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because-of-a-friend · 3 years

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Enemies to Lovers!Jeonghan

MASTERLIST

One day I will come up with titles for my works lol.

Hi Hannah!!!! Thanks for requesting! I loved doing this one! I went ahead and went with Jeonghan cuz I feel like he fits this trope best! Sorry you had to wait so long, this particular fic got deleted like... three times so it was a struggle lol. I hope it’s what you were looking for!

I hope this is a good one, I’m realizing I get real insecure about my writing anytime I’m not doing a bulletpoint or reaction fic, so I don’t feel great about this time. Also I only started recently putting actual detail into my kiss scenes and idk how I’m doing with those???? Like do they seem ok??? Also I feel like I make it so obvious that I am such a sucker for SVT having cute nicknames for siblings, friends, partners, etc in fics lol. Anyways...

Also, I really said: Jeonghan... but in different types of lighting

Remember I don’t own the gif! Link to OP is right there if you want to go give the creator some love!!!

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Mentions eating, reader is using female pronouns (I will keep things gn unless you request differently), I think that’s it, pls let me know if I missed any

You’re not sure exactly how it happened. It was probably just an instance of getting off on the wrong foot, that led to more awkward interactions, giving both of you the wrong impression of each other. You knew this, you could rationalize it all. You were well aware that all it would take was one “I think we might have the wrong idea of each other” conversation and it would all be over. You could easily fix it all, but…

But his stupid smug face. The sarcastic jokes. The never-ending pranks that were not as funny as he thought they were. His ridiculous arrogance. His overall unapologetic nature towards all of it.

You couldn’t help but hate Yoon Jeonghan.

*****

“I don’t know, Wonnie…” you say uneasily over the phone. In previous years, you’d go over to the dorm without hesitation. You loved spending time with your brother and many of the other boys. But ever since you had officially met and begun interacting with Jeonghan…

“C’mon, [Y/N]! I bought that new game you were talking about! We can play it together on my gaming system!” Wonwoo began to persuade. You knew you’d give in; you always did. Your brother was far too sweet a person and far too comforting a presence to reject. The question was how long did you want to argue with him about going to the dorm.

You sighed, accepting defeat early to save time, “I’ll head over there in a bit.”

Wonwoo gives a small cry of victory, “Ok, I’ll have Gyu make extra ramen.” Wonwoo abruptly hangs up the phone right after, leaving you in silence to groan in regret of your decision.

You immediately straighten yourself out, though, trying to put yourself in a mindset of determination. What were you thinking? Just because you and that asshole didn’t get along meant you couldn’t go see your own twin brother without feeling uncomfortable? Screw that! If he wanted to keep the peace then he was going to have to start watching where he stepped around you.

*****

You knocked loud and clear on the door of their dorm, knowing that with thirteen people living inside, it was usually too noisy for them to hear someone signal their arrival. To your relief, Seungcheol opened the door just moments after you knocked and greeted you with a warm smile followed by a hand sneaking into your hair to ruffle it, “Hey there, kiddo! How’s it hanging?”

“Just fine,” you tilt your head down slightly in his direction as you pass him to enter the dorm. “How are things here?” As soon as you ask, your ears are met with the noise of someone dropping something in the kitchen, followed by Seungkwan crying in alarm.

“Same as always, I supposed,” Seungcheol sighs, but his smile doesn’t fade. “I think Mingyu and Wonwoo are already in the computer room, if you want to go ahead and see them!”

“Ok, thanks Cheol!” you call as you both rush off in different directions, him towards the kitchen and you towards the small room that would provide you solace from the possibility of having to see Yoon Jeonghan.

You were determined not to let things go how they usually did: you with your mouth clamped shut as Jeonghan spoke whatever teasing words he had saved up for you, and the most you can do to fight back is by rolling your eyes and finding any way to get away from him.

This time, you would still avoid contact with him, but if it happened, you’d speak your mind and not care what he thought, since that’s how he treated you.

But there was no sign of him or anyone else as you walked to the computer room. You could hear Mingyu and Wonwoo yelling and cheering at the game long before you opened the door. It was pitch black inside, the piercing light of the screen making you squint your eyes.

The two men inside both turn immediately to check who offended their dark space with the soft, yellow light from the hallway.

“Oh [Y/N], you came!” Mingyu beams up at you. You nod, matching his bright expression.

“How’s the game?” you ask simply, looking up to your brother.

“We like it so far,” Wonwoo’s smile is wide, he always gets excited about new games, whether they’re good or not. He leans over to grab a can of some sort of energy drink before gulping it down. “We left some ramen for you over there on the table. Eat first, then I’ll let you have a turn.”

You roll your eyes, though Wonwoo was only mere minutes older than you, he found those moments to be enough leverage to order you around and act like you should be dependent on his care. There were times when he even referred to himself as “oppa” to you and insisted that you do the same.

Most of the time you let it slide, especially when you weren’t in the mood to argue. However, there were times when you’d pull out the “We’re the same age,” “Even if you’re older, I’m smarter,” or “Don’t boss me around when I’m more mature than you” cards at the drop of a hat.

“Can you at least turn on the LEDs while I eat?” you ask, tip-toeing in the darkness towards the table at the back end of the room. You hear a click before a soft blue glow fills the room, finally giving you a clear view of your path. You pull the bowl of ramen towards you as you sit and resist the urge to comment on how little they left you. The dorm was filled with food anyways, you could find more later if you got hungry again.

Wonwoo and Mingyu begin to eagerly tell you what they like about the game as you eat. You listen happily, feeling safe in the presence of your brother and friend.

Then of course…

“Hey you two, Cheol wanted me to remind you that we have to get up early tomorrow,” you can’t help the sour expression that comes over your face as Jeonghan enters the room to speak to Wonwoo and Mingyu. “Oh, hey there cutie, I didn��t know you were here!” His smirk makes you sick.

“Don’t call me that,” you say bitterly into the nearly empty bowl.

Wonwoo looks nervously between you and his bandmate, well aware of the dislike you have for him. He’s grateful that you’ve always kept it so civil, but still feels bothered by the unrest between you.

Jeonghan lets out a little giggle in response, and Wonwoo feels a tug in the pit of his stomach, he wishes Jeonghan wouldn’t be so hard on you sometimes. He knows his hyung doesn’t mean anything by it, but you…

You feel your heart sink as Jeonghan steps fully into the room, striding to sit across from you at the table. You can only stare in wonder at his audacity as he slides the bowl towards himself and finishes off the ramen in one bite.

“I was eating that,” you try to keep your tone measured, attempting to keep within the balance of standing up for yourself but not starting any drama that would affect the boys.

“Go make more if you’re hungry, then,” Jeonghan says casually, making your anger positively flare.

You don’t even give your brother the chance to mediate, jumping up from your place and leaving the room, wanting to be anywhere but around that prick.

*****

“You’re leaving already?” Mingyu pouts at you.

“Gyu, I’ve been here for hours,” you laugh, stretching out your fingers as they start to prick from pain of slamming into a keyboard for so long. You had returned to the computer room but only after Jeonghan left. Part of you had wished you had done more to confront him; another part was glad you didn’t start a fight and put Wonwoo in an awkward position. “Besides all of you, as well as me have to get up early tomorrow, it’s already late. I need to get back home.”

“You can stay here,” Wonwoo was quick to offer.

You shook your head at him, “Then I’ll just have to get up even earlier, I’ll go back to my place.” Wonwoo nods almost reluctantly, standing to walk you out.

All of you run into Joshua on your way to the front door, he turns out to be the only one smart enough to ask how you got there.

“Oh, I took the bus,” you say slowly, knowing this is about to cause issues.

“Well, the last one would have already stopped running by now,” Mingyu says looking at the time on his phone.

“I’ll give you a ride,” Josh offers immediately.

You bring your hands up to shake them back and forth, “No, no, I can find a way home, you all need to go to bed.”

“[Y/N],” Wonwoo speaks up immediately in that stern voice you hate but also can’t help but listen to, “let Josh take you home. It’s either that or you stay here, I won’t have you walking around alone at night.” Wonwoo waits a moment to gauge your expression. He finally nods affirmatively, before speaking directly to Joshua, “Take her home, please.”

Joshua nods before walking off to grab his keys. You and Wonwoo send Mingyu off to bed. Once you’re alone, your brother pulls you in for a tight hug. “Do you want me to say something to him?” he asks lowly.

You shake your head, “I don’t want to cause any problems with you guys.” You sit in silence for a moment. “Come and stay over with me sometime, I miss our sleepovers.”

Joshua comes back and Wonwoo pulls away, “Thanks, hyung. Please get her home safe.” For the second time that night, your hair gets ruffled before your brother disappears to go off to bed.

The ride home with Joshua is comfortable. He speaks kindly to you and makes you smile.

You begin to wonder how amongst all these angels, there exists a person like Yoon Jeonghan.

*****

Wonwoo used the new game as leverage to guilt you into coming over quite often in the following weeks. You hadn’t realized how much you had limited your time at the dorm until you started going consistently once more. It was nice being able to spend time with the boys again. You hated that Jeonghan had become such an unbearable presence that it affected your relationship with the rest of your friends.

But ever since you had started to stand your ground and talk back, he had finally begun to avoid you. You supposed it was only fun for him when you sat there and took it.

It didn’t stop the two of you from bickering when you saw each other, but now both of you preferred to avoid each other instead of Jeonghan seeking you out to tease you.

The following weeks of visiting were fairly comfortable. Whenever Jeonghan wasn’t around, you got to spend plenty of time with the other boys and your brother. Plus, the new video game was even better than expected.

Jeonghan’s presence slowly became uncomfortable in a different way.

Instead of being smug and overbearing, he became strangely quiet around you. His facial expressions became more serious as he sent genuine glares your way before letting out bitter remarks and going on his way.

It made you even angrier.

Who the hell was he to torture you all this time and then act like a kicked puppy when you finally fought back???

Your anger and his bitterness slowly escalated the tension between you two. Although they were happening less frequently, the arguments between you became more serious and almost hurtful.

Whatever, you told yourself, he could do as he pleased, you wouldn’t let it affect you anymore.

*****

You stared down at your phone screen. Why? Why did it have to be here, while you were at the dorm?

The call was only five minutes. They didn’t even do it in person. Of course, they had warned that because of hard times, there’d be lay-offs soon. But they couldn’t even do it in person? And all you got was a simple “Sorry, come collect your things on Monday”??? You were a hard worker, passionate about the job, more efficient than most of your coworkers and this is how they treated you???

A part of you could’ve guessed, many of the employees your age had gotten in because of nepotism. But you didn’t want to believe that they’d just brush off all your years of hard work just to avoid stepping on the toes of higher-ups who had relative connections hired at the company.

You squatted against the wall of the hallway, still too in shock to move.

So, you simply sat in silence, for what seemed like forever.

“You good?” you had never felt worse than the exact moment his voice reached your ears.

“Go away,” you said sternly, knowing you’d be crying soon.

“Geez, forgive me for asking,” Jeonghan responds before turning to walk away. He stops abruptly after you sniffle. “So, you’re not ok?”

“No offense, Jeonghan,” you say hating the way your voice is shaking, “but you are the last person I want to speak to right now.”

There’s a heavy silence for a long moment. You silently pray that he’ll just leave. “Do you want me to get your brother?” he asks lightly.

You shake your head, “No, I don’t want to ruin the mood. I’m going to go home, just tell him I had a stomach ache.” You push yourself up and begin to walk briskly towards the door.

To your surprise, Jeonghan reaches out to stop you. You stare at his hand wrapped around your arm and wonder if you’ve ever even allowed him to touch you before. “It’s already late, let me give you a ride.”

You pull his hand off of you, “No, thanks.” You grab your coat and start to dig around in your purse to make sure you have all of your belongings.

“[Y/N],” Jeonghan’s voice rings clear in your head despite your brain feeling fuzzy. You don’t want to look at him. Who is this person that’s showing concern and speaking kindly? You don’t like it. It feels fake. It feels like a predator playing with a wounded prey. You’re just waiting for him to laugh or make a remark or do anything to make you feel worse than you already do.

But Jeonghan simply grabs the keys laying on the front table, grabs your arm once more, and leads you out to the car.

*****

The ride is suffocatingly silent. You wished he’d at least turn on some music to cover up the sound of your crying, but you remained in the quiet. You rolled down your window and stuck your head out, letting the warm night air and sound of wind comfort you. Since you were turned away from him completely, you didn’t see Jeonghan glancing over at you throughout the drive.

You couldn’t have left that car faster when you finally pulled up to your apartment.

To your dismay, Jeonghan also gets out, apparently intent on walking you up.

“You don’t have to-” you start but abruptly stop when he gives you a look telling you an emotion you don’t quite understand.

Jeonghan finally speaks when you’re riding the elevator up to your floor, “I don’t really mean it, you know.”

“Mean what?” you say weakly, starting to feel the exhaustion from crying so much.

“When I talk to you like that… I mean when I’m… rude,” he trails off, running a hand through his hair. “Usually it’s just teasing, but obviously I went too far with you. And I didn’t realize it until you started showing how upsetting it was for you. I should’ve known before that, though.”

“You seemed ruder after I started talking back,” you say, confused.

“I was just being petty and defensive. I kept telling myself things like: It’s her fault, isn’t it? She should have made it more clear from the beginning that it was upsetting her. How was I supposed to know? But that was just me being immature, I should’ve just talked to you.”

“Is that an… apology, Yoon Jeonghan?” you ask, letting yourself be a little smug.

For the first time, you get a genuine smile out of him, “Maybe.”

There’s more silence for a second.

“It’s a two-way road, though,” you say finally.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I mean, I could have also come and talked to you instead of letting things escalate,” you say. “I played some part in all of this… unpleasantness. You can’t entirely blame yourself.”

Jeonghan smiles again, reaching out to ruffle your hair the way Seungcheol always did. Then he takes a dramatic deep breath and rolls his shoulders, “There! That feels better, doesn’t it? We can finally be friends!”

You roll your eyes in a playful manner, but you feel it too, a weight has been lifted.

*****

Wonwoo showed up at your door in the middle of the night that night. You took one look at his frantic face and groaned, “I told Jeonghan I would tell you myself.”

“You should have told me immediately!” your brother pouts as he passes you to walk into your apartment.

“I didn’t want to worry you so late, especially when all of you were having a good time. I was going to tell you tomorrow,” you close the door behind him. You watch as he turns on the TV and starts picking through your pantry. “Hmmm, yes it seems quite clear that you came here out of concern for me,” you can’t help but use a sarcastic tone.

Wonwoo sends a glare your way as he grabs snacks and settles on the couch. You sit next to him, grabbing your fair share of the food. You try to keep your attention on the show, but the feeling of Wonwoo staring straight at you is distracting.

“I’m fine, you don’t have to worry,” you sigh.

“Really? Because Jeonghan described you as an emotional wreck,” your brother scoffs.

“I was just shocked and upset. I’ll be ok. I have a good resume, I can find a new job,” you insist.

“I keep telling you, you don’t have to work-”

“I don’t care how much you make,” you interrupt. “I’m not going to depend on you. It’ll just make trouble for both of us.”

“Will you at least let me help out if there’s any problems before you find a new job?” Wonwoo kicks at your leg.

“Like I would even tell you if I was having trouble,” you return his kick.

“You just can’t help but be difficult,” your brother complains quietly.

You let the sound of the show take over the room for a few minutes. “I do have good news,” you finally speak up, wanting to give your brother some peace of mind about something. “Me and Jeonghan made up. We figured it out.”

Wonwoo bolts upright with a grin on his face, “Really??? It’s really all good now?”

“100%,” you say, unable to stop yourself from pinching your brother’s cheeks, finding his excited expression cute.

“Let’s celebrate soon then! We can have a big gaming party with all of the boys!” You agree to your brother’s proposal. You feel content in this moment, knowing you’ll wake up in the morning in an uncomfortable position, immediately kick at his legs and tell him to get his stinky feet away from you.

*****

Your time at the dorm increases with the weight of you and Jeonghan’s rivalry being gone. You’re enjoying getting to know him as a friend instead of constantly walking on eggshells around him. Going to visit the boys is once again a happy and comfortable experience.

You hadn’t realized how much Jeonghan had affected you until you two had worked things out. The world felt light again and you could breathe, no longer in constant worry of possibly ruining things between your brother and his bandmates.

You hoped things would remain without complications for a long time.

*****

“Seungkwan, you should come with us!” you begged. “The carnival only comes once a year; you can’t miss it!”

“But it’s so crowded and there are screaming kids everywhere,” Seungkwan complains.

“Oh, whatever,” Soonyoung interjects. “You love it every time we go.”

Seungkwan gives Soonyoung a look that has you laughing through your mouthful of ramen. “Oh, shoot,” you say feeling liquid start to dribble down your chin. “Can I get a napkin?”

“Here’s one,” you hear Jeonghan’s voice as he enters the room. You reach out to grab the napkin as Seungkwan and Soonyoung continue bickering. But instead of handing it to you, Jeonghan extends his hand not holding the napkin towards you. His fingers come to lightly touch your chin and turn you towards him. Jeonghan wipes your face with the napkin himself, taking the time to make sure it’s really all clean. “All better,” he smiles at you, running his thumb across your chin to check its cleanliness one last time.

As Jeonghan walks away, you turn to see if Seungkwan or Soonyoung saw what had happened. They were still arguing, though. The boys showing you physical touch or affection wasn’t really all that uncommon. But for some reason, the way Jeonghan had grabbed your chin just now… Why was your heart beating so hard?

*****

You couldn’t stop yourself from dragging Wonwoo all over the carnival. It was nice to get out in this environment, the lights, the laughter, the food, the games, the rides. You wanted to do everything, but not before you looked at all there was and took in the spectacle.

You could hear all the boys laughing excitedly behind you, you knew they’d want to try everything as well. You shook your head at Seungkwan’s bright expression, you couldn’t wait to play the ‘I told you so’ card later.

The night was a blur. All of you ran from games to rides to snacks and then all over again.

You couldn’t help but stop completely in your tracks as you passed a booth with a giant stuffie of your favorite animal as a prize. Your fascination with the plushie doesn’t go unnoticed.

“You want me to win it for you?” Jeonghan’s voice is suddenly speaking right into your ear. You jump after realizing he was right behind you. You grip your cotton candy a bit tighter and shyly nod. The way Jeonghan grins at you fills you with warmth.

You watch him walk over to the booth. His light hair and pink shirt were illuminated by the soft glow of the surrounding lights. Jeonghan takes his wallet out and hands some bills to the vendor. You step up closer to stand next to him as he plays the game. He laughs as he chats back and forth with the vendor. You watch in awe as Jeonghan clears the game, no problem.

“Anything from the top shelf!” the vendor exclaims happily.

“That one please,” Jeonghan points right at the stuffie you had been staring at.

“It’ll be a wonderful memory for your girlfriend,” the vendor smiles as he hands the prize directly to you.

“Oh, I’m-”

“Of course!” Jeonghan interrupts you almost instantly, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and starting to pull you away from the game. “We’ll cherish it for a long time! Thanks for the game!” The vendor waves kindly as you two walk away. After a moment, Jeonghan pulls his arm off of you, “Sorry, sometimes it’s just easier to agree than explain, you know?” You nod in agreement. “Wait a second,” he stops you by putting his hands on your shoulders and standing in front of you. Before you can ask what’s wrong, his hand comes up towards your face as it had earlier that day. He quickly swipes his thumb across your lips before pulling to back to show you remnants of your cotton candy. “Do you always eat this messily?” he grins and then, to your surprise, puts his thumb in his mouth to clean it off.

You stand there, frozen, unable to really comprehend what just happened as Jeonghan walks away towards the other boys.

“For the second time today?” Soonyoung is suddenly standing next to you.

“So you did see what happened earlier!” you exclaimed, hitting his arm lightly. “It was weird, right?!”

“Can’t tell yet,” Soonyoung replies cocking his head to the side and putting his hands in his pocket. “Sometimes Jeonghan is just sort of naturally flirtatious. But I’m not sure about you. I figured since you two didn’t get along at first, it’d take him awhile to warm up to you at that level. He seemed to get comfortable with you quite quickly.” Soonyoung turns and shrugs at you after his words.

“You’re no help at all,” you say emotionlessly. There’s a pause before both you and Soonyoung slowly look at each other and laugh at your quip.

You decide to brush off your new concerns about Jeonghan and enjoy this night with the boys. The vendor was right, it was a good memory, and you’re sure it’d last you for your whole lifetime.

*****

You hate yourself a bit for it, but you once again seem to be avoiding Jeonghan. He had made you so nervous that day, and the way your heart pounded… You didn’t want to get sucked into having a silly crush on him if he wasn’t actually trying to flirt with you.

No, from now on, interactions with Jeonghan would be friendly but short and appropriate.

You were stupid to think he wouldn’t notice.

It wasn’t long before there came a night when Jeonghan insisted that he be the one to give you a ride home. You couldn’t help the way your nerves spiked at his determination to be the one to take you. You knew he most likely wanted to talk to you about your sudden distance from him.

The ride itself was nice, Jeonghan rolled the windows down for you, remembering that you enjoyed the warm night air of summer. You talked comfortably with one another. Jeonghan was always able to make you smile so easily.

You couldn’t stop yourself from staring at him. He was just wearing a t-shirt and sweats but… His blonde hair being illuminated in the moonlight as he ran his hands through it and his bright smile as he laughed...

He really was beautiful.

Once again, Jeonghan came with you to walk you to your door. And once again, he finally spoke up in the elevator, “You’ve been avoiding me, sweetheart.” Your heart drops to your stomach at the nickname. “Is everything ok? Did I do something to make you mad again?”

You quickly shake your head and pull your hands up to shake them as well, “No! Not at all!”

“You sure?” he insists.

“Yoon Jeonghan, you really don’t think I’d tell you if you did?” you say.

He giggles, “Yeah, that’s true. You’d let me know the moment I messed up, wouldn’t you?” The elevator dings and opens up to your floor. You and Jeonghan step out together. “Is everything else ok, then? You don’t start avoiding people for no reason.”

You nod as casually as possible, “Everything is great.” Your tone isn’t convincing and Jeonghan nudges you. “I guess, I just got… nervous? I mean one moment we were like enemies and then the next we were suddenly really… close, and-”

“I made you uncomfortable?” Jeonghan’s voice is slightly panicked.

“No, you did nothing wrong! It’s all on me, I just got caught up in my emotions and-” you stop abruptly when you realize what you were about to do.

Jeonghan nods quietly as if to say he understands, but what it is he understands, you’re not sure. “Is it ok for us to remain close, or do you want me to back off?”

“I don’t want any more distance between us, but…” you trail off.

“But, what?” he prompts you again.

“I don’t want to get the wrong idea about anything…” you say, finally reaching your door.

Jeonghan watches as you slowly unlock your door and push it open, “You haven’t gotten the wrong idea about anything.” He avoids eye contact when you look up at him.

You’re shocked by his forwardness. But once he voices his thoughts out loud, you once again feel the feeling of a weight being lifted.

Jeonghan gestures for you to step inside, catching your arm once you fully pass him. He pulls you back to him, close enough for him to lean in and leave a quick kiss on your cheek, “Night, babe, I’ll see you later.”

You stand there, completely still, staring at your door that had shut closed in front of you. You can feel heat rise from the tip of your toes all the way up to your ears. You finally let yourself fall into a squatting position, covering your face with your hands, and letting out a squeal.

*****

Jeonghan invites you to meet up outside of the dorm. It’s a cute little coffee shop at a quiet part of the city. You’re already sitting when he walks in. Maybe one day, you won’t be completely caught off guard by his beauty… but today is not that day.

His whole person is bathed in the glow of the early morning light as he approaches you, the softest, most genuine smile gracing his face.

“No, don’t get up,” he says when you try to leave your chair, “I need to go off and order anyways.” Jeonghan leans down to kiss your forehead firmly. “I just wanted to come say hi first,” he whispers, holding your face close to his.

Your first date sets a wonderful precedent to the rest of your relationship. Jeonghan gets your heart racing with flirty comments and sweet touches. But he also makes you feel calm and content, easily keeping a smile on your face. You just feel… good throughout it all.

You insist on walking him back to the dorm, since they had schedules that day.

“So, we’ll be doing this again?” Jeonghan asks hopefully, as you reach the front door.

“Definitely,” you nod enthusiastically up at him, wondering how you had ever managed to despise the man that made you feel so whole and happy.

Jeonghan looks utterly happy and a tiny bit nervous as he stares down at you. His hand reaches up to brush back your hair before settling firmly against your face. Jeonghan looks at you so fondly as he leans in. His lips connect to yours… so softly… so sweetly. You can feel his nose nudge against your face to push it into a preferred position. He pulls back slightly after every little kiss to let out laughter so sweet, it sounds like it should be coming from the mouth of an angel. But he’s never far away for long, reconnecting to you quickly every time. You let him take the lead, allowing his lips to take care of yours, giving them the sweetest kind of attention. He pulls back for a moment longer to nuzzle his nose against yours, an action that has you gripping his shirt to keep him close. His hands keep themselves entertained by running across your face or through your hair.

He’s going back in to kiss you once again when he front door of the dorm opens, leaving you caught in the act. Wonwoo stares at you two for a long moment before making a single comment that causes you and Jeonghan to laugh.

“You know, when I said I wanted you two to have a better relationship, this isn’t exactly what I meant.”

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jungkxook · 4 years

Text

—moonstruck. (m)

⟶ pairing: taehyung x reader

⟶ genre: werewolf!taehyung au / arranged marriage au / smut with a sprinkle of fluff

⟶ words: 7,421

⟶ rating: 18+

⟶ summary: in hindsight, being friends with a pack of werewolves and, thus, suddenly being thrown into a world of supernatural furries and other inhuman beings isn’t something you would recommend but it was too late to back out now, especially when you consider the fact that apparently you’re now being “hunted” and the only way to save you is to be mated with taehyung. whatever that means.

⟶ warnings: multiple smut scenes, first time (virgin!taehyung), clumsy sex, soft and gentle sex, sort of rough sex, all the sex, cunnilingus, riding, hair pulling, knotting, buckets of cum, biting kink, slight impregnation kink, unprotected sex, creampie

⟶ disclaimer: first fic back after a long hiatus and i’m suddenly v nervous to post this!! also this is shamelessly and 100% inspired by an episode of the show outlander (to be exact, the wedding episode). i couldn’t help myself!!

“Are you serious right now?”

In hindsight, being friends with a pack of werewolves and, thus, suddenly being thrown into a world of supernatural furries and other inhuman beings isn’t something you would recommend but it was too late to back out now, especially when you consider the fact that apparently you’re now being “hunted.” Whatever that means.

Had you heard yourself speak a year ago before meeting Taehyung and having your life turned upside down, you would have surely thought you were insane, and you would have definitely thought Taehyung is insane, and the rest of his friends who are, subsequently, now yours ━ each of whom are all currently splayed out before you in Namjoon’s spacious country-side home with similar grave looks staring back at you.

“Dead serious,” Hoseok takes the liberty of breaking the odd silence saturating the kitchen. He’s made it a point to be on time for once, which you consider great and all if it wasn’t basically to dispute your current death sentence. “Always thought Jaebum’s pack were sons of bitches ━ glad to know it’s still true.”

“Hoseok,” Yoongi scolds. “Be a little more compassionate.”

“Am I wrong?” Hoseok refutes.

From off to the side, Jimin pushes himself forward with a frustrated groan, shaking his head. “Tae, I told you this was a dumb fucking idea ━ bringing Y/N into the pack━”

“I didn’t think this would happen,” Taehyung protests hotly. He’s leaning against the wall somewhere behind you, arms crossed over his chest and a deep frown darkening his face.

“How could you not think this would happen?” Jungkook retorts bitterly.

“Shut up, Jungkook.”

“She’s a human,” Jungkook says. “Jaebum wants her gone, but if he were to get his hands on her, then who knows what could happen━”

“I said shut up, Jungkook,” Taehyung snarls, an odd vehement tone dripping from his every word that is out of the place for the usually tranquil boy. Jungkook’s mouth clamps shut at once, though you suspect it’s not to do with defeat more so than because he’s the newest addition to the pack and, while Namjoon is their leader (or Alpha, as you’ve heard being thrown around before), Taehyung was something of a second-in-command. You could only imagine the consequences of crossing either Namjoon or Taehyung within the pack.

“Hold on a second,” You try to sputter for air, lungs wheezing. Your mind has since been spinning, struggling to keep up. At first you thought they were joking when they had told you, but now you were beginning to understand the severity at the very least. “I’m being hunted? Why?”

Now, Namjoon looks from Taehyung, then to you, and back again. Taehyung hesitates to answer at first, and Jungkook scowls. “Well, tell her, Tae. You dragged her into this mess. She deserves to hear it from you.”

As you twist in your seat to look up at Taehyung, your eyes locking briefly with his, the boy grimaces and then has to look away. He takes a deep breath before responding. “Okay, look. You know that pack I told you about? Jaebum’s?”

You nod, though the memory is vague. You’ve heard the name in passing before, but you could only gather that there was some sort of animosity between his and Taehyung’s pack.

“He found out about you, and I don’t know how,” Taehyung explains. “And now he wants you gone, and he’ll do anything to see it through.”

You blink once, dumbfounded. Terrified, even. Taehyung can certainly hear it in your voice and it makes him flinch again, as if being striked across the face. “Why?”

“Because you’re not one of us,” Taehyung says. “Because you’re human. When I first told you about us, I was risking everything. It’s uncommon for one of us to bring a human into the pack just because, and often even frowned upon. There’s a fear you’ll expose us to the human world or the hunters. Jaebum’s threatening to start war if we don’t deal with this situation ourselves.”

It’s only then that the dread begins to creep upon you, chilling you to the bone. “Deal with it… how?”

“The ultimatum is either kill you ourselves, or give you over to Jaebum to deal with, as a sort of peace offering,” Namjoon says carefully.

“Which probably also results in death,” Hoseok points out morbidly.

Jin scoffs. “Or worse.”

“Is there any option that doesn’t result in death?” You ask warily. At this, the group falls silent once more.

“Well, there is one.” Namjoon glances fleetingly around at his brethren, then sighs. “You become one of us.”

“I━” You stammer, face suddenly hot. “You mean, like, a werewolf?”

“I mean, a wedding.”

“A wedding?” You gasp. “How is that going to save me?”

“Not a wedding like you think,” Namjoon says. “More of a bonding. A handfasting. Right now, as a human, you’re vulnerable and exposed. We have no claim over you. But if you become one of us ━ without being turned ━ then Jaebum shouldn’t be able to touch you.”

Slowly, you begin to piece together the fragment of your dilemma. “Marry who?”

A beat of silence passes amongst the group in which time you spot Namjoon nod in the direction of Taehyung’s figure beyond you, a wordless yet clear gesture. Suddenly, a stubborn warmth of a blush pinches at your cheeks. You wonder if they can notice, if Taehyung can notice. You start, “Taehyung━?”

