COERCION ꒦ PART 1 . story page . next part
꒦ Baek Yoon-Ho x Fem!Reader
SYNOPSIS. Ever since your S-Rank evaluation debuted a mere two months after his, Baek Yoon-Ho has been utterly obsessed with you. For the past couple of years, he’s made every effort to persuade you to go out with him. At last, after a night filled with some dubious coercion that leads to a captivating one-night stand (he doesn't care to admit it), he finds himself hooked —and you can’t help but feel the same. CONTAINS. alcohol. language. a lot of yapping about the past and Yoon-Ho's feelings. mild humor. slight emotionally dense reader (due to trauma). Yoon-Ho glaze. world building. important information. possessiveness. he breaks a table lmaoo.
WORD COUNT . . 3.3k+
“caa’monnn,” a mage, Jia, drunkenly hung off of you, her fighting attire disheveled and her usual calm hair a mess, “you gotta’ be higher than a damn A-rank,” she groaned and shifted uncomfortably in the old leather booth.
You could smell the strong scent of alcohol on her breath; a mixture of soju and beer that made you wrinkle your nose slightly. So, you just reached your arm around, patting the drunkard’s back gently in a soothing motion.
“I am an S-rank, Jia,” you smile lazily, “... how much have you had to drink?” though you already knew the answer to that. The empty bottles scattered across the table in front of you told the story clearly enough- Jia has exceeded her limit hours ago.
The girl only hiccupped and lifted her head, her misty eyes narrowing at you, “woah,” another hiccup interrupted her slurred speech, “you’re super-duper strong,” she slurs, reaching over slowly to squeeze your biceps with clumsy movements.
You just sighed, continuing to pat her on the back as if she was some small child who needed supervision. Knowing the mage, she had always been a lightweight when it came to drinking.
“Ohh, look who it is,” a deep voice hummed- rich and smooth, and a large figure slid into the booth on your other side. He slipped his hand over your shoulder with practiced familiarity, almost as if you had known him your entire life.
Great, as if the night couldn't get any better. The sarcasm in your thoughts was almost palpable, as was the expression on your face.
Baek Yoon-Ho, the only other S-rank at the dinner which celebrated the clearing of a B-rank dungeon had made his appearance.
He was the guild master of the White Tiger Guild despite being only twenty-seven; being in his prime with the power that seemed to radiate from his being. Impressive, yes, but not surprising given his up-bringing.
Yoon-Ho was the second person in Korea to receive the S-rank title when the appearance of dungeons popped up two years ago, marking the beginning of a new horror-filled era for humanity.
He was strong, impossibly so, and it was even rumored that when he went full out in a fight he transformed into a beast- a massive white tiger that could tear through dungeon monsters like paper. Only a select few had witnessed this transformation, but those who had spoke of it as an anomaly with slight awe in their eyes.
You were the third person to receive an S-rank title, only getting your evaluation three months after Yoon-Ho.
But instead of making a guild like most hunters were clamoring to do, you joined the new Hunter’s Association and became chief for the Hunter’s Surveillance team. Their job was to keep all hunters who were too strong for regular law enforcement in check and law-abiding. It was a demanding position that required strength and a sense of justice, qualities that you seemed confident to have.
Today, when the first strike squad of the White Tiger Guild began to struggle against the overwhelming forces within the B-rank dungeon, Baek Yoon-Ho himself entered the dungeon and intervened, defeating the dungeon boss - a massive three-headed hydra - and saving all twenty-one members of his guild’s strike squad.
From what you heard, the battle was intense, with the guild master showing why he deserved his S-rank status.
Of course, you were sent to make sure everything was in check and to report any casualties but thankfully, there were none. You had him to thank for that, seriously. His quick action had prevented what could have been a devastating loss of hunters.
But one question still lingered in your mind, nagging like an itch.
Why was he so into you??
Every gathering, every mission, every damn encounter- he would appear with that same smooth smile and knowing eyes. It was becoming a pattern that was getting difficult for you to ignore.
“What do you want?” you said, the corners of your mouth tilting down in obvious displeasure.
You didn’t hate him, not really- Yoon-Ho just really annoyed you with his constant attention and his attempts at smooth talk. It was getting to a point where you just wanted to challenge him to a duel to kick his ass and wipe that stupid fucking smirk off his face.
