#got7writerscollective

You all but dropped your stuff on the bench as you kicked off your shoes. It was quiet save for the hum of the ice maker in the freezer. Maybe he was asleep? You tiptoed down the hallway and sure enough, the light of your life was laid out across the bed on his stomach using his arms as a pillow. His expression was a picture of serenity as he snuggled your favorite hoodie. Your heart swelled with affection. How does he continue to surprise you with his cute little habits?

There was no telling how long he’d been home, but you needed your hugs and kisses. You crawled over to his side and laid beside him, gently prying his hands away from his head then forcing your way against his chest. In the midst of your shuffling, he woke up groggy and sluggish as he registered what was going on.

“You’re home?” He blinked slowly, then looked at the window. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost five.” Seeing as he was awake, there was no point in being gentle. You rolled him over onto his side and pulled his arms around you. His scent filled your nose, and you sagged with relief, savoring his warmth. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d be home today? I would’ve met you at the airport.”

He chuckled at your whiny tone as he drew you close and planted a kiss on your forehead. “I wanted to surprise you. Actually,” he drew back and kissed your lips, “I wanted to show up at your job and take you out for lunch. I guess I underestimated how tired I was and how much I missed our bed.”

You forced a pout, just barely keeping yourself from smiling. “The bed? What about me?”

“Oh, hush. You know I hate being away from you this long.” He hid his face in your neck. “Why do you insist on being all strong and independent? You could come with me! See the world and join the mile high club and stuff.”

You laughed. “Why do I get the feeling the sex is the motivating factor?”

“No, no. It’s a perk. A bonus, if you will.” He kissed your neck, letting his lips linger. “The motivation is having my beautiful girlfriend with me. It’d be so much better if I could wake up with you in my arms.”

You squirmed against him when his teeth skimmed over your sensitive skin. “I’d ruin your image and hurt your sales.” You bit your lip when his fingers pressed into your skin, holding you still as he put his thigh between yours. “Ah, shit. Wait, Jackie. I need a shower.”

His chuckle made it clear that wouldn’t be happening. “Performing isn’t my only source of income, baby. I can stand to lose a few, especially if it means I get access to you when I get off the stage.” He groaned and pressed his hips against you, drawing your attention to his growing excitement. “It’s been too long since I last had you.”

“But I wanna be squeaky clean for you.” Your squirming only served to increase the friction between your bodies, coaxing him to return the favor by rolling his hips and grinding his erection into your stomach. “Jack, please.”

“Ugh, I hear you.” He loosened his hold. “But if you need one, then so do I.”

With the haze of desire messing with your mind, it took you a minute to process his words. “If we slip and fall in the shower, it’s your fault.”

He smiled wide with glee as he hauled himself to his feet. He held his hand out to you, ignoring the tent that had formed. “I’ll make sure to take the worst of it. Now come on, I need you now before I bust in my pants.”

As he returns you to your feet, you lean into Jungkook's side to steady yourself, head spinning. As the cheers and applause dies down, so does your embarrassment, and you feel an odd sense of freedom you hadn't expected. You are actually having fun for the first time in months, and it feels good to be surrounded by people enjoying themselves, in addition to the alcohol in your system. This is a marked improvement to locking yourself indoors and watching sad movies in bed. Nights lying awake and having to drag yourself out to work, regardless of how tired and miserable you feel.

Things had not been great since you ended it with Jackson.

Your relationship had become strained and constantly felt like hard work, with his hectic schedules, always flying from country to country for a tour or an event. Not to mention your job is very demanding and the hours can be long and irregular at times. 

You couldn't stand not seeing him for months on end at times, alone most nights and miserable while you wait for him. And in attempting to save you both further heartache you'd made an impossible decision for the both of you…one you didn't want to make. Now, you were regretting it terribly, wishing you could take that moment back and erase it from your history.

Jackson's always been the one you’ve wanted to spend your life with and that has not changed, not in the slightest. You want to message him, to call him and confess what a terrible mistake you’ve made but you’re scared.

What if he's moved on already?

What if he has no interest in a reconciliation?

What if he's doing better without you? 

The thoughts terrify you and therefore keep you locked in radio silence. 

“Namjoon!” Jungkook calls over the music and releases you from his side as he struggles through the dancing bodies to greet his friend. 

You can just about see the top of Joon's head over the crowd and your excitement grows knowing all the guys will be here soon. You watch as Jungkook talks to someone next to his bandmate and you wonder who has accompanied him tonight, secretly hoping for Hoseok as he has always been your favourite and is quite often the life of the party.

Jungkooks wide eyes meet your searching gaze and you wave him over impatiently, eager for your dancing companion to return, but instead he looks at Namjoon again, his face serious and mouth drawn in a hard, straight line as they seem to have a silent exchange between them.

You start heading their way to find out what's wrong but Seokjin appears in your path holding up a glass of a bright red concoction.

“You look like you could use a drink, he says, handing it to you before you can argue. “break ups are horrible, just horrible. I can appreciate what you must be going through.”

Placing a heavy hand on your shoulder, he gives you an encouraging squeeze. 

“Thanks Jin, but I don't really want to talk about it tonight.” You reply, taking a big swig of the drink and relishing the sweetness as it goes down too easily. 

He puts his hands up in surrender, “Say no more, I just wanted you to know that I am always here for you, whenever you may need a shoulder or an ear.” 

His attention is snatched away by something behind you as his brow furrows, “Not on the brand new leather sofa, come on!” he shouts, as you watch him deal with a spillage, his comical scolding making you giggle as you turn your attention back to-

“Oh Kookie, here you are.” you say, almost walking directly into his chest. “Come on, I've missed you.” 

Grabbing his hand you pull him back to the centre of the crowd and waste no time throwing an arm around his shoulders and swaying to the music, the alcohol in your system allowing you to relax and be more carefree than usual.

“I need to tell you something.” he whispers into your ear and when you pull back, you take note of his solemn expression.

“What's wrong?” 

He sighs, “Namjoon brought a friend with him.”

“I figured, please say it's Hoseok, I've missed him.” you respond nonchalantly, before downing the rest of your drink.

“It's Jackson.”

Your heart stops as you look up at him, searching his doe eyes for truth but knowing he would not lie to you, not about this. 

“I'm sorry, I didn't know he was coming,” he starts worrying, still holding you firmly around your waist, your bodies barely swaying to the music now, “and Namjoon didn't know you would be here.” 

Your gaze moves across the room. As if sensing Jackson's eyes on you, you find him instantly,  glaring back at you. Your stomach drops, that drink Jin gave you suddenly wanting to make a reappearance and for a brief moment you wonder why he seems so upset. Until you take in how close you and Jungkook are, your bodies flush against each other as you move slowly to the music. There has never been anything between the two of you, he is one of your closest friends and a main source of comfort during this break up.

Feeling hot and uncomfortable under Jackson's scrutiny, you excuse yourself and make your way to the toilet. 

Your feet move fast, desperate to escape this party, suddenly feeling overwhelmed at the arrival of the latest guest, and desperate to get inside that bathroom and shut everything out. A hand clasps around your wrist, stilling you completely and snapping you out of your spiralling thoughts.

“Is this why you broke up with me?” His voice sounds low and controlled in your ear but you can hear the anger lurking beneath the surface, the fury making his voice waver ever-so-slightly. “To run straight to him?”

You meet his eyes then, rage simmering low inside you, ready to boil and erupt but the last thing you want is to have an argument with your ex at your friend's house warming party. Nothing would mortify you more.

“Don't be ridiculous, Jackson.”

He raises his eyebrows at you, clearly taken back by your words, “What's ridiculous about that? You two looked very cosy in there. I bet he's been waiting for an opportunity to make you his.”

Your mouth pops open at the jealousy now seething in his words. You've never seen this side of him before.

“Tell me, how long did it take for you to let him fuck you?” he asks, taking a step towards you, feeling the familiar heat of his body against yours had a warmth blossoming in your core.

“I have not fucked him, I have not fucked anyone since you,” you hiss, annoyed at your body's habitual reaction to him, one you wish you could break.

His eyes narrow, unwavering from yours, “oh but I bet you want to though, I bet you're dying to let him inside you, now you're free of me holding you back.” 

The idea of thinking about Jungkook in that way had your skin crawling, no matter how good-looking you can appreciate he is; he's a close friend, nothing more. You yank your arm out of his grasp, feeling the anger rise up into your throat like bile, “I don't want Jungkook, I never have.”

He grabs you again as you turn away from him, pulling you back to him, “good, he wouldn't be able to fuck you like I can, you know that right?”

Your sex clenches around nothing at his filthy words, seeing this dominant side of him challenging you. Your heart beat picks up as does your breathing, an excitement blossoming deep inside you at the promise in his words. You can't even deny it, the bedroom is the only place the two of you never had any issues, and your irritation grows at his arrogance.

“Maybe he couldn't, and maybe he could, either way, it's none of your business anymore. I'm not yours.” you shrug nonchalantly, once again pulling your arm from his in spite of your fluttering core, as you watch his eyes blacken further.

“You are mine.” he whispers darkly, “You will always be mine.”

Arousal pools in your underwear, your desperation to be his again obvious, as you long to be claimed again.

“Then show me.” you challenge, the alcohol giving you more confidence than usual.

He hesitates, searching your eyes for something.

“Or should I go back downstairs and see if someone else wants to claim me?” 

His fists clench at his sides, biceps bulging in his taut black t-shirt before he takes your hand and pulls you along into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind you. 

As soon as the outside world is shut out, he's on you, caging you in and pressing you against the door. His lips capture yours with a need so intense it almost brings tears to your eyes and you meet it fervently with arms that wind eagerly around his neck.

His hands roughly explore your breasts before pushing up your top and exposing them to him. He grabs one and bends down, sucking a nipple harshly into his mouth and making you gasp, while you fumble with his belt and trousers. The urgency inside you is unlike anything you've felt before, you can not get enough air in your lungs to ease the tightness of desperation in your chest.

Pushing his trousers down and slipping your hand inside his boxers searching for what you need most at this moment. When you find him, solid and weeping pre-cum, you free him from the confines of his underwear. He moans the moment you grasp him and thrusts into your hand before taking both your wrists and shoving them above your head, pinning you against the wood behind you.

One of his hands slides up your thigh and under your skirt, his fingers push your panties aside and find your soaking entrance.

“Look how wet you are, is that just for me or is that because of him?” he asks against your lips.

“Just for you, always just for you.” you whine.

He smiles against your mouth as he plunges his fingers inside you, expertly massaging that perfect spot. He knows your body and everything it wants and he's eager to get you there. 

“Jackson…” you gasp, as his teeth graze your ear.

“Yes, baby, tell me what you want.” His dominant tone practically had your toes curling already.

“You.” Your body writhes, wanting more than his fingers, “I need you.”

Sliding his fingers out of you, he brings them to his lips, and you watch with bated breath as he sucks your arousal from them. His tongue swirls around his digits as he moans like he's eating the most delicious meal. You try to squeeze your legs together for some semblance of relief but find his knee blocking you.

“God, I've missed the taste of you, baby.” he says, releasing your hands and lifting you effortlessly onto the sink cabinet. The cold of the porcelain makes you gasp and before you can adjust, he drops down to a squat in front of you, pulls off your underwear and lifts your skirt over his head.

His fingers spread you open as his mouth envelopes your throbbing clit. As he sucks, your body twitches with electric jolts of pleasure, and when you feel his hot wet tongue lick a stripe up and flick your sensitive bud, you can't help but cry out.

His fingers return inside you, beckoning you to the edge with every movement, as his tongue circles your clit perfectly, the combination absolutely toe-curling. The sound of his moans as he devours you only adds fuel to your arousal and when his breath fans out over you it tips you over the edge. Your orgasm approaches fast, and you unravel wildly around his digits. He grabs your hips to steady you as your body writhes against him, and once the spasms have subsided he rises, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Grabbing you by the back of the neck, he pulls you forward and slams his mouth against yours, his tongue eagerly sweeping across yours in a hungry dance. You can feel his desperation for you, to show you how much he misses you, in the firm grip he holds you with, the speed his lips caress your skin and the needy moans that vibrate through you.

