c.s. archive

It all began in the first year itself. Professor Flitwick had been practically glowing after the first Charms lesson of the year. Standing atop his stack of books, he clapped his hands together with obvious delight as two feathers floated neatly across the classroom, one hovering above your desk and the other above the desk of the Gryffindor boy sitting a few rows away. It had taken most of the class several attempts just to make their feathers twitch, yet somehow the two of you had managed the Levitation Charm on your very first try.

He announced that Slytherin would be awarded ten points and Gryffindor five, since you were quicker than the boy.

The room went quiet before the whispering started. The eleven year olds were quite vicious without meaning to be, murmuring that of course the Slytherin girl got more points, some arguing that it was actually the boy who levitated the feather first.

Choi Seungcheol did not help. He turned to his friends with his chin tipped up, still frustrated about losing by such a small margin, although it was no competition, and said, loud enough for you to hear, "Must be nice. Wish my parents could buy me House Cup points too."

You turned to look at the arrogant boy. “Don’t be so bitter for losing. You’ll catch up to me,” You smiled sweetly at him, “in a year or two”. A few nearby students laughed and Seungcheol's ears turned bright red almost instantly.

The lesson ended before either of you said another word, but by lunchtime the two of you were already racing each other through the corridors toward Herbology because neither wanted to arrive second. That’s where your rivalry started.

For you, it became about proving that every mark, every compliment, every point beside Slytherin's hourglass had been earned. For Seungcheol, it became about refusing to let the infuriating Slytherin beat him without a fight.

By seventh year, your rivalry had become part of Hogwarts itself. Students expected arguments whenever your paths crossed. Professors instinctively called on someone else whenever both of your hands went up at once. First-years who had never witnessed how it started still knew not to seat the two of you together.

Nobody remembered that it had begun with five House points, one careless accusation, and an equally childish comeback from two stubborn eleven-year-olds who had been far too competitive for their own good.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

By seventh year, both you and Seungcheol had earned prefect badges, much to the surprise of absolutely no one. There had never been a shortage of academic excellence, rule-following, or painfully stubborn determination between the two of you, Unfortunately, the prefect rota cared very little about personal grudges and every few weeks, your names inevitably appeared on the same patrol schedule, assigned to the same stretch of castle for the evening.

Both of you had an unspoken rule of never acknowledging the other during patrols.

That night was no different.

You had already finished checking the eastern staircase on the fourth floor when you rounded the corner and spotted another pool of wandlight moving steadily toward you. Seungcheol emerged a moment later, one hand tucked into the pocket of his robes while the other lazily held his wand at his side. His shoulders visibly sagged the instant he recognized you, accompanied by an exaggerated sigh that was entirely unnecessary and, excessively irritating for you.

"Brilliant," he muttered under his breath, slowing his pace just enough to fall beside you instead of walking ahead. "Of all the prefects they could've paired me with tonight..."

You didn't bother looking at him as you continued down the corridor, your own wand casting long shadows across the stone walls.

"I was about to say the same thing."

Silence lasted exactly half a corridor before the argument started over something so insignificant that, later, neither of you could remember who had actually begun it.

"Ten points was generous," Seungcheol said, hand cutting through the air before he landed a point he considered unanswerable. "That cauldron fire was entirely Jeonghan's fault."

"You weren't even watching," you shot back.

"I'm saying your House gets away with far more than mine ever does," Seungcheol argued, turning enough to face you properly now instead of watching where he was walking. His eyebrows drew together, and every sentence came accompanied by another emphatic gesture of his free hand. "McGonagall would've deducted twice the points if one of my housemates had done half the things your lot gets away with."

You came to an abrupt stop, forcing him to halt a step later when he realized you were no longer walking beside him.

"You can't honestly expect professors to reward Gryffindors for setting things on fire every other lesson and for being obnoxiously loud" you replied, folding your arms across your chest.

"Name one instance where we set something on fire" He let out a disbelieving laugh.

"Oh I can name more than one, how about that day when your team was being showoffs and...”

Neither of you noticed the hurried footsteps approaching from around the corner.

Two third-year students rounded the bend so quickly they nearly collided with both of you. They froze the moment your wandlight illuminated their faces, every ounce of guilty panic written plainly across their expressions. One still clutched a box of Honeydukes sweets beneath his robes while the other looked as though she was already calculating how many House points she was about to lose.

You instinctively reached for your wand.

Seungcheol had already opened his mouth to ask why they were out after curfew.

Before you could get a word out, the boy panicked and flung a badly aimed Confundus Charm to buy himself time to run. It should have missed you both completely. Instead it caught the corner where you and Seungcheol stood close together mid argument, wands raised, both your defensive instincts flaring at the same instant.

Two defensive charms collided with the already unstable spell.

Magic ricocheted violently through the narrow corridor.

For a second, white light bounced between stone walls and polished wand tips until it became too bright to distinguish where one spell ended and another began.

Something pulled sharply behind your ribs, the corridor lurched beneath your feet and then everything disappeared.

You woke on your knees on cold stone, and the first wrong thing you noticed was your own hands. They were too big. The knuckles were broader, and there was a thin scar across one that you had never had in your life. You turned them over slowly in the wandlight, and when you finally opened your mouth to ask what had happened, the voice that came out was not yours. It was lower, rougher and unmistakably Choi Seungcheol's.

Across the corridor, another figure had reached exactly the same realization.

Your own face stared back at you, impossibly pale beneath the flickering torchlight. Seungcheol—wearing your body—lifted trembling hands to his face before abruptly grabbing at his own sleeves, then his hair, then his jaw, as though touching enough familiar features would somehow force everything back into place.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

You jerked upright so quickly you nearly lost your balance.

"What did I do?" The disbelief that surged through you almost drowned out the unfamiliar sound of his voice coming from your own throat. "You were the one waving your wand around like an idiot."

"My defensive spell was perfectly controlled."

"You call that controlled?"

"It would've been if yours hadn't gotten in the way."

You took a step toward him.

He immediately stepped forward as well.

The two of you stood almost chest to chest, each wearing the other's face while glaring with exactly the same stubborn determination.

"Fix it."

"You fix it."

"I didn't cause it."

"Neither did I."

The younger students had vanished long ago, saving themselves from detention, oblivious to the catastrophe they caused and left behind.

The corridor filled instead with overlapping accusations, increasingly ridiculous theories, and several failed attempts to convince yourselves this would be fine. You cast revealing spells on one another.

It wasn't until nearly twenty minutes later, when every spell either failed or confirmed the impossible, that the arguments finally began to lose momentum.

The silence settled heavily between you and now you both couldn’t unfortunately deny it anymore.

"Tell me this isn't happening," Seungcheol said, in your voice, sounding faintly sick.

"I wish I could," you said back, in his.

You were standing inside Choi Seungcheol's body.

And he was standing inside yours.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

You moved to an empty third floor classroom because neither of you could stomach the thought of walking into the hospital wing like this. The shame of the truth felt worse than the swap itself.

"If anyone finds out," you said, arms folded across a chest that wasn't yours, "my entire reputation is finished, Seungcheol. Gone."

"You think I want people knowing this either?" he said, pacing in your body with none of your usual composure. "I'm the Gryffindor Captain. I can't be the bloke who got soul swapped with you because we were bickering after curfew."

You shudder inwardly. "Then we tell no one. We fix it ourselves."

He stopped pacing and looked at you, weighing it. "Every evening. Third floor classroom. We trade whatever the other needs to know to survive being us for a day."

"Fine."

"Fine."

He stuck his hand out to shake on it, oddly formal for someone who lived his life informally, and you looked down at your borrowed hand and shook it, telling yourself this would be over within the week.

Spoiler, it was not over within the week.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

Living inside Choi Seungcheol's life turned out to be nothing like you had imagined it, and you had imagined it plenty, in the resentful corner of your mind. You had to sit through a Quidditch strategy meeting that ran forty five minutes long, because the captain was expected to walk the team through three formations for the match against Slytherin, and you had to bluff your way through it with fragments of Quidditch knowledge you had absorbed as an unwilling bystander over the years.

You noticed things you had never let yourself notice. Seungcheol's roommate, a broad shouldered Chaser named Mingyu, came to find him after dinner with a folded letter from home clutched too tight in his hand.

"It's about my grandma," Mingyu admitted, sitting heavily on the edge of a bed that wasn now yours temporarily. "The Healers still don't know what's wrong."

You didn't know what Seungcheol usually said in moments like this. You said the only thing that felt honest. "Do you want to talk about it, or do you want me to distract you until practice?"

Mingyu blinked at you, his shoulders sagging with relief. "Distraction. Definitely distraction."

Later, alone, you found a battered notebook in Seungcheol's trunk with every player's birthday written in cramped handwriting, little reminders beside each one. Chan, nervous flying in rain, check on him before matches. Soonyoung, keep away from firewhiskey. You sat on his bed for a long time with it open on your knees.

Seungcheol, meanwhile, discovered your life and admitted, begrudgingly, during one of your evening meetings at the Etiquette Club, that it was way too exhausting.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

"You finished three second years' essays with them tonight," he said, dropping into the chair across from you, in the third floor classroom. "Then you did your own. It's past midnight."

"That's Tuesday for you," you said simply shrugging.

"Does anyone ever ask if you're tired?" he said, abruptly

You looked up at him, startled, and said nothing at all. You picked at a loose thread on your sleeve until he let the silence swallow the question back down.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

The Yule Ball rehearsals turned into a disaster almost immediately. You had been the seventh-year dance instructor for weeks before the swap, a position earned through years in the Ballroom and Etiquette Club, and trapped in Seungcheol's body you still had to run them. Which meant you had to rely on Seungcheol to demonstrate steps with his dance skills, or lack thereof, in front of the entire seventh year.

The true catastrophe was Seungcheol, wearing your body, attempting to dance. He trod on your partner's feet twice in one turn. He counted the beats under his breath in a way you never would. His partner, Junhui, who had been your friend since third year, kept glancing at your borrowed face with growing confusion, unable to reconcile the girl he knew, precise in everything, with whoever kept stepping on his shoes.

You dragged Seungcheol aside the second rehearsal ended.

"You are destroying seven years of reputation in one afternoon," you hissed at him.

"I'm doing my best," he hissed back, looking like his pride was wounded rather than sorry. "Dancing was never exactly my area of expertise, if you hadn't noticed."

"Clearly."

You stood there a moment, both furious, both cornered, until the solution landed on you out of pure desperation. "We dance with each other instead. I lead, since apparently my muscle memory came with me. You just follow closely enough that no one notices."

He stared at you like you'd suggested something far worse than it was. Even if neither of you wanted this, it’s not like you had a choice either.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

The rehearsals that followed took up more of your patience than either of you had to spare. You corrected the position of Seungcheol's hands, adjusted the distance between your bodies, told him to lower his shoulders.

"Stop muttering the count," you said, for what felt like the tenth time. "It throws off the rhythm for both of us."

"My feet ache," he complained. "You've had me bent into shapes no human spine was designed for."

"Then stop arguing and hold the position."

"You're impossibly particular, you know that?"

"Particular is the only reason either of us survives this without becoming laughing stock."

It became its own kind of routine, the same rhythm your rivalry always had, except now it put you close enough to feel warmth radiating off borrowed skin.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

The Quidditch match against Slytherin arrived inevitably. You had spent the week before it inventing excuses, a headache, a sudden allergy, praying it rained hard enough, because the truth was one you had hidden from almost everyone you knew. You were terrified of heights.

"You've got this," Seungcheol told you, the night before, with a false certainty. It just made your stomach twist.

You wanted, badly, to tell him the truth right then but your throat closed around it. Your pride didn’t allow you to say that. "Right," you said instead. "Of course."

The match itself was the worst hour of your life. The moment the broom left the ground your vision narrowed and your chest locked up, your hands white knuckled on the handle, your breath coming in short useless pulls you prayed nobody below could see. You forced yourself to stay in the air anyway, teeth clenched against a fear that felt like drowning.

Gryffindor still lost, badly, and your stomach dropped the moment the final whistle blew.

Seungcheol found you in the corridor outside the changing rooms afterward, his hands fists at his sides. "You cost us that match," he said. "Do you understand what today meant?"

"I tried," you said, eyes stinging, voice cracking on the word. "You have no idea what you're asking of me."