“He offered to be the one,” Namjoon says. “And Jaebum knows Taehyung’s role in the pack. If he knows you’re mated to Tae, Jaebum would be absolutely insane to try and come for you. It’s the only way, Y/N, and it ensures your safety.”

“Marrying Taehyung?” You ask shrilly, voice dangerously thin. “How is marrying Taehyung going to ensure my safety?”

“It’s not just a marriage,” Jimin explains.

But of course you already know this, werewolf laws a strange and intricate jumble of rules that you’ve long since grown accustomed to. When he speaks next, you already know it’s much more than a marriage; and, when he speaks next, you fear you’ve already had your fate decided for you.

“It’s not just a marriage,” Namjoon repeats, matter-of-fact, “because we’re making you Taehyung’s mate.”

“You didn’t have to do this.”

You try not to think about it. Admittedly, marrying your friend who you have only known for a year isn’t something you had been expecting. But, as Namjoon had explained it, it wasn’t necessarily a legal unification between you and Taehyung, though you suppose it’s as valid now as any marriage with the ritualistic handfasting ceremony making it official. That, and you favoured living to see another day instead of becoming a werewolf’s next meal or ripped to shreds by one.

Only a day after your conversation with the boys of Taehyung’s pack, you’ve come to your ultimate decision which has led you to where you are now, returning to Namjoon’s home for a wedding. Your wedding. You hadn’t very long to decide your own fate anyway, with the boys grimly warning you it was now or never. But you trust them, despite this crazed ludicrous situation you find yourself in ━ and you trust Taehyung more than anything, your friendship with him having quickly blossomed into something so sincerely profound over the year that you’ve known him.

If you’re being honest, Namjoon’s pack had at least made an effort for the occasion because despite how unconventional it is, it was still a celebration. A celebration for your marriage, and a celebration for their hopeful victory over Jaebum. Still, the underlying threat of the evening remains, made more prevalent by the fact that it was required to invite at least another pack (of which you’ve met the leader, Jisoo, a handful of times before) as witnesses. It’s a simple ceremony too, quaint and cute if you weren’t clinging to life. You had made it a point to dress up, digging a pretty white dress from the depths of your closet with flowing butterfly-like sleeves; Taehyung had forgone a suit but was still handsomely dressed too, leaving you to feel like less of an idiot. Namjoon had officiated it, standing before you and Taehyung as you held one another’s hand, wrapped delicately in ribbon, listening to the vows being proclaimed that talked about true love, and the passion and yearning involved.

When the handfasting finally draws to a close, you’re shoved into a room alone with Taehyung for a moment of privacy by Hoseok, who can be heard quipping wolfishly, “Get it over with quick!” before vanishing behind the closed door. You wager he’s left to join with the rest of the festivities outside where, no doubt, every werewolf is currently drinking themselves blind.

Finally alone with Taehyung, a saturated silence fills the air that has you wringing your hands anxiously in front of you. You sit on the edge of the bed in the center of the room. “What other choice was there, Tae?”

Taehyung takes a moment to respond, and even he knows the thought is a useless one when it crosses his mind before voicing it aloud. “We could have ran away.”

“How far would we get?” You sigh. Still, the sorrow earnest in his voice and riddling his face is enough to make you look up at him sympathetically. “I’m no use to you if Jaebum or someone worse finds us by ourselves. Besides, the boys need you.”

“No, you need me,” Taehyung insists. “Jungkook’s right. I dragged you and the pack into this mess. It’s my responsibility to fix this.”

He drags his feet towards the bed, then flops down onto his back on the mattress. A troubled groan punctuates the air, and you sneak a glance behind you to see him rubbing warily at his eyes.

You decide now would be the best time to ask the one question that has been on your mind since the night before when you were sitting in Namjoon’s kitchen to discuss Jaebum’s scorn. “Is that why… Is that why you offered to be my mate?”

“Yes,” Taehyung admits meekly. “Sort of. Think we’d all rather it be me than Joon, anyway.”

You don’t argue with this. The reasons as to why it had to be Taehyung satisfied you well enough. That, and aside from having befriended the pack over the months, you’re much closer to Taehyung than you are with the others.

“So…” You trail off, clearing your throat. At this point, you’re simply speaking for the sake of filling the void. “What now?”

Taehyung shrugs. He looks around the room. “Nothing.”

“Well, what did Hoseok mean just now? Get what over with?”

“Erm━” Taehyung opens his mouth, as if preparing to explain, then decides otherwise. “It’s nothing.”

“Taehyung, we literally just got married and you’re already keeping secrets from me,” You retort. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he insists. “It’s just that… Well…” He sits up from the bed, meeting your curious gaze. “This was essentially a mating, and every mating needs to be seen through to the end to be considered valid. The pack can tell when it’s… uh… done.”

Oh.

Now it hits you. It’s the way he awkwardly trails off, hand ruffling through his long locks, that has you immediately understanding what he’s trying to imply. You gawk upward at him. “Are you asking me to sleep with you?”

Suddenly, Taehyung looks flustered and he shakes his head frantically. “I mean, they expect it, but I would never force it on you.” Then, he straightens up, as if captivated by a newfound confidence. The smallest of smirks dances upon his lips that you don’t miss. “Besides, I never said it had to be between you and me. As long as they can sense it, I’d say your hand would do just fine instead ━ but you have all night for that.”

“Oh my god.”

The smirk widens into a devious look now. “You said you wanted honesty.”

As he dissolves into a fit of stifled chuckles, you scowl but you wager it’s mostly an attempt to hide the frazzled look on your face. Then, hurrying to change the topic, ask, “Is every mating like that then?”

“Yeah,” Taehyung admits. “If two mates want to stay together forever, they complete the process with marking, usually by a bite. It strengthens the mating bond.”

Taehyung notices you squirm in your spot, crossing your knee over the other and squeezing your thighs together. He can sense you’re uncomfortable, understandably with your current situation, but can’t quite pinpoint what else seems to make you sit so rigidly.

“What was it like for you?” He decides to ask. “The handfasting?”

The question takes you by surprise, though his sincere intrigue makes you smile smally to yourself. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before, but it was… It was nice.” You think back to nearly an hour ago, and the way Taehyung had looked standing before you. While you were marrying him out of necessity, there was something candidly beautiful about the entire ceremony. At the very least, you were glad it had been with Taehyung of all people. “Can I be honest with you, Tae?”

“Of course,” Taehyung says. “At this point, you can pretty much tell me anything. Don’t think anything’s as shocking as coming out as a werewolf.”

An innocent giggle bubbles at your throat. Suddenly, you look sheepish. “I might have had one too many glasses of wine before coming.”

“Ah.” Despite the interested hum of noise, he looks genuinely entertained. “So you’re drunk?”

“Not quite. Pleasantly buzzed,” You say. “Well, can you blame me? The occasion called for it considering a bunch of wolves want to kill me and I’m being arranged into a marriage.”

“So you don’t remember anything about your own wedding?”

You pull a face, though Taehyung gathers it’s because of the blunt mention of the word. “I do. Just… not all of it. Some things are clearer than others, but I think that’s mostly because I was nervous.”

“I remember every moment,” Taehyung muses thoughtfully. “I remember seeing you there, in your dress, and everything felt right despite it all.” His stare hardens in that moment, as if probed by the harsh reminder of the reasoning behind the night in the first place. “You know I’ll do anything to keep you safe, right? We haven’t had time to sit back and talk it over but you really do mean the world to me.”

A muffled groan eclipses your lips. You dig the heels of your palms against your eyes as you bemoan, “Don’t say those kinds of things, Tae.”

“Why?”

“Because… Because…” Your eyes shoot open, though suddenly you refuse to meet his curious wandering gaze.

But Taehyung doesn’t even need you to finish your thought. You wonder if it’s one of the many keen abilities possessed by these shapeshifters or if it’s simply a Taehyung thing, being that he’s quickly become one of your closest friends over the year that you’ve known him.

“You’re still nervous,” he hums as delicately as possible. It’s not an accusation, but a simple fact of the matter. He pushes himself to sit on the edge of the bed beside you, leaving an appropriate amount of space between the two of you. “Are you nervous because of me?”

“No.”

“That’s a lie,” Taehyung snorts. When you don’t respond immediately, a small inkling of a doubt makes him question apprehensively, “Are you scared of me then? I wouldn’t blame you, especially after everything that’s been going on━”

“What?” You finally turn to look at him, a look of incredulousness contorting your face. “No! No, I’m not scared of you, Tae. I could never be scared of you.” You don’t dare turn to face him, instead keeping your eyes fixed on your hands as you continue. “You make me nervous, but not in a bad way. Does that make any sense?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it does.” When you chance a look at him, you find him smiling softly to himself. “It’s the same way I felt when I saw you earlier tonight.”

Your heart quickens in pace against your chest, and you’re almost positive he can surely hear it. Now, you finally lift your timid stare to meet his pensive look, and you have to bite back the smile that threatens to form on your face. He looks distracted, though not in a way where his mind is elsewhere entirely; instead, he seems besotted, dark eyes shimmering gently, and there’s a palpable shift of energy in the atmosphere.

Without even realizing it, the pair of you begin to gravitate towards one another, leaning in close enough to shorten the distance between the two of you. You pause, lingering near enough to feel his warm breath fanning against your neck. He can’t help himself, and reaches out with his hand to brush his fingers along your shoulder to the base of your throat, sending chills down your spine. His hand comes to rest against your neck, fingers stretching outward to cradle the back of your head. He guides you toward him this time, closer and closer.

“Taehyung…” You whisper.

He stops at once, clamps his mouth shut and squeezes his eyes closed. His restraint seems to be not without labour, judging by the sobering small shake of his head, and the way he leans his forehead against yours, tendons in his jaw fluttering as he clenches his teeth. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t.”

“I want you to.”

He’s startled when you’re the one that moves first, catching his lips onto yours. He’s unmoving at first, basking in the feel and taste of your mouth smoothing over his. It’s slow, steady, but then he’s craning his neck to deepen the kiss and something feverish overtakes the both of you. You clamber onto his lap at once, swinging one leg over his and settling back onto him, your dress bunching up at your thighs. He’s taken aback for a moment, though his hands instinctively come to grip at your waist and you try not to focus on how large and warm they feel, burning against the material of your dress. In fact, every inch of him radiates a thermal energy that is both comforting and excites you. You chase his lips, yearning for another kiss, but he hesitates at the last moment, jerking his head away. He doesn’t move very far at first, then he drops his head into the crook of your neck. His nose burrows against the base of your throat, his lips brushing against your skin as he moves along your neck to your shoulder, then back again. You can tell he’s holding himself back, not quite allowing himself to enjoy this. To enjoy you.

“You said we have all night, didn’t you?” You rasp. “So why not start now?”

“I also said it didn’t have to be between you and me if you didn’t want it to be.” Taehyung finds his voice at long last, however hoarse it may be. You’re already driving him crazy, just by your smell alone. “Are you sure? You said you wanted honesty, so be honest with me, Y/N. Don’t just say it’s because it has to be done. I don’t want you to regret anything.”

“Well, don’t you want this?” You question.

“Fuck, yes.” He groans against your neck. Something feral seems to stir within him, and you can feel his canines bare against your skin. “But only if you do.”

You aren’t quite sure what seems to possess you all of a sudden. He’s intoxicating, you think. Your hands tug at his hair now, desperation wearing your own voice thin. “Yes, Tae. Please. I want you inside me so badly.”

Finally, he presses his mouth against your throat, tonguing hot open-mouthed kisses there. His grip tightens around your waist, tugging you harder against him, and the feeling of him growing harder against your inner thigh in a matter of seconds has you both enraptured by a newfound heated ferocity.

Grasping at a moment of clarity, you ask meekly, “Isn’t this your first time?”

“Is it that obvious?”

You want to tell him anything but, the way his hands and lips move across you an indicator of that. “I thought you wolves are all about sex. Don’t you, like, go into heat or something?”

It’s a feeble attempt at a snarky joke, judging by the way your lips unfurl into a languid smirk. “Typically. But I never wanted sex for the sake of fucking. The boys make fun of me all the time for it.”

You snicker, but the delightful noise is lost in a simper as he continues to kiss upward to the underside of your jaw. He grips tightly at your waist and moves, shifting the two of you around, until your back is splayed out on the edge of the bed and he’s hovering directly over you.

“Taehyung…” He grunts in response, though you don’t blame him for not responding. The way his cock bulges against your core now, the way you press your hips up into his instinctively, is enough to drive you insane, let alone the boy. Still, you manage to rasp, “Tae, just don’t bite me. Promise me.”

“I won’t,” he assures, though now he certainly seems preoccupied. He inhales deeply, nostrils flaring, and whines aloud, “God, I can already smell you. So fucking good.”

His head falls into the crook of your neck as his hips dig harshly into yours in a way that makes you aware of what his words seem to mean. Slick arousal already begins to form between your legs, pooling into a mess on your underwear that has you squirming beneath him. The thought of him being able to smell you makes your face heat, but he doesn’t seem to notice. He kisses down to your collarbones, then, without warning, flips you over at once. Rough hands grasp at your waist, pulling you to your knees and your ass off the edge of the bed. As he fumbles to tear your panties from your hips, then lifts the skirt of your dress up with one hand, he hurries to undo his belt and the button of his pants with the other.

“Wait, Tae━” You gasp. Before he can push himself into you, you heave yourself up with your hands and twist just enough to place your palm above his waist on his abdomen, stopping him in his place. “What are you doing?”

“What’s wrong?” he asks, brows creasing with concern. “Isn’t this how it’s done? I’m not totally helpless.”

You bite back your abrupt grin, swallowing your amusement when you realize he’s genuinely confused. It’s hard to grasp how he can look so innocent even despite his leaking cock still in his hand. “Well, yeah, but not always.”

“I just thought it was like how dogs go at it, y’know?” Taehyung says. “The guys all seem to say so anyway.”

You can’t help it now when this newfound information has you keeling over with laughter. You’re fortunate he doesn’t seem offended by your delight, instead grinning sheepishly to himself as he watches you wipe tears away from your eyes.

“What?” he asks promptly, and then as if to nudge you back to reality, tightens his grip on your waist and yanks you towards him gingerly. Pressing his front flush against your back, he catches your ear lobe between his teeth and nibbles on it.

“Then I feel sorry for their mates,” You manage to choke out. “It’s not bad, but I want to be able to see you the first time around. It’s better that way. More intimate.”

You squirm out from beneath him, turning to face him properly. Still sprawled out before him, you prop yourself up on your elbow and then reach out with your other hand to grab at his face and pull him down to you.

“Noted,” he hums into your mouth. “Anything else I should know?”

“Nothing that I can think of at the moment,” You admit, though maybe that’s simply because your mind is spinning at the sight of his length.

He’s much, much bigger than you imagined, tip irritated and swollen red already, glistening with precum as he swipes his palm over himself a handful of times. You hike your dress up further around your waist as he guides himself towards you.

“Stop me if it hurts,” he says.

You nod, though you trust him well enough to know he’ll treat you right in the best way possible. As he pushes the tip of his length against your folds and into you, your reactions are almost immediate. He ceases above you, face scrunching up at the feeling of your slickness around him. You notice his furrowed brows, the way he bares his teeth. A guttural growl sounds deep within his chest that has you shuddering in anticipation.

“Oh, fuck,” he moans. “You’re so fucking wet. You take me so well, baby. I don’t think I’ll last long.”

“Don’t care,” You whimper. “Just wanna feel you.”

He pushes himself in further, slowly and carefully, inch-by-inch, in just a way that has the both of you feeling how he stretches you open every single step of the way. You wonder how much further you can go until he’s stopping, bottoming out within you. He sputters for air, collapsing against your chest entirely as you fall back onto the bed. He waits just enough for you to adjust to the girth of his weight in you, then rolls his hips into yours. Then again, and again, until he’s grinding into you with such measured and deep strokes that you melt beneath him entirely. You kick your legs up to wrap around his waist, head lolling back at the feeling of his mouth sucking against your throat.

“I’m gonna━” His voice splinters off then into an abrupt cry. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum━”

He’s quick to dissolve into shambles, grunting and moaning every time you clench around him and every thrust of his hips. Just when you think you’ve lost yourself to the moment, he cums much faster than you thought and entirely unexpected for him too, in hot waves that have you still writhing beneath him. When he’s spent, his weight falls slack against you, crushing you beneath him but in a comforting manner. It’s silently peaceful for a few moments as he settles, heart thundering in his chest and against yours. Your fingers smooth over his sweaty long locks, scratching at his head. Then━

“That was terrible, wasn’t it?” he mutters wretchedly.

“Not terrible,” You confess. “What was that? Three minutes, top? For your first time, I’m honestly surprised you lasted more than a minute.”

“Fuck off.” His fingers poke at your sides teasingly as you burst out into laughter. He lifts his head to meet yours, perhaps a little embarrassed. “Don’t tell the guys. They’ll never let me live it down.”

“Doesn’t matter,” You hum, tracing your finger down to his lips. “We can practice whenever you want. I’ll make you into a lover so good, you’ll want me to brag to them.”

“Practice, huh?” His eyes sparkle mischievously. He pulls himself from your core and you hiss at the sudden loss, tugging at his chest as if to keep him close to you but he seems to have other plans. “Why stop now?”

You watch him curiously. “Easy there, boy. Don’t wear yourself out.”

“Well, I have to make it up to you,” he points out. “Especially on your wedding night. It’s only fair. What kind of lousy mate would I be to call it a night without having you cum on my face?”

“Romantic.” You roll your eyes but you marvel at the way you had shuddered at the word only moments ago and now, under such a different circumstance, the way he utters it makes your heart flutter in your chest. “Is this the first time you’ve eaten a girl out?”

“I said I was a virgin,” he says. Your eyes stay trained on the boy as he shifts himself further down your body to wedge himself between your thighs, throwing one leg over his shoulder. He kisses at your navel, then down to your core. He takes his time as he reaches out with his fingers to swipe at your folds, admiring the way his cum leaks from you; then, with his forefinger, he wipes at a stray bead of his arousal and pushes it back into your cunt slowly. The simple action is enough to have your back arching off the bed, hands flying out to brace yourself by gripping at his hair. “I never said I didn’t know how to please a woman elsewhere.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Gladly.”

He sinks lower to your core and out of sight, leaving hot open mouthed kisses along the way. His finger never once leaves its spot within you, and instead is joined by another that spreads you wide in absence of his cock.

“Do you know how hard it is to focus on anything other than your beautiful cunt?” he asks, voice low and sultry. “From the moment I could smell you, I wanted a taste.”

His tongue probes against your clit, the wet muscle a sudden startle that has you slackening against him. He flicks it back and forth, mouth wrapping around the bundle of nerves and sucking hard. A moan threatens to fall from your lips but an intrusive thought crossing your mind has you swallowing it with much difficulty.

“Can’t the boys hear us from down there?” You ask. You wonder how the celebration for your “wedding” has unfolded over the night without you or Taehyung there, or if they even notice your prolonged absence.

“No.” His voice is a deep mumble, rattling you from your core outward. “We learn how to tune out sounds nearby unless we really want to pay attention. The new ones struggle a bit, though.”

He curls his fingers inside you, stretching them upward. You pant, “Isn’t Jungkook still new?”

You can feel his smirk unfurling against you even before he pokes his head up to look at you with devious, hooded eyes. “Yeah, well, it’s a bit of a hazing process.”

You hardly have time to register the thought, though it doesn’t matter much. You’re far too overwhelmed by the way Taehyung is making you feel to even care. He drops his mouth from your clit to your folds, tongue swirling against your aching core. He laps at your cunt like a mangy dog as his fingers continue to work within you. The further he burrows into you, the harder his nose digs against your clit and sends you over the edge. You try to hold on just a little longer but your core is already achingly sensitive from when his length had made it home.

“Cum for me,” he murmurs. “Don’t hold back, baby. Let me taste you.”

Fingers twisting in his hair, he growls roughly against you, basking in the way you mewl and moan his name. Time seems to blur and, before you know it, you’ve reached your high. You’re embarrassingly wet, soaking his chin and nose which glistens with a mixture of yours and his arousal. Taehyung doesn’t hold back, instead licking you clean of every last drop, a muffled moan of content emitting from him.

“So good,” he says. “All mine.”

When he finally pulls away from you, he licks at his lips as if not quite finished with your every taste. From where he sits, you’re an entire mess, brows scrunched in concentration, teeth tugging at your lower lip. Needy hands yank at his hair and he obliges, kissing his way up your body to meet your mouth. His tongue pokes through to lav at your lips and wedges itself beyond, and you suck delightfully at the taste of you and him mingling on it. His own hands caress your body, bringing you back down from your high gradually but you can still feel his straining dick against your thigh and it invigorates you even further despite the beginning hints of exhaustion starting to creep upon you.

“Want more,” Taehyung growls with a newfound intensity, catching you off guard. “Need your cunt. M’gonna make it mine. Need to make you mine. Gonna fill you with my cum till you’re bursting with my pups, how does that sound?”

Mind spinning, you nod eagerly at the thought. Your words form in the shape of a moan. “Yes, please.”

“Gotta get this dress off first,” he mutters, greedy palms wandering up beneath the hem of your dress.

You scurry to obey, helping him slide the dress off your arms and toss it away on the floor. He’s more than pleased to see that you had decided to forgo wearing a bra earlier in the day, and reaches out at once to grasp at your perked breasts in his large palm. He buries his face into your chest, catching one of your nipples between his teeth. He busies himself by marking your chest red with small nibbles until you grow impatient, tugging at the shirt he’s still wearing. He’s quick to oblige, shedding himself of his clothes; then, his nails are digging viciously into your hips as he flips the two of you over with incredible ease.

“Sit on my cock,” he snarls into your ear. “Need to feel you again.”

Legs weak from your past orgasm and the huskiness of his voice, you sidle onto his lap, tossing one thigh over his. He sits up to join you and helps push himself past your folds, though you finish by settling back on his length carefully until you’re filled to the brim. Despite already knowing what to expect from the first time around, you still shudder at the feeling, mouth unhinging as you roll your hips leisurely against his. He hardly strays from your body, instead continuing to kiss between the valley of your breasts and up to the underside of your jaw and back again. Fingers poke and prod at your body as they follow his lips, then grasp at your ass to push you closer to him each time you grind against him.

Just when you begin grinding against him in a new angle that makes you moan into his ear, a sudden noise startles the both of you but only just. It takes you both a moment to register it’s the sound of knocking on the other side of the bedroom door (that you can’t remember if Taehyung had locked, because you certainly hadn’t), followed by Jimin’s familiar voice. “Joon said he wanted us to check in on you!”

Taehyung immediately groans into your neck out of frustration, though you suspect it’s because your pace starts to stutter and not because of his bothersome friends.

“Taehyung,” You bite at your lip in an attempt to hide your moans. You tug at his hair, as if to portray what your words fail to do, but he can hear it plainly riddling your voice. The concern, and the sudden shyness, as if fearing Jimin may walk in. But part of you is thrilled at the thought, and judging by the way your unabashed cry of glee slips from your lips without much hiding is proof of that. “Oh, Tae━”

“Shit,” Taehyung’s muffled grunts of pleasure and the way his hips continue to dig into yours to meet your efforts makes you aware Jimin is the least of his current troubles. “Fucking hell━ Don’t stop.”

“Are you guys okay in there?” Now comes Hoseok’s voice, a little faint but undeniably there. Can they hear you? Do they care? They must know what’s happening beyond the door.

“They’re doing it on purpose. Fucking idiots,” Taehyung snarls as he slams his hips up into yours. A contented whimper falls from your mouth, and you cling to him tighter as you quicken your pace. Taehyung grabs at your chin, forcing you to keep your eyes fixed on him despite wandering to the door. “Look at you fucking yourself on me still even with them listening. Such a good girl, huh? So desperate for my cock, aren’t you? Gonna breed so well.”

You think Hoseok and Jimin give up and leave at some point, though you don’t recall when. Instead, in the next moment, something primitive seems to awaken in Taehyung once more and he’s shoving you onto your back on the bed. Kneeling before you, he pummels his hips into yours again and again until you’re only crying his name.

“Mine. All mine,” he growls. “Wanna feel you cum on my cock.”

So wearied from your first high, you tumble easily to your second, coming undone in a matter of seconds, spurred on by the lewd wet noises of his length thrusting into you.

“That’s it, baby,” he mutters, basking in the sound of your moans. “Fuck━ Let them all know who you belong to━”

But just when you think Taehyung has reached his own orgasm ━ sputtering for air and crescendoing in moans of your names, panting hot breath into your ear as he leans against your chest ━ he doesn’t. His thrusts become desperate and sloppy, bordering on frantic, that the soreness between your legs begins to burn. It’s an amalgamation of stubborn yet bearable pain and something harshly pleasant that has your head lolling back.

“What’s wrong?” You moan, blindly tugging at his hair. “Taehyung?”

“I can’t━” He cries out. “I can’t━ I’m so fucking hard, it hurts. I don’t know what’s wrong━”

Confused yet too tired to keep up, you reach out to smooth your fingers across his back. “It’s okay. Just let go, baby. Cum for me, Tae. Please.”

“I’m trying,” he chokes out. “I just can’t━”

Your mind works in a haze to understand what’s happening, but through it all you’re able to discern one reasonable thought. What had Taehyung said about matings and bonds? Aside from the obvious of sleeping with a mate, he had said that typically certain bonds require marking. But he had also said that marking proved to be almost irreversible, resulting in a connection so close that a pair of mates would be together forever. It was a troublesome concept to think about, especially when considering you didn’t think you were a fit match for Taehyung if only because you’re human.

But is that what he needed? The physical strain he puts himself under now to reach his high is almost unbearable to watch. So, you settle on a whim of a decision and conclude that you won’t think of any consequences until after the fact, only wanting to see the poor boy in relief.

“Tae,” You whisper. “What if you bite me?”

“I won’t,” Taehyung says through gritted teeth. His pace has slowed as he slumps against your chest in nearing defeat. “You told me not to.”

“I don’t care,” You retort. “Just bite me.”

He hesitates, lifting his gaze to look at you. When he sees your earnest zeal, he grimaces as if despising that this is his only option. Still, the look of relief that crosses his face is undeniably there. He presses his mouth against your throat, lips brushing faintly against your flesh as he grazes the smooth expanse for a spot, sharp canines poking against you. You brace yourself for the bite, though the pain isn’t as bad as you had thought. A sharp jolt runs down your spine as he sinks his teeth into your skin, and his reaction is immediate, crumbling into pitiful moans of glory.

“Fuck!” he wails. With one final slam of his hips into yours, he finally reaches his high and it’s unlike anything you have felt before. As if he begins to swell within you, his length pulsates as he cums in you to the point where you can’t help but feel so full. It overflows and leaks from your core and onto the sheets, a sticky mess that lingers even long after he’s done. Your mouth pops open at the foreign feeling, whimpering his name.

“I’m sorry,” he flinches. “I’m sorry, does it hurt?”

“No,” You manage to say. “It just… It feels so good━”

He sluggishly rides out the rest of his high until you both physically can’t take anymore. When he hears you hiss his name in a soft reminder, he apologizes once more. Then, as the room falls oddly silent, he slumps against you. He lavs his tongue over the fresh mark on your neck, the gentle motion alleviating the sting left behind. As Taehyung settles finally, he shifts his head to look up at you. You note the faint yellow hue lingering in his eyes, fading now.

“I’m sorry,” he says again. “We might have to stay like this for a while.”

“Can’t say I’m mad about that,” You croon sleepily. “You better draw me a bath after this.”

He laughs, rubbing gentle circles against your hips. “Of course. I’ll do anything for you.”

You believe him wholeheartedly when he says it, smiling against his mouth when he leans in for a kiss. His tender wandering hands over your body does wonders in calming your shrill heart, the stretch between your legs, and the bite on your neck. He nuzzles his face into your collarbones, the tip of his nose tickling against you. As your fingers rake through his hair and scratch at his head, he mewls in content.

“Is it always like that?” You ask through a stifled yawn. “You had so much energy, I could barely keep up.”

“No,” he admits groggily. “It’s only like that when you’re mated with someone.”

“What does that even mean anyway?” You ask. “To be mated with someone?”

“Well, it’s━ It’s not really a conscious decision. It sort of just happens,” Taehyung says. “It’s a connection. You gravitate towards one another. You can’t live without the other. We call it imprinting. Sometimes you’re mated to a person who doesn’t even want you, but those are rare instances.”

“So we’re the exception?”

“I thought we were,” Taehyung trails off now. He finally lifts his head to look at you, perhaps a little embarrassed. “I━ Well━ All of this, and especially the bite, doesn’t just happen ━ and definitely not with humans.”

“Oh.” You blush now, face warming under the boy’s introspective stare. “So you’re saying we’re…”

“I always thought there was a connection, but I didn’t think it meant this,” Taehyung murmurs to himself. “As crazy as it sounds, I think we were meant to be.”

“So the bite…”

You don’t finish your thought, instead already having pieced it together in your mind. It does sound crazy, but even you have felt it before. A strange connection to Taehyung, far more exceptional than simply having feelings for him. And the bite is what draws it all together, proving his point and your previous speculations about some sort of affection between the two of you.

“Are you starting to regret this now?” Taehyung asks sheepishly, a weak attempt at a joke to what he had asked you earlier in the night.

He braces himself, as if waiting for your outburst of annoyance or anger. To push him off of you and leave forever. But you do neither, instead reaching out to grasp at his face in both of your hands. You delicately lift his head, meeting his docile stare, entirely and utterly bewitched by him.

“No,” You say earnestly. “I couldn’t have asked for a better night.” A smile forms on his face, innocent and ardent in nature. “I’m just wondering how I’ll hide the mark.”

“I think there’s little to hide now after tonight,” Taehyung grins wolfishly. “Especially with the boys.”

He quivers with laughter at the sight of your scowling face and fingers poking at his sides. As he settles, he leans into your ear to hum, “I’ll make it up to you. Everything. Jaebum, the bite, the boys. But I think you should rest now. We’ll deal with all of that later.”

You don’t argue with that. You’ve already begun to fight the beginnings of sleep, eyelids drooping and itching with a need to just close them ━ and with Taehyung’s arms wrapped around you, his body emitting a pleasurable heat, you decide there’s no place else you’d rather be, moonstruck and in love.

⟶ Feedback is always appreciated!

