#mx fanfic

He huffed, scooting closer and placing his elbows on the edge of the couch before dropping his chin into his open palms.

“I know, but I really think we should open at least one early so we can enjoy it together.”

I stared at him. Shaking my head as he pushed his bottom lip out a bit further. He was right about his schedule being full the day of this year. In fact, we had both barely managed to get some time off this week so we could spend at least some time together. We had actually planned on going somewhere today, but the gloomy weather outside had us deciding it may be better for us to stay in. Although I almost wished it hadn’t been so muggy outside because at least we would have been spending that time together.

Being stuck in the house instead meant there was an awful lot of distractions around for us to focus on rather than each other. Especially as Jooheon, who had sworn he wouldn’t work, picked up his laptop. Which led to me picking up a book when “just a minute” turned into fifteen, thirty, an hour, and the last time I had checked the time, we were approaching three hours. The blessing in it was that he at least stayed in the room with me. His occasional humming and thump of his fingers against my calf to whatever he was listening to reminding me he was there.

And that’s how we spent the morning into early afternoon together. Until Jooheon came to a stopping point and suggested we open presents early. Maybe suggested wasn’t the right term. Begging is a better word for what he was currently doing. Snapping my book closed I relented.

“Alright. We can open one.”

He jumped to his feet, victorious grin on his face as he made his way to our tree. That didn’t have many gifts under it in the first place. At least for the two of us. Most of them were meant for friends and family. Jooheon sifted through the little we had, looking like he was searching for one in particular before picking up a rather large box. He examined it for a second, and determining it was what he had been looking for, brought it over to me and deposited it in my lap.

“Are you sure you want me to open this one?”

“One-hundred percent.”

Shrugging, I began pulling the wrapping paper off. Pausing only when I could almost visibly see Jooheon shaking with excitement. Or maybe nerves. He looked up at me when I stopped.

“What?”

“Are you alright? You’re acting like you’ve downed a gallon of caffeine or something.”

“Yes. I’m fine, will you please hurry up? I’m dying over here.”

“You just said you were fine.”

“Y/N.” He stared at me in frustration.

The look of him making me laugh as I returned to opening his gift. Under all the paper was a plain cardboard box. The top of it barely taped shut making it easy for me to pop it open the rest of the way to find… another wrapped box. Glancing at him, I pulled it out. Making quick work of the paper and tape on this one too before finding another wrapped box inside it. I dropped it into my lap to look at Jooheon in exasperation. He was laughing as if seeing me go through these boxes was the funniest thing he’s ever witnessed.

“Really? Is this entire thing just going to be wrapped box after wrapped box?”

“Just keep going. You’re almost there.”

I was not, in fact, almost there. I tore through four more boxes inside boxes. My pile of trash growing in size next to me. Becoming increasingly annoying until I resorted to balling up every piece of wrapping paper I pulled off and throwing it at him.

“Jooheon! This is such a waste of paper and cardboard!”

He dodged another ball of wrapping paper. Cackles filling the room as he weakly nudged my leg to keep me going.

“Seriously. You’re getting closer.”

“Was your goal to piss me off? Because consider me thoroughly pissed right now.” I huffed, ripping open the top to find, surprise surprise, another box. “I don’t even want to keep going.”

The boxes continued to get smaller. Package getting lighter as I disposed of subsequent boxes and paper. It wasn’t until the wrapping paper covering each box changed from the green elf peppered print to a sparkly red and gold that Jooheon stifled his laughter and turned more serious. Figuring this must have been what the real gift was I frowned at him.

“Jooheon, I swear to God if this is another box…”

I sighed angrily, opening this one and fully expecting to find another box. And it was another box… sort of. It was a small, rounded square red velvet box. One I recognized from a jewelry store that Jooheon frequented on the rare occasions he did buy me jewelry. Which wasn’t super often, but that was because anything he brought from there wasn’t cheap and I didn’t let him spend that much money on me often. Already expecting it to be extravagant, I flipped it open, turning to stone the moment I laid eyes on the ring pillowed inside. The beautifully cut diamond in the center making it painfully obvious exactly what meaning it held.

