A/n: Please leave a vote if you enjoy the chapter :3
 
  
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Mr. Nikiforov
chapter twelve // hapiness

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J U M I N
(yeh, daddy's pov😉)
   
 

"Oh, there you are." I mumbled as I spotted Victor coming towards me, looking a bit gloomy.

I thought he had been feeling better these past few weeks? I asked myself.

He forced himself to smile a bit as he took the empty stool beside me. I watched silently as he ordered a drink for himself and soon after drank the clear liquid like it was nothing but water. I fixed my suit and leaned a bit closer to him so he could hear me clearly over the always loud music.

"What's wrong?" I asked, catching him off guard. He took some time to think before simply shrugging and smiling brightly, giving it no importance.

"Just a long day at work, don't worry." He beamed and I shrugged it off seeing as there was nothing I could do. It wouldn't be a surprise to me if his unexpected change in mood had something to do with Yuri.

Of course, Victor doesn't know that I'm aware Yuri's his student, or that I've been talking to Yuri a few times after they first met (or even that I was the one who had originally planned this all out in the beginning) so I can't directly question him about it. And although I've wanted to come out with it and say it, now isn't the right time.

Besides, confessing those secrets won't change a thing.

"If you say so, brother." I sighed. We were quiet for a few minutes, each lost in our own thoughts, when I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, that's right, how's Anton?"

"He's great." Victor smiled, about to elaborate but was interrupted by a sudden uproar in the crowd behind us. Confused, we both spun in our stools and noticed the lights dim more and a voice was speaking through the speakers.

"It's time for our next performance! It's been long since we last had the desirable duo on stage, but tonight they are back!" There was moment of silence, adding suspense. I faced Victor and silently motioned towards the crowd. "Please give a loud welcome to the one and only duo, Eros and Beast!"

Victor's face reddened and I stood up from my seat, running a hand down my shirt to straighten it. I held my head high and gave Victor one last nod to follow me before I walked towards the crowd sitting somewhere in front of the stage. I didn't know Yuri would be performing tonight--normally I don't come on Friday evenings but work was troublesome today and I decided it'd be best to come here than go have dinner with my father and his new girlfriend. Who knows if Victor was aware of Yuri's shift though.

But who is this 'Beast' guy? I wondered as I sat on the side of the crowd and the music began to play.

A colorful set of strobe lights went off, blinking to the beat of the song as two people walked out from behind stage. I spotted Yuri seductively walking to a pole on the opposite side of the stage from where I was sitting. Walking towards the pole across from me was another man. My eyebrows raised in interest.

This man was the complete opposite of what I had expected. He was tall and built, with fair skin. His hair was short in front but when he walked around the pole, I noticed his hair was long on the back. His tight jeans didn't leave much to the imagination and the suspenders hanging by his sides only gave me ideas.

I was so consumed by his movements that I was a bit confused when the guys to my left started cheering loudly. It took me a second to look around until I realized what they were so excited about. Yuri had thrown something to the crowd as usual, and even better, Victor was the one who caught it. I looked at the stage, smirking. Both Victor and Yuri seemed pleasantly surprised to see each other.

Maybe things aren't as bad as I thought.

I looked away back to this 'Beast' guy. He was in the middle of sliding down the silver pole and I was surprised as always at how talented these dancers were. He came back to his feet and titled his head to the side, his eyes landing on mine.

I kept my cool and let him know with a single look. It was a simple turn of his lips that he gave as a response. We knew.

He tore his eyes from me slowly, making sure I kept watching him, which I did. My eyes followed him as he walked away from the pole, towards the center of the stage. I didn't realize it at first, but Yuri was also walking towards him.

They met in the middle and pressed themselves against each other. Unintelligibly, I was a bit bothered by this.

I ignored that strange feeling, putting it aside, and watched in curiosity, taking note of Yuri's perplexing actions. His eyes were dark and his body moved slowly, it looked like he wasn't in control of his own actions.

