Stray Kids X Reader - Blog Posts

(this is for the 61.5% of the 52 voters who favored in have a graphic designers for the visuals for their stories! ♡︎)

I’m a graphic designer who is willing to bring together your ideas in order to enhance your stories! (With the additional perk of reduced work duration)

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞:

⇝ 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬

⇝ 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬

⇝ 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐮

⇝ 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬

𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐒:

—————————ミ★ ————————

If interested please feel free to message me on tumblr @0rangesuga or Instagram @ vital.tae

Thanks so much for voting on my poll 🫶

I'm here to find a fic again=))

It was a ot8 x reader fic. Reader was in need of money so she part took in a reality show about dating name red lights. She was the main character of the show, the other participants was ot8 and they all knew her.

Please drop me the link should you come across it!!!

Draft

This one is a draft I have been working on. Include a lot of thoughts and procrastination. Not finished, of course.

For my tulips

She would be there too, just so you know

You. His fiancée. 

His cousin's words played again in his mind when his assistant reminded him of a charity ball that required his attendant tonight. Of course you would be at the charity ball, playing your part of a good-mannered, elegant conglomerate's daughter, and keeping the reputation of your family. 

He couldn’t help but scoff when the thought of you crossed his mind. And then he wonders, why did he hold grudge against you despite the fact that you guys rarely crossed paths, and that you actually haven't done or said something bad about him? Maybe it's how you always be obedient, never question your parents' or your brother's words. Maybe it's how you effortlessly navigated high society despite your quiet nature (or so he heard). Or maybe it's how you didn't say much but managed to get everyone enamoured by your presence, how you didn't miss the fun while managed to ace your study and even graduated early. 

How you're so perfect. 

And he hates that you fit so well in the elite society when he can't find himself liking anything related to it and really fit in. 

And that-

"Are you going to sit here and brood all day, dear brother?"

His sister's voice broke the silence, disrupting his trail of thoughts. 

He sighed, standing up to face her, an annoyed expression pains his face. Although he really loved his sister and could do many things for her, she's too much sometimes.

"Didn't my assistant tell you that I don't want to be bothered?" he said, pinching the bridge of his nose to ease the ache that was threatening to break his head.

"Yes, he did. But I don't care." she made a beeline to his desk and quickly grabbed his phone while trying to drag him toward the door.

"What do you want now?" 

"Y/N and her brother will come tonight! And you have to make a good impression. No, perfect impression. And I'm making sure of it" she chirps in excitement. 

"Don't you have an appointment with your stylist?" he calmly replied 

"Oh. Yeah, I have to go now, but I already picked out your outfit. You have to wear it!"

And with that, his sister hastily made her way out of his office after handing him his phone back. The echo of her telling his assistant where she puts his attire for tonight's ball.

He looked down to his watch and stepped back to his desk, intending to bury himself in piles of documents so that he would no longer think about this.

_

_

You were lying on a cozy spa bed with the fragrant herbal face mask applied on your skin, listening to your childhood friend rambling about her plans for your vacation.

“So you will spend the summer home and then go back to England?” she wondered, looking at her freshly manicured hand.

“That’s the plan. But it depends on how things turn out here” you muttered. Your mind went back to what your brother had previously said. 

You would spend your summer here at home to unwind, and to learn more about your fiance. If you still not interested in him, then you could break your engagement, and you were free to go back to England to pursue your academic goals, or wherever you want to go.

“He really told you that? And you agreed?” your friend cocked her eyebrows

“I don’t see any problem with that. Besides,how much feeling I can develop for a person in the matter of a few months? This isn’t movies”

“You don’t know that. Chris is very charismatic” your friend leaned toward you, a teasing grin on her face.

Christopher Bang. Your fiance. 

The engagement was made even before your birth with the friendship of your families and promises of stocks and investments. And despite being engaged to each other, you haven’t met many times. The only time you remembered meeting him was at your parents’ anniversary when you guys were introduced to each other, barely holding conversation but exchanging pleasantries.

But oddly enough, you remembered his appearance. His face with a touch of boyishness and youth of one at the ripe age of 20. He was wearing a three piece suit in deep navy blue with matching tie and sapphire cufflinks. His expression distant and cold, made you wonder if he hated you or it was just general annoyance to people.

My name is Christopher

You wondered what he’s like now.

“Looking good?” your friend spoke up, showing you her nails, now all adorned with little bows and gems

“Anyway, the auction tonight has that painting you like. But I guess it’ll be difficult for you to obtain it. But why do you want it anyways?” she said, leaning on the armrest of the divan, seemingly bored

“Birthday present for Hyunjin” you stretched out your arms, stood up from the spa bed

“Come come, or we’ll be late”

The manager came greeting the two of you with the scent of cedarwood. You lifted your hand to your nose as the too pungent scent hit your senses. She offered gifts and compliments you two with a rigid customer service smile, obviously wanting to secure new potential patrons.

For my tulips 

This is my first ever fanfic, read with kindness please!!!

Warning: reader gets assaulted (Hyunjin saved her!), bad writing, almost no proofread

Fluff, slight angst

English is not my first language!

Hyunjin x fem!reader

Summary: You were an ordinary, quiet girl. One day when you met him, you considered changing parts of yourself that you always thought would be the same. But then when he didn’t reciprocate your feelings, you started to wonder was it worth it to change the big part of you for a boy?

This is the first part of the story, mainly about reader's encounters with Hyunjin.

Please enjoy!

__

You were just an ordinary girl, you were reserved, never a fan of crowded places. You liked reading and writing, you had a small, close-knitted social circle. You were not particularly beautiful nor stood out among the crowd, and you didn't have any special talents. You were just an average quiet girl.

That’s why your friends found it strange when you applied for the music club at your uni. But they were right, you’d never found the need to join a club, let alone a popular one.

You had a purpose then, however. 

See, you were very close to your friends. You guys told one another everything, from gossip to study problems. But you had kept a secret from them. Though you didn’t fathom why you did that, you reckoned that it remained one of a wise choice you made since as much as you loved your besties, their teasing could be too much sometimes. 

That’s why no one in your friend group knew that you harboured a crush for Hyunjin, the popular guy at your uni.

It was an evening in winter, you were on your way back to your apartment after retrieving the notebook that you left at the library. You stopped midway to clean your glasses, having become foggy because of your breath. 

“Hey, cutie, what’s ya doing this late at night?” 

A foreign voice started you. You tried to ignore the guy and continue to walk, then a strong force pulled you back.

Strong smell of alcohol invaded your senses, making you scrunch your nose. He snatched the glasses from you, wanting to have your attention.

“Give it back, and leave me alone!” 

You tried desperately to take back your glasses, at this point, you didn’t even know whether your vision got blurry because of the lack of your glasses or for the panic tears you never noticed you’d shed.

“Hey, hey, don’t be feisty, I will give it back to you after we have fun, cutie”

His raspy voice gave you goosebumps, you yelled at him, still reached for your glasses. After tried and failed to catch your hands, he angrily spat at you:

“What are you trying for? You're lucky I even laid eyes on you, bitch!”

You flinched when he grabbed your hand, breaths shaky as the man raised his hands, ready to hit you.

You closed your eyes, waiting for the hot pain that would come when the man hit you. However, it never happened, just his pained shriek filled the air. You quickly open yours eyes when he was yanked out and fell to the ground, a tall figure came shield in front of you:

“Leave her alone, you motherfucker!” he kicked the drunk man hard several times while keeping you behind from all the violent scenes.

“You just wait!” the foul man yelled back as he staggered and ran.

Some moments passed, the tall stranger led you to a bench nearby, you tried to catch your breath as he draped his jacket over you. 

“Are you ok?” he asked softly, tone laced with concern, completely a different person to the angered one not 5 minutes ago.

“I… I don’t think so, no” you panted, wiping the remaining tears away.

You didn’t know your bag was dropped until he collected it for you along with your now broken glasses.

“I’m so sorry that it’s broken” he murmured

“Please don’t, it wasn’t your fault” you whispered, voice and hands still shaky 

“Do you have anyone to call? Or I can walk you home, I promise I will not do harm your way” he raised his hands, seem ready to swear to god as he spoke

“I will call my friend, thank you” you muttered, then took out your phone and quickly dialled your friend. Her voice sped up, tone consumed with concern. You assured her you were ok and told her your location so that she came to pick you up.

The stranger started to talk to you, looked like he wanted to calm you as you waited for your friend. You couldn’t see his face due to the blinding lights from the streetlamp behind. His gentle voice really soothed your nerves. He talked again after some silent moments:

“You really shouldn’t go out late like this”

“I know, I just want to get my thing, I don’t–”

“Y/N! My god! Are you ok? I should have come with you!” your friend - Jane -  talked between breaths while she grabbed your hands and spun you around, wanting to make sure that you were indeed no harm.

Jane pulled you into a tight hug, still mumbling questions about your wellbeing, you softly patted her back, consoling words spoken to pacify you both.

The rest of the night came as a blur as you two and the stranger parted ways and you fell asleep with assuring words of dear Jane. And the warmth of the denim jacket that he gave you enveloped a strange sense of safety.

Following that incident, Jane never let you go out alone after the skies went dark. You were grateful for that but really didn’t want to bother her too much, it’s good now that you guys had come to terms with your schedule.

_

The next time you saw him was during psychology class. The memories of the tall stranger that came saving you hadn’t faded. You still reminisced about his gentle voice, how his tone softened with you. 

“Hey, is this seat taken?” 

You drifted out from your thoughts as you felt feather light touch on your shoulder.

“I’m Hyunjin, can I sit here?” he smiles softly while gesturing to the seat beside you. He was wearing a simple white shirt with a dark checked jacket and washed jeans, his dark hair held back with a tie.

“Oh, um, yes, you can sit here” you slightly panicked but still let him take the empty seat, didn’t want to be rude

You two proceeded to listen as the professor entered the room. You no longer paid attention to the boy as you fully concentrated on the lecture, this class took up a big portion in your grade, you really didn’t want to fail.

“Eh, can I borrow a pen? If you have a spare one of course” 

He slightly leaned toward you, his breaths tickled your side. You gulped as you gave him a new pen, the boy muttered a quick thank you and went back to taking notes. He smelled like pomegranate and white musk, you knew these scents from somewhere. And realisation dawned on you when he answered the professor’s question.

It’s him.

Your saviour from that night.

He probably didn’t recognize you. You slightly angled your face to catch his sight. He was so beautiful with full lips and chiselled jaw, his brows slightly furrowed as he spoke, making you want to smoothen them. Dark curls fell to his face, gently touched his cheekbones.

You didn’t remember the rest of the lecture as you were lost in thoughts. 

You looked at him again when the lecture was over. He was chatting excitedly with his friends, arm casually swung on their shoulder as they talked about their whereabouts (you thought so). He seemed near but so far away at the same time. A feeling that you had yet able to put a name on bloomed in your chest.

And you started to wonder, how can you get close to him?

Hello!!!

Hi, I'm Limone

I write for Stray Kids.

Ther will be fluff, angst, smau, smut, drabbles, headcanons...

Please send me request! I'm so excited to write for my boys!

Stray Kids everywhere all around the world!!!

YOUR (NOT SO) FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SUPERHERO | hwang hyunjin x fem ! reader

cursing & smut & fluff & slight angst & rivals au & university au & hyunjin as spider-man au & fuck buddies au & mentions of food & mentions of death & slight mentions of blood & more under the cut !! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

hyunjin had been your academic rival for as long as you could remember, even before university. in your opinion, he was the biggest asshole you'd ever met. what you didn't know was that hyunjin had a teeny tiny little secret. he was spider-man.

WARNINGS | vaginal penetration (p in v), fingering (f receiving), protected sex & unprotected sex (discussed beforehand, but wrap it before you tap it), degradation (reader receiving), praise (reader & hyune receiving), lots of pet names (good girl, might be a princess in there, baby, sweetheart, etc.), hyunjin is a little bit of a dick but he redeems himself, reader wears hyunjin's shirt, small fight scene but not too graphic, hyunjin & reader argue a lot, hyunjin & reader are both a little mean to each other, bff yeji who knocks sense into reader, guy in the chair jisung, hyunjin & reader are a little stupid about their feelings but its okay, let me know if i missed anything important !!

WORDS | 25k ( approx. 1hr & 24min read)

enjoy my loves ‹3 please reblog and leave some feedback if you read through to the end ‹3

You didn’t like to say you “hated” people, but when it came to Hwang Hyunjin, it took every ounce of your strength not to say you did. He was cocky, arrogant, and he was smart. That was probably what you disliked most about him. It didn’t seem fair that someone as unbearably smug, overconfident, and conceited as him was also an academic genius. He was on the same level of arrogance as the jocks who had roamed the halls of your high school, but he, unfortunately, wasn’t as airheaded as they were. If he was, you may have been able to feel sorry for him. Instead, you had to face his annoying comments and unfair intelligence. 

“What’d you get on your physics exam, yn?” Hyunjin asked, leaning back in his seat to try and peek at your paper. 

You smirked at him in return, knowing full well he hadn’t studied for this particular exam (you’d overheard him talking about it with his friend, Han Jisung, before class the day of the exam). You felt confident you’d gotten a better score on the exam than he did, so you grinned as you displayed your exam. When you showed the paper to him, a big “95%” stared back at him. 

But your feeling of triumph didn’t last long. The smirk fell from your lips as he showed his paper to you. 97%. Your jaw dropped in disbelief. “How the fuck?” 

“I’m just that smart,” Hyunjin laughed, pulling his paper away and tucking it into his bag. “I’ve been doing physics since I was a kid, though, so don’t feel bad. There’s no way you could score better than me.” 

“You didn’t even study!” 

Needless to say, you were fuming. It wasn’t fair how effortlessly subjects like math and science and physics came to him. It came easier to you than it did to some others, but it was still hard work. It irritated you to no end that he didn’t have to work nearly as hard as you did. 

He shrugged, annoying smirk still plastered on his face. He leaned back in his seat again, hands behind his head as he kept his eyes fixed on you. “Guess I just don’t need to.” 

You rolled your eyes, lips closed tightly and jaw clenched. If you opened your mouth, you were certain you’d say something you would regret—something truly nasty. Thankfully, you were saved from a bout of bickering with Hyunjin by your professor beginning the lesson for the day. 

You tried not to let Hyunjin get to you. It wouldn’t help anything; it would only make you more bitter. You also tried to pay attention to what your professor was teaching, but your mind only drifted back to the cocksure man seated in front of you, hardly even glancing at the front of the classroom. Hyunjin seemed to know exactly how to push your buttons—how to make you feel most insecure and most angry. 

You hardly registered class ending, hardly registered yourself packing up your bag and hurrying out of the classroom. You didn’t notice Hyunjin watching you leave, didn’t notice the way his eyes softened with concern for a split second as you stormed past him. 

Truthfully, he’d never meant for your little rivalry to get so out of hand. Sure, he was the one always picking on you and he was the one who’d started the battle of wits and academic achievement in the first place. But he hadn’t ever meant to turn into someone you genuinely hated. And as time went on, he found himself growing tired of your petty arguments. You did get on his last nerve, but he wasn’t trying to be a bad guy. 

He sighed as he packed up his own things, drained from his interaction with you. He looked up as Jisung walked over to him but didn’t greet him, so Jisung crossed his arms, “Are you finally feeling guilty about the stupid rivalry you started with yn?” 

“As if,” Hyunjin scoffed, glaring at the, now empty, doorway you’d disappeared through. “I mean, yeah, I feel like an asshole. But it’s like… I can’t stop. Her existence grates on my nerves.” 

“What did she even do anyways? You’ve been competing with her in academics since high school.” 

“I don’t really… remember, I guess. But, she’s always trying to “one up” me and I hate that.” Hyunjin sighed, following Jisung out of the classroom. 

Your voice pulled Hyunjin out of his thoughts and he turned to see you leaning against the wall, talking to your friends while you showed them something on your phone. He stopped walking, trying to hear what you were saying. He didn’t even know why he was so concerned with what you were talking about, but maybe it would be something he could use to tease you with later. 

“...and after watching this video eight times in a row, I think it’s safe to say that I’m a little obsessed with Spider-Man.”

Your friend, Chaeryoung, snorted and pushed your phone back at you. “Yn, you’ve been obsessed with Spider-Man since he saved your dog from getting hit by that car our junior year of high school.”

“Yeah,” Yeji patted you on the shoulder, shooting you a knowing smile, “and you’re literally the president of an online Spider-Man fanclub.” 

You whined, pouting dramatically as you slipped your phone back into your pocket. “Guys, just let me pretend this is my breaking point.” 

Hyunjin couldn’t help the smirk that played across his lips, his good mood restored. Without even knowing it, you were gushing over him.

“Dude, let’s go. We’re going to be late to biochem,” Jisung tugged on Hyunjin’s arm, pulling him in the direction of their biochem class. 

Hyunjin and Jisung walked past you and your friends and he ignored the harsh glare you shot him, willing himself not to glance in your direction. He figured you wouldn’t appreciate the smirk that still tugged at the corners of his mouth and he didn’t want to strike up another argument while he was on his way to class. 

“I cannot stand Hwang Hyunjin,” you all but growled as he stalked past you and your friends. You were still hurt and upset about your earlier encounter with him. 

Yeji rolled her eyes at him as he walked past and crossed her arms. “He’s an asshole. I’m sorry he’s such a cocky son of a bitch to you.” 

“It’s not your fault,” you huffed, looking away from him and focusing on the girls in front of you. “I shouldn’t be so bothered by it. After all, we’re adults. But still… I can’t help but feel bothered every time he talks about his fucking grades and how smart he is.”

“Valid, honestly. He’s a huge prick to you. I don’t get why he has to act like a fucking child,” Chaeryoung hissed, watching as Hyunjin disappeared around a corner.

You shrugged and pushed yourself away from the wall, shouldering your bag and walking toward the exit of the building. “Let’s just stop talking about him. Do you guys want to come to the cafe with me? I have some homework I need to do and I need to start studying for this next exam.” 

“Sure, I’ll tell Ryujin, Lia, and Yuna to meet us there.” Chaeryoung pulled out her own phone, sending a message to the group chat you had with your five friends.

As you walked to the cafe, you were vaguely aware of Yeji and Chaeryoung bickering over something (probably irrelevant). You just couldn’t stop your mind from wandering back to Hyunjin. It was honestly such a shame that he was such a dick—it ruined his beautiful face. It was upsetting that such a pretty face was stuck on someone with such a terrible attitude. 

By the time you arrived at the cafe, Ryujin, Lia, and Yuna were already there, waiting at a large corner booth for you, Yeji, and Chaeryoung. You all ordered your drinks and once you’d all received your orders, you settled in, catching each other up on the things that had happened while you were apart. You spoke last, explaining what had happened between you and Hyunjin only an hour before.

“What a jerk!” Lia gasped, taking an angry sip of her drink. 

Ryujin nodded in agreement, “I know I’ve said it before, but, seriously, just ignore him. He keeps picking at you because you give him a reaction—attention. Ignoring him seems like the best option.” 

While part of you agreed with this, the other part of you wanted to be petty and wanted to keep reacting. And you knew deep down that there was no way you would stop your rivalry against him until you were better than he was. Getting a better score on the next physics exam was a necessity. Losing to Hyunjin was simply not an option for you at this point. 

“But,” Yeji interjected, giving Ryujin a look, “we know you won’t go down without a fight when it comes to Hyunjin. So we’ll help you study for your physics exam and help you ace it. That’ll show him, yeah?” 

You smiled back at her, grateful that she knew you well enough to know there was no stopping you once you had made up your mind. “Thanks guys. It really does mean a lot to me. I know you probably think this rivalry with Hyunjin is stupid and it is. But we’re so far in, I can’t just… stop.” 

Yuna placed a comforting hand on your shoulder while Yeji nodded in understanding. Ryujin offered you a knowing smile and Lia squeezed your hand from across the table while Chaeryoung grinned playfully. You were grateful for your friends, grateful that they were so supportive of you, even when you were acting petty or doing something stupid. 

A loud noise outside pulled you out of your thoughts and you turned to see what was happening. Your eyes widened when you saw Spider-Man out in the street, in the middle of fighting a villain you’d never seen before. Your friends were quick to react, pulling on your arms and trying to get you to move so you could all go somewhere safer.

“Yn, let’s go,” Yeji yelled, lifting you out of your seat by your arm and pulling you towards the exit of the cafe. 

You finally snapped out of your daze and followed them, trying to avoid objects that flew through the air, colliding into buildings. Large pieces of a crumbling building crashed down around you, separating you from your friends and trapping you against the wall of a building that was still standing. You could hear Ryujin yelling for you, but you couldn’t tell what she was saying over the ringing in your ears. “Go on without me! I’ll be okay!” 

But truthfully, you were terrified. If more debris fell, you had nowhere to take cover or protect yourself. You couldn’t even be sure that Spider-Man would save you—there were bound to be other people who needed help on the streets and what if he couldn’t see you and, thus, didn’t know you needed to be saved?

You looked up over your head when you heard a loud rumbling, a sound you knew meant more of the building was crashing down. You crouched down, your hands clamped tightly over your head. Realistically, you knew this wouldn’t do anything to deter the falling debris, but it made you feel a little less scared. You waited for the weight you would undoubtedly feel when concrete slammed down onto you, but it never came. You peeked up nervously, shocked to see the debris caught in a web mere inches over your head. 

An arm clad in red and blue reached down, wrapping around you and pulling you out of the rubble you were trapped in. You clung to the hero as he swung you up above the stable buildings and left you on a random rooftop, making sure your legs were steady before he let go of you. “That was a close one, yeah? Good thing I made it just in time. Are you okay?” 

You wanted to say so many things—thank him, tell him how much you adored him—but words eluded you as you stared at him, wide-eyed and shocked. So all you could muster was a slow, shaky nod of your head. You could see the way he relaxed at that and your eyes were glued to his shoulders which he rolled back as if to release pent-up pressure. 

“Good. I should go.” He grinned at you as he saluted playfully. You couldn’t see the smile, but you could hear it in his voice. You smiled back a little as he ran to the edge of the building, “That thug isn’t going to stop himself. I think he might have some self control issues.” 

You couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped you as Spider-Man leapt off the roof—the joke wasn’t even funny, you were just grateful to be alive. You watched him swinging back to the villain who was still wreaking havoc in the city’s center. You stood, shocked, for a moment longer before you pulled your phone out of your pocket (it was, thankfully, completely intact) to call your friends. 

“Yn, where are you? Are you okay?” Yeji’s worried voice spoke before you even had a chance to tell her you were okay. You could hear the commotion of the other four girls talking over one another in the background, trying to figure out if you were alright. 

“I’m fine!” There was a brief moment of quiet, allowing you to finally speak. “I’m okay. Spider-Man saved me. I… I’m not sure where I’m at, but I’m on a random roof. I’m going to get down using the fire escape and then I’ll let you know where I’m at once I can find a street sign.” 

The five girls all started talking at once again and you couldn’t help but smile. Despite your near death experience, you weren’t scared or shaky. You were just relieved. Relieved to be alive and be able to talk to your friends again. You stayed on the phone with them as you climbed down the many, many flights of rickety fire escape stairs. When you made it to the ground, you found a street sign and told them where you were. Luckily, they weren’t too far off and you met them halfway. 

“Oh, thank God, you’re safe,” Yuna breathed as she hugged you tightly. 

Lia was next, wrapping you in a hug that was even tighter than Yuna’s. “We were so worried. I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

Each of the girls took turns hugging you and murmuring words of relief and happiness that you were safe. Until Ryujin. She hugged you briefly and then pulled away smirking like she’d just won the lottery. “So, tell us about Spider-Man.” 

Hyunjin slipped through the bedroom window of his tiny apartment, stumbling into his desk before eventually collapsing on his bed. He breathed out deeply, trying to ignore the pain in his entire body. His ribs ached and he thought that they may be broken. If not for his enhanced healing factor, he would be concerned, but this wasn’t his first rodeo and he was no stranger to cracked ribs and body aches. 

“Hyunjin? Is that you?” Jisung’s voice rang throughout Hyunjin’s small studio apartment and he shot up quickly, wincing at the sting. Shit. He’d forgotten that Jisung was coming over after class. “I made it here just before that monster started rampaging in the city center but I wasn’t sure when you’d be ba—” 

Hyunjin was standing in the middle of his bedroom, a panicked look on his face and the top half of his Spider-Man suit hanging around his waist. Shit shit shit. Jisung’s eyes traveled from his bruised torso to the Spider-Man suit that was still clinging to his legs and then back to his face. 

“What the fuck!” 

“Jisung, be quiet,” Hyunjin hissed, quick to slap a hand over his best friend’s gaping mouth, “I have neighbors.” 

When Hyunjin took his hand away, Jisung spluttered, eyes wide as he tried to wrap his mind around this new information. “B-but you’re Spid—” 

“Jisung, shut the fuck up—” Hyunjin winced as he interrupted Jisung. Raising his voice took more air and more air meant bigger breaths and bigger breaths felt like a thousand shards of glass in his lungs as they pressed against his ribcage. 

Jisung blinked, quickly pulling himself out of his stupor as he noticed the pain his friend was in. “You’re hurt.”

“I’ll be fine.” He shook his head, waving off Jisung’s concern as he struggled out of the rest of his suit and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt instead. He laid on his bed once more, closing his eyes as he sighed. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.” 

“Right… Well, uh, I brought that book on quantum physics you asked me to grab from my dad’s personal library. But if you’re not up for it anymore, I can go.”

Hyunjin didn’t open his eyes as he spoke, “No it’s okay. I’ll be fine in a couple hours. You can stay until then. Put on a movie or something. I just need a nap.” 

“Oh, yeah for sure.” Jisung was quiet for a few minutes and Hyunjin assumed he was finding something to entertain himself. But Jisung couldn’t sit still for longer than five minutes, he just had to know— “So, can I be your ‘guy in the chair’?” 

“Sure, as long as you don’t tell anyone.” Hyunjin breathed slowly, halfway asleep already. “Cool… cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.” 

When Hyunjin woke up from his nap, Jisung was closely inspecting the Spider-Man suit under the lamp on Hyunjin’s desk. Hyunjin sat up, groggy and a little sore, but not in nearly as much pain as he had been before he’d slept. “Ji, what are you doing?” 

“Did you make this yourself?” Jisung spun around, face lit up with excitement like a kid on Christmas. “The thread work is insane. And what material did you use? It can’t be regular cloth. Right?”  

Hyunjin shrugged. While a part of him was worried that Jisung knew (not only was Jisung known for his inability to keep a secret, but he was at risk if villains ever found out Hyunjin’s identity), he was also excited he could finally talk about this with someone. “Well, it’s mostly Spandex, but there’s layered fabric woven in. I do most of the needlework by hand which takes awhile, but I make do.” 

“Do you have back ups? What happens if it gets torn during a fight or something?”

“I have one extra, but if they get torn I just patch them up and re-sew them unless they’re ruined beyond repair,” Hyunjin shrugged again, standing up and stretching his sore muscles. 

Jisung watched in awe. “Dude, you were like, struggling to breathe and could hardly stand not even two hours ago. Now you’re fine? Wait, wait, wait. Tell me about all the powers you have.” 

“I’m still a little sore, but my ribs are probably healed by now thanks to my enhanced healing factor. It’s a lot slower than some heroes you’ve probably heard of, but it gets the job done. Other than that, I obviously have that wall-crawling thing, enhanced strength, speed, agility—you know, the works—and my spider-sense.” 

“So when you say enhanced strength… that’s like, how strong a spider would be if it was human sized?” 

“Uh… yeah, I guess.” 

Jisung leaned back in the desk chair and stared at the ceiling, “I am so glad spiders are tiny. I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with a human-sized spider.” 

Hyunjin just shook his head and laughed before he sat down on the floor next to him. Jisung didn’t look at him, still lost in his thoughts. After a long moment of silence, Hyunjin cleared his throat, looking up at his friend, “So, do you have that book?” 

“Oh, right!” Jisung jumped out of his seat and walked over to his backpack, rummaging through it until he pulled out a thick, hardcover book. Quantum Physics. The forbidden fruit. It would give him the edge he needed to ensure that he did better than you on the next physics exam. The lessons you were doing weren’t even about quantum physics, but if he could understand that he was sure to understand everything else. “What do you need this for anyways? We’re not even doing quantum physics in class.” 

“It’ll help me do better than yn. It was close on this past exam, I can’t afford to slip behind.” 

Jisung was quiet for a second, blinking in disbelief, “You do realize it’s not that deep right? Like… it won’t be the end of the world if she does better than you on one test.” 

Hyunjin groaned, laying on the floor and opening the book, beginning to read the contents carefully. “You don’t get it. It’s… more than that, somehow. I feel like I have to prove myself around her. Like, I have to be better.” 

“You sound so stupid.” 

“Whatever,” Hyunjin grumbled, flipping through the pages of the book in front of him and ignoring the questioning look Jisung shot at him. 

The two boys didn’t talk much the rest of the evening. Jisung spent his time inspecting Hyunjin’s suit further, his web shooters, and his equipment. Hyunjin spent his time reading up on quantum physics and making mental notes of things to look into further at the university library the next day. The silence didn’t bother either of them; they’d been friends long enough that it didn’t matter whether they talked for hours or sat in silence. 

“Hey, Jin,” Jisung spoke after a couple hours of entertaining himself. Hyunjin looked up at him before he went back to reading his book, but the split second glance was all Jisung needed to know that Hyunjin was, in fact, listening to him. “Did you make your own web shooters too? And the equipment?” 

“Well, the equipment is a mix of things I’ve bought from… well, I don’t want to call it the black market but—”

“You bought shit off the black market?! Aren’t you supposed to be, like, a hero?” 

Hyunjin clicked his tongue in annoyance, “Oh, shut up. It wasn’t the black market per se. Anyways, the equipment is a mix of that and things that I’ve assembled myself. And I did make the web shooters, although that took a shit ton of time. And so much experimenting. I exploded artificial webbing over my bedroom so many times trying to figure that shit out. Every single time, my mom would come up and knock on the door too and I’d be frantically trying to clean up the mess. But, to this day she still has no idea. And I want to keep it that way.” 

Jisung nodded as if to agree, but confusion was still evident on his face. “Why can’t you tell anyone?”

“Anyone who knows is at a higher risk of getting hurt by any of the villains or thugs I have to deal with. And if not that, you could be traced back to me and not only would my identity be revealed but even more people could get hurt. Which is why I didn’t tell you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of nice that you know now,” Hyunjin smiled at his friend to reassure him, but Jisung didn’t smile back. “It’s less weight on my shoulders. But if anything were to happen to you because of me. I’d never forgive myself.” 

“I guess I… never really thought of that. You’ve had to carry all of this on your own for so long… You have me now, though. And I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Jisung finally looked Hyunjin in the eyes and returned the reassuring smile Hyunjin had offered him. Hyunjin breathed out in relief. 

“You’re not great at keeping secrets—”

“I can keep this one! If I tell, you won’t let me be your ‘guy in the chair’ anymore, so I have an incentive to keep my mouth shut!” 

Hyunjin couldn’t help but laugh at that. The inner workings of Jisung’s brain always had been and always would be a mystery to him, but if being his ‘guy in the chair’ kept Jisung from spilling his biggest secret, he’d let him. It felt nice to have someone to talk to about Spider-Man. It felt nice to not carry the weight alone anymore. Hyunjin was glad that it was Jisung. 

