A/N: Seriously, thank you so so sooooooo much for all the reads and support! <3 It's gotten more reads than I ever thought it would. Ya'll are the best! Love you all so much!
Please enjoy this *spicy* chapter! I feel like this pic sets the mood... Now, without further ado...
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You've heard people say that when you kiss the right person, it's like fireworks go off in your mind.
Well, whoever said that got it wrong, because you feel like your mind might just stop functioning altogether.
Min-hyuk's lips are pressed against yours in the most gentle kiss you've ever received. For a moment, you can't tell if his lips are even touching yours, but then they begin to move against your own, caressing with a tenderness you never thought possible. His lips are soft. Softer than you imagined they would be. Your eyes flutter closed and you want to just stay in this moment forever.
I can't believe this is actually happening, you think as you lose yourself further in the kiss. Min-ah is kissing me. He's really kissing me...
You actually feel a little faint, now that you think about it. How long had you been wishing this would happen? Years? And now it finally is. You feel like your legs might give out at any moment. Your heart seems to beat a little faster as you suddenly think that this might be a dream too. Good lord, because of him you didn't even know what's real and what's fake anymore. Why does he make you question everything?
But this is real. You're positive this time. Absolutely positive. You're done questioning reality. As Min-hyuk continues his slow, sensual exploration of your lips, you grow more and more sure. This is real.
You sense him shift ever so slightly nearer to you, but you can feel hesitancy in the step, as if he wants to get closer but is holding himself back. Your heart flutters with renewed adoration for your childhood friend as you realize he's waiting for you to give him a sign that he can go further. Even in the heat of the moment, you're blown away by his consideration for you. He's waiting for your permission. How is he so perfect? you think.
Your hands seem to have a mind of their own as they grab a fistful of his white shirt and pull him none too gently closer to you. If he is waiting for permission, you intend to give him all the permission he needs.
You hear him let out a small noise of surprise as you practically yank him forward. You notice he has to quickly adjust his footing so he doesn't lose his balance, and you start to mentally kick yourself for being so impulsive. But he recovers from his surprise almost immediately. Lips still locked to yours, he slams his other hand against the bookshelf in a quick attempt to steady himself, effectively trapping you between both of his arms now.
Taking this as your consent, he regains his balance and wraps one arm around your waist, pulling your body flush against his, gladly reciprocating your enthusiasm. You're forced to tilt your head back a little as he pulls you close, and you're reminded of just how tall his is compared to you. His other hand finds its way to the back of your neck, entangling in your hair and allowing him more control of the kiss.
Slowly, your hands unclench around his shirt and come to rest lightly on his chest. You can feel the warmth of his muscled body through the thin layer of fabric, and you doubt if you've ever felt more safe than you do right now. You even think you can feel his heartbeat, quick and erratic against your hand, though it's hard to make out over the sensation of your own wildly beating heart.
You're not sure how long you stay like that, locked in each other's arms, exploring the new experience of kissing your childhood friend. Seconds? Minutes? It could have been years for all you knew or cared.
In a moment the slow, gentle pace of his kiss disappears and he's kissing you fiercely. There's a desperation behind this kiss, you can feel it. You slide your arms slowly upward, wrapping them around his neck, needing to be closer to him. Both of his arms now snake around your waist, holding you to him as though his life depends on it. Your fingers run through the soft hair at the nape of his neck, gently playing with it as you get further lost in this moment. The only sounds in the room are the gentle whisper of your lips moving in harmony, and the sounds of your breathing.
Eventually the kiss slows and stops, and you're at a loss both for breath and for words. Min-hyuk lowers his head, resting it lightly on your shoulder as his hand once again grasps desperately at the shelf behind you, leaning on it as if it's the only thing keeping him from toppling over. His heavy breathing tickles your neck, and you feel his other arm still wrapped loosely around you. You both just stay like that for a while, trying to catch your breath again.
After a while, he lifts his head to look at you. As your eyes meet, you both seem to be at a loss for what to say.
You're the first to snap out of it, the full weight of what just happened hitting you like a ton of bricks. Your cheeks start to burn, and you stumble over your next words, the intensity of his stare making you flustered.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that--" you squeak, and then promptly clap a hand over your mouth. Wait, what are you saying? That makes it sound like you're regretting kissing him back. You certainly don't regret the kiss, and you don't want it to seem like that's the reason you're apologizing. You simply wanted to apologize for yanking him like a crazed lunatic. "Wait, I mean--"
"I'm not sorry," he replies simply, cutting you off. "I mean, I am sorry if I surprised you, but I'm definitely not going to apologize for kissing you."
