Mingyu was a big guy. 

He just was, in the sense that most people looked and would be considered small in comparison to him. He was tall and broad-shouldered with biceps that broadcasted his strength and pecs that, unless he was wearing an actual coat or any sort of puffy, ill-fitting top were impossible to miss. You hadn’t seen his abs, but you would guess that his torso was as fit as the rest of him. 

All of which was to say that it wasn’t news that he was either large or strong. For the most part, though, it had become a sort of…background noise. Like, the sky was blue, fire was hot,  water was wet, and Mingyu was big. When you’d first met, sure, it had maybe made you a little weak-kneed because you felt honest-to-God tiny and delicate next to him. And okay, yeah, he was also obviously a very good-looking man. You had eyes. 

You and he had slipped into a friendship, though, and so the crush (in your own thoughts, you could admit it) sort of faded away in favor of an easy back and forth, playful friendship. Which was probably why you felt so comfortable teasing him after it happened. 

It, in this case, being you catching him flexing and essentially puffing out his chest – preening, really – for the barista at the coffee shop where you were meant to be meeting him. You stayed back for several moments, just watching him show off and grin at the reaction of the poor barista who was visibly flustered, shaking your head and trying not to laugh at his antics. Eventually, though, you a) wanted coffee and b) couldn’t resist the urge to give him a hard time. 

Smiling widely, you walked up behind Mingyu, sliding your arm through his and letting your hand wrap around his bicep, cooing up at him. “You’re so strong, baby.” You ignored the choked noise he made in favor of turning your attention to the barista and lowering your voice as if to commiserate. “Is he giving you a hard time? I’m so sorry. He’s hot and he knows it.”

The barista laughed and assured you that he wasn’t and that it was okay, smiling shyly at you as she gently slid the two drinks across the counter toward you and Mingyu. 

You thanked her and passed Mingyu his before grabbing your own, then finding yourself being dragged away by the arm still – oops! – linked through his. Carefully holding the coffee in your other hand because you did not want to wear it, you pursed your lips and pulled your arm from his as soon as the two of you were outside and there was the space to separate. 

“Gyu, geeze,” you half-grumbled, half-laughed.

“Don’t ‘Gyu, geeze,’ me,” came his response as he moved to stand in front of you and looked down at you, his expression somewhere between amused and confused. “What was that?”

Lips pressed to the lid of your coffee, you hummed as you took a sip and gave him your most innocent, wide-eyed, fluttering lashes look. “Hmm?”

He scoffed, but the twitch of his lips belied his good humor. “Oh, are we doing that now?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, baby,” he crooned, grinning when your response was to start coughing, glaring up at him, and smacking your own chest. “You okay there?”

You held your hand up in the universal shush symbol until you were able to recover from the whole being-provoked-into-inhaling-your-coffee thing. Once you had control over yourself again, you were able to speak. “Maybe wait until I’m not in the middle of swallowing next time?”

Mingyu smirked. 

It took you a moment but then you rolled your eyes and bit back a smile. “I seriously can’t take you anywhere. Rein it in,” you said, giving his chest a soft push and gesturing behind him with your chin, reminding him that you were meant to be walking. “It’s too early for innuendo and we’re going to be late.”

----------------

A couple of days later, you ran into Mingyu at the gym. 

You must have missed each other when you initially came in and headed straight for the group HIIT class, but the sound of your name being called across the room as you exited the smaller group room into the main area was unmistakable. Your head turned toward the voice and your lips curved into a smile when you recognized him, seeing a matching smile on his face and Seungcheol standing next to him, hand raised in greeting. 

Of course you moved to join them at the weight bench and, as you and Seungcheol settled into a conversation, Mingyu went right back into lifting. Every so often, his grunts would tear your attention away from Seungcheol and you’d find yourself glancing over at him. 

Clearly he had been there a while, given the way his body was basically glistening with sweat, his hair wet and sticking to his temples. Despite yourself, your gaze caught on and watched a drop of sweat sliding down his neck, disappearing into his shirt. Which really just brought to your attention to the fact that the shirt was sleeveless, your eyes focusing on the flex and release of his muscles as he pressed the weights over his head. 

Jesus, he was distracting. 

Seungcheol cleared his throat and you turned back to him, forcing a neutral expression onto your face. “Don’t even say it.”

His lips quirked at the corners and he raised both hands. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Your eyes say so much that the words aren’t even necessary.” 

“I can’t control my eyes. You should be able to empathize with that, shouldn’t you?” There was just enough emphasis in his words and just enough knowing in his gaze to make you shift from foot to foot. 

“I –”

“What are you guys even talking about?” Mingyu asked, placing the bar on the rests and turning on the bench to face you and Seungcheol, his brows pulled together. 

“She was just –” 

“We were just talking about how big your arms are,” you cut Seungcheol off, moving to stand in front of Mingyu and widening your eyes exaggeratedly. When in doubt, apparently your new MO was to go for over-the-top and excessive – so much so that there was no way he or anyone else could take it seriously. You purposefully let your gaze sweep over the length of his biceps and forearms, then drifted to his chest. “And your pecs. God, Gyu.” 

Seungcheol snorted – he actually snorted – behind you. 

