All characters are fictional and do not represent the true personalities of the idols casted. All of my works are smut free, only going as far as suggestive.
Works in progress...
✿ Taeyong ✿
masterlist
Interested in some wallpapers I made? 1 2 3 4
✿ Ten ✿
Wasabi Chocolates (6k) • co-workers!au
✿ Taeil ✿
Sassy Girl's Obsession (3.7k) • uni!au
Wallpaper: 1
✿ Jaehyun ✿
Only Fate Can Tell (16k) ♡ teaser prologue • marriage!au
Make a Wish, Boy (1.7k) • a sequel to Make a Wish, Girl
✿ Yuta ✿
Sukidesu (1.9k) • tourist!au
New Family (8k) • single mother!au
✿ Johnny ✿
Loving Your Voice [ft. Taeyong x reader] (6k) • DJ!au
You let out an irritated huff as you leaned back against the chair, crossing your arms and legs. Your nightclub clothes stated that you didn’t have a care for whatever nonsense that you were escorted into the police station for. All you were doing was driving home until the red and blue lights flashed with sirens, making you slow down and pullover to the side. When you objected to the reason you were stopped, the officer on duty had no choice but to bring you into the station.
Your feet tapped impatiently as you waited for an officer to take a seat in front of you at the desk.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” said a voice from behind you. When you twirled slightly in your seat, your breath got caught in your throat for having to be blessed with a cute face.
Officer Taeyong offered you a smile and rounded to his seat, plopping down into his chair and let out a sigh. “It’s been a wild Saturday night,” he muttered with a faint smirk.
Clearing your throat, you stuck with defending yourself. “It’s not my fault. I was only driving slightly above the speed limit.”
Taeyong typed into the keyboard to pull up the case. “I’m sorry but driving at 127 kph when the speed limit is 80 is not slightly above.”
“No one was around me, plus my favourite number is 127 so I just wanted to...,” your voice grew smaller as you trailed off nervously.
A smirk curled at the corner of his lips when hearing your excuse. “Rules are rules. You will have to pay a fine of $200.”
You bit your lower lip and leaned forward, resting your hands on the table. “Do you think I can pay $127 instead?”
You thought he would get annoyed by your tactics, but when he let out the softest chuckle with his crinkling eyes, he met your puppy eyes and replied, “How about paying the rest off by going on a date with me?”
Warning: suicide, body possession, suggestive at the end
Word count: 1.6k
Plot: Where demon Taeyong possessed you and had you two crashing into the depths of hell.
Gif: not mine
- ❀ -
Nothing.
You were aware of nothing, only trapped in blackness. One moment you were on the rooftop of the tallest building, spaced out as your eyes aimlessly stared at the busy city lights beneath the dark night ahead of you, ready to never see them again. Then the next moment, an eerie shriek pitched through your ears before the blackout. Did you faint? Did you commit suicide by falling off the building and were dead? You didn’t know.
Unbeknownst to you, your body acted on its own, screaming and hissing at the bodies coming for you who tried to save you from committing a sin. They stopped and covered their ears to drown out your blood curling shrieks, giving your possessed body enough time trying to get away as far as it could from the other humans.
Somehow, your conscience switched sides and was trying to fight for the light, wanting to live life unlike the evil spirit who fought for the dark. The conflicting war inside you led your body closer to the edge of the building.
“No!”
“Stop!”
The Good Samaritans sprinted for your paper-like body as your footsteps staggered between taking one step closer and one step further from the drop. The nonstop war inside you eventually ended when the devil won...
Throwing your body over into the endless gravitational force.
If you had been conscious, then you would have wondered how long it’d take before your body hit the ground, crushing your limbs and vitals to pools of bloodied mass. All that had happened already seconds after the fall, yet your blackout prolonged as your soul continued its journey to the depths of hell. After what seemed like eternity, you at last became aware of your surroundings.
Or one that lacked your vision.
It was still dark but your hands could feel the hardness of the rocky ground. You cautiously stood up, your legs feeling like jelly. Your arms spread out ahead of you, doing your best to pinpoint exactly where you were with sloth-slow steps. When you reached a dead end, you felt the texture of the wall to be a replicate of the ground. Were you trapped in some sort of cave?
You carefully followed the curved wall, hoping no surprises met you somewhere that could injure you. Though you did end up bumping into something.
Sounded more like you bumped into someone when it groaned upon contact.
“Who are you? Can you help me get out of here?” you asked desperately.
An irritated huff was heard before an orange-yellow light like fire began glowing from said someone. A light very unnatural to be produced by a human being. And that too from a devilishly handsome man with looks that could kill and make your stomach dance in excitement.
You chuckled nervously. “Um, please tell me what kind of magic you’re using to make yourself glow like that.”
He quirked an eyebrow up. “This isn’t magic. I can glow like this.”
You blinked confusedly at him. “What are you? An alien?”
He blinked at you, perplexed. “Look, I know your head cracked open but your soul isn’t supposed to be on crack.”
You held your hand. “Hold up! What do you mean by soul? What cracked open?” You were beyond confused by the denying alien’s words.
The devil let out a long, frustrated breath and answered, “You’re dead. Right now, you’re a damned soul.”
Snorting, you retorted, “Yeah right. What does that even make you?”
“A demon,” he said with such seriousness that you had a bad feeling he wasn’t lying.
Were you really trapped somewhere with a demon? You crossed your arms and questioned him, “How did this even happen?”
“Simple. You wanted to commit suicide. I possessed your body. We both fell into hell.”
His simplified story did make a bit of sense to you. The last thing you remembered was being on a rooftop of a building, your mind persuading you to end your life. But you changed your mind. “I don’t wanna be dead. Take me back.”
“I can’t. You’re dead,” he stated the obvious incredulously.
“It’s your fault!” you yelled.
Taken aback, he went wide eyed. No soul had ever had the courage to blame the demon, more or less argue with one. “Excuse me?”
“Maybe I wouldn’t have fallen off the building if you hadn’t possessed me! Tell me this is a nightmare and I’m gonna wake up from it!”
The demon rubbed his temple at the growing headache. Taeyong never thought you’d be this difficult to handle when he found you on the rooftop. “I won’t because it’s not.”
-
“Hurry up, will you?” Taeyong hollered from above.
You sent him a hard glare. It wasn’t easy climbing up a rocky wall without harness for assistance. “And can you be any more heartless? You’re the reason why I’m here and you’re not gonna help me?”
“As if I’m some sort of saint from heaven that I’d go around helping lame souls,” he said rolling his eyes.
Your blood boiled at the condescending demon. “Asshole,” you muttered without meaning to be unheard.
“I don’t care what you call me. Just hurry up already.”
“What’s even in hell for me to hurry up for?” you muttered under your breath.
Taeyong heard you but didn’t say a word about it.
-
The headmaster, Doyoung, sat at a grand mahogany desk, the lens of his round glasses scrutinized the scripted letters on the scroll. “This soul gave up on life, and thus must receive punishment.”
Your jaw dropped to the ground and pointed a finger at him. “Listen here you funny looking rabbit, I’m not going through any kind of punishment. If anyone should be, it’ll be this one here,” you spitted out while glaring and pointing at Taeyong.
Doyoung stared at you hard for a few seconds before glaring at the demon. “What kind of rude behaviour is this?”
Taeyong stifled back his laughter and said to you, “Am I already not being punished by being a demon in hell?”
Rolling your eyes, you held your head high and crossed your arms in front of your chest. “Whatever. Fight me but I’m not going through any punishment,” you stated with determination.
Doyoung exchanged a silent look with Taeyong which the demon understood with a slight nod in acknowledgement. Taeyong turned to you and merely said, “Then follow me.”
-
The journey to wherever Taeyong was leading you had you clinging to the demon’s side for dear life. Or in your case dear soul.
You tried to drone out the shrill sounds of screams and cries coming from left and right with the shut of your eyes but failed to miserably. No matter how hard you tried, hell was a place with no peace.
“Are you sure you’re not deceiving me by taking me to my punishment?” Your voice was weak as thoughts of torture horrified you.
Unbothered by the hell around him, Taeyong watched you hold onto ignorance desperately. “Depends how you take it.” When you anxiously met his gaze, his eyes held a mysterious glint in them. “If I were you, I wouldn’t even consider it a punishment.”
You wondered what that possibly meant. But for the time being, you dismissed it and resumed your agenda of zoning out the screams of souls burning in the pits of lava.
-
After what felt like three eternities later, you had finally reached your destination where Taeyong came to a full stop in front of a massive black palace. It radiated an eerie vibe, something you’d expect to find in horror films. Holding your hand, he led you inside where you were stunned by the visuals of royal classic interior with hues of black and gold.
“Woah,” you breathed out.
Taeyong smirked at your reaction.
He showed you around the grandly spacious common areas, making you notice the stark absence of another spirit as you trekked down the halls and passed by vacant rooms. “Only you live here? This place is huge and there’s barely anything in here.”
He nodded. “Close your eyes. Do you hear anything?”
You did as told and were surprised that you couldn’t hear the disturbing sounds of hell. But then considering its location being quite uphill and faraway, it made sense. “It’s perfect,” you smiled. You could finally get a piece of peace in hell.
But Taeyong hadn’t shown you the best part yet. “Follow me.” He led you to a staircase, heading up to the second level. You were already more than pleased if you were to live in the palace for the rest of your afterlife. What more was waiting for you? And then you remembered.
Your punishment.
Anxiety gnawed at you as he pushed open a set of double grand doors. But much to your contrary of expecting some torturous equipment, it was only a lavish bedroom.
“Okay, all this is cool. But... what’s gonna happen to me?”
Taeyong tilted his head and amusedly stared at you. “Why don’t you rest on the bed?”
You blinked at him but nevertheless let your legs act accordingly. Just as your head hit the pillow, an unintentional deep moan resonated from the back of your throat and within the next second, Taeyong hovered over you, his hands planted at either side of your head while his knees dug into the plush mattress.
“Um, what are you doing?” you questioned.
Taeyong lowered himself closer to you, his head a mere inch away from yours as his eyes shifted to complete black, shifting to his true demon form. “You want to avoid the punishment?” he asked in a husky voice.
You gulped at Taeyong’s changed demeanor and nodded. “Y-yeah.”
His black eyes bored into you while you shrunk further into the plush bedding. His tongue poked out to wet his lips ready for the endless night. “Then I’ll have to turn you into a demon.”
Full Title: The Dangerous Silence of Your Lipstick – Part 2
Genre: Taeyong x mafia queen!reader, action, violence, revenge, angst, dash of fluff
Warnings: dark theme, psycho, swearing, kidnapping, knife and firearm usage, gore, deaths, stalking, sip of alcohol, smoking, mention of gambling, suggestive, drugs, bit of unrequited love
Word count: 20k
Plot: You had cut ties with your actress life and were now a cold-blooded mafia leader, one that Taeyong never dreamt of you becoming, for only one motive.
A/N: Darker than part 1; read at your own risk. Quick recap of the main members still with you: Johnny, Kun, Jungwoo, Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan
You walked into the VIP room coldly with your men behind you. Kun pulled your chair out, and you seated yourself across an aging man. The man scoffed upon seeing a woman in front of him. “I don’t like doing business with a woman. But I’ll let it slide.” He clasped his hands on the table and leaned forward, his eyes holding a seductive glint. “I’m intrigued by your red lipstick.”
You stared at the man, holding an intense gaze with him. His last words stirring something inside you, and you began laughing darkly, calming down after a moment and letting a small menacing smirk tug at one end of your lips. You would deal with him later on after the deal was sealed, a taste of his own red lipstick. At that moment, you merely replied with a, “It’s my specialty.”
- ❀ -
Mark leaned against the wall beside a closed door and busied himself on his phone, aiming to collect as many points in the game as he could.
Renjun and Jeno walked up to him. “What’s the news?” Renjun asked.
He paused the game and looked up. “Jungwoo’s teaching Y/N-ssi. Wanna go in and see?”
Jeno shook his head. The thought of his angelic noona learning from someone like Jungwoo unfathomable.
But Renjun was interested. “I’m going in.” He pushed open the door of the dark cellar. A man was bound to the chair with both his hands locked on the table. You stood coldly in front of his terrified face, the wall with various weapons for torturing resting on the shelves behind you.
Jungwoo stood beside the man and yanked his hair, making the man wince in pain. “Torturing is my specialty. And you know how I get into the mood for it?” he asked you.
You crossed your arms in front of your chest, vacantly staring at the enemy’s man. “How?”
A sinister smile appeared on your fanboy’s face. “When I think of all the villains you had to face on TV.” He let go of the hair roughly. “Since he’s an accountant, how about chopping his fingers off?” Jungwoo gestured to the shelves, signaling you to begin.
“No! Please don’t, please!” the man cried.
You didn’t pay him any mind and found a butcher’s knife. “This will do,” you spoke with an icy tone and edged the blade close to his digits.
The man began trembling and tried to free himself of the restraints. “Please, I beg you. Don’t. I’ll do anything you say!”
You paused and stared at him dead in the eye. “Anything?”
He nodded feverishly. “Anything.”
“Bring back the dead.”
He went pale, knowing that it was impossible to. “I-”
Inching closer to his mortified face, your eyes burned from rage and pain. “Bring back everyone I lost because of Lord.”
The look in his eyes was one of resignation. There was nothing he could do to save himself. “I can’t...”
You stood up straight and inspected at the knife. A shine radiated off the sharp blade and you smiled cynically. “I don’t have a choice then.”
Renjun grimly listened to the excruciating cries of the man as he watched his noona chop the fingers off, one by one, painstakingly slow, before ultimately slamming the knife through his heart.
- ❀ -
Kun knocked on the closed doors and heard a soft hum from you. He walked into the study room where you sat in Taeyong’s chair, your legs propped up on the desk as you aimlessly stared at the bookcase that you once thought you’d never go to.
“We’ll need to hire more men,” he stated.
You sighed, well aware of the men lost in the battle with your nemesis. “I trust you to it since you know what to do.”
He nodded. “Okay.” He was about to leave the room until he suddenly remembered something that his former boss mentioned. “And Y/N-ssi?”
“Hm?”
“There’s a safe under the desk. The code is your birth date. Taeyong hyung left something for you.” With that, he departed before you could ask him more about it.
That’s odd, you thought. But it was odder that Taeyong had prepared something for you, as if he knew the day would come when he wouldn’t be by your side. You choked back a quiet sob, the pain returning in your heart and devastating you.
True to his words, there was a small cubic safe locked with your birth date. You opened it wondering what private documents and such would lie there but were surprised when you found it empty.
Empty except for a small coloured print of what looked like a polaroid photo.
You picked it up and the cries that you tried so hard to hold back released, your tears leaving your eye sockets like a flooding dam.
It was a picture of Taeyong taking a selfie by a television screen, paused at a scene in your drama where you smiled lovingly at the camera and Taeyong held his palm up as if he were holding your beautiful face.
- ❀ -
“This was Haechan’s idea, wasn’t it?”
“Why am I always the prime suspect? What about Renjun?”
“Shut up! Doyoung hyung’s right. It was your idea anyway,” Renjun defended as he pulled up to the mansion.
Haechan wasn’t going to admit it out loud even though it was obvious. After the boys were recruited to be your personal assistant, Haechan felt like something was missing in his life. Joining the mafia filled in the gap and reasoned that the skills they’d learn from the underworld would help them protect you from things you’d have to face as an actress. The boys wouldn’t have been too majorly involved as their primary goal was to serve you and would only be away from your side when there would be important missions that required their presence.
“How’s Y/N coping?” Doyoung heard the news of all the deaths, and he barely pushed through when hearing Jaemin’s. You had a soft spot for the boy and he couldn’t even imagine your state after witnessing the death yourself.
“Not good, which is why we brought you here,” Haechan replied.
Doyoung scoffed. “More like kidnapped me.”
The three entered the house and were lucky to have found you passing by the common area. You paused in your tracks when you noticed your former manager standing afar and sending you a warm smile.
You were confused by his presence. “Doyoung, why are you here?”
He walked over to you and wrapped his arms around your shoulders, stroking your head in hopes of soothing you. “I’m here to feed you.” He pulled back to see your eyes becoming glassy.
Doyoung headed inside the kitchen, and you waited at the dining table while staring hard between the two boys. “Who decided to bring him here?” you asked. Renjun and Haechan pointed at one another, making you groan. “Why?”
“You haven’t been eating properly, noona. We had to bring him because we know you love hyung’s food,” Renjun said.
It was true. Doyoung’s food was among your favourites. But even his mouth-watering bowl of your usual favourite kimchi stew when pushed in front of you couldn’t bring out an appetite.
“Y/N, you need to take care of yourself. You can’t be falling sick again,” Doyoung gently urged you as he brought a spoonful to your mouth. But you didn’t budge.
Jungwoo walked in as if a puppy’s nose had followed the savoury smell of delicious food. “Wow, now that’s what I call a meal.”
Haechan rolled his eyes. “Isn’t everything a meal for you?”
He tutted. “But this is something only those with magic hands can make.” Jungwoo plopped down in a chair beside you and asked the older man, “Can I have some?”
Doyoung nodded. “Of course, there’s plenty more.”
“Yes!” Jungwoo picked up a spare spoon and dug into your bowl. He closed his eyes and moaned. “Woah! This is beautiful,” he exclaimed.
You watched cheerful Jungwoo eat up and gave him a weak smile.
With his mouth full he said, “But noona, just learning from us isn’t going to be enough to get your revenge. You need to eat well too, like me.” He met your blank eyes and added, “Taeyong hyung wouldn’t want you not eating well just because you miss him.”
Your heart cracked at the mention of his name, and so you followed his suit, picking up a spoon.
- ❀ -
“You really shouldn’t,” Winwin advised. “At least learn something from what Karina had to do.”
Karina only stared at her manicure in silence, recalling the recent event of where she faked her own death in exchange for her freedom from not just working for Lord but also in case she was under radar. She could tell that Taeyong’s gang was after Lord’s people, having seen the way people slowly disappear. Yet, Lord didn’t care. Lord wasn’t taking any action to fight back for the people he’d lost, reasoning that the ones that were going missing were easily replaceable. All he cared about was that absolutely no one was allowed to touch the former actress because you were his.
Yuta slumped back into his seat, already having expected his friend’s opinion beforehand. He took a long sip of his iced matcha drink. “I’m not scared of anything.”
Winwin sighed and said, “You’ll never know what will happen.” Winwin stood up from his seat and added, “It’s not easier picking a side. Stay freelance. Don’t come to me and say I didn’t warn you.” Winwin gave his best regards to his friend and left the café.
Karina sighed out a long breath and Yuta shifted his eyes onto her. “You know what hurts, Yuta?” She dropped her hand in her lap and fixed her sharp eyes on him. “When feelings get involved knowing that it’s dangerous and that there’s no such thing as happily ever after for us.” At least not for her when ultimately learning of Jaemin’s death from a source. When working for Lord, Karina had to do everything she could to survive, even if that meant hurting the boy she harboured a liking for.
Yuta pondered for a while, wondering if he should take Winwin’s advice after hearing the pain in Karina’s voice. He had only gotten a mere glimpse of you during one of his missions, but it was enough to know that he’d want to work for you for long term. He thought about the recruiting offer Kun made to him recently, which led to him chatting to his friends about it. When working for no one’s side, there was no need to worry about growing a heart or betraying anyone. If he were to pick a side, especially your side, then there was no guarantee what could happen to him especially after what his friends had to say.
Yuta knew working for you was dangerous.
To take a break from his existing dilemma, he decided to spend some alone time at a mall, heading towards the most luxurious end of the establishment. He had the money, being paid handsomely for deadly tasks, but this time he only went there to look around. Window shopping was therapeutic for him and with his pretty face, both male and female employees always gushed over him, making him love the attention.
No one could tell by his innocent face that he was an underworld sniper.
His eyes landed on a sparkling Rolex watch enclosed in the glass display case and asked the female employee with a dashing smile, “Can I try it on?”
She nearly fainted when receiving his attention. “Of course!” She took out the watch and placed it on a velvet tray.
Yuta picked it up and locked it around his wrist, observing its beauty against his skin. He smirked and took it off, setting it back on the tray. “Thanks,” he said and sent a harmless wink her way.
