-> warnings. Drinking, intoxication, relationship ended on bad terms
-> a/n. This isn’t half bad?? Despite being old as shit 😭
-> collection. songfic
-> started. ???
-> fin. October 31st, 2020 @ 20:33
-> edited. Sat., Jul. 15th, 2023 @ 20:55
-> divider credit. @saradika-graphics
It didn't take long until you were leaning with your palm pressed against your forehead, staring at the bottom of your glass in a daze.
You had been sitting on the same barstool for little over two hours now, wallowing in self pity. You had heard that Inseong had moved on a lot faster than you had and that he was already dating again. You had seen him around campus a few times, but anytime you saw even just a hint of him you bolted out of the immediate area, going far, far away.
You had made eye contact with him only once since the break-up: the day after, in the cafeteria, when you saw him smiling and flirting with a girl from your class. He had turned around and immediately met your eyes. It took exactly .1 seconds for you to burst into tears, rushing out of the cafeteria to avoid embarrassing yourself further.
The whole of your grade and the grade above knew that you had been dating Inseong and that meant that they knew you had broken up... More like you had been dumped, but asked for specifics, right?
You scoffed as you poured another round of soju, smacking away Youngbin's hand when he tried to get the bottle away from you.
"You've had enough to drink—"
"I've had enough to drink when I've said I've had enough to drink," you warned your friend in a low voice, glaring at him. Youngbin looked at you worriedly, sighing while running a hand through his hair. "Just… Go have some fun, Youngie. I'll be fine," you assured him in a softer, gentler tone.
Youngbin bit his lip in thought. "Promise you'll stay here so that I can take you home later?"
You nodded with a drunken smile, holding out your pinky finger. “Promise."
You giggled stupidly when the two of you connected your thumbs together in a signature 'stamp' move. Youngbin then left you to sulk on your own. Good. He deserves to have some fun.
In your drunken state, you couldn't notice the way Inseong eyed you from the pool table, his hair falling into his face just the way you used to like it.
Inseong sighed, putting down his stick and walking over to you. He stopped in his tracks when he was pulled back by a hand on his wrist.
"Where are you going?" Jaeyoon asked seriously, looking at his older friend questioningly.
Nodding his head in your direction, Inseong turned back to look at Jaeyoon. "I'm going to take her home," Inseong said, jerking his arm out of Jaeyoon's grip.
"You know that's a bad idea, right?"
"And why's that?" Inseong asked pointedly, clenching his jaw.
"It's Y/N, for goodness sakes! Your ex, remember? The one you dumped?"
"I didn't dump her," Inseong defended, rubbing his temples. "I broke up with her."
"Hyung," Jaeyoon said, leaning against his pool-stick for emphasis. "You told her you liked someone else and wanted to break things off to be with her. You dumped her."
Inseong sighed deeply, turning away while rolling his eyes exaggeratedly.
Jaeyoon scoffed in disbelief, shaking his head while watching his friend walk off in annoyance. "He never listens to me," he sighed, heading back to the pool table.
"Y/N?"
You froze.
You'd recognize that voice anywhere. Hoping you were hallucinating, you downed the last bit of your drink before going to refill it. The soju bottle, however, was tugged out of your hand and put on the far corner of the table. "I think you've had enough to drink, don't you agree?"
You turned to look at Inseong with a grimace, anger boiling in your chest. Inseong flinched at your hard gaze, not used to your cold stares—always expecting the warm and loving gaze he was so used to.
Clenching your fists, you stared him down. "What do you want, Inseong?"
He winced. You used to call his name lovingly, but here you were spitting his name like it was venomous. "I'm going to take you home, Y/N. You're wasted and someone might take advantage of that—"
"And?" you snapped coldly.
"And? Y/N, what's gotten into you?" Inseong asked angrily, his voice raising slightly. You winced, shrinking in on yourself. Inseong sighed, his eyes softening. "I'm sorry for raising my voice, but please," he paused, gently tilting your head up to make you look at him. "Don't say something like that again," he begged.
You nodded, almost falling all over again. You jerked away from him, clearing your throat. “I can't go with you."
"Why not?"
"Youngbin told me to stay here," you said matter-of-factly, recconnecting your eyes. Inseong froze slightly at the mention of Youngbin. Even while the two of you were dating he had felt somewhat insecure about your relationship with Youngbin. He felt that he liked you more than just a friend, and it made him nervous. Jealous, even.
He grimaced as he replied. “And you're listening to him why?"
You smiled sadly. “Still don't like him, huh?"
Inseong stayed silent, not having a good enough comeback to back himself up.
"So... Where's your new girlfriend?" you asked bitterly, staring at the bottom of your glass again.
"BamBam said you were dating someone?" you said, your brow raised in disbelief.
Inseong scoffed, muttering under his breath. “I met a girl, yes, but we're not dating."
"Why not?"
"Because she's not you."
You paused. What?
"Excuse me?" you asked slowly, tears forming in the corners of your eyes.
"I miss you too, you know? It's not just—"
"Where'd you get the nerve?"
Tears ran down your cheeks in long, hot streaks, catching people's attention. One of whom was Jaeyoon, who ran for Youngbin.
"I'm human, Y/N! I'm hurting too!" Inseong yelled, standing up. You got up from your chair as well, staring at him with pure anger.
"I don't care how bad it hurts, Inseong!" you shouted back, people turning their heads to stare questioningly. Inseong stayed silent as he watched you, nails digging into his palms. Sniffling, you looked down. “I don't care how bad it hurts, because you broke me first."
"Y/N..." Inseong whispered, reaching for you before being pushed back.
Youngbin stood in front of you protectively.
"Leave her alone, Inseong. You've done enough," he snarled, turning around and hugging you to his chest.
Inseong's jealousy and guilt flared up as he could only watch you walk away with Youngbin... Watch you cry.
