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written-in-flowers · 4 months

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Be the Light: Pt. 5 (seongjoongxFem!reader)

Pairing: Hongjoong x Seonghwa x Fem!reader | Side pairing(s): Ateez x Fem!reader.

Word count: 5k

Genre: fluff, smut/ AU: historical au, arranged marriage au, polyamorous, royalty au

Summary: YN has spent her entire life in service of Han Sookmyung, Queen of Hanseong. She never dreamed above her station, or that she'd ever be in reach of Sookmyung's concubines, 'The Golden Ones'. But, when secrets are brought to life, her world is turned upside-down.

Warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, heavily referenced torture (briefly), heavily referenced abuse (briefly), heavily referenced sexual abuse (briefly), enslavement, slight gaslighting, lost sibling, political drama, historical drama, joseon!au, concubine!ateez, nsfw content, virgin!reader, polyamory, polygamous, throuple, threesome m/m/f, oral sex (m. and f. receiving/giving), group sex, multiple positions, multiple partners, cunnlingus, vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, virgin sex, virginity discussed.

And a huge, huge thanks to my beta @daesukiii !!! Without them, this wouldn't be as good lol

Taglist: @scarfac3 @tunaasan @lelaleleb @sevngmin148 @meljoongiee @puppyminnnie @sunasmoke22 @kyourixr @yoongiigolden @lynnsqueendom @atinycafe @soocore @ethereally-lyann @blackbutterfly133 @ddaeing @pearlytinyy @iweirdthingsblog @huachengsbestie01 @glintneon123 @watamotee33 @n3atjok3r246 @sousydive @ashrocker123 @baekmond @escape-from-realitys-stuff @yunpointe @Silentcry329 @st4rcig4r @kaaytea @c4tboyxiao @ppprimary

Part 4 < > Part 6

****

They combed the entire palace, but Hongjoong knew they'd never find her. Sookymung lived here her entire life, knowing the secret passages and exits. With her supporters aiding her, she is likely on her way out of the city. Still, Hongjoong and San searched in the northern part of the palace grounds; Yunho and Yeosang searched the west while Jongho and Wooyoung took men to the east. He knew you were safe with Seonghwa in the harem, but he couldn’t help thinking of Sookmyung finding her way in there. Whether it is true or not, Sookmyung will believe you had a hand in this and come for you. She'd told him repeatedly how deeply she trusted you, bordering on being in "love" with you. Hongjoong couldn't stop himself from picturing her sneaking into your chambers, and plunging a knife into you like she'd done to his mother. He couldn't protect her, but he can protect you.

This fight was far from over.

By the time they returned to the harem, he found the other conspirators in the main room awaiting him. Jisoo spotted him first.

"Did you find her?"

"No," he shook his head. "She must have fled into the city. The city watch is on alert, but they won't find her." He looked at Wonshik, "We were betrayed. You said we had support on our side," he snapped at him angrily, "You said they'd stand with us against her. I don't know if you've noticed, but at least half of them defended Sookmyung instead of arresting her."

"It was the Dukes of Daegu, Gongju, and Ulleungdo who defected," Wonshik said. "I am not surprised by this. They have much to lose if Sookmyung is not on the throne. I should have foreseen this outcome-"

"-Yes, you should have," he looked about the room for you, "Where is YN?" He needed to see you.

"She's asleep, Your Grace," Chaewon told him.

"Alone?" His eyebrows raised at this serious oversight. "When Sookmyung is out there?"

"She's being closely guarded," said Jisoo.

"By who?"

"Seojoon and Minho-"

"-No," Hongjoong interrupted, "None of Sookmyung’s old guards. Until they have proven their loyalty to their new queen, I do not want any of the old guards overseeing YN."

"Your Grace," she began, "Seojoon and Minho have proven themselves to be loyal servants to The Crown, not specifically Sookmyung."

"I don't care." He looked to the men behind him. If he should trust any of them, it should be the men who stood at his side. "San, Mingi, I want you to watch over YN."

"Are you-" Mingi began to say, but Hongjoong cut him off.

"-I am. San, you used to be an army captain. Mingi, you worked for pirate hunters. I trust you both to keep her safe."

There are so few people he can trust, he realized. Sookmyung knew about this coupe. Someone within their circle whispered their treason, and she gathered people loyal to her. It is the only explanation. She’d known they’d come for her eventually, but you being revealed as her sister distracted her. Even if she does not get her throne back, she will make sure you suffer. Hongjoong saw, watching San and Mingi leave the room, that he cannot simply let anyone be around you. Sookmyung’s allies may have stationed spies within the palace. One of them might even be ordered to kill you. He’d do everything in his power to make sure that never happened.

“What of the lords from Daegu, Gongju and Ulleungdo?” asked Seonghwa. “They’ll likely still be in the palace, if not already in the city.”

“I vote we round whoever remains,” said Advisor Junhan, “And hold them as hostages. We will send word to their families that unless they bend the knee to Queen YN, their children will continue to be imprisoned here.”

“No,” Wonshik disagreed, “If we do such a thing, we are no better than Sookmyung. We must continue searching for her.”

“But how?” asked Seonghwa. “We don’t have the men to spare for such a search. Besides, a whole host of men is a lot harder to hide.”

“I will write to Changbin,” Jisoo suggested. “He has plenty of connections and people to send about the kingdom for us.”

“Can they be trusted to not speak if captured?” asked Advisor Heechul. “Sookmyung’s methods of interrogation are horrendous. She may discover all she needs to know if she apprehends one of them.”

“They won’t talk,” said Hongjoong quietly. He thought of Naeun, who remained loyal until the very end. “Sookmyung tortured Naeun for hours, and she never said a word. Send word to Changbin,” he told Jisoo, “And tell him to plant his spies in the courts of Daegu, Gongju, and Ulleungdo. If Sookmyung is anywhere near those places, they might find out where.”

“Sookmyung will not make this an easy task,” noted Advisor Junhan. “I personally trained her in combat and martial arts. She is an excellent strategist-”

“-No, she is not,” argued Hongjoong. “She’s built her reputation as a great war strategist on lies and fear. It does not take military know-how to storm a castle and put it to the torch. Sookmyung only succeeded in war because she had advisors much more talented and knowledgeable than herself. Her conquest succeeded because she killed anybody who could possibly oppose her in the future, and installed people loyal to her in their place. That won’t happen again.”

“And what makes you so sure of this?” asked Wonshik, not challenging but curious.

“Because we’re on equal footing this time,” he told him. "She won’t have the support she had before. She's going to be outnumbered and surrounded.” If he's lucky, Sookmyung’s paranoia will cause her to lash out and behave rashly.

“And she’ll have you to contend with now,” added Seonghwa with a small grin.

“Forgive me, Your Grace,” interjected Advisor Junhan, “But you were a concubine for several years. I don’t think the people will-”

“-Hongjoong is the King of Wonju,” Seonghwa snapped. “He is the person the resistance wanted to lead them. He is a skilled swordsman, marksman, horse rider, and combat strategist. He knows Sookmyung just as well as anyone else in this room. If anybody could lead our armies to victory, it would be Hongjoong.”

“Us being her sex slaves will only endear us to the people more.”

It was Yunho who’d spoken. He stepped out from the shadowy doorway, pensive and serious. The healer. The physician. Yunho spent the past eight years personally attending to Sookmyung and her “flowers”. He’d also been the most kind-hearted of them all.

“Everything we know about Sookmyung is not a fact in the kingdom,” he continued. “Those who have witnessed her cruelty only saw a percentage of it. When word reaches the masses that everything they’ve ever heard about her is true, as possibly worse than they believed, they won’t be so hasty to follow her. Just because the dukes who betrayed us side with her does not mean their bannermen or lords under their rule will.”

“Are you suggesting we let the truth come out?”

“Why not? By morning, everyone will know YN is her sister and will be crowned the new queen soon. I think it will do well to tarnish Sookmyung’s reputation a bit further.”

“We could also let it be released that Sookmyung forced YN to participate in her wrongdoings,” Yeosang said from his window perch nearby. “It may cause them to sympathize with her.”

“YN will need all the support she can gather,” said Jisoo. “Sookmyung may have military strength, but the support of the people is a powerful thing. If they see YN is someone they can rally around, they will stand with her.”

Yes, they will. Hongjoong knew the people of Wonju will follow him, and if you’re his wife and he’s your king consort, they will follow you too.

“We must coronate YN as soon as possible,” insisted Wonshik. “The sooner we have a crown on her head and official documents in place, the sooner we can gain support.”

“And when do you suggest we do this, Wonshik?” asked Hongjoong with a challenge in his voice. “Tomorrow morning? We cannot stage a coronation in a day. Besides, a public event might put YN in harm’s way. No, it is too soon.”

“YN must be given time to take in all of this,” Chaewon said from behind Jisoo. “If I may, Your Grace, suggest that we take a small grace period in the meantime? The council can set coronation plans and we can focus on other matters.”

“Other matters?” questioned Hongjoong.

“There is also another event that needs attention,” Jisoo answered. “Your marriage.”

“I would rather we focus our efforts on Sookmyung-” he began, but she intervened.

“A marriage between Hanseong and Wonju will be the distraction we need to buy us time.”

“And an opportunity for her to strike,” he retorted. “I do not want YN anywhere that Sookmyung could reach her.”

“And neither do we,” she said. “The wedding will be held in the palace behind closed doors and heavily guarded, if that pleases you.”

He thought for a moment, then said, “Let us put this to rest for now. I’d like to discuss this further with YN present.”

You likely do not even know about the arrangement. He knew you'd gone through enough for one night, and he wouldn't make it worse. The council, Queen Jisoo and Chaewon left the harem at his dismissal, bowing to him before making their exit. It felt odd having people bow to him. There'd been a time in his life where everybody knew when he was entering or leaving a room. But, they hadn't done that for years. It would be another thing he must get used to again.

He turned to look at the men left in the room: Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, Wooyoung, San, and Jongho. He noticed they each held their veils in their hands. His hands clenched into fists whenever he wore the golden veil, which became a symbol of enslavement. He'd removed the red headband she'd given to single him out from the rest; a token of her affection, she’d claimed. Hongjoong knew better. Hongjoong withdrew the veil tucked into a pocket, and walked over to a nearby brazier. Hongjoong examined the long, sheer material dotted in gold and silver pieces. He remembered when Sookmyung gave it to him.

"You're mine now," he said to himself, recalling that moment in her tent. "And everyone will know it."

Hongjoong thought of his dead mother, laying lifeless and bloody on the floor of their family room. Sookmyung told him if his men laid down their arms, she'd spare his mother and siblings. She didn't. She cut them down without hesitation. Hongjoong's heart ached in his chest, and he breathed deeply. Sookmyung took everything from him: his family, his life, and his dignity. He replayed every awful moment in his mind, and swallowed back his tears. Running his thumb over the smooth jewels, taking in their shape and size, he realized he'd never wear this again. Even if somehow they lost, and she reclaimed her throne, he'd rather die than be her slave. He'll never wear this veil or this headband again. Angrily, Hongjoong threw the two articles into the fire. Standing by the fire, he watched the silk start to singe at the edges. The veil's mesh material began curling outward in certain parts. It felt cleansing, standing beside the burning coals and watching his chains melt. He is his own person.

Then another veil joined the fire. Then another, another, and another. Soon, all eight veils burned in the fire. Hongjoong glanced up to see tears welled up in Yeosang and Yunho's eyes, while Jongho and Seonghwa remained as stoic as himself. They're free now. They might not know what their futures hold, but they are their own men again.

"We will not be slaves again," he promised them, gulping the lump in his throat. "I swear it."

He felt a hand grab his gently, long fingers sliding between his own. Hongjoong looked to see tears escaping Seonghwa's lashes, falling down his cheeks to his sharp jawline. He couldn't help wiping them away with his sleeve.

"You'll never wear those masks again," he told him.

"I'd die first," said Jongho stiffly, gazing into the fire with watery eyes. "I'll slit my own throat before being her property again."

"Do not say such insane things," Yeosang frowned, taking his hand in his own.

"The only throat I want to slit is hers," Wooyoung said through gritted teeth, hands curling into fists at his sides. "She's hurt too many people to stay alive. She's too dangerous." He looked up at Hongjoong, "We have to win, we must stop her."

"We will," he assured him, unable to stop his own tears now.

He stared at them as they cried in the flames. Hongjoong vowed to succeed.

They must succeed.

****

Waking up the next morning felt surreal. You thought you might be lying somewhere between reality and sleep before you sensed a presence near your bed. Panic immediately struck you, and you clutched the sheets around you. The image of Sookmyung standing over your bed, eyes blazing with fury and holding a long knife made you tremble. You knew they wouldn't find her. Sookmyung always got her way, regardless of who she killed to get it. A thousand pleas for mercy bundled in your throat, and you screamed when you felt a hand touch your shoulder.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty!" a soft, gentle voice said over your panicked screams. You swatted at the figure, eyes closed to avoid meeting her eyes.

"Get away! Get away!" you cried, your heart pounding in your ears as the person managed to grab hold of your arms.

Then you felt somebody else at your opposite side, and you moved away from them. It took several minutes to register the white hanboks and the worried expressions of Sookmyung's former handmaidens. Aro, Saehee, Boram, and Dasom stood all around the bed, a bit frightened but mostly concerned. You never realized how similar the women looked. Short and skinny, Sookmyung made them wear their hair in long braids with the red colored daeng'gi at the end. In their pure white hanbok, they became almost indistinguishable. Sookmyung did this on purpose. Not only would she stand out against their white backdrop, but also stand taller and therefore appear more intimidating. Heat filled your cheeks, and you tucked a piece of hair behind your head, feeling embarrassed.

"Forgive me," you coughed, sitting up properly and covering your chest. "I...I didn't..."

"It's alright, Your Majesty," soothed Saehee. The eldest of the four, you often put her in charge of managing the other handmaidens in your absence. She sat beside you, taking your clammy hand in hers, "It's only us here. Nobody is going to hurt you."

"We wanted to see you," admitted Aro. Only fourteen-years-old, you'd spent a good amount of time training her to serve Sookmyung, but she still made mistakes as children do. Something Sookmyung did not forgive easily. "We heard what happened yesterday, and wanted to see if you were alright."

"I had breakfast brought for you," Boram told you, taking a seat on the bed. "You hadn't eaten properly since yesterday, and I knew you'd be hungry." Boram, always considerate and motherly in that sense. Due to her close relationship with the chef's son and her culinary knowledge, you let her handle Sookmyung's meals.

You supposed she'd be preparing your meals now.

“Did you know Mingi and San are outside your door?" whispered Dosam, who crawled onto the bed close to you. "I think they've been there all night." Dosam, while sweet, never hesitated to indulge in gossip. You knew Sookmyung often used her as a spy in the servant's quarters, but Dosam usually lied or told a half-truth. "They almost didn't let us in until we said Queen Jisoo ordered us to come here."

"It's like they didn't trust us!" huffed Boram, arms crossed. "What did they think we'd do? Strangle you?"

"I'm sure they meant no offense, Boram," you assured her. "They're only being cautious." You looked at Dosam, "Did they find her?"

They all shook their heads, and dread filled your stomach. Sookmyung was likely already out of the city, plotting your death as you sit there. You hugged your sheets around your torso, and shuddered. She knew all the passageways into the palace, and you're sure her allies across the city would help her. She could come at any moment, drag you into the dungeon, and torture you to death. The phantom sensation of nails being pulled from your fingers or needles pierced into your skin one by one sickened you. She'd delight in throwing you into The Box, since your discomfort of it amused her. The possibility caused you to flinch at Saehee's touch again.

"But you're safe here," she insisted, rubbing your back gently, "Hongjoong will make sure you're safe."

"Hongjoong?"

"Yes, he's been working closely with the advisors and Queen Jisoo," said Dosam. "I saw him with the Queen when she summoned us to her apartments. They looked like they were having a pretty serious conversation if you ask me.”

"Was my mother there?"

The women paused for a moment. "Which one?" asked Boram, cautiously.

You then remembered the most shocking part of the whole evening. All the confusion from the previous night returned, and added itself into the anxiousness rolling in your stomach. Queen Jisoo and King Siwon were your birth parents. They'd given you to their servants to keep a succession dispute. They'd done it in vain, since it is happening regardless of their efforts. You tried thinking of happy moments you had with the king and queen, but you only saw your mother and father when you did. Chaewon sang you lullabies whenever you had nightmares. Hyungshik always brought you pretty flowers or stones he'd found while tending to the gardens. They made sure you always ate well, and kept up with your studies. You knew you could turn to them in uncertain times. You didn't feel that way with Queen Jisoo, even if she was always kind and considerate of you.

"My mother," you repeated a bit more firmly. "Park Chaewon."

"She's with the queen," said Saehee.

"She was sitting with her and Hongjoong," Dosam told you.

"Did you hear what they were talking about?" asked Aro.

"No," she shook her head. "They stopped talking when I entered the room." You then saw the wayward glance she gave, "But I did hear them at the door."

"What did you hear?" you asked her, somewhat nervous to hear the answer.

Dosam did not answer right away. You recognized her hesitancy, since it was the same cower she'd give Sookmyung. She closed her eyes as if forced to say it, "They were talking about you marrying Hongjoong!"

Everyone on the bed gasped. You sat frozen in place, your brain trying to comprehend what she'd said. For a moment, you worried you may have heard her wrong. "What?"

"I heard Queen Jisoo say that a marriage between Wonju and Hanseong will be good for the future," she said hurriedly, "And that together you and Hongjoong can rebuild the kingdom."

"What? No...No, there's no way she's honestly considering..."

Hongjoong belonged to Sookmyung. He is her favorite flower, her most prized possession. If you married him, whatever plans she had will become especially heinous. Hongjoong's face came to the forefront of your mind. You thought about your conversation with him during the party. He'd told you that you worried so much about others, and rarely yourself. He'd said it in an amused tone, almost as if he found it cute. Hongjoong possibly thinking of you in any capacity outside of formality made your insides churn. You supposed a marriage between you made sense on paper, since he is a prince of Wonju and you're now a queen. But, thinking of marrying Hongjoong made your cheeks burn.

"He is handsome," Saehee noted, "And tender-hearted. I think he will make a fine husband."

"And he's a prince!" added Aro. "Now that Sookmyung isn't around, he can be a prince again."

"He's a king," Saehee corrected her. "His family is dead, right? That means he's King of Wonju now."

"Do you think you'll be his queen consort?" she asked you, bright eyed.

"Maybe," you shrugged. "I'm meant to be the Queen of Hanseong. I don't think we can both marry if we have separate thrones. Who will look over Wonju, if Hongjoong is far away?"

“They can find somebody," Saehee said. "You never know. Perhaps he has a cousin or distant relative somewhere who can handle Wonju for him?"

"Perhaps."

Marrying Hongjoong was meant to be a fantasy of yours. Thinking about being his wife, his closest friend, and confidant was supposed to remain in your head. You'd do your best to avoid looking at or talking to him because you know if you did, you'd fall deeper in love with him. It's similar to your feelings for Seonghwa, who showed you gentleness and reassurance last night. You knew showing too much attention towards them would upset Sookmyung. With her out of way, and word of a possible marriage in the air, the possibilities felt endless.

“Let us get you dressed,” concluded Saehee. “The Queen wishes to speak with you.”

“I can dress myself, Saehee,” you told her, wrapping yourself in the sheets and fixing your hair from your face. “It’s not necessary.”

“You’re going to be The Queen,” she said. “A queen always has handmaidens.”

“Unless…” Aro fiddled with the ribbon in her hair, “You wish to dismiss us?”

You saw the uncertainty show on their faces. None of them looked directly at you, and you frowned.

“Of course, I wouldn’t dismiss any of you,” you implored. “Why would I do such a thing? We have gone through so much together, and I care about each of you deeply.”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “You might not wish to have a stupid cry baby as you handmaiden,” she sniffled, and you saw her eyes water. “I’m always so clumsy and-”

“-And when have I shown annoyance at that?” you asked her gently. “When?”

“Never,” she sniffed. “You’re always so kind and patient with me.”

“I’m not a virgin!” Boram blurted out. When you all whipped your heads to her, she winced. “I’m not. I have not been for a long time. I knew the punishment for that, so I never said anything, but I am now. Vernon and I are in love,” she said to you in particular, “And he wants to marry me. I hope that it won’t upset or displease you.”

“Not at all,” you told her, taking her hand in your own. “You are not my property. All of you are free to love and marry freely.” You stood up from the bed, standing straight as you said, “My first order to all of you is to live as you wish. You are all going to remain my handmaidens, but you can do what you please outside of your duties. Wear whatever hanbok you like. Wear your hair however you wish. You belong to yourselves, not me.”

Their smiles lifted your spirits. You picked at the breakfast Boram placed in front of you while she and Dosam prepared a bath nearby. As good as it tasted, you found it hard to enjoy the food. Sookmyung slowly crept her way back into your mind, and you couldn’t stop yourself from thinking of her. Where did she go when she ran from the city guards? Who housed her right now? Did they know she liked to eat before she bathed? That she liked her soup piping hot, and her rice cooked to the perfect softness? You pitied whoever they put in charge of attending her. The poor girl won’t know the danger until it comes. You thought of the serving girl from a few nights ago who’d accidentally spilled wine. The girl lived, but you remember the long lashes on her bare skin and her painful sobs. Sookmyung found pleasure in her pain, but you did not.

“Your Majesty,” Saehee appeared from the hall with a long box and you immediately shook your head.

“-No, I won’t wear that,” you stopped her. “I won’t wear anything that’s hers.” It sounded almost like bringing yourself bad luck.

“This isn’t hers,” the woman insisted. “Queen Jisoo said she had some of her old hanboks stored away, and she thought you may like this one.”

“Oh…”

You watched her remove the top lid as you finished your breakfast. Red with gold cranes circled on the shoulders, several royal seals were painted into the long draped sleeves. The royal dragon emblem was part of the sash over the top coat; pond scenes with cranes and flowers painted along the stripes down the skirt. You recognized it at once. Queen Jisoo wore it at the last royal event she attended before King Siwon’s passing. She’d look regal and elegant. You spotted the same floral pins she’d worn in her hair that day, tucked into the braided bun at the nape of her neck.

“She wants me to wear this?” you asked, reaching forward to touch the soft satin fabric.

“Yes,” she nodded. “It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

She’d chosen this one for a reason. If there’s anyone you should be emulating, it should be The Peoples’ Queen, Queen Han Jisoo. You left the bed for the bath, sinking into the warm water and beginning to scrub yourself. Dosam moved to take the sponge from you, but you held it from her.

“I can bathe myself, Dosam,” you told her with a soft giggle.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

The words sounded weird when directed at you. You enjoyed the jasmine scented water as you contemplated the day. People everywhere must know the truth by now. What would things be like when you left the safety of this room? You finished your bath quickly, though you knew you could’ve taken as long as you wanted, and began drying and dressing yourself. Before you could pick up the undergarment layers, Saehee snatched it first.

