V #14 @jungwonslover - Tumblr Blog

| 4POISON.2 ft. YJW

You return to Hogwarts expecting everything to feel the same — especially him. Yang Jungwon, your best friend of four years. Your constant. Until a love potion changes everything.

pairing: gryffindor!jungwon 𝓍 slytherin!femreader word count: 28k+ — series ★⋆ content: fluff ⋆ angst ⋆ eventual smut hogwarts au, love potions, jealousy, yearning, possessive!won. avoidant!reader. miscommunication. jungwon is lowk pathetic but..in a hot way. secret relationship. they're disgustingly cute. ⦸ kissing. tongue sucking. spit play. dry humping. switch!jungwon, switch!reader. dirty talk. big dick won. premature ejaculation. tit play. petnames(baby, princess, babygirl). fingerfucking. finger sucking. overstimulation. kinda condescending. oral (m+f). cum eating (f+m). face fucking? (m receiving). pussy drunk won. slight size kink. multiple rounds. light choking. bulge kink. loss of virginity (m+f). unprotected sex. creampie.

| PLAYLIST | LIBRARY | PART 1

V𓄧 helloooo!! it's the end of an era. i hope the wait was worth it❤️‍🩹and thank you soo much to miss @kissued for proof-reading!! your input was truly so helpful babygirl!

You started your morning the same way you always did, routine first, thinking later. Preferably never if you could help it. Pull the robes on, adjust your hair multiple times and mess it up again because trying too hard felt embarrassing in your current state of mind. Pause in front of the mirror longer than usual and then immediately regret it, because there’s something behind your eyes you don’t want to unpack right now.

So you looked away before you could start spiralling into one of those cruel little internal monologues about how unnatural you looked, opting to grab your things and leave instead.

But there was this dull ache sitting in your chest, quiet but persistent, like it was waiting for you to acknowledge it — and you don’t because if you don’t name it, it doesn’t get to be real. That was the system, a deeply flawed system, apparently, because despite your best efforts the ache stayed exactly where it was, tucked somewhere beneath your ribs and growing increasingly difficult to pretend wasn’t there.

The air felt heavier, like the space isn’t as easy to exist in anymore. Even the idea of sitting with your friends this morning felt strangely exhausting, and you hated that more than anything. Hated that something so normal had become something you had to think about first.

The room was already loud with morning chatter when you stepped inside, sunlight pouring through the enchanted ceiling in pale gold streaks while students crowded around long tables — balancing unfinished homework and toast. Your friends were already there, they looked up almost immediately when you approached, conversations faltering just slightly as their attention shifted toward you.

There was tension sitting there beneath everything, thin enough that nobody else would notice it, but obvious to you in the way all uncomfortable things became obvious once you were already hurting. It settled awkwardly between all of you like a conversation waiting to happen and you suddenly understood, with painful clarity, how easy it would be for someone to ask the wrong question this morning and ruin you completely.

"Morning, Y/n," a few of them said, their eyes lingering just a second too long. "Morning," you replied evenly, your voice smooth enough to pass for normal. You reached for a piece of toast, eyes flicking briefly across the table before you turned slightly like you planned on leaving immediately.

Jake frowned first, "—You're not gonna sit?" he asked. Jake knows you, he knows your way of handling things that actually hurt is by avoiding it, but he didn't know how bad it was going to get. You paused for half a second before shrugging lightly.

"No, It's a nice day," Which was objectively true, also completely irrelevant. The silence after your answer stretched just long enough to feel deliberate. You turned and started toward the entrance hall again, already feeling the weight in your chest ease slightly at the thought of escaping.

Unfortunately, the universe had apparently decided suffering built character, you made it halfway across the entrance hall before you had to slow your pace hearing footsteps. "Hey—" Jungwon stood a few feet away, slightly out of breath like he’d hurried after you without fully meaning to. His blonde hair still looked messy from sleep, collar crooked in that careless way nobody else seemed capable of making look good, and his eyes, they were already fixed on you in that open way that always made your resolve feel embarrassingly fragile.

"Hi," you said, narrowly avoiding his eyes.

"You’re not eating with us?" he asked, and there was the faintest pout pulling at his lips out of habit, so natural he probably didn’t even realize he was doing it. You glanced away, settling on the floating candles somewhere behind him instead.

"No," you answered, forcing a small smile onto your face before pressing your lips together quickly like you regretted it immediately. "I’m going for a walk." A poor attempt really, Jungwon’s brows pulled together slightly, like he noticed you were already off, despite you barely exchanging a few sentences.

"I’ll see you guys later." You added quickly, pre-emptively, before he could ask to come.

"Oh," he said softly. "Okay… bye." the words trailing as you turned and you didn’t look back. Because one glance would’ve ruined whatever pathetic amount of self-control you still had left. You would’ve seen that familiar look before he caught himself too late, and suddenly all this distance you were trying so hard to create wouldn’t make sense anymore.

So you kept walking, even when every part of you wanted to stop. You wanted to turn around, grab his sleeve like you’ve done a hundred times before, mumble something sarcastic about fresh air and have him follow without question. You wanted him next to you, matching your pace, letting the silence speak for him like he always does.

You wanted things to feel normal again and maybe that was the problem, because you’d spent so long putting other people’s feelings before your own that hurting quietly had become second nature to you. You always swallowed your emotions down before they became inconvenient. Always convinced yourself you could handle it because seeing other people uncomfortable somehow felt worse than carrying the hurt yourself. That was still true, but right now it felt too big to push down.

Behind you, Jungwon stayed standing there for another second longer than necessary. He watched as you left, there was something in his chest, something off — he didn’t reach for it. Didn’t question it, just frowned faintly as he headed inside with his mind stuck on you. He greeted the others automatically, barely registering their responses and his attention kept drifting elsewhere despite himself, replaying your expression over and over trying to figure out why something about it unsettled him so much.

He dropped his gaze to the table. People filtered out slowly after breakfast, one by one, until it was just the three of them. Jake cleared his throat loudly, "So.." Heeseung started, already watching the blonde. "Did you tell her?" Jake cut in, blunt and straight to the point.

"Dude—" Heeseung shot a look at the younger, who only shrugged. Jungwon didn’t react right away, his finger traced the rim of his glass, slowly, distracted. "No," he said finally. "I didn’t."

"Why?" they asked in unison, he exhaled, shoulders tensing slightly.

"She didn’t care," he said, eyes fixed downward on the glass. Jake leans back in his chair, staring at Jungwon like he’s just said something objectively stupid.

"You cannot actually be this stupid," he muttered, Jungwon frowned slightly.

"She told me to tell her," he says, quieter now. "You don’t tell someone to confess to someone else if you—"

"If you what?" Jake cuts in. "If you like them? Yeah, you do. All the time. It’s called being a masochist."

"That’s not—" Jungwon stops, frustrated, dragging his hand down his face. "You didn’t see her," he muttered. "She was fine." The boys looked to each-other and then back at him.

"Jungwon she clearly-" Heeseung started.

"No." The word came quick, defensive in a way he doesn’t usually get. He shook his head, sitting up slightly. "No I need to stop doing this" he let out a breath, sharper this time.

"Doing what?"

"Convincing myself that she'd feel the same." The honesty in his voice made the table fall silent, immediately he let out another sharp breath before leaning back again — exhausted already by thoughts he clearly hadn’t wanted to say out loud.

Jungwon had considered it, yes, maybe you were a little bit of a masochist and he'd seen you downplay your feelings enough times. But how the fuck could he know what's real or not anymore. For years he’d survived almost entirely on implication and hope. Now he had a choice, he could keep doing this to himself, keep taking every small thing you did and stretching meaning into it until it hurt, or he could finally accept that maybe he’d just wanted you too much to think clearly. He could finally start reading between the lines but even then, some pathetic part of him had still tried replaying your expression over and over searching for something hidden underneath it. Regret. Jealousy. Anything. Because wanting you had long since stopped feeling rational.

"I’m not bringing it up again." he said firmly. Then Heeseung glanced toward Jake briefly before speaking carefully. "Jungwon.. she doesn't even know you were under Amortentia," Heeseung said carefully.

"I know." He said quieter now, tired. "Please don’t tell her." That made them both pause because now it’s not just pride, it’s fear and if you find out, everything changes.

Heeseung studied him for a moment, something conflicted in his expression. "…We won’t," he said finally. "But only because she should hear it from you." Jake nodded once in agreement. Jungwon didn't respond, he just stared at the table, like if he stayed still enough, he wouldn’t have to choose between fixing it or losing you completely.

That first day, you avoided people, not in a dramatic way and definitely not enough for anyone to call attention to it. You still showed up where you were supposed to, still answered questions when professors called on you, still sat beside your friends during class when there weren’t enough excuses left to disappear entirely.

After breakfast, you walked instead of going straight to class. You took the longer routes through the castle automatically, choosing quieter corridors and empty staircases, slipping around crowds before they formed properly. Every decision became calculated in this quiet subconscious way you hated noticing. You’d pause briefly at intersections listening for familiar voices before turning elsewhere. Not because you were hiding, at least that’s what you kept telling yourself. You just didn’t trust your ability to look at him normally right now.

Everything continued moving with the same rhythm it always had, and there was something strangely isolating about that. The world should’ve at least paused for a second out of respect for your emotional humiliation because fuck, everything is so loud.

You ended up in the library for a while, tucked into a corner table no one really used. A book open in front of you, something dense and complicated enough that it required just enough concentration to occupy your hands if not your thoughts. Your eyes moved over the words, sure, but you absorbed absolutely none of it. Your mind kept drifting, kept replaying that moment over and over like your brain was trying to fact check it.

"I think I love her." The memory hit differently every time it replayed, sometimes sharp enough to feel like a stab, other times quieter, almost numb, like your brain was trying to dull the edges for self-preservation. You blinked, forcing your attention back to the page. Right, don't think just read, you lasted maybe twenty minutes before closing the book.

You skipped lunch, not intentionally. It just, happened — you told yourself you weren’t hungry, which was half true, the other half was that you didn’t feel like sitting across from him and pretending you hadn’t heard what you heard. You kept picturing him smiling, talking about her and every single time it felt like something folding painfully inward inside your chest. Pathetic.

You’d spent years carefully avoiding this exact situation. Years making sure your feelings for him stayed manageable enough to survive if things ever went wrong. You never pushed too hard, never let yourself fully believe anything between you meant more than friendship because you knew how dangerous hope became once it rooted itself properly. So why did this hurt like you hadn’t been?

By late afternoon, you found yourself back in the Room of Requirement almost without realizing you’d gone there. The door appeared quietly against the stone wall after your third pass, opening into something emptier than before, something quieter. A curved window stretched across one side of the room overlooking distant hills washed gold beneath the late afternoon sun. There was a wooden desk nearby, shelves lined with books you wouldn’t read and a sofa tucked into the corner beneath dim lantern light.

The room felt less like comfort today and more like permission to exist somewhere without being perceived for a while. You sat by the window eventually, knees pulled slightly toward your chest as your gaze drifted absently across the landscape outside. You tried thinking about it logically instead because logic had always been easier than emotions. People fall for other people literally every day, entire populations survive this experience regularly. He likes someone else, it's fine, that’s normal and you’ll get over it… Who were you fooling.

That persistent ache that had sat there all day had only grown heavier, spreading slowly through you in ways that made concentrating impossible. You pressed your lips together tightly before dragging a hand over your face with a quiet exhale. This is so fucking stupid.

You’re not the kind of person who spirals over things like this. You didn't build entire fantasies in your head just to mourn them afterwards. You kept yourself guarded specifically to avoid ending up here — sitting alone in a magical room feeling devastated over something that technically was never yours to lose in the first place. You’d imagined it all. Had to have because otherwise none of this made sense. You let out a breath and stood, not giving yourself more time to sit in it.

The Great Hall was loud, plates clinking, chatter. Someone a few seats down was laughing entirely too hard at something that objectively could not have been that funny. Everything felt alive in that messy, ordinary way Hogwarts always did at the end of the day. You hated how disconnected from it you felt. You slipped into the empty seat beside Jake, movements automatic, almost rehearsed at this point. He glanced at you the second you sat down, concern flickering across his face before he tried covering it with something lighter. "Hey," he said, nudging your shoulder gently with his own.

"Hi," You gave him a small smile in return, quick enough to miss if someone wasn’t paying attention.

"You okay?" he asked, head tilting like he was about to run diagnostics on you.

"Mm." you nodded, your attention shifted elsewhere, fingers wrapping around your glass of water mostly just to avoid looking directly at him. You could feel the weight of observation today, everyone glancing too carefully around you like they were trying not to step on something fragile.

You lifted the glass to your lips slowly, eyes drifting absently across the room over the rim until they caught on Jungwon almost by accident. He was already looking at you, not subtly either, there was something behind his eyes that looked like it ached. You didn’t acknowledge it and just started eating. Around you, conversation moved naturally enough, your gaze eventually wandering again until it landed somewhere across the hall.

Penelope, she was watching Jungwon. Not the way people usually watched attractive boys from across rooms at parties or meals or gatherings, there was hesitation in it, like she was actively debating whether to walk over to him right now, whether to cross that space between them. You could see it, that slight shift forward, that pause. Your chest lurched uncomfortably, so you stood a few seconds later and muttered your goodbyes, barely waiting for a response as you walked.

"I’m gonna go," you muttered quickly, barely hearing Jake call after you as you turned away from the table, because suddenly you could picture it too clearly. Her walking over, him smiling with that same smile you thought was yours. You left faster than you meant to, like if you don’t, something would catch up to you, a voice, a hand on your wrist — your own stupid instinct to stay.

The corridors blurred slightly as you walked, your pace quick and uneven while the noise of the Great Hall faded further behind you. Cold air drifted through open archways as the evening settled outside the castle windows, painting the stone floors in dim blue grey light.

You found yourself at that same abandoned classroom and sat on the stone steps despite the cold, exhaling slowly. There’s something in your heart that just won’t settle, worse now — like it’s pressing against you it, asking to be acknowledged. Footsteps echoed softly behind you not long after and you had to physically suppress a sigh.

"Hey, Y/n." Beomgyu said gently. You glanced toward him briefly as he approached before sitting beside you carefully, leaving enough space between you that it didn’t feel suffocating.

"Hi," you replied quietly. He paused, studying your face, "Are you alright," The question came carefully, like he already knew the answer and was asking anyway just in case you wanted to be honest.

"I’m fine," you said, too quickly but he didn’t call you out on it. Instead he leaned back slightly against the wall beside you and nodded once.

"We don’t have to talk about it," he said instead. It made something loosen, just slightly because he didn’t push or probe, where they immediately started trying to solve it or force it open like your feelings were some sort of problem needing repair.

You breathed in slowly, though the inhale caught unevenly halfway through. Was it really that obvious?

Silence settled between you not an awkward silence, just the kind that didn’t ask anything from you but unfortunately, quiet left too much room to think.

The way Jungwon looked at her, not the way he looked at you when he was teasing you softly or trying to figure out what you were thinking without asking outright. This had been different, it was certain as though he knew without hesitation that it was her.

With you, there was always something just under the surface. Something unsaid, but there. You felt it. You know you did, you didn’t imagine that. Right? Your fingers curl slightly into your sleeves. You could handle jealousy, honestly, you could — it was ugly and humiliating, but manageable. It was the other part, the part where something in you rearranges itself around the idea that maybe you misunderstood everything.

Jungwon, on the other hand, was losing his mind. He didn’t know what to do. All day, you’d been just out of reach, not gone but not there either and it didn’t make sense. In four years, you had barely left each other’s sides. It had never been something either of you questioned, it was just how things were, until now. Now every hallway felt too empty whenever you weren’t in it and the more distance you put between yourself and him, the more aware he became of how much space you actually occupied in his life.

By evening, the restlessness inside him had sharpened into something unbearable. He needed to talk to you, he needed to explain — even if he didn’t fully know how. Because somewhere between the potion wearing off and watching you avoid him all day, Jungwon had started realizing something terrifyingly simple. Losing you felt worse than embarrassing himself ever could. But even if he walked into it telling himself he wouldn’t say it, he knew it wouldn't last, because the truth was if you looked at him the way you always did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. So when he saw you again later that evening, he stopped walking immediately.

You were sitting with Beomgyu. Not close, not leaning in, you weren’t laughing or touching his arm or doing anything that would make people question it. There was space between you, intentional — noticeable if you knew what to look for. It was wasn't anything anyone else would look twice at but to him, it was loud, because you didn’t let people sit like that with you. Not in that quiet, unguarded way. Beomgyu wasn’t filling the silence nervously or trying to pull reactions out of you. He was just sitting there beside you while you stared ahead quietly and you were letting him.

