#kim hongjoong single parent au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

setsugekka · 1 year

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❥project d (m)

↳ With a nice enough guy who’s just a little too rough around the edges for your parents liking, and a best friend who put you up to him (albeit a tad unknowingly), surely things can’t possibly get more complicated for the local illegal street racing squad.

Except, between racing for pink slips and bragging rights, there’s Emperors leader, Jeong Yunho.

kim hongjoong x fem!reader / jeong yunho x fem!reader — Initial D/street racing!au, unresolved romantic tension, exes to lovers, infidelity, angst, explicit sexual content [20.5k wc] cws: themes of smoking, drinking, & cheating throughout. the person getting cheated on is a scumbag!! mild physicality from a man to reader and more than mild physicality between two men ❱ light dom/sub dynamics in the beginning, penetrative sex (no barrier method), creampie, light choking, themes of possessiveness throughout, dirty talk, risky sex, public sex, oral sex (m).

“Ignore it.”

A simple enough request to oblige as Hongjoong's hand stretches out and over your body towards the side of you where your phone resides, only conveniently tossed there out of haste upon things between the two of you getting the better of you.

History getting the better of you.

Two, three more vibrations of the call alert cycle before it finally quiets, the man next to you hums with his face pressed into the pillow just before turning to face you with a devilish grin — as if a man having just won a prize, of sorts.

Perhaps he had done just that, at least, in this moment in time.

“I can't ignore him forever,” you sigh, back against the mattress and staring up towards the dingy, unpainted ceiling of this particular hotel that you and Hongjoong had become all too accustomed to.

The scent of far-from-fresh linens and a mixture of cigarette and other such smoke cascading through the small room — far from allowed but in a place like this, and for the rate that it goes for, it's what you'd expect. Housekeeping will do what they can, but there's only so much.

It's clean enough, but more than that, it's private. Part of you wishes coming here with him made you hate yourself as much as you think it's supposed to, because maybe then you'd stop.

“He's my boyfriend, after all.”

“He's a fucking tool,” he groans, finally sitting up beneath a single layer of white sheet and reaching to his left off of the side of the bed for his pants — long since discarded and not long after the two of you had arrived, at that. You can only presume the man to be reaching for his cigarettes, and unsurprised when it's precisely what comes into your line of vision as he sits back with his back against the headboard to light it — you watch him, every movement he makes no matter how small or unimportant it may seem. Taking in the details of him: short, platinum bleached hair with his fingernails painted black — two or three chipped, from what you can tell — and most likely from working on his car at some point over the week. “Who cares what he thinks? When are you going to leave him, anyways?”

“It's not that simple,” you answer, under your breath and slightly dejected at the turn the conversation has taken.

Because you know that you should feel bad, and yet you don't, but the fact that you don't sort of does do the trick. You wonder how terrible one has to be to falter morally to such a degree.

“I care about him.”

“The fuck you do,” Hongjoong bites back with a snort through his nose, smoke pushing out and towards the sheet that remains pooled around his waist. “If you did, you sure as shit wouldn't be here right now.”

Rolling your eyes and turning from him finally, it's likely that he's right. Somewhere, somehow, surely that is the only logical explanation.

But as complicated as things may be with your boyfriend, they're just as, if not more so, with the man next to you.

Goodbye's are hard, it's half of the reason people do everything in their power to avoid them.

Even to their own detriment.

“Don't be mad at me,” he adds, noticing the way you pull your eyes from him. “You wouldn't be fucking your ex still if things we're all sunshine and roses back at home. That's just the facts.”

“Do you have to do this tonight?” you say with a groan, turning back and onto your side to face away from him. It's then that you feel Hongjoong stir from behind, putting his cigarette out into a beer bottle on the nightstand and settling back down lengthwise along the bed, with the flesh of his chest pressed against your bare back. With one hand of his trailing down the exposed flesh and settling at the small of your back as fingers curl up and around the dip of your hip, you sigh into the feeling of his touch, once again starkly aware of how undressed you are once again, and how this will likely result in him fucking you for the second time tonight.

“I miss you,” he whispers after a while, lips ghosting gently across your exposed shoulder as he plants kisses there between words. “Leave him.”

“And do what? get back together with you?” you answer suddenly, with a tad bit more snip than you had really intended, but feeling the way his fingernails begin to curl into the skin of your waist, you need not worry about the reception of the response.

Chances are, he probably likes it.

The words come out so quietly that you can barely even hear them over the sound of the long since ignored television, only really used to help drown out the pathetic sounds of you succumbing to this man once again. “Do whatever you want, just not him.”

It's a weird sense of foreplay, the way that the two of you engage in conversations about the man in question — your partner — always seeming to get Hongjoong riled up sexually in some sort of sick, twisted way that you can't quite fathom — possibly the possession, possibly some sense of having won something over the man every time you agree to meet him like this — two competitors who have long since been rivals for far too long, with too much bad blood and no end in sight, either.

So when you left Hongjoong, and shortly after started dating Yunho, it was a punch to the gut and the ego — seemingly only quelled by the joy of having you cum around his dick a couple of times a week unbeknownst to the other party.

Shifting slightly, as if wanting to maintain some air of innocence and coincidence to it all — pressing your behind back and against him only to find that what greets you is a familiar hardness — Hongjoong's kisses into your shoulder intensify, nips and suction against the flesh where he had previously been ever so innocuously been touching.

Giving into him never was difficult, you wonder if you'll ever have control over yourself with him.

Hand slipping down to position himself better against you, the whimper that leaves your lips as he presses back inside of you for the second time that night is pitiful — grin forming across his mouth as he hears the utterance of you once again allowing yourself full compliance for him — his hand comes back up to snake along your side as he gently rocks into you, first settling for a moment atop your breast to thumb over the nub before continuing the journey up and around your throat to hold there tightly as he picks up his pace with a grunt into your ear from behind.

“You're mine, right?” Words echoing from his mouth and into your ear from just next to it, your body involuntarily clenching down around him giving you away more than anything you could say ever could — Hongjoong squeezing tighter around your throat at the feeling of you submitting to him in all of the same ways that he's always liked, that you've always liked — a game the two of you would often play deep within the throes of your romantic relationship. “You always came the hardest when I acted like I owned you.”

“Joong—“ another pitiful whimper at the sound and feeling of him encompassing you, especially given that he's right in his assessment of you.

Hand leaving your throat and continuing up again, two fingers prying between your lips to press into your mouth and lie flat against your tongue, Hongjoong's pace into hastens, fucking you harder than even the time earlier in the night — obviously with something to prove, now — some sort of motivation behind his actions; jealousy, angry, hatred.

The animalistic desire to have and own and need, perhaps.

“He fuck you like I do?” he finally asks in spite of already knowing the answer. There's a reason you keep coming back. “Know everything you like the way I do? Make you cum as hard as I do?”

And with fingers shoved deep into your mouth you can only groan at the words as your body threatens to release you from the contempt of a building orgasm — Hongjoong surely feels it with the way he slows and stills deep inside of you with a whine from you.

“Didn't say you could cum yet, did I?”

It's all you can do to beg for it, grinding back and against him for any sense of friction that will hopefully tip you over the edge that he's not allowing for you. Hot breath scented like cheap beer and cigarettes pressed into the shell of your ear as he holds your body flush tight against his as if to now even allow you the ability to escape his grasp — not that you'd want to, or have any intention to — but rather for what it represents to him.

That yes, this is a game that the two of you engage in consensually, but perhaps deep down for him, a confession of sorts, as well.

Hongjoong pulls his hand from your lips to quickly wrap it against your throat again, ever so slowly withdrawing his cock from you and almost completely before delivering you back an even more tortuously slow drive back inside — so slow that you feel as though you can feel every dip and curve and bulge of his shaft against your walls — the two of you don't play like this so much anymore since the dissolving of your relationship, and Hongjoong's willingness to reintroduce it now feels pointed and a bit like a man rushing to grasp a hold of something that he feels as though he's losing completely.

The break up wasn't on bad terms, and certainly appeared far from devastating to Hongjoong from what you could tell. He did start drinking more, though, and racked up a hefty DUI about a week after.

“You wanna cum, baby?”

You nod quicker than you think the words finish leaving his mouth, much to his amusement. Hongjoong repeats yet another frustratingly slow drive into you as he sets the condition for your orgasm.

“Tell me whose it is,” he groans, the warm hug of your pussy pulling on him equally as much but far more able to maintain his cool. “Who owns it, who does it belong to, baby?”

a sharp inhale, breathing still constricted by his hand keeping you firmly in place and against him, and with a heavy exhale you say the words he's been looking for since the conversation started.

“You, it's yours, I'm yours— fuck, Joong, please—“

You can't see it, but you can feel the curl of his lips against your ear as he grins at the breathy admission, kissing you delicately against your temple twice before whispering how well you've done and how good you are as he picks his pace back up. A handful of hard, pointed thrusts back into you and you come undone around him all over again — the tight squeeze of you subsequently bringing him to his orgasmic demise just after as he buries cock as deeply as he can to cum inside of you.

And one of your favorite things about the man — your too-wild-to-ever-meet-the-parents ex-boyfriend who drives the custom paint maroon RX-7 — is how no matter how insane he is, he's always kind and loving to you. so, as Hongjoong gently pulls himself from you, raining kisses on every inch of exposed flesh he can manage to get his mouth on, the only words spilling from his mouth being those of praise; how good you are, how beautiful you are, how amazing you are — some times, you think he might slip and tell you he loves you in such raw, intimate times.

And sometimes, you wonder why it is the two of you ever did break up.

Phone vibrating again, the screen illuminating to show once again for your boyfriend to be attempting to get a hold of you, you feel Hongjoong still from behind you as he catches notice before rolling back and away from you and most likely, in search of another cigarette.

Picking the device up, with a tone small and shy but with an attempt at playfulness, you dare make the attempt at a joke on the matter. “Can I answer it now?”

But with silence following shortly after as the vibration cycle carries on, you're met with the sound of a lighter flickering once, twice, three times — before an exhale, then a voice laden with smoke and maybe even a hint of disappointment, if you look hard enough.

“Do whatever you want.”

Getting into the illegal street racing thing wasn't exactly something you had in mind, and truthfully, sometimes you had a difficult time tracing back just when it had started with the way things took off in a bit of a whirlwind.

It's particularly due to the fact that you're not a racer yourself, that sometimes has you standing roadside at meets, contemplating the how's and why's of your whereabouts. With no interest in purchasing a project of your own, it started as a sort of hobby interest of yours and Chaerin's — your best friend of six years with a bit of a penchant for trouble as the years progressed. Never anything substantial or too risky — no drugs beyond the extremely rare instance, no theft — and sure, the illegal street racing thing in and of itself being of legal dubiety, it's not the worst thing a girl in her early twenties could find herself wrapped up in, that's for sure.

Besides, Chaerin had a bit of a respectable eye for partners. Boyfriends leaning far into the realm of honest and endearing, even upon dating within the circle of cars, the sort of 'bad boy' reputation for them that one would likely assume upon hearing of teams of men engaging in such activities in the dead of night — while occasionally true, after two or three tag along’s of yourself with your friend, you'd quickly come to realize that the majority of them were simply guys. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, most working through college and probably a bit more than they have to in order to fund their rather expensive hobby, some rich, trust fund kids with no issues affording whatever it was that they wanted to soup up their cars with — and when the dust had eventually settled, it was of little shock to yourself that you ended up somewhere in between.

You remember the night as if it was yesterday, only a year or so back at most anyways, Chaerin explicitly informing you that he was to be played with, and not locked down.

It seemed easy enough when you met Kim Hongjoong, at least.

A little rough around the edges being an understatement: handsome and from a rich family now a couple of years estranged but still not entirely cut off from the family wallet, sometimes you could swear that you could still make out the ways in which his sheltered, prissy upbringing that he had long since attempted to bolt down under lock and key would come through — a heavy smoker, a lighter drinker, and now stuck living in a ratty apartment just a ways out of town with his teammate, Seonghwa.

So, you had agreed, because most certainly this wouldn't be the kind of man you'd fall for, anyways. A girl has needs, however, and you quickly found Hongjoong to be more than willing to go above and beyond for them in more ways than one would likely consider to be present in a friends with benefits sort of arrangement. His willingness to do any and everything you desired sexually, evolving into exploration of sorts, you found that it happened almost naturally in the way he would begin staying over some nights instead of running home, bringing you dinner before playtime turning into going out together for dinner, and when Chaerin began noticing you showing up to car meets from the passenger side of Hongjoong's RX-7, albeit not entirely pleased with the development, she wasn't necessarily against it, either.

Your parents on the other hand, were an entirely different story.

If Hongjoong came off as rough around the edges to yourself, you could only imagine how he came off to your parents, and after one dinner with all of you together, the imagining was no longer necessary — spending the better part of an hour tearing into you about your choice in men; how Hongjoong was going nowhere in life, a deadbeat with no aspirations, a smoker, a drinker, and despite having not disclosed it, father dearest pulling no punches in just what it was that he thought about the whole illegal street racing thing.

A point of contention in what had naturally and easily transformed into a relationship with the man, more than quick hook ups and take out dinners — but there was romance and genuine caring — something special about the way that Hongjoong looked at you that you knew to be sincere.

And perhaps you were too weak-willed to manage it, the constant barrage of opinions and negativity from your family about the man you had chosen, and perhaps the relationship all too young to really weather the storm as it was, so when you told Hongjoong that the two of you should just remain friends, the disappointment was evident, but it wasn't the end of the world.

It was a little bit the end of the world, though, when Yunho came into the picture.

Moving into town a month before yours and Hongjoong's relationship ending, you had already found yourself rather well acquainted with the man in all of the worst ways: every terrible, off-putting version of Hongjoong that you figured to be buried deep down within him in hopes of never resurfacing, seemingly being all of the defining features of Jeong Yunho; mouthy, loud, and far too into himself for anyones good, really, you had only met him a handful of times at races before calling it quits with your then boyfriend, but Yunho had already long made a case for himself in squirming his way into your bedroom as Hongjoong vented about teammates losing races — and even worse, their cars — to the man in the black EVO and his team, Emperors.

How you ended up here, exactly, on a quiet Thursday night during a meet with Yunho to your right as he talks to one of his friends about a new backseat modification he's been considering for weight to his car, suppose that's where it gets a little murky.

Oh, and also the fact that you were just with Hongjoong the night before, too.

As the thoughts finally fall out of your mind, it's the feeling of a large hand on your bottom that jolts you out from them in totality, first looking down then just as quickly back up to your boyfriend.

A habit of getting handsy in public, like some bizarre expression of property owned and wishing for the entire world to see it, it had been a conversation more than three times by this point, so much so that you figure it best to simply give up on it.

“Come on, I told you I don't like that,” you whisper, it is not lost on you how willing you are to bend yourself as to not embarrass him all the while he cares little about granting you the same luxury.

With a slightly crooked smile, Yunho grins down at you before leaning forward and kissing you on the forehead. “It's just Mingi babe, he doesn't care.”

“I care.”

Yunho rolling his eyes at the snide response, pulling his hand from you entirely as if to withhold affection for your poor behavior, your eyes can't help but find Hongjoong well across the parking lot as he engages with his friends among his own team, Spiral.

Meeting your eyes, the interaction is brief, and guilt ridden all of the same.

In fact, Yunho's disinterest in your boundaries had already resulted in a verbal altercation between the two more than once, and that's not even including everything related to on the road.

Of course, Yunho had charms, otherwise leaving would be easy to do. Earlier on, especially — perhaps you a little too fresh off of your break up and more willing to be swept up and away by the tall, handsome, guy with dark red hair that your ex kind of hated but 'maybe he isn't so bad,' you remember thinking to yourself the first time he catches you out and about one random day — asking you to dinner later that night, paying, and giving you the best dick, perhaps, of your life.

You'd find that it doesn't take much time for the layers to peel themselves back, as people with much to hide typically find it difficult to keep up the ruse for all too long, but perhaps losing Hongjoong in your life — and especially for the reasons as such — a larger hole was left than you had initially imagined, now being filled by the rich guy who lets you pay for everything despite having money, doesn't respect your boundaries, and is often found to be in questionable locations more times than you'd like to really acknowledge.

One of the reasons you sort of don't feel bad when Hongjoong texts you late in the afternoon and asks if you want to meet at the usual spot.

But for whatever reason it is, you find it hard to let Yunho go — that even still, there are times late at night when your hand fits impossible perfectly into his as the both of you lie out on the lawn just outside of town and gaze up at the stars together — him telling stories about where he used to live and what he did before he got into street racing and him actually taking an interest in you and your life beyond just showing you off as the pretty little thing he gets to put his dick into — as it often feels in relation to him.

That makes it difficult, as affairs of the heart tend to be. It's never really so cut and dry.

As the end of the night rolls around, Chaerin comes to greet you with her boyfriend, Yeonjun on her arm — and her belongings diligently being held by him as well — both with smiles on their faces as head lights begin to pop on and engines start revving around them. Yunho plopping into the drivers side of his car, Chaerin leans over the open car door with her arm across to cushion her chin, and much to Yunho's visible disapproval.

“Long time, how've things been?”

A long time because Chaerin hates him and refuses to go to mutual gatherings that you invite him along to.

Yunho's eyes first darting to you before settling back to the blonde girl hanging from his car door window, the man leans forward to grip it and shake it free from her annoying grasp before shutting it and opening the window to continue on the conversation. “Fine. You guys going out tonight or something?”

Much to your surprise, you arrived with Yunho with every intention of leaving with him, so the fact that you now are not comes as news to you, and the shock across your features is not wasted on your best friend and her boyfriend.

“You brought her, you're not going to take her home?” She asks, attitude laden in her tone and no effort to conceal it whatsoever.

Yunho snorts, nodding his head towards you as he answers. “Tell your friend not to act like such a bitch in front of my friends, maybe i'll be more inclined to be nicer to her.”

“What are you even talking—“

“I'll take her home.”

A familiar, pitchy, voice, to you especially, piping up from behind the group of you and the twist in Yunho's features making it all the more evident as Hongjoong steps up between you and Chaerin — black and white leather jacket lazily zipped halfway up across his chest and incredibly fitted, lightly destroyed black jeans hugging his thighs. Brushing a hand through silver hair, he nods to you as if it's no big deal.

And as if he didn't have his face between your legs just last night. “What's up?”

“Nothing,” you answer just as carelessly. “Need a ride home, apparently.”

“Awww, little Joongie is so sweet,” Chaerin pipes up, slinging an arm up and around Hongjoong's shoulders in such an aggressively animated way that it nearly brings the man toppling down on top of her, but Yunho only rolls his eyes at the friendly display while huffing out a “whatever,” as he turns the car engine on with a rumbling vibration.

“We'll talk about this tomorrow,” he adds, flipping the car into reverse and rolling up his window before driving off to who knows where, and leaving you to pick up the pieces of how so many interactions between the two of you end up this way.

You sigh, less of anger or sadness, but rather the exhaustion of having become so used to this treatment — it not being the first time your boyfriend has done such a thing, after all.

Letting go of Hongjoong, Chaerin judges him in the arm with her elbow. “I could have taken her, you know.”

Sometimes you wonder if she knows, if she's caught onto the games the two of you play together when you think no one is looking, or none the wiser.

A relationship ended by word of mouth only, but really, nothing having really changed.

You and Hongjoong picked back up sleeping together only a week after breaking up, and never really stopped since. You can't help but wonder if she can tell in the way the two of you interact, how comfortable it is, how unchanged it is from back then.

“It's fine, she's on the way anyways.”

You're not, and everyone knows it.

“Alright well,” your friend begins, tying long, blonde hair into a tight ponytail and slinging an arm over her lovely partner to pull him along. “Be safe you guys, have a good night. Try to get her to break up with her shitty boyfriend, would you, Joong?”

A sly grin as a parting gift and she's off before you really have a chance to say anything to the comment. Hongjoong opting for silence on the topic himself as the rest of the cars clear and the two of you find yourselves the last ones on the cement — the scent of burned rubber and exhaust still lingering heavily in the air, the man next to you shrugs, looking almost sympathetic of you and your situation — a situation that you could just as easily find yourself out of, but sympathetic nonetheless.

Walking over to Hongjoong's car, he steps around to open the passenger side door for you first before circling back and allowing himself to fall into the drivers side of his own.

“Really wish you'd leave that dickhead,” he starts, ignition growling to a start and the inside panel of the car illuminating a bright blue — all custom work, exactly to his personal liking. “Only reason I still have a passenger seat is for when I have to pick up his slack.”

It feels a little bad when he says it like that, as if he feels the need to stick around, by your side, to play boyfriend #2 because #1 does such a dog shit job of it himself, and rather than abandon you to play with the hand that you've been dealt, Hongjoong stands by to try to make each sting at the hand of Jeong Yunho just a little bit easier to deal with — until you manage the strength to do what you know you need to and leave him once and for all.

“I know, sorry,” you mutter under your breath, feeling it necessary to offer the apology. Hongjoong pulling onto the road and driving off and into the night, one hand on the steering wheel, he glances over at you twice before grinning just slightly. “It's fine, you don't have to apologize.”

Turning to look out of the window, eyes still as glued to you as driving safely might allow, he replacing his right hand on the steering wheel with his left, allowing his right to settle onto your clothed thigh with no intent beyond comfort. “Hungry? Wanna grab something?”

“It's two in the morning,” you chuckle, the lightness of the sound bringing a much brighter smile to the mans lips even in spite of your accuracy regarding the situation. “Okay yeah, we can go back to my place? Seonghwa is there but it's fine.”

“It's late, I should probably just go home.”

You don't mean for it to sound so dejected as the sounds leave your lips, a culmination of so many things stirring around in your head all at once in regards to Hongjoong and Yunho both — you think of all of the ways that Hongjoong has always been so kind and good to you, even in the midst of a purely sexual relationship with him, where Yunho finds himself seemingly unwilling to meet you even halfway on simple things or gestures anymore — a man who won his prize and no longer finds it necessary to carry on. His dues paid, and once again, Hongjoong picking up the slack.

And as if some major cosmic joke, it's not lost on you how much your parents adore Yunho.

Never having learned of the street racing thing, on top of being much more cleaned up and presentable in appearance than the alternative — it's easy for Yunho to pull off the guy next door look, and for all intents and purposes, it is him, but in all of the worst ways, and the worst possible version of it. Arrogant and egotistical and unforgiving. Unloving. Manipulative, and in so many ways, cruel.

Like two personalities swapped from the bodies you would expect to find them — Hongjoong with a mouth on him for sure and probably incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive in it, still kinder and more loving to you than perhaps Yunho has ever been.

And worse than that, you suspect for more than one reason that Yunho is meeting with an unidentified woman this evening. The unmentionable fact that everyone seems to know about but no one talks about, and no one tells you.

But suppose that may be fair and square, after all.

As Hongjoong's car rolls to a gentle stop in front of your parents home, you know what it will result in in the morning — them chewing you out for once again being out with the man that they loathe so much, but unbeknownst to them, the one willing to get their daughter home safe and sound — you let out a heavy exhale as he turns the ignition off and the both of you open car doors to exit from his and greet the chilly, spring air awaiting you.

Watching as the man settles himself against the dark red vehicle full of labor, love and more than all, money, you can't help how natural it feels to bring your arms up and around his neck — and happy to greet you, his own falling downwards and wrapping lightly around your waist to pull you tighter against his torso as foreheads close the space between them.

“Getting daring,” Hongjoong sighs just centimeters from your mouth, referencing the rather public display of affection despite it being the absolute dead of night and not a soul to be seen within eye shot.

“Thanks for taking me home,” you ignore his words in favor of your own and with a sly tone to them at that, as if hoping that the man may have the audacity to make a move on you like this.

But you know Hongjoong well, and what he's into, and enticing him into this takes little to no effort at all.

Shifting to press the top of your thigh against his crotch, feeling the already blooming hardness beneath his pants, you're able to watch in real time as his expression turns slightly lust-fueled as he pulls the door open to the drivers side once again and seats himself on the side of the chair with his legs hanging out. pulling you along with and down towards his face, it's then that he finally kisses you — as if making enough of an effort to do the best he can to conceal these sorts of rendezvous between you — it's hard and needy, all teeth and little tongue as he devours you while you settle on your knees between his own and his hands turn downward to fumble with the belt and button of his jeans.

“You and your risky sex,” you tease, waiting for him to expose his dick for you, but Hongjoong huffs out a laugh in his haste, as if well aware of it himself.

“I'll fuck you against the car if you want.”

“What if my parents saw?” you answer with a quirked eyebrow as he finally frees his length from the confines of his jeans, hand quickly wrapping around him and delicately stroking him.

“Hope they tell Yunho.”

“You're so annoying,” and with a roll of your eyes, you press yourself forward to wrap warm, wet lips around the girth of his cock. Fingers immediately reaching up and tangling into your hair with the first dip of your head along him, you know that in scenarios like this — Hongjoong's favorite thing being having you in places and situations he has no business taking you — he'll get handsy, and he'll cum quick, and for this, both are ideal.

“God, fuck, you feel so good,” Hongjoong chimes with a groan, fingers tightening in your strands just a bit more along with the noticeable raise of his hips up and into your mouth as you bob along his cock in timed, rhythmic strokes — you think it can't be longer than a minute or two before he's whimpering expletives and praise from between his lips as you take him deep into your mouth to swallow his load down as he comes. Pulling back off of him and wiping your mouth with the back of your hand, the man leans down and kisses you on the mouth — an open mouth kiss, not at all chaste or unwilling to taste himself or what you've just done on you.

“I want to see you Saturday after the race.”

You hate to ruin the mood with the information, but suppose honesty is the best policy even in scenarios where you're watching the man you're cheating on your boyfriend with tuck his softening dick back into his pants.

“Think...I have plans with Yunho that night.”

It's meek, partly because you hate saying the words to your ex, and also partly because with the way that Yunho is, who knows if that will even happen.

But Hongjoong takes it in stride as you pull away from him, standing to clear yourself out of the way so that he can pull his legs back into the car and get ready to see you off for the night.

“Well, think about it,” he begins the thought casually, and you think he may actually end it off that well if not for the sharp inhale that follows afterwards. “I'm sure you could think of an excuse, something like 'oh, I want to get fucked by my ex-boyfriend who has a sexier car and is also way better at driving than you are, you fucking loser.' would do the trick?”

Leaning down once again, you kiss Hongjoong on the mouth — quick, but bringing your hand up and to the side of his head as you do so, the touch lingers long after the kiss ends, the man leaning into it as if offering a newly unlocked form of adoration and intimacy not previously felt tonight.

“Get some sleep,” you mutter, finally pulling from him.

Hand through short blonde hair, he smiles back at you with a nod. “Anything for you, darling.”

And watching him drive off into the foggy night, all you can think is how could your parents be so wrong.

“Hey sweetness—“

Barely jarring you from your sleep, the words comfort your ears in some strange way, like warmth itself uttered despite not even being sure that you're actually awake, actually hearing them — the dipping on the other side of the bed, however, doing a much better job of making you aware of the fact that this is, in fact, real life and not a dream. Groggy and attempting to bring yourself to cohesion, you roll onto your other side beneath warm blankets — the light from the morning, or early afternoon, which ever it is you can't be too sure just yet, shining through barely pulled apart, black out blinds.

The first thing you notice being how unfamiliar the man smells to you.

Hair damp and gently sticking to his forehead — evidence of a shower taken prior to visiting you, it's something that you've sort of made peace with, gotten used to.

But you've been to Yunho's enough to know that this isn't what his shampoo smells like.

Of course it's not fair for your chest to twist the way it does at the realization, Yunho's hand coming up to delicately press strands of your hair away from your face with a smile before leaning towards you and planting a kiss to your exposed forehead.

“I brought breakfast.”

Your lips curling upwards, a reaction that you can't help in relation to the kindness that your boyfriend extends to you, you're reminded of all of the ways and reasons that you feel for him, and even now, stay with him.

You figure no one's perfect, after all. We all have our faults.

And some of them, you share.

“Mom let you in?” you whisper, voice laden with sleep heaviness as you stretch arms out above you. you already know the answer, because your mother adores him and is ecstatic every time the man makes the effort to show his face around.

“Of course,” he chimes with another toothy smile, proud of himself for the accomplishment in having won over your parents. “Brought them something, too.”

Sitting up in bed slowly, nothing but a loose tank top and panties clinging to your body, you finally glance out and towards your computer — screensaver touting a comforting time of the day for you to see; 9:22, and you're happy that you haven't overslept despite still being tired from being out so late the night before.

Line of thought serving as a reminder of the activities also having taken place.

“We don't have to rush down,” Yunho adds as his hand begins it's slow journey between the sheets and beyond that, between your legs. Long, thin fingers dipping underneath your panties and wasting no time finding their mark between your folds — you sigh into the touch, and you'd be lying if you had attempted to tell yourself you weren't craving some release after the activities of only a handful of hours prior.

