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[clutterfied]

hello ! wanted to say i really love your writing style and your stories for the characters ! I wanted to know if you’d write one for Love and deep space Sylus? A scenario where you’re both sleeping but you sneak away quietly to get something from the kitchen or for whatever reason but he stops you with his powers (the handcuffs etc) to bring you back to bed. I’m not sure if i’m making sense but something along those lines! please and thank you!

Sylus: Kitchen Sneaker

Warning: No warning. Fem!reader, domestic fluff (?)

Author's note: This is a fun domestic-ish prompt to write! I hope you like it my dear pookies <3

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Sylus was fast asleep beside you.

The man was a light sleeper for the sake of his own safety. According to him, even if the building was as secure as it could be, there were some instances where he woke up with a knife to his throat. However, ever since you began sharing the same bed, he had been sleeping like a log, which was good for him and the twins because they no longer had to deal with his hot head so early in the evening.

But it was bad for you. Simply because Sylus likes to hold you in his sleep. Sometimes his hand would be over your chest, groping your breast or squeezing in between your boobs, but most times, he would be holding your wrist, checking your pulse. How was this bad for you? Well, living alone for most of your adult life, you liked to indulge yourself in a midnight snack or two. With him holding you captive to the bed, his iron grip holding on to you, it was like you had a ball and chain around your body.

You've indulged Sylus for over a week now, but the intense midnight craving is overwhelming.

Tonight, it's food over Sylus. The man can wait. Food cannot.

You scooted his hand very, very, very gently away from your body. This man's hand is heavy and large. Sylus didn't move and continued to sleep peacefully, his exposed chest rising and falling calmly. The room was very cold, and you could even hear the blowing of the AC; it was at that moment that you realized how such small sounds seemed to be so loud at night.

With every step you take, you are holding your breath even more. Even against the carpet, the rustling of your feet seemed like it could stir Sylus awake at any second. Thankfully, you managed to traverse across the room like a spy. You even had to carefully close the door shut.

You used the stairs to get down to the kitchen, and while you were walking in the hallway, the chef was just about to leave, his satchel bag on his shoulder.

He and you made eye contact. You gestured to him to 'shush,' and he laughed.

"There's some leftover dessert and pasta in the fridge—feel free to eat it," he whispered, and you grinned, giving him a thumbs up. Greg is the best chef ever. You tiptoed to the kitchen, waving him goodbye. Your eyes landed on that double-door fridge that was whirring loudly.

Finally! You could taste that delicious panna cotta and aglio olio in your mouth. Your hands wrapped around the handle of the fridge, and as you tugged, the bright blue light of the fridge lit up your face.

You took the plate and settled it on the stainless steel counter. The next one was the small glass filled with chocolate and cream. You marveled at its delicate, savory look. You took a spoon from the nearby utensil holder and dug it into the soft texture, eager to get a taste.

Before it could land between your lips—

A cold whirlwind of black, scentless smoke wrapped around the fork. It flung out of your grasp, and before you could let out a peep, you, too, were flung away from the kitchen counter.

The man let out a grunt, his eyes low-lidded and foggy, clearly just woken up from his slumber.

"Pray tell," he gruffed, his voice an octave lower. "What are you doing in the kitchen? You're supposed to be in bed." Sylus let out a sigh while he brought you closer to him. He glanced behind you and saw the unopened plate of pasta and panna cotta.

"Never mind. You don't need to speak."

"I'm hungry! Don't you know you shouldn't get between a woman and her food?" you exclaimed while tugging at the thing around your exposed waist. You thrashed and thrashed, the straps of your nightshirt sliding down your shoulders. "Put me down and go back to bed! I'll be with you in five—no, fifteen minutes!"

His head was aching from all the noise you were making, and combined with the fact that you were out of bed by the time he woke up—to Sylus, it seemed like you were testing his patience. "Did you not eat enough during dinner time? You know you could've asked for second servings."

"I get midnight cravings on occasion, but when I'm sleeping over, you tend to weigh me down in bed," you explained, flailing your legs, which were a few feet off the ground.

"So, you're blaming me now?" Sylus raised an eyebrow.

You shrugged. Of course, you were. It wasn't your fault you couldn't get out of bed, and it wasn't your fault that the chef made great food and desserts. He didn't like the look on your face but, regardless, put you down to the floor, his hand tugging your strap over your shoulders. His red eyes glazed over your bare chest, but he turned away, walking to that lonely plate of pasta.

"We're going back to sleep after you have your fill." Sylus unwrapped the plate and took a fork, twirling it and taking a bite. The oily, mild tinge of spiciness and Parmesan helped push him awake. He won't deny that the chef was good at his job—it was even enough for you to sneak out of his bed.

You mounted yourself onto the kitchen island, the cold marble surface cooling the bottom of your thigh. You took the panna cotta, and finally, the creamy and sweet flavor of chocolate and cream exploded in your mouth. Unconsciously, you nodded in approval of the taste.

Quietly, you ate in each other's company, occasionally making small talk. Sylus left the dish in the sink along with the fork, but when he turned to you, your nose was inside the refrigerator again. "Cake roll slice…" you uttered. The strawberry cake roll looked delicious inside the glass container.

Before you could even reach out to it, the smoke appeared at the very same spot, dragging you away from the fridge. Sylus closed the double-door refrigerator and crossed his arms right in front of you. A clear 'no' was plastered all over his face.

You let out a groan as he dragged you away with the smoky black and red rope around your waist.

When you got back to the bedroom, you expected Sylus to go right back to sleep. But instead, the man pulled a handcuff from underneath his pillow. How and why it was, there was a question you didn't want to ask him. Without another word coming out of his mouth, he chained it to himself and took hold of your wrist.

"No. You're not going to—"

He latched the real handcuff around your wrists and laid down on the bed, dragging you with him.

"Sleep."

The lights dimmed and flickered off at his word, and you just lay there, staring up at the canopy.

"I guess this is our bedtime routine now," you sighed.

"Sleep," he reiterated.

You seriously have no idea how you put up with this man.

Author footnotes: I also like to sneak out to the kitchen and eat but instead of sylus, It's my mom who sees me and then i get the clothes hanger beat up for staying up late at night lol.

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[clutterfied]

Ok a fic where reader and sylus are at a business meeting, she “offers” herself as payment (maybe as a joke or just to rile sylus idk) and he makes sure to remind her who she belongs to? Please???

Kindred Spirits

Word Count: 5.1k

Tags: sylus x fem!reader, possessiveness, ownership, spanking, hitting, slight blood mention, pet names like kitten & sweetie, creampie, rough sex, crying, slight fluff at the end :3

AN: Anon ur a literal genius. This has Sylus written all over it. Im so happy to be back posting another story for you all! Also happy to announce my masterlist is now complete and can be found in my pinned! Ty all! Enjoy and remember, my asks are open for any character, Sylus is just my husband LOL. Remember to read my pinned before requesting please! This is a bit tamer than my other stories but trust I am cooking up some deviant content as soon as I publish this one :33

“Finally…”

You nearly collapse near your front door. A whole week of your life. Gone. To what you ask? Dealing with wanderers on a special aid mission. Sure sure, the job paid well but it had been weeks since your last off day. Every time it seemed like one was around the corner here they go with some emergency call and a spill about how some rich politician needed help or something.

You were starting to get tired of cleaning up other people’s mistakes.

You fumbled with your keys, fingers numb from the biting cold. The wind whipped around you, making you shiver as you tried to fit the right key into the lock. Your breath came out in visible puffs, and you could feel the frustration building with each failed attempt. Finally, with a relieved sigh, you heard the click of the lock turning.

The still warm air is such a welcoming contrast to the wind and biting cold outside. You quickly shut your door and melt to the floor, your feet aching with relief as the pressure you had been putting on them subsided. Peace at last. Time for a hot shower an-

Your peace was cut short with the distinct tone of your phone ringing. And not just any ring tone. The one you had set specifically for a certain white haired man that only ever brought trouble. Wondering if you should even pick up, you bring the phone to your face, knowing that you were going to answer regardless.

“Sylus…I’m really tired. Can we talk lat-"

“Long time no see kitten. You should stop by for a bit, hm?”

You roll your eyes, suppressing the urge to scoff out loud. Arrogant prick, you think, irritated by his inability to let you finish a sentence without interrupting. How did he even know you were home now?

You sigh deeply, feeling the tension building, and rub your temples to alleviate the mounting frustration. No, you tell yourself firmly. You wouldn’t put up with this today. Maybe another day, but definitely not today.

"Actually, no. I just returned from a week-long aid mission. Not today," you say firmly, aiming to be clear and resolute in your decision to stay put. Sylus however, seems to sense the cracks in your resolve and only responds with a chuckle.

“I want to see you. I’ll have Luke and Kieran come get you since you’re so tired”.

“Hu-”

“See you soon. They’re en route. Ciao”

The phone clicks, signaling the end of the call. For whatever reason, your ever growing frustration simply dissipates, defeat taking its place. You should be used to this by now. Sylus always gets what he wants. And you always let him. It goes without saying that it’s the same way for you as well. At least, Sylus always gives you what you want if it doesn’t interfere with his need to lay his eyes on you at least once in awhile. He knew that you wouldn’t push this though. You both knew.

Deep down, you wanted to see him too.

You asked Luke and Kieran to wait outside for a bit while you took a brisk shower and freshened up. Those two had always been very patient and understanding. You felt bad “bossing” them around, and yet they always insisted that you could. Though Luke had admitted on one occasion that he never expected to be helping a girl find hair ties or carrying shopping bags while working for Onychinus.

The statement had made you laugh a bit. You finally finish dressing in some plain sweats and rush to the car. Luke and Kieran are waiting outside of a dark colored jeep. Not too flashy as to not draw attention, but it was still clearly very expensive.

“Actually miss, Boss wanted you to wear these” Luke says, holding out an expensive looking dress. Clearly designed by hand and tailored to your measurements. Kieran follows his lead, holding out a box containing a pair of earrings and a lavish looking necklace.

“Huh? What’s this for? A date?”

“Business. That’s all he said” Kieran chimed in. Although you couldn’t see their faces, you knew they had no reason to lie to you about this.

“Ah. Dragging me into more trouble. Got it”.

When the three of you finally arrived to the location, the sun had already set for the day. You darted your eyes back and forth, squinting above at the bright neon sign of the establishment.

“We’re not going to the N109 Zone? This is a nightclub…” you mutter, taken aback by the unfamiliar surroundings. When did this even get here? There were plenty of clubs in Linkon of course, but you never seemed to notice this one. Not that you knew much about the night life to begin with. People were lined up at the entrance, chatting, fixing makeup, or texting.

“Boss wants you here. He’s waiting inside. Enjoy your time miss” Luke said, amusement written all over his tone. He gets out of the passenger seat to open the door and lend you a hand. You rolled your eyes, not wanting to appear shaken up by the situation. Sylus was always full of surprises. This was no different, act confident.

At least, that’s what you tried to tell yourself. After getting almost immediate entrance into the club with just a simple nod from the guard, you enter. As you walk inside the club, Luke and Kieran not far behind you, you can tell this was no ordinary night club. Everyone here was dressed lavishly and sharp, clearly possessing power and ulterior motives. A few eyes lay on you as you walk in, and you feel your hands start to sweat.

Keep cool. This isn’t the first time you’ve been around high ranking individuals. This is probably some test he set up…right? Or some kind of joke to get a laugh?

Clenching your fists, your eyes dart and search for a tall figure with white hair, feeling more nervous by the second that you don’t see him. You’re about to turn around and ask one of the twins, but at last your gaze settles on him, sipping on a glass of Gin Fizz. He’s sitting in a velvety booth by himself, people watching. He’s wearing his black button up with red streaks across it, coat hanging on his shoulders per usual. As if he felt you staring, his eyes shift to meet yours. He sets down his glass, giving you you a small smirk. His eyes narrow, sending a very clear message.

Come here.

As if you were suddenly possessed, your feet seem to start moving on their own. You weren’t sure if you were relieved to see him or if it was just the relief of seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar place. You take a few deep breaths as you approach, readying your witful replies to any of his attempts to make fun of you. Without making any sound or looking at him, you quietly slide in next to him.

“You look nice. Seems I was right about this look on you” Sylus says, taking another sip of his drink. His eyes wander up and down behind the glass, seemingly devouring you. You squirm under his gaze.

“Hm. Thanks. This gift is the least you can do after dragging me to do whatever you want on a whim once again” you scoff, eyeing the full glass that sits on the table. It’s another glass of Gin Fizz, probably for Sylus. There’s three other very empty glasses on the table.

This man can definitely hold his alcohol.

He chuckles, taking a finger and pushing the glass of Gin closer to you.

“Don’t be like that sweetie. Loosen up a bit, you’ll need it”

“For what exactly? Business?” you mock, picking up the Gin. You didn’t exactly like the taste of this particular alcohol of choice but Sylus was right about one thing. Some liquid courage was definitely needed for whatever shenanigans he was dragging you into tonight.

“Yeah. Figured I could use Linkon’s darling Miss Hunter as backup” Sylus chuckles, watching you nearly choke as you take three big gulps of the drink. You squeeze your eyes in disgust as you finish the rest of the glass, shooting a death glare in his direction as you set it down.

“You’re perfectly capable. Don’t mock me Sylus”. You grit your teeth in irritation, almost ready to rip him to shreds with your words. Clearly your tone has no effect on him though, as all you get in return is a soft smile. Sylus places a hand on your upper leg, slowing sliding his fingers under your dress. You gasp, the coldness of his fingers making you twitch a bit. The warmness of your skin mixed with his cold touch makes the sensation feel like icy fire.

“Or what? You’ll use this on me?” he smirks, tugging on the concealed gun strapped under your dress. “I’m all for it honestly”

You slap his hand away, the woozy feeling from the Gin Fizz starting to kick in. What was in this drink? It was strong. Too strong.

“Pervert. Always touching me, making fun of me. Maybe I will shoot you. Again.” you growl, turning your head away from him. You attempt to scoot away as well, but are met with a strong grip around your waist as you’re pulled into closer proximity with him. Sylus grabs your chin and lifts it towards his face. He leans down a bit, the smell of alcohol and his bourbon vanilla cologne making you feel even more dizzy.

“You can put your claws away now kitten. Don’t make me have to melt your little tantrum away” he coos, gently caressing your face with his thumb.

You stare at him, dumbfounded, desperately searching your sluggish brain for a comeback but finding yourself too flustered to form any words. The look in Sylus’s eyes shifts from a smug expression to a much softer, almost tender gaze, and you wonder what his next move will be. Your face starts to burn as you feel heat rising in your core, your heart pounding in your chest. Panic sets in as you consider the possibilities, your mind racing with the fear of what might come next.

Don’t tell me he’s going to…?!

"You're so...confusing" you mutter.

You’re just about to try and squirm from his grip, when Luke and Kieran tap on the table, catching yalls attention.

“Boss man, Val says he’s ready for ya” Luke says, nonchalantly ignoring the scene that’s displayed in front of him. Sylus releases your face, his face going serious again. He gets up, reaching out a hand to help you out of the booth.

“Time for business, sweetie”

You’re guided by the twins and Sylus past the sweaty bodies on the dance floor to a somewhat hidden room located downstairs. The area the stairs led to was blocked off by a singular rope, clearly only meant for a select crowd.

In the room there’s a long black table, cards and chips all over it. There’s a few prominent figures already seated, along with a few bodyguards standing near the door. Sylus pulls a seat out for you, before taking his own. You study the figure that’s sitting at the head of the table as you sit. He’s short, a bit chubby, dark hair, smoking a cigar. A scar sits angrily on his forehead and you wonder what kinda grudges led to such an injury. He notices you looking at him, and gives you a devilish grin. Some of his teeth are crooked or missing.

All that money and he can't fix his smile?

You shudder. Sylus looks over at you, and back to the man at the head of the table. He’s reading you, clearly sensing your nervousness. He says nothing, simply reaching a hand over to rest on your thigh.

“Was starting to think you were going to keep me waiting Sylus. Seems you didn’t run after all” he laughs, wheezing a bit as he takes another puff of his cigar. You wrinkle your nose a bit as the potent smell hits your senses.

“I couldn’t turn down a game of cards with my dear old friend” Sylus says, irritation coating the last word. “Let’s keep things civil this time, hm Valentino?”

Valentino bursts into laughter, clearly amused. Despite his laughter, you couldn’t ignore the murderous tension in the air. Something tells you this isn’t any regular game of cards. You gulp, trying to force yourself to look at everyone at the table and smile.

“Well hello little lady. Sylus, you didn’t tell me you kept such gorgeous company…” Val says, his eyes snaking all over your body. You feel Sylus squeeze your thigh, clearly irritated. He pulls out a coin from his coat pocket, seemingly trying to channel his frustrations into something else.

“You know I’m not really the type to share, Val. She’s all mine. Down to every single strand of hair”. Sylus ends, catching the coin and shooting a glare in the man’s direction. It was plain, but conveyed a message very well.

You feel your palms start to sweat. Was he being serious right now?? You side eye him, trying to piece out whether or not this was some kind of facade you’re supposed to play into. Valentino clearly takes Sylus’s words as a challenge.

“I’ll give you twenty million for her. Maybe fifty million if you make her give us a little strip show. What do ya say? She looks so soft. Probably makes cute noises too…~” he chuckles, likely enjoying the look of surprise that washes across your face.

Sylus remains quiet, his face unmoving, frozen in a pissed glare. You don’t know if it was the alcohol you drank earlier, or if it was some inkling of an attempt to dissipate the tension, but you clear your throat and begin to speak.

“Well Sylus? You can share can’t you? It’s quite the generous offer Mr. Valentino. I’m quite flattered actually.” you express, putting on your best smug look. Sylus stiffens, a somewhat shocked expression washing over him. Valentino erupts into yet another fit of laughter, seemingly unable to contain himself. Turning to look back at Sylus, you see it in his face briefly. An uncaged look of rage before it quickly dissipates.

Shit. Shouldn’t have said that.

Far too late to stop now though.

“You heard the lady Sylus. Why don’t you try sharing just this once? What I would give to taste that sweet little body of he-”

Sylus slams a revolver on the table, then calmly starts picking up cards from the deck.

"I'd suggest you stop talking and start playing the game, Mr. Valentino," Sylus snarls, his words dripping with venom. The fury in his voice is palpable, and it's clear he's reached the end of his patience.

You give Val a sly look, feigning pity. “Ah, sorry Valentino. Seems this one can’t quite let me go yet”. You don’t know what you were trying to achieve, but it’s certainly not working to dissipate any tension. Val doesn’t respond to you though, all his focus on Sylus now.

“My dear friend. You should know me by now. There’s something I’m much more interested in now than some money. Now I want the girl, or nothing”.

Valentino wears a shit eating grin on his face, soaking in the fact that he thinks he’s gained some control of the situation, unaffected by the gun on the table. Sylus simply sighs, rubbing his fingers against the temple of his forehead.

“I see where this is going then”.

You barely process what’s happening before everything and everyone starts moving. As soon as Sylus begins to stand, Valentinos guards start shooting. Sylus wastes no time flipping the large table, sending the cards and game chips flying everywhere. You yelp as he yanks you towards him using his body and the table to shield the oncoming attack of bullets. You hear Luke and Kieran joining in the frenzy, yelling obscenities as they begin shooting their own hidden weapons.

