summary: you and sieun werenât really childhood friends. your mothers were friends, and naturally, you were forced to play together. after his parentsâ divorce and your family moving to the states, you never saw each other again, which didnât really bother you. you and sieun reunite when you move back to south korea, and you think to yourself, when did you get hot?
warning(s): reader has mommy issues, 18+, MDNI, explicit content, smut, female masturbation, fingering, virgin!reader, virgin!sieun, mentions of multiple sex acts, mentions of protected sex, soft dom!sieun, neighbours to fuckbuddies to lovers
authorâs notes: all characters are aged up to 18+. this takes place post-whc2. divider is made by the talented @saradika-graphics! fair warning, i didn't take physics for my a-levels, so i have no idea if what they're studying is accurate.
You were six years old when you met Yeon Sieun for the first time. Your mother and his mother had been friends in college, and they recently reconnected after your family moved into his neighbourhood. Naturally, they arranged playdates for you and him. You didnât mind since he wasnât loud and annoying like the other boys in school who pulled on your pigtails. He was content with your idea of fun: studying and, at most, reading books together.
When you were eleven years old, his parents divorced, and Sieun moved out to live with his father in another part of Seoul. Meanwhile, your father announced that he had received a promotion and that you would be moving to the United States.Â
There was no dramatic farewell scene. No promises of reaching out to each other. After all, to each other, you and Sieun were just the children of your motherâs friend.Â
Seven years later, you were moving back to Seoul for your senior year of high school. Your parents had enrolled you in Buil Girlsâ High School.
âHoney, you remember Aunt Hyejin, right?â Your mother eagerly told you. âIt turns out weâre going to be living right next door to her and her son. You used to play with him all the time.â
âBecause we were the only kids there.â You thought. Clearly, your mother still favoured Yeon Sieun.
âI heard heâs ranked first in his school. You should ask him to tutor you.â
You tried to refute her, âMy grades are fine.â
âShe got that award back in New York.â Your father chipped in.Â
âThe standards are different here in Seoul.â She argued back. âShe could always do better.â
You didnât try to defend yourself. It was always like this with her. When other parents would praise their kids for scoring over 90%, your mother asked why you didnât get the rest of the questions right. Maybe that was why you werenât keen on being friends with Yeon Sieun. You didnât like how easily he received her praise when you had to fight for it.
Later that night, you found yourself looking at a framed photo of you and Sieun. You were both only eight years old at the time, and your mothers practically forced you to pose together. Both of you had permanent scowls on, and you faintly remembered your mother scolding you afterwards for your rude behaviour.
Looking back, you admitted that Sieun was a cute kid. If he didnât have such an antisocial personality, the neighbourhood aunties would have adored him. You were faintly reminded of your younger brother who was nine years younger than you, although he certainly wasnât as studious as your childhood playmate.
You admitted the made-up rivalry was rather one-sided, but you were just a kid back then. It was just easier to think of him as the enemy rather than admitting that your mother didnât see your worth.
You shook your head. There was no use lamenting over your childhood rival. You have matured since then. Well, at least you hoped so.
You put the framed photo down and flopped down on your bed. There were still a couple of boxes left unpacked, but you will get to them later. You had more important business to do.
You pulled out your phone and logged into your Tumblr account through the app. You scrolled through your For You page, where various fanfics of your favourite idols and drama characters filled the screen. You clicked on a Yeonjun fic that piqued your interest.
trope: childhood friends to lovers
warning(s): 18+, explicit content, oral sexâŠ
The list of kinks went on as you blushed at how extreme they became, even though you had encountered all kinds of fanfics on Tumblr. One might say that most of your sexual knowledge came from the app, even though you were a virgin who hadnât even seen a cock outside of porn. Â However, it didnât mean you werenât curious about sex. You just didnât have the chance to explore when most of your time was dedicated towards your academics and extracurricular activities.
As you read about Yeonjun fingering the reader, you slipped your hand underneath your pants and started slowly mimicking his actions. You played with your clit for a few moments before finally pushing a finger inside yourself when you felt a familiar slick lubricating your vaginal walls. As the reader was reaching her climax, you felt yourself nearly achieving the same peak, and you were going to insert another finger to finish the deal when suddenly, you heard rapid raps against your bedroom door.
â___! Hurry and get ready!â Your mother knocked a few more times. âAunt Hyejin invited us to dinner in thirty minutes.â
âWhy is your door always locked?â You heard her mutter as she walked away to inform your little brother.
You let out a heavy, unsatisfied groan. You pulled your hand out from your pants, the once euphoric sensation long gone by your motherâs squawking. You really couldnât wait until you were in college and living on your own, where you didnât have to worry about nosy family members ruining your orgasms.
You stripped off your shirt and shorts, and even changed your underwear as they were sticky and clinging to your core. You changed into a sensible dress that reached down to your knees. You quickly got your makeup done, opting for a simple look so that you didnât look like a raccoon with your dark circles.
Like always, you and family were early as your mother insisted on departing early despite living next door to Aunt Hyejin. Sieunâs mother didnât seem to mind as she warmly greeted you.
âYouâve really grown up, ___!â She marvelled at the sight of you. âIt feels just like yesterday, you and Sieun were playing on the swings.â
âIâm sure Sieun has grown up, too!â Your mother chuckled. âWhere is your son, by the way?â
âHe was hanging out with his friends, but he should be home anytime soon.â
Your parents started chatting with Aunt Hyejin about your childhood while you retreated to the living room with your brother.
âNoona, whoâs Sieun?â He asked while you were helping him beat a particularly difficult level of Super Mario Party. You suddenly remembered that he was only two years old when you moved to the US, and probably didnât have many memories of Seoul, much less Yeon Sieun.