"Then explain it to me."

You couldn't. Neither of you listened to the other, and you parted with the unresolved fury hanging between you, and did not speak again for two days.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

It was Jun who unraveled everything, without meaning to. Seungcheol, still wearing your body, asked to meet him near the Astronomy Tower to finalise the dance partners list and get it over with.

Jun blinked at him. "Why there? You've always hated heights. You nearly fainted on the Tower stairs in third year, remember?"

The words landed on Seungcheol like a slap. His stomach dropped, and the pieces of the last two days slid into place at once, your excuses, your locked shoulders on the broom, the shake in your hands during the match. "Right," Seungcheol managed. "Forgot about that."

"Are you all right?" Jun asked, slowing when he noticed the unusual tension in your shoulders. Before you could answer, he seemed to remember something else and gestured vaguely toward the staircase. "Oh—and Seungcheol was looking for you earlier. I saw him heading toward Professor McGonagall's office. "

Seungcheol's chest went cold at the thought of what that might mean.

For a brief moment, he wondered whether you had somehow discovered a way to reverse the swap without telling him. The thought barely lasted a second before another possibility settled heavily in his chest.

You were going to tell someone.

By the time he reached the corridor outside Professor McGonagall's office, the door had already been left slightly ajar. He stopped just short of the doorway, his footsteps instinctively quiet against the stone floor.

Inside the office, you sat opposite Professor McGonagall, still wearing his face.

Gone was the composed certainty you usually carried through the corridors of Hogwarts. Your shoulders had lost their usual rigid posture, your hands resting tightly clasped together in your lap as though you were afraid they might begin shaking if you let them move. You carefully recounted everything from the beginning: the patrol assignment, the collision of defensive spells, and the impossible moment the two of you had awakened inside one another's bodies.

Professor McGonagall listened without interruption. She did not speak once.

She merely folded her hands together atop her desk, her expression growing steadily more severe as every passing minute confirmed that two seventh-year prefects had concealed an unstable magical accident from the faculty for weeks.

Only when you finally fell silent did she rise from her chair.

She walked slowly around the desk before stopping directly in front of you, her gaze unwavering beneath the brim of her pointed hat.

"I have watched the two of you spend years attempting to outdo one another," she said. "I expected competitiveness. I did not expect recklessness."

The silence stretched.

When she spoke again, her voice softened almost imperceptibly.

"Tell me.. why did neither of you come sooner?"

Your fingers tightened together until your knuckles paled beneath Seungcheol’s skin.

Then, without looking up, you answered quietly.

"Because I thought we could fix it ourselves." You drew in a slow, uneven breath. "...And because I didn't want anyone thinking we'd been alone together after curfew for any reason other than patrol."

A faint, almost exasperated sigh escaped the professor.

"You two truly are young fools."

The smallest corner of your mouth twitched despite yourself before disappearing just as quickly.

After another moment, your composure finally cracked.

"I also..." Your voice faltered for the first time all evening. "I made things worse."

Professor McGonagall remained silent, giving you the space to continue.

"I played the Quidditch match in his place."

You swallowed hard.

"I could barely breathe the moment the broom left the ground. Every time I looked down, I thought I was going to fall. I wanted to quit before the match even started." Your gaze stayed fixed on the floor. "But I knew how much Quidditch means to him. I knew what that team expected from their captain. I couldn't let everyone down before the whistle had even blown."

Your hands trembled faintly.

"I still let them down."

His hand remained suspended beside the doorframe, fingers curling slowly against the cold stone as every piece of the previous week's argument rearranged itself inside his mind.

Guilt settled heavily in his chest. He wanted to step through the doorway. He wanted to apologize.

Professor McGonagall notices him linger near the door, “Mr. Choi, how lovely of you to join us”

He walks in, still looking like you, and stands beside you, ready for anything that she might say to you both now.

Professor McGonagall regarded the two of you for a long, measured moment. "I am less concerned," she began, her voice calm enough to be unsettling, "with how this happened than I am with what you chose to do afterward."

You lowered your head.

"You are both prefects. Students whom this school trusted to exercise sound judgment." She paused, allowing the weight of her words to settle over the room before continuing. "Instead, the two of you decided that your pride was more important than informing a professor about exceptionally dangerous, poorly understood magic. Had this curse worsened? Had either of you sustained permanent magical damage? Had one of you become trapped? You would have had no one to blame but yourselves."

Every sentence landed heavier than the last.

She sighed quietly, some of the sharpness leaving her expression.

"I believe the worst lesson has already been learned," she said at last, folding her hands neatly before her. "Though I sincerely hope that should either of you find yourselves involved in impossible magic again, your first instinct will be to seek help from a professor instead of allowing your pride to dictate your judgment."

Neither of you argued. There was very little left to say.

After a brief silence, she reached for a parchment on her desk and made a neat note with a flourish of her quill.

"As Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress, I cannot simply overlook your astonishing lapse in judgment. Consider yourselves both assigned to detention this Saturday evening."

You and Seungcheol exchanged the briefest glance before instinctively looking away again.

Professor McGonagall noticed.

"Together," she added without looking up from her parchment. "Professor Hagrid has requested assistance gathering medicinal plants from the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Since the two of you seem determined to solve your problems without adult supervision, perhaps an evening completing unpleasant work under proper supervision will remind you why rules exist in the first place."

The faintest trace of embarrassment settled across both your faces.

"Yes, Professor," you both answered almost simultaneously.

Only then did Professor McGonagall rise from behind her desk.

"Now," she said, retrieving her wand, "let us remedy the problem that should have been brought to me weeks ago."

Within the hour, she led both of you back to the corridor where the accident had begun. The stone floor felt strangely familiar beneath your knees as you and Seungcheol faced one another once more, neither quite able to hold the other's gaze for more than a heartbeat. Professor McGonagall's wand moved in slow, deliberate arcs through the air. Ancient incantations echoed softly around the empty room as thin strands of silver light unfurled from the tip of her wand, wrapping around each of you before gradually weaving together into a single glowing thread.

The sensation arrived almost immediately. A sharp pull somewhere behind your ribs and a wave of dizziness that made the hallway tilt for only a fraction of a second.

Then, just as suddenly, everything settled.

When you opened your eyes again, your own hands rested against your knees.

You flexed your fingers once, then again, relief quietly spreading through your chest as familiar muscles responded exactly as they should.

Across from you, he mirrored the movement almost unconsciously before running a hand over his own face, as though reassuring himself that every feature belonged where it was supposed to.

The body swap was over.

The silence that followed, however, was far more difficult to undo.

You were looking up at Seungcheol through your own eyes again, and he was looking back at you through his, and everything you now knew about each other sat between you like a third person in the room

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

Saturday evening, Professor McGonagall’s punishment arrived far sooner than either of you would have liked.

You both made your way down the sloping path from the castle toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid was already waiting beside an overflowing wooden cart. The gamekeeper greeted you with his usual warmth, though the look he gave the pair of you carried just enough amusement to suggest Professor McGonagall had been very clear about why two seventh-year prefects had found themselves serving detention together.

"Moondew an' Moonlace don't collect themselves," Hagrid said cheerfully, thrusting a woven basket into Seungcheol's hands before passing another to you. "Stick close, keep yer lanterns high, an' don't wander off. Most creatures'll leave yeh alone if yeh've got the sense not ter bother 'em first."

You exchanged a brief glance with Seungcheol. After everything the two of you had already survived together, gathering magical plants almost sounded... peaceful.

The forest was quieter than you had expected. Damp earth softened your footsteps beneath thick roots and fallen leaves. Hagrid moved steadily several paces ahead, his lantern swinging gently from one enormous hand as he occasionally called back instructions about which plants to avoid disturbing.

You and Seungcheol settled into an easy rhythm. He reached higher branches before they struck your face as the path narrowed. Every so often your baskets bumped together when both of you reached for the same plant, earning nothing more than a brief glance before one of you wordlessly stepped aside.

It was... strangely comfortable.

Then, inevitably, you spotted a cluster of silver blossoms growing just beyond the edge of the path.

"They're right there," you murmured, already stepping over a thick tree root before either Hagrid or Seungcheol had the chance to object.

You had barely taken two careful steps into the undergrowth when something darted through the bushes several feet to your left and the sound was sudden enough to make you aware.

Branches shook violently and leaves scattered.

Your foot came down awkwardly on a patch of loose moss hidden beneath the fallen leaves as the ground disappeared beneath you. A sharp twist shot through your ankle before you had time to catch yourself.

"Seungcheol—"

The word had barely left your mouth before he was moving. He covered the distance almost instantly.

One arm wrapped firmly around your waist before your back could hit the ground while his other hand caught your wrist, steadying both of you with enough force that the momentum carried you several steps backward. His grip tightened instinctively as he turned, positioning himself between you and whatever had moved through the trees, your body pressed securely against his chest while his wand lifted in one smooth motion.

For one suspended heartbeat, neither of you breathed.

The bushes rustled again. Then...

A plump brown rabbit bounded lazily out from beneath the undergrowth, paused, twitched its nose at the two of you, and disappeared into the trees without the slightest concern.

Both remained stunned in place, holding onto each other, more from instinct than intention. His breathing was slightly uneven, the rise and fall of his chest impossible to ignore from where you stood pressed against him.

Somewhere behind you, Hagrid let out an amused chuckle. "Jus' a rabbit," he called without looking up from the herbs he was collecting. "Scared the pair o' yeh good, did it?" he said before returning to his work, evidently deciding the pair of you required no rescuing after all.

Neither of you answered. Your eyes met for one unbearably long moment, and the forest seemed to disappear entirely.

His gaze flickered briefly to your face before darting away again, the tips of his ears colouring almost instantly. He cleared his throat, taking a careful step backward as though sudden movements might somehow make the moment more awkward than it already was. The hand at your waist loosened reluctantly, though it lingered just long enough to ensure you had found your footing before letting go altogether.

"I..." He exhaled quietly, rubbing the back of his neck with a faintly sheepish expression. "I may have overreacted." He dropped his hand back by his side and you notice something dark on it.

"Wait." You reached for his wrist before you decided to. He frowned in confusion as you turned his hand over, revealing a thin cut across two swollen knuckles, blood already beading where he had clearly caught the rough bark of a branch when he lunged for you.

"When did this happen?"

Seungcheol glanced down as though seeing the injury for the first time.

"Oh." His answer was maddeningly unconcerned.

"It’s nothing” He gave a careless shrug

"It's bleeding, Seungcheol." You caught his wrist before he could wave you off and turned his hand over gently in the lantern light, digging in your bag for the small tin of dittany you carried out of habit.

He sighed but stopped resisting, letting his fingers relax in your grip while you dabbed the dittany carefully over the scrape. He barely flinched, though you caught the way his jaw tightened and then slowly eased again as the sting faded, and neither of you said anything for a while, your focus fixed entirely on his hand.

His focus however, was fixed entirely on you.

"You know," he said after a long moment, his voice noticeably quieter than before, "you really don't have to fuss over me."

“How could I let go of the opportunity of holding this favour over you?” you said as you keep gently cleaning his wound.

He shakes his head in amusement.

You bottled the dittany and put it back into your bag before getting up. Then you shifted your own weight again, forgetting for a moment which foot you weren't supposed to be standing on, and the same sharp pain shot up your ankle, pulling a hiss through your teeth before you could stop it.

His gaze dropped immediately to your foot, his expression changing so quickly it was almost impossible to follow. Lingering amusement vanished first. It was replaced by concern. A heartbeat later, concern disappeared beneath familiar irritation.

"You twisted your ankle, didn’t you?" he said, his voice quieter than before, though no less firm.

"I’m fine."

"Yeah right” He didn't wait for you to argue further. He crouched, testing your ankle with careful fingers, and when he straightened up he simply lifted you off your feet entirely, one arm under your knees and the other braced firm behind your back.

"What are you doing! Put me down." You exclaim. "I can walk."

"Can’t let you hold something over me” he said, and you could hear the grin in it even without looking up to confirm it, “Consider this as your favour repaid”

You looped an arm around his neck for balance only, you told yourself firmly, and let him carry you back toward the castle.

"Don’t you dare make me fall," you said, trying to look anywhere but at his impossibly close face.

“I just might” He finally set you down only after Madam Pomfrey's door came into view.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

You had expected returning to your own bodies would restore everything to the way it had always been.