"I'm sorry," Inseong muttered, looking down as tears rolled down his face, sinking down onto his knees.
Can I ask SF9 how they showed their love to their partner? (Hugs, kisses, physical touches, loving words, etc)
Sorry for my english 🥺
Your English is fine hun! Plus the language is kinda stupid hehe
SF9's Love Languages 🩷
Warnings: These are what I think are SF9's top love language. Of course it is impossible for such lovely people to have just one 😔. Mention of food/cooking in Tae's. Tea is Chani's.
Youngbin
WORDS 👏 OF 👏 AFFIRMATION 👏
I will literally physically fight if anyone disagrees with me lol. Our man is so wise and sweet and his voice is just is soothing so I just think that his ultimate way to show you appreciation will be through words. Plus man's a great and creative lyricist.
Inseong
Quality time
Well, it's mostly just him trying to make you laugh by saying and making up the stupidest jokes, if you can call them that, ever. I'm also a strong believer that this man just wants to annoy you enough to start a debate with him cuz he's bored lol
Jaeyoon
Physical Touch
Maybe this is me projecting my needs maybe it is not okay idk. But let's be honest here, this man is the cutest ever and he will want to squish your cheeks, irrespective of squishyness quotient. He also likes to hug you, literally engulf you in his broad af chest and baby you although you want to baby him don't we all
Dawon
Acts of service
I just love him sm 😭. See, he's the kind to leave you sweet sticky notes with reassuring words and a drawing or something stupid on the back lol. But yeah it's all the small things that he'll do like buying you a new chapstick before your old one gets over, bringing your water bottle around even when you tell him you won't carry it, letting you use his arm as a pillow during the long car ride to your destination although it definitely hurts after some time, fixing your hair when you're distracted, etc. Bye I need a Sanghyuk
Zuho
Words of Affirmation
He is so much different that Youngbin tho lemme tell you. So Bin uses maturity and juju uses his baby voice(?) aka he does aegyo and makes you feel all mushy inside. I mean, he is cute.
Rowoon
Gift Giving
It won't necessarily be stupid gift all the time, he does give you good ones occasionally like a sunscreen stick for example. Most of the time it is something useless and weird like a spoon pillow or some shit but it's the thought that counts right?💀
But no on a real note he's super thoughtful when he gives you gifts and he thinks of it as something that'll remind you of his love when you use it.
Yoo Taeyang
Acts of Service
It could be doing your laundry or cooking for you or putting you phone on charge. It's the little things that you need in your daily life that sometimes get so difficult to manage. But don't worry, our teddy Tae is here to be your little lovely helper fairy, even if you don't ask or notice it right away.
Hwiyoung
Physical Touch
Yes he hates skinship from members but you, no. He loves clinging to you and hugging you and kissing you. He's like a mama cat and you his kitten and he wants to kith and protecc and love you so much till you physically have to be away from him lol
Chani
Quality Time
It doesn't even have to be like an eventful couple of hours. It could just be him laying on your lap taking a nap and you reading you book and playing with his hair, giving him a head massage or tracing his cute facial features. It could also be sitting on the rooftop with hot tea cups and talking about life while nuzzling into each other for warmth.
genre. fluff. inseong as a dad.
warnings. a toddler (great heavens). mention of overworking.
pairing. husband!inseong x nurse!reader.
wc. 1.1k.
request. no.
a/n. inseong is so very dad coded :( along w youngbin also but i decided to write for inseong first probably gonna have that youngbin dad fic soon tho
“You messed it up, daddy!” You heard muffled squeals from the other room. It was still the first week of kindergarten for your 4 year old daughter, Mina. She wanted to wear pigtails every day for school, and your husband had been trying to oblige her request every day where you needed to sleep in.
You worked late shifts at the hospital, especially during the flu season that was just starting. It was exhausting, but coming home to Inseong and Mina always made it worth it.
You forced your eyes open enough to check the time on your phone, groaning when you realized it was still before 7 am. You hadn’t gotten home until past 2 last night, and you were definitely feeling the effects of continual loss of sleep. You needed a break.
The high pitched giggles from your daughter’s bedroom mingling with the deeper raspier chuckles from Inseong brought a small smile to your face. You were happy to be able to hear their joy. But a bittersweet feeling panged your heart as you were once again reminded that Mina was growing up, and because of your work, you were missing out on her childhood.
There really wasn’t much you could do. You couldn’t ask for less shifts— the hospital needed all the nurses it could get, especially since it was already short-staffed. You couldn’t quit your job, either. You needed the money to be able to support your family. The only thing you could do was keep going, with the small hope that the workload might lessen with time.
It was almost time for Mina to get to school, so you heaved your body up and rubbed the sleep from your eyes. You didn’t bother changing— you would probably find yourself falling back to sleep after you said goodbye to her, anyway— but you tried to rid any traces of your tiredness from your face. Though Mina was little, she was very observant. She didn’t understand complicated concepts like overworking, understaffing, and responsibility. But she did understand that if mommy was grumpy, it probably meant that she was tired; and mommy was only tired because she was never at home.
You walked into Mina’s room after you had deemed yourself presentable and immediately smiled at the sight before you. Your daughter adorned 2 lopsided pigtails tied with bright pink scrunchies. They were definitely messy due to your husband’s inexperience in dealing with hair— some loose strands of hair escaping them at the bottom, but they looked cute enough. The teachers at the kindergarten would probably redo her hair if it got undone anyway. Given the bright grin on your daughter’s face, and the way she was smiling up at your husband, you figured she was pleased with her new hairstyle.
“You all ready for school, Mina?” You asked, kneeling down to be on the same level as her.
“Yes!” She squealed, running up to you to give you a hug. You held her for longer than a normal hug with a toddler would last as you didn’t know when the next opportunity to hold her would be. Though she squirmed a bit, she hugged you back until you separated from her.
