ML's Inkwell

Almost an hour later, you were staring yourself down in the mirror. You still weren’t dressed, one of Seungcheol’s sweatshirts draped over the lacy one piece you were wearing.. Your makeup was done and you just needed the perfect outfit to mask the frills that sat at your hips. You moved your head along to the music as you rocked back in forth in front of your clothes. Your rap skills were not up to par with your boyfriend’s, so you chose to hum along with his parts instead as you searched.

“You like my voice this much, baby?” You heard from behind you. You jumped, whipping your head around and your eyes landing on Seungcheol. He was leaning against the bedroom doorway and holding a glass of wine in each hand. His white shirt was unbuttoned slightly, the sleeves pushed past his elbows. He’d been in scheduling meetings since the morning, not leaving the conference room until he’d successfully talked the staff out of anyone staying for rehearsals.

“It’s not exactly new information,” you shrugged, a smirk playing on your lips once the surprise subsided. Seungcheol began walking towards you, extending one of the two glasses of white wine as he got nearer. You stood up and accepted the drink. One hand now free, Seungcheol pulled you closer and captured you in a quick kiss. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” he said before moving his eyes down your body, causing you to giggle slightly at how easily you could read his expression. He laughed when his eyes met yours and sauntered out of the room, making his way all the way to the kitchen and grabbing the bottle of wine. 

You turned back to your closet, still pondering how to tie your one piece into an actual outfit. Moments later, Seungcheol returned with the bottle of wine, refilling the glass you’d sat on your vanity and returning it to your hand before wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder. You relaxed in to him, still focused on the wall of clothes in front of you. Seungcheol began nosing your shoulder, leaving a kiss on every centimeter of skin he could between your neck and the fabric of the sweatshirt. You turned your head to meet his lips. A smile immediately graced his face when you parted, and you couldn’t help but go in for another. Seungcheol moved you back and forth, dancing to the music with your lips still moving against each other.

“I need to get dressed,” you mumbled against his lips.

“Can I watch?” He asked teasingly.

“I’m honestly offended you would even ask,” you deadpanned as he backed away from you and sat on the bed.

“What have you done today?” He asked as he got comfortable. 

You sipped on your wine, thinking back through your day before recounting the minimal details for Seungcheol. You told him about work and seeing your friends at lunch. Seungcheol then took over most of the talking, lounging back on the bed and sipping wine while telling you about the boys praying he could get them out of staying all night.

He was mid-sentence when you raised up on your toes to pull a pair of black jeans from the shelf. You raised your arms to reach it, his sweatshirt rising up and revealing your basically bare backside to Seungcheol. The fabric caught on the curve of your butt, leaving you exposed and leaving Seungcheol speechless for a moment.

“What’s this?” He asked as he got up, a wide grin on his face and he quickly approached.

“What’s what?” You asked. Before you knew it, Seungcheol was turning you back around and pulling the sweatshirt up your back.

“This.” You contorted around to try and see what he was talking about, your eyes meeting the little lace heart your back. You smirked and looked up at Seungcheol. His eyes hadn’t moved from your ass, his fingers trailing down your back to touch the lace at the bottom of your one piece. They stopped here for a second, feeling the frills before moving to lower to your bare skin. 

“Watching me get dressed requires you letting me put clothes on,” you told him and hit him with the jeans in your hand to get his attention. You pulled his sweatshirt off. Seungcheol’s eyes widened as he got a full view of your lingerie in the mirror on the closet door. You began stepping into the black fabric, careful not to catch your foot in the distressed fabric.

“You mean I have to go all night knowing you're wearing that under your clothes?” He asked, his hands coming to yours as you attempted to zip and button your pants.

“You’ll get to see it again when we get home,” you said, watching him through the mirror.

“But we’re already home,” he murmured against your neck, one hand coming up to move your strap from your shoulder and chasing it with little kisses on your skin. You sighed, still watching your reflections. His left hand started pulling your (still) unfastened pants back down your thighs. You had a feeling you weren’t winning this one; you didn’t really want to, to be perfectly honest.

You leaned into him, your hand going to tangle in his hair and giving the black strands a light tug. His eyes found yours in the mirror, his lips still moving on your skin. You turned your head to him, eyes meeting.

“Just don’t mess up my makeup too much, okay?” His lips twitched up into a smile as you began moving your body to face him. He brought his hands up, one cupping your neck and the other at your cheek as he connected your lips. You moved closer, hands running up and down his muscular arms. 

You allowed yourself to get lost in the way Seungcheol was kissing you. You found your hands moving from his shoulders to his chest. Your fingers traced down his collarbones, running over the bare skin exposed by the few open buttons that you were planning on adding to. As you found the first button and slipped it open, Seungcheol smiled against your lips. He allowed you to completely open his shirt, and you gladly ran your hands up and down his abdominal muscles.

Seungcheol broke the kiss and squatted in front of you. His hands grabbed the front of your pants and jerked them down your legs. Before you could even step out of them, he was touching you again, hands sliding from your thighs to your ass.

“God you look so fucking good,” he gritted out as he groped you roughly. You giggled at the compliment and ran your hands through his hair. You stepped back carefully, sitting at your vanity seat to get out of the black fabric at your ankles. Seungcheol stood up, his waist now eye level with you. You smirked, looking up at him as you undone his belt and pants. He began gathering your hair in his hand, already knowing exactly where he wanted this to go.

“Remember what I said about my makeup,” you warned as you pulled his boxers down his thighs.

“Yes, ma’am,” he responded, mouth hanging open immediately after at the feeling of your tongue running over his shaft. You wrapped your lips around the tip and hollowed your cheeks, slowly moving your head back and forth. You let your tongue dance around him in your mouth. Its quick motions were in complete contrast to the torturous pace in which you were moving up and down his length. His grip in your hair tightened and his eyes were squeezed shut. 

You placed your hands on his thighs and moaned around his cock. Even you were getting tired of your teasing, and you bobbed your head at a faster pace. He opened his eyes, watching you take as much of him as you could, one hand leaving his thigh to follow your mouth. Quiet curses were leaving his lips every time you sucked harder at the tip before moving back down. He was trying as hard as possible not to buck into your mouth, knowing you could leave him needy if he tried to go as hard as he so desperately wanted to.

You took a deep breath through your nose before sliding down again. This time, you didn’t stop until you’d taken all of him. He gasped at the feeling, swearing through gritted teeth and fighting the urge to hold you there with the hand in your hair. When you came up for air, you quickly replaced your mouth with your hand, focusing on the tip. You looked up at your boyfriend, who was watching you with dark eyes. You smiled and he laughed playfully at you before pulling you up by your hair.

