your question is whispered into the darkness of your bedroom — you gazing at the ceiling thoughtfully, while jeonghan curls up beside you.
your boyfriend scrunches his nose at you. “angel, it’s two in the morning,” he murmurs, bleary-eyed.
“is it?” you don’t sound that interested, still preoccupied with your thoughts. “but what if pets name people?” a small gasp, and you turn to face him. “what do you think kkuma named coups?”
“pabo?” he suggests half-heartedly, before poking your forehead. “enough crazy questions, baby. let’s sleep now, okay?”
you stifle a yawn as he drapes an arm around your waist. “they’re not crazy questions, though,” you protest half-heartedly, pulling away to frown at him.
“no, they’re very important questions,” jeonghan agrees, clearly just humouring you so you’ll let him pull you close and guide your head to his chest. “the most important.”
“are you teasing me?” you complain sleepily; he laughs softly, kissing the top of your head.
“maybe a little,” he admits, the corners of his lips lifting into an amused smile. “i guess that’s what happens when you talk about flying crabs at two in the morning.”
you speak into his chest, muffled and slurred with exhaustion. “you just don’t get it, hannie,” you grumble, waving your hands vaguely.
“mm,” jeonghan hums in agreement, his voice softening as he sees your eyes closing. you try to force them open, but he passes a gentle hand over your forehead, breathing a quiet, “just sleep now. goodnight, baby.”
there’s a pause, where he checks that you’ve finally fallen asleep with a fond smile on his face — then kisses your forehead with a soft murmur. “dream only good things, okay?”
an / it’s actually 2am over here. could not sleep and was thinking about whether crabs think that fish can fly because my friends and i were talking about it earlier today 😭 and then this just… appeared. anyway. goodnight!
part one • part two
🔞 18+, minors do not interact 🚨 minors and blank blogs will be blocked
Tale tells of a water spirit bound to the Elysian River, destined to guard the very magic her human body once sought after. She lives where the animals come to drink, where the children wade in the water, where the river empties into the sea. And she is waiting for the chance to be freed.
♫ SWIM BTS
PAIRING: jun x fem!reader
WC: 22k / 40ish
TAGS: strangers to lovers, slow burn, JUN IS A SOFT BOY!
CW: jun POV, eventual smut, major character death in part two oops who's it gonna be idk (you can scroll down to the second author's note at the very end of this part for spoilers if you need to know haha), mentions of past family deaths, mentions of past child abuse, violence of the blade and gun variety, descriptions of injuries resulting from said violence, descriptions of an ankle fracture (not violent), mentions of a past war that people are still recovering from, idols from ggs bc what is a joshujin fic without the girlies, don't ask me when this takes place bc idk.
SMUT WARNINGS: smut is in part 2
A/N: if i had a nickel for every time tumblr user sailorsoons drove me so crazy, i became hyperfixated on the idol in question, i'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice! read deadlock or else i'll eat u. anyway. HAPPY SPRING EQUINOX :) this is inspired by the painted lady from avatar the last airbender and tuck everlasting and the jungle cruise movie LOL. hope you enjoy!
I.
WEN JUNHUI ARRIVES AT MOONLIGHT SPRINGS as a particularly harsh winter prepares to make its exit. Snow melts from the mountain peaks into a rush of river rapids that miraculously calm by the time they reach this village. The residents here won't have to worry about flooding, and Junhui has traveled enough to know that's a luxury other villages on the river don’t get to enjoy.
From the moment he steps foot in the village, he can tell there’s something about Moonlight Springs that sets it apart from the other towns he's visited along the 2,000-mile Elysian River. It might be the looming spring season that tricks him into thinking the sun shines brighter, the breeze blows fresher, and the water runs crisper here, but he can’t deny that the residents of Moonlight Springs have a lively spirit he hasn’t quite experienced elsewhere yet.
The village clearly relies heavily on fishing, boats littering its shores and docks as men work hard to bring in the day’s spoils. Despite the sweat on their brows, they all grin and laugh as they work, their bodies giving no signs of exhaustion. Children wade in the water despite the biting air, splashing and screeching in delight as they play, their mothers watching nearby as they chat with each other, fond smiles on their glowing faces.
Usually, when Junhui arrives at a new place, he’s justifiably greeted with cold and confused stares from villagers who aren’t used to seeing a stranger. More than once, it’s been made clear that he was not welcome to learn anything about their people or culture, and when that was the case, he had no qualms about moving on to the next town.
But as he enters Moonlight Springs, Junhui is met with friendly smiles and waves, a few villagers even greeting him and curiously asking where he’s from, a detail he doesn’t particularly care to ever be honest about.
“Oh, it’s so far, you’ve probably never heard of it.”
“I’ve moved so much, it’s hard to remember where I came from.”
“It doesn’t really matter anymore.” Though, that one really isn’t a lie at all.
He’s pointed to a cafe by a kind woman whose child clings to her legs, looking up at Junhui with huge, wondrous eyes.
The cafe is one of the first buildings closest to the water, something Junhui assumes is a strategic placement for a nice lunch and dinner time rush from the town’s several fishermen. By the time he’s inside, though, the sun is almost completely set and whatever crowd might have been there is mostly gone, and Junhui is pleased to find he can enjoy the establishment more or less to himself.
“Welcome!” Junhui turns to find a man walking toward him with a kind smile on his face. He nods at Junhui. “You’re new around here! I’m Kim Mingyu. I own this cafe with my wife. What’s your name?”
Mingyu gestures to a table pushed up against a large window with a beautiful sunset view of the river as he speaks. Junhui unloads his knapsack on one of the seats before lowering himself and quietly sighing as his muscles begin to relax from a week of walking and sleeping on the ground.
“I’m Wen Junhui,” he says, smiling as he bows his head. “Thank you for the warm welcome.”
“Of course!” Mingyu smiles as he walks away, retrieving a cup of water to serve Junhui with. “What can I do you for? We have fish, fish, and… more fish.” Junhui snickers. “If seafood isn’t your thing, though, we do have some salted beef in the back leftover from before the winter started. Might just take a bit to prepare.”
Junhui shrugs. “I have nothing but time,” he responds. “But fish is more than fine.”
“Great, trout okay?” he asks. Junhui nods. He’s just happy to have something he doesn’t have to catch himself. “I’ll have that out with some rice and vegetables in a few minutes. Make yourself comfortable while you’re here. We’re happy to have you!”
“Thank you, Mingyu.”
The cafe owner disappears into the kitchen as Junhui looks around, taking in his surroundings. It doesn’t take long for a woman to emerge from the kitchen, head poking out first and looking around. Her mouth forms a small o before spreading into a wide smile when her eyes land on Junhui.
“Hi!” she greets him, walking out of the kitchen and wiping her hands on the front of her apron. “I’m Kim Dahyun, Mingyu’s wife. I usually take care of the front end of things, but it seems you caught Mingyu first.”
Junhui bows a little, smiling up at the woman. Her disposition is just as bright and sunny as the rest of Moonlight Springs. “Nice to meet you, Dahyun. I’m Wen Junhui.”
“May I?” she asks, gesturing to the empty seat across from Junhui. He nods. “Thanks. It’s nice to sit and relax. I just finished cleaning after our dinner rush; the fishermen aren’t very… clean.”
Junhui laughs. “No, I don’t imagine they are.”
“What brings you to Moonlight, Junhui?”
That’s always the question. “Just traveling around.”
Dahyun nods. “I envy travelers like you—getting to see the world and meet new people. Must be fun!”
“Ah, it’s fun but it’s also nice to stay in one place for a while,” he says, equally envious of Dahyun. He’s been in the village for a little under an hour and it’s already shaping up to be his favorite place he’s visited in the last few years. “Have someplace to call home. Familiar faces.”
Dahyun tilts her head at him and nods. “It is really nice here in Moonlight. Definitely a place you can get used to.”
Junhui smiles, nodding at the children playing in the water. “This is one of the most beautiful villages I’ve visited so far. The water is so pretty here. Though… it’s kind of cold for children to be playing in it, no?” It’s still the tail end of winter, after all.
Dahyun follows his gaze and grins. “Have you been swimming here yet?” Junhui shakes his head. “The water here is very warm. No one can really explain it. We always just assumed that the mountain water warms by the time it gets to Moonlight.”
Junhui frowns. He knows that can’t be right. He’s been further down the river from Moonlight and the water is still ice cold. But as he watches the children and their unbothered mothers, he knows it must be true.
“Wow” is all he can say.
Dahyun nods. “You’ll find a lot of surprises with Moonlight, Junhui.”
“Oh?” He excitedly leans forward on the table. This was his favorite part of traveling—hearing stories. “Like what?”
The cafe owner smiles. “Well, for one, the village is a pretty… spiritual bunch.”
Junhui frowns. “Really? I don’t know if I got that impression.”
He’s been to incredibly religious towns and villages, and they were nothing like Moonlight Springs.
“Yeah, well, Moonlight is different in a lot of ways,” Dahyun explains. “The village believes in a water spirit.”
“A… water spirit…” Junhui repeats slowly. It’s not completely uncommon per se, but he hasn’t heard about things like this for years. These days, more and more people are talking about a singular god. “Please tell me more.”
“Tell him more about what?” Mingyu asks as he emerges from the kitchen and sets a plate of fish in front of Junhui. He leans against the back of his wife's chair as he nods for Junhui to begin eating.
“Thank you for the meal,” he bows again.
“Don’t mention it. So. Is Dahyun filling your head with her crazy tales?”
“Yah, I have no crazy tales,” she retorts, rolling her eyes. “I’m telling him about our water spirit.”
“Ah!” Mingyu tilts his head back in understanding before nodding enthusiastically. “Moonlight’s very own guardian.”
“There are a lot of legends but there are some things that we can’t really explain around here…” Dahyun starts. Junhui listens intently as he digs into his food. “Like the warm water. We try to be logical about it, but we know the water should still be cold when it reaches our village.”
Mingyu nods. “We have a fisherman friend—you’ll meet him. Boo Seungkwan. He’s been all over up and down the river, and the next several villages past us—all of them have ice cold water.”
Junhui nods. “I’ve been further down too. The water isn’t warm—not even in the summer.”
Dahyun shrugs a shoulder sheepishly. “Well, we attribute that to the water spirit.” Junhui nods to make it clear he isn’t judging them or their beliefs at all. If anything, his interest is further piqued.
“We also experience an abundance of fish in Moonlight,” Mingyu adds. “As you can tell from our menu selections.”
“The surrounding villages can experience season-long shortages and Moonlight will never go a day without at least two boats full of fish,” Dahyun says, eyes wide.
“Of course, we have an excess so we share and sell for cheap to neighboring towns, but it’s a little odd how… fortunate we are sometimes,” Mingyu adds.
“So how did the water spirit come about?” Junhui asks after he swallows his food. “How did that story begin?”
“Oh that legend’s been around for quite some time,” Dahyun says, nodding.
Mingyu takes his own seat next to his wife. “The story has been passed down for generations. Probably back to when Moonlight was home to the tribe that founded it.”
Junhui forgets about his food as the two tell him the stories their own parents told them.
“The legend goes like this,” Dahyun starts. “Deep, deep in these very woods, there lies a spring that will give its drinker eternal youth. And one day, a person happened to stumble upon it during their travels. Tired from their journey, they stopped at the spring and took a sip from it, unknowingly becoming blessed with everlasting life and power."
“What’s cool is everyone thinks the spring is nearby since this is where the water spirit is believed to reside,” Mingyu adds. “So you could technically go looking for it and drink and become immortal. Let me know if you do.”
Junhui snorts. "Okay, I'll make sure to let you know."
“Shh, that’s not the point of the legend,” the woman shushes the two of them. “With this blessing, they became a guardian spirit, devoting their time to protecting the river and the villages along it.”
Mingyu nods, back on track. “They spend their days showering the people with bountiful food, clean water, healthy hunts, and so on and so on.”
Junhui frowns. “But if they’re meant to guard all the villages, why does it seem like Moonlight is the only one reaping the benefits?”
The two fidget. “Well, of course, no one can be sure,” Dahyun starts. “After all, it’s a tale. But… we have talked about this and we sometimes wonder if it’s because other villages have stopped telling the spirit’s story.”
Mingyu shrugs. “Maybe they stopped believing. Moonlight’s belief in the water spirit is steadfast, though. This village is very...”
“Spiritual,” Junhui finishes, using Dahyun's own wording. Mingyu nods.
“Yes, spiritual,” he confirms. “If worship—or at the very least, appreciation—is important to the water spirit, then… I’m afraid Moonlight is the only village left standing.”
Junhui nods. “New religions are spreading like wildfire amongst other villages. It’s a little refreshing to hear your beliefs here.”
Both owners give him wide smiles. “It’s nice hosting an open-minded traveler,” Dahyun says.
"Well, I might stay a while,” Junhui says before he’s even fully thought it through. He’s been traveling for almost a year now. He wants to rest and a village hasn’t felt this good to him in a long time. “You all are so inviting.”
Mingyu claps once loudly, startling his wife into glaring at him. “Great! We have an inn further away from the river, just outside the tree line. The innkeeper is a little reserved but she’ll have a nice, cozy room for you.”
Junhui stifles a yawn as he nods. “Amazing. A bed sounds like heaven right now. How much do I owe you for the meal?”
Dahyun scoffs. “Please, consider it a welcome gift!”
Mingyu nods. “Don’t even think about paying!"
Junhui bows in gratitude. “Thank you so much, both of you.” He bows again. “I ate well. I’ll be back for breakfast.”
They both beam at him. “We’ll be here,” Dahyun promises. “Enjoy Moonlight, Junhui!”
“Oh!” Mingyu seems to remember something. He looks around and lowers his voice as he steps closer to Junhui. “We’ve had new visitors over the last few weeks that continue to frequent Moonlight—a good dozen or so in their group. Please be careful of them. They don’t seem to be good news.”
Junhui’s eyebrows rise as he nods. “Thanks for the advice. I’ll be careful.”
“Good. See you soon!”
The next day, despite promising himself he’d rest as much as possible after all his traveling, the first thing Junhui decides he wants to do is go on a hike. Maybe it was the luxurious sleep he got on his bed at the inn or maybe it was the legend of the spring subconsciously getting to him, but all he wanted to do was explore the area around the village.
So after eating breakfast at the cafe and packing refreshments and water, he left Moonlight Springs to aimlessly hike around, never straying too far from the river so he wouldn’t get lost.
Dahyun and Mingyu were right; the closer he was to the village, the warmer the water was. But as time passed and the more he checked, he found the water just as ice cold as he remembered it.
“Feels like winter here again,” he mutters to himself as he dunks his bottle into the river for a refill.
He takes a break from his hiking to look around, surprised at the remnants of ice and snow along the bank of the river. Just one night in Moonlight had him believing it was already springtime. Here, wherever he is and however far he is, it’s very much still February.
When he’s ready to start his hike back to Moonlight Springs, he gathers his belongings and makes his way back down the river. As Junhui takes a step up onto a rock, he misses a sleek spot of ice and slips. Before he can catch himself, he’s careening down the steep incline, landing on his ankle so hard, he knows immediately he’s either badly sprained it or completely broken it.
“Ah!” He hisses in pain, both hands immediately cradling his ankle. “Ah. Oh no.”
He looks up at the sky. It’s just past lunchtime and he’s hours out of Moonlight. He tries to get up and fails, either slipping on ice or buckling in pain.
“No, no, no, no,” he chants quietly to himself. “This cannot be happening.” But it is and he’s already doing the math for how long his food can last him until he’s either crawled back to Moonlight or been found.
Just then, he hears a soft splash and he frowns, looking over his shoulder. He’s surprised—and a bit startled—to find you standing waist deep in the river, eyes already on him. Your wet hair is pushed back and away from your face, which is expressionless, eyes staring blankly at Junhui and his predicament. Your skin is glowing—presumably from swimming—and the tunic you chose to swim in is sticking to your skin and revealing your figure so well, Junhui finds himself distracted from the pain for a moment. Your arms reach out on either side of you, hands just grazing the top of the water, gently moving back and forth.
“Hi!” Junhui calls, hoping you're friendly. “Um, I slipped and hurt myself! Do you think you can help me? I just need to get up!” He mutters the next part to himself. “And then I suppose I’ll hop all the way back.”
You tilt your head at him and squint like you can’t see him well. Junhui groans, turning back to his ankle briefly when a sharp pain runs through it.
“Ow,” he breathes, trying to hold it still. He turns back to the river to find you gone. “Wh—are you kidding me? I just needed a little he—”
He turns back toward his ankle and is cut off by his own startled yelp when he finds you crouched down by his foot, the tunic and pants you wear drenched and dripping over him as you examine his ankle without touching it. You look back up at Junhui and give him a small frown.
“How did you get here so fast?!”
“This is sprained really badly,” you inform him, ignoring his question. You point at a spot that’s already starting to swell. “It might even be fractured.”
“Oh.”
Junhui doesn’t know what else to say, not when he can see a lot of things up close that he couldn’t see from the river. Like the expanse of muscle rippling under the skin of your back, clear even through your tunic. Or how plump your lips are, especially as you pout at Junhui’s stupid ankle. Or the way your eyes shine even under the shade of the trees, so mesmerizing staring at his foot and you don’t even know it.
You aren’t blank at all.
“Where are you from?” you ask Junhui.
“Moonlight Springs.”
You frown. “No, you’re not.”
Junhui raises an eyebrow at you. “What do you mean no I’m not…?”
Your dazzling smile replaces your confused frown. Another thing to add to Junhui’s list of remarkable things about you. “I travel to Moonlight often. I know everyone there.” It's clear you're fond of the village.
“Everyone?” Junhui repeats, scoffing a little.
You nod and say confidently: “Mhm. Everyone.”
“Oh.” For some reason, Junhui hadn’t considered that you weren’t exaggerating.
“I don’t know you, though.”
“Well,” he fidgets. “I’m Wen Junhui. I’m a traveler. I’m staying at Moonlight for now. I just arrived yesterday.”
“Ah, I see. Well, you’re kind of far from the village.”
“I was hiking,” Junhui says even though you didn’t ask.
“I see,” you say again. “I can help you get back if you’d like. It will probably take you all night otherwise.”
“That would be really great actually,” Junhui says, relief flooding his system. “I can pay you when we get back. I left my coins at the inn. Or I can treat you to a meal.”
Your eyebrows rise slowly.
“Oh, not like—no, not—I’m not suggesting anything—or asking anything. I just mean, I can pay you with food. If that’s what you prefer. Over coins. Or I can just give you the coins and you can spend it however you want. Perhaps to buy your own food. Or whatever you like spending on.”
You let Junhui stammer and ramble and when he’s finally done, you grin widely. “You don’t need to pay me, Junhui.” He blushes at the way his name sounds coming out of your mouth. “I’m happy to help you.”
You look between him and the river, a contemplative expression crinkling the space between your eyebrows. Junhui follows your gaze and when you don’t speak for several seconds, he asks, “Do you have a boat?”
You look back to him like you're a little surprised that you're not alone. “Hm? Oh, no. I was just—no, I don’t.” You pause before asking, “I don’t suppose you’d want to swim back?”
Junhui stares at you blankly. He can’t even get up on his own; he’s unsure how you expect him to swim.
“Joking,” you say quickly when you aren’t met with an immediate answer. He isn’t entirely sure you are, but he gives you a nervous laugh anyway. You gesture to Junhui’s torso. “May I?”
“Do you want to go get changed first?” he asks, pointing to your body. “You should probably warm up.”
“I’m not cold,” you say. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes anyway."
“Oh.” Winter is waning but Junhui still feels cold even with his many layers. He doesn't understand how you're faring soaking wet.
"Do you mind that I'm wet?"
Junhui's mind goes blank. "Um. No. No, I don't mind."
You nod. “Alright. Ready?”
“Ah! Yes, yes please. Let’s get up.”
You tuck yourself underneath Junhui’s arm, and his heart beats fiercely when his hand rests brushes against the bare skin of your shoulder where your tunic has been dragged down. You and your clothes are surprisingly warm given that you just came from the river, and he's grateful for it as your clothes start to soak his side.
He’s convinced he weighs next to nothing when you get him up with absolutely no help on his end. He moves to untangle himself from you, but your grip on him tightens and you shake your head.
“It will take us too long if you hop back,” you say, smirking. Junhui’s mouth falls open in surprise.
“I didn’t realize you heard that,” he mutters. “You have really great hearing.”
“Something like that. Shall we?”
“I mean, I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
You shake your head. “No, afraid not.”
“Then, we shall,” Junhui relents.
You're strong, supporting most of his weight and needing little effort on his end. He tries to relax into your hold but finds it near impossible to, worried that he's leaning too much of his weight on you.
“I still don’t know your name," he realizes.
You smile and give him a single name. He thinks it's lovely enough that he doesn't bother asking for a surname.
“Alright,” Junhui accepts. “If I get too heavy, please let me know so we can take a break. I promise I can hop on my own for a little. Or if you bring me some sort of big stick, I can use it as—”
“Do I give you the impression that you’re heavy to me?” you ask, obviously amused. Junhui clamps his mouth shut. “You’re not heavy,” you add on as if you need to.
“Great.” Junhui tries not to keep holding his breath at the close contact.
“So,” you say after a few moments of walking, “you’re a traveler.” Junhui hums his confirmation. “Where’s the destination?”
“I don’t have one.” The answer comes too quickly but it’s the truth. Junhui has only ever had one destination and it was wherever took him away from his hometown.
“Oh? Traveling aimlessly?”
“Yup.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Everyone seems to think so.”
You smile. “Don’t you?”
Junhui thinks about the question and realizes he does find a small part of him feels like a fraud every time someone calls his lifestyle fun. He doesn’t feel like he’s having much fun. He feels like he’s just doing what needs to be done and he happens to have a few, sporadic fun moments on the way.
“I suppose” is all he can come up with.
“You sure have a lot to say.”
Junhui snorts. “I’m just a little tired is all.”
“You did hike far out.”
“No, I meant I’m a little tired of traveling,” he explains. “I’ve been doing it for so long. I used to think it was the best—not having any ties to anyone or anything. And I still appreciate being able to move around so much, but… it’s tiring.”
You nod like you understand. “Sometimes you want stability. Roots.”
He thinks back to what he told Dahyun last night and he nods. “Yeah. Exactly. Roots.”
“Then make some.”
He sighs, resenting the idea that planting roots might come so easily to other people. Not to him. Never to him. “I don’t know how to.”
“What?” you laugh, glancing up at him briefly before turning your attention back to where you're guiding him. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how,” he repeats, feeling a little embarrassed. “I left home when I was 14. I’ve been traveling since then. That’s half my life at this point.”
You nod slowly, and his embarrassment whittles away a little when you don’t laugh. “Well, first, you find a home.”
Junhui thinks about Moonlight. Could he call it a home? It’s too early to tell but he can see himself enjoying all the seasons of the year there.
“Then, you find friends. Or at least people you like. But more importantly—if you can—real, true friends,” you say. “People you trust to take care of you and people you know you can take care of too. Kind and honest people.” You pause. “I know Moonlight is full of those.”
Junhui nods in agreement. “I think so too. What else?”
You smile. “What else, what else… ah! You find a job you like. To replace all those coins you’re a little too willing to give away.” Junhui rolls his eyes but has to fight to stifle a smile. “Something you can stomach doing for long periods of time. If it’s fun, I suppose that’s a plus.”
“Okay. Home, friends, job. Anything else?”
“Love,” you answer without thinking twice, sending Junhui’s heart into another frenzy. He frowns and when you see the expression on his face, you laugh. “Love for your life. That’s all. When you love yourself and your life and the people in your life, the roots will grow all on their own.”
“Ah,” Junhui nods. His heart still doesn’t calm down after the clarification. “Love. Interesting.”
“Why is it interesting?”
“No reason,” says Junhui. He doesn’t need to explain that he’s not entirely sure he’s ever loved anything or anyone in his life to a complete stranger. “Do you love your life?”
You laugh a little. “This conversation is so… intimate.” Junhui’s cheeks feel like they’re on fire.
“Oh, sorry, you don’t have to—”
“No, no, I don’t mind,” you say, giving him a quick smile to reassure him that you really don’t. “I’m just… not used to it.” You fall silent for a moment and Junhui can see you're thinking over his question, your eyes narrowing again like you're trying to concentrate on something. Finally, you sigh and shrug. “I do. I do love my life. It’s not what I imagined it would be but I suppose I love it. I try to, anyway."
Junhui nods slowly. It’s not a concept he’s very familiar with—loving your life, especially loving your life despite it not meeting your expectations. Nothing about his life has been anything he expected from it. Most days, he still feels like a runaway kid.
“What do you love about it?”
You tilt your head. “Hmm… I love the river. I love the nature surrounding it. I love Moonlight,” you say the last bit as you smile up at Junhui from where you're tucked under his arm. “And I love everyone who lives there.”
Junhui briefly wonders what that must feel like, being part of a group of people someone like you loves. You've already treated Junhui with so much generosity and kindness, he can’t imagine what it would feel like to actually be loved by you.
His cheeks redden even further at the thought. You're a stranger.
“Do you love your life?”
“I don’t know,” he answers honestly. “I don’t think I do.”
He expects to be pitied or laughed at or called sad. None of those things happen. You simply accept it and nod. “Well, maybe you’ll learn to.”
“Maybe,” he agrees. “Okay. I’ve got Y/N's Guide to Planting Roots. I’ll start tomorrow.”
You laugh, the sound reverberating through Junhui’s side. “Or maybe you start in a few weeks, when your ankle has healed.”
“A few weeks?!” Junhui practically shrieks, coming to a stop.
You nod. “I’ll bring you to the healer at Moonlight and he can give you a better time frame but your sprain seems severe. You’ll have to be off your foot for a little bit.”
Junhui sighs. “Perfect.”
“In a hurry to run away from Moonlight already? After all that roots talk?” you joke as you two continue walking.
“No,” Junhui pouts. “I just like walking around and exploring. Plus, I didn’t even get to swim!”
“Swim?” you repeat, glancing at the river. “Didn’t you say it was too cold? Why would you want to swim?”
“The water in Moonlight is warm because of the water spirit,” Junhui explains, surprised at how much he sounds like he believes it. Maybe he does. He feels your grip on him tighten and he looks around to see if there are any slippery rocks they might trip on.
“Ah, the legend of the water spirit.”
“Mhm. I just learned about it yesterday.”
“And what do you think?” you ask.
“I think it’s really neat,” Junhui says honestly. “I like that the village is preserving its stories like that. I’ve visited so many places and they don’t really do that anymore. I found that a lot of people don’t like hearing whimsical tales from the old world.”
You nod slowly, a thoughtful expression crossing your face. You say nothing, though, so Junhui, finding himself a little more comfortable, asks you questions.
“Why are you in Moonlight so often?”
“I visit to trade,” you answer. “Fish, crops, clothes, trinkets, all kinds of things.”
“For your own village?”
You take a moment to respond. “Right.”
“Where’s your village?”
“Where’s yours?”
Junhui laughs a little. “Okay, let’s not talk about hometowns.”
A lazy smirk stretches across your face. “I’m a traveler too,” you sort of answer the question. “I just travel between the same few villages. I like being near the river.”
“I can see why,” he nods, craning his neck to look at it again. “It’s very pretty. It’s a nice place for roots.”
