WHO| PJM X READER
CHAPTER 5 " AT NIGHT"
Word Count: 3k+
Tag list: Open
Warnings: Mature Language and toxic relationships
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The sharp vibration of my phone dragged me awake far earlier than I would've liked.
I groaned quietly, squinting against the pale morning light spilling through the curtains before reaching toward the nightstand blindly. Father.Of course.
A tired sigh escaped me as I answered the call, voice rough with sleep.
"...Hello?"
"Good. You're awake."
I glanced toward the clock.Seven in the morning.Unbelievable.
"You called me at seven a.m. to confirm I possess basic consciousness?"
"You've slept through board meetings before."
"Once."
"Twice."
I rubbed tiredly at my face before sitting upright slowly. "What do you want?"
Silence lingered briefly. "The engagement announcement will be made in two weeks."
My body stilled instantly.The remnants of sleep vanished completely.
"...What?"
"The media teams are already preparing statements. Both families agreed it would be best to move quickly before unnecessary speculation begins."
I stared blankly at the sheets pooled around my waist. That was extremely soon and maybe even hasty.
In two weeks this stopped being private,the entire country would know.A strange pressure settled heavily in my chest.
"You're moving fast."
"The situation requires it."Of course it did.
I leaned back against the headboard slowly. "And Y/N agreed to this?"
"She understands the circumstances."Something about the answer irritated me immediately.
"That's not what I asked."My father sighed quietly through the phone.
"Yes Jim-in. She agreed."
I looked toward the bedroom door instinctively.It was still empty .Mi-young hadn't come home last night.
Or maybe she had and left again before I woke up.Honestly, I wasn't sure which possibility felt worse.My father continued carefully now.
"Jimin."I hummed distractedly.
"Do not make this harder than it already is."A humorless laugh escaped me.
"You say that like I'm the difficult one here."
"No," he replied calmly. "I say it because I know you."Silence settled briefly between us.
"You looked peaceful for the first time in years after dinner yesterday."
My brows furrowed immediately."...You saw me for ten minutes."
"And it was enough."
I rubbed my jaw tiredly. "You keep talking like this marriage is supposed to save me."
"I think stability would."
I scoffed softly. "You think Mi-young is unstable."
Another silence erupted. Well he didn't deny it.Interesting.Finally my father spoke quietly.
"I think some people enter your life like storms, Jimin."My jaw tightened immediately.
"And some people teach you that love should not feel like surviving one."
The words landed harder than they should have.
Because annoyingly enough,after dinner with Y/N,part of me understood exactly what he meant.
I hated that."I'm hanging up now," I muttered flatly."Tomorrow come see me at seven. Don't be late."
The line clicked dead.I stared at my phone for several long seconds afterward before dropping it onto the mattress beside me.
"Jesus Christ."The room suddenly felt suffocating. In two weeks there would be an engagement announcement. My fate would be sealed.
Something cold settled beneath my ribs.I swung my legs off the bed slowly before heading toward the kitchen.The penthouse remained eerily silent.
No music.No sarcastic remarks.No Mi-young.
A strange unease crawled through me.I grabbed a glass from the cabinet before freezing halfway through pouring water.There was a note sitting near the coffee machine.
My stomach tightened instantly.I recognized the handwriting immediately.
I went home because ,I ended space
-M
I stared at the note longer than necessary.Needed space?The words shouldn't have bothered me this much.Mi-young disappeared sometimes.
That was nothing new......
After yesterday everything felt different between us. It felt fragile like the cracked we had ignored for years were finally impossible to look away from.I grabbed my phone again before I could think too hard about it.
The line rang twice.
"Hello?"Her voice sounded sleepy.
Relief hit me so quickly it almost irritated me."You left again."
"I figured you noticed."
I leaned against the counter tiredly. "Can I come over?"
Silence lingered briefly.
"...Okay."
Mi-young opened the apartment door wearing oversized sweatpants and one of my hoodies.
Her dark hair was messy, face bare, eyes slightly swollen like she hadn't slept properly.
Something in my chest tightened painfully at the sight.For a moment neither of us spoke.Then she stepped aside quietly.I walked in slowly.
The apartment smelled faintly like coffee and lavender.Mi-young shut the door behind me before folding her arms loosely across her chest.
"You look stressed."
I laughed quietly under my breath. "You always say things like they're observations from a science experiment."A faint smile tugged briefly at her mouth before disappearing again.
The silence that followed felt heavier.
"The announcement is in two weeks from now."Her expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
"Oh."