“You look very pretty today. Did your dad do your hair for you?” You tilted your head as you admired the messy masterpiece that Inseong had created on her head. The scrunchies matched her pink outfit, altogether making her look twice as cute as usual.
She hummed happily, holding a pigtail in each hand, “It doesn’t hurt when daddy does my hair.”
You laughed, “Of course. He doesn’t want to hurt your precious head, does he? I wonder how long they’ll stay in, though.” You murmured the last part, amused at how the left pigtail was already slipping. Inseong had gone to pack Mina’s little bag, and was now back with it in his hand.
“It’s time to go, princess.” He ushered, taking Mina’s hand and slipping the backpack on her back. “Breakfast’s on the table— coffee on the counter.” He called back to you as he lead her out the door.
You sighed, half happy and half exhausted. Seeing your daughter always energised you, but the high only lasted so long before the crash you always experienced. You were feeling it now, and although your brain and body wanted nothing more than more sleep, you chose to go find the food that Inseong had left out for you.
You smiled at the plate of pink dyed heart-shaped pancakes on a plate waiting for you. You got your cup of coffee and sat down to eat, checking your phone for your next shift in your schedule. Your eyes widened when you read it.
Y/n L/n and Park Sunhwa’s shifts covered for the next 2 days. New locums hired for the second week of September.
You hadn’t had a 2 day break in what felt like years. You wanted to laugh, or maybe cry. You had been so, so exhausted this past month. You finished your breakfast just as Inseong returned from dropping off Mina to school. He picked up on your elated smile quickly, and it quickly triggered his own.
“Why so happy, hm? You looked tired this morning.”
“I’m off for the next 2 days.” You told him happily as you loaded your dishes into the dishwasher.
“Really? That’s amazing, love. You deserve the rest.” He smiled, pulling you into his arms. You sighed as you leaned your head onto his chest and circled your arms around his waist tightly, letting all the exhaustion and frustration slowly release from the embrace.
“It’s been so exhausting. Missed you so much.” You mumbled, savouring every second you could feel being so close to him. The gentle squeeze of his arms around you, his calming scent reaching your nose, the soft thump of his heart in his chest. You were so glad to be back in his arms.
“You should go back to sleep while you can. It’s hard to sleep when Mina’s back from school.” He suggested, swaying you back and forth in his arms.
“Want to sleep next to you.” You responded, not objecting to the idea, but hugging him a little tighter just in case he might try to escape.
He laughed, stroking your hair, “Okay. We can sleep next to each other.”
Getting back into bed, this time cuddled up next to your husband, felt like home. It was quiet and intimate, and drowsiness quickly took over your body. You said I love you’s in hushed voices, and Inseong pressed light kisses to your head, reminding you of how hard you had worked and how proud he is of you. You fell asleep before him given your tiredness. He held you in his arms for a long time, listening to your steady breath and appreciating the feeling of you so close.
Hi hope you’re having a Good Friday. I’m in such a soft mood at the moment. Could we possibly get a head cannon for sf9 with the members reactions to their partner saying I love you for the first time 🥺
This is coming out so late :( Thank you for your request <3
SF9 reactions to their special other saying I love you for the first time
Genre: purest fluff ever
Pairing: SF9 x gn reader
Youngbin:
You can see the surprise on his face clear like a crystal. His eyes have got shiny, his cheeks have become rosy, however, he does not alarm you. Actually, your boyfriend comes closer and pecks you on the forehead. Even if your hair is all in place, he slides an invisible lock behind your ear smiling like an idiot.
Inseong:
"Uh?" that's all he can say at first, which makes you think he has not understood what you said. "I love you" you repeat, louder this time. He brings his hand to his chest, startled by his own heartbeat. "You caught me off guard, baby. But I love you too. So, so much."
Jaeyoon:
At the moment snap these three words he realizes that this is your first time verbally confessing to him. That was not like he had not known the fact but hearing it hit differently. His smile is so cheesy as he tilts his head to the side.
Dawon:
"I thought you would never admit it". His cocky expression was faker than snow in the tropics. He was melting inside. "I'm just saying that to make you happy, not that I mean it" you joked back. He chuckled then pulled you by the wrist to start talking seriously. "I'm so happy to hear this from you. What can I do to make you repeat it?"
Zuho:
The man cannot stop himself from flooding you with smooches. He kisses your cheeks, your lips, your nose. Also, you better close your eyes. He stopped whatever he was doing in order to give you full attention. In no time, you all are laughing so much. That was an unnecessary display of affection but you have a cheesy boyfriend.
Rowoon:
"I love you too". He subtly replies and clicks a soft kiss on your hand. You feel sure that he was waiting to hear that from you. His demeanor is so warm yet doting. You all stay stealing kisses from each other for a while.
Yoo Taeyang:
Taeyang hugs you the faster he can and finds a way to snuggle into your neck. He gets so flustered that it feels absurd. He is so overwhelmed by his own thoughts after you made clear that you reciprocate his feelings. "I love you too, sweetheart"
Hwiyoung:
"Really??" He bluntly says, automatically, just to feel dumb and fumble to correct himself "I love you more". His smile is so precious that you cup his face and goes for a peck on his lips, which he transforms into a real kiss. He won't let go of you soon.
Chani:
Boy has no idea what to do so he just leans in and messily kisses you. Despite you offering no resistance to his sudden approach, your lips softly curl up, making his disconnect from you. Chani makes your foreheads touch indeed and whispers "I love you too"
As Inseong’s head tilted down to look across at you, you could tell straight away that sleep had avoided him. His mind was busy, filled with apprehension and nerves, the fear of the unknown and what was coming his way beginning to creep in.
The feeling of a hand cupping the side of his face drew Inseong out of the daydream that he was in, nodding his head at last in response to you. He seemed exhausted, but his mind was active, stubbornly refusing to switch off for him.