You swiftly reach for the weapon concealed beneath your dress, your fingers brushing against the cool metal as you draw it out. Turning to face Sylus, you ready yourself for his instructions, your body tense with anticipation. Instead of giving you orders, he locks eyes with you, his gaze piercing through you with an intensity that feels like it's reaching into your very soul. The silence is heavy, charged with unspoken tension as bullets whip past the both of you, and you can feel your heartbeat quicken in response.

“I need you alive for what’s coming sweetie. Pay attention, stay close”

You blink. Twice. Unable to process his words before he yanks you both up, one hand using his evol to send the table crashing into several bodyguards. The four of you fight your way through the onslaught of people coming into the door, before eventually dashing up the stairs. People are running in all directions, seemingly caught up in the chaos of everything. You all manage to make it out the door and into the brisk cold air, the twins quickly hopping into the car to whisk you away.

“Go on, I’ll catch up soon” Sylus states, hurriedly pushing you into the car and slamming the door before you could protest. He signals Kieran to drive off, and that he does.

“He’s…going to level the building. Isn’t he?” you sigh, sighing at the fact that Sylus seemed to conveniently forget that this was in fact not the lawless land of the N109 Zone. No doubt the Hunter’s Association would have to investigate for potential wanderer activity, and that would be a lot of paperwork.

"It's fine. He owned that place anyway. He'll just build another," Luke says, his voice calm and unbothered. Just as the words leave his mouth, a deafening boom erupts behind the car, shaking the ground beneath yall. The explosion's shockwave rattles the windows, and the sky lights up with a fiery glow, cutting off Luke's next sentence mid-breath.

You groan.

The twins did drive you to the N109 this time, swiftly helping you out the car and into Sylus’s private villa. When you entered the front door, a nightgown and lacy underwear were laid neatly out for you in his room, your arrival clearly anticipated.

It wasn’t more than an hour before Sylus waltzed in the front door, eyeing your slouching figure on the couch. You sit up as soon as you see him, still somewhat annoyed.

“What took you so damn long? Also do you have to level every building you come across?” you spat, glaring at him. He says nothing though, walking straight past you and into his room.

“Huh? Sylus?? What the hell…”

Not liking the feeling of being ignored, you hurriedly chased after him. You had never really been uncomfortable barging into his room. You had done it plenty of times at this point, the first time being when he had challenged you to steal the brooch from him. No point in being shy now. He’s fumbling with something in his drawer when you reach up to tap his shoulder.

“Sylus! Don’t ignore me, I know you ca-”

He swiftly turns around, grabbing your wrist before you can touch him. His gaze is unreadable, cold even. You start to sweat, trying to take your arm back. But he only squeezes tighter.

"I was hoping you'd leave me be so I could calm down. But of course you're as petulant as ever" he says.

"Let go! What's wrong with you!?" You attempt to remove his hand from your wrist but he doesn't budge.

“Go to the bed. Place your hands on it” he says, face unchanging.

“Huh??”

“I don’t like to repeat myself”.

You freeze for only a moment before quickly moving to the bed. You meticulously put your hands where instructed, something deep in your core telling you that it’s likely best to listen for now. However, you can’t help to look over your should to quip at Sylus. You’re slightly bent at an angle, trying your best to keep your balance.

“What’s this about? I’m not that upset that you reduced the building to rubble”

Sylus snakes his way behind you, quietly, as if thinking of what to say. He reaches out a hand, grabbing the ends of your nightgown and moving the soft fabric around in his fingers. You feel the heat rise to your face, the skin of your ass feeling a slight gush of cold air.

“You like playing games with me, don’t you? Testing me” he says coldly, fingers trailing up the back of your legs slowly. You shiver, attempting to squirm away. His evol appears around you, its tight grip making you cry out.

Oh. This was about that.

“Huh?? No, I was just playing along. Just friendly banter yknow?” you say, voice wavering. You’ve clearly pissed him off. A part of you knows it’s a slight lie. You didn’t want to admit it out loud but it was kind of amusing to see Sylus get so riled up over something. Over you especially. But you hadn’t exactly done it fully on purpose. It was the alcohol.

But you knew he wasn’t buying it, as observant as he was.

“Sure. You were just pretending to act like a stray kitten trying to find a new owner?” he smirks, his fingers beginning to trace circles over the cloth of your panties. You let out a small whine, his touch just barely grazing your already wet cunt.

“Owner? I don’t belong to you. Or anyone” you scoff, the resolve in your voice wavering with every little circle he completes on your skin. You almost whine in disappointment when he pulls away.

“And yet…” Sylus trails off, leaving you with aching curiosity before you’re met with stinging pain on your ass. You cry out, unable to move with his evol still snaked around you. “You did exactly what I told you to do just now, wear the clothes I leave out for you, and practically melt everytime I even barely touch you”.

“Sylus?! What the hell was that…?!” you exclaim, trying your hardest to process his words and the situation at hand. He doesn’t respond, proceeding to gently caress the spot where he smacked you. The stinging pain gently eases away, and you feel yourself relaxing with his touch once again. He once again trails his fingers down to your clothed pussy, rubbing slow and meticulous circles around it. You start to whine, attempting to push yourself into his fingers for more friction. He pulls his hand away, making a disapproving sigh.

“Acting like you’re in heat per usual” he chuckles, watching as you wiggle around under the grip of his evol. “This is a punishment”.

“For what? Cause I let some sick and ugly looking crime boss think he had a chance with me?”

Sylus wastes no time bringing his hand to your ass again, earning another painful whine out of you. You feel tears forming in your eyes that you can’t wipe away. He’s certainly not holding back his strength, and yet you know this isn’t even a third of the force he could use on you.

“For entertaining him” he says plainly.

Another smack.

“Another for stupidly handing over your life, body and soul for a measly twenty million”

An even harder hit, this one fueled by rage.

“And lastly…”

You nearly choke as he delivers the final blow, your ass definitely bruising by now. Sylus offers no comfort this time, instead leaning down next to your crying face, breath hot against your ear.

“For forgetting that you belong to me, just as much as I belong to you. Kindred spirits remember?”

You have no chance to respond before he’s flipping you on your back, your nightgown flying up to reveal your wet panties.

“I-im sorry, Sy” you choke, tears blurring your vision.

“Show me then, sweetie. Spread your legs. Wide” he instructs, reaching up to brush your tears away. This isn’t done lovingly, more like calculated and cold.

This is far from over.

You silently but shakingly open your legs, your ass still painfully aching from his assault. You’re surprised when he doesn’t rip your underwear in two, choosing to rather peel them off your legs slowly. You notice the hunger in his eyes as he does so, as if savoring the view of your cunt at his fingertips. A small drop of arousal pools down your ass, and Sylus scoops it up with one finger.

You watch as he puts his finger in his mouth, savoring the drop of you with swiftness. His piercing gaze never leaves yours though, and you want to suddenly run away and hide. This is beyond thrilling, but you try your best to remain as still as possible, scared that he’ll think you’re enjoying it too much and punish you accordingly.

You suddenly can’t take the tension anymore, and close your eyes. You hear the sound of Sylus removing his belt from its loops, then the loud clang as it hits the floor. You feel the bed shift as he lowers himself over you, his face stopping just inches over yours, indicated by the sudden feel and warmth of his breath. He grabs your face in his hand and squeezes your jaw. Hard.

“Look at me kitten” he commands, his tone filled with unkempt rage and anger. Your eyes fly open, terrified.

“I’m the only one that will ever taste you. Repeat it” he says. Before you can get a word out, he’s pushing the fat tip of his cock in your entrance. You cry out in agony, nowhere near ready to have been penetrated. But he doesn’t stop filling you.

“Repeat it. Or I’ll hit you again. Do you want that?”

“You’re t-the…ah!” you whine, his cock halfway inside you at this point. Your poor cunt feels like it’s being impaled, splitting pain soaring through your core.

“Try again”

You let out a whimper, trying your best to push through the pain and put thoughts into words.

“You’re the oh-only one that gets to taste me” you choke out, voice wavering and your eyes teary. Sylus gives a hard thrust, pushing the rest of his length inside you. You cry out again, feeling like you’re on the verge of passing out. Sylus seems unmoved by your outbursts though.

“And?”

You stare at him, barely able to see his face through the tears. What? What does he mean and? He didn’t say anything else did he?

“Hu-what?”

You hear him sigh with disapproval, giving you yet another hard thrust. And another. And another. You’re clinging onto his back now, nails digging into his skin as the sound of the bed creaking and your pants fill the room. Blood has probably been drawn on his back, not that he’d even notice. You can hear him grunting in your ear, clearly enjoying the feeling of you tightening around him when you tense from the pain. Although it still hurts, you can feel yourself accumulating to the shape and size of his length, and the pain lessons a bit more with each thrust. He stops once again, tilting your face in his grip.

“What did I say you forgot? Or is this kitten filled with too much cock to think straight now?” he mocks. You can hear the smile on his face despite not being able to see him clearly. Heat creeps up on your cheeks as you wrack your brain for answers.

“I-you…we’re kindred spirits?”

“Before that sweetie”

You blink the tears on your face away, your vision becoming a bit more clear. Although he’s still gazing down at you, his expression is not as angry as before. Seems he’s gotten a bit of his pent up anger out now.

“I belong to you, Sylus” you say, voice small and whiny from crying. That’s definitely what he wanted to hear, as he began to pepper kisses on your neck, on your cheek, and eventually resting on your lips. You greedily return his affection, leaning into this feverish kiss, the both of you only periodically stopping to pant for air between kisses. He stops, resting his forehead with yours, gazing into your eyes once more.

“And I belong to you. What’s mine is yours. All of it”

You don’t get a chance to respond before he’s thrusting again, this time with a continuous and steady pace. You cling onto him, the exchange of flowery words and rigorous thrusting already bringing you on the verge of ecstasy. Sylus already noticed long before you did though, as he brought his hand between the two of you, circling your clit further your stimulation.

“Go ahead, come undone for me” he whispers, voice strained for nearly being at his end too. Your body obeys, unraveling and writhing with pleasure as Sylus continues to pound into you. You ride your orgasm to its end, till the touching of your clit becomes too much and you whine from overstimulation.

“Sylus…!” you moan, and he stops, already at the start of his own climax. You shudder as you feel him spill into you, his seed immediately beginning to pool down your cunt and to your ass. He pulls his heavy cock out of you, a feeling of emptiness taking its place. For a moment nothing is said, just the sound of the both of you catching your breath.

You decide to break the silence.

“Sylus…I’m really sorry” you start, looking up at him. He simply chuckles, placing a kiss on your cheek before getting up to grab a rag from the bathroom.

“You’ve taken your punishment quite well, why are you apologizing again sweetie?” he says from the bathroom, coming back to wipe you clean. You scoff, slightly tensing from the coldness of the cloth.

“Hmph. Fine, I take it back then. I’m holding a grudge anyways for how hard you hit me”

He simply sighs as he finishes wiping you up. “Back with the infamous wit already? Can’t a man catch a break?”

You sit up, feeling emboldened once more.

“Nope. Maybe don’t hit me with the strength of a thousand suns next time and we’ll see”

Sylus tosses the rag in a laundry basket, making his way back to your side. He pulls you into his arms, embracing you in his warmth. You can’t help but smile against his chest.

“Well, good thing I have all night to make it up to you”

You lightly pinch his side, giggling into his embrace. A question crosses your mind.

"Did you mean it Sylus? We belong to each other?"

Sylus took your face in his hand, giving you a slight smile.

"I don't say stuff I don't mean. You know this"

That's the furthest he was willing to explain it. At least for now. Who knows what kind of power trip would ensue if you truly knew how much you had the big bad leader of Onychinus wrapped around your finger.

[clutterfied]

cater 2 u [ snip ] | sylus

It comes through the serene glow of your bedroom. Through the slurry of your thoughts and your restless leg syndrome.

It’s a gentle pressure in the form of fingers smoothing along your belly. Meant to soothe, to anchor you down as the maelstrom in your head threatens to sweep you away. A reminder that you are here, and this is very much real.  

“Can’t sleep?” he rasps from behind, voice heavy with exhaustion. Sends little tingles ricocheting down your spine, and his breath stirs the hairs at the nape of your neck.

Your stomach pulls, heart sinks. You must’ve woken him up with your jostling about.

He doesn’t sleep well himself. The constant traveling between the N109 Zone and Linkon City has its drawbacks. Transitioning from darkness to light so abruptly has surely mucked up his circadian cycle.

Doesn’t help that he abhors the sun. That it creeps through the slit of your curtains, casting both your faces in an amber stripe. But he bears it all if only to see you. To feel your pulse beat beneath his lips, to hold you like this.

You stroke his wrist with an apologetic thumb. “No, sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

He groans low like distant thunder. Tugs you closer until your ass sits all perfect in the notch of his pelvis, and his chin finds the pocket of your shoulder. Tangles your legs together, arms possessive around your middle, and he strokes your feet with his soft ones.

He clings to you like a lifeline, and you revel in the notion that you’re the only one who gets to see him like this. Stripped down, bare-boned, all lovey-dovey with little hearts swirling overhead.

He’d thump you for thinking like that.

“S’alright. Can’t expect you to completely change your routine for little old me.”

You scoff at that. Study the flutter of the curtains across from your bed as a breeze eases in. Like you haven’t already changed your lifestyle so much to accommodate him. Sleeping during the day is new. The nightmares and anxiety spuming through you only amplify your plight.

“You talk like I wouldn’t give you the world,” you say to dispel the cacophony in your head.

A chuckle roils in his chest, vibrating your back. He shifts to press his lips to your carotid. Lips linger there like he wants to soak all the warmth of your body into his. You shiver.

His voice crackles with emotion peeking through the grogginess. “You are my world. And right now, my world is having trouble sleeping.”

His hand is hot and coaxing on your sternum, burning you from the outside in. Thumb languidly strokes over the grooves of your ribcage, and he roots his nose against the space behind your ear, inhaling deep.

“What can I do to help?”

[clutterfied]

Absolute Threshold

Pairing: Sylus x f! reader

Synopsis: Sylus shows you how grateful he is that you'll carry his child

tags: nsfw | in this house we crave baby daddy! sylus | p in v | oral sex | pregnancy | dirty talk | every filthy shit my cooch can think of | nicknames | non-accurate pregnancy sex cause idk i'm not pregnant |

a/n: i came back from the dead pt. 500 and i totally forgot how to write.

inspired by the manhwa of the same name

Sylus—this man—never fails to give your heart somersaults in a bad way. The first one was when you thought you killed him by being forced to pull the damned trigger, and you thought his blood was on your hands now. The second one was being in the presence of meetings gone wrong where you swore he would've killed everyone in that room if you weren't there. And you can't seem to find a third one because it goes on and on. Living life with Sylus has put you on edge, and sleeping with him made the anxiety grow ten times bigger.

Especially when said man's baby is growing inside you.

You pace around the room, wearing nothing but his shirt and a panty just because it's comfy. Yet you know better than to let him catch you like that because you won't be leaving the bed 'til morning. You groan, clutching the pregnancy test and hospital results in your hand, wishing they would somehow disappear or just be a prank the twins did.

The door opens to reveal Sylus, just as expected, but with blood all over his body. The stench of blood hits you, and you fight back the urge to hurl at the wrong moment. You dash to his figure and shakily approach him, not knowing what to do but to stand uselessly as his scars slowly disappear and his wounds regenerate.

"Oh, you're here," he says as if he didn't know you came.

"Sylus. What happened?" you ask, your voice hoarse as tension dissipates from your shoulders. He rolls his shoulders and heads over to the bed, plopping down with his arms behind him. He smirks as his gaze scans over your figure, and you find yourself using your arms to hide your lower body. Sylus pulls you to him as he lays you down, adjusting your positions so your back faces his chest. 

“Just another day of being the leader of Onychinus,” he says as his finger plays with the band of your underwear. You prepare yourself for the onslaught of his fingers on your pussy, but he suddenly moves upward to grip your breasts under your shirt—his shirt. 

He inhales and sniffs at your neck, engraving your scent in his mind as he grinds on your ass from behind. You were about to lose yourself in his touch until you remembered what you came here for. 

“Sylus wait!” You sit up and fix yourself; the man behind you starts doing the same as confusion settles on his face. You turn and hold his hand, gulping down every nervousness that threatens to take over your mind. You knew you needed to spit everything out and rip it like a band aid before you spiraled with anxiety. 

Sylus waits for you to speak, but it's clear that his patience is running thin. He tsks “What is it now that you have to hold my hand? Were you that lonely when I left?”

You look at him and take a deep breath, trying your best to push everything out, and say, “Sylus, I'm pregnant.”

His stare blanks with silence, and suddenly he pulls you into his arms, his long limbs covering you completely as he gently pats your head. Something about his comforting touches brings you to tears. He pulls back to wipe at your face, kissing the tears away and showing his soft side that's only for you. 

“Do you want this?” He asks the important question with furrowed brows. And when you said “yes,"  that was the moment he allowed himself to be happy and break a small smile.

He shows his gratitude by whispering sugary words to your ears, kissing down your neck as he continues his earlier ministrations to your breast. He plays them softly in his large palms, making sure not to go too hard on your sensitive peaks. He growls as he imagines them growing throughout your pregnancy, hard on rising from the thought of your already perfect body undergoing changes. He thinks it isn't so bad after all.

“Sylus! Mmmh!” He swallows down your moans with his lips, hungrily devouring you. He feels like he can't get enough of you—a prize for all the shitty things he had to go through in this life. Even better that you came to bear the fruits of his cum releasing inside you.

He pulls away to give you a reprieve as you suck in all the air you can. Sylus’ crimson eyes were feral as he took in your pretty face. You looked like a debauched goddess, and he intended to make it a sight every day. 

“Sit on my face, kitten,” he commands with a gruff voice, and you snap your head in shock. Mouth open, unable to take in what he had said. You were taking too long to act, so Sylus decided to pull you on top of him, positioning you to slide off your underwear completely and baring your beautiful cunt for him to look up to. It was so lewd compared to the things you've done, causing you to clench at nothing, and you swore his eyes gleamed dangerously if he did catch it.

“Spread your legs more,” he says, and without warning, pushes your body on him to latch his tongue on your hole, his nose catching on your clit causing you to squirm in his hold and clench on the muscle flicking inside. Sylus felt you were tense, so he had to pull away and slap your pussy, giving jolts of pleasure as his words went from one ear to another.

“Relax and let me eat your pussy. You need to get stretched open.” He continues kitten licks outside the hole, stretching it open to make way for his tongue to taste your essence. 

You feel him deeply buried, his face lewdly pressed against your pussy; the feeling of putting weight on his face has you heating up in embarrassing pleasure. “No more! Nghh-stop!” 

“You say that but you keep grinding your pussy to my face.” He trails sloppy kisses into your hole like the menace he is to prove a point. “It’s like you're in denial that you get off on this.” 

