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blessedwithabadomen · 2 months

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in love with the mess - day ten

summary : Aubrey is going on tour and, for once, she's decided to focus on having as much fun as possible. Oli can be a little shit but he does nothing short of adore Audrey and... well, maybe Noah a little, too. Noah likes the flirting, as long as no one gets too close, emotionally. But what will happen when the three of them take it too far?

content : smut (p in v, dirty talk, oral (f and m receiving), hints at anal play), angst, fluff

length : 10k

tags (let me know if you want to be tagged!) : @veronicaphoenix @cookiesupplier @lma1986 @jilliemiw86 @bngurngheart @lacktoesandtoddlerants @narcissisticbehavior81 @flowery-mess @shilohrosechicken @justeli6 @starvingarsyn @floatinglikeaswan @blacksoul-27 @somebodyels3 @kageyasma @spikeisdaddy @broken0mens

a/n : Hope you enjoy this one!! Comments and reblogs keep the writer writing 💕

•••

day ten

I was getting tired of unexpected knocks on my hotel room door. Especially when it was much too early and I was already rushing to get ready after something had prevented me from properly packing my suitcase last night. Now I had mere minutes until I needed to be downstairs with the rest of the crew and the band because Bring Me had an awfully early bus call to get to Sheffield. I couldn’t blame them for that - it was home, after all. Most of them were using the day off to visit friends and family, but Oli and, as far as I knew Matt too, were heading for the store for the day.

I ripped the door open as much as I could under the weight to find none other than Oli himself standing in the hallway, an amused smirk on his face.

“I don’t know how well you slept last night, but this hotel really has to work on soundproofing their walls,” he chuckled, letting himself in just past the doorway as I stood frozen. “‘Cause I was definitely wide awake hearing two people have the fuck of their lives. Like, holy shit, staying quiet definitely wasn’t part of their vocabulary at all. Did you hear them at all?”

“I…”

“Not gonna lie, it sounded pretty hot, I was almost a little tempted to, you know.”

He raised his eyebrows at me as he motioned toward his crotch.

“Oli-”

“Did you really not hear anything?”

The bathroom door opened so abruptly I almost jumped at the sound. Noah had freshened up but was still very much in yesterday’s clothes and extremely sleepy. I could basically see the gears turning in Oli’s head as he looked back and forth between us.

“That was you! Oh you dirty, dirty kids,” he laughed. Noah looked thoroughly confused, still standing in the doorway of the bathroom. Oli gave another chuckle, but something was amiss. I’d known him for years. I knew Oli’s teasing face, the way he sounded, the way his eyes crinkled in earnest. This wasn’t it. And it kept me silent, somehow.

“Well, bus call’s soon, so no time for a second round, eh?” His voice didn’t match his words. I couldn’t quite figure it out just yet, but it made me feel uncomfortable and awkward. Noah seemed to think the same as he stayed suspiciously silent, toying with the hem of his shirt.

“Yeah, no, I’ll… I’ll catch you downstairs, yeah?” I finally managed to vomit out. Oli simply nodded, raised his hand in what I assumed should be a form of goodbye and then vanished back into the hallway.

It was only when the door clicked back into its lock that Noah moved next to me. Grabbing whatever he had left in the room - he briefly paused as he saw the bottle of Hennessey, but ultimately decided not to touch it - he got ready as if his bus call was imminent.

“I keep fucking up,” he said, more to himself than anything else as he moved past me to put on his shoes.

“Noah, you’re-”

“No, I am. It’s- it’s fine, I just need to-”

My hand on his arm stopped him just before he reached the door. He looked so conflicted, so torn, that it broke my heart along with his. I wanted to tell him it was going to be okay, that we could be okay, that Oli would be okay, but even in my head it sounded like a lie. I couldn’t promise him something like that. All I could do was allow myself to be his for the taking if he ever decided to, well, take me on.

I pulled him down with a hand on his neck and put my lips on it and I hoped it would tell him everything I couldn’t say.

•••

Oli wasn’t waiting for me when I arrived downstairs. He wasn’t in the parking lot either. Or downstairs in the bus, or in the lounge. But the curtain of his bunk was pulled tightly shut and it worried me beyond belief. I wasn’t quite sure what exactly had caused him to withdraw, but my brain was providing me with a multitude of options, spinning through all of them at lighting speed as if it could make me decide on one of them, and it made me dizzy.

Especially because simply pulling away was so out of character for him. I’d expected him to make a fuss, pick a fight, get mean, argue with either me or Noah or both of us at such a volume that the rest of the hotel voluntarily evacuated, but none of that had happened. Not even a tiny remark shot our way. Not a single item thrown around the bus in frustration.

Either way, I was just so over not communicating.

Aubrey u up?

I was almost shaking waiting for his reply. It seemed silly, texting him the very thing he’d texted me that first night before the tour had really started, but I hoped he would recognise it and not consider my joking offensive when he was dealing with… something. When my phone displayed a new message, I almost threw it away in surprise, as if I’d been expecting radio silence.

Oli Is this a bootycall?

So - he didn’t hate me. And he remembered. It was a relief, really. With a slight smile playing on my face, I walked back towards his bunk and pulled the curtain back. He didn’t noticeably react, simply kept lying with his back turned to me. He did, however, shuffle forward just the tiniest bit and I took it as an invitation to climb in and shut the curtain behind me.

It was a tight fit, both of us in his bunk, especially since Oli had gotten noticeably more buff than the last time we’d done this on a tour, but with a bit of rearranging and me spooning him closely, we made it work. I placed my hand over his heart, feeling it beat underneath my fingertips, so fast it was almost concerning.

“Hey,” I whispered, quietly, as if anyone else could overhear us, as if it would matter if they did. Oli didn’t answer in words, but put his hand over mine, stroking the skin delicately. “Talk to me.”

“Don’t wanna,” he mumbled, like a stubborn little child. I couldn’t see his face, but I imagined him to be pouting as he spoke. Was this better than the explosions we usually faced when he got mad? I decided yes.

“Oli,” I replied, hoping his name in my mouth would sound vaguely scolding. “We talked about that. Communication and all that? Come on. I can’t bear it when you withdraw like this.”

He sighed so heavily it moved my body along with his.

“It’s embarrassing though.”

“And you can blush all you like, but you’re going to tell me. I’m not even looking at you. It literally won’t get better than this. And I won’t let you off the hook any time soon, I hope you know that.”

He grumbled for a little bit longer but I sat it out, knowing he’d come around sooner or later. The sooner was reached a lot more quickly than expected. I had been well prepared to spend most of the drive to Sheffield here, in silence, just holding him and waiting it out.

“It’s stupid, really, but seeing you with Noah this morning, knowing what you’d done…” He took a deep breath. I didn’t interrupt him even though the thoughts were already running through my head at high speed again. “I don’t mind that you fucked, you know. It just feels like… like he got something from you before I did and… it makes me feel like a leftover. Like the two of you don’t need me.”

I desperately tried to wrap my mind around what Oli was telling me. He was jealous that Noah got to have me first? That I’d decided - although it wasn’t much of a planned decision, but he couldn’t know that - to sleep with him before I considered Oli? That maybe I desired the other man more? Wanted him closer, in a more intimate setting, than Oli?

“And I know we’ve, like, done stuff before, all of us,” he continued. It seemed like now that he’d started, he barely managed to stop. “But I don’t just sleep with anyone and, fuck, this sounds so stupid, but I thought it might be special, sleeping with you for the first time, sleeping with both of you, and now I feel like I’m not really part of it anymore…”

He wasn’t just thinking about Noah being the first one to sleep with me. He was also thinking about me being the first one to sleep with Noah. I gave myself some time to think during the moments he stayed quiet. How would I have felt if they’d gotten together first? Leaving me as the odd one out, the one that hadn’t been present when they shared this new level of intimacy.

I probably would have felt rejected too.

“If it helps at all, neither of us planned to have sex last night,” I explained. “It was very much a spur of the moment thing after he crashed at mine because he’d been drinking. I think… I think I would have preferred it with you around as well.”

I hadn’t realised it until the words left my mouth, but it was true. Sleeping with Noah had been amazing - but if we’d shared that experience as a threesome, all sober and fully awake, it would have been phenomenal. I had no doubt about that.

“And you’re not second best. Not at all. You and Noah… I have so much love for both of you, in such different and such similar ways all at once. I could never prefer him over you, just like I could never prefer you over him. I’m sorry that it happened like this and that you had to find out like that.”

I didn’t know what else to say. How else to make him understand. I couldn’t take back what had happened. I couldn’t magically turn back time and turn Noah down, or make Oli appear in the room too. I could only try to make up for it moving forward. And I planned to.

“Dinner’s still on tonight, right? The three of us?”

Oli nodded. I wouldn’t have noticed if we’d not been so close. I pressed a kiss into his dark locks.

“We’ll make it up to you. Noah and I. Promise. Will you let us?”

It took a moment of Oli struggling for me to realise he was attempting to turn around. I almost slid off the edge, already imagining myself falling to the floor in the little walkway between bunks, but Oli quickly shifted and put an arm around me in the most complicated way to keep me safe. There was a lot more shuffling, trying to keep our limbs intact and our hair from getting caught up somewhere, until we settled on a final position, our legs intertwined, foreheads pressed against each other.

“As if I could ever resist you, Aubrey. You and Noah, both.”

•••

As it turned out, I didn’t have all that much to do when I travelled to the store with Oli and Mat. Most of the organisational matters had been taken care of by the local workers, those in charge of Drop Dead and everything around it, and I was barely much more than a glorified babysitter as I ushered Oli back and forth to where he was needed.

At least his mood had improved considerably. I hoped I had played some sort of part in it. When he talked to the people around him, waved to a couple of fans, studied the designs he’d helped with, I knew it wasn’t a facade. He was truly happy here, and I caught myself thinking that maybe he could be truly happy with me and Noah, too.

“I don’t really know how long this will take, but it might be a while, so if you want to leave, I don’t know, walk through the city, get a nap, you really don’t have to stay here,” Oli told me when I managed to catch up with him. I knew he meant it. He wasn’t one for playing games like that. “I can text you and Noah the address of the place I reserved at, and the time. How’s that sound?”

I agreed, not because I was bored but because I felt wholly unneeded and kept standing in the way. The question of what I was going to do with my time was answered much quicker than expected as I ran into Becky on the way out.

“You know, I think we get a discount on this stuff. And if not I’ll make Oli give you one,” I grinned as I watched her flip through some of the shirts.

“Thank god, because this shit is expensive,” she replied, immediately letting go of the fabric in ther hands. “What do you say we go for an equally as overpriced coffee instead?”

“I do love me a good dose of caffeine,” I admitted.

Becky held out her arm for me to take it and I complied with a giggle, leaving the store with her and wandering the streets, making small talk as we tried to find a coffee shop to our liking. When we finally located one, ordered and sat down, I felt all the exhaustion I’d been carrying with me take over. I sank deeper into the comfortable armchair, wondering if it’d be inappropriate to get in a little cat nap.

“Looks like Oli is keeping you up. Or was that Noah?”

I briefly panicked, wondering if, somehow, word had gotten around that I’d slept with Noah.

“You’re hanging out with both of them a lot. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted trying to keep my one man at home happy, never mind two. And those two out of everyone! You truly picked the most exhausting ones to be friends with.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping it wasn’t too visible and took a quick sip of coffee to hide my embarrassment.

“Yeah, they're… a handful. But I doubt it's much better for them, I'm sure I can be just as exhausting,” I laughed. “So you got a man at home, hm? Is he gonna visit on tour or has he already and I've simply missed him?”

“Oh no, he's going to be around in Dublin. It's where we live, actually. Got abducted to the other isle by an Irishman. In my defence though, he looks like Hozier's younger brother and he's just as tall, so really, how could I have resisted!”

“Tall men, eh,” I agreed, moving my cup to cheers with hers.

“Tall men, indeed.”

We stayed quiet for a moment, both of us lost in thoughts, but I wasn't a fan of the silence for long.

“Are you looking forward to going home then? We only have four more dates left, right?”

“So much. Unfortunately it's not for long. I'm leaving again on the 26th for the Bad Omens tour.”

“You’re heading on their tour with them?” This was news to me. I was well aware Bad Omens were still going to be in Europe for a while and I had absolutely been staring at those tour dates as they were selling out one by one, tempted to make a trip somewhere to see them headline, but with no work lined up it was impossible to plan. The fact that Becky had been hired by them hadn’t been relayed to me.

“Yeah, apparently they were looking for someone local and Bring Me suggested me since I’d already worked a few shows with them before. No rest for the wicked, eh!”

“No rest indeed,” I sighed. I wished I wouldn’t be getting any rest either. Maybe I should beg someone for a merch job on that tour. They probably had all their positions filled, but I was getting desperate at this point. Being away would also give me some time to find a new place to live. But did I have the guts to straight up beg for it, knownig I’d probably only get it because they took pity on me and not because they really needed me?

“So, you’re basically in a long-distance relationship then, with you being away so much, aren’t you?”

Becky exhaled into her cup of coffee. “We make it work, you know? It was tough in the beginning. He has a very steady, reliable, boring day job and I’m just all over the continent but we’ve accepted that about each other. We check in and I usually video call him in the evening. And, well you can get creative with what you do on video, too.”

I almost spewed out the coffee at her remark, knowing fully well by the tone in her voice what she was referring to. The wiggling eyebrows sealed the deal.

“Sorry,” she giggled. “Couldn’t help myself.”

“By all means, I’m glad you’re having a good sex life still.”

I put the cup back on the table. I wasn’t sure how long it had been empty for, but I knew I’d been holding onto it for no obvious reason.

“Did he ever mind? Knowing that being with you would mean being away from you for a long time?” I paused for a moment, suddenly feeling self-conscious about my questions. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that, I’m just sitting here interrogating you like you’re on trial.”

“Oh, don’t worry about, darling. Ask all you want. For us, it was never a question, really. What can I say? We fell hard and fast. I could have moved to Australia and he would have made it work.”

I didn’t know why I felt like crying. I tried to hide the tears that were on the edge of emerging by organising the items on the little table in front of us until they had straightened out and seemed in order. Maybe that was more suspicious than me getting emotional.

“So, it’s all about love, isn’t it,” I said, trying hard not to sniffle. “As long as you love them enough, you make it happen.”

I only looked up when Becky put her hand over mine. Her eyes were soft, but there was no pity in them and I silently thanked her for it.

“Sometimes you have to realise just how in love you are first. Or allow yourself to admit it.”

•••

By pure luck and what I could only call a miracle, I bumped into Noah in the hallway of the hotel, on the way back to my room. He stopped immediately, and then let me into his room, assuring me it was empty for now, when he realised I didn’t want to have this conversation where we could possibly be overheard.

“Aubrey, I’m sorry,” he started but I held my hand up to stop him before he got any farther.

“I know. I know you are. I don’t know what kind of stuff you need to figure out for yourself, but I’m giving you the time to do it, okay? You’re always welcome in my room and, well, in my bed and just about everywhere else and if there’s things you want to discuss, I’ll make time for you. I’m just asking you not to keep going back and forth and changing your opinion and treating me like someone you’re dating as long as you’re not. Dating me that is. Alright?”

I took a deep breath, holding my head up high. Somewhere in the edges of my brain, I could almost hear Lia cheering me on, congratulating me for speaking my mind and putting up boundaries. I knew it was the right thing to do. For myself, for once.

“Alright,” he simply said. He deserved a little more space to think over what I’d just told him. I hoped he would.

“Well, in completely contrasting news, I hope you know we’re going out for dinner with Oli tonight?”

Noah nodded.

“Good. Because we’re going to treat him right, okay? He’s been… well, he feels a little left out of whatever the three of us have going on and that’s not happening on my watch. So we’re going to be real good to him tonight, whatever that entails and wherever we end up with. Anything to let him know he’s just as important and cherished. Is that something you can do?”

“Yeah… yeah, I think I can.”

“Good.” I gave him a smile, feeling the energy leave me as I finally got everything out I had come here to say. “Put on something nice. Apparently it’s a place that needed a reservation.” I walked a little closer, putting my hand on his chest. “I think we’d all enjoy the turtleneck a lot.”

•••

Oli and Noah looked positively divine when we met up at the restaurant later that night. Noah was every bit as gorgeous as I had hoped he’d be in the turtleneck. Even Oli gave him an appreciative whistle as he saw him, which once again caused Noah to sport a lovely little blush. Oli himself was wearing a white shirt that accentuated his broad shoulders and had entirely too few buttons opened. I briefly considered ignoring our dinner reservation as just taking them back to the hotel immediately and by the way the two of them were mustering me, those thoughts seemed to be mutual.

I’d made an effort. My black dress, thin, with lace and spaghetti straps, had an asymmetrical cut, showing off much more of my right thigh than my left. It was a shame I couldn’t wear it without tights, but the January cold simply wasn’t allowing it. The heels were the only ones I could walk in confidently, with a wide block heel, velvety and sexy. Both men still towered over me.

I’d also put on my dark red lipstick, at Oli’s request. The one that would smudge if touched. It might make dinner a little more complicated, but that was a challenge I was willing to accept.

Luckily, the place didn’t turn out to be too fancy, I realised as a waiter showed us to our seats, Oli’s hand on the small of my back and his other resting on Noah’s arm. Oli hadn’t needed a reservation because it was so impossibly packed during a random Thursday in January. He had needed one because he had asked for a very special table.

The waiter led us to a little platform on which sat what I could only describe as a bird-cage-esque structure, a hexagon of lightly coloured, wooden walls, two of them completely open and leading in and out of the main restaurant area, the other four adorned with a grid of windows. It seemed like there was a spotlight on it, right in the middle of the room, but as soon as I stepped inside and took my seat, I realised it also came with a lot of privacy. It was perfect.

“Bottle of wine?” Oli asked as we flipped through the drinks menu.

I looked over at Noah, but even before he could have seen me stare, he shook his head. “None for me today. I’s rather be sober.”

I wanted to tell him thank you and I know why but either would have opened up questions about what had happened the last two nights, things Oli wasn’t in the loop about, and it didn’t feel like my place to tell. Either way, Oli accepted quickly, ordering some water and and mocktails for the table, claiming that just because we were abstaining from alcohol didn’t mean we couldn’t have some fancy looking drinks.

“I can’t believe we only have four more shows on this run,” I sighed. I hadn’t meant to mention it really, but it was starting to weigh on my mind after my talk with Becky earlier. It had made me realise just how close we were to saying goodbye, going our separate ways. Oli back to recording the album, Noah still on tour, me… well, I’d have to figure that one out, too. So far my search for both a job and a place to stay hadn’t been very successful.

“Hey,” Oli interrupted my pondering, putting his hand over mine. Noah seemed to briefly feel left out, grabbing my other hand to mirror the sentiment. “No being sad at our date. It’s not like we’ll never see each other after.”

I wasn’t quite that confident in the future, but he was right. Now was not the time or place to start overthinking.

“Date, eh?” I joked instead. Deep down, I wanted confirmation, but I was too cowardly to ask outright. Then I remembered Noah’s hesitation to the idea of us going on a date before, but he was simply sipping his newly arrived drink, either ignoring the underlying question or being at peace with it. I couldn’t quite figure it out yet.

“I figured it should be one, you know,” Oli mused in fake contemplation. “Only seems fair to take you two out for dinner before I fuck you.”

If Noah had been slightly apathetic at the conversation before, he now put himself in the middle of it as he did a literal spit take, droplets of his mocktail landing on the wooden table. I was quick to mop it up with my napkin, trying to hold the laughter at bay. Oli didn’t care. He gave a bark that was loud enough to be heard by just about everyone in the restaurant. There were some spots on Noah’s turtleneck too and even though they would probably dry to be invisible on the dark shirt, I reached out to pat at it too.

He stood up a little abruptly, feeling the wet fabric with his fingers. “I’m just gonna head to the bathroom. Order me the chickenburger, yeah?”

Oli and I were still giggling by the time he disappeared from view.

“Should I go after him?” he questioned with a smirk. “Or is that gonna make things worse?”

“The latter probably,” I giggled. “He might think you’re trying to fuck him in the bathroom stalls.” Oli made a face that suggested he was thinking about it. I smacked my hand against his shoulder. “I’ll go check on him. Order me whatever, you know what I like.”

By the time I’d reached the toilets, Noah was already exiting the room again. I approached him slowly, a hand coming to rest on his chest when I was close enough.

“Oli a bit much for you?”

“When is he not,” he sighed but immediately followed it up with a smile. “It just came a little unexpectedly.”

His hand reached for mine, again, playing with my fingers and stroking the back of it as I kept it on his chest, heavy breathing underneath.

“You know he doesn’t expect anything of you, right? You don’t have to go home with him, or us. And if you do, no one’s making you do anything. He knows you’ve never, you know… been with a man like that.”

“I want to,” Noah stated, voice much more steadfast that I would have expected. “I really do. I’m just… nervous I won’t be any good.”

“Oli’s so into you, I don’t think he’d care even if you did everything wrong your possibly could,” I giggled. Relief flooded my veins when he joined in. “Besides, he’s no better off. He talks a lot of shit and he’s really good at pretending, but unless he has a whole other life he hasn’t shared with me, his experience with men doesn’t go further than some drunken make-out sessions either.”

Noah nodded, perhaps slightly unconvinced, but a lot less jittery than before. I pressed a kiss to his lips, delighted by the fact that I didn’t have to get on my usual tiptoes with the heels I was wearing. He kept me there, for a moment, with his hand at the nape of my neck, even when the kiss had ended. Simply breathing each other in. I allowed him to decide when to break the contact. I figured he needed it.

“Thank you”, he whispered.

“What for?”

“Just being you.”

•••

The rest of our outing continued much less dramatically, but filled with laughter and little flirts. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so good, just by being around these two. Oli had ordered for all of us as the waiter had indeed come by while Noah and I were gone. There was a good chance I was making heart eyes at him when a plate of curry appeared in front of me. He’d known it was my favourite. He seemed to know it all, I realised.

We ended up squeezed in the backseat of a cab, each of us with a to-go back with desserts on our laps. Oli insisted on taking them, even though neither of us were thinking very much about eating right about now. The tension in the backseat was thick - not necessarily bad, considering growing arousal and excitement were pumping through my veins as I tried to imagine what was to come.

The car took a sharp turn, prompting a low gasp from Noah when my body pressed closer to his. On his exhale, a soft hum was pulled from his throat. A reminder that I wasn’t the only one who was about to benefit from this.

The scenery outside changed, restaurants and cafés and shops giving way to a residential area, little blocks of flat, small houses with tiny gardens in front. Not the industrial complexes, the hotels, the high-rise buildings I was expecting.

“This isn’t the way to the hotel.”

As I turned to Oli, I was caught off guard by the smirk on his face. That fucker. He had ordered the cab, he had planned this. Planned - what, though? He let out a chuckle at my confusion, clearly pleased with my reaction.

“Because we’re not going there.” Oli leaned in, lips brushing my ear, yet speaking loudly enough that Noah wouldn’t be left out of the conversation. “Did you really think I’d let you bed me in a random hotel room and not my place when we’re in Sheffield?”

Noah tensed next to me. As I turned to look at him, Oli’s lips once again brushing my skin, I realised he was clutching the takeaway container a little more desperately. He’d definitely heard. And by the way he was trying to press the box down against his crotch, it had gotten him just as hot as it had gotten me.

The driver announcing our arrival saved either of us from reacting to the fact that Oli had just all but told the driver we were going to hook up in some capacity or other. All of us scrambled to get out into the cold night, no thoughts left but to get inside as quickly as possible. All I wanted was to get those two undressed, get my hands on them, my lips, I didn’t care if it was going to be a bedroom or not. I was beyond superficial details like that.

Noah wrapped an arm around me as I shivered in my coat, both of us careful not to drop the desserts. The building towered over us, several stories high and quite obviously new. Much more expensive than I could ever afford. I hoped it would have more soul once we were inside. Oli unlocked the door, the little Powerpuff Girls charm dangling from his key ring, and led us to the lift. It went all the way to the top floor where he let us into his apartment.

It was… perfectly Oli. The place had a homely feel to it, not small enough to feel cramped, not big enough to get lost in the feeling of its vastness. I wanted to stay forever, go through his things, study the way he decorated, how he sorted his stuff, what he had kept over the years and what had gotten moved into a faraway closet that never got opened. All the things that made him tick.

The large bookcase was filled with novels that called out for me to leaf through, study their contents, let my fingers run along their spines, ask him which ones he had read yet, see how his collection compared to my much smaller one. Little trinkets and souvenirs from all over the world were placed in between. So many stories to tell. So many anecdotes I hadn’t gotten to hear yet.

My eyes fell on the floor-length windows. They provided a stunning view all over the city, lights twinkling in the dark. I could stay here and watch forever. If I could afford it, I’d surely get a place like this too. As I stepped closer, trying to avoid the glare from inside lights, the container in my hands almost bumped into the window pane. Right. The desserts.

“Oli, where do-”

While I had been exploring Oli’s living room, Noah had apparently started exploring Oli’s body. The takeaway boxes safely set on the counter of the open kitchen, the two of them were tightly intertwined. Oli was holding Noah close, his arms wrapped around the other’s waist as Noah perfectly molded himself to Oli’s chest. His own hands were impatiently touching his back, his arse, his shoulders, as if they couldn’t get enough of what they were feeling. It was a familiar sentiment.

I approached the pair, dropping the takeaway next to theirs, allowing my fingers to trail over both of their bodies. Noah pulled back when he realised, lips already red from the intense kiss.

“Bedroom?” I simply asked. Noah nodded enthusiastically as Oli untangled himself with a smirk. He led us through a short hallway, past his bathroom which seemed even more luxurious than the hotel ones I’d been fawning over, and into his bedroom, the second to last door.

It was much less decorated than the living area, but still drew me in. The dark carpet, heavy curtains that hid the window, the plush bed - the bed was large enough that, if I hadn’t known better, I would have assumed Oli had ordered it specifically for the three of us. We’d fit in much better than at the hotel which was more than an advantage for what we were planning to do that night.

Noah seemed to have the same thought as he pushed Oli onto the mattress, immediately dropping to his knees in front of him and starting to work on removing Oli’s trousers. Not wanting to be left out, I moved onto the bed as well, slowly unbuttoning Oli’s dress shirt, one by one, my fingers tracing over every inch of hot skin that revealed itself. Oli was already growing restless, one of his hands covering mine to speed up my movements, but I remained relentless.

I didn’t care to remove the shirt completely as I pushed the fabric away, revealing a chest full of tattoos I would never get sick of staring at. Oli’s breathing quickened as I let my fingertips run over the lines, his nipples, up his neck.

“Aubrey, I swear to god, if you don’t kiss me soon-”

I leaned down, letting my lips touch the shell of his ear, just as he had done in the cab.

“Yeah? Then what?”

I didn’t torture him by waiting for an answer, instead putting my lips on his with no further warning, immediately catching him in a passionate kiss. He sighed, then gasped into it, leaving me to wonder what Noah was currently up to, but when Oli tried to get me to open my mouth, deepen our connection further, I pulled back. His lips were tinted red now, a slight stain of my lipstick even on the skin around his mouth.

I wasn’t quite sure why yet, but it was a sight that utterly captivated me and made me adore him more. I wanted to kiss him stupid, leave my mark all over, see my lips all over his body, every day. I pressed another kiss on his cheek, then in the middle of the rose on his neck, where the red was losing itself in between the thicker, black lines, a colouring book I wanted to try all my shades on.

Looking behind me, I watched as Noah pulled Oli’s underwear down his legs, discarding them without much care, much too preoccupied with the way Oli’s dick bounced upward as it was freed from the fabric, already considerably hard and mouth-wateringly delicious. Feeling my stare on him, he managed to tear his gaze away, only to grin at me in the most devilish way, motioning for me to join him on the floor. I did without hesitation.

He pulled me in for a quick kiss, allowing me to leave more of my lipstick on him too, even though the marks were already becoming more faint in their intensity. I could only imagine the way my own face looked, colour shifting around my mouth, no precision left in the outline.

“Help me treat Oli right?” Noah whispered against my lips. “I bet he’ll love two mouths on his dick even more than one.”

He did. He couldn’t be blamed - I wasn’t sure how I’d cope if I had two pairs of lips, two tongues, playing with my pussy at the same time. As soon as Noah and I both started leaving teasing little kisses on Oli’s length, he dissolved into a puddle of moans. He was still propped up on his elbows, watching the two of us on our knees, so it was impossible to tell if it was just the feeling of it or the visual as well.

It wasn’t the most technically perfect blowjob in history as Noah and I kept clashing, getting more and more lost in our own lust of getting our mouths on Oli, tasting him, swallowing him, then licking him while the other person swallowed him. Oli’s hands were all over the place, completely uncoordinated as they grasped at the backs of our heads, our hair, the bedsheets, anything they could find. One of my hands had travelled to Noah’s crotch.

I was much too distracted to do much but enjoy the way he was growing in his trousers. Or how my knees were uncomfortably rubbing against the hard floor. My brain was clouded with lust and the need to get Oli to come. Tonight was going to be all about him, in away he’d let it, and just the thought of spending a few more hours with my hands on Oli, getting him high again and again, hopefully finally feeling his dick inside me, had me delirious.

“Fuck, I’m not gonna last,” Oli mumbled. When his hand found the back of my head again, gripping my hair and pulling me off him, it was with intention. His eyes were almost pleading when I looked up. “Can I-?”

I nodded before he posed the complete question. He could. In fact, I was gagging for it. As much as I’d enjoyed blowjobs before in my life, never had I been craving for their smells, their taste, their cum as much as I did with these two.

Noah pulled away, letting his fingers play with the part I wouldn’t manage to get in my mouth, fondling his balls, as I slowly took Oli as deep as I could without gagging, still missing a good portion, but all aspirations to swallow him whole would have to wait another day.

Oli wasn’t lying when he said he was close. His hips were starting to shift off the bed, fighting a losing battle as he tried to keep himself from fucking my mouth, his noises an amalgamation I wanted to record and put in a song. When he came, he did so with a punched-out sound, shallow thrusts that slowly stopped as I swallowed as much as I could. When I let him drop from my mouth, I could feel some of it dripping from my lips still. Noah caught me in a kiss, greedily licking at them until there was nothing left.

“Jesus Christ, you two are nasty,” Oli groaned, but all of us knew it was the opposite of a complaint. He sat up a little more, face flushed, looking utterly satisfied. “Now why the fuck are you still dressed?”

I stood up eagerly. The whole scene between the three of us had gotten me uncomfortably wet, my panties noticeably sticky. I didn’t care what exactly would follow, as long as it included an orgasm of my own sooner or later. I’d barely grasped the seam of my dress when Noah’s hands appeared on my legs. Their warmth seeped through my tights, mixing with the hotness of my own skin.

“Let me,” he whispered, still on his knees, hands travelling upward, slowly and teasingly, until they reached the hem of my tights. He rolled down the fabric, over my thighs, where he paused to press a kiss to the snake tattoo, over my knees, my shins. He only stopped to take off my boots, then resumed his task, until my feet and legs were bare.

For a moment, as I looked down, Noah on his knees before me, those big brown eyes staring up at me, adoration radiating from his whole being, his hands under my dress, it felt like a worship I wasn’t deserving of.

Then, he got up to pull the dress over my head before I could ruminate on it or start to cry. Noah never let me miss his touch for too long, toying with the clasp of my bra as he peppered kisses all over the side of my neck, finally unhooking and removing it completely, only for his lips to attach themselves to my nipples. I couldn’t seem to do much but take it all in, sighing at each and every touch, purely giving into pleasure.

