peonieslibrary - Tumblr blog

peonieslibrary · 2 months

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Enchanted ( to meet you ), l.jy

‘ Y/n practices to confess to her friend she has crossed path with once again the day before the match. But she finds him teared at the edges in the downpour. Will she mend their heavy hearts? ’

PAIRING ⏵ lee juyeon x fem!reader

GENRE ⏵ fluff, friends to lovers, one sided pining (in context of 2k words), sappy / soft angst, happy ending, college!au, (american) football player!juyeon, hurt/ comfort ( literally ), treating juyeon's wounds, juyeon needs a hug

WARNINGS ⏵ none major, juyeon has small bruises, they kiss, im not american or know anything about the highs and lows of highschool football american football more than people look good in the uniform, proofread once

WORD COUNT ⏵ 2.8 k

AUTHOR'S NOTE ⏵ a short one-shot I worked on back when I wrote on boys in cats clothing part 1! I've been working on my hyunjae fic, but since its a longer project, I decided to finish this one! It's a shorter one since I will be working on my sunwoo fic for december! ( also feels like a crime to not write at least one fic about christmassy juyeon as the juyeon enthusiast I am )

like and reblog are highly encouraged if you enjoyed!

HER REFLECTION IN THE RECTANGULAR MIRROR AT THE CENTER OF THE SUN VISOR.

Y/n force it up once the last streak of color line itself beneath her eyes. As she opens the car door to step out over the concrete with rain in between the cracks, a wind from west forces the last centimeters of the door open and her navy shirt in nylon lets every part of the cold weather collide with her skin. Y/n quickly locks the door behind her and opens the backseat. At the center of the two seats lies a cardboard sign with letters. She takes it out and holds it close to her chest so as to not let the weather grasp it from her.

Away from the parking lot, cornered in white lines, stands a barricade seven times taller than herself. And when she comes to the side of it, where the stairs lead the way up to the highest rows, she sees the green field and yellow constructions. How the color of the red running track encapsulates the green mit contrasts the heavy sky and its dull complexion.

Another wind dares to take the sign with it and her hair tied in ribbons flies before her eyes. Y/n lowers the sign to her hip and walks with eyes barely open to the bleachers. Well up on the second row, Y/n spends the next forty minutes pacing up and down the seven rows. The wind threatens to bend the sides of her board as she angles it over the field. At last, at the highest seat on the bleachers where one stands over the field and its entirety without detail, Y/n sits down for a last time. Her arms are weak from having them in the air, and her makeup has started to smudge at its sides and her hair beautifully wrapped in silk ribbon, has fallen onto her back and shoulder.

As the highest row is covered by an extended edge, she watches how the rain washes away fallen leaves across the concrete. And she thinks of her worries in that way as she falls all the deeper into the plastic seat.

Her handwritten words on the cardboard sign has been on her mind. Between the seasons and years, she has been whispering the words under the moonlight and hoping that they will cause an effect on the real world, outside her dreams. Juyeon has been a present part of her life since the day in middle school, where they got to be seatmates for a single autumn. They played word games together and drew the appearances of characters they’ve just read in books. But on a Wednesday morning when a new name stod written on her desk, they hardly ever exchanged words again. But even then, his name would cross her mind when life wasn’t about time, and one can stand before the window without worries for tomorrow. But as she has navigated the beginning of her young adult life, they have once again crossed paths.

Y/n sees two leaves follow the tides of the stream down the drain, and how the two meet as the water falls down. At the city cinema, they work the same shifts. Spend time talking when no one’s at the register and fall asleep in the break room. It all decorates her home ceiling above her bed in cosmic constellations.

Tomorrow, in less than twenty four hours, the empty rain soaked seats will be filled with people from the city as they watch the same grass field she’s before. Y/n plays the video film from her mind over the scenery. As if the action of imagining it will somehow affect real life and control its events.

And as she sits with her cardboard sign and navy shirt darker than before, she sees a single silhouette walk towards the green field. Walking in from the entrance at the other diagonal from where Y/n was, she sees him in sports uniform and a ball in the other hand. And despite the distance, she just needs him to step one foot over the grass to recognize him. His distinct steps and contrasting silhouette takes her out of her own world. Y/n looks around the rows of plastic seats around her. And as Juyeon near the middle of the field, Y/n bends down behind the sixth row, let the backrest cover her hair and force the sign to the ground. While at eye length with the concrete, she sees how the rainwater soaks and spreads through the end corners of her sign.

When her socks have become wet and turn cold against her skin, Y/n dares to peak over the red plastic. The edges cover corners of the playing field, and Juyeon disappears behind them as time passes.

Minutes pass them by, and the gray clouds won’t seem to take drift. Instead, she sees how the wind catches the edges of Juyeon’s shirt even stronger than before. At this point, he stands clearly in her sight. At the very center of her vision, he aligns between the two plastic seats before her. Juyeon stands in one spot with his hands on his thighs. The strands of his fringe fall forward as his head faces the ground and the rain continues pouring down on him. The sight is rather bleak. He stands in perfect emotion towards the weather above them, she thinks. Then, Juyeon slowly falls down. Sitting down with his arms resting on his knees. Juyeon’s face is hidden in the empty space created by his arms.

Somehow, his presence in this form falls heavier on her than the downpour. As the sight seeps into the creaks in her heart, Y/n stands up from her row. She holds the sign in her left hand, yellow letters smudged from the very center out to the sharp edges, similar to the paint on her cheeks.

Y/n slowly walks down the bleachers, so as to not fall. Her shoes shatter the puddles as she tread down until the very last platform. As Y/n takes her first step onto the grass field, she feels the water in the high grass seep into the thin fabric of her sneakers. She comes all the closer to him on the field, all for the bleachers to see.

Juyeon stares at the grass beneath him, arms covering whatever scenery before him. His hands have gone numb from the cold and the clothes tight against his skin makes it red and itchy. Though, as he feels the cold rain seep through the open clothing, it suddenly stops. As if to see where the clouds have gone. Juyeon takes his head up from his embrace and sees a dark colored board much closer than the sky. As the hand holding the sign leads his eyes to another silhouette. Juyeon holds his head high as Y/n holds the sign over his essence. The rain continues to pour down on her as she lets it wash away every last bit of color off her board.

“Are you okay?” Y/n asks when Juyeon silently watches her.

The moment words wash over the quiet space between them, Juyeon takes his eyes off her and lets his chin fall back down onto his arms, “Yeah, it’s okay. I’m just resting.”

“Why are you here, even?” His words come out muffled.

Another wind passes the sportsfield, locks itself into her hair strands. Y/n doesn’t say anything for a while before she sits down, “I was just practicing for something.”

The place beside Juyeon is colder than the weather above them. She leaves a distance between the two where the rain is free to fall. When in all truth, Y/n would’ve closed it. Her arms start to hurt as she continues to hold the sign over their heads.

“I’m nervous.” Y/n admits suddenly, in which Juyeon answers;

“Me too.”

Once again, silence.

“For tomorrow?” She looks at him. His chin still lies on his arms as he nods.

Y/n bites her lip as she can’t seem to lift the heavy weight off their hearts. She wants to say something so that the sun would reveal itself and dry its tears, but another cloud comes to flood the parts of the world who haven’t felt it. When she looks at him again, a point underneath her collarbone turns with ache, her fingers grip the cardboard all the tighter, so it withers at the edges. Y/n licks her lips and it feels cold. Suddenly, she’s afraid that it will soon taste of salt.

“You’re really cold, Juyeon.” He looks at her to see her eyes examine his features below his own.

“Your lips are blue.” She continues. Juyeon doesn’t give any answer back, instead sits in the same position as when she first came to find him. As another wind passes through the gaps between the grass, Y/n sits up. He looks up towards her figure as the gray sky with its textures works as a background. Though, Y/n stays in that place, before the weather and looks down on him. The cardboard is over them both as she holds it and before any words leave his mouth, Y/n reaches her hand down towards him.

“I have my car." "You're cold.”

The entire world is in motion as the wind forces between each space. But the two of them, in the center of the world, stand in complete serenity. When Juyeon looks up at her with eyes without glisten and hair strands wet of rain, she desperately spreads her fingers a bit wider as if to reach him.

“Please, Juyeon.” The words can only be heard under the rectangular space where rain doesn’t reach. And finally, Juyeon extends out his hand. Y/n feels a cold sensation grow from where he touches her, before spreading out over her lower arm. His hand is slightly red and his knuckles an even deeper shade as it falls down to his nails and mixes with rain water.

When their fingers intertwine, Juyeon lays his other hand onto the grass behind him. One from above forces the other up, and he pushes his weight off the ground. As they stand before one another, Juyeon once again is about to reach the ground. His knees bend when Y/n grabs onto his upper arms and forces him closer to her.

“Are you okay?” Y/n asks his arm comes over her shoulder and Y/n’s under his own. He only hisses as his left feet touch the grass to bear off some weight again.

“Let’s go to the car.” She says worriedly.

And when they cross the field, out of the center, the weather refuses to let down. Y/n has given up on the board and lets it hang by her side as she forces Juyeon up. When they finally reach her car, Juyeon’s voice is low and his breath warms her left side. Y/n desperately fiddles with the car handle before the backseat stands open, and Juyeon sits down. His head rests against the black leather and his hair leaves off a darker spot when he tilts it to the other side.

Y/n closes the door before running forward to the driverseat where she turns the car on and drives heat up to the highest. To look behind her seat, she sees his sunken silhouette once again. Covered in exhaustion as he has his eyes closed.

A part of heart feels colder than her hands out in the rain. It becomes stronger as she sees him breathe heavily in her backseat. Juyeon can only listen as Y/n walks out of the car once again and opens the tailgate. At the point where he takes some power to open his own eyes, Y/n comes through the opposite side of him. In her hands is a navy blanket with white patterns, a green box with rounded edges.

“I need to treat your bruises.” She stops at the seat and closes the door behind her, “I’m gonna have to touch you.”

She somehow feels impatient as she looks at his figure in the corner of her car. She catches how the blood has formed patterns over his fingers and he finally nods.

“It’s okay.”

Y/n sits without motion for a second, before she comes closer to his side. Their legs touch as she lies the blanket in between the car seat and herself and opens the kit in her lap. Her hand reaches for his own and Juyeon looks down where their bodies intertwine. A green sealed package Y/n rips open, reveals a wet white fabric that she folds out. Carefully she brings the piece to his hands and starts gently rubbing the spots between his knuckles. He hisses slightly.

After wrapping his hands in bandages, she moves down to his leg. Y/n force the white fabric up. As she has taken off his shoes, she wraps it in thicker fabric. When she comes up, they’re at eye length again. Y/n observes his face, her expression with no clear emotion. Juyeon senses the distance she takes from him, even when the warmth of her leg spreads to his own.

As she looks at his features, she sees the details come back to paint his face. His eyes glisten slightly and the slight lilac tint on his lips has faded, as if it was never there. Her heart that was cold and tired of running, slows down in beats and feels a sort of relief reach her outer corners.

At last, Y/n reaches forward, to close the little distance left between them. The blanket in her hands as she lets the fabric fall over his shoulders. Her arms come to close around his neck as she secure the blanket around him. As she slowly lets go off the corners of the navy fabric, she feels his cold hands on her waist. Y/n already sits with a higher posture, as to reach over his figure, therefore, the humid sensation of his close breath around her neck becomes all the clearer.

“Don’t let go.” He says weakly.

A sensation in her chest makes her even wearier of the rain that plummets towards her windows and he fully rests his head on her shoulder.

“Okay.” Y/n says quietly and lets her arms slowly fall in a rigid manner.

After some seconds, the water of his shirt has spread across the blanket. And Y/n slowly lifts her hands off her side to return to the point behind his neck. As Juyeon only pulls her closer and further down the seat, her arms close around him fully and they let the other’s breath enclose, to melt the cold over their frozen fragments.

Though, the thoughts change like tidal waves in her mind and Y/n slowly moves up, “Juyeon, the blanket will become even wetter.”

“I don’t care.” His voice is wrapped in silk and he looks up from his spot in the backseat with eyes moon made, “I just want us.”

And how the world tilted on its axis stops once again. How the cold sensations of the weather fades from her mind as her heart pulsates in a tight space.

And when he looks at her so softly, as to picture every detail to recreate, Y/n smiles just slightly. As she nods her head, to tell him she's received his every word. Juyeon smiles and it feels as if it’s the first time. Only the rain dares to make itself heard when they sit in the car. She destroys and deconstructs the sentence in her head and opens her mouth to speak. But nothing utters when Juyeon takes his hand up to her face. His hands are still cold and contrast to the warmth of her cheek. The sun might as well have gone down to the end line of the earth, when he asks her;

“Can I kiss you?”

She grabs his shoulder a little tighter before answering, “Yes, yes you can.”

Finally, he forces her back a centimeter further down to let his lips touch hers. The sensation of cold clothes and water dripping from the ends of their hair fade from their minds. Instead, it replaces lovely stars connected in white lining. The last letter on her sign, falls its last yellow streak as one tilts their head to whisper in between the kiss.

“I love you.”

#mootie moots ♡#littleroaes ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა #this was so cute wtf #i lowkey kind of want that 'will you be my sunshine' sign too #anyways i love the soft and very intimate moment they had towards the end #“i just want us” ahhhhh #they just really needed each other and they finally had what they wanted #if i were in this situation however i wouldn't be able to comprehend anything and just freeze lol #the boyz #the boyz scenarios #the boyz fluff #the boys juyeon #lee juyeon #recs

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peonieslibrary · 2 months

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HEY CHAT! ∩^ω^∩ - L.HJ

# PART ONE! ☆: lee hyunjae! imagine! x reader! streamer au! fluff! pov u meet your fav gamer boy!

description: two streamers get paired to win a competition between their fellow streamers! most popular man on the app, jae.mp3 ! gets paired with smaller streamer y.n.xi ! will they win? or will they not be able to work together at all? let’s see how they get on! <3

genre: fluff, romance, gaming au

member: tbz hyunjae x you

proof reading: in progress !!! 🏗️🧱

“Hey chat!” Hyunjae, the real name of the man behind popular streamer jae.mp3, opened up his live stream for the second time that day watching the comments flood in, the jarring white light of his screen blaring into his eyes.

jaeslovebox: you’re back!

yogurtraisin: EARLYYYY

xoberry: what are we playing today? ∩^ω^∩

ojbiscuit: I LOVE YOU!

trollatron: common jae L

“Hey! Welcome!” He watched the view count go up gradually greeting everyone as they came in “Hey pixie! Thanks for the sub!”

His extremely loyal fanbase like little keyboard warriors, began subscribing and donating, asking what game he was playing today, what today’s stream would be. To them he was like online royalty, they worshipped him like he was some sort of overwhelming power, creating their own little religious circles where they would praise him, desperately trying to win his attention.

“Today it’s the Minecraft Championships. I’ll be getting paired with another random streamer or youtuber from anywhere in the world, whether they’re popular or not and we’ll be playing to win!”

jaeslovebox donated $10: YOUR VOICE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!

“Thanks for the tip! and also thank you very much for your kind words everyone!” He flashed a killer grin for his audience, his angelic laughter melting them like putty in his hands as more donations and more subscribers flooded through the dooming gates of his channel. Little did they know, they were about to fall for his spell, his charm, ability and good looks zombifying the chat, milking them like cash cows, leaving them deprived of more.

“Here we go, Johnathan is calling me.” Hyunjae reached to open up his discord, answering the call from the events organizer.

“Hey Jae man- Did you just call me Johnathan?” The gruff American voice echoed through the stream. A familiar voice to the entire platform and also someone amongst the top streamers circle.

“Yes.” Jae replied, chat laughing along as the call fell completely silent.

“For that, I’m no longer pairing you with anyone you want to be paired with.” Johnathan spoke dead seriously, seen on his own stream crossing out names on his note pad and changing things around. “You’re getting paired with y.n.xi , because I don’t like them.”

“Why?” Jae asked, raising an eyebrow never having heard the name as chat began to spam laughing faces, and pepe emoticons.

“Listen . That thing took my lunch money, ate my children. Beat me at parkour then emoted on me for 20 minutes. Stay safe out there, man. It’s evil.” With that he ended the call, leaving Jae staring at the chat in confusion as they laughed.

“What? What happened?” Jae asked searching for some context in the comments, before having a clip sent in by one the channel members.

“PARKOUR IN REAL LIFE WITH FRIENDS feat. OFTV, Y.N.XI, xQc0w L.JY & more” - Jschlatt

“Today we’re taking streamers outside to go touch some real grass-” The video began as Hyunjae adjusted himself to a small corner of the screen, putting the video in full.

“Chat, how have I never seen this?” He asked laughing along as he watched some of his online friends get absolutely annihilated by a bouncy castle course.

Then he saw you, giggling like it was the most fun you’d ever had, clearly the more agile one out of the rest of the streamers, you’d raced ahead of them impressively, using Schlatt as an assisting block to finish the course. You then began dancing/emoting at the end of the course, infuriating Schlatt as he jokingly covered the camera. Repeating, “None of you saw that.” in order to save his ego.

Hyunjae laughed as the video ended, “Y/n is pretty funny huh? I can’t wait let’s hop on a call and get ready to start!”

Something about even pressing the call button had him feeling nervous, which was strange as he’s usually a pretty confident guy. It took everything in him to click the stupid phone icon in the corner of his screen, looking at your cute little profile picture in the corner and blushing like an idiot.

Chat were absolutely ecstatic to see you working together, however Hyunjae had a viewership which reached millions some days, whilst you only received around 4k viewers each stream so a lot of his fans had already jumped to accusing you of clout chasing.

• Y.N.XI is now live!

“Hey chat!” You popped on your headphones, getting comfy in your desk chair, ready for the minecraft championships to begin.

trollatron2: total cloutchaser

y.n.clips: HIIIII, IM SO EXCITED FOR TODAY! ∩^ω^∩

trollatron3: using jae for money smh

y.n.xi received a new subscriber!

jaeslovebox donated $3.99 ! “hi y/n! can’t wait to see you work with jae today! good luck!”

“Hey! thank you for subscribing! but jae?! as in jae.mp3?! Is that my minecraft partner? How do you guys know?” You almost burst into tears trying to ignore the negative comments but also shocked as jae.mp3 happened to be one of your favorite streamers, also not to mention probably one of the most dreamy men to ever walk the face of planet earth.

yogurtraisin: we came from jae’s stream! schlatt put you with him as a forfeit for calling him Johnathan

“You’re joking right? Send me the clip, i need to have some words with someone clearly.” You rolled your eyes laughing, thinking back to the parkour video where you’d absolutely decimated your fellow streamers at basic exercise.

yogurtraisin sent a clip!

You clicked on the clip, adjusting your layout, there Jae was, laughing along to schlatt’s words about you. You covered your face in embarrassment, your cheeks turning a pale shade of scarlett red as Jae opened up the “Parkour in real life” video, but as he laughed along you felt something turn in your stomach.

“Which one of you sent him that?! Stop!” You paused the clip, allowing the chair you were sitting on to swallow you from your embarrassment.

yogurtraisin: this is so cute, i’m proud of my work lol

y.n.no1fan: he’s trying to steal her away from my guys

trollatron4: bro lowkey dropping that indirect rizz

A robot sounding tune blared from your computer, looking at the little discord icon at the bottom of your screen flash. Nervously you stopped looking at chat for a second before opening the app.

jae.mp3 is ringing… 📞

Join the call…

“Oh Chat! Jae’s calling!” Your fingers hovered over the keyboard anxiously, watching as his profile picture glowed, surely one of the most angelic pictures ever seen.

jaeslovebox: answer it !

Without much more procrastination, you clicked join listening for the connection sound before laughing out of pure nerves.

“Hey, y/n!” A sugar sweet voice sounded from the other side of the call, enough sugar to completely decay your heart and rot your teeth. A strange sensation lighting up within you, as you caught him smiling on his own stream which was open on another monitor.

“Hey jae! Ready for some lethal minecraft gameplay?” You laughed sarcastically, trying to act as normal as possible in front of your stream as if your absolute idol, aspiration and lowkey crush was not on the other side of the phone.

“Of course, loading in now.” He replied with the same honey sweet tone that tied knots in your stomach. You did the same, loading into the private sever, where a bunch of other famous players ran around the lobby in their iconic skins.

“I’m actually so nervous.” You say beginning the parkour course in the waiting lobby, Hyunjae laughing along at the comment responding with a short “don’t be” that healed every emotional wound every scarred onto your heart.

All of a sudden, you were punched off the penultimate platform, despite not being able to take damage as of now. You looked up on your screen, watching jschlatt ,the server admin, crouching up and down in vengeance.

“Are you kidding me?” You laughed, trying to reach the end of the course but constantly failing due to being knocked down by schlatt.

“What’s going on?” Jae asked with a laugh along with slight confusion as he watched you fall from the course numerous times.

“Schlatt keeps trolling me and knocking me off the parkour course for revenge.” You laughed answering the boys question with a palm rested on your head in pure stress.

“Let me go beat him up.” Jae replied running in front of you on the game in order to reach schlatt, throwing punches that didn’t hit since he didn’t have the rights to pass any damage.

MEANWHILE:

• jschlatt is LIVE!

“This motherfucker thinks he can punch me, look how cute he is, defending his new girlfriend like some sort of warlord.” Schlatt laughed as his chat burst into hysterics, before smacking Jae to the bottom of the course. “What a cutie.”

BACK IN REALITY:

“Yeah absolutely served him.” Jae laughed as he was smacked back down the course, feeling a slight turn in his stomach as you giggled along to his joke.

jaeslovebox: this is so cute. end game. <3

milla.mp3: noooo, that should be me…

yogurtraisin: GO JAE!! YOU SAVE HER!!

trollatron4: rizzard

Suddenly, you were both loaded into a hunger games server, stood in a little glass box together in a circle of other teams.

“Right let’s talk strats.” Jae announced, crouching next to me, and punching the floor his dark game skin contrasting his cute behavior.

“Okay what’s the strat?” You asked before suddenly being transported onto the ground as the game began.

“THERES NO TIME, GO RUSH TO THE MIDDLE.” Jae laughed before spamming his keyboard, the chat loving the entire interaction between you both.

Whilst you hadn’t been looking and focused on getting to the middle to retrieve loot from the many chests dotted around your area, you hadn’t noticed that your live viewer count had reached 243k which is the highest it had ever been.

You focused on playing the game, lucky enough to find an iron axe and chest plate in one of the chests nearby.

“You have iron items?!” Jae was flabbergasted from the other side of the call, laughing as his character stood in full leather armor and a wooden sword.

“Hell yeah!” You celebrated as you chased another player down with it, swinging until you eventually killed them.

The other streamers playing, were shocked as they saw the game chat come up with the notification that you’d already been killing people a minute into the game. Their reactions flooded in another 100k viewers which thank god you hadn’t checked because you probably would have fell to the ground.

Gathering the loot from the fallen player, you dropped some in front of Hyunjae, helping him upgrade his gear before going in for a double kill together.

The chemistry you two had was admirable to chat, as you thanked every new subscriber you’d gained from the experience. Nearing to end of the game, you’d slain at least 13 players which was thanks to the loot headstart you’d received, now there was only 3 teams left and the game border was shrinking at a rapid rate.

“Right let’s go! Just spam right click and try kill them from there.” Jae spoke over the microphone, fully focused on killing some of the top minecraft players there were - despite not being religious players of this particular game.

So that’s what you did, managing to eliminate one team completely before a devastating notification popped up at the bottom of your screen.

jae.mp3 has been slain!

“Fuck! I died.” Jae laughed off his late death, before trying to guide you on what you should do now as you were being chased by 2 people.

trollatron5: there’s no way you can pull off a 2v1 against top players.

jaeslovebox donated $10: go y/n you can do it!

With the encouragement from chat, you managed to take down one of the players receiving high praise from chat before shortly being killed by the other player - coming 2nd place which was still really impressive considering how many people on the server were regular minecraft players.

“Well done y/n! Sorry I died aha.” Jae laughed over the mic, apologizing for nothing as you two still placed really high and were definitely the favorite pair of the championships this week.

“No don’t worry! We got second and honestly that’s pretty impressive. It was really cool playing with you! I’d love to do it again sometime.” You tried not to giggle like a school girl talking to him but it was virtually impossible as you saw the way he was smiling at his screen.

“Yeah, I’d love to.” He spoke genuinely, before you two had said your goodbyes and ended the call receiving a short discord message from him.

jae.mp3: i’m doing love or host next week, I’d love fo see you there. go talk to schlatt!

You almost screamed at the message, trying not to react in front of chat, closing the message for now and returning to your stream.

• y/n is live! 356k viewing now!

Your eyes shot opened, the whites of your eyes almost imploding out of your skull as you noticed the amount of subscribers and donations you’d received.

“What on earth is going on? Where did you all come from?” You laughed, before going to read chat and thanking your new patrons. The pink lighting of your room, giving you a sweet rosy tint that chat awed at.

asdf1: you absolutely decimated the championships i had to sub!

jaeslovebox: yeah i’m so glad jae introduced me to you! i’m definitely staying here for a while you two are so amazing together!

yogurtraisin: you’re the best y/n! you’re so pretty too!

You almost cried looking at the lovely messages in chat, tears welling at your eyes at how kind some of the viewers were that had followed you from jae’s stream.

After all he was a dreamy guy, some sort of angel at least, with good looks and an outrageously charming personality it’s no wonder he attracts such kind people and pushes away negativity like there was some sort of forcefield compelled around him.

THE NEXT WEEK:

You were woken up to a discord call, being a now successful streamer your sleep pattern had completely fell to shreds waking up at 3pm or later, and slugging around your apartment.

“Hey y/n, demon.” You recognized the voice from the end of the call, it was jschlatt, seemingly more chirpy than usual for a wednesday evening.

“Hey Johnathan.” You replied, wiping your eyes and rising from the covers of your bed gracefully with messy hair and a tired yawn.

“Hey! I’m doing love or host tonight for Jae ! i wanted to know if you would like to join the line up? The fans really want you to.” Schlatt asked, you could almost see the cheshire cat grin he had written all over his face just from the tone of his voice.

