CAST I bang chan, yang jeongin (i.n), seo changbin
WC I 3.2k
GENRE I smut, pwp, established relationship
WARNINGS I explicit language, explicit sexual content, mc finds jeongin attractive, usage of “baby girl,” “good girl,” etc., predator & prey dynamic, dom!chan, daddy!chan (ofc), sloppy kissing, oral (m receiving), hair pulling, biting, unprotected sex, dirty talk, clit play
SYNOPSIS I ignoring your boyfriend has its consequences — and its rewards, depending on the way you look at it.
A/N I i meannn obviously this was inspired by the run it music video. what can i say… watching chan move like that awoke something in me </33 also i was torn between making this a hybrid fic or not SO if you wanna see a hybrid!chan fic similar to this let me know 👀
request to be added to current and future taglists here!
MASTERLIST | STRAY KIDS MASTERLIST
The clock on the far side of the room ticks slowly, counting the seconds, minutes, and hours that are going by. The leaky faucet in the bathroom down the hallway drips in unison. Chan’s foot taps, perfectly in sync before dipping out of rhythm every now and then, when he gets distracted.
And he is just that — quite distracted.
Normally, he had no problem keeping rhythm. In fact, he was quite good at it. If he were really paying attention, he would’ve noticed this cacophony of sounds and likely pulled out his old laptop to record a sample or type something out quickly. Inspiration, he often said, was found any and everywhere, if you simply took the time to stop and listen.
He wasn’t about to listen to his own advice right now, though.
Your giggles — usually a source of his own happiness (and inspiration) — were at the moment getting on his nerves. Not because it was you, and not because he thought your laugh was annoying, no — he loved your laugh, loved you. But the fact that Jeongin was the one making you giggle and blush like that… well, that simply wasn’t acceptable.
He glares over at you, where you’re curled up in the corner of the couch and glued to your phone, squealing and giggling as you watch and re-watch Jeongin’s parts in the new music video.
He looks sooo good in this video, Channie!
I can’t believe how much he’s grown into his features, he looks so different now…
Ah, his biceps! Has he been coming to the gym with you more often?
“No, he hasn’t.” Chan’s voice is sour, bitter and jealous. His cheeks flush slightly with embarrassment — here he was, a grown man of nearly 30, throwing a hissy fit over his dongsaeng. Jeongin, of all people! Of all the other members! It made it that much more humiliating, that he was jealous of Jeongin. His baby brother.
If you notice the sullenness in your boyfriend’s voice, you don’t show it, which adds to Chan’s annoyance. Why weren’t you watching his parts? His clips? What was so fascinating about Jeongin in this video?
“Maybe he’s been going with Bin, then… because he’s gotta be working out pretty damn hard for those…” you marvel, rewinding the video again to catch another glimpse of Jeongin’s biceps flexing as he raises his arms.
That was it. Chan’s scowl darkens, and he moves over next to you to grab your phone from your hands — the video still playing — before scooting back over to his end of the couch, a smug smile on his face now as he hears your protests.
“Chan, wha…” you grumble, your gaze finally settling on your attention starved boyfriend. His face lights up as you regard him — never mind that your expression is confused and annoyed — and he shuts off your phone, beaming.
“You’re not paying attention to me,” he pouts, and his cuteness almost makes you forget about his thievery.
“Give it back,” you pout back, playfully reaching for your phone.
“Uh-uh… Jeongin time is over. It’s Channie’s time now.” He grins wider, holding the phone even further out of your reach. You groan in exasperation.
“Babe, come on…”
“I said, it’s time to pay attention to Daddy now.”
A chill runs down your spine at the dominant turn in Chan’s voice. You swallow hard, your mouth suddenly feeling very dry, and your heart starting to pound faster. When you meet his gaze, his eyes are dark with lust and control. He makes sure that you’re watching his every movement, as he stands up and places your phone on the nearby table, screen side down. You can hear it buzzing, and he clicks his tongue as he watches you twitch with hesitation.
“Why’re you so focused on other things, baby girl? I’m right here… I need you too,” he croons, slowly walking towards you. You feel exposed, bare, despite the fact that you’re still completely clothed.
Once he’s standing before you, he nudges between your legs so that he’s able to get right in front of you, smirking as he watches your expression change to a flustered one. Your eyes lock with the sight before you — his crotch, his erection straining at the confines of his jeans. A strong, firm hand at the back of your head gently guides you closer, until your plush lips press against his hardness. You let out a small whimper as you feel his cock throbbing, pulsing against your hot mouth.
“Seems like you might need me just as much as I need you,” he murmurs, a teasing edge to his voice as he lets out a shaky exhale, feeling every quiver of your desperate, eager mouth. “Is that right, baby?”
“Mm… mhm…” you moan, your voice muffled. He lets out a low groan, the vibrations of your voice making him shudder with arousal.
“Good girl. ‘S what I like to hear.” His grip on your hair tightens, and he pulls you back, away from his crotch. It makes you whine again, but he shushes you as his free hand fumbles with his belt, with his button and zipper before roughly shoving his jeans and his boxers down at the same time. His jaw clenches with impatience and the strain of holding back as his cock twitches and bobs right before your eyes — it’s a bit cruel how he holds you back, makes you watch as a bead of precum forms at his slit. Your tongue darts out to wet your lips, salivating as he watches you with amusement and satisfaction.
Finally, finally, he loosens his grip on your hair once more, grunting as you take that as permission to touch him. You move forward eagerly, your hands grabbing at his muscular thighs to pull him even closer, needing him to overwhelm every one of your senses. You press messy kisses to his hip, his upper thigh, making him groan and leak more precum, the sticky fluid dribbling down his aching shaft. You’re careful to not tease too much, knowing his patience is thin already tonight. And anyway, you want to please him. He needs it, and you’re completely willing to give it — to show him just how much you want him, more than anyone else. Forget everyone else.
He lets out an uneven, shaky breath as your lips finally close around his tip, your tongue swirling around his slit and tasting his bitter essence. You put on a bit of a show, moaning at the taste as you flutter your lashes and look up at him, further spurred on by the sight you’re met with — him, his head thrown back already, groaning as he lets you worship him.
You take more of him in your mouth, eager to please him more now, your grip tightening on his creamy thighs as you hollow your cheeks and tighten your lips around his throbbing length. His tip prods the back of your throat, and you hold back a gag as you swallow around it, eliciting a strained grunt from the man above you.
He takes things into his own hands now, mind blurred with lust. He curses under his breath, using both hands to grab your head and thrust fully into your mouth, chuckling breathily at the sound of your surprised, garbled moan. Your nose presses against his crotch, nosing at the short, fine hairs there. You take the opportunity to use your tongue to swipe at his balls, making him grit his teeth and shiver at the sensation.
“Fuck… taking me so good, aren’t you?” he practically purrs, looking down at you with adoration. “My good girl…”
Eagerly, you let out a whimper, the vibrations of your throat around his cock making him mutter a quiet “fuck” under his breath.
Once he’s sure that you’re adjusted, sure that you’re ready, he draws his hips back, sucking in a deep breath as he looks down at his spit slicked length. His hips snap forward, thrusting his cock into the back of your throat roughly, and he moans loudly as you let out a choked splutter. He thrusts hard and fast, chuckling darkly at the sight of your spit dripping down his chin, dribbling down his balls and making a messy puddle of fluids on the floor between the two of you.
“Mn, fuck… ‘y like that? Like the feeling of my cock down your throat?” he grunts, biting his lower lip hard as he feels your tongue swipe along the underside of his length, teasing despite his rough treatment.
Your nails dig into his skin, as if to wordlessly say, yes.
The hungry, lustful look in your eyes paired with the hot, wet cavern of your mouth proves too much for Chan to handle, at least for too long. You’re far from done when he pulls you off of his cock, and you let out a hoarse whine of protest. His chest is heaving, the exposed skin of his lower stomach shiny with perspiration.
“Bedroom,” he growls, dark eyes trained on your shivering form as you stand up immediately, obeying his words like a well trained dog. He kicks off his jeans and boxers, leaving a trail of clothes behind him as he follows you to the bedroom, stalking you like a predator closing in on its prey.
You feel like you’re being hunted too — stumbling on shaky legs (even though you hadn’t even been fucked yet), short of breath. You cast a look over your shoulder every few steps, slowing your pace as you watch Chan’s shadowy form trailing after you. He too pauses, to take off his shirt. Your breath hitches as you watch him pull the sweat soaked garment over his head, his muscles flexing deliciously in the limited light.
“I didn’t tell you to stop, baby.” You shiver, your panties dampening and your heart rate increasing as his voice echoes down the dim hallway. You quicken your pace, skittering down the hall and entering the bedroom. You perch delicately, nervously, on the edge of the bed — watching the doorway, waiting for Chan.
He enters momentarily, but every second feels like an eternity until he appears in your line of vision again.
Completely nude now, he looks like a Greek god standing there. There’s a slightly cocky, arrogant look on his face as he watches your hungry expression, and he shifts to wrap his thick fingers around his even thicker cock. Stroking slowly, teasingly, he lets out a low groan, squeezing his tip before letting go, smirking at the way you squeeze your thighs together and suck in a quick, eager breath.
“Strip. And lay back for me,” he orders, watching from the doorway. Refusing to come closer, unless you listen to what he says. Holding the reward of his cock just out of your reach.
What else can you do?
It’s not like you wanted to disobey anyway.
You fumble with your clothes, the fabric suddenly becoming extremely confusing as you try to rip everything off as fast as possible. Chan hides a smile behind a stoic demeanor as he watches you struggle to get your shirt over your head.
You eventually figure it out, your cheeks flushed with sheepishness as you settle in the middle of the bed, propping yourself up slightly with your elbows. Just enough that you can still see Chan.
He’s looking over your nude frame appreciatively, a low grumble of a growl in his throat as he finally begins to approach. He crawls onto the foot of the bed, slowly making his way up to you, back muscles rippling with every slight movement. He doesn’t stop until he’s hovering over you, his cock pressing against your inner thigh, hot and throbbing right next to where you need him most. You’re sure he can feel it too, from the way his length slips against your slick skin, dampened with your juices.
He leans down, pressing his face into the curve of your neck, inhaling your scent deeply. Memorizing everything about you, as if he didn’t already have it committed to memory.
He adjusts, angling his hips slightly differently, making you gasp as he presses against your sopping slit instead of your inner thigh. It was like he could read your mind — or, he was just thinking the same thing.
Your hands find refuge on his back, nails taking up and down his milky, rippling skin. His hands settle on your hips, squeezing the plush flesh there, anchoring himself before he pulls back slightly, nudging your legs onto his shoulders, that same cocky grin spread across his handsome features as he looks down at your flustered expression. He leans over to press a surprisingly tender kiss to your quivering leg, before he looks down and lets out a shaky breath, tapping his tip against your clit.
“Ready?” he murmurs softly, his other hand reaching up to find yours — both of your hands were lost, clutching at the sheets desperately after you removed them from his back. You squeeze his hand gently, the feeling comforting.
You nod, biting your lower lip in anticipation. And so he presses forward, a guttural groan escaping his lips at the same time a whimpery mewl escapes yours.
There’s a slight bit of resistance as he presses the blunt tip of his cock against your tight slit, reminding both of you that it had been too long since the last time this happened. You wince slightly at the burn, the stretch, as his tip wedges its way inside, pressing deeper and deeper. It begins to satisfy that gnawing hunger from within, making you let out a sob of relief as he bottoms out inside you, despite the slight pain that remains.
Chan lets out a snarl, upper lip curling as he presses your legs up against your chest, nearly folding you in half as he starts to fuck you hard and fast — mirroring the rough pace he’d set when fucking your face just minutes before.
“Fuck, fuck… fuck yes,” he groans, letting out a pleased hum as he hears your mewls increase in volume. He bottoms out, grinning widely as you squirm when he swirls his hips in circles, grinding his tip against your cervix. It feels so deep, so intense — it’s no wonder you can’t help but sputter and babble for more, even though he’s giving you more than you can handle.
“Baby girl likes it when Daddy’s rough with her, hm?” he coos, snapping his hips against yours, the emanating squelches making you moan with embarrassment and arousal. “Come on… say it. Tell me how much you love it, how good you fuckin’ feel right now…”
He reaches down, thumbing at your sensitive, ignored clit, making you gasp at the sudden dual pleasure. “F-feels so good!” you manage to stutter out, finding it extremely difficult to properly form words at the moment.
He pulls out suddenly, and your skin screams for his touch to return. Your legs fall back limply, aching from the position that they had been pressed in all this time. His expression is one of pure lust, endless longing, as he looks at the sweaty sheen of your skin, the way the dim light highlights your curves and dips.
“Flip over for me, baby.” His voice is commanding, that dominant edge not leaving despite the growing exhaustion in his aching muscles.
You do so, your legs shaking as you get on all fours. Chan’s touch is back on you instantly, sending fire through your veins, bringing you back to life. You find your voice, whimpering his name — Daddy — desperately, loudly, as he shoves your face into the sheets and presses his hips against yours.
He drags his tip over your clit, over your aching and swollen hole, stopping just before he reaches your ass. He sucks in a quivering breath, in a trance as he stares at the glorious sight before him. Never before has anyone been able to evoke such animalistic instinct from him before, such primal urge. He stares at your vulnerability, drooling at the implications and potential possibilities. “Pretty… my baby girl has such pretty holes, all for me to use…”
“Daddy, please!” you plead, your cries muffled, tears and snot and saliva soaking the sheets beneath your face.
He growls in response, slapping his cock against your swollen pussy. You sob, your feet kicking against the mattress weakly, listlessly, uselessly.
He plunges his cock back into you without any warning, without even another word. Your sob turns to a deep moan, your walls clamping down around his thick girth, sucking him in deeper.
It takes everything in him to not fill you up right there, right at that moment.
Drawing back slowly, his balls tight and full, he has to hold back even more, biting his tongue. There’s a circle of cream around the base of his cock, your combined fluids making a painfully erotic sight. He needs more, needs to feel you cum on his cock.
He changes his position, faster than you can protest. One hand cements itself on your hip, the grip bruising. The other reaches around, pressing hard against your puffy clit and rubbing in tight circles. He has to muffle a moan by leaning down and biting your shoulder as he feels your pussy clench around him again. His hips start thrusting again, frantic and needy. His teeth release your flesh, soothing the sting with his soft lips, pressing sloppy kisses everywhere you need him.
“D-Daddy…” you moan, the new position bringing you to your orgasm much faster than before. You can feel him so fucking deep, feel the roughness of his calloused fingers directly on your clit. It’s too much, and you both know it. You can practically see the smug grin on his face as you close your eyes, focusing on the feeling of his tip dragging against your g-spot with each knowing draw of his hips.
“Go on, cream on my cock, baby. Know you wanna,” he growls, pinching your clit between his h thumb and forefinger, moaning in harmony with the scream it brings from your lungs. “G-gonna breed this pussy so fuckin’ full…”
You think you black out for a second, but you can’t be sure. All you know is that one moment you’re crying Chan’s name, and the next his front is pressed against your back as he whispers your name back, heat blooming inside you as he spurts ropes of thick cum deep into your womb.
He presses kisses to your sweaty shoulder, hands coming to gently smooth over your waist, soft praises falling from his lips — so sweet in comparison to the dirty filth he’d been spewing just before.
He pulls out with a sharp inhale, watching the pearly rivulets of your combined release flowing from your sweet pussy. He nearly leans back in, but you flip back over to pull him into a searing kiss instead. He kisses back, heart skipping a beat as he gently pulls you into an embrace.
“Satisfied now?” you murmur, voice hoarse but still teasing.
That was something (one of the many things) he adored about you — your insatiable, never ending spark. He rolls his eyes, resting his head on your chest.
“Mm… maybe for now,” he concedes, indeed content for now, as long as your phone (and the replays of Jeongin’s parts) stay away from his girl.
petrichor-han 2026. do not translate, repost or feed into ai.
please consider reblogging and/or leaving a few kind words if you enjoyed this fic :) tumblr posts revolve around reblogs, and i'd appreciate the gesture!!
THE STORY OF YOU AND JEONGHAN was something out of romance novels. He was the love of your life and you were his. Keyword: was. When you pack up and leave without another word, Jeonghan is left to pick up the petals of your relationship and thought that he would never see or hear from you again. However, after ten years, it seems like the universe has other plans when he hears a piece of gossip from Chan about someone moving back to town.
PAIRING: ex-boyfriend! jeonghan x ex-girlfriend!f.reader
GENRE: Childhood Friends to Lovers to Exes to ???, Brother's Best Friend, Second Chance Romance
AU: Spring AU/ Flower Shop AU/ Hometown AU
TOTAL WC: 24.8K
FIC WARNINGS: angst, one mention of taking of each other's virginity, swearing, mentions of alcohol, mentions of consuming alcohol, mentions of food, mentions of homesickness, mentions of anxiety and doubtful thoughts, self-insert of friends (izzy & kay), talks about the future and getting married, mentions of promise rings
PLAYLIST: a timeless playlist for rose ~ love, hannie
LIV'S NOTES...
this is my fic for the svthub's first blooms collab and i'm so excited to bring you jeonghan! thank you to our admins @cherry-zip & @wooahaeproductions for hosting this collab! do check out the rest of the fics in this collab as well! many many amazing works <3!
big thank you to @orbitondgtl and @jakedustry for helping me through my ideas and for beta-reading certain parts of the fic and for screaming in my dms about it <3 both of you are the best hype-staff that i could've asked for <3 love you both so much!
i was so glad to be given the opportunity to write for hannie especially since he just came home! aaaaa <3 so happy jeonghan comeback everyone! i hope you all enjoy the fic <3
MAIN MASTERLIST | NAVI
FLOWERS WILL BLOOM
Jeonghan would like to say that his interest in flowers started when he was eight, on the day of his sister's birthday. His sister wanted to go to a flower garden for her birthday and much to Jeonghan's dismay (at first), she got to. Jeonghan had thrown many tantrums about it because he said he's a boy and being caught dead in a flower garden would surely make Seungcheol and Joshua tease him to no end about it. However, he lost that manipulation tantrum and sulked all the way until they reached the garden that his sister had been talking about for months.
He dragged his feet as he sulkily trailed after his parents who were hand in hand with his sister who was looking at the flowers with her eyes as big as saucers. She rattled off some statements about how pretty the flowers were which made Jeonghan scoff as he folded his arms and looked away from them.
His eyes wandered until they widened, seeing a familiar face a few feet away between a section of red and blue flower who looked just as unamused as he was.
"Mum!" Jeonghan's mother turned around, facing her son with a look of surprise etched onto her face as she saw the visible difference in his posture and face.
"Yes darling?"
"Can I go over to play with Seungcheol?" His mother's gaze flicked towards where the other unamused boy stood, slightly hunched over a little girl by his side and immediately understood the reason for Jeonghan's posture change.
With a sigh, she nodded. "But you can't throw a tantrum when I say it's time to go later, okay?" She warned him making the boy absentmindedly nod, already on his way to bother the older boy that he had his sights on.
"Cheol!" Seungcheol, the boy in question jolted before he whipped his head around to see his gremlin of a best friend, which made his eyes widen.
"Jeonghan?" Seungcheol blinked as he fully turned his body towards him. "What are you doing here?"
Jeonghan rolled his eyes and gestured to his sister who was walking further away with their parents in tow. "Su Bin wanted to come and see the flower festival for her birthday." He turned back to Seungcheol, "Why are you here?"
Seungcheol opened his mouth to answer when a soft voice captured both of their attentions. "Who are you? Are you trying to steal my brother?"
Jeonghan peered down to see a little girl with bangs and pigtails. She donned a flower dress and had a small frown on her lips as she clutched Seungcheol's right arm, tight into her own. Jeonghan's eyebrows furrowed at the expression on the girl's face before he glanced at his best friend. Seungcheol, however, just looked at the girl with a slight fondness as he shook his head.
"He isn't stealing me away." He assured the girl and used his free hand to pat her head. "This is Jeonghan, the one that I have told you many stories about. He's oppa's best friend."
It suddenly clicked in Jeonghan's brain who this girl was. You were Seungcheol's younger sister by two years. He had only heard stories of you where his best friend had referenced you as Violet. It was a nickname that Seungcheol had coined when you had gotten lost at the age of four and ended up being found in a bed of violets, sleeping away.
Your eyes locked with Jeonghan's as you tilted your head to the side, almost calculating the man in-front of you. Jeonghan felt a little apprehensive under your gaze as he felt your boba eyes pierce his soul and made him feel something… he didn't know what it was exactly but it made his heart race and his chest uneasy.
"Did he come to play with us?" You asked your brother, your gaze unwavered as you continue to star down Jeonghan. Seungcheol spared a glance towards his best friend before a smirk appeared on his face that made Jeonghan's eyebrows furrow, not liking the look in his eyes.
"I think he came because he wanted to learn more about flowers, Violet."
Jeonghan felt his heart drop as soon as the words came out of his best friend's mouth and felt his jaw drop open. "N-no! That's not—" He had tried to sputter out but then he noticed your reaction and his words got caught in his throat.
Your eyes had widened as you looked between your brother and his friend excitedly. "Really?" You had asked him, your tone laced with awe. "You want to know more about flowers?"
Jeonghan felt his mind blank at the sheer excitement in your voice as all the words that he was going to say immediately disappeared from his head. He felt his throat dry up as Seungcheol detached himself easily from your hold — now that you were distracted by a new 'willing' subject, a smug expression on his face. Jeonghan, however, did not notice his best friend's delight and was just laser-focused on you as you moved closer to him.
"Do you?" You had asked him again, when you were just a few meters away from the boy. Jeonghan didn't know what was wrong with him, if it was any other person, he would scoff in their face and sulk or manipulate his way out of the situation. However, he felt himself nod at your words, almost as if you had placed him under a spell.
If it was even possible, your eyes lit up even more as you reached out and took his arm into yours and tugged him to your side. Jeonghan stumbled as his eyes widened, you were really strong. You excitedly jumped up and down as you stared into the hesitant eyes of the boy you had just met a couple minutes ago.
"C'mon!" You said as you pulled Jeonghan towards the red flowers. "I'll make sure you have a favourite flower by the end of today!"
Jeonghan gulped as he peered behind him to see Seungcheol stood there, a delighted expression on his face as he gave a wave. Jeonghan glared at his best friend as the cogs finally clicked in his head. He had planned this from the very start. Seungcheol had basically used him as bait to get out of your flower talk.
Jeonghan felt you literally tug him out of his thoughts as you squatted down to get a closer look at the flowers, effectively making the older boy squat as well. Jeonghan rebalanced himself, his eye twitching in the process as he tried very hard to not toss a glare your way, annoyance filling his tiny body.
He opened his mouth and was ready to turn to you, to spout some bullshit excuse when he saw you gesture to the red flowers in-front of you.
"Look."
Jeonghan looked up, analyzing the flower with an unimpressed expression on his face before he noticed that he had gotten mud all over his new shoes that he had begged his mother to buy. He felt his blood boil with annoyance and turned to you, niceness be damned, he was going to chastise you.
However, when his eyes locked with your frame, all the words he wanted to say died on his tongue and his mind blanked for the second time that hour.
You stared at the roses with a gentleness and softness on your face as your eyes lit up, the more you analyzed the red flower in-front of you. You even went as far as to stroke the petal of the one closest to you as a small, cute smile appeared on your face.
"This is a rose." You softly said, as you absentmindedly rubbed a dew off of the petal of another flower. "Did you know my mummy said that there are more than one hundred and fifty species of roses?"
Jeonghan felt his head shake at your question, an action that he didn't have full control over. "My mummy also told me that all flowers have different meanings." You chirped.
There was silence for a little while until Jeonghan's curiosity got the better of him. "What does violets mean?"
You were quiet for a bit before you opened your mouth and replied with a simple, "My mummy said that they represent modesty and faithfulness." Your nose scrunched up, "I have no idea what that means though."
Jeonghan was silent as he spared a glance at the red roses in-front of the two of you. "Did your mummy also tell you what roses mean?"
Jeonghan looked back at you as you nod with your eyebrows scrunched, almost as if you were trying to recall what exactly she had said.
"She told me about the red ones…" You started. "She said that they mean love and are mostly given from two people who love each other." With that, you turned to the older boy, your head tilted to the side, a small frown on your face.
"I bet you find that disgusting though." You state softly, recalling your older brother's words. "Because you're a boy and oppa always says that boys don't like roses because love is weird and disgusting."
If Jeonghan had paid a little more attention, he would've scrunched up his nose and agreed with your brother's words that echoed in your head. However, as he stared at your little pout and your shiny boba eyes, he felt his mouth run before he had the chance to stop it.
"No." He admitted. "I think roses are cool."
You blinked at the older boy as he processed the words that had just left his mouth with a red flush on his cheeks.
"Really?" You asked, slightly in awe which made Jeonghan's cheeks flush even more at the intensity of the way you were looking at him.
"Y-yeah." He stuttered out as his gaze shifted from your eyes to the red roses, unable to hold your gaze for much longer. "I think the red is cool and…" His voice softened. "They're pretty I guess."
His heart thundered in his ear as all he was met with from you, was silence. His face grew hotter every second that you didn't answer. He was going to save some dignity and pull back when he heard you giggle.
He turned back to you, his eyes wide as he watched as your eye lines crinkle. He felt the same uneasiness in his chest as earlier and blinked at you, unsure of what to do until you finally stopped laughing and just fixed the boy with a big smile.
"You're funny." You admitted, the smile on your face getting impossibly bigger as Jeonghan blinked at you again. "We're friends now!"
Jeonghan eyes widened even more. "F-friends?"
You nodded, a determined expression on your face. "Anyone who likes roses is my friend. So," You leaned closer to the boy as your eyes shimmered in the sunlight. "We're friends now."
Jeonghan felt the tips of his ears become hot as he turned away from you, unable to bare the intensity of your boba eyes. It was almost as if they stared into his soul, He hoped you didn't know the effect that you had on him, because if you told your brother about it, Seungcheol or Joshua would never let him live it down.
Unbeknownst to him, you were a smart cookie. You knew the effect you had on people and Jeonghan wasn't any different. You smiled to yourself before you tugged the boy up to his feet as you drew his attention back to you.
"C'mon Hannie." You said, the nickname rolling off your tongue with an ease that made Jeonghan's heart ache. "I got more flowers to show you!"
Jeonghan didn't know why but he let himself get tugged for the second time that day towards a section of yellow flowers. He spared a glance down towards your co-joined hands then peered back at the red roses that the two of you were leaving behind. He took another look at you and the big smile you had on your face as you dragged him off and felt his body warm.
Maybe. He thought to himself. Flowers weren't so bad after all.
A small smile appeared on his face without him noticing.
Or at least, Roses aren't that bad.
THORNS PROSPER MORE THAN THE BLOOMS
Jeonghan would say that he's a charmer. He also knows that it's a fact that is definitely undisputed by everyone around him.
"Aigoo!" Jeonghan exclaims, jogging over to Mrs Tam, a regular at his flower shop. "Mrs Tam! What did I tell you about opening doors for yourself?"
Mrs Tam, an elderly woman in her seventies let out a chuckle as Jeonghan pushed opened the door for her, helping her with her trolley in the process. "That I should always wait for one of you boys to do it for me?"
Jeonghan clicks his tongue as he flashes her a dazzling smile whilst taking her hand to help her inside the shop. "Bingo!" Jeonghan shoots her a wink. "I knew you were a smart cookie when you first came to the shop."
Mrs Tam laughs heartily and pats his hand with her free one, her eye lines crinkling as she gives him a smile. "You're such a charmer, my dear boy." Her eyes twinkle. "It's a wonder that you don't have a girlfriend yet… Would you like me to set you up with someone? I'll have you know that my granddaughter and her husband have been going strong for three years because I introduced them to each other!"
Jeonghan shakes his head, the charming smile on his face never leaving. "Aigoo." He cooes out, patting the elderly lady's hand. "I can't ask you to do that for me, Mrs Tam. Besides," He looks around at the store before leaning in. "If I get a girlfriend, Shua will feel really alone and I can't let that happen."
"I heard that." Comes an unamused call from the counter, making the two turn to see Joshua leaning against the counter, who rolls his eyes as soon as the two look at him. "I think I have a better chance at finding a girl than you do, Hannie."
Jeonghan shares a glance with the older lady before smirking at Joshua. "Wow." He whistles out. "Sensitive, aren't we?" He is met with another eye roll as Joshua pushes himself off the counter.
"You're lucky Mrs Tam is here." He calls out to Jeonghan who lets out a laugh before shooting her a wink.
"Saved my life again, Mrs Tam." He gives the elderly lady's hands one last squeeze before letting her go and ushering her to the counter. "What can I do for you today?"
Mrs Tam's smile grows bigger as she pulls out a picture from her wallet before passing it to Jeonghan for him to see. He takes the picture from her and his eyes widen as his jaw drops open.
"Wah!" Jeonghan exclaims, reaching over the counter to squeeze the older lady's hand once more. "Congratulations Mrs Tam!"
Joshua peeks out from the storeroom, confusion written all over his face as to what the commotion is about. Jeonghan turns and shows Joshua the picture of the ultrasound with Mrs Tam's grandaugther's name written at the top left hand corner.
Joshua's eyes widen as a smile appears on his lips as he walks over to Mrs Tam to give her a hug. "Congratulations Mrs Tam!" He pulls away and gives her a smile. "You'll make an amazing grandmother."
The older woman's smile gets bigger as she looks between the two boys, her eyes shining.
"You two are too sweet." She says before turning back to Jeonghan. "That's why I am here today! I wanted to get them a bouquet of flowers to congratulate them and I knew that you two would be able to curate a bouquet that is perfect for the occasion."
Joshua fondly smiles at Mrs Tam. "I'm sure Jeonghan has something just right for you." He shoots a teasing glance towards the slightly older man. "Don't you, Hannie?"
Jeonghan meets his teasing smile with a smile of his own as he gives Mrs Tam a reassuring nod. "I got the perfect arrangement for you, Mrs Tam. Give me a few moments to arrange and wrap it for you."
With that, Jeonghan walks around his sunlit store, weaving through the different sections grabbing a few different flowers as his mind spirals with what arrangment style he could arrange this in. All the while, Joshua ushered Mrs Tam to sit at the tea table they had and offers her a soothing green tea while she waits.
Jeonghan, in full concentration makes his way back to the counter after collecting all the flowers he needs and gets to work.
After a couple of snips and snaps and sounds of wrappers being used, Jeonghan places his palms on his hips as he looks down at his creation with a satisfied smile on his face.
He adds a finishing touch of a spritz of a citrus scent on the packaging to elevate it a little more before grabbing it and making his way over to where Mrs Tam and Joshua are quietly chatting.
Jeonghan holds out the flowers in-front of Mrs Tam with a prideful smile on his face. "Here you go!" He chirps out as Mrs Tam lets out a gasp and takes the bouquet into her hands, looking at the full floral arrangement in awe.
"This is beautiful." She breathes out, making Jeonghan's smile grow bigger. She glances up and locks eyes with Jeonghan. "What do they mean?"
Jeonghan lets out a hum and begins to point out the different flowers.
"This bouquet signifies new beginnings. These," He points to the pink flowers. "Are pink carnations. Pink carnations are known to represent maternal care so her receiving her first ones from you will mean the world to her." He moves on towards the purple flowers.
"Tulips." He said with a certain smile on his face. "Signifies joy, happiness and the promise of new life." They shift to the white flowers. "Gerbera daisies are famous for being joyful and uplifting, perfect to celebrate a bub-to-be." His breath hitches slightly as his eyes fixate on the last flowers in the bouquet.
"White and pink roses." He all but whispers out, "is the symbol of peace, unconditional love and new beginnings." Jeonghan stares at the pink and white flowers for a beat longer before he clears his throat and flashes Mrs Tam a disarming smile, trying to ignore Joshua's knowing eyes on him. "Definitely a good way to bring forth new changes and fresh beginnings."
Mrs Tam's eyes twinkle as she glances at Jeonghan, her grip on the bouquet gentle as she takes in the beautiful arrangement once more. "My dear boy." She says, her tone watery. "This is outstanding work."
Jeonghan's smile changes into a more genuine one, softer around the edges as he nods. "I'm glad that I could make it happen, Mrs Tam."
The clock chimes on the wall, making the elderly lady glance at it before letting out a soft 'oh'. "I think that's my cue to leave, my dear boys." Jeonghan nods in understanding as Joshua stands up to help Mrs Tam with her belongings.
"Let my walk you out, Mrs Tam." Joshua says softly. As soon as they reach the door, the lady turns around to face the elder of the two.
"The roses are a really lovely touch to the bouquet, Jeonghan." She says, her eyes twinkling with a certain shine that causes Jeonghan's breath to hitch as he gives her an uneasy smile.
"Yeah." He says, his voice a little raspy, as if he had just found it. "I guess they are."
With that, Mrs Tam gives the boy one last smile before bidding Joshua a 'thank you' and 'goodbye'. The bell chimes as the door shuts, silence enveloping the shop once more as the afternoon sun shines through the multiple windows of the shop, painting the shop in a lovely golden hue.
"Roses, huh?" Joshua asks, the question not really a question with his knowing tone as Jeonghan stands up and pushes his chair back under the table, actively not meeting his best friend's eyes.
"Yeah." He answers, short and sweet, leaving no room for further comments. Joshua just lets out an easy hum, walking back to the tea table to place the two teacups back onto the tray so that he can bring it to the back.
Joshua spares a glance towards his best friend who starts sorting inventory and unpacking deliveries, a serious expression on his face. Joshua internally sighs before he tries to lighten the mood.
"Can't believe Chan and Seungkwan are both late today." He says easily, exaggeratedly scoffing as he gets Jeonghan's attention. "I swear, if they were both out drinking last night…"
Jeonghan lets out a soft chuckle which makes Joshua smile to himself, pleased that he managed to get the other man out of his head a little.
"Well," Jeonghan starts, turning to cast a glance at him. "wouldn't be the first time."
Joshua shakes his head, "They're learning too much from Soonyoung." He lifts the tray to bring it to the back. "All the bad habits, might I add."
Jeonghan smiles at that. "You know how much Channie looks up to him." He runs a finger down the list before scanning the shelf in-front of him, looking for the yellow carnations. "I hope they're here soon though, we have an order for Kay's Jewels in about an hour and a half and Izzy's Emporium right after that." He glances towards the delivery shelf to find it half-full. "And Seungkwan hasn't actually finished the arrangements for that."
Joshua lets out a hum. "How many orders for each is there again?" He makes his way over to Jeonghan. "Maybe I can do one or two so that he doesn't have that much work later."
Jeonghan clicks his tongue as he flips through the sheets of paper on his clipboard, trying to find the order. As he finds it and opens his mouth to share the details with his semi-co-owner, the bell chimes as the door flies open, making the two jolt.
They immediately turn towards the door to see the two younger men, their hairs slightly disheveled as they panted, looking as if they had just sprinted a marathon to get here.
"Sorry we're late!" Seungkwan apologises between breaths as Chan nods, looking as if he would pass out if he actually said something.
The two owners share a glance, their minds running on the same frequency as they immediately turn back to the two, the only goal in their mind being 'torture' and shenanigans. Joshua is the first to speak, putting their plan into action.
"Well, well, well…" Joshua drawls out, crossing his arms. "Did you two finally remember that you have jobs?"
Chan and Seungkwan share a look, opening their mouth to say something but Jeonghan cuts them off, shaking his head as he feigns disappointment with a small pout on his face. "How could you both?" He asks, the pout deepening. "We were swamped with orders this morning and both Kay and Izzy called to double their orders!" He shakes his head again, slower this time to give it the added 'disappointment' effect before locking eyes with the two again.
"I can't believe you two would do this."
The two younger men's eyes widen as they begin to stammer out apologies, saying that they would pull extra shifts as well as do overtime for free when Joshua and Jeonghan's facades break, making them launch into a fit of chuckles.
Upon seeing the break, Seungkwan groans, catching on faster than Chan who just stares at the two in shock.
"You two are terrible." Seungkwan says, shooting them a glare. Joshua smirks walking over to the man, putting an arm around him as he tugs him closer.
"Aww." He drawls out, feigning a pout as he ruffles Seungkwan's hair. "That's not a nice thing to say."
Seungkwan rolls his eyes. "Well, only nice people deserve nice things said to them."
Jeonghan exaggeratedly gasps, placing his hand on his chest as he feigns hurt. "Hey!" He exclaims. "I'm nice!"
Seungkwan shoots him a look. "Nice like the devil maybe." Seungkwan mutters, shoving Joshua off of him which makes the older man laugh before trekking to the back, to probably get started with the delivery orders.
The two gremlins fix their gaze onto Chan who awkwardly shuffles in place, making Jeonghan walk over to him and sling an arm around his shoulder, tugging the younger body into his chest.
"Aigoo." He coos, tucking his clipboard under his arm as he ruffles Chan's hair. "Why were the two of you so late today?"
Chan looks between Jeonghan and Joshua, letting out an awkward chuckle before he swallows, unsure of how to answer which makes the two gremlins share a look.
