Lovelyminieee

“No, no, no, no mom, mom, listen–” you stare at her face boldly, spitting each word out.

“I. Am. Not. Getting. Married.” you spoke each word, storming out of the living room.

They wanted you to get married to someone you don’t even know. All of all, they want you to get married. You’ve only just started your own company, you have a long future ahead. You’re most definitely not looking forward to ruining that by getting married.

You shut the door to your room, careful to shut it without sound. You’ve already pissed your mom off , if she hears you banging doors, she’s going to come at you.

They wanted you to get married to the son of the Lee household for family, relational and business relationship building with them. You haven’t even seen the said son from the family, asking to marry him was a stretch.

Small knocks sound on your door and you whip your head up, ander subdued.

“Come in,” you mumble, and your dad steps in through the door, smiling gently.

“Hi cupcake, is everything okay? Your mother won’t talk to me,” he says, sitting down beside you. You lean your head on his shoulder, a sigh leaving your lips.

“She wants me to get married to the son of the Lee’s,” you mumble, and your dad sighs. There’s something in that sigh that says there’s a lot of trouble.

“Have–” he pauses, closing his eyes. It was hard for him to ask of you, especially knowing that you didn’t like the idea.

“Have you considered it?” you lift your head from his shoulders, and stare at him. You weren’t expecting him to say that, he was your everything.

“D-dad, I said I don’t like the idea of it,” you mention, and your dad nods and sighs. There has to be something wrong because that’s the third time he’s sighed in almost ten minutes.

“Our company is drowning, and so is our power in the community. If we need to keep this luxury, we need someone with a lot of power to join us, and help us out of this ditch. The Lee family is the only ones that have reached out to us so far, and they’re quite more powerful than they seem. The Lee family has been in the family business for more than 50 years, passed down from their great grandfathers. Think about it, cupcake. We need this right now. I hate having you married at this age, I really don't want to see my daughter live in a house with a man she doesn’t love. But we don’t have much of a choice. We’re running out of options. I don’t want to see you leave this house, really,” when you look at him, his eyes are glossy.

“I know you’re a good kid, and that you’ve started a company of your own, but I promise you, I won’t let any of the Lee’s stand in your way of running your business. You’re my intelligent daughter, I know you’ll make a good decision.” he finishes, wiping his tears with a smile. Your dad stares at you for a second or two, and then places a soft warm kiss on your forehead before getting up with a little difficulty, and leaving through the door.

You think. Your worries were about your career, your husband or his family stopping you from working. You’ve heard plenty of those cases before, your company is so important to you.

But your family business was struggling, you’d overheard a few conversations to know how bad. You want to fall in love, get married, and maybe, if your situations allow it, have a child or two. But are you ready to sacrifice your love life to save your family business?

You’re not sure.

After a bath and three cups of coffee, you might finally have your answer. You walk downstairs and try to find your mother in this enormous house, looking around and calling for her. It’d be a shame if this house would have to go.

“Mom,” you call from the counter of the open kitchen, and your mom turns around. For the first time in a few nights, you notice how tired she really looks.

“Yes?”

“I’ll agree to the marriage.” you mumble out. You said what you said and now you can’t go back on your word, so you wonder what you’ve thrown yourself into.

“You’ll- you’ll agree to the marriage with the Lee’s?” your mom’s eyes are wide.

“Yeah,” you mumble and your mother wraps you in a tight hug, her eyes grow glossy.

“You understand how big of a sacrifice this is? You’ve just saved your whole family business, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you,” she kisses your forehead, and you smile.

“It’s for you guys, and Jungwoo. He’ll be the one taking the company next, it’ll be hard for him to manage the company when it’s treasury is empty.” you hug back your mother, kissing her cheek. You’ve always been close with your mother, but your personalities clash often and you guys argue over small things. Nevertheless, she’s your mother.

You hope everything will turn out fine, although you’re a little worried about the stranger you’re going to marry. ——————————————————————————————

You groan as you stare at the dress your mom has sent you. Your dad has planned a dinner with the Lee family, and you’re expecting to see the man you’re going to marry. You’re nervous, and somewhat excited to see what kind of a person you’ll be marrying.

The dress is so revealing, and you can see a little bit of your cleavage. The back was sewn with some strings, ending in a bow right above your ass. The dress was classy, but revealing. You were going to a dinner, not a fucking club.

A note had been delivered with it, written by your mother.

Wear the dress at all costs, love you -mom

You read it out, a sigh following. Your make-up artist and hairdresser will be here in a few, you need to get dressed by then.

You pull on the dress and stare at yourself in the full mirror, surprised. You look smoking hot, and with your hair and makeup done, you’re sure you’d look mindblowing. Maybe your mom had a point.

Your hairdresser and makeup artist do their magic, and by the time you’re down the stairs, you look absolutely gorgeous.

“You look damn good,” Jungwoo compliments and you smile cheekily, replying with a finger gun.

“Wow, you really look like a princess now. You look gorgeous, sweetheart.” your dad compliments, holding out his arm.

“May I lead you, my princess?” you giggle before you hook your hands with his, walking with him. You might be grown and promised to a man, but you’re still your dad’s little princess. ——————————————————————————————

You’re nervous as you step out of the car, your stomach doing cartwheels. You hope he’s at least good looking.

You breathe out one last time before striding in confidently behind your family into the restaurant. You’ve been here so many times before, the private suite here is booked for the meeting and you’re sure of it. Although it is a 7 star michelin restaurant, you’ve always come here growing up, so it doesn’t really make it special anymore.

“Are they already here?” you whisper to your mother, who nods. All that question does is add to your anxiety.

“Hello, Mr. Lee.” your father greets the man, and the man greets him back. He’s old, but you’re 100% sure he looked like a Greek god when he was young. Mr. Lee leads you through a set of doors, and to a certain door at the end of the hallway. He twists the door knob open and smiles, settling on the chair.

You can see a woman, and two sophisticated men already settled on the table. You assume one of the boys is his brother, and the moment your eyes fall on one of the boys, you’re bewitched. His face is perfect, and he has the prettiest eyes and lips you’ve seen. He’s capable of attracting attention just with his looks, because the navy blue suit he had dressed in was mind blowing.

He tilts his head towards you out of respect, and you return the gesture. He’s gorgeous.

“Hi Donghyuck, it’s been a while hasn’t it?” your father stretches a hand, and the boy takes it with a small smile.

“It has been, Mr. Seo,” he replies casually.

So Lee Donghyuck is his name.

Donghyuck on the other hand, was mesmerised by you. You looked absolutely stunning in his eyes, he couldn’t help but stare. Your features were so perfect in his eyes, your dress freely flowed behind you. Your lips look so pink and soft and pretty, he finds it a feature he’s the most attracted to. Only when Mr. Seo spoke did he finally look away from you.

“It’s nice to meet again after a long time, Mr. Seo,”

“Likewise, Mr. Lee,”

You can’t bring yourself to focus on the conversation your parents were having when such a beautiful, totally-your-type guy was sitting before you. Him, however, seemed focused on the conversation, stealing little glances throughout the dinner.

“When will we be deciding the wedding dates?” your mother asks, and Donghyuck seems to suck in a sharp breath.

He probably hates getting married to me. With a face like that, I must not be that attractive to him.

Your heart sinks a little at your thoughts, and you lose focus at any and all conversation. You look down at your plate and poke at your food, occasionally placing some bits into your mouth.

“Y/n? Y/n, do you agree?” you look up, confused. All eight of the people in the room are staring at you, and you feel your cheeks heat up in an unrealistic colour of red. You hope it doesn't show through your makeup.

You just stare at them, hoping someone repeats. Your mother smiles with frustration, repeating the question.

“Do you agree with the wedding date being the 29th of next month?”

Your mind goes through your schedule, and you don’t find anything scheduled for that day.

“Yes, o-ofcourse. I find myself free on that day,” you smile, and the family seems to return to the conversation they were holding.

You glance at Donghyuck and a smile slips onto his face before he hides it with the poker face he wore all dinner.

“I think we should let the kids talk, what do you think?” Donghyuck’s father speaks, and you both lift your head at the same time, staring at him. What the hell were you going to talk about? This was your first time seeing him.

But everyone seems to collectively agree that this was a good idea. Mr. Lee shoots Donghyuck a look, and it looks like the boy mentally groans before getting up, and smiling sweetly at you, waiting for you to get up. You do get up, and he takes your hand softly in his before leading you out of the door into a balcony that was located right next to the room you were in.

The view is beautiful, just as gorgeous as the man beside you.

“I’m Lee Donghyuck, and you are?”

“Seo Y/n. Did you agree to all this?” you ask first. You’re curious about the man, but that can wait.

“Yeah, sort of. I had to, I'm the heir to dad’s company.” he replies, a sigh slips out of his pretty lips. It comes out as a cloud of ice due to the cold atmosphere.

“I have my own company, a clothing line. It was introduced on the Paris runway,” you say, and he nods, eyes fixed in the distance.

“I’m familiar, Aphelion, am I right?” He surprises you with his knowledge. He probably did his research on you.

You stare at him with curious eyes, a smile lingering on your face. He looks at you, and then he laughs, shaking his head. You have to admit it, he’s got the smoothest voice, and the prettiest laugh.

“No, no, I didn’t do research on you. I-I was personally there, in Paris. I have to say, they did catch my eyes.” he nods, tucking his hands into his coat pockets.

It was freezing, goddammit.

You shiver a little because of the weather, and he seems to notice it. He contemplates something for a second, and then takes off his jacket. He puts it over your bare shoulders, covering your shoulders.

“Oh- you didn’t have to, I’m not-” you start mumbling but he cuts you off.

“Don’t lie, I saw you shiver,” he says. His eyes seemed like it never fell on you. He hasn’t made proper eye contact from the moment you stepped into the balcony, not even when he handed you his jacket. He looks quiet, peaceful as he stares at the bustling city below him.

He wouldn’t look at me because he isn’t attracted to me. He hates the sight of me, he gave me his jacket because he was polite enough to take care of a woman.

Your heart sunk again. Sometimes, you wish you could just be confident with yourself. You wish you didn’t overthink this much. You wish you could be confident with who you are, and what you look like. You wish you could be a little bit taller, a little thinner, a little more defined. You hate your thoughts so much.

You look at Donghyuck, and stare at him. He’s perfect, he has no job dealing with someone like you.

He looks at you, and you look away, too emotional to stare at him.

“What do I call you, Ms. Seo?” he asks, and you look up at him.

“Uh, you can call me Y/n,” you reply, clearing your throat. He stares for a little with narrowed eyes, and looks away.

“What do I call you, Mr. Lee?”

“You can call me Donghyuck, Hyuck, or Haechan.” he replies casually.

He has such a pretty name.

“Ah, okay. Why Haechan?” you inquire, curious about the cute nickname.

“Well, 해 (Hae) means “Sun” and 찬 (Chan) means “Full”,” he says. His cheeks and the tip of his nose are cheeky red, making him seem so much more admirable.

“Full Sun?” you ask, smiling.

“Hmm, dad gave it to me when I was five,” he smiles softly, and then it disappears.

You think that’s interesting, because you can’t see a trace of the said Sun anywhere. He looks cold and gentle to you, you’re not sure where that came from.

You hum in response, lost in your thoughts.

“Do you want to live married?” he asks, and it catches you off guard. That’s the first real question besides your name he’s asked.

“I could live married, but if that gets in the way of my profession, no, I don’t want to. I value my company more than whatever this is—” you make a gesture between you two “—I’m doing this for my family. I love my family too much to save myself only while all of us drown. My dad asked me for my consent with tears in his eyes, that was the first time I’d seen him cry in years. A little sacrifice wouldn’t hurt.” you swallow hard after you answer, and you look at Haechan. He looks hurt for a moment by the answer before he puts on a serious expression, humming to your answer.

Did you see that right? You’re probably just losing it from having just a glass of champagne. Your alcohol tolerance is shit.

“Me either. I was forced into it, at least your dad asked for consent,” he chuckles bitterly. You feel bad for a second, so you think how you can make this agreement free for him and you.

And you come up with a terrible idea.

“What do you say we live separate lives?” you blurt out, thinking. Your brain was working at high speed.

A confused sound emits from Haechan.

“What do you say we live separate lives, like we never got married. We could pretend we’re roommates, and when our parents are over, we could pretend to be in-love.” you suggest.

You said this with complete knowledge that it was a terrible idea, and you know you’re going to regret this later.

Haechan’s interest piques greatly, thinking of the deal over and over in his head. It doesn’t sound bad to him, maybe it could work out.

Maybe you’ll be a new friend too.

“Okay.”

You turn to look at him with a bright smile.

“Deal?” you stretch your hand, and he takes it, a cheeky lingering smile on his lips.

“Deal.” ——————————————————————————————

“Did you have fun?” Mr. Lee asks as you two walk into the room, Haechan’s jacket back on him. You’d returned it on the way, thanking him for risking the cold to give you the jacket. He’d brushed it off with a smile, which still lingered on his lips.

“Looks like you had fun,” your dad comments, and you feel your brother’s crazy stare on you. He’s smiling at you weirdly, like you and Haechan fucked on the first meet.

You only glare at him since all eyes are on you and Haechan, and you swear to yourself that once you reach home, you’ll kick the life out of him.

“The wedding date is on the 29th of next month, make sure both of your schedules are clear by then, we’ll plan the rest out as it goes, don’t stress yourselves too much with it, yeah?” Mr. Lee gets up, and the rest of the family does too.

You’ve learned all their names, but you decided you’d address his parents as Mr and Mrs. Lee. His brother’s name is Lee Minhyung, and he’s a little hyper active, you can see it. He’s just as handsome as Haechan though, and they look like best friends more than brothers. Although his name is Minhyung, Haechan said he likes to be addressed as Mark more. Haechan looks more like his father, with his jaw shape and nose and somewhere by the forehead, and Mark looks more like his mother with the big doe eyes and the smile. Either way, you’ve met everyone and you want to go home too; you’re glad they got up first.

“We should get going by now, it’s getting late. Thank you so much for sitting down with us,” he says.

“No, no, I should thank you for sitting down with us. I hope we’ll get together well in the future, I’ll see you soon,” your father stands up and shakes Mr. Lee’s hand, and you see Haechan shoot you one last smile before he leaves through the door.

It’s the kind of smile that leaves you flustered, the kind of smile that makes you want to stare at him, the kind of smile that makes you want to be the reason for it.

God forsaken, you had done what you had, you can’t have feelings for him. ——————————————————————————————

|Hc Hey

You stare at the text Haechan had left you. You were in the car with your brother next to you, mom and dad in front talking about something.

|Y/n Heyy

|Hc Think dad and mom r gnna hire wedding planners

Wedding planners seem like a much easier option. Maybe you’ll get the wedding you’ve always wanted.

|Y/n It sounds easier planning like tht

|Hc Hmm whats ur dream wedding?

You really think. What’s your dream wedding? Maybe a simple wedding, nothing too grand.

|Y/n Uh nothing too grand tbh. a simple wedding would do

Haechan stared at the message, surprised. You looked like you’d want everything to be grand, he didn’t expect your answer to be so down to earth.

|Hc Thats nice. i havent rly thought of it Although i did want to get married with someone i’m familiar with. May b we can be frnds

That sentence makes you smile. “What’re you smiling at?” your brother asks, staring at you with a curious smile. When you don’t answer, he attempts to peek into your phone.

“Don’t frikin do that again, asshole,” you push his face away, hiding your phone.

“Ouch, fuck, where did that much grip come from?” He rubs his forehead. You stick your tongue out, rolling your eyes. How much ever you love your brother, he’ll always be a pain in the asshole.

“You’re texting Donghyuck, aren’t you?” he asks, surprised.

“Yeah, what about it?” you ask, typing back a reply.

|y/n Maybe, id like that :)

“Maybe you should leave some things to talk about after marriage, you know?” Jungwoo comments, smiling. You shoot him a dirty look, punching his arm.

“Mom, she keeps punching me,” he whines, and your mom turns around to glare at you.

“I didn’t even do anything,” you justify yourself, scoffing.

Jungwoo sticks his tongue out at you, and you have a strong urge to ruin his face that you have to hold back. You huff, looking back at the phone.

|Hc we’re almost there text ya later bye :]

You stared at the message with a big smile. That little smile at the end of the sentence, you found that absolutely adorable.

“Get out, we’re home,” your brother pokes you.

When would be the next time you’d get to see him? ——————————————————————————————

Well, the predicted next time was not far out. He’d called you out on a date, and you were genuinely surprised, to say the least.

“What?” you ask, sitting up in your office chair. The document you were reading is now forgotten, your mind processed his words.

“Let me take you on a date,” he repeats through the phone.

“Hyuck, stop fucking around, what’s the plan?” you ask, rolling your eyes.

“You’re fast. Dad wants us to go on a date in public for the paparazzis so they can take photos of us being lovey dovey and shit,” he says, biting his nails. A kind of disappointment bubbles up your throat, but you push it back down. You can’t have feelings for him, you’re friends.

“Fine, when?” you mumble.

“Are you upset?” he asks, and you could imagine his eyes gleaming mischievously.

“Why would I be upset? Theoretically, I should be, because I am your fiance. But then, we didn’t exactly fall in love and get married. This gives us the conclusion that I have absolutely no reason to be upset.” you know you’re not upset.

“You’re upset, okay, I get it. Stop overanalyzing shit when you’re upset, it’s a little too obvious.”

“I said I’m not upset,” you grumble.

“Fine, whatever you say. I’ll pick you up at 4 in the evening, clear your schedule.” he says before hanging up.

He’s so fucking annoying.

You check the time. It’s 2:17, you should probably head out. You pick up your coat, and call your driver, already heading out of the office. You clarify to your secretary and head right out, all the way to your apartment.

You’d gone for a visit at your home for a while, where you met Haechan. You even got to hang out a lot, so you got a lot closer. A lot like best friends.

The automated doors open into your apartment, and you greet the maid on the way to your room. You don’t know how you should dress.

So you call Hyuck.

“What?” he asks, groaning.

“How should I dress? Where are we going?” you ask, and it takes him a moment to answer.

“Dress simple, we’re going to a cafe,” he answers, and hangs up again. You groan. You don’t really have anything simple to wear. You do, but you’ve already worn them all before.

“Miss? Is everything okay?” you turn your head to look at the maid standing behind you, a worried expression on her face.

“Me and Hyuck are going on a cafe date, I have nothing to wear,” you frown, and the maid hums. She thinks for a second, and then steps forward. She wipes her hand on her uniform and picks out a cute coffee coloured sweater, a pair of white jeans, and points at a bag she’s too afraid to touch.

“No, no, I don’t mind. We’re all the same, just cause you work for me doesn’t make you non human,” you smile at her, urging her to get you that brown Hermes bag. She hesitates to touch it, and once she does, she smiles before carefully passing it to you.

God, who mistreats these ladies to the point they're afraid to touch bags.

Her name is Park Hyejin. She’s been with you from about a few years ago, and she’s always been around you. Your mom had her move from your house to your apartment with you because you were the most comfortable around her, and she figured you could use help in taking care of the apartment.

“I could’ve. But I’ve worn both of these before with different pairs,” you whine, staring at the outfit laid out onto the leather in the middle of your huge closet.

“Ma’am, I think you should be getting ready, it’s already past three,”

You’ve been staring at your closet for an hour now???

“Shit. I’ll just wear it,” you strip in front of her, pulling on your sweater. You’d taken a cold shower this morning, you’ll be fine, you didn’t have time anyway.

She’s seen everything, you don’t think she hasn't seen you naked at least once. You straighten out your beige sweater, sighing satisfyingly. You turn around to thank the girl, and she’s cherry tomato red, you realise. A smile eases onto your features.

“You’re blushing,” you tease, leaning back onto one of your closet doors.

“M-ma’am, do you want me to do your hair?” she asks, quietly. You giggle to yourself, nodding.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second,” you nod. She hurriedly leaves the room, and you giggle before pulling on your pants.

You’re done in about forty five minutes, and it’s already 4. Your phone rings as you sit down on your couch, waiting for Donghyuck to show up.

“Yeah?”

“You ready? I’m downstairs,” he says, his car parked right outside. If you looked, you’d probably see it.

“Coming,” you cut the call, grabbing your purse and waving to Hyun Joo before going out.

“Evening, my lady,” Haechan greets you, and something about him seems stunned the moment he sees you. He’s staring for a second, just a second, before he breaks from it and opens the door for you.

He’s driving and he’s unusually quiet, unlike the loud boy you know.

“Is something wrong?” you finally break the silence. He glances over, and smiles. Laughs, actually.

“No, not really.” he answers. He then thinks for a little bit more.

“When’s the dress fitting?”

“Not sure, on the 19th, I think,” you answer. He hums, thinking again. The rest of the ride is quiet, but you get to observe his outfit while you’re bored. He looks cute, a very nice brown sweater, and a pair of white jeans. You really like how he looks, it sort of matches your outfit. Maybe that’s why he was staring.

“You look really nice today,” he mumbles, and you don’t hear him.

“What?”

“I said you look like shit today,” he panics, answering quickly.

Fuck, he probably just blew his chance with you.

“Thanks Haechan, really helped me grow as a person,” you sneer, sulking.

“We’re here,”

He unbuckles his seat belt, and steps out of the car to open your door. He opens it for you, and you step out, thanking him. He’d picked a place near the glass to sit in, and you were happy he did.

The cafe is bustling, yet so calming. It’s the prettiest cafe you’ve been to, because everything about it feels and looks amazing. It’s so coffee-like, yet it seems like there’s something for everyone.

“Is everything okay? You’ve been really quiet today,” you ask him as he gets settled opposite to you. He sighs, shaking his head.

“It’s just the stress, nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart.” the last word strikes you, and you feel your cheeks heat up unintentionally.

“Wait did you just-?” he asks, breaking into a quiet fit of laughter.

“No, no I didn’t.” you bite your lips, embarrassed.

“Are you a coffee person?” you ask, desperately trying to change the subject so he would move on from that little thing. You know he’s going to tease your hours on end for it.. You always end up admiring him every time you’re together, although you’re not so sure why.

“Very much so,”

“Me too. I like brewed coffee a lot,” you smile, and he smiles back. His smile is so perfect, his lips look so perfect, and his nose looks so perfect. Everything about him is unreal, and you love the way he stares at you. His eyes are so chocolate brown and deep, always holding a kind of meaning when he looks at you.

“The half drunk dudes should be here by now.” Hyuck spares one glance out the window, and then he smiles at you. He takes your hand in his, and you’ve never been more confused.

“Act like you’re in love with me. They can note shit pretty quick, although they are half drunk most of them do work in dispatch.”

I’m already in love with you, why should I pretend?

You blink rapidly in a poor attempt to get rid of the stupid thought, trying to act. You smile warmly as he takes your hand and places his lips on the back of your hand, letting his lips stay.

“Why didn’t you pick up my call yesterday, you piece of shit?” you ask through the smile.

“You called me yesterday? Why?” he asks, and he doesn’t break character. He’s still looking at you like he’s so in love and that makes you want to break your character and run.

“I wanted to ask about the wedding planners, dumbass.”

“You could’ve texted me,”

“I have things to do.” He intertwines your fingers together and you notice how his hand is so warm. His hand is so big, and warm and perfect in yours. He seems to notice it too because he’s staring at it.

His hand tightens around yours, and his thumb unconsciously caresses your hand. It’s quiet between you two for a few minutes. It’s like the world has given you freedom for a few minutes, and you’re free to look at each other however you want. Touch each other however you want, and smile at each other however you want.

Your eyes trace his pretty deep brown eyes, his newly dyed black hair, his jaw. His skin is flawless, perfect, and you notice his pretty earning for the first time. Your eyes run along his lips, and you force yourself to look away before you do something stupid.

“Are they gone?” you ask, and Haechan sighs before he looks out, noticing nobody there. He’s quite good at finding cameras.

Please don’t be gone, let me hold onto her a little longer.

“Yeah,” he retreats his hand, and it hurts you a little bit. His hands were so warm, the weather was cold, you admit you were a little disappointed when his hands left yours.

“Would you like something to eat?” he asks. He’s got this strong urge to take your face into his hands and kiss you, kiss you till you both run out of breath.

Fuck, what was he thinking.

“Yeah sure,” you nod, smiling. Haechan knows he’s using every cell in his body to resist the urge to kiss you, although he finds it weird. He doesn’t like you, he swears he doesn’t, so what is this feeling?

The date goes by rather quiet, with both your minds confused and screaming, you didn’t think you had much to say.

“I’ll see you on dress fitting,” Haechan smiles. You think you might see why his dad named him Haechan, his smile is so bright and pretty.

“I’ll see you too,” although he does hesitate, he places a quick kiss on your cheek before he runs for his car. He’s too cute for you, your heart can’t take it.

But also, did he just kiss you?

“What was that?” you demand before he drives off.

“Keep it,” is all he shouts back. You blush furiously at the audacity of him to do this after you guys agreed to be friends and nothing more. Maybe you should’ve done that.

Haechan pulls into his car and drives off, his heart beating loudly into his chest. He knows he shouldn’t have done it, he knows it was so wrong. Maybe not that wrong, but after deciding to be friends, what he did was a shit move.

But if he didn’t do at least this much, he was going to combust from the sheer urge to kiss you. He closes his eyes briefly, collecting himself before heading back home, and maybe to get some work done. ——————————————————————————————

“Hello, you must be Ms. Seo. Your fiance has been waiting for you,” the lady says and that surprises you. Haechan had said he might not even show up to the fitting, but he did, and you were happy he did.

“Donghyuck, I didn’t expect to see you here,” you walk in, smiling brightly. The last few days of your life had been filled with him, by him. He’s sent you good morning texts, he’s helped you with a few company related issues, and he’s spent some good time with you, getting to know you.

These were the basics, because if you were going to live with him, it might as well be on acquainted terms.

“I didn’t have time to show up for my fitting, might as well get it done with you.” he stands up with a huge smile.

“Have you at least looked through and selected a few dresses?” you inquire, eyes fixed on all the dresses on the huge racks. You wanted a custom one made, but there’s no time for that is what your mom said.

“Yes, I have indeed. So uh, I did select a few, I’ve asked them to keep those pieces aside. You should go check them out,” he tilts his head towards the changing room. You nod, letting a sigh fall from your lips.

You were choosing your wedding dress, something you didn’t dare dream happen until you were fully settled.

The shit we do for our loved ones.

You fit into the first dress, second, and third dress. You’ve gone through five different dresses and they just weren’t for you. Frustrated, you call Haechan into the changing room.

“Yeah?” he peeks in, and his eyes run over your coresetted figure. Goddammit you look beautiful.

“I like the third dress, you saw it, but it just isn’t for me. I need something special.” you rant, staring into the mirror. Haechan looks away out of respect, and he sighs.

“See, the thing is…” he trails on, a little nervous.

“Yeah?” you turn around.

“The thing is, I might or might not have had a custom dress made for you…” he hesitates, chewing on his lips nervously.

“What?” your lips part in shock, and Haechan sighs. He looks hesitant. He steps inside the room and closes the door.

“Uh, a while ago, like a week or two ago, I thought about how we could make our wedding better for you, and I remembered you mentioning something about a custom dress. So uh, I took it up with my imagination and your style and came up with a dress. It just came in yesterday, if you want we can send it back,” Haechan mumbles out, and you’re surprised.

And touched. He wanted to make this perfect for you, better for you. Maybe it’s not that bad getting married to him.

“Would you like to try it on- or- you know what- I’m sorry, I’ll send it back–” Haechan shakes his head, wincing. Maybe he went overboard.

“No, no. Let me see the dress, let me try it on,” you mumble fast enough, and he looks stunned.

“You’ll try it on?” you nod in confirmation, and a huge smile makes its way to Haechan’s face. You’re happy to see that smile.

You try on your sixth dress of the day, and you have to say, you look beautiful. The sleeveless white ball gown-like dress looked absolutely gorgeous on you, you can’t help but bite back tears. Haechan designed this for you. It was just so beautiful.

Haechan sits on the couch in the middle of a huge room, waiting for you to show up. He’s mindlessly scrolling on his phone, through every other social media app, trying to get rid of his nervousness.

Would she like the dress? Would she send it back? She’d probably hate it. No, she hasn't tried it on yet, maybe she’ll like it.

A lady walks into the room and smiles at him, and something tells him to keep his phone away. So he does.

The curtains swing open, and you’re standing there in the middle, absolutely gorgeous in a pure white gown. He designed it for you, and he’s stunned and shocked at how good you look in it.

“I like it, I love it,” your hand smoothes over the satin top part, biting back a teared smile.

“It’s…it’s beautiful.” he mumbles, feeling his heart beat faster. His heart is thudding so loudly in it’s cage, and you’re the reason.

“You’re beautiful,” Haechan says, and he shuts his mouth quick enough.

“I-I mean, the d-dress is beautiful, you look beautiful in it,” he tries to correct it himself. Giggling quietly, you turn again to look in the mirror.

The dress is really perfect. It’s fluffy, it’s not too heavy, nor is it inconveniently big. It’s just right.

God, you want to cry. Haechan had this made for you because he wanted the wedding to be more than just an agreement for you.

He can’t take his eyes off you, you look so pure and pretty and gorgeous in that dress.

“I want this,” you smile, tears blurring your vision. Haechan’s face brightens up almost immediately, and he does this little hand signal that you don’t slip past.

Goddamn, he couldn’t wait for the wedding. ——————————————————————————————

Haechan was practically shaking in the suit. He was standing on the podium, waiting for you to come out. He’s never been this nervous in his entire life; hell, he’s a damn business man.

“She’ll come out any minute now,” someone whispers, and his heart is now beating harder.

Fucking hell, just get this over with.

The light shines on you, and he audibly gasps. You look so, so, so beautiful, so stunning, holding your father’s hand. There’s a pretty white flower crown at the top of your head.

Everything about you is so pretty, so pure.

“Take care of my daughter,” your father gives him your hand, and he takes it delicately.

“Yes, father. I promise to take care of her through everything,” Haechan smiles, and he looks at you. He’s afraid he’s going to forget the whole world if he looks for too long.

You walk up and stand on the podium in front of him, hand in hand with him. Has his hands always been so warm?

The vows go by so fast, with just each other in their eyes, nothing else really matters. Haechan looks gorgeous, better than the man in your dreams. He was tucked perfectly in a black tux, his waist coat extenuating his figure.

“You may now kiss the bride,” is all you hear from the pastor. You stare at Haechan, blinking rapidly, and he stares back in the same.

“You may now kiss the bride.” the pastor repeats, louder. Haechan gets startled a bit, and then he starts leaning forward.

He’s kissed a lot of people before, why was he so nervous with you?

His lips capture yours in a soft kiss, and he swears he almost passed out. Why were you so soft and delicate?

He’s experienced, you can tell. You automatically lean in a bit, and his lips are soft, so soft you could get lost in them.

You pull away after a second or two, and you’re both a blushing mess. Haechan’s cheeks are burning hot, and you think about how the heat on your cheeks could probably show through the makeup.

The crowd claps and you both smile, walking down the aisle. Your hand is in his as you cling to him, walking by his side.

“God, this is so nerve-wrecking,” Haechan mumbles, and you almost laugh on camera. Your hand squeezes softly on his bicep in agreement, and he smiles a little wider.

“I can’t wait to go home.” you sigh. ——————————————————————————————

“Thank you so much for the generous gifts, Mrs. Kim. We appreciate it, really,” you smile at the middle aged lady, who smiles back graciously.

“I can’t believe how much you’ve grown, I still remember you playing in our garden with Jungwoo like it was yesterday.” she looks over you so emotionally. You giggle a little, nodding.

“I hope I can see little versions of you running around in the same garden someday,” she smiles, and your eyes widen. Haechan, who’s standing beside you, laughs a little at your reaction. His hand wraps around your waist and he pulls you in, smiling.

“Sure, expect it soon, Mrs. Kim,” he bows and the lady laughs a little, saying her goodbyes before leaving.

“What the hell was that?” you punch Haechan in the arm, a little pissed. He winces as he rubs his arm, laughing.

“What?”

“I don’t want kids, not until I’m ready.” you say.

“Nobody’s forcing you, you don’t have to think about it until you’re ready. I don’t want kids until you want them either,” he rubs your shoulder calmingly, and you sigh.

“I just got worked up, this wedding’s been stressing me out, I’m sorry,” you mumble, leaning back onto his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. Also, didn’t we agree to keep it to just friends? You don’t have to worry, I won’t pull anything,” Haechan chuckles, wrapping his arm around you.

Unless you want me to.

“Can we go home? I’m tired,” you pout, and it takes all of Haechan’s self control to not kiss your little pout.

“Sit down, I’ll go talk to mother,” he helps you sit down on a chair, smiles at you. He makes sure you’re comfortable before telling you he’s going to go find your mothers.

You observe your own wedding party. There’s nothing too big, but what you see is well done. It’s perfect, and you’re glad they called in wedding planners to execute this.

“Y/n!” you hear a voice. You turn your head and find someone you thought you’d never see again.

“Taeyong!” you exclaim, standing up and opening your arms. He scoops you into his arms, lifting you off the ground a little.

“I haven’t seen you in such a long time,” you squeeze his arms, smiling.

“God, tell me about it. I was so surprised when I heard you were getting married.” he says, giggling. His laugh always had a nice ring to it.

Lee Taeyong was your highschool bestfriend, and your ex boyfriend. You had dated for about five to six months before he broke it off for the reason of losing feelings. But then, when he saw you still had feelings, he came back, and you dated for another month before you broke it off. The relationship zig zagged another time before you both decided it was the best to call it off and just remain as best friends.

You confessed to him, and he had said he liked you back. He was your first kiss, your first love, your first everything.

First everything except sex. You weren’t ready back then, and you never really got to the part where your virginity gets taken, so you’re still a virgin. As shitty as that is.

“You look beautiful,” he compliments, and you blush softly. He still has that effect on you.

“Well, you don’t look bad yourself, how are you?” you ask as you sit back down, your heels hurting the back on your feet. You’ve walked quite a bit today.

“Moved back here. New York got a little boring without you,” he smiles, and you laugh.

“You moved here? Why?”

“I’m starting a new branch of my law firm here, one of the big reasons I moved back,” you nod, and you see Haechan running to you from the corner of your eyes.

“Hyung, I didn’t think I’d see you here,” Haechan gives him a bro hug. They know each other?

“Wait, you two know each other?” you’re confused.

“He’s my first cousin,” Haechan says, his arm hanging around Taeyong’s shoulder.

Cousins?????

“First cousin? I had no idea,” you laugh, surprised.

“Let me ask, how do you guys know each other?” Haechan looks between you and Taeyong. He removes his arm from around his shoulder, and moves closer to stand tall next to you.

Taeyong sighs, and you’re just a little nervous.

“We- we were high school best friends.” you answer, signalling Taeyong to shut up with your eyes. Haechan nods, a little suspicious.

“That’s it?” he asks tentatively.

“Y-yeah pretty much.” you force a smile, and Taeyong nods awkwardly. It’s just a moment of really thick awkward silence that anyone would be able to sense from a mile away.

“I- I have to get back to my mother, do you mind if I–” he motions back to his mother, who’s not even looking at him.

“Yeah, no, we were about to leave anyway. It’s almost all winded up, we’ll leave,” you say, urging him on. He leaves and you look back at Haechan, who looks a little pissed.

“Let’s go.” Haechan holds onto your waist protectively, dragging you away from the spot into his car.

He gets you into your car and makes sure your dress sits well before getting in the car himself. He leans his head back onto the seat, his hips pushed up and his tongue poking his cheeks.

He looks unrealistically hot.

“What was that?” he asks, and you stare at him.

“W-what?”

“You and Taeyong, what was that? Is there anything you aren’t telling me?” he looks at you, and his voice is gentle, unlike a few moments ago.

You sigh, biting your inner cheeks before speaking.

“We- we dated, for about a few months. It went on and off for a year before we finally called it off and decided to just be best friends,” you spoke, afraid to look at him.

“You didn’t have to hide that from me. I’m okay with it. We’re going to be living different lives anyway, so might as well tell me your dating history,” he smiles, a weird feeling boiling in him. He was relieved that it was nothing more, but on the other hand, a not so good feeling bubbled in his heart.

I could just rip Taeyong apart.

No, no no no no. What was he thinking? ——————————————————————————————

“Is it bad that I never really took the initiative of visiting our house?” you look out through the car window, fascinated. You were so wrapped up in the work of your company and the wedding preparations, you forgot to visit the house you’d be moving into after the wedding.

“Uh, the thing is, I haven’t visited either, so I don’t know what to expect. Although, dad did say he moved enough of our things here.” he says, turning the engine off. He pulls the key out of the car, and he gets out to help you out.

“I swear to god, the first thing I’m doing is throwing this dress off,” you grumble and Haechan laughs a little.

He puts in the password and the door opens, revealing the most beautiful, yet the most simplest and minimalistic house you’ve ever seen. It’s gorgeous, just beautiful.

“Wow,” Haechan’s the first one to speak.