Your lips met again, much rougher than before. His hand left your hair and made its way down your back, over the curve of your ass and between your lips. You jumped slightly when you felt his fingers brush the thin fabric covering your core to the side. He wasted no time wrapping one hand around your waist and pulling you closer to him as fingers moved further, mumbling comment about how wet you were against your lips. He never stopped kissing you as his fingers eased into you, catching you small moans. Your grip on his biceps got tighter the faster he flicked his wrist. Soon, you were a whimpering mess, trying your hardest to keep up with Seungcheol’s kisses while he worked you up. Your legs were shaking ever so slightly and you were leaning your weight against him. Suddenly, Seungcheol tore his hand from you and turned you around.

“On your knees, babe,” he instructed, pushing you forward lightly until you placed your knees on your vanity seat. You were face to face with yourself once again: hair messy, pupils dilated, and skin glistening slightly already. You caught a glimpse of Seungcheol behind you; he gained your full attention when you felt his tip running up and down your folds. He smirked at you, holding eye contact in the mirror while pushing into you. Your mouth dropped open in a silent moan. The cocky grin remained on his lips as he began thrusting. Each move was deep and took your breath away. You were a panting mess. Your eyes had fluttered closed and your back was arching, your body chasing the pleasure.

“Fuck,” you heard Seungcheol grunt out. You felt his hands leave your body and you opened your eyes to see him stripping himself completely of his shirt and throwing it to the floor. You bit your lip and tried to keep your body somewhat in control, your legs shaking again as you neared your release. Seungcheol moved one hand up and down your side, the other keeping your hips in place as he fucked into you. The contrast between his hard thrusts and soft touches got to you, and you came faster and harder than expected, moaning his name in an airy voice.

You clenched around him and he grunted, eyes meeting yours in the mirror again. He could tell by the sated expression on your face and the tight contractions of your walls. He gripped your hip with one hand, the other grabbing your shoulder and forcing your upper body against him. He ran his hand from your shoulder down the front of your body, moving over skin to cup your lace covered breast. “You look so pretty all fucked out, baby.”

He picked up the pace, his thrusts faster and rougher all at once. You let out a broken moan at the change of pace, your eyes never leaving Seungcheol. Sweat had accumulated at his hairline, a few drops running down the side of his face and his chest flushed and glistening. Had his lips not been directly at your ear, you wouldn’t have heard his deep groans over the sound of skin on skin. It was all so much, so hot. You were overwhelmed and oversensitive by the time Seungcheol slammed his hips against you, holding you tight against him as he came in you.

His forehead rested on your shoulder as you both caught your breath.

“Fuck,” Seungcheol breathed out as he raised up. He pulled out of you slowly and brought his hands to your shoulders to rub them softly. He kissed the top of your head before asking, “Are you good, baby?”

You giggled and nodded at him, turning to catch his lips in a kiss and asking, “Think you can make it through the night now?”

Johnny only lived about five minutes away from you. You had actually dried off and put clothes on, but your hair was still slightly wet by the time you heard your front door open.

“Back here!” You called from your place at your desk. You pushed yourself away from your laptop, highlighters, and books and swiveled your chair to face your open doorway. Moments later, Johnny appeared, a soft, tired smile immediately gracing your features. You felt your heart flutter and your own smile grew as he set down his bag and moved closer to you. You held your arms out to him, and he - instead of embracing you - pulled you swiftly out of your seat. You squealed in laughter as you fell into him, his knees hitting the edge of the bed and you landing on his torso.

“Hey,” you heard Johnny murmur above you. You giggled while trying your hardest to move your body into a more comfortable position than the one you landed in. You finally moved your legs up enough to get your knees on the bed on either side of Johnny’s waist. You flipped your hair out of your face, Johnny completely in view now.

“Hey,” you replied. Johnny’s smile grew. His hands found their way from your hips to your back, pulling you down to him.

“I’ve missed you,” he said softly before giving you a peck on the lips. You returned the kiss and rested your hands on his chest.

“I’ve missed you, too,” you said, looking into his deep, sparkling brown eyes. You used your push off of his chest, sitting up to say, “but if I don’t finish my work now then I’ll never get out of bed.”

“I hate when you’re right,” Johnny sighed, swatting your butt before sitting up. You slid off his lap and moved to your desk. Johnny walked back to your doorway to grab his bags. When he turned around, you were already back focused on your laptop, textbook open while you typed up a discussion board post. He sighed again before asking, “You’re not going to sit on the bed with me?”

You turned to look at Johnny, a bag in each hand and a dramatic pout on his face that you couldn’t help but smirk at before rolling your eyes as you turned away.

“We’ll get too distracted,” you said simply. You heard him huff before moving towards you, resting his hands on your shoulders.

“But I want your input on my schedule,” Johnny whined.

“You’ll get it when I’m done,” you told him. He groaned loudly as he fell on your bed. You refused to give him the satisfaction of turning around. Instead, you stared ahead, typing at a leisurely pace so Johnny could hear each keystroke. You heard another dramatic sigh behind you, prompting you to pick up your headphones.

“Babe!” Johnny half-shouted, half-whined.

“Do your work, John,” You responded calmly, setting the headphones back down on the desk. You didn’t hear any more complaints and continued doing your assignment before Johnny found another way to interrupt you.

However, it seemed that Johnny had given up on you sitting with him, and you heard nothing more than unintentional hums of concentration, flipping of papers, and his fingers hitting the keys and mouse pad of his laptop. 

You soon put the thought of his possible interruptions out of your mind, and you were solely focused on finishing the tasks in front of you. Your eyes flickered from your textbook to your laptop, copying sections of text to include in your analysis. You typed up your chapter notes, taking your time to craft an argument from the material for your discussion. Within the next 20 minutes, your discussion post was up and ready three weeks early, and you were ready to move on to another assignment.

You turned around to grab your planner from the backpack hanging on the back of your seat. Once you raised you with the small book in hand, you caught a glimpse of Johnny reclined on your bed. He had one pillow between himself and the headboard and another on his lap to hold his computer. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth. He looked absolutely beautiful. He was stunning, and he was yours, and after weeks of not being able to see him, he was here.