“Let us at least dress you,” she said. “You’re a queen now. It’s considered an honor to attend to royalty.”

Was it? You certainly never felt honored when you dressed Sookmyung. Still, you allowed the four women to dress you. With each piece they slid onto you, you felt yourself slowly melting away. You’d never worn such finery before, and wearing the eoyeo meori felt different. Slowly, YN the Handmaiden became YN the Queen, and you didn’t know if you liked the queen yet. Sitting in front of the long mirror, looking yourself over as Dosam finished applying lip paint, you realize this is something you’ll be doing every morning. It didn’t matter if you wanted this or not. You must go through with this now, or otherwise all the effort put into it will be in vain.

“You look magnificent,” smiled Aro, who stood aside to look at you. “Hongjoong won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”

“I don’t look like myself,” you touched the smooth skirt between your fingers. “I don’t feel like myself.”

“It’ll take some adjustment, I expect,” assured Saehee. “But, a nice hanbok and a wig doesn’t mean you’re not still YN. You’re YN with a title, that’s all.”

You didn’t know how to explain that it’s more than that. Your sole responsibilities used to only be the handmaidens and Sookmyung. As a queen, everyone in the kingdom is your responsibility. How can you possibly accommodate and please so many people? Particularly people once ruled over by fear and anguish. You liked to think you had your mother, the advisors and Jisoo helping you. They wouldn’t allow you to fail.

“Think of all the good things you can do now that you’re queen,” Aro said, smiling. “You can help so many people.”

You knew she meant well, but that only filled you with more dread.

“And you’ll have Hongjoong beside you,” Dosam smirked, “He’s quite fond of you. I don’t think he’d let you fail.”

‘Fond of you’. Was he? Yes, Hongjoong made kind passive gestures towards you before, but nothing indicating ‘fondness’. As they led you out of your dressing room, you couldn’t imagine Hongjoong being ‘fond’ of you. Every time you thought of his soft giggle or the crinkle of his eyes, Sookmyung's face came up right behind it. You thought of his lips lightly brushing against yours, one hand holding your hand and the other around your waist. He’d taste like mint and smell of cinnamon, a combination that would unravel you in seconds, melting any guard you may have up around him. Hongjoong and you may have not spoken often, yet you could not help imagining that fondness being present.

“Good morning, Your Majesty.”

Seonghwa stood in the main room of the harem with San and Mingi. Yeosang, Yunho, Wooyoung and Jongho all sat around, enjoying a light breakfast spread put out for them. They all stood from their seats when you entered, and you immediately remembered you’d fallen asleep in the harem. Embarrassment filled your cheeks, and you did your best not to look away.

“I’d ask if you slept well,” he said, “But I’m afraid not many of us did.”

“I slept well,” you replied. You felt his eyes taking in every inch of your face, and this did not stop the daydreams from expanding further. Seonghwa and Hongjoong. Sookmyung could have two lovers. Why couldn’t you? “Thank you. I assume it was my mother who asked you to keep watch over me?”

“In fact, it was Hongjoong who insisted we keep you here,” he answered, “I only seconded it.” He approached you, “They’re waiting for you in Queen Jisoo’s residence. San and Mingi are sleeping off their guard duty, but Wooyoung, Yunho and myself will walk you there.”

“What about the other palace guards?”

“Hongjoong said he wasn’t comfortable with any of Sookmyung’s old guards watching over you,” he said. “We’ll be watching over you until you’ve chosen a suitable guard for yourself.”

“Does that displease you, Your Majesty?”

Wooyoung asked this with worry in his voice. You stared at him for a moment. His slim build made it easy for him to slip between trees and scurry through dense bushes like a shadow. You remembered Sookmyung complaining about how he can be so loud, but still able to pass through unnoticed. It’d taken them a week to find him when he’d escaped camp during the war. He’d also been the hardest for Sookmyung to break.

“Not at all, Wooyoung,” you answered him honestly. “I don’t believe I’d feel comfortable around anyone who pledged allegiance to Sookmyung, to be truthful.”

You then noticed the most obvious thing about the men: they did not wear their veils. They’d rid themselves of their shackles, and you smiled softly at them. “Shall we go now?” you asked, taking a timid step forward, “I don’t wish to keep my mother or The Queen waiting any longer.”

“Of course, when you wish, Your Majesty.”

Right. You’re meant to lead. Taking another step, you kept putting one foot in front of the other as the group followed you outside. Yunho and Wooyoung walked ahead, wearing swords at their sides and no longer hiding their faces behind veils. Your handmaidens flanked you, keeping their heads down, while Seonghwa came into step beside you.

“May I accompany you there, Your Majesty?” he asked.

“Yes,” you nodded. “It’s still so odd.”

“What is?”

“To be called ‘Your Majesty’,” you said. “It feels…wrong. It doesn’t suit me.”

“You’re the queen. It’s your title.”

“I still don’t know if I like it.”

“Then, what do you wish to be called?” he asked, “Give me a title and I’ll gladly call you by it.”

You gave it a thought, “Hm, I don’t know.”

“Alright, ‘I-Don’t-Know’,” he smirked, giving you an amused smile.

You laughed at his joke, some of the tension inside you deflating as you reached the harem entrance. The world felt different to you, but you weren’t sure how. You thought you might have woken up in a dream, and you’ll wake up any moment.

“I imagine it will take a while to adjust,” he said when you reached the palanquin. “A lot has changed overnight, and it must be a lot to take in for you.”

“It is,” you admitted with a sigh. You anxiously picked at the inside of your sleeve, standing in front of the palanquin. It wasn’t Sookmyung’s palanquin. Hers had been larger. “Hongjoong is with my mother?”

“He is,” he nodded. “He went ahead with her to talk to the advisors and discuss our next move. I’m sure they’ll inform you once you arrive.”

He let you climb into the palanquin first, then followed you in. Being in a close, intimate space with Seonghwa put you on edge. Light whiffs of sandalwood came from his clothes, which you came to enjoy very quickly. Once the footmen began moving towards the queen’s residency, you spoke.

“Has he slept at all?”

“A bit,” he said. “As I said, not all of us slept very well. The guards are still combing the city for Sookmyung, and word about last night is beginning to spread outside the capital. I imagine everyone will know about you, Sookmyung, and the throne by week’s end.” When saw the anxiousness in your face, he added, “I’m sorry this has happened so quickly, YN, and that you’re not being given sufficient time to adjust. It isn’t fair to anyone, but most of all you.”

“Thank you, Seonghwa,” you gave a soft smile, trying not to notice his round eyes gazing so intently at you. “Thank you for being here.”

“You’re my queen now,” he grinned, “I will be wherever you wish me to be.”

You smiled for a moment, before it instantly faded. “What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned. “Did I say something to offend you?”

“No, no, forgive me. It’s not you,” you insisted. “It’s…” you sighed, “Even with her gone, I still see you as hers. She kept you at such a far distance that it’s almost as if she still owns you.”

“She doesn’t,” he said firmly. “And she doesn’t own you either. We are our own people now. We can be whoever we choose to be,” he then added, “And be with whoever we wish.”

You bit your inner cheek to keep from smiling.

*****

A/N: I'm super sorry I kept everyone waiting so long in between chapters! My mental health, work, and life things really just kept me from really focusing on a single project at a time. I hope this chapter makes up for it! <3

#ateez #ateez fanfic #ateez fanfiction #kim hongjoong #park seonghwa #ateez x reader #seongjoong x reader #hongjoong x reader #seonghwa x reader #jeong yunho #kang yeosang #choi san #song mingi #jung wooyoung #choi jongho #ateez fluff #ateez smut

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hongism · 5 months

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AND IT'S SNOWING... - A WINTER FIC FEST

brought to you by bee (@atzfilm) and caly (@hongism)

tis the season for fics that have absolutely nothing to do with christmas and everything to do with other tomfoolery! (aka we spent an hour and a half trying to figure out how to make our concepts be christmas-themed just to forgo the idea of christmas altogether...) from aliens to fae to the ex-turned-sugar-daddy, tune in this winter season for shenanigans... and it's snowing! ❄

all fics are rated m and not intended for underage audiences. please heed individual warnings attributed to each work.

WINTER BLOSSOM

written by atzfilm pairing: k.yeosang x reader genre: alien au, secret relationship summary: earth abandoned centuries ago, you travel the cosmos alone. you land on a smaller planet, meeting an exiled dweller that calls himself yeosang.

WHAT LIES BENEATH US

written by hongism pairing: c.san x reader genre: college au, established relationship summary: one busy semester is all it took for you and san to find yourselves struggling to find footing in the storm that is your relationship, yet rather than let go, he asked for one more week, one more day, one last chance to help get you back to shore

APRICITY

written by atzfilm pairing: c.jongho x reader genre: faeries au, enemies to lovers summary: with your kingdoms having been at war for centuries, it's only fitting that you would be kidnapped and locked in the room with your sworn enemy – choi jongho.

SWEET JUICE

written by hongism pairing: s.mingi x reader genre: witches/warlocks au, strangers to lovers summary: the new apothecary in your small village is harboring a dark secret, you're certain of it, if only because he bears a starkly familiar crest on his shop sign - one that denotes the presence of magic.

LOVERS IN THE NIGHT

written by atzfilm pairing: j.yunho x reader genre: sugar daddy au, exes to lovers summary: just out of your college with a freshly printed degree, you set out for a job that would fit your somewhat high standards. after a brief scroll through a sugar daddy website and a meeting set-up, you sit across from the one man you didn't expect to see — jeong yunho, your ex-boyfriend and apparently, a millionaire looking for someone to spoil.

SILLAGE

written by hongism pairing: k.hongjoong x reader genre: royalty au, first love summary: sillage — the scent that lingers in air, the trail left in water, the impression made in space after something or someone has been and gone; the trace of someone's perfume — it hardly takes much to fall

SEASONS

written by atzfilm pairing: p.seonghwa x reader genre: blind date au, friends to lovers summary: after failing over and over on every date you've gone on, your friends finally resort to setting you up on a blind date in the hopes of making things go right.

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

written by hongism pairing: j.wooyoung x reader genre: roommates au, fake dating summary: you imagine that you've cut yourself a rather decent deal in bagging jung wooyoung as your roommate, and yet, things that seem a little too good to be true have a way of cracking at the seems all too easily.

fics created and written by atzfilm and hongism, 2023. all rights belong to owners. do not copy, emulate, translate, or alter the works in any fashion without permission.

#ateez x reader #ateez smut #ateez fluff #ateez angst #ateez series #hongjoong x reader #seonghwa x reader #yunho x reader #yeosang x reader #wooyoung x reader #san x reader #mingi x reader #jongho x reader #ateez fanfic #winter fic fest 2023 #bee & caly shenanigans !!!!

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sanjoongie · 3 months

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All that's delicious is dipped in gold

To my lovely @daesukiii, here's a drabble I wrote in mind for you. I hope you enjoy and it brightens up your birthday 😘 thank you for being the seonghwa to my joong 😂

👑Pairing: Earl! Jung Wooyoung x Countess! Reader (f) 👑Au: Royalty Au 👑Trope: fuckboi to marriage 😆 👑Genre: smut, pwp 👑Rating: 18+, MDNI 👑Warnings: penetrative sex with no barrier (we are trying to make babies here), creampie, begging, nipple play, wooyoung just looking to take care of his new wifey 👑Word Count: 1,689 👑Summary: it's your first night with the earl and denying him only intensifies the pleasure he's about to bring to your marriage bed

You cling the luxurious sheets to your chest, your heart pounding a mile a minute. Any minute now the earl--your newly-appointed husband-- would enter this room. His domain, his rules. You needed to consummate the marriage, hopefully become pregnant with an heir. But you had married a scourge, a rogue, a lord with no honor. He was your husband now, however, and your body became his new plaything.

“I've arrived!” Wooyoung declared throwing the double doors open wide. He gulped deeply from a jeweled chalice and then threw the glass of wine against a wall, smashing it and letting out a loud noise of happiness at the beverage being consumed.

You flinched at the loud announcement and dramatics, clinging even tighter to the sheet as the footmen hastened to grab the handles of the doors and close them.

Wooyoung’s eager eyes sought out your body and he smiled slowly upon finding you naked and in his bed. “Ah, there you are, Countess.”

He strolled across the room, shrugging off his heavy jacket and throwing that to a chair before the roaring fireplace. He then pulled his flowing white shirt out of being tucked into the waist of his pants and then pulled his shirt off by grabbing the back of it and pulling it over his head. Bare-chest, Wooyoung began to crawl up the bed to you, toeing off his shoes momentarily. He got about halfway up the enormous bed until he started to pull the sheets downwards so that you would have nothing to hide behind.

“Come come, little shepherdess, I promise to not be too rough with your sheep.” Wooyoung had the audacity to grin and then run his tongue along his bottom lip.

“You're hardly a big bad wolf,” You scoffed at him, rolling your eyes.

“That's not what your nipples are saying, my love,” Wooyoung teased you.

“It's cold in here and you're taking away the blan--”

Wooyoung grabbed both your feet and pulled you bodily down the bed. You squealed as soon Wooyoung had you boxed in: hands on either side of your head and knees on either side of your hips. “Wife, we are to become one,” Wooyoung said with a roguish smile, perking up one side of his face.

“Let's be reasonable, Wooyoung it's been a long day,” You whispered.

“I agree. I should already have been tongue-deep into you and would be working myself into your tight heat. But someone has a sweet tooth and wanted another serving of dessert.” Wooyoung’s eyes followed the lines of your face, down your neck and into your bosom. “Now it's time for mine.”

“Wouldn't you rather have a deep sleep in which you could ravage me tomorrow?” You managed to squeak, feeling your breath quicken by Wooyoung and his likeness to a wolf wanting to eat you up.

“Why are you avoiding this, wife of mine?” Wooyoung gently bounced your breasts in the palms of his hands, making you moan in response.

“You're going to make me dick-drunk,” You whispered conspiratorially.

Wooyoung blinked at you several times before he finally cracked into laughter. “Are you afraid to become addicted to my lovemaking?”

“What if you take a lover?” You wailed.

Wooyoung let out a scoff. “We just got married and you're already worried about our passion going cool?”

“I just don't want to get my hopes up,” You grumbled.

Wooyoung dropped his head to hover his lips over yours. “I won't ever let you down.”

With his lips slanted over yours, Wooyoung kissed like he always wanted to leave you wanting more. His short tongue would sweep across your lip to request entrance but when your own chased his, it went back into his mouth. He would pursue you with wanton eagerness but the minute you pushed back into his advances and he would pull back. You whimpered into his mouth and Wooyoung chuckled deeply.

“Please, Wooyoung,” You begged when he broke the kiss.

Wooyoung studied your features and he couldn't look more pleased. “I haven’t even given you what you want and you’re stupid for me.”

Wooyoung ignored the ache between your legs, and the press of his hard-on against the tightness of his pants, and paid homage to the globes of flesh on your chest that had been teasing him all night during the ball to celebrate your marriage. His red-from-wine tongue took broad licks of your nipple, eyes rolled up to your face to view it screwed up into pleasure. He left your nipples so spit-slick that they puckered in the cold air again.

Your lower half began to buck upwards in the air. “Woo-wooyoung,” You panted his name again.

“Tell me what you want from me, Countess,” Wooyoung tempted you with a playful smile.

“I need you… inside me… please!” You pleaded with a whine.

Wooyoung sucked heavily on two fingers and then found the juncture between your thighs. He hardly needed to wet his fingers because you were almost weeping there for him. “Wife of mine, you are practically dripping for me.”

You casted an arm over your face. This was incredibly embarrassing. You knew this was going to happen. “Shut up, Wooyoung.”

Wooyoung clucked his tongue at you. “That’s hardly the manner you should be addressing me, my love.”

Wooyoung began to play with your hole but only to torture you. He would push his finger only up to the first knuckle into your clenching hole and then he endlessly circled your clit but never actually brushed over your sensitive pearl.

“Wooyoung,” You said his name through clenched teeth.

“Tell me properly what you want, Countess. I want the dirty words coming from your mouth. I want you to be improper just for me,” Wooyoung commanded, tongue caught between his teeth in anticipation. “If you can do that for me, I will fuck you straight to your orgasm.”

You whimpered and widened your legs. “Wooyoung, I need your pretty cock inside my wet hole, please, My Lord.”

The dash of manners tucked into the filthy sentence made Wooyoung’s eyes roll into the back of his head. Oh, he had lucked out by marrying you and making you his Countess. “It would be my pleasure, wife of mine.”

Wooyoung undid the ties of his pants and pulled them down his legs, only so far to free his dick and bare his ass. He played the head of his cock along the folds of your cunt, wetting up his thick cock so that he could penetrate you with ease. You swallowed in anticipation, watching as his head pushed past your wet lips and finally entered you. Your back arched as he fucked his way in; slowly making his way in with shallow thrusts that opened your tight heat to his intrusion.

Once he was full hilt, all dogs were off to the race. His thrusts were accurate once he found the spongy area that made you gasp. He angled his thrusts so he could always rub over that place, no longer caring for his own orgasm and simply seeking out pleasure for his wife.

“Woo--Woo,” You whimpered pitifully. At least you could still remember whose cock was inside of you.

“It’s okay, my love, I’ve got you,” Wooyoung cooed to you, pushing hair fondly from your face.

His thrusts were calculated, powerful, and you didn’t even know if you knew where you were right now. The rub of the velvet sheets under your naked body as Wooyoung coaxed an orgasm from you made you spare a moment to think, maybe, you could live the rest of your life in this bed with Wooyoung. “So good,” was all you could manage verbally.

Wooyoung was focused but he was losing his control. You were clenching around him like he was the only thing to keep you alive and that was his cock inside of you. His thrusts became sloppy and you whined at the difference of pace. Wooyoung blew some hair out of his face and mentally slapped himself. He said he would take care of you and he meant that. Did your cunt have to be so fucking good though?

“Gonna cum for me, my love?” Wooyoung said to you, searching to bring you back to him.

Your hands dug into the ample flesh of his ass, urging him deeper and harder inside of you. “Please, unload inside of me. I want you to drip out of me too.”

Well, there went all of Wooyoung’s good intentions.

His thrusts were harder, choppier, and he was gone. He needed the mental imagery out of his head and before his eyes. Wooyoung fucked you through your orgasm, single-mindedly. He didn’t miss the way you whined through the drawn-out orgasm. He didn’t miss the way your walls fluttered around him; like he needed anymore more encouragement to come inside of you. He thrusted deeply inside of you and then felt himself explode there. You had to be better than any well-trained courtesan in the realm.

You were moaning his name, tossing your head back and forth, when Wooyoung suddenly pulled his cock from your hole. He crudely spread your cunt lips apart so he could watch your fluttering hole push his cum out. He watched with his mouth open in a small, pink ‘o’. He could get used to watching this, perhaps for the rest of his life.

“My lord…” You panted, attempting to push yourself up to meet Wooyoung’s happy grin at the sight between your legs. “That’s not going to get you heirs.”

Wooyoung made the rude noise of blowing a raspberry. “The night is still young. The first shot never matters the first time anyways.”

“The…” You blinked blearedly, “...first time?”

Wooyoung moved his body up so that he could give your lips a quick peck. “Why, of course, wife of mine. I could hardly deny myself your body while it’s so readily available.”

You whimpered and Wooyoung laughed. “Perhaps some water first and a nice wipe down.”

Somehow you didn’t think that the wipe down was going to be as benign as he was selling it. And you found that you didn’t want it any other way.

#kvanity #kwritersworldnet #pirateeznet #cultofdionysusnet #ateez smut #jung wooyoung smut #wooyoung smut #atz smut #jung wooyoung x reader #daelight 😁#topaz's works

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star-my · 12 days

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Ateez Fic Recs ☆ Tumblr

These are all available on tumblr as of April 2024. Some are likely crossposted on ao3 as well.

~Ao3 RECS HERE~

Almost all are complete works, those with “+” after WC are incomplete.

Most of these are Mature or Explicit (usually because of smut) ~ mdni ~ italicized titles rated G or T ~ Please read responsibly

If any authors tagged here wish to be removed/untagged, please lmk! | Shoutout to @thecarnivaloflies for creating their own rec list that I gathered some of these from!

OT8/Multi

☆ Arranged Marriage with Prince!Ateez scenarios by @nateezfics | Prince AU, Arranged Marriage AU | 6k

☆ Black Ocean series by @bvidzsoo | Pirate AU, Siren AU, Royalty AU | 14-40k each

☆ Hooked by @songmingisthighs | SMAU Uni AU, Fake Dating AU |

☆ boyfriend!ateez discovering you write smut scenarios by @eightmakesonebraincell | SMAU |

☆ Rating BFF!Ateez as Valentine's dates by @bluehwale | SMAU |

☆ Blue Bird by @seonghwaddict | Mafia AU | CS + JWY | 7k

☆ one more rep by @cheollipop | PT AU, Model AU | CS + JWY | 7k

☆ time of love by @desayunho | SMAU Neighbours AU | CS + JWY |

☆ Arriba by @teeskz | Uni AU | KHJ + JYH + CS + SMG + JWY | 13k

☆ Splish Splash by @atozfic | Uni AU, Athlete AU | PSH + JYH + CS + JWY | 20k

☆ Light it Up! by @cybrsan | Hala AU, Dystopian AU | KHJ + PSH | 4k

☆ Triple Threat by @huihuiheart | CS + JWY + CJH | 6k

Kim Hongjoong

☆ Wanbelyn by @songmingisthighs | SMAU, Doctor AU, Single Parent AU, Nanny AU (Ongoing) |

☆ Marigold by @yoongiseesawmp3 | F2L Uni AU | 13k

☆ guns and roses by @baekhvuns | E2L Mafia AU | 6k

Park Seonghwa

☆ mr & mrs park by @baekhvns | E2L Mafia AU, Single Parent AU, Nanny AU | 50k

☆ bodyguard by @baekhvns | S2F2L Mafia AU, Bodyguard AU | 38k

☆ just friends by @baekhvuns | R2L Model AU | 37k

☆ paradigm + paradigm, pt 2 by @yoongiseesawmp3 | F2FWB2L Coworkers AU, Bar AU | 12k

☆ facade by @gamerwoo | S2L Arranged Marriage AU, Royalty AU, Assassin AU | 26k

Jeong Yunho

☆ your hand by @smileysuh | Coworkers AU, Tattoo Artist AU | 7k

Kang Yeosang

☆ badboy!yeosang by @ateezmakemeweep | High School AU, Bad Boy AU | 18k

☆ entropy by @in-san-ity | S2F2L Mafia AU, Single Parent AU | 21k

☆ crash landed on you by @atozfic | S2E2F2L Fake Dating AU, Chaebol AU | 20k

☆ Graveyard Dares and Bitemarks by @harmonie-writes | F2L Vampire AU | 5k

☆ Sweeter than Candy by @hwalyn | E2L SMAU (Ongoing), Uni AU |

Choi San

☆ lowkey by @arafilez | FWB2L | 3k

☆ the law of attraction by @yuyusuyu | F2L Uni AU | 3k

☆ perfidy by @in-san-ity | S2F2L Uni AU, Mafia AU | 21k

☆ Will you join me? by @kyun-toast | E2L/R2L Mafia AU, Assassin AU | 3k

☆ after all, you're my wife by @astayinwonderland | Arranged Marriage AU, Mafia AU | 3k

☆ texts with ateez (+ crush san) by @baekhvuns | SMAU

☆ the scentist by @k-hotchoisan | Neighbours AU | 5k

☆ it's you series by @minisugakoobies | BFB AU, Roommates AU, Secret Relationship AU | 9k+

☆ The Art of Climbing the Corporate Ladder series by @ennysbookstore | S2F2L Coworkers AU, Office AU | 29k

☆ Obvious + Claiming by @huihuiheart | Established Relationship AU, Hybrid/Omegaverse AU | 4k

Song Mingi

☆ preying on you tonight by @bvidzsoo | E2L Werewolf AU, Witch AU, Uni AU | 29k

☆ Genesis by @songmingisthighs | S2F2L SMAU, CEO AU |

Jung Wooyoung

☆ upstairs neighbour wooyo series by @mangiverse | SMAU R2F2L Neighbours AU |

☆ tits out by @captain-joongz | BFF2L Uni AU | 7k

☆ body talk series by @jungkxook | BFF2L Uni AU | 28k+

☆ All 'Cause of a Neck Kiss by @cocobeanncteez | F2L | 3k

☆ Two Can Play by @huihuiheart | Werewolf AU | 2k

Choi Jongho

☆ zemblanity by @in-san-ity | S2F2L Mafia AU, Bodyguard AU | 24k

#ateez fic recs #group: atz #member: ot8 #type: fic

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nczennie · 1 year

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royal icing.

