𝓶.

25 | she/her

[heartsfromia]

heartsfromia masterlist

all works belong to me, and are of my intellectual property. works within the heartsfromia account are purely fiction, and have no correlation to the face-claims or public figures included in the writings. please be wise in differentiating real life from fiction.

C. SEUNGCHEOL

a favor | fluff | 2k words a helping hand | fluff | 4k words

Y. JEONGHAN

all thanks to you | fluff | 3.7k words someone like you | angst | 4.8k words

H. JOSHUA

you're all that matters | fluff | 2.6k words be my date | fluff | 3.9k words

W. JUNHUI

when we're not acting | fluff | 4.1k words while i still love you | angst | 5.6k words

K. SOONYOUNG

against all odds | fluff | 3.3k words the only exception | fluff | 4.8k words

J. WONWOO

string you along | fluff | 4.1k words knight in shining armor | fluff | 7.3k words

L. JIHOON

balance | fluff | 2.3k words critical inquiry | fluff | 6k words

L. SEOKMIN

try again | fluff | 1.7k words

K. MINGYU

i'm glad you're here | fluff | 0.7k words loving you | fluff | 1k words all i need to know | fluff | 2.6k words

X. MINGHAO

until you | fluff | 3.1k words

B. SEUNGKWAN

it's a deal | fluff | 4.4k words

C. VERNON

stuck with me | fluff | 4k words

L. CHAN

third times the charm | fluff | 2.4k words

[heartsfromia]

mission failed successfully — m. fuma

pairing: non-idol! fuma x f!reader

word count: 3,178

genre: detective au, fluff, unrequited love, y/n is a bit of a loser (endearing)

warnings: profanities, mentions of drugs and drug usage (mary-jane)

author's notes: let's act like it hasnt been 8327191 years since my last fic and the fact that i'm writing for TWO different groups now (still writing for seventeen although the worm in my brain that runs the fic wheel isn't really doing anything rn cuz im sad and i want to see them live) but anyway, hope yall enjoy this and please let me into tumblr luneville i like it here :> again, dont fall in love with ur coworkers !!! this is fiction.

This isn’t like him, why is he late?

Your foot tapped incessantly against the pavement, ears ringing as the bass vibrates the air around you even outside the club. Your eyes glanced back and forth from your watch, then to the left and right as you scanned through the passing figures, hoping that one of them would be your six-foot tall partner for tonight’s undercover mission, rushing towards with an apologetic look as sweat dripped down his temple—but no, none of them resembled him and time was ticking away.

As the minute goes by, you were convinced he wasn’t showing up for reasons unbeknownst to you yet, and you turned on your heels, readying yourself to enter the venue alone when—

“Detective Y/N?” Upon hearing your name, you turned to the deep voice, a hundred percent sure that it wasn’t your partner, Euijoo, whose voice was softer, smoother. Your breath hitched at your throat and your heart skipped as you recognized who called you.

There stood Murata Fuma, a fellow detective in your Narcotics division but because of his senior status, you rarely cross paths. Other than during morning briefings and probably the kitchen for your coffee at the precinct, you barely ever speak a word to him. Despite your limited interactions, you always find your eyes glancing towards him, lingering at the way his bomber jacket hugged his broad shoulders, or when he’s in his work shirt and rummaging through files, his sleeves were always pushed up to his elbows, a slight crease between his brows—

Okay, you look at him a bit too often for it to be a normal glance. Safe to say—as you’ve kept this secret for as long as you can remember—you have a crush on him. Not a necessarily convenient thing to have for your fellow co-worker—you’ve always thought that crushes were something you’d stop having after the age of nineteen, but here you were.

It took you by surprise, clearly, as Fuma approached you, dressed in a similar outfit to his day-to-day, although he opted for a leather jacket instead of his usual bomber for the mission today, blending well with the other clubbing-goers that were lining up the walls towards the entrance. The thing was: Byun Euijoo was assigned to accompany you for tonight’s mission. 

As you opened your mouth to ask, your phone vibrated in your pocket and you pulled out, seeing a message from Euijoo pop up on your lockscreen. 

Euijoo Hey Y/N, sorry for the last minute text, but I’ve asked Fuma to take my place because I have to go to the hospital for my sister. 

You I see, hope your sister’s okay

Euijoo Have fun ;)

You forgot to mention that Euijoo was the only one that knew of your underlying feelings towards the senior—having caught you gawking a couple more times than you’d like to admit. You made sure to send a very sweet reply (re: middle finger times three). 

“Hey, Murata-san…” Sound more awkward, can you? It’s comical how you’re able to go through hours and hours of interrogating perps, witnesses, victims, criminals, how you’re able to hit them where it hurts for a confession, and smooth talk your way into getting information, but your brain malfunctions when you’re in front of your crush. Nice job, Y/N, you’re an absolute professional. 

“Hey, Euijoo asked me to take his place for tonight.” There was a small smile on his lips, a smile you recognized dearly because it is the same one he has whenever you both make brief eye contact. It was also the smile he had when dealing with witnesses, urging them to provide as much information as they could. It was there, it held the warmth of a kind stranger, someone you don’t know, but they never had any bad intentions. “He already caught me up on the details, but is there anything else I need to know before we go in?”

“None that you already know.” You shook your head, then nodded your head towards the entrance. “Shall we?” Fuma followed your lead towards the entrance and prior to his arrival, you had already informed the bouncer of your activities and he let the two of you in without question, although to the dismay of other party-goers, a few near front groaned in protest at your unchecked entry. 

“What do you know about the mission, Murata-san?” You asked once you both settled at a table for two, waiting for a waitress to come by and take your order. It was only the beginning of a very long process—the current mission was to hunt down the distributor of a new polypill, a combination that gives the same effects as the euphoria most commonly found in opioids and stimulants such as cocaine, or methamphetamine. The exact combinations used have yet to be reported as the evidence gathered isn’t sufficient for forensics to analyze, which explains why you’re there at the club. 

“We’re looking for a potential dealer,” Fuma began, raising his voice over the music. Despite the distance from the DJ booth, the walls and your table still shook from the heavy bass. “Who is he meeting again?”

“That college kid we arrested last week, got caught smoking weed behind the school,” you informed, eyes surveying the floor to find the familiar face. She was a sophomore, taking an undergraduate in Public Health, but unfortunately, paid no mind to her own as she was caught red handed with cannabis in between classes. A small baggie was found in her bag when you had brought her into the precinct, remnants of what you and the forensic team had suspected was the polypill was found in its interior. To avoid being put in jail or expelled and losing her scholarship, she offered to cooperate. 

You caught sight of the honey-brown bob in the crowd, close to the bar, and with two other friends just in case things went a bit awry and she needed witnesses. 

“And we’re sure he’ll come?” Fuma asked, glancing towards the same direction you were looking, a twinge of uncertainty in his tone. As mentioned, it’s too early in the process to guarantee you could catch this dealer, and Fuma usually does stake outs when there is a one-hundred percent chance the guys show up. No lead on the substances involved, no lead on where they came from, you were both going in blind. 

“According to her, she usually buys it from him every three months and as we know, her supply is short so it seems just in time for her next fix,” you explained, eyes locking with the college student. She looked calm, if not, annoyed, but it was only because you grew familiar with her taut expression after spending almost eight hours interrogating her. 

“What’s going to happen to her after this?”

“Sent to rehab obviously, will apply for a break from college during it.” Not expelled, and asking for a break won’t affect her scholarship status either, so it was the better option. 

Fuma nodded, pursing his lips as he reached for his phone, then looking up at you. “And how will we know he’s here?”

You reached up, tapping the air by your head. “Red cap.” 

His brows furrowed in confusion, looking towards the crowd and noticing the lack of headwear. “Red cap?” He repeated, seemingly bewildered by the idea of wearing caps indoors, or the fact that it is specifically red, you weren’t sure. 

“Yeah,” you chuckled lightly at his expression. “What’s wrong?”

“A red hat just seems so weird…” He spoke lowly, almost a whisper but your ears caught the words. Maybe it was your crush on him, the intense emotions mixed with the music overwhelming your senses that you were… endeared by him. The way his lips pouted, a crease forming between his two thick brows as he stared out into the crowd, the brights reflected in his brown eyes, as if almost offended by the fact that someone would wear such a thing—your heart swelled at the sight, and for a split second, you forgot he was your senior and a ranking officer. 

“I don’t think you’re one to question someone else’s fashion sense, Murata-san.” The words poured out of your mouth without thinking, unable to be stopped and when you realized what you had said, the damage was already done.

Fuma snapped his head towards you, eyes wide in surprise, eyebrows raised. “What’s that supposed to mean?” His tone wasn’t offended, but he was clearly taken aback. 

Now, you had three options: keep going and continue digging your grave for you to lie in, lie, or act like you didn’t say anything and he was hearing things. 

Unfortunately for you and your muddled mind, incapable of thinking straight and rational in his presence, you went ahead with the first option, your mouth running like a horse with no rider, unable to stop and even if you do, too much damage has been dealt, and you still have to clean up the mess afterwards. 

“You wore a leopard printed tie on a random Tuesday, which would be fine if your wardrobe wasn’t just a series of black.” Well. You tried to subtly breathe out, hoping it’d calm the nerves that were wracking through your body when you realized what you had just said. You watched Fuma with wide eyes, clearly stunned with your lips pressed in a tight line. Even if it was dark, it was clear the strobe lights were sufficient to showcase how stupid you felt.

Fuma didn’t say anything immediately, just stared back at you, blinking once, then twice, then a third before the corner of his lip lifted slightly–so quick, that if you weren’t already staring at him, you wouldn’t have seen it. 

“Have you been paying attention to me, Y/N?” His tone wasn’t teasing, but when you looked up and met his eyes, there was a small smile on his lips—a smile you’re all-too familiar with. You’ve caught him sporting that same smile whenever the team was being lectured by a superior you all weren’t too fond of, and your co-worker, Yuma, would purposefully ask to use the bathroom, only to make faces behind said superior. A smile he wears when he’s stifling his laugh, holding back, causing his cheeks to lift a tad bit and dimples you rarely ever got to see appear.

“I–” You paused, the words not forming in your head properly so how could you create a coherent sentence? “No, it’s just– I mean—” A chuckle fell past his lips, finding your difficulty in responding a bit amusing, but it only fueled the heat beneath your skin, your cheeks hot and burning. You were about to give some half-ass response to excuse why you took note of what he’d been wearing for over a month when your eyes caught sight of a red baseball cap weaving its way through the club-goers and towards the bar area where the college student stood waiting, her eyes locked on the person adorning that cap. 

“He’s here.” Both you and Fuma turned your attention towards them, watching with focused eyes as the two conversed. You made sure to brief the student to never glance towards your general direction—when it came to dealers, there were those that paid attention and those that practically had eyes all around their heads, sensing when something is a set up. It was simply precaution. Most of them would catch a singular glance, after all. 

You watched their exchange, noting the way her brows furrowed in frustration and his shoulders tensing up. “Damn it, I think they’re arguing, he might—” Before you could finish your sentence, Red Cap lunged forward, not to attack her but to threaten, causing her to flinch backwards and even through the loud bass of the music, you could hear a small shriek echo through. Once he had said what he needed to say, he turned on his heels and walked towards the back exit. “—Leave.” 

“Come, maybe we can catch him getting in his car,” Fuma suggests. “We’ll follow him through that door.” You nodded, grabbing your things and the two of you made a beeline towards the exit as well. You spared a glance towards the student, brows furrowed in worry as you mouthed ‘you okay?’ to which she replied with a roll of her eyes, nodding half-heartedly. You didn’t need to worry too much about her after this since there was a cop car waiting just a block away that would drop her home, so you focused your eyes forward, towards Fuma who had just pushed the heavy door open, stepping aside for you to exit first and him to follow ensuite. 

The door led to an alleyway that was completely empty of anyone else—granted, everyone was in the club and it was still early in the night for anyone to need to go out for a smoke or for fresh air. You glanced in both directions, the left leading to a dead end and the right leading towards the streets, but from what you can see it wasn’t the main road, most likely a connecting one that is just as empty.  

“... Yeah, they were right,” a deep voice echoed throughout the alleyway. You shared a look with Fuma, both thinking the same thing, both knowing it was the dealer. “I asked her and she made up this lie it was someone else, but I could tell.” It was obvious from the broken up sentences and long pauses, he was on a call with someone—maybe another dealer or a superior he needed to report to. 

Fuma turned to you, placing a finger over his lips and you nodded, the two of you walking slowly towards the exit of the alley, being mindful not to step on anything that might make noise and trigger the guy’s fight or flight. The two of you were pressed against the wall, about a foot away from the exit when a rat Fuma didn’t notice caught sight of them, scurrying away and by doing so, bumping against a metal trashcan, the clang echoing throughout the alleyway. The dealer who was mid-sentence immediately stopped, the two of you listening with bated breaths, hoping he’d ignore it and walk away.

Unfortunately, he was a paranoid one.

“Wait, I think I heard something.” Heavy steps began echoing from the exit, leading towards the alley you two were in. Fuma was a quick thinker. He immediately pressed himself back against the wall, reaching for you and tugging you in front of him. 

“Put your lips on mine,” he urged in a whisper. Glancing between his eyes, for a second you thought he was joking, there should be something else you could do to avoid getting caught, but unfortunately, even you couldn’t think of something and the footsteps were getting closer. Fuck it. You wrapped your arms around Fuma’s neck, pulling him down to press your lips against his, his lips slotting between yours. You didn’t make a move to deepen the kiss, neither did he, but you felt the warmth of his palms as they pressed against your waist, holding to steady you. His head was tilted in a way that hid both your face and his own, and with the shadows of the alleyway and the fact that the only street lights available were three feet away from you, you were practically engulfed in the darkness, only enough light to make a silhouette of yourselves.

The footsteps stopped right by where the alley opened up, a groan resonating from the entrance before the footsteps faded. “Just some hormonal teenagers…” You were first to pull your lips apart, but Fuma kept his forehead pressed against yours so the two of you could catch your breaths. 

“Do you think he’s gone?” You asked, still very much out of breath. You were thankful for how dark it was—Fuma wouldn’t be able to see how blown out your eyes were, how red your whole face was and how you were unable to focus on anything else but him. 

“I don’t know—” The sound of an engine starting caught your attention immediately, the two of you pulling apart completely to peek out from the alley towards a car driving away into the distance, leaving only a puff of smoke in its wake. It had already drove far enough that you only caught the first two numbers, but you couldn’t catch the make or model of the vehicle. 

“Crap,” Fuma cursed, kicking the dirt beneath his feet. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the roots frustrated before turning to you, hand dropping and an apologetic look etched across his features. “Y/N, I’m so sorry for asking you to do that– I didn’t know what else—”

You shook your head. “No, no, it’s fine, Fu– Murata-san, I know why you did it.” 

“Still, though, I cornered you to act intimately with me, it’s not… it’s not fair to you,” he frowned, brows furrowed tightly, creating a deep crease between his eyebrows. 

Without thinking, you asked, “Even if I liked it?”

His eyes widened and you watched as his cheeks flushed a faint pink. “You– you liked it?” 

The corners of your lips tugged up into a shy smile, suddenly unable to stay still as you rocked on the balls of your feet. “Yeah, I… I’ve kind of had a crush on you for a while.” 

“You have?”

You laughed. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“No!” He responded too quickly, squeezing his eyes shut to gather his thoughts. He rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging, “I mean, it’s just… I never thought someone like you would go for someone like me, you know?” 

“Someone like you?” You repeated, lightly chuckling at what he was insinuating at.

“Yeah, someone who—” Fuma sighs deeply, “has a questionable fashion sense while you are so put together, if that makes sense.” Your smile only grew, completely enthralled by the man before you. “So… you liked the kiss?”

You threw your head back in laughter, your turn finding his flustered state amusing. You nodded. “I did.”

“We could do it again, you know?” He offers, then realizes. “Well, after we get our asses handed to us by the chief for letting the dealer go.”

You released a guttural groan upon realizing what is waiting for you back at the precinct now that you’ve returned to square one. “God, we failed.” 

“That is only half true,” Fuma argues, grinning, the dimples making their reappearance for a second time tonight. “Considering, uhm… you know, the kiss—I’d say our mission failed successfully, what do you think, Y/N-san?”  

You mirrored his smile, the idea of your chief talking your ears off because you let the dealer get away suddenly sounded not too bad considering you got to kiss your hot senior (to which you both agreed not to disclose, hiding behind the statement of ‘distracted’ instead). 

“I second that statement, Fuma-san.”

[buntanteen]

svt fic recs list <3 - ot13 carat day/valentine's day edition - sfw & nsfw ver.

summary: for carat day and valentine's day, 26 reader insert fics [1 sfw & 1 nsfw per svt member]

contains: 18+ nsfw (mdni!!) majority is afab reader

✩ svt writing & fic rec masterlist ✩

✩ choi seungcheol/scoups ✩

❥ cheol of the day - @xinganhao

❥ older bf! cheol (+18 mdni) - @cherrybr4t

✩ yoon jeonghan ✩

❥ so disconnected - @ylangelegy

❥ fake enemies - @cherrybr4t

✩ hong jisoo/joshua ✩

❥ what it's like having joshua as your husband - @wonkierideu

❥ joshua overstimulating reader - @hoshifighting

✩ wen junhui/jun ✩

❥ clingy jun kitty jun - @miaoua3

❥ junhui with hickeys - @sluttywonwoo

✩ kwon soonyoung/hoshi ✩

❥ AREN’T YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING? - @minniesfiles

❥ porn star!hoshi - @hoshifighting

✩ jeon wonwoo ✩

❥ DATING WONWOO INCLUDES… - @svtswhorehouse

❥ pretty boys bring you to heaven - @cherrybr4t

✩ lee jihoon/woozi ✩

❥ critical inquiry - @heartsfromia

❥ woozi boyfriend headcanons (NSFW) - @jihoonjuseyo

✩ xu minghao/the8 ✩

❥ fan account - @channiesbakery

❥ touch me, tease me, feel me up - @seungkw1

✩ kim mingyu ✩

❥ not for sale (masterlist - ongoing) - @xinganhao

❥ shutting mingyu moans while you're riding him while there are people in the next room - @hoshifighting

✩ lee seokmin/dokyeom/dk ✩

❥ ultimate boyfriend material - @fairyhaos

❥ pussydrunk!seokmin - @hannieehaee

✩ boo seungkwan ✩

❥ tangerine tours - @xinganhao

❥ aphrodisiac - @hoshifighting

✩ chwe hansol/vernon ✩

❥ vernon + clingy/affectionate!reader - @ssentimentals

❥ you're so sweet, but… - @seungkw1

✩ lee chan/dino ✩

❥ operation dispatch - @xinganhao

❥ phone sex with chan as he uses a fleshlight - @hoshifighting

ames note: no commentary cuz there's like...so many fic recs on here i didn't want to crowd it with too much text haha. i hope y'all enjoyyyyy these and carat/valentine's day!! <3

[heartsfromia]

thankyou so much for including my woozi fic <33

[yooniebub]

JWW pt. 2

midnight radio - @darl-ings

in which you are a new host for your school’s midnight radio broadcast and wonwoo makes a call to the show

knight in shining armour - @heartsfromia

before the day begins - @kyeomofhearts

an interesting way to start an early sunday morning with your boyfriend wonwoo.

untitled - @timedhoney

closer - @hannieehaee

after making it all the way to your final year of uni still having not experienced a single orgasm, you decided to take matters into your hands. your solution? asking your best friend wonwoo to teach you all he knew.

asking wonwoo to watch him masturbate because you never have given a hand job - @hoshifighting

your mess - @onlymingyus

first snow - @/onlymingyus

HER series - @chocosvt

wonwoo, a heartbroken and burnt out writer nearing the end of his math degree, wants nothing to do with the seemingly perfect, intimidating girl who has everyone under her thumb. you. unfortunately, his literary talent has got him shoved him between a rock and a hard place when you want to write a book and require his expertise. you two are the furthest from compatible. wonwoo can’t see this going well. at all.

pussy drunk! wonwoo - @/monamipencil

chat, is that rizz? - @sailorrhansol

Your rivalry with Wonwoo has existed for as long as you’ve been streaming. It’s fun, and both of your communities love it. Wonwoo is happy to play along - at least until you question his rizz while live, and he feels like he should remind you just how much rizz he has.

hhu: confessions ft. csc, kmg & chs - @ode2cheol

loser! wonwoo - @hannieehaee

loser! wonwoo pt. 2 - @/hannieehaee

christmas cuddles - @babyleostuff

set reaction to cockwarming (hhu) ft. csc, kmg & chs - @sub-hoshi-enthusiast

say don't go - @joonsytip

You say you love him but Wonwoo says nothing back.

teasing bf! wonwoo with a fleshlight - @monamipencil

spectacle - @miraclewoozi

in which your new boyfriend, wonwoo, doesn't give a crap about his expensive eyewear.

on second thought - @starlightkyeom

where your roommate, wonwoo, has an interesting solution to all your bad dates. nothing can go wrong with two friends crossing a line, can it?

clingy - @spamgyu

heaven - @sanakiras

wonwoo has a reputation for being distant, quiet and a bit mysterious. once you get to know him better, though, you come to find the sweet, shy boy underneath the surface.

nothing but love, pt.2 - @sluttywoozi

Wonwoo's never had a girlfriend for Valentine's Day before, or a girlfriend period, so this day needs to be perfect.

[11:36] - @husbandhoshi

out of the frying pan into your heart - @97-liners

it starts, as it always does with this particular collection of friends, with shenanigans and cahoots.

well, more specifically, for wonwoo it starts with shenanigans, when soonyoung and junhui somehow manage to collide brain cells and write in to the school newspaper's love advice columnist about his crush on his childhood best friend.

and for you, the aforementioned childhood best friend and, in secret, also the aforementioned love advice columnist, it starts with cahoots when kim mingyu manages to convince you to fake date him so he can win some popularity contest for his frat.

untitled - @sluttywonwoo

untitled - @/sluttywonwoo

untitled - @/sluttywonwoo

untitled - @euphoricsunflowers

pervy! best friend wonwoo - @/euphoricsunflowers

gamer! wonwoo - @/euphoricsunflowers

cuffed - @wongyuseokie

Your boyfriend’s latest photoshoot has you reeling and wanting more, and lucky for you, you have just the thing to keep him in place as you overstimulate him. 

the regular - @trblsvt

wonwoo couldn't really recommend anything at the bakery he worked at, he couldn't even handle going in a couple days a week. that is until he found his new favorite customer.

needy - @cheolhub

wonwoo can’t keep his hands to himself because he needs your full, undivided attention.

homewrecked - @ncteez

Wonwoo doesn’t seem to realize that you’re giving him the best option out of a relationship that doesn’t even involve you. With a cheating best friend on one side, and a loyal Wonwoo loving her from two hours away on another, you decide that home wrecking isn’t always a bad idea.  or the one where wonwoo fights internal demons over wanting you bc he’s in a relationship that he doesn’t even realize is falling apart.

[heartsfromia]

thank you so much for including my wonu fic <33

[heartsfromia]

old habits die hard — k. yudai

pairing: non-idol! k x reader

word count: 3,727

genre: fluff, somewhat childhood friends to… lovers (?), college au but at a party (that isnt hosted by jackson wang)

warnings: profanities, mentions of alcohol, idk if this should be a warning but a bit of nichojoo

author's notes: my first andteam fic! recently got into them and have been smitten ever since (o^▽^o) also these fics will be a tumblr exclusive (unlike my svt fics) so they wont be posted anywhere else (now i have to figure out how to put this on my masterlist)

You hated parties.

Such a cliché statement, but it was true.

You absolutely despised parties, and all throughout your first year of college, you made it your life’s mission to avoid attending a single one (excluding mandatory parties that were held under collegial events, because for some reason, supervisors count your absents for those things). It was easy for the first semester since everyone was just getting to know each other, hosting a party so early in the year was only done by those older than you. There was nothing more akin to modern day torture than being holed up in a poorly lit living room with over a hundred intoxicated people, loud incessant music and sweaty body odor stinking up the already small space.

You always hated sweaty people and body odor, and unfortunately, parties were the Grand Central for them.

So the question might have come up: how did you find yourself at a party?

Simple: Nicholas Wang.

Your best friend, ride or die, and the bane of your existence because the universe had plagued the two of you with opposing personalities. Nicholas knows well enough that parties aren’t your thing and you were stubborn enough that he never tried to change your mind, but he enjoyed them. It was fun, he’s a social butterfly that thrives by interacting with others and he’d always limit himself to asking you to accompany him at least once a semester for a party.

It was the second semester to your second year, so he decided to use his chances now because of much more… important matters to deal with than just partying.

“It’s hosted by Mingyu, Y/N, you know? The guys that rented a whole-ass house for themselves?” You knew who he meant. Kim Mingyu and a bunch of his friends couldn’t find a place to stay once their time on campus dorms had ended, so they decided to find a fairly big house they could room up to ten people to rent. Not only was a huge steal because Mingyu was able to gather about eight other guys to join, but the landlord isn’t strict either, as long as the guys made sure nothing gets damaged (if they did, it was paid out of their own pockets) and to not get the police involved then they were free to do whatever they wanted.

“I don’t really care who is hosting it, Nico,” you mumbled, a resigned look on your face. “Isn’t it a bit early for you to use your pass? It’s barely two weeks into the semester.”

“Uh…” A blush coated his cheeks as he averted his eyes, only piquing your interest now. “So, the thing is… You know how I went skiing for break, I kind of met someone there—“

You sat up, eyes so wide that you worried they’d pop out. This was news; Nicholas, despite being a social butterfly, never was interested in anyone, no matter how many people tried to get closer—boy or girl. You couldn’t help the wide smile that pulled at your lips. “Oh my gosh! That’s awesome! Who are they?” He had always expressed his sexuality as something he never wanted to label, he only knew that if he had romantic feelings for someone, he never really cared for who they were.

“It’s Byun Euijoo, he’s an Engineering major.” Nicholas then went on to explain how the two had ran into each other in the same ski resort the recent break, the romantic cliché of getting stuck in the ski lift for about twenty minutes, and talking until the machine came back on. They then decided to continue their conversation over dinner with hot cocoa and well, to say the least, Nicholas was smitten over the guy.

“But what does Euijoo have anything to do—“ The realization struck. You paused then squinted your eyes. “He lives there?”

Nicholas shook his head, before a sheepish smile etched on his face. “But he did ask if I was going.”

Alas, you found yourself in the party. And to make it worse, not even twenty seconds in the door, someone crashed right into you, their drink and snacks they were carrying had spilled all over you, staining your shirt with an alcoholic concoction and nacho cheese sauce.

“Oh my gosh, Y/N,” Nicholas exclaimed. “Are you okay? Gosh, couldn’t that guy see where he was going?” He threw a glare in the direction of where the guy that bumped into you had gone.

“I’m fine, Nico,” you reassured, however your best friend wasn’t convinced. “Hey, I see Euijoo over there by the food table, why don’t you go talk to him?”

“How about y—“

“I’ll ask around for a bathroom, it’s alright.” He stared at you, brows pulled together. You rolled your eyes, emphasizing, “It’s okay.” You then turned him around so he faced away from him, giving him a gentle push. “Now, go.”

He looked over his shoulder as he walked slowly, but when you gave him a reassuring look, he returned with a grateful smile and disappeared into the crowd, his head popping up right by the food table not long after. Once you were sure he was out of sight, you heaved a sigh, your shoulders slouching. Every time you’d gone out to a party, it’d give you a reason why it is never a good decision. The last time you had gone out, you spent most of your time by the snacks and for some reason, someone didn’t inspect the food provided and you ended up eating something that was way past its best before date, resulting into an intensive couple of hours in the toilet the next morning.