Beside me, Jooheon shifted his position.  Gently taking the box from my hands and moving onto one knee in front of me. His head dipped, attempting to catch my eye from where I still sat staring at the ring. It felt like time had physically stopped. Everything around me moving at a snail’s pace. Including the way Jooheon called my name. Finally, I broke myself out of the trance. My eyes finding his easily at the same time my emotions caught up. I reached out, taking hold of his ear and pulling as tears streaked down my cheeks.

“You jerk! I don’t know whether to kiss you or beat you with one of these couch cushions for making me open all those damn boxes!”

He whined, catching my wrist to get me to let go of him. I did so reluctantly, choosing to wipe the overflowing tears away as they trailed down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” His smile was soft, meltingly gentle.

“You’re too much.” I sniffed, falling into his embrace when he opened his arms.

I buried my face into his shoulder. I couldn’t look at him much longer without breaking down into pieces. At least this way I could try to put myself back together long enough to give him his answer. He held me tightly in his lap, patient as he coddled me.

“I love you so much Y/N. Nothing would make me happier than if you agreed to marry me. No matter how annoying I may be.”

I laughed through my crying. Probably sounding like an utter mess, but I loved this goofball of a man more than anything in the world. And he was choosing me.

“Of course I’ll marry you. But just know that I’m already plotting payback for all those boxes and wasted paper.”

“Looking forward to it.” He chuckled.

I pulled away, waiting for him to take the ring out of its box to its home on my finger. He did so happily. Sliding it onto my hand before looping his fingers with mine and pulling me close again.

“I love you.” He whispered, his lips touching mine lovingly.

“I love you too.”

There is no taglist for this series.

you weren’t worried about what would happen once the night ended because your family only got together once every decade

but by a stroke of disaster, four of your cousins (some of them twice removed; you’d never even seen them before tonight) announced they were getting married later this year

and, of course, they hoped you and hyunwoo would come to the wedding

the two of you smiled and nodded and acted in love

but as soon as the night ended, you told hyunwoo he didn’t have to come to any other event with you

there was only so much food you could bribe him with before you started to feel awful for dragging him here

but hyunwoo gave you a look and replied, completely seriously, “i don’t know what you’re talking about, i had a nice time tonight. your family’s great.”

that definitely made you feel less terrible when you asked him, “so you wouldn’t mind going to one of those weddings with me as my fake-boyfriend?”

you laughed as you said it, trying to make it seem more like a joke than a serious suggestion, so he wouldn’t feel bad about having to turn you down

but hyunwoo didn’t feel bad in the slightest when he said, “oh, no. i would mind.”

so, that was that, then

“oh, well, it’s okay. i told you, you don’t have to go with me—”

“i want to go with you as your actual boyfriend.”

yeah, fuck it. he may not have been able to look at you as he said it, but he didn’t really see a point to fake-date you when really dating you seemed like a much better alternative

↣ wonho

it was supposed to be mutually beneficial for you both

a classic let’s-pretend-to-date-to-make-our-exes-jealous plot

and then somewhere along the way, hoseok kind of forgot that this was supposed to be all pretend?

he’d keep on holding your hand even when it was just you two in the room

or he’d still kiss your cheek when he stood up from the couch to grab something, even though there was no one to prove a point to

and okay, at first, you didn’t realize there was anything wrong with that

but then you ran into your ex without hoseok around, and he asked, “so where’s your boyfriend?”

and you didn’t even care about the envy in his voice as you told him about how much hoseok had been working lately and how you hadn’t gotten to see him a lot

and there it was

the realization that you really cared more about spending time with hoseok than about making your ex jealous

god, it was so awkward bringing this up to hoseok, though

“so, hey, do you think it worked?” you asked him that same night once your conversation (sort of) turned to your exes

he wasn’t following, “what do you mean?”

cringing now, you tried to make this sound less childish, “well, you know. getting a reaction out of—”

“oh, that.”