His fingers were tracing over the fabric, so lightly I could barely feel it at all, but it was enough to cause my knees to buckle and my hands to grasp onto his body for fear of falling. I was so hopelessly turned on, every tiny thing had me losing my mind.

“She’s so fucking wet, she’s basically dripping on my fingers,” Noah chuckled. “Where do you want her?”

“Right here, on my face.”

I stiffened immediately, eyes snapping open and staring at Oli, who had gotten comfortable on the bed, in all his naked glory, motioning for me to join him. I felt equal parts insecure and excited - I’d never sat on anyone’s face. Not only had no one ever offered, I was also terrified of being too much. My thighs suffocating the other person. Looking awful from their angle. Not being able to come because I was so tense from holding myself up so desperately.

But Oli… Oli wasn’t just looking at me with lust. He wasn’t doing this for any reason but because he craved it. Because he knew he could make it good for me. And, even if my heart was beating out of my chest with nerves, I trusted him.

“I thought tonight was going to be all about you?” I teased, still stalling. Noah was busy pulling my underwear down my legs, tapping on each ankle in turn so I would lift my feet, aiding him in removing the item.

“Who said this is anything but a treat for me?”

Somehow, that sealed the deal. On slightly shaky legs, I crossed the short distance, climbed on the bed and then hesitated as I kneeled next to Oli’s body.

“How-”

I didn’t need to finish the question. Oli, once again, knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Face that way,” he ordered, motioning toward the room, toward the other man. “I’m sure Noah can think of something to make it even better for you.”

With a nod, I awkwardly climbed over Oli’s body, trying to position myself over his face, much too preoccupied with what I was doing and how it would look and whether I might squish Oli to watch the other man. I found myself shuffling, again and again, the muscles in my thighs straining as I held myself up. I didn’t know where to put my hands, or whether to lean in any particular way. Even Noah removing his tight turtleneck and shoving down his trousers couldn’t sufficiently distract me.

“Aubrey, what the fuck are you doing,” Oli mumbled from underneath me, making me halt in my movements.

“I just-”

“It’s called sitting on someone’s face, not hovering.”

I was about to protest, but then his hands heavily grasped onto my thighs, pulling me down so decidedly that I had no option to fight against it, and then, the words still on my tongue, he licked through my wetness and I was so over convincing him of anything that didn’t include his mouth on me.

A moan was ripped from my throat as I dropped my hands forward onto Oli’s chest. Fuck. I’d severely underestimated just how turned on I was. His tongue was flicking my clit ever so slightly, every now and then, before going back to explore the rest of my pussy, and I was already throbbing.

Noah crawled onto the bed next to us, fully naked now, his hard cock standing proudly, and somehow, the pure sight of it heightened my arousal. I ground my hips downward, unable to get enough of Oli, but his hands, clasped tightly on my thighs, kept me exactly where he wanted me. It was as exhilarating as it was frustrating.

I was desperate to come now. I was desperate to feel something inside of me, too, in addition to Oli’s tongue on my clit, but I didn’t want to beg. Not yet. And this night was about Oli - if he’d wanted his fingers in me, they would already be there. All I could do was let myself fall into the sensations, trust that his teasing would result in an orgasm, and study Noah, who was now climbing onto Oli’s frame as well.

I watched as he took his own cock in his hand, admiring the way his fingers looked wrapped around it, then he ground his hips against Oli’s. Oli’s dick gave a twitch in response, ready to grow hard once again, and the moan vibrated through me so deliciously that I felt like screaming. I kept eye contact with Noah through it, as difficult as it was becoming. His smile told me he knew exactly what he was doing - both to Oli and to me.

With a sly grin, Noah repeated his action. His whole body shuddered at the contact, obviously desperate for release, but his focus was solely on Oli and me. Oli moaned again, loud enough that I could both hear and feel it, and it was good, it was so much more than good, and I needed it badly, so, so badly. Noah knew. He grasped onto both of their dicks now, wrapping his long fingers about him and Oli, getting the other more and more hard, jacking both of them off.

Oli was growing restless again, his hips thrusting upward to meet Noah’s movements, his mouth now constantly moaning against me, his vibrations ever increasing. He closed his lips around my clit now, so delicately and yet strongly enough and I came, shouting and screaming and clawing at his chest as my legs trembled and then gave in, almost dropping fully on Oli’s body.

Noah was quicker, though, catching me easily, strong hands holding me up until I managed to drop onto the mattress as all of my muscles refused to work. Then he bent down toward Oli and I turned my head just quickly enough to see the wetness I had left on Oli’s face and how Noah proceeded to kiss all of it away.

Oli lost himself in it for a moment, but he wouldn’t let Noah have the upper hand for long. With a quick move, he turned the two of them around, trapping Noah against the mattress. Noah, so tall and broad, suddenly looked utterly smitten and small underneath him.

“How have we gone so long without my mouth on your dick,” Oli mused as he kissed his way down Noah’s chest. “You already got to suck me off twice.” He was now palming Noah’s dick, his mouth stilling somewhere along his hips. “Now it’s time for me to get mine. You gonna be a good boy, Noah? Keep your hips still so I can blow you? You better be or this is gonna be over before you know it.”

Noah nodded, eagerly, falling into this submissive role with ease, which I couldn’t help but take note of. It was fascinating watching him, who was always so self-assured and in control on stage, let go of it all and simply put himself into Oli’s hands, knowing and trusting he would get exactly what he needed, if not always what he wanted.

Oli’s mouth hovered over Noah’s dick now, his breath already hitting the tip, but before he gave into Noah’s wishes, he turned his head toward me. I’d since sat up, craving nothing more than a front-row seat to the spectacle as my body slowly came back to life.

“And you be a good girl too and prepare yourself for me, yeah? I’m going to fuck you when he’s finished and I’m not going to put any fingers in you first.”

My face was heating up with such intensity, I could only imagine how red it was. But I, too, nodded, shifting my body slightly and parting my legs, ready to do as he asked. What I was seeing in front of me would drench me once again in no time anyway.

Oli engulfed Noah’s tip without any further hesitation now. Noah’s hands flew to the back of Oli’s head, halting in their movements immediately but then relaxing into his hair as he realised Oli wasn’t going to scold him for it. I let my fingers wander between my thighs, another wave of wetness hitting me as I watched the two men. Oli had clearly done his research, expertly bobbing his head, taking Noah a little deeper, but keeping to the rules he had put to Noah just days before to save his voice for the rest of the tour and moving his hand to pleasure all of him.

When I slipped a finger inside of me, I found no resistance, just slick walls begging for more, begging to be filled properly, so I let another finger join. The noises of me pumping my fingers in and out were impossible to ignore, but they still paled in comparison to Noah’s low groans and the way Oli was starting to drool around Noah’s cock.

The third finger was a stretch, but Oli was big enough that I knew I needed it to take him comfortably. I didn’t mind it. I enjoyed it just that bit more if it was a little too much, a little too intense, a little too fast. I would probably love taking Oli without any preparation at all. I pushed the thought away for another day.

Noah was close now. I could tell from the noises that escaped his mouth, the way his fingers were all but tearing at Oli’s hair. He had trouble keeping his hips down, but if there was one thing to know about Oli is that his threats usually weren’t empty. Oli sped up further, both his mouth and his hand. I quickly removed my fingers from my pussy, just in time, as Noah came, moaning so beautifully, unable to stop thrusting into Oli’s mouth once, twice. I would have come on the spot too if I’d still been touching myself.

Oli pulled himself off, licking up everything that had escaped him from Noah’s cock, who whined pitifully. The way he wiped his mouth on his hand almost seemed obscene. Even after all that had transpired already. Noah was busy catching his breath, eyes closed, looking utterly satisfied. Oli, however, was far from done.

Crawling over to the bedside table, he opened the uppermost drawer. Filled with condoms, lube and wipes, as far as I could see, it obviously served as his closest assembly of anything he could need for spontaneous sex. Though I didn’t doubt he’d have a much bigger collection of things somewhere else. He blindly grabbed one of the condoms, tearing it open and rolling it onto his thick, hard erection. My mouth was watering already. In an instant, he was on me, pulling me into a bruising kiss.

“How did he fuck you, Aubrey?” His lips was wandering from my neck down to my chest, pushing me backwards until I was lying flat, then letting his teeth graze over my nipples. I cried out at the feeling, sensitive to a fault and yet not getting anywhere near enough. “Did you do it missionary, like an old couple? Did he make you ride him, watch your pretty tits bounce? No… He did you from behind, didn’t he?”

His hands harshly grabbed onto my hips and before I knew it, Oli had turned me on my front, pulling me up to my knees in front of him. I propped myself up on my elbows, ready to let him do whatever he wanted to me as long as it involved his dick in me. His fingertips were digging into my flesh now, hard enough that I knew it would leave bruises. I couldn’t wait to see them.

“Let’s see who can do it better, doll.”

I didn’t have any more time to prepare as he pushed in roughly, not stopping until he was entirely buried in me and I was crying out at the delicious stretch. He felt amazing in me, even without moving, but when he finally did, it brought me to new heights without any trouble at all. He didn’t show any mercy, thrusting so hard that the bed was moving along with us, the sound of skin slapping echoing the room. I gave myself over to him completely, allowing him to treat me however he liked, utterly brainless, unable to care about anything but the fire in my lower belly burning hotter and hotter.

I barely realised Noah was moving, much too distracted by the way Oli was fucking me to take note of anything else, until he appeared in my field of vision, fumbling with the drawer Oli had left open. Curious, I tried my best to lift my head to see what his plan was, but Oli gave me another hard thrust that caused my arms to falter completely, my chest hitting the mattress. I didn’t try to hoist myself up again.

I heard a click, some shuffling behind me, then-

“Fuck!” Oli exclaimed, pushing into me again with a shudder. “Oh, fuck.”

I didn’t know what had just changed, but suddenly, Oli was a mess, irregular in how he fucked me. I pushed back into him, missing the rhythm he had established, but he was still slightly distracted.

“Fuck, Noah, that’s-”

I allowed myself to turn my head, struggling with the position, but managing just enough to see Noah standing behind Oli. There was no way to see exactly what was happening, but with the way Oli was now arching both toward me and toward Noah, his body seemingly unable to decide which way to go and-

“Did Noah just put a finger in your arse?”

“Two, love. Two;” Oli moaned, losing control at the treatment. Then, as if remembering his main goal, he crowded against my back, positioning me just the way he liked and fucked me hard, again, bringing me to the brink of my orgasm in a matter of moments.

I was loving the sounds in the room, the filthy atmosphere, the way Oli and I were chasing our heights, the way Noah made himself part of it, how Oli faltered under it. It was only a matter of moments, my own hand reaching between my legs, and then I was clenching around Oli, crying out at the force that hit me, riding it until I felt utterly spent, letting Oli, who was now nothing but a sweaty mess against my back, fuck me harshly until he came too, shooting into the condom with high-pitched moans.

Oli just about managed to pull out before collapsing on my back, pressing me into the mattress, until I started struggling underneath him, his ever heavier growing figure leaving me gasping for a breath I wasn’t able to catch yet anyway. Noah was the one who ended up providing the most aftercare, stashing the lube he’d used on Oli, passing around wipes and water he got from somewhere I couldn’t quite follow, but he was also the only one out of us whose brain still seemed to work at least a little.

I ended up making grabby hands at him like a little child as the sweat on my body slowly turned cold, leaving an entirely different type of goosebumps to wreak havoc on my skin. Noah saw, pulling the plush blanket up with him as he got into bed next to me, making sure to tuck both me and Oli in before hugging close to me.

Oli was still on his back, staring at the ceiling, apparently questioning… his life, maybe? He certainly looked like it. I figured it might have had something to do with the surprise action he got from behind this time. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a first for him.

Oli, who always seemed so experience, never showed any hesitation or shyness about anything we did, surely had his boundaries too. And letting someone finger his arse surely wasn’t something he casually shared with a lot of people. What would that mean for the two of them? Noah had taken a brave step today. All I could hope was that it would open a door to more between the two of them. I knew they wanted it; they simply needed to admit it too.

Noah was still nestled into my side when Oli finally decided it was time to cuddle for him as well. There was no room for talking, not tonight. All of the unspoken things were going to be left to fester in our brains for a little while more, threatening to become more clear as the post-orgasmic haze lifted bit by bit, but I was hoping we’d be drifting off to sleep before it engulfed us. Talking was for tomorrow. No travelling, very few things on the agenda, a hometown show at night. It could wait.

Oli’s mouth was on my neck, nuzzling his nose into my hair. But this time, his warm breath was comforting instead of arousing. Until he left a much-too-hard bite on my earlobe, obnoxious as usual, and I blindly swatted at his head.

I was just about to drift off, fully comfortable sandwiched between the two men, when Oli spoke up.

“So, who fucked you better, doll, me or Noah?”

I wanted to be appalled, offended or at least pretend I was, but all that happened was that an insane giggle left my mouth, shaking my whole body until it had spread to the sides and taken Oli and Noah as well. Noah buried his head into the other side of my neck as I awkwardly slung my arm around him. Turning my face toward Oli, I grabbed onto his chin just enough to move his mouth to mine, pressing a short but heavy kiss against it.

“Guess you’ll both have to fuck me during the same evening for optimal comparisons.”

#Noah Sebastian fic #Noah Sebastian #Oli Sykes fic #Oli Sykes #Noah Sebastian x reader #Oli Sykes x reader #in love with the mess

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ghosthunterbuck · 1 month

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the most important thing

(pre-buddie) (862 words) (7x06 spec) what are weddings for, if not completely ignoring the fact that you're in love with your best friend

It’s a glance, at first. And then a longer look, when he’s sure no one’s looking back. It’s the slope of Buck’s shoulders that catches Eddie’s eye.

There’s an ease there that he hasn’t seen before. An ease he’s never really felt himself, either. And a part of him wonders – is it really that simple? He tightens his grip on Marisol’s waist and spins her around, smiles at the high peal of laughter she lets loose into the cool evening air.

Eddie allows his eyes to drift, following the line of Buck’s shoulder down his arm and to his hand. He watches Buck’s thumb pull slowly across Tommy’s jaw, sees the way Tommy’s mouth ticks up into a small smile, like his lips are following the motion.

He drags his eyes away then, feeling like he’s intruding on something.

“Oh, I think I need a minute,” Marisol gasps as the song comes to an end.

“Me too,” Eddie says with a chuckle. “Can I grab you something?” He gestures vaguely towards the refreshments table.

“Some water,” she says, punctuating her request with a soft kiss pressed into the corner of his mouth, “would be wonderful.”

Eddie smiles and fights the ever-present urge to wipe the kiss away. “Water. You got it.”

Buck finds him trying to balance a cookie between two cups and takes it from him with a grin. “You can come back for it, you know?” he asks with a teasing sparkle in his eye.

“You’re just jealous your date’s not bringing you a cookie,” Eddie replies.

Buck’s grin grows even wider. “My date,” he says, “is braving the bar for me.” He tilts his head towards the throng of people crowding around the single bartender.

“Alright,” Eddie laughs, “Tommy wins. You’ve got a better date than Marisol does.”

“Eh, don’t sell yourself short.” Buck bumps his shoulder into Eddie’s, a familiar gesture that makes him feel warm, even on a chilly spring night. “He hasn’t asked me to move in with him yet.”

“Bet he hasn’t asked you to move out, either.” Eddie says wryly.

Buck’s eyebrows shoot up. “You—”

“Yeah,” Eddie interrupts. “But we didn’t—we’re just going to take things a little slower.”

“Slower,” Buck repeats. “Yeah, that’s – that’s probably not a bad thing.”

“I think it’s good,” Eddie says. “I think—I never give myself enough time, you know? Even with Shannon—we hardly knew each other when we first got together, and then—”

“I get it,” Buck says softly, and Eddie knows he does.

“I just need to get to her, really get to know her. I think… I need us to be friends before we can really be something else.”

Buck’s expression changes into one Eddie doesn’t know how to read and he swallows. “Yeah, that’s—friends. It’s a good idea. It’s—that’s the most important thing, isn’t it?” It’s not a rhetorical question, Eddie can tell. It sounds more like some kind of revelation.

Eddie glances over Buck’s shoulder and sees Tommy on his way back, a drink in each hand. He returns his gaze to Buck. “I think it is,” he says softly. He nods in Tommy’s direction, then turns to head back towards Marisol.

He doesn’t remember the cookie until he’s nearly back to her side.

“What were you to talking about?” Marisol asks after taking a long sip of water.

“Just—tonight. The wedding,” Eddie answers, and it almost feels true. He takes a sip of his drink and allows his eyes to wander again.

“I’m glad it all came together,” Marisol says. She takes his hand, and Eddie tries to ignore the way he immediately wants to pull it away.

“Me too,” Eddie replies. “It was touch and go for a minute, there.”

“It’s a good thing you had an extra suit,” Marisol says, playfulness in her voice. “And a brand new one, no less! Did you have a special occasion in mind?”

Eddie grimaces. “I’ve had it for a while, actually. Just, never got around to taking the tags off.”

“Well, I’m glad you finally did. You look wonderful in it.”

“Thanks,” Eddie says. The skin beneath his collar starts to crawl.

Across the dance floor, Eddie watches Buck laugh, then tuck his face into Tommy’s neck. A part of him is jealous, Eddie realizes. Of the easy way they touch, of the comfort that’s settled between them with just a few drinks to aid it on its way. It’s not a feeling he knows, not like that. He’d like to, though. He turns back to Marisol.

“What’s your favorite movie?” he asks.

She furrows her brow. “My favorite movie?”

“We said we were going to take it slower, right?”

Marisol nods. “We did.”

“Well,” Eddie asks, letting go of her hand so he can spread his apart, “what’s slower than a first date question?”

Marisol covers her mouth and laughs. “Fair enough,” she says. “Ask me again.”

Eddie puts his drink down and looks her in the eye. “Marisol,” he asks, “what’s your favorite movie?”

Inexplicably, he finds himself thinking that, if it were Buck sitting here across from him, he wouldn’t have to ask.

#far too much happened for me to process a coda #so please have some wedding spec instead #911 #911 spoilers #911fic #911 fic #buddie #buddie fic #bucktommy #and technically eddie/marisol BUT IS IT REALLY #abbie writes #fic

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seangelfish · 3 months

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Our favourite items

Ritsu Sakuma x Reader ♡ Tags: Fluff, established relationship, casual romance, really wholesome, INTRO IS REALLY LONG, SORRY!, she/her pronouns ♡ Word count: 2,215 ♡ Synopsis: Inspired by the Meowsketeers scout story in which this card is featured in. I've been trying to read the scout stories since I never read them, and I thought that this one would be cute to add the reader in! Please note that this fic does not stay true to the story, but it has taken bits from it. A/N: There needs to be more Ritsu x reader fics.

Drenched in sweat, Ritsu slowly woke up from his nap in the ES gardens. His mind was still filled with thoughts of what happened the other day when Tsukasa confronted and withdrew some of the new members of Knights.

Ritsu pitied them, but what was said was the mere truth. That's the way Knights operated, it was never a unit to have fun with as an idol. But seeing those tearful faces did take a toll on him.

At that moment, Ritsu felt something heavy weighing on him. It wasn't what happened that day, but something physical that he could feel near his stomach.

'Who is it? Am I being attacked? It's not those pranks Tsukipi set up, right?' he thought tiredly. Unless it's (Y/N)...? No... she said she'd be busy today–

Ritsu was getting annoyed. "Hold on. You don't disturb people when they're sleeping!" he groaned. "Now I'm in a bad mood... Don't mess with me– Huh?"

Eyes wide open, Ritsu found that on his stomach was a black cat.

"Ugh, so it was this guy!" he fumed. "Get off! You're heavy and it's too hot...!"

Yet the cat wouldn't budge. It stayed lying on Ritsu's stomach as if he were a pillow. Ritsu wasn't having any of it though, no one dares disturb his sleep even if they were a cat! Getting angrier by the second, he decided to fight it off him.

"Hey! Ow! Don't dig your claws in me!"

"That Suo, he's late!" exclaimed Leo. "What a troublesome guy! I came early today since he gets angry at me when I come late."

"Unbelievable! He's wasting my precious time!" Izumi chided. "This is so annoying. Did your wanderlust infect Kasa-kun?"

Leo laughed. "Eh? What, what? Wahaha, that's funny, Sena! I suppose it's fate that Knights' leader is to be cursed by wanderlust!"

Frantic footsteps could be heard as Tsukasa barged into the studio panting. He apologised, mentioning to his seniors that he got involved in a little incident with Ritsu. That was when Ritsu entered the room, still arguing with the black cat he encountered outside.

"I told you to let go of me, didn't I?! Why can't you understand me, you stupid cat?!" Ritsu growled. "Do my clothes smell like catnip or something...?"

"A stray cat got attached to Ritsu-senpai and it won't let go of him," stated Tsukasa.

"Unbelievable. This was why you were late?" said Izumi. "There's got to be some way to pull it off. Just grab it by the neck like how a parent cat carries a kitchen– Owah! This guy tried to scratch me! If you were human, I'd have you pay compensation!"

Arashi suggested that they all calm down and get started on the retrospective – the reason why they were holding a meeting in the first place. If they ignore the cat, perhaps it would let Ritsu go!

But as Arashi started playing the video of their live, Leo noticed something. In the video, Leo pointed out the front row seats where beside a fan's feet, a black cat was seen.

"This guy, it saw Ritsu at Knights' live and came to meet him!" said Leo excitedly.

"Hah...? No way! That sounds so unrealistic," Ritsu replied before turning to the cat which started showing him affection. "Owah, what? Don't start licking my cheek!"

"Given its reaction, it probably did come to meet Knights," said Tsukasa. "Isn't it just the cutest? It probably fell in love with Ritsu-senpai's brave figure at the live!"

"What?! Don't say things so nonchalantly!"

But the other members of Knights had agreed to let the cat do what it wanted despite Ritsu's comments on how much of a disaster this was.

The cat didn't let go of him even during the retrospective. It lay sound asleep on Ritsu's lap. Knights had come up with a name for the cat too, 'd'Artagnyan', their 'newest knight that was drawn in by Knights.'

Ritsu didn't like this idea at all. He didn't see any resemblance between him and the cat that his fellow members were constantly pointing out too. Though, he didn't want to just kick it out. He wanted it to leave on its own volition.

"It clings to you like how you cling onto (Y/N)," stated Arashi causing Ritsu to erupt into a steam of embarrassment. "Maybe it finds your scent comforting~? If so, it might be satisfied with something that has Ritsu-chan's scent on it..."

"Something with my scent?" Ritsu repeated. "Ah, I just came to an unpleasant conclusion..."

He was talking about his favourite blanket – the only thing in this studio that had his scent on it. But there was no way that Ritsu wanted to give this unlucky cat his favourite blanket!

"Ah, wait! Don't suddenly pounce for my blanket, you idiot cat!" huffed Ritsu as he tried to yank the blanket away. He was now on the floor fighting with the cat. "Give it back! I don't want such an unlucky cat to use my blanket! Guys, please help me out here!"

"Oi, oi. There's no need to get so worked up over something like this, right, Ritsu?" said Leo. "I know it's annoying, but it'll be dangerous if you get violent in here, no?"

"But I really like this blanket! I won't allow it to use it! Ah, don't scratch it–"

"Please calm down, Ritsu-senpai...!" sputtered Tsukasa.

But before Izumi could assert himself to scold Ritsu, you had rushed into the studio. Arashi had texted you about the situation before they started their retrospective, hoping that you'd come to solve the issue at hand. After all, you solved a lot of their problems before, it became customary to ask you for help.

"Ritsu, are you okay?" you asked worriedly, bending down. "Hey, what's wrong? You're not usually like this."

"(Y-Y/N)?!" Ritsu blurted, perplexed at your sudden appearance. "W-What are you doing here?"

You answered that even though you were busy with your own assignments today, you couldn't just ignore what was happening with Knights, with him.

"Is this what's bothering you?" You tried picking up the cat, but it immediately started hissing at you. "Ah! Okay, I'm not going to pick you up then...! Anyway, Arashi texted me all the details already. Why don't you just give up the blanket, Ritsu?"

"N-No!" he cried. "I can't!"

"I don't understand why you like that blanket so much," said Izumi. "I'll buy you a new one if that makes you happy–"

"That's not it! (Y/N) bought me this one!"

Everyone had gone silent over that fact.

"Then I'll buy you a new one," you offered.

"No!" Ritsu protested. "You got this for me when we were first years! I can't just let that go!"

Ritsu usually wasn't this worked up, so you knew he was upset about something other than his blanket. But you also knew that he was a very sentimental person too, so you couldn't just force him to give up something that he truly loved. It was sweet that he had kept this blanket up until now though. It showed how much he loved you.

"I have an idea," you suddenly said. You rummaged through your bag and pulled out a white sweater. "This also has Ritsu's scent on it."

"Wait," Ritsu began. "That's my sweater."

"Mhm, my favourite one too!" you giggled. "If we give the cat this, then it'll give up on the blanket!"

"B-But (Y/N), you love that sweater...!" he said.

"I do, but you love that blanket too, right? I'll give this up so you can have your blanket back!"

With how selfless and thoughtful you were being, Ritsu had finally cooled down.

"N-No, it's fine," he said sadly. "I'll let it keep the blanket, you keep the sweater, okay? I'm sorry, everyone, I went overboard. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"Ritsu..."

He picked up his blanket with the cat still attached to it and left the building quietly. The meeting with Knights had come to an end. You sighed, apologised and thanked Knights for putting up with your boyfriend before following after him.

Ritsu was situated on one of the tables at the ES gardens, his head laid on his arms as he watched the black cat sleep in his blanket.

"It's my fault that Knights ended up fighting again... If only this cat hadn't been there. No, I should've been calmer..." he murmured. "It would've been better if I had analysed the situation calmly like I usually do, and brought it to a positive conclusion..."

"Ritsu~" you called out.

With the sound of your voice, his eyes immediately gravitated towards you. He didn't lift his head though, he was too tired for that.

"(Y/N)..."

"Here," you said, pressing a cold can of soda to his cheek. He cried at the coldness but quickly covered his mouth from being too loud. He didn't want to wake up the cat despite how annoying it was today.

"Ah, thank you..." he said, taking the can from you. He laid it in front of him, not opening it. "(Y/N), I'm really sorry about earlier. You were busy, and Nacchan had to call you over to deal with something so small."

"Eh, it's okay~," you said. From behind, you wrapped your arms around his neck, holding him close to you. "I'm nearly finished with my assignments anyway. But Ritsu, are you really okay?"

Ritsu strained a smile, but he held your arm in a way to comfort himself. "I'm fine now. I'm going to sit here and reflect on my actions until this stupid cat wakes up. If I ignored the cat in the studio and it gets restless, it might be even more troublesome."

You laughed. "It's so cute when it's sleeping. It reminds me of you."

"Eeehhh? Why does everyone keep saying that?" he asked.

"Well, it's cute and you're cute! Also, it takes naps just like you, hehe~"

Ritsu sighed but laughed along. "Ah, you're wearing the sweater," he said, finally noticing the baggy look on you.

"Yep! I'm glad I didn't need to give it up in the end, but I do feel sad that you had to give your favourite blanket away," you said.

"It's fine. Maybe it'll let it go later..." he started. "Well, I hope it does anyway. I really do like that blanket..."

He chuckled, reminiscing the time you first got him the blanket. The two of you met just before entering Yumenosaki. You were Mao's friend initially, but he had introduced you to Ritsu during the time he had to repeat his first year. Ritsu had treated you coldly at first, but when you spotted him sleeping in the gardens, coming to know of his illness, you had decided to gift him a blanket for him to use.

It was a blanket you had bought at a shop in town, nothing special, but Ritsu thought the world of it. Even when he treated you so poorly, you were still so nice to him – to accommodate him in this way. He grew fond of the blanket, but he mostly grew fond of you.

After that day, he stuck to you just like the cat he was watching now.

"You know, I'm surprised it's still kept in good condition after all these years," you pointed out. "We're in our third year now... and it still looks brand new."

"I take good care of my things, (Y/N)~," he said. "And I'll be keeping that blanket for as long as I can."

You smiled and gave him a peck on the back of his head. "Anyway, aren't you going to tell me what got you so riled up? It can't just be because of the cat, right?"

"Ah, right..." he said. He opened the can that you gave him and began to drink the contents of it. "So, this is what happened..."

He explained everything to you, recalling what happened that day when they had to withdraw some of the new Knights members. He was honest with his feelings, how bad he felt when he saw those tearful faces, how bad he felt when he knew that those dreams were being crushed.

But after some reassurance from you, Ritsu felt a lot better. That's when Tsukasa showed up to check up on him too. A suggestion of finding foster parents for the cat was brought up which Ritsu agreed to.

By time, he grew fond of the cat albeit he still wanted it gone. But things had resolved themselves, and Ritsu was back to his calm, analytical self again.

You had come to say goodbye to the cat, d'Artagnyan, too. This time, it had let you hold it.

"Hehe, it really does remind me of you," you told Ritsu who immediately turned red. "Don't miss Ritsu too much, you hear me~? I hope you live a comfortable life."

Watching you be so gentle with the cat like that had Ritsu feeling some sort of way. He smiled gently to himself, appreciating that you were there with him, that you were there to console him and to listen to every word he had to say. There was nothing better in this world – even his favourite blanket – that would compare to you.

Intro page | Ensemble Stars masterlist | Rules

#ensemble stars x reader #enstars x reader #ensemble stars #enstars #x reader #fanfic #ritsu sakuma x reader #ritsu sakuma #ritsu sakuma x reader fluff #fluff #ritsu sakuma x y/n

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twisted-wonderland-shenanigans · 10 months

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Twisted Wonderland Monster!AU Snippet: "A New Life"

So since the writing process for the pregnant fem!Yuu is taking a little longer than I'd like (I've got so many ideas on types of interactions before and after the baby is born, but as I said in another post, it's tricky figuring out which character to have in said situation 😂), I thought I'd share a snippet of what I have so far so you guys can see!

It might end up being a little (lot) longer than I anticipated depending on how much I want to add, so thank you for your patience everyone!

Note for context: Fem!Yuu is about five (5) months along in the beginning before she arrived in Twisted Wonderland, which means we get to explore the monster boys being curious (if a bit tsun-tsun) about the future baby. Grim is also acting like those pictures and videos of cats who snuggle their pregnant owner's belly, but he doesn't even know why he's doing it and no one else has any idea what's going on either. 😂

ALSO, IF I NEED TO TAG THIS ANY SPECIFIC WAY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN ADD THE TAGS FOR THIS AND WHEN THE FIC IS READY TO BE POSTED!!!!

///----------///

“…hm?” Grim uttered, quickly pulling away to stare at Yuu’s middle with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked.

Grim said nothing for a moment, his expression focused as he pressed his cheek and ear against her belly again. Just as it had earlier, Yuu felt movement inside—movement that startled Grim as he jumped away with a yelp. “Fygah!? What was that?!” he asked, fur bristling and wings flaring defensively.

“Wait, what happened?” Deuce asked.

“I felt somethin’ move!” Grim told them, looking thoroughly spooked now.

“What?! Does the human have a parasite inside?!” Sebek said, Yuu wincing as the volume caught the attention of the students around them.

“Don’t be silly. Internal parasites can't be felt so clearly outside the body,” Riddle commented, holding his tray of food as he sat down at a nearby table.

Realizing that things would get out of hand if she didn’t stop it, Yuu reached out to pull Grim into her arms and said, “He’s not wrong, guys. Grim did feel something move.”

That seemed to get everyone’s attention as they stared at her in confusion. “He…felt something?” Deuce repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Well…let’s just say that—technically speaking—I wasn’t the only human that came to Twisted Wonderland.”