Another spoiler, it did not.

For several days, neither of you seemed capable of behaving normally around the other. Seven years of effortless rivalry had suddenly become awkward. Every encounter carried an unfamiliar hesitation, as though both of you had forgotten the roles you had spent years playing.

When your paths crossed in the corridors, your first instinct was still to reach for some familiar remark, yet the words often stalled before they reached your tongue. If your eyes met across the Great Hall, one of you always looked away first, only for the other to do the same a heartbeat later, both pretending to have found something infinitely more interesting elsewhere.

The body swap had ended, but it had left behind far more than either of you had bargained for. You knew the quiet burdens Seungcheol carried beneath his easy confidence, the responsibilities he accepted without complaint, and the countless kindnesses he performed when nobody thought to look.

He knew the impossible expectations you placed upon yourself, the exhaustion hidden beneath your composure, and the fears you had guarded so fiercely for years. Those pieces of each other lingered stubbornly between every conversation, making it impossible to return to the comfortable certainty of simply being rivals.

Seungcheol resumed his habit of appearing beside you at every opportunity, though his teasing had changed. He no longer cared nearly as much about House points or exam scores. Instead, he found endless amusement in pointing out habits only he knew you had, making observations that would have sounded ordinary to anyone else but left you uncomfortably aware of the weeks he had spent living your life. Every comment earned him an exasperated look, every grin another reluctant retort, yet somehow the conversations lasted longer than they needed to.

You told yourself he was simply impossible to ignore, an arrogant git.

Yet you had begun noticing that arrogant git too.

Your gaze searched for him before Quidditch matches without conscious thought. When prefect duties were assigned, you found yourself checking the rota for his name before folding the parchment away. If he wandered into the library while you were studying, you invariably looked up from your book, only to look away the moment your eyes met. Whenever he fell into step beside you in the corridors, you complained out of habit, yet your pace unconsciously slowed just enough that he never had to catch up.

Truth being said, you both were being idiots who were now arguing simply to have a reason to keep talking.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

The Great Hall had been transformed so completely that it hardly resembled the room where you had spent seven years eating hurried breakfasts before class or quietly finishing essays beneath enchanted candles. Hundreds of floating lanterns drifted lazily beneath the bewitched ceiling, their warm light reflecting across polished marble and the gleaming floor that had been cleared for dancing. Music from the small orchestra gathered near the staff table floated effortlessly through the hall, wrapping itself around conversations and laughter until the entire evening seemed to move to the same gentle rhythm.

The Yule ball had finally arrived. You had spent months preparing this night.

You had organised rehearsal schedules, corrected footwork, adjusted postures, paired partners, and repeated the same instructions until your voice had become hoarse. Every carefully planned detail now unfolded exactly as you had imagined.

And yet the moment your eyes found Seungcheol standing near the entrance, every other part of the evening was irrelevant.

His formal robes were tailored neatly across his broad shoulders, replacing the perpetually rumpled uniform you had grown so accustomed to criticising. His usually unruly hair had been brushed back from his forehead, exposing his sharp features. Even the familiar confidence in the way he carried himself seemed more refined tonight.

You realised, with no small amount of annoyance, that you were staring at him.

As though sensing your attention, Seungcheol glanced toward the entrance and whatever he had been saying to Mingyu died halfway out of his mouth. His eyes moved over you, and he couldn’t help but settle his gaze on you. The hem of your dress pooled elegant and unfamiliar around you, your hair swept back from your face making you look prettier than you always looked.

He appeared almost caught off guard by his own inability to look elsewhere. His shoulders, which had been relaxed only moments earlier, straightened almost unconsciously.

You continued walking toward him, each measured step feeling strangely louder than the music surrounding you.

For the first time since meeting him, Seungcheol seemed to struggle for words.

When you finally stopped before him, he drew a quiet breath that sounded suspiciously like someone trying to steady themselves.

"You clean up well," he said, when you finally reached him, aiming for careless and missing it by a wide margin.

"So do you," you said, and heard how it came out, quieter than you meant it.

Neither of you managed anything cleverer than that. When the orchestra announced the beginning of the opening waltz, Seungcheol extended his hand toward you, and you took it.

You braced yourself for the same clumsy partner from rehearsals. Instead, when the music started and his hand found yours, his grip was sure and his posture was correct, every adjustment you had ever given him folded into instinct.

"You've been practicing," you said quietly, surprise softening your voice.

"Don't sound so shocked," he murmured back, though the corner of his mouth pulled up, pleased despite himself.

He led you through the opening steps without a single misplaced beat.

The difference should have been insignificant.

You had stood this close to him dozens of times already.

You had corrected this exact hand placement yourself.

You had physically moved his arm into position more than once.

But those memories belonged to borrowed bodies.

This...this was the first time it was truly him. And truly you.

His palm stayed warm against the small of your back, and your eyes kept finding his and holding there far longer than any formal dance required. Your cheeks went warm under his gaze. You looked away first, and when you glanced back he was still watching you, something soft caught at the corner of his mouth, and for once none of you reached for an argument.

❈ ── 🍃 ── ❈

Several nights after the ball, you were back on ordinary prefect patrol, back in the same corridors where all of this had started, and to no one’s surprise, paired with Seungcheol.

It should have been an uneventful patrol. Instead, Seungcheol had spent the last ten minutes finding increasingly ridiculous ways to irritate you.

You ignored the first few comments.

Experience had taught you that acknowledging him only encouraged him.

Unfortunately, Seungcheol had also learned that lesson.

"I've been thinking," he said after another stretch of silence, sounding far too pleased with himself already. "I really wasted a remarkable opportunity during our body swap."

You continued walking. "I'm choosing not to ask."

"I probably should've walked into the Great Hall one morning," he continued anyway, "stood on the Gryffindor table, and announced—in your body, no less—that I'd been hopelessly in love with Choi Seungcheol since first year."

Your steps stopped so abruptly that the hem of your robes swished around your ankles.

Slowly and wordlessly, you turned to look at him.

He was grinning. "I think it would've been convincing."

You let out a slow breath through your nose, pressing two fingers briefly against your temple before beginning to walk again.

"I genuinely cannot decide," you muttered, "whether surviving the body swap made you a better person or an infinitely more irritating one."

"I was hoping for 'more charming.'"

"You truly are an arrogant git"

He laughed quietly to himself before falling into step beside you again, entirely unbothered by the insult.

"I mean," he continued after another few moments, "that would have explained why you keep staring at me so much.”

You spun toward him, your cheeks warm enough that you didn't need a mirror to know exactly what they looked like.

"Would you please stop talking?"

The words came out sharper than intended, though they lacked any real anger.

Seungcheol noticed immediately. His smile changed, and turned far more satisfied.

He took one unhurried step closer, close enough that you instinctively leaned back before realising there was nowhere to go. Your shoulders met the cool stone wall behind you, and before you had the chance to move again, he lifted one hand to brace himself lightly against the wall beside your head.

His eyes searched your face for a long moment before settling on the unmistakable warmth still colouring your cheeks.

"I see you’re not refusing it" he murmured, unable to hide the amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Your heart gave one sharp, thoroughly inconvenient beat.

"...Shut up, Seungcheol."

This time, your voice came out much quieter than either of you expected.

"Make me" His eyes dropped to your mouth, lingered there a beat, and lifted back to your eyes

You leaned in before you could think better of it.

The decision was so sudden that for the smallest fraction of a second, Seungcheol simply stared at you. Whatever teasing remark had been sitting on the tip of his tongue disappeared entirely, replaced by an expression of genuine surprise.

He closed the distance anyway.

His hand found your jaw almost instinctively, fingers warm against your skin as though he needed to convince himself this was finally happening. Your own hand caught in the front of his robes without thinking, gathering the fabric as the distance between you disappeared entirely. The hand resting beside your head slid from the wall to your waist, drawing you closer until there was no space left between you. For a long moment there was nothing else, no rivalry, no seven years of pride, just the quiet drag of his mouth against yours and the wall solid at your back and his heartbeat thrumming close enough that you could feel it.

When you finally pulled back, both of you a little breathless, he rested his forehead against yours and let out a disbelieving laugh against your temple.

"Unbelievable things keep happening whenever we patrol together at night," he murmured.

"Maybe you should stop patrolling with me, then," you said, though you made no move to step back from his embrace.

"Not a chance," he said, and leaned in again, slower this time, and kissed you like he meant to keep doing it for a long while.

End.

📖 Before you leave Owl's Library, consider returning this record to the shelves with a reblog so other readers may find it.

Seungcheol drives carefully, eyes on the road, one hand steady at the wheel, the other resting on your thigh with his thumb drawing circles over your bare skin lovingly. Occasionally, his eyes drift to the rear view mirror, checking for traffic, lips curving into a soft smile while also checking in on your little one sitting securely in his car seat. The trip is a bit long, so you make a rest stop, and for the rest of the way you switch to the backseat to check on your son. For the most part, he's already having the time of his life, cooing and babbling along once Seungcheol plays a song he likes a lot.

It really is a perfect day to spend outside, sunny with no sign of clouds, just a clear blue sky above the endless turquoise sea. Since you left early, it isn't too crowded. Once you choose a spot, Seungcheol puts your bags down and busies himself setting the umbrella to shelter yourselves from the constant sunrays beating down on you while you hold up baby in your arms, the both of you staring at him while he works. Baby's squinting his eyes at the landscape, at whatever it is his daddy's doing, still a little drowsy from his nap in the car and trying to make sense of the new surroundings.

Once you're settled, you sit down on the stripped beach towel and begin the battle of trying to put on some sunscreen on baby. His long lashes flutter every time you carefully brush your hand over his face, his chubby cheeks and he lets out a happy squeal when you boop his nose before applying some more. He's wiggling where he sits while trying to grab your fingers or reach for the bottle the entire time. Then you adjust his little swimming trunks and shirt, before placing a bucket hat over his smooth mop of dark hair.

"You're ready, baby?" Seungcheol lifts him in his arms, looking way more excited than your baby boy and you can't help but smile at them both. You don't think he intended to match with your baby again, but he's also wearing what he called his 'vacation hat' and honestly you think it's adorable. You love how easy it is for him to slip into the role, how amazing he is as a father. "You're coming love?" He looks at you, adjusting baby in his big arms exposed by the white tank top he's wearing, making sure to support his bottom and his back as he also turns searching for his mommy.

"I'll join you boys later." You smile and usher them off, saying you're good just admiring the scenery for now and that you'll just watch them. Seungcheol's lip juts out in a small frown but nods. It's a little strange, you're usually the first to drop everything to get into the water.

This is when the fun really begins. Carefully, Seungcheol treads into the water, staying at a safe distance from the shore. When he turns so he's facing in your direction, you catch your baby's expression: he's staring down at the water warily. At Seungcheol's first attempt to lower him into the water he tenses up, curling his chubby legs and shrinking into himself so his tiny feet avoid it completely. You chuckle, expression softening as you pick Seungcheol's voice from where you sit, encouraging and reassuring. However, your baby is not convinced, as he does exactly the same thing the second time, and then a third.

The first warning comes in a sniffle, then it happens. He starts to cry and you feel that thing, that pang in your heart that parents feel when they hear their children cry. You can tell Seungcheol does too, any trace of lightheartedness vanishing from his features, instead doing his best to not go into panic mode. And your motherly instincts suddenly kick in. You stand up, shrugging off your sundress leaving you only in your swimsuit before you march over to them.

"No, no, no. It's okay. You don't like it?" He's trying to calm baby down, swaying him in his arms and hushing him gently. Nothing is really working for his cries only grow louder, tugging at his heartstrings. Decidedly, looks like in fact he doesn't like it. He's about to step out when he looks over to you. You're no longer sitting over the towel under the shade of the umbrella, but making your way over.

"What's wrong? What's making my baby boy upset?" You step closer, rubbing your hand on baby's back soothingly. His cries calm down, and he stares at you, big shiny eyes welling up with more tears before his tiny arms reach for you. Seungcheol lets you take him. "There we go. You're just like daddy, huh? Don't like the beach much?" You keep talking to him, the more you go on, the more that tension eases off both of you when there's no signs of your baby about to start crying again.