Now your favorite white shirt was stained with alcohol and cheese.

You tried to ask others where the bathroom was, ultimately being ignored at almost every turn.

“Hey, can you point me—“

“Do you know where—“

“Anyone know—“

“Bathroom, where—“

Hopeless.

Obviously you could try looking through every door until you found the bathroom, but the house was three floors, and even the first floor was so crowded, you were grateful to even find the front door again. You wanted to dip—everything in you and the state of your outfit with the stains seeping through the material—urged you to just leave, and hope that Nicholas’ “date” goes well and he won’t need a ride home.

The urge stuck, pushing your body towards the door as if it had a mind of its own (and it was thinking, “fuck this”), but a voice pulled you out of your thoughts.

“Looking for the bathroom?” A relieved smile appeared on your lips as you turned around to see your saviour of the night, but it immediately dropped when you saw he spoke to you.

Koga Yudai (infamously referred to as “Kei” for reasons unknown to you) had the gentlest of smiles etched across his pink lips when he appeared before you. He looked different—grown, mature, and obviously attractive as hell. A lot had changed since the last time you saw him; the last time being grade school. Of course you were well aware that he went to the same university as you, but he was in a completely department and the chances of your paths crossing was low.

But never zero, I guess.

He glanced down to your mess of a shirt, a teasing grin on his lips. “Damn, Y/N, you really know how to party.”

You rolled your eyes. The relationship you and Kei had in grade school was friendly, being a year above you limited your interactions but back then, he used to live in the same neighbourhood as you. Your mothers met each other often during community gatherings and events, your fathers also worked in the same area in the city. Being friendly with each other was inevitable, but Kei took it a step further by teasing you every so often.

“Do you know where the bathroom is, Kei?” You asked exasperated, not wanting to play along with his teasing. The smell from the cheese and pungency of the alcohol was seeping through your shirt, invading your noise and sticking to your skin, if he didn’t show you the bathroom in that very moment, you were sure a homicide was going to take place.

“Yeah, I’ll show you the one near my room so we can get you change of clothes.” He didn’t give you any opportunity to protest or ask further questions before he turned and walked towards the stairs. You followed him like a lost puppy, eyes darting and dodging those in your way. The two of you reached the third floor which was a lot less crowded than the other two.

“We keep the third floor empty of party-goers,” he stated, answering your thoughts.

As you reached a closed door, you asked, So, you live here?” He turned to look at you, nodding, before pushing the door open to reveal the bathroom.

“Head on in, keep it locked, alright?” He told you, stepping aside for you. Before he closed the door, he said, “I’ll be back with a shirt for you.”

“No, Kei, it’s—“ The door closes before you could finish. You sighed, staring at the closed door in a daze, your heart fluttering against your ribcage. You were grateful Kei barely looked at you, hopefully he didn’t notice the way your cheeks were flushed a bright red, and your heavy breathing (that wasn’t from the two flights of stairs).

God, they’re still here? You thought they’d be gone by now, it had been almost a decade since you realized your crush on Kei. A decade where the two of you never saw each other after he said his goodbyes because he and his family were moving to Tokyo for his dad’s new job. You were sure that would be last time you’d see him, giving you enough time and distance to move on from your puppy love.

I guess the feelings were stronger than I thought.

A knock broke you from your thoughts, causing you to jump slightly and then panic because you didn’t lock the door as Yudai had asked.

“Y/N, I brought the shirt.” A sigh of relief escaped your lips, and you pulled the door open. You were met with a look of confusion from Kei. “You didn’t lock the door.” It wasn’t a question, rather a statement.

“Yeah, I was occupied.”

His brows furrowed to that of worry, his lips pressed in a tight line. Oh boy. “Y/N, you’re at a party. Tons of people are here and this bathroom is open for anyone, who knows what would’ve happened if it wasn’t me that came? No one would’ve known you were in here and you could’ve been cleaning yourself up, forgetting to lock the door and someone could just waltz right in—“ He rants dramatically, using his arms and his face contorting, but instead of scaring you, a laugh left you, stopping his nagging. “This is no laughing matter, Y/N.”

“I’m sorry, Kei, it was an honest mistake,” you reassured him, but his scorn prevailed. “You haven’t changed, huh?”

His eyebrows shot up at that, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the door frame, the shirt he brought draped over his crossed arms. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” He asked with a raised brow.

“You still nag ‘til my ears bleed,” you said, over exaggerating.

A look of offense briefly passed his features. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do, you always have!” You grinned. “When I scraped my knee when I rode a bicycle, you told me it was my fault because I didn’t want to wear knee pads. In sixth grade, when I flunked a math test, you nagged at me because instead of studying, I chose to binge watch Barbie.”

Kei’s mouth opened to defend himself, but closed again, thinking back to those days, then finally said, “Okay, maybe I nag a bit but it’s mostly because you don’t listen.”

“Yeah, yeah, can I please have the shirt so I can change? I think the cheese they used for the nachos is a combo of cheddar and blue cheese.” The two of you cringe, and he hands you the shirt before closing the door.

You were to turn to pull your shirt off when the door swung open, a scream escaped your lips as you jumped, turning to find Kei with a shit-eating grin. “Lock it, Y/N.”

“Alright!” A laugh echoed from the other side when you turned the key. You took your time to peel the stained shirt off of you, the state of it causing you to pout as you contemplated whether or not you should give a chance and laundry it or to just toss it out altogether. It genuinely concerned you how much thought you were putting into that decision because the shirt had been with you for years, and it fit you the way that could only be done through constant wear. You doubt you could find another.

So you decided to rinse it, at least get as much of the stain and cheese out with the bar soap available, and then let the washing machine back home deal with the remains. You also grabbed a wad of toilet paper, running it under water before wiping the skin of your stomach and chest. Unfortunately, no matter how much you scrubbed it, the smell of alcohol wasn’t disappearing.

Giving up, you folded your shirt neatly, tucking it away in the small bag you brought before picking up Kei’s shirt. You gripped the shoulders, allowing it to unravel. It was a flannel made of cotton, thin enough for the warm summer night but wasn’t transparent either when you held it against the light. The best part though was the smell; a mixture of softener, musk and woodiness that seemed all-too familiar but you couldn’t put a finger on what it was. One thing you remembered about Kei was his genuine interest in perfumes and all things scented. You remember there was a point you were hanging out in his house and his mother came barging in into his room, angry because Kei had borrowed her perfume and forgot to put it back.

You smiled fondly at the memory, all those days suddenly felt so close—closer than they had ever been for the past few years, but just as far.

You slipped the shirt on, the material feeling soft and warm against your skin. Despite its larger size, you felt it fit you just right.

Once you were done, you pulled the door open and stepped out, pulling at the flannel and tucking the front part into your jeans. “You look really good in my shirt.”

Another scream, but this time, you smacked his arm. “Stop that!”

He threw his head back at your reaction. “You’ve always been easy to scare.” You rolled your eyes, glaring at him, but he ignored the look as he nodded his head towards the left side of the hallway, opposite to the stairs back at the party. “Come, I know these things are really your scene. I’ve got snacks in my room.”

When you were about to follow him, your phone vibrated in your pockets.

Nico: yn where’d you go? i waited by the bathroom and it wasnt you

“Boyfriend?”

Your eyebrows pulled together at Kei’s question, but you shook your head. “No, it’s a friend I came here with.”

“Oh.” A look of relief passed his face, but it was so quick, you almost questioned if you’d imagined it.

You: hey im with kei rn, im okayyy You: pls have fun with euijoo without me 🤭 Nico: alrightt text me if youre ready to go Nico: but take as much time as you want 😇 You: same to youu

With a satisfied grin, you slipped your phone back in your pocket and followed Kei to his room. It looked just as you had expected; a tidy mess. He had always been the type to keep his room tidy enough that his mom wouldn’t nag at him to clean his room at first glance, but you’d look closely you would notice the pile of laundry on a chair, the mess of textbooks on his desk and his untucked sheets.

One thing for sure, the smell of the room could easily distract you to the point you would never notice any of all that.

You noticed the two scented candles lit by his desk, igniting the space in a warm yellow, wavering a bit with your entrance. The layout looked just like what you’d expected in a college student, which meant that there was a small TV screen, mini fridge and a rice cooker. “Not too bad, Koga.”

“Sorry for the mess,” he apologized with a chuckle. “My bedroom is usually off limits on nights like this.” You stared at him expectantly. “You are an exception, Y/N.”

“Such an honour,” you teased, laughing. “I didn’t know you lived here.”

“Yeah, I was one of the first few people Mingyu approached to join,” he informed, and you nodded wordlessly. “Anyway, why are you here? As far as I remember, you never liked crowded places, let alone a party with drunk college kids.”

“My friend, Nicholas, the guy I came here with asked me to come with him as a—I wouldn’t say wing woman, but he was invited by someone he’s interested in and didn’t want to arrive alone,” you droned on, even though what you were explaining didn’t have any correlation why you’d willingly put yourself in a situation you were uncomfortable in.

And Kei knew that. It was exactly what he had asked. “Still putting the needs of others before your own, huh?”

“Still meddling yourself into things that have nothing to do with you, huh?” You bit back, stunning Kei for a second before a soft chuckle left his lips. “I don’t… mind, if the whole cheese thing didn’t happen then I’d probably be having fun by the snack table right now, maybe even talk with Kevin from Stats. I saw him by the kitchen earlier.” You knew you were rambling to deflect, and despite the years that passed between you and Kei, he was still well aware of your old habits.

And he’d always listen. The two of you had sat on the floor close to his bed, the mini fridge beside the door, and he had already propped his arm up, resting his chin while you rambled on, justifying why you did come to the party. He never interrupted, because sooner you would realize what you were spewing wasn’t entirely true and blush, embarrassed for letting yourself talk so much.

“Yeah, I get it, Y/N, but the line between selflessness and self-sacrifice is almost invisible, what you’re doing is sacrificing your own comfort for the sake of others,” he pointed out, “you know you’re not a party person, but you still go out of your way because someone asked you to.”

“That would mean I shouldn’t leave my comfort zone,” you retorted, the back of your neck beginning to heat up. “I’m not eleven anymore, Yudai. I get you had been protective then, but I’m an adult now. I can choose whether or not I want to put myself in uncomfortable situations.”

He was quiet for longer than you expected, and you feared that you’d said something wrong, maybe even offended him. But then you caught the twitch at the corner of lips unfold into a smirk. “You called me Yudai.”

The embarrassment was almost immediate. Your cheeks flushed a bright red, heating up not just your face but your entire body. Nobody—as far as you knew—called him Yudai, all of them called him Kei, even back when you went to the same school. The only people that called him Yudai were his parents, and well, you. It started as a way to tease him, like being called your full name, but doing it so often, it became a habit.

It slipped, in the midst of your minor altercation, you were overwhelmed by the emotions of being treated like a kid to even realize.

“I almost thought you’d forgotten.”

“How could I? The faces you’d make when I called you Yudai were priceless,” you said with a laugh. “Especially when I did it in front of your friends.”

“Not even my mom embarrasses me like that,” he adds, causing the two of you to laugh harder. “I’m sorry if I offended you, I’m well aware you’re not a kid anymore, and yeah, I’m glad you don’t want to keep staying within your comfort zone even if it’s hard.”

“But…?” It was clear something else.

“Just… I guess, it’s a bit hard for me to grasp that you really don’t need me anymore,” he admits, a faint shade of pink appearing in his cheeks. “I know you’ve always been able to handle things yourself, but it always felt, I don’t know, comforting I guess, whenever you included me in the things you were going through.” He paused again. “You’ve matured, Y/N, is all I’m saying.”

His words tugged at your heart, the truth behind them revealing itself in the maze of your memories. Yes, Yudai had always been a nagging Nancy, most the problems gone through during your time together were always accompanied by his reprimanding. However, he never scolded you without providing a solution or way out.

Sure he might’ve yelled at you for scraping your knee but he’d do so while plastering on a band-aid he had prepared beforehand.

Yes, he had talked your ear off when you failed math, but he made it his mission, amidst his own studies and extracurriculars, to tutor you so you can retake the test.

Even now, you’re wearing a clean and comfortable shirt that doesn’t smell like a science experiment gone wrong.

There were different things you wanted to tell him, thank him, say that he made your life easier, but instead you opted to say, “You really haven’t changed.”

Laughter shook his body. “What can I say? Old habits die hard.”

“What habit? Nagging ‘til our ears bleed?” You teased.  He shook his head, the smirk lingering on his lips as he locked eyes with yours.

“The habit of always wanting to be there for you.”

[heartsfromia]

critical inquiry — l. jihoon

pairing: non-idol! jihoon x reader

word count: 6,018

genre: fluff, workplace romance, reader isnt tech-savvy, jihoon kinda gives loser (endearing) energy

warnings: valorant (jk), profanities, proofreader? i hardly know her

author's notes: get me an IT guy like jihoon y'all, also idk i struggle when writing in mainly the guy's pov bro i cannot think like a man, can they be pathetic, yearning beings? idk bro

Lee Jihoon loved one thing about his job—working from home. With enough people in his team to cover tasks both from the office and at home, they're given the option to work either and Jihoon always picks home, time after time.

Until today, when Jihoon had received a message that his Work-From-Office buddy would be taking time off work for the next week because his grandfather fell ill, and he was asked to go back home for the time being.

“Only a week, Jihoon, and I swear you can go back to your PC set and slippers,” Wonwoo had reassured him, but it still wasn’t enough, “I’ll even help you rank up to Ascendant 3.”

So, that was how Jihoon found himself waking up at seven and taking public transportation to the office because his car was at his parent’s, and honestly, he wasn’t close with anyone to the point where he’d ask for a lift.

During the entire trip on his first day back to the office, he cursed the corporate slave routine. To think that before social distancing, that we would wake up at the crack of dawn to beat traffic or the commuter rush, go to a job that we’re not even sure we enjoy (spoiler: we don’t), and then have to go through that same rush and traffic when going home, only to sleep and reset the routine for the next day. As an IT support member, being in the office was the most useless and time-consuming thing. The Wi-Fi at his office is crap, the computers are old and laggy because the company doesn’t want to invest in better quality technology, and the team leaders are always breathing down your neck—but, hey, at least they compensate those that choose to come to the office.

One thing that Jihoon was grateful from the pandemic was the normalization of working from home. Having the option to attend the 10AM meeting, waking up at exactly 9:50 AM—clocking in—then joining the Zoom meeting without having to shower, change out of your pajamas, or even get out of the bed was something that was too good to be true. Alas, it happened, and he had been thriving and taking advantage of his Work From Anywhere policy in his company. Granted, he is only able to continuously work from home as long as there were two team members working from office, and luckily enough, that condition was met for the past six months

“This is new,” Hansol quipped when he spotted Jihoon signing at the entrance of the office. “Ah, Wonwoo is taking time off, right?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon muttered, most of his face hidden under a mask and cap, with his eyes peeking through the lenses of his glasses. “Do you think there’s coffee in the kitchen?”

“Obviously,” Hansol chuckles, finding the question obsurd. Can you blame Jihoon? The ceiling in the entrance of the building is almost falling apart from mold forming because of rain, and their computer to clock in was an old ASUS model from 2014 that can only function on a LAN cable—which is why its only purpose in this marketing agency was for signing in.

Sometimes Jihoon even wonders how the company can last for the past decade with its cheap ways.

He made his way to the second floor where the pantry, and overall kitchen was placed, making himself a cup of coffee before climbing the next step of stairs to the IT room—the main base for programmers and the support team. Another thing he hated about working from the office was the fact that the AC in his office just never seems to function. It’s the middle of summer, the city is going through a massive heatwave, and here, in his company placed in the smack middle of the city, they have a policy to not let the AC go anywhere under 23°C.

At least, when he is in the comforts of his own home, he can have the AC go as low as it can get, all while still in his pajamas, and could even multitask with Valorant opened in another tab.

“Oh, Jihoon, you’re switching with Wonwoo, right?” Jeonghan asked, turning in his chair and pushing his glasses up above his head.

“Yeah, I am, where does he usually sit?” Jeonghan taps the desk on his left, and watched as Jihoon got settled, a glint in his eyes that the younger one spotted. “What?”

“Did Wonwoo tell you anything?”

“Other than keeping my Google chat opened, nothing really,” he responded.

“You’ll be handling his division, too, right?” Jihoon nodded. “The Marketing team.” Rather than a question, Jeonghan confirmed the division, and once again, Jihoon nodded. A crease formed between his eyebrows, unsure of what his senior was referring to, and the latter noticed, chuckling at his puzzled expression. “You’ll see.”

It’s too early to understand what he means. Usually, he’d still be asleep right now if he were at home, especially since there aren’t any meetings he needs to attend today, he could’ve slept until three minutes before he required to clock in. He wasn’t use to having to be on work-mode even with ten minutes before his shift officially starts.

God, I miss working from home.

The first few hours into the shift was tedious. Since the company is a small PR agency, as a member of the in-house IT team, he’s required to wear multiple hats and take on various tasks. Unfortunately, since he is replacing Wonwoo for the time being, he’ll be taking on the task of Website management and ensuring that the Marketing team didn’t have any issues, as well as any technical issues the team might face, which is inevitable as their equipment is, as mentioned, crap quality. Every day Jihoon wonders why he claims to resign from the place but never does.

“Let’s grab lunch across the street,” Jeonghan invited Jihoon once the clock had struck twelve, signaling lunch time for all employees. Jihoon was about to agree and turn his computer to sleep mode when a ding! notified a message had come in. He rose a hand, indicating for his senior to wait a moment as he checked the message. He hadn’t received any complaints during the first half of the day from the team he was in charge of so this was a bit unusually for him.

It was a message from you.

Y/N: Afternoon, Jihoon. This is Y/N, and I’m new from Saerom’s team. Y/N: I was told by Wonwoo that he’s currently on PTA, and to message you instead. I have an issue with my Google Analytics account, I’m currently logged out and usually Wonwoo helps me with that because I haven’t been given my password (it’s been two weeks I’ve started 😅). Y/N: Can you help me with this?

“Who’s that?” Jeonghan ducked down, looking over Jihoon’s shoulder as he read the message, then a chuckle left his lips. “Ah… it’s Y/N, she’s a new, and struggles with a lot of the tech things—you’ll be meeting with her a lot.”

“She’s bad with tech and chose to be a social media specialist?”

“Ironic, huh?” Jeonghan laughs. “But she means well, even though she sucks with tech, she has good ideas and already has a viral TikTok video for one of our clients.”

“And she says she hasn’t been given her passwords? Aren’t we supposed to give it to them when they start?”

“Yeah, but usually they don’t ever log out, only she has that case,” he explains, the corner of his mouth lifting before he pats his junior’s shoulder reassuringly. “Just head on over there and help her, it doesn’t take more than ten minutes.”

Jihoon heaved a sigh, reluctant to help because of how tedious and unnecessary and easily avoidable this problem would’ve been if she’d had her hands on her account passwords.

Jihoon: Lee Saerom’s team? Y/N: Yes Jihoon: Alright, wait a minute Jihoon: On my way

“Are you dining in or taking away?” Jihoon asked Jeonghan, while he wrote down the password for your account on a sticky note.

“Dining in.”

“I’ll meet you there then.” With that, Jihoon tossed his cap off and trudged down to the second floor where Saerom’s team should be located. Since it was lunch time, most of the office space was empty, with only the office boy who was busy sweeping the floors from the aftermath of earlier today. He found the main room for the Marketing team fairly quickly, and didn’t have to look far for you as you were the only one in the room, seated in front of your computer, shoulders stiff and hands placed on your lap as if you were starting your first day.

Immediately upon hearing the creaking of the door, your eyes met above the desks and monitors, and for a brief second, Jihoon paused—almost shell-shocked as to finding someone like you working in a rundown company such as this.

“Y/N?” Jihoon called out, just making sure despite the obvious newbie aura that wafted around you.

“Yes… Are you Jihoon? The one covering for Wonwoo?” He nodded, and you were almost sure he’d say something to follow up to prevent an air of awkward silence from appearing between the two of you. He did not. Instead, he barely uttered anything as he approached your desk. You didn’t hesitate to push away with your chair to let him take the reigns and input your account. How you were able to stay logged out of the account and not have said anything earlier was unbeknown to him. You had been finishing up last week’s reports, but had only moved on to Google Analytics just twenty minutes ago. You’d usually have your account still logged in, always clicking the Remember me, however, to your surprise, you were logged out.

“This is your password.” Jihoon handed you the sticky note. “If you need any more help, you can just message me—Wonwoo is on leave for the next week.”

“A-alright.” Maybe it was the way he carried himself that intimidated you. Or the fact that he never made any attempt at small talk, thus, a tense and awkward air floated in the space between you two. Maybe it was his tone, lacking the usually bounce you’d usually hear from Wonwoo as he explained the mechanics of Hootsuite.

It is definitely his aura, it’s ice cold, you couldn’t help but think and maybe when he wasn’t looking, you’d shiver. “Thank you,” you uttered, and with a stiff smile, he nodded and left the room without anything further, leaving you to finish the last half of your report alone.

If you need any more help, you can just message me.

And that’s how it started, a back and forth of at least twice a day since that first exchange between you and Jihoon. At first, you had to introduce yourself again, despite the fact you were using Google Chats and your name was clearly displayed. After a brief introduction, you explained the problem at hand, then after a minute or two came Jihoon’s go-to reply.

Alright, wait a minute.

On my way.

The first couple of times, you almost thought it was an automated response he had somehow coded every time someone messaged him. Maybe he had set it so that after a couple of messages from the sender, it would trigger the short response from his end, however, you learnt that it was just purely him when your own messages grew shorter and shorter.

So, short to the point that this was your most recent exchange:

Y/N: Jihoon :( Jihoon: On my way

Thus, it became almost a routine for the two of you. Jihoon didn’t have any complaints, despite Jeonghan’s claims that the junior would usually complain from having to go back and forth, ascending and descending the same set of stairs more times than he should be. “Aren’t you tired?” Jeonghan had asked on Thursday after Jihoon had returned from helping you with the extension cord for the presentation you had scheduled the afternoon.

Jihoon merely shrugged. “I barely get to exercise with coming in.” Of course, as Jeonghan has been working with Jihoon since he started, he could tell the guy was bluffing, hiding whatever his true intention was behind his nonchalant facade, but he never said anything. Sooner or later the truth will come to light.

Jeonghan wasn’t the only that could tell that was a different air hanging around the avid-WFH-over-WFO tech employee, and whatever gossip that surrounded him managed to reach the ears of the guy he was covering for as the two got into a game of Valorant Thursday evening. As the two waited for a match to be found, Wonwoo informed him that his grandfather was feeling better and could be released from the hospital by Saturday morning.

“Oh, that’s good to hear, glad he’s doing alright,” Jihoon offered, although a bit half-hearted as he was eating his dinner by his desk at the same time.

“Yeah, and by Monday you can return to your world of working from anywhere,” Wonwoo said, a deep chuckle echoing on his end. “And by anywhere, I mean, literally just your room.”

“Nah, it’s fine, I can come in to the office next week,” Jihoon replied without thinking twice, then realized what he said and added, “you can make sure your granddad’s fine.” He internally sighed, believing he made a good save. However, a dead silence hung in the Discord call, even after the loud ‘Match found’ reverberated, breaking the silence for a second.

“What did you say?”

“What?” Jihoon tried to play dumb, then added, “I’m playing Gekko,” to change the subject.

“Did you just say you’re willing to leave the comforts of your own home to work from office?” Wonwoo asked again, clearly twisting Jihoon’s words causing him to roll his eyes. His colleague then added, in a faux tone of panic, “The end of the world is nearing, isn’t it?”

“Shut up and pick your damn agent.”

“Are you even Jihoon right now?”

Jihoon defended himself, “I can want to work from office from time-to-time, you know?” Wonwoo was exaggerating, wanting to work from office is tiring, but nothing is more boring than working alone with only a dumb FPS game there to entertain you every time you’re free. Admittedly, he found working while being surrounded with other people was enjoyable—he wasn’t a social butterfly, didn’t make an effort to start a conversation by the coffee machine either, but it was… nice being around others every now and then. Humans are meant to be social creatures, after all.

“You have been working from home ever since probation had ended, which was literally two years ago, Jihoon,” Wonwoo reiterated, “you have been working from home since.”

“That’s not true.” He frowned, the comment caught him off guard and he almost started the round with buying any abilities. “I worked three days last October.”

“Which was, what? Nine month ago?” He couldn’t rebuttal that. It’s common knowledge among his peers that he despises working from office—Jihoon knows that, too. It’s just that this week has changed his mind. People can change their mind. “I have to bribe you with Valorant just so you come to company dinners, and now you want to willingly cover me for another week? For free?”

An irritated groan shook his chest as his character died on screen. “Damn it—” He pushed to talk, “90 on Reyna.” He fell back into his chair with a sigh, annoyed that Wonwoo was ruining his focus on the game—it was supposed to be his rank up to Ascendant 3. “Okay, and what’s your point?”

Jihoon swears he could hear the guy smirk. “I know.”

“You’re being annoying, you’re distracting me.”

Wonwoo paid no mind to his complaints, hitting clean headshots on the enemy but the spike detonated causing them to lose the round. Despite that, Wonwoo kept his cool as he continued to taunt his colleague. “Vernon told me about your round trips to and from the Marketing team.” He was definitely grinning now. "The problem is, I know Saerom’s team don’t usually need any help from IT support—at least, not to the point to where you need to go there twice a day.”

Jihoon cursed under his breath as he, once again, misses his utility and gets killed barely ten seconds into the round. This time he doesn’t even bother to communicate with his team, in fear of his voice shaking in anticipation of Wonwoo’s suspicions. “Except for one person,” his peer begins, letting the silence drag between the two as he focused on the game, getting three kills in a row, winning the round for them. Then Wonwoo asks, Jihoon picturing a shit-eating grin on his damned face. “Y/N’s cute, isn’t she?”

“I’m forfeiting.” Jihoon presses slash then F, to which it was denied, their teammates sending in question marks in response. Wonwoo’s burst out laughing at Jihoon’s ‘missclicked sorry’ reply. “Focus on the game—if I derank, it’s on you.”

Wonwoo’s laughter only grew louder, letting himself have the last word. “Jihoon enjoying working from office wasn’t on my 2024 bingo.”

Neither was it on Jihoon’s because he never enjoys working from office. Whatever friendly and social air that was present the previous week wasn’t present now as he finds himself at the wrath of the Operation’s team manager.

“I was on a call with Miyoung and she told me she couldn’t access their website, Jihoon,” Eunkwang scolded, his greying brows forming deep crevices disguised as wrinkles between his eyebrows and across the length of his forehead. “You’re supposed to be on top of this—she couldn’t access it the whole weekend, Jihoon, what happened? We’ve never faced this problem before.” Yes they have, Jihoon recalled, it happens when you run an agency that barely gathers clients and doesn’t really care enough to provide quality platform options, either, but of course Eunkwang says the same argument. Talk about selective amnesia.

“I don’t care how long it takes for you to fix it—” Might take half an hour, could’ve dealt with it within the time you’re yelling at me but I’ll shut up, Jihoon bitterly thought but kept his lips pressed in a tight line. “I want it done until Miyoung calls to confirm.”