"No, 'm not!” You whine, and Sylus just chuckles deep within your pussy, sending vibrations down your spine to which you arch. He flattens his tongue to lick two long stripes before french kissing your tight hole, pushing in two fingers as a surprise and to play with your clit. Your legs shake as you grip his hair, using his face like a toy to chase your high. His nose repeatedly bumps in you, a toe-curling addition to the pleasure building up.

You went jaw-slacked back arched as you cum on his mouth, Sylus enjoying the clean-up of the mess you made. His tongue was a little less wild as he left butterfly kisses on his favorite part of you.

He wipes his chin with the back of his hand before letting you off and settling you down gently on the bed. Sylus smirks with his glistening face, shining with the juice that came out of you. He taps his crotch and raises a brow. “Do you want to suck me off?” You nod, and he pulls you in for a quick kiss, his fingers threading once through your hair like a master to his kitten. “Good girl, I knew you would say that." Then he presses the leaking cockhead to your lips, the mere action sending sparks throughout your body at how lewd your position was. 

He could see your ass up trembling due to your weakening legs as you started taking him in your mouth. The stretch was quite uncomfortable due to his large size, but the delicious feeling of his heavy member was enough to keep your head going. You direct your eye upwards at Sylus while making slow strokes, trying your best to fuel the expressions he was making. He had his sight locked on you, eyebrows together in pleasure,  making sure to take a mental picture of your lip circled on his cock and your ass up in the air.

'Fuck!” He groans and throws his head back, hissing as you try to take him all in and make yourself choke on his dick. Sylus wanted to push your head towards him and fuck your mouth roughly just as he used to, but he knows you’re in a delicate condition that requires less manhandling. So he resorts to light thrusts to help you take him in, making you tear up a little than full on sobbing with muffled cries on his cock.

Sylus could feel his high coming, so he pulled you away as you gasped for air and coughed. You engage in a messy kiss, spit stretching between you as he suddenly positions you above his raging member. It was red and angry, very eager to cum inside the pussy it belonged to.

“W-wait! I’m not sure-Hahhh!” You scream as his thickness penetrates your small hole before stretching out your walls. Your arms lay limp behind his shoulder as he holds your hips and starts to thrust upward to meet your spot. Your earlier wetness creates squelching sounds against his upper thigh, a reminder of the pace he set in destroying your pussy. 

“B-be careful!” You whine, trying to match his pace in going down on him, but he was far too vigorous in his actions that all you can do is moan prettily and take his cock. The girth and the veins graze on your wet walls as Sylus takes in a tit from your mouth, sucking like he’d get milk from it. You couldn’t help but comply with his whims, pushing his mouth further into you as you let him indulge and switch between the two mounds. He licks the sensitive buds and sucks lightly, finishing off with butterfly kisses that have you tightening in response. 

“Need to stretch you out for our baby.” He pants, pistoning his mushroom tip in a spot that makes your legs shake and your body keel over. “You can take it like a good kitten.” Sylus’ thrusts repeatedly hit your gspot, driving you to the edge every time you jolt upwards from the force. His dick slips out from the continuous ramming, and you whine, making an effort to grab the length and put it back inside before he does. 

“Daddy, please movee” You moan as he breaches your entrance once more, and Sylus lets out a breathy laugh as he watches your pathetic attempt to get filled. 

“You love cock that much?” He glances down at where he meets you and sees the way his dick disappears to make a bulge on your lower abdomen. His crimson eyes glow dangerously as he puts in more power in working you open, balls hitting your soft ass as you start to chase your high by synchronizing with him.

“Mhmhm! Only yours~Ah~” You slur over your words in a cockdrunk haze, trying your best to ride him despite the obvious exhaustion in your bones. You feel like passing out, but you fight to stay awake just to feel the warm seed that knocked you up in the first place. You just love Sylus’ cum too much, love how he only does it for you.

“That’s my girl. Letting me fuck her and cum inside raw just because she loves my cock,” he says in a low voice, his pace going fast as you tremble in his arms. Sylus could feel the release building up, ready to shoot his load into you. 

“That’s why you got pregnant.” He whispers, grabs the back of your head softly, and exchanges a small moment of eye contact before your lips gravitate towards one another. Teeth clash against tongues, and you feel yourself squeeze against his hard shaft. A few more seconds of hitting the sweet spot, and you pull away to prolong a moan with your mouth agape. 

“Hahhhh! S-so good~” 

Sylus growls loudly from the clenching of your walls as you savor your orgasm. Your breathing was light, and all your muscles relaxed as you coated him in your sticky release. You just let Sylus do his thing, fucking up into you with his fat cock as your head lays on his shoulder, your mind cloudy from his nonstop onslaught. When you caught sight of his sweaty face, it was very clear that he was starting to struggle because of his impending orgasm. 

Your hand suddenly went to his neck, squeezing a little just to see his face when he cums with your hand on his. Then, as his hips faltered to still, you whispered "cum" just as Sylus let out a guttural moan with his head thrown back and eyes closed. You let go of the pressure on his neck and flinched at his warm cum filling you up and dribbling down between your thighs. He thrusts softly at the last of its spurts, making sure you’re all plugged up with cum before kissing you and exchanging saliva. 

Between those kisses were giggles that came from your lips, and Sylus couldn’t help but mirror the smile on your face. He spanks your ass playfully before making you look up to him. “Who told you that you could touch my neck? You’re being a very bad kitty.”

“This bad kitty has to carry a child for nine months. You’ll live if I choke you a little.” You jest before giving him a peck and resting in his arms. His hand goes to your tummy and rubs it as exhaustion lulls you to sleep. 

[clutterfied]

Sylus honey~~~

[clutterfied]

𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄

- sylus x reader

more than friends with benefits, definitely lovers. your relationship is one filled with banters, steamy nights, and secret strings attached... but when someone shows an interest in you, sylus won't hesitate to stake his claim for everyone to see

genre/warnings: 18+ suggestive content—minors do not interact!—jealousy, crack, fluff, smut, a dash of comfort, assassin!reader (not l&ds mc)

note: loosely a sequel to strictly (un)professional. how this snowballed into 3.8k... i don't really know :')

“Missus, please spare us!”

You shot an unamused look at the twins before you, who clasped their hands together, pleading for you to let them go.

“Why is it so difficult for both of you to say?” you hissed, crossing your arms together. “I’m not asking for much—just a recount of what happened!”

“Boss will have our tongues for this!” Kieran looked up at you, quivering. “No way, I want to live!”

“He’s terrifying…” Luke shuddered in fear, hugging himself. “You don’t know how frightening he is!”

You were holding both Luke and Kieran hostage, the tender preys, all because Sylus refused to reveal what you had been wanting to know these past few weeks.

“So you’re afraid of Sylus…” You fixed them with a steely glare. “But have you ever thought that if you don’t spill it now, I will be the one taking both your tongues?”

“—?! Missus, please!”

“Why are you bullying the twins?” A deep voice cut through the twins’ pitiful laments, and you let out an exasperated huff as your chance slipped away once more.

Speak of the devil, and Sylus shall appear. He looked at the scene before him as if you were all a bunch of kindergarteners.

Luke and Kieran immediately flocked to him. “Boss! Save us! She’s scary!”

And now you were suddenly the scary one. You rolled your eyes. "Your henchmen are useless."

Sylus glanced at you with a half smile, knowing what information you were squeezing the twins for. "Sweetie, just give it up. You'll find peace faster that way."

Was it wrong to be curious about what Sylus had been up to during the three weeks you were unconscious after the attack that literally took your life? Why was he being so secretive about it anyway?

“I know, you were so worried sick you didn’t even eat or sleep,” you taunted your lover with a wicked smile. “That’s why you won’t tell me about it.”

Sylus laughed outright. “Pftt. You’ve got quite the imagination. Good to know.”

Nothing much changed after that night of his confession—if you could call it that—to you. You were indeed no longer strictly his bedwarmer, but your banters stayed the same, if not even more sarcastic now.

“Chop chop, we have an auction to go to, sweetie.” Sylus placed his big hand on your head, amused. “Stop being a hissy kitten towards the poor twins and get ready, hmm?”

“I’ll definitely uncover it,” you shot him a resentful glare. “Just you wait and see.”

Such were your days with your true kindred-spirits lover. He would tease you during the day and turn you into a hot mess at night, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

In tonight's auction, you had one target: the broker for a new rising star firearms dealer. Sylus had been eyeing him, deducing his goods could be a nice addition to his armory.

And so, you went up to him. However...

“...Are you single, miss?”

Here we go again.

You forced a tight smile. “Sir, I’d appreciate it if we can stick to subject at hand.”

The man blinked, then quickly plastered on a wide grin to mask his surprise. “Oh yes! Yes, I-I’m sorry, I got distracted— well, I’d say this is a pretty solid MoU... but I’ll need to contact my boss first.”

This weirdo... you thought with boredom, is so transparent.

This wasn’t the first time you’d dealt with a situation like this. Granted, you were pretty and you knew it, but usually, more distinguished men would be a bit more subtle about it.

“Take all the time you need,” you encouraged smoothly, your eyes crinkling in an attempt to look friendly. “As you can see, Mr. Sylus has proposed the perfect bargain for this kind of dealings.”

“I wouldn’t argue with that. I assure you we’ll certainly try to accommodate his request.” The man nodded and gave you a meaningful look, before coughing awkwardly. “Uh, sorry, what was your name again, miss?”

Your faux smile remained perfectly still as you replied, “Mephisto.”

The man’s eyes roved over you, and he grinned roguishly. “Right. Still, I never expected Mr. Sylus’ secretary to be as beautiful as you, Miss Mephisto...”

This was tedious. Your patience was tested with every leering look he gave you. Sylus must know this already, and he's somewhere laughing at the sight of you dealing with this creep.

“You flatter me too much, I’m average.”

“No, no! I mean it!”

He knows... yet he wouldn't do anything about it. Not that you would expect Sylus to barge in like a man blinded by envy, but still, he was insufferable for not coming to you just like he had for Miss Hunter back then.

The man kept droning on and on about himself and everything else that had nothing to do with the business deal, and you were this close to dropping him and using your Evol to shut him up when—

He then turned to you expectantly. “Oh, there is a dance! Miss, would you mind if I have your first dance?”

“Oh...”

And it occurred to you... why not spice things up a little?

Sylus’ dark crimson eyes narrowed silently as he watched both of you from the island table while savoring his glass of wine, before he let out a loud snort.

That vermin doesn’t have a clue he is playing with fire.

For most of your interaction, the firearms dealer’s broker kept giving you suggestive looks, and occasionally brushing his hand against yours on purpose. He wasn't even trying to hide it, and it was amusing to see how aggravated you looked the entire time.

Adorable. Sylus found you incredibly endearing these days, from your pouts to your glazed eyes whenever he thrusted into you—

You were oh so delectable… at least until he saw you holding that lesser man's arm, as he led you to the dance floor.

A deep frown immediately formed in his forehead.

“What are you scheming now?” Sylus scowled, half exasperated and half in disbelief. “You naughty cat.”

He was even more irked when he saw how casually you wrapped your arms around that vermin, twirling and pressing yourself against him in a waltz. Seeing him trying to hit on you was one thing, but for you to reciprocate was just plain unacceptable.

—and to his ire, your audacity continued throughout the night.

. . .

“Miss Mephisto, do you play pool?”

“I do.”

“Then, will you play with me?”

Sylus was now burning with tendrils of anger, watching you from a closer corner. He had seen the broker put his hands on you so many times that he had lost count—during the dance, mingling with other guests, and while sharing hearty laughs. All in all, you were acting as if you had forgotten he was even here.

You were threading on a very thin ice and whether you realized it or not... you didn't seem to care.

"Ah, I think your stance is a bit off..." And to make it worse, the broker was definitely seizing every chance he could, as there was nothing wrong with your form—you often accompanied Sylus playing pool, so you were a pro—and yet he still got behind you, trying to drape his arms around your body.

That was the last straw. Enough is enough.

Before Sylus realized what he was doing, he stormed over to where you were, yanked your arm forcefully, and effectively separated you from him. He didn’t give a damn about the horrified shout from the broker or the judging looks from other partygoers as he dragged you by the hand out of the ballroom.

“Sylus!” you nearly shrieked when he kicked open a door to a meeting room and locked it with his black-red mist. He pinned you against the wall, and crashed his lips against yours in a searing kiss.

“Mmph!” You tried pushing him back, but he was stronger and held you in place, his tongue forcing your lips open as he pressed the back of your head toward him. His other hand slipped inside your dress—between your legs— two fingers in—

“—!” you couldn't even squeal as he devoured your mouth and the shock set in, feeling yourself getting aroused by the minute when his fingers did that scissoring thing and edged you further.

After he was done with your mouth, his hot lips trailed down to your neck and shoulder blades, sucking hard on several spots, making you gasp and moan.

"Hah... this... is the price to pay for testing me, sweetie," your lover growled his nickname for you with satisfaction as he noticed you trembling body, nibbling on your shoulder. "You want to get punished so badly, huh?"

"Ahh..." you threw your head back, clinging to him, grinding yourself against his fingers.

"Is it funny to you? Watching me see him touch you?" Sylus' unforgiving ruby eyes stared down at you like a lion eyeing its prey. "What an insolent little kitten you are..."

His fingers kept moving and thrusting inside you in an alarming speed, mercilessly hitting that one spot that could make you cry. He was seriously teaching you a lesson by forcing you to come undone right then and there.

"I-I...!" you tried to refute, but then you felt the knot inside you burst, and in the next second, you could feel yourself coming all over his fingers, shuddering, your breaths coming in pants.

Feeling faint, relief washed you when he pulled out his fingers. You leaned and clung onto him, pulling him closer, and Sylus finally saw what a mess he had turned you into.

Your glassy eyes focused solely on him, seemingly pleading—and those swollen lips, as well as the sizzling heat creeping up your cheeks—

“Ha,” he let out a low chuckle, a wicked grin curling his lips. “If I can still make you look like this, then I suppose I can forgive you.”

“You’re a meanie,” you mumbled breathlessly.

“You’re the mean one,” Sylus tutted with narrowed eyes, starting to pull away from you.

But then you pulled him close again and pressed your lips to his, this time with a gentleness that surprised him.

There was no malice or burning desire in your kiss. Strangely, it felt far more intimate. You pulled away, the heart-stopping swirls of his red eyes captivating you as you pressed your foreheads together.

“Needy, aren’t you, sweetie?” Sylus whispered, holding your gaze, his breath hot against your skin.

But right now, all of a sudden, you looked so vulnerable to him, as if any wrong word from his lips would shatter you. It made him almost feel guilty for manhandling you so roughly.

You didn’t respond, just wanting this closeness with him. Behind your snarky words and little schemes, this was what you wanted more than the release you just got. Sometimes, you still worried—did he want this too?

“What is it?” Sylus asked with a frown, seemingly concerned. “Talk. Tell me.”

“Nothing…” you replied in a small voice.

“Do you feel sick? Want to go back?”

You shook your head.

You weren’t usually this quiet. Sylus couldn’t help being restless at your sudden change. It felt awkward for him to do what he was about to do next, but instinctively, he figured it would comfort you a bit.

You felt a pang in your heart when he pulled away, but in the next instant, a wave of warmth enveloped you as he pressed you to him, burying your head against his sturdy chest.

For someone who deals with blood and gore, your body felt too soft and fragile, yet still fit perfectly in his arms. Though he had held you and made love to you many times before, it was only now that he truly noticed how small you were.

“You’re warm…” you murmured, your voice carrying a hint of a whine.

So needy and pliant… for him.

“My woman is such an enduring mystery.” Sylus mused, sounding almost as if he were lamenting. “Sometimes she’s a brazen kitten without a shred of shame, but then she pulls stunts like this.”

Your heart picked up the pace. You are... his. That was right. You were his woman in every sense of the word now, and he wasn't shying away from it.

But to cover your embarrassment, you could only come up with, “Can you not refer to me as cat...?”

He shot you an irked glance. “No.”

“He calls me by your bird’s name.”

“...”

“Sylus, you can’t murder him. Your deal will go down the drain.”

“Tch.” Sylus blew out an annoyed sigh, glaring at you. “By the time I get back here, you’re going back with me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, yes.”

Honestly you were exhausted, and you wanted to nothing more than a good sleep. But you couldn't just leave the broker without preamble because this deal depended on him, and Sylus too had some loose ends he had to tie before the two of you left.

Strangely, all eyes were on you when you returned to the ballroom. You wondered why as you navigated the crowd until you met the broker you had fooled in so many ways.

“Oh, Miss Mephisto, you’re back!” he was visibly and utterly drunk, and you cringed at the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. But then you noticed his eyes seemed to be fixated on your—

Neck. You realized in horror.

“Oh... hic, t-that... I-I see,” he blabbered, coughing awkwardly as he stared at the marks on your neck. “Miss... so that man is... y-your lover...?”

“Uh...” It was a wonder he didn’t recognize Sylus at first glance. Perhaps it was because he was so infamous, but it astounded you how this person couldn’t even tell that it was him.

"I-I thought... w-we..." he hiccupped again heartbrokenly, before snatching a glass on the table. "Oh, I need more drink!"

You observed him, half cringing. "Sir, I just want to remind you that once the documents are signed—"

"Yeah, yeah! It will be done by the end of the week!" he yelled at you. "Miss, how about you have a drink too!?"

Suddenly, a glass of gin was shoved into your hand, and you let out an irritated sigh. Yeah, he might be right. A glass of alcohol would help you sleep better tonight, you figured, so you chugged it down.

"Huh...?" And it didn’t take you long to realize something was amiss. The dizzying sensation set in far too quickly, you felt so hot, and you had to lean on the table next to you to keep from falling.

“Are you okay...?” a waitress asked you with concern, but the only sound you could hear was your own violent heartbeat. Before you knew it, the glass in your hand slipped from your grasp and crashed into the floor.

"Oh, miss! Are you okay?!" the broker suddenly got a hold over your body. "Oh! It seems you aren't feeling well! Let me escort you to you room!"

Room? You barely discerned what happened when he led you out of the crowd. Your head spun terribly, and then suddenly throbbed, making you clutch it and cry out in pain, "Ah!"

It didn't make sense, no matter how you saw it. You had a pretty good tolerance, so for you to get hungover from a gin was just—

“Oh, does it hurt much?” he suddenly asked in your ear, making you shiver. “Don’t worry... it'll be bearable soon enough... I’ll make sure you will feel good…”

It's him! You realized. He spiked your drink!

His arms were now locking yours, steering you to go into the elevator. You took a deep breath before directing your speech manipulation evol on him— "Let go!"

He was immediately jerked away from you, but as a result, you almost crumpled, your vision swimming and your head pounding intensely. The pain made you feel close to passing out, and yet you managed to trek forward, leaning on the wall for support.

You had to get away from him before he could catch up to you. Panic set in, and when strong arms caught you, you convulsed, thinking he had grabbed you—

“Stop thrashing!”

“S-Sylus...?” You looked up, trying to focus on his face, but everything was so blurry.

“I’m here.” His voice was ragged, and you’d recognize it anywhere. “What happened to you? Are you hurt?”

“M-my head...” Your voice came out as a broken whimper, clutching at your throbbing head. “Hurts...”

You were feverish, trembling against his hold, and you reeked of alcohol. Sylus instantly realized something was seriously wrong and pressed your head into his chest to provide comfort. “Just a little bit longer—” his deep voice carried a subtle hint of alarm as he hoisted you up to his arms. “Hang on, alright?”