Pairing: Reader x Ateez’s Wooyoung AU: Royalty Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut (18+ scene) Preview: "I am a Prince you're speaking to, you know" he states as you get back to your work. "That may be, but you are not my Prince". You reply, and Wooyoung wastes no time with his answer, "But I could've been your King". Words: 10.1k a/n: This is a spin off of Royal Library, can be read alone but you would have more background knowledge if you read it first. *Warnings under cut

Warnings: Minor mentions of sickness (not any of the main characters), Wooyoung is inexperienced and shy, There is only one small smut scene (only dry humping tbh).

Wooyoung is a Prince. He was born a Prince of his Kingdom, Twilight, and has grown up having every aspect of his life planned for him. What to eat, what to study, what to say to guests, who to marry. You name it, and Wooyoung was positive he didn't have a say in any decision. Not that he ever complained, he grew up knowing that was the price of being Royal.

He never regretted it either, well, that is up until now.

It's been nearly a year since everything in Wooyoung's life was flipped upside down. It was Winter when he came to the Kingdom of Aurora, expecting to marry their Princess and eventually become their King. This was the future that was planned for him since he was born. So when the time came to make the journey across the sea, he did not hesitate. He came to Aurora with a smile, meeting the Royal family, the new locals, learning what he could about the new culture. He was to be their King and he wanted to be a good one.

He was arranged to marry the second Princess of Aurora only months after he was born. He grew up knowing he would have to love this stranger and spend his life with her. Sure, when he arrived he didn't completely fall in love with her, but he knew the reality of their situation. He knew he would have to try his best to love her for the rest of their lives. They were to marry and rule the Kingdom together, start a family together. So he didn't think too much about it.

That is until the Princess went and fell in love with his advisor.

His advisor, Seonghwa, started working for him once he came of age. But more than advisor, Seonghwa was his best friend. He cared for him more than anyone else in the world. That's why when he found out about their secret relationship, he did everything he could to make sure they would be able to stay together.

And it worked. However, that left Wooyoung with a bigger predicament of his own. How could he be King if he had no Princess to marry?

The first couple of months when Seonghwa and the Princess left Aurora, no one knew any better, not even her family. But eventually the truth had to come out. The King and Queen and youngest Princess Rose, were sent to visit the Princess where she lived with Seonghwa in a quiet village inland. They were furious when they found her pregnant and married to the man who was once the Prince's advisor. They went through waves of disbelief, demanding her to return to her kingdom and marry Wooyoung, yelling at all the trouble she has caused, crying about how she lied and kept such a huge secret from them. Her family eventually came around, wanting to be apart of their grandchild's life, even in secret.

After much discussion they needed to decide what to do about the fate of the kingdom. They kept the Princess' whereabouts a secret from everyone, even the closest circles of the family. As far as anyone knew, her health became too poor for her to be in line for the throne and she would live out the rest of her life away from Aurora. It was announced Rose instead would be the next Queen of Aurora.

As the youngest of the Princesses of Aurora, Rose had never been arranged to marry. So came the obvious question, should she marry Prince Wooyoung in place of her sister? It looked like a heavy possibility, but the more they talked about the idea it was no longer an option. Rose would get to choose who she would marry, whenever she was ready.

But what about Prince Wooyoung? He had come over to this kingdom ready to be King and now that was no longer in his future. Was he to go back to Twilight? He was not in line to their throne as he has an older brother who was already married with an hier on the way. Plus his parents threatened Aurora with the loss of their alliance. Their son was promised to be King and now they were taking that from him? Aurora relied heavily on their alliance with Twilight for their lumber so they couldn't risk losing their trade or gaining an enemy. Therefore. they kept their discussions going. Prince Wooyoung was no longer going to be King, but instead, he was given a powerful position on the Royal council. This seemed enough for his parents as they agreed to the terms and kept the alliance in place.

For Wooyoung on the other hand, he felt more confused than ever. He was a Prince, he was used to having everything planned out for him. But now those plans have changed and he feels more lost than ever.

It was nearing autumn in Aurora but Wooyoung could still feel the sweat running down his back as he walked through town. The afternoon sun beat down on him as he made his way down the cobblestone streets, making sure to greet everyone along the way. He was making his way to the famous bakery whom the castle used to order baked goods for their events. The annual Autumn festival was approaching and the castle was in full swing preparing for the event. From his spot on the Royal Council, Wooyoung was now a huge part of the preparations. That's why during lunch today he was heading to the bakery to ask if they were able to add on a couple more cakes before the festival this weekend.

Wooyoung had never been to this bakery before but he was already impressed by the scenery alone. After walking up the many stairs to the building, he sees the outside seating area that looks over the blue water. Being elevated on the hill allows for a scenic view in all directions, blue ocean as far as one could see. He takes a deep breath and enjoys the the sea breeze for a second more before turning towards front of the building. His entrance is announced with a chime of the door and a middle-aged women greets him, "Hello, welcome-oh! Prince Wooyoung, welcome your highness". She smiles excitedly as she bows, wiping her flour covered hands on her apron. Wooyoung smiles back at her, "Hello, nice to meet you. You're the owner of this amazing bakery I assume?" She looks a little flustered at the compliment but nods, "Yes, your highness. I own it with my family. My husband and I work on the baking while our kids work on running the store".

He compliments her once more before relaying the messages about the extra cakes, she agrees and promises they will be even better than expected. She tells him she has to return to the kitchen in the back but suggests he stays and enjoys a treat since he walked all this way; on the house.

Wooyoung agrees, the smell from inside the bakery was alone making his mouth water so he couldn't refuse. After saying goodbye he walks up to the counter to order, a young man bowing his head as he greets him, "Your highness, welcome. What can I get you?". He scans a menu ordering some tea before humming as he thinks, "What would you recommend to go along with the tea?" The young man gives a charming smile, "I would personally recommend one of our sourdough baguettes, we have a new batch coming out of the oven soon if you have time to wait. But I know you must be busy, so we so have some croissants ready instead". The Prince nods, "I have no problems waiting, a baguette sounds delicious. Thank you.." he draws out and the young man smiles, "Yunho, my name is Yunho". Wooyoung smiles at him, "Nice to meet you Yunho, how much will it be?"

Per his mom's request, Yunho insists there's no cost at all, so Wooyoung slips the money secretly into the tip jar instead. "You can take a seat wherever you'd like and I'll bring it out as soon as it's ready".

Wooyoung thanks him once again before walking along the counter, looking at all the amazing treats in the display case. As he continues getting familiar with the small bakery, he notices a girl on the opposite end of the counter. As he walks closer to her he can see she must be decorating a cake. You pay no mind to him as he steps in front of you to take a look at your work. He blinks as he takes in the small cake, looking nothing like the stunning decorated desserts in the glass casing. Instead it's merely messily coated in white frosting as you cut fresh strawberries to place on top.

"It's kind of messy." Wooyoung speaks out before he can help himself. You stop your movements, putting the knife down to look up at him. You raise your eyebrows, "Excuse me?". Wooyoung lets out a small chuckle, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I just meant compared to the others," he pauses at the unamused look on your face, "I'm sure it's just your process". He finally ends.

"I'll have you know, this cake was requested by a very amazing young lady for her fifth birthday. She drew me a picture of her desired cake and I am merely bringing her image to life". You stand your ground causing a smile to appear on Wooyoung's face. "Well if that's the case, I'm sure it's delightful". You send a glare at him, "It is delightful. I don't know what you know about decorating cakes anyway".

Though the smiles stays on Wooyoung's face, he can't say he's used to people speaking to him in such a manner. "I am a Prince you're speaking to, you know" he states as you get back to your work. "That may be, but you are not my Prince". You reply, and Wooyoung wastes no time with his answer, "But I could've been your King".

You both turn in shock as your brother yells your name, having overheard the way you were speaking to the Prince. Wooyoung looks over at Yunho where he was preparing his tea, giving him a reassuring smile. "I may be a Prince but I can still banter," He teases them as Yunho starts to apologize for the actions of his sister. Wooyoung looks to you, but you are silent, avoiding his eyes as you focus on the strawberries. He chooses to head outside, finding a table in the shade where he can enjoy his treat with a view. He closes his eyes, feeling the breeze and listening to the sound of the ocean which he finds very relaxing. Wooyoung thinks he could've fallen asleep there, but when he hears someone clear their throat, he squints his eyes open.

You stand before him holding a tray, a small teapot and glass placed alongside a steaming baguette. He sits up straight as you start to place the items on the table in front of him. "It smells amazing thank you", he gives a charming smile but a smile barely graces your lips as you bow slightly. He starts to pour himself a glass of tea when he notices you haven't left. Looking up at your standing figure, Wooyoung watches as you let out a sigh before breaking the silence. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior inside, your highness, it was very inappropriate of me". Wooyoung finds himself smirking, figuring your brother must have made you come out here to make amends. "There is no need to worry, I was not offended if that's what you were afraid of". Wooyoung drops a cube of sugar into his cup as he speaks to you.

He can see you nodding but you speak again, "I-well thank you. But I am very sorry, I shouldn't have," you pause and he looks up at you where you seem to be pondering over your words. "It was wrong of me to bring that up, meaning the Princess of course".

The smile drops off Wooyoung's face as he comprehends what you were talking about. "Oh, it's quite alright. I promise you don't need to stress about it," he says your name softly. At least he assumes he has, merely recalling what Yunho called you inside. At this he watches as you perk up, bowing once again, "Thank you, your highness. Let me know if you need anything else". He watches as you make your way back inside.

Sighing he turns towards his meal, moving to tear a piece off of the steaming bread. He often forgets how the public perceives his broken off engagement. As far as they're concerned, Wooyoung is a heartbroken Prince who's loving financé was taken from him because of her illness. Although that is far from the case, he knows he has to act the part.

Wooyoung has completely fallen in love with the bakery on top of the hill. Since his first visit before the Autumn festival, he has been returning at least every other day. Trying some new tea and treat every visit. And of course speaking to the family who owns the place.

The Prince finds it enjoyable to have found some people around his age to talk to outside of the castle. You and your brother, Yunho, have quickly become what Wooyoung would like to consider as friends. He especially loves that you aren't afraid he is a Prince. Much like your first meeting, you aren't shy to talk back to him and tease him. He thinks it's a breath of fresh air to be treated normally by someone as if his title doesn't matter.

"Well, well, well," you call out to Wooyoung as he enters the bakery once again, "You just can't resist us can you?" You tease from where you were wiping down the counter. Wooyoung shrugs, "I can't help it, Yunho is just too handsome. I can't stay away".

You smirk at him, tilting your head, "That's a shame then cause I'm the only one in today. Yunho and my parents are off picking up groceries in the next town over". Wooyoung sighs in defeat, "On second thought, I better get back to the castle." He moves to turn around but smirks when he hears you whining behind him, "What's so wrong with me, huh?" Wooyoung laughs, turning back around and making his way to the counter, "You're no Yunho, but I guess you'll do". You roll your eyes at him, "Ever so charming, your highness". The Prince leans against the counter humming, "May I please get two blueberry muffins, to go?" He sees you frown, "To go? I guess I really am no Yunho," you move to wash your hands before preparing a box for him. This causes Wooyoung to laugh, "I have a meeting back at the castle, otherwise I would enjoy my muffin here".

He watches you nod before presenting his to go box to him and taking the money in exchange. "Wooyoung-" he looks up and notices you let out a small laugh, "Sorry, I mean your highness. I was wondering if you knew when your meeting would be done?" Wooyoung purses his lips as he thinks, "Not too long, not later than 2 I suppose". At his answer you give him a small smile, "I was wondering if maybe you would come back here around 4? We close then and I was hoping maybe you would want to walk me home?" Your voice trails off losing confidence by the second.

Wooyoung gives you a smile, "Of course, I can. I'll be here to make sure you get home safe". You smile back before nodding, "Thank you, I'll see you soon".

"So, you're just going to walk her home?" Wooyoung watches as the butler takes a bite of the muffin he brought for him. "Yeah, her family in not in town so I'm sure she's a bit nervous about making it home on her own". The man across from him hums, wiping his mouth, "You really think she's never had to do this before?" The Prince glares at the man, "What are you insinuating, Yeosang? You think I shouldn't go?"

The butler shakes his head, "No! I'm just saying maybe she just wants your company rather than your help". "Oh," Wooyoung simply states taking in Yeosang's opinion. "I mean is that such a bad thing?" The butler asks speaking up again, "With how often you've been going to this bakery, it can't just be for the food can it?"

The Prince shrugs as he thinks but Yeosang continues, "None of this is distressing, I'm just trying to ask if you perhaps like her? Are you attracted to her?" Wooyoung feels taken aback by the question. He doesn't think he's ever been asked that before, about anyone. "Well of course I'm attracted her her, she's beautiful I just," he pauses unsure of how to get his thoughts into words. Yeosang moves to place his hands on his shoulder, "Hey, you don't have to figure anything out, I was merely curious. Please, excuse me for asking". Wooyoung shakes his head, "You did nothing wrong, but I better get going to make it there in time". Yeosang nods, bowing at the Prince before taking his leave.

He takes his time walking back to the bakery, pondering over the words Yeosang was saying to him. Wooyoung knew for a fact he was attracted to you, but was it something more? His brain only hurt when he tried to figure it out. He can barely remember a time where he liked someone. Back in Twilight was he was young he liked an assistant in the kitchen but after being caught talking to them, he was warned to stay away as he was to be married eventually to a Princess. Since then he stayed clear of such feelings, knowing he would have to spend his life married to someone else. But now that concept is gone and he felt lost. He didn't know about these types of feelings as he was never allowed to have them, he honestly didn't know what to think, what to feel, what to do.

At this moment he wishes for nothing more than for Seonghwa to be here, he would know what to do. He would be able to help him.

After that evening, walking you home became some sort of a routine. If Wooyoung was free he would make his way to the bakery around closing time so he could walk you home just down the street. Even with your brother and parents there, usually staying to finish something up, he would come to meet you. He let himself enjoy your company without trying to think too hard. He had a good time with you, he knew that, laughing and teasing. Ignoring when you would walk closer to him, causing your arms to brush against each others.

That's much how it was this evening, your arm brushing against his as you told him about the dozens of chocolate strawberries you had to decorate today. He chuckles when you complain about the kink in your neck.

"The breeze has been so cold lately," You wrap your coat further around yourself. Wooyoung hums in agreement, "You can definitely tell that winter in coming". You nod, turning to open the gate to your yard, holding it open for the Prince to enter behind you. He walks you up to the door of the small house, standing on the path while you stand atop the first step, making you an even height with him.

When you smile at him, he returns it, noticing how nice you look in the golden light of the setting sun. "Thank you for walking me home," you say to him and he laughs. "I told you, you don't have to thank me every time". You shrug, "I'm just being polite to my Prince". "I thought I wasn't your Prince, hm?" He teases and you smile at him. "Maybe I've changed my mind," you say back, moving to fix a wrinkle in his collar. "I'll see you soon?" You ask and Wooyoung tries to ignore the way his heart pounds as your hand lingers on his shoulder. "Of course," he whispers out, looking into your eyes.

You give him a smile and his breath hitches when you lean down and press your lips into his. They only meet for a moment but the softness of them seemed ingrained in his brain. "Good evening, Wooyoung".

He watches with wide eyes as you make your way into your house. So nonchalant as if you didn't just steal a kiss from him. He groans as he turns to exit your yard and make his way back to the castle. You kissed him, you actually kissed him. Yet he feels more confused than ever.

"With winter approaching the mainland soon, it's best that we secure any of our trade handlings before the snow starts. That's why we want to send you to Twilight, to represent Aurora". The Queen of Aurora speaks to Prince Wooyoung over dinner with the rest of the Royal family. He had been apart of a council meeting earlier where many officials were organized to travel to different parts of the mainland to talk trade with different kingdoms.

He hadn't expected to be apart of it, but it made sense for him to travel to his home kingdom to do the negotiating. Plus he would get to see his family once again. "Of course, your majesty. It would be an honor," he states and the Queen gives him a smile of approval. "We apologize for asking so last minute, but the last boat trip towards Twilight in awhile will be in just a few days time and we need to have negotiations done as soon as possible". The King explains as he cuts the meat on his plate but Wooyoung only nods, "I do not mind, your majesty. I'll make sure to pack right away".

Later after they finished their meal, Wooyoung found himself walking to the third floor alongside Princess Rose talking about the trip. "You know, I was looking at a map of the mainland just the other day". The Prince nods at her before she continues, "I was curious about what was around Twilight, you know seeing as it was in a quite mountainous region". Wooyoung hums, keeping his eyes on the steps, "Yes, it's true. Twilight is mostly in mountains but down in the surrounding valley there are many other towns and kingdoms". He explains about his home. He sees Rose nod, "Yes, I noticed that. I also noticed there was a town called Utopia just down the river from their mountain." Wooyoung snaps his head at the mention of the familiar town but Rose gives him a pointed look, wary of the guards around them. "I hear they have amazing fruit orchards there," she simply states instead. The Prince gives her a smile, "That is true".

"You're leaving?"

Wooyoung watches the shocked look on your face as he told you about his trip back to Twilight. He realized he probably should've presented it better, as he hadn't seen you since you kissed him that night and now he's standing before you telling you he won't be around for awhile. "Since I'm part of the council I'm off to represent Aurora in trade negotiations. It shouldn't take too long, although I've never done it before so I'm not positive...a month at most". He chuckles but watches as your frown turns into a pout.

"Will you come to the bakery once you return?" You ask and he smiles at you, "Of course, I'll come right when I dock". You sigh, gaze moving to the side for a second before returning to look in his eyes. "Very well, I hope you have safe travels". Wooyoung smirks at you, "I'll be back before you know it". He watches as you nod, then move to step closer to him. He freezes, realizing you might want to hug or even kiss him again before he leaves. This causes his throat to tighten and eyes widen to panic. Before you can make another move, he steps back and puts his hands on your shoulder giving you a friendly pat, "Well, I'll be back in no time".

He turns to leave without a second thought, heart pounding in his chest as he makes his way down the steps from the bakery. "You fool," he mumbles to himself, hand running over his face as he recalls your interaction.

Negotiations with Twilight go more smoothly than he could've hoped for. Both representatives agreeing to terms that were advantagous for both kingdoms. With the trade settlements reached, he then got to enjoy time with his family. Eating meals with his parents, playing in the yard with his younger brother, the timing was perfect as he even got to be there for the birth of his nephew. Congratulating his older brother on his healthy baby.

With this relaxing time spent back in Twilight, he was ready to return to Aurora until the next time he visited. But not without another stop. He was able to convince his butler, Yeosang, and couple of guards to stop for the night in a town called Utopia before making the long journey back to the cost where they could sail to Aurora. They were able to find an inn during the early afternoon and he promised his entourage they could go off and explore the town for themselves. Of course they were hesitant but he promised everyone would meet back here at nightfall.

Thanks to a few letters he exchanged while in Twilight, he was able to follow the directions to the west side of the town. Walking along a quiet neighborhood before he found the house that matched the numbers on the paper in his hands. With a smile at the quant garden, he walks along the path to the door, gently knocking to announce his arrival.

"Wooyoung, I'm so glad to see you!"

Wooyoung can't help the smile that lights up his face as he pulls the man into a hug, "I can't believe it's been so long, I've missed you more than you can imagine, Seonghwa". Seonghwa pulls away from the hug, giving the Prince a smile, "It's been too long. I know it's difficult for both of us but I hope there is a way we can see each other more regularly in the future. Please, come inside. Lunch will be ready soon".

He looks around in wonder at the small house, it was cozy and beautiful but quite different from living in a castle. "So, what do you think?" He looks to see the Princess getting up from the couch in the living area, the Princess he was once supposed to marry. To even think of such a time where he was engaged to her seems like a lifetime ago. "It's lovely, you both have done amazing". He speaks and Seonghwa puts his arm around him, "C'mon, make yourself comfortable". He leads Wooyoung into the room, beckoning him to sit on a chair as he moves to sit besides the Princess on the couch.

Wooyoung lets his eyes wander around the room, stopping when he notices a small woven bassinet in the corner by the couch. "Would you like to meet her?" The Princess speaks, noticing his eyes. "Her?" Wooyoung asks. Given their situation they weren't able to keep in contact as much as they would have liked. Even the letters sent from the Princess to her family have no return address, and only talking about her baby in code, referring to her as a pet kitten. The Royal family only meeting her once when she was first born.

"Our daughter," Seonghwa speaks, motioning Wooyoung to follow him to where the small baby lay sleeping. As he approaches, Wooyoung lets out a sigh upon seeing the beautiful baby. Looking so much like Seonghwa already he found it crazy. "She's adorable," he can't stop the smile on his face as he reaches out to run his finger along her small fist. "We're so glad you finally get to meet her, it's because of you she's even here right now". Seonghwa smiles down at his daughter. "I would do anything for you guys" Wooyoung states unable to take his eyes off the angelic baby. "Her name is Wooyoung," Seonghwa speaks which causes the Prince's eyes to widen and look at his friend. "Surprised? Isn't that what you asked for?" The Princess chuckles as she moves to stand beside him.

"I was just joking!" He exclaims, still shocked this tiny human shared his name. "I thought it was a great idea," the Princess laughs, "This is all because of you Wooyoung. We wanted to name her after the person who is so important to us, to our story. We want her to know she's named after someone we both love dearly, someone selfless and strong."