She grinned widely and bowed. “My pleasure.”
Just as Yuta began walking away, he stopped in his tracks when catching sight of the very woman who had plagued his mind.
You leisurely strolled around with your men trailing behind, your arms crossed in front of your chest and eyes aimlessly skimming around the store for any product that caught your attention. While something didn’t, someone did. You halted your steps upon seeing an unknown man staring full-blown at you, making you raise a questioning eyebrow.
Yuta noticed it and grinned with his pearly teeth as he moved towards you.
You turned your head to look at Kun.
“He’s Yuta, one of the men I’ve planned to hire,” he answered to your unspoken question. You nodded in understanding and landed your emotionless gaze back on Yuta.
Yuta stopped in front of you and bowed. “Hello, Y/N-ssi. I’m Nakamoto Yuta, one of the best snipers in the underworld. I’ve thought about the offer and I’d be more than happy to accept it.”
You didn’t involve yourself with the hiring process, and so you weren’t aware of any details regarding the man’s history. You wanted to trust Kun with the decision, and without speaking a single word of acknowledgement, you brushed past Yuta and continued your way around the store, not giving him any more interest.
Flustered by your ice-like demeanour, Yuta regained composure and fixed his attention on Kun. Kun was pleased by the outcome and informed him, “I’ll contact you later.”
-
“He was someone Taeyong hyung wanted to recruit a long time ago, but Yuta never worked exclusively for anyone,” Kun explained during the car ride home. “I’m surprised he took up the offer now.”
You sighed quietly and stayed mute, opting to stare out the window instead of meeting his gaze. You were already sceptical of the man with a dazzling smile. There was no logical reasoning for you to reject him and therefore you hoped that the twisted feeling in your gut was mistaken.
Back at the mansion, your boys were huddled around on the couches in the common area. Haechan was first to notice you come in and stood up, followed by Renjun, Jeno and Jungwoo following suit.
“Any news?” you asked. There was only one thing that you were desperately waiting for.
Renjun shook his head. “No, we haven’t been able to trace Lord’s movement lately.”
Stressed fingers went to rub at the spot of your temple. It was odd that the very villain who wanted you wasn’t currently chasing after you. “What the hell is his plan? We need to wipe more of his men out.” You were thankful for having Kun and Johnny by your side whenever stepping out of the safe zone, shooting any danger down without having to ask you.
Jeno reported, “I have an appointment scheduled for you about that.”
You gave him a nod. “Good. All of you rest now except...” You pointed a finger at Haechan. “You. Follow me.” Without looking at anyone else, you headed straight for the study room.
Puzzled, Haechan obeyed, wondering what you had to say to him privately. In the room, he waited afar by the door as he watched you plop down in your chair and prop your feet on the desk.
“Close the doors and come here,” you told him.
He confusedly blinked at you and acted upon your words, closing the doors completely and made his way over to stop right in front of the desk.
Your eyes narrowed on him and voiced out your thought. “You know you have a strength.”
Haechan scoffed and corrected, “I actually have a lot of strengths.”
Stopping yourself from rolling your eyes, you continued. “You’re good at both keeping secrets and exposing them.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment or-”
“I’m putting you on a secret mission with Jungwoo.” You pressed a finger to your lips and added, “Don’t tell anyone else.”
He furrowed his brows wondering what it could be that it had to be private. “What’s the mission?”
You frowned at how Lord wasn’t enough stress that Yuta had to come into the picture. “Kun hired a sniper, Yuta.”
Haechan slowly nodded. “Okay...” He had heard about him before, being Taeyong hyung’s pick a while ago but never heard Yuta join their group until then.
You looked at him straight in the eye, unwavering. “Give me one reason why I should kill him.”
- ❀ -
Haechan gaped incredulously at Yuta who wore that infuriating sweet smile while standing in front of everyone sitting in the living room. “This is the deadly sniper Taeyong hyung wanted?”
Jungwoo sighed with his arms crossed. “Looks really are deceiving,” he muttered.
“He’s definitely a catch. I mean, no one would suspect him,” Renjun added.
Kun observed you for a reaction, noting how quiet you were during the introduction. You grimly stared at the recruit, finding it absolutely annoying when Yuta made eye contact with you and grinned widely, flashing his sparkling white teeth.
It definitely was annoying that no one would suspect him.
Turning your head towards Jeno, you asked, “When’s the appointment?”
Jeno checked the time on his phone and replied, “In about an hour.”
You nodded in acknowledgement. Soon, you would show Yuta what you really were.
-
Jeno opened your door and held an umbrella over your head, protecting you from the rain that the city was being showered with. You stepped out the car and glazed your eyes over the tall building where your next target was waiting in. Your bodyguards along with Kun, Jeno and Yuta followed behind you.
Strolling through the glass doors into the restaurant, Kun informed the waiter of your arrival. Your eyes scanned around the public seating, finding a few gatherings after lunch hours and one man in a black attire who pretended to read the menu.
The waiter nodded and politely said, “Please follow me.” He guided you to the private rooms and halted by one door. “Your guest is waiting in here,” he smiled.
Returning courtesy to the waiter with a smile, a dark glint apparent in your eyes. “Perfect,” you mumbled.
He opened the door and gestured you in. You found Lord’s chauffeur waiting anxiously and when his landed on you, he stood up instantly and bowed in respect. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Y/N-ssi!”
Not giving him any regards, you coldly sat down in a chair held out by Kun.
Yuta and Jeno stood by the door to ensure no intrusion during your agenda. A chauffeur didn’t have a single protection like the higher ups would, so that shouldn’t be an issue anyway.
“What can I do for you?” the chauffeur asked.
You met the chauffeur’s bright eyes. You thought about how he’d be the one to drive Lord anywhere ordered, whether that’d be to you or from deaths of your loved ones, making you grit your teeth before relaxing slightly. “There’s a game I’ve always wanted to play. Care to join me for some fun?”
Perplexed by the request, he smiled hesitantly. “Um sure. Anything you wish, ma’am. What is the game?”
A devilish smirk curled up on your red lips and replied, “I’m sure you’ve heard of the knife game.”
His smile dropped in the blink of an eye. “Sorry?”
You gave Kun a quick glance and it was the cue for your bodyguards to gather behind the driver. One of them picked up his hand and slammed it down on the table and held it in place, while another made sure to keep the body down in the chair. The chauffeur struggled to break free as he panicked. “Please don’t hurt me!” he cried out.
You laughed quietly. “I’ve always wanted to play this game but never had the chance to. Who knows? I might be good at it or... I might not. We’ll see.” Your palm held open for Kun and he placed a knife in your hold. Without waiting for the driver to spread his fingers apart, you slammed the pointed end of the blade downward on the table, aiming for the space between the thumb and index finger. At the right time, he squeezed his eyes shut and spread the fingers apart, saving himself from the near wound.
You feigned amazement. “Wow, see? I didn’t stab into you.” Yet.
His forehead was sweating from anxiety. “Please, spare me,” he pleaded frantically.
Your knife moved to the next space between his index and middle fingers. “All you have to do is keep that hand open for me.” The knife moved slowly to the next point, and then the next, ultimately reaching the end by the pinky finger. The flow was reversed, and you picked up the pace, going slightly faster and you were amazed at yourself for not making a mistake yet.
Meanwhile, the chauffeur’s body trembled in fear, hyperventilating by your accurate moves. Seeing that it wasn’t going according to your plan, you removed your gaze from the knife and watched his face while making your next move and purposely off course. For the first time, he screamed from the unexpected pain and you looked down.
First mistake.
The knife pierced through his hand, a little off from the middle and blood began pooling around the stab.
The waiter knocked on the door and asked, “Is everything alright?”
You told Jeno to relay a message. “Tell him not to enter if he wants to live.”
Jeno nodded and cracked open the door just wide enough for one eye, speaking in hushed tone. Yuta stood deathly still, witnessing your bloody game with a grim face.
You plucked the knife out in a different angle. “Shove a towel in his mouth,” you ordered.
One of the men shoved a white napkin in, and the driver nearly gagged from the muffled screams. The game resumed and ended after you had made five punctures all in different spots. You gave the blood-stained knife back to Kun and stood up from your seat. A silent signal was exchanged between you and Kun and he understood the assignment. Done with the appointment, you strolled up to the door. Jeno opened it for you to walk out and you did, but not before staring at Yuta. Yuta recognized the look of distrust held in your gaze.
Truthfully, he didn’t know anymore if he made the right mistake of joining your group.
As soon as you stepped out of the threshold, Kun took out his gun and pulled the trigger at the chauffeur’s head. You rolled your eyes for going easy on the chauffeur. If you were back at the mansion, you would have finished him yourself by repeatedly swinging a hammer at his head until his skull and brain were battered.
Out in the public dining area with more tables filled, peaceful and oblivious to the bloody event that took place in the secluded room, you spotted the same man from earlier again, still sitting alone with his eyes glued to his phone except for when trying to steal a peek at you.
You confidently strode up to him, observing the way he shifted anxiously in his seat and avoided your gaze altogether.
“Who are you?” you asked.
The man took a moment before responding to you, acting like he was surprised for you to ask a stranger for their name. “Sorry?”
You didn’t bother repeating and instead asked, “You work for him, don’t you? Lord?”
He laughed a little in a ridiculing manner, doing his best to pretend and not know his boss. “Who’s Lord?”
You could see it clearly that it was a poor act, trying to keep his identity covert, and you were not pleased with it. Your hand reached for the gun tucked along your waistline and pulled it out, pointing at his head.
The room gradually flipped from calm to chaos as customers eventually picked up on the sight of your gun. Relaxed chatters switched to loud gasps and stressed shouting, few screams were let out as they prayed for their lives that you wouldn’t shoot them. Kun and Jeno couldn’t believe what you were doing in front of the public’s eye and tried to calm everyone down that they wouldn’t be harmed as long as they didn’t interfere. Kun instructed the bodyguards to barricade the exit and prevent anyone from escaping in order to keep the matter contained. One customer pulled out his phone in order to snap a picture of you, but Jeno stopped him with a threatening look to no do it.
“What do you do for him?” you asked calmly, not caring about what the innocent souls were about to witness soon.
The man snorted, amused that you were threatening him with a gun that you wouldn’t use in public. At least he thought you wouldn’t. “I’m telling you I don’t work for him,” he stressed.
You changed up your inquiry flow with an easier question. “Why are you following me?”
His teeth clenched and decided to at least answer that. “I’m searching.”
“What are you searching for?”
He crossed his arms cockily and relaxed back against his chair, holding an intense stare with you. His silence meant only one thing: he wasn’t going to tell you.
Having enough of his silence, you pulled the trigger, piercing the bullet through his head as his body fell backward along with the chair. The screams and cries increased, and the manager of the restaurant panicked with sweat running along his forehead. You beckoned him over with your finger and he obeyed with his heart racing in fear.
“Y-yes, m-ma’am?”
“Don’t speak to another soul about this.” Your hand gestured for the frightened souls in the dining area. “Tell everyone this or else I’ll hunt all of you down. I won’t spare a single soul.”
-
Haechan groaned loudly as he tugged at his hair in distress after receiving the news from Jeno through texts. “Noona’s fucking lost it!” he screamed as he paced back and forth. “She’s damn lucky she’s not actively an actress.” It would have been bad if it somehow made it to the news that the country’s sweetheart had shot a citizen to death in a public setting. Your mafia ways helped contain the matter within the walls of the restaurant.
Renjun sighed sadly while leaning against the wall, his head hanging low at what their noona was becoming. “We never do anything in public. Taeyong hyung never wanted an innocent soul to be traumatized.”
Jungwoo lazed on the couch with a Rubik’s cube on hand, calmly twisting the coloured rows in attempts to align the colours up. “Get used to it. It’s only gonna get worse.”
Mark frowned at him from beside. “What do you mean?”
Jungwoo paused from solving the cube and sat up, holding his fingers up to list off the reasons. “First, she was deceived, thinking that she was with Taemin when all along it was Lord and Taemin was dead. Second, Sungchan’s death was the first one she witnessed. Even though he was new, there’s no way she hadn’t developed a soft heart for him when he was with her at all times. Third, Jaemin was shot right in front of her eyes, and we’re talking about one of the boys who’s been by her side the longest. Fourth, Lucas’s death. He was her biggest fanboy and she really adored his cuteness and how he cared for her. And fifth, Taeyong, and we all know the impact his death has on her.”
Johnny nodded slowly and sat up straighter. “Sounds like Y/N’s traumatized and now she’s vicious enough to hurt anyone in her way without a second thought.”
“What if we try to stop her? Taeyong hyung would not be happy if he saw Y/N-ssi like this,” Mark said.
“I don’t know man. Do you think she’ll hurt us if we go against her order?” Johnny wondered.
Renjun shook his head firmly. “Consider ourselves lucky. We’re her family. Haechan is a handful and she hasn’t done anything to him yet.”
“Hey!” Haechan shouted. “I haven’t gone against her for any... thing... well, at least not recently,” he muttered.
Renjun rolled his eyes and continued. “If we were an outsider, then yeah, she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt us if we did the slightest bit wrong.”
- ❀ -
You swirled the wine glass around in circles, intently watching the deep hue of the red wine stick to the walls of the glass before calmly taking a sip of it. Kun stood next to you, waiting for your order along with the rest in the room.
Your grip on the glass tightened as you weren’t pleased with the news of your pre-existing client wanting to negotiate on a deal set forth. You muttered, “He wouldn’t be doing this if it were Taeyong.”
Kun nodded. “Yes, usually he accepts whatever is put on the table.”
You let out a small laugh, knowing that the client was only taking advantage because it was you. A woman. “Then I’ll have to show him who he’s messing with,” you said and stood up from the couch, setting the wine glass down on the coffee table. “Get the weapons ready,” you ordered. “We’re trespassing his property.”
Your boys looked at one another, wary of your intentions. The client lived in a mansion without any security guards. Jeno was the one to speak up and asked, “And do what?”
“We’re terrorizing his family.”
Everyone’s jaw dropped to the floor as you spoke the words calmly without any hesitation. “We don’t do that,” Mark countered weakly. “He only has a wife and two small boys.”
“We never harm the innocent!” Haechan shouted.
You shrugged. “Suit yourself. If no one wants to come with me, I’ll do it myself. Then there’s no guarantee what I’ll do to them.” You walked out the common area to get ready for the night ahead. Yuta had no objections and followed your lead, willing to do anything you wished.
The remaining stood anxiously, deathly silent with Haechan being the first one to break it as he tugged at his hair in stress. “I fucking wished Taeyong hyung was here to stop her madness!”
Jungwoo scoffed. “Didn’t I tell you it was going to get worse? Anyways, I’m going with noona.”
Mark gritted his teeth and angrily held Jungwoo by the collar. “Have you lost it? This isn’t what we do!”
“Taeyong isn’t our boss anymore,” Jungwoo replied and grabbed Mark’s hands off him.
“Jungwoo’s right,” Kun said, shocking Mark for Taeyong’s right-hand to be saying that. “Y/N’s our boss and we do what she wants.”
Johnny nodded in agreement. “Kun’s always right. I’m with Y/N.”
Mark was shocked by the turn of tables as the three dispersed to prepare themselves for the mission. He sighed heavily and dejectedly muttered, “I guess I’ll go too.”
Haechan incredulously gaped at him. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I’ll see to what extent Y/N goes. I hope she won’t actually touch them.”
Renjun and Jeno agreed. “Yeah, let’s hope noona doesn’t have plans to hurt them physically,” Renjun said.
Haechan couldn’t believe the absurd reality. Being the last one remaining to hop on board, he groaned in frustration.
-
The van halted just meters away from the gate of the mansion. You and your boys stepped out and filed around the closed black gates that separated you from the soon to-be hostage’s home. Your black attire was perfect to blend in with the darkness of the night.
Haechan sighed loudly and said to you, “Don’t do something that’ll have us screwed.”
You scoffed at his words while keeping your cold gaze on the warm lighting inside the house. “You think I’m not smart enough after having these sorts of things in my dramas?” Your eyes then shifted to the black gates, pushing it open and walked in as if you owned the plot.
“What’s the plan?” Jeno asked as you all stopped by the front door.
“Hold his family at gunpoint,” you answered softly. Your finger went up to ring the bell and waited patiently. “Make sure to hold him away from them.”
When no one opened the door after a while, Kun mentioned, “There’s a camera in the corner up there.”
You looked up to where he pointed and found one. The client would have seen that it was you and refused to open the door. Guess you would have to go for plan B. “Johnny, Jeno, Yuta. Break the windows.”
They expected that order and went ahead to break entry through the glass, swinging anything they could find at the window: hammer, baseball bat, and even a huge stone from the garden at it. Once making it inside through the opening created, you noticed the area was void of life.
“Go look for them and bring them here,” you commanded.
Just as your boys were about to, your client Kwon emerged from the staircase looking panicked. “Oh, Y/N-ssi, what a surprise,” he greeted anxiously with sweat running along his forehead.
Unamused, you silently signalled your boys to grab him. Johnny was first to act, followed by Mark, dragging Kwon to a chair. Mark pointed his gun at Kwon’s head. “Move and you won’t see what happens to your family.”
Kwon shook in fear. “Please don’t hurt them! I’ll do anything you say.”
“Too late for that,” you told him. “Especially after all the inconvenience.” You turned to your boys. “What are you waiting for? Go look for them.”
-
A woman trembled, holding her two sons close to her as she stared at her husband with teary eyes. The little boys clung onto their mother for dear life with silent rivers flowing down their faces after being demanded to quieten their loud cries, their eyes squeezed shut to avoid glancing at the terrifying guns pointed at them.
You sat at the dining table across from Kwon, staring at him as he rushed to sign the contract frantically, willing to do anything to take his family out of the danger. Once finished, his voice broke when pleading, “Please don’t hurt them.”
Sneering, you told him, “Next time you try to negotiate with me, I’ll make sure they’re cremated.” You stood up and added before walking out of the house, “If you had a connection with Lord, I would have blown this house up.”
- ❀ -
Kun barged into the study where you laid your head down on the desk and arms sprawled around. “Can whatever it is wait?” you mumbled weakly. You were tired and couldn’t care less to keep up with the boring news. Too much happened with no signs of Lord himself showing up in front of you, and you were getting tired of your days fly by without feeling much accomplished in your revenge.
“Y/N-ssi, it’s Lord.”
Your head snapped up to meet his eyes and then at the phone in his grip with his other hand covering the speaker. Kun laid the phone on the desk within your reach and stepped back to give you some room. You thought he was going to leave you alone to talk privately but he stood patiently right in your sight.
And you were thankful for that.
It had been a while since you last came into direct contact with psychopath. Your memories with him had left your body trembling and you wished Taeyong were alive to comfort you like the way he used to.
If only Taeyong were alive...
That snapped you back to your senses and your fists clenched hard at the horrendous killings of your loved ones. Your teeth gritted as you spitted out a greeting of disgust. “Lord. It’s about time I hear from you. I was starting to think you got bored of me.”
You heard Lord laugh darkly. “Darling, I can never get bored of you. Just know that even though I’m not making a move, my men are always keeping an eye on you wherever you are... which is why I called you.”
You knew you were being followed by his men, a proof of it lied in the number of bullets used every time you spotted them, but you couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t making a move for you. Why were they only spying on you? Was Taeyong’s death for nothing? Lord should be happy that Taeyong was gone so that he could have you all for himself. “What is it?”
He hummed and said, “I’ve been busy trying to find an answer, but haven’t had much luck. Clearly, you would know better so that’s why I’m going to ask you-”
Having enough of him beating around the bush, you yelled, “Just get straight to the point!”
“Where is he?”
You blinked in confusion. “What?”
“Where is he?” he repeated calmly.
You always tried to stay composed and in control, but that moment had you completely puzzled and you didn’t bother hiding that in your tone. “Who?”
He huffed out in irritation. “The obvious.”
If he were in front of you, you would have broken his nose. You weren’t going to kill him easily when you craved to torture him. “Care to elaborate? Clearly, we’re not on the same page.”
There was a moment of silence from his side before his tongue clicked and said, “I got my answer.” Without another breath from you, he cut the call.