"Were you out drinking again last night?" Joshua asks, his smirk teasing as the tip of Chan's ears turn red, indicating that Joshua had been right on the ball.
Jeonghan feigns a disappointed sigh as he shakes his head, tutting in the process. "Were you two out with Kwon again?" Jeonghan asks, his eyebrows raising. "You both do know that he's a bad influence on you right?"
Chan's eyebrow furrow slightly as he shakes his head. "No, we weren't with him last night." He answers, glancing between the two interrogators. "We were drinking with Mingyu and Vernon last night."
Jeonghan's eyebrows scrunch up. "Mingyu and Vernon?"
Chan's nod only makes the two even more confused. Vernon, they understood. He had grown up with Chan and Seungkwan, being next door neighbors and all but Mingyu had been apart of Jeonghan and Joshua's circle in high school, sure they had drifted apart a little bit but Mingyu wasn't known to hang around the Do Re Mi trio.
"That's interesting." Is Jeonghan's reply as he lets go of Chan, still slightly confused. Chan rubs the back of his neck as he nods, his eyes twinkling which makes the older boy's eyebrow raise. "You have some gossip to share, don't you?"
Jeonghan had hired Chan and Seungkwan right off the bat after high school when Joshua and him were talking about starting this business. It was a brush off of an idea at first, a drunken night where Joshua brought up the idea during one of their weekly meetups with Seungcheol. Jeonghan rolled his eyes at the suggestion but played along with the idea and playfully said that if he were to do that, Joshua would be his second in command.
They had laughed it off while Seungcheol was in the bathroom but the more Jeonghan thought about it, the more it made sense as an overall idea. The town was small, the only flower shop they had was a bit of a drive away which meant that a lot of the older people had to either opt for delivery (which was done by their children or grandchildren) or they drove out there themselves. Jeonghan also had taken an interest in flowers and due to his photographic memory, he actually remembered a lot of the facts that he had read when he was trying to impress someone back then.
So, after a bad hangover the next morning, Jeonghan started to actually craft out a plan and asked Joshua to help him with it. Joshua agreed to help the moment he had asked him about it and was in-charge of logistics, deliveries, standard operating procedure and the most important of all — keeping Jeonghan in check.
Hence, what started as a small idea grew into something that Jeonghan holds close to his heart. 'Roses Are Red' was built and has been an integral part of the community for the past eight years and Jeonghan couldn't be prouder. This also meant that he knew his employees like the back of his hand, so when Chan's eyes light up like that, it usually means that Chan had some hot gossip to share.
"I do!" Chan says, an excited grin on his face as he starts to buzz a little. Jeonghan lets out a breath of a chuckle before waving his hand at him.
"Alright," Jeonghan starts with a sigh as he turns back to inventory, "Let us hear it."
"Okay! So-" With that, Chan launches into how Mingyu had actually appeared with Vernon last night because they were having dinner just an hour earlier and because Mingyu knew Seungkwan and Chan or had talked to them before, Vernon invited him to their hangout.
He recalled how he and Seungkwan had been confused at first because Vernon doesn't normally invite people to their weekly get-together. However when Mingyu had arrived and they had started drinking, their words getting a little looser, it turned out that Mingyu had actually offered Vernon a job.
"A job?" Joshua repeats, a little confused. "I thought Mingyu's business was strictly a family one?"
Chan nods at that, getting more excited as he unpacks more of the story. "That's what Seungkwan and I thought as well! But it turns out, Mingyu's friend is coming back to town and Mingyu is helping them sort out all of the business stuff because they haven't been here for ten years."
Jeonghan had been absentmindedly listening to the story Chan was unpacking for the last ten minutes, more focused on the inventory in-front of him but those last few words pulls him out of it. His hand immediately halts as he feels his body go rigid.
It couldn't be. Is the first thought that rushes through his head, amongst many others. It has to just be a coincidence. Surely Seungcheol would've told him and Joshua if you were coming back to town. Him especially.
He thinks back to the last few weeks and how Seungcheol had been looking at him and also acting a little weirdly. Seungcheol had been on the look-out for apartments which had caused Jeonghan and Joshua to share a few glances whenever he had mentioned it because Seungcheol was already living in a house that he owned. However, they didn't push, thinking that Seungcheol wanted to get into the business of real estate and if it was something important, Seungcheol would voluntarily tell them about it anyways.
"Ten years?" Joshua repeats Chan's words, the cogs in his brain turning as he spares a quick glance at Jeonghan. "He said someone was coming back?"
Chan nods eagerly at that, "Yeah!" He snaps his fingers. "When we asked him who it was, Mingyu was a little unsure if he wanted to tell us at first but he confirmed that it was a girl."
Jeonghan feels his blood run cold as his grip on his pen involuntarily tightens.
Joshua's eyebrows scrunch. "Why?"
"Apparently it's meant to be a secret." Chan says nonchalantly as he puts a hand on his chin to think. "I remember him saying that I shouldn't be telling someone about it but..." He grimaces. "My head's a little foggy on the details."
"Anyway, after we begged him a couple more times, he told us about her and here's the kicker!" He looks between the two, his hands raised in anticipation as Joshua holds his breath. "She's apparently Seung—"
Chan gets cut-off by Seungkwan barrelling into him like a tornado. The latter slams his hand over Chan's mouth as he shoots him a warning glare.
"What are you doing?" Seungkwan hisses at Chan, taking a shifty eyed glance towards the two older ones in the room. "We weren't supposed to tell them."
Chan blinks blurrily at Seungkwan when Jeonghan turns to face them, his clipboard and pen still clutched tightly in his hand that both his knuckles were starting to turn white.
"Seungkwan." Jeonghan calls with an eerily calm and serious voice making the whole room feel a thousand times colder. "When Mingyu said the girls name. Was it Violet?"
Seungkwan hesitates, taking a glance at his boss before shifting his eyes downwards. Joshua steps in.
"Han." Joshua says, his voice careful as he looks over his face. "I don't think you want to—"
Jeonghan shakes his head, cutting Joshua off. "No." He says quietly. "I need to know."
Seungkwan glances at Joshua who looks at Jeonghan with a calculating gaze, analyzing to see what the latter is thinking about when Joshua sighs and takes a step back.
Jeonghan locks eyes with Seungkwan, his face unreadable. "So," he starts, "was it Violet?"
Seungkwan gnaws on his bottom lip as he casts a glance towards Joshua. He thinks back to Mingyu's words about Seungcheol's sister. Seungkwan had heard stories of a girl and Jeonghan when they were first starting high school and how they were something out of a fairytale. They were the dreamy 'It' couple. However, somewhere along the lines, it didn't last and she left. No one knew why and in such a small town where gossip spreads like a wildfire, it was unheard of.
Seungkwan lets his eyes drift, seeing Jeonghan's white knuckles, the slight tick in his jaw as well as the unevenness of his breathing before he sighs.
"Yes," Seungkwan admits quietly. "It was."
A tense silence envelopes the room as Seungkwan sees Jeonghan grip the pen even tighter, his hands shaking. The older man quietly takes a step back and hangs the inventory sheet back next to the rack before he turns back to the other three, eerily calm.
"Make sure the orders are ready before the next hour so that they can be delivered on time." Chan and Seungkwan blink at the seriousness in his tone, making Jeonghan raise an eyebrow at their blank expressions. "Is that too much of an issue?"
Seungkwan recovers first, shaking his head with his hands up. "N-no!" He clears his throat. "Chan and I will get them and deliver them."
Jeonghan gives the two younger ones a firm nod before turning to Joshua, his serious and unreadable expression never wavering. "Deal with the inventory for me?"
The latter nods, giving Jeonghan an easy smile. "Of course."
Jeonghan nods before he grabs his jacket and walks out of the store without another word. The tense atmosphere breaks when Seungkwan lets out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as soon as Jeonghan's car pulls away.
"We are never drinking again." Seungkwan deadpans, glaring at Chan who raises his hands in surrender.
"It wasn't my fault!" Chan defends, his voice slightly pitchier than normal.
"It so was!" Seungkwan scoffs. "You and your big mouth! Why did you even need to bring it up?!"
"I didn't think it would be that big of an issue!"
Joshua tunes the two younger ones as they continue to bicker, keeping his gaze firm on where Jeonghan had just driven off with a small frown on his face.
He makes a mental note to call Seungcheol later to ask him for drinks and to give the oldest man a piece of his mind. He knows why Seungcheol didn't tell them, but with how Jeonghan had rushed out of the place, Joshua knew that he felt blindsided and would be missing in action till he collected all his thoughts.
Joshua internally sighs, already feeling a headache on its way as he mentally prepares himself for the next week when Chan breaks his train of thoughts.
"Hyung." Chan starts, making Joshua turn to him, tiredly. "Was whatever happened really that bad?"
Joshua gnaws on his bottom lip as he glances back out the window.
"Sometimes, the thorns prosper more than the blooms."
VIOLETS ARE BLUE
You never realized how tiring moving was until you're doing it for the second time in your thirty years of living. The first move you did when you were eighteen was one of the easiest things you did logistically speaking. You were young which meant that you didn't have a lot of stuff to move because most of them were your parents things and they were also filled with memories that would hurt more if you brought them with you.
Hence, when Seungcheol helped you that time, it was just a couple of boxes and one luggage. Now, it was at least triple that.
"I don't know how one person can have so many things." Seungcheol grunts as he pushes another box into the trailer that you had rented for the move. "Plus, you were living alone."
You roll your eyes at his whining as a small frown appears on your lips. "I wasn't living alone." You glance at your baby samoyed that you had gotten a year ago and point at her. "Mandu's with me."
Seungcheol raises an eyebrow as he gives you the big brother look of unamusement. "You're telling me that because of Mandu, you had to buy triple the amount of stuff that you used to have?" He asks, gesturing to the trailer that is almost filled to the brim with boxes and bubble wrapped pieces of furniture.
"Yes."
Seungcheol scoffs. "You're such a liar."
You open your mouth to argue when a sigh interrupts you.
"Can we please finish packing first before you two go at it again." Minghao deadpans, carrying a box that was labeled, 'Books #2'. "I cannot spend another night on Violet's hardwood floor."
You roll your eyes at his statement. "Firstly, its seven in the morning, Hao. I don't think we need another night to get two or three more boxes into the back of the trailer. And secondly," You frown before you ask. "What's wrong with my floor?"
"The fact that we're sleeping on it, is what's wrong with it." Minghao says, his eyebrows furrowing as the frown deepens. "I can't believe the three of us were able to fit on the floor."
"Years of college have taught us better." Seokmin states, wrapping an arm around Minghao's shoulders with a cheeky smile on his face. "Besides, Violet's floors were definitely better than whatever our dorm floors were back then."
"I did offer up Cheol's room as well." You state, sparing a glance towards your older brother. "Not my fault that he's a little selfish."
Seungcheol scoffs. "I'm not selfish." He defends, "I just don't think that all of them should be sleeping in my room."
"Oh and my room floor is fine then?"
"Yeah-"
Minghao lets out another tired sigh as the two of you start to squabble like chickens again. He walks around the two of you to get to the trailer and places the second last box into it. He turns to Seokmin to see him watching you and Seungcheol argue with a fond smile on his face before shaking his head.
"Does Mingyu have the last box?" Seokmin's eyes flit towards Minghao before he nods. "He was taping up the last bunch of things in the kitchen. He told me to come out and see if the disaster siblings needed any help but…" He takes a glance at the two of you, a more amused smile appearing on his face. "I think they're fine."
Minghao spares a glance towards the two of you and rolls his eyes. "Can't believe we're almost thirty and these two still go at it as if we're in high school." Seokmin lets out a chucle at Minghao's words as Mingyu comes out of the house with the last box in his hand, pressed into his side.
"Alright!" He exclaims out, getting everyone's attention as he flashes one of his signature pearly white smiles. "The whole house is packed and," He walks up to the trailer and places the box on-top of the one Minghao had just placed down, "loaded!" He finishes, his tone filled with pride.
Your best friend turns to you, a teasing smile on his face. "Aren't you glad Cheol brought us along to help you pack?"
You roll your eyes at his words, "Glad might not be the word that I would use." However, even as you say it, your face betrays you as a grateful smile appears on your lips as you look at the four men. "But this process was a lot faster because of you four. Thank you for coming to help me pack on such a last minute notice."
Seokmin waves you off before slinging his arms around both Mingyu and Minghao's shoulder, pulling them closer to him with a big smile on his face. "Of course!" He chirps, his eye lines crinkling. "We're so excited to have you back in town after so many years! We also can't wait to be the biggest supporters of your flower shop."
You smile at that as Seungcheol ruffles your hair. "Its about time for you to come back anyways." Your older brother says, a knowing look on his face.
His words and expression causes your resolve to falter as your nerves spike. You knew your move to this town was always going to be temporary. At first, you did it because you had to, every part of your hometown reminded you of him and after a while, it felt suffocating. You needed the fresh air and a fresh start.
Hence, you applied for a college in the city, opting for a fresh new start. It was fun for a while but, you knew your heart always longed to go back to your hometown.
You just haven't decided how you were going to face him.
"Yeah." You softly say, peering upwards at your older brother. "I guess it is time to go home."
Seungcheol notices your faraway gaze at the house and gives your shoulder a squeeze making you peer upwards at him. "Do you want to take one last look around?"
You gnaw on your bottom lip before shaking your head, "No, I'm ready to go."
Seungecheol mirrors your smile before giving you a kiss on the top of your head. "Alright." He says, patting your hair. "Let's go."
You whistle for Mandu who immediately perks up and gives you a pitchy bark in response before she pads her way over to you. You squat and pick her up in one smooth movement, cradling the little samoyed to your chest. You smile softly at her as she nuzzles into your hands making you coo at her.
Seungcheol opens the passenger door for you, letting you slip into the seat with Mandu in your arms before he rounds the car to slide into his seat. The car starts up with a hum before Seungcheol pulls out of your street in one swift movement.
You spare one last glance at the house through the window before your brother clears his throat, getting your attention.
You lock eyes with him through the rearview mirror, his eyes glinting with empathy before they shift into something cheekier and more older brother like. "So," he starts, enticing you with a smile making you raise an eyebrow. "Ready to see your shop?"
Its around the five hour mark of driving when you see the familiar sign that welcomes you back to your hometown making you smile as it whizzes past you.
Seungcheol squeezes your intertwined hands making you glance at him as he gives you a smile while his eyes are still focused on the road. "Welcome home."
You feel your heart soar with excitement and slight anxiety as you see the familiar spots of the front of your hometown. Feeling the wave of nostalgia hit you, you begin to point out spots with Seungcheol who reciprocates by pointing out a few of his favourite ones making the two of you momentarily break out into fits of giggles as you both recall the old memories together.
"Could we drop the stuff off at the house and then maybe go check out my shop?" Seungcheol quickly glances at you before flashing you a smile.
"Of course." He hums out. "I think the guys would want to come with you as well so how about you let them know."
You hum out in agreement before shooting Seokmin a quick text about the plan.
No more than an hour later, you slam Seungcheol's car door close as Mandu does a shake of herself, warming up her body as she takes in the new environment around her.
"Don't look!" Mingyu calls out to you from behind making you giggle as you avert your eyes downwards, not looking at your store, no matter how much you want to. Mingyu jogs over to your side before placing his hands over your eyes making you let out a small squeal as you try to pry his hands off of your face.
"Gyu!" You exclaim. "Your hands are cold, get them off my face!"
Mingyu chuckles before he relents and puts his hands on your shoulder after meticulously checking that you didn't have your eyes open. "You ready?" You hear him ask, his voice buzzing with excitement as you let out a giggle before nodding.
"Show me what you found for me, Gyu."
As it was a last minute plan to move back to your hometown, you had asked the guys for help in setting up your new shop with around half of the savings that you had saved up from your previous soul-sucking corporate job. Mingyu had taken on the task of finding the perfect place for you to set up the flower shop of your dreams while you continued to pack for the move of your life.
Mingyu guides you to the storefront as you cautiously walk in the direction that he's leading you in. You hear the guys trail behind the two of you before Mingyu firmly grasps your shoulders, signaling for you to stop. Your heart pounds in your chest as your best friend begins a countdown for you before whispering, "Open."
You look upwards and open your eyes before it locks onto the signage, making your heart swell with joy as your jaw drops open.
"Oh my god!" You exclaim, your hands flying to your mouth as you take a step forward, not quite believing your eyes. "It's so pretty!"
What sits at the top of the store is a vibrant blue and purple blend with the words, 'Violets Are Blue' written in a gold cursive with your logo that Minghao helped you design at front. You are speechless as you stare at it before you feels someone brush your arm.
You peer upwards to meet Minghao's eager eyes as he gives you a small smile. "Do you like it?"
You give him a look of disbelief as you gape at him. "Like it?!" You wrap your arms around him. "Hao, I love it!" You affirm making the taller man giggle as he wraps his around you, hugging you back tightly.
"I'm glad, Vi." He says, giving you a small kiss on the top of your head as you pull away with watery eyes.
You take a step backwards to admire the whole shop as a whole. Along with the beautiful signage, your store has a golden trim with a lovely light blue and purple gradient walls. They are accompanied by four beautiful stained glass windows that are definitely a Minghao DIY because of how personalized and homemade the designs look.
You feel tears well up in your eyes at the sight of the shop before you hear a set of keys jingling behind you. You turn to see your older brother and your best friends standing in a row, looking at you with a big proud smile as Seungcheol walks forward with the keys in between his fingers.
He steps forward with a proud grin on his face as he holds out the keys towards you.
"It isn't much." He says quietly. "The inside isn't finished because we want you to be able to decorate the shop in your own vision." He uses his free hand to grab yours and outstretch your palm so that he can place the keys into it before he wraps his hands around yours, encasing them.
"However," he continues, "we're here to help you move furniture and put everything in place, exactly the way that you want it."
You swear your eyes get wetter as you lift your hand to wipe away all the stray tears. "I love you guys." You softly admit, going back to admire the store. Your store.
It feels unreal saying it aloud.
The four gaze at you fondly as you continue to take it in as Minghao peers behind before leaning into Seungcheol. "Are we not going to tell her about the problem right behind us?" He whispers out, loud enough for only Seungcheol to hear as he keeps a cautious eye on you.
Seungheol purses his lips, taking a glance at the shop behind him. "I'll tell her later." He assures the younger man. "Right now, she needs to focus on—"
His words get cut off by the sound of the familiar bell chime from behind them, across the street making the four men's bodies tense up.
You, however, peer backwards to see where the source of the noise is coming from.
You blink as you spot what looks like another flower shop across the street whose colour scheme looks exactly the opposite of yours. You frown, turning to fully face the shop as you spot a person — the owner you presume — sweeping the front of the shop, gathering the fallen leaves from the nearby trees.
You turn to Mingyu and Seungcheol whose faces look paler than before. "How come you guys didn't tell me that there was another flower shop in town?"
Mingyu internally, starts to panic. They didn't plan for this. It is a Tuesday and according to the information that Mingyu had gathered from Chan and Seungkwan last week, they said that Jeonghan always leaves the shop to Joshua on Tuesday.
So why the hell is he, sweeping the floor right behind them?
Mingyu sees you get more suspicious by the second and panics more. He is unsure of what to stammer out as he glances at Seungcheol, hoping that the older man has some kind of plan.
You frown as you stare at the guys share knowing looks and glances at each other. "Are you guys okay?"
"Of course!" Mingyu says, his brain scrambling. "Just peachy!" They only had a couple of seconds to maybe turn you around before either you or Jeonghan spot each other. So, he enacts the plan and reaches out to you, to try to swerve you back to your shop.
"How about we—"
However, Mingyu didn't have a chance to enact any plan when the owner of the flower shop turns around, feeling eyes on him.
You freeze, immediately feeling your heart drop into the pits of your stomach as you stare at the older man across the street, your jaw dropping open.
Yoon Jeonghan blinks as he catches your eye, the exact same shell-shocked expression as yours, overcoming his features.
You feel time stop as you stare at the man that was your first love. All the memories and feelings rushing back, as if you were twenty again, gazing into his eyes while you both were on too of 'Lovers Hill', stargazing under the night sky.
You know he's thinking about it too, it may have been ten years since you last saw him but his eyes still hold the same calculating gaze that you have a love-hate relationship with. He looks good, definitely grown more into the boyish features that you fell in love with.
You feel your heart thunder in your chest as he turns to fully face you, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tries to figure out what to do. You feel your feet move on their own, taking a step forward towards him as you watch him do the same. His gaze is intense as he swallows, opening his mouth to finally say something. However, before you have the chance to figure it out, a car whizzes past, breaking the spell between the two of you.
Jeonghan rapidly blinks as if he finally realizes what he was doing before he takes a step backwards and turns to briskly walk back into his store without a second thought.
You stand there for a few moments, staring at the place where Jeonghan had stood a couple of seconds ago, feeling your heart beat unsteadily in your chest. Seungcheol drags you out of your thoughts as he brushes his hand against yours, making you jolt slightly before you peer up at your older brother.
Seungcheol has a knowing look on his face as he gives you a small frown. "Are you alright?" He asks you softly making you purse your lips as you glance around, seeing the other three men also staring at you with the same apprehensive expression on their faces.
You swallow your nerves before forcing a smile that doesn't quite reach your ears on your face. "Y-yeah." You clear your throat. "C'mon, I want to see the inside of the shop."
Before anyone can say anything else, you turn around and walk to unlock the door, doing your best to ignore their eyes on you as well as the secret glances that you're sure that they're giving each other, all of them unsure of how to approach this situation.
You knew that the second you saw Jeonghan, that he would hate your guts or give you the cold shoulder. You spent the last week in your house, pacing around your bedroom and practicing what you will say to him the first time that you see him after all these years. However, the second that you did, all that practice went out the window.
You internally curse, feeling disappointed in yourself as you unlock the door.
You steel your nerves and put on a brave face before turning to your entourage, "Well." You try to jest, a teasing smile on your face. "The shop isn't going to decorate itself, is it?"
THE NICKNAME ROSE
You realized that you had a crush on your brother's best friend at the age of thirteen when his teasing started to make you a little more flustered than annoyed, when his boyish smile made your stomach do flip flops and when seeing him made your heart thunder in your chest as you willed for the floor to swallow you whole.
You blame it on your best friends, Izzy and Kay who were over at your house for a playdate when a few figures breeze past your room to go to your brothers room which was right next to yours. You ignore it, knowing that it was just your brother and his best friends when you feel a presence to your right and a soft knock accompanied with it.
The three of you peer upwards to see Jeonghan stood there, dressed in his normal school attire with his tie undone, hanging loosely around his neck as he leans against your doorframe.
"Rose." He greets, the nickname rolling off of his tongue making you scrunch your nose at the older boy.
"Don't call me that."
A smirk curls onto his lips. "And why not?"
You roll your eyes, frowning at him. "You know why."
Jeonghan hums, feigning a thinking motion. "Maybe, you should enlighten me again."
You scoff, crossing your arms in front of your chest as you glare at him. He shrugs, the cheeky smirk on his lips growing as he turns to your best friends.
"Kay, Izzy, nice to see you girls."
Your best friends cast a glance at each other before blinking at the boy as you raise an eyebrow.
"Hannie." You deadpan, slightly exasperated. "What are you doing here?"
He gives you a small frown. "Am I not allowed to say 'hi' to my best friend's sister?"
Your eyebrows furrow at that but you keep your guard up. You know Jeonghan well enough that he likes to lull people into a false sense of security before doing something unexpected. Your brother was normally the victim of Jeonghan and Joshua's pranks, the two of them being nicknamed as the evil twins by all the kids in the area for a reason.
"You are." You answer cautiously. "But Cheol said that the three of you have a rather intense amount of board games to play today."
"We do."
You grow even more confused. "So…" You glance out of your room. "Aren't you like late?"
Jeonghan hums in agreement before he gives you a boyish smirk and walks into your room. He crouches down to your level making you jolt backwards a little, realizing how close he is to you.
He scans for your face for a few moments as you hold your breath, feeling your nerves spike as your throat dries up. You open your mouth to ask the boy what he wants when he reaches his hand out from behind him and tucks something behind your ear.
You blink, feeling yourself freeze as Jeonghan gives you a soft smile.
"There." He breathes out making you blink at him, confusion written all over your face.
"What?" You dumbly blurt out. Jeonghan's smile curls a little more as his gaze never wavers from your face making your mind go blank.
You watch his eyes flit around your face for a little bit before he mutters. "Pretty."
The effect that one word causes is immediate as you feel your jaw drop open and your face flush. Your face makes Jeonghan's genuine smile turn into a cheeky smirk. He pats your head before he stands up to walk out of the room, as if he didn't just cause your brain to combust.
"See you later, Rose." He calls, giving you a small wave before he disappears down the hallway to your brothers room, his footsteps getting softer by the second.
Silence envelopes the room as you blink at the door, your brain fried from trying to process whatever just happened.
"Wow." Kay breaths out, breaking the silence. "He has a crush on you."
At their words, you immediately whip your head towards them and blink, your mouth agape. "N-no!" You manage to sputter out, "He so does not."
Izzy raises an eyebrow at your sputters, a small smirk on her face. "Are you sure? He literally just called you Rose and gave you a rose."
Your eyebrows furrow as you stare them down. "What? What are you—"
Your two best friends point towards the mirror making you turn mid-sentence, the sight of yourself making you halt your words. Your eyes widen as you spot the flower in your hair.
A rose to be more precise, just like Izzy said.
"What in the world." You mutter out to yourself, bewildered beyond means as Kay and Izzy exchange a cheeky knowing grin.
"Looks like you got yourself a boyfriend." Kay cooes out making your cheeks flush as red as the rose in your hair.
"W-What?!" You sputter out making your two best friend's smirks grow wider as they continue to tease you. In retaliation and a desperate attempt to get them to stop, you grab at the pillow on your bed before smacking them both with it hard, making them both squeal before it turns into a full-fledge pillow fight.
The three of you continue to yell, squeal and giggle as you all continue to attack each other with the fluffy pillows but Jeonghan's words never leave your mind.
Maybe… just maybe, you like the nickname Roses more than you thought you would.
GETTING STUCK IN THE BLOOM
You frown as your recollection of the memory ends as you stare dumbly at the homemade resin bookmark in your hands. You gently run a finger over the smooth edges of it as memories of how you made it come rushing back.
You recall researching the best ways to preserve flowers and begged your mother to bring you to the nearest arts and craft stores to get resin so that you could preserve the flower that the older boy had given you. You smile fondly to yourself as you let your eyes flit around the bookmark, the golden sparkles glinting as you let the light shine onto it.
How did you and Jeonghan even get to this point.
You internally sigh, knowing that you were the reason as to why it got to this point.
You glance downwards at your feet, where Mandu was snoozing and smile to yourself, thinking how cute your samoyed was. She's a ball of sunshine in your life. You jolt out of your thoughts when the front door to your store slams close making you immediately jump to your feet, feeling your nerves spike before it settles as you see Vernon appear in your vision.
Mandu perks up at the sound before noticing the younger boy as well. She wags her tail happily, stretching before making her way to his side. You breath out a sigh of relief as Vernon places down the box of little trinkets that you had gotten to brighten up the shop and give it more personality.
"I think this is the last box of stuff." Vernon says with a soft huff as he dusts his hands. Mandu paws at his legs, wanting to be picked up making Vernon smile softly at her. He crouches down to pick her up, cradling her in his arms.
You flash Vernon a fond smile as you give his arm a quick squeeze. "Thank you, Non." You sing-song, making the younger boy give you a gummy smile as he continues to scratch Mandu behind her ear making the dog keen at the younger boy. You check the stock with a soft hum before your eye catches the clock at the corner of the store. Your eyes widen, noticing that it was almost half past six.
"Oh my god!" You exclaim, frowning as you turn to the taller boy. "I'm so sorry, I didn't notice the time."
Vernon's eyebrows furrow as he shakes his head, crouching to put Mandu down. "It's no issue at all." He assures you as you shake your head, grabbing your wallet out of your pocket.
You dish out a few bills from it before giving it to the younger boy whose eyes widen in surprise. "Here." You say, holding it out to him with a smile. "Buy yourself dinner on me please! For the extra overtime that I made you do."
Vernon shakes his head as he holds up his hands, shaking them too. "It's really no probl—"
"Non," You say sternly, pressing the bills into his open palms. "I insist."
Vernon looks between your face and the bills that you pressed into his palms before he sighs and pockets the money. He was playing a losing game and he knows it with how stubborn you are, knowing that even Seungcheol — who is pretty stubborn — will always lose to you on that front.
"Fine." He huffs as you give him a smile of triumph. He peers behind you, taking a look at your desk that is filled to the brim with stuff. "Do you still have a lot of things to finish?"
You spare a glance at your desk before you shake your head, giving the younger boy a tired smile. "Not really." You assure. "Just a bunch of logistical stuff for the grand opening this weekend."
Vernon nods. "Are you excited?"
You ponder for a moment, taking a look around the store that had been decorated with so much love the last few days. You had gone out shopping with the guys the last two weeks, purchasing and assembling all the furniture and shelves that you needed as well as sorting out all the inventory stuff with Mingyu and Seokmin.
You were re-introduced to Vernon a day after you came back into town, having seen the boy around in high school once or twice. You had taken quite a fond liking to the boy who was nicknamed as your personal assistant as he started to help you with whatever task you needed.
Since the rest of the guys and your brother had actual full-time jobs, they were only available after a certain time — which was usually at night — where they helped you to put together furniture, set up shelves in the store as well as carry new inventory into the store.
It was just a lot of back and forth and since the grand opening was less than two days away, you had told them that you would be able to handle the rest of the logistic by yourself. They had checked in a couple of times, seeing if you needed their help but you always denied, saying that you also needed to find your own footing for this.
However, Vernon was stubborn and turned up anyways, insisting on helping you get the inventory that slipped your mind or some thrifty things that made the shop feel more you.
You smile fondly at the cozy space that all of you had managed to create in the last two weeks and nod at Vernon. "Yeah." You breathe out. "I am."
Vernon nods before giving you a soft smile. "Good." His phone chimes making him peer downwards to pull it out of his pocket. His eyebrows furrow as he checks it before letting out a soft breathe of a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Friends?"
He nods showing you the message that Seungkwan sent to him. You giggle seeing a selfie of him and Chan in one of tent bars just a few blocks away with a few messages after asking where Vernon was.
"You should go." Vernon frowns at that, giving you a knowing look.
"Are you sure?"
You quickly nod, ushering the younger boy out of the door. "Just because I'm working overtime and don't have a social life, doesn't mean that you shouldn't have one either."
Vernon frowns and is about to reply when Mandu barks, panting slightly making you glance downwards at your little companion. You gesture to her before giving Vernon a teasing smile. "See, even Mandu agrees."
"But—"
"Hansol." You say, the same stubborn tone as before shining through making Vernon lift his hands up in surrender.
"Alright," he breathes out. "Geez, you don't need to bring out the full government name."
A smile pulls at the corner of your lips as you see Vernon trying not to smile as well as you open the door to the store for him. He goes through but leans against the door, peering back at you with a serious expression on his face.
"Call me if you need anything okay?"
You nod, biting back a teasing smile as you push the man further out the door. "Go already! Seungkwan's going to sulk if you aren't there in the next twenty minutes."
Vernon breaths out a chuckle as he lets you push him out the door before he gives you and Mandu a wave, biding the two of you goodbye. You pick up Mandu to use her paw to give him a small wave as well making the younger boy laugh before he fully turns and walks down the street.
You watch him go with a fond smile before turning to your little fluff ball in your arms.
"Let's finish all this overtime, huh?" Mandu lets out a little pitchy bark as you place her down onto the floor before putting on some music to get to work.
You didn't notice how much time had passed until your playlist playing had started to loop, the first song you put on softly flowing through the speakers. You glance at the clock, noticing that it was just after one in the morning making you let out a sigh as you stretch.
Seeing Mandu back in her spot underneath your desk makes you realize that maybe it was time to wrap up for the day. You stand up, rolling your neck as you let out a satisfied sigh, feeling good about the amount of work you had gotten done for the day.
Mandu lifts her head up from her spot making you give her a fond smile as you crouch down to give her a scratch behind her ears which she happily accepts.
"We can go soon girl." You coo out. "I just need to put all the inventory down in the basement and then we can go alright?"
Mandu lets out a soft bark making your smile grow bigger before you stand up to open the door, airing the store out and begin to tidy up. You huff out a grunt as you place the last box in the storeroom, right below your shop.
You brush away a few strands of your hair that was falling in-front of your eyes as you look at the amount of stock and inventory that occupies your little basement. You smile, feeling your nerves in a bit of a flux as you think about how your grand opening is just in a few days.
You couldn't be more proud of yourself. You walk up the low-bearing staircase and place your hand onto the doorknob before going to twist it.
You freeze when you feel the doorknob get stuck in it's path making you panic internally as you try to jiggle it loose.
"C'mon. C'mon." You repeat to yourself, whispering as you use your strength to jiggle it more. You let out a frustrated grunt, realizing that the doorknob would not budge as you go to dig for your phone in your pocket, hoping that someone would still be awake at this ungodly hour.
However, your blood runs cold when you find nothing in your pockets. You dig deeper and check more than once in both of your pockets, patting yourself down to come up empty.
You let out a exasperated sigh, realizing that you had left your phone on your desk. Meaning that you are stuck here until someone realizes you went missing in action or till God knows when.
You sigh as you take a seat on one of the more stable boxes before leaning back as you stare at the ceiling, your thoughts running wild.
You had a little hope in your chest that someone will come and find you soon but you know that it might be at least an hour or two before that happens. Seungcheol was definitely asleep, needing to wake up early today because he had an important client meeting. Seokmin was doing some drunk karaoke with Soonyoung, Jihoon and Kay and the last time he checked in two hours ago, the four of them were already incredibly wasted which meant that they won't be coming to your rescue anytime soon. Minghao, Mingyu, Izzy and Vernon were with Seungkwan and Chan and having last checked in with them not even more than twenty minutes ago, they will definitely not be checking back for at least another hour.
You sigh, running a hand down your face.
What were you going to do?
SERENITY AND MANDU
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help?" Joshua asks Jeonghan, a skeptical look on the younger man's face as he eyed his best friend.
Jeonghan rolls his eyes as he all but pushes his chief operations officer out of the door. "Yes." He answers shortly, growing more impatient by the second at his best friend's worrying. "As I said the last two times that you asked me, it's just a few payslips that I need to file and accounts that I need to account for that I, can handle."
Joshua frowns as Jeonghan pushes his bag into his hands.
"And you're sure?" Joshua asks, his tone confused as he stares at the amount of papers on Jeonghan's desk. "There's no shame in asking for help, y'know."
Jeonghan internally sighs. Of course he knows there's no shame in asking for help. The amount of papers that have been piling up on his desk is enough to give him a migraine for a week. However, Joshua's been hovering over him like an overbearing mother goose the last two weeks, after he had made the mistake of going into the store looking as if he had seen a ghost.
When in actuality, he just saw you.
Jeonghan made the mistake of telling Joshua everything, airing out all the feelings that was brought on from seeing you again for the first time since prom night, ten years ago. He knew that Joshua is just trying to be a good friend. He knew and appreciated that more than anything but, he hasn't had a moment of peace since then.
Joshua was always around, he made sure that Jeonghan wasn't thinking about you by trying to distract him with new orders with the help of Izzy, Mingyu's girlfriend who definitely ordered more than enough bouquets to last her for the next year of her life. Kay and Soonyoung also had a part in it, the two constantly calling Jeonghan to ask about really weird flower facts when Jeonghan was just trying to work in peace.
Instead of helping him take his mind off of you, it just highlighted the problem even more and Jeonghan spent every other moment when he was supposed to be working, thinking of you instead.
So, enough was enough and he needed to put his foot down.
"I'm fine, Shua." Jeonghan deadpans, ushering his best friend towards the open door. "I just really need some peace and quiet today to finish all the paperwork that I am behind on."
Joshua looks like he wants to argue but thinks better of it as he stares at Jeonghan's tired expression, looking like he might combust at any second.
"Okay." He says, slinging his bag over his shoulders. He steps out onto the street, pauses and turns to face Jeonghan with a sympathetic expression on his face.
"Han." Joshua calls out, making Jeonghan raise an eyebrow as he hums out in response. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"
Jeonghan gnaws on his bottom lip at Joshua's tone before giving his best friend a reluctant nod, knowing that he's just looking out for him. The two bid each other 'goodbye' before Jeonghan closes the glass door, locking it and pulling down the blinds.
He lets out a long exhale, feeling the weeks fatigue catch up with him as he closes his eyes for a second, letting the weight of everything rush through his veins. He finally had some peace and quiet.
Jeonghan opens his eyes, walking to his desk to connect his phone to the speakers and scrolls till he finds the playlist he's looking for, putting it on as it softly flows out of the overhead sound system. He sits down at his chair, feeling slightly more at ease before he opens the first stack of papers that he needs to compile.
"Alright." He whispers to him. "Let's do this."
