Work Text:
How long has it been? He has no idea, he’s been drinking and drinking, he must be like 6 or 7 glasses in. No matter how much he tried to forget the thought of his manager wouldn’t disappear.
Her designer clothes, her neat hair, her angry expressions whenever he disobeyed her, her nervous behavior when she would receive those strange messages from his burn accounts pretending to be an obsessed fan, her face when another murder occurs and she has no idea it was her own star behind it, except those few glances of suspicion- She is what keeps him going, she is too much fun, but she’s been more and more suspicious of him lately, hasn’t she? More guards than before, constant checkups on where he is like she is his mom, it hasn’t been as fun lately.
He would’ve gotten bored by now if it wasn’t for her attention, now he disobeyed her again- Went out late at night and bought himself a few nice bottles of whiskey, making the decision to drink to his heart’s content tonight, he cannot wait until he sees her face. He smirked and chuckled to himself at the thought, pouring himself another glass-
It’s the reason he decided to drink today, to grab her attention so she would realize how much he needs her. Nope, no way, it’s so that he can see the face of his manager when she realizes that he’s doing his own thing again! That will be hilarious! The moment she gets here and sees him, if she even gets here…
It’s been a few drinks already and he’s been waiting since his first one to receive a call- To tell her that he’s enjoying himself tonight despite them having to attend a meeting tomorrow morning, so why isn’t she caring this time? She always calls in the most bizarre moments, especially at night. She didn’t get bored of him right?
Hah! What kind of question is that? Who would get bored of The Trickster! His expression fell at the thought of Yun-Jin of all people looking away from him. The grip on his glass tightened at the image. No, it’s thanks to him that her career is still going, she wouldn’t just discard him like an old toy, he is her irreplaceable possession after all, but not being able to have her look at him with those same angry eyes he adores...
He threw his arm over his eyes, letting his head hit the back of the chair, after a moment he looked at his phone again.
Was he desperate? Maybe.
Was he afraid of showing his weaker side? More than anything. Will he do it anyway? …
Ji-Woon grabbed his phone and pulled up the contact of his music producer, his face red due to alcohol and embarrassment considering his next actions. He typed a casual hey at first, wanting to start a conversation, but instead deleted it shortly after, he looked away and saw his reflection in the window. God he looked like a teenage boy who is about to confess to his crush, when in reality he is just playing with her.
Get a grip Ji-Woon.
He groaned in annoyance and looked infront of him at the empty bottles. He wants her attention- No, he needs it. He turned on his phone once again and this time typed in a message while smiling to himself like a maniac.
"This will catch her attention for sure."
———————————————————————
He’s been waiting for some time now, ceiling appearing more interesting than usually, that must be his 10th drink by now. His head was pounding, begging for some sleep, but he couldn’t, not after that message and the anticipation of her arrival. He could hardly contain his happiness at the thought.
Soon enough he heard someone trying to break into his hotel room, his eyes shining as he tried to stand up and move towards the door. Just after a few steps his legs gave out and he was met with the cold floor.
"Ji-Woon?!” was all he was able to hear from his dear manager.
Her reaction making him uncontrollably laugh. The door was soon opened and when he saw her he knew that drinking was really worth it.
Despite seeing her sweating and gasping for air, he still found her mesmerizing. No way, it was just the alcohol speaking of course! He was smiling to himself and laughing under his breath as she helped him stand up and sit on the edge of the bed, his face red throughout the whole thing.
"Ji-Woon the hell was that message supposed to mean!"
He was met with her phone right infront of his face and his message clear as day saying: "Help me please.”
It was shortly followed by a few of her messages, he hasn’t read on purpose to make her believe that something really happened, those messages she sent clearly stated her worry over him and he couldn’t help, but chuckle at them.
He grabbed her wrist and moved the phone down to see her face once again, at the sight of her eyes narrowing in confusion and anger his smile widened even more, his disheveled hair getting in his eyes, but all he could focus on in that moment was Yun-Jin.
