#devoted au

The first semester was ending which meant you weren’t going to be classmates anymore. For the longest time, you were both meeting up at the library or the quad to study — even if it was for different subjects. But a few days ago, Jaehyun ran after you when class finished as you were rushing to your next one for a quiz, and he asked you out on a date.

You were elated, bashfully accepting his invitation and completely distracted for the entire day at the thought of going on an actual date with your crush. You initially believed that the feelings were one sided, he didn’t seem to be interested in you and was just naturally friendly. You’ve seen him around campus hanging out with other people — mostly girls, so you didn’t feel necessarily special when he met up with you at the library.

Your phone chimed as it received a text and you peered down to see the notification.

I couldn’t wait. I’m outside your dorm to pick you up.

You let out a quiet sound of surprise, rushing outside to the living room of your shared apartment to look outside the window there that was right above the entrance of the building. You saw Jaehyun leaning against the brick half wall that enclosed the property your dorm was in. He was on his phone, probably waiting for your reply.

Instead, you gathered up everything into your purse and ran out the door.

“Hey.” Jaehyun greeted you with a smile when you called out to him. He was in ripped, baggy jeans, a white shirt that fit just right, and a neutral cardigan. You felt relieved to know that you dressed just as casual as he did by sporting tight fitting, but stretchable jeans and a nude chiffon blouse.

“Hi.” You breathed, hoping it wasn’t obvious you were excited. “H-how… how did you know where my dorm was?”

His forehead scrunched ever so gently, “You mentioned it in passing when I offered to walk you home one time.”

“Oh.” You do recall him offering to walk with you back to your dorm multiple times, especially when it got too late that the librarians themselves were the ones kicking you out. You were too shy to let him, mostly because you also didn’t want to bother him with his own journey back to his place.

“Well, shall we? There’s this cafe I’ve been meaning to try in town.”

You nodded your head, taking a step forward but faltering when he just continued to smile down at you. “Is something wrong?”

He shook his head, ears a little pinker than usual, “No, sorry. Nothing’s wrong. You just look extra cute today.”

You could feel your face burst into heat at his words, “O-oh, thank you…”

Jaehyun chuckled, holding out his hand to you.

For a split second, you were scared that your palms started to sweat out of nervousness but not wanting to delay the date any further, you placed your hand on top of his. He threaded his fingers with yours and squeezed your hand, nudging you towards him.

“Let’s go.”

You’ve walked beside Jaehyun multiple times already but this time you’re walking hand in hand with him — and he’s even swaying your conjoined hands! You were screaming inside at how cute he was to do this. He gave off such a cool vibe that you didn’t think he had such an adorable side.

Autumn has started and the weather was perfect to be outside, the leaves were turning to beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. It was nice to take a stroll under them right now and it feels quite cozy, especially with Jaehyun.

He filled up the silence growing between you, not that it bothered you, with small talk. He asked about your morning and the day before, if you had any plans for the holiday break. You told him that you were going back home to your parents over the holidays and was unsure if your parents had plans to celebrate.

You could feel his thumb gently smooth over your skin as he talked about his plans over the break, mentioning how he’s going to be helping out his dad in his business.

The cafe you both arrived at was smack dab in between a bookstore and a mom-and-pop store. There were little to no patrons in the cafe from the looks of it and it still had some streamers and balloons from their opening.

“Good morning! Welcome to Cafe Hue.” One of the three workers on duty, the cashier, greeted as you entered.

You offered a smile and glanced briefly at the interior — a habit you picked up in middle school that pushed you into taking interior design. For its namesake, the overall interior was a crisp white with loud, brightly colored decors dotting the shelves. There was room for improvement with the choice of furniture, but it still works.

“What would you like?” Jaehyun asked, pulling you out of your reverie by softly squeezing your hand.

You looked up at the chalkboard menu, giving each item a thought until you settled on a hot cup of French vanilla tea. Jaehyun relayed your order to the cashier, who’s eyes seemed very eager to meet his gaze, and added his own order of an iced americano.

“Do you want anything to eat? We can share something if you’d like.”

“I don’t mind a slice of cake or muffin.”

Jaehyun bobbed his head, “Anything in particular?”

“What would you recommend?” You directed the question to the cashier giving heart eyes up at Jaehyun. She shifted her attention to you, a full second of annoyance flashing in her face before plastering a model customer service smile.

“Everything is freshly baked, our baker’s favorite is the basque cheesecake, but personally, I love the chocolate carrot cake.”

“Both sound good, so I’ll leave the choice up to you.”

The cashier’s smile brightened as she returned her attention to Jaehyun, who seemed oblivious to it.

“Then a slice of each.” He didn't wait for her to tally the order and pulled out his wallet, brandishing a black card from within and placing it on the counter. She seemed astonished to see the card in front of her, but it only took a second for her to punch your orders in while repeating it out loud to confirm. Jaehyun nodded and she swiped the card.

“Have you always been a tea person? I could have gotten you tea instead of coffee all this time at the library.” He inquired, pursing his lips ever so slightly at you.

“Not necessarily.” You shrugged your shoulders, “My mind has strongly associated coffee with productivity and since we’re not here to study, I’d rather have tea. I like both, equally.”

Jaehyun finished paying for the order and guided you to a seat by the window. He helped you into your seat briefly before seating himself.

There was a palpable pause when he looked at you and it almost became awkward until he coughed and glanced away, ears visibly red.

“I’m sorry,” He cleared his throat, “I’ve never really… taken anyone out on a date before.”

The admission made your brows shoot up a little, “What? You’ve never dated anyone?”

He shook his head, “No. Wasn’t really interested… until I met you.”

The confession made your heart skip a beat and the faintest heat rose up your cheeks. “Oh. Uhm,” You stuttered, “I… I didn’t expect that from you.”

He sighed, “I get that a lot — not to be vain or anything. I was just never interested in the dating scene.”

“Haven’t girls asked you out? None of them caught your eye?”

Jaehyun shook his head again. “They all seemed… pretentious? No, too eager? Like I’m prey or something.”

You’re still having a hard time believing that this gorgeous man has not dated at all — let alone having you as the first person he’s ever expressed interest in. “What makes me different?”

Slowly, a small smile formed on his lips, “That’s what I’d like to know.”

You woke up startled, as if your body reminded you that you were in no position to be sleeping in. Honestly, you don’t even know how you fell asleep. You remembered looking around the room in hopes to find a way out, but everything was sealed shut with bolts or protected with grills. You discovered that despite being kidnapped, you were still provided other basic necessities. The other door led to a small ensuite bathroom; just one solid square where there were no partitions or dividers between the shower and the toilet. There was even a drawer full of clothes in your size (that you found mildly disturbing).

It almost felt like Yuta wanted you to feel like you were just away from home instead of being used as bait in a trap.

“Jaehyun.” You mumbled, covering your mouth with your palm. Yuta was right. Regardless of your current relationship status, Jaehyun would do anything in his power to find you and you don’t even want to think about what he could possibly do to Yuta when he gets his hands on him.

All you could do was hope Jaehyun won’t be careless in this situation.

You looked around the room as if you would find something new, but it was more bare than a real estate showroom. Yuta seemed to have cleared the food he had brought in for you last night while you slept, and thinking about it now, you were growing hungry.

There was a small knock at the door and you expected Yuta to come in, but you were pleasantly — also slightly confused — to see someone else come in.

“Oh,” The woman meekly said, “Good morning, Ms. [Y/N]. I’ve brought you breakfast.”

You stared at her; she looked so familiar. You watched as she pushed the door open with her shoulder while her hands were occupied with carrying a tray of food and water.

When she placed it on the table, you gasped.

“Mina!”

She smiled, “I’m flattered to know you remember me, Ms. [Y/N].”

“You’ve been missing for weeks. A-are you working for him?”

The smile disappeared from her face as she vehemently denied your accusation, shaking her head. “Please don’t misunderstand this, Ms. [Y/N]! I… I’m forced to do this. If not…” Mina paused, “I’m sorry, I was only tasked to bring your breakfast. I’ll collect the plates later when I bring up your lunch. I’m sorry again, Miss. Please, enjoy your food.”

“Wait—” You clambered off the bed, but Mina was out the door with a soft click behind her.

This just left you with more questions to haunt you. Why was she here? Why was she cooperating with Yuta? Is she a victim as well?

Despite doubting the food’s integrity, you were starving and even though you were served a simple bowl of congee and orange juice, it looked like the most delicious meal you’ve seen in your life. You helped yourself to the food, savoring the flavor exploding in your mouth.

Halfway through your meal, you remembered the dream you had last night.

Your first date with Jaehyun happened almost exactly 8 years ago. Times were simpler back then; everything was just about getting deadlines done at school, going on lunch dates, and clubbing every weekend night.

You started to lose your appetite and felt like throwing up.

How did you end up here?

Burying your face into your palms, you breathed in deeply to stop yourself from crying. You didn’t want to blame Jaehyun, but it’s the truth. You can’t help but think where you would be today if you had walked away from him the first time. You could have still been roommates with Minkyung and Yebin, somewhere in the city. Maybe you could have met someone new at work or the girls could have set you up with someone. Although, you have to admit that the idea pinched at your heart.

You still loved Jaehyun despite everything. Rather than hoping to move on as quickly as you can, you wished he had done things the right way with yo—

Lurching forward, you clamped your mouth shut as you suddenly stood up, the chair falling back with a loud thud. The taste of acid and the congee you had just consumed filled your mouth and you bolted into the bathroom, kneeling at the toilet to expel the vomit.

You barfed into the bowl until you felt like you couldn’t possibly heave anything else from your stomach. Sweat started to build up on your forehead as you calmed yourself down. You spat the remaining sour taste from your mouth and hoisted yourself up, flushing the toilet while you wondered if you caught a virus again.

Then it hit you.

You were supposed to meet Dr. Ahn. Unconsciously, your hand went over your abdomen. Surely, you weren’t…

You brushed the idea away. You’ve been on IUD for years and it’s been extremely effective; why now? These were just your nerves getting to you.

“Please eat something.” Jaehyun’s mom gestured to the maid she entered his room with to replace the food they brought last night. It was barely touched and the rice had gone stale.

“I don’t have an appetite.” He mumbled through his palm, focused on the latest report from the Commissioner General. They were just more reports on how other missing women were possibly linked to him and he honestly didn’t care about it. He just wanted to know why this is happening — what did he ever do to him.

“Sweetheart, even a few slices of fruit?”

Jaehyun looked up at his mom, contemplating telling her what he’s discovered on his own but decided against it. “Sure, I’ll have an apple.”

She perked up, “Alright, I’ll go prepare it myself.”

When his mom and the maid finally left him alone, he pulled out his phone and dialed one of his recent contacts.

“I found out something crucial.” He skipped formalities and greetings. “I don’t want to discuss this over the phone. Can you gather Doyoung and Minkyung for me? And do you think she can host us?”

“Okay, hello, I’m fine, thanks for asking.” Yebin sarcastically responded. “You know any other day, I would have dropped the call.”

“You wouldn’t have picked up.”

Yebin cooed, “Aw, I’m a little touched that you know me so well.”

“Yebin.” Jaehyun impatiently said. He didn’t have the time to have these types of banter with her right now.

“Fine. I’ll contact them.”

“As discreetly as possible, please.” Jaehyun paused, “Wait, don’t ask Minkyung to host us. I’ll get back to you on that.”

Without any further questioning, they ended the call with no goodbyes and Jaehyun flinched as the door opened.

“Here you go!” His mother sashayed into his room, handing him a small plate of peeled, sliced apples. “And if you decide to have anything more, let me know, okay, sweetheart?”

He smiled up at her, “Yes, mom. Although, I might have dinner with Johnny some time soon.”

“Oh,” She said, “Why not just invite him over? Wouldn’t it be safer?”

“I don’t really like bringing home work. We’ll be fine. I’ll bring extra bodyguards if it would put your mind at ease.”

“It would, thank you. Please be careful and give my regards to Johnny. He’s always welcome to drop by here whenever he feels like it.”

Jaehyun snorted, his mother always treated Johnny like a second son and of course, he had no qualms about it. “I’ll let him know.”

Once his mother left, he picked up an apple slice and dialed a different number on his phone. He listened to the phone ring while munching on the fruit until the other person picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello. I understand this is a bit last minute, but could we possibly meet up in your place? Out of everyone that we’re friends with, your place seems to be the safest. I’ll explain more when we get there.”

“Of course. I’m off early today so I can accommodate you guys. I’ll send my address in a bit.”

“Thank you.” He paused, “Please be careful and wary of your surroundings. As a safety precaution.”

“I will. See you later.”

“Who arranges a meeting and is late for it?” Yebin griped, flicking popcorn with the tips of her long nails to choose the one with the most butter on it. 

Johnny, picking out all the pieces she had discarded on the side and tossing it into his mouth, glanced at her, “It is rush hour. Maybe he got into traffic.”

“Maybe he’s in trouble.” Yebin snapped back, shrugging her shoulders. “He could be bleeding out from a gunshot wound right now.”

“Yebin!” Minkyung gasped, swatting her shoulder briefly before clasping her hands together in prayer. “Surely, he’s caught in traffic.”

Although at the last minute, they were able to gather at Kun’s apartment at the designated time. Kun was originally worried if he could host this many people in his small apartment but he’s never been thankful for signing the lease for the one bedroom apartment over the studio type.

He’s even more thankful he believed the feng shui expert who told him to prioritize having a bigger dining area than lounge space so almost everyone tonight could be seated. He is, however, a bit embarrassed he only had movie snacks in his pantry instead to offer as they waited for Jaehyun, hence Yebin and Johnny sharing a bowl of freshly popped popcorn. Luckily, Minkyung had brought some rice cakes and chicken with her — saying it’s her cheat day and wanted to share her cravings with them.

Doyoung had finished swallowing a rice cake that was way too chewy for his liking before making a comment about Kun’s apartment. “As a doctor, I’d expected you to have a healthier food selection.”

“I don’t have guests over often and I haven’t had time to go get groceries.”  He sheepishly admitted, placing the bottle of makgeolli he had received from a former patient. “I live off hospital cafeteria food most days.”

“What a mood.” Minkyung quipped, “I respect it. I used to take home leftovers from the food spreads at photoshoots to save money.”

“You always brought home the good stuff when you had small gigs back in college.” Yebin mused, flicking another butter-less popcorn over to Johnny’s side. “[Y/N] and I would always fight for the bougiest one.”

“Speaking of [Y/N],” Minkyung snapped her fingers and pursed her lips, “I haven’t heard from her in awhile. She hasn’t responded to my messages.”

“I was gonna ask the same thing.” Doyoung said before picking up another rice cake from the plate. He glanced at Kun, “I was surprised that you called me over instead of her.”

“Oh! Are we planning a surprise for her or something?”

Johnny and Kun looked at each other, then turned their attention to Yebin, who shut her eyes in annoyance when they did so.

Minkyung gasped, “Did you see that?” She asked Doyoung, “They shared a look!”

“I did.” He narrowed his eyes, aiming them at Kun. “Is there something we don’t know? Is something wrong with [Y/N]?”