Without warning, Yuri leaned in closer to Beast and sensually kissed the side of his neck. The crowd elevated and money practically rained down on the duo. But it was the look Beast gave me afterwards that stunned me. It was a look that said "What will you do about it?"

I gave him a discrete nod before getting up from my seat, turning on my heel, and walking away. I had seen enough. Hopefully he was confused and interested enough to come look for me after the performance.

I'll be waiting for you...Beast.
  
      
  

Y U R I
(back to our strip baby)
   
   

As much as I dreaded the moment, Erwin eventually came up back stage and told everyone to get moving. That meant Zen and I had to leave and go out to the main area, letting the next number begin. As we walked out to the main area I vaguely heard Violet's name before another song began to play.

"We did well." Zen grinned innocently, like he was congratulating me for a good score on an exam. I smiled softly and walked ahead, silently going our separate ways in look for extra tips.

As I walked around, I tried my best to keep an eye out for that mop of gray hair in the crowd, but thanks to the terrible lighting and constant movement happening around, it was too difficult to spot anything further than three feet ahead of you. Tonight was definitely packed and everyone was working their asses off, as I should be doing.

I took a deep breath and told myself to snap out of it. I had a job to do and I can't let anyone get in the middle of it.

Right.

There was a kick in my step now as I walked confidently around, looking for anyone who seemed interested.

Ultimately, I reached the infamous bar. And it was a bit of a surprise to see Jumin sitting in his usual seat. He never comes here on weekdays, so what is he doing here?

Our eyes met and he waved casually, inviting me over. Thinking nothing of it, I made my way to him and took the stool to his right.

"It's a surprise to see you around here on a Friday night." Was the first thing I said. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged, giving me a one sided smile.

"Didn't have anything better to do. But what about you? I thought you'd be too tired with uh...your daylight life." He insinuated at my college classes, I shrugged and have him a secretive smile.

"Can't let that get in the way of work." He nodded, his eyes flickering somewhere to behind me before looking down at the counter, clearing his throat.

"Speak of the devil." He said in a teasing tone.

I tensed up and quickly had a fight with myself whether I should turn or not, but before I could decide, I felt someone sit beside me. I took a quick peak from the side of my eye, seeing it was in fact Victor.

It had been a while since I last saw him so close up. Felt like forever. My cheeks heated up when I remembered the last time I talked to him and how flirty we were with one another.

I could feel the tension in the air, thicker than Zen's skin. The room turned awkward and I wanted nothing more than to leave, but before I could make my move, Jumin jumped in to save the day.

"What's wrong with you two?"

Yeah...scratch that.

Both Victor and I gave him incredulous looks, shocked at how straight forward he was. Jumin, on the other hand, was oblivious to it.

"There's seems to be an awkward tension between the two of you. Why's that?" He tilted his head sideways a bit, looking truly confused.

I frowned, "Y-you can't just...no, there's nothing. It's fine." I stuttered, flustered at the attention I had stupidly brought upon myself.

I looked down at my hands, my thumbs playing with each other in a nervous habit. I could feel both Jumin's and Victor's eyes burn holes against my skull. From my peripheral vision, I caught Victor leaning in a bit closer, trying to prevent Jumin from hearing.

"Could we talk?" He whispered as low as he could with all the music playing. I bit my bottom lip, unsure of whether I should listen to him or not. He had made it clear that he wasn't interested (or at least I think so) and I've convinced myself to move on; I don't want to take a step back...again.

"I'm sorry, but I have a job to do." I said definitively, standing from the stool abruptly. I didn't even bother looking at Jumin before walking away, not knowing where I was going. But I had a clear goal in mind: to get away.

As I was walking through the crowd Victor's arm suddenly wrapped around my waist, pulling me back into his chest. He leaned into the crook of my neck, sighing in what sounded like defeat, I wasn't sure if I felt angry or relieved that he was holding me.