But just as he was about to bring you back, he caught the sight of a fleeing silhouette in the corner, and realizing who it was, his right eye blazed, black and red mist restrained the broker and engulfed his screams.

Despite the scene, he paid it no mind as he walked away with you in his arms.

When you awakened, your head was no longer pounding.

It took you a moment to realize there was a cool compress on your forehead, you were now in a clean oversized sweater, and someone was holding your hand.

Sylus. You looked up to find him asleep, sitting with his back against the headboard beside you. It was rare to catch him sleeping. In this moment, he looked defenseless, yet a faint frown lingered on his handsome face.

Has he been waiting for you like this, holding your hand all night...?

You tried to get a better look at him, but the rustle seemed to wake him up instead, as his eyes cracked open.

“You awake?” he asked, voice so sultry it woke all your senses up. “I was just shutting my eyes.”

“Aren’t you uncomfortable sleeping like that?” you asked.

Sylus turned toward you, his eyes still hazy from sleep. “What about you? Feeling better?”

“Mm-hmm.”

He placed a hand on your head, ruffling your hair gently.

“Really, you...” His stare was so withering it made question marks appear in your head. “I took my eyes off you for one minute, and you ended up with alcohol poisoning?”

“—? I didn’t know! But wait, what happened to that bozo?”

Sylus gave you a deadpan look, and you gasped. “You… didn’t kill him and have his body secretly disposed of, did you?”

“Just who do you think I am?”

“…a kingpin of an illegal syndicate?”

Your lover’s scowl deepened further at your response. “Nah, he got lucky. I only returned him with a broken jaw, broken hips, and two missing teeth.”

“Sylus!”

If he looked sleepy before, now he definitely looked wide awake. Sylus always sleeps at dawn, and you wanted him to rest more than anything, but now you were itching to ask him...

“Say... were you waiting for me while sitting like this too when I wasn’t conscious for three weeks?” You avoided his gaze, the question burning on your lips. Sylus had never given you a straight answer whenever you asked him about this.

This time too, he grumbled, “Why do you keep asking that?”

“Because I can’t ask Luke and Kieran, they look as if you’d set them on fire.”

Sylus went silent, not giving you any affirmation at all, and you huffed and unclasped his hand, pursing your lips together. “I see. You don’t care about me at all. Noted.”

You heard him sigh, before his red eyes squarely landed on you.

“When I was shot, you worried about me even when you know I’m going to be alright,” he suddenly posed the question on you. “Didn’t you?”

You nodded, and he tousled your hair again—the action alone somehow made you feel warm.

“Whatever you felt that day, that’s the same to what I went through during those three weeks. Multiply it by ten.”

“Huh!?” you rose up from the sheets in surprise, facing him.

Sylus then turned away from you, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. “That’s it, sweetie. I’m going back to sleep now.”

“Wait!”

You scrambled into his lap, clinging to his shoulder. Sylus begrudgingly opened his eyes again, a look of irritation on his face. “What?”

Multiply it by ten…? Heh. At this moment, you felt light and giddy, knowing that the two of you were now true lovers in every way that mattered even when you were faced with his sourness.

“Don't scowl too much!” you giggled merrily. You placed your fingers on the corners of his lips, gently lifting them to force a smile. “Honesty suits you much better, Sylus. It’s recommended.”

This cheeky woman... Sylus never thought the day would come for him to experience these myriad of emotions, much less for them to be incited by you.

He pulled you close, one arm around your hips and the other around the back of your head. Your lips met his in a passionate kiss that left no room for further conversation, only parting when you both needed to catch your breath.

“If you want me to, then don’t make me relive those nights,” he said with a sly smile, his crimson eyes glinting in the light and his voice like silk against your ears. “Can you?”

His tone softened your gaze, a warm sensation spreading through your chest. You responded with a playful snort, wrapping your arms around his neck and giving him another peck on the lips.

After your innocent make-out session, you nestled closer to him with a contented sigh, savoring the reassuring warmth of his embrace as you both drifted off again into the morning.

Epilogue

"Do you hear anything?"

"No, nothing..."

Luke and Kieran whispered amongst themselves as they tried to hear anything of importance beyond Sylus' bedroom. After their boss went back home with you passed out in his arms last night, they had totally expected the worst.

“Seems like she’s alright then…” Kieran concluded, stepping away from the door. “We should just go. If Boss catches us, we’re dead.”

The twins backed away from the door and went back to the living room, sighing in relief.

"But honestly, Boss has changed lately, hasn't he? He looks kinder, somehow."

"Are you sure, Luke? Maybe it's just when he looks at the missus. With us, meh."

“I still get chills thinking about when he destroyed the Protofield to dust after he found her following the explosion,” Luke gazed off in wonder. “It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, but it was also heartbreaking—especially when he tried to wake her and realized she was beyond help because the steel had pierced her heart…”

Luke and Kieran went quiet at the memory.

“Anyhow!” Kieran suddenly exclaimed. “All’s well that ends well! To be honest, I totally saw it coming that they'd end up together!”

“Ooh, you're right! They did a bad job of hiding it too, no less! I mean, one time, the missus came out of his room while—”

As the twins gossiped about their master and mistress, they were unaware that Mephisto the crow, perched nearby, was dutifully recording their conversation and would report it all to his master later.

[clutterfied]

the biker's book club, feat. l&ds sylus.

pairings. sylus, fem!reader genre. fluff, smut, biker au, 18+ tags. petnames (kitten), unprotected sex, spitting, hair-pulling, consensual filming, creampie, dirty talk, possessiveness, violence, slight yandere themes, impregnation notes. ik he’s probably into cafe racers but the sportbike enthusiast in me thinks biker!sylus is the m*tthew w*ods of l&ds, booktok/biketok girlies iykyk

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who collects liter bikes like they’re toys; he’d usually get rid of them as soon as he gets bored, but his current favs are his black & red edition fireblade, m1000rr, and superleggera v4.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who got famous on booktok overnight after posting a video of him riding his bike through the tunnel with a half-buttoned shirt. the view offered a peek on his toned chest and abs, leaving the rest to an innocent girl’s imagination. the comments on that post are wild, and the views went up to 2 mil in a day.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who broke numerous girls’ hearts literally a day after that post, revealing that he already has a backpack (you) and that his sunset and midnight rides are exclusively booked for his girlfriend.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who eventually taught you how to ride your own bike, gifting you a white N400 on your birthday—a bike he calls “too slow” for him, but is actually fast enough for a beginner like you.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who once chased a car for nearly rear-ending you on a red-light. as soon as he saw how the car almost hit you from behind, the loud and chilling roar of his bike bolted you in surprise as he accelerated to chase after the car, breaking the asshole’s side mirror, and teaching him a ‘lesson’.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who always keeps a possessive eye on you, always riding within his acceptable distance because the last time he allowed you to ride ahead of him, some guy on a Ford 150 tried to ask for your number, calling you a hot biker girl he hopes to have a ‘good time’ with. that didn’t end well for the poor guy, because the interaction was cut short when sylus revved his bike, lane splitting between you and the car, and running over the guy’s outstretched arm along the way. he might’ve broken a bone or two, who knows?

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who owns a springfield .45 gun, and claims he has no problems shooting another guy’s head if they dared touch even a single strand of your hair. he’s a very territorial individual and would not think twice on committing a crime if it meant protecting what’s his.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who’s hated by his neighbors, both because of how loud his bike gets in the morning, and how loud his girl can get during the evening. he doesn’t care though, because the sound of your moans were actually music to his hears. he swears he has to hear them every night or he won’t be able to sleep well.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who gets very kissy and touchy whenever you two arrive at home, unable to keep his hands to himself while you’re still parking your bike beside his. his lips would go straight to your neck, placing feathered kisses on your skin, tickling you with his warm breath as he tells you, “you know you’re mine, right?” of course you’d say you’re his. and he always follows up with a reminder, “good, because i’d kill any son of a bitch who tries to steal you from me.”

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who loves to fuck you raw, rough, and fast. he always had you gripping on the sheets, or scratching his back, or screaming out his name in a salacious escape to release your earth-shattering, mind-blowing orgasm. he always had your legs shaking, your body twitching, your breasts bouncing with each slam as he doesn’t stop pounding into you even after you came. he adores the sight of your beautiful, begging face each time he buries his hardened cock inside of your sweet, sweet pussy. “my kitten’s being too needy, huh?” he’d whisper to your ear before meeting your hips with another satisfying thrust. “always a slut for me.”

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who likes to spit on your mouth, pull your hair, and slap your bum. they’re some of his many kinks, and he can get nastier if he wants to, but he’d often say he’d rather save the best on your wedding night.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who enjoys filming your extremely erotic moments together, claiming that he needed to revisit those videos for when he misses you. his favorite content seems to be when he’s cumming inside of you, shooting every drop of his thick seed straight through your womb. kitten, you’re so tight, he’d think to himself. he goes even crazier for the view whenever he pulls out and sees his own semen dripping out of your swollen entrance.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who makes you breakfast the next morning after a long, passionate night. he always seems to cook the perfect pancakes, like he had specifically mastered the skill after you told him that pancakes were your favorite choice for breakfast.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who proudly displays you on social media, and bluntly rejects every girl who’d leave thirsty comments on his posts. he gets a little too sassy for their liking, but he doesn’t really give a damn about hurting another girl’s feelings if it were to protect yours.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who lets you ‘break’ his masculine ego by allowing you to paint his nails, give him skin care, or place cute, tiny, heart-shaped clips all over his hair whenever you were in the mood to. he’d just stare at you the whole time, amused at how you’d treat him like your own ken doll.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus whose immediate response when you told him you’re pregnant was “do you think it’s a baby girl?” there was no ounce of surprise in his eyes, no scintilla of worry at the thought of being an unexpected father, clearly, because he should already see it coming especially with how sexually active you two are. he really wants a baby girl, too. and a boy next. so while you were nearly horrified at seeing your positive pregnancy test thinking he’d ask you to terminate it, his calm and loving reaction to your unexpected baby was what made you realize that there was nothing else you could ever want in a man.

𓆩♡𓆪 biker!sylus who, on the very next day, asked you to try and test start your bike because he thinks something’s ‘wrong’ with it. you hurried to check your bike, of course. little did you know, the keychain strapped onto your key had been replaced, now with a new, embroidered keychain bearing the words, “marry me?”

[clutterfied]

The List

You had a list of five absurdly delusional things you wanted to do. And on top of them was marry the super famous idol, Min Yoongi. OT7 x reader with Yoongi x reader focus.

Main m.list

A/N. Hello! Like I've said, my hiatus is sporadic lmao. Also, I lost my master list so I had to search myself on Tumblr before I could find the links for this series. 🤦

Chapter warnings: Cussing, implied sexual content, obsessive behavior, alcohol consumption

Chapter 4.

Everything was a flash of sin city – strobe lights and electric beats burning in your ears.

It was practically impossible to weave through the mass of bodies smelling of sweat and pungent alcohol without the hand intertwined with yours as your feet try to keep up with his lengthy strides.

“Theo!” You shout through the din, head slightly throbbing from the copious amounts of alcohol you had pre gamed earlier before your childish boy that is merely a friend had completely dragged you here.

Parties were not something you gravitated towards, not when you were in a surly mood.

Work was slow what with the torrential downpour and with old man Park – no, Jimin’s (as the idol had insisted on you calling him) father nowhere to be seen, you and the other staff had called it a day.

So you had been looking forward to a hot bath, perhaps delve into rereading one of your favorite books for the umpteenth time, only for your hopes to be door dashed by an overly excited roomie.

It seems Theodore was once again in one of his moods and when said moods presented themselves to you, it meant you were not going home until you were shitfaced drunk, probably collapsed on the side of the road somewhere only for some cops to find you in the wee early morning.

Oh it happened before.

And you were not pleased.

Also, with the way your best friend was clinging to you, your ankles were pretty much swollen, him having shoved six inch demon shoes on your now aching feet that all you desired to do at the moment was lean onto a pole as your eyes flicker to the stripper who had been grinding against the silvery shiny vertical apparatus for a good twenty minutes, her beaded vagina on full display.

But before you consider bee lining to the naked women dancing among the whooping crowd of animalistic and equally buzzed straight and not straight men, Theodore is screaming in your ear as his pointer finger jabs your ribs painfully.

With an annoyed frown, you swat him away, “Theo, I have had a fucking long day at work and I do not need your bony appendages poking my internal organs, thank you very much!” You hiss under your breath, vision slightly wobbly but your brows furrow when Theo looks at you funny like you were a hippopotamus on display.

“What?”

A shrill voice echoes in your brain as the both of you are pulled into the VIP section – what the fuck? – and someone, namely a slender female figure latches onto your much more rounded, much more petite frame. “YNie! Are you having fun?”

Your head swivels to the left and your mouth is assaulted with cotton candy fluff which turns out to be hair.

Lalisa Manoban’s hair to be exact. Lalisa Manoban who was wearing a pretty little wig and pretty little sunglasses that no one thought any better that a world famous kpop star was lurking in a crude Japanese host club in the red light district of Akihabara.

Again, what the actual fuck?

“I think she’s had too much to drink, Liz.”

“Oh, well, wanna get out of here? We can just do some Netflix reruns in the jet?”

“Yeah, maybe we should. Just until she sobers up at least.” A ghost of a breath on your lips awakens you for a brief second to realize that Lisa was nuzzling against your neck for some odd reason.

“And then we’re heading to England?”

“Definitely. Have to say hello to my old man anyway. Besides, he’s been missing you, little cousin.”

“Awww, that’s so sweet of him!” Lisa giggles chirping, still clinging onto your back like a koala as your head sets itself straight wondering what in the ever loving fuck they were talking about.

But wait-

You were not feeling particularly hot at the moment…

You felt like puking all over your new Gucci designer jeans (where the fuck did you get them anyway?).

Or at least blacking the hell out.

In fact….the floor looks so good right now-

A glossy kiss lands on your cheek before your eyes droop to oblivion.

*

Now Namjoon was not raised to be a snoop.

However, desperate times, desperate measures.

Or it was an accident really. And since he was the Kim Namjoon, everything was an accident.

He didn’t mean to just enter your room so brazenly when he visited Yoongi’s apartment to check in on you (or check in on your suspiciously gay friend just to check that he wasn’t checking out what wasn’t his but was theirs as he should), and accidentally stumble upon your open diary.

He had laughed it off as cute at first, and yet when he had spotted that one particular list of things he shouldn’t have spotted in the first place, his heart raced, his face paled, and he just about panic called every one of his members except for Yoongi whose phone was on airplane mode at the moment.

“What do you mean she wants to get naked with Gdragon?!” A livid Seokjin shouts through the other end as Namjoon splutters over his words, hands still gripping the diary like he wanted to erase the filth written on the particular offending page, eyes burning holes onto it.

“It’s like a fucking wish list or something, hyung! I don’t fucking know!” Namjoon shouts back, panics even more as his large brain proceeds at that very moment to process the reason why you might be in Japan right now with a member of Black Pink, having ridden in her very private jet none the less.

Because if he was right about this, you might just be getting in your birthday suit with none other than the man they had revered for so long.

And Gdragon was not someone to fool around with once he got serious.

Well at least that is if you knew the older idol, which was impossible, right? You didn’t have that many celebrity connections, right?

Cold sweat forms on his brow as he hastily swipes at it just as his other phone vibrates and as he opens his Instagram account, his feed explodes with a picture of Lisa smooshing your faces together happily (you seemed drunk-ish?) and your (more and more definitely gay) roommate slash best friend at the back smirking inside what appeared to be a private residence.

However, what makes the Bangtan’s usually fearless leader grit his teeth anxiously, fists clenching around the phone is the fact that he could easily spot the mountainous ridges adorning the window view in the horizon and the very familiar architectural structure lining the walls.

Narrowing his eyes, he scoffs as he silently curses.

You were in fucking Europe which meant that Yoongi-hyung was wasting his time flying to Japan when you weren't even there anymore!

And if there was one thing all of them despised was being led around the bush like some sort of foolish little pups on a leash.

Once Yoongi finds out, there would be hell to pay and Namjoon doesn’t know how much longer they could stall their managers from tearing the place apart to drag them all back to the company premises because they had kind of literally left their individual schedules running that if they weren't who they were, they would have been fired on the spot hands down.

“Jin-hyung, I have a plan. But can you get Wheein-noona in on this?”

“Wheein? Why?” Jin huffs through, clearly unimpressed at the mention of his ex fling's name as Namjoon collapses onto the edge of the bed, rubbing at his temples tiredly.

“Because, she’s the only one you know that’s tight with Jiyong-sunbaenim.”

“…Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”

The line cuts dead and the exhausted leader fully slumps onto the duvet that still smelled of your subtle shampoo.

He rolls over and inhales your scent deeply, wishing that your body was next to his instead at that very second.

Hopefully the plan he was about to hatch works or Yoongi would tear them all apart. Having had known the older man the longest, Namjoon was aware of his hyung's certain proclivities and when Yoongi was obsessed, Yoongi was not rational until he becomes satisfied after taming his obsession into dimmed embers, dragon like claws not letting go forever.

It was the same with the other guys that Namjoon had jokingly once said they should have been called the Obsessive Boy scouts.

Basically the moment they had all set their sights on you, you were theirs for eternity to hold and to cherish- to maybe keep locked away from prying eyes that don't deserve you.

Fuck, Namjoon would gladly tear himself apart if you so much as show skin to someone else other than any of them, even if it was Kwon Jiyong.

Next chapter

[clutterfied]

GHOST BUSTERS

FratBoys! BTS x Comatose!Reader (A bit of a slow burn. Just a very teensy bit.)

Supernatural Fluff and angst with a happy ending. Smut will be implied. (For the NSFW, PWP, check out my other page @clutterfied.)

Comment for tags. 🔮

Thank you to all who are reading this series. You make this and myself included come alive. 고맙습니다. 🫶

Synopsis

You vowed that if you were ever going to die one day, the first thing your ghost would do is haunt the seven men who were nothing but a pain in the ass for you.

Or due to a freak accident, you find yourself staring at your own body lying on the hospital bed. The strange thing was, there were seven insanely gorgeous men crying over you. Huh.

All standard disclaimers apply. All banner edits are mine save for the image backgrounds used which belong to their respective creators.

Update schedule: No definite date. Random. Anytime. BTS could be dropping a post right now and I might just be inspired to drop a chapter.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 5.5 (Rated M)

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9 (Rated M)

[clutterfied]

Rating: Mature

Category: F/M

Fandom: 你微笑时很美 | Falling Into Your Smile (TV)

Relationships: Lu Sicheng | Chessman/Tong Yao | Smiling

Summary:

A retake starting from episode 17.

Or, Tong Yao's past catches up to her.

(Hacker! Tong Yao AU)

Notes:

This story deviates largely from the canon's plot as to Tong Yao's identity.

Pro-gamer!Tong Yao (formerhacker! Tong Yao) x Pro-gamer! Lu Si Cheng

Tong Yao is a sailor mouth.

[There's so little fics about this cdrama it's heart rendering.]

Chapter 1

Note: Canon rewrite. Please don't shoot my shikigami.