That kind of stillness, that kind of ease was something you reserved. Something he thought, stupidly, had always been his. He stood there in the hall for way longer than he should have, watching something small and quiet and completely non-dramatic feel like it was tearing something open inside him and the realization settled in. You weren’t just pulling away. You were letting someone else in.

It didn’t fix itself the next day, or the day after that. If anything, it settled — into something quieter, more permanent. It sat behind every conversation, every glance across the room, every moment your brain instinctively searched for him before remembering why it shouldn’t.

You kept moving through your days exactly the way you always had because if you stopped long enough to properly examine what was happening to you, you might actually have to admit how badly this affected you, and frankly you refused to become the kind of person who unravelled over a boy. Especially not in a castle full of emotionally observant adults with absolutely nothing better to do than romanticize other people’s suffering.

You arrive just late enough that there’s no space beside him anymore, slipping into whatever seat is open without comment. If there is space, you take it — never close enough for your shoulders to brush, never the easy proximity you used to fall into without thinking and the second conversations started thinning out, the second things became quieter and more intimate and dangerous, you left first.

"Anyway, I’ve got something to do," becomes your exit line, like it means nothing, like he means nothing. Which is almost funny, because you’ve built your entire day around not being alone with him.

Kenny doesn’t bring it up right away. She had this deeply concerning habit of collecting emotional evidence silently before confronting people with it like some sort of terrifyingly perceptive prosecutor. You almost made it through dinner, and then.. "Hey," she says, stepping into your path just enough that you have to stop.

"Walk with me." It’s not really a question. You hesitate, just for a second like maybe if you wait long enough, this won’t happen. "..Okay."

She walks beside you in silence for a while, matching your pace easily, hands tucked into the sleeves of her jumper. It’s usually comfortable, the kind of quiet you don’t have to work for but today, it feels almost watched. "You’re doing that thing again," she says finally, you don’t look at her. "What thing?"

"The pretending nothing’s wrong thing." You let out a small breath, almost amused. #

"I’m not pretending." Kenny hums, unconvinced. "Right." A few steps pass.

"You know you’re allowed to be upset," she adds, softer this time.

"I’m not upset," you say, automatically.

"You are," she replies just as quickly. "You’re just… being weird about it." That makes you glance at her, a slight frown pulling at your brows.

"I’m not being weird."

"You left breakfast, lunch, and dinner early yesterday," she lists. "You’ve been dodging eye contact like it’s going to kill you, and you literally turned around and walked the other way when Jungwon came down the corridor earlier."

"…I had somewhere to be." Even you don’t believe that, Kenny stops walking and you take two more steps before realizing and turning back, sighing slightly. "What?" She just looks at you.

"We established you like him," she says plainly. It twists your stomach more than it should and you look away almost immediately, shaking your head.

"It doesn’t matter."

"That’s not what I said."

"It’s the same thing,” you mutter.

"No, it’s not," she pushes. "You can like someone and still admit it sucks when they like someone else." You cross your arms loosely, more to have something to do than anything else.

"He doesn’t like someone else," you say, quieter now. "He’s in love with her." you add, like it costs you nothing.

"Did he actually say that?" You don’t answer, because yeah he did and worse — you heard it, and saw it.

"I just don’t get it," she says after a moment. "Everything was fine. You two were—" she gestures vaguely between you, searching for words that apparently didn’t exist. "Whatever that is."

"Friends," you say quickly, Kenny gives you a look so unimpressed it almost made you laugh. "Friends don’t look at each other like that." A humourless breath escaped you. "Apparently they do."

She nudges your shoulder lightly. "You’re allowed to be a little dramatic about this, you know."

"I don’t think I’d survive being dramatic right now."

"Fair." She pauses, "But you also don’t get to pretend it didn’t hurt,"

"I’m not pretending," you say. "I just— don’t want to make it a bigger thing than it already is."

Kenny tilts her head. "It already is a big thing, you just won’t look at it." You swallow and look away, at the brick, the portraits, anything else, she watches you for a moment longer, then sighs quietly.

"Just… don’t shut him out completely," she says. "Whatever happened, he’s still him."

That almost makes you laugh because that’s the problem, he's still the person you default to. Still the one your brain looks for in every room before you can stop it. "Yeah," you say finally, voice quieter than before.

Your eyes dropped briefly to the floor, "That’s exactly why I have to."

Jungwon saw it, obviously, not immediately or all at once, but in fragments. The way your replies have gotten shorter. The way you don’t reach for him anymore, not even absentmindedly, the way your attention no longer defaults to him.

You used to reach for him constantly without thinking about it. Tugging lightly on his sleeve when you wanted his attention while pretending you didn’t care whether he looked at you or not. Brushing past him in crowded corridors without hesitation. Shoulders knocking together casually like his space belonged to you as much as your own did. Leaning closer during conversations until your knee pressed against his under tables.

Now every movement around him feels considered first and somehow that hurts more than if you’d just started avoiding him outright. Because he catches the almosts. The split second moments where your body moves automatically before your brain catches up. When your hand lifts slightly toward his sleeve before stopping midway and dropping back to your side instead or when you start stepping closer to him while talking before correcting yourself subtly, shifting your weight away at the last second like you suddenly remembered something important.

You’re aware of your closeness to him in a way you never used to be before, and maybe worse than the distance itself is the fact that he can tell you’re thinking about it too.

Not to mention the silence. God, the silence. It used to be his favourite thing — sitting beside you without needing to speak, knowing you were there, that it was enough. But now if silence did settle between you both for too long, you leave before it can fully form, like being alone with him in stillness has become dangerous somehow. Maybe it has, he doesn’t know anymore.

By the third day, it’s unbearable. In a constant, gnawing that doesn’t let him focus on anything else. He catches himself looking for you automatically before remembering you’ve started making sure he can’t reach you properly anymore.

He tells himself to leave it. That if you wanted to talk, you would’ve and that maybe you just need space, and pushing you will only make it worse. He repeats it enough times it should start sounding logical, but not enough to settle the panic growing in his chest every time you avoid looking at him directly.

After class that afternoon, the group settled into one of the common areas near the courtyard, conversations messy in the familiar way they always become when everyone’s exhausted and avoiding assignments together. You’re already there by the time Jungwon arrives, tucked casually into a seat beside Kenny while Jake and Ni-ki argue loudly about some Quidditch match like they’re discussing a professional league.

You tilt your head like you’re listening, drop in a quiet, "That’s not even how that works," and it lands, Jake laughs, Ni-ki protests, it’s easy. You smile, and it looks real enough that no one calls it out. Which is almost funny, because you’re not here at all.

You’re hovering somewhere just outside yourself, aware of everything except what’s being said, because what you are aware of is him. The way Jungwon hasn’t stopped looking at you, not in passing but staring, like he’s trying to figure you out all over again.

He leans forward slightly every time you speak, like your voice still pulls him in automatically, like he’s waiting for something more, something you’re not giving him anymore. You pick at the edge of your sleeve, thumb rubbing over the fabric again and again, grounding yourself in something small, repetitive. "…Y/n?" Kenny nudges you lightly.

You blink, "Hm?"

"We’re talking about whether Ni-ki would survive playing against professionals," she says slowly, like she’s checking if you’re actually present.

"Oh," you nod, forcing yourself to engage. "No, he’d get destroyed."

"Oi—" Ni-ki starts immediately, he starts complaining while the group laughs around him, and you huff out a quiet laugh too, automatic and just believable enough to blend in with everyone else.

Across from you, Jungwon’s jaw tightens just slightly, subtle enough that no one else would clock it, but you know him, and even without looking properly you can feel it.

From where he’s sitting, it doesn’t look like you’re hurt, it looks like you don’t care. Like whatever you heard, whatever you think you know about him and Penelope, it didn’t matter enough to actually affect you and that stings more than he expected, because if you cared even a little, wouldn’t you react differently?

Instead you just left, over and over again — as if he’s easy to walk away from. Before he fully decides to, he leans forward again, elbows resting against his knees as his eyes settle directly on you, fixed on you in a way that makes it impossible to ignore. "Y/n."

You hate that you look up before you can stop yourself and the second your eyes meet his, it hits harder than you expect because he doesn’t look indifferent, he looks frustrated and confused, a little hurt and underneath it holds that same softness that’s always been there when he looks at you. "Yeah?" you say.

Jungwon holds your gaze for a second longer than necessary before speaking again. "…Can I talk to you for a second?" The question sounds casual on the surface, but there’s too much weight underneath it to mistake this for something meaningless. Your stomach drops anyway, because this is it, this is the conversation you’ve been dodging, the one where he says something you don’t want to hear. Where maybe he says her name again and you have to stand there and take it like it doesn’t ruin you a little.

You feel Kenny shift beside you, feel the way the table quiets just slightly. Jake stops moving entirely, Heeseung leans back slightly with the exhausted expression of someone realizing a disaster he predicted has finally arrived. And Ni-ki? That guys lost. Not a clue in the world.

"About?" you ask instead. It throws him and you saw it, the way he blinks for half a second because you’ve never made him work this hard just to talk to you.

"Just.. to talk," he says quieter this time, and something about the sincerity in his voice almost weakens your resolve completely. You tilt your head slightly like you’re considering it carefully, forcing your expression into something neutral enough to survive this. Like this isn't killing you.

"Yeah, later," you say, a soft no dressed up as a maybe. Then before he can respond, before you can lose your nerve and agree just because he’s looking at you like that, you stand and grab your things. "Anyway, I’ve got something to do." There it is again. Jungwon’s jaw tightens visibly this time as he watches you move away from the table.

You don’t look at him, not once. "See you guys." And then you’re gone, disappearing down the corridor before anyone can stop you, leaving Jungwon sitting there with the same awful question looping endlessly through his head for the third day straight. Why does it feel like you don’t care at all?

The silence you leave behind is deafening. The kind that settles over a group slowly enough for everyone to notice at different times, conversations dying unevenly until all that’s left is the sound of chairs shifting and someone tapping their fingers awkwardly against the table. For a second, nobody says anything, Ni-ki’s the first one to break, his eyes flick between the corridor and Jungwon before his brows pull together slightly. "Did you piss her off or something?"

Kenny's staring straight at Jungwon now, eyes sharp, assessing, because she’s been watching this build for days. She’s been filling in the blanks with the only version she has, that he told you he’s in love with someone else, and that's only explanation she’s been working with this entire time.

Heeseung stays quiet beside him, arms folded loosely across his chest, but his attention is fixed on Jungwon in a way that feels far too deliberate to be casual, Jake notices it too immediately. The two of them exchange a look that lasts barely half a second, but it’s enough and now they’re watching the consequences unfold in real time, knowing exactly where it went wrong.

And Jungwon doesn’t answer straight away. He’s still looking at the door, like if he stares long enough you might walk back through it and undo the last thirty seconds. Something restless and frustrated bubbled under his skin, because nothing about this is lining up the way it should.

"…I didn’t do anything," he mutters finally, but it’s hollow, even to his own ears.

Jake lets out a short breath through his nose. "Yeah, that’s kind of the problem."

Kenny’s head snaps toward him. "What does that mean?"

Heeseung glances at Jake once, a silent warning, but Jake doesn’t look away from Jungwon. He hesitates, just for a second, then leans back — rubbing the back of his neck. "It means doing nothing is also doing something."

Jungwon drags a hand down his face, frustration starting to bleed through properly now because everyone in this room keeps acting like he missed something obvious, like there’s a conversation happening around him that he somehow wasn’t invited to.

"That makes literally zero sense," Ni-ki cuts in, frowning. "Can someone speak in normal sentences?"

Kenny ignores him, eyes still locked on Jungwon. "You told her something," she says flatly. Jungwon finally looks at her, something defensive flickering in his expression. "I didn’t—"

"She told me you said you’re in love with Penelope" she cuts in immediately, Ni-ki’s brows shoot up. "Wait— what?"

Jungwon’s expression hardens instantly, frustration flashing sharp now. "That’s not—"

"Then why would she think that?" Kenny presses without backing down. There’s something protective underneath her voice now, something simmering with irritation on your behalf. "She wouldn't just make that up."

Jake exhales slowly, glancing at Heeseung again. This is the point where either they explain or this keeps spiralling until everyone ends up miserable, Heeseung tilts his head once in silent agreement. Jake looks back at Kenny, voice dropping just enough to shift the tone. "Because what she heard wasn’t real." Kenny frowns immediately, "What does that mean?"

Jake hesitates for half a second longer before finally saying it. "Penelope slipped him Amortentia at the party." They sit there, hanging, like the room needs a second to catch up.

Ni-ki blinks, "She what?"

Kenny doesn’t react immediately — her expression goes completely still, like her brain is rejecting the information before it can fully settle. "That’s not funny."

"It’s not a joke," Heeseung says quietly.

Kenny’s gaze shifts back to Jungwon, slower now, recalculating everything she thought she knew. "So when you said—”

"I wasn’t in my right mind," Jungwon cuts in, sharper than he means to. His hands drag through his hair again, restless. "I didn’t even know what I was saying."

Ni-ki lets out a disbelieving noise, "That’s actually insane."

Jake huffs, "Yeah, tell me about it."

Kenny’s still looking at Jungwon, but now there’s something else in it, not just suspicion, something closer to realization. "She doesn’t know that, does she?"

Jungwon doesn’t answer, which is answer enough. She exhales softly, something almost sympathetic flickering through her expression now. "She thinks it was real," Kenny says, quieter now. "She thinks you meant it."

Jungwon’s jaw tightens again, because yeah. Jake leans forward slightly, elbows on his knees. "And from her side? You said it, clear as day and you couldn't correct it after. And you didn't explain, so what was she supposed to think?"

Jungwon’s frustration spikes. "I tried to talk to her."

"No," Heeseung says calmly, "you waited for her to come to you." That shuts him up.

Jungwon goes quiet, leaning back, staring at the ceiling like it might give him a better answer than anyone in this room. His chest feels tight in a way he doesn’t like, because now it’s not just confusion, it’s clarity.

You heard him say he loved someone else and instead of fighting him on it, instead of demanding answers or getting angry or making him explain himself, you just quietly stepped away from him piece by piece. Like he wasn't worth the argument.

"Why didn’t she say anything?" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "If it mattered, why didn’t she just—"

"Because that’s not how she works," Kenny cuts in, softer now but firm. "She doesn’t fight for people she thinks she’s already lost."

He drags a hand over his face, slower this time. "If it actually mattered," he mutters, voice quieter now, "she would’ve said something. She would’ve— I don’t know been upset, or angry. Anything."

Jake’s head tilts slightly, watching him carefully. Heeseung’s expression shifts too, something almost pitying flashing across his face for a second, because that’s where Jungwon’s wrong. "She doesn’t care," Jungwon adds, more to himself than anyone else, like he’s trying to settle on it, trying to make it make sense. Kenny’s brows pull together immediately. "You actually think that?"

Jake looked like he wanted to say something else, probably something annoyingly insightful that Jungwon absolutely did not have the emotional capacity for right now, but Jungwon was already pushing himself up from the sofa before anyone could stop him.

"Where are you going?" Jake asked immediately.

Jungwon hesitated near the doorway for the briefest second. "I don’t know."

But apparently his body did because less than twenty minutes later, Jungwon caught sight of you just outside the courtyard near the covered archways leading toward the Astronomy Tower, where the stone path narrowed enough that avoiding him would take effort obvious enough to feel cruel. It isn’t planned, not really.. at least that’s what he tells himself.

"Y/n." You stop immediately because pretending not to hear him now would say too much. The corridor is quieter here, evening light filtering weakly through the tall windows and stretching long shadows across the stone floor. Somewhere further outside, rain taps softly against the courtyard fountains.

"Yeah?" you ask, and the casualness of it irritates him instantly because he knows you too well to believe it’s genuine.

"I—" he starts, then falters, something unfamiliar catching in his chest. "Can we just talk?" Your expression doesn’t change but there’s something in your eyes, something distant. Your eyes flicker over him, then settle somewhere just past his shoulder. "About what?" you ask.

That question should not be difficult to answer, instead it completely derails him. Because there’s too many versions of this conversation rotting in his head at once, and none of them feel safe enough to say aloud. The truth feels messy and unfinished and dangerously fragile, like if he explains it wrong he’ll lose whatever still exists between you permanently.

Just… us," he settles on. Your gaze flickers at that, just slightly,

"There’s nothing to talk about," you say and you mean it, or at least, you’re trying to.

"Yes, there is," he insists, taking a step closer. "You’ve been weird with me this whole week."

"I've been acting weird?" The response comes sharp and immediate, slipping out before you can soften it, and the silence afterwards lands hard between you both.

Jungwon stares at you, searching your face almost desperately now for something familiar, something that tells him this hasn’t become as bad as it feels. "I didn’t mean—" he starts.