Perhaps fucked up on a number of levels, willing to give Yunho the pleasure of getting you off as a result of Hongjoong's hard work earlier.

But that also kind of does it for you, as well.

It flashes across your mind briefly, knowing but not knowing Yunho's whereabouts while you were out and about with Hongjoong, so maybe it was what you deserved — someone's sloppy seconds — melting into the touch your boyfriend offers as he shifts over and between your legs, pulling the sheets from you and beginning the hasty work of his pants button. You reach up, hands gripping at his black t-shirt to pull him down and against you as he barely catches himself with a palm against the mattress before crushing you — both of you laughing against each other lips at the clumsiness of just wanting to feel the other in a rush with little time at your disposal — Yunho kisses you like there's no time at all before dipping down towards your neck and sucking into the sensitive skin just below your ear.

“Lemmie fuck you with your panties on,” he whispers, finally freeing his cock from his pants just enough to grant him the ability to take you.

“Please,” you whine, his fingers already pulling at the sides to give himself access before your answer even rings out from between your lips — the scent of where ever it was that he had been now overwhelming your senses, it feels so bizarre how your body physically reacts to it — the knowledge of him being in places or arms where he shouldn't dare be and now coming back to you — tip of his length already pushing into you with a heavy exhale from both and bottoming out fast despite his length and your lack of prep, it's something that you've never quite gotten used to even after all of these times together, and especially in the circumstances of a quickie.

But god did you want it bad right now.

“Fuck, you feel so good,” another admission from him straight against your ear — breaths hot and humid on your skin, your eyes clamp shut at the feeling of being so filled by him just as he makes his first withdraw and push back inside of you — a hard, rough, snap of his hips that has you reeling and moaning out for him already.

This was typically how you and Yunho worked out your problems.

A few minutes down, your hands wrapped into your boyfriends hair, you whimper against his neck to fuck you harder, and feeling the nearly sinister curl of his lips you know he's happy to oblige the request — two, three harsher fucks into you, Yunho quickly slips the hand not supporting his weight over you down and between your legs to rub into your clit harshly to get you to cum around him.

“Yeah baby, cum for me,” he whispers into your ear, words cut up and jerked out from the own movement of his body. “Cum with me baby, I'm close.”

“Fuck, Yunho—“

Whining out for him as your muscles clench around him, orgasm taking you with the help of his handy work and his words (and perhaps a bit of the memory of Hongjoong cumming down your throat a few hours prior), you cum hard — hands coming down to grip into his shoulders, Yunho pulls up to fuck you harder and faster as he chases his own just behind you — the evidence of your nails digging into his clothed skin evident across his features as a splash of pain flashes across — but it's only seconds later that he groans, burying himself almost painfully deep inside of your cunt as he paints your walls with his release — then two more lazy, shallow thrusts into you before gently lying himself atop your torso with a heavy, contented, sigh.

For whatever reason, it's times like this especially that you want to ask him where he was.

Why he has to go elsewhere — if it's you, him, or a culmination of the two that causes him to do the things he does.

When you hear your phone vibrate on your nightstand just as Yunho slips out of you and pushes himself back inside of his pants, you know it's Hongjoong.

“When are you going to break up with that guy, anyways?”

Not the ideal first thing to hear upon meeting up with your best friend, but not surprising, either, after the events of the night before.

Setting your bag down on an empty chair at the table, Chaerin watches you intently with her arms crossed in front of her chest, one eyebrow perked up as if somewhat judging even though you know she doesn't, not really.

Both of you in lazy t-shirts and jeans, a far cry from the bit of dress up each of you tend to play when it comes to car related events, you realize it's become rare that the two of you meet this casually — with how busy both of you are with your respective lives.

“Nice to see you, too,” you chime back sarcastically as you sit yourself down at the table. grabbing towards a menu, Chaerin pops her hand out to stop you from taking it.

“I already ordered, don't change the subject!”

“I hardly think ordering food at a restaurant is changing the subject...”

“You know he's cheating on you.”

Hearing the words sting, but not as much as they would if you weren't doing the exact same thing, you guess.

Clearing your throat uncomfortably and looking around in an attempt to find any prying eyes or ears that may be listening in on your conversation, you lean across the table towards your friend with a sigh. “I don't know that, Chaerin.”

Sitting back in her chair with a huff, the blonde rolls her eyes. “Give me a break, you're smarter than that, you know. You're fine with it?”

“I mean, I don't know.”

“Beyond that, he treats you like shit anyways, what the fuck was all of that last night? Just abandoning you at the meet?”

“I knew plenty of people there who could take me home,” you quietly offer as argument, much to Chaerin's dismay.

“Gotta be honest with you,” she starts, eyes pulling away from you momentarily as if unsure of the right way to go about the rest of the conversation. “I don't think he really cared all that much about whether you did or not. Let your ex take you home so he could go fuck some other—“

“Chaerin—“

“I'm just saying.”

Silence befalling the table just as wait staff arrive with the previously ordered food, you exhale heavily at the sight of everything sprawled out in front of you, and the suffocating knowledge of everything just discussed.

Hardly much for making an appetite.

“I need to tell you something,” you pipe up suddenly, and much to your friends surprise. you watch as her eyes slowly pull towards your own, waiting for the bomb you have to drop, and boy, is it a doozy, too.

“I've...I've actually been—“

“Oh, what the fuck, hey.”

Once again, piped up out of no where, and you're sort of beginning to curse living in such a small city where so few restaurants reign as the supreme places to go — you already know who awaits your eyesight before ever turning towards him, but it's the sight of him dressed in his Spiral gear that is what takes you by surprise more than anything.

That, and the fact that you were just about to tell Chaerin about your ongoing involvement.

“Now, why are you everywhere?” Chaerin greets with a smile before playfully nodding in your direction. “You stalking your ex?”

“She's got enough problems without the whole crazy ex-boyfriend thing, i'll spare her the trouble,” Hongjoong snorts just before sitting himself into another empty chair at your table.

It's awkward — because you feel as though everyone knows a secret but it can't be spoken. Perhaps that is the case, after all. Too many secrets.

“She was just about to tell me something and now you came and ruined it, thanks a lot,” your friend jokes just before scooping a fork full of meat into her mouth. Hongjoong turns to glance at you — as if knowing fully well what it was that you were about to disclose to the woman — and with a devilish grin and an elbow on the table to cradle his chin: “Oh really? Do tell.”

He definitely knows.

“It's...nothing. Girl talk.”

You make the decision to bring your hands into your lap, for fear of them visibly shaking should you bring them up to eye sight.

“I'm sure it is,” he replies with a tone that you can only describe as knowing. “Anyways, just picking up food for the guys down at the shop — Seonghwa's been working nonstop on the car for tomorrow so he can be ready to beat your shitty little boyfriend.”

Chaerin laughs, a woman with no particular horse in the race aside from hating that man, and with Hongjoong standing back up, you send him off with a hello for Seonghwa in particular.

A race planned for over a month now, and not one that you've been looking forward to, either. Yunho doing what he does — challenging drivers from opposing teams to races for their pink slips, and it's unsurprising that anyone from Spirals would ever turn down the opposition — if you get challenged by Emperors, you have to accept.

Not accepting is as good as losing, anyways.

You wonder why it is that neither Yunho nor Hongjoong have ever challenged one another — bringing it up one evening over a couple of beers with your partner, and Yunho's only answer being that he doesn't even want Hongjoong's 'shitty RX-7.'

The irony being, of course, that Hongjoong and Seonghwa drive the same make.

Phone vibrating from your pocket shortly after Hongjoong leaves, you pull it from your jeans to illuminate the screen and view the notification gracing the lockscreen.

>Aunty H: gonna tell your bestie you're still getting dick on the side? she'd probably be thrilled lmao

Looking up towards your friend across the table for a split second before unlocking your phone to reply — as if she somehow has the ability to know what it is that the man said to you from the back of your device, you feel as though every eye in the entire world rests on you in this moment. Perhaps not the best time for this conversation, after all.

>You: I don't like keeping the secret from her, idk. she hates Yunho for it when i'm doing the same thing.

Hongjoong begins typing back so quickly you believe him to simply be sitting in his car in the parking lot just outside to have this conversation in the moment.

>Aunty H: she hates Yunho because he's a piece of shit and on top of that he can't keep it in his pants either. not the same. speaking of, I want to see you tomorrow night after the race

>You: I told you I have plans with Yunho

>Aunty H: you fuck him since last night?

Rolling your eyes, you pause for a moment to think over your response. It's really none of his business, but given the circumstances — suppose everyone's sexual whereabouts be everyone else's business.

>You: don't do that

>Aunty H: i'll see you saturday

It doesn't feel good, the circumstances you've allowed yourself to fall into, but at the same time — the promise of what Saturday night may hold — after the sounds of tires screeching and adrenaline pumping through every vein subsides, what either man may have in store for you, depending on how the evening turns out.

And perhaps, it's time to get it the fuck together and make an actual decision, too.

More than anything, it's the familiar scent of exhaust, fuel, and burnt rubber that you've come to find comforting, a sense of home in the strangest sense.

Dozens of cars lined up on the outside of the road — a long, winding trail of only two lanes, one each way — that is tonight’s destination. a sheen of wetness on the ground from rain much earlier on in the evening, not ideal driving circumstances for most, but for the more experienced drivers — the ones that experience an even higher thrill from the danger, the unexpectedness of it — it's ideal. Hongjoong specifically, touted as a master of the pin hair corner drift, and especially out of Spirals, you know it to be precisely the sort of weather that he wishes to be racing in.

But tonight isn't his night, it's his best friend, Seonghwa's.

A tall, beautiful man with long, black hair and often clad in all black leather, black jeans, and his hair tied up into a half ponytail — he's far from the kind of person most would expect to find at a place like this — currently bent in half and over the engine of his matte black RX-7 making the finishing preparations for his race against your main squeeze.

With the leader of the crew standing just beside him, of which you are well acquainted.

And on nights like this, you belong to Emperors.

Race nights turn into strictly 'friendship aside' events, at least, once Yunho and Emperors started coming around. A group of street racers all intermingling and enjoying one another's company once before, now heavily segregated and pushed apart — the need to choose sides becoming apparent once Emperors began racing people for their cars, and subsequently, Spirals member and long time friend of Hongjoong's, Jongho, losing his to Mingi.

So now, as you with Yunho to your side pass by Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and the rest of Spirals with your own little band of Emperors tagging just behind, a few glances are all that are exchanged between the lot of you, with eyes between you and your ex lingering just a bit longer than some may even notice at a glance.

Yunho's hand slipping down from around your shoulders to your waist only to linger there for a moment before trailing down and to your ass — right in Hongjoong's line of vision, you snap your head up and towards your boyfriend to tell him off for far from the first time for such a grievance—

Only to find his attention far from you, and rather, on that of the man who only a few months prior called you his own, himself.

Following the tall man to his vehicle and settling yourself against the side of it as he settles himself inside of the drivers seat, you spare yourself the bother of looking him in the eye to reprimand him for the behavior, simply looking out and towards the scene before you of people laughing, enjoying themselves — people with nothing to lose tonight, only here to enjoy a show, and hopefully, everyone making it out in one piece.

“How many times do I have to tell you—“

“Yeah yeah, I know, why's it such a big deal to you? a lot of women would like having me show them off, ya know.”

“Yeah? a lot of women?” you say with a snide bite to your tone, finally turning to face him. “Guess you'd know, wouldn't you?”

Raising his eyebrows in surprise at the retort, Yunho pauses before curling his lips into a smirk. “Anything else, princess? I've got shit to do tonight, like take your little pals' friends' car.”

“Why do you have to be like that with him? With them?”

As much of a surprise as it is to Yunho — the sudden aggressiveness to you that you never having displayed towards him before for all of his transgressions — it's just as much a surprise to yourself. Knowing fully well that the outcome of enough of this could easily result in the dissolution of your relationship with the man.

And you wonder, if that's a price you're willing to pay. You also wonder, if this is effectively you slamming your hand down on the self-destruct button.

“I'm not being like anything,” he snaps back, ignition of his car roaring on and gently pushing you out of the way so that he can shut his car door. “Back where I'm from, anywhere where people actually race, people drive for pink slips all of the time. Those are the stakes. It's not my fucking problem that everyone here wants to play carebears and rainbows and no one actually wants to drive.”

“You're such an asshole, you know that? Why can't you just fit in? Assimilate? Why does everything have to be about your fucking ego all of the time?”

“Well babe,” he sighs, pressing his car into drive and effectively communicating to you that the conversation is over — something that you're well aware of already with calls for the drivers to come to the front lines. “You wanted to be with me, and you still are, so what does that say about you?”

Silence takes you, chewing on the inside of your lip — you do wonder.

“Get your attitude in check by the time the race is over,” he adds just before rolling off. “I have a much better use for your mouth in mind than all of this bullshit.”

With that, your boyfriend slowly rolls off and towards the starting line, glancing over and across the cement, you watch as Hongjoong pulls up from Seonghwa's drivers side window for his friend to carry on doing the same, and as if feeling your gaze upon him, turns to meet eyes with your own.

It's ill-advised to be seen mingling in a place like this, during a night like this, so instead, you're barred to stolen glances through midnight fog and cigarette smoke.

Stepping up with your jacket clutched inwards towards your chest, you stand alongside another Emperors driver, Yeosang — a shorter guy with a wicked birthmark adorning his face — as Seonghwa and Yunho meet up at the starting line in the dead of night, awaiting the referees announcements to begin preparation. First, it's a rundown of the rules for the race; very little of them, given that it is illegal street racing, but effectively boiling down to 'don't intentionally do things that put you or others at higher risk of injury or death,' then it's how the countdown to start will begin shortly. You meet eyes with Yunho — the car closest to you — a stare cold and disinterested and lacking any emotional care for you at all, so when he pulls his eyes away and back towards the wet road ahead of him, your eyes wander further out and towards Seonghwa, who also greets you.

A silent nod that the two of you share, as if agreeing on a preferable outcome for the evening.

The truth is that Jeong Yunho's reputation certainly be fitting of him: a good driver, skilled, and with a fast car, at that.

Seonghwa was good, great, even — but technically outmatched — and part of the evil that shrouded Emperors reputation, as well. A sort of 'pick on someone your own size' mentality certainly lost on them.

Yunho had never challenged Hongjoong, and for that, many thought there to be a reason.

With the buzzer sounding for the impending countdown, your hands gripping the steel of the barrier erected between the viewers and the street in front, you inhale sharply the scent of the dewy night sky, and all in all, can only hope for each of them to make it out in one piece.

Then, the familiar scent of a certain cigarette evading your senses.

Three, two, one, go.

Tires screeching, the two pull off lightning quick, and you're disappointed in the fact that from where you stand, you'll see very little of it until the end — people already beginning to move towards the finishing line to have the perfect view of the outcome, you feel the familiar presence of not one, but two people coming up on either side of you: Chaerin, and Hongjoong, naturally.

“You're late,” you nod to your friend, her nodding in response.

“Purposefully, I don't need to watch Emperors all circle jerk each other off pre-race, seen it enough times as it is.”

Hongjoong snorts at the comment from the other side of you before taking a drag of his already lit cigarette as it sits between freshly painted fingers.

“What do you think?” you ask him, tone lower and less playful than the one you had just had with Chaerin a moment ago. The man hums, looking up and into the night sky before stepping back again with intent to head towards the finish line as well.

“Yunho will probably win,” he states, matter of a fact. “But it's fine, we have cars. Paint job on his was expensive though so that'll probably hurt.”

“He has a lot of money in that car,” you sigh disappointingly, and Hongjoong nods. “Yeah, he does.”

“We should go,” Chaerin chimes with a nudge into your arm.

The thought of Yunho taking, and taking from the people and places that mean so much to you without giving much of anything back weighing heavier and heavier on your heart and soul with each passing day, you find.

Seonghwa figures that for a race like this, the fact that it's an uphill track works out in his favor — with the roads wet and gravity defying, top speeds peak relatively low, which means that despite Yunho having far more time and money into his car, what it will really come down to is skill, and knowledge — two things that the man with the ponytail feels he has leaps and bounds of over his opponent. a course he's done countless times, and Yunho, only a handful since moving here, it lends itself to being the course that people test, especially when it comes to the hairpin drift.

It's Hongjoong's favorite, too.

Hitting the shift and snapping his car forward with Yunho just behind, the two take the first turn — not an especially difficult one, but Seonghwa notices that already he feels the road give way a bit beneath his vehicle at the speed in which he's driving as he momentarily loses the back end of the car — it's not a loss, nothing that his opponent can gain on having immediately straightened out for a bit just past it — but Seonghwa takes note of the fact regardless, being well aware of the kinds of twists and turns that await them just a bit further up the road.

For Yunho, however, the turn is of little concern to him, happily trailing behind his opponent for the time being as he grins at the sight of the much lesser experienced driver just ahead of him lose it in the tail end of the corner. 'A good sign,' he thinks to himself, not that he was worried to begin with — considering this to be just another easy win for his team to collect under their belts.

The next corner proves to be much tighter, and much more difficult to navigate — for Seonghwa, at least. Slamming his shift to hit the drift at just the precise moment, heart leaping into his chest as he steals a second to stare back into his rear view mirror to check on how Yunho is handling it, it gives him little comfort watching the way that Yunho navigates the track with his vehicle, and with a lump in his throat, slams his shift once again for the next oncoming turn — a hard right following the previous hard left — and with it being a relatively short track with no long straightaways after the last hairpin corner for Yunho to gain on him with an objectively faster and more powerful car, if he can manage to avoid allowing his opponent the space to overtake in one of the turns, or worse, lose control of his car and give Yunho the race for free — that it should be an easy win for the man on Team Spirals.

Shifting gear, Seonghwa slams on the break just enough to hit his drift just right, this time not losing the back end at all — a comforting sign, glancing back at the EVO behind him and still trailing — a short straight drive before the last sharp left, and subsequently the end of the race — this being the make or break of the entire competition.

Shifting again to hit his drift — tires screeching and the smell of burning rubber carrying so heavy in the air that surely everyone waiting at the top of the mountain can feel the heaviness of the impending end, Seonghwa glances back again to look towards the tall man with the dark, red hair in his rearview mirror—

But this time, he finds no one there looking back at him.

Panic settling hard and fast into his chest, the man looks over to his side, Yunho now having crept up just next to him on the same drift — unaware of how it is that he's able to gain on a hairpin turn such as this one but without the ability to think much of it now — and sure, through numerous races between he and Hongjoong on this very same track, it's not unheard of, and has happened before.

But tonight, of all nights.

Yunho looking over at the panicking driver with a cool and collected demeanor as he slams his shift to carry a straighter drive just a second faster than Seonghwa — the man can't help but let out an exasperated 'fuck!' to no one as he follows suit but all too late in the grand scheme of things — seconds of drive feeling like a collection of years in the moment and the outcomes resulting the same, all it takes it one second — and in situations such as this one, it's the Emperors leader Jeong Yunho who effortlessly shows his skill, precision, and experience. all within one seconds time.

Coming out of the turn, the lights from the awaiting crowd in full view as Yunho rips forward and ahead of Seonghwa who only straightens out his own vehicle just after — and in less than ten seconds, the race is over as the both of them cross the finish line.

Trying to temper your frown at the result, and pulling away from Hongjoong before Yunho can catch you in his eyesight of being with the man, you notice the way he chews on the inside of his cheek contemplatively — disappointed, but not surprised.

As you make your way through the crowd and towards your boyfriend — stepping tall and proud from his vehicle with a smug grin on his face as if the entire world rest in his palm, it's a bubbling feeling of disgust, and maybe even resentment that starts to churn within you at the sight of him.

The cheers from other Emperors members and fans alike ringing through your ears, too loud, too obnoxious to stand listening to for too long, Yunho catches sight of you before you have a chance to duck out of the group of people, stepping forward and taking you by the hand to pull you towards him and into a kiss for the people to see.

When he finally releases you, you catch eyes with Hongjoong in the back of the standing people — cigarette dangling between pretty lips and eyes rolling as he turns back to console the loser of the race.

“Problem, Chief.”

The words come from Mingi — driver, racer, mechanic and closest friend of Yunho's, so you know it's not good when the both of you quickly turn your attention to the man with his attention hard pressed into the windshield of your boyfriends car.

“Man, come on, what now!” Yunho whines as he steps around and next to his friend to view whatever it is that is the issue.

Pointing a finger towards a large crack in the glass — spanning from the bottom right corner all of the way up to nearly the center, Mingi doesn't even really have to say it before the red head starts groaning with his head tossed back. “Give me a fuckin' break.”

“You didn't notice?” Mingi asks with a bit of a chuckle, as if completely unsure how that could be, but Yunho shrugs. “I heard something hit it but I just thought it was a small rock, I didn't think it would be all of this.”

“You can't drive it like this, we'll have to bring it back to the shop tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, I know,” your boyfriend groans again, the largest inconvenience in the world now being presented just before him. “Good thing I just gained a new car, I guess.”

It sends chills down your spine, only now being reminded of exactly what it was that was on the line for this race.

With a sinister tone and a single corner of his mouth upturning, Mingi chuckles. “Better go collect, then.”

Slinging an arm up and around your shoulders a bit more roughly than you would have liked, Yunho leans down just a bit to plant a kiss on the top of your head as he pulls you forward and towards the group of Spirals only a few feet away.

“Just another pretty little thing I get to take from these bums.”

The words twisting your stomach into knots all over again, there had always been a sneaking suspicion deep within your soul that somewhere in there, at the end of the day, there was no respect for you, no love for you, nothing genuine at all.

Just another possession that Yunho wished to acquire, as he had been his entire time there.

Shouting out and towards the grouping of guys, Seonghwa leaning with his back against his car and quite evidently to you trying to play his loss cool — you've known him long enough to know how much he loves that car, and how badly it stings for him to lose it.

You hate to see it, and more than that, you hate to see it be lost to Emperors.

“You cracked my windshield, fuckboy,” Yunho shouts — the tone is playful, but it's more fuel to the fire you can tell from the way Hongjoong's jaw tightens as he clenches it in an attempt to be a good sport about the whole ordeal. “Time to pay up, I need to get me and the girl home, after all.”

“Yeah,” Seonghwa sighs, turning to lean into his car and popping the dashboard compartment to retrieve the title, it's then that the sound of Hongjoong stepping up from the side can be heard.

“What can I do to keep Seonghwa's car?”

At first a sweeping moment of silence, before a crashing sound and what you can only imagine to be Seonghwa slamming his head against his dash in shock at the proclamation by his friend as the man hisses and is found to be rubbing the back of it upon pulling himself out of the side of the vehicle — but with short silver hair and similarly short in stature — especially compared to your boyfriend, Hongjoong stands firm in front of the man, arms crossed in front of his chest as he awaits a response.

Yunho looking at him with one quirked eyebrow before glancing down towards you with a lopsided grin, he looks back up at Hongjoong through eyelashes before delivering his short-thought response.

“Kind of bad form to beg me not to take my spoils, don't you think?” he asks smugly. “Kind of pathetic, ya know?”

“You don't need it, you guys only drive EVO's anyways, who cares.”

“Hardly the point,” he says, matching Hongjoong's stance as he pulls from you and crosses his arms to stand straight — and even taller — in front of your ex. “We had an agreement, and I won fair and square, the car is mine.”

“What, so you can rip it for parts?” Hongjoong asks.

“No, so I can trash it where it belongs.”

Snorting at the pissy response, the shorter of the two glances away for a second, chewing on the inside of his cheek again before turning back to carry on the conversation, but it's Seonghwa who interjects before he's able to.

“Hongjoong, it's fine, he won.”

“Actually, it's not,” he says, this time more pointed than his previous tone. “I don't think it is fine, actually, so what can I do to keep my mans car?”

Watching the three go back and forth causing anxiety to bubble up in your gut, unsure of the lengths in which any of the men are willing to go to in order to get their points across, you give it some thought yourself — if there's anything that you can do to settle this situation between all of them yourself. the person with the most dealings with all parties involved, now standing by on the sidelines as the two teams attempt to hash it out — and not well, at that, your mind races in an attempt to come to an answer, but before you're able, you feel the discomforting gaze of your partner raining down on you from just above, all before any words even leave his mouth.

“Well babe, what do you think? Should we let the poor guy keep his ratty ol' car?”

You know a set up when you see it — or in this case, when you hear it.

Glancing towards Hongjoong, his eyes pull away almost immediately, you figure as to not attempt to pressure you into making a decision one way or another — and not knowing how much weight your decision holds, that earlier anxiety continues creeping up through your chest, and into your throat.

You know that one thing is for sure: doing the right thing most certainly will come with consequences.

“Well?”

Inhaling slowly, deeply, you make your decision.

“Let Seonghwa keep the car.”

You try not to engage in eye contact with your boyfriend, knowing full well that his gaze remain laser focused on you especially now, but the curiosity getting the best of you as you glance upwards to meet angry, disappointed eyes — the strangest result of an expression of compassion awaiting you — Yunho hums just barely audibly before forcing a grin and looking back up and towards the Spirals members.

“Lady says fuckboy keeps his car, so fuckboy keeps his car.”

One part relieved at the outcome, one part surprised by your word carrying any weight with the man, and the last concerned about the result of this in regards to your relationship with Yunho, slinging an arm up and around your shoulder again, he hurries you off and away from the men.

But regardless of what happens now, you know that you've done the right thing — and maybe for once you'll be able to sleep well tonight.

“We're gonna go to the bar, wanna come?”

Yeosang's voice ringing out as the two of you step forward, Yunho abruptly pulls his arm from you as he carries forward and towards the friends glossy white EVO — and waving a hand up in the air, he bids you farewell in a turn of events that you find not all that surprising anymore.

“Get a ride home with your pals,” he rings out, tone venomous and contemptuous. “In the ratty old RX-7, all used up and past its prime—“ he scoffs as he opens the passenger side door.

“—Kinda reminds me of someone else I know.” He says, finishing the thought before sliding inside of the car and slamming the door shut.

The words don't hurt — not from him. It's an anticipated outcome from a calculated risk that you decided to take.

But they show the mans true colors all the same.

As you watch your boyfriend and his friends drive off to enjoy the rest of their victory evening without you — shooting you knowing glances all the while — you contemplate sending the text message then and there, the one ending your relationship with him once and for all. A break up via text, perhaps precisely what he deserves for his thoughtlessness towards you, anyways, but still extending yourself much further for him than perhaps the man would ever do for you.

Save it for another day, and try to enjoy the rest of your evening.

Sauntering back over towards Spirals, Chaerin now joining the fray, she looks up at you from beneath Seonghwa's popped hood — having been checking out his engine as you dealt with the disaster on the other side of the asphalt.

But as she flashes you with a wide smile, it's all the more indication that what you had done was right.

“You're in big trouble, aren't you?” She asks, already knowing the answer.

Sighing, you shrug. “Looks like I need another ride home tonight.”

Hongjoong popping up from the drivers side of Seonghwa's car, where the tallest man is sat and about ready to head off for the night and overhearing the conversation, he sends you a knowing look from across matte black paint that may now still remain in the company of his teammate, and all thanks to you.

With Chaerin and Seonghwa being the last two to drive off, and leaving only you and your ex-boyfriend at the top of the hill, you place your bag into the passenger side seat of Hongjoong's car before shutting the door and leaning against it with your chest — arms crossed along the top as you wait for the man on the other side to finish doing the same and come up to meet your eyes.

“Surprised you did it,” he says as he does, pulling at the collar of his leather jacket to loosen it just a bit. “Guess I don't have to ask if he's pissed since you're here.”

“Yeah,” you sigh, long since accepting of the outcome of the situation and having made peace with it. “He'll get over it.”

“Why's his car still here, anyway?”

“Crack in the windshield,” you reply with a shrug. “Karma, maybe.”

“Oh, definitely,” he chimes back with a snort. “Lemmie see this thing.”

The two of you walking back over towards Yunho's car, long since abandoned and awaiting it's rescue in the early morning hours (or not so early, depending on how the night out goes), you recall this being the exact spot where you and Hongjoong shared your first kiss — first romantic kiss — past the veil of a friends with benefits arrangement, more raw and exposed and knowing between you both; a much chillier night than this and much windier when he finally pulled you in for it with no other intentions beyond it, and the words that you had secretly been wanting to hear for weeks before then.

'I think we should just see each other, only, what do you think?'

“Oh man, that's a fuckin' doozy!”

High pitched laughter ringing through the night air and straight through the memory, effectively bringing you back to the present, your attention pulls back to Hongjoong, leaned over the side hood of Yunho's EVO to laugh at your boyfriends misfortune. “No wonder he was so hard up for Seonghwa's car, fuckin' scumbag.”

Meeting him at his side to take a look at the damage again, you smile at Hongjoong's joy in it, knowing it's well deserved, and most earned.

“Looks like I got you to myself tonight, after all.”

It's sort of a sudden change, the way his body shifts to pull away from the vehicle only enough to plant you further against it, and underneath him — arms on either side of you, caging you in with little option for escape from the man.

