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ljxlj48 · 8 months

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My Duty As Princess

Chapter 07

Lee Jeno x fem reader

in collaboration with @urlocaltrash28

preview, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, epilogue

Genre: arranged marriage au! royalty au!

Warnings: none

Word Count: 5K+

Author's Note: I'm not back guys, honestly. To give a little update, I stopped writing because it stopped being fun. I only wanted to do this, if it continued to be fun and after a while it stopped being fun. Right now, I'm in such a better place that writing is starting to be fun again, but there's no telling if I'm actually going to continue to put out content. Thinking of something to write, is actually a lot of work lmaooo. I will say that, I will never delete any of the content I have out. This page and all the stories will be here for whenever you guys want to enjoy them. hugs and kisses to anyone reading <3

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When the Princess and I returned to the palace, night had already fallen. We tried to quietly usher our way to my chambers, after entering did we notice a parade of people awaiting for us. Father sat at my desk chair, Mother and Taeyong stood behind him. Mark, Haechan, and Jaemin sat on the couch, the three of them looked to be making themselves comfortable. Grandma Lee and Grandmother Na sat on the two chairs that were on one side of the room. There was more standing around, I spotted Chan, Hyunjin, Johnny was with them huddled in one corner, Lord Park stood lonely in another part of the room, Fei and Mei were in front of my bedroom doors. Lord Na and Lady Na were also here, the two of them stayed near Grandmother Na.

“My boy,” Father said when he saw me enter the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” I asked, looking around the room, full of people.

“Now my son,” Mother started off making her way towards me, I took a step back when she came near, it felt like I couldn’t trust any of them.

“Lord Park has asked to speak with the Princess,” Taeyong said, his tone was all business, Taeyong was never the type to sugar coat things. Lord Park stepped forward at the mention of his name.

“I would like to formally apologize to your royal highness,” He got down on one knee, lowering his head, arm over his heart, “for the actions of my children.” I reached down for the princess’ hand, which she easily took. “I did not know of their plans or their intentions.”

“Then why apologize?” The princess asked, her tone matching the one she used on me when she was angry. She stood tall in front of the kneeling Lord.

“Excuse me, your highness?” Lord park looked up at the princess, as did the rest of the room.

“Why apologize for actions that you did not know about, and actions you could not have prevented. Quite frankly, it feels like you're apologizing because you know it would save face, not because you really want to. Don’t be ashamed, Lord Park, you would marvel at my death, the prince could go back to your daughter and you could have royal status after their wedding. You are not sorry about the actions of your children, you are sorry they did not succeed, and you are apologizing to me because you need to save face. Make yourself look like an innocent bystander in order to remain in power.” The princess paused, taking a deep breath, then she spoke again, “Lord Park, I do not despise you. To be fair, I do not have room in my heart, nor time in my day, nor space in my mind to hate you, but I do feel absolute pity for you. Pure pity, for your son has committed treason against two kingdoms in a single night, and I do not know how your image will recover from such actions. I do, however, trust that you will not take any more violent actions against me again, considering, should your family fail again, you could be faced with much more dire consequences.”

“Of course, your highness, I can assure you no harm will come to you from my family ever again,” Lord Park looked down again, red rising to his ears. I wanted to laugh, everything the princess said was the truth, that wasn’t meant to be spoken.

“Is this all you had for us?” I asked my father. My tone, coming off more rude than I initially intended, I directed my gaze to my father, it felt as if he was a stranger ready to disrupt any little happiness I had with the Princess.

Father opened his mouth to speak, but Taeyong beat him to it, “Hansol took a plea deal, he’ll get 25 years in prison for attempted murder,”

“I want to see him,” the princess cut off Taeyong before he could continue on. The attention of the room back on the princess, Taeyong's face was clear that he was not gonna let that happen, watching his reactions allowed me to remain calm. “General, will you please let me see him,” the princess let go of my hand, she stepped closer towards my brother, “I need to see the man that nearly killed me.”

Taeyong’s face shifted, like he understood her request, he nodded. “No,” my mouth opened to speak before my brain could form a reason, but I know she can’t see him, “no, you’re not stepping a foot anywhere near that man,” I felt tempted to shove Taeyong’s head through the glass balcony door, for even considering agreeing to the princess’ request.

“Jeno,” the Princess spoke, her voice soft.

“No,” I know my voice came out too rude, she flinched, and I saw the minute fear flash before her, this isn’t what I wanted. I took a breath before speaking again, “(y/n), no.”

“Jeno,” Taeyong’s tone, I knew where this was going, his tone was the same one as when he scolded me for punching Haechan, after he stole my car for a joyride. To be fair, I was aiming for the wall, Haechan just got in the way. “This is the princess’ decision,” he took a breath, almost like he feared to say more, “you don’t have reason to prevent her from seeing him, should she choose too.”

I let out a breath, turning my attention back to the princess, “you’re not going alone.” She smiled and nodded, I felt like I couldn’t breathe for a second there.

“The news of the attack has been kept within the palace walls, but the people will notice something is wrong, especially with the wedding approaching so fast, there’s more eyes on the two of you than normal.” Taeyong continued on and looked at me.

“We think the Princess should make a charity appearance at the ladies luncheon for the war relief programs. It would do good if the Princess attended, she can show the people that she is willing to help Northcy war victims as well.” Grandma Lee spoke, she was standing up from her chair, she looked at me. They were all asking the princess of things, but they looked to me, as if I was the princess.

“(y/n), if you’re not ready, you don’t need to come,” Lady Na, I should say Aunt Jennie, spoke, she made her way towards the princess, taking the princess’ free hand in her own. Her eyes only met the princess’, I looked at the princess too. The princess was looking back at me, is that why everyone was looking at me, because so was the princess? I squeezed her hand and nodded.

“I shall be there,” she let out a breath, looking to the room, “Queen Hye-young is right, it’ll be good to make an appearance.” Her hand started to shake, she wanted to do this, needed to do this, but it didn’t mean she didn't fear it.

“Leave, all of you,” I wanted to relax, we needed to relax, to forget this just for a moment longer, “just leave.” I pulled the princess towards my bedroom, they started to file out of my room. A few strayed, I stopped right in front of my door, watching them leave. I let the princess into the bedroom. Mark was at the chamber door, Jaemin and Haechan on his side. Chan, Hyunjin, Fei and Mei stayed behind as well. “Why don’t you guys stay, I’ll be back out in a minute.”

I entered the bedroom, seeing the princess sitting on the bed, typing on her phone. “Princess,” I reached out to pull at the princess, “there's people outside for us.”

“More people?” She questioned, looking tired.

“Friends.” We both walked back into the seating area, seeing our friends standing and sitting around. “Just relax,” I whispered in the princess’ ear.

We sat there, and talked, and exchanged stories, and laughed, and relaxed. I looked at the princess, she was smiling, laughing, and relaxing. There were so many bad things that had happened. I just wanted her to calm down, I wanted her to feel safe.

“Don’t forget the time Jeno almost got the princess to leave Northcy,” Jaemin laughed out, grabbing my attention. I tried to signal him to shut up, but obviously he didn’t notice me. There was a silence that fell over the room.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” the princess questioned exchanging looks with Chan.

“He didn’t…” Jaemin looked at me wide eyed, “I’m sorry, I misspoke.”

“No I don’t think you did,” the Princess said, giving me a look.

“Look, I am so so sorry, I was being selfish,” I’m scrambling for words, anything to make this better, pleading she's not too angry with me, “I wasn’t thinking straight, I just wanted out of this marriage. You know how it was…” The Princess was looking at me with a smirk, as she began to laugh.

“Jeno, calm down, I’m not mad,” she spoke, still giggling away. I must’ve looked like a madman.

“You’re not?” Why isn't she mad, I would be mad, she should be furious with me, she has every right to be.

“No, I probably would’ve done something similar if I was in your position, but now I owe Chan 5 mons,” she laughed more, shaking her head.

“What?” I looked at Chan and he just smiled at me.

“When we got back to the palace, after leaving the airport, Chan made the joke that he bet this was the prince’s idea to get out of the union, I said you’re on.” I don’t know if I should be relieved or worried, “your highness, I should, and would be angry with you, heavens know you deserve it” she took a deep breath, “but having nearly died," she paused, it looked as if her eyes became glossy for a second, blinking away any tears she continued on, "I don’t want to waste time being angry with you” She smiled at me, her eyes were caring, filled with something. We stared at each other for a moment, a time stopping moment. I stared at her, I could hear the breath she let out, the calm beat of her heart, the flutter of her eyelashes, I never felt more captivated by another person.

The rest of the evening went on, I don’t think I ever took my eyes off the princess. I wanted to memorize every word, breath, tick she let fall past her lips. I can’t recall a single thing that Jaemin, Mark, or Haechan said that night, but I could tell you that the princess covers her mouth with the back of her hand whenever she's about to laugh too hard. Or that she tucks her hair behind her ear when she's being teased, or that she raises her ears when her name is mentioned, or that she sticks out her tongue, licking her bottom lip when she has something to say. It seemed as if the princess had me under a spell where I could only pay attention to her. I must say I don’t mind being spellbound to her.

The next morning , when you awoke the sunlight was peering into the room. You opened your eyes, and for an eighth of a second you forgot the events of the past two days, until you felt the arm draped over your waist. Sleeping in the same bed as Jeno the past two nights has been more comforting than you could’ve imagined. You slid out from Jeno’s embrace, grabbing your phone from the nightstand, and you called your mom. You haven’t spoken to her since last week, the last thing she knew was that you and Jeno were getting along nicely, and you didn’t think this marriage was gonna be that bad.

You wore another pair of Jeno’s sweats and an old shirt, his old clothes being more comfortable than any couture pajama sets you had. You slipped on one of his hoodies, exiting the bedroom, to call your mom. As the phone rang, you sat on the couch, staring out the glass balcony doors, watching the snow, the kingdom has been covered for nearly a week now. The palace being in the mountains, the snow was always falling, never melting, you were finally getting adjusted to the cold, but still always wearing long pants and long sleeve tops.

When your mom finally answered the phone, the sound of her voice moved you to tears. You weren’t the closest to your mom, but after your sisters died, you two became more dependent on each other. You were her only child left, and she was the only one that could tell you more about your siblings. You explained everything that has happened since you last talked to her. Not a single detail escaping your retelling. Your mother listened attentively, asking questions far too often for the average storyteller. By the time you finished, she was almost convinced that she needed to hop on a jet to come up there and save you. You laughed, telling her that you’re starting to feel better. You’re ready to move on past the whole event, you need something new to focus on. Your mother reminding you that a wedding should be a good distraction, especially considering her and your father are to be arriving in exactly one week.

“I should just come up there now, say I’m there to help you prepare for the wedding,” your mother stated from the other side of the line.

“Mother,” you laughed out, “I will be okay for another week without you or daddy. Not to mention Queen Jaeyeon really took care of everything for the wedding, all I really need to do is show up.”

There was a knock at the chamber doors that took half your attention, “are you sure there’s everything you wanted?” Mother questioned you, you opened the chamber doors to see Mei and Fei on the other side.

Moving out of the way to allow them to enter, “in all honesty mother, I don’t know if there’s gonna be anything I like or want.”

“What do you mean? You had a say, right?” Your mother questioned from the other side.

“I did mother,” you placed one hand over the mic, now looking at Mei and Fei, “what are you guys doing here?” Lifting your hand from the mic, “but I didn’t really use my say,” you spoke to your mother.

“You have a final dress fitting this morning,” Mei responded back gently.

“Why didn’t you use your say?” Mother barked into your ear at the same time.

You nodded at Mei, “Mother I was too busy trying to find a way out of my wedding to focus on making decisions for it,” covering the mic again, “I need you guys to go to my chambers and find me something more appropriate to wear,” you say, this time speaking to Mei and Fei.

