Itzy Ryujin x reader
words: ~1.7k
genre: fluff, some angst, it’s technically a slow-burn, some hints of enemies to lovers
Desc.: For quite some time now you’ve been trying to get the attention of Ryujin, the girl who is trying way too hard to hide her feelings from you, even when you’re doing everything you can to be honest with her.
“Hey, Ryujin.”
“Hmm?” You hear her hum impassively as you watch her lift a heavy-looking cardboard box onto an empty metal shelf.
“You like lemon flavor, right?” you ask while watching her work. She snorts as if she was annoyed, but despite her facing away from you, you can catch a glimpse of the smile she’s wearing.
“Why do you keep bothering me with such trivial questions while I’m at work?” She counters with a question of her own, nothing out of the ordinary.
“Answer. I might have a surprise for you if you do.”
“That’s like you’re trying to bribe me.” She looks over her shoulder once, eyebrows raised up high, lips curled into a somewhat amused smile, before tending to the next box. She crouches down and opens the loose ends so she can check the contents, and after a few experienced looks she reaches for the package tape next to her and securely closes the box with skilled hands. You’ve watched her repeat this process over and over again multiple times in the past, still somehow you could never get tired of such simple actions. Not when they’re carried out by her.
“Maybe I am,” you answer nonchalantly. “But I can promise you it will pay off.” You catch yourself grinning at the thought of your plan. Eventually, Ryujin sighs and gives in - probably more so because she just wants you to let her work in peace, than because she’s curious what consequences her answer might have.
“I like it, yeah,” she answers, then she picks up the box she just taped shut and lifts it onto the shelf in front of her. You watch how her shoulders go from tense to slumped over a bit after letting go of the heavy object, and then you see her straighten her back, before she turns around and takes a few steps towards you.
“Then you’re gonna love what I got as a gift earlier today!” you say while she’s still walking. She crosses her arms in front of her chest when she comes to a halt and gives you a challenging look, as if to tell you not to disappoint her. “Tadah!” You pull something out of your bag. “Lemon chapstick!” Ryujin snorts at the reveal, lifting her hand to cover her mouth as she lets out one short laugh.
“That’s what you came here for?” she asks, unimpressed but not unamused. “Because someone gave you a chapstick?”
“A chapstick that not only smells, but also tastes like lemon!” you add.
“So?” Ryujin retorts, sounding savage as she lifts her chin up to look down on you. “Want me to take a bite or what?” You grin at her naive answer, fully aware that she must’ve gotten the hint but refuses to play along.
“I mean… I’m sure taking a bite out of a chapstick would make for an interesting experience… but…” you speak as you take off its cap and bring it to your lips, applying some of it, then you continue with your voice lowered. “Not quite what I was going for.” The girl in front of you huffs, taking a step to the side while her hands find their way to the pockets of her jeans, but she only puts her thumbs in. With her gaze resting on some random shelf somewhere behind you, she takes a deep breath, before she makes eye contact with you, her pupils icy, as if she wanted to avoid showing you her real feelings.
“You really won’t give up on trying to get me to kiss you, huh?” Again, that scrutinizing look you earn so often, whenever you find a new ridiculous excuse to distract her from whatever she’s doing. Seeing her like this you’d think you would never have a chance with her, but experience tells you otherwise.
“Well… to kiss me again, yes,” you answer. You say those words with a smile, because you don’t want her to perceive them as a threat or as you toying with her. No matter how much you two enjoy teasing each other, ever since that one occurence you’ve wanted nothing more than to show her your sincere feelings.
Ryujin huffs at your words. Then she turns around, flips her hair - whether to get it out of her face or to brush off your words you don’t know - and walks back over to the boxes she was taking care of just then.
“If you would leave me alone and take your lemon chapstick elsewhere, that would be just fine.”
“No need to be so cold to me…” you mumble. Your eyes rest on her crouched down figure as she begins to check the contents of the next few boxes, and you feel frustration growing in your stomach, along with a bitter aftertaste of rejection. You ponder for a moment if you should stay or if you should just leave this stubborn girl, but once the memories of what happened at that party a few weeks ago flash in front of your inner eye, you just can’t bring yourself to go. “Ryujin…” you call out to her again.
“What?”
“We still haven’t talked about that…”
“There’s nothing to-”
“Yes there is, and you know it.” She gets up now, clearly upset, and she turns around with a complicated expression on her face.
“I. Am. Working.” She declares that with as much force put behind the words as possible.
“Fine,” you say. “Fine. If you want me to go, then I’ll go. But I just want you to know that when you kissed me… maybe it was just a game for you, maybe you just did it because you were drunk and curious, what do I know? But for me…” You hesitate for a moment, the memory remaining clear in your head. “For me it was more than that.” Her expression softens. You’re not sure if it’s because she feels sorry for you or because you managed to move something inside her. Either way, it doesn’t seem like she’s going to answer, so you keep talking. “So if you want me to leave you alone, then I can do that. Tell me to go now and I will never bother you again, promise.” She remains standing still, and though you find a hint of shock in her eyes you brush it off. You won’t let yourself be caught up in such small things anymore, which might be signs or might just mean absolutely nothing.
“I-”
“Tell me to go, Ryujin,” you say, and you feel your energy being drained as you lose hope. “Just say it.”
“I thought you were the one just toying with me,” she blurts out.
“Huh?” She looks to the floor now, gaze probably resting on the tips of her sneakers. “I-” You’re speechless, but you force your brain to figure out the best way to answer so you won’t scare her off further despite being dumbfounded by her confession. “Ryujin,” you eventually call out her name, which makes her look back up at you. “Do you remember exactly what happened?”