“EH?!?” came the literal chorus of voices as the teenagers stared at her.

“Wait, you mean there’s another human somewhere?!” Cater asked, his phone already up and ready to start typing. “Where are they? Do humans turn invisible? What’s their name??”

“No, humans don’t turn invisible. As for where they are…you’ll have to guess that. And for their name…well, they don’t have one yet.”

“Eh? How come they don’t have a name?” Epel asked. “And…if there’s another human here, why weren’t they at the ceremony?”

“Oh, they were there,” she told them, unable to help the smile on her face. “In fact, everyone was looking at them the whole time.”

“I didn’t see them at all!” Grim protested, paws reaching up to grip her face. “Tell me where they are!”

“Grim, you’ve probably been the closest one to them for the past month now,” she told him, laughing as she booped his nose. “At this rate, I’ll be having trouble carrying you and them around.”

“Huh? What does that even mean?” he asked, looking at the others as they shrugged.

“Fufufufu…oh my. It would seem my suspicions were correct!” a familiar deep voice behind them said.

“Fygah!! Where’d you come from?!”

Despite the surprise appearance, Yuu’s smile was still as wide as Lilia’s as the lantern bat hung upside down beside her. “My apologies, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation,” he said before tilting his head to peer at Yuu. “I believe congratulations are in order, my dear. When are you due?”

“In about three and a half months,” she told him, placing her hand on her stomach as the baby moved again.

“Oh! Well, it seems like we’ll all be hearing the pitter-patter of tiny human feet around the school. How lovely~! Is this your first?”

Nodding, she said, “Yeah. I’m a little nervous since there’s been so much going on, and things have been a little…stressful.”

“Ah yes, I can understand that,” he replied, giving the others a sly smile. “After all, I’ve heard that stress isn’t good for expecting mothers and their unborn baby.”

“B-b…b…BABY?!”

“Ah, there it is,” Lilia said with a chortle. “I was wondering how long it would take.”

“I was just thinking of how to give them a bigger hint,” Yuu said with a giggle.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Ace stammered, eyes wide as saucers. “You mean…Yuu is pregnant?!”

“Mm-hm. You hit the nail on the head!”

“EEEEEEEEEEEEH!?!”

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland monster au #twst monster au #fem!yuu

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doycngs · 2 years

Text

bet! | lee jeno.

summary. it was bound to bite both your asses eventually. just plain ‘ol comedic luck that you and your best friend’s shared tradition of petty bets get you two to finally cough up years of repressed feelings for one another.

pairing. y/n x nct’s jeno

genre. college!au, best friends to lovers!au

word count. 17k

warnings. swearing, fem!reader, underage drinking, emotional constipation lmao, hyuck and yeri hustle often, general dreamies tomfoolery, hyuck and nana are like dumb and dumber, honestly just super chaotic since it’s slice of life :)

taglist. @donutswithjaminthemiddle @dvickyyy @jenosbliss @matryoooshka @luvenshiti @nap-of-a-starr @dojun00 @nctdom @yangsbff @bockhyun

i feel like i did a pretty bad job rounding this fic up, my bad… still hope this lives up to the hype from the teaser! to those tagged, many hugs and kisses!! tysm for the interest <3

also biggest thank you to yunn aka @kdyism for being my beta reader and just being super helpful on absolutely everything for this fic! it def got finished faster bc of ya, much love bun :3

“WAS HE DROPPED on the head when he was a kid?”

You can’t help the snort that passes your lips, making a satisfying slap to Jeno’s arm. “Don’t be mean.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Jeno raises an eyebrow.

“Eh… maybe like once or twice. Not that I would know, I was the same age as him but I’m just guessing.”

You two continue to watch the disaster in front of you befold. Hyuck was currently bothering Yeri. Apparently, he didn’t know the limits as to when to stop because the older senior’s ears are burning red. You’re sure if you were in a cartoon right now, Yeri would have smoke coming out of them, nostrils flaring.

“Should we intervene?” You side-eye Jeno and he’s the least bit concerned, eyes blearily watching the soon-to-be wreck happen in slow motion, cheek squished against his palm.

“Nah. This is way more entertaining than continuing my stats homework.”

You peer over his notebook and he has the word problem and equation written down. Humming, you bring your attention back to the stars of the show and see Yeri grip her notebook tighter, knuckles going white.

“Here we go.” You sing, Hyuck’s screams of protest soon alerting everyone in the campus plaza of his pain.

“He never learns his lesson, huh?” Renjun finally joins, his boots making the fall leaves on the ground crunch. Throwing his book bag on the table, it scrunches Jeno’s current page in his statistics work but the latter doesn’t care.

The two of you nod simultaneously. You and Jeno halfheartedly discouraged Hyuck from going to poke at Yeri around five minutes ago, soon after the three of you had sat down at your usual spot under the only weeping willow tree on campus. It was honestly impressive how quickly your mutual friend could annoy someone so quickly.

“We should time him next. See how long it takes for Yeri to lash out at him.” You mutter the idea, Jeno pursing his lips after the two shift left and right around Yeri and company’s picnic table, a textbook held high in Yeri’s nimble fingers. Wendy and Seulgi are ducking as Irene begins trying to stop the madness, scolding Joy for cheering on their youngest.

“Not a bad idea to be honest. Bet?” Jeno grins and you shake on his hand without looking at him.

“Bet.”

It was just getting good. Hyuck doesn’t have the endurance to continue but Yeri does. Pilates has done her well.

Renjun quirks an eyebrow, pulling out his laptop as an apple slice is shoved into the corner of his mouth. “You don’t even know the conditions of the bet yet.”

You shrug, thoroughly entertained as Hyuck sits on his knees, his hands rubbing together furiously as he begs for mercy. “Next time, he gets Yeri to go after him in under two minutes.”

“I say three.” Jeno nods and he offers a hand again which you shake.

“You underestimate that little lady’s body. She can hold a lot of anger.”

Jeno hums in response, ending the conversation quickly as Hyuck stumbles his way over, a pout sat on his lips. The well-beaten idiot rubs at his forearms, mumbling curses under his breath as he plops down beside Renjun.

“Didn’t end well, did it bud?”

At the smug expression you have plastered on, Hyuck’s pout deepens. “It’s not funny. I need her to partner with me in Psych. I’ll go fucking crazy if I actually have to work with Felix.”

“Felix’s a sweetheart. I don’t know why you have it out for him.”

Hyuck rolls his eyes, running his hands through the ruffled brown strands. Yeri managed to grab a bunch of pine needles and aim correctly enough, even with the air resistance the leaves have.

Renjun beside him plucks a long green one out the battered boy who’s seated beside him, slouched over on the picnic table. “You can’t have two eggheads who don’t pay attention in class paired together. Isn’t that so, Hyuck?” Renjun baby-voices, the latter placing his chin on his stacked wrists to glare.

“Somebody’s cranky.” Chenle swings by, a childish smirk gracing everybody’s presence.

“It’s justified.” Hyuck huffs, turning away from the new arrival. You scoot over, bumping into Jeno’s large body to allow Chenle to sit.

“Why are you so meaty nowadays? Take a break from the gym, will you? We can barely fit eight people at this table as it is.” There’s playful malice in your voice but a little truth in there. The asshole was getting too bulky for your liking.

“Oh please. Mark hardly swings by for lunch with us anymore. And why by chance are you bothered by me bulking up?” Jeno leans closer, eyes impossibly close to yours, “Are you swooning yet?”

Ignoring your heart racing faster, you slap a palm to his forehead, pushing Jeno further away from your face. “No, I’m sick of these freshies asking me for your number, that’s why. You want to know how many have asked for your digits indirectly through me this entire week?”

Chenle and Renjun have suddenly started bickering about something and you have to raise your voice a little.

“Five. Five people. Four girls and one guy. I’d be proud of you if it weren’t for the annoyance starting to kick in.” Jeno raises his eyebrows at the number, finally flattening down his stats paper.

“And what’d you tell ‘em?” Jeno bites distractedly at the cap of his pen, seeming to hit the realization his work has to get done by midnight.

“That they should ask you themselves,” You’re rolling your eyes, nudging at Chenle to back off on his squishing, practically half his body across the table to try and snatch at Renjun’s sliced apples, “I’m kind of sick of your posse trying to scour me for your personal information.”

“Get your own, dingus! We get our rations per month at the commons!”

“I’m not giving up a precious coupon just to get one apple slice, come on!”

“Tell them to stop then.” Jeno tries to solve.

You laugh incredulously, watching Jeno’s concentrated (confused more like) side profile. “You think that deters them? They regenerate into different people every week. The message is not passed on from generation to generation apparently.”

Jeno makes that endearing ‘huH?’ sound and you grab at the notebook yourself, having taken Statistics 101 before. He thanks you under his breath, which you nod at before Jeno slumps onto your shoulder, sighing heavily.

“Sorry. I know it bothers you. I would go around and tell them to back off of you and me personally but I don’t know all their names.”

Glancing at Jeno, it irritates you helplessly that you know he’s not even trying to sound dickish. He’s just that sweet and kind of a guy that makes other people not want to talk to him and ask those types of questions themselves. You know those people that seem too perfect to want to approach? Yeah, that’s Lee Jeno in a nutshell. If you looked up the definition of that type of person in a book, Jeno would be grinning that Samoyed smile of his from on that cursed page.

“I should tape a sign to my back that says, ‘Ask Lee Jeno himself. I’m not his personal owl,’” You peek at his face, “What do you think?”

He slightly smiles, eyes crinkling almost shut even at such a small gesture of amusement. “Okay. I’ll add my signature to it so that they know it’s approved by yours truly.” He looks up to your face and you’re glad the cold can disguise your flustered face easily with this type of weather.

Guess it’s time to actually settle this officially since it’s been clued at a little, but yes: You do have a crush on Jeno. And no, he does not know because when does telling one of your best friends’ that you’ve been crushing on them ever worked out?

No, not in the Wattpad story kind of way, you mean truly worked out. Because personally, you’ve never heard of it working out ever, especially since you’re practically in the you’ve-seen-him-in-his-boxers and he’s-seen-you-shirtless stage of friendship. Don’t ask, it’s a long story that’s already too long for this kind of boring read.

So, no, you will not take your chances, thank you very much. There were many signs flashing neon that told you Jeno didn’t see you in a romantic or sexual kind of way but the glaringly obvious sign was actually the one you two are discussing currently.

What’s the appropriate way of acting if your crush is being berated by other peers on campus to give them your number? You’re not confident in what it actually looks like because for one, you’re not on the receiving end in this imaginary scenario, and two, it’s exactly that; an imaginary scenario. You can’t even seriously dream of Jeno liking you if you could. It was just that bizarre.

In the two years you've known the boy, he’s never even once mentioned another human being that he could potentially be interested in on campus. It’s not a problem of him not being comfortable telling you either because he’s told you upright that he’s not interested in anybody here (including you who’s enrolled in this stupid university). You’ve even nonchalantly asked Jaemin before and he’s confirmed that even in high school, this kid did not have wandering eyes.

You had wondered if Jeno was asexual, aromantic, or something along that line in the spectrum, eventually having the courage to ask him one day and he shook his head no quite confidently, a small smile laid on his lips.

You don't know what Jeno's deal was but the risks in finding out really didn’t lean in your favor. And that’s fine, considering how many fish are available on Earth's wide sea of potential mates. You’ve killed off even the chance of dating Jeno and that’s all good in your book. You’ve been attracted to your guy friends once and twice and they faded away with time exploring their weird quirks or horrible habits. And even if Jeno was a strange case where you’ve even seen the dude have beer dripping from his nostrils from a shitty keg stand and you still manage to harbor feelings for him… eh.

Time brushes away a lot of problems if you’re desperate and willing enough. Luckily for you, you checked off both boxes easily with this special instance.

You open your laptop and scour your documents for your old stats notes on chi-square tests. Bleh.

Pretending to gag in your mouth at the sight, Jeno smothers a laugh that shakes your shoulder and you share the document his way before scrolling and finding the right topic. You do the problem with few difficulties and write a quick message in the corner of his notebook page.

‘Actually study this because Y/N did the example and took time from her day to do so, thank you.’

“Thanks,” Jeno chirps as he takes his notebook back, removing himself from your shoulder (to your well-hidden disappointment), “I owe you one.”

“You’re right. A coffee works just fine, thank you.” You pipe back, folding your hands on the table cheerily. Jeno is shaking his head in mock annoyance but you knew the next time you two meet, you would not be disheartened, a warm cup pressed in hand.

“A four-dollar coffee is worth one solved problem in your book?” Jeno argues.

You fire back without hesitation. “It’s statistics. And I just sent two semesters’ worth of notes to you. You’re very welcome.”

“You’re right,” Jeno turns, stowing his notebook away, “That’s like seven coffees then.”

“And a scone if you’re feeling nice. A croissant works too.” You beam.

“Now you’re pushing it. Those things are stupidly overpriced.”

“Even for me?” You playfully place your chin in your cupped hands, blinking slowly and looking through your lashes.

Jeno sighs, placing a hand on your head of hair. “Fine. You win, you spoiled princess.”

In times like these, you knew you really asked to be put in these types of situations. And you’re not one to start being a saint and stop being hypocritical but… you deserved what you were putting yourself through, saying these types of things and teasing like this. Trying to get a stir and playact with being more.

Maybe it was a little cruel, somewhat tricking Jeno into saying sweet things to you, just to let your mind wander for a second. Call it… taking advantage of his friendship to pretend a little. Harmless but still adds into your ledger of sins for Judgment Day right?

“Why are Jisung and Jaemin taking so long? I’m running out of apples.” Renjun whines, looking at the bag that’s been emptied. You’re almost one hundred percent sure it was the two other hungry animals sitting at this table and you weren’t even listening to their argument earlier.

“They’re carrying seven people’s worth of food. I think that warrants a little patience.”

“I wouldn’t be nearly upset if these two idiots didn’t steal my apples.” Renjun spits out, glaring. The two culprits wholly ignore the oldest.

A whole two minutes later, Jaemin and Jisung arrive, lugging four plastic bags of takeout. Jisung’s thin arms are shaking with the effort to hold them, Hyuck getting up to relieve him.

“Wah, took you two long enough. Thanks for losing the bet last week.” Chenle slaps a hand to Jisung’s heaving back.

“We just walked… half a mile carrying all this.” Jisung breathlessly collapses beside Hyuck, bent over with his hands on his knees.

“Why didn’t you take Jaemin’s car?” Jeno mumbles around his hamburger.

Jaemin laughs, out of breath as well. “I left my fucking car at Yangyang’s from Friday. I didn’t even remember until today because I can walk to my Monday classes.”

“What the fuck did you do without a car on the weekend?” Hyuck wonders, chipmunk cheeks stuffed full of fries.

Jaemin makes a suggestive face and everybody recoils, not willing to be curious anymore. The culprit laughs airily. “Why are you all assuming bad things right now?”

“You didn’t go crawling back to Eunji or something, right?” Hyuck squints, “Because I saw you talking to her that night and that would be pathetic to hear about right now—”

“No, I’m not that kind of asshole—”

“At least you can acknowledge you are one…” Jisung comments under his breath.

“I simply asked her how she was doing. It was completely innocent,” Nana’s wide bunny eyes scan the table, “Really! I conked out in Hendery's room after the party.”

“And just so happened to leave your car at Yang’s which is directly across from Eunji’s dorm—” Hyuck continues before Jaemin cuts him off with a scoff.

“Again. Not that kind of an asshole. Besides, if you had looked closer Hyuck, we were civil Friday night. I doubt she would ever let me get near her that way again… except for maybe with a baseball bat.”

The table stifles laughs at that, chowing down the food. Everyone murmurs a quick thanks halfway through every food item getting demolished.

“Can you even afford this Jisung?” You mention on second thought, considering the younger boy sat diagonally from you.

“Jaemin owed me too so he paid for everything.”

“Man, you just rack them up, don’t you?” Jeno pityingly looks over to his best friend at the end of the table.

He shrugs, not all that bothered. “I’ll eventually learn my lesson, right?”

“Not if you keep agreeing to our daily bets, stupid.” Chenle quips past his tenders, shoulders shaking in mirth.

“That’s true. You walk right into them when we bring it up.” Renjun supports.

“You should be glad you’re never around to accept Ten’s though. I like to think you would fall for them easily.” You crunch at Chenle’s fries, the younger boy not noticing your swiping.

“What do his bets look like?”

“Skinny dipping. Egging houses. And occasionally, seven minutes in heaven.” Jisung answers for you, which you backtrack at. In fact, everybody does.

Hyuck blinks owlishly at him. “What?”

“How do you know these things, kid? Spill.” You threaten with a long fry of Chenle’s, the soggy potato cut flopping as time goes by.

“You’ve never seen me at Ten’s?” Jisung spills. Everyone gapes.

“Why the fuck would we see you at Ten’s!?” Hyuck laughs in disbelief, hilarity at the situation peeking at the twinkle in his eyes.

“Yeah, what the heck? Why am I never invited?” Chenle sulks.

Jeno scoffs. “Because you two are freshmen, that’s why.”

“What are you, fucking Casper the ghost in the corner? How come we’ve never seen you?” Nana is skeptical as well, the only one upset that his baby freshie has managed to sneak into an upperclassmen party.

“Johnny invites me sometimes. When he remembers.” Jisung shrinks at all the attention, nervous with the sudden interrogation.

“Johnny is a bad influence,” Jaemin argues with a fold of his arms.

“Like you’re any better, Nana.” You laugh, bringing an arm around Jaemin to offer comfort. You don’t see Jeno shift at the contact.

“And you don’t take part in the bets, do you?” Renjun implores before he shakes his head, “Wait, no, I definitely would have heard of Jisung having seven minutes in heaven with someone.”

“Oh, no. I’m not insane,” Jisung shivers at the thought. “It’s fun to watch Taeil go crazy though.”

Hyuck slaps a hand to Jisung’s back, the latter wincing at the battering his body is taking today. “Welcome to the real deal, man! My god, why did I not know you came to upperclassmen parties? You sneak in sometimes?”

“What? No! Do I look even close to a sophomore to you?” Jisung looks to make a point, gesturing towards himself. “There’s your answer.”

“I think Johnny favors you then. He has a soft heart for freshies, who knew?”

“Where is my invite then?” Chenle whines, still sulking.

“I’ll take you as my plus one.” Jisung placates his best friend with that and he continues to happily chew on his cheeseburger.

“When’s his next one? Oh, I can’t wait to see how Jisung acts wasted.” Hyuck wiggles in his seat, giggling like a happy toddler.

“Oh no, not on my watch. Baby Jisungie is not getting wasted at any party, ever.” Jaemin acts tough, glaring at the youngest of the group.

“Oh, please Grandpa. You didn’t even realize I was present at these until I just told everyone.”

Nana bursts at that, screeching a scolding noise that startles a pair of girls walking by. “Because I never even expected you to be at one! That’s why!”

Jaemin looks to you, eyes wide. “My baby chick. At an upperclassmen party.”

Giggling, you push at his jaw to turn his gaze towards Jisung again. “Jisung’s got a fair point. Who are you to stop him?”

“I never get wasted anyway. I just come to watch the chaos.” Jisung grins, munching on his chicken tenders like Chenle. As you watch longer, you understand why Nana babies the youngest so much. He’s cute in moderation and it looks easy to want to mother him.

“Whatever,” Nana grumbles, “Guess I have to watch out at parties and babysit now.”

“Oh, please don’t.” Jisung’s face scrunches up.

“This Saturday. You coming, Jisung?” Hyuck grills, pocketing his phone which you didn’t even realize he pulled out to text presumably Johnny or Ten.

“I guess… if Johnny asks me.” Jisung drags out, glancing at Hyuck.

“This sounds like a disaster now that everybody knows.” Renjun leans across to whisper to you and Jeno.

“You two should come to watch the shitshow with me,” You grin, wiggling your eyebrows, “I know you two usually don’t come but sometimes they can be fun.”

“I don’t wanna drink to have fun.” Renjun wrinkles his nose at that.

Waving a hand at that, you offer a tip, “Just fill your cup with a liquid. Nobody is sober enough to check you like a cop.”

Jeno hums at that, Renjun saying that he’ll think about it. Hyuck pockets his phone once again, having pulled it out to ask about Jisung.

“You got the go-ahead, dude. Ready to party with the big boys?” Hyuck wrestles Jisung’s long neck into the crook of his elbow as the younger boy cringes.

“I don’t know about that but…”

Jaemin stands up dramatically, slapping both hands on the table. Your cup of soda spills a little when it knocks over, Jeno cursing as the two of you rush to correct the drink’s position.

“Oh, not on my watch, you won’t!”

The table is quiet, absorbing Nana’s usual dramatics.

Chenle raises his hand a little. “I’m going too, right?”

|—————|

It took a little more convincing for Renjun to come. You and Jeno usually like to watch havoc together, pure rapture and popcorn shared between you two. You seriously considered bringing the movie snack to the party but in the end, was unconvinced by the others. Using the microwave at a frat party didn’t seem so smart, especially if your attention dragged away and someone nagged the bag from the microwave before you could notice. Would just be a waste of popcorn.

Jeno and Renjun swing by your dorm building, waiting outside in the cold for a minute or so before you pop out.

You shiver, pulling at your black jean jacket. “How many more layers do I have to put on to not be cold?”

Renjun shakes his head, observing your legs. “You’re wearing thin ass tights, Y/N, what were you expecting?”

Teeth chattering, the three of you begin to walk to the 127 house. “Jokes on you, I’m wearing leggings underneath. These are fake tights with fleece in them.”

“Why are you so cold all the time? Is your body just that weak?” Jeno genuinely queries, your black skirt flying a little too high with the current wind for his comfort. He slows to walk behind you, conscious of the nonexistent people on the deserted streets looking.

“Yeah, you’re actually shaking. Do you wanna turn back to change?” Renjun offers kindly and you shake your head, committed.

“I look cute right now. Fashion sacrifices, am I right?” You grin impishly, eyeing your company’s outfits.

Following your act of observing everybody’s clothing choices for tonight, Renjun laughs at all three of your different fashion senses. “We look ridiculous walking together right now.”

Jeno peeps up from the back of the two of you leading the way. “How? I think we look fine.”

You hum in agreement. “We look like college students going to a party.”

A bark of laughter escapes Renjun’s mouth, tugging at Jeno’s jacket zipper. “Yeah, three different parties. Jeno looks like he’s about to rob a store. Y/N looks like a grunge girl and I look like I’m heading to the fucking library.”

He’s not that wrong. Jeno’s wearing all black, cargo pants, tee, chunky boots, and zip-up hiding his good figure in the darkness of his clothes. A navy blue cardigan covers Renjun, wearing similar beat-up Converse to you, with a white tee and light blue jeans. Looking down at your own outfit, you pluck a piece of lint off your gray sweater.

“But we all look great. Killing the fashion game. Fabulous.” You strut forward with confidence, the other two amused at your antics.

The 127 frat house lays ahead and you speed up to get out of the cold. Mark greets you with a hug and shout of happiness. You can smell the alcohol reeking his breath and the entire vicinity already. The floor bumps beneath your feet, everyone else in the building bobbing their head to the beat.

“Hi, Y/N! Oh shit, what?” Mark calls out to Jeno and Renjun, dapping them up as his Solo cup dangerously leers to the left. You hurriedly correct it in his hold, not willing to get beer stains on your nice clothes this early into the night.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?” Mark shouts down to you, a dopey grin implanted on his expression, “You convinced them to come for once?!”

“I know, right? It’s a rare occasion tonight!” You yell back, a contagious smile growing on you at Mark’s infectious mood.

Jeno leans closer to break your close proximity to Mark, “Hyuck is gonna get Jisung to let loose. Seems like a good disaster to watch unfold.”

Mark shakes his head fondly at that, grabbing a hold of Renjun’s shoulder and leading all three of you into the kitchen. It’s crowded with humid heat, too many bodies in one room for comfort.

“Grab a drink and toss any cups just laying around, please. I gotta get back to door duty but have fun!” Mark sings, planting a brave wet kiss to your forehead in goodbye before he’s off, shoving to the front of the house again.

You wipe at your forehead, deciding to make fun of sober Mark for this innocent kiss later. Jeno bristles at the sight, grabbing three red cups and pulling out the unopened liter of Coca-Cola in the back of the line of sodas.

Renjun holds the three cups gladly, there being no counter space to easily maneuver for pouring, before passing on the beverage to you. You press your cup to the ice machine and grimace as no ice chunks come flying into your cup.

“Lukewarm Coke it is.” You toast the other three, clinking your Solo cups together before sipping. Getting out of the small kitchen, your eyes scan the crowd.

“See Jisung, Chen, or Hyuck anywhere?” Renjun queries, yelling over the thumping bass. You climb onto the step bar of a stool someone’s currently sitting on, placing a hand on Jeno’s shoulder for support. The height lets you look over the big jumble of people in the large living room, not noticing any familiar heads.

“I see Jungwoo. Maybe he knows.” Jeno calls out, before stepping into the mass of moving bodies. He abandons the two of you for a total of thirty seconds before dragging not one, but two of the 127 boys over.

Doyoung gives a quick side hug, shoving at Jungwoo who comes to lift you off your feet. You make an impact sound at the tall puppy’s strength, patting at his arm to let you down.

Jungwoo’s blonde head of hair is all mussed up and you brush at the strands, laughing. “How much have you had to drink already?”

“A good, healthy amount! I’m on water for the rest of the night!” Jungwoo happily confesses with a thumbs up, all his perfect white teeth on display.

“You two know where Hyuck is?” Renjun bellows.

Jeno adds on, “Or Jisung! We’re here for them!”

Doyoung makes a pulled face at that, Jungwoo bending over in laughter. “What!? Jisung is here?”

The younger of the two frat boys begin darting over the crowd, trying to locate the tall beanstalk.

“What would Jisung be doing here?” Doyoung is puzzled, a little concern crawling into his expression.

“Apparently all Johnny’s doing. Or Hyuck’s, we don’t know at this point.” Jeno shrugs.

“We’re here for the shitshow to commence!” You revealed a little too happily, Doyoung making a forced smile.

“I don’t know anything about this. Johnny’s DJing right now! You can go ask him though.” He points to the far back of the living room. The black-haired senior is head bobbing to the music, a set of headphones half on his head as he waves his gigantic arms around.

You giggle nervously at the obstacle between you and reaching him. “Oh hell no,” You push at Jeno’s arm, “This tough guy is going to go ask for us.”

Doyoung cradles his favorite underclassman by the neck and joins him in his journey to the front. Jungwoo’s a little ways away, dancing wildly. Renjun laughs at the sight, bringing your attention to the silly junior.

“I dare you to join him.” You challenge playfully, and Renjun shakes his head adamantly.

“Fuck no! You think I dance at these parties?!”

“If you have alcohol in you, anyone can dance!” You try to convince Renjun, pulling his lips down.

“Good thing I’m not drinking tonight then!”

Jungwoo gets swept out into the dance floor again, not allowing the three of you to converse more before Jaemin joins the two of you out of seemingly nowhere. He cheers at the sight, ruffling Renjun’s well-styled hair, much to the older boy’s disappointment.

Jaemin grasps at your opposite shoulder, leaning on your head to heave some of his dead weight.

You nudge his side, Nana yelping at the contact. “You know where Jisung is?”

Nana widens his eyes at your question, suddenly remembering his self-proposed babysitting job.

“Oh shit! I forgot! Where is that idiot?” Jaemin gasps, helplessly looking around.

“Trust me, we’ve been trying to navigate this mess for ten minutes since we’ve arrived. Just wait here with us!” Renjun pulls at Jaemin’s belt loop, yanking the same-birth-year boy back into your talking circle.

Jeno arrives a minute later, lugging a slouching Jisung on his back. Hyuck is laughing his ass off, pushing the hair off of Jisung’s forehead to catch the youngest’s drunk face better.

Jeno practically throws Jisung on the now-available stool this stranger just gave up, blowing out a breath of relief. “This kid is way heavier than he looks!” Jeno complains.

Hyuck is still dying of laughter and you and Renjun can’t help but follow in line as Jisung groans, pulling at Jeno’s waist to cuddle him. The latter is halfway between uncomfortable and endeared at Jisung’s affectionate behavior, who’s mumbling nonsense.

“Jesus, why did he drink so much?” Jaemin worries, patting his baby chick’s head.

“Dude, I didn’t even need to say anything! Chenle is the bad influence here, not me!” Hyuck throws his hands up at Nana’s deadly glare. As if on cue, the second youngest of your friend group gathers everybody’s attention in the crowd, pulling 127 boy Jaehyun on the table he’s standing on to make a speech.

“There’s no damn way…” You whistle at the sight, Jaehyun patting the underclass man in pride.

Jisung mumbles something into Jeno’s stomach and the older boy leans down to hear him better.

“Hm… w-wanna go… home…” Jisung hiccups, eyes barely open and Jeno nods.

“I better bring this idiot home. I’ll probably have to sneak his dumb ass past the RA, I’ll be right back.” Jeno grunts as he wraps Jisung’s long arms around his neck, practically carrying the beanstalk like a backpack.

“It’s okay, I’ll do it!” Nana rushes to switch off with Jisung’s dead weight. He groans, looking to Jeno with a grimace. “Ugh, you were right. He is a lot heavier than he looks.”

“Are you sure? I can help?” Jeno halfheartedly makes sure, to which Jaemin nods resolutely.

“I need some fresh air anyways, been here too long!”

“Do you want me to go with you?” You offer, only because you knew sneaking around the RA would manage to get rowdy with just the two of them alone.

“Nah, it’s okay. I better have a drink after getting back from this though.” Nana jokes and you shove the pair towards the door.

Jeno stuffs his hands into his pockets, low-key relieved that he doesn’t have to go back into the cold night. He had just gotten here and despite how disgusting it was thinking about how much heat was being produced, it was better than freezing outside.

“There’s our entertainment for the night.” Renjun lifts his cup in salute.

Hyuck nudges everyone to watch Chenle though, who wants to crowd surf but fails to, nobody willing to hold him up. Everyone starts cackling at the sight, peers practically making space so that Chenle won’t be convinced to just commit and dive onto them.

“Up for a game of beer pong, anyone? I’ve been trying to play all night!” Hyuck hooks around the boys, dragging everyone over to the foyer where two tables were set up. Tons of spills made you almost slip and split your head open. Thankfully Jeno is like a solid wall behind you, not fazed by your clumsiness.

He gets close behind you, hands still on your waist and breath tickling your ear as Hyuck and Renjun take the other end of the pong table. “Wanna bet Mark comes in for a celebrity shot later?”

You laugh nervously, getting hot under his hold and turning to look at Jeno’s expression. “That is oddly specific. How are you so confident?”

Looking over to Mark, he’s chatting with Mina and completely distracted from answering the door now. You’re sure that Johnny, the brother he’s been shadowing in the frat, would not be happy with Mark ignoring his job. Or maybe he would, knowing Mark was actually shooting his shot with a girl.

“I don’t wanna tell you why. Then you won’t agree.” Jeno argues, finally getting his hands off you to roll up his sleeves. You slightly roll your eyes at his words, trying to subtly look at the veins in Jeno’s hands' flex.

“I think he’ll come in later too. But I say it’ll be for us. Not for Hyuck or Renjun.”

Jeno makes a tutting sound, collecting the empty cups on your side and making the triangular shape. “You’re trying to sell me out here, no way. You’re just gonna convince Mark to come over by…”

Your eyebrows lift. “By what exactly?”

Jeno shakes his head, a small smile sat on his face. You poke at his side, curious. “By what? Now you’ve intrigued me!”