Mingyu, though, looked back and forth between you and Seungcheol, like he wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or to be suspicious. “T-Thanks. I, uh, I work hard,” he said, running a hand through his hair, and he might actually have been blushing. 

Which was the most adorable thing you’d ever seen, honestly.

You grinned and reached forward to squeeze his shoulder. “I can tell, baby,” you cooed down at him. “I bet you could even bench press me.” You continued the tease, then let go and stepped back. If you felt butterflies in your belly at the sight of Mingyu’s mouth dropping open and the heat that flashed in his eyes in response or the brief mental image you got of him doing exactly that… you would take that with you to the grave. 

Giving yourself a mental shake, you glanced over at Seungcheol then back at Mingyu. “Well! I’ve gotta run, but I’ll see you two around, okay?”

“Wait –” Mingyu started, rising from the bench and taking a step toward you. 

Seungcheol just looked amused and you fucking knew he was going to call you later with questions. “See you.”

“Bye!” You called out, already walking toward the exit. You had to get out of there before you thought too long or hard about why Mingyu’s response to the teasing affected you the way it did.

----------------

The expected phone call with Seungcheol went something like this:

“So, you’ve got a thing for Mingyu, huh?”

“I absolutely do not have a - a thing for Mingyu.” 

Seungcheol chuckled and you could practically hear his smirk across the line. “You wanna try that again, maybe without the stuttering? I might actually believe you then.”

You flushed and gritted your teeth, grateful he couldn’t see the pink in your cheeks. “I do not have a thing for Mingyu. I have a thing for fucking with Mingyu.”

“Eye-fucking him, maybe,” Seungcheol countered, voice filled with mirth, absolutely at your expense. 

“Okay, first of all, I am a woman who is attracted to men and I have eyes. If you were the one in the sleeveless top, sweating and grunting in exertion, lifting God only knows how many pounds, I would’ve been looking at you, too,” you argued, definitely not defensive. Nope. 

Not at all. 

“You’ve seen me doing exactly that many, many times, and I don’t recall you ever looking at me like you wanted to –”

“Stop! Right there,” you protested in a rush. “Mingyu and I are friends.”

His sigh was loud and his tone was clearly exasperated when he replied. “If you say so.”

“I do say so.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. Fine. Glad we sorted that out.”

----------------

The next time you saw Mingyu was at a picnic for your whole friend group. You knew he was already there when you pulled into the parking lot, so you texted him for help bringing the drinks and food you’d brought from your car to the spot everyone had set up at. 

You were leaning into your open trunk, switching things from bag to bag in order to consolidate and make for the fewest trips, when he came up behind you and grabbed your hips, leaning over you and resting his chin on your shoulder. “Whatcha doing?”

Nearly jumping – and you would have if his body wasn’t basically covering yours and his hands weren’t holding your body in place – you let out a startled gasp, heart hammering in your chest before you realized it was him. “What –”

“Easy there,” you heard him say softly into your ear before the hands on your hips squeezed gently, “It’s just me.”  Mingyu then released you and drew back, coming to rest on the bumper of your car, looking wholly pleased with himself. 

“Mingyu, I swear to God – Just for that, you get to carry the heavy stuff!” You gave yourself several moments for your heart to stop racing and for the blood to stop rushing through your head, body still trying to work its way past the initial startle. Deliberately not allowing yourself to think about anything else – namely, the way your body had reacted to that squeeze of your hips with him pressed up behind you. 

That was just biology, anyway. 

Or something like that. 

Mingyu laughed and his smile widened. “Worth it.” 

You crossed your arms and narrowed your eyes at him, trying not to let your lips twich and betray your own enjoyment. His good humor was contagious, but there was a point to be made here!

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry!” As he stood back up, he held his hands out. “Load me up.”

Your smile was wicked when you hefted the cooler full of beverages into his arms, then plopped several bags down on top of it. “That’s not too much for you, is it?” you asked as sweetly as could be. “Not too heavy?” You grabbed the one remaining bag, that one carrying bags of chips and clearly the lightest of the bunch, and pulled the trunk closed. 

He shook his head and lifted the cooler higher, not looking like he was exerting himself too much, but you did feel a little bad. 

“Are you sure? Because I was just messing with you and I really can –”

“No,” he said with another shake of his head and turning away when you reached out to grab for one or more of the bags. “I’ve got it, I promise. You brought it here, the least I can do is carry it.”

And he really did. 

When you got to the area where everyone else was and Mingyu placed the cooler on the ground, you came up behind him, rested your palm against his shoulder blade, and couldn’t help yourself. You said, “Thank you, baby. I don’t know how I would’ve carried all of that without you. You’re just so much stronger than me,” then dropped the bag of chips onto the picnic table and walked over to greet the others, leaving him to stare after you and not looking back to see the mix of emotions play across his face.

----------------

After that, it just became a habit for you to point out how big he was, how strong whenever the opportunity presented itself, sometimes on purpose and sometimes just because – now that you had started actively noticing again, you noticed. 