“We should really wait for Jaehyun—” Kun cleared his throat, glancing back and forth from Johnny and Yebin for support.

“If something’s wrong and you guys know about it, then what’s the point of waiting for Jaehyun to tell us? We’re all equally her friends here.” Doyoung’s tone made Kun wince.

“We know that!” Yebin butted in, throwing her hands up in frustration. “But we barely know anything as well! Only Jaehyun does and this motherfucker is late—”

On cue, there was a knock on the door and Kun promptly walked over to open the door after checking who was outside through the peephole.

“About time!” Yebin hissed, crossing her arms and glaring up at him.

“I’m sorry. There was a meeting held on the case that I was allowed to listen in to.” Jaehyun said, coolly, no trace of joy or bashfulness his voice usually had when he was with them.

“Is it about [Y/N]? What happened to her?” Minkyung sat up on her seat, brows furrowed in worry.

Kun offered the last seat at the table to Jaehyun, who nodded but remained standing.

“[Y/N] has been missing for over a week now. She’s probably been kidnapped.”

“By who?” Minkyung gasped, “Her college stalker?”

Johnny scoffed, “That dude’s still after her?”

Jaehyun caught Doyoung’s gaze flickering over to him, eyes twitching briefly before he closed them and rubbed his fingers over them to pinch the bridge of his nose. He’s always been the protective brother figure in your life and being one of the last ones to find out about your current situation must be making him feel like shit.

“We don’t know yet. However,” He coughed, clearing his throat. “We have reason to believe that [Y/N]’s case is related to the string of missing women around Seoul.”

“So…” Johnny drew out, “It’s not a targeted type of situation? It’s not the creep from college?”

Jaehyun inhaled deeply and sighed, finally taking the seat that was offered to him. “From the findings of the police — the meeting I had joined earlier — it seems that the suspect does have a target… and it’s me.”

“What?” Yebin spat, “How are the other missing women related to you?”

He cupped his face, massaging in awkward circles to avoid their gazes. “As the police have uncovered, all the missing women have either worked for me, interacted with me, or… participated in an online thread about me back in high school.”

He said the last bit hurriedly, almost embarrassed about that fact.

Yebin’s face was painted with pure disgust, “You’re telling me that women are missing — most are reported to be presumably dead — because they were your fangirls back in high school? And our precious little [Y/N] has been kidnapped… because she’s your fiancée?”

Even Yebin bit her tongue when she said the last word, looking a bit apologetic when Jaehyun hung his head low. She knew calling you his fiancee dug the knife deeper into him than she had meant to. With the lack of reaction from the room, she could tell that only she knew the state of your current relationship.

“I don’t…” Jaehyun mumbled, “I don’t even know what I did to deserve this.”

“You weren’t in the best crowd in high school, but you were an angel compared to them.” Johnny spoke up, being the only one who came from Kyeonggi’s despite only attending for a year. “Who could possibly go through these lengths to get back at you?”

Jaehyun pulled his hands away from his face, expression grim and jaw tight. “I already know who it is. I don’t have enough concrete evidence, but I just know it’s him. He’s got the money to do what he wants, he’s smart,  manipulative and he’s cunning and deceiving behind that fucking smile of his—”

“Smile?” Yebin cut him off, “Ooh, I knew that Japanese man was trouble! I’m canceling that fucking deal—”

“Don’t.” Jaehyun stopped her from taking her phone, “Unless you have a good reason as to why you’re breaking off a seemingly good contract with his company. Or any of you who had signed with him, for that matter.”

“Wait, wait,” Minkyung waved her hands in front of her to catch their attention, her perfectly shaped brows perpetually burrowed between her forehead, “Japanese man? Do you mean that Nakamoto guy? He’s your suspect?”

“I’ve always been suspicious of him. Everything started when he came into the picture: the number of missing women increasing… the stalking… this monopoly of their tech company in the country — especially in the security industry — that he’s offered to people around me and [Y/N]... He’s smart, yes, but like the snake he is, he’s leaving behind his skin.”

“Why aren’t you telling this to the police?” Doyoung inquired, taking everything Jaehyun had said. “You just said that the police are already investigating the case.”

“And they are. The commissioner general himself is heading the case.” He nodded, “But as I said, there’s no concrete evidence for me to pin this on Yuta.”

“Wait,” Kun interjected, “Nakamoto… Yuta? I think… he accompanied a patient of mine a while back.”

“Aren’t you a gynecologist?” Yebin scowled, “That man is not allowed to procreate— wait, he knocked someone up? Could it be one of the missing women?”

The thought of Yuta possibly touching you, consensually or not, hadn’t crossed his mind (or maybe he just didn’t want it to) and it made him seethe, balling his fists tightly until his nails dug into his palms.

“I’m not one to break doctor-patient confidentiality but if I remember correctly, he presented himself as a potential father despite what my patient was claiming.”

“What an asshole.” Yebin remarked, lips still downturned.

Kun continued, “He also seemed withdrawn from the whole ordeal — physically present, mentally absent.”

“Do you remember when this was?”

The doctor licked his lips, thinking hard about it. “Probably a few months ago? Barely a year. She was one of my first patients. She had come into the clinic with her arms around his arm, practically dragging him in. I can search for her name tomorrow at the clinic if we want to track her down.”

Minkyung gasped, “Oh my gosh, Kyungwon! We should check up on her. What if she’s been missing too?”

“Didn’t she say she broke it off with him? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check up on her, she’s one of [Y/N]’s closest colleagues.” Yebin picked up her phone from the table and scrolled through her contacts, “Good thing I got her number last time so I could set her up with a cousin.”

“If there’s a way you can do it inconspicuously, then please do.” Jaehyun implored, “For now, I just need everyone to be on high alert. Act like you don’t know anything if you come across him.”

He sighed, cradling his jaw with his hand after propping his elbow against the table.

“Hey,” Johnny called from across the table, “[Y/N]’s a feisty girl. She’s not going down without a fight. I’m sure she’s okay.”

“I know she is. I’m just trying to figure out this fucking psychopath’s motive and plan.” He mumbled, “I’ve been wracking my brain out how it ended up this way. Did I step over his pride? Did I come off the wrong way on him when he was having a shitty day? I just don’t understand.”

“We can mull about it when we find out more things about him. My family has close connections to a prominent family in Japan, I can have someone get intel on Nakamoto from his home country.” Yebin offered, standing up from her seat. “This sicko is going to pay hell for even touching a single hair on [Y/N]’s head. I’d love to stay and plan out the ways we’re going to torture the fuck out of this guy when we catch him, but I have to handle an ingress of a museum exhibit down in Busan over the weekend. Keep me posted, yeah?”

“Of course,” Jaehyun started to rise from his seat but Yebin waved him off, “Yebin, thank you.”

“Don’t be gross, Jung. I’m doing this for her.”

“I’ll be heading out as well with Yebs. I have a photoshoot tomorrow at Daegu. I haven’t interacted with Yuta at all, and I’m hoping I don’t have to, but I’ll be vigilant.”

They saw the girls off and Kun offered the boys the case of beer he had in the back of his freezer.

“He seemed like such a cool dude. It’s rare to see guys who know the shit they work on, you know?” Johnny was the first one to break the silence between the four men quietly breaking open their respective beer cans and sipping the foam. “But I’m somehow not surprised about it either.”

“I barely interacted with him at the housewarming.” Doyoung confessed, “Even when our security system was replaced with his tech, I didn’t handle it personally.”

Jaehyun somberly acknowledged them, gently pushing the soft aluminum of the beer can that made a soft popping sound every time he let go. With their friends knowing the situation, he felt a little relieved to know he’s not alone in trying to save you.

If he could save you.

“Hey,” Kun nudged his arm and as if he had just heard his thought, said, “Don’t take it too hard on yourself. He’s playing a game that only he wants to play.”

“A game?” Jaehyun repeated.

“Well, that’s how I see it. The way I see it from what I know — which isn’t much — it seems like he’s learning about you to bait you out. Why take the time to find all these people from your past? People you don’t even know? If he’s got all this money and power to do virtually anything he wants, why waste it on them when he could’ve gone straight to people you actually care for?”

Kun shrugged, “Think of it like chess. He’s taken the rooks and the pawns — and even your queen. And the only advice I can offer now is for you to be careful and walk right into his trap.”

Just as the hour hand passed midnight, the boys called it a night. Kun saw them off at the entrance of his apartment building. Johnny had parked all the way down the street while Jaehyun was lucky to have gotten a spot nearby, offering Doyoung a ride after finding out he had commuted.

“I’m sorry, by the way.” Jaehyun said just as they buckled themselves into his car. Before Doyoung could respond, he continued, “You should be one of the first people I should tell about anything related to [Y/N]. I guess a part of me had always seen you as her older brother and I was ashamed to admit I couldn’t protect her.”

He nodded his head in acknowledgement, lips pursed in contemplation.

“You…” His voice trailed off, “You were her college stalker, right?”

Jaehyun’s fingers gripped the steering wheel, “I was.”

“Are you surprised that I know?”

“I had a feeling when it was brought up a while ago. Although as I said, you’re practically her brother. You two know everything about each other.”

“Apparently not everything.” Doyoung bitterly grumbled, slapping his forehead afterwards. “I’ve been so caught up in my own shit that I haven’t checked up on her at all even when she mentioned she had to go home to her parents because she was sick.”

Silence came over them inside the car that seemed louder than the late night city life they were passing by.

“How did you react when she told you about what I did?”

“I told her she was crazy for coming back to you. I’ve urged her multiple times to break it off again.”

Jaehyun is oddly calm. He knew he would have been thinking about all the ways to make Doyoung eat his words, but now he’s just accepting all of it. Maybe because it was over between the two of you.

“But she fought for you.” Doyoung brought him out of his reverie. “Like her life depended on it. It made her look like an idiot, for sure, but she defended you. She gave you a second chance and begged me to do the same. So I did.”

“That means a lot to me. Thank you.” Jaehyun responded once he pulled over in front of Doyoung’s building. “But… I have to apologize again. Before she disappeared, she broke up with me.”

He looked at him like he had grown a second head. “I don’t believe you. I literally just told you she fought to be with you.”

“People… change their minds.” Jaehyun turned the engine off, but didn’t unlock the car. “And I’m starting to think it’s better that way. I never considered this situation before… someone is using her against me, but then again, I’m not entirely a good person for her.”

“But you’re good to her and that was enough for her.”

Jaehyun chuckled morosely, thinking, “If only you really knew everything, man.”

“So what? After we save her, you’re just… going to let her go?”

The response weighed heavy on Jaehyun’s tongue, refusing to be spoken and heard by someone else other than his thoughts. Every fiber of his being didn’t want to let you go, he wanted to fight for your relationship — but he knew he didn’t have the right to.

“Yeah,” He eventually said, “That’s the plan.”

You woke up to a muffled noise and a soft, rhythmic thumping on the adjacent wall of your bed. You groaned, a bit annoyed that your slumber was interrupted, but shook the grogginess away to figure out what was making the noise.

Sitting up, you didn’t bother to rub at the dryness of your eyes and pressed your ear onto the wall, only to gasp and pull away with cheeks flaring up.

Was that… a moan?

You put a hand to your mouth, pressing yourself back up on the wall to hear.

That’s definitely a woman moaning in pleasure and despite not being able to make out the words, the male voice accompanying the woman’s moans was Yuta. Shame overcame you once you realized overhearing their private moment had started to make you press your thighs closer.

You scooted away, jumped off your bed and sat at the table on the other side of the room. You could still hear the soft thumps, but at least you couldn’t hear the moans. Crossing your arms, you sat back on your seat and closed your eyes.

He’s doing this on purpose, you thought. For some twisted reason, you know he wants you to hear that.

Looking out the window, you tried to gauge what time it was. Around midnight, perhaps? What was Jaehyun doing? Is he even getting enough sleep? Is he eating properly? You slapped yourself.

“For someone who broke up with him, you’re pretty concerned about him.” You murmured, but bit your lip when it began to tremble. You should be mad at him. For all that he’s done. You’re in this situation because of him. But why does a part of you want him to leave it to the police? You hoped deep in your heart that he’s not going to come here himself like Yuta is anticipating because you don’t know what this psycho is planning — what his end goal is.

But why do you care? Why does it matter? You laid your head on the table and sobbed, “I still love him.”

“Please, please if there’s any higher being listening to me right now.” You prayed, voice shaky and strained, “Please don’t let him come here. Please.”

After some time, you jolted in your seat at the sound of the door knob rustling. Had you cried yourself to sleep?

The door opened and Yuta sauntered in wearing nothing but a pair of baggy sweats that hung low on his hips, smirking at the sight of your face that’s red and puffy from crying. “Aw, did you miss Jaehyun after hearing all that? Did you enjoy the show? I’ll let you watch next time~”

This man has an innate ability to fill you with rage within seconds.

Before you could think it through, you stood up and pushed his body with all your might, running at the door he hadn’t closed yet. You were able to swing it wider, but couldn’t get a foot out when you felt your hair being yanked back. You felt a few strands snap as you yelped in pain, trying to grab at Yuta’s fist around your head.

“That’s cute.” He laughed in your ear, kicking the door with his foot. He tossed you towards the bed like a rag doll, your body just hitting the edge of it before crumbling to the floor. “Don’t do that again. I’ll forgive you this time, but if you insist on taking a little stroll outside, I don’t mind trading a few minutes of freedom for some head.”

“Fuck you.” You spat, visibly shuddering at the offer.

He just laughed again, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t have to fuck myself. Your friend is a great fuck and leaves me happy every time.”

“What?” You massaged the part of your scalp that had been strained. When realization hit you, you gasped in horror, “Kyungwon?!”

You called out to her, scrambling onto your feet and running towards the wall. You pounded on the surface, “Kyung? Kyungwon, it’s me, [Y/N]!”

Yuta merely chuckled behind you, “Do you really think I would let her stay here overnight and discover you’re here?”

Somehow the thought of Kyungwon still being able to go home comforted you.

“That’s risky of you to bring her here in the first place.”

“It’s a gamble, but someone has to bring the prince to the damsel in distress, no?” Yuta dragged the chair you had sat on towards him and sat down.

“What do you plan on doing when Jaehyun gets here?” You heaved, keeping your emotions in check. “Do you honestly think he’s going to go here alone?”

He gave you a wicked smile, the type that made you shiver.

“I know he is.”

Yuta reached into the pocket of his pants, leading your gaze to the prominent tent between his legs that made you want to vomit. Does this type of scenario excite him? You averted your gaze to the television that turned on.

“As expected, Jaehyun had contacted your friends. Presumably to recruit them in saving you.”

A CCTV footage on what seems to be the front entrance of an apartment building appeared on screen. It didn’t look familiar to you, but then you see a familiar mop of head in the corner.

“Kun?”

“He graciously hosted everyone in his apartment. Smart move on Jaehyun since my company failed to convince the building owner’s to switch to my tech — but I doubt Jaehyun knows that. Good thing there’s a bunch of free streams of city’s CCTV on the net, huh? With a little nudge here, the camera is focused more on the apartment.”