“I’m actually going to go change out, I’m super uncomfortable,” you mumble, and Haechan nods, helping you find the master bedroom. You do find it, and it’s fucking huge. Bigger than your bedroom ever was growing up.

You see the two suitcases sitting in the corner, and you immediately identify one as yours.

“Found mine,” you smile.

“I’ll move into another room, you can stay here,” Haechan takes his suitcase, but you’re not sure you want such a big room all to yourself.

“No, no, I’ll move, you stay here,” you say, and Haechan stares at you.

“No, I’m moving,”

“No, no, I don’t want such a big room all to myself,” you say, but Haechan’s already out the door.

“I’m just a room over, don’t fret over it,” he says, and his voice echoes in the living room.

You sigh, thinking how stubborn he really was. He wouldn’t even give you a chance to argue about it.

You try to get out of your dress, but find it almost impossible. Goddamit, do they really have to secure the zipper like that?

The only person in the house who could help you was Haechan, who was a room away. You groan, opening your door and making your way over to his room.

“Hyuck,” you open the door, and it startles him. Dammit, you forgot to knock. Next time.

You lift your eyes and you find him in the middle of the room with no shirt on, staring back at you with a t-shirt in his hands.

“You seem to like staring,” he switches the t-shirt from one hand to the next, and you realise you were staring.

“No, no I don’t,” you turn around, your hand still on the door knob. You blush deeply, and your heart rate raises as the image of his body gets imprinted in your mind. God, he looked so good.

“I’m done, what’d you need?” he asks you with a shitty grin, and you turn around to face him.

“Can’t get the damn zipper open, for fucks sake.” you mumble, and you notice how he’s staring intently at your face. You assume he’s staring at your heated up face.

“I’ll help you out of it, do you want me to turn up the air con?” you look up to glare at him, and he just laughs. He’s so annoying yet so attractive and loveable.

“Just shut up and help me out of it,” you turn your back to him, and he giggles before coming closer.

You feel him push off a pin or two, and then he slides down the zipper. Slowly, so slowly, he slides it down. Your breath hitches and something pools in the pit of your stomach as his fingers brush your bare back, your fingers squeezing into a fist.

He sighs shakily as he stares at your back, just how smooth and soft it looks. He wants to run his hand over your back, tell you how pretty you are as he presses his lips against yours.

What? God, no. I don’t have feelings, it’s just sexual attraction, happens to the most of us.

Haechan rips his hands away from you, and you make a run for it, thanking him. You’re so embarrassed and worked up, you can’t understand what you’re feeling right now. ——————————————————————————————

“Good morning,” Haechan greets you as you walk out of your room in pyjamas, sleep drunk.

Haechan’s on the couch, a bowl of ramen in his hands. What time is it?

“Morning,” you greet, and Haechan’s heart weirdly flutters. “What time is it?” you ask.

“It’s past 12. Looks like you slept well,” he comments, staring at your hair. You try to tame your wild hair with a laugh, joining him on the couch.

“Seen my phone?” you ask, and he hands it to you. “Someone brought it in today, you left it at the reception, dummy,” he smiles, and you wince at your stupidity.

“I remember leaving it on the counter and never taking it. Thank you,” you opened your phone with your fingerprint, leaning back onto the couch. You see so many calls, it worries you for a second before you realise all of it was your mom. You call back, putting the phone on speaker as you close your eyes, trying to come to your senses.

“Are you finally awake from the dead?” your mom asks, and Haechan chokes on his ramen. He laughs quietly, enjoying your annoyance.

“A hello would have been nice. Donghyuck heard that, you know,” you say and she laughs.

“He’s going to live with you, might as well. Poor kid,” she pities and Haechan can’t stop laughing. You punch his arm, and he winces, still laughing.

“Anyway, are you twp at home?” she asks, you can hear jungwoo shouting on his playstation on the other side. Your mom screams for him to quiet down, and he does. Haechan and you get a giggle out of it.

“Yeah, dad asked us to take off from the company for a few days,” you answer.

“Well great, cause we’ll be over in 30. See you then, miss you sweetheart,” your mom hangs up. You sit there on the couch, alarmed, and Haechan pauses mid bite.

“Did she say thirty minutes?” Haechan spits out his ramen.

“Get up, we need to move your things into my room, we need to put on something more decent, and you need to wash the dishes,” you sound extremely alarmed, getting up and running for your room.

“Where- where do I put the suitcase?”

“Just leave it open in the room, make it seem natural,” you yell from the bathroom, washing your face aggressively. You slip on a pretty yellow dress and let down your hair in a hurry, brushing it out.

You run out of the bathroom, asking Haechan to go change and telling him that you’ll do the rest of the dishes. You’re putting away the last plate as Haechan rushes out the door with the sound of the door bell.

“You open it,” you urge him towards the door. He groans, but he opens the door with the biggest smile.

“Mom, mother, hi,” Haechan greets them, giving them both a hug.

“Mom!” you exclaim, running into her arms. She laughs as she hugs you, her arms so warm. You’d only seen her yesterday, but you missed her.

“Hi mother,” you greet her with a gentle hug, completely unlike the one you gave your mom.

“How are you guys getting along?” they ask as they sit down on the couch. You and Haechan smile, and Haechan links his hands with yours, squeezing gently.

“It’s great, mom. I couldn’t ask for someone better,” Haechan makes eye contact with you, and you really see sincere love in there. So instead of hiding your little infatuation, you unwrap it too.

“He’s perfect,” you say, smiling. Haechan’s mother and yours look pleased as you share the longest eye contact since engagement.

“So, are you guys sharing a room or something?” Your mom’s question breaks both of you out of your trance.

Haechan stares at your mom, blank.

“Uh, y-yeah, but, uh, we- we haven’t exactly got to the other part yet,” you answer, knowing exactly what your mother was asking. She was implementing if you had consummated the marriage yet, and in truth, you aren’t even really together.

“Oh, I see. Can we see your room?” you and Haechan share certain looks, and then nod. You lead them to your room, Haechan following behind.

You open the door, praying that everything looks fine. Everything does look fine, but you notice a bra at the corner of the room that you forgot to hide. Fuck.

“We- we haven’t cleaned up,” you laugh nervously, and your mothers nod, walking out the room. Your mother pulls you aside and whispers, “maybe hide the evidence before lying to me,” with a smile.

“Huh?” Then it clicks, she saw the bra. Goddammit. You decide you’d just play along.

“We just stopped by, we have to leave soon.” his mother says, and you nod, smiling.

“You know what, we’ll leave now. Thank you for letting us in,” your mother drags his mother outside. You both wave bye happily, glad to be finally out of their eyes.

“Mom saw my bra and thought we had sex,” you say, sighing exasperated. He sighs, finally letting all the stress out.

“This was a mess. Do you just wanna watch netflix and chill?” Haechan speaks, throwing himself onto the couch.

“Yeah,”

You got nothing done that day, but you finished the show Locke and Key. oh well. ——————————————————————————————

You had to go back to work the following week, but right now, you were sprawled out on the couch, Haechan sitting by your feet. You’re watching Brooklyn nine-nine, laughing as Jake Peralta cracks another stupid joke, Haechan’s little laugh echoing.

You’re tired after a long day, and you’re actively looking forward to the weekend like Haechan. It’s past 11, and almost 12. You can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow.

You’re positive you look like shit, and Haechan looked just fine, although a little messy. He looked adorable, his hair messy from bed, a hoodie pulled over his head.

Your phone rings and you groan, staring at it sitting on the single couch opposite from you. Who’s calling this late?

Haechan laughs as he hears you, and reaches out to pick your phone up. He glances at the screen and frowns, handing it to you.

“It’s your secretary.” he says, pausing the show.

“Sorry, I’ll just take this,” you say, and you press the phone to your ear.

“Hello, this-”

“Madame, we have an emergency,” your secretary gasps, shuffling sounds of paper on the other side. You sit up, worried.

“Yes?”

“Our designs have been stolen by the Na’s. They just published their teaser with our designs on it, they’ve stolen our designs,”

“What? I’m on my way, call an emergency meeting with the marketing, the design team, and the legal department,” you almost jump off your couch, heading for your room.

“What happened?” Haechan gets up and follows you, and you spare him a glance. He looks worried.

“The Na’s stole our design. I swear to god, I’ll murder Jaemin with my own hands someday,” you growl, anger consuming your headspace.

“I’m close with Jaemin,” Haechan blurts and you stop in your tracks of picking an outfit.

“Why didn’t I see him at our wedding?”

“He didn’t attend. Said he had documents to process, or something,” Haechan recalls that phone call with his friend.

“He was at the fucking company while I was busy,” you mumble, quickly pulling on a shirt and jeans to rush out of the house.

“Should I come?” he asks, unsure of letting you drive out in the night when it’s this late.

“No, I’ll be fine,” you rush out, but then turn around.

“You don’t mind me sueing that piece of garbage, do you?” you ask, to which Haechan shrugs.

“I knew he was a bad influence, so no, not really. Although, I suggest you should rush there,” he says, and you nod, almost closing the door when you hear Haechan call your name again.

“Y/n! Your keys, you forgot them,” he says, and tosses them into the air for you to catch. You catch them, and wave a quick bye to Haechan who then stands in the middle of the room, frowning.

Fuck you, Jaemin. We were actually spending some time together.

Haechan looks up, his middle finger raised as he stomps back to the T.V, hoping some episodes of Brooklyn nine-nine would cheer him up.

Man, you loved Charles, now he can’t watch it without thinking of you. ——————————————————————————————

After a five hour discussion, you had given everyone a break, and took one for yourself. It was currently somewhere around four in the morning, and you were thinking of calling Haechan. But you’d probably disturb him by it, so maybe you can call after an hour or two.

You go back into the meeting room, and sort some things out. You give everyone the permission to go home and have some rest, and return by four in the evening, cause no company works their employees overnight. God, you felt bad for all of them. Most of them were in their pyjamas.

You’d decided to sue the Na’s, and cancel the coming runway because you really had no other designs that you put your time and work and life into. You’d had so many different things planned for this launch, and all that hard work and pain was in vain.

You are slouched over your table almost in tears when Haechan calls, and you check the time.

8:58 AM, saturday

You pick up the call and stay silent, trying not to cry.

“How did everything go? Are you okay- you know what, I’ll send someone to pick you up, stay right there, sweetheart,” he picks the clues up from your silence so easily, you can’t tell if you love him or hate him.

Thirty minutes pass, and now you’re at your front door, hands on the bell. You ring it, and within seconds, a worried Haechan appears at the door. He guides you in by your hands, and stares at your drained face.

You can’t look at him, because you’re afraid if you do, you’ll burst into tears.

“Are you okay? How is everything?” he asks, and you almost crumble into pieces. This has never happened to you before, you really thought you were emotionally strong.

“Can I get a hug?” is all you manage to say as you look up at him with watery eyes. His heart breaks at the sight and he softly engulfs you in a much needed hug, his hands wrapped around your waist. He rests his chin on your shoulder, and he holds you close, just right.

You break into a pool of tears in his grasp, and Haechan sucks in a tight breath when he hears your sobbing. He slowly lulls you into your room, and sits you on the messy bed. He doesn’t pull away, he just waits for you to let go. When you realise he might be uncomfortable, you let go and he pulls away gently, like he’s afraid of hurting you.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asks softly.

“No, stay please,” you whisper, patting the place next to you. He sits down, and you take a moment before you speak.

“I had so many things planned for this runway launch, and now it’s all Jaemin’s.” you sniffle, and he rubs your back softly.

“Tell me everything,”

“I’ve decided to sue him, and I’ll cancel this launch,” you mumble, your voice breaking.

“Cancel it? You know how big of a loss that would be?” he asks.

“I know, but what else do I do? That motherfucker has it all now,” tears fill your eyes again.

“Do you know who leaked it?” he asks. That one question opens a possibility that you didn’t have time to consider in the middle of all this madness.

“I didn’t have time to think about that,” you whisper, the gears in your head working.

“Leave it to me. I’ll send my lawyer to you, and we’ll handle this like professionals.” he smiles as he pats your back, and you see a glimpse of hope in his eyes. That makes you want to hope everything will turn out fine.

“Also, don’t cancel the show.” he says, and you turn to look at him.

“You still have two months. You have about two weeks to pull other designs. Can you make it work?”

“It’s not that easy to pull designs together, Haechan,” you protest, and he nods.

“I know, but I need you to try. Or, instead of launching clothes, we can launch something else. That could expand your boundaries.” he’s a good businessman. You try to think straight through all your tears, and the first option sounds a lot better. You’re not ready to expand your boundaries yet, there's still work to be done.

“I’ll try to pull together some designs,” you wipe your tears, and Haechan sighs happily. He sounds content with your answer.

“That’s the spirit. When there's a will–”

“There’s a way.” you finish, staring at him with a big smile. His face looks like he approves of it, and he pulls his phone out of his pants.

“I have to make a few calls,” he says, and you nod. He kneels down in front of you, holds your face, and looks you in the eyes. Your face burns red, his lips distracting you.

“You can do this, okay? I believe in you, and I’m proud of you. You’re doing really well, I know you are. You’re trying your best, and things don’t always go your way because this is life. When life throws lemons at you…” he urges you to continue.

“You make lemonade. What are you, a damn pinterest board?” you laugh, eyes teary. He laughs loudly and the sound is so pure, it makes your heart a little lighter.

“I’ve got to make a few calls, I’m right outside the door if you need anything, hmm?” his hands leave your cheeks, and you frown, feeling the warmth leave you. You wanted him to stay longer.

“Also, I’ve left your Ipad on the couch. It’s fully charged,” he shouts from the living, his voice distant. You smile a little. He's taking care of you so well, you don’t deserve him.

You’re going to try drawing something meanwhile, although you’re unsure of what. ——————————————————————————————

You designed a thing or two before sleep overtook you, and you took a break to have a nap. Haechan walks into the room to tell you how his lawyer is on her way to dig up dirt on Na Jaemin, but his heart stops when he finds you asleep. You look so cute, curled into a little ball on the bed, the blanket wrapped around you.

Haechan looks around the room, and he finds your Ipad left unlocked. He peeks onto the screen, and he audibly gasps.

You’d only done two designs, but they were gorgeous and eye-catching. He looks back at your small figure wrapped tightly in a blanket with a new realisation at how talented you are, and it shakes him.

He can’t deny, he is lucky to have you as his wife instead of the people his dad had considered, like Jia from the Kwon family. She was a good match, but she wasn’t as strong or independent as you are. He doesn’t think about anything when you’re around, and that makes him stress free. You’re his only escape from the cruel world.

He stares at you for a few seconds before turning off the bed lamp, tucking you in a little more with a smile. He’s hesitant, but he places a soft kiss on your cheekbone before getting up to leave, his heart serene in his chest.

He knows it’s wrong. It’s so wrong to even touch you with a different intention than friends. He’s convinced himself he doesn’t have feelings for you, so why does he keep wanting you? Why does he keep desiring you all for himself? Why does he feel the need to protect you from the cruel, cruel world and kiss you to sleep every night?

Maybe he’ll never know. ——————————————————————————————

“We’re not cancelling the runway. I’ll pull through with some designs since we have two more months, get all of our best designers on the job. I want a full briefing of at least twenty five designs by next friday.” you speak into the phone.

“What about the lawsuit against the Na’s?” you can hear her gulp.

“I’ve confirmed an appointment with the legal department, another lawyer will be joining the team.” your secretary hums, writing something down.

“I’ll call you later,” you cut the call, stretching yourself in the chair of your desk. You’ve just woken up from your three hour long nap, a little refreshed. Haechan brought you some coffee and some food, and you ate with him.

But you were currently experiencing a bad case of art block. Your head is pounding, and you’re frustrated. You want to scream and cry.

A knock sounds on the door, and Haechan peeks his head in.

“Hey, how’s it going?” he asks, his eyes skimming over your messy desk. “Bad. I have an art block, I can’t think,” you mumble.

“Do you want me to sit here?” he comes in through the door, closing it behind him.

“Yes please,”

He sits down on the spare chair in the room, watching you.

“Did you ask someone to investigate?” he asks, and you nod.

“I’ve reported it. They said it'll take a week or two to process,” you smack your head into your hands, feeling the tears build from frustration.

“Have you tried saying that it was a high profile case?”

“No,” you answer. He pulls his phone out and makes a quick call, and within a minute, he’s hung up.

“I’ve reduced it to a few days. They said they’ll start on the investigation right away,” you’re unbelievably thankful for Haechan, because if it wasn’t for him, you don’t know what you’d have done.

“Haechan, I- I just really can’t thank you enough for everything you do for me. I don’t know how to repay this,” your voice breaks slightly.

You’ve always been so careful about letting people know about your work because you don’t trust anyone. Your dad once said that in business, if one thing tips over, everything tips over. The scale loses its balance, and that’s what’s just happened to you. You’ve been so stable all this while and then suddenly the scale tips, you’re not sure what to do. If you had decided to cancel the project, you might have never recovered from the blow of it.

Thank god for Haechan.

“You don’t have to repay me. I do this as your husband. Husbands and wives help each other, don’t they?” he smiles, and your heart lightens a bit. God, he’s got the prettiest smile you’ve ever seen.

“What even are we? We’re supposed to be husband and wife but we don’t love each other. I can’t say we’re best friends either cause we’re married. What is our relationship?” you don’t mean to say that. It’s probably all the stress that’s been growing on you since last night.

“You know…” Haechan begins, pulling his chair closer to you.

“Some relationships don’t need a label,” he says. You notice for the first time that day how deep his eyes are, and how pretty they are. He makes you want to paint him. He makes you want to make impulse decisions in life, because you feel like there’s someone that’ll protect you from those decisions.

You stare at each other, just admiring his eyes, his nose, his lips. His lips look so soft, so pink, so pretty. God, you could just kiss them.

Haechan begins to lean in softly, his heart thudding against his chest. You’re so pretty in the dim light like this, your lips look so soft to him.

The moment he starts leaning in, you’re stuck in panic. No, no no no no.

You panic and pull back, breathing heavily as you stare at Haechan. He pauses, and then he pulls back. He blushes in embarrassment, looking away.

“I-I’m sorry, I have to get back to work.” you turn around back to your ipad, your heart beating wildly in your chest.

“Yeah, no, it’s okay. I was just- I’m- I’m gonna go now, I’ve got some work,” Haechan gets up, but you hold onto his wrist.

“Please stay,” you mumble meekly. He stares at you for a minute longer before sighing loudly, sitting back down.

God, what was with you? You pull from him and then ask him to stay? What about his feelings?

“What do you want me to do?” Haechan asks. You turn your head and stare at him. You don’t know what you want him to do, his presence is just so comforting to be in.

“You know what, I’ll go get my laptop, I’ll work with you. I hope you don’t mind me making some work calls,” he says, and you smile in gratitude.

“No, of course not,” you say, a little embarrassed. Maybe you shouldn’t make him stay.

“You can… you know, leave if you want to,” you mumble, and Harchand gives you this stare. You chuckle a little, and that makes him laugh.

“Sorry, I’m just high on stress right now,” you say, and he’s kind enough to nod and smile.

Haechan does go and get his things, and settle down in the corner of your huge desk on your turning office chair. He types so fast, and you can’t help but wonder if his fingers work that fast too.

No, no no no no. Not right now. You’re just stressed.

“Hello?” Haechan leans back in his chair, one of his legs resting on top of the other.

Fuck, he looks so fucking hot and powerful. He could just fuck you that good.

He says something into the phone and he looks so in control and sounds so in charge, it sparks something inside you. You need to calm yourself down.

“Are you good?” Haechan is staring at how you’re staring at him. You shake off from your thoughts, and stare at him.

“Huh?”

“Are you good?” he repeats, and you nod.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good. I- I was just thinking.” you say, turning to your Ipad with a new intent. He really did give you an idea. ——————————————————————————————

You turn up at your office looking like you didn’t get any sleep and that was because you didn’t. Haechan slept on your bed, and you slept on your desk for about thirty minutes.

“Madame,” your secretary sighs as she sees you. You force a smile, nodding.

“You look rough. Would you like to take a few minutes to rest?” she asks, smiling gently.

“Could I? I don’t think-”

“I’ll tell everyone that you’re in a meeting, don’t worry,” she smiles, and she's out the door. You’re thankful for your secretary, you are. You lean your head back onto your chair, sighing. The day hasn’t even started and it’s already bad.

A minute or two later, just as you’re about to slip to sleep, your phone goes off. You groan and pick up, not bothering to look at the contact.

“Hello, this is Seo Y/n speaking,”

“Hello, Madame. Mr. Lee had called earlier today and asked to submit a report of the investigation to you,” goddammit, you were so close to falling for Haechan, why is he so nice to you.

“Oh, thank you. Can I ask how much progress there is?” you ask, sitting up straight.

“We have found the culprit, and got an arrest warrant for her. If you could please visit the station, we could arrange a meeting between you and her,”

Her? Your eyes shoot open in surprise, and you’re already grabbing your jacket.

“Yes, sure. Does Mr. Lee know about this?”

“Yes, he had informed us about five minutes ago that he was on his way.” Haechan was already on his way, you needed to be there too.

“I’ll be there in a few,” you cut the call, heading for the door. Your secretary looks surprised as she sees you with your keys.

“They found the culprit. I’ll be back in an hour or two.” you mumble quickly and she nods.

In a few minutes, you’re at the station. You see Haechan’s car parked outside as you rush in, expecting someone to greet you.

“Morning Madame, I assume you’re in a rush, she’s in the interrogation room.” a detective greets you. You smile and nod, eyes searching for Haechan around the room. When Haechan walks out of the interrogation room, you’re surprised.

“I didn’t think I’d see you here,” you lie. You’re not sure why you lied but you did.

“They called, so I just popped in to see what was going on. You should see her for yourself…” he sounds a little grim as he says that.

You step inside the room, and your eyes can’t believe what they’re seeing. Park Hyejin is on the chair, and she looks sour. What is your maid doing here?

“Hyejin?” you furrow your eyebrows, and you don’t fail to catch the way her eyes soften.

“Madame,” she whispers, just loud enough for you to hear. You can’t believe it. There’s no way. They must’ve gotten the wrong person.

You step right back out and stare at Haechan, who’s standing with a file in his hand.

“What’s Hyejin doing here?” you demand, and Haechan sighs before he hands you a file. You flip through the file in absolute disbelief as CCTV photos of Hyejin taking pictures of your designs on her phone are spread through the pages. The printed screenshots of her conversation with Jaemin, and how Jaemin paid her in big amounts to do this, the transaction records, and her purchase history are all given, and you can’t believe a thing.

“What…” you mumble, feeling yourself buckle.

“Are you okay?” Haechan asks quietly. You nod, still deep in shock.

“I’m just in shock. She was my friend.” you can’t describe what you’re feeling. You don’t know if you’re angry, you don’t know if you’re sad, or if you’re even surprised. It’s a mix of emotions, and they all feel shitty.

“Maybe you should head in there, talk to her,” Haechan urges you, tipping his head towards the interrogation room.

“Can you come with me?” you ask, your voice awfully quiet. You almost can’t recognise your own voice.

“Yeah,” he says in the most soothing way he can. His hand rests on the small of your back as he guides you into the interrogation room once again.

“Hyejin,” you try to sound tough as you sit down opposite to her. Haechan is sitting by your side, watching her. She looks at you with the softest look, and she turns her head to look at Haechan with much venom. It looks poisonous.

“Why did you do this?” you ask, and your voice shakes a little. You take a deep breath, and try to channel your quiet inner anger.

“Why did you do this?” this time, your voice sounds strong and vengeful. Betrayed.

“Madame I-” she stops herself as tears fill her eyes. She tucks her lips between her teeth in an attempt to stop herself from crying, but it doesn’t seem to work. You feel nothing for this girl, not anymore. She almost toppled all of your company for a reason she hasn’t told you yet, and you have every right to not feel anything.

“I asked a fucking question.” you spit, anger seething out of you. Haechan grips your wrist gently, and you seem to calm down a little. Much enough to not shout.

“I-I wa-” she stutters and you’re losing your patience. You know Haechan can sense it and even his grip isn’t doing anything for you.

“Spit it out,” your hand bangs down on the table, startling everyone who was in the room. Startling her so much to the point of spitting the truth out.

“I WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU,” she says, and you stare. Did you hear that wrong? You probably did.

“What?”

“I said I was in love with you. I was so in love with you and I still am. I didn’t like it when I saw you getting married to him—” she glares at Haechan for a moment and he looks confused “I didn’t like it when I saw him leave a kiss on your cheek, I hated that so much.”

You’re so surprised that you almost choke. Are you really that pretty enough to pull the guys and the gays? You glance at Haechan, and he looks equally surprised, maybe more.

“I hated it when you had to get married and move away, and that I couldn’t come along. I couldn’t see you more often, and I hated that. I was so angry and sad, I contacted Jaemin. Got him in the first try. I waited till you had moved before safely taking pictures of your designs and sending them to him. I admit the crime. I deserve to rot in jail for doing this but—” she looks up at you, dried eyes filling up again.

“I really did love you. I want you to know that I made such a stupid descision because I loved you too much, and I’m sorry for doing this.” she finishes, and you need to take a few moments to process everything you’ve heard.

So to sum it up, your maid is in love with you, and because she’s mad, she sold you out to your rivals and then when she gets caught, she apologises.

Okay.

You breathe out, getting ready to speak.

“Unfortunately, I hope you know that I can’t reciprocate your love since I’m married. I have a husband who I—” you glance at Haechan with a smile “whom I love.”

You smile wide as you hold eye contact, and Haechan’s breath gets stuck in his throat. Was this you confessing? He wants to kiss you so bad, but there are cameras and eyes watching.

You catch her jaw flexing angrily and you can only smile wider.

“And yes, you do deserve to rot in jail, don’t think I’d go easy on you because you were in love with me and because I considered you my friend instead of a maid. How could you even–” you scoff, your anger barely containing itself.

“Anyway, I’m going to hope you get bail and file a case. You brought this upon yourself, too bad I can’t help you.” you stand from your seat, glaring at her down. You leave before you say something else, anything else that might make you overthink.

You rip the car door open and settle yourself in the passenger's seat, sighing. The car door opens again and Haechan settles into the driver's seat with a huge smile.

“Are you okay?” he tries to sound calm, but you can hear the excitement, or happiness seeping through.

“Yeah, what’s up with you?” you ask, although you know.

“Nothing really,” he mumbles.

“No, there’s something,” you tease, and he takes a deep breath before turning to you.

“Did you mean it?” he asks, and you almost pass out from the tension of the question.

“I- uh- I-I don’t know…I’m not sure why I said that, but I’m not sure about my feelings either.” you say quietly, and instead of frowning, Haechan sounds happy when he speaks.

What you said was true. Haechan had been too nice to you, and even if all this was a lie, you’d love for nothing more than to keep having him by your side.

“Oh, I panicked and thought you had no feelings for me whatsoever. Give me a month or two, and watch yourself fall for me,” he smiles so wide, he looks so gorgeous. The sun is so strong as it shines through the window on Haechan’s side, but it didn’t bother him. He pulls the gear and the car roars to life before it pulls out of the parking lot.

He sounded confident. And you loved it. Hell, you’d love nothing more than to keep seeing him happy.

Maybe I’d already fallen for him. I know he’s not going anywhere, he’ll always be mine.

She’ll be mine. She was mine all along, and I will make sure it stays that way. ——————————————————————————————---------

You woke up the next morning in your bed, well rested. That was rare because after the incident, sleep wasn’t even an option.

Why were you in your bed though? You remember accidentally falling asleep on the couch. It didn’t take you long to figure out Haechan probably put you to bed. Your mind tries to remember something else, and you remember a soft forehead kiss and a few head pats and him tucking you in. Your heart flutters, and you try to find yourself reasonable.

You get up from bed, ready to head to the office, and as usual, the house is quiet. You don’t run into Haechan in the mornings because he leaves before you even wake up. You don’t have to turn up at the company till nine, but Haechan has to be there by eight. It isn’t his company yet, his dad is still watching him.

You walk into the kitchen to make something to eat before you change and leave, and you aren’t fully awake yet. You open your eyes to the smell of something cooking, and it’s something sweet.

Haechan is standing by the stove, shirtless, his airpods plugged in. You can’t help but stare at his back, your lips tucking in on themselves automatically. His back muscles are defined, his arms are an eye candy, and the rest of his body is uncommentable. His grey sweats are loose around his waist, and you end up wondering what it looks like below his waist. You don’t even realise he’s turned around as you stare him down unconsciously.

“Do you really like staring at me that much?” he leans onto the island with one arm supporting all of his weight. You blush furiously as you turn around, heart unsettled.

“Why are you half naked in the kitchen? Go put something on, I live here too,” you shout, and he doesn’t seem to be bothered.

“I don’t want to put anything on. From the looks of it, you don’t really want me to either, do you?” he flips something in the pan but you can’t see since your back is facing him.

“N-no, put something on,”

Dammit, why did you stutter?

“No,” he simply answers, and you realise how stubborn he is.

“Do you want breakfast?” he asks, and you turn around hesitantly.

“Yeah,” you mumble, settling down on the seat at the island without a thought. You don’t look at him at all. Maybe you did steal glances.

“I made pancakes,” he places a plate down before you, and you look up at him. He smiles at you softly and you smile back, just looking at him. It’s just a little moment between you two before you decide to speak.

“Shouldn’t you be at the office?” you ask, reaching for the maple syrup. He even bought a new bottle of maple syrup.

“I took a half day, you’ve been working so hard I wanted to cook for you,” he leans forward on the counter, and the bottle almost tips out of your hand.

“Careful, sweetheart.” He takes the bottle out of your hand, and pours the syrup on the pancakes, placing the bottle down after. Your cheeks heat up, and you look down at your plate, cutting out a little piece of the stack of pancakes.

“Is this you trying to make me fall for you?” you ask, and Haechan stiffens. He sighs and then he says, “No, this is me cooking for you as your friend who cares about you. You haven’t slept well in days, you don’t eat well, and you’re starting to lose weight. Don’t think I don’t notice all of that,”

“I don’t care if you fall for me or not, as long as I get to love you either way. I just need you to take care of yourself, okay?” he looks into your eyes, a gentle smile on his face.

Fuck, he doesn’t even have to try to get into your head.

“You’ll be late, you should go. If I come back to the room and see food on the plate, I will light you on fire,” he threatens as he walks out of the room, leaving a smiley you behind.

As if. He loves me. ——————————————————————————————

The runway is close, and you have never been more content with your work in your life. You have enough designs ready, a few others unfinished but worthy enough to be released next time, and a few other substitutes. It’s all perfect, and almost all of it is your designs.

Haechan helped your creative process quite a lot, just being there and providing comfort for you. He even searched up some places you two could visit to trigger your inspiration, and it helped quite a lot. Although you have to say, your favourite dress in all of your collection would be the one you designed the night Haechan tried to kiss you. You were inspired by him to design that, and to say, it was a staff favourite.

“Madame, the runway is tomorrow, are you nervous?” your secretary seems excited and nervous, but more collected than you currently are.

“I am confident in our work, but I can’t help but feel nervous. God, this is nerve wracking.” you mumble, your fingers constantly playing with the paper weight in your hand.

“Everything is in check, I personally called the venue to check, you don’t have to worry. The preparations will be done almost four hours before the show, so you really don’t have to worry,” your secretary attempts to comfort you. You nod with a nervous smile, a large sigh following.

“You realise you’re working overtime, right Madame? It’s past seven, you should go home and get some rest,” she says, pity in her voice. You sigh, getting up from your chair.

“I’ll go home before Donghyuck gets mad at me for working overtime. You should too, you don’t have to stick around, it’s late,” you smile, and she nods.

“It’ll be hard to catch a ride at this hour, but I’ll just ask someone for a lift, thank you Madame,” she bows.

“How about I give you a ride?” you ask, and her eyes light in surprise.

“Oh, uh, Madame, that’s not necessary, please.” she smiles nervously.

“No, no, I insist. You’ve done so much for us, stayed over in overtime for so many hours. What kind of a CEO am I if I can’t give you a ride?” you smile and she smiles back gratefully.

“I’ll wait for you, be quick,” you walk out of the office. ——————————————————————————————

“Where the hell were you?” Haechan answers the door as you walk in with a sheepish grin. You hang your coat on the coat hanger, and turn to him.

“I didn’t realise I worked overtime, forgive me please,” you pout, giving your best puppy eyes. He folds almost instantly, but he tries to stay angry.

“Y-you could’ve called, o-or something,” his eyes avoid you. You smile in victory, opening your arms for a hug.

“Can I get a hug if you’re not mad?” you stare at him, and he stands there for a second before he groans and scoops you into his arms. His big hand rubs your back and it’s so soothing, you almost fall asleep in his arms.

“You must be so nervous,” he whispers, swaying you in his arms. You hum, your grip just as tight on his waist.

“Do you want to watch a movie with me, sweetheart? Just to get your mind off all of that for a while?” you pull back with a smile, nodding. He leaves a small kiss on your cheek before he pulls away completely.

“Choose the movie, I’ll get the snacks,” he shouts from the living room.

“Be there in a minute, need to change,” you shout back and he shouts a confirmation.

You and Haechan still aren’t a thing. You’re in love with Haechan now, but everytime he brings that up, you panic and deny everything. Everything about him is so perfect, the way he handles you, the way he hugs you, the way he touches you, the way he looks at you, everything. You can’t ever deny your feelings anymore because you’re so in love with him, so in love that you’d willingly burn anyone and anything that’d hurt him.

You walk into the living room in your favourite blue pyjamas, and Haechan is already on the couch, waiting for you. He’s scrolling on his phone, but he switches it off and places it onto the side when he sees you.

“Which movie do you wanna watch?” he asks, passing you your bowl of popcorn. You like your own popcorn most of the time, and little things and observations like this from him is what makes you fall more in love with him.

You take the remote and scroll through a few movies, before settling on a movie. It’s a romance movie, you’ve recalled the name skimming past your eyes when you looked for shows to watch.

You look at Haechan and he looks like he doesn’t mind, so you press play. The movie starts out, and you pull your blanket from the side onto your body. It’s cold outside.

Haechan moves a little closer to you, and you feel the goosebumps on his soft skin. You move your blanket onto his body and he gladly takes it without a word, thanking you quietly.

Haechan spreads his arms across the couch, and you risk moving closer into his arms. You cuddle up against him, curling into a little ball. He breathes in sharply, wrapping his arm around you a second after.

He’s so warm and soft, so comfortable to cuddle up to. Haechan tries to relax against you, and he gets so much dopamine from just your presence. It feels amazing. You’re his drug, his high.

As the movie plays furthur, the tension between the characters thickens. The sexual tension is so high and thick, it makes you heat up. You can feel the air under the blanket become hot, and Haechan being next to you isn’t helping the situation in any way.

Especially when the female character starts touching herself to the thought of her crush. That isn’t a very comfortable scene for you when you’ve done the same with Haechan, but who’s telling him.

Haechan clears his throat, and he’s clearly so disrupted by the scene. You, on the other hand, can feel something pooling in your panties, and you’re not ready to accept that you just got horny to a scene in a movie.

Your hand unconsciously traces up Haechan’s torso, and Haechan is overly aware of it. When they reach his chest, he stops your hand.

“Y-y/n,” he breathes out shakily, staring into your eyes. His fingers are wrapped around your wrist, and you swallow roughly at his rough grip. His eyes look like black pools, so dark and lustful.

“Haechan, I-” you swallow, your gaze switching to his lips and back. You lean in to kiss him, risking all your morals.

Just as your lips touch his, his hand on your chest stops you. You look up with glassy eyes, and he asks, “Do you really want this? Are you sure?”

“I don’t want you to regret it later,” he’s quiet, gentle. You would have panicked and shouted no, and maybe even pushed him away. But you want him, no, you need him.

“I want you,” you whisper, and you hear his breath get stuck in his throat.

“I want you to kiss me, tell me how much you love me. I love you, maybe not as much as you love me, but as much as I can afford to love. Kiss me, please,” you whisper, and so many different emotions rush through him. You can see it.

He waits a moment before he places his lips on yours, his hand sliding by your jawline. He holds you so gently, and you need a minute to figure out you’re kissing him. You engage more in him, and your hand wraps around his neck, pulling him in deeper.

He sighs in happiness as he pulls away slowly, lips still brushing against each other.

“I love you too,” he whispers back with the happiest and the prettiest smile. You giggle gently as tears of relief coat your eyes, and he kisses you once again.

Here he was, in your arms, all yours. You can’t believe it. You kiss back so passionately, and you can’t stop yourself. Your hands roam his body, everywhere on his body, and you moan softly as he tugs on your lips. You climb into his lap, and you can easily feel his hardness on your ass.

Oh my god. You need to tell him before you go any further.

“W-wait,” you mumble, pushing gently at his chest. He pulls away without a word, and he looks worried.

“I-I have to tell you something,” you stutter out, playing with the back of his sweater.

“What's up? Are you regretting saying everything you did?” he asks, and you jump to correct his thoughts.

“No, no no no no, Hyuck please,”

“That’s the first time you’ve ever called me that. I like it,” he smiles, but he looks pained.