"You did," you cut in.

"I don’t even know what happened," he says, frustration bleeding through now because none of this feels fixable anymore and he doesn’t understand why exactly everything between you changed. "You barely look at me anymore."

"Seriously?" you scoff, looking up to the archway as though it can save you.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" he asks.

"It means you don’t get to act confused now," you say, your composure slipping slightly. "Not after the shit you said."

Jungwon drags a hand through his hair roughly, agitation building under his skin because every version of this conversation keeps collapsing before he can explain himself properly. "I didn’t—" he stops again, "I don’t even know if I meant it." The second it leaves his mouth, he regrets it.

Your laugh comes out quiet and edged enough to sting. "That’s worse."

His expression tightens. "How is that worse?"

"Because at least if you meant it, it would’ve been real," you say, finally looking at him fully. And fuck, he wishes you hadn’t because now he can see it, — the hurt sitting under everything else. "—But now it’s just… what? Something you’re unsure about? Something you can backtrack because it got awkward afterwards?"

"That’s not what I'm doing—"

"You told me you were in love with her," you interrupt, steadier than you feel. "You looked me dead in the face and said it like it was obvious. Like you’d known for ages and I was just the last person catching up"

"I thought I was sure," he says, quieter now.

"Great," you nod, another silence drops between you both, sharper this time. You fold your arms tighter across yourself, trying desperately to hold onto the control slipping through your fingers because this conversation is going exactly where you didn’t want it to.

Jungwon exhales hard through his nose, pacing half a step before turning back toward you again, "You told me tell her." he says.

You nod once, and exhale "Yeah."

"No, listen to me," he shakes his head, stepping closer again, urgency creeping in. "That’s what you told me I should do."

"Because you like her," you say, your voice finally tightening. "What was I supposed to do? Stop you?"

"Maybe," The word comes out before he can filter it. Your stomach drops so suddenly it almost makes you angry and he sees it, the way your eyes widen just slightly before something else replaces it. "Maybe I wanted you to," he adds quietly. Rain taps steadily against the windows somewhere behind you while your brain scrambles desperately for solid ground because no part of this conversation is safe anymore. You stared at him for a second too long, and in that time it feels like something might finally open between you. But then you shake your head, taking a small step back.

"You don’t get to say that now."

"Why not?" his voice lifts, frustration breaking through. "Why can’t I?" he furrows his brows, looking between your eyes.

"Because you didn’t say it then!" you snap, control slipping hard enough that your voice echoes slightly down the corridor. "You said you loved her. You don’t get to come back now and act like I got it wrong when you spent days letting me think you meant every word."

"I was messed up," he says, the words coming out harsher than intended.

"Messed up?" you repeat. He hesitates, just for a second but it’s enough. Your expression shifts — something closing off completely. "Right," you say, nodding slowly. "Of course."

"That’s not what I meant—"

"No, it is," you cut him off, your voice flattening. "You didn’t mean it. You were confused, it doesn't count"

"That’s not—"

"Then what is it?" you ask, finally looking at him again, something raw breaking through. "Because from where I’m standing, you said something you can’t take back and now you’re upset I believed you." He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, because the real explanation sits lodged somewhere behind his teeth alongside every other thing he’s spent years not saying to you. Things dangerous enough that once he says them aloud, there’s no pretending anymore — and the terrifying part is he still has absolutely no idea whether you’d feel the same way or just stare at him politely before destroying him completely.

So instead, he reaches for the only thing he can. "You heard one thing and disappeared," he says, stepping closer again despite the tension radiating off you now. "You didn’t ask me anything. Didn’t even give me a chance to explain properly."

"A chance to explain what exactly?" you ask quietly. "That I somehow hallucinated the conversation?"

"That’s not what I said." he says glancing away for a moment.

"Oh, sorry," you laugh bitterly. "Did I misinterpret the part where you said you were in love with her?"

The anger in Jungwon finally breaks through. "You don’t get it," Jungwon says finally, dragging frustrated hands through his hair again. "You’ve been acting like I’m some random guy you accidentally shared a table with for the past week and it’s doing my fucking head in." he snaps, voice roughening. "You won’t even look at me anymore."

Your throat tightens painfully because the worst part is he’s right. Every horrible inch of distance between you. For a second both of you just stand there breathing too hard in the narrow corridor, years of almosts and swallowed words sitting heavily between you while rain crashes endlessly outside.

"I was trying to make this easier."

"Well it’s not." he replies instantly. You stare at him, then look away first, eyes drifting toward the water beyond the arches because suddenly the pressure in your chest feels unbearable.

"I don’t know what you want from me," you say quietly.

Jungwon huffs once under his breath, frustrated and exhausted all at once. "That’s the problem, isn’t it?" he mutters. "You never even considered there might’ve been something worth asking me about."

Your head snaps back toward him immediately. "You don’t get to do that," you say immediately, anger flaring hot now because it feels like he’s rewriting this entire situation in front of you. "You do not get to stand there acting like I’m the one who handled this badly when you’re the person who said all of that in the first place."

"I wasn't thinking straight."

"And I was supposed to magically know that?" The words crack out of you harder than intended and Jungwon falls silent immediately. "You don’t get to blame me,"you continue, voice unsteady despite your efforts to control it. "You spent days watching me pull away and didn’t say a word."

"I tried talking to you."

You cut in instantly. "No, you waited for me to come to you first." That one has him exhaling, shakily — because he knows you’re right. Outside distant thunder rolls low somewhere beyond the grounds while the corridor fills with the sound of both of your harsh breathing.

"I’m trying to—"

"I don’t need you to fix it," you say, quieter now. "I’ve already adjusted." He falters, like the words physically knock something out of him. Adjusted, like what you had is something you’ve already started letting go of.

You freeze for a second too, glancing away like it hurt you just as much to say it and the worst part is you didn’t even mean to sound cruel. You just needed him to understand that he doesn’t get to ask for you back toward now, after spending days pulling yourself apart trying to move around this.

"You don’t mean that," he says, but there’s less certainty in it now. You don’t answer right away and somehow that silence hurts him more than if you had.

"I have to go," you say finally.

Of course you do. You always do but this time when you step around him, he doesn’t stop you. Not because he doesn’t want to, but because for the first time, he’s not sure you’d stay even if he tried. And you don’t look back, because if you do, you’ll see it — the way he’s looking at you like he’s losing something he doesn’t understand.

Behind you, Jungwon stands frozen beneath the archway, jaw tight enough to hurt while thoughts crash violently through his head all at once. I should've told her. About how wrong everything felt that night. About why he even asked you to go out there in the first place. What he was actually going to say.

Now he’s left standing there with every important thing still trapped inside him, watching your figure disappear slowly down the corridor.

It settles for long enough that the distance between you to feel more permanent than either of you want to admit. It follows him around for hours like a headache sitting behind his eyes, dull at first and then suddenly sharp whenever his brain replays your face in that corridor, the look you gave him right before you left, exhausted and angry and so fucking done with him.

The corridor outside the Potions classroom sat mostly empty now, quieter than usual with students already filtering toward dinner. Torchlight flickered against the stone walls, shadows stretching long across the floor while rain hammered softly against the high windows near the staircase. Jungwon stood with his back against the wall beside Jake and Heeseung, jaw tight enough to ache, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat because if they weren’t there, he’d probably start pacing.

Heeseung looked calm in the way people do when they’re trying very hard not to lose their temper. Jake wasn’t bothering to hide his irritation at all, arms folded tightly while his foot tapped against the floor in uneven bursts. None of them were speaking anymore because everything worth saying had already been said three times over. Then Penelope turned the corner.

She slowed the second she saw them standing there waiting, though she recovered quickly enough to fake confidence again, expression smoothing over as she approached with that same polished composure that suddenly made Jungwon feel vaguely sick. "Well," she said lightly, glancing between the three of them, "this looks cheerful."

No one smiled back, Jungwon pushed himself off the wall before he really thought about it, eyes fixed on her in a way that immediately made her smile falter. "You drugged me." There wasn’t even anger in his voice at first which somehow made it worse. Just blunt, exhausted certainty dropped between them hard enough that the corridor seemed to narrow around it.

Penelope blinked once, then laughed under her breath like she genuinely couldn’t believe he was serious. "Right," she said slowly, crossing her arms, "and you came to that conclusion on your own?"

"You used the Amortentia from class," Heeseung cut in before Jungwon could answer, voice level and controlled. "Snuck some from the batch."

Penelope didn’t look at him immediately. She kept her eyes on Jungwon, as if she could manipulate the situation with her eyes. Her eyes flicked toward him briefly before returning to Jungwon again, calculating now, trying to figure out exactly how much they knew. "That doesn’t mean I poisoned anyone."

Jake let out a sharp humourless laugh. "You’re actually gonna stand there and call it poisoning like that somehow sounds less mental?"

"Nothing happened that wouldn’t have happened eventually." That got Jungwon moving before either of the others could react.

One step forward, close enough now that the air between them turned tense immediately. "Don’t," he said quietly, anger finally starting to seep through. "Don’t do that thing where you try to make this sound normal."

Penelope lifted her chin defensively. "You were happy."

"No, I wasn’t." he retorted immediately,

"You seemed pretty convinced at the party."

"That wasn’t me." Her expression shifted then, irritation replacing whatever performance she’d been attempting before. "Oh, please," she snapped. "You can’t blame every stupid thing you said on a potion just because it embarrassed you afterwards."

Jake swore under his breath while Heeseung’s posture stiffened beside him, but Jungwon barely reacted. If anything, he just looked more tired. "You don’t get it," he said flatly. "You don’t even understand what you actually did."

Penelope scoffed quietly, though there was something less certain underneath it now. "I didn’t force words into your mouth."

"No," Jungwon replied immediately, "you just messed with my head enough that I couldn’t tell what was real." Silence cracked briefly between them before she looked away first and there was a tiny flicker of guilt she couldn’t quite hide quickly enough.

Jungwon saw it immediately and something inside him finally snapped properly into anger, because suddenly all he could think about was you standing there on that balcony, listening to him say things he never should’ve said, watching you in real time while he stood there too far gone to realise what was happening.

"You dragged her into it," he said, voice rougher now. "You knew exactly what you were doing." Penelope’s eyes narrowed. "I didn’t do anything to her."

"Except let her think I meant all of it." he snaps.

"She heard one conversation," Penelope shot back defensively. "If your relationship falls apart that easily, maybe it wasn’t that solid to begin with."

Jake stepped forward at that, furious now, "Careful."

"You’re all acting like I committed murder because he fancied someone else for five minutes." she continued, anger spilling over now that she realised nobody here was buying the innocent act anymore.

"I didn’t fancy you. I don't even like you as a person," Jungwon said immediately, the speed of it landed harder than shouting would have.

Penelope went completely still, something genuinely angry flashed across her face then. Hurt too, buried underneath it. "Right," she laughed bitterly. "And let me guess, this is all because of Y/n." He didn’t answer quickly enough.

"Oh my god," she breathed, looking at him like she’d finally solved something. "You’re actually pathetic."

Jake swore again while Heeseung muttered, "Penelope—"

"No, seriously,” she interrupted sharply, looking back at Jungwon now with open disbelief. “You spent years following her around like some lovesick idiot and she still didn’t want you, so now suddenly this is all my fault?"

Jungwon’s expression darkened instantly. "Don’t talk about her."

"Why?" she snapped. "She’s clearly not interested. She heard you say you liked someone else and walked away without even fighting for you." That was the part still sitting under his ribs making him feel half sick all week.

"You don’t know a fucking thing about her," he said, quieter now, though somehow angrier for it.

Penelope scoffed softly. "Please. If she actually wanted you, she would’ve done something." Something cold flashed across his face then.

Jungwon stared at her for a second too long then laughed softly under his breath, "Yeah?" he said flatly. "Well at least she didn’t need to spike my drink to get me to pay attention to her."

Penelope opened her mouth again but footsteps echoed sharply down the corridor before she could answer. The kind that immediately changes the atmosphere of a room. Everyone looked up. A professor stood at the far end of the hall flanked by two Ministry officials, unreadable beneath the torchlight. Penelope’s face drained almost instantly.

"Miss Clearwater," Professor Park said calmly. "You’ll come with us." Her composure cracked properly then. "Are you serious?" she demanded, looking between them all. "You reported me?"

"It’s done," Heeseung said simply, shrugging.

"You can’t be serious," she said, her voice tightening. "It was one potion, one mistake—"

"It was manipulation," Jake snapped back. "What part of that isn’t clicking for you?"

"This is insane," she said, voice rising now as panic finally started replacing anger. "Nothing even happened." By the time Penelope was led away down the corridor, protesting angrily the entire time, Jungwon was barely paying attention. He just stood there staring at the floor, chest tight with the awful realisation that the hardest part of this was never going to be the potion. It was you believing him.

By the time evening rolled around, the argument had calcified into something heavier than frustration. It wasn’t just about what happened anymore. It was the fact that neither of you had managed to fix it. Every conversation somehow made things worse, like the two of you had spent years learning each other perfectly only to suddenly start speaking completely different languages.

Jungwon found you after that and this time it wasn’t accidental. The Room of Requirement gave him away the second the door opened, warm light spilling out into the corridor. Bookshelves climbed all the way to the ceiling, candles flickering low between stacked piles of parchment and half-open novels, the entire place carrying that quiet stillness it only ever seemed to have when you were in it. It looked exactly the same as it always had, painfully familiar.

And there you were, curled into the corner of the sofa with a book in your lap like none of it had happened. You didn’t look up when he came in, just turned a page slowly and said, quiet but flat, "I thought I told you I didn’t want to talk."

"I know," he said, shutting the door anyway. He stayed where he was for a moment, shoulders tense, clearly trying to hold onto whatever speech he’d planned before it completely fell apart on him. The silence between you wasn’t familiar anymore. It felt stiff now, crowded with too much pride and too many things neither of you had said when you should’ve.

Eventually he exhaled hard through his nose and looked at you properly. "I need you to actually listen to me this time Y/n." You let out a breath, eyes still on your book.

"I mean it."

That finally made you glance up properly and the irritation sitting on your tongue faltered slightly because he looked awful. His blonde hair was tussled in the way that it is when he's stressed, his habit of ruffling the front of his hair showing. He looked worn-down in that way people got when they were running entirely on nerves. You sighed, folding the corner of your page over before setting the book aside. "Alright," you muttered, "Talk."

He crossed the room slowly, cautious in a way you’d never seen from him before. "What I said that night…" He stopped halfway through, jaw clenching. "It wasn’t real."

Your face barely moved. "If this is your attempt at damage control, you're a bit late."

"I was drugged." The rain outside started hitting harder against the windows and for a second all you could hear was that. You stared at him for a second, waiting for the backtrack, the part where he admitted he was exaggerating because surely he didn’t actually mean— "Amortentia," he said quietly, and the way he said it made it impossible to dismiss.

Your face went still in that dangerous sort of way where he couldn’t tell what you were thinking anymore. "What?"

"She slipped it into my drink at the party." His voice dipped, "Heeseung and Jake figured it out after.. they reported her earlier" You looked away from him then because your brain suddenly felt too full, the last week rearranging itself in ugly sharp pieces. "What— Why didn’t you tell me straight away?"

"I tried." he shot back immediately, "Every time I saw you, you were halfway out the door." He dragged a hand through his hair before exhaling through his nose. "And then I saw you with Beomgyu and I just—" He stopped, eyes shutting for a second like the memory physically pressed down on him. "I felt so fucking angry."

Beomgyu?" confusion cut clean through the exhaustion in your voice. "The way he was sitting with you," Jungwon muttered, frustration bleeding back into his voice now that he’d started. "The way you looked comfortable with him."

"Jungwon. Nothing’s happening with Beomgyu." you said, still entirely lost on why this matters.

"I know that now." he said it immediately, but there was still irritation buried underneath it, stubborn and lingering.

"No, you clearly don't because you’re still saying it like he committed some sort of crime by existing near me." He huffed through his nose before he nodded once.

"Alright. Maybe I lost my head a bit."

"A bit?"

"And that doesn’t mean I enjoyed watching him sit where I used to."

The words came out before he could soften them and your stomach turned despite yourself. "You don’t get to say things like that after everything that happened."

"I know." he spoke, barely above a whisper. "I know it doesn’t suddenly fix anything. I’m not pretending it does."

"Then why are you here?" you asked, finally looking at him properly again. "Why tell me now?"

His eyes met yours instantly. "Because you think I chose someone else. For a moment you could barely process the words, because he couldn't mean it like that. God, hope needs to die.

"..And you didn’t?" you finally replied, voice unwontedly soft.

