#127 x reader

“Donghyuck, go do your job-“ you monotone from your desk. 

“Boss, I’ve told you a million times- call me Haechan. It’s what all my friends call me,” he smiles. 

“We aren’t friends.”

“But we could be-” he singsongs as he bats his eyelashes at you from the doorway. 

“Go away, Donghyuck,” you try again, not bothering to look up at him. 

“Are you hungry boss? You can feed off of me, you know! I’ve already been tested, and I’m AB positive which a little birdie told me is your favorite!” he’s practically begging at this point. 

You’re saved by Jaemin, the human you’ve hired to be the manager. 

“Haechan, come on. The kitchen needs your help,” he says, grabbing the menace by his collar and closing your office door. Gotta love Jaemin. 

Aside from Donghyuck’s usual flirtations, your Friday night was going swimmingly. The bar is full of vampires and humans alike, everything running smoothly. Although apparently the universe thinks you can never have anything nice because there’s a drunk human who’s being reckless. You’d think this wouldn’t be a problem, but some vampires liked to have blood with some alcohol in it since regular alcohol did nothing for them. It might not be entirely worth it since having drunk humans around can lead to situations like this.

“Boss, there’s another rumdum on the floor, and Jaehyun stepped out to run an errand,” Jaemin says as he walks into your office. You sigh and get up letting him lead you to the culprit.

“You fucking blood suckers! You deserve to go to hell!” the man yells as he sways.

You roll your eyes, but then this man seemingly sobers up upon laying eyes on you, now appearing much bigger. All of a sudden, he pulls out a wooden stake and charges at you, catching you off guard. You’re in shock, and he moves to kill you and honestly would’ve gotten very close if it weren’t for Donghyuck appearing out of nowhere and shoving him onto the ground, beating the shit out of him. He’s dealing blow after blow, yelling about how the man needs to learn his place and should’ve never fucking tried it.

“Donghyuck, stop!” Absolutely no response.

“Donghyuck!” Still nothing. 

“That’s enough!” you yell and yank him off the insane mortal who is likely regretting his stupid decision to try to kill you.

“Are you okay, boss?” Donghyuck takes your face in his hands as he comes back down to earth and remembers you could’ve been killed. 

You are very grateful that you are incapable of blushing or having your face heat up because you feel slightly flustered at him saving you despite just being a regular human. Donghyuck sticks as close to you as possible as you try to do your work and is extremely concerned for you, suggesting you leave early. Actually a more apt description is he followed you around for around 45 minutes after the incident and begged you to leave, which is a sentiment that Jaemin echoes. The gesture is nice, though you don’t have the heart to tell the both of them that they are far more susceptible to being hurt than you are. You appreciate the thought, though, and decide to go for their sakes once your co-owner returns.

“Ready to go, boss?” Donghyuck says.

“Ready to go?” you repeat confused.

“Yeah, I’m walking you home,” he says matter-of-factly.

“Oh- um, you don’t have to do that, Donghyuck- thanks though.”

“Unfortunately for you, boss, I’m not taking no for an answer.”

It was nice to have a companion after an attempt on your life, however, you did not realize in the moment that this was, in Donghyuck’s mind, an “in” with you. 

Two months had passed since that night, and he was still walking you home every day after work. For the most part, you were surprised to find that the two of you had plenty of pleasant conversations, talking about mutual interests and sometimes incredibly deep conversations that would last until sunrise was on the horizon, putting an end to anything you were saying. It wasn’t that you would be sleeping either, but it felt like a good boundary to have. You’d always be on your front porch chatting it up, and you would never let him in because- at the end of the day, he’s your employee and while you don’t technically have an HR department, you still don’t want to cross that boundary especially when he’s so young.

However, not every walk was peaceful. A lot of times even if the majority of your walk was peaceful, he would be begging you to feed on him. You think he must have a vampire kink which is possible. A lot of donors do tend to have a vampire kink, and you’ve heard the sensation can be incredibly arousing for a lot of them. Whatever it takes for you to get to where you wanna go- you don’t judge. You don’t care for the reason that the donors do it as long as they’re doing it. You’ve told Donghyuck time and time again that he should just be a donor if he wants it so bad.

“Please feed off of me boss-” he’s walking backwards directly in front of you, two seconds from falling over something in his way.

“Donghyuck- if you want to be fed off of, you should just donate,” you sigh.

“If I donate, will you feed off of me? Because I’ll sign the papers right now.”

Day after day, you were propositioned by Donghyuck to suck his blood, and day after day, you denied him. He was definitely never giving up- that man is resilient. However he didn’t need to wait very long to get you because today- you were having a bad day. 

There were a million obstacles that got in between you and getting to the bar on time for you, including being out of blood at home. You decided that you’d eat at work only to find out that a lot of your donors had pulled out that night since there was a stomach flu going around. Even with your reserve volunteers, you were going to be short tonight meaning you’d have to close early. You were so stressed and it felt like you were running around like a chicken with its head cut off. 

Finally, after closing early, you were excited to go home and hope for the best for the next night and gather your bearings. Jaehyun said he had a connection and could get more donors to cover those missing. You were walking up to your house alongside Donghyuck when you suddenly felt very weak. In all of the hubbub, you had forgotten to feed. Even if you hadn’t forgotten it you probably would have forgone it seeing as the bar needed as much blood as it could get.

You put a hand on Donghyuck’s shoulders as you feel yourself getting weaker and weaker. 

“Boss? Is everything okay?”

“Forgot to feed. Don’t have any blood at home…” you mumble feeling weaker as every second passed. 

