Hey Babe

hey babe <3 i got a haircut

it was the text no girlfriend wanted to receive and it was your growing fear as you watched mark's hair get longer and longer. you had expressed to him how much you loved his long hair. it had become a daily activity where he would lay his head in your lap as you played with and put his hair into weird hairstyles. you took the time every morning to tangle your fingers in it and run your hands through the long locks as sleep still lingered in the air. your stomach dropped as you opened your phone and saw that very text.

how much ...

you texted him back almost immediately. it was ultimately mark's decision to cut his hair and even with how dramatic you where, you were still going to stand beside your man; even if he was bald.

just a little off the top nothing too much

and dramatic is what you where when he walked into the shared apartment. his hair that had grown past his eyes was cut back to being a little above them. the back of it that had grown to his neck and was beginning to curl now revealed a fresh undercut. "how do you like it baby?" mark had a huge grin on his face that was hard to fight against. "it looks so good," your voice was shakier than you had wanted it to be. you could feel tears brimming your eyes.

mark was quick to rush over to you, "what's wrong?" he took you into his arms. "you're bald," you finally sobbed out. you hiccuped into his chest as you clung onto him. he laughed and patted your head, "i'm not bald. it was just a little cut". you cried harder into his chest, "they took it all off". he let out another laugh and just held you close to him. your sobs finally subsided and you pulled away to finally get a close up look of the new haircut. you felt tears in your eyes again and mark stared at you in shock as you practically flung yourself back into his arms. "what happened now? you don't like it?" he moved you away to wipe your tears and kiss your forehead.

"you're so fine," was the only sentence you were able to choke out.

karma - part five

series masterlist // previous // next

charles_leclerc and natalia_leclerc posted new stories

je vous aimerai pour toujours (i'll love you forever)

"bébé, tu es l'amour de ma vie" (baby, you are the love of my life)

siempre te amare (i'll always love you)

tehe, that's my husband 🥰

hey siri, play slut! (taylor's version)

charles_leclerc posted new stories

how did i get so lucky?

😘😍

liked by gracieabrams, sukiwaterhouse, kellypiquet and others

natalia_leclerc no words to describe what it has meant to me to go on this journey with people i love. daisyjonesandthesix has been the greatest, most fulfilling gift. it’s surreal that it has come to an end, but i have made friends for life, and memories that will bring a smile to my face forever. i could’ve never anticipated exactly how much love this show would get and how my life would change. it has just exceeded all of our dreams. i’m so proud of how far we’ve come. congratulations to all of the winners and nominees 💙 thank you televisionacad for this recognition. oh baby, look at us now 🎶

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user1 charles leclerc, you lucky son of a gun

user2 so cunty of her to be wearing red to the emmys. she owns that color.

landonorris DID YOU MEET TAYLOR SWIFT??

natalia_leclerc maybe. maybe not? charles_leclerc she almost cried. natalia_leclerc traitor landonorris and? i would too, she isn't special.

user3 can charles fight??

user4 red bull may be falling apart but charles will still simp over his wife.

sukiwaterhouse oh baby you looked gorgeous 😘

natalia_leclerc it was all you corazon charles_leclerc please stop flirting with my wife. sukiwaterhouse never you french man. charles_leclerc MONÉGASQUE!! I'M MONÉGASQUE!! sukiwaterhouse french adjacent 🤷🏼‍♀️

francesca.cgomes what a beautiful girl 💙

natalia_leclerc aww baby 💙 user5 praying for my man charles. everyone loves his wife.

user6 you're telling me lightning mcqueen pulled her?? how??

alex_albon believe me, we've been asking ourselves that same question since 2018. landonorris it's a miracle really pierregasly she is the sally to his mcqueen natalia_leclerc and pierre is the mater to his mcqueen

kellypiquet you look amazing red is definitely your color 💙

natalia_leclerc thank you kelly!

max verstappen so does anyone know who our new team principal is going to be??

charles leclerc i'm still trying to wrap my head around daniel not driving this season. sebastian vettel i haven't been told anything yet. natalia leclerc as if they're going to tell me. i only know everything because charles tells me everything.

max verstappen i was hoping someone would know something. i think the anticipation will slowly kill me.

charles leclerc good, then i can become champion. sebastian vettel not that he needs you to be dead to beat you.

max verstappen i guess we'll see won't we?

charles leclerc we will, won't we? natalia leclerc men 🙄

sebastian vettel i think if we don't know anything it's because they haven't found a replacement.

max verstappen then that's stupid, why are they going to announce it when they haven't found someone to replace him?

natalia leclerc because even now we can't get away from spanish papers. someone leaked this shit.

sebastian vettel i have a crazy idea.

charles leclerc how crazy are we talking here?

sebastian vettel i'll be back in like 40 minutes.

max verstappen way to leave us hanging seb

40 minutes later

sebastian vettel i don't know how successful i was but i think they'll think about it.

natalia leclerc seb, what did you do?

sebastian vettel hopefully something worthy of younger seb's chaos.

max verstappen we're fucked

charles leclerc don't be mean. as long as it's not another multi-21 we'll be fine.

sebastian vettel oh my god. let it go. charles leclerc as long as people still hold the inchident against me. i will hold multi-21 against you.

natalia leclerc i don't know why anyone thinks you three are serious people. you're all children.

max verstappen says the woman who's been thiristing over her husband on social media.

"how long did it take you to convince him?" natalia asked. sebastian huffed, "i almost got down on my knees to beg."

"it would not have come to that," kimi replied.

sebastian rolled his eyes, "he was enjoying it. i had to ask his wife to help me convince him. they gave me a deadline to get him on board."

"was there any other option?" max questioned.

"jenson," seb answered at the same time kimi said, "mark."

charles laughed, "oh, would it not have been great to see seb and mark on the same team again?"

"they would've killed each other," max realized.

"no, we wouldn't," sebastian argued. natalia gave him a shit-eating grin, "you still have to see him at the paddock, like every week. he's oscar's manager."

"the mini-me?" kimi quizzed, looking up from his ice cream, because nothing would stop him from enjoying ice cream. everyone at the table looked at him confused, kimi shrugged, "i read what people say. sometimes."

the conversation was stopped by kelly's arrival, "sorry, i'm late. daniil was running late and- nevermind. did you order yet?"

max shook his head, "just kimi, said he needed his ice cream."

"it's very good," kimi replied, "but i don't share."

sebastian huffed again, "i made a huge mistake."

"too late."

taglist: @janeholt3 @vroomvroommuppett @charlesgirl16 @someoneintheworld @iconicbookstore @evans-dejong @minmira95 @leanneg97 @asparklysoul @d3kstar @lollie0024 @magical-spit @gemnetjournal @rockyhayzkid @weekendlusting @ironspdy @namgification @moonyzsworld @Fall-bambi @emilyval1 @lorenakaspersen @spilled-coffee-cup @butterfly-lover @blushmimi @mgmoore @lovely-blackinnon @six-call @bingewatche @vroomvroom95 @lesliiieeeee @itscrzy @alymeddar @fletchingarcher @casperlikej @minmira95

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¡leclerc-s speaks! hope i didn't let anyone down with the kimi reveal, which due to popular demand, i just had to go with him. trust when i say i would've gone with seb if i didn't already have plans for him. listen, i love ollie, he is a baby, and i just had to include him somehow. so i took creative liberties. realistically this couldn't happen but oh well, poaching him and arthur was definitely seb's idea. also, please don't hate me for the daniel thing but liam lawson deserves an f1 seat and he's getting one in this story. at least i didn't get rid of him completely.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

trick or treat - j. jaehyun

→ jeong jaehyun x neighbour! reader

-> dilf! jaehyun au

→ CW: dom! jaehyun, breeding kink (jae's horny, i'm horny, everyone if fucking horny), age gap (reader is in mid-20’s and jae is a divorced 29yo Jae), unprotected sex, creampie, fingering, handjob, oral (f receiving), praising, pussy slapping, biting, spit kink, oral fixation (jae), there are some cringey lines (i'm sorry but i wanted to have them in there but i didn't know how else to phrase them T-T), jae's thick in this one guys :D

-> a/n: omg haii ^-^ okay so this one isn't necessarily halloween related but his kid in the fic is going trick or treating so it counts!!! Jae is DOWN BAD in this one y'all. also just an fyi, this one has a lot more dialogue since they have more of a relationship and it's not just mindless sex this time?? but there still is quite a lot of sex??? okok enjoyyyyyy

-> wc: 6k

-> upcoming: switch! yuta (playboy yuta :) will explain more on that later) psst! requests are open!!

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Jaehyun’s face dropped as he read the email he had just been sent. Cursing under his breath, the man pushed away from his desk and poked his head out the door. 

“Hayoung,” he said. The woman at the desk looked up at him and from the look on her face, she knew what he was going to ask.

“Sir, I’m so sorry…” and she truly did sound sincere. “Gongmyung had no other times available to meet. He’s leaving for London tomorrow morning.” 

Jaehyun pursed his lips as he nodded. He felt awful that he couldn't take Subin out tonight, but he had one idea that could make his daughter feel better. 

The man checked the watch on his wrist, reading the time as 5:30pm. If he left now, Jaehyun could be at Subin’s school for 6:15pm to pick her up from daycare, talk to her, and bring her home for 6:45pm before he had leave the house by 7:30 to be back at the office for 8:00 pm to meet the clients for dinner. 

 “Alright, I have to leave now, but I’ll be back in time for the meeting.” Hayoung looked as if she was going to object, but instead she just nodded her head. Jaehyun grabbed his jacket from his office before pulling his phone out from his pocket. As he walked to the elevator, he scrolled through his contacts, searching for your name. 

As Jaehyun stood, waiting for the elevator, his heart raced with both the urgency of the situation and the lingering nervousness he got when you spoke. His thumb hovered over the call button when he hesitated. He took a deep breath and leaned against the glass railing behind him, feeling a pang of worry gnaw at him. Would he be imposing on you once again?

The elevators hummed softly as they stopped at different floors of the building while Jaehyun debated with himself, the prospect of the impending meeting weighing heavily on his shoulders. He decided to call you, but not just for Subin’s sake, for his too.

“Hello?” Your voice on the other end had a certain warmth, and it sent a shiver down Jaehyun’s spine.

“Hey,” Jaehyun let out a sigh at the sound of your soft voice. His voice tinged with the tension that had been building in the pit of his stomach ever since he received that email.

“What’s wrong? You sound stressed.”  You grew concerned when you realised how his voice was quieter than usual.

“It’s just work stuff…” Jaehyun’s shoulders slumped. “I really hate to ask you this,” And he really did. “I was wondering if you could watch Subin tonight? I know it’s Halloween, and it’s super last minute, but I was just scheduled for a meeting, and you’re the only one she’d want to go with.” the disparity in his voice ran deep, but you didn’t have any plans anyways, so why not?

“Of course, Jae.” You said, and the man sighed with relief. “What did she dress up as for school?” The calmness in your voice soothed Jaehyun’s nerves. The elevator sounded as it arrived. After the doors opened, Jaehyun entered and leaned against the wall as he felt a strange mix of emotions. 

“She decided she was going to be Elsa and when we went trick or treating, she wanted me to be Anna.” There was a moment of silence, but Jaehyun already knew what was about to happen. As the man closed his eyes momentarily, you burst out laughing on the other line.

“You were really going to dress up as Anna for her?” you asked, your voice was laced with amusement that made Jaehyun chuckle. 

“It was either that or Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.” A hand ran over Jaehyun’s face in embarrassment, remembering the conversation he had with his seven year old daughter last month when they were discussing costume ideas. 

“What, did she want to be Esmerelda?” you asked with a scoff.

“No, she wanted to be Laverne.” Jaehyun groaned, wondering from whom his daughter gets her ideas from.

“The gargoyle?” you cried. You held the phone away from your ear as you laughed loudly, clutching your stomach. 

“Yeah,” the man replied, looking at his shoes with a smile, the sound of your laughter resonating with him. “How much do you want me to pay you?” he asked as he walked out the elevator and to the entryway of the building. He waved to the secretaries and to those who greeted him with a smile.

You tried to reason with him, arguing that you didn’t need the extra compensation, but Jaehyun’s insistence on repaying your kindness only heightened the nagging tensions between the two of you.

“Jae, you really don’t have to, you know I’d do anything for you guys.” Your voice was gentle, “You know I feel bad asking you to watch her without paying you.” Jaehyun’s voice dropped lower, carrying an undertone of a deeper emotion with it. 

As he exited the building, silently thanking the valet driver for his keys.

“But I’m telling you that you don’t have to.”

Your attempt to reason with him was met with Jaehyun’s unwavering determination. “We’ll talk about it later.”

With no room for further discussion, you conceded, “I’ll see you at seven, then.”

“I’ll see you then.” Jaehyun confirmed, the tension settled down thickly in the air.

“Bye, Jae.” You said softly. 

“Bye, y/n.” Jaehyun replied, the sudden strain in his voice giving way to a sense of longing as he entered his car.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Jaehyun gripped the steering wheel and looked down, feeling a slight strain in his pants. “Jesus fucking Christ…” the man muttered. “What am I, twelve?” his head fell back against the headrest in frustration. 

Jaehyun rolled down the window before he began to drive, in hopes that the cold breeze would clear his mind of the thought of you, and focus on what was more important: trying to find a way to tell Subin that he can’t take her trick or treating. 

-

By the time Jaehyun had parked in the school parking lot, he had nothing. He still didn’t know how to tell his daughter the news. Taking a deep breath, Jaehyun pushed open the car door and got out of the vehicle before locking it and heading to the waiting area. 

Minutes later, the bell rang and children of all ages flooded out the doors. Jaehyun stood amidst the sea of children pouring out of the school, his eyes scanning the crowd for a familiar little girl in an Elsa costume. He spotted her soon enough, her blonde wig glistening in the autumn sun, and a smile spread across his face. Subin was chatting excitedly with her friends, and he knew he had to break the news gently. 

He approached her, kneeling down to her eye level. “Hey, princess,” he greeted her with a warm smile. 

Subin’s face lit up at the sight of her father. “Daddy!” she squeaked and launched herself into his arms. Jaehyun laughed as he almost stumbled onto the floor, but his arms wrapped around his daughter tightly. 

“Come on, let’s get you to the car.” Jaehyun stood up carefully with his daughter still in his arms. As he walked, Jaehyun sucked in a deep breath before he told his daughter the bad news. “Subin, about tonight…”

The girl looked up at him with curious eyes. “What is it, Daddy?”

Jaehyun cleared his throat, trying to find the right words. “Well, I know how much you were looking forward to trick or treating tonight, and I was really excited too, but something came up at word.” He paused, gauging her reaction.

Subin’s smile faded, and her brows furrowed. “Do you have a meeting tonight, Daddy?”

Jaehyun’s heart felt like it was breaking off piece by piece. “I’m so sorry sweetheart, I tried to reschedule it for later, I really did, but it didn’t work out.” Jaehyun frowned, but his daughter smiled. 

“It’s okay, Daddy. Do you think you’ll be back to watch HalloweenTown with me?”

“I’ll do my best, okay? I promise I’ll make it up to you sweetheart.” Jaehyun promises. “Until I come back home, I asked the lady from the floor below us to watch you, you remember her, right?”

“The pretty lady you invite over every weekend? I remember her.” Subin nodded, unaware of how red her fathers ears had turned.

“She doesn’t come over every weekend.” Jaehyun mumbled, looking away from his daughter as they arrived in front of the car. 

“She does… Dohwa even asked me if she was my mom.”

“Oh…” he replied simply. Jaehyun stayed silent as he sat his daughter in the booster seat behind the passenger’s side, the thought almost consuming him. 

Dohwa asked if she was her mom…

After he clicked her seatbelt in, Jaehyun shut the door and headed for the driver’s seat, still entirely thinking of you… as a mother…

The man paused right as he was about to open the door when he felt the same stiffness from earlier, and he had to stop himself from screaming curses at the sky. Jaehyun closed his eyes and swallowed harshly before he opened his eyes and entered the car like nothing had happened to him.

“Daddy, can we listen…”

“Of course,” Jaehyun gave his daughter a smile through the rearview mirror. He knew exactly what the kid was asking for, and with a few presses of some buttons, the intro of the infamous ‘Let it Go’ from the Frozen soundtrack was blasting from the speakers, and Subin was belting out the words.

The rest of the ride was filled with more Frozen, which consisted of duets, the respective solo’s of both Jaehyun and Subin, and the booing of Hans whenever he sang in Love is an Open Door. 

Jaehyun had arrived at the condo building at 6:45pm, “Right on schedule,” he said to himself as he walked to the other side of the car to help his daughter out of the car. “Come on, sweetie,” he said, lifting her into his arms. With how adorable she was in her Elsa costume, he was determined to make it up to her for the missed trick or treating.

After a quick elevator ride, they reached his penthouse. The elegant, modern space was impeccably decorated, a reflection of Jaehyun’s refined taste. 

“What d’ya want to eat before the pretty lady gets here, Miss Elsa?” Jaehyun asks Subin, who was already halfway to the kitchen. He followed behind her and held the door open for her as she entered. “Goldfish…” she said hungrily, causing a laugh to escape from Jaehyun’s lips.