“Whatever. I’ll make a better bet,” Jeno nabs Renjun’s missed shot, to which Hyuck whines, “Mark is gonna ask you out tonight.”

Sputtering on the soda you’ve been sipping on, you watch Jeno whip his ping pong ball like straight butter into your opponents’ cup. The other side’s loud protests distract him from your obvious gaping, confused at the sudden thought of Mark liking you.

Jeno eventually eyes your expression, making a weird face. “What?”

“What? What do you mean, what? Are you insinuating Mark likes me?!” You angrily whisper, afraid that somehow the person you two were talking about would hear over the loud music flowing throughout the house.

“Why are you so surprised? It’s very obvious! At least in my eyes.” Jeno shrugs. The ping pong from Hyuck hits your stomach, confusing him. You grab at it, just tossing it without a care. The ball whooshes in and you don’t notice, still frazzled.

“You’re joking, right? This is a sick joke of yours?” Peering over at Jeno, he scoffs.

“No. Don’t tell him I said this but when we first introduced you to him, he said you were pretty.” The deadpan way Jeno utters this makes your eyes squint.

“That seems like an innocent compliment to me.” (News flash, you’re denying reality here.)

Jeno lifts a dark eyebrow at that. “When has Mark Lee ever gone out of his way to intentionally compliment a girl?”

You scrunch your nose at that, rubbing at the kiss he planted on your head earlier. “This changes things.”

Jeno only chuckles, plucking the ball from one of your cups and setting it aside. He closes one eye, practically doing the same with the other as he aims. He groans with a failure, looking back to you. “Do you not like him? He’s nice, though you haven’t known him as long as I and the others have.”

“No, no, he is nice! I like him.” The last sentence is pronounced like ‘I like him as a friend’ in your head but Jeno interprets it differently. Maybe the bass from the speakers morphed the tone of your words in his thick skull.

“You like him?” Jeno’s voice tilts high. Hyuck’s next horrible shot plonks straight at Jeno’s forehead, which he ignores in shock.

He’s never shown incredibility like this to show you. You’re diverted to denying his words instantly, not thinking of the consequences.

“He’s… a nice guy.” You look to Mark again and this time, he senses your gaze, throwing up a nerdy gesture of a peace sign. You wave back with a smile and don’t catch Jeno’s suspicious tonguing of his cheek at the interaction.

“Are you accepting the bet or not?” Jeno holds a hand out, which you wait to contemplate after absolutely dunking your next shot. On a roll.

“Mark’s wingman now, are you?” Your tease causes Jeno’s jaw to shift. He acts it off as confidence, nodding with reluctance.

Maybe he had gone too far with the little game of bets now.

“Okay! Bet!” You perk up, wanting to win this easy wager. Mark wouldn’t ask you out, no way.

Accepting the deal easily, you shake on it and smirk internally.

Jeno was easy to read. An open book, you could say. Everyone in your friend group knew it as well, which made him the butt of jokes and teases all too often. He made it too fun to poke at him and you’ve joined in on the game plenty of times. This was just another game of prodding the naive Samoyed you had, though a little different.

You didn’t really understand the reasoning behind Jeno’s disturbance all that much but he was the one that brought Mark’s supposed “crush” to you. And you’re not one to fuck with someone’s feelings that far, especially with sweet ‘ol Mark’s.

You were pretty confident the older boy did not fancy you though; he was never around you in the first place to hint at the notion. Mark was pretty private with his romantic life so you’re not all that surprised you don’t know much. He was glued to the frat more often than usual and has been hanging out with you and company less often.

To be fair, if Mark was with someone, hopefully, he was not blatantly kissing your forehead without care. You were never as close to Mark as the other boys like Jeno had stated before. You suppose if he did happen to ask you out tonight, it wouldn’t be so bad. But the desire to win this bet burns in your veins, even more than usual with the bizarre behavior Jeno is exhibiting at the mere thought of you returning Mark’s so-called “feelings”.

“If you’re making a bet to win this game right now, you’re gonna eat shit!” Hyuck brags, practically vibrating in excitement because the two of you were somehow tied up. Even with this dude drunk, he could be somewhat decent at games. How irritating.

Biting the corner of your lip, you ignore Hyuck, plan to win this short game of cup pong, and then win this bigger game of bets with Jeno. To gain this extra favor initializes a step-by-step scheme of what you were going to do. There was no way Jeno could beat you.

Jeno watches greed grow in your irises, probably confused.

“So you’re confident he won’t ask you out.” He drags out his words, making sure you understood what you just shook on.

“Yeah,” You bob in place now, trying out his strategy of closing one eye to shoot, “Mark won’t ask me out. He’s not that drunk.”

“Really?” Jeno feigns interest, throwing his head to Mark fast approaching you, “You sure about that?”

You don’t get to answer, Mark’s alcohol-hazed eyes crinkling. Mina follows close behind, waving a greeting to the both of you. “Hi, Mina! Mark— oomph!”

Thinking Mark’s walk trajectory would stop before reaching so close, the junior bumps chest-first into you.

“Hi! Can I take a celebrity shot?!” Mark yells, overcompensating his volume when you’re glued to him. He swarms your space, placing a touchy hand on the small of your back before standing on his tippy toes and stealing your ping pong.

His mouth is instinctively making ‘Oh!’ noises as he readies it, failing miserably and pouting at the loss. “I could’ve sworn that was close, dude!”

You and Mina share a smile. She knew her friend was a little touchy when drunk so the two of you chalk it up to being just that. Jeno doesn’t though, burning eyes watching the tight hold Mark has on you.

Mark blinks rapidly down at you, pleading with big doe eyes, “Just one more shot I steal. One more celebrity shot!”

You nod, easily agreeing with a laugh. Maybe you had underestimated how turnt your dude was right now. Mark leans backward a little, losing his balance and almost toppling you over with him. Mina pulls Mark away from your space, probably deciding he’s had enough of bothering you.

“Sorry, he is so wasted right now.” Mina apologies, pushing the boy away from your beer pong table to the kitchen for water.

Jeno makes a face that reads “I told you so”, forcing you to bend over in laughter.

“Jeno, you can’t be serious. He acts that way with everyone!”

“You think that Mark touches up every girl like that? He kissed your forehead earlier too.” Jeno genuinely notes and you pause. Just for a split second.

“We’re friends.” It’s as if that statement alone will end this argument and Jeno rolls his eyes.

“And we’re friends too, dimwit. We don’t act like that, do we?”

You shift at his words, uncomfortable at the sudden lodging of your throat. Oh, how you wish Jeno did. At least then, you’d have a pathetic hope he had an inkling of an interest in you too.

Instead of replying to him, you turn and take Jeno’s shot for him to end the game. The last cup is yours for the taking and Renjun groans with his head thrown back, almost flying off balance at the shove Hyuck gives his partner for more space.

“Okay, okay! Redemption shot, I got this!” Hyuck steadies his hand and bounces off the lip of your side’s last Solo cup.

“FUCK!”

“YOU ABSOLUTE DICKHEAD, LEE DONGHYUCK!”

There’s a forced smile on your lips at the victory, one that only Jeno can notice is fake up close. Thankfully, he doesn’t pry on it more, seeing as he knew you weren’t going to give a truthful answer in this setting.

You were starting to wish you had a bit of alcohol in your system, as much as you hated the taste of it on your tongue.

|—————|

By the end of the night, you had won the bet as expected. But Jeno being the sore loser he is, tried to convince you to drag the bet on. He was super confident that Mark was into you. Maybe his friend was too wasted to ask or remember your answer if he were to come up to you about a date.

“I’ll sleep on it,” You had said, “Especially since I pity you and I haven’t decided what I want the favor to be yet.”

With that, Jeno breathed out a sigh in relief as he walked you home.

|—————|

You didn’t realize how committed Jeno was to this particular game. And you don’t know why because you had honestly forgotten about it yourself the morning next. Maybe it was his pride and stubbornness stopping him from giving up.

When Jeno swings by your dorm, texting you to come downstairs quickly, you’re confused.

He’s in comfy clothes, hair a little frizzy as he hands you a croissant and a warm cup of coffee that heats up your body temperature.

You blearily squint your eyes at him in suspicion. “What are you buttering me up for right now?”

With no RA in sight, you usher him into the warmth of the dorm lobby, virtually no people around to notice your blatant disregard for rules.

“I’m not buttering you up. I just wanted to be nice this morning.”

Staying silent, Jeno watches your expression breathe incredibility.

“Really! I didn’t know it was a crime to be nice to you anymore, jeez.”

The bet comes to mind and you mention it. “You’re hoping I’m not going to make you splurge your money on my favor, aren’t you?”

Jeno laughs, the sound deep in timbre as the sun rises higher in the cold blue sky. “No, I swear. Although talking about Mark, he is going through it right now. I woke up to a video Doyoung sent me of him vomiting into the toilet.”

You suck your lips in, holding back a laugh. “You know, if you’re trying to sell your man to me right now, describing his hangover is not working.”

Jeno quirks the corner of his lip at that. “He probably drank half his body weight last night.”

You roll your eyes. “And here you were, thinking he was going to be sober enough to consider asking me out. Alright.”

Your friend shrugs, sipping at his drink. “I’m not wrong, Princess. I’ll show you with your own two eyes Mark Lee has the hots for you.”

Cringing at the way Jeno phrased his words, you stuff the pastry you were kindly gifted into your mouth, muffling your reply. “Plea don’ efer say if like ‘at again.”

Jeno’s shoulders shake at your antics. “You’ve slept on my proposition now, ma’am. What’s the deal?”

Swallowing roughly, you mutter, “Can I raise the stakes to three favors?”

Jeno scratches at his hairline at that, face in a grimace. “Fuck. Is this worth it?”

At the hesitation in Jeno’s eyes, you jump like a hound to the smell of meat. Or in this case, a perfect opportunity to score on some free meals.

“Yes! Yes, it’s worth it. I accept your deal!”

“Woah woah woah! I haven’t agreed yet!” Jeno is shaking his hands in front of him, dangerously leering his hot drink side to side. He licks at the lid, the brown liquid sloshing everywhere.

“You brought this new condition up in the first place so,” Taking Jeno’s distraction as a chance to dunk cheaply on him, you take his free hand in yours, shaking on it, “Bet.”

|—————|

It was game on from the damn get-go.

Any chance that Jeno got, which was within a hundred feet radius of a certain junior named Mark Lee, he bolted to the boy’s side.

Poor Mark is so confused at the sudden ramblings Jeno has of you. He’s also even more conflicted because Jeno is going in on his compliments of your smile, smarts, humor, you name it. Mark wasn’t sure whether his friend was either crushing hard and needed to only confide in him, or whether Jeno was trying to make him like you indirectly through his selling words.

Another thing the boy stuck in the middle of this mess notices is your sudden disappearance from his vicinity. You two didn’t exactly share a class but shared a professor, who taught two subjects back to back.

Usually, you would wait around in the auditorium-shaped classroom to catch up with him, just say hi. But no, apparently you now bolt as soon as the professor calls it quits for the day. Mark had a greeting on the tip of his tongue opening up the doors, only to scour your usual seating arrangement and come up empty.

Poking his head out down the sidewalk, you’re speed walking away like your non-existent pet was on the verge of death.

Mark would brush it off to some urgent duty you had but… at the odd behavior of his two friends, he decides to swing by the willow tree at the end of the week. Maybe start his own experiment on what was going on. It just didn’t seem like a coincidence to him.

And right he was in his thoughts.

At the sight of Mark approaching the table, your eyes widen to the size of saucers, whipping your head around to Jeno. You want to slap his smug face right off.

“What the hell is Mark doing here? Did you convince him to come?” You spit out in a whisper, Hyuck none-the-wiser as he hollers for his best friend to sit beside him.

Jeno shakes his head no innocently, lips pouting out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Swearing under your breath, you plaster a smile onto your face, breathing out a greeting to the upperclassman. He grins at you, to which your cheeks heat up for some reason.

Maybe it was because this dude beside you had been bragging about you to Mark. Jeno had told you his genius plan of planting unconscious thoughts of you in Mark’s head a few days ago and its effects are now catching up to you, sweat building on your hairline.

Jeno misinterprets it as you getting nervous in the presence of Mark, probably wishing rain to fall on his head at manifesting his final Lee brother to sit down this afternoon.

“What’s up, man?” Mark exchanges a handshake with Jeno as he swings his bag to the ground and tucks his legs under the table. He watches with rapture as you busy yourself with the textbook splayed out in front of you, eyes skittering.

Before Jeno can give a general reply to Mark, Hyuck bumps Mark's shoulder. “You should text Renjun your order from that Mexican place down the street.”

“Who’s favor are we using today?” Mark asks in curiosity.

You raise a hand rather timidly, to which the entire table is bewildered and bemused. The bewildered people are only Hyuck and Mark because they don’t know the absolute pain-enduring embarrassment to which bemused Jeno has cursed you to withstand. You’ve always been very comfortable with the guys, including Mark, so the oblivious two not in on this bet are raising their eyebrows at your behavior.

“What did Renjun lose against you again?” Jeno pretends to ponder deeply while you throw a heated glare his way. You wish you could burn his eyebrows right off in this moment.

“Oh!” The bulky meathead gasps, “He lost ten-to-two against a game of naming capitals of countries. Isn’t she so smart?”

Jeno is being so obvious. You grit your teeth as he pets your head.

“Take your hand away before I bite your pinky finger off.” You seethe past closed lips, the audience not hearing your threat.

Jeno jolts his limb away at that, instead, grinning a Samoyed smile toward Mark. The latter is mainly lost in trying to navigate what the fuck was going on.

Hyuck only rolls his eyes, a little more used to your duo’s antics. “They’re probably betting on something right now.”

Mark blinks at that. The picture was becoming a little clearer. He wasn’t sure which way to start investigating this dilemma next.

“No!” The two of you deny instantly, sitting up straighter. It’s even more cause to believe Hyuck’s point.

“Ignore them,” Hyuck acts like an exasperated mother to you and Jeno’s Dumb and Dumber act, pulling out his phone to show Mark the Mexican place’s menu.

As the other pair get lost debating what to order for Mark, you turn to Jeno with a death wish written in your eyes.

“Are you crazy, Lee Jeno!? What are you doing right now, you’re practically on the verge of cheating! You’re going to give this entire thing away!”

“No,” Jeno drags out in denial, acting like you’re a child that doesn’t understand his obvious tactic, “I’m just telling him of your intelligence. I have no clue what you’re on about.”

You’re heavily tempted to close your textbook and go bonkers Yeri-on-Hyuck style on him but Mark butts into your killer thoughts before you can pull through.

“What are you ordering, Y/N?”

You stutter to Jeno’s, albeit bitter, amusement. “Um, a chimichanga. It’s… pretty good from there.”

“Okay!” Mark perks up, tapping at the phone in Hyuck’s hand, “I’ll get the same.”

Jeno giggles into your ear and irritation bubbles to the surface of your skin.

“I swear to fucking—”

Mark interrupts your threat once again and you paste another pleasant smile on. “Y/N, I missed you before my class on Wednesday. You were gone before I could even say hi.”

“Oh, yeah. I uh…” You rush to make an excuse, “I really had to water my— plant. Yeah.”

You want to punch yourself.

Hyuck snickers as he texts Renjun Mark’s order. “What the fuck…”

“Yeah, what the fuck? You don’t even have a pet plant in your room. Everything you attempt to raise dies.” Jeno feels the need to contribute. You’re seething at this idiot’s audacity.

Clarifying your mistake in excuse will only deepen the hole you’ve dug for yourself so you shut up, wanting the ground to swallow your entire being whole instead.

“Huh,” Mark chuckles, “Okay. You’re not avoiding me for some reason, right?”

“What? Oh, no. Not at all!” As if to prove a point to Jeno, you give the most convincing smile you can to Mark.

“Okay, that’s good.”

Renjun saves you from continuing this conversation as Hyuck’s phone rings, pressing the speaker button to the call.

“What’s up?”

“Could two of you come to the restaurant real quick? I’m going to need help carrying all this food back.”

“Why didn’t you use your car, dumbass?” Hyuck whines.

“Because it’s a two-minute walk from campus grounds? Come help me!”

Jeno pipes up, “Make Jaemin and the two youngest help you. They haven’t shown up here yet.”

“Well obviously I had thought of that, Jeno,” Renjun sasses back, “They aren’t answering.”

“I’ll go!” You practically trip in getting up from the picnic table, dying to get away from this awkward atmosphere.

The other three make eye contact.

“Not it!”

“Not—! Ugh.”

For fuck’s sake. Your luck is actual dog water.

“Why are you so slow at this game? Your reaction speed is usually good,” Hyuck questions Mark, who groans as he gets up.

“Well, why do we always play “Not it” then? It’s targeting me specifically.”

You wholly ignore Jeno’s disgusting grin of satisfaction as the two of you begin to tread down the street. You curse to all above that Jeno gets kicked in the shins one day. It was looking like you were going to be the perpetrator more and more these days.

“So…” Mark drags out, his hands in his pockets, “Do I even want to know what it is I’m currently stuck between?”

You hum as you genuinely consider Mark’s words. “I can’t tell you. It’ll break the bet. And I really want to win.”

Mark’s eyes crinkle in mirth. “The two of you are so competitive. It might take forever for you to win at this rate...”

“Are you willing to be on my side?” You raise an eyebrow, secretly wishing.

To be fair, there were no very clear-cut boundaries to other methods of getting the dub. After all, Jeno is practically begging Mark to get the idea to ask you out.

You could still cheat but not… outright cheat.

“I guess so, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.” Mark shrugs innocently. You fold your hands together, laughing under your breath as you close your eyes while looking up.

“Damn, this is serious, dude.” Mark laughs boisterously, observing your silly act of gratitude.

“It’s on three favors,” You mumble past your silent prayers to the sky, “Of course this is serious.”

“Three? Shit… Well, you have me at your disposal as long as you don’t tell me what the bet is, right? What should I do?”

You smirk, finally looking at Mark with sinister eyes.

The ball is in your field now.

|—————|

“Huh.”

Jaemin looks up from his laptop to Jeno who makes the noise of discernment, watching two figures from afar. Following his best friend’s eyeline, you and Mark are walking side-by-side toward the commons. You’re grinning as Mark laughs, bent over with difficulty while walking.

“When did they get closer?” Jaemin asks in bewilderment. Jeno stays silent as Mark holds the door open for you and the both of you disappear into the commons.

“Don’t know,” Jeno mumbles, finally looking down to his device and rereading the same paragraph over again.

Jaemin makes a face at that, having been able to read his buddy for a while now.

“So…”

Jeno sighs, knowing that Jaemin is obviously hinting at something. “Spit it out.”

“What bet did you make with Y/N?”

Jeno side-eyes Jaemin with annoyance. “How do you even know anything about this?”

“I have my ways,” Jaemin concludes mysteriously, “Answer me.”

“We bet at Johnny’s party two weeks ago.”

“On what though?”

“I said Mark would ask her out.”

Jaemin snorts at that, going back to his laptop. “He’s not into her. He likes Mina.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t really seem that way anymore. They’re getting all giggly and close with one another.” Jeno has a tone of temper growing in his words.

“If the bet is over then, why is this dragging on?”

“I raised it to three favors now. It’s indefinite.”

Jaemin glances at Jeno again with fingers halted on his keyboard, holding back laughter. “Why would you ever, under any conditions, accept that? Against Y/N of all people too? She’s going to drain your wallet for food.”

“She’s convincing.”

“Or you’re whipped for her.”

“I’m not.” Jeno gives a dirty look to the poor paragraph he’s been on for five minutes.

“You’re in deep denial, bud. I’ve been saying this for an eternity.”

Jeno scowls at his best friend, not appreciating the entertained, twinkling eyes shot his way. Jaemin tilts his chin toward his neck, looking up through his long eyelashes at Jeno.

“Deny it all you want but I know my shit. She likes you, you like her. It’s simple.” Jaemin chirps.

“Oh, and you’re the love expert, aren’t you, playboy?” Jeno’s exasperated, practically pouting. “I don’t like Y/N.”

“Really? Why are you bothered with the idea of Y/N being with Mark then? You’re the one that suggested to her Mark was interested. Now that Y/N is entertaining the idea, you’ve backed off on trying to win,” Jaemin lands a slap on Jeno’s back, “You’re deserving of what you’re putting yourself through, man.”

Jeno sighs as he folds his arms onto the table, laying his chin down. “I don’t like it when you speak sense.”

“For one, I’ve always been speaking sense. But I’m glad you’re finally acknowledging my genius good points. I’ve been trying to get through your thick skull about her for two years.” Jaemin nods in gratification, glad Jeno is opening his eyes a little, even if it took some good ‘ole jealousy to stir his best friend’s heart around.

|—————|

“Ow!”

You cringe, the corners of your mouth reaching your ears. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to do that.”

“S’okay.” He grumbles at the way, rubbing at the eye you just poked.

Pressing the face mask firmer on Mark’s already milky skin, you fixate on a bump and attempt to smooth it over. Once you’re satisfied, you wipe your hands on your pajama pants and clap in completion.

“Perfect!” Twisting Mark’s shoulders around so that he shifts on the bed to face his mirror, he immediately ruins your hard work by bursting into laughter at the sight of the sheet mask on his face.

“Mark! You fucking ruined it!” You can’t help but fall in line with your friend’s contagious sounds of amusement, slapping his arm lightly for him to face you and fix it again.

“I’m sorry! I look so stupid, I can’t—”

Urging him to sit up straight, you shake your head side to side, not able to be actually mad when Mark was so humored by the new experience of night skincare.

“Whatever. I guess I don’t care since you paid for dinner and I paid for this.” Grinning down at him, knees planted on the bed, Mark naturally returns your smile and regrets it as you lightly pinch his ear in retaliation for again, messing up your hard work.

“My bad, my bad. But it’s whatever. Pizza isn’t expensive.”

“That restaurant is kind of expensive though.” You mutter under your breath, brushing Mark’s hair from his head and adjusting his baby lion headband you bought for this tiny sleepover.

“It’s chill. No big deal.”

Settling back to sit on your heels, you raise a teasing eyebrow. “And if I make you sleep on the couch in the living room?”

Mark falls line and sinker, pouting a little. “You said we would put pillows between us tonight.”

Laughing lightly, you rush to reassure Mark. “I’m joking, you know I am,” Throwing yourself back to the pillows on your friend’s bed, you pat the spot beside you and Mark follows, “What movies do you wanna watch?”

He hums, tugging his laptop from its charger on the bedside table, “Didn’t we decide on binging the Tom Holland Spiderman movies earlier this week?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that! I—”

Your phone begins to buzz incessantly on his nightstand and you peer at it. “Oh. It’s Jeno.”

Mark makes a suggestive face at that and you scoff.

You and Mark have gotten closer over your comradery of this bet with Jeno. And not in a romantic way, just more of genuinely enjoying each other’s company as friends.

Yeah, sure, the times to hang out at first were very much arranged and a little awkward. And Mark being the star student he is, was always studying or doing something productive but you two balanced each other out. You’re glad this entire thing with Jeno has gotten you to know Mark better. You two were way more similar than you thought. Mark inspires you to be productive with your weekly library study sessions and you remind Mark to not stress so much and have a breather sometimes.

Over this bet, you’ve gained a closer friend and you’re not mad about it. The bet wasn’t ruined either since you hadn’t clued into Mark what the whole deal was about but he had an inkling; you just couldn’t confirm his suspicions.

What Mark did confirm though was your very obvious feelings for Jeno. And no, you did not need to tell him. It was a bit obvious and as much as Mark was oblivious to many types of things, your subtlety about Lee Jeno somewhat escaped everybody else’s eyes in your friend group except for him.

(It was not because Mark caught you staring at a secret screenshot of Jeno’s gym picture he snapped you one time. Nope. No way.)

“Answer him. What are you waiting for?” Mark throws a hand over to your device, laptop placed aside for now.

Sighing, you press the answer button. Jeno’s sleepy face drowns your phone screen and your heart palpitates at his soft look and droopy eyes.

“Hey.” His timbre is deep with sleepiness and you resist the urge to physically make a cooing sound.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Was gonna ask you the same.” Jeno twists to lay on his side in bed, only illuminated with the light of his phone screen.

“Chilling with Mark,” You flip the camera to Mark, who is busy scrolling and puts up a hand in hello, “Sleepover things, you know. Ate out earlier too.”

You can’t register the look on Jeno’s face all that well with the way he shifts the phone to sit up in bed. But Jeno’s tone dies a little of interest and the natural quirk on his lips downturn as well.

“Oh… I like your facemasks.”

“Thanks!” You pat at your own, peering at Mark for a second and checking on his, “Mark kept fucking up his for ten minutes. It was a big hassle.”

“That is not true. It was five minutes, max.” Mark pouts offscreen, patting at your cheek where the edge is lifting. Jeno catches his friend’s hand touching your face and feels a bubble of crossness pop in his chest.

“Whatever makes you feel better,” You smile off to the side, returning to Jeno and sensing his emotions change. “So uh, you didn’t say what you were doing.”

“Oh. I was calling to ask if you wanted to do something.”

You feel a weight fall to the pit of your stomach in a split second. “Shit, sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Jeno picks at a thread on his mattress.

Mark butts in, leaning his chin on your shoulder and coming into view. “Come swing by. Hyuck is here right now, hanging with Taeil playing Mario Kart.”

“Nah.”

You furrow your eyebrows, confused. “Didn’t you want to spend time with us? Come on.”

“I changed my mind,” Jeno smiles with no real power behind it. At the mention of “us”, Jeno flips his desires, not willing to out himself, and say he just wanted you for company right now. There’s a hollowness in the expression he has pasted on and you bristle at it, bothered at his show of trying to hide.

“Okay… text me. Actually, scratch that— I’ll text you.”

“Alright. Night.”

“Bye—”

A bit dejected at Jeno cutting you off and ending the call quickly on his side, your hand loosens and falls straight into your lap, phone in grip.

“That was weird,” Mark mumbles, popping open a bag of chips and chewing a bit obnoxiously. “What are you gonna text him?”

You follow his hand’s path and dig to grab a crisp too, sighing in agreement. “He was being a bit off. I’ll just check on him.”

Mark hums, smiling a little. “You know him well.”

You shrug at Mark’s words. “He’s easy to read.”

“Oh yeah?” Mark goads, “How come you don’t notice the way he looks at you then?”

“Huh?”

The face and noise of confusion you make, automatically has Mark thinking of the boy you two were talking about.

“What do you mean, ‘Huh?’ It’s so obvious.” He mocks, making an exaggerated face to imitate you.

“What? What is?”

Mark lets you stew in silence for a few moments to try and grasp what he was hinting at. At your lost expression, Mark’s facial muscles relax, a blank look overtaking his task of chewing.

“You’re joking, right?”

Now you laugh, incredibly baffled and feeling called out. “Mark, what? What are you trying to say?”

“You dumb bimbo.”

“Excuse me?!” You run out of breath, a smile still plastered on at the audacity this man has calling you a bimbo of all things.

Mark resumes his munching, shaking his head with mirth, and returns back to his phone. “You two are lost causes.”

“Lost c— What the—?”

He doesn’t elaborate, now ignoring you and waving a hand for you to proceed to text Jeno. Sighing, you drop this subject, albeit with difficulty because the kindest boy on Earth (well, you presumed so until now) just called you a bimbo.

You’re a little flattered at the attractive aspect attached to that word but still… rude.

You

hey, are you good?

you seemed off over facetime

He reads your message but there’s no bubble showing you Jeno is thinking of replying. You elaborate, trying to yank some information out of this kid.

You

if something’s up, i’ll raincheck with mark and come by

Jeno :3

nah, i’m good

don’t cancel your plans for me

was bored and didn’t know you had plans already

You

hyuck is here too like mark said

you can join us and watch spiderman :0

doyoung’s home as well

Jeno :3

don’t worry princess, i’m good

promise

have fun with mark

Biting your lip at the nickname, you rush to reply and not seem so affected by it over text. He’s never messaged and called you the nickname over the phone before. It seems more… flirty and intimate.

You

okay, nighty night :D

Just as you’re about to put down your phone, it buzzes in your hand once more, lighting up with one last unread message from Jeno. Opening it, your brows furrow. Mark curiously peeks at your phone at the vague face you’re displaying.

Jeno :3

wait one more thing

are you and mark??

You

are me and mark what

Mark carefully watches your eyes, flittering as you watch Jeno’s typing bubble appear. It takes the latter a minute to reply; Mark counts in his head.

Jeno :3

are you two dating?

have i… ya know

are you sitting too close to him to tell me you know what?

Your brows lift, finally looking to Mark and realizing his proximity to you. Yelping and backing up a little, Mark laughs.

“Is he mentioning the bet? What are you going to say?”

“Yeah, he is. And what do you mean, ‘What am I going to say?’ We obviously aren’t.” You snort, beginning to type your response.

Mark snatches the phone straight out of your grasp, lifting it out of your reach. Crossing your arms in impatience, you frown.

“Hear me out.”

“Uh-huh.” There’s levity in your voice.

“Be ambiguous.”

“And why would I do that exactly?”

Mark doesn’t appreciate the sass, rolling his eyes a bit. “Come on, catch up Y/N. Get a clue as to how Jeno feels about you.”

“Why are you suggesting this? He obviously doesn’t see me that way.”

“How do you really know that, though? You haven't been in a real relationship in college yet, right?”

Nodding, Mark carries on. “And Jeno knows this… right? Do you see where I’m going…?”

“Mark, please get to the point. I’m about to get an aneurysm following this plotline you’ve got going on.”

“Just don’t say no directly and see whether he acts super jealous of you being with someone else.”

Sighing, you droop into the pillows.

“Give it a try. And I’m agreeing to this whole scheme too, you’ve got my permission.” Mark encourages, bumping your forearm.

“Fine,” You give in, making a “gimme, gimme” motion for Mark to hand your phone back into your possession.

You

no, you haven’t won

we haven’t talked like that

i suppose i’m not against the idea tho

Jeno :3

it seems like you two are seeing each other

Mark makes a noise that is similar to being translated to “I told you so!” as Jeno adds to his statement a few seconds after his last text.

Jeno :3

did you notice the way he looked at you on ft?

Mark bursts into laughter but you don’t follow suit, genuinely befuddled. “This kid is so lovesick.”

Ignoring Mark’s comment, you reply back for more clarification.

You

no???

how

Jeno :3

like you hold the fucking moon in your hands idk

i’ve been telling you, he likes you

Mark takes your device again and you panic, fighting for it. “Don’t you dare! Make it sound like me, idiot!”

“Okay, okay! Relax, I got this!”

You

Would you be okay with me getting with Mark?

Does it bother you?

“MARK LEE! YOU DUMB BITCH!” Yanking the pillow from behind Mark, you begin to whack the heedless boy, angry beyond belief at his obvious text. “Could you have been any less discreet?!”

“STOP! Oh my God, stop! Look at what he said back!!!” Mark begs, cradling your conversation with Jeno like a baby and offering it over as a token of peace.

Jeno :3

i just don’t want you to get hurt

You

you tell me, you know him better

would he hurt me?

Engulfed in Jeno’s texts now, Mark mumbles over your shoulder, “I would be an amazing boyfriend to anyone.”

“Shut up, I dislike you right now.”

Mark shrinks, lips sucked into his mouth to stay silent.

Jeno :3

not intentionally

he’s a good guy

You’re grasping at straws, unable to believe your eyes. He was jealous, holy shit.

You’ve gotten to know Jeno’s speaking mannerisms, his facial expressions, his texting habits well, and yet you have never seen jealousy as an emotion so easily read from him like now. You’re not sure how to interpret this yet, either as a chance that maybe, just maybe, Lee Jeno potentially has feelings for you or is that he’s just confirming your beliefs of him caring about you as a platonic friend.

