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Juntae knows he must be dreaming because why is he being held against a solid-feeling chest and princess-carried through what looks like a forest?
The last thing he remembers is he was reading a manga.
The manga is an isekai, if he remembers correctly. Something with youkai. It’s a new series that he’s just gotten into. The art is gorgeous, and well, he can never ignore a reverse harem of hotties. Especially hotties with cool powers and ripped bodies.
So it’s not really surprising that he’s dreaming about it, because why not?
And why can he not dream about being princess-carried by a hottie with a firm chest and the cutest ears?
They’re furry and alert, perked up and twisting to and fro when they pick up sounds from the woodland around them. They sit seamlessly over short, tousled purple hair, and Juntae has the undeniable urge to reach up and touch them.
Like Kagome did with Inuyasha.
Juntae can’t help but giggle at the thought.
“You’re finally awake.”
Juntae lowers his gaze from the twitching ears and finds himself under the cold and penetrating stare of a pair of moon-silver eyes.
The color of them is startling, and Juntae tells himself that’s the reason why he suddenly freezes, and when he feels his cheeks heat, it’s because he finds himself taking in the rest of him.
Oh no, he distantly thinks. He’s totally hot.
His brain may say that, but truthfully, this guy is pretty. There’s just something very pleasing about the makeup of all his distinct features together to make a really pretty guy.
A definite bishounen this one.
Before Juntae can analyze him more, however (put him in a neat categorized archetype, that sort of thing), the pretty boy speaks.
“You’re really something else,” the hottie with cute purple ears and eyes like the moon says in a voice that scratches Juntae’s brain just right. He sounds unimpressed, sullen. So perfect. “Looking me in the eye like that knowing what I can do to you.”
OhmyGodthatsoundssoero-- Juntae’s perverted brain squeals frantically (excitedly?!) while some other stupid drivel gets spit out of his stupid mouth.
“Why? Am I supposed to look away from someone as pretty as you?”
Normally, Juntae isn’t this outspoken, especially with hot people who are so close, and heck, carrying him so easily. But this is a dream, so maybe that’s what’s broken his brain-to-mouth filter.
It also seems to have made his purple-haired bishounen pause.
The stare he levels at Juntae is very blank and empty that Juntae is starting to feel something close to embarrassment.
Then Pretty Purple Boy looks away.
“You probably hit your head…” he mutters like Juntae can't hear him, and if Juntae did, he doesn't care. "I should gouge your eyes out for that…"
Juntae continues on watching him avidly and sees it right when a pink flush starts crawling up those fine porcelain cheeks.
A thrill shoots up Juntae’s spine.
“Stop!” Juntae practically squeals outloud, unable to stop kicking his feet in excitement. “You’re blushing! You’re so cute!”
The blush crawls higher.
“You’re my favorite!”
That precious blush on that little face, which looks like he’s on the verge of exploding, looks positively apocalyptic.
Juntae may be in love.
“I love tsunderes!”
And Juntae squirms in excitement when he gets a cutting glare and a deep growl that sounds like it comes from a wild animal. Did he just see a flash of fang? If he can and were he freer to move, Juntae will swoon.
“‘The fuck is a tsundere?” Juntae's newly declared tsundere growls testily at him, and Juntae can just die.
“You!” Juntae answers with all the enthusiasm in the world, his eyes sparkling. “And you’re perfect!”
Juntae continues to watch with overwhelming glee as what looks like embarrassment and chagrin practically roll off the poor guy in waves.
He looks so hot looking so grumpy.
Those piercing moon-silver eyes cut to Juntae, and he definitely looks forward to what grisly, growly thing his part (…Fox? Fox!) fox boy says next. Let it be complaining about Juntae himself. Better yet, insult him.
Juntae's eyes gleam in anticipation, and he is rewarded soon enough.
"Something's really fucked with your head."
The prickly tsundere curses.
Oh glorious day—!
"Normally, you can't even look at me, and now you're mouthing off." A suspicious glare that can melt steel. It makes Juntae perk up and preen. feeling proud. His Current New Favorite Magical Tsundere looks mildly disgusted. "Where the fuck did you get the gall?"
"I don't know," Juntae informs him chirpily, legs swinging contentedly. "I'm usually quieter, you know?"
"Like a damn mouse," Mr. Grumpy and Purple confirms, and Juntae feels he should be offended.
He pouts. "Hey—"
And is promptly ignored. "I'm taking you back to your master."
Suddenly, all offense? Gone.
"I have a master?"
Those moon-silver eyes are not amused. "You forgot that?"
