cool air flows freely across your hardened nipples. Mingi's breathing becomes ragged when he lays eyes on your exposed breasts, and the dozens of little marks splattered across your torso. Some faded, some blending into the depth of your skin. It is the unevenness of it, the irregularities and discoloration that he put there, that completely blows the lid on his composure.

"Fuck, open your legs," you could not find it in you to tell him your legs were already open. All you do is moan from the loss of his fingers as Mingi crawls up against you. He palms his hardened cock through his sweats as he watches you play with your tits in the most lewd, most lascivious fashion.

"You like acting like such a little slut?" The depth of his voice, had you absolutely weak to the core, like the foundations of earth itself was being enchanted to speak. He knew how wrecked he could get you by simply speaking and it is his most coveted weapon. Mingi's eyes are hooded and glassy as he hovers over you, simultaneously forcing his cock through your wet folds while he looked down at you with fierce conviction.

You're already teetering on the edge as he begins to fuck you hard and rough while his 3 silver chains dangle from his neck, kissing the very tips of your nose.

"Oh- fuck, you're taking me so well," Mingi's voice is absolutely delirious as he pounds into you, his jewelery moving in tandem with his violent thrusts as he brings a hand down on your breasts.

"So, good, you feel so good," He repeats, rutting into you with the same urgency of that very first night you let him get this rough with you. His thrusts are sloppy and erratic as he splays a wayward hand on your inner thigh, prying your legs open to allow his cock to plunge even deeper. Mingi's left arm is beside your head, keeping him afloat while he experimentally brings a calloused hand around the base of your throat, testing. Your back once again peels off the couch as you bring a hand up to his wrist. "Fuck, oh my god-"

"Fuck, Mingi" He corrects, huffing and puffing above you as he urges you to nod along with him, "I want you to say my name, baby,"

"F-Fuck, Mingi," The words escape through pursed lips, accompanied by a whorish moan from you and a deep, rumbling groan from Mingi who begins to hump your cunt with urgency.

For the umpteenth time since you began, you are utterly breathless.

"My dumb little slut is taking his cock so well," Mingi's voice is hoarse as it cracks into a million pieces, "So fucking good,"

He watches with shallow breathing as another moan climbs up and out of your throat... He sends another mindless rut into your pussy, spurred by the knowledge that you are slipping into subspace right in front of him. "You like it when I call you my little slut?"

"Oh fuck-" Your own hips are restless as you lift them to meet his sloppy thrusts.

"That's not an answer," He says before squeezing the base of your throat in warning.

"Yes!" You say, once You're given the gift of breathing, "Yes, I like it when you call me a slut!" Unimaginable pleasure only multiplies as Mingi buries his head in the crook of your neck and bites. He is relentless on your skin- sinking his teeth and rutting his hips until the tip of his cock bruises your cervix. You're completely incoherent and so is he.

"Fuck…I love seeing- love seeing my marks on you baby," Mingi's eyes are half lidded as his lips hangs open, "Fucking love marking my slut and fucking her tight little pussy."

"Oh, fuck-"

"I can't stop," He says, with utter desperation in his tone, enough to have your legs shaking, ready to accommodate your oncoming orgasm, "I can't fucking stop so don't ask me to, okay? P-Please don't ask me to stop," Mingi's words bleed into one another and he feels free. Free to say what he needs to in order to build that well of lust necessary to push him over the edge.

He is so grateful to have found you.

"Fuck, I'm gonna fill your pussy with my cum-" that is the only announcement needed before Mingi completely releases inside you. His words have you slipping into your own orgasm, screaming and clawing at the hand around your neck as your hips lift to milk everything out of him.

The air that settles is still profoundly charged and Mingi finds himself unable to leave the confines of your pussy, so he doesn't.

"I want you to show everyone these marks for me tomorrow," He whispers with his cock still inside you, "Can you do that for me?"

Welp!

playing with his hair || smg || drabbles

fluff

atz masterlist

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

❥ you could tell your boyfriend’s been stressed and on edge lately so one day when he gets home from work you tell him to sit on the couch and relax. you made yourself comfy behind him and began to run your fingers through his hair

❥ he immediately melted into your touch; loving the feel of your fingers brushing against his scalp and his eyes closed in bliss. he savored this moment as he rested back against you

❥ humming a soft thank you, he dozed off to the feel of your gentle touch

<3

only you [s.m.g]

pairing: CEO!Song Mingi x Female!Pregnant!Reader wc: 0.7k cw: poorly written fluff. that's it. thats the warning. an: i blame drakes verse and my need to write an au with this fine as fuck man. this is very soft!

You shuffled into Mingi’s office, pulling the shawl closer to yourself as you padded across the wooden floors. His room seemed to get bigger every time you came.

You could see his silhouette against the window, illuminated by the soft yellowing light that shone from the lamp on his desk, the only true source of light in He was talking to someone over the phone, running his fingers through his hair and pacing, tone obviously frustrated.

You paused, listening in for a few moments before you stepped back. The floorboard creaked as you took another step, causing you to wince. If he hadn’t heard you before, he’d definitely heard you now.

“Yes I know, and I think we should- Y/n? Is that you?” Mingi turned around, spotting you in your attempt to sneak away. “I gotta go, my wife is here- Tell him to contact me when he’s ready.”

“I’m sorry about that Min,” You murmured, cheeks heating up from your spot as he sat down at his desk, setting his phone right down as he watched you, “I didn’t realize I’d be making so much noise .”

“You know you’re always welcome here,” He sighed, patting his thigh “c’mere, I wanna see you.”

You tiredly shuffled to him, gingerly placing yourself in his lap. He yanked you closer to him impatiently, pressing his face into the crook of your neck.

“Feels like I haven’t seen you in so long Min,” You whispered, running a hand through his hair, “I miss you. Can’t sleep lately because of the baby either.”

“I know,” He frowned, looking up at you with apologetic eyes, “‘m sorry.”

“It can’t be helped,” You sighed, “you’re always working hard. I applaud you for being able to pull that off.”

“Perks of being a CEO,” he muttered, a pout spreading on his face as you pulled him closer.

“If you want, I could try and help you,” You said, brushing the falling hair out of his eyes, “I do know a thing or two about running a business.”

He snickered, holding back stronger laughs as you watched, confused.

“You? Run a business?” He burst out laughing, stopping as you landed a smack on his back, “Sorry! Sorry, i was just laughing thinking how scary you’d be as a boss-”

“Damn right,” You huffed, glaring at him.

“I don’t doubt you and your fearsome temper,” Mingi teased, kissing your temple as your face heated up, attempting to hide in the crook of his neck from his advances, “but I don't think it’d be fair of me to make a pregnant woman work.”

“But then-” He stopped you, looking you dead in the eyes with a smile. “If I have to, I'll just pass on the work to Yunho and maybe some of the other COOs!” 

“Mingi,” You groaned, rubbing your face with your hands, “That’s not very fair-”

“But If i get to spend time with you and spoil you, it works out! Now I wanna spoil you for being so patient with me,” He grinned, leaning into your space. “So, what does my pretty wife want? Hm?”

“Min, I have a closet full of clothes worth more than me and my food is always stocked,” You deadpanned softly, giving him a kiss on his jaw, “if anything, I just want you to go to bed with me right now.” 

“But baby,” Mingi whined, rubbing his face into your shoulder, “I just wanna show you how much I love you.”

“If you wanna be like that, I'll hope you hold to your promise of giving that work-” You paused, yawning, “-to someone else because I am tuckered out. It’s two in the morning and I am ready to snooze.”

“Fine, but only for you!" He scoffed, rolling his eyes with affection as you raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to carry you?” He chuckled, muscles obviously flexing against your back.

“Alright, go on, you big show off-” You yelped as he lifted you up, twirling you around.

“This is fun, we should do it more often!” He exclaimed, earning a small smile from you. His phone suddenly rang on his desk, abandoned by the both of you.

“Are you going to get that or…?”

“It can wait,” He grinned, kissing you on the nose, “lest i should keep you waiting.”

“No objections here captain,” You murmured, leaning into him, “now let's go, or i'm gonna be seriously grouchy.”

My Way

bodyguard!mingi x princess!reader

royal au

word count: 18k

genre and warnings: fluff, angst, suggestive, violence warning

synopsis: you, the princess of wonderland, have been betrothed to the prince of utopia for years now. however, the political relation between wonderland and utopia have never improved, and utopia keeps taking over wonderland's land unlawfully. with your guard mingi who is also your best friend and who you have feelings for, you travel to utopia with a plan to deceive the prince and steal official documents that would be proof of their treachery, risking your life in more than one way when you can't hold your feelings for your guard back anymore.

If you were honest with yourself, you really, really were not ready to meet your ‘betrothed’ especially at perilous times like these. 

It wasn’t because of what one would normally think- the obvious nervousness and anxiety that would come with going to meet your betrothed for the first time in 15 years, no. It wasn’t that at all. You couldn’t care less about the poor guy who was betrothed to you. 

Neither was it the nervousness of travelling alone (save for your guards) for the first time in a while. Rather, that part excited you quite a bit- you really needed a breather from the suffocating air of the castle. 

It was because of the threat hanging on your head while you embarked on this journey, and the secret mission you were going to carry out while in the castle of your betrothed. The future of your kingdom Wonderland depended on it. And for the next generations to live without the fear of war and collapse of their homeland, you’d risk getting caught by the neighbouring kingdom and perhaps, risk your life. 

But one person was adamant on making you realise that there were worse things than death-

“Imagine staying in a cell for the rest of your life.”

“At least I won’t witness the collapse of my nation,” you raised a brow as if having proven a point.

Your guard, Mingi, dressed rather comfortably for a guard as you always pointed out, shook his head, the ash tendrils shaking violently. “Imagine hearing from their guards about the horrid details.”

“Well,” you ruffled your dress before sitting down and pouring yourself water. “At least you’ll be with me.”

“Helpless, your Highness,” his raspy voice rang in your ears, “I’d rather die than be helpless while you endure whatever they decide to do with you.”

“Really?” Your eyes lit mischievously, “You’d rather die?”

Mingi finally scoffed, indicating he was relaxing and was going to get comfortable with you now, “Sad that I have to, isn’t it? If it were up to me, I’d deliver you to their cell myself.”

“For a guard who’s supposed to die for me,” you scoffed back, “you sure got some evil plans there.”

Mingi sighed, taking a seat in front of you. As your guard for more than 5 years, there was a certain familiarity between you two which consisted of unspoken actions that spoke louder than words and a sense of comfortableness with each other. He bit his lips as he tried to think of the words to say. “Are you sure we can’t let other guards in on this mission?”

“I don’t trust anyone else,” you said and Mingi felt a sense of pride in his heart at your words, “Plus, they’re all kind of… chickens.”

“What makes you think I’m not?” Mingi laughed, but when your eyes went to his neck, he got his answer. 

3 years ago when he had protected you from an arrow aimed for your head and it had grazed his neck. Everything between you two changed after that- you started trusting him indefinitely and acknowledged him, unlike the various other guards that had been or were in your service. As for Mingi, he simply told you it was his ‘job’ but he didn’t complain about the special treatment he’d started to get-

“Still hung up over that, are you?” He teased. 

Such as being something close to a ‘friend’ to you and talking comfortably. 

You shook your head and exhaled. “Let’s get to the point. This is going to be a very normal trip, Mingi. We go to Utopia, I spend time pretending I have ‘feelings’ for my betrothed and get the information I need, and if I’m lucky, physical proof of the plotting they’ve been doing. You do the protecting, as usual. As soon as I have something, we make our way back-”

“You think he won’t notice? He’ll at least notice when you leave like that. And then they’re going to send their assassins for you.”

“Good thing I’m not a spoiled princess who can’t take care of herself then,” you smirked. 

One of the unusual things about Mingi as a guard was that when he had first been appointed, he had insisted you get professional self-defence training for extreme times. You insisted that you had guards for a reason, trying to avoid anything that involved physical activity, but he had been hell bent on getting you trained.

And oh, was he serious. You came out of dresses and threw men around, and you loved it. You never wanted to wear dresses again and be a princess whose only role was to look pretty for the public. 

Mingi smiled at that. “Can’t believe you’d be happy about it one day. But that training…” his face became grim, “It won’t be enough to protect you for long.”

“Should be enough if it’s you and me, and we only need to get to the border to be safe. Their castle is close to the border so it shouldn’t be that big a problem.”

“What if you find nothing?” Mingi asked as he got up to leave, “Will you end up marrying the Prince then?”

Now that was one thing you hadn’t given much thought to- you’d been avoiding thinking about that. “Let’s just hope I abhor the Prince and don’t end up falling for him. Imagine that. Imagine me willingly staying in the nation who plans our collapse in the foreseeable future.”

Mingi scoffed, “I’d like to see that- not the collapse of Wonderland,” he corrected immediately, a smirk on his face as he continued, “but you putting someone else over your oh-so-mighty self.”

“You live to see my downfall, don’t you?” You threw a pen at his walking figure which missed by an inch. “I bet you’re going to retire as soon as that day comes.”

“Absolutely right,” he saluted, leaving and you shook your head, going back to planning.

Your betrothed- Kim Dohyun. The last you’d seen him was when you both had been kids and unaware of the arrangements your parents had been making. A union, they called it, when in reality, over the 15 years, it just allowed the Kims to take advantage of Wonderland however they pleased, not crossing the boundary but sure walking on the borderline. You simply could not take it anymore, and neither could your parents. They decided to make you visit Utopia in hopes of a love blossoming between you two and the situation cooling down. 

You were going to take this chance to find physical proof of the treachery that had only been building over the years. And in the process, you’d be becoming an enemy yourself- if they found out. 

—--------------------

It was going to take one week to get to the border and one more day to get to Prince Dohyun’s castle. You had been on the road for two days now, and you were already bored out of your mind and incredibly tired.

“Serves you right,” Mingi, who was inside the carriage with you now, resting because of his shift change, said. “This is what you signed up for, Princess. There’s no way you can get home after what you’re about to do.”

“Good thing I have you,” you smirked. “I hope your back is in a good state because you’re going to be carrying me back.”

“No way,” Mingi scoffed, running a hand through his hair but the slight curve of his lips told you he was amused. “Okay, suppose we manage to help each other and make it halfway and something happens to me. I die. You’re all alone. What are you going to do then?”

“Hmm,” you thought about it, resting your chin on your hand as you peeked outside, the forest a lush green in the afternoon sun. “Hide. Blend in and catch a ride?”

“Our accents give us away. No one’s gonna believe you’re a Utopian. You can’t ‘blend in’.”

“Oh, I’ll see when the time comes,” you waved a hand in dismissal, “Right now, I think I’m going to pass away before I reach the border.”

You, of course, didn’t. A few days later you were at the border, very alive, and Mingi gave you a look that told you he remembered what you’d said. You rolled your eyes, peeking out of the window but Mingi immediately grabbed your arm and pulled you away from the window. 

“How many times have I told you,” he sighed as he looked at you, “not to put your head out of any window?”

“Sorry,” you muttered sheepishly, “I just wanted to get a look at Utopia. It’s been 15 years.”

“Just…” he left your arm and you didn’t realise he had still been holding it. “Don’t do anything dangerously stupid.”

You poked his thigh, “People are going to think you actually care, Mingi.”

“Just telling you,” he said as he slumped back, “that if I was not your guard, I would definitely take up any job that put a fair price on your pretty little head.”

You put a hurt hand over your heart dramatically. “Good thing I’m a Princess then and have the power to execute you whenever I please. You’d think as a guard, you’d have more respect- what in the heavens is that?”

Mingi turned to see what caught your attention- it was a very eye-catching carriage that screamed royal. He frowned, wondering if the Prince was going to come out of the carriage- had he really travelled to the border to receive you?

Instead, a man dressed rather neatly jumped out, fixing his black hair. You wowed audibly, earning a scoff from Mingi. “If the Prince isn’t as handsome as him, I’m returning first thing tomorrow.”

Mingi got out of the carriage, greeting the man as he approached. He gave him a firm handshake. “I am Joohyuk, Prince Dohyun’s Captain of Guard. I came to receive our Princess on his behalf.”

You didn’t miss the possessive term he’d used and neither did Mingi. Mingi introduced himself and Joohyuk insisted you travel in their carriage where refreshments awaited. Mingi looked at you and you took a deep breath, getting out of the carriage and passing a curtsy. 

“Utopia smells wonderful- is it the lily trees?”

“Definitely. I suppose it’s a breath of fresh air after your long journey,” he said and you nodded. “I am the Captain of Guard- Joohyuk. Please address me comfortably.”

“I shall,” you nodded. “I hope the Prince is well.”

“He is well and awaits you,” Joohyuk pointed to the carriage. “I hope you’ll join us on the ride he sent.”

“I hope my guard can join with me,” you looked at Mingi sheepishly who nearly rolled his eyes but stopped because of the formal air. “He has a back issue- at his age!”

That was Mingi’s last straw. “Are you sure it’s not because you’ll feel awkward, Princess?”

Joohyuk chuckled, “I see you two get along.”

“We have to, for both our sakes,” you motioned Mingi to follow you and the three of you got inside the spacey carriage where indeed, tarts and cookies awaited. You gladly took a few and kicked Mingi in the foot, unnoticed, when he didn’t move to take some as well. 

You and Joohyuk conversed about the general affairs of Utopia and Wonderland on the way to the inn that he told you was used by the Prince whenever he travelled as well. As you reached the very modern looking inn by night time, you realised the Prince must have an eye for extravagant things. 

When Joohyuk excused himself after making sure you were comfortable in your room, Mingi stopped roaming around the room and took a seat in front of you as you kicked your shoes off. “He’s very talkative.”

“Which is good for us,” you looked at him as you massaged your feet, “The more he talks, the more I can wring out of him.”

“I never said he’s dumb,” Mingi smirked. “He’ll only tell you what he thinks you need to know.”

“A flutter of the lashes can wring out twice than that,” you did exactly that and Mingi swatted the air, apparently disgusted. You sighed, “Will you stay close tonight?”

“Next room,” Mingi pointed, “I won’t be sleeping, if that’s what you’re worried about… or should I?”

“I don’t know,” you took the hair pin out, letting your hair flow down. “You’re the guard.”

“I think I’ll scan the perimeter. I should leave you to rest now.”

“Do get some sleep,” you called as he opened the door to leave, “I don’t want you looking like a puffer fish tomorrow.”

Even though he didn’t get much sleep, he wasn’t the one looking like a puffer fish the next day.

“You look fine,” Mingi groaned as you nearly cried at your reflection in the mirror, “That’s enough icing- you’ll turn blue if you do more. That should be enough to charm any prince.”

“I’m not doing this to charm the Prince… though I suppose we could say that,” you grinned. “You think he’ll even look at me if I appear in this state?”

“Well,” Mingi stood behind you, in front of the mirror, “Let me do something about that.”

You dropped your hands and watched as Mingi loosened your half tied hair, letting a few strands frame your face from both sides. You were more focused on how well dressed he was as well- you hadn’t seen Mingi wear something other than black in years. Blue suited him.. 

“You look good. You shouldn’t look so good. Who are you trying to impress?”

“Maybe a few ladies at the castle,” he grinned, tying the rest of your hair, “Maybe the Prince. Who knows? Maybe the Prince and I could get along better than you two could ever.”

“Ha, ha,” you rolled your eyes and Mingi took a step back to let you see what he did. “Wow. This actually worked. Were you a hairstylist before a guard?”

“This is common sense, Princess,” he laughed, “Come on. Joohyuk must be getting nervous now.”

After a light breakfast with Joohyuk because he insisted a feast was prepared for you for lunch, you travelled the rest of the way in your own carriage, telling him you were representing Wonderland. As you reached the castle, the glassy structure much different from the vintage brick building you were used to living in, you realised the public wasn’t unaware of your arrival- several passersby waved at your carriages and you waved back, wondering for a moment if your arrival could be much more than the mission only you and Mingi knew about.

If you could, perhaps, sort things out without creating a mess and find a suitable life partner in Dohyun.

Because he certainly took your breath away with how striking he looked, and even Mingi snickered as if he could hear you think. It took you two a moment of scanning each other before he bowed and you curtsied. 

“Princess y/n,” he smiled, “It’s been too long.”

“It certainly has,” you smiled back, following him to the Great Hall, admiring the teals and browns along the way. “The castle is extraordinary- it has changed a lot from the last time I visited.”

"I hope it is to your liking, as well as… this feast," he smiled warmly at you as he motioned for you to sit. "Enjoy your meal."

As you dug in the delicacies of their region, you almost forgot Mingi who was sitting not far from you- not because the Prince had you in his spell, but because you were in a trance at how cheerful and talkative he was. It was easier for you this way because you didn't have to sit in awkward silence and think about a topic to converse over. You liked that he could lead the conversation.

"I used to eat 10 of these when I was a kid," Dohyun put a spoonful of chocolate pudding in his mouth.

"I can see why," you nearly scoffed but you were in love with the thing too. "I think I remember your father catching you in the corridor with pudding smeared all over your clothes."

"I don't know whether to be happy or embarrassed that you remember that," he chuckled and you looked at him- for a son of the nation that planned your downfall, he was quite something else. Could this all be an act, or did he genuinely not know anything about the fragile political situation between your kingdoms?

You got the answer to that when he accompanied you to the royal chambers where a whole chamber was for you. "I hope we can put politics aside and get to know each other well, Princess," Dohyun's voice was low and you paused with a raised brow as you looked at him. "I know things haven't been the best but… we could be a means to end this, couldn't we?"

You wondered if he was behaving well so this arrangement could resolve the conflict or if he was genuinely interested in you- you as an individual. You nodded slowly, "I travelled here for a reason, Prince. And so far… I haven't been disappointed at all."

Dohyun smiled after you, nodding as he waved goodnight and left you two in your chamber. You immediately slumped as the door shut and massaged your forehead as you sat down on the couch. You ignored the sounds of disappointment Mingi made. "You two should really become actors. That was quite something back there."

You opened one eye to glare at him sitting in front of you. “Let’s not forget the real reason we’re here, Mingi. The King and Queen were absent throughout the day. Do you think this means they aren’t interested in this arrangement anymore?”

“I mean… considering they were in the castle but too busy to meet you… probably. But Prince Dohyun is playing a diplomat. What’s your plan?”

“I think I should take two or three days to feel him out. Let’s see if he really is interested in peace or not,” you pursed your lips as you recalled what he’d said before he’d left. “He’s quite handsome though, isn’t he? It’ll be a shame if this arrangement was for nothing after all.”

Mingi shook his head, “I knew this was all it was gonna take for you to have second thoughts-”

You threw the nearest thing you could grab which happened to be a small box with something inside and Mingi expertly caught it without flinching, smug. He shuffled the box, frowning as he opened it and his face lit up. “Chocolates!”

“Now, now, hand me that,” you waved your hand but he, out of routine, took one and sniffed it before eating.

“There you go,” he threw the box back at you and your heart warmed at how he always took the first bite out of whatever you were to eat when your maid wasn’t around to check for poison. You made sure he got your look of gratitude before you picked a chocolate and sighed at how scrumptious it was. 

“Suppose this really is a ruse,” you said after a moment. “I need physical proof. You have two to three days to get an idea of the layout of the castle. I’ll figure out where such documents would be hidden.”

The next three days were the most interesting days of your life so far- only because it had been quite boring with your mechanical routine back in your castle. You supposed it would only get more interesting from here and you weren’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

But so far, so very good. Dohyun lived up to his apparent charms as he showed you around the castle, talked to you about politics or hobbies- you learned that he liked to play the piano and he promised to play it for you soon. You met the King and the Queen who apologised for being ‘busy’ earlier. A dinner together revealed that the King and Queen were, after all, not interested in this arrangement anymore, though they never said it out loud. You just had to thank your intuition for that. They were more interested in gaining leverage over their neighbouring kingdoms and sadly, yours was one of them.

Dohyun, however, was proving to be difficult to decipher. When in the presence of his parents, he would become someone else and agree with everything they had to say. But when it was only you two, he would say something that would contradict his earlier statements. You really were confused, and Mingi suggested you become his ‘friend’ so he could really open up to you.

You did that on your third night here, when you two were in the gardens. You asked Dohyun if he had ever fallen in love with someone.

Dohyun looked at you, “Was I supposed to?”

You smiled at him. “I know there’s an arrangement between us, Dohyun, but really, we were strangers until three days ago. And we are both young. I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“Have you?” He shifted towards you.

You sighed, “I didn’t, but if I have to admit, I was open for an opportunity. I just didn’t meet someone I clicked with.”

“I understand,” Dohyun sighed, “You’re right. It would be crazy if we didn’t even look at someone else, right?”

“Exactly what I mean,” you nodded. 

“I haven’t been a saint in that case- but I haven’t gone that far, don’t worry-”

You laughed out loud and he ended up laughing too. You shook your head, “I’m not going to judge you if you have! I’m hoping we can be friends, at least, Dohyun. I’m hoping you can talk to me about anything, even if this arrangement doesn’t meet its conclusion.”

Dohyun put a hand over yours, caressing it and you raised a brow in anticipation. “I know what you mean. You’re here for a month, right?” You nodded and he continued, “Let’s be friends. Let’s be unbiased with each other and if nothing else comes out, I hope we can end things on a good note.”

“Thank you, Dohyun,” you squeezed his hand, “Truly. But…” you caressed his hand, “I’m open to finding my life partner in you, Dohyun. Are you?”

Dohyun smiled teasingly as he nodded and you stifled your own smile as you looked down, ignoring the twinge of guilt in your heart because this wasn’t the entire truth, after all. As if reflexively, you peeked behind you to make sure Mingi was there, and like always, he was there, not far from you two, monitoring you. A constant pillar of strength. He passed a smile that said ‘you’re doing good’ and you sighed in relief internally. 

—----------------

“I have mapped out every known exit in the castle,” Mingi was making a rough sketch on the paper as he addressed you, who were currently polishing her fingernails. “I just need to check for hidden passages.”

“Are you losing your touch?” You teased, “I don’t remember you being slow, Mr. Song.”

“I don’t remember you ever paying attention to how much your nails gleamed but I’m not complaining, Princess.”

You deadpan stared at him and he stared back until his eyes curved as he smiled widely, bursting into laughter and you shook your head. “You really can’t win a staring competition. I wonder how long it takes for you to break apart when you stare at your enemies. And as for the nails… I plan to seduce our Prince.”

“Seduce?” Mingi scoffed, “You? I’m sorry if I’m crossing a line when I say this but I don’t think seduction is your forte, Princess.”

Mingi was really getting on your nerve now and you stopped rubbing your nails as you paid full attention to him. “What makes you think so?”

“I’ve been monitoring you for five years now, in case you forgot,” Mingi went back to making the layout of the castle, “I don’t recall you ever even trying.”

“That means you don’t know yet,” you smiled victoriously, “I just haven’t had the opportunity to try that on someone.”

“Thank goodness you haven’t, because I don’t think I could have stomached the sight of it.”

You sighed as you continued to stare at Mingi, wondering how you’d come here. You let your guard say such blunt things to you, something no guard in the history of Wonderland would have dared to, and yet… you liked it because Mingi wasn’t just your guard. He was your friend. If he hadn’t been your friend and had said such things…

“You look like you want to kill me.”

“I do,” you scoffed, “Just wondering why I let you of all the people in this world talk like that to me.”

“Aw, do you want to execute me for the disrespect?” Mingi made a sad face.

“See?” You threw your hands in the air, the two of you laughing, “I’m both hurt and glad that I have you as my guard and as my friend. I hope you do know that despite everything, I really wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Mingi narrowed his eyes at you, “You’re quite sentimental today.”

“I am,” you smiled, “I also want you to know that your presence comforts me wherever I am. You’re like… a pillar. Pun intended.”

“Carry on,” Mingi said, clearly enjoying it.

“I’m glad for all that I’ve learned from you-”

“Okay, hold up,” Mingi put his pencil down and dragged his seat in front of you, “What do you want?”

You considered not telling him but then you sighed. “I want you to leave me alone when I seduce him.”

“Not a chance,” Mingi shook his head, “I don’t trust him yet.”

“And how long is it gonna take for you to trust him?” You scoffed, “Mingi, this is about protecting my home. I think we both can take a little risk-”

“I cannot,” Mingi shook his head furiously, “I simply can not.”

“Mingi,” you sighed, “It’s not like I’m doing anything weird! I’m not gonna go that far. I only aim to get him a bit comfortable-”

“As your guard, I cannot allow this,” Mingi’s eyes were the most serious you’d seen. “He is in a position where he can harm you. He is not yours officially yet, so as a guard, my job is to hold him back if he tries to harm you. Do you know how badly that could end?”

You knew what he meant- if he interfered, which was his job, it could ruin anything that could start between you and Dohyun. It could be the beginning of the end. You cleared your throat, straightening, “I understand that this is your job. I’ll let you accompany me for a while but when things escalate, I need you to give me privacy, Mingi. This is an order as a Princess.”

“Only if I trust him not to harm you.”

You groaned, “You’re never going to!”

“Yeah, maybe I am not!” Mingi’s voice rose and he got up, “I cannot take this risk, why don’t you understand that?”

“I’ll take responsibility if anything happens-” you stopped when you saw the hurt flash across his eyes and you frowned in confusion.

“You’re never going to understand. I’m not saying this as your guard anymore,” his voice was low and he looked like he was about to take a step forward but then he stopped. “I, as your friend or whatever… I don’t allow this.”

With that, he left, leaving your hand extended in the air about to stop him but you let him go, wondering if he needed to clear his head and think alone, scoffing because now you needed to do the same too. Because… 

You’d never seen Mingi so frustrated. And the way he looked at you…

You shook your head, ridding yourself of stupid thoughts as you started memorizing the layout.

—---------------

"If we get caught," you whispered as you glared at Mingi, "It's going to be the end of us."

"Stop being so dramatic, nobody's getting caught," Mingi gripped your arm tighter. "Besides, if anyone does see us… they won't be walking out of here alive."

"Ooh," you smirked. "That's both scary and-"

You nearly screamed yourself when Mingi jumped, a low squeal coming from his mouth as he hid behind you. You scoffed at the tiny bug that stood- probably scared as well- in front of you.

"I can't believe I'm exploring a secret passage inside the castle of my potential enemy with my guard who is scared of bugs."

"Everyone is scared of something," Mingi muttered, unmoving. "Now do something about it."

You rolled your eyes so hard your head hurt. Handing your torch to Mingi, you bent down and flicked the bug away, clearing the passage for your guard. He bowed in thanks as he took the lead again. You shook your head. "Imagine the enemy has a dagger to my throat. You aim to free me by throwing your own dagger at my captor. But because of a mere bug, you miss, and I die. Imagine getting executed because of a bug, Mingi."

"I'm not always scared," Mingi pouted and you smiled at the adorableness of it, smacking his arm playfully. "We're here- this path leads to the Prince's chamber and this one to the exit."

You were at a fork now and you folded your arms as you calculated how long it took to get here from your room. "2 minutes. That's shorter than the time it actually takes."

"We don't know if the guards or the others know about this passage yet so we should leave without further delay," Mingi pointed to a lit torch not far away towards the exit. "Probably a few people know of this place. Let's blow ours out- you memorised the path, didn't you?"