You

that sounds passive-aggressive, even over text

Jeno :3

i’m not being passive-aggressive

ig i’m saying i don’t want to pick up the broken pieces after he hurts you or smth

“Yikes,” Mark whispers and you send a scowl over your shoulder, “Why’d my man word it like that?”

Making a sound of indignation, you press on your phone’s keyboard with aggression.

You

do you realize this is all hypothetical right

Jeno :3

well by the looks of it, you two are together already

You

jeno you’re being stupid rn

i just told you we weren't together

Jeno :3

and you just asked me if i would be bothered if you ended up with him

i’m answering your question???

You

look i don’t want to fight over text rn

i’ll call you tmrw?

Jeno :3

sure

At your downcast face, Mark starts feeling bad. “Sorry. It seemed like a good idea in hindsight.”

Looking back at Mark through your lashes, he gives a small tight-lipped smile and opens up his arms. You fall into them with a huff and he tugs his laptop back onto his thighs, also dragging your blanket over your body.

“It’s okay. I agreed with your idea. At least now I know he’s bothered at the thought of us being together.”

Mark softly grins at that, patting your head in endearing reassurance. “Maybe this will push him to actually do something.”

You peer up from the crook of Mark’s shoulder for a second, trying to get at what Mark means. “Push him to do what?”

Mark only shakes his head in mirth, black hair falling into his eyes. “Nothing. Don’t worry about a pretty little hair on your head. You’ll get it soon enough.”

|—————|

Leaving the 127 house and heading back to your dorm, the cold air rushes at your face. Your flimsy jacket doesn’t do much to keep you warm, the blasting wind this late morning waking you up.

Your eyes squint as you begin your trudge to your room and coincidentally, Jeno is standing at the door, looking to have been pacing outside for a while.

“Jeno?”

He whips around at the sound of your morning voice, puppy eyes wide in surprise. Jeno takes in the state of you, appearing like you just walked straight out of bed and snorts.

“What a sleepover.”

Wholly ignoring the twinge of spitefulness in the remark, you trudge past, not down for his attitude currently.

“Morning.” You curtly mutter, waving an exaggerated hand to usher Jeno into the lobby of your dorm. With no one around in sight, you figured it was safe. After all, you weren’t petty enough in this tiny misunderstanding to leave Jeno out in the cold.

He shivers once inside, collapsing onto the stiff couch and blowing into his cupped hands. Rocking on your heels, you stand before Jeno and patiently wait for him to bring up this conversation you two needed to have.

“So… have I won?” He looks up to you.

You raise your eyebrows. “No. And I said that last night. Want to tell me why you were agitated yesterday?”

“I was not agitated.”

“It kind of seemed like it.”

Jeno crosses his arms. A small pout sits on his lips and the ice around your heart from his mean demeanor earlier melts.

“He’s… Mark isn’t…”

“He’s what?” Deciding to sit down beside him, your back leans against the armrest of the couch, body facing toward Jeno wholeheartedly.

Jeno looks to the soda vendor, eyes locked on the broken and shaky lights blinking in it.

“This bet isn’t fair. I realized last night,” He meets your gaze and at the blank look in them, you wrap your arms around yourself, “The indefinite terms were that… I would win if Mark asked you out and you would win if he didn’t, right?”

“Are you suggesting that I’m lying to you? Over a dumb bet?”

Jeno shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweats, brown irises fluttering away from you again.

“Let’s call it off.”

You sit up straighter, confusion stapled in your voice. “What?”

“Let’s call the bet off.”

“But— but why? It’s been a few weeks and you’re going to call it off now—?”

“Yeah, I am,” Jeno sighs, standing and turning with a serious tone. “I don't want in anymore.”

Getting up as well, you grab Jeno’s hand before he could leave without any explanation. “Jeno, are you being serious? I told you, Mark hasn’t asked me anything. We aren’t seeing each other.”

“Then why did you suggest last night you were thinking about it?”

The furrow between Jeno’s brows indicate his anger. Leaning back from the emotion, you can’t help but roll your eyes.

“Jeno… this is why I hate texting, alright? It’s a misunderstanding. I was just wondering what you would think about me and Mark being an item. I wasn’t genuinely—”

Sighing deeply, you cut yourself off and tug at his hand to get him to sit back down. Jeno resists the movement, looking frustrated. His non-cooperation to try and talk things out burns the fire within you higher.

“Why does it even matter to you if I were? I don’t need to be explaining myself to you. You’re the one that’s gotten me onto Mark in the first place, Jeno!”

“Look, I don’t give a shit whether you like Mark or not—”

“Then why are you acting this way?”

The desperation is your strained voice has Jeno swallowing roughly. The words he wants to say are dying to climb out of his throat but…

Jeno’s jaw shifts, eyes becoming cold. “I don’t want in with the bet anymore, end of story. Are we done?”

Water starts to prick your eyes, not understanding Jeno’s harshness. It was just a lighthearted bet, right?

Your throat constricts, making your belated answer sound forced. “Yeah. We are.”

|—————|

“Jeez. Who shat in your salad today?”

You glare, meeting the sight of Hyuck dragging out the chair opposite to you as the metal legs scrape against the commons’ linoleum floor.

“Not in the mood, Hyuck.”

The corners of his mouth stretch to the edges of his plump cheeks, bared teeth cringing on display. “Okay… I just wanted to update you that my mom wants your family over for dinner on break. Do you… want me to leave?”

When he starts looking around the cafeteria, you hurriedly grab your childhood friend’s arm which is hovered near his face holding a breadstick. “No! Stay.”

Your friend smirks at the needy words and in retaliation, you snatch the warm bread of his weak grip. Hyuck is on the cusp of complaining but eying the pout glued to your lips, he sighs and gives up.

“Want me to accompany your misery?”

Humming non-committedly, your cheeks puff out from the food you completely stuffed in its confines, not willing to talk much. Biting his lip, Hyuck hesitates to mention what he wants to say. At the puppy eyes you give him, Hyuck finally asks.

“This about Mark?”

You shake your head. But on further thinking, you take it back with lips sucked into your mouth and shrug.

“Ah, this bet with Jeno then?”

Stilling at his name, Hyuck shakes his head mirthfully. “I figured. You two argue?”

Swallowing harshly, you rest your chin on the palm of your hand. “Yeah. It’s been two days and I’ve tried reaching him but he doesn’t pick up. Nana says he’s ignoring me.”

Hyuck rolls his eyes at his friend’s shitty behavior. “Fucking idiot. Can’t take a clue for the life of him. Actually…” Hyuck aims his twisted face of disgust towards you, “That applies to your dumbass too.”

You kick at Hyuck’s ankle lightly. “Hey! You’re not making me feel any better. Stop calling me names, Hyuck!”

He hisses dramatically, grasping onto his foot like a baby. “Ow! Alright, alright! I was just saying… All of us have been watching this little footsie game between you and Jeno for a while. It’s annoying to see you two mope around when you could just confess and not ruin the vibes! Movie night was boring without you two yesterday.”

He makes an exaggerated devastated face to pair with his last words.

“Hyuck…” Your throat tightens and willing yourself not to cry in front of a lot of the campus population right now, you gather yourself more, “Although he’s acting like a fucking idiot right now… I don’t like fighting with him. He’s my best friend.”

Hyuck smiles softly, taking your worries more seriously now. “I would hope so. You two are the backbone of our entire gaggle of friends. None of us don’t like seeing you two fight either.”

Biting your lip, you lean closer across the table. “I’ll be honest. I knew that we were taking the bet too far when Mark was starting to get suspicious. And I feel bad for dragging him into it… Is Jeno ignoring Mark too?”

“I’m guessing so… Let’s clarify some things first though,” Hyuck pushes his high plate of food aside with your poor excuse of a salad for lunch, folding his hands in front of himself like a professional therapist, “You have to be completely truthful to me. No lying.”

You nod desperately, roped into Hyuck’s serious tone.

“Do you like Jeno?”

Breath stopping, you sit back into your seat. Your hesitation says it all for Hyuck while you look around, afraid of others overhearing. Hyuck gathers your wrists, willing your body to stop squirming.

“Are you okay with just being his friend? Or do you want to be more?”

You whine. “Hyuck…”

“Because if you can’t settle with just being his friend anymore… You should tell him. It hurts more to think about what could’ve been than knowing the truth in the moment. Don’t you agree?”

Hyuck stares deeply into your conflicted eyes, wanting you to understand him.

“But… but what if he says he doesn’t—? I mean, you said we were the backbone o-of— then everything would be ruined and things would fall apart!”

“Well, I’ll tell you this now Y/N, that boy is head over heels in love with you. You’ve probably heard this before but seriously… if you consider him your best friend and you know him so well, Jeno would not just cut you out of his life. Especially for feelings you can’t help.”

“Are you sure?”

Your open expression makes Hyuck grin, left hand going up to ruffle your hair in amusement.

“Yes, you goof. Now eat up some more breadsticks and let’s begin Operation Confession…” Hyuck grins sinisterly after shoving his pile of said-breadsticks your way, “How you’re going to confess to Jeno.”

|—————|

“Hyuck, I’m going to throw up in anxiety if you keep pacing in front of me.”

Hyuck stills at that, the trek he’s made and burned into your dorm’s floorboards halted. The fingers in his hair rip out, suddenly coming forward to play with your own.

“Sorry, I’m just worried for you.” Your friend’s eyes are wide, the nerves getting to him as his hands shake while brushing through some of your strands.

“Worried for me? Hyuck, you’re the one that’s planned this whole thing!”

“I know but now that the moment is finally here, I’m scared!”

“Hyuck, stop!” Yanking his hold away from you, you stand and jump to shake the butterflies in your stomach. Your chest felt tight and the breaths you were taking through your nose felt too short for comfort.

Thoughts of rejection and the possibility of the worst come flooding in like a thunderstorm, drowning your senses and bringing everything forward, including the pasta you and Hyuck demolished an hour ago.

“Oh my gosh, I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Woah, woah! Okay!” Hyuck grabs onto your forearms, guiding you to sit back onto your desk chair, “Y/N, you’re going to do just fine, okay? I’ve set up everything for you, all you have to do is be there and tell him.”

Your eyes meet Hyuck’s and he takes in your frightened expression with open arms. Hugging your frame tightly like you’re his own little sister, his own lids shutt with the sincerity he holds. Hyuck pulls back to pat your cheeks.

“Don’t be too nervous.”

You roll your eyes. “I can’t help it, alright? Tell me more details! I feel so out of the loop… I mean, it’s been a week and we haven’t talked. How are you getting him to see me?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Hyuck forces you to take a deep swallow of air and you do so with difficulty and shakiness.

“Let’s leave. Jaemin is waiting on us.”

|—————|

“Jaemin, what’s the ETA?”

“Uh… I’m in the parking lot right now. His class just got out.”

Hyuck nods resolutely, the most serious and grave face on. You clutch to his forearm, desperately leaning your ear to hear Jaemin as well.

“Okay, so what? Five minutes?” Hyuck digs.

Nana sighs over the receiver. “Dude, are you sure this is okay? He’s been avoiding even me for the past week because I’ve been bugging him about Y/N… we live together! Don’t you think this is going too far?”

Hyuck clutches the phone tighter, his hand blindly pushing your face away to get some space and focus on answering Jaemin.

“Dude, go with the excuse and do whatever needs to be done. Pop his fucking tires, I don’t care. We’ve getting these two clueless clowns together today.”

You pout at Hyuck’s words which are unnecessarily harsh. “I’m right here, you know?”

Hyuck ignores you, nodding at whatever Jaemin says in response over the phone, which you now can’t listen to. The both of them hang up.

“So?” You rock between your toes and heels, “We just wait here? This park is near his class?”

Hyuck finally turns while pocketing his phone, nodding. “Yeah, he’ll be here any minute now,” He then grabs onto your shoulders, shaking you like a bobblehead, “You got this, okay? Jaemin will text me when Jeno will head your way.”

Swallowing with difficulty, a noise between distress and a cry climbs from the bottom of your throat.

“Hyuck, no. No, we’re canceling this whole thing, I’m shitting myself right now! I mean—” You gesture toward the nice picnic dress you have adorned, hair pinned up and light makeup done, “I look so stupid trying so hard and it’s fucking freezing out! He’s going to be weirded out that I’m telling him all this in a fucking park of all places—”

Hyuck attempts to ease your worries but you’re unable to understand him, crouching to the ground and scolding yourself for being so optimistic.

You get up in a hurry. “Nope! Nope, I’m leaving, I can’t face him today—”

“Wait! Wait!” Hyuck chases after your quick tread back to his car on the dirt path of the park, urgently starting to whisper and tug at your arm when he feels a buzz in his pocket.

“He’s coming right now! Stop Y/N—!”

You register Hyuck’s words in your head too late, eyes bulging out the sockets when the turn on the path has Lee Jeno jogging on it. Worry paints his face, his dark hair is matted to his head with sweat as he desperately looks around. Jaemin is calling his name and cursing him to slow down, bent on his knees when his best friend finally stops but only to yell, “Where is she?!”

Freaking out, you whip around causing Hyuck to skid and dig the heels of his feet to stop himself from running into your frame. Looking over your head, he clutches your shoulders.

“See?! I was telling you, it’s too late to back out. He’s here!”

“Oh hell no.”

You push at Hyuck to start walking in the opposite direction but Hyuck shakes his head vehemently before yanking you back. You almost fly to the ground, stumbling with a yelp. It alerts Jeno, who looks over to the sound and recognizes your figure.

“Y/N!”

Your face turns furious, burning hot in anger. Hyuck freezes and shrivels under the fire of your vengeance, only to smile tightly a second after.

“Sorry!” He chirps before abandoning you, turning 90 degrees and sprinting straight up the incline of the park’s hill. Hyuck trips on the way to the top, finally reaching the safe haven from your wrath and putting up a clenched fist.

“Fighting!”

“You motherfucker!”

Genuinely startled when familiar large hands engulf your waist and turn you around, you come face to face with Jeno, out of breath and eyes wild with fear.

“Are you alright?!” He starts gently patting your cheeks, gaze fluttering over your body, “Are you hurt anywhere?!”

Jeno’s eyes flicker to the top of the hill, anger still set deep in his eyebrows. “Was that him!? The attacker?”

“W-What? What attacker!? Why would I be hurt—?”

“Jaemin said some guy hit you with his bike!!”

Leaning over to peer past Jeno’s forearm, Jaemin jumps when meeting your eyes, slowly placing his foot behind a tree, following it with the other to hide his guilty expression.

“You… didn’t get hit?”

Looking back to Jeno’s blinking, confused at your twisted face, you can’t help but laugh at the stupid lie.

“What— of course not! I’m fine! There’s not even a bike around us anywhere!”

“Then why did Jaemin—” Jeno catches the sight of chestnut hair flapping at the top of the hill, peeking eyes blinking over the two of you. “These dumb idiots…”

He’s tonguing at the inside of his cheek, head thrown back in annoyance. You suck your mouth in at that, finally realizing what Jaemin and Hyuck had planned behind both of your backs. Rubbing at your forearms, you cave in on yourself, shoulders drooping in anxiety.

Heart beating out of your chest, you open your mouth to speak up but Jeno suddenly whips his head forward to peer straight into your eyes.

His mouth opens to start talking more but something within himself forces him to stop. It was just like the last time you two fatefully argued.

As he considers how to put out his words, your facial expression is wide and hopeful. It causes Jeno’s heart to stutter. Suppressing himself from seeing you for an entire week was a complete miracle and a curse.

Sure, it felt good when his phone would light up, vibrating with your caller id on his phone. But leaving it unanswered made his stomach twist the first two days. After that, Jeno would constantly look to see if you had called again, like the imbecile he knew he was being in this situation.

Attempting to own up to how mean he was, Jeno would hover over the call button on your contact… but your profile picture would always halt his thumb from facing you head-on.

Both of your backs are facing the camera but you’re clearly smiling up at him in the picture. Your eyes are crinkled up to and although you always love to point out how endearing his squinted eyes were, he’s never had the courage to say yours were cuter in his opinion.

From there on, Jeno would think of how you smile when Mark is around. Like that time in the commons, or at the picnic table under the willow tree, or at that stupid sleepover. Jealousy would consume him and slide a hazy, red-tinted window of anger over his vision before Jeno tosses his phone away.

But a few moments later, he’ll feel guilt and stupidity for acting possessive of you. He had no right. You’re weren’t his and you never were.You never would be if he didn’t even take the chance to tell you how he’s felt for the past two years… You must hate him, you must absolutely loathe him for pushing you away like this…

He hates it too.

The wise phrase— “You only miss what you have until it’s gone,” is entirely true and Lee Jeno would bet everything on those words. If only he could turn back time and take back that small moment of curiosity at the 127 frat party. If only he hadn’t felt the urge to see whether his small suspicion of Mark liking you was anything solid. If only he hadn’t placed that bet and gotten your interest piqued.

But you deserve to be happy. Jeno, as your best friend, should want you to be happy. And right now, you weren’t if you were scared of losing him. The sooner Jeno gets over you, the sooner you could be happy again.

With this in mind, Jeno swallows harshly while digging his hands into his pockets, ready to get rejected. “Y/N, I’m sorry for ignoring you this past week. I’ve… been thinking a lot…”

You let Jeno talk, knowing he needs to get something off his chest. Seeing his face contort with how much he’s been holding in, your grip on your forearms tighten to avoid trying to comfort Jeno.

“You should be mad at me for how childish I’ve been acting over this bet, right?” Jeno peeks at your expression, flickering between the ground and your expression. You don’t give anything away though, only tucking your lips into your mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what specifically?”

He hums, trying to gain confidence to look forward. “Just being a dick. I know we don’t have many big disagreements so I’m sorry you had to learn I tend to push people away like this when I get angry.”

Your laugh twinkles in his ears and Jeno can’t help but smile softly. “Oh, I know, you meathead. I just tended to be a bystander and not on the receiving end of the silent treatment.”

His lips quirk up when you cross your arms, brows furrowed. “Cute.”

For once, he finally gives into the urge of telling you, smiling.

“Horrible timing, Jeno,” You slap his arm out of complete habit, embarrassment getting the best of you. Jeno can only grin, happy to see your crinkled eyes make an appearance.

“And also, I look cute everyday.”

“You do.”

Squinting, you shake your head. “You’re buttering me up to accept this semi-shitty apology, aren’t you?”

Jeno’s shoulders shake in amusement. “Princess, stop thinking I have an ulterior motive all the time.”

“What’s all these compliments with the apology then? Are you going to tell me why you got so angry over this bet?” The rambling starts, questions spilling forward while you momentarily forget to tell Jeno your feelings, “I mean, I know we’re both competitive, and maybe I was taking it too far by getting Mark somewhat on my side to make you nervous—”

“You what—?”

You wave away Jeno’s indignation. “But I promise he doesn’t know what the bet is about! He just knows he’s involved! I’m still really confused why you pushed me away in the first place though because you’re the one who proposed the bet first! Really, if anything, you should have realized how unfair the bet on your side was before remaking the rules—”

Jeno sighs before interrupting you, bracing for the worst with cringed teeth. “It’s because I like you.”

The swallow of your saliva while rambling makes it halfway down your throat before you cough, turning in shock to not spit in Jeno’s face. You accidently meet Hyuck’s gaze, his own irises widening on his friend’s confession. Somewhere in the background, the loudest gasp is heard very conspicuously behind a tree.

“And I know I’m fucking stupid and horrifically dumb for not realizing it until you started getting really close to Mark but—” Jeno rubs at the back of his neck, unwilling to see your reaction to his words.

“Sounds very toxic for your masculinity—”

Jeno clears his throat awkwardly.

“But—! I’m working on it. I also know you really don’t see me like that, knowing how upset you were about how I was talking about Mark—”

You tug at one of Jeno’s arms, panicking at his assumptions. “How do you know I don’t see you like that?”

Jeno’s eyes go as wide as saucers. “Are you saying you do?”

“I mean…” You chuckle, gesturing towards the two mutual friends you had camping around the both of you, and then to your outfit, “Hyuck got me to wear a dress in the middle of November. What other special occasions like confessing to my crush would require me to look like this? ”

Jeno snorts, tucking your hair behind your ear. “Well, in your usual words, fashion sacrifices. And you look very pretty. Unfortunately, I’m all sweaty from sprinting here after thinking you got hurt.”

You curl your arms around Jeno’s neck, grinning with a slight laugh. “Oh yeah, you’re a real idiot for falling for those words so easily.”

“Seems like you’re stuck with this idiot now…” Jeno swallows roughly, smiling eyes darting to your lips, “Will you go out with me?”

You lean in, a hair's breadth away from making you two official.

“Bet.”

|—————|

“What did your mom say about dinner?”

Humming, you start the timer and face your phone’s screen up, returning to join Jeno’s watch party of the Yeri and company’s picnic table. Hyuck was over there currently, rubbing shoulders with the older girl.

“You’re all set. She said she’s excited to meet you since Hyuck bragged last break how he got the two of us together.”

Jeno looks away just as Yeri stands up, Joy jumping at her sudden movement. He peers at your side profile and the happy grin you’ve got on.

“Hyuck did not.”

You sigh, sending a grin Jeno’s way. “He did. He has my whole family on the edge of their seats, waiting to meet you.”

Jeno groans, his forehead banging against the picnic table. “Don’t tell me that. Now I have even higher expectations to meet.”

“Don’t worry,” You drag out while rubbing Jeno’s back, eyes glued to Hyuck slowly backing away from Yeri, “I’ve never brought someone home before but my family knows whoever I will bring home means a lot to me. That’s enough for them, trust me.”

Jeno turns his head, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand now. “That didn’t make me feel any better.”

You laugh, pressing a quick peck to your boyfriend’s pouty lips.

Finally, Hyuck’s signature high-pitched screech of terror alerts everyone in the campus plaza of his next hustle with Yeri.

Jeno hurriedly peers over to your phone’s screen, collapsing onto the table again in defeat. You don’t have to look at the timer to know you’ve won, instead further attempting to heal Jeno’s suffering this particular bet made back a few months ago and about meeting your parents soon.

“It was exactly two minutes and fifty-eight seconds.” Jeno groans, muzzling his voice and hair as he tunnels himself into his arms.

You burst into laughter, leaning on Jeno’s body as Yeri grabs a fistful of snow and makes Hyuck fall on his back with the powerful throw.

“Please don’t laugh at my pain.” Jeno peeks up at you.

“No, no, look!” You’re gasping in air as Hyuck slowly gathers himself and starts walking over to you two again, face completely red from the cold snowball launched at it.

Jeno can’t help but fall in line. As Hyuck approaches you closer, the funniest expression of a defeat is glued on his tomato-colored face. You almost fall back off your seat but Jeno clutches your arm at the last minute.

“You two enjoy seeing me in pain so much, don’t you?” Hyuck collapses into the bench, a flurry of snow fluttering into the wooden table. You and Jeno bend even farther forward, laughing your asses off.

“Well I hope that stupid bet you two just had was worth it. Especially given all I’ve done for you idiots…” Hyuck grumbles.

Jeno suddenly stops chuckling, now completely void of any humor and getting up slowly. “About that asshole… what did you say to her parents, huh?”

“What?!” Hyuck’s eyes are humongous, flickering over to you for some help, “Nothing bad, I promise! All good things!”

“Oh, I know you, Lee Donghyuck—”

“— Not the full government name…” You snicker.

Jeno bends to grab snow, “You and your devilish words probably spilled—”

“Of how much of an asshat you are?” Hyuck daringly leans his chin up, teasing your boyfriend in good fun, “Yeah! Maybe I did.”

With that, Hyucks rounds the table in a flash, using you as a shield as a snowball fight commences. Renjun, being just around the corner for arriving for the usual lunch, gets a clump of white in the balls and Chenle and Jisung pounce on their oldest friend for fun. Jaemin slinks in to sit on the sidelines calmly until you and Mark target him.

Your fear of ruining the friend group was irrational and this specific moment solidifies that fact. Because as Jeno drags you to the ground to tickle, fluff in his hair and in yours, you sober up. You take in the moment and hear the sound of those gaggle of chaotic boys you call your friend group in the back before tugging at Jeno’s jacket to meet his cold lips.

Let’s just say, as the two people being the backbone of eight, you wouldn’t have things any other way.

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da-birb-writes-sometimes · 11 months

Text

The Song We Are Drawn Towards; Jade Leech

A song rests in the heart, calling out to the one who completes the harmony. Their match pulls at them, as the moon does the tide.

Main Character: Jade Leech

Supporting Roles: Floyd Leech, Mr Leech, Azul Ashengrotto

Content: Soulmate AU (I use the term soul match instead), gender-neutral reader, hurt/comfort, enemies to friends to ???, can be read as familial, platonic, or romantic and that was done on purpose, exploring different parts of Jade so he may seem OOC

Content Warning: self-doubt (Jade), injury & blood (Jade), some swearing, just general tweel things

Word Count: 5K

Author’s Note: Please do not repost my works to other websites or into AI software. I may or may not write parts for other characters; if you want to be tagged for those please let me know. I switch between third and second-person point of view, if that bothers you, sorry. Spell check done by Grammarly. Much like Azul's, this too was written in two or three days.

Azul's Story & Prologue | Floyd's Story

As a young mer, Jade would often listen in to what people had to say about soul matches. He would humour Floyd, and listen to him ramble about what his song and pull was like. For his twin, it felt like someone tugging at his tail playfully, and his song was like that of fireworks and twinkling stars in the night sky. It suited him; playful, full of wonder. And if Jade were to be honest with himself, he would admit that he was jealous of Floyd. That he knew, but didn’t want to admit, since then those jealous feelings would only continue to grow until he snapped out, and he didn’t want that to happen.

“What about yours, Jade,” Floyd drawled out the question, peeking up from behind the bed. “Ya never share what it feels like for you. I wanna know about the lil siren song stuck in your head!~”

Jade put down the book he was reading and looked at his brother, pursing his lips into a slight frown. “You wouldn’t find it interesting, there isn’t anything to really say about it,” he sighed.

Floyd didn’t like this answer, and tugged at his brother’s tail fin rather harshly, threatening to tear at the caudal fin. “That’s not fair! I told you mine,” he whined. “It’s only fair if you share yours! We could even help each other out and hunt them down together!”

For as much as he enjoyed his company, Floyd could be as persistent about a topic he deemed as interesting as he was flippantly annoying at times. “Well,” he smacked Floyd’s hand away, smoothing over his caudal fin, “if yours is like a starlit sky, then mine would feel like a moonless, and starless one.” Void of any light. Void of any sound. Nothing but a gaping darkness where there should have been light. “Happy?”

“Hmmmm,” Floyd shrugged his shoulders and sank to the floor, busying himself with whatever had caught his eye. “Not really, but you’re being boring. Eh, whatever! When we find ‘em it’ll get twice as interesting.~ OH! Maybe one of them is a surface dweller! I wonder what their reaction would be to us!” He threw the toy he was playing with at his moping brother. “But you don’t need to worry, Jade, I won’t leave the sea!”

Jade sighed. He had only spoken about the lack of any sign that he had a soul match with his father. Not that he didn’t want to tell his mother, but he knew that she would take it harder than his father would. And saying that it was like the darkness of night without any light source was technically accurate, but Floyd didn’t have to know about this quite yet. He would tell him eventually, just… not right now.

. . .

The Leechs’ father could tell when something was off with Jade. He may have been good at hiding it from his brother, and masking from his mother, but the older eel-mer recognized that look well enough.

“Thinking about it again,” he asked, putting down some paperwork that could always wait. “You know, you can always talk to me, Jade.”

The younger eel-mer looked up towards his father, debating whether or not he wanted to reveal everything that has been weighing so heavily on his mind. “Is,” he paused, worrying over his lip with his teeth, “is there something wrong with me?”

Mr Leech got to his son’s level, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Nothing is wrong with you,” his voice was stern, but he knew that what Jade needed was reassurance, a steady anchor in the churning sea lest he be lost in it forever. “Some merfolk don’t have soul matches, and that is perfectly fine and normal.”

Jade opened his mouth and then closed it, eyebrows pinched.

“You have yourself, and you are enough as is. There is nothing wrong with you, even though at times you may feel that there must be.” He looked into his eyes, placing a hand on his cheek. “Also, you are in control of your life, Jade. You will form all kinds of different relationships, and you don’t need a soul match to determine that for you or determine your happiness or success in life.”

Jade rubbed at his nose and placed his hand over his father’s. “Thank you, dad,” he whispered, as if he was any louder than that, all of those emotions inside would burst.

His dad pulled him in for a gentle hug, “And whenever you have a bad day, just remember that. And that you’ll always have me, your mother, and your brother.”

“I will.”

. . .

Jade was busy doing his morning routine. Taming down his hair, fixing up his uniform, and making sure everything was in order; that his courteous and carefully crafted mask was on. Since it was better to keep the less… appealing parts of himself away from the public eye. But the most difficult part of the morning has had yet to pass, waking up and dragging Floyd out of bed. Both of the mers were not morning people, but it was all a part of the experience of living on land and attending one of the best mage schools that Twisted Wonderland had to offer.

He opened up the blinds, letting in the weak sunlight. “Time to get up, Floyd,” he hummed, poking the mass of tangled bedsheets with one of his brother’s shoes that had managed to get on his side of the dorm.

A golden eye glared out from beneath the sheets before turning back over. “Jus’ five more minutes,” Floyd groaned, pulling the sheets over his head to block out the light and his brother’s smug face. “Too earlyyyyy!”

“Tsk, tsk,” Jade tutted, grabbing the blankets and pulling them off, earning a loud groan and a tired yet irked look from his sleepy twin. “We both know that’s a lie. Now,” he grabbed a wayward lanky leg, yanking him out of bed, “up we get.” When did he get so heavy?

Floyd fell on the ground with an oomph, and shot his twin a venomous look. “Ugh! Fine,” he grumbled, rubbing his backside and making his way to the bathroom to freshen up. “Do ya think there’ll be any interesting guppies?~” He poked his head out, fighting with his uniform since over the break he had a growth spurt.

Jade quirked a brow, looked over at Floyd and motioned for him to get back in the bathroom and fix his appearance. “The probability is high,” a sharp smirk graced his face, “especially since it means that we should have the chance to… manage those who fail their end of Azul’s little contracts.” He noticed in the reflection of one of his terrariums that his tie was crooked, leaning in, he fixed it. “That should be entertaining enough.”

“Eh heh heh!~ Squirming like a worm on a hook,” Floyd sang. He continued to busy himself with looking at least ‘halfway presentable’ by Azul’s standards, humming his and his soul match’s song under his breath, a dopey smile on his face.

Jade could feel his mood sour a tad, but reminded himself that he shouldn’t be jealous of Floyd. Besides, he has fared well enough thus far without a soul match. He had his interests, his brother, an Azul to annoy and pester, and an entire world to explore still. New discoveries to be made. Plus, he had recently made a new terrarium and he could see the beginnings of new growth about to burst forth. He was content. Not happy, but content with what things were currently. He gently picked up one of the smaller terrariums, noticing it was looking a bit dry and in need of some extra water. As he was putting it back in its proper spot though, he froze, hand clenching the little glass in a vice grip.

He could hear singing. It was quiet, but it was still singing. And now it felt like the time that a foolish fisherman had gotten one of his lures in his fin, being pulled towards someone. The glass shattered, sending small flecks of blood and glass on his glove and the floor. But he ignored the stinging of his fingers and palm, all he could focus on was the song and the insistent tugging at his heart.

. . .