“Ahhh. I don’t knoww. I get really nervous about these sort of things.” You replied running a hand through your hair and listening intently to the other end of the line.

“Listen y/n, this takes a lot to hear from me but I think you guys are really cute together. So I give you the choice. Love or Host?” Schlatt gave you no option to back out at this point, after all it was a chance for you and Jae to get closer. Your mind had driven you crazy about him since you’d played together, it’s as if this fuzzy sick feeling reappeared at every thought of his gorgeous smile.

“Okay.” With not much thought, you made your choice. “I choose Love.”

a/n!: ☆ hey everyone! welcome to the cross of the twitch universe with tbz! steamer hyunjae is so dreamy i could cry! stay tuned for part two! as always i hope you enjoyed <3

# 🤍 clo

#mootie moots ♡#cloverdasies ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა #okay so... i know absolutely nothing about gaming #this... this was so cute #reading all the comments from the viewers was so sweet and just??#the details? so cute #i absolutely loved reading this!!!#also streamer hyunjae??#honestly hyunjae would 100% be a twitch streamer if he weren't an idol along with sunwoo #anyways!!!! i love this so much!! thank you for writing this gem~#the boyz #the boyz hyunjae #lee hyunjae #the boyz scenarios #the boyz fluff #recs

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peonieslibrary · 2 months

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Sangyeon fluff 33 + 38

Sangyeon + Fluff

(My family think we're dating. + Yes, I have feelings for you. Moving on...)

The food in front of you smells delicious, and it takes everything in you not to inhale it in a few bites. One, you'd prefer it if the meal actually lasted longer than three seconds; and two, you don't want to give Sangyeon a bad impression of you. Then again, he's known you for long enough that whatever impression he has of you is probably already set in stone.

Glancing up, you see Sangyeon look back down at his food with a smile. You know he was staring at you right before you looked at him, and you wonder what that smile is about. You'd like to think it means something else, but realistically, he probably noticed how lovingly you were looking at your meal.

"Sangyeon!"

Both of your heads turn to see Sangyeon's older cousin, Minjun, approaching the table. Sangyeon gets up, and the two share a hug before his cousin turns to you and smiles.

"It's lovely to see you again! Are the two of you here to celebrate something?"

Minjun looks back at Sangyeon and wiggles his eyebrows. The tips of Sangyeon's ears turn red and you look at him curiously. Does he have something to celebrate? Why hasn't he told you?

"No," Sangyeon finds his voice. "We're just having dinner."

"Pity," Minjun responds before he turns back to you with a smile. "I hope you can make it to our grandmother's birthday party! You always seem so busy! The family would love to see you."

You're so beyond confused now that you can only blink at him. From the corner of your eye, you see Sangyeon fidgeting like he's getting ready to escape or something. Clearly, you're missing a huge piece of this story, and you plan on finding out what it is the second his cousin leaves.

"Of course," you play along, surprising Sangyeon. "I'll do my absolute best to make it."

A smile grows on his cousin's face. "Fantastic! Then, I'll be seeing you soon! It's about time Sangyeon stopped hiding you from us."

Sangyeon quickly stands up and they exchange goodbyes while you silently watch. The moment his cousin is gone, Sangyeon sits back down and quietly begins eating his food. He avoids eye contact with you, but you know that won't last for long.

"Sangyeon?" He hums in response but doesn't look up. "What the hell was that about?"

"That?" He finally looks up at you "Oh, that's nothing. He just…"

Sangyeon trails off once he sees the no-nonsense look on your face and he sighs. "My family thinks we're dating."

You're so still, you're not even sure you're breathing right now. You search Sangyeon's face to try and figure out why his family thinks that, but it tells you nothing.

"Why does your family think we're dating?"

He goes quiet for so long that you almost think he's not going to tell you. He stares distantly at the table in front of you until you're ready to reach across it and shake him. Then, he suddenly looks up at you.

"They know I have feelings for you, and they've talked themselves into thinking I've done something about them."

A warm, swirling feeling comes to life in your stomach. When Sangyeon's eyes finally meet yours, you're convinced that he's somehow magically stolen the breath from your lungs. He looks so unsure and yet hopeful at the same time, it tugs at your heart.

"You like me?"

"Yes, I have feelings for you. Moving on…"

He attempts to change the subject, but you absolutely refuse to allow him to do that. Sangyeon just confessed that he likes you and we're going to stay on that topic a little while longer.

"Um, no. We're not moving on from this just yet… The man I like just confessed his feelings for me."

#mootie moots ♡#biaswreckingfics ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა #hehehe #this made me giggle out loud #i know this was written a bit ago #i feel like sangyeon would get so nervous and mayhaps giggly?#i love this so much hehe #i love a soft and fluffy sangyeon #the boyz #the boyz imagines #the boyz sangyeon #lee sangyeon #the boyz fluff #recs

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peonieslibrary · 3 months

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hi ave, i honestly don’t know what to say other than thank you 😭 i cannot tell you the way you had me blushing reading this 🫠 just the visual alone of seonghwa with long droopy hair AND A BROW BAR (which i had to ask for clarification on 😅)

now let’s get into my review: 10/10 the cutest shit i’ve ever read. also the way you know my aesthetic so well?? and that i love oat milk lattes?? ughh i am really curious though about what him and hongjoong were talking about. it probably went something along the lines of:

joong: dude come on! you’ve been here 3 times already! just suck it up and ask them to our show

hwa: i can’t, what if they don’t like me?

joong: you cant be serious?? i mean look at you

hwa: i look like i just woke up joong, very funny

NE WAYS! let me highlight some of my favorite moments

1. the nervousness of seonghwa when he orders for the first time 😭

2. how mesmerized he was when they remembered his order

3. arguably my favorite moment is WHEN THEY MET EYES AT HIS SHOW 😭 ughhh literally a moment every girl could only dream of 😭

i seriously cannot thank you enough for this ave, i love you so so much! this is seriously the sweetest 🫶

iced oat latte, extra shot | p.sh

"could i get an iced oat latte with an extra shot, please?"

minors dni. ageless blogs dni. blank blogs dni. you'll be blocked.

genre: slice of life

character(s): park seonghwa (ft. you, as a barista, kim hongjoong, kang yeosang, choi san, choi jongho)

tags: guitarist!seonghwa, barista!reader, coffee shops, meet-cute energy, first meetings, fluff, sh plays guitar for an indie band and has a brow bar piercing, 5+1 things

word count: 4.5k

summary: droopy hair, an electric guitar and an iced oat latte, extra shot; add those together and you get a handsome, wonderful guy named park seonghwa - or, the five times he visits your coffee shop, and the one time you watch his band play..

a/n: for peony, aka @hyungseos-cafe, one of my closest friends in this entire world. i love you so so so much, thank you for everything that you've done, you mean so much to me. when i thought about what to write you, i went through a few ideas until it clicked: what better for the barista (😉) than a coffee shop meet-cute?☺️🫶 (wonder why i asked whether seonghwa was your bias?🤭 hehe now you know). i really hope you enjoy this, this one's for you!

The first time he steps into your coffee shop, there's a carry case for a guitar on his shoulder.

Your eyes flicker to the door as soon as it opens. It's become a sixth sense at this point; you are always in tune to when a customer enters. Most of the time it's a regular, someone whose order you've memorised from top to bottom, but sometimes you have the pleasure of a newcomer giving your café a chance.

You run a fairly quaint coffee shop on the corner of the street. Small in scale and loved for its botanical decor, you enjoy fairly steady streams of people coming and going, either for their morning espresso shots or their midday mochas. Nothing puts a smile on your face more than the way their eyes light up as you slide their beverage across the counter, and by the end of the day, the little notebook you leave out for people to write reviews has pages filled with the kindest comments. It's even got to a stage where you'll be needing a new one soon.

The morning had been relatively quiet - expected for a Wednesday. Your regular customers had already come and gone, and your coffee shop was now going through its lull period before the afternoon rush. One glance at your watch told you it was roughly 11am, and so you’d got to work wiping the counters down when the door opened almost unexpectedly.

You had never seen this guy before. He offers an amicable smile almost instantly and it makes you do the same in return. “..Hi!” you call out to him.

“Hey..!” he replies, waltzing over to the counter before setting his carry case down. You’re automatically intrigued by it, as noted by your head tilting to the side when he leans it up against the glass shielding all the baked goods. You don’t stare for too long though, and gaze back up at him with a polite grin on your face. “Could I get an iced oat latte with an extra shot, please?”

The swiftness at which he places his orders leaves you befuddled for a time until you can coax your brain back into gear enough to press buttons on the till. “U- um- Did you say oat milk..?”

“Yes, yeah- sorry-” he says, and it hits you just then that he is quite flustered.

You take a look at his face and it’s clear he’s in a rush to go somewhere. You wonder if the guitar case has anything to do with it, but you decide not to partake in small talk for the time being. This guy has got places to be. “With an extra shot, you said..”

In the midst of digging his wallet out of his jacket, he looks up. “Yeah! Yeah, sorry, I probably spoke really fast, it’s just I overslept and am nearly late for rehearsal..” A nervous laugh escapes him as he rests his elbow on the counter.

Rehearsal.. “That’s not a problem,” you assure with sincerity. Iced oat latte with an extra shot.

You tell him the price and he takes out a few notes before resting them in your hand. You count through, then place the money in the till and give him his change before directing him further along the counter so he can wait for his drink. He thanks you kindly and picks up his case then saunters over to the other side of the display case, his eyes fixated on the coffee shop itself.

In your peripheral vision, you notice that he is studying the environment like an art critic would scrutinise a painting. Everyone who has ever wandered into your café and chosen to make any kind of comment has only had the nicest things to say about it, but something about his unwavering gaze makes your nerves spike just a little.

It only takes you thirty seconds to complete the order, and by the time you’ve set it down in front of the new customer, his eyes are back on you. He smiles wide and it’s perhaps the friendliest you have ever seen on a person. “Thank you so much.” He takes the drink appreciatively. “Can I just say, I think this place looks so cute!” The second he says it your mind settles completely. “Did you do all the decorating?”

You humbly nod, “I did, yeah.. I just really like plants, so..” You vaguely gesture around at the variety of plants and flowers dotted all over the shop, and he glances around with a small chuckle. “That pretty much formed the basis of the whole theme.”

“I love it.” He looks back at you. “I’ll bring the rest of the band here soon, I think they’d really like it.”

Band.. bite your tongue, don’t ask questions, he’s in a rush. "Well, I’ll be happy to welcome them when you do decide to invite them along.”

“Thank you so much, I’ll definitely be visiting again. Have a great day!” He walks off with the case on his shoulder and the oat latte in his right hand. You forgo an embarrassing wave - it was a hard thing to unlearn from your early days - and simply return the well wish of a good day.

As you head back to the till to take the next customer’s order, the guitarist surprises you.

“This is so good, by the way, probably the best latte I’ve ever had!” You smile and thank him. “Thank you! See you later!”

The door closes and you are left to both ring the next customer’s order through the till, and dwell on just how.. wonderfully bizarre that exchange was.

The elderly woman on the other side of the counter offers you a curved smile as she pays for her cappuccino.

You think about what the rest of the band might be like as you make her order.

×-×

The second time he steps into your coffee shop, he is less flustered than before, and there’s no carry case.

He is wearing a different outfit than before, though due to the hurried nature of the first transaction you didn’t even think of his outfit.

Today it is a simple leather jacket over a white shirt and a pair of jeans. His hair is quite long and droops over his brows. There’s a hint of a brow bar tucked underneath the waves. He smiles at you as he approaches the counter. “Hi, again.”

‘Hi.. again,” you chuckle. “Same order, or something different?”

He purses his lips in thought. “Do you remember my order?”

It had been a few days since he had last come into your shop, but you could remember his order easily. “Iced oat latte with an extra shot,” you say, an almost smug grin on your lips.

His jaw drops in shock. “Wow.. I didn’t think you’d remember!”

“I’ve been running this shop for the last two years, I’ve come to memorise nearly every one of my customers orders.” A hand rests on your hip; there is a pride coursing through you that the man opposite notices straight away.

‘Well I must admit, I think that’s quite impressive.”

He seems more relaxed today. There’s less urgency, he appears to be up for a chat. You leisurely ring his order through and a lightbulb goes off in your head. “I imagine it’s similar to.. memorising guitar chords?”

His cheeks grow flushed and he eyes the floor briefly. “Ha.. Couldn’t hide the guitar case, huh?” He glances back up with a knowing look in his eyes.

The corner of your lips tilt up. “I won’t lie, it was quite the defining aspect of your entrance last week,” you joke.

He teasingly lifts his hands in defence. “Okay, okay, I admit, I play guitar for a band.. Though considering I literally mentioned my band the last time I was here, that’s not exactly a big revelation is it?” You shake your head playfully. “Damn it.”

You laugh out loud as you open the till to finalise the payment. He hands you over the exact amount this time and you pop it in before closing it.

As you both walk over to the opposite side of the counter, he picks the topic back up. “To answer your previous question, I suppose it is a bit like memorising chords. I’ve got so many up there-” he taps his temple, “and my bandmate always has me learning more. He says it’s good to flex the brain muscles but I swear I must have learned more than a hundred chords by now?”

“Holy shit- sorry..” You cover your mouth with your hand and it makes him laugh. “Shouldn’t swear in front of customers.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. How many times during rehearsals do you think I hear the frontman cuss? Answer: way too many times.”

You shake your head, a faint hint of a smile still on your lips. You finish up the latte and place it down in front of him, to which he thanks you before taking a sip. “This is seriously so good.. How do you make it so good?”

“Months of practice and good technique.”

“Typical magician, never giving away their secrets.”

You tap the side of your nose in an attempt to ignore any shyness at the comment. It’s a good thing the guitarist is walking away, otherwise he might notice that his innocuous statement is actually-

He turns to look directly at you. You hope your eyes growing three times their average size is not weird or anything.

“I never told you my name before. Might be worth knowing so you don’t just think of me as guy with the guitar for the rest of your life..”

You trample down any overt apprehension in a bid to seem cool and casual. “I don’t know, I was really betting on that nickname sticking.”

You can totally hold a normal, average conversation.

He titters at that remark. “Well, in case it doesn’t, the name’s Seonghwa.”

Seonghwa.

“Nice to meet you, Seonghwa.”

“Nice to meet you too.. N.” He draws emphasis on your name to make clear that he searched for it on your name tag. You suddenly feel its weight on your shirt. You had often wondered why you ever committed to wearing the damn thing from the start.

You look at Seonghwa. There are moments when you are reminded of the reason.

“I hope to see you again soon, Seonghwa.”

Internally, you scream. Why don’t you hide your face in the sofa while you’re at it?

Seonghwa smiles, teeth and all, and it almost sparkles against the lights in the café like a cartoonish effect. “I’ll bring the band next time, I promise.”

He leaves with that vow, and you are left to mull over exactly what you did for the universe to betray you like this.

Seonghwa’s kinda cute. And he’s a guitarist in a band. This is troubling.

You throw the cloth to one of your co-workers who had been watching this entire time and couldn’t get the grin off her face, then retire to the backroom for fifteen minutes to seriously reflect on this past week.

Had you been wondering whether he’d come back a second time? Maybe.

Did you think he would? Absolutely not.

Does he seem the type to follow through on his promises? He seems convincing enough.

Do you now have to prepare for the probability of an entire band waltzing through your door in a matter of days?

If Seonghwa is to be believed.. that's a handful more orders to remember.

×-×

The third time he steps into your coffee shop, there are four other guys with him.

You automatically assume they make up the rest of Seonghwa's band, and your thoughts are confirmed when Seonghwa steps up to the counter to greet you. “Hey, N! Told you I’d bring them along.”

When the five of them are standing directly in front of you, Seonghwa introduces his bandmates. “N, meet Hongjoong, San, Yeosang and Jongho.” He gestures to each guy as he says their names; to his left is Hongjoong, to Hongjoong's left is San, to San’s left is Yeosang, and to Yeosang’s left is Jongho.

“Hey!” You tip your head to the quartet on Seonghwa's tail and they all return the gesture in near unison. “Indeed you did; it's really nice to meet you all.”

"Pleasure's ours!" says Hongjoong. His bright blue hair was the first feature you spotted when he walked in. "We've heard you make excellent coffees."

You humbly eye the counter for a brief second before glancing back up. “Is that so?”

San pipes up, “Seonghwa told us so-” Yeosang nudges his side, and the rest of the band side eye him, most of all Seonghwa himself, who then makes eye contact with you with a nervous smile on his face.

Shyly, you drum your fingers on the side before asking, “What can I get for you all then?”

“Well, you know my order,” replies Seonghwa. His voice reaches a slightly lower octave than you’ve heard it go up to this point, and for some reason your heart skips a beat. Seonghwa clears his throat as he realises exactly how that sounded. God, does he wish the ground would swallow him whole.

You catch the way his bandmates exchange knowing looks before turning back to you..

..and you get a strong urge to hide under the counter.

Jongho speaks up to clear the awkward air, “Could I get a regular cappuccino, please?”

You tap a few buttons. “Any alternative milk?”

“No thanks,” he answers with a smile. You nod and wait for the next request.

Yeosang follows, “Regular latte for me please, do you have almond milk?”

“Almond? Yep!”

San continues, “I’ll have an.. iced americano please.”

“Iced americano..” you repeat back under your breath.

“And for me,” says Hongjoong, “just a regular iced americano as well, please.”

“So that's one cappuccino, almond latte, two iced americanos.. and one iced oat latte, extra shot.”

Seonghwa bows his head coyly at the fact you remembered. It shouldn't come as a surprise to him, and yet it makes his heart flutter a little.

This is only the third time you’ve crossed paths and already, he thinks you're incredibly kind and incredibly cute.

If only he had the courage to ask you..

“Is that everything for you?”

Your voice cuts through his thoughts and he almost fumbles over his words. “U- Uh, yeah, I think that's everything.” He confirms it with the other guys before you total up the cost. They pay for their respective drinks individually before standing to one side.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spot Hongjoong pulling Seonghwa away to talk to him. You don't let that distract you; their conversation is none of your business anyway.

As you get the drinks done, San steps forward and asks, “So, how long have you been running this café?”

“Oh, about two or so years.”

“Wow! Have you always wanted to open a coffee shop?” Yeosang and Jongho listen with equal interest.

Every so often, your eyes peer over their heads to the conversation between Seonghwa and Hongjoong.

You notice Seonghwa's facial expression - he seems.. exasperated?

“Um, N?” Yeosang snaps you out of your thoughts and you shake your head mildly. Damn curiosity.

“Oh, uh- ahem, well..” What was the question, what was the question.. coffee shop! “Ah! I guess it was always kind of a dream of mine? In the back of my head, I wondered what it would be like to open a cute little coffee shop. It took a lot of hard work to get here though. What about you and the band?”

Jongho answers, “That all started with those two.” He gestures to the pair behind them coming to the end of a seemingly heated discussion before arriving back at the counter. They realise everyone - including you - have turned to them and clear their throats of embarrassment.

“Is everything alright?” Hongjoong wonders.

“Oh, yeah, N just asked about us and the band,” replies San.

Seonghwa makes direct eye contact with you.

You divert your gaze and carry on making the drinks.

The air goes silent for only a few seconds and yet it feels like a few hours. Seonghwa moves to stand beside San and he can sense Hongjoong’s eyes boring into his back.

You finish making the two iced americanos and slide them across the counter. Both Hongjoong and San thank you and you move on to making the almond latte.

Hongjoong takes a sip and lets out a pleased hum, “Hm, this is really nice.” San nods in agreement. “So I guess it’s true, you do make excellent coffees.”

You chuckle under your breath, unable to ignore how Seonghwa keeps going back and forth between looking at you and staring at his hands.

It’s almost like he wants to ask you something.

Jongho brings a clenched fist to his lips and coughs into it deliberately, “Why don’t you tell them about how we started the band?”

Hongjoong and Seonghwa both lock eyes with him. Hongjoong gives Seonghwa a look then sips his americano.

Through a grit-like expression, Seonghwa turns back to you and says, “We’ve been a band for about three years. Hongjoong and I have known each other for five years, it was really his idea.”

“You were good at the guitar and I liked to write music, it felt like a no brainer,” Hongjoong explains.

You finish up the latte and pass it to Yeosang, who nods his head appreciatively. You turn back to Seonghwa and feel nerves creep up the back of your neck.

Something about the conversation they’d had left you feeling out of sorts. The way Seonghwa is looking at you now, his timid eyes and twitching lips teetering on the edge of getting something off his chest that you are most unsure of, is making you rather conscious of how slow your movements are. You make an effort to hurry through the rest of the order as you can see a queue forming across the counter.

Once the remaining two drinks are done, you hand them over and smile. Seonghwa smiles right back at you, and as the band bid you goodbye and turn to leave, you catch Hongjoong nudging Seonghwa back towards you as Seonghwa protests each gesture.

You distract yourself by tending to the next string of customers, all now rather impatient that they had to wait an extra couple of minutes while you were busy with the band. Every other second, you catch Seonghwa and Hongjoong still standing at the door, and at the very last second, they both leave.

It isn’t lost on you that Hongjoong appeared disgruntled at a display of what seemed to be stubbornness.

For the rest of your shift, you question exactly what happened between them, why Seonghwa was looking at you like that and why Hongjoong was acting the bizarre way that he was.

One thing is for certain; it wasn’t exactly the smoothest introduction to Seonghwa’s bandmates.

×-×

The fourth time he steps into your coffee shop, he stands motionless at the door for a few seconds.

You hear the bell and instantly look over, only to find Seonghwa staring out of the window with his hands on his hips.

A part of you wants to call out to him and ask if he is okay. You don’t want to tear him from his train of thought, though, so you continue wiping down the coffee machine and other such tasks that need doing during the lunch rush.

While you step out from behind the counter to clear a few tables, Seonghwa turns around to find that you have disappeared. He anxiously searches for you and spots you in the far corner of the cafe, spraying a table and cleaning it with a cloth.

He breathes in and out a few times, wondering if he should go through with what he knew he wanted to do the second time he stepped into this coffee shop.

Every day since the last time - a whole two weeks at this point - he had been thinking about how that occasion went.

Not the smoothest, he reckoned.

Hongjoong had harped on at him that if he liked you, he should just swallow his nerves and ask you.

But now, you seem preoccupied. He doesn’t want to distract you. He also doesn’t want to make a bigger fool of himself than he probably did last time.

With an exhale, he turns his back and leaves the coffee shop.

You raise your head and see the door closing behind a familiar figure, that same figure walking further and further away from your cafe.

You shrug a shoulder to yourself. Maybe you won’t get that answer.

At least you can say it was nice to meet him. He was a kind, sociable soul. You’ll think about that smile for some time.

With that in the back of your mind, you continue your shift as normal.

×-×

The fifth time he steps into your coffee shop, there’s a carry case for a guitar on his shoulder.

It had been a whole fortnight.

In truth, Seonghwa’s face had popped up in your head from time to time. You wondered if he would ever pay a visit again, just to see how you were, or maybe try one of the baked goods you’d noticed he had been eyeing each time he walked through the door.

It’s a surprise to see him again, albeit a pleasant one.

Much like the first time, he appears flustered, but for some reason this feels different.

The calm way in which he approaches the counter doesn’t invoke any urgency, and the way he casually sets his case down doesn’t impart any sense that he needs to be anywhere anytime soon.

With a deep breath, you stand behind the till and say, “Good afternoon, Seonghwa. Long time no see.”

Seonghwa grins at you. “Way too long.”

It is statements like that that suddenly make everything from a fortnight ago come flooding back.

The way he waltzed into the coffee shop then left not five minutes later.

The way it appeared that he was itching to tell you something or ask you something when he was here with the band.

The way Hongjoong was coaxing him into going back to you when they were all prepared to leave.

The way he is looking at you right now.

He is still undeniably cute. You can’t hide from that.

You also cannot hide from the fact that he is making you feel rather bashful just by gazing at you.

“Same as always?” you ask.

“As always,” he replies. You tap a few buttons. You’re about to tell him the price when he stops you in your tracks. “And a chocolate chip muffin, please.”

“One chocolate chip muffin, no problem.”

The air becomes tangible and Seonghwa wishes he could grab it and throw it out the door so he had even the slightest chance of breaking through his nerves.

“That’ll be-”

“N-”

You stare at one another.

Your eyes go wide and Seonghwa’s mouth gapes open just a little.

“Oh, sorry, um, let me..” Seonghwa takes out the cash and hands over a bit more than necessary. You take the cash and hand back the change, the words now caught in your throat as your mind goes at a million miles a minute.

Seonghwa takes a deep breath then looks up at you. “N.. You know, I really wish I had done this last time, or the time before that.. In fact even the time before that, ha..” He laughs nervously then rubs the nape of his neck. You stand completely still, unable to move or do anything when you realise that he actually does want to ask you something.

So your suspicions were right.

Seonghwa swallows the lump in his throat, gives himself a mini pep talk, then glances at you. “N. I know we’ve only crossed paths a handful of times but.. I think you’re really.. great.”

You let out the tiniest giggle and try to suppress the smile on your face.

Seonghwa grips the bridge of his nose and sighs, “God, that didn’t come out right. Basically-” He makes eye contact with you. “I wondered if you would like to come and see me and the band perform tomorrow night.”

The world stops for a second.

You stare at him, amazed.

“Oh.” It’s the only word that comes out of your mouth.

Seonghwa waits with bated breath for your response. It only takes you a couple seconds to think about it.

“I’d love to.”

That dazzling smile, teeth and all, comes running back as Seonghwa pulls a card out of his jacket pocket and gives it to you.

“That’s the venue and the time,” he says. “I’ll see you then?”

You hold the card tightly in both hands. Your heart rate has suddenly gone up; your eyes flicker up to him with a smirk.

“Absolutely.”

×-×

The first time you watch Seonghwa and his band play, you know for sure that it will not be the last.

Watching him play, you can feel the passion radiating off the stage. His voice is amazing too, serving calm backing vocals in contrast to Hongjoong’s rougher frontman energy.