Yuta tapped his phone and the video sped up. He only slowed it down to show you who was entering — first, it was Doyoung. Johnny followed, and Yebin and Minkyung came together.

“And last, but not the least,” Yuta sang, tapping his phone once more to show Jaehyun, even zooming into the video to get a better look at his face.

Your heart sank. He looked so sullen, it hasn’t been long, but he looked like he lost weight and aged a few years.

“Oh! I would have loved to hear what they were talking about.” He sighed, “Don’t you?”

“I don’t get what your end goal here is.” You hissed, balling your fists at your sides. “Kill Jaehyun?”

“Kill him? Heavens, no.” He laughed, “He can do that himself.”

Your nails almost pierced your palm at how much you balled your fists tighter upon hearing that.

“I want to break him — mentally and emotionally. I’ve already started to unravel him since I got the single thread that was keeping him together.” Yuta tipped his head at you, “I want to drive him insane until he loses himself — be that monster he really is.”

“He’s not a monster—”

“[Y/N], [Y/N],” He clicked his tongue in disappointment, “Should I give you another copy of his journal for you to read to pass time here? Did you forget already just because you saw him all mopey and sad just now? [Y/N], that man invaded your privacy from when you were younger! He had personally sent people to the hospital because of anger issues AND did not feel an ounce of remorse for doing so. Does that not bother you at all?”

You refused to comment, opting to control your breathing to stop yourself from hyperventilating at the reminder of the things you’ve read in the files.

“Aw, [Y/N], it’s okay. We all make mistakes. Yours was giving him that second chance.”

“No.” Your voice cracked.

Yuta’s brow rose up at your response.

“Giving him that second chance wasn’t a mistake. I don’t regret it.”

“I hope you don’t eat your words, [Y/N].” He sighed, “You haven’t read everything yet.”

“It doesn’t matter.” You snapped, defiant and curt. “I hope he kills you.”

Yuta chuckled, nonchalantly with a nod as he slowly stepped towards the door.

Your brows burrowed ever so slightly, what did he mean by that? Did he really just want Jaehyun to kill him? For what reason?

“By the way,” He said as he opened the door, the tone of his voice dropped lower and you’re mortified at how it sends pure fear shooting through you. “Try to escape again and there will be consequences. Don’t ruin the fun, [Y/N].”

And just like that, he left you once again in the room. The loud click of the lock signaled that you’re once again alone with your thoughts, drowning endlessly in questions that suffocated you to sleep every night since you’ve been here.

A/N: and it's finally here!! if anybody is still notif gang, thank you for being so patient 🥹 i hope it wasn't too fast paced, but i literally just wrote out what i typed out in the outline thats been rotting in my notes.

i hope it's not too much to ask, but please share my uncle's getfunding link for his chemo therapy 🙏

support me by reblogging with the same tags! i would also really appreciate leaving your thoughts in my inbox as it would help me become a better writer and prepare me to write my own book 👀

“Let’s go.”

You’ve walked beside Jaehyun multiple times already but this time you’re walking hand in hand with him — and he’s even swaying your conjoined hands! You were screaming inside at how cute he was to do this. He gave off such a cool vibe that you didn’t think he had such an adorable side.

Autumn has started and the weather was perfect to be outside, the leaves were turning to beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. It was nice to take a stroll under them right now and it feels quite cozy, especially with Jaehyun.

He filled up the silence growing between you, not that it bothered you, with small talk. He asked about your morning and the day before, if you had any plans for the holiday break. You told him that you were going back home to your parents over the holidays and was unsure if your parents had plans to celebrate.

You could feel his thumb gently smooth over your skin as he talked about his plans over the break, mentioning how he’s going to be helping out his dad in his business.

The cafe you both arrived at was smack dab in between a bookstore and a mom-and-pop store. There were little to no patrons in the cafe from the looks of it and it still had some streamers and balloons from their opening.

“Good morning! Welcome to Cafe Hue.” One of the three workers on duty, the cashier, greeted as you entered.

You offered a smile and glanced briefly at the interior — a habit you picked up in middle school that pushed you into taking interior design. For its namesake, the overall interior was a crisp white with loud, brightly colored decors dotting the shelves. There was room for improvement with the choice of furniture, but it still works.

“What would you like?” Jaehyun asked, pulling you out of your reverie by softly squeezing your hand.

You looked up at the chalkboard menu, giving each item a thought until you settled on a hot cup of French vanilla tea. Jaehyun relayed your order to the cashier, who’s eyes seemed very eager to meet his gaze, and added his own order of an iced americano.

“Do you want anything to eat? We can share something if you’d like.”

“I don’t mind a slice of cake or muffin.”

Jaehyun bobbed his head, “Anything in particular?”

“What would you recommend?” You directed the question to the cashier giving heart eyes up at Jaehyun. She shifted her attention to you, a full second of annoyance flashing in her face before plastering a model customer service smile.

“Everything is freshly baked, our baker’s favorite is the basque cheesecake, but personally, I love the chocolate carrot cake.”

“Both sound good, so I’ll leave the choice up to you.”

The cashier’s smile brightened as she returned her attention to Jaehyun, who seemed oblivious to it.

“Then a slice of each.” He didn't wait for her to tally the order and pulled out his wallet, brandishing a black card from within and placing it on the counter. She seemed astonished to see the card in front of her, but it only took a second for her to punch your orders in while repeating it out loud to confirm. Jaehyun nodded and she swiped the card.

“Have you always been a tea person? I could have gotten you tea instead of coffee all this time at the library.” He inquired, pursing his lips ever so slightly at you.

“Not necessarily.” You shrugged your shoulders, “My mind has strongly associated coffee with productivity and since we’re not here to study, I’d rather have tea. I like both, equally.”

Jaehyun finished paying for the order and guided you to a seat by the window. He helped you into your seat briefly before seating himself.

There was a palpable pause when he looked at you and it almost became awkward until he coughed and glanced away, ears visibly red.

“I’m sorry,” He cleared his throat, “I’ve never really… taken anyone out on a date before.”

The admission made your brows shoot up a little, “What? You’ve never dated anyone?”

He shook his head, “No. Wasn’t really interested… until I met you.”

The confession made your heart skip a beat and the faintest heat rose up your cheeks. “Oh. Uhm,” You stuttered, “I… I didn’t expect that from you.”

He sighed, “I get that a lot — not to be vain or anything. I was just never interested in the dating scene.”

“Haven’t girls asked you out? None of them caught your eye?”

Jaehyun shook his head again. “They all seemed… pretentious? No, too eager? Like I’m prey or something.”

You’re still having a hard time believing that this gorgeous man has not dated at all — let alone having you as the first person he’s ever expressed interest in. “What makes me different?”

Slowly, a small smile formed on his lips, “That’s what I’d like to know.”

a/n: there's too much technical stuff in the next part, that's why i'm having a hard time writing, but!!! it's coming i swear pls dont give up on me im sorry for such the long wait (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)

You jumped, hugging your bag to your chest and ducking your head down.

“Woah— calm down. It’s just me.”

Looking up, you feel relaxed when you see Yuta in workout clothes. “Oh, Yuta. I’m sorry. I’m just… a little jumpy.”

He laughed, “I can tell. I’m just as surprised to see you here.”

“Ah well,” You nervously said, “Just thought it would be nice to take a walk. How about you? Were you jogging?”

Yuta tilted his chin up at the building the two of you were standing by and you followed his gaze to the brightly lit gym. “I work out here. I don’t like the one at my apartment. Do you need a ride home? I heard Jaehyun’s abroad at the moment.”

At the mention of his name, your face fell and you moved your attention to your feet. “Ah, no. It’s okay. Thanks for the offer, I was going to get dinner before heading home. Would you… like to join me?”

He smiled, “I would love to, but maybe some other time.”

“Alright.” You nodded, a little relieved that he declined your offer. “Well, have a good evening.”

“You, too.” Yuta waved, “Stay safe.”

This made you feel uneasy. You had been so caught up with Jaehyun and the past that you forgot someone is out to get him. Did they know you left him? Would they still be after you? Maybe hitching a ride home with Yuta wasn’t so bad—

You turned around and found he was long gone and you cussed under your breath. You’ve decided to have dinner at home instead, that was the safer option. As you hurriedly walked off to the bus stop, you thought about how you could possibly keep yourself — and your parents, now that you’re back to living with them — safe. Would it be too much to ask Soojung for help even though you broke up with her cousin? You would have to wait to get back to the house to contact her through email on your laptop to do so.

If you were right, the bus that drops you off near your parent’s place should be the next one in a few minutes as indicated by the timer on the bus stop. You sat yourself, wary of your surroundings but felt thankful for it to be well lit and a lot of pedestrians were around. Surely, you were safe here.

Your mind kept going back to Jaehyun, hoping he hadn’t done anything drastic. Maybe you should contact his mom first when you get home.

It’s a 45-minute bus ride back to your parent’s place so you made yourself as comfortable as you can on the bus seat when it finally arrived. 

Leaning against the window, you stared at the seat in front of you. Some things you overlooked and ignored in the past about Jaehyun started to make sense now. Like how he knew where your dorm was back in college before you even told him or how he seemingly knew things you liked. You felt stupid now for assuming he was just some good guesser or was really lucky at assuming things about you. You couldn’t wrap your head around how he was able to pretend that he didn’t know anything, how he was able to look you in the eye and tell you how he fell in love that day you “met” in class, how he could present himself as the perfect man in front of your parents, how he could straight up lie to your face when you asked if he had anymore skeletons in his closet when he was finally opening up to you. 

Your eyes started to sting again at the rush of emotions coming over you. 

Jaehyun claimed he was going to tell you eventually but when was that? After the wedding? After your first child? That image of the future with him you had constantly dreamt of was shattered now, broken and scattered, unsalvageable. And if it came to that point, you wouldn’t know how to react. It’ll hurt a lot more, you bet. Would you still be able to leave? File for divorce? If not, you’d be estranged from him. 

You took a long, deep breath to keep your tears at bay. This could have all been avoided, you thought. If he had just approached you that day, why couldn’t he have just done that?

You were just staring off into space for a few minutes and when you blinked, you saw landmarks that notified you that you were near your stop. You nearly jumped in your seat. Luckily, it wasn’t as crowded and there were only a handful of passengers with you who were all preoccupied to see your reaction.

When the bus came to a stop and you alighted, you let out a heavy sigh. It’s like you were visiting home during school breaks when you were attending university. As you started walking, you stared at your feet. A part of you is hoping this was all just a dream. You’ll get home, lay your head on your pillow, and you’ll wake up from this nightmare.

A car revving from the main street made you jump, looking back with an angered expression. You never understood why people did that especially if it’s near family homes at night. As you were about to return to trekking down the pathway, you caught something in the shadow from your periphery. Something moved and you flinched, but noticing that it was small, you excused it as a stray ducking into the darkness. You resumed your little journey, footsteps a little faster after being spooked.

There was a shortcut that went through the small forest that would take you straight to the street of your parent’s house and cut your walk in half, the only downside is that it wasn’t well lit like the streets and had a lamppost every few meters. You thought about taking it, but with the current situation, you knew it wasn’t the smartest idea.

The entrance to the shortcut was coming into view and you looked over your shoulder to see if someone else was walking down the path with you. 

There was someone there. It didn’t register when you saw them, but when it clicked in your head, you stopped walking. You looked back again and the silhouette of the person was still approaching you.

Maybe it’s another homeowner, you convinced yourself. But the closer they got, the faster and harder your heart thumped in your chest.

When they were just a couple feet away, you could make out that this person was a tall, slim man. He stopped all of a sudden, probably taking notice that you were watching him. The street lamp was behind him so you couldn’t see his face well, but you could make out that he had long fringes covering his eyes and a black face mask.

“Is something wrong?” His voice was deep… but strained, and it’s not brought by his mouth being covered by a mask. It was like… he was speaking in this tone on purpose.

“Oh,” You shook your head, “Sorry, no. I, uh, I thought you were someone I know.”

The stranger laughed, “Oh, I see.”

“I’m sorry again. Have a nice evening.” You bowed your head and started to walk forward again but froze when the stranger spoke up again.

“This is boring.”

“I… I beg your pardon?” You looked back at him. 

He had his arms crossed now, head cocked to the side. “This will be more fun if you run.”

His voice had changed; it sounded natural now — and familiar. But you couldn’t bring yourself to figure out who it was because you were focused on what he had said.

Run?

The stranger dropped his arms to the side, both hands brandishing items that were too distinct to mistake to be anything else. One hand held some cloth while the other…

“I said, it will be more fun, if you run.” Something metallic clicked and the other item in his hands extended by a couple inches, glinting in the light. “Go on, run.”

So you did.

You smiled at the girl manning the booth, handing over exact change as you told her your order: the coldest bottle of cider they had. You felt a little bad that she made the effort to stick almost her entire arm into the cooler to get to the bottles at the very bottom. You sensed someone beside you and you figured they wanted to buy something as well so you stepped to the side to give them space.

The girl handed you your drink, but she was not looking at you anymore. She had a big, flirty grin on her face as she greeted the person you had made way for. You took the drink and thanked her, a little amused at her expression. You started to make your way back when you felt someone touch your arm.

“Hey, excuse me—”

“[Y/N]! There you are! I’ve been trying to find you everywhere!”

You waved at your best friend, who picked you up for a bear hug that made you shy and laugh.

“You were amazing! Congrats on the win, [Y/N].” Doyoung settled you back on the ground and you shook your head.

“I don’t know,” You playfully sang, “I think I owe it all to my cheerleaders in the crowd.”

He smugly crossed his arms over his chest, “That’s right, because I made sure everyone out cheered the others.”

“Whatever! Hey, wanna join the team for some snacks? Ji Ah bought too much again.” You hooked your arm around his like how you always would, reeling him along as you walked back to the table.

“Who am I to deny food, [Y/N]?”

You giggled at him, shaking your head. You looked back at the booth, remembering someone had tapped your arm. But no one was there anymore. There were a couple of students walking away, but you really couldn’t tell who it was. Did you drop something? You only brought over the exact amount of money you needed to pay.

“Hey, you okay? Are you looking for someone?”

You squinted, attention darting from one person to the other. “No…” But then you saw a familiar mop of hair — the back of someone’s head you knew well that you could pinpoint it from a mile away. 

“Jaehyun?”

He was wearing basketball shorts and a similar colored jacket that had ‘JUNG’ printed on the back in a collegiate font and large ‘94’ below it. 

You ran towards his retreating form, not noticing your environment blurring past you as you tried to reach out your hand to him. “Jaehyun!” You cried, it seemed like he was getting further and further away. You tripped on your own feet, falling forward and catching yourself by putting your arms in front of you to break your fall.

“Are you okay?”

A pair of clean, expensive looking sneakers appeared in front of you and you gasped, snapping your head upwards to see the owner of the shoes.

Jaehyun… looked young. He was wearing something different now; a tailored dress shirt with an emblem on the front chest pocket and black slacks that you vaguely remembered as Kyeonggi’s uniform.

Jaehyun— You opened your mouth but nothing came out.