“Goldfish it is, then.” The man took a bowl from one of the cabinet’s before he scanned his pantry for the snack that was requested. While Jaehyun looked, he heard Subin squeal with excitement. A mix of confusion and concern churned through Jaehyun, so he tried to be quick with his search and found them on the top shelf. 

“Subin, I found them…” Jaehyun stopped in his tracks when his eyes found yours.

“Hey Jae,” you smiled, your insides twisting at his current state. He’d come from the office, you knew that already, but seeing him in that suit definitely messed with you a bit.

“Hey,” Jaehyun couldn’t help the way his heart raced at the mere sight of you. You were holding a neatly folded Anna costume in your arms, and the smile you gave him made his heart skip a beat. “You’re early.” he said. Although he looked quite distracted, Jaehyun still managed to pour Subin her goldfish and hand the bowl to her.

“Yeah, I just thought I’d come by a little early to see if Subin needed help with her costume.” Your innocence warmed Jaehyun and forced a smile onto his lips.

“That’s really thoughtful, thank you.’

“Don’t even mention it.” you said.

“Pretty lady, are you going to put your costume on now?” Subin interjected while she munched on the small crackers. 

Jaehyun shuddered lightly, realising his daughter had just watched that whole interaction, even though she probably didn’t register what was going on. 

At least that’s what you both hoped.

“Oh! Yes, yes, I will go do that. So, give me a few minutes, yeah?” you winked at her which earned you a big grin from the little girl.

“You can change in the guest bathroom.” Jaehyun blurts. “I’ll show you where it is.”

“Yeah, yeah, sounds good.”

Jaehyun walked out first, but it didn’t take long for you to catch up to him. You walked silently up the stairs and down the hall until you reached the room. 

“Let me know if you need anything,” he said.

You thank him before you enter the bathroom, one you’ve definitely seen before. You set the costume down on the counter and begin to undress. Everything was going well until it came down to actually doing up the back of the dress.

“Jaehyun?” you raised your voice ever so slightly, just to check if he was still there, and in a heartbeat there was a soft knock on the door. 

“You called?” His voice was a bit muffled from being on the other side of the door, but you opened the door, finding him leaning against the door frame. 

“Could you help me with this?” you asked with a hand across your chest to keep your dress from falling. 

Jaehyun looked away from your eyes, suddenly feeling very warm in the face and ears. “Yeah, could I come in?”

You moved so he had room to enter, and you shut the door almost immediately after and locked the door. Your back was facing Jaehyun, but you were watching him through the mirror. You felt bold until his dark eyes met yours in the reflection, and since then, his gaze didn’t leave yours.His heart raced as he looked into your eyes, and his fingers trembled slightly as he began to tie the strings at the back of your dress. 

The tension in the air only grew stronger as his fingers brushed lightly against your skin, and your breath hitched. You couldn’t help but steal a glance over your shoulder, meeting Jaehyun’s gaze once again.

“Done…” he gulped, holding your stare. It was a moment where words were no longer necessary, and the attraction between you two was undeniable.

Jaehyun leaned in closer, his lips brushed against the nape of your neck. Your heart raced, and you tilted your head slightly, granting him access to your skin. His kisses were gentle, sending shivers down your spine, and his arms which had wrapped around your waist, had become your new form of support. 

As he continued to trail soft, lingering kisses along your neck, Jaehyun whispered, “You’re making it hard for me to focus on anything other than you.”

You turn around to face him, your lips dangerously close to his. “Maybe that’s the point,” you replied with a mischievous glint in your eyes. 

With a surge of longing, Jaehyun closed the small distance between your lips and his. The kiss was passionate and electric, and yet still so familiar from the previous ones you’ve shared from almost every weekend for the past three months.

One of Jaehyun’s hands cupped your cheek as the other snaked down to your waist, pulling you in closer. He felt the heat of your body merge with his, and his heart raced as he deepened the kiss. Your hands were tangled in his hair, and the taste of his lips sent a wave of euphoria through your body. 

Jaehyun pulled away, but only slightly. His forehead was still pressed against yours, and he whispered, "I could kiss you like this forever."

Your lips curled into a small smile and you replied, "I wouldn't mind it."

With that, Jaehyun kissed you again, and this time it was more desperate, more passionate. He moved his lips hungrily against yours, exploring and tasting your mouth. You let out a soft moan as his hands moved to your lower back, and your kiss became more passionate.

His hands moved to the small of your back, and he lifted you up, your legs wrapping around his waist. You felt the warmth of his body against yours, and you melted into his embrace. 

He carried you to the counter, and sat you down on the cold marble, and your arms tightly wrapped around him. You could feel his heart pounding against your chest, and the intensity of the kiss was enough to make your head spin. You felt like you were in some kind of trance, and you welcomed it with all your heart.

With his hips in between your legs, you reached out your hand to palm his growing erection through his pants. Jaehyun pulled away from the kiss, letting his head fall back in pleasure.

“God, baby, I got hard twice today because of you.” You hummed in response, slowly undoing Jaehyun’s belt and freeing his cock from his boxers. Bringing your hand to your mouth, you spit into it before lubing up his dick with it.

You started to move your hand up and down, slowly stroking his shaft and Jaehyun let out a low moan. His eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily, his hips starting to move in time with your hand. 

Your hand closed over the tip, stroking it in circular motions before you moved your hand to jerk off the rest of his length. You increased the speed of your hand, Jaehyun's breathing getting heavier with each stroke. You could feel how hard he had gotten, and you smiled as you continued to pleasure him. Feeling your spit start to dry up, you started to use more of your hand, your fingers tracing circles around the head of his cock. Jaehyun's hands were gripping the material of your costume tightly, and you could feel his hips twitching with each of your strokes. 

You moved your hand faster, your thumb now rubbing circles around Jaehyun's most sensitive spot, and he let out a loud moan as he was about to cum, but before he could, a timer went off.

“Fucking christ,” You both sighed out of disappointment, and Jaehyun rested his forehead against yours.

"I have to go," he said, regretfully. He quickly fixed himself up and helped you off the counter.

“What if you’re still hard during your meeting, though?” You joke while your fingers toyed with his belt loops. 

He chuckled, and kissed you one last time before reluctantly pulling away.

“I’ll figure something out." You pouted, and he leaned in to give you one last peck on the lips before he grabbed his phone and unlocked the door. "I'll see you soon. I promise." He said before slipping out of the door. 

You sighed and smiled to yourself, savouring the moment. You felt more alive than ever.

Sliding off the counter, you turned and inspected your face to make sure you didn’t go back to Subin looking like a hot mess. 

“Pretty lady!” Subin yelled as you walked down the stairs. The young girl squealed as she ran to wait for you at the edge of the steps. She gushed at you once you had fully arrived in front of you. “You look so pretty!”

“Thank you sweetheart.” you said as you ruffled her hair. “Ready to go?” you asked her with a grin. Subin nodded frantically and grabbed your hand before she darted towards the elevator, her candy bag in the other hand waiting to be filled to the brim with treats.

“Trick or treating!” she cheered and jumped with excitement, and your heart warmed at the sight.

-

“Thank you so much for your time Gongmyung.” Jaehyun smiled as he shook the older man's hand. 

“Of course! The pitch was great, so our lawyers will be in contact with yours very shortly.” 

Jaehyun saw the man out of the smile and one final bow before he looked down at his watch. It was 9:30pm.

‘They should be home by now.’ Jaehyun thought as he got in his car and began to drive home. 

It only took him about twenty minutes to get home from the restaurant, and by the time he reached the penthouse, he found you sitting on the couch with his daughter sleeping peacefully next to you, her head resting on your thigh. 

“Hey,” you smiled up at him. Jaehyun mirrored your expression as he sat down next to you and wrapped an arm around your shoulders. 

“When did she pass out?” Jaehyun’s fingers drew circles against your arm as you leaned into him. 

“About an hour ago? She already brushed her teeth, we were just watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Jaehyun looked at you, his brows scrunched closer together.

“Is that not a Christmas movie?” 

“Tsk… no one knows what it is or isn’t.” you said, jutting out your bottom lip before Jaehyun pecked your cheek. “I think I’m gonna put Subin to bed… show me to her room?” You slowly moved in a way that wouldn’t disturb the little girl too badly, and you brought her to your chest and rested her head on your shoulder. Both you and Jaehyun stood and you cautiously walked up the stairs and down the hall. 

Jaehyun opened the door, revealing a baby pink room with toys and stuffed animals astray. 

“This room is so…”

“Scary?”

“Her,” you shot Jaehyun a dirty look which made him laugh. “Not too loud, idiot.” you scolded him when you felt Subin stir at the loud noise. Cradling her head, you ordered Jaehyun to pull her bed covers back. Gently, you set the girl down before tucking her in. You stepped back to watch Jaehyun crouch beside her head and plant a light kiss on forehead. He sat there for a few seconds, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. With one last peck goodnight, he got up and smiled softly at you before he took your hand in his and led you out of the room.

With the lights off in Subin’s room and her door shut, the two of you stood in the hallway, staring into each other’s eyes. 

“Thank you, again, for watching her.” Jaehyun stepped closer to you. You noticed how his tone dropped, how his hands squeezed yours gently, and how his eyes flickered from your eyes to your lips. 

“Like I’ve said, you don’t have to thank me… but you can show me your appreciation in a different way.” you teased and hooked your fingers around his belt loop like you did earlier.

Jaehyun smirked devilishly, leaning in to kiss your neck. His hands moved around your waist, dipping lower until he cupped your ass. 

As he trailed kisses along your neck, he paused to nibble and suck on your sensitive skin. His hands moved up your back, tugging your hips even closer to his. You felt your own arousal growing as his lips moved from your neck to your lips, his tongue pushing its way into your mouth. You moaned against his lips as your hands found their way into his hair, fingers curling around the strands of his hair. 

“We shouldn’t do this out here…” you said breathlessly, and Jaehyun groaned in agreement.

He pulled away and took your hand, leading you to the guest room. Your pulse was racing as he pushed open the door, and you both stepped inside. He pulled you close and kissed you deeply, while your hands moved to the back of his neck, tugging him in closer as your lips moved together in an urgent, passionate kiss. His hands travelled their way down your body, exploring your curves as you explored his. He trailed kisses down your neck, making you gasp as his teeth lightly grazed your skin. You groaned in pleasure as you felt his erection growing against your belly.

He grabbed your hair and pulled it back, his face hovering close to yours. "Tell me what you want," he growled.

You bit your lip and smiled, your desire rising with each passing second. You wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I need you to fuck me."

He groaned and pulled you closer, his hands roaming your body. His lips brushed against your ear as he responded in a chuckle, “Waited all day for you to say that to me.”

In an instant, Jaehyun brought you towards the bed, a fire raging in his eyes. You were both eager to get undressed, and you started with his shirt. You reached to undo the buttons of his suit and slowly started undoing them, never breaking away from his embrace. Jaehyun’s breaths were heavy and rushed as you finally released his shirt and pulled it off his body. 

His hands moved to your shirt and he proceeded to do the same with you, slowly pulling your shirt off and tossing it aside. He grabbed your waist and pulled you closer, his lips finding yours again. His hands were frantic as they roamed your body, the intensity of his kiss growing with each passing moment.

He leaned back and pulled you with him, the two of you standing there in nothing but your underwear. His eyes were ablaze with desire and he stepped forward, pushing you back onto the bed. He leaned over you and slowly trailed his lips down your body, his hands massaging your curves as he made his way down.

He pulled back and looked into your eyes, his own filled with a primal hunger. With one hand, he grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head, his lips finding yours again as the other hand found itself making its way down your navel, all the way to your pussy. His thumb took to your clit, drawing small circles on it.

The friction felt electric, you couldn’t help but shiver at his cold hands touching such sensitive parts. A soft moan escaped your lips as your hips involuntarily arched towards his touch. His thumb moved faster, increasing the intensity of the pleasure. You felt pleasure radiating through your body, slowly building to an unstoppable force. Your breathing became shallow, your heart raced, and all you could do was surrender to the sensations. His thumb began to move with more intensity, each circle growing wider and wider. His touch was gentle yet demanding, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through your veins. The hand that had your wrists in a tight grip suddenly let go, but it moved to your hip and he grabbed firmly, steadying you as his thumb continued to bring you closer to the edge. 

You could feel his breath against your neck, his fingers digging into your hips as he moved them. Suddenly, he slapped you hard on your pussy and you gasped in surprise. The repeated action brought you close to tears. As your jaw hung open from a mix of surprise and pleasure, Jaehyun saw this as the perfect opportunity to do the thing you love. Hovering just slightly over your mouth, he let his saliva drop into your mouth, and he watched with a smirk as your jaw shut immediately, swallowing what he gave you. 

His tongue soon found its way into your mouth, and you tasted the bitterness of his spit as it mingled with yours. His hands moved with purpose, sending waves of pleasure cascading through your body. 

You could feel the anticipation building in your body, and you could barely contain the moans that escaped your lips. You were so close to the pinnacle of pleasure, and his touch was the only thing that could get you there.

“Fuck, Jae… oh fuck.” you said as a signal to him that you were cumming. If that didn’t tell him, then the way your body shook definitely did. 

Not long after you came, Jaehyun sat himself in between your legs. Both of his hands moved to your thighs, pushing them apart as he knelt in front of you. He looked up at you with pure adoration and started to kiss and lick your inner thighs. 

Jaehyun kept one arm around your hips while the other explored your pussy, fingering you slowly. You gasped and hissed in pleasure as he teased your sensitive areas. He moved his mouth to your pussy and started to lick and suck in a tantalising rhythm. His tongue moved in slow circles, alternating between soft and hard strokes. 

The arm he kept around your wait found itself lazily dragging from your waist, up to your breasts. His nimble fingers squeezed and teased your nipples, not helping the fact that you were trying to keep your voice down– even though you were several rooms down from his daughter.

The back of your hand moved to cover your mouth as you moaned, while the other grabbed his head, pushing him deeper into you. He bit down on your labia and licked the sensitive skin around your clit, sending shockwaves of pleasure through your body. Jaehyun moved his fingers inside you, pushing them in and out in a steady rhythm, his thumb finding the spot that sent sensations of pleasure through your body. 

He then began to massage your clit with his tongue, circling it slowly and then faster and faster until you felt your toes curl in anticipation. His hands moved down to your hips, holding you tightly as he increased the pressure and speed of his tongue. 

You felt your muscles tensing and your breathing becoming more rapid as you got closer to the edge. His fingers moved faster and faster, stimulating you in all the right places. You moaned and gasped as your orgasm finally overcame you, your body shaking in pleasure.

“Came so quick.” Jaehyun stated, slowly moving his mouth back up to yours and kissed you passionately, his tongue exploring your mouth as his hands moved to your waist. 

He grabbed your hips and spread your legs wider, pushing his hard cock inside of you. He moved slowly at first, letting out a guttural moan as he entered you. 

He moved his hips in a circular motion, pushing himself deeper into you as he felt your tight walls stretching around his thickness. He felt as if he was being consumed by a blanket of pleasure, and he loved the feeling of being completely surrounded by you. With each movement, you could feel him stretching you out further, and the sensation made his body tremble with delight. 

“Fuck, baby, you’re doing so fucking well.” His breathing quickened as he felt the sensation of being fully engulfed inside of you, and the sensation of pleasure coursing through his body. He felt as if he were melting into you, becoming one with you as he moved faster and faster. 

He added a new layer of pleasure to his movements, as he sucked and licked on your nipples while he continued to thrust. His tongue felt like velvet on your skin, teasing and tantalising you with every movement. His hands moved to your back, caressing it with every thrust. 

You grasped his shoulders tightly as the sensations built up inside, and you felt yourself getting closer and closer to the edge. Finally, you threw your head back and let out a loud moan as you reached your climax, your pleasure washing over you. Jaehyun’s breathing became heavier, and you could feel his muscles tense up, his whole body shaking with pleasure.

“Fuck baby…” Jaehyun groaned, looking down at your pussy. “You’re so fucking full.” he bit his lip to stop himself from showing his smile, but it was useless– Jaehyun was grinning from ear to ear with pride. He watched as his cum dripped out of you, but with two fingers, he took whatever had leaked and shoved it back into you.

“Hey,” you said, grabbing his attention with his fingers still inside of you. “You gonna fuck me full of your cum, or what?”

Jaehyun almost lost it. Asking that of him was not the smartest idea, considering the fact that he’d do anything you told him to.

“Is this you asking to have my second kid? We’re not even together.” He joked as he sat himself with his back against his headboard. 

You knew what that meant.

Getting on your knees, you crawled on top of him and positioned yourself above his still very hard cock.

“I could do both…” you say without another thought.

“Oh baby,” he said, voice more seductive than you’ve heard before. “I’ll fuck you so hard, you’ll get pregnant right away.” And with that, he thrust upwards, shoving his thick cock into you.

You exclaimed in surprise, eyes going wide, but your hands flew to his shoulder, stabilising yourself as he moved inside of you. He moved long and slow, his hips rolling against yours, and you felt your pleasure building with each thrust. He reached down and grabbed your ass, squeezing the soft flesh as began to pick up his pace. His breathing became ragged as he went deeper and deeper into you. 

His hands moved higher, gently caressing your breasts, his lips lightly sucking and licking them. His fingers moved lower, rubbing and teasing your clit, and his tongue licked and sucked your nipples.