Once he was sure the old man was done projecting his anger, Jihoon bowed his head, uttering, “Understood.” He turned his body to climb up the stairs to the third floor, grumbling to himself how this wouldn’t have happened if he worked at home because he wouldn’t be tired from commuting and socializing during the weekends and could monitor the websites every now and then. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case because he was tired, and he is still tired, he hates working in the office, he doesn’t even know why he agree to go for another week, he could’ve been at home and in a Valorant Swiftplay by now—

“Jihoon?” He turned to find you, standing by the door of your team’s room, a timid look on your face. Something had happened, he could see it written all over your soft features as you eyed him wordlessly. Without saying anything, he followed you towards your desk, where you idly by your computer with pursed lips and furrowed brows.

The dreaded blue screen. It had only reached 15% and didn’t seem to budge even after three minutes of watching it.

“For God’s sake,” Jihoon cursed under his breath, however, it was loud enough for you to hear it and the unusual sharpness in his tone caused you to jump slightly, your heart beginning to race in your chest as his face contorted into frustration. “How did you manage to get stuck like this?”

“I-I don’t know.” God, you hated it when you started stuttering. It always made you look stupid and helpless. You inhaled a quick breath, hoping it would help calm the nerves that seemed to climb the more you avoided his intense gaze. “I was coming back from my break and turned it on, and it did this… I didn’t do anything, I swear…” If your lack of technological capabilities looked pitiful to Jihoon, your inability of forming a coherent and sensible answer was the cherry on top. “I’m really sorry.”

Upon seeing her stricken face, Jihoon inhaled a deep breath, letting his tensed shoulders fall. “No, Y/N, I should be sorry. I’m taking my anger out on you, you just needed help.” He glances back at your monitor, heaving another sigh. “Just leave it, it should be able to restart on its own, but if it doesn’t, just tell me.”

“Alright…” Would it be even more pathetic to say you were fighting away tears? You had to turn your head a bit, angling away from Jihoon so your hair fell to cover your face enough for him to not notice your obvious internal battle with letting your emotions take over. “I’m really sorry I keep bothering you with not being tech-savvy.”

An ache thumped in his chest hearing your apology, sounding defeated. “It’s fine, Y/N,” he tried to reassure you, but he knew damn well the damaged was done and whatever unspoken agreement to two of you had, had gone. Jihoon knew he was terrible with people, but he really messed up with ruining it with you—the one person that made coming into work, commuting back and forth, and facing nagging higher-ups, the least bit bearable.

It didn’t seem to register in him how bad the damage was until he got through the day without any messages from you. Even Jeonghan was surprised as the day was coming to a close. “Y/N didn’t come in?”

“She did,” Jihoon mumbled.

“And she didn’t need any help?” He only shrugged, trying to hide his own bewilderment. Did his words strike you that much? He decided to message you, just in case you were reluctant to ask him for help.

Jihoon: Y/N Jihoon: Everything alright?

He waited on the edge of his seat, his heart skipping a beat when you began typing back.

Y/N: Yes, everything’s fine ^__^

Everything was, in fact, not fine.

Not only did your computer take almost an hour to restart after the dreaded blue screen, whatever the computer had gone through during said hour had your accounts logged out, and you, being clumsy, misplaced the sticky note that Jihoon gave you, forcing you to borrow someone else’s computer to pull up the Instagram analytics. Fortunately, most of your inputted data was still available from before your break, it was still a hassle to transfer the data from your colleague’s computer to your own, and because, once again, you are tech-savvy, you didn’t know any shortcut. You had to turn to Google, open up YouTube tutorials on Excel shortcuts, consuming almost an hour of your day trying to learn everything from scratch.

But you promised yourself you wouldn’t bother him with any measly problems if Google already had a solution.

Even it meant running into the risk of never seeing him again.

Two days had passed. It was Wednesday and Jihoon was ready to pack up and head back to his old life of working from the comforts of his bedroom. Two days without his favourite snacks. Two days without his functioning PC that he paid hundreds, probably thousands of dollars to build. Two days without his fast Wi-Fi that was optimal for a quick ranked game.

And two days without the usual ping of his Google Chat, the room with you now collecting dust as the last message exchanged was his check-in on Monday.

Now Wednesday’s work day comes to an end without your plea for technological aid. You’re genuinely the only thing in this bleak, rundown, cheap company that makes the work worthwhile, Jihoon couldn’t help but think to himself on the train back home.

Was it pathetic of him to think of you as a reason to wake up in the morning, fight the morning rush and sit through eight hours of blank staring at a computer screen if it means he can get a glimpse of you every now and then when he goes down to get another fix of shitty coffee? The two of you only officially met last week after all, and yet, he has grown drawn to you, attached even, finding the brief sight of you as you sat by your desk, an ever-so-present clueless look to your face as you try to remember how to VLOOKUP the third time. He finds endearing, so endearing that his heart aches and his days grow grey when he hasn’t seen you yet.

Has he always been one to fall so quick for someone?

Would it be even more pathetic for him to fear that feeling? Mind you, he has never left the house unless bribed to, social interactions were scarce aside from the call outs to teammates in his ranked games, and even then, he never bothered to make small talk with the people he’d temporarily need to rank up. Was he a bit too deprived of social interactions that meeting you overwhelmed him to the point of creating a false sense of falling in l—

“Wonwoo, when are you coming back?” This time the two weren’t in a game of Valorant. Thank God, Wonwoo had thought when Jihoon asked to get on a Discord call. The latter had dinner prepared and was watching Big Bang Theory while on the call, but his head wasn’t focused on neither the ramen nor the TV show. “Can we switch back soon?”

“What happened to your willingness to go to the office?” Again, that damned smirk was noticeable in the way he spoke, but Jihoon needed to keep his cool.

“Changed my mind.”

“How come?”

“Sick and tired of being in the direct line of shot for Eunkwang’s spit when he yells at me,” he half-lied. He had to wash his face after that meeting, to the point he used the strawberry-scented hand soap to make sure he couldn’t feel the droplets on his skin.

“Oh yeah, Jeonghan told me.” A pause. “Sorry that happened to you, but it’s just Eunkwang, his ammunition is making you work overtime every now and then.”

“I just don’t want to deal with him every now and then, much rather read him yell in the group chats than in real life.”

There was a longer pause now, Jihoon’s eyes glanced at his second monitor just to make sure his friend didn’t disconnect. Then, Wonwoo spoke up, tone matter-of-factly and the shit-eating grin heard clearly. “Vernon tells me you haven’t been to the Marketing room in a bit.”

“Vernon you piece of shit snitch,” Jihoon cursed under his breath, but obviously his microphone caught it, Wonwoo throwing his head back in laughter.

“I’m guessing the Tech-Illiterate hasn’t been asking for your help?”

“Y/N,” Jihoon corrected, not liking the term used—even if it did fit you.

“Hey, there are a lot of tech-illiterate people in our company,” Wonwoo pointed out, then added, “so I guess you admit it then, you’re thinking of her.”

His eyes roll far back, he gets a mild ache in his temples. “Fine yeah,” he admits with a defeated sigh, “she doesn’t need any more help from me so why should I even bother to go to the office?”

“For work, Jihoon,” he says casually. “I mean, you get compensation to come to work. Extra money.”

“I’m already rich enough,” he responds, clearly dodging.

“Then why work?”

“I’m bored.”

“You piss me off.” Wonwoo’s comment successfully makes Jihoon chuckle. “I hope Y/N becomes so tech-savvy that she doesn’t need your help anymore, and you will never see her again.”

“Asshole,” he hisses and disconnects from the call immediately, Wonwoo’s words pushed to the back of his head as he finished his ramen and closed the TV show, opening Valorant for a quick game to relieve the stress built up for the day.

Unfortunately, once he laid on his bed, eyes stuck on the ceiling, his peers’ words returned tenfold, echoing a sickening mantra in his head. What if you do end up learning how to do your job with little to no help, technology-wise? It’s hard for the guy to admit (and a tad bit dramatic), but he truly did feel like his entire being has lighten since meeting you.

Maybe he is deprived of social interaction, and you were the fix he needed, but didn’t want it to be temporary. He wanted to know everything about you, the reason why you struggle with technology and remembering passwords and working different Google suites. He wanted to know why you chose this line of work, why this shitty company, and why hadn’t he met you before.

He wanted to know more about you, and he doesn’t want to ruin the chances of being able to do so.

Although it might be pathetic of him to feel so strongly over someone he only met the previous week, he knew this would be a missed opportunity to not get to know you better, that it would become his biggest regret and he didn’t want his leaving the comforts of his WFA routine be for nothing.

So, he had a plan. A bit of a cheesy, cliché of a plan, but a plan and he lost sleep wondering if it’ll work or not.

As he entered the office, his mind kept replaying what he needed to do. It was simple, he just needed to wait for you to reach out to him, ask for help with an issue and it should be smooth-sailing from there, all depends on your answer, of course, but that was something he could worry about later.

Phase one starts with you and your uncooperative computer.

Jihoon waited, eyes glancing between tabs where his Google Chat was opened, looking at the bottom right corner of his computer at the time, watching the time tick by and still no ping from you. But that was okay, it was only two hours into this gloomy Thursday, there was still a whole seven hours before he could truly panic.

So he waited more.

And more.

And more.

He waited until he couldn’t wait, and time was running out. Eyes shifted towards the clock: 16.39.

Less than thirty minutes until the work day, and tomorrow is Friday, and he needed to get this done today because if he didn’t then, it’ll mess up his plan for tomorrow (which depends on your answer, too, if you say ‘yes’ then there’s another plan for that, but if you say ‘no’ then Wonwoo was already back in the city so he could cover for Jihoon while the latter wallows).

“Fuck it,” Jihoon mutters as he pushes himself up out of his chair, causing everyone else in the room jumps and turns to his desk, only to see him already out the door and rushing down the stairs.

“Go get her, man,” Jeonghan utters, loud enough for everyone to chime along with him.

With long strides and quick steps down to your floor, everyone Jihoon seemed to past knew he was a man on a mission—a man on a mission for you. He tries to ignore the mild chills that rose up his spine at that thought. He might be pathetic sometimes, but he likes to believe he can be quite the cheesy romantic, despite what his friends might say.

As expected, since it had been a slow day, a lot of staff had clocked out early, their jobs for the day done and all ready to end the work week. However, you were still by your desk, focused on the task at hand, only two of your coworkers in the room with you, but even they were mindlessly playing with their Excel sheets, waiting for the clock to strike five.

When he stood close enough to you, he saw that you weren’t focused on a task, instead on a game of Minesweepers. He watched you win a game, pursing his lips and nodding, visibly impressed. Sensing a present, you turned around and jumped slightly. “Jihoon… Hi.”

“Hey, Y/N,” he greets back with a stiff smile. “Is everything alright?”

A brief look of confusion passed your face, glancing between him and your computer, before nodding, “Yeah, everything’s fine.” And it was. You got through your day just fine, nothing needed to be troubleshooted, or restarted. You didn’t panic, other than when you forget to send a file to Saerom, but everything—technology-wise—was fine.

“Really? I got a notification on my computer that there was something wrong with yours,” Jihoon lied through his teeth. He didn’t, but he needed you away from your computer so he has ample time to put his plan in motion. His statement caused your brows to furrow together, genuinely confused because you didn’t receive any notification from your own computer, shouldn’t that be the case? Unless you did, and you didn’t noticed because you were too focused on your Minesweeper game.

“Oh…”

“Yeah…” Jihoon rubbed a nonexistent itch at the back of his neck. “Are you done with your work? It might take a bit for me to check it.”

“Oh yeah, I’m done for the day,” you said, then to the clock above the door. “I didn’t realize it was almost five.”

If you could hear anything right now, it would be the pounding beat of his heart against his chest as he tries to formulate an excuse to get you off the computer. “It won’t take more than ten minutes, though, Y/N.”

“Alright, I’m just going to fill my water bottle and clean up while you deal with it.” With a stern nod, Jihoon watched as you stood and walked out the room. Once outside, he took his spot and started his plan.

Recalling the steps he saw on Google, opening Notepad as he pulled out the sticky note where he wrote the code beforehand, typing it in and inserting the necessary message. Once he had saved it, he tested it once, and almost yelled out in triumph when it worked, displaying a fake error message.

“What’s the problem, Jihoon?” You approached him, bottle filled to the top with water. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, you just…” He stood from his chair, gesturing for you to sit. He leaned down, keeping one hand on the back of your chair as the other guided you. “You just need to click that, it’s to install a… an update… Yeah, an update.”

“This one? The ‘Critical Inquiry’ one?” Jihoon hummed in response and watched with sweaty hands and a racing heart as you clicked it, an error message popping up on your screen.

Is this how IT guys flirt? The blood in your face travelled the distance to your cheeks, a bright pink beneath the glow of your skin as you tried suppressing your smile, Jihoon’s way of asking you out so unconventional, so out of the blue, so unique, that you couldn’t help but mentally applaud him, this was a new way you’d been asked out.

“What’s your option?” Jihoon asked, his voice so clearly on edge as he anticipated your answer, for a second even worried you’d decline then he’d be forced to return to his hermit habits and hide his embarrassment.

All that tension, no matter how hard he tried to hide it behind a nonchalant façade, was visible to you and gosh, he is so cute.

You sent him a smile, turning back to your computer wordlessly, letting your choice speak. Your cursor hovered towards the options, for a second too long it hovered over ‘No’, Jihoon’s breath hitching in his throat before his heart skipped a beat as the cursor moved and you clicked your mouse right on ‘Yes’.

The two of you stared at each other, a warmth in your eyes, and brightness in his, sharing a knowing smile before he uttered with the confidence he mustered between the panic.

“I’ll pick up at eight then, Y/N.”

[ts19009]

Seventeen Fic Rec's Part 3

(CONTAINS SMUT AND MATURE SUBJECT MATTER)

(Bold title means favorite)

(UPDATED: September 22nd, 2024)

OT13

seventeen as teachers @fairyhaos

seventeen as dads headcanons @bbyobbyo

Back to School with Seventeen (Seventeen TA Collab! Take a look at our Course Options collated by your favourite writers, taught by your favourite members!) @camandemstudios

Seventeen's reaction to you asking them for a baby @j0shuasw1fey

Tales from Camp Masterlist (Thirteen friends reconnect on a camping trip, reminiscing about their times as camp counselors when they were in college.) @kwanisms

✤ Losing It. (masterpost) ✤ (A series of having virginities given to you. Sometimes they throw said virginity at you with full force, other times, they lovingly hold your hand, bat their lashes, and say some of the dumbest shit you’ve ever heard a man say in regards to getting laid for the first time. ) @ncteez

Kim Mingyu

kmg x reader: healing comes in small doses masterlist (husband! dad! kim mingyu x afab! mom!reader) @tomodachiii

Food Wars pt. 1 (You and Mingyu are rival but friendly chefs competing for a spot to be an executive chef at a new location in Madrid. This position would change your life; no matter how attractive he is, you WILL get that spot) @beomcoups

Crossing the Finish Line (Winning is the only thing that matters, except if you're raising money for a charity event with an infuriatingly good-looking swimmer.) @mr-cha-n

Statistically Speaking... (TA! mingyu, fluff, smut [minors DNI], angst, statistics, ur honour they're stupid for one another, descriptions of stress exhaustion and burnout, academic burden, disagreements, mingyu is smart as hell, shitting on bad professors, smut but its a surprise) @gyuswhore

Always // oneshot (Sometimes, one man's burden is everything another man has ever wished for.) @spamgyu

When I Kissed the Teacher (science teacher mingyu, grammar teacher reader, meddling students, crushes, flirting, lots of candy and coffee) @highvern

Read All About It (Anonymous Life and Sex writer, Not Carrie Bradshaw, takes on a 30-day challenge with her boyfriend, Min. How wild fans would go to find out they're none other than Kim Mingyu and his girlfriend?) @highvern

Hot Wheels [M] (Co-Workers to Lovers, Fluff, Humor, Smut 18+) @milfgyu

𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖶𝖺𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖧𝗈𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝖧𝗎𝗌𝖻𝖺𝗇𝖽 (fake marriage au!, fluff, angst, smut (18+ mdni) @wonustars

There's a snake in my pants (Crack/humour. Some fluff. Established relationship. Himbo Mingyu! [I love himbo Gyu]) @whipped-for-kpop-fics

Cross My Heart (Your crush Mingyu wants (to eat) you.) @minisugakoobies

Like A Cowboy Part 2 of 4 (Mingyu only needs to wake up with you once to decide he'll do whatever is necessary to do it every day; even if it means letting you help him outside and figuring out how to help you inside, it's worth it.) @sluttywoozi

Let our lips lock, baby (Friends to lovers smut. Fluff. They are in LOVE okay. Birthday boy Gyu <3) @whipped-for-kpop-fics

I can do it for you (After years dealing with everything alone, you stumble upon an old wishbook from your past. And you jokingly writes down your ideal boyfriend, Mingyu. To your surprise, Mingyu magically appears in your couch.) @hoshifighting

here and now. (secret!agent!mingyu x secret!agent!reader, established relationship) @writingmeraki

Jeon Wonwoo

into the night | jeon wonwoo (when you call wonwoo late at night telling him you're stranded, he drops everything to make his way to you (and bring you home safe)) @etherealyoungk

CLOSER (f2l!wonwoo, softdom!wonwo) @hannieehaee

HER | part six (m). (wonwoo, a heartbroken and burnt out writer nearing the end of his math degree, wants nothing to do with the seemingly perfect, intimidating girl who has everyone under her thumb. you. unfortunately, his literary talent has got him shoved him between a rock and a hard place when you want to write a book and require his expertise. you two are the furthest from compatible. wonwoo can’t see this going well. at all.) @chocosvt (HOLY SHIT, THIS SERIES HAD ME CRYING. SNAPS TO THIS AMAZING WRITER!)

𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 (though it didn’t bother wonwoo that his girl wasn’t a gamer like him, he was over the moon when one day she proudly declared she started gaming. one thing he forgot to ask - what kind of games she was playing.) @babyleostuff

knight in shining armor (non-idol! wonwoo x f!reader) @heartsfromia

endpoint (Senior year of college is meant to be full of celebration and smooth sailing. Years of work culminating in the final semesters that will send you off into the real world where clubs, sports, and weekends packed with hungover volunteering to pad your resume no longer mattered. It’d be a piece of cake if it wasn’t for your fuck buddy turned coworker having the same plan. But only one of you can get the department’s most coveted recommendation that all but guarantees your acceptance. Tension rises and the nearly four year thing you’ve had with Wonwoo approaches its endpoint.) @highvern

heads up! stardew. they r gaming. @nonranghaes

Cookies and Cream (academic rivals to lovers, smut, heart wrenching and tooth rotting fluff (wonwoo is down bad bad)) @seokgyuu

April Shower (Wonwoo meets a lot of people through his career as a travel photographer. Not one of them has ever made him want to stay in one place, until he met you.) @sluttywoozi

HEAVEN (wonwoo has a reputation for being distant, quiet and a bit mysterious. once you get to know him better, though, you come to find the sweet, shy boy underneath the surface.) @sanakiras

Patterns (Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern. So what does it mean when you find yourself in Wonwoo's bed over and over again?) @highvern

Daylight (between the endless flirty banter or secret looks of longing, the line between you and your boss had always been slightly blurred. But when a night out with friends has you and your boss meeting for the first time outside of the workplace, that line starts to become nonexistent as mutual feelings are brought to light.) @moonscriptsx

✦ sugar & spice (bodyguard!wonwoo x celebrity!reader) @etherealyoungk

Hong Jisoo

New in the Suburbs – New Neighboor! Joshua @hoshifighting

distracted (husband&dad!joshua, wife&mom!reader, established relationship) @eomayas

SUMMER KISSES (joshua coming home is a pleasant surprise) @arafilez

richhusband!joshua headcannons (just some headcons, but i'm obsessed with them) @number1mingyustan

still the one (5 years after your break up, Joshua tries his best to get your attention. May it be creating a new instagram to get you to notice him, making your brother (Seungkwan) secretly invite him to his birthday party, and his latest act: begging you on his knees in front of your door to get him back. He just never gives up!) @bratzkoo

city lights series | joshua hong (M) [ongoing] (rock singer joshua, neighbours with benefits) @hannieween

best friend’s brother (This had me crying ugly tears. its my fav) (imestep, romance, angsty angst, major feels abt having a crush, lots of flirting, smut, drama, happy tears.) @chocosvt

not according to plan | hjs (fake dating, strangers to friends to ?? | fluff, slight angst, smut) @the-boy-meets-evil

Expiration Date (2/2) (artist!joshua x model!fem!reader) @number1mingyustan

Birds of a Feather ( joshua hong x f reader) @onlymingyus

Timestamp! Aquamarine Au! @mysafehaneul

on second thought (where your roommate, wonwoo, has an interesting solution to all your bad dates. nothing can go wrong with two friends crossing a line, can it?) @the-boy-meets-evil

Yoon Jeonghan

BITE (idol!jeonghan x hybeidol!reader, f2l, meet-cute, very unrealistic schedules for idols lol, jeonghan is a menace, a lot of will they wont they, reader plays hard to get, afab reader, small age gap implied, one mention of the word oppa as a honorific (sorry</3), reader is mentioned to be international (no specific race, just not born in korea), smut, dry humping, penetrative sex, etc.) @hannieehaee

building blocks | yjh (agreeing to be the teaching assistant is the last thing you want in a semester where you're already swamped with work. but, you need a letter of recommendation from the professor and you're out of other options. enter jeonghan, the menace who signs up for the class seemingly on a whim and disrupts your entire routine.) @the-boy-meets-evil (OBSESSED WITH THESE TA SERIES)

"lovie" (all the ways jeonghan uses your nickname) @cherryredcheol

Titty-Shirt! (18+) (pervert!rollercoaster operator!jeonghan x bigtiddie!fem!reader) @beefboyandbabygirl

love café (while you’ve spent the last few months pretending the love café doesn’t exist, you realize you need its services now more than ever. this brings you face to face with jeonghan, the son of a luxury fashion designer who’s got money to burn. your exchanges are strictly business. until they’re not) @chocosvt

five ways to say "i love you" - jeonghan (how jeonghan shows his love to you, through all five love languages) @p0ckykiss

Xu Minghao

Meet Me In Amsterdam (Artist!Minghao x Artist!Fem!Reader) @okiedokrie

GOODNIGHT N GO (idol!minghao x hybeidol!reader) @hannieehaee

To all the love letters I wrote but never sent (fluff, best friends to lovers) @welcometomyoasis

Birthday Gift l Xu Minghao (It's your birthday and Minghao wants to give you your present!) @jenoslutie

Lee Seokmin

through a different lens — l.sm (meet cute, strangers to something) @miniseokminnies

after dessert (just pure smut lol, but it was good XD) @xurengu0

behind the stands (Seokmin, Gryffindor's star chaser, is widely known as your rival. What everyone doesn't know is that before every game, his lips are always on yours.) @xurengu0

Beautiful Liar (mafia au, dark romance? angst, smut.) @starlightx

Epistolary Yearning (epistolary form, historical fantasy, romance | smut) @himbocoups

Nice Guys Finish First (After a first date with the sweetest man you've ever met, thanks to a mutual friend, you're more than willing to silence his doubts and show him how sexy he was to you.) @celestiababie

midnight rain | lsm (after seven years away, you finally return home. meeting seokmin again wasn't in your plans, but life wasn't willing to let you have it your way.) @wongyuuu

[heartsfromia]

thank you for including my wonwoo au :>> <33

[heartsfromia]

knight in shining armor — j. wonwoo

pairing: non-idol! wonwoo x f!reader

word count: 7,350

genre: fluff, angst, mild crack, college setting

warnings: cheating (not wonwoo tho our boy is sweet, it's reader's shitty ex), curse words, implicit violence (black eyes, cuts on lips mentioned)

author's notes: y'all pray that one day i have the energy to proofread my works ;_____; BRO I STG I WORKED ON THIS FOR OVER THREE MONTHS AND IDK HOW IT GOT SOOO LONG T___________T

“Hey, I’m planning on finishing my paper for International Law in Holly’s, come with me?”

With your hands intertwined with your boyfriend, Hanwoo, the two of you walked towards the parking lot by your university, just having finished a class together. You were hoping to spend some time together since Hanwoo had been preoccupied with the major association he’s a member in, as the collegial organization is holding its elections in the next week and he had been approached to help out as a committee member. Since the two of you have the same classes together, and the paper was due next Monday (it being a Thursday now), you thought you could get, at least the introduction down, while having some quality time in the 24 hour café with your boyfriend of six months.

“We’ll be there all night and you can distract me from my paper and I will do the same to you, and then we can down a ton of caffeine before passing out on the bean bags they have,” you tried to convince him, leaning into his side as you two approached his car. “And then we can go home and talk about how we should’ve finished our paper, plan another night in Holly’s and do it all over again!”

“Although that does sound tempting,” Hanwoo began, releasing your hand to reach for the car keys and unlocked the doors. He leaned down to be eye-level with you, as his hand reached for the door handle of the passenger seat, he uttered, “But, I have a meeting later tonight.” Pressing a quick kiss to your cheek, he pulled your door open and stepped aside enter the car. A pout found its way to your lips, pulling your favorite move to get what you want, but he wasn’t budging and only nodded his head for you to climb in.

“What meeting?” You asked once he climbed into the driver’s seat, pulling the car out of the parking lot and on your way to your house to drop you off.

“The election, since Monday evening will be the debate between president and vice president candidates, so we need to discuss the topics of the debate, all the technical stuff tonight,” he explained, “we’re planning on pushing a lot we need done between today and tomorrow, so we can have the weekends free and do finishing touches on Monday.”

“Ahh, being Event Organizer really isn’t easy… so you’ll be busy today, and tomorrow?” He only nodded, briefly sending a small smile her direction. “Alright, then, I’ll just see if Wonwoo is free tonight.”

Hanwoo threw his head back, asking, “Isn’t Wonwoo a Computer Science major?”

“Yeah, but he’s really good at research so I think he can help.” Hanwoo didn’t bother asking more, turning the music up to let it fill the silence as you arrived by the driveway of your house. “Good luck on your paper, yeah? Don’t drink too much coffee.”

“No promises,” you responded before kissing his cheek and climbing out his car. You waved him off, watching as the car disappeared in the distance before turning to head inside and up to your room just left of the entryway. Tossing your bag on your chair, you flopped on to your bed, too mentally exhausted from the three lectures today to even change your clothes, feeling sleep begin to fog your head. You were on the edge of dreamland when you heard a clink, then a few seconds later another one, and then another one, and it seemed to be never ending before you pulled yourself out of your drowsiness and headed to your window—which just so happened to be adjacent to your next door neighbor, Wonwoo’s window.

“You seriously need to reconsider throwing rocks at my window before you shatter it, Wonwoo.” Your neighbor only chuckled, so you took this as an opportunity. “Hey, can you come with to Holly’s? I’m planning to stay overnight there.”

“What for?”

“I’m holding an executive meeting for us to discuss a ten-step plan to overthrow our government,” you grinned, and he pondered, tapping his chin lightly before shaking his head.

“I can’t overthrow the government yet, I have a quiz tomorrow.”

You rolled your eyes, a soft laugh escaping your lips. You could always count Wonwoo to go along with your poor attempts at sarcasm. “I have a paper to work on and I don’t want to be alone.”

“Where’s your boyfriend? What’s his name? Yohan?”

“So close! It’s Hanwoo,” you retorted with a deadpan as you reminded him of your boyfriend’s name. Wonwoo hasn’t been discreet in his distaste towards your boyfriend—it’s been six months since he asked you out, and it’s been six months of Wonwoo never remembering his name. “He has a meeting today since the upcoming election debate for my major’s organization.”