"I mean, I guess?" Juntae shrugs. "Maybe Dream!Me does have a master, I dunno."
A pretty face like that can somehow look very blank but still mesmerizing like one is gazing upon a very well-crafted doll. Amazing.
"Dream!You."
Juntae nods matter-of-factly. "Yeah. This is a dream. It's not real."
The still-unnamed pretty fox boy looks a bit concerned. Maybe. Juntae has wishful thinking currently going for him.
"So any minute now, I'm gonna wake up, and all this will be—"
"This is your problem now."
Juntae gets interrupted in his assurances to his prickly probably-rescuer when he suddenly gets passed onto another pair of arms. He would be more indignant at being passed around like a sack of rice, but then stops because he realizes where he is.
Oh, these are nice, too. A bit more squish. This one has bigger—
Juntae has to look up at his new carrier, excited to see the next hottie—
He's staring up at Geum Seongje.
Geum Seongje with furry ears and no glasses.
Juntae squeaks, startled.
Geum Seongje blinks at him.
Without his glasses, the beauty mark under his right eye is very visible. Has he always had that? Juntae can't recall, and he's kinda glad. Imagine, getting preoccupied by the sexy chaos demon's too-perfectly placed beauty mark? Tak-ah will tear him a new asshole! And Sieunie will likely stab Geum Seongje on the foot again then Baku will rip his head off!
…
Anyway, Dream!Geum Seongje also currently has long hair. It's pulled up in a high ponytail like he's the hot male lead in a very stylized but historically inaccurate fantasy series.
He also has fox ears the color of his brownish hair.
"Juntae-ya?"
Geum Seongje also just addressed him like they're close.
Excuse me?
"E-excuse me??"
A very done and very bored voice breaks through Juntae’s musings on this odd new character. "Something's wrong with him. Show your husband."
"What?" Geum Seongje looks confused, and he's looking after Juntae's newest blorbo, because he's turned and walked away. "What do you mean something's wrong— Wolf! Get back here!"
The call gets ignored, and they watch as the pretty boy called "Wolf" walks away with a dramatic swish of his dark robes and purple-gray hair.
"He has two-toned hair," Juntae muses to himself as he watches the beautiful spectacle. The wind is an unpaid actor in this scene for sure. This "Wolf" also looks good walking away. "It's long enough in the back to pull into a low ponytail. I love his design so much… And is that a tail?? TAILS?? He's a gumiho??"
He gets no reply, and he looks back up.
Geum Seongje is staring at him speculatively. His eyes are somehow softer without the enhancement of his stupidly stylish browlines. "You talk like this is the first time you've seen Wolf," he points out. Then tilts his head curiously like an adorable puppy. Why is Geum Seongje being cute? "What happened?"
Juntae tilts his head to the side, too, like he's mimicking him. "His name is Wolf?"
Geum Seongje nods. "Yes. You know this."
"…If he's a fox, why is he named 'Wolf'?" Juntae asks curiously. "What kind of name is 'Wolf' for a gumiho?"
He only gets an arched eyebrow for his curiousity. "Why is your name 'Juntae'? It's what our parents named him."
Juntae's eyes widened. "You're brothers??"
Geum Seongje is definitely giving him a suspicious stare. "Maybe there is something wrong with you…"
Juntae takes that in stride and just shrugs. "This is just a dream. I'm fine."
The former Union second-in-command with a starring role in Juntae's supernatural harem dream looks unconvinced. "A dream, you say?" He's also started moving, carrying off Juntae to who knows where. "Tell me more about that."
"You see, Geum Seongje—"
"At least you still know who I am…" Geum Seongje is so quippy.
"—I fell asleep while reading my new manga. I was taking a break while studying for my Physics test next week, and I guess I was more tired than I thought—"
"Physics…"
"Right! And then I find myself being carried by that cute guy you called Wolf—"
Geum Seongje interrupts him with an odd, knowing, deep chuckle. Rude.
"—So grumpy, by the way. And then here you are."
"Here I am…"
"Where are you taking me?"
"To show my husband—" Geum Seongje answers so casually like that's completely normal.
Geum Seongje, quintessential bad boy out of Juntae's deranged BL-fueled dreams, just said loud and clear that he has a husband.
And Juntae? Juntae is tweaking.
"You're married??"
"—As Wolf advised."
"Geum Seongje, answer me."
Juntae has only noticed that Geum Seongje's eyes look a bit gold when he gives him a bombastic side-eye. Huh. "You keep addressing me by my whole name. Why is that?"