“Haechan please, I love you, and no, I don’t regret anything I’ve done in the past minute, please.” you kiss him again, and his hand ends on your cheeks again.

You pull away and instead of dragging it out longer, you spit it out.

“I’m- I’m a virgin.” you spit, and Haechan looks a little shook. He didn’t expect you to be a virgin, not with how beautiful you were. He’d assumed you’d done something with Taeyong too, because you did say he was your first everything.

“I’m your first?” he then asks, to which you nod hesitantly. He smiles as he pulls you closer, his nose bumping with yours.

“Are you sure you want me to be your first?” his hands are wrapped tightly around your waist.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way than to give myself to the man I love,” you smile. He kisses you again, this time, a little more lust, a little more desire. He pulls you closer to his body as he kisses you, devouring your lips.

He’s only imagined this, how it would feel like to have you pressed up against him. He didn’t really think this would actually happen.

“Hold onto me,” he says, and stands up, taking you into his arms as you still kiss. You cling onto him, kissing him repeatedly. God, you can’t have enough of him.

He carries you to your bedroom, placing you down on the bed ever so gently.

“I promise I’ll be gentle with you,” he whispers into the kiss and you nod, tugging at his hoodie. He leans back to peel it off his body, and you can’t help but flush deep red at how beautiful he is. His muscles are not too thick, not to thin either, just perfect. Each dip and each curve of his muscle is defined softly, and he looks gorgeous.

“Let’s not rush it, okay?” he says, and you nod. You lift your arms for him to take off your shirt, and he pauses.

“Are you sure?” he asks one last time, his hand holding onto the first button of your shirt.

“Yes please,” you assure him, and he starts unbuttoning them one by one, holding his breath as each button reveals a different patch of skin. You watch his face in amusement as he brushes his hand against your collarbone, slipping the shirt off your shoulder. So much more skin for him to kiss.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” he mumbles, his hands running along the expanse of your skin. There’s something about him cursing when he sees you, it makes him so much more passionate. And to say, that’s the first time you’ve heard him curse.

He gently places a kiss in the crook of your neck, and your breath catches in your throat. That’s your first neck kiss. God, you’ve waited so long for this.

His kisses trail from your neck to your collarbones and down your chest, to the top of your breasts.

“Haechan,” you gasp softly as he bites a mark onto your skin. “Hmm?” he hums in answer.

Your hands roam his body, and you can tell he’s especially sensitive on his nipples by the way his breath hitches a little when you touch past them. He softly sucks a mark by the top of your breasts, and hell, you want so much more of him.

“More, need more please,” you mumble in a daze. He nods, hands teasing the hook of your bra. “Can I?” he asks, and you hastily mumble out the consent. He pulls back from your skin to watch, and you already look so pretty, gorgeous for him.

Your eyes are glassy, so many pretty marks on your skin, and he needs to take a moment to admire your beauty. “Hyuck…” you whine, getting shy under his intense gaze. He makes out a soft laugh, kissing your forehead.

“Sorry, sorry, I just had to stare at how pretty you looked for me,” he mumbles out and you smile, butterflies in your stomach. He closes the distance between you both again, his hands quickly throwing off your bra. You gasp, suddenly feeling so bare.

“Sssh, you’re okay, I promise,” he softly kisses your lips, distracting you. Once you’re comfortable enough, his kisses start heading south again, all the way down to your breasts this time. He softly sucks on one of your nipples, his hand sliding down between your legs. You moan softly, and he loves it. He loves the sound so much.

“Moan so pretty for me again, baby.” he whispers again, switching his mouth from one nipple to the other. His hand spreads you open, and his fingers quickly find your clit. You moan out loud again, and Haechan loves it so much.

“Don’t hold your moans, love them so much, baby.” the way the nickname falls from his lips has you spiralling deeper into him. There’s so much love and affection in the way he holds you, so carefully like you’ll break if he handles you a little rougher.

His fingers slowly ease at your entrance, watching your face. You tense up and he senses it, placing a soft kiss on your forehead. You’re a little nervous, you haven’t necessarily penetrated yourself a lot, and it’s always so tight when you do. You’re not even sure if you have a G-spot above all.

“Are you nervous?” he gently kisses all over your face, his hands pulling from your pussy. You nod, biting your lips.

“I don’t penetrate myself often,” you blush red, staring at his lips. They look so pretty.

“That’s okay, I’ll be careful, I promise.” he assures you, pecking your lips repeatedly. You trust him, maybe more than what you’re used to.

His fingers slowly push in your hole, and you gasp, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“So fucking wet and tight for me, my princess,” he nestles his middle finger in you, watching you so eagerly.

“Haechan,” you whine, pulling his mouth onto yours. You kissed him roughly, holding onto him so tightly. His fingers push in and out slowly, and you slowly gasp into the kiss. Haechan’s strong urge to hold your cheeks and spit into your mouth isn’t leaving, not when you kiss so messy.

When his fingers curl inside you, you see white. You moan messily into his mouth, and at this point, Haechan is so painfully hard. You were so tight and wet around his fingers, he couldn’t imagine how good it’d feel inside you.

“Faster,” you mumble, tears building in the corner of your eyes as you close in on your orgasm. “Close, close, so close,” you speak mindlessly, clutching onto the sheets.

“That's it, you’re doing so good for me, such a good girl for me,” he mumbles praises as you clench tight around his fingers.

“Haechan,” you whimper, pulling him in for another messy kiss to muffle your moans. His fingers press on your clit and that gets you. You cum hard on his fingers and he rides you through it, a soft smile on his face. Your legs shake lightly, and he soothes you through it.

“You did so well for me, baby. What a good girl,” he kisses you, his hands running over your thighs messily.

You hold his face close and whisper onto his lips, “Want you to fuck me,”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to push-”

“Fuck me, please.” you say. He sounds so nervous. Maybe he’s worried he’ll hurt you.

“Oh baby. Sure you can take me, love? Your tight little hole will be all used up by the time I’m done, princess.” your hole clenches, and you squeeze your thighs together.

“Please?”

He sighs, pinning you down to the bed once again with his lips. He presses you down, kissing you roughly, hungrily. He pulls away and slides down his sweats, and his underwear comes into view. The outline of his cock is huge.

His eyes are on you as he pulls down his underwear, a small gasp falling from your lips. He’s fucking huge. Your guess would be over eight. That’s probably an understatement.

“Like how big I am? Hmm?” he climbs back onto the bed, and you get a closer look at his cock. You don’t think that’s gonna fit inside you.

“You’re so big…” you whisper, and it doesn’t slip past his ears. He chuckles, placing another kiss at the top of your head as the head of his cock rubs against your pussy.

“Spit,” he opens his hand, and you spit onto it. He rubs it in between your pussy just in case you needed extra lubrication to take him in.

“You do touch yourself, don’t you sweetheart?” he asks, and you nod.

“Words, love.”

“Yes, yes I do, and I’ve done it to the thought of you,” you mumble mindlessly, mind too hazy to register what you were saying.

“Really now? You were my good girl all along, weren’t you?” his cock aligns with your hole again as you agree.

“I’m going to push in, love,” he whispers, and you wrap your hands around his neck before nodding. He pushes in, and you feel yourself being split open. He’s so big, and you already feel full before his cock is even half way in.

“Big, so- so big,” you whimper, your hands gripping onto his back.

“Sssh, you can take it puppy, yes you can,” he assures you, continuing to push in. Tears build in the corner of your eyes at the burn, and you whimper.

“Oh princess, you take me so well,” he coos, pressing gentle kisses everywhere. Tears drip from your eyes, and he wipes them away with his thumb, kissing them away.

“Promise it won’t hurt for long,” he assures you, and you hold onto him so tight. You weakly pull him into a kiss, asking him to move. He slowly rocks his hips forward, and you gasp, more tears building in your eyes.

Your cunt takes him so well, so tight and wet and warm. Haechan has to hold back his urge to fuck you stupid, until you’re just a mess that can’t talk, and all for your wellbeing. This is your first time, he needs to take it slow.

“It- it feels good,” you moan, scratching his back. Haechan fastens the pace by a little, and you moan out loud, your moans choppy.

“So good, degrade me, please,” you moan, and each moan, Haechan’s hips pistol a little harder, thrust a little faster.

“You’re a dirty fucking slut, fuck, look at you asking me so despretely,” he fucks you harder, degrading words falling from his lips.

“C-choke me,” you mumble out, and Haechan pauses for a second. You might be more kinky than he thought.

“Gladly,” his hand wraps around your neck, and he thrusts into you again, and you swear you saw stars.

“Fuck, yes, so good,” you cry, inching closer to your orgasm. He fucks you so hard, his hand wrapped around your throat, constant degrading falling from his lips. He praised you so far because he thought you wanted to take it slow, it was your first time. But all in the name of pleasant surprises.

Your back arches off the bed and sweat rolls down Haechan’s forehead from the effort, inching closer to an orgasm himself. Haechan pulls your leg up on his shoulder in a new angle, and you cry out when he touches a certain spot inside you that you didn’t know you had.

“Gonna cum, gonna cum on your cock,” you mumble mindlessly, your leg on Haechan’s shoulder. You almost scream as you clench, cumming hard on his cock. Your body shudders, and your legs shake from effort. It only takes a few more thrusts for Haechan to cum, and he pulls out before he cums. He cums onto your stomach, and you find it so hot.

He falls flat onto you, holding you close like you’ll disappear if he lets go.

“You did so well.” he kisses your forehead. You pant softly, your arms weakly clinging onto him.

“You wanna take a shower?” he asks, and you smile.

“Yes please,” you say, exhaustion dragging in your voice.

“Did I go too hard? Does it hurt anywhere?” he pouts out of habit, his eyes searching your face for any signs of displeasure.

“Noo, I’m fine,” you peck his lips.

“I mean, even if you’re hurt, it isn’t entirely my fault. You were the one who asked to get choked and degraded in the first place,” he states, and you blush brilliant red, glaring at him.

“Don’t glare at me, you know I’m right,” he smiles cheekily. You weakly punch him in the arm, and he acts like that costs his life. It gives you a good laugh.

“Let’s take a bath,” he stands up, slipping on his sweats. He picks you up and you squeal, covering yourself.

“What? It’s not like I didn’t just see all of this like a minute or two ago,” he rolls his eyes playfully, and you curl onto his chest. He places you into the bathtub, turning on the hot water for your sore muscles.

“Join me please,” you whine, scooting forward to make some space for him in the back. He giggles when he says, “Where do you think I’d go without joining you, don’t be dumb Mrs. Lee,”

You whine and he slips off his sweats, settling in the bath behind you. He leans back with a sigh, and you lean back onto him, relaxing all your muscles.

“When did you fall for me?” he asks.

“The day you tried to kiss me,” is your only quiet answer. He laughs and you laugh along, that being a fun memory now that you’ve really become a married couple.

“That wasn’t funny, you hurt my feelings back then,” he says, and you sigh.

“I know, I’m sorry. I wanted to kiss you, I did. But we promised to stay friends, and with my overthinking, all of it got into my head. You know, I even designed a certain dress that night, it’s a staff favourite. You’re the inspiration behind it,” you speak, and he hums, leaning over to press kisses onto your nape. You relax back into his gentle touch, smiling unconsciously.

You sit in silence like that for a while, just being next to each other.

“You touched yourself to the thought of me?” he asks, and you can sense the teasing smile on his face without looking.

“W-well,” you try to justify yourself, face burning red.

“I- you- you were walking around half naked that day and I was horny. I just- I thought of you doing what you just did to me,” you speak quietly, trying to hide your face away from him. Might as well come clean at this point.

“Well well well, I don’t mind. I think it’s so fucking hot,” he whispers into your ear. You shudder, a tight slap landing on Haechan’s thighs.

“Ouch,” Haechan yells falsely.

“Don’t do that,” you mumble shyly.

“Do what?”

“I don’t know, leave me alone,” you pout and look away, acting fake upset. He gets a good laugh out of it.

“Sorry, I had to,” he kisses your nape repeatedly as a form of apology. You pout, looking away.

“Okay, okay, let me wash you, hmm?” you look back again at his face, trying to hide your smile. God, how does he look so beautiful.

“You’re so pretty,” you adjust yourself to hold his face in your hands. He tilts his head towards your touch, enjoying the feeling.

“Pretty and all yours,” he smiles. He’s never been happier in his life except for the time when he was five and his dad got him the toy car he wanted.

You’re all his and he’s all yours. There’s nothing you both want more from the world. The fail of blemishes on his face, the little moles dotted everywhere onto his skin, he looks beautiful up close. You place your lips on his in the softest, most gentle kiss. It’s so pure, there’s nothing but love for each other in the span of those few seconds.

“How did I even end up with you?” Haechan whispers, his eyes observing you. You’re gorgeous, headstrong, and independent, you were truly a treasure to him.

“I don’t know, but fate had a plan for sure,” you laugh, a little teary eyed. To whoever put him in your path, thank you.

“Come here, baby,” the way he says it is so sweet, unlike the Haechan that was teasing you minutes ago. You move yourself again, your back facing him. You lean back and he pulls you against his chest, slow soft kisses on every inch of skin he could reach.

He finally does reach for the loofah, asking you to hand the body wash over when he realised he couldn’t reach it. He lathers it up and gently rubs over your skin, and a shaky sigh slips past your lips.

“It never fails to surprise me how much I love you,” he presses another kiss to your cheek and you giggle, leaning into him more.

“I’m going to love you back just as much with all I’ve got.” you mumble, and you can feel the smile in his voice when he speaks.

“I love you,” he whispers, and you whisper back the same words, letting him lather all the soap on your body. He’s so gentle, it makes you want to cry.

He washes your hair for you, gives you a few kisses, and helps you dry up. He wraps a towel around your body, looking at you with utmost love.

“Let’s get you to bed, okay?” he whispers and you nod with a cheeky smile. You feel like a toddler, so spoiled.

He gets you some clothes, the clothes being his. You curl into bed, exhausted and spent. Your eyes close and you feel one last kiss on your cheek before you slip into sleep.

Everything is going so well, you’ve never been happier. One last thing you need done is the runway, and you’ll be free ——————————————————————————————

“The show starts in 30 minutes, where’s Haechan?” you mumble, worried. You haven’t sat down all day long, running here and there to make sure everything was perfect. Haechan was nowhere to be seen, although he promised he’d be there an hour before the show started. What if something had gone wrong?

You call his phone for the sixteenth time, frustration creeping up your neck. A stylist comes up to you mid call, and asks a doubt, and it takes all of your inner strength not to shout.

“Gina please, we’ve been over this. Red eyeshadow for the purple dress, Green one for the blue. It’s the colour contrasts. There’s a sheet with Kim, just ask for it,” you shoo her away, and she walks away. You can’t stand out and keep calling him much longer, the hair stylists are late as it is.

“Madame,” your secretary runs up to you, switching off her headset. You gesture to her to keep going, your eyes on your phone.

“Mr. Lee had just called in, he wanted me to tell you that he was right outside the venue.” your eyes light up, hope igniting inside you. You were about to give him hell if he had missed this.

You tell your secretary to take charge until you’re back, and you run outside to him. “Haechan, where were you?” you sigh exasperated.

“Get in,” he says, and you do.

“I’m sorry for pulling you out in the middle of everything like this, but,” he says, rushing to pull something out of his pocket.

“Noticed you forgot our engagement ring at home, so I got a substitute to match your dress,” he smiles as he slides it on your ring finger.

“Haechan, I- I could have sent someone to get it,” you stare at him, confused.

“Consider this our engagement ring. We weren’t exactly couples when we got married for real, you know,” he blushes a little, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Come in, everyone wants to meet Mr. Lee,” you tease, leaning forward and closer to his lips.

“And they’ll meet Mr and Mrs. Lee. We’re a package deal, everyone knows that,” he kisses you, and you kiss back with the same intensity.

“I love you,”

“Love you too baby,” he whispers against your lips, stepping out of the car with you.

——————————————————————————————

“Check again. The weekly report has mistakes in it,” Mark sighed, throwing the report to the front of his desk. “Bullshit.” he mumbled under his breath, frustrated at the report. The damn report was supposed to be finished and handed to him yesterday. Most of his judgement was supposed to be conducted after the weekly report was handed in, now that report was late, and even had mistakes in it, his judgments were late too.

“I need this report to be on my desk in 3 hours, and I want it fully remade. Am I being clear?” Mark warned, his voice dripping with dominance.

“Y–yes sir,” the employee shook in fear, bowed and exited the room quickly after grabbing the report.

Mark Lee. The youngest, most accomplished CEO in Neocity at the age of 26. His clothing line was a huge success after their first launch. The Infinity fashion line rose to popularity quickly and soon, they were featured in many shows, commercials and runways. There wasn’t anyone in the business or fashion industry that wasn’t known of his company.

Mark sighed before pressing the button on the telephone at his desk which connected to the secretary. “Secretary Choi, sent the model in. I’ll meet her now.” Mark spoke, composing himself again.

“Yes sir, sending her in,” she spoke, and moments later, a knock was heard on the office door.

“Come in,” Mark sat up straight, pushing his hair back with his hand.

A well poised, beautiful and tall woman walked in, the clicking of her heels followed by where she stood.

“Hello, Mr.Lee,” she extended her hand towards Mark, and he took the hand with a smile.

“Hi, Ms.Choe, take a seat.”

“Is it confirmed?”

“Yes, Ms.Choe will be representing us on the Milano runway. Get the other models too, as a backup, clear?” Mark ordered his secretary as he walked into the elevator, ready to head home.

“Yes, sir. Have a good night,” she bowed, and Mark tilted his head forward with a smile, mumbling the same words back.

Mark walked to his car through the parking lot, many thoughts running through his head. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, or where he was staring. The runway had him super busy, he was hardly keeping his eyes open. He zoned out as he walked, thinking over the same details over and over again.

“What the fuck are you staring at?” a voice broke him from his trance.

“Huh? I’m sorry I wasn’t–” Mark looked up to see a well dressed woman, young and gorgeous. His words got stuck in his throat and he stared at your pretty features.

“You were staring at me. Just now,”

“Ma’am, I wasn’t paying attention–”

“Pervert.” he heard you mumble and that made him snap. He wasn’t looking at you, he was lost in his thoughts and he just happened to place his eyes on a very pretty woman.

“I’m sorry? I think I heard wrong?”

“I said pervert. P–e–r–v–e–r–t.” you spelled it out.

“I was lost in my thoughts, I wasn't staring at you. As if there was anything to even look at.” Mark mumbled the last part.

He heard you scoff and then you said, “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind me sueing you then?”

“Excuse me, I’m telling you it was a damn mistake. Why don’t you understand? I’m a person with a lot of stress, so I tend to zone out, okay? I even apologised.” Mark explained himself.

“You were clearly staring at my ass. I saw it.”

“I’m telling you, I wasn’t staring, I was lost in my thoughts,” Mark argues back, his hands resting at his hips.

“I–”

“Actually, I don’t think I have the time to bicker with you. I’ll be leaving,” Mark tilted his head aggressively, you were a woman after all.

You scoffed as you watched Mark get into his car and drive away.

I’m a person with much stress too, does he think he’s the only one? Pervert.

Loosening his tie as he walked into the house, Mark sighed. Fruitful yet exhausting day has gone by and he’s exhausted. He picked up his phone and dialled a number, a smile resting onto his face as soon as he heard the other side pick up.

“Hey, mom,” Mark smiled, the voice of his mother calming.

“Hi, Mark. How are you doing? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, today was exhausting,” he whined, the comfort of his mother like none other.

Mark loved his mom. He grew up without a dad, so his mother was always his safe place. A place to let out anything, and he knows she’d listen no matter what. He’d tell her everything from his personal problems to his finances in the company, and she would listen even when she understood nothing.

––

“Yeah, I'll call later, okay?”

“Okay, Mark, get good sleep, okay? I love you,”

“I love you too, mom,” Mark frowned as he cut the call. He was really sleepy, he still wanted to talk to his mother though.

As he laid in bed, thinking through the day, you came into his thoughts.

You’d called him a pervert for accidentally staring. Mark scoffed unconsciously. He did find you exceptionally beautiful though.

And just like that, you didn’t leave his mind for the rest of the following day. No matter the runway, or whatever, you were there on his mind. He was going to try and find you when he was free.

The very anticipated runway rolled over the following month, and Mark was nervous and excited.

He sat in the first row, playing with his fingers.

“It’s all set, sir. There is nothing to worry about,” his secretary stood by his side, observing him.

“Thanks, but this is still a prominent runway. I trust our models to do well,” Mark Looked up at his secretary and smiled, his feet tapping away with nervousness.

Mark looked around the venue, only with a few selective celebrities, designers and photographers. Mark noticed one face that was weirdly familiar, but brushed it off since he just guessed he might have seen them in some other gathering. He definitely did not want to strike up a conversation, not right now.

The show started, and Mark grew more nervous as each model passed. And then finally, there his model was, walking down the runway with top confidence. Her each stride marked confidence and he was proud of the dress that he’d designed that she wore. Well presented, the model eventually left the stage with her impression of the dress still lingering.

The afterparty was long and exhausting since he’d travelled a while to get to where the show was held, but the organiser insisted he attend, so here he was, socialising with a glass of champagne in his hand.

“Well, I certainly have grown fond of this young man. Isn’t that right, Mark?” the old business man next to Mark said, patting his back.

“Yes, yes, sir.” Mark made a laugh, his eyes searching around to find the one man he was looking forward to hanging around with through the whole event, just so he wouldn’t have to talk.

Right then, he saw Haechan walk in through the door, tightening his tie.

“Excuse me, I have somewhere to be,” Mark excused himself from the group of old men, walking towards Haechan.

“Where the heck were you at, dude? I’ve been waiting for so long,” Mark shook the younger’s hand, making the younger smile.

“I hardly got here alive bitch and that’s what you want to say?” Haechan scowled, and Mark laughed, adjusting his tie.

“What’s up?”

“The crazy fans, dude. They’re scary.”

“What’d they do?”

Haechan sighed before continuing, and picked up a champagne glass from the waiter that passed by.

“They jumped in front of my van. And then proceeded to gather around the van and they shouted something, I didn’t catch it.”

It’s a usual problem Haechan had to deal with from when he debuted as an actor, but this was the first for him in such a scary incident.

“Damn, dude. You okay?”

“Nah, man. I considered going back to the hotel, then realised I had you waiting here. So I came here.”

“Thanks man, like I’ll buy you dinner or something.”

Haechan sighed, sticking his arms out like a baby for Mark to come and hug in.

“This is the least you can do.”

Mark cursed under his breath before he leaned in for a hug, and Haechan took the chance to squeeze him.

“Okay that’s enough–”

“Go on a blind date.” Haechan cut him off, the sentence making Mark stop struggling.

“What the fuck are you saying, let go of me–” Mark started to pull away, and then Haechan pulled him in with a murderous grasp on the boy.

“For me, please? You don’t have to repay me, not that there is any to repay. Just go on a blind date.”

“Hyuck, no. I’m fine without anyone–”

“You have too much stress and you don’t even get some action–”

“I get enough action already–”

“Shut up, let me speak,” that instantly shuts Mark up, reminding himself that he hasn’t had sex since the company started making profit. Haechan had a point, he always did.

Haechan pulled away from the hug and held Mark firmly by the shoulder, predicting that he’d run away from him as soon as he talked about it.

“There are limits to what you can tell your mom. You can’t tell your mom you’re horny, can you? So like that, you need to find someone, Mark. You’ve been alone for too long.”

“I don’t want to and that is a no, Donghyuck.” there came his full name. Haechan knew that if he spoke anymore, Mark would chase him with a champagne bottle.

“Please, like is it a comple–”

“I said no. N–O.”

“Okay…” Haechan pursed his lips, thinking of a way to convince Mark. The boy had been alone for way too long, and if Haechan wasn’t wrong, his last relationship– hell, the last time he fucked someone was years ago.

“Mark–”

“No.”

The unfamiliarity of Mark’s hotel room didn’t help his sleep deprivation, he should have been asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. What was he doing up at 2 in the morning thinking about Haechan’s offer to the blind date? Well, he didn’t know the answer but he was certainly frustrated.

Mark sat up and rubbed his temples with his fingers. Maybe going on a blind date won’t be that bad after all. What could possibly go wrong with a simple blind date? Besides, he’ll get the younger boy off his shoulders.

He picked up his phone and clicked on Haechan’s contact, holding the phone up to his ear.

The boy didn’t pick up first, and being the impatient friend he is, Mark called again.

This time, he did pick up.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you pick up?”

“It’s literally past 2 Mark, what is it?” Mark heard shuffling on the other side.

“I’ll go on the date.”

“You what?” Haechan sat up, ignoring the women under him.

“I’ll go the bind date,”

“Oh my god, Mark’s going on a blind date,” Haechan jumped out of bed, putting on the shirt he discarded earlier.

“Hey, what the fuck?” Mark heard from the other side, and it wasn’t Haechan.

“Are you with someone right now?” Mark asked, beyond surprised.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m going to text her right now,”

“Bro, why would you stop what you were doing? You shouldn’t even have picked up the phone,”

“I picked it up because it was you. You don’t call me in the middle of the night, I got worried.”

“I’m cutting the call,”

“I’ll text you the details,” Haechan chirped, a smile blooming on his face.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Mind if we carry on later?” Haechan turns to the woman on his bed to give her a pitiful smile.

––

The details about the date were texted to Mark the next morning, and Mark was rethinking his decision. Apparently, the woman was a director at a company in the makeup industry and had achieved big things at a young age. Why’d he even call Hyuck and say that, he didn’t know. Sleep deprivation was the reason, he assumed.

“Hey, Hyuck…” he said quietly, watching the man sip the beer before looking over at him.

“Uh, maybe...” Mark hesitated, knowing there was a good chance he’d get disowned by his best friend for this, but he decided it was worth a shot.

“Okay, uh, maybe…”

“Just spit it, Mark.”

“Maybe, just maybe, I should cancel the date…”

“I swear to fucking god you piece of shit–” Hyuck was about to throw punches at the older.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking last night–”

“No, you can’t fucking cancel it.”

“What?”

“I said you can’t fucking cancel it. I was in bed while you called and I still picked up, got up from bed and the woman was mad, not that I even remember her name. But I did her wrong all for you to cancel the date? Mark, just go on the date. If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t. For fucks sake, just go for it.” Hyuck finally snapped, staring at Mark.

Hyuck does have a point, and Mark knows that. It’s wrong of him to cancel the date. So maybe going for it wouldn’t be too bad.

“Alright, I’m sorry. That was very stupid of me,”

“No mentions, homie, you’re always stupid.”

“You son of a–”

––––––––––––––––––––

Mark waited at the restaurant, his feet softly tapping on the floor. Hell, he was so nervous. The conversation he was having with Hyuck was the only thing that was keeping him still at the time, his heart was pounding for no reason. Shit, he hadn’t been on a date in years.

“Calm down. I can hear your heartbeat through the damn phone,”

“I haven’t been on a date in years, Hyuck, of course, I’m nervous.”

“Calm down, she’s not going to bite you,”

He straightened his coat for the nth time, his fingers nervously playing with each other.

“It’s almost time, she’ll be there soon, I’ll hang up,” Hyuck said, waiting for his friend's reply which came out panicked.

“No, don’t go!” Mark suddenly spat, ashamed at himself.

“What, you want me to stay while you two get at it? I’m hanging up and yes, you’ll be fine, calm down, man,” Hyuck mumbled before hanging up the call. Mark cursed under his breath, knowing Hyuck had a point, again.

“Oh–?” He heard a female voice in front of him. He looked up to find you staring back at him, your face cutely crunched in confusion.

“You’re the parking lot lady, what are you doing here?” Mark’s anger slowly melted away. He’d been looking for you.

You scoffed, looking back at him. “I have a name, and it’s Y/n, I’d prefer you use that,”

“Your name sounds just like my date’s–” and then he realises. He looks up at you and you’re standing there in your deep blue knee length dress, looking down at him.

“No fucking way…” you whisper, realising it with him.

He was your date and you were his. If you were to be honest, you did find him attractive at the parking lot, but when you caught him staring, you just wanted to beat the shit out of him.

“So uh, are you just going to stand there or leave? Or we could give this date thing a chance, anything that makes you comfortable.” Mark mumbled after a while. He stood up, walking up behind you.

“Sure, there isn’t any harm in trying.” you were about to pull your own chair and sit before Mark pulled it for you, smiling softly. Your heart rushed a little faster in your chest, and you quickly sat down before he could notice the blood that had rushed to your cheeks.

“Do you want to order first?” he asks, sitting down in front of you.

“Sure,” you say and Mark’s gaze snapped to a waiter. The man rushed to your table, propping the booklet and pen in his hands.

“Can I take your order?”

“Yes, uh, I’ll have a Tenderloin steak, Y/n?” Mark looks up at you from the menu, and you notice his pretty big eyes for the first time. Hell, you could get lost in them.

“I’ll have a ribeye,”

“Okay, drinks or anything else?”

“We’ll have a bottle of Louis Roederer's Cristal Rosé, please.”

“Yes, sir. Anything else?”

“No, Thank you.” Mark smiled at the waiter, and you noticed how he was like none of the guys you’d had a date with. Boring, boasting, disrespectful; you’ve had your chance with all kinds of men. You had a chance with all kinds of people, yet never one that respects the waiter or says please while ordering.

It’s always been the rich boastful shit of men.

“Oh, did you want anything else? I’m sorry, I forgot to–”

“No, Mark. It's all good. I was about to ask you for rose champagne, but you already had me figured,” you smiled softly. He really was different.

Then you realised the kind of champagne he ordered. That had to be the one bottle you had your eyes on.

“Is that Cristal rosé champagne? No way. Those are super hard to collect,” you pointed out, and Mark turned an adorable color of pink.

“Ah, it’s from my personal collection of wines. I’m a bit of a wine collector myself.” hell, this man was a whole fucking package.

“You’re that big of a collector? I’ve been trying to get one bottle for a while for my own collection,” the topic of wines excited you, so did his exquisite taste. The man was dressed in a deep blue coat paired with a white shirt. Nothing fancy, but you couldn’t say you didn’t notice the brand of the coat and his watch. Expensive man with an exquisite taste.

You had a good eye for brands.

“Ah, you’re a collector too?” Mark’s big eyes grew bigger, the galaxy in his eyes made it seem like he was just a small boy who was excited to show his pokemon card collection.

“I love collecting wine, keeps me sane for all I know,” you laughed gently, watching a small laugh grow on his face too.

“Same, a hobby that helps keep all the thoughts aside for a while, I’d say.” He smiled, and you noticed he truly had the prettiest smile you’d seen in a while. You meet a lot of people for business and personal purposes; but a smile like this is something you haven’t seen before.

The conversation carried on about his favourite wines, the one he likes the most, and you shared back the same knowledge. You found that he was fun to get to know, and you’d like to see him again. Gotta thank your best friend for setting you up with him. Half way through the conversation, the waiter stops by with the wine, and Mark seems a little more relaxed.

“Now that we’re a little more comfortable with each other, I’d like to explain myself,” Mark took the initiative of speaking in the comfortable silence that you’d concluded after the wine talk.

You stared at him, a little confused.

“The parking lot incident. I’d like to explain myself.” Mark smiled softly, watching your face turn to a realisation.

“You don’t have to–”

“I insist, Y/n.” your name rolled so smoothly off his tongue, you had to stop yourself from asking him to say it again.

“I was really tired and stressed that night, our Milano runway was upcoming, and we were in a rush too. I didn’t mean to stare, or make you uncomfortable.” he continued, his hands fiddling at the hold of the champagne flute. You could tell he was nervous by the way his voice shook not too noticeably.

How did he even make it in the business industry with such a feeble personality. But you’d seen the speeches he gave, his wise words, everything. He has the potential, but he’s too cute for this world.

“It’s okay, Mark. I understand, I’m a director myself, it’s stressful.” you reassure him, fiddling with the ring on your finger. His heart did a little thing, his name felt different to him. So many people call him by the same name, but it felt different, soothing even, when you called him that.

“And, and– I know how stressful it is for women these days, and I don’t blame you for entering fight or flight mode–” a small laugh leaves your lips, making Mark stop. He looks amused as he watches you, his eyes sparkling. He seems to stare for a minute and then snaps out of it and smiles to himself, proceeding to finish what he was saying.

“What I’m saying is, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable that day. I didn’t mean to stare, zoning out is one of my habits, you’ll find that out if we do get along.” Mark looked so sincere. Fuck, you were getting swayed by the man’s charms.

He was apologising for an accident. He’s sold you to him, he values women. No misogynistic jokes, no minority jokes, no uncomfortable atmosphere. He understands the struggles of being a woman, you want him.

“Y/n?” you realised you were staring at him. You raised the champagne to your lips, emptying out the contents into yourself.

“Uh, yeah. Thank you so much, Mark. I’m glad we could take the time to sort this out,” you wanted to kiss him. Maybe if the date went well, at the end of the night, something will happen.

“And I have to apologise too,” you said.

“For what?” he looked at you, his eyes big with confusion, his lips slightly parted.

“I called you a pervert that day, I'm sorry for that.” this guy was FAR from being a pervert, it’s only right you apologise.

“Oh no, you don’t have to. I understand, Y/n,” there you slip by again. His eyes were ignoring yours. You knew he was tense under your gaze, you found it so cute.

You saw the waiter coming over with your food at the corner of your eyes, but you were too busy observing Mark.

His hands that sat softly around the hold of the vinum flute, fingers gentle. Your eyes travelled further up his hands and the veins on his hands had you drunk in its own way. He looked excellent in that suit, and it matched your dress too.

You flinched slightly when the waiter placed the steak in front of you, and you weakly thanked him before looking up to see Mark looking at you with concern.

“Are you okay?” did his voice just get an octave deeper? He clears his throat and asks the same question again.

“I– Uh– yeah, w-why wouldn’t I be?” you laugh out a weak response, turning your head to fill the champagne class.

“Let me,” Mark touched the bottle just as you did, and a shock of electricity passed through your hand as your hand came into contact with his. His heart did a little thing and you both pulled your hand away from the bottle, staring at each other.

“Sorry,” you heard him whisper softly before taking the bottle up and filling out both your glasses.

“Thank you.” you whispered before your hand reached for the utensils.

The diner went by smoothly, and you loved every minute of your time with him. He made an effort to do everything for you, and made jokes that were actually funny. Clumsy and cute, you definitely wanted to see him again.

“Let me drive you home,” Mark offered as he took back his card and placed it in his wallet.

You wouldn’t dare deny that offer. You could just ask your secretary to pick your car up later.

“Uh, sure, why not?” you smiled, watching his lips curl into a smile too.

The drive home was filled with giggles and small talks here and there, but mostly you just stared at him while he drove. Fuck, you couldn’t believe how inexplicably hot he looked as he drove with one hand, his legs spread and hips pushed comfortably on the seat. You’d just landed yourself a jackpot.

“This villa, am I right?” he stopped in front of your villa, eyeing the house.

“Ah, yes.” you waited for a little while.

“Thank you for today, Mark. I had fun,” you said, gazing into his eyes.

“Yes, I had fun too. Hope I can see you again. Soon.” Mark was staring at you, and his gaze switched to your lips. He bit his lips softly, watching you.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned in softly, stopping right in front of your lips.

“May I?”

“Please.”

He pressed his lips to yours, his soft lips driving you crazy. Hell, you were going feral. His lips were warmer and softer than you’d expected.

He pulled away and leaned back into his seat, and you could see the pink hue that dusted his cheeks even in the dark.

“Thanks again, Mark. I’ll text you later,” You said and opened the door, stepping out of the car.

“Thank you, Y/n. Go in, I’ll wait.” he watched you walk into your home, and watched the door shut. His face bloomed into a smile and leaned his head back onto the seat, smiling. You had his heart and he didn’t want it back.

Just as he drives out of your villa complex, Hyuck calls.

“What’s up? How’d it go?”

“Holy fuck, man.”

“Is it bad?”

“It went great. We kissed.”

“Oh my fuckin god, that’s great. Now we wait until you two bone.”

“It was going so well until you said that.”

–––––––––––––––––––––

“You guys knew each other?” The boy stared at Mark, watching a shy smile bloom on his face.

“Indeed.”

“Details please.” Hyuck threw himself on Mark’s bed, getting comfortable. Mark never said anything about Haechan treating his penthouse like his own, mostly cause he didn’t mind. They grew up together, afterall.

Mark explained everything, how she called him a pervert and how he had been searching for her.

“Ooh shit. And it didn’t ruin the date?” Hyuck eyed Mark.

“No, why would it? In fact, we both apologised for it.” The expression haechan made could only be described as ‘???’.

“The fuck– what about when you dropped her off? You dropped her off, right?” He questioned, and Mark sighed.

“I’m not that mannerless, of course I dropped her off.” Mark said, throwing a pillow at the younger. Haechan dodged it, sticking a tongue out at Mark.

“She said thanks for dropping her off and I said I had fun too. And then I kissed her. I mean, after we talked a bit, of course.” Mark unintentionally looked at the younger for his approval, and smiled when haechan nodded.