“I can’t close my eyes without thinking about things,” Inseong whispered, shifting onto his side to be able to face you properly. “The thought of leaving so much behind tomorrow doesn’t quite feel real yet, it’s not sunk in yet.”
You smiled weakly, understanding exactly how Inseong was feeling, “we knew this day would come, it’s just come a lot sooner than either of us could have probably imagined it would.”
You’d been made aware of the need for Inseong to enlist for a while, closing yourself off from it. Neither of you really enjoyed talking about what would happen, you thought if you forgot about it, it would go away, but now it had finally crept back up on you.
“Even just laying here I’m struggling to believe that this could be my last night in my own bed for eighteen months or so,” Inseong continued, pulling the duvet further up around his frame.
“You’ll get some holiday from time to time,” you tried your best to encourage, trying to pick Inseong’s mood up as best as you could, “you can come back home then, right?”
“I can,” Inseong murmured, still filled with fright. Not only was he struggling to believe that he was leaving his bed, but picturing you being the only in the bed too didn’t sit right for Inseong, it was a place for the two of you, not just one of you.
As Inseong fell silent quickly, you could tell that he was silently beginning to worry again. “I’m sure that these months will fly by you know,” you smiled, pressing a little closer into Inseong’s cheek to draw his attention back across to you.
“I don’t think I can sleep tonight,” he then whispered in reply to you, “I don’t even know how I’m going to sleep whilst I’m in the military, I can’t even remember the last time that I fell asleep without you right by my side there with me.”
With time you knew that Inseong would settle, get comfortable, make friends, and find his feet too. It was going to take time for him to adapt, get used to new surroundings, new people, but you had every confidence that he could do it.
As he met your eyes, Inseong smiled weakly, “we’ve never spent more than a couple of weeks apart, and now we could be looking at a month or two at least.”
As much as you tried to keep the smile on your face, you were terrified too. Luckily for you, you had the rest of the group around you still, but they could never make up for having Inseong around you, no matter how hard they tried to be there.
“We’ll get there,” you whispered, unable to quite find it in you to say anything else as you tried your best to keep composed, “we’ve always got through everything, right?”
Inseong’s head nodded in agreement with you, “it’s the not knowing when I’ll next see you again that scares me, I feel fine about walking through the barracks tomorrow, I’m a people person after all, but my favourite person won’t be there.”
“I’m coming to see you off,” you reminded him, bringing your other hand up to Inseong’s face too, “and the boys all said that they’d come too.”
Knowing how terrified Inseong was, the boys all made sure that their schedules were clear to see Inseong off with you. Not only were they going for him, but they were also going for you too, making sure they could support you as you said your goodbyes.
“They’re under strict instructions to look after you,” Inseong promised you with a light chuckle, reminding himself of the serious lecture that he had given them all on his last visit to the studio. “Even if you want them at four in the morning, you call.”
“I’ll be alright,” you laughed, shaking your head at how organised Inseong was when it came to you, “the poor boys don’t need to be worrying about me with you not around.”
Inseong quickly shushed you as you spoke, not letting you dismiss the boys. “They’ve been given no choice, if I come home next year and find anything different, then I’m blaming them,” he joked, trying his best to keep his humour despite the overwhelming nerves that he felt about what was coming his way.
“I know you’re worried about me, but I can take of myself,” you assured him, “and I’ll make sure that I show you that as often as possible too.”
Inseong nodded at your vow, “I want you to text me every single day, even if I can’t reply so that I know you’re taking care of yourself and healthy.”
It was a promise that you had already made several times to Inseong in the build up to his enlistment. “Most of all I promise that I won’t sleep on your side of the bed, I know how much you love how your body moulds into the mattress as it is.”
He smiled appreciatively back across to you, “I’ve left a pile of my hoodies in the wardrobe so that you can snuggle up to them instead of rolling onto my side of the bed.”
“And I’ve ordered a new bottle of my perfume to ship to you once you’ve done your induction so that you can keep it with you too,” you reminded him, sniggering softly as the corners of Inseong’s mouth turned up into a smile.
“I bet the other members of the band judge me,” he laughed, “but they’ll just be jealous that their partners don’t send them anything.”
Slowly, you noticed Inseong’s mood picking up as you reminded him of the things that he had to look forward to, even if you were going to be far away.
“Just think of all the fun we can have once enlistment is over,” you suggested, “we won’t have to make plans anymore wondering whether we’ll get to do it before you enlist.”
“When I discharge, we’re clearing off our bucket lists,” Inseong laughed in reply.
“We’ll have the rest of our lives to do those things.”
“My discharge bucket list currently consists of laying in bed with you and never letting go,” Inseong informed you, feeling his heart soften as he tried to picture how that time would be, even if it was several months away. “I can’t wait for that time to come around.”
“I bet that it will be much sooner than you think.”
“I don’t want things to change whilst I’m gone,” he whispered, “I want to make sure that I come out to you, and the group, and all of our fans too.”
Your head nodded back to him, “your fans will wait and so will the boys. As for me, I’ll be straight to those gates on the day that you discharge.”
anon: May I request inseong fluff with introvert s/o who had crush on him during college and she confessed to him without realising he had a crush on her as well?
warnings: use of sunbae
word count: ~1k
milky's 💌: i actually received this when my requests were closed but decided to accept it because i really wanted to write for Inseong >.< he's enlisting im so sad :c
Inseong is the reason for your everything. as exaggerated as it sounds, he's the reason for many things in your life. your above average grades and everything that you feel proud of is all a result of his existence. meeting him made you want to be a good person just like him (even though you're already an angel ♡).
in first year, you met him as a teaching assistant for your small elective tutorial. he was just in the year above you but you felt he was so mature. the way he led the tutorial, full of understanding and knowledge, never too strict but never too lax. he made your learning enjoyable and helped you understand many concepts.
you started to notice and fall in love with small things about him, like how he pouted when he was deep in thought or intently listening to a student, how he rolled up his sleeves just before the tutorial would start, and how he'd scrunch up his nose before he pushed his glasses up. you loved everything about him.