You don’t say anything and when Junhui glances at you again, he sees a deep blush spreading across your cheeks. Before he can ask if he said something uncomfortable, you're speaking again.
“Is this your first time near the Elysian?” you ask.
Junhui shakes his head. “I’ve been up and down the river, but it’s my first time in this particular area.”
“Interesting that I’ve never seen you then.”
“Well, it’s a big river and I’m sure you see lots of people.”
Your gaze meets Junhui’s and he finds that same, unreadable expression from before, when you were still in the river. You adjust your grip on him for the first time and you shrug but don’t say anything else.
“Need a break?”
“I promise you I won’t need a break,” you laugh. “Unless you need a break from being lugged around, then we can stop.”
Junhui huffs a laugh. “I do not need a break.”
“Great, I don’t either.”
You both carry on in comfortable silence for several minutes and Junhui doesn’t notice when his head starts to loll toward yours lazily, his eyes fluttering every few steps.
“You can go to sleep if you want to,” you finally say after Junhui yawns for the third time. “I can definitely carry you on my back. I don’t mind.”
Junhui doesn't consider himself particularly prideful but the thought of not only a woman but you specifically carrying him mortifies him. He immediately straightens, earning an amused noise from you.
“I’m sorry,” he apologizes, shaking his head like that will chase away his exhaustion. “I think the last few weeks are catching up to me.”
“You’ve done a lot, Junhui,” you say, nodding. It oddly feels like praise. “You should rest. I can get you to Moonlight safely.”
“I’m not going to force a lady to carry me several miles down the river,” he protests. “I’m awake!”
You smile. “Okay, if you say so.”
“What do you think about the water spirit?” Junhui asks suddenly. You seem to choke on nothing at the abrupt question.
“I’m sorry?”
“You asked me what I thought of the water spirit but we didn’t talk about what you thought,” he says.
“I don’t think much about her,” you say.
“You think they’re a her?”
“Uh, no, sorry that was just me... envisioning what the spirit looks like.”
“Oh? What does the spirit look like to you?”
“I guess a woman…” you say slowly and as if it pains you to. “Probably half fish. Maybe blue. Small. Quiet? You probably wouldn't notice her in the river at all.”
Junhui frowns. “That’s so… specific.”
“I don’t know what else," you say, almost sounding frazzled by the question.
Junhui laughs. “Okay, well you have a fun idea of what the spirit looks like.”
“What do you see when you think of them?” you ask, adjusting him again.
“Probably the opposite,” Junhui admits, snickering. “I don’t know that I see any one gender but I see someone taller. Muscular from all the swimming. Long limbs that makes it easy to cut through water. They have to move well in the river after all, right?”
You nod but say nothing. Junhui leans back and looks at you.
“Now that I think about it, maybe a little like you!” he says. The blush on your skin returns and he finds that he’s addicted to it. “Do you swim well?”
“No.” The answer comes quickly. “I’m an average swimmer.”
“Oh, well, you get my point,” he says. “Did your parents tell you about the tale too? Dahyun and Mingyu—you probably know them—they told me the story has been passed down through the generations.”
You look sad for a moment, and Junhui gets the sinking feeling he shouldn’t have asked about your parents. He’s about to change the subject when you answer. “Yes. My mother would tell it to me as a child. It was a little different, though. There was no spirit. Just the spring of eternal youth.”
“Did she think it was nearby too?” he asks. “Mingyu seems to think so.”
You look down at him, once again unreadable. “No, I don’t think it’s nearby.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Why?” you snort. “Looking to take a sip?”
“No,” Junhui says honestly. “That’s a lot of life to live. More than I can probably handle.” You nod like you agree. “I’m just a curious person.”
You smile. “I can tell.”
Junhui feels his face warm.
“I like it,” you add. “You’re fascinating.”
He smiles, subconsciously wrapping his arm around your shoulders a little tighter. “You too. Thanks for helping me.”
“I’m happy to.”
“Maybe you can be one of my friends,” Junhui proposes suddenly. “If I decide to make roots, I mean.”
You grin at him. “I’ll be your friend whether or not you decide to plant roots, Junhui.”
“Good. That’s good.”
You're both blanketed in silence once more, and Junhui is pleased to find how comfortable it is each time. The sounds of birds chirping and water flowing were a nice touch to this moment for him. Like you previously mentioned, he doesn’t experience this form of intimacy often. And it wasn’t only his skin against yours; it was talking freely without wondering what to say next or asking questions he would never ask any other stranger.
“What’s your favorite thing about traveling, Junhui?”
He looks down at you, your eyes briefly landing on him before flitting back to the path ahead. He wishes you two were sitting down on the ground—maybe even wading in the river the way you had been when he first saw you. He wishes you were just standing still, face-to-face. That way, he can properly look you in those pretty eyes.
“Junhui?”
“Hm?” He startles a little.
“Your favorite thing about traveling?”
“Oh, right. It’s probably meeting people.” Junhui sneaks another peek at you. You're still looking straight ahead so he allows himself the time to stare at you openly.
“I enjoy that too,” you agree.
“Some villages are full of mean, miserable people,” he says honestly, making you laugh. “But the kind people are the most memorable.”
“I’m sure they are.”
“There was one village where a young woman—maybe around our age.” You smile a little at that as Junhui continues. “She would bake me pastries every morning and would never accept payment. She insisted her bakery was successful enough, but I think she was just really very kind. She always wrapped it so beautifully. Sometimes, it even came with a note. I still have all of them.”
“Oh? What did they say?”
“Just small things like ‘hope you like it’ or ‘my mother taught me this one.’ I just thought they were so nice, I kept them.”
You smile. “It sounds like she took a liking to you.”
Junhui immediately stiffens at the thought. “Oh, no. Absolutely not.”
You laugh. “Why are you so convinced she didn’t? Gifting someone thoughtful items relentlessly seems like a telltale sign they like you, no?”
“Sure…” he says slowly, though he’s not even sure he knew that. He’ll have to take note of it. “But I’m positive she really just wanted me to try her pastries.”
“Ah, so the feelings weren’t returned then?”
Junhui side-eyes you and you bite your laugh back. “It doesn’t seem like I’m going to be able to convince you that she didn’t like me,” he sighs. “But even if she did, I didn't think of her… romantically. No.” Not that he really involved himself with anyone romantically. He never met anyone that made his heart pound even a fraction of the way you are now.
You, thankfully, don’t need any further explanation. You simply nod. “I see.” There are a few moments of silence before you smirk and say, “That doesn’t change the fact that she probably fancied you.”
“You’re proving to be insufferable.”
Your laugh fills his ears and he can’t help but smile with pride knowing that he’s the cause of it. “Sorry. It’s just plain to see.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why she would like you,” you say as if it isn’t something that has the power to send Junhui to his grave. “Why she would want to bake for you.”
“You know,” Junhui starts, trying to breathe evenly, “one day, I might be talking to another stranger in another village about how memorable some of the people I’ve come across have been, and maybe the memory I retell won’t be the girl and her bakery, but the girl that helped me get home. I don’t think you’d appreciate this stranger assuming you fancied me, would you? A good deed is just a good deed.”
Your lips turn into a tiny, suppressed smile. “All I’m taking from that question is that you consider Moonlight your home.”
Junhui rolls his eyes, but he realizes that if he got to see and talk to you often, Moonlight would very well be his home.
“I think it would be a fair assumption to make, though," you say, shrugging.
“Assume what? That Moonlight is my home?”
You don’t answer him. “Do you think you would talk about me then?” you ask instead. “Do you think I’ll be one of the kind, memorable ones?”
Junhui scoffs like the question is silly because it kind of is. “Of course. You’ve probably landed yourself at the very top of kind strangers I’ve met. I think you’ll be plenty memorable.” It’s an understatement. From the moment you crouched down to examine his ankle, Junhui knew you would be someone he’d remember forever either way.
You pause and the sudden stillness makes his heart jump into his throat. You look up at him and when you see he’s serious, the corner of your lips quirk up into a soft smile. There’s something sad about it, though, and Junhui can’t help but feel a little lonely watching you.
“I hope I will be” is all you say before continuing the journey.
After a few minutes, Junhui musters up the courage to say, “You will be.”
You don’t ask him to elaborate so he hopes you know what he means.
Unfortunately, the trek doesn't last nearly as long as Junhui wants it to, even on an injured foot. When he sees the distant lights of Moonlight Springs against the quickly darkening sky, he finds that he feels sad and disappointed that his time with you has run out.
So he lies to buy himself more time before he can stop himself.
“Uh, can we take a break? I’ve lost feeling in my leg.”
You stop and look up at Junhui with a curious look. “It’s just a few more minutes.”
“Please,” he says pathetically.
Still, you smile at him and nod, finding an old log for him to sit on and letting him down gently. You don’t remove your hands from his body until you're sure Junhui is situated and comfortable. When he is, you crouch down in front of him, not a single goosebump on your bare skin even though he's already beginning to shiver.
"How does it feel?" you ask, nodding at his ankle—fully swollen and purple now.
“Can barely feel it," he lies. "You’re a very steady person.”
You laugh. “I do my best.”
“Are you going to leave right away?” Junhui asks.
You look at him thoughtfully. “I have some matters to tend to so I’ll have to leave, yes.”
The exclusion of a promise to come back leaves Junhui feeling empty. He hasn’t talked to someone like this in a long time.
“Why do you look so sad?” you ask, your eyebrows pinching in worry. “Your ankle will heal fast.”
Junhui looks down at the injury. “Right. My ankle.”
He fidgets then, pretending to stretch his “sleeping” leg. You smile as you poke it, and he feigns tingly pain as you do.
“What don’t you love about it?” you ask, causing Junhui to frown in confusion. “Earlier. When you said you don’t love your life?” You inch closer to him so you can get a better look at his ankle, just like you were when you first found him. “What don’t you love about it?”
There were so many things he could list, but where should he start? Where would he even be able to start that wouldn’t drive the conversation into a dark and depressing place? He hates his parents. He hates the way he was raised. He hates the town he grew up in. And although he loves the beauty of traveling, most of the time he hates the idea of never having something to come back to. Or someone.
He settles on the one thing he thinks these all have in common.
“I don’t like being so alone,” he admits.
The expression that passes your face tells Junhui all he needs to know. This is someone who understands what he means without having to further explain. You lean back on the heels of your feet and sigh, tilting your head back to look at the inky sky.
“It’s so easy to feel alone, isn’t it?” you ask, eyes darting around the sky like you're foolishly trying to count the thousands of stars splattered across it. “When everything feels so vast and never-ending.”
Junhui nods, barely hearing you when he gets to watch you unabashedly like this. His eyes roam your face, your neck, your tunic still clinging to you in all the places that make him blush, your peaked nipples poking through the fabric—the only sign that you maybe feel any semblance of the breeze that has him shivering. He looks away, face on fire when he realizes how inappropriate he's being.
“Do you feel alone too?” he asks you.
“All the time,” you confirm. “Every day. The only company I really have is the river.” You pause, eyes sliding over to the bigger attraction in the sky. “And the moon. But sometimes, she likes to hide.”
“What about the villagers?” he points out. “You said you knew all of them.”
“I do,” you say, nodding. “But I feel alone all the same.”
Junhui can understand that feeling. He doesn’t say anything else.
“I hope you plant roots, Junhui,” you say, and when he looks up from his lap, he sees your eyes on him now, scanning his face the same way you did the sky. What you're searching for, he's not sure. “I hope you don’t feel so alone when you do.”
“I will,” he decides aloud. “In Moonlight. I’ll do it here. I’ll make this my home.”
You smile softly. “Good. Let’s get you back.”
It only takes you two a few minutes after you get Junhui back on his feet to reach Moonlight Springs. Once there, he finds the village is still lively with people walking about even as it gets later and later. You're greeted warmly by the few people who are out, enjoying the night, and when you greet them all by name, Junhui realizes you weren't lying when you said you knew everyone here.
By the time you get him to the healer, Junhui has inadvertently learned the names of about a dozen people thanks to you.
“Hansol,” you greet the man who opens the door you knocked on.
He says your name excitedly, smiling and stepping forward to hug you. He freezes, eyes widening when they land on Junhui and his foot. "What happened? Are you okay?” the man asks Junhui. He doesn't give him a chance to answer. “I'm Hansol, by the way. My mother is traveling for supplies at the moment, but I can probably help you.” He squints at his foot like he's already planning his care.
You smile and turn to Junhui. "Hansol is a fantastic healer on his own. You won't need to wait for his mom. She taught him everything she knows."
Hansol waves a hand, clearly embarrassed at the praise.
"Hansol, this is Wen Junhui,” you introduce him, and he wriggles a little to signal to you to let him go so he can take a step forward. You don’t, instead tightening your grip.
Junhui gives up and nods weakly at the doctor. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. What brings you here?” he asks, eyeing the state you two are in. “In… Y/N's arms?” He smiles a little, mischief dancing in his eyes.
“He sprained his ankle while hiking,” you explain as he steps aside to let you both in. You finally let Junhui go, helping him onto the cot Hansol points to. You don’t even look tired from helping him all day.
“Okay, well let’s take a look,” Hansol says. He brings up a seat and inspects Junhui’s ankle, asking him questions as he does. He arrives at the conclusion that it isn’t just a sprain—he has a minor fracture—and he gets to work on fixing him up.
By the time he’s done, Hansol has his ankle securely wrapped in bandages and a splint and has procured a pair of wooden crutches and a timeline of about three fortnights to heal. But what is most discouraging, though, isn’t the lengthy timeline; it’s the fact that he didn’t realize at some point—maybe while Hansol was asking him endless questions about his ankle—you had quietly let yourself out and escaped to wherever else you needed to be.
“Looking for her?” Hansol asks, smiling knowingly. It makes an ugly feeling curl at the bottom of his stomach thinking that another man could possibly know what Junhui feels like right now. But surely you have this effect on everyone you meet. “She does that a lot.”
“What?”
“Disappears,” the healer answers. “She’ll be back in no time. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not.” It’s a lie and they both know it.
“Sure,” he grins. “Take care, Junhui. Stay off that foot and come back if you feel any pain.”
And with that, he’s released into the night with his crutches, missing the way you fit under his arm.
It only takes three days of hobbling around on his crutches and being doted on by the villagers of Moonlight Springs for Junhui to decide this is the perfect place for roots.
For the last three days, Junhui thought of Y/N's Guide to Planting Roots, and as complete strangers took the initiative to escort him around, pick up food for him, help wash his clothes, and more, it was clear to him that this was an opportunity to make friends. He already knew several of the villagers’ names and the children were already comfortable enough with him to climb all over his good leg and beg him to play with them.
Embarrassingly, he spent a lot of his time watching the outskirts of the village for a familiar traveler, only to be met with the faces of the cold, unapproachable people Mingyu had warned him about on his first day in Moonlight. He stayed out of their way, largely uninterested in whatever their business was as he scanned the treeline for signs of you.
Still, you don’t come back like the healer said you would, and Junhui becomes increasingly discouraged.
It’s silly, he thinks. It’s silly to be this enamored with someone I knew for a few fleeting moments.
Even then, he can’t stop watching the edge of Moonlight every day, as he hobbles between the inn, the cafe, and the river. It’s during the sunset of the third day immediately after a long dinner with Mingyu and Dahyun, as he’s urging his gaze to stop scanning the edge of the village, that he takes out a piece of paper and writes a short list.
Y/N's Guide to Planting Roots
☐ Find a home
☐ Make friends
☐ Get a job
☐ Love!! ♡
He breathes deeply, knowing what this means now. He’s officially trying to plant roots. He’s going to try and make a home out of Moonlight Springs—the first home he’s had since he was 14. Maybe the first home he’d ever consider a home to begin with.
The very next day, he seeks out the innkeeper, a small, sleepy-looking woman who was constantly doing random tasks around her inn. When he finds her, she’s in one of the rooms, collecting bedding to be washed.
“Hello,” Junhui greets her, knocking on the frame of the open door. She looks up at him but continues to work as she speaks.
“Junhui,” the innkeeper nods at him. He has only interacted with her to pay for his room every morning since the woman seems incredibly busy, but Junhui isn’t surprised she remembers his name. It seems that all the villagers are good at that. “Good morning. Paying for another night? I can help you at the front desk in a few moments.”
“Ah, that’s actually what I wanted to talk about.”
Sensing a longer conversation than she expected, the woman drops the sheets into her woven basket and fully turns to Junhui, blowing her hair way from her eyes as she does. She nods. “What can I help you with?”
“I notice you work very hard, Sakura,” Junhui starts.
She sighs deeply like she’s tired and ready to sleep for the next millennia. “I usually fare just fine without any extra staff, but I’m hosting a few more guests than I’m used to,” she explains. “I didn’t realize that other group of men would be staying so long.”
Junhui knows she’s talking about the same group he was warned about. Travelers came and went in the last several days, but the group stayed day after day—thankfully not anywhere near his room.
“I might be making life a little harder for you then,” he laughs nervously. Sakura tilts her head at him questioningly. “I think I’d like to stay in Moonlight Springs for an extended period of time.”
Sakura smiles at that but doesn’t interrupt him.
“A… friend gave me advice about how to get started.”
“Started on what?”
“Planting roots?” Junhui laughs, a little embarrassed. “I haven’t lived anywhere permanently in quite a long time, so I wanted some guidance. She suggested a job.”
“Ah,” she nods, understanding where this conversation is going. She lets Junhui ask anyway.
“I was wondering if you would like extra staff. I know I’m down a foot at the moment,” he says, lifting one crutch pathetically for show, “but I’ll heal soon and I’ll work hard in the meantime if you give me a chance. I also don’t need much—part of my pay for now can even just be room and board until I find a more… permanent solution, if you’d prefer. I’m good at making my coins last. And—”
Sakura interrupts him. “You can work for me, Junhui.”
Junhui grins. “Really?”
“Yes,” she nods, stretching her arms high above her head and yawning before she continues. “I really should’ve gotten help a long time ago, but I easily get stuck in my ways and being busy became my routine. These days, though, I would kill for an extra hour of sleep.”
“And you can get it if you’d like!” Junhui exclaims, excited about his new opportunity. He’s worked hard for coins here and there but has never had a permanent job, instead relying on odd jobs, selling his belongings, and even—in the worst times of his life—begging. “I’m an early riser! I can even get started right now if you’d like to nap.”
“The sun has just risen,” Sakura says, amused.
“A perfect time for a nap, really.”
That makes her laugh. She looks down at the laundry, to Junhui’s foot, and then back to his face. She nods. “I will definitely take you up on sleeping in soon, but for now, why don’t you shadow me today? I’ll explain everything I do and you can get trained on how to be me so I can sleep.”
“Absolutely. Let’s do it.”
Another two days pass as Junhui dutifully follows Sakura around the inn grounds, helping her wherever and however he can—scrubbing sheets in the river, dusting furniture, cleaning common areas, watering plants, and taking payment from travelers. Of course, every time he’s near the water, he expects to see a beautiful woman wading in the shallows, but he never does. Thankfully, Sakura has enough to do around the inn that his mind wanders to you a little less, making his days go by quickly.
On his third day on the job, Sakura tells Junhui to retire early, a gift for allowing her to sleep in until nearly lunchtime. So with nothing to do, he brings his list to the edge of the river to watch the sunset, perched on the same rock he’s been occupying every free moment he gets.
Y/N's Guide to Planting Roots
☐ Find a home
☐ Make friends
☑ Get a job
☐ Love!! ♡
After proudly checking off the box, he lifts his gaze back to the water, where the sun is slowly sinking into the horizon and the last of the day’s fishermen are floating back and docking with their spoils.
Junhui isn’t sure why he’s so desperate to see you again. Of course, he knows he has a fascination with you, but he’s come across several beautiful women on his travels—has even been taken to bed by some of them too. None of them had him giving them another thought one moment past saying goodbye, let alone a week after. None of them had him daydreaming about a life he has always been convinced he wasn’t ever going to have.
You think there’s anything better out there for you? His father’s voice boomed through his head like he was still in the room with him.
You think anyone will ever care about you or love you? You think you can do better than us?
You will never find a home. You will never find people to love you. You’ll come crawling back here and by then, it will be too late. We won’t want you either.
And here he was, sitting on a rock, waiting for a stranger who never promised to return, who never showed him any signs she reciprocated his infatuation, and yet, is still giving him enough lovesick hope to think he might deserve the things he never thought he deserved.
He looks down at his list, eyes lingering on the word love.
“It was just a few hours,” he reminds himself aloud like it will help. He folds his list back up and tucks it into the front pocket of his tunic, his palm resting briefly against his chest as he thinks about the way his heart beat so erratically around you that day.
The last boat docks and empties, and by the time the last fisherman is off, the sun is almost fully set. Junhui is so lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t notice that last fisherman when he stops right by his rock, his knapsack thrown over his shoulder as he looks down at him.
“Hi,” he says, toeing Junhui’s good foot with his own. He tries not to jump as he looks up.
A tanned face peers down at him, a small smile on his lips as he tilts his head at him curiously. He smells like fish but Junhui has honestly grown accustomed to the smell, sitting in the same place several times a day, where the fishermen are constantly walking by him.
Before he can say hello back, the man is speaking again.
“What are you waiting for?”
“I’m sorry?”
He swings his knapsack off his shoulder and lets it fall to the ground next to Junhui, who looks down and scoots away from it. The fisherman nods at him and when he doesn’t do anything, he brings his hands up in a shooing motion.
“Oh—” The man is already squeezing himself onto the rock before Junhui can fully move over for him. The rock fits both of them, not quite comfortably, but he doesn’t mind.
“I’m a fisherman,” he says even though that much is obvious. He nods at the boat he just walked off. The word Dandelion is painted on the side of it, chipped and fading but still bold and proud. “That’s my boat.”
“It’s nice,” Junhui says because it is but also because he has no idea what else to say.
“You’ve been sitting here every day when I get back from fishing,” he informs him. “Sometimes, you’re even here when I leave in the mornings. Which is usually painfully early.”
Junhui feels his cheeks warm.
“What are you waiting for? It can’t be a fisherman,” he thinks aloud. “I know all of them and their loved ones, and I haven’t seen you before this week. Or are you just watching the sun rise and set?”
He nods slowly. “The sun is extra beautiful here,” Junhui says as he watches it disappear under the river and the sky turns a deep purple. “More beautiful than anywhere else I’ve been.”
“So it is just to watch the sun,” the stranger says, nodding pensively like he can appreciate that. Junhui doesn’t correct him. The man pulls his knapsack toward him and rummages through it, coming out with a small bag of tiny cookies. “Want some? They were baked by Dahyun this morning.”
Junhui accepts one. “Thank you.”
“I’m Boo Seungkwan.”
“Wen Junhui.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Junhui,” he says, popping a whole cookie into his mouth. Junhui does the same and frowns a little when he tastes a bit of fishiness to them. The dangers of becoming a fisherman—fishy cookies. He lifts a hand and shakes his head when Seungkwan offers him another one. “I was beginning to think you were waiting for a lost love or something.”
He snorts because it’s a ridiculous thought, but his heart thunders at that anyway.
“But that would be weird—to be brand new in a village and already be waiting for your long lost love to return from war or something,” Seungkwan says. He talks like Junhui isn’t even there—like he could carry the entire conversation by himself—and he finds it amusing. “Though love is fast-striking, I suppose.”
“What do you mean?” Junhui asks.
Seungkwan shrugs a shoulder. “Falling in love feels like getting suckerpunched sometimes, don’t you think?”
Junhui barks out laughter. “What?”
“You’re just sitting there, minding your own business, and suddenly you’re smacked across the face and—BAM!" Seungkwan smiles when he jumps. “You’re in love. I guess I wouldn’t blame you if you were waiting for someone you loved, no matter how new you are to Moonlight.”
“I’m not—I don’t think I’m—no,” Junhui stammers, laughing as he does.
Seungkwan gives him a funny look, slowing his chewing all of a sudden. “You’re not watching the sun, are you?” he accuses him. “I’m right on the nose, aren’t I?”
Junhui’s cheeks redden further. Maybe it’s a blessing you haven't returned if it’s this easy for a stranger to read him.
“No,” he insists, wincing. “I’m not in love. I don’t even—I can’t—I don’t know what that even feels like.”
Seungkwan raises his eyebrows but doesn’t tease him the way he’s half expecting the extremely sociable man to. “Okay, fair enough. But… who are you waiting for?”
Junhui casts a sidelong glance at him. “A stranger. A stranger I’m not in love with. I would just like to thank her for helping me the other day. When I hurt my ankle, she helped me.” He nods down at his bad foot.
“Oh, I see,” he nods. “How did you hurt it?”
“I was hiking and fell badly,” he explains. “She was swimming in the river and helped me get back to Moonlight when I was several miles away.”
Seungkwan’s entire demeanor changes. His playfulness seems to subside completely as his posture straightens and he swallows thickly. “You’re waiting for Y/N.”
Do you really swim so often, everyone knows who he's talking about from the mere mention of the activity?
“Ah,” Junhui rubs the back of his neck and shakes his head, “I’m not waiting for her. I’m just… appreciating the view here and if she happens to stop by… well, I’d just like to thank her again. I didn’t get to properly say goodbye.”
Seungkwan nods. “She's… hard to catch. She’s quite the free sp—a free soul. A free person!" Junhui’s eyebrows rise at the series of corrections. “You can always count on her to return to Moonlight but it can be anywhere from mere hours to… several months. She just… roams.”
Junhui finds his heart sinking at the idea of you failing to visit Moonlight Springs for months. He knows he’d enjoy his time in the village regardless and that nurturing roots in the meantime will be fulfilling, but still, he feels an ache in his chest at the thought.
Seungkwan suddenly stands and retrieves his knapsack off the floor. “If you want to see her—and I know you do—” He flashes him a smirk. “—you shouldn’t wait. You should seek her out. She's only ever really in the village if she has business… or if she’s helping men with broken feet, I suppose.”
“It’s a fractured ankle.”
The fisherman smiles. “If someone were looking for her, the best bet would be to grab a boat and float down the river.” He points in the direction the sun just set. “She never goes past Moonlight, so if you row down that way, you’ll find her eventually.”
“This is a 2,000-mile river. How do I know when to dock and look?”
Seungkwan laughs like he just told him a joke. “You won’t have to.”
Before he can ask what that means, he plops another cookie into his mouth before walking off.
“Nice to meet you!” he calls over his shoulder. “See you tomorrow!”
He thinks it over. The first time he met you, you were in the river. Maybe Seungkwan is right; maybe floating down the water will be the easiest way to find you. What will Junhui say or do when he does find you? He doesn’t know and it doesn’t matter. He just wants a glimpse of those eyes again at this point.
II.
THE VERY OBVIOUS ISSUE WITH THE FISHERMAN'S ADVICE is that Junhui does not have a boat, and he’s much too humiliated to even consider asking Seungkwan, or any other fisherman, for a ride just for the hope of seeing you. And much to his disappointment, he doesn’t find a boat—or make enough money to even come close to affording one—even several weeks later. His ankle is fully healed, he’s able to work without the guidance of Sakura, he’s befriended Mingyu and Dahyun enough to constantly go to the local tavern to drink with them after work, and he’s checked another item off his list.