Lord laughed darkly at the situation, greatly amused by your oblivion. After calming down a little, he spoke to his men filed in front of him in his office. “Y/N doesn’t know.” He recalled the day after the warehouse incident, searching for the only dead body he craved to see but was disappointed when absent. To himself, he whispered, “Where the fuck are you, Taeyong?”
You stared at the blank screen of Kun’s phone in utter shock. “What the fuck is he on?” you mumbled under your breath. “Who the hell is he looking-”
And it struck you.
The only he Lord could be mentioning about.
The new recruit.
Yuta.
He was a new member in your gang and with the bad gut feeling you had for him, it wouldn’t surprise you if Yuta had anything to do with Lord. You cleared your throat and sat up straight in your chair. “Can you leave me alone?” you asked Kun.
“Of course.” He picked up his phone and bowed slightly before leaving the room.
You speed-dialled Haechan, and he answered immediately. “Yes noona?”
“Any news about him?” There was no need to clarify who you were talking about, being the only active mission for him.
“Not yet. I haven’t seen him do anything sus after he joined us.”
You sighed out in annoyance. “Well hurry up and find out. I don’t want him lurking around if he should be dead.”
- ❀ -
Jungwoo yawned and slapped his own cheeks gently, pushing the passenger seat back to recline a little. “If only there was a way to go inside without getting caught...” he muttered sadly while wondering about all the delicious food his stomach could be having if it weren’t for the secret mission.
Meanwhile, Haechan rested his arms on the steering wheel and kept his gaze locked on the path that led to the elegant, Michelin-starred restaurant. “Noona will treat you if we get some info,” he spoke.
Jungwoo huffed in frustration. “What if we never do? We’re literally spying on the guy Taeyong hyung wanted. You think Yuta’s gonna slip up? I doubt it.”
Haechan shushed him loudly. “Stop being so pessimistic! You’re scaring me. Well really, it’s noona I’m scared of. I don’t know what she’s gonna do if we don’t get her answers.”
“You know, we can always play a mind game on Yuta, making him think we know his secret and then he’ll spill everything to us.”
Haechan gave the taller boy a doubtful look. “Really think that’s gonna work?”
Jungwoo shrugged. “Never know until we try.”
The younger one rolled his eyes and focused on the restaurant’s entrance again, sitting up straighter when seeing Yuta exit the establishment alone.
Jungwoo scoffed and crossed his arms. “Whoa, he really came here to eat all by himself. He could have invited me at least.”
Haechan gave him a bored look. “You really think he came here to eat by himself? He would have at least invited noona to a place like this.”
“Why noona?”
“Don’t you ever see the look Yuta has for noona?”
“You mean Yuta likes her? Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent. I’m never wrong in this type of thing.”
“What about noona?”
“Why else are we doing this mission? She wants to kill him. She has no interest in him. I don’t think she ever will for anyone... ever since Taeyong hyung,” Haechan muttered the last part. His eyes reconnected with the restaurant, going wide in shock when seeing a group of men exiting shortly after Yuta’s departure, and in the midst of it was your enemy.
Lord.
“Holy fuck,” Haechan whispered.
Jungwoo struggled to form words with his gaping mouth. “I can’t believe noona was right. But what if it’s a coincidence? Or Yuta went to spy on Lord?”
“I doubt it. If that was the case, Yuta wouldn’t be leaving before Lord. They had to have met up.”
-
While lounging in the common room, you received the call from Jungwoo explaining what they had witnessed, and your grip on the phone tightened as rage seethed in you. You couldn’t believe Yuta had the audacity to work for you while working with your enemy.
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” you screamed, making everyone alarmed by your sudden outburst.
“What happened?” Renjun asked.
You scowled hard at the very image of Yuta’s face appearing in your head. “Wait till the betrayer walks in.”
After a while, Yuta did, walking casually as if he hadn’t done anything wrong. When he was greeted with your furious gaze and wary glances from the rest, he asked, “Is something up?”
You strode up to him, and your hand itched to blow at his clueless face. “How about explaining yourself why you met up with Lord?”
His face paled when seeing your murderous look upon learning of the meet-up. “I can explain.”
“Then please explain. Because if I don’t like it...” Your finger pointed at the spot right in the middle of his forehead. “I’m pulling the trigger here. You’re working here while undercover for him, aren’t you?”
Yuta shook his head while keeping his gaze glued on you. “I’m not working for anyone else except you. I joined here only to work for you.”
“Bullshit. Why were you with Lord just now?”
Yuta dreaded answering that very moment. It was going to change your thoughts on him and he wasn’t ready for that. Not when he was the one responsible for once killing ones in your vicinity. “I once worked with him. Just for one time.”
Just as you had expected, you found your reason to kill him. But what you didn’t expect was the thing said next that had blackness clouding your vision.
“I was assigned to kill Taemin’s manager… and Sungchan.”
Sungchan.
Your personal assistant during your time as an actress. You couldn’t believe the one responsible for his death had been by your side and currently standing right before your eyes. Too zoned out of your surroundings due to sheer shock, you didn’t realize when they’d return and had a punch be thrown at Yuta’s face, causing Yuta to bend over by the blow.
Haechan fumed angrily at Yuta’s face while being held back by Jungwoo by the waist. “You fucking asshole! I’ll kill you with my own hands for killing Sungchan!”
Yuta silently accepted his fate and didn’t fight back. If he had known that contract would have resulted him in the current situation, then he would have never agreed to fulfill Lord’s request in the first place. Being on the rooftop of the building adjacent to your agency’s was when he was blessed by your presence through the lens of his fatal weapon. But a deal was a deal, and he couldn’t go back to Lord for failing his mission when sworn as the best assassinate in the underworld.
“Why did you kill them?” Renjun asked.
Yuta sighed dejectedly. “Lord said Taemin’s manager knew about him and couldn’t keep him alive. And for Sungchan,” he paused while trying to recollect the exact words, “said something like the boy ruined his plan.”
The words stirred something inside Haechan and realization dawned in him, making him quit trashing in Jungwoo’s hold as he stared at Yuta in shock. “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, followed by a much louder scream when pushing Jungwoo off. “Fuck! Don’t you fucking dare tell me that asshole wanted Sungchan gone because of that time noona went to that restaurant with who we thought was Taemin, and Sungchan told me... and then... fuck!” He grabbed a fistful of his hair in his hands while repeatedly cursing under his breath.
Mark tried to calm Haechan down with a gentle pat on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s not your fault. We had to do what we could to keep Y/N-ssi safe no matter what.”
“Yeah but… hold up. Where’s noona?” Haechan asked when trying to locate the very person they were supposed to keep safe at all times.
Confused, the others looked around, wondering when you had quietly sneaked out without anyone’s attention, expect for Kun. Kun noticed the emotionless look on your face during Haechan’s commotion while you walked away from the scene quietly, and he had an idea for what was going to happen next.
“Maybe she left to have some time for herself?” Johnny suggested. It was a big shock that a member currently in your gang turned out to be the killer of your dear one.
Renjun shook his head, images of merciless you rushing in his head. “With the way things have been going lately, I doubt it.”
“Maybe we should look for her,” Jeno added.
Mark nodded. “We should. Just to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.”
Before the boys could disperse to search for you, Jungwoo spotted you slowly walking back into their sight. “Oh noona!”
But the boys’ relief soon turned to fear when seeing your eyes distant and a lengthy weapon pointing downwards in your hold.
“Uh noona, what are you going to do?” Jeno questioned anxiously.
Your cold gaze focused back to the present moment and fixated on the man responsible for the start of your traumatic events, in particular being the one who had you at first become horrified by the sound of gunshots. Yuta watched you with his heart thumping fast. The moment he dreaded for arrived sooner than he thought.
You lifted the rifle, the same one Taeyong thought you on that very day when your life changed upside down, reminiscing the way Taeyong embraced you to correctly hold the rifle for shot precision and thinking about your love had your grip on the gun tighten murderously.
You were determined to kill Yuta.
“Y/N-ssi, please think before pulling the trigger,” Mark pleaded. The last thing anyone would want was to regret the blood of a corpse tainting the common area.
Your hard glare on Yuta didn’t waver. “Why should I?” Your tone was almost inaudible but everyone in the room heard it.
“Why would Yuta join us if he was going to betray us?”
“Obviously to pass info about noona to that fucking asshole!” Haechan yelled furiously at Mark.
“But what exactly did Yuta tell Lord though?” Johnny asked.
All eyes landed on the one in question, who stayed deadly silent throughout. Yuta heaved out a heavy breath, the time being his one and only moment to clear up the misunderstanding before his death by your hands, and muttered, “You guys can think whatever you want of me. Yes, I did go to Lord but not for the reason you guys think I did. He contacted me again for another task. He doesn’t know that I work for you.” He paused while softly looking into your glare. “He wants me to look for someone.”
Your resolve weakened with the rifle feeling a little heavier than before as you recalled the very words of the man you shot in public after meeting with Lord’s chauffeur, followed by the devil himself. They were all looking for someone... “Who?” You were getting very annoyed with the endless game of determining who the infamous person was that Lord was after.
Yuta pondered for a bit, debating whether to tell you or not, eventually going for the latter. “It’s not confirmed yet.” He wouldn’t want you doubting his words, have you think he was lying and further strengthen your will to kill him.
Your patience was running thin. If one more person was to tell you the exact thing you had heard three times, then you were going to torture them until you’ve wrung out the answer. “Just spit out who!” you yelled in rage.
Yuta flinched at your tone, and his heart ached to not utter the name. The second he did, he knew he’d lose you forever. Scanning his eyes around the room at the members, all of them wore a stressed look as they anxiously waited for the name that had Lord so desperate to get his hands on.
With an exasperated huff, he ripped the name off his lips like a bandaid. “Taeyong.”
- ❀ -
Taeil carefully covered the open wound on Yuta’s left shoulder after pulling out the bullet and stopping the bleeding. “Had it been any lower, it would have been the end of you,” he commented with seriousness.
Mark nodded. “Yo, you’re lucky Y/N-ssi spared you.”
Renjun clicked his tongue. “No, I think she meant to aim his heart but missed.”
Jungwoo shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. The main point is something else other than Yuta getting shot.”
Johnny nodded. “That’s right. That’s far more important than anything else.”
Their eyes landed on Yuta to which he avoided with his gaze fixed to the floor. The image of you shooting him after uttering the name you longed to hear and storming away without a single glance back repeated in Yuta’s mind on an endless loop.
You on the other hand were pacing back and forth in the study room, your hands going through your hair in urgency to find answers. Kun, Haechan and Jeno glanced at each other anxiously while waiting for you to say something.
You hated being conflicted, only ever giving your all to one side of the balance scale. But here you were stuck right in the middle, unsure which direction to head into, which side to weigh more in. You wanted to kill Yuta so bad for causing such pandemonium in your heart. But killing him wouldn’t bring the answers that had your heart and soul so desperate for.
“What the hell do I do?” You shouted more to yourself.
Nervously, Jeno spoke up. “Noona, why don’t you rest?” Jeno hoped you could think things more clearly after some sleep.
Haechan scoffed. “You think she can sleep after hearing that hyung could be alive? But if he’s alive, then why hadn’t he come back to us or even just once contacted us?”
Your fist full of your hair clenched harder at all that you had been through without Taeyong. If only had he been by your side all this time could he have tamed your insanity.
Kun gently wondered aloud, “If Yuta looks for Taeyong for Lord, that’s dangerous since Lord wanted to kill him. We need to keep Yuta by our side.”
Haechan crossed his arms for a simpler solution. “Or just kill him. It’s not like a dead body can search for hyung anyway.”
Jeno tutted in disagreement. “Keeping Yuta is better. You never know. We can use him to our advantage against Lord.”
Your head ached the more your boys shared their opinions. The mess, the internal conflicts all had you blindsided by anger, feeling a hot rage and muttering the thing that you’d never in your right mind would ever dare to utter through gritted teeth. “I’m going to kill Taeyong.”
- ❀ -
The sun blazed down on you while leaning against your van with your arms crossed and your eyes behind your dark shades trailing up and down the tall building. Jungwoo pulled out a pack of cigarette, and tucked one in between his teeth. Flickering the lighter up, he ignited it at its butt and took a long drag in, puffing out white smoke. You plucked it out from his mouth and copied his action without a care. Bewildered, Jungwoo bit back his tongue since it was you. But when Renjun stole it from you for a puff, Jungwoo whined. “Hey! That’s mine.”
Renjun merely brushed him off. “You have more.”
While the three of you stood leaning against the van, the door to it was wide open where Haechan lazed inside with his eyes closed. A bit of smoke hit his noise and he figured what happened, making him exhale loudly. “The stress has gotten to everyone,” he mumbled. Johnny quietly sat in the passenger seat with the window rolled down, on standby mode.
The past few days had been tough on your gang as every moment felt like a ticking bomb for your boys every time you and Yuta were in the same room. Yuta despised the way you treated him, it being better that you’d treat him like an incompetent than hate him like an enemy. One time, Yuta tried to get onto your good side by bringing everyone drinks from your favourite café. For you to take your preferred caramel macchiato, pluck the lid off, and pour it all by his feet while holding a challenging gaze at him had everyone in the room gasp in shock and know that things weren’t going to get better between the two of you.
As if the boys weren’t already stressed of your vicious self recently and the revenge that Yuta had to become an additional stressor, top that off with their former boss’s unknown whereabouts.
Renjun’s eyes fixated at the peak of the building and asked, “What’s your plan, noona?”
You tilted you head while crossing your arms in front of your chest. “Find out when and which casino he goes to.”
Your next prey was a sidekick of Lord’s underboss. He was an interesting one because you had lately made a deal with him despite knowing he was someone of Lord’s yet you purposely hadn’t taken any action to harm him. Why? Because you had a fun idea in mind after learning that he was an avid gambler.
Your gore-filled imagines were interrupted when a soccer ball came rolling in your direction, hitting the front of your heels before bouncing off to a stop. A group of three cheerful little boys were chasing up to it. “Sorry!” one shouted and giggled.
Your short-temper got the best of you and with quick movements, you reached for the back of your waistband, retrieving a pistol out and shooting the ball without hesitation. The silencer muffled the sound of the gunshot, but the sight of the firearm, the ball popping and witnessing their beloved soccer ball deflate in seconds had the kids come to a complete stop along with their giggles, their expressions no longer joyful but rather filled with horror.
Jungwoo stared at you unamused as he expected that from you, Johnny didn’t give much of a reaction except for a tired sigh, shocked Renjun felt absolutely terrible for the children. Haechan shot up from his seat in alert and put the pieces together when seeing the scene in front of his eyes. “Noona, you shouldn’t have done that,” he muttered in disbelief.
“Here,” you spoke loudly enough for the kids to hear. “Take this trash away,” you said as you kicked the deflated rubbish in their direction.
The kids began screaming and crying as they ran away in fear. You didn’t care and harshly told Haechan to move for you to get in.
Jungwoo whispered to Renjun low enough to not let it reach your ears, “Do you think she’ll ever actually kill a child?”
Unbeknownst to your gang as the van prepared to leave, a lone figure covertly stood from afar as his newly dyed hair gently blew with the breeze, broken-hearted at the sight of how you’d become.
- ❀ -
You adored your newly done red manicure, silver rings decorated your fingers and a silver chain braced along your wrist right before the cuff of your white long-sleeved maxi dress. The van pulled to a stop a block before reaching the destination: the casino.
Jeno turned to you from beside and with a nervous heart asked, “Are you sure you still want to do this?”
It was a risky plan where you’d have to leave your boys’ sight in order to accomplish your mission, and that too to kill one of the higher ups under Lord.
You lifted your gaze to take a quick nonchalant glance at him before resuming your admiration for your nails. “Why not?”
“If anything goes wrong…” Jeno trailed off, expecting you to understand what he was hinting at. If anything did go wrong, then your life was dependent on your current enemy closest to you in your gang.
Yuta.
Johnny was covering the ground to avoid any chance of abduction while Yuta covered the higher levels of the casino building by being situated with his bullets ready in an adjacent building. If anything were to happen while you were alone with your prey, then you were relying on Yuta to save your life. At least the nighttime would make it easier for Yuta to save you as it was easier to see the inside of a lit room at night than day.
“Nothing will happen. Just because I had to give up on my acting career doesn’t mean acting died inside me. He won’t suspect me,” you reassured.
Kun opened the door to your side and offered his hand. You took his hand and stepped out carefully, making sure your red high heels wouldn’t be wrecked before it could meet its pre-determined fate.
“How do my lips look?” you asked Kun, already knowing how your red lips looks.
Kun gave you a serious and assured nod. “As dangerous as always.”
A corner of your lips curled up being highly satisfied by his answer. “Perfect.”
Walking through the opened doors of the brightly-lit casino, your eyes were busy scanning for your target, not giving any mind at the numerous bodies everywhere who gambled with their currencies or watched the plays with drinks in hand.
Kun came close to your ear and whispered, “He’s at the far end to your two o’clock.”
You immediately spotted him at one of the tables in midst of a round. Giving Kun a nod, it was time to play your cards and turn your prey’s night upside down. Your heels clicked with confidence as you marched up to the middle-aged man with a couple of young ladies glued to his sides, fake laughing at anything the man had to say. Lavishly radiating beauty and power, you slid to the empty seat beside him. All heads at the table turned your way, stunned to be graced by your presence.
“Oh, Y/N-ssi! What a lovely surprise,” your prey, who went by Choi, greeted you by dismissing the ladies away.
Putting on your best smile, you played along. “Indeed, it is a lovely surprise, especially when you’ve got so many chips in your possession.” You feigned amazement at all the colourful chips that would soon turn into cash. “You know,” you began while shifting your body closer to him, lingering a finger on the back of his hand, making it twitch upon contact. It’s working, you thought. “I’ve always had a thing for you,” you spoke smoothly.
He blinked in surprise and gulped at your comment. “Seriously?”
Nodding, you leaned in close and whispered for only him to hear. “Why don’t we have a night of our own? I have a room booked under my name.”
Right on cue, a staff walked up to you with a bright smile and handed over your key card. “Ma’am, your room is ready,” she informed. You picked it up, knowing Kun had sent her.
Choi couldn’t believe his luck and was overly excited for the sensual night to come. “I’d love to!”
Success! “Follow me then,” you murmured seductively and slid off your seat, treading to the elevator. Choi staggered off his seat and quickly caught up to you. He snaked an arm around your waist, hugging you closer to his belly but you stayed as composed as you could without cringing physically. Only a matter of minutes before his eyes go lifeless, you reminded yourself.
Once the elevator doors shut closed, Choi tried to bring his lips closer to you, but you held a finger up against them to stop him. “We’ll start the fun only in our room,” you instructed softly to which he thankfully obeyed.
Swiping your card to your room, you pushed the door opened which had Choi barging in eagerly. Just as you shut the door behind you, you watched him pull his blazer off, then unbuckle his belt, and then began unbuttoning his shirt. The room was small enough to make Yuta’s job easy if he were to use his bullets. But based on how Choi was desperate to show his vulnerable side, you wouldn’t need Yuta.
Slowly, you amorously walked towards him. Your hands bent to reach for the backside zipper, unzipping it down smoothly. As you approached close to him, your free hand went to trail along his bare chest while the other was still behind you, to what he assumed was you undoing your clothing. Right when you were close enough for him to lean for a kiss on the lips, you brought your hidden weapon out and jammed it hard in his stomach.
His eyes were blown out by the sudden attack, jaw dropped to the floor and no sound came out of him for a moment as he struggled to compose himself. When his eyes dropped to what had pierced into his belly, his hands trembled while attempting to grip your hand in order to weakly pull the knife out of his flesh. But you were stronger and resolute, and twisted it a 360 degree as if drilling a hole in him before pulling it out. Blood splattered and trickled over his skin to pool around his feet. His eyes shut in pain and panted hard before a scream ripped from his mouth when you jabbed the knife in another spot on his belly.
You chuckled darkly at his facial expressions twisting between pain and losing consciousness as blood continuously spilled out of his wounds. Your stained knife was brought up to his face and smeared his blood along his lips. “See? Didn’t we have fun? You got a chance to wear your own lipstick,” you said softly and laughed menacingly when you found that he wasn’t listening, wasn’t with you anymore. With the end of your knife, you pushed his head to make him fall lifeless to the floor.
