#SOMEHOW TAKES DOWN INNOCENT MINGYU WHILE MAKING EVERYONE FEEL BAD FOR HIM | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

softjaehyvn · 3 years

Text

when i leave

pairing ;; jung jaehyun x reader (main focus) ; johnny x reader

special guests ;; kim yugyeom (got7) , jeon jungkook (bts) , kim mingyu (seventeen) , lee taeyong , ten lee

genre ;; hanahaki au , angst & fluff

warnings ;; alcohol / drinking , character deaths , cheating

synopsis ;; your grandmother had warned you about it - the hanahaki disease. where the ill person coughs up petals if their love towards someone is unrequited. and of course you had to fall in love with the one person, jaehyun, a stranger, who managed to help you through the rough break-up with youngho. however, he as well had his secrets - just like youngho had them.

word count ;; 9.8k

note ;; this was requested back on my other blog! part of the collab with @hangsxng, also happy jaehyun day !!

It was only a short video that you had received from your older brother Taeyong, where he filmed your boyfriend talking about you in a drunk state. You couldn’t believe what he was saying there.

“You know, I never loved her. She was so innocent and sweet, she just fell for me”, he giggled, grabbing his cup and taking a sip from it. “She’s so stupid.” Everyone around started laughing; you just stared on your phone as the video ended, getting up and packing your stuff.

You waited for a bit. You wanted to ask him yourself if he meant what he said. Even though he probably would be drunk, you still waited for him.

“Hey Y/N”, he greeted you, definitely sobered up; you noticed that from the way he was talking to you. It felt like you couldn’t breathe for a minute.

“What’s up?”, he asked as he saw your tensed state. You just didn’t say anything but got up. You quickly left the place with your car’s keys.

Wiping the tears out of your eyes, you tried to focus on the road and drove around; not sure where exactly. Your mind was completely blurry and maybe it wasn’t the best idea to drive a car while being in this kind of stage. However, you managed to drive safely and not get into any accident.

You only had left your boyfriend of six months, Youngho; seeing that video of him saying that he only played around with you. How could you be so foolish? How could you trust someone who would betray you like this? You pulled off the car and stopped it quickly before you let out a loud sob. Why did he do this to you? What did you do to him that he decided to make fun of you?

He didn’t care about you the way you did about him. It was driving you crazy.

When you finally calmed down, you started your car and were about to drive off as someone knocked on your window. As you looked out, you saw a young man in front of you, motioning you to roll it down. When you did so, you quickly wiped your tears away again.

“Hey, are you okay? I saw that you were just here and was wondering if you were all right?”, he asked you and you chuckled. Even a stranger cared more about you than your ex did.

“I’m… okay”, you lied and smiled up to the guy but the smile didn’t reach your eyes and the stranger noticed that.

“Come on, don’t lie. I can see it when someone lies. First, come get out of the car”, he instructed you, moving a little out of the way so you would have enough space to open the car door.

The stranger closed the door as soon as you got out. You had no idea what the guy was planning to do. “Great. Now lock your car and let’s go”, he said. “I feel like you need some time out. I know a place where you can try to calm down.”

Should you trust him? You didn’t even know his name. As if he could feel your insecurities, he introduced himself to you; feeling stupid for not doing this earlier.

“I’m Jaehyun, by the way. I’m sorry if I made you feel uneasy. I really don’t want to do anything bad. I feel like you just need someone with you right now.”

You simply just nodded when you followed him the street along. For some reason, you felt comfortable around this guy. It was like you know him for ages. “Was there a reason why you wanted me to come with you?”, you randomly asked him while you continued walking side by side – there was just a small space between you.

“Actually, I was just walking around because I needed some fresh air after studying a lot when I saw you in your car crying”, he explained swiftly. Shortly after, Jaehyun stopped walking – you did the same as you looked around. You had arrived at some cliff type of thing – there was the big ocean in front of you, the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff.

“It’s so calm here… I like it here”, you mumbled. Somehow, this place seemed so familiar to you but you didn’t know why.

Then it hit you.

“I love you”, Youngho murmured. You two were lying on a blanket, facing each other. His fingers were slowly playing with your hair. Your eyes closed, you listened to Youngho say those sweet three words like he did the last two days ever since you two had confessed your feelings to each other; listened to the waves crash against the cliff.

“I love you, too. Idiot”, you laughed when he pushed you on your back and laid his body on yours. Youngho did his best not to lower his whole weight on your body. He once again was only looking into your eyes before he slowly leaned down and placed his lips on yours.

“Am I still an idiot?”, he asked when he finally lied down next to you again, looking at you, there was nothing but love in his gaze.

“Yes, but now, you’re my idiot”, you grinned and closed your eyes again.

“Everything alright?”, Jaehyun asked you when he realized that you were lost in thoughts. You lightly nodded but Jaehyun wasn’t that oblivious that he wouldn’t notice your teary eyes. “No, I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t be crying if everything was alright.”

You cursed yourself for being so bad at hiding your feelings, gulping before you finally spoke. “I’ve been at this place before.” Jaehyun looked at you confusedly.

“Seriously? Barely anyone knows about it. How come?”

“My ex brought me here once. We were lying on that exact spot together, it was only two days after he had confessed”, you briefly explained, not wanting to go into detail. It hurt you to talk about Youngho.

“I get it, you don’t want to talk about it. However, I hope that I’ll be able to distract you tonight a little”, Jaehyun told you. You didn’t reply anymore, however you decided to nod at least to give him any type of a response.

“You know, I just went through a rough break up as well, just recently”, Jaehyun suddenly said after a while you two sat on the cold stone. You two didn’t talk a lot, just sitting there. For some reason, you felt extremely calm and comfortable around him.

“Really?”, you chuckled. “Seems like we were destined to suffer.”

“Actually, in my case, she cheated on me. I caught her texting to another guy with hearts and ‘i love you’-s. I pretended like everything was alright. I even knew who the other guy was. He was one of my closest friends”, Jaehyun admitted.

“I’m sorry to hear that. It must’ve hurt to know that someone you trusted betrayed you like that”, you told him. He just chuckled and shook his head.

“No, it’s alright. It’s been a few weeks since I found out and I’m better now”, he smiled lightly. “I guess, someone just gets used to the fact that the relationship is over now. It doesn’t hurt as much as it used to, so… be patient. It’ll be better, Y/N.”

“I really hope the pain will stop soon, Jaehyun”, just a few seconds later, he heard a soft sob from you, immediately pulling you into his embrace and tried to comfort you as much as possible.

It was weird for you to feel so safe next to a stranger, but you admit that this was exactly what you needed today.

When it got darker, Jaehyun said that you should get going now. He escorted you to your car and even offered to drive you home but you declined. The male was a stranger after all. However, you still exchanged phone numbers and agreed on meeting up a few days later in a café in Itaewon.

As soon as you got out of the car, you started running to your brother’s apartment as it had started raining and opening the door with the spare he gave you. You rolled your eyes when you saw your brother with a girl on his lap and them making out heavily.

“Seriously?!”, your brother exclaimed. “Don’t you have your own apartment?”