"I did," you nodded, fixing the torch in an empty stand. "Let's move."

The two of you were moving as silently as you two could, until you reached another divergence and heard faint voices. Before you could do anything, Mingi had you by your arm, nearly slamming you on the wall in the nearest opening so that you two would be hidden unless someone came your way. With a hand on your mouth and a 'shh' in your ear, he got a nod from you and you reflexively held onto his shirt.

The faint voices grew and light filled gradually, allowing you to realise just how close your guard was, his eyes fixed on his hand on your mouth, the other hand resting on your waist. And maybe because it was the dim lights that you scanned his face properly for the first time in a while, taking in the mole under his eye, his sharp nose, his sharp eyes that could be the warmest that you'd ever known within the span of seconds, his thick, plump lips-

He licked them.

Your heart sank to your feet because gosh, he was hot. Unreasonably, undeniably hot and it was a shame that he was only your guard-

As the voices grew louder, he shifted so your bodies were touching and he locked eyes with you. You could see the apology in his eyes but also…

Mischief. No regrets. Or were you reading too much into it? You couldn't tell because you were currently preoccupied by the sensation that coursed through your body at the closeness between you two, and you felt a sudden twinge of guilt because this wasn't the first time you'd felt it.

As Mingi drew back and his absence hit, you reminded yourself that he was only doing his job as your guard. He probably thought of you as a bratty Princess, nothing more. You looked at him, finding it hard to maintain eye contact and Mingi sighed.

"Sorry for that- I wasn't expecting company."

"It's… okay. Not your fault," you whispered back, putting your hand back on his arm and urging him to move and this time you two were quicker and made your way out to your chamber. He hid the entrance with the tapestry that hung and you shook your head. "How did you even figure this out?"

"I may have 'accidentally' slammed myself across this tapestry while avoiding a goddamn bug," Mingi said and you grinned. "I noticed the sound."

"You do realise that if the Prince is aware of this secret path, he could very well enter here anytime? Or send someone?"

"Which is why this," Mingi motioned to the sitting area, "is to be my bedroom now."

"I've been hearing you snore for days now, Mingi," you raised a brow. "You sure you can even hear anyone entering over the sound of your snoring?"

Mingi raised a brow back, "You're lying."

You grinned, slumping on the couch, "I was. I just wanted to check if you're actually doing your duty-"

"I'm the Head of the Guards, you think I'm not aware of my surroundings when I sleep?" 

You laughed at how it looked like he was genuinely hurt that you could think otherwise. "Of course I do, I'm just playing with you," you shook your head in amusement. "Do you think I should sneak up to the Prince's room and give him a surprise?"

Mingi scoffed as he slumped down beside you, massaging his temples. "Go ahead. His guard would probably kill you before he could see you."

"I should practise sneaking up on you," you said casually.

You were serious. One night later, when you couldn't sleep, you didn't even bother picking up your candle since the moonlight was enough and you sneaked out through your room, not making a sound, thanks to Mingi's lessons. You paused in front of Mingi's slightly ajar door- you had to practically fight-argue with him to stop him from sleeping on the couch and to just sleep in his own bed- no one was going to dare creep up on you two. He instead opted on setting a trap at the entrance of the passage beneath the tapestry and slept with his door open.

Which led you to sneak in inside, snickering silently when you saw Mingi sleeping rather peacefully, mouth slightly parted. You walked to the window, finding a little moth sleeping peacefully as well. You picked it up, nearly giggling as you silently treaded to where Mingi was asleep-

He looked really handsome even when asleep.

You couldn't help but compare the dynamic you had with him to the one you had with Dohyun, which, currently, wasn't much. Dohyun was, as a human, nice. Friendly. Caring, even. But…

He wasn't Mingi.

You bit your lip as you tried to stop the longing that coursed through you, recalling the first time when you had looked at Mingi differently- you had sneaked up on him exactly like this as a revenge for all the harsh training he was making you do. You didn't like how strict and serious a mentor he was because you were naturally mischievous even in serious times. So you made the mistake of sneaking up on him when he was asleep and he nearly killed you-

"How long are you going to stand and stare-"

"Goodness gracious," you came out of memory lane, putting a hand over your heart, your eyes wide. "Were you awake?"

"I wasn't but I heard the sound of your footsteps."

"I didn't make a sound."

"I recognised it anyway," Mingi shifted in his position a bit. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Exactly what you think. And I wasn't staring at you, I was just wondering if you were going to try and kill me like last time."

Mingi shook with laughter as he recalled that time- he had been sleeping on the floor at that time for a quick nap and when you got near, he basically slammed you down on the ground and had a dagger positioned at your throat, which scared the living soul out of you. 

What he didn't know was that something about the way he had looked at you when he recognised you had shifted your heart and you never looked at him the same again.

"You want me to do that to you again?" Mingi scoffed, "because you're asking for it at this point, really."

"No, thanks," you pursed your lips. "I'm good. I do have this for you-"

Mingi swatted your hand and the moth went flying away and you pouted. He stared at you for a minute before he raised a brow because you were still standing and he didn't know what you wanted. "You wanna sit down, Princess?"

Your eyes involuntarily fell to the space beside him on the edge of the bed and he scooted away so you could sit. You did so, one knee up and you sighed, "I couldn't sleep. I'm just… nervous about tomorrow."

"It's just a date," Mingi said but something about his tone was restrictive. "It's your chance to feel him out. He is your betrothed- you really need to see if there is a future with him after all."

"I can't believe you're the one saying this," you muttered and he frowned in confusion. "I just… What if everything is politically fine and we don't have to go with the mission even, but I don't… feel a spark for him? What if I don't want to marry him, Mingi?"

Mingi's heart clenched at the way your voice came to be barely a whisper as you said his name. He gulped. "I'm not the one you should be talking to about this-"

"You are the only one I can talk about this to," you made sure your eyes conveyed your trust as you said this. "I could never say this out loud to someone else, and you know that."

Mingi sighed, putting an arm under his head so he could look at you better, still lying down. "I'm only a guard. Okay, maybe a friend too. So as a friend… talk to your parents?"

"They'll never allow this," you practically spat as you said, "They always disapprove of everything I do. You know that all too well."

He did. They were against the training Mingi had you take but he had convinced them, emphasizing the need for self-defence thanks to the history of assassinations and murders that met your ancestors. They also disapproved that you were friendly with Mingi but his professional attitude made them dismiss that. 

His professional attitude and your stubbornness to not cooperate with any other guard. But he did not know that.

"Why do you think you won't like him, if everything else is okay?" Mingi asked, wondering if he should be having such a private conversation with a Princess, but then again… you never made him feel like a mere guard.

"I don't wish to stay beside someone I don't love. I could miss the chance of being happy for the rest of my life because of one wrong decision."

"But decisions like these… you never really know if you're right until you're halfway there, isn't it?"

You smiled at that. He was right. You stared at him, wondering if he could see what you felt for him in your eyes. If he did… 

Was he ignorant or dismissing it on purpose? And if it was the latter, did it mean he didn't return the feelings?

"You look like you're about to cry, and I cannot have that."

You laughed, looking up as you stifled the tears. You felt Mingi scoot a bit and he touched your hand hesitantly but you snaked your fingers in his. He squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm by your side, Princess. Don't be scared."

You nodded, looking at your intertwined hands and staring at them for the longest time as flashes of what could be a happy future with Mingi ran across your eyes. You looked at him, nearly asleep, and you took that chance to kiss his hand, making him look at you with surprise.

"You're everything I need Mingi. And everything I'll ever need. Thank you for being the way that you are."

Before he could respond, you let go of his hand and went to your room, leaving him wondering just what you meant. 

—---------------

Dohyun proved to be a good person throughout your day, his manners very much like a gentleman, and you liked that he could make you laugh. He showed you around town, making sure you were comfortable, buying you anything that caught your attention, and even treating you to the town’s best desserts.

“I have to admit, you have quite a sense of humour,” Dohyun said as he finished eating his vanilla ice-cream. “You don’t let me breathe.”

“That means I’m doing a great job,” you smiled, finishing your own chocolate flavoured ice-cream as well. “I also have to admit that your reputation precedes you.”

“How so?” Dohyun was curious, running a hand through his dark hair before resting his chin on his hands.

“You know,” you shrugged, “I’ve heard things about you. You’re better than what I heard.”

“And what does that mean for me?” Dohyun wiggled his brows flirtatiously.

“Well,” you leaned forward, scanning his face, “Maybe this princess would have to consider you properly after all… But as a prince, don’t you have something you’d use to woo me? Like… a winning strike?”

“Ah, I see how it is,” Dohyun laughed, understanding that you were both serious and pulling his leg at the same time- he liked that about you. “We’ll have to be back at the castle for that. Piano does the trick usually. But… what’s your winning strike, Princess?”

“Hmm, let’s see,” you pouted as you thought about it, “Do I even need one?”

“That’s not fair!” Dohyun shook his head and you laughed.

“Well, you have to blame my lack of experience in that department.”

“You make it sound like I spent all my years practising how to win- or rather, ‘woo’ people.”

“I imagine that you did, Prince,” you teased. “After all, with someone who looks like you… it’d be a shame if you weren’t a professional in that department.”

“Ah,” Dohyun sat back. “Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.”

“And that’s what’s so fun about chatting with me,” you got up. “Shall we?”

The two of you rode back to the castle, where Dohyun opened up about some embarrassing incidents from the past with women. You learned that he wasn’t always good at interacting which led to awkward circumstances, such as a few ladies making advances, not knowing he was ‘betrothed’, and then never showing themselves again when they learned.

“But it’s not like we were engaged,” you frowned. “Our parents just thought it would be a good idea and gave us the chance to see if we feel so too, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, but people tend to think it’s more romantic than that,” Dohyun sighed. “Don’t you think they made a mistake announcing that publicly? It may have driven off our chances at something better.”

“I agree that there is a possibility of that, and also a possibility that this was a good decision after all. I guess we’ll know as time passes by. Can I trust you to tell me if you feel like I’m not the one for you? I wouldn’t want you to marry me under… pressure.”

Dohyun nodded, understanding. “But… you have to admit there’s a factor of pressure holding us down as well, no matter how miniscule it is. It changes how we think of each other.”

He was right. You nodded slowly, wondering if this was a good time to learn how he thought of you as a rival kingdom’s daughter. “Suppose there was no agreement between us, and I came to smoothen things up between our kingdoms. What do you think would have happened?”

Dohyun fell silent for a moment, and you knew whatever came out of his mouth wouldn’t be entirely true then. “I think we would still get along like we do now. But… I would, of course, have to put my kingdom first before any sort of relationship, just like you would do.”

“That’s right,” you nodded. “Are we still putting our kingdom first, Dohyun?”

“Isn’t that why you’re here in the first place?” He smiled, “We’re here.”

After freshening up in your own rooms, he gave you the promised tour of the library. You wowed as you entered the grand room, numerous shelves lining the walls, ample space to sit and study. “Do you come here often?”

“Not as much as I used to,” Dohyun sighed. 

“I suppose you know your history,” you asked and he nodded. “Are history books truly different in every kingdom?”

“Everyone has created their own version of the past,” Dohyun said, guiding you to the shelf which contained the history of how the kingdoms of Wonderland, Utopia, and other nations that were once one broke apart. “I suppose history is the people, and people tend to be biased.”

“I agree,” you said, “I happened to read the history books of Eden and Halaland. Their versions were quite different from ours.”

“Nobody would paint themselves as the enemy now, would they?” He looked at you and you shrugged in agreement. “To their people, everyone is the hero.”

“But as rulers, we have to be unbiased and objective. Facts before anything else.”

“And what are your facts?” Dohyun smiled as he asked. “Are you sure your facts are correct?”

“Let’s see…” you smiled, “Would you like to have a battle of facts?”

The two of you ended up discussing the history of independence, finding out it was pretty much the same for both of you. You started leaning towards the relationship between Wonderland and Utopia, since this was probably the only chance you’d get and learning how he thinks and makes decisions.The two of you promised each other it won’t affect your judgement of each other- after all, you two were only sharing what you’d learned from your ancestors.

It ended up in a heated argument nonetheless. You scoffed as you almost glared at him. “Trade. How many times precious cargo from Wonderland has ‘gone missing’ on the way to Eden?”

“Are you implying Utopia has something to do with it?” Dohyun raised a brow.

“I mean,” you passed him a smug look, “It only goes missing when we take the shortcut- from Wonderland to Utopia to Eden. But whenever we go around Utopia- Halaland, Mist Island, and then Eden, though the journey takes twice as long, there hasn’t been one instance where the cargo vanished.”

“And why do you think Utopia has something to do with that?” Dohyun smirked. “It could be your people smuggling things here.”

“In which case, both of us would be to blame, wouldn’t it?” You challenged and you two stared at each other before he gave in, chuckling.

“Fair enough,” he clapped once. “While we’re on this topic, I do have something I should address too. The border situation in the North.”

“Sensitive topic,” you smiled but nodded. “What do you think?”

“What I know is that the people of Wonderland in the north love to aggravate the temper of Utopians.”

“And what I know is that Utopians are planning and slowly taking over the North.” You looked at him and noticed how he didn’t flinch.

“What makes you people think so?”

“Apart from the fact that we already lost a chunk of land to Utopia?” You challenged.

“If we truly ‘took’ it, wouldn’t we have declared it our territory officially?”

“It could be a part of your plan,” you said and Dohyun gaped at you, making you break the tense atmosphere and laugh in dismissal. “I’m just saying! You’d think so too if you were in my shoes. And I’m only saying what I know- doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the truth.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, relaxing as he sighed. “I’m also… only stating what I know. Of course, I haven’t witnessed the situation myself so I’m dependent on the people who provide me the information.”

“They could always be lying,” you told him, “We should never fully trust the people who provide us the information.”

“Wise words,” Dohyun smiled. “I should keep that in mind. This was… fun, actually. You’d make a great leader, Princess.”

“And so would you,” you smiled, struggling to make it reach your eyes. “You’ve made it so much easier for me to make my decision regarding you now.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Dohyun’s eyes lit up.

“Well…” you passed a flirtatious smile, “I think I should really hear you play the piano before I tell you.”

He laughed, getting up and offering you his arm which you took, following him to the room attached to the library where several musical instruments were placed and it looked like someone played them regularly. You smiled. “It’s a nice idea to have music playing near the library.”

“The one thing I really like about the castle,” Dohyun nodded, going to sit in front of the piano and checking the keys while you walked around, your hands sweating.

You had made your decision. 

It was going to be extremely difficult to live with Dohyun when he truly believed Utopia could never be at fault. You knew now that marrying him would change nothing of the political situation between your kingdoms- it would only give Utopia even more leverage. So you would really have to carry on with your mission now.

And everything following this moment depended on you making Dohyun believe you were truly in love with him. You would have to tread carefully from now on, and somehow get access to his chamber where he must be keeping the documents regarding the border since he was in charge of the situation there.

“I’m ready when you are,” Dohyun called and you urged him to start, going to stand beside him. 

But despite everything, you had to admit he certainly was charming. The way he played the piano was beautiful, and you gently sat down beside him, resting your head on his shoulder as he played something beautiful that made you calm. 

It was truly a shame that Dohyun had to be the enemy’s son.

As he played, you thought about Mingi. The joy in your life. Your guard. If you, a Princess, got in a relationship with your guard… if anyone learned of that back in your home, you knew Mingi wouldn’t be spared. You wouldn’t be spared as well. 

Tears threatened to spill from your eyes as the haunting melody played in your head. When you decided to visit Utopia, you truly wanted to forget about Mingi and consider Dohyun, but coming here only strengthened the feelings you had for your guard. Perhaps, he liked you too, but you knew he had way better control than you had. Could you truly not be with him? What rule said that you could not be with a man who happened to be your guard as well? What better partner than someone who would willingly give his life for you, who cared for you more than his own self?

Dohyun stopped playing and he rubbed your back when he saw your glazed eyes. You pretended that it was for him. You wiped your eyes. “You played beautifully.”

It was the truth. He did not need to know that his beautiful playing evoked memories of another man. Dohyun smiled, tucking your hair behind your ears. You were suddenly glad that Mingi wasn’t here because you were sure your eyes would have betrayed you if you looked at him now. 

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” Dohyun almost whispered, caressing your cheek. You suddenly felt your heart tighten with panic as he drew closer and closer-

You bit your lip to stop the sigh of relief when you heard a knock- truly a god-sent miracle as Dohyun, disappointed, pulled back and cleared his throat. It was Joohyuk. “You’re needed in the courtroom. Right now.”

Dohyun nodded and you two got up. “Thank you for a wonderful time, Dohyun. I’ll never forget today.”

Dohyun kissed your hand before following Joohyuk, taking you with him until you parted ways in the corridor. You made your way back, escorted by his guard, holding back your tears as you entered your chamber-

And there sat Mingi, sharpening his daggers. You sighed in relief when you saw him but you knew it was a bad time. Mingi saw your glazed eyes and put his daggers down. “Are you okay? Did he say something to you?”

“I’m… okay, he didn’t say anything,” you took a deep breath. “I just… need to be alone right now.”

He saw the tears spill before you went to your room, and you slumped down on the floor as you cried. Mingi knocked on your door, asking you to find him if you wanted to talk. It only made you cry harder, and then you hastily wiped your eyes as anger consumed you.

You’d go back to your home. You’d break all the rules that said you couldn’t be with someone not of your status. You’d change the law if there was one about this, though to your knowledge, there wasn’t actually a law, but since you were considered to be someone else’s betrothed, you were bound now. Being with Mingi now would only put a threat on his life, but you’d protect him with yours.

You just needed to see if Mingi felt the same way about you. Because if he didn’t…

You’d never be whole again.

—------------

That night, you told Mingi everything that happened between you and Dohyun, now in a better mood since you had a plan. 

“So, with a heavy heart, I regret to inform you that we need to carry on with our life-threatening mission of me finding access to his chamber, which is definitely where he hid those documents that will give us the proof to save Wonderland. And what better way to access a man’s chamber than to-”

“You’re not doing that to yourself,” Mingi shook his head.

“It’s okay, Mingi,” you sighed. “Dohyun, as a person, isn’t all that bad. He won’t do anything that crosses the line.”

“But what is your plan? What happens after… he takes you there?”

You grinned. “Remember that trick you learned from the magician that came with the circus two years ago? That fire trick?”

“Don’t tell me you’re setting the Prince on fire.”

“Of course not,” you slapped Mingi’s arm. “I’m setting his room on fire.”

“Unbelievable,” Mingi shook his head, looking despaired. “Why?”

“When there’s a fire, dear old guard,” you smiled, “Our eyes immediately move to our dearest possession. I don’t think his dearest possession is me yet, so he’ll naturally look in the direction of whatever box or safe he keeps. After that… we wait for him to go on one of his tours so we take this passage to his room and voila.”

Mingi stared at you, arms folded. “I have to admit that the plan is quite genius,” you smiled victoriously at that, “but very risky. You’ll need to practise that trick. Not everyone can get the hang of that, but considering you’re good with cards already…”

“See?” you flipped your hair, “I have it all planned out.”

Mingi got up, showing you how the trick worked. It involved a single card dipped in a very flammable potion, and a little friction would spark it. You’d only have to hide the card in your sleeve and rub it across the rough part of Dohyun’s clothes and throw it on the nearest fabric. The card would turn to soot and disappear in a second, leaving you completely innocent. No one would suspect anything or anyone- not a mere princess, at least.

Because no one knew that you were trained as good as any soldier. To everyone else but Mingi, you were only a spoiled royal who knew nothing except how to look pretty and how to play politics, like every other princess.

A few hours later, you mastered the trick. The only thing left now was to practise igniting it on your partner’s clothes.

“So I’m going to obviously have to, um…” you pursed your lips, “do… things to the Prince and let him do things to me-”

“Shut up,” Mingi put a hand over his ears, his laugh not quite as hearty as it usually was.

“Can we pretend to be in a…” you tried to find the right word as you struggled with motioning with your hands, “compromising? position- so I can practise- oh, bloody hell, let’s just get this done with.”

You threw your hands in the air as you took Mingi’s hands and put them on your waist, making him utterly surprised and you put your hands on his shoulder, locking eyes with him. “Just like we’re dancing, yeah?”

With much struggle, because you had no idea what Mingi felt right now, he nodded, his hands resting on your hips and bringing you closer. “Let’s be professional about this.”

You raised a brow at how his voice was raspier now, nodding and snaking your hands behind his neck. “You’re too tall. Bend down a little- Dohyun’s height.”

Mingi did and you rubbed the card on his collar, the card catching fire and you immediately blew it. “This works! Does it smell?”

“No- the potion makes sure you can’t smell anything until it spreads,” Mingi said, stepping back away from you. “Are you sure you can do this?”

“Well,” you gulped, deciding to risk everything now. “I’ll need to kiss him.”

Mingi groaned at the unnecessary revelation. “And? You seem to have no problem with that.”

“I do have one,” you stifled your smile as you looked at him. “I don’t know how to kiss.”

“Ugh, why am I your guard again? I don’t need to know that! I’m supposed to be protecting you, not listening to your lack of experience!”

You laughed at how flustered he was. “For a guard, you sure have quite a few things to say to me, eh?”

Mingi looked at you- he knew he was to blame too. He never realised when exactly you two became so comfortable with each other, when you started sharing personal things with him, when he started telling you about himself… he was only supposed to protect you but he had ended up becoming your friend, which he knew was highly unprofessional. 

“I have a serious problem here, Mingi,” you said, putting your hands over your hips, “This plan won’t work if I can’t even kiss him properly.”

“So what’s your next plan?”

“I don’t have another plan,” you said quietly, your heart beating rapidly now. “I need you to teach me how to kiss.”

“Say that again?” Mingi frowned, wondering if he heard it wrong. You exhaled, locking eyes with him.

“I need you…. To teach me how to kiss.”

Mingi gaped at you. “You’re not serious.”

“I am,” you said through clenched teeth. “Be professional about this. Everything depends on this single plan, which is the only possible route I see. Everything depends on how I perform… all this. If I can’t do it properly, Wonderland could fall.”

“Wonderland could fall if you don’t know how to kiss someone properly?” Mingi scoffed.

“Mingi. Think about it.”

Mingi did, and realised you were right. “Well.. you know, I don’t have to teach you. It just… happens. You’d be good, don’t worry.”

“Mingi.”

Mingi groaned, his ears red, “I can’t do this, Princess. I cannot touch you. I am your guard. I would be executed if anyone learns of this- nevermind me, you’d have to face worse things than a mere execution if anyone learns you’re doing such things with a mere guard-”

“But you are not a mere guard to me,” you took his hand. “Never think that you are only a guard to me. You are… much more. If I tell you what you mean to me, you’d resign first thing, Mingi.”

Mingi sighed at that, squeezing your hand. “This shouldn’t be happening.”

“Who said that?” You tilted your head, smiling. “And besides… nothing would happen if no one would learn. We’re not in Wonderland, Mingi.”

Mingi looked like he was considering but then he broke apart, turning away from you and running his hands through his hair, his body tense. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to kiss me.”

Mingi groaned loudly. “I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because nothing about this would be professional, because I…” he paused and a spark of hope formed in your heart.

“Go on.”

“I can’t kiss you and go back to pretending to be only your guard.”

You sighed at how it came only as a whisper. You stepped closer to him, wrapping your arms around his waist, resting your head on his back. “The things I feel for you, Mingi… if you learned you’d run away from me.”

He sighed, looking down, his head blank. He put his hands over yours, attempting to break them but you weren’t having any of it. 

“Tell me you don’t feel something for me, and I’ll let you go.”

“I can’t lie.”

You sighed in relief. “Then kiss me.”

“I can’t.” He almost cried. “I can’t touch you if I can’t have you.”

“You already have me, my dear warrior,” you smiled. “I was only ever yours.”

Mingi pulled your hands away, walking away from you. “This is a bad idea. Think about the consequences for once.”

“Damn the consequences,” you seethed. “This is an order, Mingi. I want you to kiss me like you mean it-”

It took him only a second to turn and hold your face in his hands as his lips found yours, swallowing the groan of surprise that left you. He kissed you repeatedly until you kissed back and it was the most natural thing you’d ever experienced, the feel of his plump lips indescribable. Your legs were weak and you held in to the back of his neck, your kisses turning more heated and frantic until you both broke apart for breath.

You were smiling- you were the happiest you’d ever been. And Mingi… he looked the most content as he brushed his nose with yours, picking you effortlessly by the waist and placing you on the table so you met his height. He looked at you, unguarded for once and you saw everything you needed in his eyes. 

“Don’t ever give me an order like this again,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry,” you giggled. “I had to do something.”

He shook his head and you caressed his face lovingly, smiling at the feel of his soft ash hair that you drew back. His hands rested on your waist, sending sparks through you and you continued to look at him, memorising his face. You pecked his nose, making him grin, then you kissed the mole on his cheek, under his eye, that you adored. You joined your foreheads. “Let’s run away, Mingi. I can’t live if I can’t have you.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he promised, pecking your lips. “So… was that enough to learn how to kiss?”

You grinned at his teasing tone. “I don’t think so.”

Mingi scoffed before he kissed you again, this time softly, like a first kiss, experimentally moving his lips against yours and you followed his lead, moaning into the kiss repeatedly until he couldn’t take it anymore- especially when you wrapped your legs around him. The kisses picked pace and force as he pushed you back until your back curved and you fell flat on the table. His hands travelled along your curves and yours played with his hair. You managed to earn a few satisfying moans as well, and he finally broke apart.

“Shall we take this to bed?” You managed to say and he shook his head, amused.

“I won’t be able to stop if I take you to bed,” his voice was incredibly low and rough as he whispered in your ear, trailing kisses down your jaw. “This… is enough. For now.”

“One last,” you got up and met his lips, the two of you smiling into it and you broke apart, waving the burning card in your hand and he laughed in surprise.

“I never noticed. You’re good at this!”

“I learned from the best,” you blew the fire. “You’re… a great teacher.”

Mingi rolled his eyes, placing you down. “That’s enough playing. Go to bed. You have to get your beauty sleep. The Prince won’t be kissing you if you look like a puffer fish-”

“Hey!” You tried smacking him but he dodged, mockingly waving at you before going to his room, leaving you lovestruck as you sighed dreamily.

—---------------

Finding an idea to get to Dohyun’s chambers was fairly easy- you asked to see his childhood pictures, and he would only have that in his room.

You noticed the odd tapestry in his living room, which would surely be the entrance to the secret passage. As he picked an album, you picked every entry and exit spot. 

Getting him to kiss you was fairly easy as well, since you two had already been interrupted not long ago. You walked around his living room, commenting on every picture that hung on the wall, wondering if there were more which was when he guided you to his bedroom. 

Then all it took was a longer than usual glance for him to wrap his arms around your waist and lean forward for permission. 

Though he was a good kisser, you felt nothing. Your only focus was calmly snaking your arms around his waist and throwing the burning card in the direction of the candle, which toppled over and set fire to the carpet. You both pretended not to have heard that and you continued kissing him without breaking apart, letting the fire spread. You also were the first to break apart, a confused look on your face as you sniffed.

“Fire,” you whispered, and Dohyun turned around, looking in the direction of the fire and then under the table beside the window. You, pretending to worry, snatched the sheets off his bed.

“Quick- let’s put it out!” You shouted as you threw the sheets on the fire and stomped, and he pulled you back, doing the job himself and asking you to call the guards. You did and the fire was out before spreading too much, thankfully.

“The candle must have lost balance,” Dohyun sighed, caressing your hand. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” you sighed, “though I was quite startled. I could taste the fire in our kiss.”

“And you thought you set me on fire?” Dohyun laughed.

“You would have thought so too,” you pouted.

“Well,” Dohyun caressed your hand, looking at you lovingly. “You did set my heart on fire.”

“Oh, come on,” you slapped his chest playfully, “since when did we switch roles?”

He kissed your hand. “Thank you for acting quickly. I was quite flustered back then. It would have spread if it weren’t for you.”

You smiled and the guards came out of the room, having cleared it. You cleared your throat. “I should get going.”

“Let me walk you to your room.”

“You don’t have to,” you said but he insisted and you agreed. Dohyun promised to take you to the waterfall nearby soon.

“How soon?” You asked. 

“I have to travel West to meet some people,” he told you- you already knew that thanks to Mingi sneaking around. “I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. Let’s go after that.”

“It’s a date,” you said and he nodded, kissing your cheek as you reached your room. 

“Goodnight, Princess.”

You watched him leave, hoping this was the last time you ever saw him, because the only way he would be seeing you in the foreseeable future would be if you get caught. After he vanished, you entered your room, going straight into Mingi’s arms.

“It’s done,” you told him, sighing into the hug. “Let’s get the job done tomorrow night.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Mingi whispered, kissing your forehead. “You did well. You’ll make Wonderland proud.”

“I hope we both live to see that,” you said and he squeezed you. “Sleep with me tonight, Mingi.”

Your vulnerable tone told him that you were considering every possibility of the future, such as how this could be the last time Mingi and you were together. So Mingi nodded, waiting for you to change and call him, and then he lay down beside you, holding you while you rested your cheek on his chest. He caressed your hair which relaxed you indefinitely. You looked up at him, tracing the outlines of his face. “I have things to tell you, Mingi, before tomorrow comes. Because I know there’s a high chance that we could get separated, or worse.”

“Hope for the best, Princess,” he said. “I’ll never let you go. I’ll always be with you, you know that.”

You nodded. “I want to tell you that I love you. That I’ll fight for you when we get home. You’re no longer my guard, Mingi. You’re my partner. Anyone who dares try to hurt you would have to deal with me first.”

Mingi smiled, pulling you up and kissing you deeply at that. “I love you too. In more ways than I could imagine. I’ll always protect you, whether I’m your guard or not. And anyone who tries to hurt you will regret even thinking they had a chance.”

You laughed, pecking his cheek. “You’re quite a romantic.”

“Oh, you don’t know me yet, Princess,” he smirked, flipping you and getting on top of you, dragging his lips down the side of your face and trailing kisses down your neck and you couldn’t help but moan shamelessly. Perhaps it was the longing and desperation, mixed with the fear that this could be your last night together that made you both senseless in love, kissing each other frantically because there really could be no tomorrow, getting rid of your garments until you were skin on skin and having each other in every way possible, kissing each other on every inch of the body until it was dawn.

—-----------

“Bug!” You whispered and Mingi jumped, making you laugh silently, putting a hand over your mouth.

“We could get executed if we get caught,” Mingi whisper-shouted at you, “And you’re pranking me? While we’re on the way to steal documents from the Prince’s room? Seriously?”

“I’m sorry,” you grinned, “you know I get like this when I’m under pressure.”

Mingi shook his head, taking the torch from your hand and blowing it out when you reached the stairs. “We travel in the dark now. Hold my hand.”

You did and he guided you along, your steps as silent as a cat’s, following the wall until you two stood out in the assumed exit to the Prince’s room. “There could be guards in his living room. That’s where we are, right?”

“Guards are usually stationed outside when the Prince is not home,” he said, “but we have to be extra cautious.”