Y/N's Guide to Planting Roots
☐ Find a home
☑ Make friends
☑ Get a job
☐ Love!! ♡
Still, he is absolutely boatless, and even worse, absolutely you-less. His quality of life has undoubtedly improved since arriving in Moonlight Springs, but the thought that the kind stranger who helped him find his way here is out there, traveling from village to village, feeling as utterly alone as he used to, tortures him day and night.
And there are so many voices in Junhui’s head—so many voices that whisper how ridiculous it is that he’s so concerned about your whereabouts. Voices that tell him it’s peculiar to be this taken to someone after knowing them for a handful of hours. The loudest voice, though, tells him that there's a possibility he'll never see you again and he’ll think about the brief encounter for the rest of his life.
“Spring is upon us,” Sakura says as she enters the front room with a basket full of freshly sunned laundry—mostly blankets and sheets. “We can probably pack away these winter blankets and find something more cooling for the guests.”
Junhui thinks about waking up with most of his own blankets kicked off him and on the floor the past few mornings and agrees. “I can help,” he says, emerging from behind the front desk. “Where do you keep them?” He reaches down to grab the basket Sakura had dropped to the floor. He hikes it on his hip.
“In the blue barn by the treeline,” she says, already leading the way out. “I have more laundry to take down from the line, so I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”
Junhui heads toward the barn he’s seen several times—close enough to wonder if it’s part of the inn, far enough that his arms are burning by the time he reaches the doors. There’s a lock on the door that none of the keys he was given opens, so he sets the basket down and waits the few minutes for Sakura to come. When she does, she lets him in, and they get to work folding and packing away the winter blankets.
“Didn’t want to use a barn for barn animals?” Junhui asks jokingly.
Sakura snorts as they pack more blankets into her designated crate. “I’m too busy to keep animals, and the barn came with the inn so I’ve always just used it as storage. Where else would I keep…”
But Sakura’s voice fades into nothing as Junhui’s eyes wander and land on something cast away in the corner of the barn, a filthy tarp carelessly cast over it.
“Is that a boat?” he asks, cutting Sakura off without realizing it.
The innkeeper doesn’t mind, though, humming in question as her gaze follows Junhui’s. “Ah, yes. A rowboat. It was already in the barn when I inherited the property. It’s junk. I was just too lazy to ever get rid of it.”
“Can I have it?” He turns back to Sakura, his heart beating erratically at just the hope of seeing you again. “I’ll pay for it.”
She scoffs. “Don’t bother. Like I said, it’s junk. It’s all yours if you can fix it up.”
Junhui doesn’t argue and he tries to get through his responsibilities at the inn without thinking too hard about the boat. But when his shift is over and Sakura is insistent that she no longer needs his help, he races back to the barn, throws the tarp off the boat, and starts dragging the boat out of the darkness of the building, out into the open. He coughs and sneezes the whole time, surrounded by what feels like a never-ending cloud of dust, but when it’s out, basking in the sunlight of the setting sun, he feels that hope from earlier today grow.
The word “junk” was not an exaggeration. The boat has a hole near the stern, several bottom boards look like the wood is rotting, the forward and center thwarts are broken, and even if he overlooks all of that, it’s also just ugly.
“It’s perfect,” he says to himself anyway.
So Junhui begins canceling plans with friends to work on fixing the boat up. He spends most of his extra pay on buying new wood, tools that Sakura doesn’t already have, and paint for when he’s done with repairs. He asks around the village when he comes across a problem he doesn’t know how to fix, and soon, he’s getting help from all kinds of people—mostly Sakura, Dahyun, and Mingyu, who help out whenever they’re free or are sick of Junhui rejecting their invitations to go out.
And finally, two weeks later, the boat is done and Junhui is ready to paint it. In fact, he’s painting the last letter of the boat’s name—Gem, short for Gemini—onto the back when he feels someone crouch down next to him.
“Gem. That’s pretty.”
He startles when he turns to find your face mere inches from the boat, eyes running down the new wood and paint casually as if Junhui hasn’t been driving himself crazy wondering where you were.
“Oh my god!” he squeaks so loudly, it makes you jump a little. You grin as you take in his face.
“Hello.”
Junhui returns the smile widely, paintbrush plopping back into the small can on the ground. Paint splatters onto his feet but he doesn’t care. “You’re back.”
“I am,” you laugh a little, nodding. You gesture to Gem. “I like your boat. Where are you going?”
He looks back at the boat, which he realizes he just spent two weeks working on for nothing—you're here, in Moonlight, on your own accord. He sighs, shaking his head at it.
“Nowhere. I just… wanted to fix her up, I suppose.”
“You did a lovely job,” you say, eyes briefly scanning his face again like you did that night right outside the village. He feels a fierce blush invade his face when your gaze lingers on his lips a moment longer than the rest. “I have to admit… I thought you’d be gone by now.”
Junhui frowns. “Why? I told you I’d try here, didn’t I?”
You smile and for whatever reason, it makes him feel lonely. “Yes, yes you did. I’m not sure why I was afraid you’d leave. I’m glad you’re still here, though.”
The words send Junhui’s heart into a frenzy. “Afraid?”
You shrug. “We had a wonderful conversation that day, didn’t we? I thought it would be a shame if I never saw you again.”
Have you been thinking about me too? Has your heart ached for me too?
“A horrible shame,” he agrees quietly. “But now you’re here.”
“I am,” you repeat, amused. “I am here. It’s been a while since I visited so I wanted to stop by today.”
“Well, let’s talk some more then.”
His offer brings a pleased smile to your face, one you clearly try to temper, not allowing it to take over your whole face the way it threatens to.
“Maybe we can get—”
Before he can finish asking you to a meal at the cafe, you both hear a cry out not too far from the barn. Your heads snap toward the sound and Junhui sees three men surrounding a woman at a dock at the edge of the village. He recognizes the men as belonging to the group of strangers that have been staying at the inn. The same group he’s been told to be wary of.
You stand immediately and take a step toward them before seemingly remembering Junhui. You stop briefly to turn back to him.
“Do you know those men?” you ask.
Junhui stands, shaking his head as he does. “They stay at Sakura's inn but I don’t know them.”
You look relieved with the answer. “Stay away from them, okay?”
You don't give him a chance to agree before you turn back toward the men, who are very obviously harassing the female villager. Junhui watches as you make your way over, and although he was just warned to stay out of it, his legs are suddenly moving, forcing him to follow you.
It doesn’t take long for you to reach them, marching right up onto the dock, pushing through the men fearlessly to take hold of the woman’s wrist. You pull her away and she doesn’t waste a moment running from the group that had been blocking her escape.
She runs past Junhui as he reaches the dock, giving him no chance to ask if she’s okay.
“Do you make a habit of harassing the villagers who selflessly host you wherever you travel?” you ask, voice dripping with disdain. The other three scoff and sneer at you, looking you up and down like they’re eager to eat you up.
“I didn’t realize village patrol accepted girls,” one of them snickers. “Who might you be?”
"Sure she's a girl?" Another one steps toward you and Junhui does the same, glaring. "Don't see many girls wearing pants 'round here. Where are your skirts, pretty?"
“Don’t make a habit of this,” you order them, ignoring their insults. Your voice is calm and even, but Junhui hears the threat loud and clear. The other three seem to too.
“And what are you going to do about it? Do you think you can protect anyone here from us?” The question sends horrible chills down Junhui’s back.
“Probably can't even protect herself from us," the third one mutters. "I have a number of things I’d love to do to that pretty face,” the third one mutters.
Junhui’s blood suddenly comes to a boil, but before he can step forward and tell the idiots to watch their god damn mouths, one of them lunges for you with a small hand knife. You step aside, narrowly but elegantly missing it, smacking your hand across the back of the stranger’s head with a satisfying thwack.
If Junhui weren’t so scared for you, he might’ve laughed at how easy it looked, but the others bring out knives just like the first man’s, and nothing is funny at all.
“Watch out!” The warning comes just in time, allowing you to turn around and dodge the sharp point aiming for your shoulder.
“I told you to—”
Before you can chastise him, Junhui's instincts are acting and he's stepping between you and a blade he can only see when it glints off the light. He parries the man's forearm with his own, striking him several times in his midsection before twisting his arm behind his back, pushing him into a bend, and smacking the knife out of his hold. It falls to the dock with a dull thud and he quickly kicks it out of reach, his barely healed ankle screaming in protest before he pulls the same leg up to meet his knee to the man's face.
He hears a sickening crunch under his kneecap and when the man's body goes limp, he knows he won't wake again soon.
He turns to see if you're okay and when he does, he finds another one of the men barreling toward you—you, who are too preoccupied with him to notice the danger.
"Jun! Get—"
Junhui has always had good reflexes. Living on the streets forced him to learn skills he regretted having to use from time to time—fighting included. His body was attuned to reacting before his brain had the chance to make sense of what was happening, and he realizes now that having you involved just clouds his thoughts even further. He pushes you aside and you stumble several steps back as he moves between you and the stranger, the knife headed straight for his heart with no room or time to do anything about it. He brings his hand up, hoping he can at least stop the blade that way. A hole in his hand was better than a hole in his chest.
But somehow, despite being too far away to have feasibly made it, you're suddenly there, moving quickly and deflecting the attack, gracefully forcing the hand holding the knife upward and punching the man in the stomach so hard, he immediately collapses. You turn to him once more, unfazed by how close you two had been to death just now.
“Didn’t I just tell you—” You can’t finish whatever you're telling Junhui because you're shoved from behind, falling straight into him.
The weight pushes him backward and as he loses his balance, his head explodes with pain before he’s suddenly enveloped by darkness. It takes a moment to realize where he is, but by the time he does, his vision is hazy and tinged red on the edges. He sinks further and further, his arms and legs feeling like lead.
I'm so tired, the voice in his head says. It's nice here.
The last thing he sees is your figure cutting through the surface of the water, hands seemingly glowing like moonlight as you dive straight for him. He feels a gentle push against his backside, like someone has cupped their hands around him, presenting him to you for the taking. Then, nothing.
When Junhui opens his eyes, he recognizes Hansol’s clinic, except it’s not the healer who sits at his bedside; it’s Seungkwan. He offers him a small smile when he realizes he’s awake.
“Ah, welcome back,” he says, leaning forward. “How do you feel?”
“My head is pounding,” he says, grimacing as he tries to sit up. He stops trying when his temple throbs in protest. He falls back into his pillow, wincing when he realizes his clothes are still soaked.
“Y/N brought you in,” Seungkwan says. “I was here getting my checkup with Hansol when she came in. She said you took a nasty hit to the back of the head falling off the dock. You hit the post on the way down.”
“Where is she?” he sits up quickly now, instantly regretting it when it feels like his brain is going to explode against the confines of his skull. “Ah, ah!”
“Relax, relax,” Seungkwan urges, gently resting a hand against his shoulder and pushing to keep him in his cot. “She's okay. You’re the only one you should be worried about.”
“Where is she?” he repeats.
The fisherman sighs like he’s disappointed Junhui’s focus is still on something other than his own health. “She left,” Seungkwan confirms what Junhui was fearing. You're gone once more. He was so close to having a day with you, eating at the cafe, chatting about anything and everything. But instead, you're gone again. “She said she had some things to do.”
He can’t help the disappointment that paints his face. He sinks back into his pillows.
“Hansol will be back soon,” Seungkwan informs him when he says nothing else. “He just wanted to get dinner and I thought I’d keep you company until he got back.”
“Thank you,” he murmurs pathetically. His self-pity doesn’t leave a lot of room for gratitude.
He asks, “What happened? She left in such a hurry, we didn’t even get to ask any questions.”
“We were, uh, she was attacked,” Junhui tells him. “By some of the men in that group. The visitors.”
“The hunters.”
“Hunters?” Junhui repeats, frowning.
Seungkwan shakes his head. “They pushed you? Into the water?”
He nods. “Yes. And… and I was drowning. But Y/N… her hands… they—”
“You’re bad at lying, you know that?”
Junhui frowns. “What?”
“You were waiting for her,” Seungkwan says plainly, completely straying away from the topic—completely leading Junhui away from the hallucination of your glowing hands. “You weren't watching the sunset and hoping to perhaps run into her. You were waiting for her that entire time, weren’t you?”
He has nothing to say to that. He could lie and pretend the sunset really was more interesting than the prospect of you returning, or he could tell the truth and reveal just how foolish he and his heart are, and neither sound appealing. So he remains silent.
“You need to be careful,” he tells Junhui, sounding nothing like the lighthearted, joking man he met at the wharf. “And I don’t just mean with your body.”
He doesn’t give him a chance to ask him to elaborate because he stands, squeezes his shoulder once, and leaves.
Being careful was, unfortunately, not really one of Junhui’s strong suits. He never had the knack for it. He wasn’t a complete idiot; he knew Seungkwan was warning against his growing infatuation with you. But as long as the fisherman refrained from explaining, Junhui didn’t feel particularly inclined to take his advice. So instead of being careful, he finished the boat. Instead of “taking it easy” like Hansol advised, he started teaching himself how to row. Instead of using his days off from the inn to rest, he took Gem out on the river, aimlessly rowing before dejectedly returning with nothing to show for the day.
Then, a few days after his incident with the dock post, he’s on his little boat, snacking on the fruit Sakura insisted he bring when Gem comes to a soft stop against a loud bump.
“Ow.”
Junhui frowns, slowly peeking over the side of the rowboat. There, he finds you floating on you back, starfished across the water and frowning at the sky as the boat gently pushes up against your head.
He calls your name, not an ounce of shame to hide how ecstatic he is.
You glare. “I’d be happier to see you if your little boat didn’t almost kill me.”
Junhui snorts. “That seems like a bit of an exaggeration.”
You don’t respond, only smirking before you turn off your back and seemingly disappear under the water. Junhui frowns and narrows his eyes, trying to see into the darkness to no avail.
He calls your name again.
A few moments pass before the boat suddenly rocks violently to the opposite side and Junhui shrieks, holding on to prevent from falling into the water against his will for the second time in one week. He looks over to find you hauling yourself into Gem from the other side of the boat, your clothes once again hugging every dip and curve of your body. You sit across from him and grin widely before shaking your head vigorously and letting fat drops of bone-chillingly cold water rain down on him.
Junhui doesn’t care that he’s getting wet. He doesn’t care that it feels a little like ice. He doesn’t take a moment to squint against the water or lift up his hand to shield his face. Instead, he stares at you, with your eyes squeezed shut and a tiny, mischievous smile on your lips, and it makes the near agony of waiting to see you again worth it. It makes rowing up and down this godforsaken river and coming up empty-handed each time worth it.
When you're done so generously sharing the water with him, you open your eyes and sigh when your gaze meets Junhui’s. You lean back casually, and if you know that the sun is glistening against your wet skin—that the sun is highlighting each drop of water as they slither down your neck and gather in the divots of your collar bones—if you know that the sight is sending Junhui’s heart rate to new, incredibly concerning heights, you don’t show it. Instead, you give him a lazy smile.
“What are you doing out here?”
“I—” Junhui clears his throat before he even has the chance to choke on his own spit, suddenly nervous. “I just wanted to take Gem out on the river.”
“Of course,” you nod. “You worked on her for so long, she deserves a good row. You did an amazing job, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
“How’s your head?”
His hand instinctively goes to the spot he hit on the post when he fell into the water. “Oh, it’s fine. Hansol treated me well. Where did you go that day?”
Your face falls at the question. “I’m sorry I had to leave you at the healer's by yourself; I was making sure those men weren’t harassing anyone else and when I finished, you were still asleep. I’m sorry I haven’t visited sooner. I was busy with some… stuff.”
Junhui shakes his head even though he does wish you had. He knows you have no obligation to. “It’s alright. My head is fine.”
“Still.”
He isn’t sure how to respond, so he asks, “What were you busy with?” His thoughts wander back to what the man on the dock told you. “Are you… are you trying to protect Moonlight from these men? Did they give you more trouble? I notice they’re still staying at the inn sporadically.”
After the altercation, Sakura kicked the men involved out of her inn with Junhui, Mingyu, and a handful of fisherman flanking her in case they tried to do anything about it. They left peacefully—as peacefully as a group of foul-mouthed, violent morons could—and Junhui hadn't seen them again. Still, other strangers still rotated in and out of the inn.
Your reply doesn’t quite answer his question. You shrug. “They’re just bad news. Please stay away from them.”
“Trust me, enough people have warned me to; I have no desire to get to know any of them.”
You nod once. “Good. I’ll rest easier knowing that then.”
Junhui smiles. He doesn’t know what to say to that because he’s suddenly too busy wondering if you care about him enough that his safety would weigh heavily on your mind.
“Free from the inn today?” you ask when the silence drags on.
Junhui tilts his head at you. “You know I work at the inn?”
You nod, not-at-all embarrassed to know something about Junhui that he hadn’t told you. “I know a lot of things. I know every part of this river. I know where the fish like to linger. I know what the grass smells like when spring is starting to settle.” You take a deep breath like you can smell it now. “I know you work at the inn.”
He doesn’t fully understand but he smiles anyway because your words are just as pretty as you are. “I do. I asked Sakura for a job soon after meeting you.”
“And you have the day off today?”
Junhui nods, smiling. “I do.”
“And here you are, spending it on the river,” you say thoughtfully.
He explains, “I wanted to take the time to explore the waters today. It’s gotten so pretty with spring arriving.”
He’s unsure of what exactly he just said, but your cheeks are suddenly turning pink and you raise one hand to rub the shell of your ear shyly. When you don’t say anything, Junhui scrambles to change the topic.
“The job was the first thing I did.”
“Hm?”
He rummages in his knapsack then before coming up with a piece of paper. He hands it to you.
“What’s this?” You take it and unfold it with one hand. “Y/N's Guide to Planting Roots…” There’s a soft, fond smile on your lips as you sit up, bringing both hands to the tiny piece of paper. “Wow, you already have two checked boxes.”
Junhui nods enthusiastically. “I befriended a lot of the villagers! And you already know I have my job. Just looking for a home now. I suppose it’ll be a few months of saving.”
You scrutinize the list like it’s the most joyous, little thing you've set your eyes on in months. “And what of ‘love’?”
“Well, it’s only been a few weeks.”
“I mean, how’s your progress with that?” you ask, looking up. “You’re saving up for your home. That just leaves love then.”
He rolls his lips between his teeth to stop himself from sighing deeply. The truth is, he was hesitant to include that on the list even though that seemed to be your biggest point. He was worried he was putting it on the list just to fail to check it off.
Junhui finally settles on: “I’m working on it.”
“You said you didn’t think you loved your life when we first met,” you say, looking back down at the list, fingers sliding up and down the edges gently. “Does it at least feel a little more bearable now?”
That was a good start. That was easy for him to answer. “Yes. Yes, it’s much more bearable now. Maybe even enjoyable.” At least right now it was. And he knew it was because he found you floating along the river like he was told he would.
You smile at that and fold up the piece of paper carefully before returning it to Junhui. “Good. You’re going to be a master of planting roots soon, aren’t you?”
He rolls his eyes as he tucks the list back into his knapsack. “Hardly.”
You grin wider. “If you have the day off, how about a swim?”
Junhui’s eyes widen and he looks around the boat. He’s a fine swimmer, but still, he wasn’t planning on it and he has no idea how deep the river is where they are and the water was so cold when you were shaking it off and—
“I’ll keep you safe,” you say, smirking. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not worried,” Junhui lies. “I just… I wasn’t planning on it, and I don’t have an extra set of clothes, and—”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to swim in the oh-so-warm waters of Moonlight?”
You have a great memory. Junhui shrugs his shoulders. “Yes, but I rowed so far out to—” he cuts himself off before finishing that sentence. I rowed so far out to find you. “Surely the water is cold here? I hear the water is only warm in—”
You dunk your hand into the water and beckon Junhui to do the same. “Feel.”
Junhui follows suit and he can’t help the gasp that escapes when he finds the water is the perfect temperature. So warm and silky, it feels like a siren song beckoning to him. He makes the mistake of looking up at you, your eyes following his every movement so carefully, he almost believes he’s important. And it’s enough to convince him to answer the water’s call. He carefully withdraws his hand from the water and removes his coat and shirt, trying to ignore your bold, insistent gaze on him as he strips. He kicks his shoes off before placing his hand just under the surface again to make sure it’s still warm and it wasn’t some kind of trick. It still feels like heaven.
“I take your sudden nudity as a yes?” you ask, appreciatively looking him up and down.
“I’m not nude," Junhui argues, wrapping his arms around his bare torso. He’s still in his trousers.
“And what a shame that is,” you mutter.
“What?”
“What?” you parrot before sitting on the side of Gem, and pushing yourself off without a moment’s hesitation, falling back first into the water. The last thing he hears before the splash is your laughter. He leans over the edge once more to see where you are in the river.
Your head pops up several yards away just seconds later. Junhui raises his eyebrows. “You were too modest the first time we met,” he calls to you.
“Why do you think that?” you ask, turning in the water over and over like a pig on a spit. You look like a child trying to get comfortable in bed and he grins at the sight.
“You swim really fast,” Junhui says. “You said you were an average swimmer.”
You still when you're on your back and you turn to Junhui. “Are you getting in?” you ask, ignoring his observation. You start swimming toward Gem leisurely. “Should I help you?”
Junhui snorts. “I don’t need help getting into the—” you dive under the water once more and he sighs. “Why do you keep doing that?”
When you surface, you're right in front of Junhui, almost nose-to-nose with him from where he had been trying to find you in the river. Normally, he would jump back. Maintaining that kind of intense eye contact with another human being is not on the list of things that Junhui considers in his comfort zone. But your eyes aren’t letting him look away, and they certainly aren’t letting him move away. He thinks they might be deeper than the river itself. Sweeter and lovelier than anything he’s ever looked into.
You repeat the question slowly, this time in a whisper. “Should I help you?”
His chin dips in an infinitesimal nod and you smile. Gently, you reach up and take Junhui’s hand in yours, stroking two slow circles into his skin before guiding him to use his other hand to steady himself against the boat. He brings a leg up and over the edge, and Gem rocks dangerously until you rest your free hand against the wood, keeping her impossibly steady for Junhui.
“I’ve got you,” you assure him when he looks over his shoulder to make sure the boat isn’t capsizing. “Her too.” You tap your fingers against Gem for show.
He decides to trust you, giving you all his attention once more. He lifts his hand off Gem for a moment to guide his calf into the water and just as Junhui decides to scare himself out of lifting the other leg over the edge, you impossibly reach up and out of the water as if you're on the tip of your toes. You snake your arms around his bare waistline, and tug him down into the water with you. The movement is swift, soft, and effortless, and when Junhui is completely in the water, you hold him close to your own body, still not releasing when it's clear he's fine.
“Uh.”
“Warm, right?” you breathe, smiling and keeping your hold on him.
“Right,” Junhui manages to breathe. After a moment, he adds: “You don’t have to hold me. I know how to swim."
“I’m a little reluctant to let go,” you admit. “Especially considering your last experience in the water with me.”
He snorts. “I was shoved into the water and hit my head. I promise it won’t be like that today.” He wriggles a little but your hold remains persistent. “I can swim.”
“Sure, but isn’t this so comfortable?” you tease him. Your smirk turns into a full-blown laugh when you see how red Junhui’s face is getting. “Okay.” You release him, fingertips grazing his waist slowly before leaving him altogether. Junhui wouldn’t be surprised if his entire body were red by now. “Is it as warm as you thought it would be?”
Junhui treads the water as you flip onto your back once more, eyes closing against the sun. He enjoys every moment he gets to stare at you without getting caught. “Yes,” he says. “I’ve never swum in waters so warm.”
“Well then I’m glad your first is with me.”
“Me too” is all Junhui can say.
He paddles gently, being careful not to splash your face as he does. The entire time, he watches you. Your long lashes dotted with small drops of water, your skin gently kissed by the sun, your lips pink, a tiny bit chapped, and slightly parted—Junhui doesn't want to ever look away.
“I can feel you looking at me.” Your eyes remain closed.
He feels embarrassed and he wants to look away, but he doesn’t. He can’t.
“Is it wrong to look at you?” he asks, wondering if you hear the real question floating around his head. Is it wrong to look at you? To think of you every moment of the day? To wonder when the next time I’ll see you is every time I’m not with you? Is it wrong?
Your eyes open then and you turn upright in the water, treading closely to him. You narrow his eyes at him in that thoughtful way you constantly do—like you're trying to figure something out. “No” is the only answer he gets.
He knows you're just answering the question he asked, but it sends small bursts of happiness through his body anyway. It isn’t wrong to be taken with you.
“Good.”
“Is it wrong for me to look at you?” you counter.
“No.” The answer comes quickly and easily.
“Good,” you repeat after him, smiling now.
You spend the next hour or so swimming around Gem as she lazily floats down the river, playing and splashing each other and talking about Moonlight and its villagers. At one point, Junhui even tries to race you, failing miserably, though he expected that much. He grows tired fast, not as adept in the water as you are, but he doesn’t dare say it, afraid it would mean your day together would be over. Even then, he somehow gives it away because shortly after he slows down in the water, you insist you both get back on Gem. And once you are, you also insist that Junhui allow you to accompany him all the way back to Moonlight. Because it means he’d spend more time with you, he accepts easily.
“Is your head still okay?” you ask, rowing your paddle comfortably.
Junhui smiles at your concern as he throws his clothes back on. “Yes, you don’t have to keep worrying. I’m fine.”
You nod, your smile fading a little. “It was scary—you falling off the dock.”
“Was it?” he asks, tilting his head back. He finds it hard to look at you now that your expression looks sadder—afraid. He looks at the sun for a moment and squeezes his eyes shut, the shape of it burnt behind his lids. “I didn’t realize what happened until it was already over.”
He thinks he knows what you meant about feeling him watching you earlier because he thinks he can feel it too. Maybe it’s just the way your presence commands so much of his attention, he’s become sensitive to your every movement. Either way, he likes the feeling of your eyes on him.
“I told you to stay away from them and the first thing you did was attack one of them,” you recall, laughing a little as you do.
“They were saying such foul things to you,” Junhui grumbles. “They had knives."
“Exactly,” you say, poking his side gently. His eyes flutter open to find you leaning forward and staring at him. “They had knives. And they have even worse.” He doesn’t have a chance to ask you how you know that. “When you see those things, I would really rather you run in the opposite direction instead of throwing yourself into the middle of it.”
“And would you? Run in the opposite direction?” he asks, knowing the answer. You would do exactly the same thing he did. You would do it for a complete stranger. He doesn’t doubt that you have. Your silence is answer enough. “Mmm. I thought as much.”
You shove his knee. “Stubborn.”
Junhui smiles as he takes his paddle and starts rowing. “I’ll stay out of trouble so long as you do.”
You stare at him blankly. After a few moments, you shake your head and continue rowing. “So stubborn.”
“Always have been.”
“Have you? Tell me more.”
Junhui frowns. “What do you mean?”
“Tell me more about yourself!" you practically order. “I know you’re a traveler and you left home at 14. I know you find life ‘maybe even enjoyable.’ I know you don’t like to feel alone. I know you’re stubborn. What else is there to know about Wen Junhui?”
He suddenly feels completely naked in front of you. He knows these are all things he told you—these are all things that came up in natural conversation. Still, they’re such intimate details about him and you remember them. He feels bare.
“Wow,” he breathes, unsure of what to say. “I… I was born June?” he offers pathetically.
You grin. "Jun for June?"
"Not quite," he laughs. When he doesn't clarify, you nod.