“Boss, seriously?? You need to feed now!” he helps you up and into your home, gently sitting you down onto your couch. Donghyuck rolls up his sleeve and puts his arm in front of your mouth so you can feed but you aren’t budging. He’s confused and doesn’t understand why you aren’t doing anything.

“Don’t tell me you’re being this stubborn, boss,” he rolls his eyes and looks around, getting up and coming back with a knife. He knows you won’t be able to hold back if you can smell the blood coming out. He makes a small cut on his arm, just enough to bring some blood out and watches as you still try to fight it. 

“Come on, boss, you know you need me- just do it. Use me.”

His words are enough to send you forward latching onto his arm and finally having a meal. What you do not expect is how delicious his blood would be. That shit goes hard. It’s sweet and flavorful and it's better than any blood you’ve ever had. You honestly feel like you could feed off of him forever. If you were able to get into heaven, you’d swear this is it as you feel the warm blood traveling down your throat. Another thing is you’re kinda… horny. Like it feels like your body is on fire and all of your cells have been turned up to 100% sensitivity. 

Donghyuck’s doing about the same as you. He had been a donor before he officially started working at the bar, and he knew that being a donor came with some physical side effects. A lot of people definitely got horny and while it felt really good physically, he was never really affected that way. But right now he was in another world. His eyes were closed at the sensation of you feeding off of him, and he could feel himself getting harder by the second, fighting the urge to touch himself through his pants. There was this buzz throughout his body that was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, as if his body was vibrating. 

You luckily had a sense of self control and were able to stop at the very minimum amount of blood that you could take and feel full, but that was the best fucking blood you’ve ever had and you still feel like you’re in a hungered state. You look up to see how Donghyuck’s doing. His eyes are hooded and you can see that he’s hard through his black work pants. He looks so good to you right now but not only in terms of feeding off of him, you really wanna jump his bones. You both stare at each other for a beat before he jumps towards you attacking your lips. 

He’s a mess and desperate and his hands are everywhere. His mouth is aggressive, and he’s grinding up against you, whining. You pull away but he just resigns himself to move to your neck leaving wet open mouthed kisses, even biting a little bit making your back arch and tearing a whine out of you. 

“Donghyuck.” you try and he just hums still desperately leaving kisses on every exposed piece of skin. 

“Donghyuck!” you try again and you don’t even get a response this time. 

“Haechan!” you yell as you pull him off you by his hair. He is so far gone, his pupils dilated, but there is some level of recognition because he says:

“Did you just call me Haechan?”

“Yes, we need to-“

“I’m going to fuck the shit out of you-” he goes to kiss you again but you still have a hold of his hair. The attempt makes him moan again.

“Okay, but can we move to my bed please?” you smile sweetly. You get up and take his hand, leading him to your room where he proceeds to push you down onto your bed and resume kissing you as passionately as possible, but now his hands know exactly what they’re doing and he starts taking all your clothes off, leaving you bare for him. He starts kissing down your body, eager to get started, and you whine.

“Haechan…” 

“If you keep saying my fucking name like that, I’m gonna cum,” he says seriously as he arrives at his final destination, leaving a kiss on your clit. He watches you squirm a bit but doesn’t allow for a lot of time before diving into you and sucking on your clit, fucking one finger into you. 

“Haechan,” you whine, “Please. You can do this next time. I just want you to fuck me-”

“There’s gonna be a next time?” his voice cracks at the comment before remembering what he’s there to do. “I’m not doing this for no reason, boss. I need to stretch you out to take me,” you clench at the implication that he’s big as he inserts another finger. He continues adding fingers, only increasing your wetness that’s now making a horribly sinful squelching noise as he fucks four fingers into you. 

“Haechan I think I’m ready now- please. I need you.” Upon hearing that, he’s completely ready and desperate to be inside you and give you what you want.

Haechan grabs a hold of your legs spreading you for him and pushing them towards you. He slides into you faster than he means to and moans and whines and immediately begins thrusting hard, absolutely losing himself in you not knowing what to do with himself. You feel so good, and he feels bad because he’s so big but he can’t help but pound into you. He’s so so needy and rams into you with his eyes squeezed shut as he tries to focus on not cumming immediately because oh my god you’re so hot and he’s wanted you for so long and he can’t believe this is happening. 

“If this is just another dream, I'm going to be pissed,” the needy human groans, lost in how tight you are around him. You're so confused at the comment, and he sees it when he opens his eyes to look at you. 

He blushes and says, “I’ve had so many dreams about you, boss, and in all of them, we end up here. But fuck this feels better than I could’ve ever imagined.”

Knowing he’s been dreaming about this makes your whole body shudder. He notices that you must be getting close and fucks into you harder as his thumb goes to rub your clit.

“You always made the sweetest noises for me in my dreams, baby. You always felt and looked unreal, but after seeing you now,” he moves so that his lips ghost over your ear, “dream you could never compare to the real thing.”

“Haechan, I’m gonna-“

“Yes, please let go for me, baby. Let me feel it, let me feel you. I need you. I need to feel it. I'm so desperate to feel you cream my cock, please let go for me, give it all to me-” 

His words send you shooting into space, your walls squeezing him so tight and your body convulsing with pleasure. This is certainly a night of firsts, and you’re sure this is the strongest orgasm you’ve ever had. 

Post nut clarity is crazy because while yes, you definitely had an inappropriate relationship with your employee, you actually really don’t care and are desperately craving both his blood and his cock. What you are concerned about is how badly you’re craving his blood and how out of this world the taste was.

