who knows what goes on in a frog's mind?
part two of SUPER BORED{ 18+ only. minors/ageless/blank blogs DNI ≡ masterlist }
pairing: Hyunjin x (afab) reader | wordcount: 20k | genre: non-idol au, college au, smut | warnings: mutual pining but fwb, Hyunjin is a weed dealer, drug use (recreational/consensual intercourse under the influence), mild non-graphic violence (not hj x reader), backstory (loss of a parent/bad relationship with parent), Chives ♡, Goodbyes (happy ending), time jump at the end. Explicit sexual content and smut. (18+ only) Smut warnings under the cut.
“They’re good socks,” Hyunjin pointed out. “I remembered that your toes get really cold.”
smut warnings: Unprotected sex. Sex under the influence (weed, alcohol), but everything is consensual. Making out. Mentions of masturbation (hyunjin, reader). Mentions of sex toys. Brief use of a fleshlight on Hyunjin. Oral sex (reader receiving). vagin*l sex and creampie (intentional, consensual)
That week was filled with assignments and midterms and trying to survive this mess. You almost got into a heated argument with your Interactive Design professor on top of it all, which only made you more determined to pass his class with flying colors.
Thursday was less busy than the other days—you only had one class in the morning and had decided you’d stay around and work in the computer lab for a change, hoping the Interactive Design professor would catch sight of you there. You didn’t know what difference it might make but you were too petty to care anyway. You just wanted him to know that you definitely didn’t deserve to fail his class.
The sun was almost completely down when you realized your eyes were too tired to keep working. You logged off the computer and checked your phone as you decided on your next move—you could head home directly, or try and see if Felix was available. You usually went out for drinks on Thursday nights with Felix and Ji, but with the midterms…
Instead of opening the group chat with these two, your eyes wandered down to a conversation that hadn’t moved since Sunday. Still, you opened it. A picture of Chives greeted you at the bottom of the short conversation, still in its aquarium, looking as happy as a frog could be.
After the party, the park… After Hyunjin and the night you spent with him, you had texted him briefly to respond to his initial messages and to say thank you for walking you home, to which he had simply replied, “No problem at all” and this picture of Chives.
He still haunted your mind. His angel hair, his tongue, his giggles, his strong weed. His weight on top of you. His co*ck inside of you.But you hadn’t had the courage to text him any further—you had given the picture a little heart, but that was it.
With a sigh, you shoved your things in your messenger bag and headed outside of the computer lab. The hallway was almost empty as you made your way toward the elevator. You smiled politely at the student already in it.
“Which floor?” she asked you, her hand hovering over the panel.
You should study for Friday’s exam. You should rest, maybe have a couple of beers with your roommates. You stared at the student, still waiting for your answer. You were going to the first floor, where the main entrance was located. From there, you only had to walk for a minute before finding a bus that would take you to your neighborhood—
“Nevermind, changed my mind, sorry.” You exited the elevator with a frustrated sigh, not hesitating once before taking the hallway to the east wing, where only one flight of steps separated you from the art studios.
The familiar cool breeze greeted you when you passed the door. You really could never figure out where it came from, and the professors didn’t seem to know either. Walking in this hallway reminded you of good memories. Mrs. Yoo’s gentle smile and how she always pushed her students to challenge themselves so they became better. You missed her. Maybe you ought to take one of her painting courses next semester, just for fun.
You found Hyunjin in the farthest art studio, the one with the corner windows. When it was daytime, plenty of sunlight illuminated the room. But tonight, it was large ceiling lights that provided the lighting.
He didn’t see you get in. He wasn’t alone in the studio—a few other people were busy adding finishing touches to their paintings, which you guessed must be their midterm assignment for a class. You could tell from the distressed look on their faces and the deep dark circles under their eyes. They barely acknowledged you as you made your way towards Hyunjin.
His painting was much less complete than other paintings you could see in the room. You did a double take at it when you realized what it depicted—nighttime, trees, soft grass, a pond, the yellow lighting of lamp posts…
No frog around, but you recognized the view from the other day, at the park, when Hyunjin and you were laying on the grass. The lighting was so soft that you couldn’t take your eyes off it. The way he blended it with the dark sky, the trees…
Why did the other night feel more than just a hookup? You weren’t sure you knew why exactly, but you figured that part of the answer resided in that painting.
Hyunjin jumped on his seat when he finally noticed you after a while of you just standing there staring at the painting in silence. He took his earbuds out and pretended he was busy wiping the paintbrush he was holding to avoid looking at you—but his ears had turned pink.
“Oh, hey!” He watched you from the corner of his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“I just thought…” Already, that was a lie. You hadn’tthoughtat all—you probably should have texted him instead of showing up here like this. But you hadn’tthoughtabout it. Your brain was haunted by the feeling of a lip ring against your skin, the faint smell of cigarettes and weed, and Hyunjin’s pretty moans as he came with you. In you. “I was…” You sighed. You were about to tell him another lie—that you were just walking this way and thought you’d come by. “I just wanted to say hi and see what you were working on these days.”
You looked behind him where the painting rested on its easel.Beautifulwas the only word that came to mind. He had a unique style, the kind of painting that the more you looked at it the more you noticed about it. The shading, the light… And it wasn’t evencompleted.
“Oh. It’s my midterm… for Mrs. Yoo’s class.”
Without any hesitation, you inquired, “Is that the park?”
“Yeah.”
You stared into his big brown eyes. He took a step closer to you, his tongue running on his bottom lip. He seemed to have regained some of the composure you had previously seen in him.
“It’s stunning.” You stood side by side with him while you both looked at the canvas. Hyunjin’s arm pressed against yours in the confined space between the work tables and, for f*ck's sake, you noticed it. This tiny bit of contact. “I just… Wonder why you wanted to paint that.” You couldn’t help the nervous giggle that followed your sentence, which made you look like a dumbass. f*ck.
He shook his head. “I like painting things I find beautiful, or that remind me of good times… And I had a nice evening with you.”
“I had a nice evening with you too.” Now you were certainyourears were pink.
“Every time I walk by the park, or when I sit there… I think of you now, you know?”
The heat on your cheeks spread all over your face. It seemed like even your brain was blushing. You cleared your throat, trying to come up with an answer that a normal person would give. The truth was that you thought about Hyunjin almost all the time. The truth was that you masturbat*d to the thought of him every night, chasing the feelings he gave you.
“So you like it? The painting?” He faced you then, not waiting for you to elaborate on his previous statement, his eyes in yours, head co*cked to the side and his hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie. Too handsome to look real, but too noticeable to you to deny that he was. His breath smelled sweet, like candy, like a handmade raspberry lollipop. You couldn’t deny that you hadn’t just dreamed him—that he was real, that you had f*cked him, and that you wanted to f*ck him again if at all possible.
“I love it.” You smiled. It was impossible not to smile around him—there was something calming about his aura, the way he held himself. His tongue returned to his lip to fiddle with the ring. “I’m just… surprised, you know? That you’d want to paint that night. And that you painted something so beautiful in so little time.”
Hyunjin cracked a wide smile at you, pulling you in for a hug. That surprised you a million times more than a painting ever could, but you gave in to the hug, to him, burying your face in the crook of his neck. His hoodie smelled like him. You still couldn’t name all of the things that made his scenthis, but today they hit your nostrils a little more. Maybe because you were sober. Maybe because you had been thinking about Hyunjin all week, him, his mouth, his voice, his smooth tongue…
“Thank you.” He squeezed you harder under the observing eyes of the other students and you ignored them. You couldn’t care anymore. “It’s really inspiring. The trees, the light. It reminds me of you. Makes me want to paint more and better.”
You had heard a few pick-up lines in your days but none like this. And it did not even feel like a pick-up line but you couldn’t ignore the way Hyunjin gently grazed your neck and cheek with his lips as he pulled away from you.
Or the fact that he was painting, for hismidterm, the scenery from when he was rubbing his crotch on you in apark.
“Actually, I’m almost done with this coat,” Hyunjin explained, returning to his work. “I’ll drive you home after if you want?” He smiled, grabbing his paint and brush again. “We can stop by my place if you’d like to say hi to Chives.”
“How’s he doing?” you asked, pulling a nearby chair to sit down, leaving your bag with Hyunjin’s dilapidated black backpack. “Everything ok for the little guy?”
“Ah, Chives’ alright—” Hyunjin paused halfway through the sentence, his face inches away from the canvas as he seemed to be putting the finishing touches on an evergreen tree. On the painting, it looked lifelike and reminded you of a blanket, you just couldn’t say why exactly. “—but, uh, I looked it up and I think, based on size, that it’s actually agirlfrog…”
You laughed, but so did he. It felt good to be with him again. You didn’t think you could miss him, but you did. You did miss him.
With agile movements, Hyunjin continued adding texture to the tree using a flat brush. He flicked his wrist without a care in the world, as if he could do no wrong. And he did no wrong anyway. You couldn’t stop watching him, the slight scrunch on his face, how often he returned to wet his lips, swiping them with his tongue. Not unlike a brush on a canvas. The kind of sight that would haunt you. The kind of sight that would not help you forget the way it felt when he kissed you.
More thoughts that would spring back to your mind when you reached for your vibrator at night…
You made yourself look at the paintbrush gliding on the canvas instead. “I did get the girlfrogboss vibe from Chives from the beginning,” you said, wondering if it was too weird if you just stared at him without saying a word. “I’d love to go see her, if that’s alright. And Chris the dog, too! Do they get along?”
Hyunjin’s shoulders shook with a laugh and he nodded. “I mean, sometimes Chris will just… sit by the aquarium… and watch her. And you know what? Call me crazy, but I think Chives stares back sometimes, almost like she’s interested.”
Not once could you have imagined that at some point in your life you would end up in this cold ass art studio with Jisung’s weed dealer—WHO HAD f*ckED YOU HARD!— having a very normal conversation about a frog named Chives while he was busy painting the time he made out with you passionately. But here you were doing exactly that, taking deep breaths, not to calm down but to inhale as much of Hyunjin's scent as you could.
“I believe you.” You nodded even though he couldn’t see you.
Hyunjin turned to you for an instant, smirking and shaking his head almost dismissively before focusing on his painting again. “You’re really too nice, you know that? You don’t need to indulge my every thought.”
“I’m not indulging anything!” If he hadn’t been painting, you would have punched him in the shoulder for that. “It’s true! For all we know, they might be having an impossible romance thing going on!”
“You’re crazier than me, I swear.” A side glance, again. A smile, again. “It’s fun talking with you.”
You sighed a little. “I think it’s fun talking with you too, Hyunjin.” He was now blending his colors. Why was he so good at blending? He made it look effortless. “Are you really gonna keep her? Chives, I mean.”
“Nah, I think I found the perfect spot to release her. Better than the park. I was thinking of doing that this weekend.” He stopped talking for a while but you could sense that he had more to say, only he was absorbed by his work, his long fingers holding the brush and gliding it expertly on the canvas. “Are you busy? You should be there, I feel like. It would be fitting.”
“Fitting?”
“Yeah, I mean—what if Chives desperately wants you to be there to say goodbye? Who knows what goes on in a frog’s mind?”
You didn’t even try to stop your laugh. How weird was that guy—he always had something strange to say, but it made him likable as hell. You had never met anyone like this before. You felt good around him. You had expected some sort of awkwardness between the two of you after the other night, but there was none of that.
Hyunjin appeared to be done painting so he spun his stool to face you, pushing himself close to your chair. To you.
“I’ll try to be there,” you replied. Hyunjin was playing with his lip ring again and you couldn’t look away from his tongue. Pink, wet, smooth. “To wish Chives good luck.”
“Do you want to pick up dinner on the way to my place?” Hyunjin asked, his eyes returning a little too often to your mouth for it to be even a little subtle. “Anything you want.”
“Anything?” Hyunjin reached for you, placing his hand just above your knee. You shivered hard enough for him to notice and a bashful smile painted itself on his lips.
“Are you cold? You’re always cold, aren’t you? You should wear warmer clothes—it’s almost November.” He unzipped his black hoodie but you stopped him before he could take it off, not without a glimpse of a black t-shirt adorned with the logo of a band you knew and liked. Jisung introduced you to them some time ago.