“A spring child,” you accept the offering like it’s Junhui’s deepest secret. He feels weirdly thankful for it. “That suits you.”
“Does it?” he asks, amused. “How so?”
A thought seems to cross your mind that makes you smirk but you don’t say anything, merely shrugging. “Just does.”
“How about you? Can I guess what season you were born?” Junhui asks.
“Give it your best shot.”
Everything about you also screams spring to Junhui. Everything about you feels fresh and beautiful, but he knows it’s a biased thought. He’s spending time with you just as spring begins. He knows that no matter what happens from here, every year that the snow melts, the grass grows greener, the birds sing louder, and the sun stays in the sky longer, he’ll think of the time he found you. He’ll think of the time he felt this odd sensation in his chest. He’ll think of the time he felt like he was in freefall.
Spring is a biased answer. He watches you carefully and he thinks about how pensive you seem to be at times. He thinks about how cold you sounded with the men on the dock. How lonely you say you are.
“Were you born in the winter?” he asks.
You smile. "Mmm. I was."
Junhui smiles proudly. “What year?”
You still. “Hm?”
“What year were you born?”
“Why?”
“I'm just curious.”
Jun wants so badly to be older than you. He doesn't know why, either. You seem so wise beyond your years, so experienced, so sure of yourself—everything he constantly feels that he's not. As antiquated it is, it's almost like being older than you is the only thing he'd have.
You shrug a shoulder. "Mmm. I'm older than you." He suppresses a groan.
“What makes you so sure?” he asks.
The question amuses you but you don’t say why. Instead, you answer, “I just am.”
Junhui rolls his eyes but accepts the answer. “What about you?" he sighs. "Tell me more about you.”
“All you’ve told me is you were born June,” you scoff. “You didn’t even tell me the date!”
“The tenth. Now your turn. Tell me about yourself.”
You smirk but relent anyway. “I was born in… I was born in Moonlight,” you say slowly like it actually is a secret. Junhui raises his eyebrows at you. “I know. Surprise. Nobody knows that actually.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t you have grown up with Sakura and everyone else?”
You shake your head. “I left as a child. I’ve been bouncing around from village to village but I’m always drawn back to Moonlight.” You pause before adding: “Please keep that between you and me.”
Junhui doesn’t question you. It would be an easy secret to keep; anything you two talk about, he’s inclined to keep to himself. He wants to keep every moment spent with you to himself. “Of course.” He stops to think. “So if Moonlight is home, where is your family?”
He knows he shouldn’t have asked the second it leaves his mouth. After all, he, himself, doesn’t have a family. Why on earth would he ask you that? You sigh and nod to yourself like you knew that would be Junhui’s next question.
“Gone,” you answer simply. “All gone. It’s only me now.”
“I’m sorry.” Junhui internally chastises himself for asking.
“Don’t be,” you say, shrugging. “It was a long, long time ago. I’m okay now.”
Junhui appreciates the assurance but he wonders how okay someone like you can be. Someone who lives completely by herself—someone who has admitted to feeling lonely every day. He racks his brain for a proper response, but at the end of the stretching silence, he settles on another question.
“Do you want to talk about them?”
You raise an eyebrow. “My family?” Junhui nods. “Oh… I haven’t talked about them in so long.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he reminds you. “I just find that most of the people I’ve come across who harbor grief… they like to talk about their loved ones.”
“Do they?” you ask, continuing to row so easily, he would think you were talking about the weather.
“Mhm,” Junhui hums. “If I tell you a story about another person I’ve met, will you promise to refrain from acting like she was in love with me?”
You bark out your laughter and it makes him smile widely. “I am an honest woman, Junhui. I call it like I see it.”
He rolls his eyes. “Okay, well, she wasn’t.”
“Go on.” You nod, amusement still dancing wildly in your eyes.
“It wasn’t long before I arrived at Moonlight actually,” Junhui tells you. “I was much further down the river last spring and I was passing between villages. I came across a small cottage by the water that was occupied by a young woman who had lived there with her brother. He died from the previous winter. It had been particularly brutal and he fell ill and never recovered.”
You avert your eyes then, turning toward the water and watching it as you row.
“Her brother was her last remaining family member, and I haven’t known loss like that—like you,” Junhui informs you. “I don’t know what it feels like to lose someone I love.”
He doesn’t add that he doesn’t even know what it feels like to love someone at all. He’s wondering if that’s changing.
“So of course, I was at a loss for words. I spent the day trying to fish for her and helping her with chores in exchange for a place to sleep for the night, and dinner was kind of quiet and awkward, so I asked her if her brother was younger or older, and from there, it was kind of a never-ending wave of facts about him.”
You nod, still looking out at the water.
“His name was Jungkook. He was tall, probably a little under my height, she said. He had never gone to school because he was the eldest child and he felt responsible for his little sister. He was very funny and generous, though a little aloof and reckless at times—her words, not mine.”
He’s relieved when you laugh at that.
“And so the night went on, and she never stopped talking about him. I didn’t get any rest at all, and still, I left feeling hopeful. Like maybe I was taking a small burden of hers with me and she would feel better upon my departure. Maybe I can do that for you. I would be happy to.”
You let that information sink in, and for a moment, Junhui contemplates changing the subject so that you don’t feel pressured to share. But eventually, your hands stop working the oars and you lean back and sigh. Your eyes remain on the water as you speak.
“It was me, my mom, and my older brother,” you start. “My father died when I was still a baby.” You don’t elaborate. “Fortunately, we were well off, but still, my older brother took it upon himself to step in as the head of household at a fairly young age. I never had much of a relationship with him. He was kind of cold and unfeeling and constantly busy with whatever it is the man of the household is supposed to do. I think he felt like he had something to prove. Though I don’t blame him. I suppose we both did.”
Junhui nods, refusing to interrupt you with any of the questions suddenly swirling around his head.
“My mother was… everything,” you say, eyes shining as you do. “She was so kind and understanding and patient. So, so patient considering how hard she had it, raising two children by herself. She and my brother would tell me this silly story that I don't even recall myself.”
You shake your head at yourself before glancing at Junhui briefly like you're wondering if you should tell him. Your eyes meet for just a moment before you look back at the water, a small quirk in the corner of your lips.
“One time, after seeing my mom tend to the garden dozens of times, I thought I would help her water her flowers, but instead of using a water spout… well, I peed on the flowers.”
Junhui’s abrupt laughter causes him to choke on his own spit, rocking the boat with his uncontrollable coughs. “What?!”
“I was a nightmare,” you say, laughing. “I was also just a child so be forgiving.”
He can’t contain the laughter that comes spilling out of him because even as a baby, the woman across from him has always been so eager to help—even if it meant completely ruining your mother’s garden.
“But somehow I’m still here, alive, after that,” you joke. “She was always so forgiving. I try to emulate that from her. Her patience, her willingness to forgive, her fight.”
“Fight?”
You nod solemnly. “I reckon you need a lot of fight when you lose the love of your life. You need a lot of fight to keep being human—to keep breathing long after the person you swore your life to stops. And then on top of that, to not only survive that kind of tragedy, but to raise children as well… I don’t know that I could’ve done it, but she did and she did it bravely and persistently.”
“She sounds lovely.”
“She was. She is. She’s just somewhere else being lovely now.”
Junhui nods, smiling. “She’s off making up for missed time with her husband.”
You look at him now and smile, laughing a little when a tear escapes the corner of your eye. “She said their favorite thing to do was pack a massive meal and go swimming in the river every single day in the summer.”
“Then I’m sure that’s what they’re doing. And they probably don’t even have to wait until summer. I’m sure wherever they are, the water is always warm!”
You sigh, nodding. “You’re right. Not about the water—I mean, yes, the water is definitely warm wherever she is. But… I mean, you were right about talking about her. I feel like you’ve taken something from me. I do feel lighter.”
Junhui exhales slowly before smiling. “Good. I do too. I like hearing about you and your family. I like learning about you.”
The only sign that you acknowledge this is the bright red tinging the tips of your ears. You clear your throat, reaching for the oars once more and rowing. “And you? Where were you born?”
He feels his stomach clench. He should’ve seen the question coming, and usually, he would evade it. He would lie that he’s traveled so far, he no longer remembers. He would lie that it no longer exists. He would say anything other than having to admit the truth: his life was pathetic and laughable and he escaped it for an incredibly mundane one. It meant having to admit something else to others; he loved mundane. He wanted nothing more than boring.
But now, he forces himself to swallow his fear because you did too. You found it in yourself to share some of the most intimate parts of your life with Junhui and the least he can do is the same. So he takes a deep breath and talks about it for the first time.
“I was born in a town whose name doesn’t really matter. I was raised by a man with a very violent temper and a woman who was always drunk. They, too, don’t really matter.”
He thinks that’s the right way to tell his story. He can hardly call those things home, father, and mother. He never did and he wouldn’t start now. Your face grows dark.
“They weren’t… kind. Not to me, not to anyone,” he says. “They made it clear from the beginning that I was a mistake and that I had a debt to repay them for keeping me, and it was… hell. So I left as soon as I saved enough. I left in the middle of the night and I haven’t been back since. In fact, I’m unsure of how I’d even return. I feel like I’ve traveled so far… surely, I must be on the other side of the world by now. And if I am… then I suppose I’m happy.”
You stare at him intently. “Whether you are on the other side of the world… or just a few towns over, I think you should be very proud of yourself, Junhui,” you say. He loves hearing his name on your tongue. “I’m proud of you.”
“Why? You hardly know me.”
“I know it’s hard to leave what you know,” you counter. “I know it’s hard to feel like you’re alone and like there’s no one you can rely on. And if that was how your life was like… then I think you should be very happy. I am—for you. I’m happy you found your own way.” You pause to think then decide to add: “I’m happy you found your way here."
Junhui opens his mouth to respond but finds he has nothing to say. He didn’t even tell you the worst of it. He didn’t tell you about how badly his father beat him—the bones he broke and the blood he shed. He didn’t tell you about how his mother would do nothing, watching the two of them with eyes so glazed over, he sometimes wondered if she were even alive. But he didn’t have to. You were so genuine and so kind, and he knew you meant it anyway. You didn’t need to know any more about his story. You meant it anyway.
"Besides," you say, laughing a little to yourself, "something tells me I know you plenty. Maybe more than anyone else does." You'd be correct. He's already told you more things about himself than anyone else has ever known.
You place your oar across your lap and lean your elbows on your knees, cupping your face in both hands as you study Junhui’s. He tries not to squirm under your gaze, but regardless of how still he can keep himself, he thinks that you know how warm he feels whenever your eyes are on him. Nothing tells him that you do know; your expression is often carefully blank. He just doesn’t think it’s possible to feel this enamored and this captivated by someone without having anyone else notice. He feels his attraction to you almost rising off his own skin and reaching toward you, desperately beckoning you to come closer.
“You’re unlike anyone in Moonlight Springs,” you finally state. “Or anywhere else, for that matter.”
Junhui feels the blush creeping onto his face. “What do you mean?”
You shrug like you aren’t so sure what you mean either. “You’re just… different. You’re very lovely. You kind of remind me of my mother.” Junhui feels his heart swell with pride at the compliment. “No matter how horrible the world has been, you still keep going on. Being lovely.”
He feels tears pooling in his eyes and he doesn’t have the sense to feel mortified about it. He hasn’t felt this bare in his life. He hasn’t felt this seen in his entire life. How is it that someone he’s only met three times can unravel him like this?
“How did you do it?” you ask suddenly. “How did you keep going and stay as… kind and soft as you are?”
“Soft?” Junhui repeats, laughing a little.
“I don’t mean it in a bad way.”
He nods, knowing exactly what you mean. He could’ve asked the same of you. You, who lost people precious to you and still managed to be warm, good-hearted, and gentle. Junhui hasn’t lost anything because he has never considered anything or anyone precious to him.
“If anything, it became easier after,” he admits. “Being kind and soft isn’t hard when I’m no longer spending every waking moment with people who hate me.”
Your brows pull down and your eyes dull in real time until they’re so dark, Junhui swears he’s looking into the abyss. Your body is so still, he’s unsure you're even breathing, and if he didn’t feel so safe around you, he’d probably have the good sense to fear you now.
“Don’t look so angry,” he smiles. “I’m okay.”
It takes several more moments before you seem to grab a hold of yourself and take a long, deep breath. When you exhale, Junhui finds the same eyes he loves. You nod and smile at him like you're embarrassed.
“Moonlight is really the perfect home for you,” you say, like you're entirely convinced now. You begin rowing again. “The perfect place for you to heal and live and enjoy. The perfect place for you to love your life.”
“The perfect place for me to love,” Junhui repeats, mostly to himself. His heart doesn’t thud in his chest the way it has around you since he’s met him. Instead, it feels calm and quiet and at peace now.
“Yes,” you nod, looking at him so softly, he’s afraid the tears might start streaming down his face. “The perfect place for a man like you to love.”
“Have you ever been in love?” Junhui asks suddenly, remembering what Seungkwan said. It can be fast-striking. It can suckerpunch you. Can that be what he’s feeling? How can he know?
Your lips twitch at the sudden question but you answer anyway. “No. Not quite.”
“What do you mean?” He finds himself a little irritated at the answer. “Is it not a yes or no question?”
You laugh at his brashness. “I’ve never been in love with anyone else, no.”
“‘Else’?”
“I’ve only ever been in love with things. Places. Myself.” The last addition almost sounds regretful. “I haven’t gotten close enough to anyone else to… fall in love. Why do you ask?”
Junhui feigns nonchalance and shrugs one shoulder. “Just curious. All this love talk in your guide to planting roots… I just wondered if you’ve ever fallen in love with someone. And if you had… I suppose I wanted to know how you knew.”
“Have you ever fallen in love, Junhui?”
This time, he saw the question coming. He sighs. “I’m not sure.”
You smile at his answer. “Is it not a yes or no question?”
Junhui groans as you laugh. “No. I haven’t.”
“You’re young,” you say like you're so much older than him. “You’ll fall in love in no time.”
He says nothing, though he can’t quite control the sour look that overtakes his face.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Hm?” Junhui hums, schooling his face. “No. No you didn’t.”
He realizes now that since meeting you, falling in love with anybody else sounded stupid and useless; he doesn’t even want to entertain the idea. So he changes the topic of conversation, and you talk about lighter things: how Junhui learned how to swim (a villager’s child taught him the first summer he left home), your favorite season (spring), your favorite color (pink), Junhui’s hobbies (talking to you, though he, of course, doesn’t say that and instead says singing). At one point, you even stop the boat to finish the rest of the snacks Sakura packed for him together.
By the time you two get to Moonlight, it’s sunset, and despite the fact you've spent the entire day together, Junhui can’t help but feel disappointed once more that it’s over again. You help him tie Gem down to the very same dock he fell off of, and when you're done, you stand there, staring at each other as if you're waiting for the other to speak.
When no one does, Junhui finally gives in.
“I don’t want to say goodbye,” he admits.
“Then don’t,” you say simply. “You haven’t so far.”
He laughs when he realizes that’s true. “That’s because you’ve snuck away every time we’ve seen each other.”
You blush but nod. “That’s… fair.”
“Did you have fun today?” Junhui asks, desperate for any morsel of evidence that you're enjoying your time with him as much as he is. Your lips turn up into a shy smile.
“More fun than I’ve had in ages, Junhui.”
“Me too.”
“Good.”
Several moments pass once more.
“Well?” you laugh. “Are you going to say goodbye?”
“If I do, does that mean I won’t see you for another several weeks?” Junhui asks, hating how sad he sounds. How desperate he sounds.
Your expression softens and you step forward, hand lifting like you want to take Junhui’s in yours. You stop yourself just before your fingertips touch, but you're already close enough that even in the dying daylight, he can see the sun has left several freckles across your nose and cheeks.
“All your questions about love earlier on the river… why were you asking me those things?” you ask quietly.
Junhui is robbed of his breath immediately. When he doesn’t answer for several seconds, you ask another question.
“Does it… does it maybe sadden you too?” It sounds like it never crossed your mind that what you're asking could be possible at all. “To be apart?”
It's a much easier question to answer. You have a habit of presenting those whenever he gets stuck. Junhui feels both relief and exhilaration at once. It wasn’t just him then. It wasn’t just him suffering the weeks of silence. “Yes. It does.”
“I… I thought it happened so fast—my fascination with you. I didn’t want to scare you,” you say. He can hardly hear you over the sound of his own heart now. “But after today, something has changed, hasn’t it?” You don’t give him a chance to confirm. “If what you say is true… then I’ll be here as often as you want me to be, Junhui. I’ll be here tomorrow. And the next day, and the next.”
He can’t help the smile that takes over his face then. “Spring equinox is tomorrow night.”
You grin. “So the villagers have told you how they celebrate.”
Junhui nods excitedly. “Will you come with me?”
You don’t hesitate this time, taking Junhui’s hand in yours. You lean in close and leave the softest kiss on his cheek—so soft, he isn’t even sure it happened. “I’ll be here. Meet me in the clearing just beyond the treeline.” You look over his shoulder, past Sakura's makeshift storage. “Just a short walk beyond the barn. Meet me at sunset and we’ll enjoy the equinox together.”
Your attention returns back to him and Junhui smiles widely. “I’ll be there.”
You squeeze his hand. “Goodbye, Junhui. Thank you for finding me today.”
He watches as you walk right back out of the village, the same way you both came from. You don’t look back to see if Junhui is watching, but he does—even as your form becomes so small he can hardly see you. And he watches as you curiously walk back toward the river when you're almost out of his sight and disappear under the surface of the water once more.
Moonlight Springs shuts down for the spring equinox every year. No businesses are open, the fishermen have the day off, the children don’t attend school, and everyone comes together in an all-day celebration. The day started early, demanding both Sakura and Junhui to be up before the sun rose to collect boarding payments before the festivities even started.
When that was done, they joined everyone else in the village square and although Junhui wasn’t particularly religious, he observed and appreciated the prayers everyone offered to not only their water spirit, but to deities of fertility, crops, abundance, and nature. Immediately after, everyone enjoyed a never-ending breakfast spread by none other than Mingyu and Dahyun as the sun rose. Once the sun was in the sky, the children were playing, singing, and dancing, and adults were decorating the square with all kinds of flowers and lanterns. Junhui got roped into helping fashion dozens and dozens of flower crowns with Seungkwan, and when lunchtime came around, the prayers began again.
Even though he refrained from participating, he did find himself grateful to be able to witness it at all. He had seen rituals and rites before, but as a traveler, he never felt as included in the traditions as he did in Moonlight. So as everyone bowed to the water spirit and as they asked for good fortune from the goddess of abundance, he found himself silently thanking both for allowing him to experience the wonder of their little village on their massive river.
By the time Junhui gets to the clearing just past the barn, the sun isn’t quite setting yet, but he wanted to come early, already craving your presence. The clearing isn't hard to find, only a few hundred feet from the barn, and when the trees open up to it, he can’t help but think it’s quite a romantic spot to meet. Sunlight filters through the trees surrounding the space, fireflies flit about lazily, already visible despite the sun still being out, and the meadow is speckled with just-sprouting wildflowers. He makes himself comfortable in the middle, laying on his back and watching the slowly darkening sky as he lets his muscles relax for the first time since waking up this morning.
“I thought I was going to be the first one here,” your voice drifts across the clearing not even five minutes later. Junhui scrambles to sit up, finding you leaning against a tree on the outskirts of the field.
You're not in your usual sun-bleached tunic and pants. Tonight, you're in a blue dress that's cinched at the waist and fans out before falling just above your ankles. Your collarbones peek over the neckline, which cuts straight across your bare shoulders in a single ruffle. It leaves Junhui feeling breathless.
“I didn’t want to waste a moment,” he says honestly after a torturous moment trying to gather his thoughts. After last night, there’s no point in acting coy or oblivious. For the first time in his life, he just wants to hold someone’s hand. He just wants to look into someone’s eyes—your eyes. He wants to be in love. “I wanted to come the first chance I could.”
You smile, pushing yourself off the tree and walking to meet Junhui where he sits. You join him, wasting no time laying down next to him despite being so nicely dressed. Junhui follows your lead, laying back down and ignoring the sky this time. Instead, he lets his head loll to the side to watch you.
“Me too. I would’ve come at first daylight if I could have,” you claim, resting both hands on your stomach.
He scoffs. “And wait all day?”
“You’re telling me you wouldn’t?”
Junhui's mouth snaps shut and your smile widens. “Hm. Maybe.”
“How has the equinox been so far?” you ask, head finally turning and meeting Junhui’s gaze. “Been doing lots of praying?”
He snickers. “Yes, lots of praying to our favorite, little water spirit.”
You look pleased at that. “They’ll pray once more before the sun sets,” you inform him. “I thought I’d save you one more hour by stealing you away here.”
Junhui laughs. “I appreciate it, but I don’t mind all the praying either.”
“You don’t?” you look surprised, turning onto your side to face him fully. You prop your head up on your hand. “To be honest with you, you don’t strike me as religious.”
“Religious, no. Spiritual… maybe?” He shrugs. “I’m not entirely sure. Either way, it was nice just being included at all.”
“Do you believe? In the water spirit?”
Junhui turns onto his side too.
When he first came to the village, he thought the idea of a water spirit watching over Moonlight Springs was a nice idea. Now, after spending the longest amount of time in one place since he left home, he finds that he silently speaks to the water spirit on his own accord.
In the morning, as he bids Seungkwan goodbye at the docks before heading to the cafe, he asks that the water spirit take care of his fisherman friend. When Dahyun presents him with trout that Mingyu cooked for him, he thanks the water spirit for providing the couple with food—and in turn, the rest of the village. When he was out on the river looking for you, Junhui constantly asked the water spirit if today would be the day they finally brought him to the woman his heart was constantly seeking.
It seems that without noticing, he had become a believer.
“I do.”
Your eyebrows rise. “That was quick. You’ve only been here for a handful of fortnights, and already you believe?”
He smiles, shrugging the shoulder he isn’t laying on. “I find that it isn’t hard to believe in a lot of things here.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“Like the water spirit for one,” Junhui starts. “I see the way Moonlight thrives—how the villagers enjoy easy days. It’s obvious the village is… blessed.”
You blink, eyes remaining closed for a moment longer than usual as you smile and nod. “Sure.” You open your eyes. “What else do you believe in?”
“Home,” Junhui says. “I suppose I believe I can have a home.”
Your eyes soften at the answer and you move closer to him, reaching out to hold the hand Junhui is resting in the grass. You intertwine your fingers with his, warm and soft and a perfect fit for his hand. You then bring yourself so close, your legs are resting against each other’s and Junhui can feel your breath on his face.
“What else?”
“Maybe…” Junhui breathes, “maybe I am starting to believe I could be capable of love. Someday.”
A trace of a smile graces your lips. “I see you clearly, Junhui.” Before he has a chance to ask what you mean, you continue, “Your capacity for love is never-ending.”
“How can you be so sure?”
You bring Junhui’s hand up to your chest, and his breath hitches as you hug it close to yourself for too short a moment before you guide it back to the grass, pressing it into the ground with your own hand. “How can you be sure the grass is green?”
Junhui looks down at your hands, pressed into the earth together. The world feels like it pulses along with his racing heart for a few seconds.
You nod up, gesturing for him to look. “How can you be sure that the sky is blue?”
The last hues of blue in the sky are quickly fading away to brilliant shades of orange, purple, and pink, but he stares anyway.
“How can you be sure that anything is the way it is?” you ask as you turn back to meet his gaze. “I just am. You are capable of earth-shattering love. And you deserve exactly the same.”
You will never find a home. You will never find people to love you. You’ll come crawling back here and by then, it will be too late. We won’t want you either. The voice used to be so loud. It used to be the only thing Junhui could hear, scaring him off so badly, he was running through towns until he was hundreds of miles away. He could barely even hear his father anymore. He no longer believed him. Now, he felt no fear. Now, he believed in so much more.
“Thank you” is all Junhui can think of to say because the assurance means everything to him—to know that for once, someone disagrees with his parents. Someone thinks he is allowed a chance at having a home and having love.
You still all of a sudden, your head turning toward your shoulder slightly like you're trying to hear something from far away. It’s so brief, Junhui wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been so focused on your face. You turn back to him, grinning. “Would you like to enjoy your first spring equinox in Moonlight Springs with me, Wen Junhui?”
It’s a simple question and it’s what you two planned to do in the first place, but the thrill of being asked to do anything with you—and in such intimate proximity—sends jolts of excitement down the length of his entire body. He can’t help how tightly he squeezes your hand then but you don’t complain, only smiling wider.
“I would love nothing more.”
“Then let’s go.”
A/N: chapters 1/2 in part one and 3/4 in part two! i know, i know, "trixie you just yapped for 22K words and they didn't even kiss" yeah bro idk what to tell you! they tell me what THEY want!! i have zero say!!!! see you next week. i promise they touch lips (amongst other things) in that one.
A/N 2: if you're here to spoil the major character death tag for yourself so you can see what is going to happen, here it is. if you are NOT here for that, avert your eyes immediately. i will be spoiling it in...
3...
2...
1...
please get out of here if you don't want this spoiled...
ok...
if you're still here this is your own fault...
major character death tag: in part two, reader dies briefly. she'll be fine, though, so no real deaths! ok hope you'll read heh.
That last Jun fluff was soooo cute please I need to smooch this man really really bad 😭😭😭😭 but also like... Imagine doing the dirty and then in the aftercare kissing his moles but like... All over his body 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
This one has been in my asks for centuries. My apologies dear anon.
cw; wen junhui x gn reader, suggestive, aftercare, fluff, touching, kissing, they are both still naked after sex
I apologize for no tag list. I wrote this work on my phone.
Jun smiles letting you run your fingers over him in the bath. He had already made you drink a full glass of water, he had snacks prepped, fuzzy blankets warming on a towel warmer for after the bath. He really was the king of aftercare but right now he was melting under your touch.
His eyes locked on yours, that almost cat like smile soft but always moving towards his eyes because you were his. “I’m lucky.” You shake your head, laughing at his sudden confession while your fingertip traces his lips over his moles. He reaches to hold your hand before leaning to kiss your palm.
“Hm? Are you? Aren’t I the lucky one?” Jun laughs this time, the feeling of your lips on his neck moving to his chest. You were hitting every single mole and spot on his skin. Every part of him that you adored, if he’d let you this could take hours and lead you both right back into bed.
Jun’s fingers brush over your back, a suppressed moan in the back of his throat only to come out as a another laugh. “How about we say we are both lucky? But god, y/n? Right now I’d love to argue I’m the winner. With how you are treating me. I should be the one treating you like this. Let me?”
You smile against his wet skin, your eyes lovingly looking up at him while his fingers press into your skin. “Maybe in a few minutes Junhui. Let me praise this skin and the man who I love so much. Just for a little while longer. Let me touch you like you touch me all the time.”
You always know what to say to take his breath away. You always know what to do to make his head spin. Jun can only nod and lean his head back giving you even more access to all the skin you wanted to worship.
𖥔 pairing: kim mingyu x f.reader
𖥔 wordcount: 19.0k
𖥔 genre: fake marriage au!, fluff, angst, smut (18+ mdni)
𖥔 reblogs, likes and comments are always appreciated ♡! tumblr is based on reblogs not likes, and they help writers like me to get better reach. thank you!
