ok i think i let the previous red string chapter marinate for long enough so as many people as possible can read it 😭 i'm posting the next one either tomorrow or the day after!!
planning a smau is not for the weak because how could i come up with details about the plot/tropes/etc but i just can't make up my mind about what the setting will be?........
LIKE WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE DO WHERE ARE THEY WHAT IS HAPPENING
𐙚 summary: you weren’t sure you believed in fated meetings, but when one drunken night you made decisions under the influence of your best friend, the so-called red string found its way to you, binding you to whatever it was meant to bring you. you hoped for some fluffy cats and dogs, but love wasn’t that bad too, right?
𐙚 pairing: vet student! gn! reader x cat cafe owner! wooyoung
𐙚 wc: 4.5k
𐙚 warnings/tags: there could be mistakes (i'm sorry), swearing, is this angst? more like internal turmoil, overthinking and insecurities, reader is avoidant final boss, lots of rain and thunders and a storm, rain gets mentioned A LOT, confessions, idiots in love, attempt at humour, it gets sappy, k i s s i n g
It had been exactly 11 hours since everything around you started falling apart, a storm swiping you off your feet, dragging you far away from the blissful paradise you had created for yourself.
The signs had probably been the size of a billboard, flashing in your peripheral vision as you drove down the highway, not even considering for a second to stop and think. However, the turn of events hadn’t been this merciful to you this time, and it made you believe that, after all, maybe nothing was truly meant to be.
The aggravating sound of your alarm blared from your phone at exactly 6:45 am, promoting you to rethink every life decision that had led you to this point as you struggled through your usual morning routine, consisting of making yourself presentable enough in the quickest way possible before stumbling over your doorstep. Unknowingly, you had fallen right into the trap of the first disaster of your day, which was served to you on a silver platter in the form of locking yourself out of your home, realising a heartbeat too late that your keys were left dangling from the keyhole on the other side of the door.
Three calls, twenty texts, and ten doorbell rings were all it took to wake Mingi up, so he could sleepily hand you the spare key you kept at his place, which naturally led to you missing your bus (disaster two), which made you late for work (disaster three), and which led you to complaining to Yunho about all your life’s misfortunes throughout your whole shift. Maybe the situation had been a little more exaggerated than needed and it earned you an eyeroll or two from him, yet, it was a free trial for what was looming over your head, the doom about to wash over you like a tidal wave.
Disaster four struck thirty minutes before closing time. Your last patient for the day had been a well-behaved (based on first impression) husky that playfully started biting your hand with a mischievous glint in her bright blue eyes, while you were talking to her owner and writing down the important details after your checkup.
Once you bid your farewells, you leaned on your wooden desk and closed your eyes, taking in the quietness around you. If you tried really hard, you could hear Yunho’s muffled voice in the hallway, going off about the lead vet, how he made him close the clinic with you when neither of you had done it before, and how everything would probably go wrong to which another of your coworkers laughed. Chuckling to yourself, you got down to sorting the paperwork for the day, stacking the report cards neatly in a pile and locking it in one of the desk’s drawers.
Minutes later, there were no laughing matters left.
It had been great, really, going suspiciously smoothly with you wiping the waiting room’s floor with a wet rag and then disinfecting the desk and couch with some suspicious spray bottle one of the senior vets had given you earlier, while Yunho took care of the examination rooms. Quiet music from a random playlist echoed from the computer’s speakers, and you sang along, the melody calming and familiar. Your little moment of peacefullness, however, came to a halt when Yunho’s groan broke the silence and you rushed to the bathroom down the corridor, where he had squatted down facing the door, fingers buried in his hair.
“Are you okay?” Your question sounded inappropriate to you the second you said it out loud, given the position he was in and the pained expression forming on his face.
“We don’t have the key.”
“What key?”
“The key,” he put emphasis on each word as if trying to comprehend what was happening and make sense out of it. In a heartbeat, he was up on his feet, scrambling frantically around the pockets of his pants. “We don’t have the closing key.”
While imagining the earth beneath your feet cracking open and swallowing both of you in its depths, you forced a smile, “You probably misplaced it. Did you check the lead vet’s room?"
