#renjun extremely stunning
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❧ word count: 17.4k
❧ warnings: cursing
❧ genre: fluff, some mild angst, model jeno, journalist reader, reader is lowkey a bit of a jerk for some of it but for understandable reasons
❧ extra info: this is a reworked version of an old fic of mine that was about a former member. since i still really love the fic, i’ve made some (heavy) edits to re-release it about jeno instead. you can consider this the spiritual successor/an alternate universe to my sleepless cinderella series
You’d finally gone insane, you’d decided. Absolutely bonkers, completely crazy. After all, how else would you explain the fact that you were now kissing Jeno?
You felt absolutely pathetic. You were a journalist at a rather popular magazine, and your editor had finally entrusted you with a centerfold spot. So far, your word document for your article had less than a handful of words: your name. Writer’s block, and with only two months until copies were supposed to hit the shelves.
And so here you were, sitting on the small couch in your boss’ office, trying not to sound like you were whining to her. But you needed some sort of guidance. Ms. Zhang was sat on the other end of the couch from you, legs crossed, and round frames perched on the end of her nose as she thoughtfully listened to your rant.
Her voice was casual as she simply replied with, “Anything new in your life, Y/N?”
Which was a complete non-sequitur from your desperate plea for a subject. She really just wanted to make small talk while you were having an existential crisis?
Stunned, you blinked for a moment before answering, “Uh, not much. My roommate made me go out to this party a while ago.”
“That’s nice. Did you have fun?”
You were still completely unsure of why she wasn’t addressing your issue, but went along with it, nonetheless, “I guess.”
“Meet anyone?”
“Kind of. Seven someones, technically.”
“Oh?”
Realizing how that sounded, you grimaced to yourself before giving your boss an explanation of the actual situation. Your roommate NingNing had dragged you to the grand opening of a new nightclub, which she got an invite to thanks to her huge social media following. She was possibly the only actually down-to-Earth influencer you’d ever met—and you’d met plenty, thanks to her. The two of you had been friends since you were kids, before you entered into completely different lives as adults. You had a 9 to 5 while she was being paid insane amounts of money by luxury brands just to post a single photo of herself with their product.
The nightclub of course had a VIP section at the back, which NingNing was easily given access to, as well as you, her plus-one. It was there that you were introduced to Mark Lee, an up and coming young actor with a practically cult following online; Huang Renjun, an extremely popular video game streamer and YouTuber; Lee Jeno, an actual supermodel whose visage was across some of the biggest billboards in the city; Haechan, a pop star that you didn’t dare address by anything other than his stage name; Na Jaemin, another streamer and YouTuber who had recently been picked up for a modeling contract; Zhong Chenle, heir to the Zhong family fortune, whose family was involved in anything and everything to do with the entertainment industry and owned the nightclub; and Park Jisung, an influencer more in the same vein as NingNing, with millions of Instagram followers. Apparently, you had made a good enough impression that Chenle gave you your own pass to the VIP lounge—NingNing of course had her own, too.
At the end of your story, Ms. Zhang had a worryingly knowing smile across her lips, “You met seven celebrities in one night?”
“Do influencers and streamers really count as celebrities?”
“You met seven very popular men—three or four of whom are certifiable celebrities—in one night, have access to a private lounge they all frequent, and you still don’t have a subject for your article?”
Your jaw may have dropped slightly as you realized this. Immediately, your face turned hot as you refused the idea, “I don’t want to exploit them and make them uncomfortable somewhere that’s supposed to be free from that kind of stuff.”
She frowned as she shook her head, “I’m disappointed in you, Y/N. I thought you understood that journalism isn’t inherently exploitative.”
“I’m sorry, I know it’s not—”
“Are you going to publish horrible rumors and tabloid things with private information they don’t want to be out there? Is that what we do here?”
“No, but they’re all going to think that’s what I’ll do.”
“Show them those assumptions are wrong. It’s all in the way you carry yourself. If you are honest and humble and make them feel comfortable, they should have no reason to doubt what kind of journalist you are.”
At this point, you felt like melting into the pinstriped couch cushions in shame. You shouldn’t have doubted your boss’ vision for her magazine or demeaned your own career. And now you’d made Ms. Zhang disappointed in you. You would’ve preferred her to have yelled at you.
All that was left was to make her proud.
Three days later and you still hadn’t returned to the lounge.
Honestly, you were just being a chicken. And a procrastinator. A procrastinating chicken.
Slumped into your armchair in your living room, you blankly zoned off into the distance as you listened to your playlist through an earbud. NingNing was perched on your kitchen table, feet swinging off the side as she edited some photos on her phone.
As she tapped away, you found your gaze fixating on the visage on the cover of a magazine that had been resting on your coffee table. Squinting your eyes curiously and tilting your head to the side, you asked, “He kind of looks like a dog, right?”
“Who?” Your roommate raised a concerned eyebrow as she peered over her phone screen at you.
“Lee Jeno.” You held up the magazine. “He kind of looks like a dog. Right?”
Your friend squinted at the cover then gave you that same look, “No, he doesn’t. Y/N, I think the sleep deprivation has finally gotten to you. You’re delirious.”
“No, I swear, he looks like a dog,” you insisted, pulling your earbud out to be able to better argue your point. “A very specific kind of dog, God, it’s on the tip of my tongue.”
“He doesn’t.”
You crossed your arms. “I bet the others would agree with me.”
“You want to go ask them?” She challenged. “Jisung texted me saying they were all going to be there again tonight.”
“If that’s what’ll convince you.”
“I have been begging you to go back for weeks, and now you’ve agreed to go back to ask them if they agree that Jeno looks like a dog?” NingNing scoffed incredulously.
“Yeah.”
“Alright, fine, you weirdo. Be ready to leave at midnight.”
When you arrived at the club, you immediately felt out of place again. You clung onto NingNing’s arm tightly as she confidently led the way through the crowd to the VIP lounge. She flashed a smile and her VIP pass to the bouncer outside the room, who nodded and stepped aside. As soon as the two of you entered the small room that consisted of one large rounded booth, you immediately regretted your decision. When NingNing said that everyone would be there, your brain hadn’t pieced together that ‘everyone’ included Lee Jeno, who perked up with interest as the two of you walked in.
Jeno eyed you curiously, an eyebrow raised, “So you came back.”
“Y/N has something really important to ask you guys,” NingNing announced, gesturing to you pointedly.
You felt like a deer in the headlights as all of them turned to look at you. Swallowing thickly, you avoided looking at Jeno as you tried to think of anything else to say.
“Sit down, let’s get you a drink first,” Jaemin kindly saved you, gesturing to the open space at the end of the booth seat.
NingNing sat down next to Mark, who had previously been at the end, and you scooted in after her. The circular table unfortunately made it so that you were looking directly at Jeno, who you couldn’t help but sneak glances at as your brain still stubbornly tried to remember what breed of dog he reminded you of. Another round was brought out for everyone, and you gratefully started sipping on yours.
It was when he smiled up at the waiter as he was handed his drink that it finally hit you. You had to bite down on your lip not to cry out in victory.
Chenle looked at you over his sunglasses—yes he was wearing sunglasses indoors at night, as he had been last time. He asked, “So what is this really important thing you have to ask us?”
You looked at NingNing desperately, but she just gave you a deliberate nod.
“Come on, Y/N, it’ll be fine.”
With a gulp, you gathered your courage to just fucking say it and get it over with. You still wanted to be right. “Okay, think about it really hard before you answer.”
They all nodded in assent, anticipating your question.
Taking a deep breath, you finally asked, “Doesn’t Jeno kind of look like a Samoyed?”
A couple of them seemed concerned for your mental state. The rest pondered your question whole-heartedly, brows furrowed as they studied the model. Jeno had a look of pure bewilderment on his face.
Finally, Haechan gasped, “Oh my God you’re right.”
“Thank you!” You sighed victoriously, looking over at NingNing smugly.
Jisung fervently searched something on his phone, eyes widening in shock, “Now that you’ve said that I can’t unsee it.”
“What? Let me see.” Chenle yanked the phone out of Jisung’s hand, holding a picture of a fluffy white Samoyed up to Jeno’s face.
The model tilted his head to the side in confusion, perfectly mimicking the picture on-screen. Chenle burst into loud, cackling laughter.
“Shit, he-he does!” Renjun declared between his own laughs.
Murmurs of agreement erupted around the table, and you were now fully vindicated. “Thank you! Thank you! NingNing didn’t agree with me so I had to come and—”
“No, I did,” she snickered. “It was just the only way to get you to come back. You’re a whole different person when you think you’re right.”
You tried to glare at her, but you were much too ecstatic at being proven right to really be all that mad.
Jeno looked about to open his mouth as Chenle giggled incessantly and started swiping through more search results of Samoyed pictures. A horrible sense of dread covered you like scalding candle wax. It was hot against your skin, thick, and you felt like you couldn’t move or breathe. You prayed to every deity you could think of that Jeno had a really good sense of humor and wouldn’t take offense to someone he had met twice saying he looked like a dog.
When Jeno’s gaze finally focused on you, you swore you had never wished to turn invisible more in your life than in that moment. Or make time stop. Or wake up and realize it was a dream. Anything to get you out of this situation. But you were absolutely petrified, all excitement from before completely eradicated from your being.
Then suddenly all tension was gone from the air as his eyes crinkled into crescents and his mouth parted wide to let out hearty guffaws.
You looked around in alarm, waiting for the hidden camera to be revealed or something. This couldn’t be real.
He managed to contain his laughter enough to choke out between chuckles, “That’s— that's really, really funny.”
Your wide eyes were focused incredulously on him as he caught his breath. Still with a grin on his face, he continued, “Oh my god, seriously that was fucking funny. I’m a cute Samoyed, right, Y/N?”
Utterly speechless. That’s what you were. And also staring at him, completely dumbfounded.
“I think you broke her, Jeno,” Renjun snickered, reaching a fist out as if he were about to knock on your forehead like a front door.
Instinctually, you smacked his hand away from your head, a scowl overtaking your features, “I’m fine, Renjun.”
“Then why can’t you look him in the eye?”
You pointed to yourself, “Normal person—” then to Jeno, “supermodel. I’m still not used to that.”
But Renjun was right, you couldn’t look Jeno in the eye, and your whole body was practically on fire. Honestly, how were you supposed to react to this situation? With grace and comfort? No way.
“What? Seriously?” Jeno scoffed, standing up from the booth to pointedly sit on your side of it. Directly next to you.
“I’m not that— Y/N, really? You’re actually scooting away from me?”
You hadn’t even realized that you’d shifted the opposite direction from him, pressed into NingNing’s side. Meanwhile, the others were all finding this spectacle absolutely hilarious, sharing annoying snickers and giggles.
Your face was burning, and despite your satisfaction at being vindicated, you were now regretting coming to the club at all.
“Can you guys stop? You don’t have to be so annoying,” Jeno scolded his friends, much to both yours and their surprise.
Haechan had a look of mild offense and disbelief across his face, “Being annoying comes as natural to us as being ridiculously attractive comes to you.”
“Speak for yourself!” Jaemin slapped Haechan’s arm as Chenle was practically howling with laughter.
While they were distracted among themselves, Jeno’s attention was focused back on you. If you could look him in the eye, you’d be able to appreciate the genuine concern held within them. But you couldn’t, so all you could do was hear the genuine concern in his voice as he said quietly, “Sorry about them.”
“You don’t need to apologize for them,” you reassured him, messing with your fingernails.
“Anyway, I can’t stand having you be terrified of me.”
“I’ll get over it,” you cleared the audible squeak out of your throat, “eventually.”
“Eventually...” Jeno didn’t seem satisfied with that qualifier you added at the end. “Are you busy today?”
“Uhm— I don’t know. Why?”
“We should hang out.”
“What?”
“The more you’re around me, the less scary I’m going to be to you. Right?”
“I guess.”
“Then we should start right now.”
Your throat nearly closed up at this suggestion. Especially because you realized that the room was dead silent. The others had ceased their squabbling and side conversations and were awaiting your response to this too.
So you did the thing that came most naturally to you: procrastinated the issue.
“Oh, well, it’s already after midnight—”
“Then tomorrow.”
“I’m going to be super busy for a while, I just got a really big assignment at work—”
“What do you do for work?”
“I’m a journalist. Just got centerfold and it’s going to make or break my whole career so it’s going to take up all of my time for the foreseeable future, so...”
Jeno was unfazed, “What’s the topic?”
“I-uh it’s...” you couldn’t even bullshit an answer at this point, your stupid tongue tripping over itself. “I don’t have one yet.”
NingNing just had to offer up her opinion right then, “Do it on Jeno!”
If you were a lesser person, you'd have strangled NingNing in that moment, because the model’s features lit up. He clearly liked this idea.
“Yeah! I would love to. If it’ll fit your guidelines or whatever, of course.”
You sighed, “It does...”
The socially anxious part of you absolutely hated this idea. But, the journalist part of you knew it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Gritting your teeth, you managed to look Lee Jeno dead in the eye and say, “I would love to interview you, Jeno. Thank you.”
“Uhm, Jeno?” Jisung speaking up stopped the wide grin that was spreading across his friend’s face. “Aren’t you like, banned from interviews or something?”
“Technically,” Jeno answered dismissively, not breaking eye contact with you.
“Technically?” You echoed in confusion. Were you just being messed with?
“Something… happened with the last in-depth interview I did a while ago,” he admitted sheepishly. “But! I’ll talk to my manager and get it cleared, I promise, Y/N!”
[jeno: manager han gave the okay for the interview! when can we get started?]
Your stomach contorted itself at the message that just popped up on your phone screen. Last night you’d left the lounge with a growing sense of dread and anxiety. And Jeno’s phone number.
[jeno: i have a fitting this afternoon but i'll be done in time to get dinner]
[jeno: if that works for you, of course]
[jeno: we can always start it another day, whatever is good for you!]
[jeno: do you want me to send you my schedule for the next few weeks to make it easier for us to get together?]
Your phone’s continuous buzzing with enthusiastic and sincerely kind messages from him caught the attention of NingNing, whose feet were currently resting on your lap as you shared your couch together.
“When did you get so popular?” She questioned teasingly, peering at you over her own phone screen.
“It's just one person,” you informed her.
“Who texts you that much in a row other than me?”
“Lee Jeno, apparently.”
“Y/N, you seem very unenthusiastic about this,” she declared with a thoughtful frown, completely abandoning her phone. “Isn’t this a really big break for you?”
“I’m still a little shocked,” you admitted. “And scared.”
She shoved you with her foot. “Well at least text him back.”
“Right.”
Not a great idea to leave him on read.
[you: a copy of your schedule would be great]
[you: and yes, i can do dinner tonight]
It was less than a minute later that he replied.
[jeno: here’s my schedule]
[jeno: attached image]
[jeno: and could you give me your address so i can drive you to dinner tonight? the place i have in mind is kind of hard to find if you haven’t been before]
A lot was happening right now. Too much for you to process. Good thing there was another brain in this room to help you process it.
“Hey, NingNIng?” You got her attention before thrusting your phone screen towards her so she could read the texts.
“Uh, three options here.” She pointed to a new finger for each one as she listed them off: “He’s ridiculously excited about this interview; he likes you; or he’s going to kill you.”
“So far the last one seems most likely.”
With a shake of your head, you sent him your address.
Your fingers anxiously tapped along your bouncing knee as you waited on your couch for the text from Jeno that he was here. He told you that the restaurant was just casual, but you weren’t sure that a model’s idea of casual wear was the same as yours.
Jeez, what were you doing? Getting dinner with and interviewing one of the most well-known models in the country? You were so out of your depth here.
A buzz came from your other hand that was tightly gripping your phone. An incoming call from Jeno. Maybe he was calling to cancel, and you could just keep rescheduling until you both gave up on the whole idea and you never showed your face in that VIP lounge again.
Answering it, your voice squeaked as you attempted to give him a casual, “Hello.”
“Hey, Y/N!” The bright voice of Lee Jeno came through your speakers. “I’m just parking now, I’ll be up in a couple minutes.”
“You don’t have to come up!” You told him a little too forcefully and quickly. Having Lee Jeno in your apartment would just be too much.
“I don’t mind—”
You leapt up from your couch and rushed towards your door, “Too late, I’m already on my way down.”
With a sharp hit of your thumb, you hung up. Pressing the down button on the elevator impatiently, you prayed that Jeno would just give up and wait in his car.
He didn’t.
The elevator doors opened to the lobby, with Jeno right outside them. In fact, you nearly slammed right into his chest, but thankfully he took a step back before you could actually collide.
His ‘woah!’ was muffled slightly by the dark face mask over his mouth, accompanying dark baseball somewhat successfully obscuring his identity. As long as you didn’t look too closely, he could be any other guy.
“I told you I’d just come down on my own.” You shook your head at him, eyes trained on your shoes.
“And I told you that I’d come up and get you,” he shot back smugly. “Seems like neither of us listen very well.”
With no response coming from you, Jeno took your silence as the cue to lead the way out to his car. It was nice, nicer than most cars you’d seen around, but surprisingly not that ostentatious. It looked like something a moderately successful businessman would drive, not an A-list model.
Inside was a comfortable leather interior, and you took quick, short notes on the small notepad you kept with you as you looked around. After all, this was an interview, and you had an article to write. You could get over your own social awkwardness and feelings of inferiority for the sake of your future career.
Hopefully.
The restaurant Jeno had chosen was definitely out-of-the way.
It was down one back alley into another, through the back of an electronics shop, up a flight of stairs, then through a room of old ladies sat at sewing machines. They all gave a friendly chorus of hellos to the two of you, seeming to know Jeno pretty well as they all told him that he’d grown since the last time he’d come by. He bowed to them bashfully as he led you through. Past the curtains on the far wall, you finally ended up at the restaurant.
Okay, out-of-the-way was an understatement.
But despite the hard-to-stumble-upon location of the restaurant, it seemed busy. The small room was tightly packed with tables that you could barely see through the mass of people seated around them and plates of food resting atop them. A loud buzz of various conversations mixed in with the bumping of plates and clattering of utensils.
Just past the entrance was a small host’s stand where a young boy stood. He looked to not be out of high school yet, presumably a young relative of the owners: their son, nephew, or grandson.
He also knew Jeno, bowing to him, “Ah, Mr. Lee. We have your reservation for you. Come.”
Jeno bowed back and looked to make sure that you were still following the two of them through the nearly claustrophobic environment.
You were, eyes drinking in every detail as your hand furiously scribbled them down on your notepad, muscle memory functioning at full speed to write every letter without looking away from the scene around you. There was one more curtain for you to go through, and it was much quieter on the other side. This was most likely a VIP section of sorts, with just a couple tables separated by a divider.
The host gestured to one of the two tables, and you gratefully sat down across from Jeno. He then took his hat and mask off, fingers working through his hair for a moment to rid it of the hat’s aftereffects.
“Thank you, Yeonwoo,” he thanked the host, which you repeated as well.
The boy, who you now knew to be named Yeonwoo, bowed politely to the both of you before scurrying off.
“You must come here often,” you commented, hand poised to write his response.
“My family and I came here a lot when I was younger. Since I started my career it’s been difficult to eat here as often as I did before. Especially because their food isn’t technically allowed in my diet,” he had a mischievous glint in his eye as then he added, “But you won’t tell on me, right?”
“Of course not, unless writing an article about you that will be published in a magazine counts as tattling,” you snorted, much to his delight.
He laughed, “Right, right. That’s pretty much the ultimate form of tattling, huh?”
“If it gets published, yeah. If not, then the only people who will know will be you, me, and my editor. And I suppose Yeonwoo and our server, as well.”
“Speaking of our server, there she is!” Jeno announced, making the young girl who was approaching your table blush behind her notepad. She was probably around Yeonwoo’s age, maybe a little older.
“Good evening,” she greeted the two of you politely. “My name is Jieun, I’ll be your server tonight. Are you ready to order?”
You were a bit confused by her question, you hadn’t been given any menus yet. But Jeno seemed completely unfazed.
“Two orders of my regular, please,” he requested sweetly, which she quickly scribbled down on her pad.
“Of course, it’ll be out soon,” she informed you before hurrying away.
He turned back to you, “Jieun is Yeonwoo’s older cousin, their grandparents own the restaurant.”
You added this to your notes as well. It could be nice to add in to set the scene and show how down-to-Earth Jeno was, knowing this family as well as his own and not forgetting his roots even as a big model. Or something like that, you’d figure it out eventually.
“So, interview questions?” He prompted you, bringing you out of your contemplative planning ahead. You’d write that up later.
“Earlier you had mentioned your family, tell me a bit about them. Brothers, sisters?”
Could you have looked that information up online and found it? Definitely, but you wanted it from the source, to see if he would provide you with anything that wasn’t already out there. And you wanted to get a feel of your subject.
“Well there’s my parents, my older sister, and me. They’re not famous or anything. My parents own a grocery store nearby, and my sister’s a teacher.”
“You took my next question right out of my mouth,” you clicked your tongue in teasing disappointment, continuing on with a different one. “You said you used to come here often with your family, what are some other things you miss from your childhood that you don’t do as often?”
Jeno’s face easily betrayed his delighted surprise, “Oh, I wasn’t expecting that one.”
“Hm?”
“That’s a good question. Normally I get asked about celebrity crushes or my ideal type.”
You tilted your head to the side curiously, “If you thought that I was just going to ask you the same questions you usually get asked, why did you offer for me to interview you?”
“Never mind, never mind, sorry.” He coughed awkwardly, then quickly went to get off that topic, “Uh, it might sound kind of weird, but I used to help out at my parents’ store a lot as a kid. It was my first job I ever had. As soon as I could reach the register on a high stool, they put me to work. It’s actually how I got scouted, for modeling. My manager now just happened to come through my line while I was on the register and gave me his card. I thought it was a scam, honestly. But Jaemin made me give him a call, and he turned out to be legit. Even if I had the time to help at the store now, I’d just be too much of a distraction if I tried. And trust me, I tried. Once. So yeah, I miss helping out there.”
The desire for an answer to your other question was still there, but it was a path that you didn’t want to go down right now. Right now was time for the interview. So you simply scratched down his statement about his parents’ shop, then shorthanded off to the side ‘why me?’ as you readied your next question.
“You knew Jaemin before you guys were famous?”
“Yeah, we’ve been friends forever.” A fond smile crossed Jeno’s face. “Seatmates since primary school. He blew up with streaming first before I got my break as a model, actually. Most people usually assume it’s the other way around.”
“And what about the others?”
As Jeno eagerly answered your questions and you filled up page after page on your notepad, there was still that one lingering in the back of your mind.
Why you?
Over the course of a couple weeks, you’d spent a considerable amount of time with Jeno. According to his schedule that he had sent you, every free moment he got was taken up by your interview. Sometimes it would be more formal, like your first dinner meeting, and sometimes it was more casual, get-togethers in the lounge with the other VIP members or a riverside walk that felt more like two friends talking than a professional interview. And it all went in your notes, it would all go in your article. This was going to be a great article. The real Lee Jeno when he’s relaxed, what he’s like off the runway.
Today was very special, however, as you’d been invited to tag along to one of his photoshoots. You were just outside the building housed at the address you’d been given when you were met by a young man whose stern gaze never left you. It seemed as if he had been waiting for you.
“Are you the journalist?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, completely skipping any greetings.
“Ah yes, Y/L/N Y/N,” you confirmed, nodding your head respectfully to him as you held out your VIP lounge card as proof. Jeno told you that would be your pass to get in.
The man only scrutinized the card for a moment before he pivoted on his heel, “Follow me.”
You kept his hurried pace easily, ready to ask him questions as well, “So what’s your job here?”
He took a moment to push open a door that then nearly closed on you before answering, “I’m Lee Jeno’s PA.”
“Oh, Song Eunseok!” The name easily came to your mind.
The PA’s eyes widened in surprise, “Jeno’s brought me up?”
“Of course he has! You’re with him pretty much all the time, how could he not mention you?” You flipped through your notebook to where you’d taken previous notes about him, “Here, I asked him to walk me through his typical day, and he mentioned ‘Seokkie’ like seven times.”
Eunseok physically grimaced at this, “I’ve requested that he not call me that.”
“Why? I think it’s a cute nickname.”
“Really?” His eyes were now trained on his shoes as opposed to his previous laser focus on the end of the hallway. Your eyes could’ve been playing tricks on you, but you swore the tips of his ears were tinged pink, too.
There was another door, and this time you definitely couldn’t miss the fact that he held it open for you this time.
“Really,” you echoed.
The door had led to what you could really only imagine to be the set. Huge lightboxes, a couple cameras, and a multitude of people all set up with a single black sheet as the focal point. A white loveseat contrasted it starkly, but that wasn’t where your eyes were drawn. They were drawn to the man seated elegantly atop it, dressed head-to-toe like the playboy prince of a small but filthy rich country. Lee Jeno.
“You can wait for him over here with me,” Eunseok tapped your elbow with a feather-light touch, snapping you from your near-trance.
“Thanks.” You walked with him towards a table lined with various food and drink.
Your focus was still on the PA as he got a bottle of water, opened it, took a lemon slice from a small bowl and squeezed it into the drink before plopping a blue straw in as well. Then didn’t drink it. Instead, he turned back to you and held it in his hand patiently.
“The straw disturbs the makeup as little as possible,” Eunseok explained to you, and it was then that you realized it wasn’t for him, it was for Jeno. “Makes the makeup artists’ lives a little bit easier.”
“That’s very considerate. I wouldn’t have even thought of that,” you commented, taking note of that process as your focus returned back to Jeno and the photoshoot.
Knowing that your next question might be considered disrespectful, you leaned closer to Eunseok to whisper, “So who’s the photographer?”
He understood your delicacy, replying back equally quiet, “Chen Man, she’s brilliant. Jeno’s worked with her in the past, but this is his first solo shoot with her. It’s for the new YSL campaign that he was chosen to be the face of.”
And you were rocketed back to the fact that Lee Jeno was a famous model. Obviously, you hadn’t really forgotten it, but in your casual meetings and interviewing outside of his work, the magnitude of it was lessened. But a PA, giant photoshoot, famous photographer, and being selected as the new face of a campaign for a huge designer really hammered in the famous model part.
“Wow.”
It was just then that Chen Man called for a short break, and the silent studio was immediately filled with chatter. Jeno made a beeline for you and Eunseok, his normal contagious grin across his face, “Hey, Y/N! I’m glad you made it here okay.”
Up close, you could appreciate the detail and regality of his outfit. It was made of crushed velvet of a deep cerulean color; various intricate medals flashing on his chest; dark epaulettes making his already broad shoulders even more imposing; large black boots; and silver jewelry and chains glinting on his fingers and neck.
Eunseok offered the water out to Jeno then, and he accepted it gratefully, “Thanks, Eunseok.”
You continued from the model’s earlier statement, “Yeah, Eunseok made sure I got to the right place.”
“Good, I sent him out there to get you.” He turned on his PA, “You didn’t give Y/N a hard time, did you?”
“My job is to make sure none of your insane fans somehow get in here,” the other man scoffed.
“So you did give her a hard time.”
Eunseok rolled his eyes at Jeno’s teasing words. Despite knowing that they were employer-employee, it felt much more like two friends to you. You added that to your notes.
Jeno took a couple big sips of his water, and you took this time to ask him a couple of questions.
“So Eunseok was saying that this shoot is for the new YSL campaign that you’re the face of. Have you ever done something like this before?”
He blinked at you a couple times before actually replying, “Yeah, it’s really an honor and a big opportunity to be chosen for this. I’ve done solo shoots before, but not ones of this magnitude.”
Another figure approached your small group, a makeup artist. Jeno handed his water back to Eunseok before leading the way a little further away to sit in a chair. As the makeup artist attended to his makeup, you continued with the interview.
“How familiar are you with the photographer on this shoot?”
“I’ve worked with Chen Man a few times before—” he paused to let the makeup artist apply his lip color again. After she was done, he continued, “Her ideas are incredible and she’s honestly so wonderful to work with. However, all those other times I was with other models, so doing a solo photoshoot with her is a bit nerve-wracking. She’s the kind of person that you really want to make proud, you know?”
Thinking of Ms. Zhang and her disappointment in you earlier, you nodded, “Yeah, I know.”
There was a call for everyone to start getting back into their places, and you took this as your cue to leave Jeno alone. He had work to do.
The makeup artist did one touch up on his face before letting him up out of the chair, another person coming to his side to fix his hair up just the way they wanted it, walking alongside him awkwardly to do so.
“Take a bunch of notes on your little notepad, Y/N!” Jeno quipped as he walked back in front of the camera.
“Will do!” You affirmed, holding your notebook above your head and shaking it slightly so he could see it.
Returning to your previous spot off to the side with Eunseok, you had a fond smile on your lips from your short interaction with Jeno. Eunseok had a little smirk of his own as he gazed at you.
“And what’s that smile for?” You questioned, head tilted.
“Nothing.”
You elbowed him with a short giggle, “Come on, tell me.”
“No,” he shook his head, that same smile on his lips.
Even as you rolled your eyes, your focus never faltered from Eunseok. You changed tactics, a slight pout on your face as you asked again, “Please, Seokkie?”
Finally, he relented, “You’re pretty special, Y/N.”
“What?” You questioned in pleasant surprise.
“For Manager Han to have approved this interview after what happened last time, Jeno probably begged.”
“I can't imagine what would be so special about me.”
Eunseok had a brightness to his features that you hadn’t seen yet as he replied, “I can.”
You raised an eyebrow, “And what is it?”
Shouts from the set took both your attentions away from each other. Chen Man had been calling directions out during the whole shoot, but never with such aggression as then.
“Jeno! Lee Jeno!”
You scanned the scene in front of you as you tried to figure out what exactly was happening. Jeno’s arms were crossed across his chest, a startlingly stern but calm gaze focused on… you?
“Jeno can you—ugh, fifteen-minute break, everybody!” She yelled out in exasperation, the rest of the crew breaking the silence, scattering from the set.
Chen Man continued addressing her model, “Jeno, your expressions… they’re off.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll work on them.”
Despite acknowledging her words, you were doubtful of if he had actually registered them, stalking off the set with seemingly one destination in mind.
“Y/N,” Jeno stopped right by you and Eunseok. “Can I speak with you for a second?”
“Of course,” you nodded, well aware of how the crew was only pretending to be busy, instead actually focused on the three of you.
Your subject took off again, and you guessed that he anticipated that you’d follow him. Which you did. Eunseok stayed behind.
His longer legs made it a little hard to keep up with him as he took twists and turns down hallways of the building.
“Jeno,” you breathed out, seeming to finally snap him out of whatever mood he had been in.
Immediately, he slowed down to your pace, a faint smile coming to his lips, “Sorry, long legs.”
“Where are we going?”
He abruptly stopped, “Here is fine.”
It was the middle of some random hallway. He apparently didn’t have an actual destination in mind, more-so a distance.
“So what do you need to talk to me about?” You questioned, pencil and notepad at the ready. It had to be something for the interview, it couldn’t possibly be anything else.
“Y/N…” Jeno reached his hands out to cover yours, gently lowering the pencil and notepad for you. His hands were big and warm on yours, and you felt nerves flare up at his clear insinuation that this wasn’t for the interview.
“Jeno…” you said back with a nervous half-giggle. He was still holding your hands.
“This isn’t part of the interview. I’m not interviewee Jeno, and you’re not interviewer Y/N right now.”
“Okay…”
As soon as you had accepted these terms, he released his feather-light hold on your hands and took his own back to wring them nervously. What could Lee Jeno possibly be nervous about?
“Hm, I’ve never done this before,” he chuckled, pressing a palm to the center of his chest.
“Done what?”
“Okay, I’m just going to be upfront. Uh, I think you’re super great, and pretty, and awesome and I’d really like to be able to take you out on a date some time.”
This had to be a fucking joke. No way that someone who looks like him, an actual model, someone who gets paid for being ridiculously attractive, could actually be asking you out. This had to be a sick, terrible, horrible joke he was playing on you.
And yet as his big brown eyes gazed at you, wide and hopeful, looking a lot like a puppy waiting to be adopted from some animal shelter, you knew that he was being genuine.
And you panicked.
Stuttering for a moment, you finally choked out the most formal and emotionally removed response you could’ve come up with, “I’m sorry, I—that wouldn’t be appropriate, since I’m interviewing you right now. A bias or conflict of interest would damage the integrity of my piece as well as my career.”
Surprisingly, his features didn’t seem as crestfallen as you anticipated, his expressions were always so easy to read. He, in fact, seemed very happy with your reply.
“I get it,” he beamed at you, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze for a moment before letting it go. “After the article, then.”
That wasn’t what you meant. At all. But between your own burning cheeks and internal state of panic, you couldn’t express this to him. Or even really process your own thoughts right then.
“We should head back, Eunseok will come looking for us soon,” Jeno nodded with his head back in the general direction that you two had come from.
He kept a polite distance from you, allowing some of the panic alarms blaring in your mind to quiet just a bit. You tried to brainstorm ways you could possibly keep this interview going forever. Ways to give you as much time as possible. To do what, exactly? Maybe come up with an actual way of rejecting him. Or maybe give him enough time to change his romantic focus to someone else, so that he would never end up revisiting this subject after the interview.
You could dream.
“Oh my god!” NingNing exclaimed. “Are you shitting me?!”
You’d just recalled your day to your roommate, finally ending at the part where Jeno had asked you on a date. She had literally done a spit-take back into her soda as she smacked your leg in excitement.
Despite still being in disbelief yourself, Jeno had been extremely up-front and clear about it. No room for misinterpretation. Unlike your response to him.
“Well when’s the date?” NingNing squealed, pressing for more information.
“I said no,” you deadpanned.
“What?”
“Well, kind of.”
At the clear grimace on your face, your friend sighed, “Y/N, what did you tell him? Verbatim.”
“I told him that it would be inappropriate right now because a bias or conflict of interest would ruin the integrity of my piece and any career opportunity that came out of it,” you repeated your statement from earlier almost word-for-word, sure that it would be burned into your memory for the rest of your life.