You turned around as quickly yet discreetly as possible, as if it would somehow be embarrassing for your long term boyfriend to catch you staring. Planner now sitting open in front you, you crossed off the discussion post you’d just completed. You had one item left on your to-do list, but it could wait. You capped your pen and closed your planner before slowly rising out of your desk chair. You moved to the bed, slowly moving up against Johnny so as to not throw his laptop off balance. Johnny welcomed you immediately, one arm leaving his keyboard to engulf you.

“I love you,” you whispered as you cuddled up against his side.

“I love you, too,” he responded, his lips coming down to place a small kiss on your forehead. The warmth of the action flowed through every inch of you, and if it was possible to smile with your whole body, you were.

“Did you get your schedule figured out?” You asked, finally settled.

“I think so,” Johnny breathed out. “But I swear to God if Young changes anything else I’m dropping out.”

“I like these,” you commented, referring to the work Johnny was doing. His laptop screen displayed a series of photographs he’d been editing. They appeared to be from a park close to campus that the two of you visited often. They displayed different angles of a stone wall with vines creeping down the top, the flourishing greens cutting through the cool tones created by the gray stones and midmorning sky.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Yeah,” you nodded against his chest. “They’re pretty.”

“Well,” Johnny began. He closed his laptop and used one long, strong arm to place it on your bedside table before turning his body and attention to you. He looked you up and down, stopping at your eyes before saying, “They’re nothing compared to what you sent me earlier.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said with a smirk on your face.

“You don’t?” He inquired as he slipped you off his chest. You shook your head playfully.

“I’m no photographer,” you quipped.

“You’re no liar, either,” he joked, “but you are quite the model.”

You giggled as Johnny leaned down to connect his lips with yours. Though the sound was muffled, your smile stayed as you happily kissed him back. 

“Can I keep it?” Johnny asked after breakin away.

“What?” You asked,

“The picture,” he clarified. “Do I have to delete it?”

You sighed, “I guess not. Just don’t show anyone, okay?”

“I promise,” He said seriously. “I don’t want anyone seeing you like that except for me.”

“Me either,” you replied and reconnected your lips with his. Without breaking the kiss, Johnny began to better position himself over you, one of his large hands running down your body, causing you to squirm.

The two of you fell into your usual rhythm so easily. Johnny’s hands were all over you, your legs wrapped around his waist to keep him close, even though he most certainly wasn’t planning on going anywhere. 

Soon, Johnny disconnected his lips from yours and started placing kisses and small licks on your jaw and neck. Every so often, he would tease a sweet spot, causing your hips to buck into his. Your hands were braced on his shoulders and moans and whimpers were occasionally passing your lips. Johnny began to run his hands up your sweatshirt, the contact with your skin setting you on fire.

“Didn’t you want my input on your homework schedule?” You joked with the little breath you had.

“Babe,” Johnny said as he raised up, pulling his shirt off and revealing his toned torso, “I’m a little more concerned with a very different input right now.” 

You swat his stomach playfully as you flexed your core, raising up enough to pull the sweatshirt off your body, leaving you in nothing but a pair of panties.

“Fuck,” Johnny breathed out as he looked over you. His hand ran up your stomach, up the valley between your breasts, and finally landed around your neck. You smiled at him, heat rushing to your core. His hand let go of your throat and moved up to your mouth, which you immediately open to accept his fingers. “So good, baby.”

You moved your hands down to your waist and began to slip your underwear down your legs. Johnny removed his hand from your mouth and got off the bed, allowing you to slide the fabric completely off of you. When Johnny returned to the bed, he was just as bare as you. He resumed his position on his knees in between your legs, which were now spread wide for him.

You leaned back when you felt Johnny’s hands slowly moving up legs, getting closer and closer to your core every second. Your breath hitched when you felt his fingers finally apply pressure to your most sensitive area. He quickly began to rub at your clit before using his index and middle finger to spread your lower lips apart.

“So wet for me,” he remarked. You laid back, eyes closed and breathing heavy while you focused on every movement of his fingers. You were becoming so overwhelmed so easily. You felt Johnny allow you a break while he spread you open again, most likely admiring how absolutely dripping you were for him. 

“Hey, baby?” Johnny asked, his voice deep and husky. You hummed in response, opening your eyes lightly. “Can I take more?”

“Take more?”

You opened your eyes completely, spotting Johnny immediately as he reached towards the edge of the bed and grabbed his phone. His words registered immediately and you shot up.

“I.. I don’t,” you stammered, “I don’t know. That, that’s kinda something we should really talk about first.”

“Then let’s talk about it,” he said, moving to join you at the head of the bed. 

“Now?”

“Why wait?”

He pulled a blanket over you, cuddling you close to his chest, but far enough away for him to be able to look at you. He could sense you were uncomfortable, and he was going to make you talk through it before you did anything else.

“I mean, I’m kind of okay with it,” you shrugged.

“Just kind of?” He pressed.

“Why do you want them?” You asked, turning your eyes to him.

“A couple reasons,” Johnny answered, running his fingers up and down your arm. “Because the one you sent me earlier was absolutely beautiful.” “Well that was supposed to make you want to come to me,” you giggled.

“But what about when we’re drowning in schoolwork and can’t see each for weeks?” Johnny asked. “I want them for when I can’t have you, I guess.”

“So you want them for your spank bank?” You joked.

“Would you rather me have other girls in my spank bank?” He pointed out. You rolled your eyes, laughing lightly at him. He moved closer to you pulling you back to him. “But seriously, you don’t have to, don’t worry about it.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to have them,” you sighed, trying to explain yourself. “I just don’t want anyone else to see them. This is just something private to me.” “Yena,” Johnny said, cupping your jaw with one hand and looking you directly in the eye, “I promise you I would never show something like that to anyone. Ever.”

“I know,” you said, looking back at him. “I just don’t want them to come across it.”

“How about this,” he began, “If you’re okay with it, I’ll take them on my camera. They would stay on their own card, have their own folder. No one would possibly see them.”

“You’d have to put in more work that way,” you remarked.

“Well yeah, but as much as I want it, I want to do it in a way you’re comfortable with,” he replied, never breaking eye contact.

“I’m comfortable with you,” you told him, “so as long as it’s for you.”

“Of course,” he mumbled against your skin as he moved on top of you. You found yourself relaxing into your bed, comforted by your blankets and Johnny’s kisses. His mouth was working its way across your collarbones and his hand was diving in between your bodies to get your worked up again. You gasped as you felt his fingers gently brush your clit. Johnny knew your body well. He was toying with you, taking advantage of your sensitivity. You were squirming under him in a minute.