"What?" you say after a while, getting flustered feeling Seungcheol's eyes on you. And he blinks, like you snapped him out of his reverie, a smirk appearing on his face instead. It amazes him that after all this time, you still get flustered because of him. He's not one to talk honestly because he reacts the same way when it comes to you too.

"What?"

"You're staring." you keep your eyes downcast and on your baby as he snuggles closer to you, hiding his face in the crook of your neck.

'Kinda hard not to." He bites his lip, a hunger in his gaze that he should leave for when you two are alone but he can't help it. You two should definitely come here more often so he doesn't forget how good bikinis look on you. He betrays as much, for he continues, "I can't believe we didn't come here sooner and missed seeing you wearing that tiny bikini with your baby bump."

Your reaction is immediate, head snapping up to look at him with wide eyes, a rosy tint on your cheeks that may be from the sun, may not. He's laughing, "Cheol!" you chide.

"What?" he manages when he controls his laughter enough to try and play innocent but that smug smile gives him away, inching closer to rest his hands at your sides. "We can still come back, right?"

"Right," You agree, back to avoiding his gaze with a frown that you totally don't mean, fighting the way his words affect you, "Me all round and swollen." you add sarcastically. How sexy.

He leans over, his voice going deeper as he speaks lowly, lips brushing your ear making your breath hitch, "Mmm you better stop talking to me like that, love."

"I'm serious." Even though your voice doesn't come out as steady as you'd wish, "Baby is right here."

"Should I remind you how we made baby?"

But he pulls away, and you let out the breath you didn't know you were holding, getting some relief from the warmth wrapping all over your body. "I'm serious too. You looked beautiful, and so you do now."

Obviously, after your pregnancy your body has suffered changes. Some days it's easier to face them, thinking you went through them to bring your baby to the world. Other days it's harder to reconcile with them, to think you look good when your eyes lock on stretch marks, that little extra weight, and feel confident about it. But Seungcheol is right there when you can't see the things he does.

When you finally stopped pretending his words didn't have any power over you and looked at him with a genuine smile, his mind went peacefully quiet, knowing he'd won. You'd won too; you sometimes wondered if you deserved him.

"Okay, why don't we give it a last try?" your attention went back to baby. There was no trace of him being upset anymore as those round eyes landed on your face. You bounced him up in your arms once just for him to give you that gummy smile, his bottom front teeth peeking briefly.

Carefully, you lowered yourself into the water. He started kicking, little arms flailing as he grew a little fussy at the feeling of being partly submerged, the cool water enveloping you two. "Better now? Yeah, daddy got better taste with me too." You took the opportunity to tease Seungcheol and how he'd grown to like the beach after meeting you. Just a little.

Seungcheol didn't even protest, marveled at the sight, "He's not crying."

"Now don't jinx it."

"No," he laughed, "It must be you. You have this… connection with the ocean."

"And you think baby somehow picks that up?"

"Well apparently I stressed him out." Seungcheol pouts and you can't help but laugh. He doesn't really mind because you do look so serene here, and his son is having a good time now. He seriously can't ask for more.

Eventually, baby does start to get heavy in your arms, so Seungcheol gets out to fetch his floatie. Once he's placed securely in it, you adjust the canopy over his head to protect him from the sun, your hands holding the inflatable and keeping him close. "Comfortable?" you coo, to what he totally ignores you now in favor of staring down at the water.

Seungcheol stays back with him when you step out. In your hurry earlier you didn't even put on sunscreen, and you're hoping it's not too late to stop yourself from getting a nasty sunburn, though you can already feel the beginning of it. You grab a towel to dry up, and just as you grab the bottle, a voice startles you.

"Need help with that?"

A man, a total stranger that you hadn't even noticed where he came from, stands just beside your setup. You smile politely and decline, hoping he'd leave. He doesn't take the hint, prompted instead to ask if you're here alone.

Since you're the one dealing with this situation - which isn't amusing in the slightest-, it's a pity you can't witness it from an outside point of view, where you would be able to see Seungcheol - because only that would've turned it into the second funny event of the day -. He's currently pointing down at the water for baby to see the fish, but when he looks up and catches on to what's happening back at shore, the smile gets wiped out of his face, tensing up and looking like he's guarding off territory. The sheer audacity of this man to flirt with you - he's totally flirting with you, look at how he's looking at you!- while he's standing right here, while your baby is standing right here? Oh he's pissed.

That's when you answer that in fact you're not alone and that you're spending the day with your family, and the guy happens to looks over. That he's standing at a safe distance away in the water right beside a cute chunky baby in a floatie does not render the buff man next to it less intimidating, the white, now see through tank top that sticks to him doing nothing to hide his muscular body. Pair that with a scowl having a very obvious target. The stranger's smile falters, quick to look back at you and dismiss himself wishing you a nice day. Just like that, Seungcheol's sour mood is gone and he's smiling back down at his son who has no idea about what just happened but smiles back at his daddy like he does, letting out happy giggles when he gets water ladled gently over him while being careful to avoid his eyes, blinking every time from the sensation of water trickling down his body.

"You saw that, didn't you?" you ask once you step back into the water and Seungcheol wraps an arm around you, nuzzling his face into your neck while your hands hold baby's inflatable. Aaand he was busted. Now, it's not like he'd ever have doubts about you: you're it for each other. And he's far from being insecure. He's… Seungcheol. He's like that. You smile, bringing a hand up to scratch the short hairs on his nape lovingly. This is just your clingy, very affectionate, very protective, and a little possessive Seungcheol.

Later when you take a break from bathing, it's time for lunch. It's really hot, so you also enjoy some fresh fruit; you feed your son the ones you cut into small, bite size pieces, wipe his face and little hands from the juice when he chooses to take it himself. He's not very picky, except maybe for the sour ones. One time you'd tried giving him a lemon slice just to see, and he'd given you the utmost betrayed look you'd seen before it morphed into a puckered face. You'd felt bad in the moment but now you think back to it as a funny memory.

The next activity is sandcastle building, Seungcheol doing most of the heavy lifting. Your son sits between your legs watching him and exploring the ground, while you keep him from bringing fistfuls of sand into his mouth. Apart from that, he's more than happy to let everyone know he's the owner of a tiny plastic shovel that he holds up on his iron baby grip - you'd never understand how babies were suddenly so strong. It always took a while to get him to let go once he got hold of your hair or Seungcheol's chains-, swatting it against the ground over and over. Later, you get into the water some more, walk along the shore, pointing at the seabirds flying across the sky, baby's eyes following curiously.

They say that when you're having fun, time flies by. Suddenly, it's late afternoon, and it won't be long til you're heading back home. You've washed up, changed. With a clean diaper and clean clothes, your baby boy lays in the middle of the beach towel, sleeping soundly like a little prince, beat after spending the day playing. You're both staring at him, you tracing a finger softly over one of his little arms. Seungcheol smiles into your hair from where he sits behind you, your back pressed to his chest, sighs contentedly as he nuzzles his face into your neck. Your own smile widens. "Today was nice, wasn't it?"

"Only if you're as happy as I feel."

"I am." you admit, melting more into his embrace, "I have you, our baby, we're in a beautiful place…"

"We should come back." you say after a moment of reveling in the silence. "With our children."

You can practically see and feel Seungcheol's smile now at your words, his hold tightening around you just a little like he doesn't know what to do with so much uncontained happiness. "Yeah." he breathes out, "Yeah, I'd really love that."

"Who would've thought, huh? Mr. I don't like the beach."

"Well you love it." he continues with his reasoning, unintendedly stealing your breath as if you were hearing it for the first time, "And I love you."

"I love both of you." He takes the opportunity of you turning slightly so you can look at him to bring his hand up to the back of your head, fingers tangling into your hair, and pulls you in for a kiss. Soft and sweet, he's smiling into it.

When he looks at how you're staring at him when he pulls away, he can see it written all over your face before you even utter those three words back.

thank you for reading <3.

You follow his voice, dropping your bag in the couch as you pass it heading down the hallway leading towards your bedroom, "Where's-" and you stop right there at the doorway.

You almost missed it, blending with Seungcheol's own hoodie of the same colour. He's in your bed, and sitting in his lap there's a small bundle of soft, cozy white fabric.

"Look, baby. Mommy's home."

Your six month old son (practically a mini version of your husband, your genes clearly losing the battle.) squirms and flails his little arms, tiny fists closed around the front of Seungcheol's clothes, and squeals in delight once he spots you. He shakes his head a little, the hood of the onesie he's in falling over his eyes, a teeny bit too big. A bear onesie.

Seungcheol smiles wide at your surprise. You snap out of your initial struck and coo at your baby, rushing the rest of the way into the room and picking him up in your arms. "Oh my God. Hi, baby." You get his little happy babbles in response. "Why are you dressed so cute?" It's almost too much for your heart. You leave kisses all over his face on his round cheeks. "Cheol, when did you get him this?"

Now you really think you might combust right where you stand. While you fawned over your baby boy, Seungcheol pulled the hood of his own hoodie on. It's a matching one. You can't believe it. You take in the slight rosy tint on your husband's cheeks as he meets your starry eyes. "Where are my kisses?" Seungcheol says, getting up from the bed to stand beside you, one arm wrapping around you, his other hand placed behind your baby protectively.

"I am dying here." It's too much. Too adorable. You press a kiss to his puckered lips, and another, and another, until you can't no more with how much you're smiling.

"We're not having another one yet." You joke. It does come a little weaker than before, he notices.

Although he didn't plan this little surprise with the intention of triggering baby fever, he does want another one. Aaand maybe another one. And a baby girl just like you running around the house with her brothers to protect her, the princess of the castle you've built together. So if this gets you to cave a little sooner…, he thinks, fingers absentmindedly brushing over your belly.

Seungcheol shakes his head, chuckles, "I got you one too." and walks over to get it.

You stare after him, "No way." and automatically decline, though you know it'd most likely be useless. Once Seungcheol puts his mind into something, he won't give up until he gets it. You really like cute things like this even though you don't consider yourself a 'cutesy' person. It just doesn't fit you. Seungcheol wholeheartedly disagrees with that statement. It's like you don't know what you do to him.

 "You have to, baby. Please?" You try to avoid as he looks pleadingly at you once he walks back, holding the matching hoodie for you. He's cheating. He knows what those eyes do to you. You shake your head, focusing on your baby boy instead as his little hands rest on your face. "Just for me?" And you also know that's a lie, already picturing him with a proud smile saying how your families and friends would go crazy over it after taking photos of you three. "Baby wants you to do it."

Your baby continues to coo and babble in your arms at the sound of his daddy's voice, almost like he's trying to take part of the conversation and he understands what you two are talking about. Big, bright, brown eyes just like Seungcheol's stare up at you. They're definitely ganging up on you.

A small frown and a sigh. Seungcheol's smile slowly taking over his face triumphantly because he knows,

"Fine."

a/n: Et voilà. I'm not sure about this one. Part of me wants to take it down bc tbh I'm not sure abt any of my writing rn. Or about anything for that matter (I might've crashed out a couple days ago). But after coupsbear I was not okay so i had this little idea. Wasn't going to post it but here you go, for my 200 followers milestone. I tried a bit harder on the banner. Instead of doing one thing I truly went and did everything: flash get to know me post, face reveal (it went poof! in like 15 minutes lol so idk if anyone actually caught that) and a little story. If you got this far thank you and thank you for reading.

Seungcheol drives carefully, eyes on the road, one hand steady at the wheel, the other resting on your thigh with his thumb drawing circles over your bare skin lovingly. Occasionally, his eyes drift to the rear view mirror, checking for traffic, lips curving into a soft smile while also checking in on your little one sitting securely in his car seat. The trip is a bit long, so you make a rest stop, and for the rest of the way you switch to the backseat to check on your son. For the most part, he's already having the time of his life, cooing and babbling along once Seungcheol plays a song he likes a lot.

It really is a perfect day to spend outside, sunny with no sign of clouds, just a clear blue sky above the endless turquoise sea. Since you left early, it isn't too crowded. Once you choose a spot, Seungcheol puts your bags down and busies himself setting the umbrella to shelter yourselves from the constant sunrays beating down on you while you hold up baby in your arms, the both of you staring at him while he works. Baby's squinting his eyes at the landscape, at whatever it is his daddy's doing, still a little drowsy from his nap in the car and trying to make sense of the new surroundings.