âHeâs Aunt Hyejinâs son. He and I used to play together.â
âIs he your boyfriend?âÂ
âAbsolutely not.â You immediately answered. The last time you saw Sieun, he was thin with wobbly knees. He looked like a breeze could blow him over. Man, he was a total nerd.
âEomma, Iâm home.â You heard a deep voice call out.
âSieun-ah, welcome home!â His mother greeted him, blocking your view of him from the couch. âYou remember Aunt Minsook, right? ___âs here, too!â
She moved out of the way, and your brain promptly stopped working when you first saw Yeon Sieun in seven years.
He was no longer the gangly kid you remembered him as. While he wasnât tall, he was still a few inches taller than you. His skin was a light tan, not the smooth alabaster desired by society, but it suited him. He didnât look as pale and sickly as he used to. He was as handsome as any idol, with a flawless complexion and a sharp jawline people would kill for. His lips, although slightly chapped, were plump and, for a second, you imagined what they would feel like trailing every inch of your body.Â
Only a single thought ran through your mind.Â
âYeon Sieun, when did you get hot?â
You never really understood why the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope was so popular. Kids never hide anything from each other, including their gross and embarrassing habits. You shuddered at the idea of falling for one of the neighbourhood boys who used to eat their boogers.
Granted, Sieun never did any of that stuff, but still.
After you got over your brain fart, you stammered out a mumbled greeting while hiding behind a curtain of hair, trying to hide your flushed face.
It was ridiculous. It wasnât like this was the first time you ever saw a handsome boy face-to-face.
Well, youâve never actually faced someone with idol-like visuals, but still. You were more mature than this. More evolved than this. Yes, Yeon Sieun was a very attractive man, but he is still a man.
So why havenât you been able to meet his eyes when he was conveniently sitting across from you at dinner? Why couldnât you let out anything more than a mousey squeak when he asked you to pass the potatoes?
Your mother looked at you, disapproving of your quiet demeanour. She cleared her throat before asking Sieun a question.
âSieun-ah, Iâve heard that youâre the top student of your school. Is that right?â
He didnât answer her verbally, only gave her a brief but confident nod.
She turned to Sieunâs mother. âYou must be very proud. I wish my daughter studied as much as he does. She has a lot of potential, but she always squanders it.â
You were then hit with a harsh reminder of why you disliked Sieun so much. Your mother used to compare the two of you, and you hated the fact that you could never measure up to his prodigal levels. You used to think that your mother would trade you for Sieun in a heartbeat if she ever got the chance.
Any attraction you had to him was stomped down until not even a single ember remained.
âMom, I was first in my year,â You mumbled, wanting to speak up even though you knew your struggles often werenât heard by selective ears.
Your mother let out a heavy sigh, a pointedly annoyed expression on her face. âWhat was that? How many times do I have to tell you to speak up? You know my hearing is not as good as it used to be.â
Your father looked like he wanted to speak up for you, but you already knew he wouldnât. She was too domineering. Anything you would say would just be labelled as unimportant.
Sieunâs mother must have noticed the awkward atmosphere as she quickly cut in to defuse the tension. âIâm pretty sure ___ has her own talents too. Your father told me you were thinking of applying to law school?â
You quickly answered her, anything to get out of the chilling environment. âYes, I have always been more interested in humanities.â
âHave you thought of which schools youâre going to apply to?â
âYonsei,â You smiled at her. âI want to study Criminal Law.â
âWhat a coincidence!â She smiled at her son, patting him on the shoulder. âSieunâs planning to study Physics at Yonsei.â
Your smile faltered slightly at the prospect of being stuck with Yeon Sieun throughout your college life. You hid it quickly, but you had the feeling Sieun noticed you.
âPhysics, huh?â You finally looked him in the eye. âYou must be really good at it. I never really liked it.â
That was an understatement. You abhorred the subject as it didnât click naturally with you. Potential force? Gravity? Magnetic fields? The only reason you studied it so much was so you could scrape a B, the highest grade you achieved in the damn science.
Sieun gave a short answer. âItâs not so bad.â
And with that flash of dislike came a wave of guilt. It was hard to dislike someone who didnât really do anything to deserve it. Sure, he wasnât the most social person, but he wasnât a bad guy.Â
The emotions you experienced about Yeon Sieun were dramatic and complex, and you really didnât need to add lust and teenage hormones on top of all that.
âIf youâre not so bad at it, I would hate to think what itâs like for ___.â Your mother probably meant that as a joke, and you smiled even though you didnât find anything funny about it.
Unbeknownst to you, Sieun noticed how uncomfortable you were. He was more observant than you thought he was. He had always known that even though your relationship with your mother was vastly different from his relationship with his mother, there was still that same distance.
Suddenly, your mother clapped her hands. She had a smile on her face that usually meant that something troublesome was coming.
âSieun-ah, why donât you tutor ___?â She requested, and you felt like a little kid all over again. âItâll be just like when you were kids!â
âMom, he doesnât need to do that-â
âI know that, but you need his help,â She told you as if you were being stupid for not considering Sieun as a tutor. She sent apologetic looks towards him and his mother. âSheâs always like this. She never thinks about her future.â
With every word, she made you feel smaller, as if your own efforts were never going to be enough for her. You bit your lip, wanting to say more, but you knew that when it came to her, you were on your own. Your brother was too young to understand your plight, and as much as you loved your father, you knew he would never stand up to her.
âIâm okay with tutoring her, but I think you should ask your daughter first,â He interrupted your mother, and you finally looked up from your lap to see him. You didnât even notice that your mother was silenced. âAfter all, ___ knows her own capabilities better than anyone else.â
How did Sieun know the simple words you always wanted to say?
Your mother shook off her stunned silence after a moment, awkwardly chuckling, âO-of course. ___, do you want Sieun to tutor you?â
As much as you wanted to defy his help, to finally prove to her that you were more than enough, you also knew you needed top grades to get into Yonsei, and a B in physics wasnât going to cut it.