Maybe then he’d finally take you seriously as a fellow S-rank rather than… whatever this was supposed to be.
Jia then mumbled something incoherent under her breath, her words a barely audible mess before she slipped out of the booth. She stumbled her way towards another table, where several tank-class hunters sat and proceeded to hang off one of them, her attempts at flirting obnoxious and obvious.
Your lips press into a line as you watch your only potential scapegoat leave you alone with the one person you’d been trying to avoid all night.
Yoon-Ho’s eyes also followed Jia’s clumsy retreat for a brief moment before his attention was shifted back to you, a small smile creeping onto his face.
His large hand squeezed your shoulder, fingers splaying across the black Association’s uniform as he slumped down in the booth to accommodate your significant height difference.
“C’mon, you know what I want, dear,” Yoon-Ho purred, using the nickname he found most endearing in an almost mocking way as his voice carried a honey-like quality that seemed to affect everyone except you. His grip on your shoulder tightened ever so slightly as he leaned his head down towards your ear, closing the distance between you with deliberate slowness.
“Just one dinner with me, please?...” he whispered, his warm breath ghosting against the shell of your ear in a pleading tone that sent unwelcome shivers down your spine. Despite your best efforts to remain unbothered, goosebumps rose on your arm at the sudden proximity.
What you remained completely oblivious to- your density in matters of the heart being almost legendary among your peers- was the depth of Yoon-Ho’s infatuation with you.
As currently the only woman among the S-ranks, you held a unique position that drove him absolutely feral with desire and admiration. You drew him in like a moth to light.
The concept of a woman potentially surpassing his own power was intoxicating to him.
How could it not be?
The raw strength you possessed, combined with your sharp intellect and stubbornness created a combination that just set his blood on fire. It challenged everything he thought he knew about power dynamics and attraction before dungeons.
The day your evaluation results were announced remained so vivid in memory, as if it happened mere hours ago instead of almost two years.
Yoon-Ho could still picture himself sitting in his new apartment, eyes glued to the massive TV screen, his heart pounding against his ribs. The moment your face appeared on screen he felt his ears burn pink and his body warm considerably, a reaction he hadn’t experienced since he was in high school.
That specific moment sparked a wave of desires within him.
He wanted to talk to you, recruit you into his guild, kiss your lips that now always frown at him, hold you, date you, to explore every single inch of your body with his tongu-... his thoughts often spiraled into dirty fantasies that left him breathless with need.
It had been love at first sight for the man, striking with the force of lightning and leaving him permanently fried. The intensity of his feelings for you sometimes scared him, but he couldn’t deny their existence or how they controlled his actions.
So, when you chose to join the Hunter’s Association instead of establishing your own guild, the disappointment had hit him hard. He had fantasized about a rivalry between your guilds, imagining the exciting encounters it might lead to.
But he quickly adapted to the current reality, only convincing himself that your position now could be just as well. Who knows, maybe better.
Because Yoon-Ho still had plenty of opportunities to charm you, to showcase his impressive achievements and maybe flex his muscles a bit in an attempt to woo you in the way it worked on other women.
Your first meeting remained another vivid memory in his head.
His palms had been sweating so much from nerves that he had to repeatedly wipe them against his suit pants before shaking your hand. Though, in his desperate attempt to maintain his.. cool composure, he had apparently been staring at you with such intense narrow eyes that bordered on hostility that you eventually confronted him about it.
Your boldness in calling out his stand-offish behavior had caught him off guard, but it only served to increase his attraction to you.
A woman who wasn’t intimidated by his rank or power was a rare find indeed…
It hadn’t taken him long- precisely the same day- to begin his attempts at what he considered to be courtship.
“So, Miss, want to talk more over dinner?” Yoon-Ho asked, his voice carrying a hint of smugness that he immediately regretted when your swift, “No thanks,” cut through his confidence like nothing.
He stood there, dumbfounded, his broad shoulders slumping slightly as the weight of your rejection nestled in his mind. Yoon-Ho, the mighty S-rank hunter, financially stable man, successful guild master, and top prime candidate for a husband got rejected…
This was rare, for he had only experienced the bitter taste of rejection once before in his life. That instance occurred in his awkward middle school years when he’d gathered the courage to confess to a girl who was, quite frankly, leagues above his social standing at the time.