About three to four hours past before Jeonghan looks back up at the clock again, blinking in surprise to see that he's almost been doing the paperwork till almost two in the morning. He closes the file in-front of him and counts the amount of files that he still needs to work on.
Realizing there is only four left, he lets his shoulders drop as he sighs and spins his chair around while his eyes are closed. He should go home now, it's Joshua's day off tomorrow which meant that he needed to be around for both Seungkwan and Chan to be able to get into the store to prepare the multiple delivery orders for a wedding in the next town over.
Jeonghan feels himself freeze at the word wedding. He hadn't thought about that in a long time, always pushing the word and it's entailment to the back of his mind. He lets out a frustrated groan as he runs a hand over his face, feeling more fatigued and unfocused by the second.
"Alright." He mutters, standing up to pack up for the night. He tidies up all the loose papers on his desk, writing himself a little post-it note to remember where exactly he left off so that he can just continue when he comes in the morning.
He grabs his hoodie and his bag before switching off the store lights and locking the door.
Jeonghan inhales, filling his lungs with fresh air as he closes his eyes, feeling said air course through his veins, rejuvenating him more by the second. Jeonghan feels a small smile appear on his lips as the night ambience seems to soothe him. When he was younger, he never really enjoyed the serenity of nights but now that he was older, he learned how to appreciate the quietness and the ambience of it, realizing how much more at ease he felt during these hours.
He allows himself a few more seconds to soak in the quietness when his eyebrows furrow hearing a pitchy bark coming from across the road. He peers across to see a white little fluff ball padding about, looking for something… or someone?
His eyebrows scrunch more as he slowly approaches the little dog that's pacing the front of… your flower shop? Jeonghan gets more confused by the second as he approaches the little dog.
"Hey girl." Jeonghan mutters out, crouching down so that your dog could sniff his hands and get familiar with him. The samoyed does a circle around Jeonghan, sniffing him cautiously before nudging his hands with her head, licking it once.
Jeonghan lets out a soft chuckle as he picks her up, cradling her in his arms before stroking her stomach, her collar moving as he does. He peers at the name on it before rolling his eyes.
Of course you would name her Mandu. He shakes his head before noticing that you had left the door to your store open. He peers downwards at your dog, internally wrestling with himself.
He could just put Mandu back into the store and then close the door behind him so that he doesn't have to deal with you because apparently ten years and two weeks was still not enough for him to deal with the complex feelings that he has for you.
However, he couldn't deny the unexplainable pull that your shop had, almost as if it was tugging him to go into the store. With one last glance at Mandu who was in the midst of licking his free hand, he sighs, steels his nerves and walks into the store.
Upon entering, he notices how the interior is just very much you, the coziness and how everything was organized was just a reflection of you as a person. Everything had it's own little space, the shelves were organized but in organic places to make it more natural. The different trinkets that you had placed around reflected more of the homely and cozy feel that you were going for and all the inventory that was on the shelves were organized according to different categories.
Jeonghan smiles to himself. You really hadn't changed that much. He wanders around the store more, cradling Mandu more as he looks around for you, his face getting more confused by the second as he is unable to find you. He approaches your desk, frowning more when he sees your phone there. He looks around, placing Mandu down as he places his bag on your desk.
He calls out for you, your name slipping past his lips making him cringe slightly. "Violet?" He tries again, feeling a little awkward as the unfamiliar nickname passes through his lips. Your phone buzzes making him glance over at it, seeing a text from your groupchat with Mingyu, Minghao and Seokmin appear on the screen.
However, what Jeonghan sees behind that is what causes him to freeze. The background image being something that he recognizes instantly.
It was a picture of you and him on your first date together where you had gone for a flower garland making workshop together. He remembers scrambling to find something perfect for your first date and came across this poster for a flower garland workshop that was happening that very weekend. He was also so delighted to find out that the workshop took place in the flower garden, the very same place where the two of you first met.
He made sure that everything was perfect, checking the weather every other hour, preparing food, snacks and drinks for the two of you to enjoy as well as begging Joshua and Seungcheol to find the perfect place for the two of you to have a little spring picnic after the workshop.
Joshua had instantly agreed to it but Seungcheol was a little more reluctant, not sure if he wanted to help set up his sister and his best friend more than he already needed to but after Joshua talked to him, Seungcheol sighed and agreed to help.
The picnic setup was the least of his worries though because on the day itself, Jeonghan felt like he was losing it. His palms kept getting sweaty everytime you looked at him and that caused the flower garland that he was working on to slip out of his hands every other minute. He scrambled to pick it up everytime, praying that you didn't see it or notice but he knew better than that. He knew that you noticed everything.
A giggle passed through your lips as he dropped it for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes alone causing him to peer upwards at you, his blood running cold.
'Good job, Jeonghan.' He thought to himself. 'Now she thinks you're the biggest loser on the planet for not being able to hold a flower garland properly.'
However, you surprise him by placing the flower garland that you made onto his head, a shy smile on your face.
"Pretty." You breath out, causing Jeonghan's eyes to widen as his jaw drops open. The familiar turn of events effectively frying his brain which causes you to giggle more as you raise an eyebrow.
"You going to give me your flower garland or what?"
He blinked at you before placing the uneven flower garland on your head, gnawing his bottom lip as he did so. It was safe to say that his flower garland skills could use some work.
However, you didn't seem to mind, a rosy blush blooming on your cheeks as you gave Jeonghan a soft smile. "How do I look?"
Jeonghan thinks that question is moot. You looked ethereal, you always do but something about the spring sunlight today and maybe just being on this date with him. You looked more beautiful than he ever thought was possible.
"Beautiful." He remembers blurting out. "You look beautiful."
Your cheeks had flushed more at his admittance, your smile widening as your eye lines crinkled causing Jeonghan's heart to flutter.
"Thank you." You softly say, giving his hand a little squeeze.
Jeonghan felt his throat go dry, darting his tongue out to wet his lips as he opens his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by a crackle in the sky.
The two of you peered upwards to see the once beautiful sky turn gray as it starts to drizzle.
Jeonghan felt his heart drop as the drizzle slowly transitioned to a full on rain making the two of you scramble for your stuff. The two of you dashed underneath a tree close to the roses, standing there as the rain began to pick up more.
Jeonghan internally cursed as he pulled out his phone to see two messages from Joshua and Seungcheol telling him that they had packed up the stuff a couple minutes earlier because they noticed the clouds coming in.
He was too enthralled by you to even notice the change in the weather. He shoved his phone back into his pocket before he peered at you. Your baby blue dress had a few splatters of rain on it, turning it into a darker blue as your hair was slightly damp, sticking to the side of your face.
However, Jeonghan thought you never looked prettier.
"I'm sorry." He found himself blurting out. You glanced upwards at him, your eyebrows furrowed which caused him to continue. "I constantly checked the weather and it said it was going to be sunny the whole day but it turned into this and now your dress is ruined and—"
You cut his ramble off by stepping closer to the boy with a small frown on your face. "Are you seriously apologizing for the weather?"
Jeonghan blinked at you, his throat dry as a flush crept up his face from his neck. He realized how stupid it sounded now that you phrased it like that. Before he had the chance to make a fool out of himself further, you giggle.
Jeonghan felt his heart rate pick up as you stepped even closer to him, your flowery scent filling his nose as you peered upwards at him, your eyes locked onto his as you scan his face.
"Breathe, Hannie." You said softly, giving the boy a small smirk. "You look like you're going to pass out."
Jeonghan didn't even realize that he was holding his breath until you pointed out, causing him to slowly exhale and inhale as he tried to steel his nerves, the effect you have on him very obvious.
"Sorry." He muttered out which caused your smirk to curl more as you hummed out an 'it's okay'. Jeonghan felt like he was losing it, your scent overwhelming his senses as he had the biggest desire to kiss you, his eyes involuntarily flicking downwards.
He watched you dart your tongue out to wet your lips causing him to inwardly groan at the sight, the desire to kiss you growing more by the second.
"Don't." He hoarsely stated.
"Don't what?"
"You know what."
Your lips curled into another smirk as you tilt your head to the side, feigning innocence. "I'm not sure I do."
Jeonghan felt his hand twitch at his side as he watched your own eyes flick to his lips. "If you continue to act this way." He whispered out as he leaned in a little. "I might not be able to control myself."
He watched your eyes flick downwards to his lips once more as you dart your tongue out to wet yours before saying. "Then don't."
Jeonghan immediately felt his resolve snap as he pulled you flush into him, his lips on yours. You gasped into his mouth which Jeonghan used as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth to massage against your own. Jeonghan groaned as he pulled you impossibly closer to him, his hands firm on your waist.
You pulled away a couple seconds later, panting a little as you rest your forehead against his. He watched you gnaw on your bottom lip which caused him to inwardly groan again.
"You're doing it again." He muttered out causing the cheeky smirk to appear on your lips again as you breathed out a giggle.
"Am I?" You asked as nonchalantly as you could, your smirk giving you away making Jeonghan nod. You pulled back, meeting his eyes again as you tilted your head to the side.
"What are you going to do about it then?"
Jeonghan rolled his eyes before bringing you in for another searing kiss as the rain continued to pour down, drenching the two of you more by the second but the two of you didn't care.
Because what else was meant to matter when you both were in each others arms?
Jeonghan feels Mandu pawing at his leg, bringing him out of the memory as he sighs, still unsure as to where you are. He hears a shift of something beneath him making him tense slightly as he tries to listen for it again. He glances to the corner of the room before noticing that there was a staircase there.
He peers at Mandu. "Stay." He tells her sternly. She pants before tilting her head to the side, a habit that she had no doubt, picked up from you.
Jeonghan trudges down the stairs to find a door. He swallows his nerves before lifting his hand and knocking on it.
"Violet?" He calls out. "Are you in there?"
There's silence for a bit causing him to frown so he tries again.
"Vi?" He calls out, louder this time as he knocks a few more times. "Is that you in there?"
"Hannie?" The nickname causes him to involuntarily shudder, sounding so sweet as it falls from your lips. "Is that you?"
"Yeah. Are you alright?"
"No." He hears you say with an exasperated scoff. "The door won't budge so I've been trapped in here for god knows how long."
He frowns. "Alright, hang on!"
You wait patiently behind the door, palms getting sweatier by the second as you internally prepare to see your ex-boyfriend for the first time in two weeks. The doorknob jiggles a little before it turns and your heart races as you see Jeonghan appear as soon as the door opens. He's dressed in a comfortable black hoodie and sweatpants, looking like he just got off work with a beanie on top of his head.
He blinks a little, his eyes adjusting to the dark room before they lock onto you.
Silence wraps around the two of you as you just stare at each other, a weird tension filling the room. You swallow as you feel Jeonghan eye you up and down, feeling yourself getting warmer by the second.
Mandu's high pitch bark interrupts whatever weird moment the two of you have going on as she wanders past Jeonghan and hops down the steps to get to you. She doesn't get far though, missing one of the steps as they were bigger than her, causing her to fall.
Your heart drops as you scramble up from the box you were seated on. "Mandu!" You exclaim, reaching out for her. Jeonghan reacts faster, immediately jumping down a few steps to crouch down and scoop her up into his arms, causing the door to slam close.
Your blood runs cold. "No." You whisper as you push past Jeonghan to get to the door, trying to turn the doorknob again.
"Fuck." You swear, jiggling the doorknob more by the second, realizing that the door wasn't opening.
"We're stuck!" You exclaim, tossing your arms up in an exasperated gesture.
You watch Jeonghan freeze with Mandu in his arms as he eyes all over your face to see if you were joking or not. When he finds no humour in your features, he immediately hands Mandu over to you and tries to jiggle at the doorknob.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me." He deadpans, muttering under his breath as he rips his beanie off to run a hand through his hair.
He turns to you, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why didn't you tell me the door was broken?"
Your eyebrows furrow as you hug Mandu closer to your chest. "I did."
"No, you told me the door was jammed! That isn't the same thing as can't be opened from the inside."
"What the fuck is your definition of jammed then?"
"When both sides don't work because there's something stuck in there!" Jeonghan exclaims, growing more frustrated by the second. "Not whatever the fuck this is." He gestures to the whole door, his arms waving animatedly.
"Well, I'm sorry!" You yell back at him, getting tired of him blaming this situation on you. "I didn't think you would go and save Mandu."
He glances at the fluff ball in your arms and gives you an 'are you being serious' look before he pushes past you, shaking his head.
"Yeah." He answers shortly. "Is that why you left? Because you think I don't like animals as much as you do?"
Your heart stops at his statement, unsure of how to answer him as he goes to sit on the floor, leaning against one of the inventory boxes.
"No." You softly breathe out, Mandu feeling ten times heavier in your hand as you adjust her awkwardly in your hold.
Jeonghan scoffs, bringing his knees up to his chest as he places his arms on them.
"I left my phone on your desk." He mutters, not looking at you. "You might as well get comfortable because I think we'll be here for a while."
You purse your lips before trudging down the steps. You sit a few feet away from him, leaning against one of the other boxes as you lay Mandu down in your lap, playing with her little paws as she pants happily, unaware of the tension in the room.
You continue to stroke her as you try not to look to your right at the man who you figured held a grudge against you. Mandu slowly dozes off in your lap, her breathing getting heavier by the second as her eyes close, keening more into you.
You smile softly at her, patting her once more before you fully lean against the boxes, gazing upwards. You blink at the ceiling for a couple of seconds before you risk taking a glance at the man who has plagued your thoughts for the last two weeks. His knees were still pulled to his chest his beanie still in between his fingers with his head bowed, covered by his knees.
You let your eyes scan him, his physique to be more specific. He had grown more muscular since the last time you saw him, his hoodie pressed against them, leaving little room for imagination. You let your eyes drift lower to admire the beanie in his fingers, realizing that it was one you had bought for him when the two of you were still together. Your heart clenches at the realization as you gnaw on your bottom lip.
You let your eyes drift upwards to get the shock of your life when Jeonghan suddenly lifts his head up, locking eyes with you. You jolt a little as he raises an eyebrow at you, a ghost of a smirk on his lips.
"Want to take a picture?" He asks, his tone dry as he tilts his head to the side. "I heard they last longer."
You feel your cheeks heat up as you turn away from the boy. "Shut up."
Jeonghan snickers at your reaction. "You were the one that was staring."
"And I regret it now."
"Do you?"
You feel your breath catch in your throat before you clear it and nod, knowing that his eyes are on you. "Yeah." You breath out, your voice low making Jeonghan scoff.
"You've always been a terrible liar, Rose."
The nickname causes your breath to hitch, your head immediately turning to the man to your right. "Don't call me that." You mutter out, almost on instinct.
Jeonghan blinks at you, his face unreadable as he stares at you. "And why's that?"
"You know why Jeonghan, don't play dumb now."
Jeonghan scoffs. "Can't believe you're still affected by the nickname because of Titanic."
"There was enough room on that door for the both of them!"
Jeonghan shakes his head, a breath of a chuckle escaping.
Rose is the nickname that Jeonghan coined for you after that day at the park. You had qualms about it because of Titanic. You watched it when you were younger and thought it was really selfish of the leading lady to not move a little more so that her boyfriend had more space on the door.
Hence, you didn't like the nickname.
Jeonghan, on the other hand, seemed to thrive more off of your hate for the nickname, making him use it more than your actual name or Violet which was the general nickname that everyone else called you. Even your parents used it.
But to Jeonghan, that nickname that didn't sit right so he used Rose every chance he got.
You grew to love the nickname when you and Jeonghan were dating because you learned that he called you Rose because you are his love and you've been since the two of you were kids and that he was enamored by you.
The effect of the nickname is so great that even after ten years of not seeing each other, that nickname still causes your stomach to flip.
"Are we really not going to talk about it?" Jeonghan asks softly making you tense up as you stare at the gray floor in-front of you.
"Talk about what?" You cringe the second the question leaves your mouth, knowing that it was a stupid thing to ask.
"Don't play dumb with me, Rose." He says making your heart race. "I think you forget that I know you like the back of my hand. Even if we haven't seen each other for the past ten years."
He was right. The two of you had grown up together and dated for almost five years before you left. He knew you, in and out. The two of you were each other's first for everything.
First kiss (from experimentation), first relationship, first real couple fight and you both even took each other's virginity.
Everyone thought the two of you were it for each other, despite your young ages. Everyone wanted what the two of you have and you two were glued to the hip that everyone always referred to you as a pair, never seeing one without the other.
But, that's probably the reason you left.
"I know." You whisper out.
"Since we're not going anywhere." Jeonghan says, moving his legs downwards to sit cross-legged in-front of you. "I think we have plenty of time to talk about prom. Don't you?"
You feel your pulse pick up as all the blood rushes from your face, gnawing at your bottom lip before you face him.
"Okay." You whisper out. "Let's talk about prom."
LET'S TALK ABOUT PROM
Prom.
If you were to ask anyone which day the seniors were most excited for, everyone's answer would be prom. It was such a monumental occasion that missing it would be the most devastating thing as a senior.
However, prom to you would always be something that had to end.
You and Jeonghan had been dating for around four years at this point. The two of you were constantly glued to the hip and everyone in the school knew that the two of you were together, including the teachers. Despite your age difference of two years, you still had a lot of common friends, your best friends integrated well into his group with consisted of your brother, Joshua as well as Jun, Soonyoung and Jihoon who were a year younger than them and a year older than you.
You loved Jeonghan. You realized that you loved him during one of the dates he took you on where you both went to a meadow just a little out of town that was filled with a bunch of different flowers and he just let you ramble on and on about their meanings with a lovesick grin on his face.
You loved him but you were also twenty, trying to figure out what you wanted and where you were meant to go in this big world. You always knew you were going to leave your small hometown, no matter how much you wanted to stay, your heart always strayed for something further. For something that couldn't be found in this small town that you called home.
So, you applied for colleges out of this small town, the only people knowing being your best friends and your family members. You didn't tell Jeonghan because it wasn't set in stone yet. It wasn't something that you wanted him to worry about or try to make sense of because to him, you were always going to stay.
So, when you got a letter, detailing how you were accepted into one of the courses that you applied for, five hours away, you were at a lost for words.
You remembered bringing the letter to Seungcheol's room and the two of you sat on his bed, staring at the letter as you cried in his arms. You didn't want to go. You didn't want to leave Jeonghan behind but you had to.
Which leads you to the night of prom, also known as your last night in town.
You had ordered a rosy red dress months ago, realizing that it's Jeonghan's favourite colour on you as it went so well with your skin colour and just made you look like the most ethereal person in the room.
The theme for prom this year was coincidentally spring so your dress was perfect. You applied the finishing touches to your makeup with shaky hands as Kay and Izzy shared a glance with each other.
"Babe." Kay said gently, taking the mascara brush from your hands, putting it back into it's case. "You're crying."
You let out a soft sob, unsure of what to do. Izzy dabs at your eyes, removing some of your makeup but you didn't care. Not when you were staring at your childhood room filled to the brim with memories of you and Jeonghan but you couldn't bare to bring any of it with you, opting to leave it here just like you were leaving him.
Your closet was empty for the most part, you only bringing a set of toiletries, clothes and some memorabilia that you couldn't bear to part with that were all packed in Seungcheol's car.
"You need to stop crying, babe." Kay breathed out as Izzy helps you to touch up your makeup. "If not, Jeonghan's going to know that something's wrong."
You sniffled, looking in the mirror to see that Izzy had managed to fix your makeup as if you hadn't cried at all. You felt sick in the stomach.
"He's going to know." You whispered out as you shook your head. "He knows me like the back of his hand guys… It's going to be so hard to hide it from him."
Your best friends shared a glance with each other. "Then why can't you tell him, babe?"
"Because it's going to break his heart on what's meant to be the happiest occasion of high school."
Your best friends were silent at that, unsure of what to say. Before they could though, a soft knock was heard at your door. The three of you turned to it, to see Seungcheol stood there, leaning against your doorframe.
"Hey." He greeted softly as he pushed off the door to walk over to you. He gave you a once over, a prideful smile on his face. "You look beautiful." He whispered out making a small smile appear on your face.
"Thank you, Cheol." Seungcheol gave you a soft shoulder bump.
"I didn't mean to interrupt the three of you but Hannie and Gyu are already here, so I figured that we should get going."
You felt your heart drop at the information but steeled your nerves as you stood up from your bed shakily. The three in the room all shared glances as they looked at you as you put on your best brave smile.
"Let's conquer prom."
The four of you made your way downstairs as two loud voices other than your parents met your ears. You reach the bottom to see Jeonghan and Mingyu stood there chatting with your parents, their hands in their pockets as they laughed at something your father said.
Mingyu was the first to notice you and your entourage, his eyes immediately locked on Izzy as he took her in. "Wow." He breathed out, making the girl in question blush.
"Shut up." She muttered out, but from the way she was trying to hide her smile, you could tell that she was enjoying the attention.
However, you weren't really paying attention to the soon-to-be couple at your side, instead more focused on the angel of a man that was stood in-front of you.
Jeonghan was clad in a black stunning fitted suit that left very little for imagination. His mouth was agape as he stared at you, his eyes shiny as he tried to figure out what to say.
"Gosh." Is the first word that left his mouth as he continues to gape at you. Your cheeks are definitely flushed at this point as you gave him a shy smile. "You look absolutely breathtaking, Rose."
"Really?" You asked, your voice small as you try not to allude that you were crying. Jeonghan doesn't seem to notice, completely enthralled by you as he took your hands into his, bringing your dominant hand up to his lips as he brushed a kiss onto it.
Your heart raced as he brought you closer to him. "Of course, baby." He lowly says. "I'm so lucky to have you."
You felt your heart crack slightly at his loving words but you fake a smile all the same as you gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "You look so handsome." You told him. "Can't believe you're all mine."
He gave you a devastating smile before his eyes lit up. "I almost forgot." He walks to the nearby table before he returned with a box, a shimmery rose inside. He gestured for your hand, which you gave him without a second thought. With the help of your father, he opened the box and carefully slid the rose corsage onto your non-dominant wrist.
"I made this." He softly admitted making your eyes widen as you glanced downwards as the perfectly shaped corsage.
"You did?"
Jeonghan gave you a nod, a nervous smile on his face. "I wanted your prom to be special. So I took a little workshop a few days ago to lear how to make the corsage for you." He held up your hand in his as he brushed his fingers over your knuckles. "Do you like it?"
Your heart raced at his question. "Like it?" You whispered out before you pulled him closer to you. "I love it, Hannie. Thank you." You tugged your hand out of his before you sprinted to the kitchen, grabbing the boutonniere that you had prepared the night before.
You made your way back over to Jeonghan before you showed him the boutonniere in your hands. He gawked at it before a genuine smile appeared on his face.
"No way." He breathed out making you giggle.
"Way." You replied, stepping closer to him as you pinned it onto his suit with as much care as you could. "Now," you breathed out, stepping backwards to admire your handiwork. "We match."
The two of you did match. You wanted to create a boutonniere that would go with your corsage and it didn't take rocket science to figure out that Jeonghan would probably give you a rose corsage considering that it was your nickname for him.
"I love it." Jeonghan stated before he gave you another dazzling smile and holds up his arm for you to curl into. "Shall we?"
You gave him a nod, your smile not quite reaching your eyes. "We shall."
Music is the first thing you hear as soon as you and your friends entered the prom hall. Mingyu and Izzy immediately moved towards the end of the banquet table where Minghao looked like he was about to have a heart-attack from how many eclairs Seokmin was stuffing into his mouth.
Kay and your brother made their way towards where Joshua was with his date, the four of them immediately picking up a conversation which left you with your dear boyfriend whose heart you were about to break.
Jeonghan scrunched his nose at the loud music and noises. "It's really loud in here, huh?"
You rolled your eyes as you continue to scan the room. "It's prom!" You shout over the music. "What did you expect?"
He gave you a shrug before he cocked his head to the middle of the room. "Dance?"
You giggled at his smirk before nodding. "You're on."
The two of you giggled as you dance with each other to the funky tunes that were playing. It only took two songs before the rest of your friends joined the two of you. Seokmin ended up starting a weird dance competition which Mingyu also took part in that caused almost all of you to end up on the floor in a fit of giggles.
You stare at your wonderful group of friends and smiled fondly to yourself, feeling a little teary eyed, knowing that tonight was the last night that you had with them until you went off to college. You had always imagined going to college with your best friends, unsure of what you would do without them but you were following your dreams and sometimes sacrifices had to be made in order to do it.
A shoulder nudged yours which brought you back to reality as you peered to your right, seeing your boyfriend stood there, looking as devastatingly handsome as always.
He leaned into you. "Tired?" He whispered, loud enough only for you to hear.
You shrugged. "A little, but not too bad."
Jeonghan nodded at that before he cocked his head to the exit of the gymnasium. "Want some fresh air really quickly?"
You glanced at the time and at Seungcheol who was watching you, knowing that you had less than an hour before you had to leave. However, if this was the last night that you had with the love of your life, you would willing say—
"Yes."
The fresh cold spring air rejuvenated your body as soon as you stepped out into the moonlit night. You and Jeonghan walked hand-in-hand to the back of the bleachers, both of your favourite spot to hangout at during lunch hours.
"Can't believe you're graduating next week, Rose." Jeonghan said as he bumped your shoulder, taking a seat on the metal benches. "Felt like yesterday when I was just graduating."
You forced out a soft laugh as you took a seat as well, hoping that it would just miss Jeonghan's ears so that he wouldn't suspect anything. "Yeah." You softly said. "I can't believe it either."
Silence enveloped the two of you as you both watched the stars glint in the sky. You were nervous, your eyes flickering to your phone every few seconds to see if Seungcheol was going to call you and break this bubble that you were in with the love of your life.
"Rose."
You whipped your head to your boyfriend, seeing that he was already looking at you, his eyes filled with nervousness and something else that you couldn't name. You raise an eyebrow at the man.
"Hannie." You cautiously breathed out. "Did you do something?" You deadpanned.
A soft chuckle passed Jeonghan's lips as he shook his head 'no'. "I just have something for you."
You looked at him a little more suspiciously as he dug through his pockets before he pulled out a box. A velvet red box to be exact.
You felt your heart rate speed up as Jeonghan scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Rose." Jeonghan said gently. "Before you freak the fuck out, take a deep breath with me and let me explain."
You hadn't realized that you held your breath this whole time as soon as Jeonghan had produced the box in-front of your eyes so you slowly breathed in and breathed out, regulating your breathing back to normal before you locked eyes with Jeonghan.
He popped the box open to show two rings in there, one that was slightly thicker than the other. "I know we're much too young to get married now, Rose." Jeonghan breathed out, his hands shaking as he held the rings for you to see. "However, after knowing you for so many years and dating you for some of it. I know another things that's for sure is that you're it for me." He said softly, his eyes on your face as he watched your eyes continue to flicker between the two rings.
"This is a promise ring. It's a promise that no matter what happens, no matter how many fights we get into and no matter how many times I push your buttons and piss you off, no matter how many days we go without seeing each other…" He lets out a shaky exhale. "That I will always love you and that I will never stop loving you until the day that I breathe my final breath."
A full fresh set of tears have brimmed your eyes at this point which caused you to involuntarily let out a watery sob that has Jeonghan wiping the tears from your eyes.
"Don't cry, baby." He cooed out.
"You can't say shit like that and expect me not to cry, Yoon Jeonghan."
He chuckled at your use of his full government name as you lifted up your hand. "Slip it onto my finger already, you asshole."
Another laugh bubbled out of his throat before he met your demands all the same, taking the rose studded ring and slipped it onto your middle finger, the traditional place where promise rings sat before he did the same with his own ring.
The two of you placed your hands side by side, comparing the two rings together before you pulled Jeonghan in for a kiss. He groaned into it, immediately gripping tightly onto your waist as you slowly moved your hands up from his chest to the back of his neck, messing with the back of his nape.
He let out another grunt, pulling you flush against him as he deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue into your mouth, tasting the strawberry mint that you had earlier. The two of you made out for what felt like an eternity before your phone rang, making the two of you jolt apart.
Still dazed and panting from the remnants of the kiss, you scrambled for your phone to see your older brother's caller ID on it.
Your heart dropped. This was it.
You turned to Jeonghan who blinked at you before he tilted his head to try and peer at who was calling you. You moved your phone away from his eyes before you cleared your throat. "It's just Cheol asking where we are."
He eyed you suspiciously but didn't press as he nodded before he stood up. "I guess I have stolen his little sister away for too long." He cheekily said, wrapping an arm around your waist. "Shall we go back inside?"
You gave him a brief nod, knowing that if you did anything else, you might crack under the pressure and just admit to him that you were leaving in the next ten minutes. He gave you a forehead kiss before he led you back into the building. The two of you were about to enter the gymnasium when you pulled away.
"I need to use the bathroom, baby." You said, careful with your tone so that it wouldn't waver as you gave him a smile. "You go on ahead, I'll see you inside."
Jeonghan eyed you for a few seconds before he nodded, letting go of your hand. "Don't take too long." He called out to you as you trailed down the hallway to the bathroom. "I got some mean moves to show Seokmin that might win me his weird dance competition."
You flashed him a small. "I can't wait!"
You watched as he turned and walked back into the loud booming room and your whole facade broke, a wretched sob escaping your throat as you remove your heels to walk back down the hallway.
You spared a glance into the gymnasium where you spot Jeonghan with the rest of your friends happily talking to each other and let your eyes drift further down his figure to the ring that sat on his right middle finger before ypu glanced at your own.
This was the right decision.
Is the last thing you thought to yourself before you slip out the doors of the school to your brothers parked car where you were about to leave your whole life behind.
"Are you alright?" Seungcheol asked as soon as you slipped into the passenger seat, dumping your shoes into the backseat.
You let out a shaky exhale as you shook your head 'no'. "But." You breathed out, recalling how good Jeonghan looked on your last day together. "I'll be alright."
Seungcheol said nothing as he put the car in drive and pulled out of your high school carpark, leaving behind what was meant to be the best day of your high school year and the love of your life.
You recall the whole story to Jeonghan who has scouted closer to you in the time that you had told it. He had been silent the whole time so when you finished the story, not a single word came out of the man.
You tuck Mandu closer to your chest as she keens slightly, fluffing around for a bit before settling again as Jeonghan lets out a bitter laugh.
"So," He states, eerily calm. "You're telling me this whole time, you could've told me and we could've just done long distance?"
You feel your blood run cold as he repeats the situation back to you as he stands up and begins to angrily pace the room.
"Jeonghan, I—"
"No." Jeonghan cuts you off. "You don't get to sit there and try to fucking defend yourself when you left like that, Rose." He chuckles lowly as he runs a hand through his hair, the beanie now abandoned on top one of the boxes. "Why couldn't you have just told me?!" He exclaimed. "Did you think I wouldn't understand? Did you think I wouldn't be happy for you?" He asks, agony deep in his tone.
You feel your throat go dry as you place Mandu down onto the ground to try to be on the same level as the man.
"N-No." You stammer out, lifting your hands in a surrender position as you try to appease the man in-front of you. "I was just scared and I didn't want to hurt you, Hannie."
Jeonghan scoffs at that. "You didn't want to hurt me?" He shakes his head. "Well, congratu-fucking-lations. You managed to do it anyways, Rose." You wince at his words as you feel tears brim your eyes.
"I thought it was the best thing to do." You softly admitted.
"I don't fucking understand, Rose." Jeonghan breathes out, locking eyes with you. "I told you I loved you, I told you that you were it for me. Which part of that statement did you not understand or get? That I would be happy for you no matter what you were doing or what you were going to do?" Jeonghan stops pacing to stand in-front of you. "That I would be able to die a happy man just because I have you by my side?"
You feel your heart stop as he admits that, staring intently into your eyes as you let out a shaky exhale. "I didn't want you to wait for someone who wasn't sure if they were going to come home or not, Hannie." You softly admit. "I was wrong. I'm sorry that I made the decision on behalf of the both of us when you were right and we should've talked it out."
"Yeah." Jeonghan replies. "We should have talked it out, baby. I would've told you that I was happy for you, that I would drive down every other weekend to see you. That I would bring you flowers every weekend to brighten up your bedroom so that you have reminder to smile even when everything looks bleak."
He shakes his head. "I would've done it all if you had just let me in."
You let out a soft sob as you imagine all of that, thinking how it would've been different if you just told him. If you didn't make the decision on your own and assuming on your own.
"I guess it would've been a lot different." You softly admit, sniffling a little. "If I had just told you."
Jeonghan sadly looks at you. "I guess we will never know now." He softly says, his words getting softer and softer by the second.
"Yeah, I guess not."
The two of you stand in a semi-tensed silence for a couple more seconds before Jeonghan steps closer and reaches out, his fingers brushing your chin upwards so that you are now looking at him. His eyes scans yours before he sighs, brushing his forehead against yours.
"It's been ten years." He softly whispers. "Yet you still make me feel the same way you did when I first met you in the park where I hated flowers."
You feel your heart rate pick up as you finally realize how close the two of you were now, his familiar floral and citrusy scent filling your nose as you stare into his irises. You didn't notice the two of you leaning in until the the door to the basement cracks open making the two of you jolt apart.
The two of you whip your heads to the door to see a few figures standing there, looking between the two of you, unsure of what to make of the situation.
"Erm." Chan starts, his eyes shifting between the two of you. "Did we interrupt something?"
Jeonghan takes that moment to regain his composure as he shakes his head. "No." He answers shortly, sparing you a glance before he grabs his beanie and makes his way towards the staircase. "You didn't interrupt anything at all."
His cold answer makes your heart drop as he trots up the stairs. "Excuse me." He mutters out as Seungkwan and Vernon share a glance before letting the older man leave. Your friends watch Jeonghan pick up his bag from your desk before he walks out of your store, the door slamming behind him without another word.
All attention turns back to you as Minghao cautiously walks down the stares, approaching you who looked like you had just seen a ghost.
"Vi." Minghao breathes out, getting your attention as he meets your eyes with his soft doe ones. "Are you alright?"
You break, reaching out for Minghao who catches you before you cry in his arms. The taller man soothes you, running a hand up and down your back as he whispers comforting words to try to get you to stop crying.
"I really messed up, Hao." You admit between sobs. "He loved me so much and I hurt him so badly by just leaving. Why didn't I just talk to him?"
Minghao's hand on your back pauses for a millisecond before he strokes your back again. "We've all made stupid decisions in our lives, Vi." He softly admits, moving his hand up to pat your head. "We've all been there because we're rash and we're young and we make decisions based on our emotional states sometimes. Yes, we may make mistakes but making mistakes is what makes us human. If we don't make a mistake here or there, how do we know we're making good decisions?"
His words make you think as you continue to sniffle into his shoulder. "Let's take a rainy day for example." Minghao softly starts. "How do you know sunny days are sometimes better than rainy ones without experiencing both?" He pulls back from you to meet your eyes. "Living is about experiencing, even if you experience the wrong thing or make mistakes, the important thing is to learn from them and to not repeat the same mistake twice."
Minghao eyes you for a couple of seconds. "If you thought leaving instead of telling Jeonghan was the best decision, it would've continued to be the best decision because it was already in your mind, Vi. It was meant to happen and I think you learned a lot from it because it happened."
Minghao in all his glorious wisdom is right.
"Since when did you get so wise." You breath out making the man chuckle as he rolls his eyes.
"Aren't you lucky to have such a wise person in your friend group that can actually relate to whatever you're saying?"
A scoff is heard from behind the two of you making you glance up to see Seungkwan's face scrunched up. When he realizes that both your eyes are on him, his face immediately flushes as Mingyu smacks him on the back of his head.
"Way to ruin the moment." Mingyu chastises, causing Seungkwan to flush even more. You let out a watery giggle at their bickering, a teary smile on your lips. Minghao reaches out to wipe some of the stray tears that didn't get picked up by his sweater.
"Feeling better?"
You purse your lips. "Not at the moment." You honestly admit but give him a small all the same. "But I'll be alright."
He gives you a sympathetic smile, placing a hand on the small of your back as he leads you to where the entourage of Mingyu, Izzy, Vernon, Seungkwan and Chan stood. He gives you a tiny kiss on your hairline before snapping his fingers at Mandu to get her attention to follow him.
"Let's get you girls home."
THE CHAOTIC TRIO
Jeonghan swears that he's never had trouble getting out of bed before. After last night though, he thinks that going to the store might make him combust instead of providing the serenity that used to.
Before he went home last night, he dropped Joshua a text asking if they could swap their off days just for the week. Joshua who was not sleeping sent a question mark before agreeing, saying that Jeonghan was lucky that he didn't have any prior plans.
Hence, that's why Jeonghan is at home and just staring at the ceiling, his mind blank with a body that is unwilling to move. He barely got any sleep, his mind plagued by your proximity last night and how the two of you had almost kissed.
He places his hands over his face and groans into them before hiding into his pillows. He wants the ground to swallow him hold. Ten years of not seeing you and the second time that he does, he almost kisses you.
'Stupid.' He thinks to himself. That's what he was.
He can't believe he hasn't gotten over you. He's tried dating. Joshua has even tried setting him up on one or two blind dates but after the second one was a bust, Jeonghan just swore off dating and hid his heart behind his dazzling charm to protect himself.