“Guys, come on, nothing really happened, you don’t have to stay the night!” You tried to reason with your friends as they all came into your apartment, overnight bags in tow. After you’d all safely escaped the danger zone, your friends had insisted they grab their things to stay the night with you and Yeji. 

“Yeah, we know that,” Chaeryoung waved you off, setting her things down in your room, “but we want to stay the night.” 

“It’s not a bother, yn, really. It’ll be fun! We haven’t had a sleepover in so long!” Lia pouted, putting her bag down as well. 

You watched as Ryujin and Yuna pulled their skincare products out of their bags and their headbands as well so they could do their nightly routines. They’d always been so meticulous about it, it made you laugh a little. Yeji walked into your room with a tray full of snacks, already dressed in her pajamas. 

“So,” she set the tray on your bed, “tell us everything.” 

You told them everything that had happened from the time you’d been separated from them until you’d been reunited. They were the perfect listeners, watching you with wide eyes as you told them the story, gasping at just the right time and letting out squeals of excitement when Spider-Man entered the story. 

“And now, we’re here and I’m fine.” 

“Is he just as dreamy in real life as he is in the videos?” Lia asked, hearts practically forming in her eyes as she spoke.

“He was…” you paused, trying to find the right words to say. “He was funny, but maybe I only thought that because I was relieved that I was alive. And his voice… is it odd to say that he had an attractive voice? And when he was holding onto me… his arms were so strong.” 

The girls blinked at you, silent for a moment, until Ryujin broke the silence. “Soooo… he was even dreamier in real life?” 

You laughed and nodded, which set the girls into a cacophonous conversation, voices all overlapping. It was chaos, but you didn’t mind. You were still running on adrenaline—the high of being alive. And you were grateful to have friends who cared so much about you. You felt like nothing could ruin your mood ever again. You were just so happy. 

But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Your “high on life” spirit was crushed the second you walked into your physics classroom the next day and saw Hyunjin sitting hunched over his desk, scribbling in a notebook like a madman. You scoffed and hurried past him, taking your seat behind him and pulling your own notebook out. 

“Good morning sunshine.” 

You looked up, scowling at the smirking man in front of you. You didn’t answer him, looking back down at your notebook and labeling the page you were on with the date and the lesson you were supposedly working on. 

“You know, it’s rude to ignore people when they’re talking to you,” Hyunjin all but growled at you. The change in his demeanor made you snap your head up to look at him. There was none of the usual playful mirth in his eyes; they were darker, more mysterious. You ignored the miniscule shiver that made its way down your spine as he fixed his eyes on you. 

“Exactly,” you countered, finally finding your voice, “It’s rude to ignore people. You’re not a person, you’re just an asshole.” 

He didn’t retaliate like he normally would, just scoffed and turned around in his seat going back to writing in his notebook furiously. You peeked around his shoulder a bit, trying to see what book he was so avidly taking notes from. When you saw the title, your face blanched and your heart dropped to your stomach. Quantum Physics? There was no way you could beat his scores if he was proficient in quantum material. 

You scoffed, “Studying up on quantum physics? Finally realize you have to put in extra work to be smarter than me?” 

“Trust me, I don’t have to put in extra work for it. Your last test grade is proof of that.” 

You felt like you could cry. It wasn’t even that deep, it was just true, but all of the pent up emotions you’d had towards Hyunjin were pushing against the dam, ready to break through. You stood quickly and gathered your things, rubbing at your eyes and forcing the tears away. Hyunjin watched as you hurried out of the room, suddenly feeling bad. Were you crying because of him? 

He did feel bad he’d made you cry, but he was also being selfish and only thinking of himself. He’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed. He was still sore from the day before, he’d been horny as fuck all day but hadn’t had any time to get off, Jisung had been extra talkative and he had to keep reminding him not to talk about Spider-Man when they were around people, and all the quantum physics readings he’d been doing were turning his brain to mush. He needed to let off some steam but he wouldn’t even have time after class because he’d promised himself he’d patrol the streets for a couple hours before going home. 

He dropped his head on the desk, feeling like more of an asshole than usual. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Jisung standing over him, looking at him sympathetically. “You’ve been really snappy today. Maybe you should take a breather. It won’t kill you to skip one class.” 

“I can’t,” Hyunjin shook his head. The thought of skipping a class and missing something important gave him anxiety, “I just can’t.” 

“I know you feel like you can’t, but trust me, just this once, you can. You should. Go to the gym, take a nap, hell, go jack off somewhere but for the love of God, get out of here.” 

Hyunjin swallowed thickly. The thought of getting himself off was too tempting right now. He’d been feeling hot and bothered all day and just thinking about touching himself made his dick twitch. So he nodded and stood, gathering his things, hardly registering Jisung’s voice reassuring him that he’d cover for him. 

As Hyunjin was leaving the building, he passed the library and paused. He looked at the doors of the library, contemplating whether or not he should go inside. He eventually decided that he would grab the reading material he needed and leave after that. If he didn’t get it now, he’d have to come back another time and he didn’t have class in the science building for the rest of the week. 

He made a beeline for the physics section of the library, searching through various books on quantum physics for the ones he wanted—the ones that would delve deeper into the theories he was most interested in and thought to be most helpful. He had a book in his hand that he was interested in but when he turned to look at the other shelf he ran into a person who was turning to look at the shelf he was on. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention—” 

He looked down where you were busy collecting your books from the floor and his jaw dropped and then clenched as his gaze hardened. You looked up at him at the same time and when you realized who it was you glared at him. 

“God, it’s like you’re trying to make my life absolutely miserable,” you hissed as you stood, stack of books in your arms and your book bag hanging on your shoulder. “Stay away from me!” 

“You make it sound like I was following you. I see you enough in class, there’s no way in hell I’d try to find you outside of it. You stay away from me.”

Neither of you said anything for a long moment, you just glared at each other in the middle of the physics aisle of the library, several books about quantum physics in your hands. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. You were suddenly very aware of how heavily he was breathing and the way your own chest rose and fell quickly. 

Your mind drifted between anger and arousal as you stared at him. You’d never really taken the time to look at him before. Never noticed how attractive he was. Sure, you’d known he was pretty, but standing inches away from you, eyes dark with anger, jaw clenched and dyed blonde hair tousled from running his fingers through it, you couldn’t ignore that he was hot as fuck. But you’d never let him win. Not without a fight at the very least. 

“Get out of my way.” His voice was low as he spoke, words spoken almost carefully, yet laced with venom. 

“No.”

His eyes narrowed and he scoffed. “Move.” 

“Make me.”

There was something new in his eyes now, something different than anger. He grabbed your wrist, dragging you out of the aisle behind him. He checked out his book and waited for you to get yours sorted out and then he continued to drag you out of the library. You didn’t know where he was taking you, and you knew you should be struggling or asking him to leave you alone. But you were curious to see what he was going to do and he just looked so hot—you felt dazed. 

“Where are we going?” 

“You want to act like a brat? Then I’m going to treat you like one.” His gaze softened ever so slightly as he looked back at you. “I-I mean, if you want to come with me. Fuck, what am I doing.” He let go of your wrist and took a stumbling step back, worry taking over his features. 

You reached back out for him. “I want to come. A-are we going to your place?” 

“Yeah,” his voice was soft now and he looked down where you were holding his hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so angry—”

“I thought it was hot,” you shrugged, smirking at him. He looked away, but you could still see the blush that had formed across his cheeks.

You didn’t say anything else the rest of the walk and he didn’t either. He didn’t let go of your hand, but you didn’t protest. You liked the feeling of his hand in yours. He looked calmer now, but you could still see traces of the anger in his eyes. 

The walk to his apartment was relatively short, but that was mostly thanks to the fact that he had long legs and had been walking quickly, leaving you to jog slightly to keep up with him. When you got to his apartment, you barely had time to look around before he was telling you to set your stuff down and follow him. 

You stepped out of your shoes, draped your coat over the back of the couch, and left your bag and library books on the kitchen counter. He had already disappeared to another part of the small apartment, but it wasn’t hard to find him—after all, it was only a one bedroom apartment. You took a deep breath before you walked into his room. The deep breath, in hindsight, was a great idea because the second you crossed the threshold you were pushed against the wall, pinned there by Hyunjin whose eyes were now as dark and heavy as before. 

“You make me so infuriated.” Hyunjin’s breath was hot against your neck as he leaned in, forehead resting against your shoulder as he spoke. “I really can’t stand you.” 

You were having a hard time focusing with him this close to you. You felt like you couldn’t breathe. “I can’t stand you.”

He scoffed and pressed a brief kiss to your neck and you stiffened, not wanting him to notice the shiver that snaked down your spine at the contact. 

“Really? ‘S that why you’re always picking fights?” 

“You’re the one who always starts fights, dipshit. I’m just trying to defend myself.” You breathed in sharply when he nipped at your neck, sucking a dark mark into your skin. 

“Mmm,” he pressed kisses to your jaw, laughing darkly as he spoke again. “You love the attention, though. Otherwise you’d just ignore me. You like that I spend my time paying attention to you and no one else.”

You shook your head, biting your lip to try and suppress the moan that made its way up your throat. “N-no.” 

“No? Hm, then I guess you won’t mind if I send you home now.” 

“W-wait.” You cursed yourself inside your head. You should’ve left. What were you doing? “I… Maybe I do like it… a little bit.” 

What were you saying? You felt like your mouth was speaking faster than your brain could process what you were even saying. Your body was speaking for you and you knew you were acting irrationally. But somehow… you didn’t care. 

“Of course you do. You’ve always been a little obsessed with me, haven’t you?” 

Hyunjin’s hand slid from where it was resting on the wall behind you, moving to hold your hip and then up under your shirt to hold your waist. You shuddered at the feeling of his cold fingers against your bare skin, his blunt nails dragging up your side gave you goosebumps. 

“I—” You whined, unable to think straight and cursing yourself for allowing him to seduce you. “N-no. Not obsessed.” 

“Oh, come on now. You can be honest with me. Stop fucking denying everything,” The teasing tone of his voice made your legs shake. You’d always hated that stupid smirk and his stupid teasing, but in this context it just made you unreasonably wet. 

“I-I just… I can’t back down from a fight.” 

Hyunjin scoffed but didn’t push you anymore. Though he wanted to tease you more, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could wait. “I can’t wait anymore. But I need to be sure that you’re okay with this.”

“You, the biggest dick I’ve ever met, are asking for my consent?” As soon as the words left your mouth, you wished you could take them back. It was basic human decency and though you thought Hyunjin was an arrogant asshole you didn’t really think he was below human decency. You hadn’t meant to accuse him of being someone so terrible.

“Well, I mean, yeah.” Hurt flashed briefly across his face and you felt a twinge of guilt in the pit of your stomach. But it was quickly replaced by the dark, lustful gaze he’d sported up until that point. “Though, I really do hope you say yes.” 

And of course, with how riled up you were at this point, how could you say no to him? So you nodded quickly, moving to pull your shirt over your head, only for him to stop you. You looked at him confused, brows furrowed as you tried to figure out what was going through his mind. 

“I need to hear you say it, pretty.” 

“I…” It took a lot to swallow your pride, especially since you’d tried so hard for so long to come across as an enemy of Hyunjin’s. “I want this, want you. I need you.” 

That was all it took for him to take the hem of your shirt from your hands and tug it over your head, pulling his own off immediately after. His hands were all over you, your hips, your waist, your boobs, as he kissed you fervently, tongue intertwined with yours. He grabbed your throat, pulling away from you. His grip wasn’t tight enough to block off any of your air, but just having his hand wrapped around your throat made you whimper. 

“I want to take my time with you, but I don’t think I can,” Hyunjin groaned against your lips, breath heavy as he pulled away for air. 

“Then don’t,” you gasped, pulling him closer to you, “You don’t have to go slow.” 

He shook his head then, looking you in the eyes with an expression more vulnerable than you’d ever seen him. “But we’ll go back to hating each other after this. So I don’t want to rush it. I want to enjoy you for a little bit before we’re fighting tooth and nail again.” 

Your heart pounded uncomfortably against your ribcage, but you pushed the feeling away. You didn’t answer him, only pulled his lips to yours once more. You didn’t want to think about your rivalry. You had, admittedly, been feeling restless lately, all pent up. Though it was with someone you considered your rival, you were more than a little desperate for relief. 

Hyunjin guided you away from the wall and to his bed where he laid you down surprisingly gently. You watched as he tugged his pants and underwear down his legs, eyes fixed on his hardened dick. He was bigger than you would have thought. Not that you’d ever thought about how big his dick was. At least, not consciously. 

You shimmied out of your own pants and looked up at him, observing the way he jerked himself off a few times, head thrown back, before leaning over you to grab a condom from his bedside table. You pouted, intending on teasing him, “You’re not even going to stretch me out first?” 

He paused, still reaching over you for the condom. He looked a little embarrassed as he sat back on his heels in front of you, condom waiting on the bedside table while you watched him. He laid in between your legs, prying them apart a little so that he could fit comfortably. 

“Sorry,” he murmured, eyes fixed on your dripping cunt. “It’s been awhile since I… I guess I just got a little ahead of myself. Do you just want me to stretch you with my fingers or do you want my mouth too?” 

“Both.” 

He swallowed thickly, but didn’t protest. He leaned in, teasing your entrance with the tip of his tongue before wrapping his lips around your clit, fingers coming to circle your clenching hole. You couldn’t help the moan that squeezed its way out of your throat. Of course he was good at this. You might feel angry about it afterwards—feel ruined for anyone else—but for now you were too lost in how good it felt. 

He pushed two fingers inside of you, scissoring them open to stretch you, little by little. He moaned when he felt how tight you were and you groaned back when you felt it against your clit. When he felt you were ready, he added another finger. You felt so full and yet not full enough. 

You pushed his face away when you felt close to cumming and he looked up at you with wide, concerned eyes. The kind of eyes you couldn’t look at for too long unless you wanted to fall for him. Which you certainly did not want. 

“Are you okay?” 

You nodded and pulled him up to you, kissing him and tasting yourself on his lips. “Mmm, yeah. I just want you inside now.” 

His stupid smirk was back. You didn’t have to tell him twice. He reached for the condom again and ripped it open using his teeth. Your whole body shivered in anticipation. He held himself over you and you took a moment to observe his body. You realized he was more muscular than you’d thought he was. His clothes hid the muscles that you could now see—they hid the abs that tightened and flexed as he rolled the condom onto his cock, hid the muscles of his biceps and forearms that were so visible as he held himself up over you. 

“It might sting a little, but I’ll go slow.” 

His voice pulled you out of your thoughts and you looked away from his body to watch his face as he positioned his dick at your entrance. He wasn’t looking back at you, though, his eyes were focused on watching his dick slide into you. He groaned as he pushed in, inch by inch. 

You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, wanting to ground yourself. It didn’t sting, but the fullness was a feeling like no other. It was overwhelming and everything you’d ever needed all at once. You hated how perfect he felt. Of course he was great at this too. He was just good at everything. And you hated it. 

“M-move,” you gasped after only a moment. He’d bottomed out not even a second before and you were already asking for more. 

“Such a naughty girl, aren’t you? Already asking for more. I’ll give it to you, but only because I need this just as much as you do.”

He pounded into you, finding his rhythm quickly. He watched you closely paying attention to what made you moan louder. He adjusted his position and angle every so often, searching for something that would make you feel as good as he did. He may have been your rival, but he wasn’t cruel. Sex was supposed to feel good for both parties involved. 

“How’s that? Bet you wish you’d been nicer to me now, hm?” He continued to speak, but you could hardly focus on the words coming out of his mouth, too lost in how good he was making you feel. “Maybe if you’d been nice to me we could’ve been doing this regularly instead of bickering over fucking homework.” 

The tip of his dick nudged your sweet spot and you cried out, clinging to his back and whining his name. It stroked his ego and made his smirk widen but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. “Pl-please I’m so, so close. Please, don’t stop.” 

“Fuck, I won’t. I can’t. Cunt’s too perfect. You feel so good. You’d be perfect if you didn’t have such a fucking attitude.” 

“W-well if you weren’t such an arrogant assh—” You couldn’t finish your thought as he slammed into that perfect spot again and again, chasing his own high and hoping to push you over the edge too. 

“Shut the fuck up,” he growled, never slowing down, even as he reached between your bodies to rub at your clit, just perfectly. His stamina was impressive, unlike anyone else you’d ever been with. “I like you better when you don’t say anything other than my name. Say it again for me.” 

You couldn’t resist. You knew it turned him on and it also benefited you. “Hyunjin. God, it feels so good. You feel so good.”

He didn’t speak, he couldn’t, and honestly, neither could you. His stamina surprised you—how was he even able to maintain the pace he’d set for himself? Other guys could never. Not only that, he seemed to be holding himself back from his own climax, like he was waiting for you. And the other guys you’d been with certainly were incapable of that. 

“F-fuck, Hyunjin, I’m cumming,” you finally gasped out, wrapping yourself around him tightly in an attempt to have him as deep inside of you as you could. 

“That’s it,” he murmured lowly, fucking you through your high, “Cum for me. Be a good girl for once in your fucking life and cum.” 

While you came down, you felt him fill the condom inside of you, hips stilling. He lowered himself slowly, avoiding crushing you beneath his weight. You were trying to catch your breath, staring at the ceiling. Beside you, Hyunjin didn’t even sound like he was out of breath at all. 

“How are you not exhausted?” you finally asked, looking over at him to find him already looking at you. 

He shrugged, signature smirk plastered on his lips once again. “I could go all day, babe.” 

You groaned and pushed him off of you, stumbling to your feet. He frowned as he watched you get up. He was quick to stand too, grabbing your hand silently and leading you to the bathroom. While you used the toilet, he grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in warm water. 

“At least let me help clean you up before you go. You don’t want to be all sticky and gross,” he mumbled, wiping the last traces of arousal from your body before tossing the washcloth in the hamper and helping you back to his room so you could put your clothes back on. 

You were already starting to feel sore and you were sure you’d feel it for the rest of the week at least. Fuck him for leaving such an impact on your body. You were right before. He’d definitely ruined you for anyone else. 

“You did what?” Yeji’s jaw was almost on the ground when you told her about your afternoon with Hyunjin. You were sitting at the kitchen counter with your head in your hands, guilt starting to kick in. But you weren’t sure if you were guilty that you had sex with your enemy or guilty that you enjoyed it. 

“I know,” you groaned looking at her. “It was stupid, but I… We both just… needed to let off some steam I guess. It just happened. Fuck, I hate him.” 

“Clearly not as much as you thought you did.” 

Her words made you pause. Because she was right. Clearly, you didn’t hate him as much as you’d thought you did if you were willing to have sex with him. But there was no way in hell you would admit it that easily. “He’s the biggest fucking asshole known to mankind, so why the hell would I ever let his stupid face and stupid smile and stupid laugh and stupid everything consume my brain? It was a one time thing, I swear.” 

Yeji just nodded. “I know, I know. He’s a dick. But you had sex with him. So you can’t deny there’s some sort of attraction.” 

“What am I going to say to the other girls?” You laid your head down on the counter, suddenly feeling stressed. Why did you even care what they thought? It didn’t matter if you were attracted to Hyunjin or not, he was still an ass and nothing he could say or do would change that. 

“You don’t have to explain yourself to them if you don’t feel like it.” 

You’d always appreciated that about Yeji—that she never made you feel like you had to share the parts of yourself you were uncomfortable sharing. She was kind and understanding and would never force you to tell people anything you didn’t want them to know. And she’d never share your secrets either. 

“Anyways,” she turned towards the stove, turning it on so that the pot of water she’d set there previously could come to a boil. “I’m making ramyeon. Do you want some?” 

“Sure.” You watched as Yeji made food and neither of you spoke about Hyunjin again for the rest of the evening. 

“Dude, you what?” Hyunjin cringed as Jisung all but yelled in his ear, looking away in embarrassment at his friend’s confrontation. “I mean, I know I told you to go let off some steam, but I didn’t expect it to be with her.” 

“I-it was an accident. She was being infuriating a-and I’ve been feeling so pent up lately and one thing led to another and—”

“Okay, you can stop there. I don’t want to hear the details of your sex escapade with your so-called enemy.” Jisung held up his hand before taking a large bite of the food in front of him. Hyunjin had invited him over again for the evening so that he could talk to him, maybe get some advice. That was his first mistake, honestly. Jisung wasn’t the best at advice, even if his heart was in the right place. 

“Right. Sorry.” 

“Wait, so, let me ask you one thing. Do you hate yn, or not? Because I can’t see how you’d have sex with someone you genuinely despised.” 

“I do. I-I mean, I thought I did. I don’t know? I-I’m so confused lately…” Hyunjin dropped his head into his hands, head spinning and thoughts dragging him in a million different directions. 

“Maybe you should talk to h—”

“Are you crazy?” Hyunjin looked at Jisung like he’d grown a second head. “She hates me. Even if I don’t hate her, there’s no way I can talk to her about it. She’d probably yell at me and tell me to leave her alone.”

Jisung was quiet for a moment but then he spoke with wisdom Hyunjin didn’t know he even had. “I think she’d be more upset if you ignored her afterwards. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would be okay with being ignored after being so intimate with someone.” 

“I…” 

Hyunjin knew that Jisung was right, but he wasn’t sure if he could face you. How was he supposed to explain himself? Explain what happened? How was he supposed to explain that what was once so clear to him was now blurred and grey? And how was he supposed to accept it if you yelled at him and reminded him of the hatred you held in your heart for him?

“I don’t think I can.” 

Jisung shrugged and sighed. Hyunjin knew he was disappointed. “Suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

You jumped when you heard a small tapping noise against your bedroom window. You’d been studying at your desk, trying to wrap your mind around the quantum physics textbooks you’d borrowed from the library. You looked over at the window, expecting nothing to be there—after all, it was late, maybe you’d just imagined it. But to your surprise, there on the fire escape was Spider-Man. 

You were quick to stand, opening up the window, worried he may be hurt or need help. When you’d forced the window up enough for him to crawl in, you moved back, allowing him to enter your bedroom. You locked your bedroom door in case Yeji tried to come in, for some reason. “What are you doing here?” 

“I was patrolling and I wanted to check in on you. I… uh, I saw you through the window.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, sheepishly. “N-not that I was, you know, watching you. I just… looked over and you were there. I wanted to make sure you were… okay.” 

You smiled as he continued rambling, finding it cute how nervous he was in front of you. A literal superhero? Nervous around you? It was like a dream. “I’m okay.” 

“Cool…” He was quiet for a long moment before he turned back toward the window. “W-well since that’s all I came here for—” 

“Wait! Y-you don’t have to leave yet… if you don’t want to.” 

You surprised yourself. For the second time in one day, words were tumbling out of your mouth faster than your brain could process what you were saying. He seemed surprised that you were offering to let him stay, but his body, once rigid with anxiety, relaxed as he moved toward you. 

Before you really knew what was happening, you were both sitting on the floor as he explained quantum physics to you, making the occasional joke and teasing you when you struggled with concepts. Everything about talking to him was comfortable and somehow… familiar. You couldn’t put your finger on it. 

After over an hour of working on physics, the two of you were sitting in silence. He was looking around at your room, observing what you had tacked to your walls, what books were on your bookshelf, the pictures you had on your desk. You watched him quietly. “Is it… lonely being a superhero? I mean. You can’t really… tell people about it. Is it hard to have to keep such a big part of your life to yourself?” 

“It… was. But I’ve learned to handle it on my own. I’m used to it. Besides, it’s not like I don’t have friends when I’m not Spider-Man.” 

“Right.” You felt suddenly embarrassed—you hadn’t meant to offend him. 

“It’s okay. Spider-Man does take up a lot of time so, even though I have friends, I don’t really see them that often. Honestly, I wonder sometimes if they even consider me a friend anymore.” His words made you sad, but as you were about to say something, he stood walking towards the window. “I should… probably go. It’s late and you should rest.” 

“Yeah. Um, you’re always welcome to… stop by whenever you want. I could use the company. And the help with physics.” 

You could picture a smile stretched across his lips. You could hear it when he spoke. “If I’ve ever got an opening in my calendar, I’ll be sure to drop by.” 

You smiled too and watched as he climbed back out the window, swinging into the night. Even when you couldn’t see him anymore, you stared into the dark night, running through the events of the evening in your head. You closed your window and unlocked your door, peeking out to see if Yeji was still up (she wasn’t). When you finally laid down in your bed, you fell asleep easily, thoughts of the red and blue clad hero running through your mind.

When you woke the next morning you were still feeling giddy over your night spent with Spider-Man. You had a skip in your step as you entered your classroom. Not even Hyunjin could ruin your mood today. You sat down at your seat behind him and prepared your things for class. You briefly noticed the small smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. It seemed he was in a good mood too. 

For a moment, memories of the day before flashed in your mind and you shivered, squeezing your legs together and willing the thoughts to go away. He was quiet for several minutes before he turned around to look at you. For the first time, his eyes held sincerity rather than the usual mischievous glint they usually did. 

“Uh, yn, about yesterday—”

“Let’s just forget about it,” you cut him off, already feeling heat rising to your cheeks as he spoke. “That’s what you were going to say, right?” 

Confusion and defeat flashed in his eyes, but he dismissed it and you pretended you hadn’t noticed it. He swallowed thickly and nodded, offering you a half smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes the way his earlier smile had. “R-right. Forget it.” 

He turned around in his seat again and didn’t bother you the rest of the class period. For a moment, his lack of enthusiasm and the fact that he wasn’t bothering you concerned you. Was something seriously wrong? Maybe you were just overanalyzing it. You should be grateful he was letting you have some peace. Still, it didn’t feel quite right.

“Alright, I’ll be putting you in groups of two or three for our upcoming end of semester project. These groups were randomly generated and are non-negotiable.” Your professor’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. You listened carefully, hoping with everything in you that you didn’t get put in a group with Hyunjin. Unfortunately, it would seem luck was not on your side. “Hyunjin, you’ll be paired up with yn.” 

You knew that your professor was well aware of your rivalry, having had to break up your quarrels in the past, so it surprised you that when you’d been randomly put into a group they had allowed it. You desperately wanted to protest and ask for a different partner, but considering your professor had already mentioned that the groups were non-negotiable, you kept your mouth shut, silently stewing over it.

When class ended, you didn’t pack up as quickly as you normally would, lingering just a little to see if Hyunjin would say anything before you left. You weren’t sure if you wanted him to mention the group project or the night before. But he didn’t mention either, instead opting to ignore you entirely, so you left, hiding outside the door to wait for him to leave. Maybe he’d talk to Jisung about what was wrong. For a moment, you questioned yourself. What were you doing? Why did you want to know what was wrong so badly? He’d only ever been annoying and rude to you, so why did you care if he was sad or not?  

You convinced yourself that you didn’t care, you just wanted something to hold over his head. You heard Jisung’s voice by the doorway, but it seemed as if they’d paused there for a moment, not crossing the threshold of the door. “So she said you should just forget it?” 

“I told you she would,” Hyunjin’s voice responded, sounding snappier than earlier. He sighed and you could imagine him running a hand over his face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m just… on edge, I guess. It’s been a long week.”

“Is it because of the Sp—”

“For fuck’s sake Jisung, you have got to stop bringing that up when we’re in public,” Hyunjin sighed, cutting his friend’s words short. 

“Right, right… But, is it?” 

You could picture Hyunjin nodding in response and you couldn’t help but wonder what it was. “Yeah, it is. But stop talking about that in public, or I swear to God, I will revoke all your privileges.” 

You heard them walk past and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding. You stayed behind the door a little longer to ensure that they were long gone before you revealed yourself. As you walked to your next class, you couldn’t stop thinking about what Hyunjin and Jisung had been talking about. You knew you had no right to eavesdrop, but you couldn’t change what you’d already done, and now your curiosity was killing you. What had Hyunjin so on edge? 

Hyunjin didn’t bother you for the rest of the week. Or the rest of the next. Or the rest of the week after that. He only spoke to you when you had to work on your class project together. It felt strange to you, but you didn’t question it. After all, you’d been complaining for years about how he wouldn’t leave you alone. Wasn’t this everything you’d asked for? Still though, it felt odd when he was civil with you over the project rather than teasing you and driving you to your wit’s end. 

You were seated on the floor of his bedroom, working on the project and feeling increasingly uncomfortable as he rushed to get his work done. You couldn’t help but feel like you were bothering him. Weren’t you supposed to be working on this together? Did he really hate being around you that much?

“What’s the rush? We still have a couple weeks before this is due,” you finally asked, looking over at him intently and trying to read his blank expression. 

“I just want to hurry and get this stupid project over with.” 

You scoffed, looking away again and trying not to show how much his words hurt you. “Yeah, believe me, I want to get this shit done too, but if we hurry it along too much it won’t be done well.”

“Speak for yourself,” he mumbled, typing in the slideshow you’d created for the two of you. “I can finish this in half the time and get a better score than you ever could.” 

“Fine, if you’re so perfect, you finish it!” You stood, wiping away angry tears as you gathered your things. You hated that you were crying. You were just so frustrated with him. You honestly preferred the Hyunjin that relentlessly teased you. He was better than the Hyunjin who snapped at you and stared blankly when you spoke to him. He was cruel now and you hated that.

“Wait, a-are you crying?” 

You glared at him and stormed out of his room, not bothering to answer him. Once you were out of his apartment building and walking down the street you allowed yourself to cry. You wiped at your eyes as you walked, struggling to see in front of you as you cried. 

The next day in class, Hyunjin didn’t speak to you at all except to tell you that he had, in fact, finished the entire project and all you needed to do was memorize your parts so you could present well. You just nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in your throat. You refused to let him see you cry again. He wasn’t worth it. 

The next couple weeks passed quickly and you memorized your part of the presentation perfectly. When you and Hyunjin presented, you earned a perfect score and it was back to never speaking a word to one another. Weeks turned into months and Hyunjin continued to ignore you as you did the same to him. 

Though your mind was occasionally distracted by thinking about how Hyunjin had ignored you for almost two months now, you didn’t think about it too often, you had convinced yourself you simply didn’t care. Instead, you thought about the hero clad in red and blue who you had, recently, spent many evenings with. It wasn’t every day that he came knocking on your window, but several nights a week, he came by, offering to help you with your physics homework and keep you company. He had become someone you confided in and a shoulder you cried on when Hyunjin was being particularly insufferable.

It was one of those nights, but unfortunately, instead of devoting your attention to the hero in your bedroom, your mind was far, far away, thinking of Hyunjin who hadn’t said a single word to you in two months, hadn’t looked in your general direction, and constantly looked exhausted. Something had to be going on, but you couldn’t figure out what it was. And you didn’t even know why you cared. You weren’t friends—far from it—and yet you couldn’t help but worry. 

“What’s on your mind?” Spider-Man’s soft voice pulled you out of your thoughts. “You’re a million miles away, right now.” 

You shook your head, trying to clear the last of your thoughts about Hyunjin away so you could focus on the man in front of you. “It’s nothing. Just a classmate of mine.” 

“The one who’s always bothering you?”

“Well, yeah, but… he hasn’t talked to me in months. Hasn’t even looked at me. And if it had happened at the beginning of the semester, I probably would have been rejoicing right now, but things happened and now I’m just… worried.” You played with your fingers as you rambled. You hadn’t meant to admit just how much you’d been thinking about Hyunjin, how much you’d noticed his sudden lack of interest in you. But Spider-Man didn’t even know Hyunjin, so you felt safe telling him about it. 