You cried out when you suddenly felt Johnny sucking harshly on your chest. You wriggled and whimpered as he moved around your skin, leaving red marks in his wake and slipping a finger inside you to mix some pleasure with pain. Eventually he rose and pecked your pouting lips before saying, “It’ll make a great picture.”

With one hand still working in between your legs, Johnny leaned over the bed and found his camera bag. Eyes closed and body focused on his movements in you, you could just barely make out the sound of the bag being unzipped before you felt the slight weight of something on the bed beside you. You opened your eyes and turned your head over to see Johnny’s camera and a few lenses next to you. Johnny grabbed you by the wrist and replaced his hand with your own.

“Touch yourself for me.” With that, he cleaned off his finger with his tongue and went to work assembling his camera. You lightly rubbed circles on your clit. You always found passions attractive, and you were adored watching Johnny work on things he loved, but you never thought it would be this easy to touch yourself while watching Johnny adjust his equipment. Yet here you were, looking at him through hooded eyes as he focused on his camera. He had chosen a lens, the other placed on your nightstand just in case he wanted to swap them.

You took in every detail: the contrast between the matte black skin tone and the skin tone of his large hands with veins that you could follow all the way up his muscled arms, the way his bottom lip was caught between his perfect teeth, the furrow of his brow as he concentrated on the device in his hands, the dim, warm light of your lamps hitting his skin. By the time Johnny took his test shot, you were absolutely soaking, fingers working almost involuntarily and your eyes trained on him. 

Johnny turned his attention back to you, eyes focused on your core before finally meeting your eyes. He brought a hand up to your cheek, stroking it softly. “So pretty, baby.”

You lips curled into a grin at his words. Johnny pushed your legs open wider before pulling your hand away. You whimpered loudly, not trying to hide your dissatisfaction. Johnny stroked your thigh, your skin a live wire as he spoke softly, “I know, I know. Just let me pose you, love. Just to make sure you’re comfortable with it, I’m going to make it so your face isn’t in these, okay?  And then I promise I’ll make you feel good.”

You relaxed as best you could, Johnny moving your limbs and hips to the position he wanted. This wasn’t what you’d expected. You thought it would be a rush of shutter clicks and less than graceful positions. You thought he would make them look like.. Well, like porn. Like a screencap of your average college guy’s laptop at the end of the day. Instead, Johnny was treating you the way he did when he asked you to model for anything else. Perhaps it was to put your mind at ease, but he was creating an intimate atmosphere, playing into the warm light and muted tones of your bedding. 

You closed your eyes, allowing Johnny to do what he wanted. Eventually, you felt his touch slip away and you heard music fading in from your left, where Johnny’s phone was sitting on your nightstand. You listened intently as soft, sensual R&B filled the room. In between beats and female voices singing, you heard the first round of camera clicks.

“Bring your arm over your eyes,” Johnny instructed in a low voice. You did as you were told, forearm laid gently over your face, fingers gracefully landing amongst your tousled hair. You felt Johnny weight shift on the bed, and then another round of clicks from his camera sounded from in front of you. “Perfect.”

You giggled lightly at his comment, the camera capturing your small outburst. Suddenly, you felt Johnny’s fingers against your core again, and your mouth formed an “o” that Johnny was sure to capture. He continued his movements before pulling your legs up, crossing your ankles in the air before sliding one leg down just slightly. More clicks.

Johnny began rolling you onto your stomach just as gently as the praises spilled from his lips. One hand on your waist, he pulled your ass up and towards him, your back arching. Clicks echoed from behind you. In a cloud of courage and lust, you turned your head to look at Johnny. He looked at you, cocking an eyebrow at which you nodded. He swat your ass lightly before climbing up to the headboard and resting against it.

You climbed into Johnny’s lap. He raised the camera to your chest. The marks he began sucking on your chest were blooming purple and blue against your pale skin, and Johnny shot them the way he shot new flowers in the spring. You kept your body still for him, fighting the urge to just fuck him already while relishing in the way he was focused on your body.

“Good girl,” Johnny muttered as he set the camera down. It was a phrase that never failed to turn you into a blushing, melting mess, and Johnny knew it. You moved up onto your knees, reaching down and aligning his cock with your entrance. Sliding down slowly, you wrapped your arms around Johnny’s shoulders and dropped your forehead to his. When you were completely seated on him, Johnny held eye contact with you and whispered again, “Good girl.”

You began rocking your hips gently, your lips meeting Johnny’s every so often. You listened to the music, moving in time with the rhythm. Your moans and groans blended into the melodies. You felt like you were making art, making love, making yourself high. 

It had been weeks since you were able to enjoy this level of intimacy, and you both knew you wouldn’t last long. You moved slowly, mouths now moving together, capturing each other’s sighs and moans. Just as you expected, you felt your high approaching just a few songs in. You started grinding against Johnny more desperately, and his pants picked up, his breath washing over you. Your skin was on fire and you could feel tears ready to form. 

Johnny placed a firm hand against your back and began pushing forward, ushering you onto your back. Your legs naturally found their way around his waist and the fingers of your right hand  tangled in his hair. Johnny began thrusting into you hard and deep, giving you just a second to rest after each thrust made you body shiver. The muscles of his abdomen were tight and sweat was mingling with his hair follicles. He was close and no longer trying to prolong his climax or yours.

“Johnny!” You cried out when the tension building inside you finally broke. Your high shot through every nerve in your body and your head spun. Johnny laid you down, letting your torso rest as both hands clutched your hips. He pulled your core into him to meet his thrusts, embracing how tight your high made you. 

“Shit, Yena.” Before he knew it, he hips were stuttering and he was spilling into you. Johnny pulled out slowly. You heard the sound of the camera click again and opened your eyes to see Johnny watching his cum leak out of you.

“Why am I not surprised?” You joked, barely able to speak. Johnny swat your leg lightly before moving up your body again. He met you with a playfully angry stare, making you giggle with the little strength you had left. “I love you, John.”

After getting somewhat accustomed to the chill of your room, you took the towel off and used in to squeeze some water from your hair. You moved over to where your phone was charging on your nightstand. You sat on the edge of your bed, careful not to let droplets from your hair soak your sheets. The screen of your phone showed a missed call from Johnny. He had called you during your shower and sent you a text soon after.

Johnny (3:24): Just wanted to chat for a sec. I miss you babe

Johnny (3:24): Busy today?

You smiled to yourself, the reassurance that he missed you too warming your heart. Your smile turned to a sly smirk as you looked at your phone. You couldn’t deny how many ways you missed him, and you were hoping you could get him feeling the same way.