“You do know that he now definitely thinks that you were telling him to just wait until after the article is over, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of,” you groaned, dropping your head into your hands and rubbing your face in exasperation.
“You don’t want to go on a date with Jeno?”
“I don’t want to date Lee Jeno,” you confirmed, nodding the head that you were still holding.
“Let me just review the situation here: you’ve got a very sweet, very funny, very hot guy that’s into you. What’s the problem?”
“He’s hot.”
Finally, you’d found it. The real reason you’d said no, the real reason you had a deep pit of dread in your stomach as soon as the words had left Jeno’s mouth hours earlier.
She snorted, “That’s a problem?”
“His entire career is based off being hot, he’s a model,” you explained rather desperately, relieved to finally be able to put your tumultuous thoughts into proper words. “I can’t deal with all that shit that comes with it. I just can’t.”
“So you’ll never want to date him? You’re not going to change your mind?”
“No, never. I couldn’t.”
“Never say never,” NingNing taunted with a sing-song voice, but at your eye-roll, became more serious. “Okay, let’s just say you’ll never date Jeno in your life—despite the fact that nothing is ever definite—you shouldn’t lead him on. Intentional or otherwise. Don’t let him spend the next few weeks thinking that you two are going to date after the article’s over.”
The anxiety was still there, however. “What if he doesn’t actually think that and I just misunderstood him? What if he just naturally gets over me in the next few weeks and doesn’t need me to confront him about this and straight-up reject him? He’s probably never been rejected in his life, what if he doesn’t take it well? What—”
She cut your endless strings of ‘what if’s short, “Y/N, didn’t he say that he’d never done this before?”
Realization hit you straight to the gut. “What if me rejecting him makes him never want to ask anybody else out again for the rest of his life and I scar him permanently?”
Your roommate had a clear look of ‘yikes’ on her face, and pure mortification ran through every inch of you.
“Never mind, there’s no way I could ever have such an impact on Lee Jeno’s life, that’s fucking ridiculous. I’m just some normal person, some journalist, and he’s literally a supermodel. No way this would actually matter to someone like that.”
“Y/N, don’t say stuff like that,” NingNing frowned, pulling some hair away from your face gently. “You matter to me, remember? You’re my best friend.”
Completely ignoring her, you continued, “I just have to be upfront with him, tell him I don’t want to go on a date with him, and be done with it. He’ll probably never think about it again for the rest of his life.”
She let out a sigh as if she were going to say something but thought better of it. You didn’t press her; your mind had been made up.
You couldn’t do it.
The next time you saw Jeno, you had every intention of being upfront. But you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You were an absolute coward. Some part of you didn’t want to tell him, for whatever reason.
Maybe because the way his face absolutely lit up when he saw you was something you’d never seen anybody do for you before. Maybe because he asked you how your day was and didn’t look disinterested in your answer. Maybe because no matter how hard you tried to tell yourself that this was a professional interview, he made you feel so at ease that you somehow talked more about yourself than him.
Maybe because you did kind of want to date him.
Your notebook had been completely abandoned about fifteen minutes into your ‘lunch meeting,’ a fact that went mostly unnoticed by you. Until the waiter came with the bill and you had to move it out of the way for him to set it on the tabletop. You’d written just a couple short notes, nothing substantial. That wasn’t an interview, you couldn’t even try to bullshit it to yourself. That was a date-but-not-a-date. And you enjoyed yourself.
As you contemplated over your mostly-blank page, Jeno had already tucked his own card into the pouch and waved the waiter back over. Before you could argue him paying for you, the waiter was halfway across the restaurant.
“Jeno, I can pay for my own food,” you reminded him gently, feeling very much like you were scolding an over-excited puppy that had accidentally knocked over a potted plant in its haste to greet you.
“And I can pay for both of ours,” he countered.
You held his gaze firmly, waiting for him to— there it was.
His mouth split into a sheepish grin as he held up his hands in surrender, “Alright, I get it, I get it. Interview time right now. We’ll split the check for now.”
For now.
Maybe you liked the idea of that.
“Except this one, since they already ran my card,” Jeno added, a victorious smirk on his face, one that had you shaking your head fondly.
“Can I at least tip?”
“Already added that on the receipt.”
“How dare you be so thoughtful and respectful.”
He seemed about ready to quip something back when a distant chorus of squeals cut him off. You took a cursory glance around, eyes landing on a group of teenage girls standing just outside the window that you were seated by. They weren’t uncomfortably close, but it was clear what had made them so excited.
Jeno ducked his head shyly as he raised a hand to acknowledge them, only setting their nervous titters off again. Maybe he should have left his mask and hat on, or not chosen a table by the window.
And your heart dropped as you were once again reminded of who exactly the man in front of you was. Not just some cute guy named Lee Jeno, but a model who was known internationally, with fans who would recognize him out and about, with a career and life that was under the public gaze constantly.
You couldn’t do that. You couldn’t subject yourself to that. It would be too much for you.
With the girls still watching the two of you, you collected your notepad and stood up, stiffly bowing to him. “Thank you for allowing me to interview you, Mr. Lee.”
Thankfully, he took your lead, standing and returning your bow, “Of course, thank you as well, Ms. Y/L/N.”
Hopefully the girls got the message that this was business and nothing else. A dating rumor with Lee Jeno was absolutely the one thing you did not need in your life. Lee Jeno was absolutely the one thing you did not need in your life.
The light hum that had been in Ms. Zhang’s throat through most of her reading of your article suddenly changed tone as she came to the ending. Her brow furrowed thoughtfully, and your mind was running wild with nerves as you waited for her to speak.
“It’s good, Y/N,” she started.
You sensed a ‘but’ coming next.
“But… in the very first paragraph you introduce him as model by day, and explorer by night, or something to that effect.”
“Yes, that’s how he and his friends introduced him.”
“But you never bring up his ‘exploring’ again. This is about his life as a model and what he’s like outside of modelling here. You hooked me on the exploring part, but left me ultimately unsatisfied with that point.”
She was right. She was absolutely right. In your own personal whirlwind of confusion about your emotions and wants, you’d left a loose end in your article.
Ms. Zhang continued, her tone rising, “But…”
Oh, another ‘but.’
“This might just be perfect for a sequel. We publish this and advertise it as a two-part look into him, the first part his model by day, and the second part all about him as an explorer.”
You were caught off-guard, “You want to publish it?”
You had honestly expected her to throw it in the trash and fire you. You’d been so all over the place the entire time you’d been working on the article, you didn’t think it was anywhere close to your best work.
“Of course, this is the most hard-hitting and real piece that’s ever been done about the man! Most of it is tabloid nonsense. Not to mention that this is the first interview he’s done in over a year, it’s fresh content. It’s perfect, Y/N.”
Ms. Zhang just called your article perfect. You were on Cloud Nine, barely listening as she continued.
“Do you think you’ll be able to get a second interview with him? Maybe even tag along on one of his exploring trips or something, like how you went to one of his photoshoots in this one?”
That snapped you back into reality. Going on a trip with Jeno? That sounded dicey. But… also a chance to extend the interview, prolong the inevitable: his expectation that you’ll start dating after the interview. Your worst fear.
Avoiding an uncomfortable scenario and making your career out of it? It was an opportunity you couldn’t pass up.
“Of course, Ms. Zhang.”
Right as you walked into the VIP lounge, you were met with the expectant face of Jeno. You’d agreed to meet him there on your lunch break, right after your morning meeting with Ms. Zhang, to let him know if she was going to move forward with publishing your article or not. It felt a bit weird being at a nightclub in the middle of the day in your work clothes, but it was one of the more private places to meet with him.
“So?” He asked hopefully. “How’d it go?”
“She’s going to publish it,” you breathed out, still in shock yourself.
Two strong arms were suddenly around you, pulling you into a warm chest that was practically vibrating with excitement.
“Oh my god!” Jeno hugged you tightly. “Congrats, Y/N! I’m so proud of you!”
You hugged him back for a moment, enjoying it more than you should have considering you swore up and down that you weren’t going to let yourself date him. Then you remembered the other half of the conversation, your arms going limp.
“And she wants a second part.”
“That’s great!” He exclaimed, then after another moment, it seemed to have dawned on him. “Oh wait.”
And he let go of you, a particular chill coming to your body as he took a step back from you, declaring, “Professionalism. No bias or conflict of interest.”
You felt bad. You felt so bad. And yet you nodded, “Yeah, it’s still going to have to be like that.”
Maybe forever, if you could swing it just right.
“So… a second part about what, exactly? The article was super great, but I’m not sure how I could be interesting enough for a sequel.”
“Your ‘exploring,’” you explained. “I had mentioned it, but never returned to the topic or expanded on it, so she wants this whole second part to be about your trips and you know… all that stuff. Whatever you get up to when you’re not a model, and when you’re not a regular dude here.”
A rather cheeky grin spread across his face at this, and you didn’t want to know why he was so excited about you not dating, because you had a feeling it would be something awful close to it.
“Well then, what better way to get to know Explorer Jeno than coming with me on my trip to a tropical island next week?”
You were taken aback by both the invite but also by the event itself. After all, Jeno had given you his entire schedule for the past two months, which included next week. And you didn’t remember a trip being anywhere on there.
“Since when have you been going to a tropical island next week?” You asked incredulously.
“Since now.”
You sighed, rubbing your face. “Jeno, you can’t drop everything in your life just to do this. I can wait until whenever your next actual scheduled break is for whatever trip you make then.”
“Yeah, but I can’t wait,” he insisted, a near pout across his features. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, half-mumbling to himself, “I’m calling my manager right now. He owes me vacation days anyway, I’ll just take them early. Make my three-week backpacking trip in Europe next year fifteen days instead. I can’t wait.”
That went straight to your heart, and you felt your chest hurt from the implications of that. He couldn’t wait until he could date you. With every passing moment you felt like a more and more terrible human being. Which you were, you absolutely were just a horrible human being for doing this to him. After all, like you’d said, you were never going to date Lee Jeno.
Right?
One week later and you were in your third airport of the trip, your second layover as you waited for your connecting flight. You’d been in interviewer mode since Jeno had picked you up to head to the first airport that morning. Asking questions, writing answers, asking more questions. There was no room for anything but business on this trip. This article would be the follow-up to your first piece that your boss thought was perfect. So this had to be more perfect than perfect. You wanted to make her proud.
Jeno, surprisingly, was being rather professional too. Other than the slight touch here, an odd phrase there that couldn’t exactly be classified as professional. A brush of your hands as he tried to get your attention, off-handed comment about how cute you were when you were focused taking notes. You’d only remind him that this was a professional article, hoping that he couldn’t see the bashful smile on your lips.
Or even now, he returned from what was supposed to be a quick bathroom break with waters and snacks for the both of you.
“How much do I owe you?” You asked as you accepted the food and drink.
“Nothing.”
You frowned.
“Come on, Y/N,” he sighed in exasperation, cracking open his own water bottle. “I know we’re serious professional interviewing here, but two people doing business together can still be friendly and do nice gestures for each other.”
He was right. He was absolutely right. You were being a jerk for no reason. Well, not for no reason. There was a small voice in your head that hoped that maybe if you pushed him away enough now he would change his mind about wanting to date you, that he’d think you were actually a jerk. And that little voice was apparently wrong. And also a piece of shit. Jeno didn’t deserve that.
“Right, sorry,” you shook your grumpy face off, offering him a smile instead. “Thanks, Jeno.”
He pulled down his face mask to be able to drink the water, and that combined with his inconspicuous baseball cap brought back the idea that he was a famous celebrity who had to cover up his appearance when he went out to avoid being detected. Even in some random foreign country you didn’t know the name of on a layover. If you did actually start dating him, would he have to wear those on your dates? Any time you wanted to spend time together in public? Would you have to start wearing them?
Those were ridiculous thoughts, especially because you were never going to date Lee Jeno.
Right?
On the plane, you halted the interview to allow the two of you to both take naps, already feeling the toll of the heavy travelling you’d done today. And you’d be doing even more soon, as this flight wouldn’t even take you to the island directly, you had to take a ferry from a different island’s airport out to the actual island that was your destination. Then a car ride of some sort from the harbor to wherever you were staying. And based off the clothes Jeno had requested you bring, you’d be getting very in touch with nature on this trip, another exhausting idea.
All for an interview. All for a way to avoid the inevitable.
As you snoozed, not quite asleep yet, you felt Jeno slowly shift in his sleep, his head lolling to the side until it finally found a resting place on your shoulder. Even in his sleep this man completely disregarded professionalism.
But you were too tired to complain, soon falling asleep yourself, with your own head rolling until it finally found a resting place on his.
“So what exactly happened at your last interview that was so bad you were banned from them?”
Your questions continued as soon as you’d left the airport on the island, only halting when you were caught off-guard by Jeno’s choice of transportation: a cream yellow moped. Which you were now on the back of, clinging onto your bag for dear life. Thank God you had packed light like he suggested.
“It’s kind of a long story,” he replied loudly over the wind. “I’ll tell you when we get to the hotel, okay?”
“Fine.”
“We’ve got some tighter turns coming up, you might want to hold on to something actually attached to the moped.”
He didn’t say it, but you knew what he meant. Wrapping your arms around his torso, you then held onto him for dear life as he whipped around the turns. How he could possibly make a moped feel dangerous was truly incredible to you.
“Yeah, that—” he stumbled over a voice crack. “That’s good. Much more secure.”
“This question shouldn’t be a long story: Have you ever driven one of these things before?”
The hotel was small and homey, with so few rooms that the two of you would be sharing one. Jeno had already informed you of that beforehand, having asked for the okay from you, that sharing the room wouldn’t be too unprofessional. While it definitely was, there were no other rooms available, so you were stuck between a rock and a hard place. When he informed you that there were two beds, you finally agreed.
Except it wasn’t two beds, as you found out when you walked in. It was a bed and a pull-out couch. And he’d already claimed the pull-out couch for himself.
“Jeno,” you sighed again as you watched him set his stuff down on the less comfortable option. “This isn’t two beds.”
He shrugged, “We have separate places to sleep, that’s what you were worried about, right?”
Your patience was wearing thin. It was almost annoying how sweet he was. Well, it wasn’t really him being sweet that annoyed you. It was the sneaky ways he liked to do it.
“Jeno…” you repeated his name, trailing off as you waited for him acknowledge you.
He was still messing around with setting up the pull-out couch.
“Jeno, look at me.”
At your request, he immediately did so, the attentiveness catching you off-guard for a moment. But you were determined.
“I don’t like being lied to or tricked. Even if it’s something nice, you know? It’s sweet, but I like to make my own decisions about things. Even things that may seem little to you, like splitting the bill at restaurants, or whether you’re coming up to get me or I’m going down to meet you, or you dropping all your plans to go on some spur-of-the-moment trip, or who’s taking the couch and who’s taking the bed. I’d like a say in the matter, okay?”
He gulped, seeming to really be taking his time to mull over what you were saying. And you did, too. It was another reason that you could never date him. He was a celebrity, he was used to being able to do whatever, to not having to worry about the kinds of things normal people like you had to worry about. The implications of that terrified you. You couldn’t do it.
Finally, he said, “Okay, yeah. I understand. I never really saw it like that, I’m sorry. I should’ve been more thoughtful of how it was making you feel. I’m really sorry, Y/N.”
Shit, this dude was way too fucking sweet.
You nodded, mumbling some kind of response to the genuine apology he’d given you.
Clearly as eager to change the topic as you, Jeno spoke up, “So, what was it that you’d asked me on the moped earlier?”
And you were more than happy to revisit that, snatching up your notebook from your bag and sitting on the bed, “What happened at your last interview that caused you to be banned from them?”
“Oh, right,” he physically grimaced at this, rubbing his face with his hands for a moment. “It’s a long story, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I’ve got plenty of paper.”
Jeno let out a sigh, sitting on the pull-out couch. “No, Y/N. I can tell you, but you can’t write it down, you can’t publish it. I’m sorry to have to ask you this, because I know how dedicated you are to the integrity of your work but… if you’re going to publish it, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry. The others don’t even know the whole story. Jaemin doesn’t know.”
His words struck you differently, hearing the genuine defeat and distress in his voice. With a twinging heart, you tucked your notepad and pencil back into your bag. For someone who had been preaching about professionalism and keeping the integrity of your article, you were really so ready to throw it out for him as soon as he asked, weren’t you?
“I won’t write it down, I won’t tell a soul,” you reassured him, wanting nothing more than to sit down next to him and hold his hand and tell him that everything was okay. But you still clung onto some little semblance of professionalism here. For some fucking reason, when it was getting clearer by the minute that all your resistance would be futile.
Just a glimmer of a smile was across his lips for a moment at your actions before it was taken over by the same pensive face as before, and he started the story.
“It was… oh probably over a year ago now. I was still kind of new to the modelling industry, but it felt like everyone’s eyes were on me. My company toted me around as their rising star and every second I wasn’t at a gig, I was being interviewed by someone. It was a lot, but it was freaking awesome.”
The brightness in his features that had been there as he recalled the earlier days of his career suddenly turned dark at his next words. “Until this one interview. It was for a smaller magazine, and my manager didn’t even know why I wanted to do the interview. But it was a magazine that my mom liked to read, and I wanted her to be able to see her son in it. So I sat down with the interviewer, and it felt like it was going like all my other interviews had gone. And maybe because I wanted to really make a good impression on her, so the article my mom read would be as positive as possible, I accidentally led her on or something like that.”
You tilted your head curiously at this last statement. If it had come from any other hot guy, you might have doubted his actual intentions, but it was Jeno. You knew that he wasn’t only physically attractive but had such a way of being naturally charming and making people feel at ease that it was impossible not to be drawn in by his attractive personality. He didn’t do it on purpose, he was just a genuinely nice guy.
“But afterwards, she asked for my number. I said no. I let her down as easy as I could, and she took it with grace. Or I had thought so until Manager Han and the CEO of my company—who I had never met until this—sat me down in his office and showed me a naked picture of some guy and asked if it was me. You couldn’t see his face, and his build was similar to mine, so I could see how they were doubtful. It wasn’t me, but that didn’t matter. The interviewer had sent those pictures to my company saying that if they didn’t pay her a bunch of money, she would post them online saying they were of me.”
Your eyes widened almost comically at this. You couldn’t believe that someone could actually think of doing something like that, especially to Jeno.
“Now, the company doesn’t take very well to people trying to extort them or threaten their people, so she was taken care of.” After a pause, his eyes shot open comically wide as he shook his head fervently, “Legally, in the legal system, it’s not like my company like killed her or anything, I phrased that very badly.”
A quiet laugh came from your mouth at his backpedaling.
“Anyway, they decided that after that, it would be best for me to not do interviews for a while. I don’t really know what happened to her after the court case, but to my knowledge, she hasn’t bothered us. And I haven’t had an interview since. Until you.”
“Until me,” you echoed, mind reeling from this story.
This interview really meant more to Jeno than you had realized before. You’d incorrectly and selfishly assumed that he was so invested in it just because he liked you. But it was more than that. His last interview had been a disaster, the interviewer threatened to humiliate him publicly, and betrayed him. He had taken a chance on you to be different than that, taken a chance to make you his first interview back after the shit the last one had put him through. You were sure that he was feeling the pressure from his company to make it the best possible return to them ever. And he had entrusted it all with you.
You weren’t sure of how long you’d been sitting in silence for, but it started suffocating you, so you finally choked out, “I’m sorry she did that to you. She’s… a bitch.”
Jeno chuckled, “I guess. I kind of just feel bad for her.”
“I don’t,” you snorted, feeling your blood starting to boil as you thought about it even more. “She tried to ruin your career and reputation because she got rejected. It’s not your fault, Jeno. You didn’t do anything to deserve that. She’s just a bitch.”
While he didn’t outright agree with you, the faint smile on his features was still apparent as he went to stand up, forcing some pep into his tone. “Okay, time for some island exploring. After all, you’re here for Explorer Jeno, right?”
“Right!”
Right?
Being on the island was refreshing. Not only because you’d never been on a trip to a place quite like it before, but just everything felt absolutely perfect. It was the perfect temperature outside, the warm sun being balanced out by a cool breeze that blew through your hair, the water surrounding you was the perfect clear blue, the flora the perfect rich green, and the man with you was… perfect.
You’d given up on trying to keep your fond thoughts of Jeno at bay. He was wonderful, that was undeniable. And as you went around the island together, his baseball cap and face mask left behind in the hotel room, the notion of his fame slipped from your mind. Sure, you were still writing down your observations, small adventures, and pertinent questions you asked him. But you weren’t interviewing Famous Supermodel Jeno right now, you were interviewing Explorer Jeno. And he was someone you could let yourself fall for, even for just a few days on this little island.
After your third day on the island as you signed onto the hotel wifi to transcribe your notes from your notebook to your word document on your laptop, a few email notifications popped up, catching your attention. Reception wasn’t the best, and you had so many other things occupying your focus and time—mainly Jeno—that you rarely checked your phone. Not to mention that before you’d left, you were unsure of if you’d even have cell phone service on the island, so you’d told your friends to email you if they needed anything.
One was an email from NingNing, the short preview of her message that you could see making you shake your head. You were not on a romantic getaway with Jeno.
The next was some flyer from a store advertising their latest sale, which you quickly discarded in favor of opening the one from Ms. Zhang. The person who was literally paying for you to be there right then.
The gist of her email was basically just asking for a status update, a routine check-in to see how your research and interview was coming along. You filled her in on what kind of direction and outline you were thinking of for the article, telling her some of the things you’d done together around the island, framing it as professionally as you could. However, it was very hard to make it business-like, you realized in slight defeat as you reread the email draft to yourself. Maybe you could make it casual-business-friendly-sounding instead. After editing a couple phrases here and there, you read it one more time. Satisfied that you’d made it sound the least like a ‘romantic getaway’ as possible, you hit send.
You had just sent it when Jeno emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed and toweling off his wet hair.
When the two of you had gotten back from wandering the streets and seeing the nightlife of the town, you’d given him first shower of the night, wanting to sort out your notes as soon as possible. You had a lot to move over just from that night alone, especially the moment when Jeno was ordering something from an older street vendor and had suddenly busted out some local dialect he’d picked up from God knows where. And the man knew what he was saying too. Jeno never ceased to amaze you.
“Jeno,” you called his name out from where you sat cross-legged on the bed, laptop with the email still up in front of you.
“Hm?” He hummed in acknowledgement, abandoning his towel in order to run his fingers through his damp hair.
“The way the guys had described your exploring, and the stuff you’d told me to bring made me think it’d be more… rugged than this.”
A handsome, crooked grin split his lips, seeming very delighted at your observation, “And what did the guys tell you?”
“Jaemin and Renjun seemed fearful for my life and told me to be safe; Haechan and Chenle were rather ecstatic and told me to have fun in a tone that made me not want to know their implications; Mark told me to bring plenty of water and a first aid kit; and Jisung… well he didn’t actually say anything but his face said it all.”
“You talked to all the guys about the trip?”
“Not by choice, NingNing brought me to an influencer party with Jisung, Jaemin, and Renjun the other day, and I was summoned to the lounge by Chenle and subsequently ambushed by him, Haechan, and Mark about it.”
“They’re all menaces,” Jeno shook his head fondly. “But don’t worry, I’ve got some plans for us tomorrow.”
“That sounds ominous.”
He giggled.
“So we’re hiking to the top of this volcano?” You summarized what Jeno had just told you, in much fewer words.
“Yep!”
“Then camping near the top, which we may or may not be allowed to do.”
“Yep!”
“Without a guide.”
“I’m your guide, Y/N! I do this kind of stuff all the time, and there’s a trail to follow anyway.”
“Now I know why Jaemin and Renjun feared for my life.”
“They were being dramatic, it’ll be fine.”
“Oh I’m not protesting going, I’ll just make sure to type up my will in the notes app in my phone first.”
“Now you’re being dramatic.”
You laughed, putting your hands up in surrender, “Alright, alright. I won’t write my final will and testament right now.”
“Let’s go!”
Thankfully, you’d taken heed of Mark’s advice to bring extra water. With the amount you were sweating, you would’ve been dehydrated less than an hour in if you weren’t constantly replenishing the lost fluids. It wasn’t an incredibly strenuous or difficult hike. Not a casual stroll, but you were managing. It was just that it was so hot and humid now that you were in the more confined landscape of the trees, you couldn’t tell if more of the moisture was your own sweat or the water hanging in the air and clinging to your skin as you continued through it.
Jeno kept you plenty entertained with stories of his previous (mis)adventures, almost all of which were solo. There were a couple times that he brought along others, but they didn’t go great. One unfortunate happenstance was when he’d dragged Eunseok out white water rafting with him and the poor guy fell out of the raft into freezing cold water. According to Jeno, his PA almost quit right on the spot. Another time, the other VIP lounge members had joined him as a celebration trip after Renjun hit 10 million subscribers. They ran out of water on the second day, Chenle ended up spraining his ankle, and they were ready to commit mutiny before the 48-hour mark, so the trip was concluded early.
“Jeno, it sounds like the people who go exploring with you don’t have a great track record of enjoying themselves,” you pointed out, taking another swig of water.
“Are you enjoying yourself, Y/N?” He countered.
Looking around, you could just make out a peek of blue ocean through the trees, and looking ahead of you, the two of you were more than halfway to the top.
“Yeah, I am. So far. There’s still time for me to sprain my ankle or fall into a freezing river.”
He shook his head affectionately at your teasing, “Careful, you’re going to jinx yourself.”
“Old hiking superstition? If you talk about spraining your ankle you will?”
“No, but still. My own little superstition, I guess.”
“Got it. Then I’ll un-jinx myself: I will not sprain my ankle or fall into a freezing river on this trip,” you announced loudly to the surrounding forest, earning another fond smile from Jeno accompanied by a soft chuckle.
“There you go.”
“Another five minutes or so and we’ll be at the peak!” Jeno yelled back over his shoulder to you excitedly.
You were a few steps behind him, your legs had been complaining for the greater part of the last thirty minutes. But with this information, you felt reinvigorated, having the end so close bringing a new spark of energy to your tired limbs. You caught up to him, sharing the trail at the wider parts and staying just behind him at the narrower parts.
Finally, you were at the top. And you knew because the trees opened up to a clearing, the leaves and branches giving way to the most incredible sights you could’ve imagined.
“Wow,” you breathed out, turning to get the full view.
From here you could see the whole little town below you, other nearby islands, the forest you had just hiked through, and the vast, glistening blue sea surrounding you. The sun bounced off of the water at the perfect angle to make it look like it was made of diamonds. It was breathtaking. Not to mention that now that you were out of the humid forest, you could once again feel the cool breeze across your heated skin.
A pod of dolphins surfaced briefly, their fins dipping up and down between the calm waves.
“Jeno, dolphins!” You pointed them out to him eagerly, instinctually clutching his arm in excitement. “Did you know that dolphins in the Amazon River are pink because of repeated skin abrasion, and that the males are pinker because they have a lot more interspecies aggression?”
“I think my guide told me something like that, but I was too focused on getting my paddle back from one to really listen to him.”
You turned to him with wide eyes. “You’ve seen them?”
“Yeah, I went to the Amazon last summer. I had to wrestle my paddle back from a rather playful one,” he shrugged, as if it was just a casual little day trip or something. “So you really like dolphins?”
“I did a report for school when I was like 11, some of the info just stuck.”
As you kept watching the dolphins, a smaller one popped up in the middle of the pod. “Oh! A baby! It’s so cute!”
“Yeah, she is,” he agreed with you.
You furrowed your brows in confusion. “You can’t tell it’s a girl from here!”
Then you looked over at him, realizing that his focus wasn’t on the dolphins, but on you. Mumbling something about professionalism, you let go of his arm, clasping your hands in front of you as you awkwardly looked back out to the sea.
With a victorious smirk on his face—probably enjoying the fact that he was able to fluster you—Jeno took a few steps away from you, yanking his knapsack off his back and grabbing a blanket from it, “Time for a late lunch.”
He laid the blanket out on a flatter part of the terrain, then brought out a small assortment of foods. You sat down with him, eager to dig into the food. With how much your legs hurt from hiking up here, you hadn’t realized that you were starving until he mentioned lunch. Your stomach growled angrily, and you just hoped it wasn’t loud enough for him to hear.
Jeno had packed a very nice lunch for you to share. For the most part, you two were quiet, mouths full of food and eyes still drinking in the stunning view of where you were. You turned your phone on to snap a few pictures before shutting it off again. With no charging ports out here, you had to conserve the battery until you were back in the hotel.
“Do you know which island that is?” You asked Jeno, pointing to the one that seemed the closest to you.
“Nope.”
“That one?” You pointed to a different one.
“Nope.”
“This one?” You teasingly pointed at the ground you were sitting on.
Jeno raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”
Right as you had opened your mouth to say something smartassy back, you pursed your lips in defeat. “Uh, nope.”
He chuckled, capping his water and starting to put the trash and leftover food back into his bag. You followed his lead, standing when he did so he could pack the blanket back up too. Stretching, a few satisfying cracks came from your back, letting go of the tension that had built up from your sitting position that probably wasn’t great for your spine.
“We should head down to the campsite soon,” Jeno informed you quietly as you had gone back to watching the ocean.
He’d told you while you were still at the base that you wouldn’t be camping at the peak, but at another area a little further down the mountain that was a lot safer for sleeping on. You wished you could’ve stayed up here for the rest of your life.
“Can’t we stay and watch the sunset?” Your voice was nearly a soft whine as you resisted leaving so soon. “It’s got to be incredible from up here.”
“I’m sure it is,” he sounded very reluctant to be telling you this. “But we have to set up camp before it gets too dark.”
“A couple more minutes?”
“Yeah, of course.”
After being rather useless in helping Jeno set up your campsite—not for any chivalrous reasons on his part, you were truly just inept at things and did more harm than good when you tried to help—you sat outside the tent with him. The two of you were going to be sharing a tent, which he had asked earlier if that would be okay. You told him it was fine with you.
The blanket previously used for lunch earlier was under the two of you as you sat just outside the tent. The site Jeno had chosen as your campsite was in a rare area where the foliage wasn’t too thick, and you could just make out some of the ocean as the sun set. It wasn’t the picture-perfect sunset you imagined could be seen from the peak, but it was still pretty.
You continued with your interview questions as you looked out towards the water, scrawling down his answers in the fading light. You couldn’t quite see what you were writing, hoping you didn’t just make a bunch of illegible scribbles instead of notes. He spoke again of his trip to the Amazon, saying how he’d like to go back again sometime, and maybe have a better look at the pink river dolphins. The way he said it fostered some implications, a thought in your mid that maybe you could go with him if he did go back. That was a nice thought. And impractical one, but it gave you warm fuzzies nonetheless.
“So, why do you think you like exploring so much?” You asked him after hearing so many stories of all the destinations he’d gone to.
“Who doesn’t like to travel?”
“What you do… it’s not just travelling, it’s not just a vacation. You’re not booked up in five stars hotels in city centers or doing every tacky tourist thing out there. You get at the heart of where you are, you explore it, you don’t just visit it. Why is that?”
“That’s a rather deep question,” he let out a light chuckle, shifting to face you as he closed his eyes, taking a moment to think. “I guess… like you said, I try to get at the heart of the place, not the surface-level stuff everyone else sees. I’ve always had a sort of wanderlust in me. When I was about twelve, I damn near gave my mom a heart attack because I got on a train and wanted to see where it went and ended up fifty miles from home. And now, I don’t know, I guess the stuff everybody else does doesn’t really interest me… the picture that’s painted to tourists of a place isn’t what it actually is, and I want to find out what is. If that makes sense. Did that make sense?”
You swallowed hard, nodding fervently. “Yeah, it did. I completely understand, yeah.”
That’s how he saw the world, and it was beautiful. And maybe you could see it like him; maybe you could look past the picture that’s painted and what everyone else sees to get at the heart.
Up this high, cold started setting in some time long after the sun had finished setting and darkness was all around you, save for the soft glow of the lantern Jeno had going. The temperature wouldn’t drop terribly, but it was cooler than it was during the day, encouraging you to tuck your chilly fingers into the inside of your knees for some warmth.
“I’m sorry,” Jeno frowned, standing up and stepping over to the tent. “I forgot to tell you to bring a jacket, didn’t I?”
“I’m alright, Jeno,” you assured him, but his arm popped back out of the tent holding a couple pieces of clothing.
It was two sweaters, one he offered out to you, the other presumably for himself. You didn’t refuse, which maybe you really should have for professionalism’s sake. Slipping the hoodie over your head then sticking your arms in, you were immediately swallowed up by it. Sure, Jeno was pretty buff, but you were sure this would be oversized even on him.
You didn’t even have to try to pull the sleeves over your hands, sweater paws already there as soon as you’d put it on. Which wasn’t ideal if you wanted to keep writing stuff down for the article.
“I would’ve told you that I’m a human space heater, but I figured this was a little more professional,” he said, heavy implications there.
Butterflies fluttered around in your stomach as you took it upon yourself to scoot closer to him until your legs and sides were touching, “This is still professional, just two professionals huddling together for warmth.”
“Yeah.”
You were trying to convince yourself more than you were him, knowing that you couldn’t really fool yourself on this one. But damn, you could pretend you did.
It was pretty soon after he’d gotten sweaters for the two of you that Jeno interjected into your conversation, “So when is the article technically over? When you’re done writing it? When your boss okays it? When it’s compiled with the other articles in that issue of the journal? When the copies hit the shelves and its uploaded to the website?”
You let out a shallow breath, knowing what he was really asking. When can the two of you date?
The part of you that was saying ‘never!’ was getting smaller and smaller, and the part of you who just wanted it to be right now was growing bigger and bigger. And yet, for some reason, you were still listening to the little one.
“I don’t know, probably when it’s officially published. You know, when ‘the copies hit the shelves and it’s uploaded to the website.’”
“When do you think that will be?”
“The first one is being published in this month’s issue. So, depending on how fast I get this one written up and proofed, at the earliest next month.”
“And the latest?”
“A couple months. I’m not sure how long Ms. Zhang will want between the two, if she wants to leave the audience in suspense for longer or give them the next part as soon as possible. Probably the first one, if I’m being honest.”