“Of course I do!” she immediately answers, sounding somewhat upset upon you suggesting she could’ve forgotten it. Then she continues, talking more silently, “I went upstairs with you and… kissed you.” Memories of a very tipsy Ryujin pulling you into your own room and smashing her lips against yours before you could comprehend what was happening come back to you.
“And I kissed you back,” you state, rather calmly. “I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t like you…”
“S-so… I’m the idiot?” she laughs awkwardly and you can see a blush creeping onto her cheeks. “I hate being the idiot.” You can’t but grin at her now, and you take some steps forward, until you’re standing right in front of her. When she shows no signs of discomfort or of wanting to escape, you lean in slowly, and when you notice her eyelids fluttering shut, you brush your lips against hers.
“We’re both idiots,” you whisper once you pull back, but you feel her warm hands grabbing your face and the blink of an eye later, your lips are connected again. You rest your palms on her waist, and without having to give her much direction she comes closer, until her body is pressed against yours. You let her kiss you slowly, following her pace, and in that moment she is the only thing that exists in your mind. She, and the way your lips melt so perfectly with yours, and how the smell of your chapstick mixes with her perfume. You feel the tip of her tongue licking your lower lip, before capturing it with her teeth and nibbling on it, resulting in a shiver running down your spine. You give her waist an approving squeeze, and you keep kissing until you’re both out of breath. But even when you part, you do so slowly, and wanting to savour the moment, you don’t dare open your eyes. That is, until you can hear Ryujin letting out a soft laugh in front of you.
“I really like you,” you whisper again. “I hope you know that now.”
“Yeah… I like you too,” she answers. “Sorry… for thinking you’re a bad person.”
“I’ll need a lot more kisses in the future to make up for that, you know!” you joke.
“Hey!” Ryujin yells as if to scold you, but the playful expression on her face tells you she’s just messing with you.
“Sorry,” you grin, before you both turn serious again. “You should get back to work,” you say, then, even though that means you will have to leave for now.
“That’s right,” she agrees, but wraps her arms around your shoulders nonetheless. “But I think I can spare a few more minutes.” Her gaze drops to your lips. “You were right though. It really does taste like lemon.”
“Want me to apply more?” you offer, but Ryujin shakes her head.
“No,” she answers. “You taste much better.” And then she leans in again, connecting her lips to yours for another kiss.
Itzy Yuna x fem!reader
words: ~4.9k
genre: fluff, angst, royalty AU, (childhood friends to lovers)
Desc.: Due to a promise made between your parents and another family, you are arranged to marry their oldest son on the day you turn 18. However, aside from the fact that he isn’t the kind of person you’d wish to spend the rest of your life with, you only have eyes for Yuna, the girl who used to be one of your childhood friends and is now your secret lover.
You’re walking through the yard of your family’s palace, setting one foot in front of the other slowly. The windflowers growing here during the spring and autumn have wilted, here and there you find a lone petal, having taken on a dead shade of brown. You keep your eyes mostly directed on the path leading through the garden, sometimes taking note of a pebble lying around in the dust. There’s not much to see here anymore, now that the colors of your beloved flowers have faded.
The corset of your dress makes it hard to breathe for you - or maybe it’s the fact that today is the evening leading up to your 18th birthday. Birthdays have always been happy occasions for you, with your parents organizing only the most delicious food, presents, and letting you have a party with all the other girls from the royal families living nearby.
“Y/N!” you hear a familiar voice calling out to you, tearing you out of your gloomy thoughts. You whirl around to find her dashing towards you over the grass, holding the skirt of her pompous blue and pink dress up so she can run properly.
“Yuna! The gardener’s gonna kill you if he sees you’re trampling all the grass again!” She halts right in front of you, throwing her head over her shoulder so quickly that the tips of her long black hair almost hit you in the face. She eyes the crushed grass, in which the path she took is clearly visible, and when she turns her head back to you, she sticks out her tongue.
“Well, nobody needs to know it was me,” she cheekily replies before letting out a mischievous laugh, eyes sparkling with joy. You smile at the sight, and having her with you brings you some peace of mind. You reach out to wrap your fingers around hers, entwining them. Then you take a proper look at her.
“You look beautiful today,” you whisper as you gaze at her with adoration in your eyes.
“I think you meant to say I look especially beautiful today?” she replies and you laugh, before you lean in to place a quick peck on her pink colored lips.
“Of course,” you say. You find surprise in Yuna’s expression.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you scared someone will see us?”
“They’re all busy celebrating that the only daughter of the house will finally be married off anyway…” you answer, and you fail to swallow the bitter aftertaste the words leave in your mouth. You’ve been putting up a strong act all day, but now that it’s just you and her, your face drops to a frown. You feel Yuna putting her palm against your cheek, making you look at her big eyes, before she pulls you into a hug.
You two have always been together since you were 7. Yuna’s family lives quite nearby, just over the hill that also leads to the village. It’s like you two clicked almost immediately, and it’s not like you never fight, but you wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world. And then one day you both began to realize that your friendship was slowly turning into something more, and you’ve been secret lovers ever since.
Yuna is lucky, in your eyes. She has four sisters, and so her parents aren’t that hung up on her having to marry as soon as possible. Besides, whenever her father would ask her what kind of prince she’d want to marry when she was a kid, she would always shake her head vigorously, insisting that she wanted to marry you instead. You suppose her parents always thought she was just too young to grasp the concept of love, but ever since she’s gotten a bit older, she tends to dodge that question.