You moved so that your knees were resting on your mattress, wet hair pulled over your shoulders. You took the towel and positioned it over you just so: one hand holding it over the middle of your chest with the rest of it gathered between your thighs. The sides of your breasts, stomach, and waist were still visible, the towel only cover enough to leave him wanting all of you. With your free hand, you held your phone up and away from you, getting as much of your body in the frame as you could. You excluded the top of your face from the image, only allowing him to see the way you bit your lower lip along with the way water dripped down your bare body from your hair. You snapped the picture and sent it to Johnny.

Yena (3:41): Sorry I missed your call. Just got out of the shower.

Yena (3:41): [image]

Yena (3:42): Can we be busy together tonight? I miss you, too

With that, you moved off your bed and to your closet for something to wear. If Johnny wanted to see more, it would have to be in person. You pulled on some underwear and grabbed one of Johnny’s shirts that you’d stolen over a year ago. Before you’d even finished pulling it over your head, you heard your phone ring.

———————————————————————————————————–

Johnny walked up the stairs toward the door, backpack slung lazily over one shoulder. His last professor for the day professor dropping a completely new schedule out of the blue had sent the entire class into panic. Everyone, including Johnny, would have to rework whatever plan they already had for the semester around Dr. Young’s new outline. The walk from his final class to his house seemed miles longer than normal, every step spent trying to figure out when he would even have the time to sit down and accommodate his routine for this new course outline. He was far too exhausted for it to only be the afternoon, but uptight professors had taken a toll on him these past few weeks. He was stressed to say the least.

Not to mention that he’d barely had the time to see the one person he knew would help him keep his head on straight during all the confusion. Johnny already felt too wrapped up in the problem to step back and solve it. Head down and phone in hand, he began typing out a - probably desperate sounding - message as he pulled the front door open.

“Johnny!” His name was shouted as soon as he walked through the door. He looked up to see Yuta sprawled out on a couch in the living room. Yuta sat up as his friend and fraternity brother walked through the door. From Johnny’s posture and the look on his face, Yuta could tell something was wrong.

“Hey, Yuta,” Johnny replied a little less enthusiastically than usual and forced a smile. Yuta watched as Johnny tossed his backpack down and slump into a recliner. He looked at him for a few seconds longer before standing and hitting Johnny’s knee as he passed.

“Are you done for the day?” Yuta asked.

“Yeah,” Johnny breathed out.

“Come eat with me,” Yuta said. “We just got pizza. My treat.”

“Who is we?” Johnny asked as he followed along. He was in a bad mood, but not bad enough to pass up free food.

“Mark, Doyoung, whoever else wanders in before it’s gone,” Yuta explained as he led the way to the kitchen. 

“Give me one sec,” Johnny called to Yuta as he moved towards the stairs. “I’m gonna put my stuff away.”

“Hurry back!” Yuta called back. 

Johnny moved up the stairs and to his room. He carefully took the camera bag in his hand and set in on his desk before less gracefully dumping his backpack on the floor. He took his phone out of his back pocket, looking over the message he began typing out before Yuta’s pizza invite. He changed the wording of his message, however he quickly changed his mind and retyped the old message. He went back and forth between drafts. After landing on his original message again, he decided to delete it and call you instead.

He kept the phone tight in his hand, stress level raising lightly when he was sent to your voicemail. He was thinking of what to say when a loud knock on his door startled him, causing him to promptly hang up.

“Hey!” Yuta said through the door. “Food’s ready. How long does it take to put away your things?”

“I’ll be right there,” Johnny groaned. He shoved his phone back into his pocket as he bound down the stairs to the kitchen. As he made his way in, he found Mark and Doyoung already sitting on the table with a plate of pizza in front of each of them. Yuta was at the counter, loading up a plate for himself. Johnny followed Yuta’s lead, grabbing a few slices of his own before turning to the fridge for a bottle of water. Before he could turn around, Yuta was taking the water out of his hand and replacing it with a beer.

“Yah!” Johnny exclaimed as Yuta closed the fridge and pushed Johnny towards the table.

“You’re done for the day, aren’t you?” Yuta asked with a smirk.

“Just because I’m done with class doesn’t mean I’m done entirely,” Johnny clarified.

“We both know one beer isn’t going to get you too drunk to do your homework,” Yuta rolled his eyes as he settled beside Mark, who had been gushing to Doyoung about some new song he’d discovered. 

Johnny took his pizza and beer and sat next to Doyoung, although he barely chimed into the conversation. He slipped his phone from his pocket, deciding to follow up his phone call with a quick text since he hadn’t left you a voicemail.

Johnny (3:24): Just wanted to chat for a sec. I miss you babe

Johnny (3:24): Busy today?

Every few minutes, he found himself checking his phone to see if you had tried to call him back or answer his texts. Eventually, he accidentally tuned his brothers out entirely, aimless scrolling through social media in the hopes of seeing a notification from you as soon as it popped up. He only looked up to grab his pizza, taking a large bite before returning to flipping idly through his phone.

“Yah. Johnny.”

Johnny looked up from his phone, suddenly confused and embarrassed as all eyes were on him. He moved his gaze from Mark and Doyoung’s stares to the source of the voice. Yuta was sitting across from Johnny, his soft expression in contrast to the loud voice he’d used to get Johnny’s attention.

“What’s going on?” Yuta asked, voice now matching expression.

“Just eating,” Johnny replied. Yuta chuckled softly.

“You know what I mean,” he said. “You’ve seemed down ever since you walked in the door. What’s wrong?”

Johnny sighed, tossing his phone on the table as he tried to find the words to explain what all was troubling him.

“Is it Yena stuff?” Mark blurted out, making all eyes move to him instead. His face turned red as he said, “Sorry, hyung. I, I wasn’t thinking before I said that out loud.”

“Does Mark being an idiot make you feel better?” Doyoung spoke up. The smooth delivery of his comment made Johnny and Yuta burst into laughter and a tomato-red Mark put his head down on the table.

“I mean, he’s totally wrong,” Johnny laughed out lightly. The other three died down their laughter quickly, looking to their friend with concern written across their faces. 

“Oh shit, for real?” Yuta asked.

“I mean, we’re okay I think,” Johnny explained, “We’re not fighting or anything, but I haven’t even seen her enough to argue with her lately.”

“What’s stopping you from seeing her?” Doyoung asked.

