Hi guys :)
I've just finished freshers week at university and my lectures start tomorrow so this might be the last update for a little while, but yeah.... I hope you enjoy it :D
I love my new accomodation; the people are great and the facilities are great too so yh... I'm happy :) 

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this update, it's Sulay :D yayyyy. isn't quite as angsty as i'd planned it to be XD but oh well

please comment, subscribe or upvote, whichever you deem appropriate :D I'd love to hear from you <3

Hope this doesn't disappoint D:

Four years after the sentencing of Zhang Yuan

Lay’s POV

I sigh, replacing the phone and resting my head in my hands, trying to expel some of the tension in my body and failing on the most part. It’s been four years since my father was sent to prison, and my mother still calls me occasionally, needing someone to talk to about it.

It’s been difficult for us; having my father revealed as a violent criminal and being sent to prison was difficult enough, but the whole experience was made much worse by the media. Even now, I’m only just starting to fully shake off the idea that I’m a younger version of my father, with the same criminal tendencies.

Much of the progress I, and my mother too, have made, is owed to the support Kris and Tao. That is in regards to my company. They’ve backed us all the way, organising combined projects between my employees and theirs, and just aiming to show that there are good relations between our companies.

In regards to my mental health however, my current stability is predominantly due to the constant encouragement and kindness I’ve received from all of my friends, in particular Joonmyun, who’s been there for me every step of the way. I honestly don’t know what I’d have done without his friendship.

I stand, deciding to get out of my office for a few minutes, heading for the office kitchen and checking on some of my team on the way. I chose these people personally, and I’m very content with my choices, having experienced no significant problems with them, and having earned their loyalty and respect very early on.

I like to check on them regularly, not just about work, also about their non-professional life, just checking that everything’s ok and that they know they can come to me if they ever need any support.

This team is vital for me, and they’ve become my friends over the time since I promoted them, and I need to make sure that none of them are forced to leave because of a problem that I could have helped them fix.

I make myself a coffee, taking my time and focusing solely on making the perfect brew and not on the phone call I’m waiting to receive. It has become a regular occurrence for me to receive calls from other companies, suggesting meetings for possible collaborations; which is great, it means that we’re starting to create a better reputation for ourselves again, but in each conversation, there’s always a condescending undertone behind their words. It’s tiring.

I head back to my office slowly, taking a different route so I can check up on other members of my team and sipping my drink as I go. I’ve still got a couple of hours to go here, but my mind’s already drifted to what movie I should watch tonight with Joonmyun, and whether he’ll teach me how to cook a new meal or have one ready before I get home.

Back at my desk again a short while later, I force those thoughts out of my head, fighting to concentrate on the pile of paperwork on my desk and the many emails on my screen.

I let myself in, keying in the code and walking to the elevator. I hum to myself as I press the button for the eighth floor and wait for the doors to open at my destination. It becomes apparent before I’ve even opened the door to Joonmyun’s apartment, that he’s started cooking without me.

The scent is mouth-watering and I’m eager to discover what he’s making tonight as I unlock the door and step inside, taking off my shoes in the foyer.

In the kitchen, Joonmyun has his back to me, leaning over the counter and stirring something in a saucepan. I can’t see his face from here, but I can still picture what his expression will be like; calm and serene, with his lips pursed slightly in concentration. It’s one of my favourite looks on him.

I pad quietly over to him, brushing the pads of my fingers over the exposed skin near his elbow, alerting him to my presence before leaning round him to peer into the pot. I don’t know what it is he’s making, some sort of risotto maybe, but it smells amazing and with him that usually means it’ll taste amazing too.

Joonmyun asks how I am, and I murmur an answer; just like every day, the atmosphere is peaceful, neither of us feeling the need to make small talk, both content to just enjoy each other’s presence.

It’s not long before Joonmyun announces that the food’s done, bringing it over to serve it up into the dishes I’ve placed on the table, and then joining me there to eat together. This is an everyday routine, and just like always, it helps me relax and clear my mind of the worries that have formed throughout the day.