“Is he running or…?” Wonwoo asked, despite his lack of interest with the topic.

“No, he’s the EO, and will be occupied for the next couple of days.”

“Aah, so I’m a back-up to you? Got it.” You knew he was being sarcastic, it was a running joke between the two of you since splitting when choosing college majors—you had done the same when he asked you to accompany him to watch a movie he really wanted to see, only to find out he came to you because friends from his major were busy.

“Do you want to come with me or not?” You asked again, “you don’t need to if you don’t want to.”

“What time?” Wonwoo asked, not hesitating. “Eomma is making dinner tonight, and asked me to ask you to join in case your parents are working late.”

You turn briefly, listening in to your parent’s room across from yours and can hear the muffle conversation behind the walls. “I think they’re home, but knowing my dad, he won’t be cooking so I think all three of us can head over to your place for dinner?”

“Sure, I’ll tell Eomma,” Wonwoo informed, “so after dinner then, we can go? Did you ask your parents for permission to spend the night working on the assignment.”

Dread immediately washed over you, colour draining from your face and to your feet as you remembered you haven’t asked permission from your parents, especially your dad who isn’t fond of you working long hours for an assignment you could’ve finished from when it was assigned. Force habit, dad, it’s not my fault you raised a chronic procrastinator, you couldn’t help but think. An innocent chuckle left your lips as you pulled your signature puppy-dog eyes to Wonwoo, who—without you having to utter a single word—understood what you were doing.

He heaved a heavy sigh, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, I’ll ask them.”

“You are the best! Did you know that you’re the best person I’ve ever met? You’re absolutely awesome, smart and so, so, so kind, Wonwoo!” You blew a kiss in his direction, like how you watched Sunjae in Lovely Runner do so. “Love you!”

He waved your exaggerated gestures off, ignoring the heat forming in his cheeks and spreading to his ears, as he turned away, yelling back at you, “Yeah, yeah, just hurry up, I want to get this over with.”

“When do you think International Humanitarian Law is applicable?” You turned to Wonwoo after reading (re: skimming) a journal regarding the topic for your paper. Despite having only been studying the material for about twenty minutes, you could feel yourself losing it by the second. You didn’t hate International Law, but you always thought that the professor assigned too much reading, and is so strict about the entire paper itself—specifically using APA style, it has to only be footnotes (no in-line citations, despite that being the easiest in your opinion and you always preferred Chicago over any other reference style).

Oh, and the International Law professor is biased and lowkey a bitch.

So, being reluctant to work on an assignment given by your major’s most disliked professor wasn’t a priority even with the deadline closing in.

“During world conflicts?” You and Wonwoo stared at each other briefly, before you nodded, “That is true.” Wonwoo stifled a laugh. Seeing you look so drained and empty every single time you worked on an assignment, never failed to make him laugh. He enjoyed accompanying you, and despite the different majors and study programs you both have, he always tried to make sure he is more help than company. Even though you never really wanted to help you work on the assignment, knowing he has his own to deal with as a Computer Science major, but he’s well aware of your habits that even if the due date is Monday and you are working on it right now, you won’t completely finish it until Sunday, if not with Wonwoo’s aid.

“What’s the paper about?”

“The application of International Humanitarian Law in a specific study case,” you responded, tone flat. The more you talked about it, the more your soul was being sucked into the void. “I chose the Femicides in El Salvador.”

“Alright.” Was all Wonwoo said before he opened Google Scholar and began his own little research.

“Wonwoo, you don’t have to—”

“Y/N?” Cut off mid-sentence, you and Wonwoo turned to find Joy approaching your table, her hair tied and a lanyard around her neck, she must’ve just gotten back from campus.

“Joy? Hi, what are you doing here?” You smiled, internally sighing in relief because you had a reason to not look at the journal you were reading of femicide reports in the past decade.

“I just came back from an internal meeting with the EO’s for the upcoming debate,” Joy responded, noticing Wonwoo and waving at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m working on Michelle’s paper,” you answered, exaggerating the slouch in your shoulders and pout in your lips. You then realized, sitting up straight, head cocked to the side with your brows furrowed. “Wait, you’re an EO for the debate?”

Joy pulled a chair to sit across from you, resting her arms on the table and nodded.

“So you were with Hanwoo?”

It was her turn to furrow her brows. “Your boyfriend?” You nodded, and she shook her head. “No I wasn’t.”

“What? But he told me he was having a meeting with the EO’s for the debate, maybe you didn’t see them?”

The crease between your friend’s brow only deepened. “Y/N, the EO’s are only four people, not including the PIC—I’ve also met them all, and Hanwoo isn’t a part of us.”

“That’s weird,” you muttered. Did your boyfriend lie?

“Maybe he got his position switched? Maybe he’s not an EO? You could try asking tomorrow,” Joy tried to reason, and you only nodded. Hanwoo had been telling you that he was an EO for the past couple of weeks, ever since the announcement of election was released for the major association. He explained to you in great detail what the position would entail, and well, frankly speaking, you trusted him. It tugged at your chest at the possibility he might’ve lied to you.

And Wonwoo can see it. The deep glare in your eyes as you stared at the article you were reading, but you weren’t actually reading the reports from representatives of the El Salvadoran government, instead you were reading into the situation with your boyfriend. Gears were turning in your head, making connections, coming up with excuses as to why he had chosen to lie to you about something as trifling as his position in a collegial committee. He could tell that no matter how many paragraphs you read, how many relative research articles you pulled up from the internet, nothing will allow you to progress in your paper until the nagging feeling of your fibbing boyfriend is at ease.

“Y/N, do you want to head back home, call it a night?” Wonwoo asked, before quickly raising his phone, “My brother just sent me a text, that he needs the car early tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, yeah sure, let me just pay—”

“You pack up, I’ll pay for our food.”

You knew that he knew. Your lips pressed into a tight smile, “Thanks, Won.” He nodded, returning your smile before heading to the counter.

“Should we continue tomorrow night, then?” Joy asked. You nodded. “Sure,” then added, “depends though.”

On whether or not your boyfriend is lying.

“Wonwoo, do you have notes from Beom’s class? Last weeks’?” Seungcheol sat across from Wonwoo in the cafeteria, picking up a fry from Wonwoo’s plate and tossing it into his mouth. Wonwoo merely stared at his friend, unamused by his lack of manners, causing Seungcheol to chuckle.

“You know I do, Cheol, but why should I give it to you?” Wonwoo asked, his baritone voice holding a twinge of sarcasm, still upset by Seungcheol’s unwarranted act of property theft.

“Who says I want them?” Seungcheol turns away, flustered that Wonwoo caught on too quickly to his motive.

Wonwoo shrugs, and continues eating his lunch. “Alright then.”

“Can you email them to me?” An innocent, close-lipped smile etched across Seungcheol’s face, his dimple deepening as he clasped his hands together, pulling the same trick as Y/N usually does to get what they want.

“Stop that, I already get enough of puppy-eyes from Y/N,” grunted Wonwoo, rolling his eyes. “I’ll send them tonight, just send me a reminder.”

“Great, thanks, man.” Wonwoo expected him to leave, allowing for Wonwoo to spend the rest of his lunch alone before he heads to his next class, but Seungcheol stayed put, eyes on his phone. Not feeling like making any conversation, Wonwoo shrugged it off and continued eating. That is, until Seungcheol spoke up again, asking, “Hey, doesn’t Y/N have a boyfriend?”

Wonwoo couldn’t help the heat that rose at the back of his neck. “Yeah, why?”

“Isn’t it that Hanwoo guy?” Wonwoo nodded, but Seungcheol only looked even more perplexed. “They’re still going out?”

“Yeah…” Wonwoo confirmed, but the question only made his curiosity grow. Why did Seungcheol look so surprised? “Why?”

“It’s just… I mean, if you say they’re still together then it might not be- I must’ve made a mistake,” Seungcheol tried to change the subject but Wonwoo wasn’t going to let him do so.

“Tell me what you’re talking about or you won’t get Beom’s notes,” Wonwoo threatened, earning a look of genuine offense from Seungcheol, whom briefly rose a brow, a bit unconvinced. “I’m serious, Cheol.”

“Ass,” he muttered, before shaking his head, “Nah, it’s just… last night I saw a guy pick up my neighbor from across the courtyard, and I thought he looked a lot like Hanwoo.” Wonwoo’s eyebrow rose in suspicion, Seungcheol spotting it. “But if you say they’re still going out, then it must’ve been someone else.”

“What do you mean?”

“Any guy would be stupid to cheat on Y/N, especially since she’s your best friend and all.”

That only made him more confused. “Why would you say that?”

“It’s not like you’d let anyone hurt her, Won,” Seungcheol retorted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (it was), “and Hanwoo would be a huge dumbass if he even thought of cheating on her.”

Even though Seungcheol was right, Wonwoo wasn’t convinced—Hanwoo had a meeting last night when they were at Holly’s but Joy confirmed that he wasn’t even a part of the EO committee.

“Are you sure it wasn’t him?” He tried to make sure.

“I mean, it was dark and I wasn’t wearing my glasses so it was a bit blurry—all-in-all I would say 50%, either he was or he wasn’t,” Seungcheol explained, being no help to Wonwoo’s growing suspicion of your boyfriend.

“I’ve gotta go,” Wonwoo uttered, standing and packing his things, tossing his backpack over his shoulder.

“Where are you go- class is that way!” Wonwoo paid no mind to his friend as he continued walking towards the parking lot. However, he could hear Seungcheol as he was almost out of earshot, “Y/N, your knight in shining armor is on his way.”

The corner of Wonwoo’s lips quirked up. “I’m not sending the notes then!”

“Oh, come on, man!”

He couldn’t wait any longer. Suspicions and of course, anger, only grew the more steps he took towards his car, knowing the destination was you. If what Seungcheol said is true and he did, in fact, see Hanwoo with another girl, then that means he’s openly seeing someone else behind your back.

His hand reached for his phone, sparing quick glances between the screen and where he was walking as his fingers swiped for your contact, immediately dialing. Pressing the phone to his ear, he let his other hand pull out his car keys and unlock the door just as the line started ringing.

You picked up after two rings.

“Wonwoo? What’s with the sudden phone call?”

“Where are you?” He waited in the front seat, keys dangling from the ignition. Your answer would decide whether he starts the car or not.

“In the cafeteria near the engineering majors, why?”

“Are you with Hanwoo?” You were taken aback by his question, not because of what he asked, but by the fact that he got your boyfriend’s name right.

“Yeah, I am… Why?”

His shoulders sunk with your confirmation. “Just… just checking, sorry to bother you guys.” You muttered something that he didn’t catch before he hung up, exhaling a heavy sigh. Maybe it was paranoia. He had known you since you both were in middle school, of course he was protective over you, like every friend out there, he never wants you to get hurt.

Little did he know that as you put down your phone, a grimace had taken over your features as you looked at Joy.

“What did Wonwoo ask?”

You wanted to tell her the truth, but even you couldn’t wrap your head around the obvious that was happening. Wonwoo thinks you’re with Hanwoo, but you’re not and Joy’s tip about your boyfriend never having been involved in the election committee—you knew, and if your best friend had asked and even remembered Hanwoo’s name, then that must mean he knows, too.

“If I was with you,” you answered before her suspicion grew. “He wanted to check if I was up for lunch with him, but I’m with you already.”

“Ah… I think it’s good that he isn’t here,” Joy prefaced, pulling her phone out. “Do you remember I use to be a student supervisor for our major’s freshman camp?”

“Yeah, why?”

“So, I follow most of the kids that were in my group, right? And I was scrolling through my Instagram stories when you were buying lunch, and then—“ Joy scrolled through the following list of her account, stopping her explanation as she found who she was looking for. “—I think it’s better if you see for yourself.”

She slid her phone face-up to you, an Instagram story of a junior you didn’t know of was opened. The picture wasn’t revealing much of anything that seemed of significance to you, just a photo of her holding hands with a guy and it was posted in her Close Friends—most likely an attempt at soft-launching her boyfriend.

For a moment you were confused, then you spotted it—the username. It was Hanwoo's Instagram account. Dread grew at the back of your head as your brain couldn't grasp on to this fact, even exiting out of the story and searching for his username, hoping it was one letter off and your suspicions would be wrong, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and both the username in the girl’s post and his username were the same.

“I’m sorry, Y/N…” Joy uttered, in hopes to break the silence and tension that was building, but it was to no avail. Your throat tightened, and tears burned in your eyes, but you knew they weren’t from sadness, or heartbreak even, you were furious.

The audacity this piece of shit has to think he can cheat on me? You locked Joy’s phone, sliding it back to her before picking up your things and standing from the table.

“Where are you going?” Her eyes were filled with genuine concern, worried that you were a ticking time bomb, just waiting to blow up at the worse time.

You sent her a reassuring smile, and shrugged. “Where else? To plan my revenge on him, of course.”

Wonwoo thought he was hearing things. As he paused his game, he waited and listened for a moment before shrugging, chalking it off to probably a feature in the game he never noticed.

Clink!

That couldn’t have been a feature in the game, he was breaking wood—a clinking sound against glass doesn’t seem like something you’d hear while hitting a tree repeatedly in Minecraft.

He removed his earphones this time, waiting for the sound again, and when he did, he stood and walked to his window, finding you standing outside his window.

“Finally, oh my God!” you groaned, rolling your eyes. “Do you know how many pebbles I had to look for to throw at your window?”

Wonwoo’s eyebrows bunched together as he stared at you dumbfounded. “Why did you need to throw pebbles, we’re ground level. You could’ve just knocked.”

“That wouldn’t be so romantic, now would it?”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he heaved a heavy sigh. “You’ve got to stop sneaking around like this, though, people are going to think you’re a burglar.”

“Whatever, Won,” you waved him off. “I need your help.”

“With what?”

“I—“ You paused. The fact that Hanwoo is actively cheating on you, probably even at this very moment, felt almost surreal to you, but ever since Joy showed you the picture, you’ve (to some extent) came to terms with it—there were signs after all, signs you chose to ignore or were so subtle, they flew over your head. However, coming to the realization that you’ve been cheated on felt easier than to utter it out loud—it felt more like a confirmation, that once the words were spoken out into the universe, it confirmed you were too blind in love to see the fact that he played you like a violin.

And it felt worse to admit to Wonwoo that his suspicions of your boyfr— ex-boyfriend being a douchebag were right.

“I need your help to trash Hanwoo’s car tonight, he’s at a friend’s house and left his car by his apartment.” Might as well hold off telling the truth until after you’ve released your anger.

Wonwoo could see you were holding something back, and by your proposition, making a guess as to why you did so, was easy.

“I’m not going to ask, but I will need you to explain later.” You subconsciously thanked him for not asking for a reason to your borderline act of vandalism. “Come around to the garage, I think I have a baseball bat from when I played little league.”

Ignoring the last bit of Wonwoo’s childhood anecdote, you watched as he left his room before taking the route to circle towards the front of his house where the garage was. You heard a lock turn and a bar slide before door opened, revealing Wonwoo, nodding his head to follow him.

“Do you, like, a Swiss Army knife or something sharp?”

“I think my dad has one his tool box, let me check,” he says, then points to shelf behind the car. “You can check there for the baseball bat.”

“Alright.”

Once the equipments were prepared—consisting of Wonwoo’s baseball ball, his dad’s Swiss Army knife, and your dad’s spray paint from one of his furniture restoration projects—you were all set to get back at Hanwoo. You both tossed them into the back of his car, climbing in and Wonwoo started up for Hanwoo’s apartment.

“And how do you know he left his car?” Wonwoo asked after three minutes of complete silence (AUX cord was broken and nothing that could fit a drive to vandalize your ex’s car was on the radio).

“Because I texted him earlier, asking if he could drive me to the store because there was a book I needed to get, and he explained to me that he was at a friend’s house and left his car,” you explained, your tone flat throughout as you mindlessly played with the zipper of your hoodie.

“And you’re sure he’s with friends?” He asked, his tone cautious, as he watched you freeze briefly.

You weren’t sure. Instead of admitting that, you chuckled, “He wouldn’t be with his girlfriend without a car.”

Despite your efforts at breaking the ice, Wonwoo wasn’t able to laugh at your joke, and only you could muster a dry chuckle before leaning back, turning to face the window.

You seemed to float throughout—as if watching yourself in a third person point of view, almost numb to the fact that you were on your way to ruin your ex’s car. It wasn’t that you were in denial that he is cheating on you, you refused to believe it was happening to you. You always felt that you were doing so much, showing him so much love, prioritizing him when he needed, never doubting that you felt the same way for you.

What did I do wrong? What about me wasn’t enough?

You hated those thoughts that began flooding your head. You hated those doubts. You hated that because of what he did, you’re blaming yourself—making it seem that you were the one that wasn’t doing enough.

“Y/N?” Wonwoo’s baritone voice pulled you out of your self-loathing. “We’re here.”

“Oh, you remembered the way,” you finally took note of him never asking you directions throughout the drive.

“Unfortunately.” You couldn’t help but laugh at his snide comment. Looking out to his side of the window, you see Hanwoo’s white range rover. You knew he cherished it—making sure to get the oil changed routinely, weekly car washes and having it waxed monthly. In retrospect, he probably loved the car more than he did you.

Maybe destroying he loved could make you feel less shitty.

“Let’s go—“ Before you could climb out, Wonwoo grabbed your wrist, stopping you.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Y/N?”

Again, the truth choked you. As you stared at Wonwoo, the concern laced all over his features, it felt the question should’ve triggered a flood gate to open, but alas, you persist. I need to not use poor humor as a coping mechanism. You cocked your head to the side, the corner of your lips lifted. “Why? I honestly thought you’d be the most excited of us to trash his car, Won?”

Of course, being your best friend since middle school, he saw right through your façade.

His hand moved from your wrist to clasp your hands, wrapping his fingers around yours. “Just promise you’ll talk to me, yeah?”

The bile rose, once again, urging you to cough out the truth. Knowing well enough you wouldn’t be able to utter anything without your words breaking, you nodded and sent a stiff smile.

As you stood near Hanwoo’s car, looking through the window of his vehicle, memories of the two of you seated side-by-side there came flooding in. How when you would go to a drive-thru for late night snack runs, the way you reached over the console with a fry and feeding it to him as his eyes focused on the road. When you’d pull over into a parking lot, your legs stretched over to rest over his lap as the two of you talked about everything and nothing at all, or when he would purposely make wrong turns just so you would spend more time with each other when he was supposed to drop you home.

Moments that you held so close to your heart, now worth nothing in a blink of an eye.

You squeezed your eyes shut, urging the tears to fall back and return to their sockets, inhaling a deep breath and pushing it out almost immediately as you flipped the knife to one of its sharpest options and pressing the point to the driver’s door. There’s no backing out now. You let the knife drag itself across the paint, a ragged line following your hand as you made your lap around his car.

Now, there really wasn’t going back now.

Before you could hold yourself back, your arm extended back and punctured one of the tyres—then one became two, and then three. Air spewing out of three of the tyres filled the tension around you, and you found yourself breathless. Breathless because you were angry. Breathless because you were hurt. The tears had escaped, creating warm trails down your cheeks.

“Give me the bat,” you urged, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks.

“Y/N—“

“Wonwoo,” you pressed, “it’s either you give me the bat, or you go home—I’m going to do this whether you agree with it or not.”

Wonwoo shouldn’t even be against what you’re doing right now. He’s obviously on your side when it comes to this, Hanwoo deserves getting his car destroyed for hurting, manipulating and thinking he could go behind your back this way. However, the more logical and law-abiding side of him is reluctant—especially since you’ve already slashed his tyres and ruined the paintwork, so breaking the windows seemed to cross the line.

“If we get arrested, just tell them I did it, alright?” Wonwoo uttered, handing you the bat and taking the knife with him. You smiled for the first time tonight, a genuine smile that reached your eyes as he said that. He then added, “I’ll get the spray paint—you do your thing.”

And after a bashed in windshield, a very poorly written “FUCKING CHEATER” was spray painted on all sides of the car and on the hood. You and Wonwoo drove away from the scene of the crime, driving to a nearest convenient store where Wonwoo hopped out, buying instant ramen, drinks and snacks, deciding to make a last-minute picnic in his car because in his words: “Vandalism works up an appetite.”

“They didn’t have the carbonara one, so I got you cheese.” Wonwoo returned in less than ten minutes, the noodles already boiled, only needing the seasonings. You smiled at him, mumbling a thanks as you took the cup noodles from him, tearing the seasoning and busying yourself with stirring, and continuously stirring, your eyes dazed off at the curly noodles as they spun in a faint orange mix.

“Y/N, I’m sure your noodles are well stirred,” Wonwoo commented, hoping to divert your attention. The leather beneath him squeaked as he adjusted his position, leaning his back against the door as he folded his knee under him, fully facing you at this point.

He called, “Hey.”

You lifted your head to meet his eyes, and immediately, Wonwoo straightened up, his jaws clenched and shoulders tensed. Tear stricken cheeks, bloodshot eyes and everso present frown evident in between your eyebrows and downturned lips.

“Y/N…” Wonwoo took the noodles from your hands, placing it on the dashboard and pulling you by the wrists, engulfing you into his arms, then there goes the floodgates—the emotions you locked away throughout the evening, released in that very second your face was against his shoulder.

While you were bawling, grieving the relationship that reigned to be good to be true, Wonwoo was hatching up his own revenge plan on the piece of shit.

The incessant ringing of your phone pulled you out of your slumber, and you knew for a fact it wasn’t your alarm, because one; you snoozed that ten times already, and two; it wasn’t your usual Radar tone.

Sliding the screen with one eye open, you placed it by your ear without seeing who it was.

“Hello—“

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY CAR, Y/N?!”

Well that was one way of waking you up. You sat up, slowly, taking your time with adjusting your position while Hanwoo was screaming on the other line. Once you were sitting up, you glanced at the screen—the name you had changed last night once you got back home displayed as ‘IGNORE’, in hopes that you would do so when he called you. But then again, you thought he’d call you when you were conscious.

“—Y/N FUCKING ANSWER ME!” Rolling your eyes, you heaved a sigh before placing the phone back by your ear.

“And to what do I owe—“

“You were you even fucking listening to me?“ Hanwoo snapped.

“No.” Your answer was simple, honest, and obviously uninterested with whatever he wanted to say. Was the modification that you made to his beloved vehicle not enough of an announcement that you knew what he was up to all this time?

“I was asking what the hell did you to my car?”

“Can’t you tell?” you teased, “I gave it a makeover.”

“You ruined my paint job and popped my tyres, what kind of makeover is this?”

“The kind that fits a cheater like you.” Silence. Complete silence came from the other side and if you listened closely, you could hear the static along with his ragged breathing knowing well enough he was caught. “Cat got your tongue, dude?”

“Y/N…”

“Save the sob story, we’re not dating, I don’t see why you’re fucking calling me other than to cry about your stupid car—“

“How about the fact that your fucker of a dog punched me?” He interjected.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean, Y/N,” he scoffed, “it wasn’t enough to ruin my car, you had to send your dog to ruin my face too.”

It took you a second to realize he was talking about Wonwoo, which means that Wonwoo had punched his face.

Wonwoo punching someone in the face? That wasn’t something you had heard before, nor expected. The image itself was enough to cause you to burst out laughing, your phone falling from your hands, leaving Hanwoo confused and annoyed.

The idea that Wonwoo would go as far as to punch someone was such an unrealistic accusation Hanwoo had made, but nonetheless, had successfully made you laugh after a long night of crying yourself to sleep.

“Are you done?” Hanwoo asked once you placed the phone back to your ear after your laughing fit.

“Wasn’t enough for you to lie about your relationship all this time, now you want to lie and accuse Wonwoo of something he’d never do,” you defended, scoffing at his poor attempt.

“I’m not lying about this, Y/N!”

“So, you admit that you were lying about our relationship?” This time you interjected, wanting to hear him confirm it. It was mostly due to that nagging voice at the back of your head that still doubted what Joy had shown you, that the picture was friendly and not romantic.

It was so pathetic how even after everything, there was a sliver in you that hoped he would deny it.

“Y/N- let me explain—“ In other words: ‘I was, but you haven’t heard my reason’.

“Fuck off, Hanwoo, don’t ever call me again,” you warned, “and if I hear you spread bullshit about Wonwoo like you did just now, it’ll be more than just your car that I ruin. Bye.”

He managed to slip something before you got the chance to hang up. “What about my fucking eye, Y/N?”

“Why don’t you ask Gia to help you with that?” Grateful to have the last word, you hung up immediately, tossing your phone to the side. The phone call wasn’t closure, but it was enough to put those indenial thoughts to rest.

Wonwoo punched him? The thought wouldn’t leave your head as you got ready for the day. Trying to imagine Wonwoo walking up to Hanwoo and giving him a black eye wasn’t something you could see him doing. Besides that, when did Wonwoo get the time to punch Hanwoo if he did? He ended up driving you home around three in the morning, and it was past six now, meaning he had a three hour window.

Unless…

No, that would mean after dropping you off, he had stormed straight to wherever Hanwoo was just to punch him.

You had to make sure, even if it was hard to believe, you had to make sure Wonwoo was okay. As long as you’ve been friends, you’ve never seen him get into any physical altercations with anyone, and if it did happen, it might be possible that Hanwoo wouldn’t have let him walk away unscathed.

Your legs carried you to his house, to his front door and after greeting his parents, to his bedroom door. You knocked, listening in to hear rummaging noises, as if he was panicking.

“Wait, Eomma, I just finished showering—“ He called out from the other side, which you found odd because you knew him, he wouldn’t even be awake at this hour.

“Wonwoo, it’s me.”

The noise on the other side of the door paused for a moment, before Wonwoo called out. “Y/N?”

“Yes, can you open the door?” You asked, waiting for it to swing open but it didn’t.

“No, I’m- uh, I’m watching something, you don’t need to see it,” Wonwoo tried to think of an excuse but cursed at himself because why the hell did that come out instead? You, on the other hand, found his obvious panic hilarious, his excuse eliciting a chuckle.

“I know you met with Hanwoo,” you informed him, making sure to keep your voice down so his parents wouldn’t hear. “So, can you please open the door and let me check the damage?”

You waited a few minutes, hearing him toss a few things away, the noise causing your brows to furrow. The lock turned and the door swung enough for you to squeeze yourself in, knowing well enough that Wonwoo wasn’t about to reveal himself in fear his parents would see (they wouldn’t have, they were on the other side of the house, he was just paranoid). Once you were in, he pushed the door closed, his back against it and you could see what damage Hanwoo had done to your next door neighbour.

It wasn’t bad, admittedly you thought it’d be worse considering his lack of experience.

It was a scratch and bruising surrounding his left cheek, that was most caused by a ring Hanwoo was wearing, but other than that, and a tear in his lip, that was all he took.

“I honestly thought you’d look worse,” you thought out loud, Wonwoo’s brows furrowing at the comment.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You shook your head, lightly laughing. “Nothing, do you have anything I can use to clean that?”

“Uh… I do, actually.” He dips to look on his bedside table. “Stopped by a drugstore after because I saw the blood.”

“And when did you get the time to pull it all off?”

“Well, after I dropped you off, I asked Seungcheol since he knows—“ Wonwoo stopped, realizing that this information wasn’t ever supposed to reach you. “Uhm… How did you know I was hurt?”

“Because a psychopath told me,” you informed, and his eyes darkened for a moment, rolling in annoyance.