“Why can’t we use the clothes you have here?” Fei asked, making her way to the bedroom, your mother scoffing in your ear at the same time.

“Well did you get your surprise yet?” Your mother questioned you, you were signaling at Mei to get her sister.

Covering the mic still, “Fei, No, the prince is still asleep,” Fei stopped the door slightly ajar. Quietly closing the door, again, Fei turned around bowing in apology to you. “What surprise, mother?” you question your mother on the line.

“We’ll find you something,” Mei whispered, dragging Fei out of the chambers behind her.

“Oh,” was all your mother said before rushing to end the call. You looked at the phone, seeing the line going dead. You sighed, but truly feeling better that you talked to her about everything that had happened.

The bedroom doors open up to Jeno standing on the other side, “good morning,” you speak up gently. He smiled a soft gummy smile at you, causing a fit of giggles to come up. Coming up to you, holding you into his embrace.

“Good morning,” his voice the exact opposite of his smile. He was still tired, you could hear it in his voice.

“I spoke to my mother this morning, she asked if I got my surprise yet,” Jeno threw his head back and groaned, you couldn't help but giggle a little, “what’s my surprise?”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be this morning?” Jeno let go of you walking away.

“You’re not answering my question,” you watched Jeno’s back, as he pulled off the shirt he was wearing, making his way into the closet. You never quite took notice on how physically fit Jeno was until this moment.

“You didn’t answer mine,” Jeno responded back, still in the closet, you sat on the edge of the bed waiting for him, to walk back out

“I asked first,” you and Jeno moved about each other as if this was how the two of you have been living for a lifetime. Something so routine, you could only hope this is exactly how life would play out after the wedding.

“You’ll see your surprise soon enough,” Jeno came out of the closet in a new dress pants, shoving his dress shirt in. The top buttons still undone, as he was zipping up his pants, your eyes raking over his body, pulling your lip in between your teeth. “Princess,” Jeno said, grabbing your attention, his face having a knowing look. He came up to you, pulling at your chin forcing you to look at him, but the top few buttons of his shirt remained undone.

“Let me help you,” you said softly, pulling your face out of his grasp, you stood from the bed, now doing the buttons for him. You could feel him watching your fingers move, slightly brushing against him, you were overly focused on doing the buttons. Jeno cleared his throat grabbing your attention, you stepped back, the blush dancing across your cheeks. “What is your schedule like today?” you asked, turning back around to walk into the bathroom, stopping yourself from helping anymore.

“I have a meeting with Taeyong and Father this morning about the Parks, then after that I have a council meeting to attend. The acts of Jisung are considered treason, they need to be brought to the entire council's attention,” Jeno followed after you into the bathroom, no wonder he was dressed so formally you thought.

“What's going to happen to him?” You looked at Jeno through the vanity mirror. You could see Jeno adjusting a tie around his neck in the mirror.

“Currently there’s a formal investigation conducted by the palace guard unit, from there he will be taken to court before the council, privately because of his family’s power. His crimes being of a higher regrade, Father will carry out sentencing personally. You will be asked to make a statement.” You felt your breath hitch, you didn’t like this. You just wanted this nightmare to disappear already. Jeno fixed his watch on his wrist, checking the time, “I’ve got to go princess,” Jeno came up beside you kissing you on the cheek, you leaned into his touch. The act felt routine, but foreign at the same time. Jeno pulled on a vest, buttoning it, before grabbing his jacket, “I’ll see you tonight at dinner,” it looked like he wanted to say more but opted not to. You nodded watching him leave, from your position in front of the vanity mirror.

You sat there for a minute just examining your neck, the bruises were in full bloom, you began to cover them up, trying to erase any memory of them. There was a knock on the door signaling that Fei and Mei were back. You just shouted for them to come in. The two of them bringing you a more than appropriate outfit, they stayed with you escorting you to everything through the day.

“I’ll see you tonight at dinner,” ‘I love you,’ I should say it, I’m going to say, I have to say it. I don't say it, opting to just leave instead. I made my way to my father's private drawing room. What I didn’t tell the princess was that the investigation is over, sentencing will be tomorrow. The question is not about who did the crime, but more of who aided and abetted the crime.

When I entered the room, Father and Taeyong were already talking amongst themselves, I sat down across from Taeyong. The two of them exchanged a look, “we showed Jisung the video footage of the Jisoo when she was talking to Johnny and when she was talking to Mark, he,” Taeyong paused giving father a glance, to which father just nodded, “he confessed to Jisoo being the one behind the plan, and he just hired the attacker, however he refuses to put it on paper. He’s refusing to turn against her, both of them will be brought forward in trial. However, there isn't any hard evidence against her, everything at the moment is circumstantial. It will be difficult for the council to unanimously agree to convict.”

“Majority of the council is aware there is something going on through the whispers of everyone but the official ruling will be held tomorrow, the princess will be expected to give a statement.” Father spoke, I internally groaned at the thought.

“I assume the princess’ own maids have been keeping her informed of everything that has been discussed by everyone, but you will still need to go over everything with her. She can not be surprised by anything that is said tomorrow.” Taeyong said, looking at me, I could tell that he cared, he always did what he could to protect those around him. “Jeno, we’re trusting you to go over the evidence with her, emotionless. The council is prepared to rip her story apart piece by piece. If you can’t make sure she’s prepared, let us know now.”

“I will go over everything with her, she knows she will be asked to make a statement,” I let out, I would do anything to go back to yesterday when I didn’t have to deal with this. I would much rather deal with that priest than having to walk the princess through the steps of a trial.

“We have to go through everything front and back, we need to make sure that we cannot allow the council to misinterpret anything,” I nodded my head, Taeyong pulled out the files, the three of us going through every piece of information.

You stood in the middle of a room that was turned into a salon. There was a panel of mirrors, and a platform, like one would use for dress shopping. There was a section divider for one to change, as well as a seating area, you looked around the room. There was no one here except you, Fei and Mei.

Suddenly the doors opened to reveal Queen Jaeyeon, Grandma Lee, Grandmother Na, and a team of people just swarming in. You felt the energy leave your body, the swarm of people filling you with exhaustion, you exchanged a look with Fei. Fei just shrugged and shook her head.

“My daughter,” Queen Jaeyeon called out, you still cringed at the nickname. She pulled you into an embrace, she was so much smaller than her son, but the embrace held so many similarities. You had been away from him for less than a quarter of the day but you longed for him and his calming presence. “Are you ready to try on your dress?”

“I am,” you answered. Queen Jaeyeon had insisted you wear her wedding dress, there were certain design changes made to try to replicate your perfect dress, but it just wasn’t it.

Queen Jaeyeon signaled to someone, they brought forward a box. The person, the seamstress, showed you the contents of the box, it didn’t look like Queen Jaeyeon’s dress at all. The seamstress and two other girls pulled the dress out, it was your mother’s dress. The sight bringing tears to your eyes, never in a million years did you think that your mothers dress was your dream dress. However now, seeing it before you, you couldn’t imagine anything more perfect.

“What a beautiful dress, but that’s not Jaeyon's I thought she was gonna wear yours Jaeyeon?” Grandmother Na said examining the dress, neither her or Grandma Lee attended your earlier dress fittings.

“She was, but Jeno had another idea,” Queen Jaeyeon answered, looking at you, gauging your reaction. She was initially resistant to the idea of you not wearing her dress, however Jeno already made the arrangements before informing her. Now watching you almost being brought to tears by the sight, she knew Jeno made the right call.

“This was Prince Jeno’s idea?” This is what your mother was talking about, your surprise.

“He said that it was unfair to you. You were forced to have a wedding in a foreign place, surrounded by foreign people, so to offer some semblance of a wedding you would have liked, he got your mother to send her own dress.” Queen Jaeyeon looked at you like one would to their own daughter, and you so much longed for your own mother, you opened your mouth to ask ‘how.’ “He made the called about a month ago, finding it, sending it to the seamstress to be altered, and some details were added based on what you said, it arrived just a little while ago, in time for the last fitting,” Queen Jaeyeon answered all your questions, and you couldn’t stop the smile spreading across your face.

“Thank you,” you bowed lowly to Queen Jaeyeon, you felt so much gratitude, it overwhelmed you.

You changed into the dress, standing on the platform looking at yourself in the mirror, you felt like a bride. The compliments flowing from everyone were endless, you glanced at Fei and Mei, both of whom nodded in approval, but it didn’t calm your nerves nearly as much as you thought. Everything was perfect in every way, but it still didn’t feel right, you needed something else, something more. “Fei, Mei,” you whispered to call their attention, the two of them ushered over to you, “I want everyone to leave, and I want Chan, please.” The two nodded their heads and made quick work of it. Before you even turned back around, everyone was leaving, you don’t know what lie Fei said to get them to leave but you were thankful, and Met set off to get Chan.

You waited a mere 10 minutes before the door opened again, this time, Mei was accompanied by Chan and Hyunjin. The two boys ushered in looking around confused, not entirely understanding the reason for their presence. You smiled at the sight of confusion, it reminded you of times long forgotten.

“Princess,” Hyunjin bowed, and you grimaced, he looked up to you, “(y/n),” he apologized. It was an unspoken thing between you and Hyunjin, he would call you ‘princess,’ if you nodded along, he was your guard, if you flinched, he called you ‘(y/n)’ as an apology and he was your friend. “What’s wrong?” he plopped down onto the couch casually, you enjoyed seeing him relax, it put you at ease to remember he was still a friend.

Chan stood further back than you would like, taking in all of you in that dress. You had no idea how many times Chan imagined you in a wedding dress, he just hoped that when it became a reality he was standing at the end of the aisle, not in a salon. “My princess,” Chan finally let out a breath.

“What do you think?” The question was meant for everyone, but it was directed to Chan. The rest of the group turned to Chan, watching his every move. They held their breath, waiting for either of you to make a move.

Chan took a deep breath, reminding himself you were not his fiancée, “you look absolutely stunning,” he smiled at you fondly.

“Do you really think so?” You turned back around examining yourself in the mirror, it seemed as if every imperfection was circled with a red marker.

“(y/n),” Chan looked at you through the mirror, “it looks amazing on you,” you turned back around facing him, “you are an embodiment of beauty,” Chan took your hand as you stepped down from the platform, pressing against him, “and you look nothing less than perfect in this dress.” There was a moment, you just stared at Chan and he stared back at you. Just a moment, where it was just you and him again, and everything you wanted to say was said. “Prince Jeno is very lucky, and he will think the same as I when he sees you,” Chan said, taking a step back away from you.

Chan’s reassurances made all the previous nerves disappear, almost vanishing into thin air. “Thank you,” you pulled Chan in for a hug, that probably lasted longer than it should have. “What do you guys think?” you turned to the rest of your friends, all of them holding big smiles. The outpour of compliments came again and this time, you believed them.

You had Mei bring in Queen Jaeyeon and her team of people, while Fei sent Chan and Hyunjin away. You felt undoubtedly happy about the dress, about the wedding, about your friends, even about Chan. You felt like even without being intimately with him, he was still in your corner, he was still your friend. That reminder puts you at ease more than anything anyone could say.

After measuring some readjustments with the seamstress, you changed out of the dress, and back into your original outfit. Queen Jaeyeon reminded you of this afternoon’s luncheon, which was to be held in the city, at one of the resorts that the Na noble family frequented. You were to ride with Queen Jaeyeon down to the luncheon. She reassured you that even though there was gonna be lots and lots of press, that you weren't required to talk to anyone, all you had to do was show your face. “All you need to do is look happy to be there, that's all we need,” was Queen Jaeyeon’s exact words.