“Don’t mind me, I’m going to my room. Have fun”, you said with a slightly disgusted look on your face as you went to your brother’s guest room and threw yourself on the bed. Before you had rented the apartment with Johnny, you lived here. This had been your bed and you had a few heated or romantic moments with your now ex-boyfriend on here. You remembered when he sneaked in to see you; now you knew better and knew that he only pretended to be excited to see you.

“Hey… what’s going on?”, your brother asked you and slowly entered your room. You turned around laughed.

“You look messed up, big bro”, you told him and he giggled; coming closer and sitting next to you. Taeyong slowly brushed over your hair, being the caring brother, he always had been. “Where is your girl?”

“Sent her away. I have a sister to take care of after all”, he said and opened up his arms, silently telling you to hug him. You loved this side of him. He always had shut everyone off just to take care of you; after all, you were the only family he had left. Your parents had passed away during a huge car accident. You two only had each other and he wouldn’t trade you for the world.

“You didn’t have to”, you said, feeling slightly bad for him that you interrupted him from his one-night stand.

“I did and we both know that. I can’t see you being sad and in a bad mood while I have my fun with a girl. That’s just not fair”, he told you and softly stroked through your hair. “What happened? Did… did you watch the video?” You only nodded and hugged your brother tighter; then you started crying and your body started shaking as you remembered beautiful things you experienced with Johnny one by one.

“He… why would he play me like this, Tae? What did I ever do? I did nothing else but loved him. I tried my best to make him feel better whenever he needed it. I tried to be the girl he wants me to be. But he just played me like that?”, you cried.

“It’s going to be okay, baby”, he mumbled softly and caressed your back, trying to comfort you as much as possible. “It’s going to be okay.”

It had been a few days since you had left your shared apartment with Johnny and moved in with your brother again. Taeyong had tried to distract you as much as possible by taking you out on random dinner dates with him, he paid for anything you wanted; it didn’t matter if it was clothes, food, or just you dyeing your hair into a random color (which turned out to be a darker blue; Taeyong dyed his hair into a similar color). He did everything to make you happy.

“Thank you so much, Tae”, you smiled and hugged him.

“Of course, love. Do you wanna go somewhere else?”, he asked you but you shook your head.

“No. You already spent so much money for me”, you told him. “I’ll just walk around a little and then I’ll come home, yeah?”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to come with you?”, he asked you worriedly, he didn’t want to leave you alone when you were in a bad state.

“No, thank you. I’ll just come home in a bit, yeah?”, you told him and smiled at him reassuringly. “I’ll come home in a bit.” You hugged him and he softly kissed you on your forehead.

“See you then.” He let go of you, taking all the bags full of clothes from your long shopping tour.

You didn’t think much before you just turned around and walked the whole way to your apartment with Johnny. As you were going there, you received a message with a picture. You were confused as you noticed that it was you and Taeyong right before you left him in the city.

You already got a new one? You’re quick, you little slut

You didn’t know who it was as you hadn’t saved the number. You ignored the message and just continued your way. As you finally arrived there, you took out the keys Johnny had given you just two months ago when you two moved in together. You couldn’t believe that it took him two months so take out his real face and you to find out that he was only playing around.

“Y/N? What the fuck are you doing here?”, Johnny yelled as you entered the apartment. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing there: a girl on his lap and them making out. You had no idea who it was; not that it mattered.

“The question is, what the fuck are you doing here?”, you asked him and pushed the girl away from him.

“Just partying around, the usual”, suddenly there was someone else in the background; it was Ten, one of Johnny’s friends.

“Shut up, Ten, I didn’t ask you”, you yelled. Then you glared at the girl. “And you get the fuck out of my apartment.”

“This isn’t only your apartment, Y/N. It is mine, too”, Johnny told you and came closer to you.

“Fuck you, Johnny. You don’t even care a little about me, why would you care about this fucking apartment?”, you exclaimed, going into your shared room and started to pack another bag full of clothes. He followed you.

“Did you really think I cared about you?”, he asked and laughed. “Did you think I cared about you? The truth is, I never loved you. I never did. I only did it to get into your pants. That’s everything.”

“So, you lied? Every single time you told me that you love me, you lied?”, you asked him; you tried your best to keep up your façade and tried to seem strong. You did your best not to start crying.

“That’s right, I lied. I lied every time”, he said, not daring to even blink.

“Great. Now you hurt me. Are you happy now? Huh? Does my fucking pain make you happy?!”, you started screaming and pushed him away with every single sentence as you finally broke down and started crying.

He didn’t answer you. He stayed silent as you wiped your tears away and grabbed the last few clothes left there. “Fuck you, Johnny.”

Those were the last words you told him and finally left the apartment.

But little did you know that he only lied because Ten was there and he had to stop himself from hugging you and telling you that he loved you.

The next day, around the time you were supposed to meet up with Jaehyun, you were rushing around at home, trying to get everything you needed together, when suddenly someone knocked at the door. Not even bothering to check who it was, you immediately opened the door and immediately tried to ram it closed when you saw Johnny in front of your door. However, Johnny held the door open with his hand, he was strong enough to easily resist you trying to close it.

“Babe, please, let’s talk”, Johnny said when he finally managed to get into your place. “I really need to talk to you and clear this whole thing out. There are some things I have to talk to you about.”

“Fuck off, Johnny, I don’t want to see you, please, get the hell out”, you yelled, trying to get him out of the apartment. However, Johnny was much stronger than you and easily put his hands on your arms to hold you still.

“Please, let me talk to you once”, he spoke to you in his comforting, soft voice that always managed to make you feel calm. You hated that he still had this effect on you – you didn’t want him to manipulate you the way he always did until now. “I will never even come near you if you let me talk to you now.”

“No. Fuck you, no!”, you yelled and this time, you were supported by Taeyong who finally came out of the shower.

“What the hell are you doing here, Youngho?”, Taeyong’s voice was calm and soft; you were sure that he was trying his best to remain composed. “Get the fuck out of here, I don’t ever want to see you around.”

“Taeyong-ah, please, let me talk to her once. I swear I will leave her alone afterwards if you let me talk to her now”, Youngho tried once again. Taeyong was having none of it, though. He pulled you behind him and finally Johnny gave up and sighed. “Promise, you will let me talk to you one day?”

He just left when you didn’t give him a reply.

“Sorry, I’m a little late… I had to deal with something”, you apologized to Jaehyun when you finally sat down across him. He just shrugged it off.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like to drink so I didn’t order anything for you. It’s on me, though, so just choose whatever you want”, Jaehyun smiled lightly, exposing his dimples. You nodded as you shot him a smile back.

“Thank you, Jaehyun… I really needed this today. He just…”, it took you a bit before you could speak up on the issue. “My ex just came over today. He wanted to talk to me but my brother stopped him from doing so. Seeing him again hurt though.“

„I get that… you know, my ex also came over last night. Said she wanted to apologize and that she misses me. Her new boy dumped her”, he laughed and took a sip from his coffee. “Well, it’s her own fault. I don’t care about her anymore.”

“That’s what I love to hear! I’m happy that you were able to get over her… and the pain”, your voice got slightly lower with the last few words. Jaehyun grabbed your hand and softly stroked over the back.

