#dabin x reader

“This scenario is quite simple. You and Wooyoung are the top two students in an elite dance class. You have a typical rivalry. However, do not stray far from the path due to the simplicity of his domain. Instead, tread carefully.” - Maddox

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“When the hell did you get a haircut and why are you pink?”

MITO laughed as you tilted your head curiously. He had gotten a new haircut, leaving you to mourn his long dark locks internally. Not only was his hair short, but it was also a rose coloured pink. He still looked good regardless. Matz and SanSang stared at his new hair in awe. As you entered the dance studio, you looked around and took in the vastness of the ceiling lights, the brick walls, and the huge mirrors plastered on one of those said brick walls. Students were strewn about in athletic clothing and were either stretching, hydrating, or gossiping. You went to your corner and set down your dufflebag before pulling out your sneakers. As you placed your slippers inside your bag, you felt a presence loom over you before taking its place next to you. An arm wrapped around your shoulders and pulled you closer. You turned your head to see your supposed rival with a cheeky grin on his face. 

Jung Wooyoung. 

You couldn’t find it in you to hate him so you mustered your best acting skills to at least give off a non-chalant vibe. You greeted him politely before turning your head so you could fetch your water bottle. You heard a quiet whine from behind you and the next thing you know, you were pulled back to him. 

“Come on, Natasha! Talk to me~”

Wooyoung’s whines and noises of complaint were endearing to you. You didn’t understand why a lot of people here found it annoying. You’d rather have him be ‘annoying’ and light up the atmosphere with his cheerful energy than be in survival mode as you went about your day in dance class. 

“Calm down, Woo. I’m just fetching my water bottle.”

“Ah! Ok then. That’s fine. The last thing I need is for a certain cutie to pass out from dehydration. It would make the rivalry a bit boring. Don’t you think?!”

“You’re weird.”

“But you love it~”

He pushed himself further into your personal space and smushed your cheeks together whilst keeping your body close to his. His veiny arms were wrapped tightly around your waist and you could smell the faint ocean scent from the cologne he spritzed on. He was really cute, but you couldn’t let him distract you from the mission. You pried his arms off of you so you could get up. You saw the pout on his face and rolled your eyes before extending your hand. 

“Come on. We have to get to our spots before professor Hwang rips us a new one.”

With a dramatic sigh of defeat, Wooyoung took his hand in your hand and followed you closely behind. 

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“Jesus!”

Wooyoung laughed (well… more like cackled like a witch since his laugh was that high pitched) loudly as you collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. You did work out in your spare time, but running around at your bartending job proved to be enough exercise for you. Or so you thought. Wooyoung extended a hand towards you and you took it before being pulled up by him. 

“Aww! Couldn’t keep up today?”

You smacked his hand away as he teased you. He then leaned in closer and whispered in your ear huskily. 

“Or are you still a bit… sore? You know… from last night’s session?”

Oh. Right. 

Maddox forgot to inform you that you and Wooyoung occasionally fucked when given the chance. You made a mental note to beat his ass later. 

“Man, shut up.”

Wooyoung smirked mischieviously at your flustered expression before patting your head and skipping to the other side of the studio so he could retrieve his water bottle and hydrate. You sighed to yourself and wiped the sweat off your brow with a small towel before making the tragic mistake of glancing upwards.

Wooyoung was using his shirt to wipe the sweat off his brow, exposing his abs to everyone, including you. 

“I see you like the view.”

You flinched as you heard professor Hwang’s voice in your ear. You turned your head to look at the practically bald and very young dance professor. He had a smirk on his face and you grew even more flustered. 

What is it with this simulation and its affinity for fine ass men?

“Do you need something, professor?”

“Please. Call me Hyunjin.”

His voice then lowered to a dangerous tone. 

“Let’s cut to the chase… Y/N.”

Shit…

“I am here to warn you.”

“Warn me? About what?”

Even though you were far from everyone else, especially Wooyoung, you lowered your voice just in case. Hyunjin let out a shaky breath as he looked around the room before getting closer to you so he could give you the warning. 

“The virus is onto you. It knows that you freed four pirate kings so far and are in the process of freeing him. Be very careful.”

You gulped nervously before speaking. 

“Are you protecting Wooyoung?”

“Technically yes and also no at the same time. I’m filling in for Seo Changbin. He’s the sole protector of Wooyoung. However, the virus found out and incapacitated him temporarily, leaving me to take over for now.”

“Incapacitate? How?”

Despite the calm tone in your voice, you couldn’t deny that you felt fear when Hyunjin told you about the virus. Hyunjin hesitated for a moment before speaking once again. 

“Trust me. Even though Changbin’s ok and very much alive, you don’t want to know.”

You gulped nervously and looked at Wooyoung, who was chatting amongst his peers with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. You assumed that those peers were talking bad right in front of him, but you’d worry about that later. You looked back at Hyunjin and asked for more information. 

“I can’t tell you much about the virus, but just know this. It’s a man. A man with sharp fox-like eyes. Similar to Wooyoung.”

You nodded and thanked Hyunjin for the bit of info before walking away from him so you could get Wooyoung away from his peers. It wasn’t much, but at least you had an idea and can clearly picture the virus’s face. You stepped in between Wooyoung and the bad mouthing peers with a glare on your face. 

