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Jeon Jungkook could not accept defeat. 

That was an irrefutable fact, not an opinion, and that is how the whole stupid argument had started. 

"You cheated." 

You stare at him from across the living room. "I didn't cheat."

"You absolutely cheated."

You set your game controller down on the coffee table with exaggerated care. "Explain how."

Jungkook points at you immediately, as if he'd been waiting for the question. "You distracted me."

A laugh of disbelief escapes before you can stop it. "That's your defence?"

"It's a valid defence,” he insists. 

"It really isn't,” you argue back. 

His eyes narrow, and not to be outdone, yours narrow right back. Both of you glare silently at one another for a moment, nobody saying anything, but the battle rages on in wills. 

"You did distract me." The sheer seriousness in his voice makes you laugh harder. “Then you took advantage.”

You sigh exasperatedly. "Oh yeah? And how did I manage to do that exactly?"

"You kept talking."

"Talking isn't cheating."

"You know it affects my concentration."

"You've spent ten years performing in front of stadiums."

"That’s not the same thing and you know it,” he states. "It’s different. I wasn't trying to beat seventy thousand people."

You throw your head back. "Come on, Jungkook."

"I'm serious."

"No, you're being ridiculous."

His mouth drops open, but he’s still ridiculously pretty unfortunately. That makes winning arguments harder.

"You’re calling me ridiculous?” he states, unimpressed. 

"You are being ridiculous."

His eyebrows lift. "You know what?" he says sulkily. "I don't think you're taking this seriously at all."

You blink. "You think?"

"I'm hurt."

"Hurt?” you echo. 

"Yeah, Y/N, hurt."

"You lost one round."

"Three rounds actually.”

"Who's counting?" You really are losing your mind with him now. 

"I am."

Jungkook glares and you grin which only serves to infuriate him further, and his glare deepens. He’s so cute when he’s getting mad, so your grin broadens uncontrollably. In all the years you’d been dating, you’ve managed to learn every expression he has.

You know when he's genuinely annoyed, when he's exhausted or overwhelmed, and even when he’s pretending to be angry because he thinks it'll help him win an argument. This is definitely the third one, his twitching lip gives that away as he tries not to smile and ends up failing miserably. 

"You think this is funny?" he asks. 

"A little, yeah."

His glare finally breaks, the corners of his mouth turning upward. "There is something deeply wrong with you."

"You love me,” you chime. 

"Unfortunately."

You gasp, reclining in mock horror, one hand to your chest. "Unfortunately?"

"I said what I said."

"You take it back, Koo."

"No."

"Take it back."

"I will not," he retorts stubbornly. 

You grab a throw pillow and watch his doe eyes widen with awareness immediately. “Don’t you dare!” he warns. 

The pillow hits him square in the chest, and the resulting sound is embarrassingly dramatic. "Violence, really?" he muses theatrically. 

"Oh, please,” you say with a dismissive wave of your hand. 

"Violence in my own home, Y/N,” he tuts. “I expected better of you.”

"It’s our home, Koo," you correct him with a smile. 

He gives the smallest pause, the smile on his face softer now. "Our home,” he repeats, and the way he says it makes your heart swell. 

You try not to react, but you know he sees all the things you don’t say, the things you don’t even realise you’re feeling. His gaze lingers on you for a second too long, and the room quietens around you. 

"You still cheated,” Jungkook says suddenly. 

You groan, and the moment evaporates instantly. "You’re unbelievable."

"I know."

"You ruined the nice moment.”

"What nice moment?"

You point at him. "Exactly."

When he laughs, it’s the kind of laugh that you love the most. Deep and genuine, full of warmth and sincerity. The kind it’s hard not to join in with. When he looks at you, it feels like he’s looking at you differently, but you can’t quite put your finger on how or why. His eyes linger on you as if he’s really taking in the curve of your smile, how you tuck your legs beneath yourself when you sit and wrinkle up your nose when you’re trying not to laugh. 

You’ve been noticing the strange, thoughtful looks he’s been giving you for months now. How he’ll glance at you during conversations and then disappear into his own head, brushing it off whenever you questioned him about it. Your suspicions have definitely been raised. 

"Earth to Jungkook," you say, snapping your fingers. 

His eyes refocus. "Huh −what?"

“You were miles away,” you tell him. “I’d love to know where.”

He laughs. "I don't know what you're talking about."

You shoot him a look, and his expression instantly turns far too innocent, which means he's definitely lying. "You don’t trust me,” he says, pouting again. “I’m hurt, Y/N.”

"You'll survive,” you say firmly. 

"I might not."

"You will."

Jungkook’s hand reaches out suddenly and before you can react, he catches your wrist gently. The movement silences both of you, because somehow after all these years, simple things still affect you. The warmth of his hand, the graze of his fingers against your skin and the way his eyes soften automatically when he’s touching you. As if affection is his default setting and loving you is instinct.

He looks at your intertwined hands, and something flashes in his eyes that is gone almost immediately. You don't know what it means, only that it makes your heart skip a beat. 

"Now you’re miles away," he says quietly. “What’s on your mind?”

He knows you even more than you know yourself. "You started this,” you tell him evasively. 

"I know." 

The smile that follows is absolutely devastating −the sort of smile that should honestly come with a warning label. You narrow your eyes and he laughs, the moment dissolving. 

"Shall we order dinner?" he asks. "It's almost seven."

You smile inwardly. No matter what went on, Jungkook’s stomach never had a day off. It worked with military precision, you could set your watch by it. You check the clock and raise an eyebrow. "When did that happen?"

"I don't know,” he says, “I guess we both lost track of time.”

He releases your hand and you grimace as the space feels colder. You aren’t subtle because Jungkook picks up your expression. He smirks knowingly before standing up and stretching. The hem of his shirt lifts slightly to reveal those glorious abs you loved to run your hands over. 

You look away immediately, but you’re too slow. Jungkook catches you, his grin growing. The man was seriously impossible. You flush. 

"Don't start,” you tell him. 

"I didn't say anything,” he says defensively, looking only too entirely pleased with himself. It only strengthens your belief that he deserved to lose all three rounds. Perhaps four, on principle alone. 

"I'm ordering food,” Jungkook says. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want."

He bites his lip, the tip of his tongue flicking out over the silver of his lip ring. Your stomach does somersaults. "Hmm, maybe…” he says teasingly. 

“Koo!” you exclaim. If he was going to do this now, you weren’t sure your resistance would be up to scratch. It hardly ever was. 

“What?” he says, feigning yet more of that cutesy innocence. “I always know what you get from the Chinese."

You roll your eyes. "Then why ask?"

"See?” he says pointedly. “−This is why we argue."

"We argue because you're dramatic,” you respond, all flustered now. 

"We argue because you're impossible,” he hits back quickly. 

"We argue because you're too competitive.” 

"We argue because you're cute."

The words leave his mouth so effortlessly, as if he hasn’t got a clue what they do to you. Your brain stalls completely. Jungkook freezes, realizing what he said, his expression sheepishly shy. 

Suddenly you’re the one smiling. "You think I'm cute?"

"I take it back."

"Too late."

"I take it back."

"You can't."

"I absolutely can."

"Nope,” you insist. “Them’s the rules. You’ve said it now.”

He groans dramatically, and you chuckle. Despite all the teasing and bickering, the endless back and forth, you feel that familiar certainty that settles in your chest whenever you look at him. No matter how many arguments you have about games, food, movies, laundry, or whose turn it is to do literally anything, home has somehow become a person, and that person is standing in your kitchen pretending not to blush.

You don't notice the way Jungkook watches you afterward. The way his expression changes as his hand briefly slips into his pocket to touch something hidden there that he’s been carrying around for weeks. Something that suddenly feels much heavier than before, because when he looks at you smiling at him from across the room, his carefully planned proposal becomes infinitely more terrifying.

The cold war lasts exactly five minutes and twenty-two seconds, not that you're counting. You are absolutely counting, but only because Jungkook is being ridiculous. The two of you sit at opposite ends of the couch while waiting for dinner to arrive, both pretending to be deeply invested in your phones.

A heavy, intentional silence hangs between you. The kind that says I'm not talking to you first.

You glance up to see Jungkook scrolling, his face completely neutral −suspiciously neutral. You look back at your phone and a few seconds pass. 

Then out of the blue, a cushion hits your shoulder. You stare at it and slowly turn your head. Jungkook is still looking at his phone, scrolling and pretending he had nothing to do with it. 

"You missed,” you announce. 

He stills for a second. “I don't know what you're talking about."

"You threw a cushion at me."

"You have no proof of that."

You can’t help but laugh. "There is literally a cushion in my lap."

"It could've fallen,” he shrugs. 

"Across the room?"

"Gravity works in mysterious ways."

You huff and shake your head, while Jungkook's shoulders shake suspiciously. And just like that, the cold war is over. Dinner arrives ten minutes later. By then you're both squeezed into the same corner of the couch again, arguing over what movie to watch, which feels much more normal.

"Oh no,” he says. “Definitely not that one."

"Why not?"

"You cry every time, Y/N,” he says. “I end up having to dry clean shirts covered in mascara repeatedly.”

"That is so not true." Jungkook turns to look at you with a pierced eyebrow arched and you lose confidence. "Not every time."

"You cried last week,” he reminds you. "You cried because the dog found its owner."

"It was emotional."

"The dog was missing for fifteen minutes."

"That's fifteen minutes too long."

He starts laughing and you shove his shoulder. He barely moves. Years of boxing and working out have made that a one-sided contest.

"You're mean,” you sulk. 

"But you still want me."

"There you go again."

"There I go again."

The smile he gives you is so soft that it still catches you off guard regardless of how many years have passed or however many times you’ve seen it. 

The movie ends up forgotten entirely, mostly because Jungkook keeps talking through it. Then you keep talking through it. Then neither of you remembers what's happening anymore and the TV becomes background noise, a soundtrack to a conversation that wanders aimlessly through a dozen different topics. A funny comment he saw online, a song that's been stuck in his head, a trip that the two of you keep promising you'll take when schedules calm down or the latest tattoo idea he's considering.

Halfway through explaining it, he notices your expression change. "What?" he asks. 

You hesitate. "You know you say that every time,” you tell him. “You say one more tattoo."

His mouth falls open. "You're making things up."

"Koo, you've said it at least ten times before."

His betrayal is immediate. "Whose side are you on?"

"Reality's."

The offended noise he makes nearly sends you into another fit of laughter. You love him so much, like something your heart learned years ago and never forgot. Perhaps that's what love becomes after enough time; certainty that settled into your bones and stayed there ingrained within you. 

Across from you, Jungkook is still arguing his case in the typical Jungkook way. He looks unbelievably adorable still, and your heart flutters. Damn him. After all these years, he can still make you feel sixteen, twenty-six and eighty-six all at once. The words linger on the tip of your tongue, but you don’t say anything. Suddenly bursting out with telling him how much you love him feels embarrassingly vulnerable.

But as ever, Jungkook reads you like a book and apparently your silence speaks some coded language he understands perfectly. He reaches out and hooks a finger around yours, and the gesture makes you ache. 

"You okay?" he asks gently. It’s always gentle and tender when it’s you. 

You nod. "Yeah."

He studies you for another second as if making sure, before he nods too, satisfied. The movie continues playing in the background, and for a little while, everything is perfect. Until Jungkook's phone rings. The second he sees the screen, he sits up straighter, and you bristle instantly, your senses on alert. 

"Who is it?"

"It's not important."

Now you're definitely suspicious, and as the phone keeps vibrating, Jungkook’s panic grows visibly. You watch, and he watches you watching him. The phone rings off and then on again. Then, in a move so obvious it's honestly insulting, he places the phone face down. 

"You're hiding something,” you state. 

His eyes widen. "No, Y/N."

"Then let me see."

"No."

Now you're sitting upright too. His face tells you he thinks he’s made a mistake. You’ve seen that face many times, usually right before he loses an argument. "It's not what you think."

"I don't even know what I think."