Inseong understood you were shy from the quiet manner in which you introduced yourself, and your lack of participation on the first day encouraged him to ask you to stay back after the tutorial.
"y/n, you know that participation is 20% of your grade, and i know speaking in front of everyone is horrible sometimes, so i'd like to give you the option to stay behind and share your thoughts with me privately, or to send me an email with your analysis of the readings instead?" Inseong explained.
being one on one with him was scary as hell but of course you wouldn't miss this opportunity! in that moment, you just wanted to be by his side.
"i can stay after tutorial, but will it not be taking too much of your time?" you asked.
Inseong immediately shook his head, no.
"well, do you have any thoughts about today's work?" Inseong asked. then as you began to speak, he fell into a trance. your explanations and thoughts were all vivid and detailed. he loved the way you spoke.
so, when you finished speaking, he was speechless. his eyes were full of admiration and he smiled at you widely.
"y/n, your perspective is really unique. i've honestly never thought about the text in this way, so i'll have to get back to you on all this," Inseong replied honestly.
he then thought carefully before he asked you if you'd be free to discuss it over coffee on the weekend. yet again, of course you agreed. that's how your sunbae relationship with him began.
-
"Inseong sunbae, wait! I have my essay right here!" you shouted from several metres behind the boy.
he stopped in his tracks when you called him, smiling at the ground. his name sounded so precious when it escaped your lips.
turning around, he immediately changed his expression into a sterner one as you ran towards him, holding your essay in print, neatly stapled.
"y/n, you didn't show up to tutorial today even though the essay was due by the end of it. it's 10 minutes past the deadline. do you really think i should accept it?"
"yes," you panted, placing your hands on your knees as you heaved heavy breaths.
"and why's that?" Inseong asked.
"because you're nice and understanding and want to get a 10/10 on the teaching assistant evaluation that we'll do at the end of the term?"
Inseong scoffed and bit his lip.
"oh, so you're being smart with me? fine, i'll take your essay. but if you want a good grade on it, you owe me a coffee," Inseong said, snatching the paper out of your hands.
"already have it," you replied, handing him the cup you'd hidden behind your back.
he couldn't hold back his smile this time, and he reached out to pat your head.
"you did well, y/n."
for the sake of impressing Inseong, you made sure you always did well. but you didn't tell him that.
-
now that the semester has ended and you're no longer Inseong's student, you feel so much more comfortable with him. at parties, events, and festivals, you try to make conversation with him more than you used to before.
"who's that? they always come say hi to you," Jaeyoon, Inseong's friend asks him.
"that's y/n! they were my student before."
"that's y/n? if they're the one you like so much, why don't you talk with them more?"
Inseong gently slaps Jaeyoon.
"they're shy, i don't want to make them nervous by talking to them a lot."
Inseong doesn't deny that he likes you even after Jaeyoon joked about it, and Jaeyoon makes note of that with a smirk.
-
finally, you decide you can't keep admiring Inseong from afar anymore. your feelings for him are always threatening to burst everytime he's near, and though you're scared, you just want to get the cat out of the bag already.
"Inseong!"
Inseong's heart flutters hearing you call his name again, as always.
"hm?" he hums through the phone speaker.
"can i come to your house? i've got something to tell you."
Inseong shoots upright in his bed. the clock reads 10pm.
"now? y/n, it's late--"
"i know, i'm sorry!"
"wait, you didn't let me finish. it's dark and cold, how could i let you come here by yourself? i'll come to your dorm, wait for me," Inseong says before hanging up.
-
you fidget, walk around in circles and sigh many times to fight your nervousness while you wait for Inseong. he shows up quickly, though.
"y/n," he calls out, walking up the steps of your dorm building to meet you.
"Sunbae.."
"is everything okay? what did you want to talk about?" he asks you.
you take a deep breath. though it's quite obvious to people like Jaeyoon that Inseong returns your feelings, it's not as obvious to you. in fact, you still believe that Inseong sees you as nothing more than an old student of his, but you try to focus on all the times you studied with him, visited coffee shops to talk about coursework, how many times he invited you to parties or to his house to meet his roommates...
maybe there's a chance?
"Inseong... i'm nervous so, i... i've always admired you. firstly as a teaching assistant and now as a person. i like you, Inseong," you say, your voice slightly shaky.
the corners of Inseong's mouth turn downwards as he tries to hide his smile.
"can you repeat that again for me?" he teases you.
you furrow your eyebrows and look up at him and he laughs, placing his hands on your shoulders and looking deeply into your eyes. your breath gets caught in your throat and your heart flutters seeing his face so close to yours.
"i like you too, y/n. i've liked you all this time, too," he says.
you let out a sigh of relief and your heart rate speeds up. Inseong, the most perfect college sunbae likes you back?!
"thank you for being brave and confessing to me first," he tells you, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into his chest.
your heart flutters as you feel his warmth and his scent wraps around you. your knees are going weak but it doesn't matter because Inseong's holding you, anyway.
"i don't want to let go," he mumbles into your hair.
"then don't," you whisper in his ear.
he laughs, pulling away but with his arms still around you.
"will you let me into your dorm? it's cold out here," he says.
"no," you joke, stepping out of his embrace and turning to your dorm building.
his hand finds yours immediately, though, pulling you back to him.
We should have boarded our flight fifteen minutes ago.
Looking around the terminal, people are getting anxious, they sense a delay or worse, canceled flight.
People checking their phones, checking the flight schedule board.
Some are pacing, others asking the airport staff questions.
All except those nine guys.
They are not perturbed in the least.