“I suggest you leave him alone. We’re not bothering you so why are you bothering him?”

“Ugh! Leave us alone, Natasha! It’s not like you like him either. You probably think he’s a nuisance, just like the rest of us.”

You felt Wooyoung flinch at the word ‘nuisance’ and you couldn’t control your anger anymore. The stress of the virus coming onto you was weighing you down and it didn’t help that these bitches were bad mouthing someone you considered a friend. You grabbed the collar of the girl’s shirt and pulled her forward so you were nose to nose with her. 

“Listen here, ya snake. I don’t need this shit right now. If you don’t got something to say, then shut ya mouth.”

“Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it, bitch?”

You chuckled lowly before shoving her back into her group of friends. You gathered your things and grabbed Wooyoung’s hand. 

“Next time, consider keeping ya mouth shut. Or else I’ll clock your ass.”

You pulled Wooyoung out of the dance studio and marched off back to your apartment with him in tow. You were glad you lived close by. As you barged through the front door, you let go of him, threw your stuff on the couch, and paced back and forth in your fit of seething rage. Wooyoung kept his head down and you noticed it, suddenly feeling bad for your outburst. You also mentally cursed yourself for the way you spoke. It was the same way you spoke when you chewed out the bartender for not eying San’s drugged drink before serving it to him. You saw Wooyoung walk closer to you and the apologies start spilling from your mouth. 

“Wooyoung, I’m sorry! I just… hate it when bitches bad mouth you for no reason. I consider you a good friend even though our rivalry stands in the way. If I fucked up in any way, just let me know and I’ll fix it right away -”

Wooyoung interrupted you by closing the distance and crashing his lips onto yours. 

‘Am I supposed to kiss back?’

‘He’d probably be more upset if you don’t.’

‘Fuck it we ball’

You kissed him back, tangling your fingers in his long black hair while his hands gripped your waist tightly. The kiss was messy, desperate, and had a hint of passion and perhaps love in it. He walked you backwards and laid you down on the couch, his lips never leaving yours once. In the midst of this heated make out session, he slid off his shirt and cradled your face with one hand while the other held your own hand. He soon flipped you over so you were on top this time. You were straddling him and pulled away so you both could catch your breath. You let go of his hand and slid your palms down his body slowly, taking in every inch and curve of his chest and those abs that he flashed back in dance class. As soon as your fingers reached the hem of his gym shorts, you looked at him, silently asking for permission to remove them. 

“Please…”

The breathiness of his plea was his answer and you swiftly removed them, eyes widening at the sight of his dick slapping against his stomach, the tip barely touching his abs. 

‘Holy shit! He’s fucking thick!’

‘Not as thick as San’s though!’

‘It doesn’t matter! Ride it into the sunset!’

“Can I ride you, Woo?”

Wooyoung nodded and you quickly removed your own clothing, which consisted of a sports bra and yoga pants. After straddling him again, you grabbed the base of his cock and teasingly dragged the top along your folds, causing the man to whine. You didn’t waste anymore time. You needed to let out all the frustration you felt today. You slowly sank down onto his cock, hissing and moaning quietly upon feeling every inch enter you. Wooyoung was no better. He resisted heavily on simply grabbing you and slamming you down on his dick until he bottomed out. Once it was fully in, you took a minute to adjust to his size before slowly lifting your hips so only the tip remained inside. Then, you slammed yourself back down on it, causing loud moans to be elicited from the both of you. 

“You feel so good! Mommy, please! Please keep going~”

The nickname ignited a fire within you and you adjusted yourself so your hands were on his shoulders and you could continue bouncing up and down on his cock. Every swipe of his tip against your g-spot had you moaning and whimpering louder and louder by the second. 

“We really shouldn’t eavesdrop on this shit.”

“You guys eavesdropped on me when I fucked Y/N. What makes this any different?”

“Seonghwa, get your hand out of your pants!”

Hongjoong’s words fell deaf on Seonghwa’s ears as the eldest pirate king shamefully stroked himself whilst keeping his ear pressed to the door of your apartment. San was pinching the bridge of his nose while MITO strayed far away from the group, shouting someone’s name in the halls. 

“YEOSANG, WHERE ARE YOU?! FUCK! COME ON, MAN!”

Yeosang heard the bounty hunter shout for him, but he held his breath. His face was pale, his fists were clenched, and he was visibly shaking. Behind him, a hooded figure pointed a dagger into his back. 

“Not a single word…”

Yeosang gulped nervously as the figure circled itself around him. It looked him up and down before a snarl left its lips. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke and when it cleared, MITO approached him. Yeosang let out a cry of relief and threw himself into the tatted man’s arms. 

“M-MITO…”

“Are you ok?”

Yeosang shook his head and MITO sighed in frustration before throwing a protective arm around his shoulders. Yeosang relaxed a bit, but he was still a bit shaken up. As the pair walked back to Matz and San, MITO couldn’t help but rack his brain on who spooked Yeosang like that. 

“Fuck that was good!”

Wooyoung breathed out in satisfaction as you got off him and laid beside him. His arm was around you and he kissed the top of your head before looking down at you affectionately. 

“It’s probably weird of me to say this since we just finished fucking, but… thanks for standing up for me earlier. Even though your accent was weird, I can’t deny that it’s sexy.” 