Jade had made it his personal mission since recovering from the shock of the sudden soul match, to make the singing in their head as loud as possible. To annoy them as much as possible. They had kept him believing for all these years that he was alone, so now they could deal with the consequences of their actions. Was it petty? Extremely, but Jade did it for another reason; if he was loud enough, eventually they would either seek him out to make the internal assault stop, or he would see them wince and he could make their life a personal hell in person. And he knew they were nearby, as the pulling at his soul felt the strongest when he made his way through the halls of the school. He could just follow the tugging, but he didn’t want to chase them down. He wanted them to seek him out.

Something irked him about this whole situation. And it was the fact that even though the singing in his match’s head was intolerable, thanks to him, the song in his head has yet to retaliate, still the pleasant background hum that it was on the first day. He has only heard it go up in volume a handful of times, but never to the volume of his. The tugging during those short outbursts, feeling like he was caught in the strongest gyre of his life, even though he was still on land.

“Jade, are you paying any attention?” Azul quipped at him, snapping his fingers to bring the plotting eel out of his thoughts.

Jade shook his head, centering his thoughts to the present. “Ah, my apologies, Azul, my mind must have drifted elsewhere. Could you repeat what you just said?” He got caught up thinking about them again, and he bristled. Why should he afford them the luxury of even thinking about him?

Azul sighed and pushed up his glasses. “I said that due to the full moon next week, I won’t be able to look after the Lounge or dorm affairs. And we can’t just go about and hand over these duties to just anyone. So in short, the Lounge will be closed during the day and open all night.”

Ah, so that was what he wanted. “Is that your long winded way of saying that we will all be working midnight shifts,” he looked down at Azul, eyes searing.

“Azul is so meannnn,” Floyd appeared from seemingly nowhere, and tossed his arm onto Jade’s shoulder. “He doesn’t want to even find his cuttlefish! So mean, even to your soul match,” he bemoaned.

Azul flushed blue at the pet name that Floyd had apparently dubbed his soul match, embarrassed. “I told you not to call them that,” he hissed, quiet enough so that no passerby was able to easily overhear. “Besides, only those who have found there’s or,” he glanced at Jade, “well nevermind the or. Those who still haven’t found their soul match won’t have to work the night. So stop your whining!”

Floyd rolled his eyes and got off of Jade. “Eh, still mean. Maybe finding your cuttlefish will change that?~” He leaned into Jade’s ear, making sure that Azul couldn’t overhear him. “Maybe his soul match will put him in his place.~”

Azul’s eye twitched, “Do you want me to put you on dish duty?” Whatever he was whispering was sure to give him a migraine.

“Do you want to buy new plates,” Floyd’s joking aura turned into something more menacing. He and Azul stared at each other for a few moments before Floyd apparently got bored. “Tch, whatever.” And he was off, as suddenly as he had appeared, slinking into the crowd of students that quickly got out of his way, lest they wanted his sudden mood swing to be directed at them.

Azul pinched the bridge of his nose, “So, technically you will be in charge of the Lounge this week.” Since you don’t have a soul match you have nothing better to do. He didn’t need to say it, but Jade could feel and infer the implication, and his left eye twitched slightly.

He mentally smoothed himself down, hiding the momentary glimpse of weakness, of the mask slipping off. “Of course,” he voice was clipped, “you can rest assured that the Lounge will be properly kept to your standards.”

Azul gave him a look, but just summed up Jade’s odd behaviour as just a Jade thing. The eel-mer was never the easiest to read, even on the best of days. “Just no funny business, and do not turn the entire menu into mushroom dishes,” he huffed. He didn’t want to hear that revenue had been impacted by Jade’s hyperfixation on fungi.

“Half of the menu,” Jade bargained, sending a mocking polite smile towards Azul. Seeing him send him back a glare, he continued. “Afterall, Azul, you’re leaving me in charge. Part of that position includes overseeing the menu for the week. Besides, it would only be half. That should be a fair enough trade; you get to look for your match, I get a say in the menu.”

Why did the twins insist on giving him a headache at least once a day? “Fine, but only for this week,” he gave in. Jade pulled his weight in both his Lounge and vice-house warden duties, so he would give in to the eel’s demands this once. Besides, he wanted the same as Floyd; to find his soul match this year.

Jade chuckled, “Pleasure doing business with you, Azul. Please do keep me updated with how looking for your… What did Floyd call them? Ah, your cuttlefish, goes.” And he walked off before Azul could give him an earful of whatever it was that he was going to tell him. Perhaps staying at the Lounge should keep him occupied from thinking too much about his match.

. . .

Ever since arriving in Twisted Wonderland, a song has played in your head. The first hour wasn’t horrible, just faintly playing in the corners of your mind. Sure it was annoying, but it was tolerable. But the faint humming soon turned into an assault, and you felt like you were standing next to the speaker in a concert. So, needless to say you were willing to do almost anything to make it stop. You’ve had a damn headache for weeks and no amount of this world’s version of Advil, Tylenol, or ibuprofen worked. How you haven’t snapped yet still eludes you, and you wanted answers. Now.

Ace and Deuce were of little help, just giving you weird (Ace) and concerned (Deuce) looks. So you took it on yourself to get to the bottom of why this infernal song is playing on repeat while on full blast. This, naturally, led you to the library to hunt down some answers. Any students that rounded the corner you were in were quick to walk in the opposite direction, noticing the quickly building mountain of books, and increasingly irritated muttering.

“AHA!” You shouted, finally finding something that looked halfway promising. A series of hissed hushing came your way but you shrugged it off, happy to finally find some answers.

“Humans may come down with peculiar symptoms should their soul match be of a different clan.”

Soul match?

“The most distressing of these symptoms can be found with those whose match belongs to the merfolk clan. As, until they find each other, they will feel like someone is pulling at them when there is in actuality, no one there. Some humans have also complained about the song that plays in their head, as some soul matches will purposely cause their song to be loud, as to remind their soul match that they are still out there. Waiting to meet them.

A song rests in the heart, calling out to the one who completes the harmony. Their match pulls at them, as the moon does the tide.”

So this song that’s been driving you mad for weeks is due to your soul match? Someone who was picked by the spirit of one of the Seven; someone who makes you happy through a familial, platonic, and/or romantic relationship. Well two can play at that game. They messed with you for weeks, gave you headaches and migraines for weeks. The least you could do was to return the favour in full force. Bring it on, motherfucker.

. . .

Jade woke up, hissing. The faint humming in his head had exploded into loud screaming, but not out of pain or fear. No, it was spite and pettiness. Looks like his soul match finally had enough of the onslaught in their head, or finally figured out that they could control the song in his head. He would have been amused, finally feeling his match break their composure and disturb the harmony, but not in the middle of the night. Not the day before he would be forced back into the water during daylight hours and only being able to come out during the night.

He glared up at the ceiling, gritting his teeth in annoyance. He really should have seen this coming, after all, he had been doing this to them for weeks, never once letting up on the deafening song. It was no use going back to sleep now, even if he tried. His soul match was too loud and angry to be ignored. Sighing, he pulled himself out of his sheets, spared a look at Floyd to make sure he was asleep, and went to the Octavinelle pools to try and cool off.

Slipping into the water, he shifted into his merform. The song was still loud as ever, but the coolness of the water helped take some of the pain away. He could always apologize through the song in their head, but he wasn’t going to back down from this battle. So he fired back, louder than them. It’s only fair.

The scream of the song halted for a second, and Jade smiled to himself, letting himself sink to the bottom of the pool. But that feeling of victory was short-lived, as the singing returned, this time hitting him like the sonar of a sperm whale, loud enough to make his eardrums rupture. He hissed in pain, letting his singing in their head cease, falling into something not as loud, but still noticeable. And as soon as it had started, the singing in his head changed to match the volume it was for them. What you do to me, I’ll do to you. Is the message he guessed they were sending.

Still in pain, he decided to lessen the volume in his soul match’s head to a pleasant humming, and they soon did the same for him. And so, he sat at the bottom of the pool, looking up into the faint blue filtered light from above, and let his soul sing for him. It conveyed loneliness, jealousy, hurt, confusion. Everything that has plagued his mind, all of the things he kept bottled up, was sung and put out into the open.

The singing in his head changed too, they were also confused, lost, and unsure what any of this meant. Nothing was said, but the emotion carried through. Both of them were like that for a while, humming their emotions and thoughts to each other. This continued until the slivers of sunlight filtered through, and cast their golden beams into the water.

Another set of mismatched eyes peered down from above, noticing that his brother was singing, finally singing for the first time. Floyd memorized the lyrics, and he swam silently to the other side of the pool, letting his brother be, and coming up with a plan.

. . .

Someone was knocking insistently at your door. You grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. Whoever it was might want to have a good reason to wake you up from the dead of sleep. The song in your head hummed, like it was chuckling at you. You sent a sharp note through their head in return. The knocking persisted, threatening to take the door off its hinges if you didn’t hurry up and open it already.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” you yawned, cracking the door open so you could at least put a face to the intruder before letting them in. “Floyd?”

The person knocking at your door at this ungodly hour was none other than Floyd Leech, looking way too chipper for this time of night. “Heyya, Shrimpy!~” How could he still have all this energy at this hour? “Come on,” he grabbed you by the arm and dragged you behind him without explaining any further in typical Floyd manner.

You dug your heels in, but it didn’t stop him. “Where? It’s night time, I wanna go back to sleep,” you protested, sending him a groggy glare. Either you could walk with him, or he would get tired of pulling you along and throw you over his shoulder.

Floyd decided to actually answer your questions for once. “We’re going to the Lounge, silly Shrimp!~ Silly, silly Shrimpy,” he said, still tugging you along behind him.

“Why? And why couldn’t you let me change into something else,” you pointed down to your sleepwear. “Also, I thought the Lounge wasn’t open this late?”

“Eh, Azul wanted to still ‘make some revenue’ and ‘benefit from matches finding each other and wanting to share some food together’ so the Lounge is open at night this week. Come on, hurry up! I wanna go bug Jadeeee!~” And up you went, there was no use in protesting or fighting him, so you accepted your fate as the eel’s human tote bag.

You sighed, and hummed the little tune of you and your soul match under your breath. The song in your head hummed along, harmonizing the melody. You couldn’t see Floyd’s face, since you were currently getting a great view of the ground passing by, but he wore a large and smug smile on his face as he quickly made his way to the Mostro Lounge.

. . .

The Mostro Lounge was quiet, a few new soul matches occupying some tables and chatting, and the small waitstaff team going around and seeing if they wanted anything from this week’s limited menu; The Moon’s Harmony. Jade stood behind the counter, making sure that everything was going smoothly while Azul was out. And so far it was, although it was the first night, but so far so good. During moments when there were no customers, Jade would test the waters with his match, letting the song go up in volume until they retaliated. He would shake his head and silently chuckle to himself, ears still ringing from the other night from when they had enough with his petty shouting in their head. They had some spunk, he’d give them that. It was quiet tonight in his head too, his match most likely asleep at this hour, so he was surprised to hear the annoyed grumbling in his head.

He decided to get cheeky, since things were pretty boring on his end, and he received a sharp note in return, making him wince. Even when half-awake they could still tell him off. He went into the back and busied himself with cleaning up a few dishes, letting his mind wander about. The pulling at his soul was the strongest this week, and he wanted to follow it, but he still wanted them to find him. For them to make the first move. For them to choose him. Sighing, he put the plate he was working on to soak in the sink.

The line pulling at him went taut. The singing in his head getting louder, but not from his match willing it to. They were close, closer than ever before. He exited the back, and came to stand behind the counter, looking out for any familiar or new faces. Still the same customers as before. Strange, he could have sworn that-

“Jadeeeeee,” a flurry of teal hair burst through the door. “I missed youuuu!~” Floyd sang, but Jade just cocked a brow at his brother’s entrance. “Also,” he tossed you onto a sofa, “I brought Shrimpy with me!”

Jade glanced at you, noticing that you were still in your pyjamas. “Ah, hello, Prefect,” he said in his usual polite and proper way. But his mind was elsewhere, the pulling and singing at the forefront of his mind. “Strange for you to be up at this hour, no?”

You straighten yourself out, and suppress a yawn. “Hi, Jade. Wasn’t really my choice,” you shot a look at Floyd, “I was just dragged along for the ride.” The singing in your head was also getting louder, and you felt like you were being drawn towards a magnet. Where are you?

Floyd’s eyes kept on going between you and Jade, and a frown formed on his face, apparently not happy with the results that he got. “I could’ve been out searching for my match, but Shrimpy is just so much fun when they get mad,” he flung himself across your lap, effectively trapping you there. His eyes shone, and he sent a wink at you. “Say, what’s that song you’ve been humming, huh, Shrimpy?”

“It’s nothing,” you state, knowing that once Floyd found out you had a soul match, a mer no less, that he would make your life a living hell… Well, more so than he already did. And you didn’t want both Floyd and Jade on your case or interfering with you or your match’s lives.

This interested Jade, who was still watching from the counter. The song in his head sounded annoyed, and tired. “Nothing you say,” he stayed where he was, watching your reactions carefully. “Do you know of soul matches, Prefect?”

You kept a neutral expression, “Just some of the basics.” The song in your head was curious, something must have caught their attention.

“But Shrimpy, you have a song in here, don’t cha?~” Floyd pointed to his head, and pointed to your’s. A shit-eating smile took over his face, “You have a soul match!!!~ Shrimpy and a mer, sitting in a tree-”

You pushed Floyd off of your lap unceremoniously, hoping he wouldn’t finish the rest of that lyric. He shot you a look, but rolled his eyes and got up from off the ground. “Well maybe if you leave me alone for a minute I can go find them,” you muttered. “And no,” you spat, “you aren’t invited.”

Jade seemed satisfied with this, and went back to see if anything needed to be looked after. Come find me, he sang in their head.

But what about choosing? You sang back.

He looked back out, noticing that both you and Floyd were gone. Choosing? That can come later, we haven’t even met yet. Or at least I don’t believe we have.

You were being dragged again by Floyd, this time to the pools. Where can I find you?

Jade sighed, loosening his bowtie. Just follow the song. Follow your soul. Then you will find me.

. . .

You were floating in the Octavinelle pool, trying to relax. Tring being the main word, as Floyd was hell bent on spending time with you tonight. Not to mention, through the exchange of your song, your soul match has been loud, not to the extent of the first weeks, but still loud enough where they couldn’t be ignored.

Find me.

Floyd splashed you, trying to get your attention, masking the extra ripples from someone else entering the pool, and hiding your form from them. “Shrimpyyyy,” he whined, “come on! Sing your song! I won’t tell anyone! I’ll even sing you mine!” He swam up next to you, “Maybe that will help you find them.”

Find me. “I need to find them on my own, Floyd,” you sigh, knowing it was true. Find me.

“Eh, you’re boring,” he sighed, and dived down into the depths, disappearing.

You swam over to the side of the pool, feeling like you were being drawn down, your song the loudest it has ever been. Find me. Taking a deep breath, you centred yourself and dived down, following the pull and the song, only coming back up for quick gasps of air.

Meanwhile Jade was stretching out his tail, and humming his song. He felt something tugging at him from above. Looking up he saw a figure breaking the surface. Find me. The pulling was from them. They had actually come looking for him. But he stayed where he was, watching from below.

You took in a few short fast breaths before taking in one last large one before diving down again. Find me. The singing was loud, the pull guiding you to the bottom of the pool. There, you could see a figure. Find me. You feel your lungs start to burn, but you had to reach them. As you continued down you finally saw each other. Two oh-so familiar mismatched eyes glowed from the depths, and Jade’s skin was glowing faintly from his own bioluminescence.

Jade looked back at you, despite being out of your element, and in your pyjamas, he looked at you in wonder. He snapped himself out of his own thoughts though and hauled you up towards the surface, where you promptly gasped for air, and coughed out a bit of water. He waited for you to catch your breath, patting your back gently. Not saying a word, waiting for you to make the first move.

“I found out,” you coughed, looking at him, finally feeling like your soul had found home.

Jade wiped some water from your face, “I’m glad you finally did.”

. . .

Bonus!

Floyd watched from below, “Heh, took them long enough. Welcome to the family, Shrimpy.”

Fin!

Link to Masterlist

#twst #twisted wonderland #jade leech #twst jade #jade leech x reader #jade leech x gn reader #twst x reader #twst x gn reader #floyd leech #twst floyd #azul ashengrotto #twst azul #octavinelle #twst soulmate au #wow i actually gave you a sincere ending and didn't hit you with a fucking meme *pats myself on the back*#i had a lot of fun picking apart jade though and making him a menace #it's what he deserves; to go bonkers; to be a menace #azul had his turn in the paper bag so it was time for jade #also i wanted to build a papa leech that was considerate of his sons' feelings cuz that makes me happy #floyd gets his turn at trying to get jade and reader together; you can be the judge of whether or not he was successful #side note; when i was writing this my brain was playing 'Waka Waka (This Is Africa)' and going 'sHaKiRa ShAkIrA' and i don't know why #twst fic #also had a tension headache the entire time so that was fun #floyd is being difficult; help me catch him pls

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aclowntiny · 1 year

Text

Carnival Dates With Seventeen!

Gender neutral reader! Bro at the slightest provocation I will write one shots for this because going to the carnival??? Way too cute 🥲

S.Coups

♡ ‘So, what do you want to do first?’ A simple question, yet the care with which he asks it & the fondness of his expression as he does have your heart beating a bit faster.

♡ He’s willing to follow your lead all day, but you guys get a good alternation of activities going, following the bustle of your atmosphere well.

♡ Seungcheol tries the test your strength game where you hit the target with the hammer, trying to ring the bell, & of course he does 😌 & looks over at you immediately with a big eager smile like ‘was that cool?’ PLEASE HYPE HIM UP

♡ Your date gets a little interrupted as you guys find a lost little girl wandering tearfully between the cotton candy & churro stands, Seungcheol kneeling down to ask her if she can remember what her mom was wearing. ‘P-purple,’ the little girl, who couldn’t have been more than three or four, sobs. ‘Well that’s easy! I’ll find her soon, I promise.’ You guys tag team, you buying her a small plushie to return her smile & Seungcheol finding a woman in a purple dress who happily runs to her daughter, thanking you profusely. Afterward, your boyfriend begins to apologize for the interruption, but quickly stops when he sees your shining eyes. ‘Don’t be.’ ‘We make a pretty good team, don’t we?’

♡ The whole encounter leaves him feeling extra soft & affectionate, wanting to spend some time just strolling under the lights holding your arm & pulling you closer until his head is practically resting over yours. You feel him place a kiss to the crown of your head, smiling & turning upward for a second one ☺️

Jeonghan

♡ All the games the carnival has to offer turn immediately into a betting ground for Jeonghan, who leans up close to you, batting his eyelashes & saying if you beat him he’ll give you a kiss 👀

♡ You lose, naturally, but he gives you a kiss anyway for your good efforts. Pinches your cheeks as he gives you the prizes he’s won 😊

♡ 'We have to go on the bumper cars, (y/n)!' You take him up on the challenge, leaving a bunch of other patrons confused as they casually putter through the rink why there's two people driving as fast as humanly possible, very aggressively turning & bumping only into each other. Eh, they're laughing though, everyone thinks, so they just let you have your fun.

♡ Oh, boy, do NOT say anything at the accessory & knickknack stalls is cute unless you want Jeonghan to try buying it for you. You have a generous boyfriend ok???

♡ All the running around makes him tired though...if only there was a ride that you could sit on for a long time & relax.... Jeonghan keeps trying to get you to slow down, selling the idea more & more until you realize... he's trying to get you to suggest going on the Tunnel of Love ride because he wants to hear you say it. Finally you relent, rolling your eyes as he immediately teases you about how you must really be in love with him then. You may agree or tease him back, but either way it's too late, you've got a giddy Jeonghan on your hands. Plus he's right, like who doesn't want to sit & smooch in some air conditioning after a long crowded day??? 👀

Joshua

♡ Before the two of y’all go anyyyyywheeeerrrrree, Joshua is making sure you have sunscreen on. Nothing is happening to you on his watch, not even a little sunburn!

♡ Anything you might need gets thrown in his bag in fact; it’s so adorable you can’t even bring yourself to tease him for bringing a bag just to a carnival day.

♡ Once you’re situated, though, that’s when Josh can let his crazy side out a little 😌 he’s taking you on a roller coaster just so you guys can yell funny stuff at the top of the hill & practically giving you a heart attack sneaking up behind you in the hall of mirrors. But he makes up for it by falling into you & turning the scare into a back hug!

♡ Joshua is the type to want to experience it all with you, not a single stone unturned. You guys will manage to cram in every ride, but it won’t feel overwhelming because he’s efficient about it 😌

♡ You guys end the night in the Tunnel of Love where he takes your hand & asks if he can kiss you 🥰

Jun

♡ He gets so excited, taking your hand & interlocking your fingers before running through all the stands & rides 🥺

♡ ‘Let’s get ice cream!’ ‘Maybe we should get the tilt-a-whirl out of the way first?’ ‘Good point. Let’s go on the tilt-a-whirl.’ *Jun proceeds to slightly regret going on the tilt-a-whirl*

♡ You jokingly put an ear headband from one of the accessory stalls on his head, but he wears it proudly, doing a matching pose that you think is so cute you end up taking a ton of selfies together. Jun ends up buying them & wearing them with you for the rest of the day! Every time he looks over at you on a ride with a big wide sunshiney grin on your face, he can't help but boop your nose!

♡ Ok, rides over, ice cream time! The person making the sundaes can't help but laugh as Jun excitedly adds more & more to your shared treat with wide, childlike eyes.

♡ Any excuse to be corny, Jun takes it. 'You've got some chocolate syrup there.' 'Where?' *smooch* right there 😏

Hoshi

♡ Fair warning: he is going to want to drag you onto every huge roller coaster, so hope you like those rides or are willing to wait for him on them 🎢

♡ He also becomes DEAD SET on winning you a plushie, but not just any plushie, a tiger one of course 😌 before he gives it to you, he holds it up to face him & gives it a stern talking to about how it should protect you…but also not steal all your cuddles because those are his 😤🥺

♡ There’s a live band going by the food area, so once you’re done with your meal he takes your hand, leading you onto a patch of open grass to dance. He spins you so fast, you joke that you don’t need to go on the teacups anymore!

♡ Y’all two goofballs joke about doing the Lady & the Tramp scene with a churro, but then of course you actually try it. You can’t even get halfway through because you’re laughing too hard, just splitting the churro like normal people.

♡ Besides, he wanted to save the kiss for the top of the roller coaster anyway >:( that way it’s nice & dramatic at that highest-hill pause, you guys feeling up with the clouds & a bunch of tension you need to release. It’s so worth your priceless expression of shock & the way your smile widens into a shout of laughter, your hand reaching to squeeze Soonyoung’s as you make the next tight turn.

Wonwoo

♡ Wonwoo manages to put a unique twist on such a timeless classic of an experience, spreading out a blanket in between some of the grody plastic tables in the eating area so you guys can sit on the grass instead, all your little dishes of street food suddenly becoming a picnic.

♡ There’s a stall where you can paint a little keepsake sign, so you guys stop there to have something you made together as a memento for the day ☺️

♡ You did a combo of both of your favorite colors, unaware but pleasantly surprised how complimentary they are. ‘One last thing, don’t forget,’ Wonwoo tells you. ‘What’s that?’ ‘The date, so we’ll never forget when this was.’ Simple words, but they tug in your heart nonetheless.

♡ I hope you weren’t expecting Wonwoo to let you win any carnival games…he does not 😔 he can’t help himself being good at games & watching you pout when you lose is just too cute. Somehow, you can’t stay mad at his mischievous little smile. Maybe you aren’t the only adorable one in the relationship!

♡ The only time you get to win a game is when you distract him with a kiss & Wonwoo.exe stops working 😌😌😌

Woozi

♡ There's just something magical about Jihoon that makes even the noise, lights, & bustle of a busy carnival draped in every color of the rainbow feel intimate.

♡ Maybe it's the way he tries to ignore the crowds, looking almost pointedly at you & only you. Maybe it's the way he prepares your funnel cake for you exactly how you like it, pouring your drink for you as if it were wine at a fancy restaurant.

♡ He even lets you bring him onto the merry-go-round, just shaking his head with exasperation at the things he gets into because of you. Besides, he gets to take some cute pictures of you smiling back at him & reaching for his hand 🥰

♡ Y’all have tons of fun on the teacups, your boyfriend receiving relentless teasing about how strong he is when he turns the wheel so fast. He gets so flustered your spinning slows down & you have to pick up some slack 🥺

♡ At the end of the night, you guys take a series of selfies under a light up sign shaped like a heart, one where Jihoon has his arm around you, one where your hands are making a heart, & one where you pull him in for a surprise kiss, pleased smile just starting to form on his face 😉

♡ He will go on ANY ride you really want to, but warning: may squeeze your hand super duper tight & scream a lot.

♡ 'Should we get our faces painted?' 'Do you want to risk what would happen with a stage if you can't rinse it off?' 'Alright, that's actually a great point. You're so smart 🥺'

♡ Suddenly Seokmin gasps, all but startling you as he yanks you forward towards some stall or another. '(y/n), look!' WIN A GOLDFISH, the big sign reads. 'You want one?' You giggle. 'Yes, look at the little black one, he's so cute!' What can you say, your boyfriend's joy is infectious.

♡ He makes the most hilarious overly serious expression before a simple ring toss that that alone has you in stitches, but he's actually a great shot; his second throw is perfect, winning him the fish of his dreams. 'What should we name him?' 'Lee Seokmin The Second.' 'Do we look alike?' *holds up bag to his head & does fish lips*

♡ Logistics of a goldfish joining your date were not considered, thus Seokmin Junior requires a bit of juggling, getting set down on tables numerous times when your boyfriend decides it's time for an impromptu carnival music dance or to gently place a headband he found on you to see how cute it looks. He actually apologizes out loud to the fish before setting him down to cup your face & kiss you, leaving you smiling into it.

Mingyu

♡ Insists on trying the test your strength game part 2. Slams the hammer so quickly you have to jump back, chuckling at your giant puppy of a boyfriend's eagerness.

♡ The bell rings, of course, earning Mingyu his pick of a whole slew of plushies. He chooses the one that's your favorite color with a grin.

♡ After that the pair of you try an assortment of the finger foods from a few different stalls, Mingyu feeding you from his own dish. As he watches your eyes turn upward in pleasure at the amazing taste, he vows to find the recipe for all your favorite things & make them for you at home!

♡ Please don't try to make him go on all the scary rides :(((( just no loop-de-loops or drop towers ok? In fact, just enjoy the comedy of all his reactions to simply watching other people get sent down the drop tower.

♡ But it's ok, he decides to try out the swing ride, which is a little nerve-wracking with the heights, but not too bad when he gets to reach across & hold your hand. Benefits of being tall 😌 the moment you get off the ride he pretends like he thought he wasn't going to see you again so he can put on a whole dramatic act & kiss you like a movie hero hehe

The8

♡ You guys beeline for the caricature stand because what better way to remember the day by? 😌 the artist is really nice & respectful too, not one of the ones that makes an insulting ‘joke’ picture, just a cute cartoon of you & Minghao!

♡ Passing by some of the games, you see one of those semi-creepy mannequin fortune teller guys seated in his little glass prison. ‘He’s kind of scary, isn’t he?’ Minghao comments. ‘Yeah,’ you agree, shudder melting into a grin, ‘let’s try it!’ ‘I don’t believe it’s accurate or anything.’ ‘Neither do I, but just for fun!’

♡ 'True love eternal will find its way to you soon.'

The paper spat out by the box reads. 'You know what?' The corners of your mouth turn upward as Minghao takes the paper from your hand, fingers brushing yours with every bit of electricity as the first time. 'I think I do believe it.'

♡ Next stop: the hall of mirrors! You go in fully expecting to just laugh at how silly & distorted you & Minghao look, but your boyfriend utilizes the blur to take some actually legitimately cool pictures, too, like the artist he is 🤩

♡ The picture he takes in a spot that casts endless repeated reflections is his favorite, the frame filled with the image of him & the person he loves most joined in a kiss reminding him of the way you occupy his mind.

Seungkwan

♡ He makes friends with a baby the lady in front of you in line is holding, playing with him the entire time you two are waiting for the spinning cups. He’s actually lowkey sad when they get separated 🥺

♡ You guys laugh your heads off on the teacup ride though, you insisting on spinning it as fast as humanly possible as he tries to keep up, totally contrasting the way he shouts warnings to stop.

♡ As you stroll through the show of lights & colors, Seungkwan glances down shyly; you notice, the smile you give him encouraging enough for him to muster his courage & take your hand, fingers intertwining perfectly with yours.

♡ He keeps putting off going in the ferris wheel until suddenly the stars are out & it’s all he wants to do. He was saving it for one special moment, something he’s always dreamed of doing.

♡ You lean closer into him, for though the night’s not so cold, as you reach the top the breeze chills slightly. Stealing a glance reveals a look of soft, joyous admiration on Seungkwan’s face, & you matching it is all it takes for him to close the gap between you two, his lips meeting yours as you reach the highest point, closest to the stars.

Vernon

♡ ‘How’d they manage to deep-fry those?’ ‘I don’t know, but I dare you to try one.’ ‘Only if you do!’ ‘You’re on.’

♡ You guys load up on way too much carnival food to do any roller coasters right away, so instead you decide to chill for a while in the petting zoo. Sure, you & Vernon are the only adults beside one dad, but you don't care. All that matters is petting an alpaca, which you get to do 😌

♡ Spending time there also grants you the opportunity to get the most adorable pictures of your boyfriend ranging from him surrounded & almost getting knocked over by a slew of baby goats that realized he had food or one of him holding a sweet fluffy little white lamb 🥺

♡ Y’all also go in the haunted house, AKA the perfect place to see Vernon’s hilarious reactions to the jumpscares. Beyond that, he’s actually pretty calm, so you guys sort of just end up admiring what they’ve done with the place DHCGXVSGXDHSRDVY

♡ Once you finally do go on a roller coaster, his hair gets all messed up from the wind & you tease him about it, but reach your hands up to fix it. He just looks at you with heart eyes until you’re done, your hands slowly dropping until he catches them. When you look up, that’s when he leans in to connect your lips.

Dino

♡ Wants to play allllll of the games! So of course you guys have some loving competition 😌 the bet is that whoever wins more games gets to direct the rest of the evening, so if there's anything that seems scary, well there's some incentive!

♡ Oh? What's that? Scary you say??? That's right, Chan challenges you to a walkthrough of the haunted house too. No bets, just to see who gets more scared. At least that's what he claims, but what he really wants is to 'protect' you & have an excuse to hold you.

♡ So even if you don't seem all that scared, he's draping an arm around your shoulders going 'You're so frightened, aren't you? Don't worry 😏' shhhh just let him have this.

♡ He didn't let you win any of the games anyway, nope, so he gets to control what you do! This advantage is used to force you to let him spoil you 😈 for example, when your feet start hurting he insists on carrying you. 'Nope, no buts, I'm the winner remember 😌'

♡ As you guys leave, you still clinging onto Chan, hands around his neck, he stops, pulling you into a nice little corner where the lights still barely reach, illuminating the lines of your boyfriend's face as he turns you around in his hold. Fireworks go off- literally- as you kiss, the carnival launching off bursts of color into the sky right as your lips meet.