You on the other hand are the only child your parents have been blessed with. Back when you were still a little girl, that came with its own set of advantages, because they would always devote themselves fully to you. But now that you’re older and have reached the age where you can get married, you wish you had a few siblings to share the attention of your mother and father with. Then maybe they wouldn’t have arranged you to marry the oldest son of another family they’re close with. Apparently they helped your parents out with some financial matter just before you were born, and so your father promised his only daughter to them as the future wife of their oldest son once you’ve reached the age of 18. And that day is tomorrow.
Feeling Yuna’s warm embrace while thinking about your more than unpleasant reality, you feel like crying. If you’re married to a man, would you be able to keep seeing her?
“Oh there you are!” a distant voice echoes through the inner courtyard, and you two separate. Yuna’s comfort being torn away from you like that, leaves you feeling like somebody had cut the ground from under your feet for a moment.
“She’s feeling nervous so I thought I should come out to talk to her a bit,” Yuna explains to the woman who had just shouted at you. She’s one of the staff at your palace, and she’s helping out to make the party run smoothly today.
“Y/N, your parents are looking for you! Your father can’t start his speech without one half of the lucky couple missing!” she explains, an excited smile showing on her sun-kissed face.
“I’ll be right there! Just a minute!” you shout back, and once she disappears inside, you take a deep breath and straighten your shoulders. You give Yuna an insecure look, but she squeezes your hands in hers and answers with an encouraging nod.
“You can do it. It’s just a speech,” she says, and you try to focus on that for now, without thinking about what that speech will lead up to as soon as morning comes.
You walk back inside, and the guests welcome you with applause and cheering. The moment you have to leave Yuna’s side to sit next to your fiancé instead leaves you heartbroken, but the bright look in her eyes remains everytime you glance over to her during your father’s way too detailed speech. Well, he only gets to do this for one child, you think, might as well let him ramble on for a bit longer.
Eventually even he runs out of words, and when it’s time to toast, you raise your silver cup and make eye contact with your soon-to-be husband. You catch yourself thinking how you’re glad the kissing part won’t happen today, but even just sitting so close to him is bad enough. It’s not even the fact that he’s several years older than you, but you’ve just never really liked him. He doesn’t look like it from afar, but once you get to know him a bit you notice how highly he thinks of himself - and how lowly of everyone else. What’s more is that you feel the scrutinizing gazes of both his father and his mother resting on your figure with every move you make, as if one wrong gesture will make both of them get out of their seats to jump at you and give you the scolding of your life. You’re a bit scared of the cold looks on their faces, and even the walls of their luxurious home emit no warmth. A shudder runs down your spine, and just as you hope nobody noticed, the man next to you puts his arm around you.
“Are you cold, my princess?” You feel a need to throw up at him calling you that, but you manage not to let any of those feelings surface.
“I’m okay,” you deny it, hoping he would turn away from you, but he seems to have other plans, as he rises to his feet and you have no choice but to do the same, so as not to cause a scene. His arm is still wrapped tightly around your waist.
“I shall take Y/N up the chambers to warm her up a bit,” he announces. You hear someone whisper how they feel bad for you that you’re freezing, and then your eyes shift to Yuna, who is about to jump up out of her seat herself.
“I will take her,” she says, coming to your rescue, but your fiancé pulls your body away from her just before she can grab your hand.
“There is no need,” he responds, putting a certain emphasis behind his words. He wants to be alone with you, you know that, but right now you want anything but that.
“The husband should entertain the guests, shouldn’t he?” Yuna argues, “And even if the party isn’t held at your own home, these people are still your guests as well. Or am I wrong?”
“They will be fine for a few minutes, right?” He now turns towards the crowd all gathered around the dining table, waiting for their agreement. Using this moment of distraction, Yuna wraps her hand around your wrist and pulls you out of his hold.
“A woman is still the best at taking care of another woman who does not feel well. Once she is legally your wife she will be in your care, but for today I think it is still the duty of her family and closest friends to be there for her.” She speaks loudly, factually, and without too much emotion. She wants to be taken seriously by the tall man standing in front of her, because she knows that without his approval, she won’t be taking you anywhere. Finally, he sighs.
“Fine then,” he agrees, even though he isn’t happy about how things played out for him. “Take her.”
“Thank you,” you mumble, still in shock over what just happened, and you let Yuna walk you upstairs at a quick pace. You only halt once you’re in your room, standing by the foot of your bed, and she has closed the door that leads out into the hallway.
“Are you okay?” she asks as she turns around and you rush over to her, taking her face into your hands and you kiss her for as long as the capacity of your lungs allows you. You don’t know how to answer when you separate, but the way she looks at you as if her heart was breaking in a million pieces tells you you can’t just remain silent. It must be taking a toll on her too, that she’s about to lose you to that man.
“I-” you stammer, “I’ll be fine…” However, she shakes her head.
“I don’t believe you,” she answers. “I don’t believe you will be fine with a man who makes you feel so uncomfortable by just sitting next to you.”
“I’ll get used to it…”
“You will have to bear his children, Y/N.” Upon realizing what that implies, you feel the knot in your stomach growing, and you have to take a deep breath so as not to throw up on the spot.
“I will-”
“Let’s run away,” Yuna cuts you off.
“What?”
“Let’s run away, Y/N,” she repeats. “You and me.”
“But-” you stutter, “but my parents! They will be so mad at me if I do that…”
“Not if you never come back.” Her mischievous smile returns to her face as she speaks those words, and she takes a hold of both your hands. With her thumbs stroking their backsides, she adds quietly, “We could be happy ever after…”
You look into her eyes. You take one thorough look at them and you find nothing but sincere care and love for you, and in that very moment you know there is only one right answer to this question.