“Your pain will stop one day as well. It will hurt for a long time, knowing the absence of someone who was there for you for a very long time. It will stop eventually, Y/N. I promise. I am ready to help you through it all”, he promised, making you smile lightly.

However, it was a faked smile.

And you hoped he didn’t notice.

However, he did notice.

Jaehyun was someone who paid a lot of attention to what was around him. Especially, if it was someone who needed special care after a rough situation. He was used to notice things like that; he started paying attention to people’s facial expressions when he was still a little kid. His mother would smile at him and tell him everything is fine.

Jaehyun would know that nothing was. He might have been little and the way he acted was still childish, but he knew how to divide between a real and a fake smile.

Yours definitely was a fake smile. However, he couldn’t do anything about it, so he never said anything.

“Hey, you know, a friend of mine is celebrating his birthday soon. Do you want to come along?”, Jaehyun suddenly asked you. That surprised you but you would never say no to some distraction. So, you just nodded as a yes.

“Sure thing”, you shot him another smile before taking another sip of your hot chocolate. Sitting here with Jaehyun – who you felt very comfortable around -, just chatting and talking about the most random things, really helped you. For a few hours, you seemed happy and also felt happy after a few days of crying your eyes out.

“Thank you for today. It was quite fun, let’s do this again one day”, you suggested to which he agreed to. Then he made sure you got the address of his friend to come over to the party in a few days. As he had to travel home to his parents in Busan for a few days, he wouldn’t be able to spend any time with you. When he finally left the café, you were once again left to your thoughts.

You decided to walk instead of taking the bus, so it would take you a lot more time to get back home. When you were halfway home, you felt the first drops of rain on your skin. Thinking, it wouldn’t rain, you hadn’t taken a jacket or an umbrella with you.

“Need a ride home?”, someone yelled and you turned around. “Come on, get in.”

It was Johnny. You couldn’t believe he actually had the guts to call you over to his car and drive you home. You’d rather walk the rest of the way home and arrive there completely soaked than sit in the same car as the guy who played with you.

“Please, Y/N. I promise I won’t do or say anything that’ll hurt you. I just don’t want you to get sick”, he said, however you decided to ignore him and just continued walking. Johnny always had been a stubborn person. So, it didn’t surprise you that he continued driving slowly behind you.

“Stop fucking following me!”, you yelled. “How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want to see you ever again and that I fucking hate you? Haven’t you had your fun already? Wasn’t it enough to humiliate me and play me like you did with your friends? The bet wasn’t enough fun for you?”

“Please, if you’d listen to me once, you would understand everything, Y/N”, he stopped the car and got out quickly and before you could run away, he put his hands on your arms. “Listen to me once and let me explain. It’ll all make sense then, I promise.”

“Fuck, you, no! I told you so many times. No!”, you once again declined and tried to get out of his tight grip. Once again, you failed – Johnny was a lot stronger than you were and he could hold you back easily.

“I’m so sorry but I have to do this, Y/N”, he mumbled and quickly just picked you up and carried you towards his car.

Your cries to let go of you were pointless – no one would hear you. You were in some forest where barely anyone ever walked through. However, that always had been the way you took home, as it was the shortest way.

“I’m sorry, love. I just need to talk to you. It is very important and you deserve to know”, he said when he had you in his car and started driving.

“Johnny, please. I can’t stand being next to you. I just can’t. You broke my heart by saying all these words and you know that”, there were a lot of tears running down your cheeks. Johnny didn’t reply, he just focused on the road.

“You said you had to talk to me but now you aren’t even speaking! Is this another of your games? If yes, please leave me the fuck alone because I definitely don’t need-“

“I’m being threatened.”

When you heard these three, simple words, you didn’t know what you should or could say. What the hell did he mean by he was being threatened?

“It might sound like a lie but Ten and I don’t really get along. The only one I could trust is my friend Yoonoh and your brother. There is so much going on, I couldn’t even tell you about it all right now. Once, Ten made me say all that shit you saw in that video. The one who recorded it was also Ten. The one who sent the video to your brother was Ten. It was all Ten”, he started explaining.

That new info made you doubt your ex-boyfriend once again. Whenever Ten came over to your shared place that you and Johnny had rented just a few weeks before that incident, they always seemed so comfortable around each other.

Was that all an act as well?

“What was he threatening you with?”, you asked him, your voice was really soft and low and you weren’t even sure if Johnny had even heard you.

“He found out about a few things that I did back in the days before I even met you. I really don’t want to talk about it and get the whole thing out again, but there were things that I’d rather have kept for myself”, Johnny explained. You had to laugh – however, it wasn’t a laugh because something was funny or anything. It was more because you were disappointed.

“So, you seriously think I’m going to believe that?”, you asked him but he just shook his head.

“Take my phone.”

“What?”

“Just do as I told you. You know my pin.”

Confused, you just took Johnny’s phone and unlocked it. You then followed his instructions to open his and Ten’s private chat and scroll up until a specific date. 18th July 20xx.

The date Johnny had asked you to move in with him. You remembered that day well – it was the happiest day you had experienced with him. Thinking about that day made you smile slightly, something that didn’t get unnoticed by Johnny.

“Read the chat. If you don’t believe me afterwards, I will never talk to you again. I promise”, he told you and you just nodded, completely focusing on the chat.

Ten

[Video 0:18]

Is this familiar?

You tried clicking on the video but Johnny stopped you. “Just read. You don’t need to watch it.”

Johnny

Where did you get this from?

No one knew about it

Ten

Well, now I do. Would be fun if I’d show this to your sweet girlfriend, wouldn’t it?

Johnny

Fuck you. What do you want from me?

Ten

Break up with her. You don’t deserve her

Johnny

Who does then? An asshole like you?

Ten

Anyone is better than you, Johnny Suh.

Also, if you don’t do what I want, you’ll see the consequences. I’m a man of my words – I will fucking ruin you if you don’t do whatever I want.

“Believe me now? He threatened me, Y/N.”

His words still lingered in your head. You had read the chat yourself – he wasn’t lying.

“Jaehyun is here. He said he’ll wait in his car”, Taeyong yelled from the living room while you were getting ready for the party. You hurried up and checked yourself up in the mirror before you quickly grabbed your phone and keys and left the apartment. Only yelling a goodbye to Taeyong, you quickly ran down the stairs.

“Hey there! There is no need to rush”, he laughed when you quickly got into the car. “Jungkook will be happy that I’m not coming over all by myself.”

“Ah, so that’s the name of your mysterious friend? How old is he now?”, you asked him curiously.

“Same age as me, we’re just a few months apart.” Jaehyun proceeded to tell you a little about his friend so you would know a little about him.

“Here we are”, Jaehyun stopped the car close to the house where you could already see colored lights out of the windows and when you got out of the car, you already heard the loud music. It surprised you that the music could be this loud without anyone being bothered by it.

“These boys are pretty much crazy. Please don’t judge me because of their craziness”, Jaehyun laughed when you two entered the house. Just a few seconds later you two were surrounded by a few boys, who excitedly greeted Jaehyun.