“Please, don’t.” You zipped him back up yourself and he took your hands in his to warm them up. His skin was warm and his big hands easily held yours in between. He touched you gently, running his fingers on your wrists and making it very hard for you to keep thinking straight. “I still have your hoodie at my place, by the way… I’ll give it to you tonight. I washed it!” To be honest, you had washed it last night only and had been sleeping with it in your bed before that because it smelled like him.
“Don’t stress over this, I got plenty of those.” He said with a shrug, bringing your hands close to his mouth to give them a little kiss, effectively making you wet. “So do you want to come over for dinner or not?”
As if you could say no.
It took a little while for Hyunjin to store his painting and supplies but it gave you some time to head to the nearest bathroom to splash water on your face. A lot of it. You tried to tame your hair a little, making it somewhat presentable after the hot flash brought by Hyunjin’s gentle caresses. Either this guy was the smoothest motherf*cker around or the most oblivious fool… Or maybe he was both of those things at once, somehow.
He was waiting for you outside near the door of the side entrance. He crushed the cigarette he was smoking and threw it away when you appeared, leading you toward the parking lot.
“How’s midterm season for you, Tipsy?” Hyunjin questioned as you let the cold breeze cool you off.Tipsy. Why did you like it so much when he called you like that? “A lot of projects, I assume?”
“You’re right.” The sun was down by now, and the area was quieter. You paused, walking in silence with Hyunjin for a little while. It felt nice—you liked his presence, his energy. “But I manage. I think. I hope.”
“I’m sure you’re fine,” he assured. “I’m right over there.”
You followed him around the parked cars, not expecting the one he stopped at—an old, borderlinevintage, bright red sedan. It showed signs of old age but seemed in good condition. At least it was clean.
“It’s my dad’s car,” Hyunjin explained, unlocking your door before his and opening it for you. The inside of the car was clean, too. It smelled like the little mochi-shaped car freshener that hung from the mirror. Sweet. “The house was his, too.”
Was. You sat on the passenger seat quietly, waiting for him to walk around the vehicle and take place behind the wheel. He had driven out of the parking lot before he spoke again.
“He’s not dead by the way,” he said, negotiating a left turn. He seemed to be a good, careful driver. “And I guess the house is technically still his. He works abroad. I miss him, but it’s fine.”
You weren’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry, Hyunjin.”
“Don’t be.” You looked over at him and noticed he was still smiling faintly. “We weren’t on the best terms anyway. He had to raise me alone from when I was like, six… I think the last time I’ve seen him was three Christmases ago. I have some good memories of him. And I have this car. Don’t you love this thing?” He gave a few appreciative pats on the dashboard.
You couldn’t help but giggle, watching the city lights through the window. “Of course. Some kids come to class in cars that are, what, eight,tenyears old? They don’t know what they’re missing out on. So bougie of them, if you ask me.”
Hyunjin laughed so hard that he almost missed his red light. “Damn straight!” He sat back in his seat, calming his laughter with deep breaths, keeping his eyes on the traffic lights. “You make me laugh a lot, you know?”
You tried cooling off your cheeks with your fingers. Hyunjin led the conversation the rest of the way but not in a self-centered way—when you questioned him about his midterms, he simply got carried away as he tried to explain a paper he was writing for his 19th Century Landscape Painting course.
He parked his car behind a trendy pizza place as he was trying to explain the level of detail that was possible with oil on canvas, and how painters of the 19th century used color to express light and purity in their work.
“Oh—” he said, cutting himself off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I didn’t even ask. Is pizza okay?”
“Pizza is always okay.” You realized you were starving but your phone rang as you were just about to push open the car door. You pulled it out of your bag and noticed several missed texts on your screen before taking the call.
“Hey Jisung,” you offered an apologetic smile to Hyunjin. “Everything alright?”
“Everything alright? Been trying to reach you for forty-five minutes! Felix texted, too, and then I called Chae who said you weren’t home…”
You sighed. “So where are you?”
“The same place we are ateveryThursday night!” Jisung insisted. “We thought you got kidnapped or something!”
“I didn’t getkidnapped!” You groaned in frustration, but you couldn’t help but to feel relieved that in the unlikely case that something badwouldhappen to you, someone would eventually worry about you. “I won’t make it tonight, sorry. Are you with Felix?”
“Yes, Felix’s here but—is it because of that professor again? Do you have extra work?”
You made eye contact with Hyunjin as you were coming up with your response—he had a playful expression on his face. He signaled you silently to hand the phone over to him, and you did exactly that, unable to resist the glimmer in his eyes.
“No, actually, Ididkidnap her,” he said into the phone, keeping his voice relaxed and casual. “The ransom will be high for a pretty girl like her.” There was a pause, during which you assumed Jisung was being very confused on the other side of the line. You buried your face in your shirt to muffle the sound of your giggles but mostly tried to control and conceal the flush on your cheeks at the same time. Hyunjin had called youpretty. ToJisung. “Do I sound like I’m f*cking kidding? A ransom, and you better be quick because I’m about to treat her to fancy pizza and a movie, my guy, and—” Another silence, and Hyunjin’s smile turned into a grin. “God, I was wondering if you’d ever recognize me, Hanji boy. Yeah, it’s me. She’s with me, don’t worry. Now I’m starving so she’ll talk to you later okay? Bye, have fun!”
Hyunjin hung up the call before handing you your phone. “He’s a good friend for you, don’t let him go,” he advised. “But I’m hungry for real. Ready, Tipsy?”
As you walked the short distance between the car and the restaurant, it almost seemed to you like Hyunjin was about to take your hand in his. In the end he didn’t, but something inside of you wished he had.
“HEY!HEY!”
At first you didn’t realize that the person yelling somewhere behind you was talking to Hyunjin. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking over his shoulder—but this area of the parking lot wasn’t particularly well-lit and it was hard to see. Still, you made out two silhouettes who had just come out of a car that had seemingly been following Hyunjin’s.
“Not now,” Hyunjin replied. “Later. I’ll come by to your place, I’ll—”
“No, actually,now’sa really good time, Hwang.” The man came forward, barely letting you see his face—he had a face mask on and was wearing a beanie, just like his partner. “You promised.”
As the two men approached, Hyunjin extended a protective arm around you and gently put himself in between them and you. You, however, reached inside your bag and wrapped your fingers around the can of pepper spray that you had sworn to your mother you would never need.
“I promised I’dtryto get you the pills, Soong,” he said. “I also said it might take a while—that’s not my usual stuff and you know it. You know I didn’t promise yoush*t.”
You weren’t stupid—you understood that whatever was going on had to do with Hyunjin’s illicit activities. You hadn’t realized it had been such an important part of his life, though. Jisung had mentioned Hyunjin knew a guy who knew a guy, resulting in him selling some weed to pay for his education. Jisung had also said that Hyunjin grew some weed as well, but that this one was exclusively for his own use… unless he really liked you. Jisung had been blessed enough to be one of those well-liked individuals… And you were pretty sure you made the list, too.
Butpills? That, you didn’t expect from the boy who had carefully carried a frog in the pocket of his hoodie to give it a bath. The boy who took care of you and f*cked you like a p*rn star, but made sure to leavelollipopson your bedside table after he left.
“But you still said you would,” the other guy insisted, now dangerously close to you and Hyunjin. His partner was right behind him, keeping an eye on you. “So what’s it gonna be, Hwang?”
“Not here,” Hyunjin whispered, pleading. “Let me take her home, I’ll—”
The punch happened so fast that you didn’t even see it coming—Hyunjin, stunned, fell back against you after the man hit him in the face. You gasped, too shocked to react except for helping Hyunjin to keep his balance as the man was closing his fist and raising it again, getting ready to strike.
“Go—” Hyunjin managed, pushing you away. “Just f*ckinggo!”
“Don’t let her leave,” the man Hyunjin had called Soong told his partner. “Get her for me, even. I bet she’s gonna tell us where her little boyfriend keeps his pills…”
“IDON’THAVE THEM, LET HER—” But Hyunjin did not finish his threat—you pulled the can of pepper spray out of your bag, disengaged the lock on it with one push of your thumb, and sprayed the two men directly in the face after extending your arm over Hyunjin’s shoulder.
Soong and his partner screamed in pain. They covered their faces with their hands while Hyunjin grabbed your arm and dragged you away from the scene.
Hyunjin warned them as you were both walking away from the scene.
“Don’t follow me ever again. I said that when I’d have the pills, I’d let you know.” He picked up a pace, but the two men were on their knees and whining loudly. “Come on, Tipsy,” he added but he didn’t even turn to you. “We have to go now.”
The altercation had happened behind the restaurant and you didn’t think anybody had seen anything, but you didn’t hesitate before joining Hyunjin as he offered you his hand, dragging you away. Already, your mind was running as fast as your heart was beating, suddenly hit by a huge adrenaline rush. What if theydidfollow you, what if they went after you, what if—
“What if they call the cops?”
“Don’t worry, he’s not gonna call the police or anything. He’s a much bigger criminal than I’ll ever be,” Hyunjin assured, practically pushing you inside the sedan to close the door behind you. “Are you okay?” he added once he was sitting too and had started the car.
“I guess, yeah, I’m fine—” You were trying to process everything but it was too much at once. You took a long, deep breath, trying to appease your heartbeat. “You’re bleeding.”
Hyunjin touched his upper cheek where the skin was cut. It would leave a bruise, too. “Don’t worry about me, it’s fine. Thank you, Tipsy. You did us a solid back there. I’m just… I’m sorry you had to see this.” He paused briefly. “I’ll drive you home immediately.”
But you didn’t like the idea of leaving Hyunjin alone, not after he was hit in the face like that. And, maybe you also didn’t like the idea of being alone in your apartment—Chae would be out with Minho and Ji was still at the bar with Felix. Still, you remained quiet as Hyunjin drove away, using the sleeve of his hoodie to soak up some of the blood on his cheek.
“I thought you were a weed dealer,” you eventually said, your voice smaller than you had expected. “Just that, you know?”
He took a left turn to go through the quiet neighborhoods instead of staying in the busy streets. “Iamjust that. I’mbarelythat.” Hyunjin sighed, “I sell weed to a few people I know. But these dudes, they… they heard about my supplier, and they figured they could get their hands on some pills to resell them. They wanted to get them through me, but my guy isn’t going to trust me with a bunch of opiates just for the f*ck of it, you know? These things take time…”
“But why would you want to help them get those pills?” you insisted, not seeing atallwhy Hyunjin had chosen to be associated with these kinds of people.
He sighed. A long, tired sigh. “They said they’d… my neighbor… the lady I told you about.” Another sigh. “They say they’d…” Instead of saying it, he pointed his fingers as if to make a finger gun, and shot at nothing to show his point. “And then me, too. Just threats, probably—but I couldn’t risk it.”
And just like that, Fairytale was back. The one ready to put himself in danger to keep his neighbor safe.
“Don’t take me home,” you suddenly told Hyunjin as you heard his turn signal. “I’ll go with you.”
“No, you—”
“If you drop me at my place, I’ll wait until you’ve turned around the corner and go after you, on foot.” You crossed your arms over your chest. “I’m going with you.” As if it added any weight to your statement, you added, “You said I could see Chives anyway.”
And so you went with him. And, for some reason, your heart calmed down and your breathing returned to something almost normal, too.
He parked his car in the garage—it was mostly empty except for a lawnmower, a few tools, and an artificial Christmas tree in the corner.
“I’ll go get Chris from the neighbor,” he told you as he unlocked the door leading to the inside of the house and you needed a few seconds to remember that hisdogwas named Chris and he wasn’t talking about a person. The bleeding on his face was better, but the wound would need to be cleaned up. “Make yourself at home, Tipsy. I’ll be back in a minute.” Hyunjin avoided your stare as he left through the garage door.
His house wasn’t that big, but it was cozy and clean. There were two easels in the large living room, but only one of them had a canvas on it. The painting seemed finished—a color study, by the looks of it. Greens and yellows fading into an interesting shade of pink. Hyunjin’s blending was impressive, but you noticed the bathroom door open and went in there to wash your hands and rinse out your face quickly. The bathroom was clean. Surprisingly clean. But then—maybe you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
You heard the barks of a large dog and immediately went out of the bathroom to go meet Hyunjin’s loyal friend. Instead, you met a fluffy cloud.