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teddy06writes · 3 years

Note

hi! can i request an angsty but fluffy end, maybe like, where someone takes advantage of the reader where the reader gets drugged at a party and stuff happens, like, maybe a misunderstanding or something, idunno, just an idea, just go at it,, and like, for the ship karlnapity x reader or dream team x reader? either one works! i like both of them, also your writing is /wonderful/

my brain saw this and went *squish* so.... (credit to @/justmylifeiguess on Ao3 for the squished ships)

karl x quackity x sapnap x dream x george x reader

oh yeah were doing this

trigger warnings: mentions of drugs used without consent, attempted sexual assault, swearing, yelling

premise: frat parties aren’t the safest places, especially when guys think they can get there way. When someone tries to take advantage of you, your boyfriends don’t hesitate to come to your aid

(y/n/n)- your nickname

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It was barley 11, the night was young, but the party was already going strong.

You were stood with Karl and Niki, laughing and drinking, the rest of your boyfriends spread out across the house, the closest of which being Alex, who was back at the bar set up on the other side of the room.

Taking another sip of your drink, you chuckled as near the center of the room Wilbur, who seemed to somehow already be wasted, was trying to get a mildly annoyed Shlatt to dance with him.

“How is he already that drunk?” Niki muttered.

“How much pregaming did he do?” You countered.

Karl giggled, “Definitely too much.”

Niki sighed, downing another portion of her drink, “He’s gonna hurt himself somehow.”

“Well if Shlatt punches him he definitely deserves it.”

Both laughed at your statement, Karl taking your now empty cup, “You wannanother? or no?”

You shrugged, “Uh, yeah, that’ll be my second so, sure.”

He nodded, heading off and leaving you and Niki to make fun of Wilbur.

An hour later you were still sipping at your drink, now just standing with Karl, listening to various conversations, Niki having wandered off to help Wilbur once he had inevitably, been punched by Shlatt.

“Hey, I’m gonna head to the bathroom, watch my drink?”

Karl nodded as you set the drink on the shelf behind you, “Yup!”

After finding a bathroom (it was still early enough in the night that it hadn’t been ruined by puke yet) and doing your business, you headed back, taking the drink that Karl assured you no one had touched, before wandering off to look for George and Nick.

At first as you wandered through the house full of people, everything seemed fine, but soon your head began to spin, and the world seemed to speed up around you- or maybe you were slowing down.

You blinked rapidly, trying to clear your vision, something was very, very wrong.

Heartbeat pounding in your ears, you began to panic, why was this happening? What was going on?

“Are you okay?”

You couldn’t quite place where, or who the familiar voice belonged too, but you turned towards him anyway, “I- som- looking for- dream.”

The boy smiled, “Oh I think I saw him.”

“Yeah- just up here.” Someone else chimed in, grabbing your arm, and starting to steer you towards the stairs.

You tried to pull your arm away, “Just trhing to find-“

“Yeah, yeah, Dreams up here.” He insisted.

They all but dragged you up into the mostly deserted hallway, repeating over and over that they’d seen your boyfriend up there.

“I- he’s not-“ your brain screamed at you to get out of there, that it wasn’t right, that you needed to leave, but you couldn’t move fast enough to get away from them.

You kept struggling to push them away, everything, not just you, seeming to slow as they started to pull at your top, and when you tried to yell a hand was just clamped over your mouth.

Trying to block everything out, you squeezed your eyes shut, tears still leaking out, brain still screaming to get out of there, tears coming faster as vaguely you could feel hands on your now exposed skin.

*5 minutes earlier*

“What do you mean they were with us? I thought they were supposed to be with you!” Nick half exclaimed.

Karl shook his head, “(y/n) said they were going to find you, and then I went to find Alex, and he was with George and Techno and Sam and they weren’t with them.”

Dream was already standing up, looking concerned, “Start checking around with everyone we know. They wouldn’t leave without telling us.”

Soon enough all of your boyfriends were searching, even a half way to sloshed Alex, who practically threatened an equally drunk H-bomb, who told them he’d thought he’d seen you talking to two guys near the stairs.

Karl was practically vibrating with anxiety as they all immediately headed up the stairs, freezing upon seeing two guys bent over you, your arms doing practically nothing to bat them away.

Nick was already helping Dream drag them off you, “Who the fuck do you think you are trying to pull this shit?!?”

George hurried forward, pulling you into his arms, murmuring ’it's okay’s’ into your ear as he fixed your shirt, checking you over to see if you were okay.

Karl kept muttering, “I was supposed to be watching their drink, I was supposed to be watching there drink, this is my fault.” As Alex pulled him into his arms, assuring him that it wasn’t his fault.

A full on fight had broken out between Dream and one of the guys, while Nick yelled at the other, who was trying to retreat back down the stairs.

It seemed like at least half the part was crowded around the stairs, trying to see what was going on as Dream threw the last punch, knocking his opponent to the floor and half turning to the throng of people, “IF I HAVEN’T MADE ANYTHING CLEAR! NO ONE TOUCHES ANY OF MY PARTNERS THEY WILL NOT BE GETTING AWAY WITH IT! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!”

Nick scooped you up into his arms, George still hovering near as Dream led the way down the stairs and to the door, Alex and Karl taking up the rear.

You didn’t really remember the car ride back to the house, other than begin squished in an embrace between Nick and George, and Karl’s constant apology's.

Soon you were back home, curled up on the couch, sipping at the water Karl had forced into your hands as soon as you got home, Alex on one side of you, gently scratching at your arm, and Dream on the other side, his arm wrapped around both of you.

George was pressed into his other side, Nick’s head in his lap, his hand tangled with your own as Karl flitted around, still apologizing for not watching your drink closely enough.

“Karl- come sit down. You’re gonna worry yourself to death.” Dream chided.

Karl sighed, slowly coming to rest of Alex’s other side, “m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” You mumbled, already starting to drift off toward sleep.

With your boyfriends all around you, you felt safe.

#mcyt x reader #mcyt imagine #dreamwastaken x reader #georgrenotfound x reader #sapnap x reader #karl jacobs x reader #quackity x reader #dream x george x sapnap x karl x quackity x reader #i regret nothing #teddy06 writes

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enjennie · 3 years

Text

Our Little Secret [Jaemin x Reader]

summary: How you ended up dating Na Jaemin and the struggles in hiding it from your brother Jeno.

genre: smut! fluff. secret relationship! au. brother's bestfriend au lmao

warnings: contains smut and profanity

a/n: hello! I've taken a really long break in writing and ALSO this is my first try in writing smut. Please excuse my inexperienced and beginner level in writing! enjoy ♡

On a normal day, you’d wake up at 8am nice and early to attend classes. But today was a weekend, and you hadn’t gotten much sleep thanks to your brother and his friends doing God knows in your backyard. Thus, explaining the hour in which you'd just woken up in being later than usual. You were just about to go down to get your first meal of the day at quarter to 12 in the afternoon.

“Hey, idiots! Call it a night, why don’t you?” You remember yelling through the window last night, scolding the boys.

You don’t know why you weren’t used to it yet. Every end of the month there would be boys night. Their favourite place to goof around in just so happened to be yours. Your parents were away on most nights, leaving their son in charge of the house more than not.

“Ya, Y/N! Go to bed,” yells Jeno, your brother who was the host of the night. You scowled and he does the same back at you. With heavy hands, you shut the window and wished it would block the noise out.

It was around 4 when you finally fell into a deep sleep, your earphones finally drowning out their screaming. No other reason as to why it took you that long to fall asleep at all. None at all. It wasn’t like you were waiting for a particular someone to slip into your room to give you some goodnight kisses.

Totally. Yeah, totally untrue. The truth is that you were waiting for Na Jaemin. You’ve been fooling around with him for a month now and you may or may not have asked him to come up for a bit.

You and Jaemin have been friends since your brother brought him home after school one day when you were little. Since then he’d become a familiar face around the house, always hanging about.

Unlike the other friends of your brother, Jaemin was different. Aside from being your brother’s closest friend, he wasn’t as wild and rowdy but rather calm and dare I say… maternal? He had the same vibe of a Kindergarten teacher. The other boys relied on him for advice and if they needed help with anything that had to do with adulting. You even caught Jaemin separating Jeno’s white and coloured clothes once and giving your brother an earful of why he should be doing them himself.

It all started when you came home one day, face strained with tears and mascara running down your cheeks. You’ve gotten dumped. The shittiest feeling ever. Jaemin just so happened to be passing by the house to drop over some video games he borrowed from Jeno when he saw you running towards the door. Before he could ask you what was wrong, you were already sobbing into his arms.

He's always been someone you found comfort in. You knew your feeling would just never be reciprocated so you did everything in your will to forget about it. But at that moment it just felt right, and Jaemin just so happened to be there at a time you needed someone the most.

You took him inside for some water and maybe a new change of shirt since you’d stained his with mascara. You didn’t expect to kiss him. You didn’t expect the kiss to lead into sex either. But soon enough your clothes travelled to the ground and you were pushing Jaemin into the pantry, too impatient to go up to your room but at the same time wanting a little privacy.

“Is this okay?” he breathed, hands roaming around your body in the dark. “I mean- your brother-“ he stutters.

“-isn’t here. Now make me feel good, Jaemin. Please,” you cut his sentence off. The last thing you wanted to think about before hooking up was your brother.

Your plea was the only push Jaemin needed. He was just helping you feel better after a breakup. Right? It’s not like he had underlying feelings for you since the first time Jeno introduced him to you. Right? Wrong again.

Jaemin knew things wouldn’t be the same for him after this, and he didn’t know if it was good or bad. Fuck, could I have at least told her I like her first? Jaemin was having an inner conflict all the while you were getting rid of his clothes bit by bit and touching him in places that felt so heavenly.

“Y/N, I like you,” he spat out.

You giggled, but you’d be lying if you said your heart didn’t jump with joy. “Woah, I know we’re about to have sex but you don’t have to confess to me, y’know. It’s fine,” He really didn't have to make your heart flutter like that. You'd accepted it was just sex and you'd pretend nothing ever happened after this.

He took you by the shoulders and stood in front of him. He was glad the lights were off, so you wouldn’t see him all flustered. “No, Y/N. I actually like you. I like you a lot,”

The silence in the pantry was deafening and Jaemin swears he could hear his heart beating through his own ears waiting for your response. Instead, he feels your warm lips on his. Nothing could have been a better response.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I had to date so many jerks to try and get over you,” you whisper. Jaemin was grinning. He wanted the lights on now. He wanted to see you and hear what you just said to him. But he couldn’t find the switches so he just leaned in for another kiss.

The house is a mess and when you get to the living room you catch a glimpse of your brother and some of his friends laying on the couch and on the floor. Red cups and the TV playing on mute. You shake your head and sigh, knowing he’d get you to help him clean it up after. You don’t notice that the 7 boys in the living room was missing one.

When you get to the kitchen, you found the one missing boy from the group. Jaemin was up, flipping cooking up a breakfast. Compared to the living room, the kitchen was relatively clean. Only bowls, measuring cups and plates surrounded him for the pancakes he was cooking up.

He notices your presence and turns his head to face you, his smile instantly appearing on his pretty face.

“Morning, baby,” he greets, a sweet smile plastered on his face.

“Good morning,” you travel across the kitchen to get closer to him and take a peep of what he was cooking. His eyes follow you and he gets back to flipping the pancakes he had on the pan. He has to tear his eyes away from you.

You were clearly wearing his shirt. Getting braver, I see. You and him haven’t told anyone about the relationship yet. Not even Jeno. Jaemin’s been feeling horrible about it, but he wasn’t telling him only because you weren’t ready yet.

“You hungry? I made just enough for everyone,” he offers, directing his focus to the stove. The plate already had 10 steaming pancakes on it. It could probably fit 7 hungover boys and one starving you, right?

"Go set the table,” he doesn’t wait for your response because he knew without having to get one.

To your left were the plates and utensils already stacked and ready to go so you take them to set the table. The boys were still asleep so you tiptoe your way past them and quietly prepare the table. Jaemin follows suit, letting the smell of pancakes alone do the waking up for his friends. Although he wishes they take their time.

You take a seat, ready to dig in and he takes the seat beside you.

🔞 smut starts here

“Y/N, what would you say if I were to take you right now?” Jaemin’s question came out cool and easy, but it caused you to choke on the orange juice you were drinking.

You look to your right, where not too far away was your brother and his other friends in their slumber. Jaemin’s lips tug into a smirk at your reaction as he takes a bite of pancake.

“Pardon?” you ask, not quite believing what you’d just heard.

Jaemin leans closer to your ear this time before whispering, “I was asking what you’d do if I took you right now in the pantry,” his hand was reaching for the maple syrup beside you at the same time.

He sits back and uncaps it before pouring it slowly over his pancake. You watch him pour the smooth and sticky liquid and he watches as you bite down on your lip. He knew you were upset with him for not coming up to your room last night. But he simply couldn’t without being seen. He wanted to make it up to you for that.

“Your call,” he gets up and makes his way to the pantry room. You notice that the lights don’t go on from the small crack on the floor. After one last look at the living room, you take quick steps to follow him.

The moment you get through the door, Jaemin has you against the cabinet, his lips hungry and wanting.

“I’m really sorry I couldn’t do this last night,” he apologizes, biting your lips and earning a whimper from you.“They didn’t pass out until 4:30 and I figured you were asleep,” He was explaining but you were already way passed it.

You didn’t care anymore. Nothing else mattered, you just wanted him. “I don’t care,” you whisper.

Jaemin pushed through your shorts and felt you through your lace panties. You’d worn it just in case he came last night. "That’s what you missed out on,” you tell him and he chuckles.

Not wasting another second, Jaemin pushes the lace out of the way and inserts one finger. You gasp, holding onto him for support as your knees weakened at his touch.

“Let me make it up to you,” he bites on your earlobe before adding a second finger.

He starts pumping, setting his own pace and removing any tiredness you felt from having to wait for him all night. When he curls his fingers you’re sent into nirvana, and when he starts sucking on your neck on the spot he knows you like, you couldn’t help but let a moan slip.

Jaemin’s hand clamps over your mouth. His eyes had had adjusted to the dark and he could see your expression. You stare at him with wanting eyes and it’s enough for him to keep going, fastening the pace.

When the knot in your stomach tightens, you claw on Jaemin’s back and he picks up on the signal and hoists you onto the counter before lowering himself and pulling the lace down all the way. You spread yourself, awaiting him and when he presses his mouth to your heat. You're immediately thrown into a whole other world, tangling your fingers in his hair and gasping for air with each time you feel his tongue trace your folds. Soon enough, you were releasing onto him and Jaemin was lapping it up clean.

As you came down from your high he’d gotten up and was watching you with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Fuck,” you manage to say, too dumbed out to make out any other words to explain what you felt.

You feel him kiss your forehead before he whispers to you again, “We gotta go,”

You nod, gulping and try to compose yourself. You grab a box of cereal blindly in case Jeno and his friends were already awake and would be suspicious of them before following Jaemin to the door. He gives you another kiss before pulling the door open.

Just as you’d suspected, your brother had just gotten up from the couch and was walking in at the same time you’d gotten out. He looked at you both skeptically, but his hangover probably made it hard for him to process anything. He takes a seat and yawns. The rest of the boys enter the room after him.

“That’s my cereal,” Jeno points out at the Frosty Flakes you were carrying. Jaemin had taken his seat and continued eating the pancake he left like he wasn’t just eating something else a minute ago.

“Jaemin said he wanted some. So I showed him where it was,” you shrug before placing it on the table and grabbing your plate of half-eaten pancake. “Seeya,” you tell them, but it was directed to Jaemin.

“Seriously, do you take your brother for such an idiot to think he doesn’t suspect anything between us?” Jaemin sighs.

You could hear his heart beating steadily, finally calming down after the strenuous activity you’d just done. You have your head resting on his chest and you’ve been observing it, the pace and how it seemed to doubled when you traced lines along his arm.

You laugh, “I don’t think he’s an idiot. I find it a little fun to be hiding something from him,”

Jaemin didn’t find it fun at all. To him it felt like he was betraying Jeno. You knew how guilty Jaemin feels which is why you’d conjured a little plan. Some would probably say it’s going too far, but you called it a test of love. You knew Jeno had probably figured it out anyway.

“Don’t worry, he’s a big boy. Besides, he always says you’re like a brother to him. So why don’t I make you his brother-in law?”

You sit up to look at the boy in the dim lighting of his room. He looked glorious, basking in the only light source that came through his window from the moon. He brings up a hand to caress your cheek and you felt safe. It felt like home.

“Na Jaemin, what are you doing?”

The voice made Jaemin jump. It wasn’t yours, it was low and thunderous. It was someone he knew all too well, and he knew better than to make up an excuse. He’s been caught, this is it. This day was bound to come anyway.

Jaemin pulls his face away from yours, freezing in his place on your bed and turning his head to the door where sure enough, Jeno was standing. His hands were folded and pissed would be an understatement. Jaemin could see all the veins on his best friend’s arm and neck.

“Now… Jeno-“ Jaemin begins to explain. You watch as he tries to figure out the words to say. He’s calmly walking closer to his friend and has left your side on the bed where not moments ago he was just kissing you in. Jeno looks at him expectedly, waiting for a reason.

“Can we talk outside?” Jaemin quietly asks, but Jeno doesn’t move from his place in the doorway.

“I’d like to talk here,” your brother firmly states.

Jaemin sighs, looking back at you before preparing what he was about to say.

“Jeno I really like Y/N. Screw it, call it love. I'm in love with her and I’m a horrible friend for not telling you but we were going to tell you sooner or later anyway. I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” he sincerely apologizes.

Your lips part, listening to his words. He was taking the blame completely.

“You probably hate the shit out of me but I really like your sister, man. And I want nothing but to treat her with utmost care and give her everything she deserves,” he rambles.

Jeno was staring down at his friend and his eyes look over to you. When you told Jeno that you were dating Jaemin, he flicked your forehead harshly and said “I know. I’m not stupid,”

When you told him about how you wanted to see how Jaemin would react to getting caught, you didn’t need to ask twice. Jeno was onboard and wanted to do it as soon as possible. It was a good thing you went ahead and told him beforehand because if you hadn’t, Jaemin might have gotten something more than a flick on the forehead.

“And cut,” you say from behind the two boys. Jaemin’s eyebrows furrow together as he steps back and watches Jeno’s expression shift from anger to his regular smile. The boy looked between you siblings in pure confusion and you walk to clasp your fingers together. “You just got pranked, dude,”

“Wait, huh?” exclaims Jaemin. Jeno’s already laughing at this point and you’re cupping Jaemin’s face in your hands lovingly. “I told Jeno last night. I just wanted to see how you’d react,”

“You menaces!” Jaemin yells, pointing his finger between you and your brother.

“God, since we were young. Always pulling the pranks on me,” he huffs with a frustrated look on his face. You replace that with a smile by giving him a quick peck.

“Alright, I’m gonna leave ‘cus that’s gross to watch,” Jeno backs away, patting Jaemin on the shoulder and gesturing to his room down the hall. “Also,” he adds, catching both you and Jaemin’s attention.

“Stop hooking up in the pantry. Jesus Christ, are you guys exhibitionists?”

#nct jaemin #nct dream #nct dream scenarios #jaemin fic #jaemin smut #jaemin fluff #nct dream smut #jaemin au #nct dream au #nct smut #nct #na jaemin #jaemin scenarios

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doubledgesword-2 · 3 years

Text

Soulmate Au Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 are here!!

Final formal installment from this series! Due to some personal reasons I will only do Hc's or small Drabbles and scenarios nothing explicit like these ones, just implied. I apologize if it's not what everyone wanted. Also thanks to everyone who has submitted a request, they will be answered. Enjoy!

WARNING SOMNOPHILIA

Illumi stared down at your sleeping body, two dark voids swirling with anticipation. Today he had worked you up, purposely making you train and fight all day with him. Deep inside, he wanted you to be strong and willing to fight and kill just like they all were. But not enough for you to overcome them. That would mean your escape, and he couldn't allow that, not when they just found you.

It wasn't until you dodged him and stumbled to the ground that he noticed you were exhausted.

"We can stop for now." Illumi's monotone voice called out

He saw relief washed over you as your body unceremoniously melted into the grass, not caring the look he was giving you or that you were probably getting dirtier.

After that, you sloppily walked inside the house, dragging your tired legs straight to the bathroom. You took a quick shower, falling on the bed with the intention of resting your eyes, and then make dinner for the two fo you.

But Illumi waited for you, and he waited, and you didn't come out.

For a quick second, his heart skipped a beat, yet he walked calmly to the room. He knew whatever you do, wherever you go, they would find you.

They had already proved that.

What he saw melted his worry away. You were in your robe, wet hair splayed beneath you as you were sleeping without a care. Your mouth was slightly open, quiet snores coming out, and you hadn't even lighted the fireplace.

The corners of his lips twitched upwards, almost smiling at the picture. Neither Hisoka nor Chrollo were in the house, having left to do their own things for the trope. They had started to give you some more leniency and liberty after Chrollo saw you couldn't truly leave.

That headache could've certainly killed you, and you wouldn't try it again.

But now Illumi shook off his clothes, folding them and putting the bunch on the vanity. He loomed over your sleeping body, watching your chest rise and fall as you slept soundly. His face didn't emote any visible expression, but lust and excitement brew within him.

Illumi walked closer to you. He unfurled the knot and opened the robe exposing your naked body to the room. You were so perfectly positioned that the moonlight coming from the window in the dark room illuminated your breasts, making your skin glow. His mouth watered, looking at your perked tips, and he came to straddle your form. Dark eyes looked up to yours, watching to see if you woke up.

An excitement rose inside him, the thrill of making love to you while trying not to wake you.

And he couldn't wait any longer.

All that fighting from before, having you underneath him every time you lost, feeling how squirmed and struggled, it all made him very frustrated. He knew the others had already tasted you, delved deep within your depths. But now it was his turn, he had given you space, coddling you instead.

Illumi took one of your cherries into his mouth, excitement bubbling inside him, swirling his tongue around the bud while his other hand squeezed your other mound. His long hair over you tickled your side, and you sighed in your sleep, trying to move, but he didn't let you, of course, mouth still attaches to you nub, sucking and nipping it gently.

He started kissing down your stomach, leaving a wet trail of open-mouthed kisses, his long hair tickling you as he went.

Unaware of what was happening, your hips bucked into him, making him bite his lips to stifle the moan that wanted to escape. Illumi's face was poised in front of your core, his cool breath ghosted over the soft curls above your entrance. Your pink slit looked inviting, and he couldn't hold back anymore. He licked a stripe up your slit, making you sigh, body quivering as his hands held your thighs apart. His eyes looked up to see if you had awoken but found you still dreaming. Illumi then latched unto your hooded pearl sucking on it while two fingers already moving in and out, curled on that sweet spot that made your thighs twitch, almost closing around his head.

If only you could hear the obscene squelching of your wetness around his fingers, he was sure you would've been flustered and embarrassed.

You whined, squirming to escape his grasp, and he felt his length hardened at the fact that he alone was making you feel good. Possessiveness flooded his body, filling his mind with new possibilities.

The flood gates had opened, and he smiled up at you.

Your walls clamped down on his fingers, convulsing around them, your honey dripping down for him to lick up like a thirsty man on a hot day. Illumi held your waist down as he licked up your release, your body wriggling underneath his splayed palm on your stomach, wanting to escape the oversensitivity.

Eyes opened slightly groggily, staring up at the ceiling, your high washing over you and mixing with the exhaustion. You barely saw straight looking down to meet Illumi's dark eyes swirling with desire.

Illumi was straddling you, giving himself two shameless strokes and slowly plunging into your core. He sheathed himself inside you, grunting lowly at the warmth pulling him deeper.

"Illumi, what's go-" your soft voice slurred as his hips rocked against you, starting a furious speed.

You moaned, still sleepy but feeling how his fingers dug into your thighs, bringing you closer to him. The heat rising around you and the pleasure coming up your legs left you more sleepy. You could faintly feel his length speared you, hear his low grunts as your eyes closed once more. His hands went over your stomach, thinking, and imagining how your belly would swell. Imagining your body filled with his brood, drinking from one of your heavy breasts as they fed on the other. How proud he would be that you’re carrying his children, bred and marked to forever be his.

"Mmm, now this is a lovely sight~" Illumi felt Hisoka come up behind him, hugging his waist.

Hisoka laid his head on Illumi's shoulder, watching you sleepily writhe beneath his lover. He licked his lips, kissing Illumis neck softly.

"H-Hisoka," Illumi grunted, feeling your walls momentarily flutter around him.

"Mmm, don't mind me, my love." Hisoka continued to leave a trail of open-mouthed kisses on Illumi's neck, making the assassin close his eyes.

His hips didn't falter as he still rocked faster against you. He heard the soft scuffle behind him but didn't mind it lost in the sensations your body gave him.

Before his hand could grab one of your breasts, he felt Hisoka enter him from behind. He stuttered, clenching around the clown's length, causing him to moan loudly. Illumi leaned forwards down, supporting his body with his arms against the bed besides your head. His long dark hair fell down like curtains covering your face and his, encasing the two of you in a rather intimate display. One of his hands came down to caress your cheek, feeling the softness of your skin under his fingers.

"Now, where were we last time we were so rudely interrupted?~" Hisoka purred behind him, raking his nails softly down the assassin's back.

Illumi shuddered slightly, gripping the bed sheets with force, making them rip under his hand.

"A-Almost getting caught," Hisoka loved whenever Illumi couldn't talk or stuttered in his words. It filled his chest with pride.

"Mmm, I believe it's going to happen again" Hisoka moved his hips slightly, pushing harder Illumi inside you and closer over your body.

The bed creaked as he shifted, kissing Illumi's back and making him shudder in delight.

"How does she feel?~"

Hisoka kept leaving open-mouthed kisses on Illumi back everywhere his lips touched, his breath fanning over them, littering the assassin's pale skin with goosebumps.

"T-Tight," Illumi panted, feeling you clench around him.

You moaned in delight, your body littered a light sheen of sweat.

"What else, Llumi?~"

"She's w-warm and wet."

"So good," he muttered under his breath, but Hisoka caught it, and he chuckled, gripping Illumis hips harshly and giving him a rather hard thrust that pushed him deeper into your depths. You moaned in tandem with them.

"Ram into her, Llumi, make her yours too~," Hisoka whispered lowly, his own body preening in excitement.

"Breed her, and let’s keep her here forever" Hisoka's voice was deep and seductive as he pursued his release.

Illumi's face contorted into slight pain as he felt the pleasure rise in him. Hisoka went faster, feeling himself getting closer. He bit Illumi's shoulder, letting out a loud moan making Illumi feel it vibrate through him. Hisoka spilled inside Illumi but didn't move away.

He was still a bit hard to leave the fun.

"I know you want to...she wants it too~" Hisoka groaned against Illumis neck, and Illumi was consumed by his desire, frantically thrusting into you with passion.

The assassin groaned as your walls grew tighter, and you cried in out in your sleep.

Hisoka's hand went over the side to rub your bundle of nerves. Your body jerked, and Illumi grunted; he bit his lips trying to stay quiet, knowing if he let himself go, the clown would never stop teasing him. Then your walls convulsed around his length, your body arched, showing him your beautiful mounds. His eyes widened and then closed tightly, feeling you massage him, pulling him in. He panted, breathing out and feeling somber as your core pulled everything from him.

Illumi leaned back, his body coming close to Hisoka's chest. The clown smirked behind the assassin, and even if Illumi didn't see him, he could feel the smugness coming from him.

Hisoka wiggled his hips, pulling a soft moan from under Illumi's breath.

"I'll give you what you want as soon as I'm done here."

Hisoka chuckled, "or I can take it."

He rocked his hips gently against Illumi and then made him bend over, fully covering your body. His hand laid in the middle of Illumi's back as he pulled out and then went inside your already stuffed core. You gasped, opening your eyes wide, feeling the sudden push that left you breathless. You groaned at the fullness, clenching incredibly hard around the two of them. They moaned and groaned together. Your body squirmed underneath Illumi, and he kissed you to distract you as Hisoka started to move.

"Ah, ah-ha!" you moaned and whined out loud, feeling as Hisoka wildly dragged his length in and out.

Illumi breathed hard through his nose, grunting as he felt each and every of his lover's veins against his length. You panted and exhaled through your nose, looking flustered as Hisoka grabbed your hips and dug his fingers into them.

"T-Too much!" You whined, trying to arch your back, pushing your chest against Illumi.

He bit his lips, feeling your breasts flushed against him as you rubbed against the hardness of his abs. Your cheeks, like Illumi's, were tinted in red as he kissed you deeply, swirling his tongue against yours.

"I'm so close~" Hisoka moaned behind him.

Hisoka's tongue coming down to lick up Illumi's spine as his hips stuttered while you clamped down on them. You cried out against Illumi's kiss, and he pulls away to grunt at the fantastic feeling of your walls spasming around them and milking them both.

Hisoka pulled out, and Illumi let out a low gasp at the cold feeling of emptiness. He pulled Illumi against his chest, dragging the assassin with him as he laid down on the bed. The two of them panted harshly, eyes closed as the bliss washed over their bodies. Illumi lightly opened his eyes, looking at you, already passed out again.

He felt a twinge of disappointment inside his chest, but he pulled you closer to him, smothering you and trapping your body in his arms. You can’t leave them, you needed them. He took pride and relished in the fact that out of all of the three, he was the one who spent the most time with you.

Hisoka brushed Illumis dark long hair out of the way and leaned his head in the crook of his shoulder. He smiled at your passed out form and then kissed Illumi's neck as the assassin too was falling asleep. He hugged the two of you closer to him, Intertwining his legs with the both of you as he draped the sheets over all your bodies. He wondered what the next training session would be like and if he could join in the fun. Who knew his Llumi was this thirsty.

Morning came, and you weren't feeling exactly well-rested, you pinned it all to that weird wet dream fantasy you had during the night. But then you felt a heavy arm wrapped over your waist, holding you flushed against a hard chest. Everything was tender, especially in between your legs. The surrounding warmth felt nice, and your still exhausted body was being lulled back to sleep.

Maybe you were still dreaming even during the morning.

"Mmm, I'm ready for round two~."

THANKS FOR ENJOYING THIS EVERYONE!

This is my last spicy Rose Tea of this caliber (explicitly detailed and character x character), due to some personal reasons I will not be doing extra mega super ultra explicitly detailed smut. Smut will happen but it will be more implied than anything and there will be no more character x character fics. I will focus more on x readers. I apologize if these teas are not everyone’s cup, I understand, but I’m doing it for me and I will still deliver amazing teas no matter what flavor they are!

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oathkeeper-of-tarth · 3 years

Text

The d’Avenir Treatise on the Essentials of Monster Hunting (Vol I) - Preface and Introduction

The timing of this whole thing with the campaign is pretty amazing, as it turns out. In the middle of absolute work hell and attempts to sort out my general apartment/living situation, a little while ago I entered a fic into the /r/CurseOfStrahd second annual fanfic contest. It was one of my attempts to kind of write out and process the way our own run through the module went, stretch out some poor, suffering, unused writing muscles, and it was also super duper self-indulgent. So I'm very, very proud to say it won first place amidst some really great competition, and super happy to rep my best girl Ez.