That single syllable hit harder than shouting ever could've. I dragged a tired hand through my hair. "Mi-young—"
"No." She shook her head softly. "It's okay."It very obviously wasn't okay.I looked at her carefully.She seemed smaller somehow today.
Less sharp and untouchable than yesterday.
She was just tired and suddenly I hated this entire situation with a violence that startled even me.
Mi-young looked away first."Do you know what's funny?" she murmured quietly.
I frowned slightly. "What?"
"We always talked about surviving the world together." A weak laugh escaped her. "Turns out the world wasn't even what destroyed us."
My chest tightened painfully."Don't say that."
"Why not?" Her eyes finally met mine again. "It's true."
"Did you like her?"The question settled heavily between us.
I thought about Y/N immediately.The strange calmness sitting underneath all her sadness.For the first time in years, answering honestly felt dangerous.
"No...I think I understood her," I admitted quietly.Mi-young's face fell slightly at that.Not because I said I liked Y/N.Mi-young looked away almost immediately after that.A strange heaviness settled into the room.
I watched her walk slowly toward the kitchen counter, fingers curling around the edge of it briefly as she inhaled through her nose.She was trying to steady herself.That realization alone made guilt crawl violently through my chest.
"Mi-young—" I reached out to her. "No, it's okay," she interrupted softly, though her voice sounded thinner now. "I asked."
I frowned. "You don't have to pretend this doesn't bother you."A quiet laugh escaped her.
"I'm not pretending." She turned toward me finally, exhaustion carved into every line of her face. "I think I'm just... tired, Jimin."
I stepped closer slowly. "Tired of what?"
Her eyes held mine for a long moment.
"Fighting so hard for something that keeps bleeding anyway."
The words lodged somewhere beneath my ribs painfully.Neither of us spoke afterward, because there wasn't really anything to argue against.She wasn't wrong.
We had spent years trying to survive each other.Years loving each other so intensely it bordered on destruction.Somehow somewhere along the way, survival had become the only thing holding us together.
Mi-young leaned back against the counter, arms folding loosely across her chest now."When your father first told you about the arrangement..." she began quietly, "did part of you feel relieved?"I stared at her immediately.
"What?" She swallowed once before continuing carefully. "Not happy. Not excited." Her voice softened dangerously. "Just relieved."
The question hit far too close to something I hadn't wanted to examine yet. After sitting across from Y/N and feeling something calm for the first time in what felt like years.....
A tiny part of me had wondered what life would feel like if loving someone didn't constantly feel like drowning.The fact that I'd even thought that at all felt like betrayal.My silence answered for me.Mi-young shut her eyes briefly.
The grief on her face nearly knocked the breath from my lungs."I knew it," she whispered.
Immediately I stepped forward. "Mi-young, that's not what this is.""Then what is it?" she asked quietly, looking at me again. "Because I know you, Jimin."Her voice cracked slightly near the end.
And somehow that tiny fracture hurt more than screaming ever could've."You've spent years loving me like it was punishment," she continued softly. "And now suddenly you meet someone who makes you feel calm for one dinner and you look at me differently."
My chest tightened painfully."I don't look at you differently."Another weak laugh escaped her.
"You do." Her eyes shimmered faintly now. "You just don't realize it yet."Silence swallowed the room whole.
I couldn't fully deny it.Not because I loved Y/N. I didn't even like her .I didn't.
For the first time in years, another person had made me imagine what peace might feel like.
And once someone experiences that,even briefly,
chaos stops feeling romantic.It just starts feeling exhausting.
Mi-young looked down at her hands quietly.Then after a long pause:"Do you remember what you told me after the accident?"My body went completely still.
"Mi-young—"
"You held my face and told me we'd survive anything together." Her voice trembled now despite how hard she tried to control it. "And I believed you."
The memory crashed into me violently.
Her shaking so hard she could barely breathe.
And me,holding her like I could somehow stop the entire world from collapsing around us.
I swallowed hard."We did survive."
Mi-young looked up slowly then.The sadness in her eyes nearly destroyed me.
'No," she whispered softly. "I think we just kept bleeding slower. "The words settled between us like shattered glass .Neither of us moved.
Outside, Seoul continued glowing endlessly beyond the windows, unaware that somewhere inside this apartment two people were quietly realizing love alone had not been enough to save them.
I dragged a hand down my face slowly, exhaustion pressing heavily against my chest."Don't do this," I muttered quietly.
Mi-young gave a weak humorless laugh. "Do what? Be honest for once?"
I frowned immediately. "We've always been honest with each other."That made her actually laugh this time.
"Jimin," she whispered, "we've spent years romanticizing our damage ."The words hit far too hard.