But the truth of it all is that he still loved you with his whole entire being and that is definitely not changing anytime soon.
He sighs into his pillow, willing himself to go back to sleep to maybe wake up in an alternate reality where you didn't leave.
"Are you trying to melt into the bed or something?"
Jeonghan's nearly launches himself off the bed when he hears the stern voice coming from his room door. Luckily, he manages to catch himself before he did and just stops a few centimeters from the edge of the bed.
"Jesus!" He exclaims, holding a hand to his chest as he wills his heart rate to slow down. "How the fuck did the two of you get in?"
Seungcheol and Joshua share a glance before the latter holds up a key in between his fingers. "Did you forget that you gave me a spare key in case of emergencies?"
Jeonghan scoffs. "What kind of fucking emergency is this?"
"The self pity kind." Seungcheol answers without a second thought as he walks into Jeonghan's room and flops down onto his bed with a soft groan, stretching a little.
Jeonghan frowns, smacking the older boy with the bolster that he has near him. "Get off my bed."
Seungcheol lets out a yelp when the bolster makes contact with him but doesn't move, instead eyeing Jeonghan with a knowing look. "I will if you talk to us about what's going on."
The heartbroken boy doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry at his best friend's statement, considering Seungcheol is tied deeper into this than he thought.
"What's going on is that your sister came back into town and somehow opened a flower shop right opposite me. We got stuck in her basement last night and I finally learned the reason why she left on prom night and you somehow, knew everything about it but decided to leave me in the dark for all of it." Jeonghan rants, his voice getting louder by the minute as he continues. "What's the fucking cherry on top is that you knew about the promise ring and still told me to give it to her anyways!"
He glares at Seungcheol as his voice goes low. "Did you want me to get heartbroken that badly?"
Seungcheol is silent for a few moments as Joshua just observes, leaning against Jeonghan's desk.
"I wanted her to stay." Seungcheol admits quietly. "I thought that if you gave her the ring, she would forgo whatever she wanted to do and stay because she's so in love with you, Han."
Jeonghan doesn't reply, giving Seungcheol the cue to continue. "I should've known that she's too much like me to do that though. You should've seen her the night that she came into my room with the letter, Jeonghan. She was so heartbroken. She had just gotten into the college program of her dreams and she was heartbroken because she had to leave you." He lets out a sigh as he sits up. "Maybe it was wrong of me to not tell you, maybe it was wrong of her to leave like that but I think she knew that if she talked to you about it, she wouldn't have gone through with it. You would've told her to go and she wouldn't have because she's that in love with you."
He flashes his best friend an apologetic smile. "Again, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that she was leaving or that she was coming back and there's no excuse for my actions and I hope that you forgive me someday but," Seungcheol looks around Jeonghan's room before his eyes settle on the printed out collage of photos of you and Jeonghan together from an array of dates that you've been on.
"Are you going to let the supposed love of your life slip through your fingers again?"
Jeonghan wants to yell and defend himself or deny that he's still in love with you but Seungcheol fixes him with a hard gaze.
"Don't even try to lie to me, Hannie." He says. "You forget that I've been your best friend longer than you've known my sister. I was here first."
At that, Jeonghan's mouth snaps close because as infuriating as Seungcheol was, he was also infuriatingly right.
"I hate you." Jeonghan deadpans with as much venom in his tone that he can muster. Seungcheol rolls his eyes.
"Yeah yeah." He tugs at the sulky boy's hand. "C'mon, Shua brought some beer, we're going to drink and we're going to have a good time."
Jeonghan frowns, not budging from his spot. "First of all, its one in the afternoon. Secondly," he turns to his chief operations officer. "if you're here, who is managing the store?"
"Well, we only had two delivery orders today which Seungkwan and Chan finished pretty promptly in the morning even though they looked so hungover." He clicks his tongue. "So I made the executive decision to send them home, close up shop and come over to make sure that you're okay." He glances between Jeonghan and Seungcheol before a cheeky grin appears on his lips. "Besides, I didn't want to touch the amount of paperwork on your desk."
Jeonghan lets out a scoff at that, shaking his head. "You lazy ass."
Joshua feigns hurt. "Says the one whose only role is to do paperwork."
Jeonghan opens his mouth, ready to argue when Seungcheol sighs, having had enough of this and yanks Jeonghan off the bed in one swift movement, barely letting the man get his bearings before he uses his other hand to tug at Joshua's hoodie.
The two of them let out sounds of protest but Seungcheol just drags them to the living room where three six packs sit. He let's them go before opening the carton for himself as the other two stare at him.
"If you two are going to fight." Seungcheol says, lifting the beer in a 'cheers' motion. "I'm going to need a drink to get through it.
Jeonghan and Joshua share a look before they took a pillow each off the couch and turn to the smart alec in the room whose eyes widen before he takes off sprinting, the two hot on his tail.
As yells, swears and laughs were heard for the next few hours, Jeonghan couldn't help but keep Seungcheol's words at the back of his mind.
Will he really let you slip through his fingers for the second time?
IF THE UNIVERSE GRANTS IT
You swear you could feel your own nauseous clawing at your throat with how nervous you are. It's the day of your grand opening and a sizable amount of people had turned up making your nerves spike more than it did before.
"You're going to put a hole in your newly furnished store if you keep pacing like that." Seungcheol states as he watches you go back and forth with just five minutes before you officially open.
"I feel like if I stop, I'm going to throw up." You state, not stopping your pacing for even a second.
Mingyu who was on clean-up duty today pales as he looks between the two of you.
"That doesn't mean you wear out the floor before your customers even have the chance to come in." Seungcheol deadpans as Mingyu tosses a glare his way.
"Keep pacing if it helps for you, Vi." Mingyu says gently, tossing Seungcheol another dirty look. He did not want to clean up any messes that big for free, during something as big as the grand opening.
"You're going to do fine, Vi." Seokmin calls out from behind the counter, his role being cashier today that sends the customers off with a warm smile or a good laugh. "The shop also looks splendid! This is going to go so well!"
You give the tall man a slightly constipated smile as Vernon appears from the back with a clipboard in his hands, in-charge of making sure everything was stocked up. "Done with last minute stock check." He gives you a small smile. "We're all ready to open up when you are."
You take a glance over the store, your eyes briefly landing on Minghao for a second as you spot him messing with the angle of one last trinket, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. When he finally finds the right spot for it, he smiles to himself before turning to you to give you a thumbs up.
Your heart swells with warmth as you admire the store that you and your friends had spent the last two weeks building. Every detail and placement intimate as you take a deep breath.
This is it.
You steel your nerves and put on the bravest face you can muster as you unlock the glass door and open it to see a bunch of customers already waiting outside, peering through the open door to see what all the fuss is.
"Let's do this." You say making all your friends nod as you open the door, welcoming all the new customers in and the official start of your journey.
It's mid-afternoon when sales start to slow down and you feel exhaustion creeping into your bones as it begins to drizzle outside. You don't remember another time where you had to stand for such a long period of time. You stretch as the rest of your friends lean against the front desk, chatting happily.
You smile fondly at them as they recount all the funny stories of the morning as Minghao looks through which flowers were the best flowers of the morning. You peer through the windows too admire the rain and the serenity of it all.
You let your eyes drift before they land on the store across the street from yours which had their blinds down. You frown, tilting your head to the side. You vaguely remember Seungcheol telling you that Jeonghan and Joshua only officially close the store on Tuesdays because it's a good time for them to catch up on paperwork as well as restock inventory from the weekend rush.
However, it's a Sunday today, meaning that they should be open.
"Hey Cheol." You call, getting your brother's attention as he breaks away from the group, your curiosity getting the better of you.
"Yeah?"
"How come Jeonghan and Joshua aren't open today?"
Seungcheol follows your gaze to their shop before his eyebrows furrow. "I don't know, they didn't mention anything when I saw them."
You frown but try to push it out of your thoughts as Mingyu gets your attention.
"Yeah, Gyu?"
"You had a letter delivered with the bills." You tilt your head to the side as Mingyu passes you it to you.
You analyze the letter as you try to figure out who it is from, flipping it in your hands. It just had your name on it, written in cursive with a wax rose seal at the back. Your heart thunders in your chest as you carefully open the envelope to reveal the letter and its contents.
Rose,
I know you probably weren't expecting a letter from me but I think this is a better way to articulate whatever I want to say without getting too emotional or too invested in the way that you're looking at me.
Let me start this letter off by saying I love you.
I know we've said it a few times when we were together but I don't think you ever knew when it was because I never told you, I wanted to save it for when we get married but then you left ten years ago and now, I'm here saying 'Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen?' You leaving me a second time?
Sorry bad joke…
I knew that I loved you the second you showed me the roses in that godforsaken flower garden that I truly did not want to go to. I guess I have Su Bin to thank for dragging us there that day because if she didn't, we would never have met.
Maybe we would have at a later date considering Seungcheol and I were friends but I think I wouldn't have fallen in love with you that early if we hadn't met that day. If I wasn't bait for Seungcheol's plan to get away from flower talks with you, I wouldn't have learned about what Roses meant and I wouldn't have learned what it was like to fall in love with you.
I wouldn't have spent ten years of my life after that yearning for you, four after that getting the experience of loving you and another ten after that waiting for you to come home.
Which is actually why I opened the flower shop in the first place. I couldn't bear to be without you so I made something that might get you to come home, back to me and choose me again. Roses are Red would never have been built if I never met you.
Which is why I'm proposing that we give our relationship another shot.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still heartbroken by you and it'll definitely take a lot of time to rebuild that trust so that I don't think you're going to leave me again but… I realize that the universe doesn't make mistakes.
We, humans can make mistakes but the universe doesn't.
It wasn't a mistake that Su Bin managed to convince our mother to bring us to the flower park that day, it wasn't a mistake when Seungcheol roped me into becoming bait to meet you, it wasn't a mistake that it rained during our first date and… it wasn't a mistake that you left the same day that I gave you the promise ring.
Maybe this is a bad decision and maybe our relationship will be in tatters after this but from how I see it, I still love you. I spent a long time thinking about it the last few days and I realize that I'm not ready to give you up just yet.
Because I know that deep down, you still love me too.
If all this is said and true, I'm waiting for you at our spot, Rose.
Don't overthink it and if you are going to, overthink it with me. There's enough space on that door for the both of us.
~ Hannie <3
You stare at the letter for a couple more seconds, not believing your eyes as your mind races with a million thoughts per second. You jolt out of them when Minghao puts a hand on your shoulder, an easy sympathetic smile on his face.
"This is the part where you run, Vi."
You feel your heart rate speed up as you nod, immediately hopping out of your chair as you fling the door open and run out into the street not caring about the rain. You sprint down the street as the rain dampens your clothes, making your way to the flower garden that you knew by heart since you were six years old because if there's one thing you knew for sure:
If the universe gives you a second chance, you have to take it.
Jeonghan feels at ease as he stands under the tree where the two of you had your first kiss. He thought that he shouldn't be feeling like this, since there's a chance that you wouldn't have read the letter that he had passed to Seungcheol this morning when he was closing up the store.
There's also a chance that you did read the letter and he was wrong, you didn't love him anymore and the last couple of days was just a fluke.
But as he stares at the spring rain falling on the trees and his umbrella, he knows that you're going to come.
He hums to himself as he patiently looks around, before he hears hard but fast footsteps just a couple feet away from him. He smiles to himself, knowing who those footsteps belonged to because he's always kept a listen out for it.
He turns to face you, who looked almost the exact same as you did that day when he first kissed you. Your hair's damp, sticking to each other and parts of your face and you sported a rosy red dress with a white knit sweater that just brought out the rosiness of your skin and a pair of sneakers.
Even though your makeup was lesser than that day of prom or on your first date, Jeonghan swears that you've never looked more beautiful and 'his' in this moment.
"Are you crazy?" Is the first words to leave his mouth as you end up under his umbrella. "You're going to get sick."
"Don't care." You reply, looking at the man in-front of you with as much love as you can express. He doesn't seem to catch it though, ranting about how you're so stupid to run here without an umbrella as he sheds off his jacket, placing it onto your shoulders.
"— do you have any idea what a common cold does to people? This is the stupidest thing you've ever done, you could've driven here, you could've at least taken an umbrella when you left the store. Like are you saying that you don't have any at the store because that's — mmph!"
You cut him off by pressing your lips against his, your hands going to the back of his neck as if it was just muscle memory. Jeonghan stands there frozen for a few seconds before his eyes flutter close, the umbrella forgotten as he lets it go, his hands more invested with being around your waist than keeping the two of you dry.
He groans into the kiss and you take the opportunity to deepen it, sliding your tongue into his mouth which he gladly reciprocates with his own. His grip on your waist tightens as he pulls you flush against him, not caring about how your wet clothes were soaking his own. You hum, smiling into the kiss as the two of you continue to make out.
Only when the two of you remember that oxygen is a thing, is when you two pull away. Jeonghan's lips pressing three more chaste kisses onto yours as if trying to remind himself that this isn't a dream and you are actually standing in-front of him, saying that you want to give your relationship another shot.
He bumps his forehead with yours before he leans his forehead against yours, a small teasing smile on his face.
"If I knew you missed me that much, I would've convinced you to take that photo of me in the basement the other day."
You roll your eyes, a soft scoff escaping your lips. "You wish."
"I do, Rose." He admits, without a second beat, the genuine honesty surprising you a little. "I wished that you missed me everyday in hopes that you would come home to me."
Your heart drops at that as you stare into Jeonghan's eyes that are filled with love and vulnerability.
"Hannie." You softly breathe out. "I'm sorry for making the decision for both of us and leaving without giving you a chance. There's no excuse for my actions and I thought I was doing it because it was the best decision for the both of us. However," you shake your head. "I realized that it was stupid of me to do so because it hurt a lot more than if we had just talked it out."
"I was so badly homesick during my first year in college that I wanted to dropout and come home to this town, come home to my family and friends but more importantly, I wanted to come home to you. However, I was scared that you weren't going to want to talk to me, that you hated my guts for what I did and I couldn't bare the thought of that happening."
You take a deep breath before tugging at the chain necklace hidden under your dress, taking it out of it to reveal the promise ring that Jeonghan gave you ten years ago.
"I never took it off." You softly admit as Jeonghan stares at the necklace, his eyes wide. "It was the one thing that kept me sane during college and what got me through the worse of the worse when I was working in corporate. Because every time I looked at it, I found my life a little less bleak and a little more hopeful, because I was thinking about you."
Jeonghan looks slightly teary eyed as he gazes into your watery ones. "If you let me, I'll spend the rest of my life hoping that you would forgive me. I'll work hard for all our dates, I'll plan and pay for every single one if you let me and I will always go the extra mile for you, just so that you know that I love you and that this is something that I want because like you said." You give him a soft, cheeky smile. "Humans may make mistakes but the universe doesn't."
Jeonghan stares at you for a few seconds, his eyes flitting around your face as if he's trying to commit your features to memory before he reaches into his own shirt neckline to pull out a chain similar to yours. Your eyes widen as you see the same promise ring nested on the chain as Jeonghan gives you a soft smile.
"I've been in this since I first saw you at the park, baby." He whispers out, letting the chain now rest on his neck, the ring glinting in the spring rain. "Let's just take it slow and see how it goes."
You nod, a soft smile overtaking your features as you lean more into the man that you love.
"So," You ask, wrapping your arms tighter around Jeonghan's waist. "What's the first step in taking it slow?"
Jeonghan's eyes lit up with a familiar mischief as he feigns a ponder before leaning closer to you, eyeing your lips.
Pairing: Non-Idol Jeonghan x F. Reader
WC: 14.5+K
Rating: E 18+ MDNI
Genre: Non-Idol AU, Childhood friends to Lovers, smut, fluff
Summary: Growing up, you and Jeonghan were inseparable, best friends, partners in crime, each other’s rocks when needed. It was always you and him against the world. Then you grew up. You moved away for college while he stayed behind. Lives took you in different directions, further away from your hometown, from the world you knew, from Jeonghan. But you both made a promise, the year you turned 31, you two would meet again no matter where life took you. To reconnect, to catch up, to remember your friendship. It was meant to be a rebirth of your friendship, but really it was the beginning of something more. And remind you that he's home
Tags: Non-Idol AU, Childhood friends to Lovers, Reuniting, mentions of teenage rebellion (smoking, drinking, other things teens shouldn’t be doing), rough housing, mention of family loss, yearning, Jeonghan is down bad, Member Appearances, drinking, smoking (weed and cigarettes), tension, flirting, angst, fluff, smut; Nickname: bug (hers)
Smut tags: Unprotected sex (no don’t do this), oral (m. receiving)
A/N: Here is my second submission for the wonderful The Reef In Bloom collab by @dorereef. Thank you again to @mylovesstuffs (for letting me use your name in this too!) and @nothoughtsjustfic for hosting this collab. This was alot of fun to write and be part of. I once more am happy to be part of it.
A/N2: Thank you for @gam3bo17 and @aeristudios for helping me out with this fic, and thank you Aeris for beta reading. You are the best! <3
I hope you all enjoy! My Jihoon submission will be later this week.
Seventeen Masterlist
*Twenty-four years ago*
“Yoon Jeonghan!” His mother’s voice boomed through the small home, your full name quickly following, but it was fruitless. The two of you were already running out the door, giggling, both of you with handfuls of the cookies that his mother had spent hours making.
“This way,” you tell him, and the seven-year-old boy nodded, following you without any further questions. Just like you did him.
Pushing aside a broken board in a fence, you and him slipped through into an abandoned looking backyard. On the other end of the yard, there was an old wooden shed and exactly where you were leading him. The once fresh and crisp wood now weathered from age and the elements; the door barely held onto its hinges, and a window that had several cracks in it.
Your hidden oasis. Yours and Jeonghan's little hide out.
Inside the old building, cobwebs covered corners of the walls. There was an old lawnmower that was rusted and abandoned to time and a built-in table to one side that was already filled with other snacks and drinks you both swiped from each other’s home. There were also two small sleeping bags laid out to be able to sit on the ground without getting your bottoms dirty.
“I can’t believe she fell for that,” Jeonghan giggled, setting his share of the cookies onto a broken plastic plate, one your grandmother threw away and you dug out of the trash to use in your ‘hide out’.
“I told you, she would. She’s like my grandma when she is baking.” You tell him with ease. Your seven-year-old confidence was admirable, your share joining his on the plate, except for one that you were going to eat. Taking a bite of the soft warm cookie, you continued to talk with your mouth full, “It was all a matter of striking at the right moment. You know this, Hanni.”
“She is going to be so mad at me when I get home,” He chuckled, his own mouth now full of cookies. You roll your eyes, reaching up from your place on the ground to grab two juice boxes, because you knew Jeonghan’s mom wasn’t going to be that mad. Not like your grandma would be at least. “She will be!”
“She never stays mad at you,” You quipped, dropping your cookie to cross your arms, a pout already forming. “You hardly ever get in trouble.”
“That’s not true!” Jeonghan shot back, copying you exactly, but stuck his tongue out in the process. “You don’t know how often I get in trouble. Especially because of you!”
“I don’t tell you to join in! I suggest!” You could feel your body growing hot with annoyance, dropping your arms with your fists now clenched. “You are the one who gets me in trouble all the time!”
“Yes, you do! You pulled my hair the last time I didn’t go with one of your plans!” Jeonghan snapped, and you gasped like he had just insulted your entire doll collection. Then you hit his arm, and his face darkened. “See! You hit me if I don’t agree with you!”
“You pushed me in the mud the last time I disagreed with you!” You countered, your young voices rising as you both did, getting into each other’s faces. “And I was grounded for a week after that too! I couldn’t watch TV because of you!”
Somehow this turned into a little squabble, where you and Jeonghan grabbed each other. Your hand was in his short dark hair, while he was trying to swat you off, crying out to let him go. In the middle of it, one of your feet kicked the plate that held your stolen cookies, breaking the plastic further and the baked treats were now being trampled by your feet.
“Look what you did!” Jeonghan yelled, pointing to the cookies when he finally was able to get your hand out of his hair while you stood there. Your face contorted into anger, and more offense that he would blame you when he was being the mean one.
“I didn’t just do that! You did too!” You retorted, and the young boy rolled his eyes. “Our cookies are ruined! And so is our little spot! You need to clean that up!”
“No, you!”
“You!”
In the end, the two of you ended up sitting on opposite ends of the sleeping bags. Arms crossed, backs facing each other, while the broken cookies and plate rested between you both. The silence was loud as you both refused to be the one to speak first, both of you too stubborn to break first.
In the end it was Jeonghan who broke the silence, standing to grab another juice box for you both and a packet of candies that you liked from the table. A peace offering in a way. You shot him a look, your eyes dropping to the candies and juice box before up to his face. His gaze was softer, with an apologetic expression on his face.
“Sorry,” He mumbled, and you tried to keep up being mad, but the way his bottom lip jutted out as he apologized made it hard. Instead, you reached out and took the offerings, and he sat down next to you.
“Sorry too...” You mumbled, sharing the candies with him before cleaning up the broken plate and ruined cookies.
*Thirteen years ago*
“Oh my god, Jeonghan, stop hogging the joint!” You whined, reaching for the rolled up paper that had your weed in it, but Jeonghan seemed to be trying to smoke it all to himself.
“Give me. Remember its puff puff give. I only did one puff.” He retorted, holding the joint just out of your reach so you were practically falling into the eighteen-year-old boy.
“Bullshit! That was more than one; hell it was more than two! It was like three!” You argued back, your arm still outstretched to grab the joint from him, “Yoon Jeonghan, if you don’t give me that joint now, I am beating your bitch ass up.”
“Please like you can take me,” Jeonghan laughed, attempting to put the burning joint back to his lips, his other arm trying to push you back while you fought to grab it from him.
You both were back at the shed again, the same old structure still holding out even after all these years, but things were different. The old lawnmower was now gone and sitting next to the it, collecting more rust and cobwebs in its new home, the webs in the corners no longer there, and the sleeping bags had changed to an old loveseat that one of your friends found. The juice boxes and snacks that were once on the table were replaced with a pizza box, a half empty bottle of Jeonghan’s dad stolen whiskey, a baggy of cheap weed, and some rolling papers.
And the two seven-year-olds who would hide away in it with stolen snacks, or other things to entertain were now eighteen. Freshly graduated from high school, stuck in that limbo stage where you both weren’t quite adults but not quite children anymore, and preparing for the next steps in your life. You were going off to a school abroad while Jeonghan was staying back in your hometown, choosing to go to a local college first.
“God, you’re so annoying,” You pouted, practically pushing him back and sitting on his stomach to grab the joint, but laughter was filtering out of you before you could stop it. Bringing laughter from the pinned man below you, a lazy smirk played over his lips like he was meant to win this no matter what. “Jeonghan, you’re going to smoke it all!”
“Then I will buy you more!” He argued, and you slapped his chest. Grabbing your wrist before you could hit him again, Jeonghan’s grip held you there as he lifted the joint to your lips. Like instinct, you took a deep inhale, letting the harsh herb fill your lungs and altering your non-sober state more. You try to free yourself from him, so you can smoke it how you wanted, but he wouldn’t let you.
Pulling back finally, you blew the smoke from your lungs into the air, and it was then that Jeonghan let you go, only to be smacked in the chest once more before you slipped off him and back to your seat next to him. Your leg tucked under you, your bare skin pressing into the old wood by your weight, but you ignored any possible splinters that may come from it.
“You suck, you know that?” You tell him, and this earned another chuckle from him.
“And you blow. We’re both whores here.” Jeonghan teased, placing the joint between his lips to rest his arms behind his head. Each breath inhaled the smoke from nearly finished joint into his lungs. His long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, but there were several strands that fell loose around his face.
His old Sublime shirt torn in a different place and showed off his stomach from the way he was laying, skinny jeans, and a gold chain with angel wings that was once yours laying against his throat. Skin glowing from the setting sun and the lantern behind you both, making him look ethereal.
You envied how beautiful your best friend was.
“Give me that,” You quipped, taking the chance to swipe the joint from him. A triumphant smile was playing over your lips before you realized that it was nearly gone. “You asshole, you smoked most of this.”
“And you drank most of my whiskey. Call us even.” He answered dismissively, closing his eyes briefly.
“Whatever,” you told him, taking whatever hit you can of the joint before putting it out, smashing it hard against the wood. Silence followed, the two of you sitting at the doorway of the shed, your eyes scanning the overgrown yard and the half burnt down house just feet from you.
It’d been like that for years, with no one coming to do anything about the destroyed home or the property it stood on, making it a haven for you and Jeonghan growing up, and a place of many things. Your first kiss with a boy that smelled like he used a whole can of body spray to cover that he hadn’t bathed, Jeonghan’s first kiss with a girl who tried to fight you over him.
You spent nights in the shed to avoid your grandparents and their old fashion but offensive words, many with Jeonghan right next to you. Refusing to leave you while you refused to crash at his place, because you knew his mom would call your grandparents. You got high and drunk for the first time with him next to you, and blasted music through a shitty speaker that neither of you could explain the origin of.
Hell, you two used it as a place to hide once when you had the cops called on you for stealing. You don’t think either of you had ever been so scared thinking you were caught, but it didn’t stop you because the thrill left you both laughing until your stomach hurts.
You laughed, cried, and felt every emotion you could think of in this shed, with Jeonghan beside you. In a week's time, you will be on a plane to a new country with a family friend willing to house you during your studies, and away from your home. Away from your life, away from the little shed. Away from the comforting blanket of your hometown.
Away from Jeonghan.
“You’re thinking too loud again,” His voice pulled you from your thoughts, turning your gaze toward your best friend. He was still laying back; arms folded behind his head as a pillow and prop, with his eyes on you. A small sad smile played on his lips, because he knew what you were thinking about too. “Talk to me, bug.”
"You're a bug. I should squish you," You answer back, matching his smile as you watched him let our a breathy laugh.
“I would like to see you try. You couldn’t even get the joint from me.” He then lifts his leg to nudge you with his knee. “Now, talk to me.”
“It’s stupid.”
“I mean, yeah your face is, but it’s at least pretty while being it.” He offered and you slapped his knee. He then sat up, giving you the famous lazy Jeonghan smirk you grew up seeing, but you could tell it was only a front.
“Just… growing up.” You told him, gesturing between the two of you, “We’re no longer kids anymore…”
“Debatable.” He murmured while you spoke.
“…we graduated high school and are preparing to be thrusted into the real world. We’re having to finally grow up and face life. I’m…” The words failed you then, and in its place was a soft choking sound. A sob that wanted to burst through, but you managed to swallow it back while blinking the sudden tears that wanted to fall. Jeonghan could see it all as he nodded. “I’m leaving… leaving everything I know…” This time your voice cracked, “Leaving you.”
“Please, the moment you agreed to marry me on the playground at five you were stuck with me.” Jeonghan answered, doing what he did best, trying to make light of something instead of showing what he’s really feeling. And you hated that it would work more times than it didn’t. “Just… there is going to be some distance between us. It’s not like I’m not a phone call or message away, and we’ll see each other again. This isn’t a final thing.”
“It feels like it is.” This comment made him tsk at you.
“It doesn’t to me.” He shook his head, watching through broken windows as a car passed by. The driver wouldn’t even know you were sharing one of the last times together before life took hold of you. One of the last times you would be free like this, this age, in the moment, and with the only person, besides your grandparents, who stuck by your side.
Someone you grew up with, someone you got into trouble with, someone who never was fake with you. Someone you saw every day and spent most of it with. Your best friend.
“It doesn’t?”
“Of course not. How could it be when we are still so young?” He asked simply and you could only listen to him, “It’s also not like you are leaving for good. Your grandparents are still here; your friends are here… I am here.”
“But what if our lives don’t allow room for each other anymore?” This earned another tsk, as well as an offending sounding laugh. Hurt flashed across his eyes before he looked away, like it was preposterous to even say something like that.
“I don’t know about you, but I’ll always have room for you in my life.” He said curtly, and you dropped your shoulders while making an over exasperated sigh. That wasn’t what you meant.
“Ugh, Hanni, I don’t mean it like that.” He turns his attention back to you, before flashing it toward the whiskey bottle. “I mean... what if even when I come home… we don’t have time for each other? We don’t get to see each other. You’re going to be working, going to school, and eventually you’re going to fall in love and have a partner. Same for me too.”
“I’m not sure how that sounds any different than your previous statement,” Jeonghan mumbled this, pushing his lip out in a pout. Reaching out, he caught a tear falling with his thumb, only to yank his hand away and shake it like he touched lava. This did what he wanted it to, which was to laugh.
“Hanni…”
“It’s okay. I forgive you for hurting my feelings. This is a hard time for us both,” There was so much honesty to his words, it was also written all over his face. He was trying to not think about the inevitable, which was you were leaving. Not the forever he had declared, but it was still hard. “It’s not just you losing something, I’m losing my best friend. My partner in crime. Who am I going to get into mischief with? Joshua?”
“I mean… at least he’ll keep you from getting arrested.”
“If he’s not too busy fucking anything that will let him.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes, “But I’m serious. You’re not the only one who loses something in this. Except I’m not accepting that this is it, because it’s not.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Of course I do, I’m Yoon fucking Jeonghan. I can bend the will of others with a flick of my wrist, and this will bend to my will.” You still don’t look convinced, and he clicks his tongue before speaking again, “How about this? If life takes us on different paths that separate us further, then the year we turn thirty-one, we meet again. You and me… and any husbands, wives, fiancés, life partners or children we may have. Somewhere nice, somewhere where our busy lives can’t touch us. Where we can catch up, and remember that it’s always been us, and it will always be us.”
“Really?”
“Yes, now ask me what will happen if life doesn’t do that.” He smirks, and you giggle.
“What will happen if life doesn’t?”
“Then we do it still!” He announced throwing his arms up, before one found its way over your shoulder. “No matter what, no matter where life takes us, we meet the year we turn thirty-one.”
“Why thirty-one though?”
“Because it’s too cliché to meet when we turn thirty. Goodness, this isn’t one of those romance movies you make me watch.” He gave you a brief squeeze before getting up to grab the whiskey bottle. “So, what you say?”
“I can easily argue that the last three romances we watched was because of you, not me.” Jeonghan sat back down next to you, the bottle in his hand, but it remained unopen. His attention was on you, his eyes watching you as you try to find the words. Every part of him told you that he was serious about this, and it helped ease an ache that was building in you. “And let’s do it.”
“Perfect. Now let’s drink to the future.”
A week later, you were clinging to him at the airport as your grandfather got your luggage together. This time tears weren’t holding back, Jeonghan wasn’t able to say anything to help because he was busy fighting his own. Instead, he just held you as you gripped at the offensive SpongeBob shirt he was wearing, soaking it with not just your tears, but the mascara and eyeliner you had thickly drawn on. Only to have it cried away telling your best friend goodbye for now.
“Hey,” Jeonghan’s voice was soft when he pulled back, making you look at him. His eyes were shining, and red. Evidence that he’d been crying, though you knew he’d insist he’s actually high, and it nearly broke you. “Remember what I said. The year we turn thirty-one.”
You nodded, and he gives you a soft smile.
“I’ll send you the details, so make sure you have the entire year free.” He teased and you let out a soft laugh before jumping from him, pinching you. You break away from his grasp to hit his shoulder. This earned a soft laugh from you, your eyes dropping to the angel wing necklace that still rested around his neck.
“I’ll be sure to have all my information changed by then.” You laughed, and he pinched your side again. Your name then came from behind you both, your grandparents calling to you. It was time to go. Looking back at Jeonghan, you gave him a watery smile, “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too,” This was the first time his voice finally cracked, and a tear started to fall. It was real. It was happening.
“I’ll text you when I land.”
“You better.” He teased. “I will see you again.”
“See you again.”
**A year ago**
Your phone chimed right as you were cooking dinner, cutting off the music playing briefly, but you weren’t able to stop what you were doing to look. Too focused on making sure that you didn’t burn anything, but the couple that was in the kitchen with you noticed.
“Need me to check that?” You heard Celeste ask, and you looked over your shoulder, to her and Soonyoung grabbing the plates and cutlery for the table.
“No, it’s okay. I can check it later,” You waved her off, “Dinners ready, and we have a proposal to go over.”
“I thought there was no work talk at dinner?” Soonyoung teased, making you shoot your friend and co-owner a look, only to earn a playful wink back. He then turned to his fiancé with a smile, “If we’re working while we eat, you might as well open two bottles. One for us and one just for her.”
“Watch it Kwon, or I’ll run this company with Celeste instead” You warned him, grateful that Celeste was already stepping in to grab his collar to drag him out of the kitchen with everything to arrange at the table.
Twenty minutes later, the three of you were sitting around the table, two wine bottles open with one in front of you and one between the couple. You all were talking animatedly about the proposal that you and Soonyoung were putting together, hoping that the potential investor takes on your ideas and help launch your small business globally. Soonyoung had been right to have your own bottle open; it helped ease the tension that was building in your shoulders over all this, and there were more laughs than not.
“I think we should add some tiger imagery to the presentation; you think we can do that?” Soonyoung suggested a wine glass coming up to his lips, only for it to be stopped by his fiancé. He looks at her with confusion as she only shook her head. Celeste supported his love for tigers, but even she knew when to draw the line.
“I should hire you as our creative director,” You joked, tipping your own wine glass in her direction. “You can save me from a lot of tiger themed merchandise and advertising.”
“I love you, but if I took that, I probably would be canceling the wedding instead of planning a honeymoon,” Celeste laughed, and Soonyoung looked offended. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, I know how you are when you’re working. We met at work, remember?”
“Of course, I do. I barely was able to focus at meetings because all I wanted to do was look at you,” You actively rolled your eyes as the couple stared at each other like they hung the sun and the moon for each other, and it reminded you just how single you have been for the last few years. Happily single, but not when you were around these two being so sickeningly in love.
“Gag me.” You muttered making the two look at you. Celeste playfully stuck her tongue at you, and Soonyoung pretended to growl. That was when you knew that you had lost them both to being lovey toward each other. You took this chance to check your phone, remembering it had gone off while you were cooking.
It was a message. From Jeonghan.
Your eyes widened as your fingers tightened around the stem of your glass, or you were going to drop it onto the table and spill wine all over the place. Casting your eyes up, you were relieved to see your two friends were still too busy staring at each other to notice your reaction.
You and him hadn’t really spoken in nearly six years, not since you came home for your grandfather’s funeral. Of course, you would wish each other a happy birthday, send the occasional meme, or a quick hello, but other than that, you barely spoke. You didn’t want to admit that it was hard for you to respond because it made you want to go back to being that eighteen-year-old again.
But you knew what this was about. You had turned thirty recently, and his thirtieth was a few months away, which meant that the promise the two of you had made at eighteen, smoking and drinking in that abandoned shed, was also coming due. And he was reaching out to solidify the plans.
You should’ve waited to read and respond after your friends left, when you had time to yourself, but you didn’t. Clicking the notification, you unlocked the phone to read the message. Only to find it was confirmation for your plane tickets, and a set of dates. The first week of April next year, and for a week.
Back home. Where you hadn’t stepped foot in nearly six years.
A few more messages had followed.
Jeonghan: Told you to keep your schedule open.
Jeonghan: See you in April, bug.
**two days before**
You might’ve been overthinking it. No, you were overthinking this as you stared at an empty suitcase, piles of clothes folded around it on your bed, bags of new clothes at the foot of the bed, and your toiletries all laid out on your bathroom counter. All waiting to be packed.
None of your clothes had felt right, the makeup you chose to bring felt too plain, and your nerves were starting to suffocate you. A part of you felt like you shouldn’t feel this nervous, because it was just Jeonghan, but another part felt you were justified because it was Jeonghan. You hadn’t seen him in person since your grandfather’s funeral, only ever seeing his life through photos that he posted online.
Picture of him traveling with Joshua, and with your other friends, and relationships that never seemed to last a few months before the person disappeared from his photos. You watched his success in becoming a pharmacist like he had always wanted and was making a life for himself. He owned his own home, and he appeared happy with his life.
You had done the same, but away from him. You made a life where you now were, and selfishly barely looked back; especially after your grandfather had passed. You made friends where you were, had relationships, started a business with Soonyoung, and you made a life for yourself. You had become a different person, like he had.
This fact wasn’t the only thing that had your nerves starting to settle uneasy in your gut. You were both different, and what if that difference was so great that neither of you could enjoy your time together again. Uncomfortable strangers the entire week instead of old friends looking to reconnect.Not only that, but what if also being back home made it worse? That being there was more painful than it should be, and it made you resent your oldest friend for bringing you back?
Then your phone chimed, with a message coming through.
Jeonghan: See you when you land.
Jeonghan: And stop overthinking things. I can hear your thoughts all the way over here. Haha.
That made you burst out in a laugh, because of course this silly line he used to say to you growing up would help loosen some tightness in you. It didn’t settle your nerves though, it only unraveled them, so they weren’t making you want to throw up and cry at the same time.
You responded.
You: Too late, so deal with it.
