SONG REC: "MAKE ME GO" - TWICE
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"Have you seen Yun?" asked Lee Know. He sat beside Han as they talked about their day.
"She went out a while ago, why?"
"I was wondering why she's been gone so much lately. It's suspicious."
Jisung shrugged. "Maybe. She's been gone every night for about a week and a half now."
Lee Know pursed his lips. "Huh."
He stayed up late one night, typing a document. Around twelve at night, he heard the soft ding of the elevator doors opening. Something was up. He crept outside and found Yun leaving the building.
Making sure not to get caught, he followed her, staying a good distance away as she began to enter alleys.
She finally stopped in front of a bright, flashy club. And he was furious. Yun was actually working as a stripper?
He continued to follow her. After she walked into the back, he entered the front of the club. He went over to the hostess, who was admiring him.
"Hey, babe–"
"I want a private VIP room with Kim Yun-Yeong. Now." He slammed a stack of money onto the desk and crossed his arms. "Keep the change. Which room do I go to?"
The lady grabbed the money and pulled the rubber band off eagerly. "Down the corner. Room number nineteen. Thank you for your business, sir, she'll be there as soon as possible. Can I get your name so that she knows what to call you?"
"No, you can't actually. I'd like to stay anonymous."
She flinched. Although it was against the rules, she scribbled down Anonymous, anyway. "Uh – yes, sir. Right away."
Lee Know walked down the hall and turned to enter room nineteen. He sat on the available couch, waiting for Yun.
A knock on the door signaled her entrance.
"Hello–" Yun choked on her words. "Lee Know? What are you – what are you doing here?" She covered her chest with her arms to hide what she could, which wasn't much.
"So," he said slowly, "this is what you've been doing."
She dropped her arms to shrug shamelessly and walked closer to him. "It's extra money."
"If you wanted more money, you should've talked to me. I would give you more. I will give you more. I want you to quit."
"You can't control what I do and don't do in my free time. I am my own person. Yes, you're my boss but I finish all my assigned stuff on time! So why can't I do this?"
"I don't want other people touching you." He stood up to match her height.
"And why do you care?" She furrowed her eyebrows angrily.
"Because," he swallowed painfully, "I don't want you working for other people."
I only want you to myself, he thought.
She leaned in close, and Lee Know could smell her perfume. She smelled sweet, but also...intoxicating. "Oh? So, tell me, how do you feel?"
"I'm..." he swallowed. "I'm jealous, okay? I'm jealous." He searched her eyes for a reaction and backed away slightly.
The tips of Yun's ears were red but she kept a neutral expression and stared back. "Fine," she said, "As long as I can still visit."
"Of course."
"Then I'll quit."
He let out a small sigh of relief.
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The next day, Yun stayed home like she said. When Lee Know spotted her, he smiled. Lee Know had smiled at Yun.
Okay, so maybe it wasn't a full smile, but his lips had tilted up in an obviously happy manner. And Yun would cherish it.
But as days passed, Lee Know began to hide himself in his office, rarely coming out.
Yun began to get annoyed. He asked her to quit her job just to not speak to her?
She built up the courage to enter his office that afternoon. Not even knocking on his door, she walked in. Papers were everywhere, and slouched onto the desk was Lee Know, with his face in his hands. There were messy scribbles all over his board and many red X's.
"Lee Know?" Yun called carefully, stepping beside him.
He groaned but didn't look up from his papers. "I hate when you say that."
"What?"
"Why don't you ever call me by my real name?" He finally turned his head to look at her, and the dark bags under his eyes made her let out a surprised gasp. Pure exhaustion radiated from his eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to comfort him. But she held back, knowing it was probably unwanted.
She placed her hands on his desk. "Because we were never on that level of familiarity, Lee Know. Especially because you didn't talk to me after making me quit a job I had fun with."
He sighed. "Take a seat." She pulled a chair from below the desk and sat down. "There's just been a lot of confusion among the other gangs we're allied with lately. ATEEZ, The Boyz, BTOB, IKON, SF9 – they've been questioning our loyalty, and are requesting a shit ton of money to prove our alliance. I've been trying to think of a loophole and it's driving me crazy."
Yun nodded. "Let me...let me help you out, okay? Even if it's not planning."
She read each sheet of paper on his desk and reorganized them into their proper files. As she tidied up the place, Lee Know did paperwork.
After a while, he kept on rolling his shoulders. Without a word, Yun went over and gently placed her hands on his shoulders.
She began to massage them, and he leaned back against the chair with his eyes closed. Because the chair only came up to his neck, he was able to rest his head against her stomach.
Silent minutes passed before he opened his eyes again and looked up at her. "Yun?" he asked softly.
"Yeah, Lee Know?"
"Please stay. Don't leave, okay?"
Yun laughed, making his cheeks a faint pink from embarrassment. "I won't, don't worry. I'll stay with you for as long as you want me to." She meant it in many different ways, and it would be in whatever way Lee Know wanted it to be.
The words seemed to soothe him. He shut his eyes as she continued to massage his neck and shoulders. She could tell he fell asleep by the way his lips parted slightly, and how his breathing slowed down.
With a heave, she lifted him up and carried him to the bed, dropping him as gently as she could. Working out had paid off. She pulled his blanket up and patted his head before getting back to work.
As he slept, she finished cleaning his room and filling out whatever paperwork she could. While she restocked his fridge, she had an epiphany. She rushed to scribble down her idea to solve Lee Know's gang problem.
When she was done, she sat down at his desk and watched him sleep. She couldn't take her eye off of him. When he slept, he looked very different from the usually scary leader he was.
He's so pretty. She flinched with shock at her own thought. Turning away, she promised herself that she wouldn't look at him until he woke up.
Despite that, she kept stealing glances at his face.
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Lee Know woke up groggy. It was dark – around eleven at night – and he had many questions in his head. For one, how was he in bed? The last thing he remembered was...
He could feel heat in his cheeks as he recalled what had happened. Yun massaging his shoulders, and looking up at her face to make her promise to stay. He wanted to slap himself.
"You awake?" her voice called from beside him.
He turned and stared at her, and in his eyes, all she could see was admiration. He sat up and studied the room. Everything was clean and organized, and all the papers on his desk looked completed.
"Thank you," he said, as sincerely as possible.
She nodded. "You're welcome."
He let a small smile fall onto his face. "You stayed."
"I told you I would stay right? I don't break my promises," she said, almost coldly.
He frowned at her tone. It felt like they were business partners again, so he took a risk to break the ice. "Would you like to have a late night snack with me?"
She shook her head. "I gotta get some sleep. I was awake all night."
Lee Know was surprised with the rejection he felt. But the guilt he felt for her lack of sleep overcame the rejection, and he let her leave his room without another word.
When her footsteps could no longer be heard, he went over to his desk. And there, on a simple sticky note, was the solution to his problem. He was convinced that Yun was a genius.
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Yun was in her bed, struggling to sleep. So annoying, she yelled in her mind. She tossed and turned.
Oh, freaking Lee Know.
And she decided then, that she didn't care if she got hurt in the long run. Not that she liked him or anything. But she wouldn't be able to act cold with him, when he already was a tsundere enough for the both of them.
She would open her heart to him.
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are we thinking "finally!" or "woah, too fast"?
lee know looks so scary in this pic omg.