Not that you really wanted to, anyway.

Hongjoong leans in towards your face, lips grazing the skin of your cheek on their way towards your ear — the contact sending a shiver down your spine — some bizarre taboo of being held like this by him against such a prized possession of your boyfriends — but suppose that makes two of them, now well within Hongjoong's grasp currently.

“Have the keys?”

For a second you wonder what he's referring to, before it dawns on you that he's referring to the car, and with a shake of your head to protest. “No, only Mingi has another set.”

“Damn,” he whispers against the shell of your ear as a hand dips down and makes its way between your legs to palm at you. “That's okay, we can make due.”

Devilish in tone, you melt into the touch as he begins pulling at the buttoning of your jeans, face turning upwards and pulling your mouth into his — his tongue tasting of cigarette and coffee in anticipation of a long night ahead, you happily lean into it as your arms sling up and around his neck to pull him harder against you.

Shimmying your pants down your legs, he pulls away from your mouth only long enough to slink down to free one of your feet from the restrictive clothing, hiking your leg up and around his hip as he comes back up to meet your mouth for the second round of devouring you — cool metal greeting your behind as he presses you harder against the vehicle, you moan into his mouth as a finger presses into you slowly, one hand from around his neck falling back and against the car to steady yourself better for what it is that's soon to take place.

A second finger in, slowly prying you open for his cock, Hongjoong's mouth pulls away to trail down your neck, latching onto the skin just below your chin to suck a mark into it.

Just another doing of his that you'll have to cover up, like all of the ones before it. Perhaps if you were smarter, you'd tell him to avoid doing such things.

But frankly, that's not something you want, either.

“Wanna fuck you,” he groans into your skin, a whimper escaping you in response to the admission. Fingers pulling from you to work into his own jeans, you allow your head to fall back to take in the moment — the beautiful night sky, the light breeze, and the lingering scents of the nights earlier goings on. only a few seconds granted to you before you feel the familiar prodding of the tip of him pushing inside of you through the sound of his belt buckle jingling through the air.

“Kiss me,” you whisper out, Hongjoong wasting no time obliging the request as he brings his mouth up from your neck and to your lips, one hand gripping tightly into your thigh to keep it hoisted up his hip as he fucks you against the vehicle.

The angle certainly doing you favors, presenting the perfect ability for Hongjoong's cock to graze the perfect spot with every drive into you, free hand not used to keep yourself somewhat upright now buried into short, blonde hair — the man fucks you hard, but not particularly fast, every thrust seemingly deliberate in his desire to bring you to orgasm as quickly as possible.

Legs quaking around him as you cry out his name, clenching down around him as he fucks you through your orgasm, Hongjoong pauses kissing you long enough to pull from your lips enough to watch you intently as you cum around his dick — forehead pressed to your own as you moan and whimper through your release.

“Fuck me from behind.”

The demand spilling from your lips before you have a chance to think much of it, still reeling from your orgasm, no time lost in taking heed of it — pulling himself from you and turning you around to bend you over the cold metal of your boyfriends car before burying his cock inside of you again and settling into a much harder, quicker pace than before.

You feel him reach down for something briefly, without much thought to it, until you hear the sound of a lighter flickering, and the scent of freshly lit cigarette from behind you.

It's a little charming, in a hilariously degenerate way, you think.

“Rubbed off on you a little bit, huh?” he huffs out between thrusts, one hand settled on the small of your back while the other wraps around the dip in your waist. “Now who likes getting fucked in places they have no business getting fucked in?”

“Joong— feel so good, fuck—“ and it's hardly a response to the questions, although it sort of is with how exquisite the drag of his cock feels against your walls.

“Yeah, baby? Want me to make you cum again? Like me fucking you on your mans car?”

“Yes,” you manage to huff out, the air nearly fucked out of you with every hard push of himself against you.

Feeling the brief loss of one of his hands — presumably to finish off his cigarette and toss it to the side — he brings it back to gently snake up the length of your back, settling at the back of your neck and gripping fingers into the sides to continue his rhythm.

“Rub yourself for me,” Hongjoong whispers, voice faltering every so slightly at the creeping promise of his own release, and you waste no time bringing your dominant hand down and between your legs — first feeling for the way his cock stretches your pussy open with every push inside of you, enough in and of itself to get you that much closer to where you want to get to before circling fingers against your clit to bring yourself over the edge around him — groaning immediately at the feeling of you tightening around him with the additional stimulation, he fucks you that much harder.

Biting hard into your lip in an attempt to stifle your cries, Hongjoong notices, and much to his disapproval.

“No one can hear you, you can scream for me,” he groans, clearly and quickly reaching his own orgasmic inevitability. “Lemmie hear you, tell me how good it feels.”

The instruction does enough of the work, his desire to hear you cry out for him and how good he makes you feel as you cum hard — at the same time, Hongjoong's hips stuttering with a breathy moan of your name as he shoves his cock as deep into you as he can to cum — the throb of his release prolonging your own as you sound nearly pained by the feeling of a long, drawn out, second orgasm of the night.

An airy 'fuck' dropping from him as he attempts to steady himself, catch his breath after his release, Hongjoong only bends forward to lean himself against your back — gentle kisses peppered across your shoulder and back before he settles the side of his head down against you for a moment of reprieve.

As a gust of fresh, night air flushes by and across hot skin, when the words ring out through bitten, red, lips, you think for a split second that you're not sure which one of you they truly come from — long since having been hanging in the forefront of your mind, as it was.

'I miss you. Us.'

Over the next following weeks, you can't help but notice the acute way in which messages back from Hongjoong dissipate. You figure, at least to some degree, that the relationship between Spirals and Emperors having reached such a boiling point after the last race, that perhaps it's expected — that even in spite of your good deed in martyring yourself for Seonghwa's car, the fact that it ever even reached that point be reason enough to want to distance himself from you.

That's what you tell yourself, at least, ignoring the elephant in the room.

And as the days pass, you find your relationship with Yunho having also deteriorated in such a way that maybe you hadn't anticipated. Yes, you expected him to be mad about the dealing with Seonghwa, and yes, that had been something that you had factored in prior to making the decision — in thinking that with a few days to cool off, things might just go back to normal.

Not that normal was ever even that great, either.

So two weeks later, on a rainy Thursday night just two hours before the scheduled meet up — no races and no thrills given the weather — when Yunho texts you that he's coming over to talk, you're unsure of what to expect. Perhaps the dissolution of your relationship, the thought causing an expected twisting to the contents of your stomach.

Why, you're not sure. Would breaking up even really be that bad?

But suppose the ending of a relationship where there once had been love will always be hard.

Watching Yunho drag himself through the doorway of your bedroom, jacket almost certainly left at the front door of your home and bag slumping down to the floor with a thud, you watch as he avoids eye contact with you for the first few seconds of his arrival — fingers pushing through damp, rained upon hair to remove what's stuck to the skin of his forehead, he sighs heavily as he finally makes eye contact with you — but doesn't press himself further inside of the bedroom, either.

Awkwardness so tangible, it's the first time that you think you've ever seen him in such a bizarre state — not so astoundingly full of ego and grandeur but rather, somewhat impish as a result of whatever it is that he came here tonight to say.

“We should talk.”

Voice deep but almost cracking through the abruptness of the words, it takes you quite a bit back as once again his eyes dart from you — knots tightening in your abdomen at the sight of your boyfriend just before you.

You can't find it in you to respond to him, waiting for the pin to drop, instead.

“You can't spend time with Spirals anymore.”

Wait, what?

You don't say it, not verbally at least, and you suppose you twist of your features in near disgust says everything that it needs to as Yunho rolls his eyes at the quiet display of you before him.

“Don't really want you hanging out with that bitch Chaerin, either, but i'm willing to compromise.”

“'Willing'?” you mirror back, shock laden in your tone. “You're telling me who I can and can't hang out with, now? I've known them all way longer than i've known you.”

“Yeah and I don't think that's doing you any favors,” he bites back, finally stepping towards you in a much stronger stride than the way he had entered. “The thing with Seonghwa was humiliating, you're my girlfriend, why the fuck are you going to bat for him? He lost.”

Scoffing, you reel at the fact that the argument is taking place at all with how asinine it is to you.

“This is stupid, you can't tell me who I can spend time with.”

“I can and I will.”

Standing up from the edge of your bed and pushing past him, you swiftly grab your phone and keys from your nightstand on the way out before turning back to him for the final blow.

You pause, having to think twice before delivering it.

“You feel big, Yunho?” You start, contempt heavy in your voice towards him with eyes equally narrow and cutting. “You feel brave only racing people who aren't on your level? Is that why—“

Pausing again, you watch the mans eyes widen at the beginning of the implication, stepping towards you again. “Say it! Say what you were going to say!”

“—that why you never challenged Hongjoong?”

You turn again to leave, but not before long fingers wrap around your arm to stop you. Not especially aggressive or violent but enough to have your heart beating through your chest at the implications — a man putting his hands on you during a heated argument — You still anyways, just in case.

You don't think Yunho would hit you, but frankly, you're not entirely sure, either.

The two of you locking eyes, rage and disdain painting each one of your faces as you stare each other down, Yunho lets go of you almost just as quickly as he had grasped a hold.

And probably regretting it just as much, too.

“See yourself out,” you say just before turning to leave again, and when Yunho asks you where you're going, the only details you grace him with are “out.”

“He put his fucking hands on you?”

The voice rings out from Chaerin — shrill and shrieky through the echoing walls of the mechanic shop, previously rolled up beneath her forest green RX-8 — but quickly wheeling herself out from under it at the sound of the words leaving your mouth.

Hongjoong only a few more feet away; leaned back in a tattered rolling chair that's certainly seen better days and boots kicked up onto a desk that's now used for very little besides holding water bottles and the occasional wrench — as he attempts to dig out oil from underneath a fingernail with a switchblade he adds commentary of his own. “The guy's a piece of shit, got half a mind to slash his fucking tires right in front of his face tonight.”

“Don't bother,” you sigh. “He didn't hurt me, he wasn't violent, but yeah—“

“A man putting his hands on you in any way during an argument is violent,” Chaerin states clearly as she walks towards you to pull you into a hug. “I'm sorry, my love.”

“I'm okay, seriously.”

“You've got to leave him,” the blonde woman adds after your affirmation of being alright with the circumstances. “I mean, this can't keep going on. It was already bad but things are just getting worse, and worse at this point. The cheating, the controlling behavior, now getting physical with you...”

You can't help but glance to your far right towards Hongjoong in an attempt to assess the way that he's intaking the information, but the man appears to be outwardly unbothered — still picking apart the underside of his fingernail with little more to say on the situation.

“We can find you a nice guy,” your best friend says with a smile and a certain cheekiness to her.

“Like Hongjoong.”

First it's a crashing sound, followed by a pointed 'fuck' and turning to follow where the sounds had come from, the sight before you being your ex planted back to the floor, wheels of his chair having given out from beneath him — and a nasty gash in the tip of his finger from the knife once toyed with.

“Are you okay?” you ask, relatively unbothered by the sight before you as Chaerin jogs off to retrieve the first aid kid.

“What's wrong with your friend?”

“How much time do you have?” you chuckle, implication of 'a lot' heavy in the answer. A playful huff from the man following as the blonde woman arrives back with a large enough bandage for the wound and something to disinfect it.

“Someone's jittery.” She says with a knowing grin, which Hongjoong pointedly avoids looking at.

“I drink a lot of coffee.”

“Why did you guys break up, anyway?”

As silence befalls the mechanic shop, you slowly glance towards the woman next to you, flashing a look that says a thousand words in and of itself, but most importantly being: what are you doing right now?

Chaerin mouths “what?” back to you, as if Hongjoong isn't lying just in front of the both of you and fully capable of seeing the display before him, he finally rolls his eyes with a huff — more than exhausted of the situation already.

“Her parents hated me, okay?” he begins, wincing as the tight bandage wraps around his open wound. “Guess I look a little too much like a guy who does illegal street racing for fun and has a DUI.”

Silence again, and you think for a moment that perhaps Hongjoong's admission a bit too raw and unfiltered for what Chaerin had anticipated — a teasing that had begun rather lighthearted, now seemingly serving as a tool for the mans emotional release. It's not much, but for someone who doesn't talk about his feelings all that much, you know how much it really is, and from the way the words sound on the edge of broken by the end of the sentence, most definitely coming from a place of genuine hurt.

“Well,” she begins, and you figure that she's doing it out of a feeling of obligation — the need to respond to something so open and honest, to not leave him hanging. “Parents can be wrong—“

Her eyes now switching to flash to you as she says it.

“—but anyways, it's a good thing there's no races tonight because that's probably gonna hurt like a bitch for a couple of days. I'd recommend staying off of it and not—“

“We never stopped sleeping together.”

It's Hongjoong that you look at first — the man sucking his bottom lip in between his teeth and eyes widening at the words as he slowly turns to look at you with a face that asks 'right, what's all this, then?' and after, it's Chaerin that you glance towards — hers not all that different from Hongjoong's, although you think that if you look hard enough, you can see a sense of having already suspected as much through her features.

If she had thought as much, she keeps it to herself, opting instead to clear her throat and yank Hongjoong back up to his feet with her as the three of you stand up from the concrete floor.

“Never stopped as in...?” She inquires, curious of the exact timeline in relation to Yunho.

“Think we stopped seeing each other for like—“ you pause to think as you glance towards your ex next to you, still relatively shell-shocked by the whole ordeal. You shrug and sigh simultaneously. “A week, after we broke up?”

“So, you've always...since Yunho...”

Lips pulled into a thin line as you're forced to admit such, you nod gently — far from proud of your misdoings, but acknowledging them all the same.

“Wow,” your friend chimes out, eyes wide still with the gathering of new information. Hands pressed to her hips as another layer of quiet wafts over the three of you — Hongjoong not dare speaking out of turn in events such as this — neither of you have to, not with Chaerin around.

“Thank god! It's what he fucking deserves. Fuck that guy.”

Laughing nervously, you understand where she's coming from, of course: as your best friend, and a friend of Hongjoong's much more so now than earlier, to know that Yunho has been repeatedly done wrong in such a way feels a bit like a breath of fresh air — an understanding that through everything that he's put everyone else through, there is still some semblance of justice — somewhere, somehow.

You don't necessarily agree with the feeling, guilt and disgusting swirling around deep in your chest every time you're forced to acknowledge the fact, but perhaps it's admitting to it out loud that will give you the strength to do something with it.

And everything else aside, you've wondered how much of Hongjoong's truth laid bare for you that night on top of the mountain with his confession to you.

The least that you can ask of Yunho — and everyone else involved, for that matter, is for one night where nothing goes wrong.

You're thankful that even in never verbally requesting of it, it seems as though the stars aligned themselves all the same — everyone on their best behavior, and a casual car meet night starting and ending without an argument, or otherwise nasty words exchanged.

The looks are unavoidable — Spirals, Chaerin and the like in Yunho's direction — something he most definitely picks up on yet chooses not to comment. Surprising, for him. A man that always has something to say, including and almost especially in circumstances where it's him that's in the wrong.

But tonight? Nothing.

You heed your boyfriends request: not really with intention of actually doing so, that is, allowing him to control who it is that you can and cannot have contact with, but rather to keep the evening smooth and mellow.

It was a conversation that would see reopening.

“Hey,” you whisper, hand reaching over the center console of his vehicle to wrap delicate fingers around his forearm. “We should talk.”

Putting the car into drive and waving off his friends just before pulling off, you study his face as he remains silent from just next to you — jaw tight and lips pressed thin as he stares ahead — it's as if he's driving, sitting entirely still in the emptying parking garage used as tonight’s meeting place.

Sighing, Yunho closes his eyes for a moment as if to collect himself. You brace for impact.

“I'm sorry.”

And you figure that surprising would be an understatement, eyebrows pushing together as you take in the words just as they left his mouth. Foot pressing to the pedal now as the car slowly drives the both of you off, the man sighs again. “I shouldn't put my hands on you. Not ever. I'm sorry.”

You sort of knew that it was well beyond the scope of what even he finds to be acceptable-assholery, not that it excuses the behavior, but an apology for the goings on feels the least surprising of all of the other potential things the man could have been issuing it for.

Controlling behavior is okay, but he draws the line at getting physical. Guess it's something.

Not enough, though.

“Yeah,” you quietly reply back, not wanting to absolve him of it, nor do you really wish to accept his apology for it. Forgiveness for some things feeling well beyond your scope — suppose it would file under unforgivable. Something that Yunho would have to make peace with on his own time.

“That why you were on your best behavior tonight?” You ask, tone playful but sort of meaning it, also.

Your boyfriend chuckles at the words as the car slows to a halt for a red light just ahead.

“Yeah, kind of,” he says quickly, not needing time to mull it over at all. “I feel bad, it's fucked up—“

Pausing, Yunho leans forward to look out and through his windshield towards something a bit up ahead before sitting back again and glancing to his side at you. “—Mind if I kidnap you for a bit?” he asks with a gentle smile.

Suppose Jeong Yunho serves as your own blind spot.

Car parked in a nearby, open, parking lot — only a handful of street lights illuminating the area, but enough so that it doesn't feel secluded — the man next to you sits back against his custom seat more comfortably, head resting back as well just before turning to face you and stretching his arm out now against the center of the vehicle towards you in and effort to request for your hand in his.

You oblige.

Inhaling heavily — you await the words that seem to linger just on his tongue, the vision of a man still thinking through every thought before allowing them to exit through his mouth — you wonder, if perhaps it's the first time of him having done so. Yunho, so quick with words and thoughtless actions and selfishness, now contemplating everything in a whole new way, a way that you think, perhaps, you've never seen from him before.

“You know I just want what's best for you, right?”

Yuck.

Words carrying into your ears and twisting deep inside your stomach as if doused with poison themselves, it's not at all what you had been hoping to hear: it's an explanation for him being the way he is — it's an implication that you should need him to help you make decisions, to act right, to be good for him, because certainly you're incapable of doing it yourself.

For whatever reason, the memories of when the two of you first started dating come flooding back to you. Holding hands while shopping and movie nights late at your place with your parents home (previously uncharted waters, but your mother liked him so much she allowed it for him), a hand on your thigh when he took you out for a ride in his car, but nothing too dangerous — the assumption that he wouldn't be able to live with himself should anything happen to you while with him.

When perhaps he was the danger itself all along.

But it makes it hard nonetheless. It's never easy when there is love there, memories there — a history. You cared for Yunho, in all of the ways that a girlfriend does, no matter how wronged or slighted or for how long — it's difficult sometimes, to do what's best for oneself when knowing it to be the severance of so many others.

“We should break up.”

But you have to, anyways. Above all else.

You choose to stare forward out of the windshield in front of you — a vivid recollection of the way Hongjoong had you not so long ago just there springing up and into the forefront of your mind as if some cruel reminder that you not be the saint you wish to paint yourself as — that you're not a victim in all of this, not completely.

With dark red hair in your peripheral vision, you see the man dip his head down.

Then delicately pull his hand from your own.

But Yunho opts out of a verbal response, instead using his newly freed hand to start the ignition of his car once again and toss it into reverse. Panic sets in, although, you're not entirely sure why.

“Yunho—“

“I heard you.”

A response curt and lacking any emotion beyond anger, you find it in yourself to finally look towards him fully — jaw clenched hard as you're so used to seeing on him, and eyes narrow with indignation.

Stilling the car again and jamming the shift into drive much rougher than he had been before, he begins pulling off and back onto the road — it's towards your home, that much you are thankful — but you don't imagine the ride there will remain this quiet, either.

“Why?” he asks suddenly, now driving a tad bit faster than before. It's nothing especially dangerous, but you note it all the same. Yunho doesn't give you time to answer, though, before adding onto the inquiry with another thought of his own. “Because I grabbed your arm?”

He sounds stressed, voice pitchier than usual given his typically smoother, deep tone — perhaps panicked at being faced with the dissolution of the relationship.

And just as you're about to answer him, he continues on again.

“Because of him?”

You know who he means without the dropping of the name.

“You can't tell me who I can and can't hang out with, Yunho—“

“You're choosing him over me? Over us? You already broke up with that fucking loser once, how many times do you have to do it before it sticks?”

“It's not about Hongjoong.”

Sort of a lie.

“Then it shouldn't matter that I don't want you hanging out with your stupid ass ex. You miss a guy with a fuckin' DUI? Are you stupid?”

Yunho's tone raising louder and louder, anger bubbling quickly in the confined space of the vehicle, you want nothing more than to be free from the clutches of being there with him.

Sure, you had anticipated the break up to not go over well, but perhaps it was heading into territory you weren't quite ready for.

It's then that the fuel light pops on on Yunho's dashboard — slamming his palm against the steering wheel in frustration at all of these circumstances culminating annoyingly at once, he cusses to himself under his breath before looking just up ahead and on the right for a gas station open.

But what really causes your heart to do a nose dive into your stomach, is the visual of Hongjoong's car pulled up to gas pump three.

“Well, would you look at that,” Yunho sing-songs sarcastically as he pulls in, a man with silver hair just exiting the shop with a bottle of water and keys in hand before briefly looking up just enough to notice the scene before him. “Perfect timing.”

And now you know that tonight is going to be a problem.

Pulling up to gas pump two, Hongjoong slows just to the side of his car before hopping into the drivers seat — as if having some sort of sixth sense of there being a problem — carefully eyeing the EVO as it stills to a halt on the other side of the median separating you.

When Yunho slams the shift into park, the only word exiting his mouth is “out.”

For once, you're thrilled to be taking his direction.

Hopping out of the car with quickness, you shoot Hongjoong a look that says 'there's a problem' that you know has him watching the situation even more intently as he eyes the taller of the two getting out of his vehicle. A loud slamming of his car door — much louder and rougher than he would ever handle his car under normal circumstances — you watch as your ex grits his teeth as Yunho steps towards the two of you and meets Hongjoong face to face with a grin.

Nodding his head towards you, Yunho speaks first. “Ya know this one just broke up with me.”

Hongjoong snorts through his nose at the words, never faltering in his eye contact with the man in front of him. “'Bout time.”

Brave, you think. If Yunho put hands on you then you know he's not above putting Hongjoong on his ass, either.

A slow blink concealing the roll of his eyes as he nods at the words, Yunho keeps his crooked grin plastered across his face. “Big talk for a guy going nowhere, with nothing — you think you're big 'cause you got the girl? Over my dead body.”

You don't know entirely what he means by that. Intention to pursue you in spite of it all? An unwillingness to let the relationship go? A cold chill firing through your blood at the implications of what it means, you warm slightly at the sound of the silver haired man just next to you laughing at the words as he digs into his pockets for his pack of cigarettes — unable to light it due to their current whereabouts.

Hongjoong's eyebrow quirking up at the words as he takes them in — it's a look that almost explicitly explains all of the ways in which he does not take the tallest of the two seriously, in any way. You find it almost comforting, that perhaps he knows something you don't, and thus, you have little to worry about — but with a man known for acting on impulse and making rather poor decisions, who can really tell.

“What're you gonna do?” he questions, cigarette lazily dangling between his lips. “Make her be in a relationship with you, stupid?”

Jaw tense, Yunho steps towards Hongjoong slowly — the movement spiking your anxiety, but cool as a cucumber, the man remains in place with his behind gently pressed against his car and arms folded across his chest.

“If I want something, then it's mine,” he whispers — tone oozing of smugness and superiority.

For the first time ever, you think that Yunho is letting the charade go in full — no more plausible deniability about him being ultimately good or right underneath it all. The real him. This is who he is.

Waving his hand in the warm, late night air, as if evidencing their surroundings to prove his point despite no one else being around. “Maybe you've noticed, with my little collection of your friends' useless tin cans.”

Knowing Spirals and Yunho's propensity to take from them, you know it's a sore spot for Hongjoong, so watching the way in which the leader only drops his chin down to his chest with a grin before cocking his head to the side and glancing back up at the tallest of the three of you — you're unsure of what to expect.

But Hongjoong being so cool about it is probably a bad sign, based on what you know.

“Funny,” he says finally, inhaling sharply before pulling his arms apart again to rifle through his keys for the one leading to his car.

“'Cause if that were true I wouldn't have been laying into her the whole time y'all were together.”

The result comes on quicker than you expect — a fast and strong right hook to Hongjoong's jaw sending him almost barreling across the side of his own vehicle at the contact — Yunho breathing heavily as he rubs at his sore and potentially broken set of knuckles. the man glancing at you and for a second, you worry if you may also meet the same consequence as your mouthy ex, but without a word, and red hair swaying in the wind, Yunho only turns to head back towards his car.

No longer in his sights, you rush over to Hongjoong, delicately touching the place of impact and checking for mobility as he opens and closes his mouth with a wince. “God, he hits like a pussy, too. Unbelievable.”

“Hongjoong.” You whine, because god forbid the man delivering the assault overhear the comment.

“Hey!” Hongjoong shouts, and if you had known him to wish to say more, you'd have done everything in your power to stop him, but with the words already out there, your eyes widen at him, a nonverbal plead to shut the fuck up.

“Race me next Saturday,” he yells, still awkward with his damaged jaw but confident and pointed all of the same. “Not someone in my crew, me. If I win, you leave her the fuck alone and you leave town. That's it.”

You can't see the man, only the sound of him having opened the car door to go off of in relation to his whereabouts, but you hear nothing from behind you for what feels like eons. Then...

“And if I win?”

Pausing to spit out blood and hopefully not a tooth accompanying it to the ground just between his black boots, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, the words come out far too confidently than you'd like them to, especially because you know him to have every intention of keeping his word.

“Then I leave. You get the car, the girl, the team, everything.”

A heavy gust of wind barreling through as silence overtakes the situation, silently pleading with Hongjoong through looks to not agree to this, to not go through with it — looks that you know the man to be purposefully avoiding in his reluctance to make eye contact with you as he asserts the deal — you don't feel any better knowing that the man is willing to put everyone on the line for you, or for whatever this is.

It's reckless, and it's dangerous, and there's got to be another way.

“See you next Saturday.” Yunho says with a tone so matter of a fact, before thrusting himself into his car and taking off just as fast.

When Saturday rolls around, it leaves you wondering where the time went between then and now.

Riding passenger side in Hongjoong's RX-7, you mull over the the happenings of the week leading up to now: countless hours leading into days spent at the mechanics shop with him, Chaerin and the rest of the Spirals team — testing and preparing his car for the impending race with everything and then some riding on it, the anticipation bubbles in your gut in a way that you're unfamiliar with — a race with far too much behind it, more than necessary, and it leaves you wondering why it is that the man driving next to you is willing to give everything up for what effectively boils down to one thing: you.

But with almost no down time between the declaration and the race — Hongjoong spending many nights at the shop, curled up asleep on the cold, beat up, leather couch inside instead of opting to bother with the travel time home when he knows he'll only end up back there early in the morning anyways — it leaves no time for the conversation.

A silent acknowledgment between you, him, and everyone else on your side of the equation.

Trailing behind Chaerin's RX-8 and pulling into the all too familiar roadside lot of the uphill racing track that serves to be Hongjoong's favorite, you figure that the two of them must have hashed it out unbeknownst to you — or it was some sort of understanding between racers for this to be the place that it would happen. The track. Not the most difficult, nor the one offering top speeds (and for that, it could be raced downhill, anyways), but rather the one feeling just right for the sort of situation.

Yunho too proud to decline the invitation to beat Hongjoong on his home terf, his favorite track, the one known to be his best — and Hongjoong all too confident to feel that he could ever be beaten on it.

Setting the car into park, you dare not speak as Hongjoong takes in a deep breath through the silence — a rowdy crowd of racers and onlookers alike heard easily from all around you outside of the car — it feels almost claustrophobic, suffocating in some way, being surrounded by people and the impending happenings of the evening.

Hongjoong looks calm and collected, however.

One hand loosening from the steering wheel to card through short, silver hair before unceremoniously plopping it onto his thigh with a flat palm, he lies his head back against the rest of his seat, turning to look at you finally with a shockingly soft expression.

“Should probably have a talk, huh?”

You can't help the way the corners of your lips curl upwards at the implications of the words. Delicate and caring. You nod.

“You're really just gonna move if you lose a race?” You ask, tone pointed with resistance in the thought of it, but the man next of you pulls his eyes away, head turning back to look out and in front of him at the passersby.

“To be honest,” he starts, thinking through the words a bit more before carrying on. “If guys like that are going to set up shop around here then maybe my time here has run out anyways, maybe it's time to move on.”

“You sound far more willing than I ever expected. You love this town.”

Hearing the exhale through his nose as if amused by the prospect of it, Hongjoong reaches forward and across you into his dashboard, rifling through papers and an empty water bottle in search of something, finally pulling an envelope with no wording sprawled across it — only an emblem.

Placing it on your lap, he nods for you to open it, but not before point out and into the crowd.

“See that guy over there with the hat? Red jacket.”

