Elle ♡

epicfael: u sure its okay for me to join now?

You stared at the small, faint text at the bottom of the discord chat window that told you Mingi was typing as you chewed absentmindedly on your bracelet, the one from middle school made of loom bands that you were surprised hadn't snapped yet especially considering how often you nervously sunk your teeth into them. His awaited response reminded you the nerves were completely unfounded.

kingming: YESSSSS pls those boys need some guidance they jump into every encounter like brutes

kingming: its a miracle they made it this far at all

You couldn't help but giggle, finally releasing the squeaky rubber from between your teeth and letting your fingers fly across the keyboard.

epicfael: mingi u know im new to this i literally wont be any help

kingming: so are they !?!? i mean they need a girl with actual creative ideas to balance out their stupidity

You smiled again, feeling a bit warm at the compliment(?) from him.

kingming: you filled out your character sheet, ya? gimme. i gotta write you in

kingming: like a love island bombshell

Scrunching your nose up and smiling, you quickly sent through the document you'd filled out describing your character to him, to which he sent an unnecessary 20 party popper emojis in response. You leaned back and spun around in your chair, pulling the white sherpa blanket on your lap up to your chin with a sigh. It was a little nervewracking honestly. Mingi was a pretty good friend, so you knew a few of the people you'd be sitting around the table with that weekend. Well, 'knew of' was probably more appropriate. You'd shared a conversation with Jongho, exchanged a joke or two with drunk Seonghwa at a new years party, but Yunho was someone you'd only heard about through Mingi. He sounded like a nice guy going off of Mingi's words, yeah, but meeting new people and especially having to roleplay with them...? Your cheeks made the thick blanket around your body feel cool in comparison.

You spun around for a third time and your foot accidentally bumped the bookshelf standing behind you, wobbling the YA romance novels lined up like trophies. You threw you hands out, as if you were even going to catch that mammoth of wood if it did fall, and stayed like that until your chair slowly completed its momentum and faced you towards your pc again. Your eyes caught another message from 'kingming'. The worry of the potentially toppling tower of fiction behind you faded away and your hands caught the edge of your desk, pulling you closer to the screen. A server invitation stared back at you: 'dinguses and dragons'. You let out a breath and clicked in.

epicfael just showed up - say hi!

kingming: Y/N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kingming: welcome :] we all in vc while i plan so get in here !!!

The channel labeled 'voice chat' glowed, one familiar profile picture and three new to your eyes, each occassionaly gaining a green ring around it as the boys spoke to each other, likely getting out whatever they wanted to say before the stranger that was you dropped in and disturbed the vibe. You quickly adjusted your mic and headphones and sat up completely straight before clicking in.

A contextless laugh filled your ears first. A familiar sound. Mingi's hysterical cackle.

"Shut up and focus on your shit, Mingi!"

"This kid isn't gonna have a single thing prepared by Saturday."

"Get a diagnosis already, Mingi."

The first voice came from 'capitalist_heretic'. The most recognisable voice, Jongho. The next were softer, words you'd only heard slurred and tipsy before in real life. Seonghwa, or 'starboy'. By simple process of elimination, the last, unrecognised voice, 'yuniverse', was Yunho. There should've been no reason for shock or confusion, no reason at all for you to be staring blankly at the screen the way you were. But that voice, so deep it made your very normal headphones feel like those fancy bone conduction ones. Mingi's voice was deep, sure, but this was the kind of voice that you were sure you'd hear narrating the breathing exercises on one of those wellness apps, calming and honey-dipped.

"Is she muted?" Yunho spoke again, the only voice able to pull you out of the daze you'd entered despite being the one to put you there in the first place. The boys must've been trying to get your attention.

"No, I'm here!" It was a little too loud with a slight crack and you felt you ears warm under the muffs of your headphones as Mingi's cackle rang out again.

"Good, good," Jongho chuckled, "we were just gonna go over the basics of our characters with you so you know what's what."

You hummed quietly in response, quickly pulling the sheet you'd filled out up on your second monitor. "I'll introduce myself too then." The words came out a shy murmur.

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

Jongho -> Cormac the Rogue:

~ Human, level 1

~ True Neutral

~ Disgraced noble trying to make his ends meet by taking mercernary-type jobs and travelling across the land

-

Seonghwa -> Zephyr the Paladin:

~ Dragonborn, level 1

~ Lawful Good

~ Outlander searching for their divine purpose and knowledge in a land they don't recognise

-

Yunho -> Sylvan the Wizard:

~ Elf, level 1

~ Neutral Good

~ Self taught and journeying to learn as much as he can to become the most powerful wizard known far and wide

-

Y/N -> Faelynn the Druid:

~ Elf, level 1

~ Chaotic Good

~ Self proclaimed protector of the deep woods - a thick, unventured forest that spans a 3rd of the continent

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣

"Cute. Two elves." Seonghwa pointed out, making you shrink a little in your seat like you could feel Yunho's judgemental eyes on you, a feeling your brain most certainly fabricated on its own. You leaned forward and dropped your head a bit beside your mic.

"Sorry Yunho, I didn't know."

"Why are you sorry?" It was such a simple question, one with no answer. "It'd be weird if I was the only elf ever." That candy-coated voice was suddenly so warm and friendly, the smile on his lips behind that silly 0.5 profile picture entirely audible. And contagious.

"Yeah...true."

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Yunho locked his car with a quick flick of his left hand before tucking his keys back into the pocket of his jeans, the other hand occupied, a plastic grocery bag hanging heavily from his long fingers and making a vein pop up his forearm. His now-free hand tugged his white tee down at the hem unconsciously, ruffled through his soft black hair a bit, and adjusted the thick-framed black glasses balancing on his nose as he took long strides up to the entrance of Mingi's apartment building. His index finger flicked up the plastic cover on the code panel and danced across the keys, a soft beep punctuating each button-press; movements so familar that anyone would assume it was him that lived there rather than his best friend.

He made quick work of the narrow, carpeted staircase and rapped against the door with his free fist before clumsily switching the groceries to that hand, stripping it of its previous independence. He shook his right hand out, rings clinking, subtle red lines on soft flesh of his fingers where the plastic had been digging in. He bounced impatiently on his feet, already-creased converse further wrinkling with the movement.

"Hurry up, chud!" He called out, leaning closer to the door. A gentle thump and the sound of a glass knocking over on a marble surface made Yunho chuckle, until he was finally graced with approaching footsteps and an opening door.

"Holy impatient." Mingi sighed, throwing the door open and immediately walking away, trusting Yunho to close it - which he did. Yunho responded with an amused huff and kicked his scuffed shoes off against the hallway wall.