Like the time a couple of the guys and you, including Mingyu, had got caught in the rain after lunch at a restaurant near your place. Since your apartment was closer and nobody had any pressing plans, you decided to just run there and hide out until the rain let up. You changed into a set of dry clothes and handed the guys dry shirts – you couldn’t do much about their pants, but you definitely had some oversized shirts lying around. In your defense, it wasn’t as though you intentionally gave him a shirt that his torso stretched so much that it was a miracle it didn’t tear. It was just the biggest shirt you had and, breasts or not, they were no match for his broad shoulders. 

“Oh,” you’d said a little breathlessly as you watched him try to squeeze into it and fought to pull it down to cover his upper body. “I, uh, fuck. You’re big.” The damned shirt left his belly bared and lord have mercy, but you couldn’t look away from his abs. They really were as fit as the rest of him. 

You watched as a shiver seemed to run through him and heard his breathing pick up pace, which was enough to shake you out of your stupor and into action. “Shit, you’re still cold, right? Hold on. I think I ended up with one of my ex’s hoodies after the break-up!” 

You’d managed to grab said hoodie from your closet and toss it at him before escaping into the living room where the rest of the guys were watching some action movie. 

A mischievous voice in the back of your head was the reason for the lion’s share of the instances, though. 

Including the time you decided you wanted to rearrange your living room on a random Saturday morning. The two of you were standing in your living room and you purposefully bit at your lower lip, giving him your best doe eyes and asked him so nicely, “Gyu? Can you help me move my couch? It’s just so heavy and it’s way too big for me to move, but I know how strong you are and I just – can you?”

He had squeezed his eyes shut and you watched the rise and fall of his shoulders as he appeared to take a very deep breath before opening his eyes and smiling kindly over at you. “Sure! Where do you want it?”

Oof. There was a question your brain chose to interpret in the absolutely wrong way. Were you teasing him with this or were you torturing yourself? Probably both, but fuck if you could stop. 

“Uh, over – over there, please.”

“There?” he asked, gesturing, and you nodded. He took a step toward the couch, looking back at you over his shoulder and you could have sworn his gaze flickered down to your lips. “Okay, baby. If that’s where you want it, that’s where you’ll get it.”

You really hoped he didn't see – or hear – your reaction to the endearment or the ease with which he moved the heavy couch across the floor. The way your breath hitched in your throat or the way you chewed at your lower lip, traitorous body clenching around nothing. And you couldn’t exactly complain because a) you’d started it, b) you actually really didn’t want him to stop. 

Which was absolutely something you needed to unpack later. 

Time to brazen it out again, apparently. You walked up to Mingyu and hugged him from the back as he settled the couch into its new location. “Thank you,” you said breezily, forced though the nonchalance may be. “You’re my own, personal Superman.”

The doorbell signaled the arrival of your other friends, pulling your attention (and arms) from Mingyu as you went to answer the door. 

Some small part of you was aware you may be playing with fire, but the larger part of you almost wanted to get burned. 

Not that you would, of course. Because you two really were just friends.

You were. 

And so it continued. 

You needed something from a tall shelf? You asked him to get it for you and gushed over him when he handed it to you. 

You were playing a game of soccer in the park and he kicked the ball completely normally hard? You laid the praise on thick for the power in his legs. 

It didn’t matter how innocuous whatever the action was or the looks everyone else gave the both of you. You, for the clearly over-the-top emphasis on Mingyu’s size and strength. Mingyu for the way he would either blush or lean into it, asking if you needed anything else – anything at all – kicking the ball harder the next time, grabbing more bags on his next trip, adding more weight to his sets. 

You just kept poking and he kept rolling with it, the two of you falling into a new sort of routine.

The most recent instance of which being when your heel broke as Mingyu was walking you home. He’d met you for a quick coffee and snack on your way home from work. You certainly didn’t plan for the heel on your shoe to break six blocks from your apartment, or for Mingyu to sweep you up in his arms, one tucked beneath your knees and the other resting against your back. 

In all honesty, the universe should get some credit for that one. 

His name came out on a shriek as you found yourself airborne, your arms instinctively wrapping around his shoulders to prevent yourself from falling on your ass. “Mingyu!” You looked at him then down at the ground. If he dropped you from this height, it would definitely hurt. Tightening your hold around his broad shoulders, you lifted your gaze from the cement passing beneath you to his gaze.

“So this is what the world looks like from up here,” you said with a puff of laughter, a smile curving your lips as you watched him try to bite back his own smile. “I can walk, though, you know? It’s not the first time I’ve done the broken-heel hobble.” 

“I know you can, but you’re not going to.” He shook his head as you opened your mouth to protest. “You don’t have to. I’m here. Let me help you, yeah?”

You sucked your lower lip into your mouth, the action unconscious, but the playfulness in your voice was not. “You just wanna show off.”

His grin was instant and more than a little mischievous. “What am I showing off?”

Pfft. Now he was just fishing for compliments. But it was part of your game so you were, er, game. 

You loosened your death grip around his shoulders just enough that you could brush a hand across the width of his back and give one of said shoulders a squeeze. “These. The strength in them. How it doesn’t even phase you to pick me up and bridal carry me half a mile because you’re my big, strong hero.”

Mingyu’s hold on you tightened and his focus definitely dropped to your lips before he quickly turned his head forward to watch where he was going. “So you’re saying I have a hero complex?”