“What happened?” 

“I—well, we…” Your face grew unbearably warm as you thought about what had happened between the two of you that had completely shifted your mindset when it came to him. “We, kind of, maybe had sex.”

“Oh.” Spider-Man didn’t sound judgemental or disappointed, just… surprised. It was like that had been the last thing he’d been thinking of that could have happened between you and your rival. And it probably was. After all, who had sex with someone they supposedly despised? “A-and that’s why you’re… worried about him? What, did you have, like, an STD or something?”

“No! Oh my god, no. We used a condom anyway. No, I’m worried because…” You couldn’t bring yourself to say it. I’m worried because I think I like him. The unspoken words hung in the air, and the silence thickened. He seemed to understand what you meant by your facial expression alone. 

“Damn, he was that good?” 

You choked on air, embarrassed all of a sudden that you were talking about how you had sex with Hyunjin. “I-I guess. I mean he… well I… I’m not inexperienced when it comes to… that but even if I haven’t been with a lot of guys, I’ve been with enough and I just didn’t expect it to be… like that.” 

“Like what?” His voice was soft. You weren’t sure why he was so interested in knowing your answer. But you hadn’t really opened up about your afternoon with Hyunjin all those months ago, not even to Yeji, and it felt nice to finally be talking about it. 

“Like he cared about getting me off too. A lot of the guys I’ve been with… really only cared about themselves and their own pleasure, but Hyunjin… he wanted me to finish. And he had so much stamina. He went full-out the whole time, it was like he had some sort of… super stamina or something. It was just… so good and now I’m starting to realize that maybe I—”

“Do you like him?” Spider-Man all but breathed, still sitting a few feet away from you. 

You looked up at him, eyes wide. You hadn’t felt like you could say it, but with him bringing it up, it was like the floodgates had opened. “I do. I think that… maybe I have all this time, I just convinced myself I hated him because that was easier than admitting I liked him. Liking him meant that I could get hurt. But I guess I… still got hurt in the end. He’s been even more of an asshole since it happened.”

Spider-Man was quiet and you suddenly realized what you were saying and who you were saying it to. You sat up straighter, about to apologize when he looked up at you. You wished you could see his face, wished you could read his expression. “I’m sorry he hurt you.” 

“I-It’s not your fault, I—”

“I’m still sorry.” 

The two of you sat in silence a little longer. He fiddled with a pencil that he’d taken from your desk and you stared blankly at the physics homework laid out in front of you. It was quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop, even on the carpet of your room. You weren’t sure if you should feel awkward that you’d just talked so openly about having sex with your classmate to a superhero, but Spider-Man made you feel so comfortable you couldn’t bring yourself to care. 

Thirty more minutes passed and you worked on your physics homework in silence while Spider-Man watched, silently correcting you every now and then. When you finally finished your assignment, he stood, stretching his arms above his head. 

“I should probably go. Even I need to sleep sometimes.” 

You nodded in understanding, watching him make his way to your window, “Make sure you rest soon. Don’t stay up too late after you get home.”

“I won’t stay up too late.” You wished you could see the smile that you heard in his voice. “You should sleep too. And… don’t let that prick keep you up at night.” 

“I won’t let him keep me up.” 

He gave you a quick wave before disappearing into the night. You stared out the window for a few more minutes, but then you closed it and turned off the lights, slipping into your bed and trying to fall asleep. 

Thoughts plagued you, and you found that nothing could lull you to sleep. With a sigh you sat up, pulling out your phone. You stared at the contact you’d opened. Hyunjin’s. You had his number from when you’d been forced to work with him for the class project. You didn’t know if he’d even saved yours. Why were you considering messaging him? Your thumbs were moving over your screen and before you really even registered what you were doing, you had sent Hyunjin a message. 

You set your phone down on your night stand, heart beating out of your chest. You were confused and excited and scared and worried. Hyunjin had been the biggest asshole ever only two short months ago. He had ignored you since then. You weren’t even friends. What were you doing? 

The voice in your head whispered that you liked him, even if he hated you. And if he was willing to spend one more night with you, you would take it. You couldn’t get him out of your head, you couldn’t get that day out of your head. No one had ever made you feel the way he had. And as awful of a person as he was, you knew he was the only person who could put you to sleep the way you wanted.

Your heart pounded again. Hyunjin was coming over. You sat up, realizing you still had homework all over the floor and your room was a mess. You all but jumped out of bed, racing to pick up the odds and ends that were lying around and cluttering up your room. You finished putting things away and sprayed your room with air freshener just as he knocked on the door to your apartment. 

Luckily for you, Yeji was gone, spending the night at Ryujin’s apartment. She’d figured out you had been having someone over in the evenings the past few months, though she didn’t know who, so she’d been giving you space whenever she heard someone in your room with you. That meant you had the apartment to yourself that night. And if things happened the way you had implied they might… that would definitely be a good thing. 

“Hi,” you breathed out as you opened the door. You were slightly out of breath, having run around your room like a chicken with your head cut off, but if Hyunjin noticed, he didn’t mention it. 

You stepped aside so Hyunjin could enter your apartment and he bowed slightly as he entered out of politeness. “Hey. I love your place.”

“O-Oh thanks,” you stammered, not expecting his words. It was strange. You’d been at each other’s throats months ago, and now he was being polite? “I share the place with Yeji.” 

To be honest, you weren’t really sure if he even knew who Yeji was. But the likelihood of him knowing her was high, considering he was fairly popular at your university and you only hung out with the same five people. He nodded, seeming to recognize Yeji’s name, as he looked around. He turned to face you, smiling gently. It was so different from his typical smirk that it caught you off guard. 

“Where’s your room?” 

You blinked a couple times before snapping out of your daze and leading him to your bedroom. “Right, uh, this way. The bathroom is right here, in between Yeji’s room and mine. And, this is my room. It’s not much, but… it’s more than enough for me.” 

He looked around your room like it was the first time he’d seen it and you reminded yourself that it was the first time he was seeing your room. You swallowed as he looked at your desk, fingers brushing lightly over the trinkets that decorated it before he fixed his eyes on the pictures and posters hanging on the wall above your bed. 

“It’s cute,” he turned to face you again, still smiling softly, “I like it. Very…you.” 

“Oh, uh, thanks.” 

You felt nervous watching Hyunjin wander around your room, inspecting pictures and observing the random knick-knacks you had lying around. Even though he’d already said that he liked your room, you were worried that maybe he didn’t mean it. Or maybe he would change his mind. For the nth time that evening you wondered why you even cared. You swallowed as he sat down on your bed, looking at you and smirking. “Are you just going to stand there all night?” 

“N-no.” You cursed the way your voice shook, cursed the way your legs wobbled as you walked towards your bed, sitting next to him and trying to breathe normally. 

“Why did you want to see me?” Hyunjin’s voice was soft as he leaned in closer, observing the way your breath hitched when he was close. He knew the reason, but he wanted you to say it. “Why did you want me to come over?” 

“I-I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to be alone so I—”

“You don’t have to lie to me. Tell me the truth.” 

You couldn’t help but think about how familiar his voice was. Not in a Hyunjin way, but in another way. One you couldn’t quite put your finger on. His voice was so soft, so familiar. The reason was on the tip of your tongue and yet not close enough for you to grab onto. You swallowed again and tried to force your heartbeat to slow down. 

“I just… wanted you.” 

“Wanted me?” Hyunjin leaned away again, still smirking—a look you were all too familiar with. “Wanted me, how?” 

You whimpered, turning to look at him with a pout. “Please, don’t make me say it.” 

“Hm, but how can I give you what you want if I don’t even know what it is?” He pouted back at you, mockingly. The tone of his voice and the way he made fun of you sent a shiver down your spine. You clung to him then, desperate. 

“Please, Hyunjin. I want… want you to fuck me.” 

“Yeah? You been thinking about it since the first time? That was over two months ago, babe, you could’ve asked a long time ago. So why didn’t you? Were you too proud?” 

You buried your face in his neck, so turned on by the way he talked down to you that you felt like crying, “I-I didn’t think you would want me. I thought you hated me. And, full offense by the way, you’ve been acting like a complete asshole. Of course I couldn’t bring myself to ask and I was… I don’t know, scared you’d say no o-or laugh at me.” 

“Oh sweetheart,” his voice was so condescending and yet, comforting. “I might have laughed at you, but I wouldn’t have said no. The truth is, I’ve been thinking about it a lot the past couple of months. Been thinking about you.”

“Really? Y-you thought of me?” 

“Almost everyday. Right when I woke up, just before falling asleep, every time I touched myself. You’ve been driving me crazy.” When you looked up at Hyunjin in shock, he leaned down and nudged at your neck with his nose. “It’s no excuse, but honestly, I think it’s why I’ve been shittier than usual. Sucks when all I can think about is the one person I can’t ever have.” 

“O-oh my god,” you whimpered, unable to say anything else with him so close to you.

“Fuck, you smell so good. I forgot how good you smelled.” Hyunjin all but panted as he nipped at your neck before sucking a deep purple mark into your skin. “Been thinking about having you like this for so long.” 

You gasped, fingers quickly finding their place in his hair as he pulled the neckline of your shirt aside, kissing down to your collarbones. “You look so fucking pretty, yn, so pretty. Wearing next to nothing, just for me.”

He was right about both things—you were wearing next to nothing and it was for him. You’d only worn a t-shirt and your underwear and while you hadn’t purposefully chosen what you were wearing for him, you hadn’t changed into something else, knowing he was coming over.

“Hyunjin,” you cried, “Hyunnie, I need you.” 

“Hyunnie?” He pulled away looking at you with a growing grin. 

“S-sorry, I—”

“No it’s okay,” he kissed your neck again before brushing your hair away from your face, “I like it. Call me Hyunnie.”

He was so tender that for a moment you forgot about your rivalry with him entirely. You felt overwhelmed by how much you liked him. And with the way he was looking at you, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to get over him any time soon. You whined again, pulling at the hem of his shirt. You wanted it off. 

“Off. Want to see you, Hyunnie.” 

He laughed and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips before tugging his shirt over his head, exposing his toned chest and stomach to you. You were quick to press hot, open-mouthed kisses all over his bare skin, wanting him to feel as good as he had made you feel. He groaned then, head falling back against the headboard of your bed, “Fuck, yn, you’re so hot. Never had anyone as good as you.” 

“Promise?” You stopped, looking at him with your head tilted to the side slightly. “Promise I’m your best?” 

“The very best. My best girl,” his voice was soft as he looked down at you, a gentle smile spread across his lips. He looked so different like this. He looked like he cared. 

“Your best girl,” you echoed, sounding dazed. His fingers brushed across your cheek, almost as if he was afraid to touch you, afraid that you’d leave or disappear if he wasn’t careful. “Yours.”

He hummed, pulling you into his lap to kiss him again, “Mmm, mine.”

His hands rested on your hips, holding you down against his hardening dick as he licked across your bottom lip. You moaned softly, opening your mouth for him so he could slide his tongue in, tangling with yours. His breath was hot and unsteady as you ground against him, growing wetter as he grew harder. 

“Want to take my shirt off,” you breathed against his mouth, not even opening your eyes as you continued kissing him between words. “Can I?”

“Of course, sweet girl. So good of you to ask, darling.” Hyunjin played with the hem of your shirt as he answered before helping to pull it over your head. 

Once your shirt was off, Hyunjin was quick to grab your boobs, fingers playing with your nipples as he continued to kiss you desperately. You felt so overwhelmed, pleasure flooding your senses and Hyunjin fared no better, he was so lost in how good it felt. 

Hyunjin’s dick was almost completely hard now as you ground your hips on top of him. If you looked down between you, you’d find the front of his sweatpants soaked with a mixture of his pre-cum and your own arousal. He groaned into your mouth as you moved against him. 

“Shit, you’re doing so good for me sweetheart,” he gasped, head falling back against the headboard again as you leaned in to suck and bite at his neck. His skin was so smooth, so pretty, you couldn’t keep yourself from moving to mark him up. Even though he wasn’t yours, you wanted to feel like he was. Wanted people to see him and know that he’d been with someone else. You wanted him off the market, as selfish as it sounded. 

“Need you, Hyunnie.” You sounded desperate to your own ears, and if you were in your right mind you would have cringed. “Need it inside.”

He was quick to set you aside, tugging his sweatpants off, revealing he hadn’t been wearing boxers underneath. You felt like your mouth might start watering as you stared at him, but you looked away when he laughed a little. You followed suit and shimmied out of your underwear, lying on the bed as he hovered over you. 

“Sweetheart, do you have a condom?” 

Your heart dropped into your stomach as you thought about it. You realized that you didn’t. This wasn’t exactly something you did very often. You felt so frustrated you could cry. “N-no, but I’m clean a-and I’m on the pill too so we still could if you wanted unless you don’t want to do it raw, which, I totally understand, but I—”

“Hey, hey,” he held your face in his hands, soft voice calming you down and effectively ending your rambling. “It’s okay. I’m clean too, I got tested recently to be safe. So if you’re okay with it, so am I.” 

You nodded and took a deep breath, trying to steady your heartbeat and your breathing. “Sorry, I’m such a mess I’m just… I don’t know, maybe I’m just desperate.”

“You’re okay, baby. I don’t mind you being desperate for me. But let’s establish a safe word or a system for you to tell me if it’s too much, yeah?” 

He was so sweet, it surprised you. He’d never been so kind or caring with you in all the years you’d known each other. You felt like you might cry again, but for a completely different reason this time. You just nodded again for him, holding on to his hand as you spoke. “M-maybe we could just use the traffic light system? Green for good, yellow for wait, and red for stop.” 

“Alright, let’s use that. Tell me if you’re anything other than green. What are you right now?” 

“Green,” you whispered, reaching up to pull him into another kiss, hoping it would calm your racing heart. “Definitely green.” 

He kissed you back for a few minutes while his fingers kneaded gentle circles into your hips. He slowly reached between your legs, two fingers prodding at your soaked entrance as his thumb rubbed small circles on your clit. “Gotta stretch you out really quickly, yeah? Just want you to feel good, don’t want to hurt you.” 

As he stretched you out, your mind wandered again to how much you liked him. You couldn’t remember the last time a guy had taken so much time to make you feel good, other than the last time you were with Hyunjin. It was overwhelming to be taken care of so well, especially by someone you’d thought hated you for the longest time. 

“Hyunnie,” you whispered, holding his wrist. 

“What is it? What’s your color?”

“I’m still green, I-I just… I’m ready for you now.”

He smiled up at you, a real, true smile. Your heart squeezed uncomfortably in your chest. You reached toward him, running your fingers through his hair and smiling back at him. He positioned his tip at your entrance, holding himself up over you with one hand while the other held your waist carefully. 

You moaned loudly, squeezing your eyes shut as he slid inside of you. He felt so perfect, you were certain you could never get enough of him. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you so that his chest pressed against yours. 

“Do you feel okay, sweetheart? Need me to wait?” 

He kissed your neck, the hand on your hip moving to hold your hand, his fingers intertwined with yours. You shook your head, squeezing his hand. “N-no, please move.” 

“Tell me if I need to stop.” His voice, his gentle, sweet voice, was what made you moan again as he started thrusting into you slowly, not wanting to overwhelm you much more than you already were. 

“F-faster, Hyunnie.” 

He looked at you, eyes questioning, as he spoke, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” you whined, moving to hold his hips and push him deeper into you. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m not glass, I won’t break.” 

“Okay,” his expression changed, lust darkening his gaze as he started to piston his hips into you. “But you still have to tell me if you need me to stop.” 

All you could do was whine and nod, clinging onto him tighter as he pounded into you. He hardly even had to adjust his position, it was like he remembered your body, remembered exactly where to hit to have you moaning and clenching around his cock. And he would never tell you but he did remember. How could he forget? He forced himself to remember every night, fucking his hand or his pillow or a fleshlight, pretending it was you.

“Hyunnie,” you whimpered, trying to hold onto his back as he thrusted hard and fast, just the way you wanted.

“What’s your color, sweet girl? You still doing okay?”

“Green. So, so green. God, you feel so good, Hyunnie,” you tried not to cry, knowing you’d feel so embarrassed if he saw you cry just because his dick felt good. “You’re so good.” 

Hyunjin reached down, hand snaking between your bodies so he could rub at your clit while he thrusted into you. “You gonna cum soon, pretty girl? My pretty baby. Cum for me, yeah?” 

It only took a little more stimulation to push you over the edge. You moaned out as you came, clenching tightly around him as his pace never faltered. “Hyunnie, I-I’m cumming.” 

“You’re so perfect,” Hyunjin groaned, chasing his own high and helping you through yours. “So, so perfect. You’ve done so well for me.”

“Hyunnie, want you to cum too,” you whined, looking up at him through wide, teary eyes.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m so close. Where do you want me to finish?” 

You pressed a kiss to his shoulder, pleased with yourself when he shuddered ever so slightly. “Inside.” 

“God, fuck,” Hyunjin’s eyes squeezed shut as his hips stuttered, “I’m cumming now, pretty. Just for you. Fuck.” 

You whimpered as he filled you with his release. Nothing had ever felt as good as this, as good as him. He lowered himself on top of you slowly, so he wouldn’t hurt you, and you kept your arms wrapped tightly around him, keeping him as close to you as you could. You didn’t want him to go yet. You didn’t want him to go.

He kissed your neck whispering praise into your ear as your breathing returned to normal. Once again, you took note of the fact that he himself didn’t sound out of breath or tired in the slightest. He sighed against your skin, fingers absentmindedly tracing over your hip. “Let’s get you to the bathroom, okay?” 

“Mmm,” you were too tired to really speak, so you nodded. 

Hyunjin pulled out slowly, pressing kisses to your jaw when you whimpered at the overstimulation. He crawled off your bed and then helped you up, guiding you to your bathroom down the hall. He waited for you to be done before wetting a washcloth with warm water and helping to clean you up gently. Hyunjin helped you change into a clean pair of underwear and then tugged his own t-shirt over your head.

When you got back to your bedroom and laid in your bed once more, you tried to think of something to say to Hyunjin. He sat down on top of your covers, watching you tenderly, waiting for you to speak patiently. But when he realized you weren’t going to say anything, he spoke instead, hands playing with the blankets to keep himself from touching you again. 

“Do you want me to go?” 

His question was what made up your mind officially. You’d been conflicted. He hated you and you were pretending to hate him right back. At the same time, you didn’t want to be alone for the rest of the night. The decision hadn’t been clear at first, but now, with him so close and looking at you so gently, you knew that you wanted him to stay. 

So you shook your head, reaching out to pull him down beside you. “I want you to stay.”

“Okay,” he whispered, laying down beside you. “I’ll stay.” 

You laid together in silence for a long time, but you still couldn’t fall asleep. Your thoughts still plagued you. “Hyunjin?” 

“Hm?” 

“What… what are we?”

Hyunjin didn’t know what to say. What did you want to be? You didn’t know what to say either, because the truth was, you weren’t entirely sure what you’d been expecting in the first place. Only a few months you would have cringed at the thought of having sex with him. Now, you craved it. Before, you thought you hated him. Now, you had a feeling you were starting to fall in love with him, even if he was an arrogant asshole.

“Well…” Hyunjin cleared his throat and rolled over to look at you. “What do you want to be? Because a couple months ago, you wanted me to pretend like nothing had happened between us, so I’m honestly a little confused.” 

You felt like your heart was in your throat instead of your chest and you found it difficult to breathe as you tried to gather your thoughts. Were you getting rejected before you’d even really confessed? Stop overreacting.

“I… I only really said that because I thought you hated me. In my defense, after I said that you started acting even shittier than usual, so it felt valid at the time. I thought that if I was honest with you about how I felt, you’d just… tell me off. Which was, in hindsight, really stupid and childish of me and we probably would have avoided all of the frustration of the past couple months, but… I think this whole time I’ve just been pretending to hate you because it’s easier than getting my heart broken liking you.”

“You… like me?” 

“No, dipshit, I hate your fucking guts,” you sighed and pouted at him. “Yes, I like you. Did you not hear a word I just said?” 

“I-I heard you, I just… why do you like me?” Hyunjin looked stunned as your eyes met. Your gaze softened as you reached out a hand, holding his face gently. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I’ve only ever been a dick to you. I-I’m not exactly nice and I—”

“I think that being mean might just be your facade too.” 

Hyunjin fell quiet after that and you did too, both of you unsure of what to say. You were starting to regret telling Hyunjin about your feelings. Maybe you should have told him to leave. Maybe asking him to stay was the worst idea you’d ever had. Maybe you were reading too much into the silence. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But then he spoke.

“I don’t know why we even started this stupid rivalry. But to be honest, I never hated you. I thought that you hated me, and to be honest, you’d been getting on my nerves. I’m sure I was on yours too. After a while, I just… didn’t know how to stop.” 

“I don’t think either of us knew how to stop it was just… familiar to fight, I guess.” 

Hyunjin nodded and sighed a little, voice sounding sad as he spoke. “Yeah, but I don’t… I don’t want to fight anymore.” 

“I don’t want to fight anymore either.” 

He looked up at you, eyes wide and full of hope. He was looking at you so tenderly you wondered if this moment was even real or just a dream. He reached over and brushed your hair away from your face, hand trailing down to caress your shoulder gently. 

“Can we… start fresh, then? Go from there?” 

His voice was careful, like he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. And you couldn’t help but agree with the offer. So you smiled at him and nodded slowly. “Yeah. We can start fresh.” 

The bright smile that stretched over his features made it worth it. He made it worth it. You knew you could put any disagreements, any bitterness, in the past if he just smiled at you like that everyday. Everything would be okay if he just smiled at you like that all the time. 

You sighed softly, leaning into him and closing your eyes. You felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of your shoulders. You heard Hyunjin sigh too before he pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead and closed his eyes too. “Goodnight, yn.”

“Night, Hyunnie,” you mumbled back, drifting off to sleep not long after. 

You woke up to Hyunjin shaking your arm, whispering frantically for you to wake up. “You have to hide. Now.”

“Why?” You rubbed at your eyes, trying to wake yourself up. You were confused, brain still hazy from sleep. His urgency did nothing to hurry you along. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later, but right now you have to hide. Go somewhere safe. I’ll come back for you.” 

That woke you up. He would come back? “Where are you going?” 

“To get help. Do you trust me?” He held your arms, looking into your eyes, worry filling his own. When you nodded, he all but pulled you out of your bed, trying to shove you into your closet. “Then hide here and don’t come out until I get back.” 

The closet door closed just a loud crash resounded through your apartment. It sounded like it was coming from your living room. You huddled against the back corner of your closet in fear as thundering steps pounded towards your bedroom. You hoped Hyunjin had found somewhere safe to hide. 

You bit back a scream as a large shadowy figure ripped the closet door from its hinges, tossing it aside and peering into the dark closet. You held your breath as the dark, hunchbacked figure smelled the air, creeping into the closet. You pressed yourself further against the back wall, holding back a terrified whimper. 

The creature stopped a centimeter away from where you were hidden behind your hanging clothes. He smelled the air one last time and then lunged at you, pulling you out of your hiding spot. You screamed as he dragged you away, reaching for something, anything to hold onto. 

You realized the creature carrying wasn’t a person really, but rather some sort of inhuman monster. He smelled of rot and death, his large clawed hands dug into your skin just enough to draw blood and sting, and he was ginormous, scaling down the wall of your apartment building while still holding you under one arm. 

You cried as he carried you further and further away from your home, screaming for someone to help you. And just when you were worried you’d never be saved, the familiar thwip of a spider web filled your ears. The monster roared as he clawed at the webbing covering his eyes, grip on you only tightening. You cried out in pain as his claws punctured your skin even deeper. 

“Hey death breath!” Spider-Man called, swinging down from a building and kicking the creature square in the chest. “Let her go!” 

As the monster toppled over, howling as the breath was knocked from his lungs, his grip on you loosened enough for you to tear yourself away from him, running and stumbling over your own feet as you hid in an alleyway. You watched from around the corner as Spider-Man fought the creature, taunting him and making him angrier than before. 

You closed your eyes, ducking down behind a dumpster when they got closer to the alleyway where you were hiding. With your eyes closed, you focused on Spider-Man’s voice, hoping it would calm you. But when you focused on his voice, really focused on it, you realized why he’d always sounded so familiar. 

Your eyes shot open just as Spider-Man finished wrapping the monster in webbing, calling someone to pick the monster up (some organization he’d told you about before called S.H.I.E.L.D.). Once the monster was in the hands of several tall men in body armor, Spider-Man made his way over to you. 

“Are you okay? Let me see your arms. He didn’t hurt you too bad, did he? Maybe we should take you to a hospital—”

“Hyunjin?” You rasped out. A part of you hoped you were wrong. Spider-Man couldn’t be Hyunjin. Spider-Man wouldn’t lie to you like that. He wouldn’t pretend to be someone else while you ranted about him. He couldn’t be Hyunjin. 

Spider-Man let your arm drop, backing up one step. Two steps. He pulled the mask over his face, eyes wide and worried as he looked at you. Familiar brown eyes. The same beauty mark you’d been obsessed with for months. “I-I can explain—”

“How could you not tell me?” 

“I just—”

You didn’t realize you were crying until he reached out for you. You backed away, hurt making way for anger. “You just let me go on about you to your face! You lied to me. God, I’m so stupid. I knew your voice was familiar. I should have put two and two together sooner—”

“Yn, please, just let me explain.” 

“Explain what,” you seethed, glaring at him as tears continued to spill from your eyes. “How you’re just a lying asshole? I thought I could trust you. I told you everything. I talked about you so much and you never even stopped me. I hate you! I can’t believe I even considered starting over.” 

“That’s not fair,” his voice was quiet and his eyes were filled with hurt. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care. All you could think about was your own anger.

“Oh, it’s not?” 

“You knew I couldn’t tell you. This is exactly why I couldn’t tell you. I messed up. I shouldn’t have gotten close to you as Spider-Man. I put you in danger and I take full responsibility for that. And I just… needed a friend. If I told you, you would have stopped letting me see you. I’m selfish, I know that. But I just… didn’t want to lose you. And I never meant for you to get hurt.” 

You rolled your eyes, trying to keep the tears that filled your eyes at bay. You were sick of crying in front of him. “Whatever. Leave me the fuck alone.” 

“Let me take you to the hospital first—”

“Leave me alone,” you hissed. “I don’t need your help.” 

Hyunjin wanted to protest more, wanted to make sure you were okay. But he also didn’t want to make you even angrier, so he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded before tugging his mask back over his head and turning to leave. You watched him go, wondering if he would look back at you. He didn’t. 

Once he was gone, your anger subsided, turning to sadness and it was then that you realized just how much your arms burned. You looked down, shocked to see how much they were bleeding, so you made your way to the side of the road, hoping maybe a taxi would come by so you could get to the hospital. Now that you weren’t as angry, you realized how cold you were too. You noticed then that you were still only wearing your underwear and Hyunjin’s t-shirt. You shivered, wrapping your bleeding arms around yourself and crying. 

“I came as fast as I could,” Yeji panted as she entered your room in the ER. She was still in her pajamas and her hair was thrown into a haphazard ponytail, eyes full of fear. “How are you? Are you in any pain? Do you need anything? Should I call for the nurse—”

“Yeji. I’m okay.” You smiled a little at her, trying to convince her that you didn’t need anything. 

She pulled the visitor chair closer to your bed and sat down beside you. “Well, just let me know if you need anything, okay?” 

“Honestly,” you laughed bitterly, “my arms are in less pain than my heart is.” 

“Why, what happened?” 

“Hyunjin came over tonight.” Yeji’s eyes widened at your confession, but she didn’t say anything, so you continued. “I realized that I didn’t really hate him, so I invited him over to… talk. We had finally worked everything out when that monster broke into our apartment and took me. Most of it is a blur until afterwards when I was hiding in the alleyway. I realized that the voice was familiar and…”

You didn’t finish. You didn’t have to. You could tell by the way Yeji’s gaze hardened that she knew what you meant. “He lied to you all this time? I know I’m not supposed to know about your little friendship with Spider-Man, but I mean, you guys weren’t very sneaky. I knew he was coming over. That’s why I always left in the evenings. I never would have guessed that…” 

You shook your head, stopping her. As angry as you were at Hyunjin, you didn’t want his secret to get out. It would put him in danger as well as his family and friends. She understood, voice trailing off until she was silent again. 

“I kind of get it though,” she finally spoke again. “I don’t think I would have told you either, to be honest. Especially if we were rivals. Not only for your safety, but because… it would be nice to get to talk to you without worrying we would break into a fight. You and Hyunjin seem to get along really well when you’re not arguing about school and grades. I think the rivalry has been such a huge part of your relationship for so long that it’s hard to just forget that and move on. Which is why he probably enjoyed just spending time with you.” 

“He still lied to me,” you whispered.

“Yeah, he did. But what would the truth have cost you both?” 

You fell quiet after that, pondering her words, mulling them over in your mind as you sat beside her. You hated to admit that she was right. Mostly, you hated to admit that you were wrong. You didn’t want the part of you that missed Hyunjin to take over. You wanted to stay angry at him. 

But you just couldn’t. 

Not when the image of his pretty face was seared into your memory. Not when you could see his beautiful eyes when you closed your own. Not when you couldn’t stop thinking of what it was like to run your fingers through his hair and certainly not when you couldn’t stop remembering every conversation you’d had with him without even knowing who he was. 

You were stubborn though. Even though you weren’t angry anymore, you weren’t going to let him know that. You weren’t going to let Yeji know that either. So you just huffed and crossed your arms, wincing at the pain. How had you already forgotten you were in the hospital for an injury to your arms?

Yeji hummed thoughtfully and you looked over at her when she spoke up again. “Do you think insurance will cover the damages to the apartment? Wait, do you think we’ll still get our security deposit back?”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. Of course Yeji was worried about the security deposit. As silly as it may seem, her questions comforted you. You didn’t know what would happen, didn’t know how you would pay for your apartment’s damages if you had to, but you did know that no matter what happened you’d have Yeji alongside you. That was the thought that comforted you. 

When you went back to class after a day of resting at the hospital, Hyunjin was sitting in his usual spot, but he didn’t look at you. He didn’t speak to you either. You couldn’t help but notice the deep purple bags under his eyes and the exhaustion that was written all over his face. Your heart squeezed uncomfortably in your chest when you saw the hint of a fading bruise peeking up from under the collar of his button-up shirt. You knew he had an advanced healing factor, but you also knew it wasn’t as fast as some. You wondered if the bruises still hurt.

You tried to focus on what your professor was saying at the front of the room, but your thoughts kept drifting to the man sitting in front of you and the way you’d left things only a couple nights before. You were surprised when a graded test was placed in front of you. You looked up to see the TA grinning down at you. “Nice job, yn.” 

You’d forgotten you’d even take a test the week before. Your thoughts had been consumed by Hyunjin then as well, just in a different way. You looked at the score. 100%. You were surprised. You couldn’t even remember studying for it. It was like you’d been on autopilot. You peered over Hyunjin’s shoulder like normal to see the score he’d gotten, but frowned when you noticed the red 62% at the top of his paper. It wasn’t like Hyunjin to do so poorly. 

You were about to say something to him when he stood up, gathering his things and walking out of the classroom, leaning in to whisper an excuse to your professor before he walked out the door. Your frown deepened and you looked back at the score on your paper. Your thoughts had been elsewhere and you’d passed, but his had been elsewhere and he failed. Had he done it on purpose? 

