ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

"Huh?" Jihoon uttered, blinking continuously as he stood, taken aback by Soonyoung's response. Soonyoung wanted them to spend the night together?

In what way? Why? In his room???

Jihoon's body started to heat up, his face coloured with a bright red tint in just a few seconds. Soonyoung took a few steps closer, holding Jihoon's hands.

"Please darling, just stay with me." Soonyoung pleaded, his eyes teary as he looked at Jihoon who didn't know what to say, his body language alone enough to convince the man.

Jihoon gulped, hoping his brain would take the lead and make a logical decision. "Umm... I don't know." He replied before sighing in his mind. His brain definitely wasn't taking the lead.

"That's fine. I'm off to bed, goodnight darling." Soonyoung let go of Jihoon's hands, inhaling, a bit of disappointment in the small smile he passed unto Jihoon before moving to the stairs.

As the sound of Soonyoung's footsteps lessened and his door banged shut, Jihoon let out a breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding. His hand on his heart as he breathed in and out.

Why did Soonyoung have so much influence over his mood, over his thoughts and over his heart. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all.

Jihoon inhaled and exhaled one more time before going up the stairs. He entered his room, shutting the door. He took a bath to clear his mind, changed into his sleepwear and laid down on his bed, prepared to go to bed.

He had a long day tomorrow and the last thing he wanted was to be tired.

However as he closed his eyes, imaged of Soonyoung asking him to stay with him replayed in his mind, guilt crawling into his heart.

His eyes opened and he blinked, thinking it would clear his eyes before he closed them again. Once he shut them for a second time, the scene played in his head once again and Jihoon's eyes burst open and he sat up on his bed.

Am I really going to do this?

He sighed begrudgingly while he got up from his bed, taking his two favourite pillows with him. He left his room, shutting the door behind him.

His gaze remained on Soonyoung's which was on the other end of the floor. He wondered if Soonyoung had slept off yet and if this was even a good idea.

He took a few steps towards the room, his heart starting to beat out of his chest with each move he made. He got to the door after a lot of contemplation and second thoughts and pulled the door handle down gently.

He pushed the door which was unlocked surprisingly and walked in, closing it afterwards. As he turned around, he saw Soonyoung on the bed, bundled up.

Quietly, he tiptoed towards Soonyoung and once he got closer, he saw Soonyoung's face decorated with a stream of tears falling from his eyes. The stream had dried a little leaving a mark on his cheeks and he has fallen asleep.

Jihoon instinctively raised his hand, wiping away the stain from Kelly's face. The sight of Soonyoung crying only making him hurt even more on his behalf.

"Don't cry, Soonyoung-ah." Jihoon whispered, about to take his hand off when he felt something wrapping itself around it. He looked at his hand, now being held by Soonyoung whose eyes began to open gradually.

Soonyoung's lips broke into a half smile as he made out the identity of the person in front of him. It was Jihoon, he had actually come. This was insane. "You actually came?" He questioned and Jihoon swallowed, clearing his throat.

"You asked me to." Jihoon's words came out of his mouth in a low tone, the truth glimmering through them and Soonyoung's smile widening as he heard the words.

He sat up, pulling Jihoon in for a hug. The fast movement made Jihoon fall into his arms, Soonyoung placing his arms on the man's back and pulling him in closer.

Jihoon, taken aback but not necessarily surprised by the hug took a while to get control back over his body before he hugged Soonyoung back, wondering if the man could hear how fast his heartbeat was and if he could feel how much he was shaking in his head.

He closed his eyes, letting the interaction blossom into a bonding moment. Maybe he could give Soonyoung a chance, it wasn't like he had a choice either way.

Suppressing his feelings for Soonyoung, feelings he hadn't understood or explored yet, was only hurting him so if he had to give Soonyoung a chance,

Maybe, just maybe, there was a small possibility that he would.

•••••••••••••

Wonwoo parked the car, his head cycling back as an exhausted groan left his lips. He had just drove 2 hours to Pyeongchang on his own to find that asshole called Kim Mingyu.

He took enough time to prepare and get some breaths in before he opened the car door and got out, his arms shivering slightly as the cold air hit him in an instant.