“Hah,” you playfully scoffed. “That and you have a strength kink so you just love it when people notice.”

Mingyu stopped in his tracks, turning his head and giving you an incredulous look. “I have a strength kink? Sweetheart,” he crooned, “I think maybe you need to look in the mirror before you start casting stones.” He called you ‘sweetheart’ and he fucking crooned, at which you felt the pink spreading across your cheeks and a wave of heat rush through you. 

You cleared your throat. “Maybe I do,” you said, injecting the words with as much casualness as you could. “And maybe I don’t. Maybe I just like the way you react when I point it out.”

The fingers curled around your knee squeezed, and you felt his very real strength in a different way. When his eyes darkened right then and there, your mouth went dry. 

“You’re late,” came a wry voice from somewhere behind you, breaking the impromptu staring contest you and Mingyu had entered into. When you looked over your shoulder and saw Seungcheol standing at the main door to your building, your eyes widened. 

“Cheol! I’m so sorry. My shoe broke on the way back and it took us a little longer,” you explained, smiling sheepishly. “Forgive me?”

“I can see that,” he replied, voice full of humor as he looked from you to Mingyu, “and of course I’ll forgive you. I’ve got her from here, man. You can head out.”

“No.”

“What?” you and Seungcheol asked in unison. Seungcheol had a brow arched at your other friend and you were looking at Mingyu like he’d grown another head. 

Mingyu didn’t look away from the other man when he elaborated. “I’ve carried her this far; I can carry her the rest of the way. Can you get the door?” he asked Seungcheol.

Seungcheol gave a shrug and did just that, catching your eye as Mingyu carried you past him through the doorway, the gleam in his eyes giving away his curiosity and ongoing amusement. He definitely wasn’t going to let you off the hook on this one.

When you got to your apartment, Seungcheol entered first and made his way directly to the couch in the living room, leaving you and Mingyu in the entryway. You tapped Mingyu’s shoulder and tried to extract yourself from his hold. “Okay, Hercules,” you teased. “You can put me down now. The damsel has safely made it all the way home.”

Not letting you down immediately, he instead shifted you in his arms so that you were sliding down the front of his body, toes just brushing the floor beneath you but not lowering you fully to your feet. You looked up at him curiously, trying to stretch your legs enough so you could actually stand, but were unsuccessful. “Mingyu?” 

He had a hand on your hip and the other arm was wrapped around the middle of your back, holding you pressed against him, when his gaze found yours, expression unreadable. “Why’s Cheol here?”

What?

“We’re studying. Well, he is. He has a paper and I promised him I would help with editing it,” you answered, surprising yourself with how soft and almost breathless your voice was. But God, it was one thing to see him in those tank tops and sleeveless tops or shirts that fit just right, and it was something else entirely to feel every one of those muscles against the entire length of your body. While he just held you there, not appearing to be exerting himself much if at all. Despite yourself, your arms slid back around his shoulders and you found yourself clutching at the back collar of his shirt. 

Mingyu’s lips curved into a smile and his expression shifted into something you could read: pleased. “Is that all?” 

“‘Is that all?’ Um, of course it is? What else would it be, you weirdo?” His question was enough to shake you out of your – very brief, thank you – moment of distraction caused by his ridiculous upper body and how damned tall he was that he could hold you there, still towering over you while your feet didn’t reach the floor. “Seriously, I’m home and I can stand. Let me down so I can go help Cheol and we can maybe finish in time for me to get some sleep tonight.”

“If you have to ask, then I’m not worried.” You felt your feet touch the ground and Mingyu’s hold release so that you were bearing your own weight again. If anything, he looked even more pleased with himself as he slid his arms from around you, but didn’t move away. 

Worried? You were going to ask him what that was supposed to mean but Seungcheol chose that moment to shout from the other room, “Are you two done flirting yet?”

You were going to kill him. 

“We’re not flirting, you brat!” You shouted back, pinching the bridge of your nose, hoping it was dark enough in the entryway that Mingyu somehow miraculously didn’t see the blush that crept over your face. Which was also really annoying because why the fuck were you even blushing? 

Mingyu grinned at you then leaned down to press a quick kiss to your forehead. “Aren’t we?” he asked, earning a wide-eyed look from you, before turning to leave. 

He left and you stood there for several moments trying to process those two words. Were you flirting? 

As expected, Seungcheol had his laptop open when you walked into the living room, but he wasn’t looking at it. Instead, he was smirking knowingly over at you, and you had to fight the urge to squirm under that gaze. 

Deciding that discretion really was the better part of valor and, maybe if you ignored him, he would let it go, you grabbed his computer and pulled it into your lap, eyes scanning the document. You lasted for all of thirty seconds before you broke. 

“Okay, what?” you asked, finally turning your head to look at him and finding him staring at you. 

“Are we not talking about that territorial display downstairs?”

“Terri– What territorial display?”

He laughed. “Please tell me you’re not that oblivious and are just faking it because you’re trying to get me to shut up.”

Given that you were still trying to process whether or not you and Mingyu had been flirting, you were so not ready to consider whether he had been acting territorial and definitely not to talk about it with someone else, not even Seungcheol. Maybe especially Seungcheol, given the two men were close. 