It’s not difficult to let myself get dragged down by work and the stress that comes with it, but this is my safe place, with Joonmyun, and the worries seep away almost automatically now when I return after a long day at work.

We talk as we eat, neither of us mentioning work, and just discussing other things such as the latest news on TV or what book we’re each reading at the moment.

The time passes quickly, and it’s not long before we’re in the other room, seated on the sofa and watching a movie together. I picked a comedy today, just like I always do if I’ve had a particularly rough or frustrating day at work, and I sit here, happy to watch as Joonmyun laughs at whatever is happening on the screen.

I know I’m not the only one who’s getting stressed by work these days, and it does him good to have a good laugh. I watch as he laughs again, whole heartedly and unrestrained, perfectly at ease in my company and happily showing me his natural self.

It’s this quality of his that I value the most I think; his complete honesty with me. Even after everything that’s happened in my family and my life, after everything I’ve done in the past, he doesn’t hide himself away from me, and I think it’s this that enables me to truly open myself up to him.

He turns to glance at me, amusement shining in his eyes, and I grin at him; knowing from experience that it’s better to play it cool when caught staring at him instead of the movie, rather than act embarrassed.

He snorts and shakes his head knowingly; I’ve always been the weird friend that finds people’s reactions more interesting than the actual events, turning back to the movie and quickly becoming engrossed once again.

I turn to do the same, attempting to focus on the characters on the screen, but it’s a movie I’ve seen before and personally I find Joonmyun’s reactions more entertaining than the scenes playing there.

Now that we’re working full time, and we’re both in positions of responsibility, we’ve lost the luxury of staying up late or staying out into the early hours of the morning, so not much more time passes before we decide to head up to bed.

We use the bathroom one after the other, me first as always because I take less time, and I’ve soon changed into my sleep shorts and tank top and am snuggling under the duvet, enjoying the sensation of the cool sheets against my skin.

Joonmyun joins me a few minutes later, and he curls up against my chest, as has become the norm now. We talk for a little while, just passing the time as our bodies start to wind down and prepare for sleep, and as usual, he’s the first to slip into unconsciousness.

Sometimes, when I’m lying awake waiting to follow, I worry that it’s weird for friends to sleep at each other’s homes almost every night like we do, but I usually try to ignore those thoughts, concluding that I don’t care, and neither does Joonmyun so it’s probably nothing, and quickly getting distracted by the cute huffs Joonmyun makes when he sleeps.

The familiar rhythm of his quiet breaths is what lulls me to sleep, and on the rare occasions that I don’t make it to his, or he doesn’t make it to mine and I have to sleep alone, it takes me much longer to fall asleep.

I force my eyes open, glaring through bleary eyes in the general direction of the alarm clock as I wave my arm about in the hope that I’ll manage to hit the snooze button. This task is made infinitely more difficult by the tight grasp Joonmyun has around my waist, restricting my movement, he’s a clingy sleeper.

Eventually I succeed and twist back to snuggle back down again. We have ten minutes before it goes off again and this time is valuable. Joonmyun clenches me closer, his breath hitching as he reluctantly starts to wake up.

Over the past few years, it’s become clear that I’m better at mornings than him, especially ones as early as this, and I know from experience that communication would be useless for at least another twenty minutes.

I’ve nearly dropped off again when the alarm starts to beep once more. I groan weakly and roll over, escaping Joonmyun’s hold and reaching to turn the alarm off completely. I swing my legs off the side of the bed and sit up, forcing my eyes open and staring at nothing for a minute or so until they no longer feel quite so inclined to slip shut again.

I push myself up and stretch, then turn and tug the duvet down of Joonmyun, folding it down until it no longer covers his chest, forcing him to start waking up properly.

I catch myself staring at his exposed thighs and force my eyes away, dammit Lay, that’s your best friend! Don’t go thinking inappropriate thoughts, think how he’d feel if he knew.

He whines softly, but makes no move to pull the duvet back up. A smile tugs at my lips as stubbornly push away he confusing thoughts and stumble off to the bathroom to shower. His sleepy, innocent morning self is something I treasure, and I’m certain I’ll never get sick of it.