That innocuous question gets waved away like a pesky insect. "We aren't close, and you're still kind of suspicious, especially after what you pulled with Sieunie despite that time at Daesung Motors."
Geum Seongje is giving him this look again like he's trying to figure him out and failing. A perked fox ear twitches.
Juntae wants to touch his ears, too. They may not be purple, but they also look soft, and he just has a weakness for cute, furry things.
"'We're not close'." The words are quoted very plainly, but somehow Juntae feels an underlying emotion that he does not expect from Geum Seongje of all people: hurt. "All right…"
There's a pause and Juntae fears it will become awkward so he quickly takes back the reins on this very strange conversation. "You said you're married," he says with a little tap against Geum Seongje's unfairly fit chest. "Tell me more."
The Wolf of Ganghak (ooh! Parallels!) is not known for his patience or indulgence, but somehow, he seems to be giving Juntae grace and answers like Juntae has not, god forbid, hurt him. "It's nothing formal. He keeps my Pearl. I donned his colors…" Juntae has to watch as it looks like Geum Seongje is embarrassed, his cheeks pinking, and Oh my God??
Geum Seongje is absolutely not allowed to be adorable!
Why is he pinging my cuteness aggression so hard??
"…So it's all delusion?" Blunt, but somehow that seems to fit the Geum Seongje Juntae has built a mental profile of.
Geum Seongje is, well, crazy. It wouldn't be too weird that he's dreamed up this scenario of him being married to some poor guy who likely can't do anything about it.
Juntae is about to come to a more comfortable state of re-establishing the paradigm when Geum Seongje just tosses him another curveball: he pouts.
If he could, Juntae could scream. What is his overimaginative brain trying to do with how he views the Union Psycho?
Geum Seongje pouts, and the sight is very devastating: knitted brows over narrowed eyes, stuck-out lower lip, and a general air of sulky displeasure. Juntae won't be surprised if he starts petulantly kicking rocks.
"My bratty little brother seems to be right," Juntae's new mind break with fox ears declares as he gives him a good, arch eyeing like he can't contend with what he sees. "You need fixing. I can't believe you'll say that to me. After all we've been through, and you've given me encouragement about Baekjin—"
This dream is just determined to break him into pieces, isn't it?
"…BAEKJIN??"
That outburst earns him this unimpressed look, and yes, Juntae can see the resemblance now between Geum Seongje and his so-called bratty little brother, Wolf.
"You've forgotten Baekjin, too?"
"No!" Juntae practically yells because how is he supposed to forget Baekjin, NA BAEKJIN, of all people? "I'm just—He's—"
"Baekjinnie, I think we have a problem."
"Hey!"
Juntae has kind of had it with this casual passing around of his person. Just because he's smaller than them doesn't give them the right to treat him like this!
Especially when he's suddenly on someone's lap and that someone is a red-eyed Na Baekjin.
Na Baekjin who is looking at him with that terrifying, impenetrable calm that doesn't look too different from his expression on his funeral photo.
The thought makes Juntae freeze like a bucket of ice-cold water has just been dumped over his head.
The turn this dream has taken is not one he likes or approves of. What has been going on in the dumpster fire that is his inner consciousness? Why is Na Baekjin in his very harmless, very silly harem dream?
He's so shocked by this turn of events that he almost misses the fact that Geum Seongje is whining and throwing a fit, pacing around restlessly behind Baekjin like he needs to move or he'll die.
"—He said to me! Me!" The newly appointed Drama Queen of Seo Juntae's Crazy Isekai World points at himself with a clawed finger as he makes the most offended face ever. "My precious Juntae! Baekjinnie, tell me you can fix him!"
Baekjin is still looking at Juntae with those red eyes that are both unsettling and somehow so fitting, completely ignoring the theatrics Geum Seongje, HIS HUSBAND, is performing in the background.
And when he speaks, he sounds as calm and collected as he always has.
"You're not our Juntae."
Juntae really has to wonder about Dream!Juntae. What is his backstory? How did he end up here in this place where he's entangled with admittedly gorgeous men with animal features?
Because the hand Na Baekjin is reaching towards him has sharp nails, and what looks like gold and silver scales.
Juntae flinches back instinctively, eyes closing quickly as he anticipates it to hurt.
"No scales."
Baekjin's calm voice and surprisingly gentle touch by his temple makes Juntae open his eyes again to find himself being examined closely by those strange but oddly fitting red eyes.
"What?" The tirade has stopped, and now Geum Seongje is looking at him, too, over Baekjin's shoulder, and he looks puzzled. "Why does he not have scales?"
Juntae stares back at them. "I have scales?"