Summary: In the aftermath of Strahd's destruction and the not-quite-loss of her mentor, Ezmerelda d'Avenir sets out to tie up loose ends and lay some ghosts to rest, and continues carving out a path for herself in the Domains of Dread.

Word count: 9999, as there was a 10k limit. I had fun.

Rating/Warnings: T, with canon-typical violence, and dealing with death and loss in a general gothic horror setting. Spoilers for the Curse of Strahd module.

---

The d’Avenir Treatise on the Essentials of Monster Hunting (Vol I) - Preface and Introduction

Being a compendium of successes, failures, tricks, and warnings relating to detecting, tracking, fighting, and ultimately destroying undead, fiends, lycanthropes, and assorted monstrosities.

1.1. Introductory remarks

Their ride back to town is a quiet one. The silence is broken only once they are sitting, their hunting and travelling gear half-unpacked and strewn about, in the library just above van Richten's herbalist shop.

"Were we in any other profession, this would be a cause for celebration," van Richten's lips twist into a bittersweet wisp of a smile, and he pushes a warm cup of tea into her hands. "A demonstration of pride in an apprentice's first job well done, for all to see and revel in."

Ezmerelda tries to look up at him and meet his gaze properly, but her shoulders, her head, her eyes all feel too heavy. A leaden weight seems to have settled on every bit of her. She is tired, bone-deep, but the very thought of lying down and closing her eyes to attempt to sleep fills her with disgust and no small amount of dread. She knows exactly what she will see. The man, just on the cusp of middle age, entirely unremarkable at first... features quickly twisting into a mask of monstrous hunger, then to wide-eyed horror, and, finally, resorting to desperate pleas for mercy as the stake hits home and his screeching form dissolves to ash.

It feels like the ash still coats the back of her mouth. The tea smells of strong herbs, with just a whiff of something even stronger that van Richten must have snuck in from the liquor cabinet. Her hands clench around the cup, and a burning need to justify and defend herself drives her to finally speak up.

"I was ready," she insists. "I am ready."

"I know," van Richten replies, softly, sadly.

The tea scalds her tongue, but she drinks it anyway.

---

Getting up from the damp, cold floor of the tomb again feels like an impossibility. She can barely keep her head above the ground, eyes stinging with a mixture of blood and sweat and the glare of pure, magical sunlight. The clawed gashes on her ribcage burn with every weak, hard-won breath, and a metallic taste coats the back of her tongue.

But she is not done yet. She has one last lightning bolt left in her, and Strahd and his dusk elf lackey are so beautifully, perfectly aligned. Ezmerelda can't keep her lips from curling up into a smirk as she raises an arm and mutters her incantation, feeling that familiar tickle of static rising all around her.

She holds on, builds it up as much as she can, teeth grinding together, ears buzzing - until she can hold on no longer, and the energy flies from her, the flash near-blinding, the roar of accompanying thunder ringing in her ears.

She sees it hit home, the first traces of foggy vapour swirling around Strahd's convulsing form, and a beautiful satisfaction fills her.

Then, she lets herself go.

An instant or an eternity later someone is shaking her into jarring and painful wakefulness, jostling her head against the rough floor. Her mouth is filled with the bitter aftertaste of a potion, and she grimaces as she feels the familiar residue on her lips and chin.

"Fine, fine, old man, relax, I'm up," she manages, slurring the words, struggling to blink her eyes open and into focus. "I'm awake. Stop it."

But it's not him.

It is Ireena, wide-eyed gaze somehow growing wider still at her words. The reason for this becomes abundantly and agonisingly clear as she points to somewhere behind Ezmerelda... to where Rudolph van Richten lies, very pale and very still, a greater and more profound calm upon him than she has ever witnessed.

"No."

She didn't even see him fall.

"Why didn't you help him?" Ezmerelda knocks the empty potion bottle away, and it clatters loudly against the stone, finally finding rest near a streak of dark ashes. "What are you waiting for, what--"

"I tried. It was... it's too late," Ireena whispers, "I'm sorry."

Ezmerelda feels shame flood her immediately at the misaimed anger. "No. No, I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I'm sorry. I just-- wait." Awareness of just where they are and what they were in the middle of doing suddenly overwhelms her, and she feels panic crawl up her spine. "Is it over? Did you stake that bastard once and for all?"

Ireena nods, mouth curling in visible distaste. "I did, just like you said to. Your last hit - it was enough to force him to turn into mist, and then, when... when he reformed in the coffin, I did it."

The relief Ezmerelda feels at that is so bitter it burns. "I missed it, then," she murmurs, and feels ridiculous immediately afterwards. Ireena shakes her head, and helps her sit up.

She allows herself a few precious moments of rest against the cold, damp wall of the crypt, eyes painfully locked on van Richten's still, still form. As soon as she feels half-capable of moving, she all but drags herself to his side. Feeling for a pulse, a breath, anything at all to help her disbelieve what is plainly before her eyes.

She finds no such thing. He's dead, and it feels like a stake through her own heart. After all her efforts, after getting into Barovia just to get the damned foolish old man off his self-destructive warpath and out, only to lose him now, to fail right at the end...

A pale shimmer falls over the scene before her, like a curtain right before her eyes. Ezmerelda blinks and shakes her head, but can't make it go away. She reaches up, and--

Erasmus all but swoops down to be face to face with her.

It takes her a moment to properly grasp what she is seeing. Erasmus. Somehow still there, his ghostly form hovering over his father's body. Gesturing at her wildly, pointing down at something, and, finally, using his ectoplasmic paint to draw... a circle within a circle, hanging in mid-air.

She follows his wordless instructions to the best of her current ability and, with some painfully suppressed reluctance, looks down at van Richten. And there on his finger is a ring that was certainly not there before.

Erasmus seems insistent and quite unusually agitated, so Ezmerelda takes the ring, trying not to register the coldness of the hand it was on, and puts it on numbly, feeling utterly beyond thought.

Suddenly, cutting through the fog that seems to have descended upon her mind, bubbling up like an idea from her own consciousness, a thought - a voice. A familiar voice.

'Ezmerelda? Ah. I see. Well, that could have gone decidedly better.'

She feels tears welling up in her eyes, an unstoppable burning in her chest. She wants to laugh until she can't breathe, or sob her lungs raw.

Instead, she sits back against the cool stone wall. As the adrenaline wears off, she becomes more aware of the extent of her injuries: the sting where foul claws raked across her midsection and upwards; the burns of magical fire on her palms. She fishes out the last potion from her pocket, and downs it in one greedy gulp. The relief is near-instant.

Her faculties at least somewhat returned to her, she opts for a laugh as she recognises the ring for what it is. Ireena looks at her with some concern, but Ezmerelda waves it away.

"A ring of mind shielding. Protect the mind, and store the soul, should the worst happen. Of course you of all people would come so prepared."

Ezmerelda twists the ring on her finger, marvels at the detailed engraving.

"Should I... we could... there's ways. To get you back. I mean..."

She trails off, and there is a brief pause before the voice in her mind pipes up again. 'No. No, I think, at long last, it is time for me to stop. And rest.'

Even though her entire being wishes to rail against this, to insist on the need for Rudolph van Richten to exist, and protest the injustice (just when she'd gotten him back!), Ezmerelda manages, barely, a soft, "I understand."

'There is still some work to do before that, though, no? Loose ends for us to take care of before, well...'

That, she feels far more comfortable with. It almost comes as a relief. "Yes, of course. First order of business, we will sit down, and we will work out a plan. And we will stick to that plan."

There is a soft chuckle in her mind.

"What's so funny? You love plans."

She imagines, in better, happier days, the old man - only slightly less old - shaking his head at her with a long-suffering smile.

'Thank you for humoring me, is all I'll say. Now, go handle things here properly and finish up, while I think of a list of priorities for us. Miss Kolyana is waiting for you.'

1.2. A brief reflection on personal experience

Ezmerelda is pulled into a room, hand clamped over her mouth. The door slams shut, and she almost stumbles as she is suddenly released.

"What in all the realms are you doing here?" The colourful half-elf carnival master hisses at her in a voice decidedly unlike the one he was just using in the downstairs taproom. Now that they are close, she can see the magical disguise of the Great Rictavio is utterly impeccable, but the eyes... the eyes are unmistakable.

They are also flooded with the closest thing to panic Ezmerelda has ever seen in them.

"I'm here to help you. You don't stand a chance on your own."

"How did you find me?"

Ezmerelda shrugs noncommittally, and doesn't look behind him. "I have my ways."

He shakes his head. "That isn't good enough. If his agents - and there are many, I assure you! - catch even a whiff--"

She finally glances at the ghostly form of Erasmus, just barely visible over Rictavio's shoulder, unable to be perceived by the one man he wishes he could reach out to and reassure. He meets her eyes and holds his finger up to his lips.

"I recognised your horse," she says, at long last.

"Dear Drusilla? Oh..." Rictavio seems to almost deflate at that, though his nervous pacing doesn't slow.

Erasmus' visage shows what has to be gratitude, or relief, or both. Then he closes his eyes, seemingly tired, and the shimmering remnants of him disappear from view.

"Damned stubborn, foolish girl..." Rictavio moves deftly around the small room, securing the shutters on its single window, locking the door from the inside, gaze darting around wildly. Then he reaches up and removes his hat, and Rudolph van Richten, looking more old and more worn than Ezmerelda was perhaps ever prepared to see, stands in his place.

"I had a plan, you know," he sighs, tossing the hat onto the bed. "One that I can now no doubt forget about entirely."

"There's no time for your endless preparation and planning. Any waiting game we try to play is a losing one. There's a young woman who desperately needs our help, a legendary weapon to be found, and there's a monster to hunt, feeding on an entire land. I've been to the castle, scouted out--"

"You've done what?"

Ezmerelda doesn't look at him and chooses to pace a small circle around the room herself. "The castle. Ravenloft. Getting in was a breeze - getting out was the hard part." She suppresses a brief shudder at the memory of her invisibility spell running out and Strahd's eyes boring directly into hers, as if he'd known she was there all along. "But, well, I managed. And more importantly, I found a way into his crypt."

Van Richten sits down on the bed, rubbing circles into his forehead.

"Ezmerelda, you can't be here." His voice sounds pained, almost. "You know you are not safe near me. My curse--"

"Sincerely, fuck your curse," Ezmerelda spits. "After all these years, it can wait a few days before striking. Can't be worse than what will happen to both of us and anyone involved if we can't manage to work together on this. We have to. I tried, by myself, but..."

She tries not to dwell on the terribly brief confrontation, the bite of the cold, cold grasp that seemed to steal the very life out of her, and her rather desperate escape.

"Ezmerelda," van Richten starts again, then pauses, and just looks at her - a long, heavy look. "Why?"

"There are still people who care about your well-being," she replies simply and softly, "no matter what you may believe."

Then she straightens her shoulders and allows the steel back into her voice. "So listen to me. We are going to stake that devil in his lair, and we are going to get out of this cursed land. Together."

For once, he doesn't argue.

---

Their lord and master may be gone, but there are plenty of foul things still crawling around Castle Ravenloft - and occasionally crawling out of it as well.

How lucky for the Village of Barovia, then, to have a monster hunter visiting.

"...so I think that should do it for that particular area of the barracks," Ezmerelda flicks a stray bit of zombie gunk off of her bracer, then casts an apologetic look at Ireena. "But who knows what else he has buried under there."

Ireena Kolyana, the girl haunted, hunted, and tormented by the vampire, deciding she's had enough of running, turning on him and wielding a sword of pure sunlight against him. Poetic justice, if Ezmerelda fancied herself a poet.

Ireena Kolyana, looking exhausted in a very different way, now caught up in burgomaster duties, barely finding time in her overstuffed schedule to hear about the results of Ezmerelda's latest expedition to the castle.

"You know," Ezmerelda begins, eyeing the stacks of papers and growing chaos on the desk between them, "if you ever get really tired of this, and miss life on the road..." she nods towards the window, and the wagon just outside it. "I have room for one more. And could always use a deft hand with a sword."

Ireena smiles, but the sadness underpinning it is palpable. "I can't, not now at least. There is too much to take care of here. And without Ismark..." a shadow falls briefly over her face, then she visibly forces it back. "Some day, maybe. I would honestly love to."

Ezmerelda nods, then moves to stand up, and holds out a hand expectantly. "Come on, you have time for a walk. A minute to escort me out and say goodbye, at least."

Ireena chuckles quietly and shakes her head, but pushes away from the desk and takes the proffered arm.

The sunlight is bright, tempered only by a wisp of white cloud here and there. Ezmerelda feels a light pull on her arm as Ireena stops on the threshold of the house for just a fraction of a moment. The hesitation is brief, barely noticeable, but the pause as if needing to catch her breath and the subsequent dawning joy - pure, almost radiant by itself - as the sunlight hits her skin--

Ezmerelda realises she's staring, blinks, and makes herself look away.

Their stroll is indeed brief, and as soon as they turn the corner and reach the parked wagon, Ireena sighs and stands half-ready to hurry back to her office and her duties.

"Hey," Ezmerelda puts what she hopes is a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I know you can handle all of this. Never doubt that."

This wins her a sincere smile. "Thank you."

Knowing there's no more point in delaying, Ezmerelda pulls away, moves to arrange her things around the wagon and prepare to leave.

"The offer stands," she says as she climbs into the driver's seat. "Keep it in mind."

"Maybe next time," Ireena replies with another sad smile. But then she pauses for a moment, almost as if thinking something over. Then she darts in quickly, and kisses Ezmerelda's cheek.

"Don't stay away too long," she says, quietly, then draws away again. Ezmerelda nods her agreement, and takes up the reins of her conjured horses.

Ireena waves her goodbye, and stands, looking on, bathed in sunlight.

And then the road turns, and she disappears from Ezmerelda's view.

'Well.'

"Shut up." Ezmerelda can feel her face burning. "Absolutely no need to read into things."

'You know I mean no offense. I only want the best for you.'

"I am perfectly fine," Ezmerelda grumbles. "Besides, this is the last thing she needs right now."

'You don't know that. Ask her sometime, perhaps, to tell you herself. Too many people have assumed too much about that young lady, I think. Myself included.'

"Oh, what do you know..."

There is a distinct sensation of stinging grief, never quite healed, as the voice comes again. 'You seem to forget I was young once. In love once. More... than once. And though it never ended well, like few things in my life did, the only thing I have ever regretted was not acting sooner. And regret is...'

"... the enemy of progress. I know." Ezmerelda sighs, the old man's oft-repeated saying rattling around in her mind as she snaps the reins and takes them down the road westward. "Maybe next time."

1.3. Materials and methods, an overview

Her balance is off still, but the past few weeks have brought incredible improvement. She flicks her rapier upwards, then lunges - back, forth, back, forth, fully and properly bearing weight on her right side in the training yard for the first time in months. The new prosthetic is truly a work of art and a masterful display of craftsmanship. Ezmerelda feels almost giddy at the sensation of ducking and weaving under the wooden limbs of the training dummy, feinting deftly, ignoring the burn in her arm and shoulder. The maneuvers are not yet close to her peak speed and fluidity and elegance, not after the long, arduous recovery she is only now reaching the end of. But it is all so very, very promising.

It also brings to mind - because how could it not, when for the better part of the past half-year she has had more time to think, and remember, and reflect than in her entire life? - van Richten's drills. He was always far more of a theoretician than practitioner of swordfighting, but he was certainly no slouch with a blade. The precision and perfection of form he insisted on instilling in her initially seemed to clash with her more free, improvisational, off-the-cuff approach, but ended up blending with it to great effect in ways that occasionally surprised them both.

She goes through attack patterns he's drilled into her and realises she misses him, the cantankerous old man and all his frustrating ways, and suddenly finds herself fervently wishing she wasn't doing this alone. She spares a moment to imagine the amount of fussing over her he would likely have insisted on, with his overprotective bedside manner that she used to chafe and scoff at whenever one of their hunts went badly for her. She thinks of all the lovely, fleeting drawings Erasmus would have made for her.

Her next step is careless, thoughtless, distracted, and as a result only a little off. The lunge is misaimed, unbalanced, and her knee twists unpleasantly. For the briefest flash of a moment she could swear she can feel the teeth sinking in again, and the horrible tearing.

Ezmerelda winces, fingers clenched around the rapier's handle, knuckles white. Her teeth grit as the wave of pain subsides so very, very slowly, but doesn't quite go away. She remembers, belatedly, that she has an audience.

"Ah, almost there," she calls back to the artisan eagerly awaiting her feedback, voice forcefully kept steady, without turning to face them, and taps her rapier on the metal plating running up from the heel. "We'll need to make another slight adjustment to the ankle joint, I think. But this is definitely and by far the best one yet. Let me get some more practice first, and we can go over the details in the afternoon."

Ezmerelda doesn't wait to see if her words are acknowledged. She hefts the rapier back up.

---

Before she reaches the first crossroads west of Vallaki, she turns the wagon south and into the woods.

"I have some unfinished business of my own to settle first," Ezmerelda states very matter-of-factly, preempting any interrogation from the ring's general direction.

The wagon trail to the top of the hill is easier to navigate than ever, and the camp is abuzz with activity, as it usually is. But this time the feel of it all is a bit different.

Ezmerelda knows it well; the air of a caravan packing up to leave.

Arabelle sees her weaving through the horses, strolling towards the large central tent, and darts towards her immediately, then freezes not three feet away. Ezmerelda can tell plain as the new Barovian day that she is torn between looking dignified and throwing herself at her in a hug.

So she crouches down and opens her arms first, and is almost knocked over when Arabelle rushes in.

"I want to show you something I've been practicing," Arabelle whispers conspiratorially, "but you'll need to lend me a dagger."

Ezmerelda's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but she obliges the girl after only a moment's contemplation, still crouched down and one arm around her narrow shoulders.

The dagger is one of the smaller ones she usually keeps concealed, but even so it seems far too large in Arabelle's hands. Nevertheless, in a few surprisingly dextrous motions with only a couple of moments of hesitation, she seems to make it disappear - then produces it again as if out of thin air.

"Huh. Impressive. Did your uncle teach you that little trick?"

Arabelle nods, but her pride is palpable. "Papa was so mad! He says that both him and you are a bad influence and I am far too young to be handling blades."

"There's no such thing," Ezmerelda scoffs, but motions for her dagger back and tucks it away safely. "Where is your father? I wanted to speak with him."

"Luvash is busy," another voice cuts in cooly, and Arrigal steps out of the fading, scarce shadows, somehow slipping under her notice even with the bright streams of sunlight all around. "But you can speak with me."

Ezmerelda stands up slowly, and can see him sizing her up.

"Run along now, Arabelle," Arrigal says in a much warmer tone of voice, but without taking his eyes off Ezmerelda for even a moment.

Arabelle gives her one last look as she turns to leave, and Ezmerelda tries to give her a reassuring smile - but then she realises Arabelle doesn't seem concerned or reluctant or... anything at all. She seems supremely calm, and not seven years old at all.

Arrigal steps forward and, even as uncannily quiet as he always is, it startles her back into the moment. Then, he reaches out a hand.

Ezmerelda meets his gaze, steps forward, and takes it. The handshake is firm, and she smirks. "Looks like you backed the losing side, cousin."

The term of address rolls off her tongue with some bite of irony in it. Arrigal inclines his head in acknowledgement. "You can't say it wasn't a fairly sure bet. A matter of survival, of course. We do what we must to keep our people safe. But," and he draws a bit closer, as if letting her in on a secret. "I'm glad he didn't send me after you."

Ezmerelda nods, and decides she isn't in the mood for a debate. "You know, so am I. I would have hated having to kill you. Instead, here you are, in an excellent position for a little introspection, changing your ways... much better this way, isn't it?"

He shakes his head with a grin, and finally lets go of her hand. "You are a menace. But we follow the traditions, and you have a place here. Where are you going?"

"Borca," she says, and pointedly doesn't elaborate further.

Arrigal laughs. "Off to more of your grim business right away! Well, one has to admire your tenacity. You can stay, of course, and leave with us tomorrow. We will share the road at least part of the way."

So Ezmerelda stays, and exchanges news of recent caravan routes and planned Mist-traversal with Luvash. The fire roars to life as the sun sets. Tales are told, and she contributes some of her own.

"Regale us, cousin," Arrigal says, grinning wolf-sharp, arms open wide as if to encompass the entire camp, "with the story of the fall of the devil Strahd."

Arabelle is a delight, as always. The truce with Arrigal, if it can be called that, is uneasy, but holds. The ring is quiet.

Arabelle insists on riding with her in the morning ("You did fish her out of that lake... brought her back to us," Luvash grumbles. "I suppose there's no harm... I'll have none of that monster-hunting nonsense, though!"). Her delight at the summoned magical horses is palpable, even as she tries to hide it. Ezmerelda gives her the reins until they need to enter the Mists, and is only slightly surprised to see her managing well, with just a few pointers here and there.

The whole way, Arabelle demands stories of her and van Richten's exploits very matter-of-factly - interrogates, almost, at times. Her eyes are large, intent, focused, as Ezmerelda obliges, for hours.

"I knew you would win," Arabelle says at one point, breaking a rare longer stretch of silence between them. "Uncle didn't want to listen to me, but I knew."

Ezmerelda looks at her, matches her seriousness. "I hope he will learn to listen, one day soon."

1.4. Common pitfalls

Ezmerelda inches back to consciousness more than wakes, and hisses as she almost reflexively tries and fails to sit up. She recognises her own bed in the former guest room above the herbalist shop, but the details of how she got there are fuzzy at best, completely absent at worst. She is, however, very aware of a merciless pounding in her head and that she has most certainly just pulled some fresh stitches.

A swirl of colourful ectoplasm greets her when she next opens her eyes, Erasmus' fleeting but always lovely and cheerful greetings hovering above her.

Well. Ezmerelda forces a pained smile at him, knowing that if he is here, his father cannot be far, and--

Ah. Familiar footsteps on the stairs, and the distinct creak of the second one from the top, as Rudolph van Richten enters the room with uncanny timing.

He doesn't seem to be surprised to see her awake as he gives her a quick look-over, even as concern and frustration clearly war on his face.

"I thought we had reached an agreement," he begins at last, very deliberately calmly.

Ezmerelda doesn't reply.

"I thought," he continues with that same calm tone, "that we had made a plan. That was my distinct impression of our last conversation."

Ezmerelda clenches her teeth, then grinds out, "I couldn't just stand by and let that beast--"

"You could have voiced your disagreements with the plan and brought your concerns to me, instead of running off on your own in the middle of the night," van Richten is clearly struggling to keep his voice level. "You almost died."

"Fine, I am voicing my disagreements. We know it's a wereboar. Just go at it with our silvered weapons, set up an ambush where we found its lair... why wait? Why give it more chances to hurt people?"

"To be absolutely certain we have all the information. That we have looked at it from every angle, that we have not overlooked a crucial detail. Minimise its chances to hurt us."

"But by then it might have mauled half the village to death, or worse!"

Van Richten's gaze on her is sharp. "And if we get ourselves pointlessly killed, are the villagers any safer for our hasty, brash, ill-thought sacrifice?"

"Hasty, brash, and ill-thought. Fine, if that’s how it is, how you think of me," Ezmerelda throws her hands up, and wishes she could march off, slamming a door shut behind her for good measure, as childish as the thought makes her feel.

Van Richten sighs deeply, and pulls up a chair to sit next to her bed. Ezmerelda recognises it as one from downstairs, and feels a small stab of guilt at the thought of him setting up a vigil at her bedside.

"We can't go rushing in on half-checked information," van Richten begins, after a brief silence, looking down at his hands. "We can't, because... because I have done that, in the past. And people - good, brave, dedicated people who chose to stand against evil, people who trusted me - died as a result."

"I have been wrong," he continues, still not looking up. "I have followed faulty sources without the due diligence of thorough enough vetting. I have overlooked things, and I have lost many. I will not and cannot allow that to happen again. We have to be careful, patient, and vigilant, always."

"I'm not advocating for blindly rushing in," Ezmerelda protests, "I'm merely--"

"I won't have you on my soul as well. I have far too many already."

"And I won't have any more innocents on mine! We had all the relevant information two days ago. Four people could have been alive today if we had acted on time. We were right."

"And what about when you aren't, Ezmerelda? What about when you aren't?"

Ezmerelda looks him right in the eyes, steely. "Then I will make sure I am the one who pays the price for my own mistakes."

"Oh," van Richten smiles sadly, "If only that were possible."

---

The letter arrives just as she is preparing, to her great relief, to leave Port-à-Lucine for good. It is hand-delivered by an ostentatiously dressed man in a stylised fox mask, entirely - and Ezmerelda feels her lips curl in annoyance - unassuming and usual for the land of outrageous pretense that is Dementlieu. The way he seems to disappear in the moment it takes for her to glance down at what he has thrust into her hands is also something Ezmerelda finds hard to marvel at anymore.

Overjoyed to be able to return to the relative privacy and safety of her wagon, she tosses away her old harlequin mask in the sincere hopes of never having to put the damn thing on again. Then she throws herself on the bed and focuses on tearing into the sealed envelope, absorbing its mysterious contents.

After she reaches the end of the letter's brief text, she stays very still for a long while.

'Not a name I thought I would see again, if I am to be honest,' van Richten's voice comes slowly, sounding very wary.

Ezmerelda breathes out a frustrated sigh, an unidentifiable jumble of feelings warring in her chest and burning up her throat. She tries to reply several times, then stops, and closes her eyes. Collects herself, at least somewhat, and decides to focus on the practical. "How do we even know this isn't a forgery, or some sort of trap?"

'We don't. But it is a loose end I, for one, am not prepared to simply overlook.'

"She's tried before, but I never... I don't have time for this right now, I--," she throws the letter and the shredded envelope onto the chest at her bedside, and runs an annoyed hand through her hair, again, and again, and again. Thinking, or at least trying to.

'We have time. You and I both know it's not time that is the problem.'

They are nearing the end of their planned journey, finishing up their business with Alanik Ray and Arthur Sedgwick's latest investigations and bidding farewell to Dementlieu. And then it was supposed to be on to Mordent, to call in at the Mordentshire shop briefly, and afterwards to Darkon - to Rivalis, and the villages surrounding the old Richten estate. Some ghouls to fight off, wraiths to purge, ghosts to lay to rest, to help the villagers out, before... well. They'll come to that when they do.

Ezmerelda can't deny the detour would only be a brief one.

"A 'loose end'," she huffs. "Really."

'I am just trying to help you. Don't waste years of your life like I have, either bitter or wondering or fleeing. Confront your - our - past, at least this part. Lay it to rest, if you can.'

"The past does not lie behind us. It is part of what we are, and part of what we always will be," Ezmerelda recites, then sighs again. "Old Vistani saying."

A moment of silence. 'Make sure it is a good part, then.'

Ezmerelda's memory of her mother feels... not fuzzy, but perhaps a bit tweaked and twisted over the years, more by feelings overtaking it than by any fault of recall. The images of what she remembers and what now stands before her don't match, but have a strange, dissonant overlap, leaving visible in the centre a woman Ezmerelda could almost, almost imagine seeing in the mirror. One she hoped to never see again after that night of wordless parting, many years ago.

Years of imprisonment seem to have been surprisingly kind to Madame Irena Radanavich. She has wormed her way into some kind of favour with someone powerful here, no doubt, as has always been her utterly unscrupulous way. The cell is clearly a formality, more of an office than anything, a parlour for receiving agents and lackeys, as well as bosses. There is even a chair - a worn, old wooden frame with faded red upholstery - placed a little ways away from the bars, facing them. Ezmerelda also gets a distinct impression that the guard standing in the corner is not there for any visitor's safety or protection.

The woman in the cell seems to light up the moment she sets eyes on Ezmerelda strolling into the cell space with a pretense of casualness.

"My, how you've grown! My, and yet-- oh, darling," concern seems to flood her face and voice, and - there, a subtle, wry twist - Ezmerelda thinks she catches a false, even mocking undertone to it. A flash, and it’s gone, and perhaps she merely imagined it, or even wanted it to be there, an ache for some semblance of simplicity to box this woman in. "There's both more and less of you than last time I saw you."

"Really?" Ezmerelda scoffs, and almost wants to laugh. "All those tales I've heard of your vicious, clever, insidious scheming, and that's the best you can come up with?" She crosses her arms, and clicks her metal heel against the floor loudly. "Not an angle you can use against me, I'm afraid. Try again."

"You wound me!" A dramatic hand placed over her chest. "Treating your own mother like that, who has never had anything but your best interests at heart. Who you've never even come to visit."

Ezmerelda slips the opened letter through the bars, letting it land on the hewn stone on the other side. Then she moves to sit down on the solitary chair.

"I'm only here because I got your letter."

"Oh! Good. My dearest Ezmerelda, I was--"

"I am here to tell you I want you to leave me alone," Ezmerelda continues, acting as if she hasn't heard a word. "For good. Forget I exist, preferably. I want nothing to do with you, and I never will. And the only thing I might want to do with your plotting and scheming is foiling it, so it is in your best interest to leave me out of it all. And van Richten..."

The saccharine smile dips down, almost into a scowl. "And here I'd heard you'd finally seen sense and parted ways with that old fool."

"You hear much, I see," Ezmerelda replies, cooly.

"I have my ways. My sources. People loyal to me, who have yet to abandon me."

Ezmerelda feels the swipe like an airy almost-cut of a dagger that just barely misses. "Well, here's something new for you, then. Something your little web-weaving spiders seem to have missed. You'll be happy to hear he's dead."

"And right away you come back to me! Time to end your silly games, eh, Ezme? Good, good. A start--"

"You have no right to call me that," Ezmerelda cuts her off, rapidly losing her will to restrain herself.

"Come now, dear. That's no way to talk to your mother, your own flesh and blood. It's about time we set all this nonsense aside, don't you think? Your family--"

"You're no family of mine."

"Please," she scoffs loudly. "You sound like an angry child. And... oh, really, what kind of name is 'd'Avenir' even?"

"My name," Ezmerelda replies, perfectly matter-of-fact, and refuses to even entertain further discussion of the matter.

"I wonder how you'll do," Madame Radanavich smiles, but this time the threatening edge is obvious, pretense briefly abandoned, "all alone. Playing your little games of pretend with your make-believe name. You'll come crawling back to me yet."

Ezmerelda finds herself thinking of Erasmus, and almost believes she can see him, out of the corner of her eye. Tries not to think of what this confrontation might be bringing back for him. Thinks of the Martikovs welcoming her with open arms and offering shelter even in the darkest and dourest and most dangerous of days; thinks of Ireena with the sunsword and an entire wealth of feeling tangled in a tired, relieved smile somehow brighter than the blazing sunlight itself. Of nights around the fire in the camp outside Vallaki, and little Arabelle pulling on her coat, extorting promises of lessons in both swordfighting and divining. Of Arthur Sedgwick and his honest, caring eyes, and his patient instruction in properly using a flintlock, as his husband gleefully offers detailed scientific explanations of the weapon's workings from the side. She twists the ring on her finger.