“It’s not there. I even checked the bathroom stalls and the trash bags. We do not have it,” Yunho’s voice was raspy, his words coming out at the speed of light as he continued his search under the sink to your right. The usually faint luminance of the lamp, hanging from the ceiling, was hurting your eyes, and the blue and white tiles of the bathroom walls suddenly started suffocating you as the gravity of the situation hit you. The comfort of your couch and the warmth of your soft blanket were nothing but a distant oasis in this desert you were tasked with walking through, a sandstorm raging around you.
Checking your watch, you winced at the display of the ungodly hour that had struck - 8:30 pm - way past the usual closing time and way past the arrival time of the bus you took home. If you called the lead vet, it would take him at least an hour to get to you and save you from your misery, given you were lucky enough he was home and given he had The Key in his possession.
“Someone should have a spare key, right? It can’t be that bad,” Yunho spoke again as you reminisced of the days you didn’t have such responsibilities on your hands. Fishing out his phone from his t-shirt’s pocket, he hurriedly typed in something with a frown. “I’ll say a dog probably ate it.”
“Yunho, that’s even worse. Just say we don’t have it, without the details. Which are what exactly?”
“Well,” he trailed off, switching his focus from his screen to your face, with an awkward smile. “I’m not sure. One second I had it and the next it was gone - I swear I kept it in my pocket the whole time. It has a keychain and all that, I can’t have just lost it.”
“Given how you are, you probably flushed it down the toilet,’ you replied, crossing your arms in front of your chest and watched Yunho’s face lit up at your sarcastic comment.
“That makes perfect sense.”
“No, it doesn’t. Just text the boss. You’re doing the talking.”
Yunho’s complaints bombarded your ears as you tiredly finished tidying up and making sure at least one thing had been done right tonight. A little voice in your head was reminding you that tomorrow was your long-awaited day off, when you could do nothing and everything at the same time. Unless you got fired on the spot the moment the lead vet came through the entrance. Then your day off would be extended indefinitely.
An hour later, you had already ushered your most sincere apologies and promises you both would do better, the lead vet listening to your ramblings with a tired glint in his eyes and a deep frown between his eyebrows.
“It went better than expected,” Yunho exclaimed as you two walked down the street to the bus stop, and you couldn’t help but laugh. The roads were mostly empty, with only a couple of cars rolling past you and the streetlight’s soft glow keeping you company. “What’s funny? At least we didn’t get fired.”
“I’m never closing with you again.”
“Come on,” he whined, clinging to your arm, and you tried shoving him with your elbow with an eyeroll. “You love me.”
“You wish.”
“Speaking of which,” before you could interrupt him, he had got even closer to you, his face almost pressing into your right cheek. The sidewalk was still wet from the rain from hours earlier, and you almost stepped into a puddle because of his constant pestering. “How are things with Wooyoung?”
"I’m not talking about him with you,” you scoffed, and this much was true. The two of them, as Wooyoung himself had told you, had been friends since high school, so even though you really liked Yunho, you definitely didn’t intend to discuss your love problems with someone who probably knew him better than you did. “It’s a-”
“It’s a conflict of interest. I know, I know,” he cut you off with a poor imitation of your voice and mannerisms, which earned him a punch on the shoulder from you, finally breaking free from his grasp. “Problems in heaven? You aren’t coming to the cafe much lately.”
“I’ve been busy.” The sting following your lie nested deep inside your chest as you forced a smile once again today. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to go - in the months you had started being a regular there, meeting all the sweet people working there and getting used to the warm and cozy atmosphere with the little fluff balls, the Black Cat Café had become one of your favourite places. Being there, right in the middle of the happy chaos, had become your second nature with you permanently blending with it. And then there was him.
Before your thoughts could trail off in a dangerous direction, you felt your skin dampening as raindrops made their way past the grey clouds, landing on your face. Turning your head to look at Yunho, you both laughed as you sprinted the few remaining meters to the bus stop, hurriedly hiding under its glass roof. The rain fell heavy, rhythmically tapping on it while you sat down on one of the seats. The real time display was showing numbers you preferred to ignore.
“Shit, we missed the last bus,” Yunho sighed, plopping down next to you. His black jeans and leather jacket were soaked and his hair was not in any better state as he took out his phone. “We could call a cab and split.”