He leaned up to my ear, whispering in a low voice, his drunken breath sending chills up my spine, "Mind keeping me some company, love?"

I looked behind me and was surprised to see a complete stranger, his face mere inches away from mine and hands grabbing at me. I shuddered.

"Please," I began, trying to pry his hands off. One major rule that Erwin always makes sure is well known to the customers is that there can be no physical contact with the dancers, and maybe it's because the guy was drunk, or maybe not, but this had to stop, "Get your hands off. You can't do this." I begged, trying again to get him away.

His hand went down to caress my thigh and my breath hitched, now in a panic. I started squirming now, trying my best to get his bigger frame away.

"Don't do that, love, or you'll really--" he was suddenly pushed away from me and I instinctively stepped behind the person who came to my rescue. My eyes connected with the back of Victor's silver locks, "Mate, you better mind your own damn buisness." The drunk guy warned, taking a step forward.

With two large steps, Victor was standing in front of the guy, giving him a warning glare. He told him something too low for me to hear over the music. It made the guy roll his eyes and raise his fist, quickly swinging it in Victor's direction. Victor managed to dodge his hit and the guy lost his balance, falling forward only to be saved from his fall from one of the security guards who probably noticed the commotion. In fact, more than a few people around us were now looking with curious eyes.

After getting the drunken man on his feet, the body guard, Reiner, gave Victor a look, most probably thinking he started this. I stepped in front of Victor, catching Reiner's attention.

"Its okay, he was only standing up for me." I informed him. After staring at the two of us, as if contemplating if I was telling the truth, he gave a serious nod. Without speaking a word, he and the guy left, most probably on their way out of the club or to Erwin's office for bigger consequences. I let out a deep breath.

"Yuri-" Victor began but I walked away, ignoring him. I felt uneasy. I needed to get away from the large crowd.

It took me some time and it was quite difficult to walk across the room with so many people rubbing and bumping against you, but after ignoring more than one person's request to dance with them and the sweaty bodies grinding against me, I finally made it to the door that led backstage. I went in and quickly rushed into the dressing rooms which were (thankfully) empty.

The air felt thick and it was a bit difficult to breathe. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me, my every nerve tingling. The walls were closing in on me with every breath I struggled to take. I was too preoccupied in my own world that I didn't even realize there was another person in the room until I felt a hand land on my shoulder, making me jump out of my skin.

"Holy shit! Don't do that!" I yelled, a bit louder than intended. Victor furrowed his eyebrows.

"I was calling your name?" He frowned, watching me intensely as I tried to catch my breath. Once I managed to calm down I glanced in his direction and groaned, reality setting down.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in defeat, not completely willing to listen to his response. I wanted him out of this room and out of my life because I knew I wouldn't be able to ignore him again. Somewhere throughout the last few weeks, Victor had somehow gotten under my skin and became all I could think about. At night I would fantasize what it would be like to be together; day dreaming through the day about his eyes; and during class, I would admire him from afar. I hate how he's made such an impact on my life, for no fucking reason, and how in the end I probably don't matter to him in the slightest.

Why can't I just turn off my feelings?

"I should leave." I added before he could answer my question. I began to walk towards the door but in one swift step, he stood in front of it, blocking my only exit. His face showed determination and a bit of annoyance. "Please move." I pleaded.

"No."

I scoffed, taken aback. "I said move."

"And I said no." He shot back in a heartbeat. I started to feel angry.

"This is very unprofessional of you." I childishly pointed out, thinking I would throw him off by my statement but he didn't break eye contact. If anything, his voice got firmer.

"Out here we're on same ground. Outside of school grounds, you're not my student, Yuri. You are a guy who I want to get to know and spend time with. So no, it's not unprofessional and I will not move."

I clicked my tongue, my hands balled into fists. He sure as hell knew how to get on my nerves and--

"Why are you avoiding me?" He questioned, his face saddened. I was at a loss for words. I expected this question to come up at some time but not the painful look or guilt that came crashing down on me afterwards. My chest felt tight and I had to look away from his eyes in shame.