“Alright.”
You’re running. Hand in hand, you’re running as fast as your feet carry you. You just have to make it to the little forest to the north of the palace, then you would be safe, but for as long as you’re on the open grass field you’re at risk of being spotted.
“Yuna, I can’t-” You feel yourself falling behind slowly but steadily. As the daughter of a royal family you’re not used to running so fast and for such a long distance, and you’re already out of breath, even though you still haven’t reached the safety of the woods.
“You can do it!” she cheers you on, but at the same time the weight with which you’re pulling her back is growing heavier. That is until she suddenly halts and crouches down, almost making you trip over in the process. You lower yourself to her level.
“Let’s take off our shoes,” she says, already slipping out of hers. “It’s easier to run barefoot.” You understand and nod, then you do as she says, and you both leave your pair behind to take off running again.
You only let go of Yuna’s hand once you’re well inside the forest. You lean your exhausted body against a thick tree, trying to regain your breath. Your mouth is dry from running all the way here, but you doubt you would find clean water anytime soon. Yuna too seems a bit tired out, though she looks like she took the run a lot better than you did. She looks around and eventually her eyes widen. Something must’ve piqued her interest a bit deeper into the woods, because a smile is growing on her lips now. She takes your hand to lead you down a narrow path between high growing trees.
“Watch your step,” she warns you. You can’t see the ground well in the darkness of the night, so you have to be careful not to step onto any small animals or traps set out by the huntsmen of the village. Eventually you make it to a small clearing in the middle of the forest, the grass and flowers dyed a silver tone by the bright light of the moon shining overhead. You stop in your tracks and gasp at the sight in front of you.
“Wow… I’ve never seen anything like this…” you mutter, taken aback by the way the force of the moon seems so much stronger out here, when you’re not looking at it through the windows of the palace. Yuna joins you in marvelling at the scenery for a while, until she takes a few light steps forward and spins around to face you.
“Y/N,” she calls out your name and tears your attention away from the moon. You find an expectant smile on her face. “Do you think it’s already midnight?”
“I… don’t know,” you answer honestly.
“Let’s say it is,” she grins. “Close your eyes.”
“Huh?”
“Just do it. Trust me.”
“O-okay…” You do as she said, and for some reason your heart starts pounding again. You feel something being put around your neck, with her skin grazing yours for a moment, before she tells you to open your eyes. You feel the cold metal on the skin above your chest very clearly now, and you look down on yourself to find a silver necklace decorating your decolleté.
“It’s a windflower. Do you like it?” Yuna asks, watching your reaction with great interest.
“I love it!” you exclaim, taking the jewelry between your fingers to have a closer look at it. “It’s beautiful.”
“Then I’m glad.” She sends you a sweet smile. “Oh, you know what we should do?”
“Hm?” You can’t even properly ask, when she already reaches for your hands and pulls you along with her to the middle of the clearing, spinning you around.
“We should dance! To celebrate,” she explains and pulls you close, putting one hand on the small of your back. Even without music, she leads you effortlessly. It’s as if your feet are flying above the cool grass, and the happiness filling your chest leaves you no choice but to let out a joyous laugh. You thought you had used up all your energy while you were running earlier, but somehow dancing with her like this makes you forget all about your exhaustion.
You stop spinning and swaying eventually, both dropping down into the grass, beaming smiles on both your faces. Words aren’t needed between you two, the loving gazes you both exchange are enough, and eventually you find yourselves sharing a sweet kiss, arms snaked around the other’s body, heads full of nothing but thoughts of the other. You feel like you’ve never been as happy in your whole life as you are at this very moment, and so you wish this night would never end.
“Happy birthday, my love,” Yuna whispers once you part, and you can still feel her warm breath on your skin as she speaks.
“I love you,” you say, and just when you want to go in for a tight hug, you see something move behind her in the woods. For a moment you hold still, thinking it might be a fox or a wolf, but when you realize it’s a man, fear hits you like a slap to the face.
“We need to run,” is the only thing you can hear yourself say, before you get up and dash into the opposite direction, Yuna right behind you.
“Stop!” a male voice yells at you, and another one shouts,
“Y/N, wait!” Not one person, but a whole group of people is chasing you. You feel your feet growing tired within seconds this time, and Yuna overtakes you with ease.
“Come on, Y/N, you need to run faster!” The worry in her voice and all over her face is apparent, but you know you can’t keep up with her, no matter what you do. She holds out her hand to you, but you hesitate to take it. And then you stand still. “What are you doing? Run!” she shouts, though even she should know it’s too late.
“Run away, Yuna,” you say, making sure to put enough force behind your words that she has no choice but to listen to you. “I’m sorry…” The next second you feel a pair of hands on your shoulders, and in front of you, you see the girl you love running away, just like you told her to.
“Finally, we found you.” Your father’s voice barely reaches your ears as he speaks from right behind you. All you can focus on is Yuna’s back as she slowly disappears into the darkness, and once you’re sure she’s gone, your body sinks to the ground and you break down crying.
It’s a sunny day in early spring. You’re strolling through the inner courtyard of your home, finding countless colorful petals that have fallen to the ground and will soon begin to wilt. The windflowers are about to become dormant again, telling you that warmer days will soon arrive. And it also means that your birthday is drawing near, as well as your first wedding anniversary.
And the day that you last saw Yuna.
“Milady, lunch is almost ready,” one of your parents’ staff lets you know from across the garden. You look up, finding her standing inside, by one of the windows. You nod at her to signal that you understood, and she takes off to return to her work immediately. You let your eyes wander through the yard one more time, before turning your back on it and returning to the inside of the palace.