You blushed at his compliment and giggled when he started peppering kisses all over your face. 

“I’ll be right back. I need to fetch some clothes for us.”

Wooyoung whined but reluctantly let you go so you could retrieve a fresh set of clothing for both you and him. When you entered your room, you felt a slight chill in the air yet you ignored it, thinking it was just a draft and you left the windows open by accident. After putting on a shirt and sweats, you rummaged through your wardrobe to find something for Wooyoung. 

“I see you had fun with him.”

You flinched at the sound of a strange voice and turned around to see a hooded figure staring you down. Hyunjin was next to the figure, battered and bruised. He had a dagger to his throat and your eyes widened upon seeing the sight. You opened your mouth to call for Wooyoung, but the figure interrupted you. 

“Scream for him and he dies.”

You closed your mouth and glared at the figure instead. You had a feeling on who it was, but you had to ask just in case the simulation was playing tricks on you. 

“You’re the virus. The one that corrupted the simulation. Am I right?”

The figure laughed wickedly and shoved Hyunjin to the side before approaching you slowly. You watched Hyunjin fall onto your bed before returning your eyes to the figure. It circled you and looked you up and down before stopping in front of you once more. A gloved hand reached out and touched your chin before lifting your head so you could properly stare at it. A shiver went down your spine as you vaguely felt the touch to be familiar. 

“Go ahead. Pull down the hood. See the face behind the virus.”

You shakily reached your hand out and let your fingertips touch the hem of the hood, afraid it might just be tricking you and will kill you right on the spot. When you looked down to see the dagger remaining unmoved, you fully grasped the hood and counted to three before yanking it back. 

You wanted to vomit after seeing his face. 

“YOU?!”

“Hey, my jasmine.”

Out of all the possibilities of who the virus might be, he was the last person on your mind. Hyunjin’s words rang in your ears and you felt a pit forming in your stomach.

‘Sharp fox-like eyes. Similar to Wooyoung.’

You might regret it, but you had to make sure that it wasn’t a nightmare come true. The same hand that yanked the hood back slightly cupped his cheek. Your knees almost gave out when he leaned into your touch easily. You retracted your hand, feeling disgusted as you stared the man down. 

“You’re the virus, Dabin?!”

He laughed wickedly as he sheathed the dagger and caged you in between his arms. That laugh was once music to your ears. Now? It was something you needed to cleanse your ears of. You noticed the black veins protruding from his neck and saw his eyes glow green briefly before reverting back to its familiar brown color. 

“So what if I am? What are you going to do about it?”

“Hey! Asshole!”

The two of you looked over to see Wooyoung wide awake and fully clothed. But he looked different. He was wearing an all black fit with the sleeves rolled up, a white shirt underneath the jacket with a hug opening around the collar and the sleeves rolled up as well, and a silver chain dangling off his neck and glinting in the moonlight. The eyeliner made the sharpness of his eyes looking more alluring and the thorny rose tattoo on his left forearm was revealed. What caught your eye though was his hair. The long strands of his black hair weren’t there anymore. Instead, it was short and a fiery shade of red. 

“When I tell you to run, run.”

Dabin grew annoyed and turned to face Wooyoung, dagger at the ready. Before he could strike, Hyunjin grabbed his arms from behind and Wooyoung pried the dagger from his gloved hands. 

“RUN!”

You sprinted out of the room, hearing the struggle between the three men. You threw the door open and your face rammed into a hard chest. You looked up to see a bewildered MITO staring down at you. 

“Love, what’s going -”

“No talk! We’ve been compromised! The virus found us, but Wooyoung is awake! We got to go! NOW!”

You sprinted past MITO, who quickly ran behind you. Matz and SanSang saw you running. They didn’t ask you what was going on. Instead, they ran alongside you, shielding you as best as they could from any possible danger that loomed over their heads. Your lungs burned and your legs ached yet you didn’t stop until you fully evaded the danger that was your ex-husband, aka the virus. 

“The door’s right there!”

You saw Wooyoung running alongside you and the short relief of seeing him again gave you the energy boost you need to reach the door. You swung it open and ran through, accidentally tripping in the process. A groan left your lips as the door closed behind you and you felt two pairs of hands lift you up by your arms. You looked around to see if everyone was present. MITO was there. 

So was Hongjoong

Seonghwa

Yeosang

San

And…

“Wooyoung!”

You threw your arms around him and let out a sob of relief while Wooyoung, albeit out of breath and a bit disoriented from waking up from the simulation, hugged you back. He let go and kissed your forehead before turning to the bounty hunter and his fellow pirate kings.

“SANGIE! SANNIE!”

An excited squeal escaped Wooyoung as he hugged his best friend and his soulmate. He then hugged the captain and the first mate before turning towards the bounty hunter and hugging him as well. 

“How long was I out?”

“Far too long. Luckily, Y/N here saved you.”

Wooyoung turned to you and grinned when he saw you shyly wave at him. He pulled you into a hug and repeatedly kissed your cheek, expressing his gratitude in between each kiss. He was soon dragged away by Yeosang and immediately latched onto him. While he was distracted by his best friend, MITO approached you. 

“Hey. You ok?”

“No…”

“I know the virus seems scary, but I promise you that we’ll protect you -”

“I know him.”

