Chapter Text
The lights Abby had chosen for the party made Zoey briefly consider sprawling out on the floor of the living room to watch the way they floated across the ceiling. If she tuned out the sound of people moving around in the house as they finished setting up for the party, she could almost imagine she was on the seafloor— thinking about nothing in particular and feeling blanketed in something that made her feel like one small, small part of a magnificent whole. She'd always been fascinated by that— for as much as her mind struggled when she felt passed over or ignored or somehow insignificant— the ocean had always been different. It had always been comforting to consider its unknowns and the vast beauty of it and Zoey needed a little comfort after coming off of a week full of rapidly approaching deadlines, too many late nights and enough caffeine to send her body into orbit.
She allowed herself a handful of seconds to watch the lights before she took a deep breath and began to pay close attention to the motion of tensing and relaxing as many muscle groups as she could focus on. When she opened her eyes again she felt grounded in her body again, though she briefly considered snapping the rubber band on her wrist just to be doubly safe. Was that the phrase? Her nose wrinkled and she muttered it under her breath before she shook her head— to triple check or whatever. Even if she hadn't actually double checked but who was going to correct her in her own—
"Baby?"
The sound of Rumi's voice made her spin on her heels so quickly she teetered and tipped forward just long enough to feel her stomach swoop before he stepped in and she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head back to flash him a bashful smile.
Rumi returned the gesture— smiling that crooked, broad smile that made Zoey's heart beat out of time almost as often as it made her feel like her stomach had become a very well funded butterfly vivarium. His eyes were warm and amused and even in the low light of the living room Zoey could make out the flecks of gold in his irises— he was so unbearably handsome she wanted to either tell him exactly that to see the way the color rose in his cheeks or do something far more inappropriate for public consumption — like pull his zipper down with her teeth and give that feeling a hands-on demonstration.
"What's up, bubby?" Zoey asked, her voice the slightest bit breathless.
Rumi ducked his head to kiss her quickly before he shrugged. "I'm just checking in," he said softly, one hand falling to her waist before he started to run his thumb in a slow circle against the bare skin between the waistband of her shorts and the hem of her crop top. "How was space?" Rumi asked curiously.
A slow moving warmth bloomed in her chest and crept through her with all the ease of molasses spreading across a counter top. It wasn't quite a code of theirs— not exactly— it was the best way Zoey, as a young teenager, had been able to to explain herself when it came to how lost in her own daydreams she had a tendency to be. She was, she'd explained emphatically, basically a really committed astronaut and her daydreams were space! She'd expected laughter or the fond roll of the eyes she sometimes received from her extended family when she'd attempted to explain things of that nature in the past but Jinu and Rumi had both met the explanation with firm nods and made sure to ask her how space was whenever they caught her daydreaming or lost in thought.
Zoey hummed softly, leaning in to press her face into his neck and nuzzle against the spot near his collar where his cologne always smelled the strongest. She made a pleased noise in the back of her throat as she took a deep breath and felt the vibration of Rumi's laughter roll through her like it was rattling the foundation of her body; though she could admit Rumi had always had a talent for making her feel simultaneously off-balance and so safe she wondered why falling had ever been a fear to begin with.
"It was the ocean today," she informed him, her lips brushing against his skin with every word. She felt him shiver against her and fought to corral her smile into something just a bit less smug when she pulled back to look up at him again— only to squeak outright when he moved, slipped an arm beneath her knees and lifted her into his arms as she sputtered with laughter.
They moved only as far as the couch less than a meter away and Zoey spent a few moments adjusting until her thighs bracketed his and his head was tilted back the slightest bit so he could still watch her as she spoke. She rested a hand on the back of his neck and began to run her nails lightly across his skin, flashing him a dimpled grin when he all but swallowed a whine in response.
"How as the ocean, then?" He asked, his voice the slightest bit strained.
Zoey laughed and kissed the tip of his nose— a tacit apology that she certainly didn't quite mean; who could blame her for wanting to tease her super hot boyfriend? No one she wanted to know, that was for sure.
"It was good. I was sorta just admiring the lighting, y'know? Did Abby just happen to set up the super ocean-y vibe on purpose or did I just get really lucky?" She asked, tilting her head curiously.
"I mean, he knew we were coming. I'm pretty sure he double checked with Jinu at least four times," Rumi said slowly. "So… maybe it's another thing to add to the list of reasons you're just special?" He said with a raise of his eyebrows that made Zoey snort outright.
"Sap," she grumbled halfheartedly.
He laughed and began to laugh harder when Zoey took his face in her hands and started to press kisses every part of his face she could reach. Being with Rumi had always felt more than a little like that feeling she got in her stomach on rollercoasters— the breathless, delighted adrenaline of a drop and the security of knowing she would be safe within it— she took that leap with him every moment of every day and she knew she'd do it again and again for all of her days to come. And for the many days she'd get in the next life and the next and the next.
She would tie a heart in string around Rumi's finger and watch the universe tether them together until it died a slow death millions of years from the life they were sharing together now. Zoey blinked the thought away and pressed another kiss to Rumi's lips before she snatched the baseball cap from his head and situated it firmly— and backwards— on her own head.
"Baby," Rumi whined. "I need that! My hair's such a mess right now."
"You say like that you haven't been unfairly hot every second of literally every day we've known each other," Zoey teased with a grin.
"That doesn't mean my hair isn't messed up right now," he reiterated with a groan.
She nuzzled her nose against his lightly before she rested their foreheads together. "If you're really good tonight— I'll wear nothing but the hat when we get home," Zoey said playfully.
Her voice was low and teetered somewhere between a tease and a promise. Rumi had always enjoyed the sight of her wearing his clothes in any capacity whatsoever and Zoey was pretty much positive that it had ended well for her more times than she could count. She wasn't entirely sure that a hat qualified, to be fair, but it had Rumi's name on it so it was basically as good as wearing a jersey with his name on it or something, wasn't it?