"No." he says immediately, certain in a way he hadn’t sounded once this entire week. "I never liked her. Not before that night, not after. Whatever you heard, it wasn’t me," You watched him carefully, searching his face for the part where he might pull back, make it less direct. He didn’t.

"And me?" you asked before you could fight it. That was a question he didn't expect, he suddenly looked exhausted — like he'd spent days fighting himself. "You’ve always been different."

You rolled your eyes immediately, leaning back into the sofa. "That is such a shit answer."

A quiet breath escaped him, almost humourless. "I didn’t say anything because I thought you didn’t care." His gaze dropped briefly before finding yours again. "You literally told me to go tell someone else how I felt, Y/n. What exactly was I supposed to take from that?"

You laughed once under your breath, bitter and disbelieving. "What was I meant to do? You stood there talking about being in love with her."

"I thought you didn’t care." he repeated.

"I cared too much, actually." Both of you froze. Your jaw clenched, "Don’t," you started immediately, shaking your head a fraction.

"No." He stepped closer again, something desperate creeping into his voice now. "Please, don’t take that back, that’s the first real thing either of us has said in days," You looked away quickly, pulse suddenly too loud in your ears.

"You really thought I didn't care?" you asked eventually.

"You stopped looking at me." He breathed, "You pulled away like it was easy. Like I was embarrassing you."

Your face twisted immediately, "Easy?" you repeated sharply. "You think that was easy?" You stood up too fast, anger finally cracking through properly.

"I spent the entire week avoiding you because every time I looked at you I heard you saying her name again, and I couldn’t stand there pretending it didn’t bother me."

"Y/n—"

"No, seriously, do you know how humiliating that felt?" Your voice shook despite your best efforts. "You told me that she lived in your head," You scrunched your nose slightly, expression tightening like the words physically pained you to say, "I can't—"

For a second neither of you spoke, the room suddenly felt too small for the amount of tension sitting between you both. Then he stepped close enough that you instinctively sat back down and lowered himself in front of you, kneeling while he looked up at you properly.

"Look at me," he said gently, and you didn’t, not straight away anyway. Your eyes stayed fixed on your hands, stubbornly avoiding him. Eventually, against your better judgement, you lifted your face to his and there it was again. That look. Warm and steady and devastatingly familiar, like no matter how badly the two of you had handled this, he would still look at you like you were the first thing he searched for in every room. And that was the worst part really, not the argument, not her. It was this, the way your body still reacted to him before your pride could catch up.

He searched your face, "The things I said that night, about someone living in my head all the time?"

"None of that was fake."

And then just as that familiar pain was about to settle, "I just had the wrong name in my mouth." And for a moment your eyes bored into each of his as it settled. Jungwon watched the realization move across your face carefully.

"I was so confused after," he admitted, voice low. "Because the feelings were real. They were always real.. I just didn’t understand why saying her name felt so wrong."

The irritation you’d been clinging to was barely holding together, unravelling thread by thread underneath something dangerous. He was still kneeling in front of you as though hadn’t even noticed, eyes fixed up on your face with this unbearable amount of care written all over him, like your reaction mattered more than his own embarrassment, more than his pride.

Jungwon was now fully ignoring the fact his knees had probably gone numb, too focused on you despite the fact your entire face was practically screaming what the fuck is happening right now.

"The stupidest part is I genuinely thought none of it mattered to you." he continued. "We’d sit practically on top of each other for hours and then you’d casually call me your best friend like that wasn’t completely destroying my ability to think straight." He glanced away briefly, words coming easier now that he’d started. "You’d play with my rings when you were tired, steal my jumpers, look for me first in every room and somehow I still convinced myself I’d imagined all of it."

"Do you know what actually messed me up?" he said eyes not leaving yours for a second. "Even after all this, after the argument and all the avoiding and how angry you were with me, the only thing I could think the entire time was that I just wanted you back beside me again." Jungwon shifts slightly closer without fully standing, still grounded in front of you, then hesitates like he’s debating something, before finally lifting a hand slowly, stopping just short of your face, waiting for any sign you’d move away. Your eyes flickered to it instinctively and your stomach twisted painfully at how careful he was being with you now.

You don’t move away and that seems to decide it for him more than anything else. His palm settles carefully against your cheek, warm and steady. Your lips parted a little, leaning into his touch — barely, but he felt it. His hand shifts, the other coming up too now, gently cupping your face properly this time, both hands holding you now.

"I’m not good at this," he mutters, almost like he’s talking to himself now more than you, "I’ve spent years not saying anything because I thought if I did, it would ruin whatever this was, whatever we are, and I thought I could live with that."

He leans in a fraction more, not enough to touch your forehead, not quite, but close enough that your breathing stills because suddenly there’s no pretending there’s distance left. His eyes studied your face, slower now, more deliberate, you could feel the warmth from his face.

"But I can’t," he says, just something raw and undeniable sitting underneath every word.

"I can’t do it anymore because I’m completely in love with you, and I have been for ages."

For a second he just looks at you like he’s bracing for impact, like he’s expecting you to step away, to laugh, to tell him he’s completely misread everything the same way you’ve both been misreading everything for years but you don’t move, you can't. Your eyes stay fixed on his almost helplessly, searching his face for something that looks uncertain or unsure, some indication that he doesn’t fully mean it. But there's nothing, just him — completely terrifying in his sincerity.

"And I know that probably changes everything," he adds, "but I couldn’t keep pretending it didn’t exist, not after almost losing you." His forehead finally rests against yours then, just barely, and the contact is so gentle. His gaze drops briefly to your mouth before returning to your eyes almost immediately, like he couldn't help it. Yang Jungwon — who moves through most things with quiet confidence, who always seemed so composed, so certain.. looks so genuinely scared right now.

"Say something," he whispers, not demanding, or pushing, just honest in the way that hurts. Your fingers twitch once in your lap before you finally lift one hand, not pushing him off, just catching his wrist lightly, grounding yourself in something solid because your head won’t stop spinning properly.

"Jungwon…" you start, then stop, your voice catching before you can force the rest out, like your thoughts can’t decide which one of them to turn into words first.

Jungwon doesn’t move back. If anything, he leans in more, eyes searching yours carefully now as though was already preparing himself for rejection anyway — despite not pushing him away. "I’m not expecting anything," he says quietly "I just needed you to know."

Your thumb brushes lightly against his wrist. "You’re an idiot," you say, and it comes out shakier than you mean it to, his brows pull together slightly, confused, already pulling back a fraction like he’s misread you again, "Right, yeah, I thought that might—"

"I’m in love with you," you cut in, quieter this time. He stays locked on you, unblinking, as though he’s waiting for you to finish the sentence properly. His hands are just hovering in place like he’s suddenly unsure if he’s allowed to keep holding you at all.

"What?" he says, but it barely makes it out of him, more breath than voice.

"I said—" your voice wavers, softer this time but steadier in its honesty, "I’m in love with you." you catch his hands and guide them properly against your cheeks instead of letting them hover uncertainly. There’s a pause where disbelief breaks through into his face, then something underneath it that looks almost helpless.

Then he leans in — careful, almost hesitant and his forehead finally presses against yours properly. "Fuck," he mutters, but there’s no conviction in it — just awe, like he’s overwhelmed by how real you are. A laugh slips out of you, because he sounds so completely undone it almost feels unfair.

"You’re actually going to ruin me." His hands finally shift, holding you comfortably now.

"You’re so dramatic," you whisper, but there’s no bite to it. His eyes open again at that, still too close, still pressed to yours in a way that makes the rest of the world felt like it's been turned down to nothing.

"Yeah," he murmurs, "But you still look at me like that anyway." Your brows pull together slightly, instinctively defensive, but it doesn’t really land because your hand is now curled in his shirt and you’re still not moving away.

"Like what?" you ask, quieter — pretending you don't know exactly what he's talking about.

"Like you notice things," he says, softer. "Even when you don’t say them out loud." That hits something uncomfortably accurate. "I don’t know what you’re talking about," you murmur, which is a lie, and you both know it. He hums faintly like he doesn’t believe you, but there’s no pressure in it, just affection spilling over the edges of him in a way he’s not even trying to hide anymore.

"I love the way you go quiet when you’re thinking too much," he continues, "And I love the way you always act like you don’t care," he adds, a quiet exhale slipping through his words like he’s smiling a little at the memory of it. "Like you’re completely unaffected by everything, but then you’ll sit there for five minutes staring at something like it’s the most important thing in the world."

His thumb brushes lightly against your wrist where he’s still holding you, slow and absentminded. "And I love the way you look at me when you think I’m not watching."

Your lips part slightly, like you mean to respond, like you mean to deflect it the way you usually would, turn it into something smaller, something safer but nothing comes out cleanly enough to save you.

So it just breaks, "I love you so fucking much." It spills out of you before your brain can negotiate with it, far too honest to take back. His eyes glaze over and then he shifts forward on his knees, barely even thinking about it, like the distance between you has become physically unbearable.

His thumb presses into your jaw and then he pulls you in. His lips press against yours and it's consuming, with an urgency that had you feeling weak. Your fingers tighten in his shirt and that’s all it takes. "I love you. So much" he breathes between kisses. There’s something almost pathetic in how desperately relieved he feels.

"Mm," You tilt your head and the kiss deepens. He exhales into it and the sound of it makes your grip shift, a hand sliding into his hair. A small, broken sound slips out of him, almost stunned, he leans into you anyway, forehead dipping slightly — like he’s trying to be closer than is physically reasonable.

"Fucking hell," he breathes against your lips, your stomach flips violently at the sound.

"You have no idea," he murmurs softly between kisses, almost dazed, "what you do to me."

You smile into the kiss and when you both finally pull back just enough to inhale properly, neither of you really lets go. Your foreheads rest together, noses brushing slightly, his hands still holding you. And then you do it again — soft, quick kisses against his lips. It was careless in a way that feels completely unlike how careful everything has been between you until now. He actually freezes for a second, then laughs, so familiar it made your chest ache.

"You’re so…" he starts, trailing off with another disbelieving laugh as you kiss him again before he can finish properly. "So what?" you murmur against his lips. "Mine," he says softly. You can’t help the quiet laugh that escapes you, despite the raging tricks your stomach was playing.

Then, after a second, quieter now, "Can I sit with you?.. My knees are actually killing me."

You laughed despite yourself, "You’re unbelievable."

"Yeah, yeah." he grins, you shift on the sofa, making space.

"Get up here before you pass out or something." He doesn’t need to be told twice and moves fast for someone who just complained about his knees, sliding up beside you. The second he sits, his shoulder bumps yours gently — accidental or not, neither of you acknowledges it.

"There," he says quietly. His leg is pressed lightly against yours, warm and solid, and it’s embarrassing how quickly your body relaxes around him now that you’re finally letting it. There’s a beat of silence before his hand shifted slightly against the sofa cushion between you. Then his pinky brushed yours, you looked down at it once and thread your fingers through his properly.

You couldn’t help but think, god I’d go through all of that again, as long as I end up here. Jungwon seemed to realize it at the exact same time because the second you settled beside him properly, he exhaled through his nose like he’d finally stopped bracing for something.

You then let your head fall onto his shoulder, the movement slow and unceremonious "You're not let off completely though," you muttered, voice muffled slightly against him.

"I know." he says, his own head resting on top of yours.

"And I’m still angry."

"You should be," he said without hesitation, just quiet acceptance as his shoulder shifted slightly under you to get more comfortable with you, adjusting himself to make sure you stayed there.

"And you might suffer for a while." you add, quieter now. Fully aware he probably wouldn't.

"Okay." he said simply. You lifted your head just enough to look at him properly, narrowing your eyes in suspicion.

"That was a bit too easy."

He huffed a small laugh through his nose, the corner of his mouth tugging upward as he glanced at you like you were the most predictable thing in the world. "I’m choosing my battles carefully." That made you smile properly and Jungwon looked genuinely relieved by it.

The rain ran down the window behind you as Jungwon turned to you — his hand came up, landing on the base of your shoulder. "Hi," he said as you turned to face him properly, catching the glimmer of something playful.

"What now?" you huff, attempting to look annoyed, it clearly wasn't convincing judging by his lips curving in retaliation. His hand slides up, below your jaw now.

"Can I kiss you..again," he asked, grinning now. You pressed your lips together, pretending to think about it. "Hmm."

A dramatic groan left him immediately, his forehead falling against yours. "You’re evil."

You laughed softly under your breath and before he could complain again, you nudged his head forward slightly, pressing your lips to his yourself. The kiss barely lasted a second before he smiled into it, warm and helplessly fond.

"Right," he murmurs against your mouth, "that’s definitely up there with my favourite answers you’ve given tonight."

You hum against his lips, smiling when he immediately kisses you deeper like he’s been waiting for the smallest bit of encouragement. One of his hands stays warm against your jaw while the other settles carefully at your waist, hesitant for all of half a second and then pulling you closer against him.

The sound he makes when you shift halfway onto his lap is somewhere between surprise and relief, and it nearly makes you laugh again. "Don’t laugh at me," he mumbles instantly.

"You make it pretty easy."

"Yeah?" The curve of his nose brushes yours briefly before he kisses you again, slower this time. Your fingers slide into his hair at that and he exhales sharply into your mouth, grip tightening at your waist. The reaction goes straight to your head. "Jungwon," you whisper, mostly because you like what it does to him.

His eyes flicker open for a second at the sound of his name "You're doing that on purpose," you tilt your head in response. Every touch feels careful and greedy at the same time. The rain was still tapping softly against the windows somewhere in the background, but it all felt far away compared to the warmth of him pressed against you.

His thumb strokes absentmindedly against your side beneath the fabric of your top. The kiss deepens naturally after that, unhurried and messy in the way kisses that have been delayed for years usually are. Every time you pull back for air he chases instinctively.

You laugh softly, breathless, but the sound cuts off when his lips find your jaw instead. The shift is slower this time, deliberate. Your breath catches almost instantly when he kisses just below your ear, warm and lingering enough to make your fingers tighten in his hair. "There," he says quietly against your skin, "That one got you."

"Shut up," you whisper, though there’s no real bite to it when you pull him back up by the collar to kiss him again. You tilted your head, letting your tongue graze the seam of his lips. You swallowed a high needy noise, opening up immediately. He pulled you into his lap fully now — lips still attached as you settled against him properly, arms steadying themselves against his shoulders and sliding around his neck.

Your tongue slid against his messily and then he pulled back, breathing hard. "Still okay?" he whispers. You respond with a nod taking in Jungwon's eyes, which were blackened with desire

"Words Y/n," he grins tilting your chin up, you couldn't help the heat that flood into your stomach, "Yeah— yes I'm okay,"

His grin widened as though he knew what was going through your mind and then he chased your lips again, catching you in an open mouthed kiss — trying to memorise your mouth in a way he couldn't before. His hand creeped into your hair, fingers curling in. He bobbed his head forward, capturing your tongue and sucking on it with a low groan. You gasped, eyes scrunching together as a involuntary moan slipped out of you. Jungwon's breath hitched hard, panting now, "God I've fucking dreamt of how you'd sound," He pushed his head into the crook of your neck, "This is so much better."

"Better be," you managed, fingers running through his hair slowly.

"Let me stay here," he starts pressing kisses to your neck, taking in your scent — your taste.

"Mmm tempting Won," you said tilting your head back.

"I missed that so fucking much," he groans. You tried to respond, you did, but you couldn't because his lips were dragging up your neck, wet and desperate. "Shit," you breathed, shivering.

You lay your hands flat on his chest and push him back against the sofa. He lets himself fall back against the sofa without resistance, like he trusts you completely to take the lead, his hands instinctively tightening at your sides as you follow him down. Chest to chest.

You falter for a second as if you’re both realizing, at the same time, how far this has gone. His blackened eyes flick between your now swollen lips, and your eyes. He breathed out, harsh — revelling in the fact that he's the reason your lips are flushed and shiny with spit.

Then an almost frightening thought slipped into his head, sudden enough that it made him hesitate halfway through speaking. "Have you ever…" he started, then stopped abruptly, like he already regretted asking. You looked at him for a second, brows pulling together slightly as you tried to place where his brain had just gone.

"What?" you asked. His eyes flickered away briefly before returning to yours again, visibly trying to decide whether to commit to the question or bury himself alive instead.

"Have you ever—" he stopped again, jaw tightening faintly. "Like… with anyone…"

"Fucked anyone or kissed anyone?" you asked flatly, fingers tracing his jaw. Jungwon nearly choked on his own breath, but you were completely calm despite the way his entire face shifted into instant embarrassment.

A disbelieving laugh escaped him despite himself, one hand dragging down his face briefly before he looked at you again, visibly trying to recover. "You know what, never mind."

"No," you said immediately, sitting up on him slightly, now that you’d caught onto the fact he was genuinely nervous. "You asked. Commit."