Handsome bunch, and tall, she thinks to herself.
Must be experienced travelers.
Wish they would inform us what the hell is happening.
"Flight 462 is canceled due to bad weather, we are very sorry for any inconvenience".
"What the fuck"
"Just great".
Lea makes her way to the desk to find out more details.
She is not alone in her quest for knowledge.
Everyone talking at once, raising their voice to be heard.
The man at the information desk raises his hands.
"I can not hear or answer your questions when you all talk at once. Your flight is delayed till tomorrow. You can stay at the airport or find a hotel for the night".
Lea Google's hotels, finds several, they are all booked till she reaches The Glorious Hotel.
Room booked, collecting her bags she leaves the airport and hails a taxi.
□
Weighing the cost of the room against sleeping at the airport, the Hotel wins.
Dinner shower sleep, that's all I want, a peaceful night's sleep.
Walking into the hotel lobby, wow it's stunning.
The front desk is crowded.
All at once the nine gentlemen at the front desk turn and stare at Lea with such intensity she feels her face burning.
Once again their attention is on booking their rooms.
A bellhop gathers their luggage motioning them towards the elevators.
One by one they share one last glance of Lea.
Starting to feel uncomfortable with this unwanted attention, she waits till they have all entered and the elevators close.
Finally at the front desk, obtaining her key card, she is helped by another bellhop and escorted to her room.
○
Closing the door, I can finally unwind.
The room decor, green and blue elegantly decorated.
Bobbing up and down the mattress, heaven.
Hugging the pillow, sweet.
Shower time.
While Lea is drying her hair the phone rings.
Ring ring ring.
"Hello"
"This is the front desk"
"Yes, the dining room is now open, dinner will be available in ten minutes"
"Thank you".
Well I am hungry.
○
After ordering her meal, Lea takes in the opulence of the room.
Beautiful.
The nine walk into the dining area in single file, they make their way to the table that sits twelve.
Their presence demands prompt attention in which they receive.
Menus given, meals ordered.
Their waiter returns shortly with bottles of red wine.
Plate empty, Lea summons the waiter to pay for her meal.
Time to hit the sack she thinks to herself.
On her way to the exit, she passes the table of nine.
"Care to partake in a glass of wine?" Rowoon enquiries.
Not to offend. Sitting down "thank you".
"My name is Lea".
"Rowoon"
"Jaeyoon"
"Inseong"
"Youngbin"
"Zuho"
"Taeyang"
"Dawon"
"Chani"
"Hwiyoung"
"Nice to meet you all ".
Sipping her wine, "delicious thank you".
Several glasses later, feeling a buzz, "well I better go"."Already? It's early! We thought you might join in the game!" Zuho tells her.
"Game?"
"Pick a team," Hwiyoung instructs.
"Team?"
"I…I " she stutters.
Looking at them, she points to Youngbin, "his team".
"Well that's hardly fair, they already have an extra" Hwiyoung states.
"We don't need extras to kick their ass!" Dawon adds.
Jaeyoon, Inseong Zuho Rowoon and Youngbin, stand "come on shorty you are with us!".
Stumbling from her chair, totally confused, Lea follows.
Looking around the room, "fuck what I have I got myself into?"
In a hotel room with five strangers.
"Close the blinds," Jaeyoon orders.
Blue blinds close, the room darkens, till Zuho flicks the light switch.
Nervousness now the emotion that is taking hold, panic even.
Youngbin sits on the bed, cleaning a pistol.
Jaeyoon cleans his pistol adding a silencer, Inseong, Rowoon and Zuho now have pistols out.
"What the fuck?"
Looking at her questioning, "you don't have a weapon?".
"You better find one" , Youngbin suggests.
"Any experience with thievery shorty?" Rowoon asks.
"Err, no"
"You will catch on" he states.
With stealth and grace that defies their height, the group break into the back office, where a safe is located.
With what appears like years of experience Inseong cracks the safe.
"Yes," he whispers.
Holding up a gold bracelet.
"Let's go" motions Zuho.
"Time to celebrate".
The bar at the Glorious hotel, resembled the decor of the hotel.
The aroma from the scented candles, Jasmine, filled the room.
Seated at the table, red wine flows once more in celebration.
The doors fly open, Taeyang Dawon and Chani enter the bar.
A tense moment is quickly dispelled as Dawon Chani and Taeyang offer their congratulations.
Bottles of wine consumed, the conversation, light in its content.
The doors to the bar swing open, Hwiyoung stands there, flowers in his hand.
Swiftly he drops the flowers to expose a gun, the noise is deafening as he shoots in the direction of Inseong.
Chaos is now let loose.
All nine have their weapons drawn.
Wild west meets gangster meets James Bond is the best way to describe the subsequent events.
One would think fireworks, but no, guns firing, in every direction.
Total and utter mayhem.
Lea screams and ducks under the table.
Terrified.
"OMG I'm going to die" she weeps.
Sensing someone close, Lea peeks from under the table.
Dawon is looming over her, smiling.
"Fuck I'm dead!" She utters.
Then abruptly he starts singing.
"Baby dance with me
Dance with me Let’s have fun"
With an outstretched hand Dawon grins.
Taking his hand Lea stands hoping to escape
A flying chair connects with Lea's head, pain and dizziness then nothing.
■
The throbbing that is assaulting her skull wakes her up.
She is in her hotel room.
"What the fuck?"
"I have to get out of here!"
Waiting at the front desk to check out.
There is a commotion behind her she turns to see it's the nine.
"Good morning shorty, fun time last night huh" Chani greets her.
"How's the head, my bad! Sorry about that" Youngbin offered.
The hotel manager greets the nine, "glad you guys enjoyed last night's activities see you next time".