silence

honestly, for a minute there, you worried hoseok was about to say that it had worked and that he was back together with his ex now

but then he just chuckled nervously and admitted, “honestly, i’ve kind of forgotten all about that.”

oh, well okay, but what does that mean????

your heart feels like it’s about to leap out of your chest as you wait for him to say something else

something that would, hopefully, make the state of your relationship a little more clear

but then hoseok just went, “so, how do you feel about ordering pizza tonight? my fridge is empty,” and that was it

so, yeah, idk, i guess you’re dating for real now? 🤷🏻‍♀️

↣ minhyuk

honestly, this was supposed to be just a joke

everyone always kept teasing you about how you spent so much time together, “it was time you started to date”

so minhyuk finally just shrugged, took your hand in his, and declared, “we already are”

it was mostly meant to make your friends uncomfortable

like, okay, they couldn’t stop teasing you about how close you were? then you’ll show them just how much closer you could be

but although your friends did squirm, and their teasing did turn into complaining within a few days of this

you felt like you were the one who felt the weirdest

because, fine, when it came down to it, maybe you did have a little crush on minhyuk

it was barely there, though!

you never even thought of it as a serious crush, you just found him attractive is all

but then he was suddenly glued to your side, always touching, always smiling and glancing over at you

and yeah, it’s definitely a crush now

and thing is, this doesn’t feel fake!

minhyuk went out of his way with the pda, all to make your friends cringe

but did he really have to call and text you every night before going to sleep just to say goodnight and wish you sweet dreams??

did he really have to remember every little thing that you’ve ever told him, even if you couldn’t remember saying it??

alright, to be fair, minhyuk realized he didn’t need to do those things, he was just taking full advantage of his position as your fake-boyfriend

and your friends’ teasing had not been baseless; clearly, there was something there between you and him

so, somewhere along the way, the fake dating seamlessly morphed into serious dating

your friends hadn’t even realized that “he’s my boyfriend” used to be a joke, but now you were no longer kidding

except, at times, when minhyuk was using his boyfriend status as an excuse to drag you to a yet another dreadfully boring event with him

he’d always use the boyfriend card

“how can you say no to me, Your Boyfriend™??”

and you’d always remind him, “well, technically, you never asked me out on a date, so i don’t know where you’re getting this from”

he’d give you a look and a sarcastic laugh

but he wasn’t too wounded by this because he was too busy wondering if you’d still say the same thing when he eventually used the “since i’m your boyfriend” technique to ask you to spend the rest of your life with him

↣ kihyun

okay, now, you weren’t supposed to start fake-dating

you just happened to be standing next to each other at a party when the guy who was relentlessly hitting on you the entire night, walked by and did a double-take

he stopped in front of you two, scratched his chin thoughtfully, and then said, very accusingly, “you should have told me you didn’t want to go on a date with me because you already had a boyfriend”

(really, you didn’t want to go on a date with him because he was a disgusting pig, but whatever gets him through the night)

and kihyun – who’s, really, more of a friend-of-a-friend than a boyfriend to you – was already opening his mouth to refute this

until you grabbed his hand and whispered a hushed, “why don’t we let him believe that?”

and you obviously didn’t mean that as a prank

kihyun could tell from the look in your eyes that you needed this guy to finally get lost, you weren’t just joking around

so he cleared his throat, got his hand out from your grip and placed it around your shoulders, bringing you closer

and then he stuck his chin out at the guy, “yeah, she has a boyfriend.”

partially cringing, you glared at the guy one more time – not that it did much; he was immune to all deadly looks – and he finally shrugged and walked away

you thanked kihyun, apologized, stammered awkwardly for another minute, and walked away, hoping to simmer in mortification somewhere else

preferably at a place where this cute boy, who just pretended to be your boyfriend, couldn’t see you

but, not even fifteen minutes later, your friends were collectively hitting you on your shoulders and back, all yelling over each other

you hunched over and took a few precautionary steps forwards to escape their assault, before giving them a bewildered look

“what the hell happened????”

finally, one of your friends gave you an explanation: “how dare you bring your boyfriend to the party and not introduce us?”

you were still staring at your friends with wide eyes, and you were genuinely starting to worry about the contents of their cocktails because they knew you didn’t have a boyfriend

“people just overheard you reject some asshole because you were here with your boyfriend,” another friend said. “they saw you hugging.”

oh. well

“he wasn’t—i was just—”

but you caught sight of the same asshole out of the corner of your eye, and, suddenly, you weren’t so sure if it was a good idea to admit to lying

“yeah,” you ended up saying, a defeated sigh following shortly after. “he’s my boyfriend. i’ll introduce you later.”