The phone starts ringing again and Jungkook looks ready to launch himself through the nearest window. You burst into a fit of giggles which somehow makes him look even more distressed. That's when you come to a strange realisation. Jungkook is many things −competitive, stubborn, playful and sometimes dramatic. 

But he isn't secretive −not with you. The nervousness you're seeing now feels different, and concern fleets through your chest. You needed to trust him −and you did. "Hey."

His eyes lift and you reach for his hand. The tension in his shoulders eases a little, just from you touching him. "Is everything okay?"

Jungkook looks down, and when he finally looks up again, you see something unreadable lingering in his eyes. “Yeah, everything's okay."

Your concern eases, but not entirely because that look remains for a moment longer. When his phone rings again you both jump and the spell breaks instantly. 

"Answer it,” you tell him. 

"I don't want to."

"It might be important."

"It isn’t."

The phone continues vibrating relentlessly and you squint. "Who is it?"

"No one."

"That's not an answer."

"It is technically an answer."

You lunge at him, although you’re not seriously trying to take his phone. Jungkook reacts like someone defending nuclear codes. The man practically tackles the phone first.

"Koo!" you yell. “Let me see!”

“No!”

You laugh so hard you're barely functional. He's laughing too now, although his sounds slightly hysterical. Eventually he answers the phone, but only because he has no choice.

"Hello?" 

The glare he sends whoever is on the other end could melt steel. You hear a voice, but it’s too faint to understand. Jungkook's eyes dart toward you and there’s a pause, and he curses under his breath before his face turns bright red.

"What?"

He points at you, as though you're somehow responsible. The person on the phone says something else and now Jungkook looks like he's considering murder. A few moments later, the call ends and the room falls silent. 

"That was so suspicious,” you say. "Why are you blushing?"

His hand flies to his face and you grin. "I'm warm."

"It's winter."

"I'm still warm."

You laugh and despite his obvious embarrassment, a smile tugs at Jungkook’s mouth too. That’s the thing about Jungkook −even when he's stressed or nervous, and even when something is clearly eating him alive, he loves to make you laugh. Sometimes you think it's one of his favourite sounds.

Across from you, Jungkook watches your smile appear, and he forgets whatever excuse he was about to make. Because all he can think is, just one more day and then he won’t have to keep secrets anymore. Then he can finally ask the question that's been living in his chest for months.

Then if he’s lucky, you’ll say yes −and the thought terrifies him far more than performing in front of a stadium ever could.

The next morning, Jungkook is weird. You squint at him over your coffee, feeling like you’re missing part of a conversation or something, because Jungkook is usually predictable in the small things. You know how he takes his coffee, know without doubt that he’ll steal bites from your breakfast even when he orders his own, and leave cabinet doors open and swear he didn't.

You know he'll wander into whatever room you're in eventually, even if he has absolutely no reason to be there.

Today he looks distracted. He’s burnt his toast twice, put orange juice in the cupboard and cereal in the refrigerator. You watch silently. Jungkook stares at the carton of orange juice sitting beside the plates, and then at you. "I meant to do that."

"Sure."

The smile threatening your lips finally wins.

Jungkook points accusingly. "Don't."

"You put orange juice in a cupboard."

"It happens."

"No, baby."

His ears turn pink, but he’s distracted by something else that follows him through the entire day, because by lunchtime, he's checked his phone fourteen times. You've counted because he’s acting suspicious again. The man who usually leaves his phone lying around without a second thought has now developed a serious case of attachment to it. 

Every notification gets a reaction, every vibration gets checked and every message gets answered immediately.

"You'd be terrible at crime,” you tell him. 

His eyebrows lift. "What does that even mean?"

"It means if you were hiding a body, everyone would know."

His jaw drops. "A body?"

"It’s just an example."

"That's your example?"

"It is when you're acting suspicious."

Jungkook sighs dramatically and that's when you know you've won, because he only sighs like that when he's losing. "Fine,” he concedes. 

"Aha."

"I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"Things."

"What things?"

“Just things.”

"Very convincing."

"Thank you."

You snort, and Jungkook grins. For an instant, everything feels normal again. But later that evening, Jungkook disappears into another room for half an hour. It wouldn’t normally be something to be concerned about, except whenever you try to enter that room to check on him, he appears like a summoned guardian spirit.

The first time, you don't think much of it, but at the second time, you get suspicious. After the third time, you decide you’re definitely going in no matter what. 

"No, Y/N −you can’t," Jungkook tells you.

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because reasons."

You cross your arms and he mirrors you immediately. Somewhere along the way, your relationship became ninety percent affection and ten percent staring contests.

"What are you hiding?" you say, taking a step forward. 

He takes a step sideways, directly into your path.

"You're literally blocking the door,” you tell him. 

"I'm standing."

"You're impossible."

"I've heard that before."

The smile he gives you is annoyingly charming, he usually gets forgiven for everything when he pulls that one out. This time it works as usual and you roll your eyes before leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his cheek. 

His entire train of thought derails, and the effect is almost comical. One second he's confidently standing there, the next he's blinking at you, speechless. You smile victoriously, then walk away, leaving him frozen in the hallway.

"You're evil,” he calls out. 

You laugh from the kitchen, and his answering laugh follows a second later, full of something fond and sweet that allays any doubt you might have had in him. 

An hour later, you're curled up on the couch and Jungkook eventually joins you. He doesn’t sit beside you, but ends up practically on top of you, because personal space has never been his strongest quality. You barely have time to react before he's dropping onto the couch and pulling you against his side.

You settle instinctively and his arm tightens around your shoulders. It's one of your favourite things about him, the ability to simply exist together without expectations or the need to fill every moment with words. Eventually you tilt your head to find him already looking at you.

You smile and he smiles back. "Hi."

"Hi."

"You've been weird all day."

His groan is immediate. "Is this going to be another interrogation?”

"You earned it," you say lightly. 

His eyes drift over your face, longer than usual. The teasing smile slowly disappears, and the mood seems to change. There’s a look in his eyes you haven’t seen before, and your heart races. 

You’ve seen Jungkook happy, playful, excited and emotional −but not this. This looks almost nervous, which doesn't make sense. Not for him, and not here, with you. 

"Koo?"

His gaze drops briefly, and when it returns, the vulnerability there hits you so hard it almost hurts. For the first time all weekend, you stop joking. This feels too important. 

"I need to show you something,” Jungkook says, standing and offering you his hand. 

"Baby,” you call hesitantly, unsure what to make of this. "What’s happening?"

His smile is shaky but terrifyingly beautiful. "Just come with me."

You take his hand, because despite your confusion and curiosity, and the thousand questions now running through your head, you do trust him entirely. His fingers tighten around yours, and together, you walk toward the room he's been guarding all day.

The mysterious room that you’re finally allowed to enter. Your heart pounds harder with every step as Jungkook opens the door. Then it all makes sense, and the breath leaves your lungs. There’s nothing there; no flowers or lavishly decorated scene. It's just the two of you. 

Years of you.

Photographs line the walls; hundreds of them. Concerts, vacations, late-night selfies, blurry moments and ordinary moments. The life you've shared together so far told through memories. You recognize pictures you forgot existed that Jungkook had somehow kept and saved, that he had remembered.

Your vision blurs almost immediately. "Koo−"

You hear him exhale shakily as if he's gathering courage, standing on the edge of something enormous. When you turn toward him, his eyes are already shining −and then yours are too. Because now you know.

“God−,” you gasp, the sound barely a whisper of a breath. 

Jungkook laughs softly, nervously, and his hand finds yours again. Holding on, maybe for your sake, or maybe for his, but probably both. 

"I rehearsed a speech−" he starts, his voice cracking. He chuckles embarrassedly and you feel tears gathering. "I practiced."

You laugh through your tears. Typical Jungkook the perfectionist, of course he had practiced. 

"I had everything planned,” he continues with a shake of his head. “−Then I saw you and forgot half of it."

The room blurs, your heart feeling impossibly full. Jungkook looks down at you, and suddenly every bit of nervousness disappears. "I spend a lot of my life being somewhere else,” he says quietly. “But no matter where I go, or how amazing it is−" His eyes never leave yours. "I always want to come back to you."

Your breath catches, and a tear slips free. Jungkook smiles softly. "You're my favourite part of every day." The ache in your chest becomes overwhelming. "You make ordinary things feel important."

He strokes your face tenderly. "You make bad days easier." A shaky breath escapes him. "You make good days better."

Now he's crying a little too, enough to make your heart shatter and rebuild itself, stronger and fuller. 

"I don't need everything." His voice drops. "I just need you."

The tears are impossible to stop now and Jungkook laughs through his own. Then finally, Jungkook drops to one knee and pulls out the tiny box, opening it to reveal a solid golden band, and your world stops. Nothing exists except him, only him, staring up at you like you're the most important person he's ever known.

"Will you marry me?"

It’s perfect. 

A sob escapes you and his eyes widen as he stands up immediately. “Y/N−“

You laugh through tears of happiness and the complete destruction of your ability to function.

"Are those happy tears? he asks softly.

Then you’re both laughing together, relief flooding his handsome features. His smile grows, the smile that made you fall for him years ago, that you know you will never get tired of seeing. 

“Koo?”

His breath catches as he waits expectantly for your answer. 

“Yes.”

The exact moment the word reaches him, and he realises you’ve agreed, his expression turns to nothing but pure joy and disbelief. In a heartbeat he has you wrapped in his arms, holding you so tightly you can barely breathe. But you don’t care because you're holding him just as tightly.

Both of you are laughing, crying, kissing one another. You can feel him smiling against your lips, feeling the future unfolding around both of you, bright and beautiful as he slides the ring onto your finger where it fits like it had always been there. 

Jungkook looks stunned, as if he can't quite believe this is real. "I love you." he says. 

You smile. "I love you too."

And somewhere between the laughter, the tears, the kisses, and the ring now resting on your finger, you realize that the proposal wasn't hidden in this room or in the photographs. It wasn't even in the ring. It had been there all along; in every coffee shared, every playful argument, quiet evening, every hand held, every moment he chose you again and again. 

The question was only four words, but the answer had been building for years. 

thanks for reading | ᥫ᭡.ִֶָ𓂃 bts taglist @mikrokookiex, @satinroses11, @bjoriis, @caun2556

IdolSpark was YG’s newest attempt at finding the next big thing. With all the money they had coming in, they had decided to create their own musical survival show. The second you had caught wind of it, you had applied, sending tapes in. Once you’d made it through the first couple of rounds of auditions, you just had this feeling that you were getting in. Then, you finally got the call that you’d made it to the final ten — the live shows. You would never forget that feeling. It felt like your dream was finally coming true, you were going to get to show the world your talent.

Today would be the day of the first show — an introduction to all the idols in training. There would be no performance, not from you anyway. There had been word that there would be a special performance from one of YG’s bands but you hadn’t thought much about it. You couldn’t. All you could focus on was yourself. You wanted to win this thing. You would play nice, maybe make a few friends but the goal was to come out of this as the next biggest star. It was all you had ever wanted. The judges would be introduced to you today along with the host then, when training began tomorrow, you’d be introduced to your dance and vocal couches. There had been rumours about who it would be, there always was but you didn’t care either way. You were just excited to get some feedback from some actual professionals.

“Over here,” one of the producers called you and the rest of the contestants over, waving his arm in his direction. You came down off the stage, eyes still glancing up at the lights that shone down on it. You were barely listening when the man explained that the judges were on their way in to introduce themselves to you. Your thoughts were consumed about the coming weeks, the rehearsals you’d have to go through, the performances — it was all you could think about. “And, here they are!”

Finally, your eyes snapped up and you were greeted by the judges. Of course they had gone for star power, recruiting some of YG’s biggest names.

SeVen, Park Bom and… Choi Seunghyun?

You tilted your head as you looked at them. Everyone growing up in Korea knew of Bigbang, they knew how vocal Seunghyun was about how he hated these kind of things so you wondered how he had been dragged into this. Surely he wouldn’t have willingly signed up for this. They must be paying him a ton of money or something. That was the only way you could see him doing something like this. Admittedly, you weren’t even a fan of him. Your Bigbang bias had always been Daesung — his infectious attitude had always made you smile, the way he seemed to enjoy life. Seunghyun on the other hand always seemed quiet, weird. That wasn’t really your type of person.