His response was instantaneous.
Jeonghan: Gladly.
**April**
You swore this entire journey had been one big April Fool’s joke with the way everything had gone wrong. You managed to finally pack everything, though you still weren’t happy with your choices you couldn’t just go naked, but you overslept the morning of your flight. The ride you had ordered was canceled at the last minute, making you late to the airport and nearly missed boarding.
Checking in had been a nightmare, and then there was a delay taking off.
When the plane did finally set off, you thought you would be in the clear for now. It would be smooth flying after this, and the bad luck got itself out of the way now than following you the entire trip. You hoped that the long flight will go well and give you a chance to rest, or Jeonghan was going to see you have an absolute crash out over it all.
You managed to get enough sleep, so you weren’t as cranky when you landed, but it left you feeling stiff. You even tried to stretch some before unboarding, but it and the awkward shuffling didn’t help. Gripping at your carryon, your focus was to get your suitcase and out of the airport. There’s a bed somewhere calling to you, and you were ready to meet the call.
With your suitcase now secured, you checked your phone to see if Jeonghan was there yet after insisting on picking you up instead of ordering a ride. Except when you looked around the semi-crowded airport, you didn’t see him anywhere. There was no sight of the famous Jeonghan smirk, no sign being dramatically held up with your name, or anything like that.
Your phone started to ring in your hands.
“Where are you?” You answered, pressing the device to your ear and skipping any and all pleasantries. This earned a chuckle on the other side, and your eyes immediately narrowed. Even with the time apart, you knew never to trust that chuckle.
“About that…” He started slowly, showing you were right not to trust it. There was no way he was going to try and fuck with you, but you should’ve known better, “I am running late, car troubles, won’t be there for a few hours. You’re going to have to wait until I get there.”
“Yoon Jeonghan…” You took in a slow breath, trying to fight the annoyance that was bubbling under the surface. No, he wasn’t going to do this to you after the trip you’ve just had, “You better not be fucking with me right now.”
“I wish, I could say I was,” There was a sigh to his voice, but before you could let him have it, he continued, “I am very sorry, bug. I wish I was there to see you right now. With your hair an absolute mess, your sweater falling off you, and the way you are pouting right now. It’s so cute.”
“Huh?” You blinked, looking down at your body. Your sweater had fallen from your shoulders and was resting right at your elbows while strands of your hair escaped the loose ponytail you had put up. How the hell did he know if he wasn’t there? Before you could question it, you felt a light tap on your shoulder. Twisting around, Jeonghan was standing there.
The phone still pressed to his ear, eyes shining with excitement and mischief, and that smirk that you once knew oh so well. His hair was shorter than the last time you seen him with it back to his natural dark brown. He was in a simple black t-shirt with a matching jacket and a pair of white pants, and you couldn’t stop the way your heart skipped at the sight of him.
“April Fool’s. Forgive me?” He teased, barely able to hang up the call before you were throwing your arms around his neck for a hug. The force of you jumping into him made Jeonghan stumble back slightly, but once he was able to catch his footing, his arms wrapped around your waist.
He pulled you so close your body was pressed against his like he had been desperate for this moment, but you were no better. Nuzzling your nose into his shirt, taking in the scent of his perfume and the way he held you tight. His own nose pressed to your hair, breathing in the faint smell of your perfume and shampoo, fingers flexing and squeezing gently at your sides.
Both of you forgot that you were still in the middle of the airport.
“You asshole!” You finally bursted out when the two of you parted, slapping his arm while he laughed at you attempting to scold him. He saw the smile forming over your lips, making the smirk he was wearing turn into a genuine smile. One that nearly stole the very breath from you, “That wasn’t funny.”
“It was a little funny.” He still hadn’t let go of you, his hands resting on your hips like they always belonged there, his gaze drinking you in. Then he stepped back, withdrawing his hold on you to reach for your suitcase handle, “Now, let’s get out of here before you shove me into the cargo hold of one of these planes.”
“You would deserve it,” You retorted earning an eye roll from him. One hand placed firmly against the small of your back, and the other pulling your suitcase behind you. With cool precision, Jeonghan directed you out of the airport while chatting with you about his day and asking you about your flight.
Like it was all part of a daily conversation you would always have, and there was no time between your last full conversation that wasn’t in text.
“After you,” Jeonghan announced, making sure to open the passenger door for you while providing an overexaggerated bow that made you playfully swat his shoulder. A giggle escaped you as you got into the car, while he finished putting your suitcase in the back. Settling into the driver’s seat, he flashed you a lazy smile and you missed the way his hand twitched slightly to reach for yours. Instead he put the car into drive. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You know, you never told me where I was staying.” You told him, your eyes watching the way the town looked now. Businesses that were once there on the main street gone, replaced with franchise stores and popular food spots. Places that you once occupied with your friends or grandparents gone, showing that the town was growing and changing like you had.
It didn’t feel like your old home, but there was still something about it that told you it was. Just with a different look.
“Easy. With me.” He said with no hesitation, making you look at him. He had a pair of black sunglasses on, leaning back against the driver’s seat with one hand on the wheel while the other rested on his lap. Looking relaxed as he drove through the familiar streets. Stopping at a light, he cast a glance your way and you weren’t sure, but you thought that his relaxed smile faltered slightly. “Rather get a room? The old motel is still open, but you might have to cuddle with some roaches and a few rats.”
“I think I am good on that,” You don’t hide your look of disgust, and this made Jeonghan start laughing as the light turned. “I would like the bed I sleep on be free of other occupants.”
“Is that so?” He muttered, his focus on the road letting silence fall over you. The radio was playing quietly, and you started to notice the familiar names of the streets.
They were the same names you would see every day growing up, the same streets you used to run around growing up. You chance a glance toward Jeonghan, only to find his focus on the road but the look on his face told you that he was waiting for your reaction.
Especially once he turned on the familiar street that the two of you grew up on.
“I knew you moved close to family, but I didn’t know you…” The words stopped in your throat when you pulled up to a beautiful home. It looked newer compared to the others on the street. White with grey trimming and a neatly cut yard with a stone pathway that lead right up to a small porch with a planter next to the door.
It was beautiful and unfamiliar, but you knew this property. It didn’t matter how long it had been since you came back; you knew exactly where you were.
“Come on, bug. Let’s get inside.” Jeonghan didn’t give you a chance to process your thoughts before he was shutting off the engine and unbuckle both of your belts. He was out of the car, leaving you there staring at the empty seat that he had once occupied.
It was the sound of the trunk closing that you were able to kick start back up and rushed to get out the car to follow him up the small pathway to the front door. Your heart was pounding in your ears, eyes wide staring at the home and Jeonghan’s back.
Once inside, you didn’t stop to look around the home, instead your feet took you from the front door, through the open living room to a set of glass doors. If Jeonghan had said something to you, you didn’t hear it because your focus was getting to the backyard. You barely looked around the yard itself, just that it was well taken care of.
No, your focus was on the shed that was in the same familiar place. You could feel tears starting to burn your eyes, memories flooding back to you, your eyes flicking over to the fence that once had a broken board. It was fixed with forsythias and azaleas flourishing in front of it, but you could still see a young Jeonghan popping through it while you waited for him at the shed.
“It’s not the same one.” Jeonghan said softly behind you, but you didn’t look back, not wanting him to see a few tears fall. “The old owners finally sold the property four years ago to a realtor company. They rebuilt the house and tore down it before putting the place back on the market.”
“And you bought it.” You responded, finally looking at him. He had his hands in his pants pockets, balancing on the balls on his feet, while his eyes were on you, catching more tears starting to fall.
“Yeah, well, with the help from my parents. With conditions obviously,” Jeonghan continued, keeping his attention on you, “Moment I moved in, I had the shed put back in. It’s used to actually store shit, not a hang out like we used to have it, but just something didn’t feel right without it there.”
“What was the conditions?” You asked in a small voice, trying to wipe away the wetness from your face, when Jeonghan caught your elbow. Pulling you into a hug, he let out a soft tsk.
“Let’s not worry about that right now.” It was a clear deflection, but he wouldn’t let you wiggle away from him to call him out. Then his hands found its way to your sides and started to tickle you.
“Jeonghan!” You let out a small squeal, giggling while trying to get away from him. His own laughter mixed through yours in a sweet melody, helping you forget your tears.
“Come on, let me show you to your room.” His arm thrown lazily over your shoulder, directing you back toward the house. “And no roaches or rats to cuddle with.”
Jeonghan gave you a brief tour of his home, a kitchen and living room open floor style. Three bedrooms, the larger one with an ensuite on one side, while the two smaller ones with a Jack n Jill style on the other. Your room faced the yard, giving you perfect view of the shed, while Jeonghan had the larger room.
He left you to unpack and get cleaned up from your travels. The shower felt good, hot water helping you loosen the still sore muscles from your long flight and fight off the fatigue that you didn’t know was creeping up on you. By the time you had gotten out, your skin felt flushed from the heat with your hands and feet slightly wrinkled. The towel Jeonghan had left out was dark grey, soft and fluffy and felt like heaven against your skin.
It felt good to be out of your airport clothes and in a soft pair of leggings and oversized t-shirt. Your hair was still slightly damp, so you left it loose around your bare face Now that you were back around Jeonghan, the nerves you were feeling all but melted away and didn’t feel like you needed to look all done up just to lounge around the house.
“Hope you’re hungry.” He announced proudly when you finally emerged, setting two beer bottles on the table with a spread of take out. He wasn’t looking your way. “You took so long I managed to make us a feast.”
“Make us a feast huh?” You laughed, crossing your arms as you take in the sight before you. “Wanted to make sure it was authentically homemade by including the plastic containers?”
“I mean, only the best for…” His words died on his tongue as he went to look at you, his hand slowly dropping to his side. There was a flicker of awe and desire that went across his face before he shook his head, and it was replaced with a smirk. “…you...”
“I feel so honored,” You went to pull out of the chairs to sit, but Jeonghan had beat you to it by pulling it out for you instead, before taking a seat next to you, focusing on the containers. Grabbing both beers, you popped them open with ease and set them down in front of you both.
Dinner consisted of the two of you stuffing your faces, battling over the last pieces of meat, which he won by cheating at rock, paper, scissors. You drank several beers between you each while talking about work, friends, family, and life. You told him about meeting Celeste in college then later Soonyoung through her, the jewelry business that you and him thought up after too many bottles of wine, how it actually was doing well, and the couple’s upcoming wedding.
While Jeonghan told you about college, the trouble him and their friends got into, updated you on his parents and sister, and about the pharmacy he works at with Joshua. You laughed over stories, and it felt like no time had passed between you.
“What about relationships?” Jeonghan asked, leaning back in his chair with a beer close to his lips, watching the way you swirled your beer around in the bottle. “Anyone special?”
“Just a vibrator named Owini with two I’s.” This made Jeonghan raise a brow as he took a sip. “O.W.I.N.I. Orgasm when I need it.”
“Clever.” He coughed out after nearly choking on his beer, laughing at the name.
“What about you? Anyone in your life?” It was your turn to watch him, trying to gauge his reaction. Jeonghan was leaning back against the chair, looking forward with a half-smile playing over his lips.
“No one special. At least not for a long time.” He answered finally, finishing his beer with a smack to his lips. Licking them, he sat the beer down onto the table before standing and stretched. He ignores the confused expression on your face with his sudden movements, “Let’s get this all cleaned up bug and have a few more beers. Maybe watch a movie or something.”
You nod your head slowly, following suit to help throw away the empty containers and put away anything that you two didn’t finish. When you were done, Jeonghan grabbed a few more beers from the fridge and met you at the sofa to find something to watch. Picking some random movie that you couldn’t remember the name, both of you talked and laughed until all the beers were empty and Jeonghan was half asleep on the sofa.
**Day 2**
“Oh, it is so good to see you sweetie!” Jeonghan’s mother wouldn’t let go of you, hugging you tightly as if you were going to disappear on her if she did. The next day the two of you had gone to his parents’ for lunch on his mother’s insistence, “I missed you, my dear.”
“I missed you too,” You answered, giving Jeonghan a ‘save me’ look when she didn’t let go, only for him he didn’t come to save you, instead just watched with mild amusement from his place against the kitchen counter. Releasing you from the hug, she grasped your shoulders to look at you, making you turn your gaze back to her.
“You should not stay away so long,” She scolded, leaning forward like she was revealing a secret, “Our Hanni has not been the same since the last time you left.”
“Oh…” You let out a nervous laugh, looking back toward Jeonghan with a questioning gaze, but he was no longer looking at you. Instead, he was staring warning daggers into his mother’s back. It reminded you how he wouldn’t look at you the previous night either, but before you could say anything further, you were being lead to a table full of food.
“Sit, sit. I hope you are hungry, I made all of your favorites.” You were then gently pushed into a seat, with Jeonghan following and took a seat next to you, “Oh goodness, I forgot drinks. Let me grab those.”
“I told her not to do all this, but she insisted,” Jeonghan had muttered so only you could hear.
“I believe it,” You responded back, leaning toward him with a raised brow, “What did she mean by you haven’t been the same?”
“Nothing, just missed my best friend is all,” He answered simply. For a brief moment you thought his gaze dropped to your lips before he looked away to speak with his mother. Changing the subject all together as well.
The rest of the visit had consisted of more catching up, with Jeonghan’s father and sister coming by to join in, but you were barely able to pay attention. You couldn’t stop looking over toward Jeonghan, feeling that there was something more than ‘he just missed his best friend’. Like true Jeonghan fashion, he didn’t give anything away.
There was a possibility that you might be looking too much into it, reminding yourself that before you left for college, the two of you were with each other every day, and were inseparable. Hell, every time you came home, you and Jeonghan would always be together. Then after your grandfather passed away, you just… stopped coming back.
It wasn’t that you had wanted to stay away, it just was harder to come back now that both your grandparents were gone. It was hard to come back when you no longer would walk into the home you grew up to them, and life just kept getting into the way. Work ended up taking precedence since you and Soonyoung were focused on your jewelry company, finding the time off had grew harder, or whatever excuse you gave to make yourself feel better for not coming back.
You had known that it had affected Jeonghan, going from having his best friend every day to a few times a year to sparse messages and social media posts, but you didn’t think that meant ‘he hasn’t been the same’.
After leaving the Yoons’, you went with him to run a few errands that he’d needed to run, and the entire time you still had his mother’s words playing in your head. Which he noticed, but like him, you wouldn’t give anything away, giving the excuse you were just in a food coma.
“I don’t believe you, just so you know.” He told you, pushing up his sunglasses with one finger while his other hand rested on the steering wheel. Casting a glance toward you, he noticed that you were looking out the passenger window. “You can keep your secrets for now, but I will get them out of you. I always do.”
“I can say the same for you.” You chirped back, your eyes on the different buildings passing by, taking in the different buildings. Some familiar, some different. You could hear him let out a breathy laugh. “You have your secrets, and I have mine. If I have to spill so will you.”
“Touche, bug.”
Once back to Jeonghan’s, you disappeared into your room to answer some emails and make a few calls for work. You may have been on a trip, but that didn’t mean that you were truly on vacation, and the workload never ends. Soonyoung was a great business partner and assured you that he had it all handled so you can enjoy your time away (since you would be doing the same when he and Celeste went on their honeymoon), but you needed a bit of a distraction.
“You hungry?” Jeonghan had asked at one point, knocking at your door as he opened it. A smile playing over his lips seeing you sitting cross legged on your bed, laptop open in front of you. You had changed into a pair of comfortable shorts and a baggy sweater, your hair pulled back out of your face (save for a strand that wouldn’t stay) and look of concentration on your face.
You didn’t hear the hitch in his breath when you looked up at him, that look of concentration melt away to a small smile as you shook your head.
“I’m still full from that feast your mom made us,” You answered with a laugh, looking back to the laptop and to the email you had been working on. “I’m almost done here, just need to send off a few more emails, and then call Soonyoung regarding a large order of smokey quartz for our Smokey collection. I shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“You do know the whole point of this trip was to also not worry about work?” Jeonghan teased, making his way to the bed and flopped down onto the empty space next to you. Rolling onto his side, he looked up at you with his dark round eyes, shining with mischief with his hand inching toward the laptop to shut. Which you reached out and took with yours, holding it as you placed it back onto the bed. Making him pout.
“I am almost done, I promise.” You told him, not expecting the sudden urge to lean forward to kiss the pout he was sporting, nor the way you were still holding his hand. Or that he had adjusted the hold so that your fingers were laced together.
“Well, when you’re done, I’ll be right here.” He responded, finally letting go of your hand to roll onto his back, pulling his phone out to scroll. You raised your brow at him, he didn’t even look your way when he added, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m lonely out there and you’re in here working.”
“Price to pay on owning your own business.”
Though you did manage to get some work done, you couldn’t really concentrate with Jeonghan lying next to you, now fast asleep with his phone resting face down on his chest. The soft clicking of your fingers against the keys had lulled him into a sleep and you found yourself watching him several times. Taking in the way he still looked like the boy you had grown up with, only older. Thick lashes kissing his skin, skin still smooth but with the hints of age coming through. The lips that were pouting at you earlier, soft and plush looking, partially open with a soft snore leaving him. He looked peaceful, he looked breathtaking, he looked like he was where he was meant to be. Next to you. Your Jeonghan.
Your heart fluttered at this notion, the words your Jeonghan felt different even in your head. Or was it always this way and you just ignored it since he was your best friend.
When you finished your emails and came time to call Soonyoung, you chose to take it outside to not disturb the sleeping man next to you. You also wanted to enjoy the evening weather, finding yourself sitting on the step of the shed to take your call and maybe clear your head some.
The shed wasn’t the same, but the memories were still there when you sat down on the newer wood. The years you and Jeonghan spent in the old rickety building that once stood there, doing things that looking back neither of you had any business doing as teenagers. Drinking, smoking, and everything else that came with being rebellious teens and too much freedom to do it all.
It shaped who you both were as adults, and still a part of who you were. Even if you tried to run away.
“There you are.” Jeonghan’s tired voice had pulled you from your thoughts and tore your gaze from a patch in the grass to him. His face slightly puffy from sleep, and a yawn escaping him as he made his way to you before flashing you a lazy half grin. “Was wondering where you went.”
“I had to call Soonyoung and you were snoring. I didn’t want to wake you or have him questioning if I was next to a walrus.” You teased, unable to stop the corners up your lips to twitch up, earning a chuckle from the slender man.
“So, kind of you.” He muttered reaching you, leaning against the wall of the shed. The sun had already dropped past the horizon, but there was still a glow to the yard, emphasizing the shadows and adding a hauntingly beautiful look to the spring evening. “Clocked out now?”
“I’m always clocked in.” This made him chuckle, before slipping into his pocket to pull out a lighter and a joint. With the rolled herb between his lips, he lit it with the lighter. Taking a deep inhale, you watched him blow the smoke out. Looking your way, he offered it.
“You still smoke?” He asked, and you looked at the joint then back to his face. A brow raised, “Vernon managed to find some for me. I haven’t smoked since the last time you were here…”
“I actually quit myself,” You told him reaching out to take the burning herb and took a hit of it. The paper was damp from his lips, and the smoke felt harsher than it had in the past, making you cough out the cloud of smoke instead of inhaling it. You managed to take another pull from it, filling your lung with the herbal smoke. Allowing the head change take effect.
A silence followed, just the two of you passing the joint between you. Leaning back, your eyes went up toward the sky to take in the darkening sky as the stars start to appear. While Jeonghan just watched you.
“What did you mom mean?” You asked softly, after a few minutes of feeling his gaze and the joint passing between you. Looking down at the nearly finished joint, now a roach at this point, flicking some ash handing off it. “How weren’t you the same?”
“Were you?” He returned your question with one of his own, reaching for what was left of the joint. You let out a scoff.
“Of course I wasn’t. I lost both my grandparents within a year of each other, had to watch my uncle stick that stupid for sale sign in the ground before the dirt settle so he could pay his debts…” You waved your hand in the air at nothing, before dropping it into your lap. Pushing your tongue into your cheek, you continued. “I was hurting, I was angry at my uncle, I felt like I had nothing here that was mine anymore, and I just wanted to run away.” You took a breath, closing your eyes to hold back the angry tears that were prickling behind them. Remembering that feeling ruined your high. “I left already not the same, but how were you?”
Jeonghan didn’t respond for a moment, the flick of the lighter making you look toward him to find that a second joint appeared and was lighting it. He took a quick inhale of the sweet herb, before handing it to you.
“You need this more than I do,” He muttered as you took it, making you tempted to throw it at him and tell him to go fuck himself, but you stopped yourself. He looked up toward the sky, crossing his arms and you took in how he looked. His baggy jeans, and a shirt that had enough room for the both of you, hair sticking up from sleeping in your bed, and a pair of wired glasses. Ones he had to of thrown on after waking up.
You were slow to take a hit of the herb, watching him carefully.
“You had me.” He finally said, not answering your question. It should’ve infuriated you and call him out if you didn’t look so confused. Licking his lips, he looked at you before repeating himself. “You had me here still. I thought I was home for you too.”
Maybe he was answering after all, in his own cryptic way.
“You were… you are…” You told him, before sighing, “I don’t regret how long I’ve been gone, but I do regret not keeping in touch better with you. I should’ve tried better for that.”
“Maybe, but you’re here now.” Jeonghan leaned forward and took the joint from you. “I plan to make sure you remember that you’re home with me.”
You watched as the joint pressed between his lips, the way his eyes closed slightly as he took a hit, unable to tear your gaze away. Slowly his eyes opened and you could see there was a sign of mischief there. Hiding away the vulnerableness that he’d been displaying. You watch the way his own gaze dropped to your lips then back to your eyes, blowing the smoke gently from the side of his mouth.
“Why do I feel like you are trying to make me fall in love with you?” You asked, meaning for it to be a tease but it came out breathier then you meant. Part of you thinking he might kiss you, but instead he let out a laugh, leaning back against the shed wall. Like nothing happened.
“Who knows, maybe I am.”
**Day 3**
To say you didn’t really do anything was a bit of an understatement. There has been no plans for the day, aside from the plans to meet friends later, so you just laid around. Collecting your energy for a night out drinking and spending time with old friends. Well, at this point they felt more like Jeonghan’s friends rather than your own, but he had insisted that wasn’t the case. That everyone missed you and were excited to see you again.
Jeonghan also continued on the day like the previous night didn’t happen, as if he didn’t look at you like he wanted to kiss you, or ‘joke’ about you falling in love with him. He just laid around with you, bugging you at random times about how bored he was, but wouldn’t get up to do anything. He would whine about how warm you were, but he seemed to scoot closer instead of away.
He would random poke you if you weren’t paying attention to him, complain about anything you turned on, but refused to choose anything. And the entire time used his pouty voice if you snapped at him.
“That’s it!” You growled out, grabbing the hand that attempted to pull a strand of hair falling into your face, distracting you so his other hand could tickle at your side. With his fingers brushing against the bare skin of your tank that had ridden up, making you jolt and grab that hand as well. Wrestling to get him to stop.
You’d forgotten that Jeonghan was a lot stronger than he looked, and could easily break your hold, but instead he was letting you think you were overpowering him. Filling the room with laugher, and in your wrestle, you found yourself straddling him.
Then you both froze, realizing how close you were. The tips of your noses brushing, both breathing heavy from the exertion, eyes locked with a new emotion coursing through you. Deeper than desire. Your hold then loosened on his wrists.
Now this wasn’t the first time you had ended up like this, you had many times in the past wrestling with each other. You’d done it since you were kids, with it always ending with you both laughing and unable to keep annoying the other.
This time…this time it was all different.
Your name fell from his lips before you were kissing him, which Jeonghan didn’t hesitate to return. His hands dropped down to your waist, pulling you closer until your chest was flushed against each other. A whimper left you at the desperation that flooded him, his tongue sliding over your bottom lip, wanting more—which you willing gave him.
His lips felt like heaven against yours, and the way his tongue teased yours it left you needing more of him. More and more. Your fingers pushing through his soft strands, while his dug into your hips to pulling them down to grind on him. Feeling him already hardening underneath the soft grey fabric of his sweats, making you grow hot with need and dampen your underwear.
Then you broke from the kiss, staring at your best friend in shock while he stared at you with desperate need in his heavy lidded eyes. His bottom lip swollen from your kiss, hands still holding onto your hips like a vice, and his arousal pressing against you. With your own body ablaze with the same need right down to your core.
“I…” You scrambled off him to stand, “I… we shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry… I… I need to get ready for tonight.”
Before Jeonghan could answer or stop you, you were already rushing to your room. Slamming the door behind you as you went, leaving him to stare at the space where you had been standing. Licking his lips, he slammed his fist onto the sofa cushion in frustration but stopped the frustrated groan that wanted to escape. Standing, he took off toward his room.
The ordered ride to the bar was an awkward one, with neither of you would speak or look at each other. You on one side of the backseat, playing with the pockets of your cargo pants before readjusting your tank and cardigan, the fabric not feeling like they fit right. While Jeonghan sat on the other side, looking out the window while his own hands were balled into fists on his lap.
The kiss hung between you, leaving you unsure how to approach it while Jeonghan was just unreadable. There’d been moments you thought he was angry with you, others he seemed frustrated, and then finally he appeared…sad. It ate at you, making it even harder to find the words.
The sound that erupted from the group when you entered the bar was almost deafening, and making others look your way. You were then showered with hugs, first by the girls and followed by Seungcheol, Vernon, and Joshua. Jeonghan had disappeared to the bar, leaving you to greet everyone.
“It’s been way to long,” Eunji couldn’t stop saying, hugging you for what felt like the nth time, “I thought you weren’t ever coming back.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I just… needed to be away.” You answered, when she finally let go of you for good, but that was because her fiancé, Vernon, had pulled her back to his side.
“No need to explain to us. We understand.” It was Vernon who spoke up, a finger wrapped through a hoop of Eunji’s pants, keeping her in place. “What matters is that you’re back.”
“And me missing you all matters too, ya know?” You pointed out with a teasing smile, when a cold glass of beer was pushed into your hands, making you look up to see Jeonghan had rejoined the group. He didn’t look at you, instead moving to Seungcheol and Joshua, leaving the others to surround you. Looking down at the beer, you hoped that your friends didn’t pick up the tension between you. Which by the silence and looks everyone was giving each other, you knew better.
You could see the way Eunji was about to open her mouth, only for her fiancé’s hand conveniently found its place over it. Minnie, who had been waiting for her moment to give you a proper hug, gave you a questioning gaze, while Seungcheol, Joshua, and Joshua’s wife looked at Jeonghan.
“I see one thing hasn’t changed,” Minnie had murmured into your ear, taking the beer so she could get an actual hug from you, “We are going to be talking about this.”
As the night went on, the tension between you and Jeonghan had loosened with him eventually finding his way back to your side. Arm thrown over your shoulder, like he hadn’t been giving you the cold shoulder since running from him and the kiss you shared, as he talked and laughed with everyone. Poking, teasing, and smiling at you like you hadn’t just rejected him in one of the worst ways possible.
It had helped you relax outwardly, joining in with the talking, teasing, even leaning into him and his touch. It was easy to do, even with the tension burning between you, it was easy to lean into his warmth like he would you. Except inwardly, you had a war raging on. One that involved the very man you were leaning into.
“I’m going for a cigarette.” Minnie announced, lifting Seungcheol’s hand off her knee to stand, grabbing her designer bag in the process, “Who’s coming with me?”
“I will,” Eunji practically jumped out of her seat, looking around the table for anyone else, both of them stopping briefly on you and Lily, Joshua’s wife. Subtly hinting that you were to join them.
“I have to pass. I been trying to quit, and don’t want to be tempted, sorry.” Lily answered, sipping at the bright blue cocktail she had ordered.
“Never apologize for that. You got more will power than I do,” Minnie waved her hand, her eyes going back to you, “Anyone else?”
“I’ll go,” You announce, standing with Jeonghan’s arm falling from your shoulder as you did. Making him look at you with a confused expression, “Just need a bit of fresh air. I’ll be back.”
You barely make it out of the bar before you were being cornered by the two women.
“Okay, spill.” Eunji demanded as Minnie pulled out a pack of cigarettes, grabbing two and a lighter from the box. One for each woman.
“What are you talking about?” You attempted to feign ignorance, but it was clear the two didn’t buy it. The three of you were very close growing up, they witnessed how you and Jeonghan were, and still knew you better than you realized.
“Either one of three things is going on here. You two either have nothing to talk about, and it’s awkward as shit…” Minnie responded, placing the cigarette to her lips and lit it.
“Which is impossible with you two,” Eunji chimed in, taking the lighter from Minnie to light her own. “No matter how many years have passed.”
“You got into a stupid fight over something like the color of his socks, or…” Minnie walked closer, holding the cigarette out enough so the smoke wasn’t hitting your face, taking in how you crossed your arms and looked away. Leaning in, it felt like the last one was more of a secret, “Something happened between the two of you…”
“And you were the one to freak out.” Eunji finished for her, “And now it’s awkward.”
“Why would it be me?”
“Because it’s always you.” Vernon’s voice popped up behind you, causing the three of you to jump. He casually walks past you to Eunji, taking his cigarette in the process to take a drag, “I had a feeling they were doing that weird best friend gang up thing.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” You answer, feeling your cheeks starting to burn.
“They kissed,” Vernon took another long drag of the nicotine stick, causing your jaw to drop opened, “Jeonghan told us in there.”
“Of course he did,” You muttered, watching the way Eunji and Minnie were ready to start jumping for joy.
“Finally?!” Eunji asked with excitement, but from the look on Vernon’s face, as well as yours, that Jeonghan didn’t stop there. Flicking the ash off the cigarette, the younger man took one more drag before handing it back to his fiancé.
“And that you freaked out and ran.”
“I didn’t run, I didn’t even leave the house.” You tried to defend yourself while your two friends excitement started to deflate.
“No, but you locked yourself in your room.” It was times like this that Vernon made you wonder how easy it was to get away with murder. Eunji will be able to find love again, she can move on, and you could disappear. Change your name, live in a small cottage in the middle of nowhere.
“Ugh,” Eunji let out a groan, dropping her head back and shoulders down in frustration. While Minnie could only stare at you, gaze unreadable as she pressed her cigarette to her lips, with one arm crossed her midsection.
“What?” You asked, your own frustration started to bubble over as it slowly started to occur to you that your friends knew something that you didn’t know. Something that Jeonghan clearly was aware of, but not you. Something about you and him. “I kissed him, yes. We were wrestling and it just happened, but it shouldn’t have. It just made things awkward and could just ruin our friendship.” You didn’t mention how much you wanted to do it again but couldn’t risk losing him for good. “What is with this ‘finally’ shit, anyways? Like shouldn’t you guys be worried that this could ruin our already fragile friendship.”
There was a silence as the three looked at each other. Like it dawned on them that you really didn’t know.
“You really don’t know?” It was Minnie who asked, taking another long drag as she moved her gaze to you again, followed by the couple behind her.
“Know what Min?” You sighed, dropping your arms to your sides, but there was something deep in you that told you that you already knew. Something that was sitting inside you for years, and you refused to acknowledge it, because it was easier than to face it.
There was a beat of silence between the four of them, with Eunji focused on her cigarette, Minnie watching you with an almost pitied look, and Vernon pushing his tongue into his cheek. Each of them waiting for the other to either come out with it, or for it to finally dawn on you. For you to finally see it.
“That he’s in love with you…” It was Vernon who said it, since neither of the girls spoke up, then his attention went to Minnie, “You think I can get my own smoke?”
You stood there in absolute silence while a pack of cigarettes exchanged hands, staring at your friends. It wasn’t that you had needed to process this, it wasn’t that at all. Instead, the words reached into your chest, into your heart and pulled out something you already known. Something he was trying to tell you, that he’s been trying to tell you.
“You guys are insane,” You finally spoke, looking away from them, pulling your cardigan around you when a cool breeze hit. “Jeonghan loves me, but he’s not in love with me.”
“Are you saying that to convince us, or convince yourself?” Minnie then asked, taking the pack back, her voice soft and understanding. You didn’t answer, still not looking at her, Vernon or Eunji, not trusting yourself to. “Did Jeonghan tell you what his parents condition was when they helped him buy that house?”
“No…” You had asked Jeonghan at least twice what this condition was, but he wouldn’t answer and would change the subject. Instead of pushing though, you just let him change it, so you didn’t have to actually hear it.
“The condition was that he settle downs like the rest of us,” She continued, and you could feel your mouth go dry, make your stomach churn uncomfortably. Unsure if it was from the alcohol, hearing all this, or both, “Or he would have to pay them back every penny.”
This made you look up to see her smiling at you, with it being as soft as her voice. Minnie flicked the ash off the near finished cigarette, your friends letting you take in what you were being told.
“What does that have to do with me, though?” You asked, feeling like you already knew the answer without it having to be said.
“Because.” Dropping the cigarette onto the ground, the taller woman hooked your arm with hers to walk back to the bar. Leaving Vernon and Eunji to finish their own smokes, “For him, the condition wasn’t just anyone, because to him, it only would be you.”
You’d barely made it back into the bar before Jeonghan had let out an overexaggerated yawn as he announced that he was going to order a ride home. This earned a chorus of groans from everyone, except for you. Your brain was already a buzz from the conversations outside, with the only thing you could do was stare at him. The bill of his hat pulled low, with it and his hair falling over his eyes. There was a deep frown playing over his lips, and body language reading that he no longer wanted to be there.
“You staying?” He asked you, making you blink out of your thoughts, already having his phone out to get a ride ordered. Several pairs of eyes turn to you, waiting for your response. Minnie had found her place back next to Seungcheol, leaning into her boyfriend, watching you with a knowing gaze.
Telling you to go with him.
“Nah, I’m getting tired myself.” You answered, letting out a chuckle, “I honestly am surprised I managed as long as I have. I’ve traded a night out at the bar with a bottle of wine at home, and most times in bed.”
Jeonghan nodded, already having the ride ordered, and the group advanced on you. Hugging you tightly, telling you to keep in touch, and to visit more often. With Minnie hugging you a little longer than everyone.
“Call me tomorrow, okay?” She whispered in your ear, “If you don’t plan to return his feelings, then let him down gently.”
Neither of you said anything on the ride back to Jeonghan’s, but this time the silence felt different. It wasn’t tense like it was on the way to the bar, it had shifted after being out for a few hours to something that you had a hard time describing. His tired silence, leaning back in the seat with his eyes out the window, watching everything pass by. One hand resting against his head while the other rested between you both.
Beckoning you to take it.
Except you didn’t, with your own gaze looking out the car window as well. Vernon and Minnie’s words heavy in your head.
“He’s in love with you.”
“…because to him, it only would be you.”
“If you don’t plan to return his feelings, then let him down gently.”
They left you with one of two choices by doing this. Finally face what was always between you and talk to Jeonghan, or you run away again. Get the earliest flight you can and leave before Jeonghan could wake up. Continue to run away. Destroy a lifelong friendship, one that you were meant to reconnect during your stay, because you were the coward.
You needed to make a choice. You needed to make one then.
“I’m going to head to bed, I am pretty tired,” Jeonghan announced once back, making sure the door was locked behind you before flicking his gaze to you. Taking you in, while he forced a smile to his lips and another beat of silence followed.
He was waiting for you to say something, anything. It was your chance, you either faced it or you ran away, but words failed you. They failed you in a way that never happened before with him, and it scared you.
“Goodnight, bug.” He whispered finally turning toward his room, nodding his head like he received his answer again. An answer to a question or a confession that he never said out loud.
It suddenly infuriated you.
“Are you in love with me?” You blurted out, causing Jeonghan to stop only a few steps away, watching the way his back straightened at the question. The accusation.
“Yes, I am.” He answered without hesitation, turning to look at you. That forced smile turning into a sardonic smirk when your eyes widened at how easy it was for him to say it, “I am in love with you.”
“For how long?”
“Does it matter?” The question as simple.
“Yes…no…just tell me.” You let out a frustrated sigh, shoulders dropping as you do.
“I’ve loved you since we were children, even when you would pull my hair,” He let out a chuckle, crossing his arms, “But realized I was in love with you when I had to watch you board that plane for school.”
“And why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it was easier to watch you go not knowing than if you did.” Jeonghan’s voice was low, the words stripping everything away that he hid behind, letting you see the raw side of him. And he still held eye contact with you.
“And the condition with your parents…”
“I had no intention fulfilling it if it wasn’t going to be you.” You noticed that he had started to close the distance that as originally there, pulling off his cap in the process so you could see his face better. Looking at you in a way he never had before, or that you noticed.
“Why?”
“Because no matter how I pictured my future, when it came to who I would spend my life with…” Jeonghan was now in front of you, close enough that you could feel his breath against your face. His hand ghosting over your cheek. You couldn’t move, you didn’t want to move, you were scared to move, “It’s always you. It’s always been you.”
“Jeonghan…” His name came out in a whisper, tears starting to fall down your cheek and that was when you felt the coolness of his hand cupping your cheek. His thumb wiping away a few away. “You’re an asshole.”