Even though you didnât want to, you needed Sieun.
âI would appreciate it,â You smiled at him, the first sign you showed of acknowledging him. âThank you, Sieun.â
At that moment, you werenât aware that you and he would flip each otherâs worlds upside down.
Despite transferring into Buil relatively late compared to the other students, you adapted quickly, finding friends with a couple of girls, Hari and Youngseo. Although you were distinctly different from them, preferring to spend most of your free time studying and revising for the suneung, you found that they didnât mind that. They often would try to get you to join them whenever they went cafe hopping, and today was one of those days.
âCome on, ___!â Hari laughed, linking arms with you while Youngseo took your other arm. âYou know what they say. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You deserve to have some fun!â
âI have to meet my tutor later!â You protested.
âYeah, in two hours,â Youngseo argued. âEating cake and drinking lattes doesnât make you incapable of absorbing information.â
You couldnât tell them that you wanted to revise physics just so you didnât appear as a complete dolt in front of Yeon Sieun. You werenât dumb; itâs just that physics wasnât your strongest subject compared to biology, which you excelled at.
Your insecurity had always been high, especially when your mother compared you to every child genius and prodigy out there, always saying that you could achieve those same things if you just applied yourself. Yeon Sieun was a major source of your insecurities since he was the first genius she compared you to. You knew that it wasnât his fault, but seeing him every day when you walk to school just made all of your hidden insecurities bubble up again.Â
It was extremely hard to hate him since he was the one who defended you just a few nights ago.
Yeon Sieun should have been an asshole. At least, you wouldnât feel guilty about resenting him.
You shook your head, trying to get him out of your head.
âGirl, are you okay?â Hari asked, concerned about you.
âIâm okay,â You then grinned, pulling them along to the cafe. âLetâs eat some delicious food! Iâm going to get matcha!â
âAgain?â Youngseo groaned. âYou might as well be drinking grass!â
âMatcha is NOT grass-â You argued back, but Youngseo, who was the one who wanted to go to the cafe, suddenly pulled you and Hari away from the entrance.
âShit,â She looked back into the cafe before groaning. âWhy is he here?â
You and Hari joined in, looking through the window. There was a group of boys in uniforms from another school you didnât recognise. One of the taller boys was wearing a red basketball jersey under his blazer.
Hari suddenly guffawed, prompting Youngseo to tell her to shut up.
âWho is he?â You asked them.
Youngseo sharply replied, âHeâs nobody.â
âThatâs Baku. Heâs the top dog of Eunjang,â Hari explained before grinning. âHeâs also Youngseoâs ex.â
âWe never dated!â Youngseo denied her. âWe just âŠused to hook up, until he got too involved with the Union.â
You tilted your head, this being the first time you ever heard of it. âThe Union?â
âThey were like this high school mafia group, but they sort of dissolved last year,â Hari punched Youngseoâs shoulder lightly. âYah, you guys were good together. Why not give him another chance?â
âAbsolutely no fucking way. I donât want any mafia drama this year,â Youngseo looked like she would rather go to hell than give her and Bakuâs relationship another chance. âCome on, letâs bounce. This isnât the only cafe in the area.â
âJust so you wonât bump into your ex?â
âYou would be saying the same thing if your ex was in there.â
In the midst of Hari and Youngseoâs bickering, one of the taller boys stepped aside, and lo and behold, Yeon Sieun was with them, and suddenly, you were inclined with Youngseoâs suggestion.
âI agree with you,â You said to Youngseo. âLetâs go.â
âWhatâs with the two of you?â Hari followed your gaze, seeing Sieun. âYeon Sieun? Do you know him?â
âOur mothers were friends,â You explained briefly. âHow do you know him?â
âRumors say he was the mastermind behind the Unionâs downfall. They call him the White Mamba.â
âWho cares what people call them!â Youngseo snapped. âLetâs just get out-â
âYOUNGSEO!â
She froze at hearing that loud, booming voice, before the three of you turned around to see the aforementioned Baku excitedly waving at her. You avoided Sieunâs stare as the other people in the cafe were startled by Bakuâs sudden bellow.
âYah, Youngseo! Come over here!â Baku clearly didnât care about how loud he was, even when the other tall boy next to him told him to shut up. âWhat are you doing here?â
Hari snorted, âYou know heâs not going to let up until you go over there.â
âOh, fuck me.â Youngseo groaned.
You jokingly quipped, âNo, thank you, but I think he would like to volunteer himself.â
She glared at you half-heartedly before the three of you marched over to the four boys sitting at a booth near the window. Baku pushed the tall boy sitting next to him, making space for Youngseo. Somehow, you were sitting right across from Sieun, and you found his gaze harder to avoid. Ever since you were little, even when you found his doe eyes to be unfairly beautiful, they were also intimidating in their own way. His gaze always made you feel like he knew every little nook and cranny of yourself.
âHari-yah, itâs good to see you,â Baku bumped fists with her before directing his eyes at you. âI see you have a new friend. Iâm Baku, and thatâs Gotak, Juntae, and Sieun. Nice to meet you!â
You shyly nodded, offering a small smile to each and every one of them. âIâm ___.â
However, you froze when Sieun held his gaze at you, not bothering to spare a glance at Hari and Youngseo.Â
Luckily, Hyuntak noticed your discomfort, âThe staring thing again? Come on, buddy, we talked about thisâŠâ
Only when Sieun stopped staring at you did you finally feel like you could breathe easily again. Even with how insecure he made you feel, you couldnât help but think about how his unwavering stare turned you on.
The first few tutoring sessions between you and Sieun passed by quickly. You didnât say much nor did he, just like how you used to when you were kids. You fell back in the comfortable rhythm of putting up a friendly act just so you and he could please your respective mothers.