This work is part of a series:

---

Tong Yao hated Su Luo.

"Da Bing, stop it," she scolds as she angrily huffs at the paw scratching her leg, putting on the Balenciaga trainers Jinyang had gifted to her last year for her birthday afterwhich the woman took her to Kyoto for lunch which was insane to say the least - or as common place as being subjected to one of Chen Jinyang's ordinarily affluent lifestyles.

Her jie mei was not one to be trifled with when it came to spoiling her after all.

Tong Yao's lip trembles a bit as she remembers the scratch on Lao Mao's hand from that fucking bitch's cheap nail extensions. What if Lao Mao got rabies?!

Tong Yao could feel the moment a body collides against her fuming form, a stern gaze piercing the remnants of her soul as if they were playing in the Onmyoji Arena but she completely ignores Lu Si Cheng once Ning Jia Qi starts stalking towards her, a clear attempt to deliver a slap.

Despite the fact that the contract was bogus, the stupid woman had expected them all to comply under threat of negative public opinion.

She remembers her Jinyang's words, "Yao-yao, if you ever find yourself in a cat fight, go right for the face. "

It's as if the arena gods had supported her intense ire as Tong Yao manages to shake off Cheng-ge and even Fatty and Xiao Rui who have nervously taken ahold of her. Lao K was posted in front, acting as her silent and threatening sentinel but she knew he wouldn't give a damn if Tong Yao managed to hit the woman twice for hurting Lao Mao.

So Tong Yao did what Chen Jinyang would have done in her place. As soon as the madwoman was well within reach and Lu Si Cheng wasn't (he finally let her wrist go but damn that hurts) Tong Yao smacked Ning Jia Qi right across her stupid, insipid, arrogant cheek with so much force that she was sent back flying towards the shocked girls who had been watching from the sidelines.

"Why did you hit me?!" The banshee screeches but no one tries to help her, not even her own staff who were watching with round, wide eyes at the display of sheer force from a woman with a fairy-like, petite stature such as ZGDX's Smiling.

A feeling of vengeful satisfaction flits for a moment before it is replaced with minute dread as Tong Yao slowly swivels her gaze to her teammates - who had all but scrambled to get the woman and her cronies away from their midlaner at a single command from her now deathly silent captain.

Tong Yao refuses to back down as Lu Si Cheng regards her with a cool, contemplative gaze and only then does she feel her hand throbbing, as if she had been scratched by both Da Bing and Scallion.

Gritting her teeth, she discreetly assesses the damage behind her back lest she anger her captain even further.

Damn, that was going to bruise.

After a moment, Cheng-ge finally speaks, "What do you have to say for yourself, Smiling?" He's an emotionless wall of ice, cold and domineering and Tong Yao feels lightly slighted as it seems concern for her well being isn't first priority.

Well, who wouldn't feel frustrated when all she was trying to do was protect her team!

Tong Yao wishes the ground could swallow her up but before her eyes go all misty and shit, she squares her shoulders, mustering the courage to keep her seething as fuel for the adrenaline still pumping in her veins.

Lu Si Cheng knew she was in the right, and yet all she gets is a cold, hard stare for harming someone who deserved it... and probably a pay cut and a suspension or two later on. Such were the rules of the industry but she hated it.

And it was all Su Luo's fault for subjecting the team to this kind of cockamamie clownshow in the first place. Just because Chessman wasn't interested in human females didn't mean she should take the fall for it due to his reckless display of emotional constipation in front of a courting peacock.

What type of fan service did the organizers want anyway? They just wanted the guys to get sexualized and probably land into a scandal where they fuck some girls backstage?

Absurd.

Wrenching her glossy eyes away from her stoic captain, she manages to grit out, "I'll get ready for my suspension, but I don't regret my actions one bit." She bites back as she stomps to the other exit, not bothering to see whether Lu Si Cheng had been offended at her blatant display of insubordination towards him, -her boss. She just knew Mrs. Wang would be involved and she didn't want two Lu family members telling her what a God damn childish idiot she had been.

She was but a few steps away when Lao K catches up to her, dark kohl rimmed eyes shining with intensity as he regards her proudly like one would a younger sister who had just won against her school bully without big brother's help.

"Come on before General Lu bites both our heads off," he whispers, gently guiding her to a hidden corridor and true enough, not a minute too soon, they both hear his even, measured footsteps receding.

Probably looking to scold her intensely right about now.

Lao K ruffles Tong Yao's hair. "Rui-ge would be here to pick you up. I'm just under secret instructions to guard you."

Tong Yao smirks as Lao K talked in riddles and that was translation for: I wouldn't stop you even if you decided to run away and take a day or two off.

"Where is Xiao Rui?" She asks and he sighs dramatically.

"Damage control."

Aiyah. She might have just killed Xiao Rui.

"Where?"

Lao K smirks. "Wait for him by the bus. I'll make sure Chessman doesn't see you."

Tong Yao smiles. This is why he treated Lao K more like a sibling than any of the others. They might have gotten off to a rocky start but Lao K had a petty streak that matched well with hers and if that wasn't a twin bond, she doesn't know what is.

"Thanks, K. "

Tong Yao decides against staying put as she marches to the bus- planning to demand a meeting with the ever illustrious and perpetually grumpy Mrs. Wang (the dragon breeder of all breeders as Jinyang liked to call her everytime Tong Yao compared Cheng-ge to a fire breathing dragon) as soon as Xiao Rui fetched her from the premises.

A knock on her bedroom door echoes as she stomps to open it for her manager.

"Are you sure about this, Tong Yao?" His gaze descends upon her outfit of choice in surprise: a tan blazer, some plain shirt underneath and slacks to match.

Tong Yao never wore pants unless they were joggers, her pyjamas, or jeans. Tong Yao doesn't do slacks. But apparently these were Chanel -courtesy of the rich lady boss next door- and Rui was managing (pun!) not to choke on his saliva at the absurdity of the situation.

"What, Rui-ge? I'm meeting the mother of all dragons. I need to at least look presentable to be suspended or she'd have a highborn, first class fit."

Rui tuts at her as he leads both of them downstairs in chastisement. Thankfully, the other members weren't present, particularly Lu Si Cheng, as they had been stuck doing their end of the contract at the anime convention. After the incident, Ning Jia Qi had become suspiciously silent -Tong Yao at least expected some form of heavy public retaliation from the media so the current peace was highly untrustworthy.

It would be another hour or so before they finished and Tong Yao was just glad to leave the base - she does not need a fresh reminder that she was still the newest troublemaker on the block so unless she wanted to end up suspended for an entire year like Lu Yue, she would rather go facing off with her captain's breeder.

And after the fiasco that the bitch had posted on Weibo, Tong Yao ended up carrying the brunt of the fall for the team with the administration, so she was very hot tempered as of the moment.

After all, she may not be good enough to be Lu Si Cheng's anything but she was apparently good enough to be the Lu empire's grass chewer.

"You may have just saved my kidneys, Tong Yao." Rui mutters as they both buckle into the company's private car (Rui would jot dare take the bus lest they get stoned or something by a mob of angry Ning Jia Qi fans) which zooms away just as Tong Yao blinks up at the spectacled guy who was crazy enough to hire her for the pro-league.

"Ah?"

Rui chuckles embarrassedly, "Honestly, if one of the guys stepped in and hit her, that would have been worse and my paycheck would be cut down to a year," he jokes but Tong Yao understands.

If one of her team members jumped in, specially Lao Mao, the team would have been branded as violent, sexist pigs for even daring to hit a pretty female no matter how much of an asshole that female had been and no matter how much they were under threat.

It was better that she was the one who took the hit since she was a girl. A woman.

Rui hastily clarifies, "Not that I agree with whatever the heads would say about you."

Tong Yao only nods as the city scrapers pass by in a blur.

Fuck her life.

---

Mrs. Wang was born into a life of luxury.

She was used to things going her way.

Or at least that's what the public -and even her rascal sons- assume.

Certainly, the young girl who seems to be meekly standing before her as Xiao Rui drones on and on about the repercussions of his inactions and the remorse he feels as the manager of ZGDX for not stopping Tong Yao yadda yadda, possesses a quiet strength in the way she stares before being she averts her gaze to the table, brown irises so much like her own when she was younger.

Ah, cute.

"Tong Yao," she starts. "Explain."

Xiao Rui flinches but his smile is unwavering as he tries to placate her, trying to put the blame upon him. "Madam-"

"I said Tong Yao."

Mrs. Wang's irises glitter with amusement as the slip of a girl who had managed to enamour her beloved boy (not that he would admit it yet) stands a bit straighter at the reprimand.

And then she opens her mouth and Mrs. Wang is instantly reminded of her youth.

"...with all due respect, Madam, our team members were suffering from physical injuries and that bit-" she coughs at a nudge from the man next to her and Mrs. Wang smirks behind her steepled fingers, "- woman was trying to threaten the team unless we gave in to their demands."

An aristocratic brow arches, "Which was?"

"Blackmail." Tong Yao pauses. "Madam, the downfall of ZGDX would be the downfall of the entire corporation. We might just be the face of the company and I certainly don't see myself as precious cargo, but if any of the others were to suffer a major backlash, it would end us all."

Xiao Rui appeared to be a mix of apoplectic at the way Tong Yao was addressing her and equally accusatory as he did warn Mrs. Wang about those same repercussions yesterday.

It was highly entertaining.

"Do you have any proof?" Mrs. Wang challenges, wanting to play longer. After all, she may be an old fox but foxes need to paw at toys too!

Xiao Rui seems to stop breathing when Tong Yao goes steadily quiet, and before the awkward man can splutter to her defense, the short girl seems to open her lips before shutting them again with a subconscious pout.

Ah, she was really adorable.

No wonder that Lu Si Cheng was head over heels in love with this little maiden.

"Tong Yao xiao jiejie..." She hears Rui mutter as the man appears to pull his charge behind him, as if she could be hidden from Mrs. Wang's infamous hawkeyed glare.

Tong Yao's brows furrow however, hands clenching and unleashing, she hesitates a bit before plowing on, "If I could use your computer?" She gestures to the decorative set up behind Mrs. Wang and the latter smiles causing everyone in the room to freeze.

Interesting.

Mrs. Wang stands carefully, not leaving Tong Yao's peripheral as she gestures freely for her to commence with a grand flourish.

Xiao Rui trails behind Tong Yao in confusion as the younger woman plops gracefully on the chair the older woman had been occupying mere moments ago, the quiet clicks of the keyboard could thereafter be heard amidst the tension infesting the room like a virus.

It's only when a familiar black screen pops up, a series of green analytical numbers and figures that has Xiao Rui gasping, and finally the complete cctv recording of what had just transpired moments ago when the woman scratched Lao Mao maliciously and Tong Yao hit her.

"I noticed the venue had hidden audio receptors, I'll bring up the audio for you," Tong Yao murmurs in deep concentration as another black screen pops up and then-

"You fucking bitch," the hussy hisses just as Tong Yao pushes her down.

Both audio and video continue to play in sync and as the recording comes to an end, the woman drones on, "I'll make sure ZGDX Industries crashes and burns to the ground."

A few moments of silence pass and Mrs. Wang takes a deep breath just as Tong Yao is ushered forcefully out of the chair by Xiao Rui.

Mrs. Wang addresses the room. "Everyone except for Xiao Rui and Tong Yao, get out."

Murmurs of acquiescence and shuffles of feet and paper coalesce and disappear as the doors close, leaving the three of them to regard each other, two in confusion while one was sharp and calculating.

"Tong Yao, what we don't see will hurt us."

She smirks as Tong Yao stares wide eyed.

---

What the fuck is happening?

Now Xiao Rui was a patient man. A very patient man indeed.

But when one of his charges got hurt or injured or God forbid, emotionally damaged because of the hate comments circulating online every after match whether they had performed well or not, Xiao Rui was quick to act like a cool headed mama bear hybrid protecting its cubs.

So watching Tong Yao imitate a 2D representation of an in game character -unmoving, and blank- in her expensive suit was disconcerting to say the least.

And she was pale. What did Mrs. Wang mean!?

Plus, he wouldn't want Chessman witnessing this or he'd be sent to the high heavens for letting his girl (yes, the team wasn't that dense, probably just Lao Mao) go head to head with his demanding mother.

Maybe Tong Yao was right and Mrs. Wang was having a first class, highborn fit.

Well goodness.

It takes a while before the short haired woman beside him responds, "what...what we don't see will hurt us." She licks her lips as if she had been ordered by Lu Si Cheng not to drink water or her RIO for an entire day after eating too much prawns.

Xiao Rui suddenly feels ice cold when Mrs. Wang shows her teeth and he has half the mind to cover Tong Yao with his long body so he pulls the half pint girl even further behind him even if he was being so obvious about it.

He didn't care. Protecting the team was his life's work even if he was somehow failing at it as of the moment.

Because Mrs. Wang and Tong Yao were currently eyeing each other after spouting phrases in English which he didnt fucking understand.

And they say the gallant and constantly polite Xiao Rui never curses even in his mind!

---

Tong Yao shakes herself out of her self induced temporary stupor and finds herself falling into her secondary language. A language which she had no special use of in her current line of work except when Jinyang secretly hustled her out of the country to exotic places where the only communication she was very fluent in aside from Mandarin was English.

"Mrs. Wang-"

"So this is your proof?"

Somehow, Tong Yao knew Mrs. Wang's question carried double meaning.

Before she could respond, a name she had thoroughly forgotten, a name that had been shadowed by the rose colored glasses she had on shoots up from the ground, destroying her well built walls into smithereens, just like Ah Tai destroying her once.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. " Tong Yao mumbles, starting to melt under the scrutiny of the formidable Lu mistress.

Mrs. Wang pauses as Xiao Rui gravitates to meddle between whatever this is when a commotion outside draws their attention.

"Young Master Lu! You cannot go in there yet, Mistress Lu is still in a meeting- Young master!"

As if he were Susanoo, Lu Si Cheng makes a dramatic entrance, the fierceness with which he carried himself catapulted everyone inside to halt and breathe.

A God has just entered.

Tong Yao swallows as Cheng-ge automatically glances her way before fixing a pointed glared at his own mother, instantly planting himself beside Tong Yao, arms crossed and sporting an equally annoyed expression as that of Mrs. Wang.

"Is that any way to greet your mother, son?" Mrs. Wang presses her ruby red lips into a sulking pout and Tong Yao flickers her gaze away from the awkwardness of the situation.

Before he could address it, Mrs. Wang shoots Tong Yao and Xiao Rui a dismissive glance, and as the two of them shuffle out, Mrs. Wang calls over her shoulder, "Tong Yao, we are not yet done. Expect another meeting by next week. Don't let my son accompany you, little firebird." She lapses into her normal Mandarin as both Xiao Rui and even the ever unruffled Lu Si Cheng stare at her as if she and her mother had just grown two heads.

"Oh and Xiao Rui. I'll deduct two months worth of salary from you. Now, leave us be. " Mrs. Wang shoos and Tong Yao sees her captain and her manager regard her curiously.

Xiao Rui as Mrs. Wang didn't mention a paycut for Tong Yao at all nor a one day suspension, and Lu Si Cheng for entirely different reasons.

Tong Yao quickly follows her manager out the door before Lu Si Cheng devours her with just his stare.

---

She knows.

She knows!

Shit!

She couldn't hear the cacophony of noises, screeching like nails on a chalkboard, or was that tires screeching on the pavement -

"-taking her to the nearest hospital, she's hyperventilating! En. En, yeah, don't tell Chessman yet. He's with his mom."

The brown haired woman recognizes her manager's voice, and was that Mr. Li the cab driver?

"You stupid cunt, we lost millions because of you and your little band of misfits!" A voice rattles in the shelves, hidden in the recesses of her brain a long, long time ago.

She could still feel the man's putrid breath on her mouth and his saliva on her eyeballs.

She feels like dying.

"Are you cold, xiao jiejie?" Xiao Rui gasps, but then she hears his low pitched scream in panic, the same thing she heard when she had vomited on Chessman when she got drunk once at the base.

Wetness pools on her lap and she stares at the remnants of her breakfast and lunch - brunch on her slacks (fuck, Jinyang will have a fit for sullying her Chanel), before she blacks out.

---

Lu Si Cheng hated Su Luo's audacity.

After all the trouble she had caused for even going to suggest as a "peaceoffering" that Team ZGDX go to an anime convention to increase their publicity, his mother merely waved her off as nothing and broke off whatever contract the Lu family had with the girl's parents.

A simple slap on the wrist.

But then again, Tong Yao had been merely...reprimanded if his mother's words had been true.

It was certainly nothing compared to if the higher ups would have made a huge fuss and suspended Tong Yao for the entire season, which was not ideal as the team needed their insanely strong mid.

Lu Yue just wouldn't cut it in his current level.

Worried that Tong Yao would do something drastic if left to her own devices, the mighty Chessman drove through the highway like a madman, uncaring whether his Aston Martin's wheels would get scratched in the process.

Until Lu Yue's ringtone cuts through the dense night air. "Mmm?"

Lu Si Cheng lazily answers with a small frown, busy with thoughts about a rabbit holding a carrot.

"Ge, Shorty's at the hospital. We're on our way there already. "

The line goes dead.

"Where the fuck- sonofabitch!"

The Chessman grinds his teeth, silently cursing Lu Yue.

The kid didn't even send him the coordinates!

A follow-up text comes from Ming-shen.

[SMUS now. She's fine but was given sedatives for a bit.]

Lu Si Cheng growls.

He would be dead before he got to court Tong Yao properly.

---

Flashback

"Woah, our little firebird is so great, huh?"

Familiar eyes stare as lips curl in amusement.

"I'm not the one who tanked down that seedy corporation to ashes. Why are you praising me?" Tong Yao curses as her shikigami floats and spins through her creepwave, ignoring her housemates.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this. Your Onmyoji thingy."

She frowns, fingers still clicking away. A hacker's computer was really the best of the best. "It's not an Onmyoji thingy. " She huffs.

"Okay, okay stop picking on her you stupid idiot. We've got work to do. "

A book slaps against the person's head and chuckles fill the room.

End of flashback

White things flutter, a rabbit holds a carrot, Chessman, Lao K, Lao Mao, nails, a Porsche, Fatty, Ming God, Xiao Rui, Mrs. Lu, Jian Yang, biscuits and scallions, Lue Yue.

Lue Yue.

"Oi, our little shorty's awake, huh?"

Tong Yao glares at the wide smile and easy posture. "Shut up. I'm hungry. "

She notices that only the substitute mid was present as the rest of the room was as eerie as a haunted emergency room. It was frankly disconcerting.

Groaning to sit up, Lu Yue sensibly stops her as she notes the IV thrust into her veins - God her gaming arm!

" Careful, don't kill yourself or my brother will kill me," he smirks tutting as he helps her situate herself more properly by the headboard.

Lu Yue may be a bastard to her sometimes but he was a good bastard.

"Where's everyone," she coughs as she reaches for the water by the bedside table. Thirsty, she downs it in one gulp.

Ugh, hospital water.

"Xiao Pang dragged them all to get some grub at the nearest noodle shop. They've been staying up late taking turns to guard you, you know. Our precious mid," He grins and she winces awkwardly at the possessive pronoun he enunciates.