They each introduced themselves — not that they really had to, shaking your hands. When you got to Seunghyun, he seemed to tilt his head as he looked at you, like he was staring into your very soul. You pulled your hand away, shoving it into your jacket pocket. What was that all about?

As the producers went through everything for the live show later, you noticed that Seunghyun kept glancing at you. When you caught his eye, he’d maintain eye contact until you looked away. It was like he was assessing you. You were used to being perceived but not like this.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. At some point you had been introduced to the host of the show which just so happened to be Kang Daesung himself. You couldn’t remember much of it, probably blacking out from sheer excitement. He was just as bubbly in real life as he was in all the interviews you’d seen. He had even greeted all the trainees with a hug, a memory that you’d cherish for the rest of your life. Now, you were backstage, getting ready for the show. It was due to air in less than an hour. Your outfit was on, your hair and makeup sorted, now all you had to do was wait. The other trainees were nervous, some even running off to the bathroom to empty their stomachs but not you. The only emotion running through you was excitement. The buzz of it all made you dizzy, it made butterflies roar in your stomach. All you had to do was go out there, introduce yourself and show the world exactly all the star power you held. Simple enough.

“Good luck out there!” Bom had said, giving you all a dazzling smile.

Seunghyun had been talking to one of the other trainees, a hand on their shoulder as he whispered words of advice at them. He was a pro, you knew that but something about him bothered you. Maybe it was the way he always seemed to be watching you like you were a puzzle to solve.

“You good?” Seunghyun asked as he made his rounds and finally reached you.

“Yeah,” you said simply.

“Not nervous?”

“Nope.”

“Intresting,” he murmured and that bothered you.

“What’s your deal?” You asked, annoyed.

“What do you mean?” He was confused, that much was evident with the raise of his eyebrows and the tilt of his head.

“You keep looking at me. Watching me. What’s that all about?”

Seunghyun was silent for a moment, considering his words. “You seem… sure of yourself, that’s all. How much do you want this?”

“More than anything,” you nodded confidently.

“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── 

Those words were all that rang through your head as you stepped on to the stage but you didn’t let them bother you while you were giving your introductions. The bright lights shining down on you, the roar of the crowd; this is all you had ever wanted. No disgruntled words from an idol would deter you. The crowd seemed to enjoy every word you said, cheering for you. The excitement in the arena was palpable and when you finally got off stage, you couldn’t hide the wide smile on your face.

This was going to be good. You could feel it.

After the trainees had done their introductions, the stage was taken over by performances from 2NE1, Bigbang and SeVen. You watched each one with your full attention, taking in every detail, how they worked the stage. These were the people you could learn from even if one of them was getting under your skin already.

As you got dressed out of your show outfit into some casual clothes, you noticed Seunghyun walk down the hallway. Excusing yourself from some of the other contestants, you jogged to catch up to him, calling his name. He stopped in place, turning around to face you.

“What the hell did you mean when you said I shouldn’t want this as much as I do?” You questioned him, a steely look in your eyes.

He took a step forward. “You think this idol life is all glitz and glam? It’s not. It’s bullshit half of the time. You have no idea what they’re going to put you through, how they’re going to treat you.”

“And you do?” You shot back. It was a stupid thing to say because he obviously did but you were annoyed, your brain wasn’t functioning properly.

“I do,” he said through gritted teeth. “Because I’ve had to go through stuff you couldn’t even dream of. Things I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”

“That’s your story, not mine!”

“You’re right it is but once they get their claws into you, you’ll never be the same again.”

“Why are you even here then if you hate it so much?” The question that had been on your mind the second you had seen him all those hours ago fell from your mouth.

“To try and put a stop to it.”

Those were the only words he said before he turned and walked away leaving you standing there. Maybe he was right, maybe this wasn’t all you’d imagine it to be but that wasn’t going to stop you. Everything you had wanted was so close, you couldn’t let his words affect you.

But, they had already taken root whether you wanted them to or not.

“Blasted thing,” he grumbled to himself, finally flipping the switch that shut the thing off and made his beloved freighter fly smoothly. His eyes glanced out, focusing on the giant planet ahead of him. Onderon. Not his first choice for a destination but he had a job to do. It was a jungle planet on the inner rim, governed by a monarchy. Usually he’d avoid anything related to monarchs but this bounty paid too much for him to pass up. He had too much debt, too many people on his ass that he needed to shake. This would do that then he’d be free to take those easy, casual jobs he loved so much. He knew the planet was peaceful, under the rebel’s control but slowly it was turning into an imperial planet, sure to be overrun by those tin can Stormtroopers he hated so much.

Landing on the planet was easy enough, he threw a few credits to the mechanics to fix up any repairs the ship needed then pulled the bounty puck from his pocket. Luckily, these things had a tracking device on so all he had to do was follow it and it would lead him straight to his credits. With his jacket firmly on, blasters at his hip, he held the puck out, following the direction it flashed in.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── 

Run.

That’s all you could do.

Your feet ached, your body felt like it was going to collapse at any moment. Blaster bolts were shooting in your direction, you had to swerve, hide behind the trees, anything to protect yourself. It was a good thing you had trained yourself in secret, knowing how to shoot a blaster yourself so you could fire off shots. You weren’t really paying attention to aim, mostly trying to run and distract them. If you hit a few as you shot then that was a bonus. You ran, swerving yet another blaster shot but you were too slow, the bolt grazing your leg. You fell into the mud, instantly pushing yourself up with your hands. You couldn’t afford to dwell on the pain right now. You had to get up and just run.

It was harder now, much harder. The limp was setting you back. It was like the galaxy was trying its hardest to make you suffer because at that precise moment, heavy rainfall began. Of course it did. This was a jungle planet after all. When did it not rain? Your feet sloshed, your limp dragging your foot in the mud. Tracks, you were leaving tracks. Now, it was going to be even harder to evade them. At least when it was dry you had a chance to try and lose them.

Stormtroopers, about six of them, chased after you. Their heavy footsteps could be heard even through the rain. The imperial forces that were trying to take over your planet were the worst thing that could have ever happened. It had been a nice place; a good place. But, like always the government and politics were to blame. No matter how much you, or the citizens had tried to protest, a deal had been made and now they were practically running things. You couldn’t stand it any longer. This place you called home no longer felt safe. No matter how much you were needed here, you couldn’t. If you were going to help, you had to find people — the rebels. It was the only way.

Your cape billowed behind you, your hood tugged around your head to try and shield your face. If you had been anyone else, the stormtroopers wouldn’t care but you were you. An important figure to this planet. They needed you. You didn’t need them.

You ran, firing your blaster behind you, not looking where you were going until you were suddenly grabbed by a pair of hands, one going around your mouth as they yanked you behind a giant boulder.

“You have to be kidding me? Seriously?” Seunghyun hissed. “Couldn’t make this easy for me, could you?”

You managed to shove his hand from your mouth. “I’m sorry, is this an inconvenience to you?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“Who the hell are you anyway? Take your hands off me!” You demanded, trying to wriggle out of his grasp but he was strong. One arm wrapped firmly around your midsection, the other around your shoulders.

“I’m your ticket out of here and if you’d stop trying to elbow me, we’d be long gone by now,” he huffed as you landed a sharp elbow in his ribs.

“That doesn’t answer my question!” You heard the footsteps of the stormtroopers, their mechanical voices directing each other to split up to try and find you.

“You got a big bounty on this head of yours, sweetheart. So, shut the talking and get moving before we both end up dead,” he grumbled, trying to drag you along. But, as he did, you both fell into the muddy soil beneath you with a slosh, alerting the stormtroopers.

They came running but Seunghyun was quicker, he picked you up by your elbows, pulling his blaster from his hip and shooting. He didn’t think, there wasn’t any time to as he ran, dragging you along with him. You shot your own blaster, managing to down one of the troopers close to you. They were gaining on you. Seunghyun had half the mind to ditch you and save his own skin but he needed this money. His eyes saw the Nova just through the trees and he made a run for it. He didn’t care at that point if he was dragging you through the mud — he didn’t know you were injured.

Reaching the ramp of the Nova, he quickly threw you in the cargo hold, running up to the cockpit and starting the ship. It was a close call but he managed to get it in the air and zoomed off the planet. Once he was sure they were a safe distance away, he put the ship in auto pilot, going back into the cargo hold. He stood there, out of breath, hands on his hips, covered in mud as he looked at you.

“Want to tell me where you were being chased by an army of kriffin’ stormtroopers?” He narrowed his eyes on you.

“No,” you replied, getting to your feet but as you put pressure on your leg, you groaned. “Do you have any bacta patches or something before I bleed out all over your garbage ship and you can’t claim your precious credits?”

“Garbage ship? Garbage ship?” He gasped, bewildered that you had the gall to insult the very ship that had got you out of there. “I’ll have you know this is the best ship this side of the galaxy!”

“I don’t care about your damn ship! Get me a bacta patch. Now!”

“Oh, bossy, are we? You know, sweetheart, it doesn’t matter whether I bring you in alive or dead so…” he shrugged nonchalantly, moving to turn around to go back up to the cockpit but another hiss of pain from you cracked his resolve. Seunghyun was many things but he wouldn’t let you die no matter how much he acted like he didn’t care.

With a mumble to himself, he shifted towards the medpacks he had stacked up, pulling one open and tossing you a bacta patch. “There you go. Stop getting blood all over my ship.”

You glared at him, pulling your cape out of the way, rolling up your leggings and plastering the bacta patch to your wound. At least now you weren’t going to bleed out. It may have just grazed your skin but it was still a pretty gnarly injury. You slid to sit down on the floor, legs stretched out in front of you, your back resting against the cool metal of the ship. Seunghyun hadn’t moved, he had stood there watching you. There had to be some reason you had been hunted like you were. Stormtroopers, as much as he hated them, didn’t hunt down someone for no reason, especially not some girl.

“You going to tell me why you were being chased through the forest like that?” He asked again, hands on his hips expectantly.

This man just wasn’t going to let up so you relented with a sigh. “They were chasing me because I’m the heir to the throne. Princess Y/N.”

It took ten more minutes until you finally found an outfit. Seunghyun would be here in an hour so you quickly hopped in the shower. Of course you’d left everything until the last minute but at least it gave you no more time to overthink. After the shower, you got yourself ready making sure everything was perfect. This had to be perfect. The feelings you had for Seunghyun were all consuming at this point. If this didn’t go well, you weren’t sure you’d be able to handle it. This man had walked into your life and seized your heart the second he had laid those gorgeous brown eyes on you. The time seemed to tick by tortuously as you sat on your couch, waiting for that knock on the door. When it finally arrived, you jumped up, heart pounding in your chest. Your feet carried you to the door, face trying to contain the smile threatening to break out. You didn’t want to freak him out the first second you saw him.

As you opened the door, instead of being greeted with his beautiful face, a bouquet of lavender roses swam in your vision. A small gasp passed your lips — they were beautiful. You took them from his hands, fingers brushing against his as you did so. “They’re beautiful!”

“Symbolises enchantment and fascination, right? Very romantic,” he grinned at you, leaning over the bouquet, hand pressing to your hip as he kissed you on the cheek in greeting.

“You’re learning!” Your heart fluttered wildly at the fact he listened to you when you talked about flowers. Not only did he listen but he retained that information and used it to give you gifts like this.

“Let me just put these in some water and we can head out,” you moved towards your kitchen, grabbing an empty vase from the last bouquet of flowers he had gotten you. After filling it with some water, you placed the roses into it, sniffing them with a serene look on your face. Seunghyun was by you, standing slightly at your rear, his hand resting on your hip again as he leaned over your shoulder to look at the bouquet. His breath was hot in your ear, his face so close to yours. Subconsciously, you leaned back into him feeling the hard planes of his chest against your back. His touch was electric, you couldn’t get enough of it. Ever since the kiss, there had been nothing else on your mind but this perfect man.

“We should head out,” he said, his voice low by your hear.

“Where are we going?” You asked, turning around to face him now, meeting his eyes that sparkled with mirth.