You can see that he plays the rhythm guitar, while Hongjoong plays the lead, San plays the bass, Yeosang has the keyboard and Jongho has the drums. They work in perfect sync, driving rhythms and melodies straight through the floor and up to the ceiling. The atmosphere they bring is second to none, and in the back of your mind you make a note to buy an album of their music.

Every so often, Seonghwa catches your eye in the crowd. He smiles every time he sees you, and you can’t help but smile right back.

Seonghwa is so glad he finally plucked up the courage to ask you to attend.

Once the gig is done and they have said their goodbyes to the audience, you meet with the band and invite them back to the coffee shop to make them drinks.

Just like Seonghwa, you remember all of their orders.

As you hand over his iced oat latte, extra shot, he places something in your palm.

Looking down, you study the object, then immediately gaze back up at him. “Wait, is this-”

“As a thank you, for attending, and for your generosity, and for just generally being an incredibly kind person.”

You pout a little, feeling very touched, before explaining that you were planning to buy this album..

“Accept this as a gift from us to you,” he assures. You look at him again.

Seonghwa lifts his beverage to you before taking a sip of it. You chuckle and hold the album close to your chest.

You’re rather hooked on this guitarist.

Who knows? Maybe next time he steps into your coffee shop, you will have the same courage he did.

× tristeetconfus (ave). do not repost. ×

#IN AVE WE TRUST #i remember you saying fluff was a bit difficult for you to write but thank you for pushing through despite the difficulties #i know you usually write more on the angsty side haha #is ave turning… soft??#no thank you though #this really made my day #seonghwa #park seonghwa #ateez #ateez scenarios #recs

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peonieslibrary · 3 months

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𝒃𝒇!𝒕𝒃𝒛 𝒕𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒔 (98 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔)

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: 98𝒛 𝒙 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 (?𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚) 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏’𝒔

𝒉𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 | 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒂𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆

𝒋𝒖𝒚𝒆𝒐𝒏

𝒌𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏

𝒏𝒆𝒘

𝑸

A/N: the way q is one of my biases and im so scared of that fucking doll😭😭reblogs are appreciated 🫂

#this was really entertaining haha #but like.. it’s prob bc i’m old (not really) but i had to google some of these references lmaoo #i really enjoyed this though #and you’re so real with juyeons 😅#collecting tbz during chase era infuriated me lmao #literally half of their photocards used THE SAME LIKE THREE POSES #LMAO #can’t wait to read more from you!#recs #the boyz #fluff

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peonieslibrary · 4 months

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LIPSTICK STAINS

genre. fluff. warnings. kissing. pairing. husband!chanhee x wife!reader. wc. 1.1k. request. no. a/n. chanhee husband agenda idk what else to say...

Chanhee’s breath was taken away every time he walked into your art studio. Falling in love with you and your paintings had been one of the dreamiest experiences of his life. But now, being able to walk into your little art studio a couple blocks away from your house, visiting you as you worked as your husband? That reality was infinitely more dreamy to him.

He would truly never get tired of any of it. The smell of fresh paint and clean fabric as he walked through the door, the soft classical music that you liked to listen to while creating your paintings— it was all so beautiful to him. Your whole process was unique, and each painting turned out so beautifully different from the last.

You specialized in portraits; another of the many reasons that Chanhee had fallen for you. You had a passion for capturing a person’s emotion and soul in a painting. The way you painted them held such vulnerability, like you were telling a whole story through each stroke of paint to the canvas.

Of course, as you started dating Chanhee, and fell more in love with the man than you thought possible for a person, your paintings slowly found themselves a new muse. He held the title more proudly than anything else. He was a muse for an artist. He was your muse. And, oh, how you loved to paint him.

Chanhee could name about 30 or more paintings that you had done of him over the years. You could name at least 50 more. You only showed him ones when he begged you to. And he always wanted to see when he was aware you had painted him again— which is why you stopped telling him.

You didn’t mind showing him the ones you were proud of, but you never felt like your art was really good enough. Chanhee strongly disagreed, though. He always praised your paintings as if you were the next Leonardo Da Vinci (which, in his mind, you were). You had a secret stash of scrapped or unfinished paintings of your husband which only you were aware of. It was like a small treasure trove— and you had full intention to fix and finish each one of the paintings over the course of time.

You were working on one of those unfinished paintings when Chanhee walked in. He always knocked softly on the wall to alert you of his presence since there was no door to your painting room. You easily got zoned into your paintings and were easily startled by loud noises or suddenly appearing husbands who wanted back hugs. (Not that Chanhee knew from experience, or anything.)

You hummed softly when you heard his knock, a small sign to Chanhee that you were aware of his presence and that he could come in. You were focused on applying a burnt orange colour to the background of the painting, and your husband watched you with a smitten smile on his face. When you finished applying the orange and put down your paintbrush, turning around to him, his smile widened.

“What are you painting today?” He asked curiously, seeing the beautiful mess of colours on the large canvas. It wasn’t immediately noticeable to the naked eye that his face would soon be on that canvas as well. Your art style was always a mix of mediums and colours. You never liked to do just simple portraits— there always had to be something special about it.

“Take a guess?” You walked towards him, easing your arm around his waist and leaning into his side. He reciprocated the hug, resting his chin on the top of your head.

He hummed, “Perhaps a certain Choi Chanhee?”

You scoffed, “No way. I’ve painted him too many times already. His face is getting boring.” You said, glancing up at your husband with a teasing glimmer in your smile. Chanhee rolled his eyes and squeezed your waist gently, showing his unamusement with your little joke. He took your face in his hands, leaning down a little, staring straight at you with his shiny eyes.

You were expecting a kiss, but instead Chanhee just looked at you seriously for a few seconds before cracking a small smile, “You could never get bored of my face.” He whispered.

He was right. He knew he was right, and a surge of confidence ran through him as soon as he saw colour creep up to your cheeks at his whispered remark. You really shouldn’t have allowed him to have free access to your studio at any time. Not only was it distracting to have the prettiest man on Earth looking at you so fondly as you worked, but you also froze up under his gaze, often resulting in works you were less proud of.

“My paint is getting dry.” You mumbled, trying to pull his hands from your blushing cheeks. He was stubborn in keeping his face close to yours, though.

“I’m not leaving without kissing my wife.” He said simply.

You gave in— really it was almost impossible to resist Chanhee for as long as you had. You leaned up and pressed your lips to his, sighing in content as he deepened the kiss, hands sliding to hold your jaw softly. Your hands were on his shoulders, grounding you so you couldn’t get lost in the feeling of his lips.

The first time you pulled out of the kiss, Chanhee’s lips found yours again quicker than you could get a word in, causing both of you to giggle. The second time, you were sure you would be able to escape— but Chanhee’s hands had slid down to your waist, and held you securely so that you couldn’t end the kiss before he was ready.

Once you finally pulled away for the third time, you were both slightly out of breath. Chanhee seemed satisfied and let go of you, though you didn’t walk away from him immediately. You caught your breath first, still resting your hands on your husband’s shoulders, laughing at each sharp exhale of his breath and how the kiss had left you with a swarm of butterflies in your stomach.

“I’ve got to get back to painting, love. Pick me up for dinner, okay?” You grinned at him. He hummed and nodded, waving goodbye to you before he could further distract you.

As he left, you noticed the slight smudge of your lipstick to the side of his lips. You smiled to yourself, picking up your paintbrush again, deciding that a kiss mark was just what this painting needed.

↳ tbz taglist: @yeonjuns-redhair,, @cyberpunksunwoo,, @cosmicwintr

#this 😩😩#ughhh this is so sweet that it’s making me sickkk (not literally though)#choi chanhee the apple of my eye #the sun to my moon and the one i adore most 😭#you writing the reader as a painter is 🤌🏻🤌🏻#i myself enjoy painting a lot so this just hit the spot #AND HUSBAND CHANHEE #having him watch me paint from over my shoulder is lovely at first but i would be so nervous that my strokes would be janky lmao #OHHH oh god the kiss and the lipstick stain AHHH #imagine he goes back home and the members are there lmao #they wouldn’t let him hear the end of it 😅#anyways less screaming and more just?? i adore your work #recs #the boyz #the boyz scenarios #the boyz fluff #fluff #the boyz chanhee #choi chanhee

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peonieslibrary · 4 months

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vampire!ateez as antiques.

minors dni. ageless blogs dni. blank blogs dni. you'll be blocked.

essentially assigning objects you might find in an old house to vampire!ateez. bit of an abstract concept but it wouldn't leave my head so..

kim hongjoong - the old leather chair.

may not be the eldest, but has been through it. the leader and observer. knows his place and reaffirms that to everyone he meets. often prefers to lie in wait. does not like to be disturbed.

park seonghwa - the candelabra.

the eldest, the most presence. lights the entire room, a guardian of sorts. knows more than anyone else does. respected, taken care of. resolute, undeterred, can shift the mood in seconds.

jeong yunho - the shield plaque.

protective, always on guard. symbol of defense and honour. stoic and fearless. always prepared. the first port of call, the right hand man. reliable, resourceful, keen to take on new challenges.

kang yeosang - the decanter.

sophisticated and classy. beautiful, artistic, creative. holds many secrets and knows when to spill them. soft-spoken, charismatic, curious. watches from the sides and always takes notes.

choi san - the firewood.

quick to light, slow to burn. passionate and forthright. warm, inviting, a calming presence. dependable and strong. always there when needed. a light in the darkness.

song mingi - the grandfather clock.

alert and perceptive. watches over everyone. speaks up when it is most important. knows when to say and do the right thing at the right time. hardworking. quietly commanding.

jung wooyoung - the bouquet.

perfectionist, multi-faceted. vivid and social. the centrepiece. brings colour to everyone's life. exuberant and wonderful. brings the entire room together. makes everyone smile.

choi jongho - the gramophone.

the heart of the room. the voice of reason. the melody and the harmony. the final part of the puzzle. a performer, an entertainer, talented and skilled. the most relaxing classical piece.

× tristeetconfus (ave). do not repost. ×

#ave #tristeetconfus #mootie moots ♡#okay ave... look.. this is so good #like too good #even though this is written for vampire!ateez everything just fits their personalities so well #candelabra hwa reminds me of halazia hwa #and omg yeosang as the decanter 10/10 so good #i am so excited for the dental floss universe #yall gotta read more ave #they are such a great writer!!!#recs #ateez #vampire!ateez

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peonieslibrary · 4 months

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i'm home | tbz lee sangyeon

» PAIRING: tbz lee sangyeon x gn!reader (please tell me if i made a mistake!) » TROPE/AU: established relationship au!, long-distance relationship au!, non-idol au! » GENRE: loving boyfriend sangyeon, very supportive sangyeon, fluffy fluff, bit of angst (ok, maybe more than a 'bit'), comfort comfort and...comfort » WORD COUNT: 4625 » ESTIMATED READING TIME: ~17 mins » WARNINGS (lmk if i missed anything!): mention of religion once, proofread once, workplace hardships navi/masterlist!! 🤍 part of 'especially to you...'

i was a little bit nervous about posting this, especially since it was very rushed! sorry, i didn't plan this well 🥹 nothing came up till the last minute 😞 def didn't freak out or anything— 🤠 i'm gonna hype myself up and think this is fine considering i was racing against the clock (which i didn't manage to beat 😞) and have study to do (exams who? nov 9 who?).

but first of all to me: i know you rejected a lot of opportunities, drowned yourself in a lot of regrets, and i understand that planes are scary for you. i hope that you will find a reason soon to finally see the world like your younger self was dying to do. you were so close to doing it in july and i'm so proud of that first step. keep going, okay?

and! to you @winterchimez...i don't think there are any words needed. welcome home, soulmate! 🫂

Nothing will ever feel as much at home to you as Sangyeon could ever be.

You knew this the moment you told him about how you got the opportunity to work overseas. You remember when it felt like you were fighting endlessly with yourself. Around two years ago, after your weekly date, a loving kiss on your lips and the way Sangyeon would flash you that endearing smile, you thought that everything would be fine. You pushed, what you thought, to be a slim chance that you would be able to work overseas to the back of your mind. At first, you felt crushed about the video interview that you messed up, stuttering and using filler words while you internally scolded yourself for not preparing answers to simple job interview questions. Your head was overloaded with information between things to say and not to say, what would be the best answer and how to play your cards right. In the end, as soon as you pressed the red button on the video call interview, you reached out for your phone to call the first person on your call logs.

Sangyeon remembers that video call, the line of tears cascading down your cheeks as you vent your feelings out. He always waited for you to finish your sentences, nodding along to your words and giving affirming body language to show that he was actively following. Along your stream of words, you didn’t realise that Sangyeon stepped outside in the cold air, his phone at a new low angle and the lights from the buildings were the only reason why you were still able to see his smile across the screen.

“Wait…why are you outside? Where are you going?” You grabbed the new box of tissues from your bedside table, ripping the top part of the box with the dashed lines to help you retrieve a new paper instantly.

“Just grabbing some things.” Sangyeon leisurely answers, bringing the camera closer to his puckering lips, “I’m sure you did amazing, baby. Don’t worry too much, alright? And if you didn’t make it, then I’m sure God has other plans for you.”

You both continue talking over the phone, wiping your eyes, drinking a ton of water and burying yourself underneath the blanket as Sangyeon continues his little errand run. Soon enough, you finally understood why the phone was tilted upwards towards the sky and why Sangyeon didn’t show the things he bought—all the usual things that he would share with you during his random, night errand runs like this one.

It was when he finally brought the phone up to be in line with his face that you recognised the familiar street background that he was walking in. You gasped, throwing your blanket to the floor, and opening the door suddenly to face your parents who looked at you with shocked eyes. They couldn’t even voice out any of their thoughts because you were out the front door as fast as you exited your bedroom door.

Knowing well that you found out about his plan, Sangyeon made a final sprint for your house, the contents inside the plastic bag ruffles and his earphones your excited laughs and words fill his earphones, mixed in with some of your still sniffling sounds from the devastating earlier events.

That night wasn’t the first time that Sangyeon would run over to you with no notice or hesitation but Sangyeon had been going through a tough time with his personal life and you didn’t know that he would still be able to have such energy to take care of you. It’s a miracle that you were able to still go on dates that these days would be impossible to plan. That night was a reminder to you, especially with the way that he lowered his lower body down, wrapped his arms around your waist, and lifted you as he buried his face into the crook of your neck, that you really love your boyfriend and that he has always been your number one supporter.

In his arms, with some final tears that Sangyeon wiped away delicately from your still-red cheeks, you were sure that everything would be fine.

Your tears started because you were stressed but it ended with comfort.

But you got another huge headache about a week later when you got the final results of the interview. It could be the acceptance letter (that you were still sure you weren’t going to get), but you knew that you needed to at least open it, read it and accept whatever result it was to move on with your life. So, you tapped on the notification without much thought and you will forever remember this sentence: We look forward to working with you. You froze then and there, your jaw open in disbelief and your fingers went back to the main email page, pulling the inbox page down to refresh the screen. Lo and behold, you were faced with a challenge that you didn’t bother to think about.

You sprint to Sangyeon’s house as soon as the reality sinks into you. Once again, you left your parent’s house after breaking the news to the owners before leaving. Usually, you would have never been able to run that fast and long without a break. The adrenaline and anxiety took over your whole body, and you let your legs guide you to your boyfriend’s house.

Sangyeon welcomed the news with open arms, his feet adorably tapping on the spot and a deep, soft kiss on your lips that still held his radiant smile. But unlike him, you could only stand at your spot in front of his house and give him a reluctant smile. To this, his smile drops and so did the arms that were in the air a moment ago to celebrate this new journey of yours. The vertical lines between his eyebrows made itself evident and you could only respond with a series of head-shaking and quivering lips.

“Hey…” He cradles the back of your head with one hand, the other on your cheek as he steps forwards towards you, “What’s wrong? You’ve always wanted this.”

Your arms surrounded Sangyeon’s lower body tightly, taking a handful of his sweater and your cold nose slowly became warmer thanks to his body temperature, “I know. But now that it’s happening, I’m having second thoughts.”

He continues to dig further into your thoughts, wanting to understand your feelings more and why you were having second thoughts about something you worked so hard for, “Do you want to elaborate further now? Or do you want to come inside first?”

“If I say the latter, will you cuddle with me?”

This is the you that he knows: the one that would always wish for a kiss, then a cuddle and then another kiss. You lift your face from his chest, increasing the distance between you both slightly. Sangyeon sees the sparkle in your eyes and the slight pout on your lips when you look up at him with a silent plea for a positive answer to your question.

Who was he to refuse and break your heart like that?

Plus…he wanted to cuddle with you as much as you did.

And so with the support of your loving family, chaotic friends and encouraging boyfriend, you packed up, headed onto the new country alone and started a new, independent life. Thankfully, you were able to find a place close to your workplace and the foreign place became your home quickly with your three kind housemates. Splitting the chores around the house, cooking, and establishing times to use the washing machine was never a problem. Living in the same house made it easier for you all to spend some time and get to know each other better, leading to routine Friday nights to be spent with each other, going on road trips and eventually overseas trips.

Your workplace has been rewarding as you found the same good qualities of your housemates in most of your co-workers. From day one, everyone has welcomed you to their lives with open arms and you knew for sure that these people wouldn’t be the reason that you would ever have to leave to go back home.

“It’s just so unfair.” It was the company, the workplace and the conditions that they put you in. The logic didn’t make sense: the place was understaffed yet they won’t hire any new people. Of course, there were many underlying factors around it, but after being so overworked, adapting to the new culture, being homesick and, your body trying its best to adjust to the new season changes that you would never have to deal with back home, it was inevitable that you were going to break down soon, “Why? Just why do they have to do that?”

“I’m so sorry you’re going through that.” Oh how much Sangyeon just wanted to jump out of the screen and hug you tight. When was the last time he ever got to do that anyway? He missed having you in his reach—his favourite love language not being able to be expressed for about half a year now, “Hang in there, baby. I know you can do this. Stay strong, hm?”

Through your blurred vision, you could still make out his sorrowful smile, his hand that just hovers the top of the camera on his phone as if to recreate the feeling that he was touching the side of your head.

Perhaps, the worst part of being away from home is your inability to ever interact with them in real-time. The time difference made it too exhausting for everyone on the other side of the world to communicate with you properly. Sure, there were rare days when they could, but the way their moon would rise when the sun said its greetings here made you swallow down your tears at night, forcing you to reassure yourself that ‘everything is going to be fine.’ Because of this, it was a routine for you to drown in your thoughts throughout the day, waking up with a heavy head and heart from the previous nights as you plaster on a weak but still genuine smile when you greet your coworkers.

With the help of your housemates, your family and Sangyeon have managed to surprise you on both of your birthdays as well as some gaps between their schedules. Those memories would be the ones you would replay in your head as you cry your heart out in the middle of the bed that’s in the middle of the room, in the middle of the night.

Other than the visits and calls, the only things that would connect you to them are the daily pictures and videos. At the very least, they captured the lives of the ones you love back home. Unlike the memories that you could only see and keep for yourself, the physical evidence of their smiles is another big source of comfort for you, especially when all you wanted during your lonely walk home was just life updates from the people that you love most. Somewhere along the way though, the pictures and videos became too much for you, and you start to imagine what the picture would be like if you filled up the negative space within it.

How would it be like to share that laughter, smile and experience of the atmosphere that the picture manages to capture? What was the air around there like? Humid? Cold? Warm? Aromatic? Or maybe perhaps, would you have been too entranced by Sangyeon’s presence that the only thing you could smell was his signature perfume mixed in with his laundry detergent?

How would it feel just to have Sangyeon’s shoulder pressed up against yours whenever he has that habit of putting an arm around your back to grab the opposite side of your waist? To have his bigger hand securely intertwine with yours? To have him press a kiss on the side of your head after he whispers ‘I love you forever’ to your ears—knowing well that you were the only one in the world that he would ever confess that phrase intimately to.

How would it feel like to just have the familiar buildings of your neighbourhood, your city and the familiar murals or paintings in your life again? Would it be more comforting than the pictures of the same scenery on your phone? Would your heart be more at ease walking in the night even if all the lights were off or there were no signs of life?

As an answer to your thoughts, after two years of learning, gaining life experiences and missing the air of your home, you bravely decided not to pick up the pen on the table and sign your initials on the new contract paper.

You decided: I’m going home.

It’s been a really wild ride. A ride that you would never exchange for anything else. For one, you made friends from the other side of the world. Friends that you knew you could always hit up and visit if you ever come back. Two, it was real when people say that ‘the distance makes the heart grow fonder’. Sangyeon has always been the boyfriend who would cry and carry his burden alone but would always welcome your hardships into his life. Before, even though you could pick up some of the signs on some occasions, the limited video calls allowed you both to pour your feelings out, exchanging confessions and true thoughts. Had you not been across the world, you were confident that Sangyeon would step out of his shell eventually but you were thankful that the distance did its job healthily and your relationship with him strengthened with the tears and chuckles that he showed.

When the time came and you finished training the new worker who would soon be taking your place in the company, you did your final preparations before stepping out of the house that sheltered you for two years. Final goodbyes, tears being shed, words of affirmation and promises for occasional updates were made before you drove off to the airport. Rolling down the car window, you twist your upper body to face the back of the car, your hand waving up in the air.

The ride to the airport is bittersweet. You put your phone down after texting Sangyeon that you would call him when you pass through security. All you wanted to do at this moment was to look out the windows and take in the colours of the journey, half-scared that the scenery might turn monochrome soon if you didn’t pay close attention.

Keeping your promise, you connected your earphones and turned on your camera to be faced with Sangyeon leisurely lying in bed, one hand on the back of his head on the headboard, blinking his eyes to fight the sleep from his system.

“You should sleep.”

Sangyeon shakes his head, straightening his back and sitting up. He takes a deep breath, his chest expanding in volume as he does so, “You only have a few minutes before you have to go anyway. I can stay awake and accompany you.”

“You’re the best, you know that?”

Thankfully, you found a seat for yourself in the busy atmosphere. You place your backpack on the floor in front of you between your legs, being mindful of the other passengers in the busy airport who most probably had a long day before this, now having to spend overnight in a metal column.

“Love that hoodie on you. Where’d you get it?” Sangyeon wiggles his eyebrows playfully and you roll your eyes, “Good to know that you didn’t leave it behind.”

“I would be crazy to leave this behind.” You pull on the strings of the hoodie, fastening the circumference of the hood around the outline of your face, pouting cutely to your boyfriend who just laughs at you fondly.

“Can’t wait to hold you.” That sentence holds so many meanings and tugged on your heartstrings so much. It hurt for a bit to hear him say that, especially when his voice sounded so tired, “I love you so much.”

“I love you so much.” You whisper to the microphone, holding the tears that you didn’t want to show to your friends throughout the whole week, “I miss you so much. I can’t wait to go on physical, real-life dates again.”

“A few more hours.” He reminds the both of you, holding on just a little bit longer, “Everything will sort itself out then.”

That’s right.

A few more hours until you will both be able to be in the same space again. Just a little bit more before you’ll be able to steal a kiss from his lips whenever and wherever.

You can’t wait to be back in the comfort of your bed, saying ‘goodnight’ to your parents and slipping out of your windows shortly after to meet Sangyeon at the convenience store.

You can’t wait to spend some time with his mum—who he gets very jealous of sometimes—and steal more childhood, baby pictures of him. Along with that, you can’t wait for his mum to let you sneak into his room to steal some of his clothes.

You can’t wait to see his blushing face as he freezes between the doorframe when his eyes land on how his sleeves would completely cover your arms, and your thighs and expose a little bit of your shoulders.

You can’t wait for him to scoop you up in his strong arms, eliciting your series of squeals and giggles that he has fallen deeply in love with.

You can’t wait for him to tuck you in bed, pulling his blanket up to your chin. He would then frame his larger body over yours throughout the night, making you sleep deeper and better. But your night, wouldn’t be complete until you delicately kiss him on his chin, cheek and lips. His night wouldn’t be complete either until he kissed your forehead, nose and lips, taking his sweet time on the last body part.

Most importantly, the night wouldn’t be complete overall until your lips part each other and exchange ‘I love you’s.

As soon as you landed, the adrenaline of finally being in the same country, the same land, the same building knocked out the jetlag and you were suddenly wide awake. You felt a bit bad for the bottom of the seat in front of you and your backpack which was violently ripped out from its peace, but you would like to think that they would understand your sudden burst of energy. You race and slip yourself between the bodies of people who were most probably confused and amazed by how much your eyes were darting around the conveyor belt so quickly, trying to find your check-in baggage—but you didn’t care.

You care about is Lee Sangyeon.

Now, you passed through every security check, every random bag inspection, opening and relocking up all your luggage again one by one, your patience running out by the minute.

But it’s okay.

Because now, only one glass door stands in the way between you and all the people waiting on the other side.

You watch from the distance as the automatic door opens and closes through other passengers. You were even able to catch a glimpse of some of your fellow flight passengers who spotted their loved ones immediately in the crowd, their hands releasing the handle brake of their trolley when they rushed into the crowd. Their loved ones cry and gasp at the presence that they have been so desperate for, their bodies swaying side to side to keep some of their emotions regulated in public.

Oh, how you know you wouldn’t be able to hold in your tears.

Exhaling and inhaling a couple more times, your hands grip the handle of your trolley, doing a final baggage check that everything is securely held in place and that you didn’t leave anything. Finally, you push the handle to release the brake and you start to walk over to the translucent glass doors.

Time didn’t slow down.

It just felt still.

It didn’t stop though—it just felt still.

You could hear your heartbeat through your ears, your palms were sweating in nervousness and you could barely feel the ground that you were walking on with every step of your feet. The gush of wind pushes your hair back dramatically and your eyes water at the cooler air from the other side of the door. Metal barricades separate the arriving passengers from the crowd from both sides of your body and you force your teared-up eyes to carefully scan through the rows of the crowds and the signs that they held up. Your back straightens to accommodate your eyes’ effort in addition to your lips that move in the shape of the name of the person you miss the most. Unfamiliar faces fill your visual field and your feet finally take you to the end of the barricade, heart feeling heavy at the unsuccessful event to pick out anyone in the crowd that you know.