Grabbing your hips, he slides you roughly to the edge of the counter and lines his weeping cock up against your entryway. Looking up at you, a silent question of permission in his eyes to which you avidly nod.

Smirking, he thrusts hard, making you cry out as you stretch around him.

“That's it, let everyone know who you belong to.” He grunts, as he grinds up into you, a slow but hard rhythm, perfectly tormenting and taking your breath away.

Your back arches, aiding him in hitting that perfect spot inside you. The long, low groan you let out sounds almost demonic but that doesn't compare to the sinful noise of his long, thick cock sliding in and out of your sopping cunt.

His thumb skates teasingly across your clit, making you clench around him, “You like that, baby?” he asks.

You nod eagerly.

“You want me to make you cum again?” he bites your lower lip hard, making you whimper.

“Yes.” You gasp, as his thumb rubs light circles on your sensitive bud, that band low in your stomach being pulled so tight it leaves you breathless.

“Then tell me who this pussy belongs to.” He studies your face as he keeps pounding into you with the same incessant rhythm.

“You,” gasping in response as your toes begin to curl, “it belongs to you, Jackson, fuck!” you hiss, as that taut band feels ready to snap. 

“That's right, baby.” he says, as he grabs your jaw and turns it towards him, the action bringing you closer to the edge of the precipice. “Don't even think about closing your eyes, I don't want you to be thinking about anything but me.” 

With your eyes locked on his, a whimper escapes as you come down, hard, and wave after wave of pleasure makes you spasm around him. He grinds sloppily into you as he helps you ride out your high but as he does, he also reaches his end, and you feel rope upon rope of his orgasm paint your insides.

As you both return from your cloud of ecstasy, the fog of arousal clearing, he separates from you as he pulls up his trousers and helps you off of the counter. Handing you your underwear, he smiles shyly at you, as you step into them and smooth your skirt down.

His eyes haven't left your face and now your need has been sated, you're unsure where you go from here. But you didn't want to go back to your dark pit of despair. 

“I miss you.” he says, as if he can hear your thoughts. 

Your heart soars, pounding violently in your chest yet again, “I miss you, too.”

He steps towards you, closing the distance between you and cupping your face in his hands. “Then come home to me, baby,” his features soften completely as he pleads with you, “it's not the same without you.”

You hesitate, even though every fibre of your being wants nothing more than to go back to where you belong. “We'd still have the same problems, Jackson.”

“We won't. We'll work it out, I promise.” 

The desperation in his eyes and the sincerity of his words has your resolve faltering.

“Baby, please, you're the last face I want to see at night and the first one I want to greet me in the morning. I will do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

How could you resist? He’s the man you want and he makes you happy, everything else you can figure out.

“We'll both have to work hard to make this work.” you warn.

“I promise you, I will not stop trying.” He leans down and kisses your forehead. “I do not want to lose you again.”

Reaching up on tip-toes you press your lips against his and he returns your kiss, a completely different change of pace, all soft and gentle and full of love.

Once he entered the house, he could almost get drunk by how much the whole place smelled like liquor and sweetness. He glances at the main hall, people crowded against the wall, drinking, laughing, making out. Same thing as he glances at the kitchen. Beer-pong, body shots, more making out in plain sight. 

As he pushed himself between people towards the living room, he spotted a drunk Soonyoung dancing with a violent move of his hips, one hand on the back of his head, holding a bottle of vodka on the other. He was body rolling to the song playing, eyes closed, ear to ear smile as people cheered for him.

As he watched the spectacle, a few people bumped into him muttering weaker “sorry”. He looks away from Soonyoung’s magic mike show and looks out for you with no luck. A bunch of people kissing on the expensive looking leather couches in the living room. Jinyoung is relieved that you are in none of them. 

He continues his way to the enormous living room towards the kitchen, when someone else bumps into him with rather force. “Sorry… hey” he finds his friend Hyungwon looking rather distraught. “Jinyoung, have you seen…” He cuts himself and sprints away without saying anything else. 

“What’s wrong with everybody-” Jinyoung’s about to grunt when he is pushed again now by the familiar voice of his friend and party host, Jackson.

“Heeeeeeeey!” The raspy and already wasted voice of Jackson greets him right against his ear and Jinyoung swears he just left him deaf. “Brother! You're finally here!” Jackson hugs him tightly. The smell of vodka, tequila, cognac and every other type of liquor embraces Jinyoung as his friend greets him.

“Hey, you good?” Jinyoung's tone is concerned by his friend's consciousness. 

“Better than ever baby, come on drink!” Jackson then tries to pour a drink from the vodka bottle he is holding into his mouth but Jinyoung pushes him back. “Come on, you won’t leave me hanging, are you?.”

“At least get a glass shot?.” 

“No time for that, driiiiiiink!” 

“I said no, I’m looking for someone.” He tries to distract the party host from pouring the whole bottle all over him. 

“Maaan, I told you earlier when you asked, that she’s coming with someone.” Jackson whispers as he greets and smiles at the people waving and shouting at him as they pass by. “The tall foreign from economics or something.”

Jinyoung scowls. So you did come with that guy.

“Man, that dress she is wearing…” Jinyoung gives Jackson the stink eye and he throws his hands in the air mimicking being caught. “Listen man, I’m not blind.”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes at him, annoyed. “How’s Ice Princess treating you anyways?.”

Jackson blows raspberries, taking a shot from the vodka bottle. “If not for the alcohol, I would-” Just as Jackson begins rambling, Jinyoung hears the unmistakable tone of your laughter, even above the loud music. 

“See you later.” he cuts Jackson off and begins walking to the center of the party. He sees you walk in, a 6ft blonde walking statue by your side, and he’s making you giggle. 

Jinyoung feels his heart sink and the heat of his body rising. You couldn’t possibly like that guy, he looks nothing like your type. “And who is my type, you?” he imagined you mocking him, as you often did when he acted smug. He rolls his eyes at his own thoughts. What right did he have to think like this? It was him who wanted you to be his sex relief machine only. Wasn't it?

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Entering the house looking for more drinks, you laugh politely to whatever Adam was telling you about Sweden. Your eyes mechanically search for a familiar face, one you hoped you wouldn’t find. You look back at your date to show that you are listening, even if you aren’t. Adam has been sweet all night and accepted coming to the party on short notice. You knew he liked you, he wasn’t really subtle about it, but even then, his vibe wasn’t clicking with you the way you thought it would. 

Just as you were about to ask him to go get more drinks, the corner of your eye catched the figure of Jinyoung approaching you. Stupid Jinyoung, with his perfect hair, perfect shoulders, perfect face. You took a short but deep breath. As he gets closer, you notice he’s too shameless to hide the smirk on his face, or how his eyes roam through your body. He even had the nerve to rub his thumb over his bottom lip, knowing how much you hate/love when he does that. 

“Y/n, wasn’t sure I would find you here.” he taunted, clicking his tongue out of reproach. “Thought you would stay home working on that project you told me about the other night.” 

You scoffed, not willing to give him the satisfaction. “How could I miss the last party of the infamous Jackson Wang?, and I found some really good company to dare to miss it.” you smiled, linking your arm with Adam’s.

“Hi, how is it going?” Adam offered Jinyoung a handshake not really catching the tone of the conversation happening. Jinyoung arched his eyebrows and smiled before taking Adam’s hand, smiling at you mockingly. “Are you Y/n’s friend?”

“Yes.””No.”

Adam wiggles his eyebrows at the both of you, finding the whole scene amusing. You clear your throat, if your gaze could kill you were sure Jinyoung would be pulverized right there down to ashes.

“Anyway, we were just looking for something to drink, my throat is getting dry all of a sudden.” you dismissed Jinyoung but as you were about to step out Adam laughed and pointed out towards the kitchen across your point of view. 

“Look at that!” He shouted, the three of you turned to see a wasted Hongjoong pouring tequila shots into a girls mouth, crashing his lips against hers to share it. Adam clapped and cheered something in Swedish that you couldn’t make up too. 

“What are you doing coming with this clown?” Jinyoung taunts in korean. You look for something to defend your date with but the way he’s now whistling and cheering to the mess in the kitchen is not helping his case. 

Jinyoung scoffs. “Has he even told you how hot you look right now?.” 

“I…,” you don’t know how to reply to that, having Jinyoung come closer to you as he continues to eye you head to toe. You suddenly can’t breathe or think. Having him so close was always dangerous for you.

“What, cat got your tongue?.”

“Shut up, Jinyoung.” you push him away, taking all in you not to throw yourself at him by how good he smells and how hot he looks when he gazes up at you like that. 

“So, babe, want something to drink?.” Adam’s voice made you finally stop glaring at Jinyoung and slowly turn over to your date.

“Babe?.” Both you and Jinyoung read each other's minds.

“By the way, are you with someone?.” He suddenly asks Jinyoung. 

Jinyoung scowled, backing a step. “They are getting drinks.” he quickly lied. You looked at him not believing it for a second but couldn’t help feeling hurt. 

Before either man could add anything more, you burst out of spite. “Well, hope you and whoever you are with have fun, now if you excuse us, we are going to get some drinks and probably make out.” You take Adam’s hand and practically drag him out of the living room, pushing your way between the sea of people as a remix of make it rain plays in the background.

“Gosh!” you grunted, now pushed back in a corner of the second floor living room. The moment you were out of Jinyoung’s sight.  “I need to drink. A lot.” 

“What was that about making out?.” Adam gets closer to you, his eyes shine with intent and you awkwardly smile. “Oh, about that I just…,”

“You still need a drink right?” He steps back and begins eyeing the space looking for alcohol. “I’m going downstairs and get us something, alright?.”

“Alright, meet you back… here.” Before you could finish he’s sprinting downstairs, leaving you puzzled. “He is so strange.” you mumble to yourself, before quickly looking over your shoulder, looking for signs of Jinyoung anywhere close.

You shook your head. The point is to forget that he is here, not to be on the lookout for him. You suddenly needed air. Pushing your way between people dancing, you made your way towards the outdoor patio. It was crowded there as well but at least it was open and you could ease the heat of the people cramped inside and the smell of alcohol mixed with perfume.

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Jinyoung didn’t take long to find you outside on the outdoor patio. You were leaning over watching something amusedly. He saw how Adam from Economics sprinted to the kitchen, getting lost between the sea of bodies pushing against each other with loud cheering and chanting. It was his chance to just go up to you and make you leave the party with him. 

Just before he was about to enter, he stopped. He admired your form, how pretty and beautiful you were and it pained him not being able to call you his. 

Even if it's all on him.

Sex was a relief for Jinyoung. With you he had found someone who he could be comfortable enough with, and also someone who drove him crazy. But the moment you offered that he could stay the night, to share breakfast together, to go on dates… he remembered that person who he trusted, gave his heart and then betrayed him, breaking himself into a million pieces.

The moment he felt he was falling for you, he had to be an asshole. He had to make you feel like he wasn't falling in love with you, or he would end up in pain again.

It wasn't fair for you, that he knew. But what could he do if he was drawn to you like bees to honey?. He couldn't let you go entirely, he needed you to keep going. But it had to be like this, just little bits, just a glimpse of what a life with you could be.

Jinyoung remembered your face everytime you were excited to do something else with him, when you approached him after classes or caught up with him in the middle of campus. Your eyes lose light every time he said no to you, but you were addicted to him as much as he was to you. This new passion he found with you, it was burning him inside, making him remember how bad it was when he got let down by feeling things so intensely in the past. 

Jinyoung knew that you wanted him to be yours, but something on him refused to give in. That’s what you have decided to shut him off, put distance between you, and there he was, making things difficult for you.

He toyed with the idea of just leaving and letting you be, it was for the best, but his feet refused to move. He spotted a mop of blonde hair coming up from the stairs. Adam walked outside where you were, and offered you a drink. He then got really close to you, and you backed up. 

Jinyoung frowned. He will leave, but just after being sure the Swedish guy wasn’t making you uncomfortable. 