“Why ask a question when you already know the answer? Just go get me some water, please. And maybe some ibuprofen. I can feel the migraine coming on.”

----------------

Two days later, you had been able to do enough self-reflection to admit that okay, yes. You might have been flirting with Mingyu and maybe you sort of weren’t quite as over that crush as you previously believed. Or maybe you had been, but if that were true at some point, it probably wasn’t anymore. Some part of you got a thrill out of calling Mingyu, “baby,” and putting your hands on him. 

On the way he had blushed sometimes at first but how, more and more recently, he would touch you back and call you, “baby.” How he didn’t even hesitate to just pick you up and carry you across town for anyone to see. 

And fine, all right, it was possible that you’d woken up this morning from a dream about him whispering the endearment into your ear while he thrust himself into you, while your nails raked down his back and you panted his name, begging him not to stop. 

Fine. 

That didn’t mean you had to act on it, though, because This, too, shall pass and all that. You could flirt with your friend without it meaning anything.

As soon as you walked into the house party and your eyes spotted Mingyu laughing down at something some random woman you’d never seen before was saying, and the way she swatted at his bicep, though, you knew you were well and truly fucked. Neither of them were doing anything even remotely wrong and yet the hurt, the anger, the goddamn jealousy you felt burned through you and were mortifying. You were not going to claw some innocent woman’s eyes out for being rightfully attracted to Mingyu, who was your friend.

Just your friend.

Forcing yourself to tear your gaze away from the two unsuspecting victims of your eye daggers, you made a beeline for the kitchen and thus the alcohol. Wholly focused on not focusing on Mingyu, you missed the way his gaze followed you, brows drawn together.

Nor did you see his sharp eyes catch sight of Seungcheol entering after you, or the way those eyes narrowed in response. 

Instead, you grabbed a beer from the fridge and struggled to twist the cap off when your friend found you. Seungcheol rested his back against the counter next to you and watched you fight to twist the top off of a not a twist-off bottle, lips twitching. “Rough day, cupcake?”

“You,” you said in a voice that was half frustrated whine and half accusatory. 

“What about me?”

“You did this!” You grunted, pouting at the bottle in your hand and trying even harder to twist the damned lid off, glaring at the bottle when it didn’t budge. “I was totally fine – happy, even – living in, I don’t know, denial? Ignorant bliss?”

Seungcheol’s gaze drifted behind you, toward the entrance to the kitchen, and he looked like he was going to speak, but you cut him off. “But no, you just had to bring up me having a thing for Mingyu and flirting and ‘territorial displays’ and oh my God, Cheol! I have a thing for Mingyu. I so have a thing for Mingyu. And he’s out there – I mean, of course he’s out there flirting with a woman, okay, because we’re just friends, but fuck my fucking life.” 

Taking in a deep breath because, after that ramble, you needed it, you finally turned your attention away from the still-unopened beer and back to him. You took in the arched eyebrow and the quirk of his lips, and the way his focus was still behind you and over your head. 

“What are you even looking a–” you started, turning your head to figure out what was so captivating, and nearly dropped the bottle in your hand when you saw Mingyu standing not three feet away. “Oh hell.”

“I’ll take that as my cue.” Seungcheol gave your shoulder a pat as he walked by you, sharing a look with Mingyu that you couldn’t see – only the nod Mingyu gave before returning his full focus to you. 

Once Seungcheol was gone, you gave Mingyu your best impression of a definitely-not-embarrassed smile and forced out a cheery, “Hi!”

“Hi,” he said back, closing the distance between you two, hand reaching out to grab your hip gently to stop you when you started to take a step backwards. 

“How – uh, how much of that did you hear, exactly?” 

Mingyu’s lips curled into a smile and the hand on your hip squeezed, his thumb then brushing against your hip bone and causing you a shiver to make its way down your traitorous spine. “I walked up somewhere around ‘territorial displays.’ Which is kind of ironic, actually, because I was on my way in here to put on another one. Still might.” 

You groaned. “Oh God. You heard it all then.” The rest of his words registered and you let out a soft, confused laugh. “Wait, what? For whom, exactly?” You looked around the kitchen, mostly empty at the moment, save the two of you and a couple kissing in the opposite corner, clearly wrapped up in themselves. 

“You mean when I walked in or now?” Mingyu drew you closer to him, his other hand coming up to brush your hair back, his voice a quiet rumble. “I know you guys are friends, too, but every time I turn around, you and Cheol are together.” 

As he entered your space, your hands moved to rest against his chest and you swallowed hard. At the strength beneath your touch – not teasing now – and his closeness. The way he blocked everything from your view except him because he was so goddamn big. 

Which was how this whole thing started.

“I’ve been trying to tell myself that he’s not the one you can’t seem to stop touching,” Mingyu admitted, gaze dropping down to watch your hands, unconsciously stroking over his chest, sliding down his torso and causing his abdominal muscles to flex beneath your touch. Then he looked back up at you. “The one you keep calling, ‘baby.’”