Wooyoung swallows his emotion as his friends speak to him. Chest filled with adoration for this little girl he just met. He makes a promise to himself to always look out for her and protect her no matter how far away she is. He would do anything for her, just like he would for her parents.

A timer from a clock in the other room starts to ring, "Oh, lunch will be ready soon". The Princess speaks before making her way to the kitchen to stop the timer. Wooyoung still can't take his eyes off of the baby which causes Seonghwa to chuckle beside him. "You doing okay?" He asks putting a hand on his back. The Prince nods, "Yeah, I just miss you, a lot. Most of the time I feel like I still need you to tell me what to do". Seonghwa frowns, "I miss you too, but you don't need my guidance anymore Wooyoung. You're your own person, and you should make your own decisions. Prince or not". Wooyoung lets out a sigh, "I know, but I just feel so lost at the moment". His friends eyes wander across his face and Wooyoung speaks once more, "How did you know when you were in love?"

Seonghwa's eyes widen, "Oh, well... I found there was a point where my future no longer existed without her. It hurt to be away from her, I would do anything to make her happy, no matter what it cost me". He tries to put his feelings of love into words that would make sense. Wooyoung nods as he ponders over the words. "Is there someone?" Seonghwa asks him. The Prince tells his friends of you, working at the bakery, teasing him, making him laugh, walking you home and brushing your arms together. "And then she kissed me," Wooyoung whispers as if the sleeping baby would hear. Seonghwa smirks, "A kiss huh?" Wooyoung nods, "But then I left." The smirk falls off of Seonghwa's lips, "You left?"

"I had to leave for this trip, and when I went to say goodbye I think she wanted to kiss again, maybe. But before she could I left". Seonghwa closes his eyes and shakes his head at his friends confession, "Did you not want to kiss her?" Wooyoung finds himself blushing, "I mean, I did. But you know I don't know anything about that stuff. It's embarrassing and I wouldn't know what to do". His friend nods at him, "I know it can be a little intimidating, but if you really like her it'll come naturally. Just don't think too much, do what feels right for you. And most importantly, just tell her how you feel. Running away won't make her feel any good". "I guess you're right," Wooyoung says as they hear the Princess call for them from the kitchen.

The meal was cleared and now the three of them sat at the small table enjoying tea and telling stories, catching up. Between laughs they hear a small cry from the other room, a sign the small Wooyoung had awaken from her nap. "I'll be back," Seonghwa states, leaving to tend to his daughter.

Wooyoung takes a sip of his tea as the Princess speaks up across from him, "I took him from you, didn't I?"

He looks at her in shock, "Of course not". She gives him a small smile, "I always wish there was a way that we could be doing this back at home. With my family, with you. But it wasn't possible and I always feel bad, as if I tore everyone apart". Wooyoung frowns at her, "That's nonsense. If only we lived in a more understanding society then it wouldn't be the case. You did nothing wrong, you only fell in love".

She sighs, "You're right, I think just seeing you both together makes me feel awful that you're apart". Wooyoung nods, "I'm sure it's only for now, I bet in the future we'll all be together again". He speaks again, desperate to make her feel better, "So, what did your family have to say about your naming your daughter after me?" Laughing she shakes her head, "My parents were shocked but understood the sentiment, whereas Rose was furious that if we were going to name her after anyone it wasn't her". Wooyoung laughs, "Then I'll make sure to tease her endlessly about it back at the castle".

"Look who is awake," Seonghwa coos as he walks back into the kitchen carrying the baby. Her large, round eyes open now, small mouth letting out a yawn. Wooyoung smiles at the pair, "May I?" He reaches out and Seonghwa nods, bringing her over to place into his arms.

The trip ride back to Aurora went smoothly, the castle welcoming everyone back from their successful trip. Prince Wooyoung wearing a bright smile as he walked around the castle, he felt rested and a sense of knowing for the first time since his friend moved away.

In the evening he made the familiar walk back to the small bakery on the hill. It has been nearly a month since he had seen you, but he had a new sense of determination about his feelings for you and wanted to act on the advice that Seonghwa had given him. But as he walks up the steps, his heart couldn't help but pound at the thought of facing you again, especially with how he acted the last time he saw you. Nevertheless, he stepped to the door and opened it without hesitation.

"Oh, your highness!" Yunho calls from behind the counter, giving Wooyoung a smile from where he was cleaning the tea pots. "Yunho, how are you?" Wooyung smiles back. "I'm good, same old routine here. How was your trip?" The Prince was happy to inform him about how well the trip went and how happy he was to see his family and old friends. Of course leaving out the part about his former financé. "Well I hoped you missed us even just a little". Yunho teases and Wooyoung smirks, "Of course, you know I missed you most, Yunho". Yunho laughs at him, "Don't let my sister hear you". Licking his lips, Wooyoung speaks, "Where is she?"

Yunho nods his head towards the kitchen, and as if sensing him, you walk out drying your hands on a dish towel. You finally seem to notice him as your eyes widen and you give him a short bow, "Your highness, welcome back".

A small smile graces your face but he notices you seem to be avoiding his gaze. The Prince clears his throat, "Now that I have returned, I was hoping to walk you home, like we did before". He gives you a smile, but becomes nervous when you look hesitant. He watches as you look to your brother, who shrugs, "Go on, I'm nearly finished with this and then I'll lock up". Yet you still stand in place, finally sighing, "Alright, just a moment. Let me grab my coat".

Wooyoung doesn't know what to do at the awkwardness that fills the silence as he walks you down the familiar street to your home. He can see the destination just ahead but the two of you have yet to murmur a single word to each other. This was nothing like he had planned for his return to you. Approaching the gate, he moves to stand in front as if to stop you from entering. "How about we walk around the park?" He asks, referring to the large park just across the street.

He sees your eyes wandering to the park behind him, it was nearly nightfall and the cold would be setting in. "I have something I wish to talk to you about". He states again, hoping to push you into coming. You look down for a moment before nodding your head in agreement. Both of you heading over to walk along the stone path, the park filled with the sounds of birds saying goodnight and children running around.

Wooyoung has the feeling if he doesn't speak now, nothing but silence would become of your walk. "I had a very productive trip, I got to see my family and friends. Especially my close friend whom I miss dearly. And I'm glad I've got to meet with him once again because he really opened my eyes and gave me some much needed advice". You turn to him, finally giving him a small smile, "I'm glad your trip went well, your highness". You whisper out. He finally lets out a sigh of his own, "You know, you told me to come see you once I docked back in Aurora. Which I did, yet you don't seem very pleased to see me".

The setting sun still allows for him to see the blush rising to your cheeks as he calls you out. You shut your eyes, shaking your head, "I am glad to see you, I'm just," you stop walking and he moves to stand in front of you, "I'm just so embarrassed". The Prince gulps, automatically feeling bad, figuring it had to do with how he treated you before he left.

You run a hand across your forehead before stuffing it in the pocket of your coat, "I don't know what I was thinking, kissing you like that. And then trying to do it again, geez. If my mother knew I was going around making the first move kissing boys, especially a Prince," you trail off shaking your head. Wooyoung frowns at you, "No, it wasn't a problem-" "It sure seemed like one when you left before I could the second time. Gosh, I really don't know what I was thinking, please forgive me". You interrupt him.

It's at this point Wooyoung really realizes how he truly treated you before he left, how it must've seemed to you. He takes a cautious step forward, attempting to meet your gaze. "I apologize that that's what I made it seem like. But that is far from the truth." He takes a breath when you finally meet his eyes with a curious look.

"The truth is, I'm quite embarrassed too". He speaks and already feels his cheeks warming. He speaks your name softly, "I like you, a lot. I enjoy all the time we get to spend together." "But the reality of my life is that I grew up a guarded Prince who has no experience with feelings such as these. I was saved for a certain bride my whole life, and even though it didn't end up working out, I still am clueless when it comes to these things".

He can feel your eyes studying him as he confesses his truth, "I'm sorry that it came off as reluctance, but I was just nervous about everything. Nervous and ashamed I wouldn't know where to begin".

A frown covers your face as he finishes his story, "Oh, your highness. I should've realized, I'm so sorry. You're a Prince afterall, of course these things work different for royalty".

"But I don't want it to be different," he speaks up, "I want to have a normal experience as anyone else would. But I figure that's why I freaked out, because I knew being what I am, it would never be normal". He swallows as you reach out to gently place your hand on his arm. "I wish you would've told me, then I wouldn't have done it the way that I did".

"I know, I should've. I was just nervous how it would make me seem". Wooyoung chuckles and your lips quirk up slightly, "I would never judge you, you know". "Yeah, because I'm a Prince, right?" He laughs as you nudge him with your elbow.

Wooyoung feels proud with how things progress with you over the next couple of months. Seonghwa would be proud too, he thinks to himself every time he holds your hand while walking home or places a kiss to your lips at your doorstep.

He feels more comfortable than ever around you and your relationship blossomed more and more everyday. Even going as far as coming into your house when no one else was home, falling into your kisses on the sofa.

Along with comfortable, he feels confident. Whereas when you first tried to breach his mouth with your tongue, he pulled away flushed and shocked, now he is usually the one initiated such kisses.

Now as he walked up the path to the castle with you and your family, he resisted the urge to hold your hand or pull you closer to him by your waist. Though he was confident with your relationship, he knew the castle is where he should act properly. Especially as you were on your way to meeting the royals. Being the favorite bakery of the castle was not new, but what was new was being able to travel to the castle personally to give cake testing for the Princess' birthday.

Wooyoung smiles as he can tell you can barely hold your excitement at the sight the of castle's interior. Your parents and brother walking ahead with the cart of cakes, clearly just as amazed and excited as you were.

"I can't believe you live here," You gush to him on the way to the dining room. Eyes trying to take in all the extensive paintings and paths of royal blue carpet. The Prince merely chuckles in amusement, stopping at the door where a butler announces the arrival of the group.

He watches from behind as you and your family greet the Royal family properly, clearly nervous as only your parents have had the honor of meeting them before. Your parents proudly introduce you and your brother and the royal family happily compliments the display of small cakes that was brought along. Wooyoung moves to sit at the edge of the table, trying not to interrupt. The Princess compliments the decoration of the cake placed in front of her, a beautiful pink rose delicately pipped on. Wooyoung smiles at you as you blush, thanking her for the compliment on your work.

"Ah," The Queen speaks up, "You must be the girl who has taken the Prince from us".

Wooyoung knows the Queen is merely teasing, having spoken to the family about his fondness of the baker's daughter to them before. However, as he sees you freeze with a look of fear in your eyes he can tell you haven't picked up on her tone. Even your brother and parents looking nervous. Of course, he thinks, from the point of view of your family, your someone dating the Prince after he was supposed to marry their sick daughter. He's about to speak up to reassure you and your family but the Princess hums in delight after trying the cake. "Even if you end up hating Prince Wooyoung, I hope you won't take it out on us. I don't know if I could live without your desserts".

The King lets out a groan and the Queen rolls her eyes at her daughter, "Rose," she gives her a warning but it's enough the break the ice as your family moves on to showing her different options. But Wooyoung can notice how you've stayed quiet for the rest of the visit.

"I don't know," you speak, "I don't think it's appropriate". Wooyoung tugs on your hand trying to insist to show you his room after having said goodbye to your family. "Why not?" he asks, careful of his volume because of the guards around, "If this was your house you would be begging me to join you inside". You send him a glare and he chuckles, knowing you would shove him if it weren't for the guards around and your fear they would throw you in jail if you did. "But this is a castle," You claim as he intertwines your fingers, "It is, and I'm a Prince".

And with that he all but drags you up the stairs and into one of the many rooms on the floor. You look with wide eyes at the interior as he closes the door behind you. "It's nearly as big as my house all together".

He moves to place another log into the fire, laughing, "Now that's an exaggeration". You hum moving slowly throughout the room before carefully sitting on the silk sheets on the large bed. "You get to sleep on this all alone?" You ask him moving your hands along the green silk. "Are you offering to join me?" He smirks moving to sit beside you.

You send him a look but he can see the blush on your cheeks, "That's funny coming from a guy who was scared to kiss me not that long ago". Now he sends you a look as you laugh, moving to poke your side.

Moving closer to you, he moves some of your hair behind your ear, "They loved the cakes, especially Rose who was pleased you put roses on everything". You chuckle, shrugging, "I debated on it, I didn't want it to seem cheesy". "They loved it", he says and you nervously pat down the sides of your skirt. "At least they loved something about me, even if it is only my decoration". Wooyoung frowns, "That's not true,". You give him a knowing, sad look, "Wooyoung, you were supposed to marry their daughter. Of course they don't like me. If the Princess was in good health both of you would be married by now, instead you're with a baker. I can't imagine they look at me too fondly".

An ugly feeling grows in his stomach, a reaction of your speaking down on yourself, an urge to tell you the truth. He calls your name, "Please don't speak about yourself in such a way. I've grown close to the royal family since my time here and I've told them about you. They know how I feel about you, and I promise anything that has happened in the past is not something they would hold against you".

He watches as you swallow deeply, trying to suppress your feelings. Wishing nothing more than to stop you from thinking so harshly about yourself. "You're beautiful and I-I care about you more than you can imagine. No matter who am I, who you are, what our pasts may be, my feelings for you are stronger than any of that".

You move to place a hand softly against his cheek, leaning to place a kiss on his lips, "Thank you" you say softly. Wooyoung returns your smile before moving to peck your lips.

A couple pecks suddenly turn into more as before he knows it, he's laying on his back in the middle of his bed while you rest on top of him, the warmth of your tongue heavy in his mouth. Wooyoung's heart pounds in his chest, his hands feel heavy on your waist but he isn't sure where else he should place them. Sure over the past couple of months he's made out with you multiple times, but never like this. It's always been on your couch or in your back garden, never on a bed with your weight on top of him.

He can feel your warmth and hear your breaths and it's all very new, very intimate, very...arousing.

He's torn between his nerves getting the best of him, politely asking you to stop. Or on the other hand, wanting to keep going, not letting his brain overthink and just lose himself in you.

The Prince makes a sound when you gently bite on his bottom lip before pulling away, "Do you mind if I take this off, it's getting a bit warm". You're referring to your dress and Wooyoung's head spins. He clears his throat when he realizes you're waiting for him to make sure he's comfortable. "Of course," he finally gets out and he's so flushed he's almost embarrassed. He watches as you give him a quick smile before stepping to the ground, making quick work of your dress.

He gulps as the garment falls to the ground, the fire behind your admitting a glow on your bare skin that has his breath thickening. You slowly make your way back to the position where you were before, watching the Prince carefully to make sure he's still okay with this.

As you take your place back on his lap, he becomes worried for a second, worried you would feel the hardness that has been growing between his legs since you started. But before he could think too long, he takes you in closely. Eyes running over every inch of skin newly displayed to him, a new fondness and desire spreading through his veins.

"I would've wore something a little nicer had I known I would find myself here", he listens to you say with a shy laugh, probably self conscious with how long he was staring. Wooyoung quickly shakes his head, "No, you're perfect. I just can't believe you're in front of me right now looking like this".

You gulp and he reaches with trembling hands to place them on your knees which sit next to his waist. They travel up your thighs, to your hips where he caresses with his thumbs. He revels in the warmth of your skin, continuing his journey, moving along your sides, carefully moving along your covered chest before taking their place behind your neck.

With his grip he moves you down to meet his lips once more, a his fever apparent in the way his kisses you. His hands continue to enjoy their new freedom, moving along to caress different parts of your body whereas yours sit playing with his hair that's sprawled out on the bed below him.

He starts to understand why you felt the need to remove your dress; beads of sweat making their way down his chest and back. He separates your lips desperate to cool down. "Do you mind if I take this off as well?" He watches as you gulp but nod, sitting up to allow him room. Wooyoung quickly pulls his shirt over his head, trying not to feel self conscious about you seeing him like this for the first time. He chucks it over the foot of the bed before jolting when he feels your fingers moving along the waistline of his pants. "Do you want to take this off as well?" You asking, sounding too innocent for asking someone to remove their pants. The Prince clears his throat before nodding, watching as you move to sit on the side of him, steady hands coming to undo the button and zipper.

Once they were unfastened, he takes it upon himself to remove them. Embarrassingly thinking about how turned on he was merely from having your hands so close to his cock. His pants land to the floor beneath him and you give him a smile, moving your hands to reach for him again. Wooyoung panics a little, whether you were reaching to remove his undergarments or even touch him over it he wasn't sure. "Perhaps we can kiss some more". He says breathlessly, a red hue taking over his cheeks. This may have been the farthest he was gone before, but he doesn't think he's ready to be completely naked in front of you just yet.

"Of course," you say giving him a smile before returning to your place on his lap. As you settle yourself down on him once again, he lets out a groan as he feels your warmth on his hardness. The thin layers left doing very little to suppress the feeling of your folds on his cock.

Your lips come to move against his once more and he feels more confident now running his hands along the softness of your body. Experimentally, he runs his hands over the expanse of your ass, causing you jolt, moving along his cock. The both of you let out soft sounds of pleasure before you apologize. Wooyoung merely shakes his head, mouth still slightly parted from the small pleasure he received. Curiously, you rut your hips again, "Is this okay?" He nods, trying not to seem too eager. He wasn't sure how far he wanted to go tonight, but with your rubbing yourself against his cock he knew he was okay with this.

Instead of connecting your lips again, you place your hands firmly on his chest, giving yourself leverage to continue moving your hips. As you start to quicken your pace, his grip on your ass tightens. He would like to think he's helping move you against him, but he knows in reality you're doing all the work while he lays there lost in the pleasure.

A particularly hard movement from you causes his hips to buck up into yours, a sound of pleasure leaving your own mouth. The Prince opens his eyes, not even sure when he closed them, and takes you in. He thinks you look unreal sitting on him like this, eyes blown out, a sheen of sweat on your body glowing by the light of the fire, mouth slightly open as you breathe deeply from moving on top of him.

He groans as your hips begin to move more feverently, you grinding harder onto him. Wooyoung dares to look down between you both and he all but loses it at the sight. Just slightly, the head of his cock as started to peak out onto his stomach, his underwear sliding down the smallest amount from your moving. There's a wetness forming on his stomach from the leaking head of his cock and if he wasn't so turned on right now, he would surely be embarrassed. Your undergarments are white and from where your moving on him, he can see your own wetness has started to seep through. He closes his eyes with a sigh, hands moving to your hips in an attempt to move you along him quicker. "Please," Wooyoung calls out in what seems like a whimper, what he's asking for he isn't sure but he's so lost in the pleasure his mind is becoming clouded.

The next few moments are filled with hectic, rushed movements. Wooyoung desperately clinging to the pleasure he was feeling. It wasn't long before he cums, spilling his seed onto his own stomach. Ears ringing and having to close his eyes. Never has someone given him such pleasure before and he feels almost exhausted from the rush.

He feels out of it as you both clean up, taking every couple of seconds to place soft kisses on each others lips. Now he's enjoying the feeling of holding you in his arms, both of you laying under a blanket that usually serves as decoration. Spring was approaching so the fire and small blanket was enough for you not to lie underneath the sheets.

Wooyoung plays with your hair, eyes closed as he enjoys having you with him. He takes the silence to think about everything, you, his friends, his family. Finally, he decides he doesn't want secrets.

"I want to tell you something," he whispers out quietly, voice nearly drowned out by the crackling fire. He feels you hum against him, showing him you're listening. "But you have to promise to not utter a word to another soul". Your curiosity gets the best of you as you move slightly to look up at him. "I'm serious," he continues his whispering, "What I want to tell you, not even anyone in the castle knows, aside from the royal family and me".

You blink at him in shock, "Perhaps it should remain a secret for me then". The Prince cracks a smile, "No, I really want you to know. But just promise me, even if in the future you decide you no longer want to be with me, you cannot let this slip. Do you understand?"

He watches you gulp before nodding. Deciding his message is clear, he begins his story, "I was engaged before, yes?" You nod, "To the Princess".

He nods, "And unfortunately, she got sick and had to leave the kingdom, right?" You nod, frowning. "Wrong," he speaks softly. You take a moment to understand what he's trying to say, "What?" He licks his lips, "The Princess is not sick, she merely fell in love".

Wooyoung watches carefully as you take in the information, blinking slowly with your eyebrows furrowed. "I arrived to Aurora with my advisor, my best friend. Things happened, and he fell in love with the Princess and she fell in love with him." Your eyes widen at the news, barely being able to comprehend, "I'm so sorry".

He chuckles, "No, don't apologize. I wasn't in love with the Princess, I wasn't sad because she didn't love me. Just confused because she was my planned future since I was born. But I saw how much my best friend truly loved her, so I helped them leave. Now they live with their daughter is a small village inland". He watches the wheels turning in your head, "You understand right, that you can't let anyone else know this". You nod feverently. "Of course, I would never. Thank you for telling me though, I-" you pause and swallow, "So the royal family really doesn't hate me?"

Wooyoung laughs, "No, I told you so. I told them how much you mean to me and they're happy for me. That I promise".

"What does it say?" You ask as you wipe down the table next to where Wooyoung is sitting. He offered to stay behind while you closed the bakery, giving your brother a break from the closing duties. The Prince chuckles as he read the letter in front of him, "Apparently little Wooyoung has started to wander into the neighbors garden to terrorize their cat". He speaks of his best friend's daughter.

You chuckle beside him, "So they named her after you for a reason". He sends you a playful glare. Ever since telling you his biggest secret, you suggested writing his friends from the bakery. That way it was away from the castle and the secret could be kept without being suspicious. Now the bakery gets monthly letters written from the point of view of a young Wooyoung living in Utopia.

"She does mention she's excited to see us for a week in the summer though," he states as he folds the letter back up. You smile at him, "And you're sure it's okay for me to go along?" He all but glares at you, "How many times must I assure you?". You shrug, a blush coming up to your cheeks, "I just wanted to make sure I'm not intruding."

"Of course you're not," He stands, moving to approach you and leave a kiss on your lips, "I love you and I want you to meet everyone important in my life". He had already planned a trip for you to meet his family back in Twilight before staying with Seonghwa, the Princess, and their daughter in Utopia before coming home.

You give him a big smile, dropping your rag before throwing yourself in his arms, placing a kiss on his lips as he groans, "I love you too".