“Oh,” Jeno’s pout that you could see illuminated from the lantern was suddenly split into a wide yawn. “We should go to sleep, we’ve got the climb back down tomorrow.”
You were glad that he had brought it up first. After all, you were pretty tired, but you weren’t about to be the one to end the nice time you were having. Nodding, you stood, taking the lantern in your hand as Jeno folded the blanket back up.
Ducking into the tent, you immediately plopped down onto your sleeping bag, giving Jeno as much room as possible to maneuver his limbs around as he zipped the tent up behind him and set his stuff down in the corner. You put the lantern down at your feet, keeping the area illuminated as you climbed into your sleeping bag and started settling in for the night.
With the covers pulled up to your shoulders and Jeno’s hoodie bunching around your face in a comfortably warm way, you were pretty content to fall asleep then and there. But the light was still on.
Groaning, you looked down towards your feet, glaring at the lantern you knew you’d have to get un-comfy to turn off. Jeno had a small smile on his face as he sat up, “I’ll get it. You ready to turn it off?”
You nodded, your ‘yes’ muffled by the hoodie.
The last thing you saw before complete darkness was Jeno’s soft grin. That was a rather nice image to have in your mind as you drifted off to sleep.
Eyes fluttering awake, the first thing you were aware of was that you were warm. Very warm. Way too warm. One might say that you were currently in a pool of your own sweat. You’d have to wash this hoodie before giving it back to Jeno, it was definitely disgusting.
Speaking of Jeno, he wasn’t in the tent with you, which you noticed as you peeled the somewhat damp sweater off yourself. You took the opportunity to apply some more deodorant and change your short sleeve shirt before shoving your feet back into your shoes. You headed out of the tent, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes as you did so.
The very last traces of the sunrise were still in the sky from the little that you could see, but it was definitely morning. Looking around, you spotted Jeno standing a little further away from the tent, holding his hand out towards a lower-hanging branch. You wouldn’t have quite been able to reach it yourself, but he could. Perched atop the branch was a bright blue bird, eating right out of his hand. Your eyes widened just a little at this, though you were too tired to be terribly surprised.
Watching him feed the bird for a little longer, you felt your chest swell. His hair was messy, not having fixed his bedhead yet; a peaceful hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth; his big, round, eyes watched the bird eat with a certain simple happiness that for some reason had tears threatening to well up in your own.
You opened your mouth to call out to him, but instead a hoarse croak came out, one that made the bird take off in a flurry of blue feathers and fear. Jeno’s head whipped around to look at the source of the noise, you, and a bright grin came to his features.
“Morning, Y/N,” his voice was even deeper from sleep as he greeted you. He didn’t even seem mad that you’d scared off the bird.
As he approached you, the swell in your chest continued to the point where it hurt, and your vision started going blurry from the tears building up. Jeno’s expression changed to one of concern as he seemed to notice your moist eyes the closer that he got.
“Wh—”
You’d finally gone insane, you’d decided. Absolutely bonkers, completely crazy. After all, how else would you explain the fact that you were now kissing Jeno?
With your hands gripping at his shirt to bring his mouth down to yours, you kissed him like you’d been sick for your whole life and his lips were the cure. All the voices in your head finally shut up, your chest decompressed, and a single tear ran down your face.
He immediately kissed you back, but his hands seemed unsure of what to do, gingerly resting on your arms, featherlight as they hovered there. As if he was afraid that he’d break you, despite the force with which you had crashed your mouth to his.
When you let yourself come back down—and also breathe—you loosened your grip on Jeno’s shirt, releasing him from the slightly hunched position he had been in. Slowly, you brought one of your hands down to wipe away the lone tear.
Jeno was looking at you with a tilted head. “Well, that wasn’t very professional.”
A strangled chuckle escaped your mouth as you fiddled with the hem of your shirt, “Yeah, sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize,” he said softly, a gentle hand coming to cup your cheek, urging you to look back up at him. And when you did, he lightly brushed his lips against yours. A tender ghost of a kiss, one that didn’t last long as Jeno ended it almost as soon as he’d started it.
Opening your eyes, you saw a nearly silly grin spread across his face, precious giggles bubbling up. His smile was contagious, one gracing your mouth as well.
“Is this going to ruin the integrity of your article?” He asked, still smiling down at you. “If you want this to be a thing, of course.”
“I do, I do,” you nodded fervently, a great weight lifted off your soul now that you let yourself admit that. “I’ll tell Ms. Zhang and see what she wants to do about the articles. Until then, we’ve got to lay low.”
“Movie nights,” he immediately surmised.
Quite liking the idea, you agreed, “Yeah, movie nights.”
The doors opened to the VIP lounge, where you had agreed to meet Jeno after your meeting with your boss. It was almost two weeks after you’d returned from what NingNing was now definitely referring to as your ‘romantic getaway,’ which you couldn’t argue. Most of those two weeks was spent by you finalizing your second article, not wanting to tell Ms. Zhang about how that trip had really gone until after you had work to show for it.
Jeno was waiting for you, already standing up and pacing the small room nervously. He seemed more worried about this than you were, despite it really being your career on the line and not his.
You made a beeline to wrap your arms around his torso, burying your face in his chest, and he immediately reciprocated it, holding you closely and pecking the crown of your head.
“Hey, how’d it go?” His gentle tone of voice betrayed his assumptions that it was bad.
Bringing your face out of his chest in order to look up at him, you squealed, “She’s still going to publish them!”
“Ah!” He cried out, tightening his grip on you until it was practically bone-crushing. “I knew it! I knew you were just so good she would have to publish your articles.”
You elaborated, practically buzzing with excitement, “Because I kept out the uh, more private details of the trip and focused on you and the trip itself, she says that it ties up the loose end from the first one nicely. Although, she did recommend not going public until after the second article was out.”
“But you won’t get fired if we don’t abide by that recommendation, right?”
“No, I won’t,” you reassured him, happiness fluttering in your chest as he pecked your forehead.
“I’m so proud of you, Y/N.”
“Mhm,” you hummed, letting him peck your lips too before you spoke up. “I do think she’s right, though, we should wait a while to go out in public as a couple.”
Jeno clearly didn’t like that idea, sighing in reply, “Why?”
“It’s been less than a month, what if you decide you don’t like me?”
It was meant to be a joke, but he took it seriously, kissing your forehead, then your nose, then finally your mouth, “Impossible.”
After a moment, he relented, “Alright. I waited two months, another one or so shouldn’t be that bad.”
“Actually, she’s publishing the second article in a special edition that’ll come out two weeks after the first, not a month.”
“I can wait three weeks.”
And wait three weeks he did. Three weeks exactly. Twenty-one days after your conversation in the VIP lounge, two days after your second article hit the shelves, Jeno picked you up for your first public date. This time, you let him come up and get you—your roommate wasn’t home to bother you—and he left his hat and face mask at home.
“Hi Jeno,” you greeted him as you opened the door.
“Hi, baby,” he replied, wasting no time in lacing your fingers together as you walked to the elevator.
As soon as you stepped foot out of your apartment building, whatever resolve he had broke down, and he smooched your cheek loudly. You giggled at the gesture, squeezing his hand to let him know that you were okay with it. After all, you’d made the poor guy wait longer than he should have, some PDA was in order.
The date was at a small café a few blocks over, within walking distance. Which you were sure Jeno appreciated, having a longer time to be out in public with you, never once letting go of your hand or without physical contact with you. He had to let everybody know that you were dating, and you didn’t mind. You liked that he was so ecstatic to be dating you.
At the café, you ordered up at a front counter, and the cashier asked, “Together or separate?”
“Together!” Jeno replied brightly, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.
You leaned over to murmur to him, “She means, are we paying together or separate?”
“Together!” He repeated.
Squinting up at him for a moment, you didn’t argue it, letting him take the check for both of you. Although you did take a few crumpled bills out of your wallet to drop into the tip jar. After getting your food, you eagerly dug in, a light and amicable conversation had between bites.
“So you really waited exactly three weeks, huh?” You teased him.
“The second article came out two days ago, I think that’s plenty of time for everyone to read it,” he defended himself.
“It took you five days to read it.”
He seemed about ready to quip something back when a muffled chorus of squeals cut him off. You took a brief glance around, eyes landing on a group of teenage girls standing just outside the window that you were seated by. They weren’t uncomfortably close, but it was clear what had made them so excited.
Jeno ducked his head shyly as he raised a hand to acknowledge them, only setting their nervous titters off again. This situation was eerily familiar, déjà vu washing over you.
But this time, you were kind of glad that he had left his mask and hat at home, and that he’d chosen a table by the window.
Because your heart soared as you were once again reminded of who exactly the man in front of you was. Not just a model who was known internationally, with fans who would recognize him out and about, with a career and life that was under the public gaze constantly, but also a cute, sweet, funny guy named Lee Jeno.
You could do that. You could subject yourself to that. It would be fine as long as you had Jeno with you.
With the girls still watching the two of you, you reached a hand out across the table towards him. Thankfully, he took your lead, picking it up before pressing a few tender kisses to your fingers. Hopefully the girls got the message that this was romantic and private, and nothing else.
A dating rumor with Lee Jeno was absolutely the one thing you needed in your life. Lee Jeno was absolutely the one thing you needed in your life.
“Jeno?” You called for his attention, ignoring the gaggle of fans outside the window.
“Yes?” He focused on you, squeezing your hand.
“I have a question…”
“I thought the interview was over,” he pouted teasingly.
“It is, I swear.” You lifted your linked hands pointedly. “I just… There’s something that’s kind of been nagging at me, about the interview.”
“Ask away.”
“Why me? Like, I remember at our first interview session, you thought I was just going to ask you all the normal stuff about celebrity crushes and stuff.”
“You remember what I said, about my parents’ shop? How I used to help out there?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“When NingNing brought you to the lounge, and you said that thing about you being a normal person, and me being a supermodel, and how you weren’t comfortable around me because of that, it really hit me. I-I really hated that.”
“Jeno, I’m sorry—”
“No, it’s not your fault,” he insisted. “It’s nobody’s fault, that’s just how it is, how our culture is, or whatever. But I hated that you felt like that around me. Because I didn’t use to be like that. I used to be a normal person, too. And I just thought that if you and I had met a few years ago, when I was working in my parents’ shop or something, I could’ve talked to you like a normal guy, and I would’ve been able to put you at ease and flirt with you like a normal person. Instead of having to do it in the most roundabout way like I did this time.”
You grinned. “Oh, I don’t know, you would’ve still been a stupidly attractive register boy, Jeno. I might’ve been a bit tongue-tied if we had met back then, too.”
“I guess we’ll never know, will we?”
“I guess not,” you clicked your tongue. “Though that would’ve been an even better meet-cute than me saying you looked like a dog.”
“Oh, so we’re not telling that story to our kids?”
“Kids?!” You sputtered out. “When did kids enter the equation here, Lee Jeno?”
“What? Who said that?” He blinked at you innocently.
“At least say the L-word first, jeez.”
“I love you.”
“Christ, I was joking!”
“I wasn’t!”
You shook your head, unable to fight off the smitten grin on your lips. “I love you too, Jeno. You crazy son of a bitch.”
⤷ blog masterlist
#jeno#jeno x reader#nct dream#nct dream x reader#nct x reader#lee jeno#lee jeno x reader#nct#jeno fluff#nct dream fluff#nct fluff#jeno imagine#nct dream imagine#nct imagine#lee jeno imagine#i: jeno#f: tongue-tied#writing#text#mine#*100#*200#*300#*400#*500
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stupid, stupid face.
p: huang renjun x gn!reader | wc: 0.9k | g: roommate au, best friends to lovers, sliiiight angst, fluff | cw: brief mention of alcohol consumption | a/n: and they were roomates :0 js wanted to finish a short draft ^^
"I have no idea why you're acting like this right now,"
"He was too close, I didn't like him-"
"You don't even know him!"
It's a quarter past 1 in the morning, you and Renjun had just arrived at your shared apartment. Maybe you both had a little too much to drink, but this argument alone was enough to sober you both back.
"So what if I don't know him? It was so obvious he had other motives than just to hug you. Ugh, I could just punch his stupid face. Who the hell just hugs randomly, anyway?"
"Um, you, maybe? Or Haechan-"
"Hyuck is Hyuck! I know him."
Tired, you let out an exasperated sigh, dropping your shoes. "Look, Jun, I'm tired and extremely drained, so why don't we just head to bed, yeah?"
There's a sour look on Renjun's face, and you know he won't let this conversation end just like that. Though he clearly has a lot more to say, he follows behind you bitterly, stalking right after you into the living room.
"Look, Renjun," You say in a soft voice, which makes Renjun's head spin a little (but he'd rather blame it on the alcohol), "If it matters any amount to you, I genuinely don't think we'll see him again. Even if we do, I doubt I'll remember him."
"But... it hasn't been just him. It wasn't just tonight."
Puzzled, you stop in your tracks, turning around to look at him. "I don't understand-- there were other times?"
The look on Renjun's face suggests that he said something he shouldn't have. Wiping a hand across his face, he pauses— as if contemplating something— eyes searching for yours, then looking away when they meet.
"Renjun, what is it? What are you trying to say?" You ask, hand wrapping around his free wrist.
Your roommate is not the type of person to keep things from you-- you assume it's because he doesn't bother the effort, but really it's because he feels he can tell you everything-- so whatever he has to hide, it's something he hides from everyone.
Correction: it's something so obvious to everyone... except you.
"Renjun," You say, voice slightly upbraiding. At that, he folds. The boy holds his hands up in a sign of defeat, "Fine, fine! But what I'm about to tell you is frankly crazy, and I need you to stay calm. Stay calm!"
"You stay calm!"
"I'm trying!"
You really, really don't understand. What could possibly be so bad to the point where the cool-headed, calm Renjun that doesn't give a shit about his roommate does acts as stressed as he is now?
Renjun collects his thoughts and breathes slow, still letting you hold his wrist because believe it or not, it is giving him the slightest bit of comfort. He shifts his hand, fitting it into yours as he finally builds up the courage to look back at you.
"Y/N, the past year of being your roommate can't compare to what I've experienced the past 20 years of my life. It's really... ridiculous how much of my life you can change-- or did change." As he explains, Renjun can't help the small bashful smile that tugs on his lips when he sees you visibly stunned (in a good way).
"You've gone... on a lot of dates. And I've watched you come back every night. Sometimes you aren't really that fazed, and you're more excited to watch a movie or share a plate of take-out pasta with me than you are about the date. And, I guess, you gave me hope.
Hope for any chance that I am, by any means, better than the guys you've been seeing. And then you leave for another date on another night and I'm left in this really, really empty apartment feeling really, really lonely." The boy lets out exasperated huffs, fervent about the topic-- as if he'd been rehearsing this before.
Renjun looks straight into your eyes: but it's more than that. He looks past your flaws and sees your soul, raw and pure; he looks at the memories you'd shared with him in this small apartment, none of them a dull moment; he looks at all the stupid ideas you'd shared together about decorating the walls with graffiti, or hanging gummy worms up on the ceiling fan.
"Bottom line is: I'm insanely in love with you, Y/N," Says Renjun in a slight laugh, nervous and fidgety.
"What?" Your hands slip out of his, and his stomach falls. "Are you- are you serious?" Your voice suggests a small tone of relief, but you don't dare show it in the fear of this being some huge prank. But Renjun nods slowly, eyes growing more wary at the lack of a definitive answer from you.
"Renjun, the reason I've been going to all those dates was to get my mind off... of you."
The boy's eyes widen, mouth falling agape as he leans forward, taking your hands in his in a tight grip. "Are you kidding? Please don't tell me you're kidding."
"I'm not kidding, are you kidding?"
"I'm not!"
You stare at him for a moment, and he stares back. You search for any sign of facade or fraud, but you're left with your beaming roommate who stares back at you, a smile slowly growing on his lips. It's inevitable, the handful of laughter you both erupt into.
Falling into his arms, you both welcome each other in a warm embrace, your arms wrapping around his abdomen as you tuck your head into his shoulder, hot breaths fanning his neck as you let out another string of light laughter with him.
Renjun supposes he owes that guy tonight-- whatever his name was, he can't care enough to remember-- a thank you, and a good punch in his stupid, stupid face.
© hirokari, 2023
#nct#nct dream#nct dream imagines#nct dream drabbles#nct dream fluff#nct dream angst#nct dream scenarios#nct imagines#nct drabbles#nct fluff#nct angst#nct scenarios#huang renjun#huang renjun x reader#huang renjun imagines#huang renjun fluff#huang renjun drabbles#huang renjun scenarios#nct x reader#nct dream x reader#♪ mari writes!
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𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐮.
「...vampire clan」
a/n: this is only for entertainment purposes, do not come for me for writing this! | all gifs are from pintrest
*•.¸♡ navigaion. ♡¸.•*
*•.¸♡ au. ♡¸.•*
‣ summary... nct dream as vampire clan
↺ genre... fluff, vampire au
♪ listen to... glitch mode by nct dream
ᴍᴀʀᴋ ʟᴇᴇ;
name: lee min hyung
hometown: vancouver, canada
human birthday: august 2, 1999
vampire birthday: april 9, 2016
age when turned: 16
human eye colour: brown
vampire eye colour: red
food choice: human blood
powers: fighting, strength, speed
abilities: sensory deprivation
how he turned: spelled by a witch
warnings: you don’t wanna see him get mad.
sensory deprivation: can create a mist or fog which upon contact with someone paralyzes them and cuts off all, or some of their senses as he desires.
ʜᴜᴀɴɢ ʀᴇɴᴊᴜɴ;
name: huang renjun
hometown: jilin, china
human birthday: march 23, 2000
vampire birthday: august 24, 2016
age when turned: 16
human eye colour: brown
vampire eye colour: gold
food choice: animal blood
powers: compassion, speed
abilities: ability identification
how he turned: bitten by mark
warnings: he can sense just about anything you have.
ability identification: can sense the type and strength of supernatural gifts that certain humans or vampires have both before and after his or her vampiric transformation.
ʟᴇᴇ ᴊᴇɴᴏ;
name: lee je no
hometown: incheon, south korea
human birthday: april 23, 2000
vampire birthday: august 24, 2016
age when turned: 16
human eye colour: brown
vampire eye colour: gold
food choice: human blood
abilities: speed
abilities: tactile telepathy
how he turned: bitten by mark
warnings: he can see everything.
tactile telepathy: can see every thought someone has ever had upon physical contact with them. the longer the contact, the more they are able to see others' thoughts.
ʟᴇᴇ ᴅᴏɴɢʜʏᴜᴄᴋ – ʜᴀᴇᴄʜᴀɴ;
name: lee dong hyuck/peter lee
hometown: jeju, south korea
human birthday: june 6, 2000
vampire birthday: july 7, 2016
age when turned: 16
human eye colour: brown
vampire eye colour: black
food choice: human blood
powers: speed, strength
abilities: hypnotic vision
how he turned: bitten by mark
warnings: dont let him stun you.
hypnotic vision: could look someone in the eyes to temporarily stun them that they are then left confused and with a loss of memory.
ɴᴀ ᴊᴀᴇᴍɪɴ;
name: na jae min
hometown: seoul, south korea
human birthday: august 13, 2000
vampire birthday: august 24, 2016
age when turned: 16
human eye colour: brown
vampire eye colour: black
food choice: human blood
powers: fighting, speed, strength
abilities: tracking sense
how he turned: bitten by mark
warnings: dont trust those visuals, hes not as weak as youd expect.
tracking sense: could predict the most probable movements of the prey's next step and then follow the hunches to find them.
ᴢʜᴏɴɢ ᴄʜᴇɴʟᴇ;
name: zhong chenle
hometown: shanghai, china
human birthday: november 22, 2001
vampire birthday: august 24, 2016
age when turned: 15
human eye colour: brown
vampire eye colour: gold
food choice: human blood
powers: speed
abilities: pain illusion
how he turned: bitten by mark
warnings: stay away from him when hes in action.
pain illusion: projects the illusion of being in extremely intense physical pain into others minds, thus incapacitating them. the pain inflicts is described as being like "burning" inside of the victim.
ᴘᴀʀᴋ ᴊɪꜱᴜɴɢ;
name: park ji sung
hometown: seoul, south korea
human birthday: february 5, 2002
vampire birthday: august 24, 2016
age when turned: 13
human eye colour: brown
vampire eye colour: black
food choice: human blood
powers: speed, strength
abilities: telepathy
how he turned: bitten by mark
warnings: he maybe young, but he’s got some power in him.
telepathy: allows them to hear/see the thoughts of other people, whether vampire or humans. the ability seems to behave much like an extra sense and, like the other senses, is likely not under conscious control, though he has learned how to use it.
#nct dream#nct dream au#nct dream vampire au#vampire au#nct mark#nct renjun#nct jeno#nct haechan#nct jaemin#nct chenle#nct jisung#mark lee#lee minhyung#huang renjun#lee jeno#lee donghyuck#na jaemin#zhong chenle#park jisung
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Hi! @wenjunsss 😭Idk why but Tumblr ate your request when I worked on it. So I'm posting your selca ship like this
In NCT Dream,I ship you with...
Renjun
I think you and Renjun both exude softness but also a sharp and powerful aura. Like you have a very soft but also bold,sexy face. Same goes for Renjun. The similarity you have with him is almost scary🗿But it's very beautiful. I think Renjun would also be stunned to see your beauty . You and him also share similar lower face,like the jawline and lip shape is almost very similar 😍😍
In Stray Kids,i ship you with ...
Felix
I think again,Felix and you have similar vibe. He also is a very funny guy with extremely sharp features. So your soft features would go well with him. Fans would love you two together. Not conventionally beautiful,but very unique beauty couple- like that. I think Felix would also appreciate your aesthetic and vibes,very much✨💘
Thank you for your patience. Hope you liked your ship💜💜💜
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🍁..overall ship..🍁
@talpois
привет! apologies for the extreme extreme extremeeee tardiness on my part but i finally got around to it and i really loved doing this for you. and i just have to say i especially loved the amount of detail you gave me for this ship, my best work is done when i have more information so this was the perfect request! please enjoy this ship and many thanks for even requesting this :)
~nct dream~ renjun 🍁
If one were to ask me what the easiest choice I had ever made was, it would be shipping you with Renjun. Seeing your selca’s I was already convinced that you and Renjun would be the best pairing to ever exist but reading your description had me doubly sure.
He is someone who puts on the innocent, intelligent guy role but there is harsh duality within him and I saw the same in you. You have so much gone on personality-wise and whether you realise it or not you would have such an impact on Renjun, you draw out the parts of him that he hides from the wider public.
It really is an instant where he never thought one person could change his life so drastically, you both took a turn for the right direction when you met.
Now I promise I will get to your personality but I really want to give an explanation as to why Renjun is the best visual match ever. First of all, you are both visually stunning and you both possess a really rare sense of beauty that is rarely ever seen.
The best way to describe it is you both have the visuals that were sought after when renaissance artists wanted to create a new painting or sculpture.
Your features are so bold yet so otherworldly, like that of a forest fairy, you are both so beautiful it’s insane. You both create a new take on what is truly beautiful, you stand out and that’s probably the most beautiful thing.
I’m really fumbling on my words right now so I’ll just explain it this way: When Hozier wrote Would That I he definitely used the two of you as his twin muses.
Renjun would be on his knees for you any day. The way you compose yourself is viewed as nothing short of enchanting to Renjun, he was confident in the idea that no one person would ever catch him off guard. You managed the impossible. Your knowledge of the world around you and the way you see beauty in everything was refreshing.
For that reason, Renjun would want to keep you as his little secret, it scared him to think that there were people out there who could win your heart over. At the time he would have been so concerned, worried that you would dismiss him to fall for someone else.
You are artistic and a treat to him, you charm him more than you think with your poise and intelligence and your musical talent. If he didn’t know how to play the piano or the saxophone, he would ask you if there was a chance of you becoming his very own teacher. And if he was that hopeless, he would sit back and watch you take centre stage.
This brings me to another aspect of your relationship, Renjun’s guilty pleasure is being the centre of attention. He loves to add his charm and wit to whatever situation he is in, so obviously the two of you make quite the pair.
You actually make such a good pairing that one could mistake it for the two of you being very good friends.
He may seem somewhat artificial with his love of being appreciated but he really isn’t. He is another person who takes great interest in deep connections, you may find that he seems to constantly question you and press you for answers, but he really just wants to see every part of you just so he can silently appreciate your internal beauty.
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sexting/phone sex with nct dream (+ sungchan and shotaro) //
<nct 127's reaction> <wayv's reaction>
pairing: nct dream + sungtaro x fem!reader.
genre: smut.
words: 1.41k+.
warnings: 18+ content.
tagging: @hoehousenet @kdiarynet @chwe-yeeun @hoe2z @jayvoir @lqsience @jisungismymom @rosiehoon @giveortake @choijwiss
mark (copy - pasted from 127's reaction)
you desperately needed him to come over and tend to your needs but unfortunately for you, he was stuck at work. but maybe you were too horny to actually give a shit, so you send him a nice video of yourself as incentive. the video was instant boner material and mark was now in a predicament. you were so out of your mind that you asked him to show you just how much you’d affected him and this bitch really pulled through. so yeah, mutual masturbation through the phone. hotter than it sounds and mark was racing to get home after he’d cummed.
renjun (i went off on his)
you'd left him quite a few missed calls so he decided to call you back once he got a break. when he finally did, he asked what was wrong, genuinely concerned. that's when you shared that you missed him and wanted him to come home. of course he wasn't going to listen to your ridiculous demand. he was in the middle of work. so you figured the only thing you could do was give him some sort of incentive. keeping him on call, you sent him a scandalous photo of yourself. renjun was extremely caught off guard by this. he began scolding you over the phone, warning you that anyone could've seen it. but you didn't care. as long as he'd seen what you needed him to see, your mission had been accomplished. unfortunately however, it wasn't enough to get him to come home. so you blatantly began touching yourself, holding your phone to your ear so that renjun would be able to hear every single sound you made. after that it was boner city for him. he kept telling you to stop but he couldn't seem to hang up on you. he could tell you were close just by the way your moans started getting more shrill. but before he could hear you finish, you went silent, telling him to come home if he wanted to see you cum.
jeno
you both were literally just joking around, talking about whatever when the topic somehow landed on what type of banana jeno's dick resembled and what type of fruit your tits resembled. somewhere in that discussion, you commented about how big his dick was and how much you loved the stretch it gave you. this obviously fuelled his ego and he inquisitively asked you about other things he did to you that you enjoyed. so you left an overly descriptive list for him to read and get flustered over. you also decided to tell him about the things you wanted him to do to you, things so lewd and filthy. he'd never fathomed that you'd be into such corrupted things but he couldn't deny the rush of excitement he felt as he thought about doing those things to you. i used things so much here lmao but please feel free to interpret as you wish.
haechan (copy - pasted from 127's reaction)
he’d called you at the wrong time and you weren’t ready to just let him interrupt you like that. so you let go of any and all shame within yourself and picked up the phone. of course he could hear what was going on and gosh did he turn into a tomato. he went somewhere more private and tried his best not to pop a boner. this was easier said than done. you weren’t exactly being quiet. plus, he hated when you touched yourself. he believed you didn’t have to since you had him. so he told you to stop (if you didn’t then he’d make you pay for it when he got back home). but you were desperate and you really needed to cum. so, he pitied you and guided you through it. though he couldn’t see what you were doing, your moans were enough to help him vaguely imagine what was going on. he still punished you for touching yourself by coming home dreadfully late.
jaemin
he was the one who missed you and was lowkey kinda needy for you. he'd been holed up at work for so long and he couldn't wake to get back home to you. unfortunately for him, his errands were seeming to drag out longer and longer. he was so impatient and desperate that he slipped into a bathroom stall, locked the door, dialled your number and shoved his hand in his pants. when you picked up, he asked you to go to the couch or bed, strip and sit with your legs spread apart. though he couldn't see you, he was sure you were following his instructions. he told you what he was doing and asked you to touch yourself. all he needed was to hear the sound of your pretty moans, chants of his names as you pleased yourself, just as he would've if he were with you. he closed his eyes, imagining himself laying between your thighs, lips wrapped around your clit. he could almost taste you on his tongue. the sounds you let out as you came undone all over your fingers are what pushed him to his own climax. he was satisfied but he knew it wouldn't last long.
chenle
there was no reason for him to but he was bored so he pulled out his phone and asked you to send him a picture of your boobs. he was just being playful so he hadn't expected you to actually send him a nice photo of your bra clad breasts. eyes widening in awe of the sight, he sat up and asked you to send more picture of yourself. he never knew you could be so bold. he was equally impressed and stunned to say the least. all the pictures you were sending him were clearly having their wondrous effects on him. blood rushed to his cock and soon enough he began palming himself subtly. and when you switched to videos. well let's just say he made a small mess while sitting there.
jisung
you both might've done something you didn't usually do the previous night, so you were discussing about the experience. jisung had really enjoyed himself and he wasn't opposed to try it out again some time. based off your texts, it seemed the same could be said for you. your imagination was running wilder than his however. the things you were texting him were so dirty. jisung's face flushed a deep shade of red as he read all the things you'd secretly been desiring. this was all so new to him. he'd never had such lewd conversations with you over the phone. it was definitely hard to do though. he couldn't seem to be able to type straight, constantly fumbling over his words and making numerous typos.
sungchan
you'd gone shopping and since he couldn't come with you, you decided to send him pictures of all the outfits you were trying on. the last picture you'd sent him was one of you in a black body-con dress. sungchan's mouth went dry as he stared at the picture of you. you looked so fucking hot and all he could think about was ripping that tight dress off of you in order to devour your body. he was so riled up that he couldn't refrain from letting you know how he was feeling. you being the tease that you were, took advantage of your poor boyfriend's increasing horniness and began sending him more pictures of yourself, some with the dress' strap hanging off your shoulders while other showed the bottom of your dress hiked up your thigh. gosh he was so damn needy when he finally got to fuck you later on in the day.
shotaro
he was at the company, practicing his dance without realising how long he'd been at work. you kept texting him, asking him when he'd be home. by the time he actually picked up his phone, you sent him about 50 texts, each getting progressively more aggressive and nsfw. your cute pleads morphed into more scandalous reasons for why you needed him to be him so badly. you'd even taken the time to share a nice photo here and there. you'd think that all of this would either turn him on or make him want to rush home to tend to your needs. but it only makes him laugh. he scoffs and sets his phone aside. deliberately leaving you on read so that you'll know he's making you wait on purpose. shotaro's a tease, you didn't hear that from me though.
#nct smut#mark smut#renjun smut#jeno smut#haechan smut#jaemin smut#nct dream smut#sungchan smut#jisung smut#chenle smut#shotaro smut#hoehousenet#kdiarynet
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birthday boy(s)
summary: You and Jeno sneak off from his fancy birthday party because he wants your special "birthday present" right now. Unbeknownst to you, he wants it one hallway over from the party and a few others want to watch the gift giving.
pairing: bf!Jeno x fem!reader (voy: Renjun, Haechan, Jaemin)
genre: smut
au/tropes: rich kids, birthday sex, 00 liner dreamies voyeurism bc i'm a creature of habit
word count: 2k
a/n: happy birthday Jeno!
warning: unprotected sex, exhibitionism, voyeurism, fingering, lil degradation, lil masturbation, dom!Jeno, sub!reader
“You want to sneak off from your own birthday party?”
Jeno pulls your back to his chest, lacing his arms around your waist and rocking ever so slightly to the dull music. “You just said it yourself: it’s my birthday party. Let me celebrate it how I want to, okay?” Jeno whispers in your ear from behind.
“What about cutting the cake? We haven’t even done that yet and someone will notice that you’re not even here to blow out your candles.”
“I told Jaemin, Renjun, and Haechan to stall for us. We have maybe 30-40 minutes.”
Your eyes sweep over the sea of celebrities, privileged executives and self centered entrepreneurs. This lavish party thrown by his famous, filthy rich parents was not to celebrate their son. It was for the sole purpose of networking and occupying page 6 tomorrow. You knew he was miserable and you knew exactly how to make him happy. You’ve been imagining all the various ways you could make him happy in this very room.
You spin around to face him with a sly smile. “Where to, birthday boy?”
He takes your hand, bringing it up to kiss the back of it. “That’s my girl.”
He leads you around two winding halls, coming to a dead end at a narrower one. Jeno drops his hand from yours, stepping back from where you stand in the middle of the dim hallway.
His hungry gaze sweeps over your body to the crystals at the bottom of the dress, then slowly bounce back up. The dress has a long slit that nearly extends to your hip bone. He stalls on your chest, paying special attention to the low-cut trim and silently appreciating the way it accentuates your breasts. The dress cups them so beautifully that they are squeezed against the material, showing just enough skin to tease the hell out of Jeno since the second he saw you tonight. Your nipple is dangerously close to popping out, a striking visual that is enough to leave his mouth watering.
His brain fabricated various scenarios of ripping the material to the side and sucking on them in front of all those people. Your bottom lip is tucked between your teeth as his eager eyes meet your equally as eager ones.
Reaching out to tilt your chin up gently, he uses just enough pressure to indicate he wants to direct you backwards. You let out a startled yelp as your back hits the solid wall with a thud. The noise echoes down the hall, audible enough to be heard around the corner. You feel slightly nervous that someone may disturb the intimate moment, but the thrill of being discovered in a compromising situation is a massive turn on. A faint laugh rumbles in Jeno’s chest at your reaction, sensing your core is throbbing from the semi-public aspect of being with him at this very moment.
“You’re so cute, y/n.” He glides his other hand up the side of the stunning gown. “Fuck, this dress is perfect.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. Here, let me show you my favorite part.”
He slips his hand underneath the dress that gave him such easy access to your heat. His fingers arrive at their intended destination, as the rough pads of his middle and ring fingers brush over your bare folds.
“Hmm, my naughty princess didn’t wear her panties tonight, did she?” Jeno rubbed back and forth, barely making contact with your drenched lips. “You are so extremely wet, y/n. And you let yourself drip all night? Just make a mess all over yourself and probably that pretty dress when you sat down? Fuck, what a slut. I bet it turned you on, huh?”