You had exactly an hour, before you had to be back downstairs to ride with Queen Jaeyeon. You made your way to Jeno’s chamber, since the majority of your stuff was there. When you entered you were greeted by Jeno sitting behind his desk, he was writing something down, his eyebrows knitted together in what appeared to be frustration. His fingers pushing in on his temple, he was so deep in thought not even noticing you standing on the other side of the room. You turned to dismiss Fei and Mei, the two understanding seamlessly, your gaze traveling around the room.

Jeno’s jacket was tossed onto the couch, “you know,” Jeno looked up to see who, relaxing further into his seat when he realized it was you, picking up the abandoned jacket, “if you just toss this around, there's going to be wrinkles.” You tried for a stern look but failed desperately as the prince smiled at you.

“My apologies Princess,” Jeno watched you enter the bedroom, pulling a hanger from the closet, hanging his jacket before gently laying it on the couch, ensuring there weren't any unnatural bends. “Did you like your surprise?” He asks with his infamous head tilt and smirk.

“I did very much,” you smiled, remembering, “did you meet with the council already?”

Jeno groaned at your question, “No,” he glanced at his wrist watch, “I have to be downstairs to meet with them in half an hour,” he went back to the papers on his desk, before going back to look at you, “I just came up here you look at some paperwork.” He started to flip a few papers over, not wanting you to see the images of your bedroom, on them.

“I have to leave in an hour to attend the charity luncheon,” you said to change the subject, Jeno nodded along.

“Come, sit with me for a moment,” you looked at Jeno as he pushed away from his desk, turning his chair and patting his thigh. The red that danced across your cheeks became very noticeable. Jeno smirked seeing you become flustered with the suggestion. Nevertheless, you sat, Jeno’s arms sliding around you, finding purchase on his waist, your arms going up around his neck.

The two of you sat there in utter silence just enjoying each other, you felt the urge to kiss the prince. Your gaze shifting between his eyes and lips constantly, you allowed yourself to lean in. Jeno did the same.

“Jeno!” The chamber doors barged open, walking in, Jaemin and Haechan, Mark being nowhere in sight. You jumped, pulling away from the prince, standing up. You willed the blush to settle, as Jeno let out a slight audible groan at the interruption. Jaemin’s mouth made an O-shape, while Haechan’s eyes went wide, “didn’t mean to interrupt.” Jaemin’s expression changed into a knowing smirk, as Haechan hung his head to stifle a laugh.

“Then leave,” Jeno’s face screwed with irritation. You cleared your throat, in a way to reprimanded the prince, “what do you want?” Jeno asked, with a much annoyed look.

Jaemin plopped down onto the couch, rested his feet on the coffee table and whipped his head to look at his cousin, “just wanted to see you.” Jeno’s expression became more irritated, and Jaemin let out a laugh not taking his cousin seriously, he turned more to look at you now, “my apologies if I embarrassed you princess.”

“No apology needed Jaemin,” you smiled at the boy, “If you boys don’t mind I need to get ready for a luncheon.” You looked at Jeno, and he smiled at you, nodding his head. You made your way into the bedroom, closing the doors behind you. After a few seconds you heard the commotion of a fight, but before you went back out it was followed by laughter. You smiled to yourself, your smile growing as you remembered what could've happened.

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ljxlj48 · 10 months

Text

[12:23] ‘I wanna put you in seven positions for seventy minutes, you’ll get it babe’

You were listening to music in the background as you finished your makeup. Getting ready for a night out with Jeno’s friends for one of their birthdays. You weren’t exactly paying attention to the music playing, but since Jeno had finished getting ready over 20 minutes ago, he was paying attention.

“Seven positions?” Jeno questioned gaining part of your attention.

“What?” you asked, as you tried to finish the lining of your lips.

“The song, seven positions, seventy minutes?”

You couldn’t help but smirk just a little, “we both know you can last longer than seventy minutes,” you turned to focus all of your attention on your boyfriend.

“Yeah, but what about seven positions?” Jeno asked as his eyes raked up and down your figure. You could’ve sworn you saw his pupils dilate, looking darker than ever.

You raised a brow at your boyfriend, as he stalked his way towards. “Seven positions for seventy minutes?” Jeno asked once again in a whisper.

You knew you could handle Jeno for seventy minutes, but you didn’t know if you could handle him in seven different positions.

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

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to the person that binge read 'the nanny' on valentines day, are you okay babes?

#I love you <3

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

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A Racer's Heart

Chapter 05

F1Driver!Jeno X Reader X F1Driver!Jaemin

Preview, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05…

Genre: love triangle, co-workers to lovers, slight enemies to lovers

Warnings: swearing, car crash

Word Count: 3.1K+

Author's Note:

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You watched as Jeno’s car spun out of his control, into the barrier. You swear that time moved a bit slower as the car made contact, and metal bits began flying away from the crash site. The steam rises from the car, as the crowd goes silent. Everything stops in the garage, as the team looks out to the circuit, waiting for a sign. All you can hear is the hum of the cars pulling into the pit lane as the red flags wave. They also wait for a sign.

“Jeno?” you call out over the radio to him. You’re met with silence, and you call again, “Jeno, are you okay?” to just be met with more silence. You call again, more frantically, “Jeno, you there?” and again silence has met you.

You pause, you digest this moment, you account for everything, you rationalize, before you rip off your headset, and try to run out to him, because you feel too helpless in your station. You don’t make it far, you don’t even make it out the garage. Jaemin catches your waist, pulling you back, he didn’t even make it out of the pits to get in his practice laps before Jeno crashed.

“I can’t,” you begin to choke on your words, trying to convince yourself that Jeno’s alright, “I can’t hear him,” you try to say as your heart pounds harder against your chest, you don’t know if that’s what Jaemin heard. You can feel the looks of pity you get from the team, they don’t know Jeno like you do. They don’t have that connection with Jeno, like you do. Jaemin doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t know what to say. He has seen and has been in his fair share of crashes. It never gets easier. You never get used to it. You all just wait for the sign of life.

You’re crying into Jaemin’s arms, as he refuses to let you go, too afraid you’ll try to dart out to Jeno. You all watch the monitor as the medical staff and the race stewards attend to Jeno’s car. You are all waiting for a sign, any sign at this point.

You don’t remove your eyes from the monitor, you tune out the buzz around the garage. You just watch the monitor, you feel Jaemin’s arms around you. You’re thankful Jaemin is holding you here, he keeps you grounded in this moment. You watch more, not really able to process anything else.

You can hear the noise of people behind you, the team in the garage. You can’t pull your mind away to focus on what everyone is saying. You’re still waiting for a sign. Jaemin shakes you slightly to get your attention. “They got him,” Jaemin says, and it finally gets to you. Jaemin slips the headset on you.

“y/n,” you hear Jeno’s voice call out to you, his voice never sounded sweeter, “I’m here y/n.” You choke up once more hearing his voice again, “the medical team needs me to get out of the car to do my check up, okay?” You nod your head, forgetting that he can’t see you right now. “Dear, I need you to talk to me, I’m not leaving till I hear your voice,” Jeno makes his requests.

“I hear you, Jeno…I’ll see you inside,” you say breathlessly, as happy tears fall.

“Okay dear, I’ll see you inside,” Jeno says, before you watch him climb out of his car, and wave to the spectators. You hear the roar from the crowd, you hear the cheers from the team, you hear it all now. You wipe away your tears, trying to go calm yourself back down.

“He’s okay,” Jaemin whispers to just you, as he wipes away more of your stray tears, “he’s okay,” Jaemin repeats once more. You’re more thankful that Jaemin repeated his words to you.

You nod your head, finally understanding, “he’s okay.” You let out a breath, he’s okay, you repeat to yourself once more.

They don’t take long to clear the track, as free practice is set to restart in the next minute. The garage is back in full swing again, as they bring Jeno’s car back in. You can hear the hum of Jaemin’s car starting as they are preparing him to go out. You begin to clean your station, and do breathing exercises to slow your heart rate down.

“y/n,” Mark called out to you, “Jaemin asking for you.”

You nodded your head, slipping on a headset to hear Jaemin, “Jaemin? This is y/n.”

“Are you okay? I don't want to leave the garage if you’re gonna try to run out on to the circuit again,” Jaemin jokes.

You chuckle, taking his joke kindly, “I’m okay, no more darting out onto the circuit.”

“Good, I'll see you after practice.”

“Okay,” you say, as you slip off the headset. Mark does a little smirk towards you, to which you just shake your head.

While Jaemin drove the circuit, over and over again, he could only think of you. He couldn’t think about when was the best moment to press on the brakes, or when he should get back on the throttle, or which was the best turn to overtake. His mind just replayed images of you. The image of you caring about Jeno so much that you were willing to risk your own life. The image of you crying because the thought of Jeno being hurt, physically hurt you too. The image of you being in Jaemin’s arms but only thinking of Jeno. One date.

That’s all it was, a single date to apologize for putting you in a dangerous situation by leaving you alone. That’s all it was. Jaemin didn’t expect the date to go so well that he didn’t want it to end. He was so used to people only liking the party side of his life, but not you. You listened to Jaemin ramble on and on about his favorite cars, and badminton, and his family, and so much more. You paid attention to the other parts of his life that he loved just as much as he loved Formula 1. You listened to him when no one else did.

You listened to Jaemin, but you’ve been listening to Jeno. Jeno was someone you spent years and years with. You might have been Jaemin’s person, but he was certainly not yours.

Jeno gets a proper check up from the medical tent, and he’s cleared before he returns to the garage. He feels like shit for crashing out, especially during free practice. When Jeno gets back into the garage, everyone pats Jeno on the back for coming back alive. Jeno doesn’t mean to brush everyone off, but he does in his search for you. When he does see you, he immediately pulls you close. You welcome Jeno’s embrace, it settles your nerves. The two of you stay in an embrace, for a solid minute. You remind yourself once more that he’s okay.

You pull away first, “what happened?”

Jeno takes a moment before answering your question, he looks at you fully, grateful to have you here in the garage for him. He sighs before answering your question, “I don’t know.” Jeno pulls away fully, now examining his car, as the mechanics begin to pull away the damaged parts. “It was like the brake wasn't fully right.”

“I meant when you crashed, you didn’t answer my radio, initially, you don’t ever do that,” you ask again, more clarified now.

Jeno continues to examine the car for a moment before turning back to you, “oh, I passed out from the amount of G-force, they had to use smelling salt to wake me up.” You assume your face gives away your emotions, as Jeno comes up to cup your face, “I’m okay dear, the medical team cleared me and everything, Taeyong even has a paper that says I’m okay.”

You relax a bit, and nod your head. You grip Jeno’s hand that's on your face, you remind yourself again that he’s okay. You watched him crash a number of times before, but he never passed out before. He never met your radio calls with silence. “Do you feel okay?”

“I’m okay,” Jeno smiles, his smile that curves his eyes. His smile settles your heart.

“Hands off!” Johnny, the chief technical officer, shouts, indicating to stop working on Jeno’s car, both gaining yours and Jeno’s attention. “Get me Taeyong now,” Johnny yells at one of the interns hiding away in the corner. You watch the intern scurry away, probably running for their life.

“Johnny, what’s up?” Jeno asks, pulling away, going to where Johnny was standing, looking at what Johnny was looking at.

Before Johnny can answer Jeno’s question, Taeyong along with the intern come back into the garage. “Johnny, why do you need me?” Taeyong asks, as he strolls inside, you assume he wasn’t far considering how fast he got here.

“Look at this Tae,” Johnny says pointing at a specific part in Jeno’s car. You walk towards Jeno to see what Johnny is pointing at. You notice a few wires that seem to be sliced, with a piece of electrical tape surrounding it, “that’s the brake lines,” Johnny reveals.

“Shit,” you hear Taeyong mumble under his breath. “There’s no way this is an accident?”

“No, the brake line is wrapped in a different color to insure this doesn’t happen,” Johnny says, shaking his head.