🌼 All feedback is appreciated and welcomed 🌼

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fics-lovebot · 8 months

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ateez recs

main masterlist

pls remember to reblog if you like any of my recs❤️

ot8 / poly

ateez as boyfriends - smut, the description is so- just read it pls, you´ll get the visuals

loved - angstttty, they make you feel insecure about the relationship so you leave and they want to kts, part 2

mythical beings! ateez as your boyfriend - 80% crack, mingi is def my fave one lmao

in the same class - they´re so fucking flirty and hot and sdfksjdfkjsldkfjh i loved it, yuhno plays too much, the yeosang one would me be fr, mINGI MANSPREADING YESSS

when they have a crush - love love love, so fluffy

realizing they´re in love with you - so fluffly too :(

hongjoong

he´s kinda hot - demon! joong, he kills ur ex-bf bc he sold his soul for some stupid shit, now he wants you

seonghwa

biker seonghwa - slice of life, brother´s best friend! hwa, yeosang as the brother, he is flirtyyy, "pretty girls don't use their pretty mouths to lie"

san

fucking you stupid - idol!san, this made me want to sCREAAAAAMMMM bc wtf????, he is MEAN but at the same time it´s an aPoLogY kind of fuckinG?? ikyfl, he marks you,, LITERALLY.

car accident - angst, angst, angst, aNGSTTTTTT, my god. reader is pregnant with twins, read if you want to fucking crY :)

glimpse of us - a lil angsty angst, break up au

his princess - smut, fluff, bad boy! san, innocent spoiled! reader, he´s obsessed with her, so so in love

wooyoung

mingi

the princess treatment chronicles -fluff, crack, f2l, best friend!mingi, he has this 5 step princess treatment list and falls in love with whoever completes it.. yes, reader gave him princess treatment, as she should. this is really cute, she does everthing on accident and he paniCKS bc they´re besties and all that, very very cute

virgin loser!mingi - smut, shy! mingi, brain dead every time he sees you, he´s a fucking pervvv skdfskjd, dirty thoughts 24/7, dreams of you, watches porn thinking of you, ass man (canon), he´s so obsessed omg

you´re drunk - slice of life, I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTT, bf! mingi taking care of drunk oc but she doesn´t recognizes him, he call her "tiny" :(, he fixes her skirt :(((,

no good - angst, cheating au

yeosang

prince yeosang - royalty au, I LOVETHISSSSSSSS, he´s so husband material :(, it´s so well written

his fan - ido! yeo, baby daddy! yeo, long distance relationship, he falls in love with a fan at a meet & greet, pregnancy, he just wants his own lil family :( so cute

yunho

yunho as your boyfriend - fluff, smut, I hate thESEEE bc they make me so delusional sdlfjsdfj

hands - smut, "do you want to breathe or do you want to cum" SIR?????

size kink - smut, we already know yunho is a big mf, tiny! reader, you wear one of his shirts and goes all praise kink on you, we love that

size training - smut, size kink, wwwwhat do you mean size trAINING??? what is we talking about rn??

jongho

so lovely - fluff, you take care of him after a show, this is so CUTE, it´s pure sweet love

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elysiangroundsforall · 27 days

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Love & War

"Everything is fair in love and war"

Synopsis: When a princess from a distant kingdom comes to find asylum not only is she granted that but she also finds love in the most feared General in all of Korean history. Pairing: Park Seonghwa x reader Warnings: 1)Violence 2)Abuse 3)Gore Type: Angst, fluff, smut This was inspired by @edenesth 's "The Way To His Heart"

Preview

"Don't worry, princess you're safe here"

"Who are you?"

"She must be a spy. No princess acts like her"

"Oh god!"

"There's a war"

"I love you"

"I love you too"

Chapters

Prologue Ch-1

Ch-2

Ch-3 Ch-4 Ch-5

#ateez #seonghwa #park seonghwa #hongjoong #medival #ancient korea #royalty #au #historical #general #wooyoung #san #yeosang #mingi #yunho #jongho #love #war #tw abuse #princess

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sunlightwoo · 2 years

Text

icy stance

✁ pairing: ice king!taehyun x fire wielder!fem. reader

✁ genre: fantasy/elemental powers au, strangers to lovers au, hints of fluff, hints of angst, semi-soulmates au, not quite, hopefully this wasn’t too sad??? warnings: almost major character death, but no one dies!! mentions of death, bear traps | rating: 17+

✁ wc: 9.36k

✁ plot: the last thing that you wanted to do was to get attached to someone who wielded the opposite element; especially one of royalty. but, with every stance that you’ve taken with him, did you dig a deeper grave for yourself, or make one that will bring him down as well?

✁ a/n: my first txt oneshot!! i absolutely fell in love with this idea since i have written the wooyoung spinoff to this ( light a flame ), but this can be read as a standalone!! below is the playlist that you can listen to while reading this, as this was also a part of @iyeonjuni’s power of love collab!! be sure to check out cici’s works along with everyone’s works in the collab, and i hope you guys enjoy this as much as i did!!

✁ gina is listening to [ this playlist ]

txt masterlist | wooyoung’s previous part

You despised the fire kingdom.

The more that you stayed in it, the more you were willing to find a way to get out of the kingdom without being burnt alive by the king himself. You knew how he was when it came to finding people that were willing to rebel and leave on their own accord, but the last few weeks seemed to have changed in ways that you weren’t sure what it had meant. But you did know one thing; this was your one shot to finally leave.

“Madam, are you ready to go?”

You nod in response as Lisette, your family’s maid, gives you a small smile, waving the luggage that was in her hands almost teasingly as she motions for you to head out first. The plan that she had was to go back to the ice kingdom, the place that your parents had once been familiar with, since they met each other there.

Anyone would’ve assumed that you would have a little bit of each, knowing that there were wielders that had hybrid powers existing in occasions like this, but you had yet to receive the other half of the powers you were supposed to have.

“Let’s go before someone else finds out,” You breathe out, making sure that you had your gloves on securely for what you were about to come face to face with in your new home.

You were ecstatic, to say at least, but also nervous as you feared for what was yet to come in your future. For the most part, you were more worried about being found while you were on your journey to the ice kingdom, praying that hopefully your status was high enough for you to be able to travel in between the different kingdoms anyways, all thanks to your parents being nobles within the fire kingdom.

Never had you belonged in the world of royalty, or the higher class people in the hierarchy such as those that were similar to the fire king, Wooyoung. But you found yourself lucky enough to even co-exist in the same vicinity as him knowing that both of your parents had been long time friends before everything had gone down to piles.

You could hear the sounds of Ignatius’ kingdom guards talking to Lisette, who was outside in the front of the carriage as you listened closely to her conversation with them. You could tell that the guards were buying it with the sound of hums and slight mumbles being exchanged and, before you know it, you’re already out on your way to the ice kingdom that was awaiting for you with the wonders that were withheld within it.

You wait for a while after mentally telling yourself that you were going to be okay, before you pull back the curtains to look at the view outside. Based on the time, you figured that possibly an hour has passed. The journey from the fire kingdom to the ice one wasn’t meant to be long, maybe a couple hours at most, but nothing could ever compare to the view that you’ve heard about in the books that you’ve read in your old home.

There were walls made of literal ice, a complete contrast to the titanium steel that was used with ashes and smoke constantly surrounding you and the other fire wielders. Everything looked pristine, and you envied whoever was an ice wielder at this moment because all you could feel now was that you were going to be an outsider; nobody was going to know that you were a fire wielder, and that knowledge itself was dangerous considering you had the ability to burn an entire kingdom down with just one touch.

“Y/N? Are you still okay back there?” You hear Lisette call out to you and let out a hum in response as you continue to look at the ice kingdom with widened eyes.

You felt unsure after realizing that you could be the downfall of a kingdom, if things were to ever go downhill from here.

The carriage suddenly stops for a moment, making you furrow your eyebrows in confusion until you hear a knock on your door. You were suddenly greeted with Lisette, who gave you a small smile before motioning for you to get out, and you could only assume that she was telling you to stretch for a moment before continuing on with the journey. However, nothing could’ve ever prepared you for the drastic temperature change that you had to get used to, because now you were almost freezing cold.

“Holy fuck-”

“Language, Y/N.”

“It’s fucking freezing, Lisette, my toes are going to fall off,” You hissed as you could already feel shivers going down your spine at the freezing cold breeze blowing against your face.

“You'll live, don’t worry. Besides, we stopped so you could stretch and probably grab some snacks, if you wanted any,” She says and you nodded in response, letting out a mumble that you’d be back in about five minutes tops before heading off into the snow and ice view in front of you.

You could feel your limbs being stretched out the more that you walked, but you were still shivering cold with your arms wrapped around yourself. You squinted at the wind that was blowing against your face, but you continued to trudge through the snow, hoping that maybe you could find a place to buy a snack; however all you made out was the white beauty of ice and snow in front of you.

You hated it already.

The snow felt thicker and thicker underneath your boots, up to the point where you’ve barely heard that slight click that was right below, before a voice called out to you.

“Stop- Stop, don’t walk any more!”

You freeze up for a moment as you look off into the distance until you feel a presence nearby, making you slightly turn your head to look at them. The boy in front of you seemed as though he were your age, silver coating his locks and skin paler than anything, seeming to have appeared out of nowhere.

“What did I just step on?” You whispered quietly, afraid of moving even one bit and just a tiny shift triggered a small click to what seemed to be a bear trap underneath your foot, “Oh god, am I going to die?”

“I can get you out, but you’re going to have to trust me on this,” The boy says while slowly inching over to where you were.

However, you shake your head in response as fear was slowly overtaking your body and your heart was now pounding loudly in your chest.

“What’s the plan then?” You ask him, giving him a nervous look and he takes a moment to assess his situation, from what you were able to watch on his face, noticing how his features were definitely more prominent with every moment that he was taking to even think about it.

“Okay so on three, you’re going to jump and I’ll catch you-”

“What if it doesn’t work-”

“It’s going to work-”

“I don’t trust you-”

“Do you want to be hurt instead out here in the cold?” He breathes out, looking at you incredulously, but your head shakes no in response, leading him to carefully move over to where you had been standing the whole time.

He gives you a look in which you could tell that he was asking through his eyes for your consent for him to even touch you, and you give him a small nod before he mumbles a small countdown for you to listen to. The moment that he had finally gotten to three, you jumped as high as you possibly could by lifting your body into the air, legs with you and suddenly you’re caught in the middle of the air bridal style into his arms as your arms immediately flung around his neck.

Your heart leaps out of your chest as you hear the sound of the bear trap going off, flinching at it, just slightly before looking between the contraption and the boy whose face was now inches in front of you. Heat rushes to your face as you try to figure out in his eyes what his intentions were, but there wasn’t anything besides warmth behind them, a look that you haven’t been familiar with in a while, even in the fire kingdom.

Who was he?

“You don’t look like you’re from around here… Would you like a proper escort into the ice kingdom?” The kind stranger offers, with a warm smile on his face, nodding his head over to the kingdom that was now just right behind you guys as if the snow had suddenly cleared up throughout the time that you were with him.

“A proper escort? Who do you think you are, the king?” You scoffed for a moment with a small smile on your face, unsure as to why he still hasn’t let go of you yet, but for some reason you feel comfortable where you were with him.

It was strange.

“Someone who wants to be your friend for the time being. So?” He responds, raising an eyebrow at you and you pause for a moment. Lisette was going to freak out when she found that a boy was going to join you on your trip, but what was the harm?

“Fine, you can join me to head to the ice kingdom. Can I at least get your name-?”

“Taehyun, Kang Taehyun.”

You think that his name is as pretty as his face as you’re staring into them for who knows how long. If anybody were to see you two, they’d think that you were dating, making your face flush with heat for a moment before you spun yourself out of his touch. It became cold again, but you brushed it off as the temperature as you nodded over to where your carriage had been waiting for you to join it once more in this long journey.

“It’s nice to meet you Taehyun. I’m Y/N.”

It had been five days since you last saw Taehyun.

He had left you the moment that you had arrived at the house that Lisette had gotten for you both, no other explanation or words of him saying that he’d probably visit you again. You were a bit disappointed, but you didn’t expect anything less for someone as ethereal as him, from the moment that you had gotten into the ice kingdom with him.

It was called Aspen, as common of a name it was.

He had told you about its beginnings, how it came to be, and how it was ruled by a king, alongside his brethren that were kings of their own kingdoms. The five of them were united under one country and were always willing to reach out to their neighboring allies, such as the ones from Ignatius. However, he had also warned you about how the ice king could also come off as cold, making you wonder how he knew so much for someone who had also claimed along your journey that he was just someone that happened to live there his whole life.

It was almost as though he was an insider from the Ice Palace.

“Y/N, be careful and step away from the windows!”

You flinched at the shrill sound of your Lisette’s voice and stepped away from the windows for a moment, blinking until you turned around to meet her concerned eyes. Lisette gives you a saddened look and holds onto your gloved hands before checking your entire being quickly, letting out a breath of relief when she realizes that you were okay.

“Lisette, I was only-”

“Looking at the ice palace, I know sweetheart, but we’re still trying to make sure that you don’t light the whole kingdom aflame,” She says with a hint of playfulness in her voice, but she wasn’t wrong at all, because you both knew that one wrong touch meant you were done for.

You frowned as you looked between her and the view that was right outside your window, wondering where Taehyun might be in Aspen while the snow fell from the sky right in front of your eyes. What kind of friend abandons them, when they knew that they were going to be lost in a new home in the first place?

“He hasn’t stopped by yet…” You mumble quietly, looking at her and she walks over to pat your back comfortingly, just moments until you hear fanfare go off in the distance.

You realize that it was from the ice palace itself, making you scramble onto your feet for you to turn on the television that was mounted on your wall to tune into whatever news that was going to be broadcasted from the palace. The sounds of fanfare were still on the television and you wondered what was going on today, until suddenly the camera panned over to the balcony where there were five tall males standing, and in the midst of them.

“Taehyun?”

There he was in his royal clothing, silver hair as ash colored as it could get, and there was a cold look on his face that was different in contrast to what you had seen back when you first met him. Yet for some reason, you still felt this unsettling feeling in your stomach that was a mixture of both butterflies, and also nerves. Had he been trying to trick you throughout the time that you had been with him to make you believe that he was just another citizen of Aspen?

You could barely make out what was happening in the broadcast, but before you could even realize it, you were out of your daze and out the door with your scarf in your hands. The heavy ice slightly crunched underneath your feet with every step that you took while running, however you knew that it was enough to keep you up; even if this was your first time out of the house since the day that you had moved in.

But you had no clue where you were going.

You were running in the direction that your gut was telling you to, even if it was a bad idea. But you pushed forward with your thoughts and continued to run for as long as your legs could take you in the confusing lanes that lead right into the heart of the kingdom, where you somehow lucked out in finding the ice palace due to the large crowd forming around it. Stopping in your tracks, you looked up to see the balcony that you had seen on the broadcast earlier, and there he was.

It was like he knew that you were there, because now his eyes were locked on yours as if the two of you were having a staredown in the midst of everything that was happening. He gives you a small smile following with a wink, making you confused as to what the action itself had meant, but one thing was for sure; you were way too close to the ice king the other day.

He disappears after a brief moment, making you blink away from whatever that was before you started to move forward past the crowd to see if there was a way to even get inside. Luckily for you, you were able to sneak through the massive amounts of bodies standing even at the door that you had gotten past the guards.

You noted to yourself to tell Taehyun that he needed better door guards.

The palace was completely warm in contrast to the fact that it was completely made of ice. It was as if there were some sort of heat source that was keeping it warm, but there was no possible way for that to happen, making you even more confused. You started to wander off into the palace, looking at the pristine pieces of ice sculptures all around you, when suddenly you felt your arm being tugged by someone out of nowhere.

Your eyes landed on the familiar color of ashy silver and you realized that he was taking you to a more secluded part of the palace, away from the eyes of Aspen. It wasn’t until after a bunch of long corridors and stairs later that you were on another balcony that was beside what you figured as the master bedroom, the view showcasing the landscapes of the snowy forest that you were once in just days prior.

“Oh wow… It’s pretty up here,” You mumbled out of nowhere in awe, before turning to look at him with a mischievous look while wiggling your eyebrows, “Is this place your secret hideout, when you’re not the king?”

“Something like that, sure,” He chuckles in response, leaning over the balcony railing with a breath escaping his lips and you could’ve sworn that you saw his breath in the middle of the air in the form of ice shards…

But maybe you were imagining things.

“It’s hard being a king, isn’t it?” You frowned a bit, looking at him as you took place beside him over the balcony railing and you could tell that he was getting a bit lost in his thoughts, just for a moment, before nodding in response to what you had asked him.

“It is… But I’ll manage,” He replies, making you also nod at his words and alternate your glances between him and the snowy forest, wondering what must’ve been running through his mind at the moment when he was just standing right there beside you.

“Hey Taehyun… Can you make me a weird promise?” You mumbled quietly, looking over to the silver haired boy that had been looking at you already, making heat rush up to your cheeks for a bit while he hums in response.

“Are we that close within our friendship already, Y/N?” He teases you a bit, nudging you slightly and you let out a slight giggle until he speaks up again once he realized how you were still tensed up from your question, “What is it?”

“If one of us were to die someday, you'd have to let me die first.”

He gives you a confused look, unsure where all of this had been coming from but you were also unsure as to why you suddenly felt so sentimental with the boy sitting next to you. He was just another person to you, much less the king of the ice palace that you’ve been hiding in for who knows how long, and you weren’t planning on sticking around Aspen.

“I don’t know why I even thought of it, but since we’re now friends, I hope, we have to at least have a promise so that it solidifies our friendship… don’t you think so?” You say with a smile curling at the ends of your lips and your head is slightly tilted while staring at him.

However, he finds it slightly endearing as he watches you hold up your pinky out for him to interlock with his own, so that your promise was solidified. He wasn’t sure what this meant for the two of you, but somehow he felt reassured that you were with him right now, away from all of the people that were trying to breathe down his back on the problems that each of them had; ones that he had known about since he was a kid and was now forced to take care of since he had been crowned king.

But with you, he was someone else. He was able to be himself for a bit, and you were his first friend in a while, since the other boys had entered his life. He thinks to himself, as he stares into your warm eyes, that if one of you did die, that he would be the one to be right beside you, and to prevent you from dying in the first place. You were already making an impression on him, and for some reason, he feels safe and attached to you, as if you were another home.

“Don’t worry. I promise.”

“Are you ready for your first ever tour of Aspen?”

The boy in front of you has a wide grin on his face as you nod in response while closing the door behind you, shivering for a moment until you come face to face with his now frowning expression and death glares. He points to the outfit that you had on, making you give him a look that you would refuse his internal nagging to get a thicker jacket, when you could’ve used your powers to warm yourself up on your own regardless.

“Tae-”

“Go get a jacket.”

“I don’t need it-”

“You’re going to get sick, and I don’t want you to get sick on my watch,” He says with a final tone, making you give him one last look before huffing out a breath as you went back inside to grab the coat that was waiting for you to put on from the couch.

It was as if it knew that this would happen in the first place.

“Better?” You pouted a bit, watching as he walked up to you just a bit from the moment that you walked out the door.

Reaching for your jacket’s zipper, he zips it up just enough for you to stay warm, and you could’ve sworn that your heart rate had gone up a million miles per hour with how close he was to you when he zipped it up. His eyes have grown soft when he makes sure that you were bundled up with how cold it had been today, and he lets out a satisfied noise with a smile before dragging you away from your house with your hand intertwined with his.

“Perfect, actually.”

He continues to take you alongside with him, hand in hand with you still as you listen to him ramble on about everything that was surrounding you two. Going from the beautiful sculptures that were created, to each ice shard that was invisible to the eye, to the glacial buildings that beautifully reflected under the warm sun, you would’ve thought that this was something more than just a little tour around Aspen by the king.

The entire time that you had walked with him felt as though your heads were up in the clouds with the way that his eyes were filled with the entire universe. His eyes were enlarged, full of wonder and excitement as you took note of every single place that he mentioned, along with the little commentary about his favorite places that he would go to in secret whenever he was able to sneak away from the palace.

In fact, you didn’t even realize that you would’ve been able to experience it until then, when he drags you into his favorite boba shop.

“What’s your favorite flavor, Firestorm?” You hear him ask from beside you and turn to raise an eyebrow at him, unsure of where the sudden nickname came from as he gives you a slight smirk at your confused state.

“Flustered?”

“A little embarrassed, actually. Firestorm, really?” You joked, crossing your arms in front of your chest and you could see it in his eyes that he was taken back a bit by your response, but you wanted to challenge him even more because you knew that there was a hidden meaning behind his own words.

“Was there something else that you had in mind?” He muses, giving you a wider grin on his face and you shrug a bit before glancing between him and the menu that was right above both of your heads.

“I’ll have the crystal milk special… with a dash of darling rather than Firestorm,” You reply, giving him a small smile and he nods in response before heading up to the counter to order both of your drinks while you stand there, staring at the back of his head with thoughts running through your mind.

Did you seriously just ask him to call you darling?

Heat flares up into your cheeks and the tips of your ears as you thought to yourself what you were even doing in the first place. This was the king that you had been running around Aspen with, as if the two of you were the bestest of friends, when in reality it’s only been days since you’ve last met the other by sheer coincidence.

There were definitely intrusive thoughts entering your mind as you thought about how attractive he was, all while thinking about how you could at least keep your emotions at bay. However, there was something about him that made you want to get to know him more, but at the same time it felt almost too inappropriate to be this close to him anyways, making you want to distance yourself from the beautiful boy that was now coming to you with your drinks in hand.

“So, darling, anything else you had in mind for today? I could show you a couple more places, if you want me to,” He offers, handing you your cup and straw with a comforting smile on his face and you look at him with a small smile on your face before thinking for a moment.

“Are you trying to ask me on a date, Kang Taehyun?” You teased, winking at him momentarily as the two of you started to head out of the boba shop, when he suddenly stopped the moment that you had stepped outside.

Snow had started to fall from the sky, and it made you think about the powers that he might’ve had on his end. Was he the one making it snow on his own accord, or was it something that was just pure coincidence, from the moment that you both stepped outside? From what you even remember, Lisette had always told you that whomever you had been with during the first snowfall was supposed to be your forever.

However, there were also the rare occasions where you have also heard about the possibilities of your supposed ‘soulmate’ being the answer to your mission powers that you were supposed to have. You haven’t found this singular individual yet, but you knew that when you did, they were going to be that someone that you knew you could be in a lifetime with.

“Would it be so bad, if I was?”

You tense up for a moment as you looked back at him with a confused face, unsure as to whether or not you should accept his offer, though you weren’t sure what else you had to lose. But in this moment, you wonder if it was a good time for you to go with him anyways when he was going through so much on his own, along with having to deal with his own kingly duties rather than hanging out with someone else that was not even from Aspen.

“Taehyun… You have to go back to the palace at some point, you know. I don’t think it’d be a good idea if you just spent the day giving me a whole tour of Aspen, when you have your own stuff to do.” You frowned, taking a small sip of your own drink and had you not been distracted by the cup in your hands, you would’ve been too flustered to even continue the conversation with him.

Why was he trying to get to know you more?

“Not even if it was a king’s order to hang out with him?” He teases, giving you a small smile as he leans down so that you were both now eye level to one another, and you could’ve sworn that you were warmer than any other time in the world, even back home in Ignatius.

Your heart was beating loudly in your chest as you stared into his large eyes, a smile coating his lips and you could see the same mischief in his eyes that you recognized from the first day that you had met him. He was someone that was ready to bring out another side of you that you didn’t realize you had been hiding all along, and yet somehow you were okay with that in this moment as you were holding back the urge to poke the dimple that was showing on the side of his curved lips.