He was extremely sensitive to cold but he'd rather have his skin freezing than have Soonyoung find out Mingyu had almost gotten away.

He checked the address he'd been given, looking at the numbers on the ski lodge which were just a few feet away.

His eyes scanned each wooden house until he saw one with the No.8 on. That was it, that was the lodge they were staying at, according to the cybersecurity team anyways.

Wonwoo rushed over to the house, there was no time to be spared, he had to locate Mingyu and get the necessary information. If Mingyu knew where Jeonghan was right now, Wonwoo would get backup, inform Soonyoung and they would hunt him down.

That slimy snake had gotten off the hook one too many times.

Wonwoo reached the lodge, knocking on the door before waiting for it to be opened. He heard the sound of footsteps, music and people chatting which made him assume there were more than three people here.

After a few seconds, a man Wonwoo recognized as Lee Seokmin opened the door while another man who he recognized as Jeon Jungkook stayed behind him.

"Hello. I'm looking for Kim Mingyu." Wonwoo bowed slightly, immediately informing the two of his motives for coming. The two men looked at him from head to toe, the fact that he was in a hurry was obvious and he wasn't dressed properly either meant be wasn't staying for long.

"Why do you need to see him?" Seokmin asked, suspicious of the man. He seemed extremely familiar but Seokmin could not remember where he'd seen the man before.

Wonwoo sighed, knowing these two would derail him from his initial mission. Not only did they seem skeptical, the one in front was also being very defensive.

"I'm his ...colleague and he ran off to this place without finishing his work. As you can see, not very considerate of him." He crossed his arms as the two men went silent, not knowing what to say in response.

A voice diverted their attention from Wonwoo and Wonwoo's attention from them as it got closer, "Who is that?" The person asked and Wonwoo could tell it was Mingyu, his voice had a familiar nonchalant and cocky edge to it that Wonwoo hated.

"Ya! Kim Mingyu! Do you want to die? Cause I swear I'll kill you if you don't get your ass back to Seoul right now!" Wonwoo yelled, his anger finally dissipating as he poured it into his words.

The three men stood shocked, their jaws dropped as they stared at Wonwoo in silence. "Woah woah woah, calm your tits down Spongebob." Mingyu's shock turned into an annoying smirk, one he knew would tick Wonwoo off.

"Spo-Spongebob?" Wonwoo scoffed, taking a step back as he heard the giggles from the three which didn't help his situation in the slightest. "You know what? Stay here, you can stay here and lose your job because I'm going to kindly tell Soonyoung that you have been of no help to me at all."

He took a deep breath as he started to retreat. "I'll find him on my own without your stupid help." He turned fully, walking back to his car.

"Jeon Wonwoo!" Mingyu called out but Wonwoo ignored him, continuing his walk back to his car. He was a fool for thinking someone who had lived a whole life without responsibility would be able to actually go through with a deal.

He was just a child and Wonwoo did not deal with children.

•••••••••••••

Seungcheol stared at the house in front of him, hidden in the deepest area of Seoul, a village hidden and quaint, somewhere no one would ever expect Yoon Jeonghan would live.

And of course, this was where he was living.

He ran his tongue over his teeth. Starting to second guess him coming here. Would he be able to stand his ground with Jeonghan or would he be easily manipulated and used just like before, just like always.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." He told himself, breathing out as he walked towards the door, his hand raising to knock on it.

Barely a second passed before the door opened wide and Jeonghan appeared in front of him, dressed in a matching silk pair of pajamas and no makeup which made him look even more beautiful than usual.

Seungcheol swallowed, hard, his eyes avoiding Jeonghan's. Jeonghan's eyes squinted then enlarged as he realized who was in front of him.

"Seungcheol?" He murmured, surprised at Jeonghan's sudden arrival at his house. Was it perhaps a trick or something? Didn't Seungcheol want to have nothing to do to him?

Seungcheol sighed, his hand in his pocket as he replied, "Jeonghan, we have to talk, please."

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

Ⓒ︎𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷
𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙴𝙳 - 11•01•2025
𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙴𝙳 - 𝙽•𝙰