That couldn’t be it. Maybe you just didn’t know him as well as you’d thought you had. You sighed and tucked the test away in your bag, trying once more to focus on the lesson your professor was teaching. It was still no use. No matter how hard you tried, your thoughts drifted back to Hyunjin. Had you made a mistake?

That night, as you sat in your new apartment (your landlord had been gracious enough to let you and Yeji move into an empty apartment two floors above yours), you half expected Hyunjin to come tapping at your window like he usually did. You tried to ignore the disappointment that settled in your chest when he didn’t. 

Yeji knocked on your bedroom door before pushing it open and poking her head inside. “I made cookies. Do you want some?” 

“Yeah, sure,” you nodded absentmindedly, looking up at her when she entered your room fully with a plate of cookies and something to drink. She sat down beside you on the floor and watched as you did your homework, sharing the cookies in silence until you spoke again. “Hyunjin failed our latest physics test.” 

“Did he?” 

You hummed in acknowledgement before sighing and setting your pencil down. “It’s not like him. Something must have been wrong.” 

“Since when do you care?” 

The question shocked you, but you knew it was a valid concern. Up until now you’d never shown any sign that you cared about Hyunjin. In fact, you were always adamant about the fact that you hated him. You pouted and averted her gaze, mumbling a little as you spoke. “Since we had sex the second time.”

“Right.” Yeji made a noise and nodded at you. How could she have forgotten? “What are you going to do about it?” 

“Nothing,” you bit back, glaring in an attempt to cover your true feelings. 

“Nothing?” 

“He lied to me. He’s been an asshole for years. I’m not doing anything about this. He doesn’t deserve it.” 

“You’ve been mean right back,” Yeji pointed out, grabbing the empty plate and glasses and standing up. “You haven’t exactly been a saint to him. Sure he’s been a dick, but you’ve been mean too. Maybe it was in defense sometimes, but sometimes you were mean just to hurt him. You’re not blameless.” 

Yeji had a knack for telling you the truth even when you didn’t want to hear it. Somehow she never made you feel bad about it either. “Yeah. I was a bitch, wasn’t I?” 

“You were.” 

“Still…” You shook your head, determined not to talk to Hyunjin. At least, not yet. “I can’t. I won’t talk to him.”

Yeji shrugged, leaving your room with a quiet, “Suit yourself.” 

When Yeji was gone, you pushed your completed homework away and laid in your bed, staring at the ceiling. Was this a decision you would come to regret? Or were you doing what was best for yourself? You were still hurt over what Hyunjin had done, what he hadn’t told you, how he’d treated you since high school. But you also missed him. You missed him as Hyunjin, pleasing you and caring for you so tenderly. Most of all, you missed him as Spider-Man, sitting on your bedroom floor with you for hours, helping you with your homework and telling you awful jokes just to see you smile. 

In the distance, you heard a faint crashing sound, a roar, then silence. You wondered if it was Hyunjin. You wondered if he was okay. Was he hurt? Did he get the bad guy? Would he sleep at all tonight? You sat up and walked quietly toward the window, settling yourself on the small window seat while you looked outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of your red and blue hero. 

Hyunjin bit back a whimper as he shoved his window up and slipped inside his bedroom. He groaned as he collapsed onto the floor, clutching his side in pain. He tugged the mask from his face and looked down at the wound, finally pulling his hand away to inspect the damage. He’d have to repair the suit when he had some free time. He’d use the spare for now. 

His phone rang from his backpack and he sighed before digging it out and answering the call. “Hello?” 

“Hey, just saw your big fight. Need me to come over? I want to help you.” 

“Hey, Ji. I-I’m fine,” he winced as he pulled his suit off and stumbled into the bathroom to find his first aid kit. “I just need to rest.” 

He could imagine Jisung nodding along. “Right, right, well if you need anything—”

“Fuck,” Hyunjin groaned in frustration, slamming the bathroom cabinet shut and interrupting Jisung’s rambling train of thought. “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” 

“I need a new first aid kit. I forgot I needed a new one.” 

Hyunjin could hear shuffling in the background of the call and the jingling of keys. “I’ll pick one up and head over. You don’t need to be going out in your condition. I’ll be there in fifteen.” 

“Okay,” Hyunjin mumbled, hating the feeling of helplessness that washed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at his face, willing himself not to cry. “Make sure you find one that has hydrogen peroxide. And if it doesn’t, pick up a bottle. Maybe get an extra roll of gauze too.” 

“For sure. Guy in the chair to the rescue! I’ll be there soon.” Jisung hung up before Hyunjin could say anything else. 

He left his phone on the bathroom counter and slid down the wall, too tired and in pain to stand. He rested his head on his knees and in the privacy of his bathroom, in the dead of night, he allowed himself to cry. He sobbed into his knees, whimpering at the effort it took just to cry and wincing at the pain it put him in. But he couldn’t stop. 

That’s how Jisung found him. Crying on the floor of his bathroom, covered in his own blood. Jisung knelt beside him, opening the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and dousing a washcloth in the liquid. He helped Hyunjin lie down and warned him before pressing the soaked cloth into the wound. Hyunjin clenched his jaw, groaning at the sting as Jisung continued to dab at the wound, cleaning it the best he could. 

Hyunjin glanced down at the wound in his side, reassuring him through clenched teeth that it was clean enough and pushing his hands away. His breathing was shallow as Jisung wrapped the gauze around the wound with some help from Hyunjin. 

“Thank you,” Hyunjin said quietly, finally sitting up again, head leaned back against the bathroom wall and tears staining his cheeks. 

“Don’t mention it,” Jisung said back, his own voice quiet for once. He paused for a moment before continuing. “Are you just crying because of your physical pain, or are you crying because of yn?” 

Hyunjin closed his eyes, shaking his head a little. “I don’t know. Both, maybe.” 

Jisung nodded even though Hyunjin couldn’t see it. He sat there beside his best friend in silence, listening to Hyunjin’s ragged breathing and soft sniffles. He hated seeing him like this. He hated the pain that Hyunjin was in, both physically and emotionally. 

“You should try talking to her.” 

He shook his head, squeezing his eyes closed tighter as tears slipped from beneath the lids again. “I can’t. Not this time. She doesn’t want to fucking hear from me. Never again.” 

“Okay.” Jisung’s voice was still soft. He didn’t want to disturb Hyunjin. “Do you want me to leave?” 

“No.” 

“Okay.” 

After a few more quiet moments, Hyunjin sighed and forced himself to his feet, with help from Jisung. Jisung helped Hyunjin to his bedroom, watching carefully as Hyunjin pulled pajamas on and laid down in his bed. Then Jisung asked again, “Do you want me to leave?” 

Hyunjin still shook his head, “No. Stay.” 

Jisung searched Hyunjin’s closet and found a sleeping bag. He pulled an extra blanket out of the closet as well and took the extra pillow from Hyunjin’s bed, making a place for himself to sleep on the floor. Hyunjin closed his eyes, on the verge of sleep. 

“Thank you, Ji.” 

“I’ll always be here for you.”

Hyunjin mumbled sleepily as Jisung turned off the light. “I know.” 

When you walked into the classroom, the first thing you noticed was your professor standing beside where Hyunjin was seated, talking to him quietly. As you walked closer, you listened to their conversation. 

“... and I know I don’t usually do this, but seeing as it’s so unlike you and you’ve seemed very distracted lately, I’m giving you the opportunity to make up the test. If you decide you want to make it up, I’ll pair you with another student from the class to help you with the content to ensure you do better.” 

Hyunjin smiled at your professor but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I appreciate that. I would love to make up the test, seeing as you’re giving me the opportunity to.” 

“Great.” Your professor turned just as you were unpacking your bag, making eye contact with you. “Yn, would you mind helping Hyunjin study for his test retake this Friday? You got the best score in the class on this test, so I think you’d be the perfect person to help him out.” 

You blinked slowly, looking from your professor to Hyunjin and back again before stammering a quiet, “Uh, y-yeah, sure.” 

They smiled gently at you and patted Hyunjin on the shoulder before walking back to the front of the room. You looked at Hyunjin, but he wasn’t looking at you. He was already focused on looking forward toward the whiteboard, covered in equations. You sighed, a small frown forming on your lips as you focused on the board as well. 

When class ended, you moved a little slower, wondering if Hyunjin would say something to you first. He didn’t. He started to leave and you lunged forward, grabbing onto his arm. “Um, if you want, I can meet you at your apartment to help you study.” 

“It’s alright,” he gave you an expert fake smile and your heart fell. “You don’t have to help me. I know you’re busy.” 

He left before you could say anything else, Jisung giving you an apologetic look as he followed after him. You stood in the middle of the aisle between tables watching him leave, sadness filling you up and etching itself across your face. After a moment of staring at the empty doorway, you huffed and gathered your things, leaving the classroom, thoughts of Hyunjin filling your mind. 

The week passed by too slowly and too quickly all at the same time. On Friday, Hyunjin redid his test and the professor graded it before the class period ended. When they came to leave the new test on Hyunjin’s desk, they smiled at you, mouthing a ‘thank you’ as they explained the new score to Hyunjin. You didn’t have the heart to admit you hadn’t actually done anything to help him. 

The next week came and went quickly as well, your worry for Hyunjin growing with each day. He looked exhausted and almost ill. He needed a day off. He needed a break. But of course, you weren’t in any position to tell him any of that.

You met eyes with Jisung more than once throughout the week, sharing worried glances but never speaking a word. Jisung was clearly just as concerned about his friend’s physical health as you were, maybe even more so. It comforted you to know that Hyunjin had such a good friend to take care of him. You knew it was something you couldn’t do—not now. 

Jisung stopped you after class one day—Hyunjin hadn’t come to class and you were clearly worried about him. “Hyun’s just resting at home. He woke up with the stomach flu. I thought you’d like to know.” 

“Oh,” you tried to ignore the wave of relief that flooded over you. You were supposed to be angry at him. “Uh, thanks for letting me know, but I’m not—”

“You might be able to fool Hyunjin, but you can’t fool me. I see the way you look at him. As much as you claim you don’t, you do care. He won’t talk to you. He thinks you don’t want to hear from him. But he never said that I couldn’t talk to you.” Jisung’s voice was stern and his, usually kind, eyes were cold as he glowered at you. 

You shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Wh-what is there to talk about?” 

“You need to talk to Hyunjin.” Jisung’s face softened a little when he noticed your discomfort. “He’s not doing well. He’s not as careful when he’s… well, you know. He hardly sleeps, he hardly eats, he just mopes around, studies, and patrols at night. It’s not healthy. I’m really worried about him. He may have been an asshole to you in the past but he started to really care about you. And I know you did too. So please talk to him. I can’t stand seeing him like this anymore.” 

You were quiet for a long moment as you thought about what Jisung had said. Hyunjin had hurt you, that was true, but you’d grown to care about him too and it was hard to just ignore those feelings you had developed. You sighed and nodded, moving your bag to your other shoulder and walking away from Jisung. 

“I’ll talk to him.” 

You’d made up your mind to visit Hyunjin’s apartment right after your last class of the day. Thankfully your classes ended early enough that you’d be able to walk to his apartment while it was still light outside. While you walked, you thought of what you would say to Hyunjin and you held a grocery bag full of medicine, soups, and drinks close to you. 

You were pulled from your thoughts when an old woman across the street dropped her own grocery bag and dozens of cans fell out all over the sidewalk, rolling in every direction. You looked both ways before hurrying across the street and crouching down to help her gather the cans she’d lost. She beamed at you gratefully, “Oh, thank you dear, you’re too kind. These old hands are no good anymore—it’s too hard to even carry a simple grocery bag.” 

“It’s no problem, really. Do you need any help getting back to where you live?” 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that, dear!” She looked surprised as she spoke, but the way her frail hands shook convinced you once and for all to help her. 

“Really, I don’t mind. Let me carry this for you.” 

“If you insist.” 

You didn’t notice the sinister look in her eyes or hear the drop in the tone of her voice. You didn’t see her back straighten out and her features morph into that of a man you’d never met. You didn’t see him pulling a soaked cloth out of his pocket and you didn’t have time to process what was happening before the cloth was pressed over your nose and mouth. The last thing you saw before you fell unconscious was the hazy sky above you and towering, grimy apartment buildings. 

When you came to, the first thing you noticed was the ache in your arms and legs. You looked down, blinking wearily and saw that you were tied to a chair. Panicked, your eyes widened and you looked around the room, searching for familiarity. But you didn’t recognize where you were at all. The room was large and circular, made of brick, and lit only by an old lamp against one of the far, curved walls. There were no windows; you couldn’t tell what time it was, didn’t know how long you’d been there. It was empty other than the chair you were bound to and the lamp against the wall. You turned your head as far as you could in both directions but couldn’t see a door anywhere. It must’ve been directly behind you. 

You wanted to scream for help, but your mouth and throat felt dry and your tongue felt swollen and heavy in your mouth. You took a deep breath, trying not to cry as you looked around you once more. Now was not the time to cry. You had to think. You had to find a way out. 

You heard the sound of a door unlocking and the loud scraping noise of it opening. You craned your neck to try and see who had entered the room, but they remained just out of view as they spoke. “You’re even more beautiful up close, my dear.” 

You bit back a surprised gasp at the cool hand that pushed your hair off your shoulder, exposing your neck. You remembered the old woman who had dropped her groceries, but the voice you were hearing now certainly didn’t belong to her. 

“It’s a shame we had to meet like this. Waiting for your hero to come and rescue you.” The man behind you chuckled darkly and you shivered. He walked slowly, heavy boots clunking against the floor as he came into view. His face was completely white and the lack of defining facial features made you squirm uncomfortably. His head was smooth and hairless, he had no nose, no lips. His mouth was just a line in his pale face and his eyes were sunken deep in his skull. 

“He will come,” you finally found your voice, glaring at him as you spoke, voice steadier than you would have thought it would be. “He always comes.” 

“Perhaps… I certainly hope he does. I want him to be here to see it when I kill you.” 

You felt dizzy. There was no way this man would ever let you live, whether Hyunjin showed up to save you or not. You had to think. Quickly.

“But first,” he spoke again after you didn’t answer, “let me introduce myself. I am Dmitri Smerdyakov. You may know me as Chameleon. Maybe you’ll recognize the name of my brother. Kraven the Hunter.”

You did recognize the name of Kraven the Hunter. He was a renowned villain, always coming back to try and kill Spider-Man. But he’d died recently. Chameleon could see the recognition on your face and he laughed darkly again.

“So you do know my brother.” 

“He’s dead,” you spat at him, glaring with as much ferocity as you could muster. 

Chameleon’s playful smirk fell and he took a step closer to you. “Precisely why you’re here. It’s Spider-Man’s fault my brother is dead. This is my revenge. An eye for an eye. Spider-Man deserves to suffer. What better way to make him suffer than to take the girl he loves.” 

“Well, you’re making a mistake then.” You sat up straighter, trying to look brave despite the fear that coursed through your veins. “Spider-Man doesn’t love me.” 

“No matter. You’re still someone close to him. Don’t think I haven’t watched him sneaking into your room at night. You may not see me but I… see… you.” Chameleon was so close now you could smell the stink of his breath. So close you had to lean back to see his face fully. 

You didn’t speak, clenching your jaw and keeping your head held high. It was a silent battle, who would look away first? You were determined not to look away, even if your body started to shake from the fear. And your determination paid off. You won. He scoffed, standing up fully and walking away. 

“For your sake, I hope your hero arrives quickly. Maybe I’ll show you mercy if he does.” 

When the heavy door slammed shut behind him, your body relaxed, sinking into the uncomfortable wooden chair. Only when you were sure he wasn’t coming back did you let yourself cry. What if Hyunjin didn’t come for you? How would he even know you were missing? 

You’d never felt so hopeless and lonely in your life. 

Hyunjin woke up in a cold sweat. Something felt wrong. Something wasn’t right. He grabbed his phone from his bedside table, opening up the news app to see if something was happening. His heart dropped into his stomach at the video clip he found linked to a news article titled Young Woman Kidnapped as Bait for Spider-Man. It was you. 

He sat up quickly, watching the video. He watched it once, then twice, then after he’d watched it five times all the way through he called Jisung. Jisung was more tech savvy than he was—maybe he’d be able to find out where the video was filmed. Despite it being the middle of the night, Jisung answered pretty quickly. 

“Jisung,” Hyunjin breathed, chewing anxiously on his bottom lip. “You need to come over right now.” 

“What’s going on?” 

Hyunjin sighed, stumbling around his room and grabbing his suit, “I need my guy in the chair.” 

“I’m on my way.” 

Ironically, Jisung lived in an apartment building only one street over from Hyunjin’s, so it didn’t take him long to get to Hyunjin’s apartment. He was sitting at Hyunjin’s desk only seven minutes later, inspecting the video on his laptop (one that he’d fixed up himself to be more high-tech). He frowned, rubbing at his chin as he watched the video over and over again. 

“Well, the room has no windows, at least not any that are visible from this angle, so it’s almost impossible to determine where this is from anything we might see through those. But if we isolate the background noise,” Jisung’s voice trailed off as he typed away at his laptop, working to isolate the noise, “you can faintly hear what sounds like a party or a nightclub. The room looks circular, so we can narrow it down to buildings with a dome on top or that are more circular in overall shape. I can think of one nightclub off the top of my head that has a dome on top.” 

Hyunjin’s eyes widened as he looked at Jisung. He knew which club Jisung was referring to. “Venom?” 

“Yeah,” Jisung grinned. “Venom.” 

“I have to go—”

“Wait!” Jisung stood quickly, grabbing his backpack and digging through it. “I made these for us. Earpieces.” 

The earpieces were small. They almost looked like small hearing aids. They wouldn’t bulge or be uncomfortable under his mask. He took the earpieces from Jisung’s hand, offering him a grateful smile, “Thanks Ji.” 

“I’ll help direct you, find information on whoever this guy is, and whatever else you need from me. Stay in contact. If you need help, I’ll send someone.” 

Hyunjin nodded, “I’ll stay in touch. Thank you Jisung.” 

Jisung nodded in return and pushed Hyunjin toward his window. “Now go. You have to save yn.” 

Hyunjin was quick to leave then, his only thought being to save you. As he made his way towards the popular downtown nightclub, Venom, he couldn’t stop the nagging feeling that he was making his way into a trap. He pushed that thought away. He’d seen you tied up, there was no way it could be a trap. He had to save you. 

Jisung’s voice pulled him from his spiraling thoughts, “There should be a trap door in the center of the dome, up at the top. You can get inside there.” 

Hyunjin didn’t answer as he landed on the top of the dome. Jisung was right about the trap door. He turned the wheel and hoisted the circular door up carefully, peering inside cautiously before dropping in. There you were. Tied to a chair in the center of the room, eyes closed but chest heaving. You were crying. 

He kept quiet, afraid that if he made too much noise the villain may return and hurt you. When he was right in front of you, you opened your eyes, looking at him shocked. You gasped, starting to speak, but he covered your mouth with a gloved hand, urging you to stay silent. You relaxed as he untied you and then watched as he stood back, giving you space to finally stand again. 

“I was worried you wouldn’t come,” you whispered, throwing yourself on him in a tight hug. 

He breathed out in relief, grateful that you were okay, wrapping his arms around you in return. “I’ll always come for you.” 

“As I expected,” the voice that came from you wasn’t your own anymore and Hyunjin pushed you off in shock, his head ringing as every alarm bell went off. He watched in horror as you changed into someone else, someone he recognized. Chameleon. He should have known. 

Hyunjin’s whole body stiffened as he backed up, looking around the room for you, “Where is she?” 

“Hm,” Chameleon hummed thoughtfully before breaking out into a sinister laugh, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

“If you hurt her—” 

“What? You’ll kill me too?” 

Hyunjin recoiled at the words, as if they physically hurt him. “I didn’t kill Kraven. You know I didn’t.” 

“But you didn’t stop it!” Chameleon’s featureless face somehow managed to look enraged and Hyunjin continued to watch cautiously as he started pacing. “You were there. You could have saved him. But you didn’t. Some hero you are!” 

Hyunjin didn’t respond, just watched warily, hoping that by letting him rant, he would divulge some information about where you actually were. But Chameleon only looked at him with crazed, infuriated eyes, daring him to answer. Hyunjin was never one to back down from a fight. He couldn’t be. Not when this was his job.

“There was nothing I could do. Now, tell me where she is!” 

Chameleon just shook his head, grinning eerily at Hyunjin. “You’ll never find her. I’ve taken her somewhere no one will ever find her.” 

You shivered as you looked around you. Chameleon had taken you somewhere different after sending the video of you to the press. It was cold and damp, dark save only for a faint, bluish light coming from one end of the tunnel. You felt nauseous and light-headed, a result of the horrible smell that rose all around you. You cringed as what you hoped was water dripped onto your skin from the curved ceiling. You were in the sewers. 

And Chameleon wasn’t there. 

How would Hyunjin ever find you now? You were still tied tightly to the chair you’d been in up in the windowless building. It felt like the more you wiggled to try and get free, the tighter the ropes wrapped around you, the more they dug into your skin. Your arms and legs ached from the odd angles they were bent at, your wrists and ankles burned from the ropes rubbing against your skin, your head was pounding from all the crying and lack of hydration. 

You looked around again, wondering if there was something around you that you could use to cut at the ropes. But there was nothing. You leaned your head back, squeezing your eyes shut and trying not to cry. You did the only thing you could think to do, though it was all in vain. “Help! Somebody help me!” 

Your voice echoed down the tunnels. Nobody answered you. You hung your head in defeat. You were going to starve to death down here if you didn’t die from the smell first. No one would ever find you here. Hyunjin would never find you. You sobbed silently for a moment, heaving as you tried to compose yourself again. 

A quiet squeaking noise pulled you out of your self-pity party. You looked down one end of the tunnel and saw nothing. You looked down the other end and saw nothing. But then you looked down at your feet and yelped. A rat. 

At first you shied away from the disease ridden creature, until a thought dawned on you. What if you could get the rat to chew at the ropes? How could you even do that? But you were determined. You had to get out. You had to try. 

You couldn’t give up. Not now. 

Hyunjin felt sick to his stomach. Where had Chameleon taken you? He had to think. He was running out of time. He had to focus. He couldn’t find you if he was dead. 

“Where is she?” Hyunjin asked again, teeth clenched as he stepped closer to the hideous man in front of him. 

Chameleon lunged then, hands outstretched as if to grab him, “I already told you! Somewhere you’ll never find her! Not until it’s too late!” 

Hyunjin ducked at the last second, sending Chameleon tripping over his own feet as he passed. He whipped around, angrier than before, and swung a fist at Hyunjin’s head. Hyunjin ducked again before delivering a swift kick to his side, sending him stumbling backward as he grabbed at his side, breath knocked out of him. 

“You’re going to wish you never did that!”

“Really?” Hyunjin quipped as he moved aside as Chameleon leapt towards him for another attack. “I don’t think I will!” 

The duo jumped and ducked and lunged around the room, swinging fists and kicking as they went. It was a rival’s tango—an enemy’s dance. Hyunjin groaned as Chameleon finally kicked him square in the stomach, but he recovered quickly, rolling out of the way again as Chameleon leaned in to punch him in the jaw. Chameleon roared in anger as he punched the ground instead. 

“Ready to give up yet?” Hyunjin asked, swinging down from the ceiling and kicking Chameleon in the chest with both feet. 

“I’ll never give up!” 

“Always so dramatic,” Hyunjin taunted, hanging from the ceiling and watching as Chameleon caught his breath. “You always have to have the last word, don’t you?” 

“I’ll be damned if I let you have the final word!” 

Hyunjin shook his head, hanging just out of Chameleon’s reach. “Let’s make a deal, then. I’ll let you have the last word if you tell me where she is.” 

“What do you take me for, a five year old?” Chameleon hissed angrily, glaring up at Hyunjin. “You’re just going to have to look for her.” 

“Thought you might say that,” Hyunjin sighed dramatically before shooting a web at Chameleon, catching him off guard since he’d been distracted. He struggled but before he could break free, he was hit with another web, and then another, and another and another until he was trapped to the wall behind him, Hyunjin only centimeters away from him. “Now tell me… where is she?” 

You were crying again, completely frustrated and worn out from screaming for help. Though you’d tried to coax the rat over to where you were bound, it was no use. You didn’t have anything it wanted so it scurried past almost as quickly as it had appeared. Now you were sitting, head hung low as you finally allowed your tears of frustration to fall. 

“Hyunjin, where are you?” You whispered into the damp air of the sewer, head still hung as you fell limp against your restraints. 

You weren’t sure how long you sat like that. Your head was pounding, you were shivering from the cold air blowing through the tunnels, and you felt more and more nauseous the longer you sat there in the stinking waters. You tried not to think about how you would die a slow death of starvation. It only made it harder to breathe. 

A sound, however, pulled you out of your misery. The faint scrape of a manhole cover being moved. A splash, a thwip, footsteps running. You sat up straighter, using the last of your strength to call out again, “Help me!” 

You fell quiet again, listening as the footsteps got closer. You could jump for joy if you weren’t tied to a rickety, wooden chair. Your eyes filled with relieved tears when a man, clad in red and blue, came running around the curve of the tunnel. But you hesitated. 

“Wait.” 

He stopped, tugging his mask off, “What is it?” 

“How do I know you’re really… you.” 

“God, yn,” he scoffed, smirking at you playfully. “I come to save your life and you want me to prove it’s me?”

You shrugged, “That guy could change bodies at will. How can I be sure you’re not him? Tell me something only you would know. Something he wouldn’t be able to look up about either of us online.” 

“You’re the only person who’s ever called me Hyunnie.” He took a step closer to you, then another. “I made you cry once because I started self-studying quantum physics. I got a 62% on our last exam before the professor let me retake it. I—”

“Okay, okay, come untie me now.” 

You looked away from him, tears finally falling over your cheeks once more. He was quick to crouch in front of you, untying your feet first and then moving behind you to get your hands. His voice was soft when he spoke to you, helping you out of the chair. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“Yeah,” you punched him lightly in the shoulder, sniffling and clinging onto him, scared he would be gone if you let go. “What took you so long, asshole?” 

“Had to get the bad guy first. Didn’t want him to come after you again.” Hyunjin kissed the top of your head, wrapping his own arms around you. He felt like he could finally breathe again, knowing you were safe in his arms. 

“Hyunjin,” you murmured, not moving away from him, “I don’t want to go home tonight.” 

He snorted and looked down at you, “What, you want to stay the night here in the sewer?” 

“No,” you pouted up at him. 

“Then where do you want to go?” 

“With you.” 

He looked at you only a second longer before leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. Your lips were salty from tears and a little chapped, but kissing you was just as wonderful as it had been every other time. He tasted a little bit like medicine and toothpaste, you noted, and though it wasn’t a great combination, you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You didn’t really care about anything when Hyunjin was kissing you. 

“I’m sorry,” you whispered when you pulled away. “For being so angry and unreasonable. I talked to Yeji about it and she… kind of knocked some sense into me. I understand why you didn’t tell me and honestly… I would’ve done the same thing if I was in your position.” 

“Hey, no,” he held your face in his hands, looking at you so tenderly. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you for so long. It’s hard to trust people when you’re doing work like this, but that’s not an excuse—”

“No, it’s totally valid, so I’m—”

“Stop talking,” he mumbled, kissing you again. 

You laughed when he pulled away. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed, laughing as well. “Never would have thought I’d be kissing my rival in a sewer.” 

“Fuck, I kind of forgot where we were. Please get me out of here.” 

He nodded and held you close to him as he guided you to the manhole where he’d come in. He helped you up and then tugged his mask on and climbed up himself, taking a deep breath once he was out. The air wasn’t necessarily fresher, but it was less stagnant—it didn’t cling to you as much. And as polluted as it was, it certainly smelled better than the air in the sewer had. 

You turned around and hugged Hyunjin tightly once more as he used his webbing to swing the two of you back to his apartment. You felt exhausted, dehydrated, and emotional after everything that had happened, but still, you felt happy. You hadn’t realized just how much you’d really missed him until he was right in front of you, talking to you again. 

When Hyunjin set you down on the fire escape outside of his bedroom window, you felt another rush of relief surge through you. You were safe, really and truly safe. Hyunjin shoved the window up and climbed in, watching as you climbed in too. You looked over at his desk, noticing a bright yellow sticky note stuck to the middle of the wooden top. 

“It’s a note from Jisung,” Hyunjin muttered, picking it up and reading it, dragging his fingers through his hair. “He went back to his apartment so that we could talk. I’m going to change really quickly, but I’ll be right back.” 

You nodded, sitting down on his bed as he ran into his bathroom to change. You felt a shiver make its way down your spine as you remembered what had happened the last time you’d been in his bed. You didn’t have much time alone with your thoughts because Hyunjin, true to his word, changed quickly. He sat down on his bed beside you, not as close to you as you would have liked. He was still trying to give you space. It made your heart pound painfully in your chest. 

He was so good and you’d never even known it, too blinded by the stupid rivalry you’d struck up to give him a chance. If you’d tried being nice back, would things have been different? You liked to think that maybe they would have been. 

“I miss you,” you finally said, voice soft. 

You played absentmindedly with your fingers, not wanting to look at him in case he didn’t feel the same as you did. But he didn’t laugh at you or yell at you, he just scooted closer to you on the bed, wrapped his arms around you, and then pulled you down to lay beside him. “I miss you too.” 

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch to you the past few years.” 

“Don’t be sorry,” he shook his head, “It was kind of fair considering I was a complete asshole.” 

“Would you maybe… want to go on a date with me?” You chewed on your bottom lip, heart beating out of your chest as you asked him. 

“Yeah,” he breathed out, pressing a gentle kiss to the crook of your neck. “I’d really really like that.” 

“For now, can you kiss me?” 

You rolled over so you were facing him and he let out a shuddering breath as you leaned closer to him. “Fuck, yeah.” 

He kissed you, holding you as close to him as was humanly possible. You hadn’t felt so happy, so right, since the last time you were together—the night you realized he was Spider-Man. 

If someone had told you back in high school that you would end up in Hwang Hyunjin’s bed, kissing him and asking him to go on a date with you, you would have laughed in their face. If someone had told you that Hyunjin was Spider-Man you would have laughed even harder. If someone had told you that Hyunjin was actually really sweet, thoughtful, funny, and kind you would have keeled over on the floor then and there. 

“Kind of crazy that we ended up together.” You mused out loud, pulling away from Hyunjin and opting instead to run your fingers through his hair and smile fondly at him. 

He shrugged, grinning at you as he traced a finger over your jaw. “I don’t know, I kind of always saw it coming.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I started the stupid rivalry thing because I had a major crush on you. I just wanted to impress you. But you could dish it right back, so over time, I sort of lost sight of the whole reason I initially started the rivalry. Then it turned into who could be more of a jerk and I never was one to give up so easily so… It was always me who was the bigger asshole. Somewhere in the back of my mind though, I always had a crush on you.” 

“Hwang Hyunjin,” you chastised playfully, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before laughing again, “you are the biggest idiot I have ever met.” 

“Yeah, but you like it,” he gave you a dopey smile, loving the sound of your laugh more than he ever had before. 

“Yeah,” you mumbled, snuggling into his chest and sighing happily, “I do.” 

Hyunjin held you for a moment longer before he sighed and pushed you away dramatically. “Okay, can you go shower now or something since we’ve made up? You still reek of sewer.” 

