THIS IS ALL IMRAPUNZEL'S FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you've read Salt Skin, the timeline thing makes more sense, but honestly it this is just supernatural poly Baek x Jongin x OC (Hyemi), this is an unedited drabble that's probably incoherent.

salt skin: the good timeline; the life and times of kim jongin, song hyemi, and byun baekhyun. Aka the one in which jongin and hyemi acquire a dead-ghost-slash-magical-Tree-vessel-boyfriend who may or may not still be possessed by the god of death yeonma. hyemi is occupied with saving the planet and passing her classes, jongin is living his best life, baekhyun wants all the love and attention, and yeonma wants them all dead.

2223w

~.~

hyemi is still in awe at the mere fact that she’s somehow managed to acquire one incredibly hot, incredibly sweet boyfriend in the midst of the world-saving mess she’s been thrown into, all while still having to ace her classes. now, somehow, some ing way, she’s managed to acquire another one.

of course, neither of them are exactly normal. they’re both from an alien planet. one of them can teleport and it took about five life threatening situations for him to start trusting her and her abilities. Not to mention that her mother’s mistakes caused his own family to ostracize him when he was a child.

the other can manipulate light, even cast illusions. he also may or may not be 1) dead, 2) possessed by an evil death god hellbent on getting hyemi to join his forces, 3) being used by said evil death god as a sort of vessel for him to act through until he finds another one, and 4) hyemi’s childhood best friend and first love.

kim jongin—beautiful tan skin, full lips, and tall, so so tall. he radiates warmth, despite his cold demeanor, there is a grace in him, in the way he walks and speaks. his dark gaze had always been heavy, watchful, until suddenly it was not. he went from watching her movements carefully, distrusting her every action, to smiling softly at her responses to his remarks. she’d rolls her eyes at kris and jongin would laugh loudly, clapping his hands together, head thrown back. until one day, she found herself reveling in his eyes, hanging onto his every word, until one day she realized maybe she liked him.

byun baekhyun—pretty and small, yet firm, always beaming at her, despite everything, despite the circumstances that led them to sacrifices she wishes neither of them had to make. his dancing gaze and mischievous grin had had a special nook in her heart since the day she met him, when they were mere children. she had hated him, when he had returned to her only to drop a million world-shattering truths on her, but she had also loved him—she always loved him, she still does.

hyemi is so ing in awe of her luck, especially on those rare quiet nights when baekhyun’s curled up like a little puppy, chest rising and falling steadily, his head tucked away in the crook of jongin’s neck while he practically koala hugs jongin’s back, arms snaking around his torso. he's not twitching or using his demonic possessed-by-a-death-god voice. jongin isn’t disappearing unconsciously in a plume of smoke—only to wake up in the middle of some European country or something, like he usually does. he is curled up into a tiny ball, looking much too small for someone of his stature. in these rare moments, where her two beautiful boyfriends (she still can’t believe it) are sleeping so peacefully, a space on the bed left open for her after she finishes up her lab, she wonders how the hell she could have ended up being so damn lucky to have encountered jongin and baekhyun, to have them be such significant parts of her life—of a life that is honestly incredibly stressful and hectic and sometimes overwhelming, but made better by these two boys in front of her.

in these moments, she is both in awe and incredibly in love.

~.~

jongin presses his lips to hyemi's and she sighs, melting into his touch. "we only have a a few minutes." jongin mumbles, his kisses growing feverish, his fingers curling around her jaw.

"you can teleport." she tells him, tone pointed. 

he rolls his eyes. she snorts. the metal hood of the car disappears from behind her and she wrinkles her nose - she's always hated the feeling of teleportation, her stomach churns and she feels like she's being vacuum-packed through a teeny tiny tube. She gasps when her back hits the mattress hard, the bed squeaking. jongin's hands move fast, pulling at the buttons of her button down shirt, all while he presses heated kisses down her neck.

jongin teases, fingers hovering, and she huffs in annoyance, murmuring, "your friends are going to be here any minute for that monster fighting meeting you set up. hurry the up."