“You pay. You’re the reason we’re in this situation,” you said, sticking your tongue out, and he sighed, nodding. As he scrolled through different options to save you from this hell, you looked for your phone in your jacket’s pockets. Too preoccupied with work and the earlier disasters, you hadn’t checked it all, but the second your screen lit up, you wished you had.
Guilt found its way home in your heart as you locked your phone, your gaze drifting to the dark blue sky, looking down at you. As if syncing with the emotional storm raging inside of you, a thunder could be heard in the distance, its flashing light illuminating the clouds. There were layers to this, such that you didn’t want to unravel them just yet.
Wooyoung had been nothing but understanding throughout all those months you’d known him for. When you asked for time and space, he gave them to you. When you sometimes slipped and told him things you maybe shouldn’t have told him yet about your relationship, he pushed, but then pulled away, as if scared you’d run away from him. When you were upset, he came to brighten up your day. When you were happy, he was there to share it with you.
Everything was so sickeningly in order with him that you wondered if there was a catch you hadn’t noticed yet or if this whole situation was going to blow up in your face one day, just as it was happening right now. Maybe tonight was the night when he’d tell you it was over, even if it never began, leaving you confused and oddly understanding in the rain.
You had tried, really. You had rehearsed it in your room and even told Mingi all about it some time ago, and even when he made fun of you for it, you still sucked it up. However, every time you met Wooyoung, the words stayed stuck in a tight knot in your throat. Until it became easier to avoid both them and him.
Even now, as you watched his car come to a stop in front of you, as you sat in the backseat, offering him a small smile when he turned back to look at you, puzzled, as Yunho started filling the space with his idle chatter, guilt still had its claws buried deep in you. It was wrong to do this to him, and you realised it. It was wrong to push him away and shield your vulnerability just because the thought of bearing your raw, unfiltered feelings in front of him and letting them float to the surface sent a chill down your spine, the more time passed.
You didn’t want to turn down every offer for a date. You didn’t want your world to be one where he wasn’t present in every corner of it. You didn’t want to walk home every single time after seeing him and regretting you hadn’t taken the one step needed to define everything once and for all, and it hurt that he wasn’t doing it either.
You wanted to tell him how much you felt and how unbearable it was sometimes just because it was too overwhelming, too real. You just wanted him.
Maybe it was a little dramatic, you realised, when Yunho bid his farewell, and you went to sit in the front seat after getting a pointned look from Wooyoung. Maybe it shouldn’t be this hard after all, you thought, as you let the city and the rain roll past you like a movie tape.
The music Wooyoung had put on, and his soft humming, were slowly lulling you to sleep as the day’s events weighed on your shoulders. You didn’t have to figure out your entire life right now. Tomorrow was there for a reason.
“You’re avoiding me,” Wooyoung finally broke the silence as you opened your eyes slowly. Today was there for a reason, too, apparently. Turning to look at him, you noticed just how messy he appeared to be too. His long hair was disheveled as if he had run his fingers through it hundreds of times and had begun to curl up around the ends, damp from the rain. He wore only a black tank top, his jacket discarded, who knows where, and you frowned, concern hanging at the tip of your tongue. Just then, his eyes tiredly met yours, and you smiled instead.
“I’m not avoiding you.”
“We’re too grown up for lies like that.”
“Shouldn’t you be looking at the road?”
“We arrived at your place.” Raising an eyebrow, he kept looking at you as if trying to decipher the most difficult puzzle he had ever seen, and you turned away to scan your surroundings. Did you doze off? You could swear Yunho lived much further than you. And when had he even turned off the car’s engine? “I’m being serious. I’m just trying to understand what’s going on.”
“I’m not avoiding you,” you repeated, forcing yourself to look at him, as shameful as it felt to lie in his face. “I’ve been busy and it was hard to meet. You’ve been busy too. You’re always at the cafe until late.”
“That much is true, but still,” he trailed off, his hand reaching for yours, currently sitting in your lap. His warmth embraced your coldness as he ran his callused fingers over yours, while holding you so gently as if you were made of glass that could shatter under the slightest pressure. “If there is something you want to tell me, you know I’d listen, right? I’ll always hear you out.”