"Uh, thanks, I guess. "

Lu Yue just nods and examines the window for a moment.

Somehow, Tong Yao is irked that he resembles his mother now that she's seeing him more up close. Usually, it's Cheng-ge's handsome features she - woah there! Let's not get into that right now!

"So what happened anyway?" He pushes, fishing a fat case of dumplings from the plastic bag by the foot of the bed and the starting mid can't help but salivate.

Lu Yue notices her staring and his shit eating grin widens. "Sorry shorty, you can't have this. Doctor's orders."

Tong Yao rolls her eyes even as her stomach grumbles. Not like she wanted to share with her sub anyway. She just wished Xiao Pang had the good sense to being her something good to eat.

"Your mother gave me an aneurysm," Tong Yao grunts and Lu Yue guffaws.

After that, both mids fall into comfortable silence until Lu Yue finishes the pack of food and starts talking once more, much to Tong Yao's consternation.

Lu Yue never was seriously talkative when he was alone with her. Or at least if he was, he always only teased.

So it came as a shock that he was looking at her now how his brother usually looked at everyone.

With deep contemplation.

Huh, they were really brothers.

"What?" Tong Yao looks away, evading his eyesight. It was reminding her too much of her captain.

"Hey, if my brother's hard on you, it was because he was also hard on me. " Lu Yue pauses, and Tong Yao stifles a sharp intake of breath, well aware of the fact that Lu Si Cheng was probably reliving the nightmare ZGDX had gone through after being disqualified last year. And Lu Yue was just trying to protect everyone like she had done.

Shit.

Oblivious to her internal battle, Lu Yue continues "And I think he's obsessively worried when it comes to you so take it or leave it like that."

"Obsessively?" Tong Yao raises a brow. That gets her attention.

Lu Yue shrugs and pops open a RIO much to Tong Yao's exasperation, just as the rest of Team ZGDX finally saunter through the doorway, only giving themselves enough time to freeze before they're a crowding by a wide awake Tong Yao's hospital bed.

Lu Si Cheng swats the nearest person from the IV drip stand before it topples to the ground and smirks at Tong Yao. Though she could see the shadows under his eyes probably caused by his lack of sleep and it makes her feel guilty. "Finally awake, huh?"

Tong Yao instead shiftily directs her attention to Xiao Pang, "Did you get me food?"

Beside her, Lu Si Cheng scowls as he gently taps her head and thrusts a plastic container of noodles with salted egg into her face. "Food's here, shorty. Come on, I'll feed you."

A low chorus of whistles emit, breaking whatever tensiond had been present as the two carries of the team displayed a more normal bickering routine, while the others silently make themselves scarce, all while winking at their double C.

Lu Yue hollers a "remember what we talked about, shorty!" and whirlwinds out the door, presumably to go be a bother to the hospital staff.

Once the noise is gone, the brunette stares at her captain apprehensively.

"...Are you going to suspend me?"

She blurts out blinking, though her focus remains solely on the egg and noodles, inhaling their scent.

"What did you and Lu Yue talk about first?"

Tong Yao lifts her head up only to melt under his intensity.

Lu Si Cheng was looking at her like he owned her or something.

"Nothing important. Just teasing me like always. " She mumbles. "Can I eat now?"

A heavy sigh emits from the man with something suspiciously like 'why do I even bother, it's like I'm taliing to a brick wall'. He relents," Fine. Eat. On one condition. You can't use your hands. "

Before Tong Yao can scold her captain indignantly at the injustice of it all, her food hovers close to her mouth.

Lu Si Cheng was feeding her.

Agh.

"It's either this or I'm leaving. " He smiles sweetly and Smiling could only scowl.

"Gah! Fine, fine!"

And that is how Tong Yao decidedly gets checkmated by the legendary Chessman.

---

After the spectacle at the hospital, Lu Si Cheng has decidedly ignored their mid player for the entirety of a week.

And now they were about to face off against Team YQCB but Tong Yao had also been decidedly and much to everyone else's consternation, replaced for the match by none other than Lu Yue.

Perhaps the gaming gods hadn't thrown out all of their humor in the trash as apparently, having a girl play against a bunch of dudes whose hormones were suppressed was trouble in itself so a sub was definitely in order.

Or so ran rampant among the sulking mid's thoughts.

"Stupid Lu Si Cheng. Stupid Lu Yue. Stupid Su Luo. Stupid Ning Jia Qi -oh wait, Ning Jia Qi you scheming bitch. Stupid rich bastards. " Tong Yang mutters darkly as she devours her third chicken leg for the night. And it was good chicken leg too!

The other teams had heard about the ruckus between Team ZGDX's hot headed princess and that slut- um, bitch and so a large box of flavored chicken had arrived as a gift at Team ZGDX's assigned waiting room.

Everyone knew not to touch Tong Yao's food.

"To appease the Goddess." The note wrote and she could only suspect that it was from that Korean playboy, Kun was it?

Though their team captain had glared at the parcel as if it were some offering from God Yang himself or something, at least long enough until Xiao Rui and Ming God kicked all active players out into the arena.

Just as Tong Yao was tearing through her fourth piece, cursing at Su Luo and Lu Si Cheng for starting this predicament in the first place (why the hell did the captain even agree to take Su Luo out on a date when he wasn't even interested to begin with, Gah!) the sound of heeled shoes make a pointed click clack against the pavement, until they stop in front of Tong Yao.

"Ah?" The depressed midlaner glares up at the intruder only for her to smack the chair to the ground in her abrupt haste to get up and do a small, formal bow. "Mrs. Wang." She greets, suddenly becoming conscious that she had yet to wipe her mouth.

The Lu mistress waves her off as she gestures for the both of them to sit and she blinks. The older woman surveys the break room with curiosity.

"Um..."

To her surprise, Cheng-ge's mother dives an expensively manicured hand into the chicken box as soon as her eyes land on the things in front of her.

Bare handed. Though she sneers at the flavor and does not touch it again, wiping her hands with a luxurious handkerchief she fishes out of her breast pocket.

"Buffalo wings? How...greasy."

Seems like she and Tong Yao had different opinions about food.

"Don't get me wrong. Hackers like us love our finger foods, only if they appeal to our tastes. " She grimaces as she spots the stain Xiao Pang left behind on the table top while they had some snacks a few minutes ago.

Tong Yao blinks some more.

What?

Mrs. Wang's smirk falls off her aristocratic face as she faces the league's only princess.

"I heard about what happened and I came here to personally apologize. "

For what?

"For what?" Tong Yao blurts out of habit before she could even shut her mouth.

Mrs. Wang appears to be contemplating her next move when screams rebound as the power outage disrupts them. Tong Yao could hear Mrs. Wang cursing (what the hell?), and large heavy foot falls emerge.

"Madam, madam, are you alright?"

"I'm fine! What's happening out there?"

"There seems to be a security breach-"

Almost immediately, both women shoot up just as the power comes back on and the large screen on the wall reflects an unfamiliar eerie logo which cuts directly to a blurred video of a man wearing a paper bag with holes before it shows a bloody and gruesome sight of the same man hanging limply from a noose around his neck and ends up with a bar coded screen.

Tong Yao curses knowing this pattern well. And it seems Mrs. Wang does too.

How curious.

Another bar code pops up with changing numbers on the background.

Until a counter emerges.

00:10:00.

Tong Yao can't breathe.

OPL was being hacked and the League would absolutely be fucking canceled, disregarding everyone's efforts, not just Team ZGDX's.

Her boys would be fucking depressed.

Not to mention millions of investments would be lost in a single day.

Mrs. Wang presses her ruby red lips into a firm line, showing her grave displeasure at the turn of events. Being one of the league's biggest investors to date, this would cost a multi million dollar dent in their stockholdings.

The camera pans over to the utterly confused audience and then to the faces of the playing teams.

Mrs. Wang regards her with quiet determination before she relents, "This wasn't my intention. To bring you back into the fold as I have left it when I birthed Lu Si Cheng, but you were one of the most elite hackers that the American Union has ever seen. I beg of you, Tong Yao xiaojiejie."

Smiling gasps as she finally recognizes where she's seen Mrs. Wang's face from.

She jolts from her shock when the screen goes back to the arena showing ZGDX.

Tong Yao spotted Lao Mao, whose hand still hurts due to the cut from that insipid wrench, Lao K biting his perfectly styled lip - a nervous tick as the man was usually calm in dire circumstances, Xiao Pang's brows shooting to his hairline, Lu Yue glancing unsurely at his brother beside him, and Lu Si Cheng.

If looks could kill, everyone would have been already dead and set on fire.

"Little firebird. Just this once. "

<"Always remember us in your heart our little firebird, wherever we may be in the world. Promise us. ">

"...Mrs. Wang, can I ask, how you know about me. About that. "

Mrs. Wang's breaths shudder a bit as she closes her eyes, relieving a memory. When she does open them, she looks old, way beyond her years, as if she was carrying a burden as heavy as Tong Yao had. "Because you were my successor. They hadn't found anyone suitable for decades, until they found the four of you. "

Damn those old bastards.

"Alright. " Tong Yao exhales. "Just, I'd need to be directly connected to the server and the servers are out there. In the arena. "

"I'll clear the area," Mrs. Wang nods, instantly commanding, showing the world just who the illustrious mistress Lu was.

To Tong Yao, it seemed the woman had multiple layers that had yet to be peeled. She wonders if Lu Si Cheng realizes just who exactly his mother was.

If she was the Lu's daughter, she would know that her mother had brought down the biggest Japanese mafia with a single click of the keyboard.

"You'll need security just in case. I'll have my guards stationed around your booth." The older woman beckons for her as Tong Yao regards the back of her head with a new light.

Maybe just this once. To save everyone.

---

"As part of the Special Onmyoji Arena play, may we ask all audience members to be on standby. Several break rooms and food stalls will be provided but until then, may we ask everyone to vacate the main arena. Team Participants are asked to retire to their break rooms in preparation for the next event. Thank you for participating! Again, as part of -"

Tong Yao drowns out the announcement, certain that the organizers had already been quickly briefed by Mrs. Wang and impressed that they could handle the situation efficiently.

Perhaps this is what it means to be a Lu. Power at its best.

She laughs inwardly to herself.

She's guessing if she doesn't have a pedigree, no woman would be good enough for the esteemed and eldest son of the Lu empire.

It's like applying to become a princess to the nation's prince.

Almost instantly, she spots the booth set up for her.

The rows of gaming equipment have been cleared out leaving only a singular table with a singular chair and the arena's dim and dark lighting at the center stage.

None of the audience members have been allowed to linger, and even the respective teams had been locked up in their own break rooms.

She was alone.

Her team mates would probably look for her despite her "Went to the washroom" note but she had to do this or they might not reach the world championships and she'd have to deal with a depressed body of male angst.

She shuddered to think of it if that were the case.

"Tank them, little Missy," she could still hear the whispers of her old team when she had broken up with Jian Yang and left for the states.

Losing herself in the banal start up, she sits up straighter when the woman delivers the bad news. "Tong Yao, we can't shut down the cameras. "

Fuck.

Once she opens anything, her entire station would be broadcasted in all screens of the arena, face included. She just hopes that no other people were loitering around unauthorized backstage as that would be where the camera feed would be distributed.

"...let's work with what we have, Mrs. Wang."

The older woman seems relieved at this as she gives her a genuine smile for the very first time. "You really remind me of myself." With a light tap of her manicured nails on the back of Tong Yao's chair, she nods, "Crush them, Tong Yao."

Tong Yao purses her lips in a grim smile.

Let's go, Tong Yao.

---

Xiao Pang was very versatile with situations.

There's a black out? He'll be fine as long as there's food.

A hurricane? As long as there's food around.

An angry mob of fans storming the base? As long as there's food around.

Xiao jiejie taking a shit long time to go to the bathroom? As long as there's food around.

And food there is as Tong Yao had apparently left a lot of her meat behind when she went to take a dump or so Lu Yue said.

But isn't 20 minutes an awfully long time?

He notices Lu Si Cheng, their captain, their shooter, their normally stoic and composed Chessman anxiously looking at the door every fricking five minutes and even he was starting to be concerned over their princess.

The teams had been ordered by the administration to stay put because there was something special happening- it was a good thing the stupid outage had happened just as the blazing Victory flashed behind Team ZGDX for the 2nd match.

But still the captain was pretty pissed and he didn't know why.

An uneasy quiet settles over them just as Lao Mao voices everyone's concern. " Shorty sure is taking her time pooping her pants huh?"

Only Xiao Rui and Xiao Pang manage to utter a singular chuckle but even those felt out of place.

Ten more minutes pass without the beloved team's shorty in tow and Xiao Pang wonders if their little sister got locked out of the arena instead after wandering outside because she wanted some other kind of food or something.

It was the or something that overtook the blaring screen which came back to life (the others had tried turning it on without much success for the past few minutes which was weird), just as he spotted his captain almost standing up with a scowl on his unfairly handsome face.

Probably to go drag Tong Yao over and scold the poor girl.

"What the fuck."

Xiao Pang jolts. Xiao Rui, their goody two shoes manager never swears. Or at least not out of game.

As all of their eyes get glued to the huge screen in the room, Xiao Pang nearly swallows a chicken bone.

Because at the center of the OPL arena was their beloved little girl, surrounded by four men in black suits and masks, attentively securing the area as if guarding her against an invisible threat as she typed away at the computer he swears he had been using mere moments before.

Xiao Pang swears a vein busted on their captain's forehead as he looked on.

---

Flashback

"Suzaku, guard your tail end. Seiryuu's on his way. Byakko and that turtle piece of shit can get smashed for all I care."

Tong Yao laughs. "Roger that, captain."

"The sooner we're done, the sooner we can eat meat. "

End of Flashback

Line 50. Line 60. Line 70. Line 80. Line 90. Line 100.

Fucking piece of-

Tong Yao grits her teeth, gingers clacking speedily against the keyboard like they have never clacked before as she tries to blind herself with all the numbers displayed in front of her.

What was it that they said about hackers.

They were ordinary joes with extraordinary powers.

Shaking her head in frustration, she focuses back onto the task at hand. The sooner she can find that extra variable, the sooner she can be done and go home. She was surely going to have an aneurysm at the rate she was going!

At most forty minutes have passed since the break and she could hear the restlessness growing outside. She swears she could have heard Jian Yang imploring the guards to let them in because what the fuck.

She wonders if Cheng-ge was outside in a similar fashion, looking for her. Worried about her. Gods above!

She frowns, not even entertaining that thought or she would never find the stupid piece of shi-

"Found it!" She growls, her fingers ready to bleed with the way she frantically targets the variable only for her to bite her lips in frustration when another one springs up after she hits backspace.

God, this might take more out of her patience than even Ai Jia and Chen Jinyang's six year on again off again relationship.

She silently hoped the league could provide food for all the no doubt starving audience out there or they might just bite their way in.

Anxious people are restless people and restless people tend to do more damage than anyone else.

---

Lao Mao gapes. There weren't many situations in which the Old Cat understood things easily without Lao K pointing it out. But this.

Their little sis, their little princess was a fucking hacker.

"What, what-"

Forty minutes in and it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. Not with the steady focus the girl was emanating, and especially not when a dual screen keeps on popping up beside their girl's face through the TV, an exact live stream of what she had been doing for the past half hour or so.

And it was insane.

But then Lao Mao frowns as he stares and narrows his vision at Tong Yao's right hand - almost the exact same pattern of injury as that woman had inflicted on his earlier.

Lao Mao swears Ning Jia Qi is going to get ganked not only by ZGDX but by all of the junglers his sister had managed to collect so far. See, he wasn't that oblivious.

"Is that Madam Wang?" Ming God points out as Lu Yue confirms in horror.

"The cameras seem to be moving on their own. Otherwise, we wouldn't be allowed to even see this." Lao K points out, but underneath his cool exterior lay a very concerned older brother.

Lao Mao grinds his jaw as veins pops up on his forehead. His fingers graze his scalp and he suddenly hisses, reminded of his injury.

Which reminds him of Tong Yao's injury.

Because Fatty just pointed out that Tong Yao was bleeding on the mouse.

Well fuck.

Something like glass breaks and they all watch in mesmerized trepidation as Lu Si Cheng, their team captain kicks the door down with sheer force and forcibly storms out despite protests from the guards, snarling at anyone who dared block the mighty Chessman.

Lao Mao and the rest of the team run after him to see what the hell is going on.

---

Tong Yao hisses in pain as her fingers bleed -bleed! onto the keyboard.

Godfuckingdammit.

Cursing like a sailor wasn't her strong suit but after years of exposure to the four Gods , not to mention Team ZGDX (who despite making a silent pact never to cuss in front of her), please excuse her language as she was under stress at the moment.

She noticed someone wipe the blood oozing down the mouse pad and she murmurs a thanks, while the person retreats back without further disruption.

Line 143. Her skin runs cold as she spots an all too familiar logo. The same one that the four gods had thought to have vanquished the last time all of them had been together.

Her hands clam up but don't stop clicking and clacking and sweat beads on her brow but she feels almost sick, nauseated, remembering the putrid breath of that man.

If only her team had known why she had been so afraid of Ah Tai, it was because of a certain person who owned this certain logo. The trauma she had experienced had translated even as she came back to China.

Tong Yao takes a deep steady, breath, willing her consciousness to stay awake and not just faint.

That was all in the past. And the man was supposed to be in high security prison. But then who was using this cursed symbol?!

Deep breaths.

One, Tong Yao could feel her blood sticking to her skin.

Two, Tong Yao could hear muted murmurs.

Three, Tong Yao could smell the lingering aftershave from one of the men beside her.

Four, Tong Yao could still taste the chicken.

Five, Tong Yao could see Lu Si Cheng was inside the arena-

Lu Si Cheng was inside the arena!

-

Mrs. Wang hardly ever saw his son.

And she hardly ever saw him as enamoured as he was, that is in a fantastic creepy 'I'll take down anyone who dares hurt her including you mother' kind of way.

Lu Yue did send her many, many pictures of the two of them after all.

So when Lu Si Cheng and the entire ZGDX along with some stragglers from other teams override the guards stationed at the door, she signals those inside the arena to build a fence around Tong Yao so as not to disrupt her work.

She makes a mental note to deduct wages later on at the insubordination from her security group.

Worriedly, she strides over to her son and his team who instantly begin to ask her questions but with a raise of her hand, she silences them all.

Even the other team managers have glided over to see what the ruckus was about.

Thankfully, Tong Yao couldn't give a rat's ass of what was happening outside of her concentration and Mrs. Wang was glad that this child was the one chosen as one of the four Gods in the underground hacking empire.

She definitely must have her as their daughter-in-law.

Maybe she had misjudged her to just be an errant little girl who didn't deserve a place beside Lu Si Cheng when she saw all those rumors on Weibo.

Su Luo and any other woman she would even attempt to place beside her son would now pale in comparison to Tong Yao for the foreseeable future.

"Mother, what's happening?" Lu Si Cheng asks, teeth glinting under the dim lights, face looking so much like his father when he had proposed to her and it was at that moment that the Mistress of Lu definitely knew that her son had found the one.