"I'm not alone," Ezmerelda says simply, and feels resolute steel pouring back. She stops to consider her next words more carefully.

"I watched your actions and your curse destroy a good man's life. But I want you to know that you wanted to take from him, and in the end you took from me, the daughter you profess to care about so much. And now you crow at me about flesh and blood and expect me to, what? Beg you to let me come back? Back to what? A mouldy cell and as short a leash as the current master feels like giving you?"

"Bold words for one given to following an old wretch around like a sad pup, even as he keeps trying to kick you away," Radanavich sneers, then shifts back to sad pity in the blink of an eye. "Oh, yes, my dear, it's so very tragic... I've heard it all. Look at you - you're wasted on him."

"Oh?" Ezmerelda raises an eyebrow cooly, clamps down on the sting to her pride and the deliberate scrape against old wounds, and almost wanting to scream you are the reason he feared that daring to care about someone would be a death sentence for them. "And what would you prefer to be using me for?"

"How dare you! After all I've done for our family, while you throw your lot in with the man who killed your brother and imprisoned your mother!"

Ezmerelda feels suddenly tired, more than anything. "You know he did no such thing. And I've done very well for myself, despite you."

"Have you, now? What price have you paid for your... profession? What has it cost you already?"

"Nothing I wouldn't be ready to pay ten times over if it meant ensuring the safety of an innocent, or beating back those such as you. You still don't understand," Ezmerelda just smiles sadly, allowing only the slightest undercurrent of danger. "I'm neither lost, nor settling for anything, nor desperately grasping at a chance, nor tragically misguided. This is what I want. This-- this cause, this fight, this is exactly what I was meant to do. And I am very, very good at it."

"Oh, Ezmerelda, if excitement and adventure and glory is what you are after, I know of much that you could do! So many causes that your... talents... would be an excellent match for. You do have a certain reputation, and I know several highly influential actors who'd know exactly where to put your skills to use, no matter how they were acquired. You could do so well for yourself! Rise right to the top of the ranks in the blink of an eye, become truly great."

Ezmerelda shakes her head, and sighs, and moves to get up from the sad, solitary seat.

"Ezmerelda--"

She quickly turns towards the bars and leans in, baring her teeth and grinning widely. "I killed the devil Strahd," Ezmerelda smirks at the look of shock she gets in response. "I think your petty schemes are a little below me, don't you?"

She turns to leave, not waiting for a response. The guard leans back in his corner as she moves away from the bars, waving him off.

"Oh, do feel free to let your masters know," she tosses over her shoulder nonchalantly as she makes her way out. "Though I have to say I haven't really looked into whose lapdog you are nowadays."

Ezmerelda hears a frustrated growl behind her as the sickeningly sweet, pleasant mask falls for good. As the door slams shut behind her, she doesn't look back.

She lets the noise of the city drown out her thoughts as she slowly makes her way back to her wagon, more than ready to be on her way elsewhere. Until, after a while, a familiar voice comes swimming up through her mind.

'How do you feel?'

"I don't know," Ezmerelda murmurs, after a long silence. "Ask me tomorrow."

1.5. Notes on useful classification and categorisation

As she finishes rattling off the information she's gathered on a series of apparent annis hag encounters that van Richten asked her for, he looks-- well, 'impressed' is the only word Ezmerelda can think of to describe it.

In the ensuing moment of quiet, he takes off his spectacles, fidgets with them briefly, polishes off a smudge with his handkerchief. Then, he looks her right in the eye. "You, girl, are a veritable sponge."

Ezmerelda flashes him a smug smile, then remembers the other matter she wanted to bring to his attention. She clears her throat, and begins, with uncharacteristic hesitance. "I've also been looking into some... other things. Another way I can contribute, I think."

The only reply is a raised eyebrow, so Ezmerelda steels herself and decides to go forward with her planned demonstration. She quells the nervous fluttering in her stomach, and instead focuses on the points of her own fingers as they trace well-practiced patterns in the air. With a final flick and a quick mutter of the incantation she's quietly recited so, so many nights in her room when she was supposed to be asleep, the very air around her right hand shimmers with heat. A few tense moments later, a small mote of flame appears in her palm.

Ezmerelda bites back an exclamation of joy at the success, tries to keep her expression fairly neutral, and looks to van Richten expectantly.

His eyebrows are, very amusingly, trying to climb into his hairline. "Where in the world did you learn to do that?"

She lets the little flame dance between her hands, casually skip from one to the other, flickering giddily, and feels an odd sense of relief wash over her.

"I saw it in one of your books. Almost by accident, and it... it just made a lot of sense to me, even just skimming over it. So I thought, why not? If I could get a handle on a few of the spells, I could complement your arsenal quite well. Bring more to the fight."

Van Richten nods, but there is a wary undertone to his words. "As long as you aren't making any ill-advised deals and pacts - which, I'll remind you--"

"-- are all of them. I know. Don't worry. I'm only interested in things I can glean by myself."

"Well, I'm not much of an arcane practitioner, though I am quite familiar with a lot of theory. I'm afraid I won't be able to provide any elaborate training or instruction--"

"That's fine," Ezmerelda rushes to say. "I can continue like this. The research, the books - it's..."

She trails off, not quite knowing how and what to explain. Arcane magic is fascinating, surprisingly enjoyable, and strikes a deeply satisfying balance between being hard-won and feeling like it comes naturally to her.

It also feels... hers.

"It's very engaging material," she finishes after a little while. She moves to close her fist and extinguish the tiny fire, but something stops her at the very last moment.

"Indeed," van Richten replies simply, and gets up from his seat. "Well, I do need to go tend to the shop, but rest assured we will discuss the tactical applications of this later today."

Just as he is out the study door and about to start down the stairs, he pauses, and turns back to look at her, a bright and sincere smile on his face. "Very well done, Ezmerelda."

The flame flickers, ready to fly from her fingers, bursting with potential.

"Thank you," she murmurs long after he is gone.

---

It is deep nighttime when Ezmerelda shakes off the last tendrils of the Mists and sets eyes on the cliffs of Mordentshire. The wagon's wheels clatter over rain-slick cobblestones as she navigates the still-familiar streets of the seemingly unchanging harbour town. The cold sea wind makes her tighten her coat around herself, to very little avail.

She can't say she's missed the weather.

By the time she spies the sign neatly painted with the words Herbalist - Dr. Rudolph van Richten, she feels soaked through and entirely miserable, and spends only a moment giving the place a quick look-over.

The shop is in fine shape - if she didn't know better, Ezmerelda could easily believe its owner closed it up for the night and left just yesterday. The wolfsbane and garlic in the planters underneath each window are flourishing. She makes a mental note to make her first order of business in the morning calling in on the neighbors and discussing further arrangements with Mrs. Polk, in whose capable hands van Richten has been leaving things for years.

In the meantime, she fervently hopes for dry clothes and a workable fireplace.

A quick rummage between two bushy wolfsbane plants - the second and third one on the right - produces a spare key, and Ezmerelda remembers with mild amusement her shock at this mundane weakness in van Richten's usually impeccable and overthought defenses, years ago.

"Keys," he'd looked at her over the rim of his spectacles, "are hardly a problem for things that truly want to harm me."

The little bell chimes as she opens the door. Catching a glimpse of herself in the very precisely placed full-length mirror just opposite the entrance, she wastes no time before going upstairs. The second stair from the top creaks its old, familiar reassurance.

Ezmerelda enters the room that used to be hers, in between harrowing hunting trips and trying adventures, during her years training with van Richten. It doesn't seem to have changed much - nor does it seem to be in use as anything but spare storage space.

She does her best not to think about how empty and quiet the house is, or how she's never truly been alone in it. Instead, she hangs up her coat, rolls up her shirt sleeves, unpacks some of her things, and, by the time she gets a proper fire going, realises sleep is the very last thing she feels like doing. Her eyes alight on the small desk in the corner, and she instead decides to do something she hasn't in a while.

She sits down to write.

First, Ezmerelda takes off the ring and sets it aside, muttering a quick good night, Doctor under her breath. Then she takes out some of her collection, observations accumulated over the years - jotted down on everything from thick parchment to old wrapping paper. Combining it with the wealth of van Richten's remaining material and into something eventually coherent will no doubt be a challenge, but a challenge is not something Ezmerelda d'Avenir has ever shied away from.

It is just haphazard, quick notes on anything of consequence that comes to mind at first, carried by an odd nervous energy. A more systematic approach will have to come at some later point.

While knowledge is a key weapon in any hunter's arsenal, honing one's body as well as mind is absolutely necessary, she writes, tapping her foot on the wooden floor in a way that often drove van Richten to distraction. Many of the creatures of the night become, in their cursed states, inhumanly strong, and in such instances one must be particularly careful of engaging them in close quarters, for even the greatest strongman would be at a disadvantage.

However, not all of these encounters need be solved by violence. Many ghosts

She pauses, pen slowly dripping ink onto the half-filled page before her, and sees Erasmus out of the corner of her eye. She turns her head to face him, and for once in their long and unusual life-and-afterlife-spanning acquaintance, she finds she can't quite read him.

Many ghosts are held in their in-between existence due to unfinished business. Tethered to some regret or incomplete task from their mortal lives, they seek resolution and closure. Many hauntings can thus be resolved by investigation, and what I must term a primarily sympathetic approach. Of course, one must also always be wary and on the lookout for deliberately misguiding spectres who seek to play upon one's pity.

The first signs of dawn creep into the room by the time she has moved on from ghosts to wraiths to trying to sort out her notes about creatures that lurk underwater - old notes that have been, to her chagrin, very appropriately and unsalvageably waterlogged.

Ezmerelda manages to light another candle just before her current one sputters out, and rubs at her tired eyes. Then she pauses, gazing idly at the ink stains on her fingers.

She reaches over for a new page, setting her current work aside. There is something else she wants and needs to write, something other than dry facts or hopefully helpful guidelines. The first few sentences come in fits and starts, but soon enough she finds them flowing out of her pen almost of their own accord.

What I would like to make clear is that this is not an inherently bad place. The lands themselves can be beautiful - wondrous, even. Worth living in, and worth fighting for. And the people who live in them do not deserve to live in fear. I, and many others, could simply leave for some better, tamer prospects, yes - but then what? Nothing is gained if we merely surrender an entire world, a collection of lands so fantastically varied and so full of promise, to a cruel, merciless, hungry night. It can't all be abandoned as collateral damage in a great punishment intended for a horrible few. I can't, and won't, allow this to happen.

Maybe the foes are overwhelming, and the fight endless. But a life saved is a life saved. A victory is a victory. One innocent snatched away from a grim fate, one tendril of darkness beaten back - that is enough. But only if we persist at it, day after day after day. And evil may be impossible to ever completely destroy, but it is far weaker and less widespread than it could and doubtlessly wants to be, in at least some small part thanks to our continued efforts.

A dour prospect? Perhaps, for some. Ezmerelda smirks to herself, and gazes down at her veritable manifesto, and thinks back to that cell in Il Aluk.

What better life is there to lead? None, for her.

I, for one, don't intend to give up anytime soon. I hope that in you, dear reader, I can find one of like mind. And perhaps one day we shall find ourselves standing together.

She lights another candle, and continues.

1.6. Conclusions and remarks on future work

She clenches her hands as she steps into the sitting room that morning, decisions made after a long, sleepless night of contemplation. As if fate is conspiring against her, the first thing she sees is Erasmus, hovering over his father's shoulder. He turns to face her as soon as he notices her, a bright smile he saves just for her on his pale, ghostly face. She knows what a struggle it is for him to manifest this way, how much it takes out of him. The thought of his precious few minutes today being this...

It takes immense effort to speak up, interrupting van Richten's apparent focus on the post strewn about the table in front of him.

"I think... I think it's time for me to go."

"Go? Where?" He blinks, looking up from his papers.

Ezmerelda swallows, but hesitates only for a moment. "I don't know," she answers, chin tilted up, almost proud. "But I know we can't go on like this. I don't want to go on like this."

They butt heads and scrape against each other constantly. Chafe and grate and, and, and. She can't remember the last time they agreed on even the most cursory thing. It has reached a level where she fears his presence will become intolerable, and anything binding the two of them together become irreparably soured and tainted.

She refuses to allow this to happen.

Erasmus has drawn a coin. Two sides. He indulges in a small, semi-teasing pantomime, pointing at the two of them as his shimmering, ectoplasmic drawings hover briefly before vanishing like so much smoke, and Ezmerelda shakes her head sadly.

"I don't want to come to resent you, that is all. I don't think I could bear it if I did."

"If you think it for the best, by all means," van Richten says simply, and leaves it at that. He never turns to fully look at her. There is an undercurrent to his voice Ezmerelda can't quite place - something deeply tired, and far more complicated than plain sadness.

It rains heavily that morning as she sets off, as if the world itself wants her to rethink this. The muddy road squelches almost threateningly under her horse's hooves as she leads him forward.

Van Richten doesn't come out to see her off.

"I'll miss you," she breathes to herself, and half-hopes it somehow reaches both of the companions she is leaving behind. But she has only the rain and her horse's steady trot on the trail for company.

It is quiet.

---

Finally, the familiar mists of Darkon, and the countryside of Rivalis, lie before them. The inevitable, at a familiar estate fallen into quite a state of disrepair.

'No, leave it be,' van Richten said, at her hesitantly presented idea of including returning Richten House to at least some of its former glory on their list of unfinished business and loose ends.

Still, this is where he wanted to come. At the end.

Ezmerelda never saw it in its prime. She was a mere child then, kept well away from her family's machinations. Until she was (inevitably, irrevocably) drawn in, her fate forever entangled with that of the van Richten family. But even now, in all its disrepair, rich traces of what the gardens, the orchard, and the house itself used to be permeate the atmosphere, like ghosts themselves.

She walks across the hills of the grounds, all the way around the mansion to the family cemetery. She slows as she moves up to the two most recent graves, so easy to find, and thinks, briefly, of the body van Richten insisted on being burned before they left Barovia, just in case.

Just in case, she agreed, knowing all he knew about what foul magic and foul intentions could do to physical remains in the wrong hands, and built him a pyre.

The headstones before her are simple but elegant, as is the tidily engraved lettering on them.

Ingrid van Richten

Erasmus van Richten

'Well, here we are.' For a disembodied voice softly projecting into her mind, almost as through a mild haze or over some great distance, it is one of the heaviest things Ezmerelda has ever heard.

'A few words, if I may,' van Richten's request comes, gentle, and she nods, finding herself oddly wordless.

'I am so proud of you,' he begins, and the ferocity of it almost startles her. 'I hope you know this, always. If I have ever made you doubt this, as I pushed you away - I am sorry. I regret many things in my life, as one does, no matter what I like to say - but most of all I regret that I didn't tell you this sooner.

You are the best of my life. But more than that, you have grown far beyond me, into a finer person than most could dream of being. And I am sorry I wasn't there for you, that you had to do so much of it on your own. But know that when I see you... I couldn't be happier, or more in awe.'

There is a very brief pause, and then the voice softens again.

'I love you as my own, and am deeply honoured you would consider me, and that I get to consider you, family.'

Ezmerelda swallows once, twice, struggles, then finally lets her tears fall freely.

'Look at you. You don't need me anymore. And I can only hope your legend will far surpass anything I have ever done - there is so much ahead of you! Your light stands so very bright against the darkness. But I am glad, so very glad - selfishly, perhaps - that we were there together, at the end.'

"So am I," she manages a whisper. "Love you too, old man."

'Now I suppose it is time for me to go.'

Erasmus looks at her, bittersweet pouring from him in waves, and he gives a small nod. His form flickers, and then disappears, and Ezmerelda knows she will never see him again.

She knows how the ring works, too. The soul within it can choose to depart whenever it wants to. She knows she doesn't need to do anything - that she couldn't, even if she wanted to. It brings with it a strange sort of peace.

Ezmerelda inclines her head. "I hope you see them soon." Tell Erasmus I'll miss him, she wishes she could say.

She spins the now-inert ring around on her finger, a habit she will need to break. She wants to tear it off, and throw it as far away from herself as she can. She wants to never take it off as long as she lives.

A soft rain starts up, and Ezmerelda feels oddly grateful for the feel of it on her face, even as she knows there is no one here but her.

It is quiet.

---

With gratitude to the notes and tutelage of the esteemed Dr. Rudolph van Richten, whose guidance and wealth of knowledge have proved invaluable on countless occasions, and whose friendship changed the course of my life more than once.

#ezmerelda d'avenir #rudolph van richten #curse of strahd #dnd #dungeons and dragons #fanfiction #my fic #oathkeeper writes things #erasmus van richten #ravenloft #gonna take my horse to the old svalich road #tabletop

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sugako · 3 years

Text

tendou x f!reader

req: 1-800-bedtime w/ tendou (11&25)

cw: 18+ minors dni, nsfw, fluffy, wax play, mirror sex, unprotected sex, semi-body worship/lots of compliments, pet name used (love), very soft, established relationship

a/n: ummm this is much longer than intended whoops, but i loved this idea i can’t even begin to describe just....ty anon for the req ily

you had just been messing around when you stuck the tip of your finger into the wax of a freshly blown-out candle. the little, apathetic “ow” you let you made tendou look up from across the table to see what you were doing. when he cocked an eyebrow you stuck up your finger that was capped with the hardening wax.

“it was hot.” you said lamely, already getting up to peel it away and toss it in the trash. he pursed his lips while he held back a grin and stood.

“it really is. i’m going to grab a couple things down the street, i’ll be right back.” he said quickly, already throwing on a jacket.

“wait, i can come with you. just let me, uhh...” you glanced down at your more than casual appearance - stained t-shirt that was two sizes too big, sleep shorts that were just a little too short, cushy slippers, and damp hair. “do you mind if i stay home?”

“it shatters my very fragile heart, but no, not at all, love. do you need anything?” he came back around the table to press a quick kiss to your forehead, more than thankful that he didn’t have to ask you to wait here.

“can you get that bread i like and, uh, maybe an iced coffee for tomorrow morning?” you struggled through your mental checklist of groceries that were running low, but couldn’t come up with many.

“of course.” he kissed you again and made his way out the door.

when he got back, you who were too busy tidying up the apartment before bed, didn’t even notice the extra bag definitely not from the shop around the corner. you padded into the kitchen to help him unpack, only to be stopped by one of his hands wrapping around the top of your arm.

“go to bed, i’ll meet you there with a little surprise, okay?” the way his whisper reverberated around your ear sent a shock down your spine. shivering as you pulled away, you nodded quickly and pressed a fast kiss to his cheek before you headed to the bedroom.

it was almost embarrassing how easily he could rile you up with just some simple words and the brush of his fingers, but you really didn’t mind. a bit awkwardly you sat on the bed, knees pulled up to your chest, trying to distract yourself with your phone to no avail.

his gentle knock as he opened the door jolted you out of your own head. your eyes drew over his perfect form, already changed into a big sweatshirt and boxers. it was more than obvious that he was hiding something, blatantly holding his arms behind his back.

“can we try something?” he purred, striding to the bed and kneeling on the mattress with one knee.

you jaw twitched in tense anticipation. “what?” you squeaked out.

his relaxed smile grew as he presented three deep red candles that matched his buzzed head and pretty eyes. your breath hitched as you realized, and then a small laugh bubbled out of your chest.

“because i touched the wax earlier?” you giggled, pulling him on top of yourself and peppering him with little pecks.

“maybe,” he grinned into your embrace, returning your kisses, “thought it might be fun.”

“okay, but don’t set our apartment on fire. or me.” you sigh as he sits back up, kneeling over you.

“no promises, love.” he hums, letting the candles drop into the dip of mattress by your bodies as he ghosts his hands under your shirt until you get the hint and pull it off. his fingers graze up your stomach and around your breasts, taking all of you in. “you’re so beautiful.”

you roll your eyes, “sator-”

“stop.” he says firmly, tucking his face against your neck and trailing hot, wet, open-mouth kisses down your front. “you’re perfect, want you to see how perfect you are.” he mumbles against your heaving chest.

you’re silent, knowing you can’t argue. his fingers hook into the band of your shorts as his mouth travels farther down your torso, moving to your hips when he pulls your shorts down and off your ankles. fully exposed, you shiver under his touch as he comes back up to sweetly kiss you fully on the lips.

hands tangle around the back of his head, brushing through the softness of his short hair, while the kiss deepens. as if forcing himself, he pulls away with a little huff and pout that relaxes into a smile when he sees you all out of breath and quivering beneath him.

with weak hands you tug at the hem of his sweatshirt. “not fair,” you sigh out. he can’t deny you, immediately tugging the top over his head. greedily, your eyes drink in the sight of him, pale and slim and perfectly toned.

he tosses two of the candles onto the bedside table, keeping a tight grip over the last one, and rattles through the drawer for a lighter.

“ready?” he asks as he lights it, the tiny flame flickering for a moment before it steadies.

“uh-huh, yeah,” you manage out.

“tell me if it’s too hot, okay? these are special ones for using on your body, but i want you to let me know if you don’t like anything.”

you sight is transfixed on the way the wax begins to melt, drips perilously teetering over your skin. “i will, safeword is mendiant.” you offer up before he gets the chance to ask you.

“good,” he hums, tipping the candle so the drips land squarely against your sternum.

the way you twitch and whine under him as the hot wax dribbles down your middle goes straight to his cock, and he has to shift the way he’s sitting to stop himself from getting too distracted.

“feel good?” he whispers out, all hoarse and uneven, eyes transfixed to the peaks of your breasts. all you can do is whimper out a gasp and nod enthusiastically. the wax is hot, but not too much, and the way it drips down your skin, the little patterns he’s creating along your stomach and chest, just make you want more.

you want him - now. but you also don’t want to stop, relishing in the way he’s pressing into the top of thigh while he, obviously, holds back. thighs, clamped together by his knees that straddle you, fidget under him trying to get a lick of friction, which is nearly impossible with all the slick between your legs.

“so pretty like this,” he breathes out, “i want you to see how pretty you are.”

he blows out the candle, setting it atop the other two on the nightstand, and gets off of you to shuck his boxers off then pull you into his lap facing the large wall mirror over the sliding door of the closet. the room is very dim, barely illuminated by the setting sun that peeks through the wispy curtains, so it’s impossible to see yourself clearly, but you can see enough.

tendou pulls you close, so your back is flush to his bare chest, and easily pries your legs open. his cock sat comfortably between your legs, twitching under the hotness of your cunt. this wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last, he had you to watch yourself, admiring the reflection as you got fucked dumb on his cock. the first few times you weren’t sure - it was unfamiliar, intimate, and more personal - but you soon learned to enjoy it just as enthusiastically as he did, especially when he was showering you with soothing compliments the entire time.

“so wet from a little wax, love?” he settles his chin against your shoulder.

“mhmm...” you sigh, grinding against him. “satori, i want you.”

his grin relaxes as he silently heeds your words, lifting you off his lap enough to slip his cock between your folds. once he’s lined up he holds your hips and an iron grip, helping you down his length. you whimper and whine the entire long moment, determined to easily take him.

he watches as your eyes screw shut, spread pussy struggling to be stuffed so full. at last when he bottoms out his hand comes under your chin to lightly force you to look up. you open your eyes immediately, finally looking at the sight before you.

his cock is nestled neatly between your legs, the slight angle he’s sitting at making you able to see exactly where the two of you are connected. slowly, your eyes move up, admiring the messy drips of wax that still cling to your skin although they’ve hardened. with the blissed expression your sporting, you can understand why he looks so determined in the mirror.

“so pretty,” he coos, running his hands up and down you, pressing a kiss against your shoulder. “ready?”

“please, want you to fuck me.” you nod frantically, digging your fingers into the comforter to support yourself.

his hands don’t leave your sides, settling back to grope your hips again. his knees spread between yours, forcing your legs a little wide, so he can squarely plant his feet before he starts to fuck up into you.

the squelch of your bodies hitting sends your mind into another orbit and your eyes would have rolled back in your head had they not been fixed to where your cunt was creaming around him. the slick coated his thighs with every bounce, making a bigger and bigger mess as the minutes passed.

in this moment, everything felt perfect and good. all of your stresses and anxieties gone - filled by thoughts of love and care and the feeling of being stuffed full and fucked well. you held onto the moment, burning it into your brain, never wanting it to end.

#s.500 #tendou x reader #satori tendou x reader #tendou smut #satori tendou smut #tendo x reader #satori tendo x reader #hq smut #hq imagine #hq fluff

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ppangjae · 4 years

Text

BEST INTEREST | Jaehyun

SUMMARY. Be careful what you wish for. It may be your dream come true or your biggest nightmare.

GENRE. fluff | angst | time travel!au | ex friends to lover!au (this one’s going to hurt) | inspired by the movie 13 going 30

WORD COUNT. 11k+ words (yes, idk what’s wrong with me either)

author’s note. this is unedited so if there are any mistakes, i am sorry! also i highly suggest listening to pluto projector by rex orange county while reading this monster of a fic! it gets you in the mood. happy reading~

I feel at home when I’m around you

Jaehyun has many wishes, with most of those wishes he wants to come true. He wishes to be like the cool kids, specifically the guy everyone wants to idolize and admire. He wishes to be popular, to be a social magnet that attracts all the friends he can possibly have. And boy, does he really want those wishes to come true when he sneaks a longing glance at his long-time crush, Mina, dancing on the dance floor in her beautiful homecoming dress. If only she just looked his way and noticed him—

“Close your mouth or you’ll start to catch flies.” His mouth is physically clamped shut with your two hands. He sends you a death glare but it falls unnoticed when you pop a couple of barbeque-flavoured chips into your mouth. When you sense his glare, you look back at him and raise up your hands in defense. “I’m just trying to help. But don’t you think you’re being a bit too obvious about your crush on Mina?”

Jaehyun tears his gaze away from you to look back at Mina. She looks pretty tonight, but she’s always looked beautiful to Jaehyun no matter what day it was. It’s pretty safe to say that Jaehyun’s whipped for her, for she is the reason why he always has a goofy, lovesick smile spread across his lips. You follow Jaehyun’s line of sight and it lands on Mina. Are you surprised? No, not the slightest bit.

Just like how Jaehyun has his wishes, you have your own wishes too. You wish you were as beautiful as Mina. You wish you had perfect 20/20 vision like Mina. You wish you were fit and athletic like Mina. You wish you had a great sense of style like Mina. You wish you had a charm and aura like Mina. But there’s one important wish that you want to come true; you wish Jaehyun at least noticed you or had some sort of mutual feelings for you… just like those same feelings he has for Mina.

But you’re just his best friend. You’re just someone who’s been by his side for almost his entire existence.

“Your birthday is in three minutes, Jaehyun!” You exclaim, looking down at your wrist watch. You scrunch up your nose to adjust your glasses on your nose bridge. Just as you’re about to pop another chip into your mouth, you accidentally knock over your glass of Fanta, spilling some of it on your homecoming dress. You let out a string of curses, grabbing a napkin to dab the small stain.

Jaehyun smiles at you as you clean up the stain. You’ve always been clumsy. He looks down at his watch and indeed, his birthday is in three minutes. It was a huge coincidence for homecoming to be scheduled the night before Jaehyun’s birthday; Valentine’s Day. In fact, on the days leading up to homecoming, Jaehyun’s been planning on confessing his feelings to Mina.

“It is,” he chuckles softly.

“What are you planning on doing to kick off your eighteenth birthday? We can definitely grab some drinks on the way home, or you can come over and have a Marvel marathon with me—”

Your words are drowned out as he finds himself stealing another glance at Mina. She’s laughing with her friends. It’s almost as if she’s sensed his stare because she’s looking around the ballroom until her eyes meet his. He feels his heart skip a beat.

“I’m going to confess to Mina.” He cuts you off.

With eyes wide like saucers, you can barely stop him because he’s already making his way towards her. Mina seems to take notice that he’s approaching her. She looks at him confusedly. You’re watching it all go down from your seat. With every step he takes towards her, your heart continues to shatter into more pieces. The closer he gets to her, the more you realize that you’re just a friend. A best friend. That’s all you’ll ever be.

“Mina?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Yes, Jaehyun?

“I need to tell you something.” He says nervously.

Her friends leave her alone with him. She straightens her posture and gestures for him to continue. He gulps nervously. He just can’t seem to stop imagining how perfect his life would be if Mina returned his feelings. He’s prepared for this moment for days on end and there’s no way that Mina would reject him. Right?

She gives him a warm smile. “What is it that you wanted to tell me?”

He sucks in a deep breath. Here it goes.

“I really like you, Mina.”

She blinks.

Once.

Twice.

And then she starts to laugh.

Is she laughing? Why is she laughing?

“So, do you like me back—”

“Babe, do you want me to go grab your sweater from the car?”

Eunwoo wraps his arm around Mina. Jaehyun stares at Eunwoo’s arm, his stare trailing back to Mina. Mina’s looking at him with an expression he can’t seem to read. She pats Eunwoo’s arm and turns towards him. “Sure. In fact, I think it’s time to get going. I’ll meet you at the front, alright, babe?”

He watches Eunwoo peck her cheek. “Alright, I’ll be parked at the front.”

As Eunwoo leaves the two of them again, Jaehyun’s eyebrows knit together and Mina stifles a giggle.

“Jaehyun, I’m so sorry. I don’t see you that way. I see you as a brother.” She places a hand on his shoulder and gives it a tight squeeze. “I’m dating Eunwoo. We’ve been dating for five months now, did you not know? Besides, I thought you and Y/N were a thing! You guys seem to match each other better.”

He scoffs. You and him? Is it possible to disappear into thin air? Is it possible to turn back time?

From your seat, you can see Jaehyun frustratingly run his fingers through his hair. Mina is giving him a sad smile and leaves him alone on the dance floor. Your face scrunches up and settles into a look of horror. Did Eunwoo just kiss Mina’s cheek? Since when were they dating? You did not expect things to turn out this way. You didn’t expect Jaehyun to be turned down like this, right in front of his two eyes. If you were to ever get rejected by your crush, you would dread getting turned down like this.

Humiliated. Embarrassed. Heartbroken. Anger. Jealousy. Jaehyun was going through many emotions at once. As he’s left all alone on the dance floor, his feet lead him out to the parking lot. You watch Jaehyun storm out and it prompts you to run after him. You’re holding the ends of your dress up as you struggle to catch up to your best friend. Soon enough, you’re kicking off your heels and chasing after him on your bare feet.

“Jaehyun! Wait!”

When Jaehyun reaches his car, he halts to a stop. You almost bump into him. He turns around to face you. He has a frown etched on his face. “What do you want?”

“Jaehyun—”

“She doesn’t like me.” Jaehyun cuts you off. “She’s dating Eunwoo. But do you want to know what else she said to me?”

