kingdom come | eight
Jaehyun remembers you, and he hopes that you remember him as well.
genre: mafia!au | fluff | angst | smut pair: Jaehyun & reader warnings: language, sexual content, drugs, blood and violence, guns
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Taglist: @luvenshiti @yesohhsehun @zimzalabimjae @the-universe-in-you-jjh @yincotton @ahtisa02 @haintani @yoonohing @zzhiyeee
“Shì de wǒ míngbai.”
Kun notices your approaching figure, a smile paints your lips as he observes. A big tote bag hangs on one of your elbows, and the other hand carries another tote bag of smaller size that you seem to be struggling with.
“Tā lái le.”
He ends the call to help you, getting both of the bags from your arms despite your protests. One of the bags is filled with flap boxes while the other is filled with boxes of sponge cakes, icings, and toppings. He puts them on the backseat of his car. You notice a box where he puts the two bags of yours beside it.
“What’s inside?” You ask while he offers you the shotgun seat to which you accept.
“Books,” he replies as he goes inside the car, sitting in the driver’s seat. He fixes your seatbelt first before his, causing you to blush lightly as his fruity scent whiffs your senses. “I thought it'd be more thoughtful if I donated it instead of selling it.”
To be honest, you did not catch his response as his scent suddenly triggered a light headache.
No, it’s not the scent I’m familiar with.
He smells like the sea. He smells like the fresh air as you trudge your feet on the sand, the splashing of waves vibrating through your ear.
“(Y/N)?”
Kun’s voice breaks your train of thought, and he looks at you with furrowed brows. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, uh, yes,” you flash a smile not reaching your eyes. “I just thought of something…”
“We could always do this next time—”
“No, it’s fine,” you assure him, the smile not leaving your lips. “Besides, I promised Halmeoni I’ll be coming today. I can’t back out.”
He purses his lips and nods. He starts the engine of his car and drives off, the music coming from his playlist is the only noise enveloping the silent atmosphere between the two of you.
***
Jaehyun arrives just after lunchtime, with Halmeoni and a young boy of six welcoming him with wide smiles. Right after he gets out of his car, the boy runs up to him, hugging his leg. “We missed you, Hyung!”
“I missed you too, Daejung,” he grins, the dimples of his cheeks appearing and eyes twinkling in delight. “But let me get your gift first, okay? But it’s not as grand as before…”
Daejung lets go of Jaehyun’s leg and almost jumps due to excitement. Jaehyun opens the backseat of his car and gets the box of chocolates that are to be distributed to the kids. He opens one and hands it over to Daejung. “I’m sorry, that’s all Hyung can give for now. I’ll just get you a better present next time.”
Regardless, the kid accepts the chocolate and immediately consumes it. Halmeoni approaches and sees the wrapper on his hand, to which she shakes her head. “Drink water after, okay, Daejung?”
“Yes, Halmeoni!” Daejung grins, remnants of chocolate sticking on his teeth. Jaehyun hands him the whole box and ruffles the kid’s dark brown hair. “Go give this to your friends.”
The young one enthusiastically nods and runs inside the foster home. Halmeoni shakes her head, patting Jaehyun’s broad back. “Stop giving them sweets dear. We don’t have money for throat check-ups.”
“I’m sorry, Halmeoni,” Jaehyun chuckles, his ears flushing red. “I’ve got no time to bring gifts, I got quite busy.”
The old woman laughs nevertheless. She pats his back lightly and leads him inside. “You know I’m joking.”
As they are about to enter the premises, a car pulls up in the parking lot, getting their attention.
Kun gets out of the car first, then you. You help him as he takes out the tote bags outside first, then his box of books for donation. Jaehyun sees the situation, and seeing you with another man hurts his feelings, yet he jogs over to both of you and offers help.
“Here, let me help,” Jaehyun gets the two bags from your arms while Kun carries his box. When their eyes meet, a spark of tension envelopes their gazes that you miss, as you are more focused on the surprise that Jaehyun is here as well.
“Jaehyun!” You chirp, walking in step with him between the two guys. “We meet again!”
“Yes,” he chuckles. “Must be destiny, right?”
You feel your cheeks heat up with his words. Kun scoffs, albeit unnoticed by you but by Jaehyun. Unconsciously as Jaehyun looks over to Kun, he flashes him a smirk.
Jaehyun doesn’t know who the guy is, but he’s not feeling good about it. Or maybe he’s just jealous, and if that’s it, he wouldn’t deny that. Now he needs to start building fences–it may be selfish of him but you’re his—you vowed it to him before, and he’s still clinging to that promise, even though now it seems to be one-sided on his part. Now, instead of focusing on knowing what happened during that night two years ago, another problem arises in the form of the man next to you.
“Yeah,” you shyly whisper, yet audible enough for the men to hear. Kun clears his throat and smiles in your direction, causing you to turn your attention to him. He points at Halmeoni while still carrying his box.
“Halmeoni!” You jog over the elder woman, giving her a warm hug to which she returns. “I’m back!”
“I see you brought a fine man with you,” Halmeoni chuckles, and you walk in step with her, leaving the two behind. “Is he your boyfriend?”
Jaehyun’s ears perk with the question and Kun chuckles while shaking his head.
“W-We’re not! He’s a friend from work,” you reply, your cheeks now painted a rose hue. You are glad that you are facing your back behind Kun as it is embarrassing.
“Where should we put this, Halmeoni?” Jaehyun interrupts, the baritone of his voice resonating as you all finally enter the premises of the foster home. Familiar faces greet you with their toothy, innocent grin.
“Oh, those are things for cake-making,” you say. “I’m thinking we could do some fun activity with the kids, Halmeoni, so I brought some sponge cakes, icings, and cake decorations.