Choking up once again, you tried swallowing your pride and telling him all that has been on your mind, all those insecurities and fears you guarded so much, yet the barrier stayed there, strong and persistent even under the current of your will. “I know that. And if you want to do the same, I’d listen too.”
“Yeah, I know,” his voice was nothing but a whisper as he brought your linked hands to his lips and placed a warm kiss on top of your knuckles. His eyes never left yours, and you wondered what yours gave away. Could he see exactly how much you yearned for this and him? How much you loved him?
A heartbeat later, the moment was over as he glanced at the silver watch, clasped around his wrist. “It’s getting late. We can talk in the morning. I can see you’re tired.”
“You didn’t have to drive all the way to the clinic, Woo. You’re even more exhausted.”
“I wanted to,” he simply answered with a smile. “A thank you would suffice.”
Playfully rolling your eyes at him, you leaned in, nervousness long forgotten, and placed your free hand on his cheek, kissing it. You could subtly feel his stubble under your palm, tickling it, and you caressed his face gently with your thumb. Pulling away, surprise flickered in his eyes, and you moved your hand to smooth out the frown between his eyebrows. “Thank you for coming, and goodnight, Woo.”
“You can’t goodnight me after doing all that,” he huffed, and you laughed at the pout forming on his lips.
“You were the one who wanted me to go first.”
“You know I didn’t mean it like that. But your clothes are wet, I don’t want you to get sick.”
“Alright, mom. Your heating was on, it’s impossible to get sick, but you’re walking around with just a tank top in this weather. If someone’s getting sick, it’s you.” Even during your mindless rambling, Wooyoung kept smiling lazily at you with that sly smirk he always had, his thumb still caressing your knuckles.
“Then you can just nurse me back to health.”
“Nurse yourself. I’m out,” you announced, and he let out a chuckle, finally letting go of your hand. “And text me when you’re home. And change into more appropriate clothes.”
“Oh, yeah?” He raised his eyebrows, and you punched his biceps, which earned you another deep laugh that turned your legs into jelly as you opened the door, the cool rain touching your skin. “I’ll stay until you turn on your living room lights.”
You nodded and, without looking back, you stepped out of the car, the door closing behind you with a thud. That was it, you thought, as you forced your legs to start moving and actually take you to the comfort of your apartment. It was only a few meters away, but the rain still fell heavily, drenching your hair and jacket, even when you tried shielding yourself with your bag.
The rain would wash away every moment that passed in the car, making it nothing more than a distant memory. There wasn’t going to be a follow-up, not tonight, and probably not tomorrow. Maybe there really had been that unlikely hesitance you read in his eyes, or maybe that was a figment of your imagination and your brain playing tricks on you. Would he have said something more, had you stayed?
The what-ifs and what-nots plagued your being as you entered the building and slowly started going up the stairs. Wooyoung was going to stay, you thought. When you opened your apartment door and turned on the lights, when you approached the big windows in the living room, you were going to spot him still there under the raindrops. He was going to flash his headlights, saying his goodbyes, and drive off in the darkness, leaving you staring at the spot he had occupied seconds ago. You were going to strip off your clothes and take a long, hot shower, while overthinking every little detail of today and regretting every word that didn’t slip past your lips. Then, dressed in your pyjamas, feeling warm and frustrated, you were going to see a couple of sweet texts from Wooyoung that would make you feel even more awful.
He didn’t deserve it, and more importantly, you didn’t deserve it. You had the right to be happy with him. You could end this vicious circle you were both trapped in once and for all. It wasn’t going to go according to your plan, it probably would be messy, and you’d definitely fumble your words, but it was going to be something so very you, so plain and simple, but you.
As you skipped down the stairs back to the building’s front door, there was not a single cell in your body that was hesitant. You weren’t going to let this be another wasted moment, another regretful memory, and another night coming to an end way too soon with way too many things left unsaid. Breathing heavily, you stepped out in the storm once again and almost collided with Wooyoung.
“Why are you outside,” you shouted, hoping the sound of thunders and rainfall didn’t drown your words. Wooyoung’s hair was now completely soaked with dropplets sliding down the bridge of his nose to his lips and chin. You forced your eyes to look away as you looked up to meet his gaze. There was concern and fear in it, but also something else that you didn’t want to entertain right now and that made your stomach tighten uncomfortably.