Once you're settled, you sit down on the stripped beach towel and begin the battle of trying to put on some sunscreen on baby. His long lashes flutter every time you carefully brush your hand over his face, his chubby cheeks and he lets out a happy squeal when you boop his nose before applying some more. He's wiggling where he sits while trying to grab your fingers or reach for the bottle the entire time. Then you adjust his little swimming trunks and shirt, before placing a bucket hat over his smooth mop of dark hair.

"You're ready, baby?" Seungcheol lifts him in his arms, looking way more excited than your baby boy and you can't help but smile at them both. You don't think he intended to match with your baby again, but he's also wearing what he called his 'vacation hat' and honestly you think it's adorable. You love how easy it is for him to slip into the role, how amazing he is as a father. "You're coming love?" He looks at you, adjusting baby in his big arms exposed by the white tank top he's wearing, making sure to support his bottom and his back as he also turns searching for his mommy.

"I'll join you boys later." You smile and usher them off, saying you're good just admiring the scenery for now and that you'll just watch them. Seungcheol's lip juts out in a small frown but nods. It's a little strange, you're usually the first to drop everything to get into the water.

This is when the fun really begins. Carefully, Seungcheol treads into the water, staying at a safe distance from the shore. When he turns so he's facing in your direction, you catch your baby's expression: he's staring down at the water warily. At Seungcheol's first attempt to lower him into the water he tenses up, curling his chubby legs and shrinking into himself so his tiny feet avoid it completely. You chuckle, expression softening as you pick Seungcheol's voice from where you sit, encouraging and reassuring. However, your baby is not convinced, as he does exactly the same thing the second time, and then a third.

The first warning comes in a sniffle, then it happens. He starts to cry and you feel that thing, that pang in your heart that parents feel when they hear their children cry. You can tell Seungcheol does too, any trace of lightheartedness vanishing from his features, instead doing his best to not go into panic mode. And your motherly instincts suddenly kick in. You stand up, shrugging off your sundress leaving you only in your swimsuit before you march over to them.

"No, no, no. It's okay. You don't like it?" He's trying to calm baby down, swaying him in his arms and hushing him gently. Nothing is really working for his cries only grow louder, tugging at his heartstrings. Decidedly, looks like in fact he doesn't like it. He's about to step out when he looks over to you. You're no longer sitting over the towel under the shade of the umbrella, but making your way over.

"What's wrong? What's making my baby boy upset?" You step closer, rubbing your hand on baby's back soothingly. His cries calm down, and he stares at you, big shiny eyes welling up with more tears before his tiny arms reach for you. Seungcheol lets you take him. "There we go. You're just like daddy, huh? Don't like the beach much?" You keep talking to him, the more you go on, the more that tension eases off both of you when there's no signs of your baby about to start crying again.

"What?" you say after a while, getting flustered feeling Seungcheol's eyes on you. And he blinks, like you snapped him out of his reverie, a smirk appearing on his face instead. It amazes him that after all this time, you still get flustered because of him. He's not one to talk honestly because he reacts the same way when it comes to you too.

"What?"

"You're staring." you keep your eyes downcast and on your baby as he snuggles closer to you, hiding his face in the crook of your neck.

'Kinda hard not to." He bites his lip, a hunger in his gaze that he should leave for when you two are alone but he can't help it. You two should definitely come here more often so he doesn't forget how good bikinis look on you. He betrays as much, for he continues, "I can't believe we didn't come here sooner and missed seeing you wearing that tiny bikini with your baby bump."

Your reaction is immediate, head snapping up to look at him with wide eyes, a rosy tint on your cheeks that may be from the sun, may not. He's laughing, "Cheol!" you chide.

"What?" he manages when he controls his laughter enough to try and play innocent but that smug smile gives him away, inching closer to rest his hands at your sides. "We can still come back, right?"

"Right," You agree, back to avoiding his gaze with a frown that you totally don't mean, fighting the way his words affect you, "Me all round and swollen." you add sarcastically. How sexy.

He leans over, his voice going deeper as he speaks lowly, lips brushing your ear making your breath hitch, "Mmm you better stop talking to me like that, love."

"I'm serious." Even though your voice doesn't come out as steady as you'd wish, "Baby is right here."

"Should I remind you how we made baby?"

But he pulls away, and you let out the breath you didn't know you were holding, getting some relief from the warmth wrapping all over your body. "I'm serious too. You looked beautiful, and so you do now."

Obviously, after your pregnancy your body has suffered changes. Some days it's easier to face them, thinking you went through them to bring your baby to the world. Other days it's harder to reconcile with them, to think you look good when your eyes lock on stretch marks, that little extra weight, and feel confident about it. But Seungcheol is right there when you can't see the things he does.

When you finally stopped pretending his words didn't have any power over you and looked at him with a genuine smile, his mind went peacefully quiet, knowing he'd won. You'd won too; you sometimes wondered if you deserved him.

"Okay, why don't we give it a last try?" your attention went back to baby. There was no trace of him being upset anymore as those round eyes landed on your face. You bounced him up in your arms once just for him to give you that gummy smile, his bottom front teeth peeking briefly.

Carefully, you lowered yourself into the water. He started kicking, little arms flailing as he grew a little fussy at the feeling of being partly submerged, the cool water enveloping you two. "Better now? Yeah, daddy got better taste with me too." You took the opportunity to tease Seungcheol and how he'd grown to like the beach after meeting you. Just a little.

Seungcheol didn't even protest, marveled at the sight, "He's not crying."

"Now don't jinx it."

"No," he laughed, "It must be you. You have this… connection with the ocean."

"And you think baby somehow picks that up?"

"Well apparently I stressed him out." Seungcheol pouts and you can't help but laugh. He doesn't really mind because you do look so serene here, and his son is having a good time now. He seriously can't ask for more.

Eventually, baby does start to get heavy in your arms, so Seungcheol gets out to fetch his floatie. Once he's placed securely in it, you adjust the canopy over his head to protect him from the sun, your hands holding the inflatable and keeping him close. "Comfortable?" you coo, to what he totally ignores you now in favor of staring down at the water.

Seungcheol stays back with him when you step out. In your hurry earlier you didn't even put on sunscreen, and you're hoping it's not too late to stop yourself from getting a nasty sunburn, though you can already feel the beginning of it. You grab a towel to dry up, and just as you grab the bottle, a voice startles you.

"Need help with that?"

A man, a total stranger that you hadn't even noticed where he came from, stands just beside your setup. You smile politely and decline, hoping he'd leave. He doesn't take the hint, prompted instead to ask if you're here alone.

Since you're the one dealing with this situation - which isn't amusing in the slightest-, it's a pity you can't witness it from an outside point of view, where you would be able to see Seungcheol - because only that would've turned it into the second funny event of the day -. He's currently pointing down at the water for baby to see the fish, but when he looks up and catches on to what's happening back at shore, the smile gets wiped out of his face, tensing up and looking like he's guarding off territory. The sheer audacity of this man to flirt with you - he's totally flirting with you, look at how he's looking at you!- while he's standing right here, while your baby is standing right here? Oh he's pissed.

That's when you answer that in fact you're not alone and that you're spending the day with your family, and the guy happens to looks over. That he's standing at a safe distance away in the water right beside a cute chunky baby in a floatie does not render the buff man next to it less intimidating, the white, now see through tank top that sticks to him doing nothing to hide his muscular body. Pair that with a scowl having a very obvious target. The stranger's smile falters, quick to look back at you and dismiss himself wishing you a nice day. Just like that, Seungcheol's sour mood is gone and he's smiling back down at his son who has no idea about what just happened but smiles back at his daddy like he does, letting out happy giggles when he gets water ladled gently over him while being careful to avoid his eyes, blinking every time from the sensation of water trickling down his body.

"You saw that, didn't you?" you ask once you step back into the water and Seungcheol wraps an arm around you, nuzzling his face into your neck while your hands hold baby's inflatable. Aaand he was busted. Now, it's not like he'd ever have doubts about you: you're it for each other. And he's far from being insecure. He's… Seungcheol. He's like that. You smile, bringing a hand up to scratch the short hairs on his nape lovingly. This is just your clingy, very affectionate, very protective, and a little possessive Seungcheol.

Later when you take a break from bathing, it's time for lunch. It's really hot, so you also enjoy some fresh fruit; you feed your son the ones you cut into small, bite size pieces, wipe his face and little hands from the juice when he chooses to take it himself. He's not very picky, except maybe for the sour ones. One time you'd tried giving him a lemon slice just to see, and he'd given you the utmost betrayed look you'd seen before it morphed into a puckered face. You'd felt bad in the moment but now you think back to it as a funny memory.

The next activity is sandcastle building, Seungcheol doing most of the heavy lifting. Your son sits between your legs watching him and exploring the ground, while you keep him from bringing fistfuls of sand into his mouth. Apart from that, he's more than happy to let everyone know he's the owner of a tiny plastic shovel that he holds up on his iron baby grip - you'd never understand how babies were suddenly so strong. It always took a while to get him to let go once he got hold of your hair or Seungcheol's chains-, swatting it against the ground over and over. Later, you get into the water some more, walk along the shore, pointing at the seabirds flying across the sky, baby's eyes following curiously.

They say that when you're having fun, time flies by. Suddenly, it's late afternoon, and it won't be long til you're heading back home. You've washed up, changed. With a clean diaper and clean clothes, your baby boy lays in the middle of the beach towel, sleeping soundly like a little prince, beat after spending the day playing. You're both staring at him, you tracing a finger softly over one of his little arms. Seungcheol smiles into your hair from where he sits behind you, your back pressed to his chest, sighs contentedly as he nuzzles his face into your neck. Your own smile widens. "Today was nice, wasn't it?"

"Only if you're as happy as I feel."

"I am." you admit, melting more into his embrace, "I have you, our baby, we're in a beautiful place…"

"We should come back." you say after a moment of reveling in the silence. "With our children."

You can practically see and feel Seungcheol's smile now at your words, his hold tightening around you just a little like he doesn't know what to do with so much uncontained happiness. "Yeah." he breathes out, "Yeah, I'd really love that."

"Who would've thought, huh? Mr. I don't like the beach."

"Well you love it." he continues with his reasoning, unintendedly stealing your breath as if you were hearing it for the first time, "And I love you."

"I love both of you." He takes the opportunity of you turning slightly so you can look at him to bring his hand up to the back of your head, fingers tangling into your hair, and pulls you in for a kiss. Soft and sweet, he's smiling into it.

When he looks at how you're staring at him when he pulls away, he can see it written all over your face before you even utter those three words back.

thank you for reading <3.

Don’t get it wrong, you love the boys, but just thinking about them having to deal with you 1.) after the surgery and 2.) still high out of your mind, had you mortified, so you tried your best to reject their kindness. But there was no room to argue with them and your boyfriend when you knew you didn’t have anyone else to bring with you on your side. 

So there you are that morning sitting in the waiting room in comfy clothes for what was to come, both boys sitting at each of your sides. You’re sleepy since you had to wake up hours ago for an early breakfast as those were the doctor’s instructions. And at this point you’re hungry, the doctor running late and you really, really are considering leaving. Thinking about having to book a new appointment, anxiously waiting again, and both of the boys who took time out of their day to be there for you is what makes you stay.

Some time before the doctor arrives, a nurse calls you into an operating room to get you ready. She starts telling you about how the following hours and days after the surgery are going to be, and the boys, who came in with you, also listen attentively even though you’ll receive all the instructions later on on paper too. When everything’s set, the nurse leaves the room and it’s just you three for a moment. 

You’re fidgeting. You’re not scared. Not exactly. Needles don’t scare you, you’re not squeamish about blood nor pain. But you’d never had any type of surgery before, never had issues with your teeth before your wisdom teeth decided to surface. And possible complications afterwards make you nervous. Also, as you’ve been saying for a while - and the boys have done a decent job trying not to laugh about it (at least not when you’re looking)-, you’re going to look like a squirrel with your face all swollen, or so you’re worrying about. And they’re going to drug you (sedate you, for the correct term. Plus the doctor said you’d be conscious anyway, just not really aware of what’s happening). You’ve never been on drugs. What if you start laughing like a maniac? Or cry? Or try to do or say something embarrassing? 

“Hey,” Vernon reaches for your hand from where he sits beside you, and you look up to see a small smile gracing his features to pair with his reassuring words. “It’s going to be okay. You won’t even notice a thing and then we’ll be out of here.” 

