#jeongin guardian au
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03 || HEART STRING OF GOLD || OT8! ATEEZ.
FOX || HEART STRING OF GOLD || OT8! ATEEZ.
→ PARING. OT8 (wooyoung & seonghwa focus) x fem!reader.
→ GENDER. heavy angst (!!!). enemies to lovers. soulmate au (sort of). ateez lore au.
→ WC. 31,810 (i apologize, but i promised i tried to keep it short).
→ RATING. R (mdni!).
→ IMPORTANT. heavy angst (i'm sorry). mentions of death. sugegstive. sex talk. implied sex as a coping mechanism. manipulation (by the reader). possessiveness (mostly one sided). insecurities. flashbacks (sort of). violence. fighting. blood. choking. death threats. torture (knife use, cold water, whip, salted water, weights and hanging from the wrists). forced proximity (kinda?). wooyoung is a little shit (and i love him). explosions. fire. gunwound.
→ NETWORKS. @cromernet @pirateeznet @atzhouse @newworldnet
⇦ || hsog || taglist || masterlist || ⇨
Your mind was still processing what had been said by your superiors.
In all truth, it should come as no surprise, considering how you joined the Black Pirates' Search & Capture Team. Videos of the supervised interactions between you and Angel circulated freely within the Command Center and Guardian's Island. The videos combined with the way you managed to get Angel to spill some information in the presence of your superiors, already made you join the squad. The events of your last encounter with them a month and a half ago helped you get to the position you were in, the way you handled the ambush, how you, Chan and Jeongin handled both the fight and what was apprehended after the revolt was controlled, which they managed to discover thanks to the fact that you and the other two agreed on the idea of looking at the points that had been discovered as possible cells of the Black Pirates, made all eyes turn to you.
Despite that, no one knew about the warehouse, you and Minho had made a promise to each other to keep it a secret, especially after the perimeter investigation when you found out what had happened. Mentally thanking the smoke caused by the explosion of the vehicle that managed to hide them both as they fled the scene. Fortunately, the fire was far enough away to not reach the warehouses, but elaborate enough to cause the smoke caused by the explosion to occupy virtually all of the warehouse space.
“Finally,” one of the last slides appeared in front of everyone, two cars parked in a spot not too far from where the warehouses would be located, the date on the satellite photo capturing your attention, but you had, fortunately, managed to disguise it, “two stolen cars were found in a location near the warehouses the same night we left the location.”
“Why wasn’t this revealed to us before?”
Park Jinyoung was one of the most eager generals in capturing the Black Pirates, making him also one of the most annoying to be around when something was discovered, hence the reason for all the irritable sighs you were able to catch after that line, including of Eden by your side.
“We were investigating the perimeter, trying to discover both the path taken by the cars and check those inside them.”
"And?"
Even though Jinyoung was considerably irritating, everyone remained silent, waiting for what Namjoom would say regarding that information. Your eyes met Jungkook's which were already on you, a movement that was not ignored by Eden who discreetly touched the pen to your leg, making you both look forward while Namjoom nodded, changing the slide.
Ten people got out of their cars and entered another location, looking from above it looked like another warehouse, but far enough away from the previous ones that it was necessary to use cars. Photos of tire tracks that were connected with the warehouse. They had fled in a car, the explosion had been planned, they would never let you catch them. Serpent had already told you, this was a test, they wanted to know how capable you were, how sagacious you were, what you would be able to risk to meet them.
Nausea washed over you as the latest events started to make sense. The power they had, the knowledge, not just over the government, but over you. The fact that Angel arranged for you to find the writing, for you to go meet Serpent at the warehouse, to meet them.
“Someone from the Black Pirates used the location that night, we got satellite photos of a person entering the warehouse at around eight,” another photo was seen and you found yourself from above, you swallow hard watching the photo, so there was a way to see it, even in the dark, “just before the explosion, we were able to define the silhouette of another person approaching, but we were unable to get details of what happened after it thanks to the smoke, apart from the tire tracks of the two stolen cars.”
“Do we have anything on these two people who entered the place?”
Yang Hyunsuk's voice made you stare at Namjoom with your lips in a thin line, trying to control the trembling of your body. They had been seen, there was a way to see – even in the dark – any movement made outside the warehouses, but they hadn't captured anything, no movement of people, so how had they managed to go unnoticed? It was then that you cursed at yourself, sawing your fists on the table, they used the Cromer. Hatred rose in you for not realizing until that moment, how only tire tracks were seen, how no people or footprints could be found beyond the warehouses.
“Unfortunately no, General,” everyone cursed quietly and you sighed, lowering your head, but Eden noticed the difference in your sigh, it wasn’t one of irritation, “we can only say that the explosion was not planned, considering that not long after the last person ran to warehouse six, but we have no notification of anyone leaving, leading us to believe that everyone left when the smoke was high enough to cover the path they were traveling.”
For a moment you thanked Mars and the others, beating yourself up for being so stupid and irresponsible. You getting caught was one thing, Minho being dragged along with you because of your idiocy was another thing entirely. Only then did you notice Eden's eyes fixed on you, analyzing you, making you just nod before going back to focusing on the slides. Two cars indicated that the others were there too, that they probably heard your argument with Mars, Logan, Serpent, and Angel. A small smile of satisfaction threatened to take shape on your face that you hid by faking a cough.
“Any images of the place where they stopped and the ten people got out?”
“Negative, sir,” Namjoom went to the next slide and a video from one of the BTS members’ bodycam played, showing the place completely empty, no signs of recent use. “Not even fingerprints were found, nor were we able to find out how exactly they left without leaving a trace.”
Because they used the Cromer.
“Cromer,” the voice came from Eden drawing all attention to him, including yours, his eyebrows slightly arched when his eyes fell on you briefly, “we already know that they use it in events like these, we never knew how these events happened, but I think we can believe that they are using the Cromer whenever they can, to stay under the radar.”
Everyone nodded and you just stared at your hands in your lap, fingers playing with each other. If they were using the Cromer whenever they could, why risk discovery in that empty space? What was special about it? Your eyes focused on the images still shown on the slide. It was a warehouse, several things scattered in the corners, but they seemed untouched. Another long-forgotten spot in Strickland, so what was so important about it?
The subject was quickly changed to the revolts that were taking place on the limits of Strickland, as they had considerably increased since the problem that you, your team and the XKRS encountered when you were going to investigate the possible Black Pirates cell that was located at the school that you, Chan and Jeongin insisted on being investigated, getting some important data and capturing some other members before more could be found.
Fortunately, Eden was responsible for defining which teams would be part of the contingency plan for the revolts spread across the country. Your mind is still processing the last details, trying to connect the dots, the importance of the last, remote warehouse, the reason it was used. It was clear that it was abandoned, several pieces of furniture could be seen scattered around, it was a long-forgotten place of rubble.
“Gather your team and the XKRS and meet me in my office in thirty minutes.”
Was all Eden said after the end of the meeting, making a frown appear on your face, receiving only a smart look from Eden as he walked through the corridors with a folder under his arm. What the hell could he want with both teams? It was true that you were the only team completely made up of people without blockers, but the XKRS were a newly formed team and were not selected for the Black Pirates Search & Capture Team which, now, was the only thing your team was allowed to do, considering the success of recent operations.
“Tough day?”
The only reaction you had was a slight shiver on the back of your neck. You already expected Jungkook to find you after the session, you just didn't expect him to be so close considering the location you were in. Fingers firmly on your arm indicating for you to follow him, stopping in the middle of an empty room. His eyes met yours, confused and tired, making you sigh as he continued to watch you curiously and worriedly.
“I’m fine Kookie, just a lot going on,” you sat down at one of the tables in the place, sighing and running your hands over your face, the sound of Jungkook’s boots on the floor being the only indication that he was getting closer. “You, Chan, Mingyu and Moonbin’s team with that damn promise you made to my brother is annoying sometimes, you know?”
Both laughter filled the space when Jungkook intertwined their fingers. His eyes analyzing every detail of your tired face. A simple kiss being placed on your cheek made your entire body want to burn, but only a small heat could be found within you, but no movement was made, and he didn't move away much after the kiss, his eyes roaming your face, you could see some confusion in them. When Jungkook's hand went to his face, you pulled away.
"What happened?"
“Nothing happened,” in a way, it wasn't a lie, nothing had happened. The truth is that you always felt something for your brother's friends, you weren't blind, they were extremely beautiful, nice and polite, but they never looked at you as anything other than a younger sister, at least not until you were abandoned by your eight friends that occupied your mind. “I’m just tired, Kookie, no big deal.”
“Chan said you were more airy than usual, more in your head,” you closed your eyes, already knowing what was coming next, “you do remember the last time this happened.”
Yes, you remembered it clearly, because it was when your brother died and your best friends and the first men you loved romantically abandoned you. It was also the same time you started getting involved with your team, expanding this for your brother's friends, starting with Chan and ending with Jungkook. When you did everything to feel something, even if it was momentary.
“If that were to happen, we wouldn't be talking right now, but probably on top of this table,” your voice was sharp, earning a doubtful look in your direction. “Why exactly did you bring me here, Kookie?”
“That’s you in the satellite photos taken that night, isn’t it?” His eyes never left yours, but your silence was enough for him to sigh, taking a step to get between your legs. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be?”
“I saw a clue and I wanted to follow that clue, what’s wrong with that?”
Jungkook opened his mouth a few times before sighing, closing his eyes.
“Who is the second person? Was it anyone there?” You finally put your head down, you wouldn't tell about Minho, no matter how much you trusted the man in front of you, if this got out, you deserved all the blame, no one else. “(y/n)?”
“There was no one,” your eyes still didn't look up, your fingers gently caressing Junkook's hand, noticing his muscles soften, “the other person went there to meet me at my request, but I'm not going to tell you who it was.”
“You know I can find out, right?”
“Leave it alone Kookie, for me,” your voice was a plea, your eyes then met his. The truth is, they've all always had a soft spot for you, which was only made worse when you started sleeping with them, when you convinced them to sleep with you. When Jungkook's eyes dropped to your lips you knew he would do whatever you asked, so you moistened them before pulling your hands back, placing his hands on your hips while yours went to his shoulders. “Please, Kookie, what do I need to do to get you to leave this alone?”
Your fingers played with his hair, foreheads touching lightly. His eyes finding your lips whenever they could and you knew what he wanted, even though you didn't want it and he felt it, that's why he still hadn't done what he wanted so badly. Your head moved forward, both breaths mixing, your lips passing delicately across his, feeling his fingers dig into your hip, thanking it for the clothes or else the crescent moon marks of his nails would be present on your skin.
Please, Kookie, was all you wanted to say in that simple act, a sincere request before a small touch of mouths and his arms finally wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to the edge of the table, your legs wrapping around his as your fingers messed around his hair. His tongue invaded yours allowing a small moan to come out. Jungkook was one of your favorite kisses, but something was wrong. Only your body reacted normally, the electric current was no longer present, the heat was different, it wasn't all over the body, just on one point, your heart no longer palpitated.
Jungkook was right, something had happened, that thing was currently ten, but two of the ten seemed to affect you more than the others. Angel and Serpent. Anyone who asks, you would lie, but the truth is that none of them left your mind for long. The way they acted in the warehouse was set in stone in your mind. Mars and the others still had considerable space, but your mind couldn't help but allow itself to wander and recall the moments shared with the two ATEEZ members.
Remembering how Angel's touch was always discreet but firm, his skin warm against yours, the grip firm but delicate, his concern for your injury, but at no point did he change the way he treated you because of that injury, the way how his hand always seemed to find your knee and wrist always could, especially when you were alone, how his eyes always looked for you in the crowd, always tortuous, but when they found you it seemed like a calm could be seen.
Angel was your biggest puzzle and you wanted to figure out every single piece.
Then came Serpent, grip as strong as Angel's, features as if they had been sculpted with the greatest of care, but his eyes were predatory, he drank in you every time his eyes met yours, the smirk always present just like the damn tongue. Something in you said that he would be one of the best kisses you could receive in your life, the paths that his tongue could follow while his firm hands explored your body -
“Are you fucking serious?” Jeongin's voice brought you back to reality, to the fact that you were with Jungkook, but with full awareness that the heat radiating through your body wasn't because of what you were both doing. Although the kiss was cut off, Jungkook's hands didn't leave your body, neither making any move until Jeongin entered the room, closing the door behind him. “Eden is paging us, he said to find you, couldn’t that wait?”
Your eyes fell on the space between your body and Jungkook, aware of his hands on your thigh and lower back. With a simple exchange of glances, he nodded, moving away from you, hands on your waist as you got down from the table, Jeongin's eyes were almost cynical when they fell on you, but you could see a small glint of jealousy and a smirk appeared in your lips, noticing how your third in command's eyes fell on them, probably swollen and red.
“We were just sorting something out, don't worry Innie,” your hand found Jeongin's cheek making him finally take his eyes off Jungkook who was fixing his pants, again you could see the sparkle in Jeongin's eyes and you smiled at that. “Hey, everything is fine, okay? Let's go, yeah?"
Jeongin looked one last time at Jungkook who was already approaching you, feeling his hand on your lower back and his voice low in your ear, but not enough for Jeongin not to hear.
“Be more careful next time.”
A simple kiss was placed on your temple before he left the room, leaving you and Jeongin alone. His eyes darting to the table you were at before falling back on you.
“Why were you here?”
“Jeongin, c’mon, we were really just talking, but it just escalated, that’s all,” your hand dropped from his face making him march over to the table you were at with Jungkook a short time ago, sitting on the edge of the table, legs spread wide, curious eyes on you. “Innie, what happened?”
“What did he mean by ‘be more careful next time’?” You sighed, walking towards him, positioning yourself between his legs, your fingers touching his knees lightly, but you saw his gaze fall on that spot. “If someone catches you with him -”
“If someone catches me with one of you it’s going to be a lot worse and you know it,” your voice was quick but not rude, just presenting the fact that you all already knew. Jeongin's fingers found yours, intertwining them before bringing your hand to his mouth, lips touching your knuckles lightly, eyes fixed on you. “Innie, please.”
“Don't look anywhere else,” was the only thing he said before pulling you close, his right arm wrapping around your waist while his left hand still held yours before bringing it to his shoulder, making his left hand find your right side before wrapping his arms around your waist, holding you in place. “We don’t like to share.”
You could feel your whole body burn from the way Jeongin was looking at you, holding you. Your hands found the back of his head, playing with his hair just in time to cut it while a smirk grew on your lips.
“I thought we agreed, no strings attached.”
“It wouldn’t be the first rule we broke,” the smirk that appeared on Jeongin’s lips made you lightly pull his hair, eliciting a groan from him, before hungry, predatory eyes appeared, but not predatory enough, not like the ones of Serpent, but you decided to bury that observation far away in your mind. “Eden is waiting for us.”
“Chan?” You connected Jeongin's comm point, since communication points were prohibited in team meetings, the third leader's small wave made you move even closer to Jeongin's face, feeling his fingers tighten around your waist even more. “I need you to find XKRS and the rest of our team, then meet me and Jeongin on Eden's office floor,” another pause, your lips brushing against Jeongin's, a subtle nod was enough, “if anyone asks, make up an excuse.”
No one waited for Chan's response, so Jeongin finally found your lips before moving away from the table, continuing the kiss before holding you and placing you on the table just like you were previously. Unlike the kiss with Jungkook, Jeongin still had a certain effect on you, probably because he was the first one for whom you allowed yourself to feel something similar to what you felt for the eight after your fifteenth birthday, or perhaps, it was because he was your first.
“Is that all you found?”
Yeji's eyes scanned the documents Eden had made available to them one last time. Chan was still looking at the aerial photograph of the site. Jeongin explained some situations to Minjae, the rest of the XKRS boys watching everything from afar, some taking notes, others with their eyes attentive.
“That we managed to recover, yes,” the older man sighed before refocusing on the aerial map that Chan was analyzing, your eyes following every movement of the man you considered your teacher, knowing something was wrong, “but I called you here because I believe that the inspection was not done properly, probably because none of you,” eyes fell on Chan who lowered his head, his mouth in a thin line, “were allowed to enter, supervising only from the area considered safe.”
“Not even after?”
Your question made all eyes direct to you. That day, both you and Ryujin were escorted back to the Command Center to report on the situation that had taken shape, leaving both Chan and Jeongin in charge of the situation, but you already knew that some superiors wouldn't like the idea of either of them being in charge of an operation like that, not when it was discovered in the middle of everything, that everyone was close to one of the Black Pirates' active cells.
“They said we had already done enough and that the fact that some of us were injured could make us easy targets and they couldn’t take any chances.”
You could feel the venom dripping from Chan's speech, accompanied by a scoff, repeated by some of his team members, making you understand the urgency of getting you out of the place, as you would ignore that order, but your team wouldn't, as they knew that this would result in direct consequences for you, something they agreed never to do, even if you had given them permission to do whatever they thought was right.
“It wouldn’t make much of a difference, (y/n),” Eden’s voice was quick, as he understood both sides, he had participated in the punishment you had suffered years before due to your team acting against direct orders when you weren’t present, even if you had said it was for them to do it, being correct in your position. “There wasn’t much to do, but I believe there is now,” Eden’s eyes met yours, all 22 eyes in the room watching him walk back and forth pointing to the board with the satellite photos, “it looks like they are promoting movements to return to the site in small quantities so as not to attract attention.”
“Did Jungkook take the photos?” From your peripheral vision, you noticed Jeongin change his posture when he heard the name come out of your mouth, you held back a laugh, receiving a small nod from Eden. “Were you able to define when they happened?”
“Sporadic schedules, varied groups, there is no consistency in activities.”
Seungmin read the report, looking quickly between you and Eden, noticing the silent conversation that was happening, everyone silently waiting for what would be said.
“How sure are you that they will authorize it?”
“I have my contacts,” Eden smiled smartly after answering your question, earning a sigh when your eyes found the school surrounded by a black circle. “I'm still organizing the proposal, but as soon as the council accepts it, and they will,” your doubtful eyes met Eden's who just continued with that gleam of someone who knew more than they would say, “my nomination will be made, probably accepted not more than two business days later.”
“How are you going to get them to be part of it?”
Your head indicated the XKRS who remained quiet, just listening carefully.
“Technically this isn’t direct interaction with the Black Pirates and you need someone who knows the area to help you when you enter the school.”
“We are ready,” Minjae's voice broke the silence that fell in the room after Eden's speech, who knew that you were afraid to add another team, especially a newly formed team that had no connection with what you all already knew. Everyone's eyes fell on the leader of the XKRS who looked at you with determination, “we are ready, let us prove it, we are capable of helping.”
“It’s not that I think you’re incapable Minjae, it’s just…”
Your voice stopped for a moment, mouth creating a thin line, holding it in so that your eyes wouldn't meet Minho's, the reminder that other people could get hurt because of your problem with the Black Pirates. The idea of anyone present suffering the consequences of what could happen makes you stop for a moment, controlling you, your actions and thoughts.
“We don't know how many people are there,” Chan began to speak, your eyes met his and he gave a weak smile in your direction before focusing on Minjae, “we don't know about the situation of the surrounding buildings, much less the current situation of the school , things could get ugly, both for us and for you.”
“We can propose an inspection of one of the buildings as a stakeout before we investigate the perimeter and you enter the school, this way we reduce the chances of ambushes like last time, right?”
Hyunwoo commented, exchanging glances with everyone, finding a small smile on your lips before exchanging glances with Eden and Yeji who were already getting up to face the photos.
“How long do we have between you finalizing the proposal, it being accepted, you nominating us and the mission happening?”
You could see the gears turning in Yeji's head as she walked towards the board with the pictures, Eden smiled pointing at the calendar and turning the page before pointing to the number ten. One month. You would have a month to get everything working perfectly.
“Yeji and Hyunwoo work together on this part, Chaeryeong, Changbin, Felix, Yechan, Yujun, Seeun and Junghoon work together so that we have everything we might need, I want you to cover all the possibilities,” everyone nodded with each direction you made, feeling Eden's eyes on you, despite the XKRS being slightly wary of completely following your orders, a simple look at Eden and they knew he was in agreement, “Hunter, Seungmin, Jinsik, Jisung Sumin and Minho, I need you to check who participated in the inspection operation, select who will participate in this one that we will do before we enter and watch all the videos relating to that day, both the interviews with those who participated and those who were captured.”
“Minjae and Junmin, I need you to talk to Chan and Jeongin about combining both ways of acting, take the Shadows along, everyone needs to be aware of how each other does things,” everyone nodded, watching Eden point to you, “you stay, I need to talk to you.”
With that simple phrase, everyone quickly left Eden's room, the atmosphere becoming considerably more tense. The few times Eden called you to talk alone, were times when he would ask you to do something that would be considered irresponsible and even illegal in the council's view, but both knew it was necessary and that you had the ability to do it. But now, the tension went beyond that, as your mind remembered the way Eden watched you during the meeting earlier.
“Can they know?”
“Only if you need any of them during the mission,” you nodded and approached the table furthest from Eden, it was one of the few interactive tables, only a select number of people had them, your team was one of them. “There is a more hidden part of the school, it is in the parking lot, I need you to go there and check the place for me.”
“Why didn’t anyone investigate last time?”
“They investigated,” he said simply, opening a password-protected file. As soon as the digits were placed, the folder was opened and several photos were presented to you, making you swallow hard as your eyes went over the amount of fallen bodies, “most of the rebels were in the parking lot burning files while the people inside the school diverted attention and the room they were using was sealed.”
“Who took care of this?”
“Kai went there alone while everyone was leaving and took these photos for me,” you nodded touching some of the photos to expand them, Eden’s eyes focused on you, “we managed to capture an informant, Kai, Moonbin and JK took care of him, making us understand some of the data we found.”
“What exactly do you want me to do, Eden?”
Eyes still fixed on you, he pressed a key and three photos appeared, three different locations, but only one thing in common, making your breath hitch, your head spinning. You would recognize that drawing anywhere. Your blood boiled at the idea that it was being used, after everything that happened, you didn't expect them to actually use that drawing to communicate in some way, or maybe it was just because they knew you would find them. An ironic way to get your attention.
A drawing of a blue bird adorned those three photos like a beacon, your eyes unable to see anything other than the outline of the bird's drawing, a small branch being held in its beak. Your mouth formed a thin line that you tried to hide when you noticed Eden moving next to you. Despite knowing that your brother was also a protégé of Eden, knowing that the mission he was doing when he was killed was organized and supervised by Eden, the probability of him knowing the meaning of that drawing was almost impossible, only a certain number of people knew, one of them dead and the other eight wanted by the State.
“It’s not the first time this drawing has been found in an active cell of the Black Pirates,” you couldn’t control your shock, your bulging eyes meeting Eden’s curious ones, making you curse in your mind, before noticing another page being opened and another password being entered, “I need you to find out what this bird means.”
“Isn’t it easier to get one of them to talk?”
“None of those we captured could say,” the lines were simple, but something in Eden’s gaze said that wasn’t everything he wanted to say, making you hold your gaze on his. “Your brother was a good drawer,” despite your features remaining neutral, your body completely stiffened, “I remember he had a nickname for you, but he never explained to me why, but I never pressed him either, but he said the drawing he was doing was for you. He carried it to remember you.”
“What are you suggesting, Eden?”
“I had seen this drawing before your brother disappeared, in the last video call we made, this drawing was on the bedroom wall, along with the nickname he had for you,” the photos of the bunker came back to your mind, but no drawing like that came to mind. “The drawing wasn't there when we went to find out why he wasn't responding anymore, the drawing wasn't found with his body either, which makes me wonder -”
“What could the Black Pirates do with a drawing of a bird, Eden?”
“I think it’s a signal to indicate that they should leave the place they are in.”
Eden's eyes were focused on your reaction, making you close your eyes to control your breathing, staring at the photos he was showing, knowing that it would make sense to think that way. The drawing seemed to mock you in every photo.
“Maybe so, but if you already have a theory -”
“You don’t think the theory is right,” you threatened to say something, but Eden moved away from the table and faced you head on, “I like to think I know you well enough, so please...”
You sighed thinking about how to tell the truth without saying that you knew the leaders of the Black Pirates.
“I think it’s some kind of message, but it may not necessarily be to let them know to leave, but rather something else.”
“So you need to find out what this is,” with that you nodded and started to walk away before receiving a paper from Eden, the code to access the files handed to you, “be careful where you open this file.”
“Yes, sir,” your mind was still processing what was happening, the way Eden was looking at you said he knew something. “Will you allow me access to my brother’s last video?”
Eden lowered his head, pursing his lips, which was enough of an answer, making you nod and head out of the room.
“Most of your brother's files were destroyed,” you stopped instantly, but didn't dare turn around, your vision already blurred, “the little I got is in a file shared by him to save important things, but he never gave me the password. To access what I have, enter the sequence of the investigation file and when it comes up to enter a code, enter your brother's name, one of the files is the data I have, the other is the things your brother kept, but I don’t have the password.”
That was an apology, you knew that, even though you didn't know why he was apologizing, maybe because of the way he looked at you, with suspicion perhaps? But he wasn't wrong in thinking that way, you were betraying everything you believed in by not saying that you knew the leaders, by having protected not only the eight of them, but also Angel.
“Thank you, Eden.”
“Not for this, (y/n).”
To anyone looking from the outside, the scene looked like a fighting ring, except for the mat at the feet of the sixteen men who were fighting and screaming. Left Eye was the only spectator of what the sixteen were doing, a small smile on his wrinkled face, unable to deny that he was happy to see them act like the boys they were for the first time in a long time, even though he knew it was all a competition and Wooyoung only needed to win once.
All the ATEEZ boys could now distinguish between each of the people present. Wooyoung gave a small smirk watching Howl's movements, losing track of the training number they had been doing for over a month so he was prepared for you. Not that Seonghwa wasn't, but everyone admitted that he should have expected the kick you delivered to his midriff after he blocked your first kick.
Considering that none of the sixteen had many things to do, a small competition was created, even curiously encouraged and partially organized by Nightingale so that Wooyoung and the others could be able to fight against you. Hence Howl was who Wooyoung fought, because it was the one that most resembled your fighting style, light, fast and precise, interestingly, not very different from San's style, perhaps another joke of fate as they learned to play along.
The challenge consisted of a single task. If Wooyoung managed to defeat Howl, ATEEZ would have their own office in the bunker. As the Mirrors had been cleaning the place over the past few weeks, everyone knew that they supported the idea that Wooyoung could beat Howl, that he could beat you, if necessary.
In a quick movement, Wooyoung managed to dodge a punch thrown by Howl, receiving shouts of enthusiasm and provocations, making the two in the center of the circle laugh before Wooyoung ducked and tried to trip Howl, who managed to dodge and move away, avoiding a Wooyoung's punch. With an amused smile, the Mirror beckoned him with its fingers to come closer.
That was the end of the training, so they were all sweaty and exhausted, but that didn't stop any of them from doing that 'extra training' that had become almost routine in the last two weeks, always changing who was fighting who, except for Wooyoung and Howl until the first managed to win.
Wooyoung felt the cut on his eyebrow, present from training with Lucky earlier, burn thanks to the sweat that dripped from his forehead, his eyes observing Howl as a whole, already managing to identify some of the movements that could come from the Mirror. He approached with cautious steps, eyes scanning all of Howl's features, resting briefly on his wrists and feet, the smirk always present, at least until he felt like he was losing it, which wasn't happening yet.
Howl threw a quick punch, making Wooyoung duck, moving away to avoid the knee that was already aimed at his face, turning quickly, extending one of his arms to hit the back of Howl's head, who also easily blocked the action, raising his eyebrows to Wooyoung shook his head with a convinced smile before turning on its own axis again, throwing punches and kicks, barely giving Howl enough time to react, until the Mirror turned to the side, bringing a smile to Wooyoung's face. He threw a kick that hit Howl's side, causing him to stagger, giving Wooyoung enough time to spin and throw a high kick to Howl's face, catching the Mirror's temple before turning again, wrapping him in an armbar, pulling Howl towards him until the two were falling back on the mat, Wooyoung's legs immobilizing Howl as best he could.
Which, fortunately, was successful when Howl raised one of his hands while the other lightly slapped Wooyoung's arm, making everyone scream in celebration, going to join the two on the mat who were already hugging each other with a smile, proud of what had just happened. Yunho and Iyaah quickly caught Wooyoung lifting him, while Uno and Mingi did the same with Howl, who exchanged another happy hi5 with Wooyoung while Mars followed Hongjoong out of the improvised training space in the bunker.
“Only we will have access to the office?” Hongjoong asked one last time, receiving a smile and wave from Mars as they headed to the place that would be ATEEZ's office. “Will we have access to everything you have?”
“Yes, Hongjoong,” Mars commented, laughing, looking at the youngest who had an excited sparkle in his eyes, “you will also have a direct connection with Nightingale, so you will have messages only directed to you.”
“Like the messages referring to her?” Mars nodded, a glimpse of sadness passing through his eyes, making Hongjoong look away out of respect, something he found himself doing constantly since the night Seonghwa and Yeosang accompanied the Mirrors to meet you at the warehouse. “How would you feel if you had to interact with her again?”
Their eyes met and Mars just pursed his lips, closing his eyes.
“It doesn't matter, if you guys need us to be in the same space as her, we'll do it,” from the corner of his eye Mars noticed Hongjoong try to orchestrate a few words before stopping and turning to the ATEEZ leader with a sad smile. “This is bigger than her, this is something only you can do, the most we can do is help you reach our ultimate goal, even if it comes at a cost to us, a cost we chose to pay a long time ago.”
“Even so, we cannot ask that -”
“Joong,” the youngest stopped when he heard the nickname, making a smile appear on Mars' lips, “we'll do whatever needs to be done, she's made her feelings for us clear, and we're all okay with that -”
“Are you guys okay with the girl you love hating you?”
The others quickly joined the conversation that the two leaders of each group were having, hovering around the two with curious and worried looks. Mars was calm, but Hongjoong had that look of curiosity and concern, making the others automatically worry, even though they didn't see anger on the ATEEZ captain's face.
“If she hates us, you will be able to do what needs to be done better than if we are insignificant to her,” Mars' eyes fell on Yeosang and Seonghwa who were swallowing hard, “after all, isn't that what you wanted? That she could differentiate each one of us?”
“Do you think it’s a bad strategy?”
Mars shook his head no to Jongho's question.
“When she sees us, she acts with emotion, making her hate us even more, but with you, she acts with reason, even if she has a little emotion behind her behavior.”
“Does that mean you’re going to tell us about what really happened between you?”
Yunho's question made all the Mirrors sigh, exchanging glances, nodding slightly with each glance they met with Mars.
“When you become familiar with the files we will talk about all the details, but we want you to analyze everything with a clear head, drawing your own conclusions, see her for who she is now and know the best way to act, because despite her still be a memory of everything we’ve experienced, she’s not our (y/n) anymore, she hasn’t been for a while.”
“And you still love her, even after everything?”
All the Mirrors smiled at San's question, nodding weakly.
“We love her soul, even though it is now protected by stone walls, mostly built by us, but there is still something of the girl we knew, who wanted to explore the world, who smiled listening to the noise of the forest, who ran to the lake, played with the animals and always had a smile on her face, she looked at everything with an enchanted look and we will fight so that this (y/n) can emerge again without guilt, even if she hates us in the process, we just want to see that (y/n) one last time.”
Howl and San were definitely the romantics of the group, that was clear, hell, they all realized how similar they all were, their personalities weren't that different if they were honest, but ATEEZ had more scars, thicker skin, that was the difference, that was what would make the plan work. Hongjoong's eyes fell on each of the fifteen men and friends who were in that circle, a small idea appearing in his mind.
“How do you think she would react to having all of you in one space?” Everyone's eyes fell on him, curious to understand what he meant with that question. “Think about the answer while we check the office, I will test the direct connection with Nightingale in the meantime.”
Hongjoong winked at the Mirrors before calling the other ATEEZ boys towards the open door not far from them. Shinwoo and Lucky approach Mars with an amused smile on their lips. Wooyeon was the first to break the silence, letting out a small laugh, pointing to the door that Mingi had just closed.
“He’ll definitely make an impression on them,” all the other seven nodded, “fuck how I wish I could see her face when she meets Hongjoong!”
“Do you think Nightingale tells us anything about their vision of Hongjoong?”
Logan asked curiously, crossing his arms in front of him and joining Wooyeon's side, who was also looking at Mars curiously.
“None of our Nightingales will do that, at least not openly.”
“But it’s worth a try, right?”
Iyaah asked with a mischievous smile being joined by the others, even Shinwoo joined the plan, the six of them focusing on Mars and Lucky who sighed. Lucky being the first to speak.
“I’ll get the drink, you take care of Nightingale while we create scenarios of how she will react to each of them.”
While the Mirrors turned their backs to the room that had the door completely closed, ATEEZ decided to explore the place, observing if there were any plugs, or anything that indicated that they would not be alone in that space, but after a thorough search, nothing was found, making them scatter around the place, Hongjoong sitting in the swivel armchair he had pulled in front of the mahogany table. The other seven watched him curiously.
“We need her team's files, both teams,” Mingi and Yunho nodded, already starting to look for the physical file while Yeosang and Jongho worked on the interactive table, connecting it to the network, “we need the recent videos of the interactions, since you say she changes behavior depending on who she’s talking, we need to understand how it all works, how it’s triggered.”
“At least the initial idea is working as expected,” Hongjoong's eyes fell on Seonghwa who was looking for something in his pockets until he took them out in a sequence of numbers and letters placing them on Hongjoong's desk, bringing a frown to the other’s face before continuing, “we need to find out about this file too, Mars locked it in a drawer in his office, but I think we have access to the digital, even if minimal.”
“What do you think it is?”
"Honestly?" Seonghwa's eyes fell on San with the question, even though he knew that everyone was waiting for the answer with ragged breaths. “I think it involves her and her brother who apparently no one wants to talk about.”
“Except her,” Yeosang commented, seeing the light from the screen shine in front of him, Jongho quickly entering the data that the Mirrors had passed to them not long ago. “We need to focus on the brother, I think he is the key.”
“I thought he died?”
Seonghwa nodded, making Hongjoong continue to look at him with a look of doubt.
“The brother is a sensitive topic for her and them, we need to figure out the connection.”
“It seems like her anger is also directly linked to the way they treat the idea of her brother,” Yeosang completed Seonghwa’s train of thought, watching the gears turn in Hongjoong’s head. “Whenever she can, the topic of her brother is brought up, whether it’s when she was with me on Guardian’s Island or in the warehouse with Seonghwa, Mars and Logan.”
“We also need to understand about the necklace.”