There hasn’t been a day that you haven’t thought of Yuna. Sometimes, in the darkness of the night, you are shaken away from a nightmare, reliving the whole experience of attempting to run away and eventually losing her. However, usually you think of her fondly. Even though you haven’t heard a single word from her since then, you’re hopeful. She isn’t the type to give up easily, and you couldn’t imagine her leaving you behind forever, no matter how much the ever passing time is trying to convince you otherwise.
When you sit down in the huge dining hall to consume your lunch, nobody else is there, except for the woman serving you your food. Your mother is probably still upstairs, reading and studying, while your father and your husband are out in the woods to hunt. They wouldn’t return before sunset.
You have almost finished your meal when the servant puts a white envelope on the table in front of you.
“Milady, you have received mail.” You wipe your mouth with a tissue, before reaching for the letter. You turn it to the other side, then you turn it again, but no matter where you look, you find nothing but your own name written on it.
“No sender? Weird…” You open the suspicious envelope, and once you unfold the paper inside, a premonition starts blossoming inside you. Having a hunch that you know this handwriting, you start reading.
“My love,
It has been too long that we haven’t seen each other. Still I dream of you every night. If you still feel the same, there will be a black carriage arriving at your palace on Friday. It will lead you to where I live now.”
There is no name at the end of the note. Instead, it is signed with the drawing of a windflower.
“There is no mistake…” you mutter, and the servant leans in a bit.
“What is…?” she allows her curiousity to take the better of her. However, instead of answering her question, you tell her to pack your things for a weekend trip. It’s already Wednesday, so you don’t have much time left.
“Oh, and,” you stop her before she can rush upstairs. “Don’t tell anyone about this. Not my husband, not my father, not even my mother. Understood?”
“Yes, milady. It will be a secret just between us.” With an excited giggle and a sincere gaze, she gives you a nod, and then you watch her ascend the stairs at the end of the hallway.
Friday comes by quickly, and once your father and husband have left to go to the woods, you spend your day sitting on the wooden bench in front of the entrance, instead of roaming through the yard for hours. You have brought a small book to keep you occupied while you wait for the carriage to arrive, but with how nervous you are you can barely focus on the words. From time to time you close your eyes, wrapping your fingers around the silver flower on the necklace that you’ve been wearing every day since Yuna gave it to you, and you take a deep breath to calm your fast beating heart.
Morning goes by and noon arrives, and still no sign of anyone picking you up. The servant who helped you pack your things steps outside and puts her hand on your shoulder in a comforting gesture. You haven’t told her where you’re going, neither that you probably won’t return if the carriage really takes you where you think it will. However, from her actions it is clear that she senses this journey is an important one to you, and that with every hour that you’re waiting and nothing happens, your heart grows heavier.
“Do you want some of the food I made for your mother?” she questions. “You could use the energy.” You think for a while. And just when you’re about to agree to her suggestion, you hear the sound of hooves clopping on the paved street leading to your home. You jump to your feet and stare at the big gate while you can hear the blood rushing through your veins. Expectations rising, you feel like time is passing as slowly as it possibly can, and then finally, two white horses come into sight, pulling a black carriage and grinding to a halt just in front of the gate. You take a hold of your bag and you rush forward.
“I have been sent to pick up Mrs. Y/N… is that you?” the carter asks, after stepping down from the carriage.
“Yes, yes that is me,” you answer, almost stumbling over your words.
“Do you have the letter?”
“Y-yes, one moment.” You let the bag sink to the ground and then rummage through the pockets of your jacket, eventually finding the piece of paper. You show it to the tall man, and after discovering the unusual signature, he nods.
“Step inside,” he tells you, then he reaches for your bag to place it inside the carriage for you. As you’re climbing up the few steps into the cart, you look back over your shoulder once. You try not to show the sadness on your face which you suddenly feel upon realizing you’re really leaving your home forever, fearing it might give away your real intentions to the servant still standing outside and watching you. However, she has pulled out a white handkerchief, and is now waving at you cheerfully with the fabric swaying back and forth. With a thankful smile you wave back at her with your bare hand, before taking a seat and having the carter close the door for you.
The journey takes all afternoon, and though you feel yourself growing tired after the first few hours, there is no way you could sleep sitting in a carriage that keeps uncomfortably vibrating because of the bumpy road. You’re lost staring out the window, watching the scenery passing by slowly. Your gaze drops to your hand, and the wedding ring on your finger comes into sight. You haven’t taken it off even once for almost a year, even though you never wanted to put it on in the first place. So when you finally remove it from your ring finger with some difficulty now, you feel like you just escaped the prison you’ve been locked into on your birthday last year. You stare at the ring, now held between your index finger and thumb of your left hand, like one would stare at any valuable possession that actually was never wanted. Looking out the window and finding a freshly tilled field, you take a big swing with your arm and throw the ring as far as you possibly can. The farmer who will find it eventually will sell it for good money, granting his family a few years free from worry and hunger.
The carriage stops eventually, as the sky is already turning orange, and the door of the cart is opened for you. Again, the carter helps you put your luggage down onto the street, and you thank him for his services, paying him extra. He drives off, and eventually you find yourself standing next to the street alone. There is nothing but meadows and fields and peace all around, and in front of you, you find one lone little house, surrounded by fences behind which you see a few pigs and a cow. You pick up your bag and start walking towards it, steps quickening the closer you get. And then you stand in front of the wooden door and you drop down your bag to knock. You wait, and for a little while nothing happens. This is until you hear someone calling out your name from behind.