“W-What? Jaehyun, I—” You look up at him confusedly.

“She said that she thought you and I were dating.” He lets out a breathy laugh. “Us? Dating? Why would we be dating?”

“Jaehyun—”

“Mina would’ve ended up liking me back if she didn’t think we were dating.” He sighs with anger. “I think we spend too much time together that people are starting to think that we’re dating. But we’re not!”

“So, you’re telling me that two best friends can’t spend a lot of time together?” You ask. “Why do I feel like you’re blaming me? Like I’m the reason why Mina rejected you—”

“Maybe because you are the reason!” He yells.

You scoff. “Who are you? Are you the Jaehyun I grew up with? Ever since you started crushing on Mina, you’ve slowly changed yourself into someone I don’t know anymore.”

“Maybe you really don’t know who I am anymore.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Jaehyun.” You feel your eyes water. “Mina rejecting you is probably the wake up call I needed. Best friends? We’re not best friends anymore. And to think that I—you know what? I’m not even going to bother.”

“Y/N—” He starts as he begins to regret lashing out on you.

“Oh, before I forget,” you mutter, opening your bag to pull out Jaehyun’s birthday present. It comes along with a party popper. You shove his birthday present, which is a handmade photo album filled with all of the pictures you both took throughout your friendship. To top it all off, you pop the party popper, the confetti shoots up into the air. “Happy Birthday, Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun looks at you with defeat as you storm to your car. You’re hopping into the car and igniting the engine. There are hot tears streaming down your cheeks. Jaehyun rushes to your side of the car and knocks on the window. “Y/N, open up! I didn’t mean what I said! I’m sorry!”

You ignore him, backing out of your parking spot. For good measure, you flip him off and drive off, leaving him all alone in the parking lot.

Jaehyun watches your car get smaller and smaller as it travels farther and farther.

What a horrible way to kick off his birthday. What a horrible way to kick off Valentine’s Day. Not only did he get rejected by his crush, but he just lost his best friend. A piece of confetti that was stuck in his hair falls down and catches his eye. He stares at it as it slowly falls down to the concrete ground.

His eyes flutter shut.

Jaehyun wishes to be everything Mina looks for in a guy. Jaehyun wishes to be the guy Mina ends up dating. He wishes to look better than Eunwoo. He wishes to be more successful than Eunwoo. Jaehyun wishes to be on the front cover of every magazine, to be dripped in luxury clothing, and to be swimming in riches. He wishes for Mina to regret rejecting him.

He wishes all of this to happen when he turns 28. In fact, he wishes to be 28 right now.

But be careful what you wish for.

“Mr. Jeong, you can open your eyes now.”

His eyebrows knit in confusion. He peeps one eye open. A bright vanity light blinds him momentarily until he decides to open his other eye. He’s staring at his reflection in the mirror before meeting eyes with an unfamiliar woman. He lets out a surprised yelp, causing the woman to jump. He analyzes her for a couple of seconds. Is she a makeup artist? What is he doing in front of a vanity mirror? Why is he getting his makeup done? Wait, why does he look like that? Why does he look like he’s aged—

“Jeong Jaehyun, we’re starting the photoshoot for the B-cuts in fifteen minutes!”

Photoshoot?

B-cuts?

Mr. Jeong?

He looks up at what seems like his makeup artist. He gestures to her to lean in closer. She looks at him questioningly until she leans in closer. He whispers, “How did I get here?”

She snorts. She looks at him as if he’s gone crazy. “Don’t worry, Mr. Jeong, I know your sudden rise to fame is still something hard to believe. But Mr. Jeong, it’s been eight years since you entered the industry and yet, you still don’t know how you got here?”

Eight years?

Fame?

He’s famous? Since when?

“I’m—I’m famous?!” Jaehyun blurts out.

His makeup artist slowly nods her head. “Yes, Mr. Jeong. God, I think you’ve lost it.”

He finds himself looking back at his reflection. He’s surely aged. But he aged like fine wine. He’s getting his makeup done for a photoshoot. He’s been working in the modelling industry for eight years. He’s famous. He must be rich or something, but that’s something that he has to find out later. He’s not even sure how old he is right now.

What is going on?

His thoughts are interrupted when his phone buzzes in his pocket.

jungwoo (10:32 am): i found a good place for dinner tonight! i’ll text you the address. can’t wait to see you! don’t miss me too much.

jungwoo (10:33 am): or you could miss me. i know i’m pretty irresistible.

It takes Jaehyun a couple of hours to get used to the new world he’s living in. He’s not sure how he got here. Heck, he’s not even sure why he’s here in the first place. All he could remember is standing all alone in the parking lot in nothing but his homecoming suit, heartbroken after getting rejected by Mina, and fucking up his friendship with you.

He’s learned a couple of things so far. He’s been working in the modelling industry for eight years. It’s been eight years. He’s currently 28, which means that he entered the industry at the young age of 20. According to his manager, Doyoung, he’s an in-demand model. He was part of the line up for New York Fashion Week, Dior’s Spring Collection, and even Gucci’s Fall Collection. He’s rich. It took him a couple of minutes to process the eight golden figures on his online banking account. He’s successful. This is the life he envisioned to live.

“Mr. Jeong, we’ve arrived at the destination.”

Jaehyun tears his gaze from his phone. His personal driver is looking at him through the rearview mirror. Jaehyun looks out the window to see an unfamiliar restaurant. It’s a famous barbeque restaurant, according to his best friend slash foodie, Jungwoo.

“Thank you, sir. I’ll text you when I’m ready to be picked up.” Jaehyun bows his head.

As he’s stepping out of the car, a scoff threatens to escape his personal driver’s lips. When Jaehyun closes the door, his personal driver huffs out a breath.

“Since when did he learn how to say thank you? He never says thank you.”

Jaehyun’s about to step inside of the restaurant until he hears his name being called out. He looks to his right to see Jungwoo waving him over. Him and Jungwoo go way back. Jaehyun remembers meeting Jungwoo in high school, specifically in eleventh grade chemistry class. If Jaehyun wasn’t with you, he would definitely be with Jungwoo.

“Jungwoo!” Jaehyun exclaims, fist-bumping him.

“Did you miss me?” Jungwoo teases.

“Maybe a little.” He shrugs his shoulders. “No big deal.”

“You came right on time. I reserved a private room for the both of us.” Jungwoo throws an arm over his shoulder before leaning in to whisper in his ear. “We wouldn’t want those crazy fans to be interrupting our dinner, now would we?”

Jaehyun nods his head. He almost forgot how famous he was. But he was immediately reminded of his fame when he looked up to see his face plastered on one of the billboards. Jungwoo nudges him and hands him a face mask and a pair of sunglasses to cover him up.

“Thanks. I almost forgot.”

Jungwoo smirks. “Almost forgot how famous you are?”

The restaurant is filled with teenagers and couples. The sunglasses and face mask is doing him justice for the moment they step into the restaurant, his cover isn’t blown. The waitress brings them to their reserved private room and the moment Jaehyun takes off his disguise, the waitress lets out a soft gasp. Jaehyun glances at the waitress and sends her a wink. Her eyebrows raise and she bows her head.

“Don’t worry, I told them that we’ll be eating here.” Jungwoo reassures him. “But I don’t think the owners told their employees. Nothing to worry, I’ll make sure everything’s under control—”

“Jungwoo,” Jaehyun stops him. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Jungwoo furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “Are you sure? I don’t want Doyoung coming for my ass after your entire face is all over the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper.”

“Don’t worry.” Jaehyun reassures him. He gestures to the food. “Shall we start eating?”

As they’re digging in, Jungwoo can’t help but look at Jaehyun. Jaehyun is busy shoving food into his mouth, chewing with his mouth closed and his dimples forming with every chew. Jaehyun seems to sense Jungwoo’s stare and looks up to meet his gaze. “What?”

Jungwoo shakes his head and chuckles. “Nothing. It just looks like you haven’t eaten all day.”

“Because I haven’t,” Jaehyun laughs. “I’ve been busy with a photoshoot all day. I wasn’t able to eat lunch. Hey, don’t you think the pork cutlets remind you of Y/N’s? I swear her pork cutlets are so much better—”

“Y/N?” Jungwoo quirks an eyebrow at the mention of your name.

“Yeah, Y/N.” Jaehyun swallows his food and grabs an empty glass. “Hey, we should probably go visit her after dinner and have a couple of drinks.”

Jungwoo’s pouring water into Jaehyun’s glass. He looks at him with a funny expression. Is Jaehyun listening to himself right now? Is he in his right mind?

“I don’t think you would want to do that, Jaehyun.” Jungwoo shakes his head.

Jaehyun frowns. “What do you mean? We always go over to Y/N’s place to have a couple of drinks. It’s either that or the usual Marvel marathons—”

“Jaehyun, did you hit your head this morning?” Jungwoo chuckles. “It’s like you have short term memory loss or something.”

“I’m honestly so confused,” Jaehyun scratches his head. “We always go to Y/N’s place for drinks and movie marathons. Is there something I don’t know—”

“Jaehyun, you stopped talking to Y/N after senior homecoming.”

Jaehyun can’t seem to comprehend the words spewing out of Jungwoo’s mouth. “W-What?”

“You and Y/N had a horrible fight on the night of senior year homecoming and ever since then, the both of you haven’t forgiven each other.” Jungwoo looks at him confusedly. “This is old news, Jaehyun. Are you sure you’re not going through memory loss?”

“Y/N and I…” Jaehyun trails off. “We stopped talking after homecoming?”

Jungwoo nods his head. “The both of you broke off your friendship after that night. Y/N hated you and I wouldn’t be surprised if she still does. You guys ended your friendship pretty badly.”

“Y/N hates me?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“And I hate her?”

“Well, yeah. It’s a shame because the both of you got along so perfectly and all it took was your stupid girlfriend to ruin such a perfect friendship—”

“I have a girlfriend?” Jaehyun’s eyes widen. “Since when?”

Jungwoo snorts. “Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten about your ten-year relationship with Mina. You and Mina have been dating since senior year homecoming.”

“Mina and I are dating…” Jaehyun trails off. “It just seems too good to be true.”

Jungwoo smiles. “Yeah, you’re pretty whipped for your spoiled brat of a girlfriend. By the way, speaking of Y/N, she’s the reason why I wanted to have dinner with you.”

“Y/N? What about her?” Jaehyun grabs his glass of water to take a sip.

Jungwoo watches him drink some water. “Y/N’s getting married in a month and I figured—”

Jaehyun spits the water out of his mouth. He bursts out into a coughing fit after choking on some of his water. Jungwoo wipes a couple of water droplets that landed on his face and winces. “Y/N’s getting married?!”

“I probably should’ve waited for you to finish drinking your water—”

“In a month?!”

Jungwoo nods his head. “Yes, which is why I figured it would be best for you to attend her wedding to settle your twelve-year fight and reunite as the best friends you used to be.”

Jaehyun coughs one last time. “Tell me that one more time. I don’t believe you.”

“Y/N’s getting married.”

Jaehyun nods. “Okay—”

“And she’s getting married in a month.”

“Well, shit—”

Jungwoo smirks. “And you wouldn’t guess who she’s getting married to.”

“To who?”

“To—”

“Flowers for you.”

A perfectly arranged bouquet of pink and white carnations is gently placed on your desk. You can feel your cheeks heat up. As you set down your pen, you reach for the bouquet of flowers to give it a quick sniff. Your receptionist slash partner in crime, Wendy, smiles and leaves your office to give you some privacy.

You’re reading the note attached to the bouquet. The handwriting is somewhat messy, causing you to let out a giggle. However, the message written on the note makes your heart do cartwheels. You grab your phone to make a quick phone call.

“I’m guessing you got the flowers?”

He can hear you smile through the phone. You hum in reply, sniffing the flowers one last time. “Yes, I did. Look at you, getting more romantic by the day.”

“Well, you are the love of my life.” He teases you and it’s enough for you to melt. “I passed by the flower shop on my way to work this morning and decided to start your day off with a nice bouquet of carnations. Do you like them?”

“I love them.” You gush out. “Thank you for this, love. You really didn’t have to—”

“I wanted to.” He reassures you. “Anything to put that beautiful smile on your face.”

“Stop being greasy.” You groan.

He laughs. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop. I have to get going! We have a meeting in a couple of minutes.”

“Alright. I’ll let you go.” You smile. “Work hard, love! I’ll cook up a great hearty dinner for us tonight.”

“Sounds delicious. I’ll see you tonight, love.” He mumbles. “I love you! Twenty-four hours a day! Seven days a week!”

“I love you too.” You giggle. “See you later, future husband.”

As you hang up your phone, you’re heading towards your closet to pull out an empty vase for the flowers. You’re pouring in some water from the washroom sink. You hear the door to your office open. You poke one head out the door.

“Y/N, there’s someone who wants to see you.” Wendy says with an uneasy look on her face. It kind of throws you off.

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “I don’t remember having any appointments or meetings scheduled for today.”

“I know,” she purses her lips into a tight line. “But he really needs to speak with you.”

“He?” You say confusedly. “Alright. Just give me a couple of minutes and you can let him in.”

You set the vase down on your table. A wide smile is etched across your lips. It’s such a wide smile that your cheeks are starting to hurt. As you let out a happy sigh, you gather all of your hair to tie it up into a lazy ponytail. Grabbing your glasses, you put them on before getting back to work.

The door swings open. “Excuse me, sir, you can’t just—”

You look up, alarmed by the commotion. Wendy looks at you in panic as she tries to stop a man from entering your office. But she’s not the one you’re looking at. You’re looking at—

“Jaehyun?”

Jaehyun feels the air being knocked out of his lungs. You look back at him with the same surprised expression. He can feel his face soften at the sight of you. A couple of seconds pass by with just the two of you surprised by each other’s presence.

You’ve changed, appearance-wise. He notices how you’ve successfully nailed your sense of style. You’ve grown out your hair. Your face has matured but you still have those chubby cheeks he once adored. He still does. You’re foreign. But at the same time, you’re familiar.

“H-Hey, I—”

You’re pointing out the door. “Get out of my office.”

“What?”

“I said,” you raise an eyebrow, “get out of my office.”

“But I literally just got here—”

You’re pulling out an hourglass sand timer from the drawer of your desk and slamming it down onto the surface. Jaehyun flinches at the loud slam, gulping nervously. “One minute—”

“One minute for what?” He panics.

“You have one minute to explain why you’re here.” You fold your arms. “Time is ticking.”

“Okay, wait, this is overwhelming—”

“Fifty-five, fifty-four, fifty-three—”

“Okay! Fine!” He exclaims. “I want to work with you.”

Your expression hardens. What kind of tricks is he pulling off? Is this some sort of sabotage to your photography business? What is he trying to do? You glance at Wendy, who looks back at you with the same gaze.

“You want to work with me?” You ask.

He nods his head. “Yes. I want to work with you—”

“Why?”

“Because—Because—”

“You don’t seem like you have a reason.” You shrug your shoulders. “Why would I work with you if you can’t come up with a believable and convincing reason—”

“I want to give you more leverage in the photography industry.” Jaehyun explains. “And why not take up an offer from me, a model that’s in demand in the industry?”

You fall silent. Your eyes trail down to the timer. All of the sand has shifted to the other end of the hourglass. Time is up. Jaehyun follows your gaze that’s focused on the timer. You fold your arms.

“I’m rejecting your offer.”

He looks at you incredulously. “What?! Why?!”

“Because if I accepted your offer, it would seem as if I’m in for the money.” You shake your head. “I’m not in it for the money. You may be the richest model in the entire world right now and sure, you can definitely help me out. But I don’t need it.”

“Turn the timer around again.” He commands.

You look up at him. “What?”

“I said, turn the timer around again.”

“And why would I do that?”

He scoffs. “Because I have many more reasons as to why you should take up my offer. There’s something inside of me that tells me there’s a deeper reason as to why you’re rejecting my offer.”

“Deeper reason? Trust me, Jaehyun, it’s not that deep—”

“You’re rejecting my offer because of what we used to be.” Jaehyun walks closer to your desk. When he reaches your desk, he grabs the hourglass and resets the timer. The both of you meet eyes. “Best friends. That’s what we used to be. Is that why you don’t want to work with me? Are you still mad at me? Even after all these years?”

You stare at him with somewhat teary eyes. You shake your head even though your mind knows that he’s telling the truth. You like to think that Jaehyun can’t see your eyes that are slowly welling up with tears. But Jaehyun can see it. He can see it clearly.

“No. Whatever we used to be doesn’t matter right now. In fact, there must be a deeper reason as to why you’re suddenly reaching out to me after ten years.” You bite back. “Why? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“Jungwoo told me that you’re getting married.”

You scoff. “That little motherfucker—”

“And I figured that it would be nice to help you out with your wedding.” He adds. “Ten years is a long time, Y/N. I’m pretty sure that’s enough time for the both of us to mature and grow up and get over whatever broke our friendship.”

You shake your head. “I don’t need your help with my wedding, thank you very much—”

“Just let me help.” He pleads.

“Why? Is it because you feel guilty?” You ask. “Do I look like a charity case to you? Does it look like I don’t have enough to plan my own wedding?”

“No, you don’t look like a charity case to me. I’m sure you have more than enough to plan your own wedding.” He explains. “But yes, I feel guilty. I feel guilty for ruining our precious friendship and the only way I can fix it is if you would accept my extra help, even if you don’t need it.”

The both of you look down at the hourglass. Time’s up. You can see Jaehyun reach out to grab the hourglass but you snatch it away just in time. Your grip on the hourglass tightens.

“I’m sure there’s a catch.” You mutter. “There must be a catch.”

He raises his hands up in defense. “There’s no catch. Just you, working with me. That’s all. Besides, I’ve been looking at your work and it’s amazing. You deserve more attention.”

You stare into his eyes to look for any malice. But your hardened gaze softens when you realize that you’re looking into the same warm eyes you looked at twelve years ago. You look away from him.

“Fine.” You whisper. “But the moment I find it suspicious, I won’t hesitate on kicking you out of my life again.”

His face lights up.

“You won’t regret this, Y/N. I’ll make sure of it.”

Click. Click. Click.

The studio is filled with stylists and makeup artists rushing all over the place for one model. One. You’re extremely overwhelmed by the busy environment even though it’s an environment you’ve been accustomed to since you started working as a photographer. Standing in front of the camera, you spot Jaehyun. He’s getting his clothes fixed by his stylist. You hate to admit it, but Jaehyun looks gorgeous when he’s dressed up in luxury clothing. It’s almost as if luxury clothing was made for him to wear. He’s surely an IT boy, even though he’s a grown man. There’s a reason why he’s adored and glorified in the industry and you can see it just by his charm and presence.

Your heartbeat almost stops when Jaehyun’s eyes meet yours. A smile begins to spread his lips as he starts making his way towards you. You’re nervously fiddling with your fingers as he gets closer to you.

“I see that you made it,” he greets you.

You scoff. “It’s not like I had a choice, did I?”

His smile is wiped off his face. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

Your eyes scan the studio until they stop on the photographer standing behind the camera— “Is that—oh fuck no, you did not just—is that who I think it is?”

“Yes. That is Johnny Suh, in the flesh.”

It is Johnny Suh in the flesh. He’s scanning through the pictures he’s taken of Jaehyun. You’ve always wanted to meet Johnny. In fact, you’ve followed and adored his work since the beginning of his photography career. When he started to earn more recognition for his work, you couldn’t help but feel happy for him. But now that he’s within a ten metre radius from you, you suddenly don’t know how to act.

“Let me introduce you to him—”

“What?” Your head jerks in Jaehyun’s direction. “Why? Why would—”

“You’ll be working with him.” Jaehyun cuts you off and your mouth falls open. “Don’t tell me you forgot—”

“I don’t remember you telling me that—”

“Y/N, it’s so nice to finally meet you!”

Finally? You turn to see Johnny approaching the both of you. Your hands start to sweat out of nervousness. As Johnny finally stands in front of you, there are a couple of things you’ve noticed. One, he’s incredibly tall. Two, he’s not the slightest bit intimidating. Three, he looks like the sweetest person on Earth. You nervously fiddle with your fingers, a bad habit you can’t seem to break.

“My best buddy Jaehyun here showed me your work,” Johnny begins, “but jokes on him because I’ve been following your Instagram feed for a year now!”

“You’re joking,” you blurt out. “A year now? I would’ve noticed that immediately—”

“Well, I don’t think that matters now because we’ll be working together for Jaehyun’s photoshoot.” Johnny interrupts you in the nicest way possible. You’re in the midst of scrolling through your followers list to find Johnny’s account until Jaehyun places his hand on yours. “Shall we get started, Y/N?”

You and Jaehyun look at each other. A smile begins to spread across Jaehyun’s lips when he sees your eyes light up and sparkle. Are those stars in your eyes—

“First off, it’s such an honour to be working with you.” You gush out and Johnny flushes a deep red. “And yes, we shall get started.”

“Let’s make some memories!”

And you do make memories.

“So, Jaehyun’s been telling me about your wedding coming up in a month.”

You’re in the midst of shoving a spoonful of rice into your mouth when Johnny brings up your wedding. The immediate switch-up in conversation makes you squint your eyes at Jaehyun, who sits right across from you. You place your spoon back down onto your plate, slowly nodding your head. All that is heard is the sizzle of beef on the grill.

“Yes, I’m getting married in a month.” You smile.

Jaehyun can’t help but notice how bright your smile is. He wonders who you’re getting married to. He wants to know who you’ll be spending the rest of your life with. It makes him happy seeing you happy. But surprisingly, there’s a small chunk of him that’s not. And he’s not sure why.

“How does that feel?” Johnny asks. His eyes slightly widen. “That is, if you’re comfortable talking about your engagement and marriage—”

“Oh, it’s no problem!” You exclaim, reassuring him. Your smile never seems to leave your face. You look like a teenage girl getting giddy over her first crush. “I’m getting married to my boyfriend whom I’ve been in a relationship with for almost nine years.”

“Nine—” Johnny almost chokes on his food. “Nine years?!”

You chuckle. “It’s a long time, huh?”

Jaehyun’s eyebrows knit together. Nine years. You and Jaehyun haven’t spoken to each other for ten years. Your friendship ended ten years ago. That means, Jaehyun must’ve known your fiance—

“I’ve always wished to get married to my high school sweetheart,” Johnny sighs happily. “But it’s nice to see you living my dream. You deserve it.”

You nod your head. “It’s something I’m proud of.”

Johnny nudges Jaehyun. “Hey, aren’t you dating your high school sweetheart too? Mina—”

Jaehyun stares at you. You’re too busy grilling the beef to even notice his burning gaze. He expected to meet eyes with you. Mina is the reason why your friendship with him was destroyed. But why are you acting completely unfazed by the mention of Mina, the woman he’s currently in a relationship with and the woman who tore you two apart?

“Yeah,” Jaehyun mumbles, looking away from you. “Her name’s Mina. We both met in high school. We’re still going strong.”

Johnny grins. “Are you planning on proposing?”

Jaehyun purses his lips into a tight line. Thoughts cloud his mind.

He’s always wanted to be with Mina. He’s had the biggest crush on her. It’s a dream come true knowing that Mina is his long-time girlfriend. However, he doesn’t have memories of his ten-year relationship with Mina. He doesn’t remember going out on dates with her. He’s been brought to the future where he has to draw connections and figure ten year’s worth of memories out on his own.

But why is it that his wishes that have come true, have turned out to be completely different to what he expected it to be? Sure, he’s dating Mina, but he hasn’t heard from her yet. Sure, he’s living the luxurious life, but it’s not as exciting as he thought it would be. Why is he so affected by the news of your wedding? He feels betrayed. He feels like he should’ve been a better friend. He feels guilty.

He shrugs off his thoughts.

“Soon.”

The night is still young and Johnny is the first one to bid farewell. As you’re both waving Johnny goodbye in front of the Korean restaurant, Jaehyun spots an ice cream parlour across the street. As soon as Johnny’s car is no longer in sight, you’re digging in your purse for your car keys—

“Want to grab ice cream?” Your movements halt to a stop.

You look up at Jaehyun. “Don’t you think it’s getting a bit late—”

“It’s never too late for ice cream.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Besides, you love ice cream.”

You bite your lip. “I used to love ice cream. I don’t like ice cream anymore. The last time I had ice cream was eight years ago? Seven years ago?”

Jaehyun frowns. “Let me at least treat you to ice cream. You never know, it might revive the love you once had for ice cream.”

“But—” You begin to protest until Jaehyun pouts. You let out a sigh. “Fine.”

The both of you cross the street to get to the ice cream parlour. You’re surprised that the ice cream parlour is still open so late at night. In front of you, there’s a menu filled with several flavours to choose from. Your eyes scan the menu until they stop at a familiar flavour.

“They have pistachio!” You and Jaehyun both say in unison.

You clear your throat. “I should probably try something new.”

Surprisingly, Jaehyun’s heart is beating so fast. He’s not sure why.

The both of you sit out on the small patio with your ice cream cones. To your dismay, you both got the same flavour, pistachio. Jaehyun watches you as you taste your ice cream. Your eyebrows raise.

“God, who would’ve thought I’d miss this?” You think aloud.

Jaehyun smiles. “Do you regret grabbing ice cream with me now?”

You shake your head in reply. “You know, pistachio wasn’t really my favourite flavour.”

He quirks an eyebrow. “Really? Then what was your favourite flavour?”

“Cookies and cream.” You mumble. “The only reason why pistachio became my favourite flavour was because you introduced it to me. Our classmates always made fun of you for it, calling you an old man for having horrible taste in ice cream, and it made you extremely upset. I forced myself to like the flavour just to make you feel better, so that you would be comfortable having pistachio ice cream with me.”

“Really?” He says softly.

You slowly nod your head. “Really.”

It grows silent. You’re both busy finishing your ice cream cones. Jaehyun can’t help but admire what you’ve done for him back in the day. On the other hand, you feel like you just made things more awkward than it already was.

Jaehyun looks up at the night sky. “Why do you think what happened to us, happened?”

You shrug your shoulders. “I’m not sure, Jaehyun.”

“Do you think things would have turned out differently if we were a bit more—”

You chuckle. “A bit more mature and not some two emotional teenagers going through puberty?”

He laughs. “Yeah.”

“Maybe,” you say after much thought. “Maybe we would’ve been friends still.”

“Are we not friends anymore?” He questions, with eyes filled with hope.

Jaehyun feels his heart crack when you shake your head. You’re giving him a sad smile, something he dreads seeing on your face. He wishes he could erase that image from his mind.

“We both changed in different ways that we don’t know each other like we used to.” You explain, avoiding eye contact. “I’m not the same Y/N you were best friends with ten years ago, Jaehyun. I’m sure it’s the same for you too.”

Ouch.

“But do you think we still have another chance at being best friends again? Maybe not as best friends, but as friends?”

Your smile brightens when your eyes cheer up. “We might, that is, if you’re willing to give it a shot.”

He mirrors your smile. “I can definitely give it another shot, but only if you are going to do it too.”

“I don’t see why not.”

Turns out Mina is just as famous as he is.

Him and Mina are often called the power couple. With the both of them being successful models living lavish lives, their relationship has become the goal of every other couple. They wish to be like them.

“Where were you, babe?”

Sitting in front of the large LED TV, Mina flips through the channels with the remote control. She’s not sparing a single glance at him. He’s kicking off his shoes and making his way to the couch to join her. As he’s sitting next to her on the couch, he leans in to peck her cheek. She flashes him a small smile.

“I had a photoshoot with Johnny and Y/N today.” He answers.

Mina finally settles on a Spiderman movie. She tosses the remote control to the side and glances at him.

“Y/N?” She questions. “Since when did you reconnect with Y/N?”

Jaehyun scratches the back of his neck. Right. Transparency. It’s what you need in a relationship. But why didn’t he even think about telling his girlfriend? It was like it slipped out of his mind.

“I got in touch with her because Jungwoo told me that she’s getting married in a couple of weeks.” He explains, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I decided it would be best to clear the bad blood between us, so I asked if she wanted to work with me.”

Mina bites her lip. “She’s getting married?”

He nods his head. “In three weeks. We’re invited, by the way.”

Mina looks into his eyes and holds his hand that’s caressing her cheek. She leans closer to the warmth of his hand and sighs. “When do you think we’ll get married?”

His smile falters. She seems to take notice and a look of disappointment appears on her face. She lets go of his hand and shifts her gaze to the TV screen.

“Do you want to get married?” He asks.

She scoffs. “I mean, we’ve been dating for ten years.”

“Do you see yourself spending the rest of your life with me?” He whispers.

She lets out a tiring sigh. She grabs the remote control and turns off the TV. Her night is officially ruined and Jaehyun’s the exact reason why. “Here we go again with the same conversation. I’m tired of going in circles, Jaehyun.”

“Circles?”

She looks at him with broken eyes. “All of my friends are getting married. Whenever they ask me about when we’ll be tying the knot, I can’t even give them an answer because—because I don’t know! My parents are wondering when we’ll be getting married and I can’t even tell them when we’ll be getting married.”

“Mina—”

“Do you not see yourself spending the rest of your life with me?” She asks and it comes out barely above a whisper. “Jaehyun, it’s been ten years. I think ten years is more than enough to start settling down together.”

“I—”

She laughs and points at him. “Don’t even try to use your career as an excuse. That excuse is overused. Try thinking of another one, maybe I’ll believe it this time.”

“Mina, babe, I’d love to marry you, but—”

“But?” She chuckles bitterly. “But what? What’s holding you back? There’s nothing holding me back, Jaehyun. I can see that there’s something stopping you. Hell, it’s not even something. It might be someone.”

Jaehyun’s mouth clamps shut. He’s not sure what to say to her. His silence makes her wince and let out a low laugh of disbelief. She huffs out a breath and grabs her phone.

“I’ll be spending the night at Suhyun’s. If you need me, just give me a call or something.”

His girlfriend leaves him in the comfort of his silence. But his silence is far from comforting. It’s a haunting silence. There’s something stopping Jaehyun from proposing to Mina. There’s something stopping him from settling down with his girlfriend of ten years.

But the thought of that something being someone is a thought that terrifies him.

It’s much more terrifying when that someone could be you.

When Jaehyun gives you your first paycheck for your first photoshoot with him, you decide to invest it in the wedding bouquets. Coincidentally, your day off matched with Jaehyun’s day off, thus, resulting in him accompanying you to the flower shop. Unfortunately, your fiance has a huge project meeting and isn’t able to join you.

As you step into the flower shop, you’re greeted by a quirky florist. She’s wearing a vibrant pink apron that matches her more muted yellow headband. You’re scanning the flower shop, your eyes settling for the carnations and peonies, even the baby’s breath and roses.

“What can I do to help the lovely couple?” The florist asks as she approaches you.

You and Jaehyun glance at each other. You’re taken aback. You shake your head. “Sorry, we’re not—we’re not dating. He’s just a friend of mine.”