“I told him to never bother you again,” he groaned, before his gaze softened as he turned to you. “Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”

“He just called my phone, I’m alright,” you reassured him. Taking a step towards him, your fingers gently touched the wound on his cheek, inspecting it. You could see that he didn’t tend to it once it started bleeding, evidence of dried blood surrounding the wound and there wasn’t any antiseptic used either to ensure an infection didn’t happen.

While you were playing nurse, Wonwoo became very aware of the lack of space between your face and his, and he had to hold his breath. It only worsened when your eyes darted to his, the two of you holding eye contact for what he thought was an eternity.

“Let me clean it up for you, Won,” you uttered, breaking the silence and eventually the tension as you turned to walk into his ensuite bathroom. He followed after trying to calm his heartbeat, finding you on top of his sink, soaking a cotton pad with antiseptic and tearing a bandaid from its package.

“Come here,” you urged. Wonwoo stood between your thighs, not wanting to meet your eyes, but you didn’t mind—almost finding him being flustered cute.

“Ow,” he winced when the antiseptic touched the wound after you had wiped it clean of the dried blood.

“It’s a small sting, stop being a baby,” you teased, earning a glare from him. “How come you only came out with this?”

“Got me at the last minute,” he answered.

“And how was he?” Your question was responded with an eyebrow raise instead, causing you to roll your eyes. “I don’t care about him, Won, I just want to know if it was worth it—if you, at least, are satisfied with this decision.”

The corner of his lips turned up, a smug look etched across his face as he answered, “It was. I hurt him enough to send the message and keep it with him for the next couple of weeks.”

“I never knew you could fight,” you said honestly.

“There’s a lot you still don’t know about me, Y/N,” he mumbled, but because of your close proximity, you heard it loud and clear. Before you ask further, he spoke up, “Have you had breakfast yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“After this we can have breakfast, I think my mom made doenjang jjigae,” he informed. You smiled, nodding, “Sure.” You finished tending to his wound by plastering on the Kuromi bandaid, teasing him about it, to which he used the ‘there wasn’t anything else’ excuse.

He grabbed your elbow as you hopped off his sink, the action caused you to stumble out of balance instead of helping, made you bump closer to him, his free arm automatically holding your waist.

Cue the eye contact and pink-tinted cheeks, the move could’ve made you laugh as if it was straight out of a cheesy rom-com, but you were too occupied with trying to think that you couldn’t do so. I’m heartbroken, I’m vulnerable and haven’t been feeling loved for the past week, this is just a fluke, you tried to rationalize the thoughts and your racing heart, knowing well what could work to get out of this.

You tapped his chest, gently pushing him. “Go shower, Wonwoo, you reek.”

“Shut up, I do not,” he protested, laughing to cover his shaky voice. He then added, “Thanks, Y/N, although you didn’t have to do all this.”

“And let you get an infection?” You retorted.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, and without thinking he uttered, “A kiss would’ve sufficed.” It was too late for him to take back his words, noting your wide eyes and mouth slightly agape, his cheeks flushed when he realized what he had said. “Y/N, I wasn’t thinking—“

You pressed a kiss against cheek, beneath his bandage, shutting him completely. “Take it as a thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

It took him a second to compose himself, grinning, “I am your knight in shining armor, after all.”

You threw your head back in laughter. “Are you riding a horse, my knight?”

“Yes, a pink horse,” he answered, smiling endearingly down at you.

You frowned at his choice of color, “But you hate pink?”

“And you love pink.”

“Gosh, Wonwoo,” you flushed red, taking a step away from him, finding his comment both cringey and touching at the same time—it was shocking you could feel those two simultaneously. “When did you get so cheesy?”

He merely shrugged, a faint smirk on his lips. “I told you there was a lot you don’t know about me.”

[mingyuscoffee]

hoshi fic recs (june)

check out the other members here

all credits go to the respective authors. this is a fic rec list and i do not claim to have written these posts. if you would like your writing removed, please let me know and i will erase it immediately.

FLUFF

“falling for you” by @amourane

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x fem! reader | college au ᝰ fluff, comfort | 2.6k words | friends to lovers ➶ in which soonyoung struggles to ask you out on a date.

"comfortable" by @emocheol

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x reader ᝰ fluff | 0.7k words | established relationship

"the only exception" by @heartsfromia

ᡣ𐭩 non-idol! younger! soonyoung x fem! older! reader ᝰ fluff | 4.8k words | established relationship

"warm winter" by @kittysoonie

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x gn! reader ᝰ fluff, slight angst | 0.6k words | established relationship ➶ your boyfriend has been taking you on multiple dates this past month but he’s been acting too out of character. is he about to break up?

"[21:54]" by @monamipencil

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x pregnant! fem! reader ᝰ fluff | 0.5k words | established relationship

COMFORT

"can you stay here? please?" by @jeonghunny

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x reader ᝰ hurt, comfort | 1k words | established relationship

"nerves" by @sweetiesicheng

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x reader ᝰ fluff, comfort | 0.6k words | established relationship

ANGST

"him." by @addicsvt

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x agent! reader | mafia au ᝰ angst | 0.5k words | mission partners ➶ "i trusted you. you shouldn't have."

"screen time" by @kimingyuslover

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x reader ᝰ angst | 0.9k words | lovers to exes ➶ soonyoung can only see you on his screen now.

SMUT (MDNI)

"08:42" by @eomayas

ᡣ𐭩 non-idol! soonyoung x fem! reader ᝰ smut, fluff | 2.4k words | established relationship ➶ morning sex (and kink discovery) with soonyoung.

"the boy is mine" by @highvern (series)

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x fem! reader ᝰ smut | 5.5k words

"all mine" by @hoshiwhore

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x fem! reader ᝰ smut | 0.6k words | established relationship

"side by side" by @joonsytip

ᡣ𐭩 mafia boss! soonyoung x doctor! fem! reader ᝰ smut, angst | 5.5k words | arranged marriage ➶ your marriage to soonyoung is just a form of convenience to all and you're fed up trying to make things work. so what happens when you start being bratty and it brings out an animalistic side to your cold mafia boss husband?

"ride it like hydraulics" by @staytinyville

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x ceo! fem! reader | idol au ᝰ smut | 2.8k words | sugar mommy+baby ➶ hoshi has a huge following which he makes well money off of. but that don’t mean he doesn’t love when others spoil him.

untitled by @wannabelife

ᡣ𐭩 soonyoung x reader ᝰ suggestive | 0.5k words | friends to more

all love to the authors! i enjoyed reading every single one of these writings! <3

[heartsfromia]

thank u for including hoshi fic <3

[heartsfromia]

the only exception — k. soonyoung

pairing: non-idol! soonyoung x f!reader

word count: 4,834

genre: romcom, fluffy, age-gap, older!reader x younger!soonyoung uwu

warnings: nothing really, just don't fall in love with a guy younger than yourself (speaking from experience)

author's notes: reader is a few years older than hoshi. i never proofread guys im sorry (i should tho)

There was rarely ever any good when Soonyoung gets a call from his mother on a Friday afternoon. Don’t get him wrong, he knows his mom tends to call at random times of the week—mainly to make sure he’s eaten while living alone, close to campus, and far from home, or if he needs any money to pay bills or any other expenses. Most of them are a ruse to cover up the fact that she misses him, and his presence at home. And ever since he entered his final semester in college, he could feel his mother’s presence sitting on his shoulder, whispering to him to find a girlfriend, find someone to settle with.

However, when it comes to phone calls specifically on Fridays, Soonyoung has noticed a pattern. Since it’s the last of the five week days, and the weekend is at their fingertips, he found that his mother would call him to ask if he was free for a lunch with his parents, and guests.

Who might those guests be? Parents to whoever it was his mother was planning on arranging him with. The years might go by, traditions might be forgotten, but when it comes to Mrs. Kwon, she’ll always stick to the tradition of marriage before hitting 25.

Soonyoung knew the moment her name appeared on his screen at exactly three in the afternoon, that she has another willing parent on her hand that would like to meet him for their child.

With a heavy sigh, Soonyoung took a step out of the library where he was hoping to spend his time in before his next class, before sliding the call and placing it by his ear. “Eomma, what’s wrong?”

“Soonyoung-ah, are you free tomorrow? Your father and I want to have lunch together,” she asked, her tone chipper than usual—another sign of an arrangement.

“With you and appa? No one else?” Soonyoung egged, causing his mother to chuckle lightly.

“How did you know?” She laughed, Soonyoung rolling his eyes and suppressing a sigh from leaving his lips. “There is a friend of your father’s that I want you to meet, he has a daughter that’s around your age and is on her way of becoming a lawyer—I want you to meet her.”

“I’ve said so many times, you don’t need to do this, I’ve barely gotten the hang of college, let alone plan a wedding,” Soonyoung protested, his hands moving in grand gestures around him in frustration.

“You are 20 years old, and you don’t have a girlfriend, what are you going to do once you finish college, Soonyoung?”

“I don’t know, maybe get a job, build my credit, invest in a future and then maybe consider marriage,” he explains, his exasperation over this repeated conversation evident in his sarcastic tone.

“You know, at your age, your father and I were engaged.” Soonyoung groaned, rubbing the ache that was forming in his temples as he hears his mother go on a rant how his parents had met when they were in their twenties, before tying the knot at the ripe age of 22. Despite the obvious generational differences, and how back then, marriage felt like an obligation rather than an option, his mother was adamant on having both her kids—Soonyoung and his older sister—to be wed off before they hit 25. To which she hoped she’d have grandchildren running around before her own children hit 30. It was an entire plan in the Kwon household.

“It’s different now, eomma,” he reiterated, “I don’t need to get married so quick, can’t you focus on Minkyung instead? She’s engaged, right? So you can bother her instead.”

“Yes, she’s engaged, but she’s still working and she doesn’t want to get married this year,” she explained, “right now, I want to focus on finding someone for you, do you really want to stay single until your thirties?”

“If I could,” Soonyoung muttered, but luckily his mother didn’t hear it.

“It’s time that you try to settle for a lovely girl—”

“I have a girlfriend already, eomma, and I don’t think she’ll be happy to know that I’m being set up on a blind date,” Soonyoung informed, the words slipping out faster than he, himself, realized and before he knew it, the damage was done.

His mother was silent on the other line, seemingly unconvinced, so Soonyoung added to the lies. “I met her a couple of months ago, I wasn’t sure if it was serious enough to tell you, but I’m happy with her.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have gone through so much to find someone for you, Soonyoung-ah!”

“I told you I met her a couple of months ago, I wasn’t sure if it was serious then.”

“Is it serious now?”

“Yes.”

“Then I want to meet her.” And this, everyone, is why you shouldn’t lie to your mother.

“You want to… meet her?”

“Yes, of course, if you’re telling the truth then the lunch tomorrow doesn’t need to happen,” she explained, and for a second, Soonyoung was overjoyed. Before he realized what that entailed. “Does Sunday work? You can bring her, and we can have lunch at a restaurant.”

“Sunday?” He repeated, stunned. That was two days from now, he has to find a girlfriend in two days.

“Yes, I will make a reservation for four and you can bring her along.”

“Wait, eomma, you don’t—”

“Yeobo, I told you to— ugh, I’ll see you Sunday, Soonyoung-ah, don’t forget to eat dinner!” Before Soonyoung could make up an excuse. another lie, to avoid having to meet his parents with his apparent girlfriend, the phone call disconnected and all he could hear was the racing beat of his heart.

Returning back into the library, he walked back to the table he occupied with his friend, Seokmin, a distant look on his face as he sat back down.

“Where did you go? I almost thought you ditched me,” Seokmin stated, before realizing his friend was not listening. He tapped Soonyoung’s shoulder, causing him to jump. “What the hell happened to you?”

“I need a girlfriend.”

Stunned, Seokmin stared at his friend before looking down on himself, then back at Soonyoung. “Well, I don’t fall under your requirements, so…”

A low groan rumbled in Soonyoung’s throat as he covered his face in frustration. “How am I going to find a girlfriend before Sunday?”

“Is it your mom again?” Without removing his hands from his face, Soonyoung nodded. Seokmin threw his head back in laughter, earning glares from people who were studying quietly around him, the man sending apologetic looks around him. His eyes scowered the relatively crowded library of campus, an idea appearing. “What about finding one here? I’m sure someone out here is bored enough to be your girlfriend for a day.”

Soonyoung lifted his head, glaring at his friend. “That is a… good idea.”

Bewildered, Seokmin lifted his brow. “Really?” Soonyoung ignored him, body turning left and right as he tried to find anyone that looked alone and approachable.

“Soon, you’re not actually going to—” But before Seokmin could finish his sentence, his friend was gone and heading to a table where someone was seated alone, eyes focused on a cellphone instead of a book, or laptop.

That person was you.

You found yourself walking to a nearby university’s library on your day off, your apartment serving no purpose to clear your mind of boredom, and since you didn’t have any work to do, you chose to play a video game on your phone instead. The crowded atmosphere made you feel more productive about your day even if you were just on your phone playing games.

However, your focus on the offline game was broken when a presence appeared beside you, tapping your shoulder timidly. You looked up, finding a guy with a small smile on his lips as he greets you, “Hi, is this seat taken?” He gestured to the empty chair beside you and you shook your head, assuming he wanted to take to his own table, but was surprised when he sat down.

“Can I help you?” You asked cautiously, saving your game before placing your phone down.

“Yes, actually,” Soonyoung began, fidgeting with his fingers. “This might be a weird request, especially since we don’t know each other, but is there a possibility you’re interested in being my fake girlfriend to meet my parents on Sunday for lunch?” Soonyoung almost said it in one breath, and once the words were out, he held said breath, awaiting for your response.

The most expected response was to be cursed out, called a weirdo for thinking that his request was appropriate to ask the first girl he saw alone in a public place. He held his breath, waiting for the slap, or insults, or both as he stared at you processing it.

“Sure.”

“Yeah, I understa— what?” He was taken aback by your quick agreement to his bizarre request. “What did you just say?”

Your lips pursed as your shrug, turning to face him. “I said sure, I don’t have much going on in my life, anyway.” You were telling the truth. Your everyday routine was a back and forth of work and your apartment, because you weren’t necessarily happy at your job either, you never felt the need to connect with your co-workers about non-work-related things, minimizing going out.

The guy beside you also looked desperate, and you didn’t get bad vibes from him either, so it didn’t seem like a lose-lose situation.

“Really?” You nodded curtly. His hand rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous chuckle slipped past his lips. “Oh, well… Uhm, I didn’t know I’d get this far, to be honest.”

“Is there a reason why you need a fake girlfriend to accompany you have lunch with your parents?” You asked, hoping it’ll guide him into elaborating his plan more in depth than what his initial approach was.

“Ah, well, my mom is trying to set me up on blind dates, hoping that I’d marry before I reach 25, and obviously—” He gestured to himself, “—I haven’t even graduated yet.”

Your eyes widened, sitting up straight. “Oh, you go to school here?”

Soonyoung nodded, confused by your question. “Don’t you?”

You shook your head, his question eliciting a light laugh from you. “No, I’m just here because I’m bored—it’s my day off.”

He blinks a couple times, before asking, “You work?” You nod. “You’re older than me?” Again, you nod and he immediately ducks his head, bowing at you briefly. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” you uttered, waving it off. “I’m not too big on seniority. You can call me Y/N.”

He extends his hand towards you, and you shake it gently. “I’m Soonyoung, I think I should’ve start the conversation that way instead of, well, dumping it all at once.”

“It definitely kept me engaged in the conversation,” you reassured with a light chuckle. Before Soonyoung could utter another word, a guy approached your table, noticeably looking at Soonyoung before he glanced at you, with an nod of acknowledgement.

“I’m really sorry, Y/N, but I have a class to get to,” he apologizes, eyebrows drawn together in guilt. “Can I have your number? So we can further discuss our plan of action?”

“Sure, let me write it down.” He handed you a binder, opening it on to an empty page where you wrote your number and name. You then asked, “What about we meet outside the library tomorrow?”

“Oh yeah, sure, that’s easier,” he agrees, “around eleven, is that alright?”

“Yeah, it’s cool with me, Soonyoung.”

His smile widened, and he stands from his seat. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

You mirrored his smile, nodding. “You’ll see me tomorrow.”

“So… you just said yes?” You nodded, busy with blow drying your hair. You were meeting with Soonyoung again today, mainly to discuss of your game plan to when you’re expected to meet with his parents. Admittedly, you never really sat to think of the entire ordeal, you just agreed. Chungha, when hearing about your situation, couldn’t help but stare at you in bewilderment, especially at how nonchalant you seemed.

“Yeah.” Your eyes locked with your co-worker-slash-roommate through the mirror, her eyes blankly staring back at you as you blinked multiple times. “What?”

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Hearing her statement, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes, a dry laugh escaping past your lips before you put the hair dryer down and turned to face her. But before you could get a word out, she continued. “You barely know the guy, and you agreed to be his fake girlfriend to lie to his parents, and then, what? Should I emphasize that you don’t now him?”

“His name is Soonyoung, and he goes to the university nearby,” you answered, feigning innocent as you smiled at Chungha.

“And?”

“That’s why I’m meeting him today,” you told her, “we’re supposed to talk about how we’re going to lay it all out for his parents—talk about he and I met, what our plans for the future—”

“And what are those plans, Y/N?”

You lifted your shoulders to shrug. “I’m just going with the flow.”

“Exactly, Y/N,” exclaimed Chungha. “You don’t “go with the flow”—” she air-quoted, and you roll your eyes again, “—you plans things, you’re organized, I don’t get why you’ve suddenly agreed to become some stranger’s fake girlfriend out of the blue.”

“Maybe it’s that, Chungha,” you stated calmly. “Maybe I’m tired of being organized, doing things according to plan. For once, something really interesting is happening in my life, and to be honest, I just don’t want to think of the consequences over agreeing to do this.

“I’ve met the guy, albeit briefly, but I met him, Chungha,” you informed, “my radar to be cautious wasn’t blinking bright red or ringing any alarms, and later today, will confirm that I don’t have anything to worry about.”

Your friend stared at you, processing what you had just let off your chest. She’s known you since you both started at your company—you trained together, you got through the same struggles together in the past year, admittedly, she knows you well enough to raise her own suspicions over this entire ordeal. She knows that you’ve been burnt out from work, and the mundane routine of going to work, then back home, with barely any time for yourself. Despite wanting to reel you back to normality, Chungha only sighed. “Just keep me updated, Y/N.”

“I will,” you uttered, a grateful smile sent to her.

There was a beat of silence before Chungha spoke up. “You said he goes to the university nearby?”

“Yeah.”

Another beat of silence. “I didn’t think you’d go for younger guys, Y/N.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Your arm lifted a third time, checking your wristwatch to see that it was forty minutes past eleven—past the meeting time with Soonyoung. You were seated in the cafe besides the library, the iced tea you had ordered long gone, the ice melting and the condensation creating a small puddle surrounding your glass. No texts, no calls, radio silence from Soonyoung, and as the minutes ticked by, you’d begin to think that Chungha was right.

Maybe agreeing to something as out of the blue as a fake girlfriend proposal wasn’t the best idea. Maybe you should’ve just stuck to what had been planned. Maybe you shouldn’t have gone to the library, that wasn’t planned. You were bored at home, and needed fresh air, so you walked around, stumbled upon the university library and well, that’s that.

Heaving a sigh, you stood from your seat and pulled the strap of your bag over your shoulder. However, as you were pushing the chair back into the table, quick footsteps approached your table and an out-of-breath Soonyoung, sweat dripping from his forehead. “Y/N, I’m so sorry!”

“Are you okay?” Brows furrowed together in worry, you placed a gentle hand on his shoulder as he bent over to regain his breath.

“Y-yeah,” he heaved. “I had a—”

“Soonyoung, sit.” Obediently, he pulled the chair and sat, leaning back into the chair and inhaled deep breaths. You stayed quiet as he regained his composure. “I’ll get you water.” Without sparing him a glance, you headed towards the door of the café, but Soonyoung took ahold of your arm, stopping you mid-step.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Y/N.” The sincerity behind his eyes was similar to what you saw in him yesterday, the glimmer that made you agree to the proposal he had for you. Without uttering a word, you only sent a small smile, pushing his hand from your arm. You enter the café, buying him a bottle of water and returned, placing the bottle in front of him.

“I’m guessing you had a last-minute thing to do?” You asked, playing with your assumptions from how he was out of breath and ran from the opposite direction of the main entryway of the library.

Downing half the bottle, he nodded. “I thought it was going to be a brief meeting for a group presentation, but apparently they began talking about other classes, and I lost track of time. And before I knew it—” He paused, finding you staring at him, intently listening. “—I’m sorry, I have no excuses, I should’ve told you I’d be late instead of making you wait here without any info, Y/N.”

“Thank you, Soonyoung… for owning up to your mistake,” you uttered, notably shocked by his statement.

“Let me pay for your drink, Y/N, or I can buy you lunch?”

“It’s fine, Soonyoung, seriously.” You waved off with a chuckle, finally letting the tension disappear. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Eager, aren’t we?” He teased, earning an eyebrow raise from you. “Sorry… uhm, yeah. My parents are quite chill, nothing too traditional—they usually like to make sure I’m dating someone that is capable of getting along with others…”

“The bars are quite high, huh?” You joked, the both of you laughing.

“I think my mom is the one that possibly doesn’t believe I have a girlfriend, that’s why she wants to see for herself,” he explains. “I’m the youngest, and even though you might think that would be plausible reason for my mom to not want me having a girlfriend, she’s different. She believes being in the early twenties is the perfect age to get, uhm… married.”

“But we’re not getting married, right?” You asked, already knowing the answer.

“Of course not, we’re not actually dating either.” You nodded in agreement, laughing with him. “But showing my mom that I have a girlfriend will get her to lay off me for a bit, and I won’t have to expect any brunches with potential in-laws anytime soon after tomorrow.”

“I see,” you mumbled, nodding, letting the information process for a bit. “But, by showing me, wouldn’t she be asking about us? Our plans and everything. I mean, you did say she thinks you should be marrying at this age, no?”

“That is true,” he realized, “but I’m sure if we establish that the relationship is still quite new and we’re still playing it safe not to take a life-long commitment just yet, she might understand.”

You let the idea marinate briefly in your head. What you told Chungha was true, you were tired of the mundane routine you’ve had all this time, it’s put you in a rut that you’ve always struggled to get out off. Maybe this was the world’s way of saying: “hey do something so your life isn’t just a monotone routine of work and sleep”.

It’s not like being in a fake relationship with Soonyoung would be long-term either, you’re sure that after the brunch with his parents, that the two of you would meet-up to keep the lie up for a while, before eventually parting ways and he’ll have to deal with whatever future in-law brunches because he’d have to break it to his mother that the two of you have broken up.

You’d like to think of it as doing it for the plot, your year was getting boring and it’s already past the third quarter.

With a sigh, you leaned forward, placing your clasped hands on the table, locking eyes with Soonyoung. “Alright, let’s set the ground rules and how we’re going to do this.”

Maybe in another life, you were an actress because how did you even get through the brunch without sparking any suspicion?

It started off rusty. You and Soonyoung had thought up the whole backstory of how you two met—your route to work fell into his routine, where you both met at a coffee shop, and he had accidentally spilled coffee onto your white shirt one day and profusely apologized, insisting he should pay the laundry bill to which you allowed it. It was a cute story, 50% inspired by Chungha’s last failed situationship, but it helped make your “love story” seem more real than what happened in real life. You obviously couldn’t tell his mom that her son just sat by your table and asked you to be his fake girlfriend.

You took into account the backstory, how many dates you’ve gone on now and how long you’ve been dating, but you forgot your own self. You forgot to discuss whether or not you’ll be faking your identity—saying that you were working in one of the top 3 consulting firms in the country, or if you were actually older than Soonyoung—you weren’t sure how his mom would react to her son dating an older woman.

So you played yourself. You told Mrs. Kwon where you worked, your day-to-day and how you were able to juggle meeting with her son, in the midst of your schedule. Conflicting emotions arose during the brunch, and the fear that you never acknowledged came into fruition—Mrs. Kwon was sweet, and she liked you. Conversation with the elder woman flowed smoothly, her crescent eyes and the smile that seemed stuck on her face the moment she saw you enter the country club, until the moment she wrapped her arms around you, uttering the words, “I hope we can meet again soon!”

As the afternoon had sunk in, it wasn’t just your interaction with Mrs. Kwon that drove you to silence, it was Soonyoung as well.

If you thought you were a great actress, then he had already secured his Oscar trophy with his performance.

“How was it?” Chungha had asked immediately when you entered the door of your apartment. Her excitement dimmed to stun and morphed to concern upon noticing your dazed face. “Hey… Y/N? You okay?”

You returned to reality when she snapped her fingers in front of your face, blinking your eyes repeatedly as you regained composure. “What did you say?”

“I asked how your date was? Or, “fake date”,” she asked again, using her fingers to quote. “Did his parents buy it?”

“Yeah… they did,” you uttered, voice trailing, “but…”

“But…?”

“I think I bought it, too.”

Her brows knitted together. “What?”

You shook your head, your fingers aggressively running through your hair as you exhaled a heavy sigh. “I don’t know, he just– we were in the middle of brunch, and his mom asked him what made him decide to give us a chance, and Soonyoung just– he just—“ You couldn’t process what had happened into words, articulating what you felt at that moment felt so complex—something you hadn’t felt in a while, maybe even ever. You can’t recall the last time someone made you feel this… valued.

“He just, what, Y/N?”

Your mind drifted to that moment, when it felt like everything between you and Soonyoung were real… The warm rays of the sun shining through the vines, tracing the outlines of his face, the light hitting his eyes just right to accentuate the golden flakes in his eyes. The way his lips moved as he articulate every single word, with a sense of sincerity that seemed to be too genuine to be said just for a fake relationship.

“Even though it feels like we’ve just met… I don’t know, I just felt that you would be the one. I mean, it feels like you’re the only one patient enough to deal with my spontaneous ideas and out-of-this-world proposals, that I feel whatever we might face during this… that it would be all worth it.”

His words echoed, the image of his honey-dripping eyes looking back at yours, unbeknownst to his mother’s eyes but your hands intertwined beneath the table, his thumb rubbing gentle circles as his cheeks puffed up in a sweet, innocent smile, as if the words were uttered were true and real—that what you two had was real.

“Y/N, for the love of God, please don’t leave me hanging—” Before Chungha could finish her plea of desperation, your phone vibrated between the two of you, Soonyoung’s name and face flashing on the screen, awaiting to be answered.

“Give me a second, yeah?” You rushed out, without waiting for Chungha to respond and climbed off your bed, leaving your best friend to stare at you with sorrow. You escaped to the hallway outside your apartment, swiping the screen and pressing your phone to your ear. “Hello, Soon?”

“Hey, sorry, I know I just dropped you off, but I’m downstairs because I bought something to say thank you for your help today,” Soonyoung informed, causing you to straighten your back, surprised he returned and with a gift.

“Oh, sure- uh, give me a second and I’ll be down.” You hung up, rushing back into your apartment to put on a jacket, ignoring Chungha’s questions of where you’re going and who called, before you were out the door and going down the elevator. Soonyoung was seated in the lobby, a box on his lap as he watched the elevator number go down before stopping, opening and revealing you with a soft smile and bright eyes. He mirrored your smile, standing and approaching you, extending his arms to pass the box to you.

“It was kinda a last minute thing, I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated your help today,” he uttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “I hope you like custard-filled donuts.”