A huge samoyed ran at you and jumped in an attempt to lick your whole entire face or kiss you on the mouth. You tried to pet his huge head to calm him down but it was an absolute fail—you just ended up kneeling down to be at the right height to be subjected to Chris The Samoyed’s very wet greetings. The dog’s fur was clean and pure white. He smelled good—when Chris allowed you to bury your face in his neck, you discovered that this was the smell that completed Hyunjin’s mysterious scent. You assumed that they were using some kind of dog perfume on him, but it was subtle—you recognized chamomile mixed with the smell of a well-groomed dog.
“You’re such a nice dog,” you told Chris, taking his head in your hands to kiss his cool, black nose. In return, he licked your entire face. “You’re so soft my beautiful baby, my little precious thing—”
“He sure ashellisn’tlittle,” Hyunjin’s voice said somewhere around you, and you suddenly remembered that you were in his house. You looked away from Chris’ big black eyes and found his owner standing by the couch. He was holding a pile of plastic containers. “But apparently he likes you a lot.”
“Should he not?” you asked, pushing yourself back up. Your clothes were covered in white fur but you couldn’t care. You sank your fingers in Chris’ soft coat again, scratching his head as he smelled your clothes and your bag, which still hung from your shoulder. “Doesn’t he like strangers?”
“He’s never bitten anyone if that’s what you’re asking.” Hyunjin shrugged, closing the distance between you two. “But let’s just say that with him around, I’m not worried. If something’s not right, he even gives alerts when he’s next door.”
Hyunjin left the containers he was holding on a small coffee table nearby and left you for an instant while he was pouring some kibble into Chris’ bowl—your loving scratches and pets no longer meant a thing to the fluffy cloud and he abandoned you to go have his dinner.
“You’re still bleeding a little,” you pointed out to Hyunjin as he grabbed the containers again and went into the kitchen. You followed him. “Are you sure they’re gonna leave you alone?”
“I mean, they’ll probably tease me to death because a pretty girl defended my honor.” Hyunjin offered you a bashful smile, unzipping his hoodie and leaving it on a stool. The kitchen was just as clean as the bathroom, furnished in a style that must have been trendy about twenty-five years ago. “I don’t care, though. If you hadn’t been there, it would have been so much worse.” He pointed at his face.
“I’ll know I should get you some pepper spray for Christmas, then.” You knew the situation wasn’t funny, but your instincts drove you to go for the joke anyway. And, apparently, they’d been right—Hyunjin laughed and shook his head.
“Sure thing, Tipsy—make sure to wrap it in a cute ribbon, too, yeah?” He faced the other way while he was washing his hands. “Seriously though, are you okay?” He looked at you over his shoulder.
“You’re the one whose face is going to be purple tomorrow,” you pointed out. “I’m okay, Hyunjin. I mean…” As if on cue, a car drove by the house and your eyes immediately darted towards the window—but the car didn't stop, didn’t even slow down, it just kept going.
Hyunjin sighed as he dried his hand on a towel that had a dog embroidered on it. It looked handmade. “My neighbor always makes extra food for me. Do you want to have dinner here instead of the restaurant? We each could shower, then eat this food while we watch the movie? Smoke some weed too, maybe?”
You remembered the way Hyunjin’s weed had relaxed you almost instantly last week… And you also remembered how it felt when his body was close to yours. His lips, his wet mouth…
And you were currently in his house.
Why were you thinking about the vibrator he had claimed to own that was similar to yours? Why were you wondering how it would feel to make out with him if you were fully high, not sobering up?
Why were you wondering about how the night would end? Shouldn’t you be a little more traumatized by the events from the restaurant parking lot?
You made the effort to sound as casual as you could. “Sure,” you replied. “You should go clean that up first, though.” You motioned at his face.
Hyunjin agreed with you but he refused to let you reheat any of the food. Instead, he showed you around the house quickly and assured you he had clothes you could borrow before disappearing in the hallway. Not long after, you heard water running and assumed he must be using the shower in the master bedroom.
Chives’ aquarium was in that bedroom, so you waited until the shower had been going for a while to go there—it felt weird even though Hyunjin had promised it was fine. Followed by Chris, you made your way to Hyunjin’s bedroom.
It was bigger than you had imagined—the walls were white but covered with posters and art of all kinds. You recognized some of Hyunjin’s own art from the style only as well as pieces from other artists too. Movie posters, music posters, photographs. A bright orange skateboard rested on a chair also covered in black clothes. Hyunjin had painted lemons and tangerines and grapefruits on it—you noticed his style immediately. Right by the chair, a dark purple electric bass stood against the wall.
Hyunjin’s smell was stronger here and it was enough to make you dizzy. Or maybe it was from being so hungry, or from the adrenaline levels slowly coming down… But there was so much to see in the room—his bookshelves, the art he painted, his clothes, sketchbooks—that you almost forgot Chives.
But she was there, in her aquarium on Hyunjin’s dresser. You came closer to her and Chris sat right next to you to watch the frog too, exactly as Hyunjin had described.
She looked well, just resting on a rock. Doing frog things. You watched her for a while, sometimes turning to Chris to give him pets and some attention, but you kept staring at Hyunjin’s room. You just wanted to lie in his bed and inhale as much of his scent as you could. You said goodbye to Chives and decided to leave the room because you were a little too physically close to Hyunjin and even through walls, it was distracting to think about him naked.
The kitchen was better. You took a look at the food—all of it seemed delicious—and decided to text Jisung to assure him that you were alright. He responded immediately.
Jisung: are u still with ur 🐸 boyfriend ? ??
You: He’s not my boyfriend but yeah I’m with Hyunjin
Jisung: remember: no glove no love !!!
You closed the texting app with a grunt and left your phone in your purse. You liked Jisung, he was a good guy, but you just weren’t in the mood for his jokes, not tonight.
Still, he got you thinking. You hadn’t even reflected on that. Of course Hyunjin wasn’t your boyfriend. Realistically wasn’t even yourfriend. He was your roommate’s weed dealer. He had saved a frog and you had helped him do so. His dick had been inside you. You wanted it inside you again if at all possible. He was a good guy. A really good guy, for real. Sweet, kind-hearted… Talented, handsome,reallygood in bed… You wouldn’t mind ever being anything more than just a casual hookup.
And then you remembered Paris. He had applied for a student exchange. For next-f*cking-semester. That was so damn soon. And there was no way he wouldn’t get it, right? Why were you deep down hoping he wouldn’t get it? He was obviously a skilled painter. Of course you wanted him to go to Paris. You wanted all of Hyunjin’s dreams to come true.
You scanned the room, just searching for something to look at that might distract you from this tiny little panic inside of you. You hadn’t even considered the fact that he might very well leave in just a few weeks.
Did you have a crush on him? So soon? And what did that entail exactly?
Your gaze found a frame near one of the windows. It contained several pictures on it. You could hear Hyunjin’s voice in his bedroom as he was talking to Chris. Drawers were being opened and closed—he was probably changing.
The pictures showed his family. One, you assumed, would be his paternal grandparents with him and his dad. Another was just him on what had to be his first ever bicycle. Hyunjin was recognizable even though he was a small child.
The other two pictures caught your attention in particular: one of him and his two parents and another of him with his mother. The background was familiar—it had been taken on a beach with a beautiful sea behind Hyunjin’s mother, who was holding him. He couldn’t have been more than three years old, but his small arms were wrapped around her neck. She was beautiful. She wore a colorful sundress and there was a large smile on her face.
You looked at the other picture. Hyunjin definitely took after his mother. His father was handsome but too serious for his own good, it seemed like. It took away from his looks. Still, they seemed happy, the three of them.
“I’ll admit I was a pretty cute baby, don’t you think?” Hyunjin’s voice made you jump and you quickly turned away from the photo as if he had caught you doing something you weren’t supposed to do. “Don’t worry,” he added. “I don’t have many pictures of my mom, so I left these ones there. It’s alright to look at them.”
His hair was damp and a few water droplets rolled down his jaw. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt with gray sweatpants, and you couldn’t control the slight tingle between your legs at the sight of him in those casual clothes. The t-shirt allowed you to see his beautiful tattoos, too. They adorned his honey-colored skin better than any jewelry.
You hesitated. “You told me about your dad, but you didn’t…” You couldn’t figure out how to finish the sentence, so you just didn’t.
Hyunjin nodded. A cloud of darkness covered his gaze momentarily, then his eyes, but he nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I barely remember her. She… She passed. When I was like six years old. She had an undiagnosed heart condition. It was very sudden. She was into painting, actually. She’s the reason I gave it a shot sometime later.”
You noticed one of his tattoos in particular. The ocean in a black frame. It had reminded you of a photograph the first time you saw it, and you understood why now. You stared at it, then back at the picture of his mother holding him on the beach. It was that exact photo, only without the two of them on it.
“That’s your tattoo, then?” you asked softly, motioning towards the picture in question.
He nodded. “Yeah. My parents won a trip to Jeju that year. We went. I don’t remember much, but I remember I was so happy and my mouth tasted like tangerines when my dad took this picture. I guess… I wanted to have her with me somehow. So I got the tattoo.”
“Oh, Hyunjin…” You took a step towards him while Chris was joining the both of you in the living room, making himself comfortable on the couch. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he assured, shaking his head with a nervous laugh. “I should apologize, I don’t know why I said that to you, unprompted and all.”
You looked around the room once again. It was a big house for just one college student and his part-time dog. “With your dad living abroad… You’re just alone here, there?”
Hyunjin shrugged. “Yeah. My dad was never the same after he lost my mom. He must have loved her very much. I think that’s why we never really got along. I think he’s happier when he’s away from me and away from this town.”
What an incredibly sad thing to say. You didn’t hesitate this time—you pulled Hyunjin into a hug and he hugged you back, gently wrapping his arms around you. He rested his face against yours, his breath tickling your cheek and your ear. “I said don’t worry, Tipsy,” he murmured. “It’s all behind me now.”
“Okay, Fairytale.” You kissed his cheek and he kissed yours back, sending a small jolt of electricity through your body. “You’re really brave, you know.”
He shrugged again as he pulled away from you. “Is it brave if you have no choice except to just keep going?”
You didn’t really have an answer to that and you didn’t need one anyway. “I mean it. Don’t worry. I’m alright. I’m used to being alone,” he added, kissing your head again for good measure. Every time his lips touched you, they left a lingering sensation of warmth behind. It was soothing. “Wanna shower? I found some clothes for you.”
You followed him into his room—and Chris followed you, too—as he showed you a pair of sweatpants not unlike the ones he was wearing, with a blue t-shirt, and some socks. “They’re good socks,” he pointed out. “I remembered that your toes get really cold.”
A strange, fuzzy warmth spread inside of your chest. You pressed your hand just over your heart as if it would calm your fluttering heart. “Thanks, Fairytale,” you managed, making yourself sound playful.
“Sorry I don’t really have like… girl soap and stuff,” Hyunjin went on, showing you the shower.
“That’s alright. You smell good, so I don’t mind at all.” The weight of your words hit you only after you had said them. You gulped thickly, cheeks burning with embarrassment, and made sure you avoided Hyunjin’s eyes, pretending to be looking through the clothes he left for you. “I mean, it’s a good smell.”
“Thanks, I choose carefully.” Hyunjin walked away, just a few steps. “I’ll get dinner ready. Take your time, Tipsy. At least you’re not tipsy right now, you’re less likely to fall to your death in my shower.”
“Shut up, Hyunjin.” But he was already gone with that endearing laughter of his, leaving you in the bathroom.
You closed the door and looked at yourself in the mirror. Bright eyes, flushed cheeks, a smile on your lips. You didn’t like that you felt this way with Hyunjin. Everything was so easy. You didn't like that you liked to be around him so much. You kept waiting for it to be ruined.
Paris. You remembered. This newfound happiness would be ruined, indeed.
The shower was good and you enjoyed a little too much the lush scent of Hyunjin’s luxury products, making sure you lathered every inch of your body with them. The act itself felt a little erotic, like you were latheringhimover your body somehow, and even though it tied a knot between your legs, it felt good to wash off the day. It relaxed you a little, too. You wanted to believe Hyunjin when he said those two guys from the parking lot were harmless, but it was the first time you were involved in something like this…
You rinsed the foam off your body and left the shower. The towel that Hyunjin had left for you was soft, and you felt cozy by the time you joined him in the kitchen. His clothes were comfortable. And they smelled like him. And you smelled like him.