_____

Conscious my ass. 

The moment the doctor came in and the boys were out of the room to wait for you outside, the sedative running through your veins, you were out like a light. Which was part of what you feared in the first place. But there wasn’t much you could do while you were asleep. 

_____

“The surgery’s over. You may come in now to see her. You might have to wait a little more until she wakes up and some more before she can be moved for you guys to take her home. If you have any more questions I’m right here. I hope she has a fast recovery.” 

The boys walked in, and there you were. The doctor had just changed the gauze on the extraction sites again when they saw your eyes slowly blinking open. The man exited the room after confirming everything was okay, repeating some instructions and good wishes of recovery, and it was just the three of you. 

“We’re here.” Vernon spoke gently to you as you little by little came back to yourself -but not really-. You blinked up at him dazily, and some unconscious part of you brought your worries to surface, as you started gesturing like you were trying to cup your face. You really were worried about your face being ridiculously swollen, even with the drugs still in your system. It took the boy a minute to catch on. Nothing was supposed to be hurting since they told them the area would be numb for a few more hours but still he wanted to make sure you were okay. “What is it?” 

Then started the giggle fit. 

Both boys stared at you, hesitant smiles trying to break through as they took in the scene. You tried gesturing again, this time  moving your hands exaggeratedly far from your face. Then more giggles. 

“C’mon, man, just sneak out five minutes. Pick up, pick up, pick up.” Jeonghan whispered as he held up his phone towards an unsuspecting you and the ever caring Vernon. Seungcheol picked up the facetime call after two more rings. 

“Is she okay?” But he shut up as soon as he heard your laugh while Vernon talked to you.

“No, don’t worry about that. You’re okay.” He kept trying to sooth you but couldn’t help but laugh too.

Seungcheol smiled as he looked at you, laughing and still trying to cover your face. “Everything’s okay. We’re just waiting until we can get her up to take her home.” Offered Jeonghan, staring at the scene with amusement. 

“Hey, baby.” Hearing Seungcheol’s voice, you perked up and looked for the source, stealing your attention from Vernon, its warm familiarity instantly drawing you in. Vernon also turned to see Jeonghan holding up his phone, its screen towards you both with his hyung was on call and greeted him. 

You stared, eyes still hazy but now with something else. Then suddenly, they saw your face blush before you quickly faced away (quickly enough to startle the boys since you weren’t supposed to make sudden moves, Vernon’s hand shooting forward to steady you just in case), trying to block yourself from view, hands once again trying to cover your face. 

Seungcheol’s brows shot up, a little stunned by your reaction, then chuckled. “What is it, baby? Why aren’t you letting me see you?” 

“You got her shy.” Jeonghan laughed. 

The smile wouldn’t leave Seungcheol’s face. How you were acting just now summoned the memory of when you first met. When he had approached you to ask you something that day, there was something simply just in the way you’d looked at him and the soft tone in your voice before suddenly it seemed like too much for you to look at him and you had turned slightly away (even though you really, really wanted to keep looking at him), your face growing hot. You thought you’d ruined the entire interaction and he’ll think of you as rude for breaking eye contact like that, but then you met by chance again and he greeted you with his bright smile. Oftentimes, he’d tease you about him being so handsome for you to handle, and you’d pout but you’d allow it. He wasn’t wrong, and not so secretly you loved when he was confident about himself. Never came off as someone arrogant or full of themselves. He just looked happy. 

“I love you. I’ll see you very soon, okay?” 

_____

Seungcheol arrived, and immediately asked how you were doing. 

“Just checked up on her again. She’s still sleeping.” Jeonghan answered from the couch. When you’d arrived, they asked you if you wanted to eat or sleep. You were knocked out in bed minutes after. After a while you woke up from your nap, finally aware of yourself and your surroundings, showered, ate something and went back to bed to rest some more. 

 When Vernon walked into the room, an excited glint shone in Jeonghan’s eyes. “You have to see this.” 

“What did you do?” Seungcheol asked, squinting his eyes while looking at them both warily. 

“He said you’d love to see it.” Vernon pointed an accusatory finger at Jeonghan in an attempt to exempt himself from any fault. 

“Then why is it in your phone?” Jeonghan countered as the younger one pulled out said phone. 

“Becau- She had yours!” He silent-screamed, being mindful of you resting in the room nearby. "You were the one recording!" They bickered some more but it was pointless. 

Vernon handed Seungheol his phone. In it there was a video of you, sure enough, holding Jeonghan’s seemingly after their videocall had ended. You were staring at Seungcheol’s contact picture; a candid picture from a while back. Honestly, Seungcheol didn’t think it flattered him too much, which of course was the reason his best friend had chosen it.

You were looking between said picture and the boys, curiously. “You like it? Don’t you have that one on your album of his?” he heard Jeonghan tease. You did have it. Not that you were aware of that at the moment. You shook your head, then pointed at it. 

“Seungcheol hyung.” You looked at Vernon when he spoke up, trying to guess what you meant. “That’s him.” He smiled at you as you looked at him, then down at the picture again as if he’d handed you the answer to everything. 

Jeonghan laughed. “Darling, that’s your boyfriend.” You laughed, gently shaking your head and eyes falling shut, thinking he was messing with you. “This is hilarious.” He whispered to Vernon.

“She’s falling for him all over again.” The younger one chuckled. 

“See that, Seungcheol?” 

The video went for a little longer as the boys finally were allowed to get you to stand to head home. You kept giggling and waving at everyone you saw on the way to the car, and Seungcheol smiled adoringly at the screen at the scene, at how you were always so kind, and how every time the boys tried to convince you they were saying the truth about you and him you would laugh and shake your head like you couldn't believe it. 

(You’d definitely hate them if you found out about the video. That’s why Seungcheol just asked Vernon to send it to him to keep safe and not mention it again to anyone). 

_____

Later, you wake up. It’s just you and your boyfriend now. He’s dressed comfortably now that he’s home. Sitting up on the bed beside you, absentmindedly tracing your arm with his finger and really about to fall asleep himself. But then he sees your eyes flutter open. 

“Hey”. He smiles at you. “How are you feeling? Good?” You nod slowly. He gently brushes some hair from your face. Your face is slightly puffy from sleep but not really too swollen, which is good. “I’ll bring you something to eat and then I’ll get you some ice, okay? If you feel any pain let me know and I’ll get you the medicine.” You nod, so grateful for how attentive he is. 

He goes to stand up from where he’s sitting beside you on the bed, but stops. 

His phone dings. A message from you.

What is it? 

You watch as his infamous pout takes over his features. “I just realized this is going to be tougher than we thought,” He says, turning to look at you, “‘cause I won’t be able to kiss you for a while.” 

________

After the first week since your surgery passes by, you join Seungcheol and go meet the boys. Some of them, including Jeonghan and Vernon, visited you before, but now there’s all of you together. 

 They greet you both happily, asking how you’re doing. You update them telling them that thankfully your recovery’s going smoothly so far and of course you mention how Seungcheol has been on the ready to help you any time. 

“We’re glad to hear that.” Mingyu says heartily. 

“Can’t be too rough with her yet.” Jeonghan intends to mutter this so it reaches Seungcheol’s ears only, but the guys sitting closer to the two of them and you catch it, earning different reactions, Mingyu choking on his drink while Joshua laughs. Your face feels warmer but you try to act like you didn’t hear it, while your boyfriend nudges his friend telling him to shut up. “That goes to you too.”  Jeonghan points a finger at you, not fooled knowing fully well you heard and blatantly exposing you. 

Your eyes widen, fully blushing now, “What are you-…?” You look at Seungcheol for help but he couldn’t help but laugh this time, a faint blush betraying him. 

It all started during a trip to the mountainside with his friends. Nothing wild, just an opportunity to catch up with each other's lives. Though he'd wanted to stay in the cabin, he was outvoted by the others who wanted to 'connect with nature' and settled on camping tents in a clearing deep into the woods.

He shouldn't have gotten out of his tent that night. A noise, loud and too close for comfort, had startled him awake after all the tossing and turning he'd had to do before he managed to doze off. Rustling around the underbrush. Seungcheol stepped out to check up on the others, squinting as sleep tugged at him, mop of soft dark hair sticking this and that way. The moon was high in the starry sky, washing over their campsite along with the beam from his flashlight. It was clear in a way you couldn't perceive in the city with all the light pollution. So maybe he'd give that point to his friends. As for the cold, that was another thing; a gust of wind biting at the exposed skin of his face, even sneaking under his layers of warm clothes.

He called softly to his friends. No answer. They all seemed to be asleep. The snap of a branch. Seungcheol stands straight in alert, pointing his flashlight in what he thinks is the direction the noise came from, looking for its source.

It's just a squirrel. Or a rabbit. Maybe a deer, thinking of best case scenarios. I swear, If I have to fight a bear right now... Yeah, he's back to square one. He really wanted to stay in the warm, cozy and safe cabin. Bring you along to crash their hangout even as the others whined about it being boys only. He calls out again, hoping it's just Wonwoo or Mingyu. Perhaps one of them had to step out to… relief themselves. He has no desire to witness their business. Or they might be pulling a prank at him, only for him to beat their asses once he catches them.

Still, he walks closer to the edge of trees lining the clearing, steps through it. Maybe it wasn't a good judgment call, but take it as his protective side. If there was something dangerous nearby, he had to get his friends and himself out of here.

He's gotten deeper into the woods than what he initially intended and he's thinking he should get back when he hears it. Whatever it is, it's big, gravel and dry leaves crunching under its weight as it rushes in his direction.

Seungcheol turns in his place, the beam of his flashlight moving with him in each and every direction trying to catch something with it but there's only much it can do against the thick darkness.

Something else though, cuts through the shadows, glimmering just a few steps from him now. He meets another set of eyes, with deep red irises, fixed on him. Hears a deep, low growl.

He doesn't even get the chance to run, a surprised cry getting caught in his throat when it launches at him and knocks him down. His body hits the ground, hard, leaving him breathless, the flashlight rolling a couple feet away. Seungcheol struggles to break free, succeeds for only a minute before he stumbles again and gravity pulls him back down, falling forwards this time . It is too strong, beginning to drag him deeper into the woods. He doesn't stop fighting, instincts kicking in, voice only able to come out in strained grunts as his fingers dig into the earth, pebbles and fallen twigs pricking at his skin, feeling the sting as it gives.

Then it stops. Seungcheol can't allow himself to do so. Beaten and battered, gashes all over his body, his face, hands, muscles aching, he keeps trying to drag himself away. He only stops at the sudden excruciating pain on his right side that tears a blood curdling scream from his throat.

And then he's alone.

He tries to muster any strength he might have left to get up. It only ends up making his vision spot, so with effort he turns into his back, small whines of pain tumbling from his lips. A trembling hand reaches for his right side, getting coated in wet, warm, sticky, shiny dark blood. The pale moonlight doesn't allow him to see how bad is it, but he feels it. With each ragged breath he takes, he can feel more blood seeping out, a puddle of it soaking the earth. His vision swims again.

It's all over.

They nearly take him for dead when they found him. He was pale, either from the blood loss as it pooled under him or the low temperature of the night or both. His clothes stained and tattered like something with claws had ripped them. What's left of his open zip up hoodie allows them to see that a considerable chunk of his shirt is missing at his side, from where the large wound was peeking. Deep teeth marks. Something had bitten him. Scratches wherever skin was visible, on his face, his hands and where his clothes had torn as he was apparently dragged through the ground.

But when they checked his pulse, it was fast, a little erratic, but undoubtedly alive. Despite the cold, his body was abnormally hot to the touch. Like he was burning a fever, he was sweating profusely, hair matted to his forehead. And when he suddenly gasped and his eyes shot open, his friends had been scared shitless, almost dropping dead in his place.

Needless to say, the camping trip was over as it turned into a trip to the hospital instead.

Once he was stable and lucid to recount what had happened, he hesitated. He never got a good look at whatever attacked him but he was sure it wasn't anything… Natural. Those eyes staring at him before hell broke loose. Yeah, if he mentioned anything about a creature with red glowing eyes dragging him through the woods and attacking him they would lock him up. Nobody would believe him.

And you. You had no idea about any of it. Seungcheol had insisted that nobody was to mention anything to you about him surviving this bizarre "animal attack", as the authorities had dubbed it.