You tried suppressing the grin on your face, your cheeks warming at the sight of little note he wrote on top of the box. ‘Thank you for being a real one and playing my fake girlfriend <3’. “It was really not hassle, Soonyoung. I did have fun.” You sat down, patting gently on the spot besides you and he sat besides you. You opened the box, revealing the freshly baked donuts, offering him one which he smiled gratefully before picking up one and taking a bite. You followed en-suite.

“Did she believe it?”

Soonyoung glanced towards you, custard on the corner of his lips that made you stifle a laugh. “Yeah, she did,” he spoke, wanting to answer but still in the middle chewing as he tried to speak without opening his mouth as wide. Your chuckle shook your shoulders, before reaching out to wipe the custard at his lips with your thumb. You pretended to not notice the red that spread across his cheeks to the tips of his ears.

He cleared his throat, trying to hide how flustered may have looked, only causing you to smile wider. Payback for what you pulled earlier, you couldn’t help but think.

“By the way, Y/N…” You faced him, finding his features strewn with worry—brows etched, a crease created between them as his eyes looked back at you in guilt. “I know we talked about it keeping the boundaries, as well making it vague, and avoid being too sentimental, but I got caught in the moment and… and I was just so grateful that you would take up my offer that I didn’t know what came over me, you looked really pretty, too, and you smelled nice- I mean, wait that was a bit out of pock—“

Your lips pressed against his shut him up immediately. For a moment, he was taken aback, before he melted into the kiss with you.

“I like you, too, Soonyoung,” you whispered once you pulled away. A child-like shine sparkled in his eyes upon hearing your confession, something bubbling in his chest that caused a bright smile to break out, his cheeks seemingly fluffier than before.

“So, we can keep doing this? For real this time?” You nodded, your cheeks flushed as you came to the sudden realization of something, chuckling to yourself. Soonyoung cocked his head to the side, inquiring, “What’s funny?”

“I just…” You sighed happily. “I just never expected myself to fall for a younger guy…” You bumped your shoulder with his, adding, “You’re the only exception.”

He threw his head back in a hearty laugh, smiling back at you. “Well, I’m honored to be the one and only, Y/N.”

[bee-the-loser-recs]

☼My Junhui One-shot Fic Recs☼

𖤓 Lucky By @leewonkyeom SMAU, college au, meet cutes, fluff, trying to find a guy again, romance

𖤓 What's my age again? By @milfgyuu 8.9k, co-workers au, friends to lovers, dorky Jun, bisexual reader, crack, fluff, smut, humour, so adorable

𖤓 And then some By @sluttynetwork 2.2k, best friends to lovers, jealousy, interrupting a date, fluff, smut, mutual feelings, pining

𖤓 Despite everything, it's still you By @viastro 3.8k, best friends to lovers, long term pining, watching the one you love with others, slight angst, fluff

𖤓 Jealous!Jun By @hannieehaee 1.9k, best friends to lovers, pining, can't hold back feelings no longer, fluff, smut, little bit of possessiveness

𖤓 Setting the record By @suhnshinehaos SMAU, Idol Jun x actor reader, dating allegations with other Svt members, jealous Jun, revealing relationships, so fluffy and adorable

𖤓 When we're not acting By @heartsfromia 4.1k, university au, acting majors, enemies to lovers, leading costars, brother's best friend trope, Minghao is reader's brother, fluff

𖤓 Charcoal stained hands By @rubyreduji 3.1k, college au, artist reader, dancer Jun, falling in love at first site, cute, using Jun as a muse, fluffy

𖤓 Late night talking By @hazz-a-bear Idol au, established relationship, fluff, talking before bed, sharing gossip, cute relationship

𖤓 Neighbourly love By @emocheol Neighbours au, cat mother reader, cute family dynamics, cat plays cupid basically, fluff, cute

𖤓 Read you like a book By @berriesandjunnie 4.8k, Chinese teacher Jun, assistant teacher reader, fluff, students ship them together, Svt as teachers, cute

𖤓 Ballet in the city By @bro-atz 2k, ballet dancer Jun, talent agent scouting, reader falls in love at first site, meet cutes, setting up a date, fluff

𖤓 Sounds of the seasoned & Match of the season By @junkissed 1.7k & 7.3k, college au, radio host Jun, listener reader, charity match event, crushing, fluff, meet cutes, relationship progress, smut

𖤓 Werewolf Jun au By @sluttywoozi Werewolf au, werewolf Jun, florist reader, meet-cutes, dating, fluff, smut, figuring out new experiences

𖤓 Wen Junhui's guide to taking breaks By @cheolism 4.5k, established relationship, cute pet names, reader trying to work, fluff, smut, trying to gain attention

𖤓 Swept off his feet By @seungkwansphd 3.8k, non-idol au, bouncer Jun, friends to lovers, fluff, slight angst (cheating ex), smut, established feelings

𖤓 Edward Scissorhands By @seungkwansphd 3.6k, non-idol au, assumed college au, best friends to lovers, fluff, pining, everyone sees it, smut

𖤓 Kinkuary 14 By @kwanisms 3.8k, idol au, established relationship, valentines day, stressed reader, pampering, cute relationship, smut, some fluff

𖤓 Love has no language By @renaiswriting Platonic Jun x reader x Minghao, college au, exchange student reader, learning Korean, exam stress, supportive behaviour

𖤓 Airplane + Wen Junhui By @uriurijihoonie 2.1k, non-idol au, flight attendant reader, pilot Jun, fluff, proposal, cheesy pick-up lines, adorable relationship, literally so cute

𖤓 Let me have a bite By @bootyful-seventeen Supernatural au, vampire Jun, mentions of werewolf Mingyu, smut, flirty relationship, some fluff

𖤓 Hello By @horangboosadan SMAU, crack au, reader is terrified of ducks, strangers to lovers, Jun is her "knight in shining armour", fluff

𖤓 Shut up By @onlymingyus 35.9k, mob boss au, boss Jun, assistant reader, second hand Minghao, smut, angst, some fluff, dark themes, trauma, sexual assault, drugs

𖤓 A little too much By @hazz-a-bear Non-idol au, fwb!Jun, strangers to friends, unwanted pregnancy, home abortions, mentions of blood, angst

[heartsfromia]

aaaak thank you so much for including my fic <333

[eternallyyours-z-deactivated202]

Seventeen Rec List (in progress!)

→ SCOUPS:

Boyfriend Headcannons by @sweetkpopmusings

A Helping Hand by @heartsfromia

Double Shot Espresso by @cheollipop

Morning Routine by @haonote

Willingly by @rollingubeomgyu

Valentine's Note by @woboohao

Random Thoughts about Being in a Relationship with Seungcheol by @bluejeanstrash

Corruption Kink by @toruro

Best Sleepover Ever by @jae-bummer

Hello Tutorial by @97-liners

Boy, You Write Your Name (I Can Do the Same) by @97-liners

[ 5:02 AM ] by @slytherinshua

→ Joshua:

Joshua is the Kind of Friend... by @userjuyo

→ Mingyu:

Just the Tip by @cheolhub

[heartsfromia]

thank you for including me! 🩷

[vaztori]

joshua reading list / fic recs !

don't forget to like + reblog the fics that you like to support the authors <3

navigation

FICTS ! ✧*

Hoax (smut, angst, mafia!shua, strangers to lovers) by @lovelyhan

Isohel (modern royalty au, prince!shua, smut, angst) by @toruro

Eyes Meeting, Hearts Apart (mild angst, prince!shua, smut) by @lovelyhan

Mr. Nice Guy (smut, neighbor!shua) by @toruro

Under The Rose (fluff, smut, frenemies childhood to lovers, kinda historical au) by @just-come-baek

Honeyduke Lovers (hogwarts au, unrequited love, hufflepuff!shua x slytherin!reader. yep this is the story of how slytherin becomes undyingly soft for hufflepuff) by @http-mianhae

Steamy (smut, next door neighbor!shua) by @duhnova

written by @onlyhuis :

Cranberry Concoctions (smut, a little angst & fluff, 1920s, prohibition au)

Leaning on The Everlasting Arms (angst, smut, some fluff, bible college au)

Fine Line (fluff, smut, angst, figure skater!shua) by @heartkyeom

Prove it, You Won't (fluff, angst, humor, tattoo artist au) by @leejungchans

Oceans and Engines (fluff, exes to lovers, a lil' angst) by @renjunphile

Lover Boy (regency era romance, commoner!shua x aristocrat fem!reader, historical drama) by @starlightxsvt

Gentleman (angst, fluff, sugar daddy au) by @starlightxsvt

Wildest Dreams (bestfriends to lovers, fluff, humor) by @viastro

The Type (smut, fluff, college boyfriend!shua) by @bitchlessdino

Your Gentleman (smut, camboy!shua) by @wonwussy

Fighting for Your Love (smut, threesome ft. jeonghan) by @rubyreduji

Half Past Five High The Series (ft. mingyu, smut, angst, minor fluff, rich people au, love triangle, cheating. supermodel!gyu, photographer!shua x influencer fem!reader) by @multi-kpop-fanfics

Paint Me Numbers (fluff, shallow angst, guitarist/bandmate!shua) by @chocosvt

Domino (fluff, crack, smut) by @universecorp

Nasty (smut, fluff) by @soonigiri

Menace (smut) by @jeonghantis

You're All That Matters (fluff, bf!shua) by @heartsfromia

Be My Date (fluff, minor angst) by @heartsfromia

Mine (smut) by @luxekook

Meant for Each Other (fluff, soulmate au) by @slytherinshua

Golden Hour (best friends to lovers, fluff, slice of life, summer vacation au) by @dkfile

An Interview with An Angel (meet cute, fluff, reporter!shua) by @hannyoontify

Our Fairytale (smut, fluff) by @zuhacore

DRABBLES / SCENARIOS ! ✧*

at every table, i'll save you a seat (fluff) by @suhnshinehaos

bad habits (exes with benefits, smut, mild angst) by @lovelyhan

pretty when you cry (smut) by @cheolhub

quiet time (smut) by @number1mingyustan

acouasm (smut) by @angelwoozi

when you can't sleep but shua is right next to you (fluff, comfort) by @wonwoonlight

one-up (smut) by @sluttywonwoo

golden boy's mercy (smut) by @bitchlessdino

17. 12 (smut) by @lovelyhan

14. 13 (smut) by @toruro

after a long day (smut) by @sevngmin148

title (fluff, established relationship, ceo) by @leejungchans

relax (fluff, smut, established relationship) by @playmetheclassics

shower (fluff) @husbandhannie

stay up (fluff) by @bitterie-sweetie

about you : valentine's special (fluff, angst, friends to lovers) by @shuawonie

fruit (smut) by @onlyseokmins

i love you, always (fluff, comfort) by @monnn

10.32 (fluff, bf!shua) by @elysianeclipxe

clingy (fluff) and smitten (fluff) by @slytherinshua

we won't change because we're engraved in each other's heart (fluff) by @wooahaes

[heartsfromia]

thank you so much for including me w my joshua oneshot 🥹🫶

[justanarchiveforfics]

June recs

Seventeen

Shiny star | @wonwoonlight (series, fluff) - on going

in which you're just a university student stumbling upon love along the way.

This is how we fall | @bitterie-sweetie (fluff, fake dating)

You should know better than to make a deal with a stranger, but the need for a date to Minghao’s party has you desperate. It can’t be too bad though; all you have to do is show Mingyu what you saw in your reading, and he would be your date for one night. Simple enough, right?

I like you | @seokgyuu (college au, smut)

After having a crush on Lee Seokmin for three years, he somehow ends up wanting to be your roommate. Instead of rejecting him, you decide to give him the vacant room - right after confessing your feelings for him.

Introduce to a good person | @taeyegu (smau, fluff)

“if there is a nice person, please introduce him to me. sometimes like water, sometimes like fire. someone who can love me sincerely. i hope he is someone who is mature and faithful…”

Me to you, you to me | @taeyegu (smau, fluff) - on going

“to me, you became the one ray of sunshine that lit up my lonely hours gone by and became the promise of eternity that glitters like a jewel upon your small white palm… ”

I like you| @taeyegu (smau, fluff)

“i like you so much, i want to give you my everything, only for you…”

Someone like you | @heartsfromia (angst, fluff)

The secret language of flowers | @leejungchans (angst, fluff)

chan thought you’d be the last person who’d ever step foot in a flower shop. it doesn’t help that he has the biggest crush on you either.

Redemption | @leejungchans (angst, fluff)

your friends always told you to stay away from the so-called “bad boys”, and for the most part you usually succeed. but yoon jeonghan just had to come along.

Domino | @universecorp (fluff, smut)

After a one night stand on your birthday, you never expected to meet the stranger again. You also never expected him to enter your life permanently.

Repetition/ rare love | @nnight-dances (fluff)

it’s simple enough: you and mingyu are perfect for each other. you’ve told him as much but after years of him avoiding the topic, you leave him alone. but when your long-time infatuation with jeonghan gets rejected, you have nothing to distract you from your desire to be with mingyu. all it takes is you making out with the wrong person and a can of beer for mingyu to come to his senses. 

Foolproof Stupidity | @shuarush (fluff, eventual smut)

After giving your blood, sweat and tears to your company, you found yourself lost in whoever you are and were, and in the middle of an uncomfortable event you decided to throw caution out the window and go out of your comfort zone. meeting mingyu wasn’t the reason for it, but it was a good consequence. the feelings that emerged in your heart, on the other hand, were something you simply couldn’t handle at the moment, and you might just let your traumas get the best of you and push away the thing you fear the most: love.

Or, would you rather be me? | @thepixelelf (soulmate au)

A detested soulmark, a friendship over a decade in the making, and an unexpected proposal from one friend to another… what could possibly go wrong?

A winter interlude | @wondernus (angst, drama)

Maybe this is meant to be an interlude – an unforeseen passing moment in each other’s timelines. but with the stroke of a conductor’s baton, the symphony lands on the fermata hovering above the note. do we allow this interlude to become something longer than a short period in our lives, or do we end it after all of it is over?

[heartsfromia]

thank you for including me heree <33

[heartsfromia]

while i still love you — w. junhui

pairing: non-idol! junhui x f!reader

word count: 5,695

genre: angst, established relationship

warnings: major character death, cursing

author's notes: i apologize in advance, please put down your metaphorical pitch forks T__T also, i realized during writing this that i have a hard time writing angst so don't expect a lot of angst from me T________T

Something was wrong, and you hadn't a clue what it was.

Was it the oddly high humidity in your room, causing you to wake up in a pool of your own sweat? Or was that your boyfriend, Junhui, hadn't replied to your text since yesterday afternoon? Which you thought was odd because even if there wasn't nothing to continue the conversation, Jun would usually send an emoji (specifically the cat smirking emoji), if not, a meme of some sort—he never wanted you to be left on read.

Your concern was obvious, evident in your furrowed brows and slightly pouted lips as you stared at your text messages with Jun, the last text sent around 2PM yesterday and it hasn't even been read yet by your boyfriend. Minghao, the mutual friend between you and your boyfriend, stared at you in confusion, absentmindedly eating his food as the two of you were seated in the campus cafeteria.

"What's wrong with you?" Minghao asked, shoving his now empty plate to the side.

"Jun," you muttered, resting your chin on the table to exaggerate your obvious despair from not being contacted by your boyfriend.

"Maybe he's busy with prepping for his internship," he tried to reason, but you only released a heavy sigh, your shoulders rising and falling dramatically. "You guys are okay, though, right? Have you guys got a plan when he graduates next semester?"

Your head lifted, eyes bright. “We’ve talked about it, and if all works out, then we’ll most likely still be together. Jun and I haven’t discussed on serious terms, but so far, we’re both willing to commit to the relationship.” Minghao mirrored your smile, relieved that his two friends are still riding strong on the relationship.

Yeah, we’ll work it out, you thought, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling at the back of your head, urging you to see the red flags you weren’t aware were being waved in front of you. You couldn’t pinpoint why you were feeling uneasy when talking about your relationship, but you didn’t want to worry or have Minghao meddle in with your business—he’s always been understanding as an outside observer, and he knew you never liked it when people made opinions about your relationship. So despite noticing the crease between your eyebrows and the way you absentmindedly chewed at a hang nail anxiously, he didn’t ask. He knew you wouldn’t answer.

Nevertheless, you continued to ignore it. As you drive back to your apartment, rain began pouring from the dark sky, the heavy drops of water blurring your windshield as you maneuvered through the chaos carefully, breathing a sigh of relief when parked in front of your building. You hurried up to your apartment, hair strands sticking to your skin when you spotted Jun seated by your door, staring blankly at the space in front of him.

“Jun?” You called out, but he didn’t seem to hear. You stepped closer, a smile pulled at your lips before you utter his name again, softer, “Jun?”

His head shoots up, eyes wide in surprise before it softens at the sight of you and then… darkens? Why was he glaring at you all of a sudden?

You dismissed the thought, asking, “How long were you waiting for?” He didn’t answer your question, pushing himself up and taking a step back to keep his distance from you as he looked down on you—literally, and figuratively. “W-what’s wrong?”

“Y/N,” he finally speaks, his voice low and stern—a tone you had never heard from him, and it caused a chill to run up your spine. Please, please, you begged in your heart, please don’t let the uneasy feeling come true.

“Yes?” You tried to hide the shakiness in your voice, but you failed.

“We need to talk.” The air felt tight around you, whatever bad feeling you had earlier were now showing its light, mocking you for ignoring them when you should’ve said something, anything. With his tone and his stance, you knew that what he wanted to talk about had nothing with the future you hoped for, how after he graduated, he’d wait for you, work a steady paying job, and maybe, when the time feels right, he’d propose. He’d express his never-ending devotion towards you, how he can only ever envision a future with you, that he loves you.

Everything in this very moment were pointing in the opposite direction of everything you’d hoped for.

“Do you want tea? It’s raining—”

“I won’t be here long.” Jun struck you down, his tone colder than the chilling rain. He stayed standing close the door, as if when the moment is given, he has an escape out. You kept your distance, though, despite everything in you urging you to reach for him—if it’s going where you think it’s going, then shouldn’t you hold onto for the last time?

“What… what is it you want to talk about, Jun?” You asked, the corners of your lips tilted upwards in a wry smile, trying to cover up the fact that you’re slowly crumbling inside.

You watch his jaw clench, and unclench, huffing through his noise as he closed his eyes for brief second. When they opened, it was as if a light had been switched—what was dim earlier, had now flickered to black and Jun’s entire demeanor darkened as he stared at you. “Let’s end it here, Y/N.”

You blinked. Then, you blinked again, and again, confused. Your mouth opened, then closed, eyes flickering from Jun’s face to his hands to all around your grey-washed apartment. Why was everything feeling so much duller? Where did everything go wrong? “Why?”

“How long have we been dating, Y/N?” He asked, raising a sharp brow towards you, but nothing else changed. Everything was cold.

“A year…”

“Exactly,” he uttered with a shrug, “I’m done.”

The look of anxiousness had shifted to confusion after his statement. “What do you mean?”

“Did you seriously never realize?” He asked, the corner of his lip twitched upwards, his tone condescending. You shook your head, the bile rising in your throat as you watched him scoff at you, his eyes glaring back at you as if you were a joke to him. “It was all just a bet, Y/N. I was given a year to be with you, and now the deal’s done, it’s over.”

You hadn’t crumbled yet. You were a car window, and Jun was the rock, lodged in you, but you felt the slightest touch against all you were trying to keep together, you would collapse into millions of pieces.

You hoped that touch would never come.

“I—” You choked, pursing your lips to keep from whimpering. A hand combed through your hair in frustration as you tried to compose yourself, to try to keep yourself together to at least get an explanation out of him. But what explanation would you need when what he said had said it all—that he never loved, that all of it wasn’t real.

“S-so when you said you loved me?” You asked, staring back at him with glossy eyes, the tears piling at the brim and threatening to fall.

“I love you, Y/N,” Jun whispered, his head resting against your stomach as the two of you lied on the grass, staring up at the cloudless night sky, a bit drunk from the cheap wine you bought. “I love you, Y/N, to the stars and back.”

You smiled at the sky, your stomach rumbling in a fit of giggles, drunk off of the wine and his love. “I love you, too, Jun, to the moon and back. Ha! I’m further than you.”

He chuckled, rolling his eyes, “Only you would make loving each other a competition.”

“What was that, Jun?” You asked, anger slowly seeping into your veins and traveling to drown your heart and soul as you glared at him, waiting for his response.

He only stares at you blankly, void of the love and care that once adorned his smile, his eyes, and his words. His shoulders rose, then dropped, a sigh leaving his lips. “I was only pretending.”

And that was all it took for you to collapse—your heart, mind and soul, all shattering into millions of pieces, falling apart right in front of him and all he does is walk away, leaving you there to pick up the pieces alone.

Heavy, angry knocks echoed throughout Jun’s apartment, waking him up from his slumber. Grabbing his phone, he tapped the screen and eyes practically bulged out of his eyes. Who was knocking like a maniac at 4 in the damn morning? Jun drug his feet against the floor, rubbing the sleep from his eyes to see who was disturbing him at an ungodly hour. His eyes peeked through the peephole, and his eyes widened, spotting a seething Minghao on the other side.

Shit, Y/N must’ve told him.

His hand flew to smack his forehead gently, afraid that if he was too loud then Minghao would realize he was home, awake and in front of the door.

It’s been less than three hours since he broke things off with you, and even though he never did show it then, he, too, was in shambles.

He never wanted to end things, but…

“Open the fucking door, Jun, I know you’re there!” Minghao, who was almost always calm and collected, never one to raise his voice, had his voice booming throughout the hallway, practically shaking the walls as his fist pounded against the door. Inhaling a deep breath, Jun tried to calm his racing heart—who knows what Minghao could do once the door opens, he cares about you as much as Jun does.

“If you’re going to punch me, save your energy and leave, Hao,” he called out, keeping his voice level despite his heart aching. He already had to lie to the person he loved, now he has to lie to one of his closest friends. It felt like torture.

“Open the fucking door, Jun.” Exhaling a heavy breath, Jun took his time to unlock his door. The second the door opened barely an inch, Minghao kicked it open, taking Jun aback as he stumbled, only to almost fall when Minghao shoved his shoulders aggressively back. Jun backed into the wall, and only then, with Minghao seething in front of him, did he see the damage that he had done. Eyes red with anger, Jun’s collar crumpled in his fists as his jaw clenches and unclenches—Jun had not only hurt you, but Minghao—his best friend—as well.

“How could do that to her, Jun?” Minghao seethed, pulling Jun and slamming him back against the wall. Minghao’s fist clenched harder onto his shirt, the anger was mixed with confusion. “Why is it that she called me fucking crying, and telling me that everything was fake?”

Jun stayed silent. He couldn’t find it in him to put up a fight, only because he felt that he didn’t have the right to do so—he hurt you, and he hurt Minghao, for what? He justified his actions as an act to protect the two of you.

But he still needed keep on the act—the only way to make things easier at the end is if everyone around him hated him enough.

“Since when did you become such an asshole?”

“I’m a great pretender, if you didn’t realize, Hao.” A strong thud echoed throughout the apartment as Minghao’s fist landed against Jun’s left cheek, throbbing immediately after as it glows red. A heavy silence hung in the air, tension lingering so thick in the air, Jun found it difficult to breathe in that moment. He knew this was going to happen, that you’d confide with Minghao, and he’d look for Jun. You were never one for violence, but Minghao was, and if you weren’t going to be angry at Jun, then he’ll deliver the message for you.

“You made her cry, Jun,” Minghao fumed, eyes wide in anger and glossed over. “You made her cry, you played her, and you broke her fucking heart—how could you do, Jun? What is wrong with you?!”

“So, she told you everything?” Jun asked, his tone didn’t waiver a bit. He didn’t want to show Minghao that the break up affected him as well, he didn’t want to come off as if the decision was hard to make, that he regrets it. That would foil his plan.

“Obviously, you dipshit.”

Jun’s jaw clenched, turning away from his best friend as he asks, “Does she hate me?”

“What do you think, Jun? You disappear, appear at her front door to break up with her because it was apparently all a fucking bet?” Minghao didn’t expect to get a call from you late at night, barely able to get a word out as you were a blubbering mess from the tears and heartache. He found you on the floor, the door to your apartment unlocked because you never bothered to get up from where Jun had left you to pick up the pieces he carelessly shattered.

You told him everything that happened earlier in the day, while the rain continued to pound against your windows, no lights were turned on and you could barely get yourself up, too weak, too much in pain to even stand.

”I just don’t get it, Hao,” he remembered you wept, the bile rising up your throat. “We were fine what happened?”

“A year, Jun. You and Y/N were together for a damn year,” he reiterated, shoving a finger in his face as he seethed. “How could you let it get this far, huh? How could be with her, let her fall in love with you, knowing that it was all fake?”

Jun stayed silent. He couldn’t defend himself—he had no defense. He knew that if he said anything, he would break, he’d confess everything and all his efforts would be in vain. He couldn’t allow that, so he bit his tongue.

“Did you even love her, Jun?” Minghao asked, brows furrowed in frustration. “Even for the briefest moment, did you love her?”

I still do, his heart echoed, clenching his fist as his jaw locked. If Minghao never confronted him, maybe he’d be able to keep himself up, keep this act going on without having to utter another lie. Everything he told you was enough, it was all he could handle, he didn’t want anymore piling on.

“No, Hao,” he lied, “I never did.”

He rubbed his face, hoping it’d calm the anger that was present beneath his skin, corrupting his brain to hurt Jun as much as he had hurt you. “Fine. Can I, at least ask—as your friend and as hers—why, Jun? She’s too hurt to face at this point, so the least you could do is explain it to me since you can’t explain it to her.”

“There’s nothing to explain.” This was a lie.

“Bullshit,” Minghao spat. “You expect me to believe that not even for one second that you didn’t love her? That you didn’t feel any remorse knowing how it would’ve ended? Really, Jun? Do you think I was born last night?

“You played her for a year, Jun. And because you hurt her, you’ve hurt me to as someone that has been there for both of you since the beginning.”

“I’m sorry, Hao.” This wasn’t a lie. It was the first crack in Jun, and if he doesn’t push Minghao away, he’ll break entirely.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, Jun,” he sneered. “Y/N told me that you weren’t responding to her texts, and when I asked a bunch of your friends, you were supposed to be meeting with them, but you didn’t show, so tell me, Jun—” Minghao’s hovered closer to his face, voice threatening as his brow rose, “—was the bet a lie to cover up the fact that you’re cheating on Y/N?”

“Are you serious? You’re accusing me of that?” Jun scoffed, rolling his eyes in disbelief. “I might be the biggest asshole in the room right now, but I’d never stoop as low to cheat on anyone. Especially Y/N.”

“Especially? Does that mean she’s special to you?” A suspicious brow was raised in his direction as Minghao continued to egg him on. “I thought you said you never loved her, you don’t care to hurt her, why would it matter if you cheated?”

“It matters, Hao, I’d never cheat on anyone.”

“Okay, so where did you go?”

“I can’t tell you.”

A dry laugh slipped past Minghao’s slips, lips curled up in disbelief at the words Jun had just uttered. “You can’t tell me? We’ve been friends for over three years, Jun and you’d always confide with me about anything—Y/N, class, the most random things. And yet, you’ve changed so fucking much, what the hell happened that made you lose your trust in me?”

“I can’t tell you, Hao.”

“You can’t or you won’t, Jun?” he challenged, “because there’s a clear difference between the two, but either way, there is a reason, isn’t there? It’s not a bet, that’s why you “can’t” tell me? Because the Jun I know would never fucking do this, he would never hurt Y/N the way you are right now.