There were items scattered around the ground that weren’t there before. He had bent down and started to gather some of them up into his hands.

Jae, you screamed in your head, but the words that left your lips were different.

“I’m sorry.”

“Geez, watch where you’re going, bitch.” An unfamiliar voice snickered and you suddenly couldn’t move your head, as if it was perpetually bowed down.

“Shut up, Choi.” That was Jaehyun’s voice.

Their voices started to muffle afterwards. You kept your head down, but your eyes are straining to look around. This… felt familiar. This place… this situation…

This was… a memory.

Did you run into Jaehyun before college?

“Ignore him. Here.” Jaehyun handed you the items that had fallen from your shopping bag. His fingers gently ran across the side of your palms as he slowly retracted his hands.

“No, it’s okay.” You said, unknowingly.

You were grocery shopping and you had tripped over something — no, someone had tripped you. And then a boisterous chorus of laughter followed afterwards as your groceries spilled from your arms. You were embarrassed, refusing to look up at the strangers who decided to pick on you for some reason. You remembered rushing to gather everything up to leave while they kept laughing at you. But one of them got on his knee and helped you. You were too scared to look up back then, but if you had… would it have been Jaehyun in front of you that day?

You gasped, regaining your ability to move your head and quickly turning around when you felt a tap on your shoulder.

Jaehyun winced as your ponytail slapped him across the face, a little shocked and amused as he stifled his reaction as to not disturb the professor speaking in front of the class.

“I am so sorry.” You apologized immediately, holding down your hair to the side as if it could move on its own. You held your breath as you stared at Jaehyun.

You remembered this day like it was the back of your hand. You didn’t mean to sit at the back and you were straining yourself to focus on the professor’s voice as he introduced the subject but then you felt something on your shoulder and you were more focused on keeping your voice down to care about your hair possibly being a form of assault.

You thought he was cute… no, you distinctly recall brandishing your seatmate as the hottest boy you’ve ever laid your eyes on, but of course he’ll never know that and it’s not like you had a chance with him (as you thought so at the time).

He sheepishly smiled back at you, a palm resting on his cheek from where your hair had hit him.

Your lips started to drop down into a frown and Jaehyun mirrored this with his expression.

The world had stopped around you by now, it was dead silent — almost deafening.

“So even us meeting back here was all part of your plan?” You whispered, eyes watering at the memories of the records you had read off the files. “If we had already crossed paths way back, why didn’t you start there?”

When you blinked to let the tears fall, the college student Jaehyun you were seated beside was now present time Jaehyun, dressed in his usual black suit and tie. The fine lines he had accumulated as grew up weren’t visible, but they were there. 

You were now standing in front of each other, both of you crying. God, you thought, he owned your heart. You loved his very being and it hurts to know you need to learn how to stop from now on.

“I love you.” was all he said, voice soft like when you left him on the floor at the apartment. “And you love me, too, right?”

Your lips parted but nothing came out.

The Jaehyun in front of you made an expression of pure hurt and anguish, “You don’t love me anymore?”

You couldn’t even react properly because in a split second, you’re both back in his old college room as he spun around and punched the mirror on his bathroom door. 

“Stop!” You screamed, not wanting to relive this moment. As he winded back to take another swing, you reached for his arm to stop him but your hands phased right through him like a ghost. You could feel yourself panicking as your breath quickened.

Jaehyun punched the mirror once more and you could see the blood again — the ones staining the cracked glass, the drops on the floor, the fresh spill from his knuckles. Your stomach churned, “Jaehyun, stop!”

For a moment, you thought he had listened but then he bent down to grab a shard off the floor and placed it over his wrist. In a fluid motion, he swiped the sharp glass over his skin and you let out a shriek.

You gasped for air, eyes snapping open and a hand flying to your chest to grip your shirt.

It was just a dream, you reminded yourself. A horrible dream.

It took a few seconds to recollect yourself, placing the hand that was on your chest over to your face. You rolled to your side and sat up, hoping to see that you were at your parent’s house but the room didn’t look familiar.

It was a simple bedroom; it had a bed, a TV on the wall, and a small matching table and chair. No decorations, not even curtains. But then you took notice of the floor and the walls; it was bare. It was all concrete — not even brutalist.

Where were you? What happened last night—

Anxiety crept over you as you recalled your previous situation; you were running from a man — from someone you knew. Who was it? He had eventually caught up to you when you were barely halfway down the shortcut path, grabbing a handful of your hair. You had tried screaming the entire time but you were so out of breath that it barely came out. The last thing you could remember was a cloth coming over your mouth and something sweet yet medicinal invading both your sense of taste and smell.

You felt woozy, slumping your body back against the masked man, who stepped away to let you fall back on the dirt. You groaned, vision blurring as your eyelids felt heavier with every second. The man hovered over you, seeming to enjoy you losing consciousness.

He had removed his mask and even in the darkness, you could see him smile at you.

You knew that smile…

One of the doors in the room opened and you scooted further up the bed, eyes narrowing at the newcomer.

“Oh, you’re awake.” He had that same smile last night. He had a tray with a bowl and glass of water that he set on the small table. He glanced back at you and laughed, “Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned if that’s what you’re thinking. If I wanted to kill you, I could’ve done that a long time ago.”

His words haunted you — a long time ago? Like from the moment you met him?

“Why?” You asked, low and soft but enough for him to hear.

“Surely, you’re hungry, no? It didn’t seem like you had a bite to eat from yesterday—”

“No.” You interrupted him, although he was right. The scent of the food had finally reached you and caused your stomach to quietly growl, but you shook your head at him, “Why… are you doing this, Yuta?”

He flashed that shit-eating grin at you again and you’re learning to get annoyed at it more than fear it. He pulled the chair from under the table, swiveled it around so it faced you, and sat down. “Why not?”

His answer filled you with rage and it was evident on your face, “So you’re doing this for your own entertainment? For fun?”

Yuta pouted at you, “Hey, I saved you from marrying your stalker, [Y/N]. I think I deserve a ‘Thank you’ for that.”

“You don’t deserve shit.” You spat, “Answer the question: why are you doing this?”

He sighed, “He’s such a fascinating person, your fiance — oops, I mean… your ex-fiance.”

Tears welled up in your eyes at the truth but you held your ground.

Amused at your expression, Yuta continued, “He seemed so perfect — to the public eye. He’s young, wealthy, the sole heir to a multi billion company, and of course, in a long, loving relationship with his college sweetheart, his first love, [Y/N] [L/N].”

He stood up and walked to the window, peering outside. The smile on his face was long gone, he looked cold and stoic.

“Do you wanna know why I was chosen to be a representative of my company? It wasn’t because I already learned Korean. My father caught wind of the news about the CEO of Korea’s top casino stepping down soon to let his son take over. In our world,” He said this in a way that ostracized you, “that meant that someone inheriting a billion dollar company at such a young age — he had to be some sort of genius. So when an invitation was sent out to introduce Jaehyun to partners, stakeholders, stockholders, and the likes, my father immediately reserved his seat. He had to meet him.”

You knew about that event. Jaehyun initially wanted to invite you as his date but thought it best to forego the idea, you were still a bit shell shocked to know of his family background and business, let alone he was inheriting it. He also wanted to keep you and your relationship out of the public eye for the time being.

“And to say my father was impressed by him is an understatement. That man was absolutely smitten — so much so that all I heard for the following weeks is how he wished I was like him. How Jung Jaehyun was the son he always wanted.”

“So you came here to ruin his life?”

Yuta raised a brow at you, clearly annoyed. He strode over to the foot of the bed and leaned his torso towards you, “Shut the fuck up and let me finish, okay?”

You swallowed your saliva, pressing your lips together, and warily watched him erect his back before he continued to speak.

“My father sent me here, not only to do business and act as representative, but also befriend Jaehyun and quote-unquote learn a thing or two from him.” He shrugged his shoulders, “But Jaehyun’s so uptight — we’ve had this conversation before — he practically didn’t have a social life. So I quite literally took my father’s advice and decided to learn from Jaehyun — my way.”

The grin was back on Yuta’s face and this time it sent shivers down your spine.

“It was quite hard finding a private investigator willing to work against the Jungs, but you can buy anything these days, including loyalty. 30 million USD was all I needed. Go could retire early and provide for his grandkid’s grandkids. It’s a lot funnier because I only got in contact with Go because of Jaehyun.” He snickered, “So I had him investigated, like he did with you~”

This made you scowl but your reaction only made him laugh harder.

“Oh, if only you had seen my reaction when I went through his files. I was so… fascinated. Do you know that feeling when you find out about someone’s dirty little secret? How you could just gauge how much power you have over this person because of it? When you find out someone perceived as the epitome of being perfect — isn’t perfect at all? I wanted to laugh, too, because this is the guy my own father wanted to have as a son?” Yuta hollered, clapping his hands. “Oh, I wish I could see his face when I tell him Jaehyun and I are equally sick in the head.”

“What?” You asked before you could stop yourself.

Expecting him to get mad, you braced yourself in case he snapped at you but instead he hummed.

Yuta looked down at his pocket and fished out his phone, tapping away as if you weren’t there. Unsure of what to do, you sat in silence and waited for him to finish whatever he was focused on.

After a while, he made a sound of a mix of surprise and awe. He peers up at you through his lashes, that devious grin reappearing on his face. He cocked his head towards the television that opened all of a sudden and you guessed that it was connected to his phone. 

What came on screen didn’t make sense to you at first until you realized it was a camera feed and that it was in real time based off the emboldened ‘LIVE’ beside the red dot in the corner. It took another second for you to realize that it was coming from the CCTV of your old apartment’s living room.

Your stomach churned at the awareness of Yuta using his own business to spy on you and Jaehyun.

Something in the corner of the screen moved and you instantly recognized Jaehyun getting up from the dining table. He was still there? All the files were on the table as well. After a few seconds, he trudged away. 

Yuta tapped his phone and the scene changed: it was the common bathroom near the entrance of the apartment. You wanted to throw up, how was he even able to have that installed there when all of the bathrooms shouldn’t have a camera when they had him over?

Jaehyun appeared at the door of the bathroom, lazily flipping the lights on and standing in front of the mirror.

You had a horrible feeling stirring in your gut and in just a second, your fears were confirmed. “Stop!” You cried as if he could hear you as he punched the mirror. Your hand covered your mouth as the nightmare you just had unfolded on the screen in front of you. When Jaehyun held the glass to his wrist, you hated how vivid and high definition the video was that you had to bury your face in your palms.

You sobbed into your hands, not caring if Yuta would get annoyed. You’re scared to look up and to see the blood all over Jaehyun.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Yuta scoffed, “You act like you don’t know Jaehyun at all — oh, right. You don’t.”

Rage overcame you and you pulled your hands away from your face to glare at him. You wanted to say a lot of things that could potentially put your life at risk than it already was, but then you noticed Jaehyun was still standing in front of the broken mirror and the shard that was in his hand is with the rest in the sink.

“He’s not going to kill himself.” Yuta spoke up, “He’s going to figure out who sent you his shit and then find out you’re missing and eventually, look for you himself.”

You stared at him, allowing his words to repeat in your head over and over again.

“You’re… you’re using me as bait…”

Yuta clapped his hands, smiling like a child, “You’re so smart, [Y/N]. I almost thought Jaehyun kept you for the sex — which, by the way, is great porn materi—”

You hurled yourself at him, screaming and reaching for him with your hands ready to claw at his face, but he simply slapped you with the back of his hand. You fell back on the bed, pressing your cheek as it stung from the impact.

“I just said you were smart, [Y/N]. And what you did wasn’t so smart.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It would be a lot better if he finds you alive so please don’t force my hand and attempt to kill you before that.”

The way he suggested killing you so coolly and nonchalant terrified you.

Peeking at him through your hair, you softly muttered, “He’s going to kill you. You’ve seen the files. When he figures out you did it… when he finds you… he’s going to kill you.”

He just simply smiled at you. “And I just can’t wait.”

a/n: are we all mentally ready for the last leg of devoted 2??

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He frowned through the video call at you, crossing his arms over his chest like a child that’s been denied his treat. You were tucked into the corner of the backseat with a cooling patch stuck on your forehead and a heating pad on your stomach, pathetically putting on a brave face despite the cramps absolutely demolishing your lower abdomen.

It must have been a sight for your bodyguards through the rearview mirror to see you like this. Ever since you came down with a fever last night, Jaehyun had suggested that you check into the hospital but you insisted on staying with your parents. You’ll feel a lot safer there and what could possibly beat the tender, loving care of your mother, right?

“I don’t understand how you’re sick all of a sudden. Did you eat something? Food poisoning, maybe? Does your stomach still hurt?”

“It’s probably PMS, babe. It’s not my stomach hurting, my abdomen is cramping up.”

“You’ve never gotten fevers before your period in the past.”

You sighed, “Yeah, it sucks to be a woman, no? I’ll be fine, Jae. It’s actually right on time if it is.”

He still looked hesitant, his brows slowly merging together on his forehead. “Okay… If you say so, but I’m going to have a doctor come by as soon as possible.”

You reached your parent’s home and you sighed, “Alright. I’m here and you have a meeting.”

“I hope you feel better soon, baby. I miss you. Tell your parents I said hi.”

“I miss you, too, and I will.” You giggled. “Good luck, baby. I love you.”

“Thanks, I love you more.”

He took another hesitant, longing look at you before finally ending the call.

You settle back down and let your face contort into pain as another wave of cramps tortured your lower half while Jooheon gets out of the front seat. You’ve never had PMS this bad before. Usually it only cramped during your period and you never got a fever, too. You had a classmate back in high school that always got a fever before her period.

Seeing that Jooheon had circled around to your door, you sat up and let him open the door for you.

“[Y/N], dear!” Your mom came bursting out of the house, hurriedly making her way to you, and engulfing you into a hug while you gathered the heat pad and purse into your arms. “What happened? It’s been years since you had a fever!”

“It’s probably just my period coming.”

Jooheon had brought over your overnight bag inside the house for you and bowed as he passed by you, “We’ll be a call away, Ms. [L/N].”

“Please,” You shook your head, “you and Hyunwoo can go home for today. I’ll call when I’m better and can go back home.”

He looked unsure - you knew Jaehyun had different orders for them, but he relented and bowed again to both you and your mom as a bid farewell.

“I cleaned your room the second you said you wanted to stay over. Come, come. Go lie down and I’ll make you some hot soup.” Your mom assisted you up the stairs and into your childhood room. “I’ll have your dad bring your bag up when he’s finished taking a bath.”

You whistled as you looked around, “Did you preserve the room or something, mom? Nothing’s changed. I thought you would have wanted this extra room for hobbies or knick knacks.”

It dawned on you that you never brought Jaehyun up here, even when you brought him home for the first time so he could meet your parents. It makes you wonder how his childhood room looked; it was probably way bigger than this. More sleek and modern — his mom gave off that vibe and she definitely had a hand at styling his room.

Your mom clicked her tongue, “Don’t be ridiculous. Both your father and I always hope you’d want to come back and sleep over some time.”