Mingi got the feel of the door- he was going to have to slide it but it would make a sound when he would first push it. He would have to wait- if the guards were inside, they’d figure out the source. If they were outside, they would dismiss it as wind.

Thankfully, no one came to kill you in the first few minutes after that sound and Mingi slid the door, asking you to wait. You waited anxiously for a minute before he came back for you. You led him to the room, sitting down near the table and feeling the wood, removing the block that sounded hollow and finding the box. It contained a few jewels, some pictures and-

“There it is,” your tone was bitter. “The proof we needed.”

A document ready to be made official, waiting only for a final signature. Document that stated that the area in the north that was once Wonderland’s, that the Utopians occupied, was now officially theirs. You sighed, regretting that you were right about all of this. It truly was a shame that it came down to this. 

“Let’s go,” Mingi rubbed your back and you nodded, placing the box back and leaving like a ghost, going to your room to grab your already packed bags and change into commoner clothing so you could pass undetected in the city. You tied your hair into a quick braid and wore your cloak over your head, taking out the hair-pin that Dohyun had gifted you. Mingi caught you staring at it.

“I could do this alone,” Mingi said and you looked at him. “I could get these documents to Wonderland. You could pretend you knew nothing.”

You placed the hair-pin on your bedside. “We’re in this together, through thick and thin. Let’s pray the Prince does not check his box first thing when he comes back and finds we’re missing.”

He nodded- you two were going to leave your guards and your belongings here, taking only the necessities. If you were lucky, the guards would be sent to search for you, and Mingi had already informed one of his trusted guards to get back to Wonderland the first chance they got. You prayed your guards would return home unscathed.

Taking Mingi’s hand, the two of you started your escape journey, going through the passage in utter darkness, depending only on Mingi’s senses until you could see the light coming from the exit. Mingi sighed as he peeked outside. “Guards right outside. We’ll have to wait till they move.”

“I hope they do,” you whispered, “because we don’t have all night.”

Waiting in silence, it took the guards around 20 minutes to move. Mingi squeezed your hand. “When I say run… you run like hell. And you remember what to do if we get separated?”

“Follow the wind,” you nodded. “You’ll find me.”

“And if I don’t?”

You gulped. “I will continue home.”

Mingi kissed your forehead. “Let’s go.”

He jumped down first, catching you when you jumped and you hid behind the bushes- you’d have to climb the wall. This was, perhaps, the riskiest part of it all. Mingi went first, making sure no one was on the other side as he threw a rope and you climbed-

All the air in your lungs left through a gasp when an arrow narrowly escaped you and hit the wall next to you. Mingi sent a dagger for one of the two men that came after you, getting rid of him instantly, and you took out your daggers and went into close combat, using the element of surprise when the guard hesitated after recognizing you and burying the dagger in his heart. Shaken, you looked at Mingi who extended his hand and you immediately climbed, jumping down after him and running towards the forest nearby.

The two of you stopped to catch your breath once you were inside the thick of the forest and you slumped down, staring at Mingi in utter disbelief of what you just did.

“I know,” Mingi wrapped his arms around you, “The first kill… it’s always the hardest. But you did it to save your home, your kingdom. Remember that you saved so many lives- let’s hope we get to see the end of it and none of that is in vain.”

“But…” you took a deep breath. “He must have a family. I wouldn’t have finished him if he hadn’t recognised me- it’s not okay.”

“You didn’t do that to protect only yourself,” Mingi squeezed your shoulders. “It’s going to get harder from here. You can still go back.”

You looked up at the sky, taking a deep breath and standing. Your eyes were steel. “Let’s move. For Wonderland.”

“For Wonderland,” Mingi got up and kissed your knuckles, “And for my Princess.”

—-------------------

It didn’t take long for the Prince to catch up to what had happened. 

The castle was in a frenzy after finding two guards killed right next to the castle wall. Perhaps wondering if there were robbers, or worse, assassins, the guards put the castle in a lockdown, searching for whoever dared trespass. All it took was the guards to make sure that their guest, the Princess, was safe to find out that she was missing.

Along with her guard.

But it looked like the Princess had been ‘taken’ since there was still half a cup of warm tea in the Princess’ room with a book open, and the guards didn’t think of any other possibility, wondering if Mingi had been killed and hidden somewhere or had gone to save his princess.

The Prince came back sooner than anticipated, worrying about your disappearance first, not suspecting anything for a good while and sending as many men as he could in search for you until one day later when he found out which document, exactly, was missing. 

It didn’t take him long after that to join the missing pieces of the story. That you, the Princess of Wonderland, had come to Utopia with an ulterior motive and had successfully fooled everyone in the castle. The search turned into a hunt then.

And you were regretting not having a faster route to get to Wonderland. You had almost been caught twice within two days and since you were on foot, it would take another two days to get to Wonderland, only if you were quick enough.

“I think you should have made me practise running more,” you breathed as Mingi led you through the trees after hearing the faint noise of horses in the distance. There weren’t many people who travelled through this part of the forest so he figured it must be the guards. “My legs are giving away.”

“Save your breath and don’t talk,” Mingi scoffed- he knew you were being partly dramatic but also partly truthful. “Let’s have a good night’s sleep tonight if we’re lucky.”

You scoffed back- luck was running shorter with every passing hour. As if to prove that point, a soldier on a horse blocked your way and Mingi sent a dagger before his bow could find any one of you. 

“Tell me we can take this horse.”

“It’s better to hide,” Mingi said to your dismay and you groaned before following him again. Hiding behind a tree for a moment, you two stocked up on your weapons, loading your bows. You looked at Mingi whose back rested against the tree trunk, his chest heaving up and down. 

You patted his arm. “Tired?”

“Of you? Definitely,” Mingi smirked and you gasped, slapping his chest. 

“I ought to leave you here,” you muttered.

“You won’t even make it to the border without me,” Mingi teased and you glared at him. 

“Well then, why don’t you go ahead yourself then? I’ll go back to the castle-” You were interrupted by Mingi pulling you towards him and pecking your cheek.

“I can’t make it anywhere without you as well, if that comforts you.”

You rolled your eyes, biting your lip as you looked away. “We better be getting a good night’s sleep tonight, Mingi.”

Mingi raised a brow at that, saluting and the two of you carried on running again, the setting sun providing you a sense of comfort. And when you started to hear the birds again, you knew that you’d successfully lost the ones who chased you. Settling down at the edge of the river, you washed the sweat off your face first before drinking gulps of water clumsily through your hands, and Mingi bent down next to you to rub your back before doing the same himself. You watched him with a faint smile and he raised his brow in question.

“Nothing,” you patted his back awkwardly. “We just make a good team.”

Mingi grinned at that, shaking his head. “You can wash up first. I’m going to make a quick scan and set the tent.”

After doing just that, the two of you sat in front of each other, staring at the pieces of wood you had collected, wondering if lighting the fire was a good idea right now. 

“I mean,” you muttered, “if we’re not going to cook… then a fire won’t be necessary, huh?”

“But it’s cold at night and I don’t want you to freeze to death,” Mingi sighed. “Can you imagine if that happened? History books would say, ‘Princess of Wonderland, smart enough to steal the documents from the Prince of Utopia but dumb enough to die of cold before reaching home-’”

“Oh, shut up,” you scoffed. “It’s not even that cold. And I’ll be using you as my body heater so I’ll be okay.”

“But I’ll be cold,” Mingi muttered and you realised this was about him. You chuckled lowly at that and he pouted. “I’ll just make do then.”

You shook your head, your hand unconsciously going to the breast pocket inside your cloak and Mingi noticed how you kept checking if the document was there every few minutes. “It’s not going to run away.”

“Won’t make me less anxious,” you told him. “I just… can’t believe we’re here right now. Like this. I never imagined, in my entire life, that I would have a price on my head and be in enemy territory as well.”

Mingi sighed. “I can understand that. This month has been the most unpredictable of my life as well. And not just because of this conflict.”

You smiled slowly at that. “I never imagined this too. I never thought I’d think of someone else, other than Dohyun, considering we were supposed to get married.”

“Do you regret it?” Mingi looked at you. You shook your head.

“Never. I have never felt so deeply in my life, Mingi. You’re the one for me. And when we get back… I will fight for you. I promise you that.”

“It’s dangerous,” Mingi shook his head and you could see how heartbroken he looked at the possibility that there was a chance everything about you two could go downhill from here. “You know Wonderland royalty is very sensitive about their status and class-”

“I’ve already broken so many rules, Mingi. I trained like a soldier when I was only supposed to sit and look pretty. I am charged with espionage as of now. I think after all this trouble, I can actually spend the rest of my life with someone I love, since I can’t marry Dohyun now, at least.”

Mingi laughed at that, hiding his face in his arms and your heart swelled at the sight. “What? You don’t want to be with me?”

“I’ve never wanted anything more,” Mingi said, not looking at you. “I just don’t want you to suffer because of me when we get back.”

“Well,” you got up and sat beside him, locking eyes with him. “What makes you think you don’t already make me suffer enough?”

“That’s my line,” Mingi was amused. “I should report you when we get back.”

“Oh?” You smirked, “What are you going to report me for? What crimes have I committed?”

“Theft,” Mingi said dramatically, “You stole my heart-”

“Oh, that’s the cheesiest thing I’ve heard in my life, Song Mingi,” you laughed out loud. “You really suck at flirting, you know that?”

“Do I?”

“I’ve been doing all the flirting in our long relationship, if you remember,” you winked at him and realisation flashed across Mingi’s eyes.

“So you intentionally said stuff like that, huh?”

Mingi was referring to the countless remarks you’d casually throw around at him during the past few years, that made him question if you were just bold or god forbid, flirting with him. He’d always dismiss it, because why would a Princess flirt with a guard and have actual intentions behind it?

“I don’t know if I’m lucky or very unlucky.”

You rested your head against his shoulder. “You’ll know when we get back home. Prepare to get promoted to a Prince soon, Mingi, because I’m having no one else now that I’ve had you.”

Mingi wondered how he, as a mere guard, had captured your heart. And he figured that even if you told him, he would still find it unbelievable. He’d always hold your face in his hands like he was now and stare into your eyes for the longest time as if all the answers he needed he could find there. And when your eyes would fall to his lips, he would always sigh and caress your face to make sure you were real before kissing you.

—-----------------

“Drop your weapons, soldier, or your Princess dies right here.”

Mingi’s heart sank to his knees but he kept aiming the arrow at the man who held a dagger at the neck of his beloved Princess. And a slight shake of your head told him not to do that, leaving him internally distraught as he tried to make a decision.

You had been so close to reaching the border, only a couple of miles away, when you heard the dreadful siren that some soldier, who had spotted you, blew. Mingi got rid of him instantly but it was too late by then, and to make matters worse, it was none other than Dohyun waiting for you at the border. 

Perhaps, he had allowed you to get here in the first place, some sort of a twisted sense of revenge to hold your life at the tip of his daggers while you could see the hills of your homeland. It was ironic but brilliant, really. You supposed he was justified to do so, considering you had stomped over his heart and all.

But you weren’t giving in so easily. It was only the two of you, but you fought. You loaded arrow after arrow, shooting everyone but the Prince- but perhaps you should have shot him first, despite the consequences, because now he was the one who was ready to take your life.

“Mingi,” you warned. “Don’t.”

But Mingi shook his head, wanting to drop the arrow so badly, not because of the amount of arrows aimed at him too, ready to shoot if he made one wrong move, but because he couldn’t bear to see you hurt. Not as a Princess. Not as his partner. 

“Think wisely,” Dohyun muttered in your ear and you hissed at how close he was. “You want your dear old guard to die first?” When you didn’t answer, he scoffed. “Thought so. Now give me the document.”

“Just tell me first,” you spat. “Was it all a lie? Was there really no chance for peace between our kingdoms, even after marriage?”

“You made it worse, just so you know,” Dohyun’s grip around your neck tightened. “I could have considered not taking any more land. But I’m not backing away now- not a chance. And you won’t have any proof to take back home when you’re dead.”

“Kill me then,” you scoffed. “And prepare for a war. You shed one drop of my blood here, and Wonderland will come for war- you know that.”

“We can always make it look like we’re the victim here, Princess,” he snickered and you realised that he could. “We could blame one of your guards. We could make it look like you were killed by your own people. I bet no one knows what you were really up to here, no? Nobody would suspect us, Princess. Now you-” Dohyun glared at Mingi. “Drop your weapon right now if you don’t want her to die this instant.”

Mingi kept aiming the arrow at the Prince’s head because he knew the two of you were doomed if he let his guard down now. The Prince wasn’t aware of your skills as a soldier yet, and since he thought he had the upper hand now, you two were at an advantage.

Especially because he had no idea you had met up with your remaining guards a day ago and asked them to keep trailing you, hidden, and wait for your signal if things went south. They were probably hidden in the trees with their weapons aimed right now. Dohyun had no idea you’d brought the deadliest assassins of your kingdom as your guards- to anyone else, they’d look and act like mere palace guards. 

Though there was still a chance that your guards had lost you and you two were on your own, you locked eyes with Mingi and a subtle nod from him told you that he would do whatever you asked him to. Your arms limp at your sides, you fiddled with your hands- which was really a signal to your guards if they were present to shoot as soon as they got the chance- the next signal you gave to Mingi, staring at where the scar on his neck was from the time he had saved you, hoping he’d get it.

And he did. And he could not bring himself to hurt you, but your hands trailed up to hold Dohyun’s arm that was holding you in place, pretending all of this was making you weak. Mingi exhaled, lowering his arrow from the Prince’s head and the scoff you heard from him made you scoff internally, because he was so going to regret this.

And Dohyun did- as soon as he saw Mingi stop lowering the arrow and aiming it at your neck, he had no time to react and Mingi shot the arrow, grazing your neck but making the arrow land in Dohyun’s chest and it all ended up in a frenzy with you flipping Dohyun on the ground and being the one to hold the dagger to his neck while your guards that were thankfully present shooting down everyone around Mingi, leaving only two who stood helpless at the sight of their Prince threatened.

“How does it feel on this side?” You asked Dohyun who was groaning in pain dramatically. “Oh, come on. You won’t die from this.”

“You’re going to regret this-”

“No, you are going to regret this, Prince,” you hissed back at him. “You’re going to regret taking advantage of our arrangement and even thinking you could use that to take over Wonderland. Wonderland is stronger than you can ever imagine, it would do you good to remember that.”

Mingi knocked the remaining guards unconscious and the two of you waited until your own guards came. The guards from the border arrived to see what the commotion was about, panicking when they saw their Prince threatened.

You made eye contact with each of the guards. “Your Prince will be delivered to you, unharmed any further, if you accompany us to the border. And don’t even think about trying anything- you can’t win now.”

With a nod from Dohyun, his guards decided to cooperate, and you insisted on being the one who held Dohyun all the way since his guards would think not twice but thrice before harming you as well. You borrowed their horses, promising to return them once you reached home, insisting you were not ‘used to taking what wasn’t yours’ and Dohyun grunted at that. Once your own guards stationed at the border spotted you, the exchange was done and you stepped inside your home ground, in front of a pale Dohyun.

“I’ll give you only one chance to set things right,” you warned Dohyun. “I can let everything go if you can stop any movement that threatens Wonderland. As you know,” you waved the document in your hand, “We have the upper hand now. If you dare make another wrong move, I’ll make this public. You know how quick the other kingdoms will be to ally with Wonderland when they learn how easily Utopia can violate peace treaties.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “You win. Give me a while before I send a message.”

“You have exactly one week,” you announced and then sighed. “I thought we could have parted on better terms, Dohyun. You brought this upon yourself. The relationship between our kingdoms can still be mended, but there is no chance for us now. And it will be better if you are the one to call our arrangement off.”

“You bet I will,” he scoffed. “Nice knowing you, Princess. I have to say it was quite an unpredictable adventure.”

You scoffed back. “Don’t take the arrow out until you have something to stop the bleeding.”

Dohyun smiled but looked confused when Mingi joined you and put an arm around you in the most casual way. You smiled knowingly and saluted Dohyun before turning away, Mingi helping you up on the horse and riding back. 

Mingi waited until Dohyun was out of sight before relaxing and you could feel his body relax since he was sitting behind you. You looked back at him, noticing him staring at the bleeding slash on your neck. “We match now.”

Mingi looked up and groaned, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this is the first thing you say to me after… all of that.”

“Come on,” you put your hands on his that held the reins. “We’re home now. We’re safe. Thank you for actually listening to me for once back there.”

“You have no idea how scared I was,” he admitted. “I’m still shaking- let’s take a breather at the first inn.”

You nodded and stopped at the first inn that arrived, thanking all of your guards sincerely first and promising to reward them as soon as you were back. After dinner at the very empty inn and a work with the innkeeper to stay quiet about this, you and Mingi went to the room to rest for the night.

“I have to say, the air really is different here,” you said as you dried your hair with a towel, standing in front of the half-open window. “Smells like home.”

Mingi, who had just entered after checking the perimeter with the guards and making sure they had good accommodations, nodded. “I’m less tense now, and I can’t believe how I was always on my toes in Utopia. It feels like I’m letting my guard down now.”

You laughed as you looked back outside. “I can relate to that. I was always on edge too.”

You felt Mingi walk to you and he took the towel, wrapping your hair in it while he waved a salve that he got from the innkeeper in front of you. “Let me.”

You nodded, and he applied it gently with his fingers, sighing again and again at the sight of the very angry red slash. It was definitely going to leave a scar. You rolled your eyes when you heard him sigh for the umpteenth time, turning and straightening his collar. “When are you going to stop feeling sorry? Because I made it clear that you acted upon my order.”

“It’s not because of that,” he shut the box and tossed it on the bed. “I just… when I think of how things could have gone so badly from there-”

“But they didn’t,” you rested your hands on his chest as you looked up at him. “And we’re here, you and I. Safe. So you can relax now.”

Mingi tucked your damp here behind your ear, tossing the towel away and letting your hair loose as well. He smiled before bringing you in for a hug and this time you sighed into it, realising that he was home. You would always feel at home and safe in his arms. You let him stay like that for a good few moments, let him kiss your forehead and then litter kisses all over your face as if he couldn’t believe you were here, with him.

“You’re tickling me,” you grinned when he trailed his lips down your temple. You felt him smile and he tilted your face to look at you, shaking his head and finally kissing you where you most wanted him, unrushed and lazy yet it was the first time your knees gave away and you desperately held onto him. He took you to bed, making you lay down and you let him kiss you until he got tired and buried his nose in the crook of your neck, dozing off instantly. You laughed to yourself, smacking his arm lightly and following him right after.

—-----------------

“That’s preposterous,” the King, your father, glared at you and you looked helplessly at your mother- the only person who could make your father see things differently. 

“I am aware that what I did was dangerous and wrong on many levels,” you met eyes with your father, “but it was necessary, you must understand that. All the better given I got us physical proof of their betrayal. That should also be a good enough reason to break off our arrangement.”

“It’s been more than a decade, and everyone is aware of the arrangement. You will be frowned upon if you break this off now. Especially if it’s him breaking it off right after your visit.”

“What do you expect her to do, darling?” Your mother sighed, putting a hand on her forehead. “She can’t exactly live in peace with him now.”

“Which is why I’m cross with her,” your father replied. “She should have sent someone else to do the stealing.”

“No one else would have succeeded,” you smiled inwardly, “and you know that.”

“Well,” your father groaned. “We’ll know in one week if you made the right decisions. I ought to ground you until then.”

You rolled your eyes. “It’s not like I even leave the palace or come out of my room often. If you wish to ground me, go ahead.”

Your mother smiled at that, urging you to take a seat. You had been standing all this time, ready to disappear if your father didn’t take the news well, but thankfully, it looked like he was okay for now. 

Except he was still glaring at you. “You look like you have something else to tell me.”

“I do, actually,” you met eyes with your parents. “But this is not the right time. So, tell me, how have things been while I was away?”

You spent the next few days mostly in the library, going through the history of Wonderland, searching for examples where a king, queen, prince or princess married someone who was not of their status. You found none, figuring that even if someone had (someone must have in the centuries of Wonderland’s existence) it would never be recorded in the books. It would be considered a ‘tarnish’ to the seemingly perfect history.

But was there a law that said you and Mingi could not be together?

So you spent the rest of the week going through the laws too. You asked around as casually as you could, you went through books, exerting yourself until you collapsed in the library and your maids had to carry you back. 

And that finally got Mingi, who had been avoiding you, to come visit you.

You smiled when you felt his hand snake through yours, recognizing him by his calloused and hard hands without opening your eyes. “I think I should do that more often. At least it got you to come see me.”

Mingi sighed. “You know how risky it is here. I have no reason to guard you here all the time so my presence would only make everyone suspicious. I’m risking so much being here with you like this too.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” you pouted and he pinched your cheek as he smiled. “But you haven’t even come to see me formally.”

“Everytime I look at you,” he nearly whispered, “I want nothing more than to hold you. I have to hold myself back for your sake.”

You were lost in the emotion in his eyes for a few moments before you pulled him, making him sit on the bed next to you and wrap his arms around you. He held you with a sigh, kissing the top of your head. You buried your nose in the crook of his neck, your arms around his neck as well. 

“If anyone comes without knocking, we’re dead.”

“No one would dare come without knocking,” you told him, kissing the scar on his neck, making his hold on you get tighter. “I missed you so much.”

Mingi swept your hair back, holding your face in his hands, staring at it for the longest time as if he was mesmerised. You licked your lips and it was his undoing as he basically crashed his lips on yours, kissing you desperately, with a pressure that had you craning back and back until you were lying flat on your bed. Your hands ran all over his toned chest, wanting to take off his clothes but the sane part in you told you that you were already risking too much. And perhaps, Mingi felt the same, opting to only push his hand under your clothes to hold you at your waist. Lack of breath made you break apart, only for him to trail his lips down your scar. 

“I’ve been asking around too, you know,” he said as he kissed your neck again. “I think you should talk to your mother first.”

“Really?” You frowned. “What did you hear?”

“I can’t say it out loud. If it’s false information, some people really need to answer why they’ve been spreading such stories. But if it’s true… I think she won’t be surprised.”

You understood what he meant, confused still because as far as you knew, your mother married your father at a young age, had your elder sister who was already married off and a queen of another kingdom, and had you. She’d always lived a recluse life. But could she be the one who would relate to you?

You got Mingi’s attention by tugging at his arm and the two of you sat in front of each other. “I’ve gone through the history- there’s nothing there. There’s nothing about a princess not marrying someone of royal blood in the law too. So what’s really stopping us?”

“I care about your reputation and how people will judge you if you become mine,” Mingi played with the hair that fell on your shoulder. “I care only about how people will speak of you.”

“And I care about none of that. Rather,” you smiled, “we could be the first ones to set an example. That the royals can, after all, marry for love, whoever that is.”

Mingi smiled at the notion. “I’m also worried about what comes next. By marrying you…”

“You’ll be Prince, and in future, the King,” you looked at him proudly, kissing him deeply before continuing. “There’s no one who could do a better job, and no one who deserves this more than you.”

Mingi kissed your forehead. “Let’s hope someone else believes that too.”

“But…” you bit your lips as you considered the other possibility. “If you don’t want to rule alongside me…”

“I won’t ask you to step down, because you are Wonderland’s only hope,” Mingi caressed your face. “Your sister should have been the one, but she believed she couldn’t bear the burden. But I know you can. And if I can share even some of it with you, if you can love me forever… I’ll be the happiest, even though I never imagined to be anything but a guard in my wildest dreams.”

You wiped your teary eyes, laughing along with him as your heart swelled at his words. “I do not deserve someone as good as you, Song Mingi.”

“I do not deserve someone as annoying as you, Princess, but here we are,” he sighed dramatically and you slapped his arm, gasping. 

“Well, you better be prepared to put up with it for the rest of your life,” you scoffed and he crossed his heart. 

—------------------

You never expected your mother to tell you a tragic tale of a forbidden love gone wrong when you told her that you had a man in your heart that wasn’t Dohyun.

She told you about the time after she had you, when you were 5, when her parents who were from Mist Island were sick with a life-threatening disease and she had gone to be with them in their perhaps last moments- her father survived but her mother passed away.

She told you about the young, handsome doctor who took care of your parents. She spoke with such love in her eyes that you were brought to tears. After speaking about it out loud for the first time, she was reliving through the memories.

“It was never my intention to be unfaithful to your father, who had done nothing but shower me with love and everything that I wanted. But perhaps, falling in love out of your own accord was something I hadn’t experienced with your father which led to the events in my parent’s home. We never went far- we were just friends. We would sit on the balcony and talk all night long. You know how much I was interested in medical sciences- he educated me, in a way. And somehow… I forgot that I was married and a mother of two when I was with him.”

“But…” you sniffed. “It’s not wrong to fall in love.”

“It wasn’t right either,” your mother sighed, brushing her dark long hair back, “I should have known that as a queen, there were eyes that followed me everywhere. I made the first move. I held his hand first. I hugged him first. I never got to kiss him.”

You were too scared to ask why and your mother nodded, confirming your suspicions. “My father found out. He warned me, but I took it lightly. So when he caught us sitting next to each other, he decided to send me back to Wonderland, even though it had only been days after my mother’s passing. As for the doctor… I believe he had someone take care of him- that’s what I was informed of, at least. I mourned two deaths when I came back, though the world only knows of one.”

You sat in a trance as the gravity of the situation settled in. Your grandfather had definitely reacted rashly. It wasn’t fair to the man whose only sin was to love your mother, and it wasn’t fair to your mother as well. Your mother put a hand over yours, though you wished you would have been the one to do that, in hopes to provide a sense of comfort to her. 

“It’s our secret,” she winked at you. “You’re the first soul I told. So will you trust your mother and confide in me? Perhaps I can help you make better decisions.”

So you told her everything, and she listened with a smile. You told her how you had feelings for Mingi from way back, but you never acted upon them- perhaps fearing they might not be reciprocated. You told her how you went to Utopia, intending to find out if Dohyun really was the man for you. 

“Perhaps I would have married him, if it weren’t for the political issue,” you smiled. “I would have dismissed my feelings for Mingi. But… deep down, I always knew I could never be truly satisfied with Dohyun, or anyone else for that matter. And Mingi… he’s always been so good to me. His heart is made of steel, and his feelings for me were buried there. I had to struggle so much to get him to look at me. And when he did… the intensity of it blew me away. I don’t think I can love anyone else, mother.”

“I understand,” she patted your cheek. “Dohyun has sent a message about your engagement. He called it off, like you told us he would. Your father is busy considering other suitors at the moment.”

“Do you think he’ll ever accept this? I’ve looked through history, through the law, there’s nothing that says we can’t be together except for stupid tradition and customs-”

“They are there for a reason,” your mother raised a brow, “but perhaps, we really do need to break some. They can be quite suffocating.”

You nodded. Your mother told you to lay low for a while and that she would slowly plant the seed in your father’s brain, see how he reacts and then proceed with you.

After a few weeks, you stood in front of your father who was partly angry but more surprised. You told him that if he wished that Wonderland be ruled by his blood, he better accept your proposal. Your parents burst out laughing at your bravery at that, but it took only a second for your father to be angry again. 

“Imagine if Dohyun never called off the engagement. Do you know how much you’ve risked Wonderland?”

“I saved Wonderland. Mingi saved Wonderland even when no one asked him to. What guard would have done that for me? It was love that made him risk everything with me, father.”

Your father scoffed, glaring at you. “Go to your room. Mingi is no longer your guard. I’ll have a little chat with him and see what should be done.”

“Father,” you sat down on your knees in front of him. “I beg you, do not harm him in any way. He saved me numerous times. It’s the least you can do for me, even if you won’t allow it- do not harm him.”

He considered for a moment before he grunted ‘fine’ and you scurried off to your room with a look at your mother who gave you a nod, indicating that she could handle it.

And perhaps she did, perhaps it was your father who had a change of heart (quite unexpected since you thought he’d throw you both in the dungeons) or perhaps it was Mingi himself who won his heart.

Mingi never told you what happened that night. He just told you that he’d always be indebted to your mother for helping him out and to your father for accepting him as his son-in-law.

The castle was in an uproar when they heard of your engagement, soon to be wedded to Mingi. The guards never expected that someone like Mingi won the Princess’ heart (to be fair, they only ever saw the stern side of Mingi). The maids wondered just how long this had gone on, finding it quite scandalous. But you?

You couldn’t be happier. 

As you slept with Mingi, your husband, you couldn’t be more loved and happier.

“Maybe you should stop staring at me and sleep. We’ve had enough of love making tonight.”

You slapped his chest. “I’m only thinking.”

“What?” He opened one eye, his thumb absently caressing the skin on your hips.

“How lucky I am to be here,” you kissed his cheek, lingering for a while.

“You’re making me want to go for a third round. I’m tired.”

“I thought you had more strength in you, considering you were a guard, but I guess you were wrong- ah!”

A surprised yelp left you as Mingi flipped you over and whispered things in your ears that made you go red and laugh as you tried pushing him off, but it looked like he did have the strength for a third round afterall.

protection — song mingi

gn!reader , sniper!mingi , ateez lore inspired , angst & fluff , cw: violence, guns, bombs, injuries (not described at all!), totally unedited (you can yell at me for super bad mistakes if you so with i'll be grateful) , wc: 1.8K , HERE YOU GO @luvhyun3 kana thank you for planting this in my head i hope you enjoy <3

“i’m in position.” the sound of his deep voice in your ear is crisp, transmitted cleanly by the tiny speaker of your earpiece.

“copy that.” your own voice is taught and stern, as if to compensate for the erratic beating of your heart. despite the now familiar weight of the gun in your hand, you continue wishing you’d stop being so nervous for every mission. you know exactly what you’re doing, your hand is steady, and mingi’s is steadier. his presence is always the most confusing mash-up of comfort and absolute horror—you know he always has you covered, but the fact that he’s there at all means that he could be hurt in the process. you can picture him, perched in the high window of an abandoned building, covered in his black protective gear and his sharp eye peering through the scope of his long sniper.

but you don’t have time to dwell on your fear, his striking appearance, or anything at all when hongjoong’s voice patches in from his own position. “alright. move in.”

with that, your gun is pointed up in front of you the moment you silently slip from your hidden position, right into the open for the enemy forces to see. immediately eyes are trained on you, and not even seconds later, so is their gunfire. you save your bullets, sprinting to and dropping down behind the corner of a building while letting mingi pick off those who pose the most danger to you with his impressive effectiveness.

for today, your role is dangerous; you’re the distraction, and your one job is to draw their fire for as long as you can. you dart closer and closer to the enemy base, always searching for an open shot between cover and allowing mingi to thin the lines of the gunsman for you. only the last few stand when you hear another voice in your ear.

“we’re in.” san confirms he and wooyoung have made it inside the core of the base, about to begin their search for enemy plans and destroy anything potentially harmful.

but that doesn’t mean you’re done quite yet. the more to help them the better, so you make the last dart up to the guards and engage in hand to hand combat in order to get inside from the main entrance. especially with the help of mingi, your fight to the door goes without you receiving any wounds worse than a fist to your face or gut. sure, those hurt, but they’re easy to shake off when you could be feeling the unforgiving sting of a bullet.

just as you place a hand on the door, you hear a shout in your ear. it’s his voice, calling your name frantically.