You don’t hesitate to nod and lick your lips. Similar to Jeno, your mind wandered off throughout the night. Your core accumulated an embarrassing amount of wetness that leaked down your thighs as time passed. You couldn’t help but imagine all the places he could be fucking you in his house; bent over the blood red colored banquet tables; pressed up against the Greek inspired columns in the foyer; legs spread wide open on the royal purple benches in the parlor.
“No coming until I say so, okay?”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Aw, good girl,” he coos sweetly, a subtle dark tone underneath.
His fingers dive deeper between your pussy lips, earning an impulsive whimper from you. The lewd, wet sounds of your juices squishing around his fingers are louder than your whimpering. Curling his fingers up at the optimal angle, he finds your sweet spot and milks more uncontrollable whining from you. Of all your relationships and hookups, you have never been with a person so skilled at making you feel this good with their fingers.
“Wait, so bad news. I don’t have a condom on me.”
“I have an IUD and I’m clean.”
“Great, so am I.” he mumbles as his other hand fiddles with his expensive, tailored, dress pant’s belt, button and zipper. Jeno palms himself through his Calvin Klein briefs for a handful of seconds. Next, he twists and adjusts the waistband to make it easier for him to pull out his stiff, large cock through the front of his briefs. He lets his pants shimmy down and pool at his ankles. Holding up his hand to your chin, he instructs, “Spit.”
You split into the palm of his hand, letting some of it dribble slowly from your tongue to tease him. “Fuck, that’s hot.” he says under his breath, coating his length in your split and stroking himself at the same pace he is fingering you. Your yearning to be filled up by his cock only grows stronger from seeing him jerk off in front of you.
You remove your arms from where they are wrapped around Jeno’s neck to adjust your dress, untying the silk ribbon just under your ribcage. Instead, you flip up the material and bundle it from where it is directly below your hips. You tug it up so that it’s bunched around where the ribbon was initially and, as best you can, tightly tie the rolled up, clustered material to your rib cage region. You secure the material with a double knot, hoping it’s high enough that Jeno can fuck you and see himself disappear inside your pulsating entrance.
“Look at my baby being so smart,” he praises, pecking your lips.
He lines himself up at your needy hole, nearly dipping the tip inside you. “Jump for me, princess.”
He snaked his hands underneath your dress so he could grip your bare skin before you followed his orders and hopped into his arms. You cling tightly to his neck and wrap your ankles together behind his back. Tightly gripping handfuls beneath your cheeks, he squeezes the outer region of your ass to get the best angle.
Jeno’s cock slides into you suddenly. The unexpected pleasure of him fully spreading your walls, bottoming out within seconds, compels a moderately loud moan from you.
His thrusts are consistent and steady, plunging deep inside with every bounce. Your parted, puffy lips are too tempting and he slams your mouths together. He fills you up diligently as you make out for a while, mildly quelling his insatiable desire for your kiss. His mouth pulls away from yours to leave sloppy open mouthed kisses on every inch of your neck. Once he locates the weak patch below your ear, it’s impossible to hold back more whimpering.
“Princess, unless you want an audience, you should keep quiet,” Jeno grunts followed by an airy laugh. “Let me suck on your nipples, baby.”
He abruptly jumps again, hiking you up higher against the wall. His mouth connects with the supple skin of your breasts, finally fulfilling one of his much awaited birthday wishes of mouthing your breasts like he day dreamed about. He nips at the skin to purposefully make you squeal.
“It sounds like you really do want an audience.” he taunts. He leans forward until his lips ghost over the shell of your ear. “Maybe I should go get the other guys at my party. I’m sure Renjun, Haechan and Jaemin would love to watch me make you scream.”
Fuck. Is it wrong that that just made you twice as wet?
“You know, maybe they’d love to join in themselves, you know?”
Seriously? Does he mean that or is it just part of the sex? And how are you not supposed to think about Renjun, Haechan and Jaemin for the rest of the time Jeno’s fucking you?
You wonder how he has so much stamina to go on this long while fucking you so hard. Then you wonder how long the other three could fuck you for.
Jeno’s thumb begins to circle your clit, rhythmically. This goes on for several minutes, building up a buzzing that feeds the tightening of knots in your stomach. The effect of the intoxicating stimulation makes you pinch your eyes closed. He smirks as your body twitches against his, the visceral trembling indicating your overwhelming climax approaching, but it’s all too soon for his liking.
“Does my princess want to come? Does she want to come all over my cock right now?”
“Y-yes, please let me come,” you murmur.
“Hmm, I can’t hear you. I think you’ll have to be a little louder.”
“But-But what if someone hears? What if someone comes over here?”
Your wide eyes dart to the end of the hallway to see the three friends he mentioned moments ago all peaking around the corner in shock. You wonder how long they’ve been there, watching their friend pound you into oblivion. You should be mortified, devastated, overwhelmingly embarrassed but instead, you wish that they had seen more. You wish that they had a better view, too.
“Do you want to come or not, princess?” he challenges with an irresistible dominance. “Go on, beg. Beg for me, louder than before.”
His filthy words have always had such an effect on you and with the added turn on of a real audience, it was easy to grant his wish.
“Jeno, please, I want to come so fucking badly. Pleassee let me come, please,” you sob, lolling your head to the side so his friends see your fucked-out expression.
“Go ahead, Princess, come for me.”
Your orgasm hits out like a tidal wave. You spasm as the knots inside you are tied so tight they snap. Clenching your hot walls as they swallow his cock triggers his climax seconds after. He fucks you through the euphoria until you’re both lethargic, panting messes.
He lets you down gently, leaning his forehead to yours. You cup your hand over your dripping folds to prevent further sex juices from splattering on the stained dress you’re wearing.
“I would’ve let her come earlier than that, birthday boy,” Haechan interjects.
Jeno’s head snaps to the prying eyes unbeknownst to him. He steps in front of you protectively with no regard to his own modesty.
“Relax, she wanted us to watch the whole thing anyways.”
Jeno turns to face you, shoving his softened length inside his briefs then helping you pull your dress back to its original form. “You saw them and didn’t say anything?”
You refuse to make eye contact with him for whatever reason. Guilt floods your heart, fearing if you peer into his eyes you will see hurt or betrayal swirling behind his alluring brown irises. He grabs your chin for the second time tonight to gain your undivided attention. His touch is surprisingly gentle.
“It’s okay, y/n, I’m not mad,” he reassures you with a slim kind smile.
You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Leaning your head against his chest. You hear your name mentioned between the hushed, filthy words whispered amongst the three behind you.
“Actually, princess… what do you think about ditching this party and doing that all over again on purpose for them?”
kinda spoiling it but i’m working on an actual 00s fic right now and i'm super siked about it !!
➾my masterlist
© 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝.
#neowritingsnet#jeno smut#jeno#jeno nct#jeno scenarios#nct dream smut#nct dream scenarios#jeno imagines#jeno drabbles#lee jeno
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my best friend wants to be abducted by aliens.
pairing: son of athena!renjun x daughter of aphrodite!reader
genre: fluff, angst
word count: 14.6k (this was supposed to be 5k 😌)
author’s note: hi so here is renjun’s chapter to my 00 line x camp half-blood series (i’m sorry, i know it took forever)! thank you so much for all of the support, and i hope you enjoy 💞
warning: one (1) makeout session
You are currently crouched behind a cluster of bushes, trying to get a glimpse of your targets through binoculars.
Does that sound stalkerish? Perhaps.
Are you actually a stalker? Debatable.
However, no matter how suspicious it looks, your motive is pure—for the most part.
You’re spying on Kang Daniel (son of Hermes) and Park Jihyo (daughter of Apollo), both of whom are at the Archery Range. Jihyo is showing Daniel how to shoot, encasing him with her arms as she nocks the arrow for him. The tips of his ears are so red that they could practically be a flare; you can see how flamboyant they are all the way from your hiding spot.
You start grinning like a maniac, excited that your plan is finally unfolding.
You had noticed how awful Daniel was at archery during a training session a couple weeks ago, and you casually suggested to him that he should ask Jihyo for some lessons. You’ve always known that Daniel has been hopelessly in love with Jihyo since the moment he saw her (it’s a child of Aphrodite thing—you can just sense it), but she’s been oblivious to it this entire time.
Well, until now.
Just as you guessed, sparks flew immediately. You could cut the sexual tension between them with a knife. You give them a couple more passionately-charged archery lessons before they inevitably surrender to their emotions and begin to date—and your predictions are never wrong.
“Another job well done, Y/N,” you mumble proudly to yourself, “Mom would be so proud.”
“Excuse me, ma’am. I’m going to have to ask you to stop loitering by these bushes and stalking those two campers over there, or else I’ll have to report you to the camp director,” a sudden voice from behind you says.
Letting out a loud yelp, you drop your binoculars in surprise and whip your head around to see who it is. You turn so fast that you almost fall backwards into said bushes, quickly using your palms to balance yourself.
“Renjun, you asshole!”
Huang Renjun, your long-time best friend and professional asshole, is standing in front of you. He’s wearing the iconic orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt with black jeans, his hands tucked inside his pockets. His dark hair is parted to one side, with a single lock of hair falling perfectly into one eye, giving him the I-wake-up-and-my-hair-is-naturally-like-this look (even though it’s most definitely not true). No doubt that he’s the best-looking person in the entire camp, but his brusque personality makes him a rose with thorns. Sharp thorns.
You often wonder how the two of you even became as close as you are. Children of Athena and Aphrodite notoriously clash due to their mothers’ history with each other.
You met Renjun four years ago at Arts and Crafts Center, which is a hotspot for children of Athena. It was your first time at the camp, and you wanted to try making a ceramic (maybe a bowl or vase) to bring back to your family as a souvenir. Of course, you failed miserably and got snickered at by other Athena kids. Renjun, who had been sitting beside you, was the only one who didn’t laugh. He even gruffly gave you some pointers. Grateful, you complimented his painting—a mix of pink, yellow, blue, and purple watercolors that meshed together to resemble a galaxy. In return, he gave it to you.
“It’s not my best work, so you can have it,” he had said nonchalantly.
Even though it was the most beautiful piece of art you’ve ever seen, and it’s remained one of your most prized possessions to this day.
After that incident, you basically attached yourself at the hip with him. He would constantly complain about you following him around, but he also didn’t do anything to stop it. He’s been complaining for four, going on five, years now, yet he’s become your closest friend. Renjun likes act like you’re a pain in the ass (which isn’t untrue), but you know he cares about you. Even if he doesn’t verbalize it, you can tell by his actions; it’s all about the small things with him. Despite being rough around the edges, Huang Renjun is actually just a big softie on the inside.
“—could you stop snooping around like a weirdo?” Renjun asks, cutting your trip down memory lane short.
You rise to your feet, dusting your palms off and glaring at him. “I’m not snooping around like a weirdo. I’m just snooping around on one of my projects, like a good matchmaker.”
“Sure,” he says, rolling his eyes. He leans down and picks up your binoculars, handing them to you.
You take them and hang them around your neck. “Why are you here anyway?”
“Aren’t you the one who asked me to meet you at the Dining Pavilion for lunch?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Oh, sorry! I lost track of time,” you exclaim. “How’d you find me?”
Renjun gives you a pointed look. “Well, seeing as how Daniel and Jihyo are your current quote-unquote project, all I had to do was figure out where they were because I knew you’d be somewhere close.”
You give him a sheepish smile. “You know me so well, Junnie.”
“The hell? Don’t call me that, it’s gross,” he snaps, pretending like he’s about to gag.
“You’re not cute at all,” you huff.
“Neither are you,” he replies.
“You are so rude! You’ll never get a girlfriend with an attitude like that!” You place your hands on your hips.
“I’ll live,” he says, shrugging.
You don’t know much about Renjun’s love life because he refuses to tell you anything; he’s like a stubborn clam that won’t open up. However, he’s made it very clear that he does not want your assistance when it comes to finding romance. Obviously, it hasn’t stopped you from trying, but this is one of the few things you can’t seem to make him give in to.
Yet.
“Whatever,” you sigh. “Let’s go eat.”
The two of you walk to the Dining Pavilion, which is a relatively long walk from the Archery Range, but you make enough conversation that it feels short. When you arrive, you see that they’re serving chicken curry and rice. Your stomach growls embarrassingly loudly when the mouthwatering scent hits you, which prompts Renjun to laugh at you. You give him the middle finger and then turn around to grab a lunch tray. Once you get your food, you two sit at a table in the back.
Before you begin to eat, you notice that your curry has chunks of potatoes and slices of carrots on it—you abhor carrots more than anything in this world. Noticing your disgusted expression, Renjun slides his plate over without even batting an eyelash, so you can pick out the carrot slices and give them to him. It’s a routine thing for the two of you, since you’re an extremely picky eater and he’s not.
After you take out all of the carrots, you begin to devour your food. You’re wolfing it down so fast that you’re basically asking to choke, in which you immediately do. A piece of chicken lodges itself in your throat, and you begin to cough violently. Renjun sighs, patting your back before handing you your cup of water.
“I feel like I’m babysitting a toddler every time I eat with you,” he points out as you gulp down your water.
“Thanks,” you say after you recover.
“For dislodging the food in your esophagus or calling you a toddler?”
“Both!” you say cheerfully.
Renjun shakes his head at you, but he’s smiling. You take advantage of his good mood by quickly reaching over and swiping a couple of grapes from the fruit bowl on his tray. He rolls his eyes when you pop them into your mouth and wink at him.
“Um, Renjun?” A small, different voice cuts in. Both of you turn around to see who it is.
Hwang Yeji, daughter of Iris and one of the most popular girls at the camp, is standing there. She’s fidgeting, and you can see pink dusting her cheeks. Her friends are at the table right behind her, giving her supportive looks. She smiles shyly at Renjun.
“Can I help you?” Renjun asks, deadpanning. He isn’t rude per se, but it’s also not a friendly tone.
Yeji slightly falters at his lackluster response. “Oh, um, I’m going to be performing at the amphitheater tonight...and I was wondering if you could come watch?”
“Why?”
You know Renjun is asking because he’s genuinely baffled, but it doesn’t lessen your urge to want to slap him upside the head.
“N-No particular reason! O-Okay, bye!” Yeji turns on her heel and runs away. You watch her go back to her table, head hung low in defeat.
“What was that all about?” Renjun is still bewildered.
No longer able to control yourself, you punch him in the arm. “You moron!”
“Ow! What the hell, Y/N?” he hisses, rubbing his arm.
“She invited you to watch her perform because she likes you!” you hiss.
“What? No, she doesn’t.” He furrows his eyebrows.
“Yes, she does! I should know of all people, you dingus. Even without powers, literally anyone else would be able to see that Yeji likes you!” You’re trying your best to keep your voice down, but he’s making it difficult for you. “You are the densest person on the planet!”
“Look who’s talking,” Renjun mutters underneath his breath.
“I can’t believe you just blew her off like that,” you continue, not hearing what he said.
“How was I supposed to know she liked me? I’ve never even spoken to her,” he protests.
You stare at him in disbelief. “Couldn’t you tell by the context clues?”
“What context clues?”
“Oh my gods,” you groan, covering your face with your hands.
“What do you want me to do then?” he asks tiredly.
“Go to her performance tonight,” you say immediately, uncovering your face and whipping your head to look at him with a hopeful expression.
“I don’t really want to though. There’s no point in getting her hopes up if I don’t like her back,” Renjun states matter-of-factly.
“How do you not even have a little bit of interest in her? Look at her! She’s stunning!” You feel like your eyes are about to pop out of your head.
“I’m not saying she isn’t, but I just don’t feel anything special towards her,” he explains.
“You’re actually insane,” you say incredulously. “There’s no way someone can look at Hwang Yeji and say they don’t feel anything special.”
“If you feel so strongly about it, you could date her,” he suggests.
“No, I’ve decided,” you cut him off, slamming your hand on the table with determination. “I’m going to find you a girlfriend.”
“I’ll have to respectfully decline your services,” he answers, sighing.
“Give me one week,” you plead, “all of my matches have worked out within a week. Please, Renjun? The worst thing that can happen is that you actually like someone and you two become a couple.”
“And what if it doesn’t work out?” He tilts his head.
“Then, I’ll drop the girlfriend topic for good. I swear on River Styx. And I’ll also give up my title as Camp Half-Blood’s official matchmaker,” you promise.
“You gave yourself that title.”
“Shut up.”
“Why are you so adamant on finding me a girlfriend anyway?” he asks.
“Because you’re so set on not getting a girlfriend, and that drives me crazy. I want to know just who on this Earth can make you feel something special, if even Yeji can’t do it. I want to crack you, like a walnut,” you admit.
“Bad analogy.”
“Yeah, it sounded better in my head.”
Renjun falls quiet, and you can practically see the gears turning in his head as he weighs the pros and cons of your proposition. Athena kids think way too much and way too loudly; they need to let loose and follow their hearts more.
You sit in anticipation for just a little longer before you see the tension on his face begin to dissipate and his features begin to droop. It’s an expression you know well; he’s going to let you have your way, like he always does.
He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing. “You get five days. That’s it.”
You squeal loudly, launching yourself at him so you can envelop him in a big bear hug. He grunts as he catches you, saving the both of you from toppling backwards onto the floor. “You’re the best, Renjun!”
Even when he’s irritated or annoyed, Renjun never pushes you away when you hug him. He isn’t exactly the affectionate type, yet his embrace is always so warm and calming. His words may be cutthroat, but his actions are always gentle.
He circles his arms around your waist loosely as he sighs into your hair, seemingly waiting for you to pull back to face him before he says anything. When you do, he flicks you on the forehead instead.
Okay, so you take the his actions are always gentle part back.
“Ouch!” You shrug yourself out of his hold, rubbing the probably reddening spot on your forehead.
“Payback for punching me earlier,” Renjun says, crossing his arms. “But are you sure about this?”
“What do you mean?”
“You have a perfect record when it comes to your matches. Plus, you’re losing two out of your usual seven days. Are you sure you want to risk breaking your streak?” he asks.
“What makes you think it’ll get broken?” you shoot back.
“I don’t just think; I know it will,” he smirks arrogantly. “That’s why I’m asking.”
You feel your left eye twitch. Riled up by his cocky demeanor, you grab your cup and chug the rest of your water, wincing like you just downed a shot. Wiping your mouth, you point your finger at him.
“Huang Renjun, just you wait. I’ll make you fall in love so hard that you’ll forget your own name.”
ও DAY ONE.
The Athena Cabin is a marvel to you every time you enter it. Rather than a cabin, it’s a workshop and a library in one on the inside. There are beds pushed haphazardly against the walls, and if you didn’t know that this was the official Athena Cabin, you would’ve thought that the Athena children had simply just crashed at a random facility at the camp and decided to call it their place of residence.
Renjun is still asleep, despite the commotion of his brothers and sisters running around in the library and/or constructing something in the workshop. His bed is located in the very back, hidden by a bookshelf that’s not frequented often. He’s curled up into a ball, with the blanket covering his head but you can still see tufts of his hair sticking out from under it.
“Rise and shine!” you sing, lifting blanket off his face.
His peaceful expression twists with discomfort as its exposed to light, and he immediately rips the pillow out from under his head and puts it over his face. He says something to you, but his words are muffled. You just assume it’s some sort of profanity.
“Come on, Sleeping Beauty! We have business to attend to,” you say cheerfully, taking the pillow away and tossing it to the foot of his bed.
“And what exactly is this supposed business?” Renjun asks dryly, opening his eyes and squinting up at you.
“We’re going to scout for potential candidates for you,” you answer as you grab his arm and pull him up. He reluctantly lets you, slumping forward like a limp puppet.
“Isn’t that your job?” He raises an eyebrow, running a hand through his messy bedhead. Renjun always looks particularly adorable when he wakes up. His pajamas consist of a pair of basketball shorts and an extremely stretched-out t-shirt. The shirt is so big that it’s slipping off his shoulder, which makes him look like a little kid. His hair is sticking up in all sorts of directions, and you can’t help but grin at how cute it is.
“Yes, but you’re a special case.” You talk to him like he’s five, running your hands through his hair and messing it up even more. Renjun scowls at you, but he sits there and lets you do it.
“Geez, who peed in your cornflakes?” you tease, seeing his stormy look.
“You.”
“Okay, fine! I’ll wait for you outside, but don’t take too long to get ready,” you say, finally retracting your hands. “No more than thirty minutes or else I’m gonna come find you!”
He gives you another nasty look, and you blow him a kiss before skipping away. As you head back to the entrance, you greet a couple of Athena kids who pass by. Normally, Aphrodite and Athena children stick their noses up in the air and ignore each other, but you’re such a frequent visitor that they have had no choice but to accept you. It also helps that Renjun is quite popular, so the campers that don’t like you are forced to tolerate you anyway because you’re his best friend.
That’s another thing you don’t understand—why Renjun hangs out with you when everyone around him is practically foaming at the mouth at the prospect of being his friend (or something more). But for reasons unknown to you, he chooses to ice them out and spend time with you instead.
It’s not that you’re inherently unpopular or someone that would “tarnish” his reputation, but he could probably find someone that annoyed him less and didn’t cause as much trouble as you do. However, you’re glad that he’s choosing to stay by your side in spite of how crazy you can get, because you’re not really sure what you would do without him.
Not that you would ever admit that because Renjun would roast you to high Olympus.
As if on cue, you spot Renjun trudging toward you. True to your request, he got ready within thirty minutes. In fact, it only took him about fifteen. He doesn’t look very happy, but he’s always had a resting bitch face (though you’re pretty sure he’s just pissed at you right now).
Strangely, you’re a little embarrassed to see him. You’re not sure why you suddenly thought of your friendship with him and got all sappy. You’ve never really been good at handling the mushy-gushy stuff—only helping others find it.
“Let’s get this over with,” Renjun says begrudgingly when he reaches you, crossing his arms.
“Okay, well, first thing’s first,” you respond, trying to get back on track. You loop your arm through his, which prompts him to instantly uncross his own so you can cling onto his bicep. It’s such a natural action for you that you don’t even think about how quickly he accommodates you. “What’s your type?”
“Where are we going?” he asks, furrowing his eyebrows as he lets you lead him around.
“That depends on your answer to my question,” you reply breezily.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the one who figures that out? You know, with your whole Aphrodite-love-sense-tingle thing.”
You ignore his dig at your ability. “Normally, yes. But seeing as you’re incapable of feeling any emotion other than bitterness, I have to directly ask you.”
He laughs at your comeback. “I see. But even if I do tell you my type, what makes you think she will like me too?”
“If she doesn’t, then just woo her with your irresistible charm,” you say sarcastically.
“My irresistible charm has a tendency to make people hate my guts, actually,” Renjun says, shrugging. “Wouldn’t want that, would we?”
“Renjun, you are fully capable of making a girl fall for you,” you chide, huffing at his negative attitude. “I’m not concerned with that. My main issue right now is finding someone that will make you care enough to want her to like you back.”
“You think so?” he asks quietly, looking down at where your hand is resting on his arm.
“Hm?”
“I hope you’re right,” he says a little louder, dragging his gaze away from your hand and giving you a small smile. “About being capable.”
When Renjun looks into your eyes, you feel him for the first time. Your heart wrenches with his, like a knife was driven into it and something keeps twisting it. It’s an excruciating pain that makes your lungs want to cave in, a pain so unbearably sad that it makes you want to assume fetal position and bawl your eyes out, an exhausting pain that drains you of all your energy until you want to collapse, a pain that makes you hate yourself—but it’s a pain you never want to get rid of. It’s a pain that makes you happy. It’s a pain you’re willing to endure for...for...for what?
But the pain only lasts for a moment, flashing by like lightning. As you try to reach deeper, it slips through your fingers. Just as suddenly as it hit you, it vanishes. What remains in its place is the metaphorical iron wall that you always seem to run into every time you try to look into Renjun’s heart.
You can already feel your body starting to forget the pain. It’s so fast that you begin questioning if you even truly felt it in the first place, or if it was all some fever dream. You could also be having a stroke, so there’s that.
All jokes aside, you’re not sure what you’re more surprised by: the fact that Renjun has been feeling like this or how well he’s managed to hide it.
And you’re not sure what you’re more hurt by: the fact that Renjun didn’t tell you or if you’re the one he’s trying to hide it from.
“—hello? Y/N? Earth to Y/N?” Renjun waves his hand in front of your face.
You jolt, blinking several times as you detach yourself from your whirlwind of thoughts. “S-Sorry! What were you saying?”
“What’s wrong?” he asks, brows furrowing in concern. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Ghosts don’t exist,” you retort automatically.
“Yes, they do! How many times have I told you there’s no way that my glass bottle could’ve fallen from my bed without shattering, yet it was underneath my bed, completely and totally unsc—” He begins to protest.
You cut him off by wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him in for a hug. Thankfully, Renjun stops rambling about his ghost story that you’ve heard about a million times and trails off. His hands slowly come to rest on the small of your back, giving you soothing pats. It makes you sad that he’s always ready to comfort you when he’s the one that needs it. Your vision gets blurry with tears, but you hurriedly blink them away.
“How can you be so smart yet so dumb?” you whisper into his shoulder, clutching him tighter.
“You know, you’re sending me mixed signals here,” he says wryly.
You hug him for a couple more seconds before pulling back. Reaching your hands up, you cup his face. Unfortunately, you do it a little too enthusiastically and basically slap both of his cheeks. “Shit! I’m so sorry, Renjun!”
“Ow! What is wrong with you?” he demands, wincing. His lips are adorably jutted out and his words probably aren’t as angry as he wants them to be because you’re squishing his cheeks way too hard.
“I just wanted to tell you that I will definitely find you a girlfriend. No matter what,” you declare with determination in your eyes.
Because I don’t want you to be in pain anymore. Because you deserve to be happy. Because you should have someone to lean on too, you want to say.
Renjun is staring at you like you’ve grown another head. “Y/N, you’re scaring me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” you dismiss. “Now, hurry up and tell me your ideal type.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“Oh my gods, I’m fine. Stop with all the questions and just answer me!” you say, placing your hands on your hips.
“I think I’m starting to reconsider my ideal type right now,” he replies, eyeing you suspiciously.
You sigh loudly. “Could you tell me one character trait that you would like in a girlfriend? Just one. Pretty please with a cherry on top?”
He snorts, and you begin to grow frustrated. “Renjun—”
“Stubborn,” he answers.
You raise an eyebrow. “Of all the things you could’ve chosen, you went with that?”
“I finally answer your question and now you’re shaming me for it?” he shoots back.
You put your hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay, sorry. Anything else you can think of?”
“Unpredictable. Hotheaded. Infuriating. Nosy. Reckless. Unable to take anything seriously. No concept of personal space,” he lists them off like he’s has it memorized.
“These are all terrible traits,” you point out, frowning.
“Tell me about it.”
“Stop messing around,” you snap, giving him a small shove. “Some positive ones, please.”
Renjun pauses. “This might take a second.”
You give him a pointed look, crossing your arms and tapping your foot impatiently. At this point, you’re not even sure if he’s just joking or if he actually means it. However, it’s the only thing you’ve gotten out of him so far, so you have to work with it.
“Dedicated,” he finally says after some intense pondering.
You exhale in relief. “Thank gods. What else?”
“Kind. Cheerful. Carefree. Funny. Always makes me smile. Marches to her own beat. An open book when it comes to her feelings. Says whatever is on her mind without thinking twice. Gets excited about things that don’t matter. Has a wonderful laugh. Able to see the good in me, even though I’m an asshole—”
As he continues, you eventually stop paying attention to his words and watch his expression. All of his features have softened, and there’s a warmth in his eyes that you’ve never seen before. He has the gentlest smile on his face as he talks, but you’re not even sure that he’s aware of it.
You wouldn’t be a child of Aphrodite if you couldn’t recognize a boy in love, and Renjun certainly fits the bill.
Suddenly, you feel an ugly sensation twisting in the pit of your stomach, coiling like a poisonous snake. It’s an awful feeling, and it makes you ashamed because it resembles jealousy way too closely for your comfort. You hate feeling like this, but you don’t know how to stop it. In fact, you don’t even know why you’re feeling this way. It’s foreign to you, but you know it’s not coming from Renjun. This is all coming from inside you.
“Stunning in every way,” Renjun finishes quietly. His voice is barely a whisper, but you can hear it clearly, as if it’s right in your ear.
Digging your nails into your palms, you let out a low whistle. “That was very...specific.”
“Afraid of a challenge?” he counters, smirking.
His banter makes you grin. It’s almost enough to make you forget the feeling in your stomach. You wonder why you keep getting worked up by yourself. Maybe the summer heat is getting to you, and you really are on the verge of having a stroke.
“It’s like you don’t even know me,” you retort dramatically, clinging onto his arm again. “Alright, let’s go!”
“Where?”
“The Training Grounds!”
“Why there?” His nose crinkles.
“Your ideal type is as Ares kid as it can get,” you say, snorting. “So, obviously, we’re going to their turf.”
“Ares children are obnoxious and arrogant,” Renjun scoffs.
“And you’re a smartass, so it’ll be fine,” you say breezily.
He rolls his eyes, muttering under his breath.
“You’re such a drama queen. Besides, it won’t be only Ares kids there,” you point out.
He shrugs in a noncommittal manner but ultimately lets you lead him to the Training Grounds. When you arrive, as expected, it’s mainly Ares kids there. For people who aren’t used to it, the Training Grounds could be mistaken for a battle royale, judging by how vicious it can get at times. Even though it’s just a bunch of sweaty young adults angrily swinging swords at dummies and each other.
Stroking your chin, you begin to scan the area. It’s only when your eyes fall onto Park Sooyoung, the daughter of Ares that’s infamous for making men cower to their knees, that the lightbulb goes off in your head.
“What about Sooyoung?” you ask excitedly, tugging on Renjun’s shirt.
He frowns. “She hates me.”
“You don’t know that,” you say.
“She tried to throw a dagger at my head once,” he states flatly.
“She does that to everyone,” you dismiss. “I think you two would work well together.”
“Please, enlighten me.”
“She could be the brawn to your brain. She’s super rambunctious, while you’re more reserved and can keep her in check. But she’ll be able to teach you how to live a little, and you’ll just perfectly balance each other out. You know, that whole opposites attract and enemies to lovers trope,” you explain.
“Enemies to lovers?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Yes,” you say dreamily, “You two start off absolutely despising each other, but neither of you can fight the tension building and eventually just get entangled in the throes of your passion!”
“Okay, Fifty Shades of Grey, calm down,” Renjun says, scrunching up his features in disgust. “Stop writing fanfiction in your head and come back to the real world.”
You glare at him for killing your vibe. “Just go and try to talk to her.”
“I don’t want to be mauled.” There’s actually a small glimmer of fear in his eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s not gonna kill you. At least not in front of everyone like this,” you reassure him.
“So you’re admitting that there is a possibility she would kill me.”
Fed up, you snatch his wrist and begin dragging him. He makes noises of protest, but you keep a vice-like grip on him. Sooyoung is sparring with some of her brothers (and frankly, handing their asses to them). You’re envious of how beautiful she is even with sweat dripping from her chin and tendrils of hair stuck to her neck. Her face is flushed with effort, but it makes her look like a peach.
However, don’t ever judge a book by its cover because she proceeds to lift one of her brothers, as if she’s bench pressing him, and tosses him aside like a rag doll. He comes flying directly toward you, but Renjun wraps an arm around your shoulders and yanks you aside with his surprisingly quick reflexes. Sooyoung’s brother lands with a hard thud, right beside your feet.
Renjun holds you tightly against him as he scowls at Sooyoung, who is smirking at him. Your heart is pounding wildly, though you’re not sure if it’s from the adrenaline rush of one of Sooyoung’s brothers hurling towards you like a projectile or the way Renjun is cradling you to him.
“Are you out of your mind?” Renjun demands, livid.
“Sorry about that,” Sooyoung says, trying to hide her amusement.
“No, you’re not. You did it on purpose,” Renjun snaps.
“Remove head from ass, Huang. If I didn’t think you’d be able to get her out of the way in time, I wouldn’t have done it,” Sooyoung responds, sounding bored.
“What if I hadn’t? Your tank of a brother would’ve knocked Y/N out,” Renjun says angrily, gritting his teeth. “And trust me, she doesn’t need any more screws loose than she already has.”
“Hey!” you chime in, offended. His arm falls from your shoulders and back to his side when you give him a dirty look. He seems a little surprised, whether the reason be from your sudden protest or how long his arm’s been around you.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sooyoung says, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, what do you want? You’re here to see me, right?”
Renjun opens his mouth to say something, but you slap a hand over his mouth. “Renjun thinks you’re really pretty and wants to train with you.”
Perhaps you could have delivered it in a smoother manner.
“Mm?” He stares at you with wide, horrified eyes. He’s trying to speak, but it’s all muffled by your palm.
Sooyoung snorts, crossing her arms and tilting her head. “Does he now?”
“Yes. He’s just too shy to admit it,” you lie through your teeth.
“Mhm, I’m sure he is,” she laughs. “What’s the actual reason you’re here?”
“Whatever are you talking about? That is the reason,” you answer sweetly. “So, what do you say? Wanna spar him?”
“Mmmmmm!” Renjun has you by the wrist, trying to remove your hand from his mouth, but you won’t budge.
“You must think I was born yesterday,” Sooyoung sighs. “You’re trying to set us up together, right? Glad to see you’re sticking to your whole matchmaking schtick.”
“Maybe,” you admit sheepishly. “Also, it is not a schtick! I have a natural affinity for finding people that are compatible with each other, like all Aphrodite children, and it is my duty to use that ability in order to help others.”
Despite how proud you look, Sooyoung and Renjun exchange knowing glances, and she reaches forward and gives him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Stray strong, soldier.”
“Mm,” he responds, sounding tired.
You watch the interaction with a baffled expression. Neither one of them seems intent on providing any context for you. You’re hit with another pang of jealousy.
“While it would be my utmost honor to be Renjun’s girlfriend, I will have to decline. Firstly, because I would definitely murder him by our third date tops. And secondly, because I already have a girlfriend,” Sooyoung says nonchalantly.