Breakfast is quiet. We have an unspoken rule that very little conversation happens in the morning before we’ve eaten. Joonmyun struggles to focus on more than one thing at a time this early, and to be honest, I’m not very talkative at this time either.

Once breakfast is over and we’re starting to get ready to leave, the occasional words are shared.

“Lay, don’t forget about the business party tonight.” Joonmyun says as we put our shoes on at the door.

“Mmm, I won’t, don’t worry.” I reply, not bothering to elaborate how unexcited I am for it. It’s an event being hosted by the company that Joonmyun works for, and I’ve been invited too.

We both hate formal events like these, with fake, scheming people on every side, but I’m dreading it a little less than normal as I know he’ll be there; at least I’ll have a friend who can help me avoid all the strangers.

“Good,” he says, looking up from where he’s tying his shoelace to smile at me.

We lock up and take the elevator down together, parting in the car park. He pats my arm as he starts to head off towards his car, “see you at the party then.”

“Yeah, see you,” I reply, watching him go as I move towards my car.

He pulls off before me and soon he’s gone, and I gradually slip into work mode as I drive to the office.

I’m tired after a long day, Fridays are always the worst in my opinion, and to be honest, I really don’t want to be here. The knowledge that Joonmyun is already here somewhere cheers me up, and I manage to keep a polite smile on my face as I start to mingle with the other guests here.

It takes too long for me to find Joonmyun, in my opinion, as I’m stopped my many people who want to exchange meaningless pleasantries and give me their business cards, and by the time I spot him, I’m fast losing my patience.

I’m normally able to last much longer than this, but the knowledge that he’s here somewhere has made me impatient.

I spot him as he’s heading over towards the cocktail bar, and I feel more than a little smug when I see the barely restrained relief visible in his smile when his eyes meet mine.

He’s much better at all this than me, and he easily slips a welcoming smile on his face when someone turns to speak to him at the bar as I make my way across the room towards him.

He’s successfully made it through the conversation in record time when I reach him, and he turns his head to look at me, keeping his back to the rest of the room, and giving me a little grin.

“How are you managing?” he asks sympathetically, sliding my drink over to me.

I grimace and he laughs softly. I take a sip of my drink and savour the taste; he’s ordered me my favourite, and it’s enough to take the edge of the unpleasant feeling I always get when I come to events like this one.

“How much longer do I have to stay?” I ask with a sigh, “I’ve spoken to everyone of use, would it be rude to leave this early?”

He rolls his eyes in amusement, and chooses just to say, “Stick it out a little longer.”

I sigh and take another sip of my drink, thinking longingly of the comfort of Joonmyun’s apartment.

My respite is short lived, as I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder, and turn to find myself faced with a stunning young woman, dressed elegantly from head to toe and wearing a winning smile. I

’m already feeling uncomfortable by the look in her eyes, but I’m certain I recognise her face from somewhere, so force a friendly smile onto my face and follow her when she beckons me to follow her.

She leads me away from Joonmyun, to the side of the room where we can talk with more privacy, and turns to face me, perfect smile once more in place. In the corner of my eye I can see Joonmyun watching us from his seat at the bar, but I force myself to focus on what she’s saying.

She introduces herself, clearly proud of her status, and I respond as expected, now aware of why her face seemed familiar. Her father is a prominent business man who appears regularly on TV, and her facial features are, if more feminine, very similar.

She continues to speak, clearly incredibly well educated, and I smile and laugh at the right moments, privately acknowledging that she’s certainly got a charismatic way of speaking; a useful skill to have in the field of business.

I jump a little when I hear Joonmyun’s voice sound out right next to me, having not noticed him approach.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he says, cutting her off mid-sentence, voice polite but cold, “but I’m afraid I need to steal Mr Zhang away from you.”

I’m surprised by the sudden, and judging by the expression on my new acquaintance’s face, possibly rather rude interruption, but I follow him willingly, politely saying goodbye to her and accepting her card, smiling and promising to make contact, before turning to weave through the clusters of people.

I give my empty glass to a waiter carrying a tray, and move to keep up as he heads determinedly across the room, fielding off invitations to conversation from the people he passes.