Bending down, you picked up his abandoned shirt and wiped clean of your knife before fixing it back into your waistband. After fixing yourself, you stepped on him to head out of the room, purposely digging your heel into the open wound, making more blood erupt out of the hole. Every step you took left a little bit of blood until it dried away.
-
“Fucking code red!” Haechan screamed into his phone.
Jeno held his phone away and once Haechan quietened, he asked, “What do you mean?”
“I’m supposed to keep a tab on who’s coming to the casino tonight, and guess what? The underboss is!”
Jeno’s face paled at the possibility of things going downhill, and it might happen sooner than he thought when he suddenly noticed a sleek black car pull up by the entrance of the building and out stepped the underboss named Milan. You had been doing well keeping everything in check and making sure none of the higher ups under Lord knew about your deadly revenge. You knew war was bound to be declared but not when you weren’t prepared for it at the casino.
“Oh shit,” he muttered and cut Haechan’s call, speed dialling Kun right away.
Kun received the news and began panicking. It was only a matter of moments before the underboss would make his way into the casino, and the second Milan couldn’t locate Choi, suspicion was bound to rise.
He couldn’t take the elevator to find you as no one else was allowed to know the room number except for the name on the cardholder. You didn’t have your phone on you, so he couldn’t deliver the news that you had to leave the site before Choi’s death was discovered and you could bid farewell to your safe escape. Fighting against an underboss like Milan’s level wasn’t going to be easy and your gang wasn’t ready for that just yet.
Kun dialled for the only sniper who could give him an answer of your current status.
Yuta pressed the button on his earpiece while keeping his eye glued to the lifeless room. He was only in standby mode until he received the cue from Kun that the operation was over. “Yeah?”
“Yuta, where’s Y/N-ssi?” Kun asked urgently.
The sniper frowned. “She left the room a while ago. Shouldn’t she be down by now?”
Kun kept his eyes locked on the elevators, hoping one of them would miraculously open for you before Milan spotted you. “She’s not here yet.”
Based on Yuta’s calculations, you should have already been on your way out for the van. What happened Y/N, he thought to himself as his heart grew restless.
-
Exhausted, you stepped into the elevator and pressed for the ground floor. The doors closed and began moving with the gravity slowly. Shutting your eyes, you leaned against the side and tilted your head to rest against the wall. Being on one of the top floors meant you couldn’t have reached the ground floor that fast when you heard the elevator opened with a ‘ting.’ Curious, you opened your eyes in time to see a lean man in a dark suit walk in with a sequinned mask covering his entire face, only leaving two tiny holes for vision and hair peeking out.
He pressed the button for the level that was two floors above the ground and stood away from you with hands in his pockets. His blonde hair ran a little long that covered the back of his neck. Being highly suspicious, your hand should have already been reaching for your weapon. But for some reason, the faceless man had you stay defenceless.
When the doors shut and moved down for a bit, the man stepped forward and pulled the brakes, making the elevator stop in its tracks. You glued yourself more to the wall, mentally preparing yourself to throw fists and kicks, but all plans went down the drain when the man ripped his mask off to reveal the face of the one you longed to see, the one you longed to be in the arms of, the one you shed too many tears for, the one who you wished was by your side during your times of insanity, the one you wanted to kill…
“Taeyong…” you breathed out in sheer shock. Was he really there in front of you?
He abandoned his mask on the floor and stepped in front of you with crinkling eyes and a soft smile adorning his face. Without saying a word, he greeted you with his warm hands coming up to caress your face and planted a long kiss on your forehead.
A sudden electrifying warmth spread throughout your body, one you didn’t think your body was capable of feeling with the twisted reality. The nostalgic feeling of his lips on your head brought back a longing for all the precious moments that you had spent with Taeyong in the past. You wanted to ask a thousand questions but your tongue failed to form any words. How was he? Where had he been? What happened that night? Was he really alive? Why hadn’t he contacted you right away?
You lost the warmth when he pulled away and Taeyong sensed your panic. He gave you a reassuring smile while taking off his blazer, draping it around your waist and tying it by the sleeves to cover the splatters of blood of your recent kill. He held your face again and gently spoke, “Listen to me carefully. Once you get off this elevator, hide yourself while looking for Kun and get out of this building. Don’t get caught by Lord’s underboss.”
You missed his voice so much and finally hearing it momentarily brought a sense of tranquility to the calamity in your soul. Your hands reached up to hold his touch on your face. “Please don’t leave me,” you pleaded in a whisper, your eyes burning to break.
It was hard for Taeyong to dare and leave you in your current state, but he had to do it. He leaned his head against yours, keeping his gaze locked on you, and released one hand from you to press the button for the elevator to resume operation. “I promise, you’ll see me again,” he assured, snaking the free arm around your waist to bring you even closer to him, cherishing the moment before the elevator stopped for his floor.
Your hands repositioned to grab fistfuls of his white shirt, determined to not let him go. But your resolve weakened when Taeyong gently uncurled your fists from his shirt to not waste any time for your safe escape. Your sobs were mere seconds away from breaking loose. The doors tinged open and he stepped out. He blocked your way and shook his head when you were desperate to step out with him.
“Remember my words, Y/N,” he murmured.
You kept your eyes locked with his, neither of you moving or saying another word as the elevator parted the two of you. Once he was out of your sight, you crumbled to the floor, releasing all the tears that you suppressed for Taeyong. It only took a few seconds until the elevator reach the ground floor and that was when Taeyong’s words struck you.
When the doors opened, Kun was relieved to finally see you, though worried why you were on the floor with an unknown jacket around your waist, one that didn’t resemble with Choi’s. But it was no time for questioning. He cautiously looked around him and lend a hand out for you. “Y/N-ssi, we need to leave.”
You stared at his hand as Taeyong’s words rang in you.
Hide. Kun. Don’t get caught.
Taking Kun’s hand, you urgently scrambled to your feet and rushed for the exit while Kun kept an eye out for the underboss who was currently on the other side of the casino, unsuspecting of his missing sidekick.
Stepping past the threshold of the casino brought relief and even more when getting back into your van. Jeno stepped on the gas to drive you away from the danger while Kun texted Yuta and Johnny to meet with Haechan, signalling the end of the operation.
- ❀ -
In the pitch of darkness and silence, you laid in bed. In Taeyong’s bed. Every night, ever since the night of bombing where you believed that you had lost him forever, you’d curl up against the sheets, hoping to cling onto any lingering scent of his.
If it weren’t for the jacket that you were currently draped in, then you would have lost the littlest sanity that was left in you. It wasn’t your hallucination, wasn’t your dream. You really did see him, really did feel his lips against your skin, really did feel his bodily warmth.
You’ll see him again, you reminded yourself, it being the only hope to keep yourself moving for the revenge. “But when,” you croaked out weakly. You hoped that the next time you did see him again, you’d get your answers to all your questions.
The silence was broken by the sound of three knocks. When the door opened without a cue of your permission, you figured it was Haechan because the only other person who did that was away.
“Noona?”
Surprisingly, it was Jungwoo.
Heaving out a heavy sigh, you sat up on the bed while your eyes adjusted to the sudden lights that Jungwoo flickered on. He made his way towards you and sat quietly at the foot of your bed, playing with the Rubik cube. His eyes avoided yours and you noticed the fine lines of stress in between his brows.
“What is it?” you asked gently. It amazed you that during your cold-blooded decisions, he always sided with you without questions, but you expected that much for someone with specialty in torturous activities. You had grown a soft spot for him like you did with your boys during your actress life like Haechan.
He looked up to you with gentle eyes and softly asked, “You saw Taeyong hyung, didn’t you?”
When you returned home from the operation, your boys had noticed an unknown jacket wrapped around you but no one dared to utter a word of it. At first, Jungwoo thought it was just a spare jacket to cover the blood stains on your dress and that it would soon be burnt to ashes. But seeing that you still kept the blazer on could only mean one thing.
You only nodded in response. There was nothing else you could tell him of your priceless fleeting moment with Taeyong.
Jungwoo looked away from your gloomy eyes. “Noona, there’s something I want to tell you.” He took a moment to gather his thoughts and illustrate his appreciation for you. “For someone who’s never been exposed to the real underworld, you’re doing really well and I’m proud of you.”
You were stunned by his sudden declaration of gratitude and your ears perked up to sink in the words that you yearned to hear from the beginning of your time.
“Taeyong hyung had never been the kind of mafia leader like you are. Of course, he’d act against anyone who messed with him, but at the end of the day, he still had a soft persona for the innocent. You aren’t like that, but then I don’t think you ever would have become like this if it weren’t for everything you lost.”
He turned back to you with a glimmer twinkling in his eyes. “The way you kept going and never once regretted your actions no matter how cruel they’d be… I really respect you, noona.”
Your eye failed to contain the well as a teardrop slid slowly over your cheek. Your new self was too foreign for you that if anyone had told you that this was your future, you’d scoff at them and think it was absurd. But here you were, villainous, morally grey, all from everything you had to lose. Your passion, freedom and people. Losing it all to Lord.
Hugging your legs to your chest, you dropped your exhausted head onto your bent knees.
Jungwoo suggested, “I think you should take a break. Go visit your grandmother.”
- ❀ -
Turning off the engine of your car, you flipped down the self-mirror to check your state, making sure to look as joyful and presentable to the best of your ability. The last thing you wanted was for your grandmother find out your stress-filled life and have her worry endlessly. You planned to stay at your grandmother’s overnight as a small break from reality.
Getting out of your car, you stretched out your tired limbs, feeling the fatigue already wear off as the warm, sunny weather matched with your projected mood. You always felt serene watching the green leaves rustle gently with the breeze and listening to the birds chirp happily on the roof of the house. A smile stretched its way across your pink-glossed lips, feeling instantly relaxed and grateful for Jungwoo’s recommendation.
Your light footsteps headed for the steps of the house. “Granny!” you called for her excitedly, but your excitement soon died when you noticed a never-seen-before vehicle stationed off to the side of the house.
Your grandmother squeals at the sight of you and rushed to you. “Oh, my angel!” Her laughter usually had you reciprocating it back, but you could only give her a forced smile. “How are you? Has life been treating you well?” she asked.
Without answering her, you questioned, “Granny, who’s bike is that?” Seeing her all cheerful meant she wasn’t held in any danger, or at least you hoped that was the case. And even if she were to own a bike, it should have been something safer like a scooter, not be an expensive sports bike.
She clapped her hands happily as it clicked her. “Ah right! Yongie has been living with me for some time now.”
Taken by surprise, you wondered if your ears were playing a trick on you. “Yongie?”
Your grandmother turned her head and hollered, “Yongie! Come out! Y/N-ah is here!”
Your heart beat faster in anticipation to see the face that you’d been craving to see again, the moment arriving a lot sooner than expected after he promised that you’d see him again. After a brief moment of having your gaze trained on the entrance of the house, the world seemed to have stopped moving when your love stepped out into the sun, wearing his signature dazzling smile that moved your heart.
“Taeyong,” you breathed out in disbelief. Not once had you visited your grandmother since the start of your revenge. If this was where Taeyong had been hiding all this time, then you wanted to smack yourself for not thinking of coming to your safe haven earlier.
Your grandmother cleared her throat when sensing the atmosphere between you two. “I’ll leave you two alone to talk it out.” And right after, she scurried away for the kitchen with a wide grin.
Your eyes never once blinked when fixated on Taeyong as he walked towards you with hands in the pockets of his pants. A thin, white sleeved shirt loosely hugged his frame and his blonde hair was styled down to the side handsomely. He stopped right in front of you and with a heartfelt smile, he muttered, “We meet again.”
-
You sat on the steps, facing the sunlight, while Taeyong laid on the hard floor next to you, arms bent to rest under his head while staring aimlessly at the ceiling.
You broke the silence first and asked, “How did you get out alive?”
Sighing, he recalled the night of the warehouse incident. “I stole the keys to one of the bikes that were there. I made sure to set the bomb off once I was out.”
“You could have given us some hint that you were alive.”
Taeyong hummed. “Yeah, I could have. But it’s better everyone thought I was dead.”
Outraged, you turned to him. “Better thought dead? Do you have any idea what I had to go through without you?” you shouted. If your grandmother heard you, then you were thankful that she didn’t come out asking what was going on.
Exhaling through his nose, he clarified, “It’s better than a slip up. You know Lord is out to kill me.”
Huffing, you commented, “And we already have a slip up.”
“What do you mean?”
Running a hand through your hair, you told him. “Yuta. Know that great assassinate who worked freelance? He’s now in our gang. But he’s the one who killed Sungchan per Lord’s request, and he just received another request from him to look for you.” You turned your body to face him and asked, “What do I do with Yuta?” It was risky keeping him in case Yuta found Taeyong, but being a sniper with skills, it’d be a waste to kill him if Yuta really was on your side.
Taeyong sat up and gave you a half smile. “If you don’t know what to do, leave it for now. At the right time, you’ll know what to do.”
You scrunched your brows. “How can you be so sure?”
His smile stretched wide across his face. “I know what you’ve been up to. Always know that I’m everywhere you go like your shadow.” His smile faltered when recalling the events where you traumatized innocent lives at the restaurant, a family in their home and the childhood of small boys. He never thought his disappearance would cause excessive pain in you to turn malicious, and could only hope that things would get better now that you knew he was alive. But not completely better until Lord was wiped clean from the face of earth.
You scoffed at him. “How is that even possible?”
He picked his smile back up and dropped the secret innocently. “I had Sungchan install a tracking chip in your phone. I’m always keeping an eye on you to make sure you’re safe.”
The only time when Sungchan could have had your phone was during your shooting schedule, which meant that Taeyong had your location all this time. “Woah, I can’t believe I’ve never once spotted you when I can always find Lord’s men stalking me in an instant.” A half laugh parted from you in amazement. “As expected from a mafia boss.”
-
Taeyong kneeled down to arrange the bedding and blankets for bedtime. You stood by the opening of the room, looking between him and your grandmother who was busying herself with last minute cleanup outside before calling it a night.
You headed inside in the room and kneeled down beside him. “So, how did you get Granny to let you stay here? Does she know you’re a…?”
The corner of his lips curled up. “She knows.”
“Really?”
“What do I know?”
“Granny!” You were startled by your grandmother suddenly bursting into the small room.
Taeyong answered, “That I’m a mafia leader.”
Her eyes lit up as she remembered the info. “Ah! Yes yes, I know.”
You arched an eyebrow at her. “And you’re completely fine with that?”
“Of course! Wait till I tell you of my days back when I was a gangster myself.”
You skeptically wondered if your grandmother was under illusion about it. But one glance at Taeyong’s warm smile had you feeling that she was saying the truth. “Are you really being serious, Granny?”
“I am being serious! Ask Yongie yourself! I told him all the stories. People were scared of me every time I was in the neighbourhood,” she proudly mentioned.
Taeyong brought his lips close to your ear and teasingly whispered, “It looks like it runs in the blood.”
“Okay, quit wasting time and go to bed already. Give me good news tomorrow morning,” she winked at you, and shut the door behind her, locking it from the outside.
Her last words threw you off guard. “Wait! What do you mean by that? And why did you lock the door?” you shouted. But all you could hear was her giggling as she scampered away.
Taeyong stifled back his laughter and you gave him a sheepish smile. “Why does she have to be so embarrassing?” you muttered.
Taeyong stood up and walked over to the dresser in the corner of the room. You didn’t mean to stare but you couldn’t keep your eyes off him when he pulled his shirt over his head to fold it away, leaving him shirtless and what he had on his backside exposed.
You gasped at the sight of it, making Taeyong smirk cockily. “Like what you see?” he asked in huskiness.
You mentally smacked yourself back in place before you ended up looking like a total fool. Clearing your throat, you said, “I didn’t know you had a tattoo on your back.”
He turned to you, and this time your eyes widened at the sight of his abs side having more of the tattoo.
Tattoo of a giant dragon in black ink.
Taeyong chuckled at your reaction and walked back to sit in front of you. “Do you like it?” he repeated, leaning close to you while earnestly waiting for your response.
You gulped nervously. How were you going to tell him that it was driving you absolutely crazy? Nodding, you whispered, “I love it.”
With a half-smile, he picked up your hand and guided you to touch along his front-side tattoo. The slight scraping of your nails stirred him hard as desire filled his eyes. Without delay, you latched your lips onto his, hungrily savouring the taste of him. His tongue delved in to explore your mouth while his hands carefully laid you down on the bedding, adjusting the pillow under your head before exploring under your top.
-
Sunlight seeped through the window as you gleefully cuddled against Taeyong in his lap on the floor. His back rested against the wall and his arms kept you as close to his warmth as possible. His lips pressed to your head and you relished in his embrace, until your grandmother suddenly unlocked the door and popped her head in.
“Rise and shine! Oh my God, why are you two fully dressed?” she asked as if greatly disappointed in you.
You stared at her incredulously. “What do you mean why we’re dressed? Are you expecting us to be naked?”
“Yes! How else are you gonna have a baby?”
Your head ached the more your grandmother had to give you second-hand embarrassment. Taeyong did his best to suppress his laughter as his shoulders trembled.
You refuted back, “Well, it’s not like we’re going to stay naked knowing you’ll come in at any second just like now!”
She huffed and ultimately agreed. “Okay okay, but just know that I’m say no to death until I hold your baby.” She walked away and muttered, “You guys are so responsible. Back in my days, we were so reckless.”
Your jaw hung utterly in shock while Taeyong burst out into tears of laughter.
-
Clicking the button to unlock your car, you heaved out a breath, unwilling to depart from your grandmother’s and go back to reality. You turned to Taeyong who still wore a smile but this one didn’t quite reach his eyes. “When will you come back?” you asked with your heart anticipating for a response that would have you look forward to.
He pressed his lips before answering. “Soon.”
Dejected, you pouted slightly. How soon was soon? “You know that Lord knows you’re alive. Are you still going to hide?”
Taeyong nodded. “I’ll attack at the right time.” He reached for your cheek and caressed you tenderly. “I have my eyes on someone right now. Once we remove him from the picture, hell will break loose and you’ll need to be ready for it.”
You weren’t worried about being ready as you were always on lookout for hell. “Who is this person?”
“Milan. Lord’s underboss.”
He was the one you had to hide from at the casino. “That hell might be breaking sooner rather than later, right?” For Milan to put the pieces together and link Choi’s death to you was going to be a no-brainer, and then he would do anything to rid any danger around him even if that meant killing the one his boss wanted alive. Before Milan could get to you, you had to finish him, and when Lord’s own subordinate was out of the picture, there was no knowing what Lord was going to do and that was going to be the real war against Lord.
Nodding, Taeyong pulled you into a hug. He patted your head gently and muttered, “Don’t worry. Like I said, I’ll be your shadow keeping you safe.”
- ❀ -
Milan took a deep breath in with the cigarette held between his index and middle fingers and puffed out a white fog. The cigarette crushed in his hold as rage and fear overwhelmed him. His lawyer stood next to him, giving guidance for his well-being. “Either leave the country or kill her.”
Killing you meant being beheaded by Lord. If anyone were to harm Lord’s precious darling, then they could confidently bid farewell to their lives, even if you were after them in the first place. “Do you think I’ll be spared if I leave the country?” There was no guarantee for his safety after seeking refuge in another country if you were determined to out him.
The lawyer sighed. “Then you know what to do.”
- ❀ -
Walking back into the mansion, you found your boys waiting for your arrival. You made sure to keep a neutral expression to not give away of your recent encounter. Your eyes landed on Yuta who stood stiff and ready for your command. Having him in your gang still brought unbounded stress on you. Blindly trusting him was risky, but Taeyong not telling you to kill him had stopped you from doing so. You knew Taeyong wasn’t going to get caught no matter what. Whether Yuta were to report to Lord or not was what you needed to find out.
Walking up to Yuta, you stopped right in front, shocking him and your boys in the room. It was the first time you had come close to him ever since the beginning of the cold war. Yuta’s mouth hung slightly in surprise as he stared into your icy eyes.
Crossing your arms in front of your chest, you decided on asking the one thing that would finalize your endless internal battle. “About Lord’s request. What are you going to do once you find Taeyong?”
