destined by a contract | l.jn. (t)
— pairing: lee jeno x fem!reader
[ft. lee donghyuck and na jaemin]
— genre: arranged marriage au, rivals to lovers, past academic rivals, slow burn, angst, fluff, a bit of unrequited love.
— warning: suggestive, cursing, drinking away all sorrows, more warnings in the full fic.
— wc (t): 718
— summary: a dying father's wish pushed you down to the well of dating life, which made you enter into a new wonderland of a contract marriage with someone that has a long-running rivalry with you.
— notes: wow. hello there, uhhh it's been a while since I've been here and idk what to say or do anything rn. But, this fic idea churned in my head after watching a business proposal and I remembered that I used to write, surprisingly. So, I hope I can fully finish this within a short duration and, honestly, great to be back, missed this place a ton!!
Comment/send an ask to be added to the taglist!!
"This screams desperation."
Your eyes were exposed, filled with plead and desperation despite your face trying to hide it.
Yes, this was the best solution.
You are just re-affirming the statement again and again, convincing this is right. You then close your eyes, just wanting his amused gaze to be gone from your vision. This tops the list of the most embarrassing things that ever occurred in your life, even higher than the time you asked a lady her due date when she was not even pregnant. Your intertwined hands grew tighter as the clock ticked by, just wanting a response from him.
"Did anyone else get this request or was I just the perfect candidate for you?" He spoke. This whole scenario suddenly hits you with a feeling of deja vu. He spoke the exact words when you always wanted to pair with him during any project work.
There was always the same intention whenever this happened— wanting to be closer to him.
Well not in the usual way but in the way that friends should be kept close, but your enemies closer. You were interested in how he dealt with academics, was he calm and collected, an extreme genius that he didn't even need to study and just read the material two days before an exam or was he the frustrated and angry kid, forcing himself to get everything right along the way or anything else?
A laugh escaped from your lips which responded to a confused-looking man in front of you. You finally opened your eyes and your hands felt light again as the air passed through.
It was always the same response, every time he asked. "Don't flatter yourself Lee Jeno, you remind me of myself, if I just made the worst choices." His expression shifts as he moves closer to you, and a smirk emerges from his lips. You feel his hands just inches away from yours. "Considering what just happened five minutes ago, do you think that statement of yours still applies?"
His eyes stared into yours, you felt him looking at you with concentration, maybe wanting to get a read of what you were feeling currently. And to be honest, you didn't know if this was the best choice, or was it the best one and your pride seemed to hinder the actual statistics. But you always were known to look before you leap. Despite your emotions hating every nerve you took to decide upon this, logically this ticked all your mental points. You didn't dare show any hint of reluctance upon your decision, you never wanted to give a chance that he may ever win, everything always went to your plan and not even something as life-changing as this would fuck up any of the plans you made for it.
"I look before I leap you know, and considering this seems to be a churning well of hell, if jumping right into it is the best decision, I would absolutely do that and still make myself be on top." You looked at him, confident with your own words. His eyes still linger around, wanting to see any weak point he can hit but with no avail he pulls himself back to his former stance.
"The immediate switch you have always surprised me when we both were students and safe to say, it still does." You bore no expression, even if this information was unexpected from him. You see his secretary walking slowly towards the table. Jeno stood up from his chair, giving a nod to the older male beside him. "I'll think about it. But considering our history, I'm sure you already know what that means." And with his business smile as a sign of goodbye, he made his way towards whatever business he had to attend to.
You knew exactly what he meant, he started to plan out something, which meant he already agreed upon it. You swished the cold drink with your straw as you pondered upon your thoughts.
You always ignored that certain emotion whenever you were with him. Was it the feeling of excitement, or entertainment? Whatever it was, you didn't realise your soul was craving it more than you would like to acknowledge it.