All five of the pirate kings swiveled their heads towards you while MITO furrowed his brows in confusion. You sighed shakily and tried your best to explain everything without stuttering. 

“Before you ask, I honestly didn’t know that he was the virus. I simply just know him as my ex-husband. It was an arranged marriage yet we fell in love a few weeks later. One day, he disappeared out of nowhere. Witness statements claim that they saw him go into the woods and a bright red light shone over him before disappearing. Then poof! He was gone. I assumed he ran away with his mistress and I signed the divorce papers. His parents thought the same thing and signed the papers for him.”

A tear fell down your face and all six men felt their hearts ache for you. 

“Now that I know that he’s behind all this, I… don’t know what I should do.”

Hongjoong approached you and placed a hand on your shoulder, wiping the tear away from your face. 

“The most we can do for now is rescue the last three members of our crew. We will figure it out together.”

With a final nod, you followed them closely behind. 

you were in the studio with dabin late at night. scrolling through your phone, waiting for your boyfriend to finish working on one of his song for his upcoming album.

dabin was hunched over his desk, staring at the monitor with the track on the screen, labeled KISSME_v8. the brightness of the screen lighting up the dark studio.

you got up and walked over to him, wrapping your arms around him from behind “which one is this one?”

“something special to me that i want to add to the album.. wanna listen to it?”

you nodded as you sat on a stool and pulled the headphones over your head.

he hit play.

the dreamy intro filled the room, the lyrics sounding so smooth and soft.

lets listen to the stars, we just traveled through mars, the universe is ours

as the song played you didn’t know yet that he had made this song for you. you turn to him to see him smiling at you, waiting for you to realize.

you continued to move your head to the beat when the lyrics became more obvious.

explain yourself, girl, why so cruel? the way you kiss it oh so rude, you got me up from dark to noon.

the realization bloomed slow and full in your chest.

this was for you.

he didn’t say it. he didn’t need to. he looked at you with love full in his eyes. you looked back at him.

“is this… for me?” you wanted him to say it was, even though it clearly was meant for you.

“yeah, i wanted it to sound like us.. is it too much?”

“it’s beyond perfect.”

the track still hovers on the screen. waiting.

“play it again” you smiled at him, you had already fallen in love with the song.

he nods and clicks play. this time, he pulls you into his lap, head resting on your shoulder.

but now you hear it differently.

the lyrics never say your name—but it’s there, in the pauses. in the breaths he leaves on purpose. in the way he says those words.

⠀⠀⠀

‘내 사랑? Is that you?,’ Dabin called out as he emerged from his home-studio. He was shirtless, his track pants hanging low on his hips and his reading glasses on the tip of his nose as he watched you enter the apartment, surprised.

⠀⠀⠀

‘Why didn’t you call? I would have picked you up,’ He chastises as he grabbed your arm to steady you from falling, ‘Shit you must have drank a lot.’

⠀⠀⠀

You gave him two thumbs up and nodded in agreement, your words coming out as nothing more than a slur, ‘A loooot,’

⠀⠀⠀

Dabin snorted, cupping your cheeks and pecking your lips lightly, his nose wrinkling at the whiff of alcohol that filled his nostrils; ‘At least you’re home safe. Come on, let’s get you ready for bed.’

⠀⠀⠀

You lazily nodded and let him drag you into the bedroom, half carrying you as you suddenly began to feel heavier with sleep; ‘Honey,’ you slur while he chuckled, ‘Ho–ney,’

⠀⠀⠀

‘왜?’ He hums as he sat you on the edge of the bed and searched for your makeup removers in the en-suite.

⠀⠀⠀

‘Did you miss me?’ You hiccup with a cutesy tone, watching as he returned armed with wipes and a face cloth. He suddenly moved out of focus, your world disappearing and being replaced with your bedroom ceiling, ‘Ugh.’

⠀⠀⠀

‘Geez,’ he laughs as you fell back onto the bed, too drunk to sit up on your own, ‘You’re really drunk.’

⠀⠀⠀

Crawling beside you, Dabin quickly set to work, wiping as much of your makeup off as he could while you talked in almost gibberish; ‘Honey, were you working?’

⠀⠀⠀

He straightened the glasses that were falling down his nose and nodded with a smile, ‘Mm, while I was waiting for you to get home.’

⠀⠀⠀

‘Did you miss me?’ You ask him again while he wiped your face over with the cloth, laughing as you spluttered and pouted from the attack.

⠀⠀⠀

‘Mm, I missed you,’ he responds softly before helping you to sit up despite your grumbling, ‘Come on, work with me babe, let’s get you into something a little more comfortable.’

⠀⠀⠀

‘Oo,’ you responded, causing him to chuckle as your hands immediately went to his bare chest, stroking at his skin suggestively, suddenly wide awake.

⠀⠀⠀

‘Na-uh,’ he shakes his head and pushes away your hands, holding back his laughter as frown lines formed between your brows; ‘You’re way too drunk and you need to sleep.’

⠀⠀⠀

‘Dabin,’ you whine only to be met with the cluck of his tongue; ‘Sleep, 자기야.’

⠀⠀⠀

Without much effort, Dabin had you out of your dress and in a loose shirt. It was only after he had managed to detangle your hair and place socks on your feet at your request, that Dabin finally let you crawl into the sheets.