Seonghwa comments quickly, everyone gathering around him, but he ignores it, watching Yeosang's eyes scan the older man's face looking for the answer, nodding when he seems to finally understand, heading towards the interactive table looking for the warehouse file.
“What necklace?”
Wooyoung's question hung in the air as Seonghwa joined Yeosang watching the warehouse's night camera, pausing the four cameras at the exact moment you pull the drawstring out of your blouse. Your features were pained, almost desperate, while Logan and Mars' were pained, longing and slightly shocked. If your words were considered at that moment it was clear that none of the Mirrors expected you to still carry the 'gift' that you put on display for anyone who wanted to see, venom and pain pouring from your lips.
“They gave it to her before they disappeared after her fifteenth birthday.”
Yeosang clarified by zooming in on the four camera images. Hongjoong's eyes scanning every detail of the frames, fixated more on your expressions, he could feel the hatred. His fingers were quick to capture each frame it followed, finally finding one in which your eyes fell on Yeosang and Seonghwa, the hatred softening, but determination hardening, almost like a wall being erected.
Mars was right. As long as they managed to make your feelings speak louder than reason, they would have a chance, they needed to use the hatred you had for the Mirrors in their favor, to get closer to the final goal. The captain could not take his eyes off the image of yourself in each frame that was shown. He had to admit, you were attractive, your posture exuded a call for a challenge that Hongjoong wanted to defeat.
The screen was quickly turned off and replaced with the image of a blue bird, making all eight of them hold their breath, eyes falling on Hongjoong who had his lips in a thin line as the gears of his mind could clearly be seen working as he squeezed so that Nightingale's message was opened.
“Hello, captain, I hope you are already adapting. We had news that a mission is being created so that in almost a month, the school will be invaded again by the Government. I need you to plan two different plans, one in case (y/n)'s team is selected and the other, for the case another team is chosen. As a warning, I need to inform you that Yang's team is a strong competitor for the choice to be in his favor, but we are creating enough situations for the Council to understand that there is the possibility of your presence, authorizing (y/n)’s team in participating, promoting the meeting with Wooyoung. Left Eye will leave something it needs to be delivered to her, I don't care how they do it. The piece is important to get into her mind, when I have more information I will get in touch.”
With that, Hongjoong was sure of two things: they needed to be able to separate you and your team; then he needed to be in the same space as you, understand your feelings, which he couldn't do despite Seonghwa and Yeosang's attempts. And he knew exactly how to do all these things when his eyes met the frozen image on the interactive screen.
One week.
A week in, and your mind didn't think about anything other than the interaction with Eden.
He knew about your nickname, about the drawing, about what it meant, even if he didn't understand the nickname. As if that wasn't enough, fate seemed to laugh at you when your team was selected to guard Guardian's Island for a week, the exact week that Eden would send the request to revisit the school. Fortunately, something good could end up coming from this, as you would not only have access to Guardian's Island data, but also access to your and your brother's old room, being able to open the folders that Eden had indicated to you days ago.
The surprise on everyone's faces when you informed them that you were going to the part of the dorms that was designated for your parents, was enough to know that you would have to be careful, as you say. Not only had Eden built an entire apartment in her head with the lines about the drawing, but he had also done the same by wanting to talk to you alone, neither of you letting anyone know what the conversation had been about or why you had left considerably upset from Eden's office.
You noticed Chan and Jeongin's eyes following you with considerable concern, being the two who knew the most what that place meant to you, including your brother's influence and how you refused to stay in that space when he himself stopped using it. The truth is that you just took advantage of the fact that your brother left the island because of what he was doing, as well as the chance for you to live at Prestige Academy thanks to the level you were in Class 5. Mostly, you wanted to forget about everything that could remind you about the eight guys who had started to break your heart back then, leaving everything of them behind in that room, knowing that your parents – at the very least – respected your and your brother's individual space.
The place wasn't much different from years before, but the parents' reaction when you entered with the code allowing entry was enough to make you rethink what you were about to do. They had actually taken out the blockers. The smile and red eyes of both when they saw you was enough to confirm it, but you could still see the madness in their eyes, the madness that you had started to see in Jungkook before you convinced him to stop using the blockers.
Their arms wrapped around you, but only despair took over, despair and anger. That should have happened when your brother died, you needed them at that time, but instead they used the blockers, not only blocking both of their emotions, but also any kind of interaction with you, still having the capacity to say that it was better to use blockers, but you had made a promise to your brother before he went undercover, a promise you refused to break. The only one you refused to break.
The words that came out of your parents’ mouth never being processed by your mind, just wanting to finally create space between you. Your father's eyes were the first ones you saw, the glow of madness not as present as in your mother's, but you chose not to think too much about why. On the other hand, your mother refused to let go of you, hands always on your arm or back, guiding you around the house as if you didn't know the place that was still intact even five years later.
“You must be hungry -”
“My team and I ate earlier,” their eyes met yours and you felt the need to explain, “before the shift change, me, Chan and Jeongin always sit down to talk about how it's going to go, including who's going to be responsible for the watch of that shift, so we took the opportunity to eat something.”
“You could have told us; we could have brought you and your friends something to eat.”
“No need,” your words were quick as you tried to control your voice, your parents had never worried about your friends before, nor about you until that moment. “My team and I have our routine and we already know what we need, Yongbok and Changbin organized the food, there’s no need to worry.”
It was only after your response that your father noticed how you were behaving, a shadow of sadness took over his face, while you held back from showing satisfaction and slight irritation with everything. Your mother, on the other hand, just seemed to be happy to have you there, not leaving her side at any time.
“When we found out you were staying here, we bought some things,” the quick movement of your mother moving some things in the kitchen made you look at your father who lowered his head before joining his wife in the kitchen, “I hope you still like -”
“She’s tired, darling,” your father’s hand rested on your mother’s shoulders making her stop instantly, eyes falling on you, softening enough to make you want to vomit. Now they were worrying about you?. “Let’s let her rest, let’s go to the room, we have a meeting tomorrow.”
“Yes, of course,” the weak voice hid a cry for help from her husband, almost as if asking him to help bring you back. “It’s your house, (y/n), please make yourself comfortable.”
At no point did your face show any emotion as your parents headed towards the room. When the click of the door was finally heard, your eyes found the things your parents had bought on the kitchen counter, eyes closing as you sighed trying to keep everything under control. When your eyes opened again, finding the food you and your brother ate before everything happened, a lump formed in your throat, your eyes began to burn, leaving your vision blurred before you left everything behind, heading to where your room would be.
As soon as the door opened, it was like you went back to five years ago. The room exactly as you had left it, it was as if every corner brought back to you the memories buried deep in your mind, in your heart. Every corner you looked, it was as if the nine of them materialized in front of you and you could see them all helping to organize your room the way you always wanted.
You could see Howl, Wooyeon and Logan placing fairy lights around the bed while Iyaah and Uno placed them on the walls and ceiling. Mars and your brother organizing the photos you took, spreading them across the walls, just like organizing the desk exactly how you wanted, the photos and little reminders of their size differences always present.
Shinwoo organizing the gift they had given you, the record player along with some vinyl records, positioned perfectly in the corner along with the guitar he had given you, after teaching you how to play, the keyboard leaning against the wall, the image of Shinwoo with the guitar, Lucky on the keyboard and everyone around singing and laughing came like a longing and painful slap. It was then that your eyes fell on the separated clothes in the corner.
The denim jacket Lucky had painted seemed to scream for you to pick it up and wear it again. The jumpers and hoodies on all of them just below the jacket didn't help on the matter, if you rummaged through the small pile of clothes, you'd certainly find the boys' sweatshirts and sweatpants too. Before you could focus on it any longer, your eyes found the drawing that had been haunting you for a week. The bird drawing your brother had done all those years ago hung on the bulletin board, surrounded by polaroid photos of you with each of the nine who had your whole heart.
Quick steps guided you to the bedroom's bathroom, making you close the door behind you before turning on the tap and splashing water on your face and the back of your neck. Your face was red and already wet from tears that you didn't even realize had fallen as you took in everything that was present in the room. It was then that your eyes looked up at your own reflection in the mirror. Eyes red and swollen, your lower lip between your teeth trying to stop the tremor that always came when everything got too much, before tears started to fall again, your legs gave out and your back met the cold tiles of the bathroom before her body slid down to the floor.
You didn't care who heard it, even if you knew that only your parents would hear it – if they really wanted to – considering that the place you were in was soundproof, so no one would know what was going on. Then you screamed as you cried holding your own body. The memories of everything that had happened in that room invading your mind, the memories of the last time everyone was there making you dig your nails into your arm trying to get you back to reality.
You cursed Eden for showing you the drawing.
Cursed your brother for dying.
Cursed the eight for abandoning you after promising to stay with you.
Cursed Angel and Serpent for coming into your life.
Cursed your parents for abandoning you after all.
Cursed your team for always supporting you regardless.
Cursed yourself for still feeling those feelings for the eight of them.
And you cursed one last time as Angel and Serpent appeared in your mind.
You didn't know how long you stood still on the bathroom floor, but it was long enough for your entire body to shiver from the cold, even though your face was still hot and wet, finally deciding to turn on the shower and let the warm water fall on you, clearing any and all memories that had arisen at that time. Even though you knew the guilt would never be completely washed away.
Guilt not only about your relationship with your team and the others who didn't have blockers, but mainly guilt about Mars, Lucky, Uno, Logan, Howl, Iyaah, Wooyeon and Shinwoo. Guilt for not being able to hate them as much as you hated yourself for what you felt for them, for what they felt for you.
The glass and gold pendant was caressed by your wet fingers, the drops from the shower decorating the eight pieces of glass. Howl and Serpent's words echoing in your mind. They loved you, but they still abandoned you. Howl's writing along with Mars' speech when he visited your apartment months ago made you close your eyes tightly.
The noise of the shower taking you to the noise of the waterfall that you and the others always went to, when visiting the other dimension. If you really tried, you could smell the air with the smells of the forest around you, you could feel the grass under your feet, you could hear the laughter of each of your nine boys. You could feel Shinwoo carrying you to where the others were, you could see most of the shirtless boys entering the lake and throwing water at each other.
You could see Wooyeon and your brother hiding in the corner while you pretended not to know that they got a cake to celebrate your fifteenth birthday. Shinwoo stopped on the side with you in his arms, holding the boy's neck as if your life depended on it. If he threw you, he would go with. Uno quickly removed your shoes, placing them with the other shoes before Shinwoo placed you on the floor, taking off his own shirt and shoes, following the path Uno had taken previously. Lucky quickly by your side with his hand behind you, the other boys already in the lake watch you curiously.
There had been enough time for you to have become aware of your body and theirs, of how their skin felt, of the suggestions they played next to your ear bringing shivers down your spine. That would be the first time you were conscious of it all, and in just your bathing suit in front of them. The wet earth being what made you most focused on everything that was happening, trying to ignore the presence of all eight boys that occupied your mind recently, the fact that they were shirtless not helping your process of maintaining some sanity in their presence.
Mars was the first to break you out of your trance, his fingers cold from the lake water finding your elbow, making you startle and elicit a small laugh from all the boys, Shinwoo and Uno quickly joining the others in the lake. Mars and Lucky's eyes asked if everything was okay and you just nodded before taking a few steps back, arms wrapping around your waist as you heard the laughter of the boys behind you. The thoughts about how they would feel about your body made you even more aware and stopped you from taking off the shorts and blouse you had stolen from your brother.
Memories of talking about you getting involved with any of his friends coming back to mind. Even though you knew he talked more about people at Prestige Academy, all the other eight were also his friends, which meant you shouldn't feel the things you felt about them. But, in all honesty, your mind and heart don't care about this detail, not even when your brother appeared at your side, taking off his own shirt and putting it on with his shoes down in line.
With a simple kiss on the top of your head and a 'we're waiting for you at the lake', he turned away and you could hear the splash as his body came in contact with the water. Hands grabbing the hem of your blouse, aware of the girls you had seen in this dimension and in your own, how they looked at the boys, how they looked at those girls, the way you wanted them to look at you.
"Is everything okay?" Wooyeon was quickly beside your, worried eyes found the arms wrapped around your waist, fingers tightening on your shirt. “Are you in pain?” When you just kept your head down, Wooyeon cursed under his breath looking at the group of friends. “He said you wouldn’t be –”
He cut off his own speech and you found yourself laughing at the memory, even though your face burned at the time when you saw what he wanted to say, quickly shaking your hands and head high, making Wooyeon sigh, his fingers quickly finding your arms, his eyes soft and slightly worried.
“It's been a while since we've been to the lake, that's all,” your fingers quickly removed the shorts, your brother's loose shirt doesn't make much of a difference considering it covered half of your thighs, but you see Wooyeon's eyes finding your legs before he looked away with a shy smile, making your face burn even more. “It’s been a while since… well, we haven’t…”
“You can come in with your shirt on if you want,” your heart ached as you remembered that memory, how sweet Wooyeon was, the way his eyes fell on your body and went up to your eyes, making you curse for how naive you were, for not having noticed how his gaze was on you. “It’s okay if you don’t want to take your shirt off, today is your day, you can do whatever you want and the last thing we want is to make you uncomfortable.”
A tear joined the water drops from the shower, a sad smile on your lips at the memory.
“You could never make me uncomfortable Yeonie,” your voice was weak, shy, as it always was when you were with them, your heart feeling like it would come out of your mouth at any moment. The giggle that came out of Wooyeon's mouth took you by surprise before he stopped behind you, making you highly aware of the small distance when you felt the warm air of his breath against your ear. "What...?"
“Do you trust us?”
“Completely,” and back then you really trusted them blindly. Your heart clenched in your chest as your hand tightened on the pendant and your face lowered to meet your knees, the water from the shower hitting directly on your neck and back, squeezing the pendant tighter as you remembered Wooyeon placing it around your neck. "What -"
“Our gift to you,” your hands rested on his shoulder after closing the necklace at the back of your neck, his fingers brushing lightly against your skin, making the area burn and the butterflies in your stomach wake up, “do you know what it means?”
You didn't dare turn back, knowing he was closer than he had ever been, and you didn't trust your own body's reactions at that moment. The eyes and fingers quickly passing over the pendant. A gold thread wrapped around eight broken but mended pieces of glass, the thread forming the design of a heart while the eight pieces of glass met in the middle, meeting another dot of gold, a delicate heart design in gold.
“It’s pretty, but...,” Wooyeon’s fingers found yours on the pendant and your breathing stopped for a minute, “Wooyeon, you guys don’t -”
“The outer heart of gold is your brother, for he arranged everything for us to meet, the eight pieces of glass are each of us, for your brother also held us together before you arrived and brought us together completely, so that you are the heart in the middle, at the center of the pendant, connecting everything within you, because you were the missing piece, you are our heart, (y/n).”
Your fingers rested on the middle heart, your eyes still closed, the water from the shower running along with the last tears you allowed to fall for Wooyeon and the others. Finally remembering how Wooyeon kissed your cheek after that speech, how he carried you towards the lake, how each of the boys took care of you, how your brother's shirt wrapped around your body until you finally decided to take it off, feeling the eight of their hands on your waist and back, trying to ignore the effect it had on you, trying not to think too much about all the times they pulled you close, holding you against their body, how their lips burned into your skin every time they found some place that day – cheek, shoulder, temple, top of the head, hand, wrist, it didn't matter the place, it always burned.
It was the vibration of your cell phone that made you wake up to reality. How many times it had vibrated, you couldn't say, but considering the state of your skin, you had spent a considerable amount of time in the shower. Quickly washing your hair, you let your phone ring a few more times, three to be specific – one from Chan, one from Jeongin and one from Minho. When you finally got out of the shower, your cell phone rang a fourth time – which you managed to see who the call was from –, finding Jisung's name on the screen, sighing, you answered it and put it on speaker.
“I was taking a shower, did something happen?”
Silence quickly took over the other line before everyone started talking at once, making a smile appear on your lips.
“Do you have any idea how long you’ve been in the bathroom?”
�� Seungmin's voice made you stop for a minute checking the time on your phone, your silence being enough for them to know that you had no idea.
"Did something happen?"
“How do you know how long I’ve been in the bathroom?”
You can hear Yeji, Ryujin and Chaeryeong laughing, making you sigh, slightly irritated, but not at all surprised, ignoring Chan's question again before opening the door, wrapping your body in a towel, your eyes passing through every corner of the room before finding the hidden camera near the shelf next to the guitar and keyboard, giving it the middle finger, your team's laughter making you laugh along before going back to get your phone.
“We just wanted to know how you were doing.”
Yongbok's voice was worried, and you just pursed your lips looking at your reflection in the mirror, knowing that from that angle, they couldn't see you, giving you one last moment of calm.
“I'm fine, but if I find out that you boys hacked the cameras here without telling me, again, so you could spy on me, I'll make sure you never have heirs.”
“Why do you think it was our idea?”
Changbin exclaimed almost painfully at your realization, making you sigh before picking up your cell phone and returning to the room, eyes focused on the camera in front of you.
“Because none of the girls would do that, they know that when I need time it also involves being fully alone!”
“Is that why you always ask them to come with you to keep watch?”
You allowed yourself to laugh, noticing the sadness in Jisung's voice.
“You are very desperate when I don't respond, they know how to act more with their heads, don't take it personally,” some complaints were heard before light slaps made you laugh on the other end of the line. “Minho, stop watching me, I’m fine, but I need some time alone.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Don’t worry, the list is almost zero, so there aren’t many things I can do.”
Before you could hear anything else, the call ended and you made sure to remove the camera, hiding it among the pile of plushies that Howl, Wooyeon, Shinwoo, Iyaah and Uno had gotten for you years before. Did they already love you from that time? The memories played around appearing in your mind, today you could say that the answer was probably correct, they always loved you, even before everything happened, so why had they done everything they did? Why abandon you? Why kill your brother?
Your brother's file.
You quickly searched on some clothes, eyes going to the pile of clothes in the corner, their pile of clothes. Maybe you allowed yourself while you were there, that last moment to happen, as you were already digging the hole again. They were back, they were already fucking with your mind, why not surrender once and for all and wear their clothes? A pair of sweatpants – according to the size, they were from Iyaah or Uno – and a hoodie – they were gray and with the words: UNALLOYED, making you smile knowing that they were from Howl.
You quickly grabbed your computer, opening it and connecting to Strickland's system. Your data quickly placed so you could access the files made available by Eden. The school’s blueprint could be seen, but also another one with drawings within the blueprint that you believed had been made by Kai and Niki, after reading some of the notes that Eden made about the day, writing down in your mind from talking to both of them before entering the school, noticing that there were areas that were not in the original plan making you curse under your breath.
The photos of the event were considerable, both of the bodies as of the walls painted red with some bullet holes. So many people dead on both sides. Your heart sank, knowing that this was one of the reasons you didn't want to stay in Class 5, because these moments hit you, they made you question things you shouldn't, hell, they even made you agree with the things the Black Pirates stood for, even though you knew it was wrong.
Your eyes went through the list of names that they had managed to identify from the Black Pirates, but what surprised you was the number of unidentified people, some with justification, but most didn't have any, making you pay even more attention to the photos and feel the bile in your mouth. How bad had that encounter been and what could be so important that the members would protect at all costs?
When you arrived at the last file, your fingers went quickly to the paper that Eden had given you, the password being typed quickly as you memorized it before burning it and throwing it in the metal trash in the room that still had some ashes from five years ago. Your parents had never touched the room, was it because they didn't care enough, or completely the opposite? But you didn't see any signs of dust, they probably just cleaned it superficially, but never for long enough. It was then that a noise came and your eyes quickly fell to a corner in the room, one hand closing the computer while the other went under the pillow, realizing that they hadn't really touched your room, when your fingers found the dagger, but you laughed to yourself when you noticed the vacuum cleaner running inside your room, explaining the lack of dust.
Your eyes finally returned to the computer screen, several extra files being found, but you chose to focus on the videos, quickly opening the first one, finding the image of Niki, Minhyuk and, consequently, Kai who had the bodycam. You could see each of the rooms, the aftermath of the events, the fallen bodies, red bathing the walls and floor, papers scattered, places torn apart, you could only imagine the work that had gone into collecting all the evidence, identifying the people lying in the ground, your heart squeezed for those who could not be recognized.
Regardless, you organized a cursory plan for your team, also considering the best locations for Minjae's team to stay and oversee the space for you guys. Fortunately, most of the places Eden had required your attention were on the same floor, but you needed to go down three floors to get to the room he had said was sealed, making a note to talk to Jihyo, Changbin, Chaeryeong and Yujun, knowing that all help was welcome.
It was almost midnight when you finally finished the outline of the plan, leaving it in a protected folder on your computer, remembering what Eden had said about what happened to your brother, about the secret file he had. Your eyes fell on the camera you had lowered, knowing it had been placed by your brother and being thankful that it didn't take up the entire room, especially not the part where Mars and the others were appearing.
With a sigh, you opened the network search, checking if the VPN was still on and restarting it just in case before sighing, fingers nimbly placing the sequence of numbers and letters you knew so well: 8B92QMO. You saw the screen open blank, a few quick clicks and the part to enter a password was released, opening the folder that Eden had commented on. Your eyes were already burning looking at the dates, knowing that it would soon be three years since your brother's death.
Your trembling fingers guided the cursor to the last date that was the last video he had shared, clicking softly, the image of your brother opening on the screen and a sob leaving your throat, one of your hands quickly going to your mouth trying to stifle the sound. His hair was disheveled, he had some dark circles under his eyes, but nothing too serious, his hair was longer than usual, his skin was also more tanned due to his undercover work. Despite everything, what really caught your attention was the damn drawing that Eden had commented on.
Like a beacon, your eyes quickly found the drawing of the bird hanging on the note board behind your brother, along with a photo of you and him on his graduation day from Prestige Academy. The lump in your throat increased, making you close your eyes and take a deep breath, calming your nerves, adjusting your headphones before opening your eyes finding the image of your brother looking down, you could see the tiredness, deciding that later you would going through all the files that Eden had gotten, hoping to find something new, something that explained why.
“Update on the case,” your breath caught when you heard your brother's voice after everything that had happened, his eyes meeting yours on the computer screen, “I still haven't been able to know exactly where everything will happen, but I believe I managed to make contact for the first time after…,” his voice trailed off followed by a sigh, “well…, it doesn’t matter, but I need to do this, I need to do this for her.” Your heart tightened in your chest, tears began to fall from your eyes. “She deserves answers, I just hope I get them and -” then the speech was cut off by a noise and your brother took out his cell phone, the glow hitting his face before a small smile appeared on his lips making you smile along with him, after a few moments and text exchanges later, his eyes found the camera again, “tomorrow, (y/n). If you watch this video, I'll get some answers for you tomorrow, okay? Wait for me, I’ll be home soon.”
Then the video was cut.
Along with that, a muffled scream from you broke the silence of your room.
He was doing all this for you.
They were doing all that for you.
All you wanted was the nine with you and not this fucked up situation you found yourself in.
Wiping away some of the tears, you quickly moved the cursor through the folders that Eden owned, but unfortunately, the only new thing was your brother's videos. As expected, sporadic and with little indication of what was happening, just routine videos to show that everything was still fine, no safe words were used, his eyes showed no fear, everything seemed fine, so what the hell happened that you disappeared and turned up dead a month later?, that was all that was going through your head with every video you saw.
Then the last file appeared, also password protected.
The file that Eden said belonged to your brother, that only he had access to.
Both you and Eden knew the password could be anything and you wished he had passed on the passwords he had tried. With a sigh, your fingers were quick trying to somehow find the possible password for that folder, but the only information that was offered was the number of files and the date of the last modification, curiously, it was the date following his last video.
Once again opening all the files that Eden had made available, ending with the last video posted, eyes and ears looking for any clue that your brother could give about the folder's password.
I need to do this for her.
She deserves answers.
You knew your brother well enough to know that him saying those words and then saying your name meant something, but you didn't know how many attempts Eden had made, you also knew your brother well enough to know that when the limit was reached, all files would be automatically deleted from the archive.
Your eyes scanned the video looking for any hint as to what the password could be. He had to have placed it somewhere so you could identify it. That video was for you. There was a reason he did it. The drawing caught your attention again, the conversation with Eden coming back to you and you cursed under your breath at how stupid you were being. His voice could be heard next to you mocking how clueless you had been about it all.
With a sigh and a plea, your fingers typed in the only password you could think of. Fingers trembling searching for each key, it was almost as if you were typing, each keystroke a silent prayer that you were right. Erasing the password twice and entering a third, paying attention to each key, you closed your eyes one last time, a silent request followed by a sigh.
Eleven letters.
One word.
One meaning.
Lots of memories.
The dots representing each of the typed letters.
Your eyes rested again on the image of the drawing his brother had made that was in his room. A silent plea that you were right.
Tremblingly, your index finger found the enter key, closing your eyes at the same second, waiting for any noise that would indicate an error or a file destruction sequence, but nothing came, making you open your eyes, finding all the files exposed in front of you. A simple image of your brother was present, probably a video taken right after the one he had sent to Eden. The outfit was the same, the position was the same, everything was the same, even your brother's small smile.
You had done it.
Unfortunately, you couldn't do anything until you watched the video that was displayed for you, making you sigh and calm down. Knowing that this was probably the real last video of your brother before his death. Again you braced yourself for the video, even though you knew it would probably be in vain, considering what he had done to contain those files.
“Of all the people who could find these files, I hope it's you on the other side of the screen, (y/n),” the mischievous smile was present, it was almost as if you could talk to him, as if nothing had happened so many years ago. “I know a lot has happened and I believe if this video reached you, something happened to me and I'm sorry for that.” The space button was quickly pressed and you found yourself sobbing as you held your face in your hands, tears falling onto your hot face. Everyone knew how complicated working undercover was, but no one ever expected death to happen, at least not in the way it happened. The space key was pressed again and your brother's voice flooded your ears. “I need you to know that I love you, to promise me again that you will never use the blockers and to know who to trust,” a sigh and you noticed him shifting in the chair, his back straight. “There are monsters under the bed, yes, but never forget that the real monsters can be on your side helping you kill the so-called ‘monsters hiding under the bed’, okay?”
His gaze had become hard and you stopped the video again. Something had happened after the video he had shared with Eden, something involving the messages exchanged.
"What do you want to tell me? What really happened?"
Your eyes scanned the video frame again, everything was exactly the same as before, the only difference was your brother's posture, all this after the messages he had received. What the hell had happened the next day? Sighing, you pressed play again, hearing your brother's sigh on the other side.
“If the worst happens, know that I won't be upset if you get hold of my video games, but be careful with my computer, be careful with the pages you open, the last thing we need is a virus getting in there,” you they both laughed, but the raising of eyebrows had been different, his laugh had been different, there was something on his computer, but how did he gain access to the computer while undercover? “Mom and Dad’s house has more things than mine, just be careful, many things there are valuable and I spent a lot of money!” His spine became more erect, your eyes falling on the clock. Almost two in the morning, your parents must have already been in their twentieth sleep. “One more thing, I love you (y/n), nothing in the world will change that. Be aware, not everything is as it seems, there are wolves in sheep's clothing in every flock. I love you, my nightingale.”
As soon as the video was finished, you spent a while just observing the image of your brother, his weak but affectionate smile; his eyes tired, but with a sparkle in them. How you wished you could have him close one last time, hug your brother, hear his laugh, train with him... All you wanted was your brother back. The cursor went through all the files, you already knew you wouldn't sleep, but unfortunately, you couldn't find much beyond what Eden already knew, except some encoded files that you would need time, knowing you couldn't ask any of the people who were with you, that was something you needed to do alone.
Your eyes fell back to the computer, cursing under your breath thinking about how long you had until the sun started to rise and your parents woke up. With light and quick steps, you left your room and entered your brother's. Releasing the breath you were holding, your eyes turned to the room, untouched just like yours. You froze in place for a moment, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, still finding your brother's scent in the room, it was faint but it was there. Your whole body shook before you opened your eyes, finding the bed, your brother's words coming back to you, just like your eyes falling on your desktop computer.
Before you could think much, your feet were already guiding you to the bed, knees and cheek finding the floor while one hand lifted the duvet, looking for anything under the bed, cursing under your breath when you couldn't find anything, eyes finding the desktop computer. Taking care not to make any noise, you moved the swivel chair away, pressing all the necessary buttons to turn on the computer, your leg shaking nervously as your mind went over every piece of information you had gathered.
That had all reignited the fire that burned inside you.
Maybe now you would finally have answers.
Unlike what you expected, you were met by a black screen with blue bold letters, a rectangle waiting for a password to be entered and you sighed, re-entering the password that you hoped was correct. The letters shining with each key pressed.
NIGHTINGALE.
Then the entire computer went black before a string of words appeared, such as various file names and registrations, recognizing some as those of your team and your brother's friends. They all had the date of last access, making your mouth form an 'o' when looking at the names of the last accesses, but not necessarily for the reason you would expect. The scare didn't come from the fact that the names of your team and your brother's friends were some of the last to be viewed, but rather the fact of when they were viewed.
Most importantly, the fact that your own file had been opened five minutes ago.
Your breathing stopped for a moment watching the computer screen. The well-known names were displayed on the computer's black screen, the dates of interaction were recent, but then everything stopped when a new name appeared at the top, your brother's file had just been opened. Your hand quickly found the mouse, the cursor heading to the well-known name, but which had been deleted from Strickland's files.
"What the hell is happening?"
Your voice was weak, less than a whisper, almost a breath when the click on your brother's name made the entire screen fill with data. There was information from when he was at Prestige Academy, when you were just a child who didn't know anything about life. Various and various files were present on the screen, some you knew, others you never saw anything about in your entire training period or after your graduation.
C2REKL3 – your brother's first mission after he graduated at sixteen. The boys had stayed with you throughout the period, as the fear of the possibility of losing your brother consumed you completely.
GBQJ9DU – the first mission he participated in when he was still fifteen, you still remembered how he, Chan, Mingyu and Jungkook were stressed about what was going to happen, even though you knew that BTB would be there to protect them if necessary.
7KC93ZZ – his first mission (still supervised) after being selected for the ASTRO team, not long after the success of the GBQJ9DU mission, which was the first time he had needed to kill someone. Until today you could see the emptiness on his face and how much he took himself whenever he could, trying to get rid of the invisible blood that stained his hand.
FI2U9KY – your first mission with him when you were thirteen.
ZVYQ8H7 – his last mission with ASTRO before Eden's recruitment so he could carry out the undercover work that would cause him to lose his life in the badlands of Strickland.
On the other hand, your fingers quickly searched for your cellphone to write down some of the sequences: 0JIL63EJ, XWET73T, NAXZMG0, KN3JA0J... How many missions had your brother been part of that you had never imagined? Finally, your eyes focused on the last mission he participated in (but not the last folder that had been changed). Seven months. He had been undercover for seven months, which explains his tan and long hair. Your fingers quickly went to the first file shown, your blood running cold with every word you read from the document.
He had been selected to check the movements of a possible opposition group that seemed to already be causing problems even after having been there for a short time. According to the reports, they were a group of eight people, there were no records of them at Strickland, they were complete ghosts, with considerable knowledge of how the system worked. It didn't take much for you to know that your brother had been chosen to study and capture Mars and the others, you knew he had picked it up on that easily too.
A video appeared in front of you, the first video of the mission, making you hold back your tears, the image exactly as you remembered it. The video was merely introductory, explaining who he was, his role in the team and the ultimate objective, some information about what had happened. You could hear and see other trusted people in the video, Eden was considerably specific in who and which groups participated in the missions he commanded, especially those that required stealth.
The next video was accompanied by a report. Maddox. That was the first word that appeared in the document followed by numbers and coordinates, the last word you could see in the document was a simple: CONTACT. Then the entire screen went black and you cursed under your breath before a blue glow appeared on the screen. A simple 'hello', the user written was Maddox, but you had never met a Maddox and, curiously, the conversation had only started after you opened the file that had that name as the first word.
MADDOX: (y/n), I know you are there, please respond.
Your fingers were still on the keyboard, the tips lightly touching the keys. It couldn't be, he wouldn't do that to you.
MADDOX: Eunwoo is dead, this is Maddox, now answer.
NIGHTINGALE: how do you know my name?
MADDOX: you really thought it would be this easy to enter your brother’s things and no one would know?
NIGHTINGALE: who are you?
MADDOX: Maddox.
NIGHTINGALE: no shit, now answer the question.
MADDOX: let’s say I’m the Lee Minho to your brother, but better.
A scoff left your lips as your back met the back of the swivel chair. You needed to find out who Maddox was and what he wanted.
MADDOX: your brother gave me access and control over his data, who do you think created all of this and made sure his registration was not canceled?
With that your back quickly became straight, your eyes determined and angry.
MADDOX: I knew this would get your attention.
NIGHTINGALE: what do you want from me?
MADDOX: I can help you if you want.
NIGHTINGALE: why is that my name?
MADDOX: should we use your real name when involving high treason documents?
Your breathing stopped for a minute.
MADDOX: I can help you get justice for your brother.
MADDOX: I can tell you who wanted him dead, but I still don't know who was successful.
NIGHTINGALE: The Black Pirates killed my brother.
MADDOX: he said you were smarter and thought for yourself, shame.
NIGHTINGALE: he was after them, how come they weren't the ones who killed him?
MADDOX: If they really wanted to, even you would be dead, child.
So he was older, but how much older?
MADDOX: you two have the same face when you're thinking.
NIGHTINGALE: since when have you been watching me?
MADDOX: since you entered that password in Eden's data.
Your entire body froze.
Maddox had access to Strickland's system, but whose side was he on?
MADDOX: I have to admit that I thought I would have to watch you look for the password, but you surprised me by not taking long to find it, both then and now.
MADDOX: Maybe the rumors about you are real.
NIGHTINGALE: and what could these rumors be?
MADDOX: too many for the little time we have.
NIGHTINGALE: So how do you expect to contact me after this?
MADDOX: If you had looked more meticulously under your brother's bed, you would have found the flash drive that gives you access to everything you were so focused on discovering.
You quickly got up, bending down again, turning on the light on your cell phone, going through the entire underside without finding anything, grunting quietly and rolling your eyes before finding a small reflection in the wooden part of the bed. The light quickly directed there, a flash drive was taped to the wood of the bed, reaching out to pick it up trying to make as little noise as possible, knowing that it was close to the time for your parents to wake up.
Your eyes fell to the computer screen, Maddox had sent a few more messages, so you quickly headed to the chair, flash drive carefully in hand.
MADDOX: Eunwoo made several requests to me before everything happened, I know a lot more things than most superiors.
MADDOX: I know you don't have much to believe in me, but I believe that when you see all the data we have in the system, maybe you will use your big brain and help get justice for your brother.