Yeah. You liked that a little too much.
Hyunjin was busy putting food on plates in the kitchen. However, you noticed something was missing.
“Where’s Chris?” you asked, looking around.
“Oh.” Hyunjin turned to you, and you couldn’t pretend you didn’t notice the appraising look he gave you. “He gets a little crazy around food. I wanted us to relax, you know? I can go get him after dinner if you want…”
“Oh, it’s fine, no problem.” You joined him by the counter to take a look at the food as he went back to his task. “Wow, that looks delicious!” The foods were full of rice with roasted veggies and marinated beef with several sauces and sides.
“Yeah, my neighbor likes to cook. She keeps telling me I’m too skinny.” Hyunjin giggled, but it was for himself only. “Don’t worry for the dog either. She spoils him.”
“She seems like a nice lady,” you pointed out, accepting one plate of food from Hyunjin. “I guess… you guys are lucky to have each other.”
Hyunjin only offered a noncommittal shake of his head as a response and you figured it was best to let the conversation end there. You followed him into the living room and the both of you ate in silence for a few moments as he scrolled through movies on different apps.
The food was out of this world. The couch was comfortable. You were sitting with your back against the armrest and your feet almost touched Hyunjin who was sitting with his long legs crossed, stuffing his face with rice.
You liked that. It made you happy how casual and laid-back everything was. And yet it scared you. When Hyunjin left for a minute and returned with soju, you eagerly drank two shots, and he did the same.
The plates were halfway empty by the time you settled for a movie—American Pie. “I used to watch this with my childhood best friend,” Hyunjin explained. “We’d hide in his basem*nt to watch it. That was before me and dad moved here.”
So you watched American Pie and you laughed and you smoked weed with Hyunjin. You helped him clear the plates and the food. He was wiping down the counter and you were finishing a glass of soda when he turned to you. “I wanted to ask you… If like… I mean if you want you can spend the night… And I totally get it if you don’t want to. Like if you hate me or—”
You almost choked on that last sip of soda, trying to replay the past hour in your mind to see how you may have indicated to Hyunjin that you hated him when in fact, you regretted not wearing that emergency pair of panties you had in your bag because he was making you wet just by talking to you and being around you. “What?” You left the empty glass on the counter. “Why would Ihateyou, Fairytale?”
Hyunjin shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking at the floor. “Cause of the pills and stuff.”
Your heart swelled and there was no controlling it. You felt the tingle from the weed in your body—you were relaxed and yet hyperaware. Of the everlasting scent of the body wash on your skin. Of the way Hyunjin’s body looked in those sweatpants. Of your own accelerated heartbeat. Of his tongue running over his lips and playing with his lip ring. “Hyunjin, don’t be silly.” You put yourself in front of him and pushed on his chin to make him look at you. His cheek had already started to bruise a little around the band-aid he had applied over the cut. With a frown, you thumbed the skin gently where it was dark. “I don’t hate you because of these two assholes.”
Hyunjin pressed his hand over the one you had on his face. His skin was warm. It felt good to touch him again. “I know that people call me frog boy behind my back,” he added, his voice barely a whisper. “And now, if anyone ever hears about what happened in the parking lot…”
“Hyunjin.” You sighed, your eyes on his. His pupils were dilated. He was handsome. You left his cheek to run your fingers through his short ashy blond hair and it made chills run down your spine. You were high and it felt amazing. “I don’t care what people say. You shouldn’t let people call you frog boy.”
“I know they don’t mean it in a bad way.” Hyunjin’s big, dark eyes fell on your lips. “I don’t care anyway. It’s just… you. I don’t wantyouto feel embarrassed to hang out with me.”
“I don’t feel embarrassed.” Hyunjin put his big hands on your waist, pulling you closer. Your heart jumped, but you felt it between your legs. “I’ll spend the night if you want me over.”
“I really, really want you…” Hyunjin started, his head tilted to the side and moving dangerously close to yours. “Can I kiss you, Tipsy?”
You were 0.01 seconds into nodding that he was already kissing you, his plush lips pressed against yours, his ring digging into your skin delightfully.f*ck, you had missed that. His tongue insisting its way into your mouth to explore it, his lips taking yours like you were his anchor. You kissed him back, wrapping your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. You let out a soft moan when you felt the counter behind your lower back.
“Let’s get into bed to finish the movie, yeah?” Hyunjin whispered against your mouth, a smile on his pretty lips.
You giggled like a schoolgirl when he took your hand and guided you to his room. He let you get in bed while he was dimming the lights and grabbing a couple of additional pillows from a chair. You watched him, his long limbs, his tattoos, his piercings. You were past questioning everything but you did wonder why you felt so comfortable around him.
You sat cozily in his bed, your back resting on pillows, his blanket over your lower body. He joined you soon with a joint that he was lighting up. The two of you smoked in silence for a while, until Hyunjin’s hand found your thigh under the blanket. That simple touch made you shiver, even through the fabric of the sweatpants.
You kissed his cheek as he took a drag of that joint, so you moved your mouth onto his before he exhaled, kissing the smoke out of him. Hyunjin let you breathe it out and smoked again, this time gently blowing the smoke between your lips and kissing you to seal it in. The weed tasted bitter but Hyunjin’s mouth was wet, warm and it made you dizzy. Or maybe that was the smoking and lack of oxygen—Hyunjin kissed you so deeply that you could barely keep track of the twirling of his smooth tongue. You were high but higher onhim. His warmth. His big hands all over you. His weed breath coursing through your veins, like a fizzy drink.
The sound it made when he kissed you. You had never been kissed like this, so softly, so passionately. When you pulled away for air, you leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around your shoulders as he was restarting the movie on this TV.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked you, his voice low. “Do you want another pillow?”
“I’m fine.” You found your way into the crook of his neck, resting your cheek on his chest. “Best pillow in town.”
“I’d have to disagree,” Hyunjin pointed out. He was looking away as he was putting out the joint in a fancy ashtray. If you had been high before, you were lightheaded by now, but calm. “Best pillow in town is right…here.” As he brought back his arm towards you, he slid his hand over your breasts, applying just enough pressure to feel them under his palm.
You closed your eyes, pressing yourself closer to him, biting your lower lip. His hand focused on one breast, then the other, alternating between the two to massage them, often teasing your hardening nipples. You clung to him, passing a leg over his, needing to feel all of him against you.
“Best pillow,” Hyunjin repeated under his breath, kissing the top of your head. “Youdohave nice tit*, Tipsy.”
The movie was long forgotten already. Your hand traveled to his abdomen where you played with the hem of his shirt for a few seconds before sliding your fingers under it to caress his lower stomach. Hyunjin’s entire body spasmed hard under your touch, responding with a gentle slap on your sensitive nipple.
You looked up only to find that he was staring at you. Your gazes met, but Hyunjin’s was unreadable. His dark eyes scanned you, your face, your body against his. You took your time to feel him, to remember him. You would want to remember this in case he left. The feeling of his body against yours, the way his parted lips looked, with the tip of his tongue threatening to show. His flushed cheeks, his collarbone, showing where his shirt was pulled a little under your weight. His lip ring, his tattoos.Him. The smell of him, floral, deep, complex. He smelled like cigarettes, like weed, like his-not-his dog.
You let your other hand trail on his inked arm, tracing the outline of the rose, admiring it under the changing lighting of the TV. It made it seem as if the flower was moving on his skin. Or were you justthathigh? “Hey, look at me,” Hyunjin whispered, and he smiled when you did so. “You’re very pretty. Thank you for not judging me.”
You blushed hard but you were past caring. Instead of caressing his stomach, your fingers played with the elastic of Hyunjin’s waistband and he very noticeably jerked his hips a little at that. “You’reverypretty,” you repeated in the same tone. “But why would I judge you?”
A slight shrug. “Most people do. I’m just the weirdo weed dealer.”
“No. You’re so much more than that.” You propped yourself up on your elbow to look at him face to face—but you were still gently tugging on his pants. “You’re Fairytale. You save drunk girls from drunk girl problems. You save frogs from frog problems! You help your elderly neighbor, you paint, you—” You paused there, finding an unexpected lump in your throat. “You paint so well you’re probably going to Paris… So who’s the weirdo here? You, or them?”
An endeared smile painted itself on Hyunjin’s lips. You touched him there too, feeling his ring under your thumb. He took that hand in his and kissed it gently. “You don’t have to say all of this, Tipsy. It’s fine.” Another kiss. “I don’t evenknowif I’m going to Paris.”
You let go of his pants as your one remaining brain cell got to work. “But we’re pretty late into the semester. Wouldn’t they have given you a response by now, even a negative one?”
Hyunjin looked away, pretending to be watching the movie, keeping your hand in his. He rested it on his chest—you felt his pulse under your skin, strong, healthy. Fast. “They did give me a response, I just haven’t opened the email.”
It took you several seconds to process that. “You mean you got the email that would tell you whether or not you’re accepted into the exchange to Paris? And you haven’t opened it?”
Hyunjin turned to you again, looking at you with big, puppy-like eyes. “I figured… While I didn’t read it, I was neither accepted or denied, you know?”
“I get it. It’s like Schrodinger’s cat,” you said, nodding.
His expression turned to something deeply serious then. Solemn, even. “Schrodinger’s Paris,” Hyunjin added, causing the two of you to laugh hysterically. By the end of it, you were lying down again, arms around your stomach as you laughed and laughed and laughed.
It took a few moments for the two of you to calm down, but soon enough, Hyunjin had pulled you into his embrace again. You traced circles on his chest, your head resting comfortably on him. “I just… I guess for a while, I didn’t really want to go. Like, I did,” Hyunjin admitted, “but also not.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t that be a great opportunity for you?” you questioned as the movie credits rolled but neither of you had paid much attention to it anyway. “Like, for your future dream job in a museum?”
“Oh, it would be the absolute best opportunity,” Hyunjin admitted. “Ideally, through this exchange I could even graduate in Paris, then find an internship or a job there while I study… That’s one hell of a resume. But…”
You heard Hyunjin gulp and then he did not finish his sentence. You gave him some time, pressing a few kisses on his jaw and playing with his hair to soothe him. You didn’t like to see him so troubled—you couldn’t help but feel like you wanted to shield him from the horrors of reality. At all times.
“But what?” you whispered. And then it dawned on you, and you pushed yourself back up to face him. “Oh, Hyunjin…” You caressed his face and he leaned into your palm, but didn’t avert his eyes this time. “It’s your neighbor, isn’t it? You don’t want to leave her alone?”
He nodded slowly and took a deep breath. “Yeah. I feel responsible for her… even though I’m technically not. But I am.”
“Disney prince sh*t.” You leaned over to kiss his cheek, but he took your lips instead, kissing you softly. His mouth tasted a little bitter from the weed and vaguely sweet from the apple he had shared with you after dinner. When he pulled away, he was smiling—faintly, but still.
“Yesterday, when I went over there to get Chris,” Hyunjin explained, “she told me that one of her relatives was moving back in the country with her husband and their daughter. They’re moving into a house, a house big enough for four. They offered her to stay with them.”
“Hyunjin! That’s sogreat! Isn’t that a sign?” You traced his full lips with your fingers, just because you liked the velvety feeling of them. And you also liked the intimacy of the moment—nothing felt awkward, even though you knew him so little.
“I guess it is,” he shrugged. “Like, it’s the best possible outcome for her… She’ll be with her family… Chris will be with them, they’ll have this huge backyard apparently, and the daughter loves animals.”
“You said that sentence as if there was gonna be a but at the end,” you pointed out.
“But…what if I’m not getting into the exchange?” Hyunjin said, his voice a little strained.
You breathed deeply. “Paris exists anyway even without that exchange.Whatstops you from applying to a school over there on your own if that's what you want?” As if on cue, you noticed the screen of Hyunjin’s phone lighting up. He had left it just by the ashtray. It was a notification from a silly game. “Please unlock your phone right now. I’m reading that goddamn email.”