“That’s– your phone is ringing.” Haechan pointed out. Mark looked at the phone that sat on his side, looking back at Hyuck with wide eyes.

“What? Who is it?”

“It’s Y/n.”

“The fuck are you waiting for? Pick up!” Haechan shouted, jumping up to sit up right on the bed.

Mark scrambled to pick the phone up, and held it up to his ear.

“Minaaa~”

What?

“You said you’d come over for Ice cream, where are you~ I haven’t told you about the amazing date I had today, did I~”

Ice cream? Amazing date? Mark looked up at Haechan, watching him mouth “What?”. Mark signalled the younger to shut up and continued listening to your whines, smiling.

“Why aren’t you answeringgg~ answer me~ minaaaaa~”

You whined again. You really had no idea who you called. And Mark’s heart was all over the place, his heart beat going off the roof. He finally decided to speak, wanting to see your reaction.

“Y/n,” Mark spoke and he heard you immediately stop talking.

“Oh my fucking god I can’t–” and you had cut the call. Mark laughed as he looked at his phone, falling back onto the chair.

“What? What’d she say?” Hyuck had a surprising smile on his face.

“I’ll be back,” is all Mark said before he pressed the call button again to your number and rushed out to the balcony.

You were writhing in your bed, your blanket over your head. How could you call the wrong number and how could that number be your hot date's number? You were going to cry from embarrassment. And you’d whined for ice cream like a small child. What could possibly be more embarrassing. You were a company director, what are you doing?

Your phone rang again and your face crunched in embarrassment. Mark was calling you again, you wanted to just simply throw yourself off the balcony.

You picked up anyway because it’s rude to not to.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mark. What's up?” your heart was beating out of your chest and you felt light headed, not sure if it's cause of the embarrassment or Mark.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, really. And uh, question, did the said Mina come by with ice cream?” you could hear his smile through the phone. Your stomach was doing summersaults.

“Uh, no. I–I cancelled it,” you said, your voice low.

“Mind if I come by with some ice cream?” you were about to go into cardiac arrest. He what now?

“Huh–?”

“Mind if I come by with some ice cream? We can have it together. Or maybe I’m taking this too fast–”

“No, no.” you mumble out fast before he cancels the plan.

“Come by,” you smile, feeling your whole body heat up. Fuck, you liked him so much.

“Oh, I’ll be there in 15.” Mark mumbled out shyly, and you could hear the shy giggle.

“Okay, I’ll see you soon. And one more thing,” you said just as he was about to hang up.

“Yeah?”

“I like chocolate,” you hung up with a smile resting on your face.

Mark looked at his blank phone screen, his mind full of you. He rushed out of the balcony, hurrying to put his coat on.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Hyuck asked, lifting his head up from his phone. A song played out of his phone and he quickly muted it, but Mark’s eyes were observant enough to catch the fan edit playing on the screen.

“You’re watching fan edits again?” Mark asked and Hyuck scoffed.

“Tell me where you’re going. You didn’t even tell me how the date went.”

“To Y/n’s house.” Mark mumbled, loud enough for him to hear.

“Already? Are you two going to fuck?”

“Hyuck please, we’re just gonna have ice cream.”

“That’s what they all say,” Hyuck laughs at Mark when he throws a threatening glare.

“Sorry, I’ll make it up to you, Hyuck. I’ll let you go through my fridge and my wines, anything except the wines on the top shelves, okay?”

“Your fridge? Okay, have a nice time, use protection too,” Hyuck said, jogging to the fridge.

Mark quickly sprayed two whiffs of perfume and left, saying goodbye to Hyuck quickly in the hopes of him not wrecking the home.

Quickly stopping by baskin robins to get you and him tubs of ice cream, he drives his way towards your place.

You’re standing there in your pink satin pyjamas, and you hadn’t even got time to put something on your face before he knocked on your door.

“Mark, I don’t have anything on my face–” you shout, embarrassed by your bare face.

“I don’t mind,” he calls out from outside the door.

“Are you sure?”

“Y/n, it’s freezing, and yes, I don’t care.” he says again, and you’re considerate enough to open the door for him.

He’s standing there, an ice cream bag in his hand in a brown coat. You can see the green sweater beneath the coat with a pair of blue jeans and tennis shoes. And he’s staring at you.

He finds you beautiful even without make-up and he doesn’t realise he’s staring.

“Come in, Mark,” you say shyly and he suddenly feels cold. So he comes in, and kicks off his shoes, and hands you the ice cream bag. Your house is warm and toasty, so an unexpected sigh falls from his lips.

“I got you ice cream,” he was really the prettiest when he wasn’t dressed up. His hair looked so soft and fluffy.

“Thanks, Mark. Sit down,” you point to your couch. Your eyes or feet can’t decide where to go as you watch Mark take off his coat, hanging it on the coat hanger. A small smirk plays on his lips, and he decides to see how long you stare.

You still haven’t moved after a few seconds, and he calls your name to pull you out.

“Yes, yes, uh, couch, yes,” you’re stumbling over your words, you’re red. You hear Mark laugh softly before he walks to your couch, looking everywhere.

You sat down with him, and your immediate thought was to eliminate the gap between you two. But you didn’t want to scare him so you took it slow.

“Uh, movie?” Both your cheeks are dusted pink, and you’re tripping over your thoughts. You can’t make out proper words.

“Uhm, yeah,” Mark says as he settles on your couch and hands you your tub. You take the ice cream tub from his hands.

“I’ll go get the blankets, wait here,” you mumble, placing the tub back onto the table to go get some blankets. You looked so cute when you weren’t in heels or make–up. But you looked just as cute and hot with them. Mark couldn’t choose.

You come back with some blankets and you give Mark one, and take one for yourself.

It would be a lie to say Mark was disappointed by the two blankets, he had looked forward to sharing one with you. So he became a little bolder.

“I don’t want a separate blanket.” He puts his blanket aside, making you pause mid way of getting comfortable.

“Scoot closer, if you don’t mind, we can share one,” you had absolutely no objections whatsoever, who was going to object to sharing a blanket with a cute guy.

You slowly scoot closer and Mark’s warm scent invades your nose and in under a minute, you feel lightheaded.

You let your head lean on his shoulder, and Mark’s hands go around your shoulder, holding you to his chest. His heartbeat was erratic and uncontrolled like yours and something about it made you see him as raw and human.

Just as you play the movie, Mark’s ice cream is on his lap and your’s in your hand. You find yourself getting a little too comfortable in his embrace, an embrace that feels like home.

Suddenly, his phone rings.

You look up at him and he looks at you, and takes his phone to check the caller ID.

‘Mom♡’

That heart next to her name had you feeling things.

“Let me just pick this up,” he says and he answers the call. In Front of you. On speaker. You thought he was going to ask his mom to shut up and call back later. But what you heard was completely different.

“Hi mom, what’s up?” His tone is so so sweet.

“You didn’t call today, is something wrong?” he calls his mother everyday, it didn’t take a genius to figure that out, holy fuck.

“Ah, I was busy after work. I went on a date, I forgot to text you,” Mark speaks so softly with his mother, like she’s a set of porcelain.

She gasps, she actually gasps.

“My markie went on a date after so long?” you look at Mark and he’s blushing. Really hard.

“Aaah~” he whines to his mom and your heart pops a little. You can’t control your smile.

“I’ll hang up, continue, hmm? I love you, Mark,” she says so sweetly, her love for her son is overwhelming. You can tell she's so proud of Mark.

“I love you too, mom. Sleep well, don’t forget to– ah she already hung up,” Mark smiles and switches his phone off.

He loves his mom so much, you’re in love with him.

“I like to call my mom before I sleep,” Mark says and stares at you. You nod and smile gleefully, and his heart swells in the realisation that you love his connection with his mom. He plays the movie, his eyes happily moving over the screen.

A few more licks on the ice cream spoon and suddenly you want to kiss him, maybe not suddenly, you’d wanted his lips again from the last time he kissed you. You're willing to bet he’s just as sweet as the ice cream. You look up at him again and it catches his attention, he looks down at you.

Something inside you snaps and the next thing you know, your lips are pressed against his. He’s definitely taken aback, but kisses back softly and his hands move to your waist. He doesn’t understand his effect on you.

“You’re driving me crazy,” you whisper and he stops, you realise you're pinned down on your couch.

“I’ve been trying to hold back, I can’t anymore,” are the words Mark says before he dives for your lips again.

“It’s been a while, I might be a little rusty,” Mark chuckles.

“Don’t care, just touch me,” your lips are still pressed against his. The kiss is heated and passionate.

His hands are all over you and there’s nothing else you could care about at this very moment. He’s carrying you to your bedroom, Moans are tumbling off your lips as touches you, his lips moving down your neck to slowly unbutton your pyjamas. They’re going lower, and he’s silently checking up on you all the time. You’re ripping each other’s clothes off, desperate to know each other, to feel each other. You feel so so close to him as he enters you, his body is resting over yours, his heart right above yours. His lips are kissing you, they’re making sure you’re okay. Who told him he was rusty, better than new he was. He was so perfect, so human, you felt like you were on cloud nine.

He gave you the best night you’ve ever had.

––––––––––––––––––

“Mark?” he hums in his sleep. You never finished the movie you started yesterday, but you’re relaxed to know he’s still here and didn’t ditch you like every other guy.

He looked so ethereal in his sleep, soft pink swollen lips and long eyelashes visible in the morning sunlight. He was shirtless, his arms tucked over the white blanket. It felt like a dream. You didn’t want to wake up.

He opens his eyes, and a smile covers his lips as he notices you staring.

“Good morning, Y/n.” Mark moves forward to kiss your forehead subtly. His hands slip over your waist and you kiss him again, sighing into his warmth.

You pull away, gazing into his glossy eyes. “We didn’t even brush yet,” you say and Mark giggles, pecking your lips again.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Was I too hard on you last night?” he’s asking you with so much concern and a hint of mischief. He loves the blush that appears on your face at the events of last night.

“I’m fine. I think, at least,” his hands travel to your waist and his fingers run over the marks on your waist.

“Do they hurt?” you’re going feral at how much this man cares about you when your first date was yesterday.

“No, Mark, I’m fine, really,” you kiss the tip of his nose, making him smile.

He smiles, and he stares for a little. He seems to admire you, and when you get shy and bury your head in his chest, he laughs.

“Fuck, you have no idea. No fucking idea how much I like you,” he whispers, kissing the top of your head softly.

“I don’t.”

“Oh really now?” Mark laughs, staring at you with an amused and adoring expression.

“I don’t, so show me how much you like me,”

“Was going to anyway,” he kisses your forehead, holding you close in his strong arms and drifting off to sleep. You couldn’t stay awake any longer, not in his embrace.

RULES & GUIDELINES.

If you wish to join, send me a message, or an ask with your chosen film and member of choice. Please bear in mind that this is first come first serve!

Once you've been accepted into the collab, make sure to reblog this post so a wider audience can be reached and all the spots can be filled.

All fics written must include the pairing, genre and warnings (if there are any!) and the minimum word count is 1.5k! There is no word limit, so write as much as you want! You must add a 'keep reading'.

This collab is only for member x reader. There will be no member x member, or member x oc pairings.

There will be 10 slots available (one taken by me)

If you are to write smut in your fic, you must be 18 or over. If I find you to be a minor writing smut for this collab, I will kick you out. And if you are a minor who reads/posts smut on your blog, you will not be accepted to join this collab.

I will allow smut for Jisung.

A discord server will be made, I will send you the link (if you wish to join). Ideas, comments, feedback, and help will be offered on the server!

The deadline for this collab is 30th September 2022. Teasers and fics must be posted before this date, but if you need more time than given, let me know. Once the first teaser or fic has been posted, a masterlist will be created.

If you wish to drop out at any time, do it before 1st September 2022.

SLOTS.

Johnny Suh —

Nakamoto Yuta —

Kim Doyoung —

Jeong Jaehyun — pretty woman @xunolic

Mark Lee —

Huang Renjun —

Lee Jeno — a cinderella story @lovesjen

Lee Haechan — dirty dancing @byeongsung

Na Jaemin — my best friends wedding @saintlyhyuck

Zhong Chenle —

Park Jisung —

“No, no, no, no mom, mom, listen–” you stare at her face boldly, spitting each word out.

“I. Am. Not. Getting. Married.” you spoke each word, storming out of the living room.

They wanted you to get married to someone you don’t even know. All of all, they want you to get married. You’ve only just started your own company, you have a long future ahead. You’re most definitely not looking forward to ruining that by getting married.

You shut the door to your room, careful to shut it without sound. You’ve already pissed your mom off , if she hears you banging doors, she’s going to come at you.

They wanted you to get married to the son of the Lee household for family, relational and business relationship building with them. You haven’t even seen the said son from the family, asking to marry him was a stretch.

Small knocks sound on your door and you whip your head up, ander subdued.

“Come in,” you mumble, and your dad steps in through the door, smiling gently.

“Hi cupcake, is everything okay? Your mother won’t talk to me,” he says, sitting down beside you. You lean your head on his shoulder, a sigh leaving your lips.

“She wants me to get married to the son of the Lee’s,” you mumble, and your dad sighs. There’s something in that sigh that says there’s a lot of trouble.

“Have–” he pauses, closing his eyes. It was hard for him to ask of you, especially knowing that you didn’t like the idea.

“Have you considered it?” you lift your head from his shoulders, and stare at him. You weren’t expecting him to say that, he was your everything.

“D-dad, I said I don’t like the idea of it,” you mention, and your dad nods and sighs. There has to be something wrong because that’s the third time he’s sighed in almost ten minutes.

“Our company is drowning, and so is our power in the community. If we need to keep this luxury, we need someone with a lot of power to join us, and help us out of this ditch. The Lee family is the only ones that have reached out to us so far, and they’re quite more powerful than they seem. The Lee family has been in the family business for more than 50 years, passed down from their great grandfathers. Think about it, cupcake. We need this right now. I hate having you married at this age, I really don't want to see my daughter live in a house with a man she doesn’t love. But we don’t have much of a choice. We’re running out of options. I don’t want to see you leave this house, really,” when you look at him, his eyes are glossy.

“I know you’re a good kid, and that you’ve started a company of your own, but I promise you, I won’t let any of the Lee’s stand in your way of running your business. You’re my intelligent daughter, I know you’ll make a good decision.” he finishes, wiping his tears with a smile. Your dad stares at you for a second or two, and then places a soft warm kiss on your forehead before getting up with a little difficulty, and leaving through the door.

You think. Your worries were about your career, your husband or his family stopping you from working. You’ve heard plenty of those cases before, your company is so important to you.

But your family business was struggling, you’d overheard a few conversations to know how bad. You want to fall in love, get married, and maybe, if your situations allow it, have a child or two. But are you ready to sacrifice your love life to save your family business?

You’re not sure.

After a bath and three cups of coffee, you might finally have your answer. You walk downstairs and try to find your mother in this enormous house, looking around and calling for her. It’d be a shame if this house would have to go.

“Mom,” you call from the counter of the open kitchen, and your mom turns around. For the first time in a few nights, you notice how tired she really looks.

“Yes?”

“I’ll agree to the marriage.” you mumble out. You said what you said and now you can’t go back on your word, so you wonder what you’ve thrown yourself into.

“You’ll- you’ll agree to the marriage with the Lee’s?” your mom’s eyes are wide.

“Yeah,” you mumble and your mother wraps you in a tight hug, her eyes grow glossy.

“You understand how big of a sacrifice this is? You’ve just saved your whole family business, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you,” she kisses your forehead, and you smile.

“It’s for you guys, and Jungwoo. He’ll be the one taking the company next, it’ll be hard for him to manage the company when it’s treasury is empty.” you hug back your mother, kissing her cheek. You’ve always been close with your mother, but your personalities clash often and you guys argue over small things. Nevertheless, she’s your mother.

You hope everything will turn out fine, although you’re a little worried about the stranger you’re going to marry. ——————————————————————————————

You groan as you stare at the dress your mom has sent you. Your dad has planned a dinner with the Lee family, and you’re expecting to see the man you’re going to marry. You’re nervous, and somewhat excited to see what kind of a person you’ll be marrying.

The dress is so revealing, and you can see a little bit of your cleavage. The back was sewn with some strings, ending in a bow right above your ass. The dress was classy, but revealing. You were going to a dinner, not a fucking club.

A note had been delivered with it, written by your mother.

Wear the dress at all costs, love you -mom

You read it out, a sigh following. Your make-up artist and hairdresser will be here in a few, you need to get dressed by then.

You pull on the dress and stare at yourself in the full mirror, surprised. You look smoking hot, and with your hair and makeup done, you’re sure you’d look mindblowing. Maybe your mom had a point.

Your hairdresser and makeup artist do their magic, and by the time you’re down the stairs, you look absolutely gorgeous.

“You look damn good,” Jungwoo compliments and you smile cheekily, replying with a finger gun.

“Wow, you really look like a princess now. You look gorgeous, sweetheart.” your dad compliments, holding out his arm.

“May I lead you, my princess?” you giggle before you hook your hands with his, walking with him. You might be grown and promised to a man, but you’re still your dad’s little princess. ——————————————————————————————

You’re nervous as you step out of the car, your stomach doing cartwheels. You hope he’s at least good looking.

You breathe out one last time before striding in confidently behind your family into the restaurant. You’ve been here so many times before, the private suite here is booked for the meeting and you’re sure of it. Although it is a 7 star michelin restaurant, you’ve always come here growing up, so it doesn’t really make it special anymore.

“Are they already here?” you whisper to your mother, who nods. All that question does is add to your anxiety.

“Hello, Mr. Lee.” your father greets the man, and the man greets him back. He’s old, but you’re 100% sure he looked like a Greek god when he was young. Mr. Lee leads you through a set of doors, and to a certain door at the end of the hallway. He twists the door knob open and smiles, settling on the chair.

You can see a woman, and two sophisticated men already settled on the table. You assume one of the boys is his brother, and the moment your eyes fall on one of the boys, you’re bewitched. His face is perfect, and he has the prettiest eyes and lips you’ve seen. He’s capable of attracting attention just with his looks, because the navy blue suit he had dressed in was mind blowing.

He tilts his head towards you out of respect, and you return the gesture. He’s gorgeous.

“Hi Donghyuck, it’s been a while hasn’t it?” your father stretches a hand, and the boy takes it with a small smile.

“It has been, Mr. Seo,” he replies casually.

So Lee Donghyuck is his name.

Donghyuck on the other hand, was mesmerised by you. You looked absolutely stunning in his eyes, he couldn’t help but stare. Your features were so perfect in his eyes, your dress freely flowed behind you. Your lips look so pink and soft and pretty, he finds it a feature he’s the most attracted to. Only when Mr. Seo spoke did he finally look away from you.

“It’s nice to meet again after a long time, Mr. Seo,”

“Likewise, Mr. Lee,”

You can’t bring yourself to focus on the conversation your parents were having when such a beautiful, totally-your-type guy was sitting before you. Him, however, seemed focused on the conversation, stealing little glances throughout the dinner.

“When will we be deciding the wedding dates?” your mother asks, and Donghyuck seems to suck in a sharp breath.

He probably hates getting married to me. With a face like that, I must not be that attractive to him.

Your heart sinks a little at your thoughts, and you lose focus at any and all conversation. You look down at your plate and poke at your food, occasionally placing some bits into your mouth.

“Y/n? Y/n, do you agree?” you look up, confused. All eight of the people in the room are staring at you, and you feel your cheeks heat up in an unrealistic colour of red. You hope it doesn't show through your makeup.

You just stare at them, hoping someone repeats. Your mother smiles with frustration, repeating the question.

“Do you agree with the wedding date being the 29th of next month?”

Your mind goes through your schedule, and you don’t find anything scheduled for that day.

“Yes, o-ofcourse. I find myself free on that day,” you smile, and the family seems to return to the conversation they were holding.

You glance at Donghyuck and a smile slips onto his face before he hides it with the poker face he wore all dinner.

“I think we should let the kids talk, what do you think?” Donghyuck’s father speaks, and you both lift your head at the same time, staring at him. What the hell were you going to talk about? This was your first time seeing him.

But everyone seems to collectively agree that this was a good idea. Mr. Lee shoots Donghyuck a look, and it looks like the boy mentally groans before getting up, and smiling sweetly at you, waiting for you to get up. You do get up, and he takes your hand softly in his before leading you out of the door into a balcony that was located right next to the room you were in.

The view is beautiful, just as gorgeous as the man beside you.

“I’m Lee Donghyuck, and you are?”

“Seo Y/n. Did you agree to all this?” you ask first. You’re curious about the man, but that can wait.

“Yeah, sort of. I had to, I'm the heir to dad’s company.” he replies, a sigh slips out of his pretty lips. It comes out as a cloud of ice due to the cold atmosphere.

“I have my own company, a clothing line. It was introduced on the Paris runway,” you say, and he nods, eyes fixed in the distance.

“I’m familiar, Aphelion, am I right?” He surprises you with his knowledge. He probably did his research on you.

You stare at him with curious eyes, a smile lingering on your face. He looks at you, and then he laughs, shaking his head. You have to admit it, he’s got the smoothest voice, and the prettiest laugh.

“No, no, I didn’t do research on you. I-I was personally there, in Paris. I have to say, they did catch my eyes.” he nods, tucking his hands into his coat pockets.

It was freezing, goddammit.

You shiver a little because of the weather, and he seems to notice it. He contemplates something for a second, and then takes off his jacket. He puts it over your bare shoulders, covering your shoulders.

“Oh- you didn’t have to, I’m not-” you start mumbling but he cuts you off.

“Don’t lie, I saw you shiver,” he says. His eyes seemed like it never fell on you. He hasn’t made proper eye contact from the moment you stepped into the balcony, not even when he handed you his jacket. He looks quiet, peaceful as he stares at the bustling city below him.

He wouldn’t look at me because he isn’t attracted to me. He hates the sight of me, he gave me his jacket because he was polite enough to take care of a woman.

Your heart sunk again. Sometimes, you wish you could just be confident with yourself. You wish you didn’t overthink this much. You wish you could be confident with who you are, and what you look like. You wish you could be a little bit taller, a little thinner, a little more defined. You hate your thoughts so much.

You look at Donghyuck, and stare at him. He’s perfect, he has no job dealing with someone like you.

He looks at you, and you look away, too emotional to stare at him.

“What do I call you, Ms. Seo?” he asks, and you look up at him.

“Uh, you can call me Y/n,” you reply, clearing your throat. He stares for a little with narrowed eyes, and looks away.

“What do I call you, Mr. Lee?”

“You can call me Donghyuck, Hyuck, or Haechan.” he replies casually.

He has such a pretty name.

“Ah, okay. Why Haechan?” you inquire, curious about the cute nickname.

“Well, 해 (Hae) means “Sun” and 찬 (Chan) means “Full”,” he says. His cheeks and the tip of his nose are cheeky red, making him seem so much more admirable.

“Full Sun?” you ask, smiling.

“Hmm, dad gave it to me when I was five,” he smiles softly, and then it disappears.

You think that’s interesting, because you can’t see a trace of the said Sun anywhere. He looks cold and gentle to you, you’re not sure where that came from.

You hum in response, lost in your thoughts.

“Do you want to live married?” he asks, and it catches you off guard. That’s the first real question besides your name he’s asked.

“I could live married, but if that gets in the way of my profession, no, I don’t want to. I value my company more than whatever this is—” you make a gesture between you two “—I’m doing this for my family. I love my family too much to save myself only while all of us drown. My dad asked me for my consent with tears in his eyes, that was the first time I’d seen him cry in years. A little sacrifice wouldn’t hurt.” you swallow hard after you answer, and you look at Haechan. He looks hurt for a moment by the answer before he puts on a serious expression, humming to your answer.

Did you see that right? You’re probably just losing it from having just a glass of champagne. Your alcohol tolerance is shit.

“Me either. I was forced into it, at least your dad asked for consent,” he chuckles bitterly. You feel bad for a second, so you think how you can make this agreement free for him and you.

And you come up with a terrible idea.

“What do you say we live separate lives?” you blurt out, thinking. Your brain was working at high speed.

A confused sound emits from Haechan.

“What do you say we live separate lives, like we never got married. We could pretend we’re roommates, and when our parents are over, we could pretend to be in-love.” you suggest.

You said this with complete knowledge that it was a terrible idea, and you know you’re going to regret this later.

Haechan’s interest piques greatly, thinking of the deal over and over in his head. It doesn’t sound bad to him, maybe it could work out.

Maybe you’ll be a new friend too.

“Okay.”

You turn to look at him with a bright smile.

“Deal?” you stretch your hand, and he takes it, a cheeky lingering smile on his lips.

“Deal.” ——————————————————————————————

“Did you have fun?” Mr. Lee asks as you two walk into the room, Haechan’s jacket back on him. You’d returned it on the way, thanking him for risking the cold to give you the jacket. He’d brushed it off with a smile, which still lingered on his lips.

“Looks like you had fun,” your dad comments, and you feel your brother’s crazy stare on you. He’s smiling at you weirdly, like you and Haechan fucked on the first meet.

You only glare at him since all eyes are on you and Haechan, and you swear to yourself that once you reach home, you’ll kick the life out of him.

“The wedding date is on the 29th of next month, make sure both of your schedules are clear by then, we’ll plan the rest out as it goes, don’t stress yourselves too much with it, yeah?” Mr. Lee gets up, and the rest of the family does too.

You’ve learned all their names, but you decided you’d address his parents as Mr and Mrs. Lee. His brother’s name is Lee Minhyung, and he’s a little hyper active, you can see it. He’s just as handsome as Haechan though, and they look like best friends more than brothers. Although his name is Minhyung, Haechan said he likes to be addressed as Mark more. Haechan looks more like his father, with his jaw shape and nose and somewhere by the forehead, and Mark looks more like his mother with the big doe eyes and the smile. Either way, you’ve met everyone and you want to go home too; you’re glad they got up first.

“We should get going by now, it’s getting late. Thank you so much for sitting down with us,” he says.

“No, no, I should thank you for sitting down with us. I hope we’ll get together well in the future, I’ll see you soon,” your father stands up and shakes Mr. Lee’s hand, and you see Haechan shoot you one last smile before he leaves through the door.

It’s the kind of smile that leaves you flustered, the kind of smile that makes you want to stare at him, the kind of smile that makes you want to be the reason for it.

God forsaken, you had done what you had, you can’t have feelings for him. ——————————————————————————————

|Hc Hey

You stare at the text Haechan had left you. You were in the car with your brother next to you, mom and dad in front talking about something.

|Y/n Heyy

|Hc Think dad and mom r gnna hire wedding planners

Wedding planners seem like a much easier option. Maybe you’ll get the wedding you’ve always wanted.

|Y/n It sounds easier planning like tht

|Hc Hmm whats ur dream wedding?

You really think. What’s your dream wedding? Maybe a simple wedding, nothing too grand.

|Y/n Uh nothing too grand tbh. a simple wedding would do

Haechan stared at the message, surprised. You looked like you’d want everything to be grand, he didn’t expect your answer to be so down to earth.

|Hc Thats nice. i havent rly thought of it Although i did want to get married with someone i’m familiar with. May b we can be frnds

That sentence makes you smile. “What’re you smiling at?” your brother asks, staring at you with a curious smile. When you don’t answer, he attempts to peek into your phone.

“Don’t frikin do that again, asshole,” you push his face away, hiding your phone.

“Ouch, fuck, where did that much grip come from?” He rubs his forehead. You stick your tongue out, rolling your eyes. How much ever you love your brother, he’ll always be a pain in the asshole.

“You’re texting Donghyuck, aren’t you?” he asks, surprised.

“Yeah, what about it?” you ask, typing back a reply.

|y/n Maybe, id like that :)

“Maybe you should leave some things to talk about after marriage, you know?” Jungwoo comments, smiling. You shoot him a dirty look, punching his arm.

“Mom, she keeps punching me,” he whines, and your mom turns around to glare at you.

“I didn’t even do anything,” you justify yourself, scoffing.

Jungwoo sticks his tongue out at you, and you have a strong urge to ruin his face that you have to hold back. You huff, looking back at the phone.

|Hc we’re almost there text ya later bye :]

You stared at the message with a big smile. That little smile at the end of the sentence, you found that absolutely adorable.

“Get out, we’re home,” your brother pokes you.

When would be the next time you’d get to see him? ——————————————————————————————

Well, the predicted next time was not far out. He’d called you out on a date, and you were genuinely surprised, to say the least.

“What?” you ask, sitting up in your office chair. The document you were reading is now forgotten, your mind processed his words.

“Let me take you on a date,” he repeats through the phone.

“Hyuck, stop fucking around, what’s the plan?” you ask, rolling your eyes.

“You’re fast. Dad wants us to go on a date in public for the paparazzis so they can take photos of us being lovey dovey and shit,” he says, biting his nails. A kind of disappointment bubbles up your throat, but you push it back down. You can’t have feelings for him, you’re friends.

“Fine, when?” you mumble.

“Are you upset?” he asks, and you could imagine his eyes gleaming mischievously.

“Why would I be upset? Theoretically, I should be, because I am your fiance. But then, we didn’t exactly fall in love and get married. This gives us the conclusion that I have absolutely no reason to be upset.” you know you’re not upset.

“You’re upset, okay, I get it. Stop overanalyzing shit when you’re upset, it’s a little too obvious.”

“I said I’m not upset,” you grumble.

“Fine, whatever you say. I’ll pick you up at 4 in the evening, clear your schedule.” he says before hanging up.

He’s so fucking annoying.

You check the time. It’s 2:17, you should probably head out. You pick up your coat, and call your driver, already heading out of the office. You clarify to your secretary and head right out, all the way to your apartment.

You’d gone for a visit at your home for a while, where you met Haechan. You even got to hang out a lot, so you got a lot closer. A lot like best friends.

The automated doors open into your apartment, and you greet the maid on the way to your room. You don’t know how you should dress.

So you call Hyuck.

“What?” he asks, groaning.

“How should I dress? Where are we going?” you ask, and it takes him a moment to answer.

“Dress simple, we’re going to a cafe,” he answers, and hangs up again. You groan. You don’t really have anything simple to wear. You do, but you’ve already worn them all before.

“Miss? Is everything okay?” you turn your head to look at the maid standing behind you, a worried expression on her face.

“Me and Hyuck are going on a cafe date, I have nothing to wear,” you frown, and the maid hums. She thinks for a second, and then steps forward. She wipes her hand on her uniform and picks out a cute coffee coloured sweater, a pair of white jeans, and points at a bag she’s too afraid to touch.

“No, no, I don’t mind. We’re all the same, just cause you work for me doesn’t make you non human,” you smile at her, urging her to get you that brown Hermes bag. She hesitates to touch it, and once she does, she smiles before carefully passing it to you.

God, who mistreats these ladies to the point they're afraid to touch bags.

Her name is Park Hyejin. She’s been with you from about a few years ago, and she’s always been around you. Your mom had her move from your house to your apartment with you because you were the most comfortable around her, and she figured you could use help in taking care of the apartment.

“I could’ve. But I’ve worn both of these before with different pairs,” you whine, staring at the outfit laid out onto the leather in the middle of your huge closet.

“Ma’am, I think you should be getting ready, it’s already past three,”

You’ve been staring at your closet for an hour now???

“Shit. I’ll just wear it,” you strip in front of her, pulling on your sweater. You’d taken a cold shower this morning, you’ll be fine, you didn’t have time anyway.

She’s seen everything, you don’t think she hasn't seen you naked at least once. You straighten out your beige sweater, sighing satisfyingly. You turn around to thank the girl, and she’s cherry tomato red, you realise. A smile eases onto your features.

“You’re blushing,” you tease, leaning back onto one of your closet doors.

“M-ma’am, do you want me to do your hair?” she asks, quietly. You giggle to yourself, nodding.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second,” you nod. She hurriedly leaves the room, and you giggle before pulling on your pants.

You’re done in about forty five minutes, and it’s already 4. Your phone rings as you sit down on your couch, waiting for Donghyuck to show up.

“Yeah?”

“You ready? I’m downstairs,” he says, his car parked right outside. If you looked, you’d probably see it.

“Coming,” you cut the call, grabbing your purse and waving to Hyun Joo before going out.

“Evening, my lady,” Haechan greets you, and something about him seems stunned the moment he sees you. He’s staring for a second, just a second, before he breaks from it and opens the door for you.

He’s driving and he’s unusually quiet, unlike the loud boy you know.

“Is something wrong?” you finally break the silence. He glances over, and smiles. Laughs, actually.

“No, not really.” he answers. He then thinks for a little bit more.

“When’s the dress fitting?”

“Not sure, on the 19th, I think,” you answer. He hums, thinking again. The rest of the ride is quiet, but you get to observe his outfit while you’re bored. He looks cute, a very nice brown sweater, and a pair of white jeans. You really like how he looks, it sort of matches your outfit. Maybe that’s why he was staring.

“You look really nice today,” he mumbles, and you don’t hear him.

“What?”

“I said you look like shit today,” he panics, answering quickly.

Fuck, he probably just blew his chance with you.

“Thanks Haechan, really helped me grow as a person,” you sneer, sulking.

“We’re here,”

He unbuckles his seat belt, and steps out of the car to open your door. He opens it for you, and you step out, thanking him. He’d picked a place near the glass to sit in, and you were happy he did.

The cafe is bustling, yet so calming. It’s the prettiest cafe you’ve been to, because everything about it feels and looks amazing. It’s so coffee-like, yet it seems like there’s something for everyone.

“Is everything okay? You’ve been really quiet today,” you ask him as he gets settled opposite to you. He sighs, shaking his head.

“It’s just the stress, nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart.” the last word strikes you, and you feel your cheeks heat up unintentionally.

“Wait did you just-?” he asks, breaking into a quiet fit of laughter.

“No, no I didn’t.” you bite your lips, embarrassed.

“Are you a coffee person?” you ask, desperately trying to change the subject so he would move on from that little thing. You know he’s going to tease your hours on end for it.. You always end up admiring him every time you’re together, although you’re not so sure why.

“Very much so,”

“Me too. I like brewed coffee a lot,” you smile, and he smiles back. His smile is so perfect, his lips look so perfect, and his nose looks so perfect. Everything about him is unreal, and you love the way he stares at you. His eyes are so chocolate brown and deep, always holding a kind of meaning when he looks at you.

“The half drunk dudes should be here by now.” Hyuck spares one glance out the window, and then he smiles at you. He takes your hand in his, and you’ve never been more confused.

“Act like you’re in love with me. They can note shit pretty quick, although they are half drunk most of them do work in dispatch.”

I’m already in love with you, why should I pretend?

You blink rapidly in a poor attempt to get rid of the stupid thought, trying to act. You smile warmly as he takes your hand and places his lips on the back of your hand, letting his lips stay.

“Why didn’t you pick up my call yesterday, you piece of shit?” you ask through the smile.

“You called me yesterday? Why?” he asks, and he doesn’t break character. He’s still looking at you like he’s so in love and that makes you want to break your character and run.

“I wanted to ask about the wedding planners, dumbass.”

“You could’ve texted me,”

“I have things to do.” He intertwines your fingers together and you notice how his hand is so warm. His hand is so big, and warm and perfect in yours. He seems to notice it too because he’s staring at it.

His hand tightens around yours, and his thumb unconsciously caresses your hand. It’s quiet between you two for a few minutes. It’s like the world has given you freedom for a few minutes, and you’re free to look at each other however you want. Touch each other however you want, and smile at each other however you want.

Your eyes trace his pretty deep brown eyes, his newly dyed black hair, his jaw. His skin is flawless, perfect, and you notice his pretty earning for the first time. Your eyes run along his lips, and you force yourself to look away before you do something stupid.

“Are they gone?” you ask, and Haechan sighs before he looks out, noticing nobody there. He’s quite good at finding cameras.

Please don’t be gone, let me hold onto her a little longer.

“Yeah,” he retreats his hand, and it hurts you a little bit. His hands were so warm, the weather was cold, you admit you were a little disappointed when his hands left yours.

“Would you like something to eat?” he asks. He’s got this strong urge to take your face into his hands and kiss you, kiss you till you both run out of breath.

Fuck, what was he thinking.

“Yeah sure,” you nod, smiling. Haechan knows he’s using every cell in his body to resist the urge to kiss you, although he finds it weird. He doesn’t like you, he swears he doesn’t, so what is this feeling?

The date goes by rather quiet, with both your minds confused and screaming, you didn’t think you had much to say.

“I’ll see you on dress fitting,” Haechan smiles. You think you might see why his dad named him Haechan, his smile is so bright and pretty.

“I’ll see you too,” although he does hesitate, he places a quick kiss on your cheek before he runs for his car. He’s too cute for you, your heart can’t take it.

But also, did he just kiss you?

“What was that?” you demand before he drives off.

“Keep it,” is all he shouts back. You blush furiously at the audacity of him to do this after you guys agreed to be friends and nothing more. Maybe you should’ve done that.

Haechan pulls into his car and drives off, his heart beating loudly into his chest. He knows he shouldn’t have done it, he knows it was so wrong. Maybe not that wrong, but after deciding to be friends, what he did was a shit move.