“Aw, mom.” You cried, “You can always ask me to come over if you wanted. Jaehyun wouldn’t mind.”

“Gosh, you sound like he’s not invited! Stop stalling me, get yourself to bed and I’ll go cook now.”

You laughed at her, you could really tell she missed fussing over you so much. When you went home for long weekends or school breaks during college, she was always all over you — acting as if you were VVIP or something along those lines.

“I’m just gonna put a pad on just in case I start bleeding.” You reasoned, calling out as she scurried out of our room.

You fished out one of the pads you stuffed into your purse and tossed your bag onto your bed, along with the heat pad. The pain is still a bitch but this was something only you could do. The bathroom was across your room and the tiles were still a little wet when you entered. After carefully stepping on the mats, you pulled your leggings with your underwear down and sat on the toilet.

“Oh, there it is.” You grumbled, the faintest splotch of red on your panties. You would’ve preferred to change out of it already, but your bag was still downstairs and you really couldn’t be bothered by it. You were already starting to feel chilly again. Without a second thought, you slapped the pad securely onto your underwear and did your business.

You weren’t used to staying put anymore. Despite the immense comfort and nostalgia of being in your old bed again where you could remember a handful of times where you refused to move because you would rather sleep, your body wasn’t programmed that way anymore. You had woken up a little past midnight to a horrible cramp and you just couldn’t go back to sleep anymore after snoozing the entire day once your dad had delivered your dinner to your bed. You wanted to work so badly, you were thankful to have stashed your laptop into your bag to at least check your emails.

Once you had your email on, you noticed Jaehyun was also online.

“Jae?” You chatted.

Without missing a beat, there was an incoming video call from him.

“Hi.” You both greeted each other once the connection was stable.

“Your dad said you were sound asleep.”

You cocked your head to the side, “You were messaging my dad?”

“I wouldn’t want to ring your phone if you were resting. Besides, I’m trying to build a relationship with my future-in-laws, is that so wrong?”

“Well, if you put it that way…” You trailed off with a giddy smile. “How are you?”

Jaehyun sighed, “We can’t get the heads of the branches in the same conference room, let alone in the same building. Sicheng is very close to calling his dad for help but it’s not gonna look good for him. We’re gonna try again in a few days. Let them cool down some more. How about you? Your mom said your temperature was getting lower when she last checked.”

You didn’t have any more cooling patches other than the one you had on when you came over so you had to cool yourself off the old fashion way with a damp cloth. You brought the back of your hand to your forehead and nodded, “It’s still a little hot.”

“Hold on, why are you even awake and on your laptop?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I thought I could get a little work in and read some emails.”

“You still shouldn’t stay up for too long. I scheduled one of the family doctor’s for you. Dr. Bae. She’s gonna clear her schedule for you so you can have her come over at your convenience.”

Your phone chimed after Jaehyun sent the doctor’s contact information.

“Alright. Thank you.”

Jaehyun moved his face away from the screen, but you can see his jaws move as he let out a big yawn.

“You must be tired from today, Jaehyun. You should get some rest, too.”

“But I wanna stay on call with you.” He pouted, lower lip jutted out.

You giggled, “We can stay on call until we both fall asleep, yeah?”

You left the camera on, leaving him to do his own thing while you skimmed through your unread emails. You took your time responding to the important ones, making sure your grammar and tone was professional. After replying to a handful of emails, you checked on Jaehyun.

You snorted, “You’re such a creep.”

While you were working, he must have taken a quick shower because his hair was messy and damp and he switched out from a dress shirt to a plain tee. He seemed to be seated at a table with his body leaned forward, elbow propped up and supporting his head’s weight. 

“Am I not allowed to watch and feel proud of my wife working so diligently?”

Wife. You couldn’t hide your smile. Usually, you’d correct him — not yet, you’ll quip, but you didn’t feel like it tonight.

“I realized I never let you up into my room before.”

You watched him pout, a little confused, and then he nodded in agreement.

“I guess you’re right. But to be fair,” He shrugged, “Whenever you brought me over, I was on my best behavior. I did not want your parents — especially your dad — to think I couldn’t keep my hands off you so maybe I subconsciously avoided it if the opportunity arose.”

“But you couldn’t keep your hands off me.”

“I am aware.”

You laughed at him, rolling your eyes.

“But like I said,” Jaehyun’s features softened, “I wanted to show your parents that I’m worthy of being with you. That they can be assured that their daughter is safe with me.”

“You don’t have to worry about that now.”

He shook his head, “No. Not until they walk you down the aisle and your father personally hands you over to me. Only until then will I believe they trust me to take care of you.”

Your heart swelled at his admonition, tears springing to your eyes.

“Baby,” The corner of his lip curved into a half smile along with his brows that expressed concern.

“You can’t expect me to not be emotional over that, Jaehyun.” You sniffed, wiping at your eyes before the tears could even spill. “I don’t know what I did to deserve someone like you.”

“You probably put a hex on me when we first met to make me fall for you.” He joked.

“Hey!” You reprimanded, trying to sound mad but you couldn’t help but chortle at him. “Maybe you were the one who hexed me.”

“If I believed in it, I would have if it meant having you to myself.”

The mood turned a little somber after he said that. 

“You don’t need to.” You murmured just loud enough for him to hear. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know.”

The moment was interrupted by something beeping in Jaehyun’s background and he looked over to the source of the sound. He disappeared from your view and after a while you hear the sound of water being poured.

“Are you having coffee at this hour?”

“No.” His voice was a little distant from the mic, “Ramen. I’m a little hungry.”

He emerged back into your view with a cup of ramen and a pair of chopsticks keeping the lid down.

“Ooh, ramen does sound good right now.” You longingly looked at the cup noodles on your laptop’s screen. “I just don’t know if my mom would have any in her pantry.”

“I can have someone bring you some.”

“No, it’s fine. It might keep me up longer.” And just on cue, you let out a yawn.

“Wanna go to sleep already?”

You huffed, “No. It’s my turn to watch you.”

You placed your laptop by your pillow, pulled your blanket over your body, and shimmied down the bed until you were comfortable. You faced your laptop to see Jaehyun’s amused expression at what he had just witnessed. “What?”

“You’re so cute. I wish I was there right now.”

“I wish you were here, too.” You mumbled, your eyelids feeling heavy already. “I hope you can come home soon.”

“I hope so, too.” You watch him stir his noodles with his chopsticks, taking a big bite after blowing on it. As he slurped his food, you commented, “You eat so well, babe.”

“Hm?”

“I said you eat so well. I think I remember my mom commenting about it too when I first brought you over here.”

Jaehyun wiped the corner of his mouth while chewing, “She’s an amazing cook.”

“Please don’t talk with your mouthful. You’re a full grown adult, Jae.”

He rolled his eyes at you, making an exaggerated movement to show you he swallowed. “There, happy?”

“I hope our kids eat as well as you. They’ll be chubby toddlers like you were.”

Jaehyun pursed his lips, “I wasn’t that chubby when I was a toddler…”

“Your cheeks looked so squishy, though. No one wants skinny babies. Chubby babies mean they’re healthy.”

“You are aware that means it’ll be painful for you if you’re going through natural birth.”

You drawled, “Yeah, but if they’re healthy, then it would be worth it, no?”

Your eyes fluttered shut as he chuckled, watching you fall asleep in front of him. He doesn’t say anything more but you just know he’s still laughing at you. You wanted to open your eyes to check but you didn’t have the strength to do it and you couldn’t even open your mouth to talk. 

“Sweet dreams, baby.”

You were able to make a soft noise to let him know you acknowledged him.

“I love you. I’ll see you soon.”

Dr. Bae was one of the most beautiful women you’ve ever laid your eyes upon - and she has a face mask over her mouth. Your own mother was flustered when she let her into the house and led her up to your room. Through the small talk you shared to break the ice, you found out that she was the Irene Johnny had mentioned before that he was supposed to get arranged to marry. She spoke so gracefully, yet confident and it almost made you insecure to be in her presence.

She goes through the usual tests; checking your vitals, heart rate, and blood pressure — she was about to forego checking your weight but your mom had brought over a weighing scale from their bathroom.

“Everything seems normal. Any other anomalies can be attributed to your period — and it just started today, correct?”

“No, yesterday. But the heavy flow started today.”

“Do you usually have a heavy flow for your period?”

You shook your head, “Oh, I have an implant, an IUD. My periods’ flow is irregular, if you can put it that way.”

Irene pensively looked at you with pursed lips, “By any chance, do you feel it?”

“The IUD? Right now?” You clarified, awkwardly shifting in your seat. “Not at all.”

“A displaced IUD could cause the user to experience heavy bleeding, cramping or soreness in your lower abdomen. I highly suggest you visit your gynecologist as soon as you can, Ms. [L/N]. Just to be sure.”

“Wait, how bad is a displaced IUD?”

“It’s not life-threatening.” She reassured you, “However, if it’s not in the proper location - your uterus - then it won’t be able to do it’s purpose as contraception.”

You mentally counted the days since the symptoms showed up and the last time you and Jaehyun had sex. Your gynecologist told you that sperm could live in the vagina up to 5 days. It should have been more than a week if you were counting right.

“You look a little frightened, Ms. [L/N].” Irene snapped you out of your thoughts and you forced out a laugh.

“Oh, sorry. I was just trying to count the days in my head since I last had intercourse from when the symptoms started… what are… what are the chances I could get pregnant?”

“It’s not in my field of expertise,” She sheepishly admitted, “But if you’re trying to avoid getting pregnant, you can take some birth control orally just to be safe. Again, you should really visit your gynecologist as soon as possible.”

After prescribing you with some pills for your cramps and fever (if it ever rises again), Dr. Irene left your parent’s home. Your dad offered to go and buy the medicine for you while he ran errands while your mom had to run her own errands — both hesitant to leave you until you convinced them you were fine. 

You had messaged Dr. Ahn immediately, explaining the situation already. While waiting for a response, you sent a similar message to Jaehyun to update him.

What if you were pregnant? It shouldn’t be so bad. Both you and Jaehyun have already talked about it — you even debated on having the implant removed but kept it in when you were informed you could easily get pregnant afterwards. You snorted, you couldn’t be pregnant at present though. You’re sure it’s been well over a week after having sex with him that the symptoms started. 

You checked your phone for responses from either Jaehyun or Dr. Ahn, but there was nothing.

The doorbell rang and you inwardly groaned, dreading the combination of walking down the stairs with the mild cramps you were experiencing. You fumbled around your bag to look for a spare facemask and put it on as you begrudgingly made your way down.

As you put your hand on the doorknob, there was a split second of fear that coursed through you. You were alone. You were so caught up with the implant issue that you had sent both your parents off without asking Jooheon or Hyunwoo to drive by. You peeked through the peephole and expelled a heavy breath of relief.

You swung the door open, “Kun?”

“[Y/N]? I didn’t know you were here. Did something happen?” Kun’s eyes widened in shock. “Are you okay? Are you sick?”

“I am. I decided to stay here because Jaehyun’s been overseas and I can’t really take care of myself. Would you like to come in?”

He shook his head, “No, I only meant to drop this off.”

Kun raised the box in his hands and then flinched, “Uhm, my… my family came to visit from China and they brought this for your parents. Tea leaves and herbal medicine.”

“Oh… they’re out, but thanks.” You tried to get it from him but he refused to hand it over.

“Let me. Where can I put it down?”

“The kitchen counter.” You stepped aside to let him in and you almost wanted to laugh that he didn’t even need to be directed to where the kitchen was. As you closed the door, you called out to him, “You didn’t come to the housewarming.”

Kun huffed after placing the box down, “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m getting a lot of work done now so I could take a vacation to spend with my family.”

“How are they?” You quietly asked, “Is this the first time they’re back here?”

He sighed slowly, “Yeah. They’re well… but…”

Kun shrugged his shoulders, “My mom. She has, uh, she has early onset dementia.”

“What? She’s the same age as my mom.”

“Dementia can happen to anyone in any age group. It’s actually in our genes.”

Your mouth slowly fell open, unsure of how to react or say.

He took notice and waved his hand, “Don’t worry about it. She’s still doing fine — but also, I should really get back to them.”

“Where are you guys staying?”

“Our old house. It was fortunately up for sale when I decided to randomly drive by. I was able to lease it and have it ready for my parents before they came over.”

“That’s amazing.”

He chuckled, “Right?”

You both walked back to the front door and he opened it to let himself out. Before he stepped away, he turned to look at you.

“Would you like to have dinner with my family? It’ll be nice to catch up with you. It could help jog my mom’s memory as a mental stimulant.”

“Yeah, I would love to.” You literally felt like someone kicked your abdomen. “Uhm, when I get better, yeah?”

“Yes, of course.” He nodded, “I should go. Get well soon, [Y/N].”

“Take care.”

You closed the door after he had stepped off the porch. Usually, you would have waited until they got into their cars before closing the door but you couldn’t stand straight anymore. You trudged towards the staircase and sat down, pressing down on your abdomen. Have either Jaehyun or Dr. Ahn responded to you already? You were so preoccupied with Kun and the news of his parents being back in Korea that you had forgotten the urgency of your possible situation. You got up at once and turned to walk up to your room but there was a knock on the door.

“Kun?” You called out, “Did you forget something?”

You opened the door without a second thought and was confused to see no one there. You looked around until your eyes fell to the doormat and your body froze. Your blood ran cold at the sight of what looked to be a black flower on top of a small folded card. Your eyes shot up to look around, even bravely stepping outside of the door frame to look for something — someone, that could have left it there, but there was nothing. 

There was no one.

You snatched the flower and card from the ground and slammed the door closed, frantically locking it behind you. Your legs gave out and you fell on your knees to the floor, but the pain that struck your knees couldn’t distract you from inspecting the items in your hands.

It was a rose. And it wasn’t naturally black, but rather it was withered and dead. The dark gradation of the dried petals told you it was a red one. With one hand, you shakily pried the note open.

“Are you sure you know everything about the peccant man you love?”

Peccant? You weren’t even sure what that meant.

“The truth is in the apartment.”

You balled your fist, crumpling the note in your hand. This is a trap. It has to be.

You got up from the floor, rushing upstairs like your body wasn’t hurting to begin with. You grabbed your phone from the bed and checked the notifications for messages. Jaehyun hadn’t messaged but Dr. Ahn has and she told you to come into her clinic the day after next, as she’s currently out of town. After sending a quick thank you to her, you searched up the meaning of ‘peccant.’

“Having committed a fault or sin. Corrupt.”

You reread the note again. 

What had Jaehyun done for this person to call him corrupt? Was it so bad that it could possibly drive you away from him?

You pulled up Jaehyun’s contact and found yourself hovering over the green call button. 

Why are you hesitating? You wouldn’t have waited a second longer to tell him about this.

“Do I know everything about him?” You whispered to yourself, fixated on the pixels on your phone that made up his name. 

“[Y/N]! Look at you! You’ve grown up so well.” Kun’s dad greeted you, opening his arms up for a hug that you gladly accepted.