Hyunjin didn’t move, not initially—he stayed like this, his body sinking into his mattress and the pillows behind him, as beautiful as an angel, as dangerous as one, too. He blinked once, then again, and when you thought he was reaching for his phone, he kissed you instead. Deeply. Passionately. He kissed you with his mouth open, his hands already dancing over your body and stopping in all of his favorite places—your waist, your tit*, your ass, your lower back.
You kissed him back, letting him bite your lip, letting him hoist you on top of him, your knees on either side of his thighs. He was half hard and his body was warm, like embers. Your pants were damp in the crotch area and your heart was beating fast.
“Okay, we’ll read the email,” he breathed against your mouth, “and then I’ll make love to you.”
Make love. Not f*cking.Making love. You felt a tug at your heart and yet warmth was pooling between your legs, moving involuntarily and seeking friction against Hyunjin’s hardening co*ck. He kissed you for a little longer, his tongue playing with yours, his hands sliding down your back, your waist, into your pants.
“Hey.” You poked his nose and he stopped moving just before his hands reached your ass. “We said we would read the email.”
“Ah, I’m so silly. I forgot.” But Hyunjin’s smile was mischievous. He reached for his phone, unlocked it, and opened his email app before handing it over to you. “Can you read it? I’ll just guess by the expression on your face.”
You took the phone from him, sitting comfortably with your puss* pressed flush against his co*ck. He played with the drawstrings of your pants while you scrolled down his emails. You couldn’t believe a guy trusted you with his phone like this. You had dated your ex for several months and you weren’t even allowed to look in his direction when he was using his phone—he would always hide the screen from you. And here you were tonight. Going through Hyunjin’s phone as if it was the most normal thing in the world. There were a lot of emails for food delivery and art supplies orders as well as dog-related shopping.
You didn’t want to snoop around but an email caught your attention before you located the one sent by the Student Exchange committee. You wondered if you were noticeably blushing, because Hyunjin was staring at you intently. You cleared your throat, smiling. “A fleshlight, Fairytale?” you questioned, biting your lip. “How’s that going for you?”
He blushed a little and let out a repressed giggle. “It’s not bad.” He paused, hesitating. “You’re much better.”
You clenched around nothing, the ache between your legs becoming worse every second. Better read that goddamn email before you soaked through Hyunjin’s pants as well as yours—but you couldn’t not notice how he was just slightly rubbing himself against you.
“Found the email,” you managed. It was indeed unopened. You clicked but stared at Hyunjin before reading it. “Are you ready?”
“My heart is beating so f*cking fast oh my god…” He buried his face in his hands with a sigh but left a crack between his fingers to see you. “Just… let’s get this over with…”
You gave him a comforting squeeze on his forearm and focused on the phone again. “Dear Mr. Hwang. We have received your application for the student exchange in Paris… blah blah blah… We were impressed with both your innate and acquired skills as well as your knowledge… blah blah blah… Professor Yoo’s letter of recommendation…”
“Wait, Mrs. Yoo wrote a letter of recommendation forme?” Hyunjin interrupted you, his face suddenly appearing from behind his hands.
“Apparently, Fairytale.” You took his hand in yours as you kept going. “Where was I… Ah, yes…” You scanned the email to find the paragraph, but the words you read remained stuck in your throat.It is with great pleasure that we are offering you to pursue the next semester at the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Paris.
You were not surprised at all. Hyunjinwasart, it was in every atom of his body. In his eyes, the whole world was a canvas where art was simply waiting to be witnessed. His heart was good and life hadn’t been so kind to him. So it was his turn to be happy and to have his dream come true. Right?
“Oh my god, I f*cking knew it…” Hyunjin muttered, his eyes fixated on you. “I knew I wouldn’t get it but I—”
You took a deep breath and tried to put a smile on your face. You weren’t disappointed that Hyunjin was going to Paris to study. You had only hoped, maybe, that one day you would be more than a hookup. But surely it wouldn’t have worked between the two of you, not long term.
“Don’t be stupid Hyunjin, of course you’re going.” Your voice sounded surprisingly steady but there was still a lump in your throat. You put the phone under his nose so that he could read. You watched as his big beautiful eyes scanned the screen and as he processed the words.
“I got it,” he said. “I GOT IT?”
“You got it, Fairytale.” You were smiling now, feeling an inexplicable joy inside of your chest. “You’re going to Paris.”
Hyunjin discarded his phone as if it had been an empty bottle of water, letting it fall on the floor beside the bed. He pulled you close, hugging you tight, kissing you all over. Your cheeks, your nose, your hair, your shoulder. He wrapped his legs around you and kept you against him to continue his attack of kisses. You couldn’t not laugh with him. There were tears in his eyes, making them shine in the dim lighting. Happiness looked good on him.
The playful pecks turned into something else when Hyunjin pressed his lips against yours and his hands found your lower back to lower you against his crotch. He hummed when you responded by rolling your hips onto him—he was hard, and feeling him like that made you dizzy. The pressure between your legs was distracting, but not as much as Hyunjin’s wet mouth devouring yours.
“Can I make love to you?” Hyunjin asked, his voice soft and low. “Even if I leave?”
You took his face in your hands and kissed him some more. “Yes. Yes please, Fairytale.”
“Tipsy.” He bit his lip, staring at you with his eyes hooded and burning with lust. You had never felt desired like that before. Before meeting him. “So beautiful.” He tugged at your shirt. “Can I take this off you?”
You nodded and helped him pass the shirt over your head—Hyunjin wasted no time cupping your tit* in his large hands, extracting a sigh from you. He was warm and it felt good. You closed your eyes to print that memory in your mind, too.
“I’ve thought about your tit* a lot this week,” Hyunjin whispered, palming you good and making your breasts bounce.
You had thought about Hyunjin a lot, too. It didn’t matter how tired you were from your assignments—when you got into your bed at night, it felt empty since that night with him, but masturbating for an hour seemed to make this go away. Still, you smiled, thrilled by that confession. “Have you?” you said, sitting comfortably on his thighs, holding the hem of his shirt in your hands. “When have you thought about my tit*, Fairytale?”
Hyunjin’s face turned pink but he propped himself up to allow you to take his shirt off, leaving you speechless at the sight of his body. You touched him all over, his broad shoulders, his strong arms, his toned abdomen. The ink on his skin. You leaned over to kiss his collarbone and his nipples.
Hyunjin hissed when you twirled your tongue around one but cupped his bulge at the same time. He wasveryhard but shot a glance at his bedside table. You followed his gaze. “You thought ofmewhen you were using your fleshlight?” you questioned, another rush of heat pooling in your gut.
He nodded and you watched with delight as his adam’s apple bobbed with a thick gulp. “Yeah.” He gave your left breast the gentlest slap, but it was enough to make you clench and crave him even more. “God, I’m sof*ckinghard—”
But the rest of Hyunjin’s sentence died somewhere in his throat. He looked somewhere behind you, but just one second, before putting his hands on your waist and pulling you off him.
“What—”
“Just a minute.” He laid you comfortably next to him and pushed himself out of the bed. You used his blanket to cover your chest, suddenly a little shy. Had he changed his mind? Or…
But Hyunjin crossed the room and stood in front of Chives’ aquarium, looking around it as if he was searching for something. In the end, he took a large box of paint tubes and stacked a few textbooks on top of it, hiding the aquarium from view entirely.
“I can’t do this in front of Chives,” Hyunjin explained as he made his way back towards the bed.
You stared at him for maybe an hour. Or a week. “Hyunjin, you’re so f*cking high. It’s a frog.”
“It’sChives!”
“As if she didn’t see you milk your own co*ck all week with afleshlight!” you pointed out, no longer able to repress the laughter choking you.
Hyunjin put a hand over his mouth, still standing right next to the bed in just his sweatpants. You couldn’t take your eyes off the very visible outline of his erection. “Oh my god. Oh no. You’re right, Tipsy… I f*ckingtraumatizedthis poor frog—”
“Come here, Fairytale.” You reached out for the waistband of his pants, tugging at it. “Take these off. Chives had her time. My turn to see it now.”
This seemed to make Hyunjin remember what he was doing. He quickly got rid of his pants and underwear, finally freeing his co*ck. It was flushed dark, straining. As pretty as you remembered. You caressed Hyunjin’s thighs, letting your hand travel to his length to give it a few squeezes.
Hyunjin wasted no time—he pulled the blankets off your body before kneeling on the bed, towering over you.He’s just so handsome, you told yourself, hoping you’d always remember that, too. How easily beautiful he was. The way his tongue lingered on his lip ring. His hands on your thighs to open up your legs.
“What’s that, Tipsy?” Hyunjin guided a hand between your legs to feel the damp fabric of the pants you were wearing. “Did you stain my pants?”
The fabric was wet and cool as Hyunjin rubbed you through it in slow, lazy circles, almost as if he was using it to clean you up. You rolled your hips to meet his movement, already impatient and needy. But Hyunjin went on for a little longer. When he was satisfied, he simply took the pants off you but took his time to study the wetness you had left on them. Then, he gave the stain a few licks and his face melted with pleasure as his co*ck visibly throbbed.
“Oh myf*ckinggod…” Hyunjin crumpled the pants into a ball and threw it across the room where it landed near the TV. “Let me lick you up, Tipsy.”
Hyunjin pushed your legs open a little further, exposing your puss* to him. He inhaled sharply, pressing a few digits on your soaked folds to smear your juices all over yourself. “I need to taste you…”
But Hyunjin didn’t lower himself between your legs just yet—he placed you in the exact center of the bed before taking a pillow and sliding it under your lower back. Only then did he return to your lips for a kiss, but you moaned when his co*ck brushed against your puss*. “Please,” you begged. You were still lightheaded from the weed but also from all the blood rushing between your legs. You needed him.
Hyunjin kissed your neck, then your breasts, leaving a trail of spit behind him. God, nothing felt better than his pretty, wet mouth on your skin.
Well. You thought that until you felt his breath tickle your puss*. Until he kissed your inner thighs while he was carefully spreading you open after releasing a large amount of spit on his fingers. Then nothing.
You opened your eyes, which seemed to be what Hyunjin was waiting for.
“Look at me, Tipsy. Can you do that?”
“Y—y—es.” Could he feel you throb?
“Let go completely. I’d love it if you came all over my face and into my mouth.” He smiled faintly, kissed your thigh again and looked between your legs. “Your puss* is so pretty. So so pretty…”
The lower half of his face disappeared and you immediately felt him leave light kisses on your folds—still, your hips jerked as if you had been shocked. “Eyes on me,” Hyunjin said, his voice low. “I want to see you when you cum.”
Hyunjin angled his head a little to the left before sliding his tongue on your folds in one big wet slurp. You let out a gasp which turned into a moan when his tongue became more insistent, licking you again and again with wet noises. Licks and twirls and kisses and gentle caresses. You watched as Hyunjin buried his face deeper and deeper between your thighs, bobbing his head to accentuate the way he was making out with your c*nt.
You sighed when he went back up for air, his mouth and chin coated with your arousal. “You taste so f*cking good.” He licked his lips clean and swallowed every drop. “So sweet. Really sweet.”
When Hyunjin returned to your puss*, he gave you a few modest kitten licks before turning his attention to your cl*t—but it seemed it wasn’t enough for him. He laid flat on his stomach and rested your thighs on his shoulders. You felt so vulnerable like this, completely exposed to him. At his mercy. But your whole body was alive and covered in chills—yet, it felt like you were burning from the inside out.
Hyunjin twirled his smooth tongue on your cl*t, teasing your entrance with a couple fingers. “Yes,” you panted. “Yes,yes!”
He looked up to meet your gaze. “You really like having your tight little c*nt stuffed, don’t you?” The weed seemed to have made it more confident and you couldn’t pretend you didn’t like it. “Don’t worry. I’ll f*ck you later. I really want to taste you some more.”
Hyunjin pressed his lips onto you, quickly latching onto your cl*t. You could see that he was rubbing himself on the mattress—he was probably just as impatient as you were. It was hypnotizing to watch him work on your puss* while succumbing to the friction on his co*ck. You imagined it squeezed between him and the mattress, leaking precum onto the sheet.