His grip on her waist tightened just enough that Zoey felt it when his fingers dug into her hips, a pleasant shiver rolling down the length of her spine as she watched Rumi process the offer in real time. He exhaled a hard breath through his nose and flexed his hands briefly against her skin before he buried his face in her neck and grumbled unintelligibly for a few seconds.
"You drive a hard bargain," he declared when he pulled back enough to squint up at her.
Zoey tried not to smirk outright and failed on every count.
"It's definitely not my fault you're very easily incentivized by the thought of seeing me naked, pretty boy," she chirped, mindful to keep her voice lower than she might have if they'd been alone.
If her brother heard anything she was saying, she'd have to go into hiding and she sort of really liked the thing they had going for them in Seoul these days.
Rumi opened his mouth to reply with a look on his face that Zoey could only describe as borderline feral— the kind of look that often prefaced him saying something so unexpectedly filthy that Zoey would be ready to get on her knees and beg to go home in less than thirty seconds.
"Yo, lovebirds!"
The sound of Abby's voice from the kitchen crashed through the moment they were sharing with all the grace of a semi-truck plowing through a wall and Zoey pressed her face against Rumi's shoulder to smother a groan. Rumi ran his hand in small circles against her lower back in apology and Zoey had to resist the urge to lean into the touch like a cat searching for affection.
"What's up, Abs?" Rumi called back.
"I'm having uh, a keg emergency or something, bro— I just need another pair of eyes on this thing."
Rumi snorted hard and tilted his head to press a kiss to the edge of Zoey's jaw before she wiggled her way off of his lap and stretched out on the couch with a sigh that would've given any one of Rumi's theater classmates a run for their money.
He laughed softly and leaned down just long enough to press a kiss to her forehead. "I love you," he said happily.
"To the edge of the universe and back!" Zoey finished with a grin, making a shooing gesture with one hand and drawing her bottom lip between her teeth as she definitely, completely, totally let her boyfriend leave the room without watching his ass the entire time.
She lifted her hips to get her phone out of her back pocket and angled her body just enough that her shoes weren't touching any part of the couch before she settled down to watch as many TikTok videos as she could fit into one sitting before anyone showed up for the party. It took all of thirty minutes for the trickle of people arriving to become a stream and less than ten for that stream to then become a flood. A fire marshal would have a fucking field day if they saw the amount of people crammed into her brother's house but that was both none of her business and not even remotely high on her priority list as she slipped through the crowd in search of both her boyfriend and soju.
Not necessarily in that order.
She managed to purloin a bottle of lychee soju from the kitchen and made a mental note not to drink the entire thing in the next hour unless she wanted Rumi to have to carry her all the way home and—
Zoey blinked. On second thought— that didn't really sound all that bad.
She shook her head sharply and rocked up onto her toes in an attempt to see around the people crammed into her immediate vicinity— it wasn't like Rumi was usually that difficult to find considering he was tall and his hair was dyed fucking lavender right now but Zoey was pushing 5'4" on a really good day so the universe wasn't exactly working with her there. She was about three seconds from cursing every single one of her mother's ancestors for ensuring she was so goddamn small when the crowd parted just enough for her to peer through it and find—
Her brain skidded to a halt like she'd just slammed her heel on the brakes of the shitty Razor scooter she'd wanted to steal from her cousins when she was seven. Rumi was still nowhere to be found and the sensible part of her brain was very much set on finding her boyfriend if only to make sure he hadn't gotten talked into doing a keg stand like he had the last time they'd gone to a party with Abby. The rest of her brain— the part she thought was sometimes controlled by a tiny gremlin with more libido than common sense— was fixated on the person who had just walked through the door.
She was tall— not that most people weren't in Zoey's mind— and lithe; she moved with the kind of self-contained grace that Zoey had been jealous of when she was a kid trying to move from point A to point B without tripping over her shoelaces. Sometimes she was still jealous of people who moved through the world with any ease at all but there was absolutely no way she was going to ruminate on that when she was trying to rapidly kick her brain back towards properly functioning without drooling over the woman like a complete creep.
She was so beautiful it made something in Zoey's chest twinge sharply as her eyes trailed from the woman's face— the angles of her cheekbones had to have been the kind that Greek sculptors used for goddesses— to pink hair drawn up into a loose bun to show off an undercut that Zoey felt an immediate urge to run her fingers over. Her fingertips were practically buzzing as her gaze trailed downwards and she took in the sight of well-worn boots, distressed dark jeans that were practically painted on, a cropped t-shirt with the logo of some punk band she didn't recognize on it and, a delighted smile tugged at Zoey's lips as she processed what she was seeing, a pin on one of her belt loops that clearly displayed their pronouns.
She felt like she was going to start swooning like a Looney Tunes character when she finally raised her gaze again to find that they were watching her with their lips drawn upwards in a lazy smirk. Zoey felt warmth bloom in her cheeks in an instant and wiped her hands on her shorts as she felt something magnetic tugging in the pit of her stomach— drawing her towards them as she prayed she wouldn't say something completely ridiculous the second she opened her mouth. Rumi always said he found it endearing when she did but he was super biased considering they'd been dating for the better part of four years and he was literally in love with her.
What was she supposed to say? 'Hey, I saw you from across the room and liked your vibe?' God, no, that was so lame— she could definitely do better than that! What if she opened with a fun fact? No, she probably couldn't do that either— the ones she really liked were always either terrifying or super unhinged and she wanted to at least, maybe, seem like she was functionally cool for thirty seconds.
In the end, by the time Zoey was within speaking distance of the stranger, she felt a little like she was going to throw up which was about as far from being cool and hot and capable as it was humanly possible to be.
"Hi," Zoey squeaked, clearing her throat hard as she held up the bottle of soju clutched in a death grip in her hand. "Do you want a drink? I haven't even opened it yet so it's like, the safest— never been a more trustworthy bottle of anything! I swear!"