"I was out there for, like, ever. And your monsters are heavy as hell." Yunho held the bag up as he stepped across the threshold from the hallway to the open living/dining room/kitchen, cotton-covered feet padding on cheap vinyl flooring. He plonked the bag down on the large, oval, wooden table as Mingi hurriedly shoved a stack of dishes into the sink - what made the clanging sound from before, Yunho surmised - and cloaked a dish cloth over it like he was covering a deceased person with a blanket. Yunho snorted as he pulled the 4-pack of mango monster energy drinks out of the bag and placed them on the table, followed by various other snacks. "Got an inspection soon or something?"

Mingi's head whipped around and he took a few long steps over to the couch to fuss with throw pillow placement. "It's our first session with y/n." Yunho scrunched the plastic bag in his hands and turned to lean against the sturdy table, the old wood creaking in protest.

"And?"

Mingi huffed at that, a puff of breath that said 'seriously?', and placed his hands on his hips to scan the area like a stressed mother trying to clean up before extended family comes to stay, baggy, grey cargo pants sagging on his hips. "I care a lot more about what she thinks of me than I do the rest of you losers." His high and mighty tone made the taller man laugh out loud. Mingi, seemingly satisfied with the tidiness of the room, slumped down onto the scratchy beige couch, the fabric sinking with his weight. "Plus...I want her to think I'm, like...stable. A stable man...y'know?" Yunho's smile widened, a tiny restrained snicker slipping from between his pink lips as his best friend looked over his own shoulder and back at him for approval.

"Wowww...ulterior motives. You really are a chud."

The words only just escaped before the soft, dusty fabric of a throw pillow was literally thrown at his face with an annoyed and embarrassed, "takes one to know one!" from the perpetrator. That first snicker bubbled up into a louder, sillier giggle in triumph of his successful teasing. Yunho caught the pillow in his arms as the sound of someone at the lobby door buzzing for the resident of that apartment reverberated through the small space. Mingi instantly shot up and was already down the hallway, pulling his pants up, and opening the door before Yunho could even move.

"I'm getting it! Put that back where it belongs! Nicely!"

"You threw it at me!"

Slam!

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Buzz, buzz, buzz. 'Is this even doing anything...?' You thought to yourself, spamming the button a few more times before stepping back and fishing your phone from the pocket of your denim shorts. You'd tried to dress casual, but you couldn't help wanting to look nice in front of new people. The outfit was meant to be simple denim shorts that were stressed at the hem and a slightly cropped white tee, but then a fuzzy yellow cardigan was added, followed by many bracelets, a necklace, dangly earrings, flower-shaped clips pinning your fringe back, frilly socks in chunky mary janes- you'd had to force yourself to stop. Flicking open your messages with Mingi, your left wrist unconsciously approached your lips, your anxious brain eager to chew that squeaky plastic sitting against your skin once more.

"Y/n!"

Your arm shot back down as your head popped up, neck craning to see the tall, beaming man in front of you, holding the door open.

"Mingi..." you sighed, lungs relaxing, and his lips and eyes curled up into that familiar kitten-ish smile. He led you up the slightly musty-smelling stairwell, filling the echoey space with words about how excited he was for you to join the game and how there were plenty of snacks and drinks waiting and how they'd likely order pizza later. The soft rambles in that baritone voice from a man whose broad shoulders filled your vision as you followed him from behind made your heart warm in cozy way. You'd always found him endearing, that disparity of his.

You blinked as he simply pushed the door to his apartment open, no key necessary. Quietly following him down the small hall, shoes clopping against the floor, you were finally met with the reason for the unlocked door - the other man already there almost directly to your right in the kitchen. He stood tall, taller than Mingi (if only a little), long arm partially obscuring his face while reaching up into a cabinet lined with mismatched glasses and mugs. With no eyes to meet, your gaze fell to where his shirt was lifted just an inch, exposing a portion of the belt holding his dark-wash jeans and a sliver of the black boxers peeking out above them, half of the word 'DIESEL' in bold white letters looking over the hem of denim. Yunho grasped the glass he was reaching for, a small bead threaded on the string bracelet he was wearing clinking with the material as if to say to you personally: 'hey, his eyes are up here, you perv'. Or maybe it was just your brain finally reminding you to get it together and meet the gaze of the man you were seeing for the first time as he lowered his arm and twisted his body to face the two of you. You got a single second of eye-contact with Yunho before Mingi gently nudged you and gestured vaguely to your feet.

"You can take off your shoes, y/n." He pointed with his head down the hall where Yunho’s converse were sitting haphazardly kicked against the wall. You finally took a breath for what felt like the first time since you stepped into Mingi's home and your eyes flicked from Yunho’s face, to the more familiar one beside you, down the hall, and back to Mingi. You nodded and turned to scurry off down the hall, lowering your head as a minuscule bit of heat prickled at the back of your neck.

You'd been nervous about this meeting the whole time, since the moment Mingi said he was serious about adding you to the campaign, but those nerves were just jitters that came with the commitment to meet and get to know new people. As you crouched down to unbuckle your shoes, those nerves mutated and multiplied like a bacteria in your anxious brain because you never imagined the one guy you didn't know at all going into this would be your textbook type. Tall but skinny and lanky, glasses, casually stylish, a geek like you, and HOT. Like, the kind of hot where you know your friends would say, 'Him? He's so average,' but they just don't get it like you do! Hook, line, and sinker.

After freeing your feet from the horse-hooves you called shoes, suddenly overly embarrassed with how loud they'd made your entrance, you couldn't help but admire them for a moment next to Yunho’s. Shoes twice as big and 5x as cool somehow. 'God, I'm such a loser'.

You timidly creeped back down the hall towards where the two boys' voices were carrying from, footsteps now matching your demeanour.

"So you're slow with everyone, huh Mingi?" That voice. Less deep now that it wasn't being filtered through a sensitive and a shockingly high quality microphone, but still devastatingly smooth and rich like a dark chocolate fountain at an expensive wedding.

"Huh?"

"She was crazy trigger-happy with that buzzer."

The two men came into view again just as those words poured from Yunho’s lips, making you stop and stare, tips of your ears going red. He was shovelling ice into five glasses of various proportion, but stopped just to throw a toothy smile your way like he could feel the sudden embarrassment radiating off you. A total E move - this man was a threat to your heart and you already knew it after standing in the same room with him for not even five whole minutes.

You huffed and stepped up closer to the two, Mingi leaning over on the other side of the kitchen island with elbows to the marble and chin squished into his hands, while Yunho focused on trying not to lose any ice cubes to the floor. You turned on your heel, arms crossing over your chest as you leaned back against the counter with a crinkled brow and nose. "How was I supposed to know you were here?" You murmured. The man chucked the plastic scoop back into the little ice maker Mingi had perched in the very corner of the kitchen bench, tucked between the toaster and the wall.