When he was given the clear to go home, it was around the time their trip should've ended. You'd called, asking to meet up, but he'd lied saying he'd caught something and he was sick. Which wasn't a total lie. He still didn't feel entirely recovered. At that you'd insisted even more to come over, arguing about what kind of girlfriend would you be if you didn't take care of him. It killed him to reject you. He missed you so much and wanted nothing more than to see you. The last thing he'd thought about when he believed he was bleeding to death that night in the woods had been of you, and how he wouldn't get a chance to see you one last time. But he didn't want you to see him like this. He didn't even know what he was dealing with and wanted you as far from it as possible. His friends also had called to check up on him, still a little shaken from all that had happened and understandably so. He'd also pushed them away.

For a whole other week, Seungcheol felt like he didn't have a grip over his own body. He felt feverish, shivering with goosebumps. Trying to blink away the haze in his eyes and mind, unsteady on his own feet when he stood up. At moments it felt like his senses had been enhanced to a hundred percent. Everything seemed too clear, too bright, sounds too loud, smells too sharp. He was a strong guy, but the wall shouldn't have given in under his palm when he leaned against it as once again he felt lightheaded. Then he'd passed out in the middle of heading towards the kitchen, body slumping to the ground. He didn't gain consciousness until the next day.

Seungcheol was surprised he actually felt a lot better when he woke up. He hadn't felt this well rested for a while. He made his way back into the hall towards the bathroom. He shrugged off his tee shirt, standing in front of the mirror over the sink and stared at the gauze covering the nasty bite mark on his side. It had been hours since he last cleaned it up given his unexpected nap on the floor, and he was dreading to look at it. What he didn't expect when he finally built the courage to pull the bandage off and uncover it was to find nothing. He blinked once, twice at his reflection as if it would somehow change yet he was met with the same sight. His body, unblemished, no sign of the deep, ugly wound, not even a scar. In fact, there was no trace of bruises or any of the other minor scratches he'd sustained. Not even a bump in his head he was sure he should have after his fall yesterday. It was impossible. Like none of it had actually happened and all of it had just been a very vivid nightmare or product of his feverish mind. He allowed himself a tentative smile. It felt like he hadn't done so for so long. Things finally seemed to be looking up for him.

He should've known it'd cost him to be so naïf, to act like nothing had happened. Yet, he kept telling himself he was fine. He ignored all the evidence; the broken spot where the hallway wall had crumbled under his palm that was still there. He ignored the bloody gauze in the trash, the hospital bill, the fact that his friends had been there too and there was no way it had been all a collective hallucination.

Now, there was you. Just as he finished showering and toweled his damp hair, there'd been a knock on his front door. When Seungcheol opened it, he found you standing there. His eyes widened as he said your name.

You'd been worried about him, you explained. After calling and texting him without getting a reply, you couldn't stand another day without knowing from him so you decided to come over regardless of what he might say. Seungcheol apologized, saying he'd felt so terrible he hadn't even checked his phone, which again, it wasn't a lie. But he assured you he was all better now, and allowed himself the first genuine smile in weeks, that one that brightened his whole face as he looked at you.

That was it. You were all that he was missing, and now everything was falling back into place. You made dinner together and Seungcheol ate as he hadn't done so in days. He hadn't realized how hungry he actually was, and you thought he must've been really sick as you stared at him. He asked if you were staying over, which meant that he totally wanted you to, so after, you lounged in the living room, a blanket covering the both of you as you snuggled to his side. His head came to rest on top of yours, one arm circling your shoulders. He ran hot as it was yet his body warmth, more noticeable than usual as it seemed to radiate off him in waves now, had you pulling the blanket off you both a short time later. As you settled back in your seat, you felt Seungcheol's gaze heavy on you, the blue light from the TV screen being the only source of light in the room washing over his features. For a moment, you thought there was something different in his eyes.

Seungcheol was done with whatever it was playing on the TV. He leaned over, capturing your lips in a kiss. You smiled into it as he kissed you so softly. God, you'd missed him so much you were so relieved to find he was okay after all those days worrying.

You had no idea how much he'd missed you too. One moment you were sitting in the couch, and in an almost too swift movement, he had you sitting on his lap as he continued to kiss you, coaxing your mouth open so he could brush his tongue against your own. Seungcheol's hands on your waist tightened as you moaned into his mouth, urging him on. He needed to hear you, to feel you. He needed more after all these days starving for you. Effortlessly, he stood up while carrying you towards his bedroom, you wrapping your legs around his waist as his hands digged into your thighs.

You gasped as he all but dropped you on his bed, your body bouncing slightly. He stared at you with such hunger it made you squirm, unconsciously rubbing your thighs together, before he climbed after you, thick thighs and arms caging you as he hovered on top of you. His lips clashed against yours, the softness from his earlier kisses gone.

"Seungcheol." you called, feeling heady, barely able to catch your breath as he kept stealing it from you. And you swear, at the sound of his name shaped around your moans, you heard a low rumble from deep in his chest, almost like a purr in response.

He tapped your thighs for you to spread your legs for him, slotting himself between them. Your hands ran up his back, yanking at his tee shirt until he pulled away only enough to help you shrug it off. As he went to do the same for you, the fabric gave under his hold, tearing in half, useless. You stared at him, surprised yet he didn't spare it a second glance, uncaring as he closed the distance again. It quickly flew out of your mind as he started to rut against you, eliciting a whimper from you. You had no idea what had gotten into him. Seungcheol was always gentle with you, he liked to take things slow. But tonight he was different. His touch was heated, rough, almost greedy, his movements desperate. The sudden change was overwhelming, yet you found you were so very into it too, if the way your underwear was soaked was anything to judge by. It was him. He was the only one who you'd ever think of letting treat you like this. You trusted him entirely to know he'd always think of you, of being careful and treat you right, to never cross a line.

"You're getting so wet, baby. Fuck. Smells so good." For some reason, perhaps the gruffness in his voice, his comment had your face burning. Small whimpers kept tumbling out of your mouth at the feeling of his cock rubbing against your core. Through the layers of fabric still between you, you could feel him, big, hot, heavy and leaking in his pants. Seungcheol felt bigger somehow, you thought as your hands trailed over his back and you felt the ripple and shift of his muscles under your palms. You tell yourself you shouldn't be surprised; all those hours he spends at the gym aren't for naught after all. You're thankful he's feeling healthy after such a gruesome week.

You're suddenly enveloped by an earthy scent. Like wet soil after a rainfall. It's pleasant, but amongst everything else, it's stark how unexplainable it is. You're in the city. And as you take a fleeting glance towards the window through the parted curtains when Seungcheol leaves your swollen lips, there's no raindrops patting against the glass. Your eyelids flutter as he leaves a trail of kisses on your cheek down to your jaw while he continues to roll his hips and rub against you. He goes lower, to your neck, his teeth grazing the skin softly.

Something in Seungcheol shifts then. His breaths come in quicker, nostrils flaring, before his jaw falls open wider, his teeth sinking in. You moan, his mind fogging further. The slight sting of your hands clawing at his toned back snaps him back. It takes everything in him to pull away before he puts more pressure and your delicate skin gives in and breaks. His senses feel like they're on overdrive. He can smell you, how aroused you are, he can hear how fast your heartbeat is in his ears like it's his own, the thrumming of blood in your pulsing veins, and his mouth twitches inches from your neck. Every thought agrees on how much he desires to ruin you right now as he feels the soft brush of your chest against his bare skin with every breath you take. His hands flex beside your head, summoning all his self control to contain this primal urge that wants to take over, and he looks down at them horrified when he finds himself staring at claws instead of fingernails. They'd ripped through his bedsheets just missing you.

"Seungcheol?" you call tentatively. He's tense and unmoving, his breathing harsh and hot as it fans over your neck, face hidden from view. "Are you okay?" concern etching in your voice.

You hear it again, that deep growl, as an undertone when he says,"You have to get away from me."

"What's wrong?" You try, as sweet as ever. Seungcheol can't take this. He huffs, flinches away, frantically searching to put distance between you. And you catch a glimpse of his eyes again. You blink away the image of irises swirling with gold. It still follows you after.

You follow him as he crosses the hall and enters the bathroom. "Cheol? Baby, talk to me. Are you feeling unwell again?"

He says your name through gritted teeth and you stop under the doorframe, staring at his back. It sounds eerie, sending a cold shiver down your spine. "Go away." Each word coming out slowly.

Your heart only drops further as you notice blood dripping from his hands. Your voice trembles but you don't waver as you take another step towards him, refusing to go through what he wants. What is happening? "Seungcheol- Seungcheol you're bleeding."

His hands were closed into tight fists, claws digging into his palms. But he doesn't care. His mind screams at him to make you go away at all costs. "I said go away! What part did you not fucking understand?!"

A sharp intake of breath from you and you stop trying to get close at last. Seungcheol had never, ever, spoken to you like that. It feels like a punch to your chest. Your eyes blur with tears and you take a step back, then another. You stumble back into his bedroom, throwing on his tee shirt with trembling hands and hesitating again before you leave, thinking, hoping he might come after you and apologize, tell you what got him so worked up. But he doesn't. Instead you flinch as he slams the bathroom door close, so hard you fear he might blow it off its hinges. You stand there shocked for another moment as silent tears roll down your face before you rush to make your way out and step into the night.

Seungcheol's breathing is hard as he leans his hands against the bathroom counter, shoulders tense and hunched, head hanging low. Blood stains down the front of it and drips to the floor. It hurts everywhere, but not as much as what he just did. He put you in danger. He could've hurt you. He did. His eyes are screwed shut, tears streaking down his face. A fresh wave of pain makes him hunch further, a shaky groan leaving his lips. He swallows it down, daring to straighten up and open his eyes, staring at his reflection. Instead of their familiar dark brown shade, he's met with glimmering gold. He grimaces, mouth twitching and falling open letting out another distressed whine as he witnesses the shift, how his canines get sharper, longer.

What the hell is wrong with him?

-

It all started during a trip to the mountainside with his friends. Nothing wild, just an opportunity to catch up with each other's lives. Though he'd wanted to stay in the cabin, he was outvoted by the others who wanted to 'connect with nature' and settled on camping tents in a clearing deep into the woods.

He shouldn't have gotten out of his tent that night. A noise, loud and too close for comfort, had startled him awake after all the tossing and turning he'd had to do before he managed to doze off. Rustling around the underbrush. Seungcheol stepped out to check up on the others, squinting as sleep tugged at him, mop of soft dark hair sticking this and that way. The moon was high in the starry sky, washing over their campsite along with the beam from his flashlight. It was clear in a way you couldn't perceive in the city with all the light pollution. So maybe he'd give that point to his friends. As for the cold, that was another thing; a gust of wind biting at the exposed skin of his face, even sneaking under his layers of warm clothes.

He called softly to his friends. No answer. They all seemed to be asleep. The snap of a branch. Seungcheol stands straight in alert, pointing his flashlight in what he thinks is the direction the noise came from, looking for its source.

It's just a squirrel. Or a rabbit. Maybe a deer, thinking of best case scenarios. I swear, If I have to fight a bear right now... Yeah, he's back to square one. He really wanted to stay in the warm, cozy and safe cabin. Bring you along to crash their hangout even as the others whined about it being boys only. He calls out again, hoping it's just Wonwoo or Mingyu. Perhaps one of them had to step out to… relief themselves. He has no desire to witness their business. Or they might be pulling a prank at him, only for him to beat their asses once he catches them.

Still, he walks closer to the edge of trees lining the clearing, steps through it. Maybe it wasn't a good judgment call, but take it as his protective side. If there was something dangerous nearby, he had to get his friends and himself out of here.

He's gotten deeper into the woods than what he initially intended and he's thinking he should get back when he hears it. Whatever it is, it's big, gravel and dry leaves crunching under its weight as it rushes in his direction.

Seungcheol turns in his place, the beam of his flashlight moving with him in each and every direction trying to catch something with it but there's only much it can do against the thick darkness.

Something else though, cuts through the shadows, glimmering just a few steps from him now. He meets another set of eyes, with deep red irises, fixed on him. Hears a deep, low growl.