“Y/N?” You turn around and you don’t believe your eyes when you see her. There, merely a few steps away from you, stands Yuna, holding a wooden bucket in her hands, dressed in dirty clothes meant for doing farm work, her hair tied up in two practical braids. You run towards her and she sets the bucket down to catch you in a tight hug as soon as you’ve reached her.
“I knew you wouldn’t leave me forever,” you say as soon as you feel her arms around your body and her warmth enveloping you.
“How could I do that?” she asks. “I just needed some time to build up all of this,” she continues and you loosen the embrace to be able to look at her face properly. Even though there is no trace left of the wealthy girl she used to be, her beauty still hasn’t left her. “I needed to bring you to a place that is safe and where no one will find you… if you’re planning to stay, that is,” she adds, lowering her voice a bit.
“What do you mean, if? Of course I want to stay with you,” you answer without hesitation, then you pull her closer again, feeling tears welling up in your eyes. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Y/N.” She pulls back just a little bit, and then she places her index finger under your chin, tracing the outline of your bottom lip with her thumb. “I really, really missed you,” she repeats, and you can’t stop yourself from following your urge to lean in and kiss her. It’s as if all your feelings for her which you couldn’t convey to her in the past year are pouring out of you now, and into the kiss you share. And from the way she moves her lips against yours confidently, and with no signs of wanting to pull away anytime soon, you can tell it’s the same for her.
“Let’s stay together forever, okay?” she whispers once you break the kiss, and her hands find your shoulders, eventually sliding down to your hips to hold onto you, just to make sure nothing and nobody can take you away from her ever again. “This time for real,” she adds, and then she presses her lips against yours once more.
Itzy Yuna x reader
words: ~1k
genre: fluff
requested:
It’s a normal Thursday evening. You got home after having dinner with a friend, and as soon as you entered the apartment your phone rang. Another friend who you haven’t seen in a while called you, and so now you’re sitting on the small sofa in the living room, and you’ve been talking to him for a good 30 minutes. However, your attention keeps being drawn away from him, as you find a pouty Yuna sitting at the dinner table at the other side of the room. She hasn’t said anything yet, and because of the call you couldn’t even properly greet your girlfriend when you got home, but you keep catching her throwing glances at you, thinking she’s being more sneaky about it than she actually is, and the way her lower lip protrudes tells you she has something on her mind.
You do have a hunch what that could be, and so you feel the dilemma pestering your thoughts. Should you hang up and comfort her? Or should you make her wait and keep talking to your friend who you haven’t seen in ages? Your question seems to resolve itself when she finally gets up, letting out a big sigh, and her stance changes. She seems to have come to some sort of conclusion herself, though you’re not yet sure what kind of conclusion that might be, because she doesn’t seem so sad anymore when she walks past you. Still, you can sense something’s off from the way she doesn’t even spare you a single look before she disappears in your bedroom. Again, the feeling that you should run after her overcomes you, but with your friend still having a few stories up his sleeve, you shove the bad premonition away for now and instead keep talking to him.
It’s been almost an hour after picking up that you finally say your goodbyes, along with promising to meet up as soon as possible. Having already forgotten about Yuna’s earlier bad mood, you don’t think much of it when you finally follow her to your room.
“Hi, baby,” you greet her and attempt to give her a hug as you sit down next to her on the bed. She appears to be watching something on her phone, and she barely reacts to your greeting.
“Hi,” she mumbles absentmindedly, without taking her eyes off the screen.
“We haven’t properly said hello yet, so I thought I’d give you a kiss to make up for it?”
“Whatever,” she answers and turns away from you. You lean forward a bit so you can see her facial expression, and you find that her pout has returned.
“Baby, what’s wrong…?” you ask, this time making sure to be more careful. She doesn’t answer. Instead, she turns off the video on her phone and puts it aside, her gaze now staring a hole into your wall. “I’m sorry for not saying anything when I got home today,” you start apologizing, hoping you would appease her with your words. “But I got this call from my friend who I haven’t seen in ages at a really bad timing, and-”
“That’s not it,” she cuts you off, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Then what…?”
“It’s because you’re always with friends these days!”
“...and?” You don’t understand how you hanging out with friends would be a problem at first, until it slowly begins to dawn on you. “Oh,” you say, “you’re jealous, aren’t you?” She huffs.
“Maybe…” Yuna answers, her voice barely audible as she admits to her feelings. Her strange behaviour from earlier suddenly makes a lot of sense to you, and you can't help but smile as you put an arm around her and place a kiss on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” you say, “I was so focused on my friends that I completely forgot to make time for you properly. I thought it was enough that we see each other when you come over, but I suppose it takes more than that, huh?” You wait for her to respond to you, afraid your explanation might’ve made her more angry, but when she finally turns to face you, all you can see is a soft shade of pink dusted onto her cheeks, and the pout returns as soon as she starts talking.
“I just think it’d be nice if we could go out to get food together more often again… or stay up all night just to talk… or watch a movie, or anything, really,” she says, while avoiding to make eye-contact. “But you’ve been so busy spending all your free time with other people these days that I… couldn’t help but get jealous.” You sigh. You understand where she comes from, and you can see that you hurt her with your mindless behaviour, so you want to make it up to her. You reach out to cup her face with your hand, making her look at you in the process, and finding two big black eyes looking at you from behind her long lashes.
“How about we go out to get dinner tomorrow then? We’ll both be done with our schedules early, right?” you suggest, and you watch her whole face light up, no trace of sadness left in her expression. Instead, a bright smile greets you now, and at the sight you have to smile yourself.