The elderly smile widely and seem to be so happy with the idea. “I see! I’ll gather the kids then, you three prepare for that!”
“How about this, ma’am?” Kun chides, lifting his box in emphasis. “I brought some books the children may enjoy.”
“Oh! That’s lovely! Thank you…”
“Kun. My name is Kun, ma’am.”
“Kun!” Halmeoni chuckles. “You can place that over there,” where she points at one corner. “We’ll take care of it.”
“Alright.”
Kun walks over to the corner and drops the box before jogging back to you. Halmeoni then proceeds to gather the children, telling them your activity for the day. You see this as an opportunity to prepare the place, getting one of the tables and the two men following your action.
There is a competition between the two, yet you’re too oblivious to even notice. They never even spoke a word to each other, but there is tension surrounding the two when they get close to one another.
When the set-up is done, you assign Jaehyun to the first table, then you on the middle, then Kun on the last side. You’re glad that the children are enjoying their cake decorating–you can’t help but chuckle when one of the kids accidentally put the icing on his nose.
Jaehyun observes you. Again. There is that melodic laughter of yours that haunts and soothes him at the same time. The twinkle in your eyes every time you smile like it holds the entire universe in it. The calm of your voice as you guide the child’s hand as she puts the icing on her cake. And he feels it, his love, though it never faded, like a flower bud, grows more.
***
“You’re her co-worker, yes?”
Jaehyun initiates the talk to dissipate the awkward silence enveloping them. They are cleaning up from the activity and you’re currently talking to Halmeoni and with a group of young girls at the moment.
Kun nods and purses his lips, dimples appearing with the action. “I am.”
“I see,” Jaehyun also purses his lips unconsciously. Frustration is obvious in his features seen with his furrowed eyebrows, he wants to know more but he’s restraining himself as the other might see it weird or even annoying.
However, Kun seems to notice his discomfort, causing him to initiate a conversation. “(Y/N) talks about you.”
Upon hearing your name, Jaehyun’s ears perk and Kun gets his undivided attention. He raises an eyebrow while he was stacking up the chairs, a smile trying to stretch on his lips. He’s feeling proud that you remember him even with the few times you’ve met him. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“What about?”
“Well, she’s…” Kun bites his lip, contemplating whether he could share your situation. He shakes his head. “She told me that you’re familiar even though you just met.”
Jaehyun looks in his direction, surprised. So she’s familiar with me.
That makes his heart flutter. With this, it seems like there’s a chance that you’ll remember who he is. Yes, he doesn’t want to rush things, but from what Kun just told him, he now wants to push it as soon as possible. He can’t wait to have you in his arms again.
He knows Kun doesn’t know about him at all–after all, he assumes that you met him at work. He never knows about your past…that ironically Jaehyun knows, not you.
“Do you know her?” Kun asks as they are finishing the clean-up. He leans over the table and looks straight at Jaehyun.
Jaehyun imitates his action and leans his backside on the table as well. He’s thinking if he should tell the truth–if he does, what will Kun react to? He’s not sure as he can’t read the guy’s mind. In his mind, he needs to start building fences around you because admittedly, he sees Kun as a threat. He sees the way your co-worker looks at you, it’s the same longing eyes he does when he’s with you. He sees how gentle he is with you when you both got off the car. He’s jealous and will not deny it. Those thoughts made him clench his fist.
“I—”
“What are you two talking about?” Your sweet voice interrupts Jaehyun’s response, causing both of them to give you their undivided attention. A wide smile etches on your lips while you grip the strap of your bag, seem ready to go. Halmeoni stops beside you with a smile just like yours.
“You got two fine young men here, (Y/N). You sure you’re not interested?” Halmeoni chides.
Cheeks turn rose hues with her sudden query, you hope she’s just joking and all. You shake your head while waving your hands in front of you. “Halmeoni–!?”
The older woman only chuckles and pats your back. She then turns her gaze to Jaehyun and Kun, who were amused with your reaction. “Thank you for helping, Jaehyun and Kun. I’ll see you next time.”
Jaehyun nods and flashes a smile to the elderly woman, Kun doing the same as well, but the latter extends his hand to Halmeoni. “It was nice meeting you, Halmeoni, and I’ll be sure to come back again. But (Y/N) and I need to go, we have a dinner appointment to catch.”
With Kun’s statement, he couldn’t help but raise a brow. Surely if he’ll come back, then you’ll be him, right? Also, dinner? Are you going on a date with Kun?
A sudden pang of jealousy blankets Jaehyun’s heart and mind.
“Let’s go?” Kun offers his hand to you, but Jaehyun grabs your wrist, causing you to flinch and the two others surprised. You raise an eyebrow to him that made him lose his hold, but still not let go of you.
“Can we talk,” he inhales. “For a moment?”
His emotions are turning over. The rational part of him seems to leave him when he sees you with another man. This is not part of the plan at all, but emotions are hard to control, especially concerning you.
You nod. Kun eyes you wearily while you walk away with Jaehyun.
“Is there a problem, Jaehyun?”
You ask when Jaehyun stops, keeping a safe distance from Kun and the elder woman–a distance that they won’t be able to hear you.
His hold still on your wrist, he sighs, then looks directly at your eyes. It was dark, and you can’t exactly read them, but there are not intimidating at all.
“(Y/N)...”
You stand still, gaze never leaving his brown eyes. You stay silent as you wait for him to continue.
“I…”
“You…?”
“I miss you. So much.”
“What are you talking about–”
You feel his arms envelop your smaller figure, tightening his embrace as you stand there, taken aback by the sudden hold.
“It hurts.”