⠀⠀⠀

Turning out the lights, Dabin joined you minutes later, a smile on his lips as he stroked your hair and murmured half-heartedly, ‘How are you still so cute after all these years?’ he asks while you smiled happily, your eyes closed, ready for sleep.

⠀⠀⠀

‘Thank you for taking care of me,’ you say through a yawn as Dabin’s arm snaked around you, pulling your back to his front. With his lips pressed to your shoulder, Dabin mumbled with a smile and an honest heart, ‘Always.’

“I’m sorry about this last scenario. I truly didn’t know until I realized who was the last pirate king to be saved. From what you have told me prior to this mission, I didn’t think to put two and two together. Please keep your head strong and hear him out once you wake him up. Just know that he never meant to leave you. Good luck.” - Maddox

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“YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT HE’S BEEN HERE ALL THIS DAMN TIME AND NONE OF YOU GUYS THOUGHT TO TELL ME?!”

“Love, please…”

“OH SHUT THE FUCK UP, MITO! YOU PROBABLY KNEW AS WELL! DON’T PLAY WITH ME!”

“I would never -”

You signalled for MITO to shut his mouth, to which he obeyed immediately. The other pirate kings have never seen you this angry before. The last time they saw you this angry was when you found out that Dabin was the virus. At least with him, you got over it quickly. Now that you found out that he was the last pirate king, you were on a different level of anger. You remembered him leaving you like it was yesterday. 

You had just gotten home from another boring shift at your bartending job. All you wanted to do now was curl up against your teddy bear and talk about life. As you entered your shared apartment, you noticed that it was eerily quiet. No shouting from the game room, no shower running in the bathroom, and so on. You were so confused. You also noticed how the apartment was wiped clean of any trace of your boyfriend. On top of your confusion, fear crept into your system. When you slowly approached your shared bedroom, it was clean. The bed was made and you saw a few drawers of your wardrobe opened slightly. You put your bag down and called out for him. When he didn’t answer, you started to panic a bit. That’s when your eyes landed on a single letter atop your bed. You shakily reached for it and opened it up before reading it. 

With the crumpled letter in your hand, you sank to the floor and sobbed your heart out, keeping his words close to your chest. As much as you want to yell spiteful words at him, your subconscious knows that he would never leave you unless it was for a valid reason. Whatever was written in that letter, that was the valid reason. With a heavy and anguished heart, you waited for his return. 

“My dearest Y/N, 

If you are reading this, that means I am gone. No, I am not dead. At least… I hope I won’t be due to my hope of successfully completing this mission with little to no injuries. I cannot tell you where I am nor can I tell you why I have disappeared from sight. Just know that I will always love you. You are my forever. My universe. My whole heart. My everything. You always ask me if you’re worthy of my love. Honey, you have always been worthy. It is me that isn’t worthy of your love, especially when I come home late at night. I lied. I’m not in an underground fight club. I’m in something worse. Or perhaps better. Either way, if you ever found out what I did for a living, you would look at me with disgust and pure hatred. And I cannot have that. That’s why I had to disappear. I am not running away because I don’t love you. I am joining a band of pirates to protect you, our city, and our future. I want a life with you. I want to marry you, have children with you, and grow old with you until our time passes. And for that to happen, I have to ensure that it will happen. The captain has assured me that I will walk away from this unscathed. All I ask is that you wait for me. I will return. I love you. 

Yours truly, 

Choi Jongho”

“No. I’m not doing it. I’m not going to rescue him. I don’t want to face him.”

“Come on -”

“You’re seriously taking his side?! You try disappearing for a month or so, leaving your guy or girl with a stupid letter and waiting within that time frame before talking to me about how that makes you feel! How about that?!”

“Ok bet! Then you try being in our youngest’s shoes for a year or so before you complain to us about that!”

Everyone winced as Wooyoung raised his voice at you in defense of Jongho, especially since he was the one that knew the most about Jongho’s pain and the sorrow he felt when he had to leave you behind. He also felt bad for you as well, but he wasn’t liking your attitude about it. He didn’t like how you acted like the only victim in this unfortunate situation. He didn’t like how you were painting Jongho to be the bad guy without hearing him out. He didn’t like your pettiness. 

He just didn’t like you at that moment. 

“Do you know about all the times he cried in his bed the first few nights aboard our ship?! Crying out to you, venting to us about how his nightmares consisted of losing you?! How he always beats himself up for leaving you, his everything, behind?! Huh?! Do you?! DO YOU?!”

He wasn’t finished with you. 

“So don’t stand there and play victim in this bullshit when it takes two to strain a relationship! Don’t say stupid shit like ‘i’M nOt gOiNg to wAkE hiM up!’ when you know that the virus is onto us and knows who you fucking are! Refuse one more time and I swear to God I’ll -”

“Wooyoung, enough.”

You two swiveled your heads upon hearing Hongjoong’s authoritative voice. He glared furiously at you both before cocking his head, indicating that Wooyoung should step aside and cool off so he won’t say any more hurtful words. 

“You. Come here. Now.”

Hongjoong growled those words and you walked up to him, daring to go nose to nose with him. He stepped back and clicked his tongue in a disapproving tone. Even though you remained neutral, deep down, you knew your petty anger was the reason why the captain was feeling this way. 