“Just want some space,” he mumbles when it’s just us, leading me down the corridor and into a much smaller, empty room, and closing the door behind us. The sounds of the main room die away and silence takes over.

He stalks over to the window and stands there, staring out silently before suddenly downing the rest of his drink in one and placing it onto the window ledge in front of him, letting out his breath in a strained rush.

I watch him silently for a moment, taking in the tension in his shoulders and the way his fists are slightly clenched, and then, when I draw a blank, decide to find out what’s troubling him.

“Joonmyun, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting weird since that Lady called me away.”

I move over just in time to see him subtly roll his eyes, “that Lady just wanted to get into your pants and use you for publicity.”

“What?” I ask, dismissing his slightly insulting words, and just staring, as for some reason, his composure starts to crack.

“You’d barely completed introductions yet you were certainly getting friendly with her very fast,” he grinds out, eyes flashing dangerously, shifting his weight to the other foot, restless and jittery.

“Well I don’t know, she seems nice enough? It’s just business, I- I don’t really know why you’re getting so angry,” I reply in bewilderment, unable to understand why he’s angry about me talking to this particular person when I’ve been meeting people all night.

“I’m not getting angry! But you’ve only just met her, you know nothing about her yet you were staring at her with stars in your eyes. She’s not right for you!”

His voice is loud now, bordering on yelling, with an undertone of what I would describe as panic, and I’ve never seen him like this before.

“Stars? What are you talking about? Don’t be silly. And you don’t know her either! How can you know she’s not right for me? Why would you even-?” I splutter, vexed and confused.

“I just- I do okay!” he huffs, glaring off to the side in frustration, looking anywhere but at me, his stance shifting from borderline aggressive to defensive in split second.

I stare at him silently, struggling to work out where this has come from. His cheeks are slightly flushed, and his eyes angry, but for some reason, I don’t think he’s truly angry at me; if the uncertainty I can sense is any indication, I think he’s angry and confused with himself.

When it all fits together in my head, my breath hitches and my heart thuds faster in my chest, hopeful happiness erupting tumultuously inside of me.

“You were jealous,” I breathe out softly, voice almost reverent.

He whips his head up to look at me, eyes widening as he processes what I’ve just said. The sudden shock and mortification that fills his eyes tells me that I’m right, and that he didn’t understand why he was reacting like that either.

His cheeks flush and panic fills his eyes. I raise my hand and take a small step forward, but the moment I move, he turns and runs, clearly desperate to escape this humiliating situation, but I’m not going to let him escape.

I lunge after him, catching him just before he reaches the door, and I tug him away from it and back towards me. He struggles in my grip, and I reach out to grab his other wrist, “wait, Joonmyun, we need to talk about this!”

He shakes his head, refusing to look at me, with cheeks red and eyes nervous, fear, maybe of rejection, clearly portrayed in his eyes; those eyes that never hide anything from me.

“Joonmyun, calm down,” I say, worried when he keeps struggling, despite my firm grip.

In exasperation, I step forward, pushing him up against the wall next to the door. My arms press against the wall on either side of his head, trapping him there, and his hands defensively come up to press against my chest, where he can probably feel my heart racing.

He freezes and inhales sharply when he registers how close my face is to his. He stares up into my eyes, uncertainty clearly displayed in his own.

“Joonmyun,” I whisper, “it’s okay. Stop fighting me.”

 He pants softly, the sudden panicked struggling and hopefully the close proximity rendering him slightly breathless as the silence thickens.

His eyes flick down to my lips, and my heart beat speeds up a little more as I imitate him. His lips are parted as he breathes in little gasps, and I feel my cheeks heat up a little as I watch him run his tongue over them nervously.

I tear my gaze away and back up to his eyes, only to discover that he’d already done that and that his gaze is infinitely darker than before, now that he’s let go of his panic and is able to sense the desire I’m feeling.

“Joonmyun,” I whisper, leaning closer until able to feel his breath on my lips, and that’s all it takes.

He surges forward, connecting his lips to mine desperately, one hand sliding up my chest to fist in my hair, and the other moving around my back to tug me against him.