Deep down,beneath the fighting and obsession and history,I knew exactly what she meant.Mi-young looked at me carefully now.
"You know what's terrifying?" she asked softly.I stayed silent.
"The fact that after one dinner with her..." She swallowed once. "You came here calmer than I've seen you in years."Something defensive rose instantly in my chest.
"Calm doesn't mean love."
"I know."
"Then stop looking at me like I've betrayed you."
Her expression shifted painfully at that."I'm not looking at you like you betrayed me." Her voice cracked slightly. "I'm looking at you like I finally understand why your father did this."
Hearing that from her somehow felt worse than hearing it from anyone else.I looked away sharply toward the windows.
"You're making assumptions."
"No." Mi-young shook her head slowly. "I'm recognizing something."I inhaled slowly through my nose.This conversation was becoming dangerous.
Every sentence felt like another crack forming beneath something we'd spent years desperately trying to hold together.Mi-young stepped toward me carefully now.she looked so tired.
Worn down by years of loving someone the only way she knew how."I do love you," she whispered quietly.
The confession hit me like a bruise.I'd never doubted it.Not once.Even at our worst.
"I know," I answered softly.
Her eyes shimmered faintly.
"But I think somewhere along the way..." She let out a shaky breath. "We stopped knowing how to love each other without hurting ourselves in the process."
My chest tightened violently.I hated how true that sounded.The silence stretched painfully before I finally spoke.
"I don't want to lose you."Mi-young smiled sadly at that.That expression scared me more than anger ever had.
"You already are."The words hollowed something out inside me instantly.
I stepped closer without thinking, fingers brushing against her wrist gently.
"Mi-young—"Her eyes closed briefly at the contact.Even after everything,touching her still felt like instinct.
When she looked back at me, her expression had softened completely.
"If you marry her..." she whispered carefully, "something between us is going to change eventually."I opened my mouth immediately.
She shook her head before I could speak.
"And that's nobody's fault."
For the first time since this arrangement began, neither of us sounded angry anymore.Then finally she looked back at me with tears shining faintly in her eyes.
"I hope she makes your life softer, Jimin."
Mi-young's words lingered heavily between us.
"I hope she makes your life softer, Jimin."
"No."
The word left my mouth faster than thought.
Mi-young blinked slightly, caught off guard by the firmness in my voice.
I stepped closer instinctively, shaking my head once. "No. Don't talk like that."
"Like what?"
"Like this is over."
Her expression faltered almost imperceptibly.
"Jimin—"
"I'm serious." Frustration bled into my voice now. "You're acting like one dinner suddenly changed everything."
"It changed something."
"Not this." I cut in sharply. "Not us."
I still loved her.
I looked at her carefully, my chest tightening painfully at the exhaustion written across her face.
"You think I'm just going to stop loving you because my father arranged some marriage?" I laughed bitterly. "Is that honestly what you think of me?"
Mi-young swallowed once.
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
She looked away briefly before answering quietly:
"I think people get tired eventually."
The words unsettled me immediately.
Because maybe she was talking about herself.
I reached for her wrist gently before she could step away again.
"Look at me."
Slowly, her eyes lifted back to mine.
And God.
The sadness sitting inside them nearly hollowed me out.
"This marriage..." I inhaled slowly through my nose. "It's duty. That's all it is."
Mi-young stayed silent.
"I barely know Y/N."
"You seem to like her though."
I frowned instantly. "That's not the point."
"Then what is?"
I stepped closer without thinking.
"You are."
The words came out rougher than intended.
"Mi-young, you're still the person I love." My grip on her wrist tightened slightly. "You're still the person I come home thinking about. The person I..." I stopped briefly, jaw tightening. "Nothing about that changes because of a ring or a press conference. "Her expression cracked slightly then.
"I don't want some perfect peaceful life with someone else," I continued quietly. "I want you."
A shaky breath escaped her.
"Jimin..."
"I mean it." My voice softened dangerously now. "I know what we are. I know we've destroyed each other sometimes. I know we're exhausting and complicated and probably toxic as hell but I don't care."I didn't care.Not when it came to her.
"I still believe in us."The confession hung nakedly between us.Mi-young's eyes glistened instantly."You shouldn't."
"Too bad."A weak laugh broke from her at that, trembling at the edges.
Even now I would've done anything to keep hearing that sound.
I brushed my thumb lightly against her wrist, my voice quieter now.
"This marriage isn't love." I swallowed hard. "It's obligation and family expectations."