Christ, you could feel the burn in your cheeks and you weren’t sure how much of that was from embarrassment at being called out or how much it was a result of feeling him flex under your fingertips and look down at you with a burning intensity in his eyes. You bit back a gasp when he dropped his head toward yours and you felt his breath against your face. 

“He’s not. I only do that with you, Gyu. You know that, don’t you?” 

He hummed, the hand at your face shifting to cradle the back of your head and tilt it further back. He leaned in closer and let his lips hover over yours. “I do now,” he spoke softly, closing the distance between your lips and brushing his against yours. “And I wasn’t flirting with her, just so that’s clear. Only wanna flirt with you.”

You sucked in a sharp breath then, your hands clutching at his hips. Unable to stop yourself, you rose up on your toes and pressed your lips into his in a soft kiss. 

Mingyu’s fingers tightened in your hair and he deepened that kiss, his tongue sweeping out to taste your lips, teeth capturing and gently nipping at your lower lip, tearing a soft whimper from you, which pulled a groan from him and had both of his hands slipping down to your waist, sliding down and around to cup your ass, dragging your hips into his. 

Lifting your arms up, you wound them around his shoulders and pressed closer, a thrill shooting through you, centering in your core, at the drop in pitch of his voice when his hands moved from your ass to the back of your thighs and he lifted you up his body, your legs automatically encircling his waist. “You want that? Want to be the only one I flirt with?”

You nodded, letting your forehead rest against his and trying your best to focus on answering him rather than rubbing yourself against him like a damned cat. “Mhm. Unless you want me to go flirt with someone else? I guess I could see what Cheol’s up to….” You wouldn’t, but the urge to push Mingyu’s buttons clearly hadn’t gone away.

His voice was a growl when he spoke and he brought a hand up to fist in your hair, grip tight enough for you to really feel the pull. Which you did. In a straight line from his hold to your cunt, which clenched in response, liquid desire starting to pool. “Not gonna fucking happen, baby.”

Your thighs squeezed his sides at that, and you let out an embarrassingly needy sound. God, why was it so hot to rile him up and hear him say shit like that? “No? Why – Why’s that, baby?”

The smile he gave you then was cocky, his dark eyes smoldering, knowing. “Guess you want that territorial display, huh? I’ve got you, sweetheart, and I’ll put on a little show just for you,” he promised. 

Did you want that?

Mingyu carried you out of the kitchen, just like that – legs and arms wrapped around him, very clearly staking his claim in front of anyone and everyone who happened to notice him walking you to his bedroom and shutting the door behind the two of you. Your gaze flickered behind him along the way, catching sight of the amusement on some friends’ faces, surprise on others’, and – you narrowed your eyes as you watched Hoshi pass cash to Jeonghan. You were totally going to kick both of their asses later.

You found yourself pressed up against the door as Mingyu closed it behind you, his big, broad form flush to you and holding you there. His hips giving a thrust into you and the friction where you’d needed it pulling a whimper from between your lips. You cursed, squirming against him, legs around him dragging him even closer, moaning his name at the hard length he rolled against your clothed cunt. “S-Shit, you’re big everywhere.” 

He let out a breathy laugh then and your insides went a bit melty at the slight flush you saw spread across his cheeks. “I could make a Red Riding Hood comment here, but I’m trying really hard not to.”

“...the better to fuck me with?” 

Mingyu’s eyes squeezed shut and his hips bucked into you before he turned you from the door and carried you over to his desk, dropping you down onto it and stepping back between your legs. His hands landed on your knees, slowly sliding up your thighs. “You gonna let me?” he asked, his voice thick with need, as he reached the apex of your thighs and he slipped a hand between them, fingers pressing along the seam of your jeans, mouth dropping open at the heat and the moisture he felt there. 

“God,” you gasped, jerking into his touch, your own hands coming to rest on his biceps and squeeze. “If you don’t, I’m gonna need the room, I –” you moaned when his fingers managed to roll the thick fabric against your clit, when his breath hitched and he groaned your name. 

“If I don’t fuck you, you’re gonna fuck yourself on my bed?”

Your nails dug into the backs of his biceps and you felt another wave of arousal drip out of you, soaking the denim beneath his fingertips. You nodded. “Make it nice and messy, too. So you can’t lie down there without thinking about me with my f-fingers inside myself. Without wishing it had been you inside me instead.”

The hand not between your thighs grabbed the nape of your neck, tilting your head back, and Mingyu stared down at you with naked hunger. “Who says I don’t already think about that when I’m lying there, hm?”

“You – fuck, please.” You let your head fall further back, but your hands moved to the hem of his shirt, pushing it up, palms pressed against the bare skin of his abdomen. Fingers tracing the lines of muscle there, following them up his torso. 

Mingyu drew back to pull his shirt up and over his head, tossing it behind him before he was back in your space, helping you get your own shirt off before returning to your space and covering your lips with his, his tongue sweeping between your lips and tangling with yours. Captured your little gasps and whimpers into his mouth as he unfastened your jeans and dragged them down over your ass, turning his attention to placing kisses and licks against your neck, voice a low rumble when you lifted your hips for him. “Mm, such a good girl for me. So helpful.”