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The stars were so bright against the night sky, and for a moment you were hopeful that everything was going to be alright. You would just have a few drinks to ease the nerves of having Jinyoung around. Saying you would make out with Adam to get back at Jinyoung was stupid but you would be sure not to let him get any more ideas. 

You leaned to the balcony after texting Adam that you would be waiting for him there, when a noise made you turn over. There was a girl in jeans running towards the lake, you squint to see if you could make out who it was but she had her back at you. Right after her, you spotted Minhyuk, the one in Communications, sprinting after her. She jumped on a boat and you couldn’t believe your eyes when Minhyuk threw himself at the lake chasing after her. 

“Woah, that's some romcom shit right there…” you giggled, “I need some of whatever those two are on.”

“Hi there!”.

The grin disappeared off your face instantly as Adam shouted right behind you. “Oh my god, you scared me!”.

“Sorry…” he smiled, offering you a red plastic cup filled with tequila and sprite. “I also got this.” He showed a half emptied tequila bottle, and you smiled relieved. 

“Th-thanks.” you took the cup and finished the drink in one go. You promptly pour another shot on your cup and finish it as well. Adam arching his brows at you. 

“Believe me, I need this.” 

“So, about us, back what you said there…” he started, getting closer to you. You backed up a little, not wanting to be embraced by him. “Yeah, about that…” you began, when the sound of the glass door opening up, Jinyoung stepping out. 

“You won’t believe who’s down there!” Jinyoung shouted excitedly, coming closer to you. “The youtube guy… the one from Sweden!”

“PewDiePie??!” Adam shouted energetically. “No way!” 

“Yes way, he’s down there right now giving shots to everybody.”

Adam smiled at you wiggling his tail like an overly excited dog. You looked at him not believing he was about to go downstairs and see if it was true.

“I have to see this!” He sprinted inside, shouting that PewDiePie was there, making people whisper and some of them even followed him out of curiosity. 

“PewDiePie?,” You glared at Jinyoung. 

“He’s that stupid, huh?.” 

“I can’t believe you.” tears started gathering up. “What do you want, Jinyoung, why are you even here?”.

Jinyoung frowned. “Y/n, I saw you back up, you don’t want to be around this guy.” 

“Is not your place to do something about it, we are nothing, remember?.”

“I- That’s not…”

“Just tell me, what do you want?.” you were tired of pretending Jinyoung’s rejection didn't hurt you. You were so blind believing you two could actually be together. Jinyoung lowered his head in silence.“You are so cruel.” 

You stepped out of the patio, making your way between people with force. You wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you cry anymore. 

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Jinyoung felt his heart shrink by seeing you almost crying. He shouted after you but you didn’t stop. You were supposed to be in his arms, not running away from them. If he just opened up to you, you of all people would never hurt him… right?. He felt awful, thinking he was doing the same thing to you now, that dreadful feeling he so wanted to avoid getting ever again.

“Y/n!” he shouted, getting closer to you. He grabbed your arm, pulling you against him. “I’m sorry, please talk to me.” He softly put his hands in the back of your head and you couldn’t hold it any more. Tears begin to fall against his chest and having him wrapped around you makes you cry louder. It was because of him that you were crying, yet you felt comfort in no other. 

Jinyoung felt awful. He had broken you first, and now he had to gather all the pieces. He had to make it right for you. “Come on,” He guided you back to the second floor towards a closed marble door. Jinyoung pushed it firmly a couple of times until it was open. 

It was an office or studio, lots of books and neatly arranged office stationary placed on the desk and shelves. You walked in, surprised there was no one already inside either fucking or making out. Jinyoung closed the door behind him, leaning against it. 

“Can’t believe I’m fucking crying at a Wang party, was told these were a blast.”

“Y/n…”

Jinyoung got closer to you, but you pushed him away. You studied him for a moment. There were those eyes, those bright eyes, genuine eyes. He loved you, that you knew, yet he wouldn’t dare to say it. “What are you so afraid of?.” 

Jinyoung lowered his eyes, muttering a weak, “I'm sorry.” but it wasn’t enough. You got closer, and wrapped your arms under his until both were wrapped around his back. “You know I love you, but you need to let me go if you don’t want the same.”

You two stayed like that for a moment. He embraced you too as well. He let himself be enveloped by your essence and you pressed yourself against him wanting to remember what it felt to be so close. As you were about to break the hug, he pulled you up, not letting you. 

“Jinyoung…”

He pulled apart a little, only to get a good look at you. He saw the shine in your eyes, the heat on your face and how you still have your arms wrapped around him tightly. He loved you so much, how much of an idiot he had to be to not trust you wouldn’t hurt him. 

Outside the room, the boisterous sound of laughter and cheering exploded out more intensely, but even then, you hear Jinyoung clearly when he spoke. “I love you.” his eyes clouded over your lips, as he leaned forward and kissed you hurriedly. 

It was mere seconds and you got your tongue down his throat, his face grabbing your face as you pressed yourself against him tightly. You slipped your hands on his sides, wanting to feel the burning of his skin. The sounds you made made Jinyoung hiss over your lips.  He grabbed you, making you hug him with both arms and legs.Your mind was telling you to stop, you weren't even sure he had locked the door, but it didn’t matter. You wanted him right there, right now. 

Jinyoung placed you at the center of the desk, pushing the stuff over it out of the way. You laughed breathily. Jinyoung gave you a smirk and dragged your legs until his hips were around your waist, his crotch pressed against your middle. 

He kissed you feverishly and hurriedly, as if it was going to be his last time with you. Pushing your dress upwards he got a good sight of your lace underwear and groaned. He threw out his jacket and you leaned forward to unbutton his neatly ironed white shirt. Once you removed it you kissed his neck, earning small and controlled moans. 

Soon enough both your moans echoed in the room, only the two of you could hear them. The noise coming from outside seemed like another reality. Jinyoung got shivers all over at the sight of you beneath him, your nails digging on his back, marking him. He was happy to oblige when you begged him to make you see stars.

He seated you in the desk, opening your legs wide before him. He gave you a dark look before burying himself between your thighs. He devoured you with his tongue, made you whimper and ran out of breath with the touch of his fingers. 

Just as you were about to come down on his tongue, you could hear the loud buzzing of your phone from where you threw your bag on the couch next to him. Jinyoung stopped, making you whine. “Leave it…” you complained, when he quickly got your bag, taking out your cell phone. 

“Answer it.” 

“What?.” You looked at the screen, an unsaved number with the country code +46 on screen. “Jinyoung…” 

“It’s him, answer it.” He ordered and you pressed the green button.

“Hell… oh” you moaned into the phone when Jinyoung slipped two fingers inside of you, he pumped them in and out slowly as you answered. “Fuck, uhm yes?.” 

“Put it on speaker.”

You glared at him but he was fastening his pace, neglecting you the chance to be reasonable. You pressed the speaker button. 

“Y/n? I’m back outside… I could… not… find… Pew…” The noise from where he was and your own moans made it difficult to understand anything he was saying. 

“I.., uhm” you whimpered when Jinyoung spread your legs even more, quickly unbuttoning his pants. He dragged his fingers on your pussy, coating them with your arousal and stroked himself before you. “Fuckkk.”

“Huh? Where are you?.”

“I’m… ah, fuck.” 

Jinyoung pushed himself into you with a single motion. You drop the phone from your hand and dig your nails on Jinyoung’s shoulders as he pounds inside of you back and forth. He groaned and pressed his head on the crook of your neck, breathing heavily against your ear. You were so tight and it took all of him not to load into you at that moment. 

“Y/n?, Y/n?”.

Your fingers pressed again on his back, red lines showing on his shoulders. You moaned his name, he moaned yours. His arms held your legs across his waist, the desk resonating with each thrust of his hips. His lips brushed your ear as he whispered. “God, you’re tight.” 

You smiled against the skin of his shoulders, your breathing matching with his. There you were, letting yourself be consumed by him as you swore you never would again. “Jinyoung…” you repeated long forgetting that the phone was still on call, that outside there was a guy looking out for you, listening to you moaning and crying Jinyoung’s name.

Jinyoung grabbed your legs and without removing himself from you, lifted you over, as he sat on the leather couch behind him. You kissed him again, adjusting yourself to the new position. “Ride me like you own me.” He ordered.

Fuck. You were done for. You rocked your hips on top of him until he cried your name over and over. You came not minding the mess you would leave behind. Once Jinyoung saw you bouncing on top of him, tears in your eyes, he was doomed. 

He would do anything for you, anything you wished for, he will make it true.

He finally blew his load on you, until there was none left. You fell down, feeling like a ragged doll on his arms, energy drained out. He hugged you, wrapping his hands around your waist, kissing your shoulders. 

“You’re mine.” he whispered, and you opened your eyes, moving your head to face him. “I love you, and I want to be with you.” 

You wanted to say no to him, as he many times did, tell him that it was too late. But you knew it was bullshit. You wanted to hear those words more than anything, and finally hearing them made you incredibly happy. It wasn’t late at all. You still loved him, you still wanted him. 

“I love you Jinyoung, I want to make you happy.” you kissed him softly. 

“I do not deserve you, so I’ll work hard for you to feel like I'm worth having.” 

You hugged him again, pressing yourself against him to feel his skin burning against yours. Then the sound of your phone buzzing broke your thoughts. “Jeez, do you think he realized what was happening?.” you laughed.

“No, he’s an idiot.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes and laughed too. The lines on the side of his eyes when he laughed genuinely showing up. You kissed them, and soothed his disheveled hair once more, right before continuing.

He forced his eyes open, vision blurry and unfocused, yet he saw something colourful a few feet away from him. A stark contrast to the otherwise grey surrounding. 

With his last strength Yugyeom tried to raise his sword, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. The metal clattered against the stone as he was unable to move his arm at all. Yugyeom bit on his lower lip, refusing to show any weakness. 

As the seventh son of the kingdom, with no chance of ascending to the throne and constantly teased by his older brothers, he grew accustomed to swallowing his pain and hiding his true emotions. For the same reason he decided to leave the safety of the castle and made his way into the mountains in search of the dragon that supposedly terrorised the citizens of a nearby town.

The castle had received a lot of complaints, saying they couldn’t mine any further without the dragon attacking them. The kingdom relied on the riches hidden deep inside these mountains and no dragon should prevent the wellbeing of the kingdom.

Yugyeom’s hand trembled as he still tried raising his sword, showing whatever had appeared in front of him that he wasn’t the simple meal it imagined him to be.

A thought crossed his mind, the possibility of a human having found him. “Who are you?” His voice sounded off, way too deep and raspy for his own liking.

He didn’t get an answer and that colourful thing didn’t move either. Yugyeom sighed and dropped the tension from his arm, his whole body relaxing as much as it could with all the pain numbing it. The thought he started hallucinating either from blood loss or from being alone for so long made its way into Yugyeom’s mind.

Despite the blurry vision Yugyeom tried to keep looking at the splotch of colour. Though even that became too much of a burden and his eyes rolled upwards. 

Dark clouds chased each other far up in the sky, giving the illusion there was no distance between the grey mountains and the grey clouds, the only difference being one of them moved around. A raindrop hit Yugyeom’s face. ‘Great’, he thought and closed his eyes. Though it wouldn’t be much of a difference with the coldness of his skin.

~

The scent of blood made you crawl out of your hideout, following your nose towards the source. You desperately hoped it was only the remnants of a wild animal being killed by a mountain lion or eagle. Anything would be okay, as long as the humans didn’t start sacrificing their animals or worse their own kind again.

It had been centuries since that happened but the horror still haunted your dreams from time to time. You had gone deep into the mountains as a result, far away from the humans in hopes of never crossing them again until a few years ago, when you came home to a ransacked bedroom. Seeing it smashed like that, you had gone berserk.

In hindsight you might have overreacted at that time but your instincts had run wild on that night.

You stopped in your movements, seeing an injured person between debris on the ground. Blood oozed out of several wounds all across the body and the human appeared unconscious until your eyes snapped to the shaking hand, taking note of the sword that clattered against the stone. 