“why don’t you do it now?” a voice asked, nearly making you jump out of your skin

kihyun – the king of showing up at the right place, at the right time – was smiling as he stood next to you

your friends, of course, proceeded to pounce on you (that’s how they show love)

and it took you another half an hour to get kihyun alone to ask him why, in the name of god, would he carry on pretending to be your boyfriend?

and he’s been so composed the whole night, but suddenly he’s an awkward mess

“i don’t know,” he admitted, “maybe that’s the only way i knew how to ask you out on a real date.”

you both knew that there were many easier ways to do that, but you had to admit two things

one, you kind of have no choice but to say yes now, since everyone already thinks you’re dating

and two, the butterflies in your stomach have been rioting ever since kihyun introduced himself as your boyfriend that first time, so it would be good for your health to go on a real date with him. you know, to stop all the fluttering and the shaking of your heart

↣ hyungwon

hyungwon got you into the fake-dating mess by accident

he’d been trying to impress his new manager because he felt like he really deserved a promotion

but no matter what he did, the guy seemed to hate him

and then one time during lunch, hyungwon happened to start a conversation about music, and he discovered that the manager was into the same indie band as he was

he milked the hell out of this, mentioning every obscure song he could remember, and he could almost see the points he was gaining with the manager

he even ended up being called up to his office at the end of the day

“this will sound weird, but are you seeing anyone right now?” the manager asked

hyungwon genuinely thought he gave off the wrong impression and even glanced at the sexual harassment awareness posters on the wall of the office

but then the manager explained, “i have four tickets to the band’s concert this friday. we could go on a double-date.”

and, because this was his promotion on the line, hyungwon stammered, “uh… yes, i am seeing someone… a concert sounds great.”

cut to you getting a panicked phone call from hyungwon several hours later, demanding that you cancel your plans for friday night and pretend to be his girlfriend to impress his manager

eh, you like the band anyway, and hyungwon was a good friend, even if you never really saw him romantically, so why not

but, like in any classic rom-com, after spending the night exaggerating hyungwon’s positive qualities (in a subtle way, of course), you came to realize that, huh, maybe you did see him as a romantic interest? kind of? a little bit?

it was just nice how he kept holding you all throughout the concert, so he wouldn’t lose you in the crowd of people

and it was nice how he walked you home and checked on you even after his manager and his girlfriend had left the two of you alone

and it was also nice—alright, fine, you had a proper crush on hyungwon now

you assumed he’d done most of those things that night because he wanted to leave a positive impression on his manager

but then hyungwon got that promotion (the concert played a part in that for sure), and he invited you to celebrate at his house

and you showed up, thinking it was going to be a party for all of his friends, but it was just him, a bottle of wine, and two glasses

so you got worried that maybe you showed up too early, but hyungwon shook his head, “no, you’re right on time. wine?”

“uh… shouldn’t we wait for everyone else?”

“there’s no one else,” he said, his hands shaking as he unscrewed the cork. “it’s just you.”

oh, okay, then

now your heart was shaking and what-not, that’s great

“i wanted to thank you,” he said after he finally managed to pour wine into your glasses and onto the counter. “if it weren’t for you, i wouldn’t have gotten this promotion.”