“School just hit me really hard the past couple weeks,” Johnny groaned out. “My professors can’t make up their minds on our schedules and now I can barely keep my shit straight from reorganizing my plans.”

“And you’re not getting that stress relief from Yena?” Yuta teased, attempting to lighten the mood with a suggestive eyebrow raise as he tossed back more of his beer.

“Yeah, to be honest,” Johnny muttered loud enough for the others to hear.

“Wait! What?” Mark jerked his head up.

“I mean,” Johnny stretched his words out with a cocked head and a playful shrug. “I haven’t even heard from her today, so we definitely haven’t had time for other things.”

“Woah, woah, hyung,” Mark said through awkward laughter. Beside him, Yuta was almost red with laughter.

“Hey,” Yuta laughed out, “if you’re used to fucking all the time, a few weeks feels like a damn lifetime of celibicy.”

“Yah!” Doyoung interjected. “Stop. Mark’s a baby.”

His teasing only made Mark more embarrassed and the older boys laugh even more. Johnny finished off his pizza and beer, and he moved from his seat to clean his plate in the sink. Yuta slipped his plate in for Johnny to wash, a small fee for free food. Johnny quickly scrubbed down the plates before placing them in the drying rack.

“So, Johnny-hyung,” Yuta turned to Johnny, who was now leaning against the counter with another beer in hand, “why don’t you just, you know, ask Yena if you can..?”

“Nah, you guys told me girls don’t like that,” Mark interjected. “I thought you couldn’t lead with wanting sex because they’ll think that’s all you want from them.”

“They’ve been together for two years!” Yuta quipped. “It’s a little different after you’re committed for this long. They’re both without right now. It’s not like Yena will care.”

“Yeah I don’t think she cares,” Doyoung said, an awkward twinge to his phone. His eyes wide and looking down at Johnny’s phone, the screen illuminated from its place on the table. “Hyung, you, um - you got a text.”

His statement and demeanor drew the attention of the other two at the table. Both sets of fresh eyes went wide, an “oh shit” coming from Yuta’s mouth and a red tinge appearing on Mark’s ears to match Doyoung’s cheeks. Yuta was the first to tear his eyes away, snapping out of whatever trance the boys were in and covering the phone with his hand. “That’s not for us to see.”

“What is it?” Johnny asked as he reached for his phone. Yuta moved his hand away, not daring to look back at the device now that Johnny had come closer. Johnny held the phone up, his notifications displayed despite the locked screen, images included. Taking up most of his screen was a string of messages from you.

Yena (3:41): Sorry I missed your call. Just got out of the shower.

Yena (3:41): [image]

Yena (3:42): Can we be busy together tonight? I miss you, too

In between the two text messages was a photo of you. One hand was holding the camera far enough away to get a full shot of your body, which was only covered by the towel your other hand was pressing to your chest. Wet hair and skin, you were obviously fresh out of the shower when you sent it, and you were obviously just as needy for Johnny as he was for you. 

He would have been wholeheartedly focused on how absolutely breathtaking you were to him, if it weren’t for the fact that you’d taken away the breath of three of his closest friends. He looked back at Yuta, Doyoung, and Mark, all of whom averted their eyes. Johnny could feel a little rage building in him as it sunk in that this is what they’d all stared at far too long. Johnny looked back at his phone, reading your last message again. Can we be busy together tonight?

“You’re all really fucking lucky I don’t have the time to kill you,” Johnny told them, only half-joking, as he walked out of the kitchen and towards his room, calling you as he went.

———————————————————————————————————–

“Hello,” you answered your phone as casually as possible, worried that Johnny would practically hear the teasing smirk plastered on your face if you were too obvious about teasing him upfront.

“Hey, baby,” Johnny’s smooth voice filled your ear. “What, uh - what are you up to?”

“Just got dressed,” you said. You let that statement set it for adding, “I’ll probably start on some assignments in a bit.”

“Same,” Johnny replied, completely ignoring your first comment. “I’ve got some reworking to do to my assignment scheduling.”

“Again?” You asked, genuinely distracted from your little act.

“Again,” he confirmed. “Dr. Young. Again.”

“Well,” you began as you gathered your laptop and notebook and took them to your desk, “Could we work on it together? We don’t have to if you’re too busy, but I really miss you.”

“I miss you, too, baby girl,” Johnny said, the sincerity in his voice making your heart flutter. “Let me gather my stuff up and I’ll be over in a bit.”

“Be safe,” you told him as you opened your laptop, attempting to type with one hand.

“Always,” he assured you. “I love you.”

Your cheeks were still flushed with shame and embarrassment as the bell rang. You shoved your folder down into your bookbag and raced for the door. You kept your eyes straight ahead, not trying to accidentally strike up a conversation with any of your schoolmates. You made it out the front doors of the school in record time, trying to fish your headphones out of your bag as you walked across the school yard.

“Hey!”

You knew it was directed at you, but some very upset part of your brain was telling you to keep walking and act like you didn’t hear him, so that’s exactly what you did.

“Hey, baby!” This time, Taeyong was right behind you, and you felt his hand on your shoulder right after the words reached your ears. Still, you didn’t respond. Taeyong used the hand on your shoulder to move himself around and in front of your body, forcing you to stop. You could hear the confusion and hurt in his voice as he asked, “Did I do something?”

Without a word, you pulled your folder out of your bag and opened it up. You took out the stapled packet on top and shoved it into Taeyong’s chest. He caught the papers before they fell down his body and turned him so he could figure out the problem. His eyes found the red ink number on the top right corner of the front page and immediately softened.

“Baby, it’s okay,” he said, reaching out to touch your face. You slapped his hand away lightly, causing the confusion to return to his eyes. “Why are you so upset?”

“This is the second time,” you huffed.

“Second time for what?” Tayeong asked. You looked at him with your jaw clenched in rage.

“The second time you were so desperate to fuck me that I couldn’t focus on studying,” you shot back, full-on pouting at this point. Taeyong glanced around to make sure that no one passing by heard your outburst, causing you to snap, “Oh, so our sex life can ruin my academic reputation with Mrs. Jung but not your social reputation?”

“No, no, no,” he quickly tried to defend the small action. “That’s not at all what I meant.”

“I bet you don’t even remember,” you pouted, crossing your arms over your chest and looking down.

“Oh,” Taeyong began. “I definitely remember.”

You rolled your eyes and moved to walk around and away from your smirking boyfriend.