Holy.... How can he be so straightforward? You swear your heart almost stopped just now.
And how is he so calm right now?
"O-oh," you say lamely, your voice sounding higher than usual. You literally can't think of anything else to say. You blame your brain for wanting to just 'power-off' during that kiss. It must still be trying to recover.
Why can't you think of anything to say? At your silence, he keeps talking.
"Y/N... I want to share my world with you. My magic. But to do that... I need you to believe me." His voice has never sounded more sincere, more earnest.
"I'm trying..."
You pause as you realize those words came out of your own mouth. Though you surprised yourself with that simple statement, you realize that you're not lying. You have been trying all this time to believe him. It's been so hard, though. You know how logical your brain is, and that certainly hasn't made things easy.
But just now, despite the logical side of your brain protesting, he made it very hard for you NOT to believe him. How had he known all that about your dream? He'd even heard your thoughts. It really must have been because it wasn't a dream after all. Right?
"I'm trying," you repeat, sounding like a broken record. "I think... I think I need some time to think about all this," you whisper. And I honestly just need to make sure I haven't gone completely mad, and hallucinated this whole thing, you add silently. Though you seriously doubt that your very logical brain could concoct a hallucination quite this crazy.
After a moment of quiet contemplation, Min-hyuk gives you a single nod. The movement seems a bit forced, but you brush it off. He takes his hand off the bookshelf and takes a step back. As soon as he steps away, there's a part of you that wants him to be close again, but you keep this to yourself.
"Okay," he says, his voice sounding emotionless this time. "I'll give you all the time you need."
You nod again, unable to meet his gaze again. Dazed and slightly light-headed, you start for the door again. Then you turn back around, nearly trpping over your own feet; Your purse and your phone had dropped to the floor earlier. You snatch them up in a hurry and with a final look at him, you say, "I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Please, just... promise me you mean that?" he says quietly, sounding sort of distant. His words surprise you. Does he think you're not going to come back?
As you look into his eyes, you realize that that's exactly what he thinks. His brow is furrowed as he stares at you, and you see a deep sadness in his brown eyes... and also, maybe fear? You know your friend well enough to guess what's going through his head. First, he probably thinks that you regret kissing him, since you didn't get to clarify earlier. He's probably also wondering if you think he's insane. And finally, he most likely thinks he may have scared you off with all his talk of magic. His eyes say it all. He's worried that you--his only friend--won't come back.
You feel a sudden pang of sadness for your best friend. How can he think like that? Of course you're coming back. You've seen him at his worst, and that wasn't enough to send you away. How can he think something like this would make you leave for good? Nevertheless, the fear was still there, hidden in his eyes.
You suddenly think you know why he'd always seemed like he was joking when he told you his magic was real in the past. He was worried you'd think he'd really lost it. Maybe he thinks that this time he's gone too far? You decide to put all his worries to rest.
"Min-ah!" you say, your voice coming out louder than you meant for it to. He blinks once at you in mild surprise. "I'm coming back."
His face relaxes slightly at your words.
"I promise."
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Two Days Later
It's drizzling lightly as you step out into the night air, the convenience store doors sliding shut behind you. You had just been out for a few drinks by yourself and remembered that you needed a few things at the store. Now that you've got what you need you're about to head home.
You take a quick look inside the plastic bag you're carrying, making sure everything's there. Satisfied, you shove your hands into your favorite hoodie and begin the walk back to your house.
You've been a wreck these past two days, if you're being completely honest. The morning after all the craziness with Min-hyuk, you had woken up still remembering everything. Vividly, for that matter. You could recall in detail the feeling of his arms around you when you had danced together, and the feel of his lips on yours when you had kissed. All of that made you positive you hadn't dreamed the whole thing up.
However, now that you're sure none of it had been a dream there's only one logical conclusion--one that your brain still doesn't like very much. As impossible as it seems, it had to have been real.... all of it.
And that's where you're having trouble. How could it have been real? You'd lived your whole life not believing in magic. Well... most of your life. You suppose there had probably been a time, as a child, when you had believed in foolish things like Santa and magic. But you'd grown up since then. Magic isn't real. It's all tricks and illusions.
That's what you thought, anyways, before your best friend decided to put all of those beliefs to the test the other night. Now you're confused what to believe. And that's not the only thing weighing on your mind... You think back to Min-hyuk's heated, desperate kiss and your heart begins to race all over again.
You found out he definitely has feelings for you, just like you do for him. You're not sure how long he's had them, but they're definitely there.
You're dragged out of your deep thoughts as you stumble a little over your own feet. Hmm. Maybe I'm a little tipsy, you think drowsily. You'd probably had a little more soju than was necessary, but you'd really needed to drink away these confusing thoughts for a bit.