“Who is that pretty girl with you?”, one of the guys – Mingyu, as Jaehyun had told you – asked you. “I don’t think we know each other, do we?” You shook your head and shot him a light smile.

“I’m Y/N, a friend of Jaehyun”, you introduced yourself.

“Just a friend?”

“Y/N? What are you doing here? I didn’t expect you to know Jungkook?”, someone yelled over the loud music and prevented you from answering Mingyu. You looked back and widened your eyes as you recognized one from your older friends group, Yugyeom.

“Gyeom? What are you doing here?”, you laughed and hugged your friend, feeling much more comfortable than before. Knowing someone around here made you feel so much better. Yugyeom didn’t hesitate and just pulled you to the kitchen where it was a little quieter.

“I didn’t know you knew Jungkook?”, he asked you while he grabbed a drink for the both of you.

“I don’t. I know Jaehyun”, you told him and thanked him when you grabbed the drink. “We met a few days ago after something happened and he helped me a little through it.” For some reason, Yugyeom raised his eyebrow, but you had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

“What happened? We didn’t even text for the past few weeks”, he asked you and you sighed as you shook your head.

“I don’t believe this is the right place to talk about this. It’s all good, though”, you answered him before you shot him a light smile. However, Yugyeom didn’t believe you. That was understandable, Yugyeom had known you for such a long time now, it wouldn’t be easy to convince him.

“You and I, tomorrow. Where we always hung out. I don’t care if you already have plans or not, you will be there at three, otherwise I will come to your place and drag you out of there”, Yugyeom told you and you knew he wasn’t joking. He would actually come over. You knew that because he did it once before.

“Fine. I will be there”, you sighed when you took two cups of the beverage that was in one of the bottles. When you finally found Jaehyun again in the crowd, you saw him with someone else. She was trying to talk to him while he kept on pushing her away, however, she would not stop pestering him.

“Fuck off!”, you heard him yell at her, his voice was so loud that everyone in the room could hear him. “I don’t want to see you! I don’t want to talk to you, nothing! It’s over, why the hell won’t you understand that?”

So, this was his ex. When you looked at her, you noticed that she seemed familiar for some reason.

Then it hit you.

You knew her because she was the girl you saw in your shared apartment with Johnny when they were making out.

“Hey, calm down”, you tried to calm Jaehyun down when he stormed upstairs after his fight with his ex-girlfriend. “Who was that?”

“My ex. She wanted to try again after her new boy dumped her. Fuck, I was just getting over her… why did she have to come here?!”

“It’s alright. Calm down, I’m here. Just… try to calm down, Jae”, you hesitated for a moment, then you just hugged him. He seemed like he needed comfort as he put his arms around your waist and pulled you closer to himself. This moment seemed like it wouldn’t end, everything was so much slower and it felt like, the loud, banging music wasn’t even there.

And for some reason, being in his embrace felt like home.

Jaehyun didn’t want to return to the party anymore and as you didn’t know anyone else but Yugyeom, you decided to stay with the young man, so you wouldn’t feel awkward between all those unknown faces. Neither of you were in a party mode anymore, so you ended up lying in that huge bed in the guest room. Being here in this bed was awkward as well – you were lying in one bed with a man you had met a week ago – but it was better to stay here with him than going in another room.

Jaehyun had offered to sleep on the ground but you didn’t want him to – sleeping on the ground could be painful for his back – so you now ended up in this awkward situation. None of you were talking, it was a peaceful silence – ignoring the loud music from downstairs – and for some reason, you enjoyed being here.

You hadn’t really noticed but you fell asleep very soon, only waking up once where you found a little rose petal in front of you on the pillow. It confused you, where did that come from? You hadn’t seen any flowers around. You decided to ignore it and tried to sleep again, just to wake up once again with an extreme cough.

Then you saw the red petals on your hand and everything slowly started to make sense to you.

“Baby, there is something I have to tell you about”, your grandmother handed you a piece of chocolate while you sat next to her bed, you were around fifteen, or maybe fourteen or even thirteen? You didn’t remember for sure. “I want you to be careful about love, baby. Please, promise me.”

“I promise, granny, but… why? Is there something I have to know?”

“Yes, honey, you have to be careful. I don’t ever want to see you suffering because of…”, suddenly she started to breathe uneven and heavier, “hanahaki.”

When she said that last word, the machines around her started beeping like crazy and the last thing you could process properly was that a nurse pulled you out of the room and more nurses and doctors surrounded the old woman.

“Time of death, 4:27pm.”

After you had recovered from your grandma’s death, you had decided t go through book and the internet and finally find out what the hell ‘hanahaki’ was. Your results were that it was a disease, that would make a flower grow inside your lungs. Mostly, it was the favorite flower of the person you love, however, who didn’t requite your love. It would make it hard for the person to breathe.

Now, you were sure that these petals meant you fell in love with someone who didn’t return your feelings. Jaehyun.

You quickly got up and left the room while you continued coughing up those red petals. You didn’t want to wake Jaehyun up who still was lying next to you, sleeping in peace. He had no idea…

For some reason, this was confusing to you. It had been a week since you met him. Were you someone who fell in love so easily?

And this would mean that Johnny never lied to you about his feelings. You never had this disease ever before. That meant, Johnny loved you or… it meant that you never had true feelings for Johnny.

You didn’t know what you were feeling. Your emotions were too much for a moment that you stopped walking for a moment to calm yourself down and closed your eyes as you breathed in and out properly.

“Are those rose petals?”, someone asked you, it was a young woman. It was Jaehyun’s ex and also the girl you caught making out with Johnny. “You fell for Yoonoh, didn’t you?”

You raised your eyebrow for a second. Who was Yoonoh?”

“Oh, Jaehyun. His actual name is Yoonoh, though. He uses both names”, she told you, when she came closer to you. You immediately backed off, trying to get away from her. “Don’t worry about it.” She smiled lightly when she put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a few petals. It confused you when you finally realized what flower’s petals they were. Anemone, Johnny’s favorite flowers.

“But you were with…” – “Yes, I was with Yoonoh. I met Johnny through Yoonoh. Didn’t you know that they were close friends? Like, really close friends. I thought you’d knew as Johnny’s girlfriend.”

You knew that Johnny had a friend with the name Yoonoh, however, you didn’t know that Jaehyun’s actual name was Yoonoh.

“No… I didn’t know”, you murmured when you just started walking once again and just walked past the girl. You left Jungkook’s house without another word and started running home to the only person you could trust right now. Taeyong.

Your brother was still sleeping when you came back home. Due to the rush, you hadn’t checked what time it was, so when you checked it, you saw that it was only 8am. You knew that Taeyong would wake up in an hour so you decided not to bother him and went to your own room.

You didn’t feel sick – you didn’t even choke out any more petals since you left. Maybe it was that it would just happen if you’re close to Jaehyun.

Your body still was weak – you struggled to move your body and you assumed that the disease evolved faster for you than it was in Jaehyun’s ex’s case. When you finally were in your bed, trying to sleep, however, you couldn’t. You had so many questions; why Jaehyun didn’t tell you that he knew Youngho? Did he know that you two had broken up? Why did he hide these things from you?