“run!” 

your instincts kick in, and you know fully well to trust him. you sprint to the side, trying to reach cover around the corner of the building, but mingi’s desperate warning is swallowed up by the deafening boom of a hand-thrown bomb, it's blidingly bright flash, and the following darkness.

—

your ears are ringing like literal hell, and that’s all you can process for a long, long moment. next is a blur in front of you and a distant voice calling out to you. your name, maybe?

“m-mingi?” you can’t hear yourself, but you hope he can.

“i’m here, i’m right here. just keep looking at me, okay? you’ll be fine.” his words still sound as if he’s speaking to you from above water, and you’re the one drowning. then the pain hits and you wince almost violently when he tucks an arm under your shoulders and pulls you up into his chest. “sorry, i’m sorry, but i gotta get you out of here.” his other arm hooks under your knees and he stands with you tucked securely into his arms.

with the pain and the constant ringing in your ears, you’re unaware of anything around you but the sight of mingi’s determined face, inches away from your own. his brows are furrowed with worry and a tight frown is cemented in his features as he runs to get you to safety. you wonder if you’re making things up when you notice a glisten in his sharp eyes, as if so afraid for you he’s teared up.

“i’m alright,” you mumble, trying your best in your dazed state to comfort him. he shifts his gaze down to meet your eyes for just a split second, his face softening infinitely in that moment.

“you are alright,” he repeats, a confirmation for you and himself. in the periphery of your senses, you hear shouting, maybe the screeching of tires. your head falls from mingi’s chest in your effort to see around you and you catch sight of a familiar black van, just meters away.

“hurry!” the large door of the van on the side facing you is thrown open, and jongho’s voice meets your ears just before the sounds of gunshots resume, coming from above. the moment you’re right by the van, jongho takes you from mingi’s arms, pulling you inside so mingi can scramble in after you.

the car begins moving before the door is even closed, and this time it’s yunho’s voice that you register coming from the driver’s seat as jongho sets you down on your side in the wide bed of the back of the van.

“we’re going back around to get san and wooyoung,” yunho informs.

mingi just nods, keeping all of his attention on you. he says your name softly, barely audible over the gunshots that follow the van. he tucks a hand under your head to keep it from knocking against the hard floor as jongho assesses the wounds littering your body. mingi’s other hand gently strokes your hair.

from behind you jongho lets out a sigh of relief. “they were far enough away from the explosion, i think our biggest issue is the shrapnel. the medic will know better, but i think they’ll be fine. we just have to get back soon.”

everything’s still a bit of a blur when the van screeches to a stop and wooyoung and san pile in. finally, the car speeds away and the gunshots following you cease.

“i’m alright,” you mumble when san worriedly asks about your condition, and you let jongho give a more detailed answer. the rest of the car ride is mostly quiet after the nearly botched mission (wooyoung and san still managed to steal some enemy plans).

all that you hear are the comforting words and constant apologies that fall from mingi’s mouth. this time you’re sure you’re not imagining the sight of tears in the man’s eyes when he apologizes for the millionth time for not seeing the enemy who threw the bomb beforehand. you do what you can to ease his guilt, but you can’t say half as much as what you want to say when there’s so much pain coursing through you.

it’s only until the next day, as you lay frustrated and ansty, but patched up and on pain meds in the infirmary bed that you get to say to him what you want.

you wake up with him by your side after sleeping through the night, his hand holding yours and his eyes suspiciously red and puffy.

“mingi…” your voice is gravelly and dry, but his name on your lips still sounds like a song to him.

“yeah, yeah, i’m here. you’re awake, are you okay?” his voice chokes up and he looks down at the floor like it’s got something to offer him.

“yeah, i’m okay,” your voice breaks, and quickly, he stands and brings you water. once you feel as though you can talk longer, you continue. “i’m alright mingi, it’s all fine. don’t– don’t cry, please. don’t cry over me. i'm fine, you see?” seeing him so vulnerable breaks your heart, and in that moment you’d do anything to comfort him. it’s odd to see him this way, always so strong and precise in his work. emotionless, even.

“but i should have seen him, i should have prevented this from happening to you. i could have! i got him afterwards, all of them afterwards, but i was too late and you got hurt, and god, i just–”

“mingi, stop it. stop it please. you still saved me! i’m right here and i’m gonna be just fine. they would’ve gotten me if you hadn’t stopped them first and then you came down and you saved me again, you got me into the van and you got me here and because of that, i’m gonna be fine. you’ve saved my life countless times, i want you to remember that.”

“but you still got hurt,” he refutes.

“none of that, mingi, please! i’m okay. i’m still alive, that’s what matters. what matters is that i’m still here and i can still keep fighting for this, we can keep fighting for this.”

“but i want you safe,” his voice is pleading as he takes hold of your hand once again.

you sigh. “i know. and i want you to be safe too. but we have to risk ourselves for this, and you know it. you know we can’t just stop to be safe, because we won’t be either way. we won’t be safe if they get to us, so we have to fight.” you pause, afraid to say the next sentence that rests on your tongue. but memories that flood your heart in just a split second pull it out of you. first comes the moment you met him and you thought he was terrifying. then he smiled and your heart skipped a beat. you think of the way his expression always softens, lights up when you’re around. the time he fell asleep on your shoulder after a long meeting with the crew or the time he pulled you into a hug after your first mission, admitting he was scared watching you from up there. the way he cried while you slept because he just wanted to protect you. so you have to hope he feels the same as you and that you’re right when you say, “we have to fight so we can keep loving each other, right?”

he lets out a surprised breath. “yeah,” and it sounds like maybe he’s as breathless as you. “yeah, i love you. i wanna keep loving you. just scared. i can’t kiss you and hold you if you’re gone.”

“but i’m not. i’m right here and i love you too.”

he’s silent for a moment, battling with his guilt and fear. but he tightens his grip on your hands and gifts you a small smile.

“does that mean i can kiss you now?”

you just nod, smiling back as he leans down. his lips are soft against yours, a stark contrast to the professional side of him that’s sharp and unforgiving. but his hand brushing lightly over your jaw is gentle and the movement of his lips is full of love. he moves away just slightly, resting his forehead against yours.

“never gonna stop kissing you,” he mumbles, still so close you can feel his lips brush against yours.

“good.”

The MinSanHwa Dorm (pt 2)

pairing: song mingi x fem!reader, mentions of san and seonghwa

word count: 2.7k

tags: fluff, smut, established friendship with san, the morning after

minors DNI !! nsfw & warnings under the cut

warnings: dom!mingi, sub!reader, shower sex, fingering (f receiving), rough play, nipple play, degradation, unprotected sex (❌), multiple orgasms Part 1.

After only a few hours sleep, you slowly woke up to faint noise outside of Seonghwa's bedroom. Feeling slightly groggy, you managed to sit yourself up, rubbing your eyes. An arm draped around your waist paired with a light groan, pulling your attention to your company.

"Morning," you giggled at the messy-haired boy beside you. He looked up at you sleepily, the imprint of his pillow on his cheek.

"Morning," he said, his voice low and gravelly. "Are you getting up?"

You nodded, slowly shifting out of the covers but folding them back over him. "I should before someone realises I left the lounge." You leant down to plant a soft kiss on his forehead, moving to the bedroom door and opening it quietly to slip back into the living space.

But panic hit you immediately when you found Mingi already up, in the same black shirt and grey sweats as last night, folding away the unused blanket and pillow on the lounge. You froze in your place, managing to still close the door behind you softly.

"Hi," Mingi said casually.

"Hi," you answered, your face expressionless.

"Don't worry about me, just tidying up." He carried on picking up the folded blanket and pillow, taking them back to the closet where San got them from just as the blonde-haired idol left his own bedroom.

"Morning Y/N," he greeted with a sleepy smile, rubbing at his face. He was wearing long black flowy pants and an oversized grey shirt, walking past you towards the kitchen. "How'd you sleep?" San asked, filling up a glass of water for himself.

Your mind raced with what happened between you and Seonghwa. The innocent touches turning into desperation. The feeling of his slender fingers. The feeling of him pulsing inside you and the strained look on his face when he came-

"Yeah not too bad." You smiled, eyes subtly darting to Mingi as he rounded the corner again, moving into his open bedroom to get something, not saying a word about seeing you walk out of Seonghwa's room.

"If it wasn't for the movie, I would've traded places with you and let you sleep in my room," he chuckled before taking a drink.

Rolling your eyes, you joined San in the kitchen to make yourself a glass. "How did you sleep?"

San shrugged, finishing the drink quickly before placing it in the sink. "Not too bad actually. Except someone kept me up all night."

Fear struck your chest immediately. Did he know and he was playing you this whole time? You couldn't read the look in his eyes, making you even more nervous that he was about to call you out for sleeping with his best friend.

"Speak of the devil," San said and your attention whipped to the bedrooms, a now fully-clothed Seonghwa walking out of his at the same time Mingi exited his too. "Mings was moaning and groaning all night long."

The tall boy scoffed. "I was just gaming with Yunho," he said before walking into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"Morning." Seonghwa smiled sweetly, shaking his hair out as he walked into the kitchen and opened the pantry to see what they had.

"Morning!" San ruffled up his hair before grabbing a face mask and bucket hat from coffee table, picking up the dorm keys from the wall on his way to the front door. "I'm quickly running down to the E-Mart. Anyone want anything?"

"Some pastries, please," Seonghwa said, closing the pantry and opting to comfy himself on the lounge instead as he turned on the TV.

"You got it!" San called out, leaving the dorm.

You tapped the side of your glass, slowly sipping your water as you watched Seonghwa flip through the TV channels.

"Do you mind if I shower?" You asked him nervously.

He turned to you, his eyes bright and bubbly, making your heart do a little leap that you wish it didn't. "Yeah, of course! Towels are in the closet."

"Thanks." You smiled, walking over and pulling out a plain blue one, the cotton soft and fresh. Walking back towards the bathroom, you stopped and looked back over to Seonghwa. "You... Don't feel weird about it, right?"

The boy turned around on the lounge, one arm draped over the back. His face was relaxed, lips upturned softly. "I don't feel weird about it. Do you?"

You let out a soft breath. "I don't." You lowered your voice for the next part. "But I got a bit scared before, I thought San found out."

He shook his head, holding out a hand which you met halfway to take. His slender enclosed in yours in a sweet, innocent gesture. "I won't say anything you're not comfortable with telling him yourself."

You nodded, sighing with some relief again. "Thank you."

Drawing closer, Seonghwa lowered his voice. "If he's gonna be out for a while though, I might have to join you in the shower."

Your eyes widened immediately from how forward he was. The confidence in his tone making you nervous as you swallowed, Seonghwa turning back to the TV with a smirk on his lips before you could respond.

Remembering Mingi was in the bathroom, you gently knocked on the door. "Mingi?"

A few moments later, the door opened and rather than meeting his eyes, your gaze met the bare chest of the tall boy who towered over you. He held his arm up against the doorframe, leaning as he slightly knitted his eyebrows together.

"Yes?"

Maintaining yourself as much as you could, you peeled your eyes off his torso and up to meet his eyes, several inches above yours. The dark blue tips of his hair just covered his narrow eyes as you took in his features properly for the first time.

God, he was stunning.

"I wanted to take a shower, but if you're using it I can come back later-"

Not expecting Mingi to grab your arm to pull you inside the bathroom, you let out a small squeal in shock before he closed the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed. You didn't know what to do other than stand there, holding the bath towel tight to your chest.

"You and Seonghwa, hm?" He raised an eyebrow.

There was no hiding the heat in your cheeks and your wide stare as you tried to play dumb although Mingi literally watched you exit Seonghwa's room that morning. "What?"

The boy had the audacity to give you a little eye roll before taking steps towards you and gently grabbing your wrists, lowering them so you dropped the towel on the floor. "I don't know how San slept through it, but you two weren't as quiet as you thought." He leaned all the way down to you, his breath hot in your ear. "Had me hard all night."

His words shot straight to your core, making you even more red with embarrassment with how much he was affecting you. This was the first proper conversation you'd had with Mingi and you had a feeling you would be remembering it for a long time.

Guilt stirred in your gut at the idea of going behind San's back again and now Seonghwa after the two of you just shared such an intimate moment only hours earlier. But then again, it wasn't like you were dating him. No loyalties were broken.

And who knows? Maybe Seonghwa would be listening in like Mingi was the night earlier. Maybe it would turn him on too.

Mingi straightened himself up again, running a hand through your hair, tensing at the soft feeling of it through his fingers. "If you don't want this, I'll stop." He gave your hair a gentle tug, nothing that would hurt but enough to make you swallow a gasp. "But if you say yes, let me use you."

Your eyes locked as your hands shakily found his bare chest, running your fingertips down it, making Mingi exhale a quiet moan.

"Yes," you consented.

The look in Mingi's eyes changed from something held back to pure fire as he put his broad hands on your shoulders, slowly backing you up to lean you against the bathroom wall. The cool tiles made you shiver, but you were warmed immediately by his hot mouth on yours. Unlike Seonghwa, Mingi was sloppy and desperate at the first touch, wasting no time before exploring your mouth deeply, fulfilling all the desires that were built up earlier from overhearing you in the other room with his best friend.

You moaned into the kiss when Mingi's hands travelled from your shoulders down to your waist, then up again to find your chest and your already-hard nipples that poked through your thin shirt.

"Look at you," he whispered lowly, taking a breath from devouring your lips to drink in your flushed face. "So needy already."

You bit your lip to contain the noises that were begging to be released as Mingi teased your nipples, flicking them over the shirt. Your eyes never left his, until he suddenly picked you up and hoisted you to wrap your legs around his waist, ducking under your shirt to attach his lips to your sensitive nubs.

You clamped a hand over your mouth, careful not to be too loud as Mingi skilfully licked around your nipple before sucking on it harshly. He had no issues in holding you up, his hands underneath your ass, beginning to knead the area softly as he wreaked havoc on your tits. He switched to the other and began to lick furiously, only making the place between your legs all the more damp. If he kept this up, he'd feel you dripping in no time.

After giving equal attention to each nipple, Mingi slowly lowered you down. "Turn the shower on," he said before beginning to strip. You did as he asked, stepping into the shower to get the water ready, careful not to get your clothes wet. You stepped out and turned back to Mingi, unable to stop yourself from eyeballing his thick cock, already fully hard and leaking against his stomach.

Mingi stepped towards you again, a move that was equally intimidating and so extremely attractive all at once. He tugged on the bottom of your top, his face scrunching up. "You gonna shower with this on or what?"

Realising what he was getting at, you undressed in front of him before stepping into the shower, facing the shower head with your back to him. You let the warm water wash over you, revelling in the relaxation for no less than a moment before you felt two strong hands grip at your hips. They travelled up your sides, avoiding your tits and repeating that movement, diving lower each time.

You sucked in a sharp breath when one of his hands found your pussy, your wetness still gathered there despite standing underneath a running shower.

"God, you're so fucking wet for me," he groaned into your ear. You sighed out and closed your eyes as he slid his fingers lazily through your folds, leaning your head back to rest on his chest.

Mingi took his time exploring you with his fingers, testing you to see what you liked best. His lips found your neck as he nibbled gently, and in leaning down he pushed two fingers in, making you groan at how full you felt already.

“Oh my god…”

“Mmm you like that?” He slid his fingers out before pushing them back in, massaging your g-spot which almost made you collapse from the pleasure. Mingi quickly wrapped an arm around your waist. “I got you. Just let go, baby.”

You didn’t care who heard anymore. Your voice raised in pitch as you gave into the feeling, breath heavy as Mingi’s cock pressed against your back. He absentmindedly started to gently rock against you, low grunts of his own leaving his lips.

He fingered your roughly for another minute or so before you started to feel your orgasm quickly approaching. Your hands flailed to find a spot to hold as the wave came crashing down on you in an instant.

You cried out at the same time that your legs gave way, but Mingi held you firm, not letting your knees hit the bathroom tiles. He slowed his pace before withdrawing his fingers and turning you around, surveying your fucked out face.

“Look at you.” He caressed your cheek with his palm, resting his elbow above your head, water droplets from his hair falling onto you. “Looking all pretty like this.”

You squeezed your legs together as he pressed his crotch against yours, the feeling of his cock against your front keeping you turned on.

“Please…” you squeaked out.

“Hm?” He leaned his ear down to your mouth. “Tell me what you want.”

You swallowed hard. “I want you to fuck me.”

Mingi chuckled, making you blush with shame. “Aw you want me that bad, huh? Do you really deserve it after ignoring me for so long?” He traced his fingers along the sides of your arms. “Maybe I want to hear you beg for it.”

You groaned, letting your head rest against the wet tiles behind you. “Fuck… Please, Mingi I want you to fuck me right now.”

He smirked, leaning down to envelope your lips again. You’d forgotten what he tasted like already, making you savour him even more as he lifted your arms above your head and lined himself up with your hole. Mingi teased the entrance with his head, letting out a soft moan of his own as you dripped down onto him.

Then, he leant down to your ear, keeping one hand holding your arms up as the other dug into your hip. “I want him to hear you.”

Mingi thursted into you at once, already going at a steady pace without allowing you to adjust to his size as your moans were uncontrolled. He pressed his forehead against yours, mouth open as he let profanities fall off his lips, filling you up so well.

“God, you feel amazing,” he said in between a groan.

“Mingi…” you could barely speak, completely overcome by the sensation of his cock deep inside you. Hearing his name from you only spurred him on, going faster until the sound of his wet balls slapping against you filled the bathroom.

He let go of your hands and you wrapped them around his back, digging your fingers in which made him breathe out a long, heavy moan.

“Is this what you wanted? Needy little slut.”

“Yes! Yes!” You cried out, squeezing your eyes shut as his lips found your ear, his tongue circling inside and filling your head with his loud grunts.

“Oh god, oh god…” Mingi’s breathing sped up as the pitch in his voice raised, quickly taking out his cock and sliding it against your folds instead as he came.

The sensation of him rubbing against your clit was enough to send another shockwave through you. You arched your back as Mingi spilled over your stomach and his own, making sure to ride out your high all the way before pulling his crotch back to sever the contact.

The warm water pattered down onto Mingi’s broad back as he rested his arms on either side of your head, the both of you catching your breath and getting past the lightheadedness.

“Fuck…” you breathed out, collecting yourself faster than he did.

He grunted as he pushed himself off the shower wall, finding the source of the water and rinsing himself off. A hand reached out to you and guided you directly under the water too as he gently rubbed circles on your stomach to clean his cum off you too.

The sounds of two male voices suddenly faded in as your awareness expanded past the four walls of the bathroom. Your eyes widened as Mingi began to soap himself up.

“You think San heard?” You asked.

Mingi only shrugged. “If he did, I don’t care.”

You blushed again.

He chuckled at you, dropping a bubble of soap on your nose with his finger. “You’re cute.”

The sudden compliment made you blush even harder as he quickly rinsed the soap away and left the shower, grabbing his towel to dry himself off. You let the water run over your head, the heat relaxing you again as you came back down to earth.

“Thanks, by the way,” Mingi said, poking his head into the shower. You turned around to face him, a smile on your face before he wrapped the towel around his waist and grabbed his clothes, not bothering to change as he left the bathroom and greeted his members straight away.

Definitely not subtle at all…

Part 3.

Cold Red Iron

Author: bvidzsoo

Pairing: Song Mingi x female reader

⎊ Warning: suggestive speech and content, cursing, violence, weapons, stabbing, blood, hostage situation, mentions of domestic violence (not against MC) ⎊ Word count: 27.6k ⎊ Rating: mature, nsfw ⎊ Genre: Iron Man!AU, humour, Marvel references, superheroes!au, workplace!au, they can't stand each other but end up working together!au ⎊ Summary: Each day you wake up wondering what you did in a previous life to deserve your prick of a boss, who is also a womanizer and owns a company that made him a millionaire. But the job pays well, and there's Mrs. Bae too, so you suck it up. But one unfortunate event at the metro station seems to change your life for the better (?).

A/N: I actually thought I could make this oneshot 15~18k, who's the clown here now? Hii, hello, welcome back my lovelies to a completely random and uncalled for Marvel oneshot that is humorous (I hope so) but also deals with serious topics. For the sake of the story, Mingi is aged up and is closer to his thirties and our MC is around 25-ish, though unspecified, and Mrs. Bae, who is Irene/Bae Joohyun, is aged up a lot lmao, so yes, Yunho is younger than everyone ~oops. I think this is all I wanted to say, sorry for mistakes 'cuz some always somehow slip through, and if I missed tagging any warning lmk. I appreciate your feedback lots, so let me know what you thought of this little story, and I hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading ^^ divider

🕸️(you can find my Spiderman!Yunho oneshot here)

            S. Industries, the name of the tallest building in our city is owned by possibly one of the city’s most affluent men. From engineering and producing weapons that are shipped out to other countries with masses, to fabricating gadgets and small electronic devices that have Mr. Song’s artificial intelligent assistant implemented in them, to joining a collaboration with Mercedes-Benz to produce a prototype never heard of before, S. Industries seemed to do a little bit of everything. Engineers of the best calibre fought to get a spot in the team and those fired often found themselves lost and devastated by their predicament. Smart and important people worked here, people who had a vision and had set their minds on changing the world. Mr. Song, the embarrassingly rich owner of the enterprise, seemed to have flamboyant and insane ideas often, yet, they somehow always managed to work out in his favour. There was rarely a day where Mr. Song wasn’t on the news or TV, smirking and winking at the cameras as he flirted with the reporters into oblivion—these were the good scenarios because there were days when instead of appearing for his good deeds and world-changing innovations, he appeared in scandalous hypostasizes that had to be fixed by none other than me.

He was exactly the man you’d imagine a young and super-rich CEO would be like. He drank and partied as long as the night lasted, and when dusk came, he’d bring ladies into his bed to satisfy his insatiable needs. No woman lasted long by his side, perhaps because his personality was truly dislikeable or perhaps because he couldn’t keep it in his pants for too long. There had been multiple occasions when security had to escort his screaming exes out while Mr. Song hid away in his office with his tail between his legs and the excuse that he was too busy working, meanwhile, he was busy whining and nursing his hangover. But he also liked to act like he was the bigger and better person in the room, often with his eyebrows furrowed and with disgust on his features as he looked at you above his narrow glasses and judged whatever came out of your mouth. I couldn’t fully understand the women that surrounded me and their desperation to be noticed by the CEO. Despite his very obvious good looks, I always thought his bad personality ruined even the thought of finding him attractive in the true sense of the word—meaning inside out. Sure, for a one-night-stand, the man was probably a perfect partner, but even then, I wouldn’t have wanted to be another body count added to his long and never-ending list so that he can gloat about it to his buddies while they have a beer—or wine, whatever thing these fancy people drink on a night out if they even do those. 

And Mr. Song was shameless, he very obviously did not care about the working environment and neither about the fact that there was a power imbalance each time he decided to sleep with one of his employees. I yet had to see the day when it didn’t end up with his temporary partner fired as Mr. Song claimed that he was uncomfortable by their overbearing presence, irritated by the constant attention he got from said employee—or victim, as I liked to call them. The longest an employee he hooked up with managed to continue staying at the firm was two weeks and that one ended on a pretty bad note—she now has a restricting order on her hands, Mr Song doesn’t play around despite his often easy-going façade. I wasn’t one to be quick to judge, but I was thoroughly bothered and disgusted by the lack of care Mr. Song seemingly had towards his female employees, the nonchalance with which he dismissed others never ceased to make my blood boil.

And if it wasn’t enough that he was a womanizer, he was also a jerk to his employees when he so happened to ‘not be in the mood’, which translated to him getting up on the wrong side of the bed and so he had the right to be pissy and offensive to everyone around himself, including his so very sweet secretary that I swore to protect with my whole being. Mrs. Bae was an elderly lady who was in excellent shape and an absolute professional in everything she did, she was so eager to teach me everything I needed to know about administrative work as when I had joined S. Industries, I was still fresh out of college with barely any experience. Mrs. Bae was also very loyal to Mr. Song, for some reason, and she was diligent in her work and spent way too much time at the office, fixing Mr. Song’s messes that shouldn’t have been committed in the first place. But if there was anyone in this goddamn office that had even a little bit of control over Mr. Song, then it sure as hell was Mrs. Bae as she’d often storm inside his office without knocking—disregarding the fact that her boss might be in the midst of unloading his stress, if you know what I mean—and she’d absolutely put him in his place, scrutinizing him as a disappointed mother would with her disobeying child.

But still, that was just Mrs Bae, others weren’t so lucky. If Mr. Song decided he didn’t like you, you were dead meat, nobody would want to associate themselves with you, and oftentimes those employees would resign on their own, aware that the entirety of S. Industries had just rejected them. And this wasn’t all, Mr. Song also spoke with little respect and consideration, eyes often narrowed and eyebrows furrowed as he scowled and interrupted your speech, embarrassing you in front of your colleagues and unjustly dismissing your hard work. He would also laugh if you made a mistake or if your idea was catalogued as not good enough, sending most of his employees into an existential crisis whenever he did this. It was sad, truly, having to watch my colleagues crumble day by day. I, thankfully, had rarely come in direct contact with Mr. Song as I was a mere secretary assistant, but because Mrs. Bae was basically his right hand, I shared the same floor with her and our boss. That, however, meant that despite usually being overlooked by Mr. Song, I got to watch all of his shenanigans unfold, unable to do or say anything.

Working here has definitely taught me patience and Mrs. Bae advised me to just try and ignore Mr. Song unless I had to work with him directly, apparently, there was nothing he hated more than being ignored. He acted like a damn child that was desperate for attention and not like a man with a very serious burden on his hands, with one of the strongest industries in his hands, able to control the outcome of wars even if he so wished. I had yet to see the day Mr. Song acted like a decent human being, compassionate and understanding, kind and less of a prick.

So, knowing all that, you must understand my honest reaction to finding out that Mrs. Bae had fallen so ill that she had to be hospitalized, scaring half of the company to death when she sent us an e-mail. Of course, in true fashion to her, it was worded professionally and she asked us not to worry but to work even harder in her absence, and then she assigned all her subordinates what their respective assignments would be in her absence. When I had reached my name on the list and read that I was to replace her since I knew everything about management and Mr. Song’s schedule, I was pretty much devastated. There was no definite time of when Mrs. Bae would return and that meant that I could be working as her replacement for a day, maybe a week, or even three years. I knew I would barely last one day by Mr. Song’s side, let alone three years. And, because this devastating news called for a cold jug of beer to drown my sorrows in, my poor best friend had been the one to suffer through a drunken night of me going off about my boss, calling him names and describing atrocious ways of how I would bring his demise forth if it were only legal.

But Sooyoung was a good friend, she’s been with me since fifth grade, and she sat through the night and giggled whenever I hiccupped or started speaking too loudly, to the point I had people turning our way as I cursed Mr. Song’s name. She was an angel and a sweetheart as she carried my heavy body home that night, giggling and snapping pictures when I told her I felt like throwing up and that I needed a breather. She called her boyfriend when she realized I wasn’t able to walk anymore, my high heels long abandoned and in my hands as the freezing ground was none of my concerns at that moment as my eyes bore into a billboard that had Mr. Song’s sharp face and sexy smirk displayed.

“You’re the devil!” I was sure my voice was loud enough to wake the whole neighbourhood as I stumbled to my feet, pointing a finger at the billboard as Sooyoung spoke on the phone, “I’m going to get you, Song Mingi!”

I huffed and glared at the man’s small and narrowed eyes, shivering when a cold breeze blew past us, “Don’t smirk at me, fucker.”

There was a loud giggle behind me and then the slam of a door and I heard my best friend pocket her phone as two sets of footsteps neared me, “You see that monstrosity? He picks his nose when he thinks nobody is watching, the fucker forgets to turn on the blurring effect to his windows, and I get to see him lazing around his office the whole day, meanwhile, I have to delete articles and call up journalists and beg them not to publish their next issue about how Song Mingi fucked four women and gave them chlamydia or whatever.”

I was sure my words came out jumbled and less clear than they sounded in my head, and I flinched when high-pitched laughter made my ears ring, way higher than Sooyoung’s had ever been. With my head spinning and bile rising in my throat, I swung around and narrowed my eyes at my best friend’s boyfriend. He laughed a lot, loudly mostly, and if I found it cute sober, I absolutely loathed it while drunk, “Shut up, fucker!”

“Or you’ll beat me up like you’ll beat up our boss?” He teased with a mischievous glint in his eyes and I snorted, pulling my shoulders back as I banged on my chest.

“I sure will!” I called loudly and the guy just started giggling again, meanwhile, Sooyoung just shook her head with an amused expression on her face.

“Let’s get her inside the car, Wooyoung, I don’t want her to catch a cold.”

“Why is she even so drunk?”

“Mrs. Bae is really sick and Y/N is to replace her.”

“Oh, so she’ll be finally working with Mr. Song directly?”

“Exactly.”

I groaned and bared my teeth at nothing in particular as Wooyoung and Sooyoung came up on both sides of me to hold me up and walk me towards Wooyoung’s running car, that fucker, he was an engineer at S. Industries and he was rich enough to afford himself a really nice car. A Mercedes-Benz, to be exact, thanks to the collaboration the two companies had going on. For once, I hoped Mr. Song’s project went terribly and I’d have to answer the calls with a smile on my face and then feign mock disappointment when I’d relay the message to Mr. Song. Surely the failure of one project wouldn’t bring the downfall of S. Industries.

“Well, Y/N, at least there’ll be a raise in the paycheck this month.” A particularly hard slap to my back had the bile in my throat rising until it wasn’t inside my mouth anymore at all, but on the sidewalk instead, as Wooyoung shrieked and Sooyoung just sighed, holding my hair back for me as I doubled over and violently emptied the contents of my stomach.

That whole ordeal was three days ago, on a Friday evening, when Mrs. Bae delivered the devastating news. Now, it was Monday and my muscles were tense and my teeth were gritting as I exited the metro and took the escalator, feet already aching from the blisters my other heels left on them. I seriously wanted to die, but Wooyoung was right for once in his life, I would at least get a raise for filling in for Mrs. Bae, but at what cost? The only joy I could find in the horrible day I had ahead of me was my iced caramel macchiato in my hands and the fact that the metro was right next to the building I used to love working at up until three days ago. Higher paycheck or not, I found myself wondering whether it was worth it if I had to work directly with Mr. Song.

I plastered on a smile despite my sour mood as I entered the intimidatingly tall building and greeted the receptionists, who apparently knew of my predicament as they sported matching looks of pity. If there were other women who didn’t fall for Mr. Song’s charming persona, excluding Mrs. Bae who was too old to entertain such a young boy and was busy scolding him whenever she could, then in the receptionists I knew I could trust. One of them had a bad run-in with Mr. Song and ever since the two stayed far away from him, sharing my displeasure whenever I came down to have lunch with them. They were sisters and foreigners, yet their knowledge of the language oftentimes surpassed mine, never failing to take me off guard as I watched them with a grin on my lips. They were both in college and apparently, a really pricey one if they resorted to working at S. Industries.