"someone's desperate." jongin chuckles, low and throaty, his breath hitting her shoulder. she shoves him. he laughs, breathless, his fingers lingering at the waistband of her jeans. 

just as his fingers reach the button of her jeans, his warm, large hands settling against the skin of her tummy, the bedroom light starts flickering, on and off, on and off. 

jongin's fingers freeze. she looks up, but the door to the bedroom is closed. still the lights flicker on and off and hyemi hears a soft voice in her head, a voice that sounds both faraway and right next to her, a thousand voices melted into one single entity. it sends chills up and down her spine, the way the voice booms all around her. she doesn't think she'll ever get used to it. 

jongin's fingers drop from the waistband of her jeans as he drags his hands through his hair. he rolls his eyes, "dude, seriously?"

the chilling voice intensifies, along with the flickering lights, until the bedside lamp's lightbulb suddenly bursts a bright, blinding white before going out completely. the voice sounds sends a chill right up her spine, despite it , "s~"

Hyemi groans, dropping her head back on the pillow. Jongin sighs, too, dropping forward with her. He rests his cheek on her bare stomach and she can still feel him against her thigh.

the horrible voice, yeonma's - the god of death's - voice echoes all around them, icy, ethereal. "i want a kiss, too."

jongin mumbles incoherently against hyemi's bare stomach so hyemi calls out, "then stop being dramatic and get the in here."

and baekhyun does, the door swinging open, banging loudly against the far wall. he enters, -eating grin and all. he pauses, gaze appraising, as he drinks in the sight of them in the bed. and then his gaze settles on jongin squirming uncomfortably and says, delighted, "that's what you deserve."

jongin tosses a pillow at baekhyun. baekhyun laughs, so beautifully, before turning his mischievous, clearly petty gaze on her. her heart races at his look, her stomach fluttering at what it means.

"stop using your yeonma voice just because we're doing something without you." hyemi tries to sound stern, later on, but it's hard when she's so ing breathless. her limbs feel like jelly. 

baekhyun rolls his eyes, "then stop doing things without me."

jongin snorts, "nope, never."

baekhyun bites jongin. jongin screams, teleporting into the void, a black plume of smoke left in his wake. hyemi sighs.

~.~

jongdae stares at baekhyun. he's sitting in his seat, eyes rolled back, and his mouth is wide open, that chilling voice calling out dead, kill them, kill them kill them, sweetheart. 

jongin hands jongdae a fork. jongdae does not take it, his eyes pinned on baekhyun. jongdae is pale, brows furrowed in worry. 

"uh, guys, i think baek's broken." 

hyemi pours out a shot of alcohol for each of them, ignoring the pain in her wrist from the fight they just got back from. there had been a gigantic spiderlike creature roaming the streets of seoul, right across from the university, invisible to the normal human's eye - a supposed side effect of the Tree of Life they had spent months protecting merging with baekhyun, since baekhyun is currently dead (or something) and contains too much dark energy from yeonma, hence the strange bouts of possession he occasionally goes into. 

jongin waves his own fork dismissively, mouth half full of food, "he does that sometimes, ignore him."

jongdae blinks between hyemi and jongin and baekhyun, expression twisting into one of puzzlement, as if he isn't sure what the hell he's supposed to say.

sometimes, yeonma bursts through baekhyun. this time, yeonma's voice grinds her ears as he murmurs, "i cannot wait to kill you both so this useless vessel can move on."

"uh huh." jongin nods, taking a shot.

baekhyun's eyes roll back and hyemi feels bad, so she leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to baekhyun's cheek. baekhyun shudders and just as hyemi starts to lean back against her chair, baekhyun grabs her hand and he is back to normal, though his eyes maintain that strange darkness to it, the kind she and jongin are used to but clearly no one else is, because jongdae is still staring as if baekhyun's grown another head. 

baekhyun mumbles, "i want a hug."

baekhyun pouts adorably, his pink lips jutting out. hyemi obliges. 

baekhyun looks over hyemi's shoulder, at jongin. 

jongin shakes his head. 

baekhyun opens his mouth and yeonma screams, tear you apart limb from limb and then-

"god, fine." jongin hurls himself at baekhyun, wrapping his arms around him. 

baekhyun smiles, smug and satisfied, more than anything. 

after a long moment of stunned silence, jongdae bursts into laughter.

~.~

hyemi ing hates chemistry. 