Squinting, you attempt to follow his finger with your eyes, gazing out and through the crowding of people for whoever it is that the man next to you is wishing for you to locate, all the while digging out whatever it is from this envelope that you're meant to see.

Hongjoong carries on with the thought before you do. “Those red jackets are special, custom order jackets. No one has those. You can't get them.”

“Okay...” you hesitantly acknowledge, finally landing on the man in question. Arms crossed and seemingly alone, he's looking onward — at the track, at the surroundings, and finally, over to the both of you. Nodding in your direction, Hongjoong nods back at him.

“Ever heard of Project D?” He asks.

“Uh, rings a bell. Think I've heard Yunho or Chaerin talk about it, why?”

Hongjoong snorts at the drop of names before speaking again, as if unsurprised by the ones mentioned as having any sort of interest. “Read the letter.”

A questioning look splashing across your features, you do as advised, pulling from his attention and down towards the piece of paper in your hands. It takes you some time to go through it, and then, another moment from reading it over again — because you're quite sure that you must have read something wrong, must have gone through this with a bit of wishful thinking and a simple wanting so badly of things to go good, and right.

But with the second read through and confidence in your reading comprehension, your attention snaps back up and towards Hongjoong — a wide grin sported on his face.

“This...this is—“ you manage to stutter out, heart threatening to beat through your chest entirely as he turns to meet your eyes again.

“Indeed. Turns out someone thinks this guy can drive a car,” he sighs with a sort of nonchalance that has you so taken aback you aren't even sure what to say or think.

Project D. The upper echelon of street racing. Entirely closed off, and run on a strict 'don't call us, we'll call you' type of basis. It's professional, and the dream for just about anyone involved in the sport. a one way ticket out of here, that much is for certain.

So unfamiliar to the common driver that no one here even recognizes the shining red jacket only adorned by drivers on the team.

“His name is Takahashi Ryosuke,” Hongjoong begins again, lazily having a hand out towards the man referenced only a moment ago. “He's the leader of Project D, he came to see me drive. I'm already in, but it's sort of a formality, plus, he's gotta give me my jacket.”

You pause, thinking it through in your mind again and trying to take it all in.

“In front of Yunho?”

Hongjoong laughs, a full laugh at the question. “In front of Yunho.”

Head lying back once again on the headrest of his seat and rolling gently to grant him vision of you — you watch the way his eyes fan over your features, as if taking all of them in for the first time all over again — as if it were to be the first or last time that he would ever see them, and with the calling to action of the racers needing to line up, it pulls your attention up and away with the abruptness of it, but not his — still watching you intently as if trying to read every thought floating through your mind in that very moment.

You figure it's no surprise that you ended up here, with him, like this tonight — all of his plans, everything he does perfectly in line with something that he has in mind — some sort of grand scheme of sorts, and you can't help but wonder for how long it's revolved around you.

'Racers line up, 5 until green!'

Turning back to look at Hongjoong, small hand with painted black fingernails reaching out and towards your own, he grips tightly atop one of them and squeezes lightly just before pulling it from you and shifting his car into drive again.

“So,” he starts, waving towards Ryosuke again before carefully maneuvering his vehicle towards the starting line of the track for a race that means nothing and everything to the both of you simultaneously.

“Want to take a ride with me?”

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ hope you enjoyed! please check out my navigation for more (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

—this is a oneshot, there will be no part 2.

#hongjoong smut #yunho smut #ateez smut #hongjoong x reader #hongjoong x you #hongjoong x y/n #yunho x reader #yunho x you #yunho x y/n #ateez x reader #ateez x you #ateez x y/n

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lostheretics · 11 months

Text

PLOT TWIST (5)

▸ chapter 5: the rise of the new boss

pt. 1 || pt. 2 || pt. 3 || pt. 4 || pt. 5

✵ cast : jung wooyoung x fem!reader, kim hongjoong, lee juyeon, kim younghoon, ateez, mentioned oc and many kpop artists name or group

✵ genre : romance, marriage life, eventual angst, smut, mafia!au, non idol!au

✵ summary : there was a saying that learning is a lifelong process. what will you learn about the underworld, the first time you stepped into it? you might have what they call a beginner’s luck, but will that be enough for the things you’ll be facing soon?

✵ notes : stopped counting on how many words but i try to make it lengthy as possible. thanks for waiting, to those whoever awaits i guess. i was thinking of making a taglist for this fic. taglist will be used for updates; ANY updates regarding PT. just drop ur @ in my askbox. also, PLS REBLOG.

WARNINGS BELOW CUT

☒ warnings: none for now but do remind me if there’s one. a lil bit of discrimination from wooyoung but not in a bad way (kinda, but not that bad)

☒ i do not condone mafia acts nor any acts that goes against the law at all. everything mentioned are just purely fiction, made to entertain myself and fellow readers in this particular platforms.

☒ do not repost this on any other platform without my permission!

✓ reblogging, liking, and commenting this post in tumblr (through comment or askbox) are very much appreciated.

you believe in destiny, fate, universe, whatever they’re called. you put your whole faith in it. you trusted them and their work, putting one and one together to make to or even ten. after all, it's also the one reason you and wooyoung beat all odds and be together.

but not to this extent. you refused to believe it.

to believe the pair of arms that caught you just days before became the arms that lead you in a dance session. to believe the same pair of brown eyes to look at you once more. to believe that the stranger who helped you when you almost faint, in work, embarrassingly, is to be the one you work with. your new goal.

cue the famous line from that one song, what kind of fuckery is this?

“you seemed so quiet for someone who’s looking for an ally.”

uhm, because i’m fucking flabbergasted? too stunned to speak?

“i hope you don’t plan on running away, again.” he added, “i just wanna get to know you.”

you laughed nervously, “of course not, sir- uh, mr. kim,” you stuttered, “i don’t know how to properly address you.”

he twirled you before catching you in his arms again. “mr. kim would suffice for now. though i hope we’ll get close enough in the future to be on first name basis.” younghoon said. “and how should i address you? miss y/n? mrs. jung?”

“anything’s fine mr. kim.”

the dance continued.

it was a moment where you could finally savor, or, to put it less romantically and more professionally, it was a moment where you could finally take a good look on the man.

kim younghoon's name has been there for some time, but little was known about his private life. typical of the seoul kims. his business life, however, is the talk of the town.

he never failed in pursuing his business endeavors, alongside his brother. not a single dirt on his name was found despite him still being young in the field. the kim brothers; kim younghoon himself and his younger brother kim seokhun were every parents dream on a child, especially one with a family business.

his soft brown eyes were ones you'll never forget. they were so soft, unlike the ones you saw all your life; dull, full of hatred, and all that bad stuff. and the way his eyes smiled along when he smiled... you thought, a man this soft and pure-looking shouldn't be working in this part of the world.

"juyeon sent you to work with me, but i know he wanted more than just that." younghoon muttered. his hard gaze was evident despite him not looking at you, opting to scan the room.

"he wanted something regarding my family."

"mr. lee sent me to work with you, yes. we're grateful that he even mentioned our name and recommending us to you. however, he did so because he believed my group's main business is in the same field as yours, and that it'll make more sense." you said, ever so carefully while studying his face. you took a bold move, putting your body closer to his while strengthening your hold on his shoulder.

"but, regardless of that, i would truly like to work with you, mr. kim. my group wishes to. i'd like to try it with you, and i hope you can make good use of ateez in the future, as well as lending a hand for us to step further, higher, and better in the business." you declared. "i'm not blind. i know what's happening between your family and the lees, and i don't have a say in it at all. but i would like for you to consider work between ateez and the kims, unrelated to any of the lees." you reassured.

and lastly, for the cherry on top, you stared straight on his eyes, pleading.

"give us the chance to prove ourself, mr. kim."

younghoon just stared at you, while his brain processed everything you just said. you were right, the kims main business in the medicine field were compatible with kang industries that yeosang ran with his sister. that alone could be a reason for the both of you to actually talk business with each other.

he was a businessman after all, any chance is worth something if you pursue it first.

the music stopped, meaning the dance session ended. clapping sounds were heard all over the hall. you took your hands off of younghoon's, bowing at the said man.

you thought it just ended like that, but it took you by surprise when younghoon took your hand in his, raising your knuckles to his lips before landing a gentlemanly kiss ok the back of your hand. his eyes never left you when he sent you a soft smile.

"i'll have my secretary invite ateez for a business talk. as soon as the gala ends" he stated, before continuing, "it was a nice dance, mrs. jung."

"party's done. everyone retreating in ten."

wooyoung chugged down his champagne while scanning around the room, giving nods to every member in his sight as a sign. he greeted the rest of his acquaintance, before leaving the scene.

just as he was about to exit the hall, a hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his track. a once scowl on his face turned into a friendly smile when he turned around and was greeted by seo changbin.

"my man, binnie!" he gave the buff man a hug, not to mention a tap on his back. "what's up?"

"not much. are you guys leaving already?" he asked while looking around, noting some ateez members already heading out of the hall. he clicked his tongue in an unapproved manner. "it's still early, though. how am i gonna catch up with my best friend?" he lightly pouted.

"the only thing you'll catch is these hands if you ever do that thing again." wooyoung jested, and changbin only laughed.

once the laugh died down, he took a step closer to wooyoung, lowering his voice as he watched around.

"got some words from chan. mind sparing me some time?"

wooyoung lifted his wrist to watch the time. he still got eight minutes left. he nodded at changbin before leading the man away from the crowd, opting for a quieter side of the hall just by its door.

"what's up? business doing okay?" he asked.

changbin only shrugged, "it's fine. work here and there, cusses, blood, what's new?" then he raised his hand to rest on wooyoung's shoulder. "congrats to ateez, by the way." he complimented.

he then stated, "it's the talk of the town right now, you know? the fact that ateez, a gang took down a royal family, by a new member no less. i'm talking about your wife, mrs. jung y/n." changbin chuckled lightly when he saw a change in wooyoung's expression, a cocky smirk along with a subtle red tint on his cheeks. a sense of pride rose within wooyoung.

"a good catch they say."

wooyoung almost giggled. "damn right. thanks for the words though,"

done with the chitchat, changbin cleared his throat as he turned to wooyoung.

"chan said he met your wife at some casual networking party just a couple months ago, hongjoong did the introduction. safe to say he was intrigued." wooyoung turned his head to changbin upon his choice of words.

lifting a brow, he chuckled. "same thing happened to me before i married her."

changbin clicked his tongue, "not in that way, of course." he objected, slightly cringing over the thoughts of his boss creating a drama worthy act like that. "you know chan, you've heard about it, right? that he rarely missed when it comes to judging someone, especially the businessmen or women."

"i've heard some of it. and what about it?"

"the other day he sort of said something about y/n and talents, that she could be a big thing soon. and surprise, surprise, not long after that the news came like a fucking thunder, a shock to everyone and especially chan. ateez was about to lose but she just casually lifted you up and took down the whole family."

checking at his watch, he quickly pointed out. "so, what does he want exactly?"

"chan's got an info. an inside job. new weapon supplies and exchanges, i'm talking new types and big money. the job's too big to take for us alone and he already thought of making a collaboration between our team since ateez got a good capo, and you got mingi and yunho on weaponries. your reputations preceded you," he exhaled, before continuing. "but ever since he met y/n and heard of the news, he wanted to go even further. chan wants y/n in the job. with your captain's permission, of course, but he wants her to directly sit on the table where he and hongjoong will be. chan wanted me to tell you that, and he hopes to hear good answers from hongjoong."

by the time changbin was done with his explanations, wooyoung was already stunned. he was taken aback at the fact that you rose so quick to be able to catch other's attention. he was slightly agape, eyes widened. to be able to stand beside hongjoong, to sit right next to him is to be next to the captain by rank. though unofficial, the conversation itself could be a proof that you're an equal to seonghwa and yeosang.

you had him floored, truly.

"could you please try to put some words to hongjoong? chan really wants this." changbin's plead broke wooyoung's train of thoughts.

he nodded lightly. "i'll see what i can do," he promised the man.

he lifted his wrist once more. seeing the time had passed, he took a step back. "i have to go now. i'll let you know of the outcome soon."

"wait!" changbin almost yelled, stopping wooyoung on his track.

"what?" he asked. changbin hurriedly walk to wooyoung as his hands dug around his suit pocket. upon finding the item, he quickly put the piece of paper in wooyoung's pocket.

"i almost forgot." changbin moved closer towards wooyoung and whispered, "come to the show. capos business. yeonjun found a new spot, some rough diamonds ready to be trained if you're recruiting new members."

he stepped back, tapping on wooyoung's pocket before retreating.

"thank me later."

“they’re leaving the premises, sir.” 

the minion retreated, leaving juyeon and his champagne on the balcony. his eyes watched as a couple of cars left his mansion, particularly the last car that carried you and your husband.

it was something that he used to love to do with his father; watching people come and go. the only difference were his father is no longer around, and that it has become his job.

upon watching the way you sway in the dress he gave, hand in hand with your husband as you got in the car, he gripped on his glass harder as he tried to breathe, not even realizing he was holding his breath the entire time. there was this uneasiness, a storm brewing in the pit of his stomach. he didn’t believe in anything unworldly or superstitious, but he believed in himself. of what he sees, what he feels, what he understands.

it didn’t take long for him to saw power in ateez.

one that could endanger his, though he didn’t know the source nor the reason for it. for that, he’ll have to dig deeper.

“something’s coming.” he murmured, enough to be heard by another party standing behind him. he whispered again, “i can feel it in my bones.”

park jipsa, the one who stood behind him sighed, “are you afraid?”

“never.”

“then you’ll know what to do.”

if there ever was something brighter than the sun, it must’ve been hongjoong’s grin, pulled all the way back showing his pearly smiles you thought his skin would soon tear apart.

the man was practically beaming.

and you silently took pride in being one of the reason so.

“business looking good.”

“damn right it is.”

it was just you, hongjoong, seonghwa, and yeosang in the room. breakfast was done and group meeting ended, yet the ambitious man kept you around to discuss everything further. there were papers scattered, calls made, and coffees on the table.

“i’ve checked around,” yeosang chipped in, while rearranging the documents discussed for the meeting, “if we’re actually working with the kims, emphasize on if, if everything works, we’ll have easier access to some of our stuff, both importing and exporting. the drug development is looking good right now, and we’ll have much exposure with their help. we’re gonna make more money soon.”

“that sounds good, yeosang. great, actually.” hongjoong beamed, smiling at yeosang. the man stood near his desk, phone still in his hand, just finishing a deal went well.

seonghwa chuckled, “you feel good?”

“fuck yeah, hwa. yeah i feel good.” he almost screamed. “of course i feel good, everything’s looking good like this. and if it actually works i might do a somersault myself.”

“you look like you’re gonna do that now.”

you laughed along with the guys.

after pacing back and forth, energetically, and with happy thoughts one would assume the mafia leader might be a child trapped in a man’s body, hongjoong finally sat down. he tapped his fingers on the table, before finally making up his mind, pointing at each party around him.

“okay, here’s what. we have so much in our hands right now, but i’d like for everything to work out and i put my trust in you guys,” hongjoong stared at each of you, “i’m all in for you.”

he pointed at seonghwa. “i’m sending seonghwa to japan to settle down. you’ll be our representation there hwa, until i finish things in here. the most important thing is to make a powerful link to that family.” he said, moving to yeosang as soon as seonghwa nodded his head.

“yeosang, as usual with kang industries, but i want you to bring y/n around as a representative too. she’s gonna be the link between us to the kims and drug business, so it’s good for the both of you.”

you and yeosang couldn’t help but to stole glances, surprised by the mission but acknowledging each other still.

hongjoong raised his phone, tapping it several times before speaking again, “wooyoung got words from chan last night, and chan just made a call this morning. he wants a collaboration between our group for a job. there are new weapons coming in, big job. chan’s got his hand on it but figured it’d be too big to handle alone, but dangerous if handled by too many. so we’re in, and i’m also taking y/n in this, per chan’s request.”

he turned to you. “you’re gonna have so much in your hands this time, you know this right?”

you nodded.

“but with stray kids, you’ll just be a spectator on the table. i’ll handle the big game with chan. i want you to focus more on the kims and kang industries. your main job right now is the kims. do you understand?”

“yes.”

“good.”

birds fly fast.

but the rumors flew faster in this house.

it didn’t take long for everyone in this house to find out about you. and your new… job. or perhaps rank. a housewife turned… consigliere? underboss? hongjoong hasn’t give you an official rank within the group yet. however it didn’t take a genius to see how high up your position were.

you’re working straight with yeosang, second in command in ateez next to seonghwa, ateez’s face and representative in the outside world. your job was as important as seonghwa’s, hongjoong’s righthand man, the underboss of ateez. each of every job you’ve done you’d report back straight to hongjoong, and hongjoong took you almost everywhere he goes.

on top of that, you’ve been giving counsels to hongjoong even before you had your debut in the underworld.

you’re as good as a consigliere, just not officially, yet.

there was contentment, of course, yet it also comes with burdens. one that you fear you wouldn’t be able to bear. but you will do your best, for your family. for wooyoung. to make him proud.

and he couldn’t be more proud of you.

wherever ateez goes, wherever he goes, he wouldn’t stop gushing about you every time someone brought your name up. lowkey, of course. just to make sure everyone knows you’re his wife. that you’re great, yes, but you’re definitely off limits.

exactly like tonight.

he eyed the piece of paper in his hand, before eyeing the traditional restaurant in front of him. it was a small, dimly-lit building. an old woman walked around, delivering orders though not much, as they didn’t have much customers for the night.

he fished out his phone out from his pocket, typing a name before pressing the call button.

“hello?” changbin’s voice rang through his speaker.

“i’m outside. are you sure this is the place?” wooyoung asked, throwing glances with yunho, jongho, and san behind him.

“it’s a small restaurant, right? did you see the old lady?”

“yeah? and?”

changbin chuckled, “just get in. take a seat, and when she asked for your order, just ask her if mr. kim’s soju is on the menu today. come fast, the match’s about to start.” and with that, changbin hanged up.

putting his phone back on his pocket, he whisked his head, signaling the boys to enter the place with him. they took a table, and before long, the old lady came to their table, asking for their orders. wooyoung looked around, making sure no one’s hearing them, before getting closer to the lady.

“is mr. kim’s soju on the menu today?”

the old lady just smiled and nodded. “it’s stored just right there. come along and pick for yourself, young man.”

that’s how they got into the hidden basement deep under the ground, by an elevator just behind the fridge in the kitchen.

when the elevator stopped, changbin was standing in the hallway. he greeted them with a smile, shaking wooyoung’s hand firmly.

“cool place, right?” he quipped, then shook hands with jongho, yunho, and san.

changbin led them further into the basement. even from the hallway, rough noises were already heard, and it got louder as they got closer.

illegal fights weren’t a secret anymore. but as they got deeper, more secluded, the more blood got spilled, the more animalistic the fighters get, the bigger the prize. this is where the mafias recruit new members, new associates.

the rings were surrounded by rough looking men, some older, some younger. the fighter on the ring looked all bloody and bruised, but still standing on their feet fighting for their life. hollers here and there, nothing new.

they all took a table not far from the ring. yeonjun and beomgyu were seen, along with jisung and jeongin. they greeted each other.

“the consigliere’s husband!” yeonjun quipped with a playful tap on wooyoung’s back. wooyoung chuckled. with pride, of course.

“so what’s the hype?” wooyoung asked, half yelling to catch yeonjun’s attention. the lad pointed his finger to each rings, getting himself close to wooyoung and the others.

“gems. lots of them,” he yelled, pointing at one of the ring, “see that guy over there?” he asked, pointing at a tall man, not buff, but muscular and calculative enough to look not so affected while his opponent looked like he’s about to faint.

yeonjun spoke again, “he’s an ex NIS agent. i think he got ousted, betrayed, whatever. and that’s just one of the few. there are other fighters, former gang members, ex police, ex NIS, ex professionals— whatever we’re looking for. so take a pick!” he said, before continuing.

“but be careful, they also might be onto something if they go this deep. either all in or all out.”

the pungent smell of blood was nothing new, combined with the smell of sweat of all people, burnt cigarettes, liquors of all kinds. in fact, none of them seemed to be distracted by any of the smell, the sound, or even the people who were drunk off their minds falling around them.

their eyes, especially wooyoung’s were focused on each ring or around the room, scanning all within the room trying to find new recruits or maybe new connections.

a bell was heard, a ring near them just announced a winner before quickly moving on. a pair of new fighters stepped onto the ring, one of them a rough looking men, presumably already fought a fight before this one, and his opponent…

…a woman?

her hair was tied up, cuts and bruises here and there but not enough to disguise her beauty. physically she’s far smaller than the man, less muscular, yet she hold no fear in her eyes.

“what’s a pretty girl doing in this hellhole?” wooyoung murmured,

right before the girl ducked down and punched his opponent right on his chest, hard enough to make him cut his breath. then landed a punch to his right cheek, followed by his left cheek. and a final kick to his head, quickly sending the man to his sleep, hopefully not an eternal one.

and that’s how she won the game.

not to mention leaving wooyoung speechless. that was a quick game. and she looked like a gem. a fighter like that would make jobs easier, faster, and more efficient.

he was deep in his thoughts, until san nudged him, “are you seeing what i’m seeing?”

wooyoung looked back at san, observing his line of sight, only to bring his eyes back to the said woman.

a gem in sight indeed.

“her?”

“yes, her. we need her. i want her. we gotta take her.” he mouthed. he then pulled wooyoung by the shoulder, and proceeded to stare into wooyoung’s eyes with the most serious look he could muster. “seriously wooyoung, i can’t handle this charmer—grifter shit alone anymore. we need a charmer. and i mean it.”

“san, we’re on budget and we’re here to look for a bodyguard—“ he was about to state but san had cut him off.

“did you not see the way she threw that punches? she can be a bodyguard. she is muscle.”

“yes, but—“ wooyoung hesitated, “i don’t know man, a lady bodyguard?”

san gasped. “that’s discrimination, what the fuck?”

“not in that way!” wooyoung bit back, “i don’t know man, i’m just not sure. she’s all great, it’s just—”

“but what?” san pressed.

san wasn’t wrong, they do need a charmer. san was the only charmer ateez had— they do have others, just not as good as san, hence the lad had to do most jobs by himself. the last time they had a good charmer other than san, but they got killed in action.

being a grifter, a charmer, he did get to know most thing and even on the deeper part of the underworld. any place he want, anyone, he could get through anything, most of the times. but ultimately, he was fed up. doing what he did best alone might finally took a toll on him.

so with the hard look, now turned puppy eyes, there was no way wooyoung could say no to san, the charmer himself.

he sighed. “you know what? fuck that. go and get her if you want.”

there were probably fireworks bursting behind san’s eyes, that’s the only logical reason (though far from logic itself) for the sparkle in his eyes. choi san quickly bolted away from the table, adamant on getting and recruiting the woman.

wooyoung, with yunho and jongho on the other hand sticked to the main plan; find new muscles to recruit. yeonjun, changbin and their own gang were soon scattered around the basement with their own mission to accomplish. jongho was still looking around, and yunho was still seen talking to the possible recruits.

wooyoung was just talking to one of the possible recruit, giving them his business card when san pulled him away to a corner. he kept guiding on wooyoung with this grin on his face, pushing him around until wooyoung finally faced the lady they’ve been talking about.

“so this is wooyoung,” san made the intro, “he’s our trainer, supervisor, and not to mention my best friend. and we—” he stepped back behind wooyoung, “—are interested in taking you in with us.”

taking a good look in the closer distance, she looked even better. her skin looked soft, save some scratches and scars here and there, but they were mostly healed leaving just a white mark. her eyes were brown, and like when she was on the ring, had this striking look.

this one’s definitely a charmer. she just needs to be guided, and they got a perfect teacher for her. stretching his hand out, wooyoung offered her a formal handshake.

“wooyoung.”

she watched his stretched hand for a while. the unsure glint in her eyes started to flicker along the time, and she finally took wooyoung’s hand.

“son jiwoo.”

the tall, black door seemed so big and scary.

despite it being just a plain door to a restaurant.

you might think it’s the door, but a part of you knew more than that. that wasn’t just a door you had to pass, a restaurant you must enter.

kim younghoon was waiting somewhere in that restaurant for you. this was going to be your first meeting with younghoon, and you gotta make sure it’s going well. this is your first big mission, as a member of ateez.

you straighten your floral dress, fixing any possible crease before stepping inside. a waiter came to your aid, giving their best smile, “may i help you?”

you smiled back. “i have a reservation, with mr. kim younghoon. is he here?”

the waiter smiled even wider, “ah, madam! yes, mr. kim has been waiting for you. let me take your jacket.” they spoke, as they pulled your jacket off of you. “if you please follow me, madam.”

the waiter guided you to a table near the glass window, where you found younghoon sitting in a formal, yet casual look. the white fitted top and light brown pants. upon the announcement of your arrival, kim younghoon turned his head, offering you a smile so bright. the gentlemen even stood up, pulling your seat for you instead of letting the waiter do that for you.

“you look nice.” he complimented.

“and you more. i thought the suits were your best look, but these? gorgeous.”

he chuckled, “trying to charm me straight away, i see.”

“yes, but some truth can’t be hidden for too long. i also have to charm my future colleague for a chance, right?” you quipped back, earning a soft laugh from younghoon.

“you’re straightforward. i like it, it’s also the way that i am and used to.” he said. he laid back to his chair, looking at you before asking, “a straightforward man gotta speak his mind, am i right?”

“yes they do, i suppose.”

he took your answer in silence. he looked out through the window, watching the bright afternoon sky and people on the street,, seemingly deep in thoughts. gone were the light atmosphere when you got there.

then younghoon spoke one sentence and a question. the easiest way to phrase and conclude your whole mission.

“i know juyeon sent you to fix things between our families. correct?”

upon the sudden intrusion, your body froze for a second. your lips almost quivered, letting out broken words, having nothing to come up with. kim younghoon fired a bullet and it hit right on the bullseye. and he didn’t even mention anything about anything work related, despite that being one of your most important reason to pursue him.

younghoon’s eyes were back on you, and you had no choice but to spit the truth out.

“yes, you’re right, mr. kim,” you sighed, but not yet defeated. “and i’m aware of… the gap between your families, that it’s not in a good condition.”

“how much did you know?”

“that your family was a supporter to lee jiyoung back when the war was happening.” you stated.

he clicked his tongue, “i wish it was as easy as that, mrs. jung.” he sighed as he leaned back onto his chair.

“i wish to help in many ways, mr. kim. in this way, because juyeon sent me for this reason. but other than that, a work with your family is what my family aim for. a personal gain. both, or one of them is enough for me and i’m willing to do the job.” you told him, straightforwardly. “is there something i can do to fix this?”

“to fix the gap between the lees and kims? i don’t know, mrs. jung. i’m not sure if there’s a way at all,” he shrugged.

but he quickly added in, “but, regarding ateez and my family, i think we both have a chance for that. i’ve spoken with my father, and maybe, just maybe, if this works, we’ll consider juyeon’s purpose of… mending the two families. now the question remain; would you take the job, and could you do it well?”

“i’m willing to try and do my best for anything.”

“anything?”

“anything.”

the man smiled, grinning almost. “then it starts now.” he said. younghoon raised his hand, catching the sight of a waiter.

entrees were served, followed by main dishes. younghoon and you talked about each other, and he talked a lot about himself.

how he and his brother were raised in england, before moving at the age of 15 back to korea. he went to university, took classes in law school before graduating, not only from a prestigious uni but also with honors. since that, he’s been helping his father around along with his brother regarding their family business, as they’re the ones who’s going to take their father’s place place someday.

kim younghoon was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

yet he seemed far from those whiny nepo babies who fed themselves off of their father’s pocket, but act like they rule the whole world. his family’s money might back him up, but he ruled his own brain, branding himself as the smart and hardworking guy from a wealthy family who could lead even without his father’s hand in the matter.

in short, he’s a man that everyone dreams to become.

the conversation went smooth up until dessert was served. you couldn’t help yourself but to blurt out, “so, what’s the job? when am i gonna do it?”

“oh, we’re actually doing it right now,” he quipped, putting another slice of cake into his mouth.

“what?”

younghoon didn’t say anything, only flicking his hand to call for the waiter. the waiter soon came with a bright smile as they put a velvet box right in front of you. not forgetting to say what a lucky woman to have a partner like that.

a partner?

you were still not functioning perfectly, still deep in your thoughts and confused even when younghoon pushed the velvet box towards you. “open it.” he said.

“mr. kim, i— i’m, i’m not sure i—“ you had stuttered, but he silenced you up.

“just open the box.”

per his command, your hands moved to open the box. upon the first touch, you could feel the soft velvet under your fingers, quickly understanding the high quality of the box, and perhaps, the item within it. curiosity might kill the cat, but not you, you believed as you opened the box and found a piece of necklace within it. a pearl necklace stared back at you from that box.

wordlessly, younghoon stood up. he took the necklace out of its box before bringing it near your neck. his hands softly moved your hair to the side, and you quickly responded by bunching your hair in your fist, giving him access to your bare neck. as he put on the necklace, he lowered his lips next to your ear.