“Wait, no.” He placed his arms on your shoulders to hold you still. “Okay, that was a bad joke. I’m sorry, and I’m sorry I kept you from studying. Let me make it up to you, please, baby?”

You sighed heavily, beginning to feel terrible for being such a brat when Taeyong was trying to be so helpful. You looked up into his deep, sparkling eyes, and said, “Jisung is going home with a friend. We can go to my place.”

Knowing that was the closest to an apology acceptance he was going to get for a while, Taeyong accepted your roundabout “yes” and took your hand to walk you to your cars.

Your home was empty when you arrived. With parents at work and Jisung gone for the afternoon, you had the house to yourselves.

“Let’s see about this test, okay, baby?” He said softly, rubbing your shoulders as he slid your backpack straps off your arms.

“Okay,” you mumbled back, still more than upset about the low grade. “Be right back.”

You moved into the kitchen as Taeyong settled down with your backpack. When you came back to the couch with two bottles of water in hand, you found your boyfriend sitting up and using the coffee table as a desk. Your forsaken exam was on top of your folder, and you laptop was open to your student page. Taeyong had pulled up your grades for Mrs. Jung’s class.

“C’mere,” he said, holding a hand out to you, you took it, placing his bottle of water on the coffee table as you got comfortable in his lap. “The grade wasn’t bad enough to ruin your overall average. You still have an A, and plenty of assignments left to raise it even more. Plus, Mrs. Jung still loves you, and I know she’d give you some extra credit if you asked for it.”

“Maybe so,” you mumbled, curling up in his lap.

“Still mad at me?” He asked, tilting your chin up towards him. You shook your head and leaned in to kiss him. He hummed in satisfaction before asking, “So, how are you going to tell your parents?”

“The same way I told them about you,” you responded as you swung one your legs over Taeyong’s lap, straddling him. “I’m not.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from moaning. Not when Taeyong was holding you so close to his bare chest as his lips were on your neck. Your hips were grinding against his lap. Your moans were getting louder. They were more than likely the reason why you didn’t hear the door open - why you didn’t pull your dishevelled body off of your boyfriend until the two of you heard a small voice coming from the direction of the front door.

“Noona?” Jisung called, his voice followed by the front door closing. “Are you home? Whose car is outside?”

“Shit,” you hissed as you pushed yourself off of Tayeong’s lap, bending down to pick up his shirt and throw it at him. He quickly began buttoning up his shirt you tried to straighten out your own uniform. 

“Noona?” Jisung’s voice was loud and clear as he walked in the house. Taeyong placed a throw pillow in his lap, trying to seem as casual as possible. You quickly got back on the couch, a respectful distance between you and Taeyong, and threw one of your textbooks between you.

“In the living room!” You called, holding eye contact with a confused looking Taeyong.

“Hey, noona,” Jisung said as he walked in the room. He had already changed out of his uniform and had his backpack swung across one shoulder. “Whose car is - oh. Hi.”

You looked over at Jisung, who had just finished a small, sheepish bow to Taeyong. Your little brother looked more confused than your boyfriend had moments ago.

“You must be Jisung,” Taeyong said, standing and bowing back to Jisung, which you admittedly found very cute. “I’m Taeyong. That’s my car outside.”

“Why aren’t you at Chenle’s, Jisungie?” You asked.

“Chenle’s mom said he had too much homework due tomorrow to have everyone over tonight,” Jisung explained as he approached the couch. 

Jisung looked down at the coffee table, his eyes landing on your test papers. You looked at him, registering where his eyes had fallen too far after he registered the number written in red. You stood up, blocking Jisung from the papers on the table. “Hey, bud, go upstairs and start on your homework, okay? I’ll come up with some snacks in a minute.”

Jisung looked up, glancing between you and Taeyong before nodding sheepishly and saying, “Okay. It was nice to meet you, Taeyong.”

“You, too,” Taeyong smiled at him. Jisung glanced at the two of you once more before turning and making his way up the stairs. You let a long sigh and ran a hand through your messy hair, muttering swears and “I can’t believe he caught us” under your breath. Taeyong rested his hands on your shoulders, massaging his fingertips into your skin.

“You’re okay,” He whispered into your ear. You nodded slowly. He knew that meant you weren’t. He placed a kiss against your neck. “You’re fine, baby. You’re fine. I’m gonna go, okay?”

“Thank you,” you said softly. Taeyong always knew what you needed. “I’ll call you after I do some damage control.”

Your heart was racing as you made it up the stairs. You had a bag of snacks in one hand, sweat gathering in your palms. You didn’t really have much of a plan, but you knew you had to do something, and most certainly had to do it before your parents got home from work.

You slipped into your room and changed into more comfortable clothing before taking your bag of snacks down the hall to Jisung. You knocked on his door lightly before coming in. Jisung looked frazzled by your entrance. He was sat on his bed, phone in hand. His backpack was on the floor, resting next to his nightstand.

“I didn’t think you’d be up so fast,” Jisung said quickly and honestly, “I haven’t started my homework yet.”

“It’s okay,” you chuckled lightly. You smiled at him and held up the bag of snacks. You pulled his desk chair up to the side of his bed and tossed him a bottle of water. You dumped the bag out on the bed between the two of you, allowing Jisung to pick what he wanted. 

“Did Taeyong leave?” He asked as he noticed you were alone. You nodded and he repeated the action in response. He grabbed a bag of chips and opened them in the silence. 

The two of you sat in silence for a moment, no sound emitted from either of you other than that of crunching chips and rice cakes. You twisted the cap off of your water, taking a big gulp in the hopes of calming your nerves. You held the bottle tight, twisted the cap back with an intense focus and sweaty hands. 

You moved your chair a little closer to bed, took a breath, and spoke, “Hey, Jisungie?”

“Yeah?” He responded awkwardly. He looked up at you, a strange look washing over his young face. He seemed unsure of whether or not his dark brown eyes should meet yours, and his lips were pressed together nervously.

“I need to talk to you about something, bud,” you said.

“I thought so,” Jisung said quietly, your words seeming to confirm a fear of his. You smiled weakly at him, somewhat surprised by his response, but still unsure of where to start.

“You’re not in trouble,” you assured him. He looked slightly relieved by your statement, but the anxious look remained. You asked him, hoping starting with the smaller issue would be easier, “Did you see my test when we were downstairs?” 

Jisung looked down at his chip bag as he nodded.

“Are you afraid that Mom and Dad will be mad at you?” He asked, glancing up at you.

“Well,” you began shifting in your seat, “my average is still okay, so I think maybe it’s best if we don’t tell them.”