It’s been two days and you were a lot better. You contacted Kun and you’ll be free for a few more days until you need to get yourself back to work. Dr. Ahn was going to see you in the afternoon later so Kun suggested having lunch at their house.

“Hello, Mr. Qian. How have you been?” You pulled away and smiled.

“Still kicking, that’s for sure.” He laughed, however his face grew soft as he turned towards the lady beside him. “Honey, do you remember this young lady?”

Mrs. Qian hummed as she looked up at her husband. He gestured towards you and her head cocked to the side. After a beat, she gasped. “Oh, Kun, is this your girlfriend? What a beautiful woman she is.”

“No, Ma, she’s not. Well… she’s my ex-girlfriend… from high school.”

“High school?” She repeated, tone a little perplexed. But after a few more seconds, she clasped her hands together in a ‘Eureka!’ moment, “[L/N] [Y/N]! My word! You’ve matured into such a lovely lady!”

You bashfully smiled at her, “Hello, Mrs. Qian. It’s been so long.”

“It’s been ages, dear! Gosh, let’s come inside and seat ourselves. My memory may be foggy, but I haven’t forgotten my recipes!”

As you entered, you couldn’t help but look around. The structure was still the same for sure, but a lot of things have changed. The photos and awards Kun had weren’t on the hallway wall anymore. They had a very traditional Asian vibe to their interior before but it seemed like the previous owners were more into Scandinavian design.

You walked into the dining room and smiled to yourself at the sight: although the interior screamed Modern European, the table set for brunch was clearly meant for Chinese cuisine.

“Oh, wow.” You remarked, “I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve had a proper homemade dumpling.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” Mr. Qian quipped, opening one of the few bamboo steamers on the table. “My wife has dumplings, dim sums, and pork buns ready to be gobbled up! Please, take a seat, [Y/N].”

Your eyes wandered over to Kun, clearly feeling a bit awkward and on edge. You do have to admit it’s a little weird to be having brunch with your ex from high school. Maybe he’s worried his mom would bring up the reason you two broke up.

Fortunately, lunch went on smoothly. Conversations jumped from fond memories of the past to catching up with the present to future plans — and it jumped from each one with no particular pattern. Mrs. Qian’s food had always given you comfort when you were able to eat it. Like a Chinese version of your mom’s food. You caught yourself glancing at Kun, who was playfully telling his father to keep quiet about an embarrassing childhood story. You feigned a smile, pretending to be listening but your mind flew back to when you were still dating Kun.

Back then, you were convinced that Kun was the first and only for you. Before the impending break up brought upon finding out you were going to pursue Arts, you really did get along with his parents. They practically treated you like a daughter-in-law already. It’s a bittersweet memory.

“Please tell me you’re in a relationship, [Y/N], unlike Mr. I-don’t-have-time-for-that-in-med-school over here.” Mrs. Qian dismissively waved her hand as if to dismiss her son.

“I, uh,” You cleared your throat, caught a bit off guard by the sudden attention on you, “I am. I’m actually engaged.”

You brought up your hand where your engagement ring fit snugly on your finger.

“Congratulations! Oh, how wonderful! I’m so happy for you, [Y/N].” She clapped, smiling brightly.

“Who’s the lucky fella?”

“He was a classmate in my first year in college.” You felt like a teenager telling her parents about a crush, “His name is Jaehyun. Jung Jaehyun.”

You could have imagined it, but the bright smile Mr. Qian had plastered on his face, dimmed. The air in the dining room seemed to have shifted as well.

“What a lucky guy. Congratulations, dear.” He nodded to himself before proceeding to focus on his food.

“Jung Jaehyun? What a familiar name.” Mrs. Qian leaned forward a bit, pressing her forearms against the table while looking up at the ceiling. 

“Their engagement was on the news. Maybe you had watched it in passing.” Kun quickly said.

Mrs. Qian nodded her head but didn’t seem satisfied with the answer.

You could feel tension between Kun and his father for some reason. Before you could properly react to it, Mr. Qian cleared his throat again.

“Honey, didn’t you make something for dessert? We should serve it now, [Y/N] has somewhere to be afterwards.”

“Oh, yes. I made some egg tarts! You can bring some with you, dear. Let me get it from the kitchen.” She got out of her seat and after a few steps away, she spun around, “Oh! I remember now! Jung Jaehyun’s father is the one who provided our retirement fund!”

“Mom.” Kun sternly scolded at the same time Mr. Qian stood up, saying her name in a similar tone.

“What?”

“Am I remembering it wrong? It was Jung Jaegun. He had a son named Jung Jaehyun.”

You couldn’t properly process what’s happening. “He… provided your retirement fund?”

“[Y/N],” Kun interrupted, but his mom kept on going, clearly not sensing the growing distress from her family.

“Yes! That’s why we moved back to China. He even paid for Kun’s tuition up until college.”

At those words, Kun’s face turned red - but you’re not sure if it’s from embarrassment or shame.

“But.. But why?”

Before she could get another word out, Mr. Qian loudly cut her off with something in Mandarin. 

Mrs. Qian looked shocked at her husband, morphing into concern when she turned to you.

You hadn’t noticed but you had a death grip on the skirt of your dress. You could hear your heartbeat pumping in your ear as if you had a stethoscope to your chest. You’re still confused at what’s been said, you had so many questions.

Kun muttered something to his parents in Mandarin and you watched Mr. Qian escorts his wife out without another glance at you.

“Kun,” You whispered, unable to make your voice any louder. “What was that?”

He took in a deep breath, running a hand over his face. You could see that he tried to look at you but his eyes just wouldn’t follow through.

“Kun,” You repeated, “I would very much appreciate you telling me something I don’t know about a man I’m about to spend the rest of my life with.”

“It’s all true — what my mom had said. They were paid to leave their jobs here and move back to China. There were better paying jobs there prepared by Jung Jaegun and he also paid for my schooling.”

“Why?” You repeated the question from earlier. 

“I swear to you, this is the truth.” He calmly responded. “He said it was what his son, Jaehyun, would have wanted… and that’s all we ever knew.”

“I don’t understand. How did your family get mixed up into the business of a family like the Jung’s?”

Kun shook his head, “I told you. We don’t know. My parents were just approached one day and we were only given a day to decide. The offer was too good to be true, but too hard to pass on for my parents.”

“So we broke up because…”

“They signed an NDA… we all did.” He admitted, “So I’m gonna have to ask you to pretend you don’t know because I don’t know the consequences of breaching an NDA with the Jungs.”

You licked your lips, “When you said you were trying to protect me… did you mean you were trying to protect me from Jaehyun?”

“Yes. What are the chances the son of the man who essentially paid us to leave started dating — now engaged to — the girl I had to break up with? It was all too suspicious.”

It really was.

“But I didn’t meet Jaehyun until college.”

“I know. That’s why I think it’s just a horrible coincidence.” Kun pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again. “I don’t want to cause a rift between you two. I’m genuinely happy for both of you, but…”

“But what?”

Kun shrugged his shoulders, “What are the odds of it, you know?”

“Ma’am, we’re here.”

You flinched, surprised to be pulled out of your trance. You looked at Hyunwoo who was driving and then outside to see Jooheon opening the door for you. Behind Jooheon was the familiar entrance of your old apartment building.

“Thank you. You don’t have to wait for me here. I’ll walk over to the clinic and I’ll call when I’m done.” You smoothed out your dress as you stepped outside.

“Okay, ma’am.” Jooheon bowed his head and closed the door, promptly walking to the passenger seat. The car didn’t move so you surmised they were waiting for you to go inside before they took off.

As steadily as you could, hoping you wouldn’t trip from how nervous you are, you walked into the building and greeted the doorman that still remembers you.

You approached the front desk with faux confidence, slowing down as you greeted the receptionist and giving a lame excuse that you wanted to change up the interior of the unit. They let you on your way without another doubt.

In the elevator, you finally let your nerves show. You pulled the note you had received the other day from your bag.

“The truth is in the apartment.”

You were very aware that this could be a trap. You were probably going to get jumped the second you step foot into the room, but you’re going to hope that you’ll get some answers from it either way.

The elevator opened and you cautiously stepped out of  it, approaching the front door of the apartment. With a hand on the knob, you almost thought that it could have been rigged with an explosive that would set up the moment you open the door. 

You lied to Hyunwoo and Jooheon about your visit to the apartment, giving the same excuse you told the receptionist. Jaehyun didn’t even know about the dead rose and note. No one did. But you had slept on it, deciding to keep it a secret. You weren’t going to do anything about it. At first. Not until the revelation from the Qian’s.

You were going to take matters into your own hands.

Fuck it.

You punched in the code with your other hand and opened the door once it unlocked.

You braced yourself for a few seconds, but when nothing happened, you peeked inside. All the furniture was still there, although a bit dusty. You were so caught up in trying to start your own company that you never got around redecorating the place to have it rented out as an AirBNB like you had initially planned. Most of the decor was gone, though. Those were family photos and some art pieces that you were too fond of that you just had to take them into the new house.

Your steps echoed as you slowly walked further in. It felt so empty. Memories of this place started to flood your brain; from when you and Jaehyun first moved in, when you realized you hated the interior and took it upon yourself to slowly redecorate until you were satisfied, when you two were almost caught doing the nasty on the floor by the front door because neither of you could keep it in your pants and Yebin just had to go back up to use the restroom (Jaehyun was very annoyed at her). So many milestones in your relationship happened in this apartment. 

Your heart started to clench in your chest; you’ve been through so much with Jaehyun. Yet somewhere in this very apartment is something that could ruin all that. 

You could walk away. Choke all of it down like what you did like that night in college. Keep it together until Jaehyun comes back home so both of you can talk it through like how both of you learned from therapy. 

Inhaling deeply, you swiveled on your heel to walk back out but you stopped. You blinked at the front door; it was just a few steps away. But your eyes caught something peculiar. Something you were sure shouldn’t be there when you had left the apartment for the last time.

You bit down on your lip.

On the dining table, there were stacks of paper - files and records of something. Some were bare on the table, just haphazardly spread across. Some were peeking out of manila envelopes or colored folders - as if to say, hey, there’s something interesting in here, too.

Your eyes skimmed through the pages, reading bits and pieces of what you can. Your throat started to burn as you picked up the first paper you could.

[L/N], [Y/N]. 

Female. 

16.

a/n: happy birthday to me 🎉 we did it hoes, we're here 💪 its time for shit to go down 😈

“N-no. We don’t have plans.” You met Jaehyun’s eyes across the kitchen and smiled, “Not yet, at least.”

Your mom reminded them about how you insist on not wanting to be pregnant during the wedding and all the women started to agree. Meanwhile, you thought about the reason behind your supposed glow. Aside from being surrounded by people you love, you’d like to blame the sex marathon. It’s been a week since you and Jaehyun had moved in and when he said he’d have you two bless each surface... He meant it.

The party had been unintentionally separated between sexes; the men were outside on the patio, helping the dads out with the barbeque and talking about businesses, while you lounged inside the kitchen with the women, sipping on daytime cocktails Yebin had whipped up, discussing wedding details.

“Kyungwon, you should definitely come to the bachelorette party.” Minkyung said after wiping her lips with a napkin. They’ve met before but never really held a proper conversation until today. “Unless you’re not single.”

“I’m pathetically single.” Kyungwon fake cried, biting on her fork. “You would think working in a male dominated company would get a girl a man. But are we surprised they’re all jerks?”

“I had the same thoughts while working with male models!” Minkyung sighed, “They’re more high maintenance than I am.”

Yebin leaned in closer, “That’s saying a lot.”

Everyone laughed as Minkyung huffed at her, scrunching her nose with a pout.

“I can set you two up with my nephews, if you’d like.” Jaehyun’s mom waved, “They used to play with Jaehyun as a child and I’d like to think they got along swimmingly. Oh, let’s ask him.”

Jaehyun had stepped into the room with a tray of freshly grilled beef, sliced into thin strips. He smiled at everyone as he set the food down on the table.

“Jaehyun, sweetie, do you remember your cousins Gunho and Minho?”

He was on his way to your seat but stopped behind your mom, “The twins? I do. They’re weird.”

“Jaehyun!” His mom scolded, “That’s not very nice. I wanted to set them up with Minkyung and Kyungwon.”

“Well, my only memories of them were from when I was a child. I heard they’re both hotel managers at Lotte.” He resumed his little journey towards you and leaned down to kiss your head, “I’m not really close to anyone from your side of the family, mother.”

This made her heave a sigh, “You always liked Yunho and Sooyeon more. Regardless, they’re wonderful young men. Tell me if either of you are interested.”

“Don’t let my comment throw you off. They were weird back then because they were homeschooled until they finally entered high school. They were inseparable, but I’ve encountered them a couple of times last year and they’ve definitely matured.”

“I’m down for a little blind date.” Minkyung perked up from her seat, glancing at Kyungwon, “A double blind date sounds fun.”

“Definitely! Sign us up, Mrs. Jung.” Kyungwon raised her glass up and Minkyung clinked hers against it.

There’s an audible phone vibration by you and Jaehyun stuck his hand in his pocket to peek at his phone.

“Ah,” He said, “Yuta’s here. I’ll go meet him.”

In the corner of your eye, you saw Kyungwon flinch as she took a swig of her cocktail, covering up with an excuse of drinking too much when asked if she was okay. You wiped your mouth and stood up, “Let me go with you.”

Jaehyun held your hand as you walked towards the foyer and you chuckled.

“Excuse me sir, I’m not going to get lost here.” You nudge your shoulder against him, “I’m quite familiar with the place now, no thanks to you.”

He laughed, pulling your hand up to his lips to kiss your knuckles. “Are you sure? I think we should go another round just to make sure you know your way around.”

“A round?” You emphasized with a scoff, “It’s never a single round with you.”

“Are you complaining, ma’am?”

“Not at all.” You hummed, giggling to yourself. 

Jaehyun opened the door for you and you both stepped out on the porch. It was still empty because you haven’t found a nice lounge set that you liked that matched the outdoor lighting fixtures you had installed. 

The driveway is still too big for you, but there’s nothing you can really do about it. It still astounds you that you live in a gated property that could probably hold a small village. If your parents weren’t so sentimental about their home, you would be saving up to buy them a new one.

A yellow Lamborghini pulled up to the driveway and Yuta rolled the window down to wave before proceeding to park on the side with the other guests’ cars. He exited his car with a wrapped box in hand and cheekily grinned at you.

“I said no gifts!” You scolded, but still accepted the box after he held it out towards you.

“It feels wrong to attend a housewarming party empty handed.” Yuta shook Jaehyun’s hand firmly and shrugged. “I had it brought straight from Japan yesterday.”

You curiously opened the box and gasped at the glittering gold.

“We call it ‘kintsukuroi’, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold. The dish itself was made by one of the top ceramicists of Japan but a mishap in handling had shattered it and it was mended by a famous kintsugi restorer.”

“It’s beautiful.” You unconsciously held onto the box tighter. It already had a history of breaking and you wouldn’t want to destroy such a masterpiece. “Thank you, Yuta. Please come in.”