“Jaehyun, have you ever had some, like- really fucking good blood?” You had asked Jaehyun to deal with everything for the night so you wouldn’t have to go to work (or see Haechan). He was now sitting on your couch because it was so unlike you to call out, so he had to make sure all was well.

“I mean, like blood preference? Yeah, I fucking love O negative- you know this?” he says confused.

“No like- Fuck, I’m going crazy-” you groan, putting your head in your hands.

“What?” he laughs trying to understand, until a realization washes over him. “Wait… is this about Haechan? Did you feed off of him??”

“SHUT UP!” you yell, throwing a couch pillow at him.

“Oh my god- no wonder he was asking me to beg you to come back…”

“You can’t tell anyone, Jae,” you beg.

“Y/N, who am I going to tell?” he laughs.

“Fine, fine, fine. I hooked up with Haechan last night and fed off of him, and it might’ve been the best blood I've ever tasted. Like ever. I’m talking liquid crack. Like straight up gold coming out of him.” you ramble. 

“Wha-”

“And I have fed off of other people I find attractive before so that's not it.”

“Whoa.”

“Help,” you squeal.

“How am I supposed to help?” he asks incredulously.

“Can you maybe feed off him to see if maybe he just has really yummy blood?”

“You want me to feed off of Haechan?”

“Yes Jae, please,” you cry, being as dramatic as possible, “I’ve done you so many favors since I've known you.”

“Fine,” he groans. He can never say no to you.

He calls you about an hour later.

“It took me manipulating our employee, but I can report- his blood is basic as shit.”

“Fuck!”

“Ok so… are you gonna call Taeyong?”

“Fuck, I don’t wanna do this,” you whine.

“If you don’t, I will,” he says and you can hear the shit-eating grin on his face.

“Fuck, fine!”

Now you find yourself at Taeyong's front door. He’s the head of your coven, though, it's been a while since you’ve all had a meeting. He’s always been very old school so he didn’t love the idea of a blood bar. That didn’t stop him from being supportive from afar.

You softly knock on the door.

“Hi Taeyong-” you start when he opens the door.

“Jaehyun filled me in.”

“That bitch,” you mutter.

Tell me in your words though,” he says as he lets you in.

“Hm.”

“That’s all you have to say?” you ask slightly annoyed.

“Well I know you know what I'm going to say,” he says standing up to look out the window.

“I've just- I thought soulmates were something you talked about as a joke.” 

“Do you think I warned you about being wary of the humans you feed off of for the fuck of it?”

“I’ve just never met anyone who had a soulmate,” you respond.

“Have we not met?”

You freeze at what he’s insinuating. “You… have a soulmate?” 

“Had.” 

“Oh, Taeyong. I'm sorry,” you say softly. He turns and sees that you really mean it, a soft smile making its way to his face. He sits next to you, taking your hands in his.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago, shortly after I was turned. I wanted to turn him, but he didn’t want to be doomed to this life. I had no choice but to accept that because… I love him. I loved him until the day he died. Legend says we all have multiple soulmates since we live so long but- there will only ever be one for me.”

“I’m so so soooo sorry, Taeyong,” you give him a hug, holding back tears on his behalf. “Thank you for talking to me and trusting me with this information.”

“Of course. You need to be wise, though. Whether or not he wants to be turned, I recommend you love him for as long as you can.” You stay and catch up a little bit longer and offer to send a donor to him every once in a while, so he doesn’t have to hunt. He’s still super old school, but he tells you he’ll think about it. You slowly make your way back home, taking the long way. 

Donghyuck. Haechan. That dweeby desperate little human who’s been obsessed with you since he met you. He is your soulmate. A concept that you didn’t even know was real, especially not for someone like you. 

How do you break it to him? What do you even say? Before you know it, you’re walking up to the bar. You don’t know why you’re here. It’s the end of the night so he’s probably already gone. You sigh and start walking home when from behind you, you hear, “Boss?” 

When you turn around, Haechan is running towards you and wraps you up in the tightest hug. 

“I missed you so much.”

You laugh a little bit and reply, “I missed you, too!”

He is still hugging you as tight as can be, but he moves to nuzzle into you.

“Can I walk you home?” he mumbles into your neck.

“Okay.”

When you pull up in front of your house, you blurt out, “I have something I need to tell you.”

“You can tell me anything,” he comforts.

“What do you know about vampires?”

“I know that a human gets turned by feeding off of another vampire. You're basically invincible and incredibly strong and fast. You can’t go out in the daytime unless it’s cloudy or raining. You feed off of humans, and in the olden days, they would drain humans entirely.”

“Okay well that’s pretty good. One additional thing is that vampires have soulmates, mortal soulmates. A big tell for a vampire when they meet their soulmate is that upon feeding on them, it’s the best tasting blood ever. There’s a lot of other little things besides that, but the vampire will feel very drawn to their soulmate at all times after the first feed and the same goes for their counterpart. 

“Okay…” he says hesitantly.

You stay quiet not knowing how to break it to him, hoping that the silence in the air is enough to make it click.

“Are you saying that I'm your… soulmate?”

You brace for impact and close your eyes to avoid eye contact entirely when you say, “Yes, I- I think you are.”

“Oh. My. God! This is the best day of my life!” You open your eyes and see Haechan pumping his fists in the air jumping around, excited about this announcement.

“It’s not that simple, Haechan.”

“What do you mean? You’re my soulmate. Seems pretty straightforward to me,” he shrugs

“You’re a human-”

“Okay.”

“I’m a vampire.”

“Okay? I know this boss.”

“I’m immortal, and-” your mouth struggles to say the next words, “and… one day you’re going to die.”