“You want me to lie to Mom and Dad?” Jisung looked shocked. You winced slightly.

“No, not lie,” you tried to explain. “Just, just don’t tell them. Keep it a secret, okay?”

“But what if they ask?” He questioned. You felt terrible. Your poor baby brother was probably panicking more and more by the second.

“I don’t think they’ll ask you about my grades, Jisungie,” you pointed out.

“Are you going to lie if they ask you?”

“I don’t even think they knew about this particular test in the first place.”

“But what if they ask you about school in general?”

“Then I’ll tell them that school is going fine,” you told him confidently. “Because it is. It’s just one bad grade.”

You fought back a gulp, realizing you just kind of lied to your little brother. But you held your eye contact with Jisung, waiting for some kind of reaction, hoping for a vow to do as you’d asked. 

Deep inside, you could feel your heart breaking. You hated dragging Jisung into your secrets, but your parents absolutely could not find out about your boyfriend or your bad grades from your little brother. It’s not that you think Jisung will tell them to defy you or get you in deep shit with your parents on purpose. Jisung was a good sibling. He was sweet, and he was honest - exceptionally honest, especially when he was nervous. He proved that by ratting himself out for not starting his homework right away.

 “Can I ask you something?” He finally looked up at you, as if he gained just enough confidence to make himself ask that.

“You can always ask me whatever you want,” you answered with an encouraging nod.

“If school is going okay, why did you make a bad grade?”

“Well,” you couldn’t even count the number of times you started your explanations to him with that one, time-gathering word, “To be honest, I just didn’t study for it the way I should have.”

“But you always make sure to study,” he responded.

“I usually do,” you reaffirmed, “but sometimes, you get distracted, especially if you study with some of your friends.”

“Do you and Taeyong study together?” He asked.

“We do.” You said. “We do that a lot.”

“Is Taeyong your friend or your boyfriend?” He asked, taking you by surprise. You sighed.

“He’s my boyfriend,” you answered. Jisung kept his eyes fixed somewhere on the bed.

“I saw him kiss you earlier,” he said softly and slightly embarrassed. You cheeks heated up immediately, fear shooting through every nerve of your body.

“When?” You asked, terrified that you brother had seen you and Taeyong doing less than appropriate things on the couch when he got home.

“When you told me come upstairs,” he said, immediately calming you. “I went to the bathroom before I went to my room. I didn’t mean to look. I just saw you from the stairs.”

“Okay. It’s okay. I’m not mad at you,” you clutched a small pillow on the bed, bringing it to your chest. Jisung followed the movement of the pillow, looking back up at you after a moment. You looked your little brother in the eyes before saying, “Jisung, I need you to promise me that that stays between us, okay?”

“You’re not supposed to kiss Taeyong?” He asked, ever so innocent. His widened before he corrected his question. “You’re not allowed to be the house with him alone, are you? Mom and Dad would be really mad.”

“Honestly?” You responded, gaining Jisung’s full, serious attention, “Mom and Dad don’t know that Taeyong and I are dating.”

“Why not?” He asked, obviously surprised by your answer.

“I just haven’t found the right time to tell them,” you responded, which was completely true. Your parents were strict, and you knew they would have preferred to meet - and probably interrogate - Taeyong before you actually started dating, like they’d done with past interests. Now you were already in deep, and you didn’t know how to tell your parents about a relationship they didn’t know was blooming.

“Do you think they’ll like him?” Jisung asked, his head moving slightly to one side.

“I don’t know,” you answered honestly.

“Is he not a good person?” He asked, making you chuckle lightly.

“No. Taeyong is a very good person,” you assured him.

“Then why wouldn’t they like him?” He persisted.

“It’s more complicated than that, Jisungie,” you explained.

“How so?” You paused, unsure of how to explain teenage relationships to someone who was barely a teenager themselves.

“Well,” you said, pausing once more and squeezing the pillow, still trying to find the right words, “for starters, I was studying with Taeyong when I got too distracted and then I got that bad grade. That’s why they can’t know about the test, okay? It’s just too many things at once and they would be really, really upset with me, and I don’t want them to think Taeyong is bad for me because he distracted me.”

“How did he distract you?”

You froze, then leaned down to grab your water bottle.

“I, I don’t remember what started it,” you lied, focusing on the drink instead of Jisung. “We just did. Sometimes, when you’re with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you just want to focus on them and not your school work. Sometimes, it’s harder than it sounds to be responsible. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Do you two have sex?” You choked on your water out of surprise.

“Jisung!” You coughed out the exclamation.

“You said I could ask you anything!”

“How do you even know what that means?”

“Jaemin-hyung said that-”

“Maybe don’t listen to everything that Jaemin says,” you interrupted, looking at him sternly, the shock of your baby brother asking you that still coursing through you. “You’re too young to know about that. It’s adult stuff.”

“But you know what it is,” Jisung said, “and you’re not an adult.”

“I’m a little closer to an adult than you,” you argued, “and sometimes teenagers want to act like they’re adults. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” He asked. “That I’ll understand when I’m older?”

“Because it’s true,” you told him, “and you’re lucky you have an older sibling you can help explain those things to you. Mom and Dad doing it would be awkward. When you’re older, you’ll figure out that a lot of daughters are afraid that boys are trying to do adult things with them, and they’ll be cautious of you even if you’re a good guy.”

The sound of a car door sounded through Jisung’s window. It was closely followed by the beep of the vehicle being locked. One of your parents was home.

“Noona,” Jisung spoke, bringing your attention back to him. He kept your eye contact for the first time since things got serious. “I won’t tell Mom and Dad about your test.”

“Thanks, Jisungie,” you said, ruffling his hair.

“But only if you tell them about Taeyong,” he wagered. You cocked an eyebrow at him as you moved your hand from his hair, and he continued, “I think hiding it makes it look bad, and I don’t think Taeyong’s bad. And, when I’m older, I think I’d be upset if my girlfriend didn’t want to tell her parents about me.”

Your heart sunk. It took a kid to make you realize that you had never asked Taeyong how hiding your relationship from your parents made him feel. You’d never even stopped to think about it. You felt the heat of guilt from your selfish thinking and actions rush through you, and you moved to ruffle Jisung’s hair one more time.

“Okay,” you agreed. “That sounds fair.”

“Good,” he said, scrunching his nose as he tried to move away from your hand and making you laugh.

“I love you, Jisungie,” you told him.

“I love you, too, Noona,” he grinned up at you.