I scanned my badge at the entrance gate and nodded at the security guard, Chanyeol, who looked more like a club bouncer than a security guard at a high-tech company, closely surveyed and littered with cameras in every nook and cranny. The elevator ride up to the top floor was rather lacklustre and filled with silence beside the generic music coming through the speakers, and I basked in the ignorance the engineers exerted towards me, nothing out of the ordinary. But when they got off on their floor, I found myself fidgeting as I still had ten more floors up, turning around to check myself out in the huge mirror. It wasn’t even my first day here, yet I felt jittery and questioned my choice of clothing despite it being what I usually wore. A black pencil skirt that stuck to my frame uncomfortably paired with a white off-shoulder blouse that was tucked inside, a dainty belt bringing the look together nicely. My black high-heels weren’t as uncomfortable as the ones I had worn on Friday—they were still new—and I couldn’t wait to sit down and step out of them. I have pulled my hair in a bun and strategically pulled out front pieces that I curled, framing my face if I didn’t want to look like an egg due to the oval shape of my face. My makeup was soft and natural looking except for the red lipstick, and I found myself playing with the small cross pendant around my neck, waiting for the elevator doors to open as I reached the top floor.

The hall, my little office, Mr. Song’s huge office, and the small kitchen were all dark, signalling that I was the first one to arrive at work. Of course, that was no surprise as there were days when Mr. Song would come in just a few hours before it was time to go home for his employees, and then he’d usually find something faulty with everything, thus forcing everyone to stay after hours. I hoped today wasn’t a day like that because I was sure I’d end up fired by the evening, something I couldn’t afford as I had just moved to my new apartment and the rent was rather high, but the area was good and it was a lot closer to my job, so I couldn’t complain. I switched on the lights as I walked towards Mrs. Bae’s desk, now mine until she returned, and I hung my coat on the hanger, placing my purse on the floor just next to it. I powered on the desk computer and headed for the kitchen to prepare coffee for Mr. Song. I had decided to take this burden off Mrs. Bae’s shoulders back when I had joined the company, so I knew his preference by heart, unfortunately.

I watched the coffee machine with unfocused eyes as I ran through in my mind the schedule I had closely studied yesterday. Mr. Song had a meeting before lunch with the engineers about the prototype they were developing, which could take quite a few hours if he was in a pissy mood, and after lunch he had another meeting with the company they were collaborating with, and since that was out of our hands I couldn’t estimate the length of the meeting. Before his first meeting, however, I had to print the monthly expenses and bring them to him, and sometime along the day—preferably before lunch, was what Mrs. Bae’s note had said—I had to fix a date and time with a local magazine for an editorial shoot they had been discussing with my boss for months now. The thought made me roll my eyes and I switched the coffee machine off, grabbing the oat milk out of the fridge and brown sugar from the cupboard. The coffee was just a little above half of the cup and I filled it up with the milk, putting in five teaspoonfuls of sugar. I wondered whether Mr. Song would realize I had mixed up his milk on purpose while making his coffee—since he’s lactose intolerant—if I ever got the courage to sabotage my boss even if it was silly. But today wasn’t that day and I grabbed a tray and placed five cookies on a small plate before I placed both his coffee and the cookies on the tray. I would take them to his office and then print whatever he needed. If maybe I sneaked inside his office before he came in, then maybe I didn’t have to face him often as Mrs. Bae would communicate with him through the phone despite them being just a few steps away from each other, I intended on doing that too.

But my steps halted as I returned to the lobby, eyebrows furrowing as the glass to Mr. Song’s office was blurred and light poured outside from underneath the closed door. Oh, had he come in early? My eyebrows furrowed as I wondered whether I was hallucinating, had I been so lost in thought I didn’t hear the elevator, his footsteps, and the closing of the door? I could space out annoyingly well, so maybe that really was the case. I sighed and walked towards my desk, needing a second to gather my courage and steel my nerves as my eyes fell on the unlocked computer. So, Mr. Song not only came in earlier but he also unlocked Mrs. Bae’s computer before heading inside his office. That was rather confusing, and just when I had started wondering whether someone had broken in on our floor, I heard his unmistakable raspy and deep voice coming through the glass that separated us. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it was Song Mingi, no doubt. Glancing at the door and then down at the computer, I decided that I didn’t want to enter his office twice today if it really wasn’t necessary so, I quickly printed the monthly expenses and bound them together after placing them in order. The numbers were so high that I struggled to read them correctly, but it wasn’t surprising, the company was huge and what they expertise in was even bigger.

I grabbed the papers and the tray into my hands, mindful of my steps as I headed for Mr. Song’s office door, taking a deep breath as I paused in front of it. He was still talking, probably on the phone, and I decided it was best I slipped in and out while he was distracted, so I knocked and went inside without waiting for his answer.

“Yes, I know.” His voice was harsh and tinged with annoyance as I veered my way around his office like an expert, having been inside too often. Who do you think cleaned up his mess and dusted off his shelves? Exactly, me because I couldn’t handle watching Mrs. Bae ruin her already aching back and knees, “Honestly? I don’t fucking care. I told you I couldn’t design it and produce it in a month, so is it really my fault that your superiors are blaming you now?”

I was curious what this was about, but I knew my place and not to snoop around, so I just headed for his desk hopeful that Mr. Song wouldn’t notice me as his chair was swivelled around to face the huge windows overlooking the bustling morning city, mist having settled in the distance where it was closer to the mountains. The view was beautiful from here and I often found myself gazing out the windows when I had to be inside Mr. Song’s office, wondering if I’d ever earn enough to live in a penthouse, it was wishful thinking but at least it made me more determined to work harder.

“Then deal with it.” Mr. Song snapped as I placed the tray on the desk, in its usual spot, and my eyes fell on the back of his head as he scoffed loudly, his fingers drumming against the armrest of the leather chair he sat in. He was so tall that even his massive chair couldn’t hide his form and my eyes stuck to his broad shoulders outlined by the shoulder pads of his black jacket before I snapped out of it and moved as quietly as possible to place the documents I had printed in the middle of the desk, “I’m not taking the blame for your incompetence, idiot, call me when you have a real reason to speak with me.”

Just as I had straightened up and took a step back, Mr. Song hung up and groaned as he threw his head back, eyes screwed shut as he groaned, “What a fucking idiot, he can’t even design his own gadget and then I’m at fault for prioritising real projects.”

Well, I was sure I wasn’t meant to hear his whining and inner monologue said out loud, so I took a tentative step backwards, praying he’d remain with his eyes closed and with his back turned so that I could slip out of his office before he’d even realize I was in there. For a man who regarded himself so highly, he lacked the skill of being aware of his surroundings at all times, something I didn’t mind for once. But my hopes were soon crushed as I stepped on something that made noise, eyes widening as I froze, watching as Mr. Song’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, “Ah, Joohyun, morning. Can you please call up—”

Of course, he’d call Mrs. Bae by her name without any regard to her age and accomplishments, I wasn’t even surprised he failed to respect the only person who remained stuck to his side in this company, vouching for him when nobody else did as few people liked the CEO. But his eyes opened and his words stuck in his throat as we made contact, albeit a little silly as his head had fallen off the headrest and he was looking at me cross-eyed. The speed with which he swivelled the chair around and fixed his posture should have been comical, but I knew what was coming and so I didn’t enjoy it. The slight worry and annoyance were gone from his face in the blink of an eye, replaced with a chilling arrogance and a self-assured smirk as his eyes very shamelessly ran all over my body, checking me out. I clenched my jaw and fixed my posture as well, plastering on the corporate smile that I wished conveyed the message of ‘fuck yourself, Song Mingi’, but it apparently didn’t as he intertwined his fingers and placed his elbows on the table to lean forward, tongue poking out to lick his lips.

“My, my, if only Joohyun looked anything like you, I’d come in early every morning.” His smirk only spread wider, eyes shining with a newfound resolve as he waited eagerly for a reaction, for anything. But it didn’t come as I remained impassive, eyes boring into his with nonchalance and coldness as I burned away on the inside, screaming and cursing at him in my mind. How dare he disrespect the lovely Mrs. Bae and disregard all her sacrifices made for his ungrateful ass just because I was young and relatively alright looking?!

“Mrs. Bae is sick and until she returns I will be replacing her, but I suppose you’ve been informed of the changes, sir.” I tried to keep my voice levelled so that I wouldn’t snap at him, but it was a little hard as he bit his bottom lip when I addressed him as ‘sir’. I didn’t want to think about it for even a second and I suppressed a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, legs spreading wide as he let his eyes run over my body again. Fucker, I hope he swallows his coffee wrong, maybe I should prepare his coffee with regular milk from now on, “The monthly expenses and payments that still have to be made are on the desk, sir, I have printed them as Mrs. Bae does.”

He glanced at the bound paperwork for a second before his lips pursed, eyes falling back on me. There was a slight change to his features, the quick glimmer of curiosity as he regarded me with inquiring eyes, but it was gone again as he rubbed his plump bottom lip with his forefinger, his hands littered with rings that were huge and somehow looked classy on him instead of making him look like a wannabe punk. For a CEO, he certainly wasn’t afraid to dress however he wanted while still being mindful that he was at his workplace. Sometimes he wore suits that highlighted his body and muscles in the right way, turning heads and having me throw him a second glance as he waltzed inside his office, and sometimes he wore outfits that you only saw on the runway, like today. His attire was all-black, non-conferring to society’s gender norms and unique in its way. He wore a blouse that seemed to fall a little lower on one shoulder, tucked inside pants that reached the floor with a skirt over them that reached just below his knees, his jacket cropped and with shoulder padding. The silver chains around his neck only added to the outfit and I couldn’t deny that he was quite the sight to look at with his black hair pushed back, and his undercut fresh. It made him look sharper, it defined his high cheekbones, and with his hair pushed back like that his eyes only became sharper and more intimidating.

“Trying to leave an impression on me already, huh?” His chuckle was mocking and laced with an undertone that almost had me marching up to him and punching the shit out of him, “It’ll take a few months before I can say whether you’re qualified for this job, sugar, newbies are great but they always fuck up, no offence.”

“None taken,” I grinned, trying to contain my rage and pride to lengthen my stay at the company, “I’ve been working here for four years, Mr. Song.”

He blinked once, then gulped, and then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he took me in again, but finally not with lustful eyes but plain confusion as he probably tried to recall a time he’d seen me before. Instead of being offended that my own boss, the man I shared a floor with and crossed paths with in the hallway more than once, didn’t recognize me, I felt accomplished that I managed to dodge him for a complete four years. We’ve ridden the elevator together not once, but I huddled in the corner and always waited for him to get off first in order to stay out of his sight, I just couldn’t stand the man and it was obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes.

“Ah, perhaps if I hear your name…” He trailed off and then eyed his coffee, eyebrows twitching as his eyes lingered on them, hand reaching for a cookie reluctantly.

“Five teaspoonfuls of sugar and a quarter of oat milk, just the way you like it.” It actually felt freaking awesome seeing the confused and slightly taken aback expression on Mr. Song’s face, who knew I’d enjoy being in his presence for once, “And I’m Miss Jang.”

“Jang…?” He asked quickly but I just remained smiling, not about to tell him my name. He could look it up very easily with a search in the database, either way, if he was curious enough.

“I’m the secretary assistant, so don’t worry, I know everything I need to know.” I ignored his question and took a step towards the door, signalling that I was out of his office in the next five seconds, “Let’s both pray Mrs. Bae returns fast, I quite enjoy shadowing her.” Instead of having to face you, but I didn’t add that to my short speech.

Mr. Song’s eyes narrowed as he took in my retreating form and for a split second, I noticed annoyance on his features, making me feel victorious in a way I never imagined I could, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. She’s too stubborn to remain sick for long, she’ll be back soon, but until then I expect nothing but excellence from you, I would hate to fire you if you’ve been working for me for four years. Anyways, when’s my first meeting?”

“At eleven, sir.” I checked the time, two more hours until then.

“Good, call Miss Kim and tell her I have something to discuss with her.” He paused to grab his cup of coffee and I refrained from rolling my eyes at his theatrics, “Tell her to come as fast as possible and that we’ll talk in my office.”

Or fuck, is what he meant but didn’t say. I hummed in order to swallow the scoff that threatened to leave my lips and bowed my head just slightly, in the way I knew it was enough to be respectful but still not that much. But Mr. Song wasn’t looking at me anymore so he wouldn’t see, he was too busy flipping through the paperwork as he sipped his coffee. I gripped the handle of the door but paused in the doorway, eyes falling on the unwrapped and empty package of a condom I had stepped on just minutes ago, “I’m not cleaning that up too, pick it you yourself, Mr. Song.”

And when his head snapped up with a scowl, eyes following the direction I was pointing at, he scoffed loudly and gave me a sharp glare. I smiled in a way that I knew couldn’t outwardly be catalogued as a ‘fuck you’ smile, but it also made sure to convey that I wasn’t dumb nor his rag that he could throw around and find amusement in. Then, without waiting to be dismissed, I slipped through the door and walked towards my desk, a smirk making its way on my lips as I graciously sat in Mrs. Bae’s chair, swivelling closer to the desk as I went to raise my hand and flip my boss off, but suddenly, the blur from the windows was gone and I went rigid, hand already midway raised. Mingi’s arm was outstretched as he held the controller, eyes glaring and fixed on me as I scoffed and returned his fierce glare, picking up the central telephone to dial Miss Kim and ask her to come to Mr. Song’s office.

I guess today would be exhausting in all the different ways I didn’t think possible before.

            And I was right, it was exhausting in a way that had both my blood boiling and making me feel resigned as I was finally able to shut the computer off, the sun about to set any minute now. I had to stay for longer than expected as Mrs. Bae had a lot of workload, and without having an assistant to help out, I had to do it all on my own. I couldn’t complain about that as long as Mrs. Bae was healthy and up on her feet in the following ways, I would fill in for her and work even nights because I respected her and loved her a lot. She was a motherly figure and a good guide for both office-related and life-related things. I couldn’t wait to see her and hear her voice, already missing her dad jokes and shrill laughter. But perhaps what I missed the most was that she was the only one who could put Mr. Song in his place, something he desperately needed.

The blurry effect stayed off the windows the whole day and I felt Mr. Song’s sharp eyes on me more often than not, it was slowly driving me up the wall. I knew what he was playing at, he didn’t like my attitude towards him and he was trying to find reasons to get rid of me. But he couldn’t because I was trained by Mrs. Bae and I was damn good at my job, there was a reason why I survived four years at the company without working as an engineer or down at the lobby—Mr. Song rarely meddled with the lobby girls, and perhaps that was the only smart thing he was capable of doing. But now I had him on my back the whole day, making me uncomfortable as I sat in Mrs. Bae’s chair rigidly and with an aching back by how strained it was, fingers spasming from how much I had been typing away on the keyboard, and a crazy itch to finally go home. At least he wasn’t a complete ass and told me to get lunch while he was in the meeting, even handing me his card which I, obviously, declined. He had a peculiar look in his eyes that I couldn’t decipher, and then Wooyoung was up on our floor to fetch Mr. Song with a shit-eating grin on his lips.

“Ah, my favourite person in the whole wide world!” He had called loudly while Mr. Song was inside his office, door open, gathering paperwork, files, and the jacket he had discarded hours ago. My eyes narrowed at Wooyoung as I paused writing the email for the editorial photoshoot and leaned forward, raising my chin.

“Aren’t you supposed to be annoying your engineer friends?” I raised an eyebrow as Wooyoung’s grin only grew in size, “You seem to be lost, this isn’t your floor, Dr Jung.”

Wooyoung gave me a deadpanned look at the title I used as he leaned forward, resting his arms against the top part of the desk, “Don’t call me doctor at our workplace, dummy.”

“Don’t call me a dummy at our workplace.” I mocked Wooyoung and he glared at me before he stole a gummy bear out of the bowl placed there for our clients.

“Well, I see you’re doing just fine,” Wooyoung spoke while chewing, eyes running over the place, “The secretary role suits you; I should snap a picture for Sooyoung to see.”

“Don’t you dare.” I snapped and stood up to snatch the bowl of gummies when Wooyoung went to grab another one, “It’s for the clients, Wooyoung, and stop bothering Sooyoung while she’s at work. Besides, I already sent her a picture.”

“Of course you did.” He rolled his eyes and pouted as he swiftly leaned over the desk and managed to snatch a gummy still, making me gasp as my eyes widened, giving him a nasty look, “How’s working with your worst nightmare? Have you flipped him off already? Or have you cursed his name out in the bathroom? I bet you switched up his milk for a regular one like, you said you’d do—”

“Wooyoung, it’s nice seeing you on time for once.” Mr. Song’s sharp voice interrupted us, and I gave Wooyoung a warning look before I smoothed my skirt out and placed the bowl of gummies back in its place, “Although the blazer and your pants don’t match—”

“They do!” Wooyoung cut our boss off with a whine as Mr. Song came closer, “My fashion sense is better than yours.”

“You wish,” I muttered under my breath as I settled in the chair, thinking that it was quiet enough, but both men looked at me at the same time, making my eyes widen for a fraction of a second. Mr. Song’s impassive façade broke as he gave me a smirk, plump lips pursing as he let his eyes drop to my collarbones and explore my exposed shoulders due to my blouse. I fought back an eye roll and just sighed as I looked back at Wooyoung, “Tell Sooyoung when you see her that I might get off late, we’ll postpone our dinner for another day.”

“Yes!” Wooyoung fist bumped the air in glee and I fixed my glare on the side of his head as he eagerly took the files our boss was holding, “After Friday, I wouldn’t have survived another drunken dinner so soon. Imagine my poor ears having to listen to you whine about our—”

“Goodbye, Wooyoung.” I interrupted him with urgency, aware of the panic that coated my features as he snickered like the evil bastard he was, eyeing Song Mingi from the corner of his eyes as the man looked between us with curiosity written over his features. But then it was gone just as Wooyoung opened his mouth, Mr. Song was giving me a sharp look.

“Call Miss Kim and tell her there’s been a change to our plans, I’m busy tonight.” I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t his messenger, but as his secretary, I pretty much was. I nodded and pulled my chair closer to the desk, getting ready to finish the email when Mr. Song continued, “And get back to work.”

I bit my tongue to refrain from wishing him a lovely descent into hell, and I knew I wasn’t able to hide my irritated face well enough because Wooyoung snickered as Mr. Song took off towards the elevator, my best friend’s boyfriend lingering just behind him. He gave me a wink before he was right behind our boss, and I sighed as I got back to typing, catching the beginning of their conversation about some issues they’d run into while designing the new prototype. But other than that quick interaction, Mr. Song ignored me for the rest of the day minus the fact that he was spying on me from his office whenever he could, eyes boring into the side of my head and making me type just a little harsher than necessary.

But Mr. Song said something about being busy and not wanting to be bothered anymore half an hour ago, and after he closed and locked his door, the glass became all blurry and I understood the message: I was dismissed, I could finally head home—and head home I did, more eager than ever before. The metro was busy as most people were, similar to me, headed home and crowding the place. I stayed a decent distance away from the tracks and typed away on my phone as there was a commotion not too far from me. I didn’t react to it, used to the loudness and sometimes crazy people that came down to ride the metro. However, my dismissal quickly turned into alarm when there was a loud shout and a pained cry followed right after it and people ran left and right, knocking into me and almost sending me to the dirty ground. I stumbled and tightened my grip on my phone, not understanding the sudden hysteria until it was too late.

The crowd had cleared up enough so that the scene was visible to me, and I gasped as a woman lay on the ground, clutching her side as blood pooled underneath her. Despite living in a big city where crime was inevitable, I had never come across a scene like this and I felt frozen, terrified, and all of a sudden too dumb to do anything. People were screaming around us, mostly male voices demanding something, but my eyes remained fixated on the crying woman as her hands trembled and sobs echoed despite the loud commotion. Someone next to me was calling the ambulance and cops, at least five men surrounded the wounded woman and screamed at someone that I still couldn’t see, and just when somebody shoved me and told me to get away, I snapped out of it, but it was too late. A calloused hand was wrapped around my throat as cold metal pressed against my throat, already wet and dripping red with blood from the aggressor’s previous attack.

“Don’t make me do it!” The man screamed at the top of his lungs as I was rendered frozen, heart beating out of my chest and breath stilled in my throat, “Don’t make me kill her too!”

I went even more rigid, if possible, body shaking from fear as I remained silent, eyes darting around the place and silently crying out for help with my eyes, “Listen, we can settle this, no need to harm her too.”

“You’ll immobilise me if I let her go,” The man’s voice that held me captive thundered over my head and I tried to gulp but was afraid the movement would make the blade cut into my skin, “I’m not going to jail. She had it coming, she was a cheating bitch!”

“Alright, we get it, man!” A man that was crouched next to the wailing woman snapped, eyes burning with passion as he turned to face us, “You got what you wanted, the woman you’re holding right now is innocent, let her go.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” At the shout and jerk of my captor’s body, I whimpered and grabbed onto his sleeve as I felt the cold blade press much harder into my skin, making my lips tremble as I fought back tears. I tried to pull the man’s arm away, desperately so, but he was relatively stronger, “Stop moving around, bitch, if you don’t want to die!”

I was breathing hard by now, trying to keep it together, but I was failing as my vision became blurred by tears that I tried to hold in. I could hear sirens in the distance and the people around the woman fussed about as they tried to stop her bleeding, but it didn’t seem to help. I wished someone would snatch me away from the psycho holding me and save me, but I knew the bleeding woman needed the help more than I did—unless I was injured too, who knew, maybe I’d never get to see tomorrow. The thought was frightening and I gulped down another whimper as the man's fingers dug into my shoulder as he kept me pressed against himself, he was breathing even harder than I was, his chest moving up and down quickly against my back.

“Listen, the woman you’re holding right now did nothing to you.” Another person tried to reason, a soft-spoken boy who was crouched right in front of the injured woman, hands bloody and eyes hardened, “She’s a complete stranger to you, she doesn’t even know who you are. If you want another person’s blood on your hands and a lifetime sentence, then by all means, go ahead and kill her too.”

I went to protest with a whine, but I felt the man’s grip loosen after a few seconds as he cursed under his breath. I was shaking, still clutching my purse in both of my hands as I had dropped the one holding onto the man’s arm out of fear of agitating him even more. Gasps could be heard above us, where the entrance of the metro was, and suddenly a peculiar sound filled the space. It sounded mechanical but not quite, hard and scraping like metal, and it was loud. The sirens were even louder now and I knew help was close by, I could only hope it came before I suffered any serious injuries. My heart was thumping so fast I was sure the artery in my neck was pulsating too, just the more inviting to be slashed or stabbed. The thought made me shudder and just as I was about to open my mouth and plead for my life too, something red and robot-like descended only a few feet away from us. Everyone gasped and murmured, my own eyes widened as I stared at the robot-like red machine, all armour and menacing looking from up close.

I had only seen Iron Man on TV, and suddenly, everything I had heard about the anonymous superhero seemed to be true. The person behind the iron armour was tall with wide shoulders and narrow hips as the costume moulded onto his body perfectly, and the person’s face was concealed by a mask that never came off, teasing the public of who could bear it. Despite knowing that the person behind the mask had no mal-intention and was here to rather save me, I couldn’t help but watch it with doubtful eyes, intimidated by the loomingly tall body and firm structure of the costume. There was a collective moment of pure silence, everyone holding their breaths as they waited for Iron Man to do something. The man holding me cursed loudly this time and I gasped as my eyes widened, his knife digging into my skin so that it scrapped my skin. I bit my bottom lip and tried to refrain from crying despite every particle of my body crying out in desperation to be freed and finally saved.

“Well, what do we have here, huh?” The superhero’s voice sounded somewhat robotic, but it wasn’t hard to make out that the person’s voice was grave, deep, and rather sharp as he spoke, “Terrorizing innocent women at the metro, is that a new hobby of yours? Did your mother not love you enough or what?”

“Shut up!” The man screamed and made me flinch as it made my ears ring, and suddenly I doubted that Iron Man was here to save the day. Why in hell would he be antagonizing an armed man holding a hostage?! I hoped the superhero could see my glare as I blinked my tears away, suddenly my terror blending together with anger due to nobody doing anything to help me, “What the fuck do you know about love, you iron fucker?!”

The armoured man chuckled and it was raspy almost, “I don’t fuck iron, but my costume is made of iron, hence the name—”

“Cut the attitude!” The man hissed and I gulped, fidgeting around and reaching inside my purse to see whether I had anything on me to use as a weapon to free myself since nobody was doing anything real to help me, “I’ll kill this bitch!”

“Don’t call her a bitch, you lowlife.” Iron Man snapped with irritation and I paused, eyes boring into the mask where its eyes were. At least Iron Man seemed to be a decent man when he wasn’t mocking and teasing the criminal, “Now, I’ll tell you how this goes—”

“Just shut the fuck up—”

“If you interrupt me one more time, I’ll blast off your face, dude.” The patience of Iron Man seemed to have snapped all at once as he raised his arm, something blue glowing in the middle of the iron palm. It didn’t look friendly nor like it wouldn’t hurt as it twisted and turned, accumulating more and more energy, “Like I was saying, this can go two ways. You release her and I take you to the officers without unnecessary injuries or you keep being foolish and I’m forced to take you down to free her, which are you choosing?”

“Fuck yourself!” The man turned his head and spat on the ground, making my face scrunch up in disgust as my body continued to tremble, wondering how Iron Man could hurt my captor without hurting me in the process as well. Certainly, whatever thing he meant to blast at the man wasn’t smart enough to go around me or dodge me, no matter how I tried looking at the situation, neither looked like I would get out of this unscathed. But if my hope in the superhero faded, it returned when the cops and paramedics finally showed up, spilling down the stairs, the cops pointing their guns at me and the man as the medics ran to the injured woman to help her and take her away to the nearest hospital. I gulped, counting the seven officers as they closed in on us, stopping just behind Iron Man as they assessed the situation.

“Sir.” The captain addressed Iron Man and the superhero ignored him besides the small nod of his head, “We’ll handle it from here.”

“How?” Iron Man chuckled, apparently amused meanwhile I was seriously on the verge of bursting out in tears. I’ve never had so many weapons pointed at me and I didn’t know how to react other than prepare for the pain the bullets would probably leave, “By harming her too?”

The captain said nothing as he sent the superhero a sharp stare, then faced me with a reassuring smile on his face, “Do not worry, ma’am, we’ll get you just in a second.”

“Cut the crap.” I hissed, surprising everyone—even my captor—as my body shook and my voice was laced with fear and annoyance. I wasn’t a child they could fool that everyone would be alright, I was conscious that they’d have to hurt me in order to take down the man holding me, “Just do your job.”

The paramedics rushed the woman above ground, probably to an ambulance, and I wished for nothing more than to be free and sitting in an ambulance where they’d check for my injuries, hopefully not too many.

“Sir, you’ll have to drop the knife if you don’t want to—”

“Mr. S!” A boyish and excited voice called out from behind us and I sighed, mind too tired to keep up with everything that was happening. Just who was this new person and why was nobody doing anything to help me?! But almost as if the newcomer was a mind reader, he called out again, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it!”

And then everything happened at once, there was web on the man’s wrist that held the knife to my throat, and then it was yanked away, finally letting me breathe without the fear of cutting myself accidentally, and I was shoved really hard. I stumbled as my legs had gone numb, and I was sure I would crash to the ground with a loud and painful thud, but it never happened. What I did crash into was cold and hard, but it wasn’t anything like the ground. It was sturdy under my grip as I gasped and gripped onto the iron shoulders of the man, and suddenly, I craved a warm body and some fabric my fingers could dig into for comfort. My chest rose and fell so quickly I became lightheaded as I clung to the superhero with desperation, legs going jelly as he had to hold me up, “It’s fine, you’re fine. You’re safe, Miss Jang, I’ve got you.”

A sob left my throat but no tears fell from my eyes as the police officers were shouting around us, only making my panic rise as I forced my eyes shut, telling myself that if I couldn’t see then it wasn’t real. Iron Man tsked and grumbled something intangible before I felt a metallic arm underneath my knees, the other holding me up by my torso, and then I was lifted into the air bridal style and taken away from the scene of the policemen arresting my captor. I tried to reassure myself that everything was fine and that I was safe, but the lack of warm skin and a face I could associate with my saviour only made me more jittery and uncomfortable. Iron Man seemed to realize this as my muscles were tense to the point they were aching, and so, he sat me down on the stairs and tucked me away from the eyes of the world as everyone rushed around us. He stood in a way that he obscured the world for me and I was grateful as I could finally breathe. I held my head in my hands and brought my knees up to my chest, pressing my forehead against my knees, “I’m fine, I’m fine, it’s over.”

I whispered over and over until my brain finally believed what it was hearing and my muscles relaxed just a little bit, but the trembling never went away. I knew I told Wooyoung to tell Sooyoung I wouldn’t go over for dinner tonight, but I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep alone in my apartment tonight.

“Are you hurt?” Iron Man asked as he remained standing, and I gulped and licked my lips, which had become painfully dry in the span of a few minutes.

“No,” I muttered, keeping my eyes closed, “he probably scratched me, but I’m fine.”

“Good, you’re safe.”

“I know.”

My whisper was drowned out by the loud voices of the journalists who made their way down to get the last-minute news just as the cops escorted the man up the stairs. I knew I had to leave a statement and that I would be probably called to the station, but all I wanted to do was get to Sooyoung’s place and soak in a bath until it was time to go to sleep.

“Hey, Mr. Son—I mean, Iron Man!” The same boyish voice that apparently actually saved me from my captor was loud and made me cringe as I raised my head and blinked my eyes open.

“Stop yelling, idiot.” Iron Man hissed and held the man, Spiderman, back by the shoulder as he skipped over to us.

“Oh, sorry.” His voice was slightly distorted, but it was obvious he felt sorry as the eyes of his mask blinked, freaking me out even more than Iron Man’s cold costume. I was very aware that I lived in the same city as certain superheroes, but encountering them felt weird, and if I was being honest, I wasn’t much of a fan. I much preferred seeing them on the news and in newspapers. Spiderman, who sounded way too young even with his voice distorted, seemed to be just as tall as Iron Man, if not taller, and he was lean but muscular. It came as no surprise since he crawled around buildings and hopped around in the sky, hanging off his web—you needed some serious muscles for that, “I didn’t mean to startle you, are you both alright?”

“Yes, not even a scratch—”

“I was scratched.” I snapped as I looked up at the two, hugging my knees close to my chest still. Spiderman’s mask blinked again and I averted my eyes as it made my skin crawl, “But I’m alright, thank you for saving me, Spiderman.”

“Spiderman?!” The iron-clad superhero asked with an edge to his voice, almost as if he was pissed off, “I was the one to come to your rescue first—”

“And yet it was Spiderman who actually did something to save me,” I hissed, utterly spent and pissed off now that I wasn’t held at knifepoint anymore, “All you did was chat away and mock the man, endangering my life even more.”

Silence followed my harsh words but I couldn’t care less as I saw a paramedic with kind eyes and a kind smile approach us carefully, greeting the superheroes meekly, “Miss, we will have to check up on you too now.”