You stood a few feet away from the human, not moving an inch while you observed the situation. Even when a deep male voice spoke to you, you kept silent and waited. Waited until the human actually lost consciousness.

Once that happened you changed your form, your scaly body now towering over the small human being. You grabbed the body with one of your mighty claws, careful as to not hurting him any further. You shielded the body with your other claw after you pushed yourself into the air and glided on the back of the wind. 

When you reached your home, you placed the human on your bed, pulling fur and other soft things closer to his body before you turned into your human form again. You stared at him, contemplating why you brought him into your home.

You didn’t know much about humans but he looked like a fighter with the sword and the shiny plates covering most of his body. You definitely didn’t want any of that near him once he woke up again. It felt like walking on eggshells when you removed those plates, questioning why a human would wear something so uncomfortable. They didn’t bend and move along the body like your scales, you couldn’t imagine he had a lot of freedom moving around in that.

Only after you removed them came the whole severity of his wounds to light, making you swallow harshly. You didn’t want to know how much blood he already lost before you even found him. The possibility this human died in your care became threateningly high. You also didn’t want to imagine what kind of reaction other humans would have if they ever found out. For a moment you wondered whether he would be missed, meaning more humans would come to find him.

You shook your head, trying to get rid of your thoughts. There was only one solution: You had to nurse him back to health and then bring him far away from your home but near other humans so he could show everyone that he was in fact still alive and well.

~

The scent of a warm broth pulled Yugyeom from his slumber. He groaned as he stretched his limbs with closed eyes, wincing slightly from the lingering stinging sensation. 

His eyes opened together with his memories of dying in the rain. Yugyeom pushed himself up and looked around, unfamiliar with his surroundings. He blinked several times while he tried processing his own thoughts and what he saw.

His attention shifted from the cave like room to the bright colours that appeared in the corner of his vision. Blue, green, red, yellow - somehow you had matched every colour he knew in your outfit.

“You’re awake.” You carefully moved closer to him, offering him a wooden bowl with a clear, steaming liquid. “You must be hungry. I can bring you some other things to eat as well.”

Yugyeom hesitantly accepted the bowl with a nod, watching how you turned around and left through a narrow hall. He glanced down at the broth, tentatively sniffing it. It was then that he noticed the linen bandages wrapped around several parts of his body. 

“Don’t move too much”, you interrupted him as you brought steamed vegetables and meat in more bowls. “Your wounds just started closing a few days ago.”

“How long was I out?”

You pursed your lips in thought, placing the bowls next to him, and sat down on the ground. “A week? More or less, I think.” You shrugged with your shoulders. “I wasn’t outside that much.” You looked up at him, tilting your head with curiosity. “Are you warm again?”

Yugyeom stared at you with a confused expression, waiting for you to elaborate. 

“You were very cold when I found you. I had to warm you up a lot!” You kept a safe distance from him and observed his every movement, noticing how he appeared to be in distress.

“Warm me?” Yugyeom sputtered, feeling the heat creeping up his neck and tinting his ears a darker shade of red. His eyes darted around the area, making sure his thoughts were justified - and indeed there were barely any blankets around. He glanced back at your form, desperately trying to pull his mind out of the gutter.

“You look like you’re too warm now.”

Yugyeom choked on air and started coughing violently. He never met a person so straightforward. Even though he was only the seventh prince of the kingdom and got teased relentlessly by his older brothers, he still got treated like royalty by anyone else. Though he had to admit, he liked it.

His eyes landed back on your form, eyes narrowing slightly in thought. “Who are you?” Seeing how you tensed, Yugyeom let his gaze roam around the room one more time. “Also, where am I and where are my belongings?”

“The metal plates and pointy thing?”

Yugyeom nodded, dumbfounded.

“They’re outside. These things are dangerous and can hurt you,” you explained quietly, avoiding eye contact.

“They’re supposed to help me, so I can defeat the ferocious dragon!”

“Ferocious?” You scoffed, barely able to suppress the smoke rolling out of your nostrils. You quickly got up and walked away from the human. “Maybe if the dragon would be left alone, there would be no need for the attacks.”

“Maybe if my people could peacefully do their work up in the mountains, there would be no need to bother the dragon!” Yugyeom sat up completely, feeling irritated by your behaviour.

You turned back around, chest rising in anger. “If their work wouldn’t include invading my home, I wouldn’t have to defend myself!”

Yugyeom’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Your home?” He pushed himself from the bed and hurried over to you, grabbing your upper arm. “You’re the dragon?” His eyes wandered over your form, searching for the tail or horns or even some scales. “How? Aren’t you human?”

You scoffed and raised an eyebrow, even stepping closer to him until your chests touched. “Am I not looking ferocious enough? Am I too tiny, not beastly enough?” You had to tilt your head back so you could properly look at him. It irked you how he looked at you - not in fear or horror, no, he stared at you in wonder. For a split second you even played with the thought of simply shifting right in front of him.

“You’re messing with me.” Yugyeom let go of your arm and stepped back, running his hands through his hair. “Did my brothers set you up for this? They did, didn’t they?” He turned away, scoffing in disbelief, before he turned back around quickly. “How did you even find me? Did you follow me up here?”

You crossed your arms in front of your chest, rolling your eyes and barely holding in the scoff. You closed your eyes and rolled your head from one side of your shoulders to the other, feeling the tingling underneath your skin as you let parts of your body transform.

Yugyeom could feel his mouth drop open again and his eyes widened as two horns grew on your head and a line of scales appeared on your skin along your hairline. He gasped audibly the second you opened your eyes and to vertical slits stared right back at him. 

“I found you because of the stench of blood in what can be considered my front yard,” you hissed out. 

“Why did you help me?” Yugyeom stared at you in awe, his initial quest completely forgotten. “I don’t understand. You knew why I came to the mountains and you still helped me.”

“Because I’m not a monster unlike what your people love to call me.”

Yugyeom absentmindedly rubbed over the bandages on his upper body. “I can see that,” he mumbled, blinking several times as his thoughts raced through his head.

“So”- you walked over to your bed and sat down - “what are you going to do now, little human?” You got caught by surprise when he sat down next to you, hiding his face in his hands.

“I don’t know.” Yugyeom came into the mountains to slay the dragon that drove away the nearby villagers, but instead he got rescued and nurtured by said dragon. How could he possibly slay you now?

You shifted back into your human form completely. You sighed deeply before you got up and walked towards your kitchen. “Maybe we’ll find a solution that doesn’t involve bloodshed over some cookies and tea.”

“And some answers to my questions, please.” Yugyeom immediately followed you like a lost puppy, thanking you the second he got a cookie. “I think I’ll have some more time before anyone actually searches for me.”

“Because a quest to slay a dragon is quite time consuming,” you joked but nodded nonetheless. “Well, then let us have a heart to heart.” 

© all rights reserved

Six months prior

The day was cold enough that Yugyeom had to pull out his thickest jacket. Dusting it off took a while, he had an impressive tolerance for the cold so it got little use. Donning it, he bid his dog a quick goodbye in the form of a pat on its head before heading off in his beat up Volvo.

His new job at the National Intelligence Service was proving to be nothing short of trouble. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in weeks, images of his investigation victims haunting him. His “perfect empathy” had always been there, but it became an asset when he got into law enforcement and made a bit of a name for himself.

That’s when he met Lim Jaebeom, director of the Behavioural Science Unit and the reason behind Yugyeom’s torment. He had heard of Yugyeom’s skill of being able to perfectly recreate the happenings at a crime scene and recruited him to consult for a few minor cases.

Yugyeom had wondered why he had been called for it, because the cases were easy to solve, there was no way Jaebeom hadn't figured them out on his own. Well, if there's one thing Yugyeom has learned about himself, it's that he's bad at seeing things coming his way.

They didn't cross paths again for years. Yugyeom had quit the police and joined the NIS training academy as a professor. Jaebeom had dropped by one of his lectures where he offered, more like forced upon, Yugyeom a job as a profiler for a high profile case he was working on.

And that was what led him to his predicament where he's spending one of the coldest days of the year at the NIS building instead of being at home with his dog. Jaebeom wanted him to stick around after they solved the first case and it wasn't like Yugyeom had a choice. What Jaebeom wanted, he got.

“So, what does it look like?” The Director asked, having handed Yugyeom a dossier full of photos of their latest case.

“An act of justice.” Yugyeom closed his eyes and tried to concentrate but it wasn't working. “I'll need to see the scene for more, the photos don’t give me a sense of the space.”

“Well we’re basically snowed in at this point so try harder. We don't know if or when he’s going to strike again so we need to figure this out quick,” Jaebeom snapped. Yugyeom could feel a headache radiating its way up the back of his skull. Realising that his presence was probably not helping, Jaebeom left him alone to brood in his office, promising to return soon.

Sighing, Yugyeom went back to examining the photos to better understand the geography of the house so that he could piece the series of events together. Closing his eyes, he tried to picture himself in the room, turning back time on the elements around him till he was envisioning the moments before the act took place.

He found himself across from Mrs Yoo, sitting on a plush sofa in her living room. Looking down, he saw a revolver in his right hand, a glass of wine in the other. The way Mrs Yoo’s eyes shone looking at him, it had to be motherly, a mix of care, kindness and fear. She was afraid of what he had become, knowing full well that it was her fault.

Yugyeom spun the wine in his hands gently before breathing its aroma in and taking a small sip, setting the glass carefully on the side table after.

“I despise the gentleness in Mrs Yoo’s eyes. They remind me of too much pain. I left because of those eyes, because of the pity that drips from them. I need those eyes to stop staring at me, I need everyone to stop looking at me.” Yugyeom examines the gun in his hand and raises it to be level with Mrs Yoo’s head.

“I stare straight into Mrs Yoo’s eyes as she trembles in fear in front of me. She’s begging for a forgiveness she knows I can’t afford. It takes a single shot to pierce right through her left eye and end both of our misery.”

Yugyeom sighs as he opens his eyes, rubbing his face with his hands as he tries to calm his breathing. He calls Jaebeom and the staff back into the room before asking, “Does Mrs Yoo have any kids on the record, someone old enough to own a firearm?”

Youngjae, a member of the forensic team, looked through the file in his hand before replying, “Yeah, a son. He’s 25, works at a tech firm on the other side of the country. We looked into him, he doesn’t seem to have been in the area on the day of the incident.”

“Look into him again just in case,” Jaebeom said before turning to Yugyeom, “Any other possible leads?”

“Maybe an illegitimate child? It’s someone who looked up to her as a mother figure but felt betrayed. Someone into their adulthood with years to have ruminated on their feelings on Mrs Yoo and turned it into a carefully plotted murder.”

“Look into the shooting ranges nearby, see if you can link any of their regulars near the area.” Jaebeom added, pointing at the image of Mrs Yoo’s body and how cleanly the bullet had hit her eye. “Too good of a shot for an amateur.”

Yugyeom stood there, eyes wide open, feeling rattled. Doing this was hard enough when he was at the crime scene but having to construct everything just out of photos drained him of everything. He slumped into the nearest chair and let his head roll back as he tried to calm himself down. Jaebeom gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving him alone in the lab.

It had taken him a long time to learn the best way to come down from his “sessions” without having a panic attack or scaring those around him. Some space and a series of breathing exercises were what he finally settled on, concentrating on a spot on the ceiling to keep himself focused. He was just about done when a knock on the lab door pulled him out of his head.

“Mr Kim?” The man asked. He was dressed to the nines in a three piece suit, hair perfectly styled, eyes sharp as he watched Yugyeom.

Nodding, Yugyeom stood up. “And you would be?”

“Park Jinyoung. Jaebeom’s an old friend, he wanted my help with the case.”

“You don’t look like law enforcement.”

“Oh no, these hands weren’t meant for firearms.” Jinyoung said, holding them up. “People used to say they’d be good for paintbrushes but I drifted towards scalpels first, then towards people’s minds.”

“Psychiatrist for such a low priority case?”

Jinyoung pressed a hand thoughtfully to his chin, “Would you be here if it was low priority?”

“This is not the only case of its kind, is it?” Yugyeom asked, running his hands through his hair exasperatedly.