I respond eagerly, pouring burning emotions into this kiss that I’ve kept buried for who knows how long. I slip my arm around his waist and pull him closer, reaching up with my other to slide my fingers through his soft hair.

His lips feel like heaven against mine as the kiss gradually deepens, and he into my mouth with surprising confidence and urgency.

I suppose it should feel wrong to be kissing my best friend, and maybe I should take a moment to consider the awkward repercussions this could have on our relationship if this doesn’t work out, but this truly feels like something I’ve been awaiting for a long time, and from the way he’s kissing me, I’d say the same for him.

My heart is racing in my ears as I devour his mouth, struggling to commit everything to memory; from the desperate little noises he’s occasionally making in his throat, to the way he grasps at the back of my suit jacket, pulling me ever closer and refusing to let me go.

The onslaught of sensations is overwhelming, but I love it; I never want it to stop.

Eventually we’re forced to separate, panting for air as we tear our lips apart. I rest my forehead against his, closing my eyes and just letting myself bask in the feeling of rightness that comes from being held in his arms like this.

He turns his head a little and buries it in the crook of my neck, hugging me tighter. A few seconds pass, and then I hear him speak against my skin, a heated shiver running through my body as he says in a ragged voice, “mine.”

I feel him smile smugly against my sensitive skin as my breath hitches, and I don’t even consider trying to convince myself that I don’t find his possessiveness attractive.

After a short while, passed in contented silence, Joonmyun murmurs, “Lay? Let’s go home.”

That suggestion sounds perfect to me, and I pull back, slipping my hand into his and taking a step towards the door. I meet his gaze and the beautiful smile he gives me takes my breath away. I dart forward to place a chaste kiss onto his wet, swollen lips, grinning widely at the surprised gasp that escapes him.

He lets out a breathy chuckle at the ecstatic expression on my face, his eyes shining, and gives my hand a tug, stepping forward to lead the way.

We avoid the main rooms, taking a roundabout route to get to the back entrance of the building. There are no other guests here, and the porter on duty takes no interest our intertwined hands, merely opening the doors and bidding us a good night.

We step out onto the street and are pleased to find that there are no cameras to be seen; Joonmyun and I both hate paparazzi.

We’d both left our cars at work, getting a taxi here as we knew we’d be having a drink or two, so we head to the taxi rank across the street and climb into one of the ones waiting there. I tell the driver the address of Joonmyun’s apartment before sliding the partition across to give us a little privacy.

I take Joonmyun’s hand in mine again, unwilling to let go for more than a few seconds. His smile in response is stunning and this time, when he catches me staring, I don’t need to feel embarrassed.

He shuffles over a little so that our thighs are pressed together and he can rest his head on my shoulder, relaxing into my side with a pleased sigh.

I turn my head to press my face into his hair, inhaling the familiar scent of his shampoo as I stare out his window, watching the city go by. We still have a lot to talk about; things will be different now, but I think he wants the same as me, so for now, I just decide to enjoy the excited buzz that’s rushing in my veins; one that’s been suppressed for too long.

That night, as he presses me into the sheets, mouth connected fiercely with mine and hands hungrily mapping my exposed skin, I dismiss any possible concerns I might have had earlier, and instead let him overwhelm my senses.

We can talk about this in the morning.

Ok guys, I hope you enjoyed that :D I stayed up till like 5am writing it so lots of editing had to be done this morning haha XD

Please comment <3

The next update should be Baekyeol, and I'm really looking forward to writing that one, but it may take a while now that my studies are starting up, so please stick around and be patient with me <3

Love you all, and thank you for reading my fic, it means a lot!! <3

Jade xx

Oh also, in the forward now, there is a link to where someone is in the process of translating this into spanish, so if that would be useful for you, feel free to check it out? :) it's not complete yet or anything but... just thought I'd point it out :)

Also again, I told my readers of my Hunhan cage fighter oneshot, Fight for me that I'd write a sequel or prequel..... if you're into hunhan, maybe you could check it out? I need nagging I'm afraid haha XD Thank you <3