“Shit,” Taeyong repeats again.

“You said,” you start to speak up, putting pieces together in your head, “the brakes didn’t feel good.” You look towards Jeno, as he stares at his car.

“Like it wasn’t fully right.” Jeno says, confirming what you said earlier.

“Shit,” Taeyong shouts aloud this time, “get me the race director and the FIA president, now!”

You and Jeno sit around the motorhome, waiting for Taeyong to exit his office. He’s been locked up there with the race director, and Johnny, along with the FIA president over the phone. No one has been allowed near Jeno’s car, or his side of the garage, since Johnny found out about the cut wire. You learn that the wire that was cut only controls the rear tires, that’s how Jeno lost control in one of the turns. Whatever mechanics that usually work on Jeno’s car were also sitting around, knowing that the longer Taeyong was locked up in his office, the less time they would have to fix the car.

“You okay?” you asked Jeno, as he was sitting next to you.

“Just sitting with the fact that someone tried to kill me by cutting my brakes,” Jeno said with a sweet smile, as your face dropped, “jokes jokes, i’m fine dear.”

“Not funny Jeno,” you say, as you begin to fidget a bit, you really thought you lost him today.

“Hey,” Jeno called out, grabbing your attention, forcing you to look at him, he pulled your hand into his, “I really am okay.”

You nodded your head, taking Jeno’s word at face value, you squeezed his hand to silently say you believe him. “What do you think they’re talking about, in there?”

“I don’t know,” Jeno answered, as you both looked at Taeyong’s office door, “whatever they are saying, I hope it allows me to race this weekend.” The two of you continue to lounge around there, not really sure what you should be doing. Nobody really knows what to do. There hasn’t really been a situation like this before.

“Jeno,” Jaemin calls out as he makes his way into the motorhome. His race suit tied around his waist, the fireproofs hugging his waist, and his arms, and his chest. The sight has you licking your lips, taking all of him in. He walks in carrying a couple beers with Mark following behind him. Jaemin hands a beer to Jeno, “you ain’t driving anywhere today.” Jeno sighs, taking the beer from Jaemin, cracking it open to take a sip.

Jaemin hands you a beer as well, you decline, not exactly feeling comfortable with drinking, even if you know it hasn’t been drugged. “You okay?” Jaemin asks, looking at you, before tucking a stray hair behind your ear, gently brushing the back of his knuckles against your face. You smile a bit, before nodding your head. Jaemin slides down into a seat at the table. You feel Jeno’s gaze slightly narrow as he watches you and Jaemin interact.

“Rumor going around that someone cut your brake line?” Mark asks, pulling the attention away from you and Jaemin.

“That’s what it looks like, no idea why or how,” Jeno sighs as he leans back in his chair, sipping the beer that Jaemin gave him. “It’s a miracle it held up for as long as it did, looking at the slice, I should’ve lost control of the brakes on the first lap.”

“We should call it a night, waiting here or in your bed isn’t gonna change anything,” Jaemin says looking at Jeno.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Jeno sighs again, you know he feels disappointed with the outcome of today. “Shall we go?” Jeno asks, turning to look at you.

“Whenever you’re ready,” you smile.

“We’ll go after I finish my beer,” Jeno says, holding up the bottle to show you.

“Okay,” you say with a smile and a nod.

“You guys always leave together?” Mark asks, gaining the attention of the table.

“Try to,” Jeno answers for you, “I promised y/n’s parents, I would always look after her.” Jeno smiles as he reminisces, thinking about that moment years ago.

“That was a long time ago already,” you sigh, with a small shake of your head.

“Her parents?” Jaemin questions, sitting up now, looking at Jeno.

“Yeah, when I asked y/n to leave F4 and follow me into F3,” Jeno says with that same smile, thinking back to old times, “F3 has so much more traveling around the world compared to F4 that I had to meet with her parents to convince them to let her join the F3 prema team. She said that if they didn’t agree, she wouldn’t go.”

“That was years ago, you don’t need to continue to be looking out for me,” you repeat to Jeno for the millionth time since you've both left F3.

“I’m always going to be looking out for you,” Jeno says, looking at you with a much more sentimental look now. You feel your shoulders drop, and you sigh. You know regardless of what you say now or in the future, Jeno will always be trying to protect you.

“Okay,” you stop putting up a fight about it tonight. You don’t want to fight tonight about insignificant things. You hear Jeno mutter an ‘always,’ under his breath. You know what he means, and you can’t help but to smile.

You make it back to the paddock the next morning a bit earlier than you had initially intended. You decide on some coffee and maybe a patisserie wouldn't hurt while you wait for some more of the staff to arrive for the morning meetings. After grabbing your breakfast you make your way into the garage. At this time in the morning the garage should still be empty, so it’s the perfect quiet place for a few minutes to yourself.

When you round the corner, you hear a voice. It’s clearly Jaemin’s voice, and he seems to be speaking to someone. Most likely on the phone, as you don’t hear anyone else. You don’t eavesdrop on his private conversation. You’re just simply overhearing a conversation. Happens all the time, everywhere. Just overhearing a conversation when you walk past.

At least that’s what you tell yourself, as you silently make your way to your station, hanging onto every word that Jaemin speaks. “He’s not hurt, Dad,” Jaemin sighs. He sounds tired, maybe frustrated. “I’m doing a lot better now than at the start of the season.” Jaemin definitely sounds frustrated with that statement. When you finally get to your station, you think you should put on some earbuds, and stop listening to Jaemin’s conversation, but then something catches your ear. “Where did you hear that Dad? I don’t know anything about it… I would never… Wait, you’re happy someone did that?”

You start to hear Jaemin pace back and forth, “he could’ve died Dad,” Jaemin says as you hear his voice get closer. “What if that was my car?” Jaemin says as he rounds the corner to come face to face with you. You assume you look like a deer in headlights, “I’ve got to go, I’ll talk to you another time,” Jaemin says quickly, ending the call. He doesn’t look like himself, he seems too tense. His eyebrows are furrowed too close together, not his normal. His shoulders are perfectly squared, his posture perfectly upright.

“Should I ask?” about that call…

“No,” Jaemin says, as he slips his phone into his pocket. You watch him take a deep breath, seemingly changing before your eyes. He goes back into the persona he’s comfortable with. His shoulders relax, he has a bit of a slouch, his eyebrows relax. “What are you doing here so early sweetheart?” He asks with a signature smirk.

You respect Jaemin’s request and you don’t ask about the phone call, “thought I would get a headstart on the day.”

“Don’t work too hard, pretty,” Jaemin says, as he makes his way past you, leaving the garage. You sit at your station, and start going through your emails. However, Jaemin's words play over and over again in your mind.

‘He’s not hurt, Dad.’ First, Jaemin is clearly talking to his father. ‘He’s not hurt,’ could be referring to a number of people. Someone that Jaemin is in contact with but not the father. Jeno, he crashed yesterday. Jaemin is telling his dad that Jeno isn’t hurt.

‘I’m doing a lot better now than at the start of the season.’ Jaemin did get off to a rough start at the beginning of the season, he wasn’t performing nearly as well as he should have been.

‘Where did you hear that,’ Jaemin’s dad heard about something that clearly caught Jaemin off guard.

‘I don’t know anything about it,’ Jaemin doesn’t know anything about what his father heard.

‘I would never.’ Jaemin wouldn’t do what his father heard happened.

‘Wait, you’re happy someone did that?’ Jaemin’s father is happy with what occurred but Jaemin isn’t.

‘He could've died Dad.’ Whatever Jaemin’s dad is happy about, could’ve ended someone’s life.

‘What if that was my car?’ It happened to someone’s car. You placed the last piece of the puzzle, to reveal the big picture at the end. Jeno’s brake line.

You felt sick to your stomach, Jaemin’s dad was happy that someone had cut Jeno’s brake line, even though it could’ve ended his life.

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Taglist:@90sgatsby-jjh@neothingss@lanadreamie@cuteejeno@fariylixie0915@kikiisda1

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

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[00:21] “Jisung, do you have any explanation for the behavior your partner displayed today during the celebrations?” A reporter had asked Football player!Jisung, at the post-game press conference. Luckily for Jisung the PR person had given him a run down of what happened before he entered the press conference room.

“You mean when my partner defended themselves after another fan harassed them by grabbing their behinds without consent?” Jisung asked the reporter to make sure he knew the context of the original question.

“Is your partner really defending themselves when the other person is walking away with a black eye?” The reporter further questioned Jisung.

“That person is lucky they’re walking away at all, if I was there…”

“Okay, we’re gonna end the press conference right there,” a representative of the team had interrupted as they walked onto stage, while other people came to usher the some of the team, along with Jisung, out of the room.

Later that day as you were walking out of the stadium, with a million and one, cameras and reporters surrounding you all shouting at you to comment on the situation.

“Y/n aren’t you worried about how you will be viewed in the eyes of the younger generation?” A reporter had asked. This question being the only one causing you to stop.

“This is the only time that I will be speaking about today’s situation, and I want to make a few things clear. First and foremost, my actions are not a representation of Jisung, or the team, in any way. Secondly, if you want to better understand today’s situation, you can ask the police as they took a report of the incident. Lastly, you should never place your hands on another individual without consent. The abusive behavior showcased by that individual should never be tolerated, and I seriously hope that organizations will take more serious action against the abusive behavior that has been shown. I hope that these games are a safe space for all fans.” After that you left the stadium with Jisung in hand. While reporters and cameras chased the two of you down for more comments about today’s events.

Only when you and Jisung were in the car, away from anyone being able to hear your conversation, did you speak up again. “I’m sorry for how I acted today, I shouldn’t cause this kind of trouble.”

Jisung squeezed your hand, “I'm not sorry, I’m very proud of you for defending yourself,” Jisung said with a smile.

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

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A Racer's Heart

Chapter 04

F1Driver!Jeno X Reader X F1Driver!Jaemin

Preview, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05…

Genre: love triangle, co-workers to lovers, slight enemies to lovers

Warnings: swearing, car crash

Word Count: 3.6K+

Author's Note: You know when I start my story, I always have an idea of where it's going but then I start writing and suddenly I have no idea where it's going. Like if you ask me who is y/n gonna end up with, I have no idea. Like you guys are finding out with me about how this story will turn out lmaooo. I also notice that this story isn't doing that well compared to my others, and idk if its because my writing it starting to suck or because there's not a lot of nct fans that are also formula 1 fans lol. nevertheless hugs and kisses to anyone reading <333

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Part of your job, as Jeno’s race engineer, is ensuring that Jeno remains confident in his ability and his car. Your job becomes extra hard when Jeno allows external influences or events to linger in his mind. Then there's an added level of difficulty, if the events that are lingering on Jeno’s mind involve you.

It was clear that Jeno’s mind wasn’t where it was supposed to be in Azerbaijan and Canada, when Jeno finished outside of the points in both. This weekend, you guys were in the UK, silverstone. You hoped that you could get his mind in the right state for the race.

“Just get out there and race,” you tried to find the right words to encourage Jeno.

“I know,” Jeno said as he hung his head, fiddling with gloves, as he sat in the car on the circuit.

“Jen,” you called out to him once more, to get him to look at you before you had to go back into the garage. “I’m okay, I promise.”

“My helmet, please,” Jeno said as he pointed to his helmet on the nose of the car, not acknowledging your earlier words. You sighed, handing Jeno his helmet.

“Be safe,” you say as you place a hand on Jeno’s helmet after he puts it on. The visor doesn’t let you see Jeno’s eyes, but you feel him nod slightly. You leave your place on the circuit going back to the garage to take your seat. You put on your headset, “check? Can you hear me Jen?”

“Loud and clear dear,” Jeno chuckled, “let’s score some points, yeah?”

“You know what to do Jen.”

