Aurora - You are my light (Ateez x reader)

FIFTYNINE

The morning with Seonghwa felt like something out of a fairy tale, one of the darker, dangerously beautiful ones where the prince doesn't always save, but sometimes seduces.
When he wasn't thrusting into me hard and unrelenting, he was the gentleman everyone needed. Gentle, controlled, sometimes almost too calm, as if he wanted to soothe the chaos inside me that he himself had caused.
He even managed, for the second time that morning, to wrap me around his finger and make good on his promise to drive me out of my mind. Literally.

Later, as I got ready for the day, braiding my hair and letting cold water run over my wrists, the images from the last hours wouldn't leave me.
Not just of him.
In my head, they began to blend into something else. Seonghwa and Hongjoong. Together.
I had now slept with both men. Both knew my body, both had dominated me in completely different ways. And yet I couldn't help but wonder who of them would have the upper hand if they ever challenged each other. The thought sent a shiver down my spine and made me blush at the same time.

I took a deep breath, shook the image from my head, and stepped onto the deck, where the sunlight turned the wood to gold. Hongjoong had called a meeting, and even just thinking about Nerathia made my stomach twist into a knot.
The morning was too beautiful, too quiet, too blue for what was still to come.
A deceptive calm before the storm.

At the mainmast, I spotted Yeosang and Jongho sitting side by side on a crate. Yeosang was barefoot, his head tilted slightly back as if soaking up the light. His black hair moved in the wind, and for a moment, he looked just like he had before the Siren's Trench. Free, alive, breathtakingly beautiful.
I raised a hand and waved before running down to them.

"What the hell is he doing out here?" My voice came out sharper than I meant.
The question was directed at Jongho, but my gaze stayed on Yeosang. I studied him, the color in his face, the faint tiredness in his eyes. I needed to be sure he hadn't gotten up too soon.

Yeosang smiled when my fingers gently cupped his chin and tilted his face from side to side.
"The night went well," Jongho said calmly. "He slept deeply. And this morning he said he feels better."
Yeosang nudged my hand aside, but not to push me away. Instead, he placed it on his thigh and covered it with his own, as if to calm me.
"See? All good," he murmured, his smile soft, almost shy.

I narrowed my eyes at Jongho, trying to tell if he was being honest.
He exhaled, half annoyed, half amused. "Aurora, we managed to keep everyone alive even before you came along. We watch out for each other. Always."
Yeosang squeezed my hand lightly, maybe to confirm Jongho's words, maybe to reassure me.

I nodded hesitantly. "I'm sorry, I'm just—"

"In love," Jongho cut in flatly.

I stared at him.
He grinned and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, sorry. But even if I couldn't read your aura, it's practically blinding. Pink, sparkly, shaped like a unicorn with heart eyes."

I snorted, folding my arms. "My aura does not look like a pink unicorn."
Jongho's grin widened. "Oh, it does. And that's coming from a professional."

Yeosang tried to hide a laugh, but his shoulders gave him away.
"And besides," Jongho went on, "our dear Yeosangie already told me everything last night. All the romantic whispering included."

He clapped Yeosang on the shoulder, and Yeosang winced slightly, blushing as his eyes dropped. A small smile played on his lips.
"I didn't tell him everything," he murmured, his gaze flicking briefly toward me.

Jongho leaned closer, lowering his voice. "His aura, by the way? Same color. Pink. With unicorn."

That was it. I burst out laughing, so hard my eyes filled with tears. Yeosang laughed too, Jongho looked smugly satisfied, and for a moment, I forgot everything else.