You clenched at that and Hyunjin let out a pleased hum as he kept taking your sensitive bud between his plush lip to kiss it and slurp on it. It was sloppy—he was wet even on his cheeks. You couldn’t believe the sounds it made, but then you could also feel your own slick drip down your folds all the way to your ass.
Hyunjin gave your cl*t a gentle suck and you immediately arched your back into him, overtaken by the stimulation provided by his skilled mouth. He buried his fingers into your hole, massaging your walls but it was no good—all that you could do was clench and clench as he alternated between sucking on your cl*t and twirling his tongue all over it.
His motions were neither rushed or slow, but they wereaccurate. Hyunjin ate you out in the same way you had seen him paint earlier—every stroke of the paintbrush had a purpose and every flick of his tongue had intent behind it, too. It didn’t take much time before the room was filled with your voice. Every time you moaned, Hyunjin moaned too, deep, throaty moans that vibrated against your sensitive c*nt.
He was trying to make you cum and you wouldn’t resist him, but you also couldn’t keep your promise of keeping your eyes on him. Your head kept sinking into the soft pillow beneath you and your eyes rolled at the back of your head. You were basking in a state of total euphoria. Every single molecule of your body was on fire.
Hyunjin pushed his fingers deeper into you, curling them up to teasethatspot.f*ck. He pressed his fingers there but returned to explore you all around, too. “Hmm… I just love the texture of your pretty puss*…” He said into your c*nt, his words tickling your cl*t. His breathing was labored but even that sound was erotic to you. “Here… Feel that?” He was massaging you in different spots. “So smooth, so nice…”
His fingers returned to your most sensitive spot and he teased you there, rubbing that cushiony skin. You cried out, gripping the sheet with one hand and Hyunjin’s hair with the other. “Here?” he said, feigning surprise. “You like it?”
He f*cked you with his fingers before returning to lap at you, collecting your slick on his tongue. You pulled on his hair and the high-pitched moan he let out almost caused you to cum right then and there, unannounced—you clenched so hard that for a few seconds, he could barely move his fingers inside of you.
You f*cked his face from below. Gently. Just rolling your hips. His fingertips were on your g-spot and his knuckles stretched you open as he closed his lips around your cl*t again. You did try to look at him then, but his eyes were glazed over and hooded. Unfocused. He was lost in you and you in him.
When the pressure rose again within your core, your whole body spasmed—your legs closed together, trapping Hyunjin there, but he did not stop finger-f*cking you and he did not stop slurping and sucking on your cl*t as if his life depended on it.
“I’m—I’m—I’m close,” you managed in between moans. Only your shoulders and actually resting on the bed—the rest of you was arching into Hyunjin’s mouth, tense,ready.
Hyunjin kept his relentless pace, but when you slammed your hips against him a little harder, he moaned again, and you came. Your org*sm crashed over you like waves so powerful that you blacked out—by the end of it, you were fully laying on the bed again with the pillow underneath you, and Hyunjin’s head was still bobbing between your legs.
He pulled his fingers out first, but only to lower his mouth onto your entrance. He drank you, every drop of you, lapping and slurping with pleased grunts. You finally let go of his hair and your whole body went limp.
Hyunjin cleaned you up with more licks and his warmth disappeared from between your legs. You felt his breath against your face. It smelled like your puss*. He kissed you and it tasted like your puss* too. You kissed him back, chasing your own taste.
“Need a minute?” Hyunjin asked softly. “You look… a little f*cked out, Tipsy.”
You managed to open your eyes. You weren’tsleepy, but you couldn’t remember ever feeling so relaxed before in your life. God, he was beautiful. His chin was still wet from you and his pretty lips were swollen from how hard he had slurped on you. What a sinful sight.
You did feel f*cked out but you also were excessively curious about something. As Hyunjin lay next to you, you immediately took his co*ck in your hand just to feel him, and you were delighted when you ran your thumb over his slit only to find him leaking.
You smeared his precum onto his length. “Can I see the fleshlight, Fairytale?” you asked, your face into his neck. His co*ck was so warm, sostiff. When you let your hand venture a little farther, you found his balls tight, probably aching. He whimpered when you squeezed them gently. “Can I see what you do with it?”
“Anything for you.” Hyunjin kissed your forehead and pulled away from you. You managed to open your eyes, despite the high from the endorphins making it hard. You caught a glimpse of his drawer—the fleshlight, lube, and the vibrator he had told you about.
The fleshlight was a simple, clear silicone tube with ridges on the inside. You sat on the bed with Hyunjin and watched carefully as he coated the toy’s interior with a generous amount of lube. When he put the bottle back though, he stopped there.
You noticed the dark color of his cheeks despite the low lighting and took the toy from his hand. It was light and supple—some lube leaked out of it when you tested it. “Let me,” you said, and Hyunjin nodded.
“Isn’t it weird?” he asked you, finally looking at you with his dark eyes.
“No.” You giggled. “Not to me.”
Hyunjin guided your hand towards his straining co*ck and helped you push it inside the entrance of the toy. You immediately felt it hug his girth and by the looks of it, Hyunjin liked it a lot. He leaned his back into the headboard, his eyes fixated on your hand and his co*ck disappearing into the toy.
“f*ck,” he moaned when you squeezed him.
You pumped him a few times and Hyunjin responded by meeting you with sharp thrusts of his hips, opening his legs more and more. It was his turn to be vulnerable, and the sound of his little sighs and whimpers was making you wet again.
You could feel him through the toy too. How hard he was, andbig. You’d love to keep going and watch him cum just like that, but your insatiable hunger had other plans.
You squeezed Hyunjin harder—in fact, you weren’t sure if the moans that escaped his lips were from pain or pleasure, but with the way he kept bucking his hips you figured he liked it quite a lot. He looked desperate, like he was close already. “Close, Fairytale?” Another squeeze as you took up a pace too, pumping him hard. Hyunjin was sweating. “Where do you wanna cum, though? In the toy or inside of me?”
Hyunjin went motionless in a matter of milliseconds. He looked at you. “W—what? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure if you are.” The condom had been alright last time, but you really wanted him, all of him.
Hyunjin gently pushed your hand away and then pulled out from the toy too, making a mess of lube and precum on the bed. Still, he just let the toy roll away and you heard it thump on the floor as Hyunjin pulled you in for a kiss.
“You’re so f*cking sexy,” he said against your mouth. “Need your c*nt so bad right now…”
Hyunjin kissed you until he had you under him again. The weight of his body on yours was delightful, warm—you felt safe, you felt like he needed you as much as you needed him. He guided his co*ck between your legs, aligning himself with your entrance… but ultimately rubbed his tip against your cl*t. The simple thought of having his precum dripping on your puss* made you clench.
Hyunjin pushed himself into you then, struggling at first. “f*cking hell…” He growled under his breath. “Relax, gorgeous. Can you do that for me?”
You touched him, his disheveled hair, his rose piercing. His lip ring. The ink on his skin. You tried to level your breathing and your heartbeat and pulled Hyunjin in for a kiss, really feeling the texture of his mouth, how wet it was. How soft his lips were, smooth like silk, like a brush coated with paint and sliding effortlessly across a canvas.
He would do so well in Paris and you would treasure the memories you had of him. This, you knew for sure.
You cried out when Hyunjin thrust once, then twice, and buried his straining co*ck inside of you. He didn’t let you moan out your bliss as he took your lips again, not waiting another second before rolling his hips, f*cking you deep and good.
“That’s it, Tipsy, f*ck yeah…” Hyunjin slammed hard into you a few times, his movements made easier with every thrust as he stretched you. You had to hold onto the headboard behind you, already soaking his co*ck with your slick. He filled you so well and you couldn’t think of a better feeling than that. “You’re so pretty. So tight. Kiss me, gorgeous.”
You kissed him. You were so damn high and he was maybe higher than you and maybe that’s why he was f*cking you slowly, so steadily, sinking into you again and again, watching your tit* bounce every time he did so.
“Don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop.” You spoke somewhere in the crook of his neck, clinging to Hyunjin, your nails digging into his skin—he was the only thing that mattered right now. Just that. His co*ck pounding into you hard enough to bruise you and how it occupied every inch of your throbbing c*nt. The squeaking of the mattress, the air circulating through the ventilation, Hyunjin’s uneven breathing and his moans. Whom*oanedlike this? Like your puss* was heaven and he was seeing god every time he bottomed out?
Hyunjin’s usual angelic traits were morphing into something else as he focused on the heat between your legs. He looked serious, brows stitched together, his lips parted open, face and body covered with a film of sweat.
You had never been f*cked like this before—with so much effort. So much intent. Like Hyunjin was trying to paint a portrait with each roll of his hips, massaging your walls with this pretty co*ck of his.
“Wanna cum again, Tipsy?” he said into your ear, his voice cracking. “I can’t f*cking hold it you’re too tight, too good—”
The ache you felt in your core agreed with him. You kissed him. A slow, languid kiss, a kiss that tasted like weed and like puss*. “Fill me up, Fairytale,” you breathed, moving your hips from below to meet his thrusts. You could swear he was reaching your goddamn cervix.
Hyunjin released a good amount of spit on your already soaked c*nt and pressed his fingers onto you to rub precise circles onto your cl*t. You whimpered at the contact, overwhelmed.Happy. His other hand was on your waist as he guided you onto him and himself into you. You were close again and you could feel him throb, too.
“Let’s cum together, cum with me, you’re so f*cking pretty.” Hyunjin spread your legs open, looking down to observe, causing him to hiss. “Oh f*ck… holy sh*t… look atthat… so f*ckingcreamy... Is that for me? All that cream?” He accentuated his last work with a sharp thrust of his hips, making you see stars.
He returned to your face to kiss you as his f*cking became erratic and as the pressure inside of you became unbearable, as if flames were licking you from the inside out. “Now, please—” you begged, moaning. You couldn’t stop moaning and neither could he, but it sounded beautiful.
You tensed up as you came—for a few seconds, you came so hard that it hurt you, but it hurt yougoodbecause you were doing it on Hyunjin’s co*ck. The pretty moans and whimpers he let out were lewd.Sinful. You let your release take over you, reveling in it.
Hyunjin pulsed inside of you, burying his co*ck into your fluttering walls. You felt it. His org*sm. You felt it as much as yours—he throbbed, his body jerking, too, emptying himself inside of you. A lot, it seemed. It felt wet. It felt good. You could feel it pool within you as you clenched, milking every drop out of him—his sticky cum was already spilling out of you as he rolled his hips into you, riding his aftershocks.
And he stayed inside you, even moments after both of your highs had ended. Both of you were sweaty, sticky messes on a stained mattress, but you smiled when he smiled at you and stole a few kisses from you. You hummed when he pulled out with a wet sound that you hoped you wouldn’t forget either.
Hyunjin reached out to grab a handful of tissues to clean you up a little awkwardly. “I made a mess, sorry, I—” he managed, but you took the tissues from him to finish the job. He was right.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay.” That was a hell lot of cum, but you enjoyed the sensation of what was still inside you.
You lay down next to Hyunjin on your side, facing each other. He was still a little winded out but so were you. He gave your kiss a gentle kiss. “Are you alright?”
“Yes.” You nodded, suddenly a little shy for some reason. “I feel very good.”
“I feel very good too.” But his eyes were almost closed. Still, he smiled, warming up your heart, and pulled you against him. “Do you want a lollipop?”
You thought you misheard. “What?”
Hyunjin’s eyes were closed but the smile hadn’t left his lips. They were still swollen from the kissing and the sex. In the end, he hadn’t lied to you—it did feel like making love more than f*cking, no matter how intense. It felt like you had been given something instead of just you giving it freely, to the wrong people.
“Alollipop, Tipsy. Do you want one? They’re in a jar over there.”
You twisted your neck to look behind you, finally locating, on a shelf, a glass jar halfway full of Hyunjin’s favorite lollipops. You let out a soft laugh. “Nah, Fairytale. Do you want one?”
But Hyunjin only gave you a noncommittal hum as a response, so you dropped it. He fell asleep like that, holding you. You closed your eyes, your pulse slowing down, your brain working hard. To remember everything. You did fall asleep soon after, but you hoped you wouldn’t forget that either. How it felt to fall asleep in the arms of someone like Hyunjin.