She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.
Their smile widened the slightest bit in a way Zoey thought might've meant they were laughing with her and not at her, which, thank every god she'd ever learned about for that.
"I'll say yes if you do me a favor," they replied lazily.
Zoey was going to swallow her fucking tongue— their voice made goosebumps erupt along every inch of her bare skin; she had so much to tell Rumi when she found him and at least ninety percent of those things were going to involve crashing out about how hot this person was. Distressingly so and basically the same way she thought Rumi was all the time! It was kind of unfair!
"What kind of favor?" Zoey asked.
They leaned down and their smile softened just enough for Zoey to feel her stomach give a gentle swoop in response.
"Take a deep breath, pretty girl. You can't keep talking to me if you pass out."
She was prepared to make the argument that she might pass out if they kept talking to her but that was probably impolite or at least sort of fucking weird and she felt a pressing desire to keep them talking as long as she was humanly capable of doing it— or at least until Rumi found her in the veritable sea of people in the house right now. Maybe even after that. Rumi would probably find them equally hot— even if he'd always been far more bashful about admitting things like that, even to Zoey.
Still, she felt herself take a slow, deep breath— felt keenly aware of the feeling of her ribcage expanding to adjust for it and the fact that they were watching her silently as she did— eyes half-lidded and still fucking smirking. Was it possible for someone to be so hot they caused cardiac arrest in other people? Probably not or Zoey was certain she'd have had heart attacks like a million times over by now but still, it was definitely food for thought.
She exhaled slowly and felt a thrill of delight when they nodded approvingly in return.
"Good girl," they drawled, flashing her a wink that made Zoey feel remarkably weak in the knees.
"I'm Zoey!" She blurted, her voice rising just a tad too high. "Um, sorry. I know you didn't ask but I— I mean it sort of felt like I should—" She huffed out a nervous laugh. "Manners," Zoey finished lamely.
They laughed softly and the low, smooth timbre of it made Zoey want to start chewing on the nearest inanimate object. That was a perfectly normal response. Totally, totally normal and not even mildly unhinged or weird. Definitely not.
"Mira," they introduced themself in turn. They tilted their head to one side and leaned a shoulder against the nearest wall— Zoey took a half-step closer to them without thinking and felt heat prickling along the back of her neck. Mira might as well have been pulling her along on a leash. No, she thought frantically, bad Zoey! Mind out of the gutter for one single second!
"You don't have to look so nervous," Mira continued. "It's not like I bite," they paused for a moment and Zoey practically felt the way their eyes trailed along the length of her body. "Unless you're into that."
Zoey laughed— high and more than a little nervous— and briefly debated vigorously shaking the bottle in her hand and drinking half of it in one go. That would probably burn a little less than how fucking warm she felt just trying to have a conversation with Mira— if whatever the hell she was doing now could be considered having a conversation in the first place.
"Have you like, looked in the mirror lately?" Zoey asked. "I'm pretty sure it'd be totally impossible for me not to be nervous. I mean, you're…" She trailed off and made a vague gesture in Mira's direction, trying to muster something to say that didn't make her sound like a complete dickhead.
"I'm…?" Mira repeated slowly.
Beautiful. Breathtaking. An absolute fucking smoke show in a way I'm definitely not prepared to deal with.
"Drop dead gorgeous," Zoey breathed, flushing all the way to the tips of her ears.
Mira looked, for a fraction of a second, like that had been the last answer they'd expected— as if there was some world in which that wasn't something they heard all the time. Zoey, if anything, had merely been more emphatically earnest about it because she'd never really been capable of being anything but; or maybe Mira had been surprised by the mildly embarrassing amount of awe that had been in Zoey's voice when she said it.
They looked away and Zoey felt something warm and pleased unfurl in her chest as she caught sight of the color rising to Mira's cheeks. She might've been an awkward mess when she was flustered but at least she was pretty fucking charming to boot.
"So…" Zoey said lightly. "How about that drink?"
Mira's attention returned to her in an instant and Zoey raised the bottle of soju, shaking it invitingly for good measure. Mira chuckled softly under their breath and peered around the area the pair of them were occupying before they raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Did you want a shot glass or something?" They asked. "Not that I wasn't completely convinced by what you said earlier but, you know, just a thought."
They pushed off of the wall and took a step towards the kitchen before they tilted their head to look down at Zoey and smiled— a crooked, warm, devastating thing that made Zoey's breath hitch hard in her chest.
"I can—" Zoey started.
Mira shook their head and waved a hand lazily. "You," they said slowly. "Already got the alcohol. All you have to do is stay right here, be just as pretty as you already are and be here when I come back." Their eyes were practically sparkling in the light. "Does that sound okay?"
Zoey nodded mutely and mustered a thumbs up, watching as Mira stepped between party goers and disappeared into the kitchen. She immediately sat on the bottom step of the staircase and fumbled to get her phone out— noting, with some amusement and more than a little embarrassment, that her hands were shaking.
Zo
bABY
sos like sort of but also not
its not actually an emergency but im freaking tf out
help???Gwiyomi (Ru)
???
What am I helping with???
Where are you???Zo
im by the stairs dw
i'm like physically fine i'm just???
i just met the prettiest person??? not ever bc like you exist
but i'm fumbling so hard????
they're so hot??? is that okay???Gwiyomi (Ru)
Is it okay that they're hot?
Zoey could almost picture the smile on his face in perfect detail and she huffed out a noise that was somewhere between a whine and a groan and ended up sounding slightly more like someone had just knocked the wind out of her.
Zo
stop being a menace!!!
its been a while like i just wanna…
idk
sorry. im being dumb, i thinkGwiyomi (Ru)
Hey— I didn't say that and it also just isn't true.
Can I come meet them? Would that help?