Reluctantly, you had to admit that Yeon Sieun was a good tutor. He didnât go easy on you, but he didnât expect you to know the answer to every question. After all, why would you get tutored by him if you knew everything? Slowly, you saw your physics grade improving at a steady rate.
However, you ended up regretting being so comfortable with Sieun during your fifth tutoring session.Â
You were brushing up on high energy particle collisions when his laptop ran out of battery. Being a responsible student, you absentmindedly let him borrow yours, giving him your password, while you worked on a practice exam question.
â___, I think you forgot to close this?â
You looked up from your paper, and-
SHIT.
Right there, on your screen, full-brightness and misleading pastel colours, was your Tumblr page. It wasnât even your SFW account you used to interact with your MOA moots. No, it was your very 18+, MDNI, blog you used to write your deepest, dirtiest and smuttiest fantasies about your biases and bias-wreckers.
You almost tripped over your bag when you ran up to him to slam your laptop shut.Â
âS-Sieun-ah, this is just a hobby,â you stammered, stumbling over your words. âItâs getting late, so Iâm gonna go home now.â
You rushed out the door, face red and wanting to evaporate out of sheer embarrassment right then and there.
What do you do when your former one-sided rival and childhood friend stumbles onto your smut blog?Â
The answer is that you avoid him at every turn.
You weren't ashamed to admit to running away when you and your friends bumped into Sieun and the rest of the guys at the arcade.
âItâs okay. I donât need to get tutored by him anymore. Iâve been getting the top spot in physics for weeks now,â You thought, reasoning with yourself when you were walking back home after you were done with cram school. âWhen I get to college, I wonât live next door to Yeon Sieun anymore.â
You swore when you saw Sieun outside his apartment, about to unlock the door with his keys. You put your hood on, trying to hide as much of your face as possible, and sprinted to your door, trying to unlock it as fast as you could.
â___,â You froze, key just outside the door lock, upon hearing his deep voice. âCan we talk?â
That was how you found yourself sitting next to Sieun on the couch in his living room.
âWhereâs your mom?â You asked him, trying to break the tension. Now that you thought about it, she was rarely around. She placed too much faith in letting her teenage son be alone with a girl in her apartment.
âSheâs on some business trip. She wonât be back until next week,â He answered casually, handing a mug of hot tea to you, which you gratefully accepted. âBut weâre not here to talk about her.â
You awkwardly placed the mug on the coffee table, making sure a coaster was beneath it, knowing how particular his mother was with condensation stains.
âYouâre âŠnot going to tell my mom?â
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. âWhy would I do that? What you do in your spare time is none of my business. Is that why youâve been avoiding me?â
You nodded slightly. âWhat was I supposed to do? The last time we really knew each other was when we were kids, and the stuff I wrote wasnât really- well-â
âI know.â
âWhat do you mean, you know?â
âI saw your username and read some of your writings.â Your jaw dropped at his confession.
âWhy the hell would you do that?â You asked him, gobsmacked. You couldnât imagine Sieun willingly reading smut.Â
âYou made a few grammar mistakes, but the plots were interesting,â Sieun then turned to look at you. There was something in his eyes, something you have never seen before, but heard of it described in the many works you have read before. âThe last one you wrote. The male character⊠he sounds like me.â
You knew exactly which fic he was talking about. It was a Taehyun fic, where he and the reader were childhood friends who reunited years later. 10k+ words where roughly two-thirds of it was pure, unadulterated smut. You practically wrote it overnight. Despite how easy it was to write it, it was your most successful fic. Taehyunâs characterisation in your fic was most definitely based on Sieun, but you werenât going to admit that.
âNo, heâs not,â You immediately denied his allegation. âThe childhood friends-to-lovers trope is very common. Iâm pretty sure half of all K-dramas have some variation of this trope.â
âYou wrote about the time where I accidentally pushed you too far off the swings.â
âCoincidence.â
âYou wrote that she used to hate him because her mother always praised him over her.â
Somehow, Sieun had gotten close to you, and you were a breath away from him. If it were any other guy, you would have shoved them away, but this was Sieun. The little boy who read books with you because you both preferred silence. The same boy who had grown into the young and very attractive man in front of you.
âI âŠdid write that.â
âYou havenât updated the second part,â Was his voice always so melodic? It felt like he was luring you into a trance. âDoes she still hate him now?â
âNo,â You breathed out heavily. His whispers felt like they were kissing your lips. âShe never hated him. She just- she was just jealous that he was seen, and she wasnât.â
You had never been this close with a boy- no, a man, before. His jawline looked like it was sharp enough to cut glass. There were no signs of acne or blemish marks on his face. He had to be using some sort of skincare routine. If it turned out he used some sort of 20-in-1 soap for his whole body, you would riot and declare that life was unfairly biased towards men.
âThatâs not true,â He looked you in the eyes. How did they convey so much emotion when his lips didnât say much? âI didnât like you either, but I have always seen you.â
Time stood still as your eyes flickered down to his lips. His own eyes were searching for your lips as well.
âYou wrote consent was the key. ___,â Sieun breathed out, his voice too low and quiet to be heard by anyone but you. âMay I kiss you?â
You didnât even need to think about it. âYes.â
Sieun didnât waste any time, stealing your breath away when he pressed his lips against yours in a clumsy yet heated motion. His approach to kissing you was exactly like how he approached his studies. He made a hypothesis, tested it, and then experimented from there. He found that you rather liked it when he nudged your lips with his tongue, silently asking permission for entry, which you gladly gave him.
When you moaned, a verbal response to his hands brushing through your hair, angling your head to kiss you deeper, he added another step to his experiment. His hands travelled down to your waist, and his leanly-muscled arms pulled you into his lap, your plush thighs straddling his strong ones.