You braced your weight with your hands, pressed flat to the desk on either side of your hips, nodding. “I can be a really good girl.” As if to demonstrate your point, you gladly kicked the denim away once it reached your ankles. “Especially if I’m properly motiva–” you broke off with a yelp when Mingyu fell to his knees in front of you and pulled your hips forward, lifted your knees onto his shoulders, and started nipping and kissing his way up your inner thigh. 

“What was that?” he crooned, lips curved into a smirk that said he knew exactly what he was doing to you and loved the effect he had on you already. 

“Properly motivated! I do well with – with that, Gyu…” 

His fingers pressed into the seat of your panties, groaning at how wet they were. He hooked those same fingers beneath the fabric of your panties, drawing it to the side and baring you to his gaze. “So fucking pretty, baby. Already so needy for me, I probably don’t even need to use my tongue on you, do I?”

He really didn’t, but fuck, you wanted him to. Your whine and the way you bucked your hips were all the response he needed, and he gave a soft chuckle, breath warm against your cunt and nearly a caress in and of itself. 

You lifted your hips for him again as he drew your panties down and off, and at the first swipe of his tongue along your slit, your elbows nearly buckled. When he flicked it against your clit, then wrapped his lips around it and sucked, the sharp stab of pleasure was so acute that you had to drop back down onto your forearms. Just the fucking sight of him with his head between your thighs – his contented hums that sent vibrations through through your sensitive bud, that had you dripping with need. He slipped two fingers into you and started pumping them, curling them, searching, searching until – 

“Mm, there it is,” he moaned, focusing the thrusts of his fingers there, nipping at your swollen folds, sucking them into his mouth, then his tongue was circling and swirling around your clit again and it wasn’t long until you were falling apart, falling back onto the desk and shaking, waves of release rolling over and through you.

Mingyu worked you through the orgasm, gentle kisses and kitten licks against your inner thigh, slowing the movement of his fingers until your hand covered his, pulling it from you and lacing your fingers together. 

You managed to lift your head enough to meet his gaze, letting yourself be pulled upright and into his arms. You let out a happy hum and dropped your forehead onto his shoulder before the temptation of his skin was too much, and you started to press kisses there. Traced a line with your lips up his neck, pausing just beneath his jaw to catch the skin between your teeth, sucking at the sensitive skin and earning a gasp from Mingyu. 

He wrapped his arms around you and lifted you into them, smiling down at you when your legs immediately wrapped around his waist. It was instinctual, as was the way your arms moved to hold him and the way you couldn’t. stop. covering his neck with marks. Completely enraptured with the way they looked on him. 

Mingyu carried you to his bed and laid you down on the soft surface, covering your body with his and settling between your thighs. “I’m going to get so much shit for those, you realize?” 

“Oh? My bad. Should I apologize?”

“Fuck, no. It’s worth it,” he said with one of those oh-so-self-satisfied smiles. Propping himself up on one hand, he traced his fingertips along your own neck, across your chest, slipping them just under the edge of your bra. “And this way I don’t have to apologize when I cover all of this pretty skin with my own marks.”

You bit back a whimper, breath hitching in your chest. “Yeah?”

He hummed an affirmation, cupping your breast in a hand, and you watched the sharp rise and fall of his chest as he gave it a gentle squeeze. Were enraptured when he tugged the fabric covering your breast to the side and groaned, tongue coming out to wet his lower lip while his thumb circled your areola. Round and round until finally he brought it to your nipple, rubbing against it, forefinger coming to join and softly pinch the swollen flesh. 

His hips were thrusting against your cunt, slow rolls that were nowhere near enough for either of you but were just enough to stoke the fire within you. You could feel the way your arousal was coating the fabric of his pants, soaking through it, as you pressed yourself up into the thrusts, in silent entreaty. 

“Fuck,” he rasped, lips replacing his thumb, tongue and teeth and those lips teasing your nipple while he ground down into you. 

Your hands cradled the back of his head, fingers tangling in his hair, and you let out a breathy whine. “Want,” you started, legs locking behind his back and pulling him into you, moaning at the slow slide of his cock against your pussy, hissing when he circled his hips into yours. 

“What do you want, love?” Mingyu moved his lips from your breast to brush against yours, and he spoke against your lips while he stared down at you with eyes so full of heat you felt flames lick along your spine, centering in your sex. “Tell me what you need and I’ll give it to you.”

“You,” you answered simply. Your hands came to the waistband of his pants, slid beneath it so that you could wrap your fingers around him, stroke up and down along the length and let your thumb rub across the head. Gasping at the liquid you found there, at the precome that had slipped down the underside, easing your movements. “Think you need me, too, baby. Wanna feel you inside me so bad. Need to.”

Mingyu cursed and then he had his pants and underwear shoved down, kicked off toward the end of the bed. He held himself over you, weight borne on a forearm while his other held the base of his cock, guiding it through your desire-slicked flesh. Rubbed the tip against your clit. Teased at your entrance. “You want this?”

“Fuck, yes, God, Gyu, please.” You whimpered, whined, shifted your body beneath him. Your hands found his hips and you tried to tug him to you.

He captured your wrists and gathered them both above your head, holding them there, and you would complain – you really would – except there was that strength again. You looked up at him, your pupils blown wide, cheeks flushed, and every bit of your expression spoke to how much you actually liked that. How much you wanted him. 