“Okay!” she nods enthusiastically and throws her arms around your neck, bringing you close to her in a sudden hug. You return the embrace just when she’s already pulling back. “But… you need to promise me that it won’t take another month until our next date after that!” she demands with a serious look, and as you find a small pout appearing on her lips you can’t hold yourself back from kissing her.
“Alright,” you say once you part, and you smile at her. “I promise.”
Itzy Chaeryeong x reader
words: ~900
genre: fluff (+ teasing a sulky Chaeryeong)
prompt: “You took all the pillows so I’m using you as one.” (from this list)
It’s a Friday evening and you’re sitting on the couch with Chaeryeong to catch up on the latest episode of the drama you’re both hooked on ever since it started airing. You have your head comfortably resting on her shoulder, while she’s holding two decorative pillows in her lap, hugging them tightly as she follows the characters’ dialogue on-screen.
“Y/N, can you pause for a second?” she asks unexpectedly, without taking her focused eyes off the screen. “I wanna get something to drink.”
“Sure,” you say and begrudgingly lift your head off your girlfriend’s warm shoulder to grab the remote placed on the table. She puts aside the pastel blue pillows when she gets up and then she spins around to question if you need anything from the kitchen too, since she’s already on the way there.
“Thanks, I’m good,” you shake your head and then watch her walk off. Once she disappeared behind the door frame into the next room, your gaze drifts to the pillows, and you use her absence to confiscate them for yourself. Sitting in this position has gotten a bit uncomfortable anyways, so you put one of them between your lower back and the sofa, and the other onto the backrest so you can place your head on the pillow in a similar manner you had put it on Chaeryeong’s shoulder just a little while back. She comes back with a glass of water in her hand, and with her eyes right back on the TV-screen, she puts it down on the table while returning to her place on the couch. Wordlessly, you press play on the remote.
“Hold on-” She must’ve noticed that something’s missing, because now she searches all around her for the pillows while you watch her from the corner of your eye, until she finds you have taken them away from her while she was gone. Apparently not in the mood to put up a fight for them, she lets out a whine while letting her shoulders hang. Then she simply decides to lie down, putting her head in your lap.
“What are you even doing?” you chuckle at her overly dramatic reaction, and you smile a bit wider yet when you look at her and the pout on her lips is very much visible.
“You took all the pillows, so I’m using you as one,” she answers. “Let’s just keep watching now.” You feel her move her head on top of your thighs to get comfortable, and while her full attention has already returned to the screen, you can’t take your eyes off of the girl now resting peacefully in your lap. You ponder for a second if you should leave it at that, but somehow the urge to tease her is stronger. So you put your hand on her head with a grin plastered all over your face that she can’t see. You pretend to be innocently stroking her hair at first, but once you feel her relax under your touch, you slowly entangle your fingers in the strands, and eventually you start moving your hand in circles to make a perfect mess of her soft and freshly washed hair.
“Ahhh, come on!” she complains upon realizing what you’re doing a bit belatedly, and she sits up to sulk at you with a bird’s nest sitting atop her head. You can’t but laugh right at her face, while she attempts to blow one of the strands tickling her face out of the way, but it falls right back into place.
“You look so cute like that,” you tease her, to which she angrily averts her gaze.
“Did I make you mad…?” you ask carefully, but with a smile remaining on your face.
“A bit…” she mumbles, still unwilling to look at you. She’s facing the TV, but you can tell she isn’t focused on the drama anymore.
“Can I kiss it better then…?” you ask boldly, while reaching out to put her chin between your thumb and index finger. She lets you turn her head easily, and from the way she’s blushing and can’t figure out a way to reply fast enough, you reckon that the answer to your question is “yes”. So you lean in, brushing your lips against hers carefully. You feel bad for upsetting her in that moment, and so you feel the need to make it up to her with this kiss. Letting your fingertips glide along her jaw to eventually cup her face with your palm, you deepen the kiss, parting her lips with your tongue. Only when she finally kisses you back does the tension leave your body, and you concentrate fully on the kiss.
“I’m sorry…” you whisper once you two part. When you open your eyes you can see that the blush on her cheeks is still present, and from the way she looks at you now you can tell all her anger is long forgotten. “You just looked so cute, I couldn’t help myself,” you add with a soft laugh, and the words bring some fighting spirit back into her glance.
“Just you wait… next time you least expect it I’m going to pay you back for this, since you’re so cute.” Her pout has returned, and you give her another short peck before answering.
“Sure,” you say. “So long as I get my apology kiss after that as well, I’m fine with anything.”
7 Minutes in Heaven series
Itzy Lia x reader
words: ~1.2k
genre: fluff, friends to lovers
part 2 - Yuna →
Today marks the last evening of your little summer trip to the mountains. The ten of you have rented a vacation home and made yourselves comfortable for a whole week without having to think of work or studying. Originally you were weary about coming along. Your friend Jisu had asked you multiple times, and each time you neither said yes nor no. Truthfully, coming along did sound like fun, but you didn’t know the other eight people very well, so you felt anxious about coming here. Plus, there’s the massive crush you have on her, that you were sure you wouldn’t be able to hide while living with Jisu for a whole week.
However, in the end you had more fun during the trip than you thought you would, and you warmed up to everyone quite well. What’s more is that you don’t feel like anything has changed between you and Jisu ever since coming here, and you’re not sure if you should be glad for that, or if you’re also a bit disappointed in addition to that.