You let out an embarrassingly high-pitched moan when Sieun trailed his lips down your neck, focusing on the soft, hollow area where your pulse was the strongest. He helped you out of your blazer, leaving you in your white, long-sleeved school shirt. You grabbed his hands and led them under your shirt, where they rested against the warm skin of your waist. Â
âCome here,â you panted as you looked down at him, kissing him as if it was as natural as breathing in oxygen. You usually werenât impulsive like this. You never saw your first kiss culminating in grinding Sieun on his lap. Hell, he wasnât even in the scenario back when you were twelve and imagining what your first kiss would be like.Â
It was only when you felt Sieunâs erection straining through his trousers that you finally snapped out of your hormone-addled haze.
âWait. Wait a second,â Your hand pushed him back by his shoulder. His dark eyes, usually apathetic and unfeeling, were full of unbridled lust and confusion, and you desperately wanted to comfort him by kissing all his doubts away, but you still had to make sense of what this was. âI just- Sieun, what exactly are we?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âI mean, one second, we were tutor and tutee, and the next, weâre making out on your momâs couch.â When you said it out loud, you realised how much it sounded like the plotline of a low-quality pornographic video. âWeâre ___ and Sieun. We donât like each other like that.â
âWhat makes you think I donât like you?â
You laughed softly. âOkay, if you say that youâve been in love with me since we were kids, Iâm going to hit you.â
âDonât be ridiculous,â said Sieun, who started drawing absentless circles on your back, sending chills down your spine. âI wasnât really fond of you too back then.â
You frowned. âOkay, offence very much taken.â
âNo, I didnât mean it like that-â Sieun cut himself off, biting his lip before continuing to explain himself. âYour mom was always there, and mine wasnât. I know how she really is now, but back then-â
âI get it,â You interrupted him. It was like your mothers were a reverse of each other. While your mother was always around, she was controlling, always making you doubt yourself. Meanwhile, you found that Sieunâs mom always had confidence in him, but she certainly kept her distance. Both of you wanted what the other had. âIt still doesnât explain why you suddenly like me.â
âIâm not sure about it, myself,â answered Sieun. âIt was more like, I just realised how much I enjoyed having you around when I saw you again. You reminded me that I hadnât always been lonely all my life.â
âWhat are you talking about?â You asked, puzzled on why he would think that of himself. âYou have your friends.â
âThey were a recent development, and it didnât come easy.â
âAre you talking about the Union?â You questioned, remembering what Hari had told you.
âSo they told you.â Sieun sighed. He looked like he didnât want to recount the things that happened last year.
âYou donât have to tell me,â You held his cheek with your hand. Somehow, he looked more vulnerable than you ever saw him. âI can tell by your face. It must have been a difficult time for you.â
Sieunâs eyes softened. He slowly brought you closer, hugging you as he leaned his face into the crook of your neck. You werenât sure of what kind of relationship you had with him, but what you learned was that he needed you somehow, and you welcomed him.
From a young age, you always had a life plan. It was nurtured into you by your mother. It was a simple, linear plan. Get good grades, get into a top university, and graduate with first class. Your mother didnât include dating into the life plan.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Yeon Sieun was supposed to stay that awkward and geeky kid.
He was supposed to be a skinny nerd with no game.
He wasn't supposed to have clear skin and soft, supple lips. He wasn't supposed to be devastatingly handsome with Bambi eyes and a sharp jawline.
He wasn't supposed to grow out of the one-sided childhood rivalry you had with him.
He was supposed to tutor you like your mother asked him to, even though you never agreed to it.
He wasn't supposed to be pressing you down on his bed while invading your mouth with his tongue.
Sieun certainly wasn't supposed to be pushing your soaked panties aside and demonstrating the many ways he could make you come undone with his fingers alone.
Yeon Sieun wasn't supposed to be hot.
It had been a few nights since you made out with Sieun while grinding him wantonly on his lap. Since then, you have found your libido uncontrollable since your childhood friend found the switch and turned it on. Suddenly, every smut fic you read on Tumblr, Wattpad, AO3, etc, all involve his stupid face and his equally dumb, messy hair, instead of the idols you fangirled over.Â
Now, his unfairly long fingers were stripping you of your cotton panties. Even though you were still wearing your skirt, your hands went down to cover your heated pussy.Â
Sieun, who was between his usual careless self and the oddly passionate self he displayed whenever he was with you, asked you, âDo you want to stop? You know what to say.â
He had read another one of your one-shots, a BDSM V fic you wrote for Kinktober, which wasnât really as rough as the ones you have read before, but did contain the proper usage of safe words. Proper etiquette was a yes with you.
Of course, you had no intentions of committing any sadomasochistic acts; you mainly read them because of the smut, but you agreed with Sieun that a safe word was a good idea.
You shook your head. âNo, Iâm good.â
âThen, get your hands away.â With his strong grip, Sieun wrenched your hands away. He then proceeded to bunch your skirt up around your waist, fully exposing your wet nether lips to him. âYouâre already wet.â
His left hand grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head onto the headboard of his bed. âHow do you usually finger yourself?â
You gulped, fully aware that you were the only one who had ever witnessed the Sieun you were with now. âMy clit. Just start there, and then work your way from there.â
He nodded, focusing his attention on the throbbing clump of nerves. He traced your nether lips with his index finger before pressing your clit with his thumb. You struggled to keep still, not wanting to show him how out of control he made you feel with just a simple touch.
âT-thatâs it,â You stammered, trying to keep your voice low. âJust circle around it a few times to stimulate it.â
You thought Sieun would have added his own flair, but he diligently followed your instructions. Your breathing became quicker. Even though his touches were simple and minimal, his fingers were very different from yours, his calluses rougher, making the sensation different.
You gripped his sheets. âY-you can put a finger inside now.â
âYou sure?â
âYes.â You let out a heavy breath when his middle finger finally penetrated you. He started with shallow pumps before slowly building up his speed. You firmly shut your eyes, holding your tongue back from letting out the many moans threatening to spill out of you.