“that’s not true, you’re a great employee and you deserve this.”

hyungwon appreciated you saying that, but he looked down and deflected, “you know, this promotion had been something that i was looking forward to for the past few months. until the night we went to that concert.”

you waited for him to continue, but his mouth was too dry, so he took a big gulp of his wine before he even finished the toast

(was this even a toast? oh god, he couldn’t understand what he was doing)

“t-that night,” he tried to continue, “i realized that i’m looking forward to seeing you again more than i’m looking forward to getting promoted. i was absolutely ready to go on a dozen more double-dates with you before i got that promotion.”

“i thought we’d have to do that, too, to be honest,” you interjected with a chuckle, alleviating the atmosphere slightly

“yeah?” hyungwon was glad to hear that. “i’m really, kind of, sad that we didn’t have to do that.”

quietly (because you didn’t dare to start drinking your wine yet, so you lacked the courage), you admitted, “me too.”

oh now he was positively vibrating and he had to set his glass of wine down as he braced himself

“why don’t we go on an actual date? no promotions to look forward to this time, just each other’s company.”

he looked like he was going to combust in three, two—

but you saved him by replying right away, “yeah. i’d like that.”

↣ jooheon

you and jooheon both wanted some peace and quiet when you went out with your friends, who all knew that the two of you were single, and kept setting you up with various people in the bar

so you suggested telling your friends that you both had already found relationships

“they’ll never believe it unless they see our partners,” jooheon pointed out

“okay,” you nodded, admitting the mistake. it only took you a second to come up with a better plan, though, “then how about we tell them we’re dating each other?”

he watched you for a minute, his eyebrows furrowed

“that is the dumbest thing i’ve ever heard,” he said then. “let’s do it.”

dumb or not, it worked

finally, you were able to relax, unwind, and get wasted on a friday night without being introduced to a new stranger every two drinks

it was a dream come true

and it worked like an excuse in other settings as well!

you don’t feel like attending another company dinner? “sorry, my boyfriend’s taking me out tonight, it’s our anniversary.”

jooheon hates his pretentious neighbour, so he needs an excuse to say no to his party? “sorry, got plans with my girlfriend this weekend.”

funnily enough, no one ever called either of you out on your bullshit

your co-workers had seen jooheon pick you up from work countless times

and all of jooheon’s neighbours knew you were the only person left who still had a spare key to his apartment (after a very unfortunate incident involving minhyuk, the notebook for jooheon’s lyrics, and a forgotten candle “for ambiance”, when jooheon was out of town)

nor you, nor jooheon had enough time for a serious relationship, and your fake-relationship never interfered with casual dating (since it all tended to end after one date)

so it was all fun and games

until your friends started asking, “so when are you going to propose?” and you realized this had been going on for a long time

jooheon, who was so used to his role as your fake-boyfriend, didn’t even skip a beat as he said, “when the time is right”

but the question rang in both of your heads for the rest of the night

when your taxi stopped outside of jooheon’s house at the end of the night, you got out with him because he was usually the type of drunk who could fall asleep in an elevator if left unsupervised

so, to save him the embarrassment – and also, to save you a trip back and forth between your houses – you tended to sleep in his guest room on friday nights

“you know what would be funny?” you asked him as the two of you took the elevator to his floor, “if we told our friends that we weren’t actually dating this whole time.”

jooheon chuckled, seemingly agreeing that this really would be funny

“you know what would be even funnier?” he responded, his speech still slurred from the alcohol. “if we actually started to date.”

you laughed, nodding, because that really would be even funnier

but then once jooheon was in bed and you prepared to head to the guest room, he suddenly grabbed your hand, stopping you

“so what time should i pick you up next week?” he asked

he never picked you up for anything, so you were understandably confused, “for what?”

“for our date,” he explained.

“oh, to pull the prank of the year?” you asked, chuckling. “first, we pretended to date, and then we actually started to date. but, actually, it’s all one big—”

“no,” jooheon disagreed, his eyes drooping, but his grip on your hand remaining firm. “this won’t be a prank. it’ll be a date. for real, this time.”