She exhaled slowly and felt her cheeks twinge as she grinned down at her phone. Rumi had to have a supernatural gift for knowing exactly what she needed to hear to calm down about… well, anything. Even if she knew it had taken them plenty of work to get to that point it was still overwhelmingly nice to know that no spiral she'd ever even thought to have could survive Rumi's patience and thoughtfulness.
Zo
!!!! yes!!!
i mean theyre in the kitchen rn
but when they get back to me yes!!!Gwiyomi (Ru)
… Do they have pink hair?Zo
can you see thru walls suddenly???Gwiyomi (Ru)
Not one of my talents, jagi. Sorry to disappoint.
I think they might be Abby's friend!
"How the hell does he have the hottest friends, dude? Did all the planets align when he was born? Is he fucking Hercules?" Zoey mumbled under her breath, incredulous.
Zo
how tf does he know every hot person ever lol
do hot people have like radar for each other or smth?
not important
come over? (pretend im giving you the puppy dog eyes)Gwiyomi (Ru)
Be there in three. :)
Zoey felt a sudden urge to gnaw on the edge of her phone but considering it wasn't the first time it had happened to her when she was talking to Rumi— she chalked it up to the intense cuteness aggression her boyfriend inspired within her and moved on. Mira stepped into her line of sight just about the time her leg started to bounce uncontrollably and she pressed down on her thigh, hard, in a halfhearted effort to get it to stop.
"Hey stranger," Zoey greeted cheerfully.
Mira smiled softly as they took a seat next to her on the stairs and brandished the shot glasses in their hands like they'd discovered something groundbreaking.
"You're a miracle worker," Zoey teased.
"I'm sure I can work a few more miracles by the end of the night," Mira drawled, an impish quality to the smile on their face.
Zoey tried, quite admirably she might add, not to choke on air. She swallowed hard and shook her head with a laugh.
"You're doing a really good job at that so far! Like, A plus for effort, so, no pressure!" She paused and glanced at the bottle in her hand, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth and chewing at it before she shook her head and unscrewed the cap on the bottle.
She was pretty fucking proud of how smoothly she poured one for each of them.
"Cheers!" Zoey said brightly as they clinked glasses.
The burn at the back of her throat from the alcohol was pleasant and the sight of Rumi approaching them even more so— the nervous tension in her shoulders drained away all at once as he approached them and raised a hand in a brief and endearingly awkward wave.
"Long time, no see," he greeted, looking at Mira with a smile.
It made something in Zoey's chest clench for an entirely different reason— the knowledge settling that it was the easy, practiced smile he always used when he was deeply nervous about interacting with someone. It made him feel a little less like he was going to vibrate apart. She reached for his hand and tangled their fingers together in an instant, grinning up at him and relaxing further when some of the tension seemed to drain out of him too.
"Hey," Mira said, balancing their empty shot glass against their knee. "Rumi, right?"
Rumi looked bewildered for a moment. "I— um— y-y-ye—" He stammered. He paused and frowned deeply. He took a short, sharp breath and squeezed Zoey's hand twice in quick succession. She did the same in return. A short, easy reminder that they were present with one another.
Mira watched him curiously but there was nothing in their expression that gave Zoey pause— none of the malicious mirth or derision she'd seen in other faces when Rumi was having trouble articulating himself. If anything, Mira looked… encouraging. Gentle.
"Mhm," Rumi made an affirmative noise and smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name in the kitchen— can you remind me?" He asked, the expression on his face was almost painfully earnest.
"I'm Mira. You're Zoey's boyfriend, right?"
Rumi stared at Mira wide-eyed for a moment and glanced over to Zoey who was, admittedly, doing exactly the same thing.
Mira snorted and offered both of them an apologetic smile. "I'm not wrong, right? Abby doesn't usually fuck with me about stuff like that."
"No, no, no, you're right!" Zoey hurried to assure them.
Rumi grinned sheepishly at both of them before he promptly sat cross legged on the ground in front of them, shrugging when Zoey shot him an amused look.
"You don't mind if we're both here, right?" He asked after a moment.
Zoey recognized the faint hint of nervousness in his voice and leaned over to squeeze one of his hands again. He smiled up at her in an instant and she fought the urge to crawl into his lap on the spot— there would be plenty of time for that when they were home later.
"Not at all," Mira said smoothly. "I can definitely handle both of you."
Jesus fucking Christ. Zoey looked away from Mira to pour another shot and offered it to Rumi after he started playing nervously with his fingers; his cheeks were ruddy but he was smiling, embarrassed and pleased. Zoey was almost tempted to ask Mira to flirt with him outright just to see the depth of the pretty color they might bring to his cheeks but… baby steps.
"Am I already behind?" He asked as he took the glass.
"I'm sure you could handle it even if you were, couldn't you?" Mira asked, propping their chin against their hand as they met his eyes.
Zoey tapped a beat against the bare skin of her thigh as she listened to them and fought the question she could feel rising in the back of her mind. Was Mira just humoring them? Were they actually interested? They were all flirting— at least to some extent— she wasn't blind or shy about it and Rumi, while he tended to take some time to warm up to anything more intense than casual conversation, wasn't exactly shying away from them either. Mira didn't strike her as the sort of person to be jerking them around but God knew they could do it if they really wanted to. Zoey was certain she'd already be putty in their hands if she hadn't had a moment to catch her breath and recenter herself.
Rumi knocked the shot back without batting an eye and held the glass towards Zoey with a smirk.
"I can handle anything you want to throw at me."
The sound of his voice made the hair on Zoey's arms stand on end and her next exhale was more than a little shaky— she was really going to have to get her shit together before the combined force of Mira and Rumi interacting with her and around her made her do something wildly embarrassing.
Mira chuckled and looked at each of them in turn before they held their glass out. "Why don't we test that?"
⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊
Two shots later and Zoey could almost feel the music vibrating in her bones. The bass was so resonant she felt it in her chest and it took all of her self-control to focus on the conversation she was having with Rumi and Mira rather than her creeping urge to tug both of them into the smaller crowd dancing in the space that had been cleared for it. They'd retreated to a corner of the living room that Zoey was positive she hadn't seen anyone even glance towards in the last hour and a half. All the better, really— she was having a great time and the last thing she wanted to grapple with was feeling like she was being watched when she had far, far more important things to focus on.
Like the way Rumi's laugh felt like it was wrapping around her ribs or the fact that Mira was watching them both with an expression that seemed to teeter between genuine delight and outright fondness; even if they had been quick to smother it when it became obvious, even if Zoey had had to force herself not to comment on it at least three times. She'd met Mira today; they'd known each other for less than six hours and she was definitely jumping the gun in literally every way possible and if she admitted it then Mira would definitely think she was weird and they'd never—
"Zo?"
Rumi's voice sounded almost like it was underwater and Zoey shook her head sluggishly before she glanced over her shoulder to meet his gaze with a reassuring smile.
"Sorry, baby— what's up?" She asked.
"You've been staring at everyone dancing for a full minute," he informed her, amused. "Are you in the mood for it?"
Zoey wisely chose not to blurt out that she was in the mood for quite a lot of things at the moment and instead nodded emphatically.
"I mean, yeah! You know it's like, my third favorite thing to do at parties," she said breezily.
Rumi chuckled as his eyes slid to meet Mira's. "What about you, Mir?"
Mira raised an eyebrow curiously. "You two don't want to dance together?" They asked.
Zoey tried not to frown at the note of— hesitation… or maybe confusion— in their voice; not that it wasn't fair but Zoey thought she and Rumi had both been doing a pretty stellar job of making it clear that they were happy to have Mira with them. If she was any more obvious about it she was positive she'd scare Mira off altogether and that was probably the very last thing in the world she wanted to do.
"I'm…" Rumi trailed off and wrinkled his nose as he thought. "I'm kind of in a watching mood right now," he said finally. He poked Zoey in the side lightly when she started to snicker and rolled his eyes with a grin when even Mira couldn't stifle the laugh that caught in the back of their throat.
"Yeah, yeah," Rumi grumbled good-naturedly. "I'm very funny, thank you. We all know it."
Zoey snorted hard before she looked at Mira hopefully. "Dance with me?" She asked sweetly.
Color rushed to Mira's cheeks so fast Zoey had almost no time to decide if it matched the exact shade of their hair before they were grabbing her hand and tugging her onto the makeshift dance floor. She glanced over her shoulder for a split second to look at Rumi and a flush rose to her cheeks just as quickly when he winked at her and mouthed: "Have fun."
It was a little more on the nose than she would've expected him to be but she wasn't complaining. If he hadn't been so relaxed about it she knew she'd have been an anxious wreck— or maybe if she'd been a little less secure in their relationship it would've stressed her out to know he was watching her pressed against someone else. Given that neither of those things were true, though… Zoey allowed herself to focus on the feeling of it all; especially when Mira guided her to turn around with a sure hand on her hip before they pulled Zoey flush against them.
Zoey stifled a whimper she knew Mira must have heard all the same.
"Is this okay?" Mira murmured, their lips brushing the shell of her ear as they spoke.
She reached for their hands without looking and guided them to rest on her hips. A thrill ran through her when she felt Mira's breath stutter against her back and Zoey let herself fall into the feeling of their bodies pressed together, let herself revel in the confident way Mira guided them both through every beat, every grind of their bodies against one another, every shared breath.
They moved through every beat like they'd been made to do this together and Zoey felt breathless; warm from something that had absolutely nothing to do with the alcohol she'd had earlier in the night. She rested one hand against Mira's where it was still settled against her hip and raised the other to rest lightly on the back of their neck— something she realized was only possible because they were leaning down far enough that, if she'd been facing them, they could have kissed her if they'd felt so inclined.
A shiver shook her from the inside out as one of their hands moved to rest on her stomach just below the hem of her crop top. Her stomach tightened beneath their palm and her eyes fluttered open as one song bled into another— searching for Rumi in the low light.
He was watching them from the corner they'd vacated in favor of the dance floor. He had one arm stretched along the back of the chair he was sitting on, his posture loose and confident and his attention focused inextricably on both of them— he looked regal and Zoey felt something in her stomach twist pleasantly. She wondered, before she could stop herself, if he'd still look at them like that if Mira accompanied them home and their collective dance continued.
The thought alone made her mouth water and she bit her bottom lip hard to stifle a sound that was borderline filthy.
"You're dangerous," Zoey said with a breathless laugh.
"Oh?" Mira hummed. "Why's that?"
They sounded so unfazed that Zoey was almost tempted to push until that composure cracked. She reminded herself to behave— that there was a long conversation to be had on multiple fronts before they approached anything even close to that. Instead, she exhaled and tried to ignore the way Mira's fingers brushing so close to the waistband of her shorts was making her throb.
"You're driving me crazy and we just met," she admitted.
Too honest— the same way she always was, the same way she imagined she would never have any choice but to be; her heart was a soft, pliable thing and she had always been ill suited to protecting it from the hurts of the world. She'd always gotten through the ache people could leave behind and she was willing to place that same trust in Mira in spite of every iota of common sense she possessed. She would have held her heart out, bloody and raw, and let Mira take what they wanted.
Dangerous, indeed.
"Does that bother you?"
Zoey shook her head and ran a hand through her hair as the song changed again. "No. I thought maybe— it should've? But… no, it doesn't."
Mira made another sound and Zoey was silent as she waited for them to speak.
"Does it bother Rumi?" They asked, a note of obvious hesitance in their voice.
She snorted and tilted her head back until she caught their gaze and promptly looked at Rumi. Her boyfriend raised an eyebrow curiously when he noticed them looking in his direction and, without missing a beat, flashed them both a cocky two fingered salute and smirked.
