The ember affair

the ember affair (sometimes abbreviated as tea) is a popular ongoing Jeon Jungkook/Kim Seokjin BTS fanfic by cinderellacomplex falling under the Fake Dating and Enemies to Lovers tropes. Fans of the fic have created fanworks for it, including art and vids. It was updated from 5 September 2020 with a planned Vmin sequel that was eventually abandoned by the author.
As of May 27, 2024, the fic is the longest jinkook fanwork on AO3, having reached more than 556k words. (Tecnically, Before I Leave You by hollyhomburg is the longest fic under the Jeon Jungkook/Kim Seokjin tag, but they are not the main pairing.)
==The Fic==
The summary of the fic on AO3 is as follows:
the ember affair follows Jeongguk faking a relationship with his business rival Seokjin as a PR stunt to divert the media's attention from a drug scandal he is involved into, and being attracted to him despite Seokjin's engagement to Jeongguk's best friend Taehyung. As the story progresses, Taehyung and Seokjin break up, and Jeongguk and Seokjin's relationship turns into a real one, they get tangled in a web of secrets stemming from the past, betrayals, revenge, and a series of murders happening in Seokjin's family.
The first idea for the fic came from Rosaline's part in Romeo and Juliet, with the story including a few references to Shakespeare's work. Titled after Sabaa Tahir's novel An Ember in the Ashes,googiepops, , Twitter, 19 August 2021 cinderellacomplex stated that "the ember affair is an idea born out of my excessive love for k-drama (+tropes around it)[,] my urge to tackle dark topics, side of people that's ugly, chaebol groups and other tropes i find interesting"; inspiration came from movies and Korean dramas, which is also the reason why every chapter has at least one theme song.the ember affair opening notes on AO3. Works that impacted the fic were Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief, Michael Lehmann's Heathers, Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá también, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Park Hoon-jung's V.I.P., as well as Park Tae-joon's manhwa Lookism and dramas Hell is Other People, While You Were Sleeping, The Penthouse, Sky Castle, The World of the Married, and W: Two Worlds.Deleted tweet by googiepops dated 18 August 2021. Jeongguk and Seokjin's dynamic was inspired by a quote from Wuthering Heights – "He is more of myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same".
The fic was updated frequently in 2020, with 12 chapters released in just four months; 7 installments were published in 2021 with less frequency as the chapters themselves and the story became progressively longer and more complex, and chapter 20 was the only 2022 release. The 21st and expected final chapter is yet to be posted. Many scenes were scrapped from the final draft, with cinderellacomplex sharing some of them on Twitter.googiepops, , Twitter, 19 August 2021.googiepops, , Twitter, 21 August 2021.googiepops, , Twitter, 4 January 2022. the ember affair has been praised by readers for its cinematic, movie-like writing and unfolding, multiple POVs, plot twists, double-faced characters, and chemistry between Jeongguk and Seokjin. There are no approved translation of the fic to any other language from English.
=== Alternate Endings ===
In the original ending of the fic, Seokjin was going to have an accident and experience amnesia, but it was scrapped feeling that it was cliche and weak.googiepops, , Twitter, 2 July 2021.googiepops, Twitter, 17 June 2021. Three additional alternate endings were made and all scrapped from the finale as well: in one of them, Jeongguk was going to be killed by Taehyung in front of Seokjin.googiepops, , Twitter, 17 June 2021.googiepops, Twitter, 16 February 2022.
===Planned Sequel===
A sequel to the original fic was originally planned, which would have focused on Jimin and Taehyung, but was eventually scrapped and deleted.googiepops, , Twitter, 6 February 2022.googiepops, , Twitter, 13 April 2022. According to cinderellacomplex, this sequel would have been maximum 4-chapters longgoogiepops, , Twitter, 7 February 2022. and centered around the aftermath of the charity ball.googiepops, , Twitter, 20 December 2021. Vmin would have been the main pairing, with Jinkook on the side, and Jimin and Seokjin would have plotted something together.googiepops, , Twitter, 18 April 2023
==Fan Reviews/Reactions==
===Twitter Fan Reactions===
* 
===Archive of Our Own Fan Reactions===
==Fan Creations==
===Fan Videos===
* fanfiction trailer created by chunsa⁷
* fanfiction trailer created by ornella⁷
* fan edit by kore
* fan edit by elle ☾
* fan edit by kali
===Fan Art===
* photo edit by raf
* photo edit by kore
* fic poster by insu☽ soob LOVER
* Pinterest board by Lbp
===Fan Playlists===
* the ember affair (extended) Spotify playlist by o⁷
==References==
Category:Slash Fanfiction
Category:BTS Fanfiction
Category:2020 Fanfiction‎