That memory had faded over the years, becoming nothing more than a distant slightly amusing reminder of his young self he would laugh at with friends.
But now? Getting rejected in what he considered the prime of his life??
By the very woman who haunted his dreams and took over his every waking thought?
Un-freakin’-believable.
The whole situation seemed almost comical in its cruelty. Yet, even that “no” only fueled his determination to win you over, leading to countless pestering over the following months.
He never gave up. Oh-ho-no, giving up wasn’t in Yoon’Ho’s vocabulary. Where others might see a tall, unmoveable wall, he saw a mildly challenging climb. And this situation would be no different.
After that particularly surprising rejection, he launched into his previous plan of what he believed to be a sophisticated campaign of courtship. Yoon-Ho’s attempts to secure a dinner date with you become more frequent. Each approach carefully calculated (his words) to showcase his charm and dedication to you.
Yoon-Ho used every smooth pick-up line in his arsenal, each attempt more elaborate, albeit slightly desperate, than the last in the pursuit of that elusive “yes”.
Fail, fail-
anndddddd- … another fail.
Ugh!
The frustration building in him was reaching high levels- his usually confident demeanor showing cracks of genuine bewilderment at his continued lack of success.
Why was this so difficult!?
The question replayed every single time in his head like a broken record, and your glares and dismissive attitude was getting him no closer to the answer.
All he wanted was one dinner with you- just one fucking dinner.
And yes, he was self-aware enough to see how his behavior might appear to others; he knew he was treading the fine line between persistent, dedicated man and obsessive admirer. Even Yoon-Ho could acknowledge that his actions might seem annoying, potentially creepy, and pathetically desperate.
But Yoon-Ho couldn’t help himself. Something about you just awakened a primal need in him that defied any rational thoughts on the matter.
You were perfection personified in his eyes- your strength, independence, and most exciting, the challenge you presented. Every time you rejected him served to make you even more desirable, for some reason.
You, however, regarded him as a piece of gum on the bottom of your shoe, or with the kind of disdain reserved for annoyingly difficult dungeon monsters that refused to die. Your features would contort into an expression of barely concealed irritation whenever you saw even a glimpse of his orange hair.
You practically yearned for the return of your professional relationship with him, even though such a thing never existed since he started right from the get-go with his attraction. Each interaction between you was colored by his obvious infatuation and your equally obvious disinterest.
Now back at the pub, as he invaded your personal space once again, your patience visibly wore thin. With a swift movement that you were used to from previous times, you placed a hand on his forehead and pushed his face away from your ear.
“I thought we’ve been over this. I’m not interested in you,” you declare, ignoring the brief touch of his hair that was soft- but ultimately threatened to humanize him in your eyes.
Yoon-Ho’s response was to jut out his bottom lip in an exaggerated pout, “Aw,” he cooed, his tone bordering on mockery which only made you give him a signature glare.
“Why though? I mean, I’m also an S-rank, I’m strong and… oh, I plan to romance you,” he announced, practically preening, “-instead of just hooking up with you,”
You grimace in response, “you’re too honest…” exasperation was clear in your tone.
But Yoon-Ho’s face split into a wide, unabashed grin, his canines gleaming in the dim light, “another good thing about me,” he proudly states, taking your criticism as a compliment.
You could only shake your head in response, leaning away from him, “Just take the hint Yoon-Ho, please, for God’s sake,” you mumble, unintentionally using his given name which makes him feel a bit triumphant.
“Look,” he began, becoming more serious. You only turned your face away in defiance. Yoon-Ho frowns, his large hand reaching out and grabbing your chin and guiding your face back towards him, forcing you to meet his orange eyes, “Look… you’re an S-rank-”
“-I’m well aware thank you-” you interject, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“-and listen!” he hisses with an intensity that makes his eyes gleam dangerously. You simply rolled your eyes dramatically, but clenched your jaw shut nonetheless.
“You’re an S-rank, which makes you a celebrity, okay? Everyone is enamored by you, nay perhaps scared,” he pauses, letting the weighted silence stretch between you as his words hang in the air.
You only raise an eyebrow, your expression of mixture of boredom and mild interest as you try to decipher where he was going with this.