“Then where to next, ice king?”

You’ve known Taehyun for 504 hours; 21 days approximately, more or less.

Maybe it was the fact that he’s been making efforts to see you, more than you had in the first place, and you felt almost guilty; almost being the keyword as you sat across from the said male at the boba shop that you had also fallen in love with. At this point, you had practically known Aspen inside and out with how much you’ve been going out of your house with him, and for some reason you found it strange that he had so much trust in you and your powers.

He knew that at some point if your gloves were to ever come off your hands, everything that he and his family have ever built up until now will melt in your palms. However in the last three weeks, he has gotten more fond of your presence beside his, somehow feeling a sense of familiarity inside his heart whenever he talks to you.

“Taehyun, how come nobody has ever seen your parents?” You ask him out of nowhere, playing with your now empty cup as your eyes seemed distant for a moment, as though your mind was somewhere else, rather than where you were now with him.

To be fair, you have heard stories from the other boys when you had met them from the last time that you hung out with them.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Taehyun this excited to play in the snow, even if it’s with Huening,” You recall Yeonjun mentioning as you raised an eyebrow at his sudden statement.

“He hasn’t been this happy in a while, especially when he has lost his parents at such a young age from what I’ve heard my parents mention to me, and I think you’re the cause of that. Yeah, we laugh here and there and he, hopefully, enjoys his time hanging out with us, but this is the happiest that we’ve ever seen him now that you’ve been around.”

“Was he cold hearted instead?” You remember asking the man, thinking about how he was the oldest of the bunch, and the one to unite them all in the first place all because of a playdate that went too well.

“I’d like to think that he was even colder than the ice that coats Aspen. Freezing, almost, but his heart is slowly warming up to you, if I say so myself. I can see it in both of your eyes.”

Taehyun gives you a confused look when you mention it, but nonetheless he feels as though he could tell you anything in the moment because you weren’t just anybody else asking him about his deceased parents. He knew who they were from when he was a kid up until his teenage years, and finding out more about them through his aunt was a story that he struggled to accept because of the perception that they gave off to him as a young boy.

“They… were apparently the best, and worst rulers of Aspen. They cared about their people too much, and the greed that came from wanting what was best for them became their deaths when we went to war with Ignatius. It wasn’t until their passing and Wooyoung’s compromise with me that we became at peace. I know it wasn’t hyung’s fault either… but somehow… it still hurts to think about them,” He explains to you with a small frown in his face, and if you could, you would’ve reached out to rub the area in between his eyebrows so that the wrinkles could leave his saddened demeanor.

“They probably were doing what they thought was best for you, Tae,” You mumbled softly and reached out for his hand that was resting on the table in front of you, squeezing it gently as you could feel him reciprocate the small meaningful action.

“I know… I’m just grateful for the memories that they gave me, and for the others for picking me back up slowly when I was at my worst moments. My parents weren’t complete assholes either, they were actually kind of like us… Opposite elemental wielders,” He mentions while looking at you with a small smile on his face and that was when your curiosity peaked.

“Does that mean…”

“Like you, I’m also missing the other half of my powers. But hopefully someday, I’ll meet that person and be whole with them, if that makes sense,” He says, and you knew exactly what he meant.

There was no coincidence that you both just so happened to be missing the other half of each other’s complementary elements, but there wasn’t a chance that Taehyun could be your half. Everything was purely occurring because of its timing, and you were trying to think of any other logistical reason that it was happening in the first place.

“Taehyun…”

“Hey, wanna head to the ice palace with me? I remembered that I have to check up on something, but I don’t want you to leave me just yet,” He offers, standing up from where he had been sitting down earlier in front of you, but it was the feeling of his hand letting go of yours that made your skin crawl with how cold it suddenly felt.

The smile that was previously on his lips drops a little bit, but you chose to just shake the thought away as you nodded in response, motioning for him to show you the way first as the two of you had started going our way. However, this walk felt different and maybe it was because you were too used to being so close to him while constantly putting your hand in his whenever you went on your escapades with him.

It was at this point where Yeonjun’s previous words had weighed heavy on your heart, making you wonder if you were really the reason for Taehyun’s change of heart. You could have, but that could only mean worse for you both if the truth came out to the person that you had been fearing the most from the moment that you’ve stepped into Aspen.

“I need you to make me a promise, darling. There’s something that I’ve been working on for a while that you cannot tell anyone else,” He mumbles softly, glancing to where you had still been trailing behind him the whole time up until you had walked into the palace with him.

You nod in response while interlocking your own pinky with the one that he had out for you already, but for some reason the uncertainty on his face never seemed to leave him. He seemed more nervous, unsure as to whether or not it was a good idea to even tell you what he had felt burdened with, but the small smile on your face could only reassure him that it was okay.

“Darling, I’m very serious about this-”

“I know, Tae, which is why I swear I won’t even say anything to anyone,” You say, giving him a small nod when he furrowed his eyebrows even more while frowning.

“The boys don’t even know about this… which is why I’m scared to even tell them, because what would they even think when they see that?” He murmurs, head tilted to motion over towards a door that you had recognized from days prior from today.

You walk over to the closed door and watch as he unlocks it slowly for you to walk in first, only to be graced with the sight of something that resembled an incubator but made out of complete ice. It was wantonly freezing in the room, in contrast to the rest of the palace, and you could’ve sworn that your lips had turned blue from the moment that you walked in here, if it weren’t for the feeling of Taehyun draping his cape over your shoulders to hopefully warm you up; but the frozen person was too familiar in your eyes because of how often you’d see him.

“Is that-”

“Choi San, Wooyoung’s best friend… Frozen,” He mumbles in order to hold himself back from tearing up, but he too was too immersed in the overwhelming feeling of guilt in his heart, because he knew why he hasn’t faced Wooyoung yet in these last few days, even while reaching out to the elder.

“He died back in Ignatius protecting Wooyoung and his significant other… and he had asked for a favor by sending him over to me to see if there was any way for me to save his life by slowing his death but….” He explains to you slowly, eyes concentrated onto yours as you look away from the iced figure to see that his eyes were glossed over with tears ready to spill out of them.

You frown a bit as you hesitantly reach up to cup his cheek into your hand, gently wiping the stray tear that was already glistening onto the apples of his cheekbones and he lets out a shaky breath when you do so. Thinking to yourself, you wondered how long he must’ve been enduring this secret while also attending to his kingly duties and juggling finding the right time to even be around you given that there was never enough time in the world.

“It’s not your fault, Taehyun,” You whisper quietly, giving him a reassuring smile but he shakes his head in response, holding onto your hand as he looks into your eyes with one too many thoughts in his mind to figure out the answers to.

“Wooyoung wants to come here soon, darling. If he does that and finds you here-”

“He won’t, I won’t let him,” You argue back, frowning as roles have finally switched. He was now holding onto you by wrapping one arm around your waist and the other grabbing onto your gloved hand that was previously resting on his cheek over to where his heart was.

“Do you know how cruel it is to be around you, darling? You can literally kill me, and bring my entire kingdom down… Yet somehow you chose not to. Why? Why are you still staying here, knowing that you have me wrapped around your toxic fingers?” He mumbles while slowly leaning in and for a moment you could feel his cold breath hovering over your own breath.

Your heart was practically jumping out of your chest but you were tempted to remove the small gap that was separating the two of you. Thoughts were running through your mind as you wanted to know the same thing, yet the answer was right there in front of you as your eyes trailed between his that were boring into your heart and his lips that were so close to resting against yours.

Taehyun was the complementary piece that you had been looking for your entire life, and maybe it was the little voice that was from your subconscious that was warning you that something bad was going to happen. Maybe it was because of that little warning that instills fear into your heart, fearing that maybe Taehyun would be ripped away from you if someone had the chance to, and that was the reason why you were even holding back.

“I think we both know the answer to this, Taehyun,” You whisper back and there’s now tears that were pooling at the corner of your eyes before the space between you both had finally evaporated out of thin air.

And that was the day that you had your first kiss with the king of Aspen.

You don’t believe in love at first sight, but with Taehyun, you think that maybe it was when he had saved you from that bear trap that you had fallen for him.

“Did you know that a group of bunnies are called a fluffle?”

Your head turns over to where he had been looking at you with a wide grin on his face, as if you had painted his sky blue while placing all of the stars into the same sky all in one day. Said boy brushes your hair out of your eyes as the two of you had been sitting in his safe place, staring at the horizons as you both were watching the sunset together and you try not to let a laugh escape from your lips at how enamored he had looked in the very moment.

“You’re so random for that,” You grinned while hiding your face into his neck, feeling his arms wrap around your waist as he pulled you in closer into his embrace that he had created for only you to feel, “I’m so embarrassed for you.”

“The smile on your pretty lips says otherwise, darling. You can’t fool anyone at this point,” He teases you, placing a short kiss against your lips and you could’ve sworn that if it were possible, your smile had only grown wider than it already was.

“But what if I were to be a fool for you?”

Falling in love with Taehyun felt like you had slipped hard in one of Aspen’s back roads and alleys that you have been so familiar with now. Somehow, you found yourself staying for over a month now, and ever since the day that he had revealed to you about his plan to break the news to Wooyoung about San, you could only grow more fond and attached to the boy that you unknowingly were in love with.

“Well then, I hope it is just for me, because if you were ever with someone else… I think I’d go crazy over you.” You winked half jokingly, and he lets out the most beautiful laugh that you’ve ever heard in your entire life, making you wish that you had some sort of recorder to save this sound forever into your heart.

“Don’t worry, I’m holding my promise until the very end of us, darling.”

He presses a kiss against your forehead and instantly, you feel warmer than you’ve ever been despite the fact that your gloves were still on. The two of you sat there for a moment as you thought about the time that he had tried to convince you to take your gloves off.

That exact day was the same one in which the two of you had shown the others your capabilities with your powers in the white forest that you both met in. It was also the same day where you both have sworn to never use it against the other, knowing that it could put the other in danger and neither of you had ever wanted that to happen in this life.

“Hey, is it just me or does it feel a lot warmer than it usually does around here?” You mumbled to Taehyun, looking around in confusion as to why the atmosphere was suddenly growing warm, and he got up from his spot at the same time.

“Wooyoung is here.”

Your eyes widen at his words and in almost a split second later, he disappears from your sight as he’s heading back into the palace, praying that maybe he could hide you for a little bit longer. On the other hand, you were pretty much freaking out as you paced back and forth on the ice balcony, debating whether or not it had been a good idea to jump over it and to avoid the long awaited confrontation that you were obviously trying to escape from, when you thought about Taehyun.

He had been your rock the entire time that you have been here, and if Wooyoung were to do anything to force you back home to Ignatius, you knew that you would have to put up a fight that could potentially harm the rest of Aspen. But you were willing to make sure that Taehyun and Aspen were safe first, even if it meant that your life would be the one in danger instead.

You ran inside the ice palace to find Taehyun, to stop him for a moment so that the two of you could think of a better plan to talk to the fire king, but it was too late. The two of them were dead silent as all eyes were now on you, and you could see Wooyoung’s facial expressions harden when he realized why you look so familiar at first glance.

“Your highness-”

“You’re one of mine, aren’t you?” He says almost immediately and you could feel a lump form in your throat, words that were previously on the tip of your tongue had now evaporated as you could only stare between the two.

Your voice had failed you, but you gave him a small nod that you could only do at this moment, already afraid of your fate that was now resting in both of your hands. You watch as Wooyoung glances between both you and Taehyun with an unreadable emotion in his eyes, because he had somehow known about your family’s rankings and the history behind them as well.

“You do realize that if you really wanted to see if you were soulmates after escaping me, Taehyun has to use his powers on you.”

The bluntness in his voice throws you off guard while your mouth hands low from the fact that he even mentioned it in the first place. Had he known the entire time-

“Both of your parents have told me about this situation possibly happening, and the only way to see it is for Taehyun to pierce you with his ice powers, to see if you’re immune to any ice related attacks despite being a fire wielder,” Wooyung explains calmly, making you frown for a moment before glancing over at Taehyun, who had been staring at the ground the whole time.

Had he known about this from the moment that he met you?

“Tae-”

“I’m not going to do it,” The boy immediately argues, looking up at both you and Wooyoung with a pain stricken expression, and if it were possible, the previous tension of what Taehyun might’ve created earlier while breaking the news to Wooyoung had gotten even worse from here on out.

“I’ll leave you both to talk about it, but Taehyun… please make sure that San gets sent off as beautifully as he would’ve wanted it.” The elder speaks before leaving the ice palace with heavy footsteps behind.

The ice palace becomes the coldest that it has ever been, both you and Taehyun being the only ones there while standing in the middle of the large foyer. Neither of you had decided to speak up because of the big decision that was now in the palm of your hands, but as you felt the tears cascading down your face, you walked over to him slowly while holding in your breath.

“I don’t want to do it, Y/N. I don’t want to be the reason why you die, if it doesn’t work out,” He mumbles quietly, and you understandingly nod in response, knowing that if anything, he had the biggest role to play at this point.

“But I also don’t want you to feel deprived of being at your full potential because of me-”

“You wouldn’t be holding me back, I promise you that,” You say while taking his hands into your own, but you couldn’t help yourself and felt pity, because it was at this moment you had realized how much you were in love with Kang Taehyun.

It was because of him and the love that he had given you from the moment that you both met that you had trusted him with your life wholeheartedly. He was the breath of fresh air to make you realize that you were capable of being loved, especially when all this power you had wielded could’ve been used against him; but he trusted you, the same way that you did with him that one day.

“Tae, I want you to do it now, while we’re still here together.”

He gaped at you in shock, eyes widened as if he were asking you about the certainty that you had wanted him to try what Wooyoung had mentioned onto you, but there was only the familiar look in your eyes that he recognized as your stubbornness. He had remembered the promise that he made with you all those weeks or months ago on the balcony, when he had promised for you to die first if anything were to happen to you two.

And this was those circumstances, in which the promise was finally going to happen.

“I’m glad that I’m the one that gets to leave first, ya know… I don’t think I’d ever want to learn what it’d be like if you weren’t with me,” You hiccupped, tears still streaming down your face while his thumbs were busy wiping them away.

“I’m so scared, Taehyun.”

“Hey, don’t say that, don’t be scared. It’s just me. You’re going to be okay, and when you wake up again, I’ll be right there next to you, okay?,” He says in a gentle tone while brushing the hairs that were covering your forehead out of the way to place a soft kiss against it.

“You’re not leaving me, and I’m never leaving you like I promised you back then. The only thing I want right now is for you to promise me that you’ll wake up after this… Because I don’t want to relearn what life without you is like.”

Your lips are shut tight while your mind has been running at a million miles per hour with your heartbeat, because you weren’t sure if this was going to work. The two of you promised that you wouldn’t use your powers on the other, but here you were, ready to take your gloves off to fully take in the powers that Taehyun was about to use on you, making you grow worried of what was going to happen.

“Tae-”

“Y/N, darling baby, I want you to promise me,” He sternly says and you were able to see the fear that was slowly overtaking him through his eyes.

You both were scared, because neither of you knew what the other outcome was supposed to be when risks were so high up there at the moment. You could end up dying due to the ice shards that would pierce through you from Taehyun’s powers, but on the other hand it might just work and you’d both be complete with both sets of powers, making you both meant to be with one another.

But what were the odds that the outcomes were in your favor?

“I promise, Taehyun… I trust you…” You smiled weakly, nodding in response as the two of you were now standing in front of the other with tears streaming down your faces, and you took this moment to take in every single feature and crevice that had sculpted the beautiful boy that you had fallen in love with.

He places one last meaningful kiss against your lips while you have reciprocated the action back, and just as your lips touch for a moment. Right in that moment, you could feel his hand rest on your arm and you knew that he was about to use his powers to create the ice shards that were going to pierce you at any given moment, but you felt him wince into the kiss due to the warmth that was radiating from your ungloved hands.

“I love you, Taehyun,” You whisper against his lips and you hear him whisper six words just seconds before both of your powers had finally collided with one another, exerting yourselves to the most before you had fallen unconscious from the world.

“I love you too, my darling.”

They say that your entire life flashes before you when you’re teetering between life and death, a montage of everything you’ve done throughout the time that you were alive to determine whether or not you have lived until the fullest. Throughout the time that you were unconscious, you didn’t see those flashes appear in your mind, but rather a voice that continuously called out for you, in which they had sounded way too familiar to not know where it had come from.

“Y/N… please wake up… I’m right here.”

You gasp awake as your vision is greeted with the darkness of someone’s bedroom, head darting to find the source of the voice that was calling out to you until you realize that it was Taehyun, who had been sitting on the end of your bed the entire time. He gives you a worried look as he is holding onto gloved hand gently, but also firmly while you were confused with everything that was going on in the first place.

“Where am I? How long have I-”

“You were unconscious for two hours.”

Your eyes were now on his as you noticed how they were rimmed with bloodshot red, as if he had been crying throughout the two hours. Almost immediately, you looked down on his wrists to see the small burn marks that you have created on him, making you frown slightly at the sight as you look back up at him.

“You didn’t put any healing ointment on them, Taehyun, what the hell,” You mumbled and got up to grab some medicine that you knew was stored in the connecting bathroom when suddenly you were pulled back into his embrace on his bed.

There’s a bit of wetness on your back and you could tell that it was from Taehyun, making you raise your hand up to hold onto the arm that was wrapped around your waist when you notice a change in his arms. The marks that you had seen literally a second ago had begun to fade, just as you turned to look at him and his ash, silver hair was slowly turning into a color that resembles a glossed over platinum blonde.

“Tae… Your hair,” You gasped quietly as you reached up for his hair, just as little specs of snow had fallen from your fingertips.

The both of you watched as the specks of snow had fallen into his new colored hair, making you freeze in your places at the newfound information that you both had witnessed. In that exact same moment, Taehyun releases his arm around you to recreate a move that he had remembered you teaching him a while back, in which was to create a flame in the palm of his hands. The warm colors on the flame danced around in your eyes but you watched it disappear as both you and Taehyun were now looking at one another with shocked expressions on your faces.

“Does that mean-”

Almost immediately, he cups your face to place kisses all over you, your giggles leaving your lips as fate seemed to be on your side for once. The two of you were finally like puzzle pieces that were meant to be put together, and with everything that had just happened today, you knew that things were only going to look better from here on out.

“I am absolutely enamored by you, darling, with every single fiber in me. I hope that I can prove that to you, for the rest of our days, as long as you stick by me.” He grins while placing one last kiss against your lips, in which you felt your heart pacing for the millionth time that you’ve been with him.

“I promise, Tae, don’t you worry about it.”

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#(god i cried writing this i can't)#ficscafe #kvanity #txt imagines #txt scenarios #txt fluff #txt angst #txt oneshots #txt x reader #txt #kang taehyun #taehyun imagines #taehyun scenarios #taehyun fluff #taehyun angst #taehyun oneshots #taehyun x reader

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written-in-flowers · 6 months

Text

Be the Light: Pt. 2 (SeongjoongxFem!reader)

Pairing: Hongjoong x Seonghwa x Fem!reader

Word Count: 7k

Genre: angst, fluff, smut

AU: historical!au, arranged marriage!au, royalty!au

Warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, heavily referenced torture (briefly), heavily referenced abuse (briefly), heavily referenced sexual abuse (briefly), enslavement, slight gaslighting, lost sibling, political drama, historical drama, joseon!au, concubine!ateez, nsfw content, virgin!reader, polyamory, polygamous, throuple, threesome m/m/f, oral sex (m. and f. receiving/giving), cunnlingus, vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, virgin sex, virginity discussed.

Taglist: @scarfac3 @tunaasan @lelaleleb @sevngmin148 @meljoongiee @puppyminnnie @sunasmoke22 @kyourixr

And thanks to my @daesukiii for beta reading this for me! It's so hard to find a good beta reader, and they've never disappointed me! ❤️

Part 1 < | > Part 3

***

Hongjoong learned long ago that the best release of anger was having sex with Sookmyung. Not in the heated passionate way he might’ve with a real lover, but in a hateful way. He pinned her down. He pulled her hair. He bit her neck, bruised her thighs, and slapped her ass until it turned red. He rammed his hips into her quickly and fiercely. All the while pretending that it is his desire for her making him act harshly. He held Sookmyung by her arms as he guided her onto Yunho, who laid beneath her naked and erect. Her loud, feral grunts told him she was close to her third climax today. He hated her. He hated her for making them do this. Her insatiable libido was limitless depravity. Nothing is ever too vile for her. Nothing is ever off limits.

He hated how she’d made San whip Wooyoung, all because she thought they’d coupled together without her permission. The two sat on a couch nearby, kissing softly as ordered to be Sookmyung. He saw the long red welts and purple marks along Wooyoung’s tanned back and torso. According to her, they’d been laying in bed together half naked. San told him they hadn’t touched or kissed. They’d only laid there talking as friends do at night. It enraged her. She’d scowled and screamed, throwing a tantrum in San's bed chamber. Hongjoong remembered hearing Wooyoung’s cries as she barked orders at San. San still had bite marks on his shoulders where she’d bit him. This made Hongjoong suck and bite into her neck to retaliate.

“Don’t stop,” she growled as he and Yunho pushed into her, “Don’t…Don’t..Oh god, keep going!”

She eventually came, and Hongjoong stayed inside until it subsided. Every muscle in his body ached, burning hotly and begging to rest. He and Yunho both withdrew and moved away from her. He did not fully rest as Yunho did. Standing on wobbly knees, Hongjoong grabbed a robe from nearby and slid over his shoulders.

“Hongjoongie,” he heard Sookmyung whimpered behind him, “Where are you going?”

“I’m famished, beloved,” he muttered.

“I can have food brought to us,” she called, but he shook his head.

“No need,” he assured her. “The others will keep you company until I return.”

He kissed her before walking out of the circular room. Hongjoong walked down a hallway into another, smaller sitting room where a servant left plates of food and a pot of tea. This sitting room is the farthest from the main lounge, where most of the guards and attendants would be, leaving him entirely alone. Taking a sip of tea, he took a quick peek through the wooden lattice windows. The setting sun gave their garden a russet glow that broke between leaves and branches. It is a beautiful sight, he admitted. Lush green bushes and vibrant flowers basked in the spring time season, while fish swam in the ponds and lakes across the grounds. Cobbled walkways circled brass fountains, and trees outside sometimes bore fruit for them to eat. It reminded him of his own garden back at home, where he played with his siblings and companions while his mother looked on. He still remembers all the times she’d chase him around the garden or taught him about the different flowers. Sookmyung had taken that from him. Shed stormed in with her vast army, and slew his entire family. He thought of his mother’s lifeless eyes looking at him as a knife plunged into her chest, her last breath echoing in his ear.

‘I’ll take better care of you than she ever did,’ Sookmyung whispered to him as his mother lay dying on the ground.