“So turn me,” he says casually.

“You can’t just make a decision like this so offhandedly! Don’t you wanna think about it?” At that, Haechan puts his hands on your shoulders, focusing you to look at him. 

“Are we or are we not soulmates?”

“Yes…” you mumble.

“Okay, there you go. Even if we weren’t, I would marry you right now. Have you not noticed I’m actually pretty fucking insane about you? There is nothing calm or cool or chill about the way I feel about you. I mean- I was throwing myself at you for months! I've been ready to spend the rest of my life with you since the day that I met you,” he says, taking your hands in his. 

“I thought you were just insane in general,” you joke to deflect. 

“I’m sure about this, darling. I promise.”

You lead him into your home and ask him about a million more times if he’s okay with this. He assures you every time that he wants this, wants you. The whole situation feels very intimate. The last person you turned was Jaehyun and it felt nothing like this.

Once he’s fed off of you enough to turn, you’re playing with his hair as his head lays in your lap, and he adjusts to all the new sensations that come with being undead. Then, he whines, and you’re terrified that he already regrets his decision. 

“What- what’s wrong?”

“Does this mean you’re going to feed on other people?” he whines. 

“Haechan, I’ve already been feeding on other people-“ you laugh. 

“But now you have me,” he pouts. 

“Are you feeling jealous?” you tease.

“Yes, I’m so obviously jealous. I have every right to be! I don’t want your mouth on anyone else!”

“Well, here’s a little known secret- vampires can feed off of each other,” you smirk. 

“Oh thank god- I love this, I love you, I’m so glad. I love you I love you,” he shoots up to give you a smooch. “I’m going to make you so full.” You almost moan at the double entendre.

“Just consider me your universe-given, FDA-certified blood bag.” he smiles before attacking you with kisses. 

. ⊹ 127

⟡ taeil playing with your nipples as you ride him

⟡ johnny reminding you who you and your cunny belong to

⟡ taeyong admitting he’s yours before he cums down your throat

⟡ yuta letting you ride him on the couch

⟡ doyoung reminds you that your shameless and edges a little rollplay

⟡ jaehyun breeding you fucking you right

⟡ jungwoo making you fuck yourself on his cock

⟡ mark keeping you needy and desperate

⟡ haechan losing himself in your pussy

. ⊹ wayv

⟡ kun needy and breathy as he fucks you

⟡ ten teasing you as you ride him to orgasm

. ⊹ dream

⟡ jeno fucking you into a trembling mess

It was a problem that he hated, one that he knew he wouldn’t be able to figure out. And, trust him, he knew there were only two solutions to the problem: tell you or drive a stake in the exact middle of your relationship. Neither of them were options he liked, so he just dealt with the aching in his heart, the pain caused by how much he wanted to love you openly, and stayed a normal, average friend.

He didn’t think you’d be the one to drive the stake, but at least you had done him a favor. Originally, even after you’d started dating Minhee, he had no plans of unfriending you.

Mark hated to say it, but not having you around was a blessing in disguise for him. There was no more cringing at love songs, no more lying awake at night in case you’d text him, no more feeling insecure every time you talked to anyone who wasn’t him. He surrounded himself with his other friends, with Renjun and Donghyuck, and moved on—it was blissful.

There was no stress. No heartache. Just happiness.

Maybe Mark should’ve remembered that when you texted him seven months ago, saying that you felt like your friendship with him ended too unexpectedly.

How could he have predicted this, though? For god’s sake, when he received that text, you two hadn’t talked in nearly three years. He was in university now, moved on from past grievances and outdated feelings, and, when you had sent that text, he hadn’t felt anywhere near how he used to. Hell, he viewed it as his first time rekindling with an old friend, something his mom did with high school friends all the time.

Maybe he was stupid for thinking it was okay. Maybe he was an idiot. Maybe the real issue was that he let his emotions fester for two years, ignoring them until he didn’t need to see you every single day of his life. Maybe he should’ve faced this before you weren’t in a three-year-long relationship and he had no choice but to keep things to himself, lest he wants to make you feel bad or become a homewrecker.

Now, Mark was back at step one—awake in the early hours of the morning, waiting for a possible nightmare text, or any text, from you. It was grating, and he wasn’t sure why he was going through this for the second time. You were across the country from him; while you were in Quebec, he was in Vancouver, and more likely to text you once you’d woken up for the day at this point.

This was awful. He didn’t know why he was doing this. He wanted nothing more than to be peacefully asleep, to wake up refreshed for his morning class without a care in the world. Instead, he revolved around you, waiting for the day he might just have the chance to do what he should’ve done before.

-

Something you liked to do with Mark was what you called quasi-café dates (how much did you want him dead?), where you and he sat in your respective cafés across the country from each other, talking to each other on the phone. According to your claims, you brought a little tripod to hold your phone up, so he could see you better.

He’d never tell you that, after you said that, you went out and bought the same thing. Besides, you seemed to believe him when he said he just stacked up a bunch of his useless textbooks.

When you first started doing these café dates, you’d offhandedly mentioned that Minhee said no every time you asked, each time with a different excuse than before. “He’s got classes when I don’t, and every time I’m here he’s stuck in a lecture,” you claimed, and Mark could see straight through the smile you kept on your face. “It’s okay, though. Everything is going very well between us—we call every morning and night, and we send each other letters. It’s nice.”

It seemed as though every time Minhee did something wrong, there was something good to make up for it—Mark hated that. Mark hated him, for no good reason at all, and couldn’t stand seeing you lament over his absence every time you talked to him.

Nevertheless, he would treasure these café dates with you for as long as he could.