“Fuck, just look at you, your fucking tits bouncing…” he mumbled, his mouth watering at the sight. “Gonna get you pregnant with my baby, and your tits are gonna be so fucking big.” Jaehyun moaned at the thought. You felt his tongue flick against your nipples, and you gasped in pleasure as he teased them with his mouth.

As he sucked on your nipples, Jaehyun started to pick up the pace, pushing himself in and out of you. His hips moved in a perfect rhythm, each thrust sending a wave of pleasure through your body. You felt your eyes roll to the back of your head, and your breath coming in ragged gasps. 

You could feel the heat building inside you as he continued to move. His hand moved down, rubbing against your clit as he moved, sending pleasure coursing through your veins. His thrusts were getting harder, and faster, and you could feel yourself getting closer and closer to the edge.

Just then, he pulled out of you and flipped you over onto your back. He stared into your eyes, holding your gaze as he penetrated you again. “Fuck Jaehyun, I need your cum.” You whined. His thrusts were more forceful now, and you could feel yourself moaning louder and louder as he continued to move inside of you.

He then started to move one of his hands up and down your body, playing with your nipples and lightly caressing your breasts. His tongue lapped at them, and you felt your body tense up as he sucked on them. He moved the other hand down to your clit again, rubbing it in circles as he moved inside of you. 

“Need to get you so fucking full.” Jaehyun spoke aimlessly as he fucked your cunt, his thrusts growing harsher by the second. You hummed at his words, equally as brainless as he was from the stimulation. 

You felt yourself getting closer and closer to the edge, and Jaehyun increased his thrusts, pushing himself deeper inside of you. He grabbed your hips and held you tight, pushing himself deep inside of you. You screamed out in pleasure, your orgasm ripping through your body, and he followed shortly behind, his body shaking in pleasure.

His moans grew louder and his thrusts became more intense, the pleasure becoming too much for him to handle. He felt his orgasm build up inside of him, and as he reached the peak, he let out a cry of pure ecstasy. Jaehyun slowly pulled out of you before he laid beside you.

Turning to face him, you both lay there for a few moments, your breathing ragged and your hearts pounded in your chests.

“I meant what I said…” Jaehyun said, his thoughts now cleared from his prior state of mind. “About being together. The baby too, but that can come later.”

“I like that idea,” you hummed and pressed your lips to his.

venomous

pairing: bodyguard!yuta x (f) reader

genre/warnings: crime!au, thriller, angst, graphic violence, mentions of drugs/drugging, character death, implied smut, implied misogynistic behavior, mentions of dv, one instance of attempted abuse, mc’s father is an asshole

summary: Born into the underworld, crime was all you’d known your entire life and was practically in your blood - murder, drugs, money, power, and everything in between. In spite of your father leading one of the two major gangs that dominated Asia, you managed to keep safe. But all that changes once the rival gang has bad blood to settle with your father, and suddenly a vendetta’s being pursued against you.

word count: 18.8k

a/n: part of the Game of Survival collab call by neo-shitty. feedback is appreciated!

Maybe you were paranoid. As heir to one of the most prosperous crime rings in the country you had grown familiar with the feeling, but you’d never get used to it.

You tried to chalk it up to the uneasiness of being present at yet another of your father’s parties, feeling like a weed amongst flowers, but you knew at the same time it was relieving to break away from your rather mundane lifestyle - condemned to your bedroom with a guard outside your door, in case the idea to wander around emerged within your mind yet again.

Feasting your eyes on the crowd was one of your favorite weekly, on some occasions biweekly, pastimes. Pretty people adorned in flashy attire that you were sometimes lucky to be able to engage in conversation with whenever your bodyguard pitied you enough to turn a blind eye to your activities. You usually dreaded no part of the evening save for the end, so you couldn’t fathom why you couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

Until you noticed a frantic Nakamoto Yuta rushing towards you hardly twenty minutes later.

“Get up,” your bodyguard ordered, yanking you from the seat impatiently. You were forced to set down the drink you had requested to calm your nerves, following Yuta as he ushered you throughout the crowd.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. And you were dying to get to the bottom of it.

“What’s the matter?” you asked. “Is something wrong?”

“No time to explain,” he answered curtly. “Just follow me.”

Almost a dozen more questions remained at the tip of your tongue, yet you kept them anchored. Knowing Yuta, he was only trying to keep you safe. That was his priority. Everything else came second.

Yuta led you to an exit situated towards the rear side of the venue, more easily accessible than the front entrance. For a split second he checked his watch, eyes flashing with urgency. He wasted no time to pull at your arm and drag you along in the path of his body.

Though in your high heels and flowy dress, it was impossible to match his pace. You were stumbling and on the verge of twisting an ankle, nearly collapsing if it weren’t for his never-loosening grip on you. “Yuta!” you shrieked. “Slow down.”

Slowing down wasn’t an option. Not only would Yuta’s life be at stake if he neglected his job, but he’d never forgive himself if he let anything bad happen to you. Instead he settled for pausing for a moment to swoop you into his arms, not stopping when you squealed from the sudden change and dashing further into the distance.

Even as he ran, Yuta held you securely in his arms, holding you tightly with dedication smoldering in his irises. You could see it from the position you were in, staring into him adoringly. You knew that the situation likely wouldn’t feel half as intimate if you knew the details, but ignorance was truly bliss. You admired his auburn hair and stoic face up until he helped you into a vehicle, and you couldn’t help but notice your father’s chauffeur was already gone.

Fingertips pressed against the window, you stared outside the glass as he drove, your heart collapsing inside your chest as you saw panicked flocks of people running frantically out of the venue you had miraculously escaped.

You had dodged a bullet, but at what cost?

Waiting for you and Yuta in your room when you arrived back home at the headquarters was your father.

“Dad?” you said, tone laced with confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Your father only put a finger up to his lip and ushered for Yuta to shut the door before he glanced back at you blankly. It perturbed you; sent shivers down your spine as you wondered what in the hell could have been happening for everyone to be so unforthcoming.

“The Serpents put a hit out on me,” he finally said.

You shrieked, “What?”

He held his finger to his lips again. “They believe I’m responsible for the death of their former heiress, and now they have a vendetta against us. That means you’re in just as much danger as I am. I want you to remain here until things clear up - no more parties and no exiting this room without Nakamoto only. You are to trust no other guard. He’ll bring you all your meals and whatever other essentials you may need.”

It felt as though the room was spinning. You couldn’t believe the words coming from his mouth. The Empire and the Serpents had always loathed one another for as long as you could remember, connected by means of rivalry and battling for the throne - perpetual success and power. This was something drastically different. They were intent on seeking your family for immaterial issues: vengeance.

“Did you kill her?”

Your father seemed greatly affronted by your question. “Of course not! I have no connection to that woman. They say her cause of death was ruled to be food poisoning.”

You knew that. Her death was massive news in the underworld when you were little, rumors getting tossed back and forth between people with some being that the Empire was responsible, but none of them were plausible. Everyone only knew what the Serpents disclosed - the cause of death. However that was, give or take, two decades ago, and for the matter to resurface out of the blue was nothing short of questionable.

Merely attempting at wrapping your head around your newfound situation was making your brain short-circuit. If your father didn’t kill her, then there was no reason for any of this to be happening. In spite of the feud between both gangs, neither were small-minded enough to create bold-faced lies or threaten violence against one another. Neither were sloppy. That meant either of two things: they somehow made a mistake, or your father was lying.

You hated the thought of the latter.

You shook your head. “I don’t understand.”

“Get some rest,” he replied, dismissing your confusion. “The building is on lockdown; no one gets in or out without my say so. It’ll be okay. Goodnight.”

He slipped out of the room, and you were left alone with Yuta and your thoughts.

Yuta walked you to your bed and sat down beside you. “You okay?”

“I’m terrified,” your voice was barely above a whisper. After living your whole life in the underworld you thought that you had reached a point of numbness, desensitized to the harsh reality. Now that it was you and your father’s lives at stake however, you felt like you couldn’t breathe.

Every waking and unwaking moment was a dangerous one, you knew that. Your father was notorious; wanted by gangs, law enforcement, and all things alike. It never bothered you because you knew your people were unreachable to inferior groups, but the Serpents were on the same level as the Empire. They knew the game as thoroughly as your people did. They had just as much potential to win.

“Don’t worry,” Yuta cooed, stroking your back. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

You made a pitiful attempt at hiding your smile. You knew he was right. Yuta had given his all into protecting you for the past two years, never once neglecting his responsibilities. He took his job ever so seriously, and it was a relief to know that there was someone who valued your safety standing right outside your door at all times.

For a moment, you were comforted. Maybe everything would be okay.

But the following morning only maintained your worries that the Serpents were a force to be reckoned with.

Yuta showed you an image of a burnt down building. “This is, was the venue from yesterday. The Serpents burnt it down. That’s the reason I was rushing to get you out and back here. Your father commanded me to move with speed and efficiency.”

Your eyes widened. Last night you were two minutes away from being swallowed alive by flames. It suddenly clicked; why people were swarming outside the building. They were running for their lives.

“Was there a motive?”

“To scare you,” Yuta shrugged, finding the answer obvious. “Probably a warning. Makes the most sense. They’re giving your daddy the chance to turn himself in before they have to strike by force.”

It did make sense; you were no stranger to the method. That was just the dirty way crime worked. Ultimatums were never heavenly decisions. This one in particular was bring yourself into me, or die trying to escape.

Obtaining a member of an organized crime ring was no easy task, however. Your headquarters were hidden and security was intricately layered. There might have only been one guard at your door, but there were plenty scattered everywhere and only you, Yuta, and your father knew the passcode to your corridor. Not even the other inner circle members had access. Getting to you was mission impossible, they could have only imagined getting to your father. 

“That means that last night probably won’t be the last time something drastic happens,” you murmured. “I reckon they won’t offer many warnings, but they’re going to make their presence known. And they’re only going to get more and more dangerous each time.”

Yuta chuckled. “You know your shit.”

“That’s nothing. But being the daughter of a gang leader, I oughta know a thing or two about how these people operate.”

“You know about the Empire’s methods of operation, but what do you know about the Serpents?” Yuta asked, adding when you arched your eyebrow, “They’re similar, yeah, but still bound to be different as hell. The more you know about the Serpents, the more predictable they are.”

You mulled it over. “I know a little bit. Basic things.”

He looked ready, eyes telling you to shoot. “Run it to me, princess.”

Biting your lip, you collected your thoughts into sentences before you spoke.

“They’re a complex group, but they only have six inner circle members - the leader, his right-hand, the head of arms and drug dealing, the spy and tracker, the hacker, and the treasurer,” you started. “Their names are undisclosed as far as I know, but each member has an alias by the name of snakes chosen for different reasons and all with different meanings pertaining to their character.”

Yuta nodded along. “Do you know them?”

“I know the names, not sure about all of the meanings behind them,” you confessed. Some of them were self-explanatory, but others you couldn’t fathom why that specific snake was chosen as their identity.

Yuta urged you on and you continued, “The leader is called the King Cobra for obvious reasons. King cobras are the longest venomous snakes, so I assume his meaning has something to do with extensive power and control,” you explained. “The right-hand is called the Python. Allegedly because he has a suffocating presence, and pythons are non-venomous constricting snakes.”

“The spy and tracker is called the Viper. Viper’s are ambushers and rely on their ability to camouflage to attack their prey. It’s not that big of a jump to make that he’s deceitful and able to blend in with his surroundings or appear as a non-threat as their spy. After tracking down his target, he awaits the right moment to strike,” you gazed at Yuta to see if you had his attention, and to your pleasure he seemed nothing short of intrigued by your knowledge. Snooping around the headquarters and eavesdropping during parties was how you picked up on most of the information. Boredom egged you on to doing unimaginable things. You even snook a book about snakes from the library one time, just so that you could research the Serpents.

“The dealer is called the Black Mamba, the hacker is called the Boa, and the treasurer is called the Copperhead. I haven’t been able to reach a solid conclusion on them.”

Yuta nodded once more, impressed. As a guard you figured he’d probably picked up on some information too, the same way you did - from other henchmen - except he likely knew more from actual conversations. You relied on poking your nose where it didn’t belong.

“Good work,” he said, then joked, “and is that what sneaking out has taught you?”

You grinned. “Damn right.”

“It’s pretty good work. I mean that. But you should also know their operations as a whole,” Yuta said, and it made you wonder just how much he knew altogether. “Empire are infamous for their coercion methods and obtaining their desires through force and abuse of power. They’re bullets you see coming but can’t move quick enough to dodge. The Serpents on the other hand are sly motherfuckers. You’d never suspect their next move. Once you realize you’re trapped by them, you’re already staring down the barrel.”

That was unnerving. He was basically trying to teach you how to predict the unpredictable.

Yuta glanced at the clock on your nightstand. “Shit, I gotta go to this meeting. I’ll be back in two hours. You need anything before I go?”

You shook your head. “I’m good.”

“Alright. Behave,” Yuta chastised, making you giggle.

“What you gonna do if I don’t?” You asked, batting your lashes.

A fire flashed behind his eyes. He growled, “What did I tell you about tempting me, woman? I’ll see you later.”

Yuta left before you could attempt to spur him on further and you giggled. Your relationship with him was complicated - you wanted him, he wanted you, but being together was entirely forbidden. There was no label. You just pretended as if you weren’t in love.

You stood up and headed for your closet, preparing to change into something less vibrant than your strawberry pajamas. Love came second. Your life was on the line and you hardly had details about what was a life-threatening situation. You were on a mission to survive.

In spite of the meeting, some henchmen were still obligated to stick around the corridors. Growing up in the headquarters gave you an advantage though. Back when you were little, you learned how to crawl through vents.

The building structure hadn’t changed since you were born. Modernized, but every route still led to the exact same places they were originally planned to. Your childhood recklessness helped you engrave the paths into your memory, and thus you managed to turn up exactly where you wanted twenty-ish years later.

Outside your father’s office.

Last night you overheard Yuta on the phone. He must’ve thought you were asleep, otherwise you doubted he would have taken the call dead in your face, knowing how you were - too curious for your own good, fueled by the information you were sheltered from for decades. He mentioned your father would be discussing several things with the inner circle to decide how to best move forward. That was enough information for you to begin planning how you’d get there and a good starting point for figuring out exactly what the hell was going on.

Secrets being kept away from you was nothing new. You had dealt with that bullshit your entire life. But now you were being underly-informed about something that could potential end your life and that was the last straw. You refused to sit around and know nothing. 

The door was cracked ajar. You couldn’t see in, but you could hear and make out all the voices inside - your father’s, and Ten’s, the multifaceted asset to Empire’s inner circle who had no set position. He was considered an all-rounder.

You want the passports?

That was Ten’s voice. You furrowed your eyebrows. Passports? Was your father making an escape plan?

Yes, but we won’t be going anywhere. Just throwing them off course to buy us a little more time, your dad replied.

Shit, okay. I’ll talk to Renjun and get on it.

Hearing footsteps, you rushed to hide around the corner and hoped that Ten wouldn’t walk in that direction. To your fortune, he didn’t.

You blew out a sigh of relief. You had avoided being caught by Ten, but you were unsatisfied by your findings and the briefness of the conversation you’d managed to pick up on. The only way you could satisfy your hunger for information was if you went to Renjun’s office and resumed your eavesdropping from there. Eager and blinded by greed, you looked both ways and then made a run for it.

The lights were off and the door was shut when you got there, and not a sound came from inside the office. No shuffling noises or hushed mumbles. That only meant one thing - no one was there. Either Ten wasn’t meeting up with Renjun immediately or they were talking someplace else. If the latter was true, chances were you had already missed crucial information.

You sighed again and prepared to retreat to your room. At least you didn’t come up completely short of new details. You knew that your father was apparently attempting to fake a getaway, that much you could tell, but were the Serpents that gullible? And what exactly was he trying to buy time for? Did he have a plan? Nothing made sense anymore and it was stressing you out far beyond belief. It seemed like the more you knew, the less you figured out, and that was effectively defeating the purpose of your thirsty hunt.

You turned around and bumped straight into a chest. Looking up, you had a realization that made you wish the floor would swallow you whole.

It was Yuta’s.

His eyes widened and he stared at you, shooting bullets into your skin with his gaze alone. He whisper-yelled, “The hell are you doing here?”

Dammit, you swore under your breath. Your heart raced and you were starting to regret all of the prying that you’d done today. Yuta must’ve recently left his meeting. The room it was held in wasn’t far from where you were, although you thought that you’d have longer before it ended. It was possible that you simply lost track of time or that it ended early, but it wouldn’t be long before he put you under hyper-surveillance.

“What does it look like?” You grumbled. There was no point in lying to him. There was nothing convincing that you could tell him and even if there was, Yuta could see straight through you like you were glass.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” he warned.

You finished the quote. “But satisfaction brought it back.”

Yuta sighed and poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. “Let’s go back to your room.”

You could tell there was more that he wanted to say, but arguing with you in the corridors when you were at extreme risk of getting caught was unwise. He settled for walking you back to your room, holding you close to his chest in spite of it being clear he wasn’t happy with you.

Halfway to your destination, you heard a woman shriek.