"a D? how dare he give my girlfriend a D?" jongin is half-playful, half-serious, and hyemi can't help but lean up to give him a small peck on the lips, smiling despite her annoyance at her professor.

the hairs at the back of hyemi's neck stand on end, but before she can turn to confront whoever is giving her that feeling, baekhyun whispers, his voice low but menacing, a dark whisper that reminds her of just how chaotic he can be, "you should kill him."

hyemi blinks, jumping at the sudden intrusion of baekhyun's voice. 

jongin doesn't even look fazed, casually turning to stare at baekhyun. he purses his lips, looking thoughtful and hyemi is horrified when jongin says, "huh, that just might work."

hyemi's eyes widen, "no."

"i mean, i can teleport. baekhyun's got literal death on his side. we could make this happen." jongin explains, as if she needs explanation. 

baekhyun nods along, leaning his elbows on the back of the couch, his face close, his eyes conspiring as he nods sagely in agreement. "he's not wrong. yeonma's been itching to kill someone. either that or he wants to watch more sailor moon. i don't know which, it's hard to tell."

hyemi sputters, spinning to face jongin and baekhyun, "are you guys serious?"

jongin makes a face, "of course."

baekhyun nods vigorously. 

hyemi scowls, "oh my god. murder is bad."

"since when?" baekhyun asks. 

at the same time, jongin says, "only if you're caught."

"i'm seriously going to break up with both of you."

baekhyun sighs as if she's ruining his fun or something, "fine, just kill him a little."

"how do you kill someone a little?" jongin frowns, expression serious, as if that is a serious inquiry of his - it probably is. 

baekhyun wiggles his fingers very gently, "small stabs."

jongin nods, with zero irony in the sincere expression gracing his features. hyemi doesn't know whether she wants to laugh or cry.

~.~

"why do you like sailor moon so much?"

"yeonma does." baekhyun states, attention entirely focused on the show.

"okay, why does yeonma like it?"

"he wants me to do the sailor transformation spin every time he comes out."

jongin pops his head out the kitchen just to call out, "would you wear a sailor moon costume? because that'd be hot."

"stop encouraging him, !" baekhyun shouts back.

hyemi can't help but laugh, though she does join baekhyun, curling up beside him in the couch. baekhyun lifts an arm and she tucks herself in. snuggling up close.

~.~

"so, you're all dating each other?" chanyeol tilts his head, raising a brow. 

"no, i'm just waiting for hyemi to break up with jongin so i can have him all to myself." baekhyun says, nonchalant as he stuffs a handful of peanuts into his mouth. 

jongin frowns, "why am i the one getting broken up with?"

"so, you were just using me, huh?" hyemi cuts in, raising a brow.

"yes."

"jongin's my favorite anyway." hyemi sticks out her tongue at baekhyun.

baekhyun blinks, unfazed, "i mean, yeah. isn't that a given for anyone who ever meets him?"

chanyeol snorts, "you're not wrong there."

jongin is still frowning, stuck on his unanswered question. hyemi can't deny baekhyun's words.

~.~

one night, jongin is the one to say, "you know, technically speaking, we're all also dating yeonma, aren't we?"

baekhyun's fingers freeze mid- in her hair, "oh my god, you're right."

hyemi pauses, "is it bad that i'm not even bothered by this?"

"kind of."

it's silent for a long, long moment, before baekhyun adds, so softly, "it's kind of ed up, though."

jongin nods from her other side. she smiles a little, at the thought of being sandwiched between her two favorite boys, her boyfriends. she's comfortable and content. she reaches over and threads her fingers through baekhyun's fingers. baekhyun's situation is - it's horrible, and she wishes, more than anything, that he didn't have to go through something like that. She opens to whisper something comforting, when jongin says, "what's really ed up is that yeonma's staying here for free. he's not even paying rent."

hyemi blinks, mouth clamping shut. 

slowly, baekhyun mumbles. "oh my god, you're right. ing freeloader."

she can't stop herself from bursting into giggles, despite the morbid origins of such a joke. 

baekhyun giggles, too, the sound soft, pleasantly lovely. jongin flips over, the bedsprings creaking beneath them, and presses his face against her bare shoulder, his breath warm as he smiles against her skin. he reaches over her and threads his fingers through baekhyun's pretty fingers. 

in this moment, immersed in warmth and giggles, she finds that she is content, despite their situation and their cicumstances, she is content. maybe, she is happy. she is definitely lucky.