MADDOX: by the end of the week a brand new computer will be in your room at Strickland, use this computer to communicate with me and open the files, if you don't do so, using your computer or importing the files with the programs created by Minho in the new one, I'm going to do something about it and you don't want to know what I can do.
MADDOX: Your brother risked everything and more, you don't have to trust me, but at least do this for him, so that what he fought for was not in vain.
NIGHTINGALE: you talk too much for someone who hides behind a computer.
MADDOX: you're not far away, little bird.
MADDOX: you're considerably more intimidating in person than on a computer screen.
Your eyes widened, but before you could type anything Maddox had beaten you to it.
MADDOX: yes, Eunwoo recruited me, saw potential in me, Eden too and yes, we have already met in person.
MADDOX: I was part of the team that was undercover with him, but my work was more at the base and at the Command Center, which was where I was when the place was invaded.
MADDOX: don't do anything stupid, we all have skeletons in our closet and yours isn't the emptiest one.
NIGHTINGALE: I wonder what my brother would do knowing you're threatening me.
MADDOX: unlike him, my reason for protecting you is nothing more than strategic, it is to him that I swore loyalty, not to you.
MADDOX: if anyone on your team knows, know that there are advantages to having access to the Strickland Security Network, little bird.
You let out a small scoff, but the smirk on your lips gave you away. You had liked Maddox, you could understand why your brother had taken him close.
MADDOX: your parents will wake up in an hour and a half, I suggest you get some sleep and wait for the computer to use the flash drive, unless you want your own to self-destruct.
NIGHTINGALE: I want the new computer tomorrow.
MADDOX: earn it then.
The screen went completely black, you couldn't connect with Maddox in any way, until the screen turned on again, your brother's computer screen from the last time you shared that house was present. You wouldn't be able to contact Maddox, whoever he was. His words replayed in your mind. Mars and the others had abandoned you to organize the Black Pirates. Your brother was assigned to handle the situation they were trying to create. But as Maddox noted, they had several chances to cause your death if they really wanted it. Serpent also made it clear that one of the reasons – if not the only reason – that they hadn't completed the revolution was because of you, because they were in love with you, because they had already destroyed so much of what you loved and believed they couldn't finish the only thing they knew you held on to with all your might.
You were already waiting for that to happen.
Your entire team was already waiting, you knew that some members of your team had also passed on the information to the XKRS, so it was no surprise to anyone when punches were heard at the door of the room designated for you and your team. The eyes of the XKRS boys fell on you with concern, those of your team on the other hand, were determined. They had been waiting to have a talk with Yang ever since you told Hyunjin what had happened for your stitches to open.
Jeongin was the first to move towards the door, being stopped when you raised your hand before sighing and heading towards the repeated knocks and Yang's screams demanding to speak to you. When Eden said that the team that would be responsible for the second sweep of the school would be published that day, you wanted to make it clear that you would be in your office, as you knew that Yang would come after you, this time you were prepared for whatever he wanted. would do.
Maddox had also made it clear that he would arrange for your team to be selected and that he would help you with the door sealed in the school parking lot. You would need to use a communication point with him, which made you put Chan and Minho in charge of communicating with the XKRS. The justification was simple, Chan hadn't yet worked directly with other teams below you and Minho could help Sunmin with any issue he might need with the network, as you needed all the eyes possible to complete the mission effectively.
The punches on the door became more constant, Yang's muffled voice also became more present. With a simple look back, your team understood that they should stay quiet and let Yang be dealt with, even if all the eleven wanted at that moment was to annihilate the oldest. You made a point of making noise by pulling on the handle – which you knew wouldn't open, as you all always locked the door – and then, unlocking the door before sighing and opening it a small crack, just enough for Yang to see your face.
In a quick movement, he pushed the door away, his other hand finding your neck and you allowed it, holding back your laughter as you felt him pinning you against the wall, just like before, just as you expected him to do. In your peripheral vision, you could see the XKRS mobilizing to head towards you, only for your team to deny the advance and place their index finger against their lips. This was supposed to be resolved between you and Yang and just you two.
You allowed yourself to smile when you realized that he was so upset that he didn't notice the presence of the others in the room, his eyes angry and fixed on you. The fingers pressing against your neck enough to make you struggle slightly, he pressed you against the wall again, his free hand finding your left, pinning it firmly against the wall. Your right hand going for Yang's forearm, applying enough pressure to make him imagine the situation was repeating itself.
“I told you to stay the fuck away,” his face getting closer to yours, his fingers squeezing your neck, cutting off the air making you open your mouth, creating half moons on the skin of Yang's forearm, “you have so much desire to be the same as that grub of a brother, that you want to end up like him?”
Air finally returned to your lungs as he released his neck, holding both hands on top of your head, his other hand at the top of your thigh already anticipating a possible knee to his side. Your eyes met his with arched eyebrows.
“It feels like someone has been studying,” the air was inviting and painful in your throat, but you did your best to maintain your posture, you had been through worse, “does this mean that the great Yang is afraid of me?”
The cynical laugh that left your lips brought a slight grimace to Yang's face that squeezed your hips and wrists. Giving him a small smile, you leaned your head against the wall.
“You really want to end up like your brother, don’t you? Who knows, maybe something won't happen in the next mission, hun? We’ve already lost a lot of agents in the field, one more won’t be a problem, right?” Your face hardened, the memories of the data you had access to thanks to Maddox still fresh in your mind, could Yang be one of those possibly responsible? Considering the hatred he possessed for your brother, being driven by you after bringing Jeongin to your team, it was to be expected. “A bullet to the skull, the skin devoured by animals, passing for nothing more than a piece of meat thrown in the middle of the desert -”
Before any of the others could do anything, you threw your head forward, your forehead meeting Yang's nose and making him stumble back, giving you enough space to untangle yourself from him and the wall, grabbing his dominant arm, forcing it behind his back before pressing him with his chest against the wall, pulling his arm up listening to his complaint, the blood that came from the nose staining Yang's mouth and chin, consequently, also staining the wall that you had pressed it.
“You just threatened another government official, you know the consequences that brings, don’t you?”
“It’s your word against mine, princess,” God how you hated that nickname, especially when said like that. “You may be who you are, but I spent time creating my reputation.”
“You should have spent more time in strategy classes.”
Quickly, you pulled Yang's body, so that his chest was now against one of the nearby tables, trying to hold him as best as possible, trying to remember what Changbin had been through to you so many times. Only when he turned his face meeting Jeongin and Chan's gaze did he stop fidgeting, you could see he had realized how screwed he was.
“You dumb bitch, I'm gonna fucking kill you.”
“Oh, you still won’t shut up?”
In a quick movement, Yang managed to free himself from you, just as you expected and wrapped his arm around your neck, trapping you in a headlock, making everyone move towards you before you hissed a ‘no’, making everyone stop, but you could see both Changbin and Yongbok moving around the corners, Chan, Jeongin, Hyunjin, Ryujin and Minjae taking slow steps towards you. Yang's ragged breathing could be heard in your ear, but you made no mention of it.
“Are you really going to keep betraying your family for pussy?” Everyone knew that the words were directed at Jeongin, who seemed unaffected. Yang continued taking a few steps back, your eyes meeting Yongbok and Changbin's who were just waiting for your signal. “As if all your brother’s friends weren’t enough, you also have to fuck your team and my brother?”
“Are you mad because I’m fucking them all, or because I’m not fucking you?”
Yang's arm tightened around your neck making you gasp, everyone else becoming highly alert, but only the XKRS reacted more openly to what was happening. Yongbok and Changbin were still far away, making you think of something to help distract Yang as they got closer.
“A whore's word doesn't mean anything, you should know that,” his lips pressed against your ear and you had to hold yourself back from moving away, “or do you think no one ever knew what you and my brother were doing back home? Or at the Prestige Academy?”
“It’s not like it was a crime what we were doing.”
“But the feelings you have for each other is.”
“So is the feeling you feel right now,” he paused for a moment and you found yourself smiling, “and that’s why you’re not as good as you believe yourself to be, Yang.”
Your elbow quickly met his side while your heel met his toes, causing him to move away enough for another elbow to find his diaphragm followed by a headbutt to Yang's – already broken – nose. Yongbok quickly pushed Changbin and Yang out of your way, Changbin pinning Yang against the wall, Yongbok being your support as you recovered, one of your hands finding your neck which was quickly inspected by him.
Jeongin quickly getting between you and his older brother, still being pressed by Changbin, Chan quickly joins in to hold Yang if necessary. The younger Yang's eyes fell on you for a minute, more specifically on the mark on your neck, making him purse his lips before focusing again on Yang who was watching everything, still slightly aghast at what you had done. You could see the gears in Jeongin’s mind working.
“I think you spent enough time free for what you did,” there were very few times when you felt afraid of Jeongin or any of your team, but hearing the icy voice of your third-in-command made your entire body shiver, remembering one of the reasons you chose him as your other right hand in command, the reason why many were afraid of him. If Yang could be cruel, Jeongin could be the incarnation of Satan if he needed to. “Take him to the room.”
Changbin and Chan didn't even look their way before punching Yang unconscious, dragging his body to the room in question. Initially created for moments when someone was frustrated, angry or simply wanted to speak out loud without the fear of someone overhearing. As your team grew, there were times when it was necessary for some mechanisms to be used, even by you and Jisung – no matter how much you were against such mechanisms. This means that the soundproofing room could also become a torture room on specific occasions, even if rarely used for that purpose.
“Innie,” the nickname seemed to soften Jeongin’s gaze before falling back on you in concern, a small pain forming in your chest. He would torture his own brother for you, what situation had you all gotten yourself into? “Innie, there’s no need -”
“He threatened you,” the words were simple, harsh and had consequences that you knew went beyond a mere settling a score for what Yang had done to you months ago, “we have the recordings of everything, what he did has consequences and you know that -”
“You don’t have to be the one to do it.”
The dimples appeared, making your heart weight heavier on your chest.
Yang was right, in the end. You loved them and they loved you.
Even though deep down, you knew it wasn't the same love you once felt for Mars and the others, that you believed you would never feel again, because in the end, the higher-ups were right, Henry Jo was right, the Sciensalvar were right, Z was right. Feelings were the worst evil that could exist and the universe seemed to prove this to you with each event.
“You are my boss, my leader, my friend, my -” he stopped for a moment and you found yourself holding the air you breathed, Yongbok's fingers on your back serving as a way to keep you centered in the midst of what was happening. Jeongin's sigh was enough to make you release the breath you were holding before his eyes met yours, stopping momentarily on your neck. “He is my brother, if anyone, other than you, has the right to do something, it is me.”
“How will this affect your family?”
“You and the others have been my family for a while now,” the smile was weak but truthful, you knew he believed every one of those words and the tightness in your chest seemed to ease a little at that, but only a little. “Go over the plan with the XKRS boys, we’ll be waiting in the room.”
It was only then that you realized you had been left alone in the office with the XKRS boys. Their worried eyes on you as they watched Yongbok make sure you were okay enough for him to follow behind the others, which he did once you gave a slight nod. Your mind was a mess, not only with what had just happened, but also considering the information you had seen in your brother and Maddox's files.
With a sigh, a mental note came up to check Yang's name and registration in the records. You always knew there was more to the whole situation between the two of you, you knew it went beyond your relationship with Jeongin. Your fingers found the bridge of your nose before you sighed one last time and met the curious and worried eyes of the new Strickland unit.
“You have three seconds to put on a poker face, otherwise you will be demoted to insider work for a month,” all ten straightened their posture, faces becoming closed, but you could still tell by the look what was going on. “ You also need to work on your eyes, but this is better than expected.”
“Erm,” you didn’t look up, preferring to re expose the photos and blueprints of the school and nearby buildings, but you had noticed the exchange of looks between the ten, “if you need some time, we -”
Everyone was cut off by the muffled scream that came out of the room, shocks ran through your body as you swallowed hard and closed your eyes trying to focus on the plan, instead of imagining what everyone was doing in the room. The XKRS's eyes quickly fell in the direction of the scream and you held back a laugh, as you saw yourself in those boys in front of you, remembering what it was like when the others removed the blockers, how you and Chan helped the others adapt, until Jeongin arrives and takes care of this issue.
“Chan has already requested three helicopters to take us to the school,” despite the shouting, your voice didn't change its tone, making the other ten begin to understand how things worked. Even though they had some missions, some things only really happened after graduation. “I’ll leave the organization of the buildings to you,” your eyes and pointed fingers found Minjae and Junmin who nodded, making you hand over the blueprint photos of the buildings to them. “After we enter, Minho will try to connect with the network, which will give you an inside look and you will be able to help us when we need it.”
“Are we going to have a communication point with all of you?”
You denied Hyunwoo's question, approaching the table that you had organized in relation to the school locations, both those that had the most deaths, those that had the most information, and those that had both. Everything is divided by area and floor. A smirk formed on your lips when you noticed how none of the boys in front of you squirmed because of the photos.
“Only Chan and Minho will communicate with you, Chan needs more training helping teams below ours and, as we don't know what will happen, I'm going to start putting him and Jeongin in charge of this issue on certain missions,” the others nodded carefully, as they knew that that piece of information was important, that if they did well, they would possibly be called to work on missions related to the Black Pirates again. “Minho knows practically everything about all existing systems so he will be able to help Sumin with whatever is needed, I also need Seeun to have a direct connection, photographic memory can help us more than the cameras itselves.”
"What is the problem?"
You smiled brightly at Jinsik's question, knowing that Jisung had spent enough time with the youngest and explained the little details that would help him see beyond the words. Honestly, you just hoped that what Eden had asked you to do wouldn't affect your performance as much as you believed it might, not as much as your brother's drawing already had in some ways.
“There is only one part that does not have a camera and is not present in the blueprint,” your fingers indicated a point below everything, making all ten eyes become confused for a moment, “that is the parking lot, but it does not have cameras and the space is not the same as what is specified here.”
You let out a small sigh when you noticed the eyes of the ten in the photos and files of the place. As soon as you headed directly to the parking lot after passing the three rooms that Eden had indicated had the drawing, you knew they would talk to Chan and Minho.
“What can we do to help?”
“Making my team complete this mission smoothly,” before anyone could say anything, you placed a paper on top of where the parking lot would be, “none of them are supposed to go to the parking lot, in case something happens, I want them out of that building, I don’t care if I’m still there, understood?”
"But -"
“The question is of ‘yes or no’ nature,” your voice was hard, you knew there was something in that room that could change the situation for better or worse and you were okay with whatever came, but that was your choice. There was a reason it was sealed, a reason so many died in the parking lot, and you would do anything to make sure your team didn't suffer from whatever came from that room specifically. “The priority is my team, if you have to lie, I want you all to lie, I don’t care, I deal with everything if necessary afterwards, but they are the priority, understand?”
All ten were silent for a moment, your eyes met Minjae's and you knew he understood what you wanted to say, perhaps better than anyone present. He knew you wouldn't say why you alone had to go to the parking lot or why it was relevant, but he knew you had a plan and if they did anything to hurt that plan, you would finish them off without having to lay a finger on any of them.
"Yes ma'am."
Despite the small fright and confusion that appeared in the eyes of others, they quickly followed what Minjae had said. A simple wave was all you made available to them before pointing to the board behind you with all the information they could need. Your feet went to the room the others were in, Yang's screams and curses could be heard, even if muffled.
“If you want,” your feet took root on the floor, not needing to look back to know that you had all the ten complete attention, “you can leave the office, I can ask Minho to share the necessary files with you, you don't need to be here in case it’s still too early.”
Silence once again took over the room, murmurs began to appear little by little. Everyone knew that you wouldn't go towards the room where the muffled screams were coming out, not until you heard back from them. They didn't know, probably neither did your team, but your mind kept replaying the information gathered over the last few days, what had just happened only helping your mind create scenarios of what could have happened.
"We’ll stay."
A sigh left your mouth before your feet walked back towards the room where your team had taken Yang. As soon as the door opened, a scream came out of Yang's mouth and you knew the other ten behind you were startled, but you were on a mission, you would have your answer, even if you only analyzed it later.
The door closed with a click making Yang's eyes find your figure. Jeongin was crouched not far from his older brother, Chan and Changbin on each side of the chair, Chaeryeong was holding one of the electrical cable connections, Yang already had the copper crown on his head. You could see each of your team with injured knuckles, Jeongin, Chan, Hyunjin, Ryujin, Yeji, Changbin and Yongbok's were the most injured ones.
Blood dripped from some of the cuts that were already present on Yang's face, his nose even more crooked than when you had seen it previously. The restraints on the wrists and ankles already red. With a simple shake of your head you caused the copper crown to be removed from Yang's head, the two points that connected the electricity to his temples also being removed. A small sigh of relief was heard from him, but when dark laughter from all of your team members were heard, fear flashed across Yang's face.
Despite being known for being a great interrogator, which you were, and knowing that you preferred methods that didn't involve torture, few knew how well you could torture someone. You didn't do it very often, but when you did, everyone broke down under your hand. Maybe you should thank your brother’s death for that, because you wanted answers and you were willing to go to the ends of the earth to get them.
“The situation is simple, Yang,” your steps were calculated, everyone had opened a corridor for you to find him, the smell of blood was already strong, “you just need to tell the truth and you can walk out of here.”
“You can’t do this to me,” despite the attempt, you managed to see the tremor in his words, making you smile cynically, “I’m an officer just like you, this can’t happen.”
“But weren’t you the one who threatened to kill me a short while ago?”
You walked away swinging your hands up, having Changbin and Chan release Yang's wrists while Yongbok and Hyunjin released his ankles. Yeji handed you one of the daggers that were hanging on one of the walls, making you turn the handle, the tip of your index finger finding the tip of the dagger. Yang's eyes widened slightly at that, he had heard about your torture sessions then.
“Wrists or ankles?”
"Wrists," your response was simple, your voice soft, unbothered, which made only terror run across Yang's face, "take off his shirt."
“His record has already been changed,” Minho’s voice caught your attention, even though your eyes remained on Yang, Changbin ripping off his shirt, leaving his torso exposed to you, “two weeks away due to injury during an unsuccessful mission.”
“You guys can't do this -”
“You couldn't threaten me either, but you did it anyway,” the threat wasn't the problem for you, everyone there knew, except Yang who tried to justify it, but you silenced him by touching the tip of the knife to the exact spot where his jugular pulse was. “Do you really think this is happening because of a simple threat?” You laughed, lowering the knife to Yang's left collarbone, the tip entering his skin as you brought it down towards his sternum, you could hear the grunts as he tried to squirm away from it. “For someone who claims to be so excellent, your brain is very underdeveloped to analyze the situation.”
“You want me to beg, is that it?!”
“No,” the knife found the sternum and ended the contact of the metal with the hot skin of the older man who sighed, “I want you to say if you gave my brother a chance.”
"What you -"
A quick and deep enough cut was made on Yang's right side, in the same location and size as yours that he had opened the stitches months ago. The scream echoed through your head and you ignored it, watching Yang's expression.
“Let's say I discovered something interesting in the report on the invasion of my brother's bunker,” you noticed everyone looking at you curiously, some eyes falling on Minho who seemed equally lost, but no one dared to say a word, “some passwords were used to enter the location, but interestingly, the person to whom that password belongs was on a mission, there is evidence of this person carrying out the mission at the time of the invasion.”
The silence was heavy and everyone saw how Yang went into a slight panic as your words were processed in his head. Some still exchanged confused looks. What you were indicating was a plot to get another officer killed, tantamount to high treason.
"I do not know what you're talking about."
“So there won’t be any problem telling me where you were when my brother disappeared, right?”
“Eunwoo disappeared, no one knows what happened until he turns up dead in the desert.”
“Are any of you comfortable enough to grab the belt?” Everyone knew what that meant, you noticed Yang's fingers wrapped around the iron chain, your eyes meeting Jisung who watched everything curiously. “Ji, can you go further up, please?”
“How much on the feet?”
No one dared question you, everyone knew how much you hated torture, that it was always your last choice. If your allegations are right, which everyone also knew you wouldn't make without having considered all the possibilities, Yang had committed the worst of crimes within their area. That's why when Jisung agreed without much reservation, Yang knew he was fucked. His eyes met Jeongin's in pleading, only receiving a cold look in response.
“Fifty,” the answer came from Jeongin who positioned himself behind you, his fingers finding your lower back, a silent answer to the question you were asking all of them with that request, if they were on your side and that you wouldn’t be hurt or hold grudges if someone decided to turn their back on the situation, “let's increase 10kg every five minutes and move up the chain when the weights are lower to the ground.”
“Jeongin,” Yang’s voice was a plea, “I’m your brother -”
“My brother is Chan, Minho, Changbin, Hyunjin, Jisung, Yongbok and Seungmin, you are not my brother.”
“Are you going to leave this -”
The sound of the belt was heard, just like the sound of the buckle meeting Yang's exposed skin, Chan and Changbin were behind him, taking turns so that neither of them got tired. Chaeryeong and Ryujin threw salt water at Yang, making a scream reverberate throughout the room, but no one dared to move. Hyunjin and Seungmin tied the weights to Yang's ankles. Minho's computer keyboard was clicking every second, you already knew what he was looking for.
“Where were you the day my brother disappeared?”
“You fucking lunatic bitch, are you -”
Five times the buckle found Yang's skin, but only on the fifth did he release some kind of reaction, making you raise your eyebrows in acceptance of the challenge.
“We know you weren't alone,” the tip of the dagger went through every area of Yang's abdomen and you laughed, seeing the muscle contract, digging the tip even deeper into the skin, leaving a red line wherever it passed, “if you say the names, I’ll go easier on you.”
“Go to hell, you fucking slu-”
Your knife stuck in Yang's thigh at the same moment the buckle found the already red skin again. You and him knew the knife was close to the bone but hadn't caught the artery, but he wasn't completely free to do as he pleased. The growl that left his mouth was more from the knife than from the five times the buckle met his back.
“You have two weeks off, there are too many things I can still do with you to justify those two weeks, are you sure you want me to do them all?”
It was then that Yang saw, finally saw, Strickland's weapon.
And you smiled as you saw terror meet their eyes, for in that moment, you were the monster they had created.
Your eyes passed one last time over the notes of the stakeouts that took place on site. Your intuition told you there was something you weren't seeing, but no matter how much you analyzed it, something still didn't seem to add up. Your fingers quickly found the files from the day of the school invasion that were with Jeongin and Chan, your eyes trying to find what was making you uncomfortable about everything. Something was out of place, you just couldn't visualize what.
“Sumin just confirmed the images from the latest scan,” Minho’s voice made you look up from the pages, his fingers quick against the keyboard before turning the screen to you, Jeongin and Chan. His eyes quickly met yours, followed by the other two, making you sigh. “What do you want to do, boss?”
One of your gloved hands found your face, resting your chin in your hand, eyes observing the images that Sunmin made available to you. There were many more people than expected. That place had seen a lot of death, but there was only so much that could be prevented.
“Tranquilizers,” your hands quickly went to the second gun that was hanging on your body reaching the amount you had, “since most of them are at the top, we need to get through there without being noticed or everything will go down the drain.”
“How do you want to organize the descent?”
Chan's eyes searched yours waiting for orders, Jeongin's fingers checking the other three weapons before handing them to Minho, Chan and taking the last one. Your eyes quickly passed through the thermal vision of the school building, you needed to contain your tranquilizer darts for when you arrived in the parking lot.
Despite wanting to be first, you cursed under your breath knowing you should be last.
“Chan goes first, I go last, I don't care who is in the middle,” a small sigh before the pilot's voice indicated that they were already above the school and the descent would begin. “Let's all stay on the emergency stairs, let's follow the sequence of whoever comes down.”
“Ryujin and Jeongin will bring up the rear with you.”
Chan commented quickly before the pilot allowed the exit and you were the first to get out of the helicopter, pulling the mask from your clothes to your face, the protective glasses being quickly pulled down. The place was as deserted as it had been when you and the others had been there weeks ago. Boots thumped against the concrete of the roof and you quickly ran to the door that connected the building to the roof, noticing Jeongin right behind you.
You pulled the door open revealing the freed up space, much to the delight of your team. Quickly each of the twelve members of SKZY entered the building, Chan and Minho exchanging glances checking the communication point with XKRS before heading downstairs. Jeongin and Ryujin's eyes met yours before they followed behind everyone. If everything went well, you would find out what Eden wanted and you would get out of there without much trouble.
Small noises could be heard with each step that your team took deeper and deeper into the school. Quickly the first floor had been cleared for your team to check, your steps leading to the first room Eden had shown you, one of the separate rooms used by the school's vice principal. Most of the notes that had previously been torn out had been replaced, the television playing the video of the warehouse that made you meet Serpent weeks ago.
The drawing of the blue bird screamed just like the first time you saw it in the photo that Eden had given you, the difference was that now it was in front of you. Your fingers passed over the blue line of the drawing and your heart sank for a moment before you sighed and focused on the papers pinned to the bulletin board, searching for any kind of new information, but nothing but the same seemed present.
With a low curse, your hands rested on the table, the image on the television capturing your attention momentarily. Despite everything Maddox had shown you, something still told you that Mars and the others were involved in some way with what had happened to your brother, maybe not with the bunker raid, but something had happened between the raid and your brother's body turning up in the desert, something you felt only the eight of them could answer.
With a sigh you looked away, your hand balling into fists before your eyes focused on one of the papers that were laid out on the table. ‘Hourly update: stable. Requirement: list present in the dark room - hand it over to one of the ATEEZ’. Your fingers quickly grabbed the sheet, placing it between the pockets of your clothes, the static in your ear indicating it was time to move to the next floor.
More and more bodies fell around you, some with tranquilizer darts, others clearly using force to knock them out. Your mind returned to the words on the paper in your pocket, the dark room could only be the place that had been sealed when the invasion happened weeks ago. A moment of calm passed through your body, knowing that the probability of self-destruction of the place would decrease considerably, because if something needed to be removed, it meant that it was only present in that place.
Another important detail was the possible presence of ATEEZ on site. Angel and Serpent's faces appearing on your mind quickly, you felt anxious at the thought of meeting them again. The last thing you needed was to find them together with your team, even though you remembered Angel's behavior back at Guardian's Island, you couldn't contain the thoughts of someone discovering your relationship with them.
“(y/n) we need you up front,” the tension in Changbin’s voice made you freeze for a moment, four floors still had to be overcome for you to reach your goal. Everyone made room for you to find Changbin in one of the curves that gave access to the floor below. He and Chan signaled to each other, a silent conversation about how to proceed, until they nodded beyond the curve of the wall, “how do you want to proceed with the plan?”
�� The whisper was almost inaudible at your point of communication and you mentally cursed when you noticed the number of rebels that were between that floor and the one below, you couldn't use up all the darts, not yet. The largest quantity was three floors down, you needed the darts for the library floor. Your eyes went over the weapons in the hands of the rebels, only a few had them, but you could see hidden knives, as well as some pistols.
You needed to attract some to be able to move forward. Your eyes met Yeji's, calling her and pointing to the same place Changbin had pointed out. You could see the gears of her mind turning as you headed to meet Chaeryeong, rummaging through the bag the girl was carrying. A light bomb and a gas bomb, that would have to be enough to deal with those who weren't attracted to whatever Yeji was planning.
You, Chaeryeong, Yongbok, Yeji, Minho and Changbin headed to one of the nearby rooms, the blueprint of the space being opened up on one of the tables. Your eyes and ears just watched as your team organized the best method to move forward. Yongbok and Changbin would try to get close enough to contain those who haven’t caught the bait, Minho confirmed the number with the XKRS, such as their presence being mostly on the stairs. The only thing missing was the distraction to reduce the number of people they would have to pass.
Despite everyone thinking in different ways, you knew it needed to be something considerable to make them leave their posts, something that only Mars and the others would use, something that you knew that if it was seen, it would not be questioned at any time by the rebels in the stairs, but would draw enough attention to make them leave their posts.
Drones.
With quick steps, you went searching through the rooms before signaling what the others should look for. Drones were one of Logan's passions, he was also present a few weeks ago, guiding you to where Howl was in one of the buildings to the east. It was a long shot, but you didn't have much to go beyond that, at least it would give you enough time to get through the stairs.
Jisung quickly found a drone and its controller, handing them to Chaeryeong who handed the drone to Minho while she fiddled with the controller. The drone had a camera, which could help them further. While Minho, Chaeryeong and Yeji worked on how to proceed with the drone, you, Yongbok and Changbin went to a further part.
“We need to consider that at least one of them has a communicator, be it a cellphone or a walkie-talkie,” your voice was low enough to make them both approach you, “Yongbok is more agile, I need you to arrive as quickly as possible to beyond the stairs and catch anyone who tries to escape, in the meantime,” your eyes turned to Changbin, “I need you to do your best to keep the others unconscious, but use the darts as little as possible, we need them for the library floor.”
“How can we get close to them? As much as the drone helps, it can only do so much,” your backpack was pulled forward, the gas and light grenade being handed to the two, Changbin carefully taking it in his hands with a smile. “Regular gas?”
“We don't have a mask, we can't risk it,” your smile was a mirror of his, Yongbok's eyes fell to the corridor they would just pass. “I know we agreed on no deaths until we get to the library, but don’t hesitate.”
The simple wave was enough for you to hand over one of the daggers that was attached to your vest, small enough to go unnoticed, sharp enough to cause damage.
“Is there a reason why you shouldn’t be at the front?”
Even though you expected it, that wasn't the moment you imagined happening.
“We need to get to the library, there is something we need to find and I believe it is there, but I also need Chan and Jeongin to be more present in the events, in the decision-making, not just them but the entire team.”
“Do you think what happened to Yang will have repercussions?”
Until that moment, that hypothesis had not even crossed your mind. Despite all the evidence you and your team gathered, you, Jeongin and Chan knew how influential Yang could be, despite being weak compared to others, the few allies he had were strong enough to pull the council to disapprove of your actions and attitudes, however justified they may be.
Your silence was enough of an answer for the two who nodded, making you grateful for that without having to invent a half-truth to justify the choices that were being made that day. When Chaeryeong's voice appeared at everyone's communication point, you sighed in relief, the sooner you finished that mission, the sooner things could be resolved.
As expected, you stayed behind, Chan taking Jeongin's place since his tranquilizer darts had run out. You could see the smoke, hear the grunts and quick footsteps against the wood, you also heard a body hit the ground hard and you just prayed that Yongbok was okay.
As soon as your team passed the stairs, you found Yongbok, Jeongin and Hyunjin holding the rebel, your third in command holding the walkie-talkie while Yongbok pinned the rebel in front of him who, even with a gun to his head, seemed to just stop fidgeting as Jeongin handed the walkie-talkie to you. Your fingers quickly moved to find any frequency that was being used.
“Helicopter spotted three minutes ago, everyone stay away from the windows.”
Despite trying to appear calm, the tension in your body upon hearing the unknown voice seemed to increase as you knew that five helicopters would pass by the place as you had planned, which could also indicate that they knew that you had entered the school.
“Movement spotted in building 3, request for inspection team.”
“Await further information while we verify the order.”
A sigh seemed to come out of everyone around you, knowing that they possibly hadn't been found yet, but an even bigger sigh seemed to come out of you considering you hadn't identified anyone's voice in any of the sentences said. Maybe the ATEEZ boys wouldn't be in school, maybe not even your boys are.
With a simple wave, Yongbok made the rebel unconscious, letting his body fall delicately to the ground, the walkie-talkie going to your vest as you indicated them to follow, Changbin still leading everyone, you following only when you heard his voice in your point of communication. Your feet were quick to the second room you knew the drawing was in.
For a moment, your feet took root, observing the place in front of you. Blocks of soundproofing material, instruments scattered around the place, an old but apparently comfortable sofa, vinyl records and radios with CDs were arranged on the walls, but only when your eyes came across a blue bird graffiti in one of the spots that the soundproofing material was non-existent, that your feet began to walk into the room.
Fingers gently touching the keyboard, the guitar neck, the drums, the electric guitar, even vinyl records. That damn room just reminded you of Lucky's room in their dimension. Finally, your fingers found the blue paint on the wall, your fingertips passing over the entire line of the drawing before turning them towards you, why were you sad that the paint didn't stain your fingers? With a simple shake of your head, you turned your back to the drawing, only to find a sheet of music open on one of the farthest keyboards, the bird drawing was also present.
The score was not complete, but the lyrics that accompanied it were, along with the respective letters of the respective guitar notes for the song to be sung and played. Star 1117. The small drawing of the bird being seen next to the title, the lyrics a mix of Lucky and Iyaah. Your eyes burning with each word read of what was written. If they weren't there at that moment, they had been at the school for the last few weeks, they had been in that specific room, creating another song that you would never hear.
“We need to move forward, there is no one on the stairs.”
Quickly, the letter had the same ending as the paper you had found in the first room. Quick steps against the wood made you find most of the team gathering at the beginning of the stairs, Yongbok and Chan being the last to join before everyone nodded, following the drone that Chaeryeong was using, Minho's eyes focusing on the screen of the tablet, eyes focused on the movements of his hands.
Just one more floor and you would be at the library, the last mandatory stop until you could head to the parking lot. Your body was shaking, not only from the stress of the situation, but also from what you could find in the other two places considering what you had found in the other two rooms.
Fortunately, the next floor was relatively empty, but still, you had to use three darts when you noticed movement occurring near one of the rooms, while the walkie-talkie screeched with interference, but nothing had been said, and was quickly ignored, making your team breathe for a moment before getting together to evaluate the best route to take to get to the library and having few deaths considering that half had already used all the tranquilizer darts.
“Request for inspection of building 3, are you listening?”
Everyone stopped breathing for a moment, completely forgetting that one of the unconscious people could have been the one who made the request. Chan quickly making everyone move as silence formed. Chaeryeong quickly connected with the drone, everyone's eyes on the tablet that showed the images of the staircase that connected to the library floor, the murmurs could be heard, confirming the number of people.
“We believe that five people will be more than enough for the inspection.”
The drone stopped at the same moment the voice was heard, causing Chaeryeong to bring the device back to them. Your ears were focused on the walkie-talkie as you pointed to Minho's tablet, which he quickly handed over to your side, Chan and Yeji moving away to go over the rest of the plan.
You needed to find out which building was categorized as three.
“Checking candidates, please wait for the next information.”
“Movement was also spotted in building eight.”
“Leaders have already been contacted, please wait. Let’s check the cameras in the meantime.”
With a simple exchange of glances, Minho walked away, contacting Sumin through the communication point while you went towards Chan and Yeji, making all eyes fall on you.
“We need to go now,” that wasn't a request, much less a suggestion, it was an order and everyone nodded. “I'll go ahead with Ryujin, based on the number of people we managed to find out, it'll be every man for himself, we'll meet at the designated building, be careful.”