This time around, you woke up before him. The TV was still on but was displaying its screensaver—random landscapes—and everything was quiet. Your puss* felt sore, along with your lower back, and you were parched.
Hyunjin was sleeping on his back, breathing slowly and deeply. He was holding your hand, and you considered dying from dehydration instead of leaving this warm bed. He seemed so peaceful. Had he been nervous about Paris? Did he really believe he wasn’t worthy of going?
He moved in his sleep when you removed your hand from his gentle grasp, but he let out a content sigh when you pressed a kiss on his bare shoulder. His skin was smooth and warm and it felt good against your lips.
You found the t-shirt you had been wearing earlier—it was on the floor, but you put it on and left the bedroom. After using the guest restroom so as not to wake Hyunjin, you went to the kitchen to get some apple juice. You also grabbed a couple of sour candies from a bag and drank in the dark kitchen, leaning against the counter.
You had never really done that. Sleep twice with a boy you weren’t actually seeing. You had never had a friend with benefits because you had always been afraid to catch feelings. And by the way your chest was heavy, you knew you had been right to fear that. Hyunjin was the worst possible person for whom you could catch any sort of feelings right now—even friendly ones. The semester was almost over and then he would leave. Sure, the exchange was temporary, but realistically he would remain abroad for a while after finding a job… or a girlfriend.
You lifted your eyes from your empty glass of apple juice and looked at the door of Hyunjin’s bedroom. You wanted nothing more than to return in there to lay by his side and wrap yourself all around him to smell him and feel him so close. But you were already too attached. And you couldn’t let him get attached any more than he was—if he was at all. He deserved to leave for Paris with a smile on his face and with no regrets. His life had been difficult enough as it was. You hoped he would be happy there, maybe get a few more tattoos and see his dreams come true.
So you made your way back to his room but went immediately to the master bathroom where you had left your clothes and put them back on as silently as possible. When you headed out, you couldn’t help but return to the bed just to look at Hyunjin some more. He had an arm where your body had been just moments ago and it made you crave him more than ever.
But you did walk away. You grabbed a lollipop from the jar and gathered your things in the living room, noticing a notepad on a bookshelf.
Headed back home because Chae texted me,but thanks for dinner! I had a good time.Tipsy xxx
You knew Chae wouldn’t mind that you lied about that—you’d do the same for her. So you left, carefully locking the door behind you, and walked home. But your heart was heavy, heavier than it should have been.
Hyunjin did not text you the next day, or the day after. You tried keeping yourself busy—hell, you were busy with all those midterms but it was hard to focus on them. You kept checking your phone. When Chae suggested that you should text him, you almost threw your sandwich at her. No, you couldn’t do that.
But you did pretend you really, really wanted iced tea and that you’d go to the convenience store. Jisung asked you to get his favorite candy and Chae proposed to go with you if you didn’t want to be alone—but you did want to be alone. Or not. You were just gonna go to the convenience store and cross the street and find Hyunjin in the park and go talk to him.
Except he wasn’t at the park at his usual table.
The next day was Sunday. You spent the entire day in your room, working in front of your laptop. You had put on a sitcom you’d seen countless times before just for background noise, which is why you didn’t react when you heard the doorbell—for a few seconds, you thought it came from the show. But then you heard the sound of the door, and voices…
Jisung spoke first. “Frog boy! My guy! What’s up? I don’t think you’re here for me…”
Your heart leapt in your chest and you pushed yourself out of your chair to go towards your door, hesitating. Hyunjin washere? You checked your phone to see if you had missed a text message but there was nothing.
“No,” Hyunjin told Jisung. “But I do have something for you. Free of charge, of course.”
There was a pause in the conversation. “Are you f*cking kidding me? All of this for me?”
“For you and Tipsy—I mean, y/n,” Hyunjin added, and this time you couldn’t pretend like you weren’t dying to see him, so you joined the two of them in the living room.
Hyunjin was standing right by the door with Jisung who was holding a large bag that was seemingly full of weed. When you appeared, Hyunjin’s already faint smile disappeared, but Jisung grinned at you.
“Look what your boyfriend brought us! What’s the occasion man?”
“She’s not… I’m not…” Hyunjin started, avoiding your eyes, his cheeks flushed. “We’re just friends.” He took a deep breath and shrugged. “I’m leaving after the semester and I wanna get rid of all that sh*t. I can’t risk getting caught.”
“You’re leaving?” Jisung questioned, looking at Hyunjin, then at you, then at Hyunjin. “What?”
“He got into a great art school in Paris,” you explained, forcing a smile on your face.
Jisung almost pushed Hyunjin into the wall with shock and spent maybe a whole hour congratulating him before he managed to read the room. He cleared his throat. “I’ll go store this safely,” he said, showing the bag full of weed. “Thanks for thinking of us, man.”
“No problem.” Hyunjin waited until he heard the door of Jisung’s bedroom close behind him then he turned to you. “Hey, Tipsy.”
You took one cautious step towards him. “Hey Fairytale.”
He smiled a little and it made you smile, too, despite the storm of tormented feelings that was brewing inside of you. It really sucked that you were so happy for him and yet still somehow wished that he would stay.
“So, huh…” Hyunjin started. “Actually, I have Chives with me, she’s… She’s in the car. I was wondering if you still wanted to be there to release her. I’m headed over there right now.”
“Oh!” You looked at the window where you saw Hyunjin’s car parked right in front of your building. You weren’t very good at saying goodbye, but you did want to say goodbye to Chives. And to Hyunjin. “Yeah, I wanna go,” you said and hated how small your voice sounded. “Just give me a minute.”
“Take your time.”
You just went to the bathroom where you quickly brushed your teeth and rinsed your face after spending an entire day being a gremlin in your bedroom and eating a little too much candy. You returned to the living room to grab your coat from the closet as well as jump into a pair of shoes.
Chives was back into a plastic container. You held her while Hyunjin drove the car. There was no music and it took several minutes before he spoke to you again.
“I’m sorry I didn’t text,” he said quietly. “I should have texted you.”
The fog that had been clogging your thoughts and your brain lifted instantly—so instantly you felt stupid. “Oh, don’t be sorry, I should…Ishould have texted you, really.” Yeah, now that you were saying it out loud, Chae had been right all along.
“No.” Hyunjin stopped the car at the traffic light because it turned red and looked at you. His eyes were sad. “Did I do something to hurt you? Did I… Did I hurt you when we… Or after? Or—”
“No, no Hyunjin,” you cut him off. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t hurt me. I should have texted you, but I didn’t want to… To get in the way. Of your things.”
A dark veil passed over Hyunjin’s eyes as the light turned green again and he took a left turn. “We’re almost there,” was all he said.
You didn’t speak until he had parked and stopped the car a few minutes later. The night sky was clear and you could see the half-moon shining bright. The air was a little cool and you wished you were wearing warmer clothes. The place was a community center but there was a large wooden area all around.
“There’s a meadow and a pond,” Hyunjin explained. “I’m sure Chives will love it.”
So you walked with him. There was a narrow but paved path though there was almost no lighting, so you used your phone to light the way. Hyunjin was holding Chives’ container with one hand, and after a while, he took yours to hold it. And it felt right.
He finally spoke after a long while. “You’re not getting in the way of anything. I… If I wasn’t going to Paris, I’d take you on a date. More than one date. I kinda wish I wasn’t going at all.”
You had never really felt this before—a perfect mix of sadness and elation at the same time. In equal amounts.
You squeezed Hyunjin’s warm hand. “It’s Paris. On a scholarship. Youhaveto go.” He pulled you closer a little. “But I would have gone on those dates with you, Fairytale.”
“When I come back,” he started, “I’ll take you on a date. A friend-date, especially if you’re seeing someone. But you know what I mean.”
You had made it to the meadow with the pond. There was a streetlight here, although dim, but it was sufficient enough that you could put your phone back into your pocket. There was also a bench and a lot of grass and trees. Itwasthe perfect spot for Chives.
“You mean that?” You turned to Hyunjin, facing him. The rose on his ear was shining under the amber light. “Then, yes. I’ll take that raincheck on a date.” You didn’t think it would ever happen, but the thought comforted you. “Although I’m not sure your super hot french girlfriend will appreciate.”
Hyunjin went to say something but then his expression turned from serious to playful and there was a glimmer in his eyes. “For all I know, Bang Chanhimselfwill propose to you while I’m gone. I might even miss the wedding.”
You simply couldn’t hold your laughter. Hyunjin laughed with you and took your hand again to guide you towards the pond. “I’ll make sure to have photos sent to you,” you responded in the same mischievous tone.
Hyunjin left the container by the pond, right next to a large bush of hydrangeas—the very same type of flower where he had found Chives begin with. You sat together on a bench just close by.
He pulled you against him and you buried your face into his neck, inhaling his enthralling scent. Maybe you’d go to the store tomorrow to find his exact body wash…
“Well, even if you’remarriedto Chan,” Hyunjin declared, “I’m still taking you on that date. I don’t care.” He kissed your forehead.
“And I’ll go even if we have to take your super hot french girlfriend with us.” This time, Hyunjin kissed your mouth, and you kissed him back.
A slow kiss. His breath was warm and minty and you realized you had missed this, this particular way he had to kiss you. As if he meant it.
“Deal.” Hyunjin traced the outline of your face with his finger before pushing your hair behind your ear. “I wanted you to know something else too. I… When my mom passed, her family put money in an account for me, for my studies. But I didn’t really need it because I had the house and a scholarship and… Well, I took a little amount of that money and talked to my supplier and… I got those pills for these two guys. They won’t bother me anymore, and they won’t be a threat to you either.”
“Oh… But Hyunjin—”
“That’s why I got rid of all the weed too. Well, almost… I hid some for me but… I can’t take any risks. I don’t want to mess this up.” Hyunjin slid his thumb on your lower lip, his eyes fixated on your mouth. “Even if staying wouldn’t be all bad either.”
You were about to kiss him when you noticed movement behind him. “Hyunjin,look!”
Chives had hopped out of her container and was making her way toward the tall grass around the pond. Hyunjin gasped and held you in his arms as you both watched the cute little frog hop away to freedom.
“Is that what proud parents feel when their child leaves for college?” Hyunjin asked you, his voice a little strangled.
“I think so. You really helped that frog,Fairytale.” There was a lump in your throat too, but both of you pretended like this wasn’t an exceptionally emotional moment.
Hyunjin squeezed you tighter when Chives disappeared for good and you stayed together in silence for a little while, listening to the breeze and the lazy flapping of the water. “Thanks for being here tonight,” Hyunjin said into your ear. He kissed your jaw. “You’re cold, though. Let’s get you back into the car.”
You retrieved the empty container and returned to the car. On the way back, Hyunjin told you about his father. He had called him to give him the news that he was going to Paris. “He was really proud of me. We talked for a long time… Longer than we have inyears. Paris is not so far from where he works, I think… I think he’ll come see me. I’d like that.”
“Oh, I’m really happy for you. Really.” And you were. This time, it was a little harder to swallow back the tears. “I’m sure he really wants to see you too, you know?” How could he not? How could someone not be lethally fond of this boy?
Hyunjin unlocked the car doors and you sat in the passenger seat. He started the car but didn’t drive away. The road was deserted just like the entire area.
“I wanted to tell you something else.” Everything was going a little too fast, but you figured that was the price to pay for being stubborn and refusing to text or see him before.
Hyunjin turned towards you from his seat behind the wheel. He took your hands in his and rubbed them as if to warm them up. But your heart was beating fast in your chest. “I think you’re really cool. And I know I’m not leaving until the end of the semester but… You’ll be busy and I’ll be busy too, and I just… I want you to know that I won’t forget you. Even if we don’t text all the time and all. I’ll never forget my Tipsy.”
A tear rolled down your cheek but it was okay—Hyunjin’s eyes were wet too and his bottom lip was trembling. You had never been really good at saying goodbye, but you forced a smile on your lips.
“And I’ll never forget my Fairytale.”
He drove you home and kissed you goodbye from the car, then again at your door. And again. And again. Until Jisung texted you, worrying about where you were. Still, Hyunjin kissed you for a long time after that, and then he left, but he didn’t say goodbye and neither did you.