But then…

“Found you.”

His appearance explains why you were unable to quickly pick him out from the crowd if you didn’t focus on detail. Sangyeon grins at your shocked facial expression, watching your eyes slowly lift from the bouquet in his hands to the freshly black dye on his hair.

“Y-You—”

“What do you think?” His pointer and thumb raise to twirl a bit of his hair, his eyes still on you, “You always said that I would look good with black hair.”

“Good?” Oh, he knew what kind of effect this is having on you and he’s having fun with this, “Sangyeon, you—”

His facial expression softens straightaway when the tears that you’ve been holding for so long finally drop to the ground and he strides forwards immediately as soon as he catches a glimpse of your quivering lips. Forget about the flowers, forget about the people around you, forget about how you were standing in the middle of the walkway. He sets his ‘welcome back’ gifts on top of your things, swiftly wrapping an arm behind your shoulders while the other one cups your cheeks.

Sangyeon held your shaking body against his tightly, and it was good that he did, otherwise, you would surely be on the floor. You relished in the scent that you missed the most, purposely taking in deep breaths to ground yourself back to the present. The boy smiles at the realisation, letting your free cheek cutely rest on his chest. He hushes you softly, the swiping motion of his thumb on your cheek giving you a physical reminder of his presence—a reminder that he is with you at this very moment. Multiple kisses were pressed on your forehead in an attempt to calm you down and responded with a whimper as you tried to form words.

“It’s okay.” It really is, “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Your body responded to his affirmation, your arms finally wrapping around his waist, the tips of his fingers just barely intertwining behind his back. Your palms lay flat on his smooth leather jacket and your ragged breathing found a stable pace once again. The increased oxygen in your blood allows you to finally feel Sangyeon’s plump lips on your forehead and the blush begins to form across your cheekbones.

“You’re really here.”

“I am.” You feel the way his chest vibrates at his deep chuckle.

That’s all he said and it’s way more than enough. Eyes closed, in Sangyeon’s embrace, his familiar scent, his lips hovering on your eyelids to press kisses there—everything is starting to feel like home.

“You look handsome.” For the first time since you arrived, you finally look at this new hair colour properly. Your eyebrows furrow, almost a look of dissatisfaction and disapproval, “Too handsome.” This time, one of your eyebrows raised at the way he responded with a teasing smile, “How many people asked you out already?”

“Honestly,” He starts to act, tightly closing his eyes as if to think very hard. He prolonged his hum with the way you glared at him cutely, wanting to tease you for longer, “quite a lot.”

The answer made you scoff, tilting your head away and you started to pull away from his embrace. Sangyeon didn’t let you walk away fully though for he pulled you right back to his body. Your hands attempt to stabilise your body the sudden act by resting on the curves of Sangyeon’s shoulders. The playful look in his eyes disappears and the extra layer of moisture shows itself—it tells you that he has been waiting for the only person to ever see his tears to be within his arms again. Both his hands rest on your waist and your own eyes search for the emotions behind his, a hand wiping his lower eyelid. That act makes a tear fall before another one falls and it soon becomes a fountain of emotions for the older male.

“I missed you. So much.” The way that Sangyeon puts so much emphasis on the second and fourth words sent chills down your spine.

Your hand on his shoulder slides upwards to cup his face, the other downwards to do the same on the other side. With all the strength you have left in your legs, you put your weight on your toes, fluttering your eyelids close and lifting your body to press a longing kiss to his lips. You tasted his tears on the curves on his lips, but knowing well that it stemmed from love, made your heart slowly start to heal. Sangyeon reciprocates immediately, travelling his hands to the side curves of your body, stopping at your neck, gently tilting your face upwards to deepen the kiss. The kiss sweetly alternates with his own hugging your bottom lips, pulling away for oxygen, a little ‘I love you’ and diving back in to hug your upper lips.

This is what home feels like.

It’s not some building or some land that could be pointed out on a map. It’s not necessarily the photos and videos that you received, even though they comforted you on cold nights. It’s not necessarily the rushed talks and recounts of your lives because the second hand on the clock mocked the little time you would always have, even though you were thankful that you had that small gap to do so.

It’s actually experiencing all of the above, going through all those trials, all those confusing emotions, and still feeling love and support. It’s being able to just walk with defeat over the day’s work but as soon as you arrive back home, the feeling either washes away or you’re able to just vent it and cry it out.

With the right people, you were able to let these experiences turn into lessons and precious memories—similar to how there are specific bricks to build the proper structure of a house. As those experiences build, so does the clear image and structure of a house. Sure, houses break down due to inside and outside factors but when it does, you’re confident that you can work it out and make it stronger.

With those thoughts in mind, the corner of your lips tugged upwards and no words were needed for Sangyeon to know that the smile wasn’t mischievous, teasing or playful.

It’s one full of relief and happiness.

“Welcome home.” Sangyeon changes his words between your kisses.

You hum, waiting for the next time he pulls away to give a proper response.

“I’m home.”

navi/masterlist!! 🤍 'especially to you' tags (send a dm/ask if you would like to be here!): @deoboyznet 📢❤️ @k-labels 💙🤍 @k-films 🤎🎞️

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peonieslibrary · 4 months

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ally what. the. fuck

Nightmare Before Christmas | Kevin Moon

SUMMARY: your uncle has always been a crime and supernatural fan and would often plan fun little games for your family to solve before Boxing Day. However, things have taken a turn this year as never would you and your friendly neighbour Kevin imagined that the both of you would actually have to solve a decades-old murder case, and eventually finding out the culprit behind all of this was someone much closer than you have expected.

PAIRING: neighbour!Kevin x f!reader

GENRE: horror, thriller, supernatural, crime, angst, some fluff

WARNINGS: nc-17, mentions about dead bodies & severed body parts (nothing too gory though dw!!), missing person case, haunted house, mentions of blood, supernatural (ghosts, black mass), yn's descriptive nightmare (about the ghost-like character she would often see in the past), kissing, betrayal, dual personalities, pet names (sweetheart, princess)

WORD COUNT: 4,465

A/N: so this was supposed to be released on the 25th....but we will pretend that never happened 🫡 massive thankiew to @from-izzy for beta reading and giving me tons of ideas (and just giving me the support bcs i was so done and upset with everything bjasnjsdn) tagging the kevin enthusiast aka @hyungseos-cafe for this 👀✨

“Sissy, wake up!”

You were jolted awake by your little brother, who was violently shaking your entire body as you groaned in annoyance and lifted your bedsheets above your head in hopes that he would leave you alone. But you have forgotten that he was a wild and energetic fourteen-year-old teenager, and there was no way he was giving up that easily.

As your brother pulled your bedsheet off you, your eyes squinted, and you were about to curse at him out loud before he eventually beat you to it.

“It’s Christmas Eve, sissy! Uncle Ben has already left a note on the dining table, and we must start before the clock strikes midnight!” Your brother announced out loud before running out of your room back to the living room downstairs.

You sighed before pinching your eyebrows together, trying to make sense of your surroundings and what your brother had told you moments before.

It was that time of the year for your annual family tradition. Your uncle has always been into supernatural and playing detective. He would often devise a different scenario where he would get you and your siblings to solve the puzzles or cases before you would eventually earn a Christmas present from him. He had a different scenario in mind every year and was full of ideas to ensure each year stood out.

Not only were your siblings encouraged to participate in the hunt, but he would also get your neighbour next door to experience every year, and he had done so for the past decade.

Your best friend, Kevin Moon.

It was a joy to have him aboard, especially when he had the wits and brains to help crack and solve most puzzle pieces or clues in your uncle’s little game each year. Because of that, your uncle has taken a liking to him, eventually pairing you guys up, often thinking that you both would end up great as a couple.

Which isn’t something you were totally against if you were to be completely honest.

You liked him a lot, and he has been your best friend throughout middle school up till university. He has always been someone you could always count on and gave you the support you needed.

You just weren’t sure if you liked him more than just a friend at this point.

Trying to shake away all of the unnecessary thoughts, you quickly rushed down to your dining hall to find the letter that your uncle always left on the table the night before when all of you were asleep. However, you froze as you saw that your brother was already holding one in his hands, reading it internally while another was left on the table.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that uncle made two separate invitation cards and that on the table is specifically just for you and Kevin-hyung next door,” your brother said half-heartedly before he walked out with his invitation, getting ready to get all geared up before heading out the door. You suspected Uncle Ben had probably given him some scavenger hunt games again, given the looks of your brother’s outfit and the big shovel he had just brought out the door seconds ago.

As you diverted your attention back to the invitation card on the table, you slowly picked it up before opening the envelope and pulling up the letter tucked within.

Oh, Uncle Ben, what exactly have you plotted for us this Christmas?

“Your uncle must be nuts going all out for Christmas this year. He must’ve been itching to get this year’s theme out as soon as possible, don’t you think?” Kevin questioned you while chuckling at the side, trying his best to hide his uneasiness.

But that was when you didn’t respond and quietly began looking for clues; that was when Kevin knew that it probably wasn’t a joke this time.

“There’s no actual dead bodies, right, Y/N?”

When you quickly skimmed through the entire letter, your eyes widened at the envelope's contents. You wasted no time and hurriedly scurried out the door to Kevin right next door. With a few knocks, your best friend was out with a hot mug of cocoa, with his hair slightly ruffled, indicating that he had just woken up not too long ago. His eyes widened as he did not expect you to be on his doorstep this early in the day, and he was a bit embarrassed with how he looked.

Deep down, you wanted to tell him how he looked absolutely adorable and how you would snuggle up on the couch with him for the holiday seasons, but there was no way you would admit you had a crush on him just yet.

Shaking off your initial thoughts, you quickly redirect your attention back to the envelope, trying to fill Kevin in with all your uncle wrote on the invitation. He had the same initial response that you had, thinking that this was all some sort of sick joke. All while he was getting ready by changing his pyjamas into a cosy sweater sufficient to last till the destination, you couldn’t help but spare a few glances back at him a few times to take a sneaky little peak at his toned body.

He worked really hard during the summer anyway, and you have seen how he basically went from being all skinny and slim to being toned and bulky within the span of half a year, and you couldn’t stop ogling at the sight whenever you saw a little skin from him.

But again, you would not admit that to him just yet.

As soon as he was ready to go, you both took the pathway down to the written location as the sky quickly turned dark due to the winter season. By the time you both arrived at the entrance of the abandoned house, you needed to grab the torchlight hidden within your sweater and turn it on to navigate the place.

As you both opened the front door with an awful creak, you were met with nothing but complete darkness. The power lights were completely cut off so there was no chance of even having a little bit of electricity within the premises.

There was this eerie feeling in the air that neither of you could describe; it almost felt like a little haunted house, as much as you did not want to admit it. But given the details that Uncle Ben has written in the envelope, that spooky and sinister feeling you’ve had was valid, and it would probably remain this way until the both of you could crack the case open.

“To answer your question, Kevin, I really hope we won’t be stumbling upon any dead bodies too. It’s the Christmas holidays, goddamit,” you spat, still thinking that Uncle Ben was totally out of his mind with this whole dilemma that was going on right now.

“Well, we’ve lived in this neighbour for a good decade now, and never in my life have I heard about a Madam Nee Nee residing in a house right at the end of the road and was actually murdered without a trace,” Kevin replied worriedly, thinking that this whole situation is slowly getting much creepier by the minute.

As much as you wanted to agree with the male, you have heard something or two about Madam Nee Nee through your uncle’s stories. All you knew about her was that she was the one who would often bake cupcakes for the children across the streets and would pass them to Uncle Ben so that all of you were able to get your hands on them every Christmas.

Those cupcakes were indeed one of the best you have ever tried in your entire life; they were not too sweet and were just enough to fit everyone’s liking and taste buds. It seemed as if Madam Nee Nee knew exactly what each child’s favourite television show was as she would make an effort to pipe and decorate each cupcake exactly as each character looked. You would often get your favourite Tinker Bell design, and she would alternate between the different fairies each year, while your younger brother often got his favourite DC superheroes.

But there was only one problem: you had actually never met the baker herself, and each time you tried to bring it up, your Uncle Ben would often tell you that she was too busy delivering the goodies to the other children out of town.

In other words, you didn’t really know if you could trust Uncle Ben’s words on whether such an individual really existed and if this whole murder case was actually a reality or not.

Regardless, you were not going to get anywhere if neither of you was going to make progress in solving the riddles that your uncle had made specifically for you two, adding onto the fact that you really did want to get your hands on the presents as your uncle always knew exactly what you liked.

Hence, you and Kevin moved forward and deeper into the house as you both tried to see where or what could potentially help you both get a kick start on the investigation. Suddenly, the doors behind you both slammed shut with a loud thud, and you both were now in complete darkness, heavily relying on the torchlight you brought to navigate the house.

“We’re really doing this right, Y/N?” Kevin asked as he grabbed your wrist to drag you closer to him, making sure that you both stuck together, especially in the given circumstances. Not going to lie, your heart skipped a beat with that sudden gesture of his, and you prayed that he was unable to hear that loud thumping noise coming from your chest, given how silent the whole place was, to the point that you were able to hear a pin drop if there ever was one.

“Y-Yeah… to face Uncle Ben and get our hands on the gift. And besides, we could always have a little fun mystery for the holiday season.”

After ten minutes, you both arrived at the house's second floor. You both tried your best to scavenge through the bottom floor, but there wasn’t much you found that could potentially help with the investigation.

So here you both were, slowly taking your steps up the old wooden stairs that creaked with every single step, making the uncomfortable feeling you have had since stepping into the house a lot worse than before.

Thankfully, Kevin stuck close to you and took the lead in front, where you naturally held onto his sweater from behind, which caused him to turn behind for a second and offer his hand to you instead. You stared at him blankly at first, blinking your eyes a few times to see if you weren’t hallucinating, but he eventually linked his hands with yours and pulled you slightly forward.

You were thankful that the electricity was out in the entire house, and Kevin held onto the torchlight and shone the pathway in front of him instead; you definitely did not need the male to know how red and flushed your face was right now.

As you both moved forward, you eventually stepped onto something firm and hard, causing you to stop in your tracks, nudging Kevin’s elbow to shine the light directly onto your feet.

You truly wished you hadn’t done that at all.

A severed hand was situated right below your new pair of white shoes, and a little blood splatter was visible around the corners of your shoes. You immediately screamed and took a little jump back, causing you to cower into Kevin’s arms immediately. His eyes widened at the sight, and he tried his best to calm you down by rubbing your back with one of his hands while the other continued to shine the torchlight all around the room.

And there it was: another severed hand, located close to what used to be the fireplace.

“Th-This must be a joke…” Kevin muttered, not wanting to accept reality and thinking, ‘this was all a dream.’

It couldn’t be real.

There haven’t been any reported murder cases around town for the last thirty years. In fact, your town has been regarded as one of the safest in the state for the past decades, and it is also known as the best town to reside in. Whatever situation you both were in now must be wholly made up by your uncle, who was always full of surprises.

…right?

That was until Kevin redirected the light source towards the fireplace above, where there were clearly a few picture frames damaged through time or by someone. As you both began moving closer to examine them, you noticed they all had one thing in common.

All of them had the same person cut out from the pictures themselves.

Three picture frames stood above the fireplace, each depicting a family of five smiling brightly as if the world was free from all sorts of nightmares and misery. At least it was before. Something must have happened for whoever removed the person in question from the pictures—perhaps it must’ve been a bad memory for them, or that person is probably no longer associated with them.

You slowly moved close enough for you to be able to examine it well, gently wiping off the dust from each frame with your thumbs to see who exactly was the family in the old pictures. You didn’t recognise them at first until you squinted your eyes and saw the famous signature on the bottom right of each frame.

It belonged to the Jamaisons; the very first family that moved into this town many years ago.

From what you have heard about the tales from your uncle, they were the ones to be grateful for as they built up and raised the town's reputation as it is known today. Their family have since then lived for generations, constantly passing down their legacy for years until the last heir passed on without a successor ten years ago.

As everyone has been told, the very first generation of the Jamaisons was a family of four: a dotting father, a loving mother, and a set of twins. But then, who was the mysterious missing cut-out person from the pictures? Did they have another sibling they have kept secret for years, and nobody knew about them? And if yes, why did they do that?

Countless questions are pondered within your mind, and you can’t help but want to dig much deeper to discover the truth.

“Kevin…how much do you know about the Jamaisons?”

“As much as they have taught us in the textbooks. Why?”

“I have a bad feeling about this…” You muttered, slowly showing and telling Kevin about the missing person from each picture.

His eyes widened too, and you could tell he had the same thoughts as you.

“You don’t mean…”

“I really hope it isn’t true. Why would Uncle Ben even want us to meddle with their history if it was? Does he think we were detectives that could solve a potential murder case that was decades old?” You questioned, tugging his arm around you even tighter.

He pondered for a bit before answering. “Why not? I have always wanted to go to an actual crime scene.”

“Kevin Moon, this is serious,” you firmly reminded him.

He sighed before giving you a little smile back. “I know, Y/N. Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out then.”

Along with your friendly little neighbour, you both begin scouring through the bookshelves, hoping to find any potential records that could prove that they had someone else in the original line-up of the family.

However, all of your luck was pointless as there was zero to no evidence proving that the missing person from the pictures existed. It was as if the family themselves had erased whoever it was to the best of their abilities.

You groaned as you ran your fingers through your hair. “Ugh, I guess we’re back at square one again.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you,” Kevin responded, which caused you to turn your head towards him to see that he was pointing towards the empty room across the room, where the door slowly creaked open.

You were sure that the doors were closed tight when you both made your way up an hour ago, and now you were witnessing the door slowly pry open by seemingly nothing.

Oh hell, there is no way ghosts are real.

“Do not say the g-word, I swear,” you immediately placed one of your fingers directly onto Kevin’s lips, preventing him from saying it out loud.

“Not until we go check it, Y/N.”

“Can we just…not…”

“I think you know what the answer to that is.”

You rolled your eyeballs at Kevin’s words; you knew there was no way you both were leaving this place until you found the answers to the case. Without a choice, you reluctantly allowed Kevin to drag you along step-by-step as you both got closer towards the room.

If you were in an actual horror movie, you were pretty sure there would be creepy and high-pitched violin sounds playing in the background right now. The siren by your ear was beginning to resonate aloud, causing you to have a slight headache while you were trying your best not to shit your pants at this point.

As you were a step right before entering the room, your grip against Kevin’s arm tightened, giving him the signal that you were having second thoughts and would gladly dash right out of the house right now. But he returned a little rub on your palms with his, telling you that everything would be alright and that he was here with you.

With one final gulp and nod, you both took that long-awaited step into the room, when you were met with your worst nightmare.

You have never told anyone about how your deepest and darkest fear was about how you once had this dream where a black mass consisted of a white face with a lipped mouth paired with large black eyes used to lurk at the corners of your room watching you sleep. You eventually got terrified to the point that you would think about it all day, which then interfered with your daily routine.

And it was the same nightmare that stood right in front of you, slowly expanding as it crept nearer towards you both as if it was going to swallow you up as a whole.

“No…please don’t…” You whimpered.

Before you could even think straight, the huge mass eventually engulfed Kevin, and he was gone within a second. Just like that, the mass turned in your direction, approaching you slowly as you took a few steps back each time.

With one final huff from the mass, it quickly expanded one last time before jumping right onto you, slowly dissolving your entire body and turning it into the mass just like it was.

You were helpless, and you eventually felt your entire body go numb as if it was all over and done for.

Before you were taken over by darkness, you slowly peered your eyes upon the doors, noticing a bright white figure approaching you before everything was a blur.

“Sissy! SISSY WAKE UP!!”

You immediately jolted awake with that scream coming from the side of your ear, drenched in sweat, and your eyes widened as you tried to calm your fast breathing down.

“Whatever the nightmare you have been having since last night, it must have been a wild one I must say,” your brother responded as he slowly grabbed a cloth to wipe your sweat away.

“N-Nightmare? What are you talking about?”

“Do you really not remember anything at all? You have been sleeping for the entire day yesterday! You have been tossing and turning in your sleep, mumbling incoherent words as you broke out in sweat.”

What? That can’t be.

You slowly looked down to see your hands trembling before moving them to your face, trying to take in everything your brother had just told you.

“What about the scavenger hunt, then?”

“Scavenger hunt? You mean Uncle Ben’s?”

“Y-Yeah…what happened to it?”

“Well, you were in bed for the entire day and wouldn’t wake up, so you actually missed the whole thing,” he bluntly replied.

That can’t be true. You remembered walking down to the kitchen table and grabbing the envelope placed neatly on the dining table, which shocked you as you read the contents.

“Uncle Ben came up to check on you, though; he said it was fine to let you continue to sleep since you were probably exhausted with finals.”

No…this is just not making sense at all.

Wait.

“Kevin! Where’s Kevin?!” You screamed at the top of your lungs as you grabbed your brother’s shoulders, shaking them vigorously.

Your brother stared at you as if a ghost had possessed you because the next thing that happened was that you immediately jumped out from your bed and dashed towards the front door.

You speed ran through your open gates right towards your neighbour’s front porch, banging on the door, not caring if you were creating a scene. You needed to know if he was doing alright and in one piece.

After a few seconds, the doorknob eventually turned and the door was opened. There stood your best friend, exactly like he was the day before when you went up to him to talk about the strange envelope Uncle Ben had left specifically just for you both.

Well, supposedly, at least.

It wasn’t unusual for you to come banging at Kevin’s door in the middle of the day, as you have done it multiple times. What he did not expect was that you would immediately dive into his embrace and begin sobbing into his sweater.

“Y-Y/N? What’s wrong? What happened?”

You couldn’t even give him a proper answer as your tears poured profusely. You were glad to see that he was fine, still in one piece and unharmed.

“Thank God…THANK GOD KEVIN!!!!”

You were not budging an inch, and Kevin only did what he knew was best at the moment, returning the hug and slowly caressing your back as if to calm you down. He eventually rested his lips on your head, leaving you little kiss.

After what seemed like a couple of minutes resting in his embrace, you eventually pulled away and cupped his face with your palms, gently caressing his cheek as you looked at him lovingly.

“Kevin…promise me…you’re never leaving my sight again.”

He chuckled. “Why would I? Y/N, you know I would never—”

“Please, a little pinky promise?” You begged, and Kevin could never resist that little puppy doe eyes you have.

He smiled before he eventually leaned down and connected your lips with his. Your eyes widened upon the contact before you eventually eased into the kiss seconds later, slowly wrapping your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

When you both eventually broke off for some air, there was this surge of adrenaline within you, and you felt your face heat up quickly, causing you to duck your head down as you cupped both cheeks to cover up the redness away from the man.

Kevin could only laugh at that little sight. “Come on, Y/N. It’s not like I have not seen your iconic red-flushed-tomato-like face before.”

“It’s not iconic, and whatever that was wasn’t necessary at all,” you pouted.

He took a few moments just admiring how you looked before leaning down and resting his palm on your head. “That kiss is a promise that I’ll always be yours.”

“Even stronger than a pinky promise?”

“Absolutely.”

With that, you reconnected your lips with his warm ones again, trying to savour them as best as possible before leaning your forehead against his.

“Oh, Kevin. You truly are the best thing that has happened to me during Christmas this year.”

“Am I supposed to be flattered by that?” He teased.

You sulked for a bit before slapping him on the arm. “Obviously, silly.”

With a deep huff, you stretched out your arms before wrapping them back around Kevin’s arm, trying to drag him out of his house and head straight towards yours instead for a cup of hot cocoa.

“Say, why don’t we go find Uncle Ben? I’m sure he might have some other tricks to keep us occupied until unboxing night.”

As you tried your best to pull Kevin with you, you were stunned by him standing still at the front of your doorstep, staring at you with a straight face.

“Kevin? Is everything alright?”

There was this odd ten-second silence before Kevin eventually spoke up, which actually sent chills down your spine.

“I’m afraid that Uncle Ben will not be coming anytime soon, sweetheart.”

Within a swift motion, Kevin pulled you vigorously back into his embrace, locking you tight with his arms. You then noticed how his demeanour began to change and was completely different from before.

You began to panic, shivering even, as you looked into his now-turning hollow eyes.

“W-What are you talking about?”

“That little nightmare you had was a reality, princess. Your little Uncle Ben has been trying his best to warn you all these years, and who would’ve thought he would actually get you to head towards the murder site yourself to crack open the case.”

“K-Kevin…you’re scaring me…” you began pushing yourself away, but it seemed that his grip had then gotten a lot tighter, which was when you began to feel the pain that was slowly travelling across your whole body.

“Let me tell you a little story, Y/N. A long time ago, a certain group used to think Christmas was all sparkly and bright. But what if I told you that things would never be the same? That the people around them now think that Christmas is a nightmare. After all, a sparkly Christmas can only happen if there is a drop of blood, right? I think that’s enough for you to figure things out, no?”

It was. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, you knew exactly what he meant.

Not only was Kevin your Christmas, but he was also your Nightmare.

Just like that, he slowly began leaning down as he pushed your hair on your shoulders towards the other side, leaving a clear opening for him to start rubbing your sensitive skin as he leaned down slowly to the point that his lips brushed against them.

“From now on, I’ll always be your Nightmare Before Christmas.”

A/N: a lil belated spooky Christmas to yall 😚

masterlist

taglist: @deoboyznet @kflixnet @k-films @flwoie @zzoguri @kyusqult @tinkerbell460 @cheonsafics @sulkygyu @jaerisdiction @lngwayup @hyungseos-cafe (join my permanent taglist here!)