"I just—" he stopped again, visibly frustrated with himself now. "I don’t know, I started thinking about it and then I realized I actually have no idea if there’s been someone else."

The honesty of it knocked some of the teasing right out of your face. Fuck, Jungwon looked unfairly sincere when he was jealous. "I mean, obviously there could’ve been," he continued quickly, words speeding up now. "You’re—you, and I wasn’t exactly doing anything, so it’s not like you owed me—"

"There wasn’t," you interrupted softly, cupping his jaw now.

"There… wasn’t?" he repeated carefully. You shook your head once and his shoulders visibly loosened. The relief that crossed his face was so immediate and unfiltered it. "Thank fuck," he breathed before he could stop himself. You stared at him, eyebrows lifting. "You don’t understand," he said immediately, catching your stare. He sat up slightly, pulling you up with him like this was extremely serious now. "I was about thirty seconds away from ruining my own night imagining some random guy kissing you, or even touching you." You let out a quiet scoff through your nose, but your face warmed anyway.

"If I'm honest," you started, already regretting the vulnerability halfway through it, "I felt sick thinking about whether or not you'd end up in her room," your voice got quieter near the end, eyes fixed somewhere near his shoulder instead of his face despite how close he was sitting. You missed the way his whole face changed, he genuinely looked wounded by the thought of you sitting with that alone.

"Y/n," he said almost pained. You shrugged one shoulder slightly, pretending it didn’t matter nearly as much as it did. "It’s embarrassing now, actually."

"No," he said immediately, firm enough to make you look at him again. "No, don’t do that. I need you to understand something," he says, serious in a way that steadies the entire room around you.

"There was never going to be another person for me once I met you."

You blink at him slowly. "That— is a crazy thing to say to someone." by now the butterflies erupting in your belly were normal.

"It’s true." He actually smiles then, hopelessly, like even your avoidance is something he treasures.

"You’re cute when you’re overwhelmed," he murmurs, your eyes narrow instantly.

"Don’t piss me off again."

His smile widened immediately, completely unafraid now. "See? Cute."

"Jungwon you’re about five seconds away from being shoved off this sofa."

"You wouldn’t do that," he said easily, leaning closer anyway. You opened your mouth to argue but he kissed you before you could, arms wrapping around your waist. "So fucking annoying," you mumble against his lips,

"Mhmm, yeah?" he grins.

A loud crack of thunder suddenly echoed somewhere outside the castle walls, the sound rattling faintly through the windows of the common room a second before rain started hammering hard against the glass. You glanced toward it instinctively. "It’s pouring." Jungwon barely looked up, still half-sprawled into your space. "Mm," he murmured, completely unbothered, thumb absentmindedly tracing slow circles against your knuckles.

Another rumble of thunder followed, louder this time. You exhaled through your nose, leaning back slightly against the sofa cushions as your gaze flicked toward the clock mounted near the fireplace.

"It’s late," you muttered. "Everyone's probably asleep already" Jungwon's mood immediately soured.

"You’re joking." You shook your head a little, starting to shift your weight as if to stand. "I’m serious."

"No, you’re not," he said instantly, tightening his grip on your hand when you shifted slightly like you might stand.

"Jungwon—" A laugh escaped you. "No," he whined quietly, forehead falling against your shoulder dramatically. "I don’t wanna move yet."

"You’re acting like I’m not gonna exist tomorrow."

"I'll miss you" he mumbled into your shoulder immediately, completely shameless about it. You rolled your eyes, though your fingers automatically slipped into his hair again. He visibly relaxed at the feeling. "I just got you back," he continued, voice quieter now, almost pouty despite how ridiculous he sounded. "Can’t we stay here for like… another hour."

"Won, it’s nearly midnight."

"So?" he said instantly. You laughed under your breath and tilted your head enough to look at him properly.

"You're clingy."

Another crack of thunder echoed outside and Jungwon sighed before finally lifting his head. "…Fine," he muttered unhappily.

He stands up with you still in his arms, the sudden movement making you instinctively tighten your hold around his neck. "Jungwonn—" you huff into his shoulder. He just giggles, the sound soft and breathy, pulling his head back to look at you properly. There’s something bright in his eyes, something you wished you could see every time you opened your eyes.

Without much thought, he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the side of your head, still a little dazed. "What?" he murmurs, far too innocent for the way his hands are still holding you close. You narrow your eyes, "Put me down."

"Don’t wanna," he shrugs lightly.

You let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking your head. "You’re so annoying."

He just laughs again, clearly pleased with himself, before finally lowering you back onto your feet. You both pause and glance at each other and then you both laugh. Quiet at first, then a little louder, the kind of laugh that spills out when something feels almost unreal.

"We don’t have to rush anything," he says after a moment, searching your face, "but I’m not… pretending that didn’t happen either."

"Good," you say, barely above a breath. That earns you the smallest smile — not smug, not teasing. His fingers curl a little into yours.

"What do we do about them?" you asked, more to yourself than him, something almost bashful tugged at the corners of Jungwon's mouth despite the way he was still holding you close.

"I don’t really want to share you yet," he admits quietly, the faintest pout appearing like he was slightly embarrassed.

"Then let’s keep it to ourselves for now," you say. The relief on his face was immediate, the idea of this being something private between the two of you mattered more to him than he expected.

His arms snaked around you slightly before he leaned in again, stealing another kiss like he genuinely couldn’t go more than thirty seconds without one now. "You realise," you mumbled against his lips, trying and failing to sound unaffected, "everyone’s going to figure it out eventually."

"Mhm." He kissed you again, entirely unbothered. "Future problem."

"You’re very relaxed for someone who just said he didn’t wanna share."

"I don’t," he said immediately, pulling back just enough to look at you properly again. "But hiding you and keeping you close aren’t the same thing" Your heartbeat betrayed you immediately and, judging by the tiny smile tugging at his mouth afterwards, he knew it.

"C'mon," you said pulling him towards the door. It’s reluctant. His hand slips from your waist slower than it should, fingers brushing yours one last time before letting go.

By the time you finally left the Room of Requirement, your lips still felt warm. Which was a problem, a massive one, actually, because Jungwon looked even worse. His hair was a mess from your hands, mouth pink and slightly swollen, melted in a way that would immediately get him interrogated if anyone saw him. Every so often the corridor would flicker with distant lightning, briefly carving both of your shadows into sharper versions of yourselves before letting them soften again.

As you reached your dorms he stopped you, a gentle hand on your wrist "Don’t take forever," he said, though it lacked any real bite.

You gave him a look that tried for annoyance and failed somewhere halfway. "Get inside."

"I am getting inside," he grinned, but he still didn’t move right away. That earned him a quiet exhale from you, something almost like a laugh, before you finally stepped back and slipped inside, the door closing softly behind you.

You immediately bee-lined for the mirror, "Shit." you definitely looked kissed. You pressed cold hands to your cheeks, trying to ignore how warm your skin still felt. Your hair looked equally suspicious, slightly mussed from his hands, and there was absolutely no hiding whatever was settling over your face.

Outside, you could faintly hear the distant hum of the castle settling into sleep. But underneath all of it, there was still him — lingering at the edge of your thoughts the same way he had been all evening, like he hadn’t quite stopped being near you just because a door had closed between you.

When you finally pulled on something a bit more comfortable, you rested your hands briefly at the edge of your desk, exhaling a little more slowly than before. Within the last day you’d gone from moping, avoiding your best friend, to confessing, to kissing him, and now you were standing in your room trying to make your face look normal enough to walk into a his dorm like nothing had happened. The worst part was that your body still felt like it hadn’t caught up with your decisions yet.

By the time you made your way down the corridor, you were actively rehearsing neutrality. Their dorm door already had voices spilling through it before you even opened it properly. Jake’s laugh came first, loud and unfiltered, followed by Heeseung saying something that sounded like he was trying to sound serious but failing halfway through. Ni-ki’s voice cut in after that, flatter and more observant. Of course they were awake.

It all felt so normal for a second it almost made you forget you were about to walk in carrying something that felt like it had weight. You adjusted your expression once more, like that would somehow make you harder to read, and pushed the door open. It smelled faintly like coffee and whatever food Jake had apparently forced everyone into eating at midnight again.

Jungwon was sitting on the arm of the sofa like he always did, one arm draped lazily over the back. Something shifted in his face before he smoothed it away — a tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth, he was fighting a smile he absolutely should not be having in front of people, and then he looked away again, too casually, like nothing at all had just passed between you. You, on the other hand, made a point of not looking at him too long at all.

You forced your face into that something neutral you'd been rehearsing and walked in further, closing the door behind you with a soft click that felt way too loud. All of them looked up almost at once and there was a half-second of silence that did not feel accidental.

"Oh, Y/n," Jake said first, squinting slightly with a grin. "You’re up?" You nodded once, carefully closing the door behind you.

"Yeah. Couldn’t sleep."

Heeseung hummed softly from where he was stretched across the other end of the sofa, one eyebrow lifting just slightly as he looked between you and Jungwon with a level of perception that felt actively threatening to your well-being. You suddenly became hyper aware of the fact Jungwon had gone unnaturally silent.

Ni-ki was lying half upside-down across the rug, but he glanced up briefly. "Thought you were still mad at him." he said as you settled down between Jungwon and Jake.

You shrugged one shoulder, forcing yourself getting comfortable, like your pulse wasn’t suddenly trying to kill you. "I’m capable of being civil."

At that, Jungwon coughed suddenly into his fist, poorly disguising what was very obviously the beginning of a smile. Jake’s eyes narrowed immediately, he didn’t say anything yet, but you physically watched suspicion enter his body. Heeseung looked between the two of you slowly. "You guys are weird," he said casually, you took this as a sign he was letting it go, the relief that flood through you was almost embarrassing.

"Thank you," Jungwon replied dryly before you could. You turned toward him automatically, already prepared to glare at him for making this harder than it needed to be, but the second his eyes met yours, something in him melted before he could hide it, it was so genuine that your stomach dropped straight through the floor.

And the worst part was that he realised it too. His gaze flicked downward almost instantly afterwards, jaw tightening faintly as he reached for the drink sitting beside him like suddenly becoming very interested in literally anything else might save him but Jake was looking between you both again.

“…Okay,” Jake said after a beat, suspicious in a way that made your skin prickle.

"What?" you replied flatly, crossing one leg over the other.

He pointed vaguely between the two of you like he was trying to physically grab hold of a thought before it escaped him. "Something happened."

"Nothing happened," you said immediately. At the exact same time Jungwon said, "What are you talking about?" The silence afterwards was catastrophic, it had Ni-ki actually sitting up — Jake’s mouth fell open in genuine disbelief as he looked between the two of you again.

"That was bad,"

You closed your eyes briefly, beside you, Heeseung let out a quiet breath through his nose, not quite laughing yet but visibly close to it. "You two used to lie better than this."

"We’re not lying," Jungwon said quickly, finally looking up again, though the slight tension in his shoulders completely ruined the effect. Jake pointed at him immediately. "Why do you sound nervous?"

"I don’t sound nervous." Ni-ki was openly staring now, gaze moving slowly between you both with growing fascination. "Wait, are you guys secretly fine again?"

Jake’s expression softened first. "You guys actually talked?" he said, slower. Your eyes flicked briefly toward Jungwon before you could stop yourself.

"Yeah," you admitted finally, voice calmer now. "We did." The room quieted properly after that, Heeseung leaned back slightly against the arm of the sofa, studying both of you carefully now, and you knew instantly what he was really asking. Whether the damage sitting underneath all of this had finally been dragged out into the open instead of festering quietly the way it had been the last few days.

Jake looked between you both again before exhaling dramatically, shoulders dropping in visible relief. "Thank god," he muttered. "You two were making everyone deeply uncomfortable."

"That sounds like a you problem," you replied with the fainest hint of a grin, "It was bad." Ni-ki cut in, now fully invested. "Every time someone mentioned you he’d go all quiet and weird for like ten minutes after."

Across the room, Jungwon groaned immediately. "Can we not."

Jake ignored him completely. "And you were terrifying."

"I was keeping to myself." You said flatly. "Exactly," Jake said, like that proved his point perfectly. "That’s how we knew it was serious." Still, you could feel Jungwon relaxing now that the interrogation had mostly passed, though every so often your eyes would accidentally meet again and you’d have to look away immediately before Jake started screaming.

At one point, while Heeseung was distracted arguing with Ni-ki about something stupid, Jungwon glanced toward you again over the rim of his drink. This time, he smiled properly, it was small — a dimple barely peeking through and then, like he physically couldn’t help himself, his foot nudged lightly against yours underneath the coffee table. You didn’t react outwardly but your heartbeat immediately lost all structural integrity anyway.

The first couple days felt strangely unreal, the two of you had slipped sideways into a version of your lives that looked exactly the same from the outside while quietly changing everything underneath it. You learned very quickly that Jungwon had absolutely no concept of subtlety when it came to you, and it wasn't even intentional — that was the problem.

He reached for you without thinking and he'd smile before he could stop himself whenever you walked into a room, like his body had developed some involuntary response to your existence. The first morning after everything, you’d barely made it halfway into Potions before catching him already looking at you from across the table with this annoyingly cute grin that had you wanting to pull him close and kiss his stupid face off.

But instead you kicked his shin under the desk and the blonde looked genuinely confused for a full three seconds before realisation hit him all at once, followed immediately by the smallest, guiltiest smile imaginable.

After that, it became pattern… for a few days. Late-night walks through quieter corridors after everyone else had gone to sleep. Jungwon appearing beside you in the library like he’d "accidentally" ended up there despite very obviously following you. Your fingers brushing under tables during study sessions when nobody was looking. Sitting slightly too close whenever you thought you could get away with it and then immediately shifting apart whenever Jake narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The secrecy itself should’ve been exhausting, instead, it became something strangely addictive.

There was something dangerously intimate about it, about the constant awareness of him even in crowded rooms, the tiny hidden smiles exchanged over everyone else’s heads, the feeling of his hand briefly finding yours behind the cover of someone else’s conversation. You started understanding very quickly why people lost their minds over this kind of thing.

It also didn’t help that Jungwon was completely gone for you in a way that was becoming increasingly difficult to manage privately.

By the second night, you were in his dorm after a lot of whining from Jungwon about how unbearable the boys had been the night before. Thankfully, the dorm was quieter this time. Most of the lights in the corridor had already dimmed, and when you slipped down the hallway there were no muffled voices behind the doors, no laughter, no sign that anyone else was still awake. You barely even had time to raise your hand before Jungwon opened the door immediately, like he’d been standing there waiting for the sound of your footsteps specifically.

"Hi," you whispered, already smiling despite yourself. His answering smile was smaller, almost disbelieving in that way he still got around you now, "Hi," he murmured back, and then his hand caught yours before you’d even stepped fully inside. The door had barely clicked shut behind you when he pulled you toward him properly.

Jungwon’s hands slid immediately to your waist, guiding you backwards until your shoulders touched lightly against the door, and then he pulled you into him. The force of it startled a quiet breath out of you, because he shoved his head into your neck. His hands tightening slightly against your sides when you hugged him back instantly, and the reaction he had was a soft sound escaping him as he leaned closer, like he genuinely couldn’t help it.

"Missed me?" you whispered, lips curling against his head.

He pulled back to look at you properly. "Bad," his hair was still slightly damp from showering earlier, soft under your fingers when your hand slid into it automatically, and he reacted to that too. His forehead pressed briefly against yours as he exhaled shakily through his nose. It was honestly ridiculous how responsive he was to you now that he’d stopped pretending not to be.

"You have no idea what today was like," he muttered quietly, breathe warm against your lips. "Jake kept asking me why I looked happy."

A laugh slipped out of you. "And?"

"And I almost told him to mind his business." His hands slid slightly higher against your waist, "I hated not being able to touch you." he added. You felt your face warm immediately, which unfortunately only seemed to encourage him further. "There it is again," he murmured, visibly delighted.

"Shut up." He grinned properly at that, leaning in just enough to press a quick kiss to the corner of your mouth, and then resting his forehead against yours. For a second he just stayed there, forehead still pressed to yours, eyes flicking down to your mouth and then back up again like he was weighing something quietly in his head.

Then he kissed you properly this time. It wasn’t rushed, it was slow enough that it felt deliberate, like he was checking what was allowed and what wasn’t yet. His hand slid up slightly at your back, steadying you more out of habit than urgency, and he paused for a split second like he was waiting to see if you’d pull away. You only leaned further into him, so he kissed you again, a little easier this time. When he finally pulled back, it was only by a fraction, his lips ghosting yours and his thumb brushing absentmindedly over your side like he’d forgotten he was even doing it.