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fatalistickiss · 8 months

Text

MATRIMONIAL DOGMA

seonghwa x married!reader

summary ; You are not a good woman. Born poor and bitter, you were picked up by a wealthy and good man for your brand of intellect and wit which wasn't confident or bright but was skeptical and negative. Of course, there's no happy ending for glum gwens like you. After ten years of your promising youth married, your husband does what many husbands do and grows even more distant than he already was. When things appear grim though, your senior high friend who's been a famous pop star this entire time appears at the most convenient place for blooming affairs.

wc ; 8.9k

tags ; cheating, canon compliant (eh) seonghwa, afab reader, not very good with tags uhhh!! doggy style in a shitty motel (ok its not shitty at all but the sentence looks funny let me be), unprotected sex (yk the standard drill always use a condom), breeding/creampies/i genuinely dont know the difference, cunnilingus, missionary, oral (both receiving and giving), reader is suffering from "success" (being married to a rich dude), conspiring to murder, reader has shitty eyesight and wears glasses, descriptions of blood and violence, lmk if i forgot any 👍

disclaimer : please do not do any of the following, if you're unsatisfied with your irl relationship then do the mature thing which is to break up/divorce. and also please dont murder people that is (unfortunately) illegal.

Where do you start? Oh right, so you're at this bar, alone. Your hair and appearance is all done but what's missing on your face is the beauty that they see clinging onto the arms of pigs with pens made of gold. Swishing the near empty glass of hennessy, you simultaneously readjust your glasses. If a man wanted to approach you right now, he would. If your husband wanted to fuck you and think of you as he does so tonight, he would.

Well, what do you care about your husband anyway? You already have a high position thats pays well at your office job and close connections with others in your part of society. So what if he ditches you for someone younger and better and then you get labeled by the media as someone who didn't know or appreciate what she had until she lost it? ... Now you know. That's the thing.

There's those unhealthy thoughts again, you look at your watch to see the time; 8:36 P.M. You aren't a kid anymore and you don't live with the concept of "curfew", but you do want to be the best wife possible so you can at least fall from grace and be brought back in some next few decades to be hailed a scorned woman who did no wrong. You laugh hoarsely at the thought, maybe there'd be some good to it after all. But you don't intend on facing that initial wave of shame just yet.

Enter Park Seonghwa, a man who you've made quite fair acquaintance with in senior highschool. News has it he's now a member of the famous boy group "ATEEZ". He's been on your radar for quite some time, but not because you're thinking of fucking another man before your husband can fuck another woman. That thought hasn't occurred to you yet. He's still in your contacts, but how you'll approach this guy is still a plan in the works.

But that won't be necessary tonight. The sound of shoes tapping around the cement floor of this bar has been completely tuned out of your ears, so you don't notice when someone sits down on the chair next to you.

"Long time no see, Y/N." you hear a familiar voice call out; slowly, you turn to your left and find the man himself before you. You are very reasonably shocked and flinch at the sight of him. How could you be so sure that this Seonghwa is the real deal? He's not wearing anything that could obscure his identity, is he not at all concerned about whatever insane spies news outlets have? Or could this just be a marketing scheme planned between both your company and his company that you for some reason weren't informed about in advance?

"Ah, hi..." you wave, with each time your palm swayed you grew increasingly aware of your face's cells. He chuckles in response, "You've changed quite a bit from the last time we saw each other." "People aren't still images, if that helps." you quip, taking a sip out of your near-empty glass. Seonghwa tosses a glance your way, to which you add on, "Just messing with you." Softly he smiles. "I heard you're married?" he suddenly admits, your movement halting for a brief second. "Indeed, I am. Do you know my husband?" "I've also heard of him, he's the CEO of a prominent property management company here, right?" You nod, making eye contact with him as you both spoke.

Looking back to your glass, you find that it is now completely empty. After you ask the bartender for a refill, Seonghwa watches you with intent. "It's a shame honestly," he sighs dreamily, "A woman like you, married to such a simple man." "What do you mean by that?" you immediately ask after nearly choking a little on your drink. "Ah, i'm not insulting you. It's just that..." his gaze strays a little as his knuckles lightly press against his lips, "You always seemed bored in your photos together. Surely, you must not be having much fun in your marriage if you don't even smile once being seen with him.." You don't interject, letting the idol dig at your husband for as long as he'd like. It's not like he's too wrong, after all. In fact, dare you say it's even amusing that a man who has such a kind and caring reputation to uphold would even be so bold as to talk shit about a wealthy man to that man's own wife.

Your mood brightened by this encounter you've subconsciously needed for so long, you take one long sip as you listen to Seonghwa point out all of your husband's weak points as a person; it's music to your ears, as they say. Shortly after, you join him in this bashing, even letting the star in on some of his most humiliating of secrets. This conversation is something that could only be heard by the both of you and the bartender, who you're already well acquainted with and can just pay to shut up should anybody ask what went down here.

In the middle of your incessant giggling and dragging, your phone dings. You quickly pause your conversation and check what it could be—a text message from the man himself. Unaware of Seonghwa's sudden switch in facial expression from gleeful to grim, you excuse yourself to read the text.

this guy again: what time will you be home tonight? mother says she's worried somebody might do something to you.

this guy again: oh, on top of that we will also be going out tomorrow to visit them.

You sigh, pinching your nose bridge as you try to think of a good response so you don't look like you're taking his family's kindness for granted. In fact, one of the few remaining good things about this man is that his side of the family actually likes you as an inlaw. Before you two got married you were very much from a poor background yes, but the same reason he married you back then is also the same reason his parents also liked you and still like you today. That's what you explain to Seonghwa after apologizing to him for the hold up. "I can tell they genuinely mean well, it's just that their son could find a nicer lady any day now and..." you pause. Why are you so worried about something like that in the first place? Other wives don't have to deal with harrowing fears of their husbands cheating. After all,

there are other ways he could leave you for dead, alone and nothing.

"You don't love him anymore, Mrs. L/N." Seonghwa claims, his hand on your back. This is undoubtedly true. It dawned on you how he could take everything from you should he not want you anymore. Your job, your money, and your name. Not once did you consider the love you could have had for him, because it was never there to begin with. How did you go all those years without that sort of revelation? You turn to Seonghwa, handsome in this lighting. Are you that sort of person now? His hand crawls up your spine and to the back of your head, urging you to come closer on your own volition. Well, it wouldn't hurt you at all. Giving in, you hold his face and kiss him. The moment your lips press together, he holds you for an embrace. You pull away for a moment to ask, "Do any of your group members know you're here?" "They don't have to. Let me be your secret."

That was good enough for you to go with him. Luckily, your face or style of dress isn't all too remarkable or distinguishable from any other woman having a fun night out. All you do is slap back on your mask and the two of you sneak to his car. Hopping into the front passenger seat, you voice out a thought, "This is going to sound really dumb, but it feels a little bit weird knowing that some idols have their own cars.." Naturally, whenever an idol or idol group travels, publicly they're shown accompanied by their members or staff. That sentiment was indeed not very smart, and while you weren't at all completely oblivious to the k-pop scene and how insane some fan statements and beliefs can get, there were some parts to it that stuck with you subconsciously. Which is why you were surprised at yourself for even thinking that it would be weird for a grown adult to have their own car. "I get you. Most of the time I do just use the company car or walk to go somewhere." he laughs.

Perhaps it's because you're an inexperienced cheater, but you feel something heavy coming down on you as he drives. You know that you're making a very huge mistake, one that will eventually not end up biting you in the ass so hard they'll make movies out of it. But at the same time, it feels exhilarating. After all, this isn't just any guy that you're going to two time with, it's a beautiful artist with tons of applause to his name. Maybe just this one night you'll go and tomorrow it'll be just the past between you two and nobody will ever find out.

The two of you end up at your destination which is a rather simple love hotel, not that you were complaining. It isn't mediocre but it isn't luxury like your husband would take you to during vacations. Humbling yourself however, you shrug it off; although you are a bit worried about the possibilities of someone working here accidentally ratting you out while talking to a coworker during lunch hours, Seonghwa puts a hand over your shoulder and gives you a reassuring smile as you both enter to check in.

The entire time that he was talking to the lady at the front desk, you felt slight tingles which you merely brush off as the cold air sweeping over your bare skin. It was a simple few minutes or less process that felt like an entire hour had swept by. You inhaled and exhaled a huge sigh of relief when you two finally got to the elevator. Now, you aren't going to turn back. Very much so are you open to the idea of night dancing with this fine man. Getting off the elevator and finally entering your room, he asks you if you want to take a bath first, as to which you politely decline and let him go before you. While you wait, you sit on the bed and check your phone for any updates. You didn't open your phone to look at the message so that means your husband didn't get the read notification; which you thank your earlier self for. This does mean though that he added more while you two made the trip.

9:12 P.M

this guy again: if you're too drunk to make the journey back home yourself, dont worry. i sent yujun to pick you up. he should be there any minute now, so stay where you are i will also notify your bartender friend not to let you go anywhere.

Your stomach drops to the ground floor. Yujun is your personal driver though, and to seem the least class traitor as you could be being a successful office woman married to a landlord, you have also made good friends with him; therefore, you calm down a little knowing you could stop him before it's too late. But you also stiffen up again knowing that you can't just tell this guy not to pick you up from the bar. You can trust that the bartender wouldn't tell a single soul what you just did, but your personal driver who also drives for your husband is also another story. Quickly, you open the app and go straight to Yujun's contact. You call him so as to not leave a single trace of evidence on your phone or his phone that you said anything about this; and luckily he picks up.

"Yes, ma'am?" "Yujun, i'm sure you got Daeho's order to pick me up from Babylon, but I met Heera there and she wanted to invite me to her and Yang's place for the night. My phone just so happened to die out before I could tell him about this which is why I didn't tell him first. Be a dear for me and relay the message, okay? I'll be home next morning, and tell Mrs. Lee that I love her and her homemade samgyeopsal. Thanks." you hang up immediately before he could say a word, but rest assured that Heera would most definitely have your back behind all this, even if she has no idea that you finally heeded her advice from seven years ago the first time you brought up your husband's distance.

Seonghwa hops out of the shower as soon as you finally relax. You look to the open bathroom door, the steam flying out of it like a legendary item had just been unboxed. As it clears, there he is, tightening the robe he's now wearing. He is very clearly handsome, and that is only exemplified by his utterly stellar appearance fresh from the heat of a warm shower. Locking eyes with you, he smiles and lets you know, "It's your turn. Sorry for the wait." With that, you nod and walk to the bathroom, being greeted by the nice warmth left by him.

Waiting for you, Seonghwa lays on the bed, resting his head on his hand. He didn't tell you why he was there or why he wanted to do this, but he's happy regardless that you agreed so easily. It does seem like his initial suspicions about your marriage were indeed true. Part of him does feel bad that a friend that he hasn't seen for so long was trapped in a marriage that isn't even worth the salt of being toxic or unhealthy, just absence from both sides for years. But the other part of him is also over the clouds at this opportunity. His phone at this time also receives a call from his group's leader. "Hello?" he says, picking it up knowing the question that's going to proceed next.

"Seonghwa, where are you? Our manager's been wondering when you're going to come back to the dorm." "I'm at an old friend's place. Tell him i'll be back by tomorrow." he hums. "Okay. Be safe." "Thanks, Hongjoong. See you then." The call ends, and he is still waiting for you.

Inside the bathroom, you're already finished but you try to think things over a bit as you look into the mirror. Taking off the shower cap, you let your hair finally free as you stare long and hard at the face that's supposed to be yours. Is this the face of an unfaithful wife? Your hand finds itself on your cheek, seemingly as a way to ensure that you are currently here. But then you remember, and that's all it takes for you to decide that this is what you truly want. Still, you don't question why Seonghwa would approach you so suddenly. When you come out, you find Seonghwa sitting there and his face lighting up as soon as you appear before him.

"Come here." he urges, gesturing with his finger. You obey, and crawl onto the bed and into his hold. Your face burns up a little being this close to him, you knew this man and you'd never thought something like this would happen between you two. He grins and plays a bit with your hair, "Pretty... Should I take you here now?" "Isn't that what's supposed to happen?" "It is." he answers before undoing his robe, revealing his bare body. He quickly bundles up the robe and tosses it to the side; pinning you down onto the mattress after you shyly stumbled to take yours off too. "You'll be seeing stars by the end of it all." Seonghwa giggles as he undresses you. Your nude form now out in the open before a man that you are not married to, your entire face begins to feel like it's been set on fire.

Slowly, Seonghwa lowers down to in between your legs, lightly pushing them apart so he'd have an easier time eating you out. The second you feel his tongue on your heat, your spine jolts up. Continuously, he licks at your cunt and then goes so far as to begin sucking on your clit. Such a sensation had you making light breathing noises before, now it has you moaning—something that you previously weren't even aware you could do without it being forced. He pulls your body in closer, his tongue now entering inside your pussy. A hand weak at the rush of ecstasy finds itself tugging on silk raven locks of hair as the other arm tries to support the rest of your body. The night had only just begun and yet you could already feel yourself rapidly approaching orgasm. Before that actually happens though, Seonghwa pulls away leaving you to look at him with a concerned expression—then he pulls you downward, face to face with his hard on. You don't need an explanation as to what he wants you to do now, do you?

With what strength he left you with from that first bout, you adjust yourself properly and take hold of his shaft with one hand and slowly take it into your mouth. It's overall thickness and length was fine, which is your shy way of saying that you could already feel your innards making way for this thing. Getting down to the base was a bit of a challenge, but luckily you're able to push through. Sucking on it, you bobbed your head up and down as you could hear the sound of Seonghwa getting off to what you were currently doing. When he ejaculates, you feel a rush of a familiar stringy white fluid shoot down into your throat and you swallow it. He continues to stroke it as you cupped your breasts with your mouth still wide open, your face and cleavage area being doused in his semen. This night is still far from over. Seeing as your glasses were soiled by the liquid, you nonchalantly place it on the nightstand and proceed.

Next, you get on all fours and spread one of your asscheeks; giving him another full view of your rear. Eagerly, he takes hold of your ass and slides the tip up and down your slit before sliding it in; which elicits a small gasp from you before he starts fully pounding into your hole, making you clench the sheets below you. Very quickly, a clear white fluid begins gushing out of your cunt. Glorified piss spills out with each time his hips snapped against your behind. With how fast he's doing you, you can't help but let yourself fully go; your mouth agape as saliva seeps out. This would be absolutely humiliating to remember, you think to yourself. But you can't stop, not when you're feeling this good. You only just notice that you two aren't using a condom when he pulls out, the sensation dipping only slightly as soon as you felt like you were going to cum.

"Turn over." he pants, sweat glistening down the side of his forehead. You oblige, lying down flat on the mattress. Seonghwa then pushes up the both of your legs and gets back to work down there. Being face to face with him as he does such things to you makes you feel even more tingly than before, resulting in you trying to look away—only for him to kiss you. His saliva permeates onto your tongue, pushing you even closer towards a full orgasm. You try to let him know, but you can't speak with his mouth on yours; your hands immediately flying to his back, your nails starting to dig into his flesh. It's there, you can feel it, the feeling of pure ecstasy that you haven't felt in so, so long. Seonghwa's lips are so, so soft. Your legs cross, pulling him in even closer. The steel clawing of your nails is now starting to draw blood, yet he doesn't stop.

When your lips finally separate from eachother, you can't even utter a single word; only mumbling incoherent sounds and pulling him even closer and tighter into your embrace. One of your hands makes its way to the back of his head and tugs on his hair strongly as you finally came. Your back arches as you're overwhelmed by the pleasure washing over your entire body and inside it. The sound that comes out of you is completely distinguishable from the woman you normally regard yourself as. Right now, you don't have time to worry about the fact that you look absolutely debauched.

In need of some rest before continuing, you let Seonghwa rest his head on your bare chest; your hand placed gently on his hair as he talks with you. "Y/N, are you on birth control?" "... No." you breathe, a slight bit of regret to your tone. This understandably thickens the air around you two a bit. But you already know exactly what you're going to do if you get pregnant and it rhymes with torsion. ".. My apologies, I got too careless there.." he says, but in all honesty you're just wondering why you didn't marry this man—even if neither of you even thought this would or could happen at all at first. The way you remember Seonghwa was a total sweetheart, hell you were one of the girls crushing on him at one very brief point; even so, you found much more satisfaction being just someone he sometimes hung out with then. To think that it would all come down to this, I guess you could say you felt a small tinge of glory inside. But you don't think you love him, he's as cute as you and everybody else from your highschool remembers him—but you're not sure if you could see yourself making him your number one.

"It's alright. I'll be able to handle it fine by myself." you whisper, playing around with some of the semen in between your fingers. He doesn't believe you, but you're married and he's not. Although a little sore and tired, you still recovered enough to sit up and excuse yourself to go wash the cum off your face. After all, you most certainly wouldn't want to experience the effect it would have on your hair should you let it dry.

With you out of his sight, Seonghwa sighs and sits properly against the pillows. The sting of your scratching then surges into him. Hissing from the initial onset of pain, he then notices the blood left by your nails.

As soon as you were about to open the bathroom door, Seonghwa beats you to it, and you see the bloody mess left by yourself. Under the realization of what you did earlier, you feel the clear need to apologize, to which he stops you from doing so kindly and just heads to the shower. Of course, the scratches may be minor, but you can't help but feel like you have to at least help him somewhat. You make the decision to step into the shower to his surprise and offer to help wash his back. He doesn't give you a response, but still gives you a small nod. Unbeknownst to you, his face is blushing, clearly flustered by this reasonable act of kindness from you. "This might sting a bit, sorry.." you say, about to start scrubbing the soap bar on his wounds. "I.. It's fine..." he mumbles, letting out a small wince after feeling the soap initially soak into his skin. It very quickly stops though as you quickly make sure you cover all the areas and immediately rinse it off, grabbing the shower head from behind him to make it faster. "I'm not sure if this hotel has a first aid kit, but i'll do what I can. After all the scratches don't look that deep..." you tell him, putting the shower head down. Seonghwa looks back and gives you a small smile, "Thanks." Subconsciously, you smile too.

Back on the bed, you lay on your side as Seonghwa looks out at the starry sky. "The sky looks gorgeous tonight. Do you wanna see?" "If I wanted to look at stars, I could simply look up pictures of a starry sky." you hum, browsing your twitter feed. "I personally think that stars look better when you see them in person." he says, still watching the sky. "I totally agree." you joke. Having caught up with the weird happenings all over the world packed into your phone today, you turn it off and prepare to go to sleep; although you aren't really feeling sleepy at all. Shortly, Seonghwa gets back into bed with you, running one hand down your side. "Are you going to sleep now?" he asks. "No." you answer, your hand that your head was resting on earlier stretching out after it was starting to feel numb. Suddenly and slowly, Seonghwa takes hold of one of your legs and raises it. "Still in the mood?" "Yes."

He puts it in, and you can feel it getting harder as he pushes it inside. His movements this time are slow but with just as much passion as before. You use your left hand to pull him in for a kiss, the room being filled with nothing but the sound of you making love to another man behind your husband's constantly turned back.

The night fades as it walks.

Next morning, you make it home safely without looking the least bit suspicious as you notified Heera first thing in the early morning at 6:43 A.M about your whereabouts, your alibi, and to not notify a single person—not even her husband—about what went on that night. You and Seonghwa parted ways, with you thanking him with a kiss on the cheek before going with your friend who was over the moon (in a quiet way so as to not alert anybody).

On the way home, your thoughts are filled with last night's memories. You trust that Yujun complied to your abrupt request that night, well, surely he must have, right? Too deep in thought, you fail to notice when you've already come back to your home. Before you exit the car, Heera grabs your wrist. When you look back, you see a woman so happy that she could start incoherently screaming—but instead, she gives you a tearful thumbs up and lets you go.

When you finally come inside, you find your husband sitting on the couch with a single paper on the table in front of him. You freeze at the sight—groaning obscenities inside your head as you think the worst. Slowly past the servants, you try to walk to the stairs to head to your room; but he catches you before you could do so.

"Y/N." he calls out. Immediately, you start thinking of sliding down to your knees and pleading for forgiveness. But when you answer to his call, he hands you the paper. "Are you okay? Don't tell me you drank again this morning." he cocks his brow seeing your grave expression, to which you quickly brush it off as the morning air being so cold that even your arms got cold under your sleeves. Being handed the paper, you see that it isn't really what you expected it to be. Then your husband explains what it is, "Yujun told me that Heera took you to her house last night, and that you wanted to tell my mom that you love the samgyeopsal she makes. So I told her that and in return at around 6:40 this morning she sent me this letter that's supposed to be for you."

Relieved, you nod along and read the contents of the letter. It was just a sweet message from your mother-in-law for the small note you added at the end of your favor to Yujun. You can't help but genuinely smile reading all the nice things she has to say to and about you. All of this.. makes your stomach sick. Now what you have done is starting to weigh in on you, but not for your husband—but for the people who believe that you are not such a person. "I see. I'm happy that Mrs. Lee was happy to hear what I had to say." "Of course she's happy, you are the first woman i've had in my life that she likes this much." Without further ado, you're allowed to go back up to your room to dress into some comfy home clothes.

You both share a bedroom, but due to the large expanse of your home you've made the room next to your bedroom your personal hangout. Setting down the plastic bag containing your underwear, you undress and toss both your clothing from last night along with last night's underwear into the basket. Lounging down on the chair next to the window naked, you can get a nice view of the pool from here. After a brief second of rest, you stand back up and look into the second closet that you own in search of something to wear. While you're putting on your leggings though, you are still brought to think about last night. You have to get ready again in about a few hours. For now, you ponder what you should do now. You could forget, surely Seonghwa would move on from this fairly easily as well. Mindlessly, you spin around in your chair until the maids tell you that breakfast is ready. You wonder why they still made breakfast for you when you just came home from a friend's house, but you shrug it off—it is actually your first real meal of the day.

The morning Seonghwa comes back to the dorm, the members are all minding their own business. Wooyoung is the first to greet him.

"Ah! Welcome back, Seonghwa!" he beams, hugging him tight. Seonghwa pats Wooyoung's back and greets the other members good morning. They suspect nothing, after all he did say he was just at an old friend's place. It's still quite early in the morning, and their schedule for the day doesn't start until later so he still has time to switch into something comfortable.

Much later in the day, you have now prepared to go outside with your husband to your parents-in-law's home. During the drive there, your husband as usual is looking absentmindedly outside the window while you.. sit there. With what you've done you have now relegated yourself to the acceptance of the fact that you no longer have any right to try and pursue his participation in this relationship. A small hopeful part of you still wishes that for some odd reason he starts paying more affectionate attention to you out of seemingly nowhere now, but you know that's not going to happen; and you're right. Maybe you should really just divorce him, it's not like you had too many good memories with him. After all, you have Seonghwa now. But you are very well acquainted with the saying "you lose them how you get them", and the degree of his devotion to you is still very uncertain. Although, you could do some things to ensure that he won't ever leave your side...

Having finally arrived outside their front gate; when your husband rings the doorbell, the gates suddenly maneuver open and your mother in law suddenly appears and holds you in for a deep embrace. "Y/N! My sweet dear Y/N! It's been so long since you and Daeho last visited! Did you get my letter? Ah, you really are such a sweet girl!" she continues showering you with compliments as you and Daeho both walk into his parents' just as lavish living space. His father politely greets you and naturally you greet him back, showing off your perfected 90° bow. "You know, I was actually just thinking of making samgyeopsal for our meetup today last night and then Daeho called me telling me what you wanted to say! Everyday, I can't help but feel so proud that my son had found such a stunning and perfect wife!" "Ahaha, i'm so glad you think that way, Mrs. Lee! I really do mean it when I say I love your cooking, but i'm not so sure if I can agree with me being a perfect wife.." you say, a hundred percent of those words actually being true. "How many times must I tell you? You can call me mom! And oh, don't be so shy my dear.. Any man in the world would be so lucky to have a woman like you as his wife!" she giggles gleefully. His dad then chimes in, "Indeed. Your mother-in-law and I are eternally happy that you came into our son's life. Your pure heart and your demure soul is one in a million."

You can't help but feel somewhat embarrassed, his parents seem to be more in love with you than he is with you. "Oh, you're both too kind. In fact, i'm already happy just knowing that i'm married to such a wonderful man and blessed with in-laws like you.." Before they could both continue with their incessant praise, Daeho puts a stop to it. "Yes, my wife is amazing. But we won't get anywhere with this meeting if we keep going back and forth." In any other context this would be seen as an asshole move but in all honesty you are just insanely glad somebody put an end to it.

Without further ado, the food is brought to the dining table and it's several larger-than-normally-provided-for-just-a-simple-lunch-with-in-laws courses for only four people. Of course, you immediately aim for the samgyeopsal which is further to your husband's left while you're on his further right. You quietly get his attention and ask for the serving plate, to which he obliges. The problem with you two isn't that you argue, but you simply don't talk enough to even have the energy or spite to. He tolerates you, and you tolerate him. Your phone is on the table, face up, and off. While you're thoroughly enjoying the food as your husband talks with his parents about recent events in life, your phone suddenly lights up with a notification. Normally, the reason why you have your phone out is in the case of an emergency. Checking the notification and who it's from however, you instantly put it face down on your lap. "And what about you, Y/N?" "Huh—" "Anything interesting happening at your workplace?" your father in law asks. "Hmmm, not really, haha. Just functioning as it always does."

The rest of the afternoon goes fairly well, but the entire time you felt all sorts of negative emotions ranging from immense guilt and nervousness all on your lap.

Walking to the car, Daeho suddenly questions, "Where are your glasses, by the way?"

Fuck.

Your hands fly all over your face, and then you realize that you forgot your damn glasses at that hotel. It's just a wonder how you didn't end up accidentally tripping over something for the entire several hours that you weren't wearing it. "... Oh shit." you mutter. "I-i'll call Heera, maybe she has it." "Okay, but do it at home."

The drive home consisted of your husband being completely oblivious to the abomination that your mental state is right now, and you staring dead outside the window with a powerful sense of dread lurching in your abdomen. To escape this somewhat, you finally decide to check your phone and read what Seonghwa sent you.

Seonghwa: hey, you left your glasses at the hotel so I kept them. do you want to come get them?

Pinching your nose bridge, you sigh and reply. However, before you hit send, you suddenly change your mind and backspace rapidly.

You: I have something different in mind. But first, no. If possible, please come to my house with the glasses at 10:15 or later. My husband goes to sleep at around 9:45. I'll make sure that im the one to answer the door.

Seonghwa: alright. I dont have much time to talk with you more so i'll see you then 💕

Cute. He sent you a heart emoji.

When you finally come home, your first instinct is to rush up to your personal hideout, change clothes, and wait. You expected to go home at 1:00 P.M but all that chit chat postponed that to six in the evening. Considering how you only got four hours of sleep and chose to power through the day making the fact that you did not have your glasses all the more egregious, you decide that now would be the time to take a nice nap to use up your freetime for today.

At around 10:00 sharp, Seonghwa prepares to go outside, your glasses safe in a spare empty box he found lying around.

"You're going out again?" Yeosang sleepily asks, catching his hyung in the act of leaving. "Yeah. The same friend I was with last night forgot their glasses so i'm just giving it back to them." "Oh ok..." With that Seonghwa leaves. After dragging his feet back to his own room, Yeosang goes, "Wait. How could his friend forget their own glasses at their own home..?" Again like last night, Seonghwa opts to drive his own car which is parked right beside the company one. Whenever pictures are taken outside the building, fans always assume that car belongs to another employee.

You wake up at 10:21, much later than you assumed you'd wake up but in time to know that Seonghwa's here now. Creeping downstairs barefoot, you tiptoe all the way to the door, hastily opening it as fast as you can. There he is, he gives you the box containing your glasses—which is all that you needed from him. However, on an impulse, you look around cautiously before inviting him in. Since you and your husband aren't on vacation to somewhere else and as soon as you came home, the servants have turned off the surveillance cameras. This you know since one of the maids woke you up in the middle of your nap to inform you. Convenient how everything just falls into place. "Do you want a drink?" "Just water will do." Seonghwa answers, taking off his hood and mask. You nod and then go to fetch him a cup.

Sitting down right next to him in jogging pants and a tank top that barely covers your bra, you drink the cup of water that you also got for yourself. He in turn has also discarded his hoodie, and drinks the cup that you got for him. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" "It was last night." "No, I mean since we last saw each other before that." you say, setting the cup down on the table. "Yeah." his eyes clearly on your bust area. Well, it's not like you two could talk a whole lot about the time you've spent together in high school. You had a crush him for four weeks which was initially why you were hanging out with him in the first place. Even then, you didn't talk all that much in class or just in general. You mostly saw eachother at lunch or at dismissal. You just both knew that the other existed.

It's not like you invited him in for sentimental chat anyway. You look at him while he looks at you. "Do you want me to waste your time, baby?" "Please. He already does that to me daily."

With that same fond smile, he unzips his pants and pulls out his dick. It's already hard, and you don't know how long it's been that way. Nevertheless, you get on the floor and between his legs. You lick your lips before taking him in. Slowly, your head moves up and down. In no time, his cock is already practically drenched in your spit. Gradually, your pace quickens, making him toss his head back and letting out a quiet gasp. When he finally cums, you swallow down every single drop of it—licking up any residue from your lips.

Standing and turning around, you pull down your jogging pants along with your panties, revealing how wet you've gotten just from sucking him off. His hands go onto your hips to guide you as you sit down on his still erect cock. You are playing a way riskier and more dangerous gambit than last night. Seonghwa bites his lip to suppress any sounds, just tightly holding onto your hips as you bounced on his lap. It's peculiar, how you went from being absolutely guilt ridden for the entire day to doing it again tonight without any hesitation. Together, you both reach climax—your love fluids gushing out from underneath you and spilling all over his dick, the strength of your orgasm causing you to clench your knees together.

Considering how you both didn't want to up the risk any further, you go to the bathroom without your pants to clean yourself up.

Returning to the living room, you wonder if you should let Seonghwa go for the night, so you ask him if he wants to stay. "But your husband's here?" he looks at you with confusion. "I have an extra room where he doesn't go to that you can hide in for the night. But if you want to go back to your dorm that's fine as well." You make it clear that you both have choices here, and that you won't make any fuss should he decide to leave. But to your surprise, he chooses to stay. After putting back on your pants, you quietly lead him upstairs to where your personal space is. "I took a nap here while waiting for you. You can sleep on the bed over there." you point to the spare bed right behind the chair you sat on this morning.

That's where he ends up sleeping for the night while you watch. In time though, you also end up falling asleep again. Once you wake up, it's already nine in the morning. Apparently as he usually does, your husband had left for other important matters without telling you. Before, this would put you off immensely, often feeding into your fears about him having found someone on the side. But you're just relieved that he never checks in on you first. In this situation now that would be hazardous. You find that Seonghwa is also awake, as he's currently sitting in front of you. "Mh, wait here. I'll talk with the maids." Downstairs, you can smell the aroma of freshly made pancakes. Perfect, you could just ask for two on your plate. After briefly greeting the maids good morning and receiving the two pancakes on your plate in question, you head back upstairs.

As you both eat breakfast, you catch Seonghwa glancing over from time to time to outside your window and at the pool. "Is something wrong?" "Ah, no.. I was just looking at the pool you have outside there, it looks nice." he says, finishing up his plate. You end up letting him use the second bathroom downstairs which was where you went to wash yourself up the night before. Meanwhile, after doing your business in the bathroom on this floor, you put on some more presentable clothes—namely, your usual office attire. You have work only in the later morning during the near end of the month, so you still have some time before you have to go. Meeting Seonghwa downstairs in the living room, you find him looking outside at the pool again. "Do you want to go swim?" you raise your brow.

He did. As you stand on the side with your folder over your head to shield your eyes from the morning sun despite spring only having begun, Seonghwa's having the time of his life fooling around in the water. The sun does calm down though and you put your folder down to look at your watch. Still a bunch of time left before you have to part ways again. Instead of sitting down on one of the chairs, you choose to continue standing, observing as your shirtless new boytoy has fun in your pool. In the middle of watching him however, you wonder if he told any of his group mates that he was going to be gone for this long.