"Let's get to the airport, flight to catch" Rowoon.
genre: fluff, a sprinkle of angst, nerd!Inseong, office friends to lovers, slow burn
warnings: discussions of food and alcohol, inseong is a bit intoxicated
word count: 2,4k
You prepared yourself to wrap your coat more tightly around you when you left the bar, but after the weekend, the cold had thawed to an agreeable temperature that allowed you to walk with your coat open, as long as you were wearing a woolen sweater, scarf and hat to bar against the last dry chill.
“We’re sharing a taxi home, Y/N, are you joining?” Lua asked as she, too, stepped out of the bar. She had been the one to invite you and Minyoung for drinks and bar snacks, which you discovered was partially because she wanted to brainstorm ideas for her and Lucy’s first couple trip together. Minyoung and you had only been helpful in the beginning. Your trip suggestions went from nearby spas and beach towns to a weekend away with the parents, the Bahamas, and jungle survival.
At that point Lua had made the executive decision that none of you were drinking anymore and that it was just tea and bar snacks from now on to sober up, leading you to share more about how you were doing beyond the daily texts in your group chat. Lua confessed that her residency burdened her emotionally so much at times, that it made her reconsider her lifelong dream to become a pediatrician. You could empathize with her, working on issues that you but nobody else in your corporate workplace found worthwhile. Minyoung told you that the explosive story she had been working on for ages had suddenly been paused by her editor-in-chief without clear explanation. Although you couldn’t really help each other out, the hugs, curses and you can do its were comforting in itself. Now leaving the bar together, perhaps slightly later than you had intended on a Thursday night, you felt a warm trust in your friends and yourself.
“No thanks, I think I’ll walk home.” You wanted to savor the crisp feeling this night brought you some more.
Lua’s eyes shone with concern. “Okay… but text us as soon as you get home, okay? And really when you are at home, door closed and locked.”
“Okay I will, mom,” And you gave her a big hug, which Minyoung joined as well.
“She’ll be fine, it’s only a 20 minute walk back - if her employer found out she took a taxi home, I’m not sure if she’ll be allowed to stay on at Corporate Responsibility.” She winked and squeezed your shoulder a bit. “Text us, okay?”
With that promise, you wished them good night. You walked through the animated street dimmed by the yellow streetlights, patrons also leaving or sometimes entering bars. You glanced at the store windows while walking past, knowing the route like the back of your hand. Waiting at a traffic light to cross the intersection of a busy street that would bring you into your residential neighborhood, you took out your phone to check your messages.
The most recent one was Lua’s, thanking you for the fun night and asking you to share your location, so you did and answered sassily she should focus on finding a location for her trip with Lucy. But then, above a message from your real mom asking you whether you wanted to come for dinner this weekend, were five notifications from Inseong. All were sent within the hour.
“Y/N!” with a cute sticker of a cat peeking around a door.
A video file, with the message: “Guess who’s also an ONCE?”
Then your name again, dragged out cutesily.
“Y/N, are you already asleep??”
Your stomach flipped, and felt your fingers tingling again. When you had seen Inseong with Yuna at lunch again after your surprise meeting last week, it had been as usual, an instant, natural familiarity between the three of you. Inseong made you laugh with his D&D adventures with his friends the night before (the dragon he had promised to the party had been a newborn, now the party’s pet) and you had facetiously scolded him to bring a sweater next time he’d step out in the cold to say goodbye.
At the same time, you had found a bit of repose in his week-long work trip. During an intense cleaning session over the weekend, you had resolutely told yourself that you were reading into the situation too much. Inseong had always been shy and a bit awkward in social situations, with others too. So why were you so vehemently scrubbing your bathroom floor as if trying to also wash away your thoughts about him?
Receiving these texts, then, so informal, and not related to work, brought you back to needing to contain the state of turmoil in the pit of your stomach that the closer interactions between you had induced. You had never contacted each other outside of work before.
Still, you couldn’t resist and tapped to play the video. Your face stretched into a smile instantly. The video showed Inseong’s manager, the usually stern-looking but now positively giddy Manager Im, tambourine in one hand, mike in the other, singing and dancing to Twice’s TT under the karaoke room’s disco lights. Inseong’s bright laugh was heard the loudest over the rest of the co-workers cheering him on - you inadvertently grinned as well. As you heard him sing along in his clear voice with Manager Im, “Tell me that you be my ba~by,” you felt a blush crawl over your cheeks.
“Finally someone I can take to a Twice concert with me,” You texted back. You looked up, noticing that you had just missed the traffic light turning green. You felt like you had to send something back in exchange and in the end decided on a picture of the moon shining behind the high rise apartment buildings on the other side of the intersection. It wasn’t a fair trade, but it had to do. “I’m on my way home!” You added.
The light turned green. By the time you had crossed the street, entering your neighborhood, you had already received a reply from Inseong.
“Are you walking home?”
And, almost immediately after, “Do you maybe want to call for a bit?”
You tried to ignore the fluttering spreading from your belly all the way to the tips of your fingers when you wrote back a casual, “Sure.” Maybe he just wanted to ask something about work.
When you right away received the call from Inseong, you took it without trying to think anymore: “Inseong, hey!” It was an attempt to sound cheerful, breezy and you hoped he couldn’t hear the slight unsteadiness when you said his name.
“Hey Y/N - is it alright to call?” Inseong’s voice sounded lower and more laid-back than you were used to.
“Yes, it’s fine! I’m just walking home from dinner with friends.”
“Oh, with your friends I’ve met before - Lucy, Lua, Minyoung? How are they doing?”
“Just with Lua and Minyoung,” you said, the tingling you were feeling now enveloped by a warmth that lay the attentiveness of his words. “They’re doing alright. Lua wants to take Lucy on a weekend getaway, so she asked us for help. It’s their first holiday as a couple and Lua is such a perfectionist she wants to plan everything to a T.”
“I think if you are with someone you really like, it doesn’t really matter what you’re doing,”
Inseong said, as though he was thinking out loud..