“Hyunnie,” you whined, “don’t wanna go.” 

“What if I shower with you?” 

Your eyes lit up at that and you sat up immediately. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

He rolled his eyes. You were absolutely ridiculous. But he loved it. And you wouldn’t hear him say it for a while, but he also loved you.

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ᰔ��ْ* Home is with __ you ⊹ ✧

***Introducing...! Seungmin. K x reader ◆ after years apart you finally return home and reunite with the boy you used to love 𝄞 fluffও friends to strangers to friends to lovers

Your car drove across the icy, uneven road. You were finally going back to your birth town after moving away as a teenager. You had to move for your dads job, and with no phone back then you couldn't talk to anyone unless you used your house phone and remembered their numbers. You left everyone and now you felt so many butterflies as you were heading back.

The town wasn't much. A little quaint place lost in the countryside. Popular for ice skating and it's thick winters with not-so-warm summers, it wasn't much but you missed it. Your parents had been planning to go back when they retired and you had offered to check the familiarity of the town.

You drove past the welcome sign, the same wooden sign you remembered crying at when you were leaving at the age of 10. It still was a baby blue colour. Paint worn but still pretty. Little white snowflakes painted were more off white than white by now.

As you made it to the tiny inn you were staying at you smiled. Nothing had changed at all. You walked in, went to the desk and noticed a familiar face. Jisung, a chatterbox you had in your class as a child, he had a playful loud character. "Hey! Long time no see huh?" He looked at you and smiled "you recognized me?" You just nodded in response. He smiled and nodded back "so what brings you back?" He handed you your room key "um just thought it would be nice to visit.. See if it's like I remember" you picked up your suitcase and went to go "well nothings changed too much" he smiled, you flashed him a smile back and went to your room.

The room was small, it consisted of a desk, a wardrobe and a single bed. Not much but it was cozy. It would suit for your one week trip at least. You placed your things down onto the desk and layed down onto the bed. God you were sleepy from the four hour drive in thick snow.

You closed your eyes and dozed off, you'd explore tomorrow...

Your nap didn't last very long, only a few hours but when you woke you were hungry and it was dark outside. Lights illuminating the street, you groaned and stood, grabbing your jacket and leaving the inn to go find food. You wandered mindlessly around the streets until you spotted a little cafe on the corner of the street.

You recognized the place from when you were a kid, the cute fairy lights, sweet pastry smells floating into the street. Your old best friends mom used to run it.

A little boy who used to follow you around. Seungmin, he was a short boy with a baby face and dark brown hair. He was your best friend until you moved and lost contact.. The cafe looked the same.. Did his mother still own it? Hopefully. Maybe you could meet him again, though you doubted he'd remember you. So youwent in and the doors bell rung softly.

Everything was the same. Thank god. Maybe you could see the sweet lady that ran the place, your mother and her were good friends after you befriended Seungmin. Though they didn't keep much contact other than talking in person, the most contact they had other than face to face was your old house phone but your mother hadn't remembered to give them the one for your new home when you moved.

"Welcome!" A man called from the counter smiled, he was older with grey hairs nestled into his black gelled hair. Through his glasses he had warm comforting eyes.

Ah, Mr Shin, he'd worked here for years (it surprised you that he hadn't retired...) He waved and you smiled back "Hi" you smiled and he said it back you sat at the counter as he made your drink and you both talked. He updated you on the town. Nothing much had changed. The old shitty bar down by the dump was now a much cleaner charity shop, they'd made a park next to the school and they'd reopened the community center. Not the most interesting but you knew your parents would be interested in the community center when they moved back so you'd note it to memory.

Whilst chatting you looked around the cafe, hoping to catch site of Seungmin, or maybe another person you would recognize. You spotted a group of boys in the corner booth, a boy with a pretty face and long blonde hair, he was sat on a laptop, completely invested in whatever was on glowing blue screen. the other male had a black mullet, he was sitting talking the others ear off with a smile. He was jacked and had his head on one of his palms, muscles flexed. The blonde was just nodding and smiling at whatever the other said, eyes glued to the scene...

In the corner was a brown haired boy with a baby face.. Pouting and talking to the other guy, you could recognize that face... Seungmin? God he'd grown, stretched more like it. Growing up you were always taller, hell he was barely at your chin when you were ten... He still had the same soft fluffy hair.

Suddenly he turned his head your way, and you locked eyes, his grew wide and you turned away. Shit did he get up? You could hear someone moving. You just prayed and prayed it was one of the old guys sipping coffee in the other side. But you knew it wasn't when you felt a tap on your shoulder "ynnie??..."

He remembered? You slowly turned your neck "hi" you smiled awkwardly and he smiled back "wow!!.. Umm. It's been a while huh?"

You nodded and smiled gently "yeah, suppose it has been" he immediately sat down next to you with a grin you noticed the little charm on his bracelet, one you gave him. He still had it? "So... What have you been up to recently?"

A couple days later you'd grown close to Seungmin again, going to old places you used to play, finally exchanging numbers. "So, you still hang around with Changbin huh?" You smiled and he nodded, fidgeting and fighting with the bracelet he was making. "Yeah, he's still the loud goof ball but I love him obviously"

You nodded and helped him with the bracelet, it was a mess but he'd tried! You used to make them for him all the time as a kid and had brought your old kit to keep you entertained in this town with practically no entertainment, unless you were a alcoholic at the bar or a little kid at the park.

"So what even brought you back here in the first place?" He looked up at you. "My parents are retiring soon and wanna move back, I said I'd scope out the place. I've been meaning to come back anyways" you smiled.

He nodded and put the bracelet onto your wrist. "There! Now we match" he smiled and held up his arm next to yours, showing your new bracelet to his old one.

"It's pretty" you laughed and he just smiled into your face like some lovesick puppy "not as pretty as you" he mumbled and you looked up, eyes widened in shock at his words "sorry what did you say?"

"Not as pretty as you" he smiled and inched closer "you're so pretty, why is me saying they confusing?"

"Because you've.. Never said that before" you furrowed your brows and he got closer he held his hand above yours and looked at you, silently asking if he could hold it. Once you nodded he took your hand and held it near his face. "I'm so serious.. I've liked you since we were kids, I thought I moved on when you left but.. I guess I haven't" he smiled and kissed your hand.

"You mean that?" "Yeah, duh.. " he laughed and cupped your face with his other hand. You smiled "I.. I think I like you to" and he kissed you, soft and quick but still a kiss. "You think you like me?"

"You know what I mean" and that was what sealed it, he pressed a kiss to your lips, and another, and another, and another... You both ended up just laughing after the 8th (actually you lost track...) kiss. Just talking and laughing like teens. "So what happens to.. This? Once you go home... I mean if you want this" he frowned gently.

"I want this, I really do... I guess it'll be awkward at first but we can make this work. We'll have this yeah? And I'll visit... Once my parents move here I'll be here like, constantly" you smiled "every holiday, family gatherings, I'll come back to you" he smiled back and kissed your lips, it would be slow but you'd be fine. You'd make it work.

𝄞 wave to earth ⌗⌗⌗ 🌊2🌐

***introducing!... Skz as wave to earth songs , oneshots (obvi none of this is real I just felt silly)

Bang Chan - sunny days

Originally written as a love song, but then singer Daniel Kim said it felt more like a appreciation of his family and friends and bandmates, and I think that fits Chris so perfectly.

Like... hes so caring and passionate and sunny days is just him. From his sweet words to his smile, his laugh and his love. Gentle touches and soft words, he's definitely the kind of guy who writes song after song about his loved ones...

He's definitely a words of affirmation king!? Like " you are my golden age " and " we melt this love and recreate it, as we imagine it " it's literally him wdym he didn't write this???

He's a commitment guy in my eyes, like #4lyfers, once he's in love he's IN Love. Locked in.

This song just gives me two lovers cuddled up on a couch, on some front decking in a sunrise just.. Being. And I see him as that kind of guy yk? He's in love and content. That's it. Nothing more nothing less, this song is just about love, for anyone in your life really. And he's such a loving guy.

Lee Know - slow dive

A song where things are healing yet feel hopeless, a hard exterior of doubt and worry for perfection and past mistake, and a soft warm inside for healing and longing for hope. And that reminds me of Minho, he strives for perfection in everything he does but still knows it isn't always possible (Though he's pretty close to perfection!).

He's the kind of lover who wants to give more and more he wants to be more than enough.

He just wants to love and be loved, to crack down his protective shell and show off his flaws and fun carefree side. But that's a hard thing to do. But once it finally happens " Feels like I can stay forever" is fitting for it.

He's a act of service guy, just so helpful and caring, hell he treats his cats like his actual children! Imagine how he'd be with a actual human partner. He's a guy who doesn't need pda, soft hand brushes and and gentle kisses on the head or cheek are more than enough. He prefers to be private with affectionate. At home, in peaceful bliss with his cats and partner.

Free from constant pressures and worries. Just him. That's the love he wants and deserves (I literally wanna kiss him a big smooch so bad).

Changbin - surf.

This upbeat song about carefree love and just living is sooooo him! To the instrumental to the lyrics " We don't have much time to enjoy, Just sing it, my babe " just so carefree and happy. And he is just such a joyful guy.

His love is love without worry, without shame. Raw and unfiltered. Unique and perfect. He's a guy who loves quality time and physical touch.

He's just a big ball of infectious love and smiles, literally dream boyfriend quality. He's just so aaaa! He loves to love, just spreading joy is a thing he wants to do. And with a partner? You'd never be alone. Never feel unwanted.

Not with him. Not with the hundreds of kisses and hugs, the soft touches and beautifully poetic words mixed with humor and joking.

If Felix wasn't the sun he would be to me! He's my baby and he's just a guy who's unafraid to show the ones he loves how much he does, in public or not. Whether at home or in the street in broad daylight. Who cares! You only live once and he's going to live it to the fullest he can.

Hyunjin - purple lake

The artist flow and melody of this, the way when I hear this it's like the music is almost being painted to me... Who else could I have chosen? He's a master with words, he speaks his words in ways that swoon. He's a guy who loves passionately.

Passion is what I think for him, strong passion or gentle, either way he's full of it! He's a words of affirmation guy along with receiving gifts. Flowers and handmade things he's crafted.

This song is just to dreamy, I mean the chorus is literally " I swim in your dreams " and HE is so dreamy, his face, his voice, his talents.. And he matches the lyrics a lot.

Honestly I need a cover of him singing this because it's so beautiful (like him) and he is just such a perfect lover, like someone from a movie almost, I mean he's a guy who just wants to be a hopeless romantic really, and throw a partner in the mix and he's got a person to paint and show his talents to.

he's such a talented guy.He just needs to know that he is. He needs to know he's loved just as much as he loves his partner.

Han - gold

" I don't need that gold life " is literally him. humble diva. It's the little things that truly matter. Kisses on the hand or a good job between hard days and bad nights. Just reassurance and comfort in not needing the most but feeling like what you have already is the most.

Fulfillment and contentment, well not fulfilled fully because he still has so much more he wants to do, to experience. But definitely content. Proud and accomplished in both his career and romance.

He loves you and you love him. He doesn't need a big parade to say that he does. He just shows it, he's definitely an act of service and physical touch kind of person, doing things like making food, thinking about the little things again, remembering dates and celebrating small achievements.

A person cheerleader really. And god he's so good at it. Rest assured any partners will feel love 1000x over and over again.

So to sum it up for Jisung, he doesn't need everything. Because he already has it. Sometimes simple beautiful, careful love is all someone could want. I mean I do </33

Felix - daisy.

Okay so basically Daniel Kim and Soon-jong (John) Cha sat and were like " okay... Felix Lee... Yup let's write a song about him! " and now we have this beautiful beautiful masterpiece :D

So perfect. A song about falling in love and your world almost changing, glowing and becoming wonderful. And I think that's what Felix does to so many people, especially a partner, he radiates light, through his smile and beautiful eyes.

He's a guy who really just has all the love languages in him already. Though I like words of affirmation for him mainly. He's such an amazing person, to fans and to his fellow members, fellow idols, just a gentleman and a good person. And this song is almost a both reuniting with a loved one, love blooming again, " Daisy, every time I see you, My day is getting coloured " like... Literally him.

Again another #4lyfer kind of guy, he wants to settle down and just adopt animals, sit and watch movies, bake so much that there's no place to store any of it. I mean he and his partner do it anyways, he just needs the ring for next time.

Definitely a man who wants to live life to the fullest but isn't afraid of settling down, sure the occasional butterflies but he's in love. It's so normal for those feelings when you feel so deeply.

Seungmin - peach eyes

#personalfav? I love Minnie and this song, and it is literally him. He's literally puppy eyed, so.. Peach eyes are practically the same! And the lyricism?

When things get bad or lovely, he has love " You'll be my sunlight, how could I not rely on you, peach eyes? " friend love, romance love, family love. Love. This song is a romance song but you can love and rely on anyone. He's definitely a acts of service kind of dog guy.

Love and fluffy tummy feelings are a new thing for him, I don't feel like he's had too many partners, he loves deeply, so casual dating isn't his forté. At first he thought it was crazy nausea when he first fell in love. Maybe he was just allergic to gorgeous people with prettier eyes...

But alas he isn't (he'd be allergic to himself...) He likes pda, not too much, holding hands and kissing in the nose, head, chin, cheek. It's common in interactions now.

He's just new to this, a fresh apple who trusts you not to let him mould and spoil, and you never will, with how open he is with your communication he understands completely how you feel and you get him. He just loves this new love.

I.N. - light

" You are my sea, you are my sunshine. The star, the moon " is so him especially " I've seen a wonderful sight, with a bright glow " because HE is that bright BRIGHT glow. Literally my baby angel in my eyes. And this song is him in a melody and some words, the lyrics talk about them almost like stars or part of the solar system then repeat about flying away together. To me it's like running away for love. To be in love.

And believe me he's not running away, more like he just forgets to tell anyone then starts kissing and holding hands in front of others, he doesn't mean to he swears!

A quality time guy, he just loves being together, being alone together feels like you're escaping together. Leaving and running away to where you can be proud and in love. Ehen really he's like that... Well everywhere!

He likes going on food dates, I mean I swear he literally unhinges his jaw when he eats... (I shoulda given him peach eyes for his love of them but NO they was for my baby Minnie) he loves going out, dates, piers, walks, shopping, even just into the garden for no reason. My guy loves being around people and loved ones. That's it. That's all he needs.

Aaaaaa!!! It keeps accidentally posting my shit before I'm done </333 what's your favorite w2e song? I love "Annie." And "Love." But these are fire too!! Enjoy ><

ᰔ��ْ* Home is with __ you ⊹ ✧

***Introducing...! Seungmin. K x reader ◆ after years apart you finally return home and reunite with the boy you used to love 𝄞 fluffও friends to strangers to friends to lovers

Your car drove across the icy, uneven road. You were finally going back to your birth town after moving away as a teenager. You had to move for your dads job, and with no phone back then you couldn't talk to anyone unless you used your house phone and remembered their numbers. You left everyone and now you felt so many butterflies as you were heading back.

The town wasn't much. A little quaint place lost in the countryside. Popular for ice skating and it's thick winters with not-so-warm summers, it wasn't much but you missed it. Your parents had been planning to go back when they retired and you had offered to check the familiarity of the town.

You drove past the welcome sign, the same wooden sign you remembered crying at when you were leaving at the age of 10. It still was a baby blue colour. Paint worn but still pretty. Little white snowflakes painted were more off white than white by now.

As you made it to the tiny inn you were staying at you smiled. Nothing had changed at all. You walked in, went to the desk and noticed a familiar face. Jisung, a chatterbox you had in your class as a child, he had a playful loud character. "Hey! Long time no see huh?" He looked at you and smiled "you recognized me?" You just nodded in response. He smiled and nodded back "so what brings you back?" He handed you your room key "um just thought it would be nice to visit.. See if it's like I remember" you picked up your suitcase and went to go "well nothings changed too much" he smiled, you flashed him a smile back and went to your room.

The room was small, it consisted of a desk, a wardrobe and a single bed. Not much but it was cozy. It would suit for your one week trip at least. You placed your things down onto the desk and layed down onto the bed. God you were sleepy from the four hour drive in thick snow.

You closed your eyes and dozed off, you'd explore tomorrow...

Your nap didn't last very long, only a few hours but when you woke you were hungry and it was dark outside. Lights illuminating the street, you groaned and stood, grabbing your jacket and leaving the inn to go find food. You wandered mindlessly around the streets until you spotted a little cafe on the corner of the street.

You recognized the place from when you were a kid, the cute fairy lights, sweet pastry smells floating into the street. Your old best friends mom used to run it.

A little boy who used to follow you around. Seungmin, he was a short boy with a baby face and dark brown hair. He was your best friend until you moved and lost contact.. The cafe looked the same.. Did his mother still own it? Hopefully. Maybe you could meet him again, though you doubted he'd remember you. So youwent in and the doors bell rung softly.

Everything was the same. Thank god. Maybe you could see the sweet lady that ran the place, your mother and her were good friends after you befriended Seungmin. Though they didn't keep much contact other than talking in person, the most contact they had other than face to face was your old house phone but your mother hadn't remembered to give them the one for your new home when you moved.

"Welcome!" A man called from the counter smiled, he was older with grey hairs nestled into his black gelled hair. Through his glasses he had warm comforting eyes.

Ah, Mr Shin, he'd worked here for years (it surprised you that he hadn't retired...) He waved and you smiled back "Hi" you smiled and he said it back you sat at the counter as he made your drink and you both talked. He updated you on the town. Nothing much had changed. The old shitty bar down by the dump was now a much cleaner charity shop, they'd made a park next to the school and they'd reopened the community center. Not the most interesting but you knew your parents would be interested in the community center when they moved back so you'd note it to memory.

Whilst chatting you looked around the cafe, hoping to catch site of Seungmin, or maybe another person you would recognize. You spotted a group of boys in the corner booth, a boy with a pretty face and long blonde hair, he was sat on a laptop, completely invested in whatever was on glowing blue screen. the other male had a black mullet, he was sitting talking the others ear off with a smile. He was jacked and had his head on one of his palms, muscles flexed. The blonde was just nodding and smiling at whatever the other said, eyes glued to the scene...

In the corner was a brown haired boy with a baby face.. Pouting and talking to the other guy, you could recognize that face... Seungmin? God he'd grown, stretched more like it. Growing up you were always taller, hell he was barely at your chin when you were ten... He still had the same soft fluffy hair.

Suddenly he turned his head your way, and you locked eyes, his grew wide and you turned away. Shit did he get up? You could hear someone moving. You just prayed and prayed it was one of the old guys sipping coffee in the other side. But you knew it wasn't when you felt a tap on your shoulder "ynnie??..."

He remembered? You slowly turned your neck "hi" you smiled awkwardly and he smiled back "wow!!.. Umm. It's been a while huh?"

You nodded and smiled gently "yeah, suppose it has been" he immediately sat down next to you with a grin you noticed the little charm on his bracelet, one you gave him. He still had it? "So... What have you been up to recently?"

A couple days later you'd grown close to Seungmin again, going to old places you used to play, finally exchanging numbers. "So, you still hang around with Changbin huh?" You smiled and he nodded, fidgeting and fighting with the bracelet he was making. "Yeah, he's still the loud goof ball but I love him obviously"

You nodded and helped him with the bracelet, it was a mess but he'd tried! You used to make them for him all the time as a kid and had brought your old kit to keep you entertained in this town with practically no entertainment, unless you were a alcoholic at the bar or a little kid at the park.

"So what even brought you back here in the first place?" He looked up at you. "My parents are retiring soon and wanna move back, I said I'd scope out the place. I've been meaning to come back anyways" you smiled.

He nodded and put the bracelet onto your wrist. "There! Now we match" he smiled and held up his arm next to yours, showing your new bracelet to his old one.

"It's pretty" you laughed and he just smiled into your face like some lovesick puppy "not as pretty as you" he mumbled and you looked up, eyes widened in shock at his words "sorry what did you say?"

"Not as pretty as you" he smiled and inched closer "you're so pretty, why is me saying they confusing?"

"Because you've.. Never said that before" you furrowed your brows and he got closer he held his hand above yours and looked at you, silently asking if he could hold it. Once you nodded he took your hand and held it near his face. "I'm so serious.. I've liked you since we were kids, I thought I moved on when you left but.. I guess I haven't" he smiled and kissed your hand.

"You mean that?" "Yeah, duh.. " he laughed and cupped your face with his other hand. You smiled "I.. I think I like you to" and he kissed you, soft and quick but still a kiss. "You think you like me?"

"You know what I mean" and that was what sealed it, he pressed a kiss to your lips, and another, and another, and another... You both ended up just laughing after the 8th (actually you lost track...) kiss. Just talking and laughing like teens. "So what happens to.. This? Once you go home... I mean if you want this" he frowned gently.

"I want this, I really do... I guess it'll be awkward at first but we can make this work. We'll have this yeah? And I'll visit... Once my parents move here I'll be here like, constantly" you smiled "every holiday, family gatherings, I'll come back to you" he smiled back and kissed your lips, it would be slow but you'd be fine. You'd make it work.

THIIIIISSSS OMG THIIIISSS 😍😍

date a skater | jisung

pairing: han jisung x reader

word-count: 6.3k

genre: romance, skater au, friends-to-lovers

warnings: swearing, making-out, honestly this is quite tame and adorable, just two young dorks in love

summary:

“Of course I want to watch you skate,” you say, shaking your head in disbelief. “I’m not some kind of asshole. You’re my best friend.”

“And you’re mine,” Jisung replies automatically.

part of the six month anniversary drabble event!

prompts: “the skirt is supposed to be this short” “hold my hand so he gets jealous”

Keep reading

MASTERPIECE OK?

"Baby, play me like a game.."

Chan x Rockstar! Male! Reader

Summary: Reader, named Riot, is a cousin of HAN. Han invited everyone to his cousin's show.. and Riot has his eyes on a certain someone.

Warnings: Spicy undertones but no actual action, idk, maybe Chan having an internal meltdown about Riot?

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺       ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺  . ✦

The arena pulsed with energy, the crowd’s screams vibrating through the floor as the lights dimmed. Stray Kids sat in the front row, their VIP passes dangling around their necks, courtesy of Han Jisung.

"You sure this guy’s worth the hype?" Lee Know muttered, arms crossed as he leaned back in his seat.

Felix grinned, bouncing in anticipation. "Han’s been talking about him nonstop. Said he’s insane live."

"Insane how?" Hyunjin raised an eyebrow. "Like… ‘good’ insane or ‘should-we-call-security’ insane?"

Before Han could answer, the speakers roared to life with a distorted guitar riff, the stage exploding in a burst of pyrotechnics. The crowd lost it.

Then—silence.

A single spotlight cut through the dark.

And he dropped from the ceiling.

A collective gasp ripped through the audience as Riot—your stage name, your identity at this moment—free-fell from the rafters, landing dead center on the stage with a roll, popping up effortlessly like it was nothing. The music kicked back in, a hard-hitting rock beat, and you were already singing, your voice smooth, powerful, unwavering despite the stunt.

Stray Kids’ jaws hit the floor.

"WHAT THE F—" Changbin choked.

Han was already gone.

"Where’d he—?" Chan whipped his head around, but Jisung had vanished into the shadows, slipping backstage like he had a backstage pass to your soul.

Then—you moved.

The stage was yours—a kingdom of fire and sound—and you ruled it like a predator. Every step was deliberate, your boots hitting the floor in time with the pounding bass as you stalked the edge of the stage. The crowd was a sea of screaming devotion, but your gaze cut through them like a blade, locking onto the eight men in the front row.

Especially him.

Bang Chan sat frozen, his fingers gripping the armrests as you dragged your eyes over him, a slow, wicked smirk curling your lips. The music pulsed, the beat dropping into something darker, heavier—and then, with one sharp tug, you ripped your sleeveless shirt down the middle, exposing your sweat-slicked abs, the fabric hanging uselessly at your sides.

The arena erupted.

But you weren’t done.

In one fluid motion, you dropped to your knees, sliding across the stage until you were inches from Chan’s face. Your chest heaved, your breath hot as you leaned in, close enough for him to see the wild, unhinged fire in your eyes.

Then you sang—voice rough, dripping with something between a promise and a threat—

"You wanna play with fire, baby?

Better pray you don’t get burned."

Chan’s throat went dry. His pulse was a hammer against his ribs, his fingers twitching like he wanted to reach out, to push you away, to pull you closer—but he couldn’t move. Your gaze held him captive, dark and wanting, your lips curled in a smirk that said you knew exactly what you were doing to him.

For a heartbeat, the world stopped.

Then—

You winked.

And just like that, you were gone, spinning back onto the stage like you hadn’t just set Chan’s nerves on fire. Behind you, the other members of Stray Kids were losing their minds—Hyunjin gripping Seungmin’s arm in shock, Felix’s mouth hanging open, Changbin yelling something unintelligible.

But Chan?

Chan was still frozen, your scent lingering in the air, your voice echoing in his skull.

And the worst part?

You weren’t even done yet.

Behind him, the others erupted.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"HAN BETTER EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW—"

But Han was already backstage, grinning like he’d just pulled off the greatest prank of all time.

And the show had only just begun.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺       ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺  . ✦

The arena plunges into darkness, the roar of the crowd fading into a collective, anticipatory hush. A slow, sultry bassline slithers through the speakers, its vibrations curling around the silence like smoke. Backstage, Han leans against the edge of the curtain, his grin feral as he watches his cousin step into the single spotlight illuminating the stage.

“Oh, they’re so not ready for this,” Han mutters to himself, pulling out his phone with a gleam of mischief in his eyes. His thumb hovers over the record button, ready to immortalize the chaos about to unfold.

Onstage, RIOT stands alone, your presence commanding yet strangely vulnerable. Gone is the usual fiery bravado that defines you; in its place is something raw and devastatingly magnetic. 

You tilt your head slightly, letting your shadowed gaze sweep across the audience like a predator sizing up its prey. The leather jacket draped over your shoulders slides down in one fluid motion, hitting the stage with a deliberate thud that seems to echo louder than it should. The sound sends a ripple of tension through the crowd.

A murmur runs through the audience, a mix of awe and anticipation. Stray Kids, seated in the front row, remain oblivious to what’s coming. Chan leans forward slightly in curiosity, his brow furrowed as he watches RIOT with cautious interest.

Then—You sing.

"I don’t need pride, don’t need my name,

Just tell me what you want, I’ll be your fucking game."

Your voice is broken and breathy, each word dripping with shameless desperation. Your hand tightens around the mic stand as though it’s the only thing grounding you. Slowly—achingly slowly—you drag it across the stage with a deliberate sway of your hips that feels more like a taunt than a dance move. The spotlight follows you as you prowl forward, your movements languid and feline.

And then comes the moment.

You slide the mic stand between your legs with a sinful grind of your hips before dropping to your knees at the very edge of the stage. The crowd gasps audibly as you lean forward on all fours, closing what little distance remains between yourself and Bang Chan. Your eyes—wide, glassy, and brimming with something almost too raw to look at—lock onto Chan’s like you're staring straight through him. It’s not just eye contact; it’s an unspoken confession wrapped in a challenge.

Backstage, Han has to bite down on his sleeve to keep from bursting into laughter. His phone trembles slightly in his hand as he zooms in on Chan’s face—frozen and flushed scarlet under the harsh spotlight.

“Oh my god,” Han whispers hoarsely to himself between muffled snickers. “He’s actually going to kill Chan.”

Chan doesn’t move. He can’t move. His brain is short-circuiting under RIOT’s relentless gaze. He feels pinned in place by those eyes—trapped in some kind of spell he doesn’t know how to break.

Meanwhile, Stray Kids are unraveling in real-time:

Changbin has buried his face in both hands like he can’t bear to witness another second of this madness. 

Felix is fanning himself so vigorously it looks like he might take flight at any moment. Hyunjin teeters between fainting and launching himself onto the stage—his clenched fists trembling with unresolved tension. 

Lee Know crosses his arms tightly over his chest, glaring daggers at RIOT but unable to hide the faint glimmer of reluctant admiration flickering behind his eyes.

But RIOT isn’t done with them yet—not even close.

Still on your knees, you lean further forward until half your torso dangles off the edge of the stage. your body arches back dramatically as you flip onto your back with an effortless grace that feels almost indecent in its intimacy. One arm dangles loosely over the stage’s edge while the other clutches at the mic like it’s an extension of yourself. Your head tilts back so far that strands of sweat-dampened hair cling to your face as you gaze upside-down at Chan through heavy-lidded eyes.

"SO BEG FOR ME LIKE I BEG FOR YOU—TEAR ME APART, I DON’T CARE IF IT RUINS ME TOO."

The final chorus rips out of you like a plea torn straight from your chest. Your voice cracks beautifully on the last note—a sound so raw it leaves everyone breathless.

For a moment, there’s nothing but silence. The crowd seems collectively stunned into stillness.

And then—the arena explodes.

Screams erupt from every corner of the venue as fans lose their minds entirely. The energy is electric, chaotic—a storm breaking loose after unbearable tension.

But RIOT doesn’t bask in it for long. Instead, you turn your head slightly toward Chan one last time and wink—a slow, deliberate motion that feels more intimate than any touch could ever be.

Before anyone can react further, the lights flicker violently—once, twice—and when they stabilize again… RIOT is gone.

The name RIOT flashes across every screen in jagged dark red letters that seem to drip like fresh blood against a stark black background. The music cuts out entirely as if signaling not just an end—but the end. The show is over.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺       ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺  . ✦

Chan remains frozen in place long after RIOT vanishes from sight. His mind races frantically: 

What just happened? Was that real? Did anyone else notice how he looked right at me? Oh god—it was aimed at me.

 Heat crawls up his neck and settles across his cheeks like wildfire as he tries—and fails—to compose himself.

Backstage, Han is doubled over laughing so hard that tears stream down his face. “Dude,” he gasps between wheezing breaths as RIOT strolls past him looking utterly unbothered by what just transpired. “You just murdered Bang Chan.”

You smirk lazily while wiping sweat off his brow with a towel slung over one shoulder. “Good,” he says nonchalantly before tossing Han a wink for good measure. “Now let’s go watch them try to recover from that.”

The arena is still buzzing with the aftermath of RIOT’s performance, the crowd’s screams echoing like a storm that refuses to settle. The screens are black now, save for the blood-red name that lingers ominously: RIOT. The lights remain dimmed, casting the venue in an eerie half-darkness as if the air itself is trying to catch its breath.

But Chan can’t breathe.

He’s still sitting in the front row, frozen like a statue, his elbows propped on his knees and his hands clasped tightly together to keep them from trembling. His face is flushed—burning—and no matter how much he wills himself to calm down, his heart won’t stop pounding in his chest. It’s deafening. He feels like everyone can hear it, like it’s betraying him in real-time.

What just happened? His mind replays the performance in fragments: RIOT’s voice cracking with raw desperation, the way he’d dropped to his knees, the way he’d looked at him. That wink—that wink. Chan swallows hard, but it doesn’t help. His throat feels dry as sandpaper.

“Hyung?” Felix’s soft voice breaks through the haze, but it only makes Chan flinch. He turns his head slightly, catching Felix’s worried expression through his peripheral vision. 

The younger boy leans closer, fanning himself with one hand while clutching Chan’s arm with the other. “Are you okay? You look… uh…”

“Red,” Hyunjin finishes for him from Chan’s other side, his voice laced with disbelief and something sharp-edged that might be jealousy. 