“you’ll find a woman to your right, dressed in all green. she’s mrs. han, a socialite in gangnam and wife to mr. han, one of the most important people in the ministry of health,” he whispered to you, “she knows me, and might’ve been watching us since the beginning. she has a daughter around our age and she had been wanting to… arrange a marriage between our families.”

“and my job is…?”

finishing on putting the necklace on, younghoon simply smiled to you. “…to be my partner. fiancee, girlfriend, whatever. to put on a show. i don’t want to be engaged in that way, but i have a brother and he’s willing to do that in my stead,”

“there’s an upcoming socialite party, and a little birdie told me you’re quite… persuasive,” he started to explain, “if you can get us an invitation, put some good words and convince her to make an arrangement between her daughter and my brother, you’ll have your way with my family. you see, we need this connection. a connection with her husband makes it easier for our drug business, even in exporting and importing. mr. han is one of the man ruling the country. prove yourself, and my father promises to invite you for a dinner, to talk about future business with ateez. even with the lees. and the offer’s still up even though you only succeeded in securing an invitation for us to the party.”

he straightened his back, offering his hand to you, “there’s still a chance to back out.”

you weren’t sure, but you shook your head and took his hand, “i won’t.”

younghoon smiled, almost so brightly, a quick change from his previous hard demeanor. he landed a long lasting kiss on the back of your hand, another added shock to you. you almost stuttered and about to pull your hand when he spoke,

“the necklace looks dashing on you, sweetheart.” he almost purred, shocking you.

“kim younghoon?”

the latter’s voice stopped you from pulling away. younghoon simply turned to the lady who called his name, giving her a smile.

“mrs. han,” he greeted back, bowing slightly, “good to see you again.”

mrs. han only chuckled, “then you should’ve visit me more often. i haven’t seen you around in any of my gatherings.” she looked behind younghoon, at you. “and i certainly have never seen this lovely lady with her lovely necklace around.” she quipped.

younghoon gave his hand for you to take, and you did, standing up from your seat next to him. “let me introduce you to my fiancee, y/n. she’s the reason i’m not around much, mrs. han. you can blame her for it.” he once again kissed your hand in a cheeky manner, and you giggled following his act. “i can’t seem to get her out of my life.” he continued.

you bowed slightly to the lady, offering her a sweet smile. “my name is y/n, pleasure to meet you mrs. han. younghoon told me many things about you.” you introduced yourself.

“all the good things, i hope.”

“don’t worry ma’am, he made me think you’re a great woman. and it shows now.”

she laughed, feeling content with your answer.

“and he didn’t forget to tell me how much of a good host you are for your party.” you smirked, starting your mission.

by the time you came home, it was almost midnight. you knew wooyoung would’ve fallen asleep by then, so you tiptoed your way into your room, with your heels in your hands.

your heart almost jumped out of your chest when the light suddenly turned on.

“where have you been?”

“shit, woo!” you cussed while holding your chest, almost panting. “baby? why aren’t you sleeping?”

wooyoung sat on the edge of your bed with his arms folded as he stared at you. “obviously, i was waiting for you.” he deadpanned, “you know i couldn’t sleep without you. so where have you been?”

you exhaled, feeling guilty that you left the man waiting for until midnight, completely forgetting the existence of modern phones and to tell him of your whereabouts. “oh, baby,” you walked up to him, cradling his face in your palms.

“i’m so sorry i made you wait,” you kissed his forehead, “i had lunch with kim younghoon, and he gave me a task. i spent the whole day planning and then reporting to hongjoong, and we had a last minute meeting with stray kids. i should’ve told you, that’s my mistake,” you explained. wooyoung sighed defeatedly, finally accepting your apologies. he circled his hands on your waist.

“it’s okay.” he muttered.

you told him to get ready for bed, while you freshen up in the bathroom, finally ready to end the night. your body felt warm, being in your comfiest pajamas, and your heart follows when you saw wooyoung on bed tucked nicely under the blanket, with his arm stretched out welcoming you in his embrace.

“how was today’s scouting?” you asked with a small voice.

“it was okay,” he answered, listing the things he had done. “got some new muscles that i gotta train. met yeonjun and changbin. and… oh!” he gasped, making you look up to him.

“what is it?”

“you know, me and san found this girl while scouting, she was badass,” he said and you could practically see the sparks in his eyes, “she fought this buff man in like, 5 seconds, though i think the man was more of muscle than skills, but isn’t that cool? san wanted her so bad he ran straight to her after the fight.”

“anyways i didn’t want to scout her at first but san would probably held me on a gunpoint if i refuse him—“ you both laughed, “—yeah right? so long story short we probably got ourselves a new charmer. i think san’s gonna teach her more, but i’ll still have to take part in physical training.”

you hummed, “san fell in love at the first sight, huh?”

wooyoung nodded, “i think i did too.”

you playfully hit his chest, making him wince dramatically as he held his chest.

“jung wooyoung! don’t you dare fall in love with her!” you threatened him. the bastard husband of yours grinned.

“are you jealous?”

“hm, i don’t know. what would you think if i hooked up with kim younghoon?”

“hey!” he whined, clearly not liking the idea of you and another man side by side. not even one bit. and that was something everyone know, and some even witnessed it with their own eyes, referring to your previous encounter with lee juyeon.

you laughed to his blatant jealousy, and maybe, seeing the smile in your face and the sound of your melodic laugh to his ears were the reason for him laughing along with you.

wooyoung pulled you close to his body, putting his chin on top of your head. the smell of your shampoo invaded his nose, and somewhat it relaxed him all the time. maybe it’s your shampoo, or maybe, it’s the fact that you’re close to him.

he breathes slowly, but you could hear his heart beating fast behind his chest. some things change, but you realize one thing stays the same; his heartbeat. whenever you put your head to his chest you always hear the same fast beat from his heart.

and you know yours beats the way his did.

“i can never love anyone else but you.”

his voice pierced through the silence as he murmured the words into your hair.

maybe it was his voice. maybe it was the sentence, the words. maybe it’s both things combined, the reason why you feel such warmth in your heart and the pleasant butterflies flying in your stomach. the combination of two simple things, yet magical enough for you to take it as a sign of love.

love.

you buried your face into his chest, trying to hide your smile. all you could say was, “i love you, woo.”

simple sentence that also warmed his heart.

to both lovers like you, those moment felt like it’s just you both against the world. in your vows; both in happiness or sadness.

“will i see you again?”

wooyoung suddenly asked. the nature of the question making you pull away from him, furrowing your eyebrows in confusion.

“what kind of question is that?” you asked back, looking up to his face.

he seemed doubtful, that was clearly painted all over his face, visible from his eyes, the way it glinted.

wooyoung sighed. “i don’t know. you have a job, so many things to do now that hongjoong trusts you. and i’m happy for you, baby, i truly do, it’s just—“ he hesitated for a while before continuing.

“it’s— what if you get busier? what if we get so busy that… that we can’t even share a proper meal together like we used to? what if we can’t see each other as much as we used to back when we have less things to do? what if i can’t even hug you in my sleep at night? what if—“

“—what if we changed so much and turn in a direction we don’t want?”

late night thoughts do bring the most genuine question. and his was a valid one.

it’s no secret that marriage, no matter how sweet, how hot or cold, can suddenly turn lukewarm, tasteless, or even turn sour over the time.

that would be a nightmare. one that can turn very real, in any time, near or far.

to imagine a tasteless marriage life with your passionate husband made you crawl closer to him, burying your face in his chest to seek more warmth. the more seconds went the more you appreciate his prescence. taking in everything you could.

just in case it’d be your last.

“i promise we won’t turn that way, my love. i’ll do anything to keep us together. keep us, keep you safe.” you murmured into his chest.

“you just have to promise to love me still. like this. even when times go rough, when it eats us inside out, body and soul. even with the last sparks of love you have for me, love me. until i’m not here beside you.” you continued. you felt suffocated, unconsciously the littlest sniffle got out of you with the tears. “you’re all i have, wooyoung.”

desperation in it’s truest form.

but it’s true, you have no one but your husband. no family, no nothing. not even a life, if it was not for the past, or the present, given by your husband and his kin. and now that you’ve associated yourself with them, you, who used to have nothing, now have something. and it fears you to imagine losing them.

to go back to the solitude you were in before.

hearing your cries crushed him. he tightened his hands around you, securing you in his grasp, giving you the most comfort one could give. he might regret the way he voiced out his concerns today, yet it was an important question within your relationship.

and a silent way to say that he fears of losing you, too.

“i’m here, baby. i love you,” he said, giving a peck on your hair,

“and i promise to keep that love for as long as i live.”

NOT EVEN HALFWAY BUT I STILL WANNA FINISH THE WHOLE THING. enjoy. both in reading and waiting uwu

also we’re getting closer to… the start of the angst.

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sansblkgirlfriend · 2 years

Text

Saved - K.HJ

Synopsis: The Pirate King is a scary man, the village lives in fear of him every single day. But you, you are one of the only people who wished that he would whisk you away to escape the life you're living.

Pairing: Pirate Captain! Kim Hongjoong x Reader Theme: Pirate Au Word Count: 1.6k words

Tags: Mentions of kidnapping, death, murder, manipulation, fragile mind, use of a gun.

Tags: to be added

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The villages of the Kingdom of Wonderland stayed in fear, they knew that once every three months, the fierce pirate king would come and take away people to join his squad.

If you refused to go, it’s simple, you died.

It was everyone above the age of 21, the pirate king showed no discrimination, he took whoever he saw fit. And sometimes if they refused, he would either kill them right there in front of their family, or wait till they left the pier and toss them overboard.

He would take husbands and wives, sons and daughters. He did not care if you had a fiance, or you were about to be married, he was taking you with him. You would watch as many families cried as their families were stripped away from them, taken away to never be seen again.

Your family was waiting for the day you were taken away.

You lived with your mother, father, older brother and sister, making you the youngest of the family. Your parents tried on several occasions to wed you off to another family, claiming that would make you worth more. They despised the fact that you preferred to be out doing work with your other friends then learn how to be a mother and cook and other things that your parents try to force on you.

They call you the black sheep, the extra child, the one they couldn’t kill. Plenty of other hurtful names.

But you? You were actually hoping that you’d get taken away by the scary king of the seas. You heard rumors from other sailors that he showers the women he takes with riches and love, treating them like they’re precious metal, a position any woman would die to get in. But now, instead they were told the cruel stories of him killing people, slaughtering innocent families.

“(Y/N)!! Get ready to board up the house!!”

You sighed as you headed out the front door and down the road, the local shop sells wood for the families to prepare for when the male comes.

Your family always sent you out late, hoping you would get taken.

Today their dreams would come true but not in the way they wanted.

“THE PIRATE KING HAS ARRIVED!! RUN AND HIDE!!”

All you heard was screaming and chaos that usually happened, you moved at your normal pace, the wood in your arms as you headed back home.

But something told you to turn around, and you don’t know what it was but it was enough to make you drop the wood. Your eyes scanned the area before landing on a male coming onto the pier from a large and beautiful vessel. He had half and half hair, one side black and the other side blonde with pretty brown eyes. He only wore a button down shirt with the top three buttons undone, slacks and boots, everything adorned with gold and other accessories.

You were stunned, this couldn’t possibly be the King of the seas, you were expecting someone more on the rough and tumble side, someone ugly and disheveled.

The Pirate King’s eyes met yours, a smirk coming on to his face. Your eyes got wide and a blush came across your face as you saw him beckon you, the simple curl of his finger brought you to him.

You didn’t even listen to the people around you in the village, trying to stop you. Hell you couldn’t stop, it was like you were in a trance, being drawn to the mysterious male.

You finally stopped when you finally got in front of him, he walked up to you and placed his hand under your chin, lifting it so you could look him in the eyes.

“A pretty little thing like you willingly walking up to me? Didn’t your parents warn you about the bad guys like me?” His voice was like butter, smooth and clear. “Yea, but they don’t care about me. They were hoping that you would come and get me.” You said and this made him tilt his head in confusion.

“You look confused, Yea many families don’t care about their daughters, they only want to marry them away. I didn’t want it, so they treat me like shit.” He stood confused, This was new for the feared pirate captain, a young woman, willing to go with him and his crew, just to escape the family life she was living. He couldn’t believe it.

But when he looked into this girl's eyes, he couldn’t find any source of lying. No joking, nothing, just seriousness and hurt.

How could a family treat their daughter like this?

He decided he was going to do something.

“Hongjoong”

“Huh?...”

“Call me Hongjoong. Take me to your home. Now.”

You nodded and took his hand, guiding him to your home. Hongjoong walked alongside you, looking around the area. The dirty looks the people were giving you just because you were holding his hand was awful. He could see why you would just throw yourself at him. He would do the same thing if this was his home life.

When you reached home, you opened the door only to be grabbed by your hair and thrown to the ground. You look up and see your mother with a belt, beginning to strike you.

“You stupid whore! You were told to come straight home after getting the wood! Can’t you do anything right!?” You braced yourself for the hit she was gonna give you, you didn’t feel anything at all, you looked up to see Hongjoong holding the belt. He snatched it from your mother and shoved her to the ground before helping you up.

Your mother was about to say something until she realized who she was talking to. She backed up as Hongjoong took you into his arms, “Seonghwa.” You looked and saw another male appear behind Hongjoong. He was just as handsome as Hongjoong, hair slicked back with a matching suit to his leader. Seonghwa walked around him and jerked your mother up off the ground.

“Tell the others to come in and round up everyone in this house. I want them on their knees.”

You stood by his side, eyes wide open as his arm snaked around your waist, he kept a firm grip on you as you saw several other males walk through your house. They all were dressed in the same attire with various little different things to establish their position or roles (or that’s what you assumed it was for.)

Soon they had your father and siblings, all of them tied up and thrown to the ground beside your mother. Hongjoong smirks and looks down at them. “Well, Well, Well…you look so pitiful down there. How does it feel to be your daughter?” He started, before pulling out a gun, twirling it in his hands.

Your father looked with wide eyes before looking at you. “Wait, you want her? You’re taking the burden off my hands??” Your father says and you only rolled your eyes at his arrogance. Only he would still act high and mighty when he’s still face to face with danger. Hongjoong chuckles before aiming the gun and firing, shooting your father square in between the eyes.

You felt the blood splatter slightly against your face, you just stared blankly at your fathers dead body on the ground. One part of you was afraid, scared at the man who just shot your father in front of your family. The other part was relieved, you were free from this man who treated you like shit. And you finally felt as if you had a sense of concern.

Hongjoong chuckled before placing the gun in your hands, wrapping one of his hands around it to guide you point it at your mother. “Isn’t this the woman you said treated you so wrong?..” He whispered into your ear, a devilish smirk on your face. “Who filled you with lies about me, when I can offer a better life…who hides you away from the world. Tell you that you’re nothing.”

“Stop with your silver tongue!! You’re lying to my daughter, theres nothing you can offer her than I can not give her!” Your mother yelled and Hongjoong looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Hongjoong sighed before moving away from you, leaving you with the gun aimed at your mother. “Well, I’ll let her decide..you can decide..right (Y/n)~?”

Your hands trembled as you looked down at your mother and siblings. You think back on all the pain and suffering that you were caused because of them. The names, the beatings, being made fun of because you didn’t want to be tied down and forced into a life that you didn’t want.

“Y-y/n please…i’m so sorry! I promise i’ll be a better mother, i was just doing what your father asked of me!”

“No! Mother is lying! It was all her idea! She’s just trying to save her own ass!!”

“She’s too stupid to use a gun, you’ll be fi-”

A bang was heard and your brother slumped to the floor, bullet through his head just like your dad. But this time, it was your own hand that did it. No help from Hongjoong at all.

The captain behind you smirks and places a hand on your shoulder, “Now come on, my little treasure. We don’t need these type of people.” You give a blank stare to her before turning to leave with him, he chuckles and leans down to you.

“You’re making the right decision darling..”

Hongjoong then moves to look at Seonghwa and San, one of his members of the crew, who delt with most of combat and other things regarding violence.

“San..You brought gunpowder right?..”

“Yea, why?”

Hongjoong leads you out with Seonghwa before mouthing the words.

“Burn it down.”

"Wait are you serious?"

Hongjoong looks at you before looking back to San.

"Burn this motherfucker down. I wanna see the flames from my ship. let that be a message if there's any survivors."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#ateez imagines #ateez au #ateez scenarios #ateez x reader #ateez x y/n #kim hongjoong x reader #hongjoong x reader #kim hongjoong #Kim hongjoong imagines #hongjoong imagines #evesfics

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i-luvsang · 2 years

Text

EXHIBIT ONE — ATEEZ ! DON'T SPAM LIKE PLEASE !

f = fluff , a = angst , h/c = hurt/comfort , c = crack

GROUP REACTIONS HEADCANONS MTL !

˒ OT8 mtl likely to shoplift

˒ OT8 mtl likely to fake their own death

˒ OT8 mtl likely to drag you to play at a playground if you pass one

˒ OT8 mtl likely to push you off the swing

˒ OT8 sending you pictures of himself to see your reaction

˒ OT8 mtl likely to let you pick his outfit

˒ OT8 the voicemail he sends you

˒ OT8 random soft relationship things

˒ hyung line as your college neighbors

INDIVIDUAL FICS & HEADCANONS !

song mingi ⟢ dialogue snippet : dating | f ⟢ dialogue snippet : crushing | f ⟢ protection | 1.8K, a + f ⟢ meet-not-so-cute!au headcanon | 1.5K, a + f

jung wooyoung ⟢ losing your dog headcanon | 0.5K, c + f ⟢ just because | 0.6K, f ⟢ a heart to warm | 1.4K, f

choi jongho ⟢ florist!au headcanon | 1.5K, f ⟢ adorable | 1K, f

#［ m.list %.#［ ateez m.list %.

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coffy-cat27 · 8 months

Text

Thanks In Advance (seongjoong flower shop au)

Everyone who's close with Seonghwa knows how the man loves flowers, which isn't weird now that he opened his own flower shop.

But never in a million years did he expect someone to ask such a weird request.

Note: English is not my main language, so I apologize for any grammatical errors.

-°*•*°-

"Thank you, please come again!" The bell above the door dinged as the customer walked out. Seonghwa sighed as he still have orders needs to be done by Valentine's day, that's two days away.

He had opened his flower shop, "Utopia", several years back, right after his degree. At first, he only had some elders coming in to see the flowers but over time, the words spread. More people come in to buy flowers for their parents, lovers, or funeral.

But that doesn't help the fan girls he got over the years,asking whether he's single or if they could take him on a date. He couldn't bring himself to reject them directly so he made excuses;

Sorry, I have a grocery run later and this week is full of orders,

Sorry, my friends stole my ps4 and I need to take it later,

Sorry, I need to take my fish on a walk,

He prayed for the day he could drive all of them away without being a heartbreaker.

-°*•*°-

Seonghwa was making the last order for the day; a bouquet for their mother's birthday. He was about to wrap the flowers when the bell rang loudly and the counter was slammed. He was about to cuss the fuck out of the person when they asked;

"How do I passive-aggresively say fuck you in flowers?"

Seonghwa looked up in confusion. The man, a bit shorter than him by several inches, in a biker's jacket with sand coloured mullets haircut and a golden frame glasses perched on his nose. If Seonghwa said he's not attracted to him then he's a big ass liar that Wooyoung and Yeosang will always bring it up to his deathbed.

The man looked at Seonghwa with determination as if he knew how to solve his problem. Seonghwa cleared his throat;

Okay, Seonghwa focus. Don't lose your shit over some godly good looking man.

"Hey, I'm sorry if it's a big request and it's almost your closing time but you're the only one opened right now so," he explained while taking a step back, wondering if he had overstepped any boundaries.

"No, just one sec," Seonghwa wrapped the forgotten flower bouquet and put it aside, the customer will take it tomorrow. "Now, you said you wanted to say fuck you in flowers?"

He leaned forward, interested in why would someone asked such flowers. It's so petty that he needs the backstory.

"Well, my asshole of an ex asked to get back together with me when I already caught him cheating for God knows how many," he placed his hand on the counter, face scrunched in disgust.

Seonghwa would sympathize with him, but seriously, that guy deserve nothing other than worse things to happen on him for breaking this cute guy in front of him.

Wait cute??

Seonghwa's cheeks heated up a bit with that thought and internally slapped himself. "Actually, you can say fuck you in flowers, but I just need to make sure, does he even know flowers languages? Like, what certain flowers mean and what goes well to reciprocate it?" He needs to make sure or all of this will give to waste.

"Oh, yeah. He majored in agriculture back then and too invested in flowers. So if he doesn't know the meaning then I guess he's a fat ass liar."

Good, he could work with that.

"So, do you wanna know which flower means which? I mean, it could be for your future reference."

Seonghwa why are you offering such things??

The man smiled, oh my does his stomach does a full acrobatics acts. "Sure! And oh, I forgot I haven't introduced myself," - he reached out a hand, - "Kim Hongjoong." Seonghwa hold out his hand, "Park Seonghwa."

-°*•*°-

"So, geranium for stupidity, foxglove insincerity, meadowsweet as in uselessness, yellow carnation disappointed and orange lilies for hatred," Hongjoong listed out one by one the flowers Seonghwa had showed him.

The bouquet itself kinda petty but hey, he wanted nothing more to do with that asshole.

"Yes! That's cool you managed to memorize these flowers quickly," Seonghwa placed all the flowers carefully on the wrapping paper. "You know, how about you bought him a cake, his favorite cake and boldly written fuck you on top of it?"

Petty Seonghwa is a Seonghwa you don't want to mess with.

"Oh God, I love that. Wait, let me called San. His bakery should be closed by 10," Hongjoong took out his phone and dialed the number.

"Wait, you know San? As in Choi San the baker who kick asses on the weekends? Son of the Choi family that owns a taekwondo studio?" Seonghwa stopped his hands from arranging the flowers, looking at Hongjoong as if he grew a second head.

"Yeah, I knew him during college, he's in culinary while I'm in music but we share a few classes together." He placed the phone on his ears and make a quick order. Then he ended the call when they heard some screaming at the end of line.

"Don't worry, he's not dead. Mingi and Yunho was trying to make the highest chairs stack to which one of it almost fell on them."

Seonghwa snorted at that. Mingi and Yunho has always been known as the local troublemakers. Then a realization set in, "Wait, if you know San, Mingi and Yunho, how come I've never heard of you?"

San loves to share stories while Mingi and Yunho can't never shut up if there's something interesting. So for them not telling Seonghwa about this man, there must be something they're hiding.

"San had known me since college. Mingi was featured in several of my tracks and Yunho made a choreography for some of my tracks recently." Hongjoong placed his phone in his pocket, "So it's normal for you to not heard of me before cuz we are fairly new to each other, besides, I just moved somewhere near recently."

That explains a lot.

"Wait, tracks? Are a singer or something?" Seonghwa was ready to run if it's some uprising singer in front of him right now.

Hongjoong laughed, "No, no, just some underground rapper and my main job is a producer."

"Oh...okay. I was scared for no reason."

They laughed at his demeanor. "So, when can I pick up the flowers?" Hongjoong swiftly took out his wallet.

"As early as tomorrow, as late as Valentine's."

"Oh? Closed during Valentine's. Do you have a date?"

Seonghwa placed the foxglove at the sides for the bouquet when he sighed. "No, the last person I dated said I was 'too much' or 'clingy', which might be true but still, it doesn't hurt less."

Oh how he doesn't want to remember the one that gave him too much hopes and dreams then left him burning, like Icarus to the Sun.

"Oh shit, I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry, please don't cry," a hand wiped his cheek. Seonghwa hadn't realized when did he cried but when he does, he can't really stop.

"S-sorry, it's just that, whenever I thought about him, it's always a bad memory and I couldn't remember if there was any happy memories with him." Seonghwa broke down even more. He's usually not like this but somehow he felt like he could be fragile around Hongjoong.

As if he could catch Seonghwa before he fell to deep.

"Hey, no need to apologize. You feel what you feel. I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked that. That was insensitive of me," Hongjoong continued wiping his tears.

"It's fine, I wasn't expecting be crying like this when those shits happened years ago," he snickered. He hates how he always deep in the feels. The crying had died down a bit. "Sorry but, where were we at?"

"Wait, now I don't remember anything before I asked about your date and you broke down-" Hongjoong stunned at his feet, trying to remember.

"Oh, right. The payment and pick-up time."

"Ah, right."

Once the payment was done, Hongjoong slipped a paper on the counter. "If you ever wanna talk about something random, you can call or text me. I like talking to you."

Seonghwa really hoped that the pink on Hongjoong's cheeks were illusions his eyes playing.

"I might only talk about Lego's, Star Wars and random romcoms. You sure about this?" He gave a questioning look. "I don't want you to regret it later."

Hongjoong smiled, genuinely, "Yes, I've never been certain like this before beside the time I was choosing music and art as my majors."

Seonghwa smiled, "Then, I'll text you later."

After saying their partings, Hongjoong was about to leave when he remembered, "Hey, you said I could take the flowers on Valentine's, and you don't have a date, right?"

Seonghwa nodded.

"Then, after I send off those flowers, I'll pick you up for a date. How's that sound?"

Seonghwa blushed profusely. The cute guy asking him on a date after saying 'fuck you' to his ex lover on Valentine's.

"Sure, I only opened from 6 to 10 on Valentine's morning, the rest of the day is free." Hongjoong grinned at that, "Well, it's set then."

He closed the door and the bell dinged. Valentine's in two days and Seonghwa just wished the day would come by quick.

-°*•*°-

It did come by quickly. He was watering some of the flowers outside his shop when he heard some running.

Well, not running exactly.

Sprinting.

"Seonghwa!!"

Hongjoong stopped besides him, one hand holding a box, possibly the cake, smiling blindly and all Seonghwa wanted to do is squish those cheeks and kiss him.

Okay, maybe the kissing is too fast but he really wanted to squish those cheeks.

"Hongjoong, you're early," he calmly said even when his brain is on overdrive of how cute this small man in front of him.

"Just wanna pick up the flowers and take you out quick," Hongjoong shrugged. "Do you have any place in mind for our date later?"

The raven head thinks for a moment. "Nope, nothing comes in mind." He invites Hongjoong inside the shop, placing the watering tin on the counter and picks the bouquet he done last night.

"Here, the flowers, and how about you surprise me for the date?" Seonghwa smiled, tilting his head to the side a bit.

Hongjoong grinned, "Well, you're up for a ride then."

All Seonghwa remember was a peck on his cheek and the bell ringing as the sandy haired man ran out, saying something he couldn't care about.

-°*•*°-

The bell rang for the nth time, Seonghwa sighed as he got up, he's gonna lock that door for good.

"I'm sorry but I'm not interested in you if you're thinking on a date for today."

"Ah, but I thought we already planned one?"

Seonghwa looked up quickly, the crack on his neck might concerns him another time, but not now when he sees the sandy mullet and the black biker jacket.

"Hongjoong..." The said man chuckled.

"I'm taking it as there's a lot of your fangirls asking you out, yeah?"

He took slow steps towards the smaller man, and pulls him into a crushing hug.

Hongjoong patted his back, laughing slightly. "Tired, aren't ya?"

The raven head nodded on his shoulder.

"C'mon, I bought two sets of flower Lego. Thought that might be realizing for you?"

Seonghwa looks at him with excitement. Hongjoong would compare him to an excited black cat with those round eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds good. My apartment is upstairs, so we can do it there."

Hongjoong smiled, "Let me get it from my bike then we can have our lil Lego date."

Seonghwa's face brighten at that.

You should be my boyfriend.

"I will, if asked me seriously," Hongjoong looked at him without hesitation in his words.

Fuck, did I say it out loud?

"So, what do you say, Seonghwa?" He cupped his cheek.

"Wanna be boyfriends?"

The blush was prominent as he leans oh his palm.

"If you don't mind, I would like too."

"Then boyfriends it is."

#fanfic #okay i did just wrote this shit #seongjoong #hongjoong #seonghwa #khj #psh #idk why the fuck i worte this but here we are #this was in my drafts #i need therapy #but who the hell needs therapy when fanfiction exist

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hwxnghyynjin · 2 years

Text

Hit and Miss

Pairing: ateez x reader (ft. Stray Kids) Genre: mafia!au, angst Warnings: mentions of abuse, mentions of drunkenness, character death, kidnapping, swearing, use of weapons (knives, guns, grenades), blood, threats, wooyoung and yeosang like blowing shit up, gore, mentions of vomiting, smoking Words: 12,958 Taglist: @alphadisaster @lee--felix

Ateez are the most dangerous mafia group throughout the entirety of Seoul. Anyone who came into contact with them feared for their lives, even if they were only going for a drink in the nearest bar. They were cold, ruthless, and showed no mercy to their victims.