Speechless by the sudden inquiry, Yuta gathered his thoughts, “Lord wanted me to kill him.”
Without waiting for him to make up his mind, with seriousness you ordered, “Then kill Taeyong.”
His eyes widened in pure shock as audible gasps filled the room.
“Noona, are you being serious?” Jungwoo asked.
Without lifting your hard stare on Yuta, you answered, “I’m not playing the slightest bit. It’s my order for you, Yuta. Kill Taeyong once you find him.”
“Having you fucking lost it?” Haechan screamed at you. “I’m going to fucking kill someone.”
You glanced at Haechan. “You can kill him too.” You knew Haechan wouldn’t.
“Y/N-ssi, please think this through. If this is your real order for Yuta, he will get it done,” Kun spoke with urgency noted in his tone.
Though you were calm as you could ever be. “I know, which is why this will be your real order, Yuta.” You locked your gaze back on the infamous assassin. “Kill Taeyong. As per Lord’s request, and as my order.”
-
“What fucking crack are you on?” Haechan stormed right behind you as you headed inside your bedroom. “I thought we all wanted hyung back!” he yelled.
You stuck with you plan in case of unwanted ears dwelling around, it was better to have everyone think the same of your decision than be divided. “When did I say I wanted Taeyong back?” Your tone was low and composed. Your old self would have had your heart threatening to burst out of pounding anxiety at the given order, but your new self was calm as if you knew the outcome already of the plan. It wasn’t just a test to see whose side Yuta was on.
You wanted Yuta to aim his bullet for Taeyong so that you could end him.
- ❀ -
Trees sped by you, but you didn’t pay any mind to them as your thoughts were preoccupied by your plan for the night. Sitting in the passenger seat next to your despised member, you pondered about who the lucky ones were going to be in having their fates meet with your bullets.
Yuta drove with his palms tightly secured to the steering wheel. It was only him and you in the car. Your plan was risky but it had to be done before you’d come face to face with Lord. Unaware of your true intentions for the night, your boys weren’t happy with your decision of going out without more backup for your safety… and in case you killed Yuta on the streets. But no one dared to refute the icy cold look on your face when you swore that you weren’t going to come back alone.
After much time, Yuta asked, “Where exactly are we going?”
Without looking at him, you muttered, “To Milan.”
Yuta’s heart pounded hard in his throat as he swerved the car to the side, stopping it momentarily. He turned his body to face you from his seat. “Why are we not bringing the others? You know Milan would want you dead.”
You shrugged carelessly. “It’ll be obvious we’re out to attack.” Finally giving him a glance, you said, “Don’t worry about me. Let’s see how good you really are at your job.” And whose side he was on.
Milan worked till late nights on the top floor in the company building. It was bound to be difficult to eliminate him when he had security cameras within his office, keeping a tab for the main grounds and the happenings within the building. If you came into sight, your opponent was bound to set off an alarm for his men to get you.
Yuta was at a bind. He could easily finish the task by going in himself and shoot Milan in his office. But that meant leaving you alone and he couldn’t do that no matter what’d you say. As always, your safety came first. “What’s the plan?” he asked after turning off the car ignition a block away from destination to avoid being directly under a camera’s view.
And exactly just what he feared came true. “You go and kill him,” you said.
“What about you?”
You gave him a cold glare. “Like I said before. Don’t worry about me.”
With a heavy sigh, he willed himself to be ready for an unpredictable night.
-
Fixing a black cap on your head and a black face mask to help shield your identity from the lens of a camera, you watched Yuta enter the building from your seat without a hassle just like you had expected. You waited a few minutes, giving him enough time to go up before you’d make your move. After you stepped out the car and shut the door behind you, you looked around your vicinity, keeping check of anything out of place. Spotting nothing, you adjusted your black jacket hugging your frame and strode in confidently.
You passed by the front entrance without a problem. Whether your presence had been detected and triggered a silent bomb you wouldn’t know until you reached the top. Pressing the button for the elevator, the doors opened for you, allowing you to step in and pressed for the bloodthirsty floor.
Just before the doors shut from the dark lobby, a figure suddenly came into your view. Half of his blonde hair was hidden under a black cap like yours, though you could still see the eyes of your lover as he gave you an assured nod and a half smile before disappearing out of your sight.
Huffing out a breath, you could only hope for the night to go your way while keeping Taeyong alive.
The elevator opened upon reaching the end. Walking out, your steps slowed when noticing a number of bloodied bodies who appeared to be Milan’s guards laying sprawled out on the floor. Pulling out your pistol from your waistband, you cautiously made your move for the office’s entrance as your heart suddenly began thumping at the back of your throat.
On your toes, you pushed the glass door slightly ajar, taking note of the lifeless workspace with a few more guards shot down. This was not the plan you laid out for Yuta. Being on Lord’s side wouldn’t need Yuta to shoot down anyone in his way. He could have unsuspectingly entered Milan’s office and shot him down without a sweat. Shooting the bodies down was in your agenda.
Why did Yuta unnecessarily stir up trouble? And worse, where was Yuta and Milan?
Right when you got inside Milan’s empty cabin, your phone buzzed. Keeping your eyes out for any surprises, you answered.
-
“Yuta, I’m gonna fucking kill you once I find you!” you screamed over the phone as you slammed on the accelerator, speeding the car to catch up to your prey along the empty lanes of the dead streets. “Why didn’t you just do as I said?” you breathed heavily in anger.
Yuta sighed as he dropped to the floor, leaning against the barrier that could have had him catch up to Milan if he hadn’t been barricaded in the dark stairwell. “I’m sorry, Y/N,” he muttered softly, a hand running through his hair in stress. Never once in his life had he slipped up no matter the mission, and for once he did, all because he wanted to keep you away from harm.
Shooting the men down had more attention drawn to him, making it harder to eliminate Milan. Yuta didn’t mind it if it meant less danger for you if you were to come up the building. But when Milan made his escape by taking the stairs, Yuta didn’t think at the end of the stairs was a locked end.
“I’m gonna deal with you later,” you spitted out before cutting the call. Your eyes fixed on a white car far ahead of you. No matter how much you maxed out on the speedometer, you could merely catch up at the speed of a sloth.
You knew Milan was in the car but you hadn’t expected a second body to be in there as well, making them reach out and pull triggers in your way. Luckily, they missed every time but that didn’t stop them from trying to shoot you.
“How the fuck am I gonna get to them?” You cursed your luck for your flopped plan.
A sudden dim light appeared in the rear-view mirror, making your eyes glance at it and wonder who it could be. The closer it sped in your direction, the quicker you realized that it was your saving grace. The familiar sports bike sped past you smoothly, briefly catching sight of Taeyong meeting your eyes from behind his helmet before speeding for your target.
You watched the scene slowly unfold as Taeyong zoomed past Milan’s car, stopping himself at the perfect distance to prepare his gun as Milan approached him. The car tires screeched to a halt, trying to get away from Taeyong’s aim but failed to when Taeyong shot right at them, causing the car to swerve and tumble onto its top, meeting its end. A few seconds later, you were met with the vehicle blowing up into flames, making you swerve your wheels aside to a stop right before you could enter the pits of the flames.
You closed your eyes, feeling the effects of the adrenaline tone down as the chase came to an end. “Y/N!” You heard Taeyong called out for you as he ripped your door open, feeling his warm hand caress your cheek.
Without lifting your eyelids, you asked, “Who else was in that car?”
“Milan’s lawyer,” Taeyong informed. “We killed two birds with a stone.”
-
Your angry stomps resonated the flooring as you stormed into the house. Kun waited for your return and wondered why you were outraged. “Y/N-ssi, what happened?”
Yuta followed right behind you with his head hung low. Glaring directly at the one responsible for the mess, you yelled, “Ask Yuta yourself.”
Your return was audible from every corner of the mansion and slowly Mark, Renjun, Jeno and Johnny filed in. “What’s wrong, Y/N-ssi?” Mark asked.
Turning to Mark, you told him. “Yuta fucked up, that’s what’s wrong.”
“Can you please explain, noona?” Renjun requested gently.
Taking a deep breath in through your nose, you muttered, “We went out to catch someone and Yuta didn’t follow my order.”
“Who were you catching?”
“Milan.”
Gasps of disbelief filled the room as the boys couldn’t believe that you went after Lord’s underboss without them. “Noona, why didn’t you bring us?” Jeno asked with his forehead lined in stress.
Rolling your eyes, you reassured him, “Milan is dead.”
Johnny gave you a confused look. “Then what went wrong?”
Whether Yuta fucked up on killing Milan wasn’t the reason why you were fuming. You were only upset over the one thing that your plan was based on. If it weren’t for that, you would have somehow brought your boys for backup.
Without you replying, your boys got the answer when the very person that you formed your plan on walked into the room, shocking everyone for the second time, except seeing their Taeyong hyung alive right before their eyes since the bombing had more of a shocking effect than the former news of Milan’s death.
“No way,” Renjun breathed out.
“Boss?” Mark questioned his sight.
It really was Taeyong, back in the very place he used to live in. He gazed at his boys softly.
Wide-eyed, Jeno said, “Whoa, you really are alive.”
“But wait…” Johnny’s eyes wavered between Taeyong and Yuta, ultimately landing on you.
Huffing bitterly, you said, “You guessed it.”
Mark’s hands went to his head as it ached. “Hold up. Someone please break it down for me. Wasn’t Yuta supposed to kill Boss?”
You pinched the bridge of your nose. “Don’t you guys get it? I’ve been trying to find the perfect excuse to kill Yuta.”
Yuta only stared down at the floor, hurt that you doubted his standpoint and put him on a test. When you came back to rescue him after killing Milan, that was when he noticed Taeyong by your side. It was clear based on your nonexistent distance between Taeyong that you never had any intention of killing him, and when you swore that you’d come back home with someone, the plan wasn’t with Yuta but with Taeyong.
Yuta lifted his gaze to glance at your lover that he wished to be, the one he could have been working under had it not been for your takeover. His eyes met with Taeyong’s briefly and wondered how lucky Taeyong was to have your heart. His heart broke at the mere thought that he would never become the one you’d need.
After taking a few deep breaths, you calmly skimmed your eyes around the room, the volume tending to be on the quieter end than usual. “Where’s Jungwoo and Haechan?” you asked.
“They’re probably still in their room. I’ll call them down,” Jeno said. He first dialled Jungwoo but oddly there was no response. He then tried calling Haechan and after a few rings, the call was answered. “Haechan, come down fast. Noona is-” Suddenly, Jeno’s face paled and turned to gape at you.
“What is it?” you asked. When he didn’t reply, you marched up to him and snatched his phone from his grasp. “Haechan, where the fuck are you?” But the voice you heard next was not of Haechan’s.
A dark laughter rang through the phone. “Darling, I’m not Haechan.”
It was Lord.
Your blood ran ice cold as you dreaded for what you already knew was going to come. “What did you do to them?” your voice came a little weak than you hoped for. Your hand trembled at your side, fearing for the worst possible outcome to the night.
Losing another loved one.
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll guarantee their safe return, not sure if in one piece though,” he chuckled at his own joke. “Only for one thing in return. And I’m sure this time you know exactly what I want.” Without a response from you, he ended the call.
For a moment, the room went death silent, as the rest waited for your next word. You only trembled in fear, panicking like crazy, and worried sick that you were close to losing another loved one to Lord. You let out a bloodcurdling scream as you threw Jeno’s phone across the room, causing it to shatter into pieces. His phone was the least of your concerns.
You dropped to the ground, your hands weaved in your hair as you tugged at it hard till pain shoot from the roots of your scalp. “If he takes one more person out of my life, consider me dead!” you screamed.
Taeyong’s heart ached when seeing your distress. He crouched down beside you and rested his hand on your head gently. “Y/N,” he called for you softly.
“This is my promise that I won’t let him touch any more of my people.” You had already lost so many precious souls in your life that until Lord was dead, you felt like every single one left was a ticking time bomb, when or if they were to die next. Death had merely become a routine in your life and you couldn’t care about anything more than to protect those still left alive.
“Don’t worry,” Taeyong reassured. “I’ll make sure they’ll get out safely.”
Your eyes hardened at his words and you glared at him. “What do you mean you will? You’re not going.”
He blinked at you. “But-”
“If you think you’re stepping out this house, then it better be for my dead body. You’re not going to fake your own death again and you’re not walking to your real one.”
The sudden shift in mood between you and Taeyong had the boys tensed as Taeyong solemnly stared into your unwavering eyes.
“What do you plan to do, Y/N-ssi?” Kun spoke up after much thought.
Your teeth clenched at the thought of having to rely on the one perfect for the job, but he was all that you had left. Standing up and leaving Taeyong, you strolled up to Yuta, surprising everyone.
“Yuta, this is my final mission for you. After this, I’ll let you free from our gang if you want. What do you say? Will you save Jungwoo and Haechan?” you asked. After all that had happened, you needed Yuta to be your only hope and saviour in saving your precious boys from hostage. You would have apologized to him after all that you’d treated him, but you couldn’t show your weak side, certainly not as a mafia leader.
The infectious smile that you had first seen during his introductory blinded over his features and he bowed in appreciation. Nothing else matter to him besides being given a chance to finally get onto your good side. “I promise I’ll put my life on the line and make sure they come back safely,” he vowed cheerfully.
The rest of your boys discreetly glimpsed at their former boss. Taeyong quietly observed the way hope brimmed your eyes when Yuta smiled at you.
-
In a dark room, two chairs were tied back-to-back, with two bodies on either of them, limbs and torsos bound tightly to the chairs by a rope. They hadn’t been beaten too badly, only a few punches thrown at their faces and stomach, forming few black bruises to their skin. A man guarded the room, making sure neither of them came free.
Jungwoo scowled at him and threatened, “Wait till my hands come free. I won’t spare anyone for touching my handsome face.”
Haechan scoffed at the older one without seeing his face. “That’s if they ever do come free, you fool.”
“You’re the real fool. This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t follow noona.”
“Please! I only suggested and you agreed!”
“Shut up!” The man shouted at the two bickering. “One more word and you’ll get another beating.”
That made the two silent for a moment, not because they were afraid of Lord’s minion, but they didn’t want to waste their energy on less important matters like bickering and instead reserve it for more important ones. There was no doubt that you were going to come and save them, and what had them silently worry was how you were to do so.
-
The van rolled to a stop right before the given address. You observed the brightly lit establishment under the night, a massive palace surrounded by well-maintained greenery and fountains, beams of lights integrated along a path guiding to the entrance where guards stood by the grand double doors.
“What the hell is this place?” you muttered.
Kun said, “This might be where he lives.”
A half laugh parted from your mouth. “It’s gonna be pure hell tonight.” To find Jungwoo and Haechan and then finish Lord wasn’t going to be easy in the gigantic building. “How many men do you think he has in there?” you asked.
Kun could only give you a look of uncertainty.
Smacking your red lips together, you fixed your earpiece in. “Well then, looks like it’ll be me and Yuta,” you said while looking at the sniper who was just as ready as you were with his gun loaded.
“Must you really do this alone, noona?” Renjun asked.
You nodded in confidence. “I’m not risking any of you getting killed in there.”
“But what if something happens to you?” Johnny asked.
“He will never kill me.”
“How are you so sure?”
Pushing back the unpleasant memories that threatened to surface, your intuition spoke, “I just know it.”
-
Jeno and Mark sat at the front in a black car, high on anxiety and tension. Against your order of keeping Taeyong inside the mansion, it was either have the boys take him to you or he’d do so himself, and the latter sounded a lot riskier than the boys sitting at home doing absolutely nothing but worry for the unknown.
“What are you planning to do, hyung?” Jeno asked.
Taeyong gazed ahead at the van situated not too far from view. “Do what I told her I’ll always be.”
-
With oozing charisma, you strolled up to the palace. The guards recognized you and without a word, immediately opened the doors for you. Your hidden earpiece was your only connection to Yuta, giving him orders of where to locate himself just outside the confinements of the palace.
As you reached the foyer, six more men appeared. “Before going beyond this point, we need to search you.”
Dramatically scoffing at him, you asked, “Are you seriously gonna search me? You really think I’d have anything on me to hurt Lord?” You’d bravo yourself for keeping your acting skills alive. The only thing on you was a pistol and you weren’t worried if that got taken away because you had something else up your sleeve.
An order rang through the man’s earpiece and it was loud enough to know that he was being yelled at when his face slightly contorted. “I’m sorry, Y/N-ssi. It won’t be necessary on you.” As expected, you thought smugly. “But Lord is asking for Taeyong’s presence.”
“I want to see my boys first. If anything happened to them, then he can forget about Taeyong,” you warned.
He relayed the message to his boss and eventually nodded much to your relief. “Okay, you can follow me.”
Just as he said it, glass shattered from a nearby window as bullets flew to take down all six of the men without any time lapse. You stood calmly in the midst of the bloodied chaos, impressed by the sniper skills. Yuta hopped in from the destructed opening and grinned at you, holding his gun proudly.
-
“So how long are you gonna stay here? Don’t you wanna eat or sleep?” Jungwoo asked the man holding them captive.
“Nah, he’s Spiderman,” Haechan cracked.
“But Spiderman eats and sleeps,” Jungwoo pouted.
“Really? Let’s find out. Hey man, can you google-”
“Shut up!” He roared. “If you open your mouths again, then I’ll tape them up.”
The door slammed open as Yuta barged in, shooting down the man in one bullet. You entered the room, relieved to see Jungwoo and Haechan not too bad of a condition. “Thank goodness you’re okay,” you muttered out of sheer relief.
“Noona!” Haechan dramatically cried out for you and you lightly smacked his head in return. “Ow!”
“How is it that I can hear you from afar?” you told him while taking out your pistol and aiming it at the ropes. Your bullet pierced through the knots, untying your boys free.
“At least it helped you find us,” he retorted.
“And now I need Jungwoo’s help to get the night going,” you said.
“Let me guess, for my specialty, right? I can’t wait to torture that son of a bitch,” Jungwoo smirked evilly.
-
“Look, over there,” Jungwoo pointed at the set of double doors heavily guarded by four men.
“Lord has to be in there,” Haechan commented.
You nodded, agreeing with them. Already having gone across the entire floor, this was the only one where guards took their stance. “Shoot them after I get in,” you only said before stepping forth for the doors to hell.
Marching up to them, the guards eyed you up and down, one muttering something to his earpiece. “Is Lord in there?” You asked with attitude, but the confidence that you exhibited was nowhere near matching with your quickened heart and sweaty palms. When the guard nodded and stepped aside to let you in, horror began to sink in.
It was time.
The doors were opened for you and you took a bit of time to scan the room. It was his study room but not a simple one like yours. This one was huge, an endless ceiling with chandeliers hanging from above, arched walls decorated in white and gold as endless book collections were embedded in them. In short, you felt like you were in some sort of library in heaven.
Cautiously stepping inside, the doors closed behind you and you stilled for a moment as you heard bodies drop to the floor just as you had expected. You were surprised that no one was in the room when you expected for more men to be with Lord. Guess you wouldn’t be having your bullets be covered in blood.
But where was he?
At the far end of the room sat a gigantic desk where backside of a chair faced you. That was when you noticed pecks of hair sticking out of the headrest.
Your heart rate spiked upon locating your enemy. “Lord,” you greeted, filled with venom.
Your nemesis swirled around and there you see him again after a long time. His lips curled up in amusement, making you feel disgusted. “Darling, what a surprise.” Hopping out of his chair, he rounded the table and sauntered up to you, his eyes locked with a dangerous glint as if he were ready to devour his prey. “And that too alone, just the way I like it,” he whispered the last words, causing a chill to run down your spine.
You held your face from being contorted in fear. “It’s been a while. I’ve been waiting for you.” Nights spent waiting to end him would finally be over. You weren’t leaving the palace until every limb, every bone, every organ of his was dismantled.
His hand lifted to trail a finger along your profile, admiring how beautiful you looked just like when he first laid his eyes on you at the club. Goosebumps raised along your skin and you did your best to show an indifferent facade when you badly wanted to rip his arm off. “I still remember the first time I saw you.” He chuckled lightly and added, “Like it always goes. I get what I want.”