He hated her. He loathed her. He despised her with every fiber of his being. Queen Sookmyung had stormed into his home, killed his family, enslaved his people, and then took him. It sickened him. He did not eat a single portion left on the table; he could barely stomach the tea. She must be stopped. He’d said this to himself a million times over the past eight years. Hongjoong often laid in bed and thought of killing her. Simply putting a knife in her chest as she’d done to his mother. But, no. That will not do. Her council, no matter how much they despise her, will be forced to act. Also, there’d be an even major problem: there’d be nobody to claim the throne. King Siwon had old uncles, and they had children, but they’re so low in rank now that nobody remembers their names. Sookmyung put any possible challenges to the sword: children of the king’s concubines, close cousins, and people who might stake a claim however small. There’d be nobody to guide their kingdom; nobody to speak on behalf of its people and rebuild what Sookmyung destroyed.

Hongjoong might hate Sookmyung, but he did not hate the people. The subjects whom he’d hoped to serve one day called out for help and he is unable to answer their call. It made him feel helpless, useless, and powerless. That is, until he’d met Naeun.

He’d gone into the garden alone a few weeks ago when he heard a disturbance near the apricot trees towards the side walls. The scrape of metal against stone caught his ear in the dark corner of the garden, followed by a soft thump of feet touching ground. When Hongjoong went to discover it, someone put their hand over his mouth and pushed him into the bushes between the trees. There, he’d seen the intruder: short and slim as a tree branch, the young woman wore a half mask and dressed in all black. He’d originally been scared, seeing the dagger on her belt, but then she pulled down her mask.

‘Your Grace, I come on behalf of Seo Changbin. He says hope is not lost.’

It took him a moment to place a face to the name, but it hit him quickly. While never having met the man in person, he’d heard Sookmyung mention his name disdainfully before. A resistance leader, he’d once been a military soldier until his defection some years ago. According to Naeun, he has been gathering recruits to his cause while remaining underground. Hongjoong had no idea why he’d contact him; he’d lost his crown and his people. He held no power to help them. Changbin seemed to think differently.

‘The people of Wonju have not forgotten you, my prince. We must free you from this prison.’

'That is much easier said than done, I'm afraid. Sookmyung takes as much care to keep us imprisoned as she does keeping others out. The most I can do for him is to remain here.'

'You wish to be kept here?'

'Yes. Sookmyung foolishly boasts about her plans in front of us. I know things about her bases, her forces, and her battle plans than most. I can leave messages for you in the tree whenever I have something to pass along.'

'Your Grace, if she were to catch you…I believe you do not understand. You are our only hope.'

'I am more useful to the rebellion inside these walls than out. Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Come to me a week from now, and I shall have information for you.'

Naeun agreed to the plan. Sookmyung never suspected anything when she began idly chatting about her various strategies. Hongjoong made note of her words and passed them along to Naeun, who then told Changbin. It helped them in the short term, but they needed something stronger. Simply cutting off trade routes, attacking military camps, and liberating political prisoners is not enough. They needed to get rid of Sookmyung permanently.

An assassin sounded easy, but Sookmyung is so closely guarded, getting a moment with her might be hard. The one time a person did manage to reach her chambers, she’d killed them. He told Naeun that Sookmyung is no delicate kitten. She has claws that are long and sharp, and she enjoys sinking them into her enemies slowly.

They would need to be careful if they wished to proceed.

“Tired already, Joongie?”

He heard Seonghwa call from somewhere behind him, and he turned around to see him by the door. Wearing his own black robe, seeing him in the faint orange sunset, he understood why Sookmyung took him as a concubine. His dark eyes twinkled with a thousand stars, and his plush lips resembled rosé petals. After being captured by Sookmyung, Hongjoong realized he had companions in his misery: the other sons of people Sookmyung killed. One of them being Seonghwa, son of a chief advisor in another nation. Sookmyung must’ve hoped he and Seonghwa would fight over her; that they’d rip each other apart for a special spot beside her. That is the only disappointment she let them get away with. The pair of them both realized the only people they’d have in this world is one another; they’d never see home or their families again. The “flowers” learned long ago that they can only depend on one another.

“Far from it,” he replied. “I thought it’d be unfair to keep her from enjoying the rest of you.”

‘I wanted to get away from her.’

Even in this room far from ears and eyes, they practiced caution. Seonghwa sauntered over to him, “I think she’s plenty occupied with the others for the moment. A bit of rest will not upset her.”

‘She’s busy. Let’s talk.’

Their casual expressions became serious once Seonghwa reached him, their backs facing the doorway. Seonghwa poured himself tea, and the elder sipped quietly.

“Will you see your friend again tonight?”

“I might,” he said. “She told me to meet her by the trees a week from then. She said Changbin uncovered information that could be very instrumental in removing her, but he needed proof of it.”

“What could it be?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Maybe he discovered Sookmyung is some foul demon and has discovered how to banish her from this world.”

The pair of them giggled softly. Seonghwa drank from his tea cup, and said, “Have you heard anything about that maid?”

Hongjoong hesitated. His stomach twisted into knots when the picture came back to him. He pictured a young girl, about sixteen by his estimation, laying on the pavilion floor as she cried out in pain. It had been a mistake. An older servant told him that the young girl came to them looking for work, and was given a job in the kitchen. She’d been putting down wine cups when she accidentally knocked one over which spilled onto Sookmyung’s lap. Naturally, the queen went into an immediate rage.

“One of the attendants told me they’d thrown her into the cells for a week,” Hongjoong said flatly, putting his drink aside. “Over an accident. She beat that child for spilling wine, then imprisoned her.”

Sookmyung beat her with a bamboo switch until she drew blood. Hongjoong remembered flinching every time the thin wooden stick met flesh; his heart sinking in every cry he heard, her pleas for the abuse to stop. A proper monarch would not have risen to anger so quickly. To be fair, he’d never seen anyone rush to rage like Sookmyung. The girl left the scene bruised and whimpering, being dragged away by two armed guards. They’d all wished to speak out. While the others wept for the young girl, he fumed with hate. It swelled in his chest until it tightened, causing him to take deep breaths. The child did nothing wrong. She’d only been a bit careless, possibly nervous at serving a queen for the first time.

“She needs to be stopped, Hwa,” Hongjoong said under his breath. “This madness must not be allowed to continue.”

“It will be stopped,” Seonghwa assured him. “A revolution is at hand.”

“Revolution? What revolution?” he spat. “The citizens of this city are too frightened of her and her men to raise up arms against her. The few who can be encouraged do not have the proper support. A revolution can only happen if enough people stand up and speak out.” He thought of that girl, and what she must be feeling now. She must still be frightened. “That woman has stomped out any glimmer of hope those people might have had long ago. She killed anyone who would have opposed her or helped them stop her. Do not forget, love, she has her people everywhere as well.”

“Perhaps the news your friend brings will be the very ray of hope we need,” said Seonghwa. Hongjoong sensed a change in subject when his brother smiled softly, “YN looked lovely today, didn’t she?”

“Yes,” he nodded, thinking about you as he admired the flowers beneath the window. “She did.”

“Good idea in distracting Sookmyung,” Seonghwa said, doing the same. “Chaewon mentioned she hadn’t seen YN for the past two nights.”

“I thought she could use the time.”

You looked lovely at court today. Even though you wore the same hanbok, the same slippers, and the same hairstyle every day, he and Seonghwa still found you lovely. If Hongjoong pitied anyone outside of himself and his brothers, it’d be you. While they only saw a small percentage of Sookmyung’s cruelty, you saw all of it. You saw the things she did as a princess, you saw the horrors she committed during her conquest, and the deplorable things she did as a queen. He heard Sookmyung often makes you join her in the palace jails where she keeps her victims. You've seen Sookmyung’s true nature. He imagined she might’ve even forced you to participate. If she enjoyed making you watch her have sex with them, then she definitely delighted in forcing you to torture people with her.

“She is clever, you must give her that,” Seonghwa cut through his thoughts. “From what the handmaidens say, YN is the only other person who can navigate Sookmyung. Remember when that seamstress accidentally made her jacket too short, and Sookmyung almost hit her for it? YN managed to convince her that Queens are trendsetters, and how popular she’d be to have started a new trend in hanbok fashions.”

“She’s brilliant.”

Words he instantly wished he could take back. Those words may float through the air and over to the very front of the house where she’d hear him. Hongjoong could never look at you the way he wanted with Sookmyung so close by, but he liked catching glimpses of you. He knew you likely did not feel the same way. Sookmyung’s wrath kept you from looking too long or speaking to him directly. The things he learned about you had been through others. Late at night, when the weight of his plight robbed him of sleep, he envisioned what would happen if he’d still been a prince. He would’ve come to Hanseong as a diplomatic envoy or as a prince to discuss alliance terms. You’d likely still be Sookmyung’s handmaiden, but he’d be allowed to speak to you. He could talk to you without the threat of death looming behind you. He could enjoy your company leisurely in the open and be free to seek you out if he wished.

Perhaps, once he’d deposed Sookmyung and reclaimed his homeland, he could pursue you the way a man pursues a woman he admires.

“I sometimes wonder what it'd be like if I was still an advisor’s son,” Seonghwa mused, “We wouldn’t be the same rank but I still would’ve married her, if she accepted. I’d keep her safe. She wouldn’t need to live in fear anymore.”

“And if she married me, she’d be free to do as she wished,” added Hongjoong.

“What makes you think she’d marry you?” teased Seonghwa. “Because you’re a prince? You cannot marry someone so below your rank. You’re supposed to marry a princess.”

“Sookmyung murdered all the princesses, remember? ” said Hongjoong, “Besides, I wouldn’t be a prince anymore. I’d be a king, so she’d surely say ‘yes’ to me.”

“Being a queen is complicated and stressful. Being the wife of an Advisor is much more relaxed. She’d have a comfortable lifestyle and also freedom she wouldn’t get as a queen.”

“She’s strong enough to handle the responsibilities. She handles Sookmyung every day, so it wouldn’t be so hard.”

Hongjoong did not mind the idea of being with both you and Seonghwa. He’d grown to love Seonghwa, and after sharing a bed with him on many occasions, the intimacy nurtured the fondness. Hongjoong learned to put his trust in a handful of people, and Seonghwa became one of them. His brilliant mind and tender heart drew in anyone who spoke to him, Hongjoong included.

“Or you could both be my concubines to make things easier for everyone,” he winked. “Kings have very big appetites, you know.”

Seonghwa punched his arm and laughed, “I’d never be a concubine to anyone ever again. I’ll settle for your Chief Advisor position, however.”

“In that case, I get to marry YN and you cannot protest.”

“Trade YN for a seat on your council? Hm, perhaps I should think more on it before giving an answer.”

“You’d be Chief Advisor, second to The King and second most powerful man in the country,” he explained. “Surely, that will be a reasonable trade.”

“May I at least kiss her before you take her from me, Your Grace?”

“If she accepts, then you may.”

“Hongjoong! Seonghwa! Where are you?”

The sound of her voice demolished any laughter between them. Hongjoong’s hatred immediately boiled inside him. He glanced back to the garden, the sun nearly set and darkness waning over them. He knew you’d come to bring Sookmyung her supper, and then disappear again. Perhaps those few minutes you stayed in his presence may be enough to soothe his anger.

“Hongjoong!” she screamed in a firm tone.

A third call will result in chastising. Hongjoong finished his drink, then stood up with Seonghwa to walk back into the main room. Draped with red, black and gold, plush couches and cushions decorated the circular room. It had every comfort or luxury people outside the palace would faint over. If she wanted, musicians would stand in a corner to entertain them while Yunho, Mingi or Wooyoung danced for her. Jongho or Yeosang would be ordered to sing songs as she lounged herself across Hongjoong and Seonghwa’s laps. The “garden”, as she called their quarters, was her private playground and nobody is permitted inside unless under extreme urgency.

Sookmyung laid on her back on one of the couches, still nude and sweaty from the strenuous love making. His brothers rested around her, their privates no doubt aching from the constant orgasms, and their muscles burning due to the exertion. He supposed she’d tired herself out, since all physical touching stopped in his absence. Though, knowing Sookmyung, that desire can turn its ugly head around very easily. He must not do anything to entice her, yet still placate her. Perhaps he can convince her to retire to bed early or return to her quarters for the night. Meeting Naeun will be easier if she’s away.

“There you are,” she said, rolling onto her side and looking at him through tired eyes, “I was beginning to think you’d fallen asleep without me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

He thought of straddling her to wrap his hands around her throat, yet instead, he did so to kiss her softly. Her lips, warm and tasting faintly of their combined juices, disgusted him instead of exciting him. The thought of kissing you instead was what pushed him through it until they broke apart.

“I had someone go fetch YN,” she told him, putting her legs across his lap. “I’m starving, and she hasn’t appeared yet.”

“I’m sure she’s preoccupied elsewhere, and it slipped her mind,” assured Hongjoong.

“How can I slip from her mind?” she snapped. “I’m her queen. My welfare is all she should be concerned with; it’s her role as my handmaiden and head of my household. She is my oldest companion, but she can be so simple-minded sometimes.”

He wanted to slap her, but resisted the urge by giving her thigh a slight squeeze disguised as desire.

“Maybe I should take her down to the cells again,” she said pensively. Rolling her hairpin between her fingers, he saw her turning the idea in time with it. “I can show her what can happen if she forgets about me.”

His eyes looked to Seonghwa, whose jaw clenched tightly. He saw similar expressions from the others around them. Hongjoong knew they cared about you just as much as he did.

“I don’t think such a harsh display is necessary, Mistress,” said Yunho, coming to her opposite side, gently moving his fingers through her hair. “There are many duties she has besides tending to your needs. She has to manage your household staff, plan out your meals for you, and make sure everything is prepared for your nightly routine. The kitchen might not have finished your supper, for all you know.”

“Hm, I suppose.”

“And I believe you’ve exerted yourself enough for one evening, no?” he proposed.

“I guess,” she said, sounding almost disappointed. “It’d still be funny,” she snorted. “She’s so squeamish sometimes. She'd looked away when I cut off a man's hand once, and cried like a baby."

Hongjoong remembered that man. While thievery is frowned upon, the man’s reasoning was sound to Hongjoong: he was hungry. Rather than remove a finger for theft as is customary, Sookmyung chopped his hand. Piece by piece, he'd heard. Hongjoong did not see it, but you did. He wished he could remove the images from your mind, and replace them with ones of warmth and happiness. Yet, that is one thing a king cannot do.

“She’s delicate, Mistress,” Yeosang said next, coming up and kneeling beside Yunho. “Ladies like YN are sensitive to certain ghastly sights, and cannot handle them. She is not as strong as you; you cannot fault her for what is a part of her.”

“You all seem to be quite fond of her…” they all heard the accusation laced into her words, and Hongjoong knew what to say.

“She is not only your handmaiden, but your childhood companion,” he said, “She has become a large part of you. She’s almost an extension of yourself, and how can we not be fond of something that is a part of you?”

‘She is your slave. She is your property, therefore we care for her safety and spirit.’

"She is,” Sookmyung agreed, “I have known her my entire life. She has been there for me through the toughest times, and has never betrayed me. YN might be naive and simple, but she is the only person whom I can trust entirely.” Hongjoong saw her eyes glaze over as you crossed her mind, “If she serves me well, perhaps I’ll find a suitable husband for her myself. Someone worthy of my handmaiden and companion. Nobody of noble birth, of course, but maybe a nice stable boy or a cook-”

“-You summoned me, Your Majesty?”

Speak of an angel, and she shall appear. You parted the curtains leading into the harem room, still in your white uniform and hair braided down your back. The concubines did their best to not get an eyeful of you, but Hongjoong couldn’t help himself. While Sookmyung displayed pride and power, you showed more purity and grace. He liked that about you.

“There you are,” said Sookmyung, standing up from the couch as if she hadn’t spent hours having sex with her concubines. Without an order, you picked up the bed robe hanging over one of the chairs to slide onto her arms. “I’m starving. Tell the cook to bring my supper here.”

“I already told them,” you said, pulling her hair out from inside the robe, “I know how exhausted you must be, so I thought you may find it more comfortable to eat here.”

“Ah, YN…” she smiled in satisfaction, “My father used to say the mark of a true servant is them knowing your commands before you’ve given them. You know me so well, YN.”

“It is my job to know you.”

Your eyes found him in the room as you quickly braided her hair from her face. Hongjoong knew complimenting you would raise suspicion with Sookmyung.

“You’re an excellent handmaiden, YN,” said Yunho, “Knowing exactly what our Mistress needs at any given moment is a true talent.”

You bowed your head to him, but did not answer. You’re not allowed to unless Sookmyung permits it. You finished tying her hair, and stood aside while Sookmyung returned to one of the sofas nearby. Hongjoong forced himself to look away from you, knowing a lingering glance may have consequences for you. If she suspected anything between you both, you’d no longer be allowed in the house, and that would kill him.

Sookmyung lounged across a sofa, resting against Wooyoung’s chest with her feet on San’s lap. "She truly is,” Sookmyung said. “YN, I was just telling my flowers that I should find you a proper husband.”

“That’s kind of you to consider, Your Majesty.”

“But, I have no idea what kind of men you like,” she frowned, and Hongjoong feared where this might be going.

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “What kind of men do you like? Athletic? Intelligent? Creative? Mysterious?”

“Um, I’ve never really thought about it before. I don’t have much time for men.”

“Well, if you did think about it.”

You averted your eyes from the men staring right at you. No doubt you think she is trying to trick you into a punishment. “I prefer simple men, Your Majesty. Ordinary people like me.”

“Psh, that’s no fun,” she scoffed. She paused for a moment, then said, “A woman like you needs a protector type. You know, somebody strong who will take care of you and be a proper provider. Your father isn’t around anymore, and once he’s gone, you’ll be a vulnerable little mouse. Sannie,” she turned to him, “Stand up.”

“Mistress?”

“Stand up,” she repeated more firmly.

San did not question her again and stood from the couch. “Take off your robe,” she said. “Let YN see what a protector’s body looks like.”

San removed his robe, letting it slide down his shoulders. Hongjoong saw red flushing up to his neck, cheeks, and ears as the room took in his naked form. You certainly did your best to not look at him.

“YN, look at him.”

“I’d rather not, Your Majesty.”

“Why not?”

“Because he isn’t my type.”

“You won’t know until you look.”

When you looked up at San, you did your best to not glance at his exposed groin. “Do you like it?”

“Um…well…”

“I won’t know what you like unless you tell me.”

“I think he’s nice, Your Majesty.”

“Nice? You clearly aren’t looking in the right places,” she said. “Yunho, make her look.”

“Mistress?”

“You heard me. YN clearly needs a bit of guidance. Show her where she should look.”

“Mistress, is this truly necessary?” asked Seonghwa. “YN is not as versed in sexual practices as you. Women like her are-”

“-She will be after tonight,” she grinned maliciously at your nervousness.

Yunho had taken two careful steps up to you when the doors at the end of the hall burst open. The sounds of struggling and feet stomping on the wooden floors froze everyone in place. A terrible feeling stirred in Hongjoong’s stomach when he heard a woman grunting. Through the curtains came two of Sookmyung’s guards, each of them holding the arm of someone dressed entirely in black. Naeun. Hongjoong let his shock show on his face, but disguised it as shock at the intrusion.

“What is the meaning of this?” Sookmyung shot up, outraged by their interruption. “What is going on?”

“We found this one sneaking about in your flower garden, Your Majesty,” one of the guards said. “She was carrying this.”

He showed a long dagger Naeun kept on her person at all times. The red band around the pummel made every lewd thought in Sookmyung’s mind disappear. Dark eyes glared at Naeun, who glared right back at her.

“A resistance fighter, huh?” She walked towards Naeun slowly, like a lioness stalking prey. “You truly believed you could sneak in here under the cover of night, armed with a pathetic little blade,” she took the blade from the guard and weighed it in her hands, “And think you can kill me? Hm, is that what you hoped to accomplish?” Naeun had the smarts not to respond. “You resistance bastards are like roaches. Right when I think I’ve stomped you out, you crawl your way back in.” She stuck the knife right underneath Naeun’s chin to force her eyes on her, “As I told the last rebel scum who snuck into my palace, your cause is hopeless. I control the trades. I control the fleet, the army, and the elite. Everyone and everything on this earth belongs to me, and I can do with it as I see fit.”

"You bitch,” Naeun gritted. “You won’t get away with this. Soon, our true monarch will rise from the shadows and strike you down. Death is coming for you, Sookmyung.”

“Not before it comes for you!”

“No, Mistress,” you rushed to her side to stay her hand, “Do not kill her.”

“What?!”

“Your Majesty, if this woman truly is a resistance fighter, she may have information on the people who sent her,” you explained breathlessly. “If you question her enough, she may tell you where the rebels are hiding. Those rebels have been a thorn in your side for so long, you might have the key to their undoing right in front of you.” When Sookmyung seemed unconvinced, breathing quickly on the verge of a kill, “Wouldn’t putting her in the cells be more fruitful than merely killing her? Particularly in front of the present company. You wouldn’t want your flowers to see the ugly side of you.”

Sookmyung mulled this option over, then said, “Yes. Yes, it would be more fruitful.” She smirked at Naeun, sliding the flat of the blade across her jawline, “I think we can learn very much from our ambitious friend here. Take her to the cells. YN and I will be there soon.”

“Yes, my queen," one of them said, bowing and taking Naeun away.

“Should you not dress yourself properly, Your-” you'd begun to say.

“-And get blood on my dress? I think not." Sookmyung turned to the men behind her, “Sleep well, Flowers. I will see you tomorrow.”

“Beloved,” Hongjoong called out to her, standing to meet her by the door, “How about you let YN go for the night and I will accompany you to the cells? She is not very well suited to interrogate someone properly, and she’ll be no help to you.” He pulled her closer to him, then whispered, “The others might find it ugly, but I find your fierceness to be…inspiring.” He brushed his lips on the edge of her ear, aware of you watching him.

“You do?”

“Always. A good queen should know when to be strong. YN isn’t like you; she’s soft and simple. Dismiss her for the night, and let me go with you.”

“You just want me all to yourself, don’t you?” she giggled, pecking his lips. “Fine, I will allow it this one time. YN, you’re dismissed.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Hongjoong needed to get to Naeun. He's sure you stopped Sookmyung to keep Naeun alive or otherwise kill her quickly. But, he still had a greater need for her. He walked with Sookmyung out of the house, feeling your presence behind him. Naeun is a woman dedicated to the cause. Hongjoong sensed she will not give up the information easily, if at all. Knowing Sookmyung, she will drag out the pain for as long as possible before letting Naeun succumb to her wounds. Naeun will be alive enough to pass on the information she’d gotten from Changbin. Letting Sookmyung into the palanquin outside the house, he looked over to see you already walking away. You must feel relieved at being spared embarrassment and guilt for tonight. As he climbed into the seat, he knew he’d done at least one thing right tonight.

He braced himself for what he’d witness tonight.