"You normally do," Baekjin replies in an almost gentle tone and pulls his hand away. "At least, our Juntae does."
"Being close to Baekjin usually brings out your scales," Geum—Seongje explains, looking calmer now that he seems to have come to an understanding. "You're part Mer, you see. Baekjin is the Sea God. He just…makes that happen."
Juntae can only nod, because that's better than freaking out. There's so much…lore.
"This is some complex dream…"
Baekjin stares at him. "Dream?"
Juntae nods slowly. "This is all a dream. It has to be. You're dea—"
Seongje has just reached over and pinched his cheek.
"…Ow."
Why did he feel that?
"'Hate to break it to you, Kit," Seongje with the fox ears and MULTIPLE TAILS tells him in a reasonable tone. "I don't think you're dreaming at all."
Geum Seongje just addressed him with a pet name. "…Kit?"
Baekjin's stare is still very fixed on Juntae. "I think he's had enough for the day."
Seongje makes a miffed noise, turning to his other half with a bit of a frown. "You spoil him. He probably has more questions."
Baekjin seems unphased. "You spoil him, too."
There goes Geum Seongje, pouting again as he looks at Juntae like he's a very cute baby animal and he is loath to part from him. "He's just so adorable. He's practically our child."
Appeasingly, Baekjin makes a soft sound in agreement. "Our child who needs a respite from all of this, yes?"
Seongje huffs, giving in. "Oh, fine. You take him to bed, then. I'm tired."
"I'll be back," Baekjin says calmly as he rises and picks up Juntae far too easily.
In turn, Seongje the gumiho draws back and yawns, giving a high-reaching stretch. "I'll be waiting."
Juntae doesn't protest when he gets carried away again, this time by Na Baekjin, the Sea God.
He looks up at him to get a better look.
His hair is slicked back like he always seemed to, but his jet-black hair has blond streaks in places, matching perfectly with the gold and silver of his scales. More scales are likely hidden under his clothes, but he can see hints of them along his throat and his hands.
They also seem to be moving through a hallway of white stone and marble, immaculate and pristine in appearance.
It's quiet but somehow Juntae can pick out the sound of waves in the distance.
"You're in my Shrine," Baekjin tells him after some time. His tone remains calm, solemn almost. A very fitting voice for a Sea God with still waters above and unimaginable power beneath the surface. Juntae would appreciate it more if he weren't weirded out. "It has been your home for a while."
They walk out to a sheltered walkway leading beyond the Shrine proper. It's already pretty dark, but their way is well-lighted. Out there, the sea is louder, and Juntae can also smell saltwater and feel a breeze that is unmistakable.
"This feels so real…" Juntae remarks, eyes still on Baekjin who doesn't seem too bothered that he has barely blinked while looking at him.
"It's real to me," Baekjin tells him, still with that calm and patient tone that Juntae is curious about.
"Baekjin-nim." Somehow, Juntae can't help but address him as such. A part of him just insists on it. He can call everyone else whatever unhinged thing he wants, but Baekjin is to be addressed with respect. "What is Seo Juntae to you?"
Those red eyes are somehow not too unsettling when they glance at him with such gentleness and patience. "He is my shrinekeeper. He takes care of the Shrine and everyone in it. He is very valuable, and we would be lost without him."
The words come with weight, and Juntae feels them over his chest. He finds himself rubbing over the spot near his heart. Is he feeling touched? So it seems. He can tell that Baekjin means every word.
Juntae feels choked up, his eyes suddenly watering with tears. He turns away from Baekjin because it's embarrassing, and really, he is also so, so weak for a real kuudere, rare as they may be in his catalogue of favorite characters.
Who knew Na Baekjin is a kuudere at his core?
Not Juntae, and he sits with it just as he's brought to a simply furnished but clean and spacious room overlooking the sea that Baekjin informs him is his. Then he's tucked in and advised to rest.
"We'll answer whatever questions you might have in the morning," Baekjin promises, even sitting by Juntae on his bed for a bit to make sure he rests his head.
Juntae looks at him and asks in a small, shy voice. "You'll come for me?"
Baekjin gives him a slight nod. "I will."
"Okay…" Juntae mumbles softly and settles into soft, comfortable sheets that smell clean and feel cool against his skin.
He's almost afraid to close his eyes, but he does feel tired and some sleep would do him good.
"Goodnight, Juntae-ya," Juntae hears Baekjin bid him goodnight and barely feels it when sleep claims him.
Will he still be here when he opens his eyes again?
Juntae isn't sure what he'll feel when he wakes up, but for now, he lets it go and lets sleep take over.