Despite saying this looking at Chan and Yeji, you had connected your communication point, not only with your team, but also with Maddox. The interference and keyboard noise on your left spot being the only indication that he had heard you. When you get to the parking lot you wouldn't have much time to open the sealed door, you knew that Maddox's distance wouldn't help either, but there wasn't much you could do, not without being discovered by both the rebels and your team.
“Have the XKRS been warned yet?”
A simple nod was enough for Jisung as a respond as he placed himself right behind you, as he was one of those who had darts still available. Seungmin quickly found himself next to him, determined eyes with an amused smile on his lips made you smile in response.
"Everyone ready?" You knew your entire team and Maddox were listening, you needed to tell him what was going to happen so he would be ready when you reached the parking lot. “The library is large enough for us to have visibility of the targets, but it also has several corridors that lead to separate rooms. Be careful. We will meet at the designated building, keep each other informed of your positions and when you leave the school.”
“Good luck.”
Was all Maddox said before you disconnected the communication point with him, being able to hear the others on the team confirming. Even though Ryujin was your shadow, your feet were the first to find the stairs that would take you all to the library. Your boots firmly on the concrete, you can hear the sound of the rest of your team's feet following behind you. Your breathing was controlled, even though you could hear the blood pulsing in your ear.
With each step you took towards the door that led to the stairs, the more you could hear the movement of people, noticing that they were reconstructing the place, the information. With a simple signal, you noticed everyone on your team stopping, a few more steps were taken by you, helping with the visibility of the location.
You would never be able to enter that place without being seen. As soon as you entered you would be spot on, it was necessary to change the strategy, only starting everything after you were already among everyone and, unlike the upper floors, most had weapons, which in itself was a sign that things would not be well received. You needed another plan.
Your fingers quickly removed your goggles, ignoring your team's protests, shutting them up with a simple look. With a simple nod, Jeongin, Yeji and Chan were by your side going through the same process as you and quickly understanding your point, imitating some of your movements, Chan and Jeongin going further and also pulling the sleeves of their clothes to their elbows, Yeji untied her hair, pulling the mask down, but stopping you before your movements could happen. Her voice was low enough that only the four of you could discern what was being said.
“They don't know who we are, but you're the face of the team, if they know you're here...”
With a nod you agreed with Yeji's concern, indicating with your head for everyone to also do what they were doing, the only change you had made was removing your glasses. As the three went towards the others helping with small adjustments, your eyes once again faced the visible space of the library, some rebels also had masks, making it not at all strange if you entered the place.
“Let's go in separately, I'll go first, but we can't communicate,” everyone nodded, even though they didn't completely agree with the idea of leaving you alone in a space where they knew you were a person of interest to the leaders of the movement, “we need to position ourselves in various locations so that we can pass through this space and escape unharmed, but if we are discovered, we need to know somehow.”
“This is the last point of important information that can be collected, after that it is mostly resting places for the rebels, including surveillance through the documents that Eden gave us.”
“With that,” Jeongin continued Yeji’s speech, “take what you can get, any possible piece of information could be important.”
“And try not to get caught until the last possible minute,” everyone nodded at Chan's speech, who turned his gaze to you, softening considerably as his hands cupped your face, your foreheads touching for a minute making you both close your eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“You know I can’t promise anything.”
“At least promise you’ll come back in one piece.”
A weak nod and Chan released your face, making your eyes meet everyone else's before your feet guided you past the staircase door, a long sigh leaving your mouth, ending only when you found yourself surrounded by people and light. The eyes finding the main source of natural light. Even though the sun was partially covered by the accumulation of clouds that enveloped the place, the rays still struggled to pass through them.
Perhaps symbolism about the Black Pirates and Strickland's government.
A small smile appeared beneath the mask, a few people walked past you, some waving their hands or heads, others walking past looking at documents, carrying boxes, or simply talking about something you couldn't discern. It was almost comical how easily you and your team had infiltrated the Black Pirates cell, maybe you could even brag about it to some of the boys if you found them.
Your eyes quickly found a shelf full of books, not just one, but at least three, with two ladders that allowed you to reach the top if necessary. Your heart sank knowing that this would be one of your brother's favorite thing about that entire mission. You could even see him carefully picking up some of those books, not at all surprised when your feet guided you to the base of the bookshelf. Titles written on the spines of books that you knew were banned at Strickland, that you yourself had read or heard about thanks to the boys.
Before your fingers could touch any of the books, you could see a chair next to the window, sheet music open in front of the chair and a violin resting on top of it all. The image of Logan playing the violin came back in full force, of how you had helped him when he had a performance all those years ago, how nervous he was, the fear of making mistakes, the way he had asked you to be present at the performance, because if you were there he would be able to do everything without missing a single chord.
“If you had gotten here sooner, you would have seen him play,” an unknown voice brought you to reality, turning your face and finding a girl smiling openly at you, she was pretty, delicate, the kind of girl you introduce to the family, she shouldn't be in that place. “Logan doesn’t play much, but whenever we’re here, for some reason, he plays the violin for us.”
Logan was here, not just ATEEZ.
With that piece of information you smiled, knowing that the girl in front of you noticed despite the mask.
“Is he still here?” You tried to sound casual, hoping the girl wouldn't notice how hard your heart was beating against your chest. “I need to talk to him about a document we received a request about and -”
"ATTENTION!" Everyone's gaze fell on the base of a staircase that you beat yourself up for not noticing before. An officer stood still, fingers on the trigger of the gun he held against his body. “Movements were detected in buildings three and eight, through the cameras we were able to identify some people who should not have been there. The leaders decided to promote two inspections, members will be contacted by radio -”
Everything seemed to get muffled when you found Logan coming down the stairs, in an avid conversation with another officer. He was playing the violin, he looked fine, so the one who was hurt wasn't him. The sigh you let out was quickly suppressed by yourself, especially when it didn't go unnoticed by the girl next to you.
“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” Her eyes met yours and a simple nod was enough for the girl to sigh and her eyes fell on Logan again. “How can a man as handsome as this be real?”
You allowed yourself to laugh, being imitated by the girl next to you. You understood her point. Despite everything that happened and your history with Logan, there was no denying that he was handsome, his ethereal beauty always leaving you slightly airy, but what made you stop laughing was the memory of Angel during those two weeks. If she found Logan handsome, Angel managed to be even more intriguing in his beauty and way of carrying himself.
“Lim Nayong?” The shock that ran down your spine made your eyes widen quickly, but no movement was made. His voice could be recognized anywhere, your eyes finding his feet not far from you. “You are Lim Nayong, correct?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
The girl next to you, Nayong, responded quickly, but you could notice her body's reaction to Logan being so close. He was one of the few who could recognize you, you needed to get out of there.
“And who is your friend?” Mother fucker, you cursed him in your mind, before your eyes lifted and met Logan's – no, that wasn't Logan. Your mind thanked Yeji for stopping you from removing the mask, not only because you would be easily recognized, but for the hiss of curses you let out when you noticed Angel's eyes pass over your entire body before returning to your eyes, the well-known smile present along with the shrewd, stormy eyes. “Sorry, but can I pick up Nayong? We need her for a mission, if you don’t mind.”
Your negative shake of the head made Angel smile widely before his eyes fell on Nayong and indicated for her to follow some of the officers who were nearby. Angel's eyes still observed every detail of your face, but you didn't look away, only to find the birthmark covered again with makeup, your fingers itching to tear off that foundation and leave the pink skin exposed for anyone who wanted to see.
He took another step forward, you could feel several eyes on the two of you, including that of your team, wherever they were. Angel's scent intoxicated your lungs and all you wanted most was to be able to push him away, as far away from you as possible. A smirk appeared along with a small guttural 'hm' that made you feel heat throughout your body. Logan wouldn't say you were there, but Angel? Angel was an unknown puzzle in every possible way, you didn't know what to expect from him.
As quickly as he approached, the warmth of his presence receded. You noticed his eyes darting quickly towards the stairs he had recently descended, but subtle enough to appear as if he was just looking for one of the officers, who quickly appeared at his side, interestingly enough, the same officer who had descended the stairs along with him before that scene.
Your eyes followed Angel as people went back to their tasks, but you managed to find the eyes of some of your team members fixed on Angel's silhouette. Whether he noticed was never clear. With a quick glance in Chan's direction, you can see Changbin clenching his fists.
“Chan, 60 degrees to your left,” casually Chan turned around finding Chagbin with his eyes fixed on Angel, being quickly blocked by Chan receiving a simple eye roll before you saw the two bickering before they both headed to the opposite side of where Angel was following. “I need to get into the room he was in, if anything, find a way to let me know.”
A small thank you for no one being near you was said before you walked to the side of the windows. The street space was equally empty, your eyes falling on the buildings you knew the XKRS boys would be in, wishing they weren't the respective buildings three and eight.
“I thought he was going to select you too,” another strange voice appeared next to you, this time it was a man, his eyes fell on you and a small smile was present on his lips. “Although we don’t know what was going on most of the time in their minds, I believe we all thought you would be called.”
"And you are?"
“Yuri,” he said quickly, “Park Yuri, I don’t think we’ve ever met before.”
His outstretched hand was cautiously embraced by yours, but you didn't give him your name.
“I was just transferred to this area, it would be unlikely that he would call me,” was the only thing you offered, your eyes falling back on the buildings. “What are buildings three and eight? The only information they gave me was about the school.”
With quick fingers, Yuri pointed out two buildings, none of them the ones you had agreed with the XKRS, which made you hold back a sigh of relief. A small smile of gratitude formed on your face and you hoped it could be seen in your eyes as well. Not only was it important that your team to be safe after completing the mission, the safety and well-being of the XKRS could be considered even more important, not just for you but for the other members of your team.
“So, what is your current job? If you want, you can -”
“I need to check some documents in Logan's office, one of the leaders requested it, so…” Yuri quickly nodded, moving away from you and indicating the stairs that Logan had just come down, confirming your suspicions. With light and quick steps, you climbed the stairs, the fact that you didn't know exactly when Angel would be back made your heart feel in your throat. “Please let it be empty, please let it be empty.”
As soon as your body turned at the top of the stairs, a drawing met you.
The damn bluebird drawing.
Your hand wrapped around the doorknob, ignoring the bird drawing on the door, breathing a sigh of relief when you noticed the empty room. The click of the door behind you made you pull your mask down, finally able to breathe fresh air as your eyes roamed the entire space of the room. Papers and more papers covered the table, a blank board with a drawing of the space they were in, the school and the buildings around it, arrows and notes.
Your eyes turned to the table, the bold letters and censored parts seemed to scream for your attention. One of the folders that was on top of the others was related to the invasion that you and your team had carried out weeks ago. Again, your eyes found the whiteboard, some dots marked the locations where you, your team and the XKRS stayed during the uprising created by the Black Pirates.
A date was written in the top corner, making you approach the board, each step making your mind work faster. The date was today. The words ‘moving day’ written on the front. They would reactivate that cell, even though they knew it had already been exposed. However, as Angel had seen, your superiors weren't the smartest, considering the work Eden had to go through to simply get them to think about authorizing this second inspection. Perhaps reusing an already known space would be more advantageous than abandoning it completely.
“Hello, princess.”
The click of the door along with the breathing on your neck made you highly alert. Your right arm quickly moved so that your elbow hit the torso of the person, who was faster than you, grabbing your arm and pulling it close to his firm and slim body before pressing you against the wall, allowing you to feel every part of his body against yours, his hand holding your hip after joining your two wrists above your head, his feet spacing yours, allowing him to stand exactly in front of you, just like he had done in the warehouse.
“So you’re here too,” Serpent’s smirk made you laugh derisively. “Did he say I was here?”
“Our mutual friend?”
“Are you now impersonating them?” The question came out almost painfully, as it was an admission that you could differentiate between them, better than even the followers themselves. Serpent's smile confirmed to you that he also captured it that way. “He pretends to be Logan, you pretend to be Mars and how long will this continue?”
“Now princess, I told you that back in the warehouse,” the pressure of Serpent’s fingers wrapping around your wrist as you tried to free yourself from him made you let out an angry growl before throwing your head back, eyes finding your wrists above your head, giving Serpent the chance to bring his face closer to your neck, “we will do whatever it takes to see your government fall,” your face lowered, the distance between you two mere centimeters making you swallow hard, “the fact that just you being able to differentiate us is just an advantage for us.”
“How far do you think your followers are willing to go?”
“How far do you believe your team can go to protect and defend you?”
Silence fell in the room, the answers were clear in each of your eyes. As soon as you felt Serpent's hand leave your hip, you dared to move it, being met with his right hand firmly on your waist, making you move away reflexively, the cut, despite being healed, was still hypersensitive to pressure, the shadow of genuine concern flashed through Serpent's eyes, turning them almost into the boba you and some of the other team members loved to buy it.
Before you could say anything, Serpent's hands went down on your hips, his fingers digging into the material of the clothing, even though the clothing prevented marks from being made, you knew the likelihood of seeing the red marks from his fingers when you took it off the clothes.
“Let go of me,” you said seriously, ignoring how your body burned under Serpent’s presence. “As much as I believe you’re loving the current situation, I imagine some people wouldn’t be so happy with it.”
“Is this about your team, Mars and the others, or yourself?”
Your head went forward at the same moment, but Serpent was quicker to dodge, but gave you enough space to free yourself from the wall, throwing your body forward, making him lose balance. Allowing you to grab your gun and point it at Serpent who looked up, you could see the fright and slight fear in his eyes, something you hadn't seen in Mars or the others.
“I think you’re projecting, no?”
“There are other ways to hear someone praise you other than pointing a gun at them, don’t you think, princess,” just like when Yang had used the nickname days ago, hearing Serpent call you that way made your body burn, but for a reason completely different from Yang's. “Time is passing, moving day is upon us.”
Your eyes fell back to the whiteboard.
The photos and documents scattered around, like the documents you had looked for in all the rooms being the same, the boxes that were carried, like most of them didn't use weapons. They weren't moving into the school, that was just a distraction, that's why you had managed to get in so easily. Serpent pushed your weapon away pushing your body against the wall, his body on your back, one hand being held behind your back while the other was between you and the wall.
“Where are Mars and Logan?”
“A little surprise information for you, princess,” Serpent's free hand brushed your hair off your shoulder, making it easier for his eyes to meet yours, his predatory eyes finding every detail of your face before you felt his breath on your ear, “it's we who are in charge now, get used to seeing us more often.”
When the heat of Serpent's body moved away from you, it was a mixture of relief and irritation, more specifically because of how aware your body and mind were of how perfectly his body fit into yours. He's not Mars, that's what you repeated whenever something like this happened. Those weren't your boys, you didn't know who those men were, regardless of how physically similar they might be, they weren't the same people and your head should start to get used to that idea.
“What is moving day?”
“Exactly what it appears to be,” his eyes turned predatory again, making you notice when his hands found the door handle, opening it with his eyes still fixed on you. “Use your head, princess, the answers are all here, you just need to see them.”
The click of the door behind him made you release a breath you didn't know you were holding.
He had left you alone in that room, meaning that maybe there was nothing important or relevant, or the complete opposite and you were being blind. Your eyes returned to the whiteboard, to the notes made, the arrows being pulled from each point, until you found an 'x' in the part close to the sports court that was behind the school, where the parking lot was.
With a quick movement, you pulled the mask to cover your own face, quick steps followed you all the way to the end of the stairs, your eyes met Jisung and Seungmin's before you continued down the stairs, you needed to get to the parking lot as soon as possible. Whatever 'moving day' meant, it involved the damn sealed room in the parking lot.
Deftly you reached the weapon, checking not only the number of darts you still had, but also the cartridges in your pockets and the hidden knives. The reason for Serpent to inform you about the 'moving day' was still unknown in your mind, but also, everything involving the ATEEZ boys was unknown, probably why you couldn't get them out of your mind. Not being able to see their movements was something that bothered you, especially when they were so physically similar to your boys.
With quick steps you made your way up the stairs, five darts being thrown in the process. Unlike other times, you hid the bodies. Any chance to avoid being discovered and delay the start of whatever ‘moving day’ meant, you would use. Panting by the fast and constant movements, you finally arrived at the top floor that connected to the parking lot. Only two more darts were available and you were grateful when you noticed only two members guarding the door.
Your eyes fell to the stairs above, wishing that both Angel and Serpent would remain silent, focusing again on the two rebels in front of the parking lot door, noticing the shift in weight between the feet of the one closest to the stairs. A dart was thrown at the exact moment his weight was thrown onto his left leg, causing him to fall on top of the other rebel, a smile took over your lips before the last tranquilizer came out of your weapon, making the last of the rebels fall hard on the floor.
Almost immediately, gunshots and screams could be heard from the floors above, making you curse and quicken your step towards the parking lot. You didn't know what the moving day involved, but judging by the talking you could hear at your communication point, your team was already trying to control the situation. The gun cartridge being quickly engaged while you checked the situation, everyone's screams could be heard along with the gunshots, but so far, nothing problematic enough to make you turn your back and head to where everyone was.
With a sigh, you jerked the door open, holding it with your leg as you scanned the room. A single bed was placed in the middle of the deserted parking lot. The friction between your boots and the concrete was the only noise you could hear, the sealed door could be seen from the other side of the parking lot, for the same reason that made you curse every other time: the damn blue bird.
“Took you long enough,” your gun had been taken away from you before you could even react properly, noticing Wooyeon in front of you throwing the gun away, “I was imagining I would never meet you, princess.”
“You’re not Wooyeon,” your speech was harsh, observing the sly man in front of you, his eyes were curious, his movements were fluid, they were both predatory and playful, “but it seems like you all agreed on a damn nickname for me, does it not?"
“Oh, but the news that has been passed on to me is that you don’t mind us calling you princess, princess.”
And honestly, you didn't really care, maybe that was what made you most uneasy with Angel, Serpent and now Wooyeon's copy. His movements were agile, but cautious, his smart eyes seemed to analyze every little detail you allowed yourself to release, but his smirk was always present, if not an open smile with a touch of mischief. He looked like a fox, patient but agile, cute but sly.
“And what should I call you then?”
“Amuse me, princess,” he laughed at your scoff, making you fight a smile that threatened to emerge, but he managed to catch the twitch at the corners of your mouth. “Oh, don’t be shy, we are all friends here, are we not?”
Your eyes fell again on the drawing of the blue bird on the other side of the parking lot, but the raise of eyebrows followed by Fox's smile made you focus on him again. A small lift of the corner of your mouth was allowed by you, receiving another as his tongue appeared between his teeth.
“What’s the big point in you being here then?”
“Aren’t you going to share with me the name you’re going to use for me?” Your tongue could bleed as you bit it strongly so as not to react in any way to the pout that Fox was throwing at you. “Okay, you have time to choose, but how about telling me about the others?”
Angel. Serpent. Fox.
Each one invading your mind with the simple existence and momentary exchange of words. Fox was definitely the most different from the others, from ATEEZ, the most similar to what you know Wooyeon – and consequently, your other boys – is like, but with the je ne sais quoi that all ATEEZ members – so far – possessed. His steps were determined, but slightly playful, despite your eyes trying to focus on him, the way his body moved was like a dance, a dangerous dance and you were the prey.
And you hated that feeling whenever you were with one of the ATEEZ.
Fox surrounded you, you could feel his presence and perfume completely intoxicate you, making you close your eyes and a smirk appearing on your mouth as you listened to Fox suggest names for him and the others, with each step and word, you felt him get even closer to you.
“I have a question,” your eyes remained closed, but you could identify that he was somewhere behind you allowing you to open your eyes and find the drawing of your brother in blue in the distance, “what does that damn bluebird mean?”
“And why would I tell you that?”
Despite being prepared for whatever Fox would do, you felt your entire body burn and the hair stand on end, as well as an discomfort in the abdomen area that you refused to consider for a long time. He was much closer than you expected, his breath lightly brushing your ear, his hands close but never close enough to touch you.
“Are you saying that because you don’t know?”
Your face turned as your speech was completed, allowing you to notice how close Fox really was. Fuck!, how they were similar to the others, you cursed as your eyes lingered on his face. The mole just below his eye being the first thing you noticed before your eyes fell on Fox's lips, meeting the mole you had only heard others talk about over the years, the damn mole on his lower lip.
“See something you like, princess?”
Your eyes quickly noticed the light smile on Fox's lips before going up and finding his on yours before going down to your mask, his hand removing it causing his eyes to fall on your lips, making you wet them with your tongue, smiling when you notice his gaze completely on your lips.
“My eyes are up here, do you know?”
“Oh, I know, but I needed to admire the lips I heard so much about,” an electric current passed through your body, burning completely when you felt Fox's hand on your lower back, his face mere millimeters from yours. “I have to say, you really are something else, princess.”
“The drawing,” despite the fear of your voice breaking, you managed to say without moving a muscle away from Fox, a fact noticed by him who returned with a smile on his lips, “tell me about the drawing.”
“I'm afraid you'll have to ask one of the others,” your eyes closed once more to try to ignore the lack of Fox's warmth and presence than actually the idea that you would have to talk to Mars and the others to get the answer, “the only thing we know is that it represents something, or someone," your eyes quickly fell on Fox who, even from afar, you could see the smile growing on his mouth for having captured your attention, "ah!, it looks like you know what the drawing means."
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, right?” Fox nodded and giggled as he headed for the door that had your brother's drawing on it, the mischievous look returning to his eyes with every step you took getting closer to where he was. “Can you tell me the next one of you I’ll have the pleasure to meet?”
His laugh was genuine when you emphasized the 'pleasure' word, making you hide a smile, thanking him for ignoring your failed attempt to contain the smile that formed on your face.
“And what would be the fun in that, princess?” With that, the door was opened, genuine surprise showing on your face, making Fox smile and approach you, his left hand lightly pressing your lower back indicating that you entered the completely dark room, not a light or indicator of one in sight, his breath in your ear. “That’s why you came, isn’t it?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Call it a peace offering of such.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Time is running out, princess, moving day is upon us.”
Your eyes met his one last time, predatory, analytical.
His hand on your waist, burning the area even though it was covered by your clothes.
“What does ‘moving day’ mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like, except we are rebel revolutionaries just as your government categorizes us,” his lips lightly touched your ear, an electric current ran through your entire body, “we need to move in style, don’t we?”
“You gonna burn down the building or something?”
The smirk returned to Fox's face, the only response you would have. When your movements went to the parking lot door, Fox trapped you between his arm and the dark room door, his face serious, his eyes determined.
“Your team will be safe if they don’t do anything stupid,” a step forward, but you didn’t dare move, your eyes tracking to the weapon that was relatively close at that moment, mind going to the hidden places in your clothing, “That includes you, not doing something stupid, princess.”
With a quick movement, Fox managed to trip you before one of his hands found your waist, pushing you into the room and the door closed shortly afterwards. Curses leaving your mouth freely as you punched and kicked the door, only stopping when you heard a noise on the other side.
“Why the fuck are you doing this? Get me the fuck out!”
“Don't worry, princess, I'm sure you can get yourself out,” the playful tone in Fox's voice made your blood run cold, “you and your team have thirty minutes, check the desk, there's a present there for you.”
As silence reigned both inside the room and outside, you tried to calm your breathing, the dark room quickly lighting up with blue emergency lights. Cautiously, you turned your body, believing you weren't alone in the space, but there was no one but you, there was nothing but photos of you, the team Eden had created with you and the others, photos from the warehouse day of you talking with Jungkook and Moonbin, photos of you entering the warehouse late at night.
Your eyes continued to roam the space, photos of you in the refugee camp, even of the cut you had received there were photos, however, they were not from the middle of the revolt, no, you were in the hospital bed on Guardian's Island, Hyunjin, Minho , Changbin, Chan and Jeongin by your side. The photos were from Angel's first day on the island. Did they have someone inside the complex? Your mind went on and on as you looked at each of the photos meticulously placed on the walls and in lines throughout the room, before landing on some of the papers.
Not only were the profiles of each person in the photos, but also of other people, even the XKRS were present in photos and documents. Your feet dug into the floor as you turned to the table, finding not only a huge drawing of the bird with a branch made by your brother, but a circular metal object exactly in the middle of the drawing. You would recognize those two things anywhere.
Your fingers went to find the bracelet, fingers finding the cold metal before wrapping it around and bringing it close to your face, the words still present, screaming at you: 'be free ♡'. Your fingers follow the outline of the words and the heart. Your own heart clenching momentarily with the memory of the last time that bracelet had been seen by you, the last person who wore it. Your eyes resting one last time on the space around you, on each of the photos, on each of the people you know, the way and place they were taken.
The Black Pirates were much better than you, they were way ahead of all of you.
Your superiors had no chance, if the strategy didn't change, they would never be caught, that damn room confirmed your suspicions. That's why they came back, that's why they were organizing to leave. No one in the government could know how much they knew, but they insisted on showing you more and more, they didn't care if you knew about their plans or not.
“(y/n)?” Ignoring the shock of hearing Maddox's voice in your ear, you composed yourself, automatically placing the bracelet on your wrist, hiding it with your sleeve. “You there? What the fuck is happening at the school?”
“I’m here, what do you mean?”
“The helicopters that just came back said they saw spots of light and the sounds of gunfire, but no one is responding,” It was only then that you noticed how quiet your communication point with your team was. "How are you?"
“I have no communication with them,” the words came out quickly along with the realization that the Black Pirates had managed to interfere with your communication points again, you were alone. “Can you hear me well?”
“It’s not quite ideal, but I can, yes. Where are you? Did you manage to get to the parking lot?”
The sigh that left your mouth made Maddox ask again how you were, your footsteps against the floor was all he could hear until you arrived at the door again. It was locked, sealed again, how did Fox expect you to come out?
“I managed to get into the dark room, but I'm trapped inside. Do you think you can help me get out?”
“What’s in the dark room?”
“I guess I’d better tell you after I get out of here,” a sarcastic sigh left your lips, “unless you’re not as badass as you say you are.”
“Give me a minute child and answer all the questions I have for you.”
A simple smile formed on your face as you could hear Maddox's fingers on the keyboard, worry growing by the second, your team was somewhere in that school, Fox had said you only had thirty minutes, now they should have cut it down to twenty.
“If you can do everything in less than twenty minutes that would be ideal,” his fingers stopped and you sighed. “They are going to destroy the school, I need to get out of here before that happens.”
“Tell me what you see.”
A smile appeared on your face, Maddox was cunning enough to try to circumvent your words and get what he was looking for, but you were the offspring of Strickland, of powerful people in the government, you knew the game of words well, what people wanted, except when the subject was Angel, Serpent and Fox. Shaking your head, your eyes focused on the door and what could be seen around it, your fingers passing along the wall, pushing documents nailed to them, photos falling to the floor, you knew that none of that mattered, you wouldn't be able to leave there with everything or anything at all, maybe you wouldn't even be able to leave that room.
“Maddox, everything that could exist here, I gave you, can you or can’t you get me out of this fucking room?”
“Do you still have that object I gave you?”
Your feet took root in the ground, your hands finding the computer mouse-like object you were meticulously keeping in one of your pockets. Maddox's words came back to you as you questioned him about what that was.
“I thought you said it would do more harm than good if I used it.”
“This might also be the only way you can get through that door before the school blows up in three minutes.”
“How can you be sure?”
Despite it being a simple question, they both knew that it had three hidden questions.
How can you be sure it will work?
How can you be sure I won't die in the process?
How can you be sure that the device will activate properly?
Because this was another detail of the object, if it was activated incorrectly, it could explode not only the person but anyone within a kilometer radius.
“I have trust in both our abilities, do you?”
“What do I have to do?”
You knew you didn't have enough time to question or play any kind of joke. Meticulously, your fingers followed Maddox's instructions, the reaction was almost mechanical as your mind wondered about his life story and how your brother found him. What you had in your hands was a small bomb, a bomb with an extremely high mortality rate for its size.
“Now place it right in between the door and the frame, it has to be precisely in the middle,” you nodded, even though you knew he wouldn't see, barely daring to say or breathe, “now click on the bottom left so the bomb attaches itself to the surface,” at the same instant, a countdown began, Maddox’s voice was fast, you could feel the worry in his voice, “now hide!”
Skillfully, you turned the aluminum table that was in the center of the place, the papers falling to the floor, the only thing present on it being your brother's drawing mere millimeters from your face, almost like a bad joke. A noise was heard and you felt the whole room shake, dust and debris falling on your head. It hadn't worked, Maddox's bomb hadn't worked.
Before you could get up, the entire space in the room was filled with heat and noise forcing you to bend down covering your ears, the table ricocheted and hit you with full force causing you to fall to the floor before another noise began to be heard. Rain and gunshots. Your eyes opened slowly, the photos and papers burned around you, the table was hot against your boots. Maddox's bomb had exploded
With wobbly legs you stood up, the door to the dark room was wide open, a hole where the handle was. Despite the table being hot, you pushed it away with the sole of your boot, looking one last time at the place, at the information that Fox had let you have, for whatever reason.
Your eyes fell one last time on the drawing of the blue bird.
ATEEZ didn't know the reason for using the drawing, Eden said that it had already been seen in other active cells of the Black Pirates, maybe that was the boys' way of saying that they never forgot you? As Howl and Mars had said the times you met them? But there was something different about the drawings you had seen that day with the others from Eden's archives, but one thing was certain, the drawing was a message to you, even if you couldn't read it yet.
With one last breath you ran out of the room, eyes looking for the gun thrown in the same place as before, cursing when you didn't find it, Fox nowhere to be seen. It was then that you noticed the bed, not far in front, your gun rested there, with a paper on top, the handwriting was Fox's, considering it was identical to Wooyeon's.
‘Looking forward to seeing you again, princess, hopefully sooner rather than later.’
The eye rolling was interrupted by the noise of the parking door being forced open, making you find a chain passed through the handles, Fox had done that?, but what was the point? In a quick movement, you put away Fox's note, grabbing your gun just as the door opened enough for an arm and a leg to get through, then a face met you just as a noise was heard from outside, lighting up the parking lot a little – an explosion – allowing you to see another door, responsible for the entry and exit of cars, which you believed would be blocked.
“You really are the most intriguing of all, Fox.” Another noise that made the entire structure shake, followed by a scream from one of the rebels trying to open the door made you curse softly and try to communicate with your team by pressing the communication point. “If someone can hear me, I’m in the parking lot, going towards the court, I repeat going towards the court!”
With quick steps, you finally left the parking lot, the sports court was still burning with the fire from the explosion, but that wasn't what made you stop with your feet planted on the ground. No, a small explosion wouldn't be enough to make your heart stop beating for a second, it wouldn't be able to make your knees weaken, much less it would bring about the tightness in your chest that you were feeling at that moment.
Your fingers wrapped around the gun that was lying next to you, making no move to use it. Even though he was physically Shinwoo, something in the way he carried himself and the look he gave you said he was one of ATEEZ, Shinwoo's copy from another dimension. The eyes were hard, analyzing you as if you had three heads. The fire surrounded him, your eyes quickly falling on the burning basketball not far from the stranger.
When your feet finally started to move, a car approached you. The back door opening, revealing Yongbok waiting for you with worried eyes, Hyunjin in the passenger seat and Minho driving the car. Your eyes followed one last time to the figure in the flames, but he was already turning his back on you and heading through the flames, one last noise being heard from the school and the metal door being opened revealing some of the rebels, weapons drawn in your direction.
Shots rang out and you knew they were coming from the car, causing the rebels to quickly take cover as your feet hit the ground, the rainwater spraying both around you and onto your pants. The exchange of shots began and you felt the bullet in your right arm before it hit the car, another one grazing your thigh, burying itself in the leather of the car.
With a jump you finally got in, but with the jolt of the acceleration, your hip hit the metal part, just like the car door slamming against your leg before Yongbok pulled you inside, Hyunjin pushing the door next to you from outside so that you wouldn't be hit by a bullet again.
"Where are the others?" The words were finally able to come out of your mouth, even if between grunts considering the pain that reverberated through your body with each movement that Yongbok made to wrap the wound on your arm trying to stop the blood pouring from the bullet wound. Blood also stained the leather of the back seat and you cursed the shooter and Hyunjin when he pressed the graze wound – which apparently wasn't that graze after all – with a piece of fabric. When the silence continued, your voice gained an authoritative tone, knowing something was wrong. "What happened?"
“They caught the XKRS members.”
03: fox.
heart string of gold || OT8! ateez || lore au
They had abandoned you, all nine people you cared about most had completely abandoned you. In the end, you were just like your parents and superiors said you would be if you continued to allow feelings to be felt. You then became Strickland's weapon and the Black Pirates, like their leaders, were your ultimate target.
⇦ || hsog || taglist || masterlist || ⇨
taglist: open || @cksanpurpleluv || @lavishloving || @roomsofangel || @ismelllikechlorine247 || @saintriots || @fanoflife || @unlikelysublimekryptonite || @woosmaid || @onedumbho3 || @sousydive || @classic-anna || @the-anarchist-public || @sannwa || @itstheghostofmypast || @bunnliix || @heihaneul || @byeolbeloved ||
↪ if your name is crossed, is bc i couldn't tag you for some reason.
let me know if you want to be added to the taglist ❣
#cromernet#pirateeznet#atzhouse#newworldnet#hsog.fic#ateez fanfic#ateez fic#atiny#ateez#ateez angst#ateez hongjoong#ateez san#ateez seonghwa#ateez mingi#ateez yunho#ateez wooyoung#ateez yeosang#ateez jongho#non idol au#hongjoong#yeosang#yunho#jongho#san#mingi#seonghwa#wooyoung#kpop fan fiction#ateez x reader#kpop
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I Will Never Make You Lonely: CH 3
Summary: When your life is falling apart, your 8 best friends are there to lift you up
TW: mentions of de&th, su!c!de, su!c!de tendencies, su!c!dal ideologies, depress!on, anxiety, crying. If this is in any way triggering I’d steer towards more of my happier works.
If you or someone you love has thought of or acted on suicide, there is help and there is hope
Call or text 988
Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, non-idol AU
PSA: this is no way represents the artists. While their birth names are used in this story, this is in no way a reflection of the artist or artists in real life.
AU: mentions of de&th are implied in this chapter, read at your own risk.
Ch 3
A few days later, you were in your room, double-checking to make sure you hadn't forgotten anything important. Minho, Hyunjin, Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin came in early to bid you farewell and wished you a safe journey. They were sad that they couldn't accompany you as their schedules didn't permit them. Although you weren't going to be away for long, you were eagerly looking forward to your flight back to Seoul. As you packed your last-minute items such as your toothbrush, contact lenses, medication, etc., there was a soft knock at your door.