The room around you stayed dim and warm, lit only by the small lamp near his desk, rain still tapping faintly against the windows outside. Jungwon looked at you for another long moment before something softer crossed his face, almost sleepy.

"Come here," he muttered.

You barely had time to react before he was already pulling you away from the door, fingers still hooked loosely around your wrist as he pulled you toward his bed. He sat first and pulled you down with him without much ceremony, one arm sliding automatically around your waist like it had already memorised the shape of you there. A laugh escaped you at the sheer determination of it, but it dissolved quickly when he looked up at you again. Jungwon leaned back properly against the pillows, his arm tightening slightly around your middle once you finally gave in and tucked yourself against him fully. The moment you did, something in him visibly changed, tension he’d been carrying all day finally loosening as he exhaled slowly. "You’ve been like that all day," he said after a moment, voice softer now, almost accusing in the gentlest way.

"Like what?"

"Distant," he continues, like the word annoyed him. "Acting like I don't exist."

"Won, we're literally hiding."

"I know," he replied, but his hand tightened slightly at your waist anyway, because he didn’t care how reasonable that sounded. "Make it up to me?" he said again, quieter this time, but the grin on his face gave him away completely as his eyes flicked down to your lips like that was the only answer he was actually interested in.

"How?" you asked tilting your head.

"Don’t act like you don’t know," he murmured, and there was something almost amused in it.

"I don’t," coming out weaker than you intended. It's quieter in a way that betrays you, even in the dim light. "Liar," he mutters — even then, there was no real accusation in it.

You didn’t bother to argue with him. In the short, insignificant seconds that followed, your hands are ran up Jungwon’s chest with urgency — leaning in close, and kissing him. His breath caught instantly against your mouth, a small involuntary sound slipping out of him, like he hadn’t expected you to actually give in that easily. When you pulled back just enough to speak, your lips still brushing his, you murmured, "Maybe."

He hummed chasing your lips, deepening it almost immediately, lips parting yours with an ease he didn't have yesterday. His tongue licked into your mouth slowly, hands settling at your hips as his fingers pressed just enough to keep you closer without being rough, yours slid up into the nape of his neck, tugging lightly at his hair. He let out a low sound against your mouth, somewhere between relief and frustration and it had your thighs squeezing together, because fuck this was chipping away at your self control, and barely anything had happened.

Jungwon's restraint however, was hanging on by a thread because the moment he felt your thighs close he felt his brain begin to melt. "Y/n I can't—" he breathed, hands cupping your jaw, if only to keep you glued to his lips.

"What—" you started, but then Jungwon whined. Actually fucking whined dragging his face to your cheek. His body jerked forward, just a little. He had been impossibly hard for a while now, despite swearing he hadn't thought about anything crazy — but somewhere between your hands in his hair and your tongue..

The sound startled a quiet laugh out of you before you could stop it, completely unaware of what had happened. He groaned embarrassed at that, one arm wrapping around your waist. It only made you more aware of him pressed against you now, warm and solid and very obviously stiff in a way that had heat flooding between your legs.

That's also when you realised that he had just cum in his pants, untouched. "Oh," you breathed before you could stop yourself. Jungwon immediately buried his face deeper into your neck.

"I'm—sorry, fuck. I didn't mean to—you're just so fucking—hot," he mumbled, almost attempting to move back, but you kept him there.

"Look at me." you said, running a soothing hand over the back of his head. He hesitated and pressed deeper for a moment, and then pulled his head back. His cheeks were flushed, hair messed up in a way only he could pull off. His glassy eyes found yours after a moment, so afraid of what he'd find.

"You're not mad?" he mumbled. He looked so fucking cute and worried and for a moment you couldn't help kissing him, "No Won," you said between kisses, "I'm not mad." And despite already cumming, he was still hard and throbbing.

"This is me making it up to you, for today." you said, voice almost a whisper — as you flicked between his eyes. His lips parted almost in confusion and he just blinked for a moment, breathing hard — then he looked up to you with those big wet eyes, "We don't have to do anything."

You bit the inside of your cheek, "I know," you kissed him again, slower, pressing against him. At some point while you were making out, you shifted onto his lap with your tongues still twisted and, he gasped as he felt your tits press against his chest. His brows were pulled together, lips parted in something you could barely call a kiss at this point and Jungwon was so entirely overwhelmed that all you could hear was his sharp gasps as your lips trailed down to his jaw.

He was trying his absolute best not to move — then he felt your tongue, licking his ear-lobe, sucking softly. "Fuuuck," Jungwon exhaled, eyes fluttering closed, his hips bucked up at the feeling uncontrollably, his hardened length rocked against your clothed pussy and then — you moaned into his ear. Jungwon was barely there at this point, he could barely touch you back he was so dazed. He panted hard, feeling your hands guiding his to your hips, teasing as they brushed up your waist, and pressing them to your chest. He swallowed hard at your tits under his palms, by now his eyes were blown wide with desire, his chest was rising and falling harshly — cock twitching beneath his already soiled pants.

His long fingers brushed against your chest, twitching in your hold. "Can I?" he breathed, so mesmerised by how you looked on him.

"Mhm yeah," he pulled your top up, over your head — letting it fall somewhere.

You watched as his eyes dragged down, his tongue poked into his cheek, almost like he was hungry "So, so fucking pretty baby," he groaned, finally finding it in himself to move. You were slowly dragging your hips together in short tiny bursts, while his hands palmed your tits — you gasped shakily. "You like that?" he whispered, voice completely wrecked.

"Fuck yeah, take it off," you huffed, fingers tugging at the fabric. As he pulled off his shirt you undid your bra letting it fall away, the second his eyes locked onto your bare tits he could barely breathe. He glanced away for a moment as a poor attempt to compose himself. But your nipples were hard, and he couldn't help but let out a strained noise at the sight, "You're beautiful baby," his hands came up and cupped your tits, fingers brushing over them.

"Ah— fuck Won—" His head tipped back at your words, as if your words and pleasure were affecting him just as much. A shiver ran through you, your hips stopping the motions for a moment as your fingers trailed down his chest. Even in the dimmed light he looked gorgeous in a way you couldn't describe. "Pretty."

He then flipped you over, lips finding your jaw, tongue trailing down your collarbone. He kept going as your hand threaded through his hair again, pressing him closer into your chest, Jungwon made a muffled noise against you, stupidly drunk on your tits. He lolled his tongue out, flattening it and licking over your nipple — your back arched instantly, a drawn out gasp bursting out as your legs wrapped around his waist, because it was all too much. Too good. He drunk up all your reactions, hips rolling against you. His tongue found your sensitive spots and a thumb rubbed over once — then he flicked his tongue over your hard bud and sucked. "Mmmph," you moaned attempting to suppress your sounds.

"Mm—don't hide," Jungwon's eyebrows furrowed — displeased and in retaliation he sucked harder, teeth grazing your skin as he tried to take as much as he could into his mouth. You moaned close-mouthed and the sound vibrated against him, he only buried his face deeper with his own high whines.

"Fucking dreamt—of touching—you baby," he mumbles in-between sucks, "Came twice in the—shower," he rambled. That did something indescribable to your panties, especially when you could feel rigid his cock so blatantly rutting against your thigh.

"Shit—what'd you think about?" you managed to breathe out.

"Your taste—your tongue—those pretty lips."

You pulled him back up to your lips with urgency, ignoring the way your tits were now slick and swollen with his spit. His wet lips parted in a choked whine as your palm found his clothed cock, "Ah—fuck baby—" he hissed, fingers tracing against the waistband of your sleep shorts. You lifted your hips and he immediately pulled it down with one hand as your palm worked against him, his shaky breaths only grew louder, even as his fingers traced over the lace of your panties.

He cupped your pussy fully, feeling the heat and you were so fucking wet that your arousal was leaking through, Jungwon couldn't take it anymore, this entire time he'd been holding himself back, not because he didn't think you could handle him, but because he didn't think he could. "You're so fucking wet for me hm?" he tilted his head, wide eyes boring into yours as you instinctively arched into his hard, pathetically desperate for his touch now.

"All for you baby—please," your eyebrows furrowed and pleading.

He could hardly comprehend it. You were submitting for him. For half a second he didn't even move, just looked over your expression and tried to etch it into his brain — stamp it onto his forehead if he could. And then he pulled your panties to the side, not even bothering to pull them off and pressed two fingers to your slit, eyes on your every movement. But just as the contact came, it was gone, because his fingers were in his mouth, licking your slick off of one finger, eyes almost rolling back at the taste.

You lips were already parted watching, Jungwon took advantage of that and pressed his fingers to your lips but he didn't even have to speak. You took both into your mouth, sucking off his spit mixed with your cum. "So—fucking hot," he watched half-lidded, his free hand found your slit again as he gently thrust them up and down your tongue.

He then eased the tip of his finger into your entrance, your jaw loosened around his fingers — a sharp gasp leaving you. "God so fucking tight," he whispered, he hadn't stopped watching you once, not even as he sank further into your pussy. Broken breathes vibrated around him and then Jungwon finally removed his fingers from your slack mouth, a string of your spit connecting you — he wasted none of it and sucked it off, "You want my fingers baby?"

"Yeah—more, please," you barely managed.

"More?" he repeated, already starting to push in and out, slowly curling against the walls of your insides.

"—Shut—up," A breathy laugh bubbled through him in response and he pushed himself up to kiss into your mouth, which was hung open. Because he'd now added his middle finger into the mix, enamoured with the way your slicked cunt let him pump in and out effortlessly. And the noises were fucking filthy, the squelching wet sounds had heat crawling up to your ears.

His fingertips then brushed against that spongy bundle of nerves — he swallowed your high sounds with small kisses to your lips, "I knoww baby you're doing so good yeah?" he whispered against your lips, he trailed down and took your nipple into his mouth again, fingers working on your pussy — keeping that same devastating pace.

"Mm—fuckfuckfuuuck," you barely even registered what you were saying anymore.

The pressure built fast, a coil tightening — he felt your moans and babbling pick up and tensed his tongue, flicking your nipple over and over and over until your pussy was grinding against his hand, bucking into him desperately. "You like it when I fuck my fingers into you?"

"Fuck yeah I love it so much—fuck-please i'm—ah" you cried, head now tilted back lax against his pillow, your hand was raked through his hair, gripping it for dear life.

"Cum for me baby, give it to me." he spoke looking up at you. His thumb then found your clit and he rubbed harsh circles, neither of were even aware of how loud you were being at this point. Because you came hard, shaking — head spinning, and Jungwon didn't stop.

Jungwon scrambled down as you came and replaced his thumb with his lips — his arms were now hooking under your thighs, locking you in place as he sloppily licked and sucked on your nub like he'd never tasted anything better. He was also moaning and huffing into you, because he had cum just from touching you. "Won—can't," you whined tugging on his hair at the overstimulation.

"One more baby—" he breathed low into your folds, mewling at your tugging. Your legs wrapped around his head, practically using his face and he was beyond delighted to be your personal fuck-toy. He then shoved his tongue impossibly deep into your pussy, fucking into you as far as he could reach and you were simultaneously grinding your clit against the curve of his nose. Your second orgasm was practically ripped out of you and somewhere between his tongue and fingers taking turns on your shattered cunt, your milky arousal leaked straight onto his tongue.

He clamped his mouth around you and kept going, kept suckling and licking, not letting a single drop go to waste. "Taste so fucking good baby, you did so so good," he finally said, against your thighs, pressing small kisses along your soft skin. You made a small acknowledging whine in response tugging his hair again weakly, legs finally going limp against him. Jungwon kissed his way back up, up your stomach, chest, neck, jaw, finally your lips. He cupped your jaw "You're so perfect princess," he rubbed your side —soothing, a contrast to the pussy drunk blonde from a few minutes ago.

You grinned against his skin, fingers scratching lightly through his hair as he kept pressing absentminded kisses across your face, "I love you," you murmured. His lips curled against your jaw, a dimple peeking through,

"I love you too baby," he whispered back and there was still something almost disbelieving in the way he said it, like he'd been reminded this is something you both say now. Jungwon’s hands wandered slowly over your half-bare skin with obvious distraction, fingertips tracing along your waist and back while you kissed your way down the side of his neck. You took your time there deliberately, mouth brushing across warm skin before lingering at his shoulder again, because frankly, his shoulders were becoming an actual problem in your life.

"How the hell did you know how to do that?" you asked after a moment, you pulled back just enough to look at him properly, fingers still tangled loosely in his hair. For half a second Jungwon looked unbearably pleased with himself, but also somehow embarrassed too. His mouth twitched like he was debating lying, before he finally exhaled through his nose. "I did research," he admitted, trying very hard to sound casual and failing almost immediately when your expression shifted into open disbelief.

"You…studied how to give head?"

"Yes," he defended instantly, already laughing now because of the way you were staring at him. "I wanted make you feel good."

A laugh escaped you before you could stop it, your forehead falling briefly against his shoulder. "That might be the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Jungwon made a quiet, flustered noise somewhere between a groan and a laugh before hiding his face immediately against the side of your neck again. "Please don’t say that."

You were about to ask why, but the answer was pressed against your thigh. And even after having the breath knocked out of you. Twice. You couldn't help the renewed urge to make him feel just as good as he'd made you feel. "Why baby?" you hummed knowingly, coaxing him out of the comfort of your neck — your lips found his again, hands slowly making their way down to his waistband.

"Because I can't get enough of you," he breathed against you, cupping your jaw as the kiss deepened into something slow and so filthy it had your heads spinning.

"Take it off." you gasped into his mouth. It was funny actually, you'd both cum multiple times and you still hadn't even seen his dick yet. His hands impatiently ripped down his pants, as you freed him his cock recoiled against his stomach and you couldn't help the way your lips parted in shock. He was longer than he was thick, curved inwards and slick with cum. And he was fucking massive. Like, how the fuck had you never noticed kind of big.

"Baby, you don't have to," Jungwon mistook your shock for something else entirely. You answered by wrapping your hand around the base of his cock and it shut him up — immediately. So sensitive from cumming twice before, he breathed out shakily just at the contact. "God, your hand alone is gonna—" he couldn't even finish his sentence because you'd pushed him back and shuffled down to face him properly.

You flattened your tongue and licked up from the base to the tip of his dick, you could feel each ridge and vein along with the warm earthy taste of him. Jungwon's length had twitched at the first contact, his head falling back, hands eagerly pushing your hair back to watch you properly. "Goddd fuck babygirl," he groaned under his breathe, shaking slightly from overstimulation. You took his flushed tip into your mouth and hummed in response, the vibrations had him shuddering, and the thought that had him already biting his lip — fighting to last. Was that this was the first time you had a dick in your mouth and it was his. He would never have known with the way you took as much of him into your mouth as you could, spit gathering in the corners of your mouth.

"So pretty with my cock in your mouth princess fuuuck," he babbled. Jungwon was battling with everything he had, his eyes were knit shut, jaw was hung open — broken whines and whimpers along with rambles shaking through into the air. And then he made the mistake of opening his eyes — to you moving off him to catch your breath, spit connecting you and you took him fully into your mouth this time, cheeks hollowing as you bobbed your head. "Shit— wait—"with a buck to his hips and a drawn out moan his cum flooded into your mouth. His entire body jerked, head falling back as you swallowed, finally releasing him with a pop. "Holy fuck.." Jungwon breathed, completely wrecked, fingers pushing shakily through your hair "Baby, where did you learn to do that?"

"Research," you said against his thigh, lips curling when his head jolted upward so fast it almost looked painful. A grin spread across your face then, as you wiped the corner of your mouth with the back of your hand. "What? I wanted to make you feel good too."

For a second he just stared at you like his brain had completely stalled trying to process. Then his head tipped back slightly with a disbelieving laugh, one hand dragging down over his face, before returning immediately to you again, fingers brushing along your jaw. You grinned. "Why are you acting shocked? You literally admitted it first."

"That was different."

"How?"

"Because.. I’m me," he replied instantly, like that explained everything. You rolled your eyes immediately and Jungwon laughed in response, pulling you up properly against his chest until your legs tangled together beneath the blankets. The sound faded softer after a second, his hand moving slowly up and down your back absentmindedly while the room settled back into quiet around you. Rain still tapped faintly against the windows, gentler now, and the moonlight spilling through the curtains painted everything in silver that made Jungwon look unfairly pretty this close. His hair was messy from your hands, lips slightly swollen.

Eventually, after a long stretch of lazy conversation and kissing that kept dissolving halfway into quiet laughter, Jungwon forced himself to sit up with visible reluctance. "Shower?" he muttered, though he sounded deeply upset by the idea of moving at all. You let out a small breath of a laugh, pushing yourself upright too slowly — still half-tangled in the sheets, eyes barely open.