↣ i.m

he needed to get his family off his back (in the kindest way possible, of course)

there were only so many “it’s time for you to get married, why don’t i arrange a blind date for you?” a person could take

and you’d been his best friend for years, so hey, can you lend your friend a hand? you won’t even have to do anything

or so he said

you agreed because, according to changkyun, he’d just tell his family that you were his girlfriend, and you wouldn’t actually have to go to any dinners, or any parties whatsoever

how utterly and completely dumb this was!!!!!!

you run in the same circles, of course you were going to run into his family in town

their congratulatory hugs weren’t even the worst part (but it was still awkward, and you made a mental note to strangle kyun later)

the worst part was the “i knew you two kids would get together eventually!” comments

you felt like you were disappointing his family because you weren’t actually dating, and that felt a lot like disappointing your real family

it was crushing

you’d had such a good relationship with changkyun’s whole family, they were your second home

and now you were lying to them

so you didn’t think you were exaggerating when you sent changkyun a gentle “prepare to die” message once you managed to escape his relatives

he had a solution, though (at least, he thought he did)

“okay, so how’s this, then – we date for real?”

???????

he’d been your best friend for so long, you struggled to think of him as anything else

but it was also a defence mechanism in a way? you used to have the biggest crush on changkyun when you first became friends, so you needed to find a way to suppress these feelings

“changkyun,” you began seriously, “do you really think dating you would traumatize me less than my fear of disappointing your family?”

he watched you for a minute, the insult buffering, and then sent a pillow flying right at your head

“i’m saying i want you to go out with me, dumbass.”

you tried to duck, but still got swatted on the back of your head with the pillow as you asked, “why?”

he laughed humourlessly (and nervously) and then rolled his eyes, “gee, i don’t know, maybe because i don’t want you to feel bad about lying to my family, you sensitive wuss. or maybe because i genuinely have feelings for you, i don’t know.”

you were about to toss the pillow back at him, but then stopped

swallowing hard, you asked, “so which is it?”

“i can’t even breathe right now, which do you think it is?”

you were the one rolling your eyes this time, “can’t you just say it like a normal person, you asshole?”

“it’s already obvious, dimwit.”

“are you seriously only insulting me because you can’t tell me you like me? that’s lame, even for a nerd like you.”

he was groaning in exasperation at this point, “what else do you want me to do? you’re the most oblivious person i’ve ever met. and i don’t like you, you big idiot. i’m pretty sure i’m in love with you.”

First, the bed is king size with mounds of fluffy pillows on it. To the left a large window, with white curtains blurring the outside. Across from, and facing, the bed was an armoire with no doors. From what I could see, several dress shirts hung in it, along with a couple coats. On the right side of the room was the closed door, a straight shot from my spot on the bed; beside it, against the right wall, was a dresser. It sat between the door and an archway, which opened up to a master bathroom. On either side of the bed stood two identical nightstands with two identical lamps. The room was immaculately put together with steel grey and navy blue tones. I guess the wise thing would be to scope out the bathroom first, in case anyone was there.

The air was cold, and stepping out of the bed made me shiver, yet somehow, I was sweating. Tiptoeing to the bathroom I held my breath and made sure my feet made no sound. After a couple peeks around the corner, I deemed the bathroom empty. Still, I was too scared to try the door, so I slowly made my way across the room to the window.

My jaw dropped when I pushed away the curtains. The window was barred, now casting an ominous shadow on the dark wood flooring. 

Beyond the bars was a mountainside, was I still near town? Who knows where I could be when all I have to go off is rocks. No more messing around, I needed to get out of here, it was time to attempt the door. I started feeling claustrophobic, despite how large the room was, I knew it was unlikely I could get out.

“Please,” I mouthed with my hand on the doorknob.

Miraculously, it turned, and the door opened without a creek. Again, I let my jaw drop. The door opened to a walkway, one side led down a hallway to what looked like other bedrooms, while the side stood a beautiful banister and a wide flight of stairs. I’m in a stranger’s mansion. If it were any other day, and I was here voluntarily, I would be in awe. There was no time to tread the waters of the other rooms, especially if the owner of the house was in one. It was best to descend the staircase, it must lead to the foyer, and therefore, the front door. I dropped down to my hands and knees to peer past the banister. The whole house was silent, but I was not going to test my luck–I had to make sure I really did go unseen.