“Come in,” you answered. Changbin and Han peeked their heads in as the door slowly opened. They didn't have classes till later.
“Hey,” they greeted you with smiles.
“Hi,” you said.
“You all packed up?” Han asked. You nodded.
“Yeah, just packed up the last-minute stuff,” you said pointing to your toiletry bag that sat on top of your backpack. Changbin stepped forward.
“Well before you go, I didn’t want you to leave without this,” he said as he pulled out a squishmallow he had behind his back. It was a large taro boba squishmallow.
“What’s this?” you ask as you stare at it with adoration.
“We know you were talking about getting yourself one. We were going to give it to you on your birthday but decided maybe you needed it more now,” he said with a smile. You slowly accepted the squishmallow and you held it close.
“You guys are amazing, thank you,” you say sincerely, pulling them both into a hug. They would truly do anything to help you feel better. When it was time to leave, you saw Chris walking out of his room with his favorite sweatshirt in hand, ready to give it to you. You folded it and put it in your backpack along with the squishmallow. The boys hugged you goodbye and you left. The ride to the airport was terrible and the flight was worse. While the flight itself was smooth as can be, you couldn't sleep for the 12-hour flight, despite trying everything from listening to music, podcasts, and the ASMR links that Felix sent you, but Chris's sweatshirt and squishmallow provided some comfort. You curled up with them, feeling the scent of Chris's cologne. When you landed at SEATAC, you messaged Peyton and the boys to let them know you made it back.
It's The Spamming For Me
Me: Just landed in SEATAC
They all must’ve had their phones surgically glued to their hands because they all responded immediately.
Father of 7: glad you made it safely!
Cowife: eat and sleep well y/n!
Twin: miss you already!
Disney Prince: sleep well y/n, see you soon
BBG: sending you so many hugs
Angel Baby: you’re already missed!
Minnie Mouse: THE APARTMENT IS CHAOS COME BACK NOW
It's just a Little Guy: we love you y/n
You giggled at their messages as you quickly responded.
Me: I love you all too xoxo
After retrieving your bag, you headed towards the sky bridge that connects to the parking garage. Peyton was already there, waiting for you. Seeing only Peyton pick you up instead of her and Carter made your heart hurt, but you sucked it up and walked quickly over to Peyton. As soon as you were in each other’s arms, you could hear her sniffles, but you stayed strong for her. Peyton was Carter's only legal guardian, so you had to be there for her.
“How was your flight?” she sniffed as she helped you with your backpack. You shrugged.
“Fine, I guess…I didn’t exactly sleep,” you said scratching your neck. As you both walked towards the parking garage, she threw an arm around you. She then threw your backpack into the backseat before starting the engine. The drive to Peyton's place was quiet and uneventful. Once you arrived, you tossed your belongings onto the bed in the spare bedroom. While you were unpacking, Peyton walked in with two glasses in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.
“It probably isn’t ideal, but Carter would’ve done it for either of us,” she said with a slight smile. You snorted because yes, Carter would’ve 110% gotten plastered the night before either of their funerals. The two of you made your way to the balcony and plopped yourselves down on the couch. Even though you felt like crap, there was a gentle breeze and at least the stars were out, and the skyline was gorgeous.
“How have you been?” Peyton asked. You shrugged.
“It’s been a rollercoaster for sure,” you said, swirling your glass. Peyton nodded.
“But how about you?” you ask. You had no right to be feeling the way Peyton felt. That’s what you told yourself at least.
“I can’t bring myself to even sit in the living room sometimes,” she says looking down at her glass. You nodded; Carter used to always sleep on the couch when she’d stay the night, claiming it was comfier than Peyton’s bed.
“I’m sure the guys have been there for you?” Peyton asked before sipping her wine. You smiled.
“Yeah, they’ve been nothing but amazing. One night I had been up for almost 72 hours cause I couldn’t sleep and I was studying, but the guys got me to participate in our weekly Friday night movie marathon night, and I ended up getting a decent amount of sleep.” Peyton smiled at that.
“It’s nice having friends like that,” she said genuinely; she was a little concerned though. She could sense you were distracting yourself more than just feeling the emotions. The thought of your boys made your heart sing.
“They’re the best…,” you said before taking a swig of your wine as Peyton watched.
“Damn down the hatch,” she says with a wet chuckle.
You spent the rest of the night with your friend, sharing your favorite memories of Carter. It was a way to remember her, especially the stories you wouldn't dare tell at the funeral. The day of the funeral came around too quickly. You woke up feeling heavy-hearted, wrapped in Chris's hoodie, holding a plush toy close to your chest. It took all your strength to get out of bed and ready for the funeral. You couldn't believe you were preparing to say goodbye to your best friend.
You tried to remain composed for the sake of Carter's family. The funeral went by in a blur, and you were grateful there was no open casket. It helped you stay strong for everyone, but you couldn't help denying the fact that Carter was in that casket, about to be buried six feet under. You tried to push the thought out of your mind, but it kept coming back.
You let your friends know you needed to study at your apartment for a few days, but you'd be back soon. They understood and said you were always welcome to come back. When it was time for you to leave, you said goodbye to Peyton and sent a text to your friends to let them know you were heading home. You knew you couldn't stay in the States any longer without it feeling too real.
It's The Spamming For Me
Me: I’m heading home
Father of 7: have a safe flight y/n!
Twin: see you soon!
Disney Prince: xoxoxo!
BBG: Minho and I wish you safe travels!
Angel Baby: YAY! Get back safely, I need my cuddle buddy!
Minnie Mouse: Have a safe flight! Jeongin says hurry back and save him from Minho
The second you stepped foot in your place, it didn’t feel right. You pulled out your phone and dialed the first name in your contacts list.
While he was in the shower, Chris’s phone started ringing.
“Hannie, can you grab that for me please?” Chris called out. Han grabbed the phone and checked who it was before answering.
“Chris’s phone, his favorite child speaking,” Han joked, pretty proud of himself.
“Yah!” Chris scolded but with a big smile plastered on his face. You snorted.
“Felix?” You said biting your lip trying not to laugh. Han’s eyes went huge.
“YAH!” He yelled even louder. Chris laughed as he did his best not to get water in his eyes from leaning so far back. You shook your head.
“Can I come over? I was going to study at my place but I need a change of scenery,” you say playing with your shirt.
“You don’t have to ask y/n, you're always welcome,” Han said sincerely. You smiled at that.
“Okay, I’ll see you guys soon then!” You said enthusiastically.
“See you soon!” He said before hanging up. He set the phone down and looked at Chris.
“Y/n is coming over so get unnaked,” he said jokingly before going to open the door. Chris laughed.
“She lives 10 min from us. I think I have time!” Chris shouted back with a big smile on his face. You kept your composure when you walked in, despite the lump in your throat upon opening their door. All of the boys greeted and chatted with you briefly before you retreated to your room. Instead of unpacking and relaxing, you decided to work on your computer. Despite not getting any sleep on the flight, you felt that you should be productive. It was around 9 pm, and although you were exhausted, you didn't want to think about the funeral. While reading case studies, you came across one that deeply affected you. It made your heartache. This particular case study caused one of the subjects to take their own life because of the trauma they went through. Once you were about to finish writing a sentence, you got a call from Carter’s sister.
“Hey Peyton,” you say as you continue typing. You heard sniffling on the other line.
“Pey? Shit did I forget to let you know I made it back??” You ask. You heard her take a shaky exhale before speaking.
“No no, you did…um…I don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to say it. Y/n…Carter’s death wasn’t an accident,” she choked out. Your eyes went huge.
“What do you mean?” You ask frantically. You were hoping with every fiber of your being it wasn’t what you thought it was.
“I was sitting in her room and I…I found a letter…” and your heart stopped.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
taglist: @felixmainacc @felixburneracc @myforevermelody143 @dunno-wut-to-do @itzsana-kiddingmenow
#stray kids#stray kids x stay#skz fanfic#christopher bang#lee minho#seo changbin#hwang hyunjin#han jisung#lee felix#kim seungmin#yang jeongin#stray kids scenarios#stray kids imagines#stray kids hurt/comfort#hurt/comfort#skz angst#college au#stray kids college au#non idol au
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MY SKZ MASTERLIST
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Bang Chan ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Coming Soon
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Lee Know ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Guardian Angel
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Seo Changbin ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Coming Soon
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Hwang Hyunjin ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Insecurities
I love you
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Han Jisung ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Coming Soon
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Lee Felix ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Bad Days
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Kim Seungmin ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Forbidden
˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Yang Jeongin ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
Solar Eclipse
Drafts!
Kittens, Lee Minho
You bump into a cat dad while dealing with a little situation. Maybe he can help you.
Fan meetings, Han Jisung
your best friend forces you to go to a stray kids fan meeting.
Ongoing Stories!
Solar Eclipse, Yang Jeongin — series
You and Jeongin fall in love all over again
Guardian Angel, Lee Minho — series
God assigns one of his workers, Lee Minho, to watch over you.
Forbidden, Kim Seungmin — series
You travel back to your birth place, but problem is, you have to live with your cousin and the rest of his family
Favourites
Captain save-a-hoe!
Hotel check-ins
Fair and square
Sandcastles
Finding home in your heart
Read Later
Best friend han x reader
Cold as Ice
I like you covered in blood
Perfect
Snitch
Good hair day
Say you want me
Tuesday Chris
Instead of you
Morning texts
Just for a moment
Marooned
Morning Photographs
Sex on the beach
Sweeter
How I see you
On your knees
Pull over
It's so tasty, come and Chase me
B. C
I.N
B.C
H.J
Jisung
Felix
Jinnie
Skz
Channie
Skz
Can I be your favourite
Strange weird and wonderful
No prejudice
Jisung
9 56 pm
actions that speaks
Make you a mommy
Queenmaker
My dear
Bath water
Blackholes
Felix
A modern love story
Movie date
Hyunjin
Minho
Pearl necklace
Chai latte
Muse
Jisung
Magazine photos
Wrong number
By my side
Look up to the stars
Channie
Drunken idiots
Morning sex
Sunsets in Sydneys
Cat in heat
Sick days
Date on ice
Bath water
Birthday suprises
Happy place
Race my heart
Reunions embrace
Love language
Wanting
Go live
Hyunjin
To do what I can do
Shark week
We can't be friends
Your fault
Small moments
when you know, you know
idolstruck
Blueberry muffin
Fairytale
Whispers
The drifter: the sea kind curse
Stray kids royal au
Girl code
Breath
Ice on whisky
Phobia
REQUESTS
╰┈➤ OPEN
#hwang hyunjin x reader#lee yongbok x reader#seo changbin x reader#bang chan x reader#kim seungmin x reader#lee minho x reader#han jisung x reader#yang jeongin x reader#stray kids#skz#skz x reader
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Fictober 2023
winter-dayz
A collection of oneshots for Fictober 2023.
Not every story is a romantic pairing. In some oneshots, the reader/main character is a villain; in some, the idol character is a villain. Please be aware that many are heavily horror or angst-themed.
READ ALL WARNINGS AND TAGS IN EACH ONESHOT.
Taglist: @soobin-chois
Kim Jisoo: It's only a dream...
College AU; Nightmare on Elm Street AU
Genre: Horror
Lee Hoseok: Freedom or the Kindness of Death
Hybrid AU; Shapeshifter AU
Genre: Horror
Lalisa Manobal: Eternal Love
Vampire AU
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Horror, Smut
Mark Tuan: A Polite Haunting
Ghost AU
Genre: Horror
Jeon Jungkook: His Treasure
Dragon AU
Genre: Horror; Smut
Lee Jooheon: Anything Goes
The Purge AU
Genre: Smut
Felix Lee: So naive...
Fairy AU
Genre: Angst; Horror (if you squint)
Kim Seungmin: Lonely St.
Grim Reaper AU; Soulmate AU
Genre: Angst; Fluff
Min Yoongi: Betrayed
Gumiho AU; Korean Mythology AU
Genre: Angst; Fluff; Horror
Choi Yeonjun: Old Wives' Tales
Werewolf AU
Genre: Fluff
Shin Yuna: Bringer of Death
Mummy AU; Inspired by The Mummy (1999)
Genre: Angst; Fluff
Kim Namjoon: Reclamation
Dryad AU; Greek Mythology AU
Genre: Fluff; Horror
Park Jimin: Movie Marathon
Scary Movie Night
Genre: Fluff
Kang Taehyun: Only silence remains
Shadow People AU
Genre: Horror
Lim Jaebeom: I Can't Lose You
Deadly Games AU; Inspired by Squid Game & Alice in Borderland
Genre: Angst; Horror
Choi Beomgyu: Field of Daisies
Dokkaebi AU; Korean Mythology AU
Genre: Fluff
Jung Hoseok: Avra K'davra
Golem AU
Genre: Angst; Fluff
Kim Yugyeom: Guardian
Demon AU
Genre: Fluff
Lee Chaeryeong: First
Serial Killer AU
Genre: Horror
Yang Jeongin: The Walls
The Boy AU; Inspired by The Boy (2016)
Genre: Fluff
Shin Ryujin: For the Best
Alien AU; Yandere
Genre: Fluff; Horror
Kim Taehyung: Capable
Android AU
Genre: Smut
Han Jisung: The Ring
Ghost AU; Possession AU
Genre: Fluff
Lee Minhyuk: Promise
Haunted House
Genre: Fluff
Lee Minho: Left Behind
Friday the 13th AU
Genre: Angst (with a happy ending); Horror (if you squint); Smut
Kim Jennie: Catch 'em, kill 'em
Amityville Horror AU
Genre: Horror; Smut
Yoo Kihyun: Luring
Siren AU
Genre: Fluff; Horror (if you squint)
Choi Youngjae: Consequences of a Spellbook
Magic AU; Witchcraft AU
Genre: Angst
Hwang Hyunjin: Bound to You
Cerberus AU; Goddess AU; Greek Mythology AU
Genre: Fluff; Smut
Choi Soobin: Every side of the story
Greek Mythology AU; Gorgon AU
Genre: Fluff
BamBam: Best Halloween Ever
Halloween Party; Non-Idol AU
Genre: Fluff
#angst#bangtan sonyeondan#blackpink#fictober#fluff#got7#horror#itzy#monsta x#oneshot#reader#smut#stray kids#tomorrow x together#wonho
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#yandere kpop#yandere#yandere au#yandere ateez#yandere astro#yandere bts#yandere tbz#yandere enhypen#yandere exo#yandere nct#yandere oneus#yandere skz#yandere stray kids#yandere wayv#yandere enha#mafia kpop#mafia exo#mafia ateez#mafia enhypen#mafia astro
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#999A92 | SEO CHANGBIN.
genre | hurt/comfort (in a way), found family au/dad!changbin
word count | 2668
warning | mentions of a parental figure hitting his kids / mention of alcoholism / drinking
note | changbin has been added to my dad list but his suffering is different than chan's place on the dad list and–
universe | tciu
changbin found that a glass of scotch was the best way to help him calm his nerves after a screaming match. but in terms of finding the answer to an interpersonal conflict, it was less than ideal. as he downed his third glass of alcohol, he found it harder and harder to figure out whether he was in the wrong for physically punishing the three of you for unknowingly botching his once in a blue moon chance at pursuing a romantic life.
the living room lights flickered over his head with a broken buzz that covered your gentle footsteps down the apartment hallway. clicking his tongue at the lights above, changbin reminded himself to ask jeongin to talk the department head into fixing the utilities around the house, starting with the lights and moving to the faucets. the buzzing stopped moments after the flickering did, and he had already begun pouring a fourth glass of scotch for himself when his movements paused from the sound of cheerful music coming from your gaming console.
his ears closed in on the hesitant footsteps traveling down the hall to the living room. judging from each step's weight and pattern, changbin could easily deduce it was you walking. he hasn't been living with you three for long, but there was a distinctive way the twins walked, not just in the apartment but everywhere—jisung's steps were often light and upbeat, and he walked fast but traveled shorter distances with each step; han walked with his whole feet flat on the floor, taking his time with each significant strides, and more often than not, his steps make no sound.
you were the only one out of the three who walked regularly, with average speed and average strides. the most telling point was that your steps reflected how you perceived your surrounding; your steps were hesitant and timid just now because you saw that the living room lights were still on, and you were debating if you wanted to deal with changbin greeting you as you headed outside.
he pondered about seeing himself out of the room. you clearly didn't want him out in the living room if the mere suggestion of his presence was enough to make you consider backtracking from a plan, whatever you were planning to do leaving your room so late at night on a school night. but before he could make a solid decision and get moving, you emerged from the corner with a console in your hands and a neutral reaction to seeing him on the couch.
"hello," changbin muttered with a glance before awkwardly turning away to stare at the gradually disappearing liquid in a once-full glass bottle. he ran through half the bottle already and planned to drink more before you showed up.
not that he particularly cared about how he came off as. when it came to first impression, he knew his was damaged before you even got the chance to meet. being the main reason you got pulled out of your previously welcoming foster home, he would never be liked. he thought he should have never taken the job to keep the government searching for an alternative candidate to be your guardian. but, in retrospect, you three were put too high on a pedestal regarding how problematic you could be. within these few months of being your caretaker, changbin found you were nothing more than three moody teenagers. hiring a caretaker who intended to put you in your place, not as a parent but as an equal fighter, would be a terrible idea, so he stopped regretting taking this job.
for a majority of the time, at least.
you looked at the coffee table where the bottle of scotch was, your brows furrowing because it looked like a wine bottle, then you looked back at changbin. shifting the weight on your feet, you carelessly asked, "are you an alcoholic?"
he lowered his arm before his lips could touch the lid of his cup, and he twirled the glass carefully in his hand before setting it down with a soft clank. he pursed his lips into a defeated line, his hands rubbing together at the loss of crystal coldness, then shook his head. "i was. i've rehabilitated."
"you can drink in the military?"
"you can do whatever you want as long as you don't get caught." changbin chuckled lowly. he decided to take the drink after all. when he dunked the glass down his throat, letting the liquid chill his chest, he furrowed his brows at the recollection of what he said and decided to backtrack, "that was not an invitation to do terrible things."
"i didn't consider it that way." you shrugged, your eyes reflecting the fixated gaze you had on the empty glass on the coffee table. you tightened your grip on the gaming console in your hands and asked, abruptly, "are you relapsing? because of us?"
"no, i'm not relapsing." he wasn't sure about that. "even if i am, it's not gonna be because of you." he wasn't sure about that either.
you could tell he was lying. his answer was stoic and straightforward, just like how he always talked to everyone, and he told the truth. there was a domineering glow around him that made him the cruel, angry man in the house, but even with that, you knew he was lying because you knew he cared. from the way he reacted to you three wrecking his dating plan in the afternoon, to him running through a whole bottle of alcohol to de-stress after having gone through his alcohol dependency, and his decision to tell you his alcohol consumption has nothing to do with you.
if changbin didn't care, he would have blamed everything on you. simultaneously, if he cared, he wouldn't have done what he did to you. but perhaps he was unconsciously descending to fatherhood; its marker being causing your loved ones pain, all the time.
rocking yourself back and forth on the heel of your feet, you decided to approach him after a momentary debate. holding onto the habit of pouring himself another glass, changbin discreetly widened his eyes when you plopped down next to him on the couch. you pulled your legs up to your chest and supported the console on your knees. you said nothing, tapping away on the screen.
"shouldn't you be sleeping? you have school tomorrow," he asked.
"i'm not tired yet," you replied.
changbin glanced at the gaming console and pulled a face. of course you weren't tired yet. the game kept you up. "when did you get a console like that?"
"just recently. we got it for each other on our birthday," you replied.
"oh." he had no idea, even though he read your files thoroughly. he never considered memorizing your birthday, but he knew you guys have turned fourteen. "happy late birthday."
you ignored him, concentrating on the game that required little to no focus. changbin drowned in the awkward silence, his eyes dancing longingly across the air surrounding the bottle of scotch on the table as if he could consume it in theory. he thought about getting you three something, both for your birthday and as an apology for being violent this afternoon, but he didn't know the first thing about buying presents for kids. he could channel his inner child and pick from there, but what the trendy stuff he used to enjoy probably either stopped existing now or wasn't cool anymore. glancing at your game, he sniffed in agreement with himself. he didn't bother to ask where you three got the money to pay for it.
"i'm–" he cleared his throat–"i'm sorry for hitting you."
he hadn't meant to. or he did. it was out of habit to resolve issues with violence; it was the fastest and the loudest way to victory. nevermind morale and dignity; he couldn't afford to have either when he valued his livelihood. a person like him was meant to be alone forever, but when he managed to find a fighting chance and scored a date with an old friend he cared about, he jumped on the opportunity only to have it to destroyed by one phone call from the principal's office.
his date tagging alone was a kind gesture he should have turned down. the unforeseen sequence of you three getting into a defensively verbal fight about how you shouldn't have gotten in trouble for defending yourself and why the twins weren't allowed to exert force for revenge was unfortunate. even more wretched was when changbin, after the tank of his patience snapped with full fuel, slapped you across the face to reprimand you for your foul mouth after dragging you out of the car, and for sure, the twins were going to do something about that.
you wanted to convince yourself you hadn't been waiting for an apology, but when you heard him utter those words, regardless of how forceful and gruff he sounded, a weight dropped from your chest, and you had already forgiven him for reacting brashly.
"i'm sorry i told her to mind her business," you muttered, "and called her a whore."
"yeah, that wasn't–" he rubbed his hands and took a sip of alcohol–"that wasn't nice."
you didn't say anything. you already knew it wasn't nice. you wouldn't have said those things if you were going to come off as a kind person, you were intending to be hurtful. changbin knew that, but he repeated it to you anyway because there was not much else he could do other than hope he could somehow get you to understand that you should care about how you treat others. that wasn't a nice thing to do, i hope you can do better, i hope you start caring—something along those lines. he should have done that the first time instead of breaking bones and grabbing you three by the neck.
"help dress me up," you said when you scooted back into the couch and got closer to him. you showed him the screen and made him hold onto the stylus. "help me dress my avatar."
"what?"
"here, this is the closet. when you click on the clothes, it will appear on the avatar."
"oh." his eyes moved between the top and bottom screen of the console. he clicked on a colorful shirt and made a knowing hum when he saw it pop on the mannequin on the top screen. he laughed inwardly; he never thought you were the type to play fashion games.
you watched him move between the many options available, surprisingly paying a lot of effort into cultivating something that would look good. you leaned against his arm, your head not tall enough to rest on his shoulder. you remembered the woman's face but barely saw how she dressed. still, you thought the outfit he was making would look nice on her.
"do you think she will go on another date with you?" you asked suddenly.
changbin huffed out a laugh. a very brief one. "i don't think she likes people who fight children."
"we're not ordinary children." you shrugged.
"yeah," he muttered. "i'm still wrapping my head around that."
changbin was more sorry than in awe of the unfortunate position you three were put into from birth until now. his relationship with you was one of the many glaring results of such misfortune. he could do his best to provide some normality in your life, but the circumstances would always be known to you three that staying under one roof was a military worker obligated to hand out monthly behavior reports; the circumstances would also be that you were being fostered by a man who didn't know how to be a father.
"when we were in elementary school, jisung kicked a kid down the stairs for accidentally shoving me by the stairwell and making me hit my head. he broke their ribs." you shifted your seat, still leaning on changbin's side, but you were beginning to relax into his weight. the waking light in your eyes was slowly drowsing out by sleep. "in middle school, he smashed a group of people in the face with the metal food tray for tripping me and dumping milk on my head in the cafeteria. he didn't stop until they all were bleeding in the face."
you went on drowsily—jisung's name rolling off your tongue like a hero but entering his ears like a villain. jisung was a problematic child, not in the sense that he would go out of his way to exert force on others, but in the sense that his form of protection, mostly over you, was just aggravated assault. han was relatively better, but being a willing accomplice made that child no saint to most. changbin hasn't quite figured out where the aggression came from or if it was intended. was it a product of being the physical manifestation of a dying god, or was it all just him as an individual? did he enjoy wreaking havoc as most gods do, or did he merely appoint himself the eternal guard of your safety?
"jisung is very protective. he will charge at you if you do that again," you mumbled, but your words sounded like a fair warning. that was where you stand in the matter of your brother's provoked assault—give a warning to others, make no attempt to stop him. "if you keep at it, at some point, it won't be about protecting me but killing you. it will be like that for the both of them."
changbin felt a chill run down his spine, but what you told him wasn't a fact regrettable enough for him to put in his two-week notice. there was a leeway there, a silver lining, that the twins haven't grown into understanding their potential yet, and the loss of innocence hasn't made its full progress for them to not keep going back to someone after being kicked away.
"i really didn't mean to hurt you guys, but… you're gonna have to bear with me for a little because–" he exhaled. he, too, has a bone to pick with his choices, but this was more than that. this was about his position here as an agent carrying out a mission and, in some way, apologizing for his involvement. "i don't really know what to do with myself if i'm not given orders."
"you can just be our dad."
the static in the air was louder than the cheerful soundtrack humming out of the gaming console slowly laid on his lap. the bottle of scotch came into view, symbolizing his mistake and the guilt he held over his head.
"i'm afraid i won't be very good at it."
you didn't answer him. all you did was slump against his body. your head dropped below his chest and laid on his abdomen. changbin removed the console from his lap and carefully set it aside. he loomed his head over your figure, checking to confirm that you had finally fallen asleep, and he moved stoically, with every shift beating back to his heart as he tried to keep you so. he snuck an arm under your back, the other under your knees, and hoisted you with him as he stood up.
he brought you back to your room, making no comments when he laid you gently on the spot between the sleeping twins. you slept soundly in his presence, not stirring once during the relocation, somehow feeling safer than most. and changbin—he wouldn't be a very good father.
#w: tciu#stray kids imagines#skz imagines#stray kids x y/n#stray kids x reader#skz x you#skz x reader#skz x y/n#stray kids blurbs#skz blurbs#stray kids scenarios#skz scenarios#changbin imagines#changbin x y/n#changbin x reader#changbin x you#changbin scenarios
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☁️He Sings In The Morning
A Lee Heeseung Social Media AU.
Featuring Lee Seokmin from Seventeen!
Pairing: Singer! Lee Heeseung x Pianist! Fem reader.
Genre: Strangers to lovers, college au, non idol! Heeseung, fluff, a sprinkle of angst, tried humor but I can't promise anything :'] slow (like, really slow) burn.
Warnings: Swearing, suggestive jokes (never too serious though), roach pictures(?), lots of empty threats, mentions of alcohol consumption, violence and drug dealing, death jokes.
Synopsis:
Y/N is a very passionate pianist who works at a private music academy, along with the vocal instructor Lee Seokmin, a skilled singer and performer, pretty known in the city for busking and uploading covers on YouTube. Things are going very smoothly for them, having a lot of talented students and… Oh my God, what is The Lee Heeseung doing here?!
Alternatively:
It was safe to say that the Lee siblings, Heeseung and Seokmin, were the most talented duo in town when it came to music. After months of failed auditions, the eldest brother finally gets a chance to leave the city to follow his dreams, trusting his academy duties to Heeseung, against his will, of course.
Featuring: Enhypen; Seokmin, Mingyu and Minghao (Seventeen); Jeongin (Stray Kids); Yeojin, Yerim and Hyejoo (Loona); Liz (IVE)
Status: Finished (10/11/2022)
Started: 06/10/2022.
Schedule: Updates every day.
Profiles 1
Profiles 2
Profiles 3
Intro: A Journey.
At the Bus Stop.
Excalibur.
The Visitor.
Love Letter.
Jealousy.
Rose-Colored Boy.
The Power of Friendship.
Pianos Don't Bite.
Coke and Rice Soup.
Dream.
Sunghoon Egg Arc.
Rain.
Guardian Angels.
King Arthur.
What are we?
Coworker-zoned.
Come Back Home.
Just One Yesterday.
Marisa.
The Favorite Lee.
Wanna Eat Ramen?
Romeo and Cinderella.
Alpha Whores.
Tequila Intoxication.
Doe-eyed Bastard.
The Adults Are Talking.
The Nameless Band.
I Can Fix This.
Uhm, Excuse Me What Are You Doing Into His House?
Someone Give This Man a Hug.
Off My Face.
Being Horny Is Not An Emergency.
Genshin Streamer.
Outro: He Yells In The Morning.
Notes:
I do not ship any of the idols involved, everything is for entertainment purposes.
Picture credits to their respective owners.
English is not my first language!
Taglist: @boowoowho
#enhypen smau#Heeseung#heeseung smau#lee heeseung#lee heesung x reader#enhypen heeseung#enhypen angst#enhypen fluff#enhypen social media au#enhypen#lee heeseung smau#heeseung social media au#heeseung fluff#heeseung angst#heeseung imagines#heeseung x yn#heeseung x reader#enhypen x y/n#enhypen x reader#enhypen x you#heeseung x you#enhypen masterlist#enhypen smau masterlist#heeseung masterlist#heeseung smau masterlist#enhypen imagines#he sings in the morning
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Heavenly
Y/n was once heavenly. A divine guardian of heaven and earth, created to protect and serve humanity until a it’s dying breathe. Yet, when tragedy strikes, they find themselves condemned to a life of fire and emptiness. And all they wished they could do was go back and save him.
➤ Word count: 5.6k
➤ Genre: Angel! Jeongin x Demon! Reader, angel and demon au, slight fluff, whole lotta angst
➤ Warnings: depictions of death, trauma, self-hatred, memory loss, hell, and intense guilt. allusions to sort of imposter syndrome. incredibly loose interpretations of christian theology.
➤ Author: So, as the week wraps up and my matchmaker event comes to end, I want to thank everyone. All of the people who’ve liked my work enough to follow or reblog or even like, thank you. To everyone who sent in a match submission, thank you and i hope they're at least a little good. 300 followers feels so far from where I once started. To commemorate this, i guess, i’m finally sharing this fic that i’ve wanted to post for a while. Thank you so so so much @seung-scrittore for beta reading !!! leo, your little notes and suggestions made me so happy to see, thank you for all your help. With that, please enjoy the longest fic i’ve written !
➤ Playlist: here
As a Guardian Angel, one of the best things is to finally be assigned a charge, a human to protect and serve till their final breath. It is the ultimate honor and the ultimate responsibility.
Y/n had still been a fairly new soul themself when assigned to Yang Jeongin. From the time his soul was first in creation, they learned to look after and protect him. Slowly, Y/n had found different ways to do so. Coming down to earth disguised as various creatures and people to look over his day-to-day life, the two grew together.
Every day they tried their hardest to keep him from hurt and pain and every day they kept to that oath. Though, there comes a time one has to realize there are some things even an angel can’t stop.
He was still young, barely even 20. A growing man with a bright future. But everything seemed to happen so fast. The flash of blinding lights and screeching wheels. Pavement drinking in the blood of an innocent.
Why weren’t you there? Why didn’t you save him?!
As news spread that the one person on earth Y/n was meant to keep safe had faced a premature death, they were shunned; Cast out of the heavens to walk among the fires of hell. Darkness filled their mind and soul. It ate through the emptiness, leaving a feeling even worse. Hollowness. A shell of a creature, once bright and alive.
An eternity of damnation and pain for their negligence and all they wished they could do was go back and save him.
If they were to be caught right now chances are the consequences would be grave. To be found in the overworld amongst humans was forbidden for those cast down, but Y/n couldn’t help themself. Being stuck in the sweltering hot sulfur was driving them mad. Fresh air and sunshine were things they had desperately begun to crave.
Walking through the streets, people simply passed by. Y/n was nonexistent to them, though that was probably for the better. Being stripped of their wings had been gruesome enough but the time spent in the humid underworld had sunken their eyes, drained the life force from their limbs, and covered the once silky, glowing, white robes they wore into torn, ash-covered, rags. Just being in the breeze seemed to breathe new life into Y/n’s soul.
The bustling crowds shifted and varied through the places they walked. Some were lighter than others. Some were more fast-paced. Each face carried so much depth and emotion under the surface. How they wish they could openly live among them once again. To walk the crowds, greet the people, and have them greet Y/n back. To see their smiles and nods and waves. And the children, children who had much more imagination than faith. Children who truly saw. To see their wide eyes and dropped jaws as they were let in on a special secret between them and a stranger. They wished for their humanity back, or what little of it they’d had.
Y/n’s people watching continued, seeing new and old faces run through the crowds. Something caught their eyes in the middle of it all. A gathering of feathers raised above the bunch. Far too many to be a simple bird and far too large to be something of this earth.
Oh heavens above, it was an angel.
They were screwed. They were caught in the act about to face a fate of horror with nowhere to run.
Soon a head of hair connected to the wings joined their vision. Blonde and fluffy, shaking in the wind. A face followed that caused them to freeze.
There, Yang Jeongin stood before Y/n in heavenly glory. Pristine white coating his skin, still a glowing tan. Two otherworldly bright, large wings protruding from his back.
He was just as shocked to see them there. A fallen angel in the overworld was forbidden, so how the hell did they make it this far.
A breathless whisper escaped Y/n’s lips, “Jeongin.”
“How did you get here?” His voice commanded a feeling of authority. It told Y/n to listen but they sat there in shock.
“Y-you-you’re-”
“What are you doing here, demon?” The word stung. Y/n had never wished to be seen as a demon, always preferring the term ‘fallen-angel’. To hear it slip from his mouth broke their heart. The care they held for the young man hadn’t dissipated, in fact, it had grown stronger every day Y/n spent tortured by their thoughts.
“I-I came to...to get some fresh air.”
“You aren’t meant to be up here.”
“Yes… I-I know...that. I just...had to get out.” Y/n’s eyes never moved from Jeongin’s face. Taking in his every new movement, every new feature of what the boy had become.
“You’ve already had to have caused enough pain in this world to be what you are. It’s time for you to go back.” He roughly pulled on their arm, forcing Y/n to their feet. Thus began a forceful drag down the sidewalk. Dodging and twisting around the commuters, who remained undisturbed in their travels.
“Ow! Angels...aren’t meant to hurt people.”
“I have no remorse for a demon. You know nothing of what I’m meant to do.”
“Would you...please...stop calling me that.”
“That is what you are, isn’t it? You have caused humans anguish to be where you are. You are evil.”
Desperation and despair filled Y/n, spilling in their shaky words. “I’m already tormented...by the harsh words you have to say to me... every day. I do not need them to come true.” Tears breached their eyes as the angel focused his attention downward.
“No...wait.” Cracks formed along the ground beneath their feet. Heat fizzled through the air and Y/n slowly lost their footing on the shaky floor. “I’m sorry...Jeongin.”
The grass fell through. Their body plummeted. Y/n caught a small glimpse of Jeongin’s bewildered face before the light faded above them.