“He would never hurt the girl he told he’d loved to the stars and back.”

That was it. That was the trigger that shot the bullet into Jun’s shield—the shield he kept up, hoping it would protect him from breaking his act, and allowing for everything to spill out into the open. Jun shot Minghao a glare before he took large strides to his room to retrieve a report, shoving the paper into his friend’s chest.

“There, you want to know what’s going on? Read that.”

Jun watched Minghao as he read the report, eyes focused on what was written and brows pulled together, his expression darkening the farther he read.

“W-when was this?” Minghao asked, lifting the report.

“Yesterday,” Jun answered, “I was having a lot of painful headaches and decided to go to the hospital for some pills, but I got that—” he gestured to the sheet of paper, almost bitter that it existed, “—instead.”

“This still doesn’t explain why you’d lie to Y/N, Jun.”

“I need her to hate me, Hao, I can’t—” He inhaled a shaky breath, eyes stinging. “If the worst case happens, then it’d be easier for her to move on if she hates me.”

“That’s such a stupid conclusion, what do you mean you need her to hate you?” Hao criticized, tossing the paper to the ground. “You have cancer, Jun. You’re sick, and instead of telling Y/N the truth, you chose to lie and hurt her, and you’re here trying to justify it as if you’re doing it for her sake?”

“I don’t want her to be with me and anxiously wait for when the time comes, Hao, that’s killing her slowly, as much as the cancer is killing me right now,” he protested, “I cannot have her be with me, and be on edge the entire time.”

An exasperated sigh escaped Minghao’s lips as his fingers ran through his hair, tugging at the roots in frustration.

“You can’t tell her.” Minghao’s neck almost snapped at Jun’s demand.

“What do you mean I can’t tell her? She needs to know.”

“Promise me you won’t tell her, Hao!” Jun demanded, his tone raised an octave higher—higher than it was during this entire conversation, causing Minghao to take a step back in shock. “You can’t tell her. I don’t want her to worry about me.”

Hao’s eyes flickered all over Jun’s face. “When does your treatment start?”

“Next week.”

“Is there a chance you can survive this?” According to the report, they caught onto it early, and if Jun is willing to cooperate, treatment could shrink the tumor and prevent any chances of it worsening.

“Yes, there’s a chance.”

A pregnant pause. Jun watched anxiously as Minghao processed everything before he looked up, locking eyes with his best friend, tears collected at the brim of his eyes. “I won’t tell her. I promise, but promise me, Jun—” he placed a hand on his shoulder, the tears falling, “—you’ll get through this.”

“I promise.”

—5 months later.

“Hey, Y/N, do you want to grab dinner tonight? A celebration dinner for the end of finals?”

“I’d love to Seokmin,” you grinned, the smile that appeared on your lips stretched upwards at the sight of him.

He mirrored your grin, eyes turned to crescent moons. “Great, I’ll pick you up at six? Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tonight.” He nodded, spotting his friend over your shoulder before bidding goodbye. You watched his back with a faint smile on your lips, before a sigh escaped and you turned to walk to your car. You liked Seokmin, he was patient and sweet, and was aware of your past relationship with Jun, but you couldn’t feel that connection—you didn’t react to his touch the way you should’ve, his invite to dinner didn’t feel special, it felt like a regular hangout between classmates.

You hated the hollow feeling that Jun had left behind. He’d broken your heart, and instead of leaving it on the floor, he kept it with him, the spot that was once filled, still void even after all these months.

Jun was busy with his internship, and so for the past few months, you were lucky enough to not have to run into him anymore. It made it easier to forget about him—out of sight, out of mind, but unfortunately, even he was out of sight, he’s been occupying your mind since that night.

The days that followed the break up felt like hell for you. A part of you was ripped open, torn apart and you were left alone for hours, crying until your throat was raw and your eyes could barely open from how puffy they were. You couldn’t bring yourself to move from where he left you, you crouched and hugged yourself, cried your heart out before you were able to muster any bit of strength to call Minghao. You shouldn’t be left alone, you realized that.

The anger you could feel radiate off of your best friend, you knew that when you were fast asleep, he’d run off to where Jun was and teach him a lesson. You woke up the next morning in a panic, afraid that you missed a call from Minghao from the police station, but woke up to nothing but a sore throat and swollen eyes. Minghao didn’t seem as angry as he did when you saw him later in class. You remember asking him if he ran off to Jun to beat him up, but he shook his head, uttering some excuse you couldn’t remember before cutting the conversation off completely. It was odd, but you were too much in your feels to really care that time so you brushed it off.

You hadn’t heard from Jun since that day; you blocked his number, blocked everything about him, and focused on getting yourself together. There was nothing worse than letting yourself crumble over a guy that never loved you in the first place. The bet made you believe that.

Now, you were better—if you exclude the fact you couldn’t open your heart to anyone. You don’t cry yourself to sleep, you don’t catch yourself in a daze, thinking of the what if’s of what could’ve been if you were smarter, more carefully, and didn’t fall for his sweet smile, and bright eyes. If you didn’t get caught in the rain with him by the bus stop a year ago, allowing for the two of you to get to know each other as you waited for the rain to stop. If you didn’t kiss him that morning when he was about to leave your apartment after staying over since he got locked out by his roommates.

“I’m better.” You would often find yourself saying when you get caught in your thoughts. You were better than Jun because you wouldn’t have done this to him—you wouldn’t have allowed yourself to keep a relationship based off of a lie going for so long.

You are better than him.

The thought echoes in your head as you get ready for the dinner, the time was forty-five minutes before when Seokmin promised to pick you up. As you clasped the chain of your necklace, knocks sounded at your door and your brows furrowed, eyes glancing at your phone. He was early, there was still twenty minutes left.

Walking towards the door, you swung it open to find a frantic Minghao, hair a mess and in a hoodie and sweatpants, seemingly out of breath.

“Hao, what’s wrong?”

“Come with me, Y/N, it’s an emergency,” he rushed out in a panic.

“What? Where?”

“The hospital?”

Your eyes widened. “Why? Who’s at the hospital?”

Minghao spared you a glance filled with guilt as he uttered, “Jun."

The steady beat of his heart echoed in the hospital room, wires strewn all across his body, on his arms, over his mouth, over his heart. Tears welled up in your eyes at the sight, the only semblance of peace you could find in this situation was his steady breath as it fogged up his oxygen mask.

“He has cancer, Y/N.”

A whimper escaped your lips, a hand clasped over your mouth to stay quiet. He’s been sick all this time, and you’re only finding out now. Anger fueled your veins at that second, and exited the room, finding Minghao seated by the door with his face in his hands. “How long did you know?”

Minghao stood. “Y/N—”

“How long did you know, Minghao?” You pressed, your teeth clenched as you fumed. “How long did you know he was sick, and why didn’t you tell me?”

His head dropped, focused on his fidgeting fingers as he uttered, “The night after he broke up with you.” A gasp of disbelief escaped your lips, and you had to reach for the wall to prevent yourself from collapsing.

“You knew all this time? And you didn’t tell me?”

“I couldn’t, Y/N, I promised him I wouldn’t,” he mumbled, knowing well enough how stupid it was. “I couldn’t break the promise.”

You scoffed, a crease formed between your eyebrows as you stared at him. “If you promise to not eat your friend’s pizza, then that’s understandable if you couldn’t break it—this isn’t a fucking pizza, this is Jun and he is sick! Did you not think to tell me? Did that idea ever cross your mind?”

“It did, Y/N, but Jun—”

“Is this why he broke up with me? Was it a lie?” Minghao was silenced, afraid to look at you as his head slowly nodded, and when you thought you were finally better, you felt yourself crumble once again—for the same guy, for the same reasons. Because Jun lied.

“He wanted to tell you when he got better, Y/N, you have to believe me,” Minghao pleaded.

“Is he?” you asked, “is he getting better?”

It felt like your world had completely been brought to ruins the second Minghao shook his head, uttering, “He’s gotten worse.”

For the past five months, it had been a back and forth from the hospital, then back home. The long hours, the pain, the headaches, the sleep and weight he'd loss in the past few months had become a constant routine, and no matter how long it has been, he has yet to get used to it. He couldn't protest though, despite all of it, he still cooperated, he stayed resilient, he was adamant on getting better. Getting better physically, and mentally, all because he wanted to return back to you.

Jun was grateful that he told Minghao in the long run, he knew his sanity would thin if he were to go through this alone. Hao kept his promise to him as well, which he was relieved to know he didn't regret telling him. But it still had its cost. Minghao would be there during treatments, hospital visits, everything, and Jun noticed how much of a toll it was on his best friend, guilt clouding his mind whenever he found Minghao asleep on the stiff hospital chairs, or the dark circles around his eyes as he slaves over an assignment he brought to the hospital.

Jun would often find himself thinking if it were you there. Holding his hands as you waited for the call into treatment, wiping the tears from his cheeks when he feels too overwhelmed by the pain, staying his side throughout the entire process—being his anchor that keeps him steady during the storm.

He wanted it to be a miracle, that having you be the reason he kept going, that the universe would grant it.

It was wishful thinking, and despite the treatments, it had spread further. Before he knew it, his immune was failing, the cells weren’t reacting to the treatment and he has been bedridden for the past three days.

The steady beat of his EKG rang through his ears as he awoke; the familiar scent of medicine, and the fluorescent lights reminded him of where he was, where he had always been, where he will stay. However, an unfamiliar warmth encompassed his hand, the soft and tenderness of what enveloped his fingertips caused his brows to knit together, turning his head to where he felt it.

You were there; head rested against the bed and hand gripped loosely onto Jun’s. Amidst the noise of the beeping, the air conditioning, and steps of nurses and doctors running around outside the room, he could hear your steady breathing as you continue your slumber. Your fingers twitched in his hands, and he instinctively squeezed your hand, the action causing you to stir awake.

“Jun…” You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hand, blinking away the exhaustion that took over you earlier. “You’re awake.”

A tight smile adorned his lips, and although he was trying his best to look strong, his eyes spoke a different story. “Hey, Y/N. I’m guessing Minghao brought you here?” You only nodded.

You wanted to be angry. You had this entire rant prepared while he was sleeping, a rant filled with questions of why would he lie? Why would he keep this from you? Why is it that she was the only one to not know? Why, why, why? But all that anger simmered when you fell asleep clasping his hand, and all that pent up frustration disintegrated when seeing him awake and up close—tired, dark circles and hollow cheeks.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Y/N, I thought… I thought I’d get better,” he uttered, words caught in his throat as tears stung in his eyes. “I was hoping to meet you again when I was well…”

Tears stung in yours as you glared at him, lips pouted and shaking as your brows knitted together. “You’re an idiot,” you managed to utter, the bile in your throat causing your words to crack. Jun couldn’t help but smile, his heart imploding from how much missed you, missed your touch. Pulling you up, he scooted over on the bed, giving you space to lie beside him, hands intertwined as you rest your cheek against his shoulder.

“When did you find out?” You asked, eyes closed as you listened to his heartbeat.

“The day before I broke up with you,” he began, inhaling a deep breath, “I was having a lot of really bad headaches, and decided to go to the hospital to see what was happening… I got diagnosed, but they told me it was detected early, so there was a high chance of treating it, but… but it worsened.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I truly tried to get better.” You lifted yourself, brows furrowed as you found Jun teary-eyed.

“You don’t have to apologize for trying, Jun, some things are out of your control.” Fully sitting up now, your expression shifted to that of confusion, “Why didn’t you just tell me? Why would you hurt yourself more by suffering on your own? Why—” Your voice came out as a whisper, “—why did you let me hate you all this time?”

“I thought if you hated me, then it would be easier to let me go if… if I failed…”

“Oh, Jun…” You held onto his hands, a pained smile etched on your lips as the crease between your eyebrows deepened. “I can never understand your thought process, and no offense—” you chuckled lightly, causing the corner of his lips to quirk up slightly, “—that’s the dumbest assumption you’ve ever had.

“I would much rather let you go, while I still love you, than hate you… You should’ve known that.”

You reached over, swiping at the tear that escaped his eyes. “Y/N, I’m sorry for all the pain that I caused you—I never stopped loving you, I wished I’d thought things through rather than make irrational decisions, but… but I’m grateful that to this day, my love for you never changed… And when the time comes, I’m grateful to have loved you to my last breath.”

“Not when, if,” you corrected, “keep trying, Jun… Please. If the worst case scenario happens, don’t hate yourself because you failed. Don’t call yourself weak, don’t call yourself a failure or a burden.

“You’re strong to have faced this all this time, and you should be proud that you kept fighting.” He smiled, squeezing your hands. “But please… Keep fighting, alright? Not for me, but for yourself. Can you do that?”

Jun was silent for a second, hesitant to answer, but when he felt your hands squeeze his, he nodded. “Yes, Y/N. I promise.”

His promise couldn’t be kept, and later that week, he passed away while surrounded by you, Minghao, and his family. Although you were angry at the world for taking him a breath too quick, you felt a sense of relief, knowing that he left the world while being surrounded by people he loved—that you were able to have a last goodbye, hand-in-hand, while you still loved him.

[heartsfromia]

be my date — h. joshua

pairing: non-idol! joshua x f! reader

word count: 3,961

genre: fluff, minor angst

warnings: reader has social anxiety

author's note: reader is 18 ! dont call the cops on poor joshy, they have a two year difference too in this ;__; THANK YOU FOR 400 FOLLOWERS BTW 🤍🤍🤍

It was that wretched time of the year, the time where you dreaded throughout your entire high school journey. As the winter air clears, flowers begin to bloom and April showers pass by, finals were ending soon and in a month, you’ll be receiving your diploma as a mark to the end of one chapter in your life.

However, it meant one thing, and this thing you hoped would pass by without your attendance.

Yes, it is Prom season. Capitalized for emphasis.

Dress shopping, various incidents of “promposals” taking place within the two weeks between finals and the date of the dance, you dreaded this time of your high school journey because of one thing: the dance.

You understood the appeal of prom. It was the one time when a lot of peers felt was a special closing before they enter adulthood, and college. It was the perfect occasion for everyone to go all out without worrying of whether they’re overdressed for the party, it was an event where couples could take this time to take a further step into their relationship, using the slow dancing portion of the party as a commemorative dance to a hopefully long-term relationship. Everyone would be there as a last hurrah with their high school friends, the same people that watched you glow up through your teens, and eventually bloom and flower on that one single night. It was special.

Unfortunately, you didn’t care. You got the appeal of prom, doesn’t mean you had to like it.

To you, prom is a nightmare. Your school isn’t exactly small, so imagining your entire year being in one, closed off space (albeit, the gym is spacious) sounded like a disaster. A clump of sweaty bodies, dancing to the DJ’s mix of school-friendly songs with lackluster beats—overcrowded, smelly, and just completely unappealing. Don’t get started on the huge possibility that someone would spike the fruit punch when the teacher chaperones weren’t looking.

Sweaty, drunk, overcrowded, you shiver at the thought.

Alas, your distaste and overall reluctance to join prom would be futile because you’re an introvert that, unfortunately, was adopted by a renown extrovert and party-goer.

“Have you bought your ticket to prom?” Yunjin asked, moving to sit on the empty seat beside you. You both had just finished the last exam of the day, and while everyone were packing to leave, you were waiting for Yunjin who was in the class next to you.

“I’m not going,” you uttered, grabbing your bag. “I thought I told you I don’t plan on going, dude”

She looked at you bewildered, eyes wide and mouth agape. “You can’t not go, Y/N. It’s prom.”

You glanced to the side, raising a brow. “So?”

She gasped dramatically, and you rolled your eyes. You anticipated Yunjin pestering you about prom. Ever since your senior year started, prom was the only thing she ever talked about. She raved about the dress she had been eyeing at one the most popular dress boutiques in town, you’d spot her by her desk, scrolling through Pinterest photos for makeup looks to go with her dress, and she even ranted about how her boyfriend had asked her to prom before finals began, just so she’d be at a peace of mind to study.

“Why don’t you want to go, Y/N?”

“I just don’t… like them,” you answered a bit unconvincing and it was evident with the way she rose her eyebrow at you. “I’m not a party person, Yunjin.”

“You don’t have to party, you can sit by the table and people watch,” she offered, causing you to snort. “Hey, people watching at prom is fun, and when I’m tired of dancing, I can join you and we can predict who will end up as what in the future after leaving high school.”

“As tempting as that sounds,” you began, pressing your lips together and shrugging, “I seriously just want to stay home, dude.”

“But it’s our last night together,” she pouted, her big eyes pleading. “It’s our only prom, Y/N.”

“It’s just prom, and it’s not like it’ll be the last time we see each other,” you reminded, “we’re still going to the same campus.”

“Come on, Y/N,” she whined, following behind you as the two of you made your ways to your car, planning to head over to Yunjin’s for a girl’s night. “Be honest with me, because I just don’t believe that that’s your reason.”

Yeah, because the real reason is because I have terrible social anxiety and an overcrowded prom doesn’t seem the most ideal situation to be in.

You wanted to tell her, hell, she’s your best friend, but you knew deep inside that the reason wouldn’t be enough to keep Yunjin from dragging you to the prom. It’s not that she wouldn’t understand, it’s just that she’ll find a way to accommodate to you to ensure you won’t have a panic attack, and by doing so, she’ll be more focused on you, rather than having fun and you knew Yunjin only went to parties because she wants to have fun, not babysit her friend.

So, you uttered the first thing in your head. “I don’t have a date. It seems pathetic to go to prom without a date.”

“Seriously? No one has asked you out?” You only shrugged. Unbeknownst to her, there were a few, but none extravagant—mainly through letters or asking you casually, but you declined, you seriously did not consider going to the end-of-school-year event. Her brows furrowed, the conversation seeming to end there as she scrolled through her phone, replying to messages from her boyfriend as you drove to her house.

“Is someone else home?” you asked as you pulled into her driveway, a car you didn’t recognize it being either of her parents parked in front of the house. Yunjin looked just as confused, shaking her head as the two of you climbed out and headed in. A new pair of shoes were at the front of the door, and from the looks of it, you assumed it to be owned by a guy. “Visitors?”

“Maybe,” she responded, kicking off her shoes and you sighed, arranging your shoes neatly. “Eomma, I’m home!”

“Yunjin, how were your exams?” Mrs. Huh appeared by the doorway of the kitchen, wiping her hands dry. “Y/N, hello to you, too. Did you guys do well?”

“We’ll know when the grades come out,” you responded with a warm smile.

“We didn’t recognize the car in front, is someone here?” Yunjin asked, and her mother’s eyes widened, nodding.

“Ah yes, I almost forgot.” She smacked her forehead gently. “Your cousin is staying here for two weeks, your cousin Joshua.”

“Joshua’s here?” Yunjin exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.

“Yes, he’s upstairs, but he’s tired from the flight here, so you can say hi when he comes down.” Yunjin nodded in understanding, turning to face you, a metaphoric light bulb brightly lit atop her head as she grins at you.

“You’re going to prom with my cousin.”

What?! “What?” It came out less shocked than you anticipated; your tone dead, but as you stare back at her with uncertainty, it was clear you were taken aback, as if you didn’t hear her correctly.

“You’re going to prom with Joshua.”

You glanced around the room, no one but the two of you present in her living room. “Is the Joshua in the room with us?”

“He will be,” she gleamed, sparing a glance at the stairway that led upstairs. “He’s awesome, Y/N, a true gentleman and he can be your date to prom.”

It was your turn to stare at her in bewilderment. “You are talking as if he’s already agreed, Yunjin.”

“He will, trust me,” she began, heading towards the stairs and you following. “He’s a part of the pandemic generation of students, so he never got a prom, and our school is his alma mater.”

“And how does that matter?”

“Because, I know a few other people asking our seniors to prom, some going with their older sibling because they want to have an experience they missed out during their time,” Yunjin explained, plopping down on her bed. “Joshua’s also told me how much he wished he went to his prom.”

“And how are you sure he’ll agree to this?” As if on cue, the sound of the door adjacent to Yunjin’s creaked open and she grinned mischievously at you.

“Joshua!”

“Yeah!” Your heart dropped at the deeper voice on the other side of the door, Yunjin is seriously not backing out this plan of hers.

“Can you come into my room for a sec?” A beat passed and the door to her room swung open, a head peeking through. Light brown, floppy hair was the first thing you noticed from Joshua. Your eyes moved down to his doe-like eyes to his uniquely pursed lips as he looks to his cousin before acknowledging your existence, his pouted lips stretched into a warm smile. “Come in, please.”

Waving a nonchalant hand to you as he entered, he turned to Yunjin, raising his brows. “What’s up?”

“This is my best friend, Y/N,” she began, putting an arm around you. “And she doesn’t have a date to prom.”

“Oh… that’s sucks,” he responded, sounding a bit unsure which caused you to chuckle lightly and Yunjin to smack her forehead.

“You never got to go to your prom, right?” Joshua nodded, Yunjin’s plan finally clicking. “And a bunch of your friends are going to mine, right?”

“Yeah, a couple of them—I think Jeonghan is going with his little sister, and Seungcheol also has a cousin that goes to your school,” he explained. “Don’t you have a date already?”

“Yes, but this is not about me, it’s about—“ she held onto both your shoulders from behind, leaning into you, “—her.”

“I don’t mind taking you to prom, Y/N.” You could only muster a smile. It’s not about taking me to prom, Joshua, it’s about me not wanting to go, with a date or not.

“We’ll be preparing for prom starting tomorrow, you’re free to be our chaffeur for the week,” Yunjin jokingly offered, to which Joshua threw his head back in laughter, his laugh echoing through your head. The way he smiled, his entire demeanor—admittedly, you didn’t mind having him as a date to prom, he’s attractive and the way he so easily clicks with your best friend, it’s clear his intentions are pure, nothing to fear. You wouldn’t have minded if you didn’t have a nagging feeling at the back of your head, a feeling that comes in a tightly packed gift bag with your social anxiety.

When Joshua left the room, you turned to your best friend, staring deep into her eyes as you deadpanned, “I regret sitting beside you when we were freshmen.”

This ensued a fit of laughter from your friend as she pulls you into a hug.

The following week was busy, Joshua had obliged to Yunjin’s request of being your chaffeur for the week as he drove you all around town to clothing boutiques, makeup stores, and cafes as both Yunjin and you occupied yourselves with prom preparations.

You used the excessive time spent together to get to know Joshua a little bit more than just his name, the fact that he’s a sophomore in university, and that he was two years older than you.

Your conversations never lasted too long because of your duties as Yunjin’s prom advisor, and you had to focus on making sure you advise the best clothing to adorn your best friend on one of her most awaited nights—second to her wedding, of course.

There was an opening for a conversation to occur between you and Joshua when Yunjin and her boyfriend were busy getting their measurements in for a few altercations on their outfits, both Joshua and you seated in the front, watching as the seamstress wraps a measuring tape around your friends.

“You’re going to same campus as Yunjin, right?” Joshua strikes up conversation, expecting that the two of you will be for a while as your friends get their measurements in.

“Yeah, both of us are taking business administration,” you told him, and he nodded. “What are you taking?”

“Economics,” he answers, his lips pressed in a straight line—a habit you found that he does every so often when he’s unsure of how to continue the conversation.

“I’m really sorry, by the way, I don’t think I got the chance to apologize,” you began, your face contorted in guilt as you looked at him. “I didn’t plan on going to prom, but Yunjin’s very… convincing.”

His laughter shook his body slightly, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, she can be that way.” Both your eyes focused on the girl of the conversation, laughing as she jokingly smacks her boyfriend’s chest. “But I seriously don’t mind, since a couple of my other friends are going as well, I thought it would be fun to, you know, make up for lost times.”

“Yeah… it must’ve sucked to have a lot of traditions be taken away because of the pandemic,” you uttered absentmindedly, “but that means we were in school together around the same time, no?”

“Yeah, but because of the pandemic we never got to meet,” he explains, “but Yunjin has told me a lot about you.”

“That’s nice to hear, I’m sorry I can’t say the same for you.”

“She probably referred to me more often as her ‘cousin’ to you, since after high school I lived near college and rarely came here.” You nod in understanding.

“I just feel bad because you probably planned on spending your semester break doing something else, but you’re here… babysitting us,” you apologized once again, an endearing smile breaking out on Joshua’s face—a smile that caused heat to spread to your cheeks, and your stomach to turn.

“I really don’t mind, I’m enjoying myself here,” he answers honestly, the sincerity clear in his tone and you couldn’t help to mirror his smile, finally feeling at peace with this whole fiasco that Yunjin had brought onto you.

Maybe having Joshua as your date would make prom more enjoyable then.

Joshua did make your prom more enjoyable, that is, until you arrived at the venue.

Apparently word that a lot of former students were joining through their own insiders had spread throughout the school, the representative from each year reaching out to the school and eventually, a bigger venue was rented out for the prom.

If you heard correctly, there were at least three different batches, including yours, joining prom this year, and the venue would accomodate the estimated 350 students. The venue they had chosen was a hotel ballroom, that specified in big events like international conferences, and weddings, but either way to you, the place was big, meaning that there will be a lot more people than you had anticipated.

You thought that having yourself get ready with Yunjin, songs blasting from her bluetooth speaker as the two of you did each other’s hair and makeup would be enough time to calm yourself down. It did help ease the anxiety that was slowly crawling up your throat, but only temporarily.

At some point before arriving, the dress felt light and wavy as it encompassed your body, and the makeup felt almost nonexistent, bringing out your features in the most natural way, while emphasizing the depth of your beauty. But, as you arrived at the hotel venue, all of it changed immediately the second your heart dropped to the base of your stomach.

All of a sudden, the dress felt too tight, clinging to you in the most uncomfortable way possible, sweat began forming at the palm of your hands and the pits of your arm, and the makeup felt too much, overcrowding your face and accentuating the flaws beneath. All of a sudden the room felt too small, and the people too many.

“Hey, are you okay, Y/N?” You didn’t know who was talking to you, but you felt their hand clasp onto your elbow gently upon seeing your paling face.

“I… I can’t…” Breathe, I can’t breathe, you wanted to scream, but the air felt thin as your heart raced against your chest. It felt as if everyone’s eyes were on you at that very second, their stares filled with judgement, looking you up and down as if you were some clown for showing up to this event. You knew if you stayed there another second, you’d either faint, cry, throw up or all of the above.

“Bathroom,” you forced out as you turned on your heels and maneuvered your way through the crowd and towards the ladies’ rest room, where more girls were found, staring at you in shock before you disappeared into one of the stalls.

I can’t cry. I can’t cry. I’ll ruin Yunjin’s $40 mascara if I cry. But it was futile, and tears began streaming down your face as you tried your best to inhale and exhale at a normal rate.

“God, you’re so stupid,” you cursed yourself through gritted teeth. You were sure Yunjin would be too worried to have fun, but Joshua, who wanted to make up for lost times with his old friends, can’t have fun, too because you’re having a panic attack.

“Y/N?” You sit up straight at the familiar, deep voice. “Y/N, I saw you run in here. It’s Joshua.”

You wanted to call out for him, reassure you’re fine but the bile in your throat kept your words from leaving your lips.

“I’m coming in.” Your eyes practically bulged out of your head when hearing his statement before you quickly stepped out of your stall to make sure no other girl was in there, before Joshua entered. Luckily enough, it was completely empty and Joshua stood there, staring at you, worry written all over his face when he sees you.

“Y/N, oh my gosh,” he approached you, not thinking as he holds your face in his hand, his thumb swiping at the black-tinted tears staining your cheeks.