You look up, meeting the eyes of a young man walking towards you on the other side of the narrow street. Had he seen you stumble? Embarassing. He nods to you and keeps walking. You nod back politely as you pass him and continue on your way.
Your thoughts drift to Min-hyuk once more. You promised him you'd come back, and you certainly intend to keep your promise, but at the same time... you're unsure whether you should go to him right away. You think back to what he had said to you after your kiss...
He'd said he wanted to share his world with you. Well, what if you're just not able to believe? You want to believe, you really do. But what if you just can't? What if your stupidly logical brain keeps refusing to give in? You don't want to go back to him only bringing disappointing news.
You walk for a few minutes, contemplating what you should do. Maybe you should go see him. He's probably still worried that you might not come back, despite your promise that you would. At this thought, you stop in your tracks. You've reached an intersection. The dimly lit street you've been walking on ends just a few feet in front of you. You know you need to make a left and keep following the new street to get to your house, but your feet just don't want to move all of a sudden.
No, you think, making a sudden decision. I have to go to him. He's my friend-- no, he's the man I like. I can't just sit by and let him overthink things. I may not know what to say to him yet about the whole magic thing, but I have to be with him.
Without a second thought, you whip around, ready to run back up the street you just came from, towards the abandoned amusement park.
You stop abruptly as you notice the young man you'd passed earlier. He'd apparently been walking a little ways behind you, and he seems startled as you spin around. You wonder vaguely if he started following you after you passed him on the street a few minutes ago. He seems to shake off his momentary surprise and continues walking towards you.
Maybe he's not following you? Maybe he just happened to decide to go in the same direction as you. Your gut tells you that's not the case, and you suddenly feel very uneasy. Is it just a trick of the light, or do the man's eyes sweep over your body?
You decide to try and cross the narrow street so you can get out of his way and continue toward the amusement park. You're alarmed when the man mirrors your movements, coming to a stop right in front of you and cutting off your attempted escape.
"Hey, beautiful," he says in a low voice, a small smirk playing at his lips.
"Excuse me," you mutter, choosing to ignore him as you try to get around him once more.
"Whoa, whoa, where're you going?" he protests with a small chuckle, once again moving to stand in your way. "I just wanted to introduce myself, that's all."
"I'm not interested," you reply quickly. "Now please let me pass."
"Well that's a little rude, don't you think?" he says, clicking his tongue at you. "Now, what's a pretty lady like you doing all alone so late at night?"
"I'm not alone," you lie quickly, hoping he'll buy it. You know Min-hyuk can easily tell when you're not telling the truth, but you aren't sure about other people. "My brother's waiting for me up there." You gesture in the direction of the convenience store you were just at.
The man lets out a quiet laugh. You observe that he's relatively young, and not altogether unattractive, but the look in his eyes sends a shiver down your spine. He most definitely does not have good intentions. Your heart is pounding as you push past him, hoping to get away before he can reply to your lie. You make it a few steps before you feel an iron grip on your wrist, keeping you from moving forward. Then he's in front of you again, closer this time. Now you can smell the alcohol on him, and you can tell he's had quite a bit more to drink than you have.
"Let go," you say through gritted teeth, shooting him a glare as you try to wrench your arm free.
"C'mon," he drawls, keeping a solid hold on your wrist. "So maybe your brother's waiting for you, maybe not. But look, I just thought we could grab a drink together. Is that so bad?"
This man definitely does not need more to drink. On top of that, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that he's not just after more alcohol. Your heart is pounding in your ears as you desperately try to think of a way you can get out of this. You glance around you, but there's no one else in sight. No one you can call to for help. If worse comes to worst, you can always scream, you reason.
You let out an involuntary squeak of fear as he suddenly grabs your waist, pulling you close. His hot breath tickles your ear as he whispers, "So whaddya say? Wanna get out of here, sweetheart?"
Before you can do anything, you feel the man's hand on your wrist quickly ripped away. Suddenly free, you're able to shove against his chest, escaping from his other arm that had snaked around your waist. Breathing heavily, you look around to see a figure dressed in a black cloak and top hat. The newcomer is gripping the man's arm so tightly that you can see his knuckles turn white.
Under the top hat is a familiar face, though it wears an expression you've never seen before. There's no trace of his usual smile, and his normally warm brown eyes are devoid of all amusement. Instead, they're glistening with rage.
"Min-ah."
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A/N: PLEASE VOTE!! <3
Also, I just cannot get over how cute our Wookie looks in this pic, so I had to add it at the end. Why is he literally the cutest human alive? The world may never know.