"You can ask him later if you want," she said. "But he hasn't stopped looking at us since we came over here. Didn't you notice?"
A loud trill from Mira's front pocket interrupted them before Mira could respond and Zoey glanced down reflexively as their grip on her body slackened and they fished their phone out of their pocket. Zoey tugged blindly at their belt loop and pulled them off the dance floor and closer to Rumi as Mira, presumably, checked their phone. Zoey turned towards them with a curious expression that softened as she caught sight of the look on their face— frustrated and resigned and, when they noticed Zoey looking, blatantly apologetic.
"Is everything okay?" She asked softly.
Mira sighed and rubbed at the back of their neck. "Something came up and I have to go deal with it," they explained gruffly.
Zoey hoped her disappointment wasn't obvious but it took all of three seconds for her to cast that thought aside as Mira fixed her with a look that was almost earnestly hopeful. God, they were cute.
"Hypothetically," they said after a beat, a hint of mischief in their expression now. "If I gave you my phone and went to tell Rumi goodnight— do you think your numbers might end up there when I'm not looking?"
She giggled and shrugged, holding her hand out expectantly. "I guess you'll have to take a leap of faith, huh?"
Mira promptly deposited their phone in her hand— already unlocked and with the call screen open— before they stepped around her with a parting squeeze of her hip.
Zoey hurriedly programmed both her number and Rumi's into Mira's phone and tried not to bounce excitedly in place every moment of the process. She smiled warmly up at Mira when they returned to her side and handed them the phone as she continued to rock on the balls of her feet.
"Can I have yours?" She asked, looking up at Mira through her lashes before they even got the chance to speak.
They took her phone the moment she offered it and Zoey found herself staring at their hands as they typed their number in and handed the phone back to her. God, she was far too fucking into Mira for her own good.
"Goodnight, Zo," Mira said, smiling.
Zoey rocked up on her toes before she could thing better of it and hooked a finger through the choker around Mira's neck, tugging at it lightly until they bent down and she pressed a kiss to their cheek.
"Goodnight, Mir," Zoey said sweetly. "Don't be a stranger."
She was convinced she'd never seen anyone look so delighted and dumbfounded in the same moment as Mira did before they turned away and headed for the front door. Zoey huffed out a laugh and returned to Rumi, climbing into his lap before she buried her face into his neck and groaned loudly.
"Baby, I'm so fucked."
⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊
By the time they reached their front door— Zoey had long since abandoned the notion that she was going to have any luck at all keeping her hands to herself. It wasn't something she worried about much to begin with— not when Rumi appreciated the contact, not when the thought of not feeling his skin against hers in some capacity often made her feel like she was going to vibrate out of her skin, not when they were both still a little tipsy from the soju and whatever the fuck had happened with Mira.
The thought of them sent another bolt of heat straight to Zoey's clit and she pressed into Rumi's space like she'd been given a sacred mission; like she had no other duty but this— to worship at the altar of the man she loved so much she was certain she could fill the universe with it and still find that insufficient.
"Let me get the door open," Rumi said, his voice rough.
"Want you now," she murmured, resting her hands on his hips and pushing gently until his back hit their front door.
"Someone's being greedy."
A shiver rolled through her and Zoey pressed her face into Rumi's neck with a whine— kissing the skin beneath her lips almost reverently considering her impatience. That gentleness was brief and another thrill ran through her when she dug her teeth into the tender skin of Rumi's throat and earned a low groan in response.
"Fuck."
Zoey's attention had narrowed to a fine point as she sucked a mark into his skin she knew would be there for days; a claim she wanted to make again and again, until there wasn't a single part of him that wouldn't remind him that he was hers. She'd always been a greedy thing— always wanted more than she thought she could have, always reached for more than she thought she should get but Rumi was hers and she was certain there was no one in the world who had ever been quite so happy about that fact.
When their collective balance shifted abruptly she knew he'd finally managed to get the door open even as she tried her hardest to create an abstract art piece with the marks she was leaving behind. She had only the briefest moment to appreciate the sight of them before Rumi locked the door behind them, flicked on the hall light and lifted her— with one arm, much to her delight— until she could wrap her legs around his waist. She giggled, grinning down at him as he looked up at her— adoring and desperate in the same breath.
She couldn't decide whether she wanted to ruin him or let him ruin her.
"Hi, pretty boy," Zoey said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Hi, jagiya," Rumi breathed.
He sounded wrecked already and Zoey couldn't help but roll her hips— it was an imperfect angle but she knew the thought that she was so desperate she would grind against his stomach just to get off would be enough to loosen the threads of his self-control. The friction made her whine— a high, breathy noise that tapered off into a soft moan. His grip tightened where he was holding her against him and Zoey whined into his mouth when Rumi tangled one hand in her hair and pulled her into a bruising kiss.
Her lips throbbed in time with her heartbeat when they broke apart enough to breathe and Zoey pressed another kiss to the corner of his mouth, his cheek, his jaw.
"Baby," she pleaded. "Take me to bed. Please."
Rumi was moving before she'd even finished speaking— a flurry of movement that saw clothes scattered along the hallway, silence suddenly filled with the sound of breathy whines and appreciative murmurs, the soft click of their bedroom door closing behind them enough to pull Zoey's attention in the split second before her back hit the mattress and her breath escaped her in a soft whoosh.
She was positive they both looked a mess— Rumi was shirtless, his hair mussed, his jeans unbuttoned but not unzipped; the marks she'd left against his throat were already bruising and she could practically see the way her attention had drifted as he'd shed at least some of his clothes— the way the marks trailed from a point just under his jaw down to his collarbones and the edge of the sleeve of tattoos he had on one arm. His lips were swollen and his eyes were so dark she would have drowned in them if she could have. Zoey had lost her shirt about three seconds down the hallway, her bra was half off on one side— nipples already straining against the cool air in their room— and her hair was a mess from Rumi dragging his fingers through it.