"We probably should." He lingered for a second longer, fingers loosely hooked around your wrist like he was testing whether he could reasonably convince you to ignore basic hygiene and stay exactly where you were, but eventually he stood anyway, pulling you up with him in the same motion

The walk to the bathroom was half-hearted at best, both of you still half-dazed, Jungwon bumping his shoulder lightly into yours in that absent, familiar way he always did when he was too tired to behave properly. The shower itself passed in a blur of sleepy warmth and quiet teasing, more soft touches than anything else, both of you too wrung out now to be anything except gentle. Jungwon then changed the sheets as you changed into some loose clothes and by the time you both finally made it back to the bed, Jungwon looked about two seconds away from falling asleep where he stood. Still, he waited until you were under the covers first before he climbed in beside you again, immediately pulling you closer. His arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you firmly into his chest until there was no space left to negotiate with, his hand resting at your back in slow, absent circle.

"Stay here," he murmured. "I’m not going anywhere," you replied softly, adjusting slightly so your head rested properly against him. You felt him relax fully a moment later, the tension finally leaving his body completely as sleep started to take him properly. His breathing slowed, his grip on you never loosening even as he drifted.

You woke up gradually in pieces rather than all at once, warm and disoriented, the kind of slow return to consciousness that didn’t immediately remind you where you were, until you shifted slightly and felt Jungwon’s arm tighten instinctively around you — like even in sleep he didn’t want to let distance happen. He was already awake, you realised a moment later, watching you with that quiet, half-lidded expression he always had when he was still caught between sleep and awareness, hair slightly messed, face softer than it ever was when anyone else was around.

"Morning baby," he murmured, voice rough and low, you blinked up at him, still too warm to think properly, and for a second you just stared at him like your brain hadn’t caught up with the fact that this was now your life, sneaking into his dorm, waking up in his arms, him calling you baby so easily. You shifted closer on instinct, burying your face briefly against his chest like you could delay existing for a few more seconds, and he made a quiet, pleased sound under his breath as his hand immediately slid up your back again.

"You’re too awake," you muttered against him, voice muffled. "I’ve been awake for a while," he admitted quietly, "I was just… not moving, because you looked comfortable."

That made something in your chest perk up immediately, you leaned up slightly and kissed him, slow and unhurried, the kind of morning kiss that didn’t feel like anything complicated. Jungwon responded instantly, hand sliding up to your cheek, and for a few seconds there was nothing else in the world except the quiet, the warmth, and the fact that neither of you seemed in any rush. "We should probably get up," you murmured, though you made no move to actually do it.

"Mm," he agreed instantly, not moving either, pressing a kiss to your forehead like that solved the problem. "In a minute."

"A minute turns into an hour with you."

"That’s fine," he said easily, pulling you closer again. "We have time."

You let out a quiet laugh, which he clearly took as encouragement because he kissed you again like that was a perfectly reasonable way to start the morning.

"Last night was…" you started, pausing as you tried to find a word that didn’t immediately set your brain on fire. Jungwon raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly already knowing where this was going, his thumb absentmindedly brushing over your knuckles.

"Good?" he offered, far too calm.

You let out a small laugh, hiding your face for half a second before looking back at him. "So good,"

That earned you a quiet, satisfied hum from him, like he’d been waiting for you to say it out loud. He shifted closer again, forehead briefly resting against yours. "Yeah," he agreed, voice softer now, "I liked taking care of you."

You rolled your eyes fondly, nudging his shoulder with yours. "Research paid off then?"

"Don’t start," he muttered, but he was smiling anyway, pulling you back in by your waist, "I just wanted you to feel good."

"I did feel good," you admitted, voice dropping a little, more honest now as your fingers traced absentmindedly along his sleeve. "Really good and I wasn’t nervous with you. I thought I would be, but I wasn’t."

"Me neither," he confessed. "I mean I was nervous about everything except you." After a beat he added, "Next time, we don’t have to stop there if you don’t want to.”

"Okay then... let's not stop," you whispered against his lips. Jungwon's brain physically lagged for a moment, "You— right now?" he swallowed softly. You nodded once and for a moment he just stared at you, "You're—"

"Yes baby I'm sure." you cut him off which only had him cheesing. His hand slipped into your hair, gently pulling you back just enough to kiss you, and you rolled your eyes even as you leaned into it willingly. His free hand drifted lazily down your side, to squeeze the plush flesh of your ass and finally settling on your thigh. You hummed into his mouth at the touch pulling him closer instinctively.

Jungwon pulled back first, just enough to look at you properly. There was still a trace of sleep in his eyes, but there was something else there too. His eyes were almost black, just from kissing and that almost made you laugh. "What?" Jungwon grinned catching your lips curl.

"Just how needy you get from a little kissing," you said rubbing absentminded circles on his biceps.

"You just told me you want me to fuck you," he deadpanned, which only had you exhaling a laugh at his blunt words.

"Besides," he starts, hand splaying against your thigh, guiding and resting it over his hip. "you seemed pretty needy last night." You glanced away heat crawling up your neck, "Aw, don't get shy on me now baby." he whispered as his hand cupped your jaw guiding you to face him again.

"Won—" it came out barely above a breath, cheek now burning against his hand.

"Yeah?" he tilts his head "tell me what you need princess."

You bit the inside of your lip, you weren't planning on giving in but unfortunately you already had, 5 minutes ago. "You know what I need." you said, eyebrows pulling together.

"Mm, want to hear you say it," his eyes flit between your features, lips stretched subtly in an almost grin.

You leaned in pressing a kiss to his jaw and then licked over his pulse point, "Need your cock, inside me."

Jungwon inhaled sharply, he pulled you onto his lap properly by your thighs — lips attacking the soft flesh on your neck because he couldn't tease you anymore, not when he was throbbing beneath you. You adjusted onto him pressing your core against his stiff length.

Jungwon's hands ran up and down your body, pulling you impossibly closer like distance wasn't allowed. His tongue found yours and he slipped his hands around to your lower-back, under the fabric of your loose shorts and squeezed. You swallowed his content groan as he pulled your clothes off, starting with those shorts.

You both stripped each other between wet filthy kisses, slick sounds and your shared pleasure vibrated between your mouths. He didn't bother taking his boxers off, too caught up in his fingers finding your pussy, he groaned low into your mouth once he did "I did this to you?" he breathed against your lips.

"Mhm, you make me so fucking wet," you gasped, one hand loose on his neck, the other gripping his bicep.

He practically moaned at your words pulling you up so your core was directly on the curve of his cock. You just watched as his hands drifted to your hips, he gripped gently and jolted you forward. Your breath hitched at the first contact, a shaky moan ripping out of you as he guided you back and forth over him.

His head fell back against the headboard as he continued grinding you back and forth, hips bucking uncontrollably. "Shit, I'm gonna cum just from this," he breathed, and between the slick of both your pre-cum and the feeling of your bare pussy on his barely covered cock, you both found yourselves becoming increasingly desperate.

At some point his length under the fabric of his boxers rubbed over your clit in a perfect rhythm, heat flooded through your stomach. "God, baby," you mewled, your hand on his neck tightened just a little.

"Ah- baby I'm—" Jungwon moaned high and filthy. He had no idea something as simple as your fingers around his neck could turn him on so much.

As his hips bucked and warmth spread through his boxers your own high crashed into you with a whine. "Holy fuck," Jungwon breathed after a moment, beads of sweat forming along his hairline, "..think you're ready?" he added after a moment, you exhaled a laugh leaning forward into his neck.

He grinned flipping you over, somewhere between messy kisses and wandering hands he threw his boxers off and of course he was still fucking hard. You hooked your legs around his waist as he reached down guiding himself to your slick entrance. Your foreheads rested together, eyes on your connecting bodies. "Tell me if anything feels off," he said looking between your eyes, stern despite the desire deep in his sockets.

"I will," you whisper back, he nodded and then rubbed his tip over your slit slowly, teasing you both into shudders. His eyes snapped back up to your face, taking in every tiny twitch as he gradually pushed in, inch by inch. His lips parted in a guttural moan and your eyes threatened to roll back just at the feeling of his thickness stretching you out.

"Good?" he gasped softly, barely halfway in. A noise from the back of your mouth spilled out, half moan half whine — which almost had him spilling right there. He knit his eyes shut in concentration, breath warm against your cheek.

After a moment of composing himself the best he could he continued pushing in. Your grip on his bicep only tightened as your back slowly arched with each inch. As he bottomed out you both gasped together, Jungwon traced the curve of your lower-back holding you there, letting you adjust. "It's like you were fucking made for me," he said almost under his breath.

"Feel so—so full Won," you managed, his parted mouth curled up just slightly and then he pulled out just a little, just to push right back in — every thrust creating a spark of friction, bursting low in your belly.

Your legs around his waist tightened instinctively, pulling him impossibly closer as his hand moved from your hip to the back of your head, threading through your hair. Every sound spilling from your lips had him speeding up, "Sound so—pretty— for me."

You clenched around him at his praise, and Jungwon's hips stuttered, "Ah— you're squeezing me princess—" he breathed.

Your arms wrapped around his neck pulling his mouth onto yours, he whined low into your mouth in response. For a moment you barely responded, because the added traction of your nipples against his chest had your mouth going slack and Jungwon just stared, taking in your dazed expression and then — faster than you could comprehend he pulled your leg from his hip to his shoulder, the new position allowing his cock to reach even deeper. He watched as your face contorted in pleasure — his pace only quickened, grinding as far as he could reach. "Won-fuck-fuck-fuck—baby," you babbled between breaths.

His blonde hair was tousled in that sweaty sexy way and his tongue was lolled out how it would be when he was concentrating. His gaze instinctively dropped to your stomach, "—Oh, fuck— look at how deep I am babygirl," he gaped, eyes on the clear bulge in your tummy. Your whimpers picked up as the pressure built, thrusts deepening, "Baby— I want you to cum on my cock" he breathed leaning down, "can you do that for me?"

"Yeah—yes, fuck," you whined, he started ploughing into you, a hand reaching down to rub fast circles on your clit — you clenched hard in response a chorus of babbling and whines echoing between you.

"Want you to cum in me." you gasped as you felt that familiar chord about to snap,

"— Ah my fuuck—," his hips snapped in response a content noise spilling out of him. Your orgasm crashed over you in waves, walls convulsing around his thick length and Jungwon groaned low into your neck fucking you through it, his own release following in thick spurts deep in your pussy.

You both panted as your movements stilled, Jungwon rolled over next to you pulling you into his arms, your face in his neck as his hand raked through your hair. "You're so perfect," he whispered breathy against your hair, you made an acknowledging noise "So are you."

He pulled you back just to peck little kisses all over your face, "Baby—" you started but the words quickly dissolved into giggles. "I love you," he grinned, finally pulling back.

"I love you," you responded tracing his jaw, glancing back up at his big eyes — which were softened and dazed all for you.

"Was that okay?" he said after a moment, eyebrows pulled in a nervous furrow for a moment.

You nodded automatically, "More than okay baby," you murmured, pressing a few reassuring kisses to his pink lips. Jungwon seemed more than satisfied with your answer, a sheepish grin stretching across his face before he dropped his forehead against yours with a relieved laugh.

The two of you stayed there for another minute, tangled together beneath the blankets, neither making any real effort to move. The room was warm, the early morning light spilling lazily through the curtains, and every time you shifted closer Jungwon's arms tightened around you automatically.

Eventually reality won. Jungwon let out an exaggerated sigh before forcing himself upright, earning an immediate groan from you as the warmth disappeared. "Come on," he said, reaching down to smooth a hand through your hair. "Let's get cleaned up before we accidentally sleep until dinner."

You made a dramatic sound of protest but followed him anyway, both of you moving slower than usual, still sleepy and content in a way that made everything feel softer around the edges.

You moved through the motions of cleaning up and getting yourselves sorted out while exchanging tired smiles every few minutes. Neither of you seemed capable of being more than three feet apart without immediately drifting back together again.

The rush from earlier had faded completely, leaving only the comfortable familiarity that had always existed between you. You stole one of his hoodies without asking, and Jungwon didn't even pretend to object when you climbed back onto the bed wearing it.

"That was mine," he pointed out weakly.

"Was." You smiled and opened your arms. Jungwon immediately gave up the argument and climbed back beside you. For a while he simply held you there, arms secure around your middle, the morning sunlight spilling across the room around you. You rested against his chest while he absentmindedly played with your fingers, occasionally pressing lazy kisses into your hair whenever he thought you weren't paying attention.

Then he pressed his face into your hair and mumbled, "Can we stay like this for another ten minutes?"

"Baby later, I've gotta go before the others wake up," you said, already laughing as his grip tightened immediately in protest. Jungwon groaned dramatically into your shoulder as though you had just delivered devastating news.

"You'll survive."

He lifted his head just enough to give you a deeply unimpressed look, which only made you laugh harder. The sight seemed to completely ruin whatever argument he was trying to make because a second later he was smiling too, reaching up to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. He leaned forward and stole one last kiss before you could continue arguing, smiling against your lips when you made an offended noise. "There," he said, satisfied with himself. "Now you can go."

"Thank you for the permission."

"You're welcome, baby."

You rolled your eyes, but your chest felt warm anyway. You pressed a final kiss to his lips even as he made another half-hearted sound of protest, and only then did you manage to actually sit up properly. It took several more minutes than it should have to leave because Jungwon kept finding reasons to pull you back for one more hug, one more kiss, one more excuse to keep you there.

The castle was still half asleep by the time you finally slipped out of Jungwon’s room, the corridor dim and quiet enough that your footsteps sounded louder than they actually were. Behind you, Jungwon's door clicked shut softly. You were already smiling to yourself, and that should have been your first warning that the universe was about to humble you.

The sleeves of his hoodie hanging too long over your hands as you padded toward the kitchen with the vague hope of grabbing water before attempting the walk back to your own dorm unnoticed.

You were halfway through convincing yourself everyone was asleep when you stepped into the kitchen and nearly had a heart attack. Jake was already there, sitting at the counter with a mug in one hand like he’d been awake long enough to enter a different stage of consciousness. He looked up the second you walked in and visibly froze mid-sip.

You froze too and for a long second, neither of you spoke. Jake’s eyes dragged slowly over your appearance, your wet hair, the oversized hoodie, the fact it was very obviously Jungwon’s, the way you looked suspiciously rumpled for someone supposedly just passing through at sunrise. Then his eyebrows lifted so high they practically disappeared into his hairline.

"…No fucking way," he said finally, you immediately sighed,

"Don’t."

Jake leaned back in his chair. "Oh my god," he breathed, grinning now.

"I didn’t mean to fall asleep," you said far too quickly. Jake just stared at you, then his eyes dropped to your neck, then back at you again. "…Uh huh," he said flatly, heat crawled violently into your face.

"Jake." Before he could answer, another set of footsteps shuffled into the kitchen behind you and Jungwon appeared looking equally exhausted, hair still wet, shirt wrinkled beyond saving. He stopped the second he saw Jake’s expression and immediately knew, eyes closing briefly.

"Fuck."

Jake pointed between the two of you with genuine outrage. "You two are fucking monsters." You covered your face instantly but Jungwon, instead of denying it like a normal person, looked genuinely stricken for a completely different reason.

"I knew we were being too loud."

You whipped around fast. "Shut the fuck up."

Jake doubled over laughing immediately while Jungwon dragged a hand through his hair. "I’m just saying, I had a feeling."

"A feeling?" Jake repeated, wheezing. "Bro, the entire floor had a feeling." Jungwon looked deeply ashamed for maybe half a second before moving behind you and immediately hiding his face in your shoulder. His arms slid loosely around your waist without thinking, all warm and unfairly comfortable despite the situation. Which only made Jake point harder. "Two days since you 'made' up. TWO."

"We were going to tell you," Jungwon muttered weakly. Jake only stared at him. "After what?"

You groaned covering your face with both hands now. "Shut up." you said muffled.

Jake, unfortunately, was enjoying himself far too much now. "Do you understand how traumatic it is," he continued, "to wake up at like three in the morning thinking somebody is getting brutally murdered and then realizing no, it’s just Jungwon losing his virginity." Jungwon made a strangled noise into your neck. "Stop talking." he mumbled not even bothering correcting him.

"No, because I almost came in to check if—"

"Jake." He held both hands up immediately, still laughing. "Alright, okay, I’m done." He clearly was not done. The grin stayed permanently stuck on his face as he looked between you both again, softer this time beneath all the teasing.

"Seriously though," he said, shaking his head. "About fucking time." You felt your embarrassment ease just slightly at that but Jake ruined it immediately by narrowing his eyes at Jungwon "But I swear to god, if I hear even one suspicious sound again, I’m knocking on the wall like an old man."