He had been right about one thing though—both of you were exceptionally busy the rest of the semester. He texted you sometimes and you texted him, too. You ran into him more than you did before because he often needed paperwork done in other buildings because of the exchange. It was through those interactions that you learned his father would take care of selling the house. It was snowing the day you ran into him at the convenience store with Jisung—who needed more sour candy—and Hyunjin told you that his neighbor had officially moved away to be with her family, leaving with Chris, too.
That was two days before Hyunjin’s flight. You did not return to your apartment with Jisung that night. You went to Hyunjin’s place where you each showered and slipped into comfortable clothes. The house was mostly empty of furniture but full of boxes. The easels were gone, too.
Hyunjin kissed you a lot that night and made love to you, again and again, until the sun appeared on the horizon. Slow, meaningful thrusts into you, both of you moaning together and cumming together. And there was a lot of beauty in that. He made you laugh, he made you cry. He cried too. You fell asleep in his arms, and this time, you stayed. You showered again and made food while he was packing more of his things. You helped him even though you had to get ready to spend the winter break at your parents’ place. But you stayed with him.
When the time came to say goodbye for real, neither of you wanted to, so you simply didn’t.
“I’ll see you later, Tipsy,” Hyunjin said, his big beautiful eyes looking into yours.
You touched the ring on his lip. It was cool under your skin, but he smiled, and you smiled. “I’ll see you later, Fairytale.”
It was not the best winter break of your life. You were exhausted from the semester and from the sleepless nights where you couldn’t get Hyunjin out of your stupid f*cking head. But you spent time with your family and cried everything you had to cry. Your cousin got you drunk on Christmas and it helped a little. That day, you got a text from Hyunjin, with a picture of the Eiffel Tower. “Joyeux Noël,” as all he wrote.
The next semester started before you even knew it. On the third day, a special person was waiting for you after one of your classes, someone you certainly did not expect.
Mrs. Yoo was there, she said, at Hyunjin’s demands. She had two paintings for you—one was Hyunjin’s midterm assignment which you had already seen. The one depicting the park on that first night.
The second painting was a portrait. Ofyou. Sleeping in his bed, wearing the shirt you had been wearing that last night you spent with him before he left. You were beautiful. The painting was beautiful, with the sunlight filtering through the blinds and reflecting on the crumpled sheets and your hair. Your peaceful expression. A bunch of blue hydrangeas in a white vase. The empty aquarium and the glass jar full of lollipops.He got excellent grades, Mrs. Yoo told you that day.What an artist. Hyunjin was very fond of you, I believe.
You thought about him a lot that semester. But he didn’t come back afteronesemester. In fact, it was about him you thought when you went to pick up your diploma.
You got over it, sure. But you never forgot him.
When you moved into your apartment after graduating, you had both paintings framed and you hung them in your room. Even if you and Hyunjin didn’t text that much anymore, you never forgot your Fairytale. And something in your heart told you that he did not forget his Tipsy either.
~ TWO YEARS AND A HALF YEARS LATER ~
“So have you thought about your plus one or not?”
You looked up from the project you were working on—a sign for a new restaurant—and stared at Jisung who stood in the door frame of your office.
You blinked. “No, Jisung, I have not.” You sighed and leaned into your chair. “You know what? Just give that seat to someone else who’s not a lonesome loser like me.”
Jisung tilted his head, frowning. He was about to respond to you when Chan joined him. “Guys. There’s a bit of an emergency going on. Please don’t hate me.”
“Why would we hate you?” Jisung questioned with a laugh. “Did you drink all of the good coffee again?”
Chan offered his friend a sorry smile. “No… I… You know the guy we had a few classes with… Hongjoong. He went into PR,” Chan explained while you were simply a witness of their conversation which was definitely preventing you from working in peace.
But that wasn’t new. After all, you knew what you were getting into when, soon after graduating, Chan, Jisung, and Changbin started their own marketing firm and Chan offered you a job in it. He said he wanted to offer the very best services and that he wanted everything to be produced in-house by people he trusted.You’re the best graphic designer I know, he had told you.
However, he had adamantly refused to tell you exactly how many graphic designers he knew.
But still, whatever—you had a job. You worked with your friends and for a while, you had lived with them, too. But now Jisung had gotten himself a serious girlfriend to whom he had proposed a few months ago. Since Changbin had immediately moved in with his girlfriend after graduating, it was just you and Chan in the apartment. Which sometimes could be a little awkward considering…everything, but it was still alright. The commute was decent and the rent not so bad even if you had lost a roommate. You liked the neighborhood. And you liked your job, too.
Well. Except when these guys decided to use your office as a debate room. “Am I involved in this conversation?” you asked, crossing your arms over your chest.
“Yes. Yes, very much.” Chan bit his lip. “So you do remember Hongjoong, right?” While Jisung nodded eagerly, you had to think a little longer, but you definitely had heard that name before, probably ran into him at a party if he was with Jisung or Changbin. “Yeah, so he works for the Museum of Contemporary Art downtown and they have this big charity contest thing coming up at the end of the year and the marketing firm they had contacted actuallydroppedthe contract last minute. They need a new one! I told HJ to bring his team over and that we’d take the contract!”
Jisung stared at Chan as if he had just slapped him in the face. “DUDE, THAT’S A HUGE CONTRACT! I’M GETTINGMARRIEDIN AMONTH! YOU’RE MY BEST MAN!”
“Sounds to me like he’s yourworstman right now,” you pointed out. The joke had to be made anyway, but Chan still shot a cold glance at you.
“Don’t look at her like that, she’s f*cking right!” Jisung let out an exasperated sigh and leaned against the wall.
“Look, you get married with Sun-young all the same, nothing changes,” Chan explained. “All I’m asking from you is to be heretodayfor this meeting and maybe answer the phone once in a while if one of the interns has a question. I take full responsibility for the extra work.”
Jisung took a deep breath. “Okay. Fine. Butonlyonce in a while.” Jisung even smiled. “So, I was just here to ask y/n about her plus one for the wedding and she says she doesn’t have one. Do you?”
Chan seemed surprised by how easy it had been to calm Jisung down, but then, he was in an exceptional mood today. The guy was delighted with the idea of getting married to the love of his life. He was just… very stressed about it and it helped him to make every single person he knewalsostressed about his marriage. No big deal. Hell, it almost made you thankful to be the most single person on earth.
“I don’t have a plus one,” Chan began, “uh—”
“Alright! Maybe I can put the two of you in the same room then…” Jisung seemed lost in his thoughts and you exchanged a silent stare with Chan.
You used to have this big crush on him when you were in college. Not so long ago. Forever ago. He was the coolest guy of his year and everyone liked him. Of course, you were invisible—you were the nerdy graphic design student who was also friends with a friend of his. Fast forward to some time later and you’re working with him. You’re living with him. Maybe this past December’s office Christmas party was… intense, and maybe you drank a little too much. But then, you never liked holidays because they only reminded you of how truly lonely you were.
Maybe Chan f*cked you on his desk that night. Sure, from an outsider’s perspective, it sounded super cool. To finally get dicked down by your college crush or whatever. But he was yourboss. Yourroommate. And your friend, too. It had made things a little awkward, especially at first.
Especially because neither of you had the intention of taking things any further. Chan was not looking for any sort of long-term thing because he was obsessed with work. And you repelled long-term things because you were cursed.
That also made things easier. It made things clear at the very least.
But you didnotwant to share a room or a bed with Chan for Jisung’s wedding. “Channie!” you exclaimed, using all of the skills you may have developed in the drama class that you took at the tender age of nine years old. “I thought you did have a date for the wedding! Did she cancel?”
Chan picked up on it immediately. “Oh, I just thought maybe Ji needed the seat for someone else,” he said and turned to his friend. “I do have a date. She’s a friend of my sister’s friend.”
Jisung nodded and sighed before pulling out his phone, apparently to take some notes. “Alright, that’s fine, it’s not like I’m paying anyway.”
“Lucky bastard.” You crumpled a sheet of paper into a ball and threw it at Jisung’s head. Everything from the wedding would be paid by the father of the bride.
Chan’s phone also rang and he announced that HJ was going to be there soon. “Let’s go to the conference room.”
You helped him brew some more coffee to offer your guests while Jisung and Changbin were discussing the wedding’s seating chart, which was Jisung’s topic of the day.
“Is it a really big contract, Chan?” you asked while sorting through the different flavors of creamers.
“Really really big,” Chan replied, keeping his voice low. “I didn’t want to tell Ji that right now but… it could make usknown. If you know what I mean. Sure, we’re doing really good and I’m proud of all of you guys but… this isn’t a restaurant, or a bar, or a summer theater that needs posters… It’s a legit assmuseum! For a huge charity event!”
“That’s really cool.” You smiled and gave Chan’s cheek a few gentle pats. “Remember all this time ago when you told me you wanted your own marketing firm and all that crap?”
Chan nodded and smiled a big beautiful grin at you, flashing his dimples. “f*ck yeah I remember. Isn’t that the night Jisung met Sun-young too?”
“Yeah, it is.” All of a sudden, your smile became too heavy for your lips and it fell apart. You looked away to hide your change of mood. “Anyway, what I mean is you’re doing pretty well, Bang Chan.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do that without you. All of you.” Chan squeezed your shoulder and you waited until you heard him leave the room to go greet the clients to take a few deep breaths.
That was not so long ago but it was forever ago. A night with a bonfire and s’mores. And blue hydrangeas. And—
You resisted the urge to pull out your phone to check a dead text conversation and an even deader collection of social media profiles. Instead, you sat at the table and listened to the conversations until Chan returned with the clients.
They were just three of them, which was not as intimidating as when you were meeting with a large group. HJ, who did look familiar now that you were seeing him, a woman, and another guy. An intern apparently, but who was friendly and sweet. Of course, they sat him next to you.Theybeing solely Jisung who took your dating life very seriously.
“Sorry, we’re missing someone, he’s running late,” HJ explained. He had a sweet, comforting smile. He seemed like an intelligent dude. “I just texted him. We can start without him I guess… I don’t want to be any more of a burden than we already are. I cannot thank you enough for meeting us on such short notice.”
“Not a burden at all, please,” Chan insisted. “Are you sure you wanna start without your art director? We have coffee, we’re in no hurry at all.”
“Sure, we’re in no hurry at all,” Jisung added with an exaggerated shrug. “What else could we possibly be doing today anyway?”
You suppressed a smile at Jisung’s jokingly sarcastic tone, deciding to join the bit. “Damn, Jisung. You’re so f*cking right. Nothing in the world matters more right now than your wedding’s seating chart. Maybe we should close the whole business until further notice.”
Jisung laughed with you but Chan put a hand over his mouth and apologized to the clients. “I’m so sorry. They’re unserious sometimes but really talented.”
“No problem, I like the vibe. We’re friends here after all.” HJ shook his head with a smile. “Actually, I think this is a perfect match. You’ll super get along with the art director of the museum. He’s also really talented but he’s…”
“He’sweird,” the woman, whose name was So-yeon said, not waiting until HJ had finished his sentence. “He just texted me to say that there was a stray kitten by his building and that he had to take care of that. He’s almost here.” She put the phone back on the table of the conference room. “I hope no one’s allergic to cats because he’s bringing the kitten here. He sent me a picture of it. It’s in his jacket.”
“Oh, can I see?” Wooyoung, the intern, asked eagerly and he smiled endearingly when So-yeon showed him the picture in question. You caught a glimpse of it, too—a tiny little tabby kitten head poking out of the front pocket of a black hoodie. Ahoodie. On a bright, sunny day inMay?
“Yeah, he’s unique, sure, but he’s a great guy,” Wooyoung concluded. “When I said I forgot to buy my mom a gift for her birthday, he took some time in the afternoon to do a custom painting just for her so that I’d have something to give her!”
“Yeah, yeah, he’s everyone’s favorite prince,” So-yeon said with a sigh, but she was smiling. “Can we begin the meeting before this place turns into a petting zoo?”
author's note: Hi everyone! Once again, thank you so much for being so patient with me and for showing me so much kindness. I truly appreciate this, and you. The response on chapter one left me speechless and I truly hope this second chapter is not too disappointing. There will be a chapter 3! Thank you for all the love, the support, for everything. 🐸💕 Thank you for welcoming the frog boi into your hearts. I am honored. Stay safe!
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