Your hand goes limp and falls off of Renjun’s mouth, finally freeing him. Your jaw is hanging wide open, a direct invitation for flies. The both of you just stand there and gawk at her.
“What?” you exclaim, grabbing her by the shoulders. “You have a girlfriend?”
Most Aphrodite kids are just naturally aware of all the couples at Camp Half-Blood whenever they see them, but you make it a point to keep tabs on them so you can avoid incidents like this while you’re trying to find matches for others. Clearly, you’ve missed one.
“Ye—”
“Who is it?” you demand, resisting the urge to shake her until her bones rattle. “How could I not know about it?”
“Well, that was the goal,” Sooyoung explains, “we want it to be a secret.”
You’re gripping her so tightly that the tips of your fingers have turned white, though you’re sure it doesn’t bother her since she’s pure muscle. You want to know who it is so badly, but you respect her privacy, so you decide to let it go. Even if you really don’t want to.
“I understand,” you say solemnly, begrudgingly releasing her. Your body is slightly twitchy as you fight to control your need to snoop.
“You look like you’re about to pass out,” Renjun cuts in, half-joking and half-concerned.
“Today has not gone well for me,” you sigh, spirit crushed by the sudden news and exhausted because of your weird mood swings that have been happening. “I’m hot, and I just want a nice, cold shower, followed by some nice, cold ice cream, and then followed by a nice, warm nap. We’ll try this again tomorrow.”
“Want me to walk you back to your cabin?” Renjun asks.
You nod, shoulders slumped in defeat. “Sorry to bother you, Sooyoung.”
“No problem. You’ll get ‘em next time,” Sooyoung says, trying to sound encouraging.
As you turn to pitifully walk away, you notice Sooyoung and Renjun exchange another look in your peripheral. She gives him a thumbs up and he smiles wryly before he also turns to follow you.
It’s just the icing on the cake for your awful day.
The walk back to your cabin is pretty quiet; Renjun sensing your foul mood and making the wise decision of letting you pout all by your lonesome (not that he’s much of a chatterbox anyway). You’re looking down at your feet as you walk, and he kindly navigates you through crowds and moves you out of the way when campers run by. This is something Renjun does often, since you have a tendency to not pay much attention to your surroundings on a regular basis, so you don’t even think twice about it.
When you finally arrive, Renjun gives you a comforting pat on the back. “See you tomorrow. I’ll meet you here. Do not barge into my cabin and give me another rude awakening like you did today.”
You give him a strained smile and wink. “No promises.”
Of course, your act doesn’t fool him. He sighs. “Did it really bother you that much that Sooyoung managed to hide her relationship from you? It’s not like you to be so down after one failure.”
Honestly, that’s the least of your concerns right now. Did it hurt your pride? Yes, but you’ve recovered from a wounded pride countless times.
What bothers you the most right now is the vile jealousy that you’ve stored in your heart. How shitty you felt when he was describing his ideal type (and how absolutely lovestruck he looked), or how bitter you were when you saw that Sooyoung and Renjun were in on something you weren’t. It eats away at you, seemingly within moments, before you even know what’s happening. But why? Where is it all coming from?
This is Renjun you’re talking about. Renjun, your best friend. Renjun, the one who’s always there for you. Renjun, the closest person to you other than your bloodline.
Or so you thought.
The pain that you felt from him earlier still haunts you, even if it’s faint. You’ve always seen Renjun as someone you can confide in, no matter what, yet it doesn’t appear like he feels the same towards you. In fact, an irrational part of you thinks you may be the one he’s trying to keep it from.
And the paranoid part of you thinks Sooyoung knows about it too.
You know it’s horrible to think that, but you can’t control it. Renjun isn’t required to tell you everything he feels just because you do, not that it doesn’t hurt any less. It just bugs you that there could be someone closer to him than even you, which is an incredibly toxic mindset to have. You’re upset by the fact that you’re so possessive of him, yet you can’t seem to let him go either.
I guess it’s alright if it’s Sooyoung, you admit to yourself, since she has a girlfriend.
You blink.
Wait, what?
Before you can figure out what the hell your brain meant by that, you feel Renjun place his hand on your forehead. It jars you from your thoughts and you come back to reality, where Renjun is staring at you with furrowed brows as he checks your temperature.
“Are you sure you’re feeling alright? You’ve been spacing out all day,” he says, clearly worried.
“F-Fine!” you answer way too enthusiastically. “Sorry, what were you saying?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he dismisses. “Just go get some rest.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” you nod hurriedly, giving him a two-finger salute. “I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early! Don’t oversleep!”
“Yeah, yeah,” he waves you off, smiling. You can tell he’s still concerned, but your brighter attitude relieves him just a tad. “Oh, and Y/N?”
“Mhm?”
“I forgot to mention one more trait for my ideal type.”
“What is it?” You wish you had never asked him in the first place. Just when your mood was getting a little better, it sours just as quickly.
“Dense,” he adds.
You give him a puzzled look. “Huh?”
“I want her to be dense,” he states simply.
“No way,” you argue, when his words finally register. “How is it gonna work out if both of you are dense as hell?”
“Who knows? Maybe our denseness will cancel each other out, and we’ll fall in love instantly,” he shrugs.
“Of course. PEMDAS and shit,” you jokingly agree.
“Exactly,” he says, nodding with a deadpan expression.
You laugh loudly—a big belly laugh that makes Renjun beam. The tension eases off his features, and he seems much more reassured. Your heart swells at how hard he’s trying to make sure you’re okay, not that he would ever admit that.
“Okay, for real now. Bye, Y/N.” He gives you a lazy wave before walking away, shattering your touching moment.
You huff at how he turned around without even letting you respond, though you still wave back (even if he can’t see it), and go back into your cabin. The moment the door closes behind you, you make a beeline for the shower. Peeling off your sweat-soaked clothes, you close your eyes in bliss when the cold water hits you.
As you let the water run down your body, you begin to feel more and more like a petulant child that just threw the biggest tantrum ever. You’re embarrassed that you overreacted like that and got so emotional for no reason. You chide yourself for being selfish. Just because you’re upset that Renjun doesn’t confide in you the way you do him, it doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t have someone. You should be happy for him when he finds a person he can fully open up to, even more so than you. Isn’t that what you’re trying to do for him right now?
You shut the water off before slapping your cheeks hard, giving yourself a wake up call. Resolving to be more composed tomorrow, you decide to just take a nap for now as you change into comfortable clothes and dry your hair off.
When you get to your bed, you see a small bowl of ice cream on your nightstand. Luckily, your shower didn’t take too long, so it’s still relatively frozen. It’s two scoops of chocolate, which is your favorite. You’re so excited that you almost miss the note tucked underneath the bowl.
don’t know when you’re going to get out of the shower, so this might just be soup by the time you’re out. if that’s the case, drink it anyways since i went through the trouble of getting it.
You snort. It’s so like Renjun to write a tactless note like this and not even bother signing off on it. If he’s going to be sweet, he shouldn’t ruin the moment by doing what he always does—opening his mouth (figuratively, in this case).
But it’s not enough to wipe that big grin off your face, as you carefully fold up the note and put it in your drawer.
He’s not cute at all.
ও DAY TWO.
The next day is about as successful as the first one, if not worse.
You had woken up with a game plan. Before you went to meet Renjun, you drafted up a list of campers that matched his ideal type (for the most part, since he was a little too specific). The goal was to narrow it down to a couple names before trying to march in head first, since that went disastrously yesterday.
Unfortunately, instead of things going smoothly like you had hoped, you find yourself banging your head against a tabletop repeatedly.
You and Renjun are currently sitting in the library of the Athena Cabin, having been there for almost an hour now. He’s nearly eliminated your entire list that you so meticulously curated this morning. You’re starting to wonder if he’s purposefully being difficult just to see you riled up.
Renjun watches you hit your head a couple more times before outstretching his hand, catching your forehead in his palm and blocking you from hitting it against the table again. “Stop before you bleed all over the table, and I get stuck scrubbing it out later.”
You raise your head to glare at him. “I’ll show you bleeding all over the table.”
He doesn’t even blink at your threat, infuriatingly unfazed. “Are you done with your list already?”
“No,” you grumble, “I still have some left.”
“So, if I’m not interested in the rest, does that mean we’re done for the day?” he asks.
“Haha,” you say wryly, “you wish. If you don’t pick one, then I’ll just go through the list myself and pick one that I think is the most compatible with you.”
“Damn it.”
“Okay, what about Hyun Seunghee? She’s an Apollo kid. Super talented and sweet, one of the most adorable people on the planet, and loves art just like you,” you suggest.
“Seunghee is a very sweet girl,” Renjun agrees. “But I don’t think I have the energy to keep up with her. She’s even bubblier and more hyperactive than you, and I can barely manage dealing with you.”
Sighing, you cross out Seunghee’s name on your list while simultaneously flipping off Renjun with your other hand. “Okay, what about Lee Mijoo? She’s one of my sisters, and honestly, she’s way out of your league but I’ll keep her in the running for now.”
You figure it’s best to not mention that, despite being way out of his league, Mijoo has expressed some very...explicit interest in Renjun before. It’ll make things awkward if they do end up talking, and you aren’t one to expose your own sister like that.
“Ew, no way, that’s weird,” Renjun says, scrunching up his nose.
“What, why?”
“I don’t want to date anyone related to you. That would make us sort of related too, and the last thing I want is to be your brother.” He spits out the word like it’s a stale piece of gum that he’s been chewing for four hours.
“First of all, slow down, tiger. You would have to marry her for us to be related. This is just a casual thing. No one said anything about marriage. Second of all, that is so mean! Why wouldn’t you want to be in-laws with me?” you demand, offended.
“Don’t most people enter relationships with the intention of spending the rest of their lives with each other?” he asks, skillfully dodging your question. “I won’t date someone if I think we’re just going to breakup down the road.”
There’s a beat of silence as you stare at him with wonder. Your lips curl into a gentle smile, and you can’t hide the adoration in your expression. Renjun truly is all bark and no bite. Who would’ve guessed there’s such a lovely and pure person behind his sharp tongue?
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks warily. You swear you can see a little pink dusting the shells of his ears and the tip of his nose.
“It’s just...you’re much more of a hopeless romantic than I initially thought, Huang Renjun,” you say teasingly.
Now, you can definitely tell he’s embarrassed. He mumbles a “shut up” under his breath, but you can barely hear it.
“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself,” you advise, “it’s totally natural to date and breakup. You can love someone with all of your heart, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be your life partner. Loosen up, my friend, and just have fun! Fall in love recklessly, and don’t think about anything else! That’s what youth is all about!”
You expect him to make fun of you for lecturing him like you’re centuries old, when the both of you can barely label yourselves as adults, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he’s gazing at you with a deep melancholy in his eyes. You’re sitting right across from him, but the way he looks at you makes it seem like you’re galaxies away. Your gut wrenches at how hurt and helpless he seems, like he’s yearning for something that is out of his reach.
Time seems to slow down as the two of you stare into each other’s eyes, as if you’re both entranced. It’s hard to tell how long you stay like that, but it feels like you’ve woken up in the middle of a sweet dream when Renjun finally breaks eye contact. You’re slightly disoriented, even though it’s probably only been a few seconds.
Clearing his throat, Renjun mutters, “Anyways, don’t put anymore of your siblings on the list.”
You take a moment to gather your thoughts before sighing. “Fine. But now I’ve run out of names on my list.”
“Well, gosh darn it, what a shame,” he says in a terrible Southern accent while attempting to get up. “Look’s like that’s a wrap for today!”
“Not so fast,” you cut in, snapping your fingers at him to sit back down. “We’re not done yet.”
He groans but reluctantly obeys, dramatically throwing his head into his arms when he does.
“Behave while I go through this list again,” you order, putting stars next to names that you’re going to force Renjun to reconsider with.
“Now, you’re making me want to hit my head against the table,” he complains, voice muffled by his arms.
You ignore his whining, focusing on your current task at hand. Just as you finish narrowing it down to a select few, someone brushes past you and it’s like you hear angels singing. Seo Soojin, daughter of Nemesis and actual hotness personified, walks by.
Soojin is relatively new to Camp Half-Blood, having arrived for the first time last year. You don’t know much about her personality because she keeps to herself and her tight-knit circle of friends for the most part. You know for a fact that she’s a far cry from Renjun’s type, but you’re starting to think he doesn’t really know what he wants—seeing that he shot down every single person on your list already. She will be a nice change of pace for him.
“What about Soojin?” you ask in a hushed whisper, leaning forward.
“Who?” Renjun looks around, not lowering his voice or trying to be subtle in the slightest.
“Shhh!” you hiss, grabbing him by his shirt and yanking him forward. You pull a little too hard and end up knocking your foreheads together.
“Ow! Why is your head made out of cast iron?” Renjun winces. He tries to lean back, but you don’t let him escape.
“Shut up! You’re the blockhead, asshole,” you protest, getting offended for the second time. “Anyways, Seo Soojin. The girl over there. The one with the bangs, big lips, and is hot as fuck?”
He squints, finally zeroing in on her. “What about her?”
“That’s what I’m asking you, dipshit!”
Renjun shrugs noncommittally—an action that you’ve grown extremely accustomed to during these past two days, an action that makes you want to rip your own hair out. “She seems nice.”
“Well, try and talk to her then,” you say, spelling it out for him. “You know, so you can see if the two of you will hit it off or not.”
He gives you a look. It’s the same look that a twelve-year-old kid gives his mother when she makes him take a picture in front of a national monument that he doesn’t know anything about, nor does he care to. However, she insists, so he reluctantly trudges over to it and takes the picture—hands firmly balled up by his sides and his lips pressed into a hard line, no matter how much his mom tells him to smile.
So, in other words, Renjun looks like he wants to crawl into a hole and die.
“Are you sure that you’re human?” you ask incredulously. You’re not even being sarcastic at this point; you genuinely want to know how he is able to feel absolutely nothing for women that could rival the goddesses themselves.
“Technically—”
“If you say that you’re only half-human because we’re demigods, you’re going to get a pen through the jugular,” you warn, pointing your pen at him.
“Am I wrong, though?”
“You know what I mean, you smartass. Are you or are you not capable of feeling romantic attraction towards another person?” you demand.
“I am,” he simply says.
“That’s it? That was the most robotic answer I’ve ever heard in my life!” you exclaim.
“What else am I supposed to say?” he asks, throwing his arms up.
“Have you experienced any blackouts recently, like woken up without memory of the past twenty-four hours? Have you checked your body for any chip implants under your skin?” You eye him suspiciously. “Been beamed up by any UFOs? Gone somewhere haunted?”
Renjun gives you a pointed look, sighing. “While it is touching to know that you do, in fact, listen to me whenever I talk about topics I’m interested in, this is not how I wanted you to apply your knowledge.”
“You know, now that I think about it, you sure talked about alien abductions a lot,” you say, stroking a fake beard on your chin. “Could it be because you were actually abducted by aliens and got brainwashed into gathering information about us demigods, but they took away your ability to feel emotions so they wouldn’t get in the way of your mission?”
You pause, waiting for his reaction. Renjun is very obviously trying not to smile, with his chin being propped up by his palm and his fingers covering his mouth. “Please, continue.”
“But ultimately, that will be your fatal flaw and the downfall of your mission because you can’t empathize like humans can,” you finish dramatically.
“Alright, let’s say I was brainwashed by aliens. Why would I then draw more attention to myself by talking about the very thing that happened to me? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Reverse psychology,” you explain, “you talk about them, so you won’t seem suspicious.”
Renjun exhales sharply before looking down at his feet. You can see his lips twitching as he tries not to laugh, though you’re pretty sure that exhale from before was a small laugh. You’re grinning, despite the fact that you’re also trying to keep up your detective act.
“I’m kind of wish I had been abducted by aliens right about now. Maybe brainwashed me would be a little more courageous,” he mutters under his breath. You’re not sure if you were meant to hear that, but you do anyways.
“That sounds exactly like something someone abducted by an alien would say!” you say in an accusatory tone, pointing a finger at him. He rolls his eyes, but a tiny smile eventually makes its way to his lips.
You gasp loudly, grabbing his face and pulling it towards your own. He makes a small noise of surprise, eyes as wide as UFO saucers. Your faces are so close that your noses are slightly brushing up against one another, but you’re not paying attention to that right now.
“Or you could be a lizard person,” you whisper, “you know, the ones that people think take the place of government officials.”
“They’re called reptilian humanoids,” Renjun corrects. His breath (which smells like the blueberry muffin he had this morning) rustles your baby hairs.
“Your eyes are glowing yellow, and your pupils are turning into slits,” you tease.
“Are they, now?”
No, they aren’t. His eyes are a cool, icy gray, like most Athena children. It’s always been a trait you’ve been jealous of. They sparkle like stars, or freshly fallen snow. They change according to his mood too. For example, when he gets angry, there are no stars. Instead of twinkling, they flash like lightning. His eyes are truly the window to his soul; they’re one of your favorite things about him.
Renjun slightly leans into your touch, and it finally hits you how close he is. You’re cupping his face with both hands, tilting his chin up, and it looks like you’re about to...kiss him.
It seems you’re not the only one who thinks so, because almost the entire library is gawking at you. Including Seo Soojin. She looks surprised, and slightly disgusted, by the two of you.
Oh.
You feel heat rise from your neck to your entire face.
Oh gods, they all think we’re a couple.
You recoil away from him, withdrawing your hands like your just burned yourself. “We have to get out of here.”
“What?” As always, Renjun doesn’t know what’s going on.
“Just come on,” you say quickly, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the library.
Your face burns for a long time after that, and you can no longer focus on anything else. In the end, you decide to call it a day after a few more half-hearted attempts to find more candidates for Renjun. When you come back to your cabin, you take another cold shower.
You’re not sure what you’re so flustered by: the fact that you didn’t realize what you were doing or the fact that everyone in the library saw it.
Or the fact that you didn’t mind the notion of being mistaken for a couple with Renjun.
ও DAY THREE.
You don’t meet bright and early with Renjun today. He demanded to sleep in this time, since he’s not an early riser to begin with and the past two days have sucked all the energy out of him.
Which means you’re free until noon. You check the time—10 AM.
Two hours to kill.
You don’t feel like getting all sweaty and hot, so any activity outside is out. You really don’t want to be judged by more Athena kids in the Arts and Crafts Center without Renjun. So, you decide to head back to the library, despite how yesterday went.
You check out a book that goes into depth about some of the most believable conspiracy theories; Renjun actually read it a while ago (and totally geeked out about it to you), but who would have thought that you would end up reading it too? Past you definitely would’ve laughed in your face if you told her that.
Once you get back to your cabin, you curl up in your covers and begin to read. You get about two chapters in when you hear the door open and Jeong Jaehyun, one of your brothers, walks in. He’s wearing his orange t-shirt that’s soaked with sweat, and his hair is dripping from perspiration too. His pale skin glistens, and he looks like a sweaty and sparkly vampire.
“Hey, kid,” Jaehyun says, nodding at you. He isn’t that much older than you, but he’s gotten into the habit of calling you kid for some reason.
“This is a surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you come back from training before 5 PM,” you tease.
He lets out a low whistle. “Way too hot out there. I needed to get some A/C before I had a heatstroke—is that a book in your hand?”
“What about it?” you ask, raising an eyebrow.
Jaehyun snorts. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you near a book, much less read one.”
“Rude. I am expanding my horizons,” you retort.
“It seems so. What was up with you and Renjun at the library yesterday?” Jaehyun plops down on the edge of your bed.
“How do you even know about that?” you ask, wrinkling your nose. “And go take a shower first before you sit on my bed! You stink!”
“Do I?” He waggles his eyebrows and throws his arms around you in a bear hug. You try your best to shove him off, but he has a hold on your like a python.
“I hate you,” you say when he finally pulls back, sniffing your shirt to make sure you still smelled like your fabric softener. “Anyways, how’d you find out about the library thing?”
“Rumors spread fast around here, dear sister. But, seriously, what’s the deal?”
“There is no deal, Jaehyun,” you sigh, closing your book. “It’s all just a misunderstanding. We were joking around while I was trying to find a potential girlfriend for him there—which, by the way, is going horribly. I don’t think he feels romantic attraction properly like everybody else.”
“Oh right. I forgot you roped Renjun into your matchmaking thing,” Jaehyun says, disappointed. “Damn, and here I thought he finally made a move.”
Your head snaps up to give him a quizzical look. “What?”
“What?” He tilts his head.
“What did you mean by that, the part where you said you thought Renjun finally made a move?” you ask.
Jaehyun stares at you for a couple of seconds, an astonished expression on his face. “Do you really not know?”
“Would I be asking if I didn’t know?” you shoot back, annoyed that he still hasn’t answered you.
“Gods, all this time, I thought you were just pretending like you didn’t know because you didn’t want to make things awkward,” he continues, shaking his head.
“Jaehyun, what are you talking about?” you demand.
“Renjun is in love with you, Y/N.”
You gape at him. It’s a good thing you’re already sitting down because you definitely would have fallen on your ass if you had been standing.
“Th-Th-That’s impossible,” you stammer, like an absolute idiot. “There’s n-n-no way.”
“Oh, come on, lil’ sis. He’s never even tried to hide it. He’s so obvious about it that I seriously don’t understand how you didn’t know,” Jaehyun snorts. “You don’t even need to have powers to see that he’s head over heels for you.”
“But—but how? I would’ve sensed it!” you exclaim.
“You’re so sharp when it comes to other people, but you’re dense as hell when it comes to yourself,” Jaehyun points out, shrugging. “You just never paid attention, Y/N.”
You don’t respond. Your mind is a mess, a jumbled mishmash of emotions. You’re feeling so many things right now, and you can’t pinpoint any of it.. You wouldn’t be surprised if you passed out.
“Do you like him back?” Jaehyun asks softly.
“I—no! Of course not. Renjun’s my best friend. If I liked him, why would I be trying to find him a girlfriend right now? That’d be stupid of me. Yeah, that’d be so dumb. Why would I do that?” You’re rambling now, and it’s glaringly obvious that you’re trying to convince yourself rather than Jaehyun (and you know he can see it too).
“It doesn’t seem like you’re trying that hard, though.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” you ask defensively.
“The Y/N I know spends all hours of the day gathering information on her potential matches and making sure even the tiniest detail goes according to her master plan that she’s already drafted inside her head. She wouldn’t be sitting here, leisurely reading a book, especially if it’s going horribly. She would be doing everything in her power to get things back on track,” Jaehyun notes. “Ask yourself. Do you really want Renjun to get a girlfriend?”
“Wh-Why wouldn’t I?” You ask him, hoping he knows the answer, because you sure as hell don’t know.
“Because he won’t always be there anymore. He won’t have time to let you constantly drag him into your antics anymore. You won’t be his number one anymore. His girlfriend will be his first priority, of course, as she should. Think long and hard about that, Y/N. Will you be okay with that?”
“I—” The words seem to die inside your throat as you come to realization that you might not be okay with that at all. You’ve always gone to Renjun for everything and knowing that he may not always be there makes you feel lost, like a compass without it’s True North. You’re being selfish again, but it seems like you’ve gotten into the habit of acting selfish whenever it comes to Renjun. You’ve let yourself grow too reliant on him.
“Why do you care so much anyways?” Now, you’re deflecting. “Why did you tell me all of this?”
“Because you’re my little sister and I care about you. I want you to be one hundred percent sure of your own feelings, so your heart doesn’t get broken. The only reason I didn’t say anything sooner was because I thought you were already sure. Take some time and think about it, Y/N. It’ll be better for your friendship with Renjun if everything is crystal clear between the two of you,” Jaehyun advises, giving you a pat on the shoulder. He gets up, presumably to take a shower, and leaves.
You barely notice him go.
You sit in your bed, staring blankly at the wall, until Renjun finally arrives. He’s still a little groggy, probably having woken up ten minutes ago before coming. His clothes are a little rumpled and his hair isn’t styled, with his bangs flopping in his eyes. Normally, you would have made fun of him and mussed it up, but you have other things on your mind as of the moment.
Like always, he can tell something is up. He gets that concerned look on his face—the one where he has a deep crease between his brows and his rosy lips are turned downwards.
“What’s wrong?” He places a hand on your arm, lowering his head so he can’t get a better look at your face.
Physical contact with Renjun has always been something normal for you, but suddenly, you’re now acutely aware of everything about him. You can feel the pad of every one of his fingertips on your bare skin, the warmth of his palm, and just how easily his touch makes your body relax. Even when your brain is a whirlwind of thoughts, your muscles, like clockwork, instantly loosen up with just a brush of his hand.
“We need to talk,” you say shakily, moving away from him. There’s a flash of hurt in his eyes as his hand falls to his side. You feel bad, but the longer he’s touching you, the more confused you get.
You lead him a secluded area behind the Dining Pavilion, and he follows wordlessly. He waits for you to speak as the two of you stand there. Now that you’re here, you don’t really know what to say anymore.
“Are you in love with me?” you blurt before you can stop yourself. “Jaehyun said—”
“Yes,” Renjun answers. If he’s surprised or taken aback whatosever, he doesn’t show it. In fact, it seems like he knew this was coming. There’s no fear or hesitation in his eyes. He’s unwavering in his answer, and you wonder how he can always be so certain of his feelings.
“How long?” you ask tentatively.
“Probably when we first met,” he says.
“Why?”
“Are you asking me why I’m in love with you?” He raises an eyebrow.
You’re not sure. You’re not sure of anything anymore.
When you don’t answer, Renjun looks at you for a very long time. “You make me happy, Y/N. No matter how shitty things get, no matter how much I want to ram my fist through a wall, I see you and it’s like I can finally take a breath again. When you smile at me, I forget about everything that was bothering me. You and your daily shenanigans are the best part of my day. You’re obnoxious and frustrating and exhausting, but I fucking love you for it. I’m at your beck and call; I’d do anything for you. Whenever you’re happy, I become happy too. Nothing else matters to me anymore. That’s why.”
“You should have told me,” you say, voice cracking. Your heart is singing with joy, and you want to cry with relief. He talks about you like you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him, and you so desperately want to be exactly that for him. You’re not confused anymore. Everything has finally become clear for you now. You truly wonder how you managed not to notice anything at all—whether it be your own feelings or his.
“I knew it would upset you,” he murmurs.
But then it hits you.
You can’t even fathom how much Renjun has had to endure throughout the years. He’s loved you all this time, yet he hasn’t said a word—out of consideration for you. In everything he’s ever done during the course of your friendship, he has always put you first. Even if it hurts him, he was willing to withstand it for your sake.
Yet all you’ve done for him is force him into letting you try to find a him a girlfriend, despite the fact that he was against it, and he had to pretend like he was okay as he watched you parade around like a fool telling him to love someone else.
You don’t deserve to be loved by someone like Huang Renjun.
You don’t deserve to love someone like Huang Renjun.
Suddenly, you begin to feel nauseous—probably sickened by guilt. Black spots dot your vision, and your legs start wobbling. Your body collapses only moments after, but luckily, Renjun manages to catch you before you can hit the pavement.
“Y/N? Y/N? Hey, talk to me,” you can hear him say very faintly. He’s cradling you against his chest, and you bury your face in it. Your head is spinning, but you feel surprisingly grounded in his arms.
Has he always smelled this nice? His scent is a mixture of books and sandalwood, and you’re basically crushing your nose against his chest like an absolute pervert. You don’t feel embarrassed because you know you can blame it on being sick later.
Speaking of sick, even though Renjun smells so good, you proceed to lean forward and vomit all over him and yourself.
Once again, you don’t feel that embarrassed because you black out soon after.
ও DAY FOUR.
You wake up tucked nicely under your covers. Much to your relief, you’re also in clean clothes—your favorite set of heart pajamas. Unfortunately, that’s the only bright side to your current state.
It feels like you haven’t had a sip of water in ten years, and your lips feel like they’ve been glued together. Even the tiniest movement makes your head feel like someone is drilling into your skull. Your body feels twenty times heavier, and not to mention, you just generally feel like shit because of what happened with Renjun.
“Oh my gods, you look so creepy right now. Who just lays there with their eyes wide open? If you’re awake, you should say something,” a voice chides. Turning your head just a smidgen (and wincing because of the pain), you see your sister, Lee Mijoo. She has a glass of water in her hand, setting it on your nightstand.
“How long have I been asleep?” you ask hoarsely.
“Let’s see. Renjun brought you back at like 2 PM yesterday, and it’s now 8 PM, so...thirty hours?” Mijoo counts on her fingers.
“Fuck,” you groan.
“Heatstroke will do that to ya,” she says, making a clicking noise with her tongue.
“I had a heatstroke?”
“Yep. It was a pretty nasty one too. You really did a number all over Renjun’s shirt. It was like a vomit Picasso,” Mijoo says, sounding kind of impressed.
Your face burns from humiliation.
“Here, sit up and drink this water,” she orders, helping you get up. Your head is screaming in pain, like a million little jabs to your brain. You down the water in one big gulp, not realizing just how dehydrated you were until your lips hit the water.
“So, you and Renjun, huh?” Mijoo asks sheepishly.
If you still had water in your mouth, you would’ve spat it out. “What?”
“Jaehyun told me everything,” she explains.
Traitor, you think to yourself.
“Don’t be mad at him. Renjun looked like a kicked puppy when we saw him. There���s no way I wouldn’t have asked questions,” she says. “Did you break his heart, little sister?”
You sigh, putting the cup back on your nightstand. “I hope not. His heart shouldn’t be broken by someone like me.”
“And what does that mean?”
“It means that he shouldn’t concern himself with me,” you sigh.
“Well, he does. He came to check up on you like a billion times. I had to ban him from coming back until tomorrow,” Mijoo snorts. “He’s a really good guy, you know.”
“Trust me,” you say, rubbing your temples. “I know that better than anyone.”
“So, what’s stopping you? I would be all over that.”
You glare at her before letting out another sigh. “He’s too good for me, Mijoo.”
“That’s for him to decide, no?” She raises an eyebrow.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m just saying the truth,” you say.
“So, you won’t mind if I date him?” she asks seriously.
Your face falls instantly, and Mijoo doubles over laughing.
“Geez, Y/N, you looked like you were about to claw my eyes out!” She wipes away a tear.
“Very funny,” you say dryly.
“But what if I had been serious? What would you have done then?”
You don’t answer.
“I think you really, really like Renjun, Y/N,” Mijoo whispers loudly.
“I think I love him,” you whisper back.
“Then, you should probably tell him.”
“Yeah, I should,” you echo.
Ignoring the major migraine you have and the fact that you’re still a little sluggish, you throw your covers off of you. You don’t change out of your pajamas, simply throwing a thin cardigan over it.
“Uh, Y/N, maybe you should wait until you feel be—”
“No, I have do it now before I change my mind,” you cut her off, slipping on your tennis shoes.
You hear Mijoo call after you, but you’re already out of the door. The Athena Cabin isn’t too far from the Aphrodite Cabin, so the walk is short. Much to your surprise once you’re inside, he isn’t there.
Grabbing the nearest Athena kid you see, you ask, “Where’s Renjun?”
“Um, I think he went to the amphitheater?”
The amphitheater is a bit further, so you promptly release and thank the kid, before taking off. You’re not sure if running is recommended right after a heatstroke, but you do it anyways. By the time you get there, your cardigan is slipping off and you’re dripping with sweat from the humid summer heat.
The amphitheater is extremely crowded, since there was probably a performance tonight. It’s actually a little hard to see over all the people. However, you find Renjun pretty quickly.
You see him standing off to the side, away from everyone else. He’s staring emptily at the stage, hands tucked inside his pockets. He looks so tired and dejected. His entire body slumps as if it’s too exhausting to stand up straight anymore.
All because of you.
You wait until you finally catch your breath, opening your mouth to call out to him. But you don’t ever get the chance to because a girl walks up to him. You can’t tell who she is because the back of her head is facing you, and you see Renjun give her a small smile before saying something.
The girl laughs and turns her head, giving you a view of her side profile.
Hwang Yeji.
All of the courage you had inside you withers away like a dying flower.
You take a step back, accidentally bumping into someone behind you. They say something to you, but you don’t hear it at all. Instead, you turn on your heel and run. You run wildly and blindly, nearly whizzing right past your cabin. You’re barely able get back inside, eyes so blurry with tears that you can’t even see where you’re going.
When Mijoo sees you, she doesn’t ask any questions. She just turns on the shower for you, extra hot. You step in without a word, letting the water mix with the tears running down your face.
It’s not that you think Renjun is in love with Yeji now. In fact, you know he’s not. It’s just that they would be much better together.
Yeji is one of the sweetest girls you know. She would treat Renjun with the kindness he deserves. She would consider his feelings first before making him do anything. She would make him happier than you ever could. They would be so compatible, and if you weren’t in love with Renjun yourself, you would definitely be trying to set the two up.
After your shower, you change into the clothes Mijoo set out for you—an oversized sweater with cotton shorts—and miserably crawl back in bed. You’re so drained that you don’t even have the energy to drink the fresh glass of water on your nightstand.
Everything hurt—mentally and physically.
Your heart aches most of all. You’ve dated here and there, gone through some breakups, but nothing has ever been as painful as this.
It’s a pain that consumes you whole. A pain that makes you want to scream but no sound will come out. A pain that makes you want to tear your heart out. A pain that makes you wish a bunch of aliens abducted you and brainwashed you into not feeling any emotions anymore.
It’s the same pain that you thought you felt from Renjun on the first day of when this all began.
And then the last puzzle piece finally falls into place.
That pain was never his.
It has always been your own.
You love Renjun too, and you’ve loved him for a very long time.
ও DAY FIVE.
“Come on, Y/N. At least get up to wash your face and brush your teeth,” Mijoo pleads.
You ignore her, pulling your covers over your head and turning away. It’s already well into the afternoon, but you’ve been feigning sick so you didn’t have to get up. The rest of the Aphrodite children have left and gone about their various activities throughout the camp, but Mijoo was tasked by Jaehyun to take care of you.
“If you just do that, I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the day,” she bargains.
You think about it for a second before sighing, begrudgingly sitting up. You can see the pity dripping out of her eyes when you brush past her to head to the bathroom. When you see yourself in the mirror, you can understand why.