𖥔 summary: you and mingyu (a former mafia member and also your ex-fiancè's former best friend) are forced into witness protection. All you’ve been told is that you’re meant to act like a happily married couple. Pushed into a cookie cutter house, and a suburban neighbourhood far from the city, where people bring you baked goods on your first day and partake in small talk, it’s all foreign and new. There’s so many things you don’t know about him, but for a man who’s only known violence and all things illegal, he’s somehow the perfect house husband.
𖥔 tags: nonidol!au, ex-mafia!mingyu, househusband!mingyu, afab!reader, catmom!reader, neighbour!verkwan, marshall officer!junhui and jihoon, ex-fiancè! seungcheol, fake marriage, mingyu loves to garden, mingyu has a large dragon tattoo on his back that is barely mentioned, mentions of the show Bluey and the movie Twilight, lots of domesticity and house work talk.
𖥔 note: i got this fic done earlier than expected but i have LOTS of people to thank because they are a huge part of why i was even able to get it done. firstly to my beta-readers, thank you, you were all so helpful and i really wouldn't have it done without you all @gyuswhore , @highvern , and @onlyhuis ♡. thank you to @wooahaeproductions , @hannieween , and june (again) for allowing me to put a cameo of you all in the fic! a big thank you to all the people who sent asks that helped me write some of the scenes in the story. thank you to a lot of the @svthub members who helped sm with this fic, esp @ourdawnishotterthanourday, @bitchlessdino, @seokgyuu, @onlymingyus, and @the-boy-meets-evil !! i couldn't have done it without you all and i'm so grateful ♡. i worked really hard on this fic and i've been talking about it for so long, so thank you to all of you who interacted with my posts and waited so patiently. i appreciate every single one of you and i hope you enjoy this story because i really love it too :). see you soonest - anna ♡.
𖥔 some songs i listened to while writing: lagi - bini, i wish - seventeen, sunny day - beabadoobee, chocolate - seventeen vocal unit.
𖥔 masterlist, fic playlist.
-> smut tags/ warnings under the cut (18+ mdni!)
𖥔 smut tags: dom!gyu, sub!reader, unprotected penetrative p in v sex (don't do it!), breeding kink, multiple rounds, multiple positons, creampie, spanking, choking (barely), oral (f.receiving), spitting, pet names (reader: baby, wife) (mingyu: baby).
𖥔 warnings: mentions of weapon and drug trafficking, violence, reader is paranoid and anxious from time to time, a lot of inaccurate talk about legal stuff and witness protection, everything listed is talked about with as very little detail as possible.
The tension in the air is thick, not one word was uttered the whole car ride.
Everything still felt surreal, especially because the person you’re forced to live with for the next year is someone you aren’t particularly fond of.
When you were told that you’d be put into witness protection due to your ex-fiance’s mafia bust, you didn’t expect that it would be spent with his right-hand man. The same man who you watched execute heinous acts under the volition of your ex. It wasn’t his fault that he had to carry out orders, but witnessing him unleash his wrath onto others was enough for you to steer clear of him.
You aren’t one to judge, especially because you were to be wed to the mafia boss himself. You knew he was partaking in shady business, but you didn’t know that innocent people’s lives were included in his scheme to make more money.
“I think we’re here,” Mingyu breaks the silence for the first time since you entered the car.
Your attention is brought to the large sign that is displayed in front of the gated community. The words “Bridgewater Heights” are plastered to the high cement wall that surrounds the area. A part of you is glad that it at least looks like a secure place to live and bougie too; the gated entrance requiring a passcode with guards sitting at the doors screamed wealth.
Never in your life did you think you were going to be living in such an expensive-looking place. Even when you were still dating Seungcheol, who had money raining down on him constantly, you never desired this lifestyle. Maybe it was because you never understood the want to live in the suburbs, the city suited you better anyway.
Those initial thoughts are offset as you stare out the car window. children happily playing in the streets, the sun shining down on them, their laughter seeping through the cracks of the car door as they skip around. Everything here seems so cheerful. you wonder if you could begin to find that type of joy if you stay here long enough too.
As you approach the house you are forced to stay in, you realize that it looks like every other one in the neighbourhood. Large, modern, and painfully identical to your neighbours. A white picket fence lining the yard, with a front-facing garage that perfectly fits two cars. Large windows and a wrap-around porch tie it all together. You couldn’t help but be amazed at how grand everything looks, the difference is drastic from your cozy apartment back in the city.
An audible gulp goes down your throat. It didn’t start feeling real till now, especially because you spent the hour-long car ride daydreaming about your old home. Reading a book on the couch while stroking your cat, Norbert’s fur. His purring in the back seat calms you down, but not enough that you can accept your fate of living with Mingyu for the next year.
Your now “husband” parks in the driveway before popping the trunk open to unload the suitcases that carried half of your life. All your clothes, books, and trinkets are all sized down to sixty kilograms. It upset you to take only your most important things, but if it meant you’d be safe from your ex, you knew you had no choice but to agree.
As you opened the door to your new home, your heart began to pound in your chest.
You watched as Mingyu continued to haul everything from the car into the house; his large biceps bulging through his white tee as he carried the box that caged your now whining cat. Norbert’s meowing becomes more agitated with every passing second he spends in his carrier case, the guilty feeling pools in your stomach as his meows turn into cries. You hated keeping him in one place for long, especially for long car rides.
Norbert has always been an active cat, running around, and exploring your old neighbourhood, and at the end of the day, he always came back. At night you two spent hours cuddling while you read your books; sometimes reading the words aloud as if your cat could understand what you were saying.
Mingyu finishes up with the last of the boxes, taking a step back to look at the new house in all its glory. His hands on his hips as he sighs, admiring the work that had gone into building the house. You didn’t understand why he found the craftsmanship so interesting, but you decided not to think too hard about it.
He turns to you with an apprehensive smile, his eyes glinting in the sun, “Home sweet home, I guess.”
two.
The first few days at the new house were uneventful and awkward, to say the least. Mingyu spent the majority of his time doing random housework, he thought that if he had to live here for a year, then he should at least try and make it as “homey" as possible.
Many of the women in the neighbourhood had deemed Mingyu as their new eye candy, even though he wore his pink Shibu inu apron while tending to the garden at the front of the house. They would especially make sure to take multiple laps around the block during their group walks, drooling over his toned muscles as he began to plant an array of flowers on the lawn.
Mingyu isn’t very observant when it comes to people finding him attractive, believe it or not. He automatically assumes that the wives of Bridgewater just wanted to get to know the new couple that just moved in.
“What a beautiful garden you have!” one of the wives called out from the sidewalk, her eyes glinting with appeal.
“Thank you, It’s not done just yet, but I think we’re finally getting somewhere,” Mingyu smiles bashfully.
“Of course dear. You know if you’re ever free you should come and take a look at my garden,” another lady giggles, her innuendo flying right over Mingyu’s head.
The group of forty-plus-year-old women all giggle like school girls as they watch his face turn red with flattery. Mingyu scratched the back of his head awkwardly as they bid him goodbye, curious as to what the group of women thought was so funny about him taking a look at their gardens. It’s all just a bunch of flowers, isn’t it?
The sound of your car’s engine brings Mingyu out of his thoughts, his gardening tools forgotten by the piles of dirt. You lug Nortbert’s carrier as you walk into the house, acknowledging his presence with a small nod. His pink aprons raise a few questions in your head, but you decide not to comment on it.
“Oh hey you’re back, is he ok?” Mingyu asks, motioning to the carrier you hold in your hand.
Halting your steps, your eyes widen as you realize that he’s talking to you. There wasn’t much conversation between the two of you since you moved in. so you found it a little surprising that he’s asking about Norbert, the cat who tends to show lots of aggression towards him.
“Morning. He’s ok, I just took him for his check-up at the vet,” you shrug before entering the house.
You leave the conversation there. There wasn’t much else to say anyway, and you had a lot of work to get to before the end of the day. If Mingyu feels a little bit ignored by your actions, he doesn’t make it noticeable, going back to working on his garden.
From across the yard, neither you nor Mingyu notices Seungkwan’s looming figure as he and Vernon enjoy the Friday morning sun. He watches the two of you from his porch with a quirked eyebrow. They’re awkward for newlyweds, he thinks to himself.
“Nonie, don’t you think they’re a little weird?” Seungkwan nudges his boyfriend, who’s mumbling to himself while Vernon reads his book.
Vernon quirks up, moving his headphones a little to hear what his boyfriend has to say, “Huh? Sorry I was reading, what’d you say?”
“Nothing, go back to your book love,” Seungkwan mumbles, his eyes still darting back and forth from your descending figure and Mingyu, his suspicions spiking once more.
three.
“So, how’s the house? Do you guys have everything you need?” Jihoon asks over the phone.
Being the marshall officer assigned to your case, he would take time out of his hectic workday to check up on you and Mingyu. You still remember the first time he had contacted you, informing you about your ex escaping a planned police raid. The rhythmic beating of your heart stopped the moment those words left Jihoon’s lips, and the fear of Seungcheol showing up at your home unannounced at any moment doubled within a second.
You didn’t want to leave everything behind, especially because of how hard it was for you to build a life for yourself in your old city. But the other half of you was scared at the possibility of Seungcheol finding out about your new apartment and your new job; it was all too risky.
Now that you’re here, a part of you wonders what you would have said if Jihoon told you that Mingyu was the man they were going to put into witness protection alongside yourself. Maybe if you knew from the beginning you would’ve refused, or at least asked to be placed somewhere that allowed you to be alone.
“It’s fine Jihoon, we’ve unpacked everything, but our neighbours are quite noisy if I’m being honest,” you sigh, petting Norbert in your lap as you answer all of his questions.
The first day you and Mingyu moved in, your neighbour Seungkwan took it upon himself to introduce you to Bridgwater. Not only did he give you the rundown of every family that lived on your block, but he also became very curious about you and Mingyu. Seungkwan’s questions hit you back to back as if you were being interviewed, and you don’t even remember how you answered any of them.
“Who’s the handsome one carrying all your things?”
“Oh, that’s your husband? How long have you been married? How did you two meet?”
“Do you two have any kids? No? Oh what a shame, this neighbourhood is filled with them. Does your husband have a twin brother? Don’t tell Vernon I said that — just joking!”
“Oh, who’s Vernon? He’s my boyfriend, he’s in the house somewhere, anyways why did you two decide to move to Bridgwater?”
The questions went on for what felt like forever and before you knew it Mingyu had finished unpacking the first floor of the house. The place came fully furnished so you didn’t have much to do. But Seungkwan made you nervous to say the least, especially because you didn’t prepare to be quizzed on your first day in the neighbourhood. The only good thing to come out of that interaction was the brownies he baked, which tasted amazing, surprisingly enough.
“Why? Should I look into it?” Jihoon suggests, bringing you out of your thoughts.
You shake your head as if he can see you through the phone call.
“No, it’s okay, one of them just likes to gossip I think,” you laugh. “Other than that we’re fine.”
You hear Jihoon sigh out of relief, his day is already long enough. If he had to spend time looking into your neighbours to see if they had a criminal record, he would miss his dinner date.
“Okay, good to know. I’ll call you again next week,” Jihoon says with a monotonous tone.
A giggle leaves your lips, the exhaustion clear in his voice. You felt a little bad knowing he had to spend a lot of time on you and Mingyu’s case, but you were also thankful for the fact that you had someone to talk to from time to time.
It's only been about a week since you arrived in your little suburbia ‘haven’, and you still haven’t made any friends in the neighbourhood. You don’t count Seungkwan… he was more like a pain in the ass than a friend if anything. Although his boyfriend Vernon wasn’t as bad; quiet and a little expressionless, at least he kept to himself.
You hear the front door unlock with a beep, you already know who it is.
Whipping your head to see Mingyu stepping through the front door, hands filled with grocery bags. His appearance is laughable, his tall stature and large muscles contrasting the pink Shiba Inu apron that he wears over his clothes. You weren’t sure where he had got it from or why he chose to wear it in public, but you don’t feel like it’s your place to question him.
In the few days that you two have been living together, you begin to realize how different he is compared to his former mafia brothers. Mingyu had a knack for knowing his way around the kitchen, the whole house. He spent a lot of his free time cleaning, gardening, or making meals for the two of you.
The two of you didn’t talk much, and there was still some awkwardness lingering in the air. Meals were eaten with minimal conversation, and during the nights you would read your books in the living room, Mingyu would sit on the opposite side attempting to get Norbert to warm up to him.
“Norbert, please! Anytime but now, I have a shit ton of groceries that need to be put away!” You can hear Mingyu exasperate at the front of the house.
Norbert’s meowing rings throughout the house and you already know that his claws are probably scratching away at Mingyu’s pants. From what you have gathered, Norbert isn’t very fond of Mingyu. You assume that he’s just not used to having another person around the house, but at the same time, you thought your cat would have started to get used to his presence by now.
“Norbert, baby! Come and sit with me, I’ve got a new book for us to read,” you call out for him, saving Mingyu from your cat’s wrath.
The pitter-patter of his claws grows louder as he makes his way towards you, Mingyu’s large sigh of relief following shortly after. You laugh to yourself at how much he likes to torment Mingyu, even though Norbert only weighs about twenty pounds and is a cat.
The night goes on without another hitch. Mingyu prepares dinner for the two of you while you and Norbert dive into the first installment of Twilight. Reading aloud so your baby (cat) can follow along with the story about teenage vampires and werewolves.
four.
Mingyu was a man who thought he would never be able to escape his mafia, let alone be able to restart in a place that didn’t tie him to any of his illicit work. He never wanted to work for Seungcheol, nor did he want to live every day wondering if it was going to be his last.
He sees himself as a simple man, and all his daydreams are centered around living a simple life. A home that’s fit for a family, a golden retriever to throw frisbees with, and neighbourhood barbecues. He thought it was all some far-fetched fantasy.
It wasn’t until Jihoon got in contact with him, that’s when he realized that he finally had a chance at living the life he always dreamed of. What he didn’t know was that you would be the one he was going to be living with. But the moment Jihoon mentioned you, he knew that his wishes were more out of reach than he hoped.
He didn’t have anything against you, but he still remembers the day you left Seungcheol. It's heavily ingrained in his memory, not only because your escape created an uproar, but it was also the day he realized he too needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
…
“Boss? Wonwoo told me you wanted to talk,” Mingyu enters Seungcheol’s office, face painted with worry.
The office faces the west side of the city, skyscrapers and clouds surrounding the large floor-to-ceiling windows. There sat Seungcheol, his hair tousled every which way due to his habit of constantly running his fingers through it. The most obvious indicator of Seungcheol’s stress is if his hair is a complete mess, and that is how Mingyu knew that there must be something wrong.
“Y/n left,” Seungcheol’s voice breaks, head in his hands.
His eyes are bloodshot, shoulders shaking as he cries to himself quietly. Seungcheol wasn’t prepared for you to leave, let alone disappear without a single goodbye. He knew it was his fault too, and he knew why you left. The world flipped upside from that day onwards. Seungcheol hasn’t been the same since.
The air becomes thick, and Mingyu finds it hard to swallow. He knew how much Seungcheol adored you, and he knew that he would do anything for you.
“What? Why? Did she say anything to you?” Mingyu panics, unsure what to say or how to comfort his leader.
“No note, nothing,” Cheol sighs, picking at the chipped piece of wood on his desk. “All she left was her ring on the dresser.”
“I’m sorry Cheol, I didn’t know.” Mingyu becomes meek, his voice softer than feathers falling onto the pavement.
His stomach plummets to the ground. He had a feeling you found out what truly lies under Seungcheol’s business, but he didn’t know you would leave so hastily. He felt the guilt swirl throughout his body, but a part of him was relieved. Mingyu knew you weren’t meant for this lifestyle, and if you stayed any longer there would be no chance for you to escape.
Wonwoo informed him that he told you about what Seungcheol does to bring money in. He told Mingyu that it wouldn’t be right to continue to let you live so carelessly without knowing what type of person your fiance is.
It wasn’t long after that conversation that Mingyu found his way out of Seungcheol’s grasp too. He knows he should’ve felt bad, and that he should’ve at least found an excuse to leave Seungcheol. But he just couldn’t go through with it, he knew if he even spent a moment explaining himself, he would’ve never been able to leave.
Mingyu was Seungcheol’s right-hand man, his confidant, and most importantly his best friend. Mingyu has seen Cheol grow into the person he is today, and it only makes him feel even more remorse. He knows he should’ve stopped him from becoming blinded by wealth, by power. But he didn’t and it caused him not only to lose his fiancée, but also his brother.
Since that day, Mingyu has constantly pondered what could’ve been if Seungcheol hadn’t turned to mafia life. Would they have been happy? Would they have lived long lives with families of their own? There are so many unanswered what-ifs. He knows he can’t change his past anymore, but he knows that wants a better future. Even if it meant spending a year faking a marriage with his former best friend’s ex-fiancée.
five.
“Oh Y/n-ie! It’s good to see you, I swear I haven’t seen you leave the house since you’ve moved in,” Seungkwan snips, giving you a tooth-achingly sweet smile.
You try to suppress your eye-roll as much as possible as he walks over to your side of the comically green grassed yard. Seungkwan’s hand is on his hip as he watches you make your way to your car.
“Good afternoon to you too, Seungkwan. Just needed to pick up a few things for dinner. Mingyu spent the afternoon at the country club,” you return his fake smile, trying to keep up the facade of a doting wife.
“Oh! Is that so? I swear I thought your husband did the housework in your home. He’s always wearing that pink apron around the neighbourhood.” Seungkwan pretends to act invested in your “married life”, but he’s trying to get whatever gossip he can out of you. His real goal is purely to entertain the neighbourhood aunties with any information on the newlyweds.
Stopping in your tracks, his words catch you by surprise. You should’ve known that Seungkwan is an observant person, especially because he somehow knows everything about everyone in Bridgewater.
“Oh we split the chores evenly,” you let out a forced laugh, he offers to do the housework, and you think to yourself before continuing, “And he likes the apron, so who am I to deny his happiness?”
Not wanting to be grilled by Seungkwan any longer, you hastily slip into your car before he can get another word in.
…
“Norbert, please calm down honey, I’m trying to cook! And if I don’t end up eating neither will you,” you warn your cat to stop pawing at your leg.
Norbert was extra clingy today, and knowing you weren’t the best cook in the world, you couldn’t afford to ruin the recipe for a second time. Yes, a second time.
The first attempt at making alfredo for both you and Mingyu ended miserably, and thankfully you were smart enough to buy double the ingredients just in case any mistakes were to occur when you were cooking. The recipe online looked simple, and you even watched a few TikTok videos in an attempt to expand your knowledge.
You thought that making a cream sauce and boiling some noodles would be pretty straightforward, but somehow, you burnt the boiling noodles. Seeing all the noodles stick to the bottom of the pan you decided to just leave the searing pot in the sink and worry about it later, which turned out to be another grave mistake.
Mistake number two started when you thought the pot was cool enough to touch, earning you a sizzling burn on your soft skin. This explains Norbert’s clingy behaviour, witnessing all your fuck ups through his kitten eyes. You try not to swear in front of the baby but you couldn’t help but let out a few curses while you attempted to bandage up your burn.
To say the least, you shouldn’t be let into the kitchen from now on. But you felt bad that Mingyu made food for the both of you instead of letting you fend for yourself, so you thought you could at least return the gesture.
Norbert’s meows come to an abrupt stop as he hears the front door beep, making his way to greet Mingyu at the door. Except Norbert never greets Mingyu in a friendly way. Not more than ten seconds pass before you begin to hear Norbert’s hissing and clawing into the man's thighs.
“Norbert! Please! Where’s your mom? Can’t you just sit with her so I can at least take my shoes off?” Mingyu begs, causing you to snort.
Norbert doesn't listen to anyone but you, and even that is a rare occurrence for your sassy cat.
“Honey, come to the kitchen!” you yell at your cat to return to his rightful side beside you.
Mingyu comes speeding down the hallway, Norbert following him, his curious eyes peeking at your frame. He watches as you concentrate on making the alfredo sauce, tongue stuck out and a layer of sweat lining your forehead.
The sun is setting behind you, the golden rays hitting your face, highlighting your features beautifully. Mingyu is entranced, his prior feelings of hunger are nothing but a memory of the past.
You can feel his eyes on you, his stare boring holes into the side of your face and it causes your shoulders to stiffen slightly. Turning to face him, you quirk an inquisitive brow, not sure as to why he’s so trained on you. The gears begin to turn, and finally, the imaginary lightbulb begins to ding.
“I was calling for Norbert,” you clarified.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, but it’s fine if you’re here too. I tried to make us dinner, I know you’re the cook but I felt bad that you’re always the one preparing food for us,” you shrug, trying not to focus on how handsome Mingyu looks in his golfing attire.
His large biceps stretch the material of his shirt beyond belief, while the pants define his slim waist. The strands of hair are somehow perfectly placed, and his eyes are so kind, it would be stupid to deny his beauty. You can admit that Mingyu is extremely attractive, and you know you don’t owe Seungcheol anything, but the thought of being involved with Mingyu more than you already are could fuck things up for your future, especially knowing this arrangement isn’t permanent.
“I don’t mind though.”
“I know you don’t but I do,” you sigh, finishing up the dish by adding the sauce to the pasta.
Turning towards the island, you begin to plate the rest of the sides for dinner, trying your best to make sure that this batch is more edible than the first attempt. Mingyu continues to watch you, his arms crossed as he leans against the fridge.
This is everything Mingyu wished for himself, the view of you plating the food you’re about to eat together, even if you’re his ‘best friend’s’ ex. Playing golf at the country club, even if it’s with Jihoon, who wanted to be able to meet without being inconspicuous. Coming home to a fluffy fur baby, even though Norbert hates his guts. It may not be perfect, or how Mingyu imagined it exactly, but it’s better than before. Better than when he was living every day like it was his last, working a job that brought him no happiness.
“Did you burn yourself earlier?” he asks you, noticing the bandage you wrapped around your left hand.
“Yeah, I’m not the best cook so, if the food doesn't taste right, sorry,” you apologize in advance, not wanting Mingyu to get his hopes up.
He laughs at how apologetic you look, and you turn to give him a glare, his canines poking out of his smile like fangs. This is probably one of the first times you two held a full conversation. The only other time was when you were deciding on how the house was going to be run, and picking out your separate bedrooms.
Mingyu was kind enough to let you stay in the master bedroom while he slept in the room across the hall from yours. If you took away the history you had with Mignyu and Seungcheol, you could imagine that the two of you are just like roommates. Living together, acquainted, but not exactly friendly or close.
It isn’t as bad as you thought it was going to be, and you may have misjudged Mingyu at first. He’s a lot different than he was all those years ago, or maybe you find him to be different now because you didn't know him all that well when you were still with Seungcheol.
You find Mingyu to be kind, soft-hearted, and a man who somehow knows a lot about taking care of the house. Even knowledgeable on how to clean Norbert’s litter box, and give him the occasional bath.
“What did you and Jihoon talk about at the country club?” you ask him, wanting to know if there’s any important news that should be brought to your attention.
“Well he said that the FBI is still on the hunt for Seungcheol, but the rest of the guys have already been put into custody,” he sighs.
“And Wonwoo?”
“He’s fine, they pardoned him for giving up information,” Mingyu mutters, walking up to the space beside you.
He takes the bowl of lettuce from your hands, adding in all the ingredients you prepped for the salad to have alongside your pasta. The brush of your hands makes you blush like some teenage girl, but you allow him to help you nonetheless. You didn’t realize how tiring cooking was because you’ve never had to cook for more than one person before.
“That’s good to hear. If it weren’t for Wonwoo, I wouldn’t have been able to leave that damn place,” you laugh bitterly, folding the sauce into your noodles, making sure they were fully coated.
“I was there, that day,” Mingyu mentions, his eyes trained on preparing the food in front of him, “Seungcheol was a wreck.”
“I know, and I know it hurt him, but I couldn’t stand being there anymore. Especially after Wonwoo told me the truth.”
“It’s okay, he’s not the same guy I knew from when we were kids either.”
“I hope he’s moved on at least.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Mingyu shrugs, his eyes glassy, “I left a few days after you did.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, for the same reasons you did, and also for myself,” he sighs, moving away to grab plates from the cupboards.
Standing there, you’re stunned. Mingyu was someone Seungcheol saw as his brother, and you thought they would live their mafia life together till the end. As cheesy as it sounds, there were times you felt that your ex cared more for Mingyu than any other person who worked for him.
Mingyu begins to set the table, Norbert following closely as he peers at the counter to see all the food that you’ve made. If you didn’t know any better you would’ve thought that even your cat was aware of the stiff atmosphere that blankets you and Mingyu.
You don’t know if you should pry, so you just nod and help him with putting dinner on the table. And for the rest of the night, it was quiet. Eating in silence while Norbert watches Bluey in the living room, something that you’ve always put on for him just to keep him occupied while you and Mingyu eat dinner.
After dinner was finished, Mingyu offered to wash the dishes, allowing you to relax and enjoy some episodes of Bluey with Norbert purring peacefully by your side.
“Mind if I join?” Mingyu enters the living room, wearing sweats and a white tank top.
You give him a shy smile gesturing for him to sit on your right side while Norbert lays on the cushion to your left. His taunt muscles distract you for a second, but you do your best to shake the attraction from your coursing veins. The couch dips and Mingyu lets out a relieved sigh. Probably because he was tired from the day he spent trying to pretend he was out golfing with Jihoon.
“So what’s the show about?” Mingyu asks you, his eyes trained on your side profile.
“A show about a dog family,” you chuckle, “Originally it was meant for Norbert to watch when I’m working or when we’re eating, but it’s pretty good.”
“Really? Isn’t it for kids?” Mingyu snorts but continues to sit next to you, watching the said kids' show.
“Yeah it is, but Norbert is a kid to me,” you laugh, giving Norbert extra pats.
“He’s a little menace that one,” Mingyu shakes his head, “I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Norbert just needs to get used to you,” you shrug, “I’ve had him since I left Seungcheol, so he’s seen me at my worst, he might just be overprotective of me.”
Mingyu nods, taking in everything you’re telling him. He understands how leaving your ex-fiance is traumatic and heartbreaking. He knows it wasn’t easy for you, but at least you had Norbert to help you heal.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, and Norbert helped me stay strong. It was lonely without Seungcheol for a long time, and a part of me will always love who he used to be.”
Heat overwhelms Mingyu’s body, and his heart breaks for you. He can’t imagine what it's like to love someone and find out they’re not the person you thought they were. He knew you tried to tolerate his work, but at some point, you were led to your breaking point.
“I hope you know you did the right thing. Seungcheol was going down a dark path and you were able to get out,” Mingyu smiles at you, his eyes filled with sincerity.
“Thank you Mingyu, I appreciate that,” you return his smile.
The two of you spend the rest of the night watching episodes of Bluey with Norbert, talking a little in between about the characters. Laughing at the scenes with Bluey and her younger sister, falling into a comfortable silence with each passing second.
…
You feel warm, no, hot even. The sunlight hitting your face makes your eyes scrunch in discomfort. There's an ache in your shoulders as you begin to wake up from a very uncomfortable sleep. An arm pinning you down to the couch, a leg over yours. It takes you a while to begin to comprehend where you are and who is lying next to you.
Mingyu’s snores fill your ears, heavy breaths tickling the back of your neck. You almost fall onto the carpet as you realize who exactly is holding you. Last night ended so peacefully, so much so that you don’t even remember falling asleep to begin with.