“I’m fine though,” I muttered and tried to stand up but found little to no power in my legs, before I could stumble, Iron Man was by my side and helping me up. I looked up at the iron mask and said nothing as I still felt disdain towards the person behind the mask.

“You don’t look fine, Miss Jang.” I huffed and allowed the superhero to help me stand until the paramedic came to my aid, holding me up as the two superheroes followed us up the stairs.

“Should I carry you, ma’am?” Spiderman asked with worry, “You’re a bit pale, I can carry you if you want me to, I know I look scrawny but I’m actually really strong!”

“I carried her just fine before, do you need assistance?” Iron Man huffed and turned his head sharply towards Spiderman as the two men walked on each side of me and the paramedic. My body was still shaking so it was a little hard to coordinate my legs, but with the help of the paramedic, I was managing just fine, except for the violent thumping of my head and the haze that followed my vision.

“What I need is you two shutting up,” As an afterthought since they did save my life, I added, “Please.”

“Sure, ma’am, but just let me know if anything’s wrong, I can—”

“Shut up.” Iron Man groaned loudly, and the paramedic snickered as if a situation like this one was something anything out of the ordinary to him.

“Yes, Mr. Son—uh, Iron Man! I mean, Iron Man, sorry sir, I’ll shut up now.” Spiderman’s voice was defeated and a little tight, and I could swear Iron Man muttered a threat under his breath, but once we were up on the surface and all the hustle and bustle of the city hit me, I felt faint. Dangerously faint as I squinted my eyes, the swirling red and blue lights of the ambulance and cop cars blinding me for a second.

“Alright, you can sit in the ambulance and I’ll do a quick check-up.” The paramedic let me know as Spiderman eagerly opened the back of the ambulance and helped the paramedic walk me up and onto the bed, “Do you have anyone we can call to take you home?”

“Park Sooyoung,” I heaved a sigh and opened my purse, “If she doesn’t pick up, then Jung Wooyoung.”

“Oh, that’s—”

“Shut up!” I flinched at Iron Man’s harsh tone as he yanked Spiderman by the collar all up in his face, shaking the younger-sounding boy as he just chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

“Sorry, Mr. S.”

The paramedic snickered again and I handed him over my phone as he grabbed his little light to flash my eyes and momentarily blind me, “So, because it’s protocol, I’m going to ask how you feel again. Anything that’s changed now that we’re above ground?”

“No, nothing, I’m feeling fine.”

And then, the whole world went dark.

            I stared at the screen of my phone, I actually had been for a few good minutes now, but my brain didn’t register the words. Sooyoung was asking if I was up to grab a quick lunch with her, of course, if my oh-so-lovely boss allowed it, but I was way too distracted by said boss’ deep voice speaking in a hushed tone coming from the kitchen. It’s been three days since the whole metro fiasco and I had been down at the police station, gave them my statement, and I would be probably called in as a witness once the court date is set—that fucker isn’t getting out of jail after he tried to kill his girlfriend, I wouldn’t allow it.

People looked at me weirdly and I heard them whispering behind my back whenever I walked down the hallways as, of course, that idiot of a Wooyoung had run his mouth and now the whole company knew that I almost died—his words, not mine. A quick session with the company’s therapist had her convinced that I was alright and needed no further sessions despite my initial disdain to even go to one because I knew I was fine. Of course, I was a little jumpier and avoided the metro even if it took longer to get to work and then home, but until my mind would fully accept that it was a freak accident and that I was at the right place at the wrong time, I couldn’t help but indulge to the small voice of fear at the back of my mind. Sooyoung has been kinder than usual, offering up her spacious couch if I felt like crashing over at her place, but quite frankly, since Wooyoung was almost always over I preferred the quiet of my own apartment, even if I had to triple-check that I locked the front door before I went to sleep.

I was fine, I really was—and this isn’t me trying to convince myself—it’s been three days after all, and to be frank, the fact that these so-called superheroes actually do their job was another comforting thought. Well, Spiderman at least does, can’t say much about Iron Man. The only ‘help’ he offered was to stall and distract my captor, something me and the other on-lookers were managing just fine on our own too. But still, I felt a little bit of gratitude for the iron-clad superhero too for holding me and reassuring me when my brain was fogged up with terror and conviction that I was going to die. But now, three days later, things that seemed insignificant at the moment came back in flashes that had me questioning myself whether it was a fragment of my imagination or it truly had been said.

The first and biggest issue that seemed to concern me was the fact that Iron Man seemed to know my name when it wasn’t said or mentioned at the scene at all. It didn’t even occur to me at that moment as I was too wrapped up in the fact that a knife no longer put my life at risk, and even welcomed the familiarity and reassurance the superhero brought with his words. But now that I was conscious and no longer ridden with fear, I was thoroughly confused. I knew nobody had uttered my name, not even me, so just how was it possible that the iron-clad man had known it? Did superheroes have mind-reading powers too, or was it just common knowledge that Iron Man knew these sorts of things? Had I been hallucinating? But that couldn’t be either because I was sure he had said it twice, that must’ve meant something. Like the fact that I wasn’t hallucinating.

And then, not because I associate and compare all assholes to my boss, but the way Iron Man mocked my captor sounded a lot similar to the way Song Mingi would talk down on his employees, sneer on his face as arrogancy laced his tone. The voice modulator Iron Man used made it harder to assess any emotion in his tone, but I was sure I have heard a tinge of cockiness in it when he was busy mocking the man instead of saving me from him. It was a far-fetched reach, I knew it, but there was also this gut feeling that told me to trust myself and roll with the delusion. And my intuition had never been wrong before.

The third reason that it all seemed a little suspicious to me—completely aware that this was a relative fact and any man could have the physique of my boss—it still made me search up photos of Iron Man that had been taken on a whim for magazines to compare to those editorial shots Song Mingi enjoyed doing. It was a match, their shoulders wide and broad, hips narrow, creating the perfect inverted triangle shape that so many people went crazy over. Their heights seemed to be a match too, both tall intimidatingly so. I read through forums to see what others who had encountered the superhero had to say, and I wasn’t surprised to find out that they were rather condescending about him. Apparently, he liked to talk a lot before he got to do the saving, and it put other’s lives more in danger, sometimes resulting in grave injuries. He spoke like he ruled the whole world and everyone else had to bow down to him, and he oftentimes after saving the victims disregarded them and told them to go on their merry way and be more mindful next time, as if it was their fault that they had fallen victims in the first place.

And lastly, because perhaps it was the most pressing issue after the fact that Iron Man knew my name, it was the certainty that Spiderman seemed to be familiar enough with the other superhero to know his identity and address him by his name. Now, Iron Man stopped the other one each time from saying his name fully, but I had caught the little he had said, and ever since I had been thinking. I have heard others at the workplace address Song Mingi as ‘Mr. S’ more than once, even Wooyoung liked to call him that—and truly, ‘Mr. Son’ could be just an abbreviation for Mr. Song Mingi. I knew I sounded crazy to most, at least to Sooyoung definitely as she laughed when I told her my crazy theory, she didn’t understand why out of all the people I suspected my boss. Well, to be fair, I had no reason for that, but given the fact that the superhero showed up quickly to the scene, it was a real possibility. Even Spiderman and the police took longer, the company was right by the metro and Mr. Song specifically told me to go home as he wished to be alone.

Plus, because I knew Sooyoung would still consider me crazy, I told her about the fact that one time when I had been cleaning my boss’ office I discovered a hidden entry while I tried to move a decorative piece on the bookshelf. It looked like some classic villain shit at that time, but I said nothing about it to no one as I was rather complacent about keeping my job—I was still relatively new at the company. Sooyoung just laughed it off and told me that he probably had a vault in there for all the money and worthy items he owned. In fairness, it sounded plausible if my brain hadn’t decided to be suspicious of Song Mingi’s identity.

I had been devising a plan for the past two days, wondering about ways I could find out the superhero’s identity, or how I could catch my boss red-handed, but nothing was smart or subtle enough. He’d be able to trace it back to me and then all of my hard work at this company would go to waste, I didn’t want that. However, before I could start dwelling more on this, I was snapped out of my thoughts as Mr. Song’s voice carried closer to me.

“No, I told you not to come here—” Then he cut himself off with a groan, and I quickly straightened up in my chair as Mr. Song rounded the corner, the light in the kitchen switching off behind him. If he was good at something, even I couldn’t deny that it was the artificial intelligence he developed and then implemented in the whole building, “I’m not paying for your lunch again, Yunho.”

Gripping my phone a little tighter as I still had to text Sooyoung back, I allowed my eyes to rest on my boss as I took in his form, trying to recall Iron Man’s too at the same time. Mr. Song wore a suit today, all black and extremely form-fitting, with his black hair pushed back, showing off the undercut he thought made him look hotter. His vest expanded over his chest and became narrow at his waist, however, when he turned his back to me, I noticed that he had it pinched in so that it would cling to his hips instead of hanging freely and comfortably. I knew he was a man full of himself, but it was extremely infuriating that he knew how hot he was and he wasn’t ashamed to show it off too, “I told you I’m busy, kid, I can’t just free up my schedule whenever your devices go to shit.”

I flinched when Mr. Song suddenly turned, narrowed eyes landing on me as I turned my head and looked down at the computer, pretending to type away on it as I placed my phone next to the mousepad. My boss continued watching me and I tried not to peek at him, unusual to see him wear his thick glasses. Mrs. Bae had told me that he much preferred contacts and that we’d need to order new ones for him from time to time, so it made me fidgety as I wondered whether amidst my workload I had forgotten to order him some new ones, “Yunho, you’re a big boy, take care of it yourself.”

And then he rudely hung up as I could hear the other person still speaking on the other end. Mr. Song groaned loudly and my muscles tensed when he approached my desk, coming way too close for comfort. He leaned his hip against the side of it and crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking down at me. I tried not to scowl as I fixed my posture and read through the email that just made it into the inbox.

“Slacking off already?” Mr. Song mused, voice impassive, “It’s barely your fourth day.”

I remained silent and opened the email instead, skimming through it. The magazine for the editorial shoot has proposed a date and time, so, I turned my head and looked at my boss with a bored look on my face, “Is Wednesday next week good for the editorial shoot?”

“I don’t know,” He scoffed, a smirk pulling onto his lips, “You’re my secretary, you’re the one that knows my schedule.”

My jaw clenched as I stared into his sharp eyes for a second longer, hoping that he’d see I wasn’t impressed by his jabs, “Your Wednesday is free, sir, that’s why I’m asking. It so seems most of your schedules depend on whether you’re in a good mood or not, sir.”

I smiled sweetly as Mr. Song’s eyes narrowed just a little, and then he bent down, his face coming too close for my comfort, “How attentive of you. Tell them I’m only available at noon for two hours, and you’re coming too.”

“I’m doing what?” I asked alarmed, eyes widening, “Mrs. Bae never had to go with you—”

“But you’re not Mrs. Bae, are you?” I wished to punch the smirk off his face as his eyes once again took me in closely, travelling lower on my body before they stopped on my lips, making my heart beat just a bit quicker, “So free up your own schedule and dress in something sexy, can’t have you looking like a grandma if you’re to be seen in public with me.”

I couldn’t help but gape at his blatant disrespect, palms turning into fists as I turned my chair to face him better, disgusted and irritated as I tried to remain level-headed, “Since it’s my closet and my body, I’ll dress in whatever I find fit and comfortable for such occasion, Mr. Song, thank you for the recommendation though.”

“It was an order, not a recommendation.” Mr. Song’s smirk widened and my blood boiled as it was clear as day that he was enjoying the exchange, that he was having fun that I was getting heated over this, “I can buy you something pretty, Miss Jang, if that’s the issue.”

I stood up, unable to control myself as I glared my boss down despite him being obviously taller than me, “I don’t need you to buy me anything and I won’t have you order me around unless it’s strictly work-related. Just because your name is Song Mingi and you’re rich and can have anything and anyone, don’t think I won’t hurl your ass to court for breaching the contract and for trying to exploit your employees. I’m not your pet, Song.”

All amusement and arrogance left Mr. Song’s face as his expression turned cold, his sharp eyes running over my features before he hummed, rubbing his bottom lip as his glasses slipped lower on his tall nose, “Sweet, Miss Jang, perhaps then you can cancel the lunch with Mr. Park I should be leaving for right now, something more important came up. I assume you can do this much since it’s work-related.”

I gritted my teeth and exhaled, letting my features relax as I plastered on my generic smile and bowed my head just slightly, “Sure, Mr. Song, anything else?”

He took a second as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose then smoothed out his vest, leaning incredibly close so that I would hear his low voice, “The celebratory party for our collaboration with the car brand is this Saturday, I assume you know most employees are invited. You weren’t since it was Mrs. Bae supposed to come, but since you’re replacing her, I’ll be expecting to see you. Jongho will pick you up half an hour before the event.”

My mouth fell open as Mr. Song hummed and cast me one last glance before he turned and headed for his office, my mind reeling at what just happened. Jongho was his personal driver and assistant, he was almost always at his side when the two were out and about as he also served as Mr. Song’s bodyguard. I tried to form some coherent words and refuse the weird proposition, but Mr. Song was already inside his office, however, he left his door open again. My eyebrows furrowed as I settled back down in my chair, nose picking up on a sweet but musky scent that never failed to invade my nose whenever I went inside my boss’ office. It was the cologne he had been using ever since I got to know him, and my eyebrows furrowed as the elevator suddenly dinged, signalling that someone had come up to our floor. Coming to think of it, despite the metal and the obvious smell of iron, something sweet and musky clung just faintly to Iron Man’s costume the day he had saved me.

“Hi!” I flinched at the excited and loud voice, shaking my head to clear the thoughts away as I looked up. I was surprised to see a teenager standing in front of my desk, eyes round and smile brighter than my future as his puffy cheeks were tinged slightly red. He had a scarf around his neck that hid his chin and lips and he pulled his beanie off, ruffling his greenish-bluish-greyish hair, “My name is Yunho! I’m here to see Mr. S.”

“Uhm,” My eyebrows furrowed as I looked down at my computer to quickly run through Mr. Song’s schedule, “Yunho and…?”

“Jeong, Jeong Yunho, ma’am.” He answered, tone warm and soft and yet boyish at the same time as he rocked back and forth on his heels. I scanned through the schedule but his name didn’t pop up.

“Well, I don’t see you in here, Mr. Jeong.” I pursed my lips remembering Mr. Song’s orders and what I managed to eavesdrop on while he was on the phone, “But he did cancel an important lunch, were you just on the phone with him?”

“Yeah, some of my—uh, devices for school broke and I need Mr. Song’s help.” The young boy tried with a tentative smile and I hummed in acknowledgement, eyeing him curiously. But before I could tell him that I needed to check with Mr. Song first, the man appeared in the doorway and sighed loudly.

“Come on, Yunho, I don’t have all day just because you decided to parade your girlfriend around the city and broke it again.” Mr. Song deadpanned, but I was surprised to see fondness in his eyes as Yunho grinned widely, darting towards my boss after he gave me a cute wave, “Miss Jang, you can go have lunch, we’ll be busy for an hour or so, take your time.”

“Oh, Miss Jang, that’s why—” Yunho’s eyes widened as if in recognition, and I watched him with confusion as Mr. Song slapped a hand over his mouth and yanked the boy who was slightly taller than him inside his office, door slamming closed behind them, “I didn’t know she worked for you—”

“Shut up.”

And just like that, my suspicion of their identity intensified. Could Song Mingi actually be Iron Man? I didn’t know yet, but I was convinced to find out, and a brilliant idea just came to mind. I grabbed my phone and texted Sooyoung that I was too busy to have lunch today and left for the security room of our building. Call me crazy but my gut feeling was never wrong.

            However, there was a single flaw in my plan. How in the hell was I going to execute it without raising suspicions? But it was too late to dwell on that as I had already knocked on the door and was waiting for the security guy to open it. Chewing on my bottom lip, I wondered which lie would be more believable, and just as I debated on wringing Wooyoung into it too, the door opened. Thankfully it wasn’t Chanyeol as he’d be able to tell my bullshit from miles away, so I smiled cheerily and hoped the middle-aged security guard would fall for my lie.

“Hello, I’m Jang Y/N, I’m Mr. Song’s secretary assistant.” I handed my badge to the security guard and he grunted as he looked over it, handing it back to me, “I was wondering if you could let me take a peek at the security footage. My car was scratched yesterday and I’d like to see who did it since they didn’t bother leaving a note on my windshield.”

I tried my best to look disheartened but also slightly annoyed. The security guard froze for a second and then glanced behind himself, “Uh, I mean, I can look at it for you, just give me the car model and license plate.”

Fuck, that’s not how this was supposed to go. I bit my bottom lip and tried to improvise before the guard caught onto me, “You see…my ex works here too and I am pretty sure it was him. We weren’t able to settle things nicely and I know he’s still got a vendetta for me. I would hate to make this difficult for you, but I’ve got a restraining order pending and I would need the footage like…right now, you know? I can film it with my phone and later on get it emailed, but my lawyer is expecting it today if it actually was my ex.”

I almost grinned at how put-together and real my lie sounded, proud of myself. The guard’s face fell and I tried to school my expression into something like sadness and worry as he sighed, looking behind himself, “Fine, come in.”

I offered him a thankful smile and followed him inside, bowing at the other security guards as they gave us curious looks but greeted me back wordlessly. The guard led me to a different room littered with monitors and I stopped behind the chair he sat in, eyebrows furrowed as he opened a new window and typed in a code I couldn’t see as it was protected from view, “This was yesterday? When?”

“Well,” I fiddled with my fingers and tried to rake my brain for the time Wooyoung left work, “maybe around six or seven in the evening?”

“You stay a lot for someone who’s Mr. Song’s secretary assistant.” The guard made small talk as he typed in some more codes and opened up the app.

“His secretary is sick so I’m replacing her for the time being, there’s a lot of work,” I explained and he hummed, nodding his head in understanding.

“When I don’t have the overnight shift, I also spend my whole day here,” He didn’t sound as bothered as I expected him to be, “The company is huge so we must work hard to keep it going, Mr. Song appreciates us and treats us well after all.”

Well, I didn’t want to crush the false image he had of our boss, but the guard was a man and after all, Song Mingi treated his male employees a lot better and with more respect than his female ones. Besides, I bet he barely came in contact with any of his security guards—besides Chanyeol, I suppose—so of course they’d have a positive image of their boss.

“Right, you’re right,” I answered absentmindedly and watched the guard click onto the screen that looked over the garage, clicking some more to rewind the footage to yesterday.

“What car are we looking at?” He asked and I almost groaned, trying to remember the model of Wooyoung’s car.

“It’s a Mercedes-Benz, the newer type.” The guard paused and gave me a look over his shoulder, “Sorry, my ex is part of the engineering team who are developing the new prototype, and I never bothered asking for the model’s name but I’ll know when I see it!”

“I see.” The man muttered and clicked some more and there it was, the footage of Wooyoung’s car but he was nowhere in sight yet, “I’ll speed it up since you don’t know the exact time, tell me when you see him.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a wide smile and the guard grunted as he pressed play, people and cars moved quickly on the screen, but not so quickly that we wouldn’t be able to recognize them. However, this is where the issue of not having a well-thought-out plan came into play. I had no idea how to get the guard to show me footage of Mr. Song’s office, and I was also sure he’d never show it to me and would even get me fired. I tried to think hard of a way just as I spotted Wooyoung headed towards his car, I sighed but spoke up, “That’s him!”

The guard stopped the video to slow it down to regular speed, and then pressed play again, making me chew on my bottom lip and wonder whether I’d be fired if I knocked him out right now. There must be cameras inside this place too and just to make sure, I looked up towards the corner and saw the blinking red light of the CCTV. I sighed but focused back on the screen just as the guard’s phone rang. He cursed as he looked down at his phone and then paused the footage, swivelling around in his chair.

“I have to take this call; it’ll take a few minutes.” He said as he stood and hurried towards the door, “I’ll be back and then we can have a look at the footage together.”

“Sure, take your time!” I grinned at him and waved him off as he quickly left, accepting the call before the door was even closed behind him. Bingo, this was my time to shine. I waited for the guard’s voice to fade into the background and to make sure that no other guard came onside, and then I took my spot in the chair and swivelled closer to the screens. It took me a second to realize how to switch between the many screens, but having paid attention to the guard I realized that it was easier to moderate the system than I initially thought. I clicked on the window that had Mr. Song’s office and squinted my eyes as I watched him and Yunho huddled together at his desk, things pushed to the side as they both were leaning over something. I searched the screen for something that would make the image larger and grinned when I spotted the emoticon, clicking on it quickly as I was curious to see what got the two men so concerned.

Something small, a device as they had called it, was placed on the desk as they crowded around it, lips moving as they spoke to each other. The younger boy had disregarded his backpack, coat, scarf and beanie on the leather sofa and seemed rather comfortable despite this being the first time I saw the two together. But based on Mr. Song’s body language and the way he spoke to him, I knew the two were familiar with each other. A little intrigued myself by that little device, I found myself curiously watching the footage, a yelp almost leaving my mouth when the two men sprung back as something wet exploded out of it. It covered the two in a sticky-like substance and I watched amazed as Mr. Song’s rigid expression melted into that of amusement as Yunho’s head was thrown back, body shaking from his laughter. It only took another second before Mr. Song was also laughing, pulling his glasses off and nudging Yunho as the taller one clung to my boss and threw more of that weird substance at Mr. Song. I had never seen my boss so laid back and happy so it took me a second to snap out of it and stop admiring his crooked smile through the CCTV, subsequently remembering why I was here.

Adrenaline rushed through my system as I realized the guard could be back anytime and catch me red-handed, surely I’d be fired with a case on my hands then, and despite Song Mingi being a nightmare, the paycheck and people working here were too good for me to want to actually leave this company. So, I found the option that allowed me to rewind the footage, only to get my hopes crushed when it asked for a code. I bit my bottom lip and tried to recall the numbers the guard had typed in since I took a peek at the keyboard, but it was fruitless. I found myself slightly panicking and pulling at the collar of my blue striped shirt, the chain of my badge brushing against my hand. My eyes widened and I looked down at it wonderingly, could it work? Pressed by time, I decided to try my luck once again as I flipped my badge and searched for my security number on it. I glanced back at the screen and decided to do it, type in my security number. The worst that could happen was the artificial host that Mr. Song designed would recognize someone was trying to ‘hack’ into the system and shut down the whole company while alerting the police and Mr. Song—lovely.

Sweating a little as my finger hovered over the enter button, I took a deep breath and swiftly pressed it as I had wasted too much time already. To my surprise, the screen started loading as it scanned the code and then suddenly it flashed black before a new window popped up asking for a date and time. My jaw dropped open in surprise and I fumbled for a second as my heart thundered in my chest, unable to celebrate my victory as I pressed in the date and approximate time with shaky fingers, chewing on my bottom lip. I must’ve eaten the lip tint already despite applying it this morning with how much I bit and licked at my lips due to being nervous. The screen loaded once again and then there it was. Mr. Song in his office, all alone, the hallway dark outside as I had left just a few minutes ago. He was sat in his chair, leaned back with his legs spread wide open as he stared out the window, running his fingers through his hair. Something seemed to get his attention as a red light flashed on his desk, and I realized it was coming from the thing I assumed was his desk clock. His lips moved but there was no sound as the cameras only recorded images, and then I watched as Mr. Song’s jaw clenched and eyebrows furrowed. He sprung out of his chair and rushed towards the massive staircase, his fingers brushing against the books and the decorative piece I accidentally discovered myself.

I wasn’t surprised to see the staircase moving, making way to a dark passageway that was lit up as Mr. Song quickly hurried down, disappearing from the camera. I looked over the other windows and realized that there were no cameras in the room he had just gone in, so I prepared my phone's camera pointing it at the screen, and pressed record. The wait made it worse; my heart was thumping fast and every sound outside the door made me jump, but just when I considered fast-forwarding, Song Mingi appeared in the frame once again. No, not Song Mingi but Iron Man. Its mask was still open so nobody could even deny it that it wasn’t Song Mingi and I gasped as I watched him walk towards his window while pressing buttons on the left arm of his suit. The mask closed and the window slid to the left, making way for Iron Man to leave the office. And then, he was off, flying towards the metro station and leaving me gaping as I paused the footage and stopped my recording. My fingers shook as I fell back in the chair and I ran my fingers through my hair, not having actually expected Mr. Song to be Iron Man.

Of course, I was quite suspicious and even almost fully convinced it was him, but I fully expected to be proven otherwise since I was only being delusional, as Sooyoung had claimed. But no, it was real, my gut feeling was right once again. I took a second to try and wrap my mind around my findings and rationalize my next thought, but there were loud noises outside the room and I panicked, clicking through the windows and struggling to get rid of the footage I had just watched as I couldn’t find the ‘x’ button. The door opened just as I jumped out of the chair and raised my phone as if I had gotten an urgent text or phone call.

“Sorry about that, it was an urgent—”

“Mr. Song just texted me that he needs me up at the office, thank you but I’ll come back sometime else!” I rushed out as the security guard looked at me confused, stepping aside when I hurried towards the door.

“Oh, if you tell me the license plate, I can email it to—”

“Don’t worry about it!” I gave him a bright smile and a tap on his shoulder before I dashed outside, heart beating fast as I clutched my phone to my chest, the video in my gallery glaring back at me as I ran for the stairs, trying to keep my legs steady due to the heels I wore. But what would I do now? Do I tell Mr. Song that I know who he is? That I know he’s Iron Man? Or do I try to exploit this since he’s always an asshole and even a jerk to me? Does Mrs. Bae even know? What would she do in this situation? She’d certainly be disappointed in me if she were to know I tried blackmailing my boss, but if Mr. Song had been a nice person, then I wouldn’t have tried my luck with this crucial information on my hands.

Blackmailing it is, then.

            The rest of the day felt like torture. Pacing up and down outside Mr. Song’s office while he was busy with his meetings and who knows what else didn’t help at all with soothing my nerves, and despite a quick Google search of effective blackmailing tactics, I still came up empty-handed. I had to admit that I wasn’t as brave as I had once regarded myself, but if there was one thing I knew about myself, it was that I was stubborn and determined to go through with this no matter what. I didn’t have an exact reason as to why I was doing this, but I was self-aware enough to realise that I wanted to feel in control, that I wanted to show Mr. Song that he wasn’t untouchable and neither the hot shit he believed himself to be. Of course, he could fire me and blacklist me at all companies, but as Wooyoung once had said, why live a boring life when you can bring a little edge and excitement into it by fucking it up yourself. He was right, but I didn’t know whether taking advice from someone like Wooyoung was smart or not.

So, without wanting to gain anything out of blackmailing Song Mingi, I decided to stay for as long as he did, and just be upfront when he’d be on his way home. Surely, he’d be too tired by then to give too many fucks about his stupid secretary assistant—now secretary replacement—and maybe he’d offer me more money, which…I would accept, obviously, but not without making a few demands like, he’d have to behave if he wanted to talk to me and respect me like any other male employee he had. Surely, I wasn’t asking for much, but with my boss, you never knew what was too much.

So, when it was well after working hours and my legs and back ached from sitting all day long, I decided to brew myself some tea and wait for another hour before I’d finally go home. Mr. Song had been cooped up in his office for hours now, the door closed and locked, and the windows were blurred so that only the light pouring out from underneath his door was the only visible thing and a tell-tale sign that he was still at the company. I couldn’t lie, I was actually quite curious about what he was doing in there, but my pride wouldn’t allow me to ask him—maybe I could ask Mrs. Bae once she had returned. While the kettle whistled and sizzled as I poured the hot water into my cup, I failed to hear that Mr. Song unlocked his door and opened it with a loud groan, too caught up in not spilling the hot water like I had done so before many times. With two spoonfuls of honey in it and the teabag thrown into the bin, I smiled in content as I made to return to my desk. Since I was still here, I figured I could phone up the accountant and settle the monthly appointment he had with Mr. Song, but I was scared out of my mind once I spotted Mr. Song’s tall frame leaning against the doorframe. His arm was up and pressing into the doorframe. His hair looked dishevelled, his black shirt was untucked from his pants with the top buttons unbuttoned, and his vest forgotten somewhere in his office.

I halted as if I was caught doing something bad and stared back at my boss as he fixed his thick glasses. He pursed his lips and looked rather displeased at seeing me, but his eyes curiously fell onto the cup I was holding, mindful of the hot ceramic, “What are you drinking?”

“Wildberry tea,” I answered and cleared my throat, resuming my walk over to my desk. Mr. Song hummed and licked his lips, eyes stuck to my form as I gave him a questioning look once I sat down in my chair.

“Could you make me some too?” He asked, sounding so unlike himself as his tone was laced with exhaustion, “Is it sweet?”

“Yeah, it’s sweet,” I said as he tapped the doorframe before he turned to head back inside his office.

“Make me some!” He called over his shoulder and I rolled my eyes, slouching in my chair. I didn’t want to get up again and fetch him some tea when my feet were killing me, he could get it himself, but he was too lazy and I knew he had fun walking me around all day as if I were his pet, it was infuriating. But perhaps this was my chance to finally do what I was here for, blackmail him. I grinned as I got up from my chair with a newfound passion, hurrying towards the kitchen to pour my boss tea and add two spoonfuls of honey. I placed the cup on a tray as well as three chocolate chip cookies, a napkin, and then I headed for Mr. Song’s office after I fetched my phone. It sat heavy in my dress pants’ pocket as I knocked on the open door as a heads up that I was heading in, and then I walked inside, my red high heels clicking loudly against the marble floor as it was dead silent in Mr. Song’s office.

It was dimly lit now, unlike when the door was closed and locked, and I let my eyes quickly run over the place as they lingered on the hidden door, it was closed, of course. I averted my eyes and looked back at my boss, whose eyebrows were furrowed and glasses discarded in front of him as he stared at his computer’s screen with mild annoyance on his face. Some strands of his black hair stuck up in places in a funny way, and I gulped down the chuckle that threatened to escape my lips, It was rather unusual seeing Mr. Song so stressed and pressed by whatever had him annoyed.

“Here’s your tea,” I announced as I came to a stop next to him, not too close though, and placed the tray carefully on the desk, in its usual spot. Mr. Song hummed, his eyes still glued to the screen, and too curious for my own good, I took a peek at it, surprised to find him reading the news about a war that’s been ongoing for way too long now. I never took Mr. Song as a person who would worry about others or would feel pressured to do something, but the creases on his forehead and the slight sneer on his lips were rather obvious factors that he wasn’t pleased with the development of the war. And then, looking at the article for a little longer, I realized they were bashing his weapons and his company. Now it made sense that he looked annoyed, suddenly I didn’t feel as brave as before to tell him that I knew he was Iron Man.

“Did you put sugar in it?” He suddenly asked and glanced at me, making me stand up straight and quickly avert my eyes from his computer’s screen.

“No, it’s better with honey,” I answered and his eyebrows only furrowed further as he glanced at the tray then back at me. He fell back in his chair and heaved a long sigh, chewing on his bottom lip. The longer I looked at him, the more I realized something was bothering him. I didn’t dare ask whether anything was wrong, and he said nothing as he continued looking at me. My heart had started beating faster and I gulped as my phone seemed to weigh bricks in my pocket, a reminder of why I was still at the company and not at home, in my bathtub soaking up my flowery scented bath bombs.