Jungwon finally lifted his head just enough to mumble, "Can you keep your voice down before the others wake up?"

Jake gasped dramatically. "Oh, now we care about volume."

You scoffed turning your head to Jungwon, while he started laughing into you, shoulders shaking. "This is your fault," you told him immediately.

"My fault?” he repeated, offended now despite the grin tugging at his mouth. “You were the one making—”

"Finish that sentence and I’ll kill you." Jake nearly folded in half laughing again while Jungwon wisely shut his mouth, though the smug look on his face made it very clear he absolutely could finish that sentence.The kitchen settled after that into quieter laughter, the kind that came easier after the initial humiliation burned off and light conversation. Jake took another sip of coffee, still occasionally looking at the two of you with disbelief written all over his face, while Jungwon stayed tucked against your shoulder without an ounce of shame left in him anymore.

"We lasted barely two days," you said, turning to look at Jungwon again. He groaned into your neck, arms tightening around your waist. "I thought we’d at least make it a week," he said. "Yeah, no chance," you laughed.

"Worth it," Jungwon whispered, breath warm against your ear. You rolled your eyes automatically, though the smile pulling at your mouth ruined any attempt at annoyance. Behind you, Jake made a deeply offended sound into his coffee mug.

"I hate both of you."

Eventually, after Jake threatened violence if either of you stayed in the kitchen any longer, you finally escaped back to your dorm. The walk across the hall felt strangely light, maybe because the secret was already starting to slip out of your hands anyway. Your dorm was quiet when you slipped inside, still half asleep as morning light spilled weakly through the windows. You changed quickly, washing your face in freezing water in a failed attempt to wake yourself up properly.

By the time you finally made your way down to breakfast, the castle had properly woken up around you. Voices echoed through the corridors, footsteps overlapping against stone floors, the usual morning chaos settling back into place. Breakfast passed in a blur of pointed looks and carefully neutral behaviour, the kind where you and Jungwon sat just far enough apart to be technically innocent but close enough that Jake kept smirking into his drink.

The afternoon found you all together again, sprawled in a common lounge space near the library where people usually ended up when they had nowhere else to be. Ni-ki had claimed an armchair, Heeseung was half lying across the sofa scrolling on his phone, Kenny was arguing about something unimportant, and Jake was sitting on the floor leaning against the couch in a way that made it look like he was physically restraining himself from commenting on anything.

You ended up beside Jungwon without thinking, like it was muscle memory rather than choice. He didn’t say anything about it either, just shifted slightly to make space for you, his shoulder brushing yours in a way that felt entirely too natural for something you were supposedly hiding. It was almost working, until someone else walked in.

It was one of the older Slytherin students you vaguely recognised, confident enough in the way he carried himself to immediately head in your direction with an easy smile. You only realised he was speaking to you when he stopped directly in front of the sofa, asking your name with the kind of casual interest that didn’t quite match the way his eyes stayed on your face. "Hey," he said again, like repeating it made it smoother, "I’ve seen you around, I just wanted to say hi properly."

You answered politely, confused more than anything, and that was apparently enough encouragement for him to keep talking. Jungwon didn’t move at first, which was almost impressive, but the change in him was immediate anyway. You felt it, the shift in posture beside you, the way his leg tensed slightly where it was stretched out near yours, the subtle lean forward like he was suddenly very aware of the space between you and the stranger.

The guy laughed at something you said, just a little too familiar, and Jungwon finally looked up. "Can I help you?" Jungwon asked, voice calm in a way that didn’t match the look in his eyes at all.

The guy blinked, slightly thrown by the tone more than the words. "Oh, I was just talking to her—"

"I know," he said lightly, still smiling. "I heard." There was a beat of silence that felt like it stretched too long for comfort. Heeseung slowly lowered his phone. Ni-ki straightened in his chair. Kenny stopped talking mid-sentence. Jake covered his mouth with his hand, shoulders already shaking like he was physically fighting laughter.

The guy looked between you and Jungwon now, the confusion starting to shift into something more cautious. "Are you her boyfriend or something?"

Jungwon didn’t even hesitate. "No," he said easily, still smiling. Then he glanced at you for half a second, softer in a way only you caught, like the answer wasn’t meant for anyone else in the room.

"Not yet."

The room absolutely lost it in the most restrained way possible, like everyone was trying not to make it worse but failing miserably. Jake made a sound that suspiciously turned into a cough halfway through. Kenny’s eyes went wide. Ni-ki leaned forward, elbows on knees. Even Heeseung looked like he was trying very hard to understand if this was a joke or a confession.

The guy cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh… I’ll leave you to it then." He left faster than he arrived.

"Jungwon," you said under your breath, he finally looked at you properly now, expression completely unreadable for half a second before it softened again, like he couldn’t help himself.

"What? I was polite." he said quietly, too calm to be innocent.

"That was not polite," you laughed in disbelief, leaning into his shoulder without thinking, like your body had decided this was just normal again, completely forgetting for a second that everyone else in the room was currently reconstructing reality around you both. It only took you half a second to realise they had gone quiet in that very specific way that meant people were talking without actually speaking.

Jungwon didn’t even flinch at the contact, just shifted slightly so you fit against him more naturally. "It was," he insisted, still annoyingly calm about it, eyes flicking briefly down to you like he was more focused on you than the entire audience pretending not to exist

It wasn’t loud at first, more like a collective pause. The kind where nobody speaks because everyone is trying to decide who breaks first. Then Kenny finally leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowed like she was assembling a case in real time. "So," she said carefully, "just to clarify what I’m watching right now.”

Heeseung exhaled through his nose, already looking tired of being right about everything. "Don’t say ‘just to clarify’ like you’re not about to interrogate them."

"I am," Kenny replied immediately, not even looking away from you two. Ni-ki tilted his head, openly curious now. "So like.. you're together?"

Jungwon didn’t answer straight away. Not because he was hiding anything, but because he looked mildly amused by the fact that they were only just catching up. His hand stayed resting casually near your knee like it belonged there, thumb brushing once against your leg. Kenny didn’t even look up properly, just pointed vaguely at you both. "I knew it. I literally said it. No one listens to me in this house."

Jungwon finally sat up a little, still calm but noticeably less playful now that he could feel the full attention on him. "It’s not new," he said simply, like that answered anything.

That made Jake let out a quiet laugh from the floor. "That is the most unhelpful sentence you could’ve chosen."

Jungwon hummed quietly at that, glancing at you for half a second like he was sharing the joke only with you. "We didn’t plan for it to be… announced," he said, which made Jake snort again.

"Oh, it got announced,” Jake said. "Loudly. Multiple times."

You covered your face briefly, heat creeping up your neck. "Please stop talking."

Kenny looked between you and Jake now, fully locking in on something she wasn’t ready to let go of. "He knew??"

"Unfortunately," Jake mumbled, clearly enjoying your embarrassment far too much, leaning back into the sofa. "I’ve been carrying this knowledge alone."

Heeseung let out a quiet breath through his nose, shaking his head a little. "That explains a lot, actually."

Jungwon shifted slightly beside you, still calm but now visibly more amused, like the whole thing had officially crossed into ridiculous territory he no longer felt the need to resist. "He’s been unbearable since this morning," he added.

"Excuse you,” Jake said instantly. “I have been supportive."

"You threatened to knock on the wall." you reminded him.

"I was setting boundaries," Jake replied without missing a beat.

Kenny pointed between all of you again, narrowing her eyes. "Okay, no, I’m still not done with you two."

"We feel like we are," you said.

"You’re not," she replied, and she wasn’t lying. The next twenty minutes somehow turned into a slow, ongoing series of questions that weren’t even really questions anymore, just observations disguised as curiosity. Heeseung quietly checking if you were both "Okay okay" after everything, Ni-ki asking far too many casual "So like when did you realise" questions, Kenny refusing to let any detail pass unexamined, and Jungwon answering everything with infuriating calmness like this was a group project he had already finished. You eventually stopped trying to defend anything and just leaned fully into him again, which only made them look more satisfied and by the time they finally let it go, it wasn’t because they were out of questions. It was because they were exhausted.

Jake was the first one to fully give up, getting up and stretching like he had just survived a long-haul flight, then walked over and flopped directly down between you both on the sofa like personal space was an outdated concept. "Alright," he announced, already reaching an arm around your shoulders and the other around Jungwon. "I approve of this relationship."

You made a sound of protest, half-laughing as his weight pushed you both closer together. "You don’t get to approve anything."

"I do," Jake said, completely unbothered, settling in like he was comfortable there for the rest of the day. "I suffered through the years of denial."

Jungwon leaned slightly into the chaos without complaint, glancing down at Jake’s arm like it was mildly inconvenient but acceptable. "You’re heavy," he said and Jake squeezed tighter just to be annoying.

"And you’re welcome."

Ni-ki was still watching like he was trying to decide if this counted as normal behaviour now. Kenny had her chin propped in her hand, looking way too pleased with how this had all resolved itself. Heeseung, as usual, looked like he’d already accepted the situation ten steps before everyone else caught up.

Then Kenny exhaled, a small smile tugging at her mouth. "No, seriously though," she said, eyes flicking between you and Jungwon, "I’m happy for you both." Ni-ki nodded immediately like that was the only logical conclusion. "Yeah. About time, honestly." Heeseung hummed in agreement, calm as ever.

Jake tilted his head back against the sofa, still wrapped around both of you like a human barricade. "Yeah," he added, quieter but sincere underneath all the noise, "I’m happy for you guys. It’s been… a lot watching you finally get here." That landed in a way that made your chest feel a little warm and too tight at the same time. Jungwon didn’t say anything straight away, just pat Jake's shoulder.

"Yeah," he said finally, softer than usual, "it was worth it."

Jake, of course, ruined the softness immediately by squeezing you both again. "Don’t get emotional," he said. "I will make it weird again if I have to."

Later that night, long after the teasing had finally died down and everyone had gone their separate ways, Jungwon appeared outside your dorm looking suspicious in a way that immediately made you narrow your eyes at him. The corridor was quiet, lit only by the warm dim glow from the wall sconces, and he stood there with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket like he was attempting innocence he absolutely did not possess.

"You look guilty," you informed him as you stepped out into the corridor, pulling your jacket tighter around yourself against the cold stone air. Jungwon’s mouth twitched immediately, blonde hair falling messily across his forehead from where he’d clearly been dragging his hands through it for a while now.

"I’m literally just standing here," he said, though the defensive edge to it only made you more suspicious. Before you could continue interrogating him, he reached for your hand, fingers slipping easily between yours with effortless familiarity. "Come with me," he added, thumb brushing absentmindedly across your knuckles. "I’m not doing anything illegal. Probably."

"That is not reassuring."

"It should be slightly reassuring," he corrected, already tugging you along the corridor. You let him pull you through the castle despite the growing certainty that he absolutely was planning something. The higher the staircases became, the more sceptical you got, until eventually you slowed to a stop halfway up another winding staircase and looked at him properly. "Jungwon," you said carefully, already trying not to laugh, "Why are we climbing seventy flights of stairs at midnight."

He laughed under his breath at that, squeezing your hand gently. "Can you trust me for five minutes, baby? Just five. I’m asking for very little here." he replied, tugging lightly on your hand until you started moving again. The pet name distracted you just enough that he managed to get you all the way to the top before you could continue questioning him. There was something annoying in his expression already, like he knew you were going to like whatever this was and was trying not to ruin it too early.

The second the tower door swung open, night air rushed around you, carrying the distant sound of wind through the castle grounds below and then your eyes landed on the setup waiting near the far side of the tower. Blankets and pillows looking ridiculously comfortable, spread across the stone floor beneath the stars, complete with snacks shoved into one corner and what looked suspiciously like one of the softer blankets stolen from the boys dorm. You stopped dead in the doorway staring at it while Jungwon immediately looked away like he physically couldn’t handle your reaction yet.

"Baby," you breathed.

"It gets cold up here," he says quickly, though the slight pinkness creeping into his face completely ruined any attempt at nonchalance. "And carrying all of this up here was genuinely horrible. I almost gave up halfway through and just invited you to the couch downstairs."

That startled a laugh out of you, warm enough that some of the tension visibly left his shoulders at the sound. You’d started noticing that recently too — how much he relaxed whenever you laughed now, like some deeply anxious part of him was still adjusting to the fact that he no longer had to wonder if you wanted him around.

"C’mere," he murmured after a second, reaching for you again. He pulled your jacket off for you before shrugging his own off and tossing both onto the blankets carelessly. You let him guide you over before dropping down beside him, both of you dissolving into quiet laughter when one of the pillows immediately slid out from underneath you and nearly sent you sideways. Jungwon caught you automatically, one arm wrapping around your waist as he pulled you securely against him, and the smug little smile that appeared afterwards made you grin immediately.

"Who knew you'd be such a sap."

“Baby I worked hard,” he replied, attempting to sound serious about it. “Do you know how difficult it is to sneak this many pillows through the castle without people asking questions. Jake watched me walk past and just went, ‘If you’re not proposing up there don't tell me about it after.’"

You exhaled a laugh. "That sounds like him."

The wind moved softly around the tower after that, the blankets warm beneath you while Jungwon shifted until you were tucked comfortably against his chest, his arm draped around your waist beneath the layers of fabric. For a while neither of you spoke. You just sat there together watching the dark grounds stretch below the tower while his fingers traced lazy patterns against your side through your top. Eventually though, Jungwon let out a quiet breath, the kind that gave him away instantly.

You tilted your head back slightly to look at him. "What’s going on in that brain right now."

Jungwon groaned softly before dropping his head back against the stone wall behind him. "I had this planned better in my head," he admitted.

A laugh escaped you immediately. "That's not an answer."

His fingers tightened around yours beneath the blanket before he looked back down at you again, expression slowly melting into something quieter. "I just keep thinking about how everyone already calls you mine, and you are. And I know that sounds stupid, because everything is already obvious, but it’s been bothering me all day,"

You blinked at him once, caught off guard by the sincerity in his voice. "After wanting this for so long, I don’t want to do any of it halfway with you. I don’t wanna look back later and realize I skipped over asking because I assumed you already knew."

You squeezed his hand, smiling into his shoulder. Jungwon looked down at you then, fully this time, all soft and nervous honesty under the dim lantern light.

"So," he said carefully, "Baby, can I be your boyfriend, properly."

Something about the way he asked nearly ruined you on the spot. That after years of almosts and misunderstandings and loving each other so quietly it physically hurt, you had somehow ended up here instead.

"You’re ridiculous."

"That's not a no," he said immediately, grinning way too much for someone trying to act calm. You kissed him, laughter dissolving against his mouth when he melted into it instantly, one hand sliding up to cup your cheek while his relieved smile pressed warm against your lips.

"Yes," you whispered once you pulled back enough to breathe. "Obviously yes."

He exhaled hard through his nose before pulling you impossibly closer into him, forehead pressing against yours while he laughed quietly under his breath. "Okay good," he murmured. "Because I’ve actually been stressed about asking you for, like, six hours."

"You did not think I was going to say no," you teased, brushing your nose lightly against his.

"Mmm. I considered the possibility," he replied with a tiny shrug that immediately ruined the seriousness of the moment. You swatted at his shoulder and he laughed properly this time, catching your hand before you could do it again and pressing a quick kiss to your knuckles.

"Boyfriend," he said suddenly, testing the word out loud, and unfortunately your face betrayed you immediately.

"Oh," his eyes widened, and then he laughed softly.

"Jungwon."

His grin only widened as he wrapped both arms around your waist and pulled you against him properly. "My girlfriend," he whispered, sounding entirely too pleased with himself now. You groaned and buried your face in his shoulder, which only made him laugh harder, his chin resting lightly on top of your head.

For a second you just held his eyes, looking into the same boy who used to love you silently from across rooms, from hidden glances and overthought conversations and years of wanting without knowing what to do with it.

The story had never been about falling in love. It had been about realising you already were. Jungwon tilted his head slightly when he noticed you staring.

"What?"

You smiled and leaned forward and kissed him again beneath the stars, beneath the endless sky that had watched every version of you both become this one.

And when you finally pulled away, the future didn't feel frightening anymore. It felt familiar. It looked like stolen hoodies and sleepy mornings, like a boy with messy blonde hair looking at you as though he'd never quite believe his luck.

And beneath a sky full of stars, surrounded by the quiet magic of a world that had brought you together long before either of you understood why, you stayed there a little longer.

Just two people who had spent four years finding their way home.

V 𓄧 wowowowow. i'd already written 17k words when i posted 4poison1 so i was like, yo this is not gonna take me long at all......... a month later. . .imsorry ok i hope this makes up for it AND JS KNOW i will NAUT be writing long ass fics for a while omg this took me from FEBRUARY TO JUNE. i love you x

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