She sighed and pulled back, shaking her head in disappointment as she spoke "How much did you drink, you reek of alcohol. Weren’t you supposed to stay in your hotel room at night?”
He tilted his head in slight annoyance "How old am I to be forbidden from going outside?" he bit back.
Ji-Woon continued to stare at her, his eyes quickly spotting her anger, she probably wanted to lash out at him. Instead she turned around and started walking away, probably to calm herself down, that caught him off guard and without a second thought he grabbed her wrist in desperation. Staring at her with longing eyes. Normally, he would’ve already tried to act as if it hasn’t happened or make a joke out of this situation, but now? In his drunken state? All his emotions were on full display, right in front of the one he wanted to hide them from the most.
Yun-Jin stared at him in what seemed like confusion, their eyes meeting for longer than necessary, his contactless brown ones were full of raw emotions he never showed, until now. Her face softened as she walked back to him and sat next to him on the edge of his bed, a sigh of relief escaped his lips.
“Why did you text me something like that? You worried me like crazy." she voiced her concern.
All he could do was laugh to himself, so she still cared about him. He gave her a cheeky smile.
"I wanted to grab your attention, ms.manager. I suppose it worked. How did you know I was here though…” his head swaying right and left as he asked the question.
All Yun-Jin could do was shake her head “I wanted to check your hotel room first, if you weren’t here I would have ordered the guards to look for you. Maybe that wasn’t so smart of me, I should’ve just called them right away, but I had to act as soon as I saw your message.”
For some reason that made his heart skip a beat, he is definitely acting like a highschool boy now, it’s humiliating, he would never normally act this way… But due to his drunken state he couldn’t care less. So what if he shows his weaker side, it’s Yun-Jin, if it’s her she would understand, right?
All he needs is her… attention, obviously! He let his head fall on her shoulder, he felt her flinch and fully expected her to move away, but she didn’t, making his face hotter by the seconds. He was weirdly quiet, unusually quiet, even he realized that there was something weird going on with him.
"You okay, Ji-Woon? Just how many drinks have you had?” she asked as she lightly touched his forehead at the sight of his crimson face.
The moment her hand made contact with his face all he wanted to do was lean into her cold, delicate fingers. It was like a blessing against his hot face. He completly forgotten about her question and instead looked up to her with a serious expression as he held her hand closer, making sure she wouldn’t pull it away. Judging by her expression, he assumed she would try it. Surprisingly, he was met with her putting the other hand against his cheek.
"Is it better now?" she asked with her head tilted to the side and a kind expression.
His heart was beating as if it was about to burst out of his chest, but it’s not love, no way it is. He tried to brush it off with his usual laugh, but as he thought about it more…
He could tell, that she was starting to suspect something, that there was something wrong with him today, more than usually at least. Her expression told him much more than her words and that’s all he needed to understand her. Maybe it was due to alcohol, but the way she looked at him, it almost seemed like concern. Seeing her attention finally on him made him happy, but not like this, Ji-Woon didn’t want her pity, it made him feel weird.
Soon enough the silence was broken by him, words coming out before he could give them a second thought,
"Yun.. You don’t hate me, right?"
His voice sounded weak, he wanted to know what she really thought of him. Ji-Woon saw her staring at him in confusion, as if he just said the most bizzare thing, causing him to feel more unsure about this all.
Yun-Jin let a small smile form on her face and a short chuckle escaped her lips as she answered his worries, “Well sometimes you may be annoying and childish, but I’ve never thought about hating you.”
She gave him a confused look and he stared back at her, there was nothing to read from his eyes. Ji-Woon noticed her slight look of guilt, but that didn’t matter to him at all now. His head was completly empty, lost of all the previous thoughts he had, her smile was all that was left. He wasn’t sure if it were his drunken thoughts or his real desires, but he really wanted to kiss her. He would do anything to see that smile again, but would him kissing her bring it back? He wasn’t sure. Of course it would! Who wouldn't be happy getting to kiss The Trickster?
After another few minutes of silence it was broken by him muttering something under his breath, she couldn’t make out any words of his so she leaned closer.