“I don’t like honey.” Mr. Song muttered at last and I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something I might regret later. I sighed and reached for the teacup with a displeased expression on my face.

“Fine, I’ll bring you another one with sugar—”

“I’ll drink it.” I froze as he grabbed my hand, looking up at me with glimmering eyes, and suddenly I couldn’t think straight. He looked very much nothing like the man I had known for years, and it almost made me question myself. Could Mr. Song have an actual soft and caring side? Was he not always an arrogant prick who hit on women and only used them for his sexual needs? I gulped and looked down at our hands, his big palm was calloused and it almost completely engulfed my hand. It made my cheeks flush and I found myself speechless for a second.

“Oh, okay,” I said quietly and went to pull back, but Mr. Song didn’t release my hand just yet. His eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed to be in deep thought as he looked up at me again with defeat in his eyes.

“Do you ever feel alone, Miss Jang?” My eyes widened at the sincerity in his voice and more so because of the question he asked. I had never thought a man like Song Mingi would be asking me such a thing, certainly, he cannot be lonely, he’s got everyone and everything he could ever want. Perhaps it’s a trick question he can fire me over.

“I think everyone feels alone at times, Mr. Song.” I answered truthfully, not expecting him to nod along and hum in agreement. I almost jumped when his thumb started caressing my skin, covering my arms in goosebumps as I once again looked down at our hands. His touch was warm and gentle, inoffensive and almost as if he wasn’t doing it consciously as it was slow and inconsistent.

“Even if they are constantly surrounded by people?” I nodded as I continued looking down, shifting my weight from one leg to another.

“Of course, it doesn’t matter how many people are around us and, on our side, if they only want something from us.” I shrugged and looked up, finding Mr. Song already looking at me intensely. I gulped and continued unsurely, “I mean, many people only create connections to exploit them later on, so I think it’s important to surround ourselves with genuine people who want what’s best for us, like our friends.”

“And if the individual doesn’t have genuine friends?” Mr. Song suddenly stood and I felt a little intimidated as he placed my hand on his desk and pressed his over mine, pretty much trapping me in one place, unless I wanted to rip it out from underneath his touch.

“Then it must be a truly lonely life, Mr. Song, they should look for quality and not quantity.” My eyebrows furrowed as Mr. Song’s strong cologne reached my nose, and it was a sore reminder that I had a plan that I still hadn’t gone through with yet.

“There are few chances to meet genuine people in my line of work,” He chuckled bitterly and stepped closer, making me look up at him as my heart started racing uncomfortably once again. His proximity felt a little uncomfortable but not as bothersome as on my first day—perhaps because he had no regard for personal space and always managed to invade it somehow, even if he was just talking to you, “There are few people who see me for who I am.”

I hummed and bit my bottom lip to stop myself from slipping up and telling him that there was a reason for that and that it was because he was a complete asshole to almost absolutely everyone. But my silence seemed to only spur him on and I was rather surprised that my boss was pouring his heart out to me in his office, after working hours, “There’s few people who don’t want what I own and even fewer people who aren’t eager to get in my good graces just because I’m powerful and able to change their lives for the better or worse. And even fewer women who wouldn’t bed me just because I’m rich and own a mansion and luxurious cars.”

Ah, so Mr. Song was only trying to get in my pants. I was surprised to find myself disappointed and bitter as the thought settled deep in my mind while Mr. Song’s hand slowly gripped my wrist, pulling me gently towards himself as I was unable to react just yet. I thought we were having a genuine conversation about a rather trivial issue that everyone faced daily, but no, he just wanted to fuck me. I should’ve expected it, of course, he wasn’t trying to pour his soul out to someone willing to listen, even if that someone was his secretary’s assistant. Of course, he wasn’t a good human being who tried to find solace in another one, to make a genuine connection and speak honestly. Instead of being disappointed by Mr. Song’s actions, I should’ve been more disappointed in myself and the fact that I believed he could be good even if for a few minutes. It made me want to cry, but instead, I felt rage simmer under my skin and my expression became schooled as Mr. Song continued staring into my eyes deeply, his face coming closer and closer. I didn’t move, I let him grip my waist and angle his head so that his lips would brush against mine, and then I spoke.

“I know you’re Iron Man.”

Song Mingi froze, face giving nothing away but his body went rigid and his grip on my waist and wrist tightened. He didn’t have to say anything for me to know that he felt caged, that his mind was twisting and turning to find a reasonable answer that could deny my claim. But I wouldn’t stop now because he didn’t deserve it. He was a piece of shit and I have had enough of him.

“Don’t try to deny it.” My voice was bitter and tone snappy as I glared into his eyes, gripping his arm to push it off my wrist, “I have proof, Mr. Song, and I will take it to newspapers if you try to sweet talk your way out of this.”

“What do you want?” Mr. Song’s was eerily cold, eyes that had been previously soft now all sharp and glaring as he leaned down so that we’d be eye to eye, our jaws clenched as I hoped my expression conveyed the spite I felt towards him.

“Nothing,” I shrugged and watched as his eyebrows formed a small frown, “Nothing material that is, but you should start fixing your attitude towards your employees and women especially. It’s sickening that you think you can toy around with us and then fire us because you got bored of fucking the same person, Mr. Song. It’s disgusting—you are disgusting by doing this.”

He released me at once and took a step back, furious very obviously as he scoffed, pushing his hair back and out of his eyes, “And this concerns you how? I thought you were a mere employee and not my mother, Miss Jang, but by all means, please tell me what else I need to fix to fall into your good graces.”

I smiled at him, all sarcastic and ready to tell him to fuck himself, “The last thing I wish for is to spend more time with you, sir, so don’t worry, you won’t have to fall into my good graces, I don’t think that’s even possible at this point. I was merely making a suggestion, perhaps you’d feel less alone if you tried to maintain a pure and genuine connection with someone for once.”

“If that is all, you can go home, Miss Jang.” Mr. Song crossed his arms in front of his chest, lips forming a sneer, “Maybe I shouldn’t have saved you if you’re so ungrateful.”

“Spiderman saved me, not you.” I snapped with fire in my voice, annoyed and irritated, “Even when you’re supposed to save someone all you can do is be arrogant and satisfy your need to show you’re superior to others, it’s pitiful—”

“Out, now.”

With one last shared glare full of spite, I stormed out of his office and Mr. Song walked after me to slam his door closed shatteringly strong.

            I should have been fired. I know I should have been because I was disrespectful to my boss, and perhaps if I had been in his place, I would’ve fired myself for sure. But I knew his secret and maybe that played a part in me keeping this job for who knows how long. But still, I should have been fired, or at least never spoken to again by Mr. Song, so explain why I found a fancy black box in front of my front door this morning after I returned from grocery shopping. Yes, it was Saturday and I was expected to show up at this fancy get-together to celebrate the collaboration of the two companies, and yes, I did consider emailing Mr. Song that I had fallen ill and wouldn’t make it. So, imagine my complete shock when I unboxed my anonymous package and found a gorgeous black dress with the price still on, making my jaw drop not once but twice. It cost a fortune and I might as well have lost my mind when I found the small note tucked underneath the satin fabric.

There’s a dress code for the party, wear this. ~ S.M.

Perhaps getting an existential crisis would’ve sounded much better than getting an insanely expensive cocktail dress gifted by your boss to an event you had no business attending, but because his secretary couldn’t go you had to fill in for her. I love Mrs. Bae dearly, but this was not in the job description when I sent my resume in. I knew people of all sorts would be there, all important and owners of multifaceted businesses and companies that were just as rich as Mr. Song’s, and I was understandably nervous. I knew I wasn’t supposed to speak to anyone, which I was more than glad to do, but what if anyone spoke to me? What was I supposed to do then? Mind racing with all different sorts of scenarios, I decided to ask Sooyoung to come over and help me get ready—which was actually just a distraction from the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about that damned Song Mingi.

Sooyoung, as always, was a sweetheart and made me laugh while we had lunch, while Wooyoung harassed us with phone calls, saying that he also wanted to come over and participate in all the gossiping he knew we’d be doing. San wasn’t available tonight, which meant that Wooyoung would be bored, but in the end, threatening to block his number on both phones managed to calm him down, so he finally left us alone. Sooyoung just sighed and apologized because Wooyoung was still clingy after three years of dating, and Sooyoung knew I could get easily annoyed and overwhelmed by her overbearing boyfriend. But I knew he meant well, and I never guilt-tripped Sooyoung too much for her boyfriend’s obnoxious personality.

But the moment to get ready came and I was more than mortified when Sooyoung emptied her tote bag on my bed and started listing off all the lotions and serums and perfumes and bath bombs she brought over for me to use, “You never know where you’ll meet your man, Y/N, you must be ready at all times!”

“Does that mean I must exfoliate my body with three different body soaps?!”

“Well, obviously yes! Your skin needs to be soft!”

“My skin is already soft, you know that. I’m not using all of that Sooyoung, please.”

“Fine, but shave at least, okay? For me?”

“I don’t shave, I only wax.”

“But tonight—”

“I’m not going there because I’m trying to bag a billionaire, Sooyoung, I’m going because my boss told me to go.”

“You could’ve said no.”

“And risk getting fired?”

“Fair enough, go on then, time is ticking, bestie.”

And that is how I found myself two hours into getting ready, only a few more minutes until Jongho buzzed me to go down so that he could drive us to the company. Sooyoung helped me do a low bun that sat securely at my nape, front strands curled and framing my face prettily. My makeup was simple because I refused to let her help me with a smokey eye, I opted to wear a softer eye look so that I could wear my red lipstick. Sooyoung had a similar reaction to me when she saw my dress, and her jaw was on the floor as she reluctantly touched the glittery tulle dress, eyes switching between me and the dress.

“So, he bought this for you?” She asked with her mouth still hanging open as I changed into clean underwear in my bathroom.

“I’m sure he had it lying around somewhere in that big mansion of his,” I muttered with a scoff and Sooyoung tsked.

“No, I’m sure he bought it specifically for you, Y/N.” I rolled my eyes and prayed the stockings wouldn’t rip as I pulled them over my knees.

“Yeah, sure, I’m not some peasant turned princess overnight, okay?” I muttered with a huff as I started sweating, this stocking was kicking me in the butt, had I gotten a size smaller?

“Y/N,” Sooyoung’s serious voice made me yelp as she appeared in the doorway, pushing the door open. She had an incredulous look on her face like she had seen a ghost or had been just proposed to, I couldn’t decide, “Your name is on the tag, sewn into it, more specifically—”

“What?” I asked alarmed as I pushed past her and went to my bed to see for myself. I managed to adjust my stockings and gave a last prayer that they wouldn’t rip until I made it back home, then I wouldn’t care about it anymore. I held the dress carefully and touched the tag, leaning down to see it better. My eyes widened when I realized Sooyoung wasn’t joking, and I looked at her with round eyes, “What?!”

“Exactly!” Sooyoung shrieked and I gulped, jerking my head away when she came and hugged my side, “Are you sure you’re not into your boss?”

“Yes, very sure.” I huffed and made sure Sooyoung wouldn’t ruin my hair or makeup as I let her continue embracing me.

“Not even a little bit?” She grinned and batted her eyelashes at me, “Because I’m sure he is into you—”

“Alright, stop right there.” I groaned and pulled myself out of her embrace, “My boss is a womanizer and two days ago he tried to tell me a sob story to try and get into my pants, so no, Song Mingi isn’t into me and I’m not into him. Case closed, Sooyoung, I hate him and I hope he hates me too. I cannot wait for Mrs. Bae to return so that I don’t have to face him ever again.”

Sooyoung pursed her lips and gave me a look as she raised the dress for me, “Fine, but nobody gifts a dress like this—”

“He’s a millionaire—if not billionaire at this point—so no, Sooyoung, he can gift me a dress like that because it’s nothing compared to how much he spends monthly.” Before Sooyoung could oppose, I raised my hand, “I know because I’m the one who puts together his monthly expenses.”

“Okay, whatever.” Sooyoung huffed in defeat and walked closer, “Jongho is supposed to arrive any minute now, let’s get you into the dress.”

And I let my best friend help me wear the expensive and gorgeous dress, soft against my skin and exactly my size. I didn’t want to think too hard about how Mr. Song knew my exact size, but I suppose when you sleep with so many women, one glance at their bodies and you just know. A rather disturbing and disgusting thought that I didn’t care to dwell on too much right now.

The dress reached past my knees and the sparkly fabric that came over the satin didn’t bother my skin at all. The corset bustier was semi-transparent and had a heart-shaped neckline in the front and lacing back, complemented with a sparkly black cape, which came with voluminous sheer puffy long sleeves. The gown was made of sparkly tulle and satin, its skirt puffy and creating the impression that I was wearing a puffed-up princess gown. Both Sooyoung and I stayed silent as we stared at me through the mirror and I gulped, twisting and turning to check myself out from all angles. I hated to admit it, but Mr. Song’s taste was spectacular. The dress looked rather pretty on me and delicately suited my shape and form. Each time I attempted to finally step away from the mirror and stop admiring myself, I found something new to marvel at, and, thus ended up grinning from ear to ear when Sooyoung started snapping chaotic pictures of me, the both of us a giggling mess when there was a buzz at the intercom. We froze and looked at each other and then I was racing towards it. I knew it was Jongho, but it could’ve been anyone else too.

“This is Jongho, I’ll be waiting by the car.” The man’s gruff voice said through the intercom and I felt jittery and nervous all over again.

“I’ll be down in a second!”

Sooyoung already had my coat and purse in her hands, and I gave her a grateful smile as I quickly wore my high heels, not keen on making Jongho wait too long for me. Sooyoung grabbed her stuff quickly too and then we were out the door, the front door locked, and headed for the elevator in a hurry. The ride down was filled with more laughter as Sooyoung tried to distract me since I was feeling nervous, but it didn’t help much when I spotted Jongho leaning against Mr. Song’s sleek Mercedes-Benz, a sophisticated beige colour. Despite not having vast knowledge about cars, I knew that this one was a classic as I have heard my boss gloat about it to others not once or twice, but many times. The car was from around the seventies and the model’s name seemed to stick with me, it was a Pagoda. It felt illegal to touch it, let alone lean against it as casually as Jongho was doing.

“Good evening, ladies.” There was a playful glint in his eyes as he bowed almost mockingly, and I huffed as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“Hi, Jongho.” I greeted as Sooyoung waved at him, the two knew each other because Wooyoung liked getting drunk at team dinners and it was usually Jongho who drove him home as he rarely drank, busy running after Mr. Song’s ass.

“Well, if we don’t leave in two minutes our lovely Mingi will have us both fired, so…” He trailed off as he pushed off the car and opened the door for me with that playful glint still present in his eyes. Jongho was a well-built man, strong no doubt, but with a soft and cute face and a smile that could charm many—I had been charmed too, unfortunately, since he knew how to use it to his advantage and made me lose a significant amount of money one time when he decided he wanted to play the claw machine. He was tenacious and smart, a deadly combination for a weak-hearted person.

“Don’t worry, Jongho,” I gave him a huge grin as I walked closer, “we’re too precious to be fired, after all, who would clean up Mr. Song’s mess if we weren’t there for him?”

“That’s right,” Jongho muttered and I pressed a quick kiss to Sooyoung’s cheek before I hurriedly sat inside the fancy car, mindful not to scratch the red leather and interior of the car. It was beautiful and expensive, I didn’t understand how Mr. Song allowed anyone else to drive the car, but after all, Jongho was a trustworthy person and a good driver. Besides, I am pretty sure Jongho is the only person who Mr. Song considers to be his friend despite him being his employee, and I’m also pretty sure Mr. Song is a little bit afraid of Jongho because he never misbehaves when the other is around.

“Are you joining us at the party?” I asked curiously as Jongho sat inside too and ignited the engine to life, the rumble a low purr, a rather satisfying sound. Sooyoung grinned at us and waved as Jongho carefully pulled out of the parking lot, and we were off to S. Industries, my heart in my throat. I could only hope at least one familiar face would be at the party, someone I could talk to and hide behind if necessary.

“I’m not in the mood, to be honest,” Jongho said with his lips pursed, turning onto the main street with ease. The hardtop of the car was on as the weather didn’t allow us to ride without it, something I would’ve actually really enjoyed doing now, “But Mingi did say he wanted me there so I’ll just stick close to the exit. You know, doing bodyguard stuff.”

I chuckled and adjusted myself in the seat, admiring the interior as I carefully reached forward to touch the dashboard. I’ve seen the car numerous times but I have never come as close to it as I was right now, “Are you nervous?”

I gulped and looked at Jongho as he sped through the yellow light, “Is it that obvious? I’m shitting my pants, I’m not going to lie.”

Jongho laughed, sounding cute and warm, and his lips stayed in their usual gummy smile, “You should relax, you’re not supposed to do anything, so really, it’s just a good opportunity to get to know more people. Maybe someone steals you from Mr. Song and then there’ll be a big scandal that I’ll happily enjoy from the sidelines.”

“I know I have no actual reason to be nervous, but I’ve never been to an event like this one before and I just…I don’t know, actually.” I sighed and looked out the window as Jongho turned onto the street where the company was situated at, traffic was scarce tonight, “I’m not particularly fond of people like Mr. Song.”

“Mingi especially.” Jongho muttered with a cackle and gave me an encouraging smile as we stopped at the gates of the underground parking lot of the company, “You’ll see you’ll find likeable people tonight, maybe some new friends even. At least I know Mr. Park is a very humble and generous man, if you stir up a conversation with him, he’ll be more than happy to indulge.”

“Wait,” Suddenly I realized something I hadn’t thought about before, “Wooyoung will be here too, right?”

We were let in as the gate opened and Jongho waved at the guard as we drove inside the parking lot, “Yeah, unfortunately. Who do you think will drive his drunk ass home tonight? Me, and I don’t want to, but I’m a good friend.”

“I thought you weren’t friends.” They were, but Jongho denied it every chance it was brought up since he was embarrassed by Wooyoung’s personality. Jongho grumbled something and I chuckled as he parked the car rather skilfully.

“He said he won’t take me to the Bahamas if I keep denying that we’re friends, so…” He gave me a look which made me laugh, and we both got out of the car once it was parked with the engine killed. But for the rest of the way, we remained silent, especially since the elevator was filled with people dressed in fancy outfits as they were headed up to the fifteenth floor, which totally had a ballroom sort of thing going on. I didn’t want to wonder much about why such a room existed in a company like Song Mingi’s, but I supposed he’d flaunt his wealth any time he could.

The hallway was decorated with golden accents and dimly lit, a red carpet laid out, guiding you towards the entrance of the ballroom. I followed the others as I stuck to Jongho’s side, and he gave me a grin as we reached the entrance, bodyguards stopping everyone to check their invites and if their names were on the list. It was a pretty exclusive party, people couldn’t just sneak in if they wanted to. It was mainly to avoid a bunch of press people and journalists who liked to stick their noses where they didn’t belong to. I froze for a second when I noticed the security guard who helped me, sort of, by the door as recognition passed his face when he spotted me. I tried to look normal as I nodded towards him and thankfully, he was distracted by Jongho when he went over to greet his colleagues. He wished me luck and then I was off, greeted by Chanyeol when he told the bodyguard to let me through since I was Mr. Song’s secretary (assistant).

The inside of the ballroom was better lit than the hallway, it was decorated with anything golden, and there was a bar filled with people ordering drinks. Orchestra music was playing at a pleasant volume so that people could converse but also dance if they so wished to do, and I found myself not knowing what to do now. I stood awkwardly in the doorway and then decided to move towards my left, keeping close to the wall as waiters walked around with trays, carrying champagne and even some snacks and fruits. Everyone was dressed to the nines and most women wore festive gowns or cocktail dresses and jewellery that glimmered in the lightning subtly, surely worth more than everything I owned as they were mostly diamonds, no doubt. I felt out of place as I slipped out of my coat and looked around, trying to find a hanger or anything. There was none and I jumped when a waiter suddenly stood in front of me with a bored look on his face.

“Champagne?” I wanted to refuse but one quick glance around me told me that everyone had a glass in their hands, so I accepted it, fumbling with my coat and purse.

“Do you know where I can put these down?” I motioned towards my belongings and the waiter sighed before he extended his arm.

“There’s a wardrobe, I’ll take it there.” And then he went to walk off, but paused, “Do you perhaps work for Mr. Song?”

“I do.” Suddenly I felt extra self-conscious, was it that obvious that I didn’t belong here?

“Oh, good.” The waiter seemed to perk up a bit, even smiling a little, “You’re Miss Jang, his secretary?”

“Uh, secretary assistant.” I corrected him, and he just waved it off.

“Yeah, good, I’ll put your stuff with Mr. Song—”

“Don’t do that!” I almost but exclaimed, and quickly blushed when a woman who walked by us gave me a look, “I mean, please, I can hold onto it or something—”

“These are Mr. Song’s orders, so I can’t really go against it.” Then he bowed his head a bit and walked off before I could object some more, leaving me with wide eyes. Why would Song Mingi bother with telling the waiters to take my belongings to where his were? It made no sense, but perhaps that’s the treatment I got for being here in Mrs. Bae’s place. I cradled the champagne glass in my hands and looked around, looking for Wooyoung even if he was annoying and embarrassing. Although I doubted Mr. Song would’ve let him come if he didn’t know how to behave in a place like this. But as my eyes surveyed the crowd, instead of finding my best friend’s boyfriend, I found my boss. Unsurprisingly, he was at the bar, leaning against it as he was chatting to some pretty woman who was all smiles and laughed at almost everything Mr. Song said. I couldn’t imagine anything my boss ever said would be funny, but he most definitely acted differently towards people who weren’t his employees. I mean, he was well-known for sleeping with women left and right, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he was on the hunt tonight despite the gravity of this event.

He held a glass in his hands, and I wasn’t surprised to see a ring on almost every finger of his, the one with a big ruby in it rather eye-catching. Being himself, Mr. Song certainly dressed to impress, and as I took in his attire, I realized with alarm that indeed there was a dress code to this event and it wasn’t black. Every woman in the room wore different shades of golden or beige, all light and sparkly at times, meanwhile the men wore mostly beige or a darker shade of cream. Eyes snapping back to Mr. Song, I realized it was quite literally just the two of us wearing black outfits, and suddenly I felt really stupid and embarrassed as I stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd. I now understood why everyone was giving me looks once they passed by me, and I had to take several deep breaths to stop myself from blowing up or crying, I couldn’t decide which one just yet.

Mr. Song’s blazer was cropped and put accent onto his shoulders, and perhaps it was glitterier than my dress and all the other ones combined. His pants seemed to be high-waisted and loose as they came down past his ankles, and as he angled his body to face the front of the room, my eyes widened when I spotted him wearing nothing but a simple vest underneath his blaze. It came up to his pecks and it was buttoned up all the way, stopping just above the hem of his dress pants. Heavy silver chains hung around his neck, complementing the jewellery on his fingers and bringing out his tan complex more. I didn’t understand why I had to be wearing black as well, surely, he didn’t want anyone else stealing the spotlight from him, yet here I was, merely a secretary assistant with our outfits assorted even down to their sparklines. I hated it, I concluded that it made me want to cry and I swiftly downed my champagne in one go, jaw clenching and eyes glaring as I turned my head away, unable to look at my asshole of a boss anymore.

I tried to hunt down another waiter with a tray to place my empty glass onto, but they were nowhere to be seen, so I just stormed towards the exit with the glass still in my hands. People were still coming in and it proved to be a bit hard to leave the room as I had to wait until everyone came inside, and unfortunately, Chanyeol had spotted me.

“Y/N,” He said with a small smile as he checked a man’s invitation, “You look gorgeous, that dress looks amazing on you. It’s almost as if it was tailored for you.”

I gulped to force down the lump in my throat and tried to smile as the man he allowed inside gave me a long look, a smirk appearing on his lips, “Thank you, do you think I could slip out for a second?”

“Bathroom break?” Chanyeol chuckled, and meanwhile I usually appreciated how carefree he was, I wasn’t in the mood to chit-chat around with him. I nodded wordlessly and he asked a lady to step aside for a second so that I could leave. I was glad that Jongho was nowhere to be seen as I stormed down the hallway, aimlessly as I had never been on this floor before and had no idea where the bathroom even was. The music grew to just a mere hum as I rounded a corner and found myself standing in a lobby, huge doors to my left and right. It was the restrooms and I headed for the emerald-coloured couch in the middle of the room. It was a semi-circle and had its back to the other couch and I plopped down on it, not minding my dress as I slouched, placing the glass on the floor next to my leg. I sighed loudly and closed my eyes, trying to calm my nerves since all I wanted to do was walk up to my boss and demand an explanation as to why he bought me a black dress. Was he mocking me? Was he making fun of me? Did he enjoy berating his hard-working employees? Was this some sort of stupid powerplay? I was furious and I was ready to go on a full whispered rant when the doors to the men’s restroom slammed shut loudly. I had missed the footsteps, but it seemed like whoever entered hadn’t noticed me either.

I knew hiding out here wasn’t smart on my part as Mr. Song would certainly want to see me, so I took a deep breath and told myself that I could call him out later or at the office on Monday, if not tonight. I couldn’t let him get under my skin again, I had to be better than that. Perhaps I should find Wooyoung and grab a drink with him, let him introduce me to some smart people and watch where the night takes us. Grabbing the glass, I rose and fixed my dress, checking myself out in the big mirror to make sure I looked fine. My cheeks were a bit rosy from my sudden anger, but if I plastered on my fake smile, nobody could tell I wasn’t feeling so fine. I took off and rounded the corner just as the men’s restroom door opened again, slamming shut irritatingly. Already annoyed, I stopped and intended to call out whoever was keen on slamming doors, but the hushed voices made me halt.

“She’s gone, bring out the weapons.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for longer?”

“All the important ones are already here, I don’t want more collateral victims than necessary.”

“Fine, boss.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I remained rooted to my spot, not having a good feeling at all about this. Who were these people and why were they talking about weapons and victims? I thought this was a highly secured event, so these two must’ve been on the list or something. Otherwise, it made no sense to how they got in.

“That Song prick will pay tonight for fucking us over, Sehun, mark my words.”

“When do you want to attack?”

“When he gets up on the podium for his fucking speech.”

“And his secretary?”

My heart stilled as my eyebrows furrowed, and I made sure to stay out of view as I listened attentively, disregarding my red lipstick as I had started chewing on my bottom lip.

“It’s not that old hag anymore, pity, the new one is rather gorgeous, isn’t she?”

“Do you want me to take her hostage, sir?”

“Yeah, kill her if Song isn’t cooperating.”

I gasped and pressed my hands against my mouth, hoping I wasn’t loud, my heart beating fast as my hands started shaking. My ears rang for a second and I swore my head became hazy, but I had to focus. I had to stop this before anything would happen. I wasn’t dying, and nobody was getting hurt tonight.

I knew exactly who to tell.

With a racing heart and unstable legs, I hurried down the hallway, grateful for the red carpet as my heels made no sound. I ignored everyone as I very rudely pushed people out of my way, ignoring Chanyeol’s smile and questions as I snapped at him to get out of my way. Jongho was back and his eyebrows furrowed when he saw my disposition, but I had no time to speak to anyone but Song Mingi—Iron Man. I felt judging eyes on me as I tried to keep my breaths laboured, eyes frantically searching the crowd for my boss, my heart beating even faster. As his secretary, I have read through the schedule and I knew Mr. Song’s speech was soon, I really couldn’t waste even one more second. Taking a breath to calm my nerves and think clearly, my eyes fell towards the bar and that’s where I spotted my boss. Without thinking, I marched over to him—and the woman he was with—pushing people out of my way without apologizing, but I’m sure they’d understand if they knew what was soon to occur.

“Mr. Song!” I called out with an edge before even reaching my boss, but he didn’t react as he probably didn’t even hear me, too busy leaning towards the woman he was talking with as he touched her bare shoulder, trailing his fingers down her skin. My eyebrows furrowed as I came to a stop rather close to them, but neither seemed to notice me just yet, “Mr. Song.”

At the insistency in my tone, my boss cast a glance my way and I watched as his grin turned forced, “I’m busy Miss Jang, find me after the speech—”

“I cannot do that, sir, I need to speak to you in private.” When the woman gave me a dirty look, I felt my jaw clenching, “Right now.”

Mr. Song seemed just as displeased by my rude interruption as the lady—but she seemed to be more pressed about my presence as she leaned back against the bar and took me in from head to toe—but when I pushed my trembling hands behind my back and looked at my boss with pleading eyes, he seemed to realize something was wrong, so very wrong, “Please, Mr. Song, we need to talk.”

He cleared his throat and adjusted his sparkly blazer as he gave the woman a dashing smile, grabbing her hand to press a faint kiss against her knuckles, “Don’t get too bored in my absence, Miss Han, I’ll be right back.”

She chuckled and nodded her head, then threw me another dirty glare, and then Mr. Song was finally looking at me with questioning eyes and without thinking, I grabbed his wrist and took off, pulling him after myself urgently. I apologized to people this time as we walked through the crowd, headed for the exit, and Jongho tried to stop us when he noticed us, but Mr. Song raised his hand to stop him. I was too scared to walk towards the restrooms as I didn’t know whether the men were still there, so instead, I guided us towards the elevator.

“What is your problem?” Mr. Song’s tone was sharp as he snapped once I stopped walking and I whirled around, his eyes were narrowed as they sharply looked down at me.

“Someone wants to hurt you.” I rushed out and before Mr. Song could interrupt me, I continued, “I needed a moment so I went to the restroom and after leaving, I heard two men talking and they were saying they will make you pay and—they have weapons, Mr. Song, they—they said they’ll kill me if you don’t cooperate with them—”

“This isn’t a prank or a joke, right?” Mr. Song asked as he stepped closer, and I quickly shook my head, grip around his wrist tightening.

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this!” I hissed as Mr. Song’s eyebrows furrowed and worry coated his expression, “They’ll attack before your speech.”

Mr. Song averted his eyes as they seemed to cloud over with even more worry and stress and then suddenly, he stepped closer, eyes boring into mine, fierce and burning with determination, “Do you know their names?”

“One is called Sehun.” I barely finished my sentence when Mr. Song tsked and looked at the ceiling, looking irked as I finally released his wrist, a little embarrassed for having held onto it for so long. Mr. Song licked his lips and then glanced down at me, opening his mouth to speak when there was laughter behind us and chatter. I barely blinked when I felt myself shoved backwards as my back collided with the wall, Mr. Song’s tall form looming over me as he caged me in between himself and the wall. My eyes widened in surprise and out of reflex, I tried to push him away. I grabbed his waist and attempted to wrestle myself out of the hold, but Mr. Song only pushed his body against mine as the laughter and chatter came closer.

“What are you doing?!” I whisper-shouted as I looked up at him with a glare, blood boiling that he wasn’t taking the situation seriously again and was trying to do—whatever with me.