‘We’re entering lap 23, and you can see Martin, the battle between the NCT teammates are starting to heat up’

You watched the monitor, seeing what everyone watching on TV was seeing. “This isn’t good,” Mark said, from the other side, as he watched his own monitor.

“We told them they were allowed to race,” Taeyong said, as he watched what you guys were watching. Jeno and Jaemin were going into the turns side by side, coming wheel to wheel.

‘It doesn’t sound like they are giving out any team orders in the NCT garage, Crofty’

“I don’t like this Taeyong, they’re gonna crash,” you spoke up, not liking this. Neither Taeyong nor Mark knew what happened in Monaco, when they asked if something happened, both Jeno and Jaemin shrugged it off as the season was getting more serious now.

‘This is very interesting Martin, usually drivers are arguing with the team to give out orders or not, but it is silence on the NCT team radio’

“Let them race, as long as they’re not bashing each other on the radio where all the teams can hear, they’re not causing problems.”

‘I would think you have to give out orders to ensure both drivers score points for the championship, if not they could crash which would take them out of the points completely’

The race continued on with them going back and forth, it wasn’t until Ocon closed in on them that they stopped racing each other and defended their respective positions. They crossed the finish line P8, Jeno, and P9, Jaemin. Picking up another six points for the team. You took the largest sigh of relief when the checkered flag finally waved.

“P8 Jen, good job,” you spoke into the radio to Jeno.

“Thank you,” Jeno said, in a rather monotone voice, as he finished out his cool down lap.

‘I wonder what’s happening in the NCT garage, I guess we’ll have to ask in the post-race interviews’

You sighed, watching the broadcast of the race. After doing his weigh in, Jeno went straight to the media bullpen to finish his requirements. However, when Jaemin finished his weigh-in, he came to find you. “y/n a word, please?”

“Sure,” you said as you put down your stuff, and stepped away with Jaemin. Your breath started to get short, as you walked further into the garage, away from most people. This wasn’t like Jaemin. Usually, if Jaemin had something to say, he would just say it, regardless of who was around.

When Jaemin finally stopped, and looked towards you, you began to feel nervous about what Jaemin had to say. “Jeno told you what happened that night in Monaco?”

You took a breath, “He only told me what he knew, there's still a few hours missing because no one was there with me.” You answered his question honestly, but it still looked like the answer pained him.

“I see,” Jaemin didn’t meet your eyes, which was very unlike him. Jaemin always portrayed confidence. He said everything on his mind, he looked people in the eyes, he stood tall. The person in front of you didn’t portray that confidence. “It feels like Jeno is still angry with me for that night, and he has every right to be, I put you in danger. So I just want to apologize again, I should’ve never left you like that, especially when you told me you weren’t familiar with the area.”

You felt bad for Jaemin, he had apologized to you every weekend since Monaco. He hasn’t stopped apologizing, even after you told him you forgave him. Even after you told Jeno, you forgave him. Jaemin continued to apologize. You know he shouldn’t have left you alone, but what was done was done. Everything ended up okay in the end, there was nothing more to be done already.

You were about to accept another apology when Jeno shouted your name from across the garage. The roughness of Jeno’s voice, caused shivers to run down your spine. You turned back to see him, and watched as he stared daggers at Jaemin. “I’m sorry Jaemin,” you whispered, as you walked towards Jeno.

You followed Jeno back up to his room, you made sure to shut the door before speaking up, “that wasn’t necessary.” Jeno didn’t respond to you, instead gathering his clothes to rinse off before leaving for the day. “Jeno you need to forgive Jaemin already, I have, why can’t you do the same?”

Jeno continued to ignore you.

“Jeno, I’m talking to you, the least you can do is look at me.” Jeno turned around to face you, his face stuck in a scowl. You felt your shoulders drop, and your eyes softened, “I’m okay Jeno, I really am okay.”

“And what if you weren’t?” Jeno asked, a little louder than his normal. “What if I didn’t get there in time? What if I didn’t pick up the phone that night? What if you didn’t go to the restroom? What if you weren’t okay?” Jeno asked, as you saw the tears brim his eyes, Jeno dropped to a seat. You followed, finding a spot right next to him. “10 minutes, it took me 10 minutes to get to you. For 10 minutes I could only imagine the worst happening to you. For 10 minutes I had to figure out how to explain to your parents that you were dead. For 10 minutes I couldn’t protect you. For 10 minutes, I was completely helpless. And it was my fault.”

You wiped away your own tears, “it’s not,” you whispered as you stared down at your lap. You took a deep breath, you could blame Jaemin for leaving you alone. You could blame yourself for not watching your drink. You could blame the bartender for allowing it to happen, but there was only one person to blame. “It’s the guy who drugged me, that's who's at fault, no one else. Not Jaemin and especially not you. You can’t blame a predator's actions on you Jeno.” You grabbed Jeno’s hand, squeezing it, now looking at him.

“How are you so okay with this?” Jeno asked with a slight shake of his head.

“When you grow up knowing that no matter what you do, you will still be at risk, you get used to it, I guess.” You felt Jeno’s eyes on you while you looked ahead. Jeno grabbed your cheek, pressing your temple to his lips. You cracked a small smile, enjoying the feeling of Jeno’s lips on you. The two of you stayed in that position for a minute. You didn’t want to move, to disrupt the delicate peace that was in place.

As soon as the Silverstone Grand Prix ended, you headed up to Austria with the majority of the team. Jeno, Jaemin, along with a few team members stayed in the UK for another day. The rumor that was being traded amongst team members is that Jeno and Jaemin needed to stay behind for a team bonding moment. You kept your comments to yourself, knowing that Jeno just stayed in the UK for an extra day to visit some friends out there that he didn’t get to see over the weekend.

When you arrived in Austria, you and some of Jeno’s mechanics got together to ‘work,’ it really was just you guys at a bar drinking and shooting darts. You stayed away from the alcohol, not really feeling comfortable drinking. Even if you wanted to drink, you couldn’t because Jeno bothered you every five minutes. You swear you have had partners who texted you less in your entire relationship with them, than Jeno has texted him since you’ve been out tonight.

“Your driver and you are awfully close,” someone commented, peeking over your shoulder.

“Oh Jeno,” you shrugged, “we’ve been friends a long time, that’s why.”

“I see,”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get your name,” you smiled, sticking out your hand, “I’m y/n.”

The other person took your hand, “I know, I’m Renjun, a race engineer for NCT. I was working with Danny, the driver before Jeno.”

“I see,” you hesitated, worried about where the conversation was going.

“I was excited to work with Jeno, but then Taeyong said that Jeno was bringing in his own race engineer,” Renjun said, beforing sipping the beer in his hand.

Before Jeno was in F1, he was in Prema Racing, and so were you. It was easy to move around and follow Jeno, because you remained a part of Prema Racing. So all you had to do was move up within the same team, like Jeno. When Jeno left F2, and Prema Racing, he insisted you do the same. So you did, you left Prema and applied for Alfa Romeo. And you were content, you could’ve stayed at Alfa Romeo, you wanted to stay at Alfa Romeo. However Jeno insisted that you needed to be with him in NCT, and he made sure of it. He had it as a part of his contract with NCT, a job for you, to ensure you followed him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t,” you stuttered out a half-ass apology, not sure what to say at all. At this time, Renjun cracked a smile.

“I’m just giving you a hard time,” Renjun laughed, “It’s really fine, it’s amazing what you and Jeno have.”

You tried to chuckle away the awkwardness, “what do you mean by that?”

“I’ve watched you guys these past few races, Jeno holds a lot of trust in you, he doesn’t question any of the strategy choices you make for him.”

You repeat the same thing that you always tell yourself to Renjun, “He just knows that I know what he likes.”

“No it's more than that, I’ve worked with drivers before, Jeno has like,” Renjun pauses, you watch him look for the right word to string into his sentence, “faith that you will do whatever is best for him, even if it goes against the greater good.” Renjun jokes.

You smile, never thinking about it like that, “I want him to win, so…yeah, I guess I do whatever is best for him.”

“It's amazing Jeno has someone like you in his corner for the races.”

Renjun’s words carry a certain weight with you, as the night goes on. You find yourself picking apart his meaning behind them, mulling over them again and again. You go through all your time with Jeno, from when you first met him until now. You wonder if you always did what was best for Jeno. You even carry his words with you into the Thursday, during the first strategy meetings.

“Where are you?” Jeno asked softly, during the meeting when he noticed you weren’t really paying attention.

You shook your head, focusing back on Taeyong as he spoke. Jeno watched you for a moment longer, before turning his attention back to Taeyong as well. You listen attentively as Taeyong drones on, about different plans and which tire to use when. You push Renjun’s words to the back of your mind, and decide to handle it at another time.

Just when the meeting ends and Renjun’s words start to creep up again, the perfect distraction makes his way towards you. “y/n,” Jaemin says almost breathlessly, “I need to ask you something.” Jaemin looks panicked, as he stands in front of you, almost like he’s gonna vomit whatever he says next.

“Okay,” you say with fake worry, entertaining whatever Jaemin wants to say. He can tell you're mocking him a little, but it doesn’t stop him.

“Let me take you to dinner,” Jaemin blurts out, that it takes you back. You always pictured Jaemin asking someone out to dinner that it would be done with a certain cool, a specific type of charisma. In which it had none.

“Jaemin,” Jeno says, now making his presence known.

You turn your attention to Jeno, whom you thought initially left with the rest of the team when the meeting ended. “Jeno,” Jaemin says with a slight nod of his head.

“You boys are talking to each other again?” you asked, as you look at the both of them. The last time either of them spoke to each other, not in front of a camera, was at the club.

“Playing nice,” Jeno sighs. You crack a smile.

“Okay Jaemin, you can take me out to dinner,” you smile, as Jaemin releases a sigh of relief.

You walk away, heading into the garage to prepare your station for this weekend's activities. Just as your out of the meeting room, Jeno catches Jaemin’s arm, “don’t do anything stupid, yeah?” The extra day Jeno spent in the UK was intended to catch up with a few friends like he told you. However Taeyong had pulled Jeno into a lunch with Jaemin and him, forcing Jeno and Jaemin to work out whatever was going on between them. At that lunch, both Jeno and Jaemin concluded that what happened to you in Monaco was to never happen again.

“I’m taking her to dinner to make up for what happened in Monaco, Jeno,” Jaemin says, as he pulls Jeno’s hand off his arm. Jaemin enjoys messing around with people, and he’s just beginning to realize how much he can mess around with Jeno if he uses you. “I can’t help it if she likes me more than you,” Jaemin smirks.

Jaemin meets you in the hotel lobby at 6, to take you to dinner. He’s dressed in a simple pair of black slacks with a white button up, and a suit jacket. It’s so simple, yet it looks like Jaemin, and he wears it well. He’s much more attentive this time around. He opens all the doors for you, he pulls out your chair at this upscale restaurant that he chose. He listens to everything you have to say, he asks questions to keep you going. He doesn’t flaunt his money to the waiter, or his title. You guys split the dessert, almost in a romantic fashion.

Just as you're leaving the restaurant, you feel a chill come on. You shiver, as Jaemin opens the door out for you. As soon as you step outside, Jaemin slips off his jacket, placing the item on your shoulders.

“Thank you,” you say, as Jaemin smiles.

“There’s an evening exhibit just a block away,” Jaemin offers.

“I’m not much of an art person,” you say as you looks at Jaemin

“Neither am I,” Jaemin stares at you, “I just don’t want tonight to end.”

“Okay,” you say, as you and Jaemin walk down to the exhibit. Jaemin places a hand on the small of your back, he makes sure you’re on the inside of the sidewalk as the two of you walk the block. The two of you spend hours looking at the different art displayed. Neither of you knows what any of it means, or what the artist was trying to portray or what symbolism is being shown, but you stay nonetheless. Jaemin follows your lead, allowing you to pull him into any direction. He doesn’t mind, he enjoys watching you pick apart the artwork to relate to something.