#winterchimez #mootie moots ♡#i am both so impressed by you and izzy and also equally freaked out??#i do love kevins duality though #tbh the dark twist at the end truly caught me off guard #tysm for tagging me in this!!#loved reading it!!#i literally pulled up a random lofi playlist to set the mood to read this 😅#i would love to read more on what you have about madam nee nee and the jamaison family though 👀#also like… was kevin the one to actuall set up this scavenger hunt and not uncle ben?#was uncle ben trying to warn y/n about kevin??#is kevin trying to make y/n solve his own crime when he already knows all the details??#recs #the boyz #the boyz kevin #fluff #angst

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peonieslibrary · 4 months

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this christmas | jacob bae

• pairing: gender-neutral!reader x christmas shop worker!jacob bae, mentions of reader x kim sunwoo, and small mentions of chanhee

• word count: 6.4k words

• genre: fluff, slight angst

• rating: PG

• warnings: there’s a slight mention of wanting to be dead, hatred of christmas, i made sunwoo an asshole

• notes: my secret santa fic for the lovely @snowflakewhispers! i hope you enjoy it so! i really enjoyed writing this and sunwoo i desperately apologize for portraying you this way🥺

• tagging: @deoboyznet @zzoguri @hyungseos-cafe @userjuyo @hongyangi (if you’d like to be on a tag list, let me know)

To say Christmas was your least favorite holiday would be an understatement. The kids running around acting like gluttony-craved little animals, families fighting over toys, traveling. The part about Christmas that you hated the worst? Couple activities.

Seeing happy couples frolicking about in the ankle deep snow. Listening to Christmas carolers, looking at Christmas lights, getting each other cute little couple gifts. Absolutely not. You weren’t always this way. You used to love Christmas. In fact, you adored it! It was your favorite holiday. The opportunity to spend time with loved ones, eat delicious food and sweet treats, snow, gifts. Who wouldn’t love Christmas?

The holiday became even more special when you met your ex, Sunwoo. He was a ball of energy. He held this swagger and exuded confidence. Every person who ever came in contact with him would swoon over him. He just had that effect on people, and boy did he know it. Sunwoo would come off as cocky. He constantly expected people to melt to the ground when he was around. When he didn’t get his way, it was an absolute nightmare.

This behavior should’ve been your first red flag, but honestly, you were so enamored by him that you looked right past it. Your friends tried to warn you, but unfortunately they never got through to you. You should’ve listened. You definitely should’ve listened. Maybe then, the last Christmas you were together wouldn’t have hurt so much. Maybe, you could’ve prevented your heart from breaking as deep as it did. With school ending for Christmas break, you were taking it upon yourself to visit your somewhat-loving boyfriend who lived across the city. Trudging through the cold snow, up the steps to his apartment, you felt a warmth fill your heart at the fact that for the first time in a couple weeks you’d be spending your favorite holiday with your favorite person.

His door was cracked open, something you constantly got on him about as he didn’t live in the best neighborhood, so you let yourself in. Immediately, that warmth you felt was gone. Vanished into the cold, winter air like water when it hits high heat. Clothes were thrown all across the small apartment. Some of his, and some of someone else’s. Now, you’re probably thinking…did you confront him? Did you trash the place? Did you break down in front of him and beg for answers? Well the answer to all those questions, no. You did none of those things, rather you left the small little gift you got from his favorite gift shop on his side table in the living room, and left. You hoped that just leaving would make what you found out hurt a little less. That maybe sparing your heart any more pain would help you. It didn’t. Your Christmas break was miserable. Friends leaving messages in attempts to find out what happened with Sunwoo when he showed up to your mutual friend's annual Christmas party with a new girl on his arm. Seeing him post pictures of them going sledding, decorating his little apartment and his Christmas tree that looked very similar to a Charlie Brown Christmas tree made you sick. You vowed to protect yourself and your heart. Writing off Christmas was the best way to do it. You stopped celebrating. You stopped visiting family and friends, and you just stayed on campus to focus on school. You hated Christmas. Until this year.

Determined to bring back your Christmas spirit, your mother forced you to come home for Christmas. She claimed your one bad memory shouldn’t cloud your love for the holiday and wanted you to be home with loved ones to help you get back to that happy place. You did not want to be home, but when your mother makes up her mind on something there is no turning back.

Your old clunker of a car drove soundly on the salted roads. The snow this year had been even worse than previous years, prompting the city to work overtime in clearing roads for the holidays. You never really trusted their work anyway, so you still drove carefully and slowly so as to not die. Apparently the other people on the road behind you didn’t like that. As they passed you, thoughtfully giving you the finger in an obscene gesture of hatred, you fiddled with your radio. You did not want to listen to another Christmas song.

The car ride was almost unbearable. You couldn’t find a single station not playing Christmas music, so you weren’t in the most jolly mood when you arrived at your parents. Waiting outside in what had to have been the most ugly Christmas sweater you had ever seen in your entire life and a plate full of cookies, your mother smiled widely. She was so happy to finally have her only child home for the holidays, even if said child was Ebenezer Scrooge Jr.

“Sweetheart, welcome home!” Your mother exclaimed happily.

Giving her your best smile, you let her pull you into a hug. The bright green tinsel decorating her ugly sweater rustling against you.

“Hi mom.”

She pulled away, shoving the plate of heavily decorated sugar cookies into your hands. “Take those back to your roommate. I know how much Chanhee loves my sugar cookies.”

A genuine smile made its way to your face at the mention of your best friend. The only bright spot in your life. He was your savior after you broke up with Sunwoo, and another person who was convinced that you would find your Christmas spirit again.

“He’ll be over the moon, mom.” You told her as she pulled you into the house.

The heat hit you like a freight train, as both the fireplace and heater were running at full force. You were surprised your mother wasn’t dying of heat exhaustion with the three shaven sheep wool sweater she had on. You set the cookies down on the table, looking at all the Christmas decorations she had taken the time to precisely lay out. The garland adorning the fireplace was set with care, four stockings laid out. The fourth one was for Chanhee as he usually accompanied you when you traveled, but couldn’t this year. The Christmas tree looked like a holiday bomb. Decorated in green, red, and silvers, the tree looked good. You couldn’t deny that. You did notice, however, that the topper was missing.

“Mom,” You trailed off. “Where’s the angel?”

She chuckled. “Your father dropped it when he went to put it on. Her glass snowflake shattered, so we have to go to the little Christmas store downtown.”

You frowned. “Mom, everything is closed because of the weather.”

Shaking her head, she spoke. “This place is open every day no matter the weather when it’s the holidays. The family wants it to always be accessible for people during the holiday season.”

You went to nod as she spoke again. “You’re coming with me.”

Letting out a huff, you headed upstairs to drop off your suitcase. Opening your bedroom door, you shoved your suitcase off to the side. The room looked the same as it did when you graduated. Your mother hadn’t touched a thing. Pictures of you and your friends, family members, Sunwoo.

“Why haven’t I taken those down?” You asked yourself.

Walking over to the board, you stared at the pictures of you and Sunwoo, letting your fingers run across them before tearing them off the board. The sound of ripping paper as the picture was pulled through the tack made you smile only slightly, crumbling the pictures up in your hand to throw them away. You unpacked your suitcase, putting all your clothes in drawers as you thought about how you could get out of going to the Christmas shop downtown. Some of your ideas spanned from faking an illness, to making Chanhee fake an emergency. Each one was worse than the last, and you figured going just to get a tree topper wouldn’t be so bad. Accepting your fate, you sat in your room, scrolling through social media as you inevitably waited to be dragged to hell.

You were wrong. You were so so wrong. Your mother had you walking around this store for almost two hours, with the basket she had, being turned into a cart to fill with more than just a new Christmas tree topper. You were starting to get annoyed. Your mother had no plans of leaving any time soon, so you ventured off. You rounded a corner you hadn’t been down yet, running your hands over the ornaments that looked like colorful food items.

“I personally like the oversized ice cream cones. They are kind of unrealistic though. Who takes a bite out of their ice cream?” A soft voice said from behind you.

You whipped around, your eyes landing on a guy with quite the facial features. He was handsome, that’s for sure. His almond-shaped eyes bored into yours as he smiled, effectively taking your breath away.

“Do you work here?” You asked, and you mentally facepalmed yourself.

What a stupid question? As if the red and green outfit paired with a santa hat and elf ears didn’t give it away.

He chuckled. “No, I just like dressing up as one of Santa’s little helpers in my free time.”

You couldn’t help but smile at his joke.

“My family owns the business, so I work here to help them.” The boy said.

His tone was very soft, almost as if he was afraid to speak any louder. He had a calming presence about him that spread throughout the store. You have to admit, despite not even knowing his name, you did enjoy being around him. It was more interesting than just dragging along behind your mother, that’s for sure.

The boy gave you a small smile before holding his hand out. “I’m Jacob. Jacob Bae.”

You smiled, gently gripping his hand. The handshake was firm, yet soft. His skin was smooth with just the slightest bit of a tan. He had a natural warmth to him that spread throughout your body when his hand touched yours.

“Do you run the store by yourself?” You asked Jacob.

He nodded his head. “I have a brother, but he’s busy with his own things. My parents bought the store when we were both little, and then when I got old enough they decided to just let me run the store by myself.”

“This doesn’t get boring?”

Jacob chuckled again, and you couldn’t help but blush. His laugh gave way to the most breathtaking smile.

“I wouldn’t say boring. Slow, yes, but definitely not boring. There’s not a single thing about Christmas that is boring to me.” Jacob exclaimed with a smile.

You rolled your eyes slightly. “I could give you multiple reasons why Christmas is boring.”

The boy let out a little giggle, looking away at a small family picking out a pretty antique ornament.

“I get the feeling you aren’t a big fan of Christmas.” Jacob said softly.

This time it was your turn to let out a small chuckle.

“You have no idea.” You muffled out under your breath.

You heard a cart making its way around the corner of an aisle filled with toy soldiers and nutcrackers as you let out a sigh. Your mother’s head reared around the corner as she smiled.

“Look at all of this beautiful stuff I found. This store is amazing!” Your mother said rather loudly.

You covered your face as you watched Jacob round the counter to begin checking out your mother.

“Mom, you are being so loud.”

“Oh hush. I’m just enjoying your beautiful store.” She said, directing her attention towards Jacob.

Jacob gave her a wide smile. “I appreciate it! We love spreading Christmas cheer.”

Your mother began to unload the cart of Christmas decorations onto the conveyor belt as Jacob began to scan the items. Your mother made small talk with the boy, asking him about his parents, his brother, etc. You stared at your mother, realizing that she really visited this store more than she let on. The personal questions and conversation she was having with the boy you were meeting for the very first time made you frown. You have been missing so much due to your own heartbreak, you could’ve been meeting new people, making new friends.

“Jacob, do you have any plans for Christmas? I know your family is traveling to see your brother.” Your mom asked.

You lifted your head, clearing the negative thoughts that were starting to creep in. Jacob shook his head with a smile.

“Working.” He said softly.

“On Christmas?” You asked, surprising not only your mother but yourself considering you would rather work on Christmas than celebrate it.

Jacob nodded. “Someone’s gotta keep the store open. You’d be surprised at the amount of people who come in for last minute items on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. When every other store is closed, we’re their last resort.”

You frowned. You don’t know why, but you felt bad about the fact that Jacob would be working on Christmas instead of taking the day off. Your mother continued to chat with Jacob, letting him gently bag each item, taking the time to wrap the more delicate ones in pretty tissue paper decorated with candy canes. Your mother took the bags from him, handing them off to you as she pulled out your father’s credit card to pay the bill. Jacob had graciously given your mother a nice discount, noting that she is always his favorite customer making you wonder just how often your mother visits this store. She grabbed the final bags, heading for the door as you followed her before stopping.

“Hey, Jacob. Do you want some company here? You shouldn’t be alone on the holidays. Maybe I could come help you?” You asked softly.

He replied just as softly. “I’d love that.”

You gave him a smile, as you headed out the door to catch up with your mom.

Now that you had something to actually look forward to, the rest of the day dragged on. You didn’t think it would ever end, but when you got up this morning you were in an incredibly good mood. Your parents couldn’t help but point out how chipper you were this morning either.

“Someone has you really happy today,” Your mother started.

With a nod of your head, you grabbed a muffin for a quick breakfast. “I’ll be gone for most of the day. I should be home before dinner.”

Your parents could only nod, happy that you would be at least getting out of the house instead of spending the entire vacation locked in your room.

The car ride downtown to the small Christmas shop was short, but with how much you were anticipating seeing Jacob again, it made the ride seem all that much longer. When you pulled into the parking lot, you parked next to the only other car there.

The roads were almost completely empty, aside from people pulling sleds in the deep snow on the sidewalks. You turned your car off, getting out and locking the door behind you as you headed towards the entrance of the store.

You noticed Jacob laying out empty cups by a small hot chocolate station. He laid out candy canes, whipped cream, and marshmallows, setting them all up in a certain way. Smiling to yourself, you opened the door to the shop as you let the little overhead bell ring above you, alerting Jacob of your arrival.

He turned from his spot by the hot chocolate station as you waved.

“Hey! You made it!” Jacob said excitedly.

You giggled with a nod as Jacob reached an arm behind the counter. He pulled a green Santa hat with fancy, red decorations adorning it with him as he handed it to you.

“Since it’s your first day, I won’t make you wear the elf ears. However, I can’t say no to the hat. This is nonnegotiable.”

He hands the hat to you as you quietly put it on before striking a pose.

“How do I look?” You asked.

Jacob could only laugh. “Do I dare say it was made for you?”

You and him laughed as he led you around the store. He let you in on different products, the stuff that sells the best and the worst, the regular customers (no surprise your mom was on the list), and so much more.

“The store will be slow most of the time. I usually take that time to just sit in the back until the bell rings.” He said.

You looked at the door behind the counter as you spoke. “What’s in the back?”

Jacob grinned. “My little hideaway. You might like it; not as much Christmas back there.”

His comment made heat rise to your neck and cheeks as he continued to explain stuff to you. You tried your hardest to focus on what he was saying, but you would be lying if you claimed that you heard anything that came out of his mouth. Jacob was just too damn handsome for his own good. He wasn’t necessarily the tallest, but he definitely wasn’t short. He had broad shoulders that lead down to a slim waist and long legs. His face had a more squared off look than an angular one. His jawline was impeccable. He had full lips that were constantly hidden by the beautiful smile he was consistently flashing to everyone. You couldn’t lie, though. The best thing about Jacob, in your opinion, was his kindness. You hadn’t known him long, but his heart was so pure. He was nothing but kind to everyone he came in contact with, and you came up with all of this information in just one and a half days.

“So that’s pretty much all there is to it. A pretty easy gig, right?” Jacob asked.

You just stared at him for a moment before shaking your head slightly, snapping out of your thoughts.

“Huh? Oh yeah. Sure sounds like it.” You replied.

Jacob stared back at you, a sly smile making its way to his face. “Well, let’s get you settled on the register then.”

Jacob led you back through the store, which seemed a lot bigger inside than it looked on the outside. You let him lead you again as he pulled out a stool, motioning for you to sit. He showed you all the usual steps to do in order to check out a customer before officially opening the store.

The day went by rather slow. You and Jacob really got to know each other due to the slowness. He told you more about his family, more about his brother, who he looks up to a lot.

“He’s my best friend. We are inseparable when we’re together. We talk everyday when we’re apart.” Jacob told you with a smile.

The statement made you smile. Being an only child meant that you had to get creative when it came to finding people to talk to every day. You loved your parents, but you could only talk to them so much in a day.

“Do you have siblings?” Jacob asked.

You shook your head. “I have a best friend named Chanhee. He’s like my brother. We talk all the time, he’s my roommate, we have all the same classes. I adore that boy.”

Jacob nodded with a small smile, continuing to watch out the shop windows for a customer as you just continued to watch the gingerbread clock tick away ever so slowly.

As the day came to an end, you helped Jacob box up certain things. He packed up the hot chocolate station, making you a cup for the road before setting everything in the back room. Jacob helped you close out the register, and you helped him sweep up the fake snow that had fallen off the fake Christmas trees in front of the store. He grabbed a ring of keys before pulling that hat he had on for his head, revealing his dark brown hair that fell every which way after being confined in a hat all day long. You both walked to the door, letting Jacob set an alarm hidden behind a picture frame before he walked out with you behind him. He turned to lock the doors before walking you to your car.

“Aside from it being really slow, which I apologize for, how was your first day?” Jacob asked sweetly.

You smiled at him. “I had a lot of fun, Jacob. You kept me good company.”

Jacob smiled at your statement. “Hopefully I’ll see you back here again then.”

“Definitely.”

Jacob opened your car door for you, allowing you to get situated before closing the door gently. You watched him trudge through the slightly fresh snow on the ground to his own car. He got in, quickly turning it on before looking out his window to wave to you.

The week before Christmas went exactly like this. You would get up in a good mood, grab a muffin, drive to the Christmas Shop, and sit for six hours with Jacob. You had to admit; you were having a lot of fun. He was funny. Really funny. He didn’t try too hard. You remembered always forcing laughter when it comes to Sunwoo and his jokes. They were okay, but they weren’t knock-your-socks-off funny.

Something else about Jacob? He was an incredible singer. During a particularly slow part of your fourth day working at the Christmas shop, Jacob brought you to the back room. It was almost like a small in and out apartment. There was a pull out couch, a flat screen tv, and a coffee table neatly set up. There was a counter against the back wall that held a mini fridge, a microwave, air fryer, and a coffee maker. In the corner not occupied by anything, was a beautiful dark redwood acoustic guitar. He left the back door open to keep an eye on the front of the store as he strummed a beautiful tune, singing ever so softly to you. You couldn’t believe your ears.

“Why haven’t you taken on a singing career?” You asked him curiously.

Jacob smiled as he continued to softly play the guitar. “As much as I adore music, I never really felt like I was destined for that kind of life. I like what I’ve got going here.”

“Just working at a Christmas shop? This is what you like?” You asked, a tilt of your head to emphasize your questions.

Your question caught Jacob off guard. What you didn’t know was that no one in his family would ever hold him back, but he would hold himself back. He had his reasons for not wanting to pursue a music career despite everyone telling him to. He had never ever talked to anyone about said problems. You, however, seemed different. He wanted to tell you everything. Instead, he stuck with asking some hard hitting questions himself.

“Why do you hate Christmas so much?” Jacob asked.

Your head straightened at his question. You had never had someone straight out ask you about your dislike of Christmas.

“I don’t.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow as he stopped playing. “You don’t?”

You shook your head. “I don’t particularly like Christmas, but I don’t hate it. I know I say I do, but I don’t think I ever really could. Plus working here with you has made me regain some love for it.”

He grinned at your comment before lifting his index, wiggling it at you. “While I appreciate the compliment, you aren’t getting off that easily.”

A sigh escaped your lips as you took a deep breath. “I didn’t always hate Christmas. In fact, I used to love it. The decorations, the weather, the movies. All of it. Then I met my ex, and things changed.”

You looked at Jacob who had a solemn look in his dark brown eyes, silently begging for you to continue.

“He became my entire world. I would have done anything for him, but clearly he wouldn’t have done the same. It’s stupid really. All my friends told me he was bad news and I never listened. I believed him over them. I always took his side and two holidays ago, our first Christmas together, he cheated on me. Come to find out he had been for a really long time,” You stopped to take in a breath, feeling a tear roll down your cheek. “I was devastated. He ruined my Christmas, and I let that suck the joy for the holiday right out of me.”

Jacob handed you a tissue as you dabbed at your face. You shook your head.

“I’m so stupid.”

“No you’re not. There’s nothing stupid about being in love with someone. What’s stupid is said person being dumb enough to actually take advantage of you. You deserve better.” Jacob said quietly.

A small, shy smile made its way to your face.

He watched you before speaking again. “I’m sorry that that happened to you. You deserve so much better, truly. If it makes you feel any better, I adore spending this little bit of time that we spend together. You make the day more fun. I have someone to talk to, to share stories with. I don’t have to talk to the toy soldiers anymore. I felt like they might have started to talk back had you not asked to help out.”

You let out a loud laugh. “It does make me feel better. Actually, working here makes me feel like I’m getting my Christmas spirit back. I have had the absolute best time this vacation. Which is a first for me because I was really expecting to just shove my face with my moms sugar cookies and drown myself in hot chocolate while watching sad romance movies.”

This time Jacob laughed out loud.

“Your mom’s sugar cookies are amazing!” Jacob let out.

You both laughed at his statement as a comfortable silence fell over the both of you. The day went by pretty fast after that. You both did your normal closing routines, becoming a good team when it came to picking up the store. This time, you set the alarm and locked the door. Jacob, like he did every night, walked you to your car to make sure you were safe.

As he opened the door, he spoke. “I have another question.”

You nodded, urging him to continue.

“I really like doing this with you.”

You smiled, before teasing him. “That’s not a question, Jacob.”

Jacob chuckled. “You’re right, and neither is this.”

As soon as you noticed him leaning in, your eyes closed. You braced for impact and it was the softest impact ever made. His lips were almost feather-like, they were so soft. Your mouth moved in sync with his as you brought your hands up to the back of his neck, willing him to move closer. Jacob’s hands landed at your waist, doing exactly what you hoped for as he pulled you closer.

Jacob pulled away first, letting you both catch your breath as your eyes fluttered open. You felt like you were flying right now. Jacob’s kiss had riding a high you had definitely never experienced before. Your eyes trailed up to his as he gave you a shy smile.

“That wasn’t a question. You are correct about that, but I definitely liked it.” You whispered into the cold air.

He chuckled as he stepped back from you. He gave you another kiss, this time on the cheek as he whispered a soft goodbye to you before heading towards his car. You watched him walk away before yelling out to him.

“Jacob!”

The boy stopped in his tracks, turning around almost instantly.

“Do you want to join my family for Christmas dinner tomorrow?”

A smile broke out onto his face as he nodded. “I’d love that!”

You couldn’t help but let a big smile make its way to your face as you lit up. He gave you another wave before getting into his car. Watching him pull out of the parking lot, you felt oddly giddy over the fact that you were actually looking forward to a Christmas event for the first time in almost a year.

Just like every morning so far this week, you woke up in a very good mood on Christmas day. You ran down the stairs, ready to eat breakfast, open your gifts and get the day started. Your parents handed out gifts, setting them in groups in front of each of you. Tearing into your gifts, you neatly piled everything up before heading upstairs. You felt a tad bit guilty considering you rushed through the gifts, but you couldn’t help yourself. You were so excited to see Jacob. You wanted this dinner to be perfect. After what’s been growing between the two of you to the kiss just last night, you wanted to see where this would go. You had never felt this way about anyone.

The shower you took was long, considering you practiced what you were going to say to Jacob over and over as if you were giving a speech after winning the nobel prize. You were nervous to say the least. After turning into a raisin due to standing in the shower for so long, you finally got out to dry yourself off. You went through your skin care routine as usual before walking into your room. The air hitting your skin was cool as you picked out an outfit.

As you laid the clothes out on your bed you noticed a photo on your photo board. It was hidden behind photos of your cousins and friends. It was a picture of you and Sunwoo, after your first date. He had insisted on taking a photo to capture the moment because he felt as though he had ‘never met anyone like you’. You had hid the photo after what he did to you, but now, you didn’t want to hide it anymore. You pulled the tack that was holding it off the board. The photo slid before you caught it, letting your fingers run over the photo. For once, you didn’t feel sad looking at the photo. In fact, you didn’t feel anything.

You brought the photo with you and laid it on your bed. Throwing your clothes on, you grabbed the photo and headed to the office your parents had. There was a small paper shredder underneath the computer desk that you pulled out and plugged in. The machine started to hum as you looked over the photo again. You weren't the same person in this photo anymore, and boy was Chanhee going to be so proud about what you were about to do.

“Goodbye Sunwoo.” You said to yourself.

You dropped the photo into the top of the shredder, listening to the machine growl and grind the photo up. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of your shoulders. You let out a content sigh as you unplugged the machine and headed back downstairs to spend time with your parents.

The day dragged on for you, and to be honest, you hated it. When late afternoon rolled around, you started to get butterflies in your stomach. Your mother was putting finishing touches on Christmas dinner when there was a knock on the door. You jumped up from the couch, practically gliding to the door as you pulled it open. Jacob held a bouquet of pretty flowers in his hand as he smiled. He was looking insanely handsome, but you could tell that he was also extremely nervous. Well that made two of you.

“Hi,” You breathed out.

Jacob’s face lit up at the sound of your voice. “Hi.”

You two just stood at the door, basking in each other’s glory before you heard your mom speak.

“Well don’t make him freeze. Invite the boy in!”

You snapped out of your little school girl crush trance as you stepped off to the side, allowing Jacob to enter. That’s when you noticed the wrapped gifts he was holding off to the side of himself.

He handed you the roses, leaning down just slightly to peck your cheek as he whispered to you. “You look beautiful.”

A shy smile popped up on your face as he pulled back to hug your parents. Your mom took the gifts from him, laying them on the coffee table. She pulled him into the dining room, practically pushing him into a chair as you followed. You sat across from him, while your parents continued to run around the kitchen to finish everything. Jacob turned to watch them before turning back to you.

“Do they need help?” He pointed towards your parents.

You shook your head with a laugh. “Not at all. Trust me, they’re fine.”

Jacob nodded. He looked over at you before speaking again.

“I couldn't stop thinking about you. I know that’s crazy to say, but that kiss was magical.”

You leaned forward, practically laying on the table in an attempt to get closer to Jacob, and he was doing the same thing.

“I’m glad you said it. I’ll be honest with you, though. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we met.” You told him.

Jacob leaned closer as his eyes flickered down to your lips. You couldn’t fight back the smile as you, too, leaned in closer. Just when it seemed your lips were about to touch, your mother called out.

“Jacob, sweetie, I hope you’re hungry! I made a lot of food.”

You let out a little sigh of frustration as you and Jacob backed off of each other. Your mother and father began carrying food out to the table as they laid it all out in front of you two. The next hour and a half was absolute torture for you. The only thing you could do was sneak adoring glances at Jacob from across the table as your parents chatted his ears off.

If you thought the two of you were being subtle with the glances you were totally wrong. When dinner was done, your father brought Jacob into the living room so you could help your mom clear the table. You watched your dad grab a gift that Jacob had brought as they both talked, smiles on both of their faces.

“So, when were you going to tell me that you and Jacob are dating?” Your mom asked from behind you, hands shoved into soapy dish water.

You turned to her. “Dating? Mom, Jacob and I aren’t dating.”

She chuckled. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Letting out a sigh, you leaned into one of the counters across from her, effectively blocking your view of Jacob and your father.