But if he didn’t do at least this much, he was going to combust from the sheer urge to kiss you. He closes his eyes briefly, collecting himself before heading back home, and maybe to get some work done. ——————————————————————————————

“Hello, you must be Ms. Seo. Your fiance has been waiting for you,” the lady says and that surprises you. Haechan had said he might not even show up to the fitting, but he did, and you were happy he did.

“Donghyuck, I didn’t expect to see you here,” you walk in, smiling brightly. The last few days of your life had been filled with him, by him. He’s sent you good morning texts, he’s helped you with a few company related issues, and he’s spent some good time with you, getting to know you.

These were the basics, because if you were going to live with him, it might as well be on acquainted terms.

“I didn’t have time to show up for my fitting, might as well get it done with you.” he stands up with a huge smile.

“Have you at least looked through and selected a few dresses?” you inquire, eyes fixed on all the dresses on the huge racks. You wanted a custom one made, but there’s no time for that is what your mom said.

“Yes, I have indeed. So uh, I did select a few, I’ve asked them to keep those pieces aside. You should go check them out,” he tilts his head towards the changing room. You nod, letting a sigh fall from your lips.

You were choosing your wedding dress, something you didn’t dare dream happen until you were fully settled.

The shit we do for our loved ones.

You fit into the first dress, second, and third dress. You’ve gone through five different dresses and they just weren’t for you. Frustrated, you call Haechan into the changing room.

“Yeah?” he peeks in, and his eyes run over your coresetted figure. Goddammit you look beautiful.

“I like the third dress, you saw it, but it just isn’t for me. I need something special.” you rant, staring into the mirror. Haechan looks away out of respect, and he sighs.

“See, the thing is…” he trails on, a little nervous.

“Yeah?” you turn around.

“The thing is, I might or might not have had a custom dress made for you…” he hesitates, chewing on his lips nervously.

“What?” your lips part in shock, and Haechan sighs. He looks hesitant. He steps inside the room and closes the door.

“Uh, a while ago, like a week or two ago, I thought about how we could make our wedding better for you, and I remembered you mentioning something about a custom dress. So uh, I took it up with my imagination and your style and came up with a dress. It just came in yesterday, if you want we can send it back,” Haechan mumbles out, and you’re surprised.

And touched. He wanted to make this perfect for you, better for you. Maybe it’s not that bad getting married to him.

“Would you like to try it on- or- you know what- I’m sorry, I’ll send it back–” Haechan shakes his head, wincing. Maybe he went overboard.

“No, no. Let me see the dress, let me try it on,” you mumble fast enough, and he looks stunned.

“You’ll try it on?” you nod in confirmation, and a huge smile makes its way to Haechan’s face. You’re happy to see that smile.

You try on your sixth dress of the day, and you have to say, you look beautiful. The sleeveless white ball gown-like dress looked absolutely gorgeous on you, you can’t help but bite back tears. Haechan designed this for you. It was just so beautiful.

Haechan sits on the couch in the middle of a huge room, waiting for you to show up. He’s mindlessly scrolling on his phone, through every other social media app, trying to get rid of his nervousness.

Would she like the dress? Would she send it back? She’d probably hate it. No, she hasn't tried it on yet, maybe she’ll like it.

A lady walks into the room and smiles at him, and something tells him to keep his phone away. So he does.

The curtains swing open, and you’re standing there in the middle, absolutely gorgeous in a pure white gown. He designed it for you, and he’s stunned and shocked at how good you look in it.

“I like it, I love it,” your hand smoothes over the satin top part, biting back a teared smile.

“It’s…it’s beautiful.” he mumbles, feeling his heart beat faster. His heart is thudding so loudly in it’s cage, and you’re the reason.

“You’re beautiful,” Haechan says, and he shuts his mouth quick enough.

“I-I mean, the d-dress is beautiful, you look beautiful in it,” he tries to correct it himself. Giggling quietly, you turn again to look in the mirror.

The dress is really perfect. It’s fluffy, it’s not too heavy, nor is it inconveniently big. It’s just right.

God, you want to cry. Haechan had this made for you because he wanted the wedding to be more than just an agreement for you.

He can’t take his eyes off you, you look so pure and pretty and gorgeous in that dress.

“I want this,” you smile, tears blurring your vision. Haechan’s face brightens up almost immediately, and he does this little hand signal that you don’t slip past.

Goddamn, he couldn’t wait for the wedding. ——————————————————————————————

Haechan was practically shaking in the suit. He was standing on the podium, waiting for you to come out. He’s never been this nervous in his entire life; hell, he’s a damn business man.

“She’ll come out any minute now,” someone whispers, and his heart is now beating harder.

Fucking hell, just get this over with.

The light shines on you, and he audibly gasps. You look so, so, so beautiful, so stunning, holding your father’s hand. There’s a pretty white flower crown at the top of your head.

Everything about you is so pretty, so pure.

“Take care of my daughter,” your father gives him your hand, and he takes it delicately.

“Yes, father. I promise to take care of her through everything,” Haechan smiles, and he looks at you. He’s afraid he’s going to forget the whole world if he looks for too long.

You walk up and stand on the podium in front of him, hand in hand with him. Has his hands always been so warm?

The vows go by so fast, with just each other in their eyes, nothing else really matters. Haechan looks gorgeous, better than the man in your dreams. He was tucked perfectly in a black tux, his waist coat extenuating his figure.

“You may now kiss the bride,” is all you hear from the pastor. You stare at Haechan, blinking rapidly, and he stares back in the same.

“You may now kiss the bride.” the pastor repeats, louder. Haechan gets startled a bit, and then he starts leaning forward.

He’s kissed a lot of people before, why was he so nervous with you?

His lips capture yours in a soft kiss, and he swears he almost passed out. Why were you so soft and delicate?

He’s experienced, you can tell. You automatically lean in a bit, and his lips are soft, so soft you could get lost in them.

You pull away after a second or two, and you’re both a blushing mess. Haechan’s cheeks are burning hot, and you think about how the heat on your cheeks could probably show through the makeup.

The crowd claps and you both smile, walking down the aisle. Your hand is in his as you cling to him, walking by his side.

“God, this is so nerve-wrecking,” Haechan mumbles, and you almost laugh on camera. Your hand squeezes softly on his bicep in agreement, and he smiles a little wider.

“I can’t wait to go home.” you sigh. ——————————————————————————————

“Thank you so much for the generous gifts, Mrs. Kim. We appreciate it, really,” you smile at the middle aged lady, who smiles back graciously.

“I can’t believe how much you’ve grown, I still remember you playing in our garden with Jungwoo like it was yesterday.” she looks over you so emotionally. You giggle a little, nodding.

“I hope I can see little versions of you running around in the same garden someday,” she smiles, and your eyes widen. Haechan, who’s standing beside you, laughs a little at your reaction. His hand wraps around your waist and he pulls you in, smiling.

“Sure, expect it soon, Mrs. Kim,” he bows and the lady laughs a little, saying her goodbyes before leaving.

“What the hell was that?” you punch Haechan in the arm, a little pissed. He winces as he rubs his arm, laughing.

“What?”

“I don’t want kids, not until I’m ready.” you say.

“Nobody’s forcing you, you don’t have to think about it until you’re ready. I don’t want kids until you want them either,” he rubs your shoulder calmingly, and you sigh.

“I just got worked up, this wedding’s been stressing me out, I’m sorry,” you mumble, leaning back onto his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. Also, didn’t we agree to keep it to just friends? You don’t have to worry, I won’t pull anything,” Haechan chuckles, wrapping his arm around you.

Unless you want me to.

“Can we go home? I’m tired,” you pout, and it takes all of Haechan’s self control to not kiss your little pout.

“Sit down, I’ll go talk to mother,” he helps you sit down on a chair, smiles at you. He makes sure you’re comfortable before telling you he’s going to go find your mothers.

You observe your own wedding party. There’s nothing too big, but what you see is well done. It’s perfect, and you’re glad they called in wedding planners to execute this.

“Y/n!” you hear a voice. You turn your head and find someone you thought you’d never see again.

“Taeyong!” you exclaim, standing up and opening your arms. He scoops you into his arms, lifting you off the ground a little.

“I haven’t seen you in such a long time,” you squeeze his arms, smiling.

“God, tell me about it. I was so surprised when I heard you were getting married.” he says, giggling. His laugh always had a nice ring to it.

Lee Taeyong was your highschool bestfriend, and your ex boyfriend. You had dated for about five to six months before he broke it off for the reason of losing feelings. But then, when he saw you still had feelings, he came back, and you dated for another month before you broke it off. The relationship zig zagged another time before you both decided it was the best to call it off and just remain as best friends.

You confessed to him, and he had said he liked you back. He was your first kiss, your first love, your first everything.

First everything except sex. You weren’t ready back then, and you never really got to the part where your virginity gets taken, so you’re still a virgin. As shitty as that is.

“You look beautiful,” he compliments, and you blush softly. He still has that effect on you.

“Well, you don’t look bad yourself, how are you?” you ask as you sit back down, your heels hurting the back on your feet. You’ve walked quite a bit today.

“Moved back here. New York got a little boring without you,” he smiles, and you laugh.

“You moved here? Why?”

“I’m starting a new branch of my law firm here, one of the big reasons I moved back,” you nod, and you see Haechan running to you from the corner of your eyes.

“Hyung, I didn’t think I’d see you here,” Haechan gives him a bro hug. They know each other?

“Wait, you two know each other?” you’re confused.

“He’s my first cousin,” Haechan says, his arm hanging around Taeyong’s shoulder.

Cousins?????

“First cousin? I had no idea,” you laugh, surprised.

“Let me ask, how do you guys know each other?” Haechan looks between you and Taeyong. He removes his arm from around his shoulder, and moves closer to stand tall next to you.

Taeyong sighs, and you’re just a little nervous.

“We- we were high school best friends.” you answer, signalling Taeyong to shut up with your eyes. Haechan nods, a little suspicious.

“That’s it?” he asks tentatively.

“Y-yeah pretty much.” you force a smile, and Taeyong nods awkwardly. It’s just a moment of really thick awkward silence that anyone would be able to sense from a mile away.

“I- I have to get back to my mother, do you mind if I–” he motions back to his mother, who’s not even looking at him.

“Yeah, no, we were about to leave anyway. It’s almost all winded up, we’ll leave,” you say, urging him on. He leaves and you look back at Haechan, who looks a little pissed.

“Let’s go.” Haechan holds onto your waist protectively, dragging you away from the spot into his car.

He gets you into your car and makes sure your dress sits well before getting in the car himself. He leans his head back onto the seat, his hips pushed up and his tongue poking his cheeks.

He looks unrealistically hot.

“What was that?” he asks, and you stare at him.

“W-what?”

“You and Taeyong, what was that? Is there anything you aren’t telling me?” he looks at you, and his voice is gentle, unlike a few moments ago.

You sigh, biting your inner cheeks before speaking.

“We- we dated, for about a few months. It went on and off for a year before we finally called it off and decided to just be best friends,” you spoke, afraid to look at him.

“You didn’t have to hide that from me. I’m okay with it. We’re going to be living different lives anyway, so might as well tell me your dating history,” he smiles, a weird feeling boiling in him. He was relieved that it was nothing more, but on the other hand, a not so good feeling bubbled in his heart.

I could just rip Taeyong apart.

No, no no no no. What was he thinking? ——————————————————————————————

“Is it bad that I never really took the initiative of visiting our house?” you look out through the car window, fascinated. You were so wrapped up in the work of your company and the wedding preparations, you forgot to visit the house you’d be moving into after the wedding.

“Uh, the thing is, I haven’t visited either, so I don’t know what to expect. Although, dad did say he moved enough of our things here.” he says, turning the engine off. He pulls the key out of the car, and he gets out to help you out.

“I swear to god, the first thing I’m doing is throwing this dress off,” you grumble and Haechan laughs a little.

He puts in the password and the door opens, revealing the most beautiful, yet the most simplest and minimalistic house you’ve ever seen. It’s gorgeous, just beautiful.

“Wow,” Haechan’s the first one to speak.

“I’m actually going to go change out, I’m super uncomfortable,” you mumble, and Haechan nods, helping you find the master bedroom. You do find it, and it’s fucking huge. Bigger than your bedroom ever was growing up.

You see the two suitcases sitting in the corner, and you immediately identify one as yours.

“Found mine,” you smile.

“I’ll move into another room, you can stay here,” Haechan takes his suitcase, but you’re not sure you want such a big room all to yourself.

“No, no, I’ll move, you stay here,” you say, and Haechan stares at you.

“No, I’m moving,”

“No, no, I don’t want such a big room all to myself,” you say, but Haechan’s already out the door.

“I’m just a room over, don’t fret over it,” he says, and his voice echoes in the living room.

You sigh, thinking how stubborn he really was. He wouldn’t even give you a chance to argue about it.

You try to get out of your dress, but find it almost impossible. Goddamit, do they really have to secure the zipper like that?

The only person in the house who could help you was Haechan, who was a room away. You groan, opening your door and making your way over to his room.

“Hyuck,” you open the door, and it startles him. Dammit, you forgot to knock. Next time.

You lift your eyes and you find him in the middle of the room with no shirt on, staring back at you with a t-shirt in his hands.

“You seem to like staring,” he switches the t-shirt from one hand to the next, and you realise you were staring.

“No, no I don’t,” you turn around, your hand still on the door knob. You blush deeply, and your heart rate raises as the image of his body gets imprinted in your mind. God, he looked so good.

“I’m done, what’d you need?” he asks you with a shitty grin, and you turn around to face him.

“Can’t get the damn zipper open, for fucks sake.” you mumble, and you notice how he’s staring intently at your face. You assume he’s staring at your heated up face.

“I’ll help you out of it, do you want me to turn up the air con?” you look up to glare at him, and he just laughs. He’s so annoying yet so attractive and loveable.

“Just shut up and help me out of it,” you turn your back to him, and he giggles before coming closer.

You feel him push off a pin or two, and then he slides down the zipper. Slowly, so slowly, he slides it down. Your breath hitches and something pools in the pit of your stomach as his fingers brush your bare back, your fingers squeezing into a fist.

He sighs shakily as he stares at your back, just how smooth and soft it looks. He wants to run his hand over your back, tell you how pretty you are as he presses his lips against yours.

What? God, no. I don’t have feelings, it’s just sexual attraction, happens to the most of us.

Haechan rips his hands away from you, and you make a run for it, thanking him. You’re so embarrassed and worked up, you can’t understand what you’re feeling right now. ——————————————————————————————

“Good morning,” Haechan greets you as you walk out of your room in pyjamas, sleep drunk.

Haechan’s on the couch, a bowl of ramen in his hands. What time is it?

“Morning,” you greet, and Haechan’s heart weirdly flutters. “What time is it?” you ask.

“It’s past 12. Looks like you slept well,” he comments, staring at your hair. You try to tame your wild hair with a laugh, joining him on the couch.

“Seen my phone?” you ask, and he hands it to you. “Someone brought it in today, you left it at the reception, dummy,” he smiles, and you wince at your stupidity.

“I remember leaving it on the counter and never taking it. Thank you,” you opened your phone with your fingerprint, leaning back onto the couch. You see so many calls, it worries you for a second before you realise all of it was your mom. You call back, putting the phone on speaker as you close your eyes, trying to come to your senses.

“Are you finally awake from the dead?” your mom asks, and Haechan chokes on his ramen. He laughs quietly, enjoying your annoyance.

“A hello would have been nice. Donghyuck heard that, you know,” you say and she laughs.

“He’s going to live with you, might as well. Poor kid,” she pities and Haechan can’t stop laughing. You punch his arm, and he winces, still laughing.

“Anyway, are you twp at home?” she asks, you can hear jungwoo shouting on his playstation on the other side. Your mom screams for him to quiet down, and he does. Haechan and you get a giggle out of it.

“Yeah, dad asked us to take off from the company for a few days,” you answer.

“Well great, cause we’ll be over in 30. See you then, miss you sweetheart,” your mom hangs up. You sit there on the couch, alarmed, and Haechan pauses mid bite.

“Did she say thirty minutes?” Haechan spits out his ramen.

“Get up, we need to move your things into my room, we need to put on something more decent, and you need to wash the dishes,” you sound extremely alarmed, getting up and running for your room.

“Where- where do I put the suitcase?”

“Just leave it open in the room, make it seem natural,” you yell from the bathroom, washing your face aggressively. You slip on a pretty yellow dress and let down your hair in a hurry, brushing it out.

You run out of the bathroom, asking Haechan to go change and telling him that you’ll do the rest of the dishes. You’re putting away the last plate as Haechan rushes out the door with the sound of the door bell.

“You open it,” you urge him towards the door. He groans, but he opens the door with the biggest smile.

“Mom, mother, hi,” Haechan greets them, giving them both a hug.

“Mom!” you exclaim, running into her arms. She laughs as she hugs you, her arms so warm. You’d only seen her yesterday, but you missed her.

“Hi mother,” you greet her with a gentle hug, completely unlike the one you gave your mom.

“How are you guys getting along?” they ask as they sit down on the couch. You and Haechan smile, and Haechan links his hands with yours, squeezing gently.

“It’s great, mom. I couldn’t ask for someone better,” Haechan makes eye contact with you, and you really see sincere love in there. So instead of hiding your little infatuation, you unwrap it too.

“He’s perfect,” you say, smiling. Haechan’s mother and yours look pleased as you share the longest eye contact since engagement.

“So, are you guys sharing a room or something?” Your mom’s question breaks both of you out of your trance.

Haechan stares at your mom, blank.

“Uh, y-yeah, but, uh, we- we haven’t exactly got to the other part yet,” you answer, knowing exactly what your mother was asking. She was implementing if you had consummated the marriage yet, and in truth, you aren’t even really together.

“Oh, I see. Can we see your room?” you and Haechan share certain looks, and then nod. You lead them to your room, Haechan following behind.

You open the door, praying that everything looks fine. Everything does look fine, but you notice a bra at the corner of the room that you forgot to hide. Fuck.

“We- we haven’t cleaned up,” you laugh nervously, and your mothers nod, walking out the room. Your mother pulls you aside and whispers, “maybe hide the evidence before lying to me,” with a smile.

“Huh?” Then it clicks, she saw the bra. Goddammit. You decide you’d just play along.

“We just stopped by, we have to leave soon.” his mother says, and you nod, smiling.

“You know what, we’ll leave now. Thank you for letting us in,” your mother drags his mother outside. You both wave bye happily, glad to be finally out of their eyes.

“Mom saw my bra and thought we had sex,” you say, sighing exasperated. He sighs, finally letting all the stress out.

“This was a mess. Do you just wanna watch netflix and chill?” Haechan speaks, throwing himself onto the couch.

“Yeah,”

You got nothing done that day, but you finished the show Locke and Key. oh well. ——————————————————————————————

You had to go back to work the following week, but right now, you were sprawled out on the couch, Haechan sitting by your feet. You’re watching Brooklyn nine-nine, laughing as Jake Peralta cracks another stupid joke, Haechan’s little laugh echoing.

You’re tired after a long day, and you’re actively looking forward to the weekend like Haechan. It’s past 11, and almost 12. You can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow.

You’re positive you look like shit, and Haechan looked just fine, although a little messy. He looked adorable, his hair messy from bed, a hoodie pulled over his head.

Your phone rings and you groan, staring at it sitting on the single couch opposite from you. Who’s calling this late?

Haechan laughs as he hears you, and reaches out to pick your phone up. He glances at the screen and frowns, handing it to you.

“It’s your secretary.” he says, pausing the show.

“Sorry, I’ll just take this,” you say, and you press the phone to your ear.

“Hello, this-”

“Madame, we have an emergency,” your secretary gasps, shuffling sounds of paper on the other side. You sit up, worried.

“Yes?”

“Our designs have been stolen by the Na’s. They just published their teaser with our designs on it, they’ve stolen our designs,”

“What? I’m on my way, call an emergency meeting with the marketing, the design team, and the legal department,” you almost jump off your couch, heading for your room.

“What happened?” Haechan gets up and follows you, and you spare him a glance. He looks worried.

“The Na’s stole our design. I swear to god, I’ll murder Jaemin with my own hands someday,” you growl, anger consuming your headspace.

“I’m close with Jaemin,” Haechan blurts and you stop in your tracks of picking an outfit.

“Why didn’t I see him at our wedding?”

“He didn’t attend. Said he had documents to process, or something,” Haechan recalls that phone call with his friend.

“He was at the fucking company while I was busy,” you mumble, quickly pulling on a shirt and jeans to rush out of the house.

“Should I come?” he asks, unsure of letting you drive out in the night when it’s this late.

“No, I’ll be fine,” you rush out, but then turn around.

“You don’t mind me sueing that piece of garbage, do you?” you ask, to which Haechan shrugs.

“I knew he was a bad influence, so no, not really. Although, I suggest you should rush there,” he says, and you nod, almost closing the door when you hear Haechan call your name again.

“Y/n! Your keys, you forgot them,” he says, and tosses them into the air for you to catch. You catch them, and wave a quick bye to Haechan who then stands in the middle of the room, frowning.

Fuck you, Jaemin. We were actually spending some time together.

Haechan looks up, his middle finger raised as he stomps back to the T.V, hoping some episodes of Brooklyn nine-nine would cheer him up.

Man, you loved Charles, now he can’t watch it without thinking of you. ——————————————————————————————

After a five hour discussion, you had given everyone a break, and took one for yourself. It was currently somewhere around four in the morning, and you were thinking of calling Haechan. But you’d probably disturb him by it, so maybe you can call after an hour or two.

You go back into the meeting room, and sort some things out. You give everyone the permission to go home and have some rest, and return by four in the evening, cause no company works their employees overnight. God, you felt bad for all of them. Most of them were in their pyjamas.

You’d decided to sue the Na’s, and cancel the coming runway because you really had no other designs that you put your time and work and life into. You’d had so many different things planned for this launch, and all that hard work and pain was in vain.

You are slouched over your table almost in tears when Haechan calls, and you check the time.

8:58 AM, saturday

You pick up the call and stay silent, trying not to cry.

“How did everything go? Are you okay- you know what, I’ll send someone to pick you up, stay right there, sweetheart,” he picks the clues up from your silence so easily, you can’t tell if you love him or hate him.

Thirty minutes pass, and now you’re at your front door, hands on the bell. You ring it, and within seconds, a worried Haechan appears at the door. He guides you in by your hands, and stares at your drained face.

You can’t look at him, because you’re afraid if you do, you’ll burst into tears.

“Are you okay? How is everything?” he asks, and you almost crumble into pieces. This has never happened to you before, you really thought you were emotionally strong.

“Can I get a hug?” is all you manage to say as you look up at him with watery eyes. His heart breaks at the sight and he softly engulfs you in a much needed hug, his hands wrapped around your waist. He rests his chin on your shoulder, and he holds you close, just right.

You break into a pool of tears in his grasp, and Haechan sucks in a tight breath when he hears your sobbing. He slowly lulls you into your room, and sits you on the messy bed. He doesn’t pull away, he just waits for you to let go. When you realise he might be uncomfortable, you let go and he pulls away gently, like he’s afraid of hurting you.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asks softly.

“No, stay please,” you whisper, patting the place next to you. He sits down, and you take a moment before you speak.

“I had so many things planned for this runway launch, and now it’s all Jaemin’s.” you sniffle, and he rubs your back softly.

“Tell me everything,”

“I’ve decided to sue him, and I’ll cancel this launch,” you mumble, your voice breaking.

“Cancel it? You know how big of a loss that would be?” he asks.

“I know, but what else do I do? That motherfucker has it all now,” tears fill your eyes again.

“Do you know who leaked it?” he asks. That one question opens a possibility that you didn’t have time to consider in the middle of all this madness.

“I didn’t have time to think about that,” you whisper, the gears in your head working.

“Leave it to me. I’ll send my lawyer to you, and we’ll handle this like professionals.” he smiles as he pats your back, and you see a glimpse of hope in his eyes. That makes you want to hope everything will turn out fine.

“Also, don’t cancel the show.” he says, and you turn to look at him.

“You still have two months. You have about two weeks to pull other designs. Can you make it work?”

“It’s not that easy to pull designs together, Haechan,” you protest, and he nods.

“I know, but I need you to try. Or, instead of launching clothes, we can launch something else. That could expand your boundaries.” he’s a good businessman. You try to think straight through all your tears, and the first option sounds a lot better. You’re not ready to expand your boundaries yet, there's still work to be done.

“I’ll try to pull together some designs,” you wipe your tears, and Haechan sighs happily. He sounds content with your answer.

“That’s the spirit. When there's a will–”

“There’s a way.” you finish, staring at him with a big smile. His face looks like he approves of it, and he pulls his phone out of his pants.

“I have to make a few calls,” he says, and you nod. He kneels down in front of you, holds your face, and looks you in the eyes. Your face burns red, his lips distracting you.

“You can do this, okay? I believe in you, and I’m proud of you. You’re doing really well, I know you are. You’re trying your best, and things don’t always go your way because this is life. When life throws lemons at you…” he urges you to continue.

“You make lemonade. What are you, a damn pinterest board?” you laugh, eyes teary. He laughs loudly and the sound is so pure, it makes your heart a little lighter.

“I’ve got to make a few calls, I’m right outside the door if you need anything, hmm?” his hands leave your cheeks, and you frown, feeling the warmth leave you. You wanted him to stay longer.

“Also, I’ve left your Ipad on the couch. It’s fully charged,” he shouts from the living, his voice distant. You smile a little. He's taking care of you so well, you don’t deserve him.

You’re going to try drawing something meanwhile, although you’re unsure of what. ——————————————————————————————

You designed a thing or two before sleep overtook you, and you took a break to have a nap. Haechan walks into the room to tell you how his lawyer is on her way to dig up dirt on Na Jaemin, but his heart stops when he finds you asleep. You look so cute, curled into a little ball on the bed, the blanket wrapped around you.

Haechan looks around the room, and he finds your Ipad left unlocked. He peeks onto the screen, and he audibly gasps.

You’d only done two designs, but they were gorgeous and eye-catching. He looks back at your small figure wrapped tightly in a blanket with a new realisation at how talented you are, and it shakes him.

He can’t deny, he is lucky to have you as his wife instead of the people his dad had considered, like Jia from the Kwon family. She was a good match, but she wasn’t as strong or independent as you are. He doesn’t think about anything when you’re around, and that makes him stress free. You’re his only escape from the cruel world.

He stares at you for a few seconds before turning off the bed lamp, tucking you in a little more with a smile. He’s hesitant, but he places a soft kiss on your cheekbone before getting up to leave, his heart serene in his chest.

He knows it’s wrong. It’s so wrong to even touch you with a different intention than friends. He’s convinced himself he doesn’t have feelings for you, so why does he keep wanting you? Why does he keep desiring you all for himself? Why does he feel the need to protect you from the cruel, cruel world and kiss you to sleep every night?

Maybe he’ll never know. ——————————————————————————————

“We’re not cancelling the runway. I’ll pull through with some designs since we have two more months, get all of our best designers on the job. I want a full briefing of at least twenty five designs by next friday.” you speak into the phone.

“What about the lawsuit against the Na’s?” you can hear her gulp.

“I’ve confirmed an appointment with the legal department, another lawyer will be joining the team.” your secretary hums, writing something down.

“I’ll call you later,” you cut the call, stretching yourself in the chair of your desk. You’ve just woken up from your three hour long nap, a little refreshed. Haechan brought you some coffee and some food, and you ate with him.

But you were currently experiencing a bad case of art block. Your head is pounding, and you’re frustrated. You want to scream and cry.

A knock sounds on the door, and Haechan peeks his head in.

“Hey, how’s it going?” he asks, his eyes skimming over your messy desk. “Bad. I have an art block, I can’t think,” you mumble.

“Do you want me to sit here?” he comes in through the door, closing it behind him.

“Yes please,”

He sits down on the spare chair in the room, watching you.

“Did you ask someone to investigate?” he asks, and you nod.

“I’ve reported it. They said it'll take a week or two to process,” you smack your head into your hands, feeling the tears build from frustration.

“Have you tried saying that it was a high profile case?”

“No,” you answer. He pulls his phone out and makes a quick call, and within a minute, he’s hung up.

“I’ve reduced it to a few days. They said they’ll start on the investigation right away,” you’re unbelievably thankful for Haechan, because if it wasn’t for him, you don’t know what you’d have done.

“Haechan, I- I just really can’t thank you enough for everything you do for me. I don’t know how to repay this,” your voice breaks slightly.

You’ve always been so careful about letting people know about your work because you don’t trust anyone. Your dad once said that in business, if one thing tips over, everything tips over. The scale loses its balance, and that’s what’s just happened to you. You’ve been so stable all this while and then suddenly the scale tips, you’re not sure what to do. If you had decided to cancel the project, you might have never recovered from the blow of it.

Thank god for Haechan.

“You don’t have to repay me. I do this as your husband. Husbands and wives help each other, don’t they?” he smiles, and your heart lightens a bit. God, he’s got the prettiest smile you’ve ever seen.

“What even are we? We’re supposed to be husband and wife but we don’t love each other. I can’t say we’re best friends either cause we’re married. What is our relationship?” you don’t mean to say that. It’s probably all the stress that’s been growing on you since last night.

“You know…” Haechan begins, pulling his chair closer to you.

“Some relationships don’t need a label,” he says. You notice for the first time that day how deep his eyes are, and how pretty they are. He makes you want to paint him. He makes you want to make impulse decisions in life, because you feel like there’s someone that’ll protect you from those decisions.

You stare at each other, just admiring his eyes, his nose, his lips. His lips look so soft, so pink, so pretty. God, you could just kiss them.

Haechan begins to lean in softly, his heart thudding against his chest. You’re so pretty in the dim light like this, your lips look so soft to him.

The moment he starts leaning in, you’re stuck in panic. No, no no no no.

You panic and pull back, breathing heavily as you stare at Haechan. He pauses, and then he pulls back. He blushes in embarrassment, looking away.

“I-I’m sorry, I have to get back to work.” you turn around back to your ipad, your heart beating wildly in your chest.

“Yeah, no, it’s okay. I was just- I’m- I’m gonna go now, I’ve got some work,” Haechan gets up, but you hold onto his wrist.

“Please stay,” you mumble meekly. He stares at you for a minute longer before sighing loudly, sitting back down.

God, what was with you? You pull from him and then ask him to stay? What about his feelings?

“What do you want me to do?” Haechan asks. You turn your head and stare at him. You don’t know what you want him to do, his presence is just so comforting to be in.

“You know what, I’ll go get my laptop, I’ll work with you. I hope you don’t mind me making some work calls,” he says, and you smile in gratitude.

“No, of course not,” you say, a little embarrassed. Maybe you shouldn’t make him stay.

“You can… you know, leave if you want to,” you mumble, and Harchand gives you this stare. You chuckle a little, and that makes him laugh.

“Sorry, I’m just high on stress right now,” you say, and he’s kind enough to nod and smile.

Haechan does go and get his things, and settle down in the corner of your huge desk on your turning office chair. He types so fast, and you can’t help but wonder if his fingers work that fast too.

No, no no no no. Not right now. You’re just stressed.

“Hello?” Haechan leans back in his chair, one of his legs resting on top of the other.

Fuck, he looks so fucking hot and powerful. He could just fuck you that good.

He says something into the phone and he looks so in control and sounds so in charge, it sparks something inside you. You need to calm yourself down.

“Are you good?” Haechan is staring at how you’re staring at him. You shake off from your thoughts, and stare at him.

“Huh?”

“Are you good?” he repeats, and you nod.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good. I- I was just thinking.” you say, turning to your Ipad with a new intent. He really did give you an idea. ——————————————————————————————

You turn up at your office looking like you didn’t get any sleep and that was because you didn’t. Haechan slept on your bed, and you slept on your desk for about thirty minutes.

“Madame,” your secretary sighs as she sees you. You force a smile, nodding.

“You look rough. Would you like to take a few minutes to rest?” she asks, smiling gently.

“Could I? I don’t think-”

“I’ll tell everyone that you’re in a meeting, don’t worry,” she smiles, and she's out the door. You’re thankful for your secretary, you are. You lean your head back onto your chair, sighing. The day hasn’t even started and it’s already bad.

A minute or two later, just as you’re about to slip to sleep, your phone goes off. You groan and pick up, not bothering to look at the contact.

“Hello, this is Seo Y/n speaking,”

“Hello, Madame. Mr. Lee had called earlier today and asked to submit a report of the investigation to you,” goddammit, you were so close to falling for Haechan, why is he so nice to you.

“Oh, thank you. Can I ask how much progress there is?” you ask, sitting up straight.

“We have found the culprit, and got an arrest warrant for her. If you could please visit the station, we could arrange a meeting between you and her,”

Her? Your eyes shoot open in surprise, and you’re already grabbing your jacket.

“Yes, sure. Does Mr. Lee know about this?”

“Yes, he had informed us about five minutes ago that he was on his way.” Haechan was already on his way, you needed to be there too.

“I’ll be there in a few,” you cut the call, heading for the door. Your secretary looks surprised as she sees you with your keys.

“They found the culprit. I’ll be back in an hour or two.” you mumble quickly and she nods.

In a few minutes, you’re at the station. You see Haechan’s car parked outside as you rush in, expecting someone to greet you.

“Morning Madame, I assume you’re in a rush, she’s in the interrogation room.” a detective greets you. You smile and nod, eyes searching for Haechan around the room. When Haechan walks out of the interrogation room, you’re surprised.

“I didn’t think I’d see you here,” you lie. You’re not sure why you lied but you did.

“They called, so I just popped in to see what was going on. You should see her for yourself…” he sounds a little grim as he says that.

You step inside the room, and your eyes can’t believe what they’re seeing. Park Hyejin is on the chair, and she looks sour. What is your maid doing here?

“Hyejin?” you furrow your eyebrows, and you don’t fail to catch the way her eyes soften.

“Madame,” she whispers, just loud enough for you to hear. You can’t believe it. There’s no way. They must’ve gotten the wrong person.

You step right back out and stare at Haechan, who’s standing with a file in his hand.

“What’s Hyejin doing here?” you demand, and Haechan sighs before he hands you a file. You flip through the file in absolute disbelief as CCTV photos of Hyejin taking pictures of your designs on her phone are spread through the pages. The printed screenshots of her conversation with Jaemin, and how Jaemin paid her in big amounts to do this, the transaction records, and her purchase history are all given, and you can’t believe a thing.

“What…” you mumble, feeling yourself buckle.

“Are you okay?” Haechan asks quietly. You nod, still deep in shock.

“I’m just in shock. She was my friend.” you can’t describe what you’re feeling. You don’t know if you’re angry, you don’t know if you’re sad, or if you’re even surprised. It’s a mix of emotions, and they all feel shitty.

“Maybe you should head in there, talk to her,” Haechan urges you, tipping his head towards the interrogation room.

“Can you come with me?” you ask, your voice awfully quiet. You almost can’t recognise your own voice.

“Yeah,” he says in the most soothing way he can. His hand rests on the small of your back as he guides you into the interrogation room once again.

“Hyejin,” you try to sound tough as you sit down opposite to her. Haechan is sitting by your side, watching her. She looks at you with the softest look, and she turns her head to look at Haechan with much venom. It looks poisonous.

“Why did you do this?” you ask, and your voice shakes a little. You take a deep breath, and try to channel your quiet inner anger.

“Why did you do this?” this time, your voice sounds strong and vengeful. Betrayed.

“Madame I-” she stops herself as tears fill her eyes. She tucks her lips between her teeth in an attempt to stop herself from crying, but it doesn’t seem to work. You feel nothing for this girl, not anymore. She almost toppled all of your company for a reason she hasn’t told you yet, and you have every right to not feel anything.

“I asked a fucking question.” you spit, anger seething out of you. Haechan grips your wrist gently, and you seem to calm down a little. Much enough to not shout.

“I-I wa-” she stutters and you’re losing your patience. You know Haechan can sense it and even his grip isn’t doing anything for you.

“Spit it out,” your hand bangs down on the table, startling everyone who was in the room. Startling her so much to the point of spitting the truth out.

“I WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU,” she says, and you stare. Did you hear that wrong? You probably did.

“What?”

“I said I was in love with you. I was so in love with you and I still am. I didn’t like it when I saw you getting married to him—” she glares at Haechan for a moment and he looks confused “I didn’t like it when I saw him leave a kiss on your cheek, I hated that so much.”

You’re so surprised that you almost choke. Are you really that pretty enough to pull the guys and the gays? You glance at Haechan, and he looks equally surprised, maybe more.

“I hated it when you had to get married and move away, and that I couldn’t come along. I couldn’t see you more often, and I hated that. I was so angry and sad, I contacted Jaemin. Got him in the first try. I waited till you had moved before safely taking pictures of your designs and sending them to him. I admit the crime. I deserve to rot in jail for doing this but—” she looks up at you, dried eyes filling up again.

“I really did love you. I want you to know that I made such a stupid descision because I loved you too much, and I’m sorry for doing this.” she finishes, and you need to take a few moments to process everything you’ve heard.