“I’m sorry, Miss Jang, but everyone saw us walk outside together and, well, I have a reputation to uphold, you know?” He smirked and lowered his head as I sputtered, trying to push him away once again, “I will let you go when they have walked past us, stop being so fussy.”

“I wouldn’t be so fussy if you weren’t pinning me against a wall against my own will, sir, kindly fuck off.” I snapped and Mr. Song dared to chuckle, “There’s lives on your hands and you’re here with me instead, play-pretending that something that isn’t happening is happening, putting everyone’s life at risk—”

“Relax a little, will you?” Mr. Song groaned and poked my forehead with a finger, making me flinch away, “They won’t attack until I give my speech, so, we’re good. I could just not say that speech the whole night and everyone would be okay—”

“No, because they want revenge and they will get it, no matter what.” The people enjoying themselves had almost reached us now, Mr. Song cradled my jaw with one hand and tilted my head up, making my heart race as I gulped, “What we all need right now is a superhero to save the day, sir, we need Iron Man.”

“I thought Spiderman was the one who saved you.” Mr. Song’s voice dropped low as his eyes searched my face and I felt breathless for a second, his cologne strong and wrapping around us, “But you’re asking for Iron Man now? Don’t you hate me? Wouldn’t you rather have someone else save the day—”

“I don’t give a fuck who saves the day, Mr. Song, as long as they stop those two men, alright?” My jaw clenched and my eyes threatened to flutter closed as Mr. Song’s head lowered and his lips came close to mine, “I know you’ve done good things before, just—I don’t want to die.”

“I know.” Mr. Song whispered and suddenly the people went quiet as they had spotted us, “I don’t want you to die either.”

Mr. Song and I stared into each other’s eyes as I let his words sink in, trying to desperately ignore my quickening heartbeat and the way my muscles seemed to tense when he smiled softly, the hand holding my jaw coming to play with the front strands of my hair before he pushed them behind my ear. The people in the hallway suddenly giggled and muttered something about Mr. Song clearly enjoying himself, and then they rushed off while looking at us curiously. I exhaled once they were gone from sight and thought Mr. Song would release me, but his eyebrows were furrowed and he looked conflicted. I raised my eyebrows at him and slightly tried to push him away again, but he barely took a step back.

“I need you to go back to the ballroom and tell Jongho that there’s been a change to our plans, then tell Chanyeol to announce that my speech will be soon starting, alright?” His tone was soft and almost worried as I nodded, finally able to relax as Mr. Song completely released me and stepped away, his warmth disappearing with him. I gulped and fixed my hair, pulling the strands back to frame my face once again, failing to notice that Mr. Song watched me closely with a small gulp, “You’re gorgeous tonight, Miss Jang.”

My head snapped up and I looked at Mr. Song with an alarmed expression, but with a nod of his head he was gone and I knew what I had to do next. So, heeding his words, I ran back to the ballroom and called Jongho aside to tell him there’s been a change to their plans, watching as realization crossed his features. He squared his shoulders as his expression became schooled and cold, different from the man I knew. He thanked me and told me to stay safe before he was gone too, and then I knew that Jongho also knew who Song Mingi was. Next, I told Chanyeol to gather everyone and announce that Mr. Song would be giving his speech soon, and then I walked closer to the exit, eyes surveying the crowd and trying to figure out who the two men were. Nobody looked suspicious, and I felt more and more nervous as time went by and the room filled up with even more people. Everyone was eager to see and hear my boss, and the room was filled with loud chatter as the music had stopped playing. I jumped when the doors were closed and Jongho stood in front of them, hands intertwined in front of him and eyes steely as he looked around, searching.

The lights flickered and everyone looked at each other, surprised and a little confused, and then the lights went out completely. I gasped as the chatter died down at once, my breaths quick as my muscles tensed, waiting for the worst. I could tell everyone thought this was a trick Mr. Song came up with, but I knew just in how great danger we were. But then, before I could panic more and even start crying, the lights were back on and nothing changed. The stage was still empty and nobody had moved from their spots, I felt confused as Jongho and I shared a glance. Perhaps it was a malfunction or something, but that was unexpected and almost impossible as the building had backup generators that kicked in as soon as the electricity went out. Then, somebody cleared their throat loudly.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” People whirled around as we looked towards where the modified voice came from, a red iron costumed man stood behind the bar, polishing a glass. I could feel everyone’s confusion as they gaped at Iron Man, some even looked excited, and I caught Jongho’s amused smile before I looked back at Mr. Song, “I heard you’re waiting for Song Mingi’s speech, he’s a really good friend of mine, did you know that? We’re practically like twins, that’s how close we are.”

People laughed and some even got their phones out to snap pictures as Iron Man placed both the rag and glass onto the bar, resting his elbows on it as he leaned forward, chin in his palms, “Before I let my dear twin proceed with his speech, I heard there are people here who had planned a surprise for all of us. Kim Junmyeon, are you in the room with us?”

The crowd went silent again and looked around, my eyebrows furrowed as I tried to see if anyone reacted weirdly, but I couldn’t tell as there were many people in there. Iron Man chuckled and then stood up straight, trailing an iron finger against the counter, “I heard you brought your little brother too, Oh Sehun, so where are you two hiding?”

The lights went out and I yelped when I felt someone touch my wrist, bony fingers curling around my skin as I started yanking my arm free. Then, two spotlights suddenly snapped on and I whipped my head to my left frantically, ready to punch my captor and free myself and was rather glad to see Wooyoung. His eyes were big and he looked confused and borderline scared too, “I hate the dark, what the fuck is happening?”

“Are you drunk?” I whispered as I looked towards the spotlights, two men were illuminated. One stood in the middle of the crowd, which now had made way and stepped away as if sensing danger, and the other man was rather close to the exit, Jongho’s fierce glare was fixed onto the man.

“No, but I wish I was.” Wooyoung whispered, moving closer until his side was pressing into mine, “Are we going to die?”

“We shouldn’t,” Then I looked towards Iron Man who slowly walked around the bar, somehow managing to look menacing as the two men put on the spot looked towards each other, expressions tense and eyes glaring, “Do you trust Iron Man?”

“Fuck yes,” Wooyoung whispered as his grip tightened around my wrist, “remember that bad accident I was involved in? He’s the guy that saved me before the engine exploded, I owe him my life.”

I looked at Wooyoung with surprise as his eyes remained on Iron Man, slightly shaking but filled with admiration. Wooyoung rarely spoke of his accident, and even when he did, he never mentioned how he got out of the car, saying something about it being too traumatic to be spoken of. I gulped and grabbed his hand, squeezing it, “We’re not dying then.”

“We better not, I wanted to propose to Sooyoung next week.” But before I could react to Wooyoung’s words, everyone gasped as the two men drew guns, and my eyes widened as Wooyoung suddenly stepped in front of me, shielding me with his body. My heart swelled and I gripped the back of his shirt as I looked at Jongho who was moving towards the one that stood close to him.

“Fuck off, you arrogant prick!” The man in the middle of the crowd exclaimed, enraged as he pointed his gun towards my boss, “What’s the meaning of this? Where’s Song Mingi?!”

Iron Man chuckled and as he started walking towards the man, the crowd parted for him as everyone ducked down in fear, “He’s busy fucking his secretary assistant.”

“Fuck off.” I hissed as my glare bore into the side of Iron Man’s iron mask, and as if sensing my rage, the superhero’s head turned just briefly, but I knew Mr. Song was looking at me. Wooyoung cackled in front of me, as if the situation was actually funny, but didn’t question it despite it being about me. Did Wooyoung know too, perhaps, that our boss was the superhero?

“Well, Mr. Kim, now that the man you’re searching for isn’t here, won’t you lower your weapons?” Iron Man turned his head, “You too, Mr. Oh.”

A man yelped as the one closer to the door suddenly sprung forward and grabbed him, holding his gun against the man’s head, a seething expression on his face, “I’ll blow his brains out if you don’t get Song Mingi in here, right now.”

But my boss didn’t react as Jongho slowly crept towards the pair, ready to fight off the man holding the weapon. Everyone screamed as a warning shot went off, the man in the middle had his gun pointed towards the ceiling before he pointed it at Iron Man again. There was a tsk and then Iron Man’s hand was pointed towards the criminal, something opening as blue light simmered in its palm, just like when he was supposed to save me.

“You’re being rude and you’re also destroying the décor.” Iron Man snapped and then walked just a bit closer, “You have five seconds to lower your weapons and it won’t be too painful this way.”

“Fuck you.” The two men spat in unison, and suddenly, the ceiling opened up and large weapons descended, pointed straight at the criminals' heads. They froze as the crowd went dead silent once again, everyone scared to make the wrong move as if they’d detonate the weapons. Two red dots sat on the criminals' foreheads, and I saw the one in the middle of the crowd slightly falter, fire dying out in his eyes.

“Still want to fuck me?” Iron Man chuckled, lowering his arm, “I only have to press one button and then both of you will be dead.”

I gulped and felt thankful for having Wooyoung with me as his presence brought comfort despite his shaking frame and constant silent curses, eyes darting between Iron Man and Jongho as the driver/bodyguard almost reached the criminal. Wooyoung looked like he wanted to help, but I grabbed his arm and halted him into place, knowing that I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to him.

“Give us Song Mingi.

“No.”

And then the man in the crowd fired shots at Iron Man foolishly, emptying his ammunition as Jongho tackled the other one to the ground, getting on top of him to pin him down as the doors slammed open and police officers filled in to take the two attackers hostage. Iron Man casually grabbed the criminal’s gun and snapped it into two before he headbutted him, the man instantly falling to the ground unconscious. Wooyoung seemed to relax as people tried to flee the place, scared and confused, but the police asked everyone to remain calm as the threat had been neutralized. The Captain greeted Iron Man before they collected the unconscious man off the floor, the other one was trashing around and screaming as they had him handcuffed and held down by five officers and Jongho. Despite it being over, I found it hard to breathe as my body continued to shake, and I had to bite my bottom lip to stop myself from crying. The incident at the metro was too fresh in my mind, and I couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if I hadn’t eavesdropped on the two men. Wooyoung, sensing my panic, turned and pulled me into a warm embrace, rubbing my back up and down as he muttered reassuring words, cracking jokes that weren’t helping at the moment. I did appreciate them, though.

            Once the police took the two criminals and Iron Man mysteriously disappeared and Song Mingi showed up to do damage control, the crowd seemed to remain tense, and thus the party was postponed. Not everyone left, some decided to stay behind and drink and dance around, but as it neared midnight, few people remained. The event was ruined, but surprisingly, Mr. Song didn’t look too disappointed by it. After talking to the police and calming the crowd down and apologizing profusely, he sauntered over to the bar and downed a shot of tequila before beckoning Jongho over to drink some whiskey. The younger refused his offer but remained by his side, soon joined by a squeamish Wooyoung who was reluctant to leave me on my own. I assured him that I would be fine and needed the breather as I headed towards the huge windows to gaze outside. The city lights were pretty from the fifteenth floor, and I released a long sigh as I felt exhausted and ready to leave. I didn’t want to stay behind, but somehow both Wooyoung and Chanyeol managed to convince me as they offered me another glass of champagne to loosen up. Most of the employees stayed behind, eager to speak to their boss as it was a rare occasion if you didn’t work directly with him.

Distracted by the soft music and my own thoughts as I watched people walk down the street from time to time, I wasn’t aware that Mr. Song had approached me. He stood next to me, looking down at the city too, lips pursed as he spoke up quietly, “You did really well, Miss Jang, thank you.”

My eyes rounded as I turned my head to look at my boss, having never heard him thank anyone before so sincerely. It felt nice, it made my body jittery and my heart race a bit, “Would you like to dance?”

That surprised me as well as I froze, looking at my boss questioningly. Did he really want to share a dance with me? Although there weren’t many people who could see us, rumours spread quickly at our company—especially if they were about Song Mingi and his women.

“Uhm, alright,” I muttered and almost flinched when Mr. Song took my hand to walk us towards the dance floor. I gulped and stepped closer when we faced each other, Mr. Song’s free hand went to my lower back as he pressed our bodies together, and I gripped his shoulder as he, for some weird reason, intertwined our other hands. Our closeness felt a bit too much, too intimate, but I said nothing as it didn’t feel like he meant to do anything inappropriate. During this one week of working with him, I realized he sought out physical contact more often than not and stood rather close whenever he spoke to someone.

“Are you alright?” I chanced a glance at Mr. Song, but he wasn’t looking at me. I licked my lips and tried not to feel awkward as I nodded, suddenly reminded of when he comforted me while I didn’t know Iron Man’s identity.

“Yes, you—you did a good job tonight, sir, thank you.” My voice was small and I took a deep breath, feeling awfully vulnerable all of a sudden, “I wasn’t ready to be taken hostage again, I was scared.”

“I’ll keep you safe, Miss Jang, just don’t leave my sight.” Perhaps Mr. Song didn’t mean to say that as he gasped quietly right after before he cleared his throat and tapped my lower back, “Iron Man saves people too, you know? Not just Spiderman.”

“Are you really jealous over that?” I decided that I didn’t want us to be too vulnerable with each other, I still didn’t like my boss, so I tried to change the tone of the conversation. Mr. Song scoffed and moved us around the few dancing couples, he was rather good at dancing, fluid and gentle.

“I’m not the jealous type, besides, why would I be jealous of somebody like Yun—” The cut-off was way too abrupt and my ears perked up, eyes widening comically as I pulled my head back to look at Mr. Song’s face. He looked flabbergasted by his own words and I broke into giggles, averting my eyes when Mr. Song’s narrowed at me.

“I don’t think I was supposed to know the other superhero’s identity,” I said amused, and Mr. Song groaned as he gripped my hand just a bit tighter, as if warning me to stay silent. Well, at least now it made sense what I saw through the CCTV, that thing Yunho and Mr. Song were fixing had probably something to do with Spiderman’s web. So, it seems Jeong Yunho is Spiderman, what a small world.

“Just don’t tell anyone, specifically him, he’ll get excited and he’ll never shut up about himself—”

“Oh, sounds like he had a good mentor.” I mocked with a raise of my eyebrow and Mr. Song glared at me, “But I won’t tell anyone. Isn’t it even more dangerous for him, he’s still a teenager.”

“Do you worry about me as well, Miss Jang?”

“No.”

“That’s a pity, maybe you should.”

“You’re quite alright inside that iron suit.”

“Nothing is indestructible.”

“Then you’ll have to be more careful.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to be more careful now.” Our eyes bore into each other’s, and I felt my cheeks warm up as Mr. Song’s warm eyes were intense and curious, glinting with a seriousness that was rare to see on him. But it didn’t last for long as he looked away and twisted me around abruptly, making me gasp as I had to cling onto him before I lost my balance, “Mrs. Bae will be back in a week, think you can handle me for a little while longer?”

“I don’t think I can,” I snorted, realizing that I was almost hugging my boss with the arm that was supposed to only hold onto his shoulder, “But I don’t have a choice.”

“You’re smart,” Mr. Song chuckled and he lowered his head to be able to look me in the eyes directly, “And quite useful. You tried to blackmail me, you move fast, and stick your nose into everything, these aren’t necessarily good attributes, but they could be of use to me.”

My eyebrows furrowed as a wide smirk made its way onto Mr. Song’s lips, eyes twinkling with mischief, “What do you mean?”

“Are you trained in any martial arts?” I shook my head and Mr. Song pursed his lips, seemingly in thought, “Well, that’s easily changeable. Are you good with tech?”

I shook my head again and Mr. Song seemed disappointed, “Well, that’s not an issue, I have Yungi—”

“Who?” I asked confused as Mr. Song grinned.

“The artificial intelligence I designed to help me, he’s rather smart and a good friend when a man’s lonely.” That was perhaps impressive, but I didn’t say that to Mr. Song, he didn’t have to hear it from me too, “Well, anyways, I can find something useful for you to do.”

“Am I not useful already?” I asked confused, just slightly offended, “I help Mrs. Bae a lot, I’m her assistant after all, and by helping her, I help you too, sir.”

“Mingi.”

“What?”

“Stop calling me ‘sir’ and ‘Mr. Song’, it’s getting a bit repetitive.” I gave him a funny look as Mr. Song just raised his eyebrows challengingly.

“But you’re my boss, sir.”

“Am I though?” My heart stilled as Mr. Song suddenly dipped me down, our noses touching as he looked dashing under the dim lights, blazer sparkling and eyes twinkling.

“Are you firing me right now?” I asked alarmed, both arms going around his shoulders once I was in a standing position again. Mr. Song’s strong arms went around my waist as he swayed us slowly to the rhythm of the music the live band was playing.

“Yes and no,” Mr. Song—Mingi—hummed, and then his voice rumbled quietly next to my ear, “You’ll be working less for Song Mingi and more for Iron Man.”

My eyes widened as my heart raced now, skin tingling at the weird proposition, Mingi continued to explain, “Mrs. Bae will be retiring soon and I already have the person who will replace her, and surprisingly, I quite like you, Y/N. I want you to help me out—”

“But how?” I couldn’t find anything with which I would be more useful to Mingi. He chuckled, and I felt him play with the strands that had fallen out of my low bun.

“Iron Man needs a secretary too.”

“And if I refuse?” I knew I couldn’t, there were too many factors at stake right now.

“Jongho will kidnap you tonight.” That sounded terrifying, “I can’t let you go, you know too much. But I assume you already know that, right?”

“I do, Mingi, but if you’re subjecting me to more hours spent with you—which will be my own personal hell—I expect the paycheck to be higher too, you know?” Mingi giggled, the sound deep and surprising, and I found myself smiling.

“I’ll give you anything you want, Y/N, just stay by my side.” His voice was low and sincere and I gulped, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Does Mrs. Bae know who you are?”

“She’s my godmother, of course, she knows.”

I chuckled, not having expected that, “That explains a lot, actually.”

“She’s a menace,” Mingi grumbled and I chuckled again.

“And so are you.” I watched another couple join the dance floor, and suddenly remembered something, “You said there was a dress code, so why is it that only the two of us are wearing black?”

“Because there’s a dress code.”

“And it’s gold, not black.”

“Exactly.”

“Mingi.”

“I’m the host, I can dress however I want.”

“And me?”

“Shut up, I love this song.”

The song, in fact, was just another classical piece that I was convinced Mingi hadn’t heard before in his life, but I remained silent and decided to bring up this subject again sometime soon. Just what was Iron Man’s secretary supposed to do?

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home is where the heart is - song mingi

Song Mingi x gender neutral!Reader

tags - fluff, minor angst, best friend!mingi, sleepovers

Word Count: 2.9k

taglist: @formidxble

It was never weird for you and Mingi to fall asleep together. You’d been friends since highschool and the weekly (sometimes even biweekly) sleepovers you had had slowly turned from sleeping on separate couches or in sleeping bags on the floor to squishing into each other’s beds to fall asleep with your shoulders pressed together. More often than not it was uncomfortable and ended up in aching muscles the next morning, but it was worth it to wake up next to your best friend, poking his cheek until he woke up with a groan.

Nothing much had changed since then.

Whenever you visited Mingi’s apartment, happily greeting the rest of the boys that you’d gotten to know since Mingi had started working with them, you fell asleep in his bed, knees resting against his as you talked about your respective lives. You didn’t live all that far - just two hours by car - but when Mingi’s schedule was so packed it felt impossible to find time to visit him. So when you did, you stayed overnight and told him all about what was going on with you: your job and all the gossip among your coworkers, how your family was doing and the new things you’d learned to bake or the plants you’d bought recently. Compared to Mingi’s life, they seemed like boring stories, but he was always eager to hear them.

Sometimes you brought him gifts - bracelets you’d made or necklaces you spotted that you thought would suit him. You knew that his style had changed over the past few years but your heart swelled knowing that he still wore the things you brought him. He did the same for you, and after three years of monthly visits the two of you had more matching friendship bracelets than you could count.

You’d never thought that love could endure for this long, but time and time again Mingi proved you wrong. Despite the romantic feelings you had for him, it was never painful to you that you were just friends, with no indication that you’d be anything more than that any time soon. You were just happy to have him in your life - not everybody could say they’d had the same best friend for seven years, after all.

“You really stayed there all night?” Mingi asked, impressed. You were both laying on your backs in his bed, occasionally tickling each other and yelling until one of the other boys asked you to be quiet, but right now you were telling him about how you and your friends had spent the night at a twenty-four-hour McDonald’s last week.

“Yeah! But the stupid thing is we ate too much when we first got there,” you explained very seriously, so immersed in making sure he understood the severity of the situation that you didn’t notice the way he was grinning at you, expression soft. “So we were so full that we couldn’t even eat anything from the breakfast menu! At least I had a strawberry banana smoothie… You should come next time.”

“Yeah, I’ll show you how to eat properly,” he said, nodding and picking up your hand, fiddling with your fingers. “I’d eat twenty chicken nuggets and still be able to eat from the breakfast menu!”

You laughed at him, both of you ignoring the fact that it was very unlikely he’d be able to join you on a trip like that. He just had to keep his fingers crossed for a longer break so he could finally visit your new apartment (you had all of his group’s posters up on your bedroom walls you’d told him, at which he blushed profusely) and see the plants that you’d jokingly named after his members, the names sticking after a while.

You both fell into a comfortable silence after that, your shared playlist playing quietly in the background. You grabbed onto one of his fingers and shook his hand with a small smile, glancing at him to find his eyes drooping shut.

“Let’s sleep,” you told him, squeezing his finger and then letting go. “I’ll go change, don’t fall asleep before I get back.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mingi said between two yawns, stretching and getting up from his spot on the bed. “I’ll change too.”

He watched you leave the room, the clothes you’d brought to sleep in bundled up in your arms as you left to change. He sat back down on his bed, lazily changing into his own pyjamas. He sat there for a moment, rubbing his eyes. Your birthday was coming up next month but he knew that the way his schedule was looking he wouldn’t have time to do anything with you. He had taken you out for your birthday last year to your favourite boba tea shop and had paid for you both to get matching tattoos (small pairs of hands linking their pinkies on your hips), after which you’d hung out in a hotel, jumping around the small room and waving at passersby on the street below. It’d been perfect, really.

But the year before that he hadn’t had time to meet with you for your birthday - not during the week before or the week after - and while you understood and reassured him over and over that it was no big deal, when you both called on the night of your birthday, he could tell you were disappointed.

“I miss you,” he’d told you, sighing softly. You didn’t say anything but he was sure you were nodding on the other end. Suddenly there was a small sniffle from your end of the line and Mingi could feel his heart break in his chest. “But I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you’d said, voice unstable. “It’s weird growing up without you here.”

He chewed on his bottom lip now, wondering about your upcoming birthday. What could he do to make time for you? He was still mulling over the idea when you stepped back into his room, wearing a pair of sweatpants he’d bought you a few months ago. He grinned upon seeing them and shifted back into the bed, sighing softly as you turned off the light just to turn on the small lamp by his bed, climbing in beside him. You faced him in the dim lamplight, looking over the worried expression that had settled itself into his features.

“What’s up?” you asked, taking his hand in yours and rubbing circles into his palm with your thumbs.

“Nothing,” he replied almost automatically, taking a moment to consider his answer. “I don’t want to miss your birthday again.”

You stared for a moment before averting your gaze to look down at where your hands held onto his.

“You don’t have to worry if you do, Mingi. It’s your job, it’s not your fault,” you told him calmly. “There’s gonna be tons more birthdays in the future.”

“Exactly. And I wanna be there for every single one,” he told you firmly, pouting. With a quiet sigh, you wrapped an arm around him to pull him close, letting his head rest against your chest as you threaded your fingers through his hair. He made a small sound as though he was going to start speaking but then stopped, just shutting his eyes as he wrapped an arm around your waist.

“It’s okay,” you murmured. Mingi wasn’t sure if you meant for him to hear the hushed words that left your lips but he listened intently anyway. “Any day we’re together is as special as my birthday.”

The next morning you left Mingi with a tight hug and a reassurance that he shouldn’t worry about your birthday, to which he nodded but looked no less worried. You hummed along to the radio on the drive back to your own apartment, the same melancholy feeling you always felt when leaving Mingi’s place settling in your chest. You were halfway back when tears began to well up in your eyes and you had to pull into a gas station to blink them away. You took the opportunity to go inside and get coffee and a protein bar, the taste of shitty gas station coffee having become familiar since you and Mingi had moved away from each other. When you finally felt recovered you got back into your car, only to sit there for another half hour as you thought about the last birthday you’d spent without Mingi.

The next month came far too quickly for Mingi. He called you everyday in the two weeks leading up to your birthday as it started to become painfully obvious that he wouldn’t have time to spend with you on the day. Three days before your birthday he couldn’t bring himself to call you, sending you only a few messages throughout the day to make sure you knew he wasn’t ignoring you.

Towards the end of the day, the inevitable message popped up on his screen.

hey are we doing anything for my birthday?

He stared at the notification, turning to look at Hongjoong who was sitting at the kitchen table. After a few moments of consideration he made his way over to him, fiddling with the friendship bracelet around his wrist.

“Do you think I can have the day off for Y/N’s birthday?” he asked, scared for a moment that he might’ve spoken too quietly for Hongjoong to hear him. Hongjoong turned to look at him, giving him a small shrug.

“It’s not really my choice,” he told Mingi with a sympathetic smile. “I don’t think they’ll let you, but you could ask our managers.”

Mingi stared and nodded, his vision suddenly blurring with tears as he puffed out his cheeks in a sigh.

“Mingi?” Hongjoong asked tentatively, reaching out a hand to take Mingi’s hand into his own. Mingi nodded quickly and sniffled, tilting his head upward. “Y’know, Y/N will understand.”

“I wish- it’s just that-”

Mingi stopped trying to talk then, embarrassed by the way his voice wavered with each word. He wanted to say that there shouldn’t be anything to have to understand - he should just be there with you. Hongjoong pulled Mingi down to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Mingi stayed quiet, eventually leaning forward to rest his arms and head on the table, crying while Hongjoong tried to reassure him that you wouldn’t be upset. The other boys joined them after a while, telling jokes to try and cheer Mingi up, which worked until he checked his phone again before heading to bed.

it’s okay if you don’t have time but can u let me know?

mingiiii

okay i have to sleep

call me tomorrow! i missed u today

okay okay gn <333

He sighed loudly, throwing his phone on the bed. There was no way he was missing your birthday again. But was there really anything he could do?

The morning of your birthday you woke up to a video of Mingi singing you happy birthday, followed by a video of him and all of the boys singing you happy birthday once again. The last video was him wishing you a good day, explaining his schedule to you with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Finally, he promised to call you as soon as he could, flashing an apologetic smile before the video ended. You smiled at the screen, sending him a voice message to thank him and tell him about the weird dream you’d had last night. Of course you were disappointed that you wouldn’t be seeing him but hearing his voice was better than nothing at all. You’d see him soon, you tried to console yourself.

Your day went by the way birthdays usually did - lunch with your parents, dinner and drinks with your friends and answering messages from everyone on social media. As the day came to a close you realised that Mingi had yet to call you. You sat in the front seat of your car, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel along to a song Mingi had sent you yesterday, bottom lip jutting out in a small pout even though nobody was around to see it. You’d been there for an hour now but couldn’t bring yourself to leave the car. A shiver ran through your body and you finally reasoned with yourself that it was probably time to go inside.

When you got inside the apartment, it set in that you really were getting older without Mingi by your side. You remembered joking with him in high school that you’d probably be the only one out of your friends to stay in your hometown once school was done. In the end you’d moved away too, albeit being the last one to do so. It felt like a joke at the time - it had truth behind it but it was a joke all the same. How could you ever get older without Mingi by your side?

You mumbled along to the song you’d been listening to earlier as you showered and changed into comfy clothes, crawling into bed with a soft sigh. Maybe he wasn’t done with practice yet, you told yourself. They finished late often, so you shouldn’t worry that he hadn’t called yet. After a while you picked up your phone to check that you hadn’t silenced your notifications, heart twinging as you realised just how late it was. You should just go to sleep, you’d talk to him-

Bzzzt.

The noise of your front doorbell made you jump as you scrambled to get out of bed. Your brows drew together as you turned on the light in the hall, leaning forward to check who was outside your door at fuck’o’clock of the morning.

“Y/N, it’s really cold out here, can you-”

You’d barely opened the door when you flung yourself at Mingi in a hug, knocking the breath out of his lungs. His arms easily wrapped around you, walking you back into the apartment so that he could shut the door, shuddering slightly from the cold.

“Happy birthday, sexy,” he joked, grinning when you pulled back to slap his shoulder. His heart fluttered in his chest at the sight of you. You were visibly tired but the smile on your face lit up your features, filling Mingi’s stomach with butterflies. He’d made the right decision coming. “Are you gonna give me a tour?”

“Can we sleep first?” you asked, rubbing your eyes. “I didn’t clean anything up.”

“Since when do you clean?” he teased, turning off the hall light and following you into your bedroom. He admired the walls in the lamplight, smiling at the sight of all the ATEEZ albums you’d bought, along with the photocards and posters you’d put up. He noticed that you had his postcard stuck on the wall beside your bed but didn’t say anything, instead watching the way you crawled into bed with a quiet yawn. Once you’d settled, he got in beside you, smiling at the contented expression on your face.

“Thank you for coming,” you told him, taking one of his hands into one of yours and squeezing gently. He nodded and sighed softly, his eyes travelling over your features as though he hadn’t already memorised them long ago.

“I don’t want you to feel like you’re growing up alone,” he mumbled, squeezing your hand.

“I have you,” you told him matter-of-factly. He shook his head a little, pouting. “It’s true!”

He couldn’t seem to come up with anything to say back, instead opting to lace his fingers with yours, rubbing his thumbs over your knuckles. He paused after a while, staring at your knuckles as though he might find some beauty mark or scar he’d never seen before. Just when you were about to tease him for it, he brought your hand to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to your skin. You were sure your heart would burst out of your chest then, your heartbeat loud in your ears.

“Home is where the heart is, right?” he asked, and even though his voice was barely above a whisper you heard him clearly, nodding in response to his question. He pressed another kiss to the back of your hand. “Then my home’s with you.”

You grinned, his eyes finally looking up to meet yours, a smile playing upon his lips at the sight of your own expression. You laughed a little.

“So cheesy,” you teased him, laying one of your legs over his.

“As if you don’t order pizza with cheese stuffed crust,” he retorted, earning another laugh from you. Mingi tried to swallow his nerves but decided after a moment that maybe they weren’t so bad. They were proof that you were here in front of him, solid and laughing and just as lovely as the first time you’d made his heart skip a beat. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah,” you replied with no hesitation.

It was difficult to maintain the kiss with just how much you were both smiling, but somehow you managed, one of your hands coming up to play with the hair at the nape of Mingi’s neck. You finally parted from each other with a loud giggle, his lips meeting your cheek and forehead before he settled back down, smiling at you.

“Thank you for coming,” you told him again, squeezing his hand.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Just like all the other times you and Mingi slept in the same bed, you woke up with aching hips and red marks on your skin from having been in the same position all night. The only difference this time was that when you woke up, Mingi’s legs were still tangled with yours, his head tucked beneath your chin.

As always, the aches were worth waking up next to your best friend.