Puffy eyes, matted hair, tear-stained cheeks, and chapped lips. It’s too bad you hadn’t been wearing mascara last night because the only thing you’re missing in your hot mess look right now are those dark smudges right under your eyes.
You brush you teeth, which takes a lot more effort than you realize, and splash water on your face. Not even bothering to brush your hair, you head straight back to bed. True to her word, Mijoo doesn’t say anything else after that.
That is, until a couple hours later.
“Um, so I know I said I would leave you alone, but I think you might want to get up for this one, Y/N,” she whispers. You can’t see her because you back is turned to her, but you can tell by the tone of her voice that it’s important.
Irritated, you yank the covers off you and sit back up once again. “Mijoo, I—”
You almost choke on air when you realize Mijoo isn’t alone. Renjun is right beside her, looking not much better than you. He’s in a wrinkled t-shirt and sweatpants, his hair looks like he just ran his fingers through it and called it a day, and he has purple bags under his eyes.
“Can we talk?” Renjun asks.
You hesitantly nod.
“I’ll, uh, give you two some privacy,” Mijoo says awkwardly before turning around and running out of the cabin.
You don’t know what to do now, staring down at your clasped hands. You hear Renjun take a step forward, and you feel the edge of your bed dip under his weight. There’s a sizable gap between you and where he’s sitting, but he’s still close enough for his scent to waft over to you. He smells wonderful like usual, and you hope you don’t stink in return.
“How are you feeling?” Renjun asks quietly.
“Like shit,” you answer honestly.
He laughs under his breath. “I know what you mean.”
Your heart skips a beat, and you feel giddy all of a sudden when you see him smile. How did you manage to turn into a lovesick little schoolgirl over night?
“I talked to Yeji last night at the amphitheater,” Renjun says after a moment.
“I know,” you mutter.
He blinks. “You do? How?”
You’re not sure how to answer that.
“Well, that doesn’t matter right now,” he dismisses, taking in a deep breath. “I just wanted to tell you that I ran into her after I checked up on you, and she invited me to watch her performance. I wasn’t going to say yes at first, but I thought it would make you happy if I did. I tried, Y/N, I really tried. Yeji’s a nice girl, but I can’t help how I feel. I love you, Y/N. It’s always been you, and it always will be. I’m not asking you to love me back. I just want to stay by your side, as your friend, if you’ll allow it. I—”
“Stop,” you interrupt, scooting closer to him and putting a hand over his mouth. “I have to tell you something.”
Renjun gives you a bewildered expression but nods nonetheless.
You remove your hand from his mouth, before taking in a deep breath of your own. “You’re my best friend, Renjun, and I’ve always confided in you for everything. I took you for granted, and I only thought about myself. Deep down, I think I’ve always known about your feelings and my own, but I was afraid to dig for it. I was comfortable, and I didn’t want to ruin that, even though you were hurting. I’m truly sorry for treating you that way, Renjun. From now on, I want you to tell me everything—the good, the bad, the ugly. Don’t bottle things up for my sake.”
He goes to say something, but you hold up your hand to stop him.
“The reason why I knew you were with Yeji at the amphitheater last night is because I was there too. I went to look for you,” you finally confess. “When I decided I was going to find a girlfriend for you, I thought I would be able to step aside when you did find someone. But once I saw you with Yeji, I realized that I couldn’t do it. What I want with you isn’t a friendship anymore. I’m in love with you, Renjun. I have been for a long time, and it took me four, almost five, years to see that because I never thought to listen to my own heart until now. I don’t think I will ever deserve you in his lifetime, but I love you. I’m selfish and I’m a mess and I always cause trouble for you, but I—”
Renjun wraps an arm around your waist and tugs your body flush against his. His hand comes up to cradle your cheek as his thumb lightly runs across your cheekbone. You’re clutching his shirt like a lifeline, holding your breath, as you stare into those gray eyes.
“You,” he whispers, his lips barely brushing against yours, “are more than I deserve.”
He leans in and closes the infinitesimal gap between your mouths. He kisses you desperately, like you’ll disappear any moment, and you can feel all of the emotions he’s been locking away. His arms are wound tightly around you as he pulls you into his lap. You weave your hands through his hair, and he deepens the kiss. Your shirt rides up as you shift, and you feel his hand slip up your shirt and rest against your back. It ignites a fire within you and you want to tell him to take it off completely, but your lungs are screaming for air, so you have no choice but to pull away.
“Sorry,” Renjun says breathlessly, his chest heaving up and down, as he takes his hand out from under your shirt.
“No, I liked it,” you say, shaking your head and placing your forehead against his. “I just ran out of air.”
“No,” he disagrees, “I didn’t mean for it to go that far. It was supposed to be a sweet kiss, but I lost control.”
He tugs your shirt back down and gently sets you back down next to him. You can’t help but giggle at how flustered he is. It’s not often that Athena children, especially Huang Renjun, loses control of their emotions like that.
“I’m glad you find this amusing,” he says wryly, rolling his eyes.
“You know,” you say in a sing-song voice, “I still technically never broke my streak. I found you a girlfriend within five days.”
“Does it really count if you ended up being my girlfriend?” He raises an eyebrow. “Seems a little unprofessional to me.”
“Don’t be a sore loser,” you taunt.
“You also said you were going to make me fall in love so hard that I’d forget my own name,” he points out. “And I didn’t, so that’s false advertising. Unprofessional and unethical? I could sue you.”
“You are so petty,” you squint. “And come on! That kiss didn’t make your forget? It made me forget!”
“I don’t like you that much.” He deadpans.
“Huang Renjun, you are so not cute!”
4 YEARS AGO.
“It’s not my best work, so you can have it,” Renjun says, trying to act casual about it.
You look so happy that Renjun would have painted a thousand more if you asked him to. You have a smile that could make the goddesses envious, and he can barely hear what you’re saying over the thumping of his own heart. He hopes his expression looks somewhat elusive because he’s not sure how to handle himself right now.
You’re the prettiest girl he’s ever seen in his life.
Renjun feels like he’s been shot by Eros’ arrow. He used to never understand why everyone was so wary of Eros; he’s basically just a mascot for corny Valentine’s Day cards. Apollo and his children avoid Eros and his children like the plague. Though granted, Eros did force Apollo to fall in love with Daphne and then she ended up turning into a tree. So, there is a little bit of history there. Point being, Renjun just didn’t get it.
But he think he does now.
“Thank you so much!” you say excitedly, extending your hand. “I’m Y/N!”
Renjun just stupidly stares at you. He’s not even sure if he’s worthy to touch your hand, but he also doesn’t want to be rude. He carefully shakes your hand, unable to say a word.
“What’s your name?” you ask, tilting your head.
Is it possible for a person to be this adorable? he thinks to himself.
“I’m...”
You’re looking at him, waiting expectantly.
“I’m...”
You’re still smiling, but he can see the slight confusion in your eyes. He’s never felt like more of a moron in his life.
“Ren...jun,” he finally says after an extreme amount of concentration.
You beam at him, and he wonders if he’s the only one seeing the ring of light surrounding you. There’s no way you aren’t Aphrodite’s favorite child.
“Nice to meet you, Renjun! Let’s be friends.”
Renjun isn’t sure he wants to be just friends, but he finds himself nodding along anyways.
Fuck, he thinks, I’m in trouble.
#neowritingsnet#ncitynetwork#cznnet#NCT-WRITERS#nct scenarios#nct imagines#renjun fluff#renjun angst#nct dream fluff#nct dream angst#nct dream imagines#renjun#nct#choerrypuffs#demigods
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- nct as store owners
part 1; nct dream version
(I tried something different this time but idk if I like it yet...)
- - - - ——— renjun
꒰ he would own a clothing store
꒰ so many fashionable clothes!
꒰ lowkey also a personal stylist
꒰ 'listen, you look cute but this jacket would make you look like a real goddess, that you of course are!'
꒰ such a hype man (definitely it's not a selling tactic-)
꒰ probably also owns shoes in his shop
꒰ no matter what your usual aesthetic is - he definitely has something in his store for you
꒰ obviously, the clothes from his store are extremely popular
- - - - ——— mark
꒰ beautiful bookstore
꒰ with that amazing, light brown aesthetic
꒰ has many old, 'classic' books but also lots of the new ones
꒰ his shop would probably be open for like 8h a day; this job would be his hobby too so he enjoys his time there
꒰ there are rumors that he read more then half of the books that are available in the store!
꒰ that's why all his recommendations are super accurate and always match the buyer
꒰ if he doesn't have requested book - he'll instantly order it
꒰ probably has little area with tables and chairs for people to go there and read/study
꒰ he's super kind and he'd definitely sometimes help people study
- - - - ——— jaemin
꒰ florist of the year
꒰ I feel like his every bouquet would have a story' to go with it
꒰ there is not something like 'simple and blue' bouquet
꒰ it's probably called a 'cold but calm winter evening in Iceland' bouquet
꒰ knows all the 'secret' meaning of flowers
꒰ his place is super aesthetic!
꒰ one of the hottest places for cute, instagram photos in the neighborhood
꒰ he definitely wouldn't mind people doing that; I feel like he would even help taking pictures since his so good at it
꒰ big fan of making personalized bouquets for special occasions
- - - - ——— haechan
꒰ little coffee shop!
꒰ with a nice theme or with animals inside
꒰ like cats or maybe even raccoons
꒰ probably also has lots of cakes, cookies and other sweet snacks to go with coffee
꒰ he may make exception for regulars and prepare some tea for them-
꒰ he has one rule tho: there is not something like take-out coffee!
꒰ if there are animals inside - they all have super cute and special names for sure
꒰ maybe he'd let customers choose some of them
- - - - ——— jisung
꒰ skincare shop but also there would be some cosmetics
꒰ our beautiful boy aka ceo of stunning skin
꒰ lowkey expert at choosing perfect routine for people
꒰ no matter what skin type or problems you have - he got you
꒰ his shop is super cute, lots of stickers and Polaroid photos of amazing views
꒰ probably has a section on his wall called 'The Gallery' where he has photos of him with favorites regulars
꒰ and also gives them discounts!
꒰ being loyal is important
- - - - ——— jeno
꒰ retro game store
꒰ of course, you can find all the new releases there
꒰ but the decorations of the place itself feel taken straight out of 80's-90's
꒰ has a glass case with all the old gaming consoles he was able to get displayed there
꒰ nonjudgmental; probably likes all the games there can be and doesn't judge his customers taste at all
꒰ game stores can be overwhelming with all the choices but his is very nicely organized
꒰ you can always easily find what you need
꒰ might even have a section with his recommendation aka games he played and enjoyed lately
- - - - ——— chenle
꒰ music store but also a radio station
꒰ in the front you have all the records, cds and vinyls
꒰ and in the back there's a small room with a radio station equipment
꒰ he and his store is super popular against people in town; everyone who likes music knows about this man
꒰ and even people who aren't 'that' into music, love his channel in the radio; all the songs he choose are always awesome
꒰ the store itself is pretty big so it never feels very crowded even tho there's lots of people there
꒰ this, and the beautiful music in the back, can make you loose the track of time sometimes
꒰ that's also why our boy works way too many extra hours
lots of love, rosie ♡
#nct#nct dream#nct fanfic#nct imagines#nct preferences#nct headcanons#nct mark#nct renjun#nct jeno#nct haechan#nct jaemin#nct chenle#nct jisung
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누나 너무 예뻐.
| order no. | 1 / 21
| summary | Jisung knows Aria is pretty. However, knowing something, and seeing it, are two very different things.
| word count | 1.4k
| warnings | none
| era | circa. August 2019
Jisung knew that objectively, Aria was vey pretty. Beautiful even. He knew that. Understood the fact that when the makeup noonas got their hands on her, she was downright stunning; dolled up to the nines.
However, it was hard to remember that fact when he’d seen her at all hours of the night, with sweat matting her hair to her forehead and her eyes sunken in - glaring across the room as if she was going to throttle Renjun if he even dared to try make them run the routine again.
She had attempted the room-length lunge once, but had fallen about a half length short when her knees gave out on her. Renjun’s barely muffled snort put him on the receiving end of her steak-knife glare again, but the effect was muted by the fact that Aria had yet to lift her face from its smushed position on the sprung-wooden floor.
Even around the dorms, Aria would opt for a more comfortable option of clothing - usually items of loungewear that didn’t belong to her. She’d wander around in Jeno’s too big sweatpants and a filched hoodie from Jaemin’s wardrobe, or in a loose t-shirt stolen from Jisung’s own drawers.
It was fine - the boys all ended up sharing a lot of their clothes anyway, so when bits and pieces went missing every few days, they’d just have to slip into Aria’s room to collect them.
Although, he wished she hadn’t taken such a fancy to his new orange sweatshirt. It was fuzzy on the inside and extremely snuggly - which seemed to be the exact reason why after a week of it residing in the back of his wardrobe, it mysteriously went missing. Only to appear a couple of days later on Aria’s person.
She’d even had the gall to play innocent.
So, when it came down to it - in black and white - Jisung knew that, yes, Aria could be jaw-dropping when the time called for it.
But that was very different to actually seeing it.
“Sungie? You okay?” Aria called over from the kitchen, a glass clinking as it hit the counter top.
Jisung had stopped in the middle of a sentence, hands that were idly fiddling with his phone as he mindlessly flicked through Instagram now frozen. He paused for a moment, before rapidly scrolling back up on his feed.
When Aria received no response, she stuck her head out of the doorway. “Sungie?” She crossed the short distance, peering over his shoulder. “Oh! What’s this?”
Jisung turned an accusing look on her. “You tell me! You did another interview with VOGUE and didn’t tell us?” He swiped across into the next image on the post, eyes bulging slightly. “VOGUE New York? You went to New York?”
Aria bit her lip to hold back the smile that she knew was tweaking at the corner of her mouth. “No - we took the photos here, and the company sent it on to the management team over there. The interview was done over the phone, look?” She pointed towards the bottom of the description that accompanied the post, where it stated:
“This interview was conducted over a telecommunications line. Any and all mistakes in the script are due to a bad connection, and are not a representation of the idol or the company.”
Jisung relaxed back into the couch slightly. He wasn’t sure how he could have missed Aria jetting out of the country for a few days, but he’d done it once with Chenle - something which the boy had never let him live down, despite the fact that Jisung had been running a fever and was mildly delirious with the fact that his walls were swimming - and he wouldn’t put it past himself to do it again.
“Mhm, I think the photos came out pretty nice, but I’m not sure they used many of them. “Aria sounded slightly put out. It was rare that she truly liked her own editorials; she was far too critical of her own appearance in Jisung’s eyes.
But then again; Jisung was biased.
He swiped through to the end of the post, seeing no trace of the pictures that she mentioned.
“Maybe they’re on the official blog?”
She sighed, patting his head gently. “Nah, I already checked. They used the close up one, but everything else got put in the bin I think. They emailed us back and said the ‘lighting’ was wrong or something, which sounds ridiculous to me, but hey.” She shrugged in fake nonchalance. “It’s VOGUE, who knows.”
Jisung frowned at her tone. She genuinely sounded upset - and was obviously trying to hide it.
And failing miserably, if even Jisung was picking up on it.
“Can I see them?”
Aria made a sound of confusion in the back of her throat. “See what?”
“The pictures.”
She hummed in understanding, and then shook her head. “Oh no, Sungie, it’s okay! I’m just blabbering, they’re not anything important don’t worry.” She spun to leave back to the kitchen.
Jisung snagged her wrist and spun her back. “Can I see, noona? Please?”
Aria squinted at him, eyebrows creasing. “Uh, sure? You don’t have to, I know editorial shoots aren’t your thing.” Despite her words, she was slipping out her phone from her back pocket, unlocking it and scrolling through her gallery to find the pictures.
Jisung sat slightly impatient, fingers tapping against his knee. She was right - editorial shoots weren’t really his thing. He much preferred the yearbook-style shoots that Dream did; a little more carefree and a little less rigid; but if Aria was bringing this up then obviously there was something to be had.
She handed over the phone, pointing to the picture on the small digital screen.
The device was swamped in Jisung’s larger hands, and for the nth time he questioned why she still used an android.
He cradled it carefully, turning his attention away from the horrific fact that the phone still had a physical home button, and onto the picture displayed above it.
At first, it was difficult to make out exactly what he was seeing, like his brain was refusing to put the pieces together. There was chiffon, and flowers, and butterflies? And a lot of soft blue colours, but it was like his brain was malfunctioning - a loading circle slowly spinning where basic visual comprehension was meant to happen.
Had he gone blind?
Jisung knew he needed to get his eyes checked again, but he didn’t think it was this bad. Maybe it wasn’t blue, maybe that was just the sunlight refracting on the water beneath Aria’s feet - yes that was Aria in the picture, which was good, he recognized her, which meant that no, he wasn’t going blind.
That’s good.
“-ungie?” Aria tapped on his shoulder.
“Noona, when did you get so pretty?” Jisung turned to her, breathing out the words on an exhale with wide eyes.
Aria retracted slightly and Jisung braced himself for the laugh and accompanying thumb that would have occurred had he said those words to anyone else.
But this wasn’t anyone else; this was Aria, and Aria was just kind of, standing there? Lips parted slightly in surprise.
Jisung blinked twice, fumbling with the phone in his haste to give it back to her. He almost dropped it and felt bad for a split second before remembering that it was an android and that was enough for it to deserve to be thrown down the stairs.
“N-not like you weren’t pretty before it’s just that, in the pictures you - the lighting is good I don’t know what they didn’t like it’s all so blue-”
Aria leant over the back of the couch to ruffle Jisung’s hair with a soft, fond smile. “Thanks, Sungie.”
Jisung leant into the hand. “I mean it, noona. You look great.”
“I know you do.” She nudged his shoulder with her own, a feat only possible because she was stood up and Jisung was slouching forward on the couch. “But don’t let Jaem hear you say that - he’ll think he’s being replaced as your favourite.”
“You are my favourite, noona. I don’t know where he keeps getting that.”
Aria sighed lightly, carding a hand through Jisung’s hair as she shuffled over to pull the much larger boy’s head into her lap. “I know. Neither do I.”
#*moonlight café#nct 24th member#nct#nct imagines#nct additions#nct female member#nct extra member#nct female member au#nct additional member#nct addition#kpop additions#kpop addition#kpop#kpop!oc#nct female oc#superm#wayv#nct dream
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request:
✨Can I request something with haechan ✨
✮ Pairing: donghyuck x reader (gender neutral)
✮ Genre: adventure | fantasy | fluff
✮ Word Count: 7.2k
♡ Yakult says: sorry this took so long nonie! i do hope that you enjoy it, even though it’s, uh, probably not what you had in mind rip
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The vial of the yarrow flower essence that you were brewing had reached the perfect temperature, finally allowing you to pour it into the cauldron with the point of your index finger. The remaining ingredient hadn’t been brought to you yet but you knew that Chenle and Jisung, the most recent additions to your ragtag coven, were on their way.
Behind you, the others were speaking to one another in hushed, panicked voices but you didn’t want to think negatively. Yes, you were under pressure. Yes, he had been taken a week prior but Minhyung would be fine; he was voted as the head of your coven for a reason. Jeno was doing a great job as his substitute but you could tell that he was under severe stress–his training wasn’t completed yet after all.
You spun around when the door opened. Chenle and Jisung barged in, both looking a little worse for wear. Chenle dodged the others and made a beeline towards you, opening his satchel to retrieve the golden silk pouch. Jisung collapsed on your coach, releasing a groan that had Jaemin - who was highly proficient in healing magic - jumping to his feet in order to tend to him immediately.
“Hopefully this is enough,” Chenle said as he placed the pouch gently on top of your outstretched palm. With a groan that matched Jisung’s, he clutched his side and added, “there were so many after it.” When you gave him your thanks, he lazily saluted at you before staggering over to the couch, dropping beside Jisung the moment he was a mere centimetres away from it. Renjun was quick to follow him.
Your eyes scanned the room until you locked stares with Jeno, who nodded at you. Quickly spinning around, you sat down in front of your desk and get to work. You took an extreme amount of care while you funneled the fine and shimmery powder-like material. Although it was a slightly difficult feat, considering just how light it really was, you managed to succeed in making sure none of it would be blown away somehow. Stardust was a rare thing; it could only be obtained when a shooting star occurred which, unfortunately, was highly uncommon and have been for centuries. The Universe must have been in you favor because when Chenle used his Vision to see whether or not you would be able to obtain the necessary ingredients the first time around, he gave you a dejected negative. It was only a few hours later when he was granted a Vision that showed him and Jisung managing to collect the stardust. Thinking back to their conditions, you didn’t want to know what measures they had to take to ensure that they were the ones who had gotten it.
With one last stir, the pale colored mixture was complete. Waiting with a bated breath, you stared at the cauldron with impatience. Apparently the mixture was supposed to provide an object that would be both warm and bright that could be used against those who kidnapped Minhyung.
“Well?” Jaemin asked curiously from somewhere behind you, presumably still attending to whatever injuries Jisung had been subjected to.
Your mouth twisted. “Nothing’s happened.” You stretched your hand out, thought of the particular book you wanted and once it was in your grasp, you flipped through the pages to find the potion you used. “We’ve done everything it says here.” You sighed as you dropped your book on the desk. “I don’t know where I went wrong.”
A hand was placed on your shoulder. “It’s alright, y/n,” Jeno said soothingly. He peered over you shoulder so that he could inspect the page that it was opened on. “What does this say?” He asked curiously as he took his hand off your shoulder and pointed at something that was scribbled sloppily towards the end of the page.
“I don’t know, either.” It was in the language that your father spoke. You never learned it since you grew up speaking Common. When you were given the book by your mother, she never told you what it translated to in Common. Probably because she didn’t speak the language, either. “It’s probably nothing important.” Or at least you hoped it wasn’t.
Jeno hummed in consideration. “Since this didn’t work, we’ll meet up tomorrow and come up with something else.”
When they filed out of your small home, saying their goodbyes and touching the runes that they carved on the door frame, you couldn’t help but stare at the liquid in your cauldron with hard eyes. It didn’t make any sense! You had followed it word for word yet it didn’t work! Time was running out and you didn’t know how Minhyung was coping–there was a block in your connection that made you feel like you were missing a limb. You really, really needed this spell to work. From your research, nothing else could help your coven against the vampires that kidnapped him.
What the vampires wanted with Minhyung, or your coven in general, you didn’t know. There hadn’t been a word from them. In fact, the more you thought about it, the more you didn’t want to know. You just wanted him back.
Determined, you waved for numerous books to stack themselves on your desk. Grabbing some parchment and your writing equipment, you sat down and flipped open the book at the top of the stack. You would find something. Anything. You’d make sure of it.
The following morning, you found yourself startling awake with an ache in your neck and a piece of parchment stuck to your right cheek. You groaned as you removed it and placed it on your desk, refusing to look at it–none of the ideas and information you wrote on it would be of any use. You yawned as you stretched, trying to rid yourself of the stiffness you felt in your shoulders.
Frustratingly, you had found nothing that could aid you on your quest to retrieve Minhyung. So many books and they were useless. You sighed heavily. A cup of your favorite herbal tea would do you some good and then you would resume your research. You were just about to make your way to your kitchen when you noticed a strange man on your couch from the corner of your eye. You turned to face him head on, to do what you didn’t know, and—!
Correction, there was a strange naked man. Your jaw almost dropped in shock. What in the world?!
Jeno was so much more skilled at offensive spells than you were and, in that very moment, you wished that you strengthened your skills in that area. It certainly would have helped in situations such as this. Reaching your hand out for your iron skillet, anxiety and adrenaline flooding through your system as it floated towards you, you crept closer to the couch. With a firm grip on the handle - just in case he made any unsavory movements - you shook his shoulder roughly in an attempt to wake him up. There was no reaction, not even a twitch. After a moment, you poked him on his torso with the edge of the skillet yet there was still nothing. With a frown, you slightly lowered your arm. He wasn’t dead–his chest was moving up and down in an even rhythm. If he had come to harm you, for whatever reason, surely he wouldn’t have been knocked out on your couch?
With that thought, you lowered your arm fully and inched closer in order to inspect him closely. Tufts of honey caramel blond hair in waves that curled at the nape of his neck and beautifully bronzed skin, lengthy eyelashes and a cupid’s bow that lead to plush lips. As your graze traveled lower, you caught the defined shape of his collarbones and the strong build of his chest–he wasn’t stocky, in fact he was more lean. You didn’t allow your eyes to travel any lower than his ribs, wanting him to have a semblance of privacy. One thing was certain; you had never come across a person like him. There was something about his aura that was exceptionally warm and bright.
You frowned. Warm and bright. Warm and bright. Warm and bright! Cogs turning in your head, you looked towards the direction of your desk where the cauldron sat and tipped it over with the sway of your fingertips. It was empty. You looked towards the stranger again. Was it possible that he was the one that could help you with the dilemma and not an actual object like you originally thought it was?
Releasing the skillet, willing it to return to its position on the pot rack above the sink, you snapped your fingers for one of your thicker blankets and covered the man. You then called for your familiar - a crow that camouflaged against the night sky - and told her to send a message to the rest of the coven. With a gentle stroke of her feathers, she flew off.
The others were in your home in no time, practically shoving themselves through the door and took on the stances that they used when you all came across danger. They never took their eyes off of the sleeping man while they stepped further inside. You held off a fond smile, choosing to watch your familiar settle into her place near the window.
“It’s alright,” you said after a moment, breaking the silence. “I’m pretty sure he’s exactly what we need.”
“Y/n,” Renjun hissed lowly, like the man would awaken if he spoke any louder, “there’s a massive crater right outside. He could have caused it.”
Your brows furrowed. Massive crater? With a fleeting look at the stranger, you weaved through the boys to get to the door. Once you opened it, you were stunned. Numerous trees had collapsed and there was a very obvious circle shaped impact on the grass, ruining some of the flowers and herbs that you were growing. You shut the door quickly, ensuring to lock it before you resumed your position by the desk.
“Well I don’t think he’s dangerous.” You announced, aiming for confidence in your tone. Not quite managing but you hoped that it was convincing enough. Jeno slid his gaze away from the man to meet your eyes. The corners of his lips curled downwards which earned him a stern look. He lifted his brows and you shrugged, head tilting towards the stranger in return.
“If y/n says that they don’t think he’s dangerous, then we should believe them.” Jeno said decisively. The others immediately began protesting. “But we’ll keep an eye on him, just in case.”
It had been hours of bouncing possible plans off each other and the stranger didn’t even so much as turn while he slept. The boys had agreed to spend the night in your small home, not trusting the man even though you argued that he wouldn’t have been able to pass the doorway had he any ill intentions.
After what seemed like eons, the stranger began to stir. The boys - who’s eyes were all drooping as they sat on the ground, half playing cards while the other half read their books to entertain themselves - sat up, not a drop of tiredness in their forms as they watched him slowly sit up with hawk eyes. At first he seemed confused but as he looked around the room, eyes lingering on each boy, his expression became neutral. After a look at each of them, his gaze zeroed in on you.
“You,” he said, voice rough with disuse. The others slightly shifted forward, Jaemin moving in a way that meant you would be half covered by him. “You’re the one who called for me?” At the jerk of your head, he hummed. He was about to stand although seemed to think better of it, covering his chest with the blanket in a way that seemed self-conscious. “Could I have some clothes please?”
“What’s your name?” Jeno asked after Renjun handed the man some clothes.
“You can call me”–he paused, head tilted as he thought–“Haechan.”
“Is that your real name?” Jisung questioned dubiously.
There was mischief in his eyes as his mouth stretched into a wide grin. “No,” he walked around the room, making you feel slightly self-conscious as he hummed at some of the items you owned. “Do you have any food? I’m hungry.”
Jaemin was the one who piped up this time. “Will you be able to help us?”
“Well, of course I will. After all the trouble you went through to summon me.” The last part was said with a knowing look at Chenle and Jisung.
The plan was discussed over a big dinner. In the end the plan was that one of you would travel with Haechan - Jaemin had reasoned that any more would seem like a threat - to where you suspected that the vampires kept Minhyung–it was well known that vampires were uncreative, so it was likely that they kept him somewhere high up in the cliffs, just off the mountains. Once the two of you were at the location, Haechan would use the alleged powers that he possessed and Minhyung would be reunited with your coven in no time. It seemed simple enough. However, as with all plans, there was one flaw and that was their whereabouts; Chenle wasn’t able to use his Sight to figure it out and because the tie you felt with Minhyung was currently unavailable, it would be a guessing game of which cliffs in particular. Haechan then mentioned in passing that he could locate them without a problem, and with that, the plan was decided. All there was left to do was choose the people to carry it out.
“I’ll go,” Jeno said, squaring his shoulders. “I’m the best at offensive spells.”
“But because you’re the best, you should stay here. Just in case something happens.” Renjun countered.
Haechan watched impassively as the boys volunteered themselves, bringing up their attributes that would assist greatly during the journey. Just as you were about to volunteer your own assistance, he locked eyes with you again. The intensity of it made you shift slightly, fiddling with your napkin on the table.
“They’re going.” He said decisively as he nodded at your direction, effectively silencing the room. In unison, the others immediately snapped their heads his way. “I’m not going if they’re not.” The statement was said in a matter-of-fact tone with a slight smirk.
Renjun looked seconds away from starting an argument. “That’s alright with me.” You agreed quickly, wanting to avoid an increase in tension in the already strained atmosphere. You gave them a reassuring smile, “I’ll be fine.”
After some displeased grumbling, Jeno nodded. “Alright, now that that’s sorted, when do you want to leave?”
“I travel better at night.” Haechan commented. You looked at him in curiosity but he did nothing except wink at you.
“Tonight, then?” You suggested. “The sooner the better, right?”
Surprisingly, there was little resistance at your idea. Soon enough the two of you were on your way, necessary belongings on a bag your back. Your familiar was soaring against the wind above you. The air was growing chillier by the second. You would have brought your cloak for an extra layer of warmth but Jisung had said something about being obvious, that both of you needed to blend in the background in the event that you came across other beings. Although he mentioned that he knew Minhyung’s location, it was still strange to see Haechan be the one who lead your duo. There was confidence in his stride as he lead; a couple of turns here and there, plowing straight ahead when you reached the area before the thickest part of the forest. It was probably only a strange experience because you were used to Minhyung leading.
You had to wonder what sort of powers he possessed for him to be able to locate their whereabouts with little difficulty.
“So,” you began as you stared at the crackling fire. The two of you had decided that you deserved a break after five hours of non-stop walking. Your familiar had gone to search for something to feed on, leaving the two of you to set up camp. Food wouldn’t be a problem for the moment since you packed some with you. “You were the one who created the crater outside my house, right?”
The corner of Haechan’s lifted. “You’re clever.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Yes, I’m the one who created the crater, y/n.” He confirmed after a chuckle.
“I knew it!” You looked around, gestured him to lean closer to you. From up close, you noticed how there seemed to be sparkles in his pupils. Was he what you thought he was? Probably. The evidence connected seamlessly; from his aura, the empty cauldron and the crater. If you raised your suspicion, would he answer truthfully? You hoped so. “Are you a star?” You finally whispered. Stars were a thing of legend and, until now, you were in two minds about whether you believed that once every couple of hundred years, one would shoot from the sky. There were tales of them posing as a human and adapting to society; some were said to have families and everything, effectively gaining the full human experience.
“Very clever,” Haechan said with a nod of confirmation. With a calculating scan of your face, he asked, “what do you want to know?”
You wanted to know absolutely everything that he could tell you. Like how old the universe really was - and in turn, how old he was - and whether or not the myths about stars were true. There were other questions, too, and Haechan answered them all patiently, thoroughly covering each topic that you brought up, looking amused. By the time your familiar returned, satisfaction evident in the way she immediately perched on a branch, you and Haechan were something like friends, laughing at a mishap you recounted that involved Jisung, a pond and some geese.
In between your laughter and trading of stories, you noticed that Haechan had been closing the gap in the middle of the two of you ever since you asked him to lean in earlier.
“Cozy?” You said with a grin as your eyes swept back and forth between the two of his, still fascinated by the flecks of sparkles you found in them. His eyes were very pretty. They were softly shaped and you guessed that if he were smiling - a real one, not the half smiles he had been shooting at you - they would turn into crescents.
“Extremely!” Haechan replied loudly, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you even closer.
You fought a smile as you shrugged his arm off and went to grab some berries from you bag on the opposite side. You stuck your tongue out at Haechan when he winked at you as you made your way back.
The following day saw the two of you deep in the forest where you were practically dragging a whining Haechan by his wrists. He dug his heels into the soft soil. “I need to sleep! Please! even just a couple of hours. We can travel at night.”
You didn’t want to stop. Minhyung was possibly in grave danger, there was no time for frequent breaks. Although you thought back to two days ago when he said that he traveled better at night and the fact that he was a star. You glanced at the sky, squinting as the sun hit your eyes.
“We can walk a little further, just to find somewhere better to set up camp. Sound good?”
“Thank Cosmos!”
While Haechan was sound asleep, your familiar stood guard at a branch as you were practiced some light offensive spells that could prove to be handy. When you had enough of using your spells on unsuspecting sticks and rocks on the ground, you rummaged through your bag to retrieve a book that you brought along. Not that you read much, unable to keep your eyes away from Haechan’s sleeping form. From the two days that you knew him for, he had been nothing but playful and boisterous. Haechan was easy to get along with and he made the journey just that bit enjoyable–you wouldn’t wish for anyone from the coven to be kidnapped again but you were glad that a positive came from the experience.
When the sky darkened, stars twinkling brightly, Haechan was completely recharged. He chatted the ears off of you, practically skipping ahead of the two of you. Once another handful of hours of trekking had passed, you had grown tired and so you set up camp once more.
“Do you miss it?” It had only been three days but as you stared at the sky, observing how the stares shined, you had to know. “Being a star, I mean. I know it’s only been three days but...” You trailed off, not knowing how to end your sentence.
Haechan hummed, shifting from his position beside you. “Not really? It can get boring, you know, watching all you humans live your lives. I’ve always wanted to experience the things that you all do, like go to the beach or eat cake. It’s why I jumped at the chance when you summoned one of us, they wanted to send someone older.”