“Fifth one in a row. Each in a different state along the east coast, all women in their late forties or early fifties. No seeming connections between them.” Jinyoung walked across the room to a table piled high with files before pulling a thin one out. “This is everything that could be found in common. We don’t even know if it’s one killer or multiple different ones.”

“And why didn’t Jaebeom tell me any of this?” Yugyeom felt anger simmer inside him. Jaebeom had done this too many times for him to be surprised but it didn’t affect him any less.

“Too many theories floating around the office. He wanted a fresh perspective.” The table was now littered with tens of photos, each one different in setting but the same in execution. “What you saw was the first one that happened three months ago. That’s why he wanted you here, because there’s no crime scene to see.”

“When was the last one?”

“Last week. Each murder has had between two and three weeks between them. Jaebeom was hoping to catch the next one before it happened but he wasn’t getting anywhere.”

“What’s your theory, Doctor?”

Jinyoung rifled through the pictures to find one of each victim, photographed from a similar angle, that of the chair opposite to where the women sat. “Odds say it was all the same killer, but it feels too intimate for that. How many years does a young boy spend at home? How many of those would he have to build a bond that burned him when it got cut?”

“They all knew each other. They planned this together. They all had to be good enough shots to hit exactly the eye from a decent distance and also have the resources to clean up after themselves.”

“Maybe the reason why Jaebeom couldn’t understand it was because he kept looking outside for answers.”

Watching cops getting arrested would never stop being unnerving to Yugyeom. After confirming the details with Jinyoung they both went to Jaebeom with their findings. It wasn’t an easy search but since they knew the killers would be inside the law enforcement system, they had enough connections.

“All foster children, brought into seemingly perfect households.” Yugyeom said as he read over the final report. He sat in Jinyoung’s office across from the man himself, a glass of scotch in his hand. “Abused for being troubled, sent to police academies to learn discipline.”

“It’s not incredibly difficult to find those of a similar disposition once inside. The cruelty of the academy breeds resentment and the resources to get away with one’s darkest desires.”

“Why left eyes though?”

Jinyoung stood up from his seat and walked over to one of the bookshelves that lined his walls. He pulled one out and handed it to Yugyeom. “Any luck reading Chinese?”

Yugyeom chuckled and flipped through the book. “My mom had one of these, she tried to get me to read it but I was never any good.”

“It’s a common text around these parts, stories, traditions and superstitions. It has a part on the twitching of eyes. Left eyes signify life in women.”

“A bit on the nose, don’t you think?”

“Maybe, but revenge blinds. It can never be measured, for it always has alterior motives.” Jinyoung took a long whiff of his wine before sipping it. “The best poet loves poetry for it’s own sake.”

“Well, glad this lot weren’t poets.” Yugyeom said.

Jinyoung laughed and raised his glass. “To amateurs, then.” Yugyeom grinned and raised his own glass. “Could I tempt you to dinner with me this weekend? Something celebratory for our accomplishment.”

“Will you tell me which wine I should bring so that I don’t pick the wrong one?”

“Find a good Chianti. Saturday, eight o’clock. I’ll have my assistant deliver you a formal invite.”

Yugyeom felt woefully underdressed when Jinyoung opened the door, dressed in another perfectly tailored three piece suit with a tastefully patterned tie. He wished he had taken his blazer to wear over his full sleeve shirt rolled up to the elbows and slacks.

“I hope this will do,” He said, extending the bottle of wine.

Jinyoung barely glanced at the label before clicking his tongue. Yugyeom felt a shiver down his spine, a sudden fear of disappointing the doctor gripping him. Jinyoung’s eyebrows furrowed for a second before they softened into a teasing smile.

“This will do perfectly. Please, come in.” Jinyoung stepped away and Yugyeom was met with an extravagant living room, decorated with utmost care. The doctor seemed like a man of exquisite taste and wealth, unafraid of indulging in the luxuries of life.

Jinyoung led him to the dining room, where a long glass topped table took up much of the space. It was decorated with an elaborate flower and fruit arrangement in the centre, with two places set up, one at the head of the table, and one to its right.

“Please take a seat,” Jinyoung said before disappearing into the kitchen. He returned with a decanter of wine in one hand and two plates artfully balanced on the other, one on his palm and the other on his wrist. With a flourish, he filled both of their glasses before setting a plate in front of Yugyeom and one in his own place before sitting down. “Stuffed Roast Heart with Devilled Kidneys and Garlic Liver Paté.”

Yugyeom stared at the food in wonder, not having seen such a beautifully plated dish before. “What is it that you can’t do, Doctor?”

“You flatter me too much, I’m merely a man of a few interests.”

“This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten, Doctor. I don’t think this comes just from being a hobbyist.”

Jinyoung smiled and sipped his wine before answering, “I started cooking for my sister young, then it became a passion, if you will.”

“Well I do hope we work together more often in the future if it means you’ll call me over for dinner every time.”

“It would be an absolute pleasure,” Jinyoung said before holding his glass up for a toast. “To Lim Jaebom, an eternal friend and pain.”

“To Jaebeom indeed.”

The joy of the night together was quickly sobered in the morning when Yugyeom woke up to Jaebeom calling him early in the morning.

“Dr Park will be picking you up soon, we need you two here stat.”

He barely had the time to get himself out of bed and dressed before Jinyoung showed up, looking as classy as ever, dressed slightly down in a shirt with no tie and a sport coat. “Did you eat anything?” Jinyoung asked as they got into the car.

“Nope, Jaebeom called me ten minutes ago,” said Yugyeom. “Also why’re you here? I could have gone myself.”

“I offered since your house was on the way.” Jinyoung paused for a second, glancing at Yugyeom before continuing, “And Jaebeom thought it’d be best if I was with you at the scene.”

Lim Jaebeom was hard headed, short tempered, rude, but he was also almost always right. Yugyeom was glad he had Jinyoung with him when he arrived at the scene. There was a small group of officers standing outside the local art museum looking rather green and it made sense as they stepped in.

The hall was large, lined with paintings along the walls. The centre of it featured only two pieces, well three now. Between the two displays, like a sculpture, stood a body. It was stripped naked, posed like a ballet dancer, one leg slightly raised, arms up in the air, held up by red ropes that hung from the ceiling. The body was so carefully positioned that it only rested on the ground by the toes of one foot.

Most notably, though, what captured the eye first was the fact that the corpse’s chest was cut open, split down the middle and flayed open, the ribs slightly pried apart to show a hole in the middle, filled with a small bouquet of flowers where the heart should have been.

“Okay after last night’s dinner this is probably not the best thing to happen,” Yugyeom mumbled, feeling light headed. “Sure you’re not serving up human hearts are you, Doctor?”

“Only the finest beef, Mr Kim. I can put you through to my butcher if you’d wish to confirm.” They both laughed a little to ease the tension but the glares from those around quieted them quickly.

Jaebeom stormed in immediately after, his voice loud and frustrated. “Get to work, the two of you. I need this sorted out and fast.”

“Any other similar cases anytime recently that you’d like to tell me about?” Yugyeom asked, trying his best to not sound accusatory.

“With parts of the body missing? Yes. With this level of… what do I even call it? Craftsmanship? Not so much.”

Jinyoung interjected before things had the chance to go awry. “Noted, Jaebeom. Lets just work with the assumption that this is a one off thing first, then we’ll try connecting the dots.”

Jaebeom nodded before leaving the two to examine the body. Youngjae stayed with them to brief them about the latest developments. “Jeong Jisub, 42. Luxury car salesman. Unmarried and orphaned. Wasn’t very well known even to his own neighbours and not well liked by those who did recognise him.”

“Unlikable doesn’t mean having enemies,” Yugyeom mumbled. “This doesn’t feel personal.”

“What, flowers are impersonal now?”

“What Mr Kim is trying to say, Mr Choi,” Jinyoung answered, addressing Youngjae, “Is that while the gesture of the flowers and the body may be symbolic and personal, the murder itself. or at least the choice of victim doesn’t feel so.”

Yugyeom nodded, adding, “There was a lot of care put into the act of rigging up the body, but it was the same to the killer as making a sculpture. The marble itself is immaterial to obtaining the final outcome.” He walked around the body, examining every minor detail. “Check the back, the kidneys should also be missing. This isn’t just art, it’s a message.” He turned to Jinyoung, “Doctor, you’re sure this wasn’t you, right?”

Jinyoung put up his hands, wrists pressed together. “You’ve caught me officer, take me away.” His tone was light and teasing, matching Yugyeom’s.

“Why kidneys?” Youngjae asked as he looked at the back of the body and noticed the small sutures present there that corresponded with where the organs would be present. The killer had carefully cut open the back to extract them and stitched it back up almost imperceptibly.

“Two organs of humanity, two organs of love,” Jinyoung said after a minute of pondering. “The Egyptians left the heart and kidneys inside when mummifying their corpses and many traditions considered the kidneys the locus of affection.”

“The flowers, what do they signify?” Yugyeom asked Youngjae.

The forensic analyst looked down at his file before answering, “All imply something along the lines of romantic interest, infatuation, crushes.”

“Our killer seems to have fallen in love.”

“Why ballet? Why the flowers of infatuation but organs of love?” Yugyeom wondered out loud as he once again sat at Jinyoung’s side at his dining table. Jinyoung had offered to cook lunch since they’d wrapped up early and Jaebeom wouldn’t be available to talk to till the next day.

“Some things, emotions, people are both delicate and sturdy at once. They’re fragile, easily disturbed, hurt, broken, but if nurtured correctly, they blossom powerfully, often dangerously.” Yugyeom felt Jinyoung staring into his soul as he spoke those words.

“Wait a minute—” He started, getting up from his seat abruptly. “You’re not here for Jaebeom or the cases are you?”

“Mr Kim, please, we can talk this out cordially—”

“No, you’re not getting into my head anymore. We’re done.”

“Yugyeom, Jaebeom asked me to do it out of concern for your well being. He told me about the dark places you retreat to after the cases. How the darkness from the killers’ minds seeps into your own and haunts you. How you lose yourself in the process.” Jinyoung’s eyes looked pleading as he spoke, “I want to help you.”

Yugyeom chuckled bitterly, “Help me or Jaebeom?”

“You, Yugyeom. All Jaebeom needs is a report saying that you’re fit enough for duty. I have that prepared here,” Jinyoung left the dining room for a moment before returning with a file. “You have the choice now. Tell me to stop and I’ll tell Jaebeom that my work is done.”

“Tuesdays.” Yugyeom mumbled into his drink.

“Pardon me?”

Grabbing his jacket, Yugeom moved to leave the room but turned just as he was about to step out, “Sessions on Tuesdays, I get off work early.”

It was difficult for Yugyeom to look Jinyoung or Jaebeom in the eye without getting angry knowing what they were doing to him, but the case forced them into the same room, the body on a table in front of them, pictures of the crime scene scattered on the one on the side.

“Yugyeom, what did you see yesterday?” Jaebeom asked.

Closing his eyes, Yugyeom envisioned himself back in the art gallery, the body that was once hung in front of him now lying on the floor next to him, not yet rigged up.

“I never saw Mr Jeong as a person. His life was worth less than an insect crushed under my foot. His death was quick and painless. I would have dragged it longer if I’d so desired, but I had other priorities. This display was everything. I needed it to be perfect.

“I spent hours making sure the pose was correct, rigging ropes carefully to hold the body in place. I placed the flowers in last, the finishing touch to a labour of love. A proposal, a request for courtship, proof of the power and devotion I held in my hands.”

Moments of silence ticked by as Yugyeom collected his thoughts. “It’s a letter, Jaebeom. The killer wanted someone in particular to see this, someone who’d understand what it meant. He wanted them to know what he was capable of.”

“Who in the world would appreciate a dead body with missing organs as a letter? Another killer? Don’t tell me we have two killers to deal with.”

“You said there were other cases with organs missing, right?” Jinyoung asked. Jaebeom nodded and handed him a case file.