“You’ll see.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── 

Turns out the surprise was Lotte World. You had mentioned briefly in conversation a week or two ago about how much you had wanted to go but never had the time nor anyone to go with. The second he had heard that, he had made it his mission to make sure you got to visit. Your face the second you stepped into the amusement park made his heart thud against his chest. When you smiled it lit up your whole face, your eyes crinkled at the corner and it was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. With his hand in yours, he had led you through the park, letting you pick all the rides you wanted to ride. Seunghyun would do anything you wanted to do. Besides, he loved amusement parks. No ride was too scary for him. After a few rides, the two of you took a break to grab a bite to eat. All through the date, he kept finding reasons to touch you whether it was his hand on your lower back guiding you through the park, his hand in yours or leaning in too close to speak to you above the loud music and chatter of other people. Each touch was like a spark flowing through your body — you couldn’t get enough of it. There was a feeling you hadn’t felt in a long time bubbling up inside of you. Desire. It was getting harder and harder to ignore with every touch or longing look.

Now, with a bubble tea in your hands after you had visited Gong Cha for a refreshment, he led you towards the Game Village. It was his mission now to win you something you could remember this night by. Even if it took him all night, you’d be leaving with some kind of stuffed animal. You watched as he worked diligently at one of the claw machines stacked full of fluffy, cuddly bears. Your shoulder touched his, sipping on your bubble tea as you watched him focus. He failed the first few times but after the fifth time, the claw dropped down, firmly grabbing the one bear you had said was the cutest. With a wide grin, he bent down, picked the bear up and handed it to you.

“Told you I could do it,” he said, ecstatic that he had stuck true to his word.

With the bubble tea now forgotten, you clutched the bear to your chest. “Bit touch and go there but you did it.”

Leaning over towards him, you stood up on your tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek. His hands shot out to grab your hips, tugging you to his body. You giggled but it was short lived as he captured your lips in a kiss. He moved his lips slowly against yours but couldn’t help himself, tilting your head back to deepen the kiss. You parted your lips, his tongue easily slipping inside your mouth. The bear held now in your hand dangling at your side while the other tangled in the hair hanging at the nape of his neck. Your body pressed tightly against his. It was hard not to lose yourself in the kiss, that desire inside you threatening to burst at any moment. With a panting breath, you pulled back, lips brushing against his as you spoke.

“Take me home?” You spoke quietly.

“I’d love to.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── 

Seunghyun must have felt the same you did because the second the door closed behind you in your apartment, he was back on you. His lips on yours, hands on your hips to tug you as physically close to his body as humanly possible. You could feel his heart beating against your chest, matching the erratic rhythm of yours. Before you knew it, you were on your back on the couch, Seunghyun on top of you, slotted between your legs. Your lips had never parted — only for a breath of air every now and again when one of you remembered you needed to breathe. You could feel the hard outline of his cock pressing against your core through the shorts you had decided to wear. He was just as riled up as you were.

His lips trailed from yours, along your collarbone and down to your neck. He found your sweet spot that caused you to let out the first moan he ever heard from you. It made him press himself even deeper against you, eliciting a groan from him against your skin.

“I want to touch you,” he mumbled against your neck, sucking to leave his mark there for you in the morning.

“Then do it,” you breathed, canting your hips up into his. Another one of those beautiful groans left him as his hand trailed down your side. He lifted your ship up slightly as his hand slid underneath, cupping your breast over your bra. What he wouldn’t give to see you laid out naked before him but now wasn’t the time. All he wanted to do was please you right now. His lips met yours again, lips moving together in a frenzy. There was a gasp from you when his hand moved between the apex of your thighs, dipping into the shorts you were wearing. He rubbed his fingers along the fabric of your panties, feeling how damp they were already. “This wet for me?”

“Yes,” you whimpered, pushing your body up further into his hand. “Ever since you kissed me.”

“So, what you’re saying is this is my fault and I should take care of it?”

There was a glint in his eye as he met yours, your bottom lip tugged between your teeth as you nodded. That was all the permission he needed. He dipped his fingers into your panties, his cock twitching in his pants when he slid his fingers through your slit feeling your slick coat his fingers. He dragged the long digits up and down your folds, relishing in every whimper that passed from your mouth. Then, he found it. Your clit. He circled the bud with his fingers, soft, slow circles that had your body arching off the couch. With each touch, each caress, he could feel you getting wetter. He used his free hand to part your legs more, opening you up to him. His fingers slid lower and lower, gathering your slick as he circled your entrance.

“Tell me you want it,” he whispered against your lips, his fingers torturing you, rubbing but not pushing in. “Tell me you want my fingers inside you.”

“I want it,” you breathed harshly, desperately moving your hips as if you could slide his fingers into you yourself. “Please, I need to feel them inside me. Need to feel you.”

“That’s a good girl,” he claimed your lips, two fingers pushing into your dripping entrance. He grunted against your lips as he felt how tight you were against his fingers, pushing them into his knuckles. He slowly dragged them back then pushed them back in. You were making the most beautiful noises against his lips, one of your hands tangled in his hair while the other dug into his forearm that was holding him up.

“Seunghyun,” you moaned as you bucked your hips into his hand, his movements speeding up. He was a man on a mission and that mission was to make you cum all over his fingers. He curled them inside you, hitting that sweet spot that made you see stars. It had been so long since you’d been touched like this; you knew you weren’t going to last long. When his thumb pressed down on your clit in firm, teasing circles, that was it. You cried out his name, tugging on his hair, fingers digging into the skin of his arm hard enough to leave dents. Your body arched off the sofa, your orgasm hitting you harder than it had in a long time. Seunghyun pumped his fingers, slowing down as he helped you through your release. Once he was down and you were left panting on the couch, he pulled his hand from you. The urge to lick you clean from his fingers was strong but that could wait. He could taste you another time. For now, he just wanted to hold you.

When you finally opened your eyes up to meet his face, he was grinning at you, smoothing your hair back from your face. “You back with me?”

“Yeah,” you laughed breathlessly. “Let me help you out.”

Your hands moved to his belt but he grabbed your wrists gently, bringing them up to his lips and pressing a light kiss to them. “This was about you. I’ll be okay. Besides, hearing you moan my name like that was more than enough for me.”

He gathered you in his arms, moving you so that he was laying his back on the couch, his arm around your body as your head rested on his chest, legs tangled together. The comfortable silence was only interrupted occasionally by Nova’s snores which you both chuckled at. Seunghyun had taken to playing with your fingers that had been resting on his abdomen.

“So, good date?” He asked, almost nervously.

You looked up at him with the softest eyes anyone had ever graced him with. “The best date I’ve ever had.”

And, the smile you flashed at him made him make a mental note to make sure that you were left smiling like that after every single date you had in the future.

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you hadn’t been seeing your boyfriend lately due to his extremely tight schedule. everybody in thanos’ surrounding knew that he locked in once every blue moon, and when that happens, nobody dares bothering him. because when your boyfriend actually puts his mind to it, he tends to produce nice things.

that day, instead of going home directly, you decided to stop by the studio so you could say hi and leave to not bother him further. you had made one stop prior to that where you got some junk food and some snacks so you don’t walk in empty handed.

you walked through the dark hallways of the building looking for suit number 230 until you found it and knocked before walking in.

as soon as you walk in, he lifts his head up and raises both his eyebrows in surprise. he takes his headphones off, letting them rest around his neck, and walks towards you with a wide grin.

"look who’s here! my girl surprises me," he says, pulling you into a warm hug and giving you a quick, sweet peck on the lips.

you laugh softly, holding up the plastic bag. "i brought reinforcements."

"oo, you also got me food i see. come on, sit," he says, wrapping a heavy arm around your shoulder and walking you toward the rolling chair in front of the big screens on the table.

you look at the whole setup, completely mesmerized. it looks so cool in the dim light, the room illuminated mostly by the deep purple glow of the LED strip lights behind his desk and the bright waveforms on his monitors.

thanos starts looking through the bag like a curious cat, his eyes lighting up. "woah, you got me my fav."

"yeah, of course," you smile, leaning back slightly. "figured since you were here all day you’d be hungry."

"damn, you know me so well." he sets the bag aside on the edge of the desk, turning his attention right back to you.

you blink, looking from him to the food. "wait, you’re not going to eat?"

"food can wait," he murmurs, his voice dropping an octave as his eyes trail down to your lips. "i missed my girl."

before you can say anything else, he hooks his hands under your thighs and pulls you right onto his lap. your breath hitches as he leans in, closing the distance between you. the kiss starts off deep and needy, his lips sliding against yours with a hunger that tells you exactly how much he’s been craving you while trapped in this room.

the quiet studio fills with the wet, heavy sounds of your lips parting and meeting again. your fingers instinctively tangle into his hair, pulling him closer, while his large hand slides up and down your thigh, his touch scorching hot even through your pants. a soft whimper escapes the back of your throat, swallowed instantly by his mouth as he deepens the kiss, his tongue sliding past your teeth.

after a few intense minutes, you reluctantly pull your lips away, breathing heavily. "well... i don’t wanna distract you more. you should work."

you make a move to stand up, but his grip on your waist tightens instantly, anchoring you down.

"no," he murmurs against your jaw, pulling you right back into his lap. "you didn’t come all the way here to leave so early. and besides, we could just go home together." he slides his lips down to the sensitive skin of your neck, leaving a lingering kiss there before whispering right into your ear, "and i could even spend the night there."

you giggle, the vibration of his voice tickling your skin. "okay, fine."

you adjust yourself on his thighs, staying comfortable on his lap while he puts his headphones back on over one ear so he can listen to both you and the audio. he goes back to clicking around the screen, working on his beats, and occasionally plays a loop out loud through the studio monitors.

"which one would work better for the transition? this one?" he asks, playing a heavy bassline, "or the lighter chord progression?"

"i don't know," you chuckle, shifting a bit. "they both sound good, but the first one has more energy."

"yeah? that's what i was thinking too," he says, turning his head to kiss your cheek.

but as you shift around to look at the screen, you feel something hard and rigid pressing directly against your thigh. you glance down, then look back up at him with a knowing smirk. "uhm... can i do something about it?"

thanos glances down at his lap, then back at you, shaking his head with a smirk. "nah, it’ll go away in a bit. i wanna keep the energy for later tonight."

"you sure?" you ask, leaning closer.

he raises an eyebrow, a challenged look entering his dark eyes. "do you wanna do something bout it?"

you nod immediately.

he lets out a low chuckle. "okay, show me then."

you carefully slide off his lap and drop down under the wide wooden desk, settling onto your knees in the small space between his legs. you reach up, your fingers working quickly to unbutton his baggy denim jorts. you slide the metal button loose and pull down the elastic waistband of his boxers just enough to free his length. it’s already thick, stretching out half-hard and pulsing slightly in the cool air of the room.

you wrap your fingers around the base, slowly stroking him up and down to get him harder. your eyes stay locked on his face from below the desk as you slide your hand up to the crown, watching his jaw clench. then, you lean in and part your lips, taking the tip into your warm, slick mouth.

the sudden heat makes him let out a sharp hiss. you suckle on the sensitive head, swirling your tongue around the edge in slow, deliberate circles before taking a bit more of him inside.

up above, thanos is completely losing his ability to focus on editing. his fingers hover over the keyboard, but his mind is completely blank. all he can feel is a heavy, pooling pit of intense pleasure forming deep in his lower stomach. his breath gets shallower, and he starts uncomfortably moving and shifting in his rolling chair, caught between the sheer overstimulation of your tongue and his desperate attempt to snap out of it. he tries to stare at the glowing monitor, pretending like nothing is happening, but his hands are shaking slightly on the desk.

by now, he has gotten so hard it’s almost painful. his shaft is rigid, fully engorged, and shiny beads of clear precum are starting to form right at the opening.

you glide your tongue over the very tip, catching the taste of his mildly sweet and salty precum. the direct contact on his most sensitive spot makes his brow furrow into a tight, strained frown, a low groan vibrating in his chest.

you pull out a few inches, the cool air hitting him as you look up and say, "well, that was hot."

the sound of your voice vibrates directly against his bare skin, sending an immediate, sharp wave of pleasure straight to his core. before he loses control completely, he quickly reaches down, tucks his hard cock back into his boxers, and pulls his jorts back up, though he doesn't bother to button them.

you chuckle from the floor, looking up at him mischievously. "wait, you were close. i could feel your balls tightening."