“Oh,” you traced a triangle using the stars for each corner with your eyes. “What’s it like being a star?”
“Well one thing is that you’re literally hot all the time and it can get pretty repetitive,” he paused for a while, as if having an inner debate. “Another thing is that it can be lonely”–his voice was low, like he was telling you a secret–“which sounds weird because there are so many of us. We’re surrounded by each other all the time and I love the others, I do, they’re my brothers and sisters but I just feel out of place sometimes, you know?”
“Yeah,” you turned over to your side and startled when you found Haechan already staring at you, his head propped on his elbow. “What does Haechan mean? That can’t be your real name, right?” He did have to think about it after all.
“No it’s not. But do you really want to know?” He gave you another one of his half smiles.
“Absolutely.” Your eagerness showed in how fast you answered.
“Okay then,” he replied after a chuckle. “It means ‘full sun’. My real name is Donghyuck, or at least that’s what the others call me.”
“Full sun,” you repeated lowly with a smile. “It suits you. Do you want me to keep calling you that or do you prefer Donghyuck?”
“Call me what you want.”
The rest of the night was spent speaking face to face, keeping your voices low in case of any possible intruders. The longer you talked, swapping a few secrets every now and again, the more it seemed that Donghyuck was glowing and at first you thought it was exhaustion catching up with you, however the somewhat dim glow slowly but surely turned into a bright one as the conversation continued to flow. When you brought it up, curiosity getting the best of you, Donghyuck had swiftly changed the topic, his ears pink. You thought about his adorably shy smile before you shut your eyes to go to sleep.
Another handful of days had passed and eventually it had been a little over a week since this whole operation began. The two of you were nowhere near the end of the forest but you were making great progress, so great that your familiar trusted your companion to keep you safe while she flew back to update the others. Donghyuck was challenging himself to stay up longer during the day so as to not inconvenience you, too, clearing noticing how late night traveling affected you. It was very thoughtful of him and it had something warm and unfamiliar uncurling inside of you. When you said as much, of course leaving out the warmth you felt, a hint of a smile played at his lips as he glowed.
“I’ve been very good about not asking again,” You said when your laughter died down. The two of you had hopped across a river and Donghyuck had slipped a little and fell in the shallow water. “But I can’t take it anymore.” You watched in amusement as Donghyuck rose slowly, his trousers soaked in different areas, as he laughed along with you. ”What does the glowing mean?” He was doing it again.
That had Donghyuck sobering up quickly, his glow dimming. A shy expression took over his place as he averted his eyes from yours. “Um, well, it happens when–”
The sound of rustling came from somewhere behind you. The two of you froze. As you inched closer to Donghyuck, an arrow whizzed through the air, just about missing your left shoulder. A series of spells ran through your mind before you settled on a simple disarming spell. It would be slightly difficult because you couldn’t pinpoint their exact locations but hopefully it would work out fine. There was a vague noise that indicated that they were successfully disarmed. You swayed your hand up into the air, launching the weapons far away without much thought. It was only then that they made themselves known. They were five women, all of different ages. There was confidence in their stances and a hardness in their eyes that spoke of great experiences.
You stood directly in front of Donghyuck without a thought, prepared to protect him at all costs. “When I say go, you’re going to make a run for it okay.” You instructed lowly, hoping that the others wouldn’t hear you. There was a spell you had in mind, rested on the tip of your tongue. Donghyuck had managed to let out a word of protest but you were having none of it. “Now!”
The women launched themselves at you as you began muttering the spell. Unfortunately, you weren’t fast enough and your concentration was broken as they started to physically fight you. You threw some of the light offensive spells that you practiced days prior, managing to throw them off. With a kick to the back of your knees, you were down. There was an arm at your throat in an instant, effectively choking you and making you claw at the owner of the arm as you struggled. Just as your vision began wavering, you vaguely registered Donghyuck’s voice and then you could breathe properly again.
“I told you to go.” You said with a wince once you finished greedily gulping some air.
With another half smile, he said, “I ran away for a second but then I thought, how could I leave you behind?”
You huffed, one part frustrated and two parts pleased. “Idiot.”
From there, the women tied you to one another with a thin silver chain. You would have thought them foolish if you hadn’t recognized the chain from one of your books; it was the kind that wouldn’t break no matter what captive did to it. The women formed a pentagon around the two of you, successfully caging both of you in. Although you wanted to break the silence, to demand where they were leading you, you had enough self-preservation to know not to. You huddled closer to Donghyuck when you noticed the woman closest to you glare from the side of her eye when he stumbled over something.
The seven of you kept moving uphill for hours on end and when you reached the gates leading up to a huge manor, it clicked. These women weren’t just a random group of people who wanted to see if either of you were worth anything valuable. No, these women were part of the group that had taken Minhyung. They lead you past the iron gates and through the tall, intricately designed doors and you barely had time to look at the beautiful decor as they lead you through another set of doors. It was there that you saw two men and women seated at the top of the room, some spectators gathered on the sidelines as the five women guided you to the center of the room. Minhyung was nowhere in sight.
“Ah,” one of the men spoke, “so this is him?”
The woman in front stepped to the side and then you felt yourself being shoved from behind, Donghyuck experiencing the same treatment beside you. They weren’t as menacing as you thought they would look. In fact, they looked a little bit like royalty with the way they sat and how they dressed in well fitted suits and beautiful lace gowns. One of the women stared at Donghyuck, her head tilted slightly. There was a distinct look of hunger that shined in her eyes that you didn’t like. Not one bit.
When you were about to demand for Minhyung’s presence, he stepped out from somewhere behind the four, a man directly behind him. You didn’t like the hand on your friend’s shoulder but Minhyung didn’t appear to be physically harmed in any way, he didn’t even look unkempt. It was confusing to say the least. While you were thankful that he seemed fine, there had to be some sort of catch.
“Are you okay?” You asked hurriedly, your desperation to know his condition overruling whatever self-preservation you had.
Minhyung nodded in affirmative. “We’ve come to an agreement but...” His eyes flickered to Donghyuck as he trailed off. You followed his gaze and found your companion completely composed, shoulders squared as he met Minhyung’s eyes and nodded minutely. What was going on?
“When I said I volunteered to be summoned that was true,” Donghyuck began as Minhyung was allowed to make his way over to you. The women surrounding you released the chains and dispersed, their task evidently completed. “But we’ve always known.” There was a sad smile on his face now and you hated that you saw that before the smile you imagined he would have when he was happy, the one with the pretty crescent shaped eyes.
“Known what?”
“Oh you poor thing,” one of the women at the front spoke, her tone condescending. “He didn’t even tell you?”
Minhyung had finally reached you, squeezing your shoulder as he took the space on your left. In return, you grabbed his hand as you whipped your head to the four at the top of the room, demanding to know what they knew about the whole situation. From your other side, Donghyuck fumbled with his words.
Eventually the other woman cut him off and told you herself. “The blood of a star”–your eyes widened at the blatant exposure of your companion’s true nature, the woman smirking when she noticed–“is very special.” Your stomach dropped, sensing where the conversation was heading. “Stars are made of old magic. Drink even one, tiny drop and the consumer will be overcome with an immense power, regardless of what being they are.”
“But if that’s the case why don’t you just take a drop now so we can go home then?” There was a titter that rippled through the spectators while their leaders looked at you as if you were some stupid, lowly human. Whatever had dropped in your stomach began churning, you began to feel ill when you realized that they were planning to bleed him dry. “No! You’re not going to do that, I won’t let you.”
“Silly witch,” a man from the crowd spat, “it was predestined! Our oracle does not lie.”
Dropping Minhyung’s hand, you turned to face Donghyuck who mirrored your action. “You can’t let them do this! What about the beach and trying cake?” You were well aware of how pathetic you sounded but continued anyway. “We all know that I’m not the best at offensive spells but Minhyung is here and we can defeat them.” There was a rumble from the crowd at your words but you barely acknowledged them, desperately scanning Donghyuck’s face. “You’re my friend. I won’t let this happen to you.”
Regardless of the fact that you only met the man a little over a week ago, your friendship was still very valid. You’d be damned if you were going to let him go without a fight. There were still things that you wanted him to experience, one being properly introducing him to the others. They would be great friends, you just knew it. At your admission, Donghyuck was openly pleased. The glowing was back again, not as bright as you’ve seen it or anything, it just faintly surrounded him. The gears in your mind were turning again.
“Well isn’t this just precious,” the other leading woman spoke, “the star has-”
You didn’t hear what the rest of what she said, the room suddenly becoming silent as if you have been sucked into a vacuum. In your confusion, you stole a quick glance at her to find her lips moving but no sound coming out of her mouth. “This glamour won’t last long,” Donghyuck said, addressing you and Minhyung. “Minhyung when this drops, which should be in a couple of seconds, I need you to shut your eyes okay? I have a plan.” To you, he said nothing, his right hand came up to caress your cheek.
“...shame to do this to you, really.”
The moment her voice came back, the hand on your cheek dropped and you found yourself engulfed in a warm hug. “Trust me?” Donghyuck was glowing brighter as one hand cradled the back of your head while the other was positioned at your lower back. When you said nothing short of, of course I do why would you ask that, the light around him became even brighter. “I’m your friend?” He whispered into your ear, referring to your earlier statement.
“Of course you are, I wouldn’t have said I trust you if you weren’t. If I’m not yours I’ll be thoroughly disappointed and let them eat you.” His chuckle was directly in line with your ear and made you suppress the shiver that wanted to travel down your spine. “If we survive this, I’ll buy you all the cake you want.”
“Yeah?”
“You bet! And I’ll...” You proceeded to make a bunch of promises, shutting your eyes when you could no longer stand the brightness that he was emitting. As you spoke, your eyes squeezed shut while you enjoyed the warmth, you felt Donghyuck rest his cheek on top of your head. When you had nothing else to say, he began humming softly and swaying the two of you.
The screams that the two of you had pointedly ignored throughout your conversation had subdued substantially, withering into nothing but pained groans. Part of you wanted to take a peek but you weren’t sure if it was safe to open your eyes yet. The other, slightly larger part of you wanted to continue swaying with Donghyuck for a little bit longer; you found comfort in his arms.
Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end and so soon enough Donghyuck stopped swaying the two of you and released you from his hold. Within a second, Minhyung joined your duo and began exclaiming how incredible Donghyuck was. As he continued expressing his awe, you drowned him out as you looked around. The vampires had disintegrated into nothing, the only sign of their existence being the numerous piles of clothes that littered the ground. The sight of it made you wince, feel a little sick to your stomach and so you looked back to your friends.
The journey home allowed Minhyung and Donghyuck to become fast friends which was mostly due to the fact that they had similar humor and were both quick witted. Between the banter that the three of you bounced back to one another, it felt as though you were facing your front door quicker than expected. It was your familiar who spotted you first, alerting the others without hesitation which resulted in them surrounding the three of you as the spoke over each other.
You all but face-planted on your couch when you were near enough to do so. Logically, you were aware that you needed to bathe properly and eat whatever comfort food you had in your cupboards but something about travelling for so long to watch vampires end up as nothing did something to your energy levels. Not even a moment later, there were fingers carding through your hair which paired perfectly with the chatter in the background in relaxing you. They were so gentle, like that time you and Donghyuck were comparing hair textures a few nights ago. Maybe it was Donghyuck who was playing with your hair; it certainly was a nice thought and feeling, one that you wouldn’t mind experiencing for the rest of your life. The thought made you shoot up immediately. Donghyuck’s bewildered expression came into view.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” The question came out louder than expected, embarrassingly high pitched, causing the other to stop talking.
“They’re right,” Renjun piped up from somewhere behind you, “you’ve successfully aided us with our problem so there’s no need for you to stay, is there?”
“No,” Donghyuck’s gaze fell to the ground. “But once a star has fallen”–his fingers clutched onto his trousers–“they can’t return.” The statement had an immediate negative effect in the atmosphere and made you tear your eyes away from Donghyuck in order to look at the others pleadingly.
‘Can he please stay?’ You mouthed at them. After willingly volunteering himself to help, knowing that he would never return to his original state, surely he at least deserved to join the coven. The thought of him not joining felt wrong in a way, like if the Earth were to orbit the Moon instead of vice versa.
The others looked to Minhyung who, with his easy-going nature, smiled brightly at Donghyuck as he walked towards him. With a hand on his shoulder, he said, “you can stay with us.” The way Donghyuck’s eyes widened and snapped up to scan Minhyung’s face, as if to look for a sign that he was joking, pulled at your heartstrings. “Don’t look at me like that,” Minhyung said, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly, “it’s only right.”
Donhyuck’s gaze shifted from Minhyung to the other boys until they finally rested on you. You plastered on an encouraging smile, subtly nodding to him. Donghyuck’s fingers released his grip on their grip on his trousers and his hopeful expression gave way for a small smile. After clearing his throat, he softly said, “thanks.”
Life after Donghyuck joining the coven was stupidly easy. Just as you suspected, the boys had gotten along swimmingly. The more days that passed, the closer they all became and it made you feel warm on the inside; that all your boys - because, yes, of course they were yours, just like you were theirs - were beginning to form a bond like no other. Your relationship with Donghyuck was more or less the same but there was an attraction that you had for him that you didn’t dare acknowledge. It was something that would stay in the back of your mind; no matter how many times you got lost in his eyes or how adorable he was when he got particularly excited about something. You knew you were done for when one warm evening, the boys were lounging in your home after the day at the beach and Chenle was recounting the time Jisung had tried to brew a potion and how it left him with blue skin for weeks. Donhyuck had leaned forward to let out a full bellied laugh and you had to look away before you wouldn’t stop staring. Jaemin caught your eye, though, and the way he subtly winked at you had you scrambling to do something, anything, so that you could ignore how warm your cheeks had gotten.
A couple of weeks after that found you and Dongyuck under a large tree near you home, sitting across from one another on top of a picnic blanket with a pretty, buttercream frosted cake in between the two of you. Donghyuck was staring at it hungrily, fork in his hand. You gestured at the cake when he shot you a quick glance, smiling at him with amusement. The first bite had his eyes growing wide before shoveling more of it into his mouth, both of his cheeks bulging with the amount of it. You could hardly suppress your laughter, not even with a hand pressed to your mouth. At first he gulped it down, smiled bashfully and pushed the cake towards you. Then when you refused, content with watching him enjoy it by himself, his eyes sparkled with mischief and before you could even think to move away, he swiped some frosting across your nose. In retaliation, you returned the favor and so it became a mini food fight of sorts until you two stood up and began chasing each other around the forest, your laughter being carried by the breeze.
“Happiness,” you said breathlessly as you laid on the grass, not caring about grass stains ruining your clothes. Donghyuck mimicked your position, laying close enough so that your arms were touching. While you enjoyed the warmth that he was radiating, you shifted so that you could face him, elbow on the grass as your temple rested on your palm. “It’s happiness.”
“Hm?” Again, he copied your position and you couldn’t help but giggle at how silly he looked even though you probably resembled his current state–minus the glowing.
“The glowing,” you stated, eyes flickering to his lips for a quick second. “It happens when you’re happy, right?”
“You’re clever as always, sunshine.”
You snorted, “of course, Haechan.”
There was an electrifying current that followed as you and Donghyuck stared at one another for the next couple of minutes until you broke it, fearing that you might do something like tell him your feelings or kiss him or, if you were brave enough, both. With the sway of your finger, the picnic blanket was folded up and began floating back to your house. You offered Donghyuck your hand and pulled him up when he took it.
With frosting still covering both of your faces, the two of you began walking back in silence. Your arms were lightly swinging back and forth at your sides until your right pinkie was captured by another. You slyly glanced at Donghyuck from the corner of your eye, who refused to look at your direction. Heart racing, you rearranged your hands so that they were locked together, unable to fight the smile that made its way onto your face. When you reached your front door, still hand in hand with no words spoken to each other, you raised the back of his hand to your lips and pressed a soft kiss. A glance at your companion showed him mirroring your smile with his eyes directed on the ground, the glowing brighter than ever.
Before you could look away, he met your gaze and said, “I’m the happiest when I’m with you.” Then he gave you a peck on the lips, let go of your hand and ran inside. And what could you do except follow him, a goofy smile plastered on your face.
#i was having problems with the app which had me >:((#i was so fricking frustrated that i deleted the app rip#which lead me to forgetting about it bUt i do hope that it was worth the wait#even just a little bit?????#if not u can send me another request!#altho i have deadlines due on the 27th so ><#but yes! i hope u liked it!! :)#im on my laptop rn which is why there are no emojis sdjsk#also why my formatting is different i.e. no colored fonts#also eyyy lowkey stardust!au??? but also not lol#anyway here come the tags:#nct#nct 127#nct dream#nct 2020#nct u#nct scenarios#nct imagines#nct au#nct fluff#lee donghyuck#haechan scenarios#haechan imagines#haechan au#haechan fluff#haechan x reader#haechan
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fairycore!renjun
mark | renjun | jeno | donghyuck | jaemin | chenle | jisung
the fairy king of the forests who coincidentally dislikes all forms of human contact
mild superiority complex and a small bit of a tsundere
knows that there are a lot of things to be learnt from human cultures but refuses to interact with them
probably holds a personal grudge against the entire humanity
previous forest he was residing in got destroyed by guns and bombs created by humans
harbours extreme distrust of others
but you’ve visited him accidentally a handful of times when you were younger
he basically watched you grow up as a second parent
so you’re the only human he tolerates
once, monsters tried to attack you when you got lost in the forest since you’ve never been in the forest at night
renjun heard from other fairies roaming around the area and he immediately flew to where you were
thank god the monster was slow so you were able to dodge pretty much every swing and every kick
but renjun knows your luck is running out purely from the way you were panting
without thinking twice he casted the strongest spell in his repertoire, one that would result in him losing half his lifespan
defeated the monster but collapsed with a high fever
you brought him back to his little cottage and searched for a cure as fairies and sickness were never words that intertwined
forest pixies gave you a small note
“have the king drink your tears, it is the only way”
you were obviously confused and slightly concerned but as someone who knows nothing about fairies, you could only trust the pixies
as weird as it sounds, you spoon-fed your own tears for renjun to drink
renjun woke up surprised you knew of this method and panicked
“did the pixies say anything weird?”
you were stunned, of course, the first thing he says was not thank you but a cryptic question?
“i think the whole drinking tears thing is weird enough, i hope there wasn’t anything else”
renjun lets out a sigh and you were left to wonder
before you could voice them out however, renjun shoved you out the door
just before renjun slammed the door close, he whispers. face red and heart hammering against his chest
“the way you saved me just now... should only be possible if we both loved each other.... romantically”
#nct imagines#nct scenarios#nct dream imagines#nct dream scenarios#kpop imagines#kpop scenarios#renjun imagines#renjun scenarios#nct#nct dream#nct dream as#huang renjun#renjun#kpop blurbs#nct blurbs#nct dream blurbs#renjun blurbs#renjun as#*#*bullet#g:fluff#m:renjun
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Hi i have been having this idea in my mind for awhile now but since you are taking requests uhm could you maybe try a 5+1 with Haechan? 🥺👉🏽👈🏽 For instance, 5 times Hyuck flustered y/n without knowing, plus one time y/n flustering Hyuck for the first time 🥺🥺 pls and thank you🤧
cherry red - LDH
donghyuck is a heartthrob. it’s no wonder he’s easily able to make your cheeks heat up with flirty words and cheeky actions. at least once, you’re determined to give him a taste of his own medicine.
highschool au
that’s such a cute idea anon!! thank you for your request <3
You don’t like the mischievous glint in Donghyuck’s eyes, not one bit. It’s the same look he grazes his best friends with before he tackles them in the middle of class because he “needs attention”. It’s also the same one for when he sets sight on a new victim.
“Oh, my god, Heejin, he’s coming over here,” you mumble, panicked. The bleachers are packed with people and plenty of his friends, so why’d he have to single you out? You, so easy to fluster?
You’re not shy - not extremely, atleast. You handle the affection you get from friends and you can strike up conversation. The second Lee Donghyuck’s attention is fixed on you, though, your brain short-circuits. You don’t know what’s worse - the fact that he doesn’t know, or how he’d be if he knew. Either way, he’s making his way over to you right now.
Somehow, Donghyuck is the playboy of the school, even though he’s not a heartbreaker. Him and his best friend Na Jaemin are notorious for their endless affection, and the harmless flirting they participate in. Never ever do they do it to play with someone’s feelings, or to hurt them, which is why their reputation is spot-clean. Still, they manage to charm quite a few girls, which ends up in soft-spoken apologies and the bitter taste of rejection.
Heejin doesn’t help you. In fact, she starts snickering and turns away from your helpless figure. If the teachers weren’t looking at you right now, you’d beat her ass. Actually, scratch that. If you weren’t so concentrated on the heavenly looks that were Lee Donghyuck, you’d be able to do atleast something.
But how do you concentrate when God’s favorite angel walks towards you? He’s so pretty. Would he tell you where he got that lip balm from if you asked?
“Hey, (y/n)ie!”
Oh no.
You wave at Donghyuck, who’s finally made it to you. His brown hair is disheveled, probably messed up by the one and only Jaemin. You want to know if it’s as soft as it looks. Saying something back would be good, but you don’t trust your brain right now, and the last thing you want to do is embarrass yourself infront of the school’s pretty boy.
Donghyuck, ever so attentive, picks up on that. “Cat got your tongue?” He grins, and when he leans forward, you can smell his cologne. Expensive. And really nice. Donghyuck searches your eyes, probably waiting for permission. Permission to let him tackle you and cling to you like he does with his friends, because he lives off attention. Despite being perceptive, Donghyuck doesn’t know what he does to your poor heart when he takes your hands and pouts, desperate for any kind of skinship. “You’ve got such a nice voice, though. Please talk to me, (y/n)ie!”
That’s the one big reason why Donghyuck is labeled a player. He knows how to rile someone up, but is still oblivious to the fact that his attention on someone can make them so nervous. His stunning features, the honest compliments he gives when he really likes something. He’s affectionate, but he’s not a liar. That’s why he tips his head in wonder when your cheeks heat up, not aware that he’s the one who did that to you. You almost jump on the spot when his fingers trace your cheekbones. “So pretty,” he mumbles. God, you wish he wouldn’t be so charming. “Pretty enough to make me forgive you for not talking. Let’s chat later, yeah?”
You watch him retreat back to his friends to watch the game. It’s no wonder he launches himself into Renjun’s lap after he didn’t get what he wanted from you, and his friend promptly tries to shove him off. Maybe you should ask Renjun for advice.
“You’re such a klutz,” Heejin finally speaks up behind you. “Freezing up infront of him? What, is it so hard to say a simple hey?”
You swiftly turn around and deliver a kick to the back of her knees. She doesn’t buckle, neither does she get annoyed; Heejin laughs loudly, enjoying this as much as Donghyuck does.
Is this bullying?
❀ ❀ ❀
Embarrassing you becomes a hobby Donghyuck doesn’t know he’s picked up.
You and him are on normal talking terms, because you share classes and you often let him copy the homework. What you both do not do is share lunch together.
That’s why the second he slides into the seat next to you and rests his head on your shoulder, you already feel like burning up.
Heejin quietly giggles into the palm of her hand, but it gets stuck in her throat when Donghyuck’s entourage sits down next to her. Well, maybe not his entire entourage. It’s only Jaemin and Renjun who follow his guide, but it’s still enough to shut a Jeon Heejin up.
You shouldn’t lean back just yet. Donghyuck didn’t come to help you with Heejin.
“(y/n),” he complains loudly, bratty as always. He has a very melodious voice, one you love listening to. That’s why you don’t mind being the quiet one when it comes to him. It bothers Donghyuck, though. “You didn’t even come talk to me after the game. Do you not like me?”
“What?” you sputter out, blood already rushing into your face. How was this so easy to Donghyuck? You shake your head, sitting up so the boy slides off your shoulder, but all it does is make him drop his head on your lap as he looks up to you. That’s worse. You cover your face, embarrassed. “I didn’t know you’d want me to come talk to you! I’m not a mind-reader!”
You like listening to him so much more than speaking yourself. Whenever you roam the halls during free periods, Donghyuck’s mellow voice is heard even through the thick doors of the auditorium. It’s so tender and pleasant, you end up sitting infront of it every time so you can listen to him sing to his heart’s content. Once, he’d been in the school choir. He dropped it, though, because he claimed he wasn’t getting along with the people in it.
You like Donghyuck, full stop. Whether this is a crush or just a passing fancy, you’re already aware that Lee Donghyuck is able to make your heart flutter in more than one way.
For example now, as he pulls away your hands to look at your cherry cheeks. “Don’t,” Donghyuck says, voice void of mockery. He speaks in such a caring way that you can’t find yourself to stop him, and you let him imprint the sight of your face into his mind. After all, you do the same with his. “Don’t hide your face. I like you in red.”
Oh, Christ.
❀ ❀ ❀
The third time Lee Donghyuck embarrasses you is on a school hiking trip. The classes had drawn lots on who’d go where, and the class representative had been unlucky enough to draw hiking. Everyone else gets to go swimming or sailing, while your class is hiking. Amazing.
The sun burns down on your skin. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to wear jeans while you’re climbing a mountain, but it’s too late now. Heejin lets herself be pulled up the hiking trail by you, fingers tightly intertwined, even though both of your palms are turning sweaty. Very romantic. Somewhere above you, your teacher is basically running up the path.
Going to Jeju for this isn’t worth it. You miss your bed right now.
But the landscape is so pretty. Very often, you come to a halt to look and take pictures, no matter how much Heejin complains. While she empties her drink, you take some snaps to remember the occasion, awe evident in your eyes.
It’s beautiful here. The nature, the ocean, you adore it all. Unbeknownst to you, someone’s enjoying the view, too, but he’s not looking at the horizon. He’s looking at you.
You don’t even notice Donghyuck creeping closer until he nudges your shoulder with his. He smiles softly when you meet his eyes, unusually innocent, heartwrenching. This boy is filled with so much love and wit, you sometimes forget he’s even real.
“Do you like it?” he asks, head tipping to indicate the nature infront of you. You nod. “It’s gorgeous,” you tell him as you return to your phone to continue filling up your camera roll. “I don’t really like hiking, but this view kind of makes it worth it. It’s so different from watching the sunsets at home.”
So focussed on your device, you don’t even notice when Donghyuck links pinkies with yours. He almost cheers, but he’s able to hold himself back. He doesn’t want to ruin this moment with you. “Yeah, you’re right. I loved living here. Every day was like waking up in a painting.”
“You lived here?”
“Not long, but yeah.” He likes the awe in your eyes whenever something suprises you pleasantly. You’re so cute, he wants to kiss you. “Haven’t you been here before? Or are you just taking pictures to commemorate your visit?”
Heejin quietly sneaks off. Donghyuck makes a mental note to thank her for that.
Your eyes finally trail to your locked pinkies, but you don’t let go of him, thank god. “No,” you mumble, flustered from the simple interaction. Are you that unused to physical affection? “I’d love to come back someday, but I don’t know if that will happen... So, better more pictures than none.”
“I’ll take you.”
For the first time, Donghyuck misses the way he makes the heat blossom in your cheeks because he turns his head to look at the red and pink clouds. Thanks to you, his favorite color has become red now, like cherries. He didn’t even mean to fluster you - he meant it with his whole heart. He’d love to take you here. Introduce you to his grandparents. Show you all his favorite places. Go swimming together...
You’re both pulled out of your world when the teacher blows into his whistle and starts scolding you for taking so long.
❀ ❀ ❀
“(y/n),” Donghyuck says, leaning over your desk to look you in the eyes. It’s last period, and you can’t wait to get out of this hellish chair and escape into the weekend. Donghyuck’s doe eyes though make you wanna sit here a little longer. “(y/n), you’re not allowed to blush for anyone else.”
“I- what now?”
He doesn’t even mind the stares your classmates are giving you when he takes your hands into his own and starts leaving kisses all over them, his lips plush, the pecks loving. Your heart nearly jumps out of your chest at the adoration you feel for this boy. “Don’t blush for anyone else,” Donghyuck pouts, and he moves to press your hands against his cheeks. Like this, he looks like a pudu. You wonder if that would offend him if you’d say it out loud. “If someone else sees it, they might fall in love and I’d have to duel them for your hand in marriage.”
“Take me on a date first at least.” Your hands move to cover his eyes and push him back into his chair, because you’d rather die than show him your face right now. With ease, Lee Donghyuck meddles with your feelings like no one else can. If he’d ask, you’d gladly give your heart away to him. But you can’t do that if he doesn’t mean it.
Perplexed over your words, Donghyuck quiets down and doesn’t speak for the rest of the lesson again.
A date?
❀ ❀ ❀
Heejin, like Donghyuck, is obnoxiously perceptive.
For the second time during this study date, she closes her book and throws it at you. This time, you already know what she’s going to do, but you’re still too late at moving out of the way, and the heavy object hits your shoulder. “Will you stop throwing your work at me?”
“Stop pouting then,” Heejin groans. The girl folds her arms on top of the table so she can rest her head on it, her hair framing around her head like a halo. She’s really pretty. Even in middle school, she was already donning the features that made everyone swoon. Despite that, she’s never gotten into a relationship, because she claims all she needs in life is you and food. Very cute, when she’s currently not pestering you about your crush on a certain Jeju boy.
“It’s not my fault? This is my resting crybaby face. You chose to be my friend. Bear the consequences, coward.”
“Shut up.” Heejin blindly reaches for her pencil case, but you quickly take it away before she can assault you with it. “If you’re so upset about it, you should’ve asked him on a date yourself. He’s clearly wrapped around your little finger, (y/n). You’re just being a dumbass.”
You love Heejin. You’d even go as far as trusting her with your life. She’s kind and loving, and she’s the first one to jump in the car to comfort you after a fight with someone. Heejin’s the kind of friend who braids your hair for fun and falls asleep on your lap after watching your favorite movies, and she laughs at you everytime you fall behind in Mario Kart. In a way, she even babies you.
But whenever you get insecure, Heejin stops the sugarcoating to deal with it seriously. Both of you are aware of what you’re thinking and why you didn’t ask Donghyuck out(“not good enough”, “maybe I read too much into it”, etc.), she’s only waiting for you to say it so she can strangle you. Jokingly, of course. She loves you. The only thing Heejin doesn’t tolerate is putting yourself down.
So you respond, “I’m scared he doesn’t feel the same.”
The girl looks up, onyx eyes meeting yours. No amused glint in them, only honesty. You love that about her. “(y/n), he’s just waiting for you to do something,” Heejin states. It’s like she can hear your pulse quickening, because she laughs and pinches your cheek. “Seriously. I’m telling you to go for it. That dude may be really flirty, but you should see the way he looks at you. He’s basically worshipping the ground you’re walking on. Do the man a favor and give him the slither of attention he’s begging for.”
“He is not begging.”
Heejin raises an eyebrow. “So you’re not denying that he’s basically at your feet? Interesting.”
“Heejin!”
❀ ❀ ❀
It’s kinda ironic that Donghyuck pulls you aside at another game to talk. You wonder what he’s going to do now to set your face on fire.
This time though, Donghyuck is in no joking mood. His fingers are tightly intertwined with yours, the air he’s breathing out mingling with yours because you’re standing so close to each other. It makes you lightheaded, but it also makes you want him to stand closer. “(y/n),” he mumbles.
Is he... is he nervous?
The people on the bleachers cheer, and Donghyuck briefly looks up. Maybe he’s thinking about whether his friends made the point or not. Nonetheless, his attention is on you, and he’s not shy about touching. Warm, soft hands cradle your face and angle your face up, because he wants you to look him right in the eyes. It works like magic; you can’t look away, can’t break eye contact. Under his touch, your heart starts racing.
“You’re not talking again.” The corner of his mouth twitch, barely holding himself back from smirking. His thumbs trace your cheekbones, wandering over your skin and meeting your lower lip. He tugs at it, and relishes in the heavy blush settling on your cheeks. It’s his favorite view. “Say something, baby?”
“You make me nervous.”
The confession is honest, refreshingly so. Donghyuck giggles and steps closer. The nearer he gets, the faster your heart pounds. Does he do this on purpose? You’d bet money on it.
“You make me nervous, too.” He lightly presses his thumb against your lips and you deliver a kiss to it. That seems to satisfy him. His hands abandon your face to hold your waist, and your own fly up to bunch up his shirt in your fists. “Embarassingly so.”
“You’re not acting very nervous, Lee Donghyuck.” You watch as he leans down, the tip of his nose touching yours. Your breath hitches. What is going on? Did he pull you behind the bleachers just for a quick make-out?
Your heart sinks.
“(y/n),” Donghyuck says. “I really, really want to kiss you right now. But I want to take you out on a date first. I want to be called yours and seal the deal with a kiss afterwards. So will you let me?”
“You’re so cheesy,” you deadpan, and for the first time in weeks, you’re not the one who’s cheeks are turning into cherries. You basically gape at the sight of Lee Donghyuck blushing heavily under the dim lights of the soccer field. He screws his eyes shut, embarrassed. “Are you blushing, Lee? Oh my god, that’s so cute.”
“Shut up before I kiss you senseless.” With that, Donghyuck pushes you further into the shadows so no one can see him cling to your lips like the neediest brat ever. The plan had been to kiss you as your boyfriend, but surely, getting a taste won’t be so bad. After all, he’s been dying to find out the many ways he can make the blood rush to your cheeks...
#lee donghyuck#nct dream#nct 127#nct#lee donghyuck x reader#nct dream x reader#nct 127 x reader#nct x reader#lee donghyuck fluff#nct dream fluff#nct 127 fluff#nct fluff#lee donghyuck scenarios#nct dream scenarios#nct 127 scenarios#nct scenarios
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violent ends (chapter 7)
(chapter 7)
series masterlist
genre: hunger games!au
pairings: huang renjun x oc, na jaemin x oc
warnings: nsfw, loss of virginities, mutual degradation, switch!renjun, switch!oc, language, mentions of death
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"Holy-" Jaemin looked at my outfit, "Jesus Christ, Athena." His cheeks turning pink at the sight.