With no one in sight, I took measured steps down the stairs, and when I finally reached the bottom, it delivered me directly to the front door. This felt too easy, there’s no way it’ll open I thought, but still I had to try. I tried the knob, it didn’t budge. I flipped the dead bolt, still the knob didn’t move. Tears began to flood my vision, I was so close, to have hope dangled in front of me, it wasn’t fair. I flipped the dead bolt again; I was in denial.

“It has to work,” I whined. How can this person get out of their own house?

Unless I’ve been left here to rot. Taken from my home and put in a proxy until I starve or kill myself. Some psycho’s sick idea of entertainment. I’ve watched the news, I know what kind of sickos there are in the world. Trying the door one more time, I decided there had to be some kind of electronic, automatic lock on it. If I wasn’t so scared of making noise, I would have pounded my head against the door until I collapsed. There had to be some way out, no person can really make something flawless, there is always a flaw to be exploited.

With my back to the door, I took in the foyer. To the right, an entryway to the kitchen. To the left, under the staircase, looked like a darker hallway, with more closed doors. What if there were other people like me in those rooms? What if this whole mansion was packed wall to wall with helpless, clueless hostages like me. I needed to find out.

My stomach was nauseous from the anxiety, even if there was food in the kitchen, I knew I couldn’t look at it without throwing up. Not that I could trust anything in this death trap was safe to consume anyways. Making my way down the hall, I approached the first door.

First, I tried peering through the cracks on the sides, even getting on the floor to try to see inside. The room was dark, maybe it wouldn’t open even if I tried. However, it did, with very little effort. Inside was a small home library. How pretentious. There were bookshelves built into the walls, packed full of books. There was a plush chair on the opposite wall from the door, by a window bathed in sunlight. Smack dab in the center of the library was a desk. Like any other desk there were a number of knickknacks on it. 

I creeped inside to investigate, not before looking behind me to make sure no one would shut me in. Like most of the house, the desk was a deep warm brown and glossy. Between a set of ornate bookends sat three old books. One: The Man of the Crowd. Two The Count of Monte Cristo (abridged). Three: I don’t know. The third book looks modern, but the title is calligraphy in a language I can’t make out; I pass over it. The chair was drawn out, as if someone had just left. Most likely, they left after writing the note in the center of the desk, the pen was still there too. So they were left-handed. (I’m not sure if this would be of use to me but I didn’t want to miss any hint of who this person is.)

I couldn’t resist leaning over the chair to read it. The first thing on the page was my name, letter format. Most of the lines were crossed out; only half of the letter  was legible. In fact, the whole thing was hard to read, the writing was small and erratic.

“Sorry” the rest of the first line on the paper was aggressively scribbled out, or rather, completely blacked out. “I’m really sorry,” more scribbles. “I didn’t want to leave you home alone” “Something urgent came up at work” “I can’t wait to be with you.”

The whole note felt ominous from the instability to the ragged scribble marks to cover what he had already written. The only legible part of the entire note was the sign off at the bottom:

“Love, Changkyun”

So, this maniac’s name is Changkyun. I don’t know a Changkyun. I can’t wait to be with you, must mean that there is a way in and out of the house. I wonder when he’ll come back, I might just have until the end of the day. Until the end of the day, I have a timeline now. I need to find a way out, and if not that, something to fight with.

This Changkyun guy is obviously wildly unstable. He’s a kidnapper, and therefore extremely dangerous.

Exiting the study, I left the door open and moved on to the next room in the hall. A regular bathroom, with regular soft towels, nothing under the sink but towels and toilet paper. Feeling emboldened after reading the note (and that the owner of the house is gone), I moved through the house relatively fast. The bedrooms upstairs still scared me but after mustering up all my courage and listening through the doors, they were just like any guest bedroom, no clothes in the closets but extra blankets at the foot of the beds. After realizing this, I grew to fear the master bedroom most.

