Chapter Text
Calling him Cheol out loud had changed everything.
In the forty-eight hours following that late-night meeting in his car, the custom notification chime on Ruby’s phone seemed to ring with a whole new layer of intimacy. The subtle boundary between host and idol had been shattered completely. Whenever his name popped up on her glowing screen, Ruby no longer felt the familiar, protective instinct to hold back. Her pulse would quicken, her skin remembering the exact sensation of his warm thumb tracing the pulse point on her inner wrist.
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On Saturday evening, a torrential late-autumn rainstorm descended over Seoul. Heavy grey clouds opened up, plastering sheets of water against the floor-to-ceiling windows of Ruby’s Mapo-gu apartment.
It was nearly one-thirty in the morning when her phone chimed against the wooden nightstand.
‘Just finished dance practice,’ Cheol’s text read. ‘I’m down in the car. The rain is terrible tonight... but I couldn't go home without seeing you first.’
Ruby stood beside her bedroom window, watching the rain blur the distant city lights into smeary streaks of red and yellow. Down below, hidden under the shadow of the gingko trees, the familiar black SUV was parked with its hazard lights quietly blinking through the storm.
Instead of grabbing her coat to head down into the cold rain as she had done two nights prior, Ruby made a quiet, heart-pounding decision. Her fingers hovered over her keypad as she typed out a brief reply:
‘The lobby entrance requires a key fob, but the private elevator passcode is 0808. Come up to the 14th floor. Door 1402.’
She pressed send, her heart hammering violently against her ribs. Giving an idol leader the private access code to her personal residence was a line she had sworn never to cross. It was a massive liability in an industry where scandal could destroy a career overnight. But as she stood in the center of her warm, minimalist living room, listening to the rain beat against the glass, the thought of sending him away—or staying confined to a leather car seat—felt entirely impossible.
Three minutes later, the soft electronic chime of her front door lock beeped.
The heavy oak door swung open, and Seungcheol stepped across the threshold.
He was wearing an oversized black denim jacket over a charcoal hoodie, a dark beanie pulled low over his hair, which was slightly damp around the edges from the dash across the pavement. In the soft, amber lighting of her entryway, he looked taller, broader, and strikingly handsome. He stopped in his tracks, his dark eyes sweeping over the quiet sanctuary of her home, the soft cream rugs, the stacks of movie scripts on the coffee table, and the warm, inviting scent of vanilla and roasted tea floating in the air.
When his eyes finally landed on Ruby, his expression softened into that raw, vulnerable intensity that was reserved for her alone.
"You shouldn't trust people so easily," Seungcheol murmured, his deep voice carrying a husky, breathless roughness from the rain and practice. He slid off his wet slides and stepped onto the hardwood floor, closing the heavy door behind him with a soft click. "Giving out your door passcode is dangerous, Ruby."
"I don't give it out to random people," Ruby replied softly, stepping closer to him, her voice remarkably steady despite the nervous heat blooming beneath her skin. "And I trust you."
The unpretentious honesty of her words hit him visibly. Seungcheol pulled off his beanie, letting his thick, dark hair fall naturally over his forehead. He reached out and unzipped his heavy denim coat, letting it slide off his broad shoulders onto the entryway bench, leaving him in just his soft hoodie.
Without the physical barrier of the car console between them, the atmosphere in the apartment instantly turned thick with a heavy, electric tension.
Seungcheol took two slow steps forward, closing the remaining distance between them until he was standing directly in her personal space. The scent of rain, damp denim, and his intoxicating cedar cologne wrapped around her senses. Ruby had to tilt her chin up to meet his gaze. Under the dim living room lights, his eyes were dark, dilated, and burning with an undisguised, hungry desire that made her breath catch in her throat.
"I tried to be patient in the car," Seungcheol whispered, his voice dropping into a low, velvet rasp that sent a shiver straight down her spine. His hand rose, his broad fingers hovering for a fraction of a second before gently cupping the side of her face. His skin was warm, his thumb lightly caressing her cheekbone with a reverent touch. "I tried to be good. But I haven't been able to think about a single thing other than you for two straight weeks."
Ruby leaned her face slightly into his warm palm, her long dark lashes fluttering shut for a brief second as a soft sigh escaped her lips. "I haven't been able to focus either, Cheol."
Seungcheol let out a low, ragged breath at the sound of his name on her lips.
Before she could open her eyes again, his other hand slid around her waist, his broad fingers digging gently into the soft fabric of her cardigan, and pulled her flush against his broad chest. The sudden, solid impact of his body against hers was intoxicating.
Then, he leaned down and covered her mouth with his.
The kiss wasn't timid or hesitant. It was deep, passionate, and demanding. A sudden explosion of all the built-up desire and unspoken longing they had been harboring since the campfire in the mountains. His lips were firm, warm, and possessive, moving against hers with a intoxicating rhythm that made Ruby’s knees feel dangerously weak.
Ruby gasped against his mouth, and Seungcheol took immediate advantage, deepening the kiss as his tongue brushed against hers. A sharp wave of pure heat surged through Ruby's veins. She reached up, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, her fingers entangling in the soft, thick strands of his dark hair, pulling him closer.
He groaned softly into her mouth, the low sound vibrating directly against her chest. His grip on her waist tightened, lifting her slightly onto her tiptoes as he backed her up until her spine met the smooth, cool surface of the living room wall. The contrast between the cold wall behind her and the searing, radiant heat of Seungcheol’s body pressing into her front was overwhelming.
His mouth shifted, trailing a path of hot, heavy kisses down the line of her jawline to the sensitive dip beneath her ear. Ruby let her head fall back against the wall, her breathing ragged, a soft, involuntary whimpering sigh escaping her lips as his lips pressed against her warm skin.
"Cheol..." she breathed out, her hands sliding down to rest against his broad shoulders, feeling the heavy, powerful muscle shifting beneath his hoodie.
Seungcheol paused, his forehead coming to rest gently against hers, both of them breathing heavily into the small, charged space between their lips. His dark eyes opened, looking down at her with a raw, fierce devotion that made her soul ache with sweetness.
"You have no idea," Seungcheol murmured, his thumb tracing the swollen, reddened line of her lower lip, "what you're doing to me, Ruby."
Ruby offered a breathless, beautiful smile, her fingers lightly caressing the back of his neck. "I think I have some idea."
He chuckled softly, a low, rumbling sound, before leaning down to press one more lingering, sweet kiss to her lips.
Hand in hand, he led her toward the plush sofa, pulling her down beside him into the warm darkness of the living room. For the next two hours, wrapped in a blanket while the storm raged outside, they talked in quiet whispers, their lips meeting between sentences, exploring the intoxicating reality of belonging to one another.
Yet, as Ruby rested her head against Seungcheol’s shoulder, watching his fingers thread tightly through hers, her phone illuminated silently on the kitchen counter in the distance.
A single notification popped up on the lock screen from an unsaved number:
‘Make sure he doesn't stay out too late in the rain, Ruby-ssi. We have an early rehearsal tomorrow. – JH’
Ruby stared at the glowing screen from afar, a sudden, quiet pulse of anticipation settling over her heart. Jeonghan knew. He always knew.