She pinches the bridge of her nose. She supposes a June wedding could be arranged. She just hopes that the grandkids don't come first before that. After all, these two were living under the same roof and she knew her son's tendency to be clingy when he was obsessed with something.

"I'll explain in detail later. But for now, let her work in peace. Or the entire league would crack down and all of you would be left jobless by tomorrow. " She mutters unhappily, more at the fact that the Lu Enterprises would have major losses if this were to happen. Sure they would still be exceedingly wealthy but any lost money was a waste and the league was such a huge investment she wasn't willing to risk it.

Those who were close enough to hear her declaration had apparently assumed the same thing: that Team ZGDX's midlaner was not only pretty and strong but was a government sanctioned hacker if Mrs. Wang was willing to use her to fix things.

Everyone jolts when Tong Yao hisses loudly and Mrs. Wang warns her son to stay put even if she herself wanted to go over there and comfort the girl.

As the former Suzaku however, she couldn't. She had left that life of tasteful freedom a long, long time ago in exchange for this one.

She hears the concerned hisses of Tong Yao's teammates as they warch her grow wven more frustrated and manages to hide a small smile.

This girl was well loved that a bit of envy entered Mrs. Wang's heart.

Not even her own husband loved her to this extent.

---

Lu Si Cheng was going insane.

He was going insanely, undoubtedly, inhumanly, ballistic.

His girl was currently bleeding and frustrated all by her fucking self.

He should be there.

Lu Si Cheng had to be there beside her.

"GOD!" They all stiffen when his girl growls, and he could just see the tears forming in her dark brown eyes as she keeps on biting her lips.

Shit, her lips would probably be bleeding too.

His mother seemed agitated beside him and that nearly put him into unadulterated panic until another screech from Tong Yao has him jumping the several chairs over to get to her, only for him to be held back by her mother's security team.

"Mom!" He could hear his little brother gasp in surprise but his own rage fuels his limbs to move, to just fucking move so he could get to her.

After that fight Tong Yao had at the anime convention, his heart had nearly leapt out of his throat when she pushed that stupid woman on the ground.

She could feel her ice cold rage burning his hand as she asked him to let go of her but he didn't.

Because if he did and Tong Yao got hurt, or much worse ended up suspended like his brother, he would raze them all down.

So he had opted to ignoring Tong Yao for the most part after he had explained to his mother the entirety of that unfortunate event.

Because he didn't know how to rein in his frustration if she somehow provoked him.

He might just end up taking her to his bed which was not the way to start a relationship with the woman of his dreams, past, present, and future if he ever wanted a chance.

But then this happened and now his heart is hurting because she's in pain.

Tong Yao, the girl he tried to forget, with him refusing to be collected like one of her stamps, the girl he had fallen head over heels for, was suffering in the very arena she thrived in.

Someone would have to pay.

---

Tong Yao visibly shakes in anger as she deletes every last fucking logo of that putrid man.

[All variables deleted. Would you like to end this game?]

"Damn you," she mutters loud enough for everyone to hear, not that she was aware of them at the moment.

[If you enter YES, the game will end but at what cost? If you enter NO, the game will not end but you alone will be safe. Make your choice.]

Tong Yao quickly types in the word YES without much thought, wanting this to be over and done with but nothing ever comes easy does it.

Not for one of the four gods at least.

A loud, obnoxious sound startles her as the smoke blasts on stage and the clear VICTORY sign flashes behind her where normally her team would be whooping in joy, she was now a tired and exhausted mess.

She looks up, startled to find so many people blatantly staring.

Then a garbled voice filters through the speakers from the emcees corner, "Congratulations on your first win. I look forward to many more, Smiling, or should I say God Suzaku of the South."

The voice cuts into static and the league restarts, frozen from where everyone presumably left off.

Silence forms in the arena as Tong Yao stands before she succumbs to the call of darkness, several voices chasing her to oblivion.

---

After the incident at the OPL Arena, the teams and anyone else who had witnessed the marveled spectacle had quickly been made to sign non disclosure agreements.

Team ZGDX had all but quickly gotten their girl home before meeting with the top members of the corporation. They refused to let Lu Si Cheng go alone as Tong Yao was their precious mid and anyone who tries to hurt her hurts them.

It was a miracle that none of the audience members or the reporters had learned of the news and it seemed that the teams had kept very quiet about the incident - begrudgingly, Tong Yao wasn't only ZGDX's princess.

She was after all the only e-sports girl in a male dominated area so it was no wonder everyone she had met adored her already.

"Fuck, that's crazy. Our sis is a hacker. That's- that's huge, ge." Xiao Pang shakes his head as they all gather by the kitchen, eating a simple dinner of curry that Xiao Pang had improved on and Tong Yao's favorite RIO.

Their princess had yet to get up after being knocked out for two days which was worrying all on its own but the doctors assured them that it was borne out of years and years of emotional fatigue.

---

To see more of the work please visit my page on ao3:

[clutterfied]

Rating: Mature

Category: F/M

Fandom: 你微笑时很美 | Falling Into Your Smile (TV)

Relationships: Lu Sicheng | Chessman/Tong Yao | Smiling

Summary:

A retake starting from episode 17.

Or, Tong Yao's past catches up to her.

(Hacker! Tong Yao AU)

Notes:

This story deviates largely from the canon's plot as to Tong Yao's identity.

Pro-gamer!Tong Yao (formerhacker! Tong Yao) x Pro-gamer! Lu Si Cheng

Tong Yao is a sailor mouth.

[There's so little fics about this cdrama it's heart rendering.]

Chapter 1

Note: Canon rewrite. Please don't shoot my shikigami.

This work is part of a series:

---

Tong Yao hated Su Luo.

"Da Bing, stop it," she scolds as she angrily huffs at the paw scratching her leg, putting on the Balenciaga trainers Jinyang had gifted to her last year for her birthday afterwhich the woman took her to Kyoto for lunch which was insane to say the least - or as common place as being subjected to one of Chen Jinyang's ordinarily affluent lifestyles.

Her jie mei was not one to be trifled with when it came to spoiling her after all.

Tong Yao's lip trembles a bit as she remembers the scratch on Lao Mao's hand from that fucking bitch's cheap nail extensions. What if Lao Mao got rabies?!

Tong Yao could feel the moment a body collides against her fuming form, a stern gaze piercing the remnants of her soul as if they were playing in the Onmyoji Arena but she completely ignores Lu Si Cheng once Ning Jia Qi starts stalking towards her, a clear attempt to deliver a slap.

Despite the fact that the contract was bogus, the stupid woman had expected them all to comply under threat of negative public opinion.

She remembers her Jinyang's words, "Yao-yao, if you ever find yourself in a cat fight, go right for the face. "

It's as if the arena gods had supported her intense ire as Tong Yao manages to shake off Cheng-ge and even Fatty and Xiao Rui who have nervously taken ahold of her. Lao K was posted in front, acting as her silent and threatening sentinel but she knew he wouldn't give a damn if Tong Yao managed to hit the woman twice for hurting Lao Mao.

So Tong Yao did what Chen Jinyang would have done in her place. As soon as the madwoman was well within reach and Lu Si Cheng wasn't (he finally let her wrist go but damn that hurts) Tong Yao smacked Ning Jia Qi right across her stupid, insipid, arrogant cheek with so much force that she was sent back flying towards the shocked girls who had been watching from the sidelines.

"Why did you hit me?!" The banshee screeches but no one tries to help her, not even her own staff who were watching with round, wide eyes at the display of sheer force from a woman with a fairy-like, petite stature such as ZGDX's Smiling.

A feeling of vengeful satisfaction flits for a moment before it is replaced with minute dread as Tong Yao slowly swivels her gaze to her teammates - who had all but scrambled to get the woman and her cronies away from their midlaner at a single command from her now deathly silent captain.

Tong Yao refuses to back down as Lu Si Cheng regards her with a cool, contemplative gaze and only then does she feel her hand throbbing, as if she had been scratched by both Da Bing and Scallion.

Gritting her teeth, she discreetly assesses the damage behind her back lest she anger her captain even further.

Damn, that was going to bruise.

After a moment, Cheng-ge finally speaks, "What do you have to say for yourself, Smiling?" He's an emotionless wall of ice, cold and domineering and Tong Yao feels lightly slighted as it seems concern for her well being isn't first priority.

Well, who wouldn't feel frustrated when all she was trying to do was protect her team!

Tong Yao wishes the ground could swallow her up but before her eyes go all misty and shit, she squares her shoulders, mustering the courage to keep her seething as fuel for the adrenaline still pumping in her veins.

Lu Si Cheng knew she was in the right, and yet all she gets is a cold, hard stare for harming someone who deserved it... and probably a pay cut and a suspension or two later on. Such were the rules of the industry but she hated it.

And it was all Su Luo's fault for subjecting the team to this kind of cockamamie clownshow in the first place. Just because Chessman wasn't interested in human females didn't mean she should take the fall for it due to his reckless display of emotional constipation in front of a courting peacock.

What type of fan service did the organizers want anyway? They just wanted the guys to get sexualized and probably land into a scandal where they fuck some girls backstage?

Absurd.

Wrenching her glossy eyes away from her stoic captain, she manages to grit out, "I'll get ready for my suspension, but I don't regret my actions one bit." She bites back as she stomps to the other exit, not bothering to see whether Lu Si Cheng had been offended at her blatant display of insubordination towards him, -her boss. She just knew Mrs. Wang would be involved and she didn't want two Lu family members telling her what a God damn childish idiot she had been.

She was but a few steps away when Lao K catches up to her, dark kohl rimmed eyes shining with intensity as he regards her proudly like one would a younger sister who had just won against her school bully without big brother's help.

"Come on before General Lu bites both our heads off," he whispers, gently guiding her to a hidden corridor and true enough, not a minute too soon, they both hear his even, measured footsteps receding.

Probably looking to scold her intensely right about now.

Lao K ruffles Tong Yao's hair. "Rui-ge would be here to pick you up. I'm just under secret instructions to guard you."

Tong Yao smirks as Lao K talked in riddles and that was translation for: I wouldn't stop you even if you decided to run away and take a day or two off.

"Where is Xiao Rui?" She asks and he sighs dramatically.

"Damage control."

Aiyah. She might have just killed Xiao Rui.

"Where?"

Lao K smirks. "Wait for him by the bus. I'll make sure Chessman doesn't see you."

Tong Yao smiles. This is why he treated Lao K more like a sibling than any of the others. They might have gotten off to a rocky start but Lao K had a petty streak that matched well with hers and if that wasn't a twin bond, she doesn't know what is.

"Thanks, K. "

Tong Yao decides against staying put as she marches to the bus- planning to demand a meeting with the ever illustrious and perpetually grumpy Mrs. Wang (the dragon breeder of all breeders as Jinyang liked to call her everytime Tong Yao compared Cheng-ge to a fire breathing dragon) as soon as Xiao Rui fetched her from the premises.

A knock on her bedroom door echoes as she stomps to open it for her manager.

"Are you sure about this, Tong Yao?" His gaze descends upon her outfit of choice in surprise: a tan blazer, some plain shirt underneath and slacks to match.

Tong Yao never wore pants unless they were joggers, her pyjamas, or jeans. Tong Yao doesn't do slacks. But apparently these were Chanel -courtesy of the rich lady boss next door- and Rui was managing (pun!) not to choke on his saliva at the absurdity of the situation.

"What, Rui-ge? I'm meeting the mother of all dragons. I need to at least look presentable to be suspended or she'd have a highborn, first class fit."

Rui tuts at her as he leads both of them downstairs in chastisement. Thankfully, the other members weren't present, particularly Lu Si Cheng, as they had been stuck doing their end of the contract at the anime convention. After the incident, Ning Jia Qi had become suspiciously silent -Tong Yao at least expected some form of heavy public retaliation from the media so the current peace was highly untrustworthy.

It would be another hour or so before they finished and Tong Yao was just glad to leave the base - she does not need a fresh reminder that she was still the newest troublemaker on the block so unless she wanted to end up suspended for an entire year like Lu Yue, she would rather go facing off with her captain's breeder.

And after the fiasco that the bitch had posted on Weibo, Tong Yao ended up carrying the brunt of the fall for the team with the administration, so she was very hot tempered as of the moment.

After all, she may not be good enough to be Lu Si Cheng's anything but she was apparently good enough to be the Lu empire's grass chewer.

"You may have just saved my kidneys, Tong Yao." Rui mutters as they both buckle into the company's private car (Rui would jot dare take the bus lest they get stoned or something by a mob of angry Ning Jia Qi fans) which zooms away just as Tong Yao blinks up at the spectacled guy who was crazy enough to hire her for the pro-league.

"Ah?"

Rui chuckles embarrassedly, "Honestly, if one of the guys stepped in and hit her, that would have been worse and my paycheck would be cut down to a year," he jokes but Tong Yao understands.

If one of her team members jumped in, specially Lao Mao, the team would have been branded as violent, sexist pigs for even daring to hit a pretty female no matter how much of an asshole that female had been and no matter how much they were under threat.

It was better that she was the one who took the hit since she was a girl. A woman.

Rui hastily clarifies, "Not that I agree with whatever the heads would say about you."

Tong Yao only nods as the city scrapers pass by in a blur.

Fuck her life.

---

Mrs. Wang was born into a life of luxury.

She was used to things going her way.

Or at least that's what the public -and even her rascal sons- assume.

Certainly, the young girl who seems to be meekly standing before her as Xiao Rui drones on and on about the repercussions of his inactions and the remorse he feels as the manager of ZGDX for not stopping Tong Yao yadda yadda, possesses a quiet strength in the way she stares before being she averts her gaze to the table, brown irises so much like her own when she was younger.

Ah, cute.

"Tong Yao," she starts. "Explain."

Xiao Rui flinches but his smile is unwavering as he tries to placate her, trying to put the blame upon him. "Madam-"

"I said Tong Yao."

Mrs. Wang's irises glitter with amusement as the slip of a girl who had managed to enamour her beloved boy (not that he would admit it yet) stands a bit straighter at the reprimand.

And then she opens her mouth and Mrs. Wang is instantly reminded of her youth.

"...with all due respect, Madam, our team members were suffering from physical injuries and that bit-" she coughs at a nudge from the man next to her and Mrs. Wang smirks behind her steepled fingers, "- woman was trying to threaten the team unless we gave in to their demands."

An aristocratic brow arches, "Which was?"

"Blackmail." Tong Yao pauses. "Madam, the downfall of ZGDX would be the downfall of the entire corporation. We might just be the face of the company and I certainly don't see myself as precious cargo, but if any of the others were to suffer a major backlash, it would end us all."

Xiao Rui appeared to be a mix of apoplectic at the way Tong Yao was addressing her and equally accusatory as he did warn Mrs. Wang about those same repercussions yesterday.

It was highly entertaining.

"Do you have any proof?" Mrs. Wang challenges, wanting to play longer. After all, she may be an old fox but foxes need to paw at toys too!

Xiao Rui seems to stop breathing when Tong Yao goes steadily quiet, and before the awkward man can splutter to her defense, the short girl seems to open her lips before shutting them again with a subconscious pout.

Ah, she was really adorable.

No wonder that Lu Si Cheng was head over heels in love with this little maiden.

"Tong Yao xiao jiejie..." She hears Rui mutter as the man appears to pull his charge behind him, as if she could be hidden from Mrs. Wang's infamous hawkeyed glare.

Tong Yao's brows furrow however, hands clenching and unleashing, she hesitates a bit before plowing on, "If I could use your computer?" She gestures to the decorative set up behind Mrs. Wang and the latter smiles causing everyone in the room to freeze.

Interesting.

Mrs. Wang stands carefully, not leaving Tong Yao's peripheral as she gestures freely for her to commence with a grand flourish.

Xiao Rui trails behind Tong Yao in confusion as the younger woman plops gracefully on the chair the older woman had been occupying mere moments ago, the quiet clicks of the keyboard could thereafter be heard amidst the tension infesting the room like a virus.

It's only when a familiar black screen pops up, a series of green analytical numbers and figures that has Xiao Rui gasping, and finally the complete cctv recording of what had just transpired moments ago when the woman scratched Lao Mao maliciously and Tong Yao hit her.

"I noticed the venue had hidden audio receptors, I'll bring up the audio for you," Tong Yao murmurs in deep concentration as another black screen pops up and then-

"You fucking bitch," the hussy hisses just as Tong Yao pushes her down.

Both audio and video continue to play in sync and as the recording comes to an end, the woman drones on, "I'll make sure ZGDX Industries crashes and burns to the ground."

A few moments of silence pass and Mrs. Wang takes a deep breath just as Tong Yao is ushered forcefully out of the chair by Xiao Rui.

Mrs. Wang addresses the room. "Everyone except for Xiao Rui and Tong Yao, get out."

Murmurs of acquiescence and shuffles of feet and paper coalesce and disappear as the doors close, leaving the three of them to regard each other, two in confusion while one was sharp and calculating.

"Tong Yao, what we don't see will hurt us."

She smirks as Tong Yao stares wide eyed.

---

What the fuck is happening?

Now Xiao Rui was a patient man. A very patient man indeed.

But when one of his charges got hurt or injured or God forbid, emotionally damaged because of the hate comments circulating online every after match whether they had performed well or not, Xiao Rui was quick to act like a cool headed mama bear hybrid protecting its cubs.

So watching Tong Yao imitate a 2D representation of an in game character -unmoving, and blank- in her expensive suit was disconcerting to say the least.

And she was pale. What did Mrs. Wang mean!?

Plus, he wouldn't want Chessman witnessing this or he'd be sent to the high heavens for letting his girl (yes, the team wasn't that dense, probably just Lao Mao) go head to head with his demanding mother.

Maybe Tong Yao was right and Mrs. Wang was having a first class, highborn fit.

Well goodness.

It takes a while before the short haired woman beside him responds, "what...what we don't see will hurt us." She licks her lips as if she had been ordered by Lu Si Cheng not to drink water or her RIO for an entire day after eating too much prawns.

Xiao Rui suddenly feels ice cold when Mrs. Wang shows her teeth and he has half the mind to cover Tong Yao with his long body so he pulls the half pint girl even further behind him even if he was being so obvious about it.

He didn't care. Protecting the team was his life's work even if he was somehow failing at it as of the moment.

Because Mrs. Wang and Tong Yao were currently eyeing each other after spouting phrases in English which he didnt fucking understand.

And they say the gallant and constantly polite Xiao Rui never curses even in his mind!

---

Tong Yao shakes herself out of her self induced temporary stupor and finds herself falling into her secondary language. A language which she had no special use of in her current line of work except when Jinyang secretly hustled her out of the country to exotic places where the only communication she was very fluent in aside from Mandarin was English.

"Mrs. Wang-"

"So this is your proof?"

Somehow, Tong Yao knew Mrs. Wang's question carried double meaning.

Before she could respond, a name she had thoroughly forgotten, a name that had been shadowed by the rose colored glasses she had on shoots up from the ground, destroying her well built walls into smithereens, just like Ah Tai destroying her once.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. " Tong Yao mumbles, starting to melt under the scrutiny of the formidable Lu mistress.

Mrs. Wang pauses as Xiao Rui gravitates to meddle between whatever this is when a commotion outside draws their attention.

"Young Master Lu! You cannot go in there yet, Mistress Lu is still in a meeting- Young master!"