The flash in his own eyes told you he noticed. You heard him curse and watched him swallow hard, felt his grip on your wrists tighten. “You like being helpless beneath me, fuck. Gonna remember that,” he promised. “Do we need a condom?” His voice was tight and he looked tense enough above you that you don’t know how he held it together. 

“N-No. I’m – I’m good. Implant. Clean. You?” It wasn’t the most eloquent sentence, but it got the point across and, in the next moment, Mingyu was pushing into you. 

“Clean, too, shit, sweetheart. Feel so fucking good,” he groaned as his pelvis met yours, cock in you to the base, filling you so full. He drew his hips back and then slowly pumped them forward again, giving you time to get used to the feel of him, cunt stretching around him and your body learning his in the most intimate of ways. 

“Oh fuck, you can – you can move faster, Gyu. Harder. Need you to. Need you to – to show me how strong you are,” you admitted, burying your face in the crook of his neck and whimpering when he did. 

Mingyu sat back on his heels, hands coming to your thighs and dragging your body into his next thrust, this one a sharp snap of his hips into you that made your eyes roll back. “Fucking love how strong I am, don’t you? Always teasing me about being so big –” he emphasized with another deep, hard thrust, and another as he continued, “so strong.” 

Guilty as charged. 

“Like it doesn’t get you off, too,” you said on a gasp, arching beneath him, heated gaze taking in every detail: the movement of his hips, the tension in his abdominals with each thrust, his thick biceps flexing, the muscles in his forearms and the strength in his hands where they gripped your thighs, sure to leave marks there tomorrow. His face. God, his face. The way his brows drew together in concentration, how his gaze – still hot enough to burn and completely focused, wholly attentive to you and this and getting you both off – kept flickering between where his cock was disappearing into your cunt and your face, the way he clenched his jaw and growled out your name. 

Shifting his hold on your legs, Mingyu leaned forward, a hand coming to fist in your hair and drawing your face to his, taking your lips, your mouth in a kiss as wet and deep and harsh as the movements of his every thrust. You felt his fingers on your clit, circling and rubbing fast around the sensitive bud, making you cry out, and your breath hitch, and you fuck, you were a heartbeat away from coming again. 

Heard him rasp against your lips, “Gonna come for me, love?”

You nodded, and your voice was shaky, breathless. “Uh– Uh huh.”

“That’s my girl. Let me feel it,” he hissed, groaning, starting to lose his rhythm and you knew he was close, too. “Gonna come, too. Gonna fill you all the way up, huh?”

You whined out his name, and yes and please, Gyu, please, baby and wanna be full of you. It was enough. It was too much. It was everything. Your orgasm slammed into you, rolling through you like a wave, leaving you clinging to him and shuddering in his arms, pussy squeezing his dick, dragging him into bliss with you.

His face pressed against yours, cheek to cheek, you heard him moaning your name as he came. You felt the shuddering of his own body, above you, around you, inside you, as he spilled himself into you.

Felt yourself being rolled over and onto his chest. Felt his heart pounding under your cheek as you sucked in sharp breaths, little aftershocks of pleasure working their way through you. 

You pressed soft kisses to his chest then turned your face into the touch of his hand, let his palm cup your cheek and tilt your face to look up at him. The broad, happy, sated smile you saw there and the warm affection in his gaze brought a grin to your own face. 

“I realized I never said earlier,” Mingyu started, gently guiding you up his body so you were eye level. “In case it’s not glaringly obvious, I have a thing for you, too.”

A soft, happy puff of laughter left you then and you leaned down to kiss him. Tenderly. You brought a hand up to cup his jaw and couldn’t bite back a smile when he turned his head to press a kiss to your palm. “I may have had some suspicion for a second there, but it’s good to have the confirmation.”

It was Mingyu’s turn to laugh then and he shook his head, arms coming around you, holding you close. “Do you have plans tomorrow?”

“Oooh, what time?”

“I was actually thinking like, all day.”

“What?”

“Breakfast, lunch, movie, dinner? I figure I have a lot of dates to make up,” he said and his smile took your breath away.

Release: May 13, 1985

Lyrics:

Talk to me, don't lie to me

Save your breath

Don't look at me, don't smile at me

Just close your eyes

I was so impressed by you

I was running blind

I would fall for every trick

Every twist of mind

Heaven is cold

Without any soul

It's hard to believe

I was so in love with you

Don't say your prayers, don't build your hopes

Just walk away

Don't phone me up, don't call around

Don't waste your time

You were so in awe of me

You were so divine

You would do just anything

To still be mine

Heaven is cold

Without any soul

It's hard to believe

I was so in love with you

All the things you said to me

I was so obsessed

You were always talking, talking

God, I did my best

Heaven is cold

Without any soul

It's hard to believe

I was so in love with you

Heaven is cold

Without any soul

It's hard to believe

I was so in love with you

Heaven is cold

Without any soul

It's hard to believe

I was so in love with you

Songwriter:

I was so in love, I was so in love, I was so in love with you

So in love with you

Andrew McCluskey / Paul David Humphreys / Stephen Eric Hague

SongFacts:

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