Yet here you are, enveloped in his grasp, panicking and wondering how you’re going to escape without waking him up. And if matters couldn’t get any worse, you feel a hard bump brush against your lower back. The blush on your cheeks intensifies, he can’t be, you think to yourself. But you know what exactly is poking you as if this situation could get any more awkward.
It's normal, right? Men get morning wood all the time, you thought to yourself.
“Shit…” you whisper to yourself, slowly prying Mingyu’s arm from off your waist.
He stirs in his sleep as you move off the couch but not enough to wake him up. As you stand up to walk away, you take one last peek at him, wondering how you two ended up falling asleep while watching Bluey of all shows.
The usually sharp features are softened by his slumber, giving him a youthful look. It’s the first time you’ve seen him look so peaceful, and it suits him. This neighbourhood suits him as if he’s been living here all his life. It makes you feel a little envious knowing how easy it is for him to assimilate. He remembers all the neighbours' names and says hello to everyone who passes him while he's working in the yard, he just made it all look so easy to forget his life in the bustling city. Although you can’t blame him, you can tell he loves it here because of how much care he puts into the house. You can’t help but wonder why he’s trying so hard knowing both of you will part ways by next year.
six.
While you spent the majority of the day holed up in your office trying to finish off the rest of your projects, Mingyu decided that it was a lovely day to try and bond more with Norbert. He wasn’t sure how to make the stubborn kitten fall for him, but he thought that a nice walk around the neighbourhood couldn’t hurt.
The day had barely started and Norbert was already making a fuss. Mingyu isn’t well-versed when it comes to cats; he’s more of a dog person himself. So to his surprise, Norbert was very adamant about staying indoors today.
“Don’t you wanna explore the neighbourhood, Norbert?” Mingyu tries to persuade the cat, which makes him feel like a fool.
Norbert gives him a blank stare obviously, and Mingyu wonders why he’s even trying knowing that the cat probably can’t understand him anyway. Trying his best to compromise with the ever-so-stubborn Norbert, a light bulb goes off in his head.
It surely wasn’t easy, and there were a few scratches here and there, but Mingyu finally was able to put Norbert into the basket of his bicycle. The cat meowed like crazy until he was hit with the fresh air and warm sunlight. His meows died down and he sat in the basket peacefully, watching the kids play on the street and the cars pass by.
“See? Not so bad now is it?” Mingyu chuckles, noticing the shift in Norbert’s mood. He meows back while nuzzling into the safety of his blanket.
“It’ll be a boys’ day today, your mom’s busy working,” Mingyu continues, even though the animal can’t understand what he’s saying.
Feeling the wind brush through his hair, Mingyu takes a deep breath of fresh air. A content smile made its way onto his face, he could get used to this. The neighbours of Bridgewater waved to him as he biked along the streets. It's so peaceful, everyone is happy, and Mingyu is happy. He loved to explore even if it was just by himself, even if it meant he was alone with his thoughts.
“Mingyu darling, what are you doing out and about today?” one of the older women he sees daily calls out for him.
“Good afternoon! Me and Norbert just wanted to explore today,” he smiles with a toothy grin.
The woman blushes at his handsome visuals, trying not to get caught up in his charms. She looks behind his large frame, spotting the cat sleeping peacefully in the basket attached to his bike. Letting out a giggle, finding it quite funny that Norbert is a cat and not a dog, usually, you don’t take cats out for these types of things.
“Where’s that wife of yours? I’ve only seen her a few times, but oh my, isn’t she so pretty? You got lucky you know,” she chuckles, patting Mingyu’s arm playfully.
Mingyu’s eyes shine at the mention of you, he agrees that you’re pretty but it feels a little weird that you're referred to as his wife, knowing that it’s all a facade.
“Thank you miss, I’ll have to let her know that you said that,” he replies kindly while Norbert stirs a little in his spot before returning to his sleep.
“Please don’t call me Miss, it's so formal! Just call me Auntie, okay?” she returns his kind smile. “You know what, I’ve got some leftover kimchi, why don’t you take it home, for you and your wife.”
Mingyu’s eyes widened, his heart warmed by her act of kindness. “Is that ok? You don’t have to feel obligated to do that.”
“Oh please, you young people, always so polite. I want to! So please share it with your wife, make some kimchi stew for dinner,” she reassures him, leaving him at her front yard to fetch a container of said kimchi.
She comes back with a huge tub, enough to feed them for a whole month maybe. Handing him over the large container, she reminds him to come back when they run out. Bidding her goodbye, Mingyu returns home from his bike ride successfully with a sleepy cat and a comically large tub of fermented cabbage in tow.
…
The smell of kimchi stew wafts from the kitchen into your office causing your stomach to growl with hunger. Focused on your pending tasks, you didn’t realize how fast the time flew by while you were working. Glancing over at the clock you’re surprised that it's already a quarter to five.
Stepping out to see what Mingyu’s doing in the kitchen, you find his back turned to you, nursing a large pot of stew on the burner. His large frame is accentuated by a white tank top, the pink string of his apron strewn along his waist. At this point, you weren’t sure if you were drooling over the smell of the food or the sight of your muscular fake husband.
“What are you cooking?” you call out, leaning against the door frame that leads to your workspace.
Mingyu jumps at the sound of your voice, surprised that you’ve come out so early. He knows you tend to work for long periods, only coming out when you’ve fully completed your assigned projects.
“Kimchi stew, the lady down the street gave us a huge tub,” he replies, still stirring the pot without looking back at you. “I took Norbert out for a bike ride and she offered so.”
“You took Norbert for a bike ride?” you ask with a raised eyebrow.
Norbert is the type of cat who doesn’t like getting picked up and knowing that information makes it hard to believe Mingyu was able to successfully put him into the basket attached to his bike. Imagining him fighting to get your very grumpy cat into the bike made you giggle, especially because you know how much Norbert doesn’t like Mingyu.
“Yeah, after a few scratches, he got in and I think he liked it. He fell asleep for most of it though,” Mingyu snorted, recalling how much that furball of fury put up a fight till his body hit the basket.
“It’s nice that you’re trying to bond with him, it just takes him a while to warm up to you.”
“Yeah, I figured we just needed a boy's day while you were working.”
“Hmm, anyways the kimchi stew, is it ready?” you inquire while your stomach’s impatience continues to grow with each passing second.
“It should be good, do you mind setting the table for me?” he requests while taking the pot off the burner.
You don’t say anything else, moving to the living room to turn on more episodes for Norbert before grabbing plates from the cabinets to place them on the small dinner table.
The serving dish needed for the stew sat at the very top shelf of the cupboard and your arms were simply too short to grab it. Your movements come to an abrupt halt the moment you feel Mingyu stand close behind you, one hand on your waist while the other hovers over you to grab the bowl.
“Let me get it for you,” he grunts, taking the dish in his hand to ladle in the stew.
Heart pounding in your chest, his breath tickles the back of your neck, a shiver running down your spine. Mingyu’s body encases yours as his arm comes back down to place the dish on the counter.
Cursing yourself, you're thankful your back is turned to him or else he would be able to see the blush that’s starting to bloom on your cheeks. You mumble a small thanks before going to the table to resume setting the plates down for dinner.
As you two eat in silence you think about all the moments you’ve had with Mingyu today. The time you slept on the couch until just now when he held you close. It didn’t even mean anything, it shouldn’t mean anything, yet it replays in your mind like clockwork.
seven.
The ringing of the doorbell brings you out of your thoughts, placing your book down, you head over to answer the door. It’s none other than your gossip of a neighbour Seungkwan.
“Lovely evening Y/n-ie!” He smiles brightly, inviting himself into the foyer of your house before you could even protest.
You resist the urge to roll your eyes yet again, stepping aside to allow Seungkwan to go on with whatever it is that brought him barging into your home.
“Good evening,” you respond curtly, suspicious as to what he could need at this hour.
“Vernon and I have some friends over for a little nightcap and dessert, do you and Mingyu want to join?” he asks, eyes never leaving yours.
To a normal and maybe less paranoid person, one would assume that Seungkwan is just being a kind neighbour, but you’re not so easily fooled. The glint in his eyes makes you realize there’s probably an ulterior motive to his ‘act of kindness’.
“Oh no it’s okay, it would be rude to impose,” you try to play it off politely, but the fucker wouldn’t budge.
“Nonsense! I’m inviting you and Mingyu because I want you two there,” he explains, waving his hand at you.
Before you can refuse him even more, you hear Mingyu coming out of his room to check up on why you’re taking so long at the front door.
“Y/n, is everything alright?” he calls out for you as he walks towards the foyer.
“Everything’s all fine and dandy Mingyu, I just came over to invite you and Y/n over for some drinks and dessert!” Seungkwan informs him before you can get another word out.
“That sounds like fun actually, why don’t we go baby?” Mingyu turns over to you, his eyebrows raised, his smile tight as he tries to silently tell you that he’s putting an act up for Seungkwan.
Still flustered by the pet name, you cough out a yes. Turning over to Seungkwan to give him a fake smile. He returns your smile, eyes squinted, you can see how hard the gears are working in that brain of his. You know that he probably finds you two odd because of how awkward you and Mingyu are with each other, but you attempt to play it off as normal as possible.
“It’s settled then! Let's go, can’t keep everyone else waiting,” he exclaims as he opens the door, gesturing for the two of you to walk out first before closing the door.
Crossing over to Seungkwan’s side of the yard, he opens the door for the two of you like the perfect host that you figured he would be. You cannot deny that his extroverted persona allows him to be so persuasive, but you can’t get over the fact that he’s a little too curious.
“The newlyweds are here!” he calls out and five heads whip over to stare at you and Mingyu standing awkwardly in the foyer of their home.
Mingyu grasps your hand in his, his palms rough, probably from all the work he does in the yard. Making your way over to the couch, a man with long hair gets up to pour you two drinks. This is the most that you two have come into contact with each other consciously if you don’t count the time on the couch.
A part of you wonders if Mingyu realizes what happened this morning, but you’re too embarrassed to bring it up. So you’ll leave it and hope he doesn’t remember you two squeezed so intimately on the living room sofa.
“Everyone, this is Y/n and Mingyu, they moved into the house beside ours a couple of weeks ago,” he introduces the two of you.
As the two of you say your hello’s Mingyu pulls over to sit beside him on the couch, his arm wrapped around your waist. The blush on your cheeks stays permanently as you’re practically sitting on his lap. You try not to blow your cover but it’s hard with so many people's eyes on you.
“You both already know Vernon-ie, the one grabbing your drinks is Jeonghan and that’s his wife, Valerie,” Seungkwan gets you two acquainted with the couple before moving on. “That’s Joshua and Maren, his wife.”
“Nice to meet you! I’m Valerie but you can just call me Val,” the woman with brownish black hair smiles at you, and you can only nod, still overwhelmed with the amount of people you just met, “So why did you guys choose to live in Bridgewater?”
“We thought it would be a nice place to live, I work from home and Mingyu is currently taking a break. The first time we saw the listing, we knew it was going to be our forever home,” you lie straight through your teeth.
There's a twinge of guilt that stirs at the pit of your stomach, you feel bad for lying to these people because of how kind they all looked. You even felt bad for lying to Seungkwan, albeit he can be a nosy little shit but at least he’s nice enough to introduce you to his friends.
“If you don’t mind me asking where did you and Mingyu meet?” Maren, the woman sitting beside Joshua asks with a curious sparkle in her eyes.
You almost choke on your drink, eyes wide because you were not prepared for all these questions thrown at you. Thankfully Mingyu took the lead this time, his thumb rubbing soothing circles where he had his hand placed on your waist.
“We met through a mutual friend, we were in university at the time,” he smiles warmly and Maren listens intently, hanging onto Mingyu’s every word. “The moment I saw her I knew I was going to marry her.”
Mingyu turns to you, placing a kiss on the top of your head, and your cheeks heat up for what feels like the millionth time today. Even though his acting this way with you is all a facade your heart can’t help but skip a beat.
“What! That’s so cute,” Maren gushes before glaring at her husband before hitting his arm jokingly. “Why can’t you say cheesy stuff like that?”
Joshua’s eyes go wide and he can’t help but stutter. “Bro you’re making the rest of us look really bad right now.”
Mingyu barks out a laugh and just shrugs nonchalantly knowing that no one is immune to his charms. Even if all of this is a lie, he can’t help but play into the sappy newly-wed trope with you, and it doesn't help that he finds you so caring and beautiful too. There’s something about the way you lean into him on the couch and the soft smile you give him while talking about your “forever home”, you make it easy for him to imagine fake scenarios of how you two met.
“What university did you two go to?” Jeonghan pipes up from his seat, his arm wrapping around Val as he sips on his glass of bourbon.
“I went to Yonsei, I majored in statistics. Mingyu and I met at a club with our mutual friends,” you try not to sound too nervous while you piggyback off of Mingyu’s lie.
The back of your neck feels hot from having everyone inquire about your history with Mingyu, and it doesn’t help that your ‘husband’’s sitting so close to you, his body heat transferring over to you. At least it wasn’t a complete lie, you did go to Yonsei and you majored in stats; just way before you met both Seungcheol and Mingyu.
“What about you Mingyu?” Jeonghan moves on to him, and he perks up in his seat, mouth full of the cheesecake that Seungkwan made. The food fills his cheeks slightly and you giggle at how much he resembles a chipmunk.
“I went to SNU, and majored in business,” he states after swallowing his dessert and clearing his throat.
“Okay, enough with the interrogation. Can we talk about something else?” Vernon interrupts, obviously feeling bad for the fact that the rest of them have been asking you two questions for the majority of the night.
The rest of the group laughs, probably because they know that Vernon doesn’t talk unless he’s prompted to. Although you don’t know him very well you could tell that he was more of a listening type. It makes sense that he and Seungkwan are together, he does enough talking for the both of them.
You were more surprised by Mingyu’s answer though, you didn’t know that he went to SNU, if that was even the truth. Although he does look like the business type. There was something about him that exudes the energy of a CEO or a man who’s just good at making connections. He’s able to catch people's attention, his words carry the weight of someone who isn’t afraid to speak out loud.
With the way he talked to Seungkwan’s friends tonight, you realized how well-articulated he is, and the fact that he’s able to get people to listen to what he has to say. Although he’s a little goofy, if you didn’t know him you would’ve assumed he’s someone important just by how he carries himself outside of the house. There’s a swell of pride within you when you watch him talk about your ‘past’, and for some reason, you don’t mind it. If anything, you’re looking forward to more moments like this.
…
The rest of the evening went along smoothly after that, and by the time everyone was ready to leave it was nearing one in the morning. You helped Seungkwan clean up in the kitchen, putting away the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The two of you were quiet for a bit, only talking when you asked him about what goes where.
A part of you felt bad for being so curt with Seungkwan in the beginning. Maybe you were wrong about him and he just likes to be a nosy nieghbour, maybe it’s his way of making friends. You can’t help but be guarded due to your past and you misjudged him too quickly.
Maybe it was the glasses of wine you had or the fact that you saw a different version of him. But there’s a lovable side to him, and also a side that doesn’t mind embarrassing himself a little to get a laugh out of his friends.
“I want to thank you for inviting me and Mingyu tonight, all of our friends are in the city so we don’t get to see them often,” you confessed. “It’s nice to have someone else to talk to other than Mingyu or Norbert.”
He turns to you with a genuine smile, and you notice that maybe that glint in his eyes is permanent, a glint that shows his happy demeanor and not the type that’s meant to show his mischievousness.
“I’m glad you had fun because you’ll be invited to things like these from now on,” he expresses, his smile reaching his eyes now.
“I appreciate it, Mingyu needs more friends in the neighbourhood, ones that are his age and don’t constantly drool over him,” you roll your eyes, recalling all the aunties who stroll past your front yard daily.
“I can be his friend but I can’t promise I won’t drool over him,” he giggles, causing you to slap his arm playfully.
“Hey! Leave my husband alone, you have your own. Don't get greedy now,” you feign anger at him, glaring at him before bursting out laughing.
Mingyu walks into the kitchen, handing over the rest of the dishes that were left in the living room. His eyes dart back and forth between you as he realizes how much closer you two have gotten tonight.
“Thank you, Gyu, if you ever get tired of being bossed around by Y/n you can always live with me and Nonie,” Seungkwan giggles as he calls him by his nickname, giving his large bicep a squeeze.
You gasp at how forward Seungkwan is, your hand placed over your chest as you pretend to be offended by his words. He only glances back at you to stick his tongue out.
“You’re so childish, he’s my husband,” you attested, pulling Mingyu by his arm so he could stand closer to you. “And I’m not bossy, Mingyu just enjoys doing housework!”
Mingyu is even more confused now, but he cracks a smile when he sees how playful you’ve become. He concludes that maybe you just had a little more to drink than normal and goes along with you and Seungkwan’s teasing.
“Woah that’s enough you two, there’s enough Mingyu for everyone,” he laughs and you give him a sour look. He was obviously feeling himself too much in that moment, but you can’t help but chuckle at how cocky he sounds.
“Let’s go home Gyu, before Seungkwan decides to hold you hostage.” you huff emphasizing his nickname before you drag him over to the front door. “Bye Seungkwan, I already know I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Waving goodbye to Kwan, you pass Vernon on your way as he sits on the couch scrolling on his phone while the two other couples mingle amongst themselves.
“Bye everyone, it was nice meeting you, but it’s way past her bedtime,” Mingyu muses, motioning over to you. Your eyes feel droopy and you were practically hanging off of Mingyu’s body as he held you by the waist.
They all say their goodbyes to the two of you with promises to meet soon again. Mingyu guides you through the front door and across the green grassed lawn back to your place.
The time you spent with everyone tonight allowed you to recognize that maybe it isn’t so bad living here. Especially if you’ll be able to talk to them more often. No one but Mingyu knows about your past, and that reassures you to start new friendships, even though they’re temporary.
eight.
The next morning you woke up to your phone ringing incessantly, to the point you almost threw it across your room. It wasn’t until you read the name “Jihoon” flashing across the screen, causing you to fully wake up from what feels like a hundred years' worth of sleep. You silently promised yourself to remind Mingyu to not let you drink so much wine at Seungkwan’s house again.
“Jihoon? Is everything alright? You usually check up on us in the evening,” you stammered, sleep still evident in your voice.
“Y/n, hey sorry to call so early but…they’ve located Seungcheol,” he sighs, the news of his whereabouts hanging in the air.
Gulping nervously, your palms sweat. The way Jihoon sounded a little apprehensive made you feel uncertainty brewing in the pit of your stomach.
“Go on.”
“He used a burner to call a friend of his I’m guessing, but we were able to ping it and he’s in the town next to yours.”
“What?!” Now you’re fully freaking out, pushing your comforter to go and find Mingyu.
“I’m really sorry Y/n,” Jihoon sounds just as stressed as you are.
Searching around the house you see him sitting on the sofa with Norbert beside him, they’re watching more episodes of Bluey, but he pauses the show after noticing the panicked look on your face. You go to sit beside him putting your phone on speaker so the both of you can hear what Jihoon has to say.
“You’re on speaker, Mingyu’s right beside me,” you mention before allowing him to continue.
His sigh is audible through the speakers of your phone, and your blood pressure rises. If Jihoon is this worried then you should probably just be as worried.
“They found his location to be at a motel in the next town over, we don’t know how he found out but he might be looking for you two,” he explains carefully. “I’m sending over another Marshall officer to watch over you two while we continue to track Seungcheol. You two should be safe with him but try not to leave the neighbourhood for now, it could get dangerous if he ends up seeing either of you.”
“Okay got it, thank you Jihoon,” Mingyu replies, his hand subconsciously placed over yours as you two bear the news of your very dangerous ex potentially on the hunt for you two.
Jihoon gives you two his regards before he hangs up, probably too busy to linger on the phone for any longer.
Giving Mingyu a nervous look, he can tell how hard this information is for you to handle. After a month of being here in what felt like a sanctuary from the dangers of the outside world, you’re pulled back into reality. You’re reminded of why you’re really here, more scared than ever.
The tears start to fall before you even realize and Mingyu doesn’t say anything else, instead, he pulls you into your arms and tries to comfort you as much as possible. Even though he’s just as scared as you are, he’s determined to protect you, to protect his home, even Norbert.
“I’m sorry, Y/n,” he whispers into your ear as you cry into his chest, your tears wetting his shirt.
“You did nothing wrong, Mingyu,” you blabber as his hand rubs your back, trying to console your sobs. “I’m just so scared, what if he hurts us? What if you get hurt? I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
“Hey hey, it’s okay, I got you, I won’t let anyone hurt you. Don’t forget where I came from before all this,” he reassures you, pulling you back to look you in your eyes with a solemn stare. “He’s not going to touch even a single hair on you, or Nobert.”
You giggle a little at the fact that he’s always so inclusive to the cat who’s a bitch to him but you’re happy to know that he’s willing to protect all of you. He laughs with you, wiping away the tears that have fallen from your eyes, his touch as gentle as a mouse despite how large his hands are.
“You’re the best fake husband, I hope you know that,” you mumble as you go back into his embrace. “I know I haven’t said it yet, but I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
“Thank you Y/n, you’re the best fake wife too,” he whispers back, kissing the top of your head just like he did last night.
Except this time there’s no one to fool, there’s no one to lie to. It’s just the two of you, and the subtle meaning behind his affection makes you wish that it was Mingyu you fell for all those years ago instead.
…
Jihoon: I have an officer who’ll be patrolling the area, his name is Jun Wen. Here’s his badge number: ###### and picture. Just in case someone tries to come and impersonate him, also don’t mind if he’s a little weird, that's just how he is; and yes, he knows what he’s doing so don’t worry. You’re in safe hands.
An eyebrow quirks up as you read the last part of his text wondering what he meant about “weird”. As if on cue, the sound of the doorbell reverberates throughout your house. That must be him, you thought to yourself.
Mingyu leaves his spot on the couch and goes to get the door. He's become extra protective of you since the call you had with Jihoon this morning. It allows you to relax a little knowing he’ll be the one to answer the door from now on.
“Uh, Y/n? Why’s there some guy meowing at Norbert on our front porch?” Mingyu asks you with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Huh?” you’re just as confused as he is, but you walk over to Mingyu with your phone in hand regardless.
Looking down at the picture Jihoon sent and back at the man squatted beside Norbet, you realize this is what Jihoon meant about him being weird. From the picture that was sent, he looks like a perfectly normal guy, maybe he just really likes cats? You wondered to yourself.
“Oh that’s Jun, the guy Jihoon sent over,” you mumble, showing Mingyu the picture on your phone.
“Huh,” Mingyu says, dumbfounded.
Opening the door you don’t say anything, just watching the man named Jun make noises at your cat, who looks disgruntled and very annoyed at the random human disturbing his sleep. He’s dressed in normal clothing instead of a uniform, probably so that the neighbours don’t ask any questions.
“Mah-ow, mahhh-owww,” Jun keeps on making weird noises, blissfully unaware of the two of you staring at him from the now-opened front door.
“Uh excuse me, sir, what are you doing?” you call out to him, the confusion still very clear on your face.
Norbert hears your voice, ears perking up before he slips past Mingyu’s legs to go back into the house. His little claws clack against the hardwood as he makes his way onto the couch to continue with his afternoon nap.
“Aw man, you guys scared the cat away,” he sighs animatedly before standing up to greet the two of you with his hand out to shake. “Hi, my name’s Jun, I’ll make sure bad guys won’t come and attack.”
You and Mingyu exchange looks before looking back at Jun, then back at each other again. This is definitely not the type of guy you were expecting, but Jihoon trusts him, and you trust Jihoon’s judgment.
“We didn’t-uh, never mind, anyways I’m Y/n, this is Mingyu,” you start to explain that you're not the one to scare Norbet away, but you quickly change your mind. Instead, you return his handshake with a curt smile.
“Well, I'll just be patrolling around the neighbourhood, you’ll see me parked a few houses down once in a while. If you need anything, here’s my number.” He hands you his card which is filled with doodles of cats.
He really does like cats, you confirm.
He walks away with a wave before going back into his car and driving off. Mingyu bursts out laughing, hands clutching his stomach before he sighs, wiping off fake tears from his eyes.
“That’s the guy that’s going to be helping us? Really?” he chuckles, looking at you like you’d know the answer to Jun’s odd behaviour.
“Hey, don’t ask me, ask Jihoon,” you slap his arm playfully before laughing with him.
“Well, hopefully, nothing bad happens from now on, I honestly think we could manage without a bodyguard of sorts, or whatever he is,” Mingyu snorts, off put by Jun’s personality.
“Jihoon appointed him, so I’m sure he’s well trained. He wouldn’t have sent him over otherwise,” you rationalize, not wanting to doubt the person who’s meant to be protecting you from Seungcheol.
“Okay, you’re right. Let’s just go inside, I’ll make us kimchi pancakes,” Mingyu beckons, and you close the door behind you before following him to the kitchen.
Jun being there just gives you an extra layer of reassurance, and you know Mingyu is just as capable, but it doesn’t hurt to have backup. Seungcheol is a smart man, and you’re not sure what tricks he has up his sleeve, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
…
“Okay so now we just have to mix the pajeon mix with the kimchi,” Mingyu instructs, once again wearing his pink ruffled apron, but this time you’re wearing a matching one.
With your hair tied up, and hands messy with kimchi pancake mix, you follow every instruction that Mingyu gives you. It was his idea to teach you to cook, especially because he knows you’re not well-versed in the kitchen.
“Now what?” you ask, looking up at him for guidance, but before you can instruct him you spot the flour splattered on his nose. “Hey, you’ve got a little bit of… lemme just—”
Not realizing your hands were covered in the wet batter you end up getting the mixture all over his face too. Gasping at what you’ve just done, Mingyu looks at you with wide eyes before taking some of the batter in the bowl and smearing it on your face.
“Hey! I didn’t mean to, why’d you do that?” you let out a boisterous laugh, running away from him before he could catch you again.
“I know you did that on purpose!” he yells out, chasing you around the kitchen island in circles.
“No, I didn’t! Stop chasing me!” you squeal as he starts to close the distance between you two.
“Liar, I’m getting my revenge!” he laughs along with you, hot on your trail.
The two of you run in circles for a while till you have to catch your breath, causing you to slow down. Mingyu takes this opportunity to finally be able to get a hold of you, wrapping his hands around your waist with little effort before placing you on the counter.
“Say your final words now,” he fakes a serious tone, his crinkled as he tries to hold back his laughter.
Before you can get another word in he tickles your sides causing you to squirm against him as your back hits the counter. The bowl filled with kimchi pancake mix is long forgotten, half empty because of how much of it got onto both your clothes.
“Ok stop! I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to, I promise,” your words getting cut off by your laughter, Mingyu not relinquishing his hold on you.
He stops for a moment, his finger pointed at you, “You promise?”
You nod innocently, his upper body flushed against yours, legs intertwined at his waist as he pins you down to the counter with his other hand.
“Not!” you bite the finger pointed at you, but Mingyu’s reflexes are too fast, his large hands pinning your wrists to the counter once more.
The two of you have calmed down considerably since then, both tired from running around the kitchen. Your laboured breaths are the only thing that can be heard within the confines of your home. Mingyu’s face is dangerously close to yours, and if you leaned forward your lips would touch.