“So, how’s the music going?” you asked, stirring a cube of sugar into your tea. The sound of the spoon hitting the sides of the cup overtook whatever you were saying, and Mark cursed the phone microphone for focusing on the wrong noise. “I mean, you were helping Chenle with something, right? A school thing.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah.” Mark nodded, scratching the back of his neck. “Um, it’s an end-of-the-year thing, so he’s turned it in. We are just waiting for the grade.”

“I hope it goes well,” you offered, taking a sip of the tea. “Speaking of the end of the year, are you heading back to Ontario for the summer? I’d love to have tea with you, like, in person—it’d be nicer than this.”

Mark’s heart went up to his throat, and a wave of giddiness poured over his body. He could’ve died, right then and there; it was so painfully platonic, and, yet, he was so painfully entranced.

“Yeah, I’ll—I’ll be back. Uh, yeah, we can have tea, so long as you’re not too busy with Minhee,” he smiled, mentally cursing himself for phrasing it like that. Sure, he was still a little hurt by you leaving him in the dust all those years ago, but he hadn’t meant to say it so passive-aggressively.

You, on the other hand, weren’t too phased by his hostility.

“Oh, speaking of him!” a smile bloomed on your face, and Mark’s heart beat once more. “I told him that I was staying in Quebec, so I’m gonna surprise him. I don’t know if you’re friends with him, or know anybody who is, so don’t tell anyone I’m coming home. ‘Kay?”

Mark was almost flattered that you thought he was friends with Minhee. When you first started dating him, Minhee hated his guts. To Minhee, Mark assumed, he was the enemy—the boy who’d occupied your attention up until the moment he asked you out.

Minhee had never told Mark to stay away or to back off, rather he was sly in the way he dragged you away from him. So, Mark told all his friends about it, and they began to hate Minhee too. If any of them knew anything about him, Mark would be shocked.

“Yeah, no problem. Secret’s safe with me.”

“Anyway, do you remember that coffeehouse we always went to in our freshman year? We should go back there, for old times’ sake…”

You kept talking, kept going on and on about all the good times you had oh-so-long ago, but Mark couldn’t bring himself to listen. He just focused on your face, made up of pixels and dim light, separated from him by a screen, and wondered why he was so stupid.

“So, how is your relationship with Minhee? I’m was never really around for it.”

You and Minhee were approaching three years, you said. You wonder how you got so lucky with him; he can be a bit fickle sometimes, but he never hurt you in a way he couldn’t make it up. He apologized when he was in the wrong, he memorized your restaurant orders, he got you whatever gift reminded him of you, he’s basically your other half. You think you’re gonna marry him, one day, leaving Mark behind to writhe over what he might’ve lost over his stupid fear of losing you completely (you didn’t say the second part aloud, but it was implied).

“I’m glad. It’s not common to find the one in high school. Good for you, [First].”

He could attest to that, through and through.

-

“Dude,” Renjun said, swiping the White Claw from Mark’s hand with ease. Drunkenly, Mark reached out for it, but Jeno—who’d appeared out of nowhere—slapped his hand away and put a glass of water in front of him. “You’re going to give yourself alcohol poisoning. Lay off.”

Chenle let out a shriek as Jaemin picked him up, bringing him over to the lit-up pool and dropping him in. Jeno slid into the chair across from Mark at the previously unoccupied table, crossing his arms over his chest. Renjun pulled up another chair, joining Jeno in giving Mark disapproving stares.

“When did Jaemin and Chenle get so close?” Mark slurred, pointing at the two. In his drunken stupor, Mark imagined Jaemin and Chenle as you and him, even if you were just friends, having a good time together with Minhee nowhere in sight.

The thought made Mark’s head hurt.

“They started gaming together a lot over the past year, but that doesn’t matter,” Jeno replied, pushing the glass of water closer to him. “What’s up with you right now, man? You’re so…off.”

“I started talking with [First] again.”

“Seriously?” Renjun asked, seeming a bit appalled. After all they’d been through, all the healing they had to force upon Mark in the early stages of their friendship, it was hard to imagine him ever going back to you. Plus, he’d seemed fully, irrevocably over it by the time he graduated. Yet, here he was, back at square one, in a worse place than before. “Isn’t…you know what, never mind. Why?”

“What do you mean by ‘why?’”

“He means you were happier without her around,” Jeno commented, nodding with satisfaction as Mark took a huge swig of the water. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, [First] really is a sweetheart, but she shredded you to pieces. You were like, I don’t know, like an unpeeled, rotten banana by the time your friendship was over.”

“I couldn’t just ignore her. She reached out, and, well, I thought it—I thought it would be okay.” Mark was getting choked up,  something he’d never do sober, but both of them were well acquainted with the sad, drunken version of him (which was just normal Mark with a hint of uncontrollable crying). “I thought I was over it. She was across the country. How was I supposed to know she was just as terrible over the phone?”

“It’s not too late to start ignoring her,” Renjun suggested, raising his brows. “You’re busy with us this summer. Blow her off until she stops asking because she’s too busy planning her wedding with Minhee. It’s as good as over for the second time. Huh?”

“Can’t.”

Mark let his head drop onto the table with a thud, unable to get rid of the headache Chenle’s screech had given him. He was getting tired.

“Why not?”

“We’re getting coffee in two days. She gets back tonight and gives Minhee a big surprise tomorrow.”

“Cancel on her, then?” Jeno said as if it was that easy.

“No. I’ll go and then stop talking to her. Yeah. That’s simple enough.”