“Twelve deaths over two years. All of them displayed one way or the other, clearly meant to be found. They were all far more detached than this one, though, more a show of ruthlessness than art.” Jaebeom thought for a moment before adding, “Don’t tell me our new killer is in love with our old one, that might just make me quit. I’ve worked tirelessly to catch the ‘Butcher’ as we call him, I don’t have time for another one.”

“I don’t think these are two killers, Jaebeom,” Jinyoung said, and Yugyeom nodded in assent. “I think the Butcher met someone who softened him.”

“All of these cases show someone with expertise with bodies, a doctor, nurse or mortician of some kind. One with a build large enough to carry them around and access to medical supplies and some sort of space to do the dissection,” Yugyeom noted, rifling through the photos.

“What does he do with the organs? And it's not just organs, some of them have flesh missing. Sometimes just sections, other times an entire limb,” asked Jaebeom.

Everyone turned to Jinyoung as the resident doctor, “Surgical trophies, maybe? He could be keeping them as a personal collection, a piece of every person he’s killed.” Turning to Youngjae who was working on the body he asked, “Anything in common between all the victims?”

“Nothing we could figure out. The gender division is pretty even, ages stick between eighteen and fifty. Some had families, others no one. They feel extremely random, half the victims originally from different parts of the country but all of them turned up in the general area of this city and two over.”

“I need time to think, Jaebeom. Start your search with medical professionals in the area, I’ll give you more details as soon as I can.”

Despite Yugyeom’s wishes, he ended up in Jinyoung’s office that evening. The scotch in his hand was the only thing keeping him sane, especially as he sat facing the doctor.

“I want this to be a place where you can be honest, Yugyeom. I am contractually obliged to not utter a word outside these walls. You can tell me whatever’s on your mind. I’m not here to judge, but listen.”

“You’ve lied to me before, why should I trust you?”

“Lies of omission are not the same, are they? But I’m not here to defend that. I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to figure out a better way for you to open up to me, but it was still wrong of me to. Would you be open to starting fresh?”

Yugyeom thought for a second before nodding. He pushed himself off his chair and started strolling around the office. The space was large, with a tall ceiling and a staircase leading up to a mezzanine lined with bookshelves end to end. Ladders rested against the bookcases on both floors, allowing access to the books stored up high.

Stopping by the nearest ladder, Yugyeom turned his back to it, resting a leg on the lowest step and leaning back against it. “This killer,” he started, “he makes me feel so many emotions.”

Jinyoung sat silently, his eyes expectant, waiting for Yugyeom to open up to him.

“I’m equal parts horrified and fascinated by him.” Yugyeom sighed and took a large swig of his drink. “I don’t know why I’m saying this but for a moment it felt like that letter was for me.”

Crossing one leg on top of the other, Jinyoung raised an eyebrow, “And why did it feel like that?”

“Jaebeom said that the person the Butcher is in love with, has to be a killer or someone who understands his work. Looking at the body, I could feel the emotions the Butcher put into it, I could understand the effort he went into to put it up there. It just felt like it was made for me, then. Like he knew I’d see it, that I’d understand him because that’s my job. To put myself into the heads of those who kill and find them inside there. Not see them as cold blooded killers but as people with motivations, desires, wants, needs. Maybe he hoped I’d see beyond the body, the murder, and see him in his art.”

Jinyoung stood up and joined Yugyeom near the ladder, standing close enough that Yugyeom got a strong whiff of the doctor’s perfume, a classy, masculine scent, much like the man himself. “What did you see of him?”

The image of the killer in Yugyeom’s head was blurry at best, but seeing the body, it felt like Yugyeom knew him. “A strong, skilled man. A bit traditional, trying to prove himself as the provider and caretaker but not one to be held down by norms. He kills not for lowly reasons of revenge but because he merely can. He sees his work as art, even when its cold and lifeless, he still wants it to be a spectacle.” Yugyeom stopped for a moment, arranging his thoughts. “He’s playing god.”

Those words hung between the two of them as they took them in. “What does that mean, Yugyeom? What does it mean to the killer?”

“He sees himself as above man. He wasn’t decorating the body, he was elevating it. He wants the person he likes to see what he’s capable of, how he can make something as repulsive as a dead body to art that moves.”

“Then why the trophies? Wouldn't that be uplifting the remnants of the murders a bit too much?” Jinyoung asked, pushing Yugyeom to think harder. “What could he be doing with the organs that would put himself above them?”

“I don’t know,” Yugyeom admitted. “That’s the one thing that doesn’t make sense. But I think they have something to do with the confession too.”

“Do you think that person will like it? Will they accept the courtship?”

“I do.”

Yugyeom tried his best to explain everything they’ve figured out to Jaebeom without the detail of how he saw a little too much in the Butcher’s work. It didn’t help narrow their search much but helped them build a more detailed profile of the killer. This left Yugyeom and Jinyoung free till more evidence came up while Jaebeom’s team worked on finding suspects.

“I’m heading back to the training centre, I’ve missed too many lectures,” Yugyeom said as they wrapped up their meeting.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday then,” Jinyoung said with a soft smile. They walked out of the building together and Jinyoung helped Yugyeom get into his car before waving him off.

For the first time in two weeks Yugyeom felt himself breathe. He was, even if temporarily, free of the cases and everything related to them. Driving had always been a comforting activity for Yugyeom, giving him the space and time to think for himself. He had two hours before his lecture so he decided to just use the time driving around town and maybe grab something to eat.

As he drove, he let his thoughts wander, but it kept coming back to case. There had to be something that he was missing. The question the doctor asked still bugged him. What was the Butcher doing with the organs and flesh? Surgical trophies make sense but doesn’t explain all the cases. What would he do with chunks of meat from the back, on either side of the spine?

That’s when it hit him. Yugyeom slammed the brakes on his car and pressed his head into the steering wheel. Angry horns from behind got him to snap out for a second and he pulled the car up by the side of the road and let the world stop around him.

Meat. Of course he saw the victims as less than himself. He saw them as pigs, animals meant to be grown just enough to be killed and taken apart for personal enjoyment. Yugyeom felt himself getting sick as he thought of the Butcher, of himself in the killer’s mind, eating his spoils.

He needed Jinyoung to know when he’d realised. He couldn’t deal with the thoughts alone and so he turned the car back around and drove to the doctor’s house.

Ringing the bell didn’t reward him with an answer. The door didn’t open regardless of how long he waited. That meant that either the doctor was still at his office or Yugyeom would have to wait a while for him to return from wherever he was. Just as he was about to turn away to try the office, he felt the impulse to try turning the knob on the door and he saw the door open under his fingers.

A flash of panic swept through him as he wondered if the doctor was in trouble. He didn’t seem the type to just leave his front door open. Reaching to his side, Yugyeom pulled out the gun that he’d been allowed to keep now that he was back in service. He tiptoed through the ground floor and found nothing. The house was seemingly empty.

He was about to climb the stairs to the first floor when he heard a sound. Footsteps from somewhere below him. Searching around the house, he tried to find where the way to the basement could be, till he found a door in the kitchen that looked like any other cabinet door. It led him down a set of steps to a metal room, designed much like the forensic lab at the NIS.

Turning the corner into the room, Yugyeom held his gun up but felt his grip loosening at the sight in front of him.

On a metal table lay Lim Jaebeom, very clearly dead. “Took you long enough,” A familiar voice called from behind him, forcing Yugyeom further into the room to turn to face it.

He should have known it was Jinyoung all along. It was way too obvious and that’s exactly why he missed it. “Why?” was the only thing Yugyeom could think of asking.

“You already know, Yugyeom. You explained it all to me yourself yesterday.” Jinyoung walked closer to Yugyeom despite the gun pointed squarely at his chest.

“And you thought I’d like all of this? That I’d say yes?” Yugyeom’s hands were shaking as he tried to hold his ground.

Jinyoung reached out to wrap his hand around the barrel of the gun and push Yugyeom’s arms down and out of the way. He used his other hand to grip the side of Yugyeom’s face. “I think you already have,” he whispered.

“No! I’m not a monster like you!” Yugyeom shouted as he pulled himself free of Jinyoung’s grip.

“Am I a monster? You’ve seen the inside of my head. You’ve seen what’s there. Can you look at all of that and still call me a monster?”

“Why kill Jaebeom though, I thought he was your friend!”

Jinyoung glanced at the body with a look of inconvenience, not regret. “An unfortunate casualty. I needed insurance, Yugyeom. I’m a simple man, if I can’t have what I want, I’ll burn it all down.” He looked at Yugyeom thoughtfully before continuing, “You know what I’m capable of. Walk out of here and you get framed for the murder of not only Lim Jaebeom but of all the Butcher’s victims. A perfect liar, who had access to everything he needed to carry his killings out, with medic training from his days with the police. No one would believe your innocence, I’ve made sure of that.”

Or you can stay with me. We put Jaebeom’s body up together, a proof of our courtship and then we run away. I have enough money for us to settle down anywhere in the world and never be bothered again.” He once again held Yugyeom’s face, who was shaken to his bones as he processed everything Jinyoung was saying. “You see me for who I am, not for who you want me to be. Stay, please.”

Yugyeom felt his knees weakening as a flood of emotions washed over him. He realised that some part of him had known since he saw the Butcher’s victim for the first time. He knew it was Jinyoung, that it was meant for him, and that he’d accepted the courtship.

“You knew that I wouldn’t be able to say no to you, insurance or not,” Yugyeom said.

“I had to cut off the ropes that held you here. Jaebeom would have tracked you down wherever you were if I’d left him alive.” Jinyoung held Yugyeom as he broke down and fell to his knees, finally giving himself entirely to Jinyoung.

“I’ll stay, I’ll see you for who you are,” Yugyeom whispered, “If you promise to hold dear the darkness in me too.”

Relishing the sudden physical contact, you hummed delightedly. "What are you doing, babe?" you asked, giggling. "I brought you cupcakes. Don't you want one?"

"Maybe later," he purred, his plush lips brushing the bare skin on your shoulder blade. "I found something much more delicious here." One of his palms ran up your inner thigh, settling down on a precarious spot. 

"But they'll get all mushy if we won't eat them now." Slightly toying with him, you wanted to see where this would take you. Usually, you wouldn't dare to object, yet you were in the mood to do so anyway. At least a little.

Groaning in frustration, the grip on your thigh strengthened while his other hand slipped underneath your arm to rest on your belly. His fingers played with the hem of your shirt, fingertips dancing over your exposed skin every now and then, causing you goosebumps. 

"Don't wanna wait," he sighed, his lips kissing all the way up your neck, making you moan and close your eyes. Tugging your lower lip between your teeth, your hands found his hair so fingers could rank through his obsidian-colored hair. 

"You remember last time you were here with me?" 

Playback of those memories initiated in your head, turning your cheeks crimson. "I do," you breathed, recalling every single detail of this moment. Last week you decided to visit him spontaneously, having pretty specific ideas on what to do with him. Being on a shopping trip beforehand, you wanted to surprise him with brand new lingerie purchased only for him. Unable to wait for him to come home later that night, you figured you'd show him right here, right now. And he loved it.

"You visiting me is always so... compelling." 

You grew impatient at this point, shifting your weight only to reposition yourself by straddling him shortly after. "You don't say," you whispered, placing your hands on his shoulders to gently let them run down his upper body. 

That's when his lips found yours, capturing them eagerly. Your addicting traces along his body made him lose his mind. Every single time. 

Jaebum grabbed your hips, squeezing them in order to raise his crotch so you could feel how much he needed you at this point. You started grinding your hips down on him, causing him to deeply moan against your lips. 

"You're driving me crazy, babe." 

Still holding on to your waist, he stood up in one quick movement, helping you wrap your legs around his mid to walk you to the side table. He placed you next to the cupcake box, pressing his body close to yours. Hands and lips everywhere, he was almost devouring you. 

But then, your mind wanders to his car.

You chew at the inside of your cheek as you remember part of his confession in the dressing room last week.

“We’re not fucking for the first time in a place like this.”

“Oh? What kind of place did you have in mind?”

“My bed. My couch. My shower. My car. A wall. My kitchen…”

You shake your head internally, squeezing your eyelids shut as if you’re trying to expel the indecent thoughts from your mind.