âWhy are you quiet?â Sieun questioned you casually as if he wasnât fucking you with his finger right now. He pulled out of you, and somehow, your aching heat missed him. âYou didnât like it?â
âNo!â You raised your voice, emotions still high from the peak you were seconds away from reaching. âItâs just that- Iâm never alone at home, so I always have to be quiet-â
âWell, youâre on my bed, in my room,â Sieun reasoned with you. His finger penetrated you a second time without warning, causing you to yelp at the sudden but certainly welcome intrusion. âBe as loud as you want.â
He slipped a second finger inside when you were practically drenching him, scissoring and stretching you out, making your thighs shake as he made sure to let each and every one of your moans escape from your mouth. The warm slick lubricating the spongy walls of your cunt coated his fingers, making each push and pull easier as you got wetter.
âSieun-ah!â You wailed loudly. His hand stopped gripping your wrists to the headboard, instead choosing to hold your hand, his large hand encompassing yours as he interlocked your fingers together. You involuntarily kicked at his sheets when he reached your g-spot. Methodically, he repeated the same motion, making you climb higher and higher to your peak. âIâm going to cum!â
The familiar feeling of waves crashing over occurred when he somehow managed to press his thumb to your clit at the exact time his fingers reached your g-spot, something you have never been able to do on your own. You thanked your lucky stars that his mom was never around, because the scream you let out was embarrassingly loud and unmistakable.
You were still climbing down from your high when you felt Sieun brush your sweaty bangs back. You stifled a chuckle, pushing your upper body arm with your arms before reaching up to kiss him, before sneakily lowering your hand to unzip his trousers and cup his noticeable erection.
You werenât sure what kind of relationship you had with your former childhood friend, but right now, you were in a state of bliss, experiencing all of your firsts together.
A couple of months passed by since you and Sieun progressed your relationship from awkward former childhood playmates to friends who play with each other in bed.Â
Well, it wasnât always necessarily in bed.
There was that one time when you blew him under his desk when he didnât pay you enough attention. Sieun repaid you when he pinned you to the desk, using his pretty lips and tongue to eat you out.
Of course, you would always remember the time you and Sieun finally did the deed.Â
You had just gotten your mock exam results, and lo and behold, you had gotten an A+ on your physics exam, something you thought impossible. You remembered proudly showing off to Sieun, who congratulated you with a small smile. You hung out with your friends, where Youngseo and Baku were still somehow figuring out their situationship, and you mischievously played footsie with Sieun when you were all celebrating the end of finals at a pizza place.
That culminated in a long night when you finally asked Sieun to make love to you, despite you still being âfriendsâ. Somehow, you felt truly loved by him, with how he eased you into it when he finally penetrated you, and how he whispered sweet nothings into your ear as you got used to him.Â
Even though you were at a stalemate with Sieun, both of you knew that you were no longer just friends, not with the lazy lovemaking sessions, the shared journey together to and from the cram school, or how he shared his AirPods with you every time you rode the bus.
Somehow, love had bloomed between the childhood acquaintances who used to be so envious of each other.
However, the suneung was coming up, and just like Sieun, your grades were too important for you.Â
âLetâs wait for our university letters,â you told him one day. He was tracing absent-minded circles on your back as you lay in bed together. âThen, weâll go from there.â
Even though he used to make you feel insecure, somehow, you felt safe with him. You werenât afraid to loosen the reins on your life. He always made you feel as though he would always accept you, no matter your flaws.
For the first time in a while, you and Sieun still had all of your clothes on as you sat in front of your laptops in his room, impatiently waiting for the long-awaited email to arrive.
âWhere is it? It should be here by now,â You rapped your fist lightly against your mouth. âDamn it, I know I messed up on that last question, and theyâre taking so long because they know it too-â
âCalm down,â Sieun rubbed your back up and down, trying to ease your nerves. âItâs a mass email, so itâs going to take a while to send to everyone.â
At that moment, both of your accounts received emails from Yonsei, each headlined with the department you applied to.
âSieun-ah, itâs here,â You whispered before nervously tugging on the sleeve of his hoodie. âItâs here!â
âI know,â he acknowledged. âOn three?â
You smiled at him, hovering your finger above the touchpad. âOn three.â
You counted down, opening the email at the count of three, and gasped when you saw the first line starting with, âCongratulations, Miss ___, you have been acceptedâŠâ
You couldnât help the wide grin on your face. âSieun-ah, I got in! What about you?â
While his smile wasnât as obvious as yours, it was obvious that he received good news as well. âMe too.â
Unable to contain your happiness anymore, you threw your arms around him. Your feet were lifted off the ground as he wrapped your arms around your waist, hugging you back earnestly. You didnât need to explain what you felt. Sieun knew what it felt like to have years of studying finally pay off.
When he finally stopped spinning you around and set you down, you leaned up and pulled him into a kiss. Unlike the many heated kisses you shared that led to even hotter encounters, this kiss was soft, gentle, and comforting. You realised that ever since Sieun first defended you during that dinner, you readily started giving your heart, little by little, until he had it whole.
â___,â he whispered, just a breath away from your lips when you finally separated. âI really like you. I think I love you. Do you want to give us a chance?â
What else could you say other than yes?
authorâs notes: Finally, I've finished writing this. I wanted to write more sm*tty parts, but it sounded so awkward and weird, so I ended up scraping it. I hope you enjoyed reading it!
genre: established relationship, full fluff, college!au.
wc: 2.4k
warnings: aged up characters, Nabi means butterfly in korean, Si-eun being a sweet cat dad, that's it, that's your silly boyfriend.
synopsis: Si-eun never asked for a cat. But when a tiny black kitten curls up in his arms, he seems to change his mind pretty quickly.
a/n: Divider made by @saradika-graphics I made this as a way of coping with the fact that I couldn't adopt a pretty kitten that I wanted, when I finally could get her, she was just with somebody else.... I hope she has a great life because she is really lovely. This was requested by doremichann
You had been thinking about that cat for at least two weeks.