But it's not my fault, I reminded myself. He was the one ignoring my texts and the one who went out with another guy the following day. It is not my fault.

"You were mad I cancelled our plans." I reminded him in a soft whisper.

He didn't say anything after that and I didn't dare look up to see his face. My eyes were examining the wall to my right, going over the leather jacket hanging by the miror, realizing it reminded me of that one time back in elementary school when everyone wore leather jackets for a fun event. I lost my bran new jacket that same day.

I almost forgot Victor was in the room. Almost. But he spoke up, softly at first. "I wasn't mad...Jesus."

He started laughing.

I couldn't help but look up to give him an incredulous look. He was doubled over slightly, a hand pressed to his forehead and the other to his stomach as the most beautiful laugh rang past his lips and bounced off these four walls, echoing into my heart. My face reddened, hands shaking.

Memories of the other day after class when he teased me about my shirt flashed across my mind.

"That's it?!" Victor finally asked after a few seconds, his laughs slowly ending. I was still standing there, overwhelmed and confused. He took a deep breath and looked at me with such glee, "I'm glad." He beamed.

"Glad?" I repeated.

Victor walked up to me, surprisingly pulling me into a hug. I was frozen in shock, my brain not able to instantly understand what was happening. His arms around me tightened and I felt the warmth from my face spread all over my body.

"I was never mad, Yuri." He whispered, the room completely quiet for the first time since we came in. I wanted to wrap my arms around him, embrace him and accept whatever it was that he had to offer, but I couldn't move. I just stood there frozen instead. "I thought you were..." His words trailed off, as if wondering if he should finish the sentence. I silently willed him to, desperately wanting to know what he was going to say.

But after it was clear he wasn't going to finish that sentence, he released his hold on me. I didn't understand it.

"But you never answered my texts." I pointed out softly. He scratched the back of his neck and looked to the side nervously.

"Yeah...I don't have my phone with me at the moment. I'll be getting a replacement in a few days." My lips formed into an 'o' shape, slowly realizing my stupidity.

It was awkward after that. Now that everything (or at least part of it) was out in the open, we realized how idiotic this whole situation really was. A big deal was made out of something so silly and it was all my fault.

"God, I'm sorry." I groaned at last. "I've been blowing you off since I really thought you were mad and I didn't want to make you choose so I just told myself to stay away and let you meet other people. I probably seemed like the biggest dick out there--"

Victor chuckled, "Don't worry about it. I'm also sorry, I gave you reason to think that way, so it's my fault."

"But that's the thing, I thought you did, but really I was just over-thinking and assumed the worst." I explained quickly in one short breath. Victor gave me a warm smile.

"Okay, so it was both our faults." He cautiously reached for my hand, intertwining his pinky with mine, the simple action making my face redden. "So how about for an apology, you let me take you out somewhere and I pay?"

I blinked up at him. I was baffled by his request. "Why...?"

"Because that way I get to apologize paying and you--"

"No," I interrupted him, pressing a hand against my chest, "I meant, why are you doing this? I'm a student."

I had never seen him look so confused before. It was like I had grown two heads and was asking him where they came from. But slowly, he flashed me a cool and collected smile, almost like he was playing with my curiosity.

"Because I like you." He explained as simply as he could. I could have melted away at that moment, but I didn't want to show him how swooned I was. "So come on, let me take you out."

Instead, I placed a hand on my hip and raised an eyebrow, trying desperately to get my cool back. "So the professor has a charming side?"

Victor shrugged. "It's the least I could do."

"Don't you mean the least I could do? Remember I still haven't accepted your invitation. I might just say no." I said, completely joking. Either way, Victor leaned down, using his free hand to press the pad of his thumb against my bottom lip, his eyes boring into mine.

"Is there any way I could change your mind?" He asked, referring to my previous sentence.