It was time. You raised one hand to touch his cheek, making him swoon over your touch, while your other hand went to the back pocket of your pants, pulling out your hidden weapon. “And I still remember that night when you took me to the restaurant,” you spoke softly with velvet laced in your tone. “Let’s have fun like the way you originally wanted that night,” you smirked darkly. Tightening the grasp of the item in your pocket, you sneakily snaked your hand around to his neck and punctured the needle in.
His brows scrunched ever so slightly, feeling the slightest pinch at something at the base of his neck. You stroked his face softly. “What’s wrong, darling?” You asked seductively, and pushed the contents of the syringe into his system. Pulling it out, you stepped away from him and watched the show begin.
His eyes shook as his head spun subtly. “What did you do?”
A menacing laugh escaped from your lips and showed him the empty syringe. “Nothing really, just doing the same thing you did to me that night, except a higher dose.” You threw your weapon away and walked past defenceless him towards his table. Grabbing the chair, you pushed it hard to roll itself to its owner, making his knees buckle and crash his body into it helplessly. A small table sat at the corner of the room and you took your pistol out, shooting at a leg to come free. It was the best you could use as a rod. Strolling back to your prey, you smirked at the accomplishment of getting one step closer to your ultimate goal. Pressing on your earpiece, you said, “Come in.”
The doors burst open and the first person in was the one who went against your order. Taeyong’s chest heaved up and down when locking his sight on you. The rest of your boys rushed in right behind him.
Rolling your eyes, you scoffed at your lover. “Funny how I expected you’d actually come here.”
Haechan dashed to Lord with a rope and tied him up, not that it was really necessary, while Jungwoo handed you a bar of metal rod that he was able to find right before coming in. “This will be better for you,” Jungwoo said. Yuta stayed on the lookout to make sure no surprises popped up during your last deadly operation.
You chucked away the table piece and gripped tightly onto the heavy rod. Lord’s eyes failed to focus on Taeyong as his breathing deepened. Giving Taeyong one last look where he stayed rooted in place and watched the murderous glint in your eyes, you put your all into swinging the rod at Lord’s head.
- ❀ -
[8 years later]
“Omma, look, it’s Y/N-ssi!” A little girl pointed in your direction and beamed happily.
A curl lifted at the corner of your glossy lips as you lounged on the beach chair, bathing in the sun along the shore of a beach. You lifted your dark shades above your head and fixed your attention on her.
The mother bowed to you in greeting and asked, “Is it okay if she can have your signature? We love re-watching your dramas.”
“Of course,” you smiled.
She handed you a blue colouring marker and opened to a blank page in a book. As you signed your signature with care, the little girl asked, “Will you come back on TV?”
Being an officially retired actress, you had no plans in doing so. But that didn’t mean you’d crush her dreams in case you ever did take up a project. Bending close to her from your seat, you said, “Maybe one day.”
Her mother thanked you profusely at your kind gesture and you smiled warmly at their retreating figures, watching the kid happily skip away on the sands.
A huge smile stretched across Taeyong’s lips as he witnessed the interaction when approaching you. “Looks like you’re back to your old self,” he commented when handing you a pina colada.
Taking a sip of the refreshing combination of citrus and tangy sweetness, you smiled at your lover, and husband, before turning to watch Mark, Renjun, Jeno and Haechan play joyfully in the crystal waters with your seven-year old son.
After the operation was over, Yuta declared resignation from his post in your gang, deciding to go freelance again. More than pleased with his performance in the operation, you developed a trust in him and wished to keep him if he wanted, no longer harbouring ill feelings against him. But he was adamant, not telling you the real reason for his departure with a heavy heart whenever he saw you with Taeyong.
Johnny, Kun and Jungwoo played beach volleyball with a new member of your gang named Jaehyun, hitting it off with staying on your good side when excelling at his tasks with his seducing skills. No matter how great of a seducer Jaehyun was with his opponents, he could never win over you with his playful flirts.
Your heart only belonged to one man.
Taeyong laid down in a chair beside yours. His brown hair with blue streaks ruffled with the warm air. His white shirt lazily hugged his frame and you would be able to see the dragon tattoo faintly through the material if he went in the water. “Would you ever go back to your actress life if things were different?” He asked while keeping his eyelids down, feeling the sun kiss his skin.
If things were different and you hadn’t lost everyone you did or become a mafia leader, then there was a chance you would. But the thrill you’d get as a mafia queen was far greater than the thrill you felt as an actress. Keeping up your angelic image to the public was stressful when having people constantly stalk you, make uncomfortable advances for you, and keep up with rules and proper etiquettes. As a mafia queen in the underworld, you could take revenge on anyone using any means without a worry the consequences. “No, I wouldn’t,” you replied truthfully.
Taeyong propped onto his elbows and watched your son laugh his heart out at something Mark said. “What do you think he’ll become when he grows up?”
You shrugged. “He can be whatever he wants. It’ll be interesting if he becomes an actor or mafia boss. We’ll just have to see.”
He smirked. “Or both. Never know, he can be dangerous.”
Chuckling, you said, “I doubt more dangerous than my lips.”
Taeyong x drunk reader, fluff, 1k, tagging: @cosmiclatte28
- ❀ -
“Here are the food and drinks menu. I’ll be back shortly to take your orders.” The server smiled before leaving your table.
Taeyong leaned forward in his seat, resting his chin in his palms and batted his eyelashes cutely.
You arched an eyebrow at him. “What is it?”
“I’m always the one drinking. You should drink too.”
You gave him a pointed look. “You do know how you are when drunk, right? I need to be completely sober when taking care of you.”
He huffed out and leaned back against his chair with slumped shoulders. “But I won’t drink tonight. I want you to have fun too,” he whined softly with a small pout.
You rarely drank, it always being your responsibility in taking care of your friends and boyfriend Taeyong. So you didn’t really have an idea how you were when drunk, or even how much you needed to get to that point. Taeyong consistently being stressed with his work had you let him drink beyond his senses, which didn’t require a lot of consumption being the lightweight that he was.
Biting your lower lip, you felt conflicted. Should you risk drinking when not knowing what kind of a drunk you’d become? “I don’t know...”
He gave you a reassured smiled. “I won’t force you, of course. Just know that I won’t drink tonight in case you want a bit of freedom.”
-
Stepping out of the restaurant bar and into the slight breeze of the night, you refused to believe that your head was spinning when clearly the world was. Your body swayed side to side while waiting for Taeyong to come out after paying. Once he did, you giggled at him.
“You paid,” you stated bit more loudly than your usual voice did.
Blinking at you, he nodded. “Yeah I did.”
Laughing, you said, “It’s so funny. I’m always the one paying after your drunk ass and this time you paid.”
Double blinking, he didn’t know what to say. “Uh...”
The city streets were filled with bodies heading in different directions for their lively nights. “Let’s go!” You cheerfully twirled on your spot making you lose balance slightly. “Whoa,” you flailed your arms out to steady yourself and began walking down the sidewalk.
More like you were learning to walk by planting one foot ahead of the other one at a time.
Taeyong merely stared at you, mouth slightly agape. He never thought you’d be a lightweight as well, getting drunk quickly over barely a glass of sparkling wine. He never thought you’d talk so much when drunk. Throughout dinner, your eyes wandered around to gaze out the window and kept pointing stuff out that you’d never say aloud and only kept to yourself, like spotting a cute puppy, or a child holding a balloon, or the way triplets dressed the same, or a couple riding a bicycle together. Small daily things that Taeyong never thought you paid attention to came out of you tonight, which had him grateful to learn a little more about you.
“Yongie, I think I’m going to fall,” you said seriously even though your pace was slow than usual and you still had your arms out for balance.
He smiled at you. The sidewalk was straight and wasn’t too crowded like rush hours normally were. “Don’t worry. Just grab my arm if you’re gonna fall.”
Not even five seconds later, you did. Just when you felt like you were going down a slope, but you weren’t, you grabbed him, curling both your hands around his forearm.
Taeyong felt warm and contented being able to take care of you for once. The night continued as the two of you leisurely trailed around the city. A chocolate shop caught your attention and you let go of your boyfriend to wander off inside with him right behind you.
You eyed the wide selections on display and jabbed your finger at a chocolate dipped waffle cone. “I want this!” you whined loudly.
You got what you wanted, thanks to Taeyong card.
After happily munching on your waffle, without sharing it with your boyfriend unless he did kiyomi aegyo which had you laughing on the ground, a clothing store attracted you.
Your hands freely roamed around feeling the various fabrics hung on the racks. While Taeyong was briefly distracted by the sight of red sunglasses, he nearly missed you giddily leaving the shop with an unpaid beanie on your head. Panicked, he rushed to drop a bit of cash to the cashier before sprinting to catch you.
Peace returned in the form of you drooping between sleep and wake when resting your head on Taeyong’s shoulder while your arms were wrapped around his arm. The two of you trailed along the path in a park and just when Taeyong thought the night would soon be over, he was wrong. At the sight of the swings, you let him go and dashed for it, nearly tripping on your feet with a scream before steadying yourself and continued your way.
Taeyong huffed out a breath, relieved that you didn’t get hurt, and followed after you.
You changed your mind when you caught sight of a huge steering wheel on a high deck. Your staggered feet tried to find footing on the steps to climb yourself up and Taeyong hurried to your side, making sure you wouldn’t fall off.
As soon as your hands planted themselves on the wheel, you began shouting. “Everyone! This is your captain speaking!”
Stressed, your boyfriend whipped his head around the park, finding a few heads turning in your direction and being amused by your stunt.
Throwing his head in his hands from the second-hand embarrassment, Taeyong figured it was going to be a long night.
-
You woke up ruffling in the sheets, comfortable and relaxed in bed. Turning to your side, you found Taeyong already wide awake and gazing lovingly at you.
Stretching your arms out with a yawn, you asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He chuckled softly. “Guess I’m not the only one a handful when drunk.”
Pedalling on your bicycle, you warmly took pleasure in the way your hair blew gently against the breeze as sounds of birds chirping rang above you. A basket was situated at the front of the handle, carrying a small pot of pink petunias for your lover. The sun shone down on you as you hummed gleefully with a small smile threatening to take over your face.
Three-story buildings slowed sped past you on your way back home where the higher levels were occupied by home owners and ground levels occupied by a variety of shops, such as cute cafes with small patios where customers enjoyed their brunch, food markets with owners arranging a range of fresh fruits for display, and boutiques showcasing antique accessories.
Approaching your home, you looked up towards the second-floor balcony above a bakery shop, catching eye of Taeyong who leaned against the black railing, drinking in the beauty of the peaceful morning. When he met your eye, his lips curled up into a relaxed smile, his eyes half-lidded with sleep. He pushed himself off the metal support when seeing you swing off your bike.
Once inside your apartment after placing the flower pot in Taeyong’s growing precious plant collections by the balcony, you were greeted with him snaking an arm around your waist, peppering a soft kiss to your temple. You chuckled quietly and teased, “Didn’t expect you to get them this early.”
He only stared at you, his eyes carrying a sparkle with much love and affection that he could show with actions. He pulled you into his embrace, savouring the scent of you and the freshly brewed coffee and baked croissants that he had gotten for you, waiting at the coffee table.
Your heart anxiously thumped as the Jenga tower wavered when attempting to out your selected block. It was the perfect one to pull in order to make things interestingly difficult for the next player Jungwoo. But luck wasn’t in your favour when you accidently tipped the block by the slightest angle, making the entire tower collapse in seconds.
Hollers and screams resonated within the walls of your apartment as Jungwoo, Mark and Haechan cheered for their escape from the punishment. Meanwhile, your boyfriend Taeyong only smiled at your friends while calmly observing your shocked reaction.
“I can’t believe this!” you whined with the biggest pout. “I almost had it!”
Taeyong chuckled softly and patted your head. “It’s okay. Mistakes happen.”
Haechan reminded you of the penalty. “Don’t forget! You’re supposed to drink one entire lime juice.”
You huffed and reluctantly agreed. “I remember. Just give it to me ready.”
A whole lime was already sitting on another side table along with a knife and glass. Taeyong did the honours to cut it in half and then squeezed it hard in between his palms, making the juice fall into the glass. You swooned subtly at the sight of his veins working hard along his forearm and suddenly you didn’t mind the penalty at all.
Taeyong handed the glass over to you, and you smacked yourself in your head to stop your brain from thinking beyond his sexy forearms. You downed it in one shot, the bitterly citrus taste lingering on your tongue which made you cringe slightly.
Taeyong came close to your ear, making goosebumps rise along your skin when he softly spoke, “At least your skin will look more beautiful tomorrow.”
Full Title: Dangerous Silence of Your Lipstick – Part 2
Genre: Taeyong x mafia queen!reader, action, violence, revenge
Warnings: dark theme, psycho, swearing, kidnapping, knife and firearm usage, gore, deaths, stalking, sip of alcohol, smoking, mention of gambling, suggestive, drugs, unrequited love
Word count: 20k, teaser: 0.4k
Plot: You had cut ties with your actress life and were now a cold-blooded mafia leader, one that Taeyong never dreamt of you becoming, for only one motive.
Release Date: August 2022 (TBD)
Tagging: @cosmiclatte28
Gif: mine
- ❀ -
“It’s about time I hear from you. I was starting to think you got bored of me,” you spoke curtly through your phone.
You heard Lord laughed darkly. “Darling, I can never get bored of you. Just know that even though I’m not making a move, my men are always keeping an eye on you wherever you are... which is why I called you.”
You knew you were being followed by his men, a proof of it lied in the number of bullets used every time you spotted them, but you couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t making a move for you. Was Taeyong’s death for nothing? “What is it?”
He hummed and said, “I’ve been busy trying to find an answer, but haven’t had much luck. Clearly, you would know better so that’s why I’m going to ask you-”
Having enough of him beating around the bush, you clenched your teeth. “Just get straight to the point.”
“Where is he?”
You blinked in confusion. “What?”
“Where is he?” he repeated calmly.
You always tried to stay composed and in control, but that moment had you completely puzzled and you didn’t bother hiding that in your tone. “Who?”
He huffed out a quick breath. “The obvious.”
If he were in front of you, you would have broken his nose. You weren’t going to kill him easily just yet. “Care to elaborate? Clearly, we’re not on the same page.”
There was a moment of silence from his side before he clicked his tongue and said, “I got my answer.” Without another breath from you, he cut the call.
You stared at the blank screen of your phone in utter shock. “What the fuck is he on?” you mumbled under your breath. “Who the hell is he looking for?”
And it struck you.
The only he Lord could be mentioning about.
The new recruit.
Yuta.
-
Lord laughed darkly at the situation, greatly amused by your oblivion. After calming down a little, he spoke to his men filed in front of him in his office. “Y/N doesn’t know.” He recalled the day after the warehouse incident, searching for the only dead body he craved to see but was disappointed when it wasn’t there.
To himself, he whispered, “Where the fuck are you, Taeyong?”
You get 100% for creativity but Taeyong, let me present you a real cake that I had no plan of buying (was craving for chocolate) and I would have regretted 99% not buying because it was your birthday:
“I’d like to book for flight departure tonight please,” you said politely as a personal secretary should over the phone to a travel agent. Your boss, aka the CEO, Taeyong asked you to book tickets for a spontaneous vacation to Jeju Island as he surprisingly had a free schedule for the upcoming weekend.
“Sure thing. And I believe you said you’d like two tickets under Mr. Lee Taeyong?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Perfect. I will need the first and last name of the other passenger in order to book the seats for you.”
You know one of the tickets was for your boss, but he hadn’t informed you of his trip buddy. “Could you give me a minute to collect the second name?”
“Of course.”
Standing up from your seat, you headed over to the double doors, knocking on it twice. You heard a faint mumble, allowing you permission in.
Inside, you found Taeyong sitting on his desk, blazer off and resting aside his figure. His crisp white shirt nicely framed his torso while his tie was loosened around the neck, a sign of an approaching end of the long week. While still reviewing papers in his hold and without glancing at you, he asked, “Yes?”
Clearing your throat, you asked, “What’s the name of the other passenger accompanying you?”
Keeping his eyes glued to the papers, he casually muttered. “Y/N L/N.”
Nodding, you thanked him and almost twirled to head out his room until you realized whose name Taeyong had just said. “ME?” your tone raised in surprise and eyes blown out in disbelief.
Taeyong finally lifted his gaze to land on you and smirked. “Care to accompany me on my vacation?”
new family was sososo adorable and fun!! love how yuta, taeyong and johnny were the perfect babysitters for ariel because they’re basically big babies taking care of each other themselves, their dynamics were so fun! also love how in the end even though ariel and y/n moved and yuta and y/n adopted more kids, johnny and taeyong are stilll there. in my head i can see them two bringing in their respective future partners to live in the same space and they’re one big, blended family. they will probably need a bigger place though… also yuta’s mom! she was so sweet! i loved how she was instantly charmed by y/n and ariel because they gad completely charmed her son first. overall, it was so cute and sweet!! i loved 🥰💕
💖💖💖 I'm so happy you enjoyed New Family so much!! I really love how this one turned out with the 95 line and I'm so glad it was fun! I love the idea of everyone living together and for sure they'd need a bigger house haha! And yes, have to admire Yuta's mom for being so sweet and unconditionally accepting y/n and Ariel. It’s such a cute and playful story that this just might be my go-to story for an instant picker upper.
Genre: Yuta x single mother!reader, angst, humour, fluff
Warnings: topic of infertility
Word count: 8k
Plot: After your broken marriage with Kun, you vowed to love and protect your adopted daughter on your own... until Johnny, Taeyong and Yuta came into the picture serving as her three new babysitters/uncles, with one of them ultimately becoming the father of your child.
- ❀ -
Your eyes burned as you scowled at your husband. “Kun, we’ve been through this before we even started our relationship. You should know everything I feel about this.” You tried keeping your voice firm enough to get your thoughts across but low enough for your little one to not hear the conversation. The last thing you wanted was for Ariel to eavesdrop and think she wasn’t wanted, wasn’t loved. Your voice broke as you whispered the next words. “I thought you loved me.”
Kun held your face gently and with a soft tone, he said, “I do love you. That’s why I’m saying this. Shouldn’t we at least try?”
You shook your head and removed his touch from you. “I thought you were happy with Ariel.”
Taking a deep breath in, he let out the suppressed feelings he had in order to keep you happy. “I don’t have a problem with Ariel... except...” You sucked in a sharp breath, fear surging through your veins for what might be the end of your relationship with your husband. “She’s not our blood. She doesn’t have any of... us in her. I’m of course going to fulfill my duty as her father and take care of her, but don’t you think we should have a baby of our own?”
The insides of your cheeks drew blood as you bit down harder to stop yourself from crying in front of him. “Kun... stop.” Your tone carried a lethal seriousness and if he continued, you wouldn’t be able to hold back the twitching in your hand.
“There’s a doctor I heard and he can help you- us. Just think about-”
Before he could finish, your hand connected to his cheeks, creating the deafening sound from the slap. You wished you could keep quiet, but you couldn’t take it anymore and shouted at him. “I told you I wanted to adopt a child back when we were dating. I have no interest having a child with my blood. Do you even remember anything I said, or did my words just went in one ear and came out the other?” Your shoulders violently shook and the tears that you tried so hard to contain poured out. “You don’t love me.”
The shock registered in his eyes and met your saddened ones. He reached out to hold you but you took a step back, not wanting anything to do with him anymore. His shoulders slumped and muttered, “Y/N, please, I do love you. I’m just trying to help.”
“When did I say I ever wanted help? Did you think I was lying to myself all this time? Did you really think I wanted Ariel just because I was frustrated being infertile?”
Silence was all you were met with as he gaped at you while you panted furiously. He would never know, not when you first told him your reasons and certainly not that moment.
“You know what, Kun? I’m done. I’m tired of having to explain myself when you’re just being selfish. I... I can’t do this anymore. I want a divorce.”
It was as if you had struck a hard blow at his lungs and he couldn’t get oxygen to flow back in. “Y/N, please-”
You held your hand up to stop him. “Save it. I don’t want to hear anything. Clearly you don’t understand how much Ariel means to me and when you don’t feel the same way... we can’t be together anymore.” Your voice came out a lot softer than earlier.