"Were you hoping I wasn't?" He teased, eyes flicking between you and Mingi with a v-shaped smile on his pretty lips, his implication clear and oddly disappointing to your heart that'd already ostensibly planned out your whole life with the man. Mingi instantly perked up, however, a hand smacking against the marble as a subtle pink spread down from under his eyes.

"Bro, shut up!"

You wiggled your toes and stared down at them as if the way they moved under your socks was the most fascinating thing in the room at that moment. You didn't see it, but you felt the woosh of air as Yunho breezed past you and around to the dining table on the other side of the island to retrieve the warm energy drinks, the woodsy scent of his cologne mixing with a chuckle from deep within his chest to create a truly brutal concoction. He playfully bumped a shoulder against Mingi's and plonked the 4-pack of cans on the counter before letting his fingers nimbly tear into the cardboard casing. "I'm kidding, Mingki~" he drawled, quickly pinching his tall friends' cheek and ending it with a giggle. Mingi swatted the man's hand away with an embarrassed mumble and Yunho went back to the drink-making task in front of him, unbothered.

You finally lifted your head again, peering over your shoulder only to feel a slight physical shock when you saw Yunho already gazing back at you, his smile and eyes significantly softened. Not wanting to seem awkward, you forced your eyes not to instantly dart away, instead focusing on gently chewing on the inside of your lip as you engaged in a butterfly-inducing staring contest with him. Surpringly to you, he looked away first, eyelids fluttering and gaze dropping as he finally freed a can from its packaging prison. With the crack of the can, whatever tension you possibly sensed fizzled out with the carbonation of the drink.

"Why are you here so early, y/n? We said 3pm, right?" Mingi inquired after a hefty exhale, rubbing at where Yunho had pinched the skin of his cheek. You sighed and fully turned to face both the boys now, placing your palms flat down on the cold bench-top.

"Stupid public bus system, that's why. If I didn't take the 1:56 bus, the next one was at 3:12!" You huffed and leaned down, placing your chin in your palm. "One, those times are annoying as hell just as numbers, and two, over an hour gap!? Seriously??"

Mingi hissed sympathetically and nodded. "When do you get your new car?

"Whenever they hurry up and process my freaking loan."

"What happened to it?" Yunho piped in, finishing portioning that bright orange liquid gold between all five glasses, each fizzing with co2 and that sweet sweet caffeine.

"Pooped it's diaper. Battery straight up just dookied overnight and I couldn't even start it in the morning."

Yunho snorted and placed down the empty can in his grip to put his full focus on you again, making your tummy do a distracting flutter. You tumbled a few more words out in an attempt to distract yourself from said distraction.

"So, yep...busses for me until further notice."

Holding his gaze, you watched as something seemed to dawn on him that made his smile drop. His lovely eyes flickered from you to the microwave clock behind you and then to Mingi before landing back on you. "Are you gonna take the bus home tonight as well?"

You blinked a few times. "That was the plan...?"

His eyebrows pulled together in a way that made him look even more handsome and you realised with a drop of shame that you may like that expression even more than his precious toothy smile. "How far are you? I'll drop you home."

The expression itself was already a punch right to the 'me-likey' section of your gut, the following words an immediate roundhouse kick, and the idea of watching him drive you home? Those hands and forearms that had just worked so hard to open and pour everyone's drinks for the evening, like the thoughtful guy he obviously was, holding the steering wheel as he drove you up to your door with his time and fuel? Complete knock-out. He may as well have been proposing in your mind. 'Yup...tell them to have my white padded room ready. I'm gonna need it.'

"Oh! You don't have to do that, really."

Your left and right brain were trapped in a heated battle while you played it as cool as possible on the outside, fingers gently gripping the edge of the bench. Your left brain wanted desperately for you to go home and immediately throw away every single romance novel you've ever read because clearly this was just a man being kind with no deeper implications and not some kind of grand romantic gesture, while your right brain was hopping around like some kind of feral beast and spewing various insane scenarios and daydreams involving the concerned man in front of you into your unprotected mind.

Yunho’s lips pulled tight, frown deepening. "But it'll be dark. It's not safe."

Bro. You'd never felt like more of a loser than in that moment the way those words made your knees physically weak. Luckily, you were already holding onto the steady counter top so you didn't actually fold the same way your heart did.

"O-Okay." Nevermind, you did fold.

A loud buzz echoed through the apartment and you spun around, eyes catching on the bright green numbers on the screen of the microwave that now said 2:58pm. Before you could even think, you blurted out, "I'll get it!" and hurried off and out of the front door just as you thought you heard Mingi's voice calling from behind. It didn't matter, all that mattered in that moment was getting away and letting your heart settle.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

"Let me come with-," the click of the closing door squashed his words, "-you..."

Mingi was standing and looking a bit like an ignored puppy as he dropped his head. Yunho gathered four of the five filled drinks in his large hands and steadily carried them over to the table behind him, placing one at each chair spot for the present and future guests, then placing the last one at the head of the table where Mingi would be sitting.

"Yunho, you bastard. Charlatan. Man-whore!"

"Woah! What? Whadd-I-do?"

Mingi turned and grabbed the shoulders of the other man, leaning in with puppy-dog eyes of nuclear proportion. "Bro...you should've kept the idea of taking her home to yourself...so you could tell me in private for me to take as my own...!"

Yunho blinked, eyelashes fluttering behind his lenses. "Yo, in my defense...I straight up didn't even think of that."

"Of course not! You never think of me..." Mingi pulled back and covered his eyes with his forearm dramatically. "That's what a real brother would do...and real brothers don't take all the girls for themselves!"

"'Take her'?? I'm just driving her home!"

Mingi leaned against the table like a heart-broken damsel, rocking all the liquid-filled glasses with his theatrics. Yunho sighed and smacked Mingi two times gently on one of his cheeks, making the man drop his arm away from his eyes (which were decidedly not filled with tears of any kind).

"I'm not the one she said yes to playing dnd with. You are." Yunho tapped him once in the forehead before turning back to clean up the mess from his drinks preparation.

"...Oh yeah!"

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

You had thrown that glass lobby door open so fast that Jongho hadn't even looked up from checking his phone yet, making him jump.

"Save me." You pleaded, making him smirk and slip his phone back into the pocket of his bomber jacket, leaving his hand there like the other hand was settled on the other side.

"From Mingi?"

"From Yunho."

"Ah." You held the door open for him to enter before it swung shut again and you started towards the stairs together. "Welcome to Jeong Yunho, y/n."