Condensation stuck to every crevice and crack of the surrounding rocks. Screams echoed all over the cavern wall, each one imbued with its own sense of agony and suffering. Everything reeked of sulfur.
Here, Y/n once again found themselves trekking through hellfire and ash, along the rocky pathways carved out in stone. Around them rang the tortured howls of those sentenced to damnation. Every scream weighs in their heart, urging an action to stop the pain, but they know they can’t do anything. Instead, Y/n focused ahead. Climbing through the haze of smoke. Slicing their hands on the cavernous walls. Determined to see the sunlight once more. A foolish idea but one they can’t give up on, for it is this idea that keeps them going. So they push on, remembering the events of last time, but hoping to make amends with the earth and the angels.
Jeongin enjoyed his time in the overworld. Waving to little puppies he saw on the street, listening to the chattering of songbirds, basking in the sun's warmth with a breeze to cool him. He almost felt human again and maybe that’s why he liked it so much. Don’t get him wrong, being an angel wasn’t bad, he simply died too young to be content with his death. The sensation of it all was so excruciating and ultimately wrong. So, so wrong. And every day it played through his head like a broken record. The memory, the pain, the trauma, all of it. Again and again and again. It bruised deeper every time, getting worse as the nightmares continued. His only solace is the crowds; walking amongst them as he did a million times before. That’s where he was again today. Within crowds of people simply living their lives. People aware of others but so unconscious to their own living. People with humanity, humility, life, love, death, everything ahead of them. His pleasure of life was only second-hand, but satisfying all the same. Masses shuffled past Jeongin. He took it all in. Let the world wrap him in its cluttered arms and hug him close. Embrace him in the comforting chaos of what he used to know. Colors shifted in and out of Jeongin’s peripherals with the swift pace of the herds. Out of all of them, a piece of black cloth slows to his side.
“I-it’s nice seeing you smile.” A wistful voice by his side scared Jeongin, causing him to jump back. Standing there was a familiar body. His brain catches up realizing it was the demon he had found wandering above. The one who’d shouted his name before plunging downward.
Shock settled in his voice. “You-you’re, I-”
“I’m not s-supposed to be here? I know, you’ve told me before.”
“What are you doing here!?”
“I-I missed the sun.”
“Wh-why would you stop by me?”
They didn’t answer right away, gazing forwards. “Do you remember your life?”
“Excuse me?”
“Were you happy?”
“I-I...What are you trying to do, demon!?”
Suddenly they turned to him, staring down his eyes with their own misty pair, “Were you happy? N-no matter what happened in the end, were you happy in your life?” Tears now freely fell creating tracks in the pecks of soot.
Jeongin could barely process what was happening. This demon broke down asking if he remembered life before death and if he was happy with it. This person who apologized to him when he returned them underground, who just happened to know his name.
“Who are you?” the question slipped out before he could stop it. Probably not a good thing to ask someone crying.
The demon blubbered, still sniveling, letting out choked apologies. “I-I...you...I-” A hand gripped onto theirs suddenly causing a bout of whipping air past their ears.
The sight of vibrant green grass peeked through Y/n’s tear-distorted eyes. A clear blue sky filled with nothing but the soft sounds of songbirds. Rapidly wiping their eyes, shock fell across their face. This wasn’t the city they had been in a moment ago but a vast field full of flowers and greenery. Looking around showed a seemingly very concerned Jeongin.
“W-whe-wha-huh?”
“Are you...are you okay?”
“H-huh? Where are we?”
“You were freaking out and I wanted to get you away from the crowds. Sorry.”
“N-no. Um...Thank you…” An odd silence settled. Y/n was still curled into themselves while Jeongin stared off, a bit dazed.
“Who are you?”
They turned their head at the repeated question. “What?”
Jeongin carried himself to their side, sitting down but leaving a good amount of space in between. “You…I-I don’t get it. You keep apologizing, I sent you to hell and you told me you were sorry. On top of that, you knew my name. And there was just now, you crying over I don’t know what...I just…Who are you?”
“Ah,” Y/n wiped their face again preparing to speak. “I’m the reason you died.”
The statement rightfully took him by surprise. “Excuse me!?”
“I wasn’t always…” Solemnly, they gestured towards themselves. “This. I-I was a guardian angel, one meant to protect you until the end. Though I was still young, naive, and a bit overzealous. I tried my best for you, always. What happened that day…wasn’t right. I was supposed to protect you with my life. In the end, I was banished, and rightfully so. Every day I’ve been plagued by guilt, wishing I could go back and save you like I should have the first time. Sacrifice myself, say sorry, just see you one last time. That day in the crowd, my heart stopped when I saw you. All I could get out, in the end, was ‘I’m sorry.’”
They turned to look at the now stunned angel. “W-what?”
“T-that was probably-probably a lot. I’m sorry.”
“You...You were an angel?”
“…Yes.”
His eyes trailed them up and down, seemingly astonished that the gaunt, fragile, wingless figure in front of him had once been a divine being of heaven and earth. Someone so frail and pitiful was never made to be that way.
“And my…my protector?”
They responded with nothing but a soft nod and cowardly gaze. Jeongin’s head reeled, looking off into the horizon surrounding the two. The world felt fuzzy, filling his head, leaving static across his skin.
“You asked if I was happy. I…don’t remember.” Jeongin couldn’t look away from the pristine white in the sky. For the sake of himself, he could not look into the hollow, hopeless eyes following him.
“What?”
“My life, I don’t remember it. Well, most of it. I remember my parents, their faces. My brothers are fuzzier, but they’re there. I know nothing of my friends or day-to-day life. The clearest memory I have…” His voice tapered off, soft and breaking. The words were right there, right atop his tongue ready to fly free. But would they come? To say it was to realize it in himself, to taste the sour, bitterness of his torture.
“W-what-what is it?”
“The clearest memory I have is of the day I died.” Finally, they met. Eye to eye, the dim and darkness of down below to the blue and bright of the sky above. Each swimming with the torment of a tortured soul.
“Oh.” It’s tiny. Almost inaudible to the untrained ear. Deep red regret flares through Y/n’s head; they lower their gaze under the weight of it all.
“Most of the day is as blurry as everything else, but the moments leading up to it. Every breath and movement a-and sound until the pain. It’s all I know of my life.”
“Jeongin…”
“I can’t recall the feeling of true happiness. I still feel, I still walk about the earth with emotions, but they are not real. All I have are fickle feelings melted in the molds of what fragmented emotions remain with my soul. The only thing that remains true is my pain.”
Words spilled from his throat in a waterfall. These words that had lived so long, trapped in the confines of his heart, free and reckless. He had not noticed the streams upon his cheeks or the shaky hand cradling his. Not until the sun swam across his skin; not until the wind lifted Y/n’s hand to his hair, petting down the shimmering strands; not until the last of the venom has left his tongue. For, after that, Jeongin allowed himself to feel it all. For the first time since that day, he sunk into the ink in his heart and reveled in the sincereness of his pain. The humanity it brought with fell heavy in his bones. It sunk through his body, traveling every crack and crevice downwards. And, as the storm within him settled, the world weighed nothing but dust on his shoulder. Even coming to realize his confession to a total stranger, a stranger supposedly responsible for his death, Jeongin felt nothing but the breeze against his wings. He does not move from the hand atop his head, reeling in the unfounded comfort of their shaking fingers.
“I…I am sorry for your suffering. Your memories should not be as such.”
Jeongin finally arose from his slumped form, meeting eyes with the sun slowly moving towards the horizon. “What do you mean?”
“I may be wrong, of course, but those that pass are not meant to leave their memories behind as well. Especially not those of friends and family, so you may watch over them.”
“Then…something’s wrong with me?”
“Not with you, you did nothing to cause this discrepancy.” Word after word swirled around Y/n’s head. This tornado of thought danced about every answer they could think of until the words no longer made sense, “I don’t know…what it is that allowed this to happen, but it’s not your fault.”
“Could it be something with how I died?”
They swallowed sharply at the question but managed to choke out a response, “I-uh, maybe.”
Stillness permeated the air between them. A suffocating silence of unease worming itself into the previously comfortable atmosphere. Finally, Jeongin pushed away from the grass.
“Then, perhaps, it is not something meant to be fixed. I must live on as I am. As should you.”
“Jeongin, you can’t.” Their hands met his arm suddenly, shaking with tremors of thousands of unreadable feelings, “You are hurting, in pain over something never meant to happen. I-I know I can never go back and fix that day. Believe me, I’ve tried. But if I can help you heal, in any way possible, I want to. Please.”
He looked down upon Y/n’s shaking form, their teary eyes filled with millennia of knowledge and pain and fear. Jeongin looked at this poor creature and hated the sense of comfort he’d gained from their touch just moments before; he hated how his heart filled with hope that there was someone who’d cared for him all this time. He hated how easily he felt he could forgive them, but most of all, he hated how much truly wanted to accept their help and presence and embrace them for the rest of eternity.
Instead, he could only sneer, “You are a selfish creature. I will never want your help.”
The sob that left their lips at his words could only be described as excruciating. Cries and panicked breaths breached the floodgates of their throat. They huffed out his name in pained whimpers. Jeongin forced himself to turn from them, feeling anguish rip its way through his heartstrings. He scrunched his face up, fighting every urge in his blood to go back. With his back turned he did not see Y/n stumbling after him, crying in pain before reaching out for him once again.
“Jeongin, I’m sorry! Please, just don’t leave m-”
The moment Y/n’s hand wrapped around his arm everything was gone. Blinding white filled the void of their eyes, like millions of suns were blasting directly into Y/n and Jeongin’s coronas. Yet the feeling that whisked the two away was like standing among the cascading water of a steaming shower. When the warmth faded and the light dimmed, the two found themselves standing amongst hazy crowds. The people around them stood frozen. Not a soul breathed nor moved in this space, except the two wretched spirits in its midst. It was as if the two had been transported into an old movie right as it was paused. Like a film roll that had long since been abandoned and faded with the years gone by. This was not a regular human city, nor a time or place that truly existed.
Jeongin whipped around, “What did you do?! Where are we?!”
Y/n only responded in shock, looking across the motion blur surrounding them, “I…don’t know. Any powers I may have had were stripped from me along with my wings. Although…there…is something familiar here.”
They reach out, feeling the space that fills the clouded figures. Their hand falls through the misty bodies and swirls around the ghostly features. Pushing further, they only reach past the few figures near them before they can move no further. The wall they stopped at felt like gelatin, gooey and soft, yet it snapped back like elastic.
“What…are you doing?”
“Searching. There's something here we’re meant to see or find.” Y/n retreated from the rubbery wall, “I…I can feel it.”
Returning to the area they’d arrived in, Y/n surveyed every bit of surrounding space. From the warped skies to the crunchy streets, everything was just the slightest bit off. Even now they found their voice warbled in the air without their doing. Only when they stepped into the middle of the open air, did something seem to happen.
A gasp fell from Y/n and Jeongin watched their body become stiff. All facades of anger flew from his skin as he flashed to their side; his worried quips come out in seconds. Y/n doesn’t respond or shift from their spot. Seconds pass like minutes before Jeongin notices the white veil covering their eyes and the gentle movement of the ghosts around him. All sounds are muffled through the cotton air and he can only stare as the scene plays out.
A tiny stray cat weaved beneath the faceless crowd. Burning white fur glistening in the sun, yet unnoticed by most. No pedestrians paused to greet the kitten nor did street vendors toss it food. Its paws hit the concrete in silence and moved on just the same. The kittens’ path remained undisturbed until it slowly came to a stop atop the stairs of a rundown apartment building. Time passed as it sat there looking to the door in wait before the metal slab swung open. A young man stepped out, face unfuzzy and sporting a small smile when he noticed the kitten. Jeongin’s hand reached down to brush its soft fur.
“Back again, little buddy?”
The cat didn’t respond, only leaning into the lean fingers stroking across its head.
Jeongin hummed, removing his hand, “I have to go to class, but I went out and got you some fancy cat treats last night.” He produced a bright yellow bag from his backpack, opening it to lay some food pellets on the ground. Ignoring the treats, the cat only blinked up at Jeongin, sitting patiently at his feet.
The man in turn rose to his feet and sighed. “Not hungry, huh? Well, bud, I have to go. Stay safe, kitty.”
He pet the kitten once again before leaving his doorstep for the sidewalk. A minute passed as Jeongin’s body slowly faded into the faceless crowds and the cat jumped from the stairway to follow in his stead.
Black swallowed the world and Jeongin’s vision. His mind reeled and tripped through the memory of what he’d just witnessed. He had seen a moment from his human life, the familiarity of the scene tingling a resurgence in his conscience. Looking at Y/n’s still frozen form an idea clicked in his head.
Had he just seen a memory of Y/n’s? Had that cat been them or a pet of theirs?
Before he could finish the thought, the black disappeared. The scenery shifted. Filling the once void was an empty restaurant. The world surrounded Jeongin as the few bodies in the memory began to move.
Eight young boys all gathered around a stretched-out table. They laughed and spoke freely as the lone patrons in the diner. Each of their faces clear and smiling brightly, all eyes turned to Jeongin. He was younger than before, cheeks rounded and soft with age. A bashful look spread across his cheeks and braces poked from his lips when he spoke. Jeongin giggled along with his friends as a small cake was placed in front of him. Slowly, the sounds of singing faded into the world.
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Jeongin! Happy birthday to you!”
His laugh rang out as he extinguished the candles. It shook the world into brightness and light, emerging from the crevice between the booth seats. Y/n hovered above the colored cushions, looking upon Jeongin’s smile in reverie. Two elephantine wings sat tucked against their back. Feathers of a dove coating the white draped across their body. Their eyes so full of youth and pride, wisdom beyond the years of their face, it was a completely different being than the demon they’d become. No one looked towards the beaming creature or even noticed that they were there. Jeongin’s friends were busy doting on the boy and cutting up his cake. As the group chatted and ate and handed out presents, Y/n simply watched from afar. They dare not interfere with mortal events, but the look in their eyes spoke of a desperate longing. With a sigh lost to the wind, Y/n reached for the table. Their hand pulled back to reveal a small golden box housing a shiny, silver bracelet. A single heart charm, almost split down the middle in a fissure. Leaving the birthday gift in their wake, Y/n faded from the restaurant taking the scene with them.
The world changed far quicker this time as if the memories were coming on faster and faster. Jeongin could only glance down at the limp, silvery, chain hanging from his wrist; His head soon swarming with the familiarity of the memories Y/n shared.
The bathroom mirror blinked back at him; this warped twin following every movement the teen made. Swishing with the strokes of his toothbrush and staring down the hollow lines traced beneath his eyelids. Another sunrise had pushed him from the comforts of his mattress. Maybe for the best, as the sun beat away the last remaining bits of the sweat-inducing terrors that played across his mind's cinema. The flashing white and eyes and wings and tears. Everything on the precipice of familiarity yet pushed just out of reach of his memory. Jeongin shook the nightmares back as they resurfaced and leaned down to spit out the toothpaste filling his cheeks. Standing back up, their eyes finally met. Through the tricks of his mirror, they stood there whole and grown, just as him. The ghost from his past, as old as him and smiling in his bathroom mirror. A heart still hanging from their wrist. Yet, turning around, proved there was only the bathroom wall for company. It was simply a figment of his dreams carted in the bags swelled below his eyes.
A young child sat upon his bed. Curled amongst the mess of sheets came his whimpers, his sobs. No matter the comfort his poor mother tried to provide the tears wouldn’t stop. Nor would his sobs.
“They’re gone!”
“Who, sweetie?” A mother trying her best.
“My friend! I-I called for them but…they didn’t come to our special spot! They’re gone!”
The woman could only sigh at the words, she knew what she must say. The things she’d been avoiding at all costs. “Sweetheart, this ’friend’ of yours didn’t go anywhere. They’re just imaginary, sweetie. You can bring them back whenever you want.”
Then came the screams, “No they’re not! They’re not imaginary! They’re real and my best friend, mom! And…and they’ve left me! I’ve lost my friend!”
Jeongin cried to the skies that day. How he wished, hoped, prayed to the stars in the night to bring back his childhood friend. But that Y/n would never return.
Thin, sun rays danced in the oak leaves. Littering the bark, the tiny stars they left behind; stars decorating the two pairs of legs dangling above the ground. Sitting amongst the sky, the 9-year-old looked off into the setting sun. A hand planted on the trunk to stay steady and the other rested gently atop theirs. Y/n sat quietly beside Jeongin, watching the boy’s brown eyes in the dying light.
“Jeonginnie,” The child spoke up, “Are you happy?”
His face turned to catch them looking; dimples sinking into his cheeks with a smile, “With you here? Always!”
Y/n’s young eyes cast down to their wrist and the heart hanging upon it, “I mean, like, just by yourself. Are you happy then?”
Jeongin nodded almost vigorously, perhaps trying to impress his friend, “I make myself happy! Especially when I answer questions right in school! Oo, or when mommy trusts me to help her make cookies because I’m a big boy!”
“That makes me happy.” Y/n looked back up, smiling just as bright. “That you’ll be happy, even if I‘m gone.”
The change in Jeongin’s face was immediate; dimples falling away, “Why would you be gone? Are-are you leaving?”
“No, no…I don’t think I could ever leave you, Jeongin.” Y/n’s hand fell atop the boy’s to hold it tight, “Not in a million, bajillion years! You’re like the little charm on my bracelet, my heart! No one can live without a heart!”
The two children joined in a rhythm of laughter. Giggling within the cavern of nature in pure happiness. A valued slice of a childhood now dead and forgotten; preserved only by the eyes of two, young hearts.
The void around Jeongin popped. Vast fields he had teleported to filled the world again. In a chain reaction, Y/n gasp sounded once again. Looking towards them, Jeongin saw Y/n stumble until their knees hit the dirt and a thousand memories swarmed his thoughts. He rushed to their side, kneeling, grabbing tight to their hand like he once did. The fallen angel looked up to his eyes, seeing the disappearance of any anger previously in them.
“Why…why did you leave?” His words were soft, scared.
“I had to.” Their brow tightened, “The others weren’t very happy about my influence. You were growing up, almost 10, deemed too old to know of my existence. I tried to stay around for as long as I could, but…eventually I could quell their anger no more. It was better for the both of us if I left as if I never existed to you in the first place. I tried my best to make you forget; to make it all the imaginary friend everyone thought I was. Yet, you never forget. No matter what I did or how I did it, your memories of me stayed still.”
Jeongin’s hand fell to their other one. “I don’t think I could ever forget about you.” He let out a soft chuckle, heavenly and warm, “Except, of course, if I lost every memory I ever had.” Y/n couldn’t help but join the laughter, gravely and hard.
“Even then, I guess I could never truly get away from how I felt for you. I’m…I’m still a bit weary of all the things coming back to me, but every memory of you, it’s-they’re all so…happy.” His eyes fell and hands tightened, “You asked me if I was happy, content with the life I lived, and now I see that…my truest happiness came from you. It broke me when you left. Eventually, I grew around the pain until I could forget it in those freeing moments, but I could never stop myself from wishing you were there for my birthday or graduation or-or even my funeral; just to see you…before I forgot about you forever.”
His words made them pause, looking for his down-cast eyes to meet. He didn’t return Y/n’s gaze. “Did…did you know you would forget?”
“Listen-I…Y/n when I died, all I wanted was to forget. I was in pain; my heart, my head, my hands, my legs, everything felt like it wasn’t mine anymore. Like everything I ever did was no longer mine to attest to. I was just the soul of some dead kid. The friends he made, the family he loved, the life he had, they weren’t mine. Yang Jeongin was dead and I couldn’t pretend to be him anymore.” A shaky sigh broke through his lips, “So, I wandered. For weeks, months maybe? I was nothing but a broken ghost upon the earth. Then, one day, I was approached by a man. This man…he-he wasn’t alive but he wasn’t dead. I don’t even know who he was or how he knew me, but he made an offer. He said…he said that he would make me an angel, free me from my wandering and pain but in exchange I had to give up my memories. It wasn’t just the memories though, it was every emotion they accompanied, it was every person that meant anything to me.”
“Jeongin…”
“I was hurting, broken, not thinking. So…I accepted. I wasn’t lying to you earlier Y/n. After accepting, I forgot I made the deal. Looking back, I regret it. I thought not remembering would set me free. I realize now, I was wrong. Because along with all the anger and sadness and pain I let go of, I also gave up the happiness and love and freedom I needed. I gave up you. Even though I still loved you.”
In that moment, the world released Yang Jeongin. As he was pulled into the grass and the warmth of the sun, weight no longer existed. His heart was soaring with his skin in the arms pulling him down. Sweet smoke filling his lungs like candy on his tongue. Pushing into the warm rushing through him, Jeongin buried himself further into the embrace. Y/n’s arms curled around him, tighter by the second. Pulling closer and closer to his chest, taking in every breath of fresh flowers held in Jeongin’s heart. Holding onto every smile and laugh he’d been returned. Huddled together in renewed happiness, the two breathed in every sense of the other; refreshed the feelings once lost forever. Heavenly feelings that came in the rush, and pulsed in the air; broke the dirt away from Y/n’s soul and brightened Jeongin’s eyes.
“I will never leave you again. I promise. On all the heavens and earth to the deepest pits I have walked, I promise you, Jeongin. And every time you call out, I will help. I will not let you get hurt anymore, despite my punishment-”
“Y/n, Y/n,” His fingers danced across their cheeks, “You saved me from the worst mistake I ever made. I believe in you more than the divine sky above and the rains which it holds. You are the most heavenly creature I have ever met, and I trust you with all my heart.”
They pulled on each other once again. Tucking in the crevices of necks and living in the joy pumping with each breath. Two creatures, divine and rotten, find each other time and again; running back to their shared heartbeat and swimming in their joined soul. Breathing in the cascade of that heavenly feeling of love once more.
© HYUUKAIS 2022
#skz#stray kids#ficscafe#skz x reader#stray kids x reader#skz jeongin x reader#skz jeongin#jeongin fanfic#yang jeongin x reader#yang jeongin#jeongin x reader#angel!jeongin#demon!reader#demon au#stray kids au#skz au#skz imagines#stray kids imagines#jeongin imagines#stray kids fanfic#skz fanfic#jeongin fluff#jeongin angst#skz angst#skz fluff#kpop imagines#kpop scenarios#kpop x reader#fanfiction#stray kids fluff
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Avia
Pairing: (F)Reader x Jeongin
Word count: 2.6k
Genre: Guardian Angel!Jeongin || Modern Witch!Reader || Fluff || It’s kinda crack
Warnings: Demons || Mentions of death || Passed spirits
Masterlist || Chan - Maive || Minho - Kira || Changbin - Skye || Hyunjin - Nova || Jisung - Blair || Felix - Lia || Seungmin - Raisha
“More magic?” The voice questions in your head. You nod silently, your mind purely focused on the spell jar you were making. “What is it this time?”
“A protection jar for myself,” you mutter in response. You hear the voice hum softly in your head, a small sense of validation filling your stomach. You’re aware of the guardian that lingers around you. Ever since you got more in touch with the spiritual world, you realised that an angel was protecting you. The more you got into witchcraft, the more you were able to speak with him. Blair’s ability to see spirits had also helped you into visualising his presence before he had revealed himself to you.
“Wait,” the voice moves closer. You feel the familiar feeling of him revealing himself to you. “You’re not going to try and buy a cursed object, are you?” Your body freezes in the middle of the spell and you slowly turn in your chair to see Jeongin staring at you with squinted eyes. You let out a nervous laugh before turning your attention back to the spell. “(Y/n).” You can tell just from his tone that he’s warning you.
“Jeongin, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it,” you wave your hand at him. It doesn’t please him.
“(Y/n), you can finish the spell jar, but the cursed object will backfire.” You whip your head around to look at him.
“You can’t do that!” you exclaim.
“You’re right. I can’t,” he clarifies, “but I’m here to protect and guide you, and as your guardian, I’m telling you that it’ll backfire.” Jeongin stands over your altar, his hands on his hips as he gives you a warning glare. “Finish the spell and don’t buy the object.”
“Okay,” you sigh.
Despite Jeongin’s warning, you bought the object.
“(Y/n)?!” Jeongin booms the moment you step out of the antique store. "I told you not to!" You give him a sheepish smile as you pull the tall bunny statue out of the paper bag in your hands.
“Okay, but you have to admit,” you hold it out in front of him with a wide smile on your face. “Jeongin, it’s cute!”
“It’s cursed!” he argues. “Why are you the way that you are?” Jeongin grumbles as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Can’t you feel the energy yet?”
“I definitely can,” you nod enthusiastically. “That’s the whole reason I got this statue.” The guardian looks up at you and lets out an even louder groan.
“There is literally a demon behind you, (Y/n).” His eye twitches with annoyance as you turn around, being faced with a very unamused looking demon.
“Hey,” the demon waves. His dark suit would’ve deceived you if you didn’t know he was already a demon. He looked like a well dressed businessman who could easily trick an unknowing human into tragedy.
“Can we just discuss this at home and not in public where people will stare at us?” Your suggestion makes Jeongin click his tongue in annoyance, agreeing nonetheless because he knows that bringing unwanted attention to you would only put you at risk of more otherworldly harm. You make your way home, both Jeongin and the added presence of the demon following behind you.
“So what are you?” The demon questions your guardian.
“Her guardian angel,” he mutters, not really wanting to speak with the demon.
“A guardian?” You glance over your shoulder when you hear the excitement in the demon’s tone. “If I bring a guardian and a human down with me, I’ll definitely be able to get away from that damn bunny statue.”
“No, you will not!” Jeongin scoffs. “(Y/n) is under my protection and I won’t let you put your grimey hands on her.”
“Is your magic strong enough to set me free?” The demon’s lips quirk into a smirk. “Let’s make a deal, angel. If you can set me free from that object, I’ll leave your precious human alone.”
“No way,” he shakes his head. “I’m not making any deals with any demons.”
“Well, then you’ll have to protect her from the other two spirits that are tied to the statue.”
“Two?!” You whip your head around and stare at the demon in shock. He only nods, the smug look on his face never disappearing.
“You’re some kind of a psychic, aren’t you? That’s the whole reason you chose the statue,” his eyes look you up and down.
“I’m a modern witch,” you claim.
“Well, witch,” he snorts; it seems the idea of you being a modern witch is laughable to him. “You need to get better with your whole spiritual connection if you didn’t realise there’s more than one being attached to that thing.” He points to the paper bag still in your hands. “Even if you try to throw away the statue, it’s bound to you now, witch.” You turn to Jeongin with wide eyes.
“I told you,” he says through gritted teeth. You let out an awkward laugh as you turn around, making your way into your apartment building with the beings following.
“How many demons are in here?” you question once you’re in the safety—well, somewhat safety—of your home.
“I’m the only demon. The other two are just dead people.”
“Must you refer to us that way?” A voice scoffs before a spirit appears beside the demon, her arms crossed over her chest. The demon throws his hands up in front of himself in defense.
“It’s the truth, Amaris,” he shrugs. You stare at the new addition with wide eyes. The woman looks to be only around her late twenties, dressed in an old victorian gown with her blonde hair tied into a loose bun.
“You are unbelievable,” she huffs. “At least have some respect for us.” The spirit turns to you. “Don’t mind him. Neo can’t really do anything even though he’s a demon.” She raises an eyebrow as she turns to him. “Such a demon can’t even release himself off of a spell a human casted.”
“Human witches were powerful back then,” he growls. “It doesn’t matter anyway since we found ourselves another ‘witch’,” he air quotes with his fingers, “that could probably set you, Rose and I free.”
“Hello?!” Jeongin snaps. “She will not set you free at all!” he turns to you. “(Y/n), you’re getting rid of that statue and the spirits along with it.”
“Jeongin, if I set the two spirits free, it’s not a bad thing!” you shake your head. His eyes widened in disbelief. “If only one of them is a demon, then I can set the two spirit who aren’t demons free instead!”
“You will not!” he scoffs. “You don’t even know if they’re truly spirits or not!”
“Can’t you figure it out? You’re my guardian anyway.” He blinks a few times, staring straight at you before turning his attention to the two beings standing in your living room.
“Where’s the third one?” Jeongin didn’t need to ask twice. The third spirit appeared behind Amaris the moment he asked; a young woman dressed in what looks like a hospital gown, her dark brown hair tied into a loose ponytail.
“This is Rose,” Amaris introduces. “Poor girl barely got to live her life before being tied into the statue thanks to the likes of you,” she throws a glare at Neo who shrugs.
“She was the one who was attracted to the statue in the first place,” he chuckles, his smile sending shivers down your spine.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” you repeat, shaking your head while you try to process everything. “Who was in the statue originally?” Neo raises his hand.
“I was tied to the statue because a human didn’t want me to pester his mother anymore,” he starts, “the little bastard tied me to the statue when I wasn’t paying attention and threw me away. Our lovely Amaris here found me when she was trying to find a decent gift for her king only to be repaid with death. Young Rose found me while she was trying to find things to pawn off for cash. She wasn’t that hard to bring into the statue.”
“That is exactly why you should show Rose some compassion,” Amaris nags.
“Oh, please,” Neo rolls his eyes. “I show her more compassion than I do with you. You wanted to bed the king knowing he had a queen.” You glance at Jeongin, noting how annoyed he looks while the beings start arguing among themselves, Rose watching silently as though she’s completely used to it. You take a few steps closer to Jeongin.
“What do we do now?” you ask, voice a whisper.
“Since you thought this was such a good idea,” he turns to you, “you’re banishing the demon. I’ll figure out what to do with the ghost girl and the victorian lady.”
“Why can’t you take the demon and I take the spirits?”
“Because you bought the statue even though I clearly told you not to.” He doesn’t say anything more before disappearing, leaving you to tend to the new spirits. You let out a heavy sigh when you realise Amaris and Neo are still arguing with each other. You take a few steps closer to Rose, pulling her aside.
“Are they always like this?” you ask softly. She nods silently. “Not much of a talker, huh?” You turn your attention back to the bickering pair, realising that it was a good idea to have your bedroom more protected than your entire home. At least then they won’t be able to bother you while you’re sleeping.
“I know what to do with Neo,” Jeongin announces softly when he returns. “The deities are a bit iffy—I wonder why,” he rolls his eyes, making you punch his shoulder in response. He scowls at you. “They’re having a word with the big guy downstairs. They said if the king won’t take Neo back, then we’ll just have to banish him ourselves. In terms of the spirits, Amaris isn’t dangerous, but something’s a big off about Rose.”
“Neo said she’s just a spirit, right? Then I’ll just set her free.” you turn to him. The guardian gives you a look that you can’t quite read before turning to Rose.
“You need to tell me where you came from so that we can take you back home,” he tells her gently, “we won’t hurt you, Rose. We want to help you.” The girl looks up at him and only then you notice just how dead she looks. Compared to Amaris who glows as though she’s still alive, Rose’s eyes look dead and sullen, skin pale. “If you could just tell us where you passed, we can release your soul there.”
“We only mean good, Rose,” you speak up, earning a soft sense of gratitude from your angel. The two of you watch as she looks around your apartment—as though she can sense your magic—before turning back to you. Her pale hand raises and points to the pendant hanging from your neck, signalling for you to take it off. You look down at the pendant, not hesitating to take it off when a voice enters your mind.
“Stop,” Jeongin’s voice quickly snaps in your mind. “That’s your protection. Something’s not right.” You see for a moment the way Rose’s eyes seem to flicker knowingly before she tries asking once more.
“I can’t do that,” you shake your head as you take a step closer to Jeongin. Your living room starts to feel threatening, fear slowly creeping up inside of you.
“Why do you need her to take off her protection?” he asks as he grabs onto your wrist, pulling you closer. From the way his wings wrap around you ever so slightly, you know his protective instincts are kicking in. “You’re not a normal spirit,” Jeongin claims, his wings tightening around your frame and only pulling you closer. It seems that his claim had caught the attention of Amaris and Neo, both of them turning to see what was happening.
“Stop it, darling,” Amaris smacks her shoulder. “They want to help.” Rose turns to her, giving her a silent look before the older spirit rolls her eyes. “Excuse Rose. She’s just as mischievous as Neo is.”
“Quite the guardian, aren’t you?” Neo teases, a bemused smirk on his way from the sight of Jeongin holding onto you so tightly.
“Guardian, I promise that they can’t do any harm to you or your human,” she reasons. “We just want to be set free.”
“I can only set you free,” Jeongin gestures to Amaris. “Rose has to go with the statue and Neo has to go back under.” The both of you could barely blink before Rose was standing right in front of you, her eyes wide; silently demanding be set free. Jeongin only pulls you closer until you’re pressed up against his side, his arm wrapped around your waist. “Back off or I’ll send you to where Neo came from,” he growls. “Know your limits when you’re going against a guardian, spirit.” His eyes glare into her lifeless eyes and for a moment, you see fear flash in her eyes before she steps back. “You guys are allowed to be here until we figure out where to leave you. Until then, you’re not allowed to even touch (Y/n).” Jeongin pulls you into your bedroom without another word to the beings, closing the door behind him. You let out a heavy sigh as you sit yourself at the foot of your bed, taking in the situation you had just put yourself in. “I’ll handle Rose and Neo,” he speaks up, “you just have to unbind Amaris from the statue.”
“I thought you were giving me Neo to handle,” you look up at him.
“Yeah, well, you’re still a beginner,” Jeongin sits beside you. “I can’t afford to lose you just because I wanted to teach you a lesson.”
“Did I make things too difficult?” you question, your teeth chewing on your bottom lip when you realise just how frustrated he is.
“It’s okay,” he shakes his head, turning to you with a small smile. “Worst comes to worst, I’ll get another angel to come down and help us.” You give him a doubtful look, afraid that you’ve dug too deep a hole. “Don’t worry about it, (Y/n).” He wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling your head to lean on his shoulder. “If it makes you feel any better, Jisung said Blair’s summoning a demon, too, so now you guys have more things in common.”
“Is she?” you gasp, pulling away to look at him. Jeongin nods. “Oh god, I need to cast a protection spell for her too then.” You stand up from your bed, rushing to your altar while your guardian watches, an amused smile on his face. He knows you’re excited for your spiritual journey. With how you perk up when you get the slightest of signs and how bright you get whenever you realise that a spell is actually working, Jeongin should’ve expected that you’d get a little too excited over the idea of trying to banish a demon yourself. Jeongin makes his way over to your altar, his hands on your shoulders as he leans closer.
“Don’t forget to cleanse,” he reminds you while holding out an incense stick in front of you. Your body freezes. “It could be Neo’s energy interfering with your space.”