You pauses dead in your tracks, forcing Yuta to freeze with you. “What the…?”

“Go back to your room,” Yuta commanded.

Your response was physical. Face disbelieving as your brows furrowed and your eyes rounded. The shriek was terror-stricken, you knew the sound of fear when you heard it. It surrounded you ever since you could breathe. You needed to know what was going on, what was happening so close by yet felt almost worlds away.

“Go,” he said again, his cold, sharp eyes piercing into your skin. If you didn’t know him, you would have been scared. But as intimidating as he could seem from the outside, Yuta was mush in the interior. He just wanted to keep you safe. “And don’t even damn think about sneaking around.”

That time you obliged. You headed straight to your room and took no detours. You knew it was too risky and hoped that whatever happened wasn’t too dangerous. That Yuta would return in one piece and tell you what happened.

Thankfully, he did.

“So?” you said when he came back to your room roughly half an hour later.

“Maid found the corpse of a guard,” Yuta sighed as he sat beside you. “Not that sure yet, but the cause of death looked like it was an untreated venomous snakebite.”

“Not that sure?”

Yuta exhaled again. You wondered what he knew that made him seem so stressed. “The words ‘we are your shadow’ were painted onto the wall in his blood.”

Your blood ran cold. “The…”

“The Serpents killed him, yeah,” he grumbled.

The blood writing on the wall might have been laughable if it weren’t for the circumstances you were currently facing. Nothing was funny when you weren’t sure how much longer you would be breathing, or just how safe your surroundings really were. Their plan was to make you feel a false sense of security. Today was another warning. A message. They were close. Closer than you could have ever imagined. They were too deep inside and there was no escape.

You were beginning to think that flying out of the the city or even the country might have been your safest option. Even the place you considered home was dangerous. If a fatal incident happened only moments ago just down the hall, you were scared to wonder exactly how close the wrong people had ever been to you.

“They’re here,” you said in terror. “They’re inside the headquarters, and we don’t know where or who or when they’ll…,”

“Baby,” Yuta tried to interject, but to no avail.

“No! They’re deeper inside than we think they are and there’s only a matter of time until…,”

Yuta kissed you - deep and hard. Your body responded instantly, kissing him back and letting him guide you. You let him cup your face and your fingers thread through his locks, an unconscious part of you wanting to feel him as deeply as the limits would allow you too. Whenever he kissed you, his body easily won over yours. You were too weak for him. It took nothing for you to melt into his touch or the softness of his lips.

He pulled away some moments later and let you catch your breath. “Sorry baby, but I needed you to calm down. I know this shit’s scary, but you gotta be rational and think about what it means.”

“I don’t think I even wanna know what this shit means,” you whispered.

Yuta frowned. It broke his heart to see you this way. He wanted to take all your worries and fears away and lock them away. He hated seeing this slowly defeating even you, the most obstinate and iron-willed woman he knew. There was nothing he anticipated more than the moment that this chase would finally be coming to an end.

Suddenly the door opened and your father poked his head throughout the doorway. “Hurry up and pack, we’re leaving. Nakamoto, escort her out when she’s finished.”

He was gone as quickly as he came. You stared at Yuta lostly. Where were you going? And most importantly, would you be any safer from the Serpent’s there?

“You know it’s not safe to stay here. He’s making a run to more obscure territory,” Yuta stated as if he could read your mind. Sometimes, you felt like he could. “And before you ask - I don’t know if it’ll keep them away, but it’s not easy access. No one will be there but you, him, the inner circle, their personal bodyguards’, and me. So no one can get bought off.” 

That was almost comforting. Being around people you deemed trustworthy, instead of countless people who could have been standing in the middle of the road for all anyone knew, seemed like the most liberating and obvious option. Maybe it would keep you alive if even just a little longer. Maybe it would give your father’s unspoken plan the push it needed to finally get in motion before it was too late. You hated not knowing. You hated having to rely on a maybe, but that was all you had. The little sparks of hope inside you were what was giving you the energy to push forward. It was better than a definite no.

Yuta insisted on helping you pack everything you needed - Clothes, books, and a few other items. In under fifteen minutes you were snuck out the backsides of the perimeter, and ushered into one of the cars.

As the vehicle set into motion, the pads of your fingers pressed against the window and you gazed longingly out the glass. From the moment you were born, this was the sole place that you’d known to be home. Every night of your life had been spent under the same room and in between the same walls. Now you weren’t sure if it would ever feel like home to you again.

The ride was long and you knew none of the roads the vehicle turnt on. If anyone were to be following you, you were certain that they’d become lost from all the abrupt changes in direction that were made. You finally pulled up to a secluded house. It was isolated and lowkey, and appeared to be an ideal safe house.

Yuta helped you out of the vehicle and carried your belongings inside. From the front door to the room you’d claim as yours for the meantime, the house seemed well-kept. It was probably one of the various operating grounds for Empire henchmen.

“Alright, head up to your room. I have something to discuss with the boys,” your father said, dismissing you to your room.

You gaped in disbelief. There was no way he was shunning you to your room at a time like this. It was all that he’d ever done, but at least before you’d have a little roaming freedom - drowning yourself in books in the library or helping the maids tend to the gardens. From the business parties he’d throw weekly to even being allowed to eat in the dining hall instead of having your meals brought up to you. After the news about the Serpents broke out all that had changed, but you thought it was to keep you safe. Now that you were surrounded by confirmed non-threats however, you saw clearly that wasn’t the case.

You rebelled, “I want to stay.”

It would be a lie to say that you never had been rebellious. Your father was strict, but you were stubborn and never took no for an answer. The only thing was that you’d never defied him to his face. Fear constricted your chest but you were hell-bent on standing your ground. You were a grown woman, for fucks sake. A grown woman who had her whole life at stake.

Your father glared but kept calm. “Don’t be difficult, darling. Just do as you’re told.”

“Why? This is about me just as much as it is the rest of you!” you countered, glancing around for backup. You met Ten’s eyes, then Renjun’s, both filled to the brim with pity. Yet neither of them said anything and you felt stupid for thinking that they would. Who in their right mind would stand up to anyone as conceited as your father?

Only you. Only you were bold enough to go against his commands, but maybe that was because you didn’t yet know the extent of what he was willing to do to his own blood.

Before you could even blink, he grabbed his switchblade from his holster and hurled it in your direction. The blade narrowly missed you, but knowing that that was intentional made your stomach churn. He was trying to scare you - and it was working.

“Go to your motherfucking room,” he hissed. “And don’t make me tell you again.”

That time, you obliged him. With widened eyes, you hurried up the stairs, tears threatening to fall but you wouldn’t let them. Not until you were alone.

When the door was shut and your back was against it, you finally let out your first sob. You couldn’t believe what had just happened. It was so sudden. Your father had nearly injured you at very least. He was a skilled knife-thrower and always carried them on him, but you never had any reason to fear him up until now. Never in your twenty-something years had he ever attempted to physically harm you, yet now he had with the intention of scaring you into compliance.

You weren’t sure what scared you more; the fact that he could have easily harmed you if he wanted to, or that something so trivial urged him to behave this way. Maybe you were wrong. Maybe this was something bigger and you were the only one who didn’t see that - but if that were true, it only fortified your desire to know exactly what was being kept from you. And why.

Spotting your duffle bag on your bed, you got up and rummaged through it in search of one particular item. You found a small, rectangular box and opened it, clutching a silver necklace as soon as the box clamped open and placing it on.

It was your mother’s. She passed shortly after you were born, maybe some months later. You hardly knew her. You had no photographs of her and your father never mentioned her even when you used to beg for him to tell you about her, to the point where you eventually stopped asking. The necklace was the only memory you had of her.

Sometimes you wished she was still with you. Maybe life would be a little easier. Maybe you’d feel a little less alone. Now more than ever, you wished she was by your side. Maybe you’d have someone to guide you and tell you the answers to everything you didn’t know, to point you in the right direction. But most of all, you wanted her love and comfort. You wanted her to hold you and tell you that everything would be okay.

Maybe then, you’d believe it.

Suddenly a knock sounded from the door and you jolted in surprise. “Who is it?” you asked weakly.

“Your favorite,” Yuta sang from the other side of the door. For a second, you smiled. Yuta’s voice alone was soothing. “May I come in?”

“Go ahead.”

Yuta walked inside, shutting the door behind himself. He frowned at the sight of you, eyes red and cheeks tear-stained. You looked almost as small as you felt. There was nothing Yuta despised more than seeing you so overcome by your emotions - it made him bristle with anger, wishing there was something he could do to permanently remove your pain.

You fiddled with your necklace and once Yuta noticed it, he sighed sadly. “Oh, baby…,”

“I miss her,” you smiled through your tears. “I miss her and I never even knew her.”

That was all it took for Yuta to walk over and pull you into a hug. You sobbed into his shoulder and he rubbed your back, soothing you. Yuta was the only one that you had ever opened up to about your problems, and especially the ones regarding your mother. He knew how incomplete you felt without having a mother figure present in your life.

With Yuta, you felt bare and exposed. Stripped naked of your facades and down to your rawest, truest emotions. There was nothing you could hide from him, no mask you could put on because he could effortlessly see dead through you. He could read you like an open book, but never judged any line. That was why you had no issues with being vulnerable in front of him. He had seen you at your lowest moments and yet still Yuta embraced you nonetheless.

That was when you realized something. Yuta was more than just your bodyguard. He guarded your mind, soul, heart and body. He fought off the dragons of your mind with a sword. Without him you’d be nothing but a damsel in distress.

“Please don’t leave me,” you begged softly. Not like she did. “I need you.”

Yuta wiped the tears from your face. “I’ll never ever leave you, princess. You’ll always have me.”

All you could do was pray that that was true. As much as you hated to think about it, Yuta’s life was just as on the line as yours. He was an obstacle to the Serpents, and it went without a doubt that they would tear down anything in their course to get to your family. Knowing Yuta, he wouldn’t let anyone hurt you without getting through him first. He was willing to sacrifice himself if it meant you had a chance.

After a while you cooled down and decided to pull yourself together. You were still shaken up from what had happened, but refused to let it get in the way of what was important—predicting the Serpent’s next move. And Yuta was more than willing to help you.

“What did you say was written on the wall again?”

“‘We are your shadow’,” Yuta recalled gloomily. “The message’s obvious. They’re watching.”

No shit. The snake bite was the unneeded confirmation that the murder was their doing, but the message was what they were trying to convey. Four silly words had never unnerved you this awfully.

“Fucking hell,” you sighed. “Shadows follow you everywhere you go like footprints.”

Yuta made a face. “You think they know that we’re here?”

“I think that if they don’t know yet, then it likely won’t be long before they do.”

“That’s what I thought, but your dad isn’t intent on switching locations. He says we’re staying here until further notice,” he answered, and you furrowed your brows. Sometimes your father could be a little too vain to notice the flaws in his reasoning - and god forbid anyone pointed them out to his face - but you wanted to trust he wouldn’t do anything too out of line.

Now though, your trust in him was wavering.

After a moment of silence and internally debating if you should keep your knowledge to yourself, you began quietly, “I overheard my dad talking with Ten earlier. When I snuck out.”

Yuta shot you a curious look, urging you on with his face. “Mm-hm.”

“They brought up passports. Dad said that we wouldn’t be going anywhere, though. Throwing the Serpents off course and mentioning something about buying more time. I think he’s faking a getaway.”

Yuta reacted like he was completely unaware of that information, and there lied your ulterior motive in mentioning what you overheard. Yuta was updated on everything, almost as if he knew events before they occurred sometimes. He was knowledgeable and smart, and predicted certain circumstances like no other. For him to have absolutely no clue what your father was planning was somewhat alarming.

It was no surprise to hear that information was to be held strictly between the inner circle or high-ranking members as they were the center of power and influenced overall movement, but cohesion was still significant - especially between the most directly affected people. There needed to be a clear plan in case of sudden emergency. Worst of all, you couldn’t even be sure that the entire inner circle was aware. Only Ten, Renjun, and your father could be confirmed.

“Well, if he plans to act on that idea soon that would explain the lack of urgency,” Yuta murmured, “but there’s no telling. And what is he buying time for exactly?”

“That’s where I keep getting lost. I don’t know what the hell he’s trying to do and it’s scary,” you leaned back against your sheets and sighed.

Nothing was making sense. And you didn’t want to be five seconds from the click of a trigger by the time it finally did. You couldn’t even imagine what would happen to you or the people around you if you dug deeper, though.

It was like you were being cornered - by your father’s intimidation, by your reckless curiosity, by death - and given no choice but to succumb. There was no light at the end of the tunnel.

“Get some rest,” Yuta said after a while, noticing how the more the gears in your head ticked, the more it killed you. “We’ll talk again tomorrow. Promise me you’ll try to sleep.”

You nodded your head. “Okay,” you smiled and slid underneath the covers.

Yuta pressed a kiss to your forehead. “Goodnight, baby.”

Your heart fluttered. You wanted nothing more than for him to slip beside you and stay for the night, but you understood it was too risky, and his night didn’t quite end when yours did.

“Goodnight, Yuta,” you whispered.

He smiled. Then the lights flickered off, and you heard the door open and shut.

You didn’t sleep a wink.

It wasn’t like you didn’t want to keep your word to Yuta, but even after you said goodnight you still couldn’t power your brain off - electricity was always flowing, gears were always turning. There was something else troubling you. Yuta had said that you’d talk again tomorrow, but that was exactly what worried you. The Serpent’s warnings had been consecutive. The very first night, today, and tomorrow was a high possibility.

Who was to say that tomorrow would be any different? Who was to say that the Serpent’s had any mercy leftover? It was already well-established that the warnings would only become worse the more they were ignored, but what if the Empire had blown all chances at making things easy?

They had left the ball in the Empire’s court; now it was in theirs.

The tomorrow you had so terribly dreaded had become today. A knock from the bedroom door startled you, and you asked softly, “Who’s there?”

“Ten,” the voice said, then the door opened slightly and Ten peaked through the crack. “Hey. Your dad told me to let you know that we’re leaving for a little while. Nakamoto’s downstairs, he’s going to stay and watch over you.”

That suddenly made you feel cold. You were scared shitless of being alone, but you guessed you weren’t alone with Yuta around. Still, it didn’t help to think about a sudden ambush while everyone else was away. You were two to however fucking many people they’d send. You would be no match for them.

And more than anything, you needed Yuta safe.

Feigning indifference, you said coolly, “Alright.”

You had a feeling Ten could tell you were putting on a front, but he didn’t press the matter. There was nothing he could have done.

“And y/n?”

You murmured, “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about yesterday. I know you’re probably shaken up about it. I didn’t think he’d act like that to you.”

You chuckled tonelessly. “Me neither.”

Ten flashed you a thin smile. There was more that he wanted to say and you could tell, but you also figured the second half of his message wasn’t supposed to happen. He was in a time crunch.

“Be safe,” you whispered before he could say anything else.

Ten nodded. “You as well.”

Then he disappeared.

Figuring you needed to de-stress, you opted for taking a long, hot shower. You hoped desperately that it would wash away all the apprehensions plaguing your mind in the meantime.

When you got out, you felt better. There was no doubt that you’d still need coffee to help with the fact that you’d pulled an all-nighter, but at least you felt refreshed and that was enough to help you carry on. Some moments after you finally collapsed back on your bed, you heard buzzing from your nightstand.

Your phone. It was provided in case of a crisis and if anyone needed to reach you, but that was why you were worried. If there was nothing wrong, why would they need to tell me something now? They never needed you.

Nonetheless, you picked up the phone, noticing the caller ID was Renjun’s. “Hello?”

“Where’s Nakamoto?”

You blinked in surprise. Maybe it was nothing. But doesn’t Yuta have his own phone? Then, you realized that you hadn’t heard from nor seen Yuta all morning. Usually he’d greet you after you’d woke up, check on you and stay with you. You had figured he was downstairs keeping guard, though now you were worried about him.

“Dunno, I haven’t seen him. I figured he was downstairs playing watchdog,” you answered, eyebrows furrowing. “Why?”

Renjun ignored your question and commanded, “Look in the closet and get the gun.”

“What?”

“Just do it,” he hissed.

Phone pressed to your ear, you stepped towards the closet and rummaged through in search of a firearm. You found it and swiftly checked to see if it was loaded. It was.

“Found it,” you announced.

“You remember how to use one, right?”

The realization that you would possibly have to use one alarmed you, but you confirmed in a little voice, “Y-yeah.” You were probably in your early teens when you learned how to use a gun. You might have been sheltered, but you knew the underworld in and out, and especially how to survive inside it.

That was what people had most often misunderstood about you. They doubted your knowledge and capabilities. They doubted you. You realized that even people you trusted didn’t believe in you. Inside, you knew a good chunk of it was because you were a woman in a man’s world, but you’d be damned if you let that mean you were any less capable.

“Good. Now lock the door,” Renjun said sternly.

“What? But what about Yuta?”

Renjun’s surroundings grew louder and you could suddenly hear all the action in the background, loud yelling and gunshots filling your ears. It sounded like a bloodbath was ongoing and you were scared half to death.

“Listen to me carefully because I don’t have that much time,” he began, voice colder than you’d ever heard it - and his tone was always icy. “Don’t trust Nakamoto. He’s not who he says he is.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” You asked in bitter confusion.