From the way he phrased it, you knew he didn't quite understand why you needed saving. He assumed it was because Yunho was a known tease and rage-baiter that somehow got under anyone's skin, not because you'd developed a crush on the man so fast it genuinely scared you. Although, you'd rather keep that to yourself anyway.

Jongho's phone buzzed in his pocket and he tugged it out to find a message from Seonghwa in his notification bar: 'wait up!!!!!!!!!'

The two of you had just hit the first step of the stairs and turned back around to see through the glass door, the man clutching desperately at many grocery bags in his arms and holding his phone just steady enough for his thumb to reach all the keys needed to type out that text, as he waddled up the path to the door you'd closed on him without realising. Both of you hurried back and let the guy in, you genuinely concerned as you freed him of two of the bags and Jongho amused as he watched Seonghwa almost drop his phone readjusting his grip on everything.

The three of you trekked up the stairs together now you apologising through soft giggles to Seonghwa and Jongho furiously jabbing at the keyboard on his phone with his thumbs to let Mingi know to be ready to let you all in.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

You stared curiously at all the overwhelming things on the table in front of you. A large map covering the expanse of the wood, various snacks courtesy of Yunho and Seonghwa scattered about, and each person's character sheet printed and assigned to them with a pencil and an eraser provided by Mingi. But worst of all, you thought, was that Yunho had ended up sitting right next to you, Jongho and Seonghwa on the other side of the table and Mingi at the head. He had a sturdy fold-out panel up in front of him, obscuring the rule books and hand made notes he possessed from the rest of you. Mingi organised said notes, Jongho and Seonghwa chatted about other nerdy tangents you didn't quite get as they waited, and you scrunched your nose as you carefully looked over your own character sheet. You had to be honest, you barely knew what any of the many numbers on the paper meant, most of it filled out by Mingi after you'd done the simple part like naming your character and deciding who she was. You had let the professional handle the technicalities and you realised then how out of the loop it made you. You were leaning your chin against the back of your hand as you scanned over the page, loom band rubber caught between teeth unknowingly. You only paused when that warm cedar you instantly recognised from the impact it made on you earlier gently touched your nose again.

"You look confused." Yunho whispered softly, his lips pulled into that little 'v' smile he had earlier as he teased you, but gentler now. He was leaning over, and you cursed how automatically your head turned to the sound of his voice because it forced you to face how close he was. He tilted his head a bit before breaking your gaze to look down at the sheet. His eyelashes were so long and his glasses sat low on his sharp nose. It honestly made you want to scream with how handsome he was.

"Yeah..." you confirmed bashfully. "Mingi filled out most of this stuff for me..."

"And didn't explain it?"

You shook your head slowly and pressed your lips into a thin line, your eyes on his as he leaned on one arm against the table. He sighed and dropped his head.

"That...fuckhead." He murmured, quietly enough that you speculated whether he even wanted you to hear it. He lifted his head again and scooted even closer, making you damn near rocket into the ceiling. With a slender pointing finger, he slowly explained each detail on the sheet, going through every number and what they meant - what they did. You were terrified he'd realise that the way his muscles and veins shifted as his hand moved and the way that black thread bracelet with the little beads around his right wrist hugged it so perfectly was winning out most of your attention in that moment. He kept meeting your eyes to make sure you were following and you could only just nod in agreement, the man responding in kind with a sweet yet soft smile.

You don't know how it happened, but the two of you got deep into talking about your characters. Actually...you did know. He'd pointed out with curiosity the traits you'd written in a little box on the bottom left, specifically where you'd written 'selfless leader but secretly insecure and scared'. That section was mostly just for yourself to help you fully realise and stay in your own character as you played and him asking about it lit off the passion you'd found you had for the character you'd created. He listened as you talked eagerly about Faelynn. Her appearance, her backstory, her hardships and triumphs, her personality, etc. But he didn't just listen - he engaged. He responded and chipped in with little things about his character he thought related to yours. It was sweet...comfortable, you thought.

"Ahem."

The two of you looked up to see Mingi leaned down and peering over the panel in front of him with narrow eyes like an animal of prey. It was only then that you realised Seonghwa and Jongho were also looking at the two of you, the former's going back and forth between you two and Mingi while the latter's stuck mostly to you with a slight smirk accompanying it. You sat up straight, the blush you'd forgotten about as you got absorbed in conversation with Yunho suddenly bursting forth and painting your whole face. Yunho sighed and slouched back into his own chair, pushing his glasses up before reaching for his drink and taking a long gulp.

"Are we starting?" You inquired with a small voice and meek smile to boot. Jongho tapped Mingi's shoulder with the back of his hand.

"Mingi, they're meta-gaming."

You blinked. "...Huh?"

Yunho put his glass down and laughed, letting his head lean back over his chair and exposing his defined neck and adams apple.

"You were telling him, like, everything about your character." Seonghwa added, but it didn't exactly clear up anything or define the new term to you.

"...I'm not allowed to?" You shrunk into your chair, already scared that you'd messed up bad and the game hadn't even technically started. Mingi straighted up again and gestured widely to Yunho with one long arm.

"He's not meant to know anything! He hasn't met you, yet!"

Your gaze followed Mingi's arm to Yunho who looked back at you with a tiny smile and upturned brows, sort of like a guilty puppy who wasn't really sorry at all. You blinked again.

"In game." Yunho clarified, letting you know he'd already recognised that little blink of yours as something you did when you were confused. Your brain hated how observant he was because your heart loved it.

He knew. He definitely knew that everything you had been spilling to him were things he wasn't meant to know. But in that same way, it was mutual. It wasn't just that he never stopped you, but he also told you so many things about his character that you assumed you 'shouldn't know yet'. You huffed and pouted, fighting away the flutter in your chest as you playfully smacked Yunho’s shoulder before sinking down further into your own chair and shame.

"Well, I didn't know that..." The man immediately giggled, rubbing where your fingers had thumped at him, clearly amused by your way of putting all the blame on him like it would nullify your own embarrassment. You were looking down now but it was impossible not to feel how his eyes stuck to you the whole time you shrunk until his gaze was forcibly pulled away when Mingi started reprimanding him.

"Quit! Messing! With! Her!" Mingi stated each word with purpose and a finger flick to the side of Yunho’s head, making the previously smug boy flinch and put a hand up in defence.

"Dude, ow! Stop! I wasn't!"

The attacker placed his hand down on the table and narrowed his eyes further at Yunho, some sort of unspoken words passing between the two best friends through Mingi's glare. It made Yunho’s expression turn from playful to actually strangely irritated now, for reasons you obviously weren't supposed to understand. No longer smiling, he rolled his eyes and took to his caffeinated drink again for solace. Lips still on the glass rim, he murmured. "Why isn't she getting reprimanded for meta-gaming too?"