“Thanks,” you thank him sheepishly as you take the stick from his hand. Once lit, you sit back in your chair as you watch the smoke wisp into the air, Jeongin by your side. “Sorry for bringing the demon here.”
“It’s okay,” he hums, his hand resting on your shoulder. “It’s all for experience. I’ll be by your side until you become a powerful witch.” Jeongin gives you a wide smile. “And I’ll be here even after.”
“Thank you, Jeongin,” you smile at him.
“But if you summon a demon again even when I tell you not to, you’ll have to handle them on your own,” he warns, his eyes switching to serious. You chuckle, nodding your head.
“Next time I wanna summon a demon, I’ll listen to you.”
#kwritersworldnet#stray kids#stray kids imagines#stray kids scenarios#stray kids oneshots#stray kids fluff#stray kids angel au#yang jeongin#yang jeongin imagines#yang jeongin scenarios#yang jeongin oneshots#yang jeongin fluff#yang jeongin angel au#yang jeongin guardian angel au#jeongin stray kids#jeongin#jeongin imagines#jeongin scenarios#jeongin oneshots#jeongin fluff#jeongin angel au#jeongin guardian au#i.n stray kids#i.n imagines#i.n scenarios#i.n oneshots#i.n fluff#i.n angel au#i.n guardian angel au
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heartbreak girl — y.ji
prompt. #22 — listening to them while they vent for 🤎 anon (and i apologize that this is so late, advance happy valentine’s day)
description. introducing yang jeongin: resident best friend, never the boyfriend. | track #8 of the youngblood playlist
pairing. yang jeongin x female reader
genre. fluff, slight angst, slight pining, bestfriends!au, high school!au
warnings. swearing, mentions and consumption of chocolate/food
word count. 1.4k
notes. finally wrote for jeongin, just in time for his birthday too! happy innie day :> | taglist: @lixesque @dominonation @sanccharine @lixiesbabyhands @jensrose @rae-blogging @cavaree @pastelsicheng @onlysolane @koroleva-rezni
Jeongin’s refusal to hand over the box of chocolates must have been your last straw.
The circumstances leading to your outburst were nothing out of the ordinary. You would come up to Jeongin asking for anything (spare pens, candies, a box of chocolate today) and he’d say no just to see how long your patience would hold. But the air was different today, charged in static as the clouds formed. It took a total of (1) one ‘no’ to tip you over the edge, groaning in frustration as you stomped back to your seat. For the past half hour, you were hunched over your desk with your face tucked behind an impenetrable wall of arms, ignoring even the sharp violent ringing of the lunch bell.
Jeongin was happy to tick off one of the monumental goals off his list. Only he wasn’t as proud as he imagined he would be and the surge of guilt he felt as you walked away wasn’t even close to rewarding. In pride’s place was his conscience, like a guardian angel perched on his shoulder to remind him he crossed a line today.
It wasn’t entirely his fault really, but what he did was just the cherry to top everything off—the perfect finish to your dessert disaster that was the month of (supposed) love, February. The past two weeks haven’t been kind to you and you spent every night you were remotely free rambling over the phone about the streamline of problems that never ended. There were back to back examinations, mounds of homework, part-time child tutoring sessions, and the threat of the school’s monthly evaluations that could kick you out of the program if you slacked off. Balancing the overload had been your best asset, notorious for keeping cool as the rest of the student body was set ablaze and still managing to rank higher than regular load students.
Naturally, Jeongin suspected there was another factor. It took an effort to trick you into slipping up but only half of him thought it was worth it. Because the tornado that left a wreck in its wake was completely avoidable—a pathetic boy problem. The guy you were seeing since the beginning of the year called it quits, and as if his timing couldn’t get any impeccable, he decided to do so a week before Valentine’s. Who the fuck does that?
“_____,” Jeongin plucked his backpack off his desk, throwing the strap over his shoulder as he made his way to the other side of the room where you sat unmoving. “I’m leaving for lunch, you coming?”
No response. Not even a shift.
Jeongin sucked in a breath, trying his best to keep his hunger-borne irritation at bay. “_____!” More demanding now than earlier. “Get up and stop moping around! I hate seeing you like this!”
You snapped your head up staring straight at him with the marks of a good nap imprinted on your cheek. “No one’s asking you to stay here and look at me, dumb ass,” you spat. “Go eat if you want to, I’m staying here. All those couples would make me lose my appetite.”
You curled back into your shell, blocking out his presence like you always did when you wanted to be ‘left alone’ but not really. So be it. Instead of walking away, he wrenched a chair out of the desk in front of you—spinning it around so he could sit facing you. He slumped down on the seat, propped his elbows on your desk and fished out his phone. It had been decided, the rest of his lunch break would be spent here.
He didn’t know why he was staying despite the audible protests of his stomach. Somehow, whenever it came to you, the inconvenience never ruled out his desire to stick by your side. Because that was what best friends were for, right? To have someone stick by your side through thick and thin, through the smartest calls and the worst mistakes.
It was almost first instinct for him to come to your aid now, even when he sucked at giving it. He never knew what advice to give, never knew the right words to say to make you stop crying. But he knew you preferred company rather than being left alone, and silent company over those who tried to let you talk about it more. And after the worst was over, you needed a buddy to trash talk the heartbreaker to.
You raised your head now, the side of your face pressed against your arms as you gazed out the window. “I just don’t know where I went wrong this time.”
Jeongin was silent at first. Then he opened his mouth to speak, “There’s nothing wrong with you. Just your poor taste in lovers, that’s all.” His phone chimed, the chair creaked, wind blew in from outside. A piece of your wall of arms broke away to deliver a strike to his arm. “Ouch, _____. All I’m saying is there are better people out there, you just happen to have a wonky radar.”
“Better people,” you scoffed.
Like me, idiot.
The answer came too loud and Jeongin worried he actually said them out loud. But you kept your eyes on the view and his mouth was still shut. His fingers were still tapping away in a hopeless endeavor to recover the few seconds he was distracted. His avatar was low and quite cornered.
He struck his cheek and hoped it appeared like he was just disappointed over the game. And why did he even think he was the more suitable partner? Just because he stuck around the longest? Maybe, the thought tugged deep in the back of his guilty thoughts. He lost count of all the times he had to catch you, keep your head up whenever it seemed to drop. He knew your weirdest quirks and it wouldn’t be an understatement to say he knew you better than most people did—the perfect candidate for your perfect partner. The only problem was he wasn’t what you wanted, not even close to the type of boys you got involved with, and somehow that voids everything else. Fuck it, he tells himself. Forget it.
But it’s hard to forget when he had seen it happen more times than you deserved to. Once would’ve been fine, just to say heartbreak like that happened to everyone. But to see it happen two more times? With the bags beneath your eyes darkening, your eyes bloodshot from crying, and your cheek stained with tear streaks? He couldn’t stand it.
“Why are you staring at me like that, Yang Jeongin?” He didn’t even notice he was looking at you until he found you looking right back. “You like me, don’t you?” Even with your eyes still puffy, you manage a smirk—your face a mismatch between what you feel and what you want the world to see.
Jeongin made a face. “It’s because you’re drooling.”
You sit up in alarm, rushing to wipe your mouth clean with the back of your palm. Jeongin was already up and moving away before you realized he was only tricking you.
“Yang Jeongin!”
His name sounded better when you said it, even with a pen flying straight toward him. You missed, but he had his own version of backfire as he tossed something right back at you. Your poor hand and eye coordination made it slip off your outstretched hands, landing on your desk in stuntman fashion—rolling until it stopped. It’s a box of chocolates, the box of chocolates.
“So I just needed to cry so I could have it?” you asked, but Jeongin doesn’t answer. He’s halfway across the room again with his back turned. He could only put up with his stomach growling for so long.
“I thought you were giving this to someone!” Yeah, you. But you never asked who it was for specifically, he didn’t feel a need to mention it.
“Are you going to buy another one for them?” You’ve lightened up, he could hear it in the way your tone rises. Cheerful, bouncy, happy, just like how he always wanted you to be. His job was done. There was no need for another box. It’s already right where it needs to be.
“Thanks! Love you!” And he knows you didn’t mean it in the way he wanted it to. So he doesn’t bring himself to answer, afraid to slip up after coming that close. He slid the classroom door back shut and he stood out in the hallway, half his heart bare on his sleeve.
So much for Valentine’s Day.
When he turned to gaze back inside the classroom, you were looking at him. You waved, smiling from ear to ear, muttering another thank you as you shoved a chocolate in your mouth, oblivious to his feelings as you always had been.
© neo-shitty, 2022
#jeongin angst#jeongin fluff#stayhavennet#districtninewriters#ficscafe#skz fluff#skz angst#stray kids angst#stray kids fluff#skz scenarios#jeongin drabbles#jeongin imagines#skz imagines#jeongin x reader#skz x reader#jeongin timestamps#yang jeongin#jeongin#skz#skz jeongin#stray kids#stray kids jeongin#toff.writes
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Angel Sent From Up Above
Anniversary Request Special
Synopsis: Hyunjin, a new guardian angel, has fallen in love with a human. His human’s girlfriend, to be precise. Angel AU, background college AU and skater AU.
Warning: violence
Word Count: 8.3k
Pairing: fem!reader x guardian angel!Hyunjin; fem!reader x human!Jeongin
“Is she healed now?” Hyunjin asks the moment Jisung flies in. He knows Jisung is probably exhausted from keeping maladies away from you, but he needs the answer now. “Is her flu gone?”
“Yeah.” Jisung’s wings are tinged gray with ruin, but he keeps them on display for all the other guardian angels to see as he walks past them. They are proof that he has been doing his duty. They’ll return to white soon enough anyway. “Your human’s her boyfriend. Why didn’t you try to check through him? He visited a few times even though she told him not to.” Jisung sighs and shakes his head. “What an idiot. He’s going to get sick himself.”
“He hasn't visited recently, so I haven’t been able to check through him. The Archangel’s forbade me going to Earth unless it was something serious. I think he’s worried I'm spending too much time with humans.”
Jisung shakes his head. “I think he’s worried that he’s going to have to Seungmin you.”
“I'm not going to get expelled.”
Jisung shrugs, and ruin falls from his wings like ash. “You better watch out. You checked up on her too much last time she got sick, so he's probably trying to make sure you won't abandon your human. He's banished people for less. Case in point: Seungmin.”
“She's important to Jeongin, so she's important to me."
Jisung sighs. “Sometimes I think you’re more protective of her than I am.”
He says it as a joke, but Hyunjin knows it’s the truth. He cares deeply about you, maybe even more than his own human, but he will never say that last part aloud.
Hyunjin used to believe that becoming a guardian angel was the best thing that ever happened to him. All of his afterlife, he had wanted to be promoted, to be granted the pure white wings and the crown of sun rays. Regular angels had wings and halos but never white wings and golden halos; silver and silver was the “regular” combination.
Watching over a human was considered the highest honor an angel could receive, and everyone clamored to gain the attention of the Archangel. Hyunjin was not immune. He worked as a messenger for years, delivering even the most inane notes between the higher ups. He endured the attacks, verbal and sometimes physical, and kept his mouth shut. Eventually, the Archangel recognized his efforts, and before dawn broke on Earth, Hyunjin was named the new guardian angel of a baby boy, Yang Jeongin.
“You will protect him. You will guide him,” the Archangel said. “He is your responsibility now and yours alone. Do you understand?”
From Heaven, Hyunjin could only look at the wet, wrinkled face of his human. His human. “I understand.”
Then the Archangel flew off, and Hyunjin flew to Earth for the first time to meet the baby. No one noticed him as he phased through the hospital walls nor as his giant wings folded back. Only Jeongin would be able to see his guardian angel.
“Hello there, little one,” he whispered to the swaddled baby. The boy was fast asleep, and Hyunjin gently stroked his face. “I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Hyunjin, your official guardian angel. I’ll always be nearby now, and I’ll always make sure you’re safe. Sometimes you won’t be able to see me, but I’ll always be watching over you. I promise.”
Jeongin stirred awake and stared back at Hyunjin. Two sets of eyes blinked at each other, one full of curiosity and one full of tenderness.
“Go back to sleep,” Hyunjin said. He drew his hand over the baby’s face, and Jeongin’s eyes fluttered shut. “Sweet dreams, little one.”
Guardian angels talked about their humans like parents, bragging about how gifted they were and sharing complaints about what unbelievable thing they did the other day. Hyunjin mostly did the latter. Jeongin was an adventurous child, which was just a nice way of saying that he liked to play with danger. Hyunjin often had to fly in to save him or to redirect the threat somewhere else. The other angels joked that Hyunjin stayed on Earth more than Heaven sometimes. He didn’t mind though. Even with his human’s shortcomings, Hyunjin adored him. He watched from above as Jeongin said his first words, attended his first day of kindergarten, and got into his first fight.
“He’s a troublemaker,” Minho observed.
Minho was a guardian angel as well, but he tended to lurk on the outer edges of the realm as the other angels avoided him for a reason Hyunjin hadn’t figured out yet. Hyunjin liked him well enough and treated him like a mentor, sometimes a friend.
“Hey, you’re not one to talk. Your human started a black market of candy at school.”
Minho shrugged. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing.”
Jeongin didn’t end up growing up into a troublemaker, to Hyunjin’s relief. The impulsive streak was still there, but he utilized his judgement more now. There were no car crashes or cases of alcohol poisoning, and when Jeongin asked out girls, it was with daisy bouquets and a suggestion to get lunch. Hyunjin slowly stopped making routine trips to Earth and chose to view Jeongin from the comfort of Heaven. It was there that Hyunjin noticed you.
“I think she’s upset with him,” Jisung abruptly says. “She cried after a video call with him, so if your human starts acting strangely, that’s why.”
The news makes Hyunjin stop mid-step, and he turns to his friend. “She cried? What? What did she cry about?”
“I don’t know. I was too busy trying to lower her temperature. Can you believe that she almost hit—”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I just got back! There is no ‘earlier!’ Besides, we aren't allowed to interfere in anything that isn't dangerous. Heartbreak, if this is even what this is, is temporary."
“Humans do drastic things for love.” The movies has seen while watching Jeongin have told him that much.
“Which we will attend to when it happens. You’re a new guardian; you’ll understand them better over time. Not everything is life-threatening, fragile as they are.”
Hyunjin turns away from Jisung and glances down at Earth. The clouds part, and all of the brick buildings of the university rush towards his eyes as he focuses on Jeongin. He’s asleep at his desk, his lamp still burning bright above him. How long has it been since the video call? Or perhaps he’s just tired from the events of his day. But he looks so small and vulnerable in his chair. Jeongin isn’t fragile — the amount of situations he has gotten out of covered in bruises and blood is astronomical — but he is mortal.
“But she loves him,” Hyunjin softly says, “and he loves her.”
“Exactly. Humans fight over small things all the time, and this is one of those times.” Jisung places a hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder to placate him. “Trust me.”
“... I trust you.”
“Good. I need to rest, but we can catch up and see what stupid things they do after.”
The moment Jisung flies off to the rest area, Hyunjin goes against the Archangel’s orders and flies to your apartment. When he peers inside your bedroom window, he spots you sitting in bed in the dark, your phone screen illuminating your face. He phases inside and sits at your desk chair, resting his forearms at the top rail. You can’t see him, but he wishes that you could.
You mindlessly scroll through messages, sniffling every few seconds. Whether it’s from your crying or your illness, he doesn’t know. He can’t hand you a tissue or tell you comforting things or hug you like Jeongin can. When you wrap your blanket tighter around your shoulders, he wraps his wings around himself as well.
Suddenly you throw your phone beside you and let out a heavy sigh. “It can’t get any worse than this,” you say to yourself.
Hyunjin waits for you to say more, but you only stare at the ceiling with blank eyes. He can’t compel you to talk; only Jisung can, but he’s not here. So instead, Hyunjin knocks over the glass of water on your bed when you shift into a more comfortable position.
“Of course it can,” you sigh again and blot as much water as you can with your tissues. You pull another one out of the box with more force than necessary and furiously dab your sheets. “First I get sick, then I miss a homework deadline that I can’t make up because my professor lost his heart thirty years ago along with his hair, then my boyfriend breaks up with me for like no reason, apparently I have an exam tomorrow, and now I’ve spilled water all over my bed, so I can’t even sleep. Thank you, universe. I really needed this.”
He immediately regrets his decision.
“Worst freaking week of my life,” you mumble as you throw away the wet tissues. Hyunjin almost reaches out for your arm when you pass by, but he retracts it just in time.
When you climb back into bed, you draw your blanket up to your chin and begin murmuring numbers. They come out calm and even at first, but they become more tense as time passes. Hyunjin half-listens as he scans the contents of your desk. A laptop, a shopping bag, an open notebook with doodles on the margins, an uncapped black pen, and a pack of gum. He presses his forefinger to the point of the pen, drawing a tiny heart by touch. Then he stamps the heart among all your misshapen stars and imaginary flowers. You might just think it’s an ink smear, but he hopes you look at it and smile.
You hit three hundred and forty-seven before you begin to sound drowsy. Hyunjin stands at the foot of your bed, watching as you finally drift off in the middle of three hundred and ninety-three. Serenity settles across your features.
“I’m sorry for what I did earlier. Good night and sweet dreams,” he whispers. He pats the corner of your bed before flying off into the night.
He needs to see Jeongin.
It was hard not to notice you when you were on a collision course with Jeongin. You were going too fast, and Hyunjin’s wings couldn’t carry him to Earth in milliseconds. With horror, he watched as you sharply turned the building corner on your skateboard and just barely jumped off in time when you saw Jeongin about to make the same turn.
“You okay?” Jeongin asked as he hurried to stop your runaway board.
“I should be asking you that!” you exclaimed as you followed him. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have veered that close to the wall. You’re not hurt or anything, right?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“Good. I can’t risk getting sued again.” Unsure of how to respond, Jeongin nudged back your board to you. You neatly stopped it mid-roll with your foot. “Thanks, by the way. See you around.”
“Yeah, see you.”
You kicked off, but before you left the area, you turned around and gave him a wave. Jeongin waved back, albeit more shyly than you. After a moment’s hesitation, he yelled out, “Be careful!”
“I’ll try!”
Jeongin laughed and turned the corner, looking at the brick wall with more wistfulness than most people usually did. Before he entered the building, he peeked around the next corner, as if he expected you to come speeding by again. You didn’t.
After that, he noticed you more often, usually swerving around strangers as you cut through campus. Whenever he had the opportunity to say hello, he did so with a smile, and you returned it with a waggle of your fingers before disappearing into the crowd. Once, you nearly crashed into a railing. You laughed it off and gave him another wave along with a funny face. Hyunjin felt something inside him melt. Jeongin must have too since he headed to his next class with the most lovestruck expression Hyunjin had ever seen on him.
It was then that Jeongin began forming a plan.
Two weeks after the first meeting, Jeongin waited in the quad for you to show up. Just as he hoped, you came walking down the steps fifteen minutes later, skateboard tucked underneath your arm. It was supposed to seem like a coincidence, but Hyunjin had followed Jeongin as he scoured nearby skate spots, asking around about you. Yesterday, he had learned where you liked to practice tricks. He got up from his bench, hands hidden behind his back, and approached you with the same moves and confidence he had rehearsed in the bathroom mirror.
“Hey! How have you been?” he called up from the very bottom.
Meanwhile, Hyunjin groaned. Jisung, who Hyunjin had tracked down two days prior to this, also did so.
“You said he was a charmer,” Jisung complained. “Look at him. He can’t even charm dogs with a treat.”
“For your sake, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. Just wait though. It’s going to get better.”
Jisung huffed. “It better. She deserves the best.”
Fortunately, you took it all in stride and waved hello at Jeongin. When you were finally beside him, you answered, “I’ve been good, thanks. You’re not here to sue me, right?”
“No! I was actually wondering if you could teach me how to skateboard. If you have time, that is.”
“Really? But I almost killed you that one time. I mean, I’d be happy to, but it’s kind of weird after what happened.”
“I’d rather skateboard than walk, and you seem pretty good at it.”
You shifted your weight to one foot, and Hyunjin chuckled when he saw Jeongin’s eyes wander to your jutted-out hip. Jisung made a noise of disapproval.
“Okay, what is this really about?”
“Skateboarding,” Jeongin said. Then he took a step closer and held out a bundle of daisies towards you. “And lunch, if you want.”
You broke out into a grin. “I am a little hungry right now. L/N Y/N, skateboarding extraordinaire and ramen enthusiast, at your service.”
“Yang Jeongin, also a ramen enthusiast. Nice to officially meet you.”
Jeongin is still sleeping at his desk when Hyunjin arrives. He shifts and exhales when the wind from Hyunjin’s wings create a small breeze but does not wake.
“How could you break up with her?” Hyunjin says. “She’s amazing and wonderful, and you decide that you don't want to be with her? Sometimes I wonder what’s going on in your head.”
Silence.
“If I were human, I would have never done that, but…”
Jeongin shifts again, burying himself deeper into the crumpled hoodie he’s using as a pillow. The table squeaks, and a mechanical pencil rolls off the desk. Hyunjin quietly places the pencil back to its initial place and shuts off the lamp.
“Take care of yourself, and make good choices, okay? I can’t do that for you.”
Instead of flying back to Heaven, he perches on the roof of the building across from Jeongin’s. Jeongin finally wakes up and notices that his light is off. He glances at it confusedly for a few seconds, wondering if he misremembered leaving it on. In the end, he decides it’s not worth the effort and falls into his bed. He didn’t even spare you a thought, a crime in Hyunjin’s eyes.
Then he realizes he may have a bigger problem on his hands.
Jisung.
Jisung is going to be very upset when he finds out about this.
Over the weekend, you brought Jeongin to the quad to learn the basics.
“Put both feet on the board now,” you said as you walked alongside a skateboarding Jeongin. He was borrowing yours to practice, so he treated it with more reverence than a well-used board would need. Even though he was pushing with his back foot, he was going at a snail’s pace.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m going to lose my balance and fall.”
Perhaps it wasn’t reverence after all.
You shook your head. “No, you won’t. You’re not going that fast anyway. You can just step off if you really feel like you are. Give it a shot.”
To his credit, Jeongin lifted his foot a few centimeters off the ground before planting it back. “I’m going to lose control.”
While you did your best to persuade Jeongin to give it another try, Jisung gave Hyunjin a dissatisfied look. “I remember you telling me he was a daredevil. What is happening?”
He didn’t exactly know either. “He’s in front of his crush; give him a break.”
“These two better not end up dating. She deserves so much better than him.”
Hyunjin gave him a dirty look, Jisung gave him a “What? It’s true” type of a shrug.
You step in front of the board. “How about this?” you said. “You stand on the board with both feet, and I’ll pull you along so you can get used to the feeling and be less of a scaredy cat.”
“Okay.”
You took both of his hands and slowly guided him backwards. At the same time, you instructed him to put more weight on one side to change directions. Jeongin was surprisingly stable, and Hyunjin watched proudly as his human suggested that you increase your speed a little.
“See? It’s not bad?” you said. “Keeping balance isn’t that hard, right?”
“Yeah. Also,” he grinned, his meek demeanor completely gone, “we’re holding hands now.”
Your eyes widened as you glanced down at your joined hands, and you let out a delighted gasp. “You sneaky little—” Much to Jeongin’s alarm, you let go and smirked. “If you go past the bench without constantly pushing, I’ll let you hold my hand when you walk me home.”
“Kind of presumptuous of you to assume that I would offer to walk you home,” he teased, resting one foot on the floor. “Or is that what you want me to do?”
“You asked me to lunch with flowers. You were going to.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Then he kicked off, skating past the bench with ease. Still going, he looked over his shoulder and shouted, “Do you want to grab doughnuts before you head home?”
“Watch the lamp!” you yelled as you ran towards him. “Jeongin, stop looking at me and turn around!”
The collision with the lamppost was unavoidable, so Hyunjin simply watched as Jeongin took a flying leap off your board and took a tumble on the concrete. While you fumbled for band aids — Jeongin’s knee was scraped and bloody — Jeongin patted his pockets to check that his phone had not fallen out.
“So doughnuts?” he sheepishly asked.
“Sure. I’ll buy.” You finally found one hidden in the bottom of your backpack along with an alcohol wipe. “Guess you get to hold my hand after all.”
“How are you so prepared?” he asked, nodding to the contents you had unceremoniously dumped out whilst rummaging. “You have tweezers and gauze?”
“My mom made me carry a first-aid kit with me when she found out that I skate to class. It comes in handy.” You ripped open the package. “This might hurt.”
“You can kiss it to feel better.”
You laughed and pressed the alcohol wipe to his knee. “You’re such a flirt, I love it. Does it hurt?”
“Yeah, hurts a lot.”
You opted to kiss the band aid instead, causing Jeongin to pout and Jisung to sigh in relief. When you stuck it onto his skin, Jeongin made a big production of being relieved from pain, which made you laugh and shove him.
“No! She’s in love with him,” Jisung groaned. His wings drooped, and Hyunjin swore his halo actually dimmed when you kept your hands in Jeongin’s after you pulled him up. “Well, Hyunjin, looks like you and I are going to be best friends.”
Hyunjin personally saw no issue with that. Like Jeongin, he had been charmed by your antics and your easygoing nature. Protecting his human’s friends, family, or lovers wasn’t part of Hyunjin’s duty, but he felt compelled to watch over you too.
Because if he were human, he would have fallen in love with you too.
In the midst of his lamenting, Jisung flies down and sits beside him on the roof. His wings are still slightly gray, and Hyunjin strangely begins to feel self-conscious of his pure white ones.
“Didn’t the Archangel forbid you from doing frivolous things?” Jisung says in lieu of a greeting. “I saw you at her apartment earlier.”
“I just wanted to check up on her. Not that I thought you lied,” he hastily adds. “I wanted to see for myself. She’s a little… distraught.”
“She got into a fight with her boyfriend. It’s normal.” When Hyunjin doesn’t reply or even make a sound, he grows concerned. “Is it something else? She’s getting sued, isn’t she? I knew it was going to happen someday. When I find that smug richie-rich, I’m going to—”
“Jeongin broke up with her.”
“What.”
Hyunjin repeats his sentence, trying to block the view of Jeongin’s bedroom with his body. Jisung looks like he’s ready to rain judgement onto him, and while Hyunjin is rather good at his job, he’s not sure if he can hold back an enraged guardian angel. Jisung takes several deep breaths before regaining the little composure he can muster.
“I knew I hated him for a reason. I knew he didn’t deserve her,” he spits out, though the venom in his voice wavers. “Why would he even break up with her? She loved him so much.”
Hyunjin shrugs. “That’s what I want to find out.”
“When you find out, let me know. I’m going to see her now.”
Hyunjin stays on the roof until sunrise. Jeongin sleeps without any trouble, and when he wakes up, he looks fresh-faced, no guilt hanging over his head. Hyunjin feels something inside him cracking apart.
You truly don’t deserve this.
“Do you think they’re going to crash and burn?” Jisung asked as he studied you and Jeongin walking through the park, practically glued to each other’s sides. “I think they’re moving too fast. It’s only been a month.”
Hyunjin really didn’t care about that. As long as you and Jeongin were happy, he was happy. “A month is a pretty long time for them. Mortal lives are short.”
“Exactly. They should be more selective about their life choices.”
Hyunjin only rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to you. You were pointing at the tiny carousel in the middle and tugging at Jeongin’s sleeve. You dragged him over and pushed a coin into the slot for the ride. The lights lit up and a carnival theme played while you struggled to wedge yourself between the saddle of an elephant and the roof of the carousel. Jeongin sat on the edge, beside the tiger, and chuckled at your flailing limbs.
Hyunjin suppressed his own laugh. You were something special. Just last week, the two of you had made it official and started dating. You had done it in the sweetest possible way.
You had taken him to a local skateboarding shop to help him pick out his first board. Once he had chosen one — the ‘one’ being a light blue deck patterned with multicolored doughnuts — the staff at the shop sent him to the back to try it out. Meanwhile, you made the age-old excuse of needing to use the restroom when you were actually getting the flowers you had hidden in the back.
Hyunjin had turned into a pile of fluff when you gave Jeongin the daisy bouquet and asked if he wanted to officially be your boyfriend. You were so earnest. Jeongin playfully pretended to think it over, a feat Hyunjin knew he wouldn’t have been able to do if he were in his position. There were no fireworks or confetti when Jeongin finally said yes, but the staff did clap and cheer. Jisung looked on with contempt. Hyunjin looked on with envy.
“You know,” Jisung abruptly said, snapping Hyunjin back to the present, “when her last boyfriend broke up with her, she had ice cream for dinner for a week.”
“Oh.”
“You see why I’m being wary of him now?”
Hyunjin did, but Jeongin was different. His previous relationships always ended well, and on one occasion, he remained friends with his ex. He sighed and decided that a change of topic was necessary so he wouldn’t have to potentially endure a tirade. “Did you hear about Minho’s human? The bank he worked at got robbed, and he got held at gunpoint.”
That caught the overprotective Jisung’s ear. “What? Is he okay?”
During Hyunjin’s recountment of Minho’s recountment, the carousel ride ended. You squeezed out of your spot, hitting your head on the roof, and Jeongin pulled you in for a forehead kiss. The world grew brighter when you smiled, he realized.
Hyunjin shadows Jeongin around all day, hoping to learn the reason for the breakup. Unfortunately, Jeongin doesn’t say anything. He does show some regret though, as he scrolls through past messages and old pictures. When he heads to classes, he opts to walk instead of skateboarding like usual and avoids the quad whenever possible.
In the evening, while Jeongin is chewing on his salad like a cow to cud, Hyunjin pays you a visit. He finds in the freezer section of the grocery store with three pints of ice cream in your basket. From the looks of it, you’re about to add another three to your haul. Peanut butter pretzel sounds equal parts delicious and confusing.
Hyunjin studies your expression, frowning at the same time you do. Your eyes are ringed with red, your jaw tight, and your eyebrows seem permanently furrowed. When he follows you back home, he half expects you to start crying on the way, but you hold fast and manage to open a pint of the salted caramel flavor before the tears finally come. There’s no wailing, just sniffling and the sound of you furiously wiping at your face with the sleeve of your hoodie. In the midst of it all, you find the strength to reorganize the freezer to make space for the other pints. Something about that makes Hyunjin’s heart drop.
By the time your roommate discovers you in the kitchen, the entire refrigerator has been reorganized and the ice cream finished. You sit in a dark room, your finger hovering above the ‘SEND’ button of a message to Jeongin. Hyunjin can see it if he flies above you: “Can you please just tell me why? You keep saying you did something wrong, but I don’t even know what it is. Please let me decide if it’s worth breaking up over.”
“Rough day?” she gently asks as she flips on the switch.
“Yeah.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Maybe tomorrow. I just wanna process it right now,” you hollowly say. You grab your skateboard — the same black, paint-splattered one you had last year — and unlock the front door. “I’m going out for a ride, but I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Stay safe.”
After you leave, Jisung phases through the kitchen walls and hisses at Hyunjin, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Jeongin?”
He nearly forgot about him. Eating dinner isn’t a dangerous task anyway though. Besides, if Jeongin does get physically harmed somehow, Hyunjin will feel an echo of the pain. Hyunjin glances at the door, and Jisung shakes his head.
“I’ll take care of her. Go back to Jeongin, and make sure he’s okay. You can’t keep leaving him all the time.”
“Fine, I’ll go.”
“Good.”
Hyunjin reluctantly goes back to Jeongin, who is still eating his salad. His resolve from last night is clearly gone as evidenced by his melancholy expression as he scrolls through even more photos. The one of you in mid-air makes him clutch his phone.
“Let me get one of you when you’re really high up,” Jeongin suggested. He was comfortable gliding around on a skateboard now, but nowhere comfortable enough to try any tricks. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop you from trying to get him to learn. The “pop shove it” was your favorite, solely for the amount of height you could get.
“Okay.”
As you did over and over again for your enthusiastic boyfriend who was unfortunately not that great of a photographer, Hyunjin observed from a rooftop behind Jeongin. Sometimes you looked like you were flying. He could imagine wings protruding from your back, and if the sun hit you just right, there appeared to be a halo as well.
“I got one!” Jeongin exclaimed as he held up his device to you. “Look.”
Hyunjin couldn’t see for himself, but your mouth dropped into an ‘o’ once you took a first glance. A flustered smile made its way onto your face, and everything about you turned soft.
“This looks amazing,” you said. You sidled up to him and rested your cheek against his shoulder, turning your head towards him. “I love you.”
The words hung in the air for a few seconds as both Hyunjin and Jeongin tried to process them. This was the first time you had ever said them, and it came seemingly out of nowhere. Hyunjin recovered first.
“Say ‘I love you’ back, you moron,” Hyunjin whispered, like Jeongin would be able to hear him from this distance. “‘I love you too.’”
“I wanted to say it first,” Jeongin finally said. “Ugh, I had it all planned out too. We were supposed to get doughnuts after this, and I was going to buy you one of those heart-shaped ones.”
You kissed him on the cheek and intertwined your fingers with his. “We can still do that.”
At the doughnut shop, he said the words second, and you kissed him again, leaving a crystal of glaze on the corner of his mouth. Hyunjin licked his lips as if you had left it on him instead.
“Did you find out?” Jisung asks when Hyunjin leaves Jeongin to check up on you. You’re skating around the city, making sharp swerves and weaving in-between lampposts. Jisung is trailing behind you in the sky, but he slows when he sees Hyunjin approaching.
“No, but—”
“Then go back to him. Hyunjin,” Jisung sighs, “I know you care about her, but she’s not your human. Jeongin’s your responsibility.”
“I know but—”
“Go back. And I’m telling you this not as your friend but as your senior. You’re a guardian angel, and you need to take your responsibilities seriously. I’ll get the Archangel involved if I have to. Do you want to get Seungminned?”
The threat of the Archangel strangely doesn’t scare him anymore, however. In fact, the Archangel being involved may solve many of his current issues.
“I’ll find you again when I find out,” Hyunjin slowly says.
Jisung nods in approval before racing after you again. Hyunjin heads to Heaven, not to keep an eye over his human but to become human.
Ten months into Jeongin’s relationship with you, Hyunjin asked Minho, “Is it possible to give up your divinity?”
Minho gave Hyunjin a curious look. “Is being a guardian angel that taxing for you? You haven’t even experienced a full lifespan yet. I know, twenty year-olds are annoying, but it’s not nearly as bad as forty year-olds and their mid-life crisis.”
“I’m just curious. Or, as a last resort,” he added, hoping that Minho would stop being suspicious if he joked about it. “My human’s been making some dumb choices.”
A lie, but Minho fell for it.