A soft laugh left him, dropping his hand and taking a step back. Taking your comment as a rejection, but it wasn’t. It was far from it. You finally found a name to what that missing piece was when it came to Jeonghan. Your best friend, the boy who would be waiting for you in that run down shed every day, the teen who would get in trouble with you, the young man who let you go even though there was an ache in both your chests, and the man standing before you.
All these versions of him were one thing to you. Your Jeonghan.
“You’re an asshole for not telling me sooner…” You pouted, grabbing the sleeves of his shirt to stop him, refusing to look away from him. His stupid, assholish, beautiful face.
“Yeah?” Jeonghan countered back, inching closer to you, his eyes flicking to your mouth.
“Yeah.”
He then kissed you, heated and hungry, like something inside him snapped; unable to hold back any longer. He had a taste of you earlier, and now that he had you again, he couldn’t keep pretending. You returned the kiss with a fever, gripping at the sleeves of his shirt because if you didn’t, he’d disappear.
His hand finding their place at your hips, squeezing them when you deepened the kiss, greedy to taste him again like you had earlier. This time with the notes of beer still lingering, but you were sure you were just the same. Releasing the sleeves of his shirt, you traced them over your shoulders and up his neck, earning a low groan from him when you gripped at the soft strands of his hair.
Hearing this sound sent a wave of heat down your belly, right to your core, your thighs squeezing slightly and enough for Jeonghan to notice. Making him pull away from your lips, reluctantly since he attempted to dive back in to reclaim them, only to stop himself.
“You’ll need to stop me now, because I have no intentions on it.” He said softly, willing to step away if you didn’t want to. You laugh pushing him toward his bedroom, tripping over each other and pulling off clothes in the process. With your bra and top gone before you made it through his bedroom door.
His shirt following quickly after, giving way to a lean frame with smooth undefined muscles, but you could feel them under your touch. Your cargos off next, leaving you in a pair of grey lace underwear, and Jeonghan had twisted you so the he was the one guiding you to his bed. His mouth claiming yours right as you felt his bed hit the back of your knees, making you drop down onto it.
Looking up to see Jeonghan standing before you, his eyes roaming from your own down your body before returning to them. His expression one of disbelief, like he couldn’t believe you were on his bed, half naked. And just for him.
“Hanni…” Anything you had to say was stopped by his kiss, more heated than any of the others you had shared.
Your hands and mouths touching and kissing anywhere and everywhere you could. His mouth teasing your breasts, sucking at the hardened peaks, while your hands ran over his body. Feeling his hardened cock over his pants before they too were gone. Followed by his boxers, and then your underwear.
“Fuck…your mouth is heaven,” He moaned out when you took his cock into your mouth, swallowing him down your throat eagerly, savoring the taste of him. With a few expert movements, Jeonghan had to pull back to stop from cumming down your throat and ending it all too soon. “We are going to have to revisit this later.”
“But…” Your words were swallowed up by his kiss, tongue claiming yours, pushing your back against the bed, his hips pushing your legs apart. Moaning at the feeling of his saliva slicked cock pressing against your own soaked cunt, rolling your hips up against his. Needing more of him.
When you felt two fingers tweak at one of your nipples, you roll him onto his back, straddling him. Grinding down onto him while one of your hands slip between you to grip his cock. With a gentle squeeze, Jeonghan broke from the kiss to drop his head back with a groan, moving both hands to your hips. The head of his cock catching at your entrance, making you both gasp.
Then you sank down onto him, a silent cry leaving you while Jeonghan’s eyes rolled at the way he stretched your gripping walls, until you were completely onto him. Only you didn’t stay there long, not giving either of you the chance to adjust before you were moving. Planting your hands onto the bed, you lift your hips off him, leaving only the head of his cock in you before dropping down.
Jeonghan’s hands gripped onto your hips, his eyes glazed over from arousal and the sight of you. Seeing parts of you that he only imagined, your bare breasts bouncing with each movement of your hips, your mouth falling open in pleasure, right down to where your two were now connected. The feeling of your walls squeezing and gripping at him was better than any late night thoughts could compare.
He knew he wasn’t going to last long, but he also didn’t want this to ever end. There was no way he could ever go back after this, he wouldn’t be able to go back to anything with you that didn’t involve this. Didn’t involve you being his.
“Jeonghan…” You whimpered, grinding down onto him to get more friction, feeling yourself winding tighter. The knot deep in your core threatening to snap. Then one of his hands slide from your hip to between your legs, pushing his finger up to tease your clit. “I’m close…”
“Do it, baby. Don’t hold back.” He tried to play it cool with a smirk, but he was just as much of a whimpering mess like you are. Looking up at you like you were the only thing that ever mattered. You were the only thing that ever mattered to him.
“Shit, Shit…” You chanted, every muscle tightening as you came, “I love you, I love you.”
Then you were on your back, Jeonghan rolling you over without pulling out, taking over for you. Fucking into you with a vigor you never experienced from him.
“I love you…” He whispered into your mouth, cupping your face, his own release following quickly after. Neither of you moved, staying connected as you came down from your highs, with him now pulling back to look at you. Your well kissed lips, your hair a mess from running your fingers through it, and your still glazed over eyes. A scene that made him fall even more in love. “Please don’t leave… stay… I can’t let you go again.”
“Jeonghan…” You sigh, closing your eyes as you attempted to slip off him. Oversensitivity starting to take over, but he kept you there on top of him. “I have to though…” That was when you felt his hands loosen on your hips, and the look on his face nearly broke you, but still a small smile graced your lips, “I mean… If I plan to move back, I got to get everything in order…”
“No you don’t,” He pouted, and you leaned forward to kiss him. Soft, promising. “You can just start back over here… I am not letting you go.”
“Then I guess we need to buy you a plane ticket then.” You tease, brushing a strand of hair from his face. His stupid, assholish, beautiful face that you’ve loved for years. “Cause I do have to go back.”
“We’ll see about that,” He smirked, making you laugh. “I love you. Always you.”
Thank you so much for reading I seriously hope you all enjoyed this!
Reblogs, and comments are appreciated! It doesn't just let my fic reach more people, it also is great to know I am doing well!
Please be sure to check out all the other wonderful fics from this collab and show everyone love! We all worked hard on this!
pairing: xu minghao x f!reader
rating: R | minors do not interact! 18+ ONLY
warnings: best friends/coworkers to lovers, whole lot of yearning, angst, minghao is a stupid man, yn has moments of insecurity regarding her being plus size, SMUT: fingering, oral (f and m receiving), p in v protected sex, missionary, ankle kissing, thigh biting, slight hair pulling. doyoung makes a return appearance as a bartender, small bit of donghyuck x reader.
wc: 15.2k
synopsis: loosely based in part on a storyline that happens to Penelope Garcia in season 3 of Criminal Minds: Technical Analyst LN YN and FBI Agent Xu Minghao are known in the BAU as a dynamic duo. A duo full of reportable comments, inappropriate nicknames and so much warmth. Anyone with eyes can see that YN is in love with Minghao and it's likely that he's in love with her too. What happens when tensions finally bubble over? When someone else is introduced to the story?
*this fic is a part of the blockbusters collab hosted by @nerdycheol, @belovedgyu and @jakedustry | support the other authors of the collab here
listen while reading
It's another day in Virginia. The winter this year is biting and you're too happy to scurry inside the BAU office to keep yourself from freezing. Chan, the security guard who always had a smile on his face, wishes you a good morning as you flash your badge at him. As you're waiting for the elevator up to your office, you reminisce about your beginnings at the BAU. Once the hunted, you had been working as a hacker under an alias that eluded this very department years ago. You were untouchable, called the best for a reason. It wasn't until you had a falling out with a network partner that you were in the claws of the department you'd been playing tag with. You remember it clear as day; the flashing red and blues lighting up the walls of your apartment, the cold chill of the interrogation room, and him.
[flashback]
The only sound that could be heard in your apartment was the furious typing coming from your keyboard. The code you had meticulously been working on for the last month all of a sudden wasn't running properly.
"C'mon you rat bastard, where are you hiding," you mutter out. You chewed on your bottom lip, dedicated to find the one piece of syntax ruining what was bound to be a big payout for you.
A month ago, you'd been tagged to do another hit on some confidential FBI files. The network you worked for was made aware by an informant that there were case files being built against the network. Being the resident hacker within the network meant that this task was immediately handed to you. This wasn't your first go at hacking the Federal Bureau of Investigations and you certainly didn't think it was going to be your last. You loved playing tag with the CyberSec department in the Quantico office. Imagining the look of shock when the analysts in their cushy lil offices realize that files were corrupted or missing. For a bunch of highly paid, well-resourced government officials, jobs that involved the FBI felt like taking candy from a baby.
Your search continued, scouring through what felt like endless lines of code, until your phone rang. Taking a look at the Caller ID, a chill ran through your body.
It's an unlisted number. To the ordinary person, it would look like an unknown caller. But not to you. No, you knew this number by heart. You gingerly pressed the answer button.
"YN, a pleasure."
You found it weird that he was using your actual name given everyone in the network typically used an alias. You figured he was in a secure enough location, so you didn't pursue this line of thought any further.
"Jackson. What can I do for you? I'm working right now." Every ounce of you fought to keep your words unwavered. A small chuckle came from the other end of the line.
"Just wanted to check in. Make sure you're holding up your end of the bargain." This caught you off guard.
Jackson was a higher up in your network, always the one doling out your assignments, but never one to double check your work. You'd proven yourself to be irreplaceable in the last three years of working for the Caissa. Why was he asking about this now?
"In the three years I've been doing your work, when have you ever known me to not hold up my end of the deal?" You questioned, a slight edge in your voice.
Even with your "boss" on the line, there was a deadline to meet and your code was still not running properly. Your hand moved to press a button on your phone and you placed Jackson on speakerphone. As the search for the bug resumed, you explained to Jackson that what he wanted should be finished within the next two hours.
"Remind me again, what is it I'm paying you for?" In hindsight, this question should have been ringing the loudest bells in your head. Jackson had the tendency to be aloof and a bit forgetful given he worked with multiple people, but not ever to this degree. But the damn bug making your code not work took up all of your attention.
"What are you talking about Jackson, did you seriously forget that you tasked me to wipe the case files being built against the Caissa? What, did you forget to take your pills today old man?" Another laugh came. It's uneasy but of course you were too wrapped up in fixing the code to notice the difference.
"Jeez Rook, I'm just testing you."
"I think I've outgrown that nickname, don't you Jackson? Was this really all you called me for?" You were getting annoyed now. There was a crunch for this code to be finished and here was your boss actively wasting your time. Again in hindsight this should have tipped you off. There's a bit of noise from the other end of the line before Jackson responds.
"YN?"
"What is it, Jackson?"
"The Grandmaster sends his regards." The mention of the kingpin of your network made your back straighten. Before you could ask what the hell Jackson meant, the line died. Your monitor went next. There wasn't enough time for you to make sense of anything before you heard the sirens surrounding your apartment and your front door being busted open. Everything after this point happened in slow motion, you moved like molasses. Only a few things in your vision were in focus: the reds and blues of cop car lights shining on the poster covered walls of your apartment, the condensation ring from the iced coffee you'd been nursing, a trinket of your favorite animal shattered from the impact of your front door.
You didn't resist any of the officers taking you into their custody. Your mind was otherwise preoccupied. The second your door was cracked down, the puzzle pieces connected: Jackson and the network had cut you loose and turned you in. Racking your brain for any possible reason why, you come up with the conclusion that the feds were getting too close and they cut the newest recruit on the team.
Last one in, first one out.
The interrogation room was bone-chilling and reeked of the worst kind of drip coffee. Agent after agent came in, but your mind couldn't focus. Every time they talked to you it sounded like Charlie Brown's parents were speaking to you. Your entire world had come crashing down. The network that had protected you for so long, had all of a sudden delivered you right to the FBI's front door, the team that had spent the better part of a year trying to track you down.
The door to the interrogation room opened again and you were about to tell the next agent that they were going to waste their time because you weren't going to spill a word. But when you lifted your head, you see him and the air shifts. You feel the static neurons become charged with something you can't quite place.
[end of flashback]
Speak of the devil.
The ding of the elevator doors snaps you out of your recollection and there stands Xu Minghao. The guy, who for a lack of a better explanation, is your knight in shining armor. Minghao was the one that broke through your walls that day in the interrogation room. The one that turned you from hunted to hunter. Every other agent they'd sent in to question you weren't able to hammer away at the walls you'd built, but he did. He walked in, the definition of nonchalance and arrogance. Taking your walls apart brick by brick like it was nothing with cologne that enveloped the whole room and would linger. The same one currently wafting in your nose as he's waving you into the elevator.
"Good morning babygirl," he says, pearly-white teeth shining right into your heart. It has been five years since the day Minghao cut you a deal and your partnership with him and the FBI had started. Five years since he gave you a chance to turn your life around and not rot in prison. Five years since he started calling you that nickname. The nickname that never failed to dust a deep shade of pink across your cheeks.
"Morning, White Rabbit," you chirp out, adding the delicious milk candy to the list of nicknames you have for the profiler. This was your banter, everyone in the office knew it. Everyone in the office was also sick of it. A prime example comes in the form of Dr. Jeon Wonwoo, resident know-it-all. He constantly commented on your relationship; labeling it grossly inappropriate for the office and requesting that it be taken outside of work. Both of your responses to him matching as you stick your tongue out, blowing raspberries at him.
"What's on your mind pretty?" Minghao questions. You wave him off, telling him that you'd been thinking about the day that you first met.
"Was it love at first sight?" He teases. You give him a slight push and tell him to shove it where the sun doesn't shine. The ride up to the office is silent, but it's comfortable. The kind of comfortable you can only get when you've built a relationship with someone. The elevator doors whoosh open signaling that your moment of peace is over and it was time to get to work. You start the short trek to your "cave of darkness", as the rest of the team calls it, but Minghao catches your wrist before you even make it another step.
"Here," he places a coffee cup in your hand, "Honey vanilla latte for the sweetest honey in my life."
There it is again. The blood rushes to your cheeks, covering it with a rosy haze. Minghao is still holding onto your wrist and you're painfully aware of everything happening right now. But you let yourself get lost in the feeling for a bit. Fantasizing that this is more than the usual nice banter between the two of you. That he got you a latte because he was thinking about you at the cafe you both frequent. That he knows your order because he learned it the first time the both of you had been to said cafe and not because you'd made him order it for you a billion times.
Wonwoo, who had been behind the both of you in the elevator, clears his throat to get through and the facade breaks. Minghao gives you a wink, then moves back to let him step between the two of you. Raising the warm coffee cup towards him, you bid Wonwoo goodbye and the two of you make your way down to your office. As you come down the hallway one of the other analysts, Maeve, falls in step with you. Her strong gourmand scent hits you before her greeting does. The three of you talk about recent case loads and what you had been up to the past weekend. She casually jokes that the intense amount of snow should be keeping the streets crime free, but the files coming across the desks say otherwise. Synced laughs of agreement come from you and him. Minghao replies that there isn't enough coffee in the world. Without any real thought, you say,
"Thank God for Minghao. I don't know what I'd do if he didn't get me this coffee." She coos at you, agreeing that it was really nice of him do so, but then she makes a comment that stutters your thoughts.
"God I wish I had a boyfriend that worked with me so I could get personally delivered coffee. You two are so cute together."
"Oh, no-" You begin to stop her.
"It's not like that." You pretend the emphasis Minghao places on the last word doesn't sting.
"We're not-"
The two of you stumble over each other to tell your coworker that you aren't dating. When she hears this, there's a look of surprise on her face, but she doesn't say anything else. She's too busy watching the two of you staring at each other, trying to find the hidden conversation in raised brows. You'd never been more thankful in your life to be right in front of your office door. Minghao quietly excuses himself and walks towards the bullpen. While your coworker chats you up, you're still staring at the back of Minghao, noticing how he rubbed the back of his neck as he walked away from the two of you.
"Helloooo? Earth to YN!" Your focus shifts to her hand waving in front of your face. Apologizing to her, you ask her to repeat herself. She talks about needing help on figuring out how to run a code to aggregate the encrypted files your team has been getting with the caseload. You relax, this is an easy task, you could write code in your sleep, this was something that won't distract you. Asking her for more metrics, your eyes light up at the chance to talk about coding — the only thing that has kept you alive all these years. As you're going over proper formatting syntax, she makes a silly joke that for some reason really just hit you, so you find yourself doubled over in laughter.
What you don't notice is that your coworker makes sudden eye contact with Minghao, who perks up and whips his head towards your direction at the sound of your laughter. You couldn't see it, but his gaze brims with adoration. The mere sound of your laugh, infectious, getting the corners of his lips to tug up. Maeve gives Minghao a questioning smirk, he then stutters and forces himself back into the conversation with Wonwoo. She continues your conversation by asking how to run newly written code without ruining encrypted files.
You lift yourself back up and continue your explanation of performing test runs on old files to Maeve. As you do so, you feel the air change and something in you tells your brain to look beyond Maeve. Cocking your head to the side, you see that Minghao has Wonwoo in a headlock. You try to hide your smile, but fail as Maeve traces your sight line. She shakes her head and jokes that it's really hard to believe that the two of you aren't together, with the way you steal glances like lovesick puppies. Suddenly, Minghao looks up and you immediately move your head back to its original position, not wanting him to catch you staring. Maeve watches this exchange with the biggest smirk on her face. Thanking you for the advice on writing code, she walks away to her office muttering something that you couldn't make out.
As you settle into your office, a sigh pushes through your entire body. Minghao's comment and gesture sticks with you for the rest of the day, the drink actually making it all the way home with you. Spending what others would diagnose as an "unhealthy" amount of time staring at the coffee cup, trying to will the fantasy in your head to life. So many things are swimming around in your mind right now. As you get lost in writing code, Minghao's question of love at first sight is ringing in your ears. You were telling the truth, you found him incredibly annoying at first. Your first month he did nothing but gloat that he was the one to bring you in; that if it wasn't for him there wouldn't be progress on the Caissa file. But something changed in the years of you working together and you're left remembering when exactly it was that he completely broke your heart open for him.
[flashback]
It's your first winter in Virginia. Adjusting to the non-criminal life has been easier than you expected. Who knew you could breathe easier when not working for the digital underworld and not having to look over your shoulder all the time. Regular civilian life wasn't something you steadily had access to in your formative years and you're finding yourself mourning that younger version of you.
Idyllic. Not hard. A version of you that didn't have to put up walls yet.
A particularly nasty case made its way to the top of your team's list, leaving you all to work past normal hours. You'd moved out of your office into the bullpen to make sharing information easier. The office is fairly silent, the only symphony playing is the shuffle of papers and the scuffle of your team walking around. You'd been knee deep in assembling a list of victim profiles to help look for the unsub's MO. You fired off a couple lines of code that you think will help you narrow something down, only to be hit with a big red flashing "ERROR". You slam your laptop down and exhale in frustration, the sound of it drawing everyone's eyes on you. You feel his eyes before you could see them. Flashing everyone a quick smile of apology, you excuse yourself to take a lap around and get a breather.
You stop by your office to grab your water bottle and on your way out you see Minghao. He smirks when he makes eye contact and you immediately brace yourself for whatever smart ass comment he had waiting for you.
"Taking a break already? Wouldn't have pegged you as the quitting type," he jokes. You mockingly laugh back and roll your eyes. The two of you were a duo that no one ever expected. You'd find this out much later, but there were bets going around the office for how long Minghao would last before you ripped his head off. You and Minghao got the last laugh as the two of you gelled together after you dished his smugness back to him. Fairly soon after, you became the insufferable duo that everyone was familiar with.
The two of you finish a lap around the office in complete sync, quietly returning to the makeshift workstation that was set up in the bullpen. You stretch your neck out before sitting back down to read over the case files in the hopes that you could pinpoint parameters that would get your team closer to solving this case. Line after line swims through your brain and nothing seems to stick. It's like suddenly all the ridges in your brain have disappeared and the receptors have melted.
Behind you, you hear someone yell that they're going on a coffee run, then you feel a tap on your elbow. Turning your head, you see Minghao with a questioning look in his eye. Without a word, you knew exactly what he was asking.
Want a coffee?
You immediately shake your head no, not wanting to deal with the effects of caffeine later. He gives you a curt nod and calls out to the person leaving the office to wait for him. He brushes behind you and you catch a whiff of him — sandalwood and something smoky — he smells like comfort. The scent of him lingers around you like an unspoken message from him:
Be back soon.
For the hundredth time, you turn your eyes back to the files hoping that this time you wouldn't come up empty. Taking a breath, you repeat a silent prayer in your head, one that wishes you are able to find anything that could help. Three folders of files later, you feel Minghao sliding into the seat next to you. You don't have to look up from the mountain of paper to know it's him. You just do.
As you're flipping over to the next page, you sense something warm near your left hand. You move your hand to find the source of heat and see that Minghao has placed a cup next to you. The logo of the coffee shop from down the street adorns the cupsleeve. Acknowledging him with a nod, you wrap both your hands around the cup and bring it in front of you.
I didn't ask for this. You say with a raise of your brow.
I know. He shrugs in response.
Drawing the cup to your mouth, the sweet scent of honey and vanilla fills the space around you as you blow on it. You were expecting the strong bitter aroma of coffee to invade your nose so when you smell the indicators of your regular order, your head whips back to him. You're staring at him with delighted surprise in your eyes. He squeezes your shoulder and shoots the warmest smile when he meets your gaze. You thank him by taking a drink, contently sighing at the sweet taste on your tongue.
When you open your eyes, you find a different pair of eyes staring at you.
"Can I help you, Dr. Jeon?"
"Just observing," he says, his eyes flitting between you and the man beside you.
"Find anything worth sharing?" You muse, tucking your chin on top of your hands.
While flipping through a case file, Wonwoo shakes his head no. You don't believe him for a second, which you make known by giving him a scrutinizing look. But you don't press him any further, opting to return to your work instead.
Minghao suddenly gets up and walks over to the board, presumably to pin something he found.
"He's never brought anyone coffee," Wonwoo says, breaking your concentration. You look at the doctorate in front of you with a deadpan look. One that prompts him to elaborate his point.
He leans forward and in a quiet tone explains that in the time that the two of them have worked together, he's never seen Minghao willingly get anyone coffee. Usually opting to joke that whoever asks has legs and can get the drink themselves. He also guessed by the look of your first sip that Minghao didn't just grab you any coffee, he purposefully got your specific coffee order.
There's a feeling in your stomach you can't place when you hear this. As Wonwoo drones on, you find your gaze naturally moving to where Minghao is. You can only see his back, but you can tell he's concentrating on something from the way his head is slightly tilted.
"And then there's the twin telepathy thing," Wonwoo quips. This breaks your stare.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh c'mon! The two of you just had a full blown conversation without uttering a single word."
You scoff and wave him off, telling him that it doesn't mean anything. Defending your friendship, you deflect and mock the young doctor. He returns your scoff with his own and leans back in his chair.
To anyone that asked, you would always deny it. You and Minghao, were friends, nothing else. But after Wonwoo's line of questioning, you wonder if he's maybe just named the intense feelings that you've been unable to.
Returning your gaze to Minghao, your head is swimming with the thoughts Wonwoo's seemingly planted. He turns to call out for Wonwoo to join him. Your eyes meet Minghao's and he gives you a smile that makes your heart drop to the pit of your stomach. It's a smile laced with a check in. Like somehow he knows you might not be all there.
And suddenly you realize it.
Fuck.
You like Xu Minghao.
[end of flashback]
A soft knock breaks your mindless (but correct) code writing and you smile as you see Minghao waving through the window. You push the memory from three years ago to the deep recesses of your mind. He pushes the door slightly open and pokes his head in, weary smile following. You know what this look means; it's wheels up for the team, time for them to fly somewhere to solve a case, time for him to leave.
"Hey, I'm heading out. I'll see you soon, yeah?"
"Safe flight, call me for any expert information pulling," you joke as he pulls off from your door.
"There isn't anyone else I would want to call babygirl," he calls out as he jogs to catch up with the rest of the team flying out. You smile watching him bounce away.
Unfortunately for you, that moment was the last time you would physically see Minghao for the next week. This was the norm for the two of you. You hardly ever joined in the field, and to be completely honest you preferred it that way. With your history, you decided (along with some urging from your boss) that it was probably better that you stayed behind for cases.
You do get to talk to him mid-week when an important piece of information comes across your desk.
"Tell me something I wanna hear," he exhales. You can hear the exhaustion and frustration in his voice.
"Anyone ever tell you, you have a great ass? Cause you do," you tease, trying to lighten the mood. Hearing him smile from the other side of the line makes you feel better.
"Tell me something I don't know pretty girl," he jokes back. You boo him, whining that he always spoils your fun.
"Don't make me spank you."
"Mmm, don't tempt me with a good time Agent," you say in a lower tone, feigning seduction. With a click of his tongue, he tells you to quit playing around. You sigh and acquiesce him, sharing that the unsub and his victims had a shared history. Grimacing as you shakily recount horrifying details, you wrap up your information dump with a sigh and a promise that this information would be sent over asap.
"Look up the words hot and magnificent in that magic box of yours and tell me what comes up," you hear the smirk and pride on Minghao's face loud and clear. Luck was on your side today as no one could see the rouge tint splayed across your face and on the tips of your ears.
"Would ya look at that? A picture of me popped up." You replied, emphasizing the p in the last word with a popping sound. Inside you are fighting every nerve in your body.
"You are the love of my life, gorgeous! Good job, see ya when we're back." The click of the line rescues you from having to repsond. Your hand is still wrapped around the receiver as you let out a breath. An involuntary groan comes from you. It's the kind of groan you let out when you know you're absolutely smitten and can't do jack all about it. The silence in your office cloaks you in your own feelings, the next words that come out of your mouth barely break the sound barrier.
"I wish you meant that, Hao."
It wasn't till Friday afternoon that the rest of the team was flying in after wrapping up another horrifying but solved case.
The clock ticks a quarter till five and you shoot a text to your cat-eyed partner in crime, asking him if he needed a round (or more) once he landed. An immediate ping returns with a resounding yes and that he'd head straight to Rummo's. Wrapping up a report, you lock up and head to the elevator to meet with Minghao. The ride down takes longer than you want it to, but the doors finally ding open and you're basically skipping out the exit.
"Have a good weekend YN," Chan smiles at you as he holds the door open for you.
"Thanks Channie! I'll see ya Monday!"
"Rummo's tonight? I didn't see the team come in this morning." You nod back.
"Is tonight the night?" He asks with expectant eyes. While everyone in the office basically knew about the budding relationship between you and Minghao, Chan was the only one who ever said anything to you about it. He was also the only one who knew about how much you truly longed for Minghao. It wasn't like you paraded around declaring your love for the profiler, but anyone who looked hard enough could see it. You cared about Minghao in the way that you didn't about anyone else. Sometimes more than yourself. You shoot Chan a look with a hopeful gleam and he responds back with a thumbs up. The week spent in the office alone (along with a phone call from your mother regarding your love life) had forced you to evaluate your relationship with Minghao. Years of noticing the small things that make him tick. Simply put, after years of yearning for the man who broke you down with a whiff of his cologne, you came to the conclusion that you couldn't bear to wait any longer. You needed him to know how you felt and more importantly how he made you feel.
You send a quick text to him that you'd be at your favorite bar in less than ten minutes. As you're walking past storefronts you check your reflection in the glass. No biggie, you're just confessing your feelings to the most important person in your life and your hair is a tangled mess and the mascara on your eyelashes smudged from the strain of staring at a computer all day. You do your best to smooth down the frizz of your hair and you pray to whatever god above that you can fix yourself up before Minghao spots you.
It's half past five by the time you get to Rummo's and it seems like every other office worker in the vicinity had the same idea because your favorite local bar is packed with people in suits. You thank your lucky stars and make a beeline for the bathroom to fix yourself up. You assess the damage as you take a look at the mirror and you wish you hadn't.
Your top fits a little funny because of how blessed you are in the chest department. Your trousers suddenly feel a bit tight and you tune into how the button seems to dig into your stomach. You try to move your clothes around a bit to make it look more flattering against your shape and notice that the seams of your pants have left imprints on your hips. The movement (and your awful anxiety) have made the tiny bathroom even tinier and you feel like the temperature inside has gotten warmer.
Taking a shallow breath you move on to take a look at your hair but before you can do anything about it, a knock on the door alerts you to someone who had been waiting on you. You push the door open to the bathroom and apologize to the person on the other side and look for Minghao. Your confidence is lower than when you walked in, but you were still determined to tell him how you felt tonight.
The smell of his cologne, hidden behind copious amounts of whiskey, hits you before you even lay your eyes on him. You square your shoulders back, plaster on a smile and clap him on the back when you approach. He turns to you, a tinge of pink dotted across his cheeks and eyes in the shape of crescent moons. A quick glance at the three empty glasses next to him tells you all you need to know — this case was horrific and he needed a break from reality. You don't think you'll get to tell him anything tonight.
"There's my babygirl," he swoons excitedly reaching out to you. Your heart leaps out of your chest and it aches. It kills you to not focus on the inflection behind the "my".
"Hey Hao— Whoa," you lean forward as he almost falls out of the bar stool. A giggle comes spilling out of him when he wraps his arms around you, pressing his face into your shoulder. You help him sit back upright and he scrambles to remove his jacket from the seat next to him, ushering you to sit next to him. Doyoung, the usual barback who tends to your crew, places a drink in front of you. Thanking him with a nod, you down the drink to match Hao's level of drunkenness. The night is filled with him drunkenly egging you on to drink more and you making sure that he's also drinking water so he doesn't absolutely perish the next day.
Suddenly Minghao, who had previously been slumped over the bar, sits straight up and grabs your face. He brings it close to his and you genuinely are unable to tell if you're currently hallucinating. He pores over your face with a scrutinizing look in his eyes. His gaze lands on your lips and stays for a while. Longer than what is appropriate between two best friends. Two coworkers. Your lips are inches away and the alcohol you've consumed silences the alarm bells going off in your head. You hadn't expected this at all, the second you had seen him downing drinks you quickly pivoted away from the original intention you had tonight. You let your eyes flutter shut and enjoy the warmth of his hands, you also pick up on the scent of whiskey and mint on his breath. There's a ringing in your ears and it isn't the alarm bells of your barely functioning brain. No, it's the ringing that happens when the one person who turns your world upside down is about to kiss you. But the moment never comes.
You open your eyes and find him studying your face. Irises wide (probably from the whiskey) and mapping spots on your face.
"Hao?" You ask as you place one of your hands on his, you're hyper aware of the small jolt of electricity that happens on your cheek when your hands touch.
"Mmm?" He hums, absolute glee hidden behind the smile on his face. You tap the hand on your left cheek, asking him if there was something he needed to tell you.
"You remind me of her." The shape of his eyes still crescent moons, his cheeks even pinker. From the alcohol or the confession you weren't able to tell.
"Hmm?" You say giggly.
"The girl I'm in love with— you remind me of her." He says like he isn't absolutely shattering your entire world right now.
"Oh." You could only respond in a monosyllabic manner, the entire situation quickly sobering you from your fantasy. You grab his hands and gingerly fold them into his lap.
He giggles to himself at your short response. Your mind is spinning and the three heavy-handed drinks Doyoung poured you certainly weren't helping. It isn't till Minghao waves his hand in your face that you realize he'd asked you a question. You apologize and he asks you again what you think. It felt like an impossible question to answer; your heart was absolutely shattered but as his best friend you needed to at least seem supportive.
"Whoever she is, she's a lucky girl," you respond, the fake smile on your face hurting your jaw.
"You think so?" He asks, blissfully drunk and unaware.
You nod, trying to will the tears in your eyes to not spill. Your barback slides the two of you tall glasses of water and your tab. The time had passed by and the time on the receipt told you that the bar was nearing closing time. Downing your water like a camel, you gear up to play another heartbreaking game of pretend. Quickly you get Minghao to drink his water, slide some cash to Doyoung, and move the drunk cat that is your coworker outside the bar to wait for a cab. Puffs of your breath can be seen against the night sky and the two of you stand close to each other to get some warmth. It doesn't prove to be very effective as shivers run through your body. Perceptive as he is, Minghao wordlessly shrugs his black coat off and threads your arms through the sleeves.
"Hao, what are you doing? Take your coat back. It's below freezing," you say through chattering teeth.
You roll your eyes and start to remove the very warm coat off you. The unmistakable shake of his earrings rings through the air as he hushes you and forces the coat around you again, this time closing the buttons to make sure you stay put. A frustrated sigh comes from you, made evident by the puff of steam flowing in front of you. You silently thank him with a swift nod of your head. Some minutes tick by and suddenly you feel a cold hand slip into the pocket and close over your balled up fist.
A hollow ache is forming in your chest. Your hand instinctively unfurls and the second it does, Minghao threads his fingers through yours. Wetness pools around the rim of your eyes when you feel the shape of figure eights rubbing against the back of your hand. Silently, you thank the cold weather as you sniffle the tears back. If he noticed what was wrong, you could immediately blame it on the chill. You stare up at the sky, hoping to find something that could distract you from your wailing thoughts. But you're met with nothing, not a single star in sight. Not a constellation in the sky to use as small talk. So you stand and let your heart ache, because this might be the last time you have a moment like this with him.
You're also trying to make sure Minghao doesn't crumple to the floor. He whines telling you that he's tired of standing and he clings onto you like a koala, telling you that you felt like a plush radiator. You blow off his comment and wave down the bright yellow cab who had just dropped off someone down the street. With as much strength you can muster you push Minghao into the cab and give directions to the driver to his place.
"Wait, you're not coming with me?" He pouts, hanging his head out the window.
You hated yourself for how much you wanted to still kiss him. Shaking your head no, you tell him you'll see him later. He pouts some more and even whines a little, making your heart swell and ache simultaneously. You tilt his head up a little and drill into him that he needs to drink water when he gets home. He gives you a little salute and slumps his back in his seat. The cab begins to drive away and you wave even though you know Minghao can't see you. Suddenly he sticks his head out the window again and yells at you.
"Don't tell the girl at work that I'm in love with her!" And just like that Xu Minghao shatters your heart for the second time.
Saturdays are reserved for shitty movies and wasting away at your place. In the last year, Minghao has been a welcome addition to your long standing tradition, but you wake up today (still slightly hungover) remembering every single thing that happened last night and can't bear the thought of seeing him. You send him a text that you aren't feeling well and need to just sleep the nausea and hangover away. It wasn't completely a lie, you genuinely did have a hangover and you felt sick to your stomach at his confession. The confession that broke your heart and had you questioning your own self worth. Who were you kidding, no guy like Minghao could have ever been into you. He could have his pick of girls, so of course he was pining for someone else. You mostly felt so dumb that you even held the fantasy for so long. Minghao doesn't reply back right away, you assume he's probably still asleep and decide that a small nap might help you feel better.
You wake up to the sound of knocking at your front door and grumble, throwing the blanket over your head, hoping that whoever is at your door will just go away. You're not expecting any guests so you definitely were not getting up for anyone right now. Unfortunately, your attempt to ignore them does not work as the knocking gets louder and more aggressive. Throwing your blanket around you, you groan and stomp to your front door. The knocking keeps going and you finally swing your door open, ready to yell at whoever is fucking disturbing your peace right now.
"Jesus Christ! What do you wa— Minghao? What the fuck?!"
"Me what the fuck? I think I should be saying that to you. It's Saturday, our day remember?" You wince at the decibel he's at. Shooting him a glare with the force of a thousand daggers, you whip out your phone and show him the text of you canceling.
He sticks his tongue out and pushes into your apartment, blabbering about how you couldn't let a couple drinks interrupt the tradition. A trail of his things follow behind him as he makes himself completely at home on your couch. He spots his coat from the night before and jokes that he wondered where it ended up. Your nose scrunches up in annoyance and you can't find it within yourself to pretend to be fine with him being here. One by one you pick up his things and launch them at him, each landing getting a complaint. You coldly tell him to take his things and leave.
"Haha very funny babygirl. C'mon," he pats the spot next to him, "It's movie time. I'm thinking comedy because you're being so gru-"
"Minghao. I'm not kidding. I don't feel good, I'm going back to bed, please take your shit and go home."
You don't even wait for a response, you quickly spin on your heel and head back to your room. You don't even have it in you to close the door on him, you just slip back into your bed. Burying yourself under the covers, the tears in your eyes are hot and you try to blink them back. It isn't until you hear the muffled click of your front door that you let the tears stream down your face, effectively dehydrating you even more.
This year's winter was giving unsubs harsh brutality a run for their money. In the five years since you've lived in Virginia, you'd never felt such an arctic winter. Roads constantly slick with ice, the chill in the air absolutely biting. The only thing rivaling the intensity of this winter was how hard your head had been thinking about your relationship with Minghao. After what you thought would have been the moment, you decided that you couldn't wait forever anymore. You couldn't waste time on the cat-eyed profiler anymore. Knowing he'd had ample time in the years of you working together to say something. The years filled of stolen glances during team debriefs, of flirty comments that would gave HR a heart attack, of him using a nickname reserved only for you. Even on that night, he had the entire night to say something, anything. Instead you were met with a confession that crushed any hope you had as well as your self esteem.