So to sum it up, your maid is in love with you, and because she’s mad, she sold you out to your rivals and then when she gets caught, she apologises.

Okay.

You breathe out, getting ready to speak.

“Unfortunately, I hope you know that I can’t reciprocate your love since I’m married. I have a husband who I—” you glance at Haechan with a smile “whom I love.”

You smile wide as you hold eye contact, and Haechan’s breath gets stuck in his throat. Was this you confessing? He wants to kiss you so bad, but there are cameras and eyes watching.

You catch her jaw flexing angrily and you can only smile wider.

“And yes, you do deserve to rot in jail, don’t think I’d go easy on you because you were in love with me and because I considered you my friend instead of a maid. How could you even–” you scoff, your anger barely containing itself.

“Anyway, I’m going to hope you get bail and file a case. You brought this upon yourself, too bad I can’t help you.” you stand from your seat, glaring at her down. You leave before you say something else, anything else that might make you overthink.

You rip the car door open and settle yourself in the passenger's seat, sighing. The car door opens again and Haechan settles into the driver's seat with a huge smile.

“Are you okay?” he tries to sound calm, but you can hear the excitement, or happiness seeping through.

“Yeah, what’s up with you?” you ask, although you know.

“Nothing really,” he mumbles.

“No, there’s something,” you tease, and he takes a deep breath before turning to you.

“Did you mean it?” he asks, and you almost pass out from the tension of the question.

“I- uh- I-I don’t know…I’m not sure why I said that, but I’m not sure about my feelings either.” you say quietly, and instead of frowning, Haechan sounds happy when he speaks.

What you said was true. Haechan had been too nice to you, and even if all this was a lie, you’d love for nothing more than to keep having him by your side.

“Oh, I panicked and thought you had no feelings for me whatsoever. Give me a month or two, and watch yourself fall for me,” he smiles so wide, he looks so gorgeous. The sun is so strong as it shines through the window on Haechan’s side, but it didn’t bother him. He pulls the gear and the car roars to life before it pulls out of the parking lot.

He sounded confident. And you loved it. Hell, you’d love nothing more than to keep seeing him happy.

Maybe I’d already fallen for him. I know he’s not going anywhere, he’ll always be mine.

She’ll be mine. She was mine all along, and I will make sure it stays that way. ——————————————————————————————---------

You woke up the next morning in your bed, well rested. That was rare because after the incident, sleep wasn’t even an option.

Why were you in your bed though? You remember accidentally falling asleep on the couch. It didn’t take you long to figure out Haechan probably put you to bed. Your mind tries to remember something else, and you remember a soft forehead kiss and a few head pats and him tucking you in. Your heart flutters, and you try to find yourself reasonable.

You get up from bed, ready to head to the office, and as usual, the house is quiet. You don’t run into Haechan in the mornings because he leaves before you even wake up. You don’t have to turn up at the company till nine, but Haechan has to be there by eight. It isn’t his company yet, his dad is still watching him.

You walk into the kitchen to make something to eat before you change and leave, and you aren’t fully awake yet. You open your eyes to the smell of something cooking, and it’s something sweet.

Haechan is standing by the stove, shirtless, his airpods plugged in. You can’t help but stare at his back, your lips tucking in on themselves automatically. His back muscles are defined, his arms are an eye candy, and the rest of his body is uncommentable. His grey sweats are loose around his waist, and you end up wondering what it looks like below his waist. You don’t even realise he’s turned around as you stare him down unconsciously.

“Do you really like staring at me that much?” he leans onto the island with one arm supporting all of his weight. You blush furiously as you turn around, heart unsettled.

“Why are you half naked in the kitchen? Go put something on, I live here too,” you shout, and he doesn’t seem to be bothered.

“I don’t want to put anything on. From the looks of it, you don’t really want me to either, do you?” he flips something in the pan but you can’t see since your back is facing him.

“N-no, put something on,”

Dammit, why did you stutter?

“No,” he simply answers, and you realise how stubborn he is.

“Do you want breakfast?” he asks, and you turn around hesitantly.

“Yeah,” you mumble, settling down on the seat at the island without a thought. You don’t look at him at all. Maybe you did steal glances.

“I made pancakes,” he places a plate down before you, and you look up at him. He smiles at you softly and you smile back, just looking at him. It’s just a little moment between you two before you decide to speak.

“Shouldn’t you be at the office?” you ask, reaching for the maple syrup. He even bought a new bottle of maple syrup.

“I took a half day, you’ve been working so hard I wanted to cook for you,” he leans forward on the counter, and the bottle almost tips out of your hand.

“Careful, sweetheart.” He takes the bottle out of your hand, and pours the syrup on the pancakes, placing the bottle down after. Your cheeks heat up, and you look down at your plate, cutting out a little piece of the stack of pancakes.

“Is this you trying to make me fall for you?” you ask, and Haechan stiffens. He sighs and then he says, “No, this is me cooking for you as your friend who cares about you. You haven’t slept well in days, you don’t eat well, and you’re starting to lose weight. Don’t think I don’t notice all of that,”

“I don’t care if you fall for me or not, as long as I get to love you either way. I just need you to take care of yourself, okay?” he looks into your eyes, a gentle smile on his face.

Fuck, he doesn’t even have to try to get into your head.

“You’ll be late, you should go. If I come back to the room and see food on the plate, I will light you on fire,” he threatens as he walks out of the room, leaving a smiley you behind.

As if. He loves me. ——————————————————————————————

The runway is close, and you have never been more content with your work in your life. You have enough designs ready, a few others unfinished but worthy enough to be released next time, and a few other substitutes. It’s all perfect, and almost all of it is your designs.

Haechan helped your creative process quite a lot, just being there and providing comfort for you. He even searched up some places you two could visit to trigger your inspiration, and it helped quite a lot. Although you have to say, your favourite dress in all of your collection would be the one you designed the night Haechan tried to kiss you. You were inspired by him to design that, and to say, it was a staff favourite.

“Madame, the runway is tomorrow, are you nervous?” your secretary seems excited and nervous, but more collected than you currently are.

“I am confident in our work, but I can’t help but feel nervous. God, this is nerve wracking.” you mumble, your fingers constantly playing with the paper weight in your hand.

“Everything is in check, I personally called the venue to check, you don’t have to worry. The preparations will be done almost four hours before the show, so you really don’t have to worry,” your secretary attempts to comfort you. You nod with a nervous smile, a large sigh following.

“You realise you’re working overtime, right Madame? It’s past seven, you should go home and get some rest,” she says, pity in her voice. You sigh, getting up from your chair.

“I’ll go home before Donghyuck gets mad at me for working overtime. You should too, you don’t have to stick around, it’s late,” you smile, and she nods.

“It’ll be hard to catch a ride at this hour, but I’ll just ask someone for a lift, thank you Madame,” she bows.

“How about I give you a ride?” you ask, and her eyes light in surprise.

“Oh, uh, Madame, that’s not necessary, please.” she smiles nervously.

“No, no, I insist. You’ve done so much for us, stayed over in overtime for so many hours. What kind of a CEO am I if I can’t give you a ride?” you smile and she smiles back gratefully.

“I’ll wait for you, be quick,” you walk out of the office. ——————————————————————————————

“Where the hell were you?” Haechan answers the door as you walk in with a sheepish grin. You hang your coat on the coat hanger, and turn to him.

“I didn’t realise I worked overtime, forgive me please,” you pout, giving your best puppy eyes. He folds almost instantly, but he tries to stay angry.

“Y-you could’ve called, o-or something,” his eyes avoid you. You smile in victory, opening your arms for a hug.

“Can I get a hug if you’re not mad?” you stare at him, and he stands there for a second before he groans and scoops you into his arms. His big hand rubs your back and it’s so soothing, you almost fall asleep in his arms.

“You must be so nervous,” he whispers, swaying you in his arms. You hum, your grip just as tight on his waist.

“Do you want to watch a movie with me, sweetheart? Just to get your mind off all of that for a while?” you pull back with a smile, nodding. He leaves a small kiss on your cheek before he pulls away completely.

“Choose the movie, I’ll get the snacks,” he shouts from the living room.

“Be there in a minute, need to change,” you shout back and he shouts a confirmation.

You and Haechan still aren’t a thing. You’re in love with Haechan now, but everytime he brings that up, you panic and deny everything. Everything about him is so perfect, the way he handles you, the way he hugs you, the way he touches you, the way he looks at you, everything. You can’t ever deny your feelings anymore because you’re so in love with him, so in love that you’d willingly burn anyone and anything that’d hurt him.

You walk into the living room in your favourite blue pyjamas, and Haechan is already on the couch, waiting for you. He’s scrolling on his phone, but he switches it off and places it onto the side when he sees you.

“Which movie do you wanna watch?” he asks, passing you your bowl of popcorn. You like your own popcorn most of the time, and little things and observations like this from him is what makes you fall more in love with him.

You take the remote and scroll through a few movies, before settling on a movie. It’s a romance movie, you’ve recalled the name skimming past your eyes when you looked for shows to watch.

You look at Haechan and he looks like he doesn’t mind, so you press play. The movie starts out, and you pull your blanket from the side onto your body. It’s cold outside.

Haechan moves a little closer to you, and you feel the goosebumps on his soft skin. You move your blanket onto his body and he gladly takes it without a word, thanking you quietly.

Haechan spreads his arms across the couch, and you risk moving closer into his arms. You cuddle up against him, curling into a little ball. He breathes in sharply, wrapping his arm around you a second after.

He’s so warm and soft, so comfortable to cuddle up to. Haechan tries to relax against you, and he gets so much dopamine from just your presence. It feels amazing. You’re his drug, his high.

As the movie plays furthur, the tension between the characters thickens. The sexual tension is so high and thick, it makes you heat up. You can feel the air under the blanket become hot, and Haechan being next to you isn’t helping the situation in any way.

Especially when the female character starts touching herself to the thought of her crush. That isn’t a very comfortable scene for you when you’ve done the same with Haechan, but who’s telling him.

Haechan clears his throat, and he’s clearly so disrupted by the scene. You, on the other hand, can feel something pooling in your panties, and you’re not ready to accept that you just got horny to a scene in a movie.

Your hand unconsciously traces up Haechan’s torso, and Haechan is overly aware of it. When they reach his chest, he stops your hand.

“Y-y/n,” he breathes out shakily, staring into your eyes. His fingers are wrapped around your wrist, and you swallow roughly at his rough grip. His eyes look like black pools, so dark and lustful.

“Haechan, I-” you swallow, your gaze switching to his lips and back. You lean in to kiss him, risking all your morals.

Just as your lips touch his, his hand on your chest stops you. You look up with glassy eyes, and he asks, “Do you really want this? Are you sure?”

“I don’t want you to regret it later,” he’s quiet, gentle. You would have panicked and shouted no, and maybe even pushed him away. But you want him, no, you need him.

“I want you,” you whisper, and you hear his breath get stuck in his throat.

“I want you to kiss me, tell me how much you love me. I love you, maybe not as much as you love me, but as much as I can afford to love. Kiss me, please,” you whisper, and so many different emotions rush through him. You can see it.

He waits a moment before he places his lips on yours, his hand sliding by your jawline. He holds you so gently, and you need a minute to figure out you’re kissing him. You engage more in him, and your hand wraps around his neck, pulling him in deeper.

He sighs in happiness as he pulls away slowly, lips still brushing against each other.

“I love you too,” he whispers back with the happiest and the prettiest smile. You giggle gently as tears of relief coat your eyes, and he kisses you once again.

Here he was, in your arms, all yours. You can’t believe it. You kiss back so passionately, and you can’t stop yourself. Your hands roam his body, everywhere on his body, and you moan softly as he tugs on your lips. You climb into his lap, and you can easily feel his hardness on your ass.

Oh my god. You need to tell him before you go any further.

“W-wait,” you mumble, pushing gently at his chest. He pulls away without a word, and he looks worried.

“I-I have to tell you something,” you stutter out, playing with the back of his sweater.

“What's up? Are you regretting saying everything you did?” he asks, and you jump to correct his thoughts.

“No, no no no no, Hyuck please,”

“That’s the first time you’ve ever called me that. I like it,” he smiles, but he looks pained.

“Haechan please, I love you, and no, I don’t regret anything I’ve done in the past minute, please.” you kiss him again, and his hand ends on your cheeks again.

You pull away and instead of dragging it out longer, you spit it out.

“I’m- I’m a virgin.” you spit, and Haechan looks a little shook. He didn’t expect you to be a virgin, not with how beautiful you were. He’d assumed you’d done something with Taeyong too, because you did say he was your first everything.

“I’m your first?” he then asks, to which you nod hesitantly. He smiles as he pulls you closer, his nose bumping with yours.

“Are you sure you want me to be your first?” his hands are wrapped tightly around your waist.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way than to give myself to the man I love,” you smile. He kisses you again, this time, a little more lust, a little more desire. He pulls you closer to his body as he kisses you, devouring your lips.

He’s only imagined this, how it would feel like to have you pressed up against him. He didn’t really think this would actually happen.

“Hold onto me,” he says, and stands up, taking you into his arms as you still kiss. You cling onto him, kissing him repeatedly. God, you can’t have enough of him.

He carries you to your bedroom, placing you down on the bed ever so gently.

“I promise I’ll be gentle with you,” he whispers into the kiss and you nod, tugging at his hoodie. He leans back to peel it off his body, and you can’t help but flush deep red at how beautiful he is. His muscles are not too thick, not to thin either, just perfect. Each dip and each curve of his muscle is defined softly, and he looks gorgeous.

“Let’s not rush it, okay?” he says, and you nod. You lift your arms for him to take off your shirt, and he pauses.

“Are you sure?” he asks one last time, his hand holding onto the first button of your shirt.

“Yes please,” you assure him, and he starts unbuttoning them one by one, holding his breath as each button reveals a different patch of skin. You watch his face in amusement as he brushes his hand against your collarbone, slipping the shirt off your shoulder. So much more skin for him to kiss.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” he mumbles, his hands running along the expanse of your skin. There’s something about him cursing when he sees you, it makes him so much more passionate. And to say, that’s the first time you’ve heard him curse.

He gently places a kiss in the crook of your neck, and your breath catches in your throat. That’s your first neck kiss. God, you’ve waited so long for this.

His kisses trail from your neck to your collarbones and down your chest, to the top of your breasts.

“Haechan,” you gasp softly as he bites a mark onto your skin. “Hmm?” he hums in answer.

Your hands roam his body, and you can tell he’s especially sensitive on his nipples by the way his breath hitches a little when you touch past them. He softly sucks a mark by the top of your breasts, and hell, you want so much more of him.

“More, need more please,” you mumble in a daze. He nods, hands teasing the hook of your bra. “Can I?” he asks, and you hastily mumble out the consent. He pulls back from your skin to watch, and you already look so pretty, gorgeous for him.

Your eyes are glassy, so many pretty marks on your skin, and he needs to take a moment to admire your beauty. “Hyuck…” you whine, getting shy under his intense gaze. He makes out a soft laugh, kissing your forehead.

“Sorry, sorry, I just had to stare at how pretty you looked for me,” he mumbles out and you smile, butterflies in your stomach. He closes the distance between you both again, his hands quickly throwing off your bra. You gasp, suddenly feeling so bare.

“Sssh, you’re okay, I promise,” he softly kisses your lips, distracting you. Once you’re comfortable enough, his kisses start heading south again, all the way down to your breasts this time. He softly sucks on one of your nipples, his hand sliding down between your legs. You moan softly, and he loves it. He loves the sound so much.

“Moan so pretty for me again, baby.” he whispers again, switching his mouth from one nipple to the other. His hand spreads you open, and his fingers quickly find your clit. You moan out loud again, and Haechan loves it so much.

“Don’t hold your moans, love them so much, baby.” the way the nickname falls from his lips has you spiralling deeper into him. There’s so much love and affection in the way he holds you, so carefully like you’ll break if he handles you a little rougher.

His fingers slowly ease at your entrance, watching your face. You tense up and he senses it, placing a soft kiss on your forehead. You’re a little nervous, you haven’t necessarily penetrated yourself a lot, and it’s always so tight when you do. You’re not even sure if you have a G-spot above all.

“Are you nervous?” he gently kisses all over your face, his hands pulling from your pussy. You nod, biting your lips.

“I don’t penetrate myself often,” you blush red, staring at his lips. They look so pretty.

“That’s okay, I’ll be careful, I promise.” he assures you, pecking your lips repeatedly. You trust him, maybe more than what you’re used to.

His fingers slowly push in your hole, and you gasp, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“So fucking wet and tight for me, my princess,” he nestles his middle finger in you, watching you so eagerly.

“Haechan,” you whine, pulling his mouth onto yours. You kissed him roughly, holding onto him so tightly. His fingers push in and out slowly, and you slowly gasp into the kiss. Haechan’s strong urge to hold your cheeks and spit into your mouth isn’t leaving, not when you kiss so messy.

When his fingers curl inside you, you see white. You moan messily into his mouth, and at this point, Haechan is so painfully hard. You were so tight and wet around his fingers, he couldn’t imagine how good it’d feel inside you.

“Faster,” you mumble, tears building in the corner of your eyes as you close in on your orgasm. “Close, close, so close,” you speak mindlessly, clutching onto the sheets.

“That's it, you’re doing so good for me, such a good girl for me,” he mumbles praises as you clench tight around his fingers.

“Haechan,” you whimper, pulling him in for another messy kiss to muffle your moans. His fingers press on your clit and that gets you. You cum hard on his fingers and he rides you through it, a soft smile on his face. Your legs shake lightly, and he soothes you through it.

“You did so well for me, baby. What a good girl,” he kisses you, his hands running over your thighs messily.

You hold his face close and whisper onto his lips, “Want you to fuck me,”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to push-”

“Fuck me, please.” you say. He sounds so nervous. Maybe he’s worried he’ll hurt you.

“Oh baby. Sure you can take me, love? Your tight little hole will be all used up by the time I’m done, princess.” your hole clenches, and you squeeze your thighs together.

“Please?”

He sighs, pinning you down to the bed once again with his lips. He presses you down, kissing you roughly, hungrily. He pulls away and slides down his sweats, and his underwear comes into view. The outline of his cock is huge.

His eyes are on you as he pulls down his underwear, a small gasp falling from your lips. He’s fucking huge. Your guess would be over eight. That’s probably an understatement.

“Like how big I am? Hmm?” he climbs back onto the bed, and you get a closer look at his cock. You don’t think that’s gonna fit inside you.

“You’re so big…” you whisper, and it doesn’t slip past his ears. He chuckles, placing another kiss at the top of your head as the head of his cock rubs against your pussy.

“Spit,” he opens his hand, and you spit onto it. He rubs it in between your pussy just in case you needed extra lubrication to take him in.

“You do touch yourself, don’t you sweetheart?” he asks, and you nod.

“Words, love.”

“Yes, yes I do, and I’ve done it to the thought of you,” you mumble mindlessly, mind too hazy to register what you were saying.

“Really now? You were my good girl all along, weren’t you?” his cock aligns with your hole again as you agree.

“I’m going to push in, love,” he whispers, and you wrap your hands around his neck before nodding. He pushes in, and you feel yourself being split open. He’s so big, and you already feel full before his cock is even half way in.

“Big, so- so big,” you whimper, your hands gripping onto his back.

“Sssh, you can take it puppy, yes you can,” he assures you, continuing to push in. Tears build in the corner of your eyes at the burn, and you whimper.

“Oh princess, you take me so well,” he coos, pressing gentle kisses everywhere. Tears drip from your eyes, and he wipes them away with his thumb, kissing them away.

“Promise it won’t hurt for long,” he assures you, and you hold onto him so tight. You weakly pull him into a kiss, asking him to move. He slowly rocks his hips forward, and you gasp, more tears building in your eyes.

Your cunt takes him so well, so tight and wet and warm. Haechan has to hold back his urge to fuck you stupid, until you’re just a mess that can’t talk, and all for your wellbeing. This is your first time, he needs to take it slow.

“It- it feels good,” you moan, scratching his back. Haechan fastens the pace by a little, and you moan out loud, your moans choppy.

“So good, degrade me, please,” you moan, and each moan, Haechan’s hips pistol a little harder, thrust a little faster.

“You’re a dirty fucking slut, fuck, look at you asking me so despretely,” he fucks you harder, degrading words falling from his lips.

“C-choke me,” you mumble out, and Haechan pauses for a second. You might be more kinky than he thought.

“Gladly,” his hand wraps around your neck, and he thrusts into you again, and you swear you saw stars.

“Fuck, yes, so good,” you cry, inching closer to your orgasm. He fucks you so hard, his hand wrapped around your throat, constant degrading falling from his lips. He praised you so far because he thought you wanted to take it slow, it was your first time. But all in the name of pleasant surprises.

Your back arches off the bed and sweat rolls down Haechan’s forehead from the effort, inching closer to an orgasm himself. Haechan pulls your leg up on his shoulder in a new angle, and you cry out when he touches a certain spot inside you that you didn’t know you had.

“Gonna cum, gonna cum on your cock,” you mumble mindlessly, your leg on Haechan’s shoulder. You almost scream as you clench, cumming hard on his cock. Your body shudders, and your legs shake from effort. It only takes a few more thrusts for Haechan to cum, and he pulls out before he cums. He cums onto your stomach, and you find it so hot.

He falls flat onto you, holding you close like you’ll disappear if he lets go.

“You did so well.” he kisses your forehead. You pant softly, your arms weakly clinging onto him.

“You wanna take a shower?” he asks, and you smile.

“Yes please,” you say, exhaustion dragging in your voice.

“Did I go too hard? Does it hurt anywhere?” he pouts out of habit, his eyes searching your face for any signs of displeasure.

“Noo, I’m fine,” you peck his lips.

“I mean, even if you’re hurt, it isn’t entirely my fault. You were the one who asked to get choked and degraded in the first place,” he states, and you blush brilliant red, glaring at him.

“Don’t glare at me, you know I’m right,” he smiles cheekily. You weakly punch him in the arm, and he acts like that costs his life. It gives you a good laugh.

“Let’s take a bath,” he stands up, slipping on his sweats. He picks you up and you squeal, covering yourself.

“What? It’s not like I didn’t just see all of this like a minute or two ago,” he rolls his eyes playfully, and you curl onto his chest. He places you into the bathtub, turning on the hot water for your sore muscles.

“Join me please,” you whine, scooting forward to make some space for him in the back. He giggles when he says, “Where do you think I’d go without joining you, don’t be dumb Mrs. Lee,”

You whine and he slips off his sweats, settling in the bath behind you. He leans back with a sigh, and you lean back onto him, relaxing all your muscles.

“When did you fall for me?” he asks.

“The day you tried to kiss me,” is your only quiet answer. He laughs and you laugh along, that being a fun memory now that you’ve really become a married couple.

“That wasn’t funny, you hurt my feelings back then,” he says, and you sigh.

“I know, I’m sorry. I wanted to kiss you, I did. But we promised to stay friends, and with my overthinking, all of it got into my head. You know, I even designed a certain dress that night, it’s a staff favourite. You’re the inspiration behind it,” you speak, and he hums, leaning over to press kisses onto your nape. You relax back into his gentle touch, smiling unconsciously.

You sit in silence like that for a while, just being next to each other.

“You touched yourself to the thought of me?” he asks, and you can sense the teasing smile on his face without looking.

“W-well,” you try to justify yourself, face burning red.

“I- you- you were walking around half naked that day and I was horny. I just- I thought of you doing what you just did to me,” you speak quietly, trying to hide your face away from him. Might as well come clean at this point.

“Well well well, I don’t mind. I think it’s so fucking hot,” he whispers into your ear. You shudder, a tight slap landing on Haechan’s thighs.

“Ouch,” Haechan yells falsely.

“Don’t do that,” you mumble shyly.

“Do what?”

“I don’t know, leave me alone,” you pout and look away, acting fake upset. He gets a good laugh out of it.

“Sorry, I had to,” he kisses your nape repeatedly as a form of apology. You pout, looking away.

“Okay, okay, let me wash you, hmm?” you look back again at his face, trying to hide your smile. God, how does he look so beautiful.

“You’re so pretty,” you adjust yourself to hold his face in your hands. He tilts his head towards your touch, enjoying the feeling.

“Pretty and all yours,” he smiles. He’s never been happier in his life except for the time when he was five and his dad got him the toy car he wanted.

You’re all his and he’s all yours. There’s nothing you both want more from the world. The fail of blemishes on his face, the little moles dotted everywhere onto his skin, he looks beautiful up close. You place your lips on his in the softest, most gentle kiss. It’s so pure, there’s nothing but love for each other in the span of those few seconds.

“How did I even end up with you?” Haechan whispers, his eyes observing you. You’re gorgeous, headstrong, and independent, you were truly a treasure to him.

“I don’t know, but fate had a plan for sure,” you laugh, a little teary eyed. To whoever put him in your path, thank you.

“Come here, baby,” the way he says it is so sweet, unlike the Haechan that was teasing you minutes ago. You move yourself again, your back facing him. You lean back and he pulls you against his chest, slow soft kisses on every inch of skin he could reach.

He finally does reach for the loofah, asking you to hand the body wash over when he realised he couldn’t reach it. He lathers it up and gently rubs over your skin, and a shaky sigh slips past your lips.

“It never fails to surprise me how much I love you,” he presses another kiss to your cheek and you giggle, leaning into him more.

“I’m going to love you back just as much with all I’ve got.” you mumble, and you can feel the smile in his voice when he speaks.

“I love you,” he whispers, and you whisper back the same words, letting him lather all the soap on your body. He’s so gentle, it makes you want to cry.

He washes your hair for you, gives you a few kisses, and helps you dry up. He wraps a towel around your body, looking at you with utmost love.

“Let’s get you to bed, okay?” he whispers and you nod with a cheeky smile. You feel like a toddler, so spoiled.

He gets you some clothes, the clothes being his. You curl into bed, exhausted and spent. Your eyes close and you feel one last kiss on your cheek before you slip into sleep.

Everything is going so well, you’ve never been happier. One last thing you need done is the runway, and you’ll be free ——————————————————————————————

“The show starts in 30 minutes, where’s Haechan?” you mumble, worried. You haven’t sat down all day long, running here and there to make sure everything was perfect. Haechan was nowhere to be seen, although he promised he’d be there an hour before the show started. What if something had gone wrong?

You call his phone for the sixteenth time, frustration creeping up your neck. A stylist comes up to you mid call, and asks a doubt, and it takes all of your inner strength not to shout.

“Gina please, we’ve been over this. Red eyeshadow for the purple dress, Green one for the blue. It’s the colour contrasts. There’s a sheet with Kim, just ask for it,” you shoo her away, and she walks away. You can’t stand out and keep calling him much longer, the hair stylists are late as it is.

“Madame,” your secretary runs up to you, switching off her headset. You gesture to her to keep going, your eyes on your phone.

“Mr. Lee had just called in, he wanted me to tell you that he was right outside the venue.” your eyes light up, hope igniting inside you. You were about to give him hell if he had missed this.

You tell your secretary to take charge until you’re back, and you run outside to him. “Haechan, where were you?” you sigh exasperated.

“Get in,” he says, and you do.

“I’m sorry for pulling you out in the middle of everything like this, but,” he says, rushing to pull something out of his pocket.

“Noticed you forgot our engagement ring at home, so I got a substitute to match your dress,” he smiles as he slides it on your ring finger.

“Haechan, I- I could have sent someone to get it,” you stare at him, confused.

“Consider this our engagement ring. We weren’t exactly couples when we got married for real, you know,” he blushes a little, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Come in, everyone wants to meet Mr. Lee,” you tease, leaning forward and closer to his lips.

“And they’ll meet Mr and Mrs. Lee. We’re a package deal, everyone knows that,” he kisses you, and you kiss back with the same intensity.

“I love you,”

“Love you too baby,” he whispers against your lips, stepping out of the car with you.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, I love you,” you kissed Jeno’s cheek. He nods, watching you leave with a smile on his face. The moment you leave his sight, he’s in despair again. 

His professor had sent a recommendation to one of the companies he wanted to work at, and they’d got back to him. He got a letter that morning, and like any other human who’s curious, he opened it. They said that after reviewing his application and performance in school, the company decided to include him on a year-long internship program. They wanted him to come join after the graduation, which was in two to three weeks.

It was one of his top three companies, and he couldn’t be happier. He was definitely going there. He’s been dreaming of this for so long, so what’s stopping him? 

You. He can’t leave you. He’s fallen so in love with you, and he wanted you to be there for him and he wanted to be there for you. But he doesn’t know if that’s possible. He hasn’t told you yet, and he doesn’t want to. But he knows he has to because the sooner the better. Graduation is in weeks, and you still don’t know. 

How the hell was he supposed to tell you? ————————————————————Jeno’s currently waiting for you at his dorm, and he’s more nervous than when he confessed to you. How was he going to tell you? God, he’d forget everything the moment he sees your face. He’s even sent all his roommates away for the night, so it could just be you and him when he tells you this. 

The doorbell rings and Jeno rushes to open the door, not wanting to keep you waiting in the cold. 

“Hi,” he smiles. You smile back, letting yourself into his dorm. 

“Where’re the others today?” you ask when you see the very empty dorm. Jeno sighs, tries to hide the emotions in his voice before he says, “I sent them out for the night so we both can have the house to ourselves,”

“Is everything okay?” you turn around to look at him, and Jeno has to smile quickly. “Everything’s fine, you don’t have to be so panicky,” he quickly places a kiss on your forehead.

You’re concerned. It’s not that you haven’t been noticing, but you’ve just been letting it slip past you. He’s been extremely distracted whenever he is with you. It’s not just when he was with you, but it especially stood out when he was with you. 

You sit on the counter and watch him place the pasta into the plates. You’re staring at him with an abnormal intensity, but you can’t help but notice his features. His dark brown brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to make the pasta placing mess free, the little pout on his pink lips that you know too well. 

He’s so cute.

When Jeno notices you staring at him, he can’t help but feel concerned. Did you finally catch on?

“And I’m done,” Jeno throws the pan into the sink. He looks proud of his work and you can’t help but smile at his face. 

“Sit down, I’ll get the drinks,” you tell him and he nods before he sits down on one of the stools opposite from yours. You reach into the cabinet where you assume the wine would be in, and you’re proved correct. You pull out the red wine from the cabinet, grabbing two glasses together with it. 

“I’ll take that,” Jeno scoops the bottle of wine from your hands and pours a little into both the glasses separately. It’s such a comfortable silence in the house, and your heart is finally light. The finals have been getting to you. 

“How did you do in the finals?” 

“I think I did well. I’m not sure, physical chemistry has to be my least favourite branch.” Jeno mumbles, a cute frown covering his lips. 

“I’ve had to do so much theory, I hate it. Practicals are so much better when it's architecture,” you say, poking at your food. 

The rest of the dinner goes by with so much conversation, but you can tell Jeno’s holding something back as he talks. 

“What’re you going to do after you graduate?” you ask, leaning against his chest on the couch as a movie plays on the tv. Both of you haven’t been paying attention to the movie, just the conversation with each other. 

Maybe it’s time Jeno finally told you. 

“I have to tell you something,” he speaks, sitting up. He pauses the movie and sits up straight, jittery. 

Your brain is screaming at you that it’s bad news and that he’s going to say you need to break up. 

“So…my professor put in a recommendation to one of the companies I wanted to work at. We’re pretty close, you know him,” Jeno starts, and you nod. 

“So uhm, on Monday morning, the company sent me a letter. And like any curious man, I opened it,” you hum, heart beating wildly in your chest. 

“I got accepted into their one-year internship program.” Jeno smiles, and you smile too. That wasn’t that bad now, was it?

“Wow, I’m happy for you, Jen,” you smile, genuine happiness shining on your face. Your boyfriend was finally going to do what he wanted to, you were so happy for him. 

“But–” 

Oh no there’s more.

“They need me to join after graduation, and they are in a completely different country. I-I’m gonna need to move halfway across the world to join them,” you know where this is going, yet you listen. 

“I have to leave for Amsterdam to join them since that’s the office they want me to join at. I-I can’t leave you here, I don’t want to.” he says quickly after, his hand reaching for yours. 

“So you’re leaving in two weeks time?” you finally speak, your voice extremely controlled of all emotions. 

“Yes. I want to try long distance with you, I can’t leave you here, Y/n.” Jeno speaks, his hands wrapped tightly around yours. You slump onto the couch, thinking. 

He didn’t tell you until the last possible moment, but that’s off the list. He was going to leave for Amsterdam, halfway across the world for his dream, and he’s going to have to leave you. You’re going to lose him. Long distance is great, but it doesn’t work for you, you don’t know if your relationship can stand the pressure. 

“I don’t even know if I should go-”

“You should go.” you mumble at last. Jeno looks up from his lap, teary eyed. God, he really doesn’t want to leave you.

“You need to go, I don’t want you regretting it later.” tears fill your eyes. There are just two more weeks, just two weeks more for him to leave. 

“I can’t leave you, Y/n.”

“I can’t do long distance, Jeno. it’s never going to work, it’s just gonna throw both of us into misery. Its–” you swallow in an attempt to hold tears back.

“It's better if we both end it with you leaving. But until then, I need you with me. I need you to be with me, just for the next two weeks, please.” your voice cracks slightly, and Jeno’s heart thrums. It hurts so much, more than he expected it to hurt.

“I want to stay with you until the end, Y/n. I’m not going anywhere.” Jeno pulls you into his arms, and your tears fall free immediately. It’s not just your tears that fall, Jeno’s too. He holds you tighter than he’s ever held you before, so close to his heart, so close to him. 

“I don’t want to leave you, please.” he clutches onto your sweater, and your heart hurts. He’s worked so hard for this, he deserves it. He can’t not leave just because of you. 

“We’re going to find each other again, I promise.” you whisper, tears running down your cheeks. 

The next two weeks passed as if there was a timer on happiness. Jeno and you did and tried everything you could have possibly wanted to do together, everything on both your lists. Everytime he smiled, you stared at his face to imprint him into your mind. You want him to stay but hell, he had to go. If you ever told him not to, he’d rush to cancel his ticket. Because he’ll do everything to have you next to him. It would be so selfish of you to ask him to stay.

You watch Jeno pack his bag, trying to hold back tears. Your heart felt heavy and all the weird emotions had you choking inside. You sigh shakily, trying to hold back from telling him not to leave. 

“Did you pack the blue hoodie?” you ask quietly, and Jeno turns around with a sigh. 

“I’m leaving it here, it’s yours now,” he tries to smile, but seeing you all sad like this isn’t helping him. He sits down next to you on the bed, taking your hand in his. He caresses it softly, pressing a soft kiss to the back of your hand. 

“I don’t want to go, not if it’s without you,” he says and you look up from your lap in tears. 

“You have to go. I don’t want you regretting it later, thinking about how many opportunities you’d missed because of someone who may or may not be worth your time,” you wipe your tears. 

“You’re always going to be worth my time, baby. I’m gonna miss you so much,” his hands find your face, and his lips find yours. You indulge in the most hurtful, sickeningly sweet and loving kiss, tears finally breaking onto your cheeks. 

“Touch me one last time. Make me remember your touch, your taste, your smell, please.” you touch your forehead with his, noses touching ever so lightly. Your hands wrap around his neck, holding him close. You already miss him so much. 

“I love you,” Jeno whispers just as he kisses you once again. Maybe you two just weren’t fated together. ————————————————————

The ride to the airport was quiet. You’d gotten a taxi for the both of you since Jeno wouldn’t be able to drive you back to your apartment. Your hands are linked in tight with his, but both of you say nothing to each other. Your head leans on his shoulder, and he accepts it with a hand to your shoulder. 

You know if you speak you’ll cry. You keep your lips as tightly drawn as possible as your thoughts go over each of Jeno’s touches from the previous night. His gentle, gentle touch, the whispers of I love you’s, and his soft kisses. You’re gonna miss him so much.

Jeno asks the taxi driver to park and wait a little bit for you. He pays the driver for the whole trip so you don’t have to, and that would be the last time he’d be spending money on you. 

“I’m gonna check in, and then go through immigration and get on the connecting flight.” Jeno says and you nod, not trusting your voice to speak. 

“Say something, please,” this time, Jeno’s voice gives him away. You look up at his tear filled eyes, and tears fill your own.

“I don’t want you to go, please.” you crash onto his chest in hiccups of tears, holding so tightly onto his coat. He gasps softly, choking his tears down. He holds onto you tight, kissing the top of your forehead ever so softly. 

“I’m this far, I can’t go back now, fuck, if you’d said this a little earlier,” he hastily wipes away a tear. Your tears don’t stop, your heart hurts too much.

“You’re my girl, right? We will find each other again, if fate wants us together.” Jeno whispers and you finally pull from him to look into his chocolate eyes. 

“Promise?” he can't look away from your pretty glassy eyes. God, you’re gorgeous. He doesn’t want to let go of you. 

“Promise. It’s in fate’s hands, baby, but I promise, if I have to, I’ll defy fate to get to you.” he holds your face, and you push up on your toes a little to kiss him. His hand wraps around your waist and kisses you deep, deep enough so you’ll never forget. 