The florist gasps. “Oh! I’m so sorry!”

You wave it off. “No worries. I was just wondering whether you could help me out with last-minute wedding bouquets for my wedding?”

“When’s your wedding?”

“In three weeks.” You reply. “September twenty-seventh.”

“We can definitely look around and see what you like.” The florist insists. “We can then make a decision once you’ve picked your favourites.”

You smile. “Sounds great.”

Jaehyun can’t help but think about how beautiful your smile is. You must love your fiance so much that it makes you extremely happy. Somehow, he wishes he could make you smile like that. It makes his heart ache in ways he didn’t even know it would.

“I’ve always wanted to have peony bouquets.” You mention it to the florist.

She nods her head vigorously. “We could definitely work with peonies! In case we need fillers, I was wondering if you would be open to have baby’s breath to fill in the gaps of the bouquet.”

“I think that would look lovely.” You chuckle.

“What colour would you want the peonies to be?”

You scan the variety of colours. “Well, my bridesmaids will be wearing dusty blue dresses.”

The florist hums. “I think white peonies would be the right choice. It’ll compliment the dusty blue, along with your wedding dress.”

You nod in agreement. “I think so too.”

“I’ll start picking out some flowers to arrange them into bouquets for you to choose from.” The florist insists. “I hope you don’t mind.”

You smile. “I don’t mind at all. Work your magic!”

The florist comes up with three different bouquets to choose from. You and Jaehyun are analyzing them carefully. You can’t help but look at the bouquet on the far left. It’s a bouquet filled with white peonies along with some hints of baby’s breath. The bouquet is wrapped with a dusty blue ribbon, complimenting the dusty blue colour scheme you have for your bridesmaids.

“I really like this one,” you point to it.

“I think so too.” The florist giggles. “I can’t help but imagine how lucky your fiance is, ma’am. You’re glowing! You look so in love.”

You feel your cheeks heat up. “Do I really?”

She nods. “You do! I’m sure your friend here can see it too.”

Jaehyun’s eyebrows raise as the attention is suddenly shifted towards him. You look up at him as if you’re waiting for him to agree. He’s looking back at you, particularly into your eyes that are sparkling with stars and galaxies.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun mumbles. “I can see it.”

Your smile widens at Jaehyun’s approval. You reach out for the bouquet that you’ve chosen to look closely at the details. Jaehyun still has his eyes on you.

The florist notices Jaehyun’s intense gaze pointed at you and it creates an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. It’s almost as if she’s looking at a best friend who’s so deeply in love with the other, but is caught at a crossroads; to either tell you that he’s in love with you or to let you get married to someone else.

Two weeks left until your wedding.

You find yourself back at the bridal shop to do last-minute tailoring on your wedding dress. While your mother couldn’t accompany you to the final fitting, she was persistent on not allowing your fiance to see you in your dress. She believed in such superstitions. It was quite funny.

You think Jaehyun truly wants to get back to being best friends with you again. He’s been doing nothing but help. He helped you when you didn’t ask for it. And here he is, joining you with the final fitting.

You’re standing in front of the mirror, looking at your reflection. The tailor is busy zipping up your dress at the back. The dress fits like a glove, but of course, there are some last-minute changes such as making sure the sequins are placed securely on the bodice of the dress. Once you feel the dress is zipped up, the tailor walks around you in a circle to analyze the dress.

“I think we can adjust the front a bit more.” The tailor suggests and you nod in agreement.

Your wedding dress is an off-shoulder dress. It has see-through sleeves, decorating your arms with subtle flowers and lace. The dress is long enough that it hits the floor. It feels lightweight and effortless.

“Alright. I think we’re good with the dress. Are there any other changes you want to make?” The tailor asks as she pops in the last pin.

You shake your head. “I think it’s perfect.”

The tailor smiles. “Shall we show you in your dress to your friend? Maybe he can give in a second opinion. Second opinions are great.”

You nod. “I don’t see why not.”

Jaehyun’s looking at all the dresses in the shop. He’s trying to imagine Mina in each wedding dress that he likes. His argument with Mina never seems to leave his head. Can he imagine seeing Mina walking down the aisle? Does he see himself starting a family with Mina? The doubt alone is enough to make him feel unsettled. A ten year relationship is a relationship headed towards marriage. But why does he feel hesitant? Why does he feel like he’s being held back?

“Mr. Jeong,” the tailor snaps him out of his thoughts. He looks up. “Y/N wants your opinion on the dress. Do you mind checking with her?”

He nods his head. “Sure.”

The tailor opens the curtains of the fitting room and Jaehyun feels the air being knocked out of his lungs. You haven’t looked at him yet because you’re trying to turn around to face him without tripping over your dress. When you’re finally facing him, you look up at him and his mouth slowly parts open in shock.

You look beautiful.

You look—

“What do you think, Jaehyun?” You ask.

He’s blinking once, twice, until he blurts out. “I think you look perfect.”

You feel your cheeks heat up. “Really?”

“Really.” He laughs breathlessly. “You look beautiful, Y/N.”

You giggle. “Thanks. I guess we don’t need to make any more changes to the dress.”

Jaehyun feels dizzy. You look so beautiful that it hurts. Surprisingly, his troubled thoughts over his relationship with Mina fade away in an instant. You had an effect on him. You surely do.

“Thank you for the ride, Jaehyun.”

Your house is nothing compared to his. It’s not even a house. It’s an apartment. Jaehyun looks out the window and points at the building. “This is where you live?”

You nod. “My fiance and I share an apartment together. But we’re in the process of moving out. After our wedding, we’ll be moving into a small, cozy house.”

“That’s crazy.” He says. “I can’t believe we’re getting old.”

You laugh. “It is crazy. Anyways, I should head inside before my fiance scolds me for letting the food get cold.”

“You probably should do that,” Jaehyun mumbles. “We wouldn’t want an angry fiance, now would we?”

The both of you share a laugh together. You’re both saying goodbyes and as you’re hopping out of the car, Jaehyun sees a figure standing at the lobby of the apartment building. Jaehyun rolls down the window of his car when you gently tap on it.

“Before you leave, I wanted to ask if you wanted to join us for dinner.” You ask. “I could even introduce you to my fiance, even though you already know him. I guess it’ll sort of be like a mini reunion.”

Jaehyun knows him? He knows your fiance? How? Why? Jaehyun could see the figure walk closer to the both of you.

He shakes his head. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to bother—”

You frown. “Are you sure—”

“Is that Jeong Jaehyun?”

You look over your shoulder to see your fiance. Jaehyun swears he feels his heart sink. It’s a familiar voice. It’s a familiar face. His smile vanishes from his face. Everything is slowly turning into a nightmare and he wishes he could wake up.

“Cha Eunwoo?”

The dinner table is covered with a variety of side dishes, the main course, and a nice bottle of red wine. The three of you gather around the table, with you and Eunwoo sitting next to each other and Jaehyun sitting right across from you. Jaehyun can’t help but look at Eunwoo.

Eunwoo surely matured. He’s gained more muscle in his arms. He’s still the same good-looking man.

“I knew I was seeing things right.” Eunwoo chuckles. “Jeong Jaehyun, long time no see.”

You giggle. “Shall we toast to that?”

It’s almost like Jaehyun forgot how to laugh. He fakes a laugh and Eunwoo’s standing up to pop the wine bottle open. He’s pouring each of you a glass of wine. “Let’s toast to this mini reunion!”

“Cheers to that.” You grin as the three of you clink glasses.

Jaehyun’s still in a state of disbelief. The man you’re getting married to is the man his girlfriend used to be in a relationship with. If Eunwoo was the man that Jaehyun dreaded and hated with his whole chest, how much more hatred could he have for him after finding out that he’s the man you’ll be marrying?

But that’s not what Jaehyun’s bothered by.

Jaehyun’s bothered by the fact that he feels much more affected and heartbroken knowing that Eunwoo’s getting married to you, and not the fact that Eunwoo and Mina somehow didn’t end up together.

Eunwoo and Mina dating in high school and being the reason why she rejected him was heartbreaking but tolerable.

But Eunwoo being your fiance? But Eunwoo getting married to you? It’s so much more compared to Eunwoo and Mina.

Why is it bothering him so much? Why does your engagement ring bother him much more after knowing that Eunwoo has the same exact one?

“You didn’t tell me that Y/N was getting married to Eunwoo. Cha Eunwoo.”

Jungwoo snorts. The both of them are grilling beef in the same private room in the same restaurant where Jaehyun found out about your wedding. But this time around, Jaehyun knows much more. He knows that him and Mina are going through a rough patch in their relationship because of marriage. He knows that you’re getting married to Eunwoo, the man he used to hate because he dated Mina back in high school.

He also knows that you’re getting married in a couple of days.

“I told you, Jaehyun.” Jungwoo reminds him. “You were just too shit-faced drunk when I told you. That’s probably why you forgot.”

“You told me?” Jaehyun runs his fingers through his hair.

“And what about it?” Jungwoo pours himself a shot glass of soju before downing it in one go. “Well, from the looks of it, I’m sure you’re pissed—”

“I am. Is it obvious?”

“To me.” Jungwoo shrugs his shoulders. “But probably not to Y/N or Eunwoo.”

“I don’t know why I feel this way,” Jaehyun sighs. “I shouldn’t be feeling this way. I should be happy that Y/N’s getting married to him. She deserves him. I just—and Mina and I are having a rough time right now. She hasn’t come back to the house in a week. She’s been staying at Suhyun’s and—”

“You know,” Jungwoo begins. “Mina always told me that something’s holding you back from settling down with her. I used to think she was joking because I knew that eventually, you would settle down with her. But from what’s happening now, I’m not sure what to believe anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it really does look like something’s holding you back.” Jungwoo mumbles. “Or should I say, someone.”

“Stop making jokes.” Jaehyun downs a shot of soju. “Nothing’s holding me back—”

“Ever since you reunited with Y/N, she’s all you’ve been talking about. You’ve been spending most of your time with her recently, instead of your girlfriend. Your girlfriend is slowly starting to think someone is stopping you from marrying her.” Jungwoo explains all of the valid reasons. “The cherry on top is finding out that Cha Eunwoo is the one Y/N will be marrying.”

“If you’re trying to tell me that I’m in love with Y/N, I’m not—”

“I didn’t say anything about you being in love with Y/N,” Jungwoo cuts him off. “But since you think I’m trying to tell you that, it tells me that you’re conflicted. You’re conflicted with your feelings.”

“I’m not—”

“You are.” Jungwoo folds his arms. “It’s all crystal clear to me now. The reason why you can’t get married to Mina is because there’s someone holding you back. You’re not even aware of it yourself.”

“And you think that someone is—”

“Y/N?” Jungwoo finishes it off for him. “Yes. One hundred percent. Y/N is that person. You can’t accept the fact that she’s getting married to the man who once stole Mina from you. You can’t accept the fact that not only did the same man date your girlfriend, but is also getting married to your best friend.”

“God, you didn’t have to be so upfront about it.”

“Did I really have a choice?” Jungwoo smirks.

“No, not really—”

Jungwoo sighs. “Well, have you realized it yet?”

“Realized what?”

“That you’re in love with Y/N.” Jungwoo answers.

“I’m not in love with Y/N—”

“You are.” Jungwoo presses. “If you weren’t in love with Y/N, you wouldn’t be having dinner with me tonight. You wouldn’t be following Y/N around like a lost puppy. And you would most definitely be getting married to Mina.”

Jaehyun places his face into his hands.

“God, I am in love with Y/N.”

“So, what are you going to do about it now?” Jungwoo chuckles lightheartedly. He cracks a joke. “Are you going to crash her wedding?”

“You are not crashing her wedding.”

“I am.”

“You’re not, and I’ll make sure of it!”

Jaehyun and Jungwoo continue with their endless back-and-forth bicker as they head to the wedding venue. Your wedding is going to start in two hours but Jaehyun was insistent on getting to the venue earlier in hopes of stopping your wedding just in time. Jungwoo, however, has different plans. Jungwoo wants this wedding to happen because you deserve happiness, not a huge mess of a man named Jeong Jaehyun who—

“We’re here. Unbuckle your seatbelts, the show’s about to start.”

Jungwoo’s terrified.

“Let’s get it, boys.”

“I think I’d rather hide behind a huge flower pot instead, thank you very much.” Jungwoo mumbles as Jaehyun locks his car with his keys.

Jaehyun’s sure of one thing, he’s in love with you. You’re the reason why he’s feeling this way. You’re the reason why he can’t settle down with his girlfriend. You’re the reason why he’s been smiling a lot more lately. You’re the reason why he can’t seem to imagine seeing anyone else walking down the aisle but you.

And man, is he selfish.

“Where’s the bride?” He asks one of the wedding planners.

The wedding planner raises an eyebrow. “And you are?”

“Jeong Jaehyun,” he says softly. “I’m a best friend of Y/N. I want to give her my blessings and wishes, personally.”

“She’s in that room.”

Jaehyun follows the direction of her finger. The door to the room is shut. He sucks in a breath and exhales deeply. Here goes nothing. He knocks on the door and it takes a couple of seconds for the door to open. A woman, who you assume to be one of your friends, opens the door and pokes her head out.

“Hi, can I help you?” She questions.

“Can I have a word with Y/N?” Jaehyun asks.

“Is that Jaehyun?” He hears you ask from inside of the room. “If it is, let him in!”

The woman steps aside for Jaehyun to enter the room. He sees you sitting on one of the chairs in your wedding dress. He finds himself looking at you in awe. It’s like he’s seeing you in your dress for the first time. Your hair is styled up into a low-bun with some strands of your hair framing your face. You’ve ditched the glasses and replaced them with contact lenses. He always thought your eyes looked beautiful, and they truly are.

“Hey, you.” You smile.

He feels himself grow shy. “Hey. Uh, can I talk to you?”

You look at him questioningly. “Sure.”

“Alone?”

You feel uneasy. You glance at your friend, Joy. She nods her head and silently excuses herself out of the room, closing the door behind her. Once you’re both left alone in the room, you clear your throat. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

“I—I just thought that it was best to get this off my chest—”

“Get what off your chest?” You ask. “Jaehyun, you’re making me nervous—”

“I’m in love with you.”

Jaehyun feels a huge weight being lifted off of his shoulders.

You gulp nervously. “What—What did you just say?”

“I know this is all so sudden and we literally just got back to being friends but this has been bothering me for the longest time. I couldn’t think straight and then I found out that you’re getting married to Eunwoo—”

“And so, you’re just going to turn up to my wedding and tell me that you’re in love with me?” You scoff. “Why are you telling me this now? Of all days, why my wedding day?”

“I know it might seem like I’m selfish, but—”

“Because you are.” You cut him off. “Jaehyun, remember how I told you that we’ve both changed in ways that we don’t know each other like we used to.”

“But I’m still the same, Y/N. I’m still the same Jaehyun you knew.”

You let out a sigh. “I’ve always been in love with you, Jaehyun. You were someone special to me. But we can’t turn back time. We’ve changed. I’ve changed. I’ve moved on and so did you. I fell in love with Eunwoo and you fell in love with Mina—”

“You were in love with me?” He whispers.

His eyes are gradually filling up with tears. You purse your lips into a tight line. You can’t find the courage to look at him in the eye because you know it’ll make you feel some sort of way. It will bring back feelings you’ve forced yourself to stop feeling.

You nod. “I was.”

He lets out a soft chuckle, wiping away the tears that managed to slip down his cheeks. “Well fuck, now I can’t really stop you from getting married, huh?”

“You were just a little too late, Jaehyun.” You frown. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize.” He shakes his head. “You don’t need to apologize. You deserve to be happy. I think it was just the spur of the moment that’s making me this way.”

“I’m sorry, Jaehyun. I really am.”

“I just want you to be happy, alright? For me.” He smiles through the pain.

“Jaehyun…” You trail off.

“Don’t worry about me.” He reassures you, even though he looks like he’s not having the best time in his life. He glances down at his watch. “You should probably get ready. Your wedding’s about to start. I should probably get going.”

As Jaehyun’s about to leave you, you softly call out his name. He stops at the door with his hand wrapped around the doorknob. As he’s looking over his shoulder, his heart shatters.

“I just wanted to thank you for being there for me for the past month,” you beam. “I’m grateful that you reached out to me. You’re a true best friend.”

He smiles. “Thank you for giving our friendship a second chance.”

Jungwoo sees Jaehyun stepping out of the room. With the defeated look on Jaehyun’s face, Jungwoo knows things didn’t turn out the way he wanted it to be. “So, it didn’t work out?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think it did.” Jungwoo frowns. “Man, you took the biggest L. I even brought a party popper to celebrate if things did work out.”

Jaehyun stops in his tracks and Jungwoo almost bumps into him. He turns around and raises an eyebrow at his friend. “Really? A party popper?”

“I honestly thought things would turn out well. I thought you would get the biggest W. I was prepared. But it’s sort of sad that it didn’t.” Jungwoo sighs sadly. “What am I going to do with this party popper now? Pop it?”

Jungwoo’s pulling out the party popper from the inner pocket of his suit. Jaehyun can’t help but snort at his friend’s dorkiness. Jungwoo looks at him questioningly but Jaehyun shakes his head.

“How do I work this thing—”

“Maybe this is a sign that I should marry Mina—”

Pop! The both of the flinch at the sound. The confetti falls down in the air, with some of it landing on Jaehyun’s hair. He stares at one of the confetti that is slow to fall down, it’s almost like it’s floating in the air.

“This feels familiar.” He says softly.

“What feels familiar?”

Jaehyun ignores Jungwoo and closes his eyes.

He wishes things would go back to how they used to be. He wishes to be back in the parking lot of his senior year homecoming venue. He wishes to turn back time. He wishes to return to the night of senior year homecoming, where he was counting down the minutes left until his birthday.

Maybe things would turn out right this time.

“Jaehyun! Are you even listening to me?”

Jaehyun’s eyes flutter open at the sound of your voice. When his eyes open, the first thing he sees is you. You’re sitting right across from him. He huffs out a breath when he notices that you’re wearing glasses and your face has changed. You look much younger, almost like how you looked when you were in high school. Wait—

“Jaehyun.” You repeat yourself.

He blinks. “What?”

“Were you even listening to me?” You ask him again.

“S-Sorry, what were you saying?” He stutters.

You chuckle, shaking your head at how adorable your best friend is. Jaehyun looks down to see that you’re both sitting on a checkered picnic blanket. You’re both sitting underneath a tree, having a small picnic together. He furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

“Wait, before you repeat yourself.” Jaehyun begins. “What’s the date today?”

You give him a funny look. “Are you joking? It’s your birthday.”

“It is?”

“Yeah,” you chuckle. “Are you alright? Are you still hungover from all those after-homecoming party drinks we had?”

“Homecoming was last night?” He scratches the back of his head.

“Yes. Homecoming was last night and you were about to confess your feelings to Mina but you found out that Eunwoo’s her boyfriend. You got shit-faced drunk because you were heartbroken and—oh, that’s probably why you’re still hungover… you had a lot of drinks last night.” You explain.

He sighs with relief. “Oh, thank God. Thank God, Mina rejected me.”

“Are you listening to yourself right now? Do you have a fever? What’s wrong—”

Jaehyun grabs your cheeks and pulls you in for a kiss. You stiffen out of surprise and shock until you find yourself melting into the kiss when he pulls you closer. There are butterflies in the pit of your stomach. Jaehyun’s heart is thumping out of his chest and he’s more than sure that you can hear it.

When you both pull away, he shyly looks away from you.

“Did you just kiss me?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?” You whisper. “Is there something wrong with you? Are you sure you’re not sick or something?”

“Maybe I kissed you because I’m in love with you.”

He’s… in love with you? It was just last night that Jaehyun got his heart broken after finding out that Mina’s dating Eunwoo. It was just last night where you got your heart broken when Jaehyun told you about his plans on confessing to Mina. Since when did Jaehyun fall in love with—

“Me?” You blurt out. “You’re in love with me?”

“I feel shy—”

“Shut up, say it again.” You grab a couple of grapes from your lunch container to chuck at him. He covers his face too late. “You’re in love with me?”

“Yes. I am.”

You don’t need to tell Jaehyun that you’re in love with him. He knows. He knows by the way your smile slowly appears across your lips. He knows by the way you look at him.

You’ve always been in love with him.

That’s all that matters.

“Good, because I’m in love with you too.” You bite back a smile. “I’ve always been.”

“I know.”

“It’s not the time to be cocky, Jaehyun.”

author’s note. and now i will take my three-week break to study for midterms LMAO but don’t worry! i will still be active just to reply to messages and asks so i won’t be gone for long. i hope you liked this short fic! and thank you so much for reading!

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multifandomhellhole · 3 years

Text

WARNING: this has choking, nsfw themes, overstimulation, lack of protection, anal fingering, and dom reader

You were fucking the toymaker hard, you could feel his re- hardened length gliding against your walls forcing his previous messes to spurt out and coat both of your thighs and his cock, his eager pants and moans filled his workshop as he layed on his doll making table his back pressed against the wood but arched so that he formed a rainbow like curve , his head rolled back to expose his abused neck, the usual black and white makeup now blurred and faded as well as half covered by your hand. You weren't choking him hard but it was a firm hold keeping his head at that beautiful angle as you slammed yourself up and down on his length. You were keeping an erratic pattern alternating between slow ups and downs, vicious bounces, burying him to the hilt before rocking your hips back and forth, and just fluttering your walls around him. Each method earned different noises from his abused lips, some pleads, other choked out gasps or sharp hisses. It was funny to think that 4 rounds prior he had been growling at you to not tease, to go slow, barking at you to not be so direct,acting like a brat. he even glared at you for getting on top but once you lowerded yourself on his cock he immediately fixed his attitude. His glaring green eyes that judged you and averted yours were now glossy honey orbs rolling upwards. His barky snippy tone was now desperate, whiny and broken, his scowling lips now agape in an odd lopsided smile with saliva trickling from the corner of his mouth, his knotted eyebrows now in a confused position. His usual neat mahogany hair now disheveled and knotted. his once tense face now looking fully fucked out. You Especially loved how you destroyed his ego, to have him so shameless and so vulnerable to you. You admired what a mess of him you made. Pride fuelled your hips and made you clamp fiercely around his overstimulated cock quickly earning you his sudden yelps accompanied by another weak spurt of his cum in your flooded depths. You paused for a few minutes giving him enough time to come back to his senses (well more for his cock to twitch back to life).You were so Godamn proud of being able to fuck this man(5 times now), to bring out the true him, to satisfy his needs of love, as you rightfully should be. After all it took months to even become neutral enough with him to drink together in which you were able to get a backstory from him, you were somewhat shocked at his affection obsession and how he craved all the aspects of a significant other but seemed to lack the ability to say it, you even pitied how he lost friendship with Amelia. You learned his tricks and personality through your interactions and through his friends candypop and candycane. eventually you were able to manipulate your way closer to be deemed special enough to take about the only innocent aspect to him, his virginity. You could feel his length hardening again and smirked, truly impressed by his drive, after all now you were about to make it to you sixth round though you could tell this was his last round. You could tell he was trying to make this last one intense, for his hips tried to rock up into but instead just twitched sporadically and his shakey arms were barely propping him up on his elbows. His twitching legs also tried to find something to steady himself on but only found air. You let out a slight chuckle as Jason struggled to find footing and removed you hand from his throat to help his heeled boots find the corner of his table. He could barely keep his head upright and was letting out tiny wimpers of frustration. He tried to say "please" but the words didn't form, just his silent lips. You took pity on his clumsy movements and helpless state and glided your hand against his throat up into his hair so that you could brace the back of his head. With his new position he used what little strength he had in his legs to buck his hips up into your soaking heat. each time he thrust he let out tiny huffs and his face was screwed in concentration. You told him how good he behaved, how beautiful he was, how amazing he felt. he was

close, his cock was twitching like crazy. You knew you were close to. "Jason" you growled, "relax your ass". His eyes fluttered open to look you in the eyes, his eyes widened when your other free hand moved behind you so that you could press your fingers into him. You changed your bouncing to rocking you hips and Jason gasped at the sudden feeling of your fingers pressing through his tight ring of muscle. you smirked and began to tug his hair prompting him to moan. with that he managed to choke out "y/n". "Good boy" you said flatly, "y/n!" There was a little more strength in his voice but it cracked at the end. "So fucking beautiful" you purred. He continued you to let your name fall from his lips each time it broke or wavered and sometimes was interrupted by his pants or mewls. His crys became more frantic and you could tell he was at his end, his muscles clenched rhythmically around your fingers. you were vigorously bouncing on his throbbing length feeling the clutch of your stomach tighten. Jason's who body was shaking way more intensely and his arms were giving out. he was now sobbing and right before his orgasm you slammed yourself self down leaving no part of his cock out. You fingers sharply curved to push into his sweet spot which caused a whole body twitch and muscles clamping around your fingers as if trying to lock you in place.You both hit your peak and with loud cries you both tensed.barely any cum came from him and you were already dripping wet. Your after shocks came in pleasant pulses and with each pulse you heat contracted around his twitching cock. he didn't even speak as his aftershocks flowed through his body and the pleasure from his prostate dased him. Even through his daise he contracted around your fingers. Eventually your aftershocks subsided and his orgasmic bliss dulled his mind, he didn't even feel you slide off his length or withdraw your fingers. His eyes were half lidded and his mouth was agape. He was giddy beyond belief. His whole body was now trembling all over. He tried to slide of the table but his arms couldn't even lift him up. You yourself were having trouble standing and you felt like you were standing on lead. Jason soon realized that he was never going to get down on his own and he weakly called "y/n" his voice was broken and horse, you barely heard him after a few calls. You chuckled slowly making your way toward him. He had the most blissful smile and his face and truly radiated an afterglow. You eventually made it to him and pulled him into a hug. He burrowed his face into your nape. "You I l-love" he frowned at his own words and you chuckled, poor Jason seemed to have been fucked a bit to senseless. "I love you too Jason" you whispered and gently brushed away the stray tears of joy that fell from his beautiful eyes.

#jason the toymaker #Jason meyer #Creepypasta x reader #First time writing a fanfic and it's a whole fucking essay #Creepypasta #Dom reader #Smut

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suckerforsmylex · 3 years

Text

Beautiful Havoc

This one is for @eternalant who requested a joker x sassy!reader, however, this will have a part two which will also be for @joker1688, who wanted to see what happens when we turn the tables on J. Buen provecho, bitches. 💋

She was pushing her luck and she knew it. Raising a hairless eyebrow, he regarded her for a moment and then turned away, not wanting her to see his annoyance building. She was always worse when she noticed that she’d gotten under his skin, his sneer making her react the way a cat does when it bats at an insect. Only this was no insect. This was the Jester of Genocide, and she owed him her very existence.

He could break her with a word or destroy her with a single decision, and yet, she still insisted on yammering on about her own opinions on his strategy. She still had to have the last word. She still had to question him. She was selectively forgetful, having charmed her way to the Joker’s side by using the very mouth he wanted to smack at this very moment.

Her mouth turned up into a smug smirk, arms crossing over her chest. “You said you were going to show me anyway, J. You never did, so I took the liberty.” He stood there motionless for a moment and then pulled out his phone and started scrolling through it. There wasn’t a particular thing he was looking at, but he focused all of his attention on the device anyway. She was so frustrated that she walked towards him aggressively. “I was ready. We reviewed the lab protocol about a million times.” Still, no response from him, except to make a phone call and walk into his office.

Like clockwork, she stormed after him, taking his bait and becoming irritated at his complete disregard for her. Still, he ignored her, his next words directed into the phone which he held sideways and carelessly, the audio coming in on speaker just loud enough for her to hear. “Frost, I want all the equipment in the lab cleaned and disinfected immediately. I want all the high touch surfaces wiped down. I want the equipment corridors and spaces wiped down from top to bottom. I want the walls scrubbed. I want the packing materials from that box she brought in destroyed. In fact, go into the lab refrigerator and destroy the entire package. Toss the fridge too.”

With a flick of his thumb, he hung up and shoved his phone in a drawer, sitting back to focus on one of his many computer monitors. She stood there in the doorway with her arms still crossed and pouting and eventually making huffing sounds until he addressed her. His words rolled lazily off his tongue as he continued to look back and forth between monitors, jotting down his observations in manic scribbles on a pad before him.

“If you’re just going to stand there, make yourself useful and make Daddy a drink," he muttered without lifting his eyes to meet hers. She was furious, having stuck her neck out to get her hands on the bootleg Smylex that had suddenly started showing up on the street and getting into the hands of The Joker's rivals. Her lips formed a pout that stuck out further when she put her manicured hands on her hips.

“I went through hell to get that. Whoever is running your operations on the ground level is...” He was on his feet quickly, startling her and making her swallow the rest of her words. He had enough time, in the midst of her confusion, to push himself away from the desk, and lunge towards her, shoving her into the nearest wall and pinning her there with his left hand. His right hand came up to caress her face before jerking away, his pointer finger and thumb coming up to pinch her mouth closed with an annoyed snarl he could no longer contain.

He regarded her frustrated face, a wide grin on his own as he leaned into the chokehold. "A wise girl knows her limits, doesn't she?" She gurgled out an answer, but he was content to let her struggle until her face turned a lovely shade of red. Her own fingers came up, flailing around the already bruising flesh at her tender neck, and still she retorted, her eyes squinting at him like daggers.

He had to admit to himself that her overt disrespect intrigued him, his fingers maintaining pressure until the tears spilled from her eyes. He loosened his grip, just enough to allow a respite from the lack of oxygen before delivering her a smack that made her face sting instantly upon impact. That look of defiance was still there, her legs kicking against his shins, causing him to almost double over in pain. With a deep chuckle, he locked the space between his forefinger and thumb and pressed against her throat until she was struggling again.

Bright-red fingernails clawed at the expensive cotton of his dress shirt until he let up, her body convulsing into a cough she couldn’t suppress. He pushed his knee between her legs effortlessly, her legs trying to shut but too late to do anything but clamp him in place. His hand cupped her jaw, shifting her face from side to side, examining her before placing a kiss over the place where he’d smacked her.

“I didn’t pluck you from obscurity to hear your mouth.”

His hands moved over her body, making her gasp, her mouth opening wide enough to immediately push his fingers inside of it. It had been a while since he touched her and she acted accordingly, her heart racing instantaneously. Her body jumped to attention, nerves on fire with sweet desperation.

Still, he waited to see her eyes change, the hostility there melting away into craving. There wasn’t a single part of him that wanted to give her any relief. What made his cock twitch was getting her nice and docile and eager. He peered down at her, fingers still pressing against the flat of her tongue, slick with her saliva. Removing them, he examined them and then forced them into her mouth deeper.