“I told you he was going to be a troublemaker!” he cackled. He sympathetically patted Hyunjin’s back. “If I’m being honest, I thought about it a few times. I always get assigned to the troublemakers. Probably because the higher-ups hate me for not tolerating their BS. They’re always playing favorites. Anyway, the easiest way is to get expelled by the Archangel. It’s happened a few times before.”
“Can’t you just ask him?”
Minho smirked. “You don’t think other angels have tried that? He only expels the ones who don’t want to be. It’s supposed to be a punishment.”
“What’s the hard way then?”
“Same thing minus the Archangel getting involved: your wings getting cut off,” he matter-of-factly answered. “The halo will break once your wings are detached. It’s only been done once, by the way.”
Hyunjin absentmindedly rubbed the area where the bones of his wings met with his shoulder blades. All he needed were two clean cuts across his practically impenetrable back.
“How do you do that?”
“With the Archangel’s sword. Another angel has to cut it though; you can’t do it yourself.”
The Archangel would likely banish him to Hell for even asking about his weapon. If Hyunjin ever did manage to steal the sword away, Jisung would never agree to it. He couldn’t just ask any angel to help him.
“How do you know about all this?” Hyunjin asked.
Minho hesitated, something he rarely did. He quickly recovered, hiding his sudden apprehension with his usual devil-may-care nonchalance. “I can’t give away all of my secrets.”
“We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Friends. The word hung in the air like the sun, and Hyunjin knew that Minho would tell him because underneath all of his bluster was loneliness. Because no one liked Minho, or if they did, they still avoided him anyway.
“Yeah, we are,” Minho answered, smiling for a second before a strange expression crossed over his face, pride mixed with a touch of sadness. “Do you really think the Archangel would have expelled one of his favorite guardian angels that easily?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Seungmin. He asked me to cut his wings for him.”
“I need you to cut my wings,” are Hyunjin’s first words to Minho after not speaking to him for days.
To his credit, Minho is only speechless for a few seconds. The dove in his hand pecks at him for more headpats before he recovers. “Well, do you have the sword?”
“No, but I think I can get it. When I do though, would you do it? You’re the only one I trust.”
Minho sighs and tosses the bird out of Heaven, grimacing a bit when he hears it squawk. When he faces Hyunjin, he smiles the same smile he did when he talked about Seungmin. “It’s always me, huh? I’ll do you one better. I’ll steal the sword for you. The Archangel’s been pissing me off anyway.”
For once, Hyunjin’s thoughts are not on you but his friend. He imagined that Minho would be willing, but perhaps he’s too willing. “Are you trying to get expelled as well? We can go together.”
“No, I like being immortal. I hate all of the BS I get put through sometimes, but the Archangel can��t kick me out. He swore an oath to me a long time ago before he got promoted, and it’s pretty much unbreakable. Besides, even Heaven needs a scapegoat.”
That explains why virtually no angels interact with Minho, Hyunjin being the exception. He has never heard of the Archangel being oathsworn, though it seems likely that the Archangel wants to keep that a secret.
“How are you going to get it?” Hyunjin asks. “How did Seungmin even get it? The Archangel always has it with him.”
“Seungmin was one of his favorites,” Minho reminds him. “He had easy access to him, and the Archangel trusted him enough to let him borrow it for ‘a study.’ Don’t worry about me though. Just wait for me on Earth. Somewhere where no one goes. I’ll find you, slice off your wings, and the Archangel won’t even know what happened to you.”
“That’s not possible. He always keeps it on him.”
Minho shrugs, a gleam in his eyes. “I’ve done it before. Why do you think I’m the scapegoat?”
Seungmin. For Minho and now Hyunjin, being Seungminned didn’t mean being expelled for being frivolous anymore; it meant leaving of your own accord.
“What happened to him?” Hyunjin asked. “Why didn’t the Archangel grant his divinity back? Someone should have spotted him on Earth.”
Minho’s wry grin was back. “You think the Archangel wanted everyone to find out the golden boy of Heaven no longer wanted to be an angel? Plenty of angels already saw him roaming Earth. It was easier to let everyone think that Seungmin was banished. So when they saw him on Earth, he was just a fallen angel, nothing important.” He nudged Hyunjin’s arm, and the solemn atmosphere vanished. “A troublemaking human isn’t all that bad. Like I said, the twenties are annoying, but they’re manageable. Is he one of those partying types?”
“He goes out sometimes,” Hyunjin carefully replied. Jeongin liked hanging out with his friends and you — mostly you, now that Hyunjin thought about it — but he wasn’t getting blackout drunk every night. At least, Hyunjin hoped he wasn’t. He usually watched over you if you were ever in the vicinity. “Speaking of which, I should check up on him.”
Minho said his goodbyes, and Hyunjin flew back to Earth once he saw that you weren’t with Jeongin. You were studying at your desk, rolling a pen between your fingers, reading through a document on your laptop. The desk light casted a warm glow on your face. You frowned, and your lower lip swelled outwards.
He wished he were human.
Just as Minho said, Hyunjin waits for him to arrive in a secluded part of the university campus. The building rooftop is devoid of anyone, and the area surrounding it is empty as well. The evening turns into night, then night into the early morning when the sky begins lightening. Still, Minho has not come.
He distantly wonders how Jeongin is faring and his promise to Jisung. When he’s human, he’ll ask Jeongin directly, maybe in disguise of a survey: “Why did you break up with your last partner?” Even to him, it sounds stupid. However, that’s not the real reason why he’s giving up his divinity, so it hardly matters to him. Jisung is resourceful; he’ll find out eventually.
Finally, when the sun peeks over the horizon, Minho descends from Heaven, a familiar silver sword in his hand. He lands beside Hyunjin, a triumphant smile on his face. But his usual humor has been replaced with solemnity.
“You’re sure about this?” he asks as he rests the blade on the top of Hyunjin’s wings.
He has never felt so sure of anything in his life. “Yes.”
“It’s going to hurt.”
“Then make it quick.”
Searing pain shoots through his body as the sword pierces through the thin skin and into the bone. The process is not as nearly as seamless as Hyunjin hoped it would be, and Minho breathes heavily as he pushes the blade down. Bones snap, feathers drift to the floor, and blood trickles down his back. The pain only grows greater near the end, but Hyunjin grits his teeth and keeps quiet. Dawn breaks when his wings finally fall to the floor, no longer white but splattered with red. Soon they fade into dust, and the remnants scatter into the wind. His golden halo shatters into sunlight. The world dulls as the last of his powers disappear, but everything feels much better than when he was an angel.
“Thank you,” he whispers to Minho, who he cannot even look at anymore. His eyes would be burned.
“You’re fallen, not quite mortal and not quite divine. You won’t be affected by all of an angel’s power.”
When Hyunjin cautiously glances at him, Minho waves the bloody sword at him. “See?”
“Yeah.” He wanted humanity, but this is good enough for him. He just needs you to be able to see him, hear him, touch him.
“I need to go back before Heaven becomes Hell, but find Seungmin if you can. He can help you figure things out. Last I heard, he’s living somewhere in the mountains.”
“Thank you,” he repeats. “Minho, I can’t even put it into words about how much this means to me. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
Minho pats his shoulder before stripping off his clean shirt. “Clean yourself before you leave. No one wants to witness a walking crime scene this early in the morning.”
When he flies back to Heaven, the last thing Hyunjin sees are his wings, still pure white.
“Hey,” you said as you laced your fingers with Jeongin’s. He had just finished class, and you had waited for him outside the building. Hyunjin had sat on the other end of the bench, savoring the proximity. That was the closest he would ever get to you. “Are you busy tonight? The skate shop just announced — literally an hour ago, those jerks — that they were doing a midnight drop, and I kind of want a new deck.”
“Ugh, I’ve been meaning to buy new trucks, but I have to meet up with my group tonight. Send me pictures though.”
Disappointment only momentarily flooded through Hyunjin. If it was anything like the last two meetups, it would be at the library, and the library was a safe place. Jeongin would be fine there. Hyunjin would be free to shadow you as you went to the skate shop.
“I can get it for you,” you offered.
He shook his head. “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll just wait for a sale.”
“Don’t be surprised if I do get you new trucks,” you warned. You let go of his hand and held his arm. “I still owe you for last month’s dinner.”
Jeongin shook his head again, a smile making its way onto his face. “You don’t owe me anything but a kiss.”
“Flirt,” you laughed as you pressed your lips to his cheek. “Never change, Yang Jeongin.”
That night at the skate shop, Hyunjin hovered above you as you stood in line, chatting with others. There were no unscrupulous characters around, but he stayed with you, only going back to Jeongin when Jisung insisted. However, by then, Hyunjin had already seen you eyeing the shiny teal trucks through the window. Hyunjin knew nothing about skateboards even after all those months, but you seemed pleased by them.
“You’re only getting trucks for sure?” your brand new acquaintance asked. “This is, like, the biggest drop they’ve ever done.”
You shrugged. “I’m kind of on the fence about the decks I saw on the email. I don’t know. Maybe wheels too?”
Meanwhile, Jisung hissed, “Hyunjin, go before something happens. What if a fight breaks out?”
Hyunjin sincerely doubted that one would happen at the library. He lingered around, taking his time unfolding his wings and stretching them.
“Your boyfriend’s lucky,” your acquaintance sighed.
“Nah, I’m the lucky one.”
Daisies, that’s what he needs right now. Choosing the rooftop of a building was not a smart decision, but the access door is thankfully unlocked, and Hyunjin races down all of the emergency stairs. However, with no form of currency on him, Hyunjin heads to the quad, hoping that he can pull up some dandelions for you. You need to be supported, and bright yellow flowers are just the thing.
What he doesn’t expect though, is to find you doing pop shove its at your usual spot. It’s so early in the day; did you even go back to your apartment to sleep?
“Good morning,” he calls as he walks closer. He waves at you, and you can see him! You tentatively wave back and give him a halfhearted smile. “How are you today? You look beautiful.”
“Thanks, and I’m fine,” you politely reply as you take a step back away from him. “What about you?”
Hyunjin curses in his head and takes another step towards you. “I’m good. Really good, actually. I was wondering if you could teach me how to skateboard. I’m new here, and skateboarding seems like an efficient way to get around.”
You flinch at his words, and he desperately wants to take them back. How did Jeongin do it? Why do his statements come out so stiff? “You seem pretty good at it.”
“Are you not cold?” you blurt out. Hyunjin curses again as he realizes that he’s shirtless. His old one was stained, and Minho’s was as well as the result of his cleanup. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. “You know, I have to get going, but it was nice meeting you.”
“Hyunjin. My name’s Hyunjin.”
“Nice meeting you, Hyunjin.”
You grab your board and immediately head off to the direction of your apartment. Hyunjin is tempted to follow, but he stays where he is. A bad first impression isn’t the end of the world. The only thing holding him back is his lack of a shirt.
He wanders through the quad, scanning the grass for some flowers. Most of them are the white, fluffy dandelions, but he needs the bright yellow version. However, he takes the white ones anyway in case he can’t find any. The wind scatters the seeds, and he—
“Hyunjin, I told you not to come back.”
Jisung.
Hyunjin turns around, dropping his bouquet onto the ground. To his horror, not only is Jisung present but also the Archangel. His sword is strapped to his side like usual, not a blood splatter tainting it. Minho did an excellent job of cleaning up the crime scene.
“Jisung, Archangel,” Hyunjin nervously greets. The Archangel frightens him now. “How can I help you?”
“Jisung, why did you bring me here?” the Archangel asks. “I have other things to attend to.”
“He’s abandoned his human too many times, and I don’t think he’s fit to be a guardian angel anymore.”
The Archangel grasps the hilt of his sword and studies Hyunjin, up and down, back and forth. He circles him, and Hyunjin can almost feel his mortality-divinity shining through his body. Jisung hasn’t noticed yet, but there is no doubt the Archangel hasn’t.
“Normally,” the Archangel begins, “the punishment for not fulfilling your duties as a guardian angel is being expelled from Heaven. But you have already fallen.”
“What?” comes Jisung’s shocked voice.
“It was a mistake,” Hyunjin tries. Minho’s words ring in his ear: He only expels the ones who don’t want to be. “I thought I wanted humanity, but I’ve realized that being a guardian angel is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Please. Grant me my divinity back. I will never abandon my human again. I will swear an oath if I have to.”
The Archangel smiles with no teeth, and a chill runs down Hyunjin’s spine. “I’m in a forgiving mood today, so I will do just as you ask. Your divinity will be granted back, but you will no longer be a guardian angel. I’m stripping you of those powers and those duties. You will be replaced immediately. It was my mistake for tasking you with such a large responsibility when you weren’t ready yet.”
With just a snap of the Archangel’s fingers, Hyunjin’s senses sharpen, and the world comes hurtling at him. Nothing is dull anymore, but everything feels so dark and wrong. You will never be able to see him, hear him, or talk to him again. And he will never be able to either. Power surges inside of him, and new wings burst through his shoulder blades, fanning out once they reappear. A silver halo hangs over his head. There is no physical pain into becoming immortal again, yet he wishes there was something. Everything he and Minho did was erased with ease.
Hyunjin swallows the lump in his throat. “Thank you,” he chokes out.
“You’re very welcome. Come along now. Only guardian angels are allowed to be on Earth.”
Hyunjin follows the Archangel back to Heaven while Jisung goes after you. The Archangel loudly deliberates on who he should be replaced with, and Hyunjin knows that his request was not granted with kindness. The Archangel informs that he will be a messenger again. Hyunjin barely hears him as he takes one last look at Earth. Jeongin is there. Jisung is there. You are there.
Hyunjin avoids Minho’s eyes as he flies inside the realm behind the Archangel and hides among the rest of the regular angels until he is called to send a message. The higher-ups recognize him, make snide remarks about his demotion, and make pitiful faces at him. He barely registers them. There is a hollowness in him, and no matter how many memories he recalls, it isn’t enough to fill the void.
A few weeks later, Jisung approaches him, but even he stays a healthy distance away. “Hyunjin.” The disdain is clear.
“Jisung.”
“You knew about the reason all along, didn’t you? You were there when it happened.”
“When what happened?”
Realization dawns upon Jisung, and he shakes his head in disgust. “I should have known. You weren’t with him that night because you left him like you always did! You could have done something. Make him fall off his chair or something. Make the girl lose her balance. Instead, both of our humans suffered because you weren’t there.”
“What happened?”
“A girl from his group project randomly kissed him, and he thought he had been leading her on and cheating on his own girlfriend, so he broke up with her because he thought that would be the right thing to do instead of just telling her what actually happened. They’re back together now because he finally got the nerve to give her closure. It took nearly a month. They were miserable for a month. All because of you.”
It stings. “They’re okay now, right?”
“They’re fine, no thanks to you.” Just when Hyunjin thinks he’s going to leave, he takes a step forward, lips curled into sneer. “You know, angels and humans aren’t allowed to be with each other. It’s been forbidden for millenia.”
“I know,” he whispers. “But I loved her, and I had to try.”
“She would have never chosen you anyway.”
He never had a chance, did he?
~ ad.gray
Yes, you did! I remembered it and wondered if you were going to come back! Hope you enjoyed this! <3
#stray kids#skz#hwang hyunjin#hyunjin#stray kids angst#skz angst#hyunjin angst#stray kids imagines#stray kids fanfiction#stray kids scenarios#skz imagines#skz fanfic#skz scenarios#hyunjin imagines#hyunjin scenarios#hyunjin x reader#guardian angel au#anniversary special#20210816
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| Masterlist
Things to note:
Works are Male Reader, unless stated otherwise.
Works contains bottom/submissive reader, unless stated otherwise.
All works are posted and written by me, if you see any copy of my fics on other platforms, please inform me. - stay-midnight©
Stray Kids |
All Members°
• Reaction to making out in publicly and getting caught. (Suggestive, uses they/them pronouns)
• Smut Headcanons with skz (Very explicit, switch reader ig.)
Bang Chan°
• Fun through Harsh Times (Demigod AU, switch/verse m! reader, contains smut, ft. Seungmin.)
Lee Minho°
• Short Drabble about Thigh Riding (contains smut)
• Spark of Possessiveness (Post-Idol AU contains smut, ft. Jisung)
• Actions Deem Consequences (Explicit Smut, Subtop¡Lee know, Dom¡Bottom M.R)
Seo Changbin°
• Forward (Implied Smut, Changbin and Reader are Switches)
• Always Here (Contains smut but not too explicit)
• Maple Syrup (Contains smut and tooth-rotting fluff)
Hwang Hyunjin°
• Psycho (Serial Killer Hyunjin, contains smut)
• Royals (I, II) (Royalty AU, Prince Hyunjin, smut on the second part)
• Jealousy, Jealousy (Explicit Smut, Subtop Hyunjin and Dombottom reader)
Han Jisung°
• Who’s Dom? (Idol Jisung, contains smut)
• Spark of Possessiveness (Post-Idol AU, contains smut, ft. Minho)
• Bloody Birthday (Vampire AU, contains very explicit smut, ft. Seungmin & Felix)
Lee Felix°
• Foolish (Domestic AU/Non-Idol AU, contains smut)
• Ears N’ Tails (Non-Idol AU, Pet Play, contains smut)
• Bloody Birthday (Vampire AU, contains very explicit smut, ft. Seungmin & Jisung)
• Expectations Vs. Reality (College AU, contains explicit smut)
Kim Seungmin°
• Wrong Wishes were made~ or was it Wrong? (Elf Seungmin, contains smut)
• Fun through Harsh Times (Demigod AU, switch/verse m!reader contains smut, ft. Chan)
• Bloody Birthday (Vampire AU, contains very explicit smut, ft. Jisung & Felix)
• City Lights (CEO Seungmin, contains explicit smut)
• Crimes in the Sheets (Boyfriend Seungmin, contains explicit smut)
Yang Jeongin°
• Unlucky Angel (Horny Guardian Angel Jeongin, contains smut)
• His Present (Non-Idol AU, contains smut)
• Memorabilia (Non-Idol AU, contains explicit smut)
•°EVENT LISTS/SPECIALS/MISC°•
• Blog Anniversary MasterList (13 special drabbles) - only contains skz fics.
• Iridescence Index (Lee Know x Male Reader series)
TXT |
°Choi Soobin
• It’s not what you think it is (Office AU, Fluff and Angst, Gender neutral reader)
°Choi Yeonjun
• Nothing to see here... Come back later~
°Choi Beomgyu
• Nothing to see here... Come back later~
°Kang Taehyun
• Nothing to see here... Come back later~
°Huening Kai
• Nothing to see here... Come back later~
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passstt can you do your best to explain the ‘universe’ in depth or at least so it’s understandable bc my ass is clueless 🙃
so, this is my dumb brain linking stuff so please please take this all as what it is — my stupid brain's stupid thinking. this is also the first time i've linked it all out in order. so bear with me. this is loooong. in this universe, we have like three parts: mixtape: on track — b me — mixtape: oh. and it deals with tangled romance and the consequences it has on friendships.
MIXTAPE: ON TRACK
so in mixtape: on track, the universe sets off with the boys in high school, final year, i think. minho and hyunjin are the leads in our whole universe. jeongin is like hyunjin's best friend in this au. they are film and art majors (?) and have this project i presume to make a short film (?). chan deals with the sound, jisung with the lights, changbin with the props, hyunjin with the videography, felix is directing and seungmin is the writer. minho is the main lead in this film and jeongin is a side character in this film.
insert female lead. female lead is close friends with both hyunjin and minho. it's pretty evident that minho and hyunjin likes her and hyunjin constantly does feel bad over minho and her getting closer, because well, he likes her. this feeling turns into a distaste soon enough (as seen in how hyunjin feels pathetic after the girl takes both the drinks from them + how minho shoots the goal while playing soccer and like hyunjin and minho have this weird cold gaze exchange. in both these situations, jeongin is around to help hyunjin. i'll get to this soon.) so like our boy minho and her clearly have sparks and hyunjin dislikes it. high school jealousy, if anything.
that's when hyunjin decides to take action and while shooting, when minho has to grab the female lead's hand, he butts in and holds her hand. all because he likes her and he's done being the second lead in this story. the mv ends here.
now, about jeongin, he did mention in one of his vlive that he was like a guardian angel and i do think he's like a friend that really really cares for hyunjin and doesn't ever want him to get hurt. so the whole mv wraps up in this plot of how hyunjin takes action right when minho and the female lead are slowly getting things going for them.
UNVEIL: B ME
and then we get the unveil track of b me, (how i wish they dropped the mv for this rather!). i'll make a list of stuff that happens in b me first and then tell you how my brain linked it up.
felix with the video camera + tape
jeongin distressed with bruised face
the members reminiscing what they once had before chaos struck.
a script that has even a fool knows (alternative title to on track) written (this was my cue to link them both?)
seungmin, chan and technically the whole cast looking distressed
jisung burning the film competition form (?)
changbin in the court sad and playing alone
biker!minho + biker!hyunjin (THIS ISN'T A POINT BUT THEY ARE SO HOT IN THIS AU SHUT UP RUE!!!)
minho meets with an accident + jisung rushes to his side
angry giving up skz moments
ot8 basketball happy memories
i'm going to sit here and draft this out so again, bear with me, soooo,
i presume the hyunjin grabbing the girl's hand, ofc, did not sit right with minho because technically, minho and her were a thing almost. and that ruined the friendship. this also caused the whole film shooting to turn chaotic, i presume because hyunjin's gaze in the on track mv seemed determined so i think he wasn't ready to back off either. the filming team clearly breaks apart because of this. the tension between minho and hyunjin is still very high. the team is frustrated. jisung burns the film competition form because what's the use of joining when there's no team? changbin is sad and angry and has emotions he is frustrated over (just like the other members!!) because they aren't together as a friend circle distinctly because of the feud between hyunjin and minho. they used to play basketball together (the whole of the ending part!) but not anymore.
now, we see how minho meets with an accident. i'm a bit confused with this part (this is why we need the mv for b me, jyp!!!!) but i'll state out everything i think.
a) jisung is to minho as to what jeongin is to hyunjin.
b) the accident could be solely accidental? maybe minho ran off in a fit after an argument with jeongin and hence why jeongin has the bruises and maybe in that heat, minho could have had the accident.
c) i presume jisung rushes to help him because human guardian angel of sorts of a friendship.
anyhow, i think the small clip of video tape that felix pulls out in the beginning is what they watch together. i do not think this has any correlation to the intense story besides adding the fact that they were reaaaaaaally close because they all look super happy in that shot, omg!!
MIXTAPE: OH
and now here we are, mixtape: oh. (watching and pausing the mv to go as detailed as i can with my storytelling.) this, since it was a mv, we get a story as solid as the first one (thank you, jyp. i hate you generally but thank you for this.)
so we have all the members in the drama club room. the same room we saw in the first mv i think. everyone's gathered back there, picking up their stuff because they have graduated, except for changbin and hyunjin who haven't come. jeongin searches and hopes expectantly for hyunjin to come. the blue certificate kinda thingy (I have no idea what it is. i don't read korean either and my google translate couldn't pick that up :((() is something of hyunjin's and i think minho did want hyunjin to come to this sort of reunion because he gets angry and picks up the blue thingy. he's either mad at that, or he is still mad at what happened in the past. i'm not sure. either ways, jisung is worried too as to what minho is going to do and over what he is feeling. oh, also, minho is in a cast, which means it does go exactly in the order i mentioned !!!
we then see hyunjin (shit, i cried again!) and he's painting an eye (is this a relation with some other skz song i will never know) and i think he took up art after dropping from film club so like he could distance himself from the rest of them, because well, he was 1/2 of the reason why this all happened.
we have the members reminiscing again, thinking about the good times and bad ones too. jeongin is in a tunnel (the boy is always in a tunnel. is this again a link to other mvs i do not know) and changbin goes to the drama club room all alone after everyone leaves and like i think he removed the sign of the drama club room and in my head, it's a symbolism for how everything has finally ended. all the memories they have had had finally ended with their graduation, of sorts, in that moment for him. jeongin, who is in the tunnel calls for hyunjin, like a last thread of hope he clings on to, expecting for him to finally meet them and come back to them. hyunjin doesn't pick up the call.
minho is still packing things up and as he looks through stuff he sees a calender with their anniversary date marked and he remembers of the team together once again. everyone really badly misses the old days. we see jeongin who goes to buy that drink again that he stole from hyunjin in the on track mv and he remembers felix in that moment.
felix who is in the library is with a cake. so i presume it is his birthday because he lights the candle on the cake up eventually. i think he did want to celebrate it with the team as a whole but because of the fall he can't. he opens a book and see the quote, "dreams come true to those who really want them," (we see this on the jisung bus stand shot too btw!!) and he goes on to make a wish on his cake and ie think he wished for them all to be together once again, living the happy memories again. hence the beautiful shots in the end I AM IN LOVE.
so i had this sorta ex lmao who told me this beautiful metaphor once when we broke up about how i left him on the bus of our memories and it was only i who got down and that our timings didn't match. and i think my brain instantly correlated those two, oops. so like the bus is a train of thoughts, a passageway for them to remember the happy memories. changbin remembers the happy memories he had as he looks through hsi phone with the basketball in his hand. jisung also enters the bus and remembers the moments they shared. oh, also changbin leaves when jisung enters. the timings don't match.
TIMESKIP. because this is based off kdramas for sure and what are kdramas without timeskips lmao.
minho's arm is healed. (he's also wearing such a pretty fit i want to steal!) minho goes and tried to meet hyunjin at his art studio because he wants to give it a try, this whole friendship again, i think, but hyunjin isn't there. so he leaves him a note and the certificate (??) blue thingy (?? what is it someone help me!) hyunjin comes back to see them both. this is what happens in the mv, in correlation with the other mvs.
they could clearly make another part of them actually getting together. but personally, i think they do and like felix's wish comes true because the directing is such that they end it with felix opening his eyes. (i also don't want to think of a sad alternative where felix opens his eyes only to remember reality is still the same and the feud still exists. i refuse. in my head, the next part has them coming together just like that in the snow!)
but yes, if you've reached till here, thank you for reading my incoherent mess of thoughts. ily and i hope you have a good day! 💕
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Fic Recs
Scavenger Hunt by Heavens_Wheel (General Audiences)
a cafe/coffee shop au where Seungmin, working at his adopted parent’s cafe, meets Jeongin, who is living abroad. Fast forward to a few months later, his parents leave him a peculiar birthday gift, sending him on a scavenger hunt from point A to point B, with some stops in between. What he doesn’t know, is that something can end exactly where it began.
Additional tags: Non-idol au, fluff, mild angst, takes place in Oakville, Ontario, Canada
9/10
You got me feline some type of way by bluecalicocat (General Audiences)
a supernatural au in which Jisung turns into a cat and his first instincts are to go to Minho.
Additional tags: Non-idol au, fluff, humour, minsung
8/10
Cookies & Cats by rosemarypasta (General Audiences)
A cafe au where Jisung works at a cat cafe, meets Minho, and some minor shenanigans (and confessions) ensue.
Additional tags: Non-idol au, fluff
8/10
Of Heaven and Hell by dyoityourself (Teen and Up Audiences)
an Angel and Demons au in which Minho has a demon, Jisung, assigned as his guardian rather than an angel. Things happen, and they go to hell (quite literally) to try and fix things.
Additional tags: Non-idol au, Angst, Violence, Secrets, Major Character death but don’t worry he comes back, kinda plot twist? Maybe?
Personal opinion: HASDKHAKDHAHk istg I love this fic so much it’s so so so so so so good, if you’re gonna read any fics from this list THIS IS THE ONE YOU MUST CHECK OUT. I PROMISE YOU, IT IS SO SO SO GOOD.
10000000000/10
Of Angels and Demons by dyoityourself (Teen and Up Audiences)
sequel to Of Heaven and Hell. Will not say anything more.
Additional tags: genderswap, mentions of BTS, Angst, Cults, Time Travel, Violence, also the ending might make scream in a what the fuck omg wait what but in a good way
TW: Mentions of Sexual Assault
10000000000/10
Broken Compass by luway (Teen and Up Audiences)
a pirate au where Jisung is the son of merchant and Minho is a baker. Jisung is lost at sea and Minho holds onto the last reminder of him until a ghost from his past returns with a new family and a chance at a new start.
Additional tags: Kinda angst, some non graphic violence thrown in there too.
Dollhouse by SaltandJinJin (Not Rated, but in personal opinion, I’d say Teen and Up Audiences)
idols from all different groups are invited to a mansion, where they find themselves trapped. They’re quickly thrown into a real life game of Murder Mystery, and they won’t be allowed out until they killed the killer. Will they make it out alive? Who will be blamed? And most importantly, who’s the murderer?
Additional tags: Horror, Blood, Murder, Angst, Definitely not for the light hearted, Major plot twist
Personal opinion: I liked this one, but it’s definitely not for someone who can’t stomach these kinds of things. For people who like true crime and murder mystery, maybe?
9.5/10
#skz#stray kids#skz fanfic#skz fanfiction#stray kids fanfic#stray kids fanfiction#stray kids ao3#nct#non idol au#pirate au#fluff#angst#fic recs#minsung#changlix#inminjin#cafe au#archive of our own#fanfiction recommendation#bts
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yang jeongin fic recs
navigation
last updated 11-03-21
a pair of cupids - toradora!au
a bunch of (oxy)morons - he falls for the cynical cheerleader
fractures - he's a demon, but he's more like a guardian angel
you're the one i want - your date ends with a surprise
burning sunflower - you start to catch feelings for jeongin
imaginary friend - all you want is for him to be real
jackfruit stars & mango moons - u were his until u weren't
deshita - he helps you confess to your long time crush
according to flora - growing up with jeongin
the garden song - you and jeongin get a happy ending
#yang jeongin#skz fic recs#stray kids fic recs#skz#skz fluff#skz au#stray kids fluff#i.n#skz drabble
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Halloweentown | Stray Kids
Genre: Supernatural!AU; Friends!AU; Fluff with some Angst
Pairing: Stray Kids x Reader; Witch!Reader, Werewolf!Chan, Angel!Minho, Vampire!Changbin, Demon!Hyunjin, Shapeshifter!Jisung, Fairy!Felix, Elf!Seungmin, Ghost!Jeongin
Summary: You lived in a town filled with all sorts of magical creatures, everyone living in peace. Within your hundreds of years on Earth, you’d never imagined you’d come to love such an odd group of misfits. When an evil warlock kidnaps them, however, you’re about to break your peaceful nature to get them back.
Warning: None
Word Count: 852
Author’s Note: Thanks for the request!! Sorry it’s so late!! I hope you like it!! ^_^
Imagine a town where every supernatural being could live in peace and harmony. A town that is hidden from the human realm, a town that everyone is friends with everyone. You’ve had many friends in your lifetime, being hundreds of years old entails such a thing, but in this lifetime, the friendships you’ve made are ones that make your old heart swell.
Your group was an interesting one, that’s for sure. Of course, there’s peace in the town, but some breeds don’t openly hang out with others. You have an Angel and a Demon, a Werewolf and a Vampire. Hell, you even had a Ghost in your group of misfits. Needless to say, whenever you were out, you’d get some looks.
Today, however, as you stood outside the gates of one of the oldest castles in the town, the peace and harmony everyone loved was shattered. An evil warlock had settled in your town after years of torment, and decided to stir up some drama. It was certainly his mistake, as he’s taken some of the most important creatures in your lifetime.
You wiggled your fingers at the gate lock, watching it unlock itself and open. As you walked, your robe flew behind you, your wand in your boot and your broom compact size in your pocket. You went up to the front door, opening it quietly and sneaking through. Your stealth was a bit rusty, but you had lived through Salem, you knew exactly how to escape things that wanted to destroy you.
You went to the main room, it looked like a sort of ballroom. Over a pit of lava were a total of eight cages, each one containing one of your beloved friends. You glared hard, seeing Jeongin, Seungmin, and Felix frown in worry, while Chan, Changbin, Minho, and Jisung gave a hard glare. Hyunjin was the only one who had a smirk on his face, arms crossed and leaning back.
“You’re not all that tough,” Hyunjin said with a smirk, causing the warlock to give a hard glare. “I bet you don’t even know how to use this castle.” Hyunjin and Minho were almost as old as you, almost, as they were a demon and an angel. Immortal.
“Watch your tongue, demon,” The warlock growled out, Hyunjin sticking his tongue out slightly, making you smile.
You walked out, the boys seeing you. They seemed to relax more, distracting the warlock so you could summon some guardians. They were living, breathing creatures, but could only come alive when summoned by a witch. Many appeared, each one growling and staying low as they circled the warlock, the man turning and glaring hard.
“You,” He growled out, wiping his wand out and pointing it, making you dodge the missile that shot out.
As you fought, the guardians ended up keeping him busy as you shot a spell at the cages, releasing each of your friends. You yelped as heat ran into your side, making you grit your teeth and glare hard. You listened to the boys call out your name as the warlock walked forward, wand pointed and a smirk on his face.
“Time for you to die, Y/n,” He said. Just before he could say a spell, officers burst through the door, wands pointed at the warlock as he froze.
“That’s quite enough, warlock,” The chief stated, the wand on his temple as he stared. “You have brought hatred into this town, and this world. That will stop today!” You sighed in relief, Changbin running over and holding you up. Thank God for that….
Back at your own castle, you all sat in the living room. After Seungmin had taken care of your wound, as he is quite the healer, you began to heal each of the boys wounds, as well as creating a potion to calm their nerves.
“Y/n?” Felix said, making you look at him. His yellow wings were dimmed slightly, showing his mood. “Why’re you always there for us?” You blinked in surprise before turning back to Minho, helping to patch up his feathered wing.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” You replied.
“Well, we’ve heard stories about your past, and how you’ve always been alone,” Jisung replied, sitting on the arm of the couch, watching you. You shrugged, continuing to heal Minho’s wing.
“Well, I just kind of got tired of it,” You mumbled, finishing up and looking between them all. “Plus, of course I’d save you, you’re a part of my family. My coven.”
“Woah, did we just get the most alone witch in the town to get into a coven?” Hyunjin cooed with a smirk, making you roll your eyes.
“Shut up or I’ll disown you,” You said with a smirk. “Listen, I’m really glad you’re all safe.”
“Thanks to you,” Chan said, leaning down and kissing the top of your head.
“Thank you, Grandma,” Minho jokes, making you glare as he and a couple others snickered.
“That’s it, you’re getting a hex,” You mumbled, watching them all quickly scatter as you smirked to yourself. Yeah, you were totally going to hex them all.
#stray kids#stray kids reactions#stray kids imagines#stray kids supernatural au#woojin#chan#bang chan#bang chris#lee know#minho#changbin#hyunjin#han#jisung#felix#lee felix#seungmin#in#jeongin#requested
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