“I see both sides of the argument. Let me address that. However, while I don’t approve of Wooyoung’s attitude towards you, I don’t appreciate how you’re willing to throw all of your hard work away just because of a silly loathing you have towards the love of your life.”

“I n-never said I l-loathed -”

“SILENCE!”

Hongjoong’s booming voice echoed in the emptiness of the void and you shut your mouth so he could continue speaking. The captain’s anger was incomparable. 

“Quite frankly, I don’t care what happens when you reunite with him. We have a mission to do and if you want to stand in the way by leaving now, I will not hesitate to lay a hand on you. I will see you as a threat if you continue to be a petty bitch. After all, bartenders are replacable. Are they not?”

Hongjoong hated having to speak like this to you. However, you were basically a part of his crew whether you knew and liked it or not so he had no choice but to act this way in order to keep you in line. He wasn’t lying when he said that he saw your side of the argument, indicating that he empathizes with your pain. However, he will not tolerate refusal on important subjects due to personal pettiness grudges. 

“It’s up to you if you want to continue acting like a spoiled brat! Just stay out of our way.”

“W-Wait, Hongjoong -”

“Captain.”

“C-Captain, look. I-I’m sorry -”

“You can make it up to both Wooyoung and I by swallowing your fucking pride and helping us.”

You nodded rapidly, keeping your head low as you walked past all of them and jiggled the doorknob aggressively so you could get in the domain, wake Jongho up, and get out. The last thing you needed was to anger Hongjoong even more. Seonghwa tapped the captain’s shoulder and the shorter man turned around to look at his first mate’s expression. His brows were furrowed and he seemed deep in contemplation. 

“I know you did what you had to do, but look at her, Hongjoong. She’s shaking like a leaf. She’ll probably refuse to look us in the eye. Poor MITO’s heart was torn in two when he extended his arms for a hug and she brushed past him, ignoring his comfort.”

“That’s hardly my fault, Hwa -”

“Joongie. You have to apologize to hear. Woo’s willing to apologize to her since he knew that he was out of line, but you? You’re stubborn as fuck. Do you honestly want her to leave us, knowing that their captain is scary?”

Hongjoong sighed deeply and crossed his arms. Seonghwa was right. But for now, he had to focus on the task at hand. He compromised with the eldest and the eldest agreed. As they entered the last domain, they prayed it wouldn’t be as bad as the others. 

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

As if things couldn’t get worse, Jongho’s domain was your living hell. You thought Yunho’s domain was bad? Here you were, stuck in a cafe, sitting across from MITO, who was playing the part of the man you were arranged to marry. This felt a bit too realistic for your liking, but you knew one thing was for certain. 

You started dating Jongho after you divorced Dabin. 

“Come on, sweetie! Talk to David! He’s a nice man! With an actual stable job!”

David. Fucking David. That was MITO’s fake name for this domain. Your ‘mom’ encouraged you, or tried, to talk to him yet you weren’t having it. You knew it was wrong, but you were too deep in your head to register what was going on. Your ‘dad’ sighed in disappointment and nudged your side a bit. 

“You better talk to him or else -”

“Sir, it’s ok! Really. She’s probably a bit shy considering she’s just seeing me for the first time.”

“No kid of mine is shy. She’s stubborn and way too quiet for her own good. She can’t get what she wants unless she speaks up and talks clearly.”

Again. This felt too realistic for you. This is exactly what happened when you first met Dabin. Like MITO, Dabin was kind enough to stand up for you. In fact, he repeated the same exact words Dabin had said when this happened. As your father grumbled in his seat and your mother was chatting away obliviously, you sunk lower into your seat. MITO leaned in a bit further and whispered in your ear softly. 

“Nine o’clock. Out the window. Look closely.”

You were confused by what he said but shrugged before sitting up straighed and turned your head towards your left. Your heart softened yet sped up rapidly at the same time when you realized why MITO wanted you to look out the window. Standing out there was none other than your beloved boyfriend. 

Choi Jongho. 

Another memory came back to you. 

You were sitting in the bakery, sipping on an iced americano and reading your favorite book as you waited for your date to come by. After months of letting the divorce between you and Dabin settle, you decided to try dating again. You decided to go the online dating route. At first, most of the guys were either looking for one-night stands or were just straight trash. Then, he came along. He was standing outside the bakery, waving shyly at you before walking inside and sitting across from where you were seated.

“Hi! Y/N L/N, right?”

“That’s me! And you must be Choi Jongho!”

He grinned shyly and extended his hand so you could shake it. Even though his touch was gentle, you felt the firmness of his grip. You blushed a bit and shamefully shook away any dirty thoughts you had about him and his strength. 

‘Y’all are literally meeting for the first time! Stop that!’

“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.”

“Of course! I can’t believe such a gorgeous girl is right in fron of me. Wait, is that too straightforward? I mean you certainly are gorgeous. No wait!”

You giggled as he fumbled over his words trying to save face. Not that he didn’t need to anyways. His awkward demeanor was cute and endearing. As you two talked about random things and got to know one another, you already found yourself falling for him. Little did you know

He was falling for you too. 