"i need to focus," he grunts, staring straight ahead at the screen, his chest rising and falling heavily.

you pout under the desk, resting your chin on his knee. but looking closer, because his jorts are still unbuttoned and hanging open, you can clearly see a dark, wet stain spreading through the gray fabric of his boxers right where he directly shoved his leaking tip back in.

you place your palm right over the wet cloth, feeling the intense heat radiating from him. "well, subongie... u wouldn’t want to cum in your pants, would u?"

that’s the breaking point. thanos grips the edge of the heavy desk and pushes his chair back, the wheels rolling him back a few feet and giving him a full, unobstructed view of you on your knees in front of him.

he stares down at you, his eyes dark with dark desire. "can’t you wait just for a bit until i’m done? then we can go home and u can make me cum as many times as you want?"

you simply shake your head, signaling a definite no.

he lets out a sharp, amused scoff, a smirk breaking through his serious expression. "are you in heat?"

you both laugh, the tension breaking for a fraction of a second. then, he stands up from the chair and extends a large hand down to you. you take it, letting him pull you up to your feet, but before your knees can even straighten completely, he pulls you flush against his chest and connects your lips in a fierce, heated kiss.

you moan directly into his mouth, the sound muffled by his lips. the sudden sound gives him an idea. keeping one hand wrapped tightly around your waist, he reaches out with his other hand and blindly hits the hotkey for 'record' on his audio interface software. the little red light on the screen starts blinking, capturing every sound in the quiet room.

he backs you up against the edge of the large desk, his hands gripping your hips as he lifts you up to sit on the smooth wood. he steps in close, positioning himself right between your open legs as the kiss grows hungrier.

his large hand slips under the hem of your shirt, the heat of his palm tracing up your ribs before he quickly pulls the fabric up and over your head, tossing it onto the floor. the cool air of the studio hits your bare skin, leaving you sitting there in just your bra, your skin breaking out in goosebumps.

he doesn't give you time to think, dropping his lips to your jaw and kissing his way down the column of your neck, leaving wet trails all the way down to your chest. your fingers run wildly through his hair, gripping the strands as a loud whimper escapes your lips.

thanos pulls back just an inch, his dark eyes locking onto yours as he whispers, "make some sound for me, baby."

he reaches down to unbutton your pants, tugging them down your legs along with your shoes until they drop to the floor. his eyes drop to your underwear, noticing the prominent, damp patch clinging to your heat.

he lets out a low growl. "wow... you got this wet just from giving me head?"

you chuckle breathlessly, your face flushing. "yes."

eager to feel him, you reach down for his unbuttoned jorts, tugging them down past his hips. you try to pull his boxers down at the same time, struggling slightly because your lips are still locked together in a messy kiss, but you manage to free his fully hard, throbbing cock.

thanos doesn't waste another second. he hooks his fingers into the waistband of your underwear, pushing the fabric completely to the side to expose you. he guides himself forward, placing the slick, hot tip right against your aching entrance, but he doesn't push inside yet.

as he continues to kiss you deeply, your hips twitch. you try to tilt your pelvis, trying to position your pussy so he can finally slide into you, but he holds his ground, teasing you at the opening.

losing your patience, you break the kiss, your chest heaving as you look him dead in the eye. "just fucking fuck me!"

he blinks, a dark smirk spreading across his face. "woah, okay."

with a heavy thrust, he inserts his entire length inside you in one smooth, deep motion. your eyes widen and your head flies back as a loud, high-pitched moan echoes through the studio.

he starts moving immediately, his pace hard and unforgiving against the edge of the desk. the wood creaks slightly beneath you with every heavy, rhythmic thrust. you’re groaning and whimpering so loudly that the sound bounces off the soundproofed walls.

sensing how loud it’s getting, thanos suddenly slaps his large palm right over your mouth, muffling your next cry into his hand. "shh... do you want people to hear us, hm?"

you shake yor head quickly against his palm, your eyes wide, but the friction is entirely too good. your internal walls are squeezing him so tightly that he can't even keep his hand over your mouth anymore; instead, he pulls it away and starts completely swallowing your loud moans with deep, wet, bruising kisses, his tongue tangling with yours to muffle the sound.

instinctively, you lift your legs, wrapping them tightly around his thick waist to pull him even deeper inside you. the sudden change in angle and tightness is the exact proof he needs to know you’re right on the edge of cumming.

"fuck me harder," you gasp out against his lips, your voice trembling. "i'm so close..."

hearing those words makes his dick twitch violently inside your wet, clamping walls. his grip on your hips tightens until his knuckles turn white. reaching down between your bodies, he presses his thumb directly against your swollen clit, rubbing it in fast, heavy circles while he continues to drive into you.

the dual stimulation is too much. you dig your nails right through the fabric of his shirt, burying your face deeply into his broad shoulder as your entire body goes rigid. you can feel your internal walls clenching repeatedly around him in a tight, pulsing orgasm.

thanos feels the intense contractions gripping his shaft, pushing him entirely over the edge. his breathing turns into ragged, heavy gasps. "breathe, les... say my name, señorita," he growls against your ear.

"thanos... i'm cuming," you sob out, biting your own lip hard to muffle the loud, shattering moans as the climax waves through you, but the muffled, breathless sound only makes the air in the room hotter.

with a few final, deep thrusts, thanos lets out a low, guttural groan into the crook of your neck, his body shuddering as he cums deep inside you, filling you completely while the red recording light on the monitor continues to blink quietly in the dim purple light.

α few months later, the morning sun was creeping through the blinds of your bedroom, casting long stripes of light across the sheets. you blinked your eyes open, yawning as you reached out across the mattress, only to find thanos’ side completely empty and cold.

you sighed, rubbing your face, and grabbed your phone off the nightstand to check the time. out of habit, you opened tiktok to mindlessly scroll for a few minutes before getting up.

but the second your feed loaded, your heart dropped.

your entire phone was flooded with edits, screenshots, and frantic text videos all talking about one thing: a massive scandal involving your man. thanos had just dropped a surprise track at midnight, a pre-release teaser to build hype before announcing his official album drop date. he had been weirdly secretive about it for weeks, completely refusing to let you hear even a snippet of it, which was unusual for him. now you knew why.

the comments were losing their minds. “who is that in the background??” “thanos who is she??” “the moans at the beginning of the song are so loud wtf.”

your stomach twisted into a tight knot of irritation. female moans? an extremely explicit track? you felt a sudden wave of heat rush to your face as panic and anger started to mix. who the hell did he bring into the studio? was this why he wouldn’t show you the song? was he actually cheating on you this whole time?

you closed tiktok immediately, your fingers trembling slightly as you opened spotify and typed the new song title into the search bar. you pressed play, holding the phone close to your ear, your breath catching in your throat as the heavy bass started to intro.

and then, right before the beat dropped, the audio played a crystal-clear, high-pitched, breathless whimper, followed by a loud, completely uninhibited moan that echoed right through your speakers.

your jaw dropped. you froze, the blood running cold in your veins before rushing straight back to your face in a burning blush.

it was you.

it was your own voice. it was the exact, shattering sound you had made against the studio desk a few months ago when he hit the record button without you knowing.

you were absolutely flabbergasted. your brain completely short-circuited for a solid three seconds before you screamed at the top of your lungs, throwing your phone hard onto the mattress.

"SUBONG!" you shrieked, throwing the blankets off your legs and scrambling out of bed.

you marched out of the bedroom, your chest heaving with pure, unadulterated rage as you looked for this absolute bastard. you stomped down the hallway and rounded the corner into the kitchen, finding him standing by the counter. he was staring down at his phone with a huge, stupid grin on his face, literally giggling at the internet chaos he had just created.

he heard your heavy footsteps and looked up, his expression softening into a relaxed smile. "hey baby, good morning—"

before he could even finish his sentence, you marched right up to him and slapped his arm hard.

thanos winced, stumbling back a step as his coffee sloshed slightly in the mug. he looked at you, completely startled and wide-eyed, his inner tings taking over as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "what the fuck??? what was that for?"

"you put my moans in your song??!!" you yelled, your voice cracking slightly from the sheer shock of it all. "are you completely insane? that is supposed to be private! that’s supposed to be between us!"

thanos blinked, the confusion on his face instantly melting away into an amused, proud smirk. he set his coffee mug down on the counter and took a step toward you, entirely unfazed by your anger.

"it was a surprise," he said, his voice smooth and completely casual. "and besides, nobody even knows it’s you, baby. you’re officially gonna be featured on my album!"

"that’s really not fucking funny, aubong!" you snapped, pushing his chest as he tried to get closer. you threw your hands up in the air, your face burning red. "it’s embarrassing as fuck! my voice is literally charting on spotify right now while people are talking about how explicit it is!"

seeing how genuinely worked up you were, thanos softened his expression. he stepped into your space, ignoring your weak shoves, and wrapped his heavy, warm arms tightly around your waist, pulling your back against his chest to anchor you. he buried his face into the crook of your neck, inhaling deeply, his broad frame completely enveloping yours to calm you down.

"let me go, i'm literally so mad at you," you muttered, though you didn't have the energy to actually fight his grip.

"listen to me," he murmured against your skin, his deep voice vibrating right through your back. he started slowly swaying you side to side, using that low, smooth tone he knew always worked on you. "breath for a second. nobody knows it's you. to the world, it's just a random vocal sample. but to me? i get to listen to my favorite sound whenever i'm on tour."

he pulled back just enough to turn you around in his arms so you were facing him. his dark eyes locked onto yours, a wicked, teasing glint in them as he leaned down closer to your face, exerting his full charm to manipulate you out of your bad mood.

"and honestly? you sounded really hot," he whispered, his thumb gently wiping a stray hair from your forehead. "do you know how many girls would be jealous of you right now if they knew you were the one riding the beat?"

a small, involuntary chuckle escaped your lips before you could stop it, your defenses instantly crumbling against your will. you quickly bit your inside cheek, trying to force the smile off your face. "you are literally awful. you can't just smooth-talk your way out of this."

"see? you're laughing," he grinned, his dimples showing as he squeezed your waist. "that means you like it."

"i still hate you!" you yelled, slapping his chest again, though there was no force behind it this time. "you're a menace. you should have asked me first!"

Chapter Fourteen

Suddenly Seunghyun takes your phone and without looking, and closes the email.

“Babe! What the hell?” You whisper with force.

“I don’t want to know.” He says quickly. “I…I want to be surprised.”

“You want to wait until the baby is born?” You say in shock. “This is so unlike you.”

“We can send the email to Ji and Nari so they can know. They can buy any clothes or items we may need specifically and they can just give them to us when Agi is born. I also have a perfectly planned nursery idea that is a gender neutral option utilizing the primary colors.”

“You’ve really thought this through.” You say, surprised. You can’t help but smile at how clearly he’s planned this all out.

“Then we can just enjoy this time together. Without the pressure of knowing if it’s a boy…or a girl.”

You lean your head on his shoulder. “Seunghyun…Are you worried about the possibility of it being a boy?”

You feel his muscles tense, his hand automatically finding your bump. “If you don’t want to wait, I’ll understand.” He says softly.

“No, you’ve sold me on the idea. But, you mentioned the pressure of finding out…meaning?”

He lets out a heavy sigh. “With a boy comes upholding family names and high expectations from my father. It’s a future military enlistment…”

”It’s other things too.” You say optimistically. “It’s art galleries with you and Mye, space exploration, messy art projects, maybe sports if they’re into that…”

He nods. “I know. I’m just…”

”In your head.”

”Yes, therapist wife of mine. I’m stuck in my head right now. I’ll get through it.” He says, kissing you.

You take your phone back and prep an email to send to Nari and Jiyong with specifics on accessing the information from your doctor. You also start two wishlists for your registry, one if the baby is a girl and the other for a boy.