“It’s really beautiful,” you say as you stare at the portrait, the plaque says that it was a portrait of the artist’s muse, their significant other.

“It is,” Jaemin agrees, as his eyes stay locked on you. Jaemin doesn’t know what the painting looks like, or what the plaque says, but the art before his eyes is truly beautiful to him.

Neither you or Jaemin really want the night to end, so much so that the exhibit workers ask you and Jaemin to leave so they can go home for the night. You bash, not realizing you spent that much time there. Jaemin, thinks that if he slips the workers a few hundred, they will let you guys stay a bit longer, but before Jaemin can act on the idea, you’re walking out.

“We need to let them go home,” you smile, offering your hand for Jaemin to take.

“Because you said so,” Jaemin says, as he takes your hand. You spend at least another hour or two walking around just talking with Jaemin. Talking with Jaemin feels like floating in a calm sea, it’s light, easy, and can go on forever.

You try to delay the end of the night for as long as possible, Jaemin does the same. He walks you all the way up to your hotel room door. It’s easily one in the morning by the time you make it back to the hotel.

“Why don’t you come in?” you ask Jaemin as you push open the door.

“That would be improper,” Jaemin smirks, “maybe after the second date.”

“This was a date?” you joke.

Jaemin chuckles at your joke, “I had a really nice night y/n,” Jaemin says seriously now.

“Me too, thank you.”

Jaemin comes in close, pressing his lips to your cheek, you feel a little disappointed that all you got was a kiss on the cheek. You guess your face exposes you, because Jaemin says, “don’t look so disappointed sweetheart,” with a certain smirk.

You blush, as you realize you got caught. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” you say, trying to find words to fill in the gap, “goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Jaemin says as he takes a step watching you close the door on him. After he hears the final click of the door shutting, Jaemin begins to walk away to go to his hotel room. Jaemin lets out a sigh, if it was anyone else, he would have taken up the offer to come inside. But you were different. Jaemin doesn’t like second dates, or kisses on the cheek, or hand holding, or long walks in the park, or art exhibits. But Jaemin likes being around you.

He feels himself get giddy, thinking about the moment you offered your hand. He smiles, when he thinks about you staring at the portrait at the exhibit. He blushes when he recalls how you clung on his arm during the walk in the park. He laughs to himself, when he remembers you had a little something on the corner of your mouth when you guys shared dessert. He lays in his bed, with images of you playing in his mind. He dreams of you in his sleep, with a smile plastered on his face.

“How was dinner?” Jeno asks as he goes through the car specs to prepare for practice.

The mention of last night's dinner has the blood rushing to your cheeks, “it was nice,” you smiled, staring at your tablet.

“He didn’t leave you right?” Jeno asks with a certain bite in his tone.

“Jeno, we agreed to let it go already,” you scolded.

“I was just checking,” Jeno scoffs, as he goes back to looking over his car, “better not start cheering for him.”

“Never, you’re still my favorite driver,” you say with a little nudge, that causes Jeno to smile.

While Jeno is putting in his practice laps, Jaemin makes his way over to you. “Hey sweetheart,” Jaemin says, gaining your attention. You blush at the nickname he seems to love to call you. “I had fun last night,” Jaemin says.

“I did too,” you smile.

“Let me take you out again, Sunday after the race,” Jaemin asks. It comes to a bit of a surprise to himself that he did ask you out again, Jaemin isn’t really sure about what he wants from you, or what he can give you. All he knows is that he enjoys being with you.

“Okay,” you answer, not able to contain your smile. Jaemin leaves you to prepare to put in his own practice laps. Just before he’s out of your sight, he sends a wink your way, that causes even more blood to rush to your cheeks.

“y/n,” Jeno’s voice cuts clear across the radio, there’s a panic in his voice, something you don’t pick up right away, “something feels off,”

“What are you talking…” Just before you could finish your question, you watch as Jeno’s car spins out of control and into a barrier.

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Taglist:@90sgatsby-jjh@neothingss@lanadreamie@cuteejeno@fariylixie0915

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

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guys, would you read my stuff if I posted it on wattpad???

#idk I was just thinking #kpop #nct #ljxlj asks #like I think someone mentioned wishing my stuff was on wattpad #what do you guys think?#should I upload to both sites?

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

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A Racer's Heart

Chapter 03

F1Driver!Jeno X Reader X F1Driver!Jaemin

Preview, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05…

Genre: love triangle, co-workers to lovers, slight enemies to lovers

Warnings: swearing, suggestive content, drugs, alcohol, angst, dangerous situation

Word Count: 3.1K+

Author's Note: I am not good at making sure I got all the warnings, so if you guys think I should include something please let me know. Also after this chapter most of the story revolves around their relationships rather than the sport, so it should pick up from here on out. hugs and kisses to anyone reading <3333

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“16 turns, two DRS zones, I want you to make sure that no one is within a second of you on the straights, that’s basically going to be like…”

“Like giving my position away,” Jeno cuts off your statement as you both walk into the garage. “I got this y/n, it’s not my first time racing in Barcelona.”

“I know,” you conceid.

“It’s only practice today, I’m gonna be okay,” Jeno spoke slowly and reassuringly. He knew. He can’t say how he knows, but he knows that you become extra anxious when he is out on the circuit. He knows that you hold onto your breath whenever you watch him overtake someone. He knows you don’t stop until he’s out of the car. He knows you’re waiting for him to come back at the end of every race. He knows it.

“I know,” you try to smile reassuringly. You don’t know if you’re trying to reassure yourself or Jeno right now. But you try.

Barcelona goes by faster than you anticipate. You imagine that it goes by even faster for Jeno. You stand on the sidelines throughout the weekends, watching Jeno on the circuit, on his media duties, on his press conferences. You watch Jeno’s relationship with the team grow and grow. His mechanics are starting to get comfortable around him. The pit crew is talking more with him. Jeno was always a friendly person, he could never stand someone not liking him. Even his and Jaemin’s relationship has picked up.

They’re beginning to look like the best of friends nowadays. When you guys finally make it to Monaco, there isn’t a moment where they are separated from each other. All their media duties are being done together. The marketing team loves the amount of free and openly available content they can use. The fans are loving it, you think you saw a ship post the other day on social media. And both of them are starting to do better during the races too.

P6 and P7 for Jeno and Jaemin, respectively, in Barcelona. Then P5 and P6, for Jaemin and Jeno, respectively, in Monaco.

You stood outside the media bullpen, watching the two of them conduct their post-race interviews in Monaco. “Jaemin, this is the first race of the season that you out-qualified and outperformed your teammate, do you think it’s about time?”

You held your breath waiting for Jaemin’s response, you could hear him chuckle a bit. “I mean, it feels great to get great results for the team and myself, but like I said in past races, my failure to perform at a high level early on in the season is my fault alone. And I think if I work hard at it, I will continue to have performances like I did this afternoon.”

“Thank you Jaemin,” the reporter said. You let out your breath after hearing Jaemin’s response. You decided at that time maybe it was best to be on your way, gather your notes to present to Jeno about the race.

Just as you walked away, you heard someone call out to you. You turned back around to spot Jaemin waving you down. “y/n?”

“Yes?” you took this moment to take all of Jaemin in. He was extremely handsome, his racesuit half off tied around his waist. The fireproofs were hugging his biceps perfectly, and the sweat dripping down the side of his face, gave him a sultry look. You found yourself licking your lips.

“Me and some of the team are going out to a nightclub tonight, join us?”

“Um, I don’t know Jaemin. I’m not that familiar with the Monaco night scene.”

“Come on y/n, you’ll be with me there won’t be anything to worry about,” Jaemin added, trying to convince you. “Jeno also said he was gonna come out tonight.”

You were taken aback slightly by the mention of Jeno. He usually always invites you out with him whenever he’s going out. You wondered why he didn’t invite you tonight, writing it off as maybe he forgot or maybe he wasn’t actually going to go out tonight. “I still have some work to do, I don’t know what time I’ll finish.”

“y/n, we don’t have to be in Azerbaijan until next week,” Jaemin tilted his head a bit to the right, his eyes piercing right through you, “I’ll pick you up from the hotel at 8, be ready.”

Before you could protest anymore, Jaemin walked away. Not that you were really going to protest. Jaemin was infamous for getting anyone and everyone to agree with his agendas. You also thought that maybe you could use a night out, especially since everyone always talks about the Monaco night scene. And if anything Jeno might be there, so it won’t be so bad.

You travel from country to country, not in one place for too long that you don’t really pack a lot of clothes. You probably had everything that was in your luggage sprawled out on your bed. Jaemin said he was gonna pick you up at 8, and you weren’t ready to go until 7:59. You made sure to use up all your time in getting ready for tonight.

The car ride to the nightclub was short, Jaemin didn’t speak much, or at all. He greeted you when you entered the car, but nothing more than that. When you guys arrived, Jaemin took your arm, as he walked you into the club. The small gesture causes a flurry of butterflies in your stomach. However that soon would disappear, when you lost Jaemin into the crowd. The first minute or 15 didn’t bother you, as you knew Jaemin was popular, and there were probably a lot of people for him to greet.

It wasn’t until you spent the greater part of an hour trying to figure out where Jaemin was, in a packed nightclub. You thought about getting a cab to take you back to your hotel, as you weren’t that comfortable being out by yourself.

“What’s a pretty girl doing alone here?” someone had come up to ask you.

“Oh,” you tried to laugh it off, “I'm here with a friend we just got separated from each other for a second.”

“Well let's sit at the bar and try to find them.” the guy suggested with a smile, your gut told you to say no. To say that you could find Jaemin on your own, but your mind was telling you to calm down.

“Okay,” you said, as you let them lead you to the bar.

You found a singular seat at the bar. The guy said he didn’t mind standing and letting you sit. He began to talk, asking what your friend looked like to help keep an eye out, for you. You gave Jaemin’s description, you didn’t want to expose the fact that you were with a world renowned race car driver.

“Look, whoever your friend is, he’s an ass for leaving you alone like this,” the guy spoke frankly to you. You could tell he was attempting to make a move on you, but you left your guards up.

“He really didn’t mean to leave me alone, he just went to greet some people he knew and we got separated.” You came to Jaemin’s defense, making up false excuses for him. When quite frankly, he was being an ass. You told him you weren’t familiar with the Monaco night scene, and he still insisted for you to come along. Just to leave you the second you got here.

While you continued to look around the club to hopefully see any familiar face, the guy that was standing by you at the bar continued to make small talk. In order to pass the time, and to appear not being rude, you entertained the conversation. The guy standing in front of you had to be over six feet tall, with a fair complexion, and piercing eyes. Most definitely European, he had dark hair, and his accent made him sound French. But everyone here speaks French.

He was actually being fairly respectful, he didn’t invade your personal space without asking. He never touched you, and he kept his hands where you could see them. He also pretended to look for Jaemin in the crowd with you. He was being so nice, that you felt bad for keeping your guard up.

“We still didn’t find your friend, let me at least get you a drink,” he asked.

“Okay, a martini, dry,” you took a breath, “please.”

“You got it.”

You let him talk to the bartender while you continued to look into the crowd trying to find Jaemin. You wouldn’t be so hell bent on finding Jaemin, but he was your ride, and you don’t even know what club you are at tonight.

“Here is your drink,” the guy said, as he picked up his beer from the counter, and you turned around to pick up your martini. “If your friend is as good as you say he is, i’m sure he’ll come looking for you.”

“He better, he’s my ride back to the hotel.”

“Hotel? You don’t live here?” You took a sip from your drink. Wrong move, never let a stranger know you’re just a tourist. “Neither do I, I was just here for the Grand Prix. Were you here for that too?”