It all started with a cardboard box left in front of your veterinary school building. It was common for people to abandon animals there. Somehow, people expected that because of the vocation you had chosen, you could take care of every animal in the world and every situation involving them. The senselessness of that idea made you anxious, but you knew at this point in your degree that it was useless to fight against common sense.
Most of the time, you managed to absorb the number of animals abandoned there. Some were adopted immediately, others stayed at students' homes temporarily until they found a permanent home. As wrong as it was to accept that situation, you eventually became those people's hopeâand indeed, you gave homes to those animals. It would simply be too hard to ignore a defenseless being in need, and that only contributed to raising the expectation even more that you were immaculate saviors.
You, however, were anything but part of that group of saviors.
Yes, you contributed financially with donations when you could and shared the adoption campaigns, but since your building didn't allow pets, you never felt like you were really helping. Until eventually, that day arrived.
The message group of people who participated in animal fostering wouldn't stop making your phone vibrate during the day. That sometimes happened when an animal couldn't find a home and needed one immediately. It was very common in cases of older animals or those in situations requiring extra care due to illness. But to your surprise, that wasn't the case.
It was a kitten. Black with tiny white details. The same one you had been following for days and that, for some reason, had captivated you more than anyone in that active adoption and donation group.
You felt very tempted to adopt her several times, but you knew it would be impulsive to take her only to have to give her back if your landlord found out about her existence, so you contented yourself with looking at a few photos fondly and accepting that eventually she would find a permanent place.
However, a problem arose, and the person who was going to take her couldn't provide that support anymore, returning the cat to one of the students in the group. Apparently, she had a bad adaptation with the willing adopter, who already had another older cat, and the animals almost got into a serious fight. Now, for safety reasons, she had been separated from that cat and, consequently, was left without a new home.
Your heart tightened more than it ever had in all the time you'd been part of the group. It wasn't just about the cat's situation. It was the fact that you had wanted her from the beginning. In some way you couldn't explain, the two of you had formed a connection. You could imagine yourself with her, sleeping with her, hearing her purr as you studied and she rested on your lap. You could almost smell her.
You almost⊠Ah, screw it! You thought. And in a moment of total impulse, you volunteered to take her. Your problems with the landlord would have to wait.
[âŠ]
You were stroking the stillânameless cat's fur as she rubbed against your hand and purred, when finally the impulsiveness of your action came to the surface.
Honestly, you didn't mind keeping her as a big secret so much, but that secret didn't depend entirely on youâit went far beyond that. How could you guarantee she wouldn't raise any suspicion when you were away at college? It wasn't as if you could take her in your backpack or monitor her 24 hours a day.
No, you couldn't imagine going back on your decision, but you also couldn't stop cursing your own lack of restraint. No, you couldn't blame the cat's sweet eyes or the way she meowed at you so affectionately. You only had yourself to blame, and honestly, yourself to find a more viable solution. And no, giving her back to the adoption groupâwhich would feel like a second rejection to herâwas not among the options.
You took a deep breath, trying to find a way out, any way out.
Until something you had never considered came to mind. Or rather, someone.
Yeon Si-eun.
[âŠ]
Your boyfriend stood before you after opening the door of his apartment, staring at you as if there was a bomb in your arms instead of a cat. It was a little hard to tell what he was thinking, mainly because you had called saying you needed to see him urgently, and suddenly you were at his doorstep with a large bag in one arm and a kitten in the other, curiously staring back at him.
Si-eun knew better than to bombard you with questions, especially while you were still in the hallway of his building, so he just made space for you to enter and closed the door behind you.
Still in silence, he guided youâthough he didn't really need to, since you already knew every corner of that apartment very wellâto his room, where you sat down on his bed. The kitten still in your lap while you set the bag on the floor.
"I imagine the urgency has to do withâŠ" Your boyfriend gave you the cue to start explaining.
"She doesn't have a name yet."
"Right."
You didn't know exactly why you had said the cat didn't have a name, as if that was what Si-eun was asking. You knew that wasn't what he wanted to know. He wanted to understand what his girlfriend was doing here in the middle of the night with a kitten and a giant bag.
Even with all the curiosity in the world, Si-eun didn't pressure you to say everything immediately, and you couldn't help but notice how his gaze kept drifting toward the cat. You never tired of admiring your boyfriend's expressive eyes, but that wasn't what caught your attention about them now. They were staring intently into the kitten's eyes on your lap. Both the cat and your boyfriend seemed to be studying each otherâthe two of them with the most beautiful eyes in the world.
You almost felt like an intruder in the situation.
"She won't bite," you said, breaking the spell. "She's very calm."
Si-eun blinked first. Of course he did.
"You brought her here because your building doesn't allow pets," he stated. It wasn't a question.
You nodded, hugging the kitten against your chest as if she could protect you from the conversation. "I'm not going to ask you to keep her forever. Just⊠for now. Until I figure out what to do. Until I find a way."
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he approachedâone slow, calculated stepâand sat down on the edge of the bed, beside you. Not too close, but close enough for you to feel the warmth radiating from his arm. The cat turned her head to stare at him again. And then, with an audacity that only a kitten could have, she stretched out her neck and sniffed his fingers.
Si-eun didn't move.
She sniffed for a few more seconds, blinked slowlyâwhich you knew was a sign of trust in catsâand then rubbed her cheek against the tip of his index finger.
Your heart leaped.
Si-eun finally looked away from the cat and fixed his gaze on you. "She stays," he said, simple as thatâsimple like he always was with you. "For now."
