This section is based off of a dream I had where Jumin can only assure himself of MC's safety by having her sleep in the same bed as him.

Chapter 1: Roommates

MC knew that Jumin's penthouse was fully secured, especially after the Glam incident. With all the security cameras, thermal sensors, and an actual security team on 24/7 watch, it was a regular Fort Knox. But despite all the tech and security detail, it still put Jumin on edge. With the looming threat of the hacker, his cat Elizabeth 3rd running away, and Jumin's repressed feelings for MC, it was only a matter of time before the stirred pot would bubble over and all of his emotions would come spilling out. It was a couple of days before the RFA party that it finally happened.

"I want you to stay in my room tonight," Jumin announced during dinner. MC choked slightly on her mimosa before managing to cough out a response.

"W-What?" MC sputtered before using her napkin to wipe her nose and mouth, which were currently burning from the citric beverage.

"Don't misunderstand me," he reassured her gently. "It's not like I'm asking you to... do anything for me. I would just feel more comfortable if you slept somewhere I could watch over you." Normally, most people would've taken this as being slightly possessive, and to some extent it was, but MC honestly didn't mind. It was kind of cute that he cared so much, even if it was a bit misguided.

"If... if it makes you feel better, I'll stay in your room... tonight," MC mumbled shyly, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. What was she getting so worked up about? Just because she would be sleeping in his bed didn't mean that he was going to sleep in the same bed with her.

"Good," Jumin smiled briefly before adopting his usual stoic business face. "After dinner, we can retire there later this evening." Or maybe it did. Jumin continued to eat his ₩10000 steak while MC suddenly didn't feel all that hungry as she stirred at her plate of mixed vegetables, the word "we" swirling around in her head like a whirlpool. Before she knew it, she was getting dressed for bed and was already having second thoughts.

Her hands shook slightly as she pulled on her long grey t-shirt. Calm down, MC. You're probably getting worked up over nothing. Maybe I shouldn't assume so much from him. I mean, this is Jumin Han, after all. Misogynist and shrewd stoic businessman. Maybe nothing will happen... Then again, he had been particularly nice to her since they had gotten to know each other in the RFA chatroom. He even let her stay at his penthouse suite until the hacker threat died down. Since she had stayed in his penthouse, she had noticed that while Jumin was usually able to reign in his emotions, he wasn't very good at dealing with them, avoiding most social interactions outside of business affairs. Still, in spite of that, she had grown to love him.

It's just one night... Just one night... MC kept reminding herself, the door to Jumin's bedroom appearing more intimidating than it had before. Oh god, here we go. After managing to gather all of her courage and swallow her anxiety, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," Jumin answered and she pushed the door open, revealing a large master bedroom with large scenic windows of the city landscape and a large king-sized bed with black and grey covers. Stepping out of the master bathroom was Jumin, who had just finished pouring himself a nightcap. Like his business attire, his pajamas were grey and had striped patterns, although instead of a suit and tie, his top was loose and slightly unbuttoned, exposing a little bit of his chest. After not seeing him in anything other than a suit, she couldn't help but stare. Did he not realize how hot he was or was he tormenting her?

"I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Would you like one?" he offered her, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Please," she urgently accepted, holding up a glass as he poured another glass. Alcohol was the only way she was going to get through this night. After feeling the bubbly high that came from drinking, she felt herself unwind a bit as she downed the last of her liquid courage. However, it was only temporary and soon she felt her heart sky rocket when Jumin decided to turn the lights off.

"Sit here," he ordered as he patted the other side of the bed. His gaze watched her carefully in the darkness as she sat down on the black silk covers, his eyes drinking in her form that was illuminated by the moon and city lights, noting the curves of her waist and hips. So much attention made her grateful for the cover of darkness, feeling self conscious of her appearance. At this moment, she really wished she had accepted Jumin's offer of getting new clothes beforehand so that she would've had something proper to wear, instead of the longcat t-shirt and black shorts, but Jumin didn't seem to care or notice. If he did, then it was news to her. To make things less awkward, she laid on top of the sheets and draped the comforter over her, creating a small divide between them to give her some sort of personal space. It didn't last long.

"What are you doing?" he asked, confused by her behavior. Was this a commoner's custom? There was so much he still didn't know about the world.

"S-Sleeping on top of the covers?" she offered nervously.