“So, if you wanted to have a relationship with a man worthy enough-” Yoon-Ho pointed to himself, his movements theatrical and exaggerated. You remained stoic, refusing to give him a reaction, “-or one night stand- whatever the case may be, any guy would step in line. But, my dear, they would use you,” he lowers his voice to a near whisper, his tone taking on a darker meaning.
You then narrowed your eyes at him, looking at him with slight disbelief, your mind working quickly to process this unexpected turn in his usual flirtation routine.
“Seriously? This is your ultimate plan to get me to go out with you?...” you say dryly, a deadpan expression forming on your face as you struggle to comprehend the absurdity of his worlds. The familiar annoyance and tiredness of dealing with him begins to creep up your spine.
Yoon-Ho’s lips pressed into a thin, almost disapproving line and his brows furrow, “Do I seem to recall a little something about listening?...” he muttered sarcastically, his voice a bit sharper that suggested you stopped interrupting him.
“oh fuck off,” you mutter back under your breath, tone laced with venom. He pretended not to hear.
“Anyways, they would want to use you.. and after a wonderful night, I'm sure,” Yoon-Ho grins suggestively which earned him another withering glare from you that would’ve sent lower ranks running for cover, “They would go straight to the press. Blabbing about how they got to sleep with you- strong, mighty, hot S-rank hunter,” once again his voice took on a mocking tone as he seemed to mimic potential tabloid headlines.
You blink at him, the usual retort dying on your tongue as you actually found yourself considering his words. But before you could voice your thoughts, he seized the advantage of your momentary silence.
“But- but… if it were me; the man that would treat you oh-so-well,” you roll your eyes again, but he pressed on undeterred, “I wouldn’t go to the press because I would never ever reveal to anyone how immaculate you are in bed. Your secrets would be safe. And!- it wouldn’t be so scandalous ‘cause we’re both strong S-rankers. Hell- it’s probably expected of us! The public would barely bat an eye at such a natural pairing.”
It took you a moment to really think about his words, and you frowned when you actually understood his reasoning, finding it disturbingly logical. But you only wave your hand dismissively, as if trying to physically push away the uncomfortable truth.
“Then I don’t get frisky with anyone. Problem solved,” you said as if it were no big deal, “Oh! There’s also the option to go and get with the other S-rankers.. So what makes you so much better?” your words were meant to try and crush any hope or suggestion of ‘pairing’ between the two of you that he might have in mind.
Yoon-Ho’s eye twitched and he turned away from you slightly, placing his hand on the wooden table with deliberate slowness as he thought. The mere thought of it- of you with the others, his friends and colleagues- sent his mind spiraling. A sick feeling of jealously, anger, and something else- deeper and more possessive- made his stomach feel queasy.
The mental image of you with or under anyone else made him clench his fist so hard the table splintered from the sizzling tension around it in the air. The accidental release of his power was unconscious, a physical manifestation of the turmoil raging in his mind at the mere suggestion of you with another man.
You both slowly look to the table as he slowly slides his hand off of the now jagged surface, a reminder of the split-second loss of control.
You sigh through your nose, the sound heavy with exasperation and resignation, “Why does the thought of me getting with someone else bother you so much? We don’t- and have never had anything.. ever.” your words cut through the tension.
His brows pulled together as he looked at you, his orange eyes darkening with emotions he was currently struggling to contain. The truth of his feelings for you, how deep they went, were at the tip of his tongue.
But this wasn’t the time or place for such a conversation, not here in this dimly lit pub with the weight of the argument still hanging heavy between you two.
“... because I want you, and I don’t like sharing,” Yoon-Ho grumbled, the words coming out more rougher than he intended. But it wasn’t until after he spoke that he realized his words seemed too possessive despite your relationship- or rather, lack of.
Still, the declaration still sunk between the two of you, heavy of implications you weren't ready to fully address. So you were quiet for a moment, staring at him with an unreadable expression as your eyes searched his face for any answers you might get without verbally asking.
With a sigh you pull away, “well, you can’t have me,” you murmur, “so learn to deal with it.” and with that you stand up from the booth, “I’m going out for a smoke,” you walk towards the doors of the pub, each step calm despite the emotional weight of your conversation.
All Yoon-Ho did was follow you with his eyes, lips pressed together tightly with frustration.
That was his mistake. He knew that.
The greed and raw honesty of his words- it was too much, too soon. But it didn’t make him feel any better watching you walk away once again, the distance between the two of you growing with each step.
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