“This way, we get what we want and keep the element of surprise.” You smile up at him.

”It’s a great plan.” He says as he notices your smile fade. “What is it?”

”This means we are going to have to come up with two sets of names…” You groan. “It was hard enough to name Mye. Now we need options and that is asking a lot…”

The corner of his mouth turns up. “We will be fine. I have a few ideas already bouncing around my brain.” He says, pointing to his temple.

_____________________________

The next evening is the cookout your Mother planned to celebrate Myeong’s birthday. She planned an “All American” experience with hamburgers, hot dogs, and all the sides. You laugh to yourself as you think of what it even means to be considered “American” but you let her have her moment.

Your only request is that you make Myeong’s birthday cake as you’ve been doing every year since she was born. Her only request was pink so you take creative liberties by baking it in the shape of a heart and adding frilly embellishments after watching a few tutorials on YouTube.

“Impressive.” Seunghyun says, entering the kitchen. “She’s going to love it.”

You smile back at him, proudly. “I have to say, every year I get better and better at this.”

__________________________

The rest of the day passes quickly as you help your mother prepare for the arrival of your brother and his family. You had learned only recently that he had married his on again off again girlfriend, Julia. They had a six year old son, Carter, that you had never met due to your move to Korea. This was a topic you and your mother had recently discussed at length on top of processing her enabling of your brother and his addiction in the past. You were trying your best to be a daughter and sibling today, not a therapist.

Seunghyun catches you adjusting your dress in the mirror for the tenth time when he finally says something.

“Everything will be fine, Princess.” He says, wrapping his arms around you from behind.

“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t know my brother.” You exhale shakily.

”I could argue you don’t really know him either. You haven’t seen him in years.”

You look up at him. “Do you ever think that maybe you’re too optimistic and forgiving?”

He looks back at you, empathetically. “As someone who has been on the receiving end of controversy, a second chance is always welcomed. Now, if he’s a complete asshole and tries to ruin our daughter’s day, then I will support your frustrations.”

You sigh in agreement. “Okay, let’s get this show on the road.”

—————————-

When your brother arrives Myeong and Seunghyun are kicking a soccer ball back and forth outside while you’re in the kitchen, folding and refolding the napkins.

You hear your mother’s over exaggerated voice doting on him. Your brother has, reportedly, been clean and sober for the past 3 years. This change of lifestyle is what led Julia and Carter back into his life, but ever the skeptic, you’re not buying it.

“Grammy! Where is my cousin?” You hear Carter yell.

“Outside with her dad. Why don’t you come into the kitchen and meet your aunt first?”

You stand awkwardly, preparing yourself.

“Carter, this is your aunt, Y/N.” Your mother smiles broadly.

“Hi!” Carter says confidently. Waving.

“Hello…Carter. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Where’s your daughter? I want to meet her. We brought her a present. It’s a Barbie.”

He’s quick and to the point. “Uh-um. She’s outside, I’ll go get her.” Meanwhile, your brother and Julia stand quietly in the corner, clearly as nervous as you are.

As if on cue, Myeong runs inside. “Mama can we please have some water?” She stops in her tracks when she sees Carter. “Who is that?” She asks in Korean.

You’ve noticed anytime Myeong feels unsure of something, she reverts back to Korean as a security blanket. “That’s your cousin, Carter.” You reply back to her in Korean as well. “It’s okay, you can say hello.”

”Annyeonghaseyo.” She says shyly.

”You talk funny.” Carter exclaims without missing a beat.

You crouch down on his level. “Myeong is speaking Korean.” You say calmly. “Sometimes it can be surprising to hear new languages.”

”I speak English too…” She replies.

“Woah, That's cool…I only speak one language.” Carter says, looking between you and Myeong. “Are you adopted?”

“CARTER!” Julia exclaims, heading over.

You put a hand up to stop her. She does so, apprehensively.

“You don’t look like your Mom.” He says.

Myeong looks at you and back at Carter. “Yes I do. I look like my Mama and Appa!” She replies defensively.

“Myeong’s Dad is from Korea. I am from here. Myeong is half Korean and half American. So no, she isn’t adopted. Sometimes, people look different from you but it’s exciting to learn new things and meet new people, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…I’ve never left Florida before.”

“Maybe Myeong can tell you about Korea.” You say encouragingly.

“Cool!” Carter says, looking towards the back door. “Wanna go play outside?”

Myeong looks to you for permission. “You can go play with him.” You smile supportively. They both run outside as Seunghyun enters, surveying the room.

“I am so sorry about that.” Julia says, embarrassed.

“It was a teachable moment.” You smile, realizing Seunghyun is awkwardly standing beside you now. “This is my husband, Seunghyun.”

”Hello, I am Will, Y/N’s brother. This is Julia.” Will says, motioning to his wife. “It’s nice to meet you. We have heard a lot about you.” Will speaks loud and slow.

You roll your eyes as you watch your husband try very hard to keep his composure. “God Will, I can see where your son gets it from. He speaks English and stop yelling. He’s not deaf.”

Julia’s cheeks redden. “This is a disaster…can we start over?”

”It's fine, really.” Seunghyun interjects, extending his hand. “I have heard a lot about you, so it's nice to see you in person.”

“I’m sure she's told you all the worst stories about me.” Will says, directing his attention to you. “Hopefully, I will prove them wrong today.”

You cross your arms. “Yeah, you're off to a great start.”

“At least our kids are hitting it off.” Julia smiles, looking out at the backyard at Myeong and Carter playing. “Carter has never met a stranger. But I do apologize in advance, he doesn’t really have a filter.”

”He gets that from his Dad.” You say under your breath.

“I heard that.” Will says sharply. “You know, I have turned my life around. You can lay off. I’d like to get to know my brother in law and niece in peace.”

Seunghyun squeezes your hand, before clearing his throat. “Julia, why don’t we see if Patricia needs any help outside?”

She nods and the two of them head out into the patio, leaving you with your brother.

“You know I had to pick up the pieces when you left.” He starts. “It gutted her…like Dad all over again.”

You raise a hand to cut him off. “We don’t need to rehash this Will. She and I have had extensive conversations about all that and are in a better place now. This trip has smoothed things over. But thank you for reminding me.” You say sarcastically.

“Good.” He seems relieved. “Just wanted to be clear that I did step up when I was needed.”

”Well, great job. Here’s your much deserved praise for stepping up for the first time in you life and allowing me to be the fuck up for once.”

”That’s not what I meant…I just.”

“The first two days we were here took a lot of work. It was a rollercoaster of family drama.” You say as you again revert to folding the napkins.

Will chuckles. “Mom has always had a flair for the dramatics…but you guys are good?”

“Yeah, we are.” You say, reflecting on the beginning of the trip. “We have patched things up and I think we are in a good place.”

“Good to hear.” He smiles, before taking a grounding breath. “Look…It really is good to see you. For Carter to know his aunt…for me to meet Myeong.”

You raise a brow at his pronunciation. “You’ve been practicing.”

“Mom made sure. Too bad she didn’t prep me for your husband.” He laughs, headed towards the fridge.

“Well, luckily for you his life in the public eye has made him very easy going with meeting new people.”

“Yeah I googled him. He’s…talented. Like a Korean Eminem.”

You laugh. “That’s your comparison? God you’re an idiot.”

“Hey but I’m your idiot brother. So it works.” He grins, pulling out a tray of deviled eggs from the back of the fridge. “Mom made these just for me.” He sings as he pops the lid open. “But I’ll be nice and share.” He says offering you one.

You turn for the bathroom before you can even get a full visual or smell. There’s no question about it, Agi and eggs do not mix.

When you return your brother has practically shoved three eggs in his mouth and disposed of the containers. “Did moving to Korea make you hate Mom’s deviled eggs?”

“No, getting pregnant did.” You say stifling a gag. “I can barely stomach the word let alone see or smell them.”

He looks at you confused.

“Surprise! I see you for the first time in almost ten years and you get not one but two cousins for Carter.”

“No shit!? That’s great news!” He crosses the kitchen and envelops you in a bear hug, lifting you off the ground just as Seunghyun renters the kitchen, followed by Julia.

“They seem to have hit it off.” You hear Seunghyun mumble to Julia.

“Okay okay, let me go! You smell like eggs and I’m going to throw up again.”

Will places you back on the ground and changes his target to Seunghyun. “Congrats man! I know I just met you, but I’m going to hug you.”

Your brother then envelops your husband in the same style bear hug. Julia looks embarrassed.

“I’m sure you know he’s never been one to keep things low key.” She smiles. “But seriously, we are happy for you both. Mye told me and Carter outside.”

You laugh. “She’s very excited to be a big sister.”

”Carter asked if it was a boy.”

”We are…waiting to find out.” You smile, looking at Seunghyun who was finally placed back on the ground.

“The ultimate surprise!” Will shouts as your Mother enters.

”Dinner is ready.” She announces, prompting you all to file outside. She stops you. “Thank you.” She says with tears forming. “Seeing you all getting along has made my heart so happy.”

————————

The rest of the evening goes perfectly. For the first time in a long time, everyone gets along. Your mother out does herself with the cooking and the night ends perfectly with you all singing happy birthday to Myeong. The excitement in her eyes when you place her cake in front of her becomes a core memory.

The end of the week is spent with all of you together, swimming, grilling out, and reminiscing late into the night. You and Will bring up crazy stories from your childhood as Carter and Myeong play until they pass out on your laps around the outdoor fireplace.

On the last day, you find yourself trying to hide your tears as you watch your Mother in the pool with her grandchildren.

“Agi making you emotional again?” Seunghyun teases.

”No.” You shake your head, wiping a tear. “This is all me. I really didn’t think I needed this…but clearly I did. We all did.”

Seunghyun smiles softly, wrapping his arm around your waist. “I’m just glad it all worked out in the end. I had a feeling it would.”

You look up at him. “I’ll give you all the credit you want for this one. You took a risk in planning this but it all fell into place. You were right.”

”Hmmm, I love hearing you say that.” He grins, leaning in to kiss you.

_______________________

The three of you leave early the following morning with your hearts bursting with love, a camera roll full of memories, and the optimism that you’ll see your mom again in Korea sometime in July.

Back home, it’s full steam ahead with work. You share the news with your team, Soo-Jin was not at all surprised and called it before you even announced it to the rest of the workplace, and you announce that you will be stepping down as a therapist when the baby is born, taking a more managerial approach to the practice, promoting Soo-Jin to lead therapist.

This was something you and Seunghyun discussed at length on the plane ride back to Korea. Being present as much as possible is what is most important so together, you made the choice to step back and manage versus counsel clients. Over the next few months you will work to either close out or transition your clients in order to free up your caseload.

Seunghyun continues working on his album with plans to fly to LA sometime in May to finalize the sound mixing with IRKO with the anticipated late summer release. If he’s not locked in his recording studio Seunghyun can be found in the nursery assembling furniture and dreaming up new additions to the Piet Mondrian theming.

Myeong started kindergarten and, much like her preschool teacher suggested, is thriving. The first day drop off was rough for all parties involved you and Seunghyun because you realize your daughter is growing up fast and for Myeong because the time of half days and three times a week visits are over and school is now a full time schedule. As usual, she was resilient and able to adjust quickly.

Nari and Jiyong were also thriving as new parents. The twins were now four months old and they too had settled in a routine. They came over once a week for dinner for “big sister practice” as Myeong calls it. They also use that time to peek in on the nursery progress to purchase needed items from your registry. The two of them love being the only people in Seoul who know the gender of the baby and dangle it in front of you any chance they get. Seunghyun remains unbothered, truly wanting to wait for the surprise. You and Mye on the other hand are anxious and just want to know.

“Pleeeeeeeeaaaaase JiJi?” Myeong squeals at dinner.

“Choi Myeong-Wol…” Seunghyun warns as he bounces Mi-Rae in his arms.

”It’s okay Hyung…Here Mye, I’ll give you a hint.” Jiyong says, motioning her to him. She leans in excitedly.

”It’s a…Baby!” He whispers dramatically, more than pleased with himself.