Maybe it was also something Johnny had planned? You turned around and tried to get yourself to other thoughts, however it didn’t work out like you wanted. You still were totally lost in your questions and those made you go insane. You hadn’t even noticed that your brother woke up and saw you in your room over the half-opened door.

“You’re back? I thought you would spend the day with Jaehyun”, he asked you and you just sat up in your bed. You shrugged, Taeyong seemed to notice that something was off as he came into your room and sat down next to you. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know… everything is just so weird and I have so many questions, which is why I left”, you explained briefly.

“Do you want to talk about it?”, he asked you and you just shook your head.

“Can we talk about it tonight? Maybe go out for dinner? I don’t really feel like staying home today”, you asked him and felt immediately comfortable as your brother smiled softly to you.

“Sure. I’ll get you after work and we can go to some restaurant, maybe the one around the corner?”

“Sounds good”, you finally smiled at your brother and he quickly ruffled through your hair. Taeyong knew how much you hated that so he ran out of the room and could escape the room before your pillow hit him. You just heard him giggle when you finally laid down again and tried to sleep. This time, you fell asleep rather quickly and slept peacefully.

You only woke up when the ringing of your phone didn’t stop. You grabbed it from your nightstand and picked up with a groggy “what?”

“Finally! Goddamn it Y/N, I thought something happened to you”, it was Jaehyun and his upset voice immediately made you sit up.

“No, no, I’m perfectly fine but what happened?”, you asked him then.

“You just left without a word while I was sleeping? Jiyoo told me you left early in the morning and when I tried to call you, you didn’t pick up. I thought something happened to you”, his voice seemed a lot calmer than before.

“Sorry, I just had to leave. There was something with my brother but it’s nothing serious, don’t worry about it”, you lied to him and immediately felt bad for lying to the young man. However, you couldn’t let him know about what was happening to you.

“It’s alright. Do you have some time for dinner tonight? I want to take you out”, you could picture him softly smiling at you.

“Sorry, I already am going to dinner with my brother.” You quickly checked the time and saw that it was already past five pm, means Taeyong would come home in around ten minutes. “In fact, I have to get dressed and go out in a bit. Raincheck?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll call you tomorrow then, yeah?”

Saying your goodbyes, you breathed out shakily. You weren’t ready to meet up with Jaehyun, especially not after all the things you found out about him today. You weren’t sure whether you could trust him or not, so you decided to text Johnny for once and ask him a little about his friend Yoonoh.

Johnny didn’t reply, though. You had no idea what was going on or why he wasn’t answering, he usually replied quickly.

When Taeyong finally arrived at home, you quickly took your phone and bag and finally left the place to go to dinner where you would finally tell him about what was going on with you.

See, this was one thing you absolutely loved about Taeyong. You could always be so open with him, never had to keep secrets from him; he would always notice that something is off and he would immediately try to help you as much as he could.

“Okay, so… uhm, this is a bit hard to talk about”, you opened up the topic. You were slightly nervous to talk to him about this, but you knew that you had to talk about it. “I fell in love with someone else.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?”, Taeyong smiled at you, he was happy that you managed to come over Johnny this easy. When he saw your nervous expression, his smile also dropped. “Is something wrong with that?”

“Actually, yes, there is. Remember the stories grandma used to tell us. About people who fell in love with someone who didn’t love them back and who died because of the flower growing in their lungs”, when he nodded, you continued.

“He doesn’t love me back.”

Taeyong didn’t know what to say. Was his sister going to die now because of a guy who didn’t love her as much she loved him?

“I… did some research and I could get it removed with a surgery, but… then I wouldn’t be able to love anyone romantically at all and I don’t want that. So, either I need to tell Jaehyun about it and find out if he truly has feelings for me or… if I will die very soon. Taeyong, if I die because of the disease, I don’t want you to be sad. I could never handle you being sad because of me. I don’t want you to mourn after me, I just don’t deserve that”, you told him and it was breaking your heart to see your brother so close to cry but still holding himself not to.

“Will you promise me?”

Hearing these words hurt him. You didn’t want him to be sad and mourn after you, and the worst was that he knew, he was too weak to handle that.

“I promise”, Taeyong finally said. “I promise, I won’t cry.”

However, both of you knew exactly that he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise.

A few days passed. Today, you wanted to meet up with Jaehyun and talk to him about your situation. Your assumption that the disease was evolving quicker than in Jiyoo’s case came true as each day passed, you felt so much weaker than the previous day.

You were scared, but you knew that this had to be done. You didn’t know what result this conversation would give, but you knew that you had to go through this all. It wouldn’t be easy for you; you already had a small breakdown when you told Taeyong about all this.

Time didn’t seem like it was passing. Five minutes felt like five hours and you were so impatient for Jaehyun to finally pick you up.

When he finally called to let you know that he was waiting downstairs

You were scared, but you knew that this had to be done. You didn’t know what result this conversation would have, but you knew that you had to go through it. It wouldn’t be easy for you; you already had a small breakdown when you told Taeyong about it and now you would have to tell Jaehyun about it?

Time didn’t seem like it was passing. Five minutes felt like five hours and you were so impatient for Jaehyun to finally call you downstairs.

When that finally happened, you rushed downstairs, however, you had to stop walking when you started coughing again. You held your hand in front of your mouth just to see more rose petals when you looked at it.

You knew what you had to do.

“Are you feeling okay? You look like you’re sick. Are you sure that you’re feeling good enough to be here right now?”, he questioned you. You shook your head when you looked up, you looked so worn out and exhausted.

“I’m okay, Jae. I’ll be better soon”, you tried smiling at him but he seemed to notice that your smile was once again not reaching your eyes. It wasn’t a real smile and he knew that.

“Please, tell me if something is bothering you”, he asked you and you sighed, then nodded.

“Yes, there is actually something I have to talk to you about. It’s quite a lot so I understand if you don’t want to talk to me afterwards.” When he nodded and motioned you to continue talking.

“Do you know the story of hanahaki?” Once again, he nodded.

“I fell in love with someone… and this person doesn’t love me back. For the past week, I have been coughing up rose petals.” Hoping, he would take the hint and maybe understand that it was about him.

Jaehyun wasn’t stupid. He already understood when you brought up the topic that it had something to do with him.

“I already told Taeyong about this all and I have to know, Jaehyun. I just have to.”

He didn’t answer and just looked down on his hands. You felt like you knew what he was going to say.

Jaehyun didn’t return your feelings.

You were already aware of that. If he did, you wouldn’t be suffering because of the disease.

“I understand. I just have a few questions, Jaehyun. Or should I say Yoonoh?”

His eyes widened when he heard his actual name. How did you find out? Who told you? He knew that he hadn’t told you, he was sure he didn’t.

“How do you know about that?”, he asked you, gulping nervously. “Who told you?”

“Does that matter? It shouldn’t matter who the hell told me about your close friendship to Youngho or about your real name? More, I want you to answer whether Youngho asked you to spend time with me or not.”