Before Mingi could even speak, Seonghwa answered for him in an exaggeratedly low tone that you assumed was meant to be an impression.

"Because she can do no wrong~"

Mingi's head swung around to Seonghwa, his eyes wide and ears going red. He leaned forward and gestured exaggeratedly, as if afraid that his point wouldn't get across if he wasn't flailing his arms around.

"Because-!"

"Because she didn't know." Jongho cut in, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Exactly!" Mingi pointed his finger at Jongho's face as he turned back to look at Yunho, who held his hands up in defence.

At first it was just a tiny sound from your lips, but after about a second you let a laugh burst forth, doubling over and turning away from everyone as you waved a hand as if to say 'sorry'. Turned away, you didn't even get the pleasure of seeing how the two boys at odds instantly turned their attention to you. Mingi's raised arm slumped as he watched your shaking shoulders and Yunho had turned fully in his chair, expression softening as the previous tension ebbed away, fought back by your laughter.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Everyone eventually got themselves back together and Mingi started with another cheesy forced clear of his throat.

"Last time, Cormac, Zephyr and Sylvan," he looked between each of the boys, "you three were kicked from the inn you'd decided to stay at because someone wanted to try sneaking into the innkeeper's room to look for coin." He focused his gaze on Jongho, who was sitting unbothered, arms crossed and tilting his chair backwards on it's back legs. Seonghwa's arm was strapped protectively around the back of it.

"Listen, from the way you described the place it sounded like that guy had a lot of money. If I didn't roll a nat 1, we would be rich." He shrugged.

Yunho let out a mischevious snicker and Mingi sighed before addressing the whole table once more, "Well you did and, even with your stealth proficiency bonus, you were caught and the three of you were tossed to the streets. Walking along, Zephyr," his eyes flicked to Seonghwa, who perked up, "was pulled into an alleyway by a dirty, cloaked old man who provided you all with a quest."

"Finding his daughter who had disappeared somewhere in the nearby deep woods." Seonghwa parroted the information they'd been given the previous session to you and you nodded, leaning with your elbows on the table as you listened.

"Exactly. He had grown unable to care for himself so she became his sole caretaker. One day she assured him she would stick to the edge of the trees just to see if she could find anything to forage or even sell. He hasn't seen her in 3 years. Zephyr said yes because of their heart of gold or whatever," Seonghwa smiled widely. Mingi gestured to Jongho, "Cormac said yes because of rumoured riches and artefacts he can sell for riches," and then gestured to Yunho, whatever beef they had just a few minutes ago seemingly wiped now that Mingi was in serious Dungeon Master mode, "and Sylvan said yes because he's fascinated and excited by the unknown magical properties and history behind the infamous deep woods".

Yunho nodded, shooting you a wide smile for no reason, almost like he knew it made your heart jump and he wanted to see you suffer. Or more likely because you'd told him everything about Faelynn and he knew that the party was going to meet her in those deep woods. Mingi continued, looking down at his notes. "We last ended with the three of you having taken a long rest just on the edge of the dense tree-line before having to face whatever mysteries and possible danger lay beyond the wall of green. After all, there had to be something in there to make this perfectly happy and healthy woman vanish without a trace."

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After a thorough rest at their make-shift camp, the rag tag party consisting of the rogue known as Cormac, paladin Zephyr, and the self-taught wizard Sylvan packed up and readied themselves to venture where no one dared go: the deep woods. Cormac tugged his pack onto his shoulders and adjusted his blade in it's sheath around his waist, Sylvan sat on a stump picking at a small satchel of various nuts and seeds, and Zephyr stepped up to one of the large, imposing dark-wood trees. They could see only about 10-or-so feet beyond that first line of trunks, darkness encompassing the area beyond. They sighed before turning to the short, stocky mercenary.

"I want to help that woman and her father but...this isn't very safe, is it?" The paladin asked, reptilian face twisted with genuine worry and a hint of their own fear. Cormac snorted.

"Duh. But I don't really care." He sheathed one last blade on the other side of his hip before stepping up closer to Zephyr. "I just know if we make it in and out, I'll be sure to find something to make me rich." He smirked, staring past the taller, scaled individual in front of him. He then met Zephyr's yellow eyes again, suddenly deadly serious. "I only live for money. So if I die in there looking for that then I truly don't care."

"What about us?" Zephyr asked seriously, staring down at the human before them while gripping hard at their spear.

"What about you?" Cormac parroted back, unwavering. The dragonborn's teeth sunk hard into their own tough, thin lower lip, displeased. Cormac smirked again before heartily smacking Zephyr's shoulder plating with a deep chuckle. "Lighten up, slimy. I don't actually think we'll die in there. I'm tough, you're holy, or whatever, and he," he pointed a thumb over his shoulder and the two looked over to Sylvan, who had been mostly spacing out as he munched on little bits and pieces but was aware enough to smile back happily and wave, "he's so scarily calm and upbeat that I'm almost convinced he could level this whole forest if he wanted to."

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You leaned over to Yunho and whispered, "Can you really do that?"

He wasn't even able to answer before Mingi's sharp eyes caught your gaze as a hurried 'shh!' left his lips, making you immediately put yourself back in your seat and stare down at your lap. Yunho stifled a snicker and his eyes traced the slowly reddening edge of your ear peeking through your hair for just a moment before he put his attention back on Mingi.

"Anyways..." The DM grumbled.

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Once Sylvan was shaking his little satchel upside down with a sad frown on his face, the party was finally ready to enter. The lanky elf stood, shoving the velvet fabric into the pocket of his loose-fitted, brown cloth pants. He stepped up to the other two with his pack strung casually over one shoulder, towering over them with a smile so friendly it was somehow sinister.

The three hadn't known each other for long, but naturally you learn things about others when you're crammed into small inn rooms and tiny tents with them day and night. Despite that, Sylvan was a mystery. The day Cormac ran face first into Sylvan's middle and toppled him while fleeing from the self-righteous Zephyr with a purse of what turned out to be just bread crackers - the day the party was formed - all Sylvan would say about himself was "I'm magic" with a smile on his face. That remained to be all the rest of the party knew about him.

Cormac tapped the back of his hand against Sylvan's chest, ruffling the thin fabric of his blouse, before he gestured towards the darkness of the dense trees. "Do some magic, skinny."

