Lines We Cross ||Front Man x Reader||

The heavy doors slammed shut behind Jun-ho, his yells echoing in the corridor before they faded into nothing. Just like that, he was gone.

And it was just me and In-ho again.

I felt the cords around my wrists loosen.

"There," he murmured. "Just you and me again, love. As always."

I clenched my jaw, yanking my arms away from him the second they were free. "I fucking hate you."

He tsked, shaking his head. "We both know that's a lie."

My nails dug into my palms. I hated how steady he sounded. I hated how he made my stomach twist with something I couldn't name. He didn't get to do that. 

He extended his arm out toward me, palm open, waiting.

Like we were some fucking royal couple going for a walk.

I stared at it.

Did nothing, and got up by myself.

He chuckled. "I've always liked how stubborn and feisty you are."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Without thinking, I lifted my hand and slapped him across the face. Hard.

The sound echoed louder than I expected. My palm stung, but I didn't flinch. I wanted him to feel it.

He just blinked, jaw slightly clenched. Then... he nodded.

"Okay," he muttered, rubbing the side of his face. "I deserved that."

Damn right he did.

Two guards appeared then. We were escorted out of the room together. I walked beside him, refusing to take his arm, refusing to give him the satisfaction of anything soft. My body was still tense, my thoughts a mess. Every footstep felt heavier than the last.

I tried to hold myself together, tried not to crumble under the weight of everything that had just happened. I hated the fact that I couldn't hate him completely. That somewhere deep in the cracks of all this pain... something still ached for him.

God, I felt like a fucking coward.

"In-ho," I said, voice lower, breaking the silence. "Is Jun-ho gonna be okay?"

He didn't look at me when he answered. "He will."

That was all he said.

I didn't know if it was the truth. I wanted to believe it so bad. I needed to. For my own sanity.

But with In-ho, there were never guarantees. Only promises tangled in strings.

Still... I held onto it anyway.

Even if it was a lie.

The corridor ahead stretched on, the lights above casting a cold fluorescent glow over everything. My legs were sore, stiff from being tied so long, but I kept walking. I didn't look at him. Not even once.

But I felt him.

He was close. Too close.

Each step we took in silence burned with the weight of everything unsaid. Every glance he threw my way was heat — not the kind that comforted, but the kind that clung and suffocated. Still, there was something behind it.

Yearning.

I could feel it clawing out of him like a fucking ghost—desperate, hungry, and utterly human.

He wanted me.

Not just my body. Not just control over me.

He wanted my heart.

Again.

We turned a corner, and the guards fell back slightly, giving us a moment alone. In-ho's voice broke through the silence, soft and raw.

"Do you remember the first time you looked at me like I wasn't someone you hated?

I stopped walking.

Slowly, I turned toward him. His eyes searched mine—so open, so fucking vulnerable, it made my stomach twist.

"I don't just hate you In-ho, I despise you."

"Y/N," he said, voice barely above a whisper. "I want you to love me again. I demand it."

I stared at him, my chest rising and falling, pulse pounding in my ears.

'You can't just demand something like this. I'm not your worker, or assset or property I'm a human being. So I suggest you stop treating me like a prize you're fighting so hard for."

"I want to be good. For you. Y/N."

God, for a second—just a second—I wanted to believe him. I wanted to fall back into that false comfort, let him cradle my face and pretend we were just two people trying to love each other in the middle of a fucked-up situation.

But that wasn't our reality.

"Save it. You made a mistake," I said finally, my voice sharp and cold. "You want me to forget everything, like it didn't happen. Like Jun-ho wasn't just dragged away. Like you didn't almost fucking kill me."

His face twitched, jaw tightening.

I didn't stop.

"I don't care how many soft words you throw at me or how many regrets you pretend to carry. You want redemption? Earn it. You want me to love you?" I scoffed. "Then you should've never let it get this far."

He said nothing. Just stood there, still. The ache in his eyes only grew, and I hated how familiar it looked. Hated that somewhere deep down, I recognized that pain.

But I didn't move closer. I didn't soften.

Because he was right about one thing—this was just us again.

Only now, I was nothing like the girl he once had wrapped around his finger.

And I'd be damned if I let him break me again.

But... I'd also be lying if I'd still say I dont love him, because after all, I did love him.

A/N~ FILLER CHAPTER TO KEEP YA'LL ENTERAINED CUZ IM SO BUSY RN, I'll be active really soon tho! Four more exams till I'm free.