Renjun snarled, “Fucking listen to me. He’s the Vip—”

His sentence was abruptly interrupted and by the sound of his phone dropping to the ground and his screams, you knew it was because he had been attacked. Your blood ran cold.

Then, the door opened and you wasted no time to aim the gun in its direction.

There stood Yuta - and he didn’t even flinch when you pointed the gun at him.

“Yes, I am the Viper,” he announced, smiling as menacingly as he could. “What a shame Renjun ruined the surprise.”

“Step back,” you warned, trying to hold the gun as firmly as you could, but your hands were trembling. Yuta - the one you had trusted with your heart, mind, soul and body - was the same person trying to tear you down.

It took everything within you not to break down right then. You could feel your heart wrench, then shatter into pieces. How could he sit there watching and listening to you fear for your life knowing damn well he was the exact thing you were trying to escape?

“Oh, please. We both know damn well you can’t shoot me, baby,” Yuta scoffed.

You glared. “Shut up. You don’t know me.”

Yuta didn’t listen. He was on a mission to make you explode and knew exactly what buttons to press. “I do know you. I know that you could never ever shoot me. You love me too much. You would only be planting a bullet in your own heart.”

“You’re wrong!” you screamed.

“Do it, then, I fucking dare you!” Yuta yelled back, louder. He stepped closer, intentionally leaving himself open. “I said, shoot me. Pull the motherfucking trigger, baby.”

Your mind was chanting for you to do exactly as he was saying, but your heart was screaming for you to do the opposite. It should have been easy. You should have had the upper hand here. You had a loaded gun and he was unarmed. The only problem was that Yuta was right. You didn’t have it in you to shoot him because you loved him. Frankly, you were in love with him.

And that was your weakness. As deadly and venomous as he was, Yuta was your vice. You unloaded the gun and threw it to the floor, tears beginning to stream down your cheeks.

Yuta softened when he saw you cry, and pulled you into his chest. When you didn’t fight him, he began to stroke your back the way he knew comforted you. “There, there.”

“I don’t understand,” you whimpered sadly. “I trusted you.”

Yuta’s grip on you tightened. “Do you still trust me?”

You didn’t respond immediately. You of all people should have known the game, you had been studying it all your life, you had become it. Trust was nothing but a ruse and that was exactly what his job entailed - he comforted people into telling him their weakest points and used them to his advantage. And yet still, you knew that he was where you felt safe. “With my life.”

“Then, you know I’m not doing this to hurt you. I’m doing it to protect you,” Yuta cooed gently.

That didn’t make the situation any easier to process. Yuta belonged to the Serpents - the exact same organization that was out for your family’s life. Did that mean that everything you knew was a lie? Then, what was their reason in doing any of this?

You pulled away and questioned, “What’s your motive?”

He shrugged. “Same as you were told. Your father killed our former heiress.”

That meant your father lied.

“Then, you should still be trying to kill me. Not protect me.”

Yuta shook his head. “Like I said, I’ve been doing this to protect you. The target has always been your daddy. He just made the wise decision of assuming we would use you to get to him - or he didn’t want to risk you finding out the truth.”

For the first time, you were getting answers to your questions, and yet you still couldn’t fathom them. It was too much to process all at once and you had barely scraped the surface. But you still needed to know more. You still needed to wrap your head around the enigma.

Another question popped up in your head and you furrowed your brows. “But that doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t he want me to know? I’m grown. I’ve lived this life for twenty-two years. I know he kills people. That’s what our life revolves around, that’s what I’m supposed to become when it’s my turn – a coldhearted killer. What would make this any different?”

Yuta pursed his lips. The answer lied at the very tip of his tongue, but he knew this particular secret wasn’t his to tell. “Baby look, a lot of this shit isn’t my place to tell you.”

“What do you mean, not your place?” you blinked in confusion. “Who’s place is it, then?”

Just as Yuta’s lips parted to speak, you jolted when you heard the door creak and an unknown being emerged from the hallways. “It’s time.”

Never had you ever been so confused, and nothing had been making sense for the past three days straight. When you finally gazed back at Yuta for answers, he was eyeing you apologetically.

“Forgive me,” he said finally, and before you could attempt to decipher the situation, you felt a prick in your arm from the opposite side and the color swiftly began to fade from your world.

The last thing you saw was Yuta’s face hovering over you as he held your unconscious body in his arms.

When you finally awoke, your senses came rushing back to you and whiplash struck you deep.

Nothing but the nerve-racking ticking of a clock was audible. The skin surrounding your forearm stung and you felt as though a gigantic hole had ripped agape there. Your vision unblurred steadily and your eyes were met with a dull room.

Where am I, you wondered. It was no place you had ever been - and that was very little. Between your bedroom and the few places from outside that you were familiar with, this was a completely and utterly foreign setting.

Smoke. You smelled smoke.

You sat up and saw a man you didn’t recognize, sitting in a chair with a joint between his fingers and smoke rising from between his lips, thick, white clouds of vapor flowing into the air.

And that was the moment your situation dawned on you.

“You’re awake,” the stranger observed offhandedly.

You ignored his comment. “Who are you?”

It was one of them. You knew that. Out of the six however, there no was no clear indication of who he was specifically.

The stranger only chuckled and took another drag. You noticed his almost fascinated gaze as his eyes bore at the spark of the joint, fire the sole gleam in his dark irises.

“Take a good guess, I’m sure you wouldn’t know,” he said dryly.

Your brows furrowed together in deep thought. You doubted that he was any of the members you had reached solid conclusions on. That would have been the King Cobra or the Python but he didn’t strike you as the leader type, or the Viper, but that was Yuta - oh god, Yuta.

You wondered where he was, or how he could have done that to you. His words to you crawled back in your brain, Forgive me. A part of you knew he was truly sorry, you could see it in his eyes, but another part of you was hesitant in believing anyone or anything.

Then your eyes flickered back to the smoking man on the chair and something clicked. “The Black Mamba,” you murmured, more to yourself than anything. You heard rumors about how the Black Mamba was an arsonist and his favorite weapons were explosives. Allegedly, he even constructed a bomb on his own at the age of ten.

“Oh, save the formalities,” he groaned, feigning annoyance. “Call me Jaemin.”

That gave you a pinch of hope. You weren’t sure if it was just in his character, but you doubted that he’d give you as much as his government name if they planned to kill you.

But then, what exactly was their plan?

“I told you not to play your mind games on her, Jaemin,” reprimanded a familiar voice, and you turned towards the door to see the face of the love of your life.

You rose up. “Yuta!”

Yuta’s head snapped in your direction. He trudged over and pulled you into his embrace, but you grimaced when he dealt too roughly with your aching arm.

“Shit. Sorry about that, baby,” he murmured into your ear. “Snake protocol.”

You stayed like that for a while. There was too much going on. Even if everything you’d known was a lie, you wanted to be in the one place you felt safe for just a moment - Yuta’s arms.

Jaemin fake-coughed. “If you two lovebirds are done, Cobra just texted me and said he wants to meet her.” He added blankly, “Just wanna make sure that’s okay with you guys first.”

You realized three things in that moment - one, you had seen Jaemin before, he was the one with Yuta earlier. Two, he fucking thrived off sarcasm.

And three, you were going to meet The King Cobra.

Panickedly, you stared at Yuta, but he rushed to assure you it would be okay. “Relax, princess. He just wants to give you answers to all those little questions you have. Answers you deserve. You trust me, right?”

“I trust you,” you drawled, even though you knew that you shouldn’t have. Then, you pushed him in the chest and managed to barely shove him. “But I’m mad at you.”

Yuta chortled. “You can be mad at me as much as you want, but rules are rules and I don’t make them. You’ll have to take that up with the motherfucker who does. Let’s go meet him, ey?”

When you finally agreed to meet his boss, you slipped out of the bedroom that you could have only assumed was Jaemin’s and walked into the corridors. Everything about being within the foreign walls of the Serpents’ headquarters made you feel like an outsider, although it did make sense. Technically - as heiress to the rival gang - you were.

Yuta held you firm to his chest, allowing you to loosen up and feel secure in his embrace. It also made you feel untouchable. Wandering henchmen seemed nothing short of frightened by Yuta as he strutted down the halls like he owned the place (technically, he kind of did) with you clinging stubbornly to his side.

The room he brought you to was someone’s office, void of all the hundreds of people pacing down the corridors, yet still not quite empty. Inside, you noticed the presence of two men that you didn’t recognize. Yuta sat across the desk and urged you to do the same.

“Boss,” Yuta greeted the man you both sat directly across from.

Boss. That meant he could have only been one person.

“You brought her,” his boss observed, smiling at you gently. You were half-tempted to smile back. He seemed warm and welcoming, which was totally unexpected for a gang leader.

“Yes, I did. Babe, this is my boss. Or as you know him, the King Cobra,” Yuta introduced, and suddenly the pieces clicked into place.

The man waved. “Hey. I’m the leader, but I know you already know that. Yuta here tells me you’re extremely curious,” he teased. “By the way, you can call me Taeyong.”

You nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And this is the Python, who, technically, is also my boss, since he outranks me,” said Yuta, gesturing towards the man who stood beside Taeyong. He was slightly taller and unlike Taeyong, had a grim aura. 

“Doyoung,” The Python said plainly. “Taeyong’s right hand.”

You nodded once more, feeling almost obligated to this time. The rumors were true; his presence was suffocating.

Taeyong clapped his hands together and suddenly turned remarkably stern. “Alright, now that we’re done with introductions, let’s talk about the real reason for bringing you here. I know you have lots of questions.”

Too many questions. You still wanted to know why you weren’t six feet under yet, or what would be their next move now that they had you under their belt. Were they going to use you to lure your father in? Then what? Would they dispose of you after you had done their bidding? 

There was an insatiable little cat roaming around in your brain, chasing dangerously after strings of information. Maybe curiosity did kill the cat, but as you’d told Yuta before, satisfaction brought it back.

And you weren’t going to stop until you were dead or satisfied.

He began, “First of all, you are by no means our target. Your father murdered my aunt nearly twenty-two years ago and in spite of his opposing claims, we have sufficient evidence. Witnesses on standby, accomplices forced into silence, proof of payment transactions made continuously throughout the decades to silence them. I made it my mission to stop at nothing to kill whoever was responsible, and two years ago on the twentieth anniversary, I finally determined who.”

There was almost nothing that you could say. You were in disbelief - not that he’d kill someone, but that he’d lie to you about something so normalized in your life. This had to be something deeper than you were being told.

“Why wait two years?”

“We had to plan meticulously,” he said plainly. “We had to get inside before we made a move, close enough to predict your father’s moves before he made them. That was why we decided to involve Yuta.”

Yuta nodded and added, “Two years ago, I was assigned to this mission. We were looking for an opportunity to infiltrate and get close to the inner circle, and just our luck, you needed a new bodyguard. It was also important for me to protect you. We couldn’t risk something happening to you.”

“Why not?” you pressed. You felt like a pawn to their game. “Is there something important about me?”

Silence fell over the room and you blinked in confusion. Everyone else in the room gazed towards Taeyong and you could only find yourself doing the same thing. He looked sullen, and you couldn’t even begin to fathom why.

You were starting to get annoyed. “Well?”

“There’s no easy way of saying this, but I won’t make it anyone else’s responsibility,” he said, wearing a sad smile. “That lady he killed wasn’t just our former heiress. She was your mother.”

You gaped. “What?”

Doyoung spoke up. “Think about it. Why else would he avoid admitting that he killed someone?”

You shook your head and sank into denial. There was no way. Your father had never been the best man and you knew that, but he wouldn’t kill the woman that birthed you. Would he?

“He threw a fucking knife at you,” Yuta reminded. “You think he wouldn’t snap hard enough to kill your mother?”

The memory flooded back in and you began having flashbacks, immersing yourself so deeply back in the moment that you could feel the fear that occupied you then. You remembered your eyes going wide, your chest heaving as you gaped in shock.

It happened so quickly. One moment, you thought that you were harmlessly persuading your father, the next, you heard a knife cutting through the air before you could even fathom what was happening.

“N-no, he—he wouldn’t,” you denied. You shut your eyes as if it would make everything go away, but there was no escape.

“He took her away from you.”

“Stop.”

Yuta didn’t listen. “All those painful years of longing were because of him. He shut you out from the world because he didn’t want to risk having to face you once you finally discovered the truth. Deny it all you want, but you know it’s fucking true. Everything adds up.”

“Yuta, that’s enough,” asserted Taeyong.

Yuta didn’t dare disobey. He softened up the moment he saw your fragile state - tears brimming your eyes as you were forced to face the truth head-on. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he was right. Everything added up too well, from your father’s mysterious behavior to the exact time of which their heiress and your mother passed. It could have only meant one thing.

You finally received the answers you had long-craved, but they weren’t the ones you were expecting.

“I’m sorry,” Yuta apologized with a frown. “Come here.”

There was no hesitation when you crawled into him and began to sob into his chest. He cradled you gently, the same way he had when he found you crying in your room yesterday.

Life was cruel. You knew that better than anyone else. But now that you knew your own father was responsible for so much of the pain and rupture you had felt deep in your chest, you weren’t certain if you would ever catch a break.

As much as you had wanted to deny his actions, there quickly became a point where it was impossible. And you were no longer in denial. You were in a state of pure, scorching hot rage. All you could feel was anger. And an aching desire for revenge on behalf of your mother.

Taeyong called your name once you had calmed down. “I brought you here because I wanted to make you a deal,” he began, and your eyebrows quirked with interest. “You help us catch him and I’ll make sure you never have to be under the control of that sick son of a bitch ever again.”

It didn’t take any convincing at all. You were already certain of what you wanted to do when he asked you the question. “Sounds like a pl…,” you trailed off as you realized something. “Wait. You said that my mother was your aunt, right?”

He nodded and you gawked.

“That means you’re—”

“Yes. I’m your cousin. I was waiting for you to realize,” Taeyong chortled.

How fucking ironic. The two rival gangs were family. And you were too blinded by emotion to even realize. No wonder this meant so much to him.

On the other end, you were delighted. You were certain you had no real blood family past your father and life was lonely. Instead of the dread you had been feeling for the past few days, you couldn’t wait to end this once and for all and meet the endless opportunities that awaited you. A happy ending was in arms reach. 

Whatever you could do to clutch it sooner, you wanted to know. You would do almost anything.

You had lost all empathy for your father. No wonder he shunned you to your room all the time. He was hiding how truly ugly he was inside. “I’m game if you all are, but what’s the move? How do you plan on getting him?”

“Straight to business,” Taeyong teased. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he and his team have arrived back at that little hideout of yours and know you’re missing. He’s going to want you back and knows that to obtain you, he’s going to have to reach us. We’re going to arrange a meeting. He’ll be trapped in with nowhere to run.”

You squinted, skeptical. “My father’s somewhat rash when it comes to dealing with other people, but he knows that meeting you would be like handing his life to the palms of his killer. He would either not agree or plan an escape.”

“Yes, but we still have an advantage.”

“What advantage?”

Taeyong grinned wryly. “A special asset.”

His vague response puzzled you, but you slapped your hand over your face and began to rub your temple. “I need a nap.”

Yuta sighed blithely. “It has been a long day.”

“And the next ones are going to be even longer,” Taeyong said stoically. You were already beginning to take a liking to him. He was good-natured, but knew exactly when to be serious and could turn on a dime. “Yuta, you may take her to your room for the evening. We’ll regroup in the morning and establish how to proceed.”

Everyone bid one another goodnight and Yuta led you back to the residency corridor. You passed a couple of men on your way towards his room, although the clear restriction of access within the area and unafraid glances they casted your direction suggested that they weren’t henchmen. They were Serpents.

“Are you okay?” Yuta asked when you flopped down on his bed. He snuggled beside you like a puppy and you smiled softly.

“I’m a lot of things right now,” you whispered somberly. “Not sure if okay is one of them.”

Glancing around his room was oddly comforting. Although it was dull-toned, it felt vibrant and full of life – pictures of him, his family, and friends adorned his nightstand and posters decorated his wall. It felt like Yuta. Not the strong wall he put up whenever he worked, but the Yuta who was utterly unafraid to be vulnerable.

“Mm,” he hummed in response, arms wrapped around your waist and his lips leaning into your ear. “Is there any way I can cheer you up?”

You drawled, “I can think of one.”

“So can I,” Yuta leaned over your face, lips just barely avoiding yours. “Care to enlighten me?”

Every inch of your body was aflame with anticipation. You couldn’t help but stare at his lips, desperately wishing that he would stop teasing you and press them against yours.

“Yuta.”

“Hm?”

“Kiss me.”

Yuta grinned smugly then gave in, finally meeting your lips in a blissful kiss. Your hands reached for his long, auburn locks of hair, and you let his lips guide you to a brand new world, momentarily detaching yourself from reality.

And the night passed like that, with Yuta’s mouth on yours - and your body.

You strutted into the conference room brimming with energy. For the first time in what felt like ages, sleep came to you easy. One night with Yuta had relieved you of a week’s worth of stress.

That meant that you could focus on what was crucial, feeling nothing but passionate anger and determination. You were going to put an end to your decades of suffering - once and for all.