“I love you.” he whispers, and you nod, whispering the same words back. When his hands leave your waist and grabs his suitcase, you’ve never known a pain so deep. So deep it physically hurts you to watch him leave. You have to hold yourself back from crying when he turns around one last time with a smile, tears gleaming in his eyes. 

“I love you,” he mouths as you mouth back the same, watching him disappear inside the doors. God, it hurts, it hurts so much.

All you ever wanted was him. When have you ever gotten everything you wanted? ———————————————————— Five years laterYou were the dream. The youngest employee of a big architectural firm, currently up for a promotion to team leader. If you make it, you’ll be the youngest one to make that position. 

You’re picking at your fingers and skin while you’re waiting for the call from the higher ups as a confirmation for the promotion. You were up with three other people, and you can’t help but feel as if you didn’t deserve it. They were all old enough to be wise and responsible for their team but you? You’re not sure about yourself. 

Your phone rings and you gasp, your heart beating wild. You pick it up and try to sound as chill as possible.

“Hello? This is Y/n,” 

“Hello Ms. Y/n. Good afternoon. This is Secretary Kim,” the lady on the phone says. 

“Hi secretary Kim, how can I help you?” 

 “I’m calling on behalf of the promotion. I’m sure you’ve been waiting for the news,” you can hear the smile in her voice. 

“Yes, yes. I have been waiting. I’ve been so nervous about it,” you giggle, and she chuckles.

“You’re the youngest person who’s applied for the promotion, how nice,” you can hear a few pages flip. 

“Always aimed high, can’t help it,” you giggle. She chuckles a little and then sighs, and you’re convinced of that moment that you didn’t get the job. 

“Well, I’m happy to inform you that you’ve gotten the job,” you squeal, all that almost breaking into a scream. The laugh in the secretary’s voice tells you she was playing around with your mind. 

“Congratulations, Ms. Y/n.” she says, and you can’t help but tear a little.

“Thank you so much, secretary Kim, thank you so much,” you thank her, your heart wild. 

You got the promotion. God, you’re so happy, you’d hug anyone that you see on first sight. 

“I have to go now, but congrats once again, Ms. Y/n.” 

“Bye secretary kim, thank you,” and she declines the call. 

You have to go pick up your new ID later that week, but hell, life was perfect. You got a promotion and a raise, you’re in the best of your relationship with your parents, your best friend is the best. You can’t say the same about your love life, because your current boyfriend was not it. He can’t make you finish, he likes everything the opposite of how you like it and he’s not willing to sacrifice. You’re not in love with him, you don’t know why you’re still with him in the first place.

____________________________________

When you wake up the next morning, you’re confused. You just had a dream of your ex Jeno, who left for Amsterdam five years or so ago. It was his smile, just him smiling in his coat lab and glasses. 

Maybe he’s made it. 

The separation that happened still brings you to tears. You still miss him sometimes. But whatever, you need to go get your badge. Just a quick stop at work, that's it. 

You get dressed and walk to the cafe nearby for a coffee, and think about maybe taking a walk around the neighbourhood. You grab your bag, almost forgetting to lock the doors when you leave. 

“Hi Y/n, turning up to work?” The boy at the counter asks, and you smile. 

“Morning, Mark. Gotta pick up a badge from work, I got the promotion,” you giggle, and Mark’s eyes widen. 

“You got it? Congrats! Coffee’s on me today,” Mark bills your usual order, sending it to the back. Mark and you have been friends from when you moved into the neighbourhood about three or four years ago. Your orders and your likings are a memory to the boy, and he’s fun to hang out with. In all honesty, you’d rather hang out with Mark than your boyfriend.

He’s got a big smile on his face as he gives you your order, a cheesecake you didn’t order with it. You look at him questioningly, confused. 

“You like cheesecakes, just take it, it’s on me,” he smiles. “Well aren’t you generous,” you giggle, and he laughs.

“I’ll buy you food, come over sometime later, I’ll call you,” you promise Mark, and he nods with a huge smile. You think you saw a dust of pink on his cheeks.

When you finally set out of the cafe for your office, it’s almost 30 minutes after. The office is close by, you might as well walk there. It’s been so long since you took a walk that long, and it’s nice to notice things you haven’t before, like the sale sign on one of the plots that was previously there, had disappeared. Good for the house, it’s been abandoned for a while now.

When you make it to the office, you expect it to be empty, instead, all of your team is there. 

“Y/n!” Yuna turns around, running to give you a hug. 

“Congrats to you, girl.” She says. “I didn’t think I’d get it for real,” you giggle and your best friend glares at you.

“There was no way that old hag was going to get the promotion. You’re young, and there’s a lot of gain for the company if they hire you so…it’s no surprise,” she says, and you have to stop yourself from laughing because the said hag is walking towards you. 

“Congratulations, Y/n.” She wishes you, but you can tell that’s fake as fuck. The venom in her voice is so heavy.

“Thank you, Ashley.” You return. As she stares you down, your best friend intervenes. 

“Thank you so much for your wish, Ashley, now fuck off,” she sneers, and the said Ashley scoffs before turning about and leaving. Your best friend is the only one bold enough to ask Ashley to fuck off because Ashley is almost ten years older than all of your team. 

“Why’s everyone here?” You ask Yuna, and she sighs.

“Manager called everyone in because a VIP is coming in today. Our team got the work so we need to gather for a meeting. And you as a team leader weren't even called. What even is he doing,” she stares at the manager’s door. You really don’t feel like working today. 

“I came in to collect my badge, Not to work. Tell the manager that I’ve got an emergency. They can’t do anything about it, it’s literally a weekend,” you grumble, and Yuna laughs.

“I’ll tell em, you go girl. Hurry before that witch comes back to snitch on us.” you nod, hurrying out of the office after collecting the said badge from the reception. It’s such a nice day, the sun bright and cheery. 

You wonder what Jeno’s up to. You remember his words so clearly. 

“It’s in fate’s hands, baby, but I promise, if I have to, I’ll defy fate to get to you.” 

Maybe fate didn’t want you together. What a bitch. 

Your phone rings, and you glance at it to see your boyfriend’s name displayed across the screen. You groan before picking it up.

“Hello?” 

“Baby, congratulations,” he speaks, and you smile. 

“Thank you, babe.”

“Let me take you out for today,” he says, and you desperately try to find something in your day as an excuse. You don’t want to lie, but you don’t want to go out with him either. 

Mark, you said you’d call Mark later the day. 

“Ah, maybe not today.” 

“Why not?” he asks, and he sounds disappointed. 

“Uh, I’ve got work today, Jihoon, I’m sorry,” you apologise. The thing is, Jihoon is good looking, he’s caring and he’s good to you. It’s just that you both have interests that often clash. He likes jazz, you like more mainstream. He hates dancing, you dance as a hobby. He loves to exercise, but you don’t like it. He’s exhausting to be with. He tries to force his love of jazz onto you, and no hate to jazz, but he makes you want to hate jazz, although you try to hold back from doing it. You guys are different in so many ways, and you always end up being the one who sacrifices your likings. 

“Alright, I’ll call you later, love you,” he says.

“Hmm, love you too,” you cringe because god, only you know how big of a lie that was. 

Hopefully, you’ll get over your guilt of not loving him soon because you can’t wait to break up with him, and you don’t care how mean that sounds. ————————————————————“Morning, Y/n.” your manager greets you, and you bow with a smile. 

“Congrats on your promotion. Your team’s taking on a big one today,” your manager smiles, and you thank her before going into your office space.

It’s complete chaos in there, and you have to pause a minute before you register. People are running about left and right, the office is a mess, someone is crying in a corner, and the printer isn’t working. So much for the first day.

“Everyone, your attention please,” you catch all their attention. You smile gently, feeling the chaos calm a little. 

“What’s up?” you ask, and someone from the crowd answers.

“There’s a VIP who needs immediate attention. He wants to remodel the house from across the street, he wants a few plans ready just for a showcase so he can choose his architect. His fiancee is worse. They’ll be here in an hour,” 

Your head throbs from the information. 

“Okay, here’s how it’s gonna go. Everyone print two to three of your best designs, and calm down. We don’t need to panic, if we don’t get chosen, we’re still gonna have our job, it doesn’t matter. Now don’t rush it, use the downstairs printer while I take a look at this one, go,” you give instructions, and the crew does seem to take a deep breath before moving again. It’s a lot calmer when they start moving again, and there’s a lot more air to breathe. 

You’re proud of your crew for being so nice and obedient. In almost an hour, they’re all ready with their designs. 

“Mr. Lee will be here in a few,” the receptionist pops in to inform you, leaving right after. You even bought the team some drinks so they’d calm down because honestly, you don’t understand why they’re so panicky about one job. 

“Yuna, with me. We’ll greet him,” you call Yuna as you stand up from your chair, buttoning your jacket. Yuna nods, following your lead. 

You’re caught up in a conversation with the receptionist as the couple walk in. Or so you think. 

“Good morning, Ms. Seo,” the receptionist greets, and you turn around to a beautiful woman. She is absolutely stunning to look at. Her skin looks soft, her hair in the prettiest waves down one of her shoulders, perfect features. Whoever lucked her won in life. 

“Hello, my fiance will be here in a minute, he’s just parking,” she smiles, and man, her teeth are in the best condition. 

“Good morning madame, I’m Y/n, feel comfortable to refer to me casually. This is my coworker Yuna, and our team will be handling your requests.” you smile your brightest smile, feeling a little too self conscious. Your hair was tied up in a quick knot at the back of your head in the rush, and you forgot to take it out before you came out.

“Nice to meet you, Y/n. You too Yuna, thank you for taking this up, I’m quite grateful for your help,” oh man, she’s kind too. What a nice woman. 

You hear the door open once again, and you get ready to meet the said fiance. When you look away from Seo, you can’t believe your fucking eyes. 

“Jeno,” Seo smiles, reaching up on her toes to press a kiss to Jeno’s lips. Jeno slips the car keys into his jacket pocket while his lips are pressed onto his and when he looks up, he can’t believe his eyes. 

What are you doing here? Well he figured you probably work here, but what was he doing here? What were you doing in front of each other? 

“Y/n.” your name accidentally slips from between his lips. You look more than beautiful, you look gorgeous. Your hair was tied in the cutest knot at the back of your head, exactly how you always liked your hair when you were working. You looked so mature, so grown, like life had its way with you, and you looked absolutely beautiful in a work suit. 

“You know her?” Seo asks, looking up at Jeno. 

“We-” Jeno starts, but you know you have to finish it because he’s stupid like that. He’ll say that you’ve dated in the past and his fiancee will probably leave this company for some company else. 

“We went to the same university.” you smile. Jeno looks so much older, more mature. His beige coat, you remember it as his best fitted colour after a certain pink suit that you’d gotten him back in uni, was fitted perfectly onto him, his cream sweater ever so pretty under the jacket. He looks taller than you remember, facial features more defined. All that cheek fat you remember doesn’t exist anymore. His eyes are just as chocolaty and deep as you remember. 

“Oh, what a pleasant surprise,” Seo giggles a little. Jeno smiles, and something strikes your heart. You remember his crystal tears that remained in his eyes as he smiled just like this from the airport, the last time he ever smiled at you.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” you sigh, a smile following right behind. 

“Yes, yes, sure.” Jeno says, following you into the meeting room.  This was going to be one hell of a project. ————————————————————You introduced yourself as the team leader, and he couldn’t help but be fascinated at how well you handled the presentation. He was intrigued by a few designs but Yoonseo didn’t seem to like any at all. 

Too small, too big, too wide, too long, only one floor, a floor too much, god, the complaints were endless. It just kept going. 

The presentation eventually did end, and it ended great. Jeno liked every single one, but the one designing would be his to-be wife. She was currently sitting across from you, telling you all her demands. They were endless just like her complaints. But you were nodding with a smile, taking down everything. 

“I think we can do that,” you assured Yoonseo, and she smiled, nodding. It looked to Jeno as if you were ignoring his existence, which is exactly what he should and would have done in this situation. 

“Is there anything you would like to add, sir?” you ask Jeno, who looks shattered and shocked at the way you addressed him. He stumps for a second before he rushes to correct you.

“Y/n, just call me Jeno, please.” he sounds strained, and you’re not sure his fiancee picked that up.

“Okay, Jeno. Would you like to add anything?” This sounds so weird to you because you haven’t spoken about that name in years.

“No, no,  she’s the one in charge, I’m here for moral support,” he laughs a little, and you force a smile. Why does your heart still hurt? The wound feels so fresh.

“Okay then, I’d get my team to work on this. Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today, I hope we can fulfil your requirements.” you tuck a strand of hair back into its place, your fingers nervously fiddling with the pen in a certain way. Jeno knows it's something you do when you feel insecure, or you feel the need to cover up or hide behind something. He can guess it’s because of his perfect fiance, who looks like she walked right out of a dream.

“We’ll leave now, we really need to be somewhere else,” Jeno grabs Seo’s hand, and your eyes follow his hands. 

“We’ll see you again soon, thank you…” you trail off as they leave the room. You need a minute after ignoring Jeno like that. You just ignored someone that you spent your entire life yearning for, hoping he’d come back for you. You’d forgotten him? Bullshit. You’d always hoped he’d come back for you because you were so done with your boyfriend and the men that life throws your way. Everytime you and Jihoon had sex, he wasn’t the one you imagined was between your legs, it was Jeno. Nobody could’ve and did ever touch you as good as Jeno did. You don’t remember moaning Jihoon’s name so loud he had to kiss you to shut you up, but you do remember the same thing that happened around five years ago with Jeno. 

You remember the soft gasps and quiet moans on that last night, the way his hands, the same hands that held hers, held you so tight, his hips working into you gently. His whispers and promises of “I love you’s” and his kisses on your shoulders, the marks he left behind that felt so fresh on your skin.

He’s the only one who’s ever marked your skin, ever. You never let Jihoon or anyone else mark your skin. You remember staring into the mirror and crying as your fingers ran over the fading marks he left behind, the only thing he left behind other than his baby blue hoodie that you wore only on the nights you missed him too much. It was tucked away safely in an empty wardrobe so it wouldn’t lose its smell or be dirtied. 

The smell has faded a lot, but it still remains a little bit. You love it.

“Y/n,” Yuna calls from behind, and you spin around to stare at her.

“Is everything okay?” 

You nod, faking a smile. ————————————————————When Jeno finally gets home with Yoonseo, he’s mentally exhausted. He’s been with her for two years, and yeah, she’s always been a little picky. But today was the day he knew how picky she could get. Endless complaints on repeat, endless suggestions on repeat, endless demands that were honestly something more than both.

“Today was a busy day,” she sighs as she falls onto the couch. Jeno hums in agreement, leaving his coat on the hanger, joining her on the couch. 

“Hey, about Y/n,” she starts, turning her head to look at him. Your name perks his ears, and his attention is caught quickly. 

“Yeah?” Jeno replies, and he worries if he answered a little too quickly. 

“How do you know her?” Jeno has to breathe and stop himself for a minute. He figured she can’t know that you’ve dated in the past, or even how serious it really was when you answered for him back in the office. You still know him oh so well.

“We were pretty good friends, when I got the internship letter to Amsterdam, we just eventually ended up growing apart,” Jeno tries to sound nonchalant. 

“Really? Your relationship felt deep, I thought you dated her or something,” she says, and Jeno tries to laugh, just to brush it off.

“No, no, no, what?” he looks at her with a last laugh, and she looks at peace with his denial. 

“Jen,” she calls again after a minute or two, and her voice sounds a lot more airy. 

“Yeah?” Yoonseo never really liked casual nicknames, while he liked them a lot. He tried not to force them on her, but he’s grown a habit of holding back around her now.

She shuffles over into Jeno’s lap, and he’s taken aback. He looks up at her with confusion in his eyes, although he knew exactly where this was heading. She presses herself to his chest, lips inches away from his. 

“Kiss me please?” She breathes onto his lips, and like any other man with an attractive woman, who also happens to be his fiancee, Jeno does exactly what’s asked of him. He kisses her. It somehow feels so wrong, so so so wrong of him to be doing. His mind is filled with you when it should be filled with her, and god dammit, he can’t do anything about it. ————————————————————It’s late at night when they’re finally done, and Yoonseo is fast asleep in his arms. He’s bare except for the sweats he has on, and Yoonseo with just her lingerie. He can’t sleep, although he’s way too tired to be up right then. 

He can’t stop thinking about you, and it feels so wrong. He’s just had sex with someone he was going to marry and he was thinking of you? How stupid. He was only book smart, you were always the emotionally intelligent one in the relationship. Whenever he was going to take stupid impulse decisions, you were always the one who made him think twice. 

He remembers your last kiss at the airport. The one last kiss you both shared and the way you stared at him until he was out of your sight. Your glassy eyes and red nose, the last look he ever took at your pretty face. God, he misses you. 

And it’s wrong to miss you. So wrong to miss you when he’s engaged to another woman who’s perfect in every way and form, but he can’t help it. He misses the way your touches give him shivers, he misses the way you smile when he gives you a flower he found on his way to you, he misses you. 

Fate is a bitch and there’s nothing he can do about it. ————————————————————He’s at your office again, and he doesn’t know why. His feet dragged him there, and when he asks the receptionist for you, he realises he’s really there asking for you. How did he get here, he doesn’t know.

“Oh, Mr. Lee, Y/n is in a meeting right now, I’m sorry, she might be back in about 15 minutes. Is it okay if you wait? Do you want me to go check how long it's going to take?” she asks, and Jeno nods. She excuses herself before leaving, and Jeno finds a chair to sit on.

“Y/n!” the receptionist calls for you, and you have to pause your explanation as you give a little bit of your attention to her. 

“Mr. Lee wants to meet you.”

“Mr. Lee?” you’ve met an innumerable amount of Lee’s, believe it or not.

“Lee Jeno, he’s waiting for you in the foyer.” your heart drops. Your plan was to ignore him and treat him as a client until this project finishes up, and that was the only way you were willing to treat him. He’s got a fiance now, he didn’t come back for you.

“I’ll be there in 10,” you swallow thickly, trying to quickly finish the presentation on hand. You do end up finishing faster than you intended to, and you’re soon saying thank you and walking out of the meeting room.

You have to pause to fix yourself for a moment before you decide to walk into the foyer, your eyes meeting Jeno’s. It’s your first time being alone with him, and it’s just like that for him too.

When his eyes find yours, he’s awestruck. Your hair is down your back now, perfectly styled and you’re fitted into a pretty baby blue suit. You look stunning and god, he’s going to lose it. 

“Jeno, what brings you here?” you smile, your heart in your throat. Your stomach is doing the same flips they always did with a trace of him. 

“I- I just wanted to see you. Maybe catch up if you aren’t busy.” he says, and it feels so foreign. God, you hate the unfamiliarity.

“Uh-” 

“You’re probably like super busy, I’m sorry-” and before he goes spiralling like he always does when he overthinks something, you stop him.

“I’m not busy, I promise. I’ve got a little bit of time left before I have to get back,” you figure taking a little break wouldn’t hurt. You’ll just tell the receptionist before you leave. 

“Okay, cool,” he nods repeatedly, eyes faltering. You find that cute, but you know how wrong it is. He’s about to get married, for fuck’s sake.

“There’s a cafe just around the corner, what do you think?” you ask him, but Jeno couldn’t care less. He gets to listen to you talk for over just a few minutes. 

“Okay, sounds good,” he agrees, smiling. He still looks like a puppy, no matter how much time goes by. You remind yourself that squishing his cheeks was not an option. ————————————————————

When you finally settle down on one of the tables in the corner of the cafe, it’s quiet. You’re just taking him in, his presence, his looks, everything. He’s wearing a blue jacket today, a white button up underneath. He’s a lot taller and more buff now, his hair is longer, and he’s the kind of handsome that women have always found attractive from the beginning of time. 

“How are things?” Jeno’s nice enough to talk first.

“Uh, things are good. I work there now, youngest employee in a leadership role and whatnot,” you smile, and Jeno looks proud of you. It makes your heart flutter.

“Wow, that’s great. I’m proud of you,” he smiles, and his eyes shrink into crescents. He’s so pretty. 

“How about you?” you ask, and he smiles.

“Leading chemist of our company. I’m being transferred here to manage a new branch opening in seoul.” he says, pauses for a little before he asks something else. “How have you been? The last few years were…” he trails off.

“I’ve been…okay. It was rough, but I have a boyfriend now.”

It’s still hard for me, I don’t know why you ever think you’ll be something easy.

Jeno’s heart stops for a brief second when he hears boyfriend. There are so many questions he wants to ask. 

Are you happy with him? Does he make you feel like you’re worth everything? Does he love you? Do you love him?

“A boyfriend? Wow, that’s nice. What’s his name?” it shouldn’t hurt him, he knows. There’s no reason for anything like that to sting a little, but it stings. If anything, he’s got a fiance.

“Yoon Jihoon. He works at a law firm,” you nod, biting your lips out of habit. All this in circumstance hurts you so much, fate is unbelievably cruel. 

“I see…” he trails off, thinking. He wonders if you remember the blue hoodie he left behind for you. Maybe you’d thrown it out, but the wound in his heart was so fresh.

“My break is almost over, I should get back now,” you mumble, and Jeno catches it. 

“Yeah, yes, let me walk you back,” Jeno stands up just as you do, and you nod. You still had almost twenty minutes left on your break, but sitting here with him like this, you weren’t sure if that was helping you. It was moreover decimating your mental health. 

The walk back to your office was almost all silent. You just wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him on the cheek and tell him you waited for him, and that’s exactly what he wanted too, no matter how wrong it was.

But to the both of you, it looks as if you didn’t wait for each other. Jeno came back with a fiance, while you had a boyfriend. It wasn’t right, wanting each other back.

“Do stop by our house later, Yoonseo wanted me to tell you that. Also…” he continues, but you’re disturbed by the mention of his fiancee. 

“Sorry? I didn’t-” you sigh. Jeno presses his lips into a thin line and then smiles, shaking his head.

“Nevermind actually, it wasn’t important anyway,” he says, and you nod, sending him off with a bye. 

Jeno knew asking if you were up for another coffee date was wrong, but he couldn’t help it. And he was somewhat relieved you didn’t hear it because he couldn’t stand repeating it one more time with that sinful mouth of his. Why was he asking you on another one? So evil of him when he knows you’re having a hard time with his arrival.

God, he wanted you so bad. ————————————————————You breathe out, standing in front of the apartment that Jeno had told you to stop by. Seo sent you the address shortly after, and you took an early leave before setting off to their apartment.

You ring the doorbell, heart beating in your chest. Fuck, you were going to pass out before they even opened the door. Why were you so nervous?

Maybe because Jeno’s here.

No. No no no no. no. 

The door swings open and a messy haired Jeno stands there, lips pouted like a puppy. His hair was sent in all directions, and you just wanted to giggle before soothing the mess out for him. 

Hands, please stay in place. Please listen to your brain for once.

You only get a few seconds to register him before he swings the door shut again, right in your face. What the fuck?

Jeno panics as he fixes his hair, pulls down his shirt and raises the way his pants sit on his waist. He makes sure he looks alright, he rubs his eyes a little, and tries to smile a little before he opens the door again. 

Fuck, I closed it in your face. 

“I am so so sorry, I didn’t mean to close it in your face, I’d just woken from a nap, I panicked.” his words come out mumbled, but you understand. You’d do the same if Jeno just suddenly showed up at your place too.

His hair was now settled, shirt tight on his torso, his grey sweats sitting right on his waist. 

Grey sweats were and still is your weakness. He knows that.

“Come in,” he invites you in, and you gladly follow his lead into the home. The space is pretty, decorated, possibly interiored, in lava grey and white. 

“Very pretty interior,” you compliment, looking around.

“Thank you, means a lot coming from an architect,” he says and smiles. Your heart skips a beat at his smile, the same moments from over five years returning to you.

His eyes grew into the prettiest crystals when he smiled, his teeth on full display, his nose scrunched. You never had enough strength in you to take that.

So you look away from the most beautiful sight. You laugh slightly, nodding.

“Uh, Yoonseo isn’t home yet. I don’t know when she’ll be home, she went out to attend a lecture. Although if you count how long I’ve been asleep, she should be home pretty soon,” he laughs again, and god, you feel your knees getting weak. The way he laughs, you want it imprinted in your mind.

“I see. I can wait,” you nod, trying to convince yourself that the man in front of you wasn’t attractive and that even after over five years, you still didn’t have feelings for him. 

“Mhm, would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?” you shake your head, smiling gently. 

“Alright then.” he closes the pantry and walks to you, and he looks like he remembers something. 

“Actually, I remember something particular from the presentation you did the other day, one of the designs. Would you mind showing it to me again?” he sits next to you, and you’re intrigued by his question.

“Absolutely not, just a second,” you pull out your laptop and start scrolling through your presentation, stopping at one design.

“Is this it?” Jeno moves closer to take a look, but shakes his head. 

You switch the slide, and look at him for confirmation, and he shakes his head again. When you pull up the next slide and realise that it’s your design, you chuckle awkwardly before switching to the next slide. 

“No, no, switch back, it’s that one,” Jeno points out with a pout on his lips. 

His very pretty lips. No, no, Y/n let’s not get distracted.

“This one?” you switch back, and he nods. “This is my design, it’s not one of my best. I’ll show you bett-”

“I want to hear about this,” he looks into your eyes and your heart doesn’t listen to your brain as it skips a beat.

“W-well,” your heart starts racing, excitement running through your veins. 

“Uh, it’s a two story house design with five…” you turn to look at Jeno out of habit, but trail off when you see how close his face is to you. He seems focused on the design, and when he notices you paused, he turns his head. 

His lips are an inch or two away from yours, if you’d just accidentally moved, you could kiss him. 

You could.

Jeno doesn’t move at all, he can feel your breath on his lips. He wants to wrap his arms around your waist and pull you in, kiss you. He wants to do the very thing he’s been craving for years. 

But it's wrong. So so so wrong. So what?

You make him want to stray from his morals, you make him want to do things he would never do. 

Your heart is racing in your chest, his breath is so so hot and heavy on your lips and you can’t think about anything but his lips.

His lips his lips his lips his lips so so so so so so close to mine his lips close to mine so close to mine so close to mine so close to just kiss him and devour him and remember his taste.

You’re gonna go fucking crazy.

“You drive me fucking insane.” Jeno breaks first, the words rolling off his tongue in such desperation.

Desperation for you.

You need to get your head straight. He’s engaged for fucks sake, but you can’t seem to move at all. 

You’re paralysed in the spot, wishing for more. Wanting more.

“J-jeno we shouldn’t- this isn’t right- mmh,” your words get muffled by his lips, and you gasp.

You let go of everything, every moral, every string that was holding you together for good. 

He’s finally in your grasp, in your hands, on your lips, even though it’s for a very short time. 

You can’t bring yourself to care about how long when he’s finally here on your lips. You grab onto his shirt, tight grip. You’re pulling him in and you can’t have enough. His hands are on your face and your waist, he’s pulling you in deeper. 

Jeno pushes you back onto the grey couch, your baby blue suit contrasting the colours to make the most beautiful sight. He pulls away when he feels your back pressed against his couch, just to look at you. 

He's about to tell you how beautiful you are and kiss you again when he hears the keys beep and he immediately pushes himself off of you and stands up. You heard it too, so you sit up, and collect your things before you stand too. 

When Yoonseo walks in, she’s surprised by your presence. 

“Y/n, didn’t expect to see you here,” she smiles, throwing her bag onto the couch. You chuckle awkwardly, nodding. She looks at Jeno and smiles, going to him to place a quick gentle kiss on his lips. 

“When’d you wake up?” she asks quietly and he forces a smile. “About thirty minutes ago,” he nods, and she smiles. Just as she’s about to kiss him again, you speak. 

“You wanted me to come by?” you ask, and she nods.

“Yes, uh, I need to discuss something with you. Would you like to stay for dinner?” she sighs, her hand wrapped around Jeno. She looks tired.

“No actually, something came up, so I have to leave now. I’m so sorry, do you mind if you could stop by the office tomorrow? Or I can stop by the day after,” you suggest. You were just trying to get out of there, feeling Jeno’s burning gaze on you. 

“I’ll stop by tomorrow, is that good?” she asks, and you nod, forcing a smile.

“I’ll text you the time,” you step out of the living room, stepping into your heels. You hurry out the front door, heart beating way too loud in your heart. 

When you finally get into your car and close the door, you sigh. Leaning back onto the seat, you blink repeatedly, asking yourself if this is a dream. 

What am I doing?

The reality settles in on you. You kissed someone who you have feelings for, the certain someone who also happens to have a perfect fiance with a perfect smile and perfect everything. 

While you look like… this.

His words ring inside your head, and you want to fucking pass out. 

“You drive me fucking insane,” 

Who? Me? 

Yes you.

Yes, me. He initiated the kiss. Does this mean he’s got feelings for me too?

Y/n, you’re overthinking. Stop.

Yes, I’m overthinking. Let’s just drive back home for now. ————————————————————

You drop your bag on the couch, exhausted. It’s honestly been a long day, and after that particular incident with Jeno, you haven’t gotten a break from yourself. 

You take a bath and do your night routine like you always do, and try to get some sleep since it’s gonna be busy the next day. 

But Jeno just won’t leave your mind. The more you try to get rid of him, the more prominently he runs around your brain.

The way his hand held your cheek, the way it held your waist, the soft but desperate touches, the way his lips moulded into yours, the way his body fit right into yours like it was always meant to be, fuck you’re going to disolve into thin air.

You don’t want to wreck a relationship. What if he loves her and what happened with you was just the heat of that moment. What then?

Nope, from now on, you’re just going to ignore him. Ignore him until your feelings dissolve into thin air. Yeah, sounds right. ————————————————————

The next day you turn up to work, you put extra care into your appearance. You put on some lip tint, and actually bothered to make your hair right. You don’t know why you did all that, but you felt good. 

You felt weirdly better than usual. You felt bright, happy and like the day was going to be good. 

“Good morning everyone,” you place several cups of coffee on your desk, your yellow suit bright in the morning light. 

“Morning to you too, Y/n. What’s up with the eye blinding suit?” 

“It’s a good day, the weather’s great too. Also, coffee for everyone,” you announce, and a round of applause echoes in the office. Everyone comes and takes their coffees, hums of satisfaction sounding from everyone. 

“Is this a belated promotion happiness or did you fall in love again with someone else?” You search for the voice that said that, and you find Jaemin staring at you from a corner. 

Ugh. Not this morning.

“Please shut up, I can’t take your negativity this morning, Na.” You say, taking a sip from your cup, iced americano running down your throat.

“Whatever, your choice, princess.” Anger bubbles in your throat.

“I have a name.” 

“And I chose not to call you that,”

“I-“

“Ms. Y/n, Lee Jeno is here. Said you’d asked him to stop by.” The receptionist pops in to tell you. You nod, all the anger and annoyance burning away, being replaced by nervousness and excitement. 

It’s like you were in love with him, all over again. You were always in love with him, but it felt different this time. That kiss didn’t feel wrong, and it should be normal between the both of you today, unless Jeno decides that he wants to talk about it. 

“Okay, tell him I’ll be there in a minute or two,” the receptionist disappears out of your vision with a simple nod.

You grab the jacket that you left on the seat, and put it back on, making sure you look your sharpest and prettiest before you head to the reception.

“Y/n,” Jeno’s lips part. You can see the gears in his head working, fascination on his face. His eyes sparkle, standing up.

You simply look way too fucking gorgeous. His eyes can’t believe how beautiful you look in that yellow suit of yours, and all while he knew you preferred to wear cool colours like blue or purple.

He swore he was seeing flowers and a little too much sunshine. Your lips are lined with just the right amount of lip tint, face brighter than the last few days. You look like the you he always carried in his heart.

“Hi, did you have to wait long?” You ask, and Jeno simply can’t talk. His lips refuse to move.

“I- uh- no, no, I didn’t wait long. I just got here.” He finally mumbles. You tuck a strand of straight perfectly styled hair behind your ear, and Jeno gets fascinated at the smallest of actions.

“You look absolutely gorgeous today,” the words leave him before he can get a grip on himself. You stare at him, dumbfounded at the words, cheeks unconsciously heating up.

“Thank you,” you say before he can correct himself. He looks at your burning cheeks, the image slowly printing itself onto his brain. Your shy smile, your burning cheeks, your pretty hair that he’d love to tangle his fingers in, your lips. That brings him back to the incident of yesterday. 

He’d slept like a baby last night, even when he thought he’d feel bad for kissing someone else while lying next to his fiance. No, it felt way too right for it to be wrong. He wanted to talk to you about it, but what if that makes things awkward between the two of you? God, that would be his worst nightmare.

“Y-your welcome,” he mumbles shyly. 

“Follow me into the office,” you lead him to your office, the one that you newly received as a team manager, the same one you haven’t settled into yet.

“This is my office. I haven’t fully settled into it yet, so just sit down there, and I’ll bring my laptop in a second,” Jeno nods, his eyes taking in the office. It was an adequate size, enough to have a bookshelf. It looked like it was being settled into, which is what you told him. 

You walk in with a macbook secure in your hands. You place it down and sit opposite to him, the chair creaking. 

“Need to change the chair…” you mumble, quickly writing down on one of the memo pads with a pout. Jeno watches your pout, a smile forming on his lips. 

“Sorry, yes, I’m back and we can finally begin,” ————————————————————“That’d be all,” Jeno says, and you nod, taking it down. “Okay then, we can start on monday,” Jeno nods.

“Y/n,” his voice sounds a lot more serious. 

“Yeah?” you look up to see him staring at you intensely, his eyes saying he wants to say something.

“About yesterday…” Jeno wanted to ask you if the reason you kissed back was because you had feelings for him, or if it just happened in the heat of the moment. If it was real and you did have feelings for him, he’s gonna have to tell Yoonseo about it. He doesn’t want to lie to her, it feels awful to hide something from your fiance. But if you don’t, he’s going to have to forget this whole thing. You. He’s going to have to forget you.

Panic ensues inside you the moment you hear the word “yesterday,”. What are you going to tell him if he asks for an explanation?

“Did you mean it?'' His voice is quiet. You close your laptop, your brain short circuiting. 

“Mean what, Jeno?” Your voice is equally careful and quiet. 

“When you kissed me back yesterday, did you mean it?” fuck. This is exactly as you feared it.

And when you speak again, you say the stupidest thing. More stupid than the time your whole apartment short circuited because you touched the electricity board with wet hands. 

“No.” 

Lie lie lie lie lie lie 

The colour drains from Jeno’s face. He goes ghost white. 

No, nonononono. Please. Don’t make me do this. I don’t want to forget you.

“Y/n, you can’t joke around about things like these- you- you’re-”

“Jeno, I did that in-”

“You’re joking, right?” Jeno stands up and slams his hands onto the table. Tears gleam in his eyes, desperation dripping from his words. 

“Please tell me you’re joking, Y/n.” 

“Jeno, Jeno,” you catch his attention by soft whispers of his name, feeling your own tears come up your throat. You swallow the lump in your throat, speaking again.

“I did it in the heat of the moment. And I’m sorry if I ever lead you on. I…” you paused, readying yourself for the next words.

“I never had feelings for you,” 

I love you so much, please don’t believe that. I can’t afford to get hurt again, I can’t afford to love you again, I can’t live with the guilt, Jeno please.

All the words you wanted to say were stuck in your throat, not ever coming out.

“You- you’re lying, you have to be lying, what-” 

“Jeno, we’re at my office. Please. Don’t make me do this here” you’re surprised at how good you can hold your tears.

“Y/n, you’re not giving me an expla-”

“I need you to leave, please. Please, pretend like that never happened.” you whisper, all your energy spent on holding your tears.

Jeno realises there’s no use in spending all his energy asking  you to explain. He retreats his hands from the table, collects himself, wipes his tears and he looks at you in the eye before he says, “You’re lying, Y/n. I know you are. But you don’t want me to hold onto you. I’m not going to force you. But I need you to know I’ll always love you. A part of my heart, even if most of it is occupied by someone else, a part will always, always, be for you.”

“Jeno…” you whisper his name, your voice breaking a little .

“Bye, Y/n. I…hope we’ll never have to meet on these grounds again.” When he pulls his coat over his shoulders, you see the bright crystal tears shining in his eyes. 

Just like the time at the airport. 

Pain and regret shines in his chocolaty brown eyes, looking over to you one last time before he slams the door behind him. The moment he leaves, the moment he steps out of your office, your head drops into your hands, the tears you were so desperately holding back coming rushing back.

God, you’ve hurt him so bad. So so bad, you’ve hurt him in a depth of the unknown. You want to cry, scream and thrash the office. Your heart hurts too bad. 

“Hey, Y/n, what was tha-'' Jaemin opens the door without knocking like he always does. When he sees you in tears, he stops. His words pause, and he feels an uncomfortable pain in his heart. 

Jaemin was observing the scene in your office through the half open blinds while everyone else was busy working. He saw the tears in Jeno’s eyes, the tears you were trying to hold back, and even the desk slam. He wanted to check on you, but the scene in front of him made his heart break. 