“No! That definitely didn’t happen! I didn’t know Youngho was your ex until I saw that wallpaper on your phone!”, he exclaimed, his loud voice got the attention of a few other customers in the restaurant. “I’m sorry if you thought I did something like this to you. I didn’t. I really had no idea. Youngho kept his relationship a secret – even from me, his closest friend. I didn’t know he was dating until the day he called me where he told me that he was in deep shit about the whole thing with Ten.”

“So, you didn’t lie to me about that. Thank you, Jaehyun. I needed to have that clear, before… well, you know”, you lightly smiled when you got up. “That’s all I needed to know, Jaehyun. Thank you for being there for me at my lowest. I didn’t get to know you much, but you’re a good guy. I loved the times I spent with you. I truly hope you will find the right one for yourself. Goodbye, Jung Yoonoh.”

It took all your patience not to cry in front of him. When you understood what those petals meant, you didn’t even realize that you had feelings for the young man. However, now, you knew that you were head over heels for the boy.

Finally, you were outside where you finally let your tears roll down your cheeks. It was hard to breathe for a moment. You just told the guy you loved to find the right one for himself because you knew that you weren’t the one. It hurt you so much to admit it, but this made you feel so free and lighter.

You only had one person left to talk to.

“Thank you so much for coming here, Youngho”, you smiled lightly when Youngho sat down in front of you.

“Of course, that’s the least I can do for you after all I did to you”, he answered.

“Yeah, there were quite a few things you could have done differently. I… I asked you to come here because I had quite a few things I had to tell you and a few questions I needed to ask and clear before…”, you stopped talking for a moment and breathed in to calm yourself down before you started talking once again. “Do you know the hanahaki disease?”

Johnny seemed to understand already what you were on about. He sighed lightly and grabbed your hand. “I know what you’re talking about. Yoonoh already told me”, he admitted and you chuckled.

“Of course, he did. You two were close right? Funny, how he never mentioned that to me, or you”, you snickered and shook your head lightly. “I knew that your best friend’s name was Yoonoh but I didn’t know that he was Yoonoh. I was so disappointed when his ex-girlfriend told me his actual name. Anyway, I just… I just thought I’d meet everyone that meant a lot to me and let them know before… you know.”

It was hard for you to say those words. You were still so young. Now, exactly what your grandmother had warned you about would be the reason for your death. You would leave so many people behind who meant a lot to you.

It hurt you to know that you would leave so many people behind who cared for you. Only because you fell in love with a guy who didn’t care about you as much as you did about him.

“We spent a long time together, Johnny. Even though you did hurt me and I thought I could never forgive you for that, I am. I am forgiving you because I understand your reasons and why you hid all these things from me”, you smiled and quickly wiped your tears away as they rolled down your cheeks.

“Hey, love, don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. I know, this is hard, but at the end, all of us will reach this day. For you, it was just a little too early”, Johnny tried to calm you down.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you all behind just because of my dumb feelings.”

Johnny didn’t say anything more before he got up and took your hand. He pulled you up and escorted you out of the restaurant. “Let’s go somewhere calmer”, he suggested to which you nodded. You didn’t know where he would bring you to.

He didn’t drive fast, however, it was a long way there. When he finally stopped the car, you understood where you were. The same spot Jaehyun had brought you to and where Johnny.

“What a great choice, John”, you laughed lightly and took his hand once again. “I even wanted to ask you to bring me here once more but seems like you thought ahead as usual.”

“Of course, that’s usual for me, you know that, babe”, he grinned and slowly, you two walked there.

While you sat on the cold stones, none of you talked. You just leaned on his shoulder, watching the sun slowly going down. This reminded you of how you had found comfort on Jaehyun’s shoulder a few weeks ago after you had broken up with Johnny. Back then, you hadn’t thought you would come back to this same spot with the same man who had your heart broken.

“I want to ask you for something, John”, you looked up to him and the way your eyes were still a little teary made Johnny feel so disappointed in himself. Maybe if it wasn’t for his mistakes, none of this would be happening.

“Can we pretend like everything was before everything went down? Only for tomorrow and only if your want to, of course. I don’t want to force-“

“Yes. Sure, we can do that”, he smiled and softly pressed a kiss on your forehead. “We can absolutely do that.”

That night, you spent with Johnny. You two were in his bed, he was holding you in his arms when you two were trying to sleep. However, none of you managed to fall asleep, both of you just stared somewhere else. The atmosphere was quite awkward, you hadn’t done this with Johnny for a while now, however, you tried to ignore it as much as possible.

Being here with Johnny also made you feel comfortable. You were very calm and even your coughing wasn’t as crazy as it was whenever you were alone or with Jaehyun.

This would’ve been the perfect moment for you to finally let go.

However, you didn’t want to, yet. You just weren’t ready for it.

“Try to sleep, love. We’ll go outside early in the morning, yeah?”, Johnny asked you and you nodded slightly, before you closed your eyes and finally fell asleep calmly.

The first place Johnny took you to, was a small café out of town where you two often went to while you were still together. The breakfast you ate there was good and Johnny managed to make you laugh so often. It was like everything was like before and it was so great for you that you managed to forget about your pain for a while.

Of course, everything good went downhill after a while. You started coughing up more petals and Johnny quickly escorted you out of the café and yelled that he would come back in a second to pay. “Hey, calm down, it’s going to be fine, love”, he softly rubbed over your back while he was talking sweet nothings so your coughing would stop.

When it finally got better, he made you sit down on a bench and quickly went back to the café to pay for the food. You tried to breathe properly and when Johnny was back, he sat down next to you. “Are you better now?”, he asked but you shook your head.

“It never will be better from now on, Johnny. Never. Everything will go down and down until I just can’t breathe anymore. It hurts so much and it’s not just the physical pain”, some tears started rolling down and you didn’t have the nerves to speak anymore. “Everything will get worse and worse until my body can’t take it anymore.”

Johnny didn’t want to pressure you and took you back home to your place with Taeyong. “Are you sure, you want to be alone until he comes home?”, he asked you, making sure that you’ll be fine. After your little breakdown at the café, he decided to bring you home so you could rest a little. However, he didn’t expect you to ask him to leave.

“Yes, I’m sure. He’ll be home in like three hours anyway, I’ll be fine, Johnny”, you told him while you took off your clothes in your room to change into more comfortable things. Although he had seen you barely clothed very often, he insisted himself to stay outside.

“Alright, I ordered something for you to eat, I’ll get going then, yeah?”, Johnny yelled and a few seconds later, you could hear the door closing and the soft beeps of the door locking.

Johnny really had been a great boyfriend. He always had been sweet, caring, until a bit before you two started spending less time together. Then, you had seen the video of him, where he said that he wasn’t serious about the whole relationship.

Except that, he was the best boyfriend someone could wish for.

Now that both of you were still on good terms and moved on, it was nice to spend time with someone that meant a lot to you before. He still meant a lot to you; however, it wasn’t the same as it used to be.

You decided to watch an episode of your current drama until the food arrived and you could finally eat something. However, your whole body felt so weak, so you had struggles to get up and open up the door when the delivery rang your bell. When you finally managed to get to the door, you took the food Johnny had ordered for you. The guy said it was already paid and left with a simple goodbye.