Renjun said something else, but he was getting hard to hear. Mark would just go to sleep, wake up with a bad hangover and the urge to throw up all over Chenle’s house. He’d go through the motions, feel like somebody was stabbing his heart with a burning sword, and then stay up all night until he physically couldn’t keep himself awake.

It was easy. It was routine. He could do it well.

So, he’d be dead to the world right now.

-

Mark wanted to throw his phone against the wall. It jerked him awake with a start, the sound of an obnoxious, default ringtone ringing throughout the room. Jeno, from across the room, let out an angry groan, throwing a pillow perfectly in Mark’s direction.

It was easy enough to shut it off, but it wasn’t easy enough to push himself off the floor. The moment he got to his feet, a wave of pain assaulted his head, nearly knocking him back over. He needed to find Advil, or any hangover medicine Chenle’s parents have—they told him they bought some, in case things got too wild in their words, but he couldn’t remember where they said it was.

Jeno was sprawled out along the couch, and Jaemin had been lying on the floor next to Mark and the fireplace. Chenle and Jisung were asleep on the table, cuddling into each other like a couple (if Mark wasn’t dying, he’d snap a picture). Renjun and Haechan were likely upstairs in the guest rooms they were offered the night before and were not going to make an appearance until someone came to them.

Mark stumbled into the kitchen, wincing at how much brighter it was in there. Chenle lived in one of those stereotypical rich kid houses, so there were windows everywhere. No matter where he looked, Mark was met with morning sunlight.

Looking at the oven clock, Mark groaned when he realized it was noon. It wasn’t morning sunlight, it was the blazing, unbearable, summer afternoon sun. Then, Mark realized it was noon.

He ripped his phone from his pocket, squinting as he tried to make out his notifications. Most of them were from university friends or various apps, Twitter and Instagram, but there were a special few from you—three, two-hour-old texts and a missed call from three minutes ago.

“Wish me luck!!” the first one read, along with a few random emojis you were accustomed to sending.

“Ahh, I’m so nervous. Are you not awake yet?”

Mark was amused by how correctly you texted him. He’d never get used to the capitalization and proper punctuation.

“Oh, I forgot you and your friends were having your reunion, lol. I bet it was fun!! Drink lots of water today, and I’ll call later!!”

Mark assumed that the missed call was intended to be you explaining how things were going, but he was too busy trying to wake up to answer. Without thinking, he hurried to press the call button, putting the phone up to his ear giddily. His hangover turned into nervousness, and then a bit of fear.

One ring. Two rings. You probably weren’t going to pick up, Mark reasoned. Three rings and Mark decided he’d probably missed his chance. Four rings. He’d let it run, just in case you were far away from your phone—

“Hello?”

That was not your voice. It was an unfamiliar man’s voice, certainly not Minhee’s. There was shouting in the background, from more voices Mark didn’t recognize.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Oh, this is Keeho. You’re Mark Lee, right?” the man on the other side of the phone asked. “Well, duh, that was a stupid question. How are you?”

“Um, I’m fine. Is there a reason [First] didn’t pick up?”

“Oh, yeah, haha. Well,” Keeho started, but he was cut off by more yelling. “I’ll be right out! Mark finally called, all right? The store can wait!”

“Is everything okay?”

“No, everything’s terrible. [First] isn’t dead, so don’t shit yourself, but, uh…how do I say this?”

Mark stayed quiet, waiting anxiously for Keeho to continue talking. He went silent for a moment as if he was contemplating how to break whatever news he needed to.

“Well, I guess I’ll simply come out with it. Minhee was cheating on her,” Keeho said, and Mark could’ve punched himself over the hope that began pooling in his stomach. How much of an asshole was he, to be happy she’d been cheated on? “She’s, uh, pretty inconsolable, so your coffee date is canceled. But, if you want to come by and join the damage control team, that’d be helpful.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Are you coming by? I can explain it then.”

“I can come over, just give me a minute. Is she just at her parents’ house?”

“She’s staying with me, so I’ll just text the address. We’ll be back from the store in about, hm, an hour, so don’t come any earlier.”

Keeho didn’t wait to hang up, and the effects of Mark’s hangover were almost completely gone in a second. He was practically tripping over himself to get his shit together, picking up random items he’d sprawled around the house.

“Where the hell are you headed?” Jeno asked groggily, barely gaining Mark’s attention from the question.

“Minhee cheated,” Mark replied, zipping up his backpack and looking at his phone. Sure enough, he’d been sent an address, one that was about thirty minutes away.

“Wait,” Jeno said, pushing himself up from the couch. His walking was unsteady, no doubt the effects of last night, but he didn’t cease. “You realize you’re signing yourself off right now? If you go, Mark, there’s no coming back.”

“Then, consider me signed,” Mark replied, slinging the backpack over his shoulder and walking towards the entryway. Jeno followed, forcing Mark to give him a better answer than that. “I’ll finally be able to do what I should’ve done three years ago, and the first step towards that is helping her get over him. Okay? I need to do this.”

Jeno bit his lip, leaning against the wall. Mark looked back at him one last time, unconsciously seeking out some sort of validation (or lack thereof) from his friend. Jeno stared back, and an uncomfortable silence fell between the two, signaling all Mark needed to know about this.

“You’re on your own,” Jeno said, putting his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “If this goes spiraling, we won’t spend every second of the day picking up the pieces again, Mark.”

“I know,” he responded, and, with that, he was out the door, car keys in hand and a passive ache in his heart.