"Could you repeat what you just said?" she asked and his eyes were on hers, staring with a different kind of intensity, one she hasn’t received in a while.
An awkward expression appearing on her face as she managed to pull her hands back, well one hand back. One of them was still in his grip, he was roughly rubbing the back of it with his thumb, not breaking the eye contact even for a second.
"You wouldn’t hate me, no matter what, right?" his voice became stern, catching her off guard.
"It heavily depends on what you would do, but I guess I wouldn’t if it’s not something life threatening. What's with all those questions Ji-Woon?” she asked with a look of suspicion, facing him properly on the bed now.
Ji-Woon’s eyes wandered to her fully infront of him and he did the same, turning his body towards her’s, his head spinning once again at the sudden move, Yun-Jin made sure he wouldn’t fall over on the bed by steadying him with her hand on the side of his arm. A cheeky smile made its way to his face at the touch, it was one of those smiles of pure ecstasy he would send his fans on stage.
"No reason." he smiled once more, leaving her more and more skeptical.
In the next few seconds Ji-Woon acted solely on his own instincts, against any morals he had left. His hand let go of her’s, and instead quickly got a hold of her cheeks, the next thing he knew his lips were on hers. His eyes staring into her wide ones which were filled with surprise and confusion, witnessing her expression like this made this moment hundred times better. Soon he closed his and enjoyed the pure bliss of their kiss, he even caught himself smiling through it.
He felt her arms wrapping around his neck, that simple touch made his smile widen as he leaned more, if it was even humanly possible. He noticed her pulling away for a second, immediately spotting her red, breathless face. His eyes wide at the sight of Yun-Jin of all people flustered because of him. He noticed her trying to lean in once more, she seemed quite hesitant though, he shook his head in amusement and decided to give her a little help. Just like that he went ahead and pulled her in for a second one, this time more intense than before.
He looked at her for any type of reactions, if she hit him or looked uncomfortable he would stop. Yeah that’s a lie. He wouldn’t stop at just that, he likes seeing her embarrassed nothing more, besides, why would he stop when she clearly wants it too! But as he tried to find any signs of discomfort instead he found pure enjoyment, he got confused for a second there, which was quickly replaced by happiness, if they both wanted it then why should he stop here?
He let one of his hands make it’s way to her hair, grabbing at the locks, they really were as soft as they looked huh. She didn’t seem to be against it, so he went further, slowly pushing both of them onto the bed, her back against the mattress as they continued. Feeling her actually kissing him back did things to his heart he couldn’t understand.
Suddenly he noticed the corners of her lips lifting up against his own, he pulled away for a second, opening his eyes to make sure he wasn’t delusional. To his surprise, she was actually smiling. He would enjoy this moment more if not for how much his face was burning up and it’s her fault. It’s just the alcohol, has to be.
“Seriously what’s with you Ji-Woon, you’re weirder than usua-“ he interrupted her by pulling her right back in with no plans of stopping anytime soon. He just couldn’t stay away from her for long.
———————————————————————
After a several minutes of their back and forth, Ji-Woon kissing the side of her neck as Yun-Jin gently ruffled his hair, she stopped. It seemed that the realization finally hit her.
Took her long enough.
He felt her hand leaving his hair, immediately missing the feeling, but instead now her hand was pressed against his chest as she attempted to create some distance between them. It took a moment for everything to sink in, but when it did he could immediately tell from her expression.
She sat up on the bed, earning a curious glance from him as he did the same. He moved his hands back to her cheeks, rubbing both of them. At the sight of her he couldn’t help but laugh, he is good with reading people, especially her, so when panic made it’s way to her face, he could guess it was because of their little moment.
Ji-Woon could only stare at her as she seemed lost in her mind, it was honestly cute. Where did that come from?! it’s humiliating getting so worked up over a kiss! There’s nothing cute about it. Contradicting his own delusions he couldn’t take his eyes off of her, not even for a second. He needed to get his thoughts under control, teasing her could work.
