Prompt: #55  – “Don’t leave me...”

Pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader

Genre: CEO au / angst / fluff

Warnings: only for Jinyoung’s poor liver.

A/N: This is the one for Jinyoung, your Wonwoo request will be tomorrow

Word count: 1458

Park Jinyoung was done caring.

The multi-billion dollar deal had fallen through and it was all due to his incompetence. His company would now fail and he would be left in ruins, the young CEO who had tried to covet too much too soon.

Even he knew he had been ambitious reaching out for this deal. Yet it had been dangled in front of him, and like most people, Jinyoung had believed he held the necessary skills to make it his. Blinded by foolishness, he reached out for a bounty far too large and now the livelihoods weighed down on his shoulders that he was accountable for. If all trade stopped with Park Corporation, he would disappoint those who had followed him blindly as their leader.

It all felt too much and as the hard liquor ran down his throat in one motion, he laughed bitterly. Even the strongest of spirits couldn’t help him now.

“You look like you shouldn’t be drinking so much,” a voice oozed and he glanced up out of his misery, uncharacteristically smiling widely at you. He pulled out the empty barstool beside him and patted the seat. You grinned. “At least, not alone. Who knows what kind of trouble you’ll get into?”

“Nothing worse than I’m already in,” he admitted easily. He was drunk now; he could feel the warmth of the alcohol as it moved throughout his veins.

“You’re in something deep?” you breathed with feigned confusion, shaking your head and he watched the movement of your hair floating around your off the shoulder dress until he grew dizzy. Blinking rapidly, he tried grasping at any remaining coherency but the liquor had taken care of that.

“Quit moving,” he mumbled and you laughed, music to his ears. Just who were you? A figment of his imagination? He knew this couldn’t be real life now. No one as beautiful as you would sit down beside him when he was pathetic like this.

“You’re cute.”

“I’m a failure.”

“We all fail in life, kid. It’s all about how you make the choice to rise back up from it. Are you going to let everyone just walk all over you and make you feel incapable or will you try for another round and prove what a mistake they made doubting you?”

Jinyoung scrutinised your flawless face until his eyes hurt from staring so intensely at you. “Just who are you?”

“Maybe the voice of reason you need to get up from the hole you’re creating yourself before it’s too late,” you answered, standing back up. Jinyoung’s hand shot out to hold onto you and you looked down at his grip, your lips curling up softly. “Stop being so cute, kid.”

Jinyoung felt like one then. He longed for nurture, for immense comfort. He wanted to be smothered and hear words whispered into his ear that he was going to be okay, that he was safe hiding where he was. He could continue then, if you allowed him to cling onto you as he buried himself down into obscurity.

His inner critic mocked him for being so weak and his grip faltered on your wrist. Still, he attempted to hold onto your comfort. “Don’t leave me.”

“Am I even someone you need to stay at your side?” you wondered with another smile, leaning in to brush your lips over his cheek. “You’ve done so we