He stepped closer until his shins brushed the foot of their bed and Zoey arched her back to unclasp her bra and throw it to— well, she didn't exactly see where it had gone but that wasn't relevant. Goosebumps rose on her skin as he looked at her, his eyes seeming to trail a pattern his hands wanted to follow before his throat bobbed with a hard swallow and he let out a measured breath.
"You're so beautiful, Zo," he said warmly.
The words made heat rush to her cheeks in an instant and she reached towards him with a pitiful whine rising in the back of her throat. He crawled onto the bed until he hovered over her— his legs bracketing hers, his bare chest nearly touching hers as he grinned down at her and she pouted up at him.
"You're teasing me," she accused.
Rumi laughed and settled more of his weight against her, rolling his hips to grind against her. Her voice cracked on another moan and she dragged him down to kiss him hard as he continued; he wasn't hard yet— she hadn't given him time— but the gesture and the intent behind it was nearly enough to drive her insane on its own.
She wanted him so desperately she was already clenching around nothing, already imagining the way his cock would feel stretching her out, already greedy for the feeling of being full of him.
Her nails scored a trail of marks against his back and Rumi made a noise against her lips that may as well have been a growl.
"Needy, huh?" He rasped, pressing his face into her neck to leave marks of his own. "All worked up because of me?"
She moaned softly, rolling her hips to meet his as he ground against her.
"Or," Rumi said thoughtfully. "Was it me and Mira?"
The sound of Mira's name on his lips made a jolt run through her— God she was so fucking wet it was borderline embarrassing— and she squirmed against him when he pulled away. His expression was curious and patient in the way she knew meant nothing but trouble— the way he got when he made her come until she couldn't feel her legs for the rest of the day, when he was single minded and intense and perfect.
He rested a hand against her throat, running his thumb along the curve of her jaw as he waited for a response. When she only managed a whimper in return, Rumi's grip tightened— only for a moment, the barest hint of pressure that had her squirming again, desperate for friction in the one place he seemed determined not to let her have it as he held her hips down with his free hand.
"Answer me, baby."
"Y-yes," Zoey stammered. "Both of you— fuck, Ru."
"Good girl," he praised.
Zoey felt, for one mildly delirious moment, that she was hearing the words in stereo— Rumi's voice overlapping with the way Mira's had sounded earlier in the night. The thought alone was enough to make her clench down and she was almost panting when her eyes slid up to meet Rumi's. She wondered how desperate she looked, wondered whether he was as excited to wreck her as she was to be ruined.
"I need to get ready for you," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her jaw.
Zoey groaned loudly at the thought of Rumi being anywhere but where he was now— on top of her and, she hoped, a few seconds away from losing what little control he might've had left. Of course she'd underestimated his patience; he'd let her edge him for more hours than she could count and the amount of times she'd almost cracked before he did definitely wasn't zero.
"Be good."
He shifted until he was sitting back on his heels and she admired the way the flush in his cheeks crept down his neck to the top of his chest. He ran a hand along her bare thigh and helped her tug her shorts off and toss them away. His eyes looked almost glassy as he looked at her and she grinned up at him— bright and dimpled and delighted to have his attention. Rumi offered her a lopsided smile before he leaned over to press a kiss to her hipbone, nipping at the skin there and making her hips jerk up before he pressed another kiss to the top of her thigh.
"You can take these off," he said slowly, hooking a finger into the waistband of her underwear. "And you can touch yourself…" He trailed off and tugged her underwear down until Zoey lifted her hips and kicked them off altogether. "But you can't come until you have permission. Understand?"
Zoey nodded, almost frantic.
Rumi chuckled and, with no warning, ran his fingers through her slick. Zoey choked on a moan as her hips jerked, reaching for him even as he pulled away. He looked unrepentantly smug as he climbed off of their bed, sticking his fingers in his mouth with a pleased hum that made Zoey feel just a little like she was going to come on the spot.
The moment Rumi was out of sight, Zoey reached down to run her fingers through her wetness, whimpering loudly when her fingers brushed her clit. She was absolutely soaked— every touch made her thighs quiver, every nerve ending in her body seemed to activate all at once for the sake of overwhelming pleasure. She let out a slow, shuddering breath and slid two fingers into her aching cunt. Zoey moaned loudly— something that might have been Rumi's name if she'd been able to think properly; if her head hadn't already been fuzzy and her attention hadn't been narrowed onto the feeling of stretching herself on her fingers and the fact that it still wasn't enough.
"Rumi!" She drew his name out in a desperate whine, bucking her hips as she slipped a third finger inside and curled them— sparks dancing behind her eyes as she fucked herself. She desperately wanted to come and it felt like Rumi had been gone for a fucking year and she was so, so, so fucking close—
The sound of Rumi clicking his tongue against his teeth made her hips jerk to a stop and Zoey made a noise that was half groan and half sob, her eyes fluttering open to look at her boyfriend. Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing hard and Rumi looked like he wanted to eat her alive; she could hardly form a thought that didn't revolve around letting him do just that until they were inextricably intertwined for the rest of eternity.
"Fuck me, please." Zoey begged.
Rumi made a low, pleased noise that had her clenching around her fingers. He stroked his cock slowly and Zoey felt her mouth begin to water as she admired the sight of it— one of their bigger toys— one that she knew would have her still feeling it in the morning. God, she wanted him so bad; she wanted—
"You're so pretty when you beg," Rumi murmured, derailing her thoughts in an instant. "Keep doing it, hm? Tell me what you want."
Zoey felt lightheaded.
She tried to catch her breath, tried to gather her thoughts into something coherent, tried to gather herself into a person who could see past the ravenous need aching in her stomach. It wasn't working and she was so turned on it was almost painful; Rumi knelt between her spread legs and ran a thumb through the wetness on the inside of her thighs.