It’s a good thing, then why does it feel so weird?, you thought as you shook your head, having already made up your mind.
“You didn’t turn on the lights, so I thought-”
Wooyoung’s lips were soft.
It was nothing more than a peck, innocent and short-lived, but carrying all of your courage and determination as you gripped the front of his tank top as if your whole life depended on it. It conveyed both nothing and everything at the same time, making you feel lightheaded as your cold force was met with his warm steadiness that became your only anchor in this raging sea of emotions.
One of his hands wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to him, while the other cupped your neck, his thumb tracing your jawline, and he deepened the kiss, both of you melting into each other. Where you began, and he ended, where was your soul and where was his, was something you couldn’t fully grasp as you two became one, the sounds of the world around you suddenly quieting down, and time coming to a pause.
Moments later, the kiss became more desperate, needier as you parted your lips for him, and a groan, vibrating between you, leaving his. Your hands slowly traveled from his chest to the back of his neck, your fingers gently pulling at his locks as he pressed your bodies together, closer than you’d ever been before. It was new, and it was raw and messy, and millions of thoughts were rushing through your mind, but Wooyoung was there and was real; he wasn’t just a part of your fantasy, even if he acted scarily similar to what you had imagined before. Not that you’d ever tell him that.
Your heartbeat was drumming in your chest, and you were sure he could feel it too, even when he pulled away seconds later, leaving you both breathless. For a while, neither of you spoke, as if afraid not to break this spell you were under, as if this moment couldn’t last forever, and breaking the silence would mean it was the end of it. His features, both sharp and soft, his dark gaze burning with so much passion and yet something gentler too, that it set you on fire, were all you could see and focus on.
The storm had almost come to an end, you realised, once the dizziness started lifting off your head, but both you and Wooyoung were soaked. An involuntary chuckle slipped past your lips, but then a heartbeat later, you froze as Wooyoung frowned. “It was that bad?”
His deep laugh blended with yours as you smacked his chest, both of you soaking up the moment. The affection he looked at you with made your heart swell up, and your chest tighten up, leaving you wondering if you shouldn’t be seeking medical help for a deadly case of the Wooyoung effect, instead of staying with him here any longer.
“It’s ridiculous how long this took us,” you said, and he moved his hands, resting on your hips, to the sides of your face, wiping some of the raindrops trailing down.
“Better late than never. But you really surprised me here.”
“I…,” you started, but this time the words flowed effortlessly, no fear looming over them, and you found yourself feeling lighter. “I want to tell you something, and it has to happen now.”
After an encouraging nod from Wooyoung, you took a deep breath and continued with a shaky voice, “I know it was sudden, and you probably didn’t expect things to go that way. I didn’t either. It’s embarrassing, but I had imagined this moment so many times and always wanted it to be perfect. However, no matter how long I waited, there was never a perfect moment. I could never just tell you everything I wanted you to know. Until it became unbearable.”
“I avoided you, yeah, because it was all so overwhelming that I didn’t know what else to do. It was stupid and childish, but it led us here, so maybe it’s not that bad at the end of the day. All I’m trying to say is that you’re important to me, Woo, and I can’t spend another day, wondering if things between us would reach their climax or falter. I want you in my life. Every passing second.”
“Can I say something now too,” Wooyoung whispered, his hands sliding down to wrap around yours, his eyes full of overwhelm, never leaving yours. “I love you.”
If he wasn’t holding you so firmly, you were sure you were going to melt into a puddle right there and then. The gravity of his words circled around you, making you feel lightheaded. “I love you so much that there isn’t a moment where I’m not thinking about it. Even if it had taken us years to reach this point, I would have never given up on what we have. I’m not really good with words, but…”
“Being with you makes me excited for the future and all the things we haven’t experienced together yet, and I want to know every part of you, even if you’re embarrassed, even if you don’t like it, I want to see all sides of you and love you even more.”
“I love you.”