The table was nearly full when you and Yuta arrived. Taeyong took his rightful spot at the head of the table, Doyoung sat to his left, and a file box stole the spot on his right. The rest of the seats were occupied by Jaemin and faces you couldn’t put names to, but you recognized them as the pair you’d spotted in the halls yesterday.

You followed Yuta to the table, sandwiched directly between him and Jaemin.

“Are we late?” Yuta asked with a wry grin. 

“No, the rest of us are simply early,” Taeyong deadpanned, then began, “Good morning everyone. I’m sure that you have all taken notice of the fresh face at the table, and I’m aware that some of you are also fresh faces to her. For that reason, I would like to ask you both to each do short introductions. Please try to be as brief as possible, thank you.”

The inner circle members you were unfamiliar with each gave their name and aliases. The pink-haired man across from you was The Boa, and his name was Haechan. Beside him was The Copperhead, a Mark Lee. They deliberately didn’t disclose their roles, you were smart enough to figure that out. The hacker and the treasurer.

When they concluded, Taeyong continued, “With that out of the way, I would like to clarify our next move. Last night, your father accepted our offer to meet. The terms of the agreement were that if he turned himself in we would, in return, give you back unharmed, though obviously he knows we’ll blow his brains the second we get a chance, and your father doesn’t exactly strike me as the type willing to go out without a bang.”

Doyoung added, “In other words, as long as he’s aware that it’s a trap he’s going to devise a plan in order to escape, and we have to be prepared for whatever adversities that may possibly surface.”

Taeyong nodded, then asked, “Any word from The Sphinx, Haechan?”

“You were right-on about this guy not wanting to go out without a bang, Boss. Literally. I got off the phone with The Sphinx this morning and he says her father’s sending his goons in then blowing the whole damn place up,” Haechan chirped back quickly.

Jaemin grinned wickedly. “Sounds like fun.”

“Sounds like a suicide mission,” Mark corrected, scowling.

“Yeah, well, it’s not. Sphinx made it clear the man has one goal in mind, and that’s getting him and his daughter out alive,” Haechan said matter-of-factly. You barely caught his gaze, it lasted a total of half one single second.

Your face scrunched up in confusion. Who the hell is The Sphinx?

Doyoung mused, “How does he plan on escaping? Is he familiar with any alternative routes? It’s our territory we’re meeting on. He has to know we have eyes everywhere out there.”

“But everyone will be distracted attempting to survive. We’re not going to let ourselves die trying to kill him,” Mark said thoughtfully. “It’s his men versus ours — there’s gonna be a bloodbath.”

That sent a shiver down your spine. You weren’t sure if you were visibly agitated, but Yuta immediately began to soothe you and rub your back with his palm. Maybe he could simply feel it. You glanced at him and smiled.

“Then I hope you’re all ready to die,” Taeyong drawled. “Or at least unafraid to get your hands bloody. We leave at six - be prepared.”

By the time that six had rolled around, you were already standing inside the building. It was off the map, clearly abandoned and repurposed into criminal territory.

In the time that it took for everyone else to prepare, you were already armored up and ready to play the role of the frightened abducted daughter, but there was something troubling you - questions. What if everything didn’t go according to plan? Or what if your father somehow managed to escape in the end?

He wasn’t dumb, he knew that the best time to run off with you was when everyone would be too caught up in surviving. It was every man for themself - kill or be killed.

Yuta came up from behind and wrapped his arms around your waist. He nudged his chin on your shoulder. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Just a little worried,” you admitted quietly. If he were anyone else you would have sucked it up, but Yuta had a way with effortlessly coaxing answers from you. That was what he did. “I don’t wanna go back. I’ve been more free in the past twenty-four hours than I have in the past twenty-two years of my life. I can’t go back.”

“And you won’t,” Yuta assured, cooing in your ear. “I’ll make sure of it, baby. We’ll catch him and you’ll never have to go back there again.”

You whispered, “Promise?”

Yuta whirled you around and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips. “I swear with my life.”

“I should blow both of your brain’s.”

Startled, you jolted and turned to see Doyoung staring - glaring at you both. If looks could kill, you would be six feet under. You clung to Yuta’s side who snook an arm around your waist. Doyoung had an aura that could make you regret doing as much as looking at him wrong.

“Gather around. Taeyong wants to give the plan,” Doyoung commanded icily. Then he turned around and walked towards the team even quicker than he had came and delivered the message.

He was a force to be reckoned with.

Taking notice of the look on your face, Yuta merely chuckled and kissed you one last time to soothe you. “Baby, don’t mind Doyoung. Most people are scared of him because he’s stern and ruthless on the job, but otherwise he’s a pretty decent guy. He likes the reactions, I’m convinced he gets off on that shit - just don’t give him one and he’ll warm up.”

In response, you nodded. Yuta gave you the exact reaffirmation that you needed to do this. Whatever reluctance you had left was drained the second you reminded yourself of all the terrible things your father had done to your family. You wanted him to pay. “Let’s go,” you said, gesturing towards the team. There was only one thing on your mind and that was vengeance.

Taeyong spoke when everyone finally gathered around the table, “Before Empire and their leader get here, I want to address exactly what the fuck is gonna happen. As we confirmed earlier, he’s blowing the place up. Jaemin is going to locate and defuse the bomb with the assistance of The Sphinx. Yuta, you stand with her by the back door and get her the fuck out of here the second anything goes wrong,” he said assertively. “And trust me, shit is gonna go wrong. Any objections?”

Jaemin raised his hand.

“Jaemin, if it’s some bullshit, I’ll kill you.”

He put his hand back down and you muffled a snicker.

Everyone got into place. You, Jaemin, and Yuta waited by the back door for immediate escape once it was time. Doyoung and Taeyong stood bravely behind the table. The rest of the team weren’t present - they waited outdoors ensuring the getaway cars were ready.

And The Sphinx. You had no idea who he was, but you were practically afraid to ask.

When the front doors opened, you sucked in an audibly deep breath. Two brawny men brought your father inside and kneeled him before the table, but his eyes were searching for you. When he found you, you could see anger in them.

Wishing you could hold Yuta’s hand, you sighed. It was too risk under the circumstances. Then, you remembered the necklace around your throat and held it for good luck. This is for you, Mom.

Taeyong greeted, “Hello, uncle.”

Your father scowled. “We are in no relation for you to call me that.”

“Really? Because I think you knew my aunt very well,” Taeyong furrowed his brows mockingly.

Although your father was clearly bristling with anger, he said nothing and decided to change the topic. “Give me back my daughter.”

“Why?” Taeyong tilted his head. He was playing a dangerous game, but he knew that he would be the winner. “So that you can neglect and abuse her like you did my aunt? You know what the rules were; you present yourself to us and we would return your daughter back home safely.”

“I did nothing to your aunt!” your father shouted and you nearly flinched.

“Oh, yeah? Doyoung, bring me the diary.”

Your father’s eyes widened, anger still present on his face, and you could tell the same question was playing in his head. What diary?

Doyoung handed Taeyong a book and he flipped hastily through the pages. “Hm, which one should I read…,” he pretended to muse. “Oh, this one looks interesting. ‘December 20th, 1999. Today, for the first time, I was scared for my life of the man I had never feared and who had vowed to never hurt me. I told him we were having a baby girl today. He threw a knife at me. It missed me just barely, but I was frightened to tears. I couldn’t even move until he began trudging towards me, and then I ran for my life and my baby girl’s. I knew he wanted a boy, but I never expected him to behave so hazardously.’ Remember that?”

As those words left his mouth, you could visualize every sentence. You had partially lived the experience. You clenched your fists - there was no more sadness in your body, only white-hot rage. The same behaviors he had held around your mother, he had begun to unleash onto you and you couldn’t even begin to imagine everything that she’d gone through.

“No,” your father answered through gritted teeth.

Liar. He was a lying piece of shit.

“Then, let me refresh your memory some more. This was the day that you murdered her…”

Your father interjected, “I murdered no one!”

“‘July 6th, 2000. He’s going to kill me. I know he is. There’s nothing I can do now besides pray that he takes care of our sweet baby girl and that someone finds this. I want her to read this and know exactly how much I love her. She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. I pray she finds someone to love her as much as I do. I’m sorry, my love. I’m so sorry.’”

You burst into angry tears. You were mad and this was being too drawn out - someone needed to put a bullet through his head.

“Stop,” he said, looking at your teary eyes and knowing he had blown all chances of preserving your trust in him.

“No. Your daughter deserves to know what you’ve taken away from her. You’ve deceived her enough. Doyoung, the hard copy, please.”

Doyoung swiftly passed him what you could tell from a distance were printouts. Taeyong continued, “In my hand is a hard copy of payment transactions you’ve made that date back all the way to 2000, just around the time my aunt passed away, until roughly seven years ago when the trail went cold. Fifty-thousand dollars was withdrawn from your account every month over the course of fifteen years.”

Your dad glared. “Your point?”

“At first I thought maybe you resorted to killing them after they got uncooperative, or maybe you finally decided to get smart and pay them in cash,” Taeyong said, taking short strides as he paced back and forth behind the table. “Though with the help of my technology specialist I was able to determine the identities of the people you were sending money to - Shon Seungwan and Bae Joohyun. Do those names ring a bell?”

Your father said nothing, but you could see it all on his face. He was familiar with those names, and so were you.

“They were some of your maids until 2015 when they were replaced, and the database states that very same year as their date of death,” Taeyong smiled grimly. “Here’s my theory. Those women were witnesses or forced accomplices to the murder of my aunt and thus you bought their silence. But fifteen years later, something changed. You didn’t care that you were leaving a trail. No, you couldn’t give less of a damn. You cared about the money. It would have been more convenient for you to simply kill them than continue paying them, am I right?”

Your dad didn’t answer. Instead, he threatened, “My team will be here any moment now. They’ll kill you and your circle. Every single last one of you!”

Taeyong snickered. “Oh, you really have no idea.”

“What, about Nakamoto? Of course I know he’s a snake. I knew that the second your team ambushed us!”

Something overprotective washed over you when he mentioned Yuta, but you fought the urge to make any movements. If you did, you might have abruptly ended Taeyong’s verbal torture.

“Exactly. Can’t you see? We’re always a step ahead. We always have a plan. And this one,” Taeyong grabbed his gun off of the table, grinning to himself. “This one you’ll never see coming.”

“What does that mean?” Your father asked, angrily confused. He raised his voice, “What does that mean!”

Suddenly, the front doors burst open, and the person shouted, “Surprise!”

It was Ten.

The gears in your head started to turn and everything clicked into place. We are your shadow. It meant that they were following your father wherever he went - because they were always there. Yuta was The Viper.

And Ten was The Sphinx. 

Your father spluttered, “What’s going on?”

“Sometimes the things you try your hardest to find are hiding right in plain sight,” Ten sang with a wicked smile.

The sound of a loud, piercing gunshot from the hallways followed by several more directed the attention off of Ten, then all of a sudden the doors burst open and all hell broke loose.

Yuta gripped your arm quickly and urged you outside the door, “Let’s go.”

Jaemin and Ten left right behind you, but they turned on a different hall, most likely heading in what you could have only assumed was the direction of the bomb. Meanwhile, Yuta was trying to quickly yet carefully lead you out of the building. You didn’t just need to evacuate the building - you needed to be far away from it.

Yuta poked his head around the corner of the halls then quickly moved it back in and groaned, “Fuck, they’re everywhere. We’ll be outnumbered.”

Hearing footsteps, you tugged his arm and pulled him inside the room nearby. “In here.”

Quickly he closed the door behind himself and you pulled him away from it. It would have taken nothing for a bullet to fly through the wood and into his skin, and the last thing you needed was another dead loved one.

There was too much happening all at once and you wished someone would have put a bullet through your father’s head while they had a clear shot. As long as he was out there, he was going to look for you. And so was his team and the henchmen they’d brought along, and they’d stop at nothing at all to bring you back.

That meant if getting Yuta’s blood on their hands was what it took, they would do it. And that was too big a risk for you.

“God dammit,” you sighed, hearing bullets flying endlessly outside in the halls. “This is a fucking shoot-out and I know he’s got them covering all of the floors. How do we get out?”

“We have to use extreme caution. It’s not safe to camp around here for too long. Unless we wanna get blown up by that goddamn bomb or have the roof collapse in on us, inevitably we’ll have to go down floor by floor,” Yuta whispered. But you both were on the third floor.

You tried to think of any other options, but he was right. There were windows, but they were too high above the ground to jump from here. Not even a miracle could help you survive the fall.

You frowned. “You’re right. Let’s at least try to reach the second floor, then we can ease down to the first floor.”

Yuta agreed and drew his gun before he opened the door back up. You followed behind him, your own gun raised and making sure to keep a third eye on your surroundings behind you. A sudden ambush was always possible.

The floor was quieter than it was initially and the silence kept you on your toes. It was more frightening than the constant sounds of guns firing. At least when people were shooting you were aware of their presence - anyone could have been sneaking around and you’d have no clue if they were stealthy enough.

It became clear why the floor had grown silent the more you roamed around. There was blatant evidence of a bloodbath lying everywhere - an ungodly amount of bodies sprawled out on the floor and blood painting anything and everything it could reach. You grimaced when your eyes met a pile of corpses. This was the aftermath, and you hoped the team wasn’t involved.

Yuta winced. “This place is gonna reek.”

“They’re going to be cremated,” you mused.

Yuta snorted.

When you finally reached the second floor, you could hear the action a staircase away. There was still no sight of your father or his inner circle, a good thing, although you were still worried. You dreaded a surprise encounter.

One of your father’s henchmen aimed at Yuta before he could even come completely down the stairway. Rather than you having complete control over your body and actions, your next move felt almost instinctive - you had a clear shot and pulled the trigger without a second thought. You’d be damned if you let anyone take him away from you, especially dead in your face.

For a second Yuta seemed shocked, but it was gone in a blink and he sported a proud smile. He praised, “Atta girl.”

It didn’t terrify you that you felt no remorse. That was how deep your love for him went - you’d kill for him, over and over again. And in return, there was no doubt in your bones that he’d do the same for you.

That was your first body.

You knew exactly who you wanted to be your last.

“Yuta!”

You and Yuta both turned when you heard someone call his name. Ten quickly came into vision, gesturing with his hands for you to follow him as swiftly as possible. He led you both to a room and shut the door. There was something wrong. You could see it on his face.

Yuta raised his eyebrow. “What’s wrong? Did Jaemin defuse the bomb?”

“Shh, listen to me. He’s working on it, but that’s not why I called you,” Ten said, then went on to explain, “Taeyong got shot…,”

You interjected with wide eyes, “Taeyong got shot?”

Ten shushed you with a single finger to his lip. “If you’d let me finish, Taeyong got shot in the arm. He’s okay for now but he’s losing blood and Yuta, you’re the only one with medical training. You get what I’m trying to say?”

Yuta nodded, holding back a sigh. “Yeah, I got it. But I can’t leave her alone. I won’t.”

“She won’t be alone,” Ten assured. “She’ll be with me.”

Yuta looked at you hard, searching your eyes for any fear. In the same way, you stared deeply into his eyes and saw nothing but gentle care and passionate adoration. He placed both hands on your shoulders. “Are you okay with this?”

For a split second you considered telling him not to worry about you, but you knew that that wouldn’t have satisfied him. Instead, you nodded and said sweetly, “Ten’s here, I’ll be okay. Go help out your boss, Doc.”

Yuta smiled. You noted to yourself to interrogate him on his medical expertise, but now wasn’t the time nor the place. 

Before he left, you leaned up on the tip of your toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “For good luck.”

“Okay, yuck. I’m all for sappy romance but we’re all literally about to die,” Ten grimaced.

You rolled your eyes and sent Yuta off after a long moment of convincing him that you would be okay. He was painfully reluctant, but finally left after Ten gave him directions and promised he’d come back for you.

When he left, you stared dead at Ten, and he felt as though your eyes were accusingly pointing fingers at him.

For the sake of survival, you whisper-yelled, “Who the hell are you, Ten? Is that even your name?”

Ah, that’s what this is about, he thought.

Ten smirked. “It’s one of them. Why do you think they call me The Sphinx?”

You mulled his question over. The Sphinx, completely unrelated to snakes as far as you were aware. Head of human, body of a lion, wings of a falcon. Then it clicked. It represented his several identities.

“Shit, Ten,” you shook your head. “That’s fucking wild. I’m not even going to ask how the hell you managed to pull this shit off.”

“Good, because frankly we don’t have enough time for storytelling. Let’s get the fuck outta here,” he said, and with both of your guns cocked and raised you followed him into the halls.

Same as before, it was eerily silent. All you could hear from this floor was the sound of your heartbeat thudding against your chest. Faint sounds of gunshots came from lower and upper floors but they were too subdued to be anything less than distant.

Only this time, there were less bodies and you were growing suspicious. There was too many people and too much active gunfire for there to be such little leftover.

“Someone’s here,” you whispered to Ten.

Ten nodded in acknowledgment. It was clear on his face he had come to the same conclusion. He gestured with his finger for you to trail behind him onto a different hallway.

“How much longer until the bomb blows?”

“Forty minutes when Jaemin and I got to it. That was,” Ten checked his watch, “eleven minutes ago.”

You had twenty-nine minutes to get out of that building alive.