This same scenario was created from your memory, except Jongho didn’t have a bright gummy smile on his face. Instead, his expression was somber and depressed. His shoulders sagged, his hands were in his pockets, and his head was tilted downwards a bit. Your heart ached at the sight of him and you wanted to call out to him so bad yet you couldn’t. The words got stuck in your throat and before you knew it, he turned away, pulled his hood over his face, and started walking. You tried to get up, but MITO held you back. He shook his head and mouthed a specific sentence to you. 

‘Only when the time comes.’

You didn’t know what he meant by that, but you knew he stopped you for a reason. You sat back down and continued the idle chatter with MITO whilst plotting your next move. You were going to get your Jongho back.  

No matter what. 

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

“Your ‘parents’ are going to be out for a bit so you have time to find Jongho and talk to him a bit before they get back. I’ll cover for you in case they come home early.”

“Thank you, MITO.”

You exited the house and made your way to the bar where you and Jongho were supposed to meet up. You were afraid that he wouldn’t respond back when you first messaged him, but unsurprisingly, he replied back immediately. He may not be a clingy texter, but he always responds back to your messages, which brings up another memory. 

You were playing a small prank on him. It was the ‘ignoring your partner’s texts’ prank and it was trending all over social media. You sent him one message and he responded back as always. When he sent another text, you initiated the prank. It was hard to keep up with the prank since the messages were getting more and more desperate. He was getting worried. A few minutes later, you heard the front door open and the sound of boots thundered in the hallway. You had to compose yourself to contain the giddiness you felt in your body. When he opened the door to your room, you pretended to scroll through your phone, acting unaware that he was home. He got closer to you and placed his fingers under your chin before looking at you with a pissed off expression. 

“Honey… care to tell me why you’re not responding to my messages? You know I hate that shit. I’d rather have you leave a stupid reaction or a simple ‘K’ as a response back. Talk to me.”

You couldn’t do it anymore. Seeing him look all pissed off shamefully turned you on and you were not about to let your arousal ruin the prank. So you decided to end it there. You grabbed his face and kissed his lips quickly before giggling to yourself. 

“Ha! Pranked ya!”

Jongho breathed out a sigh of relief before grabbing your waist and lifting you up so you were thrown over his shoulder. You squealed in delight and playfully hit him whilst telling him to put you down. 

“Nah. You owe me a movie night and some cuddles as compensation.”

You giggled to yourself as you played the memory in your head. After a few more minutes, you saw him approach you. He sat in the booth next to you and ordered himself a whisky and coke. Once his drink arrived, he sipped on it, feeling refreshed by this mixed drink. He then looked at you. 

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

You knew he was in a simulation, yet you couldn’t help but fight the urge to cry. After not seeing him for so long, seeing him right in front of you washed away all the pettiness and anger you had for him. Logically, you believed that he thought that this mission was going to be like the rest and that he would complete it with ease before going home to you. 

You saw how that turned out. 

“So why did you want to see me?”

You wanted to stick to the script, yet you couldn’t. Instead of saying what was supposed to be said, you reached out to cup his cheek and let the first tear fall. Jongho saw this and reached out to wipe the tear away. You melted under his brief touch and scooted closer to him. Jongho’s breath hitched upon your close proximity, but he wouldn’t protest to this. 

“I missed you. So much.”

Your voice was broken and you reached your other hand out so you could hold his face properly. It had been so long since you had touched him and you wanted to savor every moment of it. Jongho leaned into your touch naturally. He held your hands and the serious look on his face softened into something familiar. 

“You missed me? But it’s only been a week since you broke things off unwillingly after telling me that you were to be married.”

“I don’t give a fuck! This week felt like a month to me! The meetups, the constant nagging, the belittling every time things went wrong! I hated it! Yes, David is an understanding person, but at the end of the day, I don’t love him. I love you!”

You poured out every frustration you held whilst twisting your words to fit the scenario. Other than that, 95% of your words held so much truth. Jongho saw it in your eyes and pulled you closer while you kept ranting. 

“Every single damn day, I waited for you to come home. I had so many questions as to why you did what you did and lied about it! Yes, I was angry at your departure and wanted to scream at you, spit venomous words, and just hate you overall! At the end of the day, I couldn’t. Because I know what you’re doing. You are doing everything you can to ensure that you… you…”

“I what?”

You were so lost in your passionate venting that you didn’t realize you almost spilled the truth. Luckily, you caught yourself just in time and shut your mouth at the exact moment. Jongho pushed you to keep saying what you’re saying, but you waved it off, leaving him confused. 

“Look. Forget what I said. Jongho, let’s run away.”

“Run away?! But your parents -”

“Don’t give a fuck about me!”

“Natasha, please -”

“Don’t you love me?”

“Of course I do. But I’m not yours anymore.”

“You are still mine!”

“No. I used to be yours.”

“To hell with everything.”

Jongho wasn’t expecting you to grab his face and kiss him desperately and passionately, yet he didn’t care. He grabbed your waist and pulled you closer before angling his head so he could deepen the kiss. You had your eyes closed so you didn’t notice the way his appearance changed right in front of you. His outfit changed from a light military green hoodie and blue jeans to a three-piece black and white suit, black leather shoes, and a black trench coat with black fur at the ends of the sleeves and lining up the coat’s collar. His hair went from black to a beautiful shade of red and it was swept back so his forehead was revealed. When you pulled away to catch your breath, your eyes widened. 