Their leader, Kim Hongjoong, was born into the mafia life. His father used to be a mafia leader, until he was killed by a rival gang when Hongjoong was only 10. His mother died when he was born, so he only had his father, until that tragic day. Ever since, he’s been on his own. He started stealing food since he didn’t have any money to buy food for himself.

As he grew older, he started stealing more, whether it’d be jewellery to sell for money, or drugs. Unfortunately, he got caught by the police, getting arrested at the age of 18. He was only in there for a year, being released for good behaviour at the age of 19.

Though, as soon as he was released and back into the city of Seoul, he was a changed person. He was full of anger, hatred and spite. He didn’t want to be on his own anymore, so he thought if he found people who were like him, he could carry on with his father’s legacy: becoming mafia leaders.

The first person he recruited was Choi Jongho, an 18 year old boy who he found to be battered and bruised. Jongho came from an abusive family, his father an alcoholic and his mother too scared to do anything, allowing her husband to hit Jongho over and over again. He abuses him sober, but when he’s drunk, the hits and punches get worse and worse. Jongho ended up in hospital one time, being almost beaten to death. Luckily he managed to survive, despite having broken ribs, a punctured lung and a shattered collarbone. One day, Jongho got sick and tired of the endless nights of pain and suffering, so when his father was chasing him into the kitchen, Jongho grabbed a kitchen knife, stabbing him in the neck, watching as his father’s body bled out on the floor, ignoring the shouts from him as he went over towards his mother. What she didn’t expect, though, was to have a knife hit her right in the stomach, over and over again. “You didn’t fucking help me. You just let him almost kill me, beating me every single night. Do you have any idea how much pain I’m in? No, you don’t because you didn’t fucking do anything!” Jongho shouted, ignoring the cries of his mother, dropping her to the ground.

And that’s how Hongjoong found him. Jongho was sitting on the ground, in the pouring rain, blood covering his clothes, face and hands. He didn’t seem to show any emotions, but he had a lot of anger built up inside of him, and Hongjoong wanted to use that to his advantage. So he took Jongho in under his wing.

The next person he recruited was Park Seonghwa, a boy with big boba eyes that anyone could get lost in. But don’t be fooled. Those eyes can go from innocent to evil in a split second. His demeanour and appearance seemed innocent, but he was far from that. He was dangerous, a ruthless killer. He even murdered his best- ex best actually- friends after he found out they were talking shit about him behind his back. That was when he was 15 years old. After his parents found out what he did, they kicked him out of the house, telling him they don’t know him anymore, slamming the door in his face. Ever since that day, he didn’t care and continued to kill people who wronged him. Hongjoong thought he could use Seonghwa as a killing machine, someone who won’t hesitate to torture their victim.

The next person he recruited was Song Mingi, a slender boy with sharp features, which resembled a cat. Hongjoong found out that Mingi is an excellent hacker, which he learned from his father. Mingi got kicked out of school for hacking the school system, publishing through the entire school that the head teacher was having an affair, and he was furious, so he kicked him out. Hongjoong thought he could use Mingi’s hacking skills to his advantage, hacking into security systems, so he took him in.

A boy called Jeong Yunho was the next person to be recruited, a boy with baby cheeks and fluffy brown hair. He was really tall, which comes off as intimidating to some people. Yunho has anger issues, having random outbursts and destroying things, or hurting people. He got sent down as a juvenile at the age of 15 for attacking someone who spoke to Yunho in a way he didn’t like. He got out at the age of 18, and the officer who released him asked Yunho to take anger management classes, which he said he would but he completely ignored the officer and didn’t go. Hongjoong took Yunho under his wing and introduced him to the others.

The next one he recruited was Choi San, who was really skilled at using a sniper. His father used to be in the army, who used a sniper a lot, and he taught San how to use a sniper. Though his father soon realised he shouldn’t have, because San shot his father in the head while he was doing a public speech, traumatising the public. San hated his father and wanted him gone for a long time, and now he had the chance and he took it. Hongjoong could use someone with that sort of skill, so he recruited him immediately.

The last two people he recruited were Kang Yeosang and Jung Wooyoung, who were inseparable. Hongjoong found them both covered in blood, shards of glass stuck in their clothes and face, and their hair ashy. He soon found out that they both blew up a house, using a bomb they both created, and they suffered the aftermath of the explosion. He took them both under his wing, and that’s how they all started as the most dangerous mafia group in the whole of Seoul.

--------------------------------

It started off as a normal day for you. You got up, had some breakfast and a coffee, and got ready for work. Your job wasn’t the most exciting, but it paid your bills and ensured you had food in the house, and clothes to wear. It was just a simple office job, and you liked your boss since he wasn’t strict, but rather stern to you and other workers.

Your day went on as it usually did. Work wasn’t stressful since you didn’t really have much to do, only looking through your emails and checking through any paperwork your boss gave you. You ate lunch with your colleagues, talking about the latest film you were excited to watch.

You left work later that day, saying goodbye to your colleagues. Luckily your apartment was within walking distance from your workplace, only a 10 minute walk. It started getting dark as you left, a chilly breeze in the air. You wrapped your coat around you to try and get some warmth, your heels clicking against the pavement.

You were walking past an alleyway, and you heard cries coming from it. You peaked in the alley way but soon regretted it as you saw a man held at gunpoint. You tried to turn on your heel and run in the opposite direction, but you felt a pair of hands on you, covering your mouth to stop your screams. You struggled against the person, but stopped and a shiver travelled down your spine once the person whispered in your ear, “stop struggling otherwise I’ll cut you open”, his voice was deep and it shook you to the core.

His hands left you and you thought you were safe as you let out a sigh of relief, until you felt a needle prick you in the neck, and you started to fall into unconsciousness, falling to the ground.

You’re not sure how long you were unconscious for but as soon as you woke up, you saw someone hovering over you. His black hair was slicked back, and he had a smirk on his face. He was about to touch his face but you freaked out, grabbing his wrist and flipped him over, you now sitting on his back.

You didn’t stay on top of his back for long, though, as you felt a tingling sensation in your side, making you fall sideways. Your body shook for a few minutes, and you looked up to see a guy standing over you, holding a taser. “You’re a feisty little one, aren’t you?” the one holding the taser said, smirking down at you. “Where am I? What do you want? Who are you?” you asked question after question, making the guy roll his eyes. “And you’re also chatty and annoying. Noted”, he muttered to himself, but you heard him. You don’t know what went through your mind at the very moment but you ended up kicking him in the back of the leg, knocking him to the ground. You took that opportunity to get up, running to the nearest door you saw. You opened the door, and saw a bunch of stairs, running up them.

“Wooyoung, why didn’t you lock the fucking door?” Yeosang said, dropping his taser and running after you. You didn’t look back, not even for a moment, scared to see that you were being chased. You pushed open a door, which led you into what seemed to be a hallway. You didn’t know where to go but your mind was telling you to go left for some reason, so you did. You turned a corner, but you accidentally bumped into something. Or someone. You looked up and saw a pair of eyes which reminded you of boba pearls.

“Yah, what are you doing out here?” that deep voice. He was the one who grabbed you before you fell unconscious. You didn’t answer him, your words trapped in your throat. He grew annoyed at you as he stepped forward, making you take a step backwards. “Seonghwa, you’re scaring the poor girl”, so that’s what his name was. You turned around and saw a guy with black hair, wearing all black. “But Hongjoong, she escaped out of the basement. Wooyoung didn’t lock the fucking door, that stupid dickhead”, Seonghwa said, clenching his fists. “Well, since she’s now out, might as well show her around since she’s not going anywhere for a while”, Hongjoong said, and you narrowed your eyes at him. “Who the fuck do you think you are? I’m leaving right now and no one can stop me”, you said, crossing your arms. Hongjoong laughed at you, and you suddenly felt small. “Girl, do you even know who we are?” he asked, and you shook your head, having no idea who they were.

“Baby, we’re Ateez. The most dangerous mafia group in the whole of Seoul”, as soon as you processed what they just said, you froze. No, you can’t have been kidnapped by them. This must be all a nightmare and you’ll wake up soon in the comfort of your bed. You closed your eyes tightly, hoping this was all just a nightmare. “What are you doing?” Seonghwa asked you, looking at you weirdly. That’s when you realised: this was all real. “Now, you must be wondering why you’re here, right?” Hongjoong asked you, and you nodded. If they’re the most dangerous mafia group throughout the whole of Seoul, why haven’t they killed you yet? Unless they are waiting for the right moment.

“You’re here because you witnessed me killing a man. Because of that, we had to kidnap you. Now normally, when someone witnesses something we do, we kill them instantly, to get rid of any chances of us getting caught. But you see, there’s something about you that I like. And I want you to join our team”, Hongjoong said, not looking away from you. You didn’t even hesitate before speaking, “no thanks”, and walked away. Well, at least you tried to before Seonghwa grabbed you, earning a scream from you. Hongjoong soon turned angry as he stormed over to the two of you, looking at you, your arms trapped behind your back as Seonghwa grips them.

“Seems like I gotta do this the hard way instead”, Hongjoong said, grabbing a knife out of his pocket, pointing it at you. You felt the knife dug into your stomach, hard enough to draw blood but not enough to pierce the skin. Hongjoong laughed as he saw the fear on your face, an evil smirk on his face. “Seonghwa, lock her in the spare bedroom. If she doesn’t agree to being a part of her team by the time I get back, kill her”, Hongjoong ordered, walking away. Your eyes widened at hearing the words ‘kill her’, fearing for your life. Seonghwa picked you up, throwing you over his shoulder. You hit him and kicked your feet, begging to be put down. Seonghwa threw you inside a room, closing the door and locking it. You banged on the door, shouting for him to unlock it but he ignored your screams, walking away, twirling a knife around his fingers.

You figured he wasn’t going to open the door, so you just stopped banging the door after a while, your hand hurting. You slid your back against the door, sitting on the floor. You rested your arms on your knees, and that’s when you noticed how dirty your clothes were. Your shirt was all crinkled and dusty, probably from when you were thrown into the basement. Your trousers were scuffed at the knees, and had holes in them. You have no idea where your shoes are, they must have fallen off somewhere.

You were in such a dilemma. You had to choose between joining the mafia, or be killed. You didn’t want to be part of the mafia, but you didn’t want to be killed either. You threw your head back into the door, tugging on your hair out of frustration. You suddenly felt a vibration in your pocket, which startled you. You went into your pocket, noticing that your phone was still in there. You checked it, seeing you had 20 missed calls and 50 unread messages. You unlocked your phone, and they were all from your family, friends and your boyfriend. You wanted to call your parents but you were scared that if you did, Hongjoong would find out and end up killing them. So you did what you had to do. You blocked all your family and friends’ contacts. It was for the best. If you did that, they won’t be able to contact you and hopefully just forget about you and go on with their lives. Yes it was a tough decision, but it had to be done.

You turned your phone off, putting it back in your pocket. You guess in order for you to not die, you had to join Hongjoong’s team, even though you really didn’t want to. You just hoped you didn’t end up turning into a cold-blooded killer like them.

You have no idea how long Hongjoong will be, whatever he was doing had to be important, so you decided to take a nap. You were tired from all the running you did, and your stomach hurt. Sleeping wouldn’t hurt. You laid down on the single bed, your head hitting the softness of the pillow. You closed your eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

You weren’t asleep for long, though, as you woke up to screaming. You got up off the bed, went to the door and tried to listen to what was going on. “YOU’RE TELLING ME YOU LOST THE FUCKING MONEY?!” it was Hongjoong, and hearing him shout scared the shit out of you. You’ve heard people shout before, but the kind you just heard was more like manic screaming. There were a few more screams before a loud bang, and then silence. You backed away from the door, your hands shaking. The door suddenly opened, revealing someone different. He was really tall, a mop of blonde messy hair on his head. He walked towards you, grabbing your arm, pulling you out of the room. You struggled against him, your arm hurting due to him digging his nails into your flesh. He didn’t seem to care though as he continued pulling you along with him. You came across some wooden double doors, a dark mahogany colour. The guy pushed the doors open, revealing what seemed to be an office. It was huge, pictures hung up on the walls, a cabinet full of bottles of alcohol, and a wooden desk in the middle of the room. There were other people in the room, and Hongjoong with his back to you, leaning against the desk.

The guy pushed you, making you fall to the floor with a thud. Your eyes widened as soon as you saw a dead body on the floor, blood oozing out of him. Hongjoong turned around and looked at you on the floor. “Thank you, Yunho”, Hongjoong said, looking at the guy with blonde hair. Hongjoong walked over to you, moving the dead body out of the way with his foot and crouched down to your level, looking you straight in the eye. “You made your mind up, doll?” he asked, pointing his knife at you again. You were still hesitant about joining his team, but you didn’t want to die, so you had no choice.

“I swear to god if you try anything, and I mean anything, I will cut your dick off and make you eat it”, you threatened, making Hongjoong laugh. “I like you”, he said before helping you up. “Listen, just because I’m joining your team doesn’t mean I like any of you. I’m joining because I don’t want to die”, you said, looking at everyone in the room. The only people in the room you knew the name of were Seonghwa, Hongjoong, and Yunho. You didn’t know the others, but you did recognise two of them, since they were both in the basement with you.

“You’ve already met Seonghwa and Yunho. You’ll get to meet the others soon”, Hongjoong said, sitting back down at his desk. “Also, your clothes are filthy”, he said, and you scoffed. “No shit, I was literally down in a dirty basement”, you said, rolling your eyes. “Wooyoung, Yeosang, take the girl to get some new clothes”, he ordered, and the guys who were in the basement with you walked towards you. So that’s what their names were. “Hey, my name is y/n”, you said to Hongjoong. You thought if you told your name, everyone wouldn’t call you ‘girl’ every time they spoke about you. “Good to know, now leave”, Hongjoong said, gesturing for you to leave.

--------------------------------

“Will you hurry up in there? I’m getting bored”, Yeosang said, sighing to himself as you were still in the fitting room. “Have some patience”, you said, trying on a pair of black cargo pants. You liked the way they fitted your legs, and they felt really comfy. You definitely wanted them, and Wooyoung and Yeosang said you can get whatever clothes you wanted.

You’ve been trying on clothes for hours now, and the clothes kept piling up. You were looking through a bunch of different shirts, when you felt a tap on your shoulder, turning around to see Yeosang holding a floor length red dress, with a slit in it. You were surprised that he picked it up, when not even a couple of hours ago, he said he was getting bored. “Try this on”, he shoved it in your hands and pushed you into the fitting room. While you were trying the dress on, Yeosang and Wooyoung were talking outside about something, which you weren’t paying attention to. You zipped the dress up at the back, and stepped out of the fitting room, showing Wooyoung and Yeosang.

“What do you think?” you asked, wanting their opinion on it. They looked at you, their eyes bulging out of their sockets. Though they soon shook their heads, pretending they weren’t just gawking at you. “I think it looks good”, Wooyoung said, and Yeosang agreed. You got changed back into your clothes, and put the dress in the pile of clothes that they were holding. You also got a few pairs of shoes, ranging from heels to boots to sneakers.

You all went to pay, Wooyoung pulled out a bank card that looked like it was stolen. “Yah, how the hell are you going to pay for all this? Also, is that a stolen credit card?” you whispered to Wooyoung, wanting to be sure that no one heard you. Since Wooyoung was wearing a mask, you couldn’t see the smirk on his face. “Don’t worry about that, sweet cheeks”, he said, patting your cheek as he used the credit card on the card machine, the transaction going through.

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You’ve been with Ateez for a couple of days now, and you’re currently in the training room with Jongho, learning how to fight. You were wearing casual clothes, which was a hoodie (with a sports bra underneath), a pair of black sweatpants and trainers. You tried really hard not to stare at Jongho but how could you not when his biceps were bulging out of his t-shirt?

Every time you tried to hit him, he dodged them and jabbed you in the side, and flipped you over onto the ground. You’re pretty sure you have whiplash from the amount of times your back slammed against the floor.

It’s been a couple of hours now, and you were exhausted. You felt like you could collapse at any moment as you rested your hands on your knees, trying to catch your breath. “Ok, that’s enough for today. It seems like you’re not ready to fight, or you’re just not trying”, Jongho said as he grabbed his bag. “You think I’m not trying? Bitch please”, you rolled your eyes, giving him an attitude, which he didn’t like one bit. He walked over to you, grabbing your chin to make you look at him. “Don’t give me attitude, missy. I could still kill you, you know?” Jongho said, letting go of your face.

“Mingi’s waiting for you”, Jongho said, walking out of the room with his back, leaving you alone in the room. You debated whether or not to get changed but you couldn’t be bothered, so you decided to leave your current clothes on, heading to where Mingi would be. You walked down a bunch of hallways, soon reaching where Mingi is. You went inside the room, and the first thing you saw were a bunch of computers with encryption software on them. Yeah, this was the right room.

“Uh, Mingi?” you called out, wondering where the hell he was. Suddenly a head popped up, revealing himself. He called you over to where he was, a huge computer in front of him, his keyboard lit with colourful lights. You’ve only seen setups like this in films, so to see it in real life was an experience.

You expected Mingi to show you how to hack, to talk you through it but instead, he just carried on with what he was doing on his computer, completely ignoring your existence. You just sat there, your arms crossed, as you just watched what he was doing. “Yah, have you forgotten I’m here or something?” you asked, making Mingi jump. He just stared at you, his lips pouted and his big brown eyes widened. How is this guy part of the most dangerous mafia group in the entirety of Seoul? He looks the complete opposite.

“How are you part of the most dangerous mafia group in Seoul? You’re totally the opposite of dangerous and scary”, you said, and hearing that, Mingi slammed his hands down on the desk, scaring you. “Sweetheart, have you heard of the saying, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’?” Mingi asked, and you nodded slowly, starting to regret what you just said.

You were getting bored just sitting there, watching him as you sighed constantly. He was getting annoyed with your constant sighing, and it was distracting him. He tried really hard not to yell at you, since he didn’t like yelling in general. He was the total opposite of Hongjoong, who shouted a lot when he was frustrated or angry, whereas when Mingi was frustrated or angry, he was the silent type and honestly, that was more scary than screaming and shouting.

Mingi turned to you, glaring at you as he narrowed his eyes. You stopped sighing, freezing in your seat. You felt small under his gaze, sinking into your seat. “If you’re going to be annoying by constantly sighing, just leave”, he said, turning back to his computer. “Did you even want me here? Cause Jongho said you were waiting for me”, you said, playing with the strings of your hoodie. “Yeah, well, I was, but then I realised how annoying you are”, Mingi said, his words hurting you. You didn’t show that you were hurt but your heart sank. You just rolled your eyes, pretending to be annoyed at him. “You’re no fun”, you said and got up out of your seat, walking out of the room.

You walked down a long corridor, and you suddenly heard a loud bang, making you jump. You then heard clapping and cheering, confusing you. What the hell was that? You walked towards where the sound was coming from, opening a door. You popped your head in, and saw Wooyoung and Yeosang, and they were making something. You figured they were making explosives judging by the loud noise you just heard.

“Ah, y/n, come in”, Wooyoung said, gesturing for you to come in. You headed in further into the room, looking round. You noticed different chemicals on shelves, along with petrol canisters and other different items which you didn’t recognise. There was also a small room within the room, which you assumed was where they were testing the homemade explosives in (you thought it looked like an interrogation room). “Wait, weren’t you supposed to be with Mingi?” Yeosang asked, pouring some chemicals into a beaker, stirring it. “I was but he called me annoying and told me to leave”, you murmured, suddenly feeling embarrassed because honestly, it sounded stupid.

“That’s not surprising”, Wooyoung said, measuring some chemicals. You raised an eyebrow, wondering what he meant by that. “You see, Mingi isn’t exactly a people’s person. Yeah, he is around 7 other people but most of the time, when we aren’t out doing business related things, he spends most of his time cooped up in his room”, Wooyoung said. No wonder Mingi didn’t say much.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to sit down?” Yeosang said, glaring at you as you still stood by the door. You grabbed a seat, sitting opposite of the two men. They finished making another bomb, Wooyoung standing up and walked over to where the ‘interrogation’ room is, putting the explosive inside. He closed the door, and waited for Yeosang to count before pressing a button, the bomb exploding, making you jump out of your seat. You fell on the floor, the chair toppling over with a bang. Wooyoung and Yeosang looked over, seeing you on the floor. They just laughed at you, seeing you pouting on the floor. “You’ll get used to the noise, don’t worry”, Yeosang said, still laughing to himself. You got up off the floor, picking the chair up.

They could see the fear on your face, and their smiles were replaced by frowns. They didn’t mean to scare you, they just wanted to show you how they made their explosives. “Hey, uh, if we scared you, I’m sorry”, Wooyoung said, making Yeosang elbow him. “Why do you always apologise? Are you forgetting we’re part of the mafia or something? It’s our job to scare people”, Yeosang said. They suddenly started arguing, Wooyoung shouting something along the lines of ‘I didn’t want to join the mafia’.

While they were arguing, you quietly snuck out of the room, closing the door behind you. You took a deep breath, calming yourself down. You were slowly starting to regret agreeing to Hongjoong’s offer, you should have just let him kill you. There’s no going back now though, you were now part of the mafia.

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You were in the shooting range with San, watching him shoot targets with different guns. Yes, his speciality was using snipers, but he wanted to learn how to use different guns. You were wearing ear defenders to protect your ears from the loud noises, waiting for San to teach you how to handle and use a gun.

He took off his safety glasses, turned to you and gave them to you. You put them on, and San guided you to where you needed to stand, handing a gun to you. He told you all the things you needed to know about using a gun, and then he let you try and shoot the gun.

Unfortunately, after so many tries, you couldn’t get the handle of using a gun, missing the target each time. You sighed out of frustration, and you could sense the frustration coming off of San. “Ok, it seems like you’re not ready to use a gun yet”, San said, taking the gun off you, putting it back in its place. You took the safety glasses off and gave them back to San. You awkwardly walked out of the room, and you wanted to scream. You didn’t know what you were doing and you were so embarrassed.

You headed towards your room, your hood covering your head. You were about to open the door to your room when a voice stopped you. “y/n, Seonghwa wants you down in the basement with him”, it was Yunho and he had blood on his face. You were too scared to ask whose blood it was so you just nodded and walked towards the basement. Why did Seonghwa want you in the basement with him? Oh god, he wasn’t going to kill you, was he?

He headed into the basement, your only source of light being the small light bulb at the top of the staircase. You made your way down the stairs carefully, not wanting to trip. You reached the bottom of the stairs, and the sound of cries could be heard behind the door. You opened it, and what you saw terrified you. In the middle of the room was a man tied up, blood coming out of his mouth as he spat, a few teeth hitting the ground. Seonghwa’s hands were covered in blood, and a few splatters of blood on his face. Now you know why Yunho had blood on his face.

“Yah, woman, please help me”, the man cried as he looked at you, and you noticed one of his eyes was filled with blood. Seonghwa hit the man over the head with a crowbar, earning a scream from him. You just stood there, not knowing what to do. “y/n, come here”, Seonghwa demanded, and you wasted no time and ran over to him, standing beside him. Seonghwa held out a knife for you to take, and you just stared at it. You slowly took the knife off him, gripping it in your hand. The next few words that left Seonghwa’s mouth scared you.

“I want you to kill this man”

You immediately froze in your spot. Kill someone? You’ve never even punched anyone before, let alone kill anyone. You kept glancing back and forth at the knife in your hand and the man sitting in the chair. Seonghwa pushed you forward, making you stand right in front of the man. He kept coughing, blood spluttering from his mouth. You stared at him and took a proper look at him: his nose was crooked and broken, his jaw was out of place, and one of his ears was ripped off. What did this man do in order for him to be tortured like this?

Seonghwa was getting pissed off, annoyed that you weren’t doing anything, so he took matters into his own hands. He snatched the knife out of your hands and slashed the man’s neck, blood trickling down his body as he started gagging, gasping for air. His body soon went limp, his arm dropping down and his body went still. You wanted to look away from the dead body, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t move. All you could do was just stare at the now lifeless body of the man. You couldn’t scream or cry. You felt traumatised. You wanted to throw up.

Seonghwa dropped the bloody knife on the table next to him, and left the basement, leaving you all alone. The door slammed shut, and you suddenly came back to reality. Your insides churned and you doubled over, throwing your guts up on the floor. You wiped your mouth with your sleeve, and left the basement. You closed the door behind you, and walked towards your room, hopefully without being interrupted again. You entered your room, closing the door behind you and flopped onto your bed. You didn’t bother getting changed into your pyjamas as you fell asleep, hoping that your mind wouldn’t be filled with nightmares.

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It’s been a month since you joined the mafia, and if you weren’t already crazy, you’re most definitely going crazy now. You’re all alone as the others went out for some business related stuff, you didn’t know where as they didn’t tell you. You haven’t been out with any of them yet since they thought ‘you weren’t ready’, which annoyed you. It’s making you go crazy, you haven’t been outside for a month.

You were wandering around for a while, just casually looking around the place. You walked past the basement, and suddenly heard a muffled scream, which was coming from the basement. You stopped, making sure you weren’t hearing things, but you weren’t as you heard it again. You walked down to the basement, mentally preparing yourself for what you were going to see.

You opened the door and saw a young man, probably around the same age as you. He was battered and bruised, and overall looked like shit. You walked up to him and stood in front of him. He looked up at you, and he seemed surprised to see you. He looked you up and down, and you felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

“Please help me. I need to get out of here. Some fucking idiot knocked me out and I ended up tied up down here”, he babbled on about how he ended up in the basement, and you just stared at him, not saying anything.

“What did you do to get attacked?” you asked after a couple minutes of silence, and your question confused the man. “What do you mean what did I do? I was just casually walking”, he answered and you scoffed. You were surprisingly keeping your cool, which scared you. “There must be a reason for someone to get attacked, you know? So let me ask you again”, you said as you grabbed a knife and turned back to the man, “what did you do?”

You pointed the knife at him, and the man feared for his life. You moved closer to him, and the knife was touching his neck, and a sob escaped him. All of a sudden, the man just burst. “You really wanna know what I did? Ok I’ll tell you. I hit my girlfriend over and over again. She deserved it anyway. She’s so fucking annoying and doesn’t listen to me when I say she can’t talk to anyone else except me”, he confessed, and his eyes went wide as soon as he realised what he just said.

You moved the knife away from his neck, and the man thought he was safe, but he was wrong as he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. You had stabbed him. You stabbed him over and over again, ignoring his cries telling you to stop. You dropped the knife, and you kicked the man in the chest, knocking him over as the chair he’s tied to breaks. You grabbed a crowbar, and hit the man over the head numerous times. Blood and brain matter splattered you in the face but you didn’t care. You started laughing as you kept hitting him, and the laughter turned manic.

You dropped the crowbar on the floor, and stepped over the dead body, leaving the basement. You didn’t care if you were covered in brain matter and blood. You wiped your face with the sleeve of your shirt and closed the door behind you. You headed for the training room, wanting to let out your frustration.

You took out all your frustration on a punching bag, not caring if you end up bruising your knuckles. You’ve been punching it for about 25 minutes now, and you were dripping with sweat. You were getting more aggressive with your punches, making the punching bag swing back and forth. You made one last punch, letting out a scream of frustration, and you accidentally made the punching bag fall to the ground with a loud thud. You were surprised by your own strength, you didn’t even know you could do that.

Suddenly, you heard a bunch of voices, signalling that they are back from their mission. You walked out of the training room, and the first person you saw was Jongho, and he looked pissed. You weren’t sure why though, well, that was until you saw Yunho and Mingi supporting San, his arms slung around their necks.

“What the hell happened?!” you asked, running to help. San suddenly fell, his body hitting the ground as he winced in pain. You helped him up, ignoring his protests but soon accepted your help as he held onto you. The sound of Jongho shouting startled you all, but you kept your composure. You still weren’t used to their shouting. Whilst you, Yunho and Mingi took San to the infirmary, Hongjoong went to his office, along with Seonghwa.

“That fucking bastard’s team shot San. He’s going to pay for what he did”, Hongjoong said, slamming his hands on his desk. Seonghwa just stood there, letting Hongjoong let out his frustrations as he continued hitting his desk. Hongjoong soon turned around after a few minutes, facing Seonghwa.

“Can y/n use a gun? Or even know how to fight?” Hongjoong asked, thinking it was time to take you on their missions. Besides, he thought it would be good for you to get used to going on their missions, getting used to the mafia.

“I mean, she has been practising using a gun from what I’ve heard. San said she’s getting better, and Jongho said they’ve been practising fighting techniques this past month so, I’m sure she can”, Seonghwa said. His only problem was though, are you able to actually kill someone?

Hongjoong dismissed Seonghwa, leaving him alone in his office. Seonghwa headed down to the basement, checking on his latest victim. When he opened the door, he wasn’t expecting to see him lying on the floor, blood pooling around his dead body. His head was smashed in, and there was a crowbar and knife on the floor. He let out a scream of anger, running out of the basement, slamming the door. There was only one person at the base while they were out: you.