Myeong sticks her tongue out at him and crosses her arms in frustration as Jiyong ruffles her hair.

You look down at Yeon-Woo and roll your eyes. “Believe it or not…” You say to her. “Your Appa is the infamous G Dragon, one of the most influential men in all of Korea.”

”Bingu Dragon may be more fitting.” Seunghyun adds with a wink towards his friend. “Alright Moon Beam, time for bed. Say goodnight to Imo and JiJi”

Myeong hops off her chair, hugging them individually then comes over to you. “Goodnight Mama…goodnight Agi.” She says placing her face incredibly close to your bump.

“I can take her.” Nari adds, gesturing to Seunghyun who is still holding Mi-Rae.

”Nope, I’ve got her. This is good practice for the future bedtime routine as a father of two.” He says, heading towards Myeong’s room.

You smile to yourself. Everything is falling into place. The fears you had of Myeong adjusting to kindergarten and a sibling on the way have melted away. Your transition away from work is going smoothly and the nursery is almost finished, thanks to Seunghyun’s hard work. You exhale a breath of relief. All the pieces are falling into place.

———————————————

The only thing you could do to keep yourself from falling into a pit of despair was focus on helping the people who needed it. Those who had managed to injure themselves whether it was in a game or in one of the many fights that seemed to happen around you. That gave you a purpose, a reason to shut your mind off and rely on what you knew. The limited resources hindered you a lot but you were creative, you could make use of just about anything. So far, there hadn’t been anything too serious. A few cuts, a sprained ankle, maybe even a concussion. Those were easy to treat. Easy but a distraction for your addled mind.

“There’s a fight in the bathroom,” you heard one of the guards saying, a few of them rushing in that direction.

Good. That would be a very welcome distraction right now as you looked around at the dwindled number of contestants left.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── 

Subong had MG Coin pinned under him, his hands wrapped around his throat as he tried to drain the life out of him. It was all he’d wanted to do since the moment he had laid eyes on him in this place. That fucker had screwed him out of all of his money, leaving him in so much debt that had ruined his life. Sure, it wouldn’t help get his money back but it would feel so good. What Subong hadn’t realised was that the man beneath him had swiped one of the forks they’d got with their dinner earlier. The fighting around them was loud but Subong wasn’t paying it any attention, solely focused on the man he hated more than anything in the world. He didn’t even hear it when the guards came rushing in breaking things up.

He did feel when Myunggi drove the fork into his shoulder, letting out a loud yelp. Before he could even register what was happening, he was pulled up to his feet by his collar, a guard basically dragging him back into the main room. The fork was pulled from his shoulder without a care in the world from the guard, a wince of pain shooting through Subong, his hand automatically moving to cover the wound.

He scanned the room, eyes landing on the one person he knew would be able to help him. You.

Subong had taken an instant liking to you. Maybe it was how vulnerable you seemed to be – something he had lost a long time ago. Seeing how caring you were, how you seemed to put others before yourself, that was something he admired even if he would never say it out loud. At any opportunity he could, he would find himself seeking you out. Of course, he couldn’t help himself and ended up flirting with you at every opening. You never seemed to mind. He was pretty sure he’d caught you blushing a few times. Long strides took him to you. He cleared his throat to get your attention.

“Senorita,” he winced as pain shot through his shoulder. “Could do with a bit of your magic touch here.”

Your eyes shot up to him. “Sit.”

He obeyed immediately, sitting down on the bunk next to you. Finally, he removed his hand from where he’d been stabbed, his palm covered in blood. “Well, shit, that ain’t good.”

“What happened?” You questioned. Without you even having to ask him, he removed his jacket so you could get a better look at the wound. You carefully examined it, your fingers pressing around the wound to see where it was tender. Using some toilet paper you’d swiped from the bathroom earlier, you wiped away some of the blood. “Can you rip a bit of your shirt off so I can tie it around to stop the bleeding?”

He hesitated for a moment but it didn’t last too long as he ripped off a scrap of fabric from the shirt. It was flimsy material, coming away easily. He handed it to you, watching as you got to work wrapping it around his arm. “MG Fucker stabbed me with a fork. Barely missed my throat. Could’ve been a goner.”

He was laying it on thick which only caused you to smile, your fingers working to tighten the fabric around his arm, hoping that it would help. There wasn’t much you could really do but staunching the bleeding would help a lot. Hopefully it would only be another day or two before you got out of here. “Mhm, I’m sure. Just be careful, okay?”

“Aww, look at you, caring about me and shit. So sweet,” he grinned, trying his best to put on a brave face even if his shoulder was killing him.

“Take it easy for the rest of the night, okay? No more fights.”

“Whatever you say, Senorita.”

“I mean it, Subong. I’ll be watching you.”

“I’ll make sure to be extra sexy then just for you.”

You rolled your eyes, pulling away to see you’d managed to cover the wound. “There’s not much else I can do for you now but if you can, try and wash it in the morning. If it’s still bleeding, come back and see me.”

“I owe you one, Doc.”

“Nurse.”

“Yeah, yeah. Still owe you one either way.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── 

As night fell, you could hear your fellow contestants snoring or even talking in their sleep but no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t close your eyes. After an hour (or so you guessed; time in this place was funny) of tossing and turning, you gave up. A heavy sigh fell from your lips as you stared up at the bunk above you. It was so baffling to you how easily people could sleep in a place like this but people dealt with things differently. When you had nothing to occupy your mind, all the events you’d witnessed over the last few days ran through your mind. It was a real life horror story, one where your life was on the line. Tomorrow could be your last day for all you knew.

“Psst, Senorita, you awake?” A familiar voice whispered. You turned your head to see Subong crouching beside your bed. “Budge up, let me in.”

You shuffled up in the small bed, giving him room to slide in. He pulled the blankets back over you both, settling in beside you. “What’re you doing?”

“Couldn’t sleep and I figured you couldn’t either so… why not not sleep together?” There was a mischievous glint in his eye, accompanied by his hand slowly sliding up your thigh. 

“Again, what are you doing?” You whispered, biting at your bottom lip. During the night, you opted to sleep in your underwear and the shirt they gave you so he had full access to your lower half much to his delight.

“I said I owe you one, remember? And, you seem like you could use a distraction,” he hand slid higher and higher, fingers skimming over the fabric of your panties. “So, you can tell me to stop or I can keep going.”

It had been a while and little distraction would stop your mind from falling into dark thoughts so you nodded. That was all the permission he needed. His fingers ran along your panties. Slowly, tortuously. You bit your lower lip, focusing on the sensation of his teasing fingers. It felt nice. You could already feel yourself getting turned on. “Keep going.”

“That’s what I like to hear, Senorita,” he whispered in your ear, his lips finding their place against the skin of your neck, peppering it with open mouthed kisses while his fingers teased you through panties. “Gonna get you nice and wet for me. Repay you for being real kind to me.”

You felt his teeth nip at your neck, an involuntary moan passing your lips. He knew exactly what he was doing and it was working. When he was sure he had teased you enough, he used his fingers to push your panties to the side, running one of his long fingers along your slit. He rubbed his fingers up and down, gathering your slick as his thumb found your clit. He added the slightest bit of pressure as he began to rub slow, lazy circles against the sensitive bud. When he heard you gasp, he increased his pace, his fingers moving faster.

“You like that, baby? Yeah, you do,” he nipped at your neck. “Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

Your hips bucked up into his hand craving more. He was playing you like a fiddle, pulling all your strings taut but never giving you what you wanted. You whimpered. “Your fingers. Please.”

“That’s a good girl,” he claimed your lips in a messy kiss, all tongue and teeth. His fingers slid lower until they were at your entrance. He didn’t dive in straight away. He circled you, teasing you, dipping just the tip of his finger inside and pulling it back out to run up along your folds. He repeated the motion until you were a begging mess. That’s when he caved, easing a finger inside of you with ease. He pumped it slowly at first just to torture you before he joined it with a second one.

“Look at you,” he whispered gruffly in your ear. “Begging me to fuck you with my fingers surrounded by all these people. Such a dirty girl.”

He thrust his fingers faster, all the while his thumb was still playing with your clit. He couldn’t help himself, the way your face contorted, the breathy, quiet moans leaving your lips was fueling him. He loved to tease, to bring you to the edge. When he felt your walls clamping down around his fingers, he’d slow down, easing up then pick it back up, never letting you feel your sweet release. “Nuh-uh. Not yet. You can cum when I say so. You look so pretty right now. All flushed and frustrated. Bet you wish it was my cock inside you, don’t you?”

A curl of his fingers had you seeing stars, your fingers gripping the sheet below you. “Yes!”

“Don’t worry, Senorita. When we get out of here, I’ll make sure to fuck you so good you won’t even remember this place. You’ll only ever be able to think of me.”

He was done teasing now, his own arousal becoming too hard to ignore. His pants tightened, his cock rock hard as he pressed against you. He was a man on a mission now. He had to see you finish, had to feel you lose control. He sped up his fingers, plunging into you as hard as he could, curling his fingers inside you with each thrust. You felt it, your release approaching yet again.

“Please, please,” you babbled.

“Shh, Senorita, you wouldn’t want anyone to find out what a naughty little nurse you really are, would you?” He said, teasingly nipping at your lower lip. “But, since you asked so nicely, cum for me.”

That was all the permission you needed. Your hips met the thrust of his fingers, the pad of his thumb against your clit sending you over the edge. Your eyes squeezed shut, one of your hands moving to cover the moan you made as you came all over his fingers. He slowed his movements as he worked you through it, a smirk on his face as he watched you lose control.

“Fuck,” you breathed out heavily, chest rising and falling. 

“You’re welcome,” he smirked, pulling his fingers from you. Subong being Subong made a show of licking his fingers clean, maintaining eye contact with you the whole time. 

“I didn’t say thank you.”

“Nah but you wanted to.”

You rolled your eyes at him, finally feeling that familiar pull of sleep now that some of the tension had been eased. “Stay?”

He hesitated for a brief moment before nodding, settling in beside you. He loosely wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you against him. “Sure.” There was a pause before he spoke again. “I meant it, by the way. We get out of here and I’m fucking you until you can’t remember a dman thing about this shithole.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Thankfully, the Korean BBQ restaurant is almost empty when the staff brings an unbelievably large amount of meat to your table on a rolling cart, turns on the grill, and calmly walks away. You sit there with your hands in your lap, regretting the fact that you didn’t just stick to your usual convenience store sandwich.

You turn your head toward the table next to you, where a low, amused laugh comes from. Three guys around your age are sitting there, clearly having the time of their lives watching you and the mountain of meat in front of you. If they weren’t here, you’d probably get up and run, but that doesn’t seem like a very dignified strategy.

“You must be really hungry,” a voice behind you says in broken English. You turn around and see a boy heading toward those little mockers at the next table. Before he reaches them, he stops by yours, as if he wants to make you feel even more self-conscious than you already do.

“I am really hungry,” you mumble, trying to ease the weight of your shame and defend yourself with at least some dignity. It has the opposite effect, though, because an even louder burst of laughter comes from the next table.

“I thought so, because otherwise you definitely wouldn’t have ordered a portion for four,” the boy remarks, standing beside you with his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his loose jeans. You desperately lift your eyes to him, and only now do you realize how handsome he is. Unlike his friends, he isn’t laughing. He’s looking at you with almost no trace of emotion, and somehow that’s even worse than if he openly mocked you.

“Oh my god…” you whine desperately, hiding your burning face in your hands because it’s the only thing you’re capable of right now. Embarrassing yourself in front of a gorgeous guy is just another thing to cross off your bucket list in Korea. After only two weeks here, you have to admit you’re checking things off at an alarming speed.

“Relax, we got this,” the boy says, clicking his tongue as he looks over at his friends. “Hey! What are you waiting for? Get your asses over to this table.”