The pounding in your chest doesn’t subside and Mingyu’s eyes don’t leave yours. His strong arms are perfectly within your line of sight, and at this moment you feel like you and Mingyu are the only people in the whole world. There are no fears or doubts, no scary ex hunting you down. Just you and Mingyu.
Without even thinking, you both lean forward and capture each other’s lips in a soft kiss. You can tell he’s unsure at first, his hands loosening around your wrists, being as careful with you as he was this morning when he wiped away your tears. But you want more.
Pressing your lips against his with more vigour, your legs wrap around his waist to pull his pelvis closer to yours. A grunt leaves Mingyu’s lips, he takes this action as a signal to kiss you more passionately. His tongue laps against yours, his hands lifting you so you’re both upright.
“Mingyu,” you whimper, feeling the wet open-mouthed kisses he begins to press against your neck.
Before you can get any further, a cat meows beneath the two of you, his head turned in confusion. You pull away from him first, staring at your menacing cat, Fucking Norbert, you curse him out in your head before hopping off the counter and dusting yourself off.
“I’m gonna go shower, then we can go back to making the pancakes,” you smile awkwardly up at Mingyu.
“Oh okay, me too, yeah.” He scratches the back of his head.
Before you head to the washroom in your room you turn around once more and give Mingyu a quick peck on the lips. His arms wrap around your waist, trying to deepen the kiss once more. But you stop him before he can go any further, laughing at how needy he has gotten.
“Let’s do that more often,” you giggle before running off to the washroom.
Mingyu sighs with content, his cheeks rosy from your flirting. With you gone, he sticks his tongue at Norbert in frustration. What a cockblock, he says to himself in his head. Norbert meows in response before walking back to his spot on the couch.
No one’s ever made Mingyu feel the way you just did. At that moment he realized how fucked he is, you’re only here with him for the next eleven months, then what? Do you two go on with your lives separately? And you two are supposed to just forget everything? The more he thinks about it, the more determined he is to stay. The more determined he becomes to make you his and to give you the life you deserve.
The love you deserve.
nine.
“Afternoon, Jun!” you wave from the porch as you see his car approaching your driveway, his windows down, hair flowing through the wind.
He looks so carefree despite how important his job is, and it makes you a little envious of his lighthearted personality. He must have a happy life out of work because you swear no one is this lax with a job like his.
“Good afternoon to you too, Y/n,” he gives you a big smile, his little satchel wrapped around him as he makes his way over to you.
It’s been about a week since Jun has been patrolling the nieghbourhood, and Seungkwan’s asked a few questions about the cute but odd guy frequenting your house. The quickest lie that you could come up with was that he’s your best friend visiting from the city. You told him that he works at the home office and that he comes over from time to time to work on another project with you.
After that day, Seungkwan stopped asking so many questions, leaving you alone to sit and read with Vernon on their porch.
“Do you want to have lunch with me and Mingyu?” you ask him. “He made enough that I know we would have leftovers otherwise.”
“My wife packs my lunch actually and she doesn’t like it when I come home with a full container.” He shrugs, taking out the cutely wrapped rilakkuma bento box from his satchel.
“What! That’s so cute, I bet you love her lunch boxes,” you giggle, marveling at how much care his wife had gone into packing him food for the day.
He rubs the back of his neck as he lets out a bashful laugh, his cheeks turning red at the mention of his wife.
“Well she’s the only one whose food tastes exactly like my mom’s, maybe I’ll bring her around so you can meet her!” Jun’s eyes shine as he talks about his wife, obviously, head over heels for her.
You find it endearing how much his demeanor changes from silly Jun to an in-love Jun. The tight feeling in your chest doesn’t subside as you watch how he goes on about her, and their cats Open, Close, and Lock. It makes you wonder if anyone would talk about you that way, even when you’re not there, or when it’s not some lie to tell to your neighbours and their friends.
“That’s so sweet Jun, what’s her name?” you ask, wondering if you could make a new friend out of her too.
“June!” he replies, his smile as bright as the afternoon sun.
“Her name is also June?” you try to get more clarification on her name.
As if Jun himself couldn’t get any weirder, he has three cats named Open, Close, and Lock, as well as a wife with the same name as him. You try to process all this information but you feel like it’s too early in the day to be thinking so hard.
“Yeah! I’m Jun without an E and she’s June with an E,” he answers proudly.
You leave the Jun lore for another time, instead asking him about other things going on in his life. He’s not as bad as you thought he would be, and you find that he’s actually very fun to talk to. Jun’s actions are always so animated, using his hands a lot while he’s talking. It seems like you’ve made another friend yet again.
As you two make your way to the kitchen, Mingyu can hear your laughter ring through his ears. Two sets of footsteps make their way over to him, he knows Jun is just here because it’s his job but can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
“Hey Jun,” Mingyu greets him flatly, not really into the fact that he’s the reason his wife is laughing so hard right now.
He has no right to feel jealous but he can’t help it, especially after the kiss you two shared the other day. The two of you haven’t gotten that intimate since that kiss in the kitchen and even though he wants it to happen again, it has to be on your terms. Even though he craves you with each waking hour, he wants to make sure he isn’t overstepping any boundaries.
“Jun is going to eat with us for lunch, is that okay?” You go up to him, placing a hand on his bicep before giving it a squeeze.
Mingyu’s cheeks flush at your small gesture of affection, his eyes moving from where your hand is placed to your eyes. Looking up at him with doe eyes, you smile at him. Even though he doesn’t like the idea of you and Jun laughing together, he could never say no to you.
“Yeah, of course,” he returns your smile and you whisper a small thank you before placing a kiss on his cheek, walking away to watch T.V. with Jun on the couch.
He stands at the stove, a pan of grilled chicken to pair with your salads. A hand comes up to touch the cheek that you kissed, he smiles to himself as he continues to cook lunch for you two.
It seems as though every day he spends with you, the harder he’s falling. He can’t help it, especially when you’re much more affectionate with him now.
He fantasizes about the day you decide to no longer sleep in separate rooms across the hall from each other, and getting to wake up to you and your beautiful face every morning. He watches you laugh with Jun in the living room and silently wishes that you’ll fall as hard as he has.
ten.
With every passing day, the more you worry about Seungcheol’s whereabouts. You’re safe here, and people are looking over you but you can’t help but be paranoid. You wonder if you’re going to have to live every day in fear. But thankfully, with Mingyu beside you, it becomes a little more bearable.
It wasn’t until today that you realized that you could finally breathe right. You awoke to another call from Jihoon, who seems to only call about important matters early in the morning. He suggests that you get Mingyu, wanting both of you to be on the call.
Your mind is spiraling. The last time Jihoon called he had given you bad news.
“What’s wrong Jihoon?” you ask him apprehensively, not sure if you’re mentally prepared to hear what he has to say.
Both you and Mingyu sat on the couch with bated breaths, waiting for him to say something. Anything. Mingyu has an arm around you, your legs on top of his as he holds you close. He didn’t even have to say anything, his silence was enough to indicate how nervous he was.
“Guys, don’t be so nervous, now I’m getting nervous!” he sighs.
“I can’t take this, just say it already, you’re killing me over here Ji,” Mingyu whines, squeezing you a little tighter to soothe his nerves.
“Well, we found him. Jun was able to put him in custody and he’s been at the station for a couple of hours now,” he finally reveals, hearing the two of you squeal like a bunch of school girls over the speakers. “I know you don’t want to see him Y/n, but if you want you can come down and talk to him. Closure and shit.”
Mingyu looks over at you the moment Jihoon mentions you visiting your ex, and he can practically see the gears turning in your head. To be honest, you’re not sure if you’re ready to face him, but a part of you is curious about what he’s like now.
“Okay, I’ll visit him, but only if Mingyu comes with me,” you mutter, playing with the hem of Mingyu’s shirt absentmindedly.
You think of all the scenarios that could play out the moment you meet with Seungcheol again, but you know that if you want to shed the rest of your old self. You need to finally face him and gain the closure you deserve.
And the closure that Seungcheol deserves too.
…
For the rest of the day, you and Mingyu have a little self-care night before your confrontation with Seungcheol. Your nerves are at an all-time high, even Norbert could tell you were anxious; constantly staying by your side, even when you were showering, working, or eating.
You weren’t sure what you were going to say to Seungcheol when you see him, or how you’re going to even feel. It’s been years since you’ve faced him, you just know that if Mingyu is there everything will be alright.
For some reason, Mingyu’s presence always calms you down. His comforting words and strong demeanor help you stay afloat in your deep sea of worries. Just like Norbert, you don’t think he realizes these past few months with him have helped you overcome a lot of your paranoia. The more you got to know him, the more you recognized how soft and loving he really is, despite his past.
“You have to stay still, okay?” you mumble as you continue to slather the face mask all over Mingyu’s skin.
Sat on top of the bathroom counter, Mingyu stood between your legs as you concentrated on the task at hand. His own hands placed on the tops of your thighs as he waited patiently for you to finish.
When he proposed a self-care night, you didn’t think he’d agree to go as far as doing skin care with you. Obviously, you were very wrong, and it kind of warms your heart that he’s willing to do even something as silly as this and then watch Bluey with you on the couch.
“Y/n, it tickles,” he whines, hands gripping harder on your thighs as he fights the urge to laugh.
“Do not laugh! You’ll ruin it,” you try not to giggle, your own face mask starting to crack.
“Okay, sorry but you look so silly right now,” he chuckles, his eyes trained on you.
Even with your hair tied up and a fluffy bunny-ear face wash headband, he still finds you beautiful. It doesn't matter to him what you look like, just the fact that you’re here, with him, it’s all he needs to be happy.
“Done!” you flash a proud smile before hopping off the counter.
Before you can leave the bathroom, Mingyu grabs your wrist and turns you around till you're flush with his chest. You raise an eyebrow at him, unsure of what he’s plotting right now. Instead of saying anything more he just places a peck on your lips before whispering a small “thank you”, letting you two carry on with your night.
You just laugh and shake your head at him before heading over to the couch to watch more episodes of Bluey. Norbert claims his rightful spot beside you while Mingyu sits on your other side.
Tomorrow may be scary and you have a lot of thoughts running through your head, but spending the night peacefully with Mingyu and Norbert silences your worries enough to relax in the meantime. What you don’t expect is the constant thought of wondering if this is what your life would be like every day if you decide to stay in Bridgewater after the year is over.
eleven.
The car ride to the police station is quiet. Mingyu’s hand is in yours as he tries to console your overthinking. There isn’t much he can say to help you at this moment, but the least he can do is show you that he’s here. He doesn’t want to say anything that could potentially overwhelm you, he just wants to show you how much he cares.
By the time the car reaches the station, your palms are drenched in sweat, but you want to stay strong. You want Seungcheol to know how happy you are now, without him. You want him to see how different you are now after all these years, how you’re better off without his tainted love.
“Y/n, Mingyu,” Jihoon greets you at the door, nodding to you.
The ever so stoic Jihoon. He’s a man of very few words but you could tell that he was rooting for you.
The walk over to where Seungcheol was being interrogated felt longer than normal, but in reality, it only took a few seconds to reach the door. Jihoon gives you a look before opening the door, one that’s silently asking you if you’re sure. You only nod with a determined gleam in your eyes, allowing him to unlock the door and letting you see your ex after so many years.
His black hair looks the same it did all that time ago, except it was longer now and a little messy from him running his fingers through it. You could tell he was exhausted, and it broke your heart a little.
There are feelings of anger resurfacing the moment your eyes lock with his, but also feelings of sorrow and pity. You’re reminded of all the memories you made with him, the happiness, the sadness, and the solace in between. But you grieved the loss of your love with him a long time ago, and even though there are fragments of those feelings now, it doesn’t hurt as much as it used to.
“Y/n,” Seungcheol’s voice cracks upon seeing you.
Your chest burns and it feels like all the air in your lungs has dissipated. There’s a dullness to his gaze, almost like he’s a mere shell of the person he used to be. You should’ve known that Seungcheol lost his soul all those years ago when he decided to sell it for never-ending wealth. But here he is, in front of you: defeated, tired, heartbroken. There’s a small part of you that will always care for him, yet you know that you’ll never love him the way you used to.
“Cheol,” you whisper, your back against the door, your body not wanting to get any closer to him than you have to.
“Y/n, please I never wanted us to end up this way, please. Please,” he tries to beg, to stand up, but his hands are handcuffed to the table. His wrists have turned red from trying to escape from his chains. It’s no use, he won’t ever be able to get as close as he is now.
A single tear falls from your eyes watching his desperate attempts to reach you. But the room feels far too big now like the two of you are miles apart. So you stay put and tell him what you’ve been wanting to say after so many years.
“You dug your own grave, Seungcheol. I tried, I did. But how could you keep all that information from me? Selling illegal weapons may be one thing, but involving all those innocent people? Did you lose your damn mind? I couldn’t live with myself knowing how many people you hurt. Then you turned to drug trafficking? Did you really think I could marry someone like that?” you raise your voice at the end.
Your chest is heaving from not taking a single breath to stop, to think, just saying whatever your heart is telling you to say.
“Y/n, please! Hear me out, I want to make it work-” he begs and begs, but you cut him off.
“There’s nothing to work out.”
“I just wanted to have a secure future with you, I was going to quit after our wedding, please you have to believe me,” he keeps going, but you don’t want to hear it anymore.
You scoff at his attempt to justify his actions, but you know better. The man in front of you will say anything to get you back into his life, but you don’t buy his bullshit. The more money he earned, the greedier he got, and the higher his ambitions got, he wasn't the man he was when you first met him. The constant reminder of him leading a dark path keeps you grounded.
“You lost me the moment you decided to hurt people who don’t deserve it.” Your voice is stern, you don’t want to continue to drag this out knowing all he’s going to do is plead for you to come back to him.
“Y/n please, I can’t live without you, even after all these years, I can’t sleep, nothing. I need you.” The tears begin to leave his eyes, but you do your best to stay strong.
All you can do is shake your head at him, his words going through one ear and out the other. His sobs and pleading shake you to your core, but it doesn’t hurt to hear after knowing all the evil things he’s done.
“But I don’t need you, I’m happy, I’m in love again. I have friends that care about me,” you countered.
You're breathing heavily, trying to stay as calm as possible. You had no more tears left to shed for him.
“It’s Mingyu isn’t it?” he asks, but you don’t give him any indication that his prediction is correct.
Your heartbeat picks up at the mention of Mingyu’s name, and you’re not sure how Seungcheol found out about the two of you. At this point you don’t even care, because the happiness you deserve is waiting for you outside the very door you stand against. No one will get in the way of the reason why you’re able to breathe right again, especially not Seungcheol.
“That doesn't matter,” you defended, not wanting to speak to him for any longer.
“But it does. Just tell me it’s not Mingyu, anyone but him please,” he continues to cry, the rattling of his handcuffs burning your eardrums.
You’ve gotten your closure, the figurative shackles that Seungcheol had you in are finally broken. There’s a sense of relief to being able to face him without completely breaking down. Your heart no longer belongs to him, and neither do your fearful thoughts.
“I don’t owe you anything anymore Seungcheol. Goodbye.” You end the conversation, turning around to close the door without looking back.
His pleading can be heard through the metal, but you don’t dare turn back, you don’t dare to let him have his hold on you anymore. Closing the door of the interrogation room felt like closing the door to a chapter of life. And finally, after everything that has happened, you feel free.
“You’re in love with me?” Mingyu’s voice is heard through all the commotion.
He stands there with a hopeful look in his eyes, a small smile dancing along his lips. You roll your eyes at him as if it wasn’t already obvious how much you care for your fake husband.
Walking up to him, you engulf him in a tight hug, your head buried in his chest as tears of relief leave your eyes.
“Of course I’m in love with you, you big idiot,” you laugh, holding him tighter, so tight that you’re sure that he’ll never leave your side, even if he wanted to.
twelve.
The drive back to the house felt like a breath of fresh air. Wind blowing through your hair with the windows rolled down, Mingyu’s hand on your thigh, music blasting through the speakers. It felt like freedom.
“Can I hear you say it again?” Mingyu turns to you while he’s stopped at a red light, his puppy-dog eyes are too cute to resist.
“I love you,” you smile at him, placing your hand on top of his.
The glistening in his eyes looked like it came straight out of a movie, they glittered in the sunlight, a reflection of his very being.
“I love you too, did you know that?” he blushes, giving you a sweet kiss before returning his attention to the road.
The two of you stay quiet for the rest of that way back, savouring the sweet moment. You still can’t wrap your head around everything that has happened during your stay at Bridgewater, especially because you’ve somehow found love again. A love that’s sweet, one that doesn’t feel as worrisome.
“Home sweet home!” Mingyu announces the moment the car rolls into the driveway.
You’re brought out of your thoughts and Mingyu gets out to open the door for you. The second the door closes he cages you between him and the side of the car. His lips softly hit yours and you moan out of surprise. The kiss is slow and sweet, and butterflies erupt in your stomach immediately.
You haven’t kissed him properly since that day in the kitchen but you don’t mind the wait. If anything it causes you to feel hungry for more. Mingyu’s hands on your waist are pulling you tighter with each passing second, but making out in the middle of your driveway, where everyone in the neighbourhood can see, pulls you out of your lustful thoughts.
“Let’s go inside?” You detach your lips from his, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him towards the front door.
Once you two are inside, without any potential prying eyes you pull him back into a kiss. It’s sloppy and filled with more passion than the previous times you two were this close. You don’t want to stop feeling him against you. The firm grip he has on your waist travels under your shirt, his hands against your bare skin leaving a burning sensation in the best way.
There’s a silent agreement between the two of you. You both know where this is heading but no one stops to take a break, to tell the other that it is time to let go. You continue to deepen the kiss, letting your tongue glide against his, your fingers running through his hair. It's addicting, Mingyu’s lips are intoxicating and all you want is to get lost in the arousal.
“I wanna make you feel good, so good till all you can remember is me, no one else,” Mingyu mumbles against your neck, his lips trailing lower as you whimper in approval. “Tell me, is that what you want?”
“Yes,” you whimper, eyes closed as you feel him lick and suck the skin on your collarbone.
Backing away, you can see how the love and adoration in his eyes are tainted with hunger. The sight of him makes your stomach flip, there’s a darkness to his gaze and you gulp silently. Waiting for him to show you how badly he wants to fuck you, how badly he needs to see you whimper and moan for him.
Without another word you bring him to your room, closing the door behind you so Norbert can’t interrupt like he did last time.
The door is against your back once again and Mingyu towers over you, caging you with his body. His scent fills your senses, your knees going weak as he continues to stare at you with those hooded lids, his attention on you and you only.
His hand trails against your jaw till he stops at your chin, tilting your face up so that your eyes are leveled with his. He licks his lips as he watches you, wanting nothing but to take you then and there. But he has so much planned, he can’t get too hasty, especially because the thought of you cumming for him over and over continues to plague his mind.
“I want you to sit on the bed, and to be a good girl and take what I give you,” Mingyu mutters, his hand moving closer to your lips till his thumb pulls your bottom lip down.
You don’t argue, moving away once again to do what he says. This is the Mingyu you used to know. The one who spent half his life in the mafia, the one who could command a whole room with a single word.
Following behind you, he waits till you get comfortable on the bed before sitting down between your already spread legs. He captures you into a kiss once more, letting himself savour the taste of you. Your hands move across the expanse of his back, slowly lifting his shirt along the way and feeling his large muscles tense under your gentle fingers.
“Fuck me, please,” you beg him, and your voice is strained, the words leaving your mouth in whimpers.
Mingyu chuckles at your desperation as he removes the rest of his clothing, but your mind is buzzing like crazy. It’s been so long since you’ve been intimate with someone that you forgot how good it feels to be held, to be kissed.
“Be patient baby, we’ll get to that eventually,” he grunts, lifting your shirt and removing the remainder of your clothes till you're bare.
Marveling at your naked figure, Mingyu forces himself to stop drooling over how sexy you look in front of him. You’re so small compared to him, his large hands opening up your thighs to reveal your awaiting arousal.
“You’re already fucking soaking,” he mutters as he prods with your folds. His fingers move gingerly as he teases you.
His arms push your thighs till they’re flush with your stomach, giving him clear access to where you need him most. Trailing kisses along your inner thighs, your head hits the pillow as you moan out for him. You’re over-sensitive from not being touched by another person in so long, his lips leaving burning sensations on your skin.
Your pussy is dripping on the sheets the moment he presses a kiss to your clit. Clenching around nothing, you continue to moan out his name, and it makes him smile against you. Hearing you call out for him is like music to his ears, your voice sweet like honey.
“Keep doing that, please Mingyu,” you whine, your hands coiling around the strands of his hair, nails raking his scalp.
Groaning against your mound, he continues to play with your clit. Licking and sucking it while his fingers enter your weeping hole. The sounds of his long digits moving in and out of you fill the room, and you can feel yourself getting closer to an orgasm.
“Fuck, it’s so good,” you praise him, and it strokes his ego, his movements picking up in pace.
The squelching noises only increase in volume, his fingers hitting that soft spot inside you that makes your legs shake and your vision goes white. Practically screaming his name, the coil in your stomach snaps and you cum against his mouth. His tongue moved against your slit to drink up your juices, wanting to feel you fill his mouth with your sweet nectar.
His eyes remain trained on yours while he’s lying between your legs, you run your hands through his hair as you come down from your high. The words can’t seem to leave your lips and your mind is filled with euphoria. If he can do all that with just his mouth and fingers you wonder what will happen when he’s finally inside you.
“God, you’re so needy. Probably haven’t been fucked properly in so long, huh baby?” he coos as he moves up your body, lips against your ear as he continues to mutter dirty words.
“Need someone to take care of you? Is that what you need? Need your husband to fuck a baby into you,” he keeps going and your eyes roll back and he fondles your tits.
“Yeah, you like that?” he chuckles, twisting at your hardened nipples as your pussy clenches at the thought of being filled with his cum.
“You like it when I talk about fucking you till that tight little cunt of yours is stuffed full of my cum?” Mingyu’s mouth continues to spew words of breeding you, and his growing erection is harder to ignore.
“I want it so bad, want you to fuck a baby in me, Gyu,” you sigh, your salacious moans bouncing off the walls as he flips you around.
Ass in the air, he gives the supple skin a sharp slap and you shriek. But it feels so good, the sting of his large palm hitting you hard. He can see how much you’re enjoying it, kneading your full mounds as his head fills with thoughts of fucking you in this position.
“Please just fuck me already, I wanna feel you inside me.” You’re weeping now, face smushed into the pillow.
“You sure you’re ready?” he asks you, pulling you by your hips till your back is arched.
The neediness inside you is at its highest point, and you can’t seem to form any words as you feel his fingers glide against your soaked hole. Moans can’t stop leaving your lips and you’re already sensitive from your first orgasm.
Placing a pillow under your stomach, he continues to manhandle you into the position he wants you in. Face down, ass up, your legs are spread, and your wet entrance is all ready for him. Mingyu grabs his hard cock, stroking it a few times before spitting on your cunt, and you jolt at the hot liquid hitting your folds.
“Fuck, you’re tight, I should’ve prepped you more,” Mingyu groans, his length slowly forcing its way past your entrance.
The air is knocked out of your lungs as you feel him starting to fill you. The stretch is agonizing but the burn sends tingles of pleasure up your spine. It felt so fucking good having him inside you like this, your mind full of nothing but the shape of his cock.
“I want it hard, fuck me hard,” you tell him, your voice shaking as he continues to enter you.
“Okay baby, but just know I won’t be gentle anymore,” he warns you and maybe you shouldn’t have been so eager, but that primal part in you just wanted him so bad.
Once he has himself fully sheathed in your heat, he pulls back until only the tip is left. You gasp at the sudden empty feeling, but you're quickly silenced when he dives back in. His hips slapping against your ass, his balls hitting your clit. Mingyu’s stamina is insanely high as he continues to thrust in and out of you.
“Fuck, you’re so big, I-I can’t!” you cry out, your screams picking up in pitch till you're moaning like a porn star.
“So fucking tight, baby you’re driving me crazy,” Mingyu continues to grunt, his movements not slowing down for even a second.
His hands move to grip your hips tightly, he stops for a split second to stop his thrusts. You thought you were going to be able to catch your breath. But he just keeps surprising you. The hands that he placed on your hips tighten and he moves you up and down on his cock while he stays still. Using you like his personal sex doll, but fuck, it felt amazing. You love that he’s using you, placing your body in whatever position he wants to chase his own pleasure.
“You’re so perfect, I could fuck this pussy till I’m empty,” he mutters, watching his dick disappear inside you.
There's a white ring of arousal around the base of his length, and his mind goes blank. All he can do is continue to bounce you up and down his member till he can feel himself start to twitch inside you.
“I’m gonna cum, baby you feel so good inside me,” you scream for him, loving the way the ridges of your walls continue to suck him up, your orgasm hitting you once again,
There's something so nasty about him using your body, and you’re enjoying all of it. You love how he’s just taking what he wants, yet he still knows how to make you cum. Your pussy is swollen from the beating it’s taking, but you want more. You want him to keep going till he has nothing left to give you.
The feeling of Mingyu twitching inside your walls indicates that he’s close, and you continue to clench around him. Wanting to milk him of his seed, wanting to feel his cum hit your cervix and breed you.
“Gonna cum inside you, okay baby?” he warns you before stilling his movements.
His cock twitches again till you feel his hot white cum spurt inside your walls, flooding your cunt with his seed. Mingyu groans, watching the liquid fill you and breach past your tight hole till it gushes out. The sight is so unholy, so sinful but he can’t just stop there. No, he won’t stop till you’re stuffed properly.
“M-mingyu, baby,” you whine, your body flopping onto the mattress as he lets you go.
Your legs turn to jelly as you shake from how hard you came, your breathing labored. He turns you around so you're splayed out for him, prying your legs open to watch his cum fall out of your pussy in thick globs. It’s so mesmerizing, hypnotizing, he wants to see more of it. To fill you with more of his seed.
“We’re not done,” he smiles as you cheekily and you laugh.
“You want more after all of that?” you question him, your breathing still harsh from the previous round.
“Baby, after all of that, I don’t think I can stop,” he mutters against your lips, and you nod, agreeing with his statement.
He switches your positions, his back against the headboard while you sit on his lap. The refractory period doesn't seem to exist with Mingyu because his erection is standing proudly in front of you.
“You wanna go again?” he asks you, one hand on your hip as the other rubs his cock as it glistens with a mixture of both of your arousals.
“I want you to use me till you can’t anymore,” you lean over, whispering in his ear.
“Careful, you might regret that later,” he mutters, a hand around your neck as he halts your movements.
Pulling him into a heated kiss, you position his length against your entrance, lifting your body till you can fully sink down on him. Even after the first round, your pussy still can’t get used to the stretch that his cock gives you. It's a delicious feeling, his length is so long and thick you can feel it in your stomach.
“Ah!” you cry out, your head thrown back as you stabilize yourself by holding onto his shoulders.
Mingyu moans back, mesmerized by the view of your tits bouncing up and down in front of his face. His cock disappeared inside you once more, the sight making him feral, hungry to see you filled to the brim with his semen.
Your orgasm comes around faster this time and your walls convulse around him once more. The heat, the wetness, the silky feeling of your cunt makes Mingyu go delirious, thoughts only filled with you and you only. Stilling your hips, his own high follows yours shortly after, his cum hitting your insides till it covers his softening member all over again.