Hyunjin is slouched back in his seat, one hand gripping the armrest so tightly that his knuckles are white. His jaw is clenched as he glares daggers at the now-empty stage. “Like a tomato,” he adds flatly, though there’s a faint tremor in his voice that betrays him.

Chan doesn’t respond. He can’t even look at them. He stares straight ahead at nothing in particular, trying to piece together some kind of coherent thought amidst the chaos in his brain.

Lee Know, seated next to Hyunjin, lets out a low whistle and crosses his arms over his chest. “Well,” he says dryly, tilting his head toward Chan with a smirk that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Looks like someone has a new admirer.”

At that, Chan finally snaps out of his daze—just barely—and turns to glare at Lee Know with wide eyes. “What? No! That’s not—he wasn’t—” His words trip over themselves as panic sets in again. “It wasn’t aimed at me,” he insists weakly, though even as he says it, he knows it’s a lie.

“Oh, come on,” Changbin groans from two seats down, finally lifting his head from where it had been buried in his hands for most of the performance. His face is still redder than usual, and he looks thoroughly exasperated as he gestures vaguely toward Chan. “Hyung, everyone saw it. He was basically crawling into your lap.”

“Stop!” Chan hisses, waving both hands frantically as if trying to physically push away Changbin’s words. His ears are burning now too; he can feel it.

“Honestly,” Lee Know muses aloud, tapping a finger against his chin like he’s deep in thought. “I’m impressed by how bold he was. That takes guts.”

“Or insanity,” Hyunjin mutters darkly under his breath.

Felix giggles nervously and pats Chan on the shoulder in what he probably thinks is a comforting gesture but only makes Chan sink further into mortification. “It’s okay, hyung,” Felix says cheerfully despite looking like he might faint at any moment. “It just means you’re really… uh… magnetic?”

“Magnetic?” Hyunjin echoes incredulously before scoffing and crossing one leg over the other with an exaggerated huff. “More like cursed.”

“Guys!” Chan snaps suddenly, louder than intended. The others fall silent for a moment as they all turn to look at him with varying degrees of amusement and concern. He takes a deep breath and runs both hands through his hair in frustration before slumping back against his seat with a groan. “Can we not talk about this right now?”

“But hyung,” Felix starts again hesitantly before trailing off when Changbin nudges him with an elbow and shakes his head as if to say let it go.

Meanwhile, Seungmin has been sitting quietly on the far end of their row this entire time, watching everything unfold with an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, he speaks up in that calm yet cutting tone of his that always seems to hit its mark: “You do realize Han filmed the whole thing, right?”

Chan freezes again.

“What?” he whispers hoarsely after a long pause.

Seungmin shrugs nonchalantly and adjusts his glasses as if this isn’t groundbreaking news that threatens to ruin Chan’s life forever. “I saw him backstage,” Seungmin explains matter-of-factly. “He was laughing so hard I thought he might pass out.”

Chan groans again and buries his face in both hands this time. “I’m never going to hear the end of this,” he mumbles miserably into his palms.

“You’re really not,” Seungmin agrees without missing a beat.

Before anyone can say anything else—or before Chan can spontaneously combust from sheer embarrassment—the lights in the arena flicker back on fully, signaling that the show is officially over. The crowd begins to disperse slowly amidst lingering chatter about RIOT’s performance.

But Stray Kids don’t move right away.

Chan finally sits up straight again after what feels like an eternity and exhales shakily as if trying to regain some semblance of composure. He glances around at the others—at Felix’s worried smile, Changbin’s exasperation, Lee Know’s smirk, Hyunjin’s simmering irritation—and feels equal parts grateful and overwhelmed by their presence.

“Let’s just go backstage,” he mutters eventually while standing up and brushing off invisible dust from his pants as if that will somehow help him regain control of the situation.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺       ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺  . ✦

As they make their way out of their seats and toward backstage access, Chan can’t shake the feeling that this isn’t over—not by a long shot.

And somewhere behind those curtains… Han is waiting for them with a video file and far too much glee for anyone’s comfort.

You step off the stage, the rush of adrenaline still coursing through your veins like a wild animal refusing to be tamed. The sweat-drenched shirt clings to your back, and you rip it off without hesitation, letting out a sigh of relief as the cool air hits your skin. Your eyeliner is smudged, and you can feel the makeup starting to run, but you don’t care. You’re too busy gulping down water from the bottle in your hand, trying to quench the thirst that seems to have taken over your entire being.

As you glance up, you catch sight of Stray Kids making their way backstage, their presence unmistakable even amidst the bustle of staff and performers. Your eyes immediately land on Bang Chan, and the sight nearly makes you laugh out loud. He looks like he’s seen a ghost—his face flushed a deep red, his wide eyes fixed on you with a mix of shock and something else you can’t quite place. His expression is so unguarded, so raw, that it’s almost endearing. Almost.

You feel a flicker of amusement curl at the edges of your lips. It’s clear he’s still reeling from your performance, and honestly, you can’t blame him. You’d gone all in tonight—left everything on that stage—and judging by his reaction, it had landed exactly where you wanted it to.

Han’s laughter cuts through the air before anyone else can speak. He’s leaning against a nearby table, holding up his phone triumphantly like a trophy. “Did you see their faces?” he cackles, pointing the screen toward you as he replays the footage he captured. “Oh my god, Chan looked like he was about to pass out! This is gold.”

You roll your eyes at him but can’t help smiling as you shake your head. “Put that away before you get us both in trouble,” you say lightly, though there’s no real heat behind your words. Han’s always been like this—chaotic, relentless, and utterly impossible to stay mad at.

“Trouble?” Han grins wider, clearly unbothered. “This is art, cousin. Pure art.”

The word hangs in the air for a moment before Stray Kids finally reach earshot. You straighten up slightly as they approach, wiping the sweat from your brow with the towel slung over your shoulder. Despite the exhaustion still weighing on your limbs, you force yourself to focus.

“Hey, guys,” you greet them with an easy smile, extending a hand in welcome. Your voice is calm—steady—a stark contrast to the whirlwind of energy you’d unleashed on stage just minutes ago. “I’m RIOT. Nice to meet you all properly.”

There’s a beat of silence as they process your words. Felix is the first to step forward, his signature sunshine smile breaking through the tension as he shakes your hand eagerly. “Nice to meet you too! That performance was insane,” he says with genuine enthusiasm, his Australian accent adding an extra layer of warmth to his words.

“Insane is one way to describe it,” Changbin mutters under his breath, though there’s no malice in his tone—just lingering disbelief as he glances between you and Han.

Hyunjin crosses his arms tightly over his chest, his sharp features set in an expression that hovers somewhere between intrigue and irritation. He doesn’t say anything yet but keeps his gaze locked on you like he’s trying to figure out what makes you tick.

Lee Know tilts his head slightly, studying you with that unreadable look of his that always seems just a little too knowing. “You’re… calmer than I expected,” he remarks dryly, one eyebrow quirking upward.

You chuckle softly at that and shrug. “The stage brings out a different side of me,” you reply simply.

And then there’s Chan—still standing slightly behind the others as if trying to blend into the background despite being their leader. His hands are stuffed into his pockets now, but it does nothing to hide how tense he is. When your eyes meet again, he quickly looks away, his cheeks flushing even deeper than before.

Before anyone can comment further on Chan’s obvious discomfort—or lack thereof—Han decides it’s time to drop his bombshell.

“Oh!” Han exclaims brightly, clapping a hand on your shoulder with exaggerated flair. “Did I forget to mention? We’re cousins.”

The reaction is immediate and priceless.

“Cousins?” Changbin blurts out incredulously, his jaw practically hitting the floor as he stares at Han like he’s just announced aliens are real.

Felix blinks rapidly in surprise before breaking into another grin. “Wait—you’re related? Like actual cousins?”

Hyunjin uncrosses his arms abruptly and narrows his eyes at Han suspiciously. “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?”

Lee Know just gives an amused snort and shakes his head as if this revelation somehow explains everything.

Chan looks like someone just pulled the rug out from under him entirely. His mouth opens slightly as if to say something but then closes again when no words come out. He glances between you and Han with wide eyes as though trying—and failing—to reconcile this new information with what he knows about either of you.

“Surprise,” Han says cheerfully, clearly reveling in their reactions.

You chuckle again and raise both hands in mock surrender. “Guilty as charged,” you say lightly before glancing back at Chan specifically. “Sorry for not mentioning it earlier.”

Chan blinks rapidly at being addressed directly and stammers something unintelligible before finally managing a faint nod. “It’s… fine,” he mumbles awkwardly, though the redness in his face suggests otherwise.

The conversation drifts into small talk after that—Felix asking about your training routine while Changbin peppers Han with questions about why he kept this secret for so long—but your attention keeps drifting back to Chan despite yourself.

He stays quiet for most of it, only chiming in occasionally with polite nods or murmured agreements when prompted by the others. But every now and then, you catch him sneaking glances at you when he thinks no one is looking.

It makes something stir inside you—a spark of curiosity mixed with mischief that refuses to be ignored.

As the group begins to relax around each other again, you find yourself wondering just how far this little game could go… 

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺       ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺  . ✦

As the others continue to pepper Han with questions, you seize the opportunity to pull Bang Chan aside, away from the chaos. Your eyes lock onto his, and with a gentle tug on his arm, you guide him a few steps away from the group. The sudden movement catches him off guard, and for a moment, he looks like he's not sure what to do with himself.

You lean in closer, your voice dropping to a whisper that sends a shiver down his spine. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" The words are laced with a flirtatious undertone that you can't help but inject into every syllable.

Chan looks up at you, his eyes wide with a mix of shock and curiosity. The flush on his cheeks deepens, and he nods slightly, his throat working to swallow. You can't help but notice the way his eyes dart around before finally settling on yours, like he's searching for an escape route that doesn't exist.

As you stand there, the air between you feels charged with tension. You let your gaze linger on his face, taking in the way his hair curls slightly at the nape of his neck, the way his lips part ever so slightly as he breathes. It's almost too much to resist.

"Hey, I wanted to check in with you," you say, your tone turning more serious, though the flirtation still simmers just beneath the surface. "Was it okay, putting you in the spotlight like that during the show?" Your eyes hold his, searching for any sign of discomfort or distress.

Chan looks puzzled, his brow furrowing slightly as he processes your question. "What do you mean? It was just a performance," he replies, his voice softer than usual, tinged with a hint of confusion.

You smile, feeling a flutter in your chest. It's hard to keep the sincerity out of your voice as you say, "I kind of admire you, Bang Chan." The words hang in the air, heavy with unspoken meaning.

But instead of catching the underlying tone, he takes it as admiration for his work as a producer. "Oh, thanks," he says with a slight smile, his eyes lighting up with pride. "I appreciate it."

You shake your head gently, a chuckle escaping your lips. It's almost too cute how he misinterprets your intentions. You take a step closer, your voice dropping to a whisper again. "No, Channie," you say softly, using the nickname to make it more intimate. Your hands find their way to his hips, pulling him closer so he can see the sincerity in your eyes.

"I meant every word I sang," you whisper, your breath brushing against his ear. The words are laced with a raw emotion that you can't hide anymore.

You wink at him, the gesture playful yet serious. For a moment, you just hold his gaze, letting him absorb the weight of your words. The air between you crackles with tension, and you can feel his heart racing against your fingertips.

Then, with a final glance that leaves him looking more bewildered than ever, you turn and head towards the changing room.

You knew Han and the rest of the members couldn't stay longer, they had events to go to tomorrow and it was late already. You waved them goodbye and sent a little wink towards Chan's way.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺       ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺  . ✦

Months later, same venue. You performed again, your favourite song to perform since last time..

You’re standing on stage, bathed in crimson light, the bassline thrumming through your chest like a second heartbeat. The crowd is a sea of hands and screams, their energy feeding yours as you move with deliberate precision—every sway of your hips, every flick of your wrist calculated to captivate. You’ve always loved this part—the way the stage transforms you, amplifies you into something larger than life. Tonight, though, there’s something different. Someone different.

Your eyes scan the crowd as you sing, and there he is. Bang Chan. Front and center in the platinum section, his face illuminated by the stage lights. He’s watching you with an intensity that sends a jolt straight down your spine. You hadn’t seen him in months—not since that night backstage when you’d left him flustered and red-faced after your little confession. You didn’t have his number, didn’t dare ask Han for it either. But here he is, and god, he looks good—better than you remembered.

You smirk mid-verse, letting your gaze linger on him before turning away with a teasing sway of your hips. The crowd roars louder at the movement, but you’re barely paying attention to them anymore. Your focus keeps drifting back to him. You point in his direction during the chorus, a subtle acknowledgment that’s anything but subtle to him. His eyes widen slightly, his lips parting as if he’s trying to breathe through the moment.

The performance builds to its climax—a whirlwind of sound and movement—and when it ends, you’re drenched in sweat but exhilarated beyond belief. The applause is deafening as you step offstage, grabbing a towel and gulping down water like it’s a lifeline. Your crew buzzes around you, but all you can think about is him.

And then you see him.

Chan stands at the edge of the backstage area, looking hesitant but determined as he waits for you to notice him. You don’t make him wait long. Setting down your water bottle, you stride over with the same confidence you had on stage.

“Platinum ticket?” you tease lightly as you approach, letting your voice drop just enough to make it feel intimate. “Didn’t know I had such dedicated fans.”

Chan’s cheeks flush immediately, just like they did last time. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and laughs softly. “I… uh… thought I’d come see how much better you’ve gotten.”

You raise an eyebrow at that, leaning in closer so he can hear you over the noise of backstage chatter. “Better? You mean I wasn’t already perfect?”

His laugh comes out more nervous this time, and it makes something warm bloom in your chest. You let yourself take him in for a moment—the way his shirt clings to his frame just right, the way his hair falls messily across his forehead—and then decide to push things further.

“You know,” you say casually, leaning against the wall beside him so your shoulder brushes his lightly, “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

Chan shifts under your gaze but doesn’t move away. “I—well—I thought…” He trails off as if searching for words that won’t betray him.

You smile softly at his hesitation and decide to put him out of his misery—just a little. 

“It’s been months,” you say quietly, letting some of your own vulnerability seep into your tone. “I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again.”

His eyes snap back to yours at that, and for a moment he looks almost guilty. “I wanted to,” he admits after a pause. “But… I didn’t know how.”

You nod slowly, understanding more than he probably realizes. Being an idol means living in chaos—constant schedules and expectations that leave little room for personal connections.

“Well,” you say after a beat, letting your voice turn playful again as you step closer to him—close enough that there’s barely any space between you now. “You could’ve asked Han for my number.”

Chan lets out a startled laugh at that and shakes his head quickly. “Yeah… no way.”

You chuckle along with him before letting the moment settle into something quieter again.

“I meant what I said last time,” you say softly, watching his expression shift from amusement to something more serious as he processes your words.

“What do you mean?” he asks cautiously.

You smile at him—slowly this time—and reach out to gently rest your hands on his hips before he can pull away or overthink it. The touch is light but deliberate enough to make him freeze under your fingertips.

“Channie,” you murmur, letting the nickname roll off your tongue like honey as your thumbs brush against his sides ever so slightly. “I meant every word I sang.”

His breath catches audibly at that—his eyes wide and searching yours like he’s trying to figure out if this is real or some elaborate joke.

You wink at him then—slowly, deliberately—and step back before he can respond or recover from the moment entirely.

“I’ll be in the changing room,” you say lightly over your shoulder as you walk away, leaving him standing there stunned and speechless amidst the chaos of backstage life.

And god—you can’t help but wonder how long it’ll take before he follows.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺       ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺  . ✦

That's it for now! Maybe I'll upload the next part tomorrow.. it'll be my first time writing something spicy, so don't judge me too hard! 

ice cream—

written by: 🥺

genre: fluff

warnings: swearing

summary: maybe being helpful does have it's benefits.

thank you again to @mrsunshine999 for requesting this, you always come up with the best prompts!!

+++

you would regard yourself as the helpful type, always willing to aid others who are in need. even if that means leaving the comfort of your bed late at night to buy ice cream for your sister.

what your helpfulness does not extend to, however, is willingly giving said ice cream (the last one in the store) to a stranger.

a handsome stranger, perhaps, but thats besides the point.

he smiles sheepishly. "uh, hi."

"hi," you deadpan, refusing to pull your hand away from the tub, despite how cold your fingers feel. already.

"nice pajamas."

you glance down at the clothes you picked out at random - cookie monster pajama pants and a bright orange hoodie. admittedly not the best combination but, hey, you're at the store, not a fashion show.

"thanks. give me the ice cream."

"sorry, but i have 7 hungry men at home and i lost a bet."

"i have a sick sister at home. she's... going to die."

he raises an eyebrow. "if you don't get her this ice cream?"

"yes." the word slips out of your mouth before you can stop it. the lie is incredibly obvious, but you still hope that he either falls for it or gives up. "it's her dying wish."

unfortunately, he is neither stupid nor cooperative. "strawberry ice cream. her dying wish... sure." his grip on the tub tightens, biceps flexing just slightly. you try not to focus on that detail. "look, i'm sorry about your sister, but there's another store, like, 10 minutes away."

you gesture to your body. "and you expect me to go out in the cold like this?"

"your fashion choice, dude, not mine."

groaning, you reluctantly pull your hand away. absolutely not because you're giving in, but because in such thin clothes, the cold of the freezer is harder to withstand.

"look, dude," you say mockingly, "can you just go to the other store instead? please just give me the ice cream, i'm sick of this."

seemingly considering your offer, he licks his lips and allows his hand to fall to his side. just as you think you've won, the corners of his lips lift into a smirk. "fine, i'll give you the icecream."

"oh, thank fu-"

he grabs your wrist as you reach back into the freezer, and you cut yourself off in shock. "on one condition."

"and that is...?"

the smirk remains, but his eyes fall to his feet. "if i give you this, will you let me buy you ice cream another day?"

your eyes widen. did he just... no. what the fuck?

cheeks burning, and the room feeling hotter than ever, you clear your throat. "are you... are you blackmailing me?"

"no!" he exclaims, releasing his grip on your wrist, which you had previously forgotten about. "i'm trying to hit on you."

"right now? like, when i'm standing in my pajamas and being stubborn about ice cream?"

he nods.

"that is an awful deal. for you."

he shrugs. "not if i get to take a cute stranger on a date."

"oh..." you consider your options. he may have been an inconvenience at first, but he is attractive, and it means double ice-cream for the price of one, so— "sure, i'll do it."

a blinding smile takes over his features. "i'm changbin."

"y/n."

"can i... can i have your number? you know, to contact you," changbin says.

"i thought you'd never ask."

you arrive home roughly 15 minutes later. when you hand your sister the ice cream and she doesn't even bother to thank you, you can't find it in yourself to care.

maybe being helpful does have its benefits. the benefits, in question, being ice cream. definitely not going on a date with a pretty boy, right?

stray kids when their s/o is pregnant with multiples—

written by: 🐝

genre: fluff

warnings: pregnancy, swearing

thank you to @mrsunshine999 for requesting this!!

+++

bang chan ♡

• chan’s so prepared to be a father!!

• he’s terrified, as most first time parents usually are, but he’s so so so SO excited to be having kids with you

• he’s even happier when he finds out you’re having twins

• “i want more 🥺🥺”

• “they haven’t even cOME OUT YET-“

• “could u squeeze out more babies please 🥺🥺🥺”

• chan is sosososo protective of you

• it’s really sweet actually

• he’s always touching you in some way, just wanting to make sure you and the babies nearby

• chan likes to touch ur bump

• like,, A LOT,,,

• if he could choose, he’d never let go ☺️☺️

• chan definitely spends a lot of his spare time thinking of names for ur kids

• unfortunately, neither of you can seem to agree on anything

• you both decide to wait until after the babies are born to come up with something

minho ♡

• okay so y’all are having triplets

• he’s thrilled

• get used to ridiculous name ideas tho,,

• “babe...”

• “yes, minnie?”

• “could we pleeeeaaase call the babies soonie, doongie and dori??”

• you: 😐😐😐

• minho: 👁👄👁

• “absolutely not”

• “bABE PLEASE-“

• much like chan, he’s fiercely protective of u

• if anyone so much as looks at u the wrong way, they’re getting a shoe thrown at their head

• and when ur babies are finally born he’s the same

• one of his cousins said the babies weren’t even that cute and i’m pretty sure he burst a blood vessel trying to suppress the urge to throw a table or smth 👀👀

changbin ♡

• not to roast him or anything but when the sonographer said y’all were having quadruplets he passed out,, in the middle of the sonography room,,,

• “can you check again??”

• “sir i’ve checked 1000 times, i’m certain-“

• “just chECK AGAIN-“

• once changbin got over the initial anxiety, he was over the moon about it

• “damn, is my sperm on steroids or smth??”

• “changbin pls 😭😭”

• he’s seriously caring tho

• he always makes sure you’re on time to your prenatal classes and doctors appointments

• and he’s all read up on the latest child rearing tips and tricks 😌😌😌

• but absolutely expect changbin to pop ur pregnancy ball from bouncing on it too hard

• (we all know changbin has a phat ass)

hyunjin ♡

• you were both really nervous about having triplets, but hyunjin more so than you

• mostly bc he felt so powerless

• you were carrying T H R E E babies when most people only have O N E

• so he promised himself that he’d be there for every moment of your pregnancy, holding your hand every step of the way just to make sure you never felt intimidated or alone

• 😭😭😭 don’t mind me 😭😭😭😭 just sobbing over hyunjin 😭😭😭😭😭

• he buys designer baby clothes all 👏the 👏time👏

• u try and tell him to slow down but he doesn’t listen

• “c’moooon, we’re having triplets! we’re gonna need lots of baby clothes!”

• “not designer baby clothes! they’re just gonna poop and puke all over them!”

• “idc, no child of mine will be dressing like some n00b”

jisung ♡

• ur pregnancy was quite a tough one

• you both knew it was likely gonna be that way, but that didn’t stop it from being any less difficult

• “these kids kick too damn much”

• “c’mon, it’s a good thing they’re kicking. it means they’re healthy and active.”

• “that’s not the issue, it’s that they’re kicking each other and i’m getting caught in the crossfire”

• “do you need me to have a word with them?”

• “sure?” 🤨🤨

• “hey, you two. quit fighting”

• *the babies continue to beat the crap out of each other, elliciting a groan from you”

• “don’t make me come in there! i’m your father and you will listen to me.”

• it didn’t help much but it’s the thought that counts

• (dad!jisung has me so soft 🐝)

• on a similar note, jisung ALWAYS knows how to lift ur mood when ur feeling particularly hormonal or sensitive

• whether it’s giving you a back massage and cuddles

• or just listening to you vent

• jisung tries his hardest to be a supportive presence bc having twins is a big deal and not everyone knows what ur going through

felix ♡

• being pregnant with triplets was an experience to say the absolute least

• ur pregnancy was so w e i r d

• strong!! pregnancy!!! cravings!!!!

• onion rings with strawberry jam 🤢🤢

• pickle juice and vanilla icecream 🤢🤢🤢

• apple slices and mustard 🤢🤢🤢🤢

• felix insists on cooking for u

• he’s so disgusted by ur food cravings, but pretends not to be bc ur so sensitive that any sort of criticism will have you bawling ur eyes out

• and if you start crying, so does felix

• and then everyone starts crying

• felix is sosososoSO gentle with u

• he’s very careful not to wake you in the night

• and he’ll help you put ur shoes on and get dressed when u get too big to do it on ur own

• which he loves 💕❤️

• looking after you is a big thing for felix, especially with three babies on the way

seungmin ♡

• he had this weird premonition/feeling/dream that y’all were gonna have a lot of kids

• but seungmin could NOT have comprehended that y’all were having quadruplets,,,

• he’s similar to changbin in that he was in a state of shock and disbelief when he found out (unsurprisingly) but it didn’t take long for him to get used to the idea of it

• bc quadruplet pregnancies tend to be shorter, he wanted to get all the important stuff out of the way first

• like putting together the nursery

• he enlisted the help of his group members bc there was just so much stuff to put together

• chan, hyunjin, minho and changbin got the most stuff done, whilst jisung, jeongin and felix sorta just fucked shit up

• you and seungmin sorta just watched from the sidelines like: 🤭😮

• making sure that you felt confident in yourself as a parent was really important to him

• which brings me to this cute fact: seungmin compliments and praises you ALL👏THE👏TIME👏

• “you’re so good at this!”

• “your bump looks so cute, i’m gonna rlly miss it”

• “our kids are rlly lucky to have u as their parent”

jeongin ♡

• jeongin couldn’t make it to the first scan because the weather was so awful and no bus would take him, so you went on your own and called him after to tell him the good news

• “we’re having TWO babies??? in one go???”

• “yes, innie, we’re having twins!!”

• “but I’M a baby!! can u really handle two more???”

• as much as you two both like to joke, ur pregnancy really matured him as a person

• jeongin was determined to be the best possible father for his children, no questions asked 😌😌

• so he read all the books.....

• and went to all the prenatal yoga classes.......

• and did all the things you’re supposed to do.......

• but, for jeongin, that didn’t quite feel like enough

• he only felt ready to be a parent when he spoke with his dad and grandpa, who both confided in him that they felt just as unprepared and inadequate as he did and that’s sorta just a part of being a parent

• fortunately, that gave him a lot more confidence

• and when your due date came, he handled everything so calm and confidently

written by: 🥺

[12:08] being prince!hyunjin's tutor wasn't the easiest job in the world, unlike you had expected it to be. after all, he was part of the royal family, raised to be polite, well-rounded and a suitable heir—and that's exactly how you assumed the young prince would act.

but that definitely wasn't the case. hyunjin was just so annoying. sweet and kind, no doubt, but annoying. he had no desire to learn, instead preferring to spend his days frolocking outside in the castle gardens or, if allowed, taking a carriage through the village just to "see how his people were doing", as he had commented once. whilst you could understand that being cooped up in a castle with the weight of a future kingdom on his shoulders was bound to ebb away at his motivation, it definitely didn't make your job any easier.

you leaned against the pillows of his bed whilst you waited for him, reading a book you had read a thousand times before. it was one that hyunjin was supposed to read too, but he'd barely registered five words before he started whining that he wanted you to do it instead. granted, it was very interesting, and in the time it had taken you to get through half the book with hyunjin (he kept losing interest at random points and requesting that you restart the chapter) you had already memorised every line of dialogue, every twist and turn—so much so that you could probably perform it to hyunjin but, of course, you would never dare embarrass yourself like that.

it wasn't until the bed sunk beneath you suddenly that you realised that hyunjin had entered the room. you'd been so swept up in the main character's inner conflict that you'd barely noticed. he groaned, "jousting is the worst."

"why is that?" you asked, not bothering to look up from the book, but still unable to concentrate on whatever the main character was now thinking. something about her conflicting adoration and hatred for the love interest, you guessed.

"because the horse doesn't listen to me, and when you fall off you fall straight into mud. not to mention i keep dropping the-"

the horse doesn't listen to me. his words echoed in your brain for a few seconds as you tried to distinguish between what he had said and what you were reading. straight into the mud—

"hyunjin!" you interrupted his tale, throwing your book to the side and ushering him off the bed.

your sudden realisation was correct; the dirty armour he was wearing - which went unnoticed by you before - had stained massive patches of mud on his white sheets. you turned back to him. "the maids are going to kill me for letting you do this." you pointed a finger at his armoured chest. "then they're going to come for you."

hyunjin laughed and folded his arms across his chest. "why do you always treat me as though i am a child?"

you rolled your eyes and moved over to the bed, beginning to strip the sheets and get them washed before the stains were irreversible. "because you are a child."

"yes, but so are you. you are only a year older than me, may i remind you."

"a year older and your tutor," you replied. "i have the responsibility of looking after you and teaching you, therefore i have authority and you must respect me."

you heard a clatter as he dropped something to the floor, followed by a clash of metal. "and i will be your king in little time."

"yes, well, you're not just yet."

the dirty sheets were now a bundle which you scooped up into your arms. just as you turned to make your way over to the laundry basket, hyunjin stepped in your way. he'd shed himself of his armour and now wore a loose white shirt and black trousers.

"you're my tutor, and thus you serve me."

you tried to ignore how close the two of you stood, but it was difficult when you now could see the tiny specks of dirt on his skin and the mole beneath his eye that you'd never noticed before. he seemed like the only person who could be caked in multiple layers of dirt and grime and somehow pull it off.

"and you're insufferable."

"that's no way to speak to the person you serve."

"i'm not serving you right now," you said and thrust the pile of sheets into his arms. "do your laundry yourself. i think it's a skill that the future king should have," you added.

there was a quirk in his lips. for a second, you thought he was going to argue back. your prediction was immediately disproved when he pivoted, crossed the room and dropped the sheets into the laundry basket.

he faced you, smiling this time. "good enough for a future king?"

"good enough for a peasant boy," you said, half words and half scoff. "now you have to actually wash your laundry, not just get other people to do it for you."

he wrinkled his nose disapprovingly. "i'd rather learn to cook."

"that can be arranged. i'll take you down to the kitchen and ask the chef to teach you how to make a soufflé."

"a what?"

"dear god."

you nudged his shoulder with yours as you passed him and lead him in the direction of the kitchen. his reading would have to be discarded, but you supposed that was okay if it was in favour of teaching him life skills.

being hyunjin's tutor would never be easy but, luckily for you, you liked a challenge.

sickeningly sweet

written by: 🥺

genre: little bit of angst, mostly fluff

warning(s): swearing, smoking/ vaping, mentions of alcohol

summary: skater!jisung is sickeningly sweet. he tastes it, too.

[1:26]

Clouds of steam swirl through the night air, obscured by streams of tangerine light from a nearby lamppost. It smells of something like candy-floss or bubblegum, though you can't tell which. There's not much difference between the two--they're both sickeningly sweet, causing you to scrunch your nose up at the smell. You really should be used to it by now, but for whatever reason, that's not the case.

"Don't listen to Jongmin. Half the time he's drunk, the other half he's high. Don't take anything he says seriously."

You chuckle humourlessly. "That's no different from you. I still take what you say seriously."

"Hey, I'm trying my best," Jisung exclaims in an accusatory tone. He lifts his hand and jabs his vape in your direction, "And I know for a fact that you don't take anything I say seriously."

"Well... Yeah, you're right."

You lean back on your hands. Cold concrete numbs your skin and you wince, but don't move away. Instead, you shiver and tug Jisung's leather jacket closer to your body.

"He's a dick. A massive one. I'll give him a piece of my mind next time I see him."

"You don't have to do that."

Jisung takes a long drag of his vape, holds it in for a few seconds then blows it out in a large puff. "I will. You call my best friend a-"

"Jisung."

"Right. Sorry," he says and clears his throat. "Say what he said, you deal with me."

You successfully suppress a laugh, but its not easy. You're grateful that Jisung is protective of you, but where he excels in toughness and trash-talk, he lacks in stature and physical capability.

"Thanks a lot, Sung."

"No problem."

You glance at Jisung. His skin glows and eyes sparkle in the warm, overhead light. A circle of light surrounds his messy, blonde hair like a halo, but you think he's the furthest from an angel that could ever be.

Jisung turns to you suddenly, those doe eyes gazing at you and you suddenly feel naked.

Vulnerable.

"You wanna see some tricks? I've been working on a few lately."

You simply nod. You watch Jisung grab his skateboard from where it lays at his feet and push himself off of the brick wall. With one swift movement he's skating down the ramp and up another. He stops at the peak, then jumps a little, twists around mid-air and skates back down.