All of a sudden, you heard a gun fire and knew it wasn’t yours nor Ten’s - because the bullet landed right next to him. Ten turned around promptly and shot in the direction of the fire-er, gunning down one of two Empire henchmen. In a split second you pulled your trigger and the other crashed down to the floor consecutively.

“Fuck, they know,” Ten groaned. He thought for a moment he could get you out safely if they assumed he was still faithful to the gang, though there was no way in hell that they’d attempt to shoot him if that were the case.

“Words spread quickly, huh?”

“Too goddamn quickly.”

What came next happened even faster. The door behind Ten suddenly opened and a hand reached out to grab him by the collar, yanking him inside the room. He yelled and you heard his gun crash to the ground and go off consequently. Your eyes went wide and gun in hand, you rushed inside to rescue him. What you saw made you nauseous.

Not a body, at least not a dead one. It was your father - and he had Ten on his knees execution-style, a gun pointed to his head.

He smiled and mocked, “Surprise.”

“Put the gun down and step away from him,” you ordered, aiming your gun dead at your father. You stood boldly with no fear and spoke with no tremble in your voice. Cold and clipped. 

He quickly retaliated, “Try and shoot me and I’ll take him with me.”

In spite of your father’s threat, Ten remained composed and held a stoic face. It was what you admired most about him - his ability to cling towards a calm attitude when presented with difficult circumstances. But with his life practically being in your hands, you wondered if it was all a facade and if inside he consisted of all the same storms of emotions as you - and most prominent of them all was the roaring fear and dread of the outcome.

Yet the moment you realized that your father had probably come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t making it out alive and instead became intent on dragging everyone else to the grave with him, you immediately began to understand what your options were – and you weren’t going to back down. You had to get him distracted.

You lowered your gun. “Okay.”

Your father arched an eyebrow, as though he hadn’t expected you to comply - at least not easily. “Okay?”

“Okay,” you nodded meekly. “I’m picking my battles wisely. I’m your daughter, I know how powerful you are, Dad. You probably planned this perfectly and have more men waiting in the halls for backup. I don’t have any other choice.”

He chuckled. “Smart girl.”

“But to beg,” you added, ignoring how bitter your words tasted on your tongue. If you wanted Ten alive, you had no other options but to play the role that you were assigned. “Please don’t kill him, Daddy. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“Darling, have you forgotten? He’s a snake. He’s dead to us now. That bullshit from earlier was a goddamn scheme to get you to do their dirty work for them - they kidnapped you, held you hostage, they lied straight to your face,” your father said.

You bristled inwardly, You’re no better. If it weren’t for the sake of your act you would have given him a piece of your mind, but you knew he would look for cracks in your facade. And you would offer him no such thing.

He continued, “They’re still not trustworthy. Yuta tricked you. Ten tricked you. They tricked both of us. This is about you just as much as it is me - you said that, right?”

Whatever ounce of sympathy that you could have felt for your father would have dissipated in that moment if you had anymore to spare. You knew that he was ego-driven, but using those words to attempt to manipulate you was an unimaginable kind of low.

Tears began to well from your eyes, but they weren’t the ones of sadness you figured he had perceived them to be - they were angry. They were furious and vengeful.

You sniffled and played along, “Yeah. I did. But you were right. I should have listened to you from the beginning.”

“It’s okay, dear,” he smiled, ever so menacingly. “All you got to do is come back home. I’ve already won. I’m going to teach them a lesson by letting them burn to ashes. They won’t…”

Just as he spoke, Ten interjected with his palms and reached above his head to point your father’s arms in another direction. Then, he skillfully snatched the weapon from his hands and disarmed it, leapt up and made a run for it.

By the time your father made a move to react, he was too late. Ten was agile and had already charged halfway across the large room. Meanwhile you had lined the gun up perfectly with his chest, ready to fire.

“Careful,” you warned tauntingly. “That ego of yours is gonna get you killed.”

For half a second, your father simply stared at you. Then, he burst into laughter as if you had cracked some joke. “Please. You don’t have it in you, and if you did, you would have done it by now. You can’t kill me.”

The doors burst open and your head whirled around instantly, and a figure emerged from the hallways. “But I can.”

Taeyong. The King Cobra.

He aimed his gun directly at your father’s head, face still and bold. “And I will.”

Taeyong’s non-dominant arm was wrapped with the fabric of what you could clearly tell was someone’s shirt, you figured to stop the blood loss. He was strong, you had to give him that. He was wounded by a bullet and still stood there as if he had nothing to lose. 

Jaemin came up from behind him, also armed. He sported a smile even more menacing than your father’s. “This is our game, Emperor. We win, you lose. That’s how this shit goes.”

Your father looked around and you could see it in his eyes as he realized there was not one, but three guns being pointed in his direction, that he began to accept defeat. He began to laugh, almost hysterically.

“Fine, you win. Kill me,” he grinned and raised his hands in a surrender. “But I also have a plan, and you’ll also never see it comi—”

The sound of several gunshots echoed throughout the room and made your ears feel as if they could bleed.

The nauseating sight of your father’s corpse laid only feet before you, and you didn’t need to turn around to know that it could have only been Taeyong that pulled the trigger. He stared coldly for a moment, gaze hard and unfaltering. Then, he turned around and headed out the doors.

“Damn,” Jaemin grinned. “Guess he really did go out with a bang.”

Your eyes were trained to the scene in front of you, but you could practically hear Ten roll his eyes as he said, “Not the time, Jaemin.”

Jaemin merely laughed and tailed behind Taeyong, mentioning something about the bomb being taken care of and that it was time to leave, but you were frozen in place. A foreign feeling had washed over you and you couldn’t identify what it was.

Ten walked to your side and patted your back. “Hey, he’s gone. He’s dead.” 

Dead. As in gone and he wasn’t coming back. That was when you could feel the invisible weight fly from your shoulders, the ease settle in your body, and you finally realized what that feeling was. It wasn’t shock, it wasn’t grief, it wasn’t pain nor sorrow - it was relief.

He couldn’t hurt you anymore.

You nodded. It was over. After twenty-two years, you were finally free. So was your mom. You began to clutch your necklace, but your eyebrows furrowed in confusion when you noticed that it wasn’t around your neck. Then, you looked around and noticed it wasn’t on the floor.

Ten gave you a confused look. “What’s wrong?”

“My necklace,” you fretted, “It’s not…,”

Ten raised his finger to his lip and glanced around the room concentratedly. You blinked in confusion but said nothing else.

“You hear that?” he asked.

Your lips parted to say no, but then you finally heard it - ticking. But there was no clock in the room and Ten’s watch made no noise. You watched as Ten crouched down to your father’s corpse and grabbed the switchblade from his holster. He walked towards the opposite end of the room and before you could ask what he was doing, he began to tear up the floorboard.

When he finally pulled away the plywood, you saw something red flickering in his widened eyes.

There was another bomb.

“Go,” Ten ordered, pulling out his phone and dialing a number. “Turn right, head down the hall and there’s a staircase. Run and don’t fucking stop until you’re in one of the cars.”

You wanted to hesitate, but the look Ten shot you then was commanding. You did as he said and began to run down the hallway, feet smashing against the floor nearly as fast as your heart raced inside your chest.

The last words of your father began to replay in your head like a mantra, But I also have a plan, and you’ll also never see it comi— then he was cut off by a gunshot. Realization dawned upon you quickly. He was talking about the bomb and you had completely missed it. That explained why he gave in the way that he did.

You began to wonder where everyone was. Mark and Haechan were safe in the car, but had Jaemin and Taeyong made it there safely? And where was Doyoung? Then you realized you hadn’t heard from Yuta since he left to help Taeyong.

But Taeyong was bandaged-up and with you only moments ago. That meant Yuta could have been anywhere.

Tears began to well from your eyes and emotion consumed your body. With no indication that he was even still inside you didn’t stop running, but you prayed that he would be waiting for you when you came outside. You prayed that he was somewhere safe. You had no idea what you would do with yourself if something happened to him.

You sprinted down the steps and at the end of the staircase was a door. Quickly you pulled it open and saw the cars come into vision, parked far away from the building to avoid being directly impacted. When you finally reached one, the back door slammed open and Taeyong urged you in the backseat.

“Where’s Yuta?” you asked, panic clear as day on your face. You scanned the entire vehicle, he wasn’t there. There was another car, but you couldn’t tell who all was inside. You raised your voice, “Has anyone seen Yuta!”

Taeyong replied calmly, “No. He’s still inside somewhere. We’re waiting for him, Doyoung and Ten.”

“What? We have to find him!” you cried.

“We don’t have time,” Taeyong told you, shaking his head. “That thing’s gonna blow any moment now and we have to get out of here ourselves:”

Jaemin put down his phone after ending a call you were too panicked to even notice he was on. “Yeah, it’s time. Sphinx just told us to go. We’ve got three minutes.”

“Where is he?” Taeyong asked.

“Escaped out the other end. Said he doesn’t have enough time to make it to the cars.”

Haechan rolled down the window and made a signal to Mark, who was in the driver’s seat of the opposite car. Then you felt the car jerk to life and began to move.

After you made distance on the road, you heard a loud sound roaring through the air. When you looked at the window, the sight made you nauseous. There was smoke rising heavily in the air and the building was engulfed in flames, beginning to collapse in on itself.

You were hysterical. Tears streamed down your cheeks and you wanted to scream, but no sound would come from your mouth. Your lungs began to feel hollow and your body shook with fear. There was no way that this was happening. It couldn’t be. Yuta couldn’t be dead. He promised you that he wouldn’t leave you.

Taeyong wrapped his good arm around you and pulled you into his chest, letting you sob onto him. “It’s gonna be okay.”

You knew he was only telling you that to placate you. It wasn’t okay. Nothing was going to be okay until you knew Yuta was safe and sound - until he was in your arms and you could feel his warmth on your body again. You were regretting separating from him. At least if he was going to die, then you wanted to go with him. And if he really was gone, you would go with him.

Death scared you not. If that was what it took to be with the love of your life, so be it.

The ride back to their headquarters was long and silent save for your sniffling. Taeyong had offered to take you back to Yuta’s room when you got there, but you vehemently refused. Everything in Yuta’s room screamed Yuta - you would have been too overwhelmed, and only God knew what would have happened to you then.

Hours passed. The Serpents managed to get in contact with Doyoung and Ten, but nothing from Yuta. And they hadn’t seen him, either.

Eventually Jaemin walked up to you, but with no humorous look in his eyes. That made your stomach wrench. You prayed to God he wasn’t there to deliver you any bad news.

“You’ve got to come lie down in my room,” he simply said, and before you could object he added, “Cobra’s orders. He wants you to get some rest.”

With a sigh, you followed Jaemin to his bedroom and eventually lied down. You stared awake for a while, doubtful you’d get even a minute of sleep considering the circumstances, but you were goddamn exhausted of everything and today had worn you out past your limit. Your body gave in against your will and you fell asleep shortly.

When you woke up, you quickly realized that you weren’t in Jaemin’s room - his blinds were drawn and curtains were thick and dark. The room you were in was lit with the morning sun.

Then, you tried to turn in the bed to shelter yourself from the sunlight but quickly noticed that  someone’s hands were around your waist and preventing you from moving. That was when you realized you weren’t alone and looked towards your side.

Auburn hair, intricate tattoos, and a jewelry-adorned ear.

You shrieked, “Yuta!”

He groaned and rolled over. He grumbled groggily, “It’s not Yuta, it’s a ghost.”

“That’s not funny!” you yelled and shoved him. Relief washed over you then as you recalled the previous day’s events. There were no words to describe how terrified you were.

With a yawn, Yuta finally sat up and outstretched his arms, and you immediately crashed into them. You almost thought that you were dreaming, but his touch was too warm to not be real. Then once you felt his skin and realized he was real and wasn’t going to slip away, you burst into tears.

“I thought I lost you,” you whimpered, holding him dangerously tight, and in return he did the same to you.

Yuta squeezed you hard and pressed a kiss to your forehead. He wiped your tears from your face with his thumb and said in his deepened morning voice, “I told you, I’ll never ever leave you. That’s a promise, baby.”

You let out a relieved breath. This was it. Everything was complete. You had everything that you could have ever wanted and you weren’t asking for much.

“How’d you even get out of there alive?”

“Strong will and determination,” Yuta drawled with a smile. “There was something I knew I had to do even if it killed me. I think this belongs to you.”

Yuta pulled open the drawer to his nightstand and reached to grab something, then he dropped it in your palm. You stared down into your hand and gawked when you realized what it was.

Your mother’s necklace.

He picked up the jewelry and began to place it around your neck. “Saw it when I came back after helping Taeyong and figured you must’ve dropped it by mistake. I knew how much it means to you and grabbed it. Ran into some of your dad’s goons and it slowed me down, but what matters is that I’m still alive to tell the story.”

He risked his life for your happiness. You wanted to be mad at him for doing such a foolish thing, but you just couldn’t. You knew exactly why he did it and you would have done the same thing for him if you were in his place.

Feeling your eyes water, you leaned into him and said like it would be your last time you were able to, “I love you.”

Yuta didn’t hesitate. “I love you, too.”

You bit your lip, sensing what you wanted to say wasn’t entirely conveyed. Then, you added, “That’s not all. I’m in love with you and I’m sick and tired of having to hide it. I wanna hold your hand wherever we go and kiss you whenever I feel like it. I wanna fall asleep in the same bed as you every night and wake up by your side every morning. I don’t wanna hide us anymore. I don’t wanna be a secret anymore, Yuta.”

“Look at me,” Yuta said, meeting your eyes. He stared at you like you hung up every star in the sky. “You’re not a secret, baby. Not here. Why do you think the guys don’t say anything? I made it clear a long time ago that I won’t take any bullshit because I’m in fucking love with you, baby. I wanna scream it from the rooftops. You’re the love of my life and I don’t care who knows.” 

That was everything you needed to hear and more. Starting today your life was going to change - and for the better. There were no more rules. You got to play the game the way your heart had simply desired.

“I want you…,” Yuta began and licked his lips. He paused to pin you down to the mattress and press a teasing kiss to your lips. “To be mine.”

You stared at his lips and replied, “Then I’m all yours.”

Yuta casted a smug look and finally - after what felt like decades of teasing - gave in to his temptation and kissed you. His mouth moved passionately against yours and you could taste the fervor on his tongue. Just like that he had you, like a fish caught in a net. The control Yuta had over you wasn’t by choice - your body simply just couldn’t say no, it was responsive to his every touch and unable to resist it’s own temptation.

One thing led to another, and you quickly realized it would be a long while before you and Yuta finally started your day. 

Hours later, you both were eventually forced to crawl out of bed and brace yourself for the day ahead. You had business to complete - business that didn’t involve each other. Plenty of change had occurred in the past couple of days and you were still in the stage of figuring out what was the next step. That was how you found yourself back in your cousin’s office, this time with Ten by your side and Renjun on speakerphone.

Alliance between Empire and The Serpents was still brewing and a work in progress, but Ten had explained the situation to the inner circle and thankfully, they took it well. Now you had to figure out what was to become of the gang.

“So, what happens to the gang?” you asked.

Taeyong leaned back in his chair. “Well, since you’re the sole heir, you would be next in the line of succession.”

You were aware, but you weren’t sure if you were ready for such a major leap. The underworld was your playground but you weren’t prepared to reign - not yet anyways. Freedom had only now been bestowed upon you. You wanted to enjoy it before you were bound down by responsibilities and your blood obligations.

Ten added, “But considering the circumstances, we understand if you’re not ready. Hence why I spoke with Renjun, and he’s agreed to be your second string. At least until you decide that you’re ready.”

“It’s the best option,” Renjun cut in from the other line. “I’ve been in your father’s shadow for years now. I know the score. If there’s anybody suitable to play substitute, it’s me.”

With Renjun being the right-hand man, you couldn’t deny anything he was saying. Not only had he seen most of your father’s dirty work up close, you were certain he had participated in some of it. But even Renjun was clueless as to everything your father had been hiding and that was why you trusted him to fulfill the role.

Taeyong nodded in agreement then glanced up at you and asked, “Are you okay with that?”

“Fine by me,” you shrugged. You couldn’t think of anyone better.

“Then, it’s settled,” Taeyong gave a faint smile. “Huang will temporarily take your place while you wind down for a bit.”

The four of you discussed a couple more things before the conversation ended and Renjun went on to spread the word. Everything was finally sailing smoothly, but a sudden question resurfaced in your head.

“Okay, but I have a question for Ten.”

The man in question feigned annoyance. “Oh, here goes the meddling snoop. Don’t think Yuta didn’t tell me about your eavesdropping, Miss Busybody.”

Your face warmed up when you realized what he was referring to, but you didn’t back down and shot, “How are you a Serpent? I thought you guys only had six members. And your name has nothing to do with snakes.”

“I thought you pieced together why they call me The Sphinx,” Ten said with a grin. “Head of human, body of a lion…,”

“Wings of a falcon, yes I know that, Ten,” you interjected and rolled your eyes.

He continued, “Then, you should know it means I’m multifaceted. In every sense of the word.”

“So, you’re a two-timing snake with commitment issues.”

“He blows hot and cold. This is the longest I’ve been able to get him to stay,” Taeyong drawled with an amused expression on his face.