Both men let you go in first as they talked briefly about business, something you don’t bother listening into. You stopped by the floating shelf in the foyer to unwrap the gift and gently place it by the bronze dish where Jaehyun placed the car keys. It was too wide to be a vase, but you can visualize a water lily in it.

Jaehyun had already introduced Yuta to everyone and you noticed Kyungwon avoiding eye contact with him, although the latter didn’t seem to care about the apprehension. They excused themselves to join the rest of the men out back and you sat yourself back at the table after discarding the gift box.

“Not to be a bitch,” Yebin started, “But I don’t like his vibes.”

“Yeb!” Minkyung scolded, “You literally just met him!”

“All my accumulated experiences with men tell me to hate him.” She shrugged, “But, hey, it’s just me. I’m not gonna be rude to him or anything, sheesh.”

Kyungwon seemed to open her mouth to say something but in the last second, brought up her glass to her lips.

You shook your head at Yebin, “He’s a good man.”

“And,” Jaehyun’s mother chimed in, “He’s leading his company into total domination of Seoul’s cyber security needs — to think he’s a foreigner! It’s quite commendable. Nakamoto Tech will dominate Asia by next year.”

“And after signing a contract with me, they’ll be penetrating the US market soon as well.” Johnny entered the room with the other men, signaling all the meat has been grilled and lunch is ready.

“Sounds like you’ll have the world in your very palm.” Minkyung commented with a smirk before playfully asking, “Are you, perhaps, single?”

They all laugh at this and Yuta’s eyes crinkled as he looks over at her, “Unfortunately so.”

The men settled themselves in after setting the dishes filled with an assortment of meat and veggies.

“I don’t have the time to exert myself into a relationship right now, but please, enough about me, it’s not my housewarming party.” Yuta cleared his throat, nodding his head at Jaehyun and at you, “The house’s design and architecture are phenomenal.”

This brought the topic of the conversation on your inspiration behind the interior designing and you’re launched into a mini spiel that you did your best to make sure they would understand. You get a little flustered when they ask for a tour, curious about the master bedroom, and you internally panic about whether or not you remembered to close the curtains into the shower.

For once, you’re thankful that your mom switched the topic to kids when she asked about the possible nursery and you were able to redirect their interest in seeing the room for that instead.

Most of your guests have left already, except Minkyung, Yebin, and Kyungwon, who enjoyed each other’s company and took their conversation up to the second floor living area, where you set up the indoor fire pit for them. 

You quickly changed into something a little more comfortable before joining them and Minkyung handed you your glass.

“You really did a great job with the house, [Y/N].” She sighed, dreamily looking around the open area. “I wonder when I’ll be ready to settle down to have my own. I’ll need to be an S+ tier model to afford anything remotely similar.”

“The offer to meet my cousins is still open.” Jaehyun joked from the top of the stairs, holding a charcuterie board in one hand and a party pack of chips in the other. “Here you go, ladies, something to eat with your drinks.”

“Damn, a car-coochie board?” Yebin sarcastically exclaimed, grabbing a slice of cheese once he set the board down by the fire pit.

“That’s not how you pronounce it, Kang.”

“I know it’s charcuterie, Jung. Learn to take a joke— damn, and here I thought you’re ready to settle down but you’re still so uptight.”

“I am ready to settle down!”

“Please don’t argue!” You interrupted their banter by raising both hands, as if to separate them, “I’m starting to get a headache.”

Jaehyun glared at Yebin before leaning down to kiss your head, “You ladies enjoy the rest of the night, I’m going to finish up some work in the meantime.”

“Good night, Jae!” Minkyung and Kyungwon wave at him while Yebin snarkily nods at him.

After Jaehyun left, Kyungwon turned to Yebin and hummed, “Do you not get along with Jaehyun?” 

“Oh, Jung and I go way back.” She snorted, “Long story short, I hated him back then, and I’m just tolerating him now because of [Y/N].”

“Did you guys date or—”

Yebin visibly gagged at the suggestion, “Not in any lifetime, girl. I just didn’t like him or his friends... Actually, maybe I just hated his friends. They were trouble; it’s good he’s cut them off.”

This reminded you of the therapy session you had with him; how his friends were nothing but bad fuel for his mental health. You can’t help but wonder who they were though. How bad was bad?

“Let me guess, they were a bunch of fuckboys?”

Snorting, Yebin took a swig of her wine as if it was a shot, “Their parents wished they were just fuckboys. They were dealing drugs before even hitting sophomore year and a sex ring before they graduated. They only kept getting off the hook because of the power of their parents in society, but there’s only so much daddy and mommy could do while they’re underaged. I’m pretty sure one of them got a taste of real jail time the moment he turned 21… I think his name was Hajun or something. He was like the leader of the group.”

“Oh my god… does that mean Jaehyun did drugs before?” Minkyung placed a hand on her clavicle in shock, “I would have never guessed in a million years.”

“Yeah, he told me about it.” You quietly confessed, “He wasn’t proud of who he was when he was in high school.”

“Damn.” Yebin drawled, “He told you? Shit, [Y/N], you really do have him wrapped around your finger if he told you about his dirty past. Good for you… and him.”

The corner of your lip lifted upwards in an appreciative half smile.

“So how about you, Kyungwon?” She redirected her attention to your former co-worker.

“Me?”

“What’s your deal with Nakamoto?”

Kyungwon’s face instantaneously turned red, but she shook her head in denial, “Nothing. What do you mean?”

“Oh, please,” Minkyung tossed her hair with a flick of a wrist over her shoulder, “The negative vibes you were directing towards him was intense. Same vibes when a model comes in for a shoot and had a nasty fight with the photographer who she’s having an affair with the night before.”

To Kyungwon, the scenario sounded awfully specific; but you and Yebin knew from Minkyung’s stories that it’s quite a common occurrence in her industry.

“Ooh,” Yebin shimmied her shoulders, “You’re sleeping with Nakamoto?”

She released a heavy sigh, glancing at you for a brief second before shrugging her shoulders, “Yeah? I mean, it was only meant to be like a one night stand, but then it just kept happening. So we made it clear that this was strictly only a physical relationship, but…”

“You caught feelings?” Minkyung already looked apathetic as she offered her guess.

“No,” Kyungwon adamantly shook her head, “He could be passionate one night and then completely uninterested the next time around — like he was just doing it for the sake of doing it. Do you get what I mean? Like I want to pleasure and be pleasured, but instead it felt like I was used and wasn’t even doing shit right.”

She grabbed the wine off the table to refill her glass before gulping half of it down. “I tried to tell him, too! And you know what he did? He dismissed it and said it was all in my head! [Y/N], remember our last day working for him? When I stayed back at his loft, we really did have a call with his sister regarding the kotatsu, and I thought he wanted to break in his new bed but guess what? He had another woman coming over already and tried kicking me out after I confronted him!”

“Oh my gosh, Kyung.” You gasped, feeling hurt for her.

“I understand we’re not exclusive, but that was so rude.”

“And gaslighting!” Yebin exploded, “My guts were right. He just oozes toxicity and bad news.”

“At least you guys ended things — both contract and FWB relationship.” Minkyung reached out to hold her hand, “Let’s set that blind date with Jaehyun’s cousins, yeah?”

Kyungwon chuckled at this, “If they’re anything like Jaehyun, count me in. Imagine having a man who would do anything for you and treat you like a queen. Ugh, I hope it runs in the blood.”

You let out an awkward laugh, grabbing the chips Jaehyun brought up. If they were from his mom’s side, then they should be clear from the possibility of having BPD, right? You ripped the top off the sour cream and onion flavored chips and almost immediately wretched at the smell hitting your senses. You threw the bag aside and lurched forward, cupping your mouth to stop yourself from actually vomiting.

“[Y/N], what the fuck? Are you okay?” Yebin, seated beside you, was already running a hand on your back.

“I-I think. That just smelled… disgusting.” The scent lingered in the air so you clamped it closed with your other hand.

She gave you a weird, incredulous look, “You literally love sour cream and onion.”

“Maybe these are bad.”

Minkyung walked over to inspect the bag herself and shook her head, “They don’t expire until next year.”

She even took a chip out and the clear, crisp sound was a telltale that it was fresh. “It tastes just fine, too.”

You held out your hand to take another whiff, maybe caught off guard about thinking of BPD, but still when the salty, sour fumes hit your nostrils, you reeled back and vigorously shook your head. “Nope. It smells off.”

Your best friends share a look, even glancing back at Kyungwon, who shared the same expression as them.

“Are you pregnant?” Minkyung asked under her breath, leaning forward a bit.

“What?” You scoffed, “No, I have an IUD. I’m having it removed just before the wedding.”

Yebin moved her hand from your back to your shoulder, “Babe, there’s still that sliver of chance to get pregnant even with implants. As my OB says, the only foolproof contraception is ligation.”

“Just take a test tomorrow or something.” Minkyung shrugged her shoulders, “There’s no harm in it.”

“I suppose.” You bit your lip as you considered their suggestion. You couldn’t possibly be pregnant, right? “I’ll pick up a PT while running errands tomorrow.”

“Are you going to tell Jae?”

You shook your head, “He’s so busy. It could just be a false alarm and it would just get his hopes up.”

Kyungwon chimed in, “And if it’s positive?”

There is no sliver of certainty in you that you were pregnant at the moment. It was just impossible. Yebin was right, however; your OB did tell you that IUD’s are 99% effective and that leaves that one percent chance, that incredibly small window of opportunity for you to get pregnant. It would be a risky pregnancy if it were true. You halfheartedly shrugged your shoulders, “Surprise him, I guess.”

“I have a gift for you.”

You paused from putting away your work materials into the cabinets of your home office and looked up at the doorway where Jaehyun sheepishly grinned at you.

“Is there an occasion?”

“No.”

“Jaehyun,” You started, closing your eyes as you took a deep breath, “I know gift giving is your love language, but if this is something other than flowers, you need to stop. We just moved in; we haven’t completely settled in.” You gestured to the filled boxes that contained portfolios of your previous works.

He pouted his lips, lower lip jutting out adorably at your words. “But you’ve complained about this before. Besides, I technically told you about getting this before.”

“I have?” Your interest is piqued.

Jaehyun walked forward and held out his hand to you, helping you up from your seat. He kisses your forehead, “Once, verbally. All the other times, your face gave it away.”

He walked you out of the office area of the house and towards the hallway that led to the garage. Considering his little hint, you were a little dismayed that it wasn’t a puppy. What could he have hidden in the garage while you were busy in your office?

Opening the door, you were both greeted by his most prized possession, his Lamborghini.

“We both know it’s not a family friendly car, so I thought I might as well buy one now—”

“You’re replacing your lambo?”

“No.” Jaehyun said a little too adamantly, his free hand jolting forward to hover over his car. “Never. This is my baby.”

You cocked a brow at him, “I thought I was your baby.”

His cheeks flared red as he whips his face towards you, looking like a deer caught in headlights. “You are,” He licked his lips, “I-I would easily choose you over it.”

The shakiness of his voice makes you want to laugh and you’re not mad at his hesitancy because you found it cute. “I’m just joking, Jae. I would never make you choose between me and your car. I know how much you love it.”

“But I love you more, you know that right.”

You chuckled, grabbing his face to pull him down for a quick kiss, “Always.”

He leaned down for one more kiss before leading you to the other side of his car. You never really questioned why the garage had enough space for 5 cars and always assumed it was for guests, but today you see why.

Your jaw dropped at the sight of the sleek, metallic silver car sitting prettily on the far end of the garage. As Jaehyun led you closer, you spy the logo in front of the car and you skid to a stop.

“Is that a Tesla?”

“It’s more family friendly, yeah?”

Ah, of course. Family friendly does not mean budget friendly for a Jung. 

He dug into his pocket and fished out two sets of keys, handing one to you. “We each have keys.”

“It’s been awhile since I drove a car.” You confessed, running your thumb over the key. It wasn’t just because you didn’t have a car on your own; you could have bought a car for yourself if you wanted to, but Jaehyun always insisted on driving for you or having the family driver pick you up.

Jaehyun grinned at you, “Wanna take it out for a test drive?”

“I would love that.”

He gestured for you to go ahead and you giddily made your way to the driver’s side, opening the door so carefully in fear as if it were made with the most fragile material on earth. You sat yourself inside while Jaehyun sidled himself into the passenger’s seat and buckled his seatbelt, admiring the high quality interior.

Jaehyun pressed a button that dangled with his keys and the garage door opened behind you. He patiently waited for you to check out all the new specs a Tesla had in comparison to other cars and when you finally turned the ignition on, you mumbled a prayer to yourself while backing out of the garage.

Even though it was spacious and an actual child can easily reverse a car out, you were quite relieved at the feat. Once you successfully got the car out, you glanced at Jaehyun, “Uh, where do we go?”

“Anywhere. Just get a feel of the car.” His eyes flit downward, “Please put your seatbelt on, babe.”

“Oh!” You bashfully exclaimed, doing as he says immediately. After hearing the click, you breathed in deeply and lightly pressed on the gas.

Slowly, you started to remember everything about driving and your entire body just went on auto-pilot. As you neared the gate, you see Jooheon pop his upper body out of the guard house and waved at you while the gates parted for you to pass through.

You gave a little wave back while Jaehyun tipped his head in acknowledgement as you drove past them.

The area you lived in was an elitist subdivision sitting on a luscious, but gated three acre land. From what you’ve observed going in and out, you only passed by a handful of other mansions and each property was greatly distanced from one another. There was this cliff that you spotted from the community’s gate and you remembered seeing a few cars passing by so you were sure there was a road nearby it.

“You’re doing great.” Jaehyun offered, glancing at his wristwatch.

“Thanks.” You sighed, “Are you supposed to be somewhere? I can try and take you there.”

“I’m not needed anywhere until 5 PM. So you’re free to take me anywhere you want until then.”

“I’d like to see the view from up that cliff.” You nodded your head towards the direction of the cliff. “I bet the view is amazing.”

Jaehyun peered out of his window to where you pointed and hummed, “Alright. Maybe the next right turn after this would lead up there; this leads to the governor’s property.”

You opened your mouth, about to exclaim about your neighbor’s identity, but withheld it. You would rather keep your attention on the road and you have a sneaking suspicion that the governor isn’t just the only big time neighbor you have.

“You’re driving just fine, babe. I don’t know what you were worried about.”

“Muscle memory, I guess?”

“You still have the bodyguards to drive you around if you don’t feel like it, alright? I just want to give you this freedom.”

The corner of your lip quirked upwards. “Freedom?”

He gave you a tense smile, “That’s how Dr. Jeon phrased it. Giving you freedom to do certain things that usually makes me uneasy can earn your trust.”

“Well, I appreciate it very much, Jaehyun.” You cooed, momentarily driving slower to give him a sincere grin. “I already trust you, you know that.”

“And I trust you…” He paused, “That’s why I should tell you that I have to attend a 2 week-long conference in England in a few weeks.”

“Oh.”

“Normally, I would have invited you to come with me but it falls on the same dates you have scheduled to meet with contractors for your new company.” The sound of disappointment is heavy in the tone of his voice. “I would send a proxy in my place—”

“No, Jaehyun. It’s fine. I can handle it. You hired a hundred bodyguards to watch over me—”

“I hired you two.” He huffed, and you chuckled at him.