He returns to you with a proud smile and, yeah, now you can see why he's so often mistaken for an angel--if you ignore the cuts littering his face, leather clinging to his skin and alcohol on his breath.

"Come on."

You stare at Jisung's outstretched hand and blink. "What?"

Jisung doesn't let you finish. Soon enough, you find yourself tumbling off the wall and into Jisung's arms. Your converse smack against the pavement and you almost crumple to the floor, but Jisung holds you up.

"Let me teach you."

"Jisung, I can't-"

But your words are of no use. Now clasping your hand, Jisung drags you to the flat section of the skatepark. He lets go to place his skateboard on the floor, then holds both hands out, palms facing up.

You make a face. "What do you want me to do?"

Jisung thrusts his hands in your direction. "Get on the skateboard. Hold my hands, you'll be alright."

"You won't let me fall?"

He draws a cross over his chest then extends his hands again. "Cross my heart."

You exhale a shaky breath; the puff of air forms clouds that eventually fade out, imitating Jisung's previous actions like an eager, younger sibling that can never quite live up to their older sibling's standard.

You step onto the skateboard. It rolls to the side a bit and you gasp in fear, but Jisung is quick to grab your elbows and, wow, you're a lot closer like this, so much so that you can smell the mint gum and candy-floss (or bubblegum) on his breath.

With a reassuring smile, Jisung begins to guide you, urging you to tilt your body to the side and reposition your feet. He pulls you gently to the left, directing you on when to place your foot down and the exact pressure to use when you push yourself forward.

"You're good at this," Jisung proclaims, but you can't tell if he's being truthful or not. "Ready for me to let go?"

"Oh god, please no."

Jisung chuckles and his fingers dig into your skin. "Alright then."

You expect Jisung to pull you along again, to repeat his previous instructions and praise you for doing the bare minimum once more. But when you look up, Jisung is frozen. His eyes sparkle like he's stored the galaxy in them, and you don't think you've ever seen Jisung like this, let alone so close. He's full to the brim with a strange sort of emotion that you can't entirely place but-

Oh.

You notice Jisung's eyes flicker down to your lips. Only for a brief second, but you see it all the same. You recognise the emotion now—it's impossible not to. You've seen Jisung kiss people before, have sat bitterly in the corner of a house party as Jisung made out with whatever guy or girl he could find, so you know that look: it's lust. Or, perhaps, love. You can't tell, only hope.

But you recognise want. Need. And maybe you really need this too.

"Can I kiss you?"

It'd be a big fat lie to say that Jisung isn't an abrupt person, so it's really no surprise that he's the one who makes the first move. But if anything, you expected Jisung to just kiss you without asking. Instead, he requests permission gently, and the lust is still discernible, but it's softer than you have ever seen it.

You nod wordlessly. Jisung doesn't move so, now desperate for Lord knows what, you say, "Kiss me."

You hate how needy you sound, but Jisung doesn't seem to notice. The air around you is so cold, but Jisung is warm. Cold lips against warm lips, cold skin against warm skin, cold breath against warm breath.

When Jisung slips his tongue into your mouth you can tell that, yeah, it's definitely candy-floss.

And it's sickeningly sweet, but that's alright. Because when Jisung finally pulls away and confesses that he loves you, you realise that, despite his tough image, he is sickeningly sweet too.

cuddling skz headcanons—

genre: fluff

warnings: none

written by: 🥺 + 🐝

relationship(s): bang chan x reader/ lee know x reader/ changbin x reader/ hyunjin x reader/ han x reader/ felix x reader/ seungmin x reader/ jeongin x reader

bang chan

you two would lay with ur head on his chest with his arms wrapped around you

would probably smell like soap and vanilla and oh man you'd fall asleep SO goddamn fast

chris isn't a great sleeper so he'd probably just lay with his eyes closed and listen to your breathing

would probably smell ur hair lets be real

minho

he's basically a cat in that he likes affection on his terms and his terms ONLY

catboy minho rights

idk would probably just do it unconsciously??

like he'd fall asleep next to you and snuggle into your side

DO NOT move if you value your life

changbin

very into skinship

he's tiny but he loves to be big spoon

loves to be close to you so would just like,, hold u rlly tightly and tangle ur legs together

he'd also be the type to tickle you a little whilst giggling

but he's vv strong so like,, there's no escape

(good luck)

hyunjin

loves lying with you on ur back and him laying on top of you (rip)

would love love LOVE it if u played with his hair bc its gotten so long recently and it'd be sososo easy

he'd hum and sigh contentedly until he fell asleep

would probably whisper "baby?" every now and again and every time u ask what he wants he just wouldn't reply

his breath on ur neck is vv tickly (is that a word idk) but you cannot move so uhhh yeah have fun

jisung

DEFINITELY little spoon

no i do not take constructive criticism

would take ur hands and hold them to his chest

would make cheesy jokes about his heart racing whenever ur near him

twist around every now and again to ask for a kiss and if ur asleep no you're not❤️

he would nudge you to wake u up like "i want kithes😡😡"

felix

you guys cuddle facing eachother

but he loves skinship so he'd hold ur hands and play with ur fingers

would probably fall asleep quite quickly and you would HAVE to admire him bc i mean,, look at him,, it's lixie,,, he's gorgeous

you'd probably count his freckles and he'd giggle and tell you that it tickles

but if he's super tried and trying to sleep he'd be like "stop clogging my pores dude and gO TO SLEEP"

seungmin

would let u lay on his arm

he'd most likely run his hands through ur hair then cup ur face

probably listens to music to go to sleep (and by music i mean day6)

so you'd share a pair of earphones or airpods or whatever and he'd probably sing along quietly

which, in itself, is literal heaven

i love seungmin bye

jeongin

lil baby wants to be the big spoon bc he's a MAN

LOVES it if u wears his t-shirts/ hoodies so would just give it to you like "wear this ☺️☺️"

he'd snuggle up against ur back and nuzzle his face into ur neck

which would make u giggle and the lil shit would just do it more

but we love cuddly jeongin in this household

aww cute 🥰

ೀ⋆ BF!SEUNGMIN TEXTS !

── ✧ ˚. ꒰ 𝓹airing ꒱ ˒˓ seungmin x f!reader ˒˓ established relationship 𝓰enre/𝓽ags. smau, fluff/crack, mild cursing, playful teasing, one (1) suggestive joke, mention of drinking/being drunk, seungmin lowkey being the clingiest but cutest boyfie ever, uhhh that’s it me thinks 😁

[ 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆. ] — these r so cute to make hehe, maybe i’ll do more of these for the other members too <3

perm taglist: @justwonder113 @emilyywhyy @min-doesnt-know @alnex05 @velechi @leeknowslefteyebrow @kayleefriedchicken @jeonginsbaee @thelittletobsterthatcould @queenofdumbfuckery @met30rc1ty | if you wanna be tagged in any of my future posts fill out this form here. ♡

omg hey y’all guess who’s back from the dead 😻 istg i don’t mean to go ghost on purpose it’s just idk life is so ASS rn man….. i’m tryna cook up more ideas for you guys so you don’t get bored of me tho 🙏

chapter 10.0 ☆ all in

wc: 5,115

cw: swearing, needles, little bit of blood, crying, science talk

a/n: *throws my genetics special interest at you and runs away* (this is not the end)

I promise this is not as angsty as the warnings make out to be haha

I was going to get this out earlier but I got my period and got sick at the same time so I've been completely wiped out... rip

"we know."

of course. of course. well, that solved one problem... sort of. not really. but it definitely made it a whole lot easier.

yn glanced down at their knee, exposed but framed by some hot pink kt tape with a barbie hot wheels pattern, before looking back up at the trio, nodding tersely. "... yeah." they muttered, leaning against the doorframe, gently scratching bingus's fluffy butt.

their soul mark wasn't completely there yet, but it was more readable than it had been in the last 11 years. it was strangely satisfying, watching it come back together. yn had spent some time examining it after their encounter with minho and seungmin a week ago, seeing how the pieces had fit back into place. it didn't hurt, it felt... odd. a light but annoyingly noticeable sensation under their skin. itchy, the kind of itchy that you couldn't get at.

"who's at the door?" minji called out from back in the apartment.

yn looked back over their shoulder at their friends, grimacing a little as bingus dug his claws into their shoulder to prevent falling off, and definitely made it known that he wasn't happy with their movement.

it really was good timing... just, not so great at the same time if the trio hadn't wanted to be seen by anyone else. yn sighed quietly, pinching their brow. "just... come in, I guess..." they said wearily.

this late in the evening was not the time for thinking very deeply. they could already feel a headache forming. maybe that was just from the stress-induced jaw clenching that had started up again today. thinking about how to break it to your best friend that you'd been hiding a major secret from him for almost a decade was... definitely not the easiest.

the vibe was awkward. not really the relaxed lego building session it once was – although, how relaxed it was in the current situation was debatable. chika, ever the unflappable, took it in her stride like a champ.

"oh my god, hii," she said, smiling and waving at hyunjin. "it's good to see you again."

hyunjin looked a little surprised for a second, but returned the action with a small grin. the three newcomers stood close together just inside the entryway, like something would bite if they moved any further in. that something would probably be bingus, so maybe it was smart.

seungmin was somewhat calm, hands in pockets as he looked discreetly around the apartment – and suddenly, yn was very aware of the pile of laundry taking up a good amount of the couch, the dishes next to the sink, and the ripped curtains, courtesy of one of bingus's catnip induced zoomies sessions, doing their best to cover the full length window.

hyunjin wasn't so composed. at first glance, he might have seemed it, but the way he was shifting on his feet and fiddling with his flat cap told a different story.

and minho? he was staring straight at yn, assessing them in a way that made them feel like he could see their soul. they hadn't bothered to put much effort in this evening, just a random sonic shirt and some sleep shorts. now yn was wishing that they'd has some premonitory sense and at least worn some proper clothes. it was unsettling, to say the least, his sharp eyes piercing them right to the core. 

"the timing is... truly impeccable," minji said, an amused but mildly baffled expression on her face. she shot a smirk in yn's direction, raising her eyebrows as if to say 'go on' and sat back in her chair, crossing her muscley arms. she was enjoying this immensely. 

"so you figured it out, then?" yn asked quietly, leaning back against their kitchen counter.

"i think the fact that my skin wouldn't stop itching where you touched me for two hours after you left sold it for me," minho said, matter-of-factly. 

"ah. well. that'll do it." yn still didn't completely believe that their soul mark could just change like that at the touch of a soulmate, but the evidence was right in front of their eyes, as much as they were reluctant to believe it. however, they supposed, soul marks in and of themselves were a crazy phenomenon, so was this really anything to be so surprised about? weird miracles of the natural world.

"who are...?" minho trailed off, glancing at yn's friends.

"oh, um. minji and chika," yn replied, pointing at both of them in turn. "my friends. hyunjin's already met chika at a versace event."

"so you're the friend he was talking about," he murmured. "i was right."

"what?"

"nothing."

it seemed minji just couldn't hold it in anymore, and began snickering to herself, the hand in front of her mouth doing absolutely nothing to hide it. not that she was trying to – she was absolutely loving this. chika was less obvious about it, but the expression on her face and the way she was twirling her fork in her hands had a certain air about it.

yn elected to ignore the both of them, rolling their eyes. "why did you bring hyunjin?"

"testing the theory."

well, yn had to respect that. it definitely gave him points in their book. they were all for the scientific method.

"that's fair..." yn leaned back into the edge of the counter as bingus hopped off their shoulders and onto the top. he sat next to them emanating a distinctly superior energy, giving the three men intruding on his property an appraising look. despite his demeanour, yn knew that he viewed every stranger as a new friend, and it would only be a matter of time before he began fawning over them, purring and rubbing all over them like they were covered in catnip. bingus was a weirdly social cat. 

"so, uh..." yn held their hand out to hyunjin. "you wanna test it..?" it wasn't like they didn't already know, but just to cement it, properly. it was really more for everyone else.

hyunjin's gaze immediately dropped to the floor with a bashful expression. for someone who exuded so much confidence on stage, he sure was shy off it. he took a few steps closer, until he was in arms reach, extending his hand out.

the tension in the air was so thick you could almost feel it hanging there. even bingus didn't make a sound, just watching, in opposition to his usual chatty self.

their fingers were just about to touch, but-

"wait."

minji's arm shot out, grabbing hyunjin's wrist at lightening speed. yn made eye contact with her, and they knew they were both thinking the same thing.

"what's going on?" hyunjin asked, a confused furrow forming in his brow.

yn groaned. "dr jang would kill me if I didn't..." they muttered, before darting off further into their apartment in a speed walk.

when they came back, yn was juggling a few things in their hands.

"why the fuck do you have microfuges in your apartment?" minji asked, in what was probably a suitable amount of bemusement. even for the most avid of researchers, it wasn't exactly common to have lab equipment hanging out around your home.

"cuz." yn shrugged, setting down the little rack and placing the microfuges into the slots. "my dad got them for me before I started uni. and a micropipette. real shockingly, I've never used them before."

"what would you even use them for...?" minji blinked in a stupefied manner, before shaking her head. "speaking of... has your dad come around yet?"

yn grimaced. "you'd think, after five years. we talked about it last time I visited... wasted about two hours because apparently the literal fact that sex and gender aren't the same is 'dogma' or something. i've sent him several links to the studies proving it, but... he hasn't responded." pulling the cap off a marker, they numbered the tops of the microfuges, chewing their bottom lip. 

"oof." there wasn't really much else to say. yn had a perfectly fine relationship with their parents other than that... usually. most of the time, yn could forget about the way their parents refused to accept them, but every so often the topic resurfaced and ate at them a little more.

yn pulled out a needle from where they'd stuck it through their shirt, gesturing at minji. "can you- thanks." they mumbled, catching the lighter chucked at them with ease.

"... what are you doing?" minho asked.

"dr jang in my department... she researches soul marks and stuff. i'm pretty sure she'd skin me alive if i didn't get a record of this." it took yn... more than a few tries to get the lighter working. they were never that good at things like that, but eventually they managed to get it working and ran the flame under the needle to sterilize it. "and, like... i get this is a whole thing, but i'm also scared of her, and considering she's never even heard of someone's soul mark remaking itself, i don't think she'd be a massive fan of me if i didn't get some evidence."

"you say that like she doesn't love you," minji said. "you're one hundred percent her favourite colleague."

"to be fair... there isn't much choice," yn said, clearing their throat pointedly. a lot of their fellow professors were a bit... snobby was a way to put it. most of them were older men, who seemed to think they were god's gift to humanity, and demanded respect just because of their age and gender while giving none of their own. sure, they had more experience, but that didn't necessarily mean they were right.

yn was just about to use the needle to draw some blood, when bingus chose that exact moment to make his presence known, throwing his head back with a yowl. "ugh. pest." yn set the needle down, plodding over to the cupboard that housed their multitude of pills and supplements. but first, treats. bingus demanded to be fed at the same time every day, so it was easy to use him as an alarm – give him a treat every day at the same time you took your meds, and you were never allowed to miss them.

"there you go, squish," yn murmured affectionately after shaking out a couple of treats for their cat, stroking down his back. bingus accepted them greedily, wolfing them down while purring loudly.

swapping the treat bag for their pill container, yn sat back down at the table, using their soda to swallow the tablets.

seungmin took that moment to speak up for the first time that night. "that's... a lot."

yn huffed. it was true, they took a lot of medication, but it was for a reason. "if my body was a temple, that temple would be old and crumbling."

"... is that why you have greys already?"

it wasn't like they weren't expecting it. yn's grey streaks still hadn't been re-dyed yet because life had gotten in the way so the roots were showing, and they had a number of grey hairs dotted around their scalp. they'd also seen enough stray kids content to know the amount of old person jokes seungmin made. but this quickly? damn. "um. well. maybe. i think it's just stress and genetics. i promise i'm not that ancient."

seungmin raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips subtly, and cocking his hip to lean against the counter. it was annoyingly attractive.

in a moment of weakness, yn poked their tongue out at him petulantly, before promptly choking on their magnesium supplement. that one always had it out for them, anyway.

by the time it finally went down yn had tears in their eyes and an awful, powdery taste in their mouth.

"having fun there?" chika asked, giggling quietly in a way that yn couldn't even be mad at.

"actually shut the fuck up."

yn winced as they stuck the needle into the tip of their middle finger, before squeezing a few drops of blood into the first microfuge. there were probably better ways to do it, but yn didn't know how or have the equipment for it. a little rudimentary, but anything to save themselves from the wrath of their colleague. 

"you're very calm about this," hyunjin mumbled, looking warily at the needle.

"i've had about 50 blood tests, i'm used to it," yn responded. "should i get saliva samples...? mm.. no, i don't have the patience for that. alright." stretching their arms above their head, yn couldn't help but let out a little groan as their back popped and shoulder clunked concerningly – and notice how hyunjin's eyes darted down to their exposed midriff. they extended their hand to him for a second time. "let's do this."

hyunjin's hand was warm. soft. big. static shocks were swapped between both of their palms as hyunjin tightened his grip. gentle, but firm.

yn felt... odd. the other times, it was in passing. this time it was a thing. they could feel it happening, feel the slight tingle running over their knee, feel how close he was. they squirmed gently in their chair, their eyes darting from their intertwined hands, to their knee, to anywhere else.

out of the corner of their eye, yn could see chika trying to sneakily film the interaction. she wasn't very good at hiding it. maybe it was a good thing. to get more evidence for dr jang.

looking down at their knee again, yn watched their soul mark change for the first time. they almost couldn't believe it, but... there it was. right there. sure, their eyesight was pretty trash but it was pretty hard to deny it like when it was like that.

"woah... that's..." hyunjin looked how yn felt: completely stupefied. it was one thing seeing their mark after the change, but seeing it happen? wild.

"... yeah," yn breathed out. there was no denying it now. the secret was well and truly out. and honestly? it was kind of a relief. yn hadn't realized just how much it had been weighing on them until now. maybe seven years of repression wasn't good for you. who knew? "what... happens now?"

"i think you should come back with us. meet everyone else... we've been waiting to meet you."

"oh i should, should i?" yn asked, letting go of hyunjin's hand and reaching for the needle again. "i... i'm not sure... i have work tomorrow... and bingus... i can't leave him alone..."

"oh, come off it," minji groaned, her exasperation evident. "pack an overnight bag. chika and i can stay here and watch your baby. you've put it off for too long, i'll force you out myself if i have to."

"i-..." yn sighed. an overnight bag? how long would they be staying there? a while, realistically. when it happened, it was going to be a long, uncomfortable conversation, about uncomfortable things – about why they had felt the need to hide for so long from the people that were meant to love them most.

yn glanced over at their friends, at chika's encouraging smile, and minji's insistent expression. if they really wanted to do this, like they said they did, then they had to face the music. "... fine."

everything was in order. kind of. yn had their overnight bag, although there was bound to be at least one thing they forgot, like always. it was inevitable. but it was really happening.

"okay, you can sleep in my bed if you want just-... no freaky stuff." yn gave both girls a pointed look.

"hey! we're not that bad," chika protested.

"i still have stains on my couch." that shut them up. "you know the drill with bingus – he will bite your toes under the covers, if you don't get up to give him food in the morning he will make it your problem, and you know the coffee machine- yeah, you can work it, fine... stay safe. lock the door. everything else."

"it'll be fine," minji reassured them, patting yn on the shoulder. "you don't need to worry about us. go get your guys."

"mm," yn hummed. "but if i find any more weird stains on my furniture, you're buying me new ones. freaks."

"yeah, but we're your favourite freaks," chika said with a wink.

"whatever helps you sleep at night." yn turned to minho (who was currently getting his fingers gnawed on by a very happy bingus), hyunjin and seungmin, trying to work out in their head who would fit best in their extra set of motorbike leathers. technically, they fit chan the best, but those with astute observational abilities could tell that he wasn't here right now. and since two of them were probably too tall, that left minho to go on the bike with them.

they chucked the set at him, which he caught deftly before minho's brain caught up with his hands. he examined them for a moment, holding them up to himself in mild confusion.

"to preface, i'm simply not going in a car, but I also don't fully trust myself to get to a new address alone because i am... directionally challenged."

"do i really need to wear these?" minho asked skeptically.

"do you want a nurse to be picking gravel out of you?" yn asked brightly. "you can be slightly warm and uncomfortable, or unsafe. pick your poison."

sensibly, minho chose to wear the leathers.

"... you good?" yn asked minho as they sat on their bike in the parking garage, inputting the address for the dorms into their phone before zipping into one of their pockets.

minho was... antsy, clipping and unclipping the buckle of the strap on yn's spare helmet. he'd been much more confident about going on the bike with them earlier, in the apartment. currently, he was eyeing it like it would bite him. yn got it to an extent, the first time they'd realised they actually had to ride one, it was pretty daunting. it wasn't like he actually had to do anything, though. just hold on and help in case yn got lost. but right now, he was the one looking lost.

yn stood up off the bike, taking the helmet gently out of minho's hands and fitting it over his head and doing up the strap for him. "comfortable?"

he nodded, searching them with his big, pretty eyes. it wasn't intense, per say, but yn's breath hitched when they caught his gaze, flicking the visor down over his eyes to avoid becoming even more flustered. yn knew that being his soulmate would come with... increased susceptibility to him, but they'd only met minho twice. goddamn.

swinging their leg over the bike, yn sat back down and pulled their own helmet over their head – of course it was matching with the rest of their gear, with cat ears and sanrio decals, because of course.

"uh... you know you have to sit behind me to ride..." minho slid on behind them, and yn could feel the awkwardness radiating from him in waves. "and, um.. hold on to my waist..."

ever so carefully, minho rested his hands around yn's middle. they almost laughed at how light his touch was, knowing it wouldn't remain that way for too long. 

"how are you going to know where to go?" minho asked, his voice slightly muffled.

"my helmet has a bluetooth thing that i can hear directions though. hold on tight," yn warned.

luckily, he heeded their warning as soon as the bike started up, his grip maybe a tad too snug. at least he wouldn't be falling off.

the drive was pretty short, which was a bit of a relief when minho was squeezing yn like a stress ball. he seemed glad to be back on solid ground by the time it was over. seemed... dramatic, but the way he tripped and fell taking off the leathers, and the embarrassed look on his face made yn promise themselves to not tell anyone. for now.

when yn finally walked into the dorm with minho, everything went quiet. not just quiet – dead silent.

yn's heart was pounding against their ribs as everyone turned to look at them from their various positions sprawled out over the couch and the floor. hyunjin and seungmin had arrived there before minho and yn. it was incredibly daunting, having all their eyes on them all at once, and they couldn't help but to fidget anxiously with the hem of their shirt, softly tapping the toe of their shoe against the floor as they leaned against their cane.

"um. hi," yn forced out, their voice hoarse. 

a small gasp came from across the room, deafeningly loud in the quiet space. "are you our..?" felix's voice trailed off, his big brown eyes wide and hopeful.

yn had to swallow down the frog in their throat before they could respond. "i... yes. i am."

yn blinked and felix was in front of them, almost vibrating with excitement. his eyes roamed over their face, drinking in the sight.

they hadn't really known what to expect when it finally happened, but it wasn't... this. a part of yn had always wondered if the first thing people saw about them was the cane, or the tape holding their joints together. to be completely fair, they did make it kind of obvious, with bright colours and patterns, eyes were naturally drawn to that kind of thing – but so was the rest of yn's attire, usually, and their hair. but it seemed like felix's eyes were glued to just... them.

felix reached out hesitantly, his hands hovering in front of yn, but not touching. his throat bobbed as he pulled back slightly, a small, apologetic smile gracing his features.

yn couldn't help but shyly return the smile, before they found themselves being ushered further into the forms and sat onto the end of the couch, everyone else keeping a respectful distance. although, despite the distance, it didn't stop most of them from staring shamelessly.

in lieu of any actual conversation, yn reached into their bag, the keychains attached jingling and clacking against each other, and pulled out their little box of microfuges. they set it on the coffee table along with the needle and lighter.

"sorry about your laptop," changbin muttered sheepishly from beside them. 

yn snorted, unable to hold it back. even now, he was still apologetic about the incident. technically, it had been kind of a big thing – laptops were expensive, and a pretty necessary part of their life... but, then again, he'd rectified it almost as quickly as he'd caused the problem. "it's fine. really."

"you've met before?" jisung piped up, his voice muffled through a mouthful of ramen.

"yeah. he, uh... spilled three drinks over my old laptop. and me."

"did you manage to get the stain out of your trousers?" changbin asked, fidgeting with his chopsticks.

"it took a few goes with the stain remover, but... they're fine now. which is good, because they're my favourite, and if it hadn't come out i might have gone through chan to be reimbursed," yn joked, before they saw his flustered blush get darker. "i'm kidding. i could have replaced them myself. i stain my clothes all the time, it's not a big deal."

"... how many of us have met you before?" jisung asked, furrowing his brows.

"well, we met them through... the cat thing," seungmin said, looking at minho.

"it was the video call for me," hyunjin mumbled, looking vaguely embarrassed.

"i've known chan for, like... fifteen years," yn added after some quick mental maths. time really flew by.

"how old are you?" jeongin asked.

"i just turned twenty nine."

"damn." jeongin cleared his throat, looking away and scratching the back of his neck. "sorry."

"so..." jisung shoved a lettuce leaf into his mouth before continuing, his cheeks puffing up with food. "it's just me, felix and ayen who haven't met you yet?"

yn hummed contemplatively, tilting their head to the side. "i've been in contact with jeongin before. at the dentist. not a proper meeting, though."

"really?" it took a few seconds, but realisation dawned soon enough. "oh. with the hair. right," jeongin said, gesturing at his fringe, more to himself than anyone else.

"and, i'm fairly confidant on this..." yn pulled out their phone, snapping a quick picture of their hand before messaging it to what they were almost certain was jisung's number-

-and it was, his phone vibrating half a second later. jisung's eyes bulged out of his head for a few moments as he glanced between his screen and yn's hand repeatedly. 

"how do you have jisung's number?" felix asked.

"oh, i... thought i was texting someone else. she changed her number." yn trained their eyes on the little racks on microfuges, absentmindedly drumming their fingers against their thighs. "and then he said his name was jisung, and he was twenty four and fate had been giving me a kick up the ass so... i kind of thought it would end up like that."

"ah." he nodded slowly. "... what are those for?"

"science stuff," seungmin answered for yn.

"well... yeah, i guess. i'm collecting dna samples for my colleague." yn turned to felix with what was probably a slightly constipated expression and took a breath before asking the question. "can i, um. touch you?"

felix's face went pink. there was a lot of that going around recently. his face didn't move a muscle, he just sat there for a few seconds with a politely mystified expression while his face went several shades darker. 

yn ran through their words in their head. "not- not like that. for the... science stuff. and also it's making my soul mark fix itself? somehow? i'm not sure how that's happening, but it is, and..."

another few excruciating seconds ticked by, before felix's face split into an endearing grin, his eyes sparkling. "you want to hold my hand?"

"i mean, if you're comfortable with that," yn mumbled, taken aback by his enthusiasm.

felix proffered his hand, and yn took it gently, trying not to stare at his arms like a creep. they were nice arms. from a purely anatomical perspective, of course. he had nice veins. they bet nurses liked him.

getting the dna evidence while working around felix's hand holding was fiddly, but he wasn't letting go any time soon. and yn didn't want to ask him to let go, either. not that they would admit it. they had forgotten how much they enjoyed doing this kind of thing. of course, they did it with chika and minji sometimes; yn and their friends were touchy people. but this was different. more... intimate.

yn's first physical interaction with jisung was much more short-lived, and accidental at that. he reached over to grab his drink, yn went to put the microfuge back in its slot – skin brushed skin, and the two of them locked eyes. jisung blinked, and pulled away as a static shock passed between their fingers. he let out a melodramatic cry, his head falling back into hyunjin's lap, who moved a hand to pat his head with a nonchalance that showed that this wasn't an infrequent occurrence.

"so... you said all of this is a genetic thing?" minho spoke up.

"oh, yeah. they're still not sure what causes it, but... it's different for each group of soulmates, and polygenic if you have more than one soulmate, which is what makes it hard so to study-"

"-polygenic?" jeongin asked.

"caused by multiple genes. but, you know, people are people and have attributed meaning to what they couldn't figure out and given it superstitions and so on. there's... more going on behind it, like something about it makes you produce more oxytocin and stuff around your soulmates. the term is kind of a misnomer."

"wow... you really know how to suck the magic out of it..." seungmin said.

"dude. besides the fact that the marks have our initials, which... like i'm not sure how to feel about that, but either way you look at it, it's kind of insane – do you not see the magic in the way somehow, everything fit so perfectly together to create life? in the way we evolved to have genes that randomly mutated to have random people connected so deeply? just because it's not what you thought it was doesn't make it not special." yn paused their ramble once they realised they were being stared at.

"you have no appreciation for science." they said, fixing seungmin with a blank stare. "science is magic. it doesn't stop being magic because you can explain it." so soulmates weren't technically this big supernatural be-all end-all of love. big whoop. but with the way it made people feel around their soulmates? it might as well be.

"well... that's-" minho was cut off by the sound of the front door to the dorms opening.

everyone turned to see chan walking in through the door, dragging a suitcase with the strap of his other bag hanging off one shoulder. against all odds, he managed to not notice the congregation in the lounge, trudging off into his own room.

it was a few minutes before he re-emerged in a fresh set of clothes, looking just about ready to fall asleep while his stomach growled comically loudly.

when chan finally noticed yn, he stopped in his tracks, standing completely still, like time had suddenly frozen him in place.

and it felt like it had for yn, too. all their denial, all that time spent wallowing in their own pathetic feelings of inadequacy, had let up to this moment.

yn forgot how to breathe when chan finally looked down at the soul mark on their knee, finally looking as it once did back when they were seventeen. readable. obvious as to who their soulmates were.

"yn..." chan said in a rough whisper.

yn stood up shaking, clenching their trembling hands into fists. "chan, i..."

they didn't know how to finish the sentence, but it didn't matter, because they were engulfed in chan's arms a few moments – something that had always been a catalyst for the release of strong emotions, and it was still true now, tears pricking at yn's eyes.

"are you mad at me?" yn asked quietly, tentatively returning the hug as they wrapped their arms around his waist.

"of course i'm annoyed," chan responded.

yn sniffled, squeezing their eyes shut as hot tears began to roll down their cheeks. "i'm sorry," they whispered, voice wobbling. "do you hate me now?"

"hate you? i could never hate you, noona," chan murmured, pressing his face into yn's shoulder and inhaling deeply. "i'm glad it's you."