“We aren’t dating. We’ve kissed, though.”

Your mother gasped excitedly, pulling her hands out of the water to clap. You laughed as she created tiny bubbles in the air from the suds clinging to her skin.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted you to meet him. I was always hesitant to introduce the two of you because of, well,” Your mom trailed off.

She didn’t need to finish for you to know who she was talking about.

“I know. I’m glad you introduced us this year though. For the first time in a long time, I’ve enjoyed Christmas.” You told her.

She smiled as someone knocked on the counter. You both turned towards Jacob who had a wrapped present in his hand.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I got you a gift.” His hand reaches out to you in an attempt to extend the Christmas present.

Your mom smiled. “I’ll give you two a minute.”

As she slipped past Jacob, he watched her leave before looking back at you.

“Go ahead. Open it.”

You chuckled at his urgency as you tore the wrapping paper, giving way to a blank cardboard box. You set it on the counter, opening the top of the box. Your eyes widened slightly as you pulled styrofoam out of the box.

“Jacob, you didn’t.” You whispered as the boy smiled.

Pulling the styrofoam apart, there was a beautiful, antique snow globe sitting in front of you. The bottom of the snow globe was gold with red and silver accents. A molded design of Santa and his reindeer going across the gold base. The globe itself was crystal clear, and it had the Christmas shop planted in the middle of it with a tiny gingerbread man standing outside waving. When you shook it, the globe lit up in all sorts of pretty colors as the snow fell around the structure. You had been eyeballing the snow globe since you walked into the shop, constantly mentioning how pretty it was. The kicker was that with it being an antique, it was pricey. So you opted for admiring it from afar.

“I figured I owe you one. You kept me from going insane. I’d never admit this, but you’re right. It does get boring there when it’s slow.”

You giggled. “Took you long enough to admit it.”

Jacob stepped closer. “Well, you kept me company. You are definitely not boring.”

Looking up from the snowglobe, you smiled at the boy. “Jacob, this is beautiful and amazing. Thank you.”

He nodded. “You’re amazing.”

There was no hesitation this time as Jacob leaned in to kiss you. He brought his hands to your waist, not wanting to be any farther apart from you than he already was. Your hands rested on his chest as you pulled apart, leaning your forehead against his.

“Now I feel bad,” You stated, making the boy look at you with a confused look. “I didn’t get you anything.”

He threw his head back with a laugh. “You most definitely got me something. This has probably been the best Christmas I’ve ever had, and that’s because of you. So thank you.”

“So,” You said, bringing your hands up to wrap around his neck. “I guess this means we’re dating now?”

Jacob chuckled. “Woah! At least let me take you on a date first.”

He pecked your lips before pulling away, keeping a firm grip on your hand. You grabbed the snowglobe as he led you into the family room where your parents were. Sitting on the couch, he wrapped an arm around you as he pecked your forehead. You smiled to yourself as you snuggled into the boy’s side. This Christmas was definitely going in the memory books.

#deobienthusiast #hi! it’s peony!!#this was so cute 😩#literally kicking my feet in glee reading this #tbh im honesty not the biggest fan of like the couply aspect of christmas but this #this melted my cold heart 😭#honestly jacob working at a christmas shop is so cute and how he is so close with readers mom is so 😭#also poo poo at sunwoo #my fists were clenched ready to beat him up 😤#anyways i loved reading this haha thank you so much for tagging me!!#recs #the boyz #the boyz jacob #jacob bae #fluff #angst

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peonieslibrary · 4 months

Text

Insomnia

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☆ PAIRING = ex!seonghwa x ex!reader

☆ GENRE = second chances, ex's to ???

☆ WARNINGS = slight angst, talks of miscommunication, mentions of food, they fall down a hill (😭), the pov confusing and idk either

☆ WORD COUNT = 4.8k

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★ SYNOPSIS = communication or the lack of was the reason that brought you and seonghwa apart, your friends hope that a single conversation in a locked room will bring you two back together.

★ RELEASE DATE = 10/09/23

★ SONG INSPO = insomnia -> yukika

★ AUTHOR'S NOTE = im finally done with this damn oneshot, i cant omg. months of quitting and regaining my inspiration finally payed off… ok pls have fun reading, sunny's an oc btw ok antyways happy reads !! <33

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Act 1: Our Present

"I know you two were once in love."

"So where's the place?"

Mumbles are heard through the phone as Hongjoong starts to walk towards the window. "Turn your stereo down and maybe you'll finally hear me. Are you sure you're actually here?" his words are stretched out as he cranes his neck to look out into the street. The gps on your phone continues to say one minute away, you roll your eyes as it's been saying that for the last four minutes.

"Y/n. There's three cars outside alright?-" 'Okay" "We are the third house from the top of the hill-" "Why so high?" "And then Wooyoung and... oh wait.. Wooyoung and Seonghwa should be outside."

The car goes silent as now the only thing you hear is the soft rumbling of the car and the faint sounds of the music you turned down earlier. I mean you knew you were going to see him eventually but you didn't think it'll be this soon.

"Do you want me to make an excuse for him to come inside?"

Hongjoong's question brought you out of your silence, "No no, I mean it's been a year now, I should be alright." Keyword: "Should". It seems that after he said that, the house your friends had rented popped into view as you see the two mentioned.

"Oh is that you-" "Okay bye." You hang up on Hongjoong as Wooyoung starts to wave at you in the car, for someone who drove for two hours he looks far too cheerful. To his right was him. The smile that kept you up at night plastered on his face as you two kept the eye contact for longer than the eye contact for exes should be.

"Y/n noona!, lower the window!!"

"Wooyoung, you don't need to yell when you are right outside the window" said boy instantly leans into the car once the window is fully rolled down, already making himself comfortable. "So what? I just wanted to talk to you, it's been too longgg" he was dragging out his words as his bottom lip poked out.

You poked his forehead as you gestured him to move away, "Woo, I was at your birthday party two months ago. Now move it's cold, some people want to go inside." Wooyoung let you turn your car off as he went to the trunk of your car to help you bring stuff in. (it was only three things)

As you stepped out of your car you heard another set of footsteps come near you. The breath gets caught in your throat as you already know who's going to be behind you. The soft and clean scent still follows him after a year, oh how much you missed it.

"Do you need any help?" The sparkle in his eyes as he looks down at you has you wondering if this is real or a dream. Even at Wooyoung's birthday you were having a hard time even looking at him from across the room, but now that he's right in front of you it's making you feel as if every single emotion you've once felt with him is coming back like like a storm.

"Oh, I- Uh- I think-" "Hyung, I left the heavy things for you" Wooyoung makes eye-contact with you and he sends a wink your way. As you turn back to Seonghwa you notice he's looking at your necklace. His necklace that he gave you for your first anniversary. "Well uh, I think you can help me with the bag then."

The first few steps you two took to the trunk of your car was so awkward as you both didn't know what to say. "So, how have you been? I would've talked to you before at Wooyoung's party but I was too scared honestly", "You? Scared?" You couldn't help but to stare at him as a small smirk grew on his face. "Wait, I wouldn't say scared then, maybe just nervous,"

As he handed you your smaller bag and pulled out the bigger bag you also noticed something. A watch. The watch you gave him on that same anniversary.

knock knock knock

"Oh god, what are the kids doing up there.." You follow the direction of his eyes which is where the knocks came from as you see the 99's now scolding San for knocking at the window. "I think we should go inside now, Wooyoung started to eat your snacks." His pointed finger leads to Wooyoung inside flailing the bag of chips around as he walks in a circle around the poor boy.

The place they rented was big, but it felt full with the light music that was playing from Jongho's speaker and the sounds of yelling from the dining area.

You feel Seonghwa take your bag from your shoulder as his warm hand lingers just a bit longer than needed. "Y/n, I'll bring this to your room. Ah, Joong told you that you're rooming with Sunny right?" You nod remembering that it was actually said girl who texted you after months, excited that the two of you will be sharing a room.

"Yeah yeah. I'll be over there greeting everyone so.." The words trail away as it becomes silent again but the man in front of you keeps his smile as he turns you around pushing you lightly towards where everyone is.

The noise becomes louder as you step into the room, only Hongjoong and Jongho seems to notice you as the rest excluding Yeosang and Sunny are somewhere else.

"Hey hey!" The younger of the two raises his hand as a greeting as you give the other a hug. "Hi to our Jongho~ and bye to this loser over here", "Loser?? Did you forget who won the race to the rest station?", "Race??? You only said that after you got there!"

Out of all the people here (there's only 10 including you) you’ve known these two the longest. Meeting both Hongjoong and Jongho in the gym class that included each grade during high school. After beating the two in the class run, races for literally anything has become apart of your friendship.

“Alright alright we already have one argument going on we don’t need another…Noona you were the latest to arrive here though..” A smack on the boy’s shoulder followed with a chuckle from him made you realize. Why are those four still arguing?

“What are they talking about?” As you pushed yourself up onto the counter the two had been sitting on Hongjoong puts his arm around your shoulders slightly shaking you. “How San ruined the moment you and Seonghwa had out there” “M-moment, we were just- he was just helping me with my bags.”

He turned his head to Jongho who’s shaking his head in disagreement with the other, “Hyung. That is not a “moment” the two couldn’t even hold eye contact for that long.” “Exactly why it was a moment. The two were so shy after seeing each other they couldn’t look into each other’s shining eyes.” He turns to you teasingly batting his eyelashes.

You push him off you as the three of you are left with smiles on your faces, then eye-contact is shared with the boy who has been scolded for the last 5 minutes. A yelp is let out from him as he finally sees you entered the room. “Ahhh, when did you get in here???”

The three boys freeze then look at where San was looking at. As you wave to them Mingi seems to be startled too when he flinched grabbing onto Yunho's arm for support. “Y/n noona!! It's so nice to see you again!” Yunho said shaking Mingi's arm off heading towards you for a hug.

“I was so worried that you wouldn't come this year, I remember that one year where you didn't come and- Oh, did you hear about what I said about Seonghwa hyung earlier?” His face fell in realization that you were there for most of their banter.

“Oh come on, you know I always used to block out your petty arguements.” he let out a breath as you lightly punched his shoulder. “Noona it's good that you didn't hear what Yunho said because he was always there when Seonghwa-”

Mingi's mouth was covered with a slap by Wooyoung who started to drag the poor boy out of the room. “Oh hey, where's Yeosang? I think we should go look for him, right Mingi? Okay see you guys later”

Silence was shared with you five still in the room until San broke it, “That guy needs to work on his exits.”

As they now lead into a more civilized conversation you head out of the room to where you will be staying. When you enter the room you see Sunny laying on her bed with a half cleared out suitcase on the floor.

“Y/n!!!” The bright girl practically jumps up from the bed to engulf you in a warm hug. “Sunnyyy we were talking not that long ago” the smile on you face being heard as the girl was always so nice to you.

“Hon. I think a month is a long time ago, are you feeling alright here?” She pulls away from the hug slightly keeping her arms around you. “Because like.. you know who is here..”

“Sunny. You can say his name you know? And you were always closer to him than you were with me” the two of you then sit on the bed you were going to be sleeping on.

Her hands are soft as they caress your own, “Yeah I know but..” The breath she takes in makes you worried about her next words.

“Look, I'm not sure what happened to the two of you. But I know that you were once in love, love is something hard to get rid of once its happened and so I hope you'll be comfortable here.”

Act 2: Our Past

"I just reached for you without thinking,"

The next day you all were headed to the ski resort which was near the place you guys had rented out. The 10 of you were split into cars with Seonghwa and Hongjoong being the designated drivers for the 2 cars. During the car ride there, which was only twenty minutes, the two sitting next to you were Sunny and Yeosang. Next to Hongjoong in the front of the car was Jongho who claimed the seat by "falling asleep" as soon as he hit the chair.

"Soooo, have you been dating recently?" the girl to your right says as you pick your head off the window. "Not really," "Why?", Yeosang then pokes his head out from his spot next to Sunny as the two now look at you as if they're scheming something. Hongjoong looks back through the mirror as his eyebrows furrow at the two, "Why are you two so-", "Noona's been single for too long" Jongho cuts him off as he talks in a sleepy voice.

"Jongho you're awake?" Sunny leans her head to the front trying to see him. "I'm sleep talking."

Before Sunny can react to his statement Yeosang puts his arm in front of her to pull her back as he tells you, "Noona, it's been too long since we've talked to you so we just want to catch up!". As he says that, Sunny leans on you making herself comfortable on your shoulder, "Yeah hon, a lot can happen in 10 months."

"But then again nothing can happen in 10 months too," you lay your head on hers as Hongjoong starts to pull the car into the place. "It's been hard finding someone new, because these days no one is... what's the word..? Uhhh-"

knock knock knock

The knocks on the window startle you as both you and Sunny jump. "AH JUNG WOOYOUNG!" He waves behind the window as everyone else starts to exit the car. Wooyoung opens the door for you and Sunny acting like he didn't just startle the two of you.

As Sunny starts to chase him like they're kids again, you head over to where a majority of your friends are. "Ah, Y/n noona, what do you think?" Yunho asks as he bumps his arm on your side. "Do we eat first or should we go and snowboard?"

"Eat? But we just ate breakfast earlier?-" , "Guys, you see that! That's why we should go snowboard first!" You anticipate the upcoming debate between the group as you look around for where the usual peacemakers are.

Both Seonghwa and Hongjoong are taking pictures by the entrance as you decide to walk towards them. Seonghwa watches your every move towards them as a smile grows on his face, "Seonghwa!! Good smile, this picture will turn out perfect"

By the time you reach them Hongjoong is on the ground getting the perfect angle and Seonghwa waves you over to come next to him. Hongjoong notices this and turns his head, "Oh Y/n join the picture, I just got the perfect angle"

The man on the floor makes you feel as if you're on the cover of Vogue with the way he seems to snap a pic every split second. The blinding flash from his phone is as bright as the white snow everywhere. "Alright alright, you took a lot of pictures already." Next to you Seonghwa brings up a hand to block your eyes from the light.

"Ah wait wait. Just one more..?"

You held the hand in front of your view bringing it down to look at your friend but something behind him takes your attention. "Oh not again.."

The three of you looked at each other before you went over to the booming crowd of your friends. Their voices carrying through-out the entrance (which you're all still in by the way).

"No! I'm telling you, eating first is better before skiing!!"

"Wooyoung-ah I love you but no-"

"Ah ah kids be quiet. What do you guys think?"

Seonghwa looked at you as you shrugged at him gesturing him to just answer, "uhh I think we should just go ski or snowboard first because we already ate earlier."

"Wow of course the two love birds say the same thing."

...

....

Sunny....

The once noisy group of friends were now silent as everyone stared at Sunny who now seemed to realize what she said. In a panic she bursts out in a laugh at the awkwardness that she created, the others joined in slowly as they look around for something more interesting.

Hongjoong, who was deep in thought the whole time broke the awkwardness, "Why don't we just split up? The ones who want to eat go eat first and the others go skiing and snowboarding first." Murmurs of agreement went around as some felt embarrassed because of the simple solution.

"Okay then byebye~~" Sunny was the first to head inside the building to eat dragging Hongjoong with her. You felt something (or someone) get pulled away from your hands as Jongho put himself between you and Seonghwa, "You young people are so cute holding hands"

A smack on both of his shoulders from the two of you came after his comment with the tall duo snickering at the side. The three of them went on forward into the place as you and Seonghwa were left side by side.

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"Did you ever want to see what'll happen if you fall off this swing?"

"Ask another stupid question and I'll push you off your seat."

Your foot that isn't connected to the snowboard you rented knocked into the boy's foot next to you. Jongho was seated in between you and Seonghwa, Mingi and Yunho were in the row in front of you guys and kept on turning around occasionally to wave at you three.

Behind the seat your arm and Seonghwa's kept on bumping into each other. In a way, they were like magnets wanting to stay together. "Oh my what is this?"

The younger one put the two of your arms together as he then layed on it, "My arm rests are back," His comment made the two of you scoff but the proud expression on his face was too cute to make you mad.

Seonghwa made eye contact with you before the two of you made a silent agreement. "Oh is the baby happy??" Seonghwa ruffled the boy's hair as you pinched his cheek, "Aww, our baby is so so happy"

"Alright alright, I'll get off," his pouted look made you lean him onto your shoulder. Another wave was sent towards Mingi who turned around again as a squeeze was felt from Seonghwa's hand which was still on your arm.

Jongho let out an exaggerated sigh as you locked eyes with Seonghwa, "Honestly.. I missed this," he mumbled into your shoulder. "Missed what?"

"Well, this. I missed when you two would act like my parents." you used your other hand to pat his head while your eyes stayed locked on Seonghwa's. "I missed it too Jong."

The eye contact was broken as you heard a loud laugh from Yunho after it seemed Mingi fell forward when getting off his seat. "Man I hate this part the most." With a grunt you jumped off the slow swing with the other two following.

While pushing yourselfs forward Jongho proposed an idea. "Let's have a race down the slope," Yunho was the first to answer with a nudge of his arm, "Okay~ I'm in!"

Mingi puts his arms around the two boys pushing his head on theirs, "Loser pays for food later, right?", "Of course loser pays!," your voice is a bit muffled as you're leaned over with your hand on Seonghwa for support as you put your other foot in the board.

"You guys can do your race and I'll just pay later."

"Oh, hyung why? Is it because you're the only one who picked skiing?"

"What? No, I'm just too slow so-"

The things that happened next were so quick that you could miss it if you weren't paying attention. And you were definitely not focused on the conversation happening.

“Ayyy Seonghwa hyung that doesn't matter, you can still— OH NO!” Jongho paired his words with what was supposed to be a light punch on the shoulder but the boy forgot his own strength.

Your hand still holding onto Seonghwa was pulled as he fell from the impact of Jongho's “light” punch. A wave of profanities escaped your mouth as the two of you rolled down the hill. The male wrapped his arms around you tightly as he repeatedly apologized while keeping a protective hand behind your head.

Luckily your fall stopped before you made the halfway mark of the hill. As you got off of Seonghwa and sat up the words that were going to come out of your mouth halted as his hand slowly ruffled the snow out of your hair.

“Are you okay?” his question snapped you out of your trance as you slapped his hand away, “Of course I'm not.. you didn't need to drag me down with you…” Despite the harsh slap from you he continued to help brush the snow off you.

You let him as the silence engulfed the two of you again, but this time it felt comfortable. The sounds of your breathing was all you heard as you stared at the man in front of you. His features are still as beautiful as they were the last time you admired him.

As his hand went from your hair to your cheek, the two of you locked eyes. “W-why did you pull me down with you..?” The intense eye contact made you nervous as the two of you slowly leaned in.

His nose was eventually touching yours and his warm breath which contrasted the cold air around you radiated on your lips. Before the small gap was closed between you he used his other hand to hold yours as he answered your question.

“I just reached for you without thinking..”

Act 3: Our Future

“More like too late.”

"So..?"

"So what?"

“Oh come on, you think I wouldn't notice when two of my best friends all of a sudden become awkward and nervous with each other, well.. again.”

You and Hongjoong were in the small office that the rented house had, it was late and after the ski resort him and Sunny noticed your mood changes. The couch you two were sitting on was small, meaning there was no space between you two during the conversation.

“Jongho pushed Seonghwa and he dragged me with him down the hill.”

The couch started to shake a little as the man next to you tried to hold in his laughter. Eventually his shakes became giggles and giggles became a full on cackle.

“Are you done yet?”

“No of course not, that's hilarious,”

His laughter continued for a bit until he finally calmed down, manually breathing in and out to control himself before he loses his composure again.

“Alright okay, is that it? I mean falling down a hill together can be embarassing..”

“We kissed.”

The slow fade from a smile to a shocked expression on Hongjoong's face almost scared you with how his whole body melted as his hand even grabbbed onto you for support.

He shook his head to get his thoughts back together as you started to get nervous.

“Well it wasn't really a kiss kiss though, it was only a few seconds because I heard the others coming down the hill after us and-”

“OH MY GOD.”

Your rambling was cut off as Hongjoong now started to freak out, “YOU KISSED?? HOW? WHY? WHAT?”

“Joong. The kiss was probably an in the moment action. It probably meant nothing to him.”

Your voice drifted off as you unknowingly held onto your necklace. Hongjoong notices this and recognizes the necklace that Seonghwa gave you.

“But it meant something to you didn’t it?” he took your silence as an answer as he asked another question, “You still love him don’t you?”

“Of course I still do, we were together for over two years and known each other for longer but our relationship ended in such a regretful way.”

Just as Hongjoong’s hand was about to comfort your shoulder there was a knock at the door. Sunny’s head poked through the door as she smiled at you and gestured for Hongjoong to come out the room, “Oh, I’ll be back Y/n.” when Hongjoong left the room another person was pushed into the room.

The door behind Seonghwa was slammed shut as he was in panic because of the forceful entrance. You watched in confusion as he tries to jiggle the door knob that is being held on the outside by Sunny. Seonghwa gives up with a sigh and turns to you, eyes full of longing as are yours too.

“Hi.”

…..

The room was filled with silence, the only thing heard was the sounds of your breaths. Seonghwa walked closer and sat right next to you. His scent engulfs you as there’s little space between you two. When you turn to look at him, he’s already looking at you.

“I’m sorry about that kiss earlier. I think I just.. missed us.”

You can’t help but to stay silent after his statement, your head was now lowered as your eyes shut.

“Y/n.. why’d you leave me?

“Because you left me first.”

The words were barely audible as they came out of your mouth, but you know he heard it as Seonghwa looked at you with a mixture of sadness and regret in his eyes, and you felt your heart ache at the sight. For a moment, it was as if you were transported back in time to the day when everything ended between you two.

Seonghwa's voice wavered slightly as he spoke, his confusion evident. "Left you? What? It... it was you who ended things between us, Y/n."

“Seonghwa.. did you not realize how much you distanced yourself from me? The last few weeks of our relationship was filled of you practically ignoring me at some points.” Seonghwa's eyes were glimmering in confusion and guilt.

Your gaze softened, and you let out a sigh, leaning back against the couch. The words seemed to hang in the air, a mix of memories and emotions swirling around you both. "I guess we remember our last months together differently..."

Seonghwa kept his eyes on you even when the eye contact was broken as his words were filled with sincerity. “Y/n, I love you. But I was second-guessing myself and thinking I was too clingy and too pushy with you. I was distancing myself to make you less uncomfortable.”

“Why didn't you just talk to me..? Even when I broke up with you, you could have at least said something” You feel your voice waver as it starts to get hard to get words out of your mouth.

“I just wanted what you wanted..”

“But all I wanted was you.”

As those words leave your lips, you feel a few tears run down your face. At the sight of them Seonghwa lets his own tears run free too, he brings his hands to your face to wipe them away and at his touch you break down on him.

He pulls you into a hug as your tears start to soak his t-shirt and his own get lost in your hair. Your arms wrap around him, longing for this feeling again for months. “I never wanted to leave you hwa..” Seonghwa plants a small peck on the top of your head, “I know y/n, I know darling..”

“I should've just talked to you.. I don't know why but I was so scared, I didn't want to lose you. But turns out not even saying something made us break up anyways…” You feel Seonghwa’s hand caress your back while he talks which makes you melt into his touch.

“I'm sorry hwa, I still love you. Never stopped..” You stay quiet after saying that, wanting to bask in the feeling of being close to him again. In a cold room there's the embers of the flame growing again between the two of you.

“Y/n… would you let me take you out again after this trip? On a date.. we can wait a few more days of talking again before you say—”

“I'll go on a date with you Seonghwa and we’ll hold hands and hug and kiss and-” Before you can finish your sentence he pecks your lips, “Too soon?” Seonghwa looks into your eyes with stars in his.

The tears in your eyes from earlier faded away as the grin on your face replaced them. Your hands go to rest on his cheeks as they start to glow a pretty pink. Your noses start to tickle each other as you pull him closer, breath feathering on each others lips.

“More like too late.”

★☆★ AUTHOR'S GOODBYE = AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!! i took so long to write this one-shot that i literally got into and out of a relationship twice… and omg i was supposed to finish this by January but its october now ;-; but anyways thank you for reading! YAYAYAY

☆★☆ TAG LIST = @loonaluvz @sanasour @boomhoon

#mars101 #mootie moots ♡#hi mars!! it’s peony!!!#THE ENDING HAD ME AHFBJSFK #I LOVE EXES TO LOVERS TROPES SO MUCH #like yeah i'm enraged that they broke up #but rejoice when they realize how much they still love each other #reading this story had me on edge honestly #ngl i was expecting sunny to be hwa's new fling but thank goodness i was wrong #i SCREAMED when i read they kissed while falling down the hill #like “oh wow how convenient for your lips to be falling on mine”#and the reader confiding in hongjoong about the kiss dnsnfn #anyways i was kicking my feet in joy reading this haha #recs #ateez #ateez songhwa #fluff

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peonieslibrary · 7 months

Text

with every storm, i have you. ➵ jacob bae

non-idol!jacob bae x reader

no matter what you may bring, jacob will choose to stay.

general genre/warnings ➵ angst with happy ending, hurt/comfort, gender neutral reader, lowercase intended (and unedited because i wrote this on tumblr directly), established relationship, very reader-centric because they have a lot baggage, jacob is the most soft and understanding boyfriend ever, kissing, cuddling, little dialogue

word count ➵ 1.5k words

taglist ➵ @deoboyznet@kflixnet@blankjournal @winterchimez @miusgirl@jenoscafe@sweet-unicorn-world@mosviqu @vernyangel

playlist ➵ a burning hill by mitski // everythingoes by rm // lay your head on me by crush // love. by wave to earth

a/n ➵ wrote this on a whim. i always think of the most gutwrenching scenarios with jacob. but maybe that's because i find a safe place in him. also it's been raining really hard here, so everyone stay safe, dry, and warm! i hope you enjoy my first drabble.

want to be part of my taglist? send me an ask! masterlist

you're the type of person who loves when the sky pours. the rain brings everything you cherish; the pattering of droplets against the window; the glow of your vanilla-scented candle that rests on your table; the opportunity for jacob to bring you into his embrace—hold you close until the sun decides to shine.

so whenever the clouds look like they're going to bring showers, you allow yourself to relish in the possibility of going through the routine—light up the candle, leave the lamp by your bedside table on as the overhead lights are off, and get in bed with the guy who does nothing but keeps you close. and as you read the works of poets that describe the joys of love, you know they can only hope to experience what you have now.

but tonight is not like any other—the sky cries not only for itself but for you as well.

you sit in front of him with downcast eyes. on the bed you two share cuddles, laughter, and comfortable silences, you and jacob sit across from each other with a distance unlike no other—almost as if you two were strangers.

when your eyes look up towards him, you notice a frown etched onto his face. you know why he's disappointed in you, and you wish you could be a better person—a good partner that makes it easy for him to love you.

and you want to say you're sorry, that what he first knew you as is nothing but a coverup for all that's wrong—all that's terrible in the world is stored in you.

a shaky breath leaves your mouth. "i'm sorry," your shoulders sag down further.

his eyebrows furrow together even further. "w–what are you saying? there's nothing to be sorry for."

you shake your head at his words. there is so much you need to apologize for. is he playing blind to the mess to protect your feelings?