Ten rolled his eyes. “I’m my own person before I’m tied down to any organization. I operate on my own. I can operate with a gang. Taeyong knows that if he needs me, he can call. Same goes to you.”

You and Taeyong bobbed your heads. You were almost satisfied. And when you left the room a couple minutes later, you knew that there was just one more thing that you needed to do.

You found Yuta in his own office just down the hall from where you were and made a mental note to get him to show you around whenever he got the chance. The headquarters were large and you only barely knew how to get from the residency corridor to the office hallway.

Peaking your head inside, you noticed him look at you when the door creaked open. He smiled when he realized it was you and gestured for you to come in. Instead of taking a seat in the spot across from his desk, you walked up to him and made his lap your personal chair, and he wrapped his arms around your waist.

He brushed your hair aside, leaning in your ear and asked, “May I help you?”

Your heart felt faint but you tried not to show it, though you knew that there was nothing you could keep from him. “Yes, actually,” you replied and added vaguely, “I want you to do something for me.”

“I would die for you,” Yuta breathed out. He was staring at you with a fascinated gleam in his eyes, the one that made you feel like a goddess.

You shook your head and purred, “Live for me.”

Yuta smiled. His grip around your waist tightened ever so slightly and he replied finally, “I can do that. But I know that’s not what you came here for. What do you really want, princess?”

“I want…,” you pretended to muse, looking up in the sky thoughtfully, “you to take me out on a date.”

“Right now?”

“Right now. I don’t care where. It doesn’t have to be fancy. We can go any goddamn where.”

Yuta was surprised and blinked for a moment, but he quickly broke into a broad smile. “I can do that, too,” he said and rummaged through his drawer for his keys. Then, he put you on the ground and rose up. “Let’s blow this joint, baby girl.”

He intertwined his fingers into yours and walked you into the hallway.

“On the way there, you can finally tell me the story of how Nakamoto Yuta of all people got extensive medical training,” you playfully suggested.

Yuta shook his head. “I don’t think so. It’s a long story that involves politicians and Dubai and you’re gonna wanna sit down for it.”

Confused and dangerously intrigued, you raised an eyebrow but didn’t press. Yuta would tell you in due time. Right now, you focused on what was happening. The love of your life was holding your hand and taking you out on a date, something you could have only dreamed of. You were living a life of no rules, no conformity. Just you and the man that you loved most.

Your free hand clutched your necklace in your palm and you thought about your mother. She was watching you and always there with you in spirit. You remembered her last wishes - she wanted you to find someone that loved you just as much as she did.

I did, Mom. I did, you thought, smiling. And you would have loved him, too.

truly mothering | max verstappen x fem! reader

summary; news about y/n mysteriously retiring from mercedes shocked the f1 world in the middle of the 2020 season. what shocked them even more was when she appeared on the paddock four years later…

fc; various girls on pinterest

warnings; ?

taglist; @namgification @louvrepool @locelscs @thehufflepuffavenger1

note; requested ! mix of smau + written ! also one of the tweets was supposed to say 2017-2020 instead of 2016-2020 lol

word count; 700

masterlist !

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“Arabella, Angelina! Wait up!” Y/n exclaims as the nearly 4-year-olds run towards a familiar man clad in skinny jeans and a Red Bull shirt. She ignored the cameras on her and recorded as she ran across the paddock with heels to chase after her twin daughters.

“Papa!” The eldest of the two, Arabella, exclaims when she sees her father surrounded by a group of other drivers.

“Bella! Angel!” Max loudly exclaims, stepping back from the conversation to crouch down to the level of his daughters. Arabella wrapped her arms around him and Angelina quickly followed. The Dutch driver kissed their rosy cheeks as they giggled at their father's actions.

“You both look very pretty.” He said, pulling away for a moment.

“Mama dress us,” Angelina said in a softer voice compared to Arabella’s shout.

Y/n appeared moments later and was clearly out of breath from chasing the two. “Your daughters don’t listen, Verstappen. I cannot chase after them in heels.” She said out of breath, not noticing the shocked yet happy looks from the drivers.

“Oh my goodness, is that Arabella and Angelina?”

A familiar voice caused the two blonde girls to look up. “Uncle Lew!” The youngest, Angelina, exclaimed as she escaped from her father's grasp to hug the Mercedes driver.

Lewis was quick to scoop her up into his arms as Arabella also gave him a tight hug. He was Angelina’s favorite uncle, but Arabella’s favorite was actually his future teammate.

“Wow, you two are getting big!” Charles exclaimed, picking up Arabella who let out a laugh. “How old are you girls now?”

“Almost four!” The eldest replied as she held up her 4 fingers.

“Wow, Y/n, I’m surprised you actually came,” Lando said with a chuckle as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

They all knew the truth of why she retired. It was because she was 3 months pregnant with twins. Although she kept it a secret from the public, she was always close with the grid hence why they weren’t shocked about the twins but more so shocked that she’s back on the paddock.

“About time the twins know the paddock,” Y/n replied with a smile, watching the twins chat with their favorite uncles. “Plus, it’s nice to be back. It’s been ages. The girls should also know how cool their mama was.”

“Was? She still is.” Max corrected her.

“Yeah, but Mama doesn’t race anymore.”

“Mama drive with you?” Angelina asked Lewis. He let out a laugh, his eyes crinkling as he glanced at Y/n.

“Yeah, and she was a great teammate. But be careful, Y/n, Toto might convince you to replace me.”

His words caused her to laugh as she shook her head. “Gee, no thanks. These girls are tough to handle on their own. I don’t know if I could handle racing on top of that.” She sighs, reaching over to fix Angelina’s messy blonde curls.

“These babies? Difficult? Angelina and Arabella are angels!” Charles said in an exaggerated tone as he squeezed Arabella tightly.

Y/n leans in close to Charles and glances at Max, “Between you and me, they take after their father.”

“Hey!” The Dutch driver exclaimed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means go get ready for the race.”

At the reminder of the race, Lewis and Charles set the twins down and quickly said goodbye to also prepare. The rest of the drivers soon followed leaving the family of 4 alone.

Max turned to the smiley twins who stared at their favorite uncles walk away. His eyebrows furrowed up as he looked at Y/n who just let out a chuckle while shaking her head.

He focused back on the twins and crouched down again. “How about a hug and a kiss for your papa?” He suggested. The twins didn’t have to be told twice and were quick to run back into their fathers arms, each giving him a peck on the cheek.

“Papa, you win okay?” Arabella demanded as Angelina nodded in agreement. Max laughs, giving his daughters one last tight squeeze.

“If I win for you both and for Mama, we can have ice cream for dinner. How does that sound?”

His deal caused the two girls to cheer in excitement as Y/n sighed again. “You’re dealing with their sugar rush, Verstappen.”

“Not if I’m a race winner!”

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liked by maxverstappen1, lewishamilton, and others !

yourusername: the girls loved seeing their papa win! ( but they loved seeing their favorite uncles more! ) congratulations on another win, my love! we’re all proud💗

tagged; maxverstappen1

maxverstappen1: i don’t like how they were looking at lewis and charles….

yourusername: they take after their father! they like pretty drivers 😁 especially angelina, she is team merc like her mama🙈

maxverstappen1: team merc? she’s all yours!

username: tears the twins are just like me fr

maxverstappen1: i love you❤️liked by yourusername !

username: MOTHER RETURNED AND SHE’S A FR MOTHER??

username: SHES BACKKK

username: she looks so good as a mom🥰🥰

username: SHE WAS DATING MAX THIS WHOLEEEE TIME??

username: bye so the baby f1 rumor was true except it was twins and w MAX???

carmenmmundt: such sweethearts 🥹🥹

francisca.cgomes: i know! such cuties💗

yourusername: ugh they love their auntie carmen & kika! they keep asking about you both😅💓

username: stoppp you guys rmbr when she said her biggest dream was becoming a mother 🥹🥹🥹

username: in her merc days💔💔 i love seeing her dream come true 🙁

lewishamilton: best part of this weekend was seeing the coolest gals on the paddock😎

yourusername: angelina won’t take her 44 merc hat off!!

charles_leclerc: my favorite verstappen are the twins

maxverstappen1: woah now….

yourusername: ( arabella is secretly team ferrari )

maxverstappen1: WHAT

username:will i get over this? no!

username: i am SHOCKED

username: from her party girl rookie era to being a mother, wow i love y/n🥹

mercedesamgf1: we miss the princess of the paddock!🩵

yourusername: and i miss my merc crew🤍

redbullracing: welcome arabella and angelina to the red bull crew! ❤️ liked by yourusername and maxverstappen1 !

username: in her birkin mom era

username: mother truly is mothering 😩😩

AAAAAH THE PLOT TWIST AT THE END!!!! WHO IS SHE ENDING UP WITHH

I LOVE THE DRAMA

DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA ft. jealous fans

dad!max x horner!y/n

MASTERLIST | PATREON

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liked by user112, user55 and 102,273 others

f1gossip In light of recent cheating rumors surrounding Y/N Horner, the alleged infidelity has become a subject of intense speculation. Speculations indicate that Y/N Horner had cheated on Max Verstappen with another F1 driver, causing a stir among fans and media. While no concrete evidence has been provided, these rumors have cast a cloud of doubt over the couple's relationship, leaving many curious about the truth behind the allegations.

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user99 MAX DESERVES BETTER

user74 anytime y/n is seen with a man that isn’t max you all freak out…she’s probably just friends with whoever

user46 right! she is friends with most of the grid, including carlos, lewis and checo…and is she dating them…no!

user51 you guys are shit stirrers 🤨

user67 i’m sorry but i used to like y/n but she’s been acting out lately

user101 she thinks being the daughter of christian horner makes her superior

user97 get help. please.

liked by maxverstappen1, carlossainz55 and 2,730,124 others

yourinstagram mom’s night out 💋🍸

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user44 MY FAVORITE WAG

user70 max won at life

maxverstappen ❤️❤️❤️

yourinstagram i love you so much

user96 MAX AND Y/N BREAK UP CHALLENGE

heidiberger_ You are the love of my life

user91 we get it you left your daughter with max to go out 🙄

user52 why are you acting like max is not the literal father…

liked by user115, user71 and 226,374 others

verstappendaily Max with Elodie on his Twitch livestream tonight!

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user53 max being a girl dad makes so much sense

user80 THIS IS SO ADORABLE 😭😭😭

user103 while y/n is out partying with her friends…

user37 WE GET IT. YOU ARE JEALOUS OF HER

user54 elodie and max are the cutest ever

user107 imagine world champion max verstappen being your father

user96 CUTIESSS

user110 the pillow 🥹

liked by user66, user14 and 99,263 others

wagsf1 Y/N Horner has recently blocked accounts on Twitter that have accused her of cheating on Max Verstappen.

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user89 i would do way worse than block, she’s better than me

user107 AND SHE ATE

user110 y/n is so childish

user51 how??? 😭

user49 the y/n hate is getting so old at this point

user123 and what if i tell you i love her for this

user50 she seems so guilty

user92 Y/N DEFINITELY CHEATED ON MAX

liked by user25, user107 and 104,724 others

ynmaxdaily Y/N, Elodie and Max in Monaco yesterday!

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user133 and you guys thought they hated each other…lol

user57 I LOVE THE VERSTAPPEN FAMILY

user201 my love for y/n will never go away sorry 🤭

user45 max will never leave y/n…you guys are delusional

user88 right!!! that man is so in love with her

user13 after going on a blocking spree i guess she needed a vacation

user95 the y/n hate is just pure jealousy ‼️

liked by user102, user64 and 246,920 others

maxynupdates Y/N Horner claps back at trolls on Twitter!

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user11 SHE IS SO SICK OF YOU GUYS

user57 y/n is that girl ‼️

user190 i literally love her for this

user74 the way max liked y/n’s tweet too 🙌

user231 HE IS SO REAL FOR THAT

user38 this is my roman empire

user112 i get her being fed up with max’s fans…they all hate her for nothing

user22 Y/N FANS RISE

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maxverstappen1 Family ❤️

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user55 THIS IS SO CUTE

user72 free max

yourinstagram i love youuu

maxverstappen1 I love you more!

user112 my parents 😭😭😭

victoriaverstappen Such cuties

user84 y/n haters were found crying in the corner

landonorris Invite your second child next time 🙋‍♂️

user145 LANDO YOU ARE SO

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f1wags Y/N Horner via Twitter! She shared photos of her in Max’s race suit, along with her purse and Max’s shoes!

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user117 hate on her all you want but y/n is so iconic for this

user22 max is so loved 😭

user63 “his and her’s” I AM CRYING, THEY ARE SO CUTE

user201 y/n in max’s suit…she ate

user146 her distracting us by tweeting stupid shit

user70 you are so delusional…get a grip

user113 max and y/n were truly meant for each other

user27 our red bull princess!!!

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formula1news Christian Horner with Y/N’s mother on the paddock today!

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user66 OMG OUR PARENTS

user98 even though they are not together i still love them 🤷‍♀️

user108 y/n’s mother is so iconic

user127 they were the best couple in formula one history!!!

user33 MY ROMAN EMPIRE

user52 i love y/n’s parents omfg 🫶

user60 they just made history again

user111 AHHHH

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yourinstagram NUMBER 1

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user113 y/n, elodie and max 🥹

user55 SHE IS TRULY THE BEST WAG IN HISTORY

maxverstappen1 ❤️❤️❤️❤️

yourinstagram ILY

user78 can they get married already

christianhorner Love you darling

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user25 DAD MAX 😭

lilyhme Stunningggg <3

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f1teaa Many F1 fans think this deuxmoi story is about Y/N Horner and Max Verstappen.

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user184 JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE OH MY GODDD

user122 and people came for me when i said y/n was a terrible person

user67 i think you are just jealous

user98 you can tell all these max fans are jealous of her…

user21 the parasocial relationships are going crazy

user202 “she constantly leaves her daughter” you all saw y/n go out ONE TIME and ran with her being a bad mother ‼️

user130 THEY ARE INSANE

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newsverstappen Max and Y/N having lunch at Red Bull’s hospitality!

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user57 and people were trying to convince me that max hates her…you know damn well

user193 she never leaves max’s side ugh

user66 LMAO WHAT 😭

user201 to all the people that want them to break up…they are never gonna break up

user65 the best couple ever

user173 you can hate them all you want but

user92 PARENTS

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christianhorner Lovebirds!!

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user112 christian being max and y/n’s #1 supporter 😭

user62 MOM & DAD

maxverstappen1 ❤️

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user98 HIS DAD IN LAW

josverstappen7 Partners in crime!

user194 CHRISTIAN IS SO REAL FOR THIS GOODBYE LMAO

redbullracing Our favorite people

user11 awwww

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wags4f1 Y/N has recently liked some tweets about the hate she’s getting! 👀

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user56 AND I AGREE WITH HER

user109 love the way she does not give a fuck too 😭

user144 she is truly the best

user268 wait until you all find out she dated charles and then dumped him for max…lol

user70 hate the way people mom shame y/n

user213 LOVE HER FOR THIS 🙌

user88 anyways max and charles deserve better!!!

user209 still baffled at the way she dated charles omg…

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yourinstagram maxie & i ❤️♾️

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user203 she said this is my man and my man only!

user16 WAIT SO HER AND CHARLES DATED? IS THIS WHY THEY NEVER TALK?!!!

maxverstappen1 I love you forever

yourinstagram ❤️

user117 I WILL PROTECT THEM

carmenmmundt Love you two!!

user68 I’m about to go jump off a bridge

alexandrasaintmleux 🤍

user129 girl she dated your man…what are you doing here

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womeninf1 Y/N in the paddock today!

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user223 MOTHERRR

user107 she is keeping the f1 world alive ‼️

user96 so what she dated charles…that was like in 2019

user45 future mrs. verstappen

user110 nobody will ever make me hate y/n…sorry

user66 max vs charles (y/n edition)

user202 her wearing max’s sweater 💅

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wags_news Max declined photos with fans today while he was with Y/N!

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user82 yeah he’s getting sick of people too 😭

user117 I LOVE THEM LMFAOO

user79 can everyone just leave y/n and max alone…if you are gonna hate on them…ignore them

user156 they looked so fed up today omg

user203 he also declined photos because he was practicing btw!!!

user25 WHAT IS GOING ONNNN

user93 it’s called protecting his relationship 🤷‍♀️

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formula1tea It was revealed that Y/N and Charles briefly dated back in 2019 right before she got with Max! The reason of their breakup remains unknown!

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user78 well…what happens now

user139 they dated 4 years ago…get over it

user107 THE WAY CHARLES AND ALEXANDRA JUST BROKE UP BYE

user93 this is one for the history books

user136 ngl…they look good together but i love her with max

user44 Y/N AND MAX SUPREMACY SORRY 🤭

user99 i don’t know how to handle this

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wags4f1 Charles Leclerc has just followed Y/N Horner amid his and Alexandra’s breakup!

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user64 THISSS IS CRAZY

user199 you guys jumping into conclusions…they can be friends if they want to

user76 LITERALLY 😭

user12 she’s with max. chill everyone

user217 charles and alex breaking up when…yeah okayyy 👀

user105 anyways i will support y/n no matter what

user45 overreacting for what???

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