Just when you turned on your heel to head for Ariel’s room, you froze with your blood running cold when you spotted the little girl peaking her head out from the doorframe. She watched you with big innocent eyes, her face void of emotion as her small brain failed to comprehend the reason for the argument. Tears pricked your eyes as you walked up to her, bending down to pick her up and strode out the house with your purse.
At the diner, you watched her eat a sandwich. Ariel didn’t look up when eating. Anxiety had peaked in you, worried if she thought she wasn’t wanted or loved.
“Ariel?” you called for her ever so softly.
She finally glanced up at you with big puppy eyes. She placed down her food and sat up straighter, waiting for your next words. You had been quiet the entire time since leaving home, even in the car.
You sighed. “Do you understand what happened between mommy and... daddy?” It didn’t feel right calling Kun her father anymore when he clearly didn’t feel like one, at least at the level you felt being Ariel’s mother.
When you saw her shake her head, the biggest breath of relief left your mouth. You were going to have to take it slow and easy for her to understand that she wouldn’t be seeing Kun anymore. “Ariel, do you remember where you came from?”
She nodded. “From a place with other kids.”
“That’s right. It’s called an orphanage. It’s where kids that don’t have parents live. It’s where daddy and I went to take you as our own.”
“Do all kids come from orphanage?”
You shook your head. “No. Your classmate Bob? He came from his mom’s stomach so his mom is his biological mom.” You sighed out for your next painful words that could change Ariel’s view of you as her mother. “I’m not your biological mom, but I’m your mom who promised you to raise you with just as much love as Bob would get from his mom. We might not share the same blood, but we have an emotional bond, and that’s the most important thing in family.”
Ariel stared at you silently with her lips slightly apart.
You exhaled from your nose and asked, “I know this is too much for you to understand. All I want to know is... do you feel my love for you, Ariel? Do you feel that I am your mommy?”
For a moment, she didn’t respond and your heart beat erratically in fear of her answer that could shatter you forever. But when she slowly nodded, the biggest smile spread across your face. “Yeah, I do.”
“Thank you, love. Remember that no matter what, I’ll always love you.”
“And daddy?”
You stilled at the mention of Kun. The best response that you could think of without having to break her heart that he wasn’t on the same page as you was, “He won’t be in our lives anymore.”
- ❀ -
[A year later]
“Yo dude, check this out!” Johnny picked out a black and white maid dress, the type that resembled in Japanese anime. A transparent plastic package was attached to the dress that included a headband, gloves and socks set. “I dare Taeyong to wear this whenever he cleans the house.”
Taeyong hung the bucket hat back on the rack and looked at Johnny’s outrageous pick. His jaw dropped to the shiny tiles of the department store. “I’m not wearing that.”
Yuta was amused by the tall boy’s idea. “Perfect. And he can serve us afternoon tea.”
“Or coffee,” Johnny added.
Taeyong crossed his arms and glared angrily. “Dream all you want. I’m never getting into that thing.”
Johnny puckered his lips as his brain racked up on a sly deal. “You know Samantha... my manager at Starbucks?”
A brow quirked up on Taeyong’s annoyed face. “Yeah?”
“I can get her to give me a whole box of dried sweet potatoes for free. All for you.” Johnny batted his eyelashes innocently, hoping his naïve friend would give in.
Taeyong’s gaze shook as he almost gave into his beloved goguma. With a huff, he denied the bribery. “I’ll buy it myself.”
“I can make it two boxes for free.”
Yuta let out a low “Ooh~” and watched for his friend’s reaction to an irresistible offer. Taeyong’s mouth watered at the thought of him stuffing his mouth with the tempting snack and ultimately gave in. “Fine. But only after I get those boxes.”
Johnny smiled. “Consider it done.”
Taeyong scowled as he eyed the cosplay with mild disgust but reminded himself the only thing that he was doing it for. Having enough of his friend’s teasing, he stormed away to seek comfort elsewhere without the others noticing.
Yuta resumed looking through the different caps and finally found an all-black one that he had been looking for a long time. Trying it on, he asked his friends how it looked.
“Looks cool, bro. Doesn’t it, Tae-” Johnny cut himself when said boy was nowhere to be seen. “Where did he go?”
Yuta sighed. “He really disappeared like a little kid.”
-
Taeyong fast-walked while checking backward to see if his friends were following and felt a tiny body collide into him. “Oof!” He looked down and noticed a little girl who was on the verge of tears. Gasping, he dropped down to her level. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
Right away, the little girl burst out into tears as she wailed.
Taeyong went into a full mode panic and shot up to his feet, frantically looking around for someone who could be the girl’s parent. By then, Johnny and Yuta spotted their friend and the mess that he had gotten into. “For the love of God, Taeyong, what did you do to her?”
“I swear I didn’t anything, Johnny!”
“Then why is she crying like that? Where are her parents?”
“I don’t know!”
Yuta walked up to the girl and crouched down in front of her. “Hi, I’m Yuta. This is Taeyong and that’s Johnny. What’s your name?” he asked with a gentle smile graced across his lips.
Her tears slowed down and sniffed loudly. “Ariel,” she answered weakly.
Yuta flashed her a toothy smile. “That’s a pretty name. How old are you?”
She played with her fingers and answered with a braver yet timid voice. “Six.”
“Wow, where’s your mom?”
At the mention of mother, she started crying loudly again. “I lost her!”
Now it was Taeyong’s turn to cry.
“Why on earth are you crying?” Johnny asked.
“This cute poor thing lost her mom! What is there to not cry?”
Johnny smacked his forehead. “Oh my God, she meant she lost her mom in this store. Not like that lost. Right, Ariel?”
Ariel’s little head nodded. “I got distracted and... she...”
Yuta wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “Don’t worry. We’ll help you find her, okay?”
Your breathing was heavy as you ran past the numerous aisles, at last reaching an open area where your little girl stood with three other men. “Ariel?” you shouted.
Her head whipped in your direction and beamed. “Mommy!” You let out a breath of pure relief and jogged up to her, pulling her into your embrace.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay, love?” you asked and placed a haste kiss her forehead.
She nodded with a wide grin and pointed at the boys. “Yeah, thanks to them.”
You looked up at them and profusely thanked them for their time. “Thank you so much for staying with Ariel. I don’t know how I lost her. I’m so...” Your eyes stung with regret that you couldn’t look after your own child.
Yuta spoke up using the same gentle tone that he used on Ariel. “Hey, don’t feel bad. It happens to everyone. We even lost this one today,” he pointed at Taeyong.
Taeyong rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Mine was intentional.”
You looked between the boys confused. “But he’s not a kid.”
Johnny laughed. “Trust us, he totally acts like one. Anyway, we haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Johnny and this kid here is Taeyong.”
“Hey! I’m not a kid!” Taeyong crossed his arms and pouted just like a toddler.
You smiled at their comical interaction. “I’m Y/N, and I really thank you again for staying with Ariel.” You sniffed as your hold onto your daughter tightened gently.
Yuta smiled at you, softly admiring how adorable and caring you were with your child. “Nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Yuta.”
- ❀ -
Later in the week, the sunny afternoon was busy as the three boys maneuvered around the crowd in the shopping district. Taeyong’s eyes sparkled at the sight of a chocolate shop. “Look!”
Inside, Taeyong’s eyes glimmered at the sight of varieties sitting in the long display case. His hands were planted against the glass and looked up at the employee. “They all look so good. I can’t pick. Can I have everything?”
The employee was stunned by Taeyong’s costly request. “Sure. Just one of everything?”
Shaking his head, he held up three fingers. “Three of each.”
The worker glanced at the two friends behind Taeyong, who didn’t seem much interested in their friend’s sweet tooth. “Oh, for your friends too? That’s really nice of you.”
Johnny interfered and laughed. “Oh no. All of those chocolates are ending up in his tummy,” he corrected.
Taeyong huffed. “I might give you the ones I don’t like.”
“As if that’s gonna happen. You not liking sweets? Impossible!”
Yuta’s phone rang and learned that it was from none other than his favourite woman in the world. “It’s my mom. Don’t you dare make any noise, Johnny.”
The tall one stayed quiet, and the second Yuta answered the call, Johnny began making lewd noises. “Oh! Yuta senpai,” he moaned in a girly tone, seductively wiggling his eyebrows at him.
Taeyong smacked the older one’s arm. “Stop it, Johnny!”
Yuta sighed. “I should have known. I’ll be outside,” he informed and began making his way towards the exit.
Though Johnny didn’t drop his act. “No, senpai, don’t leave!”
“Who’s that? Is it a girl? Am I finally having a grandchild?” his mother excitedly inquired.
“No mom, you know that was Johnny. And for you to have a grandkid, I need to be dating which is not happening right now.” Yuta stepped back out into the crowd and inhaled the fresh cool air.
He heard his mother tut in disappointment. “I really want to carry a baby version of you in my arms one day.”
“And you will. You still have a long life ahead and you’ll live to see your great grandkid.” Yuta stopped in his tracks once his eyes laid on a small abandoned shoe in the middle of the sidewalk. “Oh...” He breathed out and picked it up, inspecting the white shoe with pink laces and golden star prints.
“What happened?”
“I found a shoe. It looks like a little girl lost it.”
A small gasp was heard, followed by, “Oh dear, that’s unfortunate. Look around. Maybe they haven’t gotten far.”
Yuta scanned the crowd back and forth, and with squinted eyes landed on the potential victim with a missing shoe being carried by her mother. “I think I found her. Thanks mom! I’ll talk to you later. Love you!” Hanging up, he sprinted towards her and as he approached closer, he quickly realized who they were. “Y/N!” he called out.
You halted in your steps and looked around for the source of the voice, finding the familiar gentleman from the store the other day. Ariel whipped her head in his way and her eyes brightened up. “Mommy, it’s Yuta!”
Once Yuta caught up, his lips stretched into an angelic smile. “Hi Y/N, I found this on the ground. It seems like Ariel lost it,” he explained and held his hand out showing the shoe.
Confused, you looked down at your daughter’s feet and indeed found one of her feet without the matching pair. “Goodness! Thank you so much, Yuta!”
“No problem. Here, I’ll put it on for her.”
While Ariel was still in your arms, Yuta gently inserted her foot into the sneaker, tying up the laces tightly to prevent it from slipping off again. You watched him quietly and wondered how someone that you met once before was taking care of Ariel better than your ex-husband. You had never seen Kun help Ariel with her shoes, it always being your task, and so seeing Yuta voluntarily do so made your heart flutter.
“All done, young lady. Be careful next time. Don’t want to stress your mom out.”
“Thanks Yuta! Sorry mommy, I’ll be careful next time,” Ariel said with an adorable pout which made you snap out of your daze.
Yuta smiled at the little girl’s cuteness. “Looks like you two are having a nice mother-daughter bonding today. Where’s Ariel’s father?”
Both you and Ariel glanced at each other and shared a look. You cleared your throat and answered, “He’s not with us anymore. I’m divorced.”
Yuta’s mouth fell open. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
You shook your head smiling. “It’s fine. I won’t tolerate anyone who doesn’t love Ariel. Whether I love them or not. My daughter comes first.”
He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “Wait, he didn’t love Ariel? How’s that possible? Isn’t she his daughter too?”
You shrugged your shoulders. “I thought so too, but no.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s adopted.”
Complete shock registered on his face at the disbelieving news. “You adopted Ariel? Wow, I would have never known.”
“Really? Why is that?”
A genuine smile curled onto his face. “You both are very beautiful.”
- ❀ -
Taeyong paused the game on the TV and turned to his pals after hearing the news. “Whoa, I never would have thought Ariel was adopted.”
“Right? Like they both looked really close, but that’s pretty cool and bold of Y/N to leave her husband for her adopted child,” Johnny added.
Yuta hummed in agreement with an unknowing smile tugging at the corner of his lips when he thought about you. “Mhm, and because she’s raising Ariel alone, I offered to look after Ariel whenever she needs help.”
“Nice bro.” Johnny looked around the house and realized the slight cleaning that would have to get done. “So for that, we need to make this house child friendly.” He then locked his gaze on the one perfect for the job.
Taeyong understood the assignment and let out a long sigh. He had already gotten the stash of sweet potatoes from Johnny, so now it was his turn to complete the deal. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“Nope,” Johnny said, popping the ‘p’.
With another deep sigh, Taeyong hopped off the couch and headed to change into his outfit.
Just then, Yuta’s phone began ringing and the caller ID displayed made his heart skip a beat. “Hi Y/N, what’s up?” he asked with a huge toothy smile.
Johnny watched him converse with you over the phone, a smirk curling up at the possibility of his friend having a crush on you.
-
You unbuckled Ariel’s seatbelt and helped her down from your car. It may seem bizarre for you to entrust your child to someone you met a couple of times, but seeing that they didn’t take advantage of a little girl lost in an uncrowded store could mean that they were trustworthy. Ariel’s regular caretaker had recently changed jobs and so you had been dropping her off at your parents’ house while trying to find another one. Your parents weren’t the best permanent solution as they lived quite far. Yuta’s offer was like an angelic blessing and you hoped that Ariel would enjoy her time with them.
Walking up to the front door of their house, you rang the bell with your daughter’s hand in yours. After a moment, the door opened, revealing an annoyed-looking Taeyong who quickly changed his expression when his bright eyes landed on the two of you. “Oh! I didn’t know you were coming. Come in!”
But you didn’t budge. Not when your jaw hung in shock at what he was wearing. A maid costume. “Why are you dressed like that?”
Confused, he looked down and it was at that moment that he realized what he had on. “Oh fu-”
You cleared your throat loudly and silently indicated with your eyes to not swear in front of Ariel.
Taeyong blinked and finished his word off with “...fudge.”
“You look cute,” Ariel said with a cute smile, which made Taeyong blush hard at the compliment.
“You should thank Johnny. It was his idea,” said Yuta who came out to greet you. “Hi Y/N.” He gave you his best healing smile that made your stomach suddenly become a home for butterflies.
You shifted your gaze downward towards your feet and greeted back with a small voice. “Hi. I didn’t know you guys were busy.”
“Oh no, we weren’t. Taeyong’s just cleaning. You can leave Ariel to us. We’ll take good care of her,” he reassured.
Nodding, you informed, “I’ll be back by evening.” You met his eyes again and were struck by the sparkle in them. “Thank you so much, Yuta.” You turned to Taeyong and gave him an awkward smile. “...and Taeyong.” Taeyong mirrored it back and apologized silently with his eyes. Bending down, you kissed Ariel’s forehead and made sure she was okay before leaving from their sight for work.
Into the living room, Johnny caught sight of the little girl and grinned. “Hi, Ariel! How are you?”
Yuta helped Ariel take off her backpack and she grinned back toothily at Johnny. “Good.”
“That’s good. Come sit.” Johnny patted on the spot next to him and she followed. He wondered what to converse about and thought of the best thing coming up. “You know, Halloween is coming up. Do you know what you want to be, Ariel?”
Her tiny head bobbed and caught sight of the pretty boy walking in. “I wanna wear one too,” she said while pointing at Taeyong’s costume.
Taeyong chuckled nervously. “I don’t think Y/N will like that.”
Yuta nodded in agreement and said to Ariel, “You’re more suited to be a princess.”
Taeyong rolled his eyes and grumbled. “I’d rather be a princess than a maid.”
“You should be Cinderella. That how Cinderella happened,” Johnny pointed out.
An idea hit Ariel that made her bounce in her seat with a clap. “Oh! Let’s be twinsies! We can both be princesses!” she suggested to Taeyong.
Taeyong’s eyes went wide at the thought. “That’s a great idea!”
Ariel squealed and clapped happily. “Cinderella is blue so you can wear blue. I’ll wear pink.”
Taeyong pouted innocently. “But I like pink...”
She gasped loudly in excitement. “Then we both wear pink. Double twinsies!”
Yuta clapped his hands to gather their attention. “You know what this calls for? Costume shopping!”
- ❀ -
It was the night of Halloween and you arrived at their home. Johnny insisted on taking Ariel and Taeyong together for trick-or-treating with you and Johnny supervising them. Yuta was busy and couldn’t join which made your heart a little disappointed.
When you walked into their house and first saw Taeyong’s costume, you stared in disbelief at the two kids on opposite ends of the height spectrum twinning. “Taeyong wanted this? Is he okay?” you asked in a hushed tone.
Johnny chuckled. “Yes, very normal. Just an innocent child trapped in an adult body.”
Taeyong and Ariel wore pink princess costumes with satin gloves covering up to their elbows and fake diamond tiaras resting on their heads, and of course glossy pumps to complete the look for both of them.
Taeyong twirled in his spot, making the skirt fly a little. “This is fun!” he squealed as he looked at himself in the mirror.
Ariel beamed at him. “Right!”
Sighing, Johnny added, “I wish Yuta was able to make it and see this. Oh right, let me take a picture and send it to him.” He fished out his phone and quickly snapped a natural shot before asking for the princesses’ attention and poses.
-
You and Johnny slowly followed behind the two eager princesses hopping door-to-door for the treats, keeping an eye on them from a distance, specially to make sure Taeyong wouldn’t get tricked into entering a stranger’s house for... possibly anything as Johnny said.
You had been growing curious of the three boys taking great care of your daughter. “You, Taeyong and Yuta look pretty close seeing that you live together.”
Johnny smiled and nodded. “Yup. We’ve been together since college days.”
“What do you guys do for living? I’m surprised you guys are always ready to look after Ariel.”
He nodded. “Yeah, what we do is pretty convenient for us to look after her. I’m a barista, Taeyong games, and Yuta’s a soccer coach.”
Your lips formed an ‘oh’ at the surprising fact about Yuta. “So that’s why Yuta’s busy tonight?”
“Yup. He loves soccer and loves to teach others, especially kids.”
A fond smile spilled across your lips and you tried to supress it shyly.
But Johnny noticed it and smirked covertly. “Yuta’s charming, isn’t he?”
Just as you were about to nod your head fervently in agreement, you froze as you were close to exposing your crush to his friend. Instead, you cleared your throat and did your best to casually answer a curt, “Yeah.”
Johnny smiled at your reaction, and now that it was clear both you and his dear friend liked each other, he wondered how long it would take before the two confessed. In his pocket, he felt his phone vibrate and fished it out, finding a text from that very friend. “Yuta said he’s home now and he’ll give out treats until we get back.”
It was near Ariel’s bedtime by the time the two princesses were done with their trick-or-treat expedition. Johnny was kind to carry Ariel’s bag of treats while you held her hand, and also Taeyong’s bag while he tried to walk barefoot with both hands busy holding the pumps and skirt up.
“You should have just worn sneakers. It’s not like anyone was going to see anyway,” Johnny said to the older princess.
Taeyong pouted. “Let me feel like a proper princess! Especially after that maid costume you forced me to wear!”
You stared at Taeyong when he said the last part. “You were forced?”
Realization hit him and he nodded feverishly to explain himself. “Yeah! I actually didn’t want to wear that so please don’t take it the wrong way.” Taeyong’s head hung low as his pout grew. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Johnny rolled his eyes. “Please, you weren’t forced. I offered free dried sweet potatoes and you agreed.”
“You took advantage of my weakness!”
You stifled back a laugh at their bickering and headed up their front door to ring the doorbell while the other two caught up. Seconds later, the door swung open and you were greeted with a beaming Yuta after finding you and Ariel at the door and not the trick-or-treaters.
“Did you have fun?” he asked especially to the little one.
Ariel nodded and bounced her way inside. “Yeah, especially with Taeyong! Right Taeyong?” she asked to the one just stepping inside.
Taeyong huffed as he dropped the pumps on the floor and focused his attention onto the little girl. “Oh yeah, for sure!” And with a tiny voice said, “Sneakers would have been better.”
Johnny heard that. “See!”
“Shh!” Taeyong shushed him childishly.
You shook your head at the two and asked Yuta, “So how was it here? Were there lots of kids?”
Yuta nodded. “Yup, and I gave them special treats that no one would usually give,” he said proudly.
You frowned slightly, wondering what kind of treat that was. “What did you give them?”
Yuta smiled cunningly and whispered into your ear out of Ariel’s earshot who was already bounding for the living room where the TV was on. “Alcohol gummy bears.”