"Do you like it? I think Seulgi did a good job." I spun around for him. Both my dress and the stars in my hair were twinkling even under the backstage lights.
He laughs, "Of course. You look pretty in everything, though."
"She does, doesn't she?" I turn to see Lee Jeno and Lee Donghyuck, who goes by Haechan now.
Haechan slyly adds to Jeno's comment, "Almost good enough to eat. Congrats on the eleven, by the way."
I feel uneasy and lock eyes with Jaemin. His jaw is clenched and eyebrows furrowed. I try to seem unaffected, "Thank you. You boys look handsome as well."
"Who knew such a little thing could be so vicious?" Jeno darkly coos.
"Makes me wonder what else she's hiding in that pretty little head of hers. Doesn't she look pretty, Renjun?" Haechan tauntingly asks.
I didn't even notice the boy, who was standing right next to Haechan. He looks me up and down and stoically says to his allies, "Of course, she does."
The sound of trumpets and loud cheering interrupts our extremely pleasant conversation. "Ladies and gentlemen, our master of ceremonies: Caesar Flickerman!"
"Such a shame, looks like were starting. See you in the arena, pretty girl." Jeno says, however it's directed more towards the visibly-fuming Jaemin.
All the tributes are lined up by district. In one of the corners, there is a screen showing the live broadcast.
"So, our first tribute is from District 1!" A single man in the crowd lets out a cheer, "Someone likes District 1. Why, do you have money on District 1? Well, I'm not aloud to bet, contractually. Well maybe just a little bit."
The crowd laughs and Caesar continues, "First, from District one, we have a lovely young man named Jeno. Please give him a warm amount of applause."
Watching the screen, I see Jeno sit down in a white chair as the crowd cheers for him.
"Tell me three things: why have you always wanted to be here, what are your strengths, and what are your weaknesses?" lists Caesar.
"Well, every single year I'd tune in to watch the Careers completely dominate in the games. I knew, that is definitely going to be me someday. I began working harder and harder to get there." He explains to the audience, "I think me being here, just goes to show that with hard work and patience you do anything you want to."
The crowd goes wild, causing me to roll my eyes. They really buy this corny bullshit?
Next, Haechan is called onto the stage.
"Now, I can't describe how shocked we all were when District 1 had two boy tributes, instead of a boy and girl. Was it just me or did you all feel your heart drop?" The crowd nods, "Tell us, Haechan, what was going through your head when your name was called?"
"I was honestly thrilled. I honestly felt so disappointed when they called Jeno, instead of me at first. Then, they called my name and I was so happy. These are truly the greatest games ever invested. I mean, who wouldn't be excited?" Haechan asked the crowd.
"That's right folks, this year’s Hunger Games are going to filled with twists and turns." explained Caesar.
Now, it's District 2's turn. Firstly, Renjun is called to the stage. His face expression looks natural and indifferent in his black suit. On his collar, there's a star pin, matching the ones in my hair.
"Renjun! Welcome to the Capitol! How are you liking everything so far?” Caesar greeted.
“Everything’s great. Of course, The Capitols been treating me very well.” He flattered.
“As expected,” Caesar nodded, “Now tell us, Huang Renjun, who do you think is your biggest competition and why?”
Renjun paused for a second. I would hate to get that question. If you choose the wrong person, it could definitely blow up in your face.
“You know, I think it would have to be Lee Athena. Not only does she come from my district, but she scored an eleven yesterday. I think it’ll be a interesting fight, for sure.”
Good choice, Renjun. I know he couldn’t choose his allies, that would make things awkward. I can’t help, but feel a little flattered though.
Caesar smiled, “I like his attitude. What about you guys?”
I took a deep breath, starting to internally get into character. The innocent sweetheart, who adores the Capitol. I glance back at Jaemin and he gives me a supportive nod, before I hear my name announced.
Once I enter on the stage, Caesar squeals in delight, “Look at our Golden Girl shine! Give us a twirl.”
He says, once we sit down, “Absolutely stunning! Now, tell us how does feel to have your brother, Lee Taeyong, as a mentor?”
I hear the crowd go ballistic at the sound of his name. Especially, after his waving face pops up on the big screen.
“Well, Caesar. Taeyong has taught me so much. He’s a wonderful leader and has always been very inspiring to me. I hope to win for my big brother!” I overemphasised my emotions. The audience melting at my affection towards him.
“So cute. Oh stop it, your going to make us all cry!” pouted Caesar, causing the audience to laugh.
“Ladies and gentlemen, from District 2: Lee Athena, our very own Golden Girl!” I blow kisses to the audience, hopeful that I did all that I could to impress them.
I join Taeyong, Doyoung, and Renjun backstage to watch the rest of the tributes. I swear I almost lost my hearing from the screams when Jaemin entered the stage.
Caesar leaned in, “So, Jaemin. Many of us, especially the ladies, are curious to to know if you have a special someone?”
“Just the ladies?” Jaemin raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, fine! I wanted to know too!” Caesar bursts with excitement.
He paused, before answering, “Well, there is someone, but she doesn’t know how I feel about her.”
The audience thrilled, Caesar pries, “Well, tell us about her! Where did you meet?”
“Well, it was hard not to fall for her. She was wearing this beautiful gold dress at the parade,” Jaemin beautifully sighs, “It literally took my breath away.”
Taken aback, Caesar asks, “Wait, did we all hear you correctly or did you say ‘the parade’? As in the tribute parade? Jaemin, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for another tribute?”
“It’s true, Caesar,” Jaemin looks directly at the camera, “I’ve fallen for Lee Athena.”
The crowd gasps loudly. Suddenly, a camera is in front of me, broadcasting my shocked expression to all of Panem.
“Well folks! Looks like we might have a romance blooming in front of our very eyes soon.” Caesar teased the cameras.
“Athena! Oh my god! That was so dreamy.” Doyoung cried in the apartments.
“Yeah, I guess.” I said, cooly.
“Well, just so you know,” Doyoung whispered, “I’m rooting for the two of you.”
“Thanks, Doyoung. I know Renjun is too prideful tell you this, but you’ve been a great help to us these past few days.” I say, knowing this is the last time I’m going to see him.
Doyoung actually starts tearing up, “Please, it’s been a privilege to be your sponsor. Honestly, this year has been my favorite year of tributes ever. Do well, okay?”
He squeezes my hand, before I leave to the kitchen, where Taeyong will give his final pep talk to Renjun and I.
“When the gong sounds, don’t step off right away. You’ll blow up. It’s your personal choice if you want to raid the Cornucopia or not. Both of you are perfectly capable as long as you keep your guard up. Just clear out, try to put as much distance as you can between yourselves and others, and find a source of water right away," he says. "Got it?"
We nod.
“Meanwhile, Doyoung and I are going to be working on sponsors to provide anything the two of you need. We got your back.” He promises.
Once Renjun leaves, I give Taeyong one last hug. He quietly says, “Listen to me. You’re going to win this, alright? Do whatever it takes. Okay? After, I’ll take you to the mountains like I used to. Just us two.”
Memorizing his face and the feel of his hugs one last time, I state, “I’ll see you.”
“Alright, kid.” He ruffles my hair.
I go to my room and take a shower. Once all the makeup is removed, I throw on a thin nightgown and hop into bed.
After what seems like hours, it’s finally obvious in my mind that I am incapable of going to sleep. My mind just won’t slow down enough to let me. Obviously, I need all the sleep I can, before tomorrow.However, before I can stop myself my feet are moving to the kitchen.
I pour myself a cup of water and sit in the dark. However, I quickly realize there’s one single light still on.
Renjun’s.
Putting my empty cup in the sink, I walk over his door and knock.
“Who is it?” I hear him softly ask.
Finally, get my chance to tease him about the interview, I say, “Your biggest competition.”
He lets me in, closing the door behind me.
“What do you want?” Renjun frowns at me.
“I can’t sleep.” I explain.
“How is that my problem?” He raises his eyebrows, annoyed.
“Shut up. Obviously, you aren’t getting much sleep either, idiot.” I insult.
“Fine.” Renjun just sits down on his bed. I happily follow him and sit across from him.
“Your allies are certainly charming.” I trail off.
“Yep, that whole thing was them trying to trip out that lover-boy of yours.” Renjun explains.
“I thought so. It worked too, I guess,” I admit, “Especially the part where you said I looked pretty.”
“For sure, your boyfriend was fuming.” He laughs.
I roll my eyes, “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Then, why else would you throw your whole game and life away for him?” He shuts his eyes.
“Are you serious?” My mouth falls open.
“Yes,” His jaw clenches tight, “Are you serious? You’ve known this kid for a week. A week. Now, he’s confessing to you. Don’t you think that’s a little suspicious? Did it never cross your mind that maybe he’s just using you?”
I hate how he thinks I’m a dumb little girl. I hate how he doesn’t know the truth.
“You know, Renjun, why do you care so much?” My tone sharp.
“Just shut up, Athena.” He shakes his head.
Furious, I get closer, “No, really. So what if I throw my life away? You never cared before. What’s it to you?”
He starts, “Just-“
Renjun softly grabs me by my chin, shocking me. Just for a second, he stares at my lips. He then, looks me straight in the eyes.
Holding himself back, “Listen to me. Get out of here, before I do something I’m not supposed to.”
“What if I don’t want to?” I widely grinned, before quietly asking, “What are you going to do to me?”
He answers me with a kiss. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, bringing him closer. Different from the last time, this one is certainly less gentle. It’s desperate and demanding at the same time.
I know I hate this kid, but holy shit he’s fun to make out with.
I can’t remember the part, when I decided to climb into his lap. I do, however, remember clinging to anything I can, his hair, shirt, or face, with need.
When he disconnects our lips, I almost cry out when I think it’s over. However, I forget all about it, when he starts kissing my neck. Up and down, little pecks. It’s so good. So sensitive. He should feel this too.
I push him backwards on the bed and crawl on top of him. Giving him only one brutal kiss on the lips, I copy what he did on my neck.
After I reached a certain spot by his collarbone, he let out a quiet, “Oh my god.” Curious, I decided to suck on the spot. He cried out, bucking his hips into mine. I pulled back to see a dark mark left behind, being filled with a weird sense of pride.
He slightly jumps, when I run my finger over the bruise. I let my fingers down exploring the uncovered parts of his neck, before I stop at his collar. I pause, unsure what to do next.
“Off?” He asks, still underneath me. I nod, crawling back to give him some space.
Renjun pulls his shirt over his head. He leans back, letting me do whatever I wanted. I run my hand slowly down his chest.
“I never pegged you for the obedient type.” I speak my thoughts.
“I’m not. I’m just being nice.” He says, plainly.
Testing the waters, I ask, “What if I said I don’t want you to be nice?”
His right hand suddenly places itself around my throat. Not squeezing, just resting. It was almost like he was saying, I could do it, but I’m not going to.
“Watch it.” He warns.
I raise my eyebrow, “Or what?”
Wanting to piss him off, I moved my hips against his. Back and forth. Back and forth. He flinches as other hand grabs my hips. I let out a moan.
He halts my movements, “Do you want them to hear you? Shut up.”
I laugh, “And what are you going to do about it? You gonna shut me up?”
Annoyed, he forces his pointer and middle finger in my mouth. I delightfully moan, deciding to suck on his fingers. Meanwhile, he just looks at me in shock. Eyes wide and curious, he just watches me take his fingers. To his dismay, I also continue my hip movements.
Grabbing his hand on my hip, I bring it down to the edge of my nightgown. Getting the hint, he grabs it and pulls it over my head. Fascinated, he looks over my body. It’s almost like he’s looking at a painting, analyzing every detail. He takes his fingers out of my mouth and runs his hand down my already-bare chest.
Stopping my hips, I plead, “Renjun, please do something.”
“What do you want me to do?” He quizzes.
Too shy to say the words, I reply, “Anything.”
He brings his hand down to my underwear line, asking, “Here?” I nod, feeing a little nervous.
Placing me down on the bed, he climbs on top of me. Just like I was to him, a few seconds ago. Only now, I was beginning to feel truly smaller.
I take a deep breath as he pulls down my underwear. When he looks between my legs, I nervously start shutting them. However, he forces them apart. Watching my facial expression, he runs his fingers over my core. Jumping, I let out a whimper.
“Shh...” He shushes me.
Continuing, he asks, “Did I make you like this?”
Too prideful, I stay quiet.
Unsatisfied, he rips his hand away, “Say it, or I’ll make you go back to your room right now.”
“Yes,” I force out with all I could, “You did.”
Content, he noticed me flinch, when his fingers touched a certain spot. He continues softly touching it, making me squirm around.
Curious, he asked, “Can I put my finger in?”
Once I agree, he pushes his middle finger in. I am met with a new and unpleasant burning. My face wrinkles up in pain. Sensing my discomfort, he quickly removes it.
“No, put it back.” I whine, knowing it’s pretty normal to hurt at first. His finger returns, starting to move in and out, very slowly. Once I got used to the movements, it actually started to feel really good.
He watches my face, as I slowly start to fall apart beneath him. When he starts to speed up, my hands cover my face in surprise.
With his free hand, he gently slaps my hands, wanting them away from my face. After I comply, he happily adds in his ring finger.
His fingers were now getting bolder and deeper inside me. Suddenly, they press against a spot that make me jerk, shutting my legs around his arm.
“Good?” He checks, unsure. Once I nod, he just starts hammering his fingers into the same spot. Unable to contain myself, my body starts thrashing around. Renjun just rolls his eyes and braces his free arm on my stomach, holding me down.
As a result, I am forced to just completely take his quick fingers. Eyes shutting, I feel a building feeling in my lower stomach.
“Renjun, I think-“ I pause, too overwhelmed to even think or muster out the words.
Understanding, he says, “Look at me, then.”
And I do.
I see his eyes just watching me with want and curiosity. Before I know it, something snaps deep within. Renjun’s hand is over my mouth, muffling my cries. However, his fingers are still working inside me, prolonging the bliss.
It’s only when I slap at his arm from sensitivity, that he removes his hand. Even so, I still feel like I’m floating above earth on a cloud. I can’t even think about anything else, except this happy feeling.
I wanted him to feel it too.
“Take off your pants.” I breath out.
Sitting down beside me, he pulls off his sweatpants. I see that he’s painfully hard in his underwear. I almost feel sorry for him.
I kiss him, climbing on top of him. He eagerly kisses me back, becoming stiff when my uncovered lower half slightly brushes him.
I break away from him, taking in the look of desperation and need in his eyes.
“What do you want from me, Renjun?” I run a finger down his covered bulge. He breathes out, when I stop at the end, where I notice there is a dark spot.
“You want my hands?”
I press down, where the spot is. His hips, jerking up from beneath me. Meanwhile, the look of constraint is still clearly evident on his face.
“My mouth?” His eyes dart to my lips, while I can see him considering the options in his head.
“There is something I’m forgetting, isn’t there Renjun?” I feign dumb as I sit down directly on top of him.
“You’re having so much fun, aren’t you?” Renjun darkly breaths out, “You sure didn’t talk this much, when I had my fingers in you a few minutes ago.”
“It is fun, because I know you’re too much of a pussy to ask for what you really want.” I chuckle to myself, enjoying my revenge.
His head snapped up at me, “What did you call me?”
“You heard me.” I stare blankly back at him.
“Fine. I want to be inside you,” His fingers run over my core, making me jump in surprise, “I want to feel you in here.”
While I’m at his mercy, he roughly pushes me off of him, onto my back.
He asks for consent, “Is that what you want?”
I peer up at him through my eyelashes and nod, “I want you.”
Just like the fingers, it burned at first. However, when he started leaving little pecks on my neck, it went quickly away. Instead, I felt full and completely satisfied.
I could tell it wasn’t just me. Finally getting some relief, Renjun was silently cursing to himself. The both of us listening to the sinful sounds of our skins slapping together.
It’s almost too much. The way I could feel him going in and out. Grazing exactly where I needed him.
“I’m almost there. Just pull out, okay?” I whisper out. Once speeding up, I feel his hand travel down to my clit. Feeling the familiar tightness in my gut, I wildly buck my hips into his. Knowing what’s about to happen, he shuts me up with a kiss, as I fall apart beneath him.
Not long after, he quickly pulls out. After sliding his hand over his length a few times, he releases a white substance all over my stomach. He crashes down on top of me, but I don’t care much. I just run my fingers through his hair, as he calms down.
Reaching into his bedside table, he pulls out some tissues and wipes my stomach. I let him take care of me, finally feeling exhausted.
Once he finished, I avoid eye contact,“Okay, bye. I’m going back.”
I look up at him, then quickly realize that when we see each other again, the harsh reality is that one of us will have to kill the other.
I don’t even have to explain my sullen expression to Renjun. He just knows. We both there’s no other way.
Before I leave, he kisses me, trying to soothe the bitter sting of reality. I don’t fight, just simply accept it. Try to remember the way it feels, before I go back to my room and this is just another memory I stuff into a jar and keep hidden in the back of my mind.
He kissed me one last time.
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Meowwy Christmas | N. JM
➳ pairing: na jaemin x fem!reader
➳ genre: fluff, kind of christmassy but oh well
➳ word count: ~1.5k
➳ warnings: cursing, alcohol
➳ summary: the boss’s son has always been a tantalizing mystery...until he isn’t.
A/N: why am I posting a Christmas piece in September? You know just as well as I do.
The office ugly sweater holiday party was annual and mandatory. There was nothing you hated more than putting on a hot, itchy sweater, and hanging out with your annoying coworkers on a Saturday night. But you had to. You knew from experience that it wasn’t something you could get out of, especially because when you tried to cut two years ago, you got a friendly call from your boss asking where you were.
It wouldn’t be so bad if the crowd was a little bit different. But the problem with working at a major publishing company is that the average age in the office was somewhere around 40. Only you and two other workers were under the age of 25, and you tended to stick together. But with Renjun recovering from an appendix removal and Jeno at his sister’s wedding, you knew you would be spending the night alone.
You tugged at the turtleneck of your itchy green sweater as you stood in the tacky foyer of your boss’s home. It was early in the night--too early, in fact, for you to be sweating the way you were. It definitely didn’t help that you were on your third glass of wine, too tempted by the sweet release of alcohol to limit yourself to one glass. You couldn’t bring yourself to watch Phyllis from marketing do karaoke to “Sweet Caroline” completely sober.
The dim lighting of the room reflected off of the glitter and sequins on various sweaters, making your head start to pound lowly. Between that, the cheesy karaoke songs, and the heat of the room, you knew you had to escape somehow. Looking around for an exit, you immediately became flustered. There was no way out without being noticed. You thought you were doing well at concealing your discomfort until a hand tapped on your shoulder.
“Need some air?”
When you turned to face the hand’s owner, you were stunned in your place. You had never seen your boss’s son, only heard stories about through the insane amount of office gossip. Mr. Na was quick to shut down any and all rumors about his son, but the gossip never stopped. One thing that you heard was definitely true. Na Jaemin sure was handsome.
Even in an electric blue, polyester sweater with a tabby cat on the front that said “Meowwy Christmas,” his handsomeness and charm showed through. Maybe it was the way his ringed fingers curled around the neck of a cold beer, or maybe it was the shiny silver Rolex on his wrist. Either way, Jaemin looked like the walking intersection of wealth and beauty.
“No, no, I’m okay…” you answered politely, holding onto the stem of your wine glass that much tighter.
The boy just quirked an eyebrow at you, taking a quick scan of the room before leaning in close. “I know how to get out in a way that no one will see.”
“Sneaking out of the annual, mandatory office party? I think that would be case for dismissal from the company.” You joked back, trying to hide the hitch in your breath at his close proximity.
The boy’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “Well then it must be a good thing that my dad can’t fire me.”
“Must be nice,” you scoffed playfully. “Some of us don’t have the luxury of being family.”
The glint in the young man’s eyes seemed brighter than ever. “Fair. So I’ll take that as a yes, you want to get out of here?”
You barely had a chance to smile before the boy was disappearing into the crowd of older bodies. It was difficult to keep up with him, seeing as he undeniably knew his house better than you did. But when you followed him into a dim hallway and down three steps, you were met with a sliding glass door. After taking the first step outside, you smiled widely.
The air felt cool on your skin, soothing the blooming itchy patches on your arms and neck. It was dark outside, the only light coming from the party behind you. Jaemin kept walking in front of you, leading you further out into what you could only assume was the backyard. Three lawn chairs stood unceremoniously in the large patch of grass, and Jaemin claimed one. He patted the seat next to him, and it took a second for your slightly tipsy figure to sit down comfortably.
“I never introduced myself!” You mumbled quietly. “I’m--”
“Y/N,” Jaemin cut you off. “I know. My dad talks about your work all the time. He says that if he didn’t have me, he would let you run the company someday.”
You choked on the red wine that you had been sipping on. “Are you fucking kidding me?! I just do cover designs. It’s only like my third year here. I don’t even work at the main location.”
“I know,” Jaemin chuckled slightly, taking a sip of his frosty beer. “But he loves your work.”
You sighed, letting your head that suddenly felt too heavy rest on the dirty cushion of the lawnchair. You had no idea that your boss thought so highly of you, especially highly enough to talk to his son about you. Either way, you were flattered.
Next to you, Jaemin sat quietly, sipping occasionally on his beer. You momentarily grazed his profile, taking in the sharp curve of his jawline and the softness of his hair. He truly was handsome, a trait that you knew he definitely did not get from his father.
You liked your boss a lot. He was extremely caring and kind hearted when it came to his staff, but you couldn’t help but think he was a little bit selfish for hiding his son from the office. You heard Jaemin worked occasionally at the main office in the city, whereas your desk was located at the smaller outlet in the suburbs. You had never considered a location change...until now.
“So why are you here?” Jaemin suddenly asked, leaning back in his chair comfortably.
“This is mandatory for us normal people, remember?”
Jaemin nodded. “Right. But have you ever thought about coming just to show your face and then leaving early?”
You chuckled, taking another long swig of your wine. “Tried that last year. When I showed up on Monday, Janet and Eunice in editing were telling the whole graphics department that I left for a booty call. So I don’t think that’s the best solution.
Jaemin laughed loudly, clamping a hand over his mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be laughing, but that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I know. At the time it sucked, but looking back on it, it’s hilarious. They were just salty they haven’t had any dick since their divorces.”
“Cute and sassy, I like it,” Jaemin chuckled.
You turned in his direction, quirking an eyebrow at his still-smiling frame. “Cute?”
“Very. You’re lucky you left the ugly sweater party early last year, because I was literally walking over to ask for your number as you were walking out. I had to wait a whole 365 days to see you again. I was happy to see you in a new sweater this time.”
You looked down at your Grinch-green fuzzy sweater and laughed. “So you have an ugly sweater fetish...cute.”
Now it was Jaemin’s turn to laugh. “I think I’m more just attracted to the beautiful woman who’s wearing the sweater.”
“Smooth,” you teased, letting the last bit of red wine slide down your throat. Despite the warmth flooding to your cheeks, the cold December air was beginning to bite at the tip of your nose. You could tell Jaemin was feeling the same way as he shivered slightly in his seat. “You cold?”
He shook his head. “It’s better than being in the house with all those stuffy people.”
You hummed softly, eyes trained on the house in front of you. You could vaguely see the silhouettes of people in the house, and you chuckled when you saw the dancing had begun. Jaemin seemed to notice at the same time, shaking his head before taking another swig of his beer.
“You know, you never asked me.” You started.
Jaemin looked confused. “Asked you for what?”
“We’ve been out here for well over ten minutes and you haven’t asked me for my number. I thought you would have at least gone with me to my car by now. But maybe that’s just the Meiomi talking.”
Jaemin was taken aback, not used to such a blunt nature in girls. His cheeks began to hold a pink hue, and he wished he could blame it all on the cold. But as he stole a glance at the smirk on your face, he knew it was all you.
“Y/N, are you implying that we should ditch the annual, mandatory ugly sweater office holiday party?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” you turned to him with a devilish smile. “But for an actual booty call this time.”
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can’t live without you 2.
— huang renjun
･*:༅｡ the one where you’re in love with your roommate, and you think he’s in love with someone else, part two.
aka, you were wrong.
read part one here.
it doesn’t process quickly enough in renjun’s brain when you tell him you don’t want to live with him anymore, leaving him absolutely and positively stunned at your sudden statement.
when it finally clicks in his head at the words you’ve said to him, he’s quick to run out the door.
he’s too late. he watches from outside as your car pulls away from your apartment complex, and he feels defeated.
why didn’t he answer you when you asked if he loved her?
he fucking didn’t.
renjun questions his poor actions and why he was defending mara so much when he didn’t even have strong feelings for her. he didn’t lie to you, when you asked him if he loved her. he neither confirmed nor denied the question. yet he realizes that his silence was confirmation enough to you, and he feels so fucking stupid.
he doesn’t love her. he loves you.
and he realizes something right at this moment. you must love him too.
renjun knows you. better than anyone on this planet. he knows you, and he knows you’re not unreasonable. if you didn’t care about him in that way, he knows you wouldn’t have made such a big deal. he hurt you. and he knows that much.
asking mara to move in would just be a good enough distraction for him to try and move on from you.
granted, it was unfair for renjun to even consider this idea, not realizing how greatly this would affect not only you, but mara as well.
and then he realizes he’s the selfish one here.
he’s selfish for thinking that moving in someone he didn’t even love would be enough for him, he was selfish for disregarding how you would even feel bringing a stranger into your shared home, and it was so, incredibly, fucking selfish of him for accusing you of things that weren’t true in order to spare his own feelings.
now you’re gone, and he doesn’t know if you’ll even be back. if you meant what you said — which he hoped you hadn’t, he knows you won’t come back.
renjun calls you everyday for the next three days, and not to his surprise, you ignore every call. he’s become all too familiar with your ringtone, and it makes him miss your voice even more.
“y/n, please answer.” he begs. “we need to talk. i just need to explain myself more to you. you can’t just let this be the last time we talk to each other. all your stuff is still here. this can’t be it.”
he never finds out if you’ve listened to his voicemails.
days continue to pass and renjun completely forgets he has a girlfriend. another girl who isn’t you.
when she shows up at his once shared home with you, he looks at her with surprise. “woah, bad timing or what?” mara chuckles before stepping foot inside his home.
“what are you doing here?” he asks, not intending to sound rude. however he notices the small frown on mara’s face as he says this.
“uh, because we have barely spoken in the last two weeks?” she exclaims. “last time i checked you were still my boyfriend...”
she walks over to hug him and greet him with a kiss, only for him to turn his head as her lips meet his cheek. renjun clears his throat, dreading the awaiting conversation he knew he had to have with her.
“okay, about that,” he sighs once again. “we should probably talk.”
“about?” mara asks in confusion.
“i wish i didn’t have to do this, and there’s no possible good way of doing this,” he starts. “look, i cant do this anymore, mara.”
her mouth opens slightly in surprise. “what- this is a joke right?” she chuckles, but in a way that shows her utter disbelief. “why? i thought things were going well between us. i don’t understand.”
“and they were. i promise. things were good. but i realized that i can’t be with someone when i have another person in the back of my mind all the time. it’s unfair. it’s not that i didn’t want things to work out, i just know that i’m not fully committed and i can’t be. and it’s not your fault-“
mara cuts him off with a sudden slap to his face.
okay, i guess i deserved that. he thought to himself.
“you are so full of shit.” she seethes.
“whatever, hate me all you want. i cant do this anymore.“ he beckons her to make her way out the door but she stays still.
“so that’s it? we’re just leaving it at that?”
renjun sighs for what feels the millionth time in the last five minutes. “mara, i don’t know what else to say to you. i’m sorry, i’m really, really fucking sorry. but i can’t lie to you anymore.”
she stares at him, a glare very prominent on her face. and she’s barely breaking eye contact with renjun as he grows extremely ucomfortable with her gaze. finally, she leaves. more so, she pushes past him, bumping her shoulder harshly against his as he stumbles back a little bit. she bids him a goodbye by flipping her middle finger high, and without missing a beat, mutters a small ‘fuck you’ to renjun before slamming the front door.
he groans, brushing his hands through his hair as he closes his eyes in defeat. he feels alone now more than ever.
and yet, all he could do, is miss you.
-
three weeks after you’ve left your home, you finally listen to the endless voicemails your best friend has left you, and it makes your heart hurt even more.
no matter how much he hurt your feelings, you’re reasonably aware of the fact that your heartbreak is not his fault. it wasn’t his fault for not loving you back. and you had to keep reminding yourself of the fact.
you decide you’ll hear him out. and gather your stuff right after.
standing outside your apartment, you mentally prepare yourself to see renjun for the first time in what feels like a lifetime. you breathe in, and out. deep breathes. you do this a couple more times before sticking your key into the lock.
the familiar jingle of the keys indicates you’re home, and renjun is quick to jump up from his spot on the couch to greet you. you’ve barely made it through the door when he comes barrelling towards you and pulling you in a tight hug. you sigh into his hold, afraid to touch him. you feel your heart break more. he’s unrelenting to let you go from his hold.
“renjun...” you utter quietly.
he finally pulls away from you, and all you can do is look at him. “can we talk?” he says.
“yeah,” you sigh. he runs a hand through his hair which you had picked up was a nervous habit of his. “can we sit on the couch?” he asks.
you nod and follow him towards the living room, seating yourself beside him as you faced your body towards him.
it’s silent for a moment.
“she’s not moving in.” he tells you.
“why not?”
“i don’t want her to.”
“yeah? and what changed? because i swear three weeks ago you were practically begging me to let her live with us, and proceeded to call me selfish when i said no.” you can’t help your sarcastic and snarky tone. but you were still mad, and hurt more than anything.
“y/n, i’m sorry about that.” he sighs, inching towards you as he grabs onto your hand. you ignore the rapid beat of your heart. you force force yourself to pull away from his hold, mentally noting not to give into his affections. “we aren’t even together anymore.”
you scoff. “sorry to hear.”
“y/n, if i tell you something do you promise not to get mad at me?”
you stared at him confused.
“could i possibly get more mad than i already am at you?” you glare.
“okay, i know i fucked up.” he notes.
“well, at least you’re aware of it.” you mutter.
“y/n, please,” he looks like he might cry.
“okay, what? what do you want to tell me?”
“promise you won’t get mad.”
“i make no promises.”
he lets out a deep breathe. “fine. it’s not like i can royally fuck things up even more anyways.” he says, but it sounds like he’s saying it more to himself than anything.
“i know you think i’m in love with mara. and i’m not. i don’t now, and i never did before. i should’ve said something that night. i should’ve just told you no, and i don’t know why i didn’t. i guess i was just caught up in the moment, and, being honest i kind of gathered that night you might have feelings for me. at least a little bit. i think that’s what got you so upset. and i’m sorry. i’m sorry for making you leave, and for calling you all those names. i’m sorry for not saying anything to stop you when i should’ve.” renjun exclaims.
“well, congratulations on your discovery.” you say. “i still don’t know what changes anything. i accept your apology but, getting all our shit out on the table... i still don’t think it’s a good idea for us to live together again. you know how i feel for you, and, honestly, things won’t be the same.” you get up from your spot on the couch, slightly embarrassed.
renjun grabs onto your arm, pulling you back down. “i’m not finished.” he sighs in frustration. “i fucking love you, okay?”
you stare at him. “huh?”
“oh my god, you idiot.” he rolls his eyes.
“okay jackass, are you trying to fucking confess your love or insult me again-“
“y/n, i love you.” renjun says. “and i only asked for mara to move in so i could move on from you. or try to. because before that night, when we argued, i didn’t have a single clue as to how you might’ve felt about me. and then i realized when you left that you wouldn’t act that way for no reason. and when you left i regretted everything i ever said to you that night. i never meant to hurt you. i would never intentionally hurt you. not when i love you this much.”
and there you sit, unmoving in your position because frankly, you don’t know how to react. you weren’t expecting such a grand confession. let alone from your best friend who you’ve been madly in love with for as long as you can remember.
“can you say something?” he whispers.
“this is so cliché.” you whisper back.
“way to ruin the moment.” he pushes you slightly.
you let out a chuckle. “sorry. i’m not good with any of this.” you sigh. “if it’s any consolation, i love you too. but you know that already.”
he looks up at you, a small smile on his face. “yeah, i do. but it feels really fucking good to hear you say it.”
you return the smile, as renjun pulls you towards him. “you won’t slap me if i kiss you, right?” he asks. you shake your head.
without another second to waste, renjun is pressing his lips to yours, and your heart beats like crazy. his lips are soft, and they taste slightly of his cherry lip balm you know he never forgets to put on. and most importantly, you feel every emotion he feels right at this moment. you’ve imagined this feeling for so long, and you feel like your chest might explode knowing very well, this is really happening. you don’t know how long it’s been at this point, but you know you don’t want it to end. renjun pulls away slightly to give himself time to breathe, and you do the same, looking right into his eyes. he presses one more kiss to your lips before pulling you into his arms.
“so what now?” he asks.
you pause before speaking.
“i’m still moving out.” you say.
“what the fuck-“
“i’m kiddinggg.” you laugh, hugging him tighter. “what do you want to do?”
“well, once you move back in, can i take you out on a date?” he asks.
“yeah.” you sigh into his chest.
“and then i can ask you out, officially, and hopefully, you’ll say yes. we can put this whole thing behind us, because i’m an idiot, and a jackass, and you don’t have to remind me.” renjun starts. “but i still want to make it up to you for how sorry i am. and then i want to move on from it, and continue to have a life with you.”
“yeah, because you can’t live without me can you?” you tease.
“no, i really can’t.” he chuckles. “and you can’t live without me either.”
“well, good thing we don’t have to anymore, right?” you say, looking up at him.
“yeah,” he says, pressing a kiss on your forehead. “i love you a lot.”
“i know.” you answer. “and i love you too.”
#this isnt even a blurb anymore#anyways#part 2!!!#huang renjun#nct renjun#renjun angst#renjun fluff#renjun imagines#renjun scenarios#nct#nct dream#nct scenarios#nct reactions#nct imagines#kpop#kpop scenarios#kpop imagines#kpop reactions
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