He doesn't even get the chance to run, a surprised cry getting caught in his throat when it launches at him and knocks him down. His body hits the ground, hard, leaving him breathless, the flashlight rolling a couple feet away. Seungcheol struggles to break free, succeeds for only a minute before he stumbles again and gravity pulls him back down, falling forwards this time . It is too strong, beginning to drag him deeper into the woods. He doesn't stop fighting, instincts kicking in, voice only able to come out in strained grunts as his fingers dig into the earth, pebbles and fallen twigs pricking at his skin, feeling the sting as it gives.

Then it stops. Seungcheol can't allow himself to do so. Beaten and battered, gashes all over his body, his face, hands, muscles aching, he keeps trying to drag himself away. He only stops at the sudden excruciating pain on his right side that tears a blood curdling scream from his throat.

And then he's alone.

He tries to muster any strength he might have left to get up. It only ends up making his vision spot, so with effort he turns into his back, small whines of pain tumbling from his lips. A trembling hand reaches for his right side, getting coated in wet, warm, sticky, shiny dark blood. The pale moonlight doesn't allow him to see how bad is it, but he feels it. With each ragged breath he takes, he can feel more blood seeping out, a puddle of it soaking the earth. His vision swims again.

It's all over.

They nearly take him for dead when they found him. He was pale, either from the blood loss as it pooled under him or the low temperature of the night or both. His clothes stained and tattered like something with claws had ripped them. What's left of his open zip up hoodie allows them to see that a considerable chunk of his shirt is missing at his side, from where the large wound was peeking. Deep teeth marks. Something had bitten him. Scratches wherever skin was visible, on his face, his hands and where his clothes had torn as he was apparently dragged through the ground.

But when they checked his pulse, it was fast, a little erratic, but undoubtedly alive. Despite the cold, his body was abnormally hot to the touch. Like he was burning a fever, he was sweating profusely, hair matted to his forehead. And when he suddenly gasped and his eyes shot open, his friends had been scared shitless, almost dropping dead in his place.

Needless to say, the camping trip was over as it turned into a trip to the hospital instead.

Once he was stable and lucid to recount what had happened, he hesitated. He never got a good look at whatever attacked him but he was sure it wasn't anything… Natural. Those eyes staring at him before hell broke loose. Yeah, if he mentioned anything about a creature with red glowing eyes dragging him through the woods and attacking him they would lock him up. Nobody would believe him.

And you. You had no idea about any of it. Seungcheol had insisted that nobody was to mention anything to you about him surviving this bizarre "animal attack", as the authorities had dubbed it.

When he was given the clear to go home, it was around the time their trip should've ended. You'd called, asking to meet up, but he'd lied saying he'd caught something and he was sick. Which wasn't a total lie. He still didn't feel entirely recovered. At that you'd insisted even more to come over, arguing about what kind of girlfriend would you be if you didn't take care of him. It killed him to reject you. He missed you so much and wanted nothing more than to see you. The last thing he'd thought about when he believed he was bleeding to death that night in the woods had been of you, and how he wouldn't get a chance to see you one last time. But he didn't want you to see him like this. He didn't even know what he was dealing with and wanted you as far from it as possible. His friends also had called to check up on him, still a little shaken from all that had happened and understandably so. He'd also pushed them away.

For a whole other week, Seungcheol felt like he didn't have a grip over his own body. He felt feverish, shivering with goosebumps. Trying to blink away the haze in his eyes and mind, unsteady on his own feet when he stood up. At moments it felt like his senses had been enhanced to a hundred percent. Everything seemed too clear, too bright, sounds too loud, smells too sharp. He was a strong guy, but the wall shouldn't have given in under his palm when he leaned against it as once again he felt lightheaded. Then he'd passed out in the middle of heading towards the kitchen, body slumping to the ground. He didn't gain consciousness until the next day.

Seungcheol was surprised he actually felt a lot better when he woke up. He hadn't felt this well rested for a while. He made his way back into the hall towards the bathroom. He shrugged off his tee shirt, standing in front of the mirror over the sink and stared at the gauze covering the nasty bite mark on his side. It had been hours since he last cleaned it up given his unexpected nap on the floor, and he was dreading to look at it. What he didn't expect when he finally built the courage to pull the bandage off and uncover it was to find nothing. He blinked once, twice at his reflection as if it would somehow change yet he was met with the same sight. His body, unblemished, no sign of the deep, ugly wound, not even a scar. In fact, there was no trace of bruises or any of the other minor scratches he'd sustained. Not even a bump in his head he was sure he should have after his fall yesterday. It was impossible. Like none of it had actually happened and all of it had just been a very vivid nightmare or product of his feverish mind. He allowed himself a tentative smile. It felt like he hadn't done so for so long. Things finally seemed to be looking up for him.

He should've known it'd cost him to be so naïf, to act like nothing had happened. Yet, he kept telling himself he was fine. He ignored all the evidence; the broken spot where the hallway wall had crumbled under his palm that was still there. He ignored the bloody gauze in the trash, the hospital bill, the fact that his friends had been there too and there was no way it had been all a collective hallucination.

Now, there was you. Just as he finished showering and toweled his damp hair, there'd been a knock on his front door. When Seungcheol opened it, he found you standing there. His eyes widened as he said your name.

You'd been worried about him, you explained. After calling and texting him without getting a reply, you couldn't stand another day without knowing from him so you decided to come over regardless of what he might say. Seungcheol apologized, saying he'd felt so terrible he hadn't even checked his phone, which again, it wasn't a lie. But he assured you he was all better now, and allowed himself the first genuine smile in weeks, that one that brightened his whole face as he looked at you.

That was it. You were all that he was missing, and now everything was falling back into place. You made dinner together and Seungcheol ate as he hadn't done so in days. He hadn't realized how hungry he actually was, and you thought he must've been really sick as you stared at him. He asked if you were staying over, which meant that he totally wanted you to, so after, you lounged in the living room, a blanket covering the both of you as you snuggled to his side. His head came to rest on top of yours, one arm circling your shoulders. He ran hot as it was yet his body warmth, more noticeable than usual as it seemed to radiate off him in waves now, had you pulling the blanket off you both a short time later. As you settled back in your seat, you felt Seungcheol's gaze heavy on you, the blue light from the TV screen being the only source of light in the room washing over his features. For a moment, you thought there was something different in his eyes.

Seungcheol was done with whatever it was playing on the TV. He leaned over, capturing your lips in a kiss. You smiled into it as he kissed you so softly. God, you'd missed him so much you were so relieved to find he was okay after all those days worrying.

You had no idea how much he'd missed you too. One moment you were sitting in the couch, and in an almost too swift movement, he had you sitting on his lap as he continued to kiss you, coaxing your mouth open so he could brush his tongue against your own. Seungcheol's hands on your waist tightened as you moaned into his mouth, urging him on. He needed to hear you, to feel you. He needed more after all these days starving for you. Effortlessly, he stood up while carrying you towards his bedroom, you wrapping your legs around his waist as his hands digged into your thighs.

You gasped as he all but dropped you on his bed, your body bouncing slightly. He stared at you with such hunger it made you squirm, unconsciously rubbing your thighs together, before he climbed after you, thick thighs and arms caging you as he hovered on top of you. His lips clashed against yours, the softness from his earlier kisses gone.

"Seungcheol." you called, feeling heady, barely able to catch your breath as he kept stealing it from you. And you swear, at the sound of his name shaped around your moans, you heard a low rumble from deep in his chest, almost like a purr in response.

He tapped your thighs for you to spread your legs for him, slotting himself between them. Your hands ran up his back, yanking at his tee shirt until he pulled away only enough to help you shrug it off. As he went to do the same for you, the fabric gave under his hold, tearing in half, useless. You stared at him, surprised yet he didn't spare it a second glance, uncaring as he closed the distance again. It quickly flew out of your mind as he started to rut against you, eliciting a whimper from you. You had no idea what had gotten into him. Seungcheol was always gentle with you, he liked to take things slow. But tonight he was different. His touch was heated, rough, almost greedy, his movements desperate. The sudden change was overwhelming, yet you found you were so very into it too, if the way your underwear was soaked was anything to judge by. It was him. He was the only one who you'd ever think of letting treat you like this. You trusted him entirely to know he'd always think of you, of being careful and treat you right, to never cross a line.

"You're getting so wet, baby. Fuck. Smells so good." For some reason, perhaps the gruffness in his voice, his comment had your face burning. Small whimpers kept tumbling out of your mouth at the feeling of his cock rubbing against your core. Through the layers of fabric still between you, you could feel him, big, hot, heavy and leaking in his pants. Seungcheol felt bigger somehow, you thought as your hands trailed over his back and you felt the ripple and shift of his muscles under your palms. You tell yourself you shouldn't be surprised; all those hours he spends at the gym aren't for naught after all. You're thankful he's feeling healthy after such a gruesome week.

You're suddenly enveloped by an earthy scent. Like wet soil after a rainfall. It's pleasant, but amongst everything else, it's stark how unexplainable it is. You're in the city. And as you take a fleeting glance towards the window through the parted curtains when Seungcheol leaves your swollen lips, there's no raindrops patting against the glass. Your eyelids flutter as he leaves a trail of kisses on your cheek down to your jaw while he continues to roll his hips and rub against you. He goes lower, to your neck, his teeth grazing the skin softly.

Something in Seungcheol shifts then. His breaths come in quicker, nostrils flaring, before his jaw falls open wider, his teeth sinking in. You moan, his mind fogging further. The slight sting of your hands clawing at his toned back snaps him back. It takes everything in him to pull away before he puts more pressure and your delicate skin gives in and breaks. His senses feel like they're on overdrive. He can smell you, how aroused you are, he can hear how fast your heartbeat is in his ears like it's his own, the thrumming of blood in your pulsing veins, and his mouth twitches inches from your neck. Every thought agrees on how much he desires to ruin you right now as he feels the soft brush of your chest against his bare skin with every breath you take. His hands flex beside your head, summoning all his self control to contain this primal urge that wants to take over, and he looks down at them horrified when he finds himself staring at claws instead of fingernails. They'd ripped through his bedsheets just missing you.

"Seungcheol?" you call tentatively. He's tense and unmoving, his breathing harsh and hot as it fans over your neck, face hidden from view. "Are you okay?" concern etching in your voice.

You hear it again, that deep growl, as an undertone when he says,"You have to get away from me."

"What's wrong?" You try, as sweet as ever. Seungcheol can't take this. He huffs, flinches away, frantically searching to put distance between you. And you catch a glimpse of his eyes again. You blink away the image of irises swirling with gold. It still follows you after.

You follow him as he crosses the hall and enters the bathroom. "Cheol? Baby, talk to me. Are you feeling unwell again?"

He says your name through gritted teeth and you stop under the doorframe, staring at his back. It sounds eerie, sending a cold shiver down your spine. "Go away." Each word coming out slowly.

Your heart only drops further as you notice blood dripping from his hands. Your voice trembles but you don't waver as you take another step towards him, refusing to go through what he wants. What is happening? "Seungcheol- Seungcheol you're bleeding."

His hands were closed into tight fists, claws digging into his palms. But he doesn't care. His mind screams at him to make you go away at all costs. "I said go away! What part did you not fucking understand?!"

A sharp intake of breath from you and you stop trying to get close at last. Seungcheol had never, ever, spoken to you like that. It feels like a punch to your chest. Your eyes blur with tears and you take a step back, then another. You stumble back into his bedroom, throwing on his tee shirt with trembling hands and hesitating again before you leave, thinking, hoping he might come after you and apologize, tell you what got him so worked up. But he doesn't. Instead you flinch as he slams the bathroom door close, so hard you fear he might blow it off its hinges. You stand there shocked for another moment as silent tears roll down your face before you rush to make your way out and step into the night.

Seungcheol's breathing is hard as he leans his hands against the bathroom counter, shoulders tense and hunched, head hanging low. Blood stains down the front of it and drips to the floor. It hurts everywhere, but not as much as what he just did. He put you in danger. He could've hurt you. He did. His eyes are screwed shut, tears streaking down his face. A fresh wave of pain makes him hunch further, a shaky groan leaving his lips. He swallows it down, daring to straighten up and open his eyes, staring at his reflection. Instead of their familiar dark brown shade, he's met with glimmering gold. He grimaces, mouth twitching and falling open letting out another distressed whine as he witnesses the shift, how his canines get sharper, longer.

What the hell is wrong with him?

-