Your heart stopped for a second and in shock muttered, “You’re joking.” There was no way he’d give something like that to kids, especially after what Johnny had said about him.
But the serious look on his face said otherwise. “No, I’m not.”
You stared at him hard, hoping he’d break the prank and say that he was.
Johnny noticed the shift in mood and asked, “What’s up?”
You turned to him and asked, “Would Yuta really have given out alcohol gummies to kids?”
Taeyong gasped loudly and scolded him. “Yuta! That’s not right!”
But Johnny only stared at his friend, knowing very well that he loved to joke a lot.
Growing restless, you asked, “How many kids did you give them to? Oh my God, I need to stop them all.” You were almost about to bolt out the house with Taeyong right behind you until Yuta called out for you. “Y/N!”
You stopped in your tracks when your hand was on the doorknob.
With a blank face, Yuta said, “I was joking. I just gave them all lollipops.”
You only stared at him in disbelief with your mouth hanging slightly.
Taeyong yelled at him. “Hey! That wasn’t funny! We could have gotten into trouble if you actually did that!”
Yuta waited for your reaction. He really liked you a lot and only wanted to play with you, let you see his natural prankster side.
The panic inside you was quickly replaced with anger. You didn’t want to know what could have happened to very small children eating adult gummies. And so you weren’t going to hold back. “Yu- I’m going to kill you!” you screamed and darted for where Yuta stood.
Yuta panicked when seeing the fury in your eyes and ran for his life.
Johnny laughed when seeing his friend pulled a trick on you for the first time.
- ❀ -
The boys spent the afternoon at the park where Yuta supervised Ariel going up the slide while waiting for her at the base to catch her. Taeyong would follow her up and even placed her on his lap to slide down together, resulting in the little girl screaming joyfully as Taeyong squealed on their way down.
When the sun began to set, the two boys held the little girl’s hands while on their way home. The sun was bothering Ariel and Yuta noticed her squinting eyes as she poorly attempted to shun the blinding sun from her vision. Thankfully, Yuta had his black cap on him and so he took it off to place it on her tiny head.
“Oh! Thank you, Yuta!” she grinned happily at him, doing her best to meet his eyes through the oversized cap.
Taeyong raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Wow, you’re giving her your favourite cap? You never let me wear it.”
Yuta stuck his tongue out at him. “Ariel’s special. And go get your own.” His grip on her hand tightened gently, which sent a warm feeling across Ariel’s chest.
When they arrived home, Johnny was back from work with takeout food ready to be devoured in the living room. “Did you have fun, Ariel? You must be hungry,” he asked.
She skipped over to the smell of the delicious food and nodded excitedly after placing the cap down on the sofa. “Yes! I’m so hungry.”
Yuta called out for her. “Ariel, let’s wash up first before we eat.”
“Okay!” she followed him as he led the way to the washroom. On the way there and unseen by the taller boy’s eyes, Ariel spotted an uninvited hairy guest on the wall and screamed.
Yuta spun on his heels and panicked. “What happened?”
“There’s a big spider!” she yelled and pointed at the monster.
His eyes followed her pointed finger and sheer horror settled in. “What the!” He quickly went inside the washroom to find something.
Taeyong and Johnny sprinted to her scream and Johnny backed up with his hands up after seeing the reason. “I’m not taking care of that.”
Taeyong rolled his eyes. “It’s just a cute spider. Don’t worry Ariel, I got this.”
Just before Taeyong could take another step forward to collect the innocent creature into his hands, Yuta dashed out and smacked a slipper at the wall hard, crushing the insect to its death. It was as if everything went into slow motion for Taeyong after that as he watched his potential friend fall wrecked to the floor.
Yuta dropped down to hug Ariel in comfort. “Don’t worry, Ariel. That spider can’t hurt us anymore.”
Meanwhile, Taeyong dropped to his knees by the dead body of the spider. “You could have waited for me to escort Jason out!” he cried.
Johnny cleared his throat and gently suggested, “Um, Jason’s taken. Remember the snake I named? Pick a different name.”
Taeyong took the feedback positively and corrected, “You could have waited for me to take Harry out!”
“The name’s quite fitting,” Johnny mumbled to himself.
After the Harry commotion and Taeyong buried its corpse in the yard, they finally sat down to eat.
“What did you do today at school? Anything fun happen?” Johnny asked.
Ariel puffed in frustration when recalling a particular event of the day. “Bob.”
“Who’s Bob?”
She frowned as her browns knitted together. “He’s my classmate,” and somehow her frown deepened, “... and my friend.”
“What’s wrong? Is he mean to you?” Taeyong asked.
Yuta felt red and bothered by the thought of Ariel being bullied. “If he is, I’ll set him straight!”
She shook her head. “No, he’s not mean but... he said he likes me,” she pouted innocently.
Johnny raised his eyebrows. “Ooo~ so your friend has a crush on you. Do you like him back?”
Her tiny shoulders shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“If he treats you like a princess, then go for it. I root for sappy romance,” Taeyong said with his mouth full.
Johnny tutted in disproval. “Nuh uh, she should play hard to get. Right Yuta?”
Yuta on the other hand was pin-drop quiet, not liking the thought of Ariel experiencing a heartache. “I’m not supporting this. They’re too young!”
“What do you mean? They have to experience the beauty of love!” Taeyong shouted.
Yuta shook his head. “I don’t trust Bob. He’s gonna break her heart.”
“What makes you say that?” Johnny asked, suspicious of his friend. “You sound a lot like Ariel’s protective dad.”
Yuta lost his tongue at the sound of him being called Ariel’s father. He liked that, he really wanted that. To officially become her father. Whether or not he could, he would make sure Ariel wouldn’t miss out on having a father next to her as she grew.
“Say whatever you guys want. I’m not supporting this!”
- ❀ -
Johnny swirled his coffee before taking a sip out of the cup. “Taeyong, what do you think about Y/N?” It was only the two of them watching over Ariel at the dog cafe.
Taeyong sipped his iced americano and looked up at Ariel who played with the dogs. “She’s cool. Why?”
“How about setting up Yuta with her?”
Taeyong blinked at his friend. “What?”
“It’s obvious Yuta likes her, and from the looks of it, Y/N does too.”
“You sure it’s a good idea to set them up? And...” Taeyong stared at Ariel cheerful and surrounded by the dogs loving her. “What about Ariel?”
Johnny smirked and leaned back in his seat with confidence. “I have a plan.”
-
Ringing the doorbell, you waited while glancing upward at the dark sky. The small twinkling of stars brought a warm calming feeling inside you. The door clicked open, and you diverted your gaze onto the person being none other than the one who set your heart alight.
Yuta gleamed brighter than the stars, making your heart go fuzzy. “Oh Y/N! Come in.” He stepped aside for you and you smiled back at him.
Just as you took your shoes off, you noticed something off. “Where’s Ariel?” Her shoes were missing from the regular spot you’d see them.
Yuta’s smile faltered and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Um, she’s out with Taeyong and Johnny.”
You nodded. “Oh okay. When will they be back?”
He gave you a sheepish smile. “That’s the thing. They were supposed to be back by now.”
You blinked confusedly at him. “Did you call them?”
He pressed his lips together. “Their phones are switched off.”
“Do you know where they went?”
“Taeyong told me they’re at a dog cafe.”
“Dog cafe?” Checking the time on your phone, it was near the time for closing hour. “It should be closing soon,” you muttered.
“I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”
It was quiet in the living room as you waited anxiously for Ariel while dealing with the uncomfortable silence between you and your crush. His leg bounced while trying to think of something to do and divert your mind from worrying about your daughter who was in safe hands. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
You didn’t want to eat without your daughter. “No, I’m good.” And just then, the thing you didn’t want happening happened.
A monster grumbling in your stomach.
Yuta held back his laugh, realizing the truth. “I’m sure Ariel had something already. The boys are quite big eaters.” Standing up, he stood in front of you, holding out his hand for yours. “Let’s make something to eat. What do you say?”
You were hesitant of filling your stomach, but you hoped they would be back by the time food was ready. And so you gave him a forced smile and took his hand, feeling the electrifying warmth of his hand.
-
To say you were horrified pretty much summed up how you felt watching Yuta cook okonomiyaki. The mess in the kitchen while the man you liked prepped everything with confidence had you conflicted whether you should swoon over his manly charisma or panic at the unhygienic practices. You could only be thankful that Ariel never returned home sick if he had ever cooked for her.
You helped set the table while Yuta brought the dinner on a huge plate. Sitting across from each other, you went in first, hesitant of how the taste would turn out, but at the end you smiled at the tasty dish. “It’s pretty good. Thanks,” you muttered shyly.
His teeth flashed when grinning. “I’m glad.”
“So... how often do you cook?” you asked.
“Rarely. Usually we takeout or Taeyong cooks.”
Your eyes went wide upon learning that the most childish one in the household could cook. “Taeyong cooks?”
He chuckled softly. “Yes, shocking, he has his grownup times. And I’m not saying like he can cook to survive, but make fancy restaurant type foods.”
You bobbed your head at the news and glanced at the wall clock, the time displaying that the boys should have brought Ariel home a while ago.
Yuta noticed your anxiousness and reached for your free hand on the table, giving it a gentle reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they would be on their way. Maybe they got hungry and are eating out.”
A shaky breath slipped past your lips. “I can’t help but worry. I just hope she never thinks I don’t love her like how biological parents would. I know it’s a silly worry when it hasn’t even been that long, but I can’t stand anything that’ll make her cry... or make her feel unwanted.” Your eyes began to feel wet and you tried hard not to let the tears fall out, but somehow they went against your will and slipped.
Yuta’s heart ached when seeing you like this and the only thing he could do was slip out of his seat and rounded around the table for you, pulling you into his warm embrace.
- ❀ -
The next time you went to pick up your daughter had you completely puzzled. Taeyong opened the door with Ariel by his side. “Hi Y/N!” he greeted with a massive toothy grin and a lot of spirit. Ariel covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.
You eyed between the two confusedly. “Hi, how are things?” you asked him.
“Good good. Ariel actually wants to show you something. Right Ariel?” The secret look he gave her showed that something was up.
Ariel giggled and nodded eagerly. “Yeah! Come with me mommy!” She took your hand while you rushed to take off your shoes and hurried after her.
She led you inside one of the bedrooms while holding your hand tightly, and all the air got knocked out of your lungs when you saw what laid before your eyes. Regular red and pink balloons were littered everywhere covering the floor, while heart-shaped ones floated in the air. A big poster was hung to the wall which had the words ‘Y/N, will you be my girlfriend?’ in huge letters. It was a simple set up for a simple proposal. If you were proposed like this earlier in your life, you would be ecstatic and ready to say yes in a millisecond.
But at that moment, all that settled in you was dread.
The man behind the proposal appeared to your side with the smile that stole your heart. Ariel nudged you to look at Yuta, but you couldn’t get yourself to look at him. You wanted to accept the proposal so badly. But you couldn’t, not before having the talk.
“Ariel, can you leave us alone?” you asked softly, not having met Yuta’s eyes yet.
Yuta’s smile faltered when seeing the seriousness on your face and Ariel gave him a blank look. “Okay…” she muttered and shuffled her feet to the door, giving one last look at you and Yuta before closing the door.
Yuta warily went stand in front of you. “What’s wrong?” he asked gently. “You don’t have to answer me right now. I just wanted to show you how much I like you. Oh, and I’ll prepare a better proposal afterwards. I-” He stopped his ramblings in shock once spotting a teardrop slip down your face.
You sniffed and pushed away the tear on your cheek. “Yuta, I can’t,” you spoke curtly hoping to keep your strong resolute, but it was slowly killing you when all you wanted to do was scream ‘yes’.
The rejection broke him. “Why?” he asked ever so softly. “Do you not like me?”
You did, far more than any other guy you’d been with in life. With a deep breath in, you told him the one vow you’d made for yourself. “For me, Ariel will always come first. She’s my entire life and I will not let anyone get in between us. I’m worried that Ariel wouldn’t be loved as much as I love her, so I promised myself that I wouldn’t ever let another guy into my life, no matter how much I like you. I’m sorry, Yuta.”
For the first time, you looked up at him to see the sadness swimming in his eyes, and you felt like drowning in them. And it was then that you noticed him holding something in his grasp. A bouquet of blushing roses. Your heart broke more at the beautiful sight in his grasp. Yuta had poured his heart for you and you had rejected him against your own will.
After gathering his thoughts, he spoke quietly. “But Y/N,” he began. “What if I love Ariel as much as you do?”
You shook your head. “I don’t know. I don’t want a repeat of history like I did with my ex. I’m infertile so I won’t be able to have a child of my blood, but I don’t care because to adopt children is my biggest dream. I thought my ex was on the same page as me and loved Ariel but…” The painful memories of how Kun came clean with you and told you that he didn’t love Ariel like the way you did rushed in your mind.
Yuta reached one hand out for yours, gently caressing the back of your hand with his thumb. The gesture had tingles surge throughout your body despite the current mood. “I promise you that I love Ariel will all my heart. And you won’t have to worry about her not being loved because she has Johnny and Taeyong as well.”
Your brows furrowed anxiously in worry. “Are you sure?”
He nodded with assurance. “It’s okay for Ariel to come first. That’s a motherly feeling. But just know that I will love you and Ariel equally.” His healing smile came back, calming your worries and igniting your heart. “Ariel as my little princess, and you as my queen.”
- ❀ -
Your palms panicked as a cold sweat broke out. “Are you sure she’ll accept me and Ariel?” you asked your boyfriend. It was the only thing eating your mind the second you heard a dinner was arranged at his parents’ home for his mother to meet the girls that stole their son’s heart.
Yuta flashed his pearly teeth, his bright and calm state a complete opposite to your antsy and worried one. “Positive. There’s no way my mother will not love you two.”
Ariel looked out the window excitedly from her car seat as the trees sped by. “Am I meeting my new grandma, dad?”
Yuta’s grip on the steering wheel tightened and a wave of pleasurable emotions washed over him. It wasn’t the first time that he had heard her call him dad. Ariel had already started calling Yuta her dad the second you and Yuta announced your new relationship. “Yes, you are. And there’s no way grandma won’t like you when you’re so adorable.”
You sighed softly and crossed your fingers for it.
-
When the door of Yuta’s parents’ home burst open, your heart nearly stopped beating and braced yourself for the worst. A fairly young-looking woman despite the few wrinkles in her skin bounced on her heels, ecstatic to meet her granddaughter. Her eyes first land on you and warmly greeted you. “You must be Y/N! It’s so lovely to see you after all my son has spoken about you.”
Heat embraced your cheeks upon learning of your boyfriend talking about you with your soon-to-be mother-in-law… if it even got to that stage.
She then spotted the little girl that she had been waiting for all day. Crouching down, she asked, “And are you my granddaughter?”
Ariel grinned toothily and nodded. “Yes! I’m Ariel.”
Yuta’s mother held out a hand for Ariel to take. “Let’s head inside. I made something special for you.”
When your daughter and his mother headed in, your boyfriend nudged you gently. “Still nervous?” he asked.
Huffing out a breath, you muttered, “She still has to learn the truth, doesn’t she?” You always thought that every dream of a parent was to have a grandbaby with their children’s genes. That wasn’t possible in your case and you greatly worried if Ariel would be rejected because she was a complete stranger by not having your blood. You couldn’t bear the image of seeing Ariel heartbroken and unloved by her grandparents and so you desperately hoped that Yuta’s mother was unlike every other parent.
Yuta didn’t answer you and contrary to your belief, a curl lifted at the corner of his lips.
-
At the dining table, Yuta’s mother practically had heart eyes for the little girl politely nibbling on her meal. “How is she so cute?” the elder gushed.
You gave her a sheepish smile while Yuta smirked.
“How old was she when you adopted her?”
Your breathing stopped at the realization that she knew Ariel was adopted. But did she know about your condition? “She was three.”
She placed a hand over her heart. “Oh my, you must have pictures of baby her back then.”
Nodding, you muttered, “I do.” The longer the dinner went on, the more dread settled in your stomach.
Her eyes locked on you and said, “The next one you decide to adopt, please let it be a tiny baby.”
Your heart stopped. “Huh?”
Her warm smile touched your heart. “I want to get that grandmother feeling when taking care of a baby. And I’ll make sure Ariel will be a great big sister.”
You were completely baffled by her words and it could only mean one thing. “You know?” you asked her.
She nodded. “Of course! Yuta already told me about it.”
An annoyed look was shot at Yuta for having kept you in the dark. “You had me stressed for nothing?” you asked him in disbelief.
Yuta innocently batted his eyes at you and sing-songed, “Surprise~”
The night went on with the anxiety completely banished. His mother commented that Yuta had suddenly become a family man and questioned that if he had to pick a favourite out of the three ladies in his life who he’d pick. While his mother used to be his favourite, you and Ariel were now more important. Out of the two of you, he picked his favourite to be the one that he had first met.
And you couldn’t be more grateful with that answer.
- ❀ -
[Seven years later]
Johnny walked out of the washroom with a hair towel rubbing against his head. Unknowingly, you bumped into him as you rushed to get ready for work.
“Sorry- oh my God, Johnny, can you stop walking around shirtless?” you scolded him in annoyance as your eyes fell onto his rock-hard abs which were on full display. At least he had a towel wrapped around his hips.
Taeyong spotted the commotion and sighed. “Old habits fail to break. It would have been better if it was at least Yuta, right Y/N?”
Your mind instantly went into the gutter when thinking about it. Flustered, you shouted, “Whatever! And don’t you have anything better to do, Taeyong? Go do laundry on Johnny’s abs.” You stormed off to check on your younger daughter.
Taeyong stared at his friend’s washboard-like abdominals and nodded in agreement. “Y/N’s right. I do have a lot of clothes to wash.”
Johnny incredulously gaped at him. “Dude, seriously?”
“What? We’ve more than doubled in household and there’s always twice as much kid clothes since Maymay is only two!”
You had begun living with the boys ever since the start of your relationship and had moved in with them completely after your marriage one year later. The two of you had adopted a baby boy named Chase a year after marriage and was currently six years old. Maymay was youngest and most recent adoption, being just a few months old after birth when taken as your own and currently two years old.
Yuta confusedly emerged from the bedroom and spotted his friends. “Why is Y/N acting weird?”
Johnny stifled back his laughter. “Her mind is in the gutter.”
“What did you do?”
Taeyong pointed out, “Can you not see Johnny’s washboard?”
“No because he’s blinded by love,” Johnny replied. “Oh, that reminds me. It’s been a while since you two had some quality time. Do you two wanna go out or should we take the kids out?”
Just then, the doorbell rang and the three men wondered who it could be early in the morning. Yuta went to answer the door and found a shy looking middle-schooled boy with round glasses waiting outside.
“Oh hi! I’m Jisung. I’m here to see Ariel.”
Yuta crossed his arms and frowned upon hearing his older daughter’s name. “What business do you have with my daughter?”
Jisung freaked out. “I-I I’m going to s-school with her.”
By then, Taeyong came to the rescue. “Hey, don’t scare the little boy. He’s Ariel’s classmate… and possibly boyfriend.”
Yuta’s eyes bulged out. “Boyfriend?” he screeched. “Not on my watch!”
Johnny appeared behind Yuta and informed Jisung, “Ariel just left from the back door. You’ll find her at the corner of the block.”
“WHAT?” Yuta screamed. “That’s not funny, John,” he scowled. “Ariel wouldn’t.”
Speaking of the princess, Ariel appeared with her backpack and ready to head for school with her classmate. “Hi Jisung!” She skipped over and hooked arms with him. “Let’s go!”
Yuta gasped at what his eyes were seeing. “No no no! You young lady-”
Taeyong held Yuta by the waist to stop him from nearing them. “We’ll see you after school.”
Ariel quickly glanced at her dad and uncles and waved her hand. “See you!”
After they departed, Taeyong let go of his friend and said, “You can’t stop Ariel from being with her soulmate! And why don’t you worry about Chase? He could turn into a heartbreaker!”
“I’ll beat his ass and make sure he respects girls!”
Johnny then pointed out, “Don’t you think you should be worried about Maymay? There’s no way boys at nursery school aren’t head over heels for the pretty quiet girl.”
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