Your whisper was swallowed as he closed the distance between you once again and pressed his lips against yours in a loving kiss. In this moment, nothing else mattered. The echo of all those disasters of the day became nothing more than white noise in your brain, and all your worries were left behind as you took in the moment, savouring everything Wooyoung was willing to give you, and you offering every part of your soul to him.
It didn’t matter if the world around you was engulfed in cold and darkness when there was warmth and sun, blooming deep inside of you.
𐙚 note | here we are after 10 billion years...it feels very weird knowing i won't have to write about the final bosses of situationships anymore, but it was eventually going to happen 💔 i hope you enjoyed this chapter, i really tried my best to make it both angsty but also heartwarming so i'd love to hear what you thought about it!!! as you know, my inbox is always open so feel free to send me something in there or leave a comment <3
also, super random but i listened to ghibli soundtracks while writing this and felt extra whimsical, thought i'd share with the class.
𐙚 summary: you weren’t sure you believed in fated meetings, but when one drunken night you made decisions under the influence of your best friend, the so-called red string found its way to you, binding you to whatever it was meant to bring you. you hoped for some fluffy cats and dogs, but love wasn’t that bad too, right?
𐙚 pairing: vet student! gn! reader x cat cafe owner! wooyoung
𐙚 warnings/tags: timestamps/numbers don't mean anything, typos/mistakes, swearing, take a shot every time i said y/n
𐙚 note | WE ARE SLOWLY BUT STEADILY GETTING THERE, next chapter will be crazy, just saying...
thank you so much for reading and as always, any feedback, likes, reblogs, comments are appreciated! my inbox is always open too so don't be shy to leave something in there if you want to <3
synopsis: a master’s in library and information sciences is all you need to be offered a permanent job at crescent library, your favorite place in the world. but between working and studying, you barely have time to meet new people. until you cross paths with SAN, a university student researcher and employee of bloom, the greenhouse just down the block. but… is he really who you think he is?
featuring: san, wooyoung (tattoo artist), yeonjun (calls himself a ‘freelance model’ but mostly covers shifts at bloom), soobin (grad student and crescent library employee thanks to you), yunjin (journalist bff from undergrad)
-> chapter one: a thousand suns
-> chapter two:
-> chapter three:
to be added…
note: this has been sitting in my drafts for too long, and spring semester is finally over so i can upload chapters frequently! coincidentally, i have also reached over 1,000 followers so i wanted to do something a little different. thank you for the support as always, and please comment below if you’d like to be tagged!
𐙚 summary: you weren’t sure you believed in fated meetings, but when one drunken night you made decisions under the influence of your best friend, the so-called red string found its way to you, binding you to whatever it was meant to bring you. you hoped for some fluffy cats and dogs, but love wasn’t that bad too, right?
𐙚 pairing: vet student! gn! reader x cat cafe owner! wooyoung
𐙚 warnings/tags: timestamps/numbers don't mean anything, typos/mistakes, swearing, long sappy encouraging talk
𐙚 note | thank you so much for reading and as always, any feeback, likes, reblogs, comments are appreciated! my inbox is always open too so don't be shy to leave something in there if you want to <3
would you enjoy it if my next smau series (about an ateez member) had a mystery pairing? like you don't know who end game is until the end? i kind of want to do something like that in red string style but the identity will be hidden for real this time
(obviously, i imagine what the pairing would be)(i know everything)
wait...maybe it could have multiple endings too...with different members...right now i'm thinking about two of them in particular...
hi hi! i have a fun (hopefully) announcement to make!
i'm opening my text requests again so feel free to drop them in my inbox!! i haven't done this in a while, but i really wanted to make myself write more so now is the chance for that
before you send anything tho, please read my guidlines and also, check my masterlist in case i've already written something like that!! <3
(just a reminder - i only write for txt and ateez)
after a long time, the new red string chapter is up!!
if you are all wondering, what the hell is going on and when are they kissing - i'm dragging it as much as possible, first, because it feels right and i like it and second, because i feel like the story is coming to an end, sadly </3
i was having a bit of a hard time writing it since i had planned some other things, but i'll try my best to keep going and continue it in the best way possible (a lot of drafts go in the trash).
sorry for the rant, i hope everyone is doing well and you're enjoying red string!! thank you so much for reading and the support!!