He ran to the infirmary, pushing the doors open, making his presence known. San was lying on a bed, his side now stitched up and bandaged up. Mingi was nowhere to be seen, probably back in his room. You and Yunho were still in the infirmary with San, Yunho checking up on him every few minutes or so, while you were just sitting there by his bed.

You looked up to see Seonghwa storming in, the anger seething off of him. “What the fuck did you do?!” Seonghwa said, the anger evident in his voice. You were confused for a moment until you remembered what you did, and you just chuckled. “I’m assuming you’re on about the dead body in the basement?” you asked, and Seonghwa was confused about the way you’re acting. Only a month ago, you were unable to kill the guy Seonghwa told you to kill and now, you fucking brutally murdered someone.

“Why did you kill him? You shouldn’t have”, he kept getting closer to you, getting right in your face. You pushed him backwards, nearly knocking him over. You were a completely different person. “Why would I keep someone alive who abuses women? Sorry but, a man who abuses a woman doesn’t deserve to live”, you said and barged past him, leaving the infirmary. If Seonghwa was going to be honest, he loved this new side of you, and you were definitely ready to go out on missions with them.

Back in his office, Hongjoong was sitting at his desk, lighting a cigarette. He took a puff, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and inhaled the smoke before blowing it out. He relaxed back in his chair, putting his feet up on his desk. There was classical music quietly playing in the background as he closed his eyes. That was the only time he could relax and sit down properly. It was quiet, apart from the faint sound of the music playing in the background. Well, it was for a few minutes until you stormed into his office.

“When are you going to let me leave? I hate being cooped up inside 24/7”, you said, getting straight to the point. “Hello to you too”, Hongjoong said, taking another puff of his cigarette. He offered you one and if he offered you one a month ago, you would have said no but you’re a changed person now, so you grabbed one. You put it in your mouth, Hongjoong lighting it for you.

You took a puff, inhaling the smoke and coughed, choking on the smoke. You’ve never smoked a single cigarette in your life, you haven’t done drugs, and you hardly drank alcohol. You were known as an angel to your friends, someone who always did the right thing and always made good life choices. But now, you’ve thrown that out of the window, and you didn’t even care. You took another puff, inhaling the smoke and didn’t cough this time, blowing the smoke out of your mouth.

“y/n, how are you with a gun?” Hongjoong asked you, putting the rest of his cigarette into the ashtray on his desk. “I can aim and shoot, if that’s what you mean”, you said, taking another drag of your cigarette. You put the rest of the cigarette into the ashtray, and took a step back from the desk.

“Since San was shot, you’re going to be joining us on our missions. You’re going to be coming on every mission from now on”, Hongjoong said, leaning back in his seat. Your eyes widened, and you started jumping up and down on the spot, happy that you’re finally getting to go outside after a long time.

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You were in your room, getting ready to go out on a mission. You laced up your boots, slipped your shirt on over your head, and put your guns in your pockets. You checked yourself in the mirror before leaving your room, closing the door behind you.

You all left your base, getting into a black van. Yunho sat in the driver's seat, while Hongjoong sat beside him. The rest of you sat in the back of the van, you squashed between Yeosang and Wooyoung. The drive was rather quiet, apart from the odd small talk. You were worrying about San, but you didn’t want to show it as you had to focus on the mission. San was still resting, probably high on pain meds.

You arrived at your destination, which was an abandoned office building, and to say it creeped you out was an understatement. There were broken windows and glass all over the place, sides of the building had falling bricks, and just the look of it made you feel uneasy.

You all got out of the van, and you headed inside. Your sniper was hanging off your shoulder, so it was easy to grab it in case you needed to use it. Mingi was still in the van, setting up his computer so he could hack into the building, if there was still power in the building.

You all went in different directions, so the rival gang would think it was only Hongjoong and Seonghwa who went. While Hongjoong and Seonghwa went to meet with the rival gang, you went up somewhere high in the building so you could use your sniper and not be seen, and Wooyoung and Yeosang went and placed explosives down as traps, as well as other traps they made. Yunho and Jongho followed Hongjoong and Seonghwa but stayed far behind so they wouldn’t get caught, just in case they needed backup.

You all had earpieces in, so you can talk to each other without being close to one another. Hongjoong and Seonghwa walked into a room, and the rival gang leader was sitting in the middle of the room, two of his members standing each side of him. The others were nowhere to be seen, probably roaming the building.

“I see it’s just the two of you. I’m surprised you haven’t brought the rest of your gang with you”, the leader said with a smirk. Hongjoong scoffed as he clenched his fist, Seonghwa looking annoyed.

“Just get to it, Chan. Give us the money, and tell us what you want”, Hongjoong said. Yes, there is another gang in Seoul, who wasn’t as dangerous as Ateez but were ruthless. The only difference was, they didn’t kill innocent civilians like Ateez. The leader, Chan, threw a bag of money to Hongjoong, which had 1 billion won in it. Hongjoong grabbed the bag, giving it to Seonghwa.

“Now tell me what you want”, Hongjoong said, wanting to know why Chan wanted to meet with him. “Give her back”, Chan said, standing up. Hongjoong was confused, wondering who he was talking about. Then something in him clicked. Chan was talking about you.

“Sorry but, y/n is with us now”, Hongjoong said, taking a step forward. Seonghwa suddenly started feeling uneasy, something didn’t feel right. It was rather quiet and the overall atmosphere was heavy. Seonghwa slowly went for his knife, his hand gripping the handle. “Are you sure you guys are the only ones here?” Seonghwa asked Chan, and Chan started smirking.

“You guys are fucking stupid for coming here alone”, Chan said as he chuckled, but his chuckling soon stopped when he heard Hongjoong scoff. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to come here alone?” Hongjoong said as he smirked. All of a sudden, there was a loud explosion, and then a scream. Seonghwa turned around, throwing his knife and hit one of Chan’s member’s straight in the forehead, knocking him to the ground.

Gun shots could be heard in the distance as Seonghwa tackled one of Chan’s men to the ground, stabbing him over and over again, blood pooling around his now dead body. Upstairs, you shot a guy in the head, kicking his body out of the window, his body hitting the ground with a thud. You ran forward but as you were about to turn a corner, someone ran into you, and you screamed as you went out the window. Luckily your reflexes have improved as you grabbed onto the window ledge, gripping onto it tightly so you didn’t fall. However, the guy who pushed you out the window grabbed onto your ankle, trying to pull you down with him. You tried kicking him off you, but he wouldn’t budge. You grabbed your gun, trying to aim it with one hard. You closed your eyes, praying that you hit him square in the head, and pulled the trigger. The guy let go of your ankle, dropping to the ground.

You climbed in through the window, and sat on the floor. You tried catching your breath before getting back to shooting people, that near death experience knocked you for six. You knew being in the mafia was scary, but you didn’t realise just how terrifying it was.

You got up after a few minutes, grabbed your gun and started running. You checked in every room, seeing if there was anyone hiding in them. You kept your guard up, not letting yourself get distracted. You heard shouting and more gunshots in the distance, and you hoped to God that the others were okay, or at least, still alive.

There was another explosion, and another scream, and you stopped in your tracks. That sounded close. Goddamn you Wooyoung and Yeosang for putting explosives randomly all over the place. You have to tread carefully now, so you don’t accidentally stand on an explosive.

You continued looking in the rooms with caution, being careful about where you stand. You came to the end of the hallway and were about to head downstairs, when you saw someone in the corner of your eye. You turned to look at the person, and you gasped as you saw them throw something towards you: it was a grenade.

Everything suddenly felt like it was going in slow motion. The grenade slowly went towards you and your movements were slow. You headed towards the stairs. All of a sudden, you felt someone grab you, throwing the both of you down the stairs. The grenade missed you by a couple of inches, exploding as it hit the wall. You hit the ground with a groan, your back coming into contact with the ground. You realised the person who grabbed you was Wooyoung.

“Are you ok?” Wooyoung asked you, looking down at you. You nodded as you winced, your back hurting like fuck. “I am, but I think my back is going to be bruised. Now get off me please, you’re heavy”, you said, trying to push Wooyoung off you. He got off you and stood up, helping you up.

The both of you started running, the sound of shouting getting louder and closer the further you ran. You turned a corner and saw Jongho fighting someone. He suddenly grabbed his head, twisting it and breaking his neck, his body falling to the ground with a thud.

“Wooyoung, get y/n out of here and make sure that none of Chan’s guys sees her”, Jongho said, Wooyoung pulling you by the wrist. Wait, Chan? Who is Chan?

You and Wooyoung left the building, heading back to the van. Wooyoung ignored your protests, not letting go of you, not even for a second. You both got back into the van, sitting behind Mingi who was still on his laptop. On the screen was footage from different rooms in the building.

In one of the surveillance videos, you noticed something which seemed off. You asked Mingi to make the footage bigger, Mingi clicking on the footage. The three of you took a closer look at the footage, and your eyes went wide when you realised what was in it. There was a bomb in the middle of the room, but it wasn’t like the ones that Yeosang and Wooyoung made. This one was different, and it had 10 minutes reading off of it. If that goes off, the whole building would collapse.

“Yah, if you all are listening, you need to get out now. There’s a bomb and it has 10 minutes left before it goes off”, Mingi said, hoping that the others were listening. All of a sudden, people started running out of the building a few minutes later, which you assumed were part of the rival gang. You couldn’t see any of the others, and you were panicking.

“Mingi, can you see where they are?” you asked, your whole body shaking with panic and fear. Mingi looked through different footage, trying to see whether the others were. Unfortunately he couldn’t find them, and you were on the verge of getting out of the van and running into the building. As you looked out of the window, you saw the others but the only person you didn’t see was Hongjoong. Where the fuck was he?

“Mingi, how long is there left on the timer?” you asked, your body shaking with panic. “5 minutes”, Mingi said and as soon as you heard him say ‘5 minutes’, you ran out of the van, ignoring the pleas of the others.

You ran back inside the building, trying to find Hongjoong. You called out to him, shouting his name over and over, but you heard no response. You ran into a room, pushing the doors open, and that’s when you saw Hongjoong lying on the floor. You ran over to him, immediately checking his pulse. He was still alive thankfully.

You tapped his face numerous times, trying to wake him up. Unfortunately he wouldn’t, and you were panicking. You were worried you weren’t going to get out in time.

“Hongjoong, I’m sorry for having to do this”, you apologised to him before you slapped him across the face, and it surprisingly worked. His eyes opened as he groaned, moving his hand to his head. “What happened?” Hongjoong asked as soon as he saw you. “I have no idea what happened to you but I’m assuming you were fighting someone and ended up getting knocked out. Now get your fat ass up before this place blows up”, you said, pulling him up by his arm.

“You guys better be close to getting out because there’s less than a minute left before the whole building comes crashing down”, Mingi said, his voice echoing in your ear. You moved quicker, which was a bit of a struggle with Hongjoong leaning into you, but you managed.

You made it outside and as soon as you were close to the van, there was a loud bang and the whole building came crashing down. The passenger door opened, helping Hongjoong to get inside. Once you were sure he was sitting down in his seat, you closed the door and got in the back. Yunho drove off, heading back to your base.

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“Fuck!” Chan said as he slammed the door to his office shut, screaming out of frustration. He slammed his hands down on his desk, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. Suddenly the door to his office opened, someone walking in.

“Did you get her?” the deep voice asked, waiting in anticipation. Chan turned around to face the young man, his face filled with guilt. “I’m sorry Felix, we couldn’t, but we will get her back, I promise”, Chan said to his team mate, Felix.

Felix met you four years ago while you were drinking in your local coffee shop. You were drinking by yourself and he thought you looked cute, so he decided to go over to you and introduce himself. Hopefully you wouldn’t think he was a weirdo.

Luckily you thought he was cute too, so you let him buy you a drink and you talked for ages. You kept staring at his face, thinking how beautiful he was. You’ve never met anyone as attractive as this man, and you felt butterflies in your stomach whenever he spoke in his deep voice.

You talked about your life goals and what you wanted to achieve in life, and things you liked to do in your free time. You told him you worked an office job, even though you didn’t find it very exciting it paid your bills. You asked him where he worked and he looked hesitant to answer at first, but he replied by saying he worked for an unknown company, and you thought he meant that he didn’t want to reveal his job so you didn’t ask any more questions.

The more you spoke, the closer you got. You were addicted to his deep voice and his smile. Hell, you were addicted to him. He was like a drug that you couldn’t resist, no matter how hard you tried to stay away. Not that you wanted to stay away from him anyway.

A year into your friendship, he realised he had feelings for you. The way you smiled, the way you cared for everyone. Everything you did, he fell in love with you even more. He didn’t know if you felt the same, but only time will tell.

One day, though, you suddenly confessed to him out of nowhere, saying that you had feelings for him. Honestly, he didn’t see you as the bold type but guess he was wrong. You figured that if you confessed your feelings, Felix would do the same. Yeah, Felix wasn’t as secretive about his feelings towards you as he thought. You told him that and he felt embarrassed as he covered his face with his hands. He soon asked you out to be his girlfriend, holding your hands.

As soon as you got together, though, he had to be extra careful since he was part of the mafia, and he didn’t want you to find out. He didn’t want to risk putting you in any danger. He didn’t even tell his team mates about you, not wanting to risk them finding you.

Felix was lucky enough to keep his secret from you in the three years you were together, making sure you didn’t expect a thing. He thought everything was going well, until you suddenly stopped replying to his messages and missing his calls. He knew something was up as you never missed his calls unless you were busy, and you would message him if you were.

He soon realised who kidnapped you, wanting to kill Hongjoong. He had to tell his team mates what happened, and hope that they won’t kill you after they find you. He loved you too much to lose you.

Felix paced the room, tugging on his hair. “Hey, Felix, we’ll find her, I promise you. After we do, we can kill those bastards for kidnapping her”, Chan reassured him, patting him on the shoulder.

--------------------------------

You were all gathered around a table, you sitting between Wooyoung and Yeosang. “So, what do we do about this rival group, Stray Kids? I think you called them?” you said to Hongjoong, who was sitting opposite you.

“I have a plan. There’s a party not far from here which I’m pretty sure they will be going to, so we’ll be going there too. y/n, you try to seduce one of them and distract him, and the rest of us will get the others”, Hongjoong said, looking round at everyone.

You’ve never seduced anyone in your life before, let alone a complete stranger. You soon started thinking about your boyfriend- well, ex boyfriend- and how much you missed him. You missed his warm hugs, his warm smile and his presence. You were lost in thought until you felt someone poke you in the arm, looking to your side, seeing Wooyoung looking at you.

“Be warned though, there will be lots of sick men there, who will do anything to get what they want, so be careful and keep an eye out”, Hongjoong said, looking straight at you. That sent a shiver down your spine, making you fear for your life. What if you accidentally walk into one of those men?

Everyone got up out of their seats and left the room, leaving you alone at the table. How were you going to seduce someone you don’t even know? You had to go through with it if you wanted to take them down.

It was almost time to go, and you were checking yourself in the mirror. Your hair and makeup looked perfect, you had your red dress on, as well as heels. You had both your knife and gun hidden underneath your dress, which were strapped to your thighs.

You left your room, the sound of your heels clicking against the floor. You saw the others, who were either cleaning their guns or fixing their suits in a mirror. They all stopped as soon as they saw you, and you were sure you heard them gasp to themselves. Just seeing their reactions made you feel more confident and you loved it.

You all went in separate cars so it will make your presence less suspicious. You, Wooyoung, Yeosang and Yunho were in one car and the rest were in another car. You stared down at the mask you were holding, which was a black masquerade mask with feathers and sequins attached to it. It was a full face mask so when you put it on, hopefully no one will recognise you.

You soon arrived at the party, which was being held in a huge mansion. There was a huge fountain in the middle of the front grounds, and there were flowers planted in the grass which was running round the mansion.

Before you got out of the car, you put your mask on and made sure your in-ear piece was working, which it was thankfully. The door opened, revealing Wooyoung as he held his hand out. You held it, getting out of the car.

You made your way into the mansion, seeing lots of people already inside. There were so many people, how were you supposed to know who to look for? You discreetly looked around, trying to find who you were supposed to be looking for but it’s difficult when you don’t know what they look like and also because nearly everyone is wearing a mask.

“Hongjoong, who am I supposed to be looking for?” you said, quiet enough so that people can’t hear you but loud enough so that Hongjoong could hear you. “You’ll know once you see them, it’s not hard to miss them”, Hongjoong said into your ear. Well that’s not very helpful, is it?

You walked off, heading towards the bar to order yourself a drink. “A porn star martini please”, you asked the bartender, and he started making it. You stood there, watching him as he made it. Suddenly, someone walked up next to you, standing beside you. You looked to your right, and even though you couldn’t see his face, you knew he was handsome.

You looked back at the bartender but when the man stood next to you spoke, your eyes widened. “Did you come here alone?” he asked and you whipped your head around to look back at him. The bartender placed your drink in front of you and you picked it up, thanking the bartender.

“If I said I came here alone, I would be lying”, you said, and the man in front of you gently grabbed your free hand, taking you somewhere private. You entered a room which was empty, and he closed the door behind him.

He took his mask off and you let out a gasp. Felix? What was he doing here? You took off your mask and dropped it to the floor. You downed your drink in one go, the shock of seeing Felix hitting you.

Before you even said anything to him, you hugged him. He hugged you back as he wrapped his arms around you, no space between your bodies. He still smelled the same as you took in his cologne, making you smile. You completely forgot the reason you were at the party as you continued hugging him.

You had to pull away though as you remembered the reason why you were there, taking a step back from him. “Felix, why are you here? How did you find me?” you had many questions going through your mind, making you confused. He carefully took a step forward, making sure not to scare you off. Luckily you didn’t move as he stood closer to you. “I know I should have told you sooner but I didn’t want to risk putting you in any danger”, he said, making you furrow your eyebrows. “How do I put this? I’m part of the mafia?” he said, well it sounded more like a question than anything.

“Wait, you’re part of Stray Kids?” you asked, and he nodded. That makes so much sense now. How he always showed up with bruises or cuts on his face and chest, and he told you he got into a fight with someone. You didn’t even question it, fearing that you would make him angry.

“When you didn’t respond to any of my messages or calls, I knew something was wrong. And my instincts were right, you were kidnapped by Ateez”, he said, and you felt a tear run down your cheek. A few minutes later, you heard a voice in your ear. It was Hongjoong. You must have been in the room for a good half an hour.

“y/n, I hope you managed to distract one of the Stray Kids members. I want you to kill him”, Hongjoong said and you scoffed. You didn’t answer him and that made him angry, and the next few words he said made a shiver run down your spine.

“y/n, if you don’t do as you are ordered in the next few minutes, I won’t hesitate to kill you myself”, he said, and you didn’t even think before taking the in-ear piece out of your ear and dropping it on the floor. You could hear Hongjoong screaming through it, ignoring his hateful words. You were glad you weren’t brainwashed and could still think for yourself as you held Felix’s hand, bringing him closer to you.

“I’m so sorry for making you worry. I had no choice but to join them as if I didn’t, he would have killed me and I didn’t want to die”, you said as you felt yourself well up with tears, and Felix shushed you as he kissed your head. “It’s ok, sweet. I’m just glad that you’re alive. Now, do you have anything to protect yourself with?” he asked and you showed him the knife and gun you had.

“Guys, I have her”, Felix said into his in-ear piece, walking out of the room, still holding your hand. You put your masks back on so no one would recognise you. There was a sudden loud bang and then a bunch of screams, making you stop in your tracks. What are Wooyoung and Yeosang doing?

You ran (trying not to fall over in your heels) to the main hall, Felix trailing behind you. You saw a few bodies lying on the floor, which you presumed were dead bodies. Everyone was screaming, running around like headless chickens. You felt someone run up behind you, making you scream as you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey, y/n, calm down. It’s only Hyunjin”, Felix said, nodding at Hyunjin. “I want you to take y/n somewhere safe”, Felix said to Hyunjin as you looked between the two. Hyunjin held your hand gently, his big hand engulfing your small one.

“No, I’m not going anywhere. If you go down, we go down together”, you said as you held Felix’s hand. You let go of their hands to take your mask off, throwing it to the floor. They also did the same before reaching for their gun. You ran forward, dodging people who nearly bumped into you.

You were face to face with Jongho, and you just stared at each other. He wasn’t wearing his mask anymore, and he had blood smeared on his face. His hands were covered in blood, and you were sure that wasn’t his blood.

He smirked before charging at you, and you were glad that you knew how to fight otherwise you were screwed. You ran forward and did a front flip, wrapping your legs around his neck and knocking him to the ground. You grabbed your knife and stabbed him in the arm, earning a scream from him.Your legs were wrapped tightly around him, ensuring he couldn’t budge. He hit your legs numerous times, trying to get you off him.

“I might have been part of your team for a while but you didn’t brainwash me. How many innocent people have you killed, huh? I thought you only went after bad people, people who abused others and did awful shit. Turns out you’re the bad guys, not Stray Kids”, you said before quickly reaching for your gun, pointing it at Jongho’s head and pulling the trigger. You got off him, his dead body lying on the floor as blood started pooling out of his head.

You walked away from his body, the main target on your mind being Hongjoong. You wanted to make him suffer, for ripping you away from your friends and family. You wanted to make his death slow and painful. You were filled with rage and hatred for the man. You can’t believe you thought they were doing good when in reality, they were the bad guys the entire time.

You heard jingling and you looked up, seeing the chandelier above you getting ready to fall. Not even a few seconds later, the chandelier came crashing down. Luckily you managed to get out of the way in time, jumping out of the way as your body hit the ground. The chandelier hit the ground with a loud bang, destroying the wooden floor.

You figured you weren’t going to get very far in your heels so you took them off, deciding to go barefoot instead. You saw Hyunjin and Felix fighting people, who were shouting at other guys, who you assumed were the rest of Stray Kids.

You got up off the floor, and headed towards the stairs, hoping that Hongjoong was up there. You checked in different rooms, to see if he was hiding in one of them. You turned a corner, and you felt yourself being thrown against the wall.

“What the fuck?” you said, groaning as the back of your head hit the wall. You opened your eyes, seeing Yunho gripping your shoulders. He towered over you, the top of your head barely reaching his chin. “Get off me”, you said, trying to push him away, but he wouldn’t budge.

You kneed him in the crotch, making him hunch over. You pushed him and kicked him in the stomach before smacking his face into the wall next to you. He groaned in pain and tried to grab you but you were quicker, jumping on his back and grabbed his hair. You grabbed your knife with your free hand and stabbed him in the neck. He fell to the ground with you still on top of him, Yunho holding the side of his neck to try and stop the blood from pouring out. But it was no use as his body went limp.

You stepped over his body, and that’s when you noticed a part of your dress was ripped. God damn it, that dress was expensive. Oh well, you’ll just have to deal with it. You continued looking in every room, but you couldn’t find him. Where is the bastard hiding?

You went back downstairs since you couldn’t find him upstairs, maybe he was somewhere downstairs. As soon as you got to the bottom step, you saw more dead bodies lying on the floor. You’ve never seen so many dead bodies in your life. Many of those could have been innocent and wanted to enjoy the party. You saw Yeosang in the distance who had his back to you, and you didn’t even think as you aimed your gun at him, hoping to hit him straight in the back. You just hope he doesn’t move. You pulled the trigger, the bullet flying through the air at high velocity. Before the bullet could reach Yeosang, Wooyoung jumped in front of him, the bullet piercing Wooyoung’s shoulder as he let out a scream. Both of them fell to the ground, Wooyoung holding his shoulder. Wooyoung came out of nowhere and you weren’t expecting that.

You kept shooting at them as they ran away, disappearing as they turned a corner. You looked around the room, trying to see if you could see Felix or Hyunjin, but you couldn’t find them as you started to panic. Suddenly you felt someone tackle you from behind, pushing you to the ground.

“You fucking bitch”, it was Seonghwa who tackled you, and if looks could kill, you would be dead in an instant. He hit you across the face, and he was wearing rings so the metal cut your face, blood trickling down your nose. He hit you again and again, and then he proceeded to wrap his hands around your throat, making you gasp for air.

You struggled under him, hitting his arms to try and get him off you, kicking your feet. You felt yourself losing consciousness quickly, preparing for the worst. Seonghwa was soon pulled off you, and you could finally breathe again, coughing as you held your throat.

“Don’t fucking touch her”, it was Felix who pulled him off you. He pointed his gun at Seonghwa’s forehead and pulled the trigger, his body soon dropping to the floor. Felix helped you up, checking to see if you had any major injuries. A couple of guys ran up to the both of you, and their faces were bruised and bloody.

“You must be y/n, hello”, one of the guys said as he awkwardly waved to you. You waved back to him as you continued to rub your throat. “Jeongin, Seungmin, you guys ok?” Felix asked his gang mates. You awkwardly stood there while they talked, not knowing what to do. You looked around and that’s when you saw Hongjoong coming out of a room, on the phone with someone.

“Kim Hongjoong, I’m going to fucking murder your ass”, you shouted at him and you ran over to him. He grabbed his gun, pointing it straight at you, making you freeze. “Don’t come any closer or I will shoot”, he said, gripping his gun. He held his phone out and on the screen it had a red button on it.

“What the fuck did you do?” you asked, referring to the button. He chuckled darkly before speaking, “I rigged this place with explosives and by pressing this button, this place gets destroyed”, he said as he continued chuckling. You looked back at Felix with fear evident on your face. The rest of his gang mates were now with him, and they were all holding their guns.

Wooyoung, Yeosang, San and Mingi had turned up, and they were confused about where the rest of their members were. “What the fuck did you do to Jongho, Yunho and Seonghwa?!” Hongjoong shouted to you, and now it was your turn to chuckle. “Don’t worry about them, you need to worry about yourselves now”, you said before making a quick move, grabbing your knife and throwing it straight at Hongjoong’s hand, knocking his phone out of his hand. Luckily the phone didn’t land on the screen, the button facing upwards.

You charged at Hongjoong, dodging all of his punches. You kicked him in the stomach, making him trip backwards, but he managed to steady himself. He swung his arm, making you duck and grab his arm, throwing him to the ground. You grabbed his arm with both hands, snapping it in half, Hongjoong letting out a blood curdling scream.

In the background, Wooyoung’s, Yeosang’s, San’s and Mingi’s bodies were lying on the floor, a bullet wound in the middle of their foreheads. Hongjoong thrashed around on the floor, the bone of his elbow showing from where you broke his arm.

“Not so tough and scary now, are you?” you said as you stared down at him with a smirk. He tried to get up, using his good arm to push himself up. You saw a shotgun on the floor and picked it up, aiming the shotgun at his legs, and pulled the trigger. The bottom half of his legs got blown off as he let out another scream of agony.

“Now stay down”, you said, dropping the shotgun on the floor. You walked over to where his phone is and picked it up, staring at the button. You walked over to Felix and pulled him in for a kiss, which only lasted for a few seconds. The 9 of you walked away, heading towards the exit.

“DON’T WALK AWAY FROM ME Y/N!” Hongjoong shouted but you ignored his shouts and cries, walking out of the building. When you were far enough away from the building, you pressed the button on the phone, the building blowing up, pieces of the building flying in different directions, the loud bang ringing in your ears. You looked at Felix and he looked back at you, smiling at you. You were glad to be back with him, and you never felt so glad about killing someone. Hopefully by joining Stray Kids, you will bring peace to Seoul and protect innocent civilians instead of killing them, which is what Ateez did. You also have a new family who will treat you kindly and not want to kill you, which made you happy.

#ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateex angst #ateez au #ateez x reader #ateez #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #stray kids angst #stray kids au #stray kids x reader #stray kids

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okshu · 3 months

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𝗐͟𝗐͟𝗐﹕﹙ATEEZ FIC RECS﹚ ➛ ⛧

all fics of ateez that i read and went "omg wow". the authors are really talented too so make sure to check out their other works.