The elf's somewhat innocent and slightly charming smile turned even freakier as he showed his teeth, as if the thought of casting even such a simple spell such as light excited him. With his free hand, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a glass bead, no bigger than a standard button, and held it in his palm. He closed his pale fingers around it and shut his eyes. With a low voice, he mumbled, "firefly." As he reopened his fingers, the once-boring clear bead radiated a beautiful yellow light - like a flame without the flicker or crackle. The rogue next to him shifted his slightly wide eyes from Sylvan's palm up to his now smug eyes and proud smile, instantly snuffing out any kind of fascination he might've had.

"That's...definitely special, man." Cormac huffed before pushing Sylvan in front of him with a hand on the centre of his back. "Go on then; you're our torch."

Starting with the six foot elf, followed by the short human, with the in-between Zephyr bringing up the rear, the three crossed the borderline into where no other had exited for the first time. Zephyr quietly huffed through their nostrils in slight amusement mixed with exasperation at the order they'd ended up in, with Mr 'I don't care if I die' coincidentally in the safest part of the line up, but they kept that thought to themself.

The three trekked slowly further and further into the trees, dense leaves above forming a canopy that fully blocked out the shining sun beyond. Various vague sounds of chirping bugs and rustling flora echoed around them, animals they couldn't see but knew were there. A chill began to crawl over them all, not only from the air growing colder the further in they went but also from the unease creeping into each of them. Even the strangely unbothered Sylvan's lips were pressed into a thin line now, eyebrows creasing in the centre as he held the glowing bead out further in front of them, moving it around in his hand to try and glean anything from their surroundings.

After a couple more minutes, Cormac broke the silence with his rough voice, trying to ease the fear in the group in his own way.

"Well I see why she got lost. This place is dark as hell and all looks the same."

The snap of a twig rang out from somewhere beside them and Zephyr stood up straighter as their head whipped to the direction of the sound. They clamped a clawed hand onto Cormac's shoulder, making him stop and look up at the dragon behind him. "What?"

"Let's go back." They spat, eyes focused into the dark abyss, perceiving things the other couldn't. "Too much movement."

The period at the end of their statement was audible and no elaboration came to follow. A cold bead of sweat ran down the usually fearless rogue's back.

"What...what happened to saving her, huh?" He antagonised, but it lacked the usual bite, falling flat and weak. Zephyr shook their head.

"We're not going to save her anyway if we get torn to bits by some...thing."

The spacey elf escorting them hadn't noticed the two behind him stop until he was a couple feet ahead, only turning back when he heard the stinging tone of that last word, a tone straying far from the paladin's usual gentle yet posh inflection.

"It's just animals." He chimed in, obviously trying to calm the jumpy rest of his party, but the words were just shaky enough that it was clear he was trying to convince himself as much. "Probably tons of...animals in here. That's...that's the movement, guys."

Cormac looked between the two that were now silently and anxiously scanning their surroundings.

"...Am I the only one that can't see a fucking thing??"

His complaint was cut off by the sound of something suddenly descending through the brush above them to land in the gap between Sylvan and the others, making Cormac scream and fall into the bushes with a thump. In a second, Zephyr's free claw was wrapped around the fallen man's bicep and he was pulled up and around behind them, their spear pointed directly down and inches away from the impassioned face of a crouching woman. She met the weapon with one of her own - a quarterstaff appearing to be fashioned from a hefty branch, the end of it expertly carved into multiple tendrils that curved to make a sort-of cup holding onto a green and yellow crystal which was perfectly smoothed into an orb. It had the same glow as the much tinier bead in Sylvan's hand, except stronger and brighter. She must've just cast it otherwise they would've seen her coming a mile away.

She was relatively small, wavy dirty blonde hair down to the nape of her neck and framed around her face like curtains for her piercing green eyes. Her pointed elf ears didn't go unnoticed either, not by Sylvan at least. Despite her stature, all three men were tense. Other than the sharp tip of Zephyr's spear within piercing distance, Sylvan had dropped his pack to free up his other hand, fingers tense and twitching slightly, and Cormac's hands were gripping the handles of two serated daggers even while being protected.

"You shouldn't be here." She spoke, voice smooth and serious, her eyes staying locked to the armoured dragonborn's black slit pupils. "You've made a mistake."

"And you'll back off if you don't want to look back on ambushing us as a mistake of your own." Cormac hissed.

The elf on the ground scrunched her nose, her brain turning over the many ways this encounter could play out. Three against one. She wasn't used to encountering wanderers with such obvious combat skill. With a hefty sigh and a shaky grip, she lowered her quarterstaff to the ground, laying it next to her before bringing both her hands up. Sylvan could see then the tattoo-like markings running up the back of her forearms and hands: green vines snaking around her fingers in a tantalising pattern.

After a few more seconds, Zephyr let out a puff of breath from their nostrils and gently lowered their own weapon, free arm already stopping the aggressive human behind them from rounding them and attacking the girl after he was inevitably offended by their pacifistic action. Sylvan lowered his hand too but kept his fist clenched at his side. The ambusher kept her gaze to the paladin as if sensing them as the one with the most responsibility and maturity out of the three.

"Why are you here?" She asked, frowning.

"To look for someone." They answered matter-of-factly. She scoffed, biting her lip.

"They're probably here. But finding her won't matter now."

"Why?" Sylvan cut in, stepping closer, and the woman looked over her shoulder at him as if just noticing him there. His eyes were wide, like he'd just put together the main reason why he'd started to feel so uneasy, why the magic in the forest felt so wrong. Her eyes turned sympathetic and she sighed, shaking her head.

"This place...doesn't let you leave."

The silence was defeaning before it was cut off by a frustrated grunt from the one that'd been hiding the whole time slipping out from under Zephyr's arm and zipping right up to the woman still on her knees in the brush, the terrifyingly sharp tip of a blade pointed right between her eyes.

"Cormac!" Zephyr called, voice booming.

"'This place' or you, huh? You gonna lock us up? Kill us?" The panic in his voice was unmistakable despite the offensive stance he was taking.

"Stop!" The yell came from Sylvan that time, followed by a small stone shooting through the air to collide with the blade at her face and knocking it away. "She's not lying."

"Yeah? Is that your magic too? You a lie detector?" The human's rough voice was angry and scared and frustrated all at once.

"No! I can...feel it. This place isn't right. It's like..." he squeezed his eyes shut, frown so pronounced that it seemed as if the creases in his forehead would stick like that forever, "...like I'm underwater. But instead of being unable to hear or see...I can't feel. I can't sense. Like any magic presence outside of here suddenly vanished the moment we stepped inside. I just...didn't noticed until now." He slowly opened his eyes, pupils now swimming with an emotion his party-mates had never seen: guilt. Cormac sneered, turning his aggression from the elf he was unfamiliar with to the one he was unfortunately familiar with.