-

Keeho was a good-looking guy. His eyes lit up when he saw Mark carrying a tray of coffee, simple iced Americanos that he scraped up from a nearby coffee shop, along with a fruit pastry they’d been selling. “You’re a lifesaver,” Keeho praised, instantly moving to help take everything inside. His apartment was eerily silent, with two girls sitting on the couch, one fast asleep and the other scrolling on her phone.

“She fell asleep from, well, crying too hard,” Keeho explained, kicking the door shut behind him with the flat of his foot. “Seriously, she’s never cried that hard, like, ever. I was beginning to think she didn’t have tear ducts.”

“Dude, be nice,” one of the girls said, the one Mark could recognize—Jeon Somi, one of your club friends from high school.

“I am being nice. We’re cousins. I could be a lot meaner. Coffee?”

Somi pushed herself off the couch, and Mark felt a hefty weight fall off his shoulders. Keeho was your cousin, nobody that could potentially ruin his plans of confess-and-get-rejected-without-guilt. It was especially comforting that, should Mark play his cards right, Keeho would become an ally to his cause.

“So, uh, what happened?”

“Oh, right. So, I’m sure she told you about her surprise,” Keeho hummed, taking a sip of the coffee. “Well, we drive up, and she tells us to stay outside just in case things go ‘poorly.’ I mean, she practically predicted it, but that’s beside the point. We’re waiting for her to send a text, about twenty minutes pass, and she’s calmly walking back out.”

“Like, calmly,” Somi emphasized, taking one of the coffees for herself as well. Mark was glad he decided to get four instead of three; he had the perfect amount for everyone. “So, she gets in the passenger seat, and we all kinda sat there and didn’t say anything.”

“And then,” Keeho continued, taking the rest of the coffees from the drink tray so he could throw it away. “She says, like, super nonchalantly, ‘He’s been cheating on me the whole time.’ Obviously we were shocked because Minhee was goddamn possessive, really terribly, yet he’s cheating? So we asked her to elaborate, and she just kind of shrugged.

“By this point, you could tell she was near tears, but she kept talking like things were completely normal. Then, she said, ‘The reason the long distance was going so smoothly was because he was hooking up with girls on the side.’ She goes on to explain that he tried to say it wasn’t his fault, that the girl had drugged him, but the girl got super pissed and told her everything, beginning to end, and then she just left. Now we’re here.”

Mark was a bit appalled. Cheating was the worst possible outcome, and Mark wanted to say he expected it, but Keeho was right when he said Minhee was possessive. How could he end up cheating when he hated any man, including innocent Mark, getting anywhere near you? It seemed unbelievable.

“We’re taking shifts now and hoping recovery doesn’t take the whole summer. This was a big breakup, though, so we aren’t hopeful. But, earlier, [First] was babbling on and on about how Minhee’d known her longer than any of her friends and how he made her drop all of her other longtime friends, but you’re here now, so maybe things will speed up,” Somi said. “You can take the next shift, yeah? And Keeho and I will keep searching for the strawberry shortcake ice cream she loves so dearly.”

“I don’t mind, but, uh, your friend on the couch…”

“She won’t care. Ryujin probably won’t wake up until we’re back, anyway.” Keeho waved off Mark’s worries with ease, nodding his head towards a hallway next to the kitchen. “She’s in there. There’s a couch, and we have tissues stocked up in the bathroom. Our first goal is to get her to stop crying every second of the day, so focus on that accordingly. We’ll be out. I have your number from [First]’s phone; I’ll text when we are headed back.”

“Sounds good.” Mark nodded, turning his attention towards a door that was slightly cracked. If he had to guess, that was your door, and you were in there, red-faced and fast asleep, wishing for someone to put you out of your misery. Mark had been there.

He peeked through the crack in the door, flinching as the front door opened and slammed closed. You laid unmoving on your side, facing the wall opposite the door, breathing soundly. Mark took that as a sign that he could comfortably walk inside, unafraid of you blowing up at him in your sorry state. The TV was on, with some random variety show playing quietly, deliberately put on to be background noise.

Mark rounded the bed quietly, finally coming face to face with you. You looked peaceful, with no nightmares or unhappiness plaguing whatever dreams you were having. Your face was, indeed, red, and there was still evidence of tears lingering on your cheeks, mostly in the form of poorly removed mascara. Not able to imagine that being comfortable, Mark approached the bathroom, which was attached to the bedroom with a small doorway.

He was sure you had to have some sort of makeup remover in there, especially if this was your temporary home for the summer. Sure enough, there was a container of makeup wipes on the counter, and Mark vaguely remembered Chenle going on a rant about how makeup wipes were awful for your skin. Nevertheless, he picked it up, opening the bag without making any noise as best he could.

“How many do you usually need?” he whispered to himself, deciding two was the magic number. He crept back out into the room, making barely any noise as he crouched down next to you. And, as gently as he could, Mark began scrubbing the makeup off your face, wiping at the apples of your cheeks and barely brushing against your eyelids.

He felt at peace. Even when you were sad, distraught, and angry, Mark felt as though you were the most gorgeous person he had ever seen; from your hair to even your hands, there was nothing about you that wasn’t beautiful. You were, quite possibly, the most precious person in his life, even if you weren’t more than good friends.

With one slightly-too-firm swipe, your eyes shot open, and you seemed a bit delirious. Mark smiled at you, retracting his hand and placing it on his knee. “Good morning,” he whispered, watching as you became reacquainted with your surroundings. True to Keeho’s word, you instantly began to tear up, which made Mark panic a bit.

“No, don’t cry,” he whispered, frowning. “Do you need anything? Water?”