You let out a puff of breath, leaning into his chest as your face rested in the crook of his neck. Mingyu rubs your back soothingly, his dick going soft and falling out of your entrance. Whimpering at the loss of him being inside you, you hold him tighter. The feelings of exhaustion are finally catching up to you, but you know you’ll have to clean up soon enough.
“You know I love you, right?” he reminds you as he lifts you up and off the bed to head to the shower. You can only nod, your mind and body too tired to respond.
Setting you on the counter, his back turns away from you while he prepares your bath, getting the water warm for you. You notice the large dragon tattoo that coils along his skin. It surprises you that you haven’t noticed it before, but the black ink on him is undeniably sexy.
Once the water is warm enough, he carries you to the shower before cleaning you up properly. You love that he’s back to his soft and kind self, and it makes you fall for him even harder. The hard sex was so good but what’s important to you is the fact that he’s so keen on taking care of you after.
Mingyu’s hand snakes around your waist as your head lays against his shoulder, pressing lazy kisses while you whisper words of gratitude.
“Thank you, I love you too,” you mumble, adorning him with pecks along his warm tan skin.
epilogue.
“This whole fucking time,” Seungkwan stares at you with wide eyes, “I fucking KNEW it.”
You scoff at him, he just had to be right about everything and it annoys you, but here you are again, in his home for drinks and dessert.
“Sure you did, Kwannie,” you sigh, patting his shoulder.
“I swear I did! Right, babe? They were suspicious from the start,” he continues to argue, roping in Vernon who gives him a shrug of his shoulders before returning his attention to his phone.
It was time for you and Mingyu to break the news about your fake relationship with everyone. You felt bad for deceiving people, and now that you two were actually in love, it just felt right to put the fake marriage thing in the past.
“Please, we weren’t that obvious,” you defend, not wanting to give Seungkwan the bragging rights to actually be right this whole time.
Seungkwan just rolls his eyes at you before taking a sip of his wine. He didn’t feel like arguing with you anymore, he’s just happy that his suspicions have been correct this whole time.
“Does this mean you’re going to leave soon?” He looks at you with desperate eyes, taking your hands in his.
“Well, we’ve talked about it, and Mingyu and I have decided to stay,” you smile at him from where he sits across the room, talking about something unimportant with Jeonghan and Val. “So don’t worry, I’ll still be your neighbour. Bridgewater actually seems like the perfect place for us right now.”
“Oh thank god! I don’t think I could live happily ever again if you moved away, Y/nie.” He pulls you into a hug, and you can’t help but laugh at his dramatics.
Seungkwan may have started as a pestering neighbour, but you can’t help but feel grateful towards him. If it weren’t for his annoying attitude, you and Mingyu probably wouldn’t have tried so hard to pretend to be in love. You could say that Seungkwan was one the biggest reasons why you and Mingyu fell so hard for each other in the first place.
…
A few days after solidifying your relationship with Mingyu, you two decided that it wouldn’t be too bad to stay here after all. Seungcheol was sentenced guilty during trial and Jihoon informed you that there's no more reason for you to be put into witness protection. Everything just seemed like it was all falling into place, and you’re happier than you have been in so long.
Even Norbert has finally warmed up to Mingyu. Sometimes when your work day is over, you’ll spot them cuddling on the couch and watching Bluey together. He always talks to Norbert, asking him questions even though the cat can’t answer. It warms your heart knowing that the two beings that healed you from a world’s worth of hurt can get along. They both came into your life when you needed it most, and every day you're thankful that you’re surrounded by so much love.
“Watching Bluey without me?” you ask out loud, your arms crossed as you pretend to be mad.
“Baby! You’re done!” Mingyu practically flies off the couch to capture you in a bone-crushing hug.
“You know you can come into my office when I’m working,” you laugh as you rub his back, savouring the feeling of his large and muscular arms holding you.
“I know but I don’t want to distract you, even Norbert doesn't go in,” he mumbles, inhaling your scent as if he didn’t wake up beside you that very morning.
“You’re silly, Mingyu,” you laugh, kissing his cheek.
He blushes like a schoolgirl before giving you the biggest grin known to man. His eyes sparkling against the living room lighting, you can tell he’s head over heels for you. Mingyu isn’t afraid to show affection or to be vulnerable, he just wants to be with you, no matter how good or bad things get.
“Can’t I just be happy my wife is off work?” He sighs lovingly, brushing your hair through his fingers, refusing to let you go.
You roll your eyes at how cheesy he is, but he knows that you secretly love it. Especially since you act the same way with him whenever he goes out to run errands or when he tends to the garden.
“Your wife is hungry and tired, can we make more kimchi pancakes please?” you ask with puppy dog eyes.
Mingyu laughs at you before kissing your forehead, “Anything for the love of my life.”
Blushing at his words, you follow him into the kitchen to make the kimchi pancakes you had asked for. Putting on his pink ruffle apron, he gets down to business, always wanting to cook the best food for you.
Mingyu is satisfied knowing that he’s able to give you the life that you deserve. To love you on sunny days and even on rainy days. He’s never felt a love that was this secure, and he’s grateful that you feel the same way.
As you watch Mingyu cook, you think back to the first day you moved to Bridgewater. You misjudged him that first day and you’re so glad that he proved you wrong. He has been nothing but amazing since then. He’s patient, and kind, and he loves you even when you’re irritated or in a bad mood. For someone who used to be a part of the mafia, you would expect him to be rough around the edges, and intimidating, but he’s the complete opposite. He’s the perfect house husband.
end.
𖥔 a/n: you've reached the end of my hubbygyu fic! thank you for reading and please leave an ask or comment if you've enjoyed this story :)! but wait... there's more! this story will become a series that takes inspiration from the anime ( the way of the house husband) so please look forward to seeing more of wifey y/n and hubby gyu! thank you again ♡.
Lylaaa!!! What do u think about kyeom and yn doing this chapstick challenge??? I think it would be soo cute 🤧💕
chapstick challenge: blindfolding each other and applying various flavored chapsticks to their lips. the blindfolded person needs to guess the flavor of the chapstick based on taste and scent.
Dokyeom as an attentive person, since you two started dating, he noticed during your first kiss that you were wearing a strawberry chapstick. So every meeting you had, with his curious personality, he tried to guess which the flavor was.
As your boyfriend looked at the array of chapsticks spread out on the table, his eyes were gleaming with anticipation. "This is such a fun idea, babe! I never thought we could have a date night with chapsticks" he exclaimed, a playful smile on his face.
You couldn't help but adore Dokyeom's attention to the little details, especially the flavors of the chapsticks. It wasn't just a playful game; it was a reflection of the thoughtfulness he brought to your relationship.
Dokyeom's lips met yours in a sweet, lingering kiss, a gentle confirmation of his attempt to guess the flavor. As he pulled back, a satisfied smile played on his lips.
"You taste like watermelon," he declared with a grin, his eyes filled with playful triumph.
"Coconut"
"Honey"
"Mango"
"Peppermint"
"You're wearing vanilla now, right?" he'd ask guessing it right, again, his lips meeting yours with a certainty that left you both laughing.
"You're like a chapstick flavor wizard!" you exclaimed, impressed by his accuracy.
With a mischievous smile playing on your lips, you decided to add a twist to the chapstick challenge. You grabbed the sides of Dokyeom's face and pressed your lips against his once more. He furrowed his eyebrows, clearly taken by surprise, and you could almost sense the confusion in his blinking eyes behind the blindfold.
After a moment, he attempted a guess, "Is it pear?"
You chuckled, shaking your head, "Nope, guess again."
He tried a few more times, each guess getting more amusing as he struggled to identify the flavor. Finally, you decided to put an end to his confusion.
"It's cucumber mint," you revealed with a laugh, and Dokyeom immediately lifted the blindfold, blinking in disbelief. He checked the chapstick, as if questioning whether you were serious.
"Cucumber mint?" he repeated, a bemused expression on his face. "Who chooses that flavor?"
You burst into laughter at his reaction.
Dokyeom looked at the cucumber mint chapstick in his hand, still in disbelief. "Cucumber mint? Are you sure?" he questioned, a playful grin forming on his lips.
You nodded with a teasing smile, "Yeah. Give it another go if you don't believe me."
Without hesitation, Dokyeom leaned in once again, pressing his lips to yours his tongue brushing lightly against your lips. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and you could almost hear the wheels turning in his mind.
seungcheol: would act tough in front of his friends, and with you would be talking like; pweaseee/otay/i wuv u so much 🥺 like—shutthefuckup
jeonghan: stole your lip gloss. yep, dead serious. you look over, and he’s pulling out your cherry gloss, pouting at himself in his phone camera to check it. then he has the audacity to judge you if it’s not his color. like, “babe, don’t you think this is a bit bright?”
joshua: man has this cringe little habit of saying “no cap” at the worst times, and he’s always wrong. burnt his toast? “no cap, that was the toaster’s fault.” got pulled over? “no cap, that cop’s jealous of my car.” you’re in a horror movie, and this dude would whisper, “no cap, i think we should split up.”
junhui: starts telling a hilarious story about his day but accidentally mixes it up with a story he already told you last week. he’s all “wait, have i told you this before?”
hoshi: eats with so much sound. slurping, groaning, making it a whole event. like, eating ramen? nah, he’s performing ramen, making eye contact, giving each bite a sound effect. and it’s so bad you’re rethinking why you even suggested dinner. you can hear every noodle hitting his mouth. done.
woozi: texts you “wyd” every fifteen minutes. like you’re just supposed to be sitting around waiting for his updates on what you’re doing, right? he’s the kind of guy who’ll FaceTime you just to check if you’re having too much fun without him. and the way he says “wyd?” – every. time.
wonwoo: he’s got a pet name for his gaming console. this boy will sit there, caressing his controller and calling it “baby” while yelling at his avatar. it’s all fun and games until he actually ignores you mid-sentence to mutter sweet nothings to his PS5.
minghao: changes his accent mid-sentence to be "fancy." like, you’re talking normal, but suddenly he’s doing his best British impression for no damn reason. “oh, quite right, love, terribly splendid.” and it’s out of nowhere, totally unprompted, with a smirk like he just did something magical. you’re cringing so hard you’re practically folding into yourself.
mingyu: he’ll be all smooth one minute, but then he gets real comfortable and lets out the loudest, most unholy fart you’ve ever heard, like it was a fart held since WW2.
seokmin: pulls out a super old toy he’s kept since childhood and starts playing with it, getting all emotional about “the good ol’ days.” like, bro, you’re a grown-ass man, and you’re here with a plastic dinosaur, talking about how it “used to roar.”
seungkwan: catches a whiff of something weird in the room and just straight-up sniffs his armpits. he does it casually, like it’s no big deal, then he looks at you dead seriously.
vernon: goes way too hard on his “cool guy” vibes. constantly pulling his hat down low, trying to act all mysterious, but he’s accidentally walked into the wrong bathroom twice just trying to “look chill” or, walking in the room with his backpack wide open (we have proofs). he does this squinting thing like he’s in a music video, but it’s just… nope.
chan: calls himself “alpha.” no, seriously, he’ll be like, “as the alpha, i need to handle this.” and he’s referring to something like taking out the trash. leaving you jaw dropped, wondering why he’s talking like a lost wolf.
member — junhui x short!reader (gn)
genre — fluff, humor, headcanons
word count — 0.5k
warnings — none!
notes — this ask made me giggle because i am actually a tall girlie myself lmao. if you wanted smut lmk :) also i chose to interpret this as friends to lovers so enjoy hehe
he flirts like a middle school boy tbh and he would be really shy around you but he also loves to tease you (lovingly)
he would call you short but then immediately follow it up by putting his arm around your shoulder and saying that you're the perfect height for him to rest his arm on
at the movie theater he would get the seats at the very back so you can see over everybody (even though those are the best seats and he would get them anyway) but he would tease you and say this is what it's like walking around and seeing the tops of people's heads all the time
i feel like he would also like doing "tall" things with you, like taking you to an amusement park and riding the tallest roller coasters with you
or going on hikes so you can sit at the top of the hill and eat lunch together while looking out over the city
he would love giving you totally-platonic-and-definitely-not-flirting piggyback rides and you'd always pout and tell him to put you down but he would insist on having you up there to "guide him in case he runs into something" (as if he can't see over everybody already lol)
at concerts he would let you sit on his shoulders so you can see
he would want you to share the experience of being tall with him hehe
he would also love grabbing things for you when they're too high for you to reach
when you invite him over for dinner sometimes he'll turn on the exhaust fan at the top of the stove for you—even though the on-switch is well within your reach and you glare at him and remind him you're not THAT short
he's also kind of become your designated handyman. smoke detector needs a new battery? light bulb needs changing? there's a spider making a web on your ceiling? he'll be there asap with a screwdriver, a new light bulb, and a cup to catch the spider with
he would love going outside with you when it rains because he can hold the umbrella up above your head and pull you really close to make sure you don't get wet
like look at how tall he is in that middle picture !! he would 100% use that to his advantage to have you hug him while you walk
not really tall/short related but while we're here i get the feeling that he's the type of guy to walk on the outside of the sidewalk by the street and make you walk on the inside away from the street
anyway overall i think he would find your height really cute no matter how tall or short you are and he would find ways to make lighthearted jokes about it in the hopes that you think he's cute too
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Pairing : Dad!Seo Changbin x F!Reader
TW : children ; reader is pregnant but it's not really important in this ; Changbin being an absolute sweetheart ; it's still fluffy ;
Word Count : 1.4k
Request : nope!
His cellphone vibrated against the desk as he worked with Chan on a new song for the upcoming album, your cute, yet slightly cringy contact name in bold at the top of the screen. “Answer it, it might be important.” Chan said when he was Changbins hand twitching towards the device.
With Chans affirmation, he quickly answered the call and slipped out of the little studio, standing in the hallway trying not to panic. It was unlike you to call when he was working, not unless it was an emergency. “Hey sweetie, everything okay?” He said, his voice laced with a slight panic.
There was reason for his panic, although you thought it was quite silly, but with his son being in kindergarten and you being close to your due date with his daughter, he was always on edge when he was away from home, even if he was only a couple blocks away at the studio. “Everything is fine. I just got a call from the school though…”
A call from the school is never good, but your voice sounded all too calm for it to be an actual emergency, at least medically. “Well what’s wrong? Is he in trouble?” It was the immediate next thought that he had, but he couldn’t imagine what Changmin could have done to get in such a situation. His son was perfect, a sweetheart just like him and kind to everyone. There was no way in hell he could have done anything wrong.
“No, he isn’t in trouble at all. I actually think he deserves a whole day out with you, treats and maybe a little gift.” You said, a hint of sass seasoning your words just enough for Changbin to slightly understand that he was the one who had done something wrong. The only problem was that he couldn’t quite think of what that could be.
“Did… something happen? Am I missing something?” Changbin said, a little more quiet now as he tried to think hard on what it was that he possibly could have done. He made sure to pack Changmins lunch and give him his goodbye hug and kiss when he dropped him off at school that morning. He couldn’t possibly be missing anything else.
You sighed loudly, another sign that he was the one who had messed up. Luckily, you weren’t the type of wife that beat around the bush for long and you got straight to the point, although in this case, it made Changbin feel worse. “It was parent day up at the school. Everyone brought in their fathers, and MinMin was so excited for you to come up there. He told his friends all about you, how you’re a famous rapper and everything and… you forgot about him. He was crying, that’s why the school called. I had to talk to him for an hour to try to console him and tell him you didn’t forget.”
Parent day… right… how could he have forgotten? He promised Changmin that morning that he’d be there. “Shit… baby I’m so sorry… Is he okay? Fuck. I’ll be right up there, I promise. I’ll take him out for ice cream after school and I’ll get him that new toy he was asking for.” He was already in the process of grabbing his things, holding his phone between his shoulder and his ear as he wrote a little note to Chan letting him know he had to go up to the school. “I’m on my way up now. I’m so so sorry. Am I a bad father?”
The sigh that escaped you was much softer now through the phone as he ran to his car, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. “No, Binnie. You’ve just got a lot going on. Don’t drive too fast, I’ll call the school and let them know you’re coming so they can tell MinMin.”
That night, Changbin sat on the edge of Changmins bed, watching as his son clinged onto the new stuffed animal that Changbin had bought for him after school, his sons eyes drooping lower and lower, but never closing completely. “You didn’t have to come…” The boy said, his fingers brushing through the still soft fur of the stuffed lion.
“Yes I did, I made a promise.” Changbin explained, grabbing the tail of the toy and waving it back and forth. “I can’t break a promise, not unless I really can’t do it.” He continued, letting out a yawn and silently hoping that his son would mimic the motion and drift off to sleep.
“But what if… I made a promise to my friends that I could do like… a bajillion push uppies like you do on the bar… But I can’t do it?” His son's wide boba like eyes looked up at him finally and Changbin was conflicted on whether he should laugh or feel bad for his boy who made such a silly promise. Having children was a journey that never failed to astound him and humor him every single day.
“Well… I can’t do a bajillion push uppies either, not all at the same time though.” Changbin laughed softly, the sound coming through his nose. “That was a silly promise to make though, why would you promise that?” He inquired, grabbing his son's hand and tapping along his fingers.
“They say that if you are my real dad, that I should be strong like you…” The reasoning was more upsetting than Changbin expected, and without a word, he scooped his son up onto his lap and squeezed him into the tightest hug he could muster. “Shouldn’t I be strong though…? Just like you?” Changmin asked once Changbins arms slightly loosened, leaning back to tilt his head up to look at his father questioningly.
“It took me a really long time to get this strong… If you were as strong as me already… I’d actually be a little worried.” Changbin tried to joke lightly, although his mind was still reeling, wondering whether he should be upset or pissed off that children at the school were questioning whether he was MinMins real father. “But you know what makes you extra strong?” He quizzed, and Changmins eyes widened with wonder, waiting for Changbin to give him the answer. “Getting a lot of good sleep. That’s how you build strong bones and strong muscles… and an even stronger mind.”
He sat with his son a little longer, rubbing his back and singing softly to him until he was sure that the boy was in a deep sleep before tiptoeing out of the bedroom, making sure not to step on any of the creaky floorboards on the way to the door. “You’re the best dad, you know that, right?” You whispered from just outside the door, your voice coming through the dark causing him to jump and you brought your hand to your mouth to muffle your laughter.
“It’s not funny… those kids don’t think I’m his dad… Why?” Changbin sulked over to the couch and you padded quietly along behind him, dropping down onto the cushion beside him and curling up against his side. “That’s just crazy… Do you think their parents are making them say stuff like that? He promised to do like… a bajillion push uppies… He can’t do that…” He continued rambling, but you quickly silenced him with a kiss, one hand cupping his cheek as the other held you up just enough to look at him.
“Kids never remember their promises… Just like he didn’t remember that he promised to help me clean his room this weekend. Don’t get so worked up over it.” You cooed softly, your thumb brushing over his cheek soothingly. “I think you need some sleep… We all do. Come to bed with me.” He nodded slowly, getting up first to help you off the couch and leading you to the bedroom.
“Do you think I’ll be a good dad for her too though?” He asked as he pulled the blankets back on your side of the bed, waiting for you to lay down before brushing his fingers along your swollen stomach. “I don’t want to let any of them down…”
“Binnie…” You murmured his name, placing your hand on top of his and giving it a light squeeze. “I don’t think you’re able to be anything but a good father to both of them. Our babies are so lucky… You really need to stop worrying. Get some rest, cuddle me… Anything… Just, stop thinking so bad about yourself. MinMin loves you, I love you, and she’s going to love you just as much.”
“Promise?” He whispered, sounding and looking almost childlike, and you bit your bottom lip to keep from giggling at just how cute he looked right now.
minghao knows there’s something wrong as soon as you walk through the front door. the way your shoulders are slumped and your eyes are heavy and dull. he’s weary at first, unsure whether he should come and comfort you or leave you to yourself for a little while — but his dilemma is solved when you drop your bag to the floor and peel out of your coat, immediately crawling into your boyfriends arms.
“hi there lovely, are you ok?” he asks you, with a rasp in his voice. your eyes flutter shut at the mere sound of his voice, finding comfort and serenity in the sound. you struggle to pick an answer at first — do you cry and yell ? vent about the struggles at work, how tired you are, how shitty you feel — or do you simply nod your head and suppress it all ? but, it’s seems through the concern in minghao’s tone, that he already knows all too well, that you’re not okay. so you huff, shake you head whilst burying your face into his neck. “why don’t you tell me what’s going on, hm?” he prompts you.
you’re silent for a little while because you don’t know where to start. but once you do, you can’t manage to get yourself to stop — each topic brings up another and now you’ve been ranting for so many minutes! you know that minghao doesn’t mind though, he’s listening to intently with hums & nods to let you know that he’s still listening. his hand never stops combing your hair, twisting the ends around his finger. by the time you’ve finished your vent — your eyes are glossed over with tears of frustration and upset, but your heart feels much more lighter than before you came home.
you finally look up at minghao, but his eyes are already searching for yours. his eyebrows are drawn upwards and there’s a vague frown cast upon his lips. his hand that rested on your hip travels up to cup one side of your face, the pad of his thumb grazing gently over the apples of your cheek — and he gives you a soft, slightly sad, smile.
“you know, i would do anything to keep you happy. you don’t deserve to feel so shitty, and burdened. really — curse this world for putting it all on your shoulders.” he sighs, with so much gloominess, you wonder for a few seconds if he’s more upset about your circumstances than you are. but you know his words are true, minghao always gets truly upset if you are and treats your problems as his own. that’s why you can only give a weak laugh over how sad this makes him.
“yeah. the world is very cruel to a lot of us,” you hum and settle your head back into the crook of his neck, your hand reaching to trace over the beat of his heart. “but you know what ? i forgive the world, because it gave me you.”
minghao can feel the immediate blush that spreads all across his face and down to his chest — and he only hopes you don’t feel the increase of his heart rate on your finger-tips. he can’t help but react to your words by littering your face with so many sweet & giggly kisses, from your forehead right down to the low of your jaw. and if your words weren’t enough, his heart swells even more at the song of your laughter when you playfully try fight him off.
“ah, you’re so good with your words — maybe i should start forgiving the world too then ? or perhaps thank it instead.” minghao hummed, pressed your cheeks between his thumb and his fingers and squishing them — kissing your forcefully pouted lips. “i love you. you know that ?”
Click. The flash of cameras goes off, and Minghao barely blinks, ever at ease in front of the camera. You direct him into another pose and he moves, swiftly and gracefully, attuned to the movement of every limb in his body. He moves just quickly enough that it is a challenge to keep up with the rate that he switches poses, your camera shutter clicking as fast as it can go, every frame captured perfectly, immortalised in time.
”That’s perfect, thank you.” The blinding lights that have cast an otherworldly glow on Minghao are shut off, and it takes him a moment to register it. He slowly removes his sunglasses, rubbing the lenses clean on a piece of cloth that the staff passes to him. As soon as he has returned the sunglasses, he raises his gaze, and it lands surely on you.
It’s almost as if you are the magnet and he is a piece of iron, always attracted to magnetic items. Because that is exactly how he would describe you, engrossed as you scroll through the photos you have just taken, lips pursed. It takes everything within him not to kiss you right there and then, instead tearing his eyes away from your lips to the crease in your forehead.
Supporting himself with one hand, he gets to his feet, closing the distance between you in a matter of strides. Before you realise it, his thumb is pressed between your knotted eyebrows, gently massaging your skin until you get it. The tension ebbs away, receding like the tide at dawn, leaving a smooth shore as you relax your facial features. You inhale deeply, releasing the tension in your clenched jaw, consciously lowering your shoulders.
”That’s more like it,” Minghao murmurs into the shell of your ear, breath fluttering across your skin and causing a heat to rise to your cheeks at the blatant display of affection.
For some time, you had tried to keep your relationship at work strictly professional, until one of the younger photographers tried to make a move on you.
Minghao wasn’t possessive by nature, but when he noticed your disinterested, polite smile didn’t seem to deter the younger photographer’s advancements, he had grown uncomfortable. You were too nice to reject him, but Minghao wasn’t just going to sit by and let it play out.
He had come up to you while your thumb played with the button on the camera, scrolling through your pictures, your attention half on them and half on the conversation at hand. You were nodding in that absent-minded way you did when you weren’t listening—something Minghao positively hated when it was directed at him, he would much rather you pay attention to either him or your work, not both—and he had given into the impulse to slip his hand into yours, causing you to stiffen at his touch.
”Hao?” Your nickname for him had slipped out, and he couldn’t help the smile playing at his lips.
”Yes, love?”
Your furrowed eyebrows had been a clear sign of your confusion, but Minghao only pecked your cheek and stood beside you, withdrawing his hand from your loose grasp to hold your waist. His touch was gentle and his presence welcome, and while the other photographer looked discomfited, you were comforted by Minghao’s gesture, and the photographer never made a move towards you again.
Since then, Minghao had been more open about your relationship, even at work. He wasn’t particularly clingy, but he liked to slip his hand into yours whenever he was standing near you, and he liked to kiss you before a shoot. It was his good luck ritual, he claimed. You weren’t one to protest, not when you enjoyed it perfectly fine.
With a sigh, Minghao rests his head on your shoulder, and you tilt your head to the side, resting your own head atop his. He slings his hands around your waist, inhaling your scent, until you let out a sharp gasp.
”This is the one!”
”Hm?” He looks up, careful not to jostle your grasp on the camera or hit his head against your chin, leaning in to peer at your screen. You tilt the camera his way, and he nods in approval.
He isn’t familiar with the process of photography, but he knows raw photographs rarely get published as they are. Editing is just as much part of the process as the photo-taking is, but that photograph is beautiful. Minghao is iron, after all, a magnetic material, and one of the things that draws him in is beauty.
From fresh morning dew on blades of grass to dried flowers used as bookmarks in old, weathered hardcover books with battered covers and yellowed pages, Minghao is familiar with beauty. He is especially familiar with it with you as his partner, with your soft hair and arched brows and the curve of your lips. Your jaw, soft where your tongue is sharp, and your eyes, bright and clever and keen, all of it is beautiful.
So is the photograph, because it was taken from your perspective, and the way you see Minghao is different from the way Minghao sees himself.
He sees himself as he is, objectively, able to appreciate the way wire-rimmed glasses frame his face in a more attractive manner, or the way his slender fingers and lithe limbs always draw a glance or two that hover a little too long to be normal.
But you have seen him in all his glory, the broken way he collapses into your touch after a long day at work, all of him melting into your embrace before he has even stepped over the threshold into your house proper. You have been with him through his frustration, the regret that follows after his harsh, angry words, said in a blur of fury so red-hot it turns his vision white. You have held him when he cries, softly, weeping into your shoulder, struggling to catch his breath.
You have seen him happy, too, the way he glows incandescently in the sunlight on a Sunday afternoon, sprawled across a picnic mat with the low-hanging branches of the twisted, gnarly old tree shading his face while the sun warms the fabric of his plaid clothing.
You have captured every facet of him in that one photograph. In it, he exudes confidence, but not in an arrogant way, in an easy way, the same way that he always seems to smile when he catches sight of you. Like it is second nature, as if he has been built for nothing else but to bask in your light, the glow of creativity you bring with you.
Minghao will always be a faded photograph to himself, but to you, he would will always be in sharp focus, fully in technicolour.
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