Your kiss must’ve woken him up. 

Jongho was catching his own breath and his own eyes widened as they took in your form. He couldn’t believe that you were here! Right in front of him! Looking gorgeous as ever. He even took note of the four-leaf clover necklace you wore. You simply attached the charm to a thin silver chain courtesy of Mingi. To you, it was nothing. 

To him, it was everything. 

“Y/N? Is that really you?”

“Yes… it’s me, Jongho.”

“Oh, honey~”

Jongho surged forward and crushed you in a much-needed hug. You hugged him back just as tightly, tears pouring down your face. Jongho had tears of his own escaping his eyes and he pulled back to look at you one more time. Before he spoke, a chilling voice rang throughout the air. Jongho instinctively put you behind him and looked around for the source of that voice. 

“I knew it wasn’t going to be enough. Looks like I’ll have to step up my game a bit.”

The next thing you both knew, you were back in the void. However, the surrounding wasn’t pitch black. It was a heavenly white. Or insane room white if you will. You heard the sound of painful screaming and you turned around to see Jongho kneeling on the ground, clutching Dabin’s hand as the virus choked him tightly. But that wasn’t that caught your eye. 

What caught your eye was the way Jongho’s appearance glitched back and forth in between his domain form and his real form rapidly. 

“So you chose him. Over me. Aight cool. Guess I’ll have to get rid of him to win you back.”

The black veins grew longer and you see the tips of them seeping into his brain. His eyes glowed a bright green as he squeezed Jongho’s neck tighter than before. You noticed that his other hand was on top of Jongho’s head. That must be how he’s able to activate the glitching. Looking back and forth repeatedly between the two men, you took a leap of faith and lunged forward to grab the dagger hanging off from Dabin’s belt. As you grabbed it, you noticed a red gem on top of the hilt. 

‘This must be Sopro!’

“Do you honestly think that my own weapon will stop me?”

You didn’t say anything. Instead, you turned the dagger around and pointed it at your chest. The tip of the sharp blade was dangerously close to your heart and just when it came in contact, Dabin was rushing forward. Jongho stopped glitching and dropped down to the ground, wheezing and coughing as he tried to inhale as much oxygen as he could. His head was low so he couldn’t see the fight going on between you two.

“The fuck are you doing?!”

“I’m saving both your dumbasses!”

“If you do this, you’ll get corrupted or die!”

“Better me than you!”

You roughhoused with Dabin for a bit, punching here and kicking there. The dagger left your hands yet you didn’t pay attention since your focus was on Dabin. As you fought one another, the atmosphere around you changed slowly. The void surrounding you was slowly changing back to a pitch black and you saw figures surrounding you. Once the void was back to the way it was, the two of you looked up. 

You were surrounded by the pirate kings. 

All eight members of Halateez. 

Black and white three piece suits, all black leather accessories, and shades of red hair. 

All staring down at you. 

“Yeosang and San, restrain Dabin. Yunho and Mingi, put him in the cell that was specialized for him so he can be contained. Seonghwa and Wooyoung, make sure that cell is unbreachable. The effects of Sopro are still in his body so be prepared for anything.”

“YES, CAPTAIN.”

One by one, each king carried out their task. Only Hongjoong remained. MITO was there too, but he was busy helping Jongho. The captain extended a hand towards you and made you close your eyes. The last thing you heard was a humming sound that got louder and louder before a bright light consumed you all. 

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

“OH THANK GOD ALL OF YOU ARE ALRIGHT!”

Maddox was relieved when he saw all of you fully awake and back in reality. You groggily opened your eyes and looked around to see if everyone was present. MITO was there of course. 

Hongjoong

Seonghwa

Yunho

Yeosang

San

Mingi

Wooyoung 

And… 

“JONGHO!”

You leaped onto him and wrapped him up in a hug. Jongho wrapped his arms around you protectively and nuzzled his face in the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent before looking up at his fellow crewmates. 

“I know that three of you have fucked her. While I can forgive you guys since it was a simulation, we’re all awake now so don’t go near my girl. Got it?”

Hongjoong and San nodded rapidly while Wooyoung was the only one that had the audacity to whine, causing Jongho to glare at him. You hid your face shamefully in the crook of Jongho’s neck while Wooyoung whined once more before latching himself onto Yeosang. Jongho sighed and looked down at you with so much love in his eyes. He truly missed you and he was glad that you didn’t hate him. Since Hongjoong was feeling some remnants of shame, Seonghwa took charge of explaining the last step of their mission. 

“As we all know, Dabin was corrupted by Sopro. While we are still angry at him for corrupting the simulation, at least we got the clues before that happened. We now know where Sopro is and since luck is on our side, Dabin is in that same location. So we’ll be able to save him and recover Sopro so we can relocate it someplace else the next time we use the Cromer. Does everyone understand their positions?”

“YES, SEONGHWA!”

“Y/N, you’ve done your part and freed all of us. You can walk away while we handle the rest. However, if you wish to join us, you’re more than welcome to. We just ask that you be careful.”

“I’ve made it this far and I still want Dabin to have some type of closure. So I’ll join.”

“Excellent.”

Seonghwa cracked his knuckles.