This was the third week of you silently mending the heart he'd unknowingly broken. You could absolutely feel the difference in the interactions, but the profiler for all his ability to read humans, was none the wiser. The list of your names for him continued, but never with the same vibrancy you'd always envelope them in. You were facing a silent fight, the only person who only noticed your off kilter demeanor, was Chan. The first week of your moping he initially let you be, only ever giving a skeptic raise of his brow when you'd brush off his comments regarding your well-being. By the second week, he knew you'd been lying and figuratively backed you into a corner.
You had been drowning in case files and your eyes were starting to dry out. You make your way out of your office and to the bathroom on your floor, but you sharply make a right towards the elevator when you see Minghao heading in the same direction. The door is about to close and you call out to the group to hold the doors open for you. In your absolute panic, you don't realize how loud your voice was. What you also miss when you push yourself into the elevator is Minghao frantically searching for you across the office when he heard you.
You make your way to the back of the elevator and pinch the bridge of your nose as you lean your head back against the wall. Your eyes are closed for the entire ride and it's only when the automated voice of the elevator bell announces the floor, that you realized you took the elevator all the way down to the main lobby. Remembering what your actual purpose of leaving the office was, you make a beeline for the bathroom. You weren't explicitly avoiding Chan, but you knew you couldn't hold out much longer until you cracked under his constant questions.
On your way out from the restroom, you hear a sharp whistle come from behind. Whipping your head around, you see Chan waving you over. Timidly you walk over. You know that he's going to ask what's up with you, so you mentally prepare your responses on your way to him. Sure enough his first question after greeting each other is why you aren't your normal bubbly self. You lie and say that you haven't been feeling well, which he immediately clocks, urging you to not lie to him.
"Come on sweetheart. I haven't seen the two of you walk in together in weeks, almost a month. And if I'm noticing it, it's only a matter of time before everyone else in the office notices it too."
You say nothing and just look at him with pleading eyes, trying to communicate that you don't really feel like talking about this. But of course he doesn't see it or he adamantly ignores it because he presses you even further. Arguing that he definitely knows something is wrong because he hasn't heard a complaint from Dr. Jeon about the out of line comments that are always coming from the two of you.
"Seriously seeing his face scrunch up at the two of you is the only real bit of entertainment I get around here. So spill it sweetheart, what the heck happened at Rummo's?"
You don't know if it's his persistence, the threat that your multi-doctorate coworker would eventually put the pieces together, or the idea that you were tired of holding everything in, but you give in and run down the details of that heartbreaking Friday night. You don't even notice that you're speaking in hushed tones until Chan leans in closer and asks you to repeat certain parts of the story. As you move along the details, you notice his shoulders visibly lower, like he's physically taking the weight of your pain. When you finish, you're full on silently crying and the first thing he does is fish a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket. The whimsical dinosaur print makes you giggle and he tells you that it belongs to his kid. You look at him incredulously, you were not prepared for this lore drop about your favored security guard.
"You have a kid?!"
"You're not the only one with secrets around here," he says with a wink.
You hit him in the arm and beg him to show you pictures. Further prodding him about the fact that he has a kid, leading into the fact that he has a whole family that you didn't know about. He pulls out his wallet and shows you several polaroids of the sweetest little girl. She is the spitting image of him, even in her young age she smiles just as big as her dad. While you're leafing through the pictures, Chan starts to talk about your situation. He comforts you, assuring that your reaction to the whole confession was normal. That the ache you feel is what everyone would feel and comes with the territory. He starts the next sentence, but pauses, chewing on his bottom lip.
"I can tell you're trying to fit a sentence together, what is it Chan?"
"I'm just not 100% convinced…" Your brows knit together in confusion. You stay quiet to signal him to continue his thought. He then asks if you're sure of what he said to you the night at the bar.
"I mean I don't think I'll ever forget him breaking my heart like that," you say solemnly.
"Look sweetheart, I'm not saying I know anything about how he really feels…"
"But?"
"But I've seen the way you two look at each other. More importantly I've seen the way he looks at you. The way he looks at you isn't the way you look at someone who's just a friend."
"How does he look at me then? If you don't think he looks at me like a friend, then how?" You arms are crossed as you scrutinize him with your eyes.
Chan sighs and takes the pile of polaroids from your hands. You whine in protest. He goes through them one by one, seemingly looking for something specific. He finally lands on the polaroid he's looking for and takes a big pause. You feel him take your hand and he places it face down on your palm. Flipping it over, your heart aches. It's a candid family picture; Chan's wife is cooing at their daughter, giving her a kiss on the cheek, and Chan is off to the side smiling wide. At first glance you'd think he's smiling at his daughter, but at a closer look you can see that the smile isn't for his kid, it's for his wife. He is looking at her with so much love, if he was a cartoon there would pink and red hearts in his eyes.
"That's how he looks at you. The way I look at my wife. You told me what he said that night, I don't know. I just don't believe it."
You let out a huff of disapproval and he throws his hands up in defense, offering that these were only his thoughts. Your shoulders slump back down and you squeeze the bridge of your nose. Chan offers a comforting rub of your shoulder and suggests that maybe it would be good for you to get out of the office for a bit, or at the very least finding a quiet place to let your thoughts run wild so you can come back and focus on your work.
Deciding that the thing you needed to help you clear your head was a warm cup of coffee, you brave the flurry of snow and take a quick walk to your usual cafe, a ten minute walk from the office. As you're wrapping a scarf around yourself, a gust of wind knocks the fabric out of your hand and straight into the face of a person who was heading into same cafe.
"I am so sorry!" You call out, rushing over to the being whose face was currently trapped in your bright yellow scarf.
A muffled laugh comes from behind your scarf, a leather gloved hand bunches it up to pull it away, and what's revealed is the face of an absolutely breathtaking man. His skin glowing like he'd been kissed by the sun, even in this dreary winter. You notice the moles that decorate his golden skin, like stars had placed themselves there. Eyes the color of coal but the coal that still feels warm even after the fire stopped burning. He flashes a smile at you, the kind that that radiates heat in your stomach, one that you're sure could melt all the snow fluttering around you.
"It's alright, honestly it's my fault I walked into your scarf," he chuckles, folding up your scarf, handing it back to you.
He then opens the door to the cafe, gesturing inside. You basically float inside, the flutters in your tummy carrying you in. You walk up to the counter and order your usual — honey vanilla latte. There's something about this drink that just feels like the warmest and most comforting hug. As you pull out your card to pay, you hear someone behind you request a red eye added to that order. The speed at which you whip your head is probably faster than lightning. Ready to lay into the person who thought they could sneak in on your coffee order, you take a breath, but nothing comes out when you realize it's the guy who got a face full of your scarf earlier.
"Oh, it's just you," you say meekly.
"Just me? Ouch, I haven't even given you my name yet," he teases. You feel warmth grace the tips of your ears and cheeks. Chuckling at you, he reaches into his pocket and hands the barista behind you a ten dollar bill. Your eyes go wide, indicating a protest at his action. He shrugs and walks to an empty table, he looks up at you then shifts his gaze to the seat in front of him. After an internal conflict, you figure that a conversation with the cute stranger who just paid for your coffee wouldn't hurt. Thanking him for the coffee, he shrugs and leans back in his seat. He replies that its not a big deal and the two of you begin to talk as you wait for your coffee to be ready.
You learn his name is Donghyuck but most of his friends call him Hyuck. He moved to Virginia from California a couple months ago after picking a random spot on the map. He's a piano teacher to the children in his neighborhood. You jokingly ask if he would extend lessons to adults and he jokes back that you would be the only person he'd consider doing it for. Before you can reply, the barista calls out that your drinks are ready. Beating him to the punch, you pick up both of your drinks and take it back to the table.
Sliding his drink toward him, you circle back to him teaching piano lessons. Your hands touch when he wraps his hand around the cup and it lingers for just a moment. At a simple glance, no one would have noticed it. You do and you fight the smile that begs to come out. Luckily for you, the warm cup of coffee in your hands was a great way to cover it up. You take a small sip and feel yourself melt into the drink.
"Is your drink as sweet as you are?" He says as you put the cup down. It takes everything in you to not choke on the hot liquid. Cheesy lines like this don't typically work on you, but there's something about Donghyuck that just feels true and intentional. After years of pining over someone else, why not allow yourself to be chosen first? Chosen boldly?
As you're about to return the flirty comment, your phone pings. Shooting him an apologetic look, you flip your phone open to see that you've gotten a text from an analyst on your team asking where you were. You looked at the time and realized that you'd been gone for three quarters of an hour.
"Shoot, I'm sorry I have to go back to work," you say, shoving your arms through your coat. Scooting out of your chair you stand up and hurriedly rush towards the door.
"Hold on," he calls out after you. Turning around you notice that he has your scarf in his hand. You reach out your hand to accept it, but instead of handing it to you, he unravels the golden fabric. He wraps the scarf around you and once it's fixed to his liking, he steps back with a smile.
"Perfect."
Your eyes fall to the floor and you feel the prick of heat warming the tips of your ears. He slips something into your hand and you barely catch what he says, too distracted by the gesture. You know it was a question so you nod your head and promptly head out the door. It's not until you're halfway back to the building that you realize he gave you a coffee sleeve with his number written on it. Shaking your head, you laugh to yourself and slide the sleeve into your purse.
You return to the office in an absolute daze. Your steps feel lighter and so does your chest. The ache of Minghao's wreckage still sings, but the volume is currently softened. There's a smile hiding in your cheeks, you zip past security so you can calm yourself down in your office.
"Good morning!" The profiler chirps, coffee in hand.
"Morning." You push past, head down trying to avoid eye contact.
"Hold it," he stops you before you can get too far, "Ease off the gas there Zug."
You freeze.
You hadn't heard that name in years. Five to be exact. And he was the last one to call you that.
The nickname was a reference to your alias when you worked with the Caissa network. The network itself was named after the Greek dryad of chess and every network player had some kind of chess term as an alias. Yours was "Zugzwang" — a term to describe when a player is put at a disadvantage by having to make a move. Appropriate because when you trapped someone into your game any move they made was a losing one. When you were at odds with the government, they fell for the trap every time. But now, because of Minghao, you'd been using your evil genius for good.
"Every day."
"Every day what?"
"Every day I say good morning . Every day you say, 'it is now that I've seen you' or another quirky comment that would make Dr. Jeon turn the color of your sparkle pen. Where have you been?"
Your eyes form into lines as you scrutinize him. Pretending to straightening the ID badge affixed to his shirt pocket, you kiss your teeth with a click. He continues on talking about how he's noticed that you've been passing off delivering case reports and sitting out of team meetings.
"You profilers and your behavioral analysis. You ever take a break?" Inside you're screaming. Now he has the sense to finally notice the difference?!
"If I took a break, who'd catch all the bad guys? 'Fess up pretty."
You roll your eyes and land a soft smack on his shoulder.
"Fine. I met a guy," you admit, a dreamy smile breaking out of the corners of your lips.
For a second there is a look of shock displayed on Minghao's face. He quickly fixes his face, but you definitely notice. You always noticed the small changes, even when you tried not to. You try not to think too much of it as he digs you for more details. You recap the interaction from this morning. Spilling small details about Donghyuck in a dreamy daze. Not forgetting to comment on how handsome and hot you think he is. Twice. There's a beat of silence, a look of pondering etched across his face, before he nods to himself.
"Alright, yeah that happens." He gives you a pat on the shoulder and starts to walk to his office, but you don't miss the purse of his lips.
"Not to me it doesn't." He stops and turns around.
"Come again?"
"Look Hao, let's not kid ourselves. I'm not the kind of girl who turns heads when she walks into a room—"
"Babygirl—"
"No. It's okay. I do well enough on my own. I'm a big girl, literally. I can pull, it just isn't always instantly, y'know? I gotta get them to look past the space I take up first." He hesitates to nod. Another small moment of quiet, the effort of piecing together his next sentence apparent in the crease of his brows. Before he can say anything you beat him to breaking the silence.
"I mean, what do you think Hao?"
"I'd say trust your gut princess. If the guy feels too good to be true, he probably is. Best to move on yeah?"
"Well—
Before you can answer, Hyeri the case liaison walks in, arms chock full of files.
"Team brief now. It's bad."
"Clearly."
The two of you follow her into the conference room, something indescribable weighs heavy on your shoulders.
The team debrief makes you feel nauseous. And it's not because of the bloody gruesome details of the latest unsub that Hyeri had briefed the team on. Minghao's words keep ringing in your ear. The rest of the team made their way out to the Florida site and here you were in your office replaying the peculiar conversation the two of you had. You're trying to make sense of his reactions but you're unable to get very far. To ease your mind, you turn to work and get to compiling and cross-referencing the victim list that the team had drawn up with the information the local police department had just sent over.
Knee deep in a list of mugshots, your office phone trills to break your concentration.
"You know who you've reached. Speak," your tone monotonous as you try to continue your focus on your job. Minghao is on the other end asking for an update. You frown at his voice, something that in the past rarely happened. But his comment, along with everything else that transpired between the two of you, were creeping under your skin. The reaction he had to Donghyuck was off and it was beginning to irritate you. Why did he care so much about you meeting a guy, much less a dreamy one like Hyuck? Shouldn't he be whisking away the girl he's supposedly in love with? As he continues to feed you more information, you cut him off telling him you've identified the victims and a locale parameter that the unsub is using as their hunting ground.
"Damn woman, you blow my mind." He whistles, the tone of his voice reading impressed at how fast you were able to narrow things down.
"Yeah, I'm efficient. Gotta go" You quip, not wanting to keep this conversation any longer than it needs to be.
"Whoa, whoa, that's the second time today. No fiery comment? No 'I'll show you what else I can blow'.
"Not today, Minghao." You sigh, rolling your eyes.
"Full government? What's going on?" He never called you by your full name either.
"I'm gonna tell the hot coffee shop guy no. I'm taking your advice, you were right he's probably too good to be true."
"Oh.. Um.. Well that was definitely a smart move." Adds insult to injury by saying there was probably, definitely something wrong with him. Fire starts to run through your veins.
"Huh. Guess that's why they pay you the big bucks." You snort under you breath.
"Come again?" The defensiveness in his voice ignites the fire inside you to roar.
"What was it Minghao? What tipped you off about him? I gave you an ounce of info about him and suddenly you can tell everything about him?!" You're sure that at the decibel you were screamng at, those standing out in the bullpen could hear you.
"Babygirl I-"
"No, humor me for a sec Mr. Profiler, was it how dashingly handsome he was or how interested he was in me that screamed wrong to you?"
"Wait—"
"Just because YOU wouldn't cross a crowded room to hit on me, doesn't mean that someone else— someone less frivolous and not so damn full of themselves wouldn't. You want fiery Xu? How's this: You're a fucking coward."
You slam the receiver down and the dam bursts. You call for one of the other analysts to take over your casework for the day and rush home. As you're heading out, your boss catches you and you quickly tell him to expect a call once you get home explaining why you're leaving midday in the middle of the week. The elevator ride feels like agonizing hours, your anxiety spreading itself like wildfire across your body. You thank every star above that Chan was on his break because you didn't want to face him, mostly because you didn't want to break down at the entrance of your building where you could be perceived. It's only while you're driving home, in the quiet of midday traffic, do you let yourself actually cry. The tears making stoplights and street signs blurs of reds and greens. The rest of the afternoon is spent rotting on your couch, sniffling over the man who caused your heart to splinter.
When you're sure you've cried all the water out of you, you get up to get some water. A chill has landed in your apartment and you resort to wrapping your softest blanket around you. Grabbing your blanket ends up knocking over your purse and its contents spill out onto your carpet. The whine that comes out of you mirrors a petulant child and you kneel down to gather the mess up. When you think that you've returned everything into your purse, you notice a crumpled cupsleeve from the cafe you frequent. You pick it up and head to the kitchen to throw it in the trash, but before you drop into the plastic, you notice the handwriting on the back of it. You get a closer look and see that the mess of scribble is actually Donghyuck's number.
You don't know if it's rage, revenge, or purely just needing a distraction but suddenly you're grabbing your phone and dialing the number. After three rings, the call connects and you hear his smile before his voice.
"Hello?"
"Hi Donghyuck?"
"Ah the girl whose drink matches her voice!" You smile at his words and even giggle a little. You share that work had you pre-occupied (not a lie, but not the truth). The laughter on the other end of the line gives you butterflies.
"Are you free this weekend?" you blurt out. Immediately realizing how sudden it might seem you stutter out, "To pay you b-back for coffee, of course!" Your voice squeaks at the end and you roll your eyes at how pathetic you probably look right now.
"Saturday for dinner work for you gorgeous?"
You bite your lip at the nickname, feeling like you were back in elementary school waiting for your crush to read your note. Telling him that Saturday was perfect, he affirms by telling you he'll pick you up around eight o'clock.
Saturday rolls around and you're getting ready for your date with Donghyuck, but there's a twinge of something wrong in the air. Something in your gut isn't settling well.
Everything reminded you of him.
The outfit you were wearing? The first time you'd worn the ensemble, Minghao had said that the color made your eyes shine like galaxies.
The bangle hanging off your right hand? A present from him after your first year at the BAU. "A celebration — to turning a new leaf", he said as he closed the clasp around your wrist. You unconsciously rub your fingers around the metal band surrounding your forearm. The indentation of your favorite flowers etched in intricate detail, providing a sense of familiarity and emptiness.
The color on your lips, painted the same color the night you two almost kissed. The color he said was downright sinful but made you look like you had been plucked straight from heaven.
The moisture in your eyes isn't apparent until you're staring back at your blurry reflection. The soft ambient lighting in your apartment becomes unclear in the mirror. A groan erupts from the back of your throat as you blink the tears back, not wanting to ruin the makeup you'd spent way too much time on.
You felt him everywhere and it was suffocating. It became loud and clear that your heart still beats for one person and one person only. Your heart takes over your body and you reach for your phone to cancel your plans with Donghyuck. Before you can even press the call icon, a knock on your door startles you.
He's here? Already? You could've sworn that you had agreed on 8 pm and your clock only read quarter past 7. A quick swipe of your phone confirms that there were no new messages from Hyuck. You shrug, assuming that maybe he had just decided to come early. You let out a huff, realizing that the hot guy from the cafe is probably standing outside of your apartment, minutes after you'd come to the earth shattering realization that you were still hung up on the profiler you'd been avoiding for weeks. This was going to be really awkward.
Men and their awful fucking timing.
You grab a sweater to shield yourself from the inevitable chill that opening your front door would allow in. But what awaits you on the other side of your cherry red door isn't something that your sweater could've prepared you for.
"Minghao?"
The tips of his ears and his entire nose as bright as your door. Puffs of his breath coming out in short bursts. His chest was heaving. Did he run over here?
"What are you doing here?" You're staring at him in bewilderment.
It had been a while since you had last been face to face. The last time you'd seen him was the day you told him about Donghyuck. The last time you'd actually spoken to him was during the Florida case. Where he'd unknowingly planted a hurtful comment inside of you. You'd ignored his invite to the bar the day that he returned. The tradition of movie night on Saturdays had been skipped the last couple of weekends, with whatever excuse you could come up with. It took a lot of convincing on your end, but your boss allowed you to sit out on team briefs just so you didn't have to be in the same room as Minghao. One of the things that stayed with you from your past life was the ability to determine who was walking by based only on their tread. This came in especially handy on the days that you couldn't work from home. That skill escaped you in this very moment.
Because here he is. Right outside your apartment.
You say nothing and cross your arms with an air of ignorance.
"You said I wouldn't cross a crowded room to hit on you and you're right." You roll your eyes and start to close the door but he stops it. He pushes the door back open and lets himself into your apartment. Your eyes are wide, staring at his audacity.
"I'd do more." Kicking off his boots, he stalks further into your apartment. The nerve he has to make himself familiar in your sanctuary. What infuriates you further is how devastatingly handsome he looks. Hair the color of onyx, perfectly windswept, the tips of them covered in half melted snowflakes. You can see under his black trench coat, a black ribbed tank, showing off his stupidly perfect collarbones and the small layer of sheen from what you assume is the result of him running to your place.
"What?" The look on your face is a combination of bewilderment and annoyance. Minghao across your living room, huffs out and crosses to you.
He cradles your face then presses his forehead against yours.
"I'm sorry I was a coward."
Seconds that feel like hours pass and he finally kisses you. And of course it's perfect, the kind of kiss that you dream of when kissing the person that holds your entire heart. The perfect clash of passion. The kind of kiss that leaves you wanting more. The kind that leaves the both of you panting as you pull away for air.
"God for a profiler, you were really unable to read me for the longest time."
"I don't use my skills for personal gain, babygirl."
"Maybe you should…" The lilt in your voice is teasing.
"You think so?" You flash him a grin, one that's inviting in nature.
"So… When you said you'd do more, what did that exactly entail?" You tease, fisting your hands in his tank as you pull him in for another kiss. His hands hadn't left your face, thumbs caressing your cheeks as he returns your advance.
There is fire behind both of your lips, you can feel the rawness as the two of you clumsily fight for dominance. Minghao fists a hand in your hair and gently tugs, exposing your neck to him. He trails kisses down to your collarbone, each touch igniting the flame inside your stomach. He's got you pushed up against the wall, placing marks across your chest. Desire is pooling at the apex of your thighs and like moth to a flame, Minghao senses it. His free hands makes its way down your body, down to where you wanted to feel him the most. Pushing up your dress, he dreamily sighs at the sight that beholds him: red mesh underwear that leaves little to the imagination. The minx that he is skirts around your pulsing clit, the tips of his fingers flirting around your bundle of nerves through the thin layer of fabric. You whine against his lips, hips involuntarily pushing into his hand. The sound of his smile against your lips is intoxicating and the smokiness of his rasp is sinful.
"C'mon babygirl, use your words and tell me what you want."
Your eyes roll back in pleasure as he weaponizes his nickname for you. You can't help but whimper when he slides your underwear to the side and makes brief contact with your clit, an unrecognizable pitch coming from you. His lips have returned to your neck and your hands find purchase in his locks.
"Fuck Minghao. Please" You beg. The lack of touch driving you to the brink of insanity. He moves his hands, but in the opposite direction of what you want. A pout forms on your lips and another whine spills past. He pulls you away from the wall and kisses you again, hands roaming, like he was mapping every part of you he wanted to devour. They stop at your ass where he grabs a handful, the groan that follows sending heat straight to your belly. In between lip locks, he lightly taps the backs of your thighs and in a low register laced with sin, commanded
"Jump."
Your body moved faster than your mind, wrapping your legs around his waist. The simple ask sent a jolt of electricity straight to your core. He carries you with ease to your bedroom, whose door he kicks open. You tell him this later but this very simple act of carrying you like you were weightless made you want to praise him like a god. Laying you at the edge of your bed, he stands back to drink the sight of you in. What he sees is feminine divine: your hair flowing like you were Aphrodite herself, remnants of your lipstick looking decadent on your lips, the way you're chewing on your bottom lip the very definition of sin. You prop yourself up on your elbows, completely in your head. You, the girl who was often passed over, almost always the second choice, felt the voices of doubt nipping at your skin. Even now as he towers over you, in your bedroom, you're avoiding his gaze and you can feel yourself shrinking.
"Hey, no. None of that pretty," he takes your chin in your hand and focuses your gaze on him. He kisses you, softly, waxing poetic of your beauty in between breaths. You mentally thank your past self for choosing a dress with buttons in the front as he begins to fumble with them. He doesn't get very far and out of frustration rips the front of your dress open, buttons flying in every direction. A sound of protest comes from you, but Minghao is immediately shutting you up by telling you he'll buy you another one. The other thing that shuts you up is his arms as he removes his trench coat. You'd always known his arms were thick, the lines of them defined in the button ups he'd wear to work, but seeing them bare confirmed your beliefs. The stretch of his biceps as he took his tank off making you dizzy.
There was no doubt about the hunger in his eyes as they raked down your body, the smirk forming when he realized that your bra matched your underwear. For a swift second, there's a tinge of darkness in them that chills your spine. The sound that comes from him can be described as nothing but feral when he leans over you and pushes your bra down. A mix of cold air and his warm wet mouth around your nipple makes you hiss. Your hands lock him to your chest and your hips are bucking up into him. His free hand reaches up and two fingers graze your lips and push into your open mouth. You feel Minghao smile against your chest when you swirl your tongue against his fingers. Pulling his fingers out of your mouth, he dances a line down to your core, sliding them through your wet folds. The sensation elicits a sound that vibrates through your chest and you buck your hips against his palm, signaling your desire. He picks up on your cue and slides two fingers into you, the sensation stinging in the best way possible.Bucking your hips up into the air with wanton need, you lay a message for him to find in your moans — keep going.
The telepathic connection you two have proves to still be fully functional as he continues his pace. Curling his long, slender fingers into a spot that makes you feel like he's bringing down the stars just for you. Warmth is spreading all over your body, the band in your core beginning to tighten up. Your breath is getting shallower, your moans are barely sounds.
"Let go for me babygirl."
"Let me feel it," He urges and you can't do anything but oblige.
The coil snaps and the pleasure is white-hot. You cry his name out as you squeeze around his fingers. The bliss you feel pushes you to drag his face up to you and capture his lips. You snake a free hand down to his pants and palm his length, a moan coming out when you feel how hard he is. Switching positions, you get yourself on top of him and grind on him to try and cure the ache in your core. He makes space between the two of you and undresses his lower half for you.
You're slightly ashamed for how you drool when his length flops up and smacks against his toned stomach, but that feeling quickly disappears. There's a split second where you pout when you take in how well endowed Minghao is. Mentally whining that he was blessed in every department, you wrap your hand around his length and you hear him grit his teeth. There's a glint in your eye as you shimmy down and take his leaking head in your mouth. It's almost automatic how his hand flies and threads into your scalp. A groan escapes him and that encourages you to take his length even deeper. This action gets him to throw his head back and in turn pulling your hair. The sting from that sends waves of heat to your core.
"Fuck pretty girl, I knew your mouth was filthy but holy fu-" He doesn't finish his sentence because you take him in fully and he hits the back of your throat. You look up at him and the way his face twists in pleasure has you sucking harder. This proves to be enjoyable for him because you feel him trying not to buck his hips up into your mouth.
"Fuck. Fuck baby, hold on. I don't-" You pull off him, a look of worry in your eyes, eyelashes wet from your actions. He instantly assures you that nothing is wrong, he just embarrassingly doesn't want to cum too early. His ears twinge pink and you giggle at him, coming back up and placing a kiss on his nose.
"You have no idea, how long…" he stops himself, but you give his hand a squeeze, telling him you understand. He kisses you lightly and before you two get lost in the heat, he pulls away then pats on your bed. Getting the hint, you climb onto your bed and wait for him. Turning over sits in front of you, drinking in the sight of you once again. There's lust in his eyes, yours too, but there's warmth behind the gaze.
Taking your left leg in his hand, he places a kiss on your ankle. The fire inside you burns brighter. Switching to your right leg, he does the same. There's hunger that radiates off him as he gets to your thigh and lands a big bite. He sucks at a spot close to where you ache for him the most. Pulling his hair in response, but he toys with you further and continues to bite and leave marks all over your thighs. He continues peppering kisses up along your body, maneuvering himself left and right, until he gets to your face where he places a soft kiss on your lips.
He reaches down to palm himself and the very real fact that the two of you are about to have sex, hits you.
"Wait, Hao," you say softly. He hums in response and you're trying to figure out how to ask for what you want without ruining the mood. In true fashion, Minghao senses your brain running wild and tilts your chin to look up at him.
"Where's your head at pretty?" He brushes your cheek with this thumb. Blushing is the name of the game and you have Olympic gold without even trying. Shyly you express that you haven't been with anyone in a while, which meant that you hadn't been on birth control. Your face is beet red as you're about to ask him for a condom, but he stops you in your tracks.
"Baby, you never have to feel weird about asking me to put on a condom," he murmurs as he presses a kiss to your forehead. He pulls back and looks straight into your eyes,
"Your comfort isn't optional. Ever."
He leans over to where he dropped his pants and fishes out a condom. He slips it on and returns to hover over you. Spreading your legs open with his knee, a sharp inhale comes from him when his eyes drop to your pussy, still glistening and pulsing from earlier. Reaching his hand down, he wraps his hand around himself and plays with your folds. Still sensitive from his fingers, you jump a bit at the contact. After a beat, he slides himself in with ease. Once he's bottomed out, you pull his face to yours to kiss him.
The two of you are a mix of groans as Minghao picks up the pace. One of his hands rolls a nipple in between his finger and thumb. The room feels hot, you feel sweat prickle at the base of your neck and the backs of your knees. Both of your hands are fisted into the sheets, toes curling at the height of pleasure he's bringing you to. You're begging him for more with your moans, you can feel your throat beginning to get sore.
When he suddenly slides out of you, you whimper at how empty you feel. The feeling only lasts for a second as he takes your left leg and throws it over his shoulder and sliding right back in. The new angle that he's fucking you with makes you dizzy with pleasure. Broken cries come out of your throat. His right hand grips your hip harshly as he pummels into you. Taking your left leg, he pulls it straight up by the calf and starts kissing your ankle again. The sensation sending fire straight to your core, prompting you to squeeze tightly around him. In reaction he lets out a low growl and nips at your ankle.
"Fuck Mingh-hao. Feels so good!" The room is filled with the noises of him slamming against your pussy and the chorus of your voices ringing out in pleasure. You know your neighbors are gonna hate you, but you quickly stop caring as Minghao continues rutting into you.
He moans against your calf in response, you feel the vibrations in your belly. The pace of his thrusts are starting to slow and you can feel that he's close. Arching your back off the bed, the angle is deeper and kisses the tip of your cervix. You know that you're gonna feel it tomorrow, but this was another thing that future you could worry about. This is Minghao's downfall as the new angle has you squeezing him tighter. Your second orgasm crashes over you and he catches the swell with the ease of a veteran surfer.
"Fu-fu-fuck, baby I'm cumming," he groans as he lets your leg go. You wrap both of your legs around his waist and cradle him as he collapses on top of you and spills into the condom. The two of you stay like this for a few moments, until Minghao slowly pulls out of you. Immediately feeling the sensitivity, you let out a small hiss as he slides out. He peppers your face with kisses to help as he slips the condom off.
After the two of you get cleaned up, you both lay under your sheets — legs tangled, your breaths matching each others, his hand drawing random shapes on your upper arm. The silence that falls over you two is comfortable, but there's something waiting to break the quiet.
"We did this totally backwards," Minghao giggles. You look up at him with wide eyes, a bit in shock with his choice of his words. Realizing that, he immediately presses a kiss to your nose to calm you.
"What I meant was that I would've at least liked to take you on a date first." It was Minghao's turn to blush. You giggle and place a soft kiss on his lips.
"We've never been the kind to go about things the typical way Hao," you quip. The smile he gives you makes your heart sing and swell. It's the type of smile that you'd spend the rest of your life preserving. The kind people fought wars for.
"That's true… In that case, wanna be my girlfriend?"
You hit his chest softly and he places his hand over yours. You kiss his hand and you know that he knows the answer to his question.
Yes.
It's a new week of work and you and Minghao walk into the building, hand in hand. Your favorite security guard makes no verbal mention of it when you walk past him, but you do not miss the giant grin plastered on his face as he hands the two of you your badges.
"You get up to anything fun this weekend?" The smugness incredibly evident on his face. You shrug, pretending to be absolutely aloof. In your periphery, you see the tips of Minghao's ears turn pink. Collecting your badges from Chan's hands, you nudge Minghao in the direction of the elevator. Once inside, you let out the laugh you'd been holding in, clutching your your sides. He looks at you like you've grown two heads. You wipe your tears and explain to him that Chan knew about the feelings you'd been harboring for the last five years.
"Chan was probably thinking 'Finally'." You shake your head, chuckling. As soon the two of you step off the elevator, you hear a shriek and suddenly you're pulled away from Minghao. You get wrapped into a tight hug by Hyeri, who sounds absolutely hysterical.
"Hi! What's this for? Don't get me wrong I quite love everything that is happening, but Ri you never hug me." She hits your arm, sniffling, warning you to not joke around.
The rest of the team surrounds you, thanking the heavens that you were alright. You and Minghao share the same questioning look. Your resident boy-genius fills you in by directing your eyes to the TV behind him. Your boss, Agent Choi Seungcheol is leading a press conference. Your eyebrows scrunch in even more confusion and then you read the byline at the bottom of the screen: "Caissa Networks sends clear message to the FBI". Hyeri finally lets you go, her eyes rimmed with red and damp. She continues scolding you for not answering any of her calls over the weekend. She rambles on about the fact that there was a threatening letter left on the doorstep of your boss' door with your name on it.
The bullpen is quiet until Dr. Jeon breaks the silence.
"What did happen to you this weekend?" You shake your head, shifting your eyes to Minghao. Neither of you talked about whether or not you were gonna tell everyone the second you came back to the office. You were both otherwise preoccupied. Before either of you can fumble through some awkward explanation, Seungcheol walks in, the poster boy for stoicism.
"Team meeting. 10 minutes," is all he says as he walks by. Like ducklings following their mother, the rest of the team tails behind him. Wonwoo narrows his eyes at the two of you before following suit. Silence falls between you and Minghao. You can hear the corners of his mouth turning up, ready to interrupt the quiet.
"So… You gonna tell the truth and say it was love at first sight?" The smugness is radiating off of him. You roll your eyes and mockingly tell him that he's not funny.
The smile on his face is annoyingly wide, but also dazzling. Not wanting to dignify him with a response, you turn on your heel and walk towards the conference room.
"C'moooon. It's a little bit funny!" He whispers into your ear.
"Pissing me off this early in the morning and in our relationship is not a smart move, Xu." You grumble quietly as you enter the conference room. Minghao's right behind you, sheepish grin as Seungcheol raises his brow at the two of you.
The rest of the meeting is spent trying to keep your focus as Minghao draws circles on your thigh underneath the table. You know it's his special way of apologizing and buttering you up. You make eye contact with Hyeri at some point and from across the table she mouths, "Girlfriend?!" referring to your comment from earlier. A look that says "I'll explain everything later" dances in your eyes and she returns a quick nod. There's a smile hidden behind your eyes, giddy at the memory of Minghao asking you to be his girlfriend.
a/n: this is my longest fic so far, this was such a labor of love and i am so excited to share it with everyone! this fic would not exist without the beautiful brains behind this collab: luna, rae and izzy — thank you for bringing everyone together and giving us new writers a space to feel comfy and welcomed.
to @livmarauder, @luvrung and @belovedgyu thank you for beta reading and helping this fic shine even brighter!
a special dedication to my 8stars always!
as always rbs are appreciated and rb's with your comments/tags are welcomed ♡
divider cred: @bunnytoppop
🖐️Who: Kim Mingyu (Seventeen) x female reader
🖐️️What: Smut (18+). Best friends to FWB.
🖐️️Word count: 3.8k
🖐️️Warnings: Dom Mingyu. Sub Reader. Mingyu is bigger than reader, and it’s implied he can support her weight. Spanking. Dirty talk. Pussy slapping. Fingering. Spit. Big dick Mingyu. Degradation. Unprotected PIX sex. Cum eating. Praise. Squirting. I think that’s everything!
🖐️️Summary:
One minute, you're sitting on the couch watching a movie with your best friend, and the next, you're face down with one of his hands on the back of your neck and the other routinely connecting with your ass.
Minors do NOT interact. I WILL block any account that interacts without an age indicator in their bio, or for any of the reasons listed in this post, including blank blogs and blogs without any fics reblogged.
Masterlist
A/N- This was originally on my old account @/whipped-for-kpop-fics, but I’ve decided to private a lot of stuff on that account and just move it over to here after some editing, where I can actually track it all properly.
If someone were to ask you how it started, you really could not give them an answer. Even as someone involved, you really don't know how you got to this point.
You haven't even had any alcohol, you're completely sober; but one minute, you're sitting on the couch watching a movie with your best friend, and the next, you're face down with one of his hands on the back of your neck and the other routinely connecting with your ass.
“That's it, baby, you're being so good for me,” Mingyu coos, stopping his borderline harsh spanks to rub a soothing hand over the latest area of impact. All while you're panting and sniffling into the pillow, both hands balled up in the material and mind completely fucking empty. “Are you going to stop talking back now? Going to be my good girl, hm?” You can't even manage to respond, just make some kind of garbled whine in response. Mingyu chuckles lowly, and slowly, so fucking slowly leans over you from where he's on his knees behind you.
You know he doesn't need to press against you, he's so much fucking bigger than you, so he could easily spread over you without pressing his cock against your ass; but you feel it, and it only makes everything so much worse. He's hard, and so fucking big against you. You have never wanted anyone more than you want him in this moment.
“Turn your head, baby,” comes his soft encouragement as his right hand moves from the back of your neck, to press to the armrest above your head and brace himself, while his left hand slides up from your ass, dragging his heavy touch along the side of your torso, and over the back of your shoulder until he can get a grip on your jaw. “Come on,” he murmurs, tightening his touch and tugging. You let him turn your face out of the pillow to the side; you can just about make out his smirking features hovering over you. “That's my girl.”