You slowly moved toward the kitchen and sat down, when you suddenly had problems to breathe. The pain in your chest was making it hard for you to calm down and you sank down to your knees as everything started to get blurry.

Then, it all went black.

Jaehyun was just getting inside of his small studio apartment when he felt a stinging pain in his chest. He groaned in pain as he didn’t understand what was going on – the pain just started without a reason. When the coughing started, it was weird.

As he looked on his hand, he saw the dark, dead petals of roses, remembering the stories his mother told him about the dead petals someone coughs out.

The person who’s love was unrequited didn’t survive.

Jaehyun didn’t know what to do when he understood what happened. Soon, someone knocked on his door and Jaehyun opened it. It was Taeyong.

“I assume, you know what happened?”, Taeyong asked the young man with tears in his eyes. When Jaehyun nodded, the older man handed him an envelope. “It’s for you. She left it for me to give it to you if something would happen.”

Only thirty minutes later, Jaehyun was feeling better so he finally opened up the envelope. The paper inside of it was small and didn’t have a lot of text on it.

When I leave, please don’t blame yourself or anything. Maybe you didn’t have the same feelings as I did for you, but please, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault, not at all. It’s simply mine for letting you into my heart so easily.

- Y/N

main taglist ;; @wownajaemin @n8dlesoupguk @winniet @loviehyuck

other tags ;; @jaehyvnsvalentine

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jae-canikeepyou · 5 years

Text

| marked | j.jh | ch. two

genre: superpower!au a/n: here’s ch two y’all. enjoy reading! :3

the brightness of the lights somehow blinded you even at closed eyes. you were aware that you were indoors, but where exactly? it was funny how they didn’t touch your headphones, they just left it on you. after all, your state slowly entered the conscious, you knew you were placed upright. the tightness of whatever was holding from the torso below meant that you were.. bedridden? you assumed straps or belts held you from moving. and it actually was. you struggled as you tried to escape. your body automatically stopped when the doorknob turned.

“don’t you think it’s harsh on her?”

“i do believe that. we did save her. it’s kinda sad to think that these are the orders from capt.” a sigh left the lips.

“poor girl. she’s innocent, yet she’s being held down.”

“she may look like one, but her category says otherwise.”

ca- category?.. first i’m told i’m different and now i’m being categorised? how messed up can the world get?

they saw you flinched at their words, telling that you were awake. your mouth tried to find words to speak, to no avail none came out. were you afraid to talk? or were you afraid of what you might do to them just as what you did in the years back? although your eyes were still closed, tears began to fall down your cheeks and stained the pillow wet. sniffs turned into deep breaths and that turned into a wail.

“hey she’s crying?”

you were practically close to screaming until the bed you laid on began to shake vigorously. the weak self you were before you passed out became a total different person. the straps ripped apart, making you open your eyes to glance the four people you probably last saw. they were three boys and a girl of your age. you didn’t care at that moment but you knew you had to tell them to get out, now.

“get out..” you finally spoke, revealing the voice of pain. gazes glued on you couldn’t follow. “i said get out before it triggers!” the looks on their faces knew something was up. each of them pushed themselves to exit, obviously experiencing this for the first time. they knew you were different after all, as the device had discovered.

the systems attached to your flesh fell off and the light flickered non stop. the ground didn’t shake, yet it brought fear to those who witnessed it. the glass opposite from you didn’t shatter. the four behind it watched as your body released dark light across the room, then slowly disappearing, along with your hoarse voice.

“that was what she meant by trigger?” seokmin raised his brows.

“not sure. let’s go in.” mina went out of the observation room and into yours. she opened the door as the others followed her. she noticed how nothing had changed since you had asked them to leave. “are you alright?”

eunwoo nudged the girl, fearing it might be a sensitive question. as he scanned the room, the fish in the tank by the window floated to the surface of the water. lifeless.

“it’s an oblivion?” he whispered under his breath, yet it was loud enough for the other three to hear. they followed where eunwoo was looking and bunch of gasps and profanities escaped their mouths.

you stared into nothingness, not caring about what you’ve done. a blank expression. sure you grew tired of it because countless of souls were victims of your curse. “glad i got you lot out in time.. at least..four can ease my guilt of taking hundreds others..” you chuckled and yet tears formed at the corner of your eyes. hiccups covered by your bruised hand only caught their attention. it was enough said to explain your back story.

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the trays of finished food stacked on your side built up since you arrived. the four stared at you like you have never eaten your entire life.

“she’s pretty but this is a slightly turn-off.” mingyu unknowingly stated softly, earning a punch from the other three. they didn’t want you to hear it. “ah i spoke my mind again.”

“no worries. this turn-off can forgive quite easily.” you munched on your food without looking at them.

“really?!” mingyu smiled that his tiny fangs showed.

“can’t you tell she was being sarcastic, mingyu?” mina facepalmed at the boy’s idiocy. “i’m sorry he’s being a fool. us here don’t even know why we became friends in the first place.”

eunwoo noticed how you were a bit livelier than earlier. “right. y/n. i’m sorry too but we haven’t properly introduce ourselves. my name’s-“

“you’re eunwoo. the girl next to you is mina and the one beside her is seokmin. the kid who’s still smiling like a fool is mingyu.” you said so swiftly that you continued to eat.

seokmin scratched the nape of his neck. “uhm, you haven’t even looked at us yet but know our names already. how?”

“i have. only once though.” you finally looked at them as you wiped the leftover rice stuck onto your face.

the rest of them tilted their heads, not sure whether to be amused or stranged out at your behaviour.

probably one of the absolute’s traits right?

you saw mina talking to seokmin with their eyes.

“i’m glad that you’re finally speaking.” eunwoo rested his hands on your shoulder. “now that you’ve eaten, we’ll take you to meet the rest.”

the rest? you didn’t know what he meant by that.

it was not long until you realized you were dressed in a gown that you’ve only seen in hospitals. your chest began to tighten, not liking the feeling and whatever was going to happen. “i need to use the toilet.” you voiced out, rushing to the door.

“hey but you don’t know where it is!” mingyu yelled, only to be responded with a slam of the door.

you knew you had to get out of there. the aura of the place seemed strange since you stepped out of the room. the tiled floor gave you a shock when you began to run down the corridor, like you knew where to go. footsteps were gaining from behind as they echoed to your ears. this couldn’t be a hospital, you thought. the last time you’ve ever been into one, left you a bad memory. a place that was supposed to be for safe haven became a place of seclusion and experiments.

you ran as the beats of the music played matched the steps and the situation you were currently in. where did your other stuff go? all you had were your headphones and this gown they changed you into, and you knew you had to look for them. the view at the end of the corridor had an opened door, which made it easier for you to escape.

or so you thought.

it revealed a huge hall with long tables and chairs, seated with people of your age, younger and older. they were having their feast. “stop her!” mina warned. “don’t let her get out!”

the people’s eyes were on you almost immdiately. they were like ants that somehow got into your path, the people who sat earlier swarmed over to block your way. what happened next shocked you: some had their hands brought forth with light emitted on their palms. some in a fighting stance of elemental features on their soles, while some flew above. they tried to use offence until a clap of three times made all of them stop in their tracks.