You calmed down, the alcohol in your drink loosening you up a bit, “yeah, I actually was.”

“Amazing race wasn’t it? Do you have a favorite team or maybe driver?”

“It was a good race, my favorite driver is Lee,” you answered.

“Ah yes, my favorite would have to be Pierre, gotta support the French.”

“And what about Ocon?”

“Maybe not all the French,” the guy joked and you laughed. The more the conversation went on, the more relaxed you felt. The guy in front of you was doing an excellent job of making you laugh, that you began to forget about Jaemin or even attempted to look for him. You stopped trying to look for anyone, instead just focusing on the guy in front of you. You were actually having trouble focusing on anything except the guy in front of you.

It must be the alcohol, you thought. It was too strong, you must be starting to become a lightweight. You could’ve sworn you could hold your liquor better than this. You decided that you were gonna go to the restroom, trying to splash some water on your face to sober up. You relayed your thoughts to the guy in front of you.

As soon as you got up from the bar stool, the room started to spin. “Woah, you okay there?” the guy in front of you asked.

“Yeah, I just need to get my feet under me,” you slurred your words together. This most definitely wasn’t just alcohol.

“Let me help you,” the guy suggested. You tried to push him off, but it felt like his grip was starting to tighten. You felt him start to push you, not being gentle with his movement.

When you first got to the club you made a note of where the restroom was, just as an old habit. In a moment of flight or fight, you found the strength to push him off. The guy released his grip, and you shoved your way through the crowd to the bathroom. As soon as you got inside, you found a stall and locked yourself inside.

You grabbed your phone out from your purse, your mind only drawing one conclusion. You needed to call Jeno. You wanted to just close your eyes while you let the phone ring. You could hear Jeno answer the phone, you began to mumble a few things, trying to tell Jeno what happened. You hope, and pray that he understands you enough.

“Excuse me, is there a y/n in here?” you heard what sounded like a young woman ask.

“Here,” you slurred, raising your hand to unlock the bathroom stall.

The girl offered a sad smile, “your boyfriend Jeno is here to get you, he’s right outside.”

You nodded your head, as she helped you to your feet. When you made it out of the restroom, Jeno was right there, waiting for you. He was still dressed in his sweats, his hair was disheveled, he looked like someone that just got out of bed.

“Thank you,” Jeno thanked the girl, taking you from her. Your mind was still a bit foggy, but you had enough sense of understanding what everyone around you was saying.

Jeno began to lead you out to the front, “did I wake you? I didn’t mean to wake you, I’m sorry Jeno. I know I shouldn’t have gone out tonight.” You were saying, more like mumbling and slurring, the first thoughts that came to your mind, not having enough strength to filter through them. “I promise no more going out, I’ll be a good girl from now on. I won’t cause you anymore trouble Jeno.”

Jeno didn’t acknowledge your mumblings, thinking that you guys could talk about it in the morning when you were fully sober. He just wanted to get you back to the hotel already. He didn’t want to be here much longer, and he especially didn’t want the media to see either of you guys here, like this.

Before Jeno could make it out the front doors, from the shadows emerged Jaemin. “Dude you made it,” Jaemin, who was clearly heavily intoxicated, caught Jeno’s other arm, not seeing Jeno holding you up on the other side initially. “y/n is supposed…”

Jeno turned, stopping Jaemin from saying anything more.

“What…what happened?” Jaemin asked, as he looked at you, clearly out of it. The sight of you, causing any effects of the previously consumed alcohol to wear off.

“I don’t know, you tell me Jaemin, you’re the one that was here not me.” Jeno was fuming, as he was beginning to have a vague understanding of what had happened.

“Jen, I…”

“She called me crying and slurring her words, she could barely put two words together, let alone a complete sentence to tell me what she drank, or where she was, or who she was with.” There were stories about how scary Jeno was when he’s mad, but Jaemin always thought that was just people exaggerating to give Jeno a bad boy image. Jaemin knows now it’s not an exaggeration. “What did you give her, Jaemin?”

“Jeno, I swear I didn’t do this to her.”

“Well if you didn’t do it, you let it happen.”

The next morning you woke up with the worst headache of your life. You were laying in your bed, in your hotel room, you looked over to see Jeno sleeping in one of the chairs with just a jacket covering his arms. You got out of bed, placing the blanket you were originally wrapped in on him, and heading to the shower. Last night was still a bit blurry in your mind, you remembered going to the club with Jaemin. You remembered meeting a stranger there, you remembered running to the bathroom.

You just don’t remember anything after being in the bathroom. After you got out of the shower, brushed your teeth, and put on fresh clothes, you still saw Jeno sleeping peacefully on the chair in the corner. You decided to get some coffee and breakfast for Jeno when he woke up. You grabbed your phone and wallet before heading downstairs.

Looking at your phone, you notice several missed calls from Jaemin and even more unread text messages. Before you could respond to any of them, you ran into Jaemin in the elevator, heading downstairs.

“I was just coming to see you,” Jaemin said with an air of worry.

“Why?” you question with a bit of an awkward smile.

“Are you okay? Last night…” before Jaemin could say anymore, your phone started to ring. Jeno’s name appears on the screen.

“Sorry Jaemin, let me just answer this.” You slide the green button on your screen, answering your phone for Jeno. “Hello,” you answered.

“y/n, where are you?” Jeno spoke quickly.

“I’m heading downstairs, I was gonna bring you a coffee and some breakfast.”

“Why didn’t you wake me, I would’ve gone with you.”

“You looked tired, I wanted to let you sleep,” you answered. Jaemin is only able to hear your side of the conversation, slowly putting the pieces together in his own mind. Jaemin knows Jeno picked you up from the club, he knows Jeno brought you back to the hotel, and now he knows that you and Jeno slept in the same room last night.

“Wait in the lobby for me, I’ll come downstairs and we’ll go together.” Jeno said, before hanging up the phone.

You sighed, “I’m sorry Jaemin, what were you saying earlier now?” you turned your attention back to Jaemin.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay from last night, I’m sorry about…”

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

“Huh?” Jaemin looked at you confused, he only remembered what he did last night. He remembers leaving you alone last night, after telling you, you had nothing to worry about. He remembers Jeno staring holes through his head. He remembers seeing you leaving with Jeno.

“I mean,” you sighed, knowing that you should be able to remember, you just couldn’t. “I know we went to the club together, I know I met a guy at the bar, I remember going to the restroom, but everything else is a blur. And even the parts I do remember are blurry.”

Just at that moment, both you and Jaemin arrived on the lobby floor. Jaemin let you step out of the elevator first. “We did go to the club together, and I left you, alone.” Jaemin said. “I’m sorry y/n, I should have never left you alone that night. I told you that I would stay with you and I didn’t, this is my fault.”

You nodded your head, “thank you for apologizing.” You thanked Jaemin, even though you weren’t entirely sure why he was apologizing to you.

“y/n,” you turned to see Jeno stepping off the other elevator, walking towards you. You watched Jeno, give Jaemin the dirtiest look, before checking on you. “You okay?”

“Yeah of course,” you answered.

“Let’s go get breakfast,” Jeno said, pulling you away. You waved a little ‘bye’ to Jaemin, before walking away.

“That was a bit rude,” you spoke candidly to Jeno, after the two of you stepped away from Jaemin.

“What?”

“You didn’t greet Jaemin, that was a bit rude Jeno.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jeno dismissed, as he dropped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you a little closer as the two of you walked out the lobby doors. You looked back to still see Jaemin standing there, watching the two of you go.

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Taglist: @90sgatsby-jjh@neothingss@lanadreamie@cuteejeno

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

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A Racer’s Heart

Masterlist

F1Driver!Jeno X Reader X F1Driver!Jaemin

Preview, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07...

Genre: love triangle, co-workers to lovers, slight enemies to lovers

Warnings: swearing, suggestive content, drugs, alcohol, angst, car crashes

Word Count: 3k per chapter

Synopsis: You have followed Jeno throughout the entirety of his career, since the very first moment he won his first race in F4. And you had planned to follow him until he stood at the top as world champion. However another race car driver with just as much determination might have a say otherwise. Jeno and his new teammate Jaemin has your heart torn in two.

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Taglist: @90sgatsby-jjh@neothingss@lanadreamie@cuteejeno@fariylixie0915@kikiisda1

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ljxlj48 · 1 year

Text

A Racer's Heart

F1Driver!Jeno x Reader x F1Driver!Jaemin

Genre: love triangle, co-workers to lovers, slight enemies to lovers

Word count: 3K+

Warnings: swearing

Author’s Note: this is gonna take longer than I initially thought. sorry. nevertheless, hugs and kisses to anyone reading <33

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This week you were in Melbourne, preparing for the Australian Grand Prix. The marketing team had you doing the headphone challenge with Jeno. It was you and Jeno against Jaemin and his race engineer Mark.

“Australian Grand Prix,” you yelled at Jeno, trying to get him to understand the words coming out of your mouth.

“What,” Jeno yelled back, the confusion written all over his face. Just behind him you could see Jaemin and Mark watching you guys, as they laughed. You shook your head, as the frustration started to cloud your mind.

“Australian,” you yelled louder, but slower this time, “Grand Prix.”

“Australian Grand Prix,” Jeno finally repeated back to you, it only took about four tries. Jaemin and Mark laughed more, and you couldn’t help but think Jaemin looked so cute right there. Jaemin has a beautiful smile that started to replace all the frustration.

“Home to,” you yelled again at Jeno. Jeno’s smile grew big, knowing that he understood your words this time. His eyes curved into little moons, you adored his smiles. You adored the little crescent moons that shone in his eyes.

“Home to,” Jeno repeated back to you.

“Daniel Riccardo.” That was the last part of the sentence.

“Australian Grand Prix, Home to Daniel Riccardo,” Jeno shouted out with a little fist pump and jump, finally understanding the entire sentence.

You nodded your head vigorously at Jeno, knowing that he got it. Jeno being so happy that you guys got it, he ran up to you, picking you and twirling you around, in a giant hug. You couldn’t help but laugh out loud, as Jeno spun around. Moments like this had you questioning Jeno’s intentions.

The challenge went on, with much more shouts and many more laughs. You could’ve sworn that you and Jeno had won, but the marketing team said that it was a tie.

“I think,” Jeno started off, after the marketing gave the results, “that y/n, is the weak leak.”

“Excuse me,” you questioned, as Mark and Jaemin giggled.

Jeno looked at you, “I’m just saying, I think me and Jaemin would’ve done better than me and you.”

“You wanna bet on that Lee? You and Jaemin, versus me and Mark.” You stuck out your hand to shake on a bet with Jeno, “loser buys the team dinner.”

“You’re on,” Jeno took your hand.

After getting the sentences you put on the headphones once more, shouting at each other again.

“I am,” Jeno shouted at Jaemin, as you and Mark watched. You couldn’t help but laugh at Jeno getting frustrated that Jaemin wasn’t understanding him.

“Ohhhh, I am,” Jaemin responded back, now getting what Jeno was saying.

“I am a Formula 1,” Jeno shouted again, as Jaemin scratched his head. “I am a Formula 1,”

“Ohhhh, I am a formula 1,” Jaemin said, with wide eyes. He looked so adorable repeating Jeno’s words.

“Race car driver,”

“Oh oh oh, I am a Formula 1 race car driver,” Jaemin did little jumps when he fully got the sentences.

Finally it was yours and Mark’s turn, and just like Jeno he predicted you guys did worse. You were shaking your head as Jeno and Jaemin were rubbing it in, at the end. The marketing was more than happy with the extra content they could use.

“Looks like tonight’s dinner is on you, y/n,” Jeno boasted joyfully. “I think I want to eat fried chicken tonight. Jaemin?”

“Fried chicken sounds great, and also don’t forget to get sodas as well,” Jaemin said, as the two of them laughed.