Date first, you scold yourself, other things later.

Right as the recollection leaves you, Yugyeom makes a right turn into the entertainment district. The street is obviously familiar; after all, you live here. Normally, this is the area that you go to for a quick bite after practice or rehearsal, due to the vast variety of bars, restaurants, and cafés.

Then, you pass a familiar sign on the street, and the one second glimpse of it quickly reminds you of its significance. A small, surprised gasp escapes your lips, and Yugyeom giggles.

“It’s ok, right?” he inquires, almost sheepish.

“Of course, it is! It’s more than alright,” you exclaim, the sound of your enthusiasm easing any nervousness that he had previously, “It’s… Actually… Really romantic, Gyeomie.”

He pulls into the parking lot as you talk, smiling to himself as he backs up. With an arm wrapped over the back of the passenger seat, he cranes his head to look out the back. Clearly, he’s absolutely elated by your positive response but your eyes catch the sight of his jaw and neck clenching instead. You swallow, eyelids fluttering as you push away the urge to pepper kisses along the angles; the need to wrap your arms around his neck and slide into his lap to make do on the plans that he so vehemently vocalized to you-

“Ready to go?” he interrupts your train of thought, and the heat on your cheeks continues to spread to the tips of your ears.

“Mmhm…” you nod, blinking hazily before turning around, reaching for the car door handle. With a satisfying click, the door opens to reveal Yugyeom’s outstretched hand. With your heart leaping out of your chest, you take his palm and breathe a sigh of relief when his fingers interlace with yours. Looking up, you smile at the familiar sight.

The restaurant that you took him to last year. The exact place that you started to fall for the tall, talented, and handsome dancer boy currently leading you towards the familiar door.

✧✧✧

It’s perfect. The closest to perfect that you’ve ever experienced, really.

He talking just as animatedly and passionate as he did that day, alternating between sips of chocolate milk and bites of a personal sized pepperoni pizza. But, it’s just that he’s your boyfriend now. It’s an admittedly incredible benefit. Even so, as you’re listening to him go on and on about a teaching mishap that he had with Bambam yesterday, you cannot believe the fantastic turn of events.

Does he know that his nose scrunches when he giggles? That the corner of his eyes crinkle and his head throws back when he laughs?

“Are you ok? You’re a little quieter than I’m used to,” he says mid-bite, cocking his head to the side at your silence.

“Mmhm. I’m just happy. And I like listening to you talk about work,” you answer, smiling to relieve any uneasiness that he might’ve had.

“Is that it? Because I’ve been wondering why you haven’t said anything about my food choices,” he quips, gesturing at the plate of food in front of him. You giggle in response, covering your mouth to prevent food from spilling out. After chewing sufficiently, you part your lips in defense but he stops you before you can say anything.

“Chocolate milk is good. Burgers are good. Spicy food is not good because it hurts,” Yugyeom defends before taking a sip out of said chocolate milk, brows furrowing cutely.

“Poor baby with his baby tastebuds,” you tease, laughing audibly when he nods in agreeance.

“Yes. I am baby,” he responds, so tonelessly that you’re a hundred percent sure that he isn’t being serious.

It makes you laugh again, only this time you can barely restrict yourself from choking on your food before you scoff, “Sure.”

✧✧✧

You two manage to stay and talk until closing. In fact, you barely noticed that the restaurant was empty until your waiter attempted to kick you both out of the restaurant as politely as possible. After quarrelling over the bill, Yugyeom paid it this time around after reminding you that you bought him a coffee yesterday. So, you reluctantly obliged.

No rock, paper, scissors game this time around. Without another word, he takes your hand and leads you out of the empty restaurant. The door opens and you’re immediately hit with the crisp and refreshing night air, biting Yugyeom’s cheeks pink with each gust. The walk in the parking lot remains relatively silent until he stops in front of his car, his hand twisting in yours until your fingers entwine with his.

“Listen,” he begins, pausing to stroke your knuckles with his thumb, “I want to invite you back to my place to hang out for a little longer, if that’s ok.”

His face is contemplative, almost concerned, as if thinks that you might be uncomfortable with the invitation.

“Please don’t feel pressured to agree because of what I said… Uhm…” he trails off, shyly peering his eyes to the side as he reminds you of last weeks filthy promise, “Anyways. If you want to leave the night as is, I will.”

A small smile seeps into your expression at the caring nature of his words. He couldn’t be more wrong, but you greatly appreciate it anyway.

“I’m more than happy to hang out with you, but isn’t Bam home? I don’t want him to-”

You stop, chewing at your bottom lip at what you’re implying. It isn’t like you don’t enjoy Bam’s company, it’s just that you’re not sure if he should be present for what you have in mind, visualizing the way that Yugyeom’s best friend might cringe at the sight of you cuddling with Yugyeom on the couch, or worse.

“Oh, Bam isn’t home. He’s at Jack’s place, actually,” he says, so nonchalant that you’re convinced that he’s unaware of the way that the revelation pushed your mind to end up in a gutter somewhere.

Alone. In an apartment.

With Yugyeom. And a bed. And a couch.

“Oh,” you make a noise before swallowing, hoping to disguise the fact that you’re pleased with that discovery.

Very pleased.

“Great!” he exclaims before grabbing the passenger door handle, opening it with a click, “After you.”

Yugyeom uses his free hand to gesture to the open door, guiding you inside with his palm. The warmth of his hand seeps into the base of your back, and the sensation prompts a chill to run up your spine. Your eyelids slip closed for a short second, focusing on the presence of his touch before he removes it, bringing you out of your daze when the car door slams shut.

✧✧✧

When Yugyeom said hang out, he really did mean hang out, and nothing more.

And it’s driving you up the wall.

After dinner, he pulled you into his empty apartment, kicked off his shoes, took your coat off, and proceeded to plop onto his couch. Not to make good on that promise from last week, but to watch a movie.

You’re not mad. The fact that you’re currently sitting between his parted legs with his arms wrapped around your waist is making you anything but mad.

You’re just… Frustrated.

Frustrated beyond belief that he’s been focused on the movie for the past hour, when all you want is to feel the heat of his palms on your bare skin; to have them wander in between your legs with his lips on the nape of your neck…

Just the thought of it has you closing your eyes in an attempt to prevent all of the indecent visions from flooding your mind. Unfortunately, he’s making it very difficult to prevent that. His chest is pressed right up against your back, and his left hand is sliding from your waist to your thigh, finishing with a slight tightening of his grip. You’re not sure if it’s subconscious or not, but you widen your thighs as a response to his touch. The movement is so minute that you’re not even sure that he’s noticed.

That is, until the hand on your thigh travels down; slowly and with increasing pressure, to the hem of your dress. His fingers start to play with the pleated fabric, tracing and teasing the skin underneath until you find it difficult to breathe properly. The audio from the tv should be enough to cover it up but all you can hear is the sound of your own laboured breaths. You’re so preoccupied in fact, that you barely notice that you’re squirming backward, right up against his crotch.

“Babe,” he breathes against the shell of your ear, right arm tightening around your waist as his left hand finally ventures underneath your dress and up your thigh. A small noise escapes you, but Yugyeom mistakes it for protest. You can sense an apology coming from him as his touch retracts, so you grab his wrist and place his hand right where you want him.

“No,” you pause to shake your head, “Don’t stop.”

Yugyeom freezes for a second, as if unsure where to begin. So, you decide to give him some direction through your hazy, very turned-on mind.

Covering the back of his fingers with your own, you guide his middle finger up your clothed slit, and he makes a low noise against your ear as a result.

“Touch me,” you plead desperately, emphasizing your need by caressing your clit with his fingers, demonstrating with a pressure and speed that you like to start with. Luckily, Yugyeom seems to have gotten the memo because in no time, you’re clawing at his thighs instead of directing his touch.

The back of your head tilts back to rest on his shoulder as he continues with his ministrations, seemingly concentrated on getting you off. The circles that he’s pressing against your clit starts to increase in speed, and you practically keen against him. Your hips are starting to twitch and your thighs are struggling to remain open. In fact, your legs snap closed with a gasp when his fingers dip under the fabric of your underwear, touching you directly.

But then, he removes his fingers and begins to tap against your clit repeatedly, teasing you.

“I hate you,” you whine toothlessly, displeased that your orgasm was taken away. He chuckles when you start to squirm against him, but the sound quickly devolves to a groan when your ass grinds against his crotch again. He’s definitely hard, and you would almost feel smug about it if you weren’t seconds away from coming.

“Are you ok with this?” he asks, and you nod before whispering with a meek yes.

Yugyeom doesn’t respond. Instead, he forces your thighs open again, digs his fingers into the muscle, and drags them across your skin, as if warning you not to do it again.

You chew your bottom lip at the thought, unsure if you should heed his warning. But then, his hand slides into your underwear again and prods against your wet core, making you disregard that initial thought. Your entire body tenses against his as he circles your entrance with a single finger. He gathers the wetness there before sliding upward, giving your now swollen clit a quick, teasing flick.

Surprised by your sensitivity, you gasp, hip thrusting up slightly to chase his touch. It’s torture, and you start to whine in protest.

“So wet…” he whispers at a volume where you just manage to catch it over the sound of the tv. The teasing lilt of his tone causes you to widen your legs further.

“Fingers,” you demand unintelligently, hoping that he’ll understand with a single word. Sentences are beyond you right now.

“So bossy,” he teases you with a playful nip on the skin of your neck. You blink, and suddenly, his fingers are no longer between your legs. Instead, he uses that same hand to hike up your dress, allowing the fabric to pool at your waist. You begin to protest but a slick sound makes its way into your ear.

It’s the sound of his tongue licking a stripe up his fingers.

Without another second wasted, his free hand pulls the lace of your underwear out of the way and the other slides two fingers into your core.

You let out pleasant hum as his fingers move gently, as if he’s trying to get a feel of what you like. He alters his pace and the angle of his fingers, carefully taking note of what elicits the most positive response from you. His experimenting continues until his fingers delve particularly deep, shifting to a spot that makes your hips twitch.

That reaction isn’t lost to him as he repeats that same action over and over and over, driving you so out of your mind that you can’t hold back the moan from bubbling out of your lips.

“God, that’s- Mmph…” your sentence trails off when the pressure becomes absolutely perfect. He’s curling his fingers so deliciously that you can’t stay still. Yugyeom has to wrap his free arm around your torso to keep you from moving too much.

“Good?” he asks, voice thick with arousal. Clearly, he’s also losing his composure. That, and the fact that he keeps groaning when your ass slides up and down his clothed length.

“More than good,” you answer breathily, gasping loudly when his free hand slides into the neckline of your dress to grasp at your breast. He gives it a brief caress before pinching your nipple, the combination of sensations causing you lose it.

One hand grapples at his wrist and the other squeezes into a fist as you practically dangle over the edge of release again, only to be denied it a second time. He removes his fingers and you’re so needy that your back arches and your entire body trembles.

“I should’ve known,” you pant, chest rising up and down with each laboured breath, “Should’ve known that your teasing would extend to sex.”

“Well, I want to savour it,” he answers with a giggle much too innocent for what he was doing to you with his fingers. Then, loosens his arm from around your waist. Not one to waste an opportunity, you twist around as fast as you can to straddle him, immediately reaching between his legs.

“You’re lucky that you’re cute,” you smile at him playfully, gripping his cock through his slacks. The teasing expression that you saw before has effectively disappeared, replaced with droopy eyelids and an agape mouth.

“You’re cute, too,” he says, smirking before giving you a deep, searing kiss. His arm wraps around you as the other hand glides up your spine to tangle into your hair, pushing your lips against his harder. The action makes you gasp in surprise, which gives him the opportunity to delve his tongue into your mouth further.

You’re now lost. Lost in the way that his hands feel on your body. Lost in the hot, throaty groans that you’re swallowing up with your kisses. Lost in the way that he seems to know exactly where to touch; to nip; to lick; to bite. He’s starting to graze his teeth over the nape of your neck as his jaw drops open, unable to focus with your hand in his pants.