"Great! You couldn't stop being an airhead for one single second long enough to tell us we were walking into an inescapable, cursed forest!" Sylvan flinched with every word like it burned him, dropping and cancelling the light spell he had on the tiny marble. It didn't really matter anyway, as the quarterstaff laying on the ground still lit up the space like a lantern.

The woman stood, turning to the yelling man and raising her own voice to be heard over his undisguised terror.

"It was too late anyway! The single step that took you from out there," she threw her arm back, gesturing to whence they came, "to in here," she pointed aggressively to the leaves below her, "locked you in here!"

Silence again, all attention on her.

"...We've all tried to leave...trust me."

"All?" Zephyr stepped up, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and huffed, flustered like she didn't mean to let the word slip. But, there was no use in hiding it.

"Yeah. I'm not the only one. I wasn't lying when I said the person you're looking for is likely here." She looked to Cormac, accusing him with her gaze alone. He could only murmur under his breath and move himself away, placing himself at the back of the group as she picked up her staff and took to the front to start leading the three further into the wood.

"I was born here. But...most of the people that live in these woods didn't choose to. They stumbled in, got lost, chased in. And that was it. Me and...what's left of my tribe just act as a safe space for them." Sylvan walked close behind her, listening intently and sympathetically.

"Then why jump us?" He asked, voice soft. She sighed, running a hand through her hair bashfully.

"The people that wander in here are usually just civilians. If we approached them like normal, some freak out, throw things, attack; they do whatever their panic response tells them to." Sylvan nodded. "What I do is disperse them. Catch them off guard so they're more likely to freeze up and I can explain everything to them."

"Smart." The other elf mumbled, followed by an awkward silence broken up by crunching leaves. "I'm Sylvan, by the way."

She looked up at him, blinking before responding with a wry smile. "Faelynn."

"It's beautiful."

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The group's immersion was broken by Jongho laughing at Yunho, who was smiling sweetly down at you as you tried desperately to stay in character despite your thumping heart and warm cheeks.

"DM, he's already flirting with her!"

Seonghwa turned to the boy next to him with an annoyed frown and flicked him hard right in the forehead.

"Ow!"

It was Yunho’s turn to laugh now and Mingi stuck him with another glare.

"Yunho...I told you not to mess with her..." his voice was low, trying to make it purposefully ominous as he peered over the panel in front of him. It didn't dissipate Yunho's smile, however.

"I'm not! I'm playing my character. He's meant to be charming."

"It's too serious of a situation to charm someone!" Mingi rebutted, half frustrated dungeon master and half some other annoyed emotion you couldn't quite pick.

As you watched the chaos before you, you couldn't help but really recognise their characters in all of them. It was cute, in a way. Like, rather than playing a game based almost solely on imagination, you were actually being transported to a fantasy world with the people before you. That was it. You were hooked.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Once everyone had settled again, Mingi decided to leave the story off there for the session. It didn't feel like long, and you hadn't really made all that much progress, but all of your glasses were empty, snacks ravaged, and sun disappeared behind the horizon. Seonghwa tidied the table and Mingi's kitchen as he stayed distracted making fun of Jongho for his low rolls, leading him to end up screaming, falling on his ass, and losing a dagger to one of Yunho's spells. Some way, somehow, Yunho was talking to you again. Did he really love seeing you suffer that much that he'd rather give you all the attention and make you want to explode into confetti than talk to any of his three other best friends in the room? Apparently.

"You were great, y/n. Seriously."

"I didn't even do anything..." you looked down, smile shy as you picked at the loose threads of your cardigan. "It's all luck based anyway."

"Not the rolls, you idiot. The way you played Faelynn. The creativity in your actions. I didn't expect it from a first-timer." His fingers brushed the side of your shoulder, so subtle and quick you could've almost convinced yourself it was just your slowly worsening delusions. But you still managed to lift your head and meet his gaze again, a flutter deep in your gut and a swell in your heart telling you his words made you feel a little proud of yourself.

"I read a lot, so..." You realised your mistake as soon as the words slipped through your lips.

"Awesome. What d'you read?"

Fuck. Anything but that. What left your lips was a string of various unintelligible sounds as you slowly turned your head away, hand coming up to muss your hair and bangs like pushing it in front of your face would make him forget you were there.

"Just...novels."

"Well, yeah." He laughed softly, tilting his head and leaning a little closer. "What kind?" His eyes were narrow yet soft, watching you like you were his favourite animal doing something adorable, an expression you couldn't see and one even he didn't realise he possessed.

"Mmm...just...romance...mostly."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds after that, forcing you to slowly turn back to him and push your bangs away. You almost fell backwards at the sight of his eyes and smile. Not a spec of judgement or disgust peered at you through those eyes and it made you feel like you were floating despite the fact your stomach felt like it was full of stampeding elephants.

"Did you think I'd make fun of you?"

You nodded slowly and his little 'v' smile turned toothy, bottom eyelids being pushed up by his cheeks. Bullseye.

"We all just sat here playing the nerd loser game of all time, and you thought I'd make fun of you?"

"I don't know!" You blurted out, somehow more embarrassed by that reaction than if he had just laughed in your face. Luckily for you, he did laugh, doubling over and leaning even closer to you in his giggle fit. Naturally, you leaned away. Not exactly because you wanted to but more because you thought your heart would genuinely explode and you'd die if you didn't; though, he didn't didn't seem to care. His arm ended up stretched out across the back of your chair and you could feel the warmth radiating from his skin. Flustered, you smacked at his shoulder, making him laugh more. "You knew I was going to say romance, didn't you??"

He sighed and lifted his head, his cheeks now splotchy red and the remnants of a chuckle still on his voice. "I mean...I just assumed."

You quietly fumed, cheeks puffed out, brows knotted and face red like a stop sign. He mimicked you with an exaggerated pout before smiling again.

"Awww, you mad?~"

You turned away again, earning another giggle from him, but that didn't even matter to you in that moment. The new kind of flutter much lower in your belly in response to his teasing tone had completely disarmed you. The two halves of your brain began their clamour once more, left brain yelling 'shame, shame!', and right brain whispering to you about all the ways he could put that voice to perfect use.

At some point in your little spiral, Jongho had gotten his attention and Yunho was now talking happily with him and Mingi about the game. You took a breath and slumped in your chair, focusing on the sounds of the boys' voices and the conversation to keep your mind straight and narrow.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Slowly, as time crept along, you leant your head back and felt it tap against his arm which he'd kept on your chair that whole time. You shut your eyes and a yawn bubbled up, one hand shielding the unflattering way your mouth opened from any possible eyes.

