FATAL TROUBLE (REVERSE HAREM)

Part 40 🔞

The Ride Back from the Valley was peaceful yet chaotic. The environment around you was so pleasant and comforting, yet the storms inside your mind was chaotic. Your grip on his jacket tightened and he looked down at your arms around his torso.

The motorbike hummed steadily beneath as you both weaved through the winding road leading out of the valley. The cool evening air rushed past, carrying the faint scent of pine and wildflowers. You were perched behind Heeseung, your hands gripping the sides of his jacket loosely. The warmth of his back was a stark contrast to the chill in the air, grounding you in a way that only made the storm inside your mind feel more dissonant.

The valley's breathtaking view is already behind both, but it lingers in your thoughts—rolling green hills bathed in the amber light of the setting sun. It was supposed to be a day of calm, of escape. But now, as the horizon begins to darken, your chest feels heavy with thoughts you can't seem to organize.

Heeseung handles the bike with ease, his movements fluid and confident. The curve of his shoulders is relaxed, his head tilting slightly with each turn of the road. He looks so composed, so at peace, as though the world around him has no power to disturb him. You wonder if he can sense the storm brewing inside you or if he's too caught up in the freedom of the ride.

The road dips slightly, and you instinctively tightened your grip, your hands brushing against the soft material of his jacket. He glances back briefly, his dark eyes meeting yours for the briefest moment before returning to the road. "You okay back there?" he asks, his voice rising just enough to be heard over the hum of the engine.

"Yeah," you called back, forcing a smile he can't see. "I'm fine."

But I'm not fine. The rhythm of the ride, the gentle sway of the bike, only amplifies the thoughts I've been trying to suppress. I think about the way his laugh echoed in the valley earlier, the way his voice softened when he talked about his feelings for me. How, he possessed the idea of me belongs to him. As if he owns me. I think about how his presence feels like the kind of safety I've never been able to name.

The road straightens out, and Heeseung increases the speed slightly, the hum of the engine growing louder. The setting sun casts a golden glow on his face, highlighting the curve of his jaw, the soft line of his profile. He seems so unreachable in this moment, like a part of the scenery—beautiful, fleeting, untouchable.

You closed your eyes for a moment, letting the wind whip against your face. It's too much, this ache in your chest, this need to say something, to ask him if he feels it too—the unspoken connection, the unacknowledged weight in the space between both. But your words stay lodged in your throat, tangled up in fear and hesitation. Because, the same feelings are tied up with others as well.

If you are going to address one then you're going to lose the other six from your grip. You want to hold all of the strings in your fist, if not one, you will hold it with two.

You both pass through a cluster of trees, their branches arching over the road like a canopy. The shadows flicker across you both, brief moments of darkness breaking the fading light. The world feels alive—too alive for how heavy your thoughts feel.

Heeseung slows the bike as you approach a bend in the road, the engine rumbling softly now. "You're quiet," he says, his voice carrying easily over the noise of the ride. There's something tentative in his tone, like he's waiting for you to say more.

You hesitated, your heart pounding harder than it should. "Just... thinking," you managed, your voice barely audible above the wind.

He glances back again, his gaze lingering this time. "About what?" he asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, like he's trying to coax you out of your shell.