***

Sookmyung’s torture chambers ran deep underneath the palace jail. Sitting behind metal bars, “prisoners of interest” were locked up in small, low-ceiling rooms with nothing but a bed of straw to sleep on. Hongjoong’s nose wrinkled at the foul smells emanating from the different cells as they passed them. He did not dare glance inside any of them, a bit fearful of what he might find there. A sense of despair and dread came over him as he followed her down the aisle to the room at the end. He could imagine himself being a prisoner here, dragged out of a cell and inflicted with unimaginable agony. It sent shivers down his spine.

“What do you think, love?” Sookmyung asked him, excitement dancing in her eyes. “Do you like it?”

“It’s innovative,” he said, having to come up with something.

He dared peek into a cell, where he saw a long wooden box on the floor. He thought it might be a storage room before he saw the box begin to quake and faint screams came through the wood. It made his blood run cold.

“You built this place yourself or was it always here?” he asked, moving along with her.

“I built most of it, but it’d been in disuse for decades,” she said. “My father never approved of torture. He believed the punishment should fit the crime. I think differently. If the punishment is extreme, then the offender won’t think of doing it again.”

Hongjoong didn’t disagree. Not that he agreed either, but he wouldn’t say it out loud. Loud, painful screaming echoed from behind a wooden door, and this made Sookmyung stop to look through its small window. “Blossom, come look,” she smiled, glancing over to him and beckoning him forward, “They’ve lifted him to the ceiling.”

He made himself step over to her, and she let him see the naked man dangling from a pulley system. The jailors tied baskets of weights to his ankles so his legs stretched further. From what he could see, the baskets were nearly full.

“You see, what they do is hang them from the ceiling,” she explained excitedly, “And then they keep adding weights to the baskets to bring their body downwards. It’s like a stretching rack, but vertical. I’ve found it quite marvelous to watch. If they hang there long enough, their bones start dislodging from the sockets.”

“That’s…Beloved, we have an assassin to question. We shouldn’t keep the confessor waiting.”

“Oh alright,” she huffed, like a child being refused sweets, “But when we finish, I want to show you The Box. YN squirms whenever I open it, but you’re a strong man and she’s a little girl, so you can handle it better than her.”

Hongjoong did not want to see ‘The Box’. He did not want to see any of this. If he asked, he’s sure whatever crime these people did to deserve these punishments is minor. ‘They stole a loaf of bread’, ‘They said treasonous things’, ‘They happened to be wearing the same color as me at a special occasion’. A queen, or any person, should not delight in the misery and pain of others. Capturing the revolting scenes before him only fueled his hate more, and solidified his cause. He’d get rid of Sookmyung. He’d kill her himself, if he must, and the consequences be damned. These people, whatever their crimes, do not deserve such torment.

They finally reached a room at the end of the hall, which turned out to be a singular space with a fireplace, a tub of water, and a wooden chair. At a desk in the corner sat a record keeper, who prepared a new sheet of paper and an ink bottle to record whatever transpired here. Why this was needed, Hongjoong could only guess it was meant for Sookmyung to revisit later on her own. Strapped to a chair in the middle of the room was Naeun, blood dripping from a broken nose and a harsh mark on her cheek. He stayed in the shadows as Sookmyung approached her, eyes widening at the sight of her helpless victim. Naeun glanced over to him, and he wanted more than anything to save her, but that’d mean revealing his intentions for tonight.

She’d started softly: questioning Naeun about the assassination attempt, who sent her, where were they and what else did they have planned. When Naeun did not answer, Sookmyung started slapping her. Then, she changed from a hand to a thick strip of leather. Then she used a long bamboo switch to strike Naeun’s hands until they bled. This did not disturb Hongjoong, since he’d witnessed such things during the war, but what Sookmyung escalated to shocked him.

Teeth pulling. Nail ripping. Bone breaking. Stretching her until her bones popped. Naeun’s screams of pain bounced off the damp, stone walls and into his ears. Hongjoong knew he could not look away, even for a moment, because Sookmyung would notice. The queen herself cackled at Naeun’s pain, only asking questions as an afterthought. Hongjoong saw the delight in her eyes, and the gratification the torture gave her each time. He wondered if this is what you witnessed every time you came down here, and, if so, you are much stronger than he could ever be.

“Fuck me,” Sookmyung growled at him, her eyes flaring and already lifting her robe.

“What?” he asked, stunned by her appearance. Blood stained her fingers, and light sprays covered her face. She pressed him into a wall, and began untying his own robes. “Sookmyung! Mistress!”

“Doesn’t this arouse you like it arouses me?” she asked, feral and panting as she stroked him. “Do you not feel adrenaline coursing through your veins in every snap? Do her screams not make your loins burn like mine? Put it inside me, Hongjoong. Please. Your queen demands it!”

He pushed her away from him hard, and she gasped at his refusal. “I will not do this here,” he explained himself, fixing his robe closed, “I think you have gone far enough, Mistress. The woman will obviously not speak tonight. Let her wallow in her pain and reflect on her choices.”

“I knew you were spineless,” she scowled at him. “A goddamn coward. That is how you ended up my whore, because you’re too cowardly to fight me. You’re a gormless, worthless, useless coward!” She grabbed a nearby pot of iron nails and threw it at him, though missed him by a few inches. “Let the bitch rot here for tonight, but come tomorrow, beloved,” she let the endearment hiss in her voice, “We’re going to return, and you’re going to question her for me.”

“Mistress…”

“We’re done here,” she said to the room, her eyes burning on Hongjoong.

He’d kill her then. He’d strap her to the chair and make it last as she would to him. Hongjoong watched her storm out of the room, and the jailors lifted Naeun from the floor. Her soft groan brought him out of his rage, and he looked over at her. From her half-opened eyes and shallow breaths, she still lived. Hongjoong followed the men out of the cell, then in the opposite direction of the entrance. The men did not question why he followed them, and nobody batted an eye when he watched them dump her body on straw. Hongjoong waited until they left to crouch down beside the bed. They must’ve assumed he wouldn’t try helping her, or that she'd die before he could.

“Naeun,” he whispered as quietly as possible, worried his voice may carry, “Naeun, can you hear me?”

Her head on the straw, he saw her remain motionless.

“Naeun,” he said once more, the worse coming to mind. “Naeun, please…” She muttered something incoherently, and he moved in closer to listen. “Naeun?”

Naeun wriggled on the bed, shifting as little as she could before stopping all together. Hongjoong held his breath. For a few seconds, Naeun stayed silent and still. He considered the fact that she may have died before her head slowly turned upwards to him. One eye swollen shut, the other suffered enough damage that blood vessels popped and filled the white of her eye. He noticed her mouth stopped bleeding from the pulled teeth, and a bloody gash congealed on her chin. Despite all this torture and pain, he still spotted a glimmer of defiance in her eyes. He saw her rifling around underneath her collar, bloody fingers barely grasping the necklace around her throat. When he saw her struggling to remove it, Hongjoong took it by the charm and tugged the thin rope. Opening his palm, he saw a wooden dove in flight.

“Crack…it,” she slurred, unable to move from her position.

Hongjoong took the wooden charm and smashed it against the floor. After a few hits, it split open to reveal a thin scroll inside. Hongjoong picked it up and gave her a quizzical look.

“Read it,” she croaked, “Alone.”

Tightly holding it in his fist, Hongjoong nodded and put the scroll in his pocket. Then, he looked at her. “You were brave, Naeun,” he said, “I wish I shared such resilience.”

“You d-do, Your Majesty,” she said, coughing and breathing deeply. “You do.” She took his hand in hers, and said, “Your people need you, sire. Please…help…help them.”

“I will,” he nodded. “I promise I will.”

Hongjoong knelt there for several minutes, listening to Naeun’s shallow breaths becoming fainter and fainter with time. When the torchlight fell on her face, he realized how young she was. He wondered about her. She must have a family; a husband too, perhaps, and possibly a child. A child who will now grow up without her, never to feel her warm embrace or gentle kisses again. Sookmyung took that from them. She'd taken it from him too. He watched her eyes slowly closing through his tears.

“I am going to make her pay, Naeun,” he said, sniffling. “You have my word. She will receive justice for what she has done.”

He recalled every time he could’ve ended Sookmyung’s life. He thought of the times she laid soundlessly sleeping in his bed or the moments they spent in the privacy of their garden. All the times he could’ve fed her poison, or how he could’ve strangled her during sex. Yet, he had not. He’d let her live, afraid of the consequences each time he thought of them. Seeing Naeun fade from the world spilled tears down his cheeks, and filled him with self-loathing. He is a coward. He should be the one Sookmyung tortured, not Naeun.

“Forgive me,” he whispered thickly, breathing back his tears.

Naeun did not speak, and he did not expect her to either. Yet, with her last breath she said, “For Wonju…”

And then she was gone. Hongjoong finally stood, and walked out of the cell. He informed the jailor, but did not stick around to elaborate. A sudden weight held him down. He trudged through the foul chambers, with the guilt holding him down. He did nothing. He’d watched the woman be senselessly tortured, and there’d been nothing he could do to help her. When he walked outside, he found Sookmyung waiting for him in the palanquin. He stared at her hard. The scroll in his pocket felt multitudes heavier than it should.

“Don’t be so weepy. Real men don’t weep,” she said in a yawn. “I’m tired. Get in and let us be on our way.”

He climbed in without a word. Naeun did this for him. She’d risked her life to give him this information. Naeun knew this scroll was the key to saving their homeland; she’d died getting it to him. He would make sure her death was not in vain.

Thankfully, Sookmyung’s exhaustion kept her from speaking too much. It gave him time to think without her incessant interruptions. By the time they reached the house again, he’d jumped out of the palanquin and stormed off. This sign of resentment made her call after him, but he did not hear her. He did not care. Her voice only irritated the rage brewing inside him. Let her beat him tomorrow, if she wishes. Tonight, he had more important concerns.

As expected, the only light in the house was the moonlight coming in through the windows. He suspected his brothers already ate and retired to their rooms. Good. He did not wish to be disturbed. Rushing into his chambers, hot tears streaming down his cheeks, he didn’t realize someone was already there until he’d shut his doors.

“Hongjoong?”

Seonghwa sat on his bed, reading a book by candlelight. He’d changed into a long tunic, and tied back his hair from his face. He stood up the moment he spotted Hongjoong’s puffy eyes and wet cheeks. In the safety of his embrace, Hongjoong sobbed hard. He clung onto his lover’s broad shoulders, fingers pressing into the muscles, and sobbed against his shoulder. Everything that transpired in the past few hours crashed onto him and only Seonghwa’s soft shushing and back rubbing soothed his cries. Quietly, he let Seonghwa remove his clothes, but not before Hongjoong withdrew the scroll.

“What is this?” Seonghwa asked in a hushed whisper, seeing the scroll.

“Naeun,” he explained, taking a breath, “This is what she wanted to give me.”

Seonghwa nodded in understanding, then stood by as he broke open the seal. In thin writing, Hongjoong saw a message scribbled:

‘Han Sookmyung is not King Siwon’s only living heir. The person who gave us this information will meet you in the palace temple at noon tomorrow. They will ask you what you pray for today. We pray for home. We pray for Wonju. For Wonju, we serve.’

Seonghwa and Hongjoong stood there in silence. The words marinated in their minds, and he still had difficulty believing them. Hongjoong reread the message again. ‘The person who gave us this information…’ A person? What ‘person’? Nobody in particular came to mind immediately. It also seemed borderline insane to write the starting line. Changbin seemed confident that nobody else but Hongjoong would read it, if he so brazenly wrote this down.

He was confident because he’d sent it with Naeun.

“Another heir?” Seonghwa gaped. “Could it be?”

“There is only one way to find out.”

“You will meet this informant of theirs, then?”

“I will. I must."

He slipped into bed, and surprisingly, Seonghwa joined him. “And I will go with you," Seonghwa said, pushing hair from his face.

The two men curled beside one another, enjoying each other’s warmth and presence. His last thought, as he drifted, was of Naeun’s dying words.

“For Wonju…”

***

A/N: thank you so much for the love and feedback I got from some people! I wasn't sure if people would like a historical au, but I love them so I wrote one lol I hope you guys liked this one, and please feel free to like and reblog <3 spread the love <3

#ateez #ateez fanfiction #ateez reader #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #hongjoong x reader #seonghwa x reader #seongjoong x reader #matz x reader #ateez smut #ateez fanfic #pirateeznet

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sanjoongie · 1 year

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Hi there bestie!

Can u write a fic like yan!ot8 royalty au (idk if u write yan!) , or u can do it in a possessive way or something like that🥹

*sending u love and hug to raise ur filthy mindset 👀*

~Topaz: thank you for loving my stuff and I really dug into this troupe for this, I hope you enjoy. I got a little too carried away, but dealers choice lmao

A wolf in sheep's clothing

✧Pairing: poly! ateez x reader (f) ✧Genre: smut ✧Au: werewolf, royalty, yandere ✧Word Count: 2,088 ✧Warnings: YANDERE! ATEEZ! (beware), possessive tendencies, somnophilia, violent tendencies, ✧Rated: 18+ MDNI ✧Dedication: @mejuii & @downtoamagicalland the unholy trinity beta teaaaaam <3

Your life was meant to be easy. As the heir of a dukedom, in a remote part of Terre du L'Ange, you were simply required to ensure your people were well provided for. Your parents weren't keen on if you married or not, you had a brother who was continuing the line of your family. So you could live your life within the forest of your childhood.

It wasn't until a messenger on a horse came one stormy night to break the news: the king was dead. It was a sad day when your ruler passed on. Your mother cried in anguish and your father looked uncomfortable. But there was more to the message than just the king was gone…

The pact between Terre de l'Ange and Terre du Diable had fallen through with the king unable to finish negotiations. And with no heir to take his place… there was about to be a war brewing.

But a dark secret was discovered. You were actually the bastard child of the king. Your parents had married to hide this secret but the queen had known it all along. With no heir and the threat of a war, the queen had no choice but to summon you.

If you were to marry into the kingdom of Terre du Diable, there would be no war and now two kingdoms formed together. The High Queen of Terre du Diable et L'Ange has a ring to it. Thus your world was thrown upside down from living in your serene forest to being thrown to the wolves… quite literally. Only humans lived within Terre de L'Ange but only werewolves lived in Terre du Diable.

What anyone failed to inform you of, when you traveled to the Château du Loup, was that you were handfasted with eight different men and they all wanted you because whoever managed to get you pregnant first would become the king.

Seonghwa was the eldest, hair dark like a raven's feather, and courteous. Upon introduction, he bowed over your offered hand and kissed the back of it. Hongjoong was the second eldest, eyes alit with danger, and growled when you were introduced to the third. Seonghwa had to hold Hongjoong back from attaching himself to you. Yunho smiled and blushed, murmuring about being the first to dance with you during the ball. He laughed with a hand held over his mouth. Yeosang smiled serenely and promised to give you a tour of the menagerie and grounds and especially the gardens, after he brandished a white rose for you. San offered a different tour, how to get to his room and one of his body. He promised both would be very educational. Mingi promised that your boudoir would be full of beautiful dresses and breathtaking shoes. He wanted you to feel spoiled. Wooyoung launched his body against yours, hugging you tightly to his chest and squealing about how much fun this was going to be. His mood was full of sunshine but his grin suggested mischief. Jongho, the youngest, couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge you, not even looking at you when you were introduced. He muttered something about mating with humans being beneath him and then you were swept away to be shown your rooms.

It was up to you to approve of the mating, so whether the wolf princes liked it or not, if they wanted to be king, they had to do their best to get into your bed.

Yunho was the first to approach you, which surprised you. The ball that was thrown in your honor the day you had arrived provided him a perfect opportunity to dance you into a secluded corner. His tongue found your sensitive neck, licking at a spot just under your ear. “Let me have the first taste of you, princess,” he murmured into your skin. His delicate fingers pulled at your skirts, inching them slowly up so that he may sneak those same fingers under.

“Duchess,” You corrected him, “I’ve never been a princess.”

A small smile curled at the corner of his lips, “Duchess, then.”

“I’m hardly in any hurry,” You dismissed him. “They already picked me, after all.”

Yunho frowned at you. “I can’t argue with that.”

“Exactly,” You winked at him and then moved back to the ball.

San was next, now that one came as no surprise. He was waiting at your door for you to retreat for the night, stating you were tired from your travels. The small braids that held his hair from his face only underlined how sharp his cheekbones were. “Darling, I’ve been waiting for you,” He smirked from the shadows.

“Ah yes, you owe me a tour of your body, didn’t you say?” You quipped.

San giggled, high and childlike. “Straight to the point. I like you.”

You laughed under your breath. “You don’t have to like me. You just have to fuck me.”

San’s pupils blew at your words but he frowned. “I would hope it would be a bit more than that. We will be spending a lifetime together if I get you round with child.”

You cocked your head, curious. “Surely you don’t expect me to give you my heart upon the first night of meeting.”

San smiled crookedly. “No. But a small crush would do.”

“Okay. I’ll admit. I like you just a little bit,” You teased.

San’s grin grew wider. He raised an eyebrow at you. “Shall we?” indicating he would join you in your bedroom.

“I don’t think so,” You replied. You tapped your finger on his nose and then went into your room alone.

You had already made a decision that you would not be fucking anyone on your first night. You didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes, you certainly didn’t want to get knocked up by anyone you weren’t sure of, and most importantly, you did not want to seem like this was going to be an easy task.

What you hadn't expected was for Wooyoung to sneak into your bed that night. You woke up to some light caresses and mischievous giggle. “You’re a deep sleeper, lover,” Wooyoung cooed.

If it wasn’t for your lower half drenching, with Wooyoung’s fingers already deep in your cunt, you might have protested. But your back arched when he curled his fingers inside of you and you groaned loudly. “You make such cute noises when you’re asleep, I couldn't help myself. It’s your fault really.”

“Woo…young!” You panted in between being finger-fucked by one of your partners, “I am…not your…plaything!”

“I know, I know!” Wooyoung protested, “I only came in here to watch you sleep. But then you started to make these noises and I knew you needed something in you. The way you clenched your thighs together told me so!”

You grabbed the back of Wooyoung’s neck and pulled him close. The smug way he licked his lips told you everything you needed to know. “Make me come and then you leave,” You growled.

“Whatever you say, lover,” Wooyoung chirped.

Seonghwa was outside of your door to escort you to breakfast. He offered his arm and you curled your hand around it. “To what do I owe this honor?” You mused out loud.

“I made sure our cooks prepared a scrumptious breakfast for you and I would be loathe for you to miss it,” Seonghwa smiled charmingly for you.

“Mmm,” you hummed, “Not here to check if anyone was in my room?”

Seonghwa’s nostrils flared with quick anger but it was replaced by his charm. “Was there someone in your room last night?”

“Oh yes,” You informed him. “One of your rivals visited me in the wee hours. He’s quite skilled with his fingers.”

Seonghwa’s eyes traveled back and forth, trying to figure out who you were talking about with your vague hint. “Yunho? I saw him approach you during the ball.”

You shook your head, “Now now, Seonghwa. It wouldn’t be very wise for me to tell you who it was, would it?”

That’s when you found your back pressed up against the wall. “I will chop off the offending hand that laid itself upon you,” Seonghwa snarled.

You reached up and patted his cheek. “No need. I simply need some breakfast and then I’ll be plenty refreshed for today.”

Seonghwa let you go, bewildered that you simply skimmed over his outburst of anger. And that you didn’t mind that someone crept into your rooms.

After breakfast, Yeosang approached you about showing you around the castle. You accepted and he smiled serenely. Yeosang was the epitome of a well of information. You didn’t manage to absorb a single thing he had shown you or told you, however, breath taken away by his side profile.

“Thank you, Yeosang.” You couldn't help but brush strands of his hair out of his eyes.

Yeosang blinked quickly but his hand was even faster to wrap around your wrist as you went to pull away. “Please,” He whimpered, “Don’t stop.”

You raked your hand through his hair and he whimpered at the stimulation. “I would do anything so that you could do this for me all day,” he admitted.

“It would be an honor to gaze upon your face for an entire day, Yeosang,” You giggled.

Yeosang sighed happily in response.

Next, to the calm rain that was Yeosang, came in the fiery storm that was Hongjoong. In the afternoon, when you decided to read in the garden’s, Hongjoong came out of nowhere, diving at a servant who was attending you. You couldn't see exactly what was going on, but by the sounds of pain and the grunts, you were assuming Hongjoong was defending your honor from an unseen attack.

Hongjoong was panting when he stood up in the shrubbery. You had long put down your book and watched with big eyes as the blood splattered prince approached you. “I will never let another man look at you like that,” He growled.

His hand came out to cup your cheek. His thumb stroked your cheek bone. “You are mine, do you hear me, my love?”

“But Hongjoong--” You were interrupted when Hongjoong’s lips came crashing down upon yours. He bit and pulled and sucked at your lips, like you truly were his.

Mingi knocked quietly on your door in the evening, in which you allowed him in. He went straight to your boudoir and discarded the dresses that simply would not work with your body type or skin tone. “Only the best for my doll,” Mingi insisted.

You were one step behind him, arms clasped behind your back. “Are there any dresses that match an outfit of yours, perhaps?” You wondered curiously.

Mingi turned around, his tongue caught between his teeth. “Why of course, my doll, I wish for everyone to know that you prefer me.”

“Now now, Mingi, I can’t show favoritism yet,” You scolded him.

“But you will wear what I ask of you, will you not? For me?” Mingi furrowed his eyebrows, “Surely you would?”

When you nodded slowly, a huge grin almost split Mingi’s face. “Perhaps you already favor me. But we don’t have to tell the others. They’ll get jealous.”

You learned Mingi was a liar that day when he told Jongho all about how you had proclaimed him as the favorite. The next morning, Jongho had cornered you, his face politely devoid of any emotion. “You can’t be stupid enough to have picked someone you liked the most already,” Jongho spat at you.

You shook your head. “Of course not, Jongho, I’ve yet to speak to you.”

Jongho looked taken aback. A light blush sprinkled along his face and he began to stutter. “Wh-what do you mean?”

You smirked, “Why, Jongho, you won’t even look at me. Whatever have I done to make you so cold towards me?”

Jongho’s eyes were on the floor, a small pout pulling his pink lips. “N-nothing, I just don’t like strangers.”

“But we’re not strangers, are we, Jongho? We are handfasted and should exchange affections.” You ruffled his hair and Jongho yelled at you. When you pulled away, he demanded you don’t stop. “You’re sending me mixed signals, sir,” You teased him.

“Puh-please,” Jongho stuttered, “I would like to feel your affections some more. Please.”

Half of the wolf princes were wrapped around your finger and the other half were pulling at the bit to be let loose upon you. You knew one thing for sure: you didn’t miss your serene forest anymore. This was too much fun.

xxxx If you'd like to apply to my tag list, please send me an ask with a fic title or starter sentence, and I'll write a fic for you! Please also indicate if you want to be tagged for all my work (i am a multi after all), just ateez fics, or specific ateez member's <3

#topaz's one year anniversary!#topaz amswered #star 🌟 is an illusion✨️#ateez smut #ateez ot8 fic #yandere! ateez #topaz's work

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