"Alright." Yunho huffed and stood, shocking you by removing the part of him you'd made a pillow. "Let's get you home."

You blinked up at him, seeing the soft yet sleepy expression of his own on his eyes that were pointed down at you.

"Whaaattt? No way." Jongho complained as Mingi finally started packing up his notes, map, dice, and mini figures with a yawn. Yunho chuckled and you lazily stood, stretching your arms over your head.

"Yes way. It's definitely past your bed time, kid." He pointed to the protesting boy, who rolled his eyes.

"You're a year older than me..." He stood reluctantly, groaning and rubbing his neck. "Damn, you need better chairs, Mingi."

Shoving things into a large black backpack, Mingi retorted, "Okay, princess. Fork over the money for them then."

Yunho giggled again, walking away over to the couch where Seonghwa had fallen asleep curled in a ball after cleaning. "You know he doesn't have any, Mingki, he lives with his parents."

Mingi's own deep laugh rumbled over the sound of him zipping up his bag. "Truth."

You knew Jongho was also as tired as the rest of you when he didn't even fight back, opting for a scrunched nose as he whipped out his phone to check his messages. Then, with a sigh, "at least I have a girlfriend..." he murmured before letting his thumbs fly across the screen. Fair to assume who he was messaging. Both the antagonising boys looked up at him with open mouths, Mingi's hands still on his backpack and Yunho mid-tap of a finger on Seonghwa's forehead, causing him to stir.

"Since when!?" Mingi's voice cracked, waking Seonghwa up fully now with a soft groan.

"Since...like 2 days ago." Jongho smirked and slipped his phone into his jacket pocket again. Mingi slumped against the table dramatically, letting his knees hit the ground. His voice came out muffled against the thick wood.

"Another traitor..."

"Another?" Jongho asked, meeting yours and then Yunho and Seonghwa's eyes. With that sort of out of place annoyance again, Yunho sighed.

"Come on, y/n. You're sleepy, right? Let's go."

"O-Oh, okay." You turned, hopping over to him as he walked down the hall to the pile of varying shoes.

'Another traitor'? The words stuck in your mind. If Jongho having a girlfriend made him a traitor, then that meant one of the other two boys had one too...right? As you looked up at the broad back of the tall man in front of you, you felt a slight stab in your chest and a rush of disappointment. It had to be him, you thought. No way was a man as outgoing and handsome as him single. Your shoulders slumped from more than just tiredness, but you told yourself it was a good thing; it was better to find out early that he was off limits before your stupid little crush got out of hand. At least you could spend the rest of your night repeating that he was taken like a mantra and snuffing out any kind of feelings still rattling in your heart.

"Yunho, wait!" Seonghwa shuffled up behind you. "Mingi said you're driving y/n home since she took the bus."

Yunho wriggled his left foot into the corresponding shoe and crouched down to tie it. "Yeah?"

"Me too...?" He requested with a sweet smile, but Yunho responded with a hyperbolic groan as he moved on to the other shoe.

"No way. You'll live."

"Hey, no fair."

You were sitting on the floor clasping on your own shoes, but couldn't help a sleepy smile creeping onto your lips at the interaction. Yunho stood, tapping each shoe against the ground a few times to get them comfortable on his large feet.

"She took the bus because her car is broken as fuck. You take the bus because you don't know how to drive."

You giggled and hefted yourself up off the floor with effort, body heavy.

"I don't see why that matters." Seonghwa stated, crossing his arms stubbornly and pouting.

It was honestly cute, you felt bad, and you thought it'd be better than being stuck in an enclosed space with just Yunho, so you ejected in, "let him, Yunho. Pleaseeee..."

You clasped your hands together in a sort of prayer as you asked, voice quiet and soft. His droopy eyes lingered on you for a long moment, lips pressed thin.

"...Fine. Last time, though. I'm tired of chauffeuring license-less bums."

Seonghwa smiled widely at you, an expression that screamed gratitude without having to say a single word.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

You remembered the drive mostly as the gentle hum of his music through the car speakers and the way streetlights and traffic lights coloured the inside of the vehicle like a canvas. Laying your head against the window, you almost nodded off right there. Actually, the drive felt so fast that part of you wondered if you did fall asleep. Whatever the case, the slowing of the car and muted crunch of gravel as he pulled up next to your apartment building brought you back. You sluggishly grabbed at your purse and phone, pulling them close before you opened the door.

"Want me to walk you up there?" He asked. You were already out of the car so you turned and leaned down just to meet his eyes, making sure your reassuring smile was visible.

"No, I'm okay. It's not far. Thanks though."

He smiled back at you, teeth showing, and tilted his head back against the head-rest.

"If you say so. Good night, Fae." Just the existence of such a nickname doubled the effort you knew you'd have to put in to get over whatever affection seed he'd planted in your heart, but you almost didn't care with how giddy it made you.

"Night." With one final subtle smile at him you shut the door and toddled off and up to your apartment. You really did plan to spend the evening disciplining the crush out of you, but after showering, changing, and doing skincare, you were cursed to fall asleep as soon as your messy head hit the pillow.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

After the car door shut and you disappeared from view, Yunho yawned and reached to push the handbrake back down, stopped by the smooth and sleepy voice from the man in the back who he'd thought had fallen asleep ages ago.

"You know her at all before today?" Seonghwa asked curiously. Yunho glanced at him in the rear-view mirror before continuing with the preparation to drive: releasing the handbrake and pulling the stick up to the letter 'D'.

"Uh, no. Unless you count the discord voice chat."

Seonghwa hummed.

"...You two are cute together." The one in the back added, making Yunho huff as he pulled back out onto the street, eyes focused forward.

"Don't say that around Mingi." Yunho replied, a subtle exasperation in his deep tone. Seonghwa shifted and pulled himself up to sit more comfortably, leaning a bit to gaze at Yunho's profile.

"Why?"

"He has a little...," Yunho took one hand off the wheel to make a pinching gesture with his thumb and index finger, "crush. On her. I think."

"Ohhh..." Seonghwa nodded, turning to look out of the window. The conversation ended there, both boys far too sleepy at that point to waste energy on forming any other coherent chatting topics. Besides, Yunho was weirdly stuck on his own words. 'I think'? No, he knew. Mingi basically told him straight up that he was shooting for you. Why did he tack those last two words on? Why did Mingi's glare whenever he got a little too cozy with you irritate him? 'Because he's annoying' Yunho thought confidently, despite never having been annoyed by his best friend's shenanigans like this in the past. But he decided thinking about it wasn't worth any more of his very limited remaining energy. He let it, and you, fade from his mind for the night like how passing streetlights faded back into the distance behind him.

⋆°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･