"Certainly not," he denied almost instantly. "You'll catch cold if you do that, and I want to make sure that if someone tries to take you that I'll notice. Get under the sheets." Reluctantly, she did as he asked, not being able to deny the man that she loved. After settling under the covers, she felt him shift closer to her before she felt him snake his arms around her chest and pull her close to him.

"W-What are you doing?" she exclaimed as she tried to push him away to turn and look at him.

"I told you, I want to make sure that no one will take you without me noticing," he stated adamantly. "Logically, this is the only way." She only could stare at him, unable to read him, before it became too intense for her to look him in the eye. Maybe it was a good thing that she was facing away from him, because at least now he couldn't see the blush that covered her entire face.

If he was trying to torture her, then he had succeeded. It was unfair to have him be this close and not be intimate with him. How was she supposed to process all of this? Other than his stalwart protectiveness of her, he had never shown any signs of interest in her, not even receiving a blush from him the one time he walked in on her while she was changing. There was one time where he had kissed her, but he claimed it was a tactic to get Sarah Choi, his self-declared fiancee, to leave the penthouse she had so rudely broken into. Like the Sarah Choi incident, the current situation made her heart ache as a squall of emotions churned inside her.

"Are you alright?" Jumin asked her, concerned by her stiff posture, "Am I doing this wrong?"

"N-No no, I'm f-fine. It feels okay..." she stuttered, baffled by his innocence. Did... did he not know what he was doing right now? Had he never cuddled someone before? That explained a lot. The only experience he had socially was his interaction with the RFA members, his father, and the occasional business dinner or cocktail party.

He was always good at keeping his emotions in-check. However, for her that was not the case. After being pulled so close to him, she was constantly worried he could hear her heart beat and feel it pounding in her chest. He never let anyone get this close physically or emotionally, not even his assistant Jaehee, and she would be lying if she said that she didn't revel in that fact just a little bit. After the initial awkwardness burned away, she started to take comfort in having his arms wrapped around her. Other than maybe sleeping in her parents' bed after she'd had a nightmare, she couldn't honestly remember a time where she had slept in another person's arms.

He protectively pulled her closer to his chest, his arms locked around her waist. He seemed determined not to fall asleep, though after a while she could tell that he had gradually begun to nod off as he finally relaxed into the embrace and nestled his face into the crook of her neck, something he wouldn't have dared to do while conscious, softly inhaling her scent. It wasn't long after he had fallen asleep that she too felt the world slip away into warmth of sleep, experiencing a different sort of heaven.

A little bit later on that night, she felt nature's call and tried to get up, only to find herself unable to move. At first, she thought it was the blankets restraining her movement, but soon she was quickly reminded of where she was and who she was sleeping with, now face to face with Jumin Han. Unlike how they had started out, she was now had her arms wrapped around his torso as well as her legs tangled with his own. At some point during the night, she must've snuggled closer to him and unconsciously accepted his embrace. She blushed at the thought of it, unable to look away from the beautiful man sleeping next to her.

His dark hair was even more disheveled, if that was possible, and hung limply over his face, which was calm and relaxed. It was interesting to see his expression as he slept. It wasn't furrowed or indifferent or cold like it usually was. Up until now, she didn't know why everyone compared people to looking like a child when one slept. Perhaps it was the child-like innocence that was displayed, that adults often lost when they grew up, that one gets back when they sleep that conveyed it best.

She was almost tempted to steal a kiss from him, since he wouldn't have initiated such warm contact consciously, but restrained herself. He was weird about women being overly familiar with him, knowing that they were only interested in him for shallow reasons such as money or status, so she respected his wishes and went back to untangling herself from him. Gradually she began to move her feet in order to not accidentally disturb him and slowly untangled herself from the weaving of Jumin's arms before wandering towards the bathroom and shutting the door, the light streaming in from the crack of the door the only light in the room.

Not a moment after she left, Jumin sensed the sudden change under the blankets and curled his arms and legs towards his chest, seeking the warmth that was no longer there. He drunkenly fumbled and blindly patted his hand around the empty space like he had kicked off a warm blanket and was trying to pull it back before he blearily opened his eyes. A moment of dumb confusion of why he was waking up alone like he always had was quickly replaced by a moment of sheer terror. Panic overtook him as he pulled back the many layer of blankets, thinking that MC has just been buried under the king-sized sheets, only to find that she wasn't there.