"You want another one, Yun?” he asked with a cheeky smile as he begun leaning closer to connect their lips once again.
She immediately stopped him by putting her hands on his lips, which caught him off guard for a second, but was quick to act upon it, giving her hands small kisses. It was still just to tease her, but for some reason he started to find that enjoyable. Her face flushed in embarrassment and anger, just what he adores, as she pulled them away.
"This isn’t funny Ji-Woon! You’re drunk, if anybody finds out about what happened here and assumes that our relationship is something more, your career will be in trouble, WE will be in trouble. What if The Mightee One finds out?!” she spoke to him with her eyebrows knitted and her voice high, worry obvious on her face.
His smile disappeared the moment he heard her words.
It would be a big commotion…
And just that thought alone, was enough to get him on a new high of excitement. All of that attention on him due to some rumors of them kissing- Or better.. dating! Every post talking about Trickster’s partner being his manager all his fans crying, whining, realizing that they had no chance to begin with or those real ones cheering him on because he finally found happiness. He couldn’t hold back his laugh, he looked at Yun-Jin once again with a wide devious smile as he hugged her tightly.
She blinked in confusion a few times, before attempting to create some distance between them and failing.
"Ji-Woon! I’m serious now!” she interrupted his moment and all she was met with were his chuckles of amusment.
"Why don’t we go for it! Don’t you realize how popular I could get from that?! It would benefit both of us..! My popularity would skyrocket meaning more success on concerts, you would be known as the girlfriend and manager of The Trickster! It benefits me too, because I could be dating the Lee Yun-Jin, what could a man want more in..-” life? wait, was he seriously about to say that?
He immediately stopped, even in his drunken state, he realized that though he didn’t get to finish his sentence it sounded like a confession. His words held an unusual for him honesty and his eyes spoke with sincerity, for him that meant it’s serious. The look he received only confirmed it, he knows how to read her the best and it goes the other way around too.
Was he out of his mind?! When did he even admit in his mind that he’s in love with her? His head was pounding, not as much as his heart in that moment though. He might have said too much here and he knows that, he definitely crossed a line. Is he actually in love with her? No one can get even close to a god like him, but him loving someone? Yun-Jin at that. It sounded ridiculous, but was it really? He fought with his own thoughts, everything was against him, even his mind. Life was so much simpler without whatever was going on with his feelings.
"Ji-Woon" when he heard her voice the train of thoughts going through his head stopped. The guy in question immediately looked up at her, his eyes wide, it was as if he sobered up right in this moment.
The gaze he received… This was all he ever wanted, but not like this, not in a moment like this...
Her face was flustered, she was comically red, but at the same time she was obviously angry, he could tell she was holding back badly from lashing out at him. Normally when she would say his name it made him want to hear it over and over again, but right now he wished she would call him anything but that.
"You do realize that our relationship is strictly business, right? Us pretending to date would not do any good. We don’t want any misunderstandings happening, especially ones that could cost us our careers, got it?” Yun-Jin said with a serious tone, yet her eyes and especially face said another thing, it still held that hint of a blush she had on since earlier and a bit of sadness.
At first his heart felt like it stopped for a second, hearing her actually throw the idea of them dating out the window, even if it would be just pretend, actually fucking hurt for some reason. As Ji-Woon stared at her for longer than necessary, like usually, he finally begun to notice something odd. Was his drunken state playing a trick on him or did she actually want to kiss him again, because that’s how it looked like to him. And didn’t she lean into the kiss earlier? Even going as far as wrapping her arms around him and going for the second one, that has to be some kind of confirmation? God, if his head wasn’t pounding like crazy maybe he would actually say a thing or two that would help his case.
"Listen, I think you should go to sleep for tonight. You’ve drank to much, made some mistakes and will not remember anything in the morning. Let’s not talk about this incident ever again, okay?" she said, but he was able to catch the hint of disappointment in her eyes.
Oh so that’s how it is.
Ji-Woon really wanted to follow her orders this time, he really did, but he enjoys disobeying her even more.