"i keep shutting you out, spitting out lies right in front of your face," your eyes reach up to the ceiling as you take a moment to breathe—an attempt to keep your tears at bay. breathe in, breathe out. "proving to you that i am nothing like how you first knew me."

and you know you are nothing like who he fell first in love with. he has every right to walk out the door, to leave you to crumble in the space you two used to share. but without his comfort, you know the voices would get louder—that all your tendencies will come back stronger than ever. and yet, you would never beg him to stay because you don't want to trouble him anymore—you hate that you've become a burden to him in the first place.

once you let your eyes trail back down to the boy who sits across from you, you notice that the frown has left his face. his eyes have turned glossy, and you know that you teeter on the edge of a vulnerable dam—that the tears can fall any moment as the storm continues on. you hate crying but this moment makes it seem impossible to hold anything back.

the patter against your window fills the silence. you almost take it as a sign to continue your apologies, to let him know that he can open the door and walk out of the intimate space you two have spent building. because you are nothing but a fraud—a liar to a boy who never deserves to be lied to.

but he beats you to it, almost like he knows the exact thoughts that run through your head. "you–" he closes his eyes for a moment. "don't ever think that."

"but all i've done is trouble you." his eyes finally open to meet yours that hold nothing but sorrow, regret, and every pain that you have kept to yourself. "i'm not good for you, don't you understand? i'm terrible for you."

"no," he cuts you off. the frown has made its way back to his face. "why would you ever think that?"

you let out a sigh before saying, "because i am bad for you. i shut you out unexpectedly and i refuse to tell you why, i never want to talk about what bothers me, and i'm never honest with you." your eyes trail down to the space between you two. "and i would understand if you wanted to leave me."

the sight of the bedsheets that wrap around you and him every night pulls at every piece of your heart—these sheets will not do their designated job once jacob leaves you alone to rot.

your hands grip the cloth. the dam is so close to breaking, and you are doing everything to cover the tracks so that the water may never seep through the cracks. but the sight of his hand reaching out and resting on yours proves that you did a terrible job patching up the splits.

you look up to him, the tears now streaming down your face. the sight of the man who does nothing but show you kindness and love makes you cry even more. you don't want to say goodbye to him, but you have to.

"why would you ever think i'd leave you?" he finally asks. and somehow, his simple words make you wail. his hand that once held yours now reaches out to your cheeks, wiping away the tears that continue to spill out. "i am never leaving you, okay?"

as soon as a soft smile rests on his lips, you cannot help but wonder how someone like him came into your life—why would he still choose to stay with you?

but you can't voice out your thoughts for your sobs are uncontrollable at this point. "i'm sorry i let you go this long thinking that. i should've been a more confrontational boyfriend. i wanted to give you space because i thought you needed it." you want to tell him that he's wrong, that you are the only person at fault—not him, ever.

his hand continues to rest on your face as he scoots closer to you. "but i want you to know i'm willing to carry some of your burdens—i want to carry some just for you," he says with the same soft smile that he flashes you every time you snuggle up to his chest. "because i love you."

and his words continue to make you sob. he is everything wonderful, and you can't believe that you are lucky enough to know him in this lifetime.

"come here," his hand leaves your cheek so that he can open his arms to you. you let your face snuggle into his chest, letting the tears stain his shirt.

it smells of the laundry detergent he introduced to you at your request—the first thing he brought to your shared home. this scent is something you will forever associate with him.

while one hand rests on your back, the other caresses your head. he holds you close despite the flaws that have slowly revealed over the time he moved in. how long will he stay?

and before you can spiral further, you hear him hum a tune—one that is unfamiliar. jacob likes to hum melodies whenever and wherever, whether it may be of artists he seems to play in your shared space or his own. his murmurs of songs always beat the voices of your anxieties.

and before you know it, he drags you down with him. you yelp out at the sudden action and he can't help but chuckle, clearly hearing you despite how muffled it may sound. you let your face leave his shirt so that you can look at the boy who still has the same soft smile on his face.

he moves his hand so that it can wipe the tearstains away. "i'll always be here, you know?" and you finally allow yourself to smile at him. at the sight of you finally smiling, he cannot help but coo, "see, i got you smiling."

the smile leaves your face. you roll your eyes before looking away from him. "you ruined it." he lets out a laugh as he pulls you even closer, snuggling his face to the side of your face.

"i'm sorry!" he says before letting his lips meet your cheek, allowing them to stay for as long as he wants to.

you two now lay on the bed with his arms still wrapped around you—the same one that continues to shelter you both from every weather and every season.

and before you can croak out anything, he beats you to it with words that pull at your heartstrings. "i will always be here to listen to you, okay?" he says as soon as his lips leave your cheek. you turn your head to face your one and only. "i know it will take time for you to grow comfortable with sharing your burdens with me, but i'll be there every step of the way."

his comforting smile is almost enough to rid you of all your burdens. you can't help but think you are lucky to have jacob with every storm that comes.

if you enjoyed this, please reblog and leave some feedback!

#zzoguri #mootie moots ♡#istg you wrote my entire inner dialogue #as someone who SUCKS at telling others how i feel this drabble really spoke to me #you’re so valid for writing angst with jacob bc he’s the type of person go always turn a storm into a rainbow #i just love how you wrote the readers emotions so well almost carrying us through their emotions #i can’t believe this is my first time reading your works!! i’m so excited to go through your masterlist!!!#recs #fluff #angst #the boyz #jacob bae

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peonieslibrary · 9 months

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Mooning. Okay but like even tho this is clothes, I know you're not gonna say anything abt "swimming in his sweater" and that's always much appreciated. As rules go tho, you're always welcome to decline <3.

send me a prompt for a drabble

[not so subtle playlist]

[You] remember that time you said your memory is better than mine?

[Binnie] would I have a better memory than you if I forgot

[You] um...

[You] okay but guess what?

[Binnie] ???

[You] you left your sweater here lol

[Binnie] 🙄 okay that's one thing tho

[Binnie] I'll pick it up tomorrow

[You] oh but that's not all

[Binnie] ????

[You] there's a certain ipod in here...

[You] with a certain playlist...

[You] by the name of...

Mid-message, you laugh at how Bin's incoming call takes over your screen. He doesn't even let you say hello.

"It's not what you think."

"Oh?" you tease. "What's not what I think?"

He sighs on the other end of the line. "Look, that playlist... I just didn't know what to name it, so I just, like— I don't know. I just put in your name because it was the first word I thought of."

That lie in itself is sweet, and now you smile for two reasons.

"Oh yeah? Then why are all of them love songs?"

A pause.

"I like... love songs?"

"Is that a question?"

"...No?"

You laugh again, and the silence on his end isn't the least bit worrying to you right now.

"Bin," you say. "Do you have something you want to tell me?"

He lets out a breath. Two. Three.

"I'll come pick up my sweater tomorrow."

#this was really sweet to read #i can image how panicked he must be #i mean i also have a playlist dedicated to moonbin just not love songs #it’s a playlist i have of songs that remind me of him and other arohas have added to it #anyways back to my review or maybe lack there of idk my thoughts are so jumbled right now #i saved this story to read months ago #i know i should be smiling but i really miss him #recs #astro #moonbin

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peonieslibrary · 9 months

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hello! can i request for 95, 97 & 99 from your prompt list for Astro’s moonbin?

helloo my dear <3

95. “You can hurt me, it’s fine” + 97. “Why are you here?” + 99. “Why are there tears staining your pretty face?” x Moonbin

Warnings: angst

prompt list

You felt so helpless that your feet somehow guided you to Moonbin’s doorsteps. After seeing your ex in the supermarket and forgetting how to breathe, you left in tears. You didn’t know where you were going but continued to walk, feeling empty inside yet also as though you were bursting.

Like out of habit, you knocked on Moonbin door.

He opened it after a few seconds, rubbing his eyes and yawning. It was 5pm and he must have been napping.

“Why are you here?” he asked. But he swallowed his words as he noticed that you were crying, your face red and puffy. He immediately let you inside.

“Why are there tears staining your pretty face?” he asked as he leaned in close to look at your face.

“I-I,” you tried to get the words out, tried to explain yourself but you just couldn’t. Thinking about seeing your ex with a new s/o made your heart ache all over again.

As Moonbin wiped your tears away with his thumbs, his eyebrows knitted together in worry, you kept trying to speak, but all that left your mouth was sobs. Out of frustration, you lightly punched Moonbin’s chest.

“You can hurt me, it’s fine,” he said. “As long as you feel better, that’s all that matters.”

You buried your head in his chest and cried so hard, you thought you would collapse. But Moonbin was right there, rubbing circles on your back and holding you tightly.

“Let’s sit down,” he said, slowly guiding you to the couch.

After ten minutes of Moonbin holding you and you crying, you somehow managed to calm down a bit.

“Moonbin I-I saw my ex at the supermarket with their s/o,” you said quickly, trying to get the words out before you cried again. “I couldn’t breathe, I forgot how to breathe and I just-”

Out of nowhere, Moonbin gently pressed his lips against yours. Your lips must have tasted salty from all the tears than fell down your face, but he still kissed you for such a long time.

Instead of aching, your heart was now pounding.

When he pulled away, he looked into your eyes and tightly held your hands.

“Who needs your ex when you have me? Seeing them like that while you were all alone must have been horrible... but thinking about it is only going to make you more sad, so let’s go out and do something, okay? Let’s forget about what happened and just have a good night,” Moonbin said.

You nodded, still taken aback from the way Moonbin had kissed you. He smiled softly at you and told you to wash your puffy face with water so you’d feel better. He seemed so calm on the outside but on the inside, he was angry that he hadn’t been there with you when you saw your ex. He was reeling from the way he’d just kissed you and he swore to himself that he’d never leave you alone anymore.

#this is among the list of moonbin stories i saved to read a few months ago #now that i have fully accepted that he’s gone reading this makes me reminisce his presence #although i’ve never met him just watching him interact with his other members reminds me of how truly a kind soul he is #it’s nice to be able to read about him again #you will forever be in my heart #i miss you a lot bin but i know you’re looking down on us and protecting us #recs #astro #moonbin #fluff

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peonieslibrary · 9 months

Text

constant

pairing: sangyeon x reader

rating/genre: fluff + comfort <3

summary: after a long week of work, you and sangyeon barely have anything left in you to give, but what you do have you give to each other. selflessly.

warnings: none, just people choosing to love each other even when they’re exhausted <3

word count: 2.2k

song(s) to listen to while reading: good for you by eric nam, constant by jesse barrera ft. jeremy passion <3

note: back at it again with another comfort fic that i polished up from my old drafts. probably tmi but a while back i was listening to an episode of a podcast that was all about long-term partnership and this one idea of each partner rating their current level of capacity in a given moment was just fascinating to me. and then i wrote this wishing i had someone in my life like that. if that barely makes sense just read and you’ll get what im describing hopefully hehe. i'm in love with this type of relationship so i hope you enjoy <3

————

Sangyeon stepped through the door of your shared apartment that Friday evening to find that you were sitting comfortably in the living room with the television on, the sun having already set and the noise of commuters driving home having finally died down outside. It was quiet and peaceful, and his shoulders instantly relaxed as he finally shook off some of his work worries and thought ahead to the weekend - to finally getting to wind down with you and sleep in for the first time in too long.

“Hey babe,” you heard him say softly as you finally turned to look at him from your spot on the couch. You could see the tiredness radiating from his body, a large hand raking through his hair to push it out of his face as he gave you a little smile before hanging his jacket on one of the hooks you’d put up by the door.

You wished you could smile back but you’d had a rough day yourself - tired from work and getting stuck in traffic as you’d worried about a million little things on the way home.

He groaned as he noticed your expression, finally making his way over to you as he rubbed a hand over the back of your hair softly and gave you a peck on the forehead before plopping down on the couch. You couldn’t help but soften your expression when you felt his calming touches. That was Sangyeon – he was nothing if not instantly calming.

“Tell me where you’re at right now,” he asked of you softly, voice low as if he didn’t want to disturb your quiet. You turned to look at him, your eyes completely drained, and you could see the instant concern that radiated from him as you responded, even through his own tired eyes.

“I’m at like a 3 right now.”

Sometime after the two of you started dating you came up with a system to rate your emotional capacity at any given moment on a scale of 1 to 10. It seemed weird but it was really just a way for you both to quickly gauge how the other was feeling and know whether one of you was able to carry more of the load on any given day. The higher the number, the higher your capacity.

“I’m at a 4,” Sangyeon said immediately, and you gave him a pout.

It seemed like recently whenever you both happened to have bad days he always tried to be just a little higher than you so he could be the one to take care of things – take care of you. He didn’t like for you to worry about him even though you knew he needed to be taken care of too sometimes, just like anyone else. You made a mental note that from now on, you’d say your numbers at the same time.

“Sangyeon. Be honest with me.”

“I’ve had worse days,” he brushed your concerns away, easing around the subject.

You noticed how he didn’t try to insist he was telling you the truth about how he was feeling. Sangyeon always took his words seriously, treating them with a carefulness that almost rivaled how he treated you. He never was one to outright lie, and so after one too many times of buried feelings in the past, you’d learned how to read between the lines of his words. Sure, he may have had worse days, but that didn’t mean today wasn’t a particularly bad one.

You rubbed his arm a few times before shifting closer to him on the couch and resting your head against his chest. He wrapped an arm across your waist and pulled you in even closer, giving you another kiss in your hair as the two of you held each other. His movements comforted you, but you also knew that this was what he did to comfort himself after a long day. Doting on you was how he released his frustration sometimes.

He smelled like the laundry you two did together last weekend mixed with the day’s efforts and a hint of something that you could only describe as uniquely him, and if you were being honest you probably could have fallen asleep right there in his arms. But instead you kept rubbing your hand against his back in that way you knew he liked, hoping he’d relax some more and finally let go of whatever it was he’d been carrying all day like you wanted him to.

Eventually he released a deep sigh at your ministrations, and you felt his muscles relax underneath your palm. You hid the tiny smile that appeared on your lips, burying your head closer into his chest as he finally spoke up.

“Work was just a lot. Has been all week, but especially today.”

You hummed at his words gently.

“Did rehearsal go into overtime again?” And in response you felt him nod against your skin, the crook of his head now pressed into your neck.

“There was this one part we just really struggled to get in sync. And I kept worrying that I was messing up everyone else.” Sangyeon sighed again and you tried to hold onto him even tighter at those words. You knew how much he hated feeling like he wasn’t being a good leader to his group. How much he tended to carry that weight on his shoulders without a single complaint.

“I’m sorry babe. I can tell you’ve had a long day. You must be tired.”

“I’m sure you’re just as tired as me,” he said then, refusing to let you dismiss your own worries in your attempts to comfort him. Your mind drifted back to all the stuff you’d dealt with today.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” he mumbled into your neck, breaking you out of your train of thought as he kissed the spot gently. You couldn’t help but smile a little at that despite your stress, combing your fingers through the strands at the back of his head as you thought about it for moment before finally responding.

“Not yet,” you answered. “What I really need right now is you. Holding me. Just like this. I missed you so much today.”

Sangyeon didn’t stress it, simply giving you what you asked for. After years of being together, he knew this was just how you were – you kept the complexities of your mind to yourself until you could really articulate what it was you wanted to say. And he was always there when you were finally ready to lay it all on him, even at the most random of times. He was always waiting for you with open arms, and you loved him for that.

“I missed you too. Did you eat?”

He separated himself from your hold just enough to look at you directly then, and you pursed your lips guiltily.

“No…but I did pick up some takeout.”

You had a bad habit of waiting to eat dinner until Sangyeon got home so the two of you could eat together - especially on Fridays, when he had the highest chances of getting back at a decent hour. That meant that sometimes you went without food for longer than was acceptable to him. Not to mention you’d toss and turn all night from the lack of digestion before bed. When you couldn’t sleep he couldn’t either, no matter how tired he was.

You looked up at him sheepishly then and you could tell he was about to scold you, but before he could, the two of you heard the loud rumble of his stomach.

“Uh…” Sangyeon started with his own guilty look.

You giggled, a smirk forming on your lips. The blush on his face was unmistakable as he averted his eyes from yours, rubbing the back of his reddening neck.

“Let’s eat,” you said, taking charge then.

You got up before he could hold you back with those tempting hands of his and began filling up two plates, grabbing water for the both of you as well and making your way back to the couch. He looked at you gratefully as he took a plate from your hands, eager to dig in. The two of you ate in silence, you spooning yourself up servings of kimchi fried rice while Sangyeon dove into a container of noodles and some egg rolls, his favorite from this spot a few blocks away from your place. He finished his food first, like he always did, sipping on his water as he stared over at you reverently.

“What?” You asked as you swallowed another mouthful of rice, a rare moment of self-consciousness bubbling up inside of you.

“I just like seeing you eat well. That’s all.”

He leaned in then and gave you a peck on your lips. It tasted faintly sweet like the sauce from his egg rolls and even though you knew he was trying to be quick you still got lost in it like you did every time he kissed you, closing your eyes for a moment before he pulled away.

“Uh uh, finish eating first and then let’s get ready for bed,” he chided, and you rolled your eyes, trying to finish the rest of your food as quickly as possible.

You’d already showered so once you were done eating you worked on brushing your teeth and cleaning your face as Sangyeon hopped into the shower. The two of you were so used to sharing space by now that you didn’t even blink twice as he took his shirt off before he even reached the bathroom. He finished undressing and slipped into the stream of warm water while you focused on yourself in the mirror, proud that you only peaked at his silhouette through the shower curtains once while he was cleaning up.

You were in bed laying under the sheets with a book in your hands when he finally got out of the bathroom, a look of pure bliss on his face as he put his towel away and made his way over to your shared bed. You could tell that, just as usual, he was feeling much better after a good shower.

He rolled under the sheets before leaning over towards you, his head craning towards your neck as he gave you another kiss there, this one slightly longer. You could feel the softness of his lips and smell the lavender scent of his shampoo, even noticing how smooth and soft the little bits of his skin that touched yours were from the lotion you always urged him to use.

You closed your book immediately and set it on the nightstand because you knew you wouldn’t be able to read a single word with him right beside you like this. Sangyeon shuffled even closer to you then, your shoulders touching as he raised his head to be at eye level again. His large hand landed on your thigh, the rough calluses of his palm contrasting with how gently he touched you and making goosebumps rise on your skin. You knew he was only touching you in a comfort sort of way but somehow it still made butterflies appear in your stomach - just like the first time the two of you ever laid together.

“Thank you,” you said softly as you looked over at him, not wanting to disrupt such a precious moment.

“For what?” he asked, a genuine curiosity lighting up his face.

You just tilted your head and shook it serenely, a tiny sigh leaving your lips.

“For taking care of me. Even when you’re exhausted.”

‘’Of course. I should be thanking you too, you know. I love you.”

He always said those three words so easily, like he was just breathing in air or blinking. They came out on instinct because at this point it was just a fact - he’d known for a while now that you were forever a part of him, simple as that.

You didn’t respond with words, instead leaning in with hooded eyes and cupping the side of his face with your hand. You kissed him softly, trying to tell him how you were feeling with your lips. Words had never come that easily to you.

He tilted his head and intensified the kiss, nipping at your lips a few times but keeping the pace slow and his kisses deep. You could feel his hair pressed against your forehead from how close he was and after a while it just felt like you were melting into each other somehow.

When you finally parted, he finished with another quick peck before quickly turning out the lamp on his side and pulling you into his arms, the two of you making yourselves comfortable as you laid down in bed.

“Come here,” Sangyeon mumbled in playful stubbornness, pulling you impossibly closer as you giggled.

Your head laid on his chest with an arm draped across his waist while his arm was securely wrapped around yours. The pairs of your legs tangled together seamlessly under the sheets as he laid on his back and you on your side, nestled into him.

As your eyes finally drifted closed, a whisper of “I love you too,” slipped from between your lips while your fingers rubbed back and forth across his wide chest, luring you to sleep.

“I know baby. I know.”

#this is the first fic i’ve read in a long time and an amazing one at that #this is the type of relationship that i yearn for #just two people loving on each other with so much passion and gentleness #i love how comfortable they are with each other it just brings another element of warmth #i have so many warm and fuzzy thoughts rn #sangyeon really is just that man #recs #the boyz #fluff #sangyeon #lee sangyeon

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peonieslibrary · 1 year

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hi! welcome to my safe space where i spew my incoherent thoughts and scream over amazing writers <3

about me // my writing blog

thank you for stopping by!

#navigation #about peony

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peonieslibrary · 1 year

Text

𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬

model!choi chanhee x fem!assistant!reader

you were just supposed to be his assistant, but at some point, you'd come to mean a lot more to him.

6.4k words (WHOOPS my hand slipped), technically s2l, fluff, angst if u squint, slight pining?, kissing, model stuff and first world problems 😔✨, like one curse word, barely proofread

a/n: istg it wasn't supposed to be like this ;-; it would have been longer but i got impatient </3

Choi Chanhee had once made a girl cry because she had forgotten his phone in the car. In his defense, he hadn't gotten much shuteye the night prior, but Kevin liked to always remind him of that instance.

They said that was the first, true moment the tabloids began painting him in a new light.

'Choi Chanhee, Model-zilla, Hits the Streets of Paris for Fashion Week Once Again'. 'Choi Chanhee's Ex-assistants Come Forward with Shocking Experiences'. 'Satin or Silk: the Truth Behind New's Refusal to Wear Alexander McQueen'.

The last one didn't even make sense; Alexander McQueen only used silk, anyway, and Chanhee had walked in one of his shows a few years ago. Chanhee simply hadn't the time to pen the designer into his schedule since.

The one about assistants? Well, they were all entitled to free speech, but that didn't mean that he would spare them any mercy if they decided to blatantly lie about him. He could always trust Lee Sangyeon, his personal attorney, to take care of business, if and when any of his ex-employees decided that a good payout was comparable to spewing filth.

Then there was you.

Chanhee hadn't needed a new assistant in a little over half a year since you came along. Fresh out of university with a bachelor's in communication and punctuality, you waltzed into his life, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. You'd sat across from him, no-nonsense; he hired you right there. (He had not regretted it since. This was the last time he would let anyone but himself do the interview process.)

The best part about you was not that you always had his schedule memorized before he did, or that you appeared at his apartment before the car picked you both up with his favorite coffee order, or that you actually had decent taste in perfume—not… that he paid attention to what perfume you wore—but it was the fact that you could look him in the eye when he spoke to you, and you to him.

"—and you have a fitting with Chanel at five o'clock this evening right after that meeting with Maison Margiela about the perfume line. We'll have just enough time to—"

Wow, your eyes were pretty in this lighting, he thought. The two of you sat before the massive, floor-to-ceiling window in his penthouse apartment. The entire city laid sprawling at your feet while you sat across from each other at his breakfast table, eating blueberry muffins and drinking lattes.

And for some reason, all he could think about was how nice your hair looked again today, how brilliantly the shine in your eyes was from the sunlight, how impeccable your fashion sense was—even if it wasn't perfect, but that could easily be remedied. Chanhee would have to remind you to remind him to—

"Chanhee. Chanhee, are you listening to me?"

He snapped out with a flutter of his long eyelashes. He reached for his cup of coffee, delicately bringing it to his lips. "Hm? Of course, Maison and then Chanel. Did Changmin cancel our dinner or are we still on?"

A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips when he saw how your expression lightened knowing that he was paying attention. You idly stirred your latte around with a little silver spoon. "He says he's still good to go for tonight. Same place, same time."

A nod. "Good."

He nudged up the Prada sunglasses on his nose as he turned his head slightly to gaze out the open window. It was an awfully beautiful day out today. The sunlight was gentle, the skies were an azure wave of silk, sewn with clouds of white. "Yn, dearest, are we clear until the Maison meeting?"

You blinked. "Yes," you answered, checking your watch for the hour, "it's 10:32 right now."

"Mm, that gives us about five hours to refresh your wardrobe."

Your lips parted, and he smiled in amusement. There was something so adorable about your flustered state. "Excuse me?"

"Call it a little token of my appreciation," he sang, standing up from the table to deposit his empty plate and cup into the kitchen sink. "Could you call the driver to round the front?"

"Oh, uh, sure—"

"Thanks, love. I'll be back in a few," he called to you just as he disappeared into his bedroom to freshen up. You were left at the breakfast table, dumbfounded. You'd only ever gone shopping with Chanhee for him or for someone else. Not you. You were always on the clock when you were with him, and you figured he would probably take everything you bought today out of your paycheck, but…

You couldn't deny the flutter of excitement in your chest like the wings of a butterfly. This could either be the best thing that happened to you… or a complete shitshow.

There was something odd about walking into one of Chanhee's go-to leisure shopping stores—Dior—with the mindset that you were supposed to be shopping for yourself. Chanhee had asked the driver to pull up to the Dior storefront even as the regular paparazzi camped outside.

Your eyes gazed longingly at the Macy's across the mall.

Chanhee followed your gaze with a little scrunch of his nose. "Absolutely not," he clicked his tongue, dragging you out of the vehicle and to the sidewalk.