"I want— ah—" Her breath hitched when Rumi guided her fingers away from her cunt and, without preamble, stuck them in his mouth. His tongue swirled around her fingers leisurely, like he was savoring a treat he'd been looking forward to— the look on his face was so rapturous she felt like she was going to lose her goddamn mind.
"Jesus Christ," she hissed out, hips straining against the open air. "I need— fuck— I need you inside me," she whined.
"Yeah?" Rumi murmured, his voice little more than a throaty rumble. "You want me to stretch you out, baby? See how pretty you look when you're full of me?" He rested his hands on her thighs and pulled them apart gently, rubbing circles against her skin with his thumbs before he reached down and ran the tip of his cock through her folds. Zoey's back arched sharply when it bumped against her clit and Rumi made a low noise as he ran a hand along her thigh, up her ribs, against her breasts— he'd always had sure hands and Zoey was equally sure they were about to make her lose it.
Her whimpers and groans turned into a litany of pleading— a tangle of words that bled into one another as she choked on 'please' and 'I need you' and 'you feel so good'. Rumi met her patiently— the way he always had, the way she was certain he always would; he soothed her with kisses and hands splayed along her ribs. He traced her freckles like he was mapping the stars and when he finally slid inside of her he kissed her so sweetly she could have cried.
Her hand wrapped around the back of his neck, rising until she was tangling her fingers in his hair— making high, breathy noises into every kiss they shared.
"Tell me what you're thinking," he panted.
Zoey blinked, her thoughts were sluggish and she could hardly focus beyond the feeling of Rumi inside her and the taste of his mouth and the weight of his body against hers.
"That I love you," she said softly. "That you feel so fucking good." Her back arched as she pressed against him and she felt it when a shudder went through his body. The feeling of him moving against her made her thoughts drift— memories of pink hair and sure hands and the intense warmth that had blossomed in her chest under the weight of Mira's attention and Rumi's approval. Her breath hitched hard in her chest and she clenched around him so hard she heard Rumi grunt.
"Are you thinking about them too?" He asked. His breath against her nipples drew another whine from her throat and she pulled his hair hard when his teeth dug into her breast hard enough that she knew the mark would bruise for days.
"Yes, fuck— yes, yes, yes," she whined. "I can't—ah— I can't help it."
"You looked so good together—" His hips moved faster and Zoey felt her eyes sting with tears at the overwhelming sensation rolling through her. "Fuck, Zo— they looked like they wanted to eat you alive. It was—" He choked on a breathy sound and Zoey whimpered in turn. "Breathtaking."
Her thighs were quivering now, the tension in her stomach coiled and ready to snap— nails digging into the back of Rumi's neck as she held onto him for dear life. She was so, so full of him that her head was swimming.
"Rumi— I'm gonna—"
"Come for me, jagi— you're so good for me, Zo. So fucking pretty." Rumi murmured praise in her ear as she shook apart and came so hard she felt herself gushing around him. Her chest heaved as she came down with the feeling of Rumi rolling his hips slowly, gently guiding her down from her peak until she kissed him softly and smiled against his mouth.
She felt floaty and warm and safe— her eyes half lidded and body loose as she pulled back to meet his gaze. His expression was content and warm and she catalogued his smile lines and the spray of freckles across his nose that only cropped up when he was getting just a bit too much sun.
"It's been a while since you did anything like that," Zoey mused.
There was nothing accusatory in her voice— if anything, she was more than a little curious. They'd dated other people in the time they'd been together— together and separately— but Rumi tended to take things slow. He warmed up to people in increments until he fell headfirst but it was rare that he found himself taken with someone after one meeting.
Mira had a magnetism that neither of them seemed capable of ignoring. Zoey was relieved that it seemed neither of them would have to— that they were both intrigued enough that they would build something if Mira would let them, no matter what it looked like. She felt a flicker of excitement roll through her as she waited for Rumi to speak, laughing softly when he seemed content to sprawl against her like an exceptionally comfortable cat and nuzzled his nose into her neck with a content sound.
"That isn't… a bad thing, is it?" He asked tentatively.
Zoey snorted. "I'm pretty sure you could've made me squirt if you were feeling really determined," she said blithely. "So I'd pretty confidently put this in the 'exceptionally fucking good' category."
Rumi huffed a laugh against her neck. "Noted…" He trailed off and sighed softly. "They seemed… into us, right? I wasn't imagining it?"
Zoey was prepared to throttle everyone they'd ever interacted with that made Rumi doubt when other people were attracted to him.
"No, baby," she said with a hum. "You definitely weren't. There were vibes for sure."
Zoey's phone buzzed insistently on the floor and she glanced towards it with a frown. Her eyes drifted back to look at Rumi pleadingly, "Can you get that?"
He grunted and sat up, running a soothing hand along the span of her ribs as he pulled out and Zoey pouted openly at the loss. He handed her the phone and kissed her quickly before he started to fumble with the buckles on the harness and shuffled off to the bathroom. She watched him go just long enough to admire his ass in the low light from the bathroom and glanced at the display.
Mira
hey.
hope i can catch you both around sometime.
i had fun xxZo
we're like barnacles bb
youre never getting rid of us
sleep well xo
Zoey's stomach fluttered again and she stretched languidly— her breath escaping her in a long, lazy sigh. Her body ached pleasantly and she was pretty positive Rumi had covered her in enough marks to make her feel it for days. She felt content. Settled in the way she imagined things almost older than time were allowed to be— for once, her thoughts weren't racing faster than she could catch them. For once, she wasn't ruminating on something she might've done wrong earlier in the day until she couldn't remember anything she'd done right.
She felt wholly present. In the moment, in her body, in her life.
She wondered, as she shuffled out of bed with the intention of showering, if it was a sign of things to come. If the universe had decided on a whim to let lightning strike twice and guide another great love into her life.
Or maybe she was being too optimistic again.
She'd always been awful at managing her expectations.