Maybe somewhere deep down a tiny part of me understood why my father thought Y/N would be good for me,understanding something didn't mean wanting it.It definitely didn't mean choosing it, because my heart had already chosen years ago.Even if it chose badly.
I looked at Mi-young carefully."I'm going to marry her," I admitted softly. "But I will never love her the way I love you."The room fell painfully silent.Then finally Mi-young whispered.
"You can't promise things like that."
"Why not?"
"People change."I shook my head immediately.
"Not about this."Her gaze searched mine carefully then.
As if she wanted to believe me but no longer trusted herself enough to.A strange panic rose in my chest at that look.I stepped even closer.
"Wait for me. Please"Mi-young's breath caught softly.
"This arrangement..." I exhaled slowly. "We'll survive it. We've survived worse."The accident flashed violently through my mind.Her shaking in my arms.
Still we found our way back to each other afterward.Every single time.So how could this possibly be the thing that ended us?
I cupped her face gently before I could stop myself."You're still mine," I whispered.
Mi-young shut her eyes briefly, leaning into my touch for one fragile second before whispering shakily,"That's exactly what scares me."
Her words lingered painfully between us."That's exactly what scares me."I frowned immediately, thumb brushing lightly against her cheek.
"Why?"
Mi-young laughed softly then, but there was no humor in it. "Because you sound so certain now."
"I am certain."
"Jimin—"
"No." I shook my head firmly. "Listen to me."
She fell quiet.And suddenly the space between us felt unbearably fragile.
I swallowed once before speaking again, slower this time."This marriage isn't forever."
Mi-young's brows furrowed faintly."My father wants stability right now. The companies need it.
The media needs something else to focus on after the scandals. Everyone wants this polished perfect image of unity and legacy." I let out a bitter laugh. "Fine. They'll get it."
Her eyes searched mine carefully."But?"
"But once everything settles down..." My jaw tightened slightly. "I'll end it."The room fell silent once again.Mi-young stared at me like she wasn't sure whether she wanted to believe me or stop me from saying it entirely.
I continued quietly:"A year maybe. Two at most."
"Jim-in..."
"I mean it." My voice hardened with certainty.
"Once the businesses stabilize and the public loses interest, there's no reason to continue pretending. "Something flickered across Mi-young's expression then.
"You're already planning your divorce before the wedding even exists."I scoffed softly. "Because it isn't a real marriage."
Y/N would become duty. Nothing more a nothing less. A respectable arrangement. A temporary performance.
And afterward?I'd return to Mi-young.At least that's what I wanted to believe.
Mi-young looked down briefly before murmuring:"And what about her?"
I frowned slightly. "What about her?"
"She's still a person, Jimin."A strange discomfort twisted in my chest immediately.
Of course I knew that.That was exactly the problem.
I looked away toward the windows. "I'll be honest with her."Mi-young laughed weakly. "No, you won't."
My jaw tightened. "She already understands this marriage isn't about love."
"But that doesn't mean she deserves to become collateral damage in whatever this is." Mi-young gestured weakly between us.
Y/N wasn't manipulative , cruel, entering this arrangement with selfish intentions.She was sacrificing herself too.
That realization unsettled me more than I wanted to admit. I rubbed a tired hand over my face. "I'm not trying to hurt her."
"I know."
"Then stop looking at me like I'm some villain."
Mi-young's expression softened immediately.
"You're not a villain." Her voice quieted. "That's what makes this sad."The words settled heavily into my chest.
Nobody was evil here . We're just all trapped.
Mi-young stepped closer slowly now until barely any space remained between us.
"You really believe we'll survive this?" she whispered.I looked at her without hesitation.
"Yes."And I meant it.Completely.
After everything we'd already endured,the accident,the guilt,the years of breaking apart and finding each other again.
I couldn't imagine a future where I truly stopped loving her.
I brushed my fingers carefully through her dark hair, my voice lowering.
"You said it yourself once." A faint sad smile tugged at my mouth. "We always find our way back to each other."
Mi-young's eyes shimmered faintly.
"Sometimes I think that's the problem," she whispered.
My chest tightened painfully.
I leaned my forehead gently against hers.
"Then let it be our problem."For a moment neither of us moved.
The city glowed quietly outside the windows while somewhere beneath all the fear and exhaustion, I held onto the one thing I still believed with absolute certainty:
No matter what happened next. I belonged to Mi-young.
Read 𝐖𝐇𝐎 from the story 𝐖𝐇𝐎| 𝐏𝐉𝐌 by toxmioka (★𝑼𝒏𝒂) with 48 reads. unrequitedlove, parkjimin, btsfanfic. ——...