The relief that flooded your chest was so overwhelming that you almost cried. "Si-eun-ah, thank you so much, I swear I'll figure this out as soon as possibleâ"
As you were still trying to plead your case, Si-eun got up, went to his closet, and took out an old tâshirt. He folded it into a perfect square and placed it on the floor beside his bed, as if he were setting up a miniature campsite.
"Is that for her?" you asked, incredulous.
"She needs a place to sleep." But Siâeun quickly added in his classic rational tone, "But I'm not sleeping with her either."
You almost laughed. "She's not going to steal your bed, Si-eun-ah."
Your boyfriend just looked at you with that expression that said "I'm not taking that risk" without having to open his mouth. The cat, however, had already lost interest in him and was now nestling deeper into your lap, her tiny eyes slowly closing.
"How cute. She's sleepy," you murmured, stroking her head. "That was a lot of excitement for one day."
Si-eun watched the scene for another moment, then got up from the bed. "Are you sleeping here too?"
The question was practical, not an invitation. He was already grabbing an extra pillow from the closet, as if your presence there was already a foregone conclusion. Because it was. That was how it worked between you.
"If it's not a botherâŠ"
"It's not." He tossed the pillow onto the bed, next to yours. "But the cat stays on the floor."
"Si-eun-ah, she's tinyâŠ"
"On the floor."
You sighed, but smiled. He was already pulling off his hoodie, leaving himself in his usual black t-shirt, and flopped onto the bed beside you with a low grunt. The cat meowed in protest at the movement but didn't open her eyes.
You didn't dare argue with your boyfriend since you were already asking too much of him. He wasn't mistreating the cat or anything, and not in a million years would he ever do that. You could only respect the boundaries he would set for taking care of her. Even so, something inside you felt that this situation wouldn't stay that way: you knew Siâeun's soft heart better than anyone.
Adjusting your position in bed, turning your back to your boyfriend, you looked at the kitten one more time as she rested at the floor, on top of Si-eun's folded shirt, and then you finally felt relaxed enough to rest.
[...]
The next morning, very early, since you and Siâeun had college, you both woke up to a surprise: the cat had climbed onto the bed and nestled herself between the two of you, sleeping soundly. She yawned, showing her pink tongue, and then started purring loudly. The kitten stretched, sinking her tiny claws into the blanket, and then turned to stare at Si-eun up close. He stared back, motionless.
"Good morning,"Â you said, still sleepy.
"She was purring in my ear." His voice was rough with sleep. "For almost half an hour."
"And you didn't move?"
"She was sleeping."
Your heart melted. "You're an idiot, Yeon Si-eun."
He frowned, confused. "Why?"
"Because you pretend you don't care, but you do."
He didn't deny it. Instead, he sat up in bed carefully so as not to fully wake the catâbut she was already awake and meowed, demanding attention. Si-eun hesitated for a second, then slowly ran one finger between her ears. The purring grew louder.
"She's going to need food," he said, switching to practical mode. "And a litter box."
"I brought everything in the bag."
"Right." He got up. "I'll make coffee."
And he left, leaving you and the cat in bed. You weren't sure if he was running away from the situation or just being himself. Probably both.
[âŠ]
Over the next few days, you instructed Si-eun on the best ways to take care of the cat, and he sent you photos and videos daily, along with descriptions of how the day had gone. It was a funny ritual, but you couldn't help finding it adorable. Even though your boyfriend wasn't obligated to be so dedicated given all his commitments with his own college, he still made an effort to keep you informed of everything.
Eventually, however, you noticed that over time, the messages became more frequent and the descriptions less distant, as if Si-eun was actually starting to see this as more than just another task.
Ever since you had left the stillânameless kitten at his apartment, you hadn't been able to return because you were in the middle of a chaotic exam week. But now that week was over and you could finally breathe a little, it was time to pay your boyfriend another visit.
[âŠ]
When you arrived at the apartment, Si-eun opened the door with the cat in his arms. She was curled around his arm like a baby, her front paws hanging down and her little head resting against his chest. He didn't say anything â just made space for you to enter.
"She doesn't want to get down,"Â he commented, as if it were a technical analysis.
"And you don't want to put her on the floor,"Â you teased, laughing.
Your boyfriend didn't answer. He just walked to the sofa and sat down, adjusting the cat on his lap with a care you rarely saw in him. She was purring like a little engine.
"She has a name now," he said, looking away. "It's Nabi."
"Nabi? Why Nabi?"
He was silent for a second, running his fingers slowly along the cat's back. "Because she's black. And small. AndâŠ" He hesitated. "Black butterflies are rare. When they appear, it's a sign. She appeared out of nowhere. In the middle of everything else."
Your heart tightened. He wasn't just talking about the cat.
"And you think she's a sign?"
"I don't know." He stared at the kitten, who was now closing her eyes in pleasure. "But she's not leaving."
"What?"
"She stays." His voice was firm but low. "Permanently. If you want. I've already decided."
You were speechless. That wasn't how you had agreed things would go. It was supposed to be temporary, just until you sorted out the situation with your building. But there was Si-eun â the same Si-eun who didn't like unexpected things, who planned everything, who rarely opened up â offering a permanent home to a kitten he barely knew.
"Are you sure?"Â you managed to ask.
"She's already adapted. It wouldn't make sense to take her away now."Â He shrugged, as if it were pure logic. But you knew him better than that.
"Si-eun-ahâŠ"
"She likes me." He finally looked her in the eyes. "And I⊠don't mind her staying."
"You don't mind?"Â you repeated, laughing softly.
"That's what I said."Â The tips of his ears were slightly pink. The cat meowed, demanding more affection, and he immediately obliged.
You sat down next to him on the sofa, leaning your head against his shoulder. "You're in love with her."
"She's a cat."Â He answered immediately, as if nurturing that feeling for an animal didn't make sense.
"And you're hopelessly in love."
Si-eun neither confirmed nor denied it. But when the cat meowed softly, your boyfriend cracked a small smile. Nabi was home.