“Any more requests from the two of you?” You asked sarcastically.

“Oh yes…” Jeno started off, trying to add more, before you cut him off.

“Oh shut up,” you said, as Jaemin and Jeno both laughed.

During free practice two, Jeno was out on the track, with a rookie race engineer. It was best to let new race engineers get some experience during free practices, instead of them just expecting them to navigate during a race. To ensure nothing went astray, you remained next to the new guy, watching the same monitors, and hearing the same radios.

“Y/n,” Jaemin called out, coming up behind you. It wasn’t impossible for Jaemin to be on this side of the garage, just very rare and odd.

Jeno had told you to play nicely, so you answered politely, “yes?”

“Here,” Jaemin said as he handed you a couple hundred dollars, “for tonight’s dinner, me and Jeno make a lot more than you or Mark.”

“Oh Jaemin, you don’t have to…”

“It’s fine, I have more money than I know what to do with right now,” Jaemin said, placing the money on the table in front of you. “Don’t forget the sodas, I want a sprite,” Jaemin added with a wink, as he walked away.

You thought that maybe your initial opinions about Jaemin were made prematurely, as you stared at the money in front of you. Jaemin didn’t need to do that, it was a bet between you and Jeno. Jaemin knows that even though you don’t make nearly as much money as him, you make more than enough money to spend on dinner for everyone. Jaemin knows that $200 isn’t enough to cover everyone, but it’s a little something to help out. And that night when you announced that you got everyone dinner, the entire team was overjoyed.

‘Lights out and away they go,’

You watched the monitor closely. As the boys went around and around. No one was catching Leclerc, but the midfield was interesting to say the least.

By lap 32, Jaemin was right behind Jeno. You and Mark exchanged a look, in the meetings it was said that they would be free to race, should this happen.

“Let them race, we’re early into the season,” Taeyong said as he watched the monitors.

“Jen,” you came over the radio, “Jaemin behind by 1.2 seconds. You’re free to race.’

“Copy,” Jeno confirmed.

In Formula 1, there are 10 teams, each team runs two cars. Everyone, except your teammate, has a different machinery. So for every driver, the person they want to beat the most is their teammate, because that is purely on race ability. You cannot say that it was the car.

You felt your nerves pick up as Jeno and Jaemin exchanged positions several times. Going wheel to wheel into one too many turns for your comfort. For you the checkered flag couldn’t come face enough.

When it finally did, Jeno was just ahead of Jaemin, by exactly one second.

You took a breath, “P6 Jen, P6.”

“Thank you, thank you,” you could hear Jeno breathing heavily, “tell Jaemin that it was a fun race.”

“Will do,” you said. “Jen, Jaemin said that he had a good time racing you.”

You could hear Jeno’s chuckle on the other side of the radio.

You felt like the bye week wasn’t long enough, because before you knew it, you were in Imola, preparing for another race weekend. When you got down to the paddock for strategy meetings on Thursday, the majority of the team had already arrived. Strategy meetings always filled your day, if there wasn’t a strategy meeting, that meant Jeno was on the circuit.

“I think Jaemin should be given priority this weekend,” someone said, you didn’t recognize the person, or at least you couldn’t recall their name. They had to be someone from Jaemin’s side of the garage nonetheless.

“No driver is being given a priority over the other, we’re letting them race.” Taeyong confirmed once again, and you took a sigh of relief. You knew Jeno wasn’t given priority in the past weekends, neither of the drivers were being given priority. That was Taeyong’s entire pitch to Jeno when recruiting him for NCT. That there wasn’t gonna be a number 1 driver, they were just gonna race.

After the meeting concluded you went about setting up your place in the garage. Although the crew always sets up the garage the same every weekend, it always feels just a bit off. You went through the several monitors, ensuring that the settings were to your liking. When a few of the people from Jaemin’s side of the garage came over.

“Y/n,” you turned to look at them, “we were thinking that Jaemin should be given priority this weekend instead of Jeno.”

“Excuse me?” You questioned, unsure about their request.

“Jaemin hasn’t been doing well, and so Jeno should concede, don’t you agree?”

“Look guys,” you took a breath, “the race strategy isn’t decided by me, I just follow team orders. What Taeyong says goes.”

“Guys,” another voice, from behind cut across interrupting your conversation with the mechanics, “leave y/n alone,” it was Jaemin. “Jeno out-performing me has nothing to do with her.”

However, that wasn’t the end of the conversation. Constantly throughout the day, and the entire weekend, a multitude of people had suggested to you that Jeno should “not try so hard” this weekend. And when you tried to gauge if Jeno was getting these same suggestions directly, you realized he hadn’t been. The crew had only been coming to you about Jeno not trying so hard this weekend.

“I’m sorry about that y/n,” Jaemin apologized just before he went out for qualifying, “you don’t need to listen to them.” Before you could respond that you weren’t gonna listen to them, Jaemin had already returned to his side of the garage. He was being so nice about the situation, that you were starting to consider, telling Jeno not to try so hard, this weekend. Especially when it wasn’t pretty when Jeno out-qualified Jaemin, again.

“P6 Jen, good lap,” you said through the radio.

“Sorry, I thought I did better,” Jeno said with a heavy breath.

“You did good Jen, I’ll see you inside,” you said, before taking off your headset.

You felt eyes on you, from some of the mechanics. You made quick work of gathering your notes, and leaving the area. You didn’t feel as welcome as before.

You watched as the checkered flag waved at Imola, “P8 Jen, P8,” you announced over the speaker.

“Thank you, it was a good race guys, thank you,” Jeno said over the radio. You knew him well enough, that was a generic response. He was far from being happy with those results. “Y/n, where did Jaemin finish?”

“P12… I’ll see you inside Jen.”

You took off the headset, knowing that today’s results were nowhere, as good as previous weeks. “You couldn’t just help Jaemin out huh?” Someone from behind you had asked.

You turned to see a few of the mechanics from Jaemin’s side of the garage, “It’s not my decision,” you repeated once more, just like you did all weekend. “And Jaemin wasn’t behind Jeno, there was nothing I could’ve done about the race, guys”

You watched the mechanics shake their heads at you and murmur a few things before walking away. You couldn’t understand what they were expecting from you. If it was up to you, Jaemin and Jeno would be at the top of every podium, at the end of every race. You didn’t know if the mechanics were genuinely upset that Jeno was continuing to outperform Jaemin, or if they were just giving you a hard time because you could be considered the ‘new guy.’

The following race didn’t help either.

The Miami Grand Prix, being a debut Grand Prix, had much more media attention than a normal Grand Prix. The star studded audience also brought out extra cameras for the weekend. Jeno and Jaemin did an excellent job entertaining. They did their media duties, their interviews, and more. They signed autographs and took pictures, to anyone on the outside, looking in, Jeno and Jaemin appeared to be getting along great. And they were, Jeno and Jaemin were building a nice friendship together.

However the same couldn’t be said around the garage. Each car, each driver, has their own set of engineers and mechanics. And Jaemin’s side of the garage, were not exactly thrilled that Jeno was constantly outperforming Jaemin. Although, it seemed like no one was willing to speak to Jeno about it, just speaking to you. Or at least they were.

Initially, they were just suggesting that Jeno don’t try so hard, but now it’s changed to little whispers when you walk past. Or small glances, when Jeno set a faster time in practice. You did your best to not let it bother you, but it was getting to you.

“P5 Jen, nice job,” you said, as Jeno just went fifth fastest in his last qualifying lap for the day.

“Thank you, thank you,” Jeno said, as he began his cool down lap. “Y/n, thank you.”

‘Lights out and away we go’

You paid close attention to the screen watching everyone get away from the line. Both Jeno and Jaemin got away from turn 1 clean, as they went into turn 2. As the field stretched out moving into turn 3 and to turn 4, there were several cars in between Jeno and Jaemin.

They both made it through turn 8, heading into sector 2. You counted the turns as Jeno drove through them. Turn 9, turn 10, long straight, turn 11, 12, 13, chicane, 14, 15, 16, another long straight. You watched Jeno make clean overtakes, as well as Jaemin.

Going into lap 31, both Jeno and Jaemin were up and in the points. You had to begin preparing to call Jeno in for a pit stop, to change tires.

“Ask how he feels on the tires, y/n,” Taeyong directed to you.

“Jen, how's the tires?”

“They’re fine, I can push.”

“Push Jen,” you said into the radio.

You watched out into the pit lane, as the team brought Jaemin in to change onto the soft tires first. A little early, but Jaemin was always a better defender rather than an over taker.

Lap 40, you watched as Jeno crossed the start line, starting his 40th lap out of 54. You were back to counting turns, waiting for the moment to tell Jeno to box. Sector 1, turn 1, 2, 3, small straight, turn 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Moving into sector 2, turn 9, 10, long straight. Jeno was behind Bottas, with DRS, going for the overtake. He was already ahead before reaching turn 11, you could hear the cheers of the team behind you. Turn 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, long straight.

“Box Jen, Box,” you said early enough for Jeno to make the move into the pit lane.

“Copy,” Jeno confirmed as he drove towards the pit lane entry.

Formula 1 teams usually have a pit crew of around 15 people. All four tires get changed at the same time, and there’s just one big nut, instead of 5 small ones. Meaning that pit stops are normally 2 to 3 seconds, when done correctly. And no matter how fast the pit crew moved, the driver always said it was too slow. No matter how fast the tires came out, or how fast the car was jacked up, or how fast the tires changed, or how fast the car dropped again, it was too slow. But for drivers, who are used to reaching 200+ miles per hour, everything was slow for them.

“2.02,” a member from the pit crew, yelled announcing the time to everyone. You and the rest of the team cheered, that was a good pit stop.

Lap 54, the checkered flag already waving as Verstappen crossed the finish line. Leclerc was behind him, and then Sainz rounded out the podium finishers.

You watched Jeno race towards the line, “P6 Jen, P6,” you yelled into the radio.

Jeno laughed into the radio, “thank you team, thank you.” You took a breath, the race was over. You watched Jaemin cross the line P8, a nice finish, compared to last weekend's results for himself. “Y/n, thank you,” Jeno added on.

“I’ll see you inside Jen.” As you left your spot to go check on other things, you could hear faint whispers made as you walked passed. You could feel the eyes of others, watching you walk past. You constantly reminded yourself that you did what you were supposed to. You followed team orders, you did what Taeyong wanted to be done. You were just doing your job, and if anyone has a problem with it, it’s their own problem. Not yours.

“Taeyong, may I speak to you please?” you made sure that almost everyone went home before speaking with Taeyong, “privately please.”

“Sure,” Taeyong answered, as he led you into his office. After shutting the door, he turned back to face you, “what do you want to talk about?”

“Some of the guys,” you took a breath, you really don’t want to cause any problems within the team, “they’ve just been suggesting to me recently that Jeno shouldn’t be trying so hard to outperform Jaemin.”

“What?” Taeyong asked, his face filled with confusion, “who has been suggesting this y/n? I’ll call a meeting-”

“No, no,” you quickly stopped Taeyong, “I’m sure they’re just giving me a hard time for being the ‘new guy’, I just want to know what I should tell them. I don’t want to cause any problems Taeyong, I can handle this, I just want to know what I should say when they suggest this?”

Taeyong looked at you, not fully convinced. “Are you sure you can handle this?”

“Of course, I just wanted to know what I should tell them.” Part of you regrets bringing this up at all, knowing that it’s probably nothing serious.

“Just tell them it’s team orders, and that if they have any issues with that, they can bring it to me.”

“Okay, thank you Taeyong.”

You walked out of Taeyong’s office, not feeling any better than you did before. Part of you believes that you’re just making up what’s going on. That you’re exaggerating a few moments into problems that don’t actually exist. The other part of you knows that you are being given a hard time because you’re a woman in a male dominated field.

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