You smiled at his thoughtful response. “That’s what I said as soon as she asked us!”
Talking about the rest of your evening, you neared your small apartment complex. You confessed some of the doubts around your career that you had shared earlier with your friends, pressing the elevator button up. Inseong didn’t really say much, but hummed in understanding and you found comfort in just knowing that he was listening in support and without judgment.
“...So even though it wasn’t planned, working here, I am still learning a lot and I think I should also appreciate that I am working with really helpful team members who give me a lot of freedom to experiment. I guess that’s not always a given,” You mused, struggling to keep your phone to your face while taking off your coat and your shoes in your narrow hallway, having just closed the door behind you. “I guess I’ll just stay on for a little while more.”
You paused, flopping down on your small couch, legs dangling down the arm rest. “Sorry, I’ve been talking a lot, right?”
“No - it’s just really nice hearing your voice.” He said it so casually, so different from what you were used to from him and so contrasting with how much these words made you feel. You did not really know how to respond.
“S-so how is it going over there? It must be tiring.”
“It is a little bit, talking to so many people all the time and having to listen to presentations on digitalization law for most of the days - even for me,” he added playfully, and you let out a short giggle. “They’re really touching on every topic. Yesterday, for example, a representative of a large legal firm gave a presentation on how to go around privacy laws for data mining.”
You gasped in shock. “What? At a big conference like that? That is shameless and terrible!”
You heard Inseong chuckle in a deep tone that languidly echoed in the rest of your body. “I thought you would say that.”
Resorting to your strategy of asking questions when you felt too tongue-tied to respond, you moved on: “And your team’s presentation?”
Inseong started to speak a little faster now, voice still deep, words slightly slurred. “Manager Im was supposed to be presenting with Team Leader Lim, since she’s more knowledgeable on the digitalization side of things, but her son got sick suddenly, so she wasn’t able to come over. Instead, they asked me to do it with him kind of at the last minute. Yeah, I was intimidated too, in the beginning,” he probably responded to the sound of surprise you made, knowing that that must’ve been a big step for him. “But it went really well. It kind of felt like our presentation when we were trainees at Digitalization, remember? Although Manager Im wasn’t as cute as my presentation partner back then…”
You touched your cheeks, feeling them heat up at this again unexpected flirtatious note by him, and were happy that you were alone in your dark apartment..
“...So to reward the team, Manager Im bought us dinner and drinks, and we went for karaoke to celebrate too,” Inseong finished nonchalantly.
You regained your composure somewhat and wittily remarked, “Ah, I thought you had been drinking.”
This seemed to throw Inseong off a bit. For the first time in the conversation, some embarrassment rang through the low chuckle in response to your remark. A sound that was a confusing mix of cute and hot at the same time. “Yeah, I did,” he confessed. “I usually don’t drink in work situations but it helped me calm down a bit after work today and loosen up a bit. Even though it often gives me misplaced confidence to do things I usually wouldn’t…”
And say things you usually wouldn’t too? you wanted to ask him. Again realizing that you were laying on your couch in your unlit apartment in the middle of the night, phone pressed against your ear to hear every breath in your conversation with your coworker, work friend, no, work crush.
“...I often end up embarrassing myself. I didn’t send you the video where Manager Im and I sing Feel Special together.” Inseong chuckled again bashfully.
“I can’t believe you kept that from me,” You feigned offense, but you knew your voice sounded weaker than usual as well. “I just hope that you don’t have to survive another day tomorrow with a hangover now too.”
You could hear the smile in Inseong’s voice when he responded. “It’s only the closing of the conference tomorrow so I’ll be fine. We actually have some free time tomorrow before the flight, so I was thinking about what to do.” He was thinking out loud in a low, soft voice now, and you guessed the slight slurring of his speech could not only be attributed to his drinking, but his drowsiness as well. “There’s an art museum nearby, when I heard about it I was sure you would love it. Ah, it’s so nice to talk to you again, wouldn’t it be even better if you were here and we could visit it together?”
As his words rang through your ears one by one, you were left breathless, as if there was no space for anything else but that suggestion and everything it would hold.
“That- that would be nice.” The voice you spoke with was so thin, so faint, that the silence that followed seemed to swallow your response whole.
“Y/N, are you still there?” Inseong said gently, drowsily, and you imagined him rubbing his eyes behind his glasses, crooked on his face, his bow-like lips pursed, and you felt a tender smile blossoming on your face, only growing in the sunlight of his sluggish yet genuine ramblings: “Do you have a busy day tomorrow? You must be so tired, you must’ve had such a long day and here I am, egotistically keeping you up just because I wanted to talk to you...”
“Oh, it’s fine Inseong, I do have an early meeting but nothing important, just catching up with my team.”
“No, you should really go to sleep then - oh, it was so nice to hear your voice - you should really hang up and go to bed…” A yawn broke off the final part of his sentence.
“I think you’re the one who should be going to sleep Inseong,” You teased him gently.
“Yeah, maybe, but I don’t want to hang up,” You could hear the sleepy pout in his response.
“Then I will. It was nice to talk to you, Inseong. Good night, and good luck on the final day. Have a safe trip back home.”
“Sleep well, Y/N, thanks so much…” A yawn followed again, but muffled. You pictured him, eyes close, cheek leaning against his phone on a crisp hotel pillow.
“You too.” You waited a very brief moment, but it didn’t seem like Inseong would hang up, so you did, leaving you by yourself to process this conversation and the feelings it had invoked.
The rest of the night, it was as though you had to experience every emotion one by one again, whirling through your head seamlessly yet unexpectedly from one to the other, leaving no space for dreams, nightmares or emptiness, but only what the two of you said and everything it could have meant.
A/N: we’re nearing the end! thanks for sticking to this story!
Also this chapter was inspired by a bubble concept inseong did last year lol