“I want to make do on what you told me last week,” you confess, shaking when Yugyeom starts to suck at a sensitive spot just under your jaw.

“Yeah? What do you wanna start with?” he asks, breath hitching when you pull his cock out of his slacks. You give it a few pumps with your hand, just to see him shiver underneath you.

“Couch,” you start, initially losing your train of thought when he starts to buck into your hand, “Want to ride you. Is that ok?”

Yugyeom groans against your skin, now damp with sweat, “Yeah, that’s- Fuck yeah, that’s way more than ok.”

His enthusiasm makes a grin spread across your face, and Yugyeom melts it away by pressing another kiss to your lips.

“Wait here,” he says, and you reluctantly slide off of his lap to allow him to move.

“And don’t worry, Bam won’t be home for another three hours at least,” he adds with a wink, and you nod.

So, you wait, only having enough time to remove your underwear from your legs, your bra, and to slip the straps of your dress off, allowing the fabric to gather around your hips. Once Yugyeom leaves his bedroom, he throws something at you; something small, but you catch it with ease. You recognize the familiar, square foil packet, so you rip it open with your teeth. You’re so preoccupied with getting the condom out, that he surprises you with a hand on your chin.

With a gentle nudge, you look up to see him staring down at you, the most concentrated and heated that you’ve ever seen him.

“You just gonna stand there, or you gonna lay down for me?” you smile against his lips when he leans down for a kiss.

“Have I ever told you that you’re so fucking hot when you’re bossy?” he whispers hotly, right before giving you a quick peck.

“Hmm… Can’t say that you have,” you answer as you pull at the hem of his black turtleneck, prompting him to remove it. After pulling it off with a swift tug, you push him down on the couch and swing your leg over his hips, effectively straddling him. You shift, gathering the skirt of your dress up towards your waist and rest your wet folds on his length. The simple contact is enough to make you both sigh out.

“Guess that I have to make it up to you,” he promises, looking up at you with such awe, with such reverence and love that you smile down at him, trying to show in your own way that you feel the exact same fucking way.

So, without another word, you get the condom on, allow him to push his pants down as much as possible, and slide his cock inside you. The initial stretch burns a little, but it eventually blooms into pleasure when you begin to move your hips; slow and steady, reveling in the gasp that Yugyeom lets out from underneath you.

“You know how you can make it up to me?” you ask as you plant your hands on his abdomen and grind down, “Fuck me like you promised that you would.”

He chuckles playfully in response, sliding his palms up your thighs before grasping at your ass, “Your wish is my command, sweetheart.”

✧✧✧

There’s something about it.

Maybe it’s the fact that you’re fucking in a communal space with your clothes half on; breasts hanging out of your dress, his bottoms gathered at his knees with his shirt off, but…

It’s wholly indecent. Absolutely fucking filthy, and that feeling is only intensified by the wet, slapping sounds of skin against skin, the low groans slipping out of Yugyeom’s lips, and the cries of your own pleasure. Each snap of his hips is met with your own thrusts backward, and the all-consuming assault of sensations is so… It’s so…

“Good,” you moan into the air, breath hot and sweltering against his wet lips as you lean down, “You feel so good…”

Yugyeom curses colourfully at that, confirming in your mind that he agrees with your heated statement. Doubling down, he plants his feet on the couch, wraps an arm around your waist, and bucks into you hard, causing your entire body to jolt forward in surprise. Then, he repeats the same action over and over and over until you’re so debilitated; so mindless and lightheaded that you’re forced to clutch onto the armrest for purchase.

“This what you wanted?” he asks mid-thrust, voice hoarse. His breath fans against your damp neck, temporarily cooling your warm skin.

Unable to form a sentence that would be remotely coherent, you nod vehemently, pressing your lips together in an effort to stay quiet. It only just dawned on you that you should be a little quieter, as Yugyeom lives in an apartment complex, filled with neighbours that would surely be disturbed at the ruckus you two are making.

But then, you feel his tongue slide up the curve of your neck, swirling against the skin before latching his teeth against your earlobe, nibbling gently.

“C’mon, use your words, sweetheart,” he goads you on, tightening his hold on your body as you moan at the pet name, “Tell me how good I’m being.”

Your heart flutters at that command.

Oh, you realize, he wants you to praise him.

Very well.

“You’re doing so well, baby,” you abide, and Yugyeom instantly moans at that. Just the sound of it makes you move harder against him, and the pleasure spikes so rapidly that it’s nearly impossible to keep talking. But somehow, you continue by focusing on pleasuring him.

“Fucking me exactly how I want, you feel so good…” you add, trailing off when you see Yugyeom’s eyelids flutter, mouth falling open as a moan becomes stuck in his throat. He’s trying his best to maintain eye contact but you can tell that he’s on his way to completely losing it, and his thrusts are nearing a rhythm that’s rough and uneven.

But it isn’t like you’re any better. You’re equally as overwhelmed, effectively fucked out as the pleasure relentlessly winds up, curling and tightening in your core. Both of you can’t seem to acknowledge anything in your vicinity; not the sound of the television, not the hum of the refrigerator, not even the way that the lamp flickers when Yugyeom’s hand accidentally smacks against the switch. Nothing, except for the urge to touch whatever you can reach; kiss whatever you can kiss, and the culmination of it all has you keening on top of him, walls clamping around his cock to the point of madness.

“Oh, shit,” he breaks your kiss by throwing his head back, Adam’s apple bobbing when he attempts to gasp for air, “Oh, fuck…”

It seems to you that Yugyeom is completely ignoring any potential concerns about volume because he’s getting loud. Loud, loud. As if without a care for his neighbours, Yugyeom lets out deliciously rough groans, sounding delirious and needy so incredibly hot and fuck-

“Close,” you gasp, lungs equally burning for oxygen, “Don’t you dare fucking stop.”

He nods dumbly, squeezing his eyelids shut as he trembles underneath you.

“Sweetheart,” he moans out, loosening his arm from around your body. It causes you to let out a questioning noise, but the momentary confusion is instantly eased when his hands reach up, searching for yours.

Immediately, your heart softens as he rubs his thumb against the inside of your wrist, pausing momentarily before covering your hand with his palm. He laces your fingers together and tightens his grip, desperate and almost afraid. As if you would leave him cold and empty, just as you did a couple of months ago.

He doesn’t verbalize that insecurity. However, he makes it apparent in a different way. His facial features melt into a state of pure vulnerability and his body fully surrenders to yours, actions completely set on pleasing you and ensuring that he’s worthy of you. Worthy of your time, your mind, your words, and your body. It’s as if he’s attempting to prove himself.

And what an absurd attempt it is.

Worthy? No one understands you the way that Yugyeom does. No one makes you laugh as much as he does. No one makes you feel like this, as if your entire body is suspended midair, dangling over the edge of happiness, ecstasy, delirium, and pleasure, all at once.

No one is more worthy than he is.

And with a reassuring squeeze of his hand and a hot, searing, and desperate kiss, you try your absolute best to tell him that, all without a single word.

Then, all Yugyeom has to do is fuck into you once, twice, before you shatter on top of him, hips twitching uncontrollably as the sensation of your orgasm overwhelms your senses. Your core, slick and wet and tight, flutters around his cock with such force that he comes with a throaty half-shout. The noise crawls out of the back of his throat, and he’s so loud that he feels to need to tuck his head into the crook of your neck, teeth scraping against your exposed skin as his jaw drops open.

Your entire body hums with pleasure as his cock twitches inside you, slowly softening as the minutes pass. He begins to press wet kisses against your neck, and you can’t help but giggle at the entire situation.

You, lounging on top of him with your breasts spilling out of the bodice of your dress, cock still inside. Him, laying on his shared couch after being thoroughly fucked by you with his pants half off.

“I can’t believe that we had sex on my couch,” he gasps, slapping his palm against his eyes in disbelief. You laugh in response, placing strategic pecks all over his face to get him to remove his hand. Luckily, it seems to work because his eyes start to peek through the gaps of his fingers, twinkling with humour and mischief.

“Don’t tell Bam,” you remind with a smile, shifting on top of him until his slips out of you.

“I won’t tell him if you won’t tell him,” he replies, lifting up on his forearms to give you another kiss. While the urgency is gone, his lips still move with such sweet, earnest passion that your spine tingles.

“How about a shower?” he asks against your lips, breaking the kiss for just a moment.

“Only if we’re having one together,” you grin, elated when he nods in agreeance.

However, his nod is laced with a certain level of mischievousness that makes you suspicious. So suspicious in fact, that you're sure that the shower that he has in mind will be especially long.

✧✧✧

Sex in the shower was not a good idea.

Sure, it started off great. His lips against your neck, his hands finally roving all over your naked body, unhindered by the fabric of your dress. You got to marvel at all of the tattoos that decorate his body, especially appreciating the gigantic wings that sprawl across his back.

But you two got a little too enthusiastic. Perhaps it was because you two wanted to make up for lost time but the second that two shampoo bottles fell from the shower rack and hit your head, he decided to stop.

It’s ok though, because the highly spirited activities continued on his bed, after the shower.

Thank God that Bambam wasn’t home.

“Sweetheart?” Yugyeom says, interrupting your train of thought. You were absentmindedly tracing the lines of his constellation tattoo as he sat beside you, phone in hand as he scrolled through social media. He nudges you with his elbow before continuing, “Can I ask you a question?”

You nod wordlessly, leaning against his shoulder as your back sinks in his upright pillow, allowing you both to rest against the headboard.

“When did you know?” he starts, voice soft. Your brow furrows at the unspecific question, tilting your head to face him. You’re instantly met with the sight of him; hair fluffy and dishevelled and as handsome as ever. Before you can speak, his eyes already staring back at you, tender and curious.

“Know what?” you answer, shifting closer to him.

“Know that you loved me,” he replies, cheeks dusting a pale pink. Restless and antsy, his fingers search for yours underneath his comforter.

“I’m not sure,” you start, pausing when you feel his fingers intertwine with yours, “It wasn’t really a single moment. Just a lot of moments mixed together.”

You reminisce on your practices together, and how they evolved from a shitty meeting to an exchange of simple advice to simple favours to full-on concern and care. The moments that you two spent together felt intimate, more nuanced than simple friendship, and that single evolution made your heart fall for him faster than you ever anticipated.

"You just had to be so annoyingly sweet that I allowed you to worm your way into my life forever," you joke, and a cute giggle escapes him.

"Don't you worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stick by you and be as sweet and annoying as possible. That's a promise," Yugyeom grins in response, squeezing his grip on your hands. Then, he captures your gaze, pupils slightly illuminated by the single, dim lamp that rests on the nightstand beside you.

“By the way, for me, it was when you asked me to play rock paper scissor for the bill,” he admits before leaning in, pressing an achingly sweet kiss on your temple.

A quiet gasp slips from your lips at his admission, "You remember that?"

"Of course. It's where I fell in love with you. And now, it's where we had our first official date," he revels at your speechlessness, taking the chance to place a soft kiss on your temple. Once he pulls away, he's met with your eyes widened in surprise, aching with soft affection.

“My boyfriend is such a little romantic,” you whisper, nuzzling the tip of your nose against his. You find the admission so endearing that your head dips underneath his chin, kissing those cute moles that you’ve been wanting to kiss for forever.

"I guess I have to change your name on my phone now. Not sure if asshole is the most accurate description for you anymore."

“Say that again,” he requests, completely ignoring the latter portion of what you said. You make a questioning noise, so he adds in a voice a little breather than usual, “Say that I’m your boyfriend again.”

A grin spreads across your face, “You, Kim Yugyeom, are my asshole boyfriend.”

“You know what? I’ll take that,” he says, and you laugh even more, giggling through the kisses that you’re sharing with him in his bed.

And you like the sound of it too.

Kim Yugyeom. Your boyfriend.

✧✧✧

tag list: @pointofviewyugyeom @ssssssul @shawkneecaps

if you would like to be added to my tag list, please send me an ask! don’t forget to like and reblog if you enjoy my work. thank you!

- yue <3

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[pt. 6] ⤎ [relevé series]