No... No! Not again! Why?! Why does everyone leave? he thought frantically as images of Elizabeth 3rd, Rika, and his mother flashed into his mind before they all warped into an image of MC's back as she left with a sinister, unknown figure. He ran his hand anxiously through his hair, already compiling a plan of action and a list of people to fire as he kicked off his covers, ready to bolt from his bed before he saw MC's silhouette standing in the bathroom doorway.

"Jumin?" MC spoke, startled at his unusual action. "Jumin, are you alright? What's wrong?" He almost couldn't believe that she was there. She looked like an angel against the yellow illumination of the bathroom, a specter that might disappear if he reached out to touch her. He wanted to pull her from the heavens, to chain her wings down in order to keep her with him.

"I thought... I thought that you left," Jumin uttered with a faraway look. "That you were taken away from me."

"I didn't leave. I'm right here," she reassured him as she turned off the light and walked over to him.

"I was so worried. Where did you go?" he asked, his voice demanding and authoritative.

"I had to use the restroom. I'm sorry if I worried you," she apologized.

"If you had to go, you could have woken me up," his brow furrowed, frustrated that she had managed to sneak away without him sensing it. Talk about bad timing.

"I could, but it's not like you would've been able to do anything, and besides you looked so peaceful while you slept," MC smiled softly. "I didn't want to mess that up by waking you."

"You still should've... I thought..." he voice shook. Though he didn't show it, he looked almost as if he was going to cry. MC, almost instinctively, wrapped her arms around him to comfort him. He let out a startled breathe before he returned her hug with a tight squeeze as he buried his face into her shoulder. He hated how vulnerable he felt. He shouldn't have been this worried, but all of these confusing feelings twisted inside him and he didn't know how to deal with them.

"I know..." she cooed. "Don't worry. I'm here."

He didn't mean for it to happen, but for a brief moment, he thought of Rika and how motherly she was. He knew MC wasn't Rika, but similar feelings he felt towards her suddenly began worming their way into his heart, and before he knew it, he blurted out, "Don't go..." He instantly feared that he had said the wrong thing when she pulled away, but those thoughts quickly disappeared as she gently cupped her hands around his face.

"Jumin... I promise I'm not going anywhere," she reassured him, trying to convey her deep-felt honesty through her gaze as her warm brown eyes focused on his sharp grey ones. Strange emotions of her own swirled inside her and before she knew it, she had leaned in and lightly kissed his forehead. As she pulled away, he stared at her with his mouth agape before it was replaced by a white hot intensity from his gaze. Her head suddenly caught up with what she had done and she immediately began to regret her actions. But before she could explain, Jumin quickly closed in and planted his lips on hers. The kiss began to grow with intensity as many unspoken emotions flooded between them as Jumin pulled her back onto the bed and pinned her beneath him. She almost couldn't believe that this was happening, but she couldn't help but reel from joy from it as a haze began to cloud her mind. However, the further it escalated, the more alarm bells that began to go off in her head. She didn't want to stop, but through the fog MC knew that they needed to because Jumin was just starting to figure out how he felt and didn't need to do something that he would regret later.

So, with a heavy heart, she mustered all of her self-control and pulled away from him. After gazing a bit into her heavy-lidded eyes, Jumin seemed to understand the situation and managed to catch himself and regained his composure.

"Sorry..." he apologized as he removed his hands that had currently pinned MC's wrists back, a rare flush staining his cheeks.

"It's okay..." MC whispered breathlessly, gaining a small victory from invoking such a strong emotion from him. "We can try again when you're ready." He let out a puff of air and scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh before lying back down on the bed, but not before leaning back in again to give her a light kiss on the lips, receiving a small smile from her. And for tonight, that was where they had left it.

Now that all the tension in the air was sedated, they decided to continue to sleep in the same bed. If it had been with anyone else other than Jumin, it would have been problematic, but she trusted Jumin's self-control and MC had had enough excitement for one night. It had taken a lot out of him for him to end up here. Instead, they just held each other, only this time instead of facing the wall, MC slept on her back and tucked Jumin's head underneath her chin almost like how a mother would as Jumin wrapped his arms around her waist. He rested his head on top of her chest as she ran her fingers lightly through his hair, which had been softened from expensive shampoos and conditioners. After having so many people walking in and out of his life, this seemed to be what he needed. Intimacy. And while both of them were still unsure of the dynamic of their relationship, for now everything felt right with the world.