Eventually, time comes and you have to bid your temporary farewells. "Seonghwa." "Hm?" "I have work today, therefore i'll have to go and so will you. Thank you for last night and the other night." you smile. "Let me drive you there." he says, splashing the water around him as he jumps to your feet. "Huh? Oh, that won't be necessary. Yujun should be here any minute now—" "I want to spend more time with you." You stare at him blankly, genuinely surprised to hear the words that came out of his mouth. Needless to say, you agree and call Yujun to tell him that a friend would be driving you to work today instead.

While he drives, you ponder giving him the directions to the quickest shortcut you know from your home to your office. But he did say that he wanted to spend more time with you. Despite that, you both barely say anything during the drive there. While you were looking through the window, Seonghwa would look at you with a certain gaze.

When you finally get there, you get out of the car and take a single step forward before looking back at him. Before you leave, you crawl back inside for a brief moment to kiss him again. With that, you both go back to your own lives.

You happen to be right on time, getting off the elevator at the exact time that you're supposed to be here. As you walk to your personal office, you greet everyone as you usually do. Like any normal day, you hear small chatter amongst your coworkers, but you never pay any mind to it since it's their business. Sometimes you eavesdrop just a tiny bit to hear what the goods are. As you put your hand on the door however, a woman approaches you.

"Hello! You must be Mrs. L/N, right?" People randomly approaching you isn't anything new, especially if it's a new employee. "Yes. That's me, may I help you with anything?" you answer, facing her completely. "Oh, Mr. Nam hasn't introduced me to you yet! I'm Song Mira!" she grins, extending her hand out to you. Mr. Nam. Nam Daeho. Your husband? You slowly nod and shake her hand. Surely there's other men with the surname Nam in your department who have some sort of obligation to introduce people to you. "I see. What brings you here? The day has just started." "Oh, actually, your husband and I have been great friends for quite some time now—" What? You know all of your husband's friends whether they be close or mere acquaintances. But, you give yourself the benefit of the doubt; surely, they must not talk too often if he hasn't thought of introducing her to you first. "Are you okay, miss? You look—" "I.. I'm fine. Apologies, continue." "As I was saying, Mr. Nam wanted me to tell you that he'll be away for a trip for the next entire month." As suspicious as this would be had your relationship been any healthier than it isn't, you know that your husband couldn't care less to let you be the one to know first, that's just how it goes for you two. He'll let a random stranger on the street know where he's going and when he'll be back before he tells you upfront, instead he sends people or texts to relay the message. Therefore, you brush it off and thank Mira for informing you.

The bright young lady skips off and you enter your office. You may have seemed cool about it, but inside you were still fretting about the relationship between that woman and Daeho. All sorts of thoughts, fears, and scenarios play out in your head as you try to keep it together. Your fingers curl at the thought that Daeho did already beat you to the punch of infidelity. You may be no better, but at least you didn't do it out of nothing but pure lust. As you type away on your desktop, you can feel your teeth pinching the flesh of your thumb and your sight becoming blurrier despite you finally having your glasses. The pain of your teeth puncturing your thumb is completely discarded as you press hard on one key, ruining the thing you were working on as the letter 'y' fills your screen in rapid fire speed. Rather than making a fool out of yourself by bringing the issue to your husband and accidentally misunderstanding the situation, your mind immediately flies to how to solve this. Collecting yourself again, your inhale deeply and breathe. You select all the extra y's you accidentally spammed, delete them, and continue working.

Do you file for divorce? Do you ignore it altogether? Do you use Seonghwa as a spy? No, no, and no... Those all have ways that they could end up going horribly. Like a faint red light slowly dying the landscape of your mind, something suggests itself to you. It's immoral, perhaps even more immoral than infidelity. Murder. There'll be no one to embarrass or take anything away from you if they're dead. Out of the picture. But of course, you can't just stab or shoot him and get rid of the corpse. You have to make sure that absolutely nobody tries to take revenge or matters into their own hands—whether it be that girl or the authorities. You are not willing to let your coveted lifestyle fall into the hands of another. The cards all fell into place for you to have your affair, so surely, it'll all fall into place for you to murder your husband. Unlike other murderers, you will walk out of this the same person—unscathed. Finally having calmed down, you continue working.

Seonghwa on the other hand comes home to his concerned group members. Remembering his faulty excuse last night, he stands in front of the table. "Seonghwa. What were you actually doing those past two nights?" Hongjoong asks. "I was with a friend." he answers, feigning innocence. "But you most definitely were not at their place." "Technically I was." he hums, fixing his hair. This is out of character for him, they know. He's a softball, a cute and kind person in front of the fans. He also has his dorky parts, but he's not what he's presenting to the other members of ATEEZ.

"You know our company doesn't have strict rules on dating, why would you keep this a secret from us?" Yunho questions, although what happens is his privacy, the way he went on about it seemed like he was hiding something crucial. "She's married." That sentence alone renders all of them speechless. "Y-you're joking, right? You're not actually having an affair with a married lady, are you?" Wooyoung stutters in disbelief. To add fuel to the fire, Seonghwa adds on, "It's the wife of a man who owns a property management company." "Seonghwa, you can't be serious! You'll be getting into serious trouble not just with that man for getting involved with his wife!" Hongjoong argues, but ultimately, the look on Seonghwa's face tells that there is no convincing him out of it. With a heavy sigh, the leader buries his face in his hand. "I guess you better be prepared to make sure that absolutely nobody else finds out about this if you don't want to give her up." The others exchange glances before turning to their eldest, who knows very well what he's getting into. Whether or not they'll help cover for him is still something they'll have to debate amongst themselves.

Your work day ends at 6:30 P.M, as the sun starts to go down and the sky is a cold shade of light blue, you tell Yujun over the phone that you'll walk home today. As you walk down the shortcut with a dull expression on your face, knowing what you will now be conspiring and how you'll plan it, a familiar car stops by. The window rolls down, and for the first time today, you smile. Seonghwa drives you home. Once you get there, you sit on the couch and let him linger for a bit. Before he greets you another goodbye and walks for the door however, you ask him to stay. "I have good news for you, star." you tell him, and he turns around to hear what it is. "My husband's not going to be here for the whole month."

His lips curl up, and he lets out a small breathy laugh. This just got even better.

MATRIMONIAL DOGMA ⋄ 1

prologue of promiscuity

end.

next.

 fatalistickiss

AUTHOR'S SECTION ; Hello! nir eahc chae rin here and I just wanted to say if you're reading this then thank you for checking out this fic. I have other things to do and originally this was an au for my ocs but then I decided to tweak it a little and make it a fic for one of those said ocs' face claim. Of course, there's more to it than just a simple face claim, I for one have been a huge shinestar since 2020 and although I sorta dipped from the fandom, I still have a lot of love for these boys. This was so fun to write because well the au's been brewing in my head for how long now considering how many fics I see focusing on the woman that the man is cheating with rather than a woman doing the cheating and although infidelity is something that I am very obviously against, I had to feed myself some of that taboo stuff as well,, Anyhow, ty for reading and if you're going to repost then please credit me @fatalistickiss!

#﹣matrimonial dogma.#ateez smut #ateez fanfic #seonghwa #seonghwa smut #seonghwa x reader #ateez fic #seonghwa x y/n #park seonghwa #park seonghwa smut #ateez x reader #i wrote this but i also did not #seonghwa ff #going back to my roots with that tag

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seelestia · 1 year

Text

◇ A Blessed Imperfection ◇

─ ⊹ ⊱ ・・・・・・☆・・・・・・・⊰ ⊹ ─

LIA'S NOTE: aaaaa, thank you sm for submitting and writing this masterpiece, ☆ starlight anon! i'm so sorry that i wasn't able to post this asap but now, i'm sobbing as i read this. (/pos) do give this a read if you have the time and show ☆ starlight anon (@/hermosacolibri) some support for their godly writing 💐 this work does not belong to me, all credits go to ☆ starlight anon!

+ tagging @zhongrin — ehe! rin jie, you gotta take a look at this <3

CW: fem!reader, mentions of pregnancy and childbirth (in zhongli's part), reader has a vision (geo for zhongli and electro for ayato).

─ ⊹ ⊱ ・・・・・・☆・・・・・・・⊰ ⊹ ─

SYNOPSIS: Many consider your disability as a burden, but he finds a way to make it a blessing in disguise. What makes us flawed is what makes us unique, and that is what he considers the most beautiful thing about you—an imperfection he dearly adores. Nevertheless, he knows of your lingering sorrows and thus seeks a way to support you in the best way he could.

CHARACTERS: Zhongli, Kamisato Ayato

NOTE: I have decided to just submit the excerpts for these two and dedicated them to Rin and you respectively lol. I kept getting ideas and suddenly there were more characters to write, which made the entry too long. If you or the others wish to read more, I have an account on Quotev (a writing platform) that compiled all these sorts of literary works. People can also request there. I will provide the link if anyone is interested once I get everything cleaned up :)

•

ZHONGLI is a god whom has lived for eons, and has yet to begin his life at the same time. After his six millennia of existence, he has been known by many names and bestowed countless titles. Some are hearsay, and some are legitimate—all are bonded through his contracts. As the Prime Adeptus, he is the warrior god named Morax who subdued the rage of oceans and monsters by rain of spears. To all of Liyue, he is the mighty Rex Lapis whom stood as the overseer of contracts, history, and commerce. By the word of Celestia, he is the Geo Archon whom holds dominion over the Gnosis; and in the eyes of Teyvat, that made him god amongst gods even if he felt otherwise under the divine gaze.

Alas, when he finally stepped down from the lonely throne, his words to the Traveler omitted a particular truth from him—

—that is, his reason of retirement.

Zhongli spoke of erosion, and even the merchant whom made him realize that his job was done.

However, he did not speak of you.

Of course, with two Harbingers present, his secrecy is understandably sound judgment. Nevertheless, even when he attained privacy to speak personally, he finds it hard to disclose about you. Perhaps, it is a draconic instinct to hoard and protect what he has claimed to be his.

The only other individual just as protective over any knowledge of your existence is Ningguang.

After all, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing is also known as your dear older sister.

Ningguang raised you since the beginning, even if she had been a mere child herself. Your parents are never spoken, and you never asked. Even when you find yourself in comparison to other children with mothers and fathers, your older sister was always all you needed and wanted. Tirelessly, she carried you on her back while her arms were occupied by a basket of wares to be sold. Barefoot, she journeyed from the sands of Yaoguang Shoal to the main capital of Liyue Harbor to make ends meet. Every weekend, you will both scavenge anything that can be sold.

The first gift she ever bought you was an intricate erhu of the best craftsmanship.

It had been your smiles that told her everything will be worth the effort. It had been your songs that soothed the ache of muscles and the weariness of mind. It had been your words that invigorated her ambition to become something more.

“I love you, jiejie!”

“…I love you too, meimei.”

Nothing would stop Ningguang from rising to the top and giving you the life you deserve.

Time is cruel to mortals and always issues a test of faith to see them thrive. In one such incident, it has been proven that you and Ningguang are true sisters in every sense of the word. Her determination can only be rivalled by yours, and the resolve which shine like stars in your eyes is unconquerable.

Your older sister had once fallen to sickness. She refused to tell you where she kept the money, not wanting to waste it to buy medicine. You furiously argued with her about it but nothing could change her mind. Thus, at the dark of night, you treaded the path towards Jueyun Karst. The entire map of Liyue has been engraved in your mind since you could walk. Even when nothing but black greets your blank eyes, it would have been child’s play to travel into the abode of adepti.

That is, of course, if not for the adepti’s indignant anger at your trespassing.

Fortunately, you stole a Sigil of Permission.

“My sister is ill,” you told them, “and I require your aid to concoct a medicine.”

You will never know that what eventually convinced them is how gold illuminated your form. It channels your soul, and then solidifies into a circlet. At its center, a Geo Vision proudly sparkled.

Mountain Shaper thus led you to collect herbs that you would need. Moon Carver carried you on his back while Cloud Retainer flew towards Yaoguang Shoal with Ganyu on hers to check on your sister. In the distance, the Conqueror of Demons obliterated all other threats that may come your way.

By morning, Ningguang was on a road to recovery and you thanked the adepti by playing your erhu for them every day.

Amongst these private performances, you ended up in Guili Plains alone.

A melody has been haunting your dreams. It is very melancholic yet profoundly moving, like a promise between lovers. The composition began to write itself in the abyssal void of your sight. Then, it played smoothly by your delicate hands on the strings. Your voice echoed across the plains, bequeathing a sense of serenity that mortals rarely have talent to supply.

Once again, the Lord of Geo has been enchanted as he listened to your lullaby.

“Milord, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

Your inquiry was met with silence, but you can still feel his piercing eyes on you. Thankfully, you are patient as you are resilient.

The sound of footsteps made your ears perk up. You could not stop yourself from tilting your head to the direction of its origin. The omnipotence of adeptal energy dominated the air, making you dazed for a few seconds. However, there was a charming scent that you recognize. It belongs to a wild glaze lily, one especially helped to bloom by music.

Morax paused before where you sat, staring into your curious gaze looking up at him. The blindness clouded them yet your earnest intrigue made them shimmer glamorously. Autumn ginkgo leaves rain upon you whom sat beneath the shade of its tree, and he whom loomed over your mortal form. He lifts the glaze lily in his hand to bless its petals with a chaste kiss. Then, he slowly presents it to you.

A steady hand tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, planting the flower as an ornament. Your sensitive skin felt the callouses that must be from a lifetime of battle and slaughter. Alas, your cheeks only flush brightly at their tender caress. His fingertips glide through your tresses very subtly, giving you agency to pull away from his touch.

Morax pulls a lock of hair towards his lips, giving it the same attention as he did the glaze lily.

Then, with a promising smile, he lets go—

—and then vanishes in a blink.

That encounter was the first of many secrets you kept from your older sister.

A week later, a gentleman named Zhongli introduces himself to you. You narrow your eyes in suspicion and confusion. His presence, the aura of Rex Lapis, is unmistakable to you. Nevertheless, you respond with quiet acceptance while listening to his pulse settle down in relief.

It was not your place to question an archon anyway, nor is it your responsibility.

Aside from music, you always held fascination for botany. After refusing your sister’s offer to live with her in the Jade Chamber, she built you an estate with a large garden and a quaint greenhouse. From here, you have invented a unique art known as Geo Crystalline Preservation. You use the flowers in your garden to crystallize them with your Vision, but retain their scent like a real flower. By this method, you manage to pluck wild glaze lilies and preserve their natural fragrance after cultivation.

Your first specimen was the glaze lily gifted by your archon, now a part of your circlet.

Suddenly, wild glaze lilies were being revived to its former vast numbers in your garden.

Your artform can be applied to anything too. It can become a stained glass decor, a clothing design, an unwilting bouquet, and even a way to preserve food ingredients. For this reason, your fresh business had immediately made connections with all sorts of exchange across Liyue Harbor. In turn, you have developed a very reliable information network that answers to nobody but yourself. Twice, a visit from Yelan made your heart swell with pride to know you have information that eludes her.

Zhongli was more of a consultant or an advisor who directs you to the most beneficial proposals. It can be most helpful whenever you felt lost in making critical decisions that require more tact. He even made it possible for you to create a strong alliance with the Feiyun Commerce Guild. A part of you is still uncertain if that was worth the hassle that the esteemed Young Master Xingqiu tends to bring to your doorstep.

By the words of Rex Lapis, the core foundation of contracts is fairness. Thus, you asked Zhongli what he wants in exchange for his hard work.

“I only wish for your company,” Zhongli replied, “and—if you would allow it—a chance to court you.”

A gentle kiss lands upon your forehead. It brought back flashes of your first meeting under the ginkgo tree, when he was a god rather than a mortal. You used names to keep them separate, yet this moment has proven that Zhongli is Rex Lapis and Morax.

A cor lapis by any other name would nonetheless be as resplendent.

Then, two years later, he proposed and you said yes.

That resulted to an interesting private discussion between Zhongli and Ningguang. Neither of them disclosed any details other than the fact your sister gave her sincere blessings for the marriage. The wedding was reserved yet was also nothing short of extravagant. The collaboration of your sister and husband had you expecting nothing less, if you were being honest.

Another year later, the final Rite of Descension turns into a Rite of Parting.

You knew of Zhongli’s plan. He had to confide the details to you, excluding the Tsaritsa’s contract. It was the only way to persuade you into staying in Wangshu Inn for a few weeks, to make sure you do not get caught in the crossfire. He promises his intervention if all goes awry, if it endangers your sister as well as the rest of Liyue Harbor.

Then, it was all over.

Zhongli came home to kiss you with fervor you have never felt from him since your wedding night.

Later, the geo lines on his arms pulse with luminous glow in your marital bedroom. It reflected upon his amber eyes, pupils alternating between slits and dilation as his instincts purred. He closed his eyes with an inaudible sigh before projecting himself into your dreamscape.

As a blind person, you have an odd way of dreaming.

You only hear amidst the abyss and a composition always reverberates. When visited by him, everything gets reconstructed to a meadow of glaze lilies. At its heart is a Statue of the Seven. He had learnt that the imagery of stars twinkling above your heads is a sign that his own dreamscape had begun to merge with yours. A golden aurora borealis emanated pure geo energy, representing elemental resonance.

Always, the Geo Archon finds himself replacing his own self on the statue when he visits. He opens his eyes to the perspective of the statue. The illusionary Memory of Dust remains afloat beside him with a few geo crystalflies. He shall always find you fast asleep, wearing a hanfu composed of his colors. At times, your head is only resting on the armrest or his lap; and other times you are already in his arms.

Then, he cradles you closely while he listens to the tunes you dream. He has grown familiar with most of them through your erhu. A few would puzzle him, and he would then realize they are your unfinished compositions.

There was also one other reason he strictly kept you far from the events in the harbor.

You are with child.

Zhongli recalls the time you discussed the concept of illumination with him. It is the method of possibly enlightening a mortal to become an adeptus. The topic of you becoming immortal was only broached once and never again. Your own perspective in the matter was irrelevant, mostly because you were incompatible for the procedure. Although far from being an invalid, your constitution is far from ideal for such arduous illumination.

The Lord of Geo was overjoyed when you relayed the news of your pregnancy the first time. Alas, when the celebratory mood had gone, the slap of reality finally registered.

This will be a difficult ordeal for you, carrying a child that is half-adeptus.

Yanfei was conceived and born by a human mother, delivered through a complicated pregnancy. The health concerns never seemed to end, and her mother’s miraculous survival was only thanks to her tenacity according to her father. Even then, she is a mortal woman in perfectly good health.

If you were not capable of undergoing illumination, can you even survive this pregnancy?

No matter the answer though, Zhongli knows you are determined to persevere. For the sake of the life within your womb, you will endure all the hardships that will be thrown your way.

That fact is why he fell in love with you.

Perhaps, there was one thing he could do to help you even if it was not a full illumination.

As he once did for Azhdaha, the Lord of Geo can bless you the gift of sight.

You can see your child when they are born.

Zhongli lifts his head from where it rested on your crown. He tilts your chin up to gaze upon your visage and feel your breath against his skin. His fingertips grazed your eyelids, and the golden light of his geo energy engulfs the dreamscape. As everything fades into white, he leans down so his lips meet yours…

…and then, you both awaken.

However, for the first time, the haunting darkness that usually welcomed you has been replaced with color.

You saw a man hovering over you, lips millimeters apart from yours. Dark brown hair is embellished with honey gold, long strands gliding over his toned shoulders. Sharp amber eyes glared into yours, an unreadable sheen making them glow. Your hand reaches up to touch his pale cheek, thumb tracing the red outlining his gaze.

You realize. This is your husband.

“Zhongli…!” You gasped, tears in your eyes.

He smiles like a breathtaking work of art, a godly beauty that blessed you to be his wife.

“Hello, tian xin.”

Your arms wrapped around his neck to pull him into an ecstatic embrace and blissful kiss. He obliges, taking all you have and giving you all that is his.

Someday, you will no longer stay by his side.

Nevertheless, the proof of your existence will live through your child—and so will the love, the miracle that conceived them, which you shared with him. As such, you will continue to shine like gold in his memories forevermore.

This is not a mere contract, but a solemn promise that even Celestia can never break—

“My memories of you are treasures not even erosion can steal away.”

•~•~•

KAMISATO AYATO is a man whose heart seeks an equally capable partner. The idea of one day having to choose another half is something to consider as part of his duty. After all, the head of a noble clan is responsible for ensuring that its bloodline continues to prosper. To sire an heir, he must someday select a bride. His choice will lead to the rise of a matriarch within the Kamisato Clan. It must be a woman with the caliber to lead as the gentle hand of the Yashiro Commission to his iron fist. A fierce yet kind soul is necessary to command the Shuumatsuban in his place should the need ever arise. Furthermore, if he must eventually settle for a loveless marriage, his desire is to at least gain a lifelong friend. They must have the same depth of loyalty to his family, and the same steadfast resolve to uphold their principles.

Otherwise, he is very certain any other whom wishes to stand by his side will only break. With how he acts and carries himself, the people of Inazuma are more inclined to agree. Indeed, a wife less than up to par would be nothing short of disappointing.

Be that as it may, the Yashiro Commissioner can be a complicated man to love.

Ayato is a man who lives his life wearing a thousand masks, with little to no distinction between his true self and facades. At the early deaths of his parents, he was a young boy that had been forced into the lethal grind of political battles. To protect his little sister, he took up the blade to eliminate those who threaten them amidst the power struggle.

Just like that, his heart became a closely guarded vault privy to a trusted few.

Loving Ayato is likened to water, the same element he wields as weapon and shield. In calm days, he is transparent and clear to see. In chaotic nights, his own motives are harder to understand. There are times he can be as volatile as rapids, and others be as nurturing as a cool spring.

The most dangerous thing about loving Ayato is if you allow yourself to drown in him.

Alas, all of Inazuma is left dumbfounded when he abruptly announces his marriage to you.

The Yashiro Commissioner had gone missing for a week. A note with his penmanship claims he has a personal errand to run. Then, he returns to the estate—holding your hand while another clenches a scroll, sealed by the wax insignia of the Narukami Shrine and the Raiden Shogun. A glance at your respective hands reveal the glint of silver wedding bands, with camellia flower engravement filled by white jade.

Kamisato Ayato eloped with you.

“From here onwards,” Ayato declared, “[Name] shall be living in the Kamisato Estate as my wife. Please treat her with the same respect you do for me.”

The idea seems to intimidate you, a frown tugging your lips. Your husband, however, squeezed your hand in reassurance. Pacified, you end up snuggling your cheek onto his arm. The action is successful in grounding your senses, focusing on Ayato’s scent and body heat. He obliges this by gently pulling you closer, practically trapping your own arm to his side.

Ayaka hid a smile of amusement behind her fan, as her eyes softened in endearment.

“Of course, brother.” She replied.

Thoma nodded, beaming in welcome as you peeked at him and the young miss. Despite their slightest reservation upon this rushed turn of events, they trust Ayato.

Although, the Shirasagi Himegimi cannot help but feel you looked somewhat familiar.

You are a very peculiar woman, especially in a nation as conservative and traditional as Inazuma. In fact, some believe you seem more like an antithesis to your husband. Whereas he is always poised and very composed, there is always an untamed ferocity in you that refuses to comply to social norms. You can nevertheless dress as elegantly as any other noble aristocrat, speak as eloquently as any well-educated lady. If not for your infamous eccentricities, nobody would have doubted why Ayato chose you. It is quite renowned that you shamelessly stroll Inazuma’s main city in a commoner’s yukata—a messy bun for a hairstyle, and sometimes going barefoot. You despise social events and acted more elusive than your mysterious husband.

The servants were initially wary yet none of them can deny your positive influence. The household has never been so efficient and organized until you took on managing its affairs. Thoma was astonished to realize that he ended up with more free time under your authority. The meticulous way you stick to a form of schedule and your quick wit to adapt have enabled the Kamisato Estate to operate smoothly, with or without the siblings present. In fact, some unique tasks you assign to Thoma aided him into securing businesses in Ritou. As equal exchange for your patronage, you have flawlessly expanded the Shuumatsuban’s spy network.

Ayaka also found respite in her endeavors as face of the clan. She initially had a difficult time with being your mentor of sorts in the life of nobility. However, your creativity in problem solving and quick wit has been such help in balancing her own matters.

Thoma began to understand your ways when he has become in charge of all your meals. There is a set routine for every day of the week, and then a specific assortment of snacks with tea expected at certain hours. Each ingredient is meticulously picked and every dish is carefully prepared. If even one thing is out of place, you will notice with a single bite/sip and you would refuse to eat—which results to a very moody mistress for the rest of the estate.

It was only thanks to how well Ayato knew you that everyone else was able to keep up. He is aware of all factors to your behavior and how to aptly respond to them. His stern yet precise instructions left no room for mistakes if it meant taking care of you properly in his absence. It was as if he grew up with you due to the sheer amount of experience he has in how to deal with your odd patterns.

As months passed, Ayaka finally realized.

That is because her brother did grow up with you.

Ayato met you long ago when he was a mere lonely boy, burdened with the title of clan heir. He found you digging around the beach near his estate, an Electro Vision on your waist. A line of seashells were set on a flat rock beside you, all arranged by type as rows and by size as columns.

You glanced up at him. Your Vision flickers, making him tense—

—and then lightning struck the sands.

As a boy, Ayato watched in awe as the grains turned into glass. You manipulated the temperature of the element, heating the sand in quick seconds to create multiple pieces. He ended up getting closer, and it was enough to spook you. After you were finished, you hastily stood up and collected your things before sprinting away.

“Wait…!” Ayato exclaimed.

You did not listen.

The young master pouted, thinking he would never see you again. It was a shame since he found you so fascinating. He looked down and saw some strange hollow tubes in the shores, resembling coral.

That day, he went home a little despondent.

Ayato was pleasantly surprised to see you again the next day—same place, same hour. You are polishing the shells this time, and occasionally refining them to the shape you want. Small pots of paint surround you, and the Electro Vision is pulsing to be used at any given notice.

This time, you did not run when he got close.

“Fulgurite.”

He flinches as you suddenly spoke. Your eyes were focused on the glass tubes he picked up. They hung from the string of his obi now, which got odd looks from his parents a while ago.

“These…?”

You nodded, “They are fulgurites. You can use them to make jewelry. Want to see?”

That was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Ayato figures out your schedule and how you like sticking to it, so he never misses out when to visit you. It was something you never minded as long as he remained consistent. The times when he did not get the memo, you got annoyed and told him harshly to stop showing up. At first, he felt hurt since he misunderstood. Thankfully, he was mature enough to clarify it with you. Since then, he promised his arrival only on particular days wherein he can assure his free time. At his words, you acted less bothered by his presence and worked on your craft.

The two of you grew up together in those constant stolen moments. He finds out you have a younger brother, and he tells you he has a younger sister. On weekends, you are not on the beach. That is the only time your brother is able to spend time with you instead of honing his swordsmanship.

In stormy days, he had to struggle pulling you into the estate. Every time, he braced himself for your ire but patiently coaxes you over it. The most effective method is to occupy your mind with something else, and let your hands be busy crafting. Once you are fixated, Ayato can be allowed into your safe space again and he is able to take care of you. Henceforth, rainy days are spent in his estate and that became the new norm for your daily routine. Ayato adapts into creating amendments for your unhealthy habits.

You still persistently argue that storms are perfect for making petrified lightning glass.

Nevertheless, you express gratitude for his sincere care and affection. No one has ever been so doting on you aside from your brother. In turn, Ayato felt touched that you treat him as one of the only two people you explicitly trust. You even adjust yourself to be considerate of his own needs, despite the clear discomfort it sometimes caused you.

When his parents died, you were his greatest pillar of support.

Ayato has always known to never underestimate you in any way. What made you different did not make you dumb. In fact, it is revealed in that dark period that you were more brilliant than your peers. It was only thanks to your guidance that he found direction how to proceed. It was due to your judgment that he knew who to trust, which ties needed to be severed for safety. Every critical decision was consulted by you, and he was awed when the results you predict come to fruition. When his demons made him lose sleep, you provided relief by playing with his hair.

When he finally triumphed in the succession, you gave him a precious gift.

You smiled. Of utmost sincerity, you smiled ever so sweetly and so warmly.

That is the day Ayato knew you were the one.

Unfortunately, he had taken too long to confess that to you. Too many years slipped past his fingers due to his obligations.

Then, the Vision Hunt Decree happened—

—and you went missing.

A young man named Kaedehara Kazuha barged into his estate, panicked and distressed. He called for Ayato, kneeling as he pleaded for help in finding his older sister—you. The wind has gone silent regarding your whereabouts, and he feared the worst due to the recent decree.

Of course, the Yashiro Commissioner wasted no time in utilizing his power to be of aid.

It was for naught.

Soon, he could not even protect your brother when the young man was branded as a wanted criminal.

Kazuha witnessed the love Ayato holds for you—a passion he deems worthy of his kin. He knew of the bond you shared with him, which is why he came to the man for help. Meeting the man personally, the winds crooned in approval—to which the ronin only smiled, a little resigned yet mostly relieved.

Someone else can take care of you now.

“Aneue spoke of you fondly.” He said, “If anyone can find her, it’s you.”

The younger male presents him a box.

“She called it a tassel chime,” Kazuha explained, “and referred to that piece as Rainmaker.”

It contains a small windchime in the size and design of a tassel, thus the name. A single clamshell ties the knot for the top noose. Camellias on rippling waters is carved onto the blue glass, painted with glittering golden lacquer. Rather than a striker, a ball of glowing white jade is inside the spherical glass with a cowrie shell at its base. The tail is a familiar indigo satin ribbon, his gift to you on the last Irodori Festival. His name is embroidered in your favorite fulgurite threads, and yours on the other side:

Kaedehara [Name].

Ayato knew this is the equivalent of a blessing. He ties it to his sword, aware by use of elemental sight that the energy within it will prevent the glass from breaking even in a skirmish. He makes a promise to your brother that he will stop at nothing to find you, and then ask for your hand.

Eventually, he did.

You stood in an abandoned temple amidst the call of summer. The crystalflies illuminated your form, and the water shimmered like liquid diamonds. The tinkling sounds echoed in Chinju Forest, as the sails of windchimes blew with the nightly breeze.

“[Name]…”

At the call of your name, you turned to face him and Ayato embraces you immediately.

“I want to go home.” You murmur.

The broken tone of your voice devastated him, and he nods while tightening his arms. You hugged him back, hiding your face on his chest while his nuzzled your shoulder.

“Yes, let’s go home now.” He whispered.

The Yashiro Commissioner spared nothing at your expense. He used the name of Kamisato to protect you. As his wife, you are an integral part of the Tri-Commission and one with the Raiden Shogun’s faction. You cannot be touched by the decree like your brother feared. Although you desire no riches, Ayato sought to provide something that will soothe your unease at the drastic changes in your life.

Thus, in an isolated wing of the estate, there was your personal workshop.

A safe haven. All for you.

Ayato leaned back with you in his arms, cuddling by the veranda. You were sorting through your brother’s letters, worried, and missing him dearly. Looking up at your husband, he smiles and kisses you fervently.

“I’m here.” He reassures.

You wrap your arms around his neck in response, snuggling his chest to nap. He adjusts you on his lap and rewraps the blanket around you. His long fingers comb through your hair, humming contently.

Heartbound lullabies in hiraeth, ever so mellifluous—

“You are my clarity amidst sullied waters, a wish to forever keep.”

#submission #not written by me but this never fails to impress!#genshin x reader #genshin x female reader #genshin x fem!reader #ayato x reader #zhongli x reader

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