Everything there was unequivocally mine. The dresser was stocked full of my clothes. The bathroom had my makeup on the counter, my hair care products in the cabinets, down to the toothpaste I use. Sure, he could have taken these things from my apartment, but everything was brand new. Even the nightstands, one contained a new shiny copy of my favorite book (the other sat empty).

I concluded that there really was no one else in the house. No other hostages and no other hostage-takers. Everything about the house was relatively normal, of course besides the fact that I was there. In all, there were two doors locked in the house besides the front door. One was in the downstairs hallway. It had a sticky note on it that read “Cleaning supplies DON’T TOUCH.” The other led to the garage, if the note saying “Garage, NO ENTRY” was credible.

The door to the garage was accessible through the kitchen, which was beautiful. It had large granite countertops with an island facing the backyard. There were two stoves, a walk-in pantry, an extensive liquor cabinet, and a fridge which held enough food to feed two families. It bled into the living room which had a large TV and phenomenal looking stereo system.

The back wall of the house was fully glass, floor to ceiling windows, and a sliding glass door that did not open. And the glass didn’t break, I tried several times. I was still too anxious to eat and I couldn’t bring myself to trust the water enough to drink.

I decided I would hide in one of the bedrooms. Hopefully, I could hide well enough that when this man came back tonight, I could stay hidden all night–or even better, slip out while he was busy looking for me. Tucking myself in the corner of one of the bedroom closets, I waited for Changkyun to arrive. All I could find to defend myself were the kitchen knives, there wasn't so much as a drop of cleaning solution accessible in the house, which I had hoped to spray in Changkyun’s eyes.

It was late when you got home. You had drunk some, and were a bit tipsy as you pulled Changkyun inside. He locks the door and takes off his shoes, and you sling off your jacket. He chuckles and helps you out of your heels, kissing your legs as he does, hiding his smirk.

“‘Kyun~” you whine, grabbing his shirt and pulling him up.

“Yes, love?” he asks, grinning at you as you unbutton his shirt.

You needily whine, taking his hand between your thighs and up your skirt. You guide his warm hand to your throbbing core.

“I knew you didn’t wear panties,” he chuckles, leaning in and pressing you against the wall as he kisses you, teasingly touching your folds.

“P-please don’t tease,” you beg softly against his lips, needy just for him. “Want your fingers in me,” you murmur shyly, blushing.

He groans softly against your lips, letting his fingers massage your folds. “You’re so wet baby,” he murmurs against your lips, rubbing your clit.

“Been thinking about you all day,” you bashfully admit.

“I can tell,” he lowly chuckles, inserting a finger into your slick heat. You moan softly, clinging to his shirt as he moves his finger, massaging your spot.

“Changkyun, ‘Kyun please,” you moan into his shirt, a wicked grin on his face as he watches you nearing your high from just his fingers.

“Hmm, you're such a needy girl for me, hmm, love?” he coos, kissing your head.

“Yes, need it, so needy for you,” you nearly incoherently mutter.

He adds another finger, speeding up his thrusts as he grinds his palm into your clit.

“Oh god! ‘Kyun~” you cry out, a knot quickly forming and threatening to spill over.

“That’s my girl, good girl,” he coos, not slowing down.

You whine, your eyes screwed shut as you concentrate on your pleasure, sobbing into his shirt.

“Are you close?” Changkyun asks, his voice teasing.

“Y-y-yes,” you cry out. “Please, please can I cum?” you beg desperately.

“Should I let you?” he muses, raising an eyebrow as he looks down at you. He slows his fingers down and lifts your chin, loving how fucked out you looked from just his hand.

“Please?” you weakly beg, pouting cutely.

“Hmm,” he murmurs, pretending to think about it as he speeds his fingers’ thrusts back up. “Alright baby, go ahead and cum,” he decides.

“Thank you!” you cry out, clinging to him tightly as you cum, gushing around his hand.

“Good girl,” he praises, his voice deep as he brushes your hair out of your face. He kisses your temple and removes his hand, gently calming you back down before offering you his fingers that were just inside you. You obediently suck on them and he groans, using his free hand to undo his pants.