The weight of the night returned and your breath was caught in your throat. Joshua’s eyes widened, pulling you into his arms, pressing your face into his shoulder in hopes it’ll calm you down.

A gentle hand stroked your back, as he cooed, “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay, Y/N. Just breathe.” Once you had calmed down enough, you pulled away and a tender smile adorning his lips as he wiped your cheeks. “Do you want to step out for some fresh air?” Wordlessly, you nodded and he clasped your hand, pulling you out the rest room, and out the hotel.

The hotel had a small convenient store near the lobby, and the two of you ventured in that direction, Joshua allowing you to sit on the available chairs as he bought you water and a snack, since you hadn’t had the chance to feast on the food provided inside.

“I’m sorry,” you immediately apologized when he sat beside you, placing a bottle of water and a melon bread in front of you. “You’re supposed to be in there having fun with your friends, but I’m ruining it.”

“It’s not your fault you had a panic attack, Y/N,” he reassured, placing his hand on top of your head in an endearing gesture.

Stunned, you stuttered, “H-how did you know?”

“I know a panic attack when I see one, and from how pale you were, it was clear you were going through it,” he explained, his eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay? What triggered it?”

“Prom,” you answered, scoffing slightly at how ridiculous you must’ve looked earlier.

“Is that why you didn’t plan on going?” You nodded. “Then why did you pushed yourself?” His tone wasn’t accusing, he sounded genuinely curious to why you would purposefully put yourself in a situation that you’re uncomfortable with.

“Like I said a few days ago, Yunjin can be very convincing,” you sighed, tearing open the bread’s casing.

“Still, though, you didn’t tell her?”

“I didn’t want to make her feel like she had to watch over me,” you answered truthfully, chewing on the insides of your cheek. “I thought—if I told her—then she’d go out of her way to make sure I was okay, and couldn’t focus on having fun, like…” You glanced up at him, “like you right now. I’m sorry… again.”

“I really don’t mind, Y/N, I feel a part of being your date is to make sure you’re okay,” he reassures, reaching over to open the bottle for you. You mutter a ‘thank you’ taking a big gulp, the cool water refreshing against the heat from your crying session in the bathroom.

“She was worried about you earlier, Y/N,” he informed, his brows pulled together slightly, “when you feel comfortable, it’s alright to tell her about your anxiety.”

“I don’t want her to feel terrible for putting me in that situation, though, at the end of the day, I still went along with it.”

“Knowing Yunjin, yes, I agree she might feel guilty,” he begins, nodding in agreement, “but we’re still not responsible over how people because, I mean, what they’re feeling is their thing to deal with. What we shouldn’t do is allow ourselves to be put in situations that make us uncomfortable just because you don’t want someone else to feel bad.”

“It feels like I’m listening to myself whenever Yunjin gets herself into trouble,” you muttered, hoping it would ease the tension you felt.

“I’m just saying, Y/N, it’s alright to tell Yunjin about this, I’m sure she’ll be understanding next time.”

You only smiled, nodding before taking another bite of the bread. A beat of silence, and you swallowed your bite to talk again. “If it means anything, I had fun despite what happened.”

He chuckled lightly. “I did, too, Y/N.” Another beat of silence. “Although I can’t say so for right now, I’m a bit… disappointed.”

“Disappointed how?”

“I had a lot of fun with you the past week with your prom preparations,” he began, followed with a sigh, “it just sucks that we never got to do one significant thing for prom.”

Your brows furrowed. “Which is?”

“The promposal.” Your lips formed an ‘o’ as you nodded. “We just suddenly became each other’s dates.”

“That is true.”

“What if I proposed something else to you, though?”

Your eyes widened with shock, leaning a bit back to create distance between the two of you. “No offence, but I just finished high school, Joshua. If this is marriage—”

“No, no, no, what?” He quickly denied, his cheeks reddening as a nervous laugh escaped his lips. “I’m barely through college, and I’m surviving off of ramen, I don’t think either of us are ready for that.”

The two of you laughed at that. You then asked, “Then what do you mean?”

“I was thinking of a less… life-time commitment requiring proposal, Y/N.”

“That is…?”

“I have tickets to the festival downtown,” he starts, eyes bright with anticipation, awaiting your answer. “Would you like to be my date again?”

Your cheeks flushed upon hearing his question, a smile adorning your features as you began to fee giddy. Joshua chuckled along with you, rubbing the side of his neck, “I’m sorry it’s nothing grand.”

“No, it’s not that, I… I’d love to be your date to the festival, Joshua,” you accepted, and his grin only widened. You then added, “But does that mean it’ll be our last date, though?”

His eyes gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights of the store, shaking his head, uttering, “Not unless you say otherwise, Y/N."

[heartsfromia]

someone like you — y. jeonghan

pairing: non-idol! jeonghan x f!reader

word count: 4,836

genre: angst, fluff, workplace romance

warnings: mentions of death, dealing with loss

author's notes: i have returned from the dead. not proofread, and idk why but i struggled writing this ;__;

Jeonghan never believed in ghosts—nor, anything that existed in the spirit world. He never believed in ghosts, superstitions, or heaven or hell. He was just that kind of guy.

Today, however, as he crouches over someone that fell to their butt after colliding with him, he began to question everything he ever believed in.

Did he accidentally summon someone without him realizing? Was someone pulling a joke, and so his—what he thought—dead ex-girlfriend came back to life? Or did the accident that happened seven years ago never took place, and so his ex-girlfriend was alive and well, and now stood—well, fell—in front of him?

Answer: none of that.

It wasn’t his (dead) ex-girlfriend that collided with him in the lobby. It was you, someone that was the spitting image of said girlfriend.

“Ow,” you winced, looking up to profusely apologize to whoever it was you bumped into, only to be driven to silence upon eye-contact with Jeonghan. Your eyes locked for what felt like an eternity, your mouth dropped open, stunned that someone that looks like him exists on this Earth, and you had the audacity to cause a ruckus, and most likely, ruin his day completely because of your clumsiness. “I—”

But, before you could utter an apology, Jeonghan turned on his heels sharply and headed in whatever direction he came from, leaving you on the ground and your butt throbbing in pain from the impact.

As you were mending your aching butt, Jeonghan was mending his racing heart. There was no way she came back, just— she couldn’t, it’s impossible. There has never been a true phenomenon that proved someone is capable of coming back from the dead, especially, those gone after seven years ago. They should be ridden to bones by now, but there you were, in the flesh, and healthy, and alive.

Of course Jeonghan didn’t believe that his ex-girlfriend had come back to life, but when you come face-to-face with someone that looks like a significant person from the past, logic just doesn’t function.

It’s just… he can’t fathom how similar you both look. The strands of hair that gently fell over your eyes, the way your lips parted, wincing from the fall, and your voice—your God damn voice. It was as if Jeonghan was brought back to eight years ago when he first met her, and coincidentally, he, too, had crashed into her.

This is all one coincidence—one sick coincidence.

Turning the corner, he headed towards his office, realizing the morning brief will start soon with Seungcheol (the head of the division) and a crease present between his eyebrows, because there was always something bothering the man. Reaching his office, everyone was gathered in the main room, Seungcheol seated across from everyone that were facing him, but when Jeonghan counted the heads across from his boss, he counted one extra.

Did someone get lost? Jeonghan thought, staring at the back of your head. Only when did he approach the group, did he realize who it was and you did, too. Both your eyes locked, but where you blushed profusely, turning away and breaking eye contact, Jeonghan’s eyebrows scrunched together, jaw clenching.

“Oh, Jeonghan, you’re here,” Seungcheol noted, nodding to his employee, “we can start now.”

Prying eyes from the person that just entered the room, you faced your employer, noticing that he was looking at you with expecting eyes, to which you returned with a warm smile. Seungcheol begins, “Well, as you can see, we have a new face in our division—Y/N will be joining our team, and I hope everyone will be welcoming and help her out in anything she might need to adjust.” As eyes glanced towards you, you nodded your head, bowing slightly as you greeted them all—save introductions for later when the brief is completely. However, when your eyes turned to the guy you had collided with earlier, he wasn’t looking your way, instead, he was focused on the window at the end of the room.

You didn’t want to think too much into his actions, understanding that your initial meeting with your new co-worker wasn’t exactly ideal. Therefore, you tore your eyes from his indifference towards you, focusing on the brief at hand, not wanting to give a terrible impression to your boss and your other co-workers on the first day.

The brief ended with Seungcheol having to rush off to a meeting on the other side of town, leaving you at the hands of everyone else. Within the first five minutes of your manager’s departure, you were able to get to know your co-workers. The Financial Planning & Budgeting division comprised of three other people, excluding you. There was only one other woman, while the others were men—the other woman in the department introduced herself as Wendy to you, reassuring you that she can be as much help as she can, whether it be work-related or not.

Joshua was one of the two men that graciously introduced himself to you, however, you found out the one you had collided with was named Jeonghan through your male co-worker. “He’s usually not this… quiet,” Joshua had stated while talking to you, his eyes on his co-worker, who was dead set on completing an excel sheet.

“Oi, Jeonghan!” Joshua called, Jeonghan’s head lifting slightly with a blank stare. “Introduce yourself to Y/N.”

Jeonghan’s eyes glanced at you for a second before returning to his friend, then down to his computer, he uttered lowly, “Already did.”

Joshua was taken aback by his behaviour, sending you an apologetic look before going over to Jeonghan, allowing you to get settled by your desk. Was the collision really that bad? you couldn’t help but think, chewing on your inner cheeks, guilt beginning to flow through your veins. You wanted to stand up and apologize, but you didn’t want to make it seem like what you did was completely out of line, either. It was an accident—despite it being your fault for running in the first place, but you really didn’t think that Jeonghan would hold it against you.

I’m sure he’ll get over it, you thought, shaking your head to rid of the guilt, focusing your eyes on the computer screen.

He, unfortunately, did not get over it.

Or so, you think.

It’s finally been a full week since you had joined the division, the weekend at the tips of your fingers, and the only words you had exchanged with your closed-off co-worker were regarding a file you needed for reference. Other than that, communication between you and Jeonghan had been radio silent. Joshua and Wendy noticed; you had confided with your seniors every once in a while, Wendy would often point out how the two of you were acting as if you worked on opposite sides, and Jeonghan would get an earful from Joshua, claiming Jeonghan to be rude because he doesn’t want to talk to you, even about mundane things like the weather.

“I just don’t have anything to say to her,” Jeonghan muttered, moving his mouse aimlessly. He was done with his tasks, and until Seungcheol returns from his meeting with other managers, he’s stuck at the office, staring at nothing on his computer screen.

“That, too,” Joshua pointed out, his eyebrows furrowing, a crease of displeasure between, “I don’t think you’ve ever referred to her with her name, Han. Do you even remember her name?”

“I do.”

“What is it?”

It sounds too much like hers, I don’t want to say it, Jeonghan thought. Instead, he rose a brow to his colleague, “Don’t you have a report to make?”

“You’re dodging questions again,” Joshua sighed, rolling his eyes, before pushing himself up, “fine, I’ll leave you alone. You obviously don’t want to cooperate and work as a team.” Ignoring the snide comment, Jeonghan waved him off, returning to his black screen, the reflection staring back at him. He admits, he’s immature to avoid you at all cost over something you have absolutely no control of. It’s not your fault that you looked scarily similar to his deceased ex-girlfriend from years ago, sharing a name that sounds so similar to hers—hell, you didn’t even know this. Jeonghan’s behaviour—avoiding interactions with you, ignoring you whenever you entered the office with a smile and a cup of coffee in your hand, it was all unnecessary, and he had no right to treat you that way, he knew it.

He couldn’t, though. Not when the weight of his loss remains heavy on his chest.

As Jeonghan lost himself in a daze, you were caught in one as you frequently glanced at his direction. You weren’t staring at him for anything in particular, except the incomplete report for one of the company’s client on your desk that you needed help with. Since Seungcheol wasn’t in his office, he had appointed Jeonghan as manager adjacent.

“Just go, Y/N, what’s the worst that can happen?” you whispered to yourself, pursing your lips as you inhaled a deep breath and released it as you stood up, your feel clacking against the ceramic towards Jeonghan. However, the hypothetical heavy lead in your heels made the walk feel like miles away, and you began rethinking your choices.

What if he makes fun of you for not understanding the report? What if he deems you so unprofessional and incompetent that he tells Seungcheol and then you get fired? Then you’ll be jobless, broke, single, and sad in this capitalist world, leaving you alone to fend for yourself.

That might’ve been a stretch, but that’s not the point. The point is, maybe you should just half-ass it and then have Seungcheol yell at you—

“Did you need something?” Jeonghan asked, breaking you from your internal spiral of despair. His tone was dry, flat and clearly uninterested, matching the deadpan look he had as his eyes never looking away from his computer screen,

“Uh…” Come on, Y/N, say something! Your fingers gripped the report in your hand, and the crumpling noise caused Jeonghan to turn to you—well, your nervous hands.

“Just put it down, I’ll check over it.” He stated, his stern tone leaving no room for you to ask anything further. You only nodded, placing the report down and returning your desk, sneaking a glance to your standoffish co-worker. The report laid haphazardly by the corner of his desk, and you watched as he lifted it up, reading through with a pen in hand, marking it with revisions and corrections. The sight looked as if Jeonghan was one of your college professors, marking a half-ass essay and you cringe at the thought of fixing your mistakes, printing it and handing it back to him.

“Hey, Y/N, do you want to grab dinner after we get off?” Wendy asked, approaching your desk. “We can use my car, and I can drop you off home.”

“I’d love that,” you gleamed, “you can drop me off at a bus stop and I’ll just use that, though.”

“No, it’s completely fine—” Wendy stopped mid-sentence when Jeonghan appeared from behind her, muttering something you couldn’t hear before he handed a file to her. Her brows furrowed as she tried to call after him, but he just walked away without sparing a glance back. “Is this your report?”

She placed the file on your desk, and you nodded, seeing the familiar title. “Ah… Thanks.” Damn, he must really hate you for not having the basic decency of handing it to you.

“Are you and Jeonghan alright?”

“I’m not even sure,” you answered honestly. “I really don’t know what I did.”

“Yeah, it’s unusual for me to see him like this,” she responded, adding, “he’s usually very hyper in office, and he’s just been so quiet since you got in…” She glanced over at you, a look of guilt adorning your features. “I’m sure you had nothing to do with it, though…”

A beat passed. “Would it be too quick to submit my resignation letter?”

Wendy only laughed, ruffling your hair, leaving you to wallow in self pity.

The weight of the week felt heavy on Jeonghan’s chest, and he found himself in an environment he hadn’t been in for years. The sun shone above his head, casting warmth against his skin on the bright spring day as he carried his feet through the cobble-stone path, eyes glancing left and right until he arrived where he needed to be.

With a sigh, he smiles slightly, “Hey… It’s been a while since I visited you. I wish I could visit you more—I do. i’ve just been really… busy.” He places the bouquet he had brought in front of her headstone, her name written in cursive with the years she lived beneath, ‘loved as a daughter, a sister, a friend’.

“And a lover,” Jeonghan whispered into the crisp air, regretting never being open about their relationship when she was still there beside him. The memory of them had faded throughout the years, but the love and care he had for her will forever linger within him. Their relationship was unexpectedly short-lived, but he cherished them, to the point he was reluctant to move on and find new love.

Grief had always been odd to deal with, Jeonghan had thought. At one point that person was a constant presence, and then suddenly, they weren’t.

“I’m not sure if you’re watching over me, but if you were, then you probably know what happened the past week,” Jeonghan began, crossing his legs and picking absentmindedly at the grass surrounding him. He didn’t care if his pants got dirty or if bugs began crawling onto him, he needed to talk and she felt like the safest option.

“You might call me immature for acting the way I did to her, but she just… she just looks so much like you,” he began to go off on a ramble, tears stinging in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. “Then… then, as I worked with her… I don’t know, I just malfunctioned because I couldn’t process the fact that there was someone like you that existed…”

You were too much like her—you were spontaneous and hard-working. Despite Jeonghan’s attempt at distancing himself, he always caught himself glancing at you, observing you from a distance you wouldn’t notice. He was drawn to you, whether because of your similarity to his past lover, or because that was just your affect on people, he wasn’t sure. He knew he cared, even if he didn’t want to.

And he felt bad, it didn’t take any criticism from Joshua or Wendy to make him notice, he already knew that his behaviour towards you was unwarranted and unfair to you.

“Drop a coconut on my head if you think I’m being irrational,” he asked, a chuckle following. There weren’t any trees around him, let alone a coconut tree that was fruiting at this time of the year. “I’m kidding, I obviously am being irrational.”

A breezes passes by, Jeonghan exhaling a heavy sigh before looking up, finding the sky beginning to darken with heavy clouds. “You always said you liked the rain, are you going to rain on me to make me realize it’s time?” As if answering him, a rumble of thunder echoed throughout the cemetery, shaking the ground beneath him lightly.

“I’ll work on it,” he muttered, “it’s not an overnight thing, but considering how much time has passed already, I also think it’s time.” Pushing himself off the ground, he brushed off the dead grass and dirt, heaving another sigh as he looked down at her.

“Look out for me from up there, yeah? It’s the least you could do after abandoning me during finals,” he joked with a light chuckle, before turning away and walking back to his car.

The weekend went by in a blink of an eye and the excitement you expected to come Sunday night never did. You weren’t excited to return to work, Mondays were prevalent because of that feeling of dread that comes for a lot of people, but you weren’t dreading the workload, or having to wake up in the morning after sleeping in, you were dreading meeting Jeonghan.

Wendy and Joshua have tried to console you, assuring you that Jeonghan was probably just having an off-week or something, resulting in the cold shoulder he gave you. Nevertheless, you were reluctant on coming in, you even debated on sending a message to Seungcheol, asking him to let you have a day off but decided against it. It’s not as easy to ask as it was back in college.

Alas, you trudged your feet into your office, dropping your bag on the floor and turning on your computer. It was quite early, and the office didn’t have a strict policy on when to clock in, but you had to finish up the report from last week in accordance to the corrections Jeonghan had made. You flipped through the pages, a pained smile on your face as your eyes skim through the red markings of corrections, question marks and crosses.

If he didn't hate you, then he'd be lying because if he tolerated you enough as a person, he wouldn't have put a question mark at how spelt “labour”, followed up by writing “it's labor” underneath your mistake.

You heaved a heavy sigh as you slumped into your seat, opening the Word document of your report and proceeding to correct all that Jeonghan had marked.

Glancing at the clock, it was the usual time when people started clocking in. Soon enough, Joshua, Wendy and Jeonghan entered the office in that order. Seungcheol excusing himself from coming in because of a meeting across town, leaving the four of you with no briefing for today's agenda. This usually meant one thing: nothing. You had nothing to do because all tasks given were done, and since it's a new week, you needed a briefing for new tasks.

You didn't complain though, you knew with Seungcheol out of office, no new tasks on your to-do list, it meant that there's a higher chance for you to go home early today.

That is until…

Seungcheol (FP&B Mgr.) Y/N, can you please create a PowerPoint presentation using the materials I have emailed you. No need to rush, you can finish tomorrow.

It was around thirty minutes before the working hour ends, and Seungcheol had just sent you the text. You sent a quick response, opening your email to find the one he sent and clicked on the attached file.

It was only ten-pages worth of material, and considering the usual basis of PowerPoint presentation, you knew that you wouldn't need to put everything. So, you decided to work on it immediately. Even if you worked a bit overtime, you didn't really have a problem with that either.

When the clock struck five, Joshua and Wendy were gone already—choosing to clock off earlier, leaving you in the office and Jeonghan had gone out to the bathroom. When he returned, his brows furrowed at the sight of you still seated by your desk, eyes focused on your screen. He knocked gently on the dividers of your cubicle, “What are you still doing here?”

You jumped slightly at the sight of him, momentarily forgotten that he was still here. “Oh, I wanted to finish the presentation Mr. Choi asked me—”

“You're working overtime, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know—”

“How will you get home?”

“I usually take the bus—”

“I'm dropping you off, just tell me when you're done.” And with that, he returned to his desk, leaving you at yours with your mouth agape in shock. He didn't even let you finish any of your sentences and all of a sudden, after a week of practically treating you like you were below him, he's offering to drop you off? Is this guy alright? Did some alien abduct him over the weekend and probe him into being (questionably) nice?

Either way, you didn't want to dwell on the thought too much. You didn't decline the notion for a free ride, but having it be offered (insisted, more like) by Jeonghan made you skeptical. Nothing about him raised any red flags, according to your co-workers at least, so there is a high possibility that he's doing this out of guilt for how he treated you last week.

Nonetheless, a free ride is a free ride.

Once you felt the presentation was informative without overexplaining, you saved and shut your computer down. Gathering your things, you walked to Jeonghan’s desk, only to find him with his head in his arms, eyes closed and asleep.

You paused, debating on whether you should wake him up, but you didn't want him falling asleep and spending the night in the office either. While contemplating, your head cocked to the side, enamoured by how peaceful and less… grunchy he looked when asleep. Long lashes brushed against his cheeks, lips slightly parted as he breathes steadily and—

Oh my God, Y/N, you're staring at him as he sleeps, you're being creepy! Shaking your head slightly to return back to reality, you reached over and shook his shoulder lightly, watching as he stirs awake, and looks at you through half-opened eyes and…

What did he just call you?

“I'm done with presentation, Jeonghan,” you told him softly, scared if you rose your voice that he'd be startled by the sudden noise.

“Ah, alright, come on we should head down to my car.” You nodded, the incident pushed to the back of your head as you followed him, turning off the lights and closing the office door.

You weren't sure whether he should drive, having just woken up from a nap, but by the time you arrived to the parking basement, Jeonghan looked like his usual self—standoffish, and deadpanned.

The drive was silent, save for the music playing from his stereo and when he asked for your address. You didn't know what to talk about, but seeing that Jeonghan wasn't actively trying to have a conversation, you didn't bother and allowed for the quiet to take over the space between you two.

“Yeah, you can park here,” you told him as he pulled into your apartment building. “Thank you, Jeonghan, I appreciate it.”

A tight lipped smile etched across his face as he nodded, lifting a hand to wave slightly, “I'll see you tomorrow, Y/N.”

“Oh, you remember my name,” you spoke without thinking, your statement causing his eyebrows to pull together.

“What do you mean?”

So, you told him what he called you, and his face paled, mouth dry and your eyebrows pulled together, confused over his reaction. “Are you ok—”

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I… I must’ve thought you were someone else,” he apologizes profusely, guilt clear in his features.

Your heart tugged, a small smile appearing on your lips. “Is it an ex-girlfriend?” You tried to lighten the mood, causing his lips tilt upwards, but it didn’t reach his eyes—sullen, he might’ve been smiling everso slightly, but his eyes told a different story.

“You could say that,” he utters, his voice distant, “she passed away a long time ago, though.”

If the earth beneath you cracked open, revealing the depths of hell at that very moment, you would’ve swan-dived into it—probably even doing a flip.

You couldn’t muster up a response, only nodding before you bidded goodbye, ducking into your apartment. Your body was filled with chills from the genuine embarrassment that took over you. It was one thing to say something, despite you not having a relationship—let alone, a friendship close enough with Jeonghan to joke that way, but it was another to joke that way.

“God, Y/N, you’re so embarrassing,” you whined.

As you were busy hitting your head repeatedly against your door, Jeonghan was busy hitting his head repeatedly against his steering wheel, having driven far enough that it wouldn’t look like he was still in front of your apartment.

“Why did I say that?” Jeonghan cursed himself, hitting his head against wheel after each word. No one at the office knows about his ex-girlfriend, and he has spent almost three years with them, so why is it that he just told you with only a week of knowing you?

“Because I’m stupid,” he muttered, answering himself.

Both of thought the same thing: how am I going to face you tomorrow?

Jeonghan didn’t need to worry about how he was going to face you because the second you stepped into the company building, it became your mission to avoid him at all cost. The embarrassment from your insensitive joke last night is lasting a lot longer than you hoped for, and you found yourself wincing at the memory every singe time, like a hot flash.

Luckily for you, Jeonghan was occupied, accompanying Seungcheol with meetings throughout the day that you were able to make it until your lunch break without seeing him. Knowing that Jeonghan usually has lunch with Seungcheol and Joshua in the company’s food court, you chose to stay put in your cubicle, hoping the bread and milk you bought in the morning would keep you full until the end of the day.

While you were busy mindlessly chewing on your bread, a YouTube video playing on screen and earphones in, you didn’t hear the door to the office open. Jeonghan, who had just finished his lunch break, had returned to retrieve a file, but to also see if you were in so he could talk to you. With your mind and eyes occupied, you didn’t notice his presence by your cubicle. Jeonghan chuckled lightly at the sight of you so focused, your cheeks stuffed with bread. Gently knocking against your desk, you jumped and almost squealed, eyes wide as you stared Jeonghan.

“Y/N, can we talk?” he asked, but before you could answer, he pulled a chair and sat beside you, keeping a good distance between the two of you.

“Jeonghan, I want to apologize for what I said last—”

“No, don’t apologize,” he cut you off, “you didn’t know.”

You stayed quiet, unsure of what to say, so he continued. “I should be apologizing to you for how I treated you last week, it was unprofessional and unnecessary, and I shouldn’t have projected whatever I was going through onto you.

“You… you remind me a lot of her, so I just found it difficult to accept the fact that you’re… well, you.”

“I’m… sorry…?”

“No, I mean, it’s… It was hard to come to the realization that she’s truly gone, and didn’t come back in the form of… you,” he tried to explain, cringing at how little sense he made. “It’s been years, but it was shocking and I was taken aback by how much you resemble her, and I don’t know, I let my emotions get the best of me—mixing it with work, and eventually, giving you a hard time to adapt here.”

When he didn’t say anything else, you let his words process before responding. “I understand, Jeonghan, grief can be… complex. If it makes anything better, I didn’t take anything to heart.”

Jeonghan scoffed, the tension melting, “Didn’t you tell Wendy you wanted to submit your letter of resignation?”

Your cheeks flushed bright red. “I was only kidding.” Jeonghan couldn’t help but laugh at how flustered you got, and instead of feeling offended, you laughed with him, glad that your embarrassment was able to ease the tension.

“I’m really sorry, again, Y/N, if it’s alright with you, can we start over?” His brows pulled together, shoulders tensing as he waits for your response, and this time, you laughed at him, finding his question endearing.

You smiled, straightening up before extending your hand towards him, "Hi, I'm new here. Call me Y/N."

His smile widened, reaching out to hold your hand, "I'm Jeonghan, welcome to the team."

[8 Months Later]

“Are we almost there?” You asked, Jeonghan’s hands not moving from over your eyes as he leads you through the field, still unsure where the two of you are.

“Just another… step.” He guided you forward before removing his hands from your eyes, then assuring, “You can open your eyes.” The sight in front of you drove you to complete silence, the headstone with a familiar name carved into the limestone, a bouquet placed in front of it.

“Jeonghan…” You’ve talked about wanting to pay her a visit, but didn’t think he’d actually bring you to her. It felt right to you, to pay your respects, and somewhat, ask for her blessing as well. Still, despite you having rehearsed what to say, your mouth stayed shut.

“Hey, it’s been a while,” Jeonghan spoke up, looking to the headstone, before glancing at you with a small smile, and placing an arm around your shoulder. “I wanted you to meet someone.”

You stared at Jeonghan with awaiting eyes, and as he nodded, you turned to her, smiling, “Hi… I’m Y/N… Jeonghan has told me so much about you.”