ship wars and fan theories -a guide to misreading signs and getting every single thing wrong (a series)
idol!james x illit!member!reader
⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖When you and James hide your relationship a little too well, ship wars ensue and somehow even James himself gets involved in the discourse. ݁‧₊˚
warnings/diclaimer: probs ooc, there's writing inbetween the pictures, kissing (not detailed), weird fandom behavior, the timeline doesn't make sense and lngshot is up for an award they weren't actually up for but we're just gonna ignore that for the plot
You nervously shift from one foot to the other, constantly watching the corner down the hall for James. You don’t have much time and the probability of someone catching you isn’t exactly low. Your heart is beating hard against your ripcase as you dig your nails into your palm, overly aware of the seconds running away from you.
Another minute passes, filled with your nervous shifting and habitually fixing your hair and dress, feeling whether your lashes are sitting right and making sure there’s no lipstick smudged onto the corner of your lips.
Loud, fast-paced footsteps echo through the hallway, getting closer fast.
You stay locked in your place, eyes wide as you watch the corner. You half expect your manager coming to tell you you have to be on earlier or a security guard who somehow knows you shouldn’t be here right now.
A deep sense of relief flows through your body, a big breath leaving your lungs, when James basically throws himself around the corner. When he sees you his eyes widen and he breaks into a smile as he picks up even more speed. You move to meet him halfway, throwing yourself into his arms in a dramatic movie-like manner.
Your arms close around the back of his neck as his hands grasp at your waist, pulling you as close as possible. You breathe in his scent, pressing your face into his neck as he leaves quick, soft pecks on any skin he can reach.
Something deep in your heart, living in your bones and having nested in your lungs, loosens. The gasp you let out at his comforting touch is closer to a sob, causing you to bite your lip and stop yourself from crying. You start breathing easier, shoulders loosening and pulse slowing while James' constant, strong figure holds you up, letting you lean all your weight on him, finally letting go of the past weeks spent missing him.
He squeezes your waist before starting to draw soft, continuous circles on your back and slowly removing his head from your shoulder, leaving a last lingering kiss.
“Hey, I got you. You okay?” he murmurs softly, turning his face into your hair. When you don’t respond, only hugging him closer and letting out continuous stuttered breaths, he leans back slightly, gently persuading you to look at him. “Hey, can I look at you, Jao Ying (princess)? Please?”
After another second of breathing, you slowly lean back to look at him, after you meet his gaze you quickly look away again to stop yourself from crying. You count down from three, focusing on the circles on your back. His eyes are shiny and so incredibly gentle when you lock eyes again that you have to fight the urge to burrow yourself back into his neck.
James smiles sweetly, kissing your cheek and whispering “Hi, pretty.”
He leans in to kiss you, but hesitates for a second, just a breath away from your lips, drawing a soft whine of complaint out of you. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t wanna ruin your makeup. You look so pretty.”
The soft flutter of your heart at the compliment is overshadowed by the intense need to kiss the stupidly handsome smile from his face. You pull him down to your lips while huffing out a little “don’t care.”
He responds enthusiastically, squeezing your waist while you finally snake your hands into his hair, letting the soft strands run through your fingers.
The kiss feels like letting yourself sink into a hot bath, gentle music playing in the background and lights low, feeling your whole being melting into one gooey relaxed mess.
His lips against yours feel like you're turning the key to your childhood home, your favorite meal already steaming in the kitchen when you let your heavy bags fall to the floor.
James pulls back with a lipstick smudged smile and presses it lightly to your cheek, making sure not to mess up your makeup.
You finally give yourself a moment to take him in, messy, bleached hair, stained lips and completely black outfit as he looks at you with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. “Missed you so much,” he says, pressing another kiss to your hair.
“Missed you too. You look so good, the hair looks even better in real life.”
He bites his lip as he sheepishly looks down, unsuccessfully trying to hide his blush, “you think?”
“I do, baby. You look amazing.” You pull at a strand on the side of his head and examine the haircut in more detail.
“You look even better, Jao Ying. Give me a twirl?”
You giggle and step back from your shared hug, his hands staying on your waist as he twirls you in a slow circle, admiring the sparkling jewels twinkling in the light, although they immediately lose his attention when your smile comes back into view.
After you share a few more lazy kisses and whispered compliments, laughing a little at the difference in getup with the casual concept of his group, his phone buzzes in his pocket, reminding you both that your time is up. You frown as he silences his phone.
Privately in your own head you start begging for anything to come and magically give you more time, as you slowly rub away as much lipstick from his lips as you can, avoiding his eyes while you force a smile onto your, now quivering, lips.
He smiles sadly when you give up, leaving a stain of red marked on his face.
You take a step back, forcefully creating space between you two so that you won’t just stay stuck here forever. He lets his hands grab yours, only letting go again when you're too far out of reach and looks at you like he might never see you again, eyes flickering all over you, drinking in every detail.
You smile softly and say “You’ll do great, Jamie. You always do.” before walking past him, towards your changing room and out of sight. Every click of your heels against the floor rings through the hallway, drumming in your ears, as you force yourself to keep your eyes in front of you.
I appreciate all comments and reblogs!! The support gives me motivation and the energy to keep posting! Love you all!!!
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(this is getting posted through the Queue so i currently can't add to the tl, you can still reply and ask and i'll add you in like a week or so when im back on her)