You shook your head, pushing yourself up from your laying-down position. Mark sat on the edge of the bed next to you, waiting for you to say something—anything—with any indication of what he should do next. “I feel bad,” you sniffled, wiping away the tears falling down your face. “We were supposed to get coffee and be happy, but now you’re here watching me fall apart over wasting three years of my life.”

“No, it wasn’t wasted.” Mark shook his head, grabbing your hands and holding them tightly. “You loved him, [First], and I’m sure he loved you too. While it was happening, it was good, and then he messed up. He’s the one who wasted three years, not you. Never you.”

While it hurt to admit, Mark knew how madly in love with Minhee you were. He couldn’t imagine how you felt, believing that all those years spent loving him were a waste, because, when his friends were helping him get over you, they always assured him that loving somebody was never useless.

“How, though? I could’ve been meeting new people and loving them as much as I loved him,” you argued. “I let him tell me who to talk to and who not to talk to, I let him drag me away from my friends, from you, with the full belief that I would be with him forever. Look where that got me, Mark. Walking in on him and the girl he told me I didn’t have to worry about.”

“But look where I am right now?” he responded, squeezing your hands. You looked at him with those big, tear-filled eyes, and Mark found it difficult to ignore the pain he was feeling in his heart. He hated seeing you so sad. “I’m in front of you, even after he told you to stay away. And I’m sure if you reach out to anyone else, try to recreate any relationship he stole from you, they’ll gladly reciprocate. This is not the end of the world, so don’t let yourself feel that way.”

You stared at him, hiccuping every few seconds. Tears flowed down your face like crystal rivers, dripping onto the blankets every couple of seconds. Then, finally, you spoke. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am. You are more than him.”

-

Mark was beginning to believe Jeno was right.

Maybe he was impatient, maybe he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, of your relationship with Minhee, but things were going nowhere. Every little thing that reminded you of him sent you into a spiral, and, while you barely cried anymore, you still sulked and shut yourself off. It was excruciating.

Slowly, Mark was realizing it wasn’t easy to help someone get over a breakup when you were in love with them. In fact, it made things unbearably difficult, to the point where he was beginning to dread it. What once was hope became pure pain, and what once was determination became despair.

He didn’t understand why you couldn’t see what was right in front of you, why you couldn’t see him right in front of you. He was tempted to explode, to ask you if Minhee would’ve done the same for you as he was doing. Why wouldn’t you look at him the way he wanted you to? Why can’t you see how he feels?

Mark was going insane, and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

Now, he was on his way to have coffee with you, as you’d insisted. You constantly talked about how guilty you felt for blowing him off, no matter how much he said he didn’t mind and that he understood why you had. Two weeks later, you’d decided that today was the day you finally had a real-life, in-person coffee date.

Somehow, though, Keeho had managed to stop him beforehand.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Keeho said, motioning for Mark to step into the alleyway next to the café. He assumed Keeho had dropped you off and discreetly waited for him to arrive with the intent of speaking to him as he was now. “About [First].”

“What about her?” Mark responded although he knew what Keeho was going to say. He leaned against the wall of the café, glancing down at the ground before looking back up at Mark.

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you.”

Mark kept quiet, waiting for Keeho to continue.

“Look, man, you don’t have to keep doing this,” he continued, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “I’m sure this is as awful for you as it is for Somi, Ryujin, and I, if not worse. She…she won’t be ready for another relationship for a while, and, as much as you’re nice, I don’t want you to be her boyfriend because she trauma-bonded with you. That’s about as good as a rebound.”

Mark contemplated Keeho’s words, halfway shocked that he wasn’t hurt by the sentiment. He just felt numb.

“I’m not planning on dating her,” Mark finally said. “Not until I know she’s forgotten him, at the very least. I’m not an idiot, and I know my worth. I’m only doing this to help her, okay? I don’t intend on trapping her in a relationship because she’s hurt and clinging onto any semblance of comfort.”

Keeho nodded, letting out a small sigh. “Then I’d rather you distance yourself for a bit. You can hang out with her and stuff, but I ask that you remove yourself from the breakup-damage-control team promptly.”

Mark knew that Keeho probably wasn’t explaining the entire story and that this meant you were probably on your way to using him as a rebound. But, for some reason, he, once again, didn’t care. Even if he was still in love with you, even if he would do anything to call himself yours, he understood how things would end up if he wasn’t careful.

“No, I get it. I’ll just let her know that my friends want to see me around more often and that I think she’s doing better,” Mark nodded, ignoring the slight discomfort he was feeling. “Thanks for talking to me. I appreciate it.”

“No problem,” Keeho said, pushing off against the wall. “If it’s any consolation, I think you’re a good match for her. Better than Minhee, at least.”

“Yeah, thanks, man. I’ll see you later.”

“See you.”

Both Mark and Keeho emerged from the alleyway, walking away from each other without saying another word. Mark didn’t know how he felt, and he didn’t think he ever would. Would he be able to wait? Would he move on? He didn’t know.

You were sitting directly across from the doors, two coffee cups on the table, with one filled to the brim and one half empty. You perked up at the sound of the door opening, a wide smile blooming on your face when you saw him. It made his throat close up and his heart tighten, and Mark was sure he could wait for you for however long he needed to. However long it took for you to forget Minhee. However long it took for you to realize he was right there all along.

“Hi!” you chirped, pushing the cup of coffee closer to the edge of the table as Mark slid into the booth. “How are you?”

For now, he would play friend and pretend like he never felt any differently. Pretend he didn’t want to love you openly, unapologetically, in front of everyone who would tolerate it.

“I’m good, how are you?”

Mark would wait however long you needed to get over your heartbreak and be with him.