“Let’s play 7 minutes in heaven!” You thought your ears tricked you when you heard Ryujin come up with that suggestion, but finding her already writing each of your names on little pieces of paper and putting them into some old pot she must’ve found in the kitchen tells you otherwise. And so now here you are, all sitting in a circle on the big carpet in the living room, and you don’t know what to do with yourself, because obviously the first person to get selected just had to be you.
“Oh no… I can’t do these kinds of things,” you whine, having Jisu trying to comfort you while she puts her arm around your shoulders. You’d be uncomfortable being locked into a tiny secluded space with just about anyone. Maybe being there with Jisu would be a bit better, but you’re sure you’d give away your feelings in that case, so you don’t know which kind of outcome you should be hoping for here.
“Oh?” your friend exclaims once she sees the name written on the paper that Ryujin is holding up.
“It’s Jisu!” Ryujin announces, and your heart skips a beat.
“Y/N, did you hear that? Isn’t that great?” a clearly very happy Jisu bursts out, but you remain feeling more nervous than anything else. You two get up, and before she can link arms with you, you’re already on your way to the closet on quick steps, arriving there first. “Well someone’s eager to get this over with,” Jisu remarks, probably to tease you, but it’s like her words don’t even reach your ears. Ryujin waits until you’re both inside the tiny closet, then she locks you in.
“You have 7 minutes, starting… now!” she announces, and then you can faintly hear her walking away. You really are all alone with Jisu now, locked into a room that can barely be called a room, because you feel like a third person wouldn’t even fit in along with the two of you. Maybe somebody really small.
“Well?” Jisu starts talking upon noticing your very apparent distress. “Isn’t this the part where people start making out?” You know she’s just trying to be funny in order to help you loosen up a bit, but after her saying that, the mental image of you and her kissing inevitably pops up in your mind, and you can feel yourself blushing.
“No…?” you answer nervously.
“You don’t want to kiss me?” Jisu puts on a pout, and the urge to yell at her that of course you want to kiss her is overwhelming, but you control yourself.
“We’re friends, Jisu…” you argue.
“So? Can’t friends have some fun?”
“Did you drink something while I wasn’t looking?” you attempt to tease her too, but she just laughs it off.
“I didn’t!”, she denies it, her eyes widening as if she was offended by your assumption. “I mean… I guess it’s okay if you don’t want to…” You glance at her, finding an understanding smile on her lips. You feel like you’re being put on a trial where you have to make one of two choices, and only one of them will lead to a good outcome but you have no way of knowing which is which beforehand.
“I… I mean it’s not that I don’t want to…” you eventually say, scared to look at her face while speaking, but at the same time needing to see her reaction. Jisu raises her eyebrows.
“So you do want to kiss me?” she repeats. “Even though we’re friends?” Her question sparks something inside you and you feel anger pushing you to act. You’re not angry at her, you don’t really know at what, probably at the situation you’re in, but as soon as you grab her face and smash your lips against hers, all of that fades within seconds. You’re doing the thing you’d have never even dared to dream of doing - you’re taking the chance to kiss her, and she’s kissing you back.
“You can’t be that dense…” you whisper once you can tear yourself away from her, but the way she looks at you now tells you that you were wrong again.
“I knew…” she confesses. “I’ve known since forever that you like me, I just didn’t want to push you to act on it if you didn’t want to… but being so close to you in here…” You don’t let her finish her sentence, you understand what she’s trying to say anyway. Instead, you lean in again and connect your lips to hers in another kiss. With you still cupping her face in your hands, she reaches out, wrapping her fingers around your wrists and holding them close, as if to keep you from pulling back too soon. And just when you feel like you could lose yourself in the kiss you’re sharing, you hear the key being turned in its lock and Ryujin throws open the door. She lets out an “oh” when you two can’t separate fast enough for her not to see what you’ve been doing. With a proud grin she leads the two of you back to the living room, and when she watches you and Jisu sit down in your original places, but now holding hands, she can’t keep herself from commenting on your situation.
“The first match was a success, I see…” she mutters, before picking up the pot and putting her hand inside. “Let’s see who’s next!” she announces, and all eyes turn to her. Well, all except for yours and Jisu’s, because the two of you couldn’t care less about the world around you right now. Instead, you share the fleeting and shy looks new lovers would, bright smiles on both your faces because you finally managed to confess your feelings to the other.
- 7 Minutes in Heaven
A mini series about Itzy playing the game 7 minutes in heaven together with 5 love interests.
Yeji:
- n/a
Lia:
- n/a
Ryujin:
- Tastes like Lemon | fluff, (angst), slow burn/enemies to lovers - 1.7k
Desc.: For quite some time now you’ve been trying to get the attention of Ryujin, the girl who is trying way too hard to hide her feelings from you, even when you’re doing everything you can to be honest with her.
Chaeryeong:
- Blind | (soft) smut, fluff, comfort - 2.4k
Desc.: You’re caught up in the fear that the person you love the most will just disappear from you if you get too close, and your girlfriend Chaeryeong is set on proving that that won’t happen.
- “You took all the pillows so I’m using you as one.” | fluff - 0.9k
Yuna:
- Hang Up | fluff - 1k (req)
Desc.: You’re spending a lot more time with your friends than with your girlfriend Yuna these days, so she’s starting to get jealous due to the lack of attention you give her.
- Windflower | fluff, angst, royalty AU - 4.9k
Desc.: Due to a promise made between your parents and another family, you are arranged to marry their oldest son on the day you turn 18. However, aside from the fact that he isn’t the kind of person you’d wish to spend the rest of your life with, you only have eyes for Yuna, the girl who used to be one of your childhood friends and is now your secret lover.