▨ LEGEND ㄑ ꮺ favs . f,a,s - fluff, angst, smut

𖥔 MEMBERS ˖͢

홍중 ─── kim hongjoong

i. guns and roses by @baekhvuns [s,ꮺ ] [mafia, enemies to lovers; 6.4k.] ii. love tailored by @arafilez [f] [e2l, fashion designer!khj x ceo!reader; 8.5k] iii. look after you by @mingigoo [f,s] [nurse fem reader x struggling musician hongjoong, enemies to lovers (kind of), some angst, smut, fluff, hospital au; 10.3k] iv. promise by @daesukiii [a,f] [angst, some fluff, hurt/minimal comfort, e for everyone, established relationship; 1.8k] v. ugh, as if by @ennysbookstore [s] [one-shot, punk!hongjoong x feminine!reader, enemies to lovers (kinda); 11.13k]

성화 ─── park seonghwa

i. sleep-talker by @mingigoo [f, s, ꮺ] [roommates au, vacation au, one bed trope, forced proximity au; 10.2k] ii. the duke and his general by @baekhvuns [a,s] [royalty, arranged marriage au, romcom, miniseries; 61k] iii. mr and mrs park by @baekhvuns [f,a,s] [mafia, romcom, e2l, single parent au, 50k] iv. bodyguard by @baekhvuns [f,a,s] [romcom, bodyguard au + forbidden relationship au; 37.8k] v. misguided by @flurrys-creativity [f,a]

윤호 ─── jeong yunho

i. come fly with me by @hwaightme [f, ꮺ] [love at first sight, bit of angst, slice of life; 9k]

여상 ─── kang yeosang

i. crash landing on you by @atozfic [f, a, s, ꮺ] [mild enemies to friends to lovers, fake dating au, nepobaby!yeosang, student reader; 20.3k] ii. 7:29 P.M. by @edenesth [a, comfort] [timestamp]

산 ─── choi san

i. this youth of craziness by @baekhvuns [f, s, ꮺ] [slice of life, drama, romcom & travel dreams; 40k] ii. when he's (drunk) too much by @atinybitofau [f, a] [headcannons]

민기 ─── song mingi

i. butterflies by @hwaslayer [f, s, ꮺ] [established relationship/marriage, parents au; 3.2k] ii. 23:47 by @lvlystars [f]

우영 ─── jung wooyoung

i. 3.20 a.m. by @strawberryseonghwaz [f] ii. bf texts w/ wooyoung by @beenbaanbuun [f] iii. change of heart by @hotteoki [f, ꮺ] [suitor!wooyoung x princess!reader, arranged marriage, medieval era, strangers to lovers] iv. 21:23 P.M. by @adoringsan

종호 ─── choi jongho

i. scoot over, choi by @seonghwaddict [f, ꮺ] [one bed trope, slight fluff, slight enemies to lovers but they're not quite at the lovers part yet, agent jongho and reader; 0.6k] ii. falling and sleeping by @seonghwaddict [f] [crack, friends to lovers; 1.5k]

𖥔 OT8 // POLY ˖͢

i. ateez in the multiverse by @hotteoki [ f, ꮺ ] [ headcannons ] ii. splish splash by @atozfic [s] [no use of y/n, swim team au, lifeguard!reader, pro-swimmers!sanhwawooho; 20k+] iii. asking bf!ateez to draw you a flower by @eightmakesonebraincell [ f ] [ text imagines ] iv. world episode fin:will by @arafilez [f,a,s] [ series ] v. happy death day by @flurrys-creativity [s]

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hongthoven · 2 years

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Love me like you hate me | Hongjoong x Reader

❅ pairing : kim hongjoong (ateez) x fem reader

❅ rate : +18 | angst, smut

❅ warnings : violence, strong language, sex

❅ status : chaptered, unfinished | part 2

❅ tags&stuff : gang leader!hj, gang AU, stripper!reader, drugs, money, corruption, stripclub, violence, San as hj's right-hand man and Wooyoung as their overexcited sidekick, San is kind of a sadistic bastard, heart eyes for Woo, little bit of Woosan if you squint, graphic sex scenes incoming, joong is a rough little man with a potty mouth, bit of sweet Yunho to soothe everything down a little

❅ plot : growing up under the influence of his father's toxic masculinity, Hongjoong has been taught not to ever show any signs of weakness. As an adult and having turned into one of the most threatening gang leaders, cold hearted and untouchable, Hongjoong shows no interest in anything but collecting shivers and startled looks from the enemies - until he meets his only weakness, the girl that sends his entire world shatter into pieces.

❅ author's notes : hi there, i'm crys, english isn't my first language so pardon any mistake that may occur. I hope you'll enjoy that chaptered/hongjoong-centered fic!

❅ Ao3 : kim_hongjoong

chapter one.

Hongjoong had always hated his birthday. It’s not that he didn’t like the attention - he did, a lot- but something about it made him sad. Maybe it was the Peter Pan syndrome, the fear of growing up, getting older and becoming an adult when childhood was all fun and games. A friend from school had once told him that the older you grew, the closer you were to die, but Hongjoong had never paid much attention to his words.

Death had never seemed real to him.

He would see people getting shot in movies, see it on the news, but as long as it was behind a screen, it was never real, more like a part of the twisted imagination of a 7-year-old who loved to play cops and robbers with kids from his neighborhood.

Surely Death couldn’t be a real thing if people came back as ghosts, or zombies, right?

That was, of course, until he found himself staring at a coffin going six feet under, surrounded by friends and family as they paid their last goodbye to his beloved mother.

Up until this day, Hongjoong had no idea a parent could die. Not even when his mother had gotten so sick she just couldn’t leave her bed anymore. With the innocence of a child, Hongjoong had simply convinced himself she had some bad stomach flu and that, someday, eventually, she would walk out of her bedroom again so they could watch more zombie movies together. They both shared the same passion for horror movies and even if they gave him the worst possible nightmares, Hongjoong knew his mother wouldn’t mind cuddling him to sleep until he eventually found peace in the safety of her arms.

Looking up through his blurry vision, blinking a mix of tears and raindrops away, Hongjoong could tell his father was upset by the way his jaw seemed to tense under his skin and how tightly he was holding his hand, up to the point he was genuinely convinced he would break every single bones in his fingers if he kept squeezing his strong fist around his.

But he wasn’t crying.

When everyone around them seemed to be devastated, from his bawling aunt mourning her sister to their upstairs neighbor who tried his best but still failed to swallow up his tears, every single person surrounding the black casket as it went down into the ground looked accordingly upset, except for his father.

As far as he could remember, Hongjoong had never seen his father show any kind of emotion, let alone shed a tear and while it could’ve been a regular “dad” thing to the eyes of a child, the little boy often found himself wondering if boys truly didn’t cry.

As a kid, he obviously came home crying a lot after he’d fallen from his bike or got into a fight, but while his mother would always comfort him with a cuddle and a kiss on top of his head, his father would either ignore his pleas or just ask him to “toughen up and act like a man”.

While he had no idea how to act “tough”, Hongjoong knew he would spend the rest of his life trying to match his father’s expectations, even if it meant not to ever shed a single tear again.

Nothing would ever beat the complete devastation of losing his mother on his own birthday, so why would ever cry, anyway?

“Fuck- my dad’s gonna kill me” Hongjoong looked through the dusty mirror of the questionable toilets he had locked himself in with his best-friend after they had found shelter in the nearest gas station. Having just turned 15, Hongjoong often found himself skipping class to wander around the city, looking for a new purpose which often led him towards a troubled path. Today was no exception and while most of the kids his age were busy studying for their exams, Hongjoong and San had both decided that summer break had already started.

“I mean, you still won, what’s the big deal?” San shrugged, lighting a cigarette as he perched himself on the edge of the sink, unbothered by the absolute lack of window and the fact they would probably suffocate from the smoke within a minute.

San had been by his side ever since they were little kids as he literally lived across the hall, their front doors so close they might as well have been roommates.

While Hongjoong was an only child, San was part of a dysfunctional, blended family. Hongjoong had lost track of how many step siblings his friend had as it seemed like a new child was to walk through the door every day.

As the eldest, it was no surprise to see San spend most of his time outside of the family circle, roving the streets until the latest hours of the day so everyone was asleep by the time he went home. Hongjoong couldn’t help but wonder if San was ever sad about acting like a complete stranger within his own family, but he never dared to ask. San wasn’t much of a talker and whenever someone would try and cross the iron wall he had built around him, he would just punch them hard enough for them not to even speak his name ever again. Everywhere he went, San seemed to carry some shadow around him, hiding behind violence rather than speaking his truth—and though Hongjoong sometimes feared for his friend, he knew better than to try and change him.

What’s the big deal? Hongjoong asked himself as he wiped blood off the corner of his mouth, trying to pat his bruised skin with his sleeve as it looked like he had bumped into a door, making it a winner. Though he had won the fight - a pretty stupid one, over a pack of cigarettes - against some older kid from high-school, Hongjoong just knew his father wouldn’t let him get away with a face showing obvious signs of weakness.

“Whatever… few more years and I’ll be out of here anyway” Hongjoong sighed while looking down and into the sink. It definitely looked like it hadn’t seen a single wipe in years and if he tried to pour water into his hands, Hongjoong just knew it would come out the color of dirt.

This place was a shithole, like the entire city he had grown in.

Taking his first drag of well-deserved nicotine, Hongjoong couldn’t help but think about his future, counting the days until he was out of this place, out of his father’s grip and finally free to become the man he was always meant to be. Someone powerful whose name would make people shudder, someone his own father would fear.

But for now, he was just a 15yo boy feeling sick at the thought of going home.

Walking into the Dinner like he owned the place, San looked around while giving a few fist-bumps to some acquaintances, the shimmering sound of the bells above the door following his every step. Wasting no time in finding his usual spot by the bar, perched on top of a stool, San immediately slammed his hand upon the silvery surface, announcing himself.

“Whose dick do I have to suck to get a burger?” he chanted, his dimple digging into his cheek as his smile grew wider.

“Fuck off, San” Yunho barely spared him a glimpse, too busy pouring the cheapest brand of soda into two rainbow colored paper cups, his glasses almost slipping off his nose from sweating into the kitchen for too long.

Yunho was a top-class student working his ass off in the evening and sacrificing his weekends to gather enough money for college. While he was the complete opposite of the outcast San had turned out to be, Yunho was still part of the few privileged men who hadn’t been beaten up by Hongjoong’s best friend.

“Jeong, I know you’re craving for it as the flaming homosexual you are, and I’m flattered, but I’d rather sit on broken glass than go anywhere near your flabby cock…”

Yunho knew better than to reply to San’s typical provocations and decided to ignore his comment, taking his order with him toward the table at the very back of the restaurant.

Bending over the bar to grab himself a paper cup where he could pour his own soda, San watched as his best-friend finally escaped from the kitchen, hands full of plates.

“There he is, our local heartbreaker!” San chuckled to himself, grabbing a straw just so he would get a chance to blow into it and watch as its wrapper went flying to the next table, collecting a few cold glances from strangers.

When Yunho walked back to pick up the next orders from his hands, Hongjoong took the opportunity to catch a five minute break, pouring himself a glass of water and gulping it down immediately like he’d been wandering through a desert for days.

Grilling steaks and cleaning tables was nowhere near the glamorous life he hoped for, but it gave him an income and a reason to drop out of school when sitting at a table for 8 hours a day had become too much. Though he was smart and capable of doing great, Hongjoong had quickly given up on any hope for some higher education. If anything, he would be a self-made man and learn from experience rather than black boards and books.

“Rumor has it you dumped your girlfriend, you monster!” San grinned, finding pride in the way his best-friend rolled his eyes at him with complete disgust.

“First of all - she was never my girlfriend, we hooked up twice and the girl thought I’d marry her somehow?” Hongjoong leaned against the counter, elbows anchored into the cold surface as one of his hands found its way into his blonde, ruffled hair. There wasn’t much to say about the girl everyone seemed to think he was dating. They had met at some party downtown, started hooking up after a couple beers and while Hongjoong was quick to admit she gave decent head, this chapter of his story was merely worth of a single page before it was done.

“Once is an accident, twice is a date… Which is why I never do second shots!” San teased, finding pride in the way everyone in town seemed to call him a womanizer. It was actually easy to fall for his charms. Though he wasn’t much of a smooth-talker, San shared the features of a Greek God with a sharp jaw and killer smile and the body of a man who spent most of his spare time at the gym. Every girl he had been with never failed to praise his bedroom skills, regardless of the way he always ran off before sunrise.

Leaning against the bar, Hongjoong simply sighed to himself while locking his head between his arms, absolutely exhausted.

“Whatever” he groaned, unbothered by the reputation he was about to get for ditching a girl after a couple fucks, “you got the cash?” he asked again, composing himself as he recalled the main reason why they had decided to meet up in the middle of his shift.

“Yeah, we good” fiddling with the pocket of his denim jacket, San was quick to hand his best-friend a brown envelope filled with cash and watched it disappear in Hongjoong’s back pocket.

Though he never spared much emotion, Hongjoong couldn’t help but smile for a brief second at the thought of leaving this place soon. Having just turned 18, both him and San were getting closer to freedom and while the path they had taken to gather enough money to move into the big city was not the safest, Hongjoong just knew he was on his way to become the better version of himself.

One thing he knew is that it would be a lonely road as he would never allow anyone to grow a place into his heart, anything close to a relationship he ever had somehow always ending with tears and drama as he failed to commit. While anyone would find it sad, Hongjoong felt comfortable being lonely, his trust issues always making him feel like everyone was a threat, except for the one person he trusted with his own life: his best-friend.

When he came home later that night, Hongjoong felt like he had been run over by a truck, ready to collapse on top of his bed from the exhaustion of a double shift. Fridays were always the busiest and despite his absolute lack of interest in school and studies, Hongjoong had definitely inherited his father’s strong work ethic. The only thing he had, along with his thin nose and his natural pouty lips. Everything else was an absolute copy-paste of his mother’s face, from the shape of his eyes that turned into crescents whenever he smiled to his cheekbones and the mole on the side of his neck, Hongjoong had lost track of the times he’d been told how much he looked like his late mother even though it always brought a genuine smile upon his face.

Having people comparing him to his father would be like being linked to the Devil himself, something he would never wish for anyone, even his archenemies.

The lights were out, except for that one lamp his father always forgot to switch off before going to bed, like he could afford paying for that much electricity when the fridge was filled with coupon food. Walking towards it, ready to turn it off, Hongjoong was surprised to find his father’s silhouette sitting on the couch, facing the coffee table where a ridiculous amount of money was on display. Money Hongjoong instinctively recognized as the cash he was keeping safely hidden in the drop ceiling of his bedroom.

“What’s this?” Hongjoong didn’t know how else to start this conversation, his hands turning into tight fists as he started to dig his own nails into his palms, out of nerves.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking?” his father tone was cold as ever, only now slightly tinted with accusation as his brown eyes traveled from the coffee table to his son’s face.

“Looks like a shit ton of money to me” Hongjoong shrugged, trying his best to ignore his father’s glance as he focused on the most random details surrounding him. The scorch marks on the couch were a fresh reminder of the many times he had walked home to his father fast asleep with his cigarette burning into the dusty velvety fabric of a piece of furniture that belonged to a garbage dump. Hongjoong couldn’t even remember its original color—something between orange and coral but now definitely more of a dirty brown.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t act so cocky... Where’s the money from?” there were many answers to that question but somehow, none of them would spare him a punch in the face.

“In case you didn’t know, I have a job”

For now, he would have to play it safe.

“You’re making burgers and fries, what do you think you are, some fucking CEO?” his father almost spat back, his hand flying into the air like he was too eager to punch something but too early into the conversation to actually hit his son across the face.

“I’m gonna ask you again, just once–” he proceeded, his finger pointing at him now “where is the money coming from?”

“None of your business” Hongjoong knew his attitude would not get him out of this situation, but knowing his father, there was no way he would walk out of this room with his money back if he didn’t stand up for himself. His dad was such a pitiful excuse for a man that he’d rather burn the bills himself than have his son win this battle.

“I did not raise you to become some cheap dealer or whatever that is!”

“You could’ve stopped at ‘I did not raise you” to be fair…” Hongjoong chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest now, his tongue poking on the inside of his cheek as he found pride and amusement in the way his father was getting more frustrated by the second.

A couple years from now, he would’ve caved, apologized and made sure to crawl back into his room hoping not to see his father burst through the door ready to punish him. But today, Hongjoong had finally grown tired of being scared. Over time, his father had become a ghost made of all his insecurities, haunting him occasionally, but he wasn’t afraid of him anymore.

There was a silence as both seemed to challenge each other through the coldest stare until his father finally lifted himself up from the couch, instantly aiming for his throat and pushing him toward the nearest wall, his back hitting it so hard he felt it through every fiber of his skin.

As his father’s bony hand wrapped tighter around his neck, Hongjoong could feel the rage building up inside of him, years of being humiliated, punished, slapped across the face, punched until he was tough enough not to shed a single tear, coming back to haunt him.

The way he had been mistreated and still ignored, only for him to care now that he was this close to walking out the family home? That single thought was enough to push him off the edge and ironically, Hongjoong did the only thing his father ever taught him: he gave the first punch.

Things escalated quickly as they found themselves slammed to the coffee table, throwing punches until Hongjoong was finally kneeling on top of his dad, his fist like a machine that couldn’t be stopped, fury bursting through his veins as blood turned his knuckles into a complete red mess.

It took him a while to realize someone was pulling him off his father’s limp body, San’s worried voice dragging him off his frenzy after he’d used his spare key to storm into the apartment following the worrying noises he had heard on his way back home.

“Holy fuck, Hong’! what have you done?” San was stunned by the sight of his best-friend’s father almost passed out on the floor, his face barely recognizable through the blood and bruises of what looked like a couple broken bones.

A little shaken, Hongjoong had curled himself against the couch, his knees to his chest as his entire body seemed to tremble out of absolute shock. Speechless, he remained silent for a while, rubbing his knuckles as it felt like they’d gone numb from punching repeatedly but when he expected any reaction from him, San watched as Hongjoong finally collected himself and stood up to look down on his father.

“I’m out of here- you hear me, asshole? I’m leaving this shithole of a place you call home! When I walk out that door, you won’t have a son anymore… And when you die, the sooner the better, I won’t shed a tear…” he paused, wiping a few drops of blood out the corner of his lips.

“I hope you’re proud of me, Dad”.

It was the middle of the night when Hongjoong and San hopped on the first bus to the nearest big city.

In the darkness of the empty streets, they still looked like teenagers running away from home with their entire existence reduced into two backpacks, one filled with blood stained money they had gathered from Hongjoong’s living room floor, leaving his father behind in agony without a second look.

As the engine started running, Hongjoong couldn’t help but shake his knee out of nerves, one of the rare bad habits he had taken from his mother. Looking out the window as the town he had known his entire life disappeared, Hongjoong almost flinched as he felt his best-friend’s hand push down his knee, silently asking him to stop. Looking to his side to see him flashing a grin, hope for a new beginning shining through San’s eyes as they entered a new life together, Hongjoong finally felt safe.

“Oh by the way, happy fucking birthday?” San joked as he realized it was past midnight.

Hongjoong had always hated his birthday, but this one was by far his happiest.

The club was already packed - which was no surprise since Friday nights usually brought along a whole bunch of men gathered in groups and ready to celebrate payday the only way they knew how: with booze and tits.

Y/N was running late and while it wasn’t like she had a 9 to 5 job with a time clock, she just hated to fail at anything, that included her impeccable punctuality. One of her colleagues had once joked about the fact she would probably be 30 minutes early to her own funeral, which Y/N couldn’t even deny because, as the control freak she actually was, she knew everything would be planned from the color of her coffin to the choice of a caterer years before she would actually kick the bucket.

“You’re late” Y/N looked up to see Yunho’s worried look as he frowned through his glasses, the complete surprise of seeing her walking through the door past 8PM barely hidden.

“I know, sue me?” she joked while still walking towards the changing rooms as Yunho was quick to follow, hands filled with the run-through he was about to give to the rest of the girls, including his favorite, who ironically happened to be late that night.

“You know I’m not scolding you, right? Just surprised?” guilt seemed to paint Yunho’s face a whole new shade of pink as he frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side like a puppy looking for attention.

“Pl-ease, you wouldn’t scold a pigeon if it shat all over your face, of course I know!” Though she was purposely exaggerating, Y/N couldn’t deny Yunho was by far the nicest man she had ever met in her entire life. While she was forced to interact with actual pigs six nights a week, having someone like Yunho around had restored her faith in men over the years.

When Yunho stopped her in her tracks to grab her hand, forcing her to spin around and face him, Y/N found herself once again thinking that maybe, sometimes, he was being way too nice for his own good.

“Are you okay? Is it your grandma? Do you need the night off?”

“I just missed the bus, Yunho… Can you stop worrying like a dad? You’re getting wrinkles and everything!” Y/N joked just so he would relax a little, her thumb pressing between his eyes where his skin had effectively turned into a wrinkle.

“Alright- do I get a kiss, then?” when his frown turned into a bright smile, Y/N couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of him acting like a careless child over again.

There was something pure and delightful about the way Yunho managed to compose himself. Through years of friendship, she had never seen him getting angry to the point he just couldn’t go back to his goofy self within a minute. Their bond was unique though ambiguous, as they often shared a kiss or some level of intimacy people would only find in a couple behind closed doors, but as he also remained her boss, Y/N always made sure no one ever caught them being this close.

Being the boss’ favorite just didn’t strike her ego right, she wanted to be praised for her good work and popularity, not for sucking Yunho’s dick every other Thursday.

She pecked him for a brief second after making sure no one was around and while the frustration was obvious on the face of a man who couldn’t hide his emotions, Yunho still settled for the tiniest bit of affection she granted him with. That’s how much he adored her.

“Okay girls- not that I want you to be nervous, but I’ve been told the big boss is coming tonight, so put on your best stilettos, rise and shine if you want that big raise!” Yunho announced as soon as they walked into the changing rooms where all the girls had gathered to put on their best attires.

After years of running a strip-club, Yunho had learned to remain completely unbothered by the amount of nudity he had to face on a daily basis. Everywhere around him, gorgeous girls were flashing their most intimate bits while he kept his eyes on his iPad, professional as ever.

The room went busier than ever as they all started to comment about what the big boss probably looked like, suggesting some balding man in his 50s with greasy skin and hairy fingers squeezed into golden rings like they were in some bad mafia movie from the 70s.

Silence instantly followed Yunho’s voice when he eventually asked a volunteer for his table, everyone pondering whether it was a good idea to dance for the man in charge of their salary and risking their rent over a mistake or a bad performance.

Suddenly, everyone had an excuse not to do it: a bachelor party, their favorite client, a fully-booked agenda… Anything not to face the man everyone had heard about but never met.

“I’ll do it?”

Yunho looked up for the first time, recognizing the voice through the buzzing sound of a full room. Sitting in front of the mirror Y/N was applying a fair coat of bright red lipstick while smiling to her friend, the thought of a good challenge sparkling through her shiny eyes.

“Are you sure? I mean, he’ll probably bring his sidekicks…” Though he only meant well, Yunho just knew he sounded way too worried for a man whose job depended on his best girl giving the performance of a lifetime. Then again, the simple thought of these men looking at her was enough to make his blood boil into his veins. They were nothing but savages, to his eyes.

“Come on, give me some credits! You think I can’t handle a couple meanies?” she joked, poking her tongue through her teeth as the thrill of a new mission seemed to light a fire within herself

“...and what’s his name anyway?”

“ … Kim Hongjoong, you might want to remember his name”

San walked past the man he had just knocked out to the floor, abandoning his poor soul to the pavement for every other guest standing in the queue to see. Adjusting the front of his shirt, making sure to look immaculate, he flashed a flirty grin to the girl leading them to their table as soon as they entered the club.

“Did you have to break his nose?” Hongjoong sighed, once again the victim of his right-hand man’s impulsive behavior.

“I mean, the guy didn’t know your name? You fucking OWN the place? You think I’m gonna let him disrespect you like that?” clicking his tongue against his teeth while rolling his neck out of nerves, San couldn’t hide his frustration.

“That was pretty fucking funny though” Wooyoung’s laugh was muffled by the sound of music as they got carried further into the main room and directly to the VIP corner.

The youngest of the three was typically hyping San up whenever he failed to compose himself. While Hongjoong always tried to keep his head high and found pride in their reputation, Wooyoung was like a puppy in a bowling alley, always cheering for a fight and laughing at people’s misery. Most of the time, Hongjoong found him endearing, like a child he had taken under his responsibility along the way but tonight, as he stepped into a club with his own name stamped on it, the boss had taken over the friend, hoping not to be completely embarrassed by his friends’ behavior.

As they sat in their booth, towering over the rest of the guests, Hongjoong found himself looking around while trying to empty his head of the burdening thoughts of a long day. San was actually the one suggesting for them to go out and check out the latest club he had bought, almost owning the city by now, and while he wasn’t exactly in a festive mood, Hongjoong had finally agreed, mostly because the sight of Wooyoung in front of some half-naked girls was always entertaining enough to steal a smile from his boss as he just couldn’t contain his excitement.

The place looked decent, dimmed lights giving it some nice vintage boudoir vibes Hongjoong actually loved and while his meticulous eye could already catch a couple changes to be made, he had to admit Yunho was doing a good job at running the club.

Speaking of the Devil, Yunho showed up to their table like he had been summoned, iPad still in hands like it was the logical extension to his hands.

“Jeong Yunho! How’s life? Found yourself a boyfriend yet?” San joked, his body leaning into the booth like he was watching some daytime TV on his couch with no worries whatsoever.

“Hi, San, still a clown, I see?” Yunho smiled, way past his teenage fear of getting into a fight with a man whose fists could actually kill.

When San was about to spit back, Hongjoong stopped him with a single finger up, motioning for him to shut up as he leaned forward to bump fists with Yunho.

“This place looks good… You did well…” he stated, his chin pointing forward as his voice remained composed and collected. There was a genuine will to praise the man for his good work, regardless of his questionable reputation. While they came from a different background, Hongjoong had never been mean to Yunho nor even resented him for being a perfect student coupled with a prodigy son to his beloved, still married parents. Still, while completely opposite, they had managed to find a balance through their business. Yunho would make sure the club kept its reputation impeccable while recruiting the finest girls he could possibly find while Hongjoong brought his name and the right amount of money to keep the place alive.

“Thanks- doing my best!” Yunho tried his best to cover up the joy this praising had brought as his entire life was ruled by his work ethic. To hear it from Hongjoong himself was something he found pride in, as weird as it felt to have him as his boss considering the fact they had shared most of teenage years trying to make end meets in the shittiest town ever seen.

While he didn’t approve of Hongjoong’s ways of living and the questionable business he ran on the side, Yunho couldn’t ignore his friend’s success and the major spin his life had taken ever since he had disappeared from their hometown, 6 years ago.

“Heard about your dad- I’m sorry” Yunho spoke again, his voice unsure as he knew that, above many things, his family was one thing Hongjoong hated to mention. Still, having known him for so long, it felt wrong not to talk about his father passing a couple days ago.

“What are you sorry for?” Hongjoong surprisingly replied, one of his eyebrows raised like he’d been told the most ridiculous thing ever.

“I mean, it’s your dad–” coming from a healthy, loving family, Yunho found it hard to relate with the man’s careless attitude towards such a tragedy, but he also couldn’t forget the many times he had seen Hongjoong walking into the dinner with a black eye or a new bruise, keeping his family life under a silent vow while anyone could tell he wasn’t exactly safe under his father’s custody.

“Couldn’t care less” Hongjoong stated like it was absolutely nothing, brushing the topic off like it was the most random piece of information he would share this week. His father was gone, and the worst part of his life with him. Good riddance.

“Why don’t you find us some good girls for the night, Jeong? Isn’t it what you’re actually paid for?” San interrupted, quite visibly annoyed with Yunho’s puppy look and his typical way of feeling sorry for everyone. The simple sight of him was usually enough to build up his rage and the immediate urge to smash a glass into his face.

“I’ve actually found the perfect girl for you guys, don’t worry about that” Yunho smiled though his heart was aching at the thought of Y/N having to deal with San’s bad manners. His professionalism might have been the one thing helping him navigate through life, but nothing could possibly hide the bitterness of having to throw his favorite girl into the wolves den.

“THE girl? As in… just one? What, you think we all share a bed or something?” San chuckled, his laugh covering up his building annoyance.

“You do know this is a strip-club, not a brothel? If you need someone to fuck, I suggest you log onto Tinder or something–”

Yunho’s snapback came as a surprise as the three men were at a loss for words. Having a good man like Yunho losing his patience felt like getting a nasty bite from the cutest puppy, shocking, but almost cute.

“Bro, that man owns the place, if he wants to fuck all of these girls, he will…” San smirked with the confidence of ten men. “What is it? Do you have a little crush? You don’t want us to play with your girlfriend?”.

“San- that’s enough” Hongjoong interrupted again, clearly frustrated with his friend by now.

After a while, he finally reached for his credit card, handing it to Yunho.

“Open a tab for us, alright? and this…” reaching into the inside of his jacket, Hongjoong handed a thick pile of rolled-up cash as Yunho tried to mentally do the maths so he would get a fair guess of the amount of money he was being given.

“... this is for the girl. If she works hard for us tonight, I’ll double it up” he smirked, pleased to see Yunho’s impressed look as he quickly slipped the cash into his pocket with a content nod.

“Man, she better have tits made of gold” Wooyoung chuckled at the ridiculous display of wealth happening in front of his eyes.

“She’ll double it up, I’m not worried about that” Yunho simply stated before he walked off.

Soon enough, San’s restless comments and Wooyoung’s laugh were merely muffled sounds in the distance as the only thing he could hear was the blood thumping through his veins as he tightly wrapped his fist around the money that would sell his favorite girl to the devil.

✘ Chapter 2 ✘ feel free to comment & feedback!

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