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a/n: for those of you wondering what a microfuge + micropipette is (ik the pic quality is shit but wtv)

and yes my dad did actually buy me a micropipette. still not sure why. still haven't used it.

taglist (35/50): @sunfk88 @estella-novella @boo-ven9eance @0sunshinecryptid0 @idiotmaterial @tearsofgenshin @tirena1 @cowboylikemalika @d3kstar @heyheyitsmk @bangchansgirlsblog @geni-627 @4ng3l-ch1ld @vitaniangel-blog @beppybeesnuggets @yxna-bliss @imeverycliche @brbwritingfanfic @mavischerry @hanniemylovelyquokka @143hyunes @haexinqx @wynn-43 @rtyuy1346 @aalexyuuuhm @deuces-sunglasses @maxinehufflepuffprincess @staybabblingbaby @chimmyn0chu @maddy24207 @bookishcaptain @alisonyus @marvelsmarauder @mads-borderlands @juuh-07

chapter 9.0 ☆ imposter syndrome

ss: 18

wc: 829

cw: food mentions, mentions of physical fighting

a/n: I lost two years of my life trying to edit that photo if it looks bad don't tell me (also the initials l . y are l/n y/n if you're confused)

"okay, okay, hear me out," minji paused, chewing a heroically sized mouthful of pizza, holding her finger up as if to hold her place in the conversation.

it went on for just long enough to be awkward, and yn took a sip of their soda – as if they weren't already stewing in a pool of their own embarrassment at this whole situation. and it was embarrassing, to say the least. how long would it have taken them to get to this point if not for some... some bitch trying to steal their soulmates? honestly, yn thought they would have the opposite reaction to this sort of thing. the other yn – she was pretty, able-bodied from what they could tell, and she seemed remarkably put together. a far cry from their own life. she seemed to be everything yn wanted for their soulmates.

well, except for the fact that she was almost undoubtedly a sasaeng. stray kids' management had gone to great lengths not to show their soul marks, but there had been a few slip-ups over the years, and despite their best efforts, it had come out that the group were soulmates – and that there was one more person included. that came with a lot of failed attempts of stalkers trying their best to convince they boys that they were their soulmate. up until now, it had always been fairly mediocre attempts, and/or easy to see through. it was different this time, almost indistinguishable from yn's own (before the accident).

but apart from that, theoretically, she was perfect for them. and yn... wasn't. but that didn't stop the pit of frustration burning deep in their stomach – frustration at themselves, mostly, at the world, and everything else. although, that last one was the more general ire for living made worse by this whole debacle.

sometimes, privately, yn wondered if it really was just a big coincidence, if they really were their last soulmate. it just felt like they... didn't fit. and, just occasionally, they wished it was that way – although, not really. they didn't know the others, and didn't really know how to feel about them just yet, but the idea of chan being with someone else made yn's chest clench painfully.

"what if," minji started again, "what if you showed up at the company building with like, one of those massive rose bouquets and blasting a sad song on your boombox?"

"well, first of all," yn said, "where are the funds for this rose bouquet? with the price of everything these days, i'm not sure i even have enough for twelve. secondly, a boombox? how old do you think i am? contrary to apparently popular belief, i do not have a boombox. and, you know, i think security wouldn't let me within 50 metres of the building."

"darn."

the quiet clicking of lego pieces broke the silence between the poignant lack of ideas in the brainstorming session. it was difficult, coming up with a way to explain to your best friend that you'd been hiding the fact that you were his last soulmate that made you look least like a buffoon. it was unavoidable, looking like an idiot, but surely there had to be a way too minimize the damage, right?

it wasn't going very well so far.

yn sighed heavily to themselves. any angle you looked at it, it was bad. the problem being self aware was exactly that – being self aware. the second-hand embarrassment at their own actions had suddenly hit them like a freight train early that morning during classes. it had not been a pleasant day, with every free moment spent shrivelling into their own skin in a very visceral reaction. god, it was just... ugh.

the doorbell rung out through their apartment, breaking the spell that had fallen over the three of them. bingus trotted in, complaining loudly at the intrusion. his fur was all scruffed up, indicative of his 47th nap of the day that he'd just been rudely awoken from.

chika furrowed her brows, glancing in the direction of the door. "you got a package coming or something?"

"uhh... not to my knowledge..." bingus jumped up onto yn's lap, circling a few times before climbing up onto their shoulders like a parrot. chika reached over to brush his fur back into place, eliciting a deep, crackly purr as he pushed his face against her hand. "i'll go see who it is..."

yn stood up tentatively, gently supporting bingus's ass so he didn't fall off during the process, before walking over to the door, grabbing the keys off the hook next to it and unlocking it.

"hey," minho said conversationally, like he hadn't just shown up at yn's door unceremoniously.

"hi," yn mumbled, forcing the word out. they couldn't decide where to look, the doorframe taken up by not only minho, but seungmin and hyunjin as well, the other two appearing at least a little more awkward about the situation.

"we know."

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a/n: if you're wondering I do find joy in torturing people with cliff hangers

taglist (30/50): @sunfk88 @estella-novella @boo-ven9eance @0sunshinecryptid0 @idiotmaterial @tearsofgenshin @tirena1 @cowboylikemalika @d3kstar @heyheyitsmk @bangchansgirlsblog @geni-627 @4ng3l-ch1ld @vitaniangel-blog @beppybeesnuggets @yxna-bliss @imeverycliche @brbwritingfanfic @mavischerry @hanniemylovelyquokka @143hyunes @xindremz @wynn-43 @rtyuy1346 @aalexyuuuhm @deuces-sunglasses @maxinehufflepuffprincess @staybabblingbaby @chimmyn0chu @maddy24207

chapter 8.0 ☆ bingus's big day out

ss: 11

wc: 1,800

cw: lost cat, bingus being a terror to society, (1) sex joke

yn knew immediately something was wrong when they didn't wake up suffocated by fur. it was a daily ritual at this point. bingus was their alarm, always waking them up at seven o'clock in the morning on the dot for his breakfast. he was a very fussy feline. 

the apartment felt quiet as yn went about their morning routine... too quiet. no random crashing sounds, no muffled meows from their cupboards, nothing. they hadn't realised how much they were used to all the background noise from bingus's escapades until it wasn't there. it was almost eerie.

it was when yn put his food bowl down and he didn't come that they really got suspicious. even sleeping, he had a sixth sense for food, always appearing the moment they even considered opening the fridge. usually bingus would be all up in their business while they made food – for him or for themselves. always trying to eat things off the counter, or scraps off the floor, which resulted in yn having to drag him away from things that weren't good for him many a time.

even shaking the treat bag in a couple of rooms didn't yield their black void of fur coming running.

and then they saw it – their front door, slightly ajar. yn's heart dropped, panic flooding their system. 

they turned their apartment upside down. clearing out every cabinet, ruining their very carefully organised storage closet, and completely trashing their room. still no cat. still no bingus.

yn was buzzing as they practically bolted down the hall after haphazardly pulling their leathers on, mashing the button for the elevator impatiently. the ride down felt three times as long as it usually was. even though it was less than a minute, it was almost an eternity before they could get to the parking garage under the building.

in a similar fashion, yn managed to hit every red light on the way to the park. which did absolutely nothing to aid the anxiety in their chest – who was it that had their cat? was it actually their cat? would they hold him hostage for the reward?

okay, that one was probably not going to happen, since whoever it was was so adamantly against receiving the money. but, someone out there would be that crazy over melon. someone somewhere.

it took far too long to find somewhere to park their bike, and yn stumbled, almost crashing into a bush after tripping over their own feet. luckily, no one else had witnessed that particular L, except a small magpie staring at them in a judgy way.

it was hard going at a pace above a walk, hobbling on a rolled ankle, but they managed it. not very well, granted, but after nearly two days of not being absolutely smothered by their obnoxiously overbearing cat, yn was missing him in a way that gripped their heart tight and squeezed to almost bursting. heart hammering above the sounds of their footsteps. 

and when yn finally saw bingus again, bundled up in the arms of someone that couldn't tear their eyes away from their cat to look at. and it definitely was him – the black kitty's croaky meow hitting their ears, accompanied by a deep feeling of relief sweeping over them.

it was all okay now. bingus was there, 50 meters away. he wasn't lost, he was coming home. everything was going to be fine.

yn jogged over to him, pulling out his little harness and leash they used to take him on walks, but first, and more importantly, kissing his little head and scratching behind his ears and checking him from any obvious mishaps while he yelled at them. "hi baby, yes, i know, i know. i missed you too."

"can you- yeah, thanks." the person holding bingus maneuvered him in their hold so yn could clip the harness around him.

only, bingus didn't seem to like that, protesting loudly and wriggling his way out of their arms and dropping to the ground. now, that wasn't necessarily an issue – yn kneeled down (amidst many muttered complaints and creaky joints) to do it from there... only for the cat to trot a few steps away and sit down, licking his paw in a decidedly superior way.

"don't do this right now," yn muttered, sighing and shuffling forward on their knees to repeat the action.

bingus did not like that either.

"you have got to be kidding me... i saved you from the streets and this is how you repay me?"

"he's a rescue?" the person who'd brought bingus back to yn finally spoke up, and, to their unsurprised, but growing horror, the voice was eerily similar to that of lee minho.

yn didn't look at him, they didn't want to face the facts right now until they absolutely had to. they just sat down on their knees, already beginning to feel them going numb, because good circulation was just one of the other things their body couldn't produce. "i guess. i found him in an alleyway when i was on my way to work a year ago."

"ah." there was silence, punctuated by a quiet sneeze. "so.. should we go after him?"

"probably." yn let out a quiet groan as they pushed themselves back up to standing, wincing at the pinch in their hip. "can you...?"

"yeah, we'll help."

we? looking over, yn saw seungmin standing slightly behind minho, his eyes slightly red-rimmed – they guessed it was the cat allergy.

"thanks."

bingus was not an easy cat to catch. he seemed to be in a particularly playful mood, staying in one place long enough for the three of them to think they had the upper hand. but no. he was fast, and surprisingly cunning for such a dumb cat. even while eating grass. yn, truthfully, wasn't able to help much – more used to being able to wait it out while bingus had his zoomies.

but that was in an enclosed space, where they could supervise. this was a public park, where he could get into all sorts of trouble. mostly, they just watched minho and seungmin run after bingus like headless chickens – an, admittedly, hilarious sight. with all their ailments, running... was not really something they did. only in short bursts, and with a recovery time that far exceeded the actual run time. the cost-benefit analysis was not checking out. but they were... at least trying? because bingus was not just going to get himself lost a second time. yn could deal with the consequences later.

even if they wanted to, it wasn't like they could do it anyway. after only a few minutes, they were panting and wheezing like a dog, a metallic tang creeping into their mouth. yn's legs were screaming at them, begging them not to move any further. and at this point, it was either listen, or stay in bed for the next week or so, which wasn't exactly ideal. they were surprised they'd even managed to run this long in the first place.

yn sat down heavily on the grass, and it took a good ten minutes or so to get their breath back, and for their heart to stop thumping against their ribs. bingus had still managed to evade capture. minho and seungmin were... trying their best. he was a difficult cat, yn couldn't blame them.

it took... a while – but eventually, minho managed to pin bingus down, and yn booked it across the park to wrangle him into the harness.

now, the black cat was loudly complaining to anyone who would listen that he had been kidnapped, and was being held hostage by these awful people, and they were torturing him by not letting him roam free in the wild. from the cat who had to have his dinner at 7 pm on the dot, who had to eat it with his owner or he wouldn't touch it, and had a bedtime. he was a spoiled brat, he just liked to cosplay as a rebel.

"sorry about that..." yn mumbled sheepishly. bingus's leash was tied around their waist so he couldn't get far. hopefully he would give up trying to test its limits soon.

minho shrugged next to them on the park bench. "do you have the melon?"

yn chuckled quietly, reaching into the cat backpack beside them to pull out the fruit, handing it over to him. minho spent a few minutes checking it over, before nodding to himself, satisfied.

bingus decided to give up on his second escape attempt, flopping dramatically into yn's lap. he started purring like a motor as soon as their hand hovered over his dark fur. he acted so independent until he came into contact with anyone willing to pet him.

"he's very... friendly," seungmin commented, accompanied by a quiet sniffle. "i couldn't get him off me earlier."

"ah... yeah. sorry about that." minho reached over to let bingus sniff his fingers. "just to warn you, he-... yeah." yn finished defeatedly as the cat started gently chewing on minho's fingers. it wasn't painful, by any means – yn had experienced it enough. but it was still weird. although maybe that was just cats.

"is he like this all the time?"

"yeah. he's a bit of a freak." bingus's tail flicked as if in response to yn's words, and he chirped indignantly, standing up and climbing up onto their chest, his fishy breath hitting them face-on. "... hello?"

"yes, thank you, i love you too, baby-" bingus gently licked at their nose, his sandpapery tongue scraping over their skin. yn turned their head to get the cat treats out of their cat backpack to coax him in there, when he chose to start licking... somewhere else.

"ew! you beast!" yn exclaimed, pulling bingus off them by the scruff of his neck. "in my ear? what's wrong with you?"

"he's just showing his love," seungmin murmured in amusement.

"which, as i am very well aware, he is able to do in other ways than licking inside my ear canal like a weirdo."

"you have no respect for his weirdo spirit," minho said.

"no, I don't." as soon as yn opened the treat bag, bingus snapped to attention. they chuckled, waving it in the air and watching his eyes follow. thankfully, the usual method of placing a few treats in the bag worked like a charm and finally, bingus's overnight camping trip had been packed up.

yn stood up, pulling the backpack carefully over their shoulders as to not agitate the cat inside too much. "uhm... thanks for.. getting him back to me."

"you're welcome."

smiling awkwardly, yn turned on their heel and began walking back to their bike. already, they were over-analysing everything they said and did during that hour. it was going to be a long night.

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chapter 7.0 ☆ the lock and key theory

ss: 7

wc: 1,692

cw: swearing, food mentions, jokes about disability (from a disabled writer)

a/n: seeing my work while I'm innocently scrolling through the skz x reader tag is WILD y'all

yn's office hours were... interesting. during their first year as a part-time professor, it had initially been pretty boring. no one really came to their office. the students preferred to go to their more serious professor, as it were – and dr jang was definitely more serious and more experienced. she had more of a reputation. which was fine, yn was perfectly happy to lesson plan and do the more computer heavy side of their research in that time. they enjoyed working alone. no distractions.

the second year? not so quiet.

it had started small. justin being the main instigator. he was always one of the more outgoing ones. he came in once or twice a week, bothering them with questions about the material. things he probably could have figured out on his own, but it was kind of nice. 

now, yn had justin, and oftentimes a few of his friends, hanging out with them during office hours. doing homework, asking about assignments and essays and sometimes just yapping. and, strangely... yn liked it. sure, sometimes they had to use urban dictionary to decipher the young people language, and deal with the occasional millennial/old person joke, but it was pretty fun.

today was one of the more yappy days, clearly. justin did have his laptop out, precariously placed on his legs, but he was completely ignoring it except to make sure it didn't drop to the floor. instead, he was rambling on about how painstaking sewing beaded fabric was, and stitching and so on. don't get them wrong, yn was absolutely listening, but they were also having something close to a religious experience with today's cheesecake that dr jang had brought up from the cafeteria for them.

"–and i've already managed to break two needles on that stupid stuff, even though I spent ages unpicking the beads by hand, like, at this point, is it even worth it?"

"mmh," yn hummed sympathetically, taking another bite of cheesecake, chewing slowly. shifting on their desk chair, they crossed their right leg over their left to get more comfortable. "well, considering how much you've been talking about this for the last couple of months, I don't think you should give up now just because you're frustrated over some fabric."

justin huffed. "yeah, but it's annoying, and-" he stopped, and yn looked up at him from their lesson plan after a few moments of silence.

"what?"

"nothing, it's just..." he squinted at their knee. "has that tattoo on your knee changed? did you get a cover-up or something?"

"it's not a tattoo, it's my soul mark," yn said, before looking down at their knee in confusion. they were less averse to showing it now that it was pretty much unreadable. or... it was.

"what the fuck..." yn muttered to themselves. it wasn't completely as it was before all the knee surgeries, but it was definitely... closer than it used to be. and even through their sheer tights, they could read a few initials – b.c., s.c., and y.j.. well. shit.

"do soul marks... usually change?" justin murmured.

yn's area of expertise was not soul marks in any capacity, but it couldn't be a coincidence that the only three of their soulmates that they'd seen – and touched – were the ones who's initials they could read now. one? sure. two? weird, but okay. but three? yeah, something was definitely going on. yn hadn't heard of soul marks changing after interactions with soulmates, but then again, they also didn't know anyone else who'd had their marks fucked up, especially to the extent of their one. "uhm... not that I know of..."

"that's... weird."

"... yup."

"does it feel any different?"

"i would have noticed earlier if it did," yn replied.

"do you know why it's doing that?" justin asked curiously, leaning further over yn's desk to look closer at it.

"i... have an idea," yn said to their chagrin.

"cryptic."

"you're my student, you don't need to know about my love life," yn said. "i'm sure you have much more pressing matters to worry about. like... studying..."

"boo. that's boring," justin said, heaving a sigh and draping himself over the back of his chair.

"i feel i should remind you that you have a test next week," yn said flatly. "and while studying may be boring, it does help your results." yn left out that they had not been the most avid studier during their university years. do as i say and not as i do, right? justin didn't have to know.

not that he listened, continuing his impassioned rant about beaded fabric and other things, while yn silently had a mini crisis over the new development in the soulmate department.

"hi," yn mumbled, frowning down at the pan in front of them. they were... attempting to cook dinner, their phone set up against the back wall of their kitchen counter. but it was one of those days when they had to drag a chair into the room so they didn't have to stand up, so it wasn't a particularly nutritious meal. still better than not eating, though.

"hey." the audio from minji's end was... crackly. the connection in the gym she went to was shitty, to say the least. and she'd chosen to accept the video call while on the treadmill, which was a choice, for sure.

chika giggled quietly, and the half-drunk margherita that she held told yn she was at least a little tipsy. her location was unclear, but it was clear she'd found some room away from the main party where she wouldn't be disturbed for a while. "guess who I'm with," she hummed out in a sing-song voice, before turning the camera to bring her companion into frame.

yn, at this point, wasn't surprised at who it was. it was, in their mind, only logical – chika was at a versace event, so was hyunjin, and fate seemed to have it out for them recently, so why wouldn't it be him?

"we're hiding," chika whispered. "it's very loud. and there are too many people. i am quite overstimulated."

"hello," hyunjin said shyly, giving a small wave to the camera.

yn, for all the repressing of their feelings, still couldn't deny how cute he was. it was just one of those things. they suspected it had a little to do with the fact that he was their soulmate... but it was also just one of those things.

"so, what was the stuff in the group chat about your soul mark changing?" chika asked, a shit-eating grin spreading across her face, as if one of my soulmates wasn't unfortunately right beside her.

"shut the fuck- oh, my god, get your furry ass off my counter!" yn complained, getting up off their chair to grab bingus, who was making his daily escapade into the kitchen cabinets. honestly, they wouldn't really have a problem if it was the ones at ground level, but trying to haul the cat's fluffy body out of the top shelf of the higher cupboards every day was just... it took far too much effort. they sighed, walking back into frame, holding bingus like the little baby he was, slumping back down into their chair, breathing a little heavy. "he's such a pest."

"just grabbing your cat has you breathing like that? damn..." minji said with a slight laugh, the background noises of her running slowing down as she lowered the speed of the treadmill.

"yeah, well, health is wealth and I am dirt poor, if you catch my drift," yn said, scratching bingus behind the ears and kissing his little forehead.

hyunjin gasped from the other side of the camera, his eyes going wide. "you have a cat?"

yn chuckled, picking up their phone to hold the camera closer to their kitty. "he's called bingus. i woke up to him sitting on my face this morning."

hyunjin muttered something that the microphone didn't manage to pick up, but evidently chika found it absolutely hilarious in her drunken state. "he's so cute..."

bingus meowed gently at the camera, blinking his wide eyes innocently like he wasn't just trying to use yn's ramen stash as a cat bed, instead of literally any other surface in their apartment. he was a strange one. although, maybe that was just cats in general.

"that he may be, but he also made five escape attempts in the past hour and was sulking until about ten minutes ago because I wouldn't let him risk his life in seoul traffic," yn replied in exasperation.

minji sighed sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "you clearly don't love him then."

"yes, i hate my cat and want him to live an unfulfilling life. he reminds me of that often. maybe i shouldn't have trained him to come with me on my bike. i've given you a taste for danger, hm?" yn smiled down at bingus, kissing his cheek.

"you have a bike?" hyunjin asked.

"yeah," yn confirmed. it was pink, and had hello kitty detailing – what more could you want?

"they're objectively less safe, you know that, right?" minji said. it was a conversation they'd had many times, but it always ended the same.

"i never said it made sense," yn protested. "but, unfortunately, i don't have the luxury of being able to walk everywhere, i'm scared of cars, and me and public transport don't mix well because it's usually too busy to sit down, so... this is my solution."

"i think we should go back," chika said, finishing the conversation abruptly. "i think donatella has some attachment issues," she whispered, not that it was any quieter.

yn chuckled. "alright. see you in a few days."

minji's pout was practically radiating through the screen as she said her goodbyes, to no surprise. it wasn't just donatella versace who had attachment issues.

and so, yn was left alone with their thoughts again while they ate their noodles – and simultaneously tried to stop bingus eating them as well. hyunjin was... nice to talk with. not that they expected otherwise, but... a part of them wished he wasn't. it would have made it easier to reconcile staying away for so long.

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chapter 6.0 ☆ have you been flossing?

ss: 16

wc: 301

cw: swearing, mentions of car accidents, mentions of the french, yn is bad at feelings, teeth stuff???

a/n: 56 followers?? I never thought this many people would like my shit lol thank you guys 🥲🫶

updates are probably going to slow down a bit because I'm going back to college next week (I am writing this instead of doing my homework, how did you know?)

also the amount of research I did on dental implants for this one chapter just for the most random plot point... idk anymore

it had been... well, annoying, to say the least, the time after yn's old crowns had been removed. it hadn't been strictly necessary to go around wearing a mask everywhere they went, but it was just... weird, right? walking around with holes in their smile. luckily, it had only taken few days for the new crowns to be made – silver, this time, as recommended – and they did look pretty cool. a little cold in their mouth, though. yn supposed they would get used to it.

however, the last person yn expected to see as they were walking out of the dentist's office was... dear lord... yang jeongin. luckily, it wasn't a long interaction, or even an interaction at all, for that matter, they both just brushed past each other in the doorway. but it was enough to set yn's palms tingling, something that lasted until they made it back to their apartment.

hopefully jeongin hadn't noticed. even if he had, there was only a slim chance that he'd be able to track them down, anyway.

although there was a part of yn that wanted him to try. not that they would acknowledge it, of course, but after that interaction with changbin the other day, it was hard not to wonder what it would be like if they were to finally give in to the whole soulmate thing. maybe it would be... nice. 

but the combination of pride and shame that had welled up inside them over time stopped yn from making any move themselves. they had gotten used to being alone, and that sticky feeling of sadness that clung to them whenever they saw concert clips, or skz code, or their lives. they were better off without each other, yn told themselves.

but they weren't sure how true that was anymore.

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chapter 5.0 ☆ jeogiyo noona hokshi namjachingu isseoyo

ss: 20

cw: swearing, nude + nipple mentions (no pictures, nothing graphic), descriptions of pain, reader called 'mama' once

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chapter 4.0 ☆ death of achilles

ss: 9

wc: 1,143 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

cw: mentions of food, swearing, apple slander (deserved)

these types of days were some of yn's favourite days. the slow days, when they were finishing up a paper, when they could just sit at a cafe with their noise cancelling headphones and do the final editing. the days when they could rationalise buying a few too many sweet treats because didn't they deserve a reward?

it was a little less enjoyable this time, as yn had woken up at stupid o'clock in the morning and had been unable to get back to sleep, so they were at the cafe far earlier than usual, but... it was still better than having to supervise second year students fucking around in the lab.

they had learned their lesson, and yn didn't order any caffeinated drinks, otherwise their shaky hands would have been no use with their temperamental laptop. it was, admittedly, on its last legs, but after eight years it was like their child and yn was unwilling to part with it until it was really, truly, unfixable. but that day was not today.

yn fiddled with their pochacco usb absentmindedly as they read through their paper, fixing spelling errors from the words that were evidently too scientific for autocorrect to handle, no matter how many times they put it into their personal dictionary. at this point, they'd just accepted it, and were resigned to going through the entire thing. it wasn't like it was terrible, anyway, but after seeing it almost every day for the last six months it was getting a little old.

luckily, in the midst of the slow, calm morning, fate had decided to make the day more exciting. because apparently, a calm morning was not in the cards.

it all happened so fast – someone bumped into someone else, a muffled curse, and the next second, three drinks had their contents emptied onto yn's laptop.

thankfully, yn had the presence of mind to pull the usb containing their paper out of their laptop, wiping it on their sleeve, hopefully before any damage could be done. after almost deleting their entire thesis during their bachelors degree… they weren't taking any chances. so while it would suck losing the editing, they had backups, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. but their laptop?

oh, it was not having a good time.

the screen flickered a few times, before shutting down, unprompted. and yn had a feeling that this time, it wasn't powering up again, especially with all the liquid currently seeping into the hardware through the gaps in the keyboard, and dripping off the table onto the floor as well as into yn's lap.

but, of course, that wasn't the end of it, because when yn looked up at the masked face of the person who spilled all that coffee over their laptop? seo changbin.

seo fucking changbin. of all the people in south korea, it had to be one of the eight people yn was trying so hard to avoid.

they just sat there in shock for a few seconds, staring down at their soaked laptop, before he started apologizing.

"i am so sorry-" changbin started before yn cut him off.

"it's fine," they said quickly. it wasn't fine, not really, but those words came out of their mouth on reflex.

finally, yn stood up, cringing at the feeling of their damp trousers clinging to their skin, knowing it would probably stain, and also knowing that it definitely looked like they pissed themselves now.

"oh, let me," changbin said, pulling off his jacket and tying it around their waist, covering up the worst of the spill.

both of them seemed to kick back into gear at that point, grabbing handfuls of napkins to try and mop up the liquid, to marginal degree of success. in the end they were ushered out of the cafe, leaving them standing awkwardly on the pavement outside, while yn tried to not make eye contact with the billboard showing a close up of changbin's face. it was like the universe was taunting them.

"sorry," changbin apologised again. "i could pay for the repairs, if you want…"

"you don't have to," yn replied, turning their gaze down at their shoes, and shifting their weight over to their new cane – which didn't start creaking immediately, a definite improvement from the last one. "it's pretty old. i'm not sure it can be revived another time."

"i'll buy you a new one, then."

"no, you don't have to do that," yn protested, but they got the idea that it would need a lot more to convince him not to.

"why is your laptop called achilles?" changbin asked, bemusement evident on his face.

yn shrugged. "when i was setting it up, you could name it... for, like, bluetooth or something. one of my old friends named it."

"right..." he replied, clearly not understanding.

yn laughed quietly to themselves, the conversation going quiet again as the pair walked into the electronics store. at least they had an idea of what they wanted – yn had become quite aware over the last few months that their laptop was... close to death, and had been preemptively window shopping for a new one, so they just made a beeline for the one they'd been looking at.

"not going to milk this for something more expensive? like a macbook?"

yn shot changbin a withering look. "macbooks suck. they lose battery in, like, 20 minutes, then they overheat when you charge them. the layout is awful and completely different from almost every other laptop for literally no reason and they're so expensive for what? to be unusable without a software update that makes everything worse? spare me."

changbin muffled his laugh behind his hand. "all my friends are weird about iphones, too. they're so much worse, i don't get it."

"right? i just want a good device, and apple is worse than everything else, as well as being way more expensive. the hype is completely undeserved."

"so... this one, then?" he asked, pointing at the model they were standing in front of.

yn nodded. it wasn't the best, or most expensive, but it had all the things they needed, and it weighed less than seven bricks, as minji had so aptly put it.

it didn't take long for the new laptop to be purchased, and changbin handed it over with a new litany of apologies. yn accepted it with an embarrassed smile, unable to stop the hitch in their breath as their hands brushed his.

"i, um... thank you," yn muttered out, averting their gaze. they felt the tips of their ears heat up, in a way that had nothing to do with the weather, accompanied by a sinking feeling in their gut. somehow they knew that it was going to become a lot harder to hide from their soulmates from now on.

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a/n: is this a weird plot point? maybe. but I have free will and I can write what I want

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chapter 3.0 ☆ changed numbers

ss: 12

cw: mentions of underwear pic (no image), yn being stupid, suggestive mentions of boobs

a/n: yes I did accidentally post the unfinished version earlier because my finger slipped which is turning out to be a common theme here

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a/n: any guesses? 🤭

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chapter 2.0 ☆ a disturbance in the force

ss: 12

cw: angst, (internalised) ableism, reader feeling insecure, food pictures, (1) suggestive message

a/n: to all my fellow disabled friends out there struggling with self worth – you're enough, and I love you ♡

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chapter 1.0 ☆ these fucking kids

ss: 18

cw: swearing, mentions of (bottom) surgery, mentions of food, slight suggestiveness (nothing graphic)

a/n: finally into actual chapters lol. click for quality

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chapter 0.75 ☆ my destiny

ss: 18

cw: mentions of covid, mentions of vomiting, coming out (accidental), friendship + family issues, doctors being assholes, medical angst, mentions of food, dividers between time jumps

a/n: yes there's another backstory chapter lol. 0.5 was getting too long to fit it all. click for quality

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a/n: are all the trials and tribulations from experience?... no comment

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chapter 0.5 ☆ first light

ss: 19

cw: a whole bunch of time skips (divider between time jumps), mentions of injuries, mentions of food

a/n: catch up chapter which is turning out to be longer than expected

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a/n: I am a strong believer that bang chan is a '😂' warrior

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chapter 0.0 ☆ end of beginning

ss: 11

wc: 471

cw: mentions of + jokes about car accidents, mentions of comas, medical inaccuracies probably, angst, graphic description of pain? idk i'm just writing what a flare-up feels like to me

the main thing yn felt was pain. pain in her knee, pain in her jaw, and pain everywhere else. the meds barely took the edge off.

thankfully, her parents had managed to get her a private room, so yn didn't have to listen to other people, but in a way it made this whole thing worse. maybe it would have been a little better if she didn't feel so alone in her grievances.

she just wanted to sleep, to get away from reality for a little bit – but being away from home, in hospital of all places wasn't helping. the weird, bleach-y smell lingered in her nose, and the irregular beeping of her vitals was drilling a hole into her skull. not even holding the pathetic excuse for a pillow over her ears drowned it out. it was too uncomfortable a position anyway, especially since yn could only lay on her back so she didn't put pressure on her knee, or her jaw, or the many other injuries she'd sustained from the crash. the restlessness gradually seeping into her bones didn't help anything either, and yn knew it would only get worse over the months she'd need to heal.

at first, yn hadn't realised why she'd woken up in hospital, to a jaw wired shut, and a leg brace, and pain burning up her insides.

and then, she remembered.

crossing the road, alone, in the dark. the screeching of the tires as the car rounded the corner. standing, frozen, like a deer in headlights, and the blinding pain that spread like lightning through her body as she hit the ground, before blacking out.

due to some cruel twist of fate, she'd woken from her coma on what would have been her day off from training. all in all, not the most innocuous of days, but it meant that chan was there. him and his little, worried face, wasting his time on her. although, yn supposed it was better that she'd woken up then, so that he didn't have to spend the whole time just watching her, unconscious. and, well, it was nice having a friend around during the panic of the first moments of wakefulness.

but now, she was alone again. nothing to do but try desperately not to think about the accident, or the pain, or chan's little, worried face… it didn't really leave much. and those things were pretty hard not to think about when it felt like the images kept resurfacing in her head in a constant loop, a grim picture book, over and over – and the pain, a cloying caramel clogging up her insides and sinking its claws into her body, flames blazing.

yn just wanted sleep. but tonight, sleep was not her friend. and, to her reckoning, it wouldn't be for a long while.

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