“Gyu,” you manage, sounding so wrecked already, and he hasn't even gotten truly started.
“I know, baby, I know,” he hums, adjusting his hold on your jaw to brush his middle finger over the slight opening of your lips. Without thought, you open wider and allow him to slide his finger into your mouth. “Look at you; so ruined already, sweetheart, and I haven't even touched you.” He chuckles, it's a little mean-sounding, condescending. It makes you whine needily and arch back against him. He licks his lips and presses down on your tongue while rolling his hips against you in return. “That what you want, princess? Want my cock in your desperate little pussy, hm? Bet you're already fucking soaked, huh? Gonna drown my cock, aren't you, baby?” You nod dumbly, eyes fluttering closed as he adjusts his position behind you so that the next harsh grind of his hips has his cock rolling over your clit through the material covering both of your bodies. “Fuck, I can feel you, you know? Filthy girl is soaking me through both of our shorts. Are you that desperate for my cock?”
“Gyu,” it's not very clear at all, what with his finger still in your mouth and massaging over your tongue teasingly. Not that you care; your head is in the clouds.
Actually, your head is so fucking past the clouds, you're lightyears away. You really don't care if your attempt at his name is clear, so long as he understands the desperate tone behind it.
He does, and lets out another one of those low, condescending chuckles. “Is that supposed to be my name?” he teases while leaning down on his left elbow to support his weight without removing his finger from your mouth.
In fact, he adds his index finger in beside the first and presses them both down firmly on your tongue. He smirks as he notices the drool spilling from your parted lips onto the pillow under your head— he couldn't see that particular detail from his previous position. It makes his cock jump with interest.
“Oh, look at you, sweetheart, you're making such a fucking mess from both holes, drooling everywhere.” You haven't noticed that he has moved his right hand off the armrest until you feel it at the waistband of your shorts. “Should I take these down, princess?” You nod rapidly and wiggle a little. “Okay, okay.” He huffs a laugh and grabs the waistband of both your shorts and panties at once to tug them down your ass and thighs and leave them bunched around your knees.
There's a moment when nothing more happens, Mingyu just watches your face with more restraint than you personally would have in this moment if the roles were reversed.
And then, to your genuine surprise, his right hand comes down, right between your thighs. There's a very wet-sounding connection over your pussy, and your eyes fly wide as you shriek in shock. It wasn't a very harsh slap at all; more like Mingyu testing the waters as his eyes remain on you.
When your eyes dart to him, he smirks and taps against your pussy a few times as his hand is still resting there. “I knew you'd like that,” he taunts. “Filthy little girl likes having her pussy slapped, huh?” To prove his point, he pulls his hand back and brings it down, this time a little closer and harsher, connecting his fingers firmly with your clit and sending a shock of sharp pleasure through your body.
You jerk involuntarily and keen while your left hand flails out and grips his wrist by your face to try and ground yourself. He lets you, his smirk growing bigger, cockier. With every slap against your throbbing pussy, you feel yourself get wetter, dripping out over his hand and down your thighs. The couch is probably getting soaked under you, but you're too far gone to give a fuck.
“If I knew you were this much of a little slut, I'd have played with this pussy ages ago,” Mingyu mutters when he finally stops his pleasurable attack and instead starts to slide his fingers up and down over your sopping folds.
Without warning, the tips of his middle and ring finger catch on your hole before sliding in. You're so fucking wet that he doesn't hesitate to sheath his two fingers in you right down to the knuckles.
“Oh, good fucking girl,” he groans lowly. “So wet for me, huh, baby? Taking my fingers like they're nothing.” He works his fingers in you for a moment, just languidly stretching and twisting them without pulling them out. “Think you can take another for me, princess?” You nod, whining a little in need and pushing your hips back against his hand. “Stay still,” he warns. “I'll fuck you how I want, you don't get a fucking say in it, understand?” You nod again quickly and fall still to allow him to do whatever he wants. “Good girl.”
It's torture; the way Mingyu slowly drags his two fingers right out to the tips, to add his index finger to the mix before sliding the three in together. Your eyes flutter close at the pressure, the extra finger adding enough stretch against your hole to make your breath stutter, so you don't notice the way Mingyu's expression turns lax as he feels your walls pressing against his fingers, sucking them in, and making him wish he already has his cock buried in your pussy.
But he can't. Mingyu knows he's big, borderline ridiculously big, honestly, so he can't rush this. Needs to get you all stretched and ready before he buries his thick cock in you and fills you with his cum.
Slowly, Mingyu works you open on three fingers: moving at such a pace both to be careful, and to tease you. He can feel you sporadically squeezing down around his fingers, and your hips twitching with the urge to move and force him to speed up, but you stay still.
You're being so fucking good for him, such a good fucking girl that he can't keep it up for as long as he initially planned. You've entirely soaked his hand and don't seem to have any issue at all when he slightly spreads his fingers inside you, so he figures you're ready.
When the two fingers in your mouth start to retreat, you panic and open your eyes, while gripping his wrist tighter to pull him back.
Mingyu watches slack jawed as you suck his fingers back in with a moan, tongue swirling and cheeks hollowing slightly. “Fuck, baby, bet you'd love my cock in that dirty mouth right now, wouldn't you?” You blink at him, eyes so glazed and heavy, giving away how truly gone you are. He groans a little.
Minutely, you shake your head.
“No? No what?” You suck on his fingers a little harder, reminding him of his own words. “Oh, you don't want my cock in this hole?” He presses down on your tongue harshly, making you moan. “Where do you want it then, sweetheart? Gonna tell me where you want my cock?”
You don't speak, you can't; even if his fingers weren't filling your mouth, you're already too fucked out to speak, but you have enough control over the rest of your body.
Mingyu swears colourfully when you squeeze your pussy around his fingers, clamping down in answer to his question. “You want my cock in your pussy, huh?” He abruptly pulls his fingers from your mouth and starts to straighten up. “You're gonna fucking get it, princess.”
Having his hand moving so suddenly away from your face has you panicking, not quite sure what's going on in your fuzzy headspace, so you yelp and grip his wrist to try and keep him near to you. Keep you grounded.
Mingyu pauses his retreat and leans over to kiss your head. “It's okay, baby, I'm not leaving. I'm going to fuck you now, okay?” You blink when he pulls back enough to peer at you and meet your gaze. “Is that okay, sweetheart? Your Gyu is going to fill you up, hm?”
The way you blink at him is so cute and innocent that he can't help but smile softly at you and lean back in to press a kiss to your temple.
“Give me your hand, princess,” he encourages, trying to wiggle his wrist from your hold without upsetting you. Slowly, you release your grip and let him take your hand into his. “Good girl.”
Mingyu gifts you with one more little kiss, on the apple of your cheek this time, before he's straightening up to his full height on his knees behind you, while carefully manoeuvring your left arm backwards in a way that won't hurt. He watches your response as he presses the back of your hand to your lower back; you don't react and just let him do it, while your fingers wiggle a little until his palm is against yours and you can wrap your fingers around his hand.
It's cute, he thinks; how you're searching for the comfort of his hold right now when he's about to fuck you until you forget your own name.
His attention turns down to where his fingers are still buried in you, not moving, but still there. The fond little smile immediately slips off of his face at the sight of your pussy stretching around his fingers.
“Fuck,” he whispers lowly and adjusts his position a little, to get a better view as he slowly drags his fingers out. He licks his lips, then lifts his hand to his mouth to lap at your flavour coating his skin. A low moan rumbles from his chest. "Gonna eat this pussy later. Once I've filled you up, gonna make you cum all over my tongue, baby."
With his hand still mostly wet, he reaches down to shove his shorts and boxers down enough to free his cock. You feel it against the bare skin of your ass; he feels so hot and heavy and you want him in you so fucking much. You squeeze down against nothing and Mingyu notices, watches the way more slick dribbles out of your constricting hole.
“Fuck, baby, you're desperate for something in this dripping pussy, huh,” he taunts, voice low as he places his hand over the bottom of your ass, in the perfect place that he can pull you open for his eyes and slip his thumb into you. You whimper a little; it's nowhere near what you need. Mingyu chuckles as he feels you trying to clamp down around his thumb and get more friction. “Oh, baby, that's not going to work,” he coos and pulls against your walls slightly to spread your hole.
Nobody has ever done that to you before. It feels kind of degrading, but you find that you're not opposed. You push back against him. Instantly, he pulls his hand back and then brings it down to connect with the swell of your bare asscheek, hard enough to immediately leave a red mark. You shriek and flail a little, though push right back against his touch.
Mingyu laughs mockingly. “Such a desperate little slut, all for me huh?” He grips his cock and directs it to thunk the head against your clit, making your hips jerk as you whine. “Bet you'd let me do whatever the fuck I want to you, right, baby? So long as you get this cock in your pussy.” As if proving a point, he spits right on your pussy where his cock is teasing you. You moan, making him laugh again. Though this time, he sounds more pleased than teasing. “Oh, I'm going to enjoy ruining you tonight, baby, and then tomorrow, I'm going to do it all over again. Gonna keep fucking you until you can't take a fucking step without thinking of my cock.”
And then, he starts to push his length into you. He doesn't rush it, but he's not going slow. It feels both too fast and too slow as his thick cock gradually splits you open, bigger than his fingers enough that you still feel every fucking inch of him.
When his hips are flush against your ass, Mingyu stops there with his eyes closed tight enough to crinkle his brows, head dropped down and mouth open wide while he tries to ground himself. You feel so fucking good wrapped around his cock. All hot, and wet, and tight in the best way. It's driving him fucking crazy. He knows he won’t last long at all.
You're not faring much better yourself either. You've never orgasmed from penetration alone, but you feel so fucking close right now that it genuinely wouldn't surprise you if you do cum the second he moves.
“You okay, baby?” Mingyu asks carefully, after almost a full minute of breathing his climax away. He soothes his right hand over your hip and up to your waist, then back down to hold you again with his thumb running over your heated skin gently.
It takes you a few seconds to hum in confirmation and nod a little. Mingyu smiles at the sight of your closed eyes and open mouth. You look so blissed out and he hasn't even fucked you, hasn't even made you cum yet. He knows you're going to look fucking beautiful cumming on his cock.
“Are you ready for me to move?” You respond quicker this time, a desperate tinge to the nod, making him laugh softly; amused and fond. “Okay, baby, brace against the armrest for me, hm?” Blindly, you remove your right hand from the pillow to reach the few inches above you and press your palm flat to the armrest. “That's my good girl,” he praises, then slowly starts to pull his hips back. It's half to tease, and half for him to check that the slightest bit of friction on his cock isn't going to make him bust then and there. It doesn't, but he can feel the pressure gathering all the same in his body, so he knows he's going to cum very, very soon.
When Mingyu thrusts back into you, it's hard and quick, and he doesn't stop there. Immediately, he's drawing his hips back and repeating the action with low moans. And all you can do is gasp, moan, and try to grip his hand and the armrest for dear life as he fucks into you almost animalistically. Like there's only one thing on his mind and he doesn't give a fuck if he bruises you to get it. Honestly, you don't care either; you'd probably even welcome the marks on your skin.
But you can't think of that right now, can't think of anything but his cock pummelling your walls and dragging rapidly across all the most deliciously sensitive spots inside of you.
“Fuck,” he manages to choke out as he feels you getting tighter and tighter; it makes his own orgasm rush closer to the surface. “Baby, cum, fucking cum right fucking now,” he demands roughly, leaning forward enough that he can reach around with his right hand.
All it takes is a little harsh tap on your clit and you clamp down. The orgasm hits you so powerfully that you almost scream his name as you gush around his length.
Mingyu’s head tips back while he groans deeply with his eyes closed, and presses his hips tight up against you, emptying into you with your walls pulsating around his cock to draw every drop of cum out.
For a handful of minutes, you both just try to catch your breath; Mingyu still pressed up against you and face tilted back to the ceiling, mouth open and chest finally no longer heaving so desperately.
With his lungs no longer screaming for oxygen, Mingyu drops his head forward and opens his eyes to look down at you. For a second, he thinks you've fallen asleep: your face is slack, eyes closed, and mouth parted a little; but when he draws his hips back to let his soft length slip out of you, you wince, showing that you're still awake.
“Did so good for me, sweetheart,” he hums, sitting back on his heels and gently lets go of your hand. You let him and allow your arm to flop back down to your side, too sated and exhausted to care about the ache in your shoulder and elbow. Mingyu's hands both run over the backs of your thighs and your ass as he watches his cum trickle out of your hole. “So good,” he breathes out, then grips your ass to spread you open for him, to lean in and lick up the mix of both of your arousal leaking from your hole. You squeak in surprise and jerk. “Shh, shh, baby, it's okay, let Gyu lean you up, hm? I told you I want to eat your pussy after I've filled you.”
Honestly, if you weren't so fucked dumb, you'd probably push him away due to sensitivity, but you can't really move and his tongue is surprisingly gentle considering how rough he fucked you. So, you just sigh softly and remain as still as you can when every pass of his tongue over your clit makes your hips twitch.
“Mm, good, good girl, just like that, that's my girl,” he encourages you in between licks and kisses against your heated, sensitive skin. “Just a little more, hm.”
You hum vaguely in response, agreeing even if you're not entirely sure what you're agreeing to. There's probably very little you wouldn't agree to where Mingyu is concerned. You just never expected him to find that out.
Just like he opened you up, Mingyu takes his time and goes slow and steady as he licks and slurps at you. Even when he slides a finger in you to tease his cum out, he's in no rush.
It doesn't really register in your mind just how good it feels; you're moaning softly, yes, but you don't really register that either. It's kind of soothing; his meticulous, thorough actions. And then, he's swallowed down the last of his cum, and his finger is joined by another and he's curling them downwards; brushing over your g-spot and making you gasp with every pass.
Suddenly, you realise how tight that ball in your lower belly has gotten, and the pressure building even lower. You want to warn him, but you can't speak.
Mingyu's now rubbing against that very specific spot on your walls, still slow and gentle about it, but with enough pressure and insistence that you're being pulled towards another powerful orgasm. It already feels so different from the first; like it's in your whole body, but just as powerful.
“Gyu,” you manage the first word you've spoken in what feels like fucking hours. Just a broken soft little gasp of his name.
It makes him moan against you; the vibrations travel through his lips pressed against your clit and send you over. The orgasm hits you a second before you feel that pressure burst. Mingyu moans louder than you as you squirt over his face and hand before he's desperately trying to swallow every drop of it down.
As much as Mingyu would happily dedicate his life to eating your pussy, he can tell you really aren't able to handle that right now, so when he's sure your orgasm has ebbed, he gently removes his fingers from you. He takes another couple of seconds to pass his tongue over you and slurp up the last drops he can, then leans back.
It's clear that you both need a shower, or a bath, something, but also that you are incapable of doing either. Sure, Mingyu could physically hold you up safely in the water, at least normally he'd be able, to but right now? You're not the only one with weakened thighs from a toe-curling orgasm. He's very certain he hasn't cum that hard in a long time.
Carefully, Mingyu tugs your panties and shorts back up onto your hips and then fixes his own clothes before he shuffles back enough to give you space when he tugs your thighs out. You flop rather ungracefully stomach down onto the couch, making him chuckle softly, before he crawls over and nudges you onto your right side with your back to the back of the couch.
“Hey, baby,” he greets softly, laying down on his left and tucking his arm under your head so you're resting on his bicep, and his head is on his own hand when he bends his arm back to himself. He winds his right arm around your waist and places a kiss on your head. “You're already mostly there, but let's nap, hm, sweetheart? And when we wake, we'll get some food and talk. But now, sleep.”
You softly grunt in response; a sleepy confirmation of words that don't even register. He chuckles and presses another kiss to your head before closing his eyes, more than ready to get some much-needed sleep.
Don't forget to reblog if you liked to help spread the story and let others read it too! And don't be shy to leave comments or send an ask so I can see your thoughts 🥺 💖
› pairing┆cheol x reader
› genre┆romance, Valentin's date.
✎ word-count .ᐟ 2.1k
⌁ summary┆Valentine’s Day with Seungcheol was never going to be simple. He doesn’t do simple. He does grand entrances.
⇢ This fic is part of the Candy Hearts event organised by @svthub.
I am very happy to wish once again a Happy Valentine's Day to our lovely @sunniques 💌 I hope February was kind to you.
You wake up to the sound of your phone vibrating across your nightstand. You feel warm under the blanket, sunlight coming through the curtains of your bedroom.
An upcoming call from “Cheol ♡” flashes across the screen.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he says the moment you answer, his voice still husky with sleep. It slides down your spine like warm honey. “Don’t make plans today.”
You laugh softly. “It’s Valentine’s Day. I think that was implied.”, rolling into the bed smiling brightly.
“I know,” he replies, and you can practically hear the smirk. “But I need you available. Completely. I’ve got plans.”
“Oh? Secret plans?”
“Very. And you’re going to wear something I bought you.”
You sit up a little straighter. “You bought me something?”
“It’ll be there in an hour,” he says smoothly. “Try it on. Send me a picture.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Mm,” he hums. “And you love it.”
You absolutely do. You were so excited to see what your boyfriend had planned out for you. And you knew, it was gonna be good
The delivery arrives exactly fifty-three minutes later on the dot. Of course it does. Seungcheol is many things—dramatic, competitive, ridiculously charming—but he is never late when it comes to you. He sets his priorities straight.
The box is heavy. Luxurious. Matte black with a gold-embossed logo that makes your eyebrows lift in shock and squeal in excitement.
He really did not hold back.
Inside, nestled in tissue paper, is the dress.
It’s silk. Deep, dark crimson. The kind of red that feels almost sinful. The fabric catches the light like liquid. It’s backless, held up by delicate straps that cross at the shoulders. The neckline dips just enough to make your pulse quicken, and the slit along one thigh is daring without being obvious. You knew your boyfriend had taste, but he was surpassing himself on that one
Inside the same box, sat an envelope with a note closed off by a red wax seal stamp.
For the most beautiful woman in any room. Wear this tonight and let me show you off properly. - CSC
You stare at the dress for a long moment before you press it against yourself in disbelief, before running to your walk-in closet to step in front of the mirror to try it on.
It fits like it was tailored for you, which, knowing the man - could be possible.
The silk hugs your waist, skims your hips, and flows just enough to make you feel elegant instead of exposed. When you turn, the open back leaves your skin bare, vulnerable in a way that makes your cheeks warm.
You take a picture—full length, soft lighting—and send it to him.
Three dots appear immediately.
Then your phone rings. An upcoming video call.
“Are you trying to kill me?” he says by way of greeting.
You cannot help but giggle at his reaction. “Too much?”
“Too much?” He exhales sharply, staring intensely at your face. “You look unreal. That dress…God what have I just done? The way it fits you... Turn around.”
“I just sent you a picture, isn’t that enough for you?”
“I need a video.”
You laugh but prop your phone up anyway, stepping back to give him a slow spin.
There’s silence on the other end. Then a low whistle. You look at him from where you stand, he’s sitting back in his chair, admiring you as if you were the rarest gemstone on earth he could lay his eyes on.
“You’re not walking into that restaurant by yourself,” he mutters. “You’re making an entrance. And you’re walking in on my arm.”
“You sound proud.”
“I am proud,” he says without hesitation. “You’re mine. Of course, I’m going to show you off.”
Your heart stumbles in your chest. Your cheeks were burning from the compliments, the shower of compliments and attention he was giving you.
“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he adds. “Hair down. Heels. I want everyone staring, knowing they can’t have you.”
“You’re ridiculous,” simply scoffing but laughing endearingly. You adored him for showing you off with pride.
“And you’re perfect,” he shoots back. “See you tonight, baby.”
Throwing a wink before ending the call, leaving you alone to get ready for what could be the night of your life.
At exactly seven, headlights sweep across your living room walls.
When you step outside, you see the car first—sleek, black, polished to a mirror shine.
Then you see him.
Seungcheol is leaning casually against the driver’s side door, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a bouquet of deep red roses matching your dress. His coat is charcoal, cut sharply across his shoulders. Underneath, a tailored black suit and a crisp white shirt, the top button undone just enough to reveal a hint of collarbone.
His hair is styled neatly, but not stiff. Effortless. Dangerous.
When he sees you, he straightens.
And then he just… stares.
Slowly. Unapologetically. Up and down as you walked down to him. Eyes of a hungry predator.
“Wow,” he breathes.
You suddenly feel shy under the weight of his intense gaze.
He closes the distance in long strides, his eyes dragging over you from head to toe, then back up again.
“You are unreal,” he says softly, stopping in front of you. “That dress was made for you. Or maybe it was made to make me jealous.”
“Jealous of what?”
“Of everyone who’s about to look at you.”
You smile. “I thought you wanted that.”
“I do,” he says, voice dropping. “But I still get jealous.”
He hands you the roses, then reaches out—hesitating for just a fraction of a second before his fingers brush your bare back to leave a kiss on your temple.
The touch makes you inhale sharply, the sensation sending chills down your spine.
“Cold?” he murmurs.
“No,” you breathed out, suddenly feeling shy looking up to look at his face.
“Good.”
His hand lingers, warm and possessive, sliding just slightly along the curve of your waist before he offers his arm.
“Ready?”
“With you?” you say. “Always.”
His grin is slow and devastating. He was truly capable of everything.
The restaurant is everything you expected - and way more than you expected.
Crystal chandeliers. Soft golden lighting. White tablecloths. The faint hum of live jazz in the background. It’s the kind of place where whispers carry, and glasses clink delicately.
The hostess greets him by name.
Of course she does.
And of course, heads turn as you walk inside the establishment.
You feel it the moment you step inside—curious glances, recognition, admiration. But Seungcheol doesn’t look at any of them.
He looks at you. Only you, his gem.
His hand rests at the small of your back as he guides you to your table, a private area all for yourself. His thumb traces lazy circles against your skin, a subtle, intimate touch that makes your pulse flutter.
“You nervous?” he asks quietly once you’re seated.
“A little.”
“Don’t be.” His eyes soften. “You look like you belong here more than anyone else.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
He leans forward slightly, resting his chin on his hand. “No, it’s not. I mean it. You have no idea what you look like right now.”
“Tell me.”
His gaze darkens.
“You look confident. Elegant. Untouchable.” His voice lowers. “And the fact that you’re with me? Makes me feel like I won something bigger than the lottery.”
You laugh softly. “You didn’t win me.”
“No,” he agrees. “I got incredibly lucky.”
The waiter arrives with champagne, and Seungcheol takes the opportunity to really look at you again.
“Stand up,” he says suddenly.
“What?”, you stared in confusion.
“Just for a second.”
You raise an eyebrow from curiosity but stand, smoothing the silk down your thighs.
He leans back in his chair, admiring you openly.
“Perfect,” he murmurs. “The slit hits just right. And when you walk…” He shakes his head, throwing it back a growling. “You’re going to distract me all night.”
“You did this to yourself anyway”, you couldn’t help but tease him, swirling and smirking.
“Oh I am fully aware of my mistake.”
You sit back down, cheeks warm. “You’re impossible.”
“And you love that.”
He reaches across the table, taking your hand. His thumb brushes over your knuckles, slow and affectionate.
“I wanted tonight to be special,” he says more seriously. “We’re always busy. Always running. But tonight? It’s just you and me.”
“It already feels special.”
“Good,” he says, squeezing your hand. “Because I’m not done yet.”
Dinner is indulgent. Rich. Delicious.
But the best part isn’t the food. It’s him, sitting across the table.
The way he watches you when you laugh. The way he subtly adjusts his chair closer to yours. The way he doesn’t let a single compliment go unsaid.
“Do you know how many people have been staring at you?” he asks at one point, swirling his wine.
“You said you wanted that.”
“I did.” His lips curve. “But I also like reminding them you’re here with me.”
“Showing off?”
“Absolutely.”
You lean closer, lowering your voice. “And what exactly are you showing off?”
He doesn’t hesitate.
“You. Your beauty. Your intelligence. The way you light up every room you walk into.” His eyes soften again. “The way you look at me like I’m more than I am.”
“You are more than you think,” you whisper.
He studies you for a long moment, something vulnerable flickering behind his confident exterior.
Then he stands, walking around the table to you.
“Dance with me.”
“Right here, out of nowhere?”
“So?” His hand extends toward you. “Let them look.”
You slip your hand into his.
He pulls you close - one hand firm on your waist, the other lacing your fingers together. The music is slow, sultry. Your bodies sway in an easy rhythm.
The slit of your dress shifts with each step, brushing against his leg.
He notices.
His hand tightens slightly at your waist.
“You’re trouble,” he murmurs in your ear.
“You bought the dress.”
“And I would buy it again,” he says instantly. “You look powerful in it. Like you know exactly what you’re doing to me.”
“And what am I doing to you?”
He leans closer, his lips just near your ear again.
“Making it very hard to focus on anything except you.”
Your breath catches.
His nose brushes lightly against your temple, not quite a kiss—but close enough to make your heart race.
“You’re stunning,” he says again, softer this time. “I don’t say it just to flirt. I mean it.”
You pull back just enough to look at him.
“You clean up pretty well yourself, Choi Seungcheol.”
He laughs quietly. “Oh? Just pretty well?”
“You look dangerously good.”
“Good,” he replies. “Because I dressed up for you only.”
“For me?”
“Of course, you’re my one and only.” His hand slides slightly higher along your back, careful but confident.
“Who else would I be trying to impress?”
When the night winds down, he doesn’t rush.
He pays, thanks the staff, and keeps his hand warm and steady against you as you leave.
Outside, the air is cool, and he immediately shrugs off his coat to drape it over your shoulders.
“You’ll ruin your suit,” you protest.
“I’ll buy another one.”
“You’re so dramatic.”
“For you?” He grins. “Always.”
He opens the car door, but before you can step in, he gently catches your wrist.
“Wait.”
You turn back to him.
He looks at you like he’s memorising you.
The soft glow of streetlights. The red silk against your skin. The way your hair frames your face.
“I had the perfect night planned,” he says quietly. “The restaurant. The dress. The roses. You. All of it.”
“And?”
“And somehow you still outdid it.”
Your chest tightens.
He steps closer, one hand resting at your waist, the other brushing a strand of hair behind your ear.
“I love showing you off,” he admits. “But more than that? I love that when we’re alone like this…” His voice lowers. “You’re just mine.”
Your hands rest against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart under the crisp fabric.
“And you’re mine,” you reply softly.
His smile turns slow, almost shy.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he murmurs.
Then he leans down and kisses you.
It’s not rushed, not wild. It’s warm, deep, and intentional.
The kind of kiss that says I chose you.
When he pulls back, his forehead rests lightly against yours.
“Ready to go home?” he asks.
“I’m always ready if I’m with you,” you whisper.
✧ feedback & reblog are highly appreciated!
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@ credits┆thank you @gentleisa for beta reading ☆彡
Summary : "You are more than enough," he said firmly. "And if I ever make you doubt that, I'll spend the rest of my life fixing it."
⤷ reader being super insecure that leads to argument
Non-idol romance & angst au ♡ ATEEZ Yunho x female reader ♡ 13+ SFW ♡ 2,048 words
⤷ yeah no i still got one more drabble for yunho... sigh
⤷ 14 March update: this is actually written way before 14 February😭
* main masterlist * taglist * valentine 2026 *
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘ Raining Kiss 💋 ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
The argument didn't start loudly, rather it started quietly. You had barely stepped out of your heels when you said it.
"You seemed comfortable talking to her."
Yunho looked up from where he was unbuttoning his sleeves. "Talking to who?"
You let out a small, humourless laugh. "Your first crush."
He paused.
It was subtle, but you saw it. The way his shoulders stilled for a second before he resumed moving. "We were just catching up."
"Catching up," you repeated.
The rain outside was relentless, pouring against the windows like it wanted to break in, while the storm had been building all evening, much like the tightness in your chest.
"She's doing well," you added. "Her company is expanding overseas, right?"
Yunho nodded slowly. "Yeah. She worked hard for it."
You swallowed.
A pretty, wealthy, successful, and independent woman… She is everything that you weren't.
You worked at his company, as his secretary. You saw him every day in pressed suits, making decisions that moved numbers you couldn't even comprehend. And tonight, you watched him stand beside a woman who built her own empire.
They looked… equal.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked gently.
"Like what?"
"Like I did something wrong."
You turned away from him. "Didn't you?"
His brows furrowed. "What?"
"You didn't have to talk to her that long."
"It was a reunion," he said carefully. "I talked to everyone."
"But you didn't look at everyone like that."
Silence, yet the rain grew louder.
"Like what?" he asked again, softer this time.
"Like you used to."
That did it.
His expression changed into not guilt or longing, but confusion. "Y/N… that was years ago."
"She's still impressive," you pushed. "She doesn't need anyone, right? She built everything herself."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, she doesn't need a man to support her; she's capable on her own."
The words hit you wrong.
She doesn't need a man. Your chest tightened. So maybe he needs someone like that. Not someone who depends on him, not someone who works under him, and definitely not someone who clings.
"You think I'm too dependent on you," you said before you could stop yourself.
His head snapped toward you. "What? No."
"You just said she doesn't need a man."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" Your voice rose despite yourself.
He stepped closer. "I meant she's strong, that's all. Why are you twisting my words?"
Because I'm scared. I feel small. Because next to her, I look like I don't belong beside you.
But instead of saying any of that, you crossed your arms and said, "Maybe you'd be better off with someone like her."
His face fell. "Where is this coming from?"
You knew he was right. You knew he wasn't flirting. You knew he wasn't comparing. But your pride was louder than logic.
"Forget it."
You grabbed your coat and headed for the door.
"Y/N," he warned.
You opened it anyway.
Cold air and heavy rain rushed in instantly. Within seconds, your hair and clothes were soaked. The storm swallowed you whole.
"Are you serious right now?" he shouted from behind you.
You didn't answer. You just walked. You needed space, air, you needed your thoughts to stop screaming.
Behind you, you heard him curse under his breath. Drawers opening and closing, then something clattering.
"Y/N!" he called again.
In your mind, you just needed a few minutes. Just a little distance. But in his mind? He had just hurt you, and it was his fault for talking to his first crush. Out of everyone at that reunion, he had to stand there longer than necessary. He had to be stupid enough not to notice the way you were watching.
So he ran after you.
No umbrella, no hesitation. Just rain soaking him through in seconds.
He caught up quickly, grabbing your wrist gently but firmly. "Y/N, please. Let's just go home and talk, okay?"
His hair was plastered to his forehead, and as water dripped down his jaw, his voice wasn't angry, but it was worried.
You wanted him to let go. You wanted him to stop being so patient, stop being so kind, stop making it harder to stay mad.
"I said leave me alone," you snapped, swinging your arm to shake him off.
The motion was bigger than you meant it to be, because as your foot slipped after your big and harsh motion, there was no time to react. Your balance disappeared instantly, and the slick pavement unforgiving beneath you.
"Wait-!"
His hand lunged for yours, but rain made everything slippery and his fingers closed around nothing but air.
You fell backward hard, a sharp gasp ripping from your throat as your back hit the ground. The pain shot up your spine, followed by a small, involuntary wince in pain.
"Y/N!"
He dropped to his knees beside you immediately, panic flooding his voice. "Are you okay?!"
The rain poured relentlessly, soaking your face… Until suddenly, it wasn't.
He had leaned over you, his broad frame shielding your smaller one completely. The storm now hit his back instead, and water running down his shoulders in streams. His hands hovered near you, yet afraid to touch, afraid to hurt you more.
"I'm sorry," he breathed. "I'm so sorry."
And that hurt more than the fall, because he truly believed this was his fault.
Lightning flashed above you, illuminating the fear in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he breathed. "I'm so sorry."
The rain hammered against his back, but he didn't move. Not even when water ran down his neck, not even when thunder cracked overhead.
You stared up at him.
His hair was dripping. His lashes clung together, droplets trembling at the tips. His hands were hovering near your waist and shoulder, like he wanted to hold you but was terrified of hurting you more.
"Does it hurt?" he asked, voice shaking. "Tell me where it hurts."
You opened your mouth, but the pain in your back wasn't what overwhelmed you. It was the look on his face.
He looked like he had almost lost you, and something inside you finally broke.
"You didn't even hesitate," you whispered.
He frowned. "What?"
"You ran after me… in this rain. You said sorry even if it wasn't your fault… you care for you even when I'm unreasonable."
"Of course I did," he said immediately, like the answer was obvious. "You're always right."
Your vision blurred from tears.
"You looked so perfect standing next to her," you admitted, your voice trembling now. "She's successful… Independent… She built everything on her own. And I just-"
Your throat tightened.
"I just work for you."
"Don't say that."
"It's true," you choked. "You two make sense. You're both successful. You're equals. And I'm just… me."
Rainwater mixed with tears as they slid down your temples.
"I thought maybe," you continued, voice cracking, "maybe you need someone like that. Someone who doesn't cling. Someone who doesn't get jealous over something stupid."
His hand finally moved. It cupped your cheek, warm despite the cold rain.
"Look at me," he said softly.
You didn't want to, but you did , his eyes were steady.
"Do you know why I talked to her?" he asked.
You shook your head weakly.
"Because she asked about you."
You blinked.
"She said she saw pictures. Said I looked different. Happier." His thumb brushed away a tear. "I told her I am."
Your breath hitched.
"I told her I'm with someone who makes coming home the best part of my day. Someone who keeps my company from falling apart because she's more capable than she thinks. Someone who argues with me when I'm wrong. Someone who ran into a storm tonight because she felt insecure and didn't know how to say it."
Your lips trembled.
"I don't need someone who 'doesn't need a man,'" he continued quietly. "I want you. Not because you depend on me, not because you work for me, but because you're you."
His forehead rested gently against yours.
"I didn't fall for her," he said. "I fell for you."
The rain softened around you—not physically, but in your awareness. It faded into background noise.
"You scare me sometimes," he admitted with a shaky laugh. "Running off like that. Making me think I lost you over something I didn't even mean."
"I didn't mean to slip," you whispered.
"I know."
Silence settled between you fully.
You were still lying on the wet pavement. He was still shielding you, and his breath mingled with yours, warm against your lips. Your hands slowly lifted, gripping his soaked shirt near his collar.
"I hate that I get like this," you confessed. "I know you're right. I just… I don't feel enough sometimes."
His eyes softened in a way that made your chest ache.
"You are more than enough," he said firmly. "And if I ever make you doubt that, I'll spend the rest of my life fixing it."
That did it.
A sob escaped you before you could stop it, and he immediately pulled you up into him, arms wrapping around you carefully, holding you against his chest even as rain drenched you both completely.
You cried into him.
All the insecurity. All the comparison. All the fear that one day he'd realize he could "do better."
His hand stroked your hair, slow and steady.
"I'm not going anywhere," he murmured into the top of your head. "You hear me? I chose you. I keep choosing you."
You pulled back just enough to look at him again, and your faces were inches apart. Eyes red, breathing uneven, the rain dripping from both of you.
And then you leaned in first this time.
The kiss started soft, almost hesitant. It represents a quiet apology, a quiet promise. But when his hand slid to your waist again, grounding you, when your fingers curled into his hair, It deepened. It is full of reassurance, forgiveness, and full of the understanding that neither of you were perfect, but you were choosing each other anyway.
The world disappeared. The rain kept falling, but neither of you noticed anymore.
Cold pavement. Wet clothes. Thunder in the distance.
None of it mattered. Because his lips were warm, his hands were steady, and when he pulled you closer, like he never wanted to risk you slipping away again, you let him.
And this time, you didn't pull away.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘ Raining Kiss 💋 ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
By the time you both stepped back inside, you were shivering.
Water pooled onto the floor from your clothes. Yunho immediately shut the door with his foot and looked at you like you were made of glass.
"Don't move," he said softly.
You almost smiled. "I'm not injured, you know."
"Still."
He disappeared down the hallway and came back with towels, draping one carefully over your shoulders before drying your hair with slow, gentle motions. The domesticity of it all made your chest ache in a different way, it's like telling you that you are safe.
"I'll make something warm," he murmured. You nodded, squeezing his hand before heading toward the bathroom.
While he moved around the kitchen, you turned on the bath. Steam slowly filled the room, curling against the mirror as hot water poured into the tub. You added the bath salts he liked, the subtle cedarwood scent that always helped him relax.
Out in the kitchen, Yunho stood in damp clothes, stirring two mugs of hot chocolate. He added extra marshmallows to yours, less sugar in his. The way you both liked it. The way he paused for a second, staring at the steam rising from the mugs, then he let out a small relived and grateful sigh.
When you returned, wrapped in dry clothes for now, he handed you your mug without a word, and your fingers brushed. You both smiled shyly, like the fight from earlier belonged to different people.
"The bath's ready," you said quietly.
He nodded.
No more arguments, no more raised voices. Just soft steps down the hallway, shoulders brushing lightly.
The storm still raged outside, but inside, it was warm. And this time, when he reached for your hand, you held on with a smile.