A flit of rage bubbled up within her, converting itself into tears and her eyes stayed that way until his hand was at his zipper. She didn’t see his cock, but she could hear the slow sound the zipper made. She could feel the way he pulled it out, straining against his fly and then suddenly thick and pulsing against her stomach.

A series of high-pitched sounds came from her and then, there they were, those pleading eyes, asking to be fucked. He continued to plunge his lithe fingers into her mouth, palming himself throughout it until she was shaking and gagging and grabbing at his arm. That made him shove the fingers all the way down, the corners of her mouth frothy with spit until her mouth and jaw and J’s hand were covered in it.

She was delirious with need and seeing her this way made him lose it, his hands coming out of her mouth to smack her before his fingers laced into her hair and pushed her to her knees. Her mouth opened, head lunging for his pretty dick, which he kept away from her. He made a show of pulling his pelvis back just enough to keep the ruddy head away from her greedy mouth until her eyes turned up to his. He didn’t have to say anything. She knew what he expected.

“Please, Daddy…”

He laughed down into her eyes, tears spilling from them and making the tip of her nose red. He smacked his cock there first before filling her mouth with a relieved grunt. Gagging sounds filled the room, obscuring the sound of The Joker’s cell phone, buzzing with text messages and voicemails from Frost. All went unanswered while he continued to fuck her mouth, the nasty, wet sounds bringing him closer to climaxing down her throat.

Her hands came up to run along his thighs, eventually grabbing tightly as he ruthlessly fucked her mouth, rutting into her until he lost himself completely, drunk with his own power. The Joker was so lost in her soft submission that he didn’t hear the buzz of the walkie and his men screaming for him to arm himself until she had her fingers wrapped around his gun, a big grin on her face as she let his cock fall from her mouth, bobbing lewdly as it did. Her hands didn’t tremble as she steadily rose to her feet, smiling with a wicked glint in her eye.

“Don’t fucking move or you’ll have more than this mouth to worry about, J.”

#the joker #joker #leto joker #joker x sassy!reader #brat #sassy girl #clever girl #joker x bratty!reader #sassy #fingers in mouth #sloppy toppy #guns #beautiful #havoc #suckerforsmylex

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meltwonu · 4 years

Text

| 🎃 𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖍 🎃 |

↪ ✦ spells ✦

this chapter pairing; wizard!hoshi x reader

genre&warnings; wizard!hoshi, softdom!hoshi, oral(fem receiving), virgin!reader, fingering, good ‘ol lighthearted fucking😩, squirting.

notes; lets be real hoshi with magical abilities would be chaos kjdfhkdf🥴 also I know, I know, I wish I could hyperlink the previous chapters into each post but tumb1r rly seems to fuckin hate my account and hides my posts from tags for no reason as it is and RLY hates it when I start hyperlinking posts with the same links so I'll just try to keep my series masterlist updated from here on out!! you can also find my monster mash fics with the hashtag monstermash!svt on my blog!🎃💕 Thank you as always for your continued interest and see you tomorrow~! 👻

word count; ~2800

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x

boy you put your spell on me, there’s something about you;

‘cause even in the sleepless nights, i’m thinkin’ about you.

well i think it’s magic with you,

oh i think it’s magic.

yeah i think it’s magic with you.

You’ve known Soonyoung since the two of you were kids.

He played with you in the lavender fields and kept you company on rainy nights when the thunder scared you out of your wits.

Soonyoung lived in a cottage on the outskirts of the town now that the two of you were adults and he preferred to keep to himself; all things considered.

The townspeople weren’t really too fond of Soonyoung’s kind -- rumours of the magical beings causing havoc and destruction more prevalent than anything else.

And for that reason alone, you most often offered to help Soonyoung gather necessities from the town and in trade, he would let you hang around his cottage while he would work on restoring old spell books. He almost never actually cast any spells or showed you anything he could do with his magic, but you were patient and understanding of his uncommon situation.

And not only do you know Soonyoung, but you liked Soonyoung.

Even though he seemed quite oblivious to the fact.

You shake your head in thought, picking out a few more apples and adding them to your basket before you start the long walk towards Soonyoung’s cottage.

You soon see the smoke billowing from the chimney of Soonyoung cottage; jogging up the steps as you fish for the spare key he’d given you.

When you enter, the smell of cinnamon and old books welcomes you in like it’s your own and you immediately head for the kitchen to start setting aside the groceries you’d gotten. “Soonyoung!? Where are you?” You yell, giving it a second for him to respond. You’re met with silence, confusion written all over your features.

It was quite unlike Soonyoung to be missing when he knew you were coming.

You look around the kitchen, finding a warm kettle filled with tea. He must’ve just stepped out for a second.

Shaking your head, you reach for a cup on the countertop, fixing yourself a cup of tea as you wait for Soonyoung to come back from wherever he had gone. You take a sip, sighing in contentment at the warmness that floods your system.

You quickly down the rest of the cup, setting it back onto the counter as you make your way towards his bedroom in hopes of finding him.

“Soonyoung? Where are you?” An odd feeling washes over you the further you walk into his house, unable to find a single hint of where he could be. He was almost always in the living area or the kitchen when you came by.

You knock on his bedroom door as you call out his name again; still not getting a reply back even when you slowly pry the door open.

He’s nowhere to be found, so you take a seat on top of his bed, brows furrowed. Where on earth?

You decide to lay down for a second, removing your shoes and outer clothes before resting your head on the pillow.

Surely Soonyoung wouldn’t mind, seeing as he’s not even here.

Your eyelids feel heavier than usual; yawning loudly as you get comfortable.

When you wake up, you don’t know how much time has pass or if time has passed at all.

All you know is that it’s unbearably hot.

“Wh--what…” You mumble, sitting up as you wipe the sweat from your brow. A soft moan floats out of your mouth, body filled with a certain warmth you only knew when you were thinking about Soonyoung late at night.

“What is going on…”

You clench your jaw, hiking your dress further and further up until you can run your fingertips over your clothed cunt; finding yourself already soaking through the material as it sticks to you like a second skin. “What---”

A sharp door slam knocks you out of your confusion as you hurriedly push your dress down. You hear Soonyoung yelling your name a second later, biting your lip to keep in the noises that threaten to spill from your mouth.

What was going on!?

Soonyoung comes to view as he steps into the doorway; a crimson blush on his cheeks when he finds you in his bed.

“What did you do?” He whispers, barely loud enough for you to catch it.

“S--Soonyoung…” You whimper, unable to keep your voice straight as another gush of wetness pools in your panties. “I--s--something’s weird…”

“Did---did you drink… the tea in the k-kettle…” You nod shakily, tears pooling in your eyes. “I---was I not s-supposed to?”

Soonyoung exhales harshly as he steps into the bedroom, closing it behind him as he sits across from you on the bed. “How much did you drink of it?”

“A--a cup…?”

“A whole cup?”

“Y-yeah…”

Soonyoung grimaces, “That was… an aphrodisiac. I--I used my magic to make it stronger, I didn’t think---I didn’t think it’d work…”

Fuck.

You let out a small mewl, thighs rubbing together underneath your dress. “Why were you m-making that, S-Soonyoung?”

A blush coats his cheeks, suddenly embarrassed. Why exactly?

“No reason, I just---I got curious. I wasn’t… expecting you so early so I stepped out to get more herbs from Minghao’s garden. I was supposed to have it set away before you came.”

A tense silence falls over the two of you, neither of you making a move. Soonyoung clears his voice a few moments later, “I---I might be able to undo it with a spell but I’m not sure if it’ll work. I never tried it before and---and I don’t really know how to fix this, if I’m being honest.”

This time it’s your turn to blush, desperation clear on your features when you lock eyes with the said male.

“Can---can you h-help me… Soonyoung?”

He feels his cock throb in his pants, hands balling up into fists in his lap. “I--I can’t do that to you. You don’t even see me that way and I… I’ll go through the spell books, there has to be---”

“God, please! Soonyoung, I need you! Please, I-if it’s… If it means anything to you, I--I do like you…”

He clenches his jaw, taking in your blown out pupils and flushed cheeks. “You… like me?”

“I--yes… For a while now, actually.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” He asks, fingertips itching to strip himself of his clothes. “I guess I shouldn’t pry. I didn’t say anything either, did I sweetheart?”

Sweetheart.

Your heart pangs in your chest at the sudden pet name, thighs clamping together harder when his voice drops an octave. “Soonyoung, please…”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

This wasn’t necessarily Soonyoung’s ideal situation when it came to telling you his feelings.

He would’ve much preferred something romantic and not you accidentally downing one of his experiments.

“Ah, Soon---Soonyoung, more, m-more!” Your hips buck up, trying to get him to go faster. He slowly flicks at your clit with his tongue, using his hands to keep your body firm against the sheets. “Stop moving, or I’ll stop, sweetheart.” A choked cry bubbles past your lips, fingers itching to lock into his soft hair. He senses your urges, lips settling into a grin when he stops to look up at you.

“Say, you’re always complaining I never show you any of my magic.” He starts, “I’ll show you something really cool.”

He mumbles words you can’t seem to catch and in an instant, you feel your arms pinned to your sides and a pressure on your hips that keeps you still. “I didn’t think I’d need to use that spell quite like this but…” Soonyoung chuckles under his breath, leaning back down as he goes back to flicking your clit with his tongue.

“But---but Soonyoung… Please… Your f-fingers…”

“Oh? Do you want me to use my fingers while I make you feel good with my tongue?” You nod, licking your chapped lips when he stares up at you from between your legs. You had to get him to do more somehow.

“Y-yeah… I--I use my fingers all the time when I’m thinking about y-you…” That should do it.

Soonyoung goes rigid, cock throbbing against the sheets underneath him. “You… what?” You whimper, struggling against the invisible spell that binds you to the bed. “Mmhmm… I’d--I’d show you but I can’t… So you have to…” He shakes his head, bringing his fingers to his mouth before he wraps his lips around them. He makes sure they’re significantly wet before he positions two at your entrance.

“You really got me there, huh, sweetheart?”

A high pitched whine falls from your lips when he starts to sink in his digits; your wetness making it easy for him to sink them knuckle deep on the first try. “Oh, god! Soonyoung!” He’s mildly shocked at how wet you are and how tight your pussy is around his fingers, but he quickly finds a pace you like as he starts thrusting his fingers inside of you. “So you think about me? What exactly do you think about?”

He curls his fingers, watching your lips part in a silent scream when he grazes against your g-spot. “Sweetheart, I asked you a question. I expect a response, okay?”

“I---s--sometimes it’s just, mmh, like---like this… With your fingers deep inside me, making me feel so g-good… But--but sometimes, ah, I--it’s me on your l-lap…” You pause, abdomen tightening with each passing second. “You’re usually really s-sweet in my imagination but…”

“But?”

“But some--ngh, sometimes you… punish me t-too… when I go through your things without your p-permission… Mmh, and---and sometimes you use your magic, just like thi--this to keep me in my place... Oh, god, Soonyoung please, I’m so close!”

He grits his teeth, thumb on your clit in an instant. “Oh? So you want me to use my magic to make you feel good? Okay.” Grinning, he focuses some of his energy into the pad of his thumb; rubbing harsh circles on the swollen nub as you cry out.

It felt like electricity was coursing through your body, tingles going up and down your spine as you cum hard on his fingers. Soonyoung’s name rolls off of your tongue and he can’t help but watch and think how pretty you were when you were cumming.

“Cute.”

Soonyoung recites a spell in the midst of your orgasm and you feel your body go slack when the invisible restraints finally free you. He sits up, slowly pulling his fingers from inside of you and he brings them to his mouth, licking off your wetness as you watch him through teary eyes.

“Soonyoung, I’m still…”

“I know, baby.”

He repositions himself between your legs, spreading your legs wide. “If it hurts---”

You groan loudly, reaching down as you hold yourself open for him. “Soonyoung, I bet you could just slide right in with how soaking wet I am… Look at me...” He shoots you an amazed look as he freezes momentarily.

“I---what did that aphrodisiac do to you, baby?” Soonyoung wraps a hand around his cock, spreading the precum down his shaft as he positions himself at your entrance. “Seriously though, just tell me if it hurts, okay?” You nod in return; letting your arms rest at your side again.

Soonyoung slowly inches his cock into your tight cunt, a groan on his lips at how tightly you were already clenching around him. “Oh, fuck…” He whispers.

He bottoms out in a single motion, slow and steady. The head of his cock taps against your g-spot and you find yourself chasing another orgasm as he lets you get used to his size.

“Please, move!” You cry, squirming underneath him. He tsk’s you in return, leaning over as he grips your thighs. “Baby, don’t make me bind you again. You’re doing so well for me already.” He draws his hips back before thrusting in, starting a moderate pace when he notes that you’d already gotten used to him.

“You’re so wet for me, baby. Is it the aphrodisiac or is it me?” Soonyoung jokes. Although he, too, can feel himself already on the edge just as quickly. He wouldn’t tell you now, but he thought about you quite often too.

“Maybe I should’ve taken some with you.”

“Ngh, we’d be at it like r-rabbits…”

“Wouldn’t that be fun? On a night like All Hallow’s Eve, when my powers are much stronger. Imagine how good I could make you feel then, hmm?”

You let out a sob; pussy clenched hard around his cock as you feel yourself on the brink of another orgasm. “N-no, ‘cause I---I already know I’m gon--gonna need more after this… My body’s still so h-hot…”

Soonyoung takes pity, leaning over you as he kisses your tear-stained cheek. “I’ll work you through it, baby. Don’t worry.” The two of you fall into a silence; only the sounds of your moans, his soft breaths, and the snap of his hips bouncing off of the walls of his bedroom. He can feel you get immensely tight around him as he grips your thighs a little harder.

“Oh, Soon--Soonyoung I--”

“It’s okay, baby. Go on.”

This time when you cum, the pressure feels ten times as strong as the first time. You can hear ringing in your ears as your back bows off of the bed and you can vaguely feel Soonyoung’s cock forced out of your pussy in the midst of your orgasm. Tears wet your eyelashes as you cry out his name in a jumbled fashion; body rigid against the sheets.

“Oh--shit, baby…” Soonyoung watches as you squirt all over him and the sheets underneath you; hand wrapped around his cock as he watches your face contort in pleasure. He gulps, bringing his cock back towards you as he runs it through your folds until it nudges against your overly sensitive clit. “Such a good girl for me. You’re doing so well, baby.”

He taps the head of his cock against your swollen clit, watching as your body jolts with every tap. “Soonyoung…”

“How are you feeling?” He asks, jerking himself off over your body as your hazy eyes meet his. “A little better… But…” You trail off, watching him thrust up into his own closed fist. “You look so good...” He hums in response, tightening his fist.

“I’m so close, baby…”

“Make yourself feel good too, Soonyoung… Wanna see you make a mess on me~” You spur him on; filthy words on your lips as you watch his brows furrow. “And I’m still gonna want more too~ But I wanna see you get me nice and messy first~”

He lets out a groan, cock throbbing in his hold as he cums; streaks of cum hitting your lower abdomen. “Ngh, baby…” You mewl, fingertips already running through the warm liquid as you bring it back to your mouth.

You lick off the salty substance, immediately going in for more as Soonyoung’s own fuzzy eyes focus on your movements. “What--what are you d-doing?”

“Cleaning~” You quip, popping the cum soaked fingers into your mouth as you moan.

“God, did that aphrodisiac turn you into a succubus? You’re insatiable!” He feels his eye twice as he starts to come down from his high; using his free hand to wipe the sweat from his brow.

You giggle cutely, licking your lips. “Are those even real? And for the record, maybe you shouldn’t have made the aphrodisiac in the first place for your little experiments and then maybe you shouldn’t have made it even more powerful with your spells!”

Soonyoung can only grimace in return; It kind of was his fault for leaving it unattended.

“I know, I’m sorry, baby. I promise I’ll make it up to you, okay? And no more weird experiments left out on the stovetop, I promise.”

Grinning, you lean up, ignoring the soaking mess underneath you and the cum drying on your abdomen as you push Soonyoung over until he lays on his back. He gulps as he watches you straddle his hips.

“You’re gonna make it up to me all night though, right, Soonyoung?”

#warlock!soonyoung #hoshi smut #seventeen smut #svt smut #soonyoung smut #hoshi scenarios #hoshi imagines #svt fic #seventeen fic #monstermash!svt #soonyoung scenarios #soonyoung imagines #svt imagines #svt scenarios #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #hoshi #soonyoung

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albertasunrise · 3 years

Text

Unexpected

Summary: After the worst day at work you’ve ever had, you find release in a man that you meet in a bar. A tall dark stranger that gives you the best night of your life… but you also get more than you bargained for.

Warning/Content: Explicit, Angst, Bathroom Sex, Swearing

Paring: Javier Peña / Female Reader

Masterlist

Downing your drink, you groan into your palm as you try to calm your frayed nerves. Today had been hell. You knew that coming to Columbia to work at the Embassy was not going to be easy. You'd volunteered on a whim, how many Executive Assistants had the chance to assist the Ambassador to Columbia? Today though, shit had hit the fan and you were the one to take the brunt of the crap that flew. You were the assistant, unfortunately, it came with the territory. So you had decided to go home, put on your best jeans and a nice top and go to the bar your colleagues had been raving about, alone. You motion to the barman to fetch you another drink, thanking him as he gives it to you and you hold out the money you owe.

‘It’s on him.’ The barman states, motioning to someone sat a few stools down from you.

He had dark hair that curled at the end and a moustache that surprisingly suited him, you’d never liked them on men before. His eyes were dark, cocoa brown and twinkled in the yellow artificial light, crinkling at the corners as he smiled at you.

‘Thank you.’ You say to him, nodding your appreciation before taking a large swig.

‘Bad day?’ He asks, noting the tension in your shoulders.

‘The worst.’ You reply, downing the last of your drink.

His lips were delicious against your skin, nibbling and sucking at your neck as he hoists you up so that you're perched on the edge of the sink. It was chaotic. Fingers fumbling to unbutton his jeans as his thrust and curl inside you, driving that coil tighter and tighter. You manage to free his length, kissing him hard as your hands grab his waist and pull him flush against you.

‘Fuck me, Peña.’ You growl, pumping his length ‘Now.’

You don’t need to ask him twice, pushing himself into your heat with one swift motion that has you moaning loudly into his mouth. He's ruthless, pounding you as your brace yourself against the mirror. It didn’t take long for you to climax, throwing your head back and your mouth falling open in a silent scream as he continues to hit that spot inside that makes your toes curl. His lips latched to your pulse point, fingers sliding between you and rubbing circular motions on your clit as he growls in your ear.

‘One more for me Hermosa.’ He whispers, his low baritone sending you over the edge again and your walls clamp hard around him, pulling his own orgasm from him seconds later.

‘Fuck.’ You breathe as you slump back against the mirror at your rear ‘Thanks… I needed that.’

‘Glad I could be of service.’ He grinned, helping you down and running his hand through his sweat-slick hair.

‘See you around Peña.’ You wink, leaving him speechless in your wake.

You hadn’t expected that you’d see him so soon, the both of you sharing a wide-eyed gaze as he approached the Ambassador's office. The blonde man at his side studied the two of you for a moment before rolling his eyes and letting out an audible huff.

‘You fucked her didn’t you.’ He growled, your face heating up as you return your attention to your paperwork.

‘She’s ready when you are.’ You state, your eyes not leaving the piece of paper in your hands.

You quickly dove for the ladies the moment they disappeared through the door, letting out a shaky breath as you splashed your face with water. Of course, the man you’d casually fucked last night was a DEA agent here to catch Escobar. You’d been here exactly 2 weeks so had not had the pleasure of meeting the two American pain in the asses that the Ambassador complained about so much but now you knew one intimately. You knew he had given you the best fuck of your life. You straightened your makeup and returned to your desk, fighting to keep your mind quiet as the minutes ticked by.

‘Can I speak to you a moment?’ You jumped, not even seeing Javier walk up to your desk.

‘I uh-‘

‘It won't take a minute.’

You nod, following him to the empty communal kitchen and lean against the counter, arms crossed as you wait for him to speak. He’s silent initially, scratching the back of his neck nervously as he thinks carefully about what to say to you.

‘I’m sorry about Steve.’ He says finally, resting one hand on his hip as the other scrubs over his face.

‘It’s fine Peña.’ You reply ‘We did fuck so he was right.’

‘Right…’ He replies, looking at you a moment before continuing ‘I guess he is.’

‘Was that all you wanted to say?’ You asked curtly, eyes glancing at the clock to your left.

‘No. I uh-‘ He pauses, carefully thinking about his next words ‘I wondered if perhaps I could take you out for dinner?’

‘Javi you don’t have to do that.’

‘Do what?’ You sigh, shaking your head at him.

‘Protect my dignity or whatever.’

‘No thats-‘

‘I’d had a bad day and needed a fuck. You kindly provided me with that service.’ You state, noting the slightly wounded expression that crosses his face ‘You were great but it was a one-time thing. Don’t need to make a thing out of it.’

‘Oh.’ His voice cracks a little, taking a step towards the door he nods and looks around at anything but you ‘Right yeah of course. See you around.’

You don’t see much of Peña after that. He doesn’t speak to you when he meets the ambassador, barely looks at you when he announces that he’s there. You’d learned about his reputation from office gossip. The playboy DEA agent, screwing hookers for information and bedding most of the assistants in the office, you were just another to add to the pile. You notice that he doesn’t blank the other assistants, he subtly flirts with them as he passes by but when he sees you the air changes and you shiver. You couldn’t possibly have hurt him? He didn’t do relationships and he was the king of one night stands so why was he treating you like this? You’d almost called in sick this morning. You’d been feeling nauseous since you woke up and when your colleague had offered you a mug of coffee you'd almost thrown up on their shoes. A familiar voice filled the air and you looked up to see Peña and his partner Murphy approaching, catching Javi’s eye you decide that you don't need his shit and will avoid it altogether. You push yourself to your feet, grabbing your desk as a wave of dizziness hits you.

‘You okay.’ Asks Sophie as she gives you a concerned glance.

‘Yeah.’ You reply, nodding weakly ‘Just got up too quickly.’

You start walking towards the kitchen, your eye catching Peña’s again as your paths get closer and closer. Then everything goes back. Javier manages to catch you just as your eyes roll back and your legs give way, his heart hammering in his chest as he tries to rouse you.

‘She okay?’ Asks Steve as he looks down at you with concern.

Peña doesn’t answer, just strokes your cheek as your eyes start to flutter ‘Hey you with me?’

You can only nod, your brain a fuzzy mess as you try to make sense of everything. When your eyes finally find the strength to open, you’re greeted by familiar brown eyes staring down at you, brow furrowed with worry. Suddenly you get a surge of energy and you push yourself up and out of his arms.

‘Thanks.’ You grumble, placing your palm against your forehead before getting to your feet.

‘You should go see a doctor.’ He states, placing a friendly hand on your arm.

‘Yeah. I will.’ You reply plainly, leaving his presence as quickly as you can.

Javier watches you leave, his stomach twisting again as he felt that all familiar hurt creep in again. It wasn’t something he was used to, having feelings but ever since that night, he’d not been able to get you out of his head. You clearly weren't interested in him though. You got what you wanted and that was it.

Sophie drove you to a clinic that afternoon, the only person that spoke English there being a lady called Connie who was American also. After explaining your symptoms she decided to run a few tests, informing you that you’d most likely get the results later that week. You gave her your number and left, not wanting to dwell on the multitude of possible things that could be wrong with you. It was stress. Pure and simple. As the days went on you grew more and more nervous. You were still struggling with nausea but you’d thankfully not had a repeat of your fainting spell so when your phone rang you felt your heart thunder in your chest, picking up the receiver you answer with your name and listen as Connie spoke.

‘Are you able to come down here?’ She asks, her soft voice doing nothing to quell your nerves.

‘Sure, when?’

‘Would half an hour work for you?’ She asks.

‘Yes.’ You reply, grabbing your keys ‘See you then.’

You make it to the clinic 10 minutes early, your hands shaking as you sit and wait for your name to be called. Connie’s smiling face calms you a little when it comes into view and she ushers for you to follow her, motioning at the chair beside her desk as she closes the door behind her.

‘How are you feeling?’ She asks, placing a kind hand on your forearm as she sits in the chair across from yours.

‘Still been struggling the last few days but no more fainting spells thank goodness.’ You reply, your voice shaking,

‘Okay.’ She says softly, pulling a piece of paper out.

‘So what’s wrong with me?’ You ask, smiling awkwardly as you try to lighten the situation.

‘You are pregnant.’ She replies plainly, looking up at you to gauge your reaction ‘About 6 weeks along.’

‘Fuck.’ You groan, throwing your face into your hands.

‘According to the medical record that you supplied you have an IUD but it appears that you are late getting it changed.’

‘Yeah, I uh…’ You groan again, cursing yourself inwardly ‘I haven't had a chance.’

‘Well, we’ll get you booked in to get it removed and for a scan.’ She states, her tone calm and professional ‘I’m guessing that you’re not with the father.’

‘Fuck, the father.’ You exclaim, throwing your hands up to your head ‘What am I going to tell him? Oh hey, remember that time we fucked in the bathroom of that bar… well you got me pregnant.’

Connie sits there with her mouth hanging open as she listens to your tirade.

‘God, what do I do Connie? Do I keep it?’ You start to panic, a million scenarios flying through your head.

‘Have you got someone that can come get you?’ She asks.

‘I moved here 2 months ago.’ You reply, tears finally falling ‘I have literally no one.’

‘Hey.’ She grabs your hand, grounding you ‘Why don’t you come back to mine this evening? I don’t have many friends either and I know that I wouldn’t want to be alone after receiving unexpected news like this. My husband can drop you home after. I bought a tone of food to cook for us and his friend so there will be plenty for you too.’

You think about it for a moment, finding that her presence was instantly soothing, like a balm and so you find yourself nodding. You offer to drive her back, the conversation in the car flowing easily as you drive through the busy streets to her apartment building. You help her cook, finding the action helps calm you as you stir the sauce as she chops some veg.

‘So what do you think you’ll do?’ She asks, sipping on her wine as she turns to look at you.

‘Well, I need to tell the father. Whether he wants to raise this baby with me or not he deserves to be given the choice’ You reply, sipping on the decaf coffee she’d made you ‘I’ve always wanted kids but I thought perhaps I had a few more years left yet before it happened.’

‘So you want to keep it?’ She asked and you nod 'Do you think he'll want to be involved?'

‘Honestly? I don’t know.’ You reply, shrugging your shoulders ‘Like he asked me out to dinner and I said no, I assumed that he was just trying to protect my dignity or whatever but then he’s been so cold to me since. Thinking about it now, I think he might have asked because he actually wanted to go on a date with me. When I fainted he was so attentive and I practically ran away from him. Ugh.’

‘We’re back.’ Came a familiar voice, your blood went cold.

What were the chances that Connie Murphy was Steve Murphy’s wife?

‘Who’s this?’

You turn around and his head jumps back in surprise.

‘Oh, Hey.’

‘You know each other?’ Asks Connie, confusion crossing her face.

‘Yeah we work together’ He replies ‘Sort of. How do you know each other?’

‘She came to the clinic. She got some unexpected news today and I thought she'd appreciate a home-cooked meal and good company to take her mind off of it.’

‘I hope everything’s okay?’ He asks as he gives you a concerned look.

‘Yeah.’ You reply, your eyes locking with Javier as he slips out of the shadows ‘Everything’s fine.’

Javier is silent most of the night, the tension between the two of you so thick that it was almost tangible. When Connie and Steve got up to clean the plates you were left alone and you knew that this was your chance. You had to tell him.

‘I uh…- You pause, your heart in your throat ‘I need to talk to you about something.’

‘Do you?’ His tone is cutting and you wince, you deserve it.

You are interrupted by Steve offering you both a nightcap which you decline in unison. You leave together, hugging Connie goodbye and thanking her for a lovely evening before practically chasing Peña down the stairs.

‘Javier wait. Please!’

‘Can’t this wait until tomorrow? I have somewhere to be.’ He growls as he pushes his key into the lock on his door.

‘I’m pregnant.’ You blurt out, stopping him in his tracks ‘My IUD failed and well… I’m 6 weeks pregnant.’

He turns to face you but he doesn’t say anything, just listens as you continue to ramble.

‘I’m not telling you because I want anything from you. I think I’m going to keep it but I just wanted to give you the option to be a part of its life but I get that you probably want nothing to do with me.’ You pause, wiping a stray tear with the back of your hand ‘I have a scan booked in for two weeks from now. You can come if you want. It's at 3 pm on the 25th at Connie’s clinic.’

He still says nothing, just stares at you and you shift uncomfortably under his gaze.

‘Anyway… I thought you should know.’ You state before darting out the door, your tears streaming as you get in your car and drive away.

Once again you were early. You stare at the clock and watch each minute painfully tick by, a hand resting on your belly.

‘Hey.’ It’s a voice you hadn’t expected to hear.

You look up to see Javier standing across from you, his expression surprisingly soft considering the circumstances. He takes a seat beside you and you lock eyes with him, smiling when he takes your free hand in an attempt to calm your nerves.

‘You came.’ You state, so quietly it’s almost a whisper.

‘Yeah well... Despite the fact I asked you on a date which you rejected and the fact you ran away from me when I tried to care for you after you fainted you seem to have some sort of hold on me,’ He states, tilting his head to one side ‘Kids were never a part of my plan but then... neither were you.’

You go to speak but are interrupted by your name being called and you look up together to see a short, dark-haired woman motioning for you to come. You both follow her into a small room where she hands you a robe and instructs you to change in the toilet. When you return she motions for you to lay down and warns that the ultrasound gel will probably be cold, you still jump when it touches your skin. You lay there as she fires up the scanner and places the probe on your stomach and you suddenly feel unbelievable nervous. You stare up at Javier who was giving you a look you couldn’t make out. Was it nerves? Excitement? The silence is cut by a constant beat and Javier’s hand grabs hold of yours as you both look at the nurse.

‘Heartbeat is good.’ She states, pointing at a small white shape on the screen ‘Everything look good.’ She continues in her broken English 'I print some pictures for you.’

You nod then look at Javier again. He’s staring at the screen with wide, tear brimmed eyes and you feel your heart jump at the sight. You return your attention to the nurse who hands you the print-outs and excuses herself, leaving the two of you alone with the frozen image of your baby on the screen.

‘You okay?’ You ask, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

‘Yeah.’ He replies, looking at you with pure, unadulterated joy ‘More than okay.’

Then he kisses you but this time it’s different. It’s not hungry or desperate, it’s soft and caring and you melt into it, smiling as he cups your cheeks. Breaking away he kisses your forehead and looks at you with his hypnotising eyes.

‘Shall we try this again?’ He asks, smirking at you ‘Can I take you to dinner?’

‘Well, Agent Peña I think that’s the least you can do considering I’m having your baby.’ You joke, kissing him again as he chuckles.

‘Yes.’ He replies, kissing you again ‘Yes you are.'

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