The press already dubbed you a "miracle" for being in his employ for longer than a day. But when they got shots of him literally hauling you into the Dior… you could imagine what they would all claim now. This was going to be a whole lot of cleanup, but you had learned after months of working with Chanhee that he was way tougher than he looked. He also didn't mind biting back.

When the two of you were safely stowed away within the guarded interior of Dior, you breathed easier.

Straightening, you greeted the staff members with a shallow bow, who did the same to both you and your boss.

Chanhee wiggled his fingers in silent greeting, then beelined for a white, quilted blazer on a mannequin. A worker scrambled after him to talk about the piece while another stuck by your side to make small conversation.

"How was your morning?" They asked you pleasantly.

"Oh, it was quite nice! How was yours?"

"Pretty quiet," they smiled. They were about to say something else when both of you were interrupted with Chanhee calling your name.

His eyes were pinned to you from over the rim of his sunglasses. Draped over his arm was a tapered coat of some sort, a dress, and… oh, god no. "Yn, come here."

You could already hear your wallet crying. "Chanhee, I literally cannot afford a single thing in here—"

He pressed a palm between your shoulder blades and steered you in the direction of the dressing rooms. "That's besides the point because I can afford them; that's what matters."

Surprise made your footing falter. "Huh?"

"Silly Yn-ie," he teased, "did you think I was gonna bring you all the way out here to not treat you?" Before you could say anything else, he was shoving the items into your arms, and your body into the grandiose space of the Dior dressing room. He winked over his glasses. "Now hurry and put them on. I wanna see!"

He ripped the curtain closed, and you stood there for a moment.

In your hands were the jacket, the dress, and a pair of shoes that probably cost you more than your entire bank account combined. You blew out a puff of air, just as you heard a staff member offer him a glass of champagne on the other side of the curtain.

"No getting out of this, Yn," you muttered to yourself, then began hanging everything up."

Chanhee was no stranger to the effect he had on people. In fact, he wielded it like a dagger. It was how he had gotten so far in this industry in the first place other than his immaculate good looks, of course. The face of an angel and an attitude of the devil—at least, that was what one article had said about him. He quite liked it, actually.

There was something wholly different about his effect on you as you stood beneath his scrutinizing, heated gaze, as you tried on piece upon piece. He loved being able to unabashedly stare at you, to take in your flustered expression as you did little spins for him in the outfit of choice. For once, you couldn't look him in the eye, and when you had done so once, it had been when his tongue darted out to wet his lips.

It wasn't just the champagne he was tasting.

It was the next morning when you appeared in his home at 7 o'clock sharp, as usual, but with a new accessory hanging off your arm. It was one of the more low-key purses he had bought you yesterday—and to be honest, it was actually one of his personal favorites. It was a Chanel one, of course, and it complimented your pant suit quite nicely.

"Morning," you chirped, handing him his cup of coffee as he stumbled out of his room in a silk robe and with a yawn widening his mouth.

Chanhee smiled at the sight of you, graciously accepting the coffee from you. He leaned against the countertop next to you. "Good morning," he murmured lowly, peering at you over the rim of the cup, taking a languid sip.

He sighed as the caffeine began working its magic. "How are you this morning, dearest? Have a good night?"

You had set your purse down on the island, then moved away from him only to go check his refrigerator to see if he needed anything restocked. Always so attentive. "I had a good night. How was dinner with Changmin?"

"Lovely," he said fondly. "I see you are putting my gifts to use." His fingers danced along the gold chain draped along one end of the quilted leather.

He swore your cheeks flushed, but then again, his eyes had never tricked him for a second. "Ah, yes. Thank you so much for yesterday, by the way." The fridge closed softly, and you grabbed an apple from the basket on the counter to wash and munch on. "I really don't know how I can repay you—"

Chanhee dismissed you immediately, his wrist flicking outward. "Pfft, none of that. I told you it was all a token of my affection," he grinned, propping his chin onto his palm across the island counter from you. "And gratitude," he added. "I don't say this to just anyone, Yn, and I don't buy just anyone all that stuff—but I did it because I appreciate you."

Your chewing slowed and you swallowed. "Oh."

He said it so easily. God, was he lucky to have met you.

Knowing he had successfully rendered you speechless once more, he laughed lightly, deciding to change the subject. "What's today's schedule like?"

You immediately straightened; this was something you knew like the back of your hand. It was much more up your alley.

As you ran him through his activities today, you failed to notice the difference in his posture, the softer smile on his face, and the way his eyes could not leave you for a moment, not even to drink his coffee.

Grueling was an understatement. Today had been one of the worst days of your working existence under Chanhee's employ. You'd endured rough days and nights before, but today, it seemed to have been hassle after hassle after hassle. You probably got around thirty-thousand steps by how much you ran around trying to find emergency kits and emergency outfits and running to the emergency dry cleaner's.

As much as the fashion world enthralled you, sometimes you wondered how anyone could survive it.

Chanhee was just as maxed out as you were by the end. It was maybe three in the morning by the time the two of you collapsed into the backseat of his driver's car. Streets were barren at this time in the ungodly hours of morning, and your joints ached every time you breathed.

Chanhee was quiet as well as he leaned his head back against the headrest to allow his body some rest. He just barely managed to get through that last shoot—clearly the directors had no clue what they were doing, he thought with a dead look in his eyes. That was how he felt—dead. If it hadn't been for you swooping in with a creative direction…

You were brilliant; that much he was certain of. Without you, that shoot might have dragged on for another couple of hours, or Chanhee would have just walked out. Usually, he had a good sense and eye for things, but with everything that happened today, for once, he didn't have the energy to yell or direct.

He needed to treat you to brunch tomorrow, if he was even able to wake up in time—

His inner thoughts halted when he felt a sudden weight fall upon his left shoulder. He froze up.

Your head had slumped onto his shoulder, eyes closed and no doubt deep asleep. Your bangs had fallen out from the bounds of your ponytail and draped across your face as you slept. He could smell the Miss Dior on you with this proximity.

Chanhee smiled to himself, taking his other hand and brushing the hair from your face and gently caressing your cheek. "Cute," he murmured.

By the time the car rolled to a stop in front of his complex, Chanhee had made a couple of executive decisions.

He lightly roused you from your sleep, cooing into your ear, "Come on, Yn-ie. Let's get you to bed, hm?"

You hummed, lifting your head from his shoulder with a yawn. You rubbed your eye with no care for the makeup smudging. "Chanhee? Why're you still here?"

Normally, the driver would drop Chanhee off first and then you, especially when it came to late nights like this. But… what… was happening?

Chanhee helped you out of the car, thanking the driver while mustering up a kind smile for him. "You're too tired, love. I'm taking you upstairs to my place."

"Wait, I can't—" but you weren't physically protesting; your body ached and ached and ached. But this was your boss, your employer. This wasn't professional.

"Yn, you're exhausted," he countered, buzzing into the building and helping you inside.

You couldn't argue with him anymore. You just wanted your face to hit a pillow and be out for the night. "Okay," you mumbled, letting him press your face into his shoulder on the ride up the elevator.

"Good girl," he sighed. He tilted his head back against the elevator wall, one arm wrapped around your middle and the other cradling the back of your head. Just a little longer, then the both of you could finally get some well-deserved rest.

You would argue you had seen Choi Chanhee at some of his best and worst moments. He was one of the most beautiful human beings on this planet, and yet, none of the prior moments could even compare to when you stumbled out of his bedroom to the sight of his back to you as he fried eggs and ladled waffle batter into the maker in the kitchen. He had a big T-shirt hanging from his lean frame, as well as a pair of loose pajama pants on, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for everything to cook.

Even at ten in the morning, the light pink waves of his hair looked immaculately styled. You almost forgot he hadn't gotten a perm in awhile.

The panic of waking up in his sheets instead of yours had faded when you recalled your conversation with him just seven hours prior. He had managed to wrestle you into an extra set of sleepwear he just had lying around (Gucci, nonetheless), before he deposited you onto his bed, then promptly curled up outside on the living room couch.

You swallowed. Now what?

It was then that Chanhee turned around with an innocent look on his face. You watched as it melted into something softer at the sight of you. "Good morning, dearest," he beamed, "sleep well?"

Drowsiness lingered at the corners of your eyes, but you somehow managed a nod. "Yeah, how about you?" You asked him quietly. Actually, that had been some of the best sleep you'd ever had. Something about his sheets with high thread count and the smell of Chanhee lingering on everything. But you weren't just about to say that to him.

"Well enough," he replied. He waved you over. "Come sit; breakfast is almost ready."

Your eyes widened a smidge. That was for you? Now you really needed to go home. "Ah, I appreciate it, but I've practically overstayed my welcome—"

He sent you a look. "Yn, come have breakfast with me."

You caved. Because at this point, you'd already screwed yourself over. And breakfast really did smell nice; what was the difference between Chanhee making you breakfast and you bringing him breakfast from the café down the street?

(You didn't even want to go home, as much as your logical brain was trying to urge you towards.)

So the two of you breakfasted, and for a moment, you could forget, for once, that you were just supposed to be his assistant.

Some things changed after that morning, and Chanhee found himself getting you to stay over more and more often. Even if he had to come up with something stupid like "You haven't watched the 2001 New York Fashion Week rerun?" For some reason, you bought into all his excuses, and even though he knew it was probably because you were always attentive to his needs, a part of him liked to fantasize that you felt it, too.

The pull.

Something had shifted after that morning when he made you breakfast and the two of you ate together at the breakfast table. Sleep had lingered in your eyes, and your hair was a mess, but it was soft and beautiful and… he'd never been so in awe at someone's "I woke up like this" look.

His heart had leapt at the sight of you in those pajamas with that subtle pout to your lips.

God, he thought he might sweep you into his arms and kiss y—

"New. Chanhee. Choi Chanhee—"

He blinked, lifting his eyes from his menu to meet Changmin's. "Hm?"

Changmin wrinkled his nose at him, adjusting the sunglasses seated atop his head to hang from the collar of his dress shirt. (How it managed to hang with two buttons popped open, Chanhee chalked it up to fashion magic.) "You're awfully quiet today. What, tabloids finally shut you up?" He joked.

Chanhee rolled his eyes. "One of these days, I swear, they will render me speechless with their ridiculous delusions," he muttered airily, half-heartedly skimming the menu again.

He and Changmin were seated at their usual booth in their usual restaurant at their usual time. It was their weekly dinner together, something they had kept up since their university days in order to keep themselves grounded. They, of course, touched base with all of their university friends often, but the two of them were two peas in a pod. They even refused to let Sunwoo in on these weekly dinners specifically (something the younger friend was undoubtedly salty about).

Changmin could figure out when Chanhee was occupied with something other than the present. Usually, he was all up and out of his seat dealing out gossip or what torture he and you had been… oh.

Changmin cocked his head to the side, nostrils flaring slightly as he tried and failed to suppress a sly smile. "How's Yn these days?" He asked nonchalantly, lowering his eyes to the menu in front of him even though he always got the same thing every time.

To his credit, Chanhee didn't even react. "She's lovely as always. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno," Changmin drawled, "you haven't gushed about her like you usually do. I feel like you hang out with her more than me."

Chanhee raised a brow at his friend. "She's my assistant; of course I'm going to spend more time with her."

"Yeah, but—"

"And she's a lot more agreeable most of the time."

"Hey!"

Chanhee grinned in impish delight. "You asked."

Changmin sent him a stink eye, huffing as he raised his hand up to summon a waiter. "Yeah, whatever. Okay, but you literally refused to go out with me the other night, and when I texted Yn if you had a schedule, she said that you two were at home!"

That got his attention. Chanhee pursed his lips together, sheepishness peering through his smile. "In my defense, she hadn't seen New York Fashion Week in 2001."

"You hated that year, Chanhee."

"Exactly."

Changmin sighed to himself, and just as he was about to add on, a waiter came by to take their order. Once that was done, Changmin laced his fingers over the table and leveled his friend with a pointed look.

"Just admit that you like her."

Oh, Changmin. If only you could hear the rapid palpitations of his heart when you called him out like that. Chanhee blinked innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he swallowed.

It wasn't even two days later that Chanhee had you staying a little later at his place, once again. There was something jazzy and vibey playing in the background, while Chanhee finished up plating dinner and rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. You were over at the small table by the window pouring wine into twin glasses, your hair pulled haphazardly out of your face (for the most part) with a pearl-studded claw clip from Chanhee's personal PR box.

(You blatantly refused, but he then reminded you that he couldn't even use the clip himself.)

Chanhee didn't often think about sharing his life with someone, but it was moments like these—moments when he heard you hum under your breath, moments when the two of you could laugh about the day over dinner, moments when you weren't just his assistant but someone closer—that he could indulge himself. He wasn't a very domestic person; since childhood, he dreamed of places far away from home, seeing sights and experiencing cultures… but if he could come home to you? And experience this every time?

Suddenly dinner was over, and you were collecting dirty dishware and glasses to bring to the sink to wash.

"Yn-ie, hey, I can wash those—"

"No, no! You made dinner; I am washing dishes," you asserted, pushing him away from the sink when he tried to come up to you.

Chanhee broke into a laugh, coming up behind you to set his hands on your shoulders and rub the upper parts of your arms. "Okay, okay. Thanks, love," he said. He didn't even think before he pressed a kiss to your cheek and walked off to go to the bathroom.

Your cheek tingled where his lips had been, and you turned the faucet on to drown out the thrumming of your heartbeat in your ears. What was happening?

You felt like you were floating on air as you hummed to the music and washed the dishes, with the ghost of Chanhee's lips left lingering on your cheek. It served as a reminder of your growing affections for him. This was dangerous, dangerous territory, and yet… it was thrilling. It was new, bold, and delectable. It was Chanhee, for goodness sake.

He was the man you saw crying drunkenly over a cat video on TikTok, the man who lended you Gucci pajamas and his bed for the night. He was on the face of every magazine cover, always excited when you could read his mind about a certain piece of clothing. Everyone in the world wanted to be him or be with him. He was so out of reach, yet right in front of you.

Maybe it was the wine making your head buzz with this wave of unmitigated sentimentality.

You finished up with the dishes, drying off your hands with the towel hanging on the oven door. Chanhee sang your name out from somewhere deep inside his bedroom, and you followed his voice to his location.

He was seated on the rug in the middle of his walk-in closet, the white LEDs washing you with light. It was a far cry from the darkness of his bedroom and the warmth from the kitchen. Chanhee patted the spot next to him on the carpet, where he had a smattering of PR gifts littering the floor around him.

Curious, you lowered yourself next to him. "Are we sorting through PR stuff?" You asked, already making a mental catalog of all the things he'd probably want to keep and the things he'd want to donate.

Chanhee hummed his dissent, rising onto his knees and shuffling over to you. Your eyes widened as he stopped close to you and you held your breath. He raised a pair of twin diamond drop earrings from Tiffany and Co to your earlobes, eyes narrowed in consideration.

"No," he muttered, dumping the earrings into their box, then digging out another.

You scrambled to delicately put the earrings back into their proper holdings. "Chanhee, what are we doing?"

"You—" Chanhee returned with a pair of sapphire earrings this time, performing the same ritual as before, but this time smiling, "—are going to sit still and look pretty for me. I am going through the PR stuff for anything nice."

"Anything nice?" You parroted in disbelief. It wasn't like he just threw a pair of diamond earrings into a box like it wasn't nice, or anything.

"I've never seen you in pearls before," he said offhandedly. From a black velvet bag, he withdrew a string of pearls clasped at the end in gold. His mouth parted in awe, and you suddenly thought of how cute he looked. Chanhee, oftentimes, was attractive and elegant and spellbinding—but this Chanhee was adorable.

He eyeballed it around your neck, then moved to clasp the collar onto you. He brushed the stray strands of hair away from the nape of your neck, gently grazing the pads of his fingers along the warm skin there. The action sent a shudder down your spine, and you were reminded of the cheek kiss from earlier.

"There," he murmured, coming back around to inspect you from the front. "Looks much better on you than it would on me."

You scoffed, reaching up to touch the cool pearls seated on your collarbone. "I disagree wholeheartedly."

He had turned around to go digging again, but the grin he threw over his shoulder at you was a certified heart stopper. "Then we'll just have to go get me a matching one."

"This is the last time I'm letting a company get me lunch," Chanhee grimaced as both you and he feverishly dabbed at the sauce splattered on his cream silk blouse.

One of the interns working on today's interview and shoot had come to deliver him his lunch when you noticed that the sauce lid on top was a dark red and not the usual light mayo Chanhee always requested beforehand. That, as well as the fact that the lid wasn't fastened all the way. Suffice to say that when you were about to point it out, said intern became flustered at Chanhee's side profile and spilled his lunch onto him.

You made sure to send the intern away before Chanhee could react.

"This was the Burberry one Haknyeonie got me," he whimpered in devastation as he took in the mess of dark brownish-red on his chest.

"Hey, it's okay. The cleaner I usually go to can fix it up," you said, biting your lip and assessing the situation. You gave a sigh, straightening, then swiping at the dampness on your forehead. "For now, you'll have to change into something else."

Chanhee pouted. "I promised I would wear this one for the interview…" He glanced back over at the clothing rack in the far corner of the dressing room at the dozens of options he had, as well as the backups you had brought, when all he wanted was to wear the shirt Haknyeon had given to him.

You wondered how long you had until the interview. You wondered how fast you could run to the dry cleaners and how fast they could fix this, if only to make that pout on Chanhee's face go away.

He pursed his lips. "I'll change into the YSL one," he resolved, standing from his vanity chair to go grab the YSL blouse from its garment bag. "Y'know," he said to you as he disappeared behind the changing divider, "we'll probably see something about this in the tabloids sometime tomorrow, depending on how bored the press people are."

You leaned back against the vanity counter, mentally noting the time. Hair and makeup would be here soon since the interview was set for half past noon. Chanhee would have to wait until afterwards before he could eat lunch. You frowned, "It wasn't your fault, Chanhee."

"I know." You saw him drape the dirtied Burberry blouse over the top of the divider and you walked over to take it down and inspect the damage yourself. "But it doesn't have to be my fault."

Unfortunately, he was right. The press would do anything for a juicy story, even if that meant twisting the facts just a little. You abhorred those stories; you always saw Chanhee's eyes glaze over like a shield at the "model-zilla" headlines, when in fact, it had little to do with Chanhee's "attitude". You wondered if someone would blow up his reaction to this out of proportion—he hadn't said anything to the intern before they ran out of the room in tears, but you supposed if you had spilled coffee on someone with as much name power as Chanhee, then you would also freak out.

"I'm sorry," you said quietly, leaning slightly against the divider. A weight sank into the pit of your gut; you felt pathetic. These were one of the few things you couldn't just fix for him.

You thought you felt him lean back against the divider on the other side. "Nothing to be sorry for, dearest. It's just a shirt."

It wasn't just a shirt. It wasn't just the tabloids.

Chanhee, being the professional he was, carried on through the interview and subsequent photoshoot with elegance and grace. He wasn't in a bad mood, save for the slight melancholy in his smile when the intern's superior came by to apologize profusely and offer to have the blouse dry-cleaned for him. Chanhee politely declined—he only trusted one person with his items.

When you and Chanhee finally made it back to his penthouse suite, the sun had disappeared into the seams of the horizon, hoisting a bejeweled night into the sky. Chanhee collapsed onto the couch face-first while you dropped everything on the floor by the door and made a beeline for the refrigerator.

"I'm making tea," you declared.

Chanhee raised his head slightly. "Me too please."

You got the electric kettle started and brought out two porcelain mugs. While you waited for the water to finish boiling, you fished your phone out of your pocket to check your messages to see if the dry cleaners had alerted you yet as to the status of the blouse. On the way back, you had swung by to get the shirt to the dry cleaners. Hopefully it would be done by tomorrow morning so you could go pick it up.

Chanhee shifted and adjusted his positioning on the couch. He sat upright, leaning his cheek against his fist. "Yn-ie."

"Hm?"

"I'm lonely over here."

You huffed air out of your nostrils in a silent chuckle, but obliged him and went over to the couch. He raised his arms up toward you, making grabby hands and pouting. "You're lonely?" You repeated in amusement, slotting yourself next to him and allowing him to curl into your side.

"Well, not anymore," he said into your shoulder.

The apartment filled with the sound of water bubbling on the stove and the muffled sounds of the city outside the window.

With nothing said, you could imagine for a second that this was not your job, but your life instead.

You felt him move a little, his arms wrapping around your stomach. "Thank you," he murmured, "for everything."

Your chest tightened. "Of course," you replied simply. Because doing all of this for him was as easy as breathing air now. Taking care of him had become as easy as breathing air. It was just that simple.

He was quiet again, fingers fidgeting with the cuffs of your blazer. Something lingered in his mind.

"Yn…" He slowly brought himself to sit up straight, one hand braced on the cushion space between your bodies and the other on the back of the couch. His face was so close—you could see the baby pink hairs falling in his eyes, the bits of glitter on his eyelids, the length of his lashes brushing his cheeks. But there was something wobbling, shimmering in his irises like the ripples in a pool of water. "I think we need to talk."

Your voice was trapped in your throat. He was going to fire you. He was going to tell you that all of it had been a lie. He was going to—stop. Stop freaking out. You knew him. You knew him better than what the people on the outside only claimed to know about him. You gulped. "Okay."

Chanhee brought his hand up toward your face, but instead stopped short, his hand dropping. He wet his lip, head ducking for a second before meeting your eyes again. "You know how much I appreciate everything you do for me, right?"

Oh no.

You nodded shallowly, hands clasped in your lap. "Mhm."

"And you know that I would rather hurt myself before ever hurting you?"

You didn't like where this was going. "Chanhee—"

His eyes shuddered. "Just—just listen for a second. I promise I'll let you speak, just… I just need to get this out."

"I can't really think straight," you croaked. His cologne—god his cologne. You would die suffocating in his cologne, but he was so close and yet so out of reach.

You thought you saw hurt flash across his face. "Oh. Uh, I'm sorry—" He was leaning back now, and you were internally hitting yourself. You'd never heard Choi Chanhee stutter before.

You resisted the urge to say "come back". Come back, where you could pretend that he was yours. Shit, this had gone too far. "Chanhee, I think I have to quit."

Alarm shot his eyes wide open. "What?"

"I can't keep working for you because I have feelings for you," you blurted, staring him straight in the eyes. "I have to quit because the feelings—the want—I have for you are so strong and precariously unprofessional. And I'm sorry, because this was the best job I could've ever gotten, but—"

Chanhee grabbed your face and crushed his mouth to yours, effectively shutting you up. Shock had you freezing, but it wasn't long before you held him close and let him wholly devour you.

When he pulled away, his forehead was pressed against yours, the space between your lips near nonexistent. His hands were still cupping the sides of your face and his breathing was slightly labored; all either of you could feel, hear, smell, taste were each other.

"I love you," he whispered, almost inaudibly you thought you'd imagined it. But then he said it again, "I love you", and everything…

Everything settled.

"How could you?" After all, you were just… you. It seemed impossible that someone as high as he was could love someone like you.

His reply was simple, paired with a sweet return to your lips. "How could I not?"

You stood outside the massive, sky-piercing high-rise of Vogue headquarters, your heart pounding in your ears and your fingers drumming nervously against the seam of your dress pants. In about twenty minutes, you would be in the topmost office of the building interviewing for a chance to become CEO Anna Wintour's newest personal assistant.

"Well?"

You glanced over to your left where Chanhee stepped beside you, asking the driver to make a loop around the building and meet him back here in a few minutes. His hair, freshly dyed a silken midnight black, had grown slightly to mullet-length; and this morning, he was clad in a pristine white suit set in a classy contrast. A pearl collar sat on his defined collarbones like it was a throne. Beautiful, as always.

There were reporters lurking around here somewhere. That definitely didn't make any of this better for you.

You released a breath. "I've got this, right?"

He passed you a gentle, yet teasing grin. "Hey, you survived me. How much worse can she be?"

That made you crack a smile.

The two of you stood side by side staring up at the building for a moment longer. After you had quit being his assistant to instead be accepted as his partner, you and Chanhee worked to find you a new gig. You received about a hundred dozen job offers from lesser brands and big names when they all heard you were leaving Chanhee's employ on good terms. Anyone who survived Chanhee, and left with a stellar recommendation letter, was a hot commodity.

Chanhee reached for your hand, squeezing your fingers slightly. "Breathe, darling. You'll be in and out and hired before you know it."

He turned you around so you faced him. His tongue stuck out between his lips as he adjusted the pearl necklace around your throat, then the lapels of your jacket. "Wow," he breathed out.

"Huh?" You hummed with a smile in your eyes.

"You still take my breath away."

A nervous laugh fell from your lips, and Chanhee swooped in to taste it—that, your laugh.

"I love you," he murmured against your mouth. Nevermind all the press and paparazzi, or Anna Wintour, or anyone. This was just you and him, even for a little. You could imagine the headlines, but that was the last thing on your mind right now.

Your tongue swiped over his bottom lip to catch the last bits of him. "I love you, too."

There was a cunning glint in his eyes, offset by the soft smile on his face. "Okay, this is it. Call me if you need anything."

You began walking toward the entrance backwards. "What if I need you?"

His smile widened. "I said call me, didn't I? Anytime, anywhere." I'm yours.

tbz m.list

permanent taglist: @tayunji @im-a-big-mess @honeyhuii @y3jiishot @crazywittysassy @seomisaho @stopeatread @enhacolor @rnjfy @jaehunnyy @kpopjackie @spiderrenjunfics @soobin-chois @mingiholic @ja4hyvn @ethereal-engene @justalildumpling @vatterie @yogurteume @kflixnet

#this #this is one of the fics i wish i could read for the very first time again #i loved seeing y/n being so dumbfounded by how straightforward chanhee was djdjdb #like a rich man with impeccable fashion sense buying me clothes? damn well don’t mind if i do #hahah no i- truly another masterpiece #and just seeing their relationship transition from assistant to lovers was *muah*!#oh and i absolutely indulged myself on the thought of chanhee making me breakfast heheh #the boyz #new #choi chanhee #fluff #recs

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