That’s pretty much what your first meeting with Jiyong, Daesung, Youngbae, and… Seunghyun looks like. These four quickly become the anchor you look forward to every single day, and you practically run to them the moment your classes end. The boys are trainees, and their grueling daily schedule filled with constant practice seems completely unreal to you. Still, they almost always manage to carve out at least a tiny window of time to spend with you. You’re unbelievably grateful for that, because they’re the only friends you’ve managed to make in Korea, and thanks to them, you don’t feel quite so lonely here. Each of them is completely different, which suits you perfectly. And Seunghyun? To him, you’ll forever be “the girl who was really hungry,” and he loves teasing you about it far too much…

Today, however, your “bucket list” doesn’t contain any embarrassing or funny stories. It only holds the heavy, gray blanket of homesickness that falls over you the moment you wake up. The first few weeks have flown by, the initial excitement of being in a new country has faded, and reality hits you with full force. You miss your mom, your dad, your friends... Most of all, you miss speaking a language you don’t have to think about, a language where you don’t have to carefully translate the meaning of every single word before opening your mouth.

That’s exactly why you’re now standing in the middle of a busy Seoul street, clutching a postcard with a photo of Namsan Tower in your hand. The postcard has such kitschy, loud colors that it almost makes you physically sick, but you’re sure your parents will like it. In order to send it, however, you first have to find a post office. According to your online map, you should be standing right in front of one, but instead, you’re staring desperately into the window of an electronics store. You turn the map in every possible direction, and you feel like you’re about to burst into tears.

“Are you hungry again and looking for a restaurant?” Seunghyun’s deep, velvet voice sounds behind you. He’s wearing a huge black hoodie, his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his loose jeans.

Your heart jumps, but a lump immediately settles in your throat. “No,” you breathe, and because of the tears gathering in your eyes, your voice sounds weaker than you want it to. “I’m looking for a post office…. But this stupid map claims the post office sells televisions.”

Seunghyun smiles faintly, looks at your phone screen, and then shifts his gaze to your face. His dark eyes study you with that typical unreadable expression of his, but when he notices the glassiness in your eyes, concern flickers through them.

“The branch that used to be here is closed. The next one is a few blocks away,” he says calmly and nudges your shoulder lightly. “Come on, I’ll walk you there.”

You walk side by side through busy Seoul, and you can barely keep up with his long strides. When, after ten minutes, you finally step into a small, hidden post office branch, panic immediately takes hold of you. An older woman with a strict expression is sitting behind the counter. The moment you try to hand her the kitschy postcard, she launches into rapid, irritated-sounding Korean. You don’t understand a single word she says, and she frowns at you tiredly, tapping her fingers against the desk. In that moment, the last tiny bit of courage drains out of you. You feel like you’re going to cry right there under the weight of all that homesickness.

Before you can stammer out a single word, Seunghyun takes a step in front of you and completely shields you from the unfriendly clerk with his broad shoulders. He speaks to her in a calm, deep voice. You just watch his sharp profile in fascination. Under the influence of his calmness, the woman immediately softens, nods, and takes the postcard. Seunghyun pulls a few coins from his pocket to pay for the stamp.

“No, I’ll pay for it!” you blurt out, fumbling through your wallet in confusion.

“It’s already done, let’s go,” he mutters, gently catching your elbow and leading you back outside into the fresh air. Sometimes his calmness, almost coldness, honestly scares you a little, especially when you’re alone with him.

When you step back onto the street, you let out a tired breath. “Thank you so much. You saved me. Will I see you tomorrow after your training?”

But Seunghyun doesn’t move and he doesn’t react to your words at all. He just shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his loose jeans and looks down at you. “I’m free now, and you obviously miss home and need cheering up, don’t you, Big Hunger?”

He doesn’t wait for your protest. He turns around and jerks his head for you to follow him. He leads you to the small, neon-lit window of a hidden café. “Two iced Americanos,” he orders in his deep voice, and a moment later, he presses an icy plastic cup into your hands. You look at the dark liquid with ice cubes, then back at him.

“Iced Americano,” he explains seriously, even though you haven’t asked a single question. “It’s the Korean cure for every problem you’ll ever have in this country. Drink.”

You take a sip of the bitter, icy drink, and the cold rushes through your whole body, as if it’s pulling you out of that gray lethargy. You look at him and give him your first genuine smile of the entire day. “It’s terribly bitter, but it helps.”

In that moment, Seunghyun smiles faintly for the first time. It’s only the smallest movement of his lips, but his eyes warm in a way that makes your chest feel strangely full. “Told you. I don’t want you crying here. Then you’d get even hungrier, and I’d have to drag you to BBQ again.”

***

From that night on, everything changes. Wandering through nighttime streets becomes your ritual. SeungHyun takes you into the hidden corners of Samcheong-dong, where traditional houses stand next to modern galleries.

“Where are we even going?” you ask one evening when he leads you into an alley so narrow that you have to walk close beside each other. “I feel like people don’t even live here.”

“They do,” Seunghyun mutters, glancing at you from the corner of his eye. “But they’re asleep. Seoul is prettiest here. No noise, just old rooftops and the sky.”

“It’s magical here,” you admit quietly, and he only hums in quiet satisfaction.

You discover that beneath that mask of a tough, silent boy, he hides an incredible sense of humor. He doesn’t laugh as loudly as Jiyong, but whenever you say something funny, he buries his face in his hood and his shoulders shake with deep, muffled laughter.

One evening, you buy small cups of watermelon ice cream and sit down on a bench in a quiet park not far from the YG Entertainment building. Seunghyun starts helping you with Korean, which you’re required to take at university. He patiently goes through your notebooks with you, teaches you the correct pronunciation, and corrects your grammar mistakes.

“Try reading this,” he says, pointing his long finger at one line. You take a breath and, with maximum concentration, manage to get the sentence out. SeungHyun stares at you for a moment with an absolutely stone-cold face.

“Was it that bad?” you ask miserably.

“Yeah, I can’t understand you at all…but we’ll practice,” he says with complete calm, though his eyes sparkle wildly with amusement.

“That’s not fair! All your vowels sound the same!” you grumble, offendedly stabbing your spoon into your ice cream.

“Not like that,” he corrects you quietly. He places his large, warm palm over yours to stop you from eating. Your heart starts pounding wildly. Seunghyun doesn’t pull his hand away. Instead, he slowly turns your palm upward, studies your fingers for a moment, and then firmly laces his fingers with yours. He looks deep into your eyes.

“You have to open your mouth more when you say it. I’ll show you again.”

From that night on, you no longer walk together any other way than hand in hand. Every time, he hides your joined hands inside the huge, warm pocket of his hoodie.

One afternoon, he even takes you straight to the training center. You sit on the floor in the corner of the mirrored practice room, holding your iced Americano in both hands, watching the boys train, or rather, mostly watching Seunghyun...

The room smells faintly of sweat, floor cleaner, and the coffee you brought with you. The music is loud enough to vibrate in your ribs, and every sharp step of their sneakers against the floor echoes off the mirrored walls. You try to look casual, like being in this room is completely normal and not something you’ll probably remember for the rest of your life, but your eyes keep finding him in the reflection…

The boys are practicing a new choreography, and Seunghyun, who sometimes looks during training as if the whole concept of dancing personally offends him, is suddenly trying suspiciously hard. Every movement is done at one hundred percent. He keeps the rhythm, doesn’t deliberately mess up the choreography, and even when Jiyong calls for them to start again from the top, Seunghyun only exhales through his nose and takes his place without complaining. You press your lips together to hide your smile behind the rim of your plastic cup.

Of course, Jiyong notices, Jiyong always notices.

When the music cuts off, the boys collapse tiredly onto the floor. Youngbae falls onto his back and covers his face with his arm, Daesung sits down with a dramatic groan, and Jiyong braces his hands on his knees, breathing hard. Then he looks at Seunghyun first, then at you sitting in the corner, and then back at Youngbae with a grin slowly spreading across his face.

“Do you see this?” Jiyong stage-whispers loudly enough for the entire room to hear. “Our fan should sit here every time, otherwise we’ll never turn him into a dancer.”

Daesung immediately starts choking on his laughter, bending forward and pressing a hand over his mouth. Youngbae lifts his head from the floor and looks at Seunghyun with fake seriousness. “No, he’s right. This is the cleanest run you’ve done all week.”

“Maybe all month,” Daesung adds, still laughing.

Seunghyun gives them such a murderous look that you have to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing out loud. His ears, however, betray him almost immediately, turning slightly red under the dark strands of his hair.

“I was dancing normally,” he mutters.

“No, you were showing off,” Jiyong says instantly, pointing at him. “There’s a difference.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You absolutely were,” Youngbae agrees, sitting up now, far too pleased with himself.

Daesung looks between you and Seunghyun, his eyes shining with mischief. “Y/N, please come again tomorrow. For the sake of the group.”

“Don’t listen to them,” Seunghyun says.

“I’m not saying anything,” you answer, still smiling.

“You’re smiling.”

“I’m drinking my coffee….”

“You’re smiling into your coffee...”

Jiyong makes a delighted noise somewhere behind him, and Daesung nearly falls over again. Seunghyun ignores them all, walks over to where you’re sitting, and crouches down in front of you. He reaches for your iced Americano without asking, takes one sip through the straw, makes a face at the watered-down bitterness, and hands it back to you.

“You’re distracting,” he mutters so quietly that only you can hear him.

Your fingers tighten around the cup. “Is that a bad thing?”

For a moment, he only looks at you. His dark eyes are still unreadable, but something warm hides beneath the surface.

“No,” he says at last. “Just annoying…” And somehow, from him, it sounds almost like a confession.

***

Your first kiss happens a few days later. He’s walking you back to your dorms, and you hide from a sudden spring rain beneath a small awning in a dark, tucked-away alley. You’re standing with your back to him when he gently takes your shoulders and turns you around to face him.

“You’ll get soaked,” he whispers, his eyes dropping to your lips.

“I don’t mind,” you breathe, unable to catch your breath. “I like rain.”

“I don’t,” he murmurs in his deep voice and takes that final step toward you, until your chests are almost touching. “But right now, I don’t mind it.” He gently pulls you closer by your waist and supports your jaw with his other hand. He’s so unbelievably close. Both of you are shy, tense in the silence and the falling drops around you. When his soft lips finally touch yours, the world around you stops. The kiss is gentle, but beneath that cool surface of the iced coffee you drank a while ago, it’s unbelievably warm.

After that night, it’s as if a dam breaks, and there’s no way back. During every meeting after that, in every free second, in every shadow of nighttime Seoul, you search for each other’s lips. The kisses are no longer just shy. They become urgent, long, and deep. Your goodbyes in front of your dorm stretch into dozens of minutes. Seunghyun presses you against the wall, gently runs his fingers through your hair, strokes your back, and every time he pulls away for even a second, one quiet half-breathed sigh from you is enough to make him kiss you again, as if he never wants to let you go.

“I already miss you, even though you’re standing right in front of me,” he whispers into your ear one evening while holding you tightly and hiding you from the wind inside his huge hoodie.

“I’m right here,” you smile and pressing yourself closer to him.

“That’s not enough,” he murmurs. “I never thought some girl would make me run away from training early.” These quiet, honest confessions rarely fall from him, but that only makes them carry even more weight, and you’re well aware of that.

Mid-June arrives with merciless speed, and with it comes your inevitable flight home for the holidays. You spend your last evening on your bench in the park, holding cups of iced Americano that taste a little more bitter than usual this time. For the last time, you wander through those alleys where every corner reminds you of some moment you shared.

“I’ll write to you every day,” Seunghyun says in his deep, firm voice, his thumb stroking the back of your hand as he holds it tightly inside his pocket. “Even if I’m about to collapse from training.”

You look at him, tears shining in your eyes, the same tears you’ve been fighting back the whole time. “And after the holidays? When you debut in August? You’ll be famous, Seunghyun and I’m scared I’ll come back and everything will be different….”

He doesn’t let you finish. Instead, he presses his index finger to your lips, forcing you to stop talking, and then he kisses you long and sweetly. That kiss carries a promise that doesn’t need words. When he finally pulls away, he rests his forehead against yours and looks into your eyes for a long moment.

“We’ll stay in touch, Big Hunger,” he whispers against your lips. “And after the holidays, I’ll be waiting for you here. I swear…”