For the fifth time in the last ten minutes, the atmosphere around us changed. But it wasn't something we had experienced lately, instead it was the type of atmosphere we were in on the private dance room. The space around us was hot and the tension was heavy, desire basically written on our eyes. This was definitely escalating fast, but neither of us seemed to mind the rising heat.

I smirked, letting the 'Eros' side of me take over as I batted my eyelashes a bit. This playfulness happening between us was perfect and I was going to abuse of the moment.

Our faces had been a couple of inches apart, but with a single step I took, our chests flushed together and our lips were close to touching now. I could feel his breath against my lips, the taste of alcohol tickling my taste buds.

He's so close...

Either of us could easily make that final move and press our lips together, but we were letting the anticipation build, challenging each other to take that step, admitting defeat and surrendering to the others charms. It was a battle to see who would give in first.

"Maybe you can." I whispered softly, afraid I could ruin the moment if I spoke too loud.

I could tell he was breaking--hell, so was I. His soft lips which I once had desperately pressed again mine were finally so close to me, just mere centimeters away. It would be so easy to take them in between my teeth as I made him groan...

I looked up from his lips to see he was still standing his ground. Fuck... if he wasn't going to take that final step, then I would.

My hands came up to take a hold of his jaw a second before I finally crashed my lips against his. I sort of expected a teasing remark on how he won, or for him to pull away, but he instantly returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around my waist once again, pulling me even closer to his body. All of my worries an doubts disappeared at that moment and I was left with a bubbling sensation in my chest. It took me a few seconds to realize what I was feeling...

It was true happiness.

On instinct, my arms wrapped around his neck, tugging at the the back if his hair to keep him in place. The way he moved his lips against mine took my breath away, leaving me craving more even if it meant I would loose all oxygen. But at this point, air was the last thing on my mind.

I hadn't realized we were moving until I felt a hard surface press against my back. His hands which were holding on to my waist, slowly inched around the area, as if urging to touch me all over but still afraid to step over a boundary. Even in the middle of our heated session, he was still respectful. My body trembled at the thought.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but consent is a fucking turn on.

It was clear he was experienced in the kissing department, judging by the way his lips moved rhythmically and his tongue teasingly graced across my bottom lip. My heart warmed up when one of his hands came up to touch my cheek, caressing the hot skin as he slowed down the kiss despite my attempt to deepen it. Normally I would be annoyed at the act, but I still felt happy.

What had started as a fervent kiss was now a sweet one, filled with adoration. His lips were kissing mine like I was a porcelain doll, and yet I was ready to faint from how light headed I was feeling.

When he placed what he decided was the final kiss to my lips, Victor pulled back and looked down at me with one of the brightest smiles I had probably ever seen him wear. It was a bit weird to see him with another expression other than his cold, professional look he would always wear during his lessons. But I loved this side of him. It was a side I wanted to get to know more about.

I definitely don't hate this man. I couldn't, even if I tried.

The second he leaned down to press his forehead against mine, sighing happily, I decided I definitely wanted this to work out.

Part of the barrier I had around me to keep the world out crumbled at Victor's feet. The room around me turned brighter and for a second, I felt a certain tingle in my heart. A pull of strings.

And then a warm smile spread across my lips as I leaned up for another taste of happiness.

  
  
  
  
  
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A/n: *hugs you* I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused the previous chapters, but it'll only get better during the next couple of chapters :)
.....atleastuntiltheplotthickens *runs away*

What you think about this chapter? And yep, Jumin Han does in fact gay xD

Victuri is now pretty fucking canon in the story (not officially yet but like they obvs wanna fuck so xD)
Which means happy moments are up ahead! (for the most part)
But most importantly....
  
   
   
  

This is a step closer to the smutttt *wheeze*

I'm getting pretty fuckn pumped for this ^-^

Please make sure to vote! It's a oat on the back for my work :) and once again, thank you sm for the votes, reads, comments and additions to your libraries!!♡♡

Till next time, loves!

-sai