“Yes, but with how closely they watch over me, it feels like a hundred.” You shrugged your shoulders. “The girls can also sleepover if they aren’t too busy if that would put your mind at ease. I’m sure my mom would love to stay over as well. I’ll be fine, baby.”

He heaved a heavy sigh, “I know you will be. I’m just… being cautious… your stalker…”

“They haven’t sent anything recently.”

“Only because,” Jaehyun’s lips pursed, “Only because I don’t let you know. There are flowers every other day arriving at the gate. There were a few bugged items like toys and keychains.”

Your fingers trembled as you gripped the steering wheel. “Bugged?”

“Installed cameras, microphones, and even tracking devices.” His voice dropped to sneer. “The manufacturer of the tech is unknown and it can’t be traced back to any company. Even the transmitters installed all just lead to a burner PC.”

The frustration was clear in his voice and you don’t know how to console him when you couldn’t even console yourself. All this time you thought it was a prank and the coast was clear but Jaehyun had been protecting you from it.

The entire ride was silent until you managed to drive up the hill and see a curb in the road that’s large enough for you to park in.

As you slowed to a stop and turned the car off, Jaehyun took your hand and kissed it.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, [Y/N]. But I also didn’t want to hide that fact for too long. You were just so happy the past week about moving in and the housewarming that I couldn’t bring myself to report those to you.”

“I’m really glad you waited to tell me after the celebration… But moving forward, I think I would like to be updated with these kinds of things, okay?”

“Of course, baby.” He kissed your knuckles again, “Would you like Jooheon or Hyunwoo to report it to you while I’m away?”

It makes you anxious to think you would have to deal with this stalker by yourself while Jaehyun was away. What were the chances this person already knew Jaehyun would be gone? Surely there’s a contingency plan for when the worst happens. 

“Yes, please.”

“Alright. Now, reverse park this baby. We can open up the back and lounge for a while.”

It took you less than three minutes to follow his directions and once you parked for good, you both made your way out to open the back. The air felt fresher with all the greenery and tall trees covering the hillside. You appreciate the view for a few seconds before turning to see Jaehyun opening the back of the car and pulling up the passenger seats to make room for both of you to sit on the floor.

He ushered you inside and followed suit once you did. 

“There’s a special mattress we can get that fits exactly for this space. It hasn’t come in yet, but once we get it, we can get some pillows and a blanket, and it’ll be as cozy as home.” Jaehyun stretched his arm outwards and you scooted closer to lay your head on his shoulder.

“I like this.” You hummed, sinking into his side as his arm curled around you. “We’ve both been busy and our schedules are hectic; it’s nice to have quiet time like this.”

He pressed his face into your hair, breathing deeply. “I do, too. Hopefully we’ll have more time to ourselves soon. Let’s savor this moment, yeah?”

You wrapped yourself around his torso, letting out almost something akin to a purr as you cuddled his side.

You wished life was this simple; no stalkers, no old money, no reporters watching over you, no big company to inherit. Jaehyun could have just been a simple businessman instead of being Korea’s biggest chaebol. You two could have been living in a small apartment, complaining about taxes and rent. Of course, having the lifestyle you have right now that Jaehyun had provided is something you’ll always be grateful for, it would just be nice to have it simpler.

“This is dangerous.” Jaehyun sighed, “I want to fall asleep right now.”

Your eyes flitted through the spaciousness of the car and smiled to yourself. “I can wake you up.”

You moved your hand from his waist and down towards his zipper. With the way he adjusted his hips while you unzipped his pants, you pulled your head back to knowingly grin at him.

“What?” He feigned, “I’m not gonna turn down getting head from you.”

“Hmm.” You hummed, leaning to kiss his lips while your hand made work of releasing his half-hard cock from its confines. You let his tongue in your mouth, savoring the bitter aftertaste of the coffee you personally brewed for him this morning. Your fist slowly pumped his entire length, encouraging it to grow harder and harder with every slow flick of your wrist.

Jaehyun groaned and you took it as a sign to move your head down, capturing his erection with your lips and fully taking him into your mouth without hesitation. He lightly bucked his hips upwards but you held one of his legs down. 

As you bobbed your head up and down at a slow pace, he gathered your hair for you to hold it back behind your neck. A breeze blew by and it reminded you that you were outside, although inside the car. It makes you think about the chances of being seen; if you were able to see the cliffside on the main road, then surely anybody passing by who happened to be looking out will see it too. No one could possibly identify you two, but there are chances of being caught — and it excites you to the point you feel damp down there.

Your mouth left him with a string of saliva sticking down your chin as you raised your eyes up at him, silently begging for something.

“Baby?” He breathed out, letting go of your hair to wipe the saliva off your chin.

You scrambled on top of him, “I need you inside me.” You softly cried like a spoiled child.

You’ve learned to wear dresses more often since moving into your new home. Easier access. Best for quickies. His hands are on your waist, holding you up while you push your panties to the side and lined the tip of his cock against your entrance.

“Easy, baby.” Jaehyun whispered, fighting back your urge to drop yourself on his dick. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

With how wet you are, you thought to yourself, he’s going to slide right in.

And you were right; he lowered you onto himself and his cock just slipped in, filling you inch by inch until you were completely sat on his lap. You let out a little moan and shiver of delight; a small jolt of pleasure coursed through you at how full you felt.

Jaehyun pulled the front of your day dress down, exposing one of your breasts to him, and he gave it a little squeeze. You whimpered, arching your back to give him more access. He kissed your neck, licking down your clavicle until he reached your nipple, latching his mouth onto it like a suckling infant. His hands guided your hips up and down his shaft while also kneading your ass with his fingers.

You let out a loud moan, knowing no one could hear you from the cliffs. 

“You feel so good, baby.” He groaned against your chest, “Do you feel good?”

“So good.” You gasped, “Faster.”

“Anything for you, baby.” Jaehyun scooted himself farther so he’s practically pushing the front seats with his back and planted both his feet firmly on the car floor. He bucked his hips upward, sending you to bounce on his dick and inevitably bumping your head on the roof but the pleasure that shot through you overpowered the miniscule pain.

You moaned again, lurching forward and grabbing his shoulders for support. He relentlessly repeated the actions of his hips, edging you closer and closer to the edge. Your back started to hurt but you literally couldn’t bring yourself to tell Jaehyun about it.

“Wait.” You managed to croak out and he stopped. You were about to complain, wanting to correct your statement but in one fell swoop, you’re on your back with your hair dangling out the car.

He’s managed to switch positions without leaving inside of you — damn, you thought. You two couldn’t do that in his lambo.

Jaehyun kissed you and you embraced his shoulders as he started to pound into you again. The entire car was vigorously shaking now; surely someone will know what you two were up to now. And the idea of it just fueled your pleasure. He swallowed your moans, replying with low grunts with every thrust he made. Your legs locked behind his hips and it sent him into overdrive, picking up his pace and going faster to push both of you over the edge.

His phone suddenly rang at the front of the car and it brought you back to your senses. You thought he would stop to answer it, but he didn’t.

“J-Jae—”

“Shhh, I’m so close.” He buried his head into the crook of your neck, “I’m so close.”

“I am, too.” You admitted, cradling his head. “I’m about to come.”

Jaehyun groaned loudly, emptying himself inside of you. You could feel the warmth filling you up. 

But he doesn’t stop. He’s still hard, picking up the pace of his thrusts to help you over the edge. He sat up, rubbing his thumb over your clit until you’re crying, coming undone beneath him.

He fell forward, landing on his forearms to hold himself above you. His breathing was just as harsh as yours as both of you tried to catch them, unsynchronized and heavy. You looked up at him, his face flushed and dripping with sweat. It was then you realized how hot it was inside the car despite the back being open. He gave you a lazy smile, the familiar look of love evident in his eyes.

“I’m very awake now, thank you.”

You laughed, cupping his cheeks. You could feel his semen gush out of you as he slowly pulled out. “We should get going, no?”

“We should.” He looked down at his clothes, the light blue shirt now a deeper shade after soaking in the sweat. “I have to change clothes.”

“Orrrr,” You purred, “We can take a quick shower together to wash this sweat off.”

A wicked smile came over Jaehyun’s face, “Oh, you little vixen.”

Your muscles throbbed a bit as you stretched your body upwards after washing the dishes. Jaehyun got held back at work so you had to eat dinner by yourself. Your day wasn’t as eventful but you managed to set up meetings for possible contractors and suppliers for your new design agency. 

Your phone chimed, seeing an incoming message from Jooheon. 

‘Ma’am, there’s another set of flowers for you. Sir Jaehyun had told us to inform you about anything new regarding this matter.’

You took a deep breath, ringing his number and waiting for him to pick it up.

“Good evening, Ma’am.”

“Good evening, Jooheon.” You swallowed, “New flowers came in just now?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“No card? No name of sender?”

“None at all, Ma’am. The courier is different every time and we could never trace back the order.”

You instinctively hugged yourself and breathed in deeply.

“Ma’am?”

“Yes, uhm… Dispose of it.” You cleared your throat, throwing a glance out the window. The garden lights are on but anything beyond it is pitched black. “Jooheon, would you mind… patrolling the area? Is that the right term? Just go around the property — especially near the house.”

“Yes, of course, ma’am. Anything to put you at ease. I’ll go right away.”

“Thank you, Jooheon.”

“Enjoy the rest of your evening, ma’am.”

Once you put your phone away, the house suddenly felt too big. You didn’t have a safe room, you realized. Nowhere to run when you feel unsafe or a place you hide during emergencies. Maybe you should have included a panic room when building the house.

Your stomach churned and you felt like throwing up. Your paranoia had morphed into physical sickness, a lump of acid rising up your throat. Swallowing hard, you forced it down and breathed in deeply. You put a hand on your forehead - you weren’t possibly coming down with something, are you? You have meetings with suppliers and potential partners one after the other in the coming weeks. This isn’t the time to get sick, even with just a plain cough.

Your phone rang, giving you just the slightest scare. But as soon as you saw the caller ID, you smiled.

“Jaehyun.” You sighed, rubbing a hand over your chest to soothe your heart. “Are you on your way home?”

“I’m half an hour away, baby. Are you okay? Has Jooheon reported to you?”

“He has and I’m fine. Just… just a little uneasy, but getting better. I had them go around the area of the house to check.” You started to walk up the stairs, “I’m gonna run a bath. Drive safely, okay?”

“You’re not going to wait for me?” Jaehyun whined, the softest chuckle following afterwards.

“Well maybe if you had gone home earlier, I could’ve waited for you. But not tonight, I can’t wait to soak in a nice, hot, soapy bath - especially after that little escapade with the new car.”

“Fine.” He grumbled, “Enjoy yourself, baby. But not too much. I’ll be there soon.”

You ended the call laughing, shaking your head in disbelief as if he could see you. You were already perched by the bathtub, waiting to get off the phone before running the bath. After putting your phone away, you closed off the drain and opened the cold tap. With a little hum of a random song, you reached for a scented candle Minkyung had gotten you as a housewarming gift. Peony and Blush Suede; this should go well with the new bubble bar you’ve been meaning to use. You lit the candle with the electronic lighter that came with Minkyung’s gift and set it aside.

As you went over to where you kept your Lush stash, you couldn’t help but release a deep sigh. The thought of having a stalker was still nagging at the back of your mind no matter what you did to distract yourself. You couldn’t fathom why you would even have one. It’s more likely it’s someone who has a grudge on Jaehyun, but even he doesn’t know who would stoop so low to bring in an innocent bystander to a petty business issue. 

You grabbed the purple bubble bar from the container, read the wrapping, and snorted to yourself. Worry Monster, it said. “I probably am.” You quietly admitted.

Going back over to the tub, you changed the temperature to something a little more warm and unwrapped the bar. You held it under the running water, slowly massaging the bar to lather it until you gripped it a little harder to fully crumble.

The lavender scent is lovely, just enough to alleviate the stress of tonight’s happenings. This house was built for you by Jaehyun. No one knows the ins and outs of this structure aside from you (and of course the amazing architects and engineers you worked with) but regardless, you know it’s safe. You have security personnel just a minute away if you need them with intercom systems in every room. You glanced over to the one installed in the bathroom; it’s just there, you reminded yourself.

The tub is almost half filled with water and the surface is practically covered with bubbles already. The water isn’t at the temperature you wanted so you turned the temperature knob higher. You stripped your clothes off and hopped into the shower to scrub down real quick. By the time you were done, the water was just perfect.

You eased yourself in, audibly moaning at the warmth enveloping your body as you sat down.

“Did you just get in?”

You gasped, twisting your torso towards the source of the voice. “Jesus! Did you speed home?”

Jaehyun grinned, guilt evident on your face. “To be fair, there wasn’t much traffic.”

“Well, if you want to get in, you go and scrub yourself down in the shower first.” You huffed, leaning back and closing your eyes. You can hear the soft patter of his feet going across the tiles of the bathroom but the sound of the shower - or even the shuffling of clothes - came afterwards.

You opened your eyes to see Jaehyun is seated on the edge of the tub, softly gazing down at you.

“I actually have some more work to do that I’d rather do here so you wouldn’t be alone.” He spoke so quietly in a tone that sounded more apologetic and regretful.

“I…” You blinked at him, “I really appreciate that, baby. Thank you.”

An overwhelming urge to cry came over you and you cleared your throat to choke it down. You were touched. When you both discovered about the stalker, Jaehyun’s initial response was to leave you and find the stalker himself. Now, just the news of having flowers delivered to you has him packing up work and bringing it home to make sure you’re not alone.

“I love you.”

He cocked his head to the side and moved to sit on the floor to be eye level with you. “I love you, too.”

You leaned over to kiss him, getting his cheek wet when you brought your hand to cup his face.

“Have you eaten? I can make you something after this bath.” You whispered after pulling away.

“I can do it myself. You just soak up and enjoy your time, baby. By the way,” Jaehyun’s voice got lower to change the tone of the conversation. “I have business in China with Sicheng’s company. I tried to have them fly here, but they refused.”

“I’ll be fine, Jaehyun.” You already knew where this was going. “Sicheng’s company is one of your oldest and most important partners. Aren’t they the ones that preside over the Chinese branches of the casino? If you need to go over there, then go.”

He sighed, “The thing is, it might take awhile. There’s… political tension between the branches. It’s a whole mess. Sicheng’s going out of his mind in trying to soothe it out.” He chuckled, “We’re hoping the business proposals we’ll hand them can be some sort of truce between the parties.”

“How long… is a while?”

“A week? Two weeks at most.” He mumbled, visibly saddened by the thought of leaving you for so long.

“I’ll be fine. I can have my mom keep me company, maybe yours’ too. I know Minkyung is planning to take a short break from work soon, as well.” You assured him, kissing his cheek. “I’ll be fine.”

Jaehyun nodded, “Alright. But just to be clear, I’m booking the next flight out if anything happens.”

You scoffed, playfully flicking water at his face. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

a/n: an early gift from me to yall for my bday uwu