Didn’t he hate you?

He enters the office, closes the door behind him. He locks the door and goes all the way to the other side of the office to shut the blinds. He pauses after, thinking about what to say to you.

“Hey, Y/n,” he half crouches by your side. You lift your head to look at him, quickly hiding it in your face after.

“Go away, Jaemin. I’m not dealing with your shit right now,” you mumble angrily, trying not to choke on your words.

“I was looking forward to ruining your day today, but not like this. I’m not sure I like seeing you like this.” he says so softly, so gently, like you’ve never heard him speak before. You lift your head to look at him again, and there’s no signs of amusement in his eyes. He isn’t lying.

“Why would you care?” you ask, the rest of your face except an eye hid in your palm. You’re thankful to all gods for not wearing mascara today like you usually would. 

“Look at me,” he says softly, and you don’t want to listen. You don’t want him to see you like this.

“I said look at me, Y/n,” he says, a little more stern. You look at him, and he pulls your chair to face him. 

“You can trust me, I won’t tell anyone. If it’s comfort that you need, I’ll try to comfort you. If you want to talk, I’m here, and I can listen.” he’s looking right into your eyes as he speaks, like he’s listing out every need of yours. 

This is going to be embarrassing later, but right now, all you need is a hug and someone to tell you that everything is going to be alright. 

“Can I please get a hug?” Jaemin honestly looks taken aback by your request, but he quickly leans forward to wrap you in his strong arms. His arms feel safe and warm, so nice to be wrapped in. 

“Sssh, everything is going to be fine, okay? It’ll all be fine,” his words make you clutch onto his black jacket and cry more. 

“Why did I have to see him again?” you cry, and Jaemin softly pats your back as you cry. His words are beyond comfort as he soothes you, trying his best to resist himself from placing small kisses on your nape. 

Hopefully he still does hate you. Even he doesn’t know why he’s doing this. ————————————————————Jeno’s a mess by the time he’s back in his car. You’re lying, he knows you’re lying. He knows you better than your little boyfriend could ever know you. The way you were pushing back tears, he knows you were lying. If you never had feelings for him, then why were you trying to push back your tears?

His fist slams against the steering wheel in anger, tears on his cheeks. He loves you so much, you didn’t need to do this. You could’ve accepted him, kissed him so desperately like the last time you kissed him. But you chose not to. Why?

His phone rings and he forces himself to check it, and seeing his fiancés name only angers him further. 

“No.” he throws the phone into the passenger's seat, staring at the phone until it stops ringing.

Jeno twists the keys and the car roars to life, driving off to somewhere he could be alone. 

————————————————————It was starting to get dark when Jeno finally picked up Yoonseo’s phone.

“Hello?” 

“Jeno Lee, where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea how many times I called you?”

“A hello would’ve been nice,” Jeno chuckles, hearing a sigh of relief from the other side.

“I thought something might’ve happened to you. I was worried, Jen. Why didn’t you pick up?”

“Was at work. The phone was silent, sorry,” he feels exhausted, lying to her like this. She doesn’t deserve a liar like himself.

“We need to talk when you get home. When’re you going to be home?” Talk? She wanted to talk? Did she find out about the kiss?

“I’ll be home in ten, leave the door open,” he hears her hum. With a mind clearer than about when he came and sat at the edge of the building, Jeno gets up, slipping his phone into his pockets before getting off the edge. ————————————————————You drag yourself home, run down and ruined by the very shitty day that went by. Jaemin took care of you the whole day, although it was quite subtle. He brought your laptop into your office, bought you a warm cup of coffee, and even made you laugh a little. He wasn’t so bad to have around after all.

You make your way straight to the bathroom, throwing your bag onto the bed, heels thrown somewhere. Stripping out of your clothes, you stand under the warm water, the tears of before swelling up again. 

The way Jeno left, you could never forget it. The way he turned over his shoulder with eyes that reflected hurt, his hands clenched by his side. He looked just like the last time you saw him, at the airport, five years ago. 

About 45 minutes later, and after you’re sure your water bill has skyrocketed, you step out of the shower with a towel wrapped around yourself. You open your wardrobe, reaching for the closed drawer and opening it to find Jeno’s hoodie, quickly slipping it on. You chose to wear a pair of shorts under it, the smell of Jeno comforting you far more than anything could ever. 

You hold the arm of the hoodie to your nose, softly sniffing it, your heart growing sadder. It hurts so much, knowing that he’ll never want to meet you again. It’s finally time he moved on from you, maybe. Maybe one last look at the mess you are was all that he needed to move on from you. 

Laying back onto your bed, curled up into yourself, you enjoy the comfort his hoodie gives you. Your eyes grow heavy, gently falling shut, imagining that Jeno was next to you giving you kisses. 

The doorbell rings loud, shaking you awake from your imagination. Who the fuck is here this late?

You groan as you get up from bed, silently cursing whoever was at the door. 

When you open the door, it’s Jihoon and another man standing there that you don’t recognise. 

“Hi, I’m so sorry to disturb you. Jihoon was out for a reunion of his old office today, and he got a little too drunk. He threw up on the way here, but besides that, he’s fine. Still very much drunk though,” when you just stare and don’t answer, the man chuckles. 

“I’m a lawyer too, name’s Cha Eunwoo,” he smiles, and that has to be one of the most attractive men you’ve ever seen in your entire life. Shit, he was handsome. 

“I’m so sorry, Eunwoo, would you mind dropping him on the couch?” you take a side of your boyfriend. Eunwoo agrees, and you both carry him in, attempting to be as careful as possible. 

You two finally drop Jihoon on your couch, watching him shift around a bit. 

“Thank you for dropping him off,” you say before he could speak. 

“I asked him for his address, he told me yours. He kept mumbling about…things. I-I think you should talk to him once he’s all sobered up.” His face remains straight, but his eyes say something else. You’re not able to decipher what you’re seeing. 

“I’ll take my leave now,” he smiles at you, and your eyes follow the way his arms stretch in his white shirt. Well shit. 

“Thanks again,” you send him off, staying by the door as he steps outside. He nods with a gentle smile and just as you’re about to close the door again, he holds the door. 

“Just…be careful tonight. He’s not in the best state,” he sounds quite concerned, and you’re not sure why. Is this about what he said he’d mumbled earlier?

You nod, confusion shining in your eyes. Eunwoo doesn’t want to say more, you know that. 

When you finally close the door, you’re just concerned about what he said. You walk back to the living to find your boyfriend talking to himself. 

When his eyes catch you standing by the entrance of the living, he smiles. It’s not a nice kind of smile, similar to when you have one of those intrusive thoughts that you want to put into effect. 

“Babyyy,” he extends his arms, barely conscious. You thought he passed out, but he doesn’t look that bad.

“Jihoon, you should brush your teeth before you go to bed,” you walk closer to him, Eunwoo’s warning running around briefly in your memory. 

You attempt to pull his jacket off, but he shakes your arm off, his fingers wrapping around your wrist in a death grip. You try to shake it off, but his grip is too tight. 

“You’re hurting me, let go,” you really weren’t in a mood to play around with him but it didn’t look like he was playing around either. He might be drunk, but he was quite strong.

“Jihoon, I said let go,” you shake your arm a little angrier, his grip tightening. It was really starting to hurt. 

“Have sex with me,” he slurrs out. You pause, the urge to break his face a growing thought in your head.

“I’m not in the mood tonight, let go.” you make it clear, trying to pry his fingers off with your other arm.

“No, you’rree gonna have sex with mee,” he slurrs again, and you almost swing at his head. 

Almost.

“Let fucking go, Jihoon, you’re hurting me,” he isn’t letting go. Instead, he pulls you onto himself with a tight pull, his hands now wrapping around you with much force. 

“What the fuck?!” you scream, taken aback. You struggle in his deathly grip, hitting against his chest.

“Feisty whores need to be punished,” he slurs, and you finally understand. He’s going to sexually assult you. Your boyfriend is going to sexually assult you.

Panic grows inside you wildly. You wiggle your hands free and reach for the brown glass vase on the stand next to the couch with all your weight. 

He tips over and the moment your hand comes into contact with the vase, you take it in your hands, and slam it against the side of Jihoon’s head. The glass shatters, the fake flowers spraying everywhere. Jihoon screams, his grip on you going loose, his hand reaching up to press against his head. 

You cry out as you step away from him opposite to the tea table, looking at the horrifying sight in front of your eyes. You need to get away from here. There’s blood splattered everywhere, glass everywhere, and Jihoon screaming on a bloody couch. Your head clouds up, tears streaming down.

Blood blood blood glass glass glass so much blood run run i need to run 

“YOU BITCH!” he shouts. You come to a realisation and run to the door, slipping on your slippers before running out, making sure to lock the door behind you.

You run as fast as your feet can carry you in these flimsy slippers, and when you’re at the lobby, you realise it’s raining.

You don’t care. 

You sprint outside, rain wetting your clothes, people staring with concern. You know they’re staring, but there’s only one person in your mind right now.

Jeno, need to get to Jeno

You run, you run as fast as you can. You slip and fall, you bruise your knees, but even in the rain, your tears won’t stop. You’re not even sure why you’re crying, but all you want to do now is run into Jeno’s arms. Into the warmth and comfort that he offers. 

You almost slam yourself against a water hydrant, walking around it and running again. When you look up, you can finally see the blurry outline of Jeno’s apartment. You remind yourself that in this luxury building, Jeno lives on the second floor out of the four floors present. 

There isn’t anyone out front, or in the lobby of the apartment. You’re confused for a second before you sprint for the stairs, running up the steps. Your legs beg you to take a break, but you push through the exhaustion, pushing open the door to the second floor. Your eyes lay on his door, more tears pushing through your eyes.

You’re shivering, shaking as you bang weakly against his door with all you have. You push your hoodie sleeve back, wiping your hand in your wet shorts as you ring the doorbell restlessly.

There’s shuffling on the other side and then the door opens, revealing Jeno. 

“Jeno,” you cry, relief flooding your system.

“Y/n? What the fuck happened?” He sounds so concerned. 

Relief has flooded your system, so much so that your whole body shuts down from exhaustion, causing you to fall over. The last thing you feel is a pair of warm strong arms around you, engulfing you. ————————————————————You shiver again, and that wakes you. You flutter your eyes open, finding a concerned Jeno perched over you. You flinch, and he hisses.

“Stay still,” he warns, and you stay still, trying not to shiver for him. You hiss, assuming that he’s bandaging one of the wounds on your face that you didn’t realise you had.

He looks away to pick up a bandage, finally sticking it on your cheekbone. The wound must’ve happened when you slammed that vase at Jihoon’s head. You were at a close proximity, after all.

When he finally pulls away, his eyes soften. They take in your form and he sighs deeply, sitting back on the carpeted floor. 

You’re changed into a hoodie, a pink one that was too big on your body and a pair of track pants that were also, unsurprisingly, too big for you. You’re pretty sure it was Jeno who changed you, since you don’t see or hear Seo. You’re fully wrapped like a burrito in a deep grey blanket and you probably shouldn’t feel this comfortable in a fucking blanket. 

When you finally finish analysing your surroundings, your head turns very slowly to look at Jeno. 

“Hi,” he says, his gentle eyes finding yours. He smiles softly, making you smile like that back at him. 

“Hi.” you reply, attempting to sit up. Jeno raises quickly, helping you settle against the couch, making sure you are still wrapped in the blanket. 

"How do you feel?" He asks, and you swallow. You feel shitty, but physically you think it's just exhaustion that you could probably sleep away. 

"Uh, I think I feel okay. Should've been a lot more careful running here," you chuckle, and you can tell he doesn't find that funny.

"What happened? Can you tell me that?" You hesitate, tears welling at the memory.

"It was sort of late when I got home. I bathed, got changed and went to bed. Was about to sleep when the doorbell rang. I opened the door. There was Jihoon and some other guy called Eunwoo at the door. Eunwoo told me that Jihoon had been out for some sort of reunion and got a little too drunk. So I helped him place Jihoon on the couch and just as he was about to leave…” Eunwoo’s warning flashes through your mind, clear as day.

“He told me to be careful, that he kept mumbling about things, and that I should talk to Jihoon once he was sober again. I thanked him and saw him out, and when I walked back in, Jihoon was talking to himself. I wanted to take his jacket off and make him comfortable before he went to sleep, so I went closer to him…” you swallow harshly, tears already pricking at his eyes.

“H-he held my wrist and wouldn’t let go, no matter how many times I told him that it hurt. He asked me to have sex with him and when I refused, he pulled me into his arms and wouldn’t let me go. S-so I-I…” you can’t seem to get the words out of your mouth. Your gaze switches to your hands, crying as you stare at them. You’re shaking, tears dripping onto your hands.

Jeno stayed quiet, watching you. He moves closer, his hands snaking into yours. He holds on tight, running his fingers over the bandages on your hands. Your shivers seize as you look at him again, the urge to tell him the rest growing.

“I panicked and reached for the vase on the side stand and- and I swung it against his head. Glass shattered everywhere, there was blood everywhere, on my hands too. I couldn’t think, I ran straight here,” you spill the rest, holding tightly onto his hand. 

“In the rain?” he whispers softly.

“In the rain,” you confirm in the same way. 

Jeno sits there in shock, his eyes taking you in. You were wrapped in that blanket, looking so small, your hand clutching onto his desperately. His heart broke, and he tried to push down the unreasonable tears that rose up his throat.

“Are you okay?” he asks, and you look up from your lap. You try to smile as you nod, tears swelling in your eyes again.

He’s not sure what to say, but he thinks that you probably need some time to process everything. He’s not going to talk or disturb you, he’s just going to stay by your side, holding your hand and reassuring you that no matter what, he’d always be there for you.

Your curiosity won’t shrink, but you try to suppress questions about where Seo is. But when you finally hit a corner with suppressing, the question comes out by itself.

“Where’s Seo?” you ask, and he looks up, a sad smile on his face.

“She- uh- she left,” he nods, pressing his lips into a thin line. You know you shouldn’t have inquired more about it, but you did.

“Went where?” you ask innocently, head tilted to an angle. He sighs before telling you the whole story.

“She called me earlier today telling me we had to talk. I returned home, she sat me down and told me that she was seeing someone else. Removed her ring and gave it to me. When I didn’t respond much emotionally like she thought I would, I came clean with her too. Told her I have feelings for you, although I didn’t tell her you brushed me off. That’d make me look pathetic. But yes, I did tell her that, and the kiss…you told me to pretend like it never happened, so I didn’t tell her that either. She was happy that she wasn’t leaving me in the dust, she packed up and left a few hours ago. I was just starting to open a can of beer when you knocked at my door,” he chuckles sadly. Your heart is breaking for him, he doesn’t deserve this. 

“Jeno…I- I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” you mumble, your hold on his hand gentle. You were the one comforting him now. You can see him bite back tears. 

“No, no, it- it’s okay, really.” he assures you, blinking back gentle tears. You can’t see him in pain like this.

“Uh, have you eaten anything?” Jeno asks in an attempt to steer away from the topic, and you shake your head once you understand. Sometimes, distractions are better than dealing with things. Even if it’s for a little. 

“Come on, I’ll cook,” he smiles again, but this time, it’s a lot brighter. His eyes say something like, At Least I have you. 

He stands up, offering his hand to you. You take it without a second thought. When he’s sure you can stand up on your own, he lets go of you. He doesn’t want to cross any lines that you might have in place. 

You follow him like a lost puppy, your blanket dragging behind you. Jeno looks back, suppressing an endearing laugh, his heart clutching in his chest. 

God you’re so fucking cute.

“Sit down,” he says, and you adjust yourself onto the tall seat. 

This reminds you of the times back in uni he’d sit you down somewhere and make you watch him cook, talking about so many different things all at once. They’re memories you’ve always cherished.

“What’d you want to eat?” he asks, and you stare at him dumbfounded. Your mind instantly reels back to the time he last cooked for you, and that was a sort of pasta. 

“Remember back in uni, the last time you cooked for me, you cooked a type of pasta. That was your own recipe, something you said you’d been saving for special occasions,”

“I remember that.” he says quietly, his hands placed onto the counter, looking into your eyes. 

 “I’m craving for it,” you smile, and he nods, a soft smile on his face.

“I haven’t made it after that day. Thinking of it always reminded me of you. I couldn’t bring myself to use that recipe again knowing that you wouldn’t be the one I’m feeding.” he says, and your heart breaks. 

“Just because of me?” 

“Just because of you. I never moved on from you, Y/n.” his voice is barely above a whisper. 

“But you had a fiance, Jeno.” your eyes falter, heart stutters. 

“I did, but a part of my heart, unknown to me if it was the biggest or the smallest, always belonged with you. Cried for you. Yearned for you every fucking day.” he can feel his heart opening up. Each and every emotion about you that he’s bottled up for the past five years begs to come pouring out.

“Jeno…”

“You won’t believe how happy I was when I saw you in that blue hoodie. I know that hoodie like the back of my hand. I thought by now, for sure, she’d have thrown it out. But no, you kept it, Y/n.” you can’t tell what kind of tears are shining in his eyes, whether they’re happy ones or sad ones. 

“Jeno, I never threw it away because even after all this time, I wasn’t ready to let you go. I wasn’t ready to let you go and accept that you might never come back and that I might never meet you again. I wanted to hold on to the last, very thin possibility that you might be mine again,” your eyes start filling with tears. Your own suppressed feelings pressing against your chest. 

“I wore it tonight because after what happened in the office, with us, I needed comfort. After you left, I had a breakdown on my desk. I couldn't believe myself. What had I said to you? Why had I hurt you so bad? Because if my feelings ended up ruining things for you and Seo, then I’d be living with the guilt of it. You know how I am, Jeno. Asking me to admit my feelings for you then, no matter how many times I have to go through the same situation while you were still engaged, I’d say I never loved you. But if you ask me right now, I love you with all my fucking heart.” you try to breathe right again. All those words left your mouth in such a flow, you think you forgot to breathe. 

Jeno’s standing opposite to you, stunned. You love him. He was right. 

“Y/n, I’ve never gone through something without thinking about what it would be like if you were with me. If you were with me to kiss me, to hug me, to run your fingers through my hair and whisper that everything is going to be okay, will I be happy? I most definitely will be, because being in the same room with you gives me butterflies.'' His voice is gentle and soft and admitting. 

“Let me ask you again, Y/n. '' he’s desperate, pleading. 

“When we kissed, did you mean it?” The silence is thick but not uncomfortable.

“If I’m being true to myself, Yes, Jeno. That was my heart yearning and hurting and finally being happy to be back in your hands even if it’s for a little.” you admit, your shoulders finally being light, the boulder of feelings being lifted off your chest.

“So you mean it?” his eyes light up, his heart beats. 

“I mean it with all my heart, I love you.” you smile, knowing that it might be possible to call him yours again. 

“Will you still like me when I cross this counter and take your lips into mine?”

“I’ll love you for the rest of my life, especially if you cross this stupid counter and kiss me like you mean it,” you laugh, and in the blink of an eye, he’s over the counter, his hands finding your face before his lips join yours. 

A soft gasp falls from both your lips, hands finding each other’s bodies, feeling each muscle under each finger. Your blanket slips off your body and now it’s just hanging off from under your seat. Fuck, it feels unreal, now that he’s with you and that it’s right. It’s right because it is. You’re with him and he’s with you and all you need is each other.

When you push at Jeno’s chest and he pulls away, you stare at him. Your eyes travel from his lips, his nose, to his eyes, mind travelling to think about how much of a proximity you two were in. This is real.

You laugh, and the sound is pure from the centre of your chest. His face breaks into a smile as he’s watching you, fascination shining in his eyes. He laughs with you, his hands wrapping around your waist and pulling you in. Your laughter halts for a brief moment, continuing softly after.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, eyes sparkling, voice reflecting fascination. 

“I just can’t believe this. We kissed again, Jeno, and this time, it felt right. No, it felt more than right, it felt…fuck, I don’t even know,” you giggle, and watch him laugh. The sound is so pretty, so beautiful. 

“I know. It’s just unreal. You’re here and I can touch you and kiss you and feel you however I want. You’re mine,” he finally says, eyes exploring you. His eyes run over your eyes, your nose and ends at your lips, looking back into your eyes again.

“Yeah you can, I’m yours. Are you mine?”

“I’ve always been yours, Y/n,” his lips land on your neck, and a fit of laughter leaves you. He giggles with you, picking you up into his arms, placing you onto the counter.

There's a moment of silence between you two, just staring at each other, observing each other. In the next moment, your hands clutch his t-shirt and pull him in, your lips landing on his again. He responds quickly, his hands squeezing your waist gently. 

Your hands wrap around his neck, pulling him deeper, all of the want and your need for him pouring out from within you. All of your pain from before forgotten for a brief moment, you indulge deeper in him.you

"Fuck, Y/n," he pulls away from you, gasping. The fact that you might have overwhelmed him didn't go past you, but when it did, you felt regret.

"Did I overwhelm you? I'm so sorry, Jeno, I didn't-" a kiss lands on your lips, and that effectively shuts you up.

"You didn't overwhelm me. I was worried." He says, and you can tell that he's holding something back.

"About what?" You asked, a small pout forming on your lips. His eyes reach your lips, and he looks away, a controlled sigh leaving him.

"You're leading me on. If you keep kissing me like that, I'm not sure what I might do to you, love." Your stomach flips and does a summersault. Your heart beats faster, the nickname ringing in your mind. 

Love? Love, he called me love.

"What if that's what I want? What if all I want is you?" Your voice lowers into something you hope was a little seductive. 

"Fuck, baby, you've got to stop doing that," his voice is airy, like he's hardly holding back from jumping at you. 

That's what you want, for him to jump at you. 

You lean forward, pressing your lips to his ears. 

"Claim me, baby."

That sentence is all it takes for him to kiss you again, his hands pressed against the side of your neck, other hand on your waist.

Your heart is beating louder than ever, feelings his touch travel from your waist to under your shirt, travelling up, and higher. 

My fucking god, this is happening. He's here, touching me, and it's not just my imagination.

When he finally lifts you off the counter and takes you to his bedroom, there's a smile on both your faces. 

You're never leaving each other and you both know it. 

God, today was wild.

————————————————————

☾︎ EPILOGUE ☽︎

Two months later

You open your eyes, your soft alarm ringing through the room. You reach a hand out to shut it off, and then turn to the other side, facing Jeno. His hair is ruffled in different directions, a pout on his pretty lips, skin like silk, eyes closed and fast asleep. He sleeps like the dead. He always did. The country could wage a nuclear war and he wouldn't know.

A gentle smile appeared on your face. The last two months have been unreal. Jeno drops you off at work, and he leaves to his office, calling you for every break. The boy can't sit apart from you longer than two hours. Once you moved in with him full-time, he's been more clingy, but you don't care. You love that. He knows when to be clingy and when not to. 

You pressed charges against Jihoon, and from the looks of it, you're winning the case. When Seo got to know that you and Jeno are dating again, she congratulated the two and took both of you out for dinner. Of course, she and her, boyfriend, then fiance now, were there too. Jeno and Seo had no negative feelings towards each other, rather they just seemed like best friends. Once Yoonseo got to know about your conflict with Jihoon, she immediately asked you to press charges, and helped you in doing so. One of her friends, a lawyer, is now fighting your case in court. You've sued him for money, and it looks like he might get jail time for sexual assault too. Jihoon being a lawyer as he is, couldn't find a good lawyer and ended up with a public defender. 

You're happy with your life right now, but the one thing you're worried about is what people at the office would think if they saw you with Jeno. But when you see Jeno, you forget about everything.

Jeno opens his eyes, a smile immediately pasting onto his face at the sight of you. His hand circles your waist, pulling you closer. You ruffle closer, a smile of its own finding your face.

"Morning, baby." His voice sends shivers down your bare back, toes curling softly.

"Morning. Slept like the dead, didn't you?" You ask, half your face buried into the pillow. He smiles, his fingers tracing your spine up your back.

"Last night, someone kept me quite busy and left me worn out. But I think that certain someone also slept well," his fingers halt, tracing all the way back to the very bottom of your spine. 

Your eyes close and your breath shudders, enjoying his touch. 

He pulls you close, and you turn towards his chest, curling up softly into it. His big hands secure you into him, hands softly playing with your hair. Your hand wraps around him, soft kisses pressed to his chest. 

Butterflies ensue in his stomach, each of your kisses soft. 

"We're going to be late," you say, curling further into his chest. 

"I know. We should get up," he says, and you hum, lazy. The morning was so cold, and your only source of warmth was Jeno. 

"Jen, I'm getting up. I've got a meeting today," you mumble, not making any visible effort to move. 

"I've got a pending research paper, I've to get to it," Jeno says, hugging you tighter. 

"Well up we go then," you struggle to sit up from bed, eyes still heavy. Jeno whines, pulling you back down to the mattress. As much as you'd like to be buried under his weight and just sleep, you've to get up. 

"Not today, Jeno. Get up, get moving," you say, and he doesn't budge. You kiss him, and make a little quiet promise in his ear. That gets him up and running in seconds. 

Soon enough, both of you are ready, in the car together. Your hands are intertwined with his, you occasionally pressing kisses to the back of his hand. He loves it when you do that.

He stops in front of your building, waiting for you to get out.

"Call me after work, I'll pick you up today, okay?" 

"Okay, love you," you mumble, collecting your things and leaving the car. His hand stops you and when you look back, you see his pout. 

Oh no, you forgot his kiss. 

"You forgot my kiss," he pouts, pointing to his lips, looking genuinely upset. You coo, immediately reaching in to press a long kiss to his lips, correcting a few strands of his hair after you pull away. 

"Sorry, baby. Promise I won't forget again," you giggle, pressing another quick kiss on his lips.

"See you after work," you wave, shutting the car door close. He waves back as he takes off, a smile on your face. You love him so much.

When you turn around, you catch your best friend standing there, the cup of coffee that was supposed to be in her hand on the floor. Well fuck.

"Is that-" 

"Sssssshhhhhh," you shut her up immediately, running up next to her. 

"Quieter." You say, and she gasps.

"Is that Lee Jeno? What happened?" You chuckle. This was going to be a long story.

————————————————————

"You're telling me all of this happened in the span of the same week I was gone???" Yuna talks, almost spilling her coffee again.

"Yes..?" You smile sheepishly, caught red handed. 

The question "Y/n, are you dating?" Has been asked all too many times, and you just got asked again.

"Yes," you answer, smiling.

"Ah, a guy asked for your number, just wanted to know." Mina smiles back, and you nod.

The table you and Yuna were sitting at is not filled, but it isn't empty either.

Once you're back in the office from your break, you walk into your office, thinking if you should call Jeno.

Outside, you hear a group of loud chatter, and you're confused. You're  talking about collective chatter at the same time. The kind that's disturbing.

You walk back out your office, confused. 

"What's all this about?" You ask playfully. 

"You're dating Lee Jeno? Our client with a fiance?" A coworker of yours asks. You freeze, unable to process anything.

"His fiance left him, stupid." Another co-worker of yours whispers to the person who asked. 

"Ah, yes, sorry. Congrats by the way. You're long acquainted with him, aren't you?" She asks and you nod. That's all you're capable of doing.

"Well, congrats, good for you. Sorry if I disturbed you," she apologises, moving on with her day. You walk back into your offices stunned. Well, it looks like your co-workers don't care. 

They moved on with their day like normal people. Man, you love your team. 

You're worried about Jaemin. You haven't seen him around for the last day or two and honestly, work is pretty boring without his annoying ass around to talk to you.

–

"Hiiii," Jeno waves excitedly at you, watching you run towards his car. Your excitement grows, seeing Jeno wait for you. 

You get into the car, and Jeno waits for you to get settled before he speaks. 

"Hi baby, I missed you," he says, a smile on his face.

"Me too," you say, reaching over to press a kiss onto his lips. 

"Guess what happened today," you laugh, feeling Jeno's hands curl into yours. 

"Before that, do you want coffee?" Jeno asks, and you can't help but smile. 

"Yeah, I know a good place," 

————

"We're here" Jeno whispers, and you realise you're at the coffee place. You fell asleep on the car ride there, and Jeno probably held your hand comfortably all the while.

"Sorry I fell asleep," you apologise, feeling bad that he had to drive alone without talking to anyone. He didn't like that much, unless he was in a bad mood.

"It's okay, my baby must've been so tired," he kisses your forehead, smiling as he watches you attempt to pull the seat belt from its place.

"Stupid seat belt…" you mumble, embarrassed. Jeno's fingers reach for it, pressing the release button in less than a few seconds.

You mumble out a thanks embarrassingly before rushing out of the car, face flushed red. Jeno finds you unrealistically cute sometimes, and it was one of those times. 

No, he finds you cute all the time.

He gets out of the car just as you do, walking to your side, sliding his car keys into his pockets.

"You've come here a couple of times, right? It's close to where you used to live," Jeno looks onto one side of the dark street lit by lamps.

"I come here all the time. I'm kinda missing it, that's why I came back," Jeno nods, fully understanding that this was your sentimental moment. 

"It's cold outside, come on," you drag Jeno in, Jeno following your lead like a lost puppy. To everyone outside, Jeno looks scary. The moment you step inside, Jeno's face changes. His eyes are sharper, there's not a hint of a smile on his face. His hands wrap around your waist protectively, eyes roaming and taking in his surroundings.

"Jen, I think you're scaring people." You giggle, to which he smiles. 

"I'm just doing my part protecting my girlfriend," he says, kissing the top of your head.

You join the line with Jeno, laughing and smiling at every joke he says. He suggests that maybe in the future, once you're both ready, maybe two of you could have kids. When you asked how many, he said two. You said you could do two, and he smiled, pressing another kiss to your head. 

The truth is, you weren't ready to share him with children yet. For one, children are demons. And two, you weren't ready to have his attention divided. So for now, the possibility lies in the future. 

When you said this, Jeno looked like he couldn't suppress his laughter, and buried his face into his hands as he laughed. The sight being too funny for you, you couldn't suppress your laughter either. 

But once you'd both calmed down, and saw that you were next in line, you started rehearsing your order. Although you knew Mark, ordering was always stressful, no matter the place or order.

"Americano hot or cold?" Jeno asks, and you mumble hot since the weather was cold.

"Hi, Y/n, it's been so long," Mark sees you, a smile pasting itself onto the boy's face. 

"Hi Mark, yes, it's been a little too long. I've to say, I missed this neighbourhood. And you," you smile, and the boy blushes pink. You think he blushes easily.

"Ah well, who is this?" He asks, and Jeno looks down from the menu, at Mark. 

"I'm Jeno, her boyfriend," you watch as all the colour drains from Mark's face. His smile stays on, but he's gone white. 

"Hi Jeno, I'm Mark," Mark extends his hand, which Jeno takes with a smile. Mark observes for a second, and smiles again, looking back at the monitor. 

"She'll get a hot Americano, and I'll get an iced Americano. Thanks," Mark watches as Jeno's hands wrap around your waist, and your face curls into a smile with his warmth. 

Well fuck, bad for him.

"Yo Jark, did you-" Jaemin slams himself against a side of the counter, looking over at Mark before he sees you and pauses, staring at you and Jeno, dumbfounded. 

Isn't this that Jeno? The same Jeno that you cried over? 

"Jaemin?" The name rolls of your tongue has a way to it. He likes it more than he'd like to admit.

"Y/n, what're you doing here?" He stares, his stare hardening as his eyes reach Jeno. Jeno's stare is hard as it is, staring at the boy like he commited a crime.

"I used to live close by. Just visited to get coffee, really. We'd be heading back soon," you say, feeling like maybe after whatever happened at the office between you and Jaemin, you should let him into your life, even if it's a little. 

"I see. Isn't this the same Jeno? The one you… in the office?" He asks, and you can feel Jeno's stare at you. It's questions that he's going to ask once you're at a table that's being stared into your head right now.

"Yes, yeah, this…it's the same Jeno," you chuckle, pressing your lips into a tight smile. 

"I didn't see you at the office today, or yesterday for that matter. Are you good?" You change the topic, watching Jaemin's face curl into a gentle smile.

"Oh yeah, yes, uh, I took a week off from work. I was just dealing with some things of my own, and I needed space and time. So I took a week off. I'll be back soon, don't worry," he smiles, and that's the first time you're really seeing him smile. He's beautiful, prettier than when he's serious.

Sure, you've thought about how handsome he is a number of times. But how annoying he was always outnumbered. 

"Let me know if I can help." You say, and he takes a moment before he nods. 

"It's nice to finally meet you…?" Jaemin looks towards Jeno, who's boring holes into his head. 

"Jeno. It's Lee Jeno." 

"Nice to meet you, Lee Jeno. I'm Na Jaemin, a coworker of Y/n's." He introduces himself, trying to be as nice as possible. And you can tell Jaemin is trying. However, Jeno isn't. You nudge his arm, and he sighs before smiling. 

"Nice to meet you too, Na Jaemin," Jeno extends a hand, and Jaemin shakes it with a tight smile. 

"Well, we'll be at that table if you need anything," Jeno drags you away before you could talk more, to a table in the far corner. 

He lets you settle before bombarding you with questions. 

"What's with Jaemin asking me if I'm that Jeno? What did you tell him?" He asks, confused. 

"Well, remember when I said I had a breakdown after you left me in the office? Jaemin opened the door right after that and saw me like that, and instead of leaving me like how I thought he would, he came in, comforted me, bought me coffee and made me laugh. So instead of despising him after that, I decided I'd give him a chance. Also, I didn't tell him anything, he talked shit about you so I'd feel better, and I did. But after a while, I started missing you again, so I told him our story. Tell him how much you mean to me. He listened and let me talk, comforting me every time I broke down at each memory," you tell Jeno, who now sits there looking guilty. 

"I'm sorry I made you go through so much. You don't deserve this," Jeno mumbles quietly.

"Whatever happened, happened. Now all that matters is that I have you. I'm okay now that I have you, trust me." You tell him, your hands finding him. You hold on tight, watching a smile curl onto his face. 

"I love you," he whispers softly, and you whisper the same back, a quick kiss on his cheek. 

Mark watches, his heart breaking, Jaemin beside him. His shift is over, and he just stepped out of work with Jaemin, who's been on his ass for the past few days.

"That was the girl you liked?" Jaemin asks, watching Mark nod. 

"Y/n from my office was the girl you liked?" Jaemin asks again, and Mark nods yet again.

"Why do you think I took a week off of work?" Jaemin then asks, which catches Mark's attention. 

"Why?" 

"Because I caught feelings. Feelings for someone who was oh so miserably in love with someone else. And that someone,” he pauses “was her." Jaemin looks at you, his heart breaking a little less. It's already in shambles, it can't hurt more. 

"Didn't you hate her?" Mark asks, curiosity poking at him.

"I did. But you know, the line between love and hate is very thin. So easy to get mistaken for. But this wasn't a mistake. I know I crossed the line for myself when I listened to my heart saying she was in pain. I crossed it knowing that crossing that very line could leave me in pain." Jaemin leaned back on the seat, feeling the need to have a cigarette lit between his lips. But he quit years ago, he can't go back to it just because of someone.

Mark hums, nodding. 

"If we keep liking the same girls, we're gonna have a problem," Mark says, drinking from his cup of coffee, feeling something in his throat melt, the breathlessness he briefly experienced leaving. Jaemin sips from his coffee like it's water, savouring the taste. 

"True. I wonder if we ever got a chance, will one of us ever make her that happy?" Jaemin wonders out loud, feeling his heart sink further, and the temptation for a cigarette grows deeper.

None of them speaks for a while, quietly wondering.

"We're the same, dude." Mark's hand goes around Jaemin's shoulder, both of them watching how happy you were with Jeno. Your laughs, your smiles, they could never make you smile like that, they both knew it.

But Jaemin wonders, if he ever got a chance, how well would he have treated you? How well would he cherish you? How well could he love you? 

"Doyoung, stop it!" You shout, hurt by the words that constantly fell off of his lips. Tears are running down your cheeks, your hands pressed to your ears in an attempt to drown him out.

Doyoung pauses, staring at you, eyes cold. God, you wish you knew what you were signing up for when you started dating him. His anger issues, his ice cold heart that you wished would warm up for you once, he was a walking red flag for fucks sake. How blind had you been?

"Chose one, Doyoung. Me or her. It's either me or her, you can't make me a second option, not anymore." You break, tears uncontrolable. You sniffle, eyes red and raging, just like your mind.

"Don't make me chose." He says, hands clenched into fists by his side.

"Why? Cause you'll chose her?" You spit, watching his face go stone cold.

"Yes." Is all that comes out of his mouth. Well that's your cue to leave.

You pack you bags in a rush, throwing everything you see in your eyes that's yours into your bag. Doyoung just stands there, his eyes following your every movement.

Once your bags are all packed, you grab them, stopping before Doyoung to say one last thing.

"Fuck. You," you sneer at his face, finger pointing at him.

"I hope while you're shoving your dick down her throat like I found you, she chokes on it and dies." You push at his chest, watching him stumble back as you open the door, and step outside.

You slam the door shut, the sound echoing throughout the whole apartment complex.