“i wouldn’t want to do that to her if i were you. all of you combined wouldn’t stand a chance against her.” his voice that seemed like honey that a hint of bitterness yet it showed his stern. the rest of them retracted from doing anything further. you put your headphones around your neck, noticing how the others had stopped in their place. soon they returned to their seats and listened to the man. “ah you must be y/n. crew 097 did a great job saving you out there.”

you turned around to see a silhouette, going down the stairs by the stoned wall. the upper balcony lights slowly revealing to be a young man in his mid twenties.

“saved? if this is called saving why am i locked in the room?” you looked at the young man, giving him a chuckle of disbelief.

“that is how we treat new victims from the outside, though it’ll only be for a night. you’ll be heading to your unit tomorrow.” he said, his hands gesturing in the air. the silence of the hall deafening you and his voice ticked you off.

“i don’t intend to stay in this wretched premises.” you scoffed and rubbed your nose in irritation.

“you barely stayed an hour and there’s nothing you could do about that. you’re one of us. except, a little different since you’re an absolute.”

they again mentioned ‘absolute’. that term mina and seokmin referred you was still unclear.

whispers became louder when he said that terminology. you looked at the people around you, mixed stares of curiosity and fear written in their faces. the man gave a slight smile. “but, if you really want to leave that is okay.” he said as he gestured the door up front.

“i appreciate your understanding.” you looked at him. before he spoke, you already knew what he was about to say. your face darkened. “still, you wouldn’t let me leave because you have a condition.”

“i’m sure you know the answer, y/n. how about telling it to everyone here?” he walked to you.

a sigh of exhaustion left your mouth, your tongue clicked, mentally facepalmed of the thought you saw in him.

sigh.. he wanted you to challenge him to a duel.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the crowd of people circled around the both of you, that they considered it as entertainment. “no powers, physical would do.” the man rolled up the cuffs of his shirt until it reached his elbows.

“powers my butt.” you hissed so low that the spectators assumed you prayed for a safe battle. “i don’t have any power except this unexplainable curse.” you placed your headphones back to your ears, the voices of others soon died down.

“i’m kinda worried about this.” eunha covered her eyes.

“just wait and see. you’ll be impressed, i think.” eunwoo assured the girl, though he worried himself too.

“she wore her headphones for goodness’ sake!” eunha gestured. “how can you concentrate with those?”

the duel began when he walked towards you, he brought forth his wrists in great force to give you several punches along with kicks. you avoided them, like you knew when his next moves were; by this you dodged every attempted hit that he wished they’d land on your flesh. the alternate throws from the both you caused the crowd to switch attention.

however to their dismay you were faster than they thought. you saw through his plan on offence that you instead responded in defence, blocking his wrists and legs. not a single bruise or cut or scar touched your skin. you saw his thoughts and figured he was going for the uppercut then pinning you down next. that was when you decided to go for the offence. as you avoided the hits, you got the chance to elbow wrap his right arm. it caused him to bend down, announced his defeat in the duel.

applause soon filled the hall, whistles high pitched. the man later revealed his name to be gongchan. he shook your hand to call it even. he then gave a quick pat on your head. he soon left the hall, slightly stretching his arm to sooth the pain. his silouhette vanishing at the hall horizon. he raised his hands, but you read him. you can leave since you won, but where else would you go other than here? no one would take you in. your choice y/n.

you bit your lips, contemplating whether to stay or not. his words had a point. you seemed they accepted you for who you were; who you really were. maybe you would sta-

you took hold of the arm that aimed the back of your head. mingyu whined at the strength of your small palms, continuously tapping your hands. “okay okay release me!” he then ruffled your hair, slightly excited of what he saw. “man you saw through me. y’know, gongchan never challenged anyone.” he rubbed his arm. “anyone.. except for one person.”

mina ran to you, she clung onto your arm as if you were already friends. “you’re one of the two challengers. seeing who you are now, i think it’s right to think you’re like him!”

“who now?” you raised your brow.

“he was the only one here in the core.” eunwoo gestured you to follow him.

the core was what the people living in the premises was called. gongchan named it after the location of the premises— at the centre of the isolated snow island.

“not anymore though, since you’re already here.” seokmin trailed from behind.

“we’ll introduce you to him when we see him.”

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the feeling of fresh clothes and fabric wrapped your skin, quickly adjusting to the warmth. you checked yourself at the mirror for the last time before heading out. the core said that it was best to share rooms with mina since she did encounter you first. the sincerity she showed was more than enough. she lent you some of her old clothes and those she hasn’t worn in ages.

“y’know you’re actually nice.” you complimented her.

“thank you y/n. i had a feeling we’d be friends for a long time.” she tossed you one of her scarves that matched your headphones. her lips quivered to ask but decided not to do it anyway.

“you don’t have to feel pity towards me.” you wore the scarf, soon laying on your bed. “i’ve been like this since i was twelve.”

“how did you know what i was going to say?” she gasped as she walked towards you. “it’s like you can hear my thoughts. that’s crazy.”

you sighed like it was new to you. “rather than ‘hearing’, i could see them.” this made mina furrowed her brows, trying to understand where you were going to.

“i can see what you’re thinking. your thoughts appear as pictures to me. just now you thought i was poor, someone who probably lost their way. someone who was abandoned.” you paused for a while, the clock ticking was the only thing heard across the room. “well you got the latter right.”

“i’m so sorry.” she sat at the corner of your bed. “must be hard on you because you’re an absolute.”

“i got through it in ten years. i don’t see why it’s pitiful.” you rubbed your temples. “and stop with the ‘absolute’ thing. as much as i don’t want to repeat it myself, i’m not one of you.”

“look y/n. someone who is an absolute is so rare. they’re unique. and as far as i’m concerned, they’re the most powerful. that’s you.” she grabbed your hands and said it like it was some kind of fairytale.

a blank expression plastered on your face, clearly not wanting to have this conversation again. “powerful, huh? you’re saying i have powers? how do you know? what does an absolute do?”

mina giggles at you when you bombarded her with questions. “y/n, we didn’t get our powers for no reason. we get them when we experience a near-death situation. the core has a system where we’re categorised based on the powers we have. gongchan recently developed a device to detect what we possess.”

“if you say so, i don’t remember being in a situation where i nearly died.” you hugged your pillow.

she explained how she got hers. her house burned into ashes one spring morning. she was playing near the electronic fireplace when it malfunctioned, creating scars onto her skin. she mentioned how most kids in the core were either abandoned or orphaned. in worse cases, their loved ones chose to forget who they were. “hey. you’ll be safe here, y/n. trust me on this one.” she headed for bed and switched off the lights where the room slowly dimmed into darkness, leaving you and your thoughts still.. wide awake.

you looked at your hands as you wondered what you done earlier in the duel. they call it a superpower when you grew up thinking that the voices in your head were your own; when it was actually other’s. you saw their thoughts, their attempts, even if they did not speak it out. you saw it through. there was one thing mina did not answer at all— what does an absolute do? why did the people you encountered or stayed with lose their lives when you were around?

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| marked — chapter two: powers |

#nct 127 #nct #jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #nct jaehyun #jaehyun #jaehyun nct #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun marked series

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