As if he were Susanoo, Lu Si Cheng makes a dramatic entrance, the fierceness with which he carried himself catapulted everyone inside to halt and breathe.

A God has just entered.

Tong Yao swallows as Cheng-ge automatically glances her way before fixing a pointed glared at his own mother, instantly planting himself beside Tong Yao, arms crossed and sporting an equally annoyed expression as that of Mrs. Wang.

"Is that any way to greet your mother, son?" Mrs. Wang presses her ruby red lips into a sulking pout and Tong Yao flickers her gaze away from the awkwardness of the situation.

Before he could address it, Mrs. Wang shoots Tong Yao and Xiao Rui a dismissive glance, and as the two of them shuffle out, Mrs. Wang calls over her shoulder, "Tong Yao, we are not yet done. Expect another meeting by next week. Don't let my son accompany you, little firebird." She lapses into her normal Mandarin as both Xiao Rui and even the ever unruffled Lu Si Cheng stare at her as if she and her mother had just grown two heads.

"Oh and Xiao Rui. I'll deduct two months worth of salary from you. Now, leave us be. " Mrs. Wang shoos and Tong Yao sees her captain and her manager regard her curiously.

Xiao Rui as Mrs. Wang didn't mention a paycut for Tong Yao at all nor a one day suspension, and Lu Si Cheng for entirely different reasons.

Tong Yao quickly follows her manager out the door before Lu Si Cheng devours her with just his stare.

---

She knows.

She knows!

Shit!

She couldn't hear the cacophony of noises, screeching like nails on a chalkboard, or was that tires screeching on the pavement -

"-taking her to the nearest hospital, she's hyperventilating! En. En, yeah, don't tell Chessman yet. He's with his mom."

The brown haired woman recognizes her manager's voice, and was that Mr. Li the cab driver?

"You stupid cunt, we lost millions because of you and your little band of misfits!" A voice rattles in the shelves, hidden in the recesses of her brain a long, long time ago.

She could still feel the man's putrid breath on her mouth and his saliva on her eyeballs.

She feels like dying.

"Are you cold, xiao jiejie?" Xiao Rui gasps, but then she hears his low pitched scream in panic, the same thing she heard when she had vomited on Chessman when she got drunk once at the base.

Wetness pools on her lap and she stares at the remnants of her breakfast and lunch - brunch on her slacks (fuck, Jinyang will have a fit for sullying her Chanel), before she blacks out.

---

Lu Si Cheng hated Su Luo's audacity.

After all the trouble she had caused for even going to suggest as a "peaceoffering" that Team ZGDX go to an anime convention to increase their publicity, his mother merely waved her off as nothing and broke off whatever contract the Lu family had with the girl's parents.

A simple slap on the wrist.

But then again, Tong Yao had been merely...reprimanded if his mother's words had been true.

It was certainly nothing compared to if the higher ups would have made a huge fuss and suspended Tong Yao for the entire season, which was not ideal as the team needed their insanely strong mid.

Lu Yue just wouldn't cut it in his current level.

Worried that Tong Yao would do something drastic if left to her own devices, the mighty Chessman drove through the highway like a madman, uncaring whether his Aston Martin's wheels would get scratched in the process.

Until Lu Yue's ringtone cuts through the dense night air. "Mmm?"

Lu Si Cheng lazily answers with a small frown, busy with thoughts about a rabbit holding a carrot.

"Ge, Shorty's at the hospital. We're on our way there already. "

The line goes dead.

"Where the fuck- sonofabitch!"

The Chessman grinds his teeth, silently cursing Lu Yue.

The kid didn't even send him the coordinates!

A follow-up text comes from Ming-shen.

[SMUS now. She's fine but was given sedatives for a bit.]

Lu Si Cheng growls.

He would be dead before he got to court Tong Yao properly.

---

Flashback

"Woah, our little firebird is so great, huh?"

Familiar eyes stare as lips curl in amusement.

"I'm not the one who tanked down that seedy corporation to ashes. Why are you praising me?" Tong Yao curses as her shikigami floats and spins through her creepwave, ignoring her housemates.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this. Your Onmyoji thingy."

She frowns, fingers still clicking away. A hacker's computer was really the best of the best. "It's not an Onmyoji thingy. " She huffs.

"Okay, okay stop picking on her you stupid idiot. We've got work to do. "

A book slaps against the person's head and chuckles fill the room.

End of flashback

White things flutter, a rabbit holds a carrot, Chessman, Lao K, Lao Mao, nails, a Porsche, Fatty, Ming God, Xiao Rui, Mrs. Lu, Jian Yang, biscuits and scallions, Lue Yue.

Lue Yue.

"Oi, our little shorty's awake, huh?"

Tong Yao glares at the wide smile and easy posture. "Shut up. I'm hungry. "

She notices that only the substitute mid was present as the rest of the room was as eerie as a haunted emergency room. It was frankly disconcerting.

Groaning to sit up, Lu Yue sensibly stops her as she notes the IV thrust into her veins - God her gaming arm!

" Careful, don't kill yourself or my brother will kill me," he smirks tutting as he helps her situate herself more properly by the headboard.

Lu Yue may be a bastard to her sometimes but he was a good bastard.

"Where's everyone," she coughs as she reaches for the water by the bedside table. Thirsty, she downs it in one gulp.

Ugh, hospital water.

"Xiao Pang dragged them all to get some grub at the nearest noodle shop. They've been staying up late taking turns to guard you, you know. Our precious mid," He grins and she winces awkwardly at the possessive pronoun he enunciates.

"Uh, thanks, I guess. "

Lu Yue just nods and examines the window for a moment.

Somehow, Tong Yao is irked that he resembles his mother now that she's seeing him more up close. Usually, it's Cheng-ge's handsome features she - woah there! Let's not get into that right now!

"So what happened anyway?" He pushes, fishing a fat case of dumplings from the plastic bag by the foot of the bed and the starting mid can't help but salivate.

Lu Yue notices her staring and his shit eating grin widens. "Sorry shorty, you can't have this. Doctor's orders."

Tong Yao rolls her eyes even as her stomach grumbles. Not like she wanted to share with her sub anyway. She just wished Xiao Pang had the good sense to being her something good to eat.

"Your mother gave me an aneurysm," Tong Yao grunts and Lu Yue guffaws.

After that, both mids fall into comfortable silence until Lu Yue finishes the pack of food and starts talking once more, much to Tong Yao's consternation.

Lu Yue never was seriously talkative when he was alone with her. Or at least if he was, he always only teased.

So it came as a shock that he was looking at her now how his brother usually looked at everyone.

With deep contemplation.

Huh, they were really brothers.

"What?" Tong Yao looks away, evading his eyesight. It was reminding her too much of her captain.

"Hey, if my brother's hard on you, it was because he was also hard on me. " Lu Yue pauses, and Tong Yao stifles a sharp intake of breath, well aware of the fact that Lu Si Cheng was probably reliving the nightmare ZGDX had gone through after being disqualified last year. And Lu Yue was just trying to protect everyone like she had done.

Shit.

Oblivious to her internal battle, Lu Yue continues "And I think he's obsessively worried when it comes to you so take it or leave it like that."

"Obsessively?" Tong Yao raises a brow. That gets her attention.

Lu Yue shrugs and pops open a RIO much to Tong Yao's exasperation, just as the rest of Team ZGDX finally saunter through the doorway, only giving themselves enough time to freeze before they're a crowding by a wide awake Tong Yao's hospital bed.

Lu Si Cheng swats the nearest person from the IV drip stand before it topples to the ground and smirks at Tong Yao. Though she could see the shadows under his eyes probably caused by his lack of sleep and it makes her feel guilty. "Finally awake, huh?"

Tong Yao instead shiftily directs her attention to Xiao Pang, "Did you get me food?"

Beside her, Lu Si Cheng scowls as he gently taps her head and thrusts a plastic container of noodles with salted egg into her face. "Food's here, shorty. Come on, I'll feed you."

A low chorus of whistles emit, breaking whatever tensiond had been present as the two carries of the team displayed a more normal bickering routine, while the others silently make themselves scarce, all while winking at their double C.

Lu Yue hollers a "remember what we talked about, shorty!" and whirlwinds out the door, presumably to go be a bother to the hospital staff.

Once the noise is gone, the brunette stares at her captain apprehensively.

"...Are you going to suspend me?"

She blurts out blinking, though her focus remains solely on the egg and noodles, inhaling their scent.

"What did you and Lu Yue talk about first?"

Tong Yao lifts her head up only to melt under his intensity.

Lu Si Cheng was looking at her like he owned her or something.

"Nothing important. Just teasing me like always. " She mumbles. "Can I eat now?"

A heavy sigh emits from the man with something suspiciously like 'why do I even bother, it's like I'm taliing to a brick wall'. He relents," Fine. Eat. On one condition. You can't use your hands. "

Before Tong Yao can scold her captain indignantly at the injustice of it all, her food hovers close to her mouth.

Lu Si Cheng was feeding her.

Agh.

"It's either this or I'm leaving. " He smiles sweetly and Smiling could only scowl.

"Gah! Fine, fine!"

And that is how Tong Yao decidedly gets checkmated by the legendary Chessman.

---

After the spectacle at the hospital, Lu Si Cheng has decidedly ignored their mid player for the entirety of a week.

And now they were about to face off against Team YQCB but Tong Yao had also been decidedly and much to everyone else's consternation, replaced for the match by none other than Lu Yue.

Perhaps the gaming gods hadn't thrown out all of their humor in the trash as apparently, having a girl play against a bunch of dudes whose hormones were suppressed was trouble in itself so a sub was definitely in order.

Or so ran rampant among the sulking mid's thoughts.

"Stupid Lu Si Cheng. Stupid Lu Yue. Stupid Su Luo. Stupid Ning Jia Qi -oh wait, Ning Jia Qi you scheming bitch. Stupid rich bastards. " Tong Yang mutters darkly as she devours her third chicken leg for the night. And it was good chicken leg too!

The other teams had heard about the ruckus between Team ZGDX's hot headed princess and that slut- um, bitch and so a large box of flavored chicken had arrived as a gift at Team ZGDX's assigned waiting room.

Everyone knew not to touch Tong Yao's food.

"To appease the Goddess." The note wrote and she could only suspect that it was from that Korean playboy, Kun was it?

Though their team captain had glared at the parcel as if it were some offering from God Yang himself or something, at least long enough until Xiao Rui and Ming God kicked all active players out into the arena.

Just as Tong Yao was tearing through her fourth piece, cursing at Su Luo and Lu Si Cheng for starting this predicament in the first place (why the hell did the captain even agree to take Su Luo out on a date when he wasn't even interested to begin with, Gah!) the sound of heeled shoes make a pointed click clack against the pavement, until they stop in front of Tong Yao.

"Ah?" The depressed midlaner glares up at the intruder only for her to smack the chair to the ground in her abrupt haste to get up and do a small, formal bow. "Mrs. Wang." She greets, suddenly becoming conscious that she had yet to wipe her mouth.

The Lu mistress waves her off as she gestures for the both of them to sit and she blinks. The older woman surveys the break room with curiosity.

"Um..."

To her surprise, Cheng-ge's mother dives an expensively manicured hand into the chicken box as soon as her eyes land on the things in front of her.

Bare handed. Though she sneers at the flavor and does not touch it again, wiping her hands with a luxurious handkerchief she fishes out of her breast pocket.

"Buffalo wings? How...greasy."

Seems like she and Tong Yao had different opinions about food.

"Don't get me wrong. Hackers like us love our finger foods, only if they appeal to our tastes. " She grimaces as she spots the stain Xiao Pang left behind on the table top while they had some snacks a few minutes ago.

Tong Yao blinks some more.

What?

Mrs. Wang's smirk falls off her aristocratic face as she faces the league's only princess.

"I heard about what happened and I came here to personally apologize. "

For what?

"For what?" Tong Yao blurts out of habit before she could even shut her mouth.

Mrs. Wang appears to be contemplating her next move when screams rebound as the power outage disrupts them. Tong Yao could hear Mrs. Wang cursing (what the hell?), and large heavy foot falls emerge.

"Madam, madam, are you alright?"

"I'm fine! What's happening out there?"

"There seems to be a security breach-"

Almost immediately, both women shoot up just as the power comes back on and the large screen on the wall reflects an unfamiliar eerie logo which cuts directly to a blurred video of a man wearing a paper bag with holes before it shows a bloody and gruesome sight of the same man hanging limply from a noose around his neck and ends up with a bar coded screen.

Tong Yao curses knowing this pattern well. And it seems Mrs. Wang does too.

How curious.

Another bar code pops up with changing numbers on the background.

Until a counter emerges.

00:10:00.

Tong Yao can't breathe.

OPL was being hacked and the League would absolutely be fucking canceled, disregarding everyone's efforts, not just Team ZGDX's.

Her boys would be fucking depressed.

Not to mention millions of investments would be lost in a single day.

Mrs. Wang presses her ruby red lips into a firm line, showing her grave displeasure at the turn of events. Being one of the league's biggest investors to date, this would cost a multi million dollar dent in their stockholdings.

The camera pans over to the utterly confused audience and then to the faces of the playing teams.

Mrs. Wang regards her with quiet determination before she relents, "This wasn't my intention. To bring you back into the fold as I have left it when I birthed Lu Si Cheng, but you were one of the most elite hackers that the American Union has ever seen. I beg of you, Tong Yao xiaojiejie."

Smiling gasps as she finally recognizes where she's seen Mrs. Wang's face from.

She jolts from her shock when the screen goes back to the arena showing ZGDX.

Tong Yao spotted Lao Mao, whose hand still hurts due to the cut from that insipid wrench, Lao K biting his perfectly styled lip - a nervous tick as the man was usually calm in dire circumstances, Xiao Pang's brows shooting to his hairline, Lu Yue glancing unsurely at his brother beside him, and Lu Si Cheng.

If looks could kill, everyone would have been already dead and set on fire.

"Little firebird. Just this once. "

<"Always remember us in your heart our little firebird, wherever we may be in the world. Promise us. ">

"...Mrs. Wang, can I ask, how you know about me. About that. "

Mrs. Wang's breaths shudder a bit as she closes her eyes, relieving a memory. When she does open them, she looks old, way beyond her years, as if she was carrying a burden as heavy as Tong Yao had. "Because you were my successor. They hadn't found anyone suitable for decades, until they found the four of you. "

Damn those old bastards.

"Alright. " Tong Yao exhales. "Just, I'd need to be directly connected to the server and the servers are out there. In the arena. "

"I'll clear the area," Mrs. Wang nods, instantly commanding, showing the world just who the illustrious mistress Lu was.

To Tong Yao, it seemed the woman had multiple layers that had yet to be peeled. She wonders if Lu Si Cheng realizes just who exactly his mother was.

If she was the Lu's daughter, she would know that her mother had brought down the biggest Japanese mafia with a single click of the keyboard.

"You'll need security just in case. I'll have my guards stationed around your booth." The older woman beckons for her as Tong Yao regards the back of her head with a new light.

Maybe just this once. To save everyone.

---

"As part of the Special Onmyoji Arena play, may we ask all audience members to be on standby. Several break rooms and food stalls will be provided but until then, may we ask everyone to vacate the main arena. Team Participants are asked to retire to their break rooms in preparation for the next event. Thank you for participating! Again, as part of -"

Tong Yao drowns out the announcement, certain that the organizers had already been quickly briefed by Mrs. Wang and impressed that they could handle the situation efficiently.

Perhaps this is what it means to be a Lu. Power at its best.

She laughs inwardly to herself.

She's guessing if she doesn't have a pedigree, no woman would be good enough for the esteemed and eldest son of the Lu empire.

It's like applying to become a princess to the nation's prince.

Almost instantly, she spots the booth set up for her.

The rows of gaming equipment have been cleared out leaving only a singular table with a singular chair and the arena's dim and dark lighting at the center stage.

None of the audience members have been allowed to linger, and even the respective teams had been locked up in their own break rooms.

She was alone.

Her team mates would probably look for her despite her "Went to the washroom" note but she had to do this or they might not reach the world championships and she'd have to deal with a depressed body of male angst.

She shuddered to think of it if that were the case.

"Tank them, little Missy," she could still hear the whispers of her old team when she had broken up with Jian Yang and left for the states.

Losing herself in the banal start up, she sits up straighter when the woman delivers the bad news. "Tong Yao, we can't shut down the cameras. "

Fuck.

Once she opens anything, her entire station would be broadcasted in all screens of the arena, face included. She just hopes that no other people were loitering around unauthorized backstage as that would be where the camera feed would be distributed.

"...let's work with what we have, Mrs. Wang."

The older woman seems relieved at this as she gives her a genuine smile for the very first time. "You really remind me of myself." With a light tap of her manicured nails on the back of Tong Yao's chair, she nods, "Crush them, Tong Yao."

Tong Yao purses her lips in a grim smile.

Let's go, Tong Yao.

---

Xiao Pang was very versatile with situations.

There's a black out? He'll be fine as long as there's food.

A hurricane? As long as there's food around.

An angry mob of fans storming the base? As long as there's food around.

Xiao jiejie taking a shit long time to go to the bathroom? As long as there's food around.

And food there is as Tong Yao had apparently left a lot of her meat behind when she went to take a dump or so Lu Yue said.

But isn't 20 minutes an awfully long time?

He notices Lu Si Cheng, their captain, their shooter, their normally stoic and composed Chessman anxiously looking at the door every fricking five minutes and even he was starting to be concerned over their princess.

The teams had been ordered by the administration to stay put because there was something special happening- it was a good thing the stupid outage had happened just as the blazing Victory flashed behind Team ZGDX for the 2nd match.

But still the captain was pretty pissed and he didn't know why.

An uneasy quiet settles over them just as Lao Mao voices everyone's concern. " Shorty sure is taking her time pooping her pants huh?"

Only Xiao Rui and Xiao Pang manage to utter a singular chuckle but even those felt out of place.

Ten more minutes pass without the beloved team's shorty in tow and Xiao Pang wonders if their little sister got locked out of the arena instead after wandering outside because she wanted some other kind of food or something.

It was the or something that overtook the blaring screen which came back to life (the others had tried turning it on without much success for the past few minutes which was weird), just as he spotted his captain almost standing up with a scowl on his unfairly handsome face.

Probably to go drag Tong Yao over and scold the poor girl.

"What the fuck."

Xiao Pang jolts. Xiao Rui, their goody two shoes manager never swears. Or at least not out of game.

As all of their eyes get glued to the huge screen in the room, Xiao Pang nearly swallows a chicken bone.

Because at the center of the OPL arena was their beloved little girl, surrounded by four men in black suits and masks, attentively securing the area as if guarding her against an invisible threat as she typed away at the computer he swears he had been using mere moments before.

Xiao Pang swears a vein busted on their captain's forehead as he looked on.

---

Flashback

"Suzaku, guard your tail end. Seiryuu's on his way. Byakko and that turtle piece of shit can get smashed for all I care."

Tong Yao laughs. "Roger that, captain."

"The sooner we're done, the sooner we can eat meat. "

End of Flashback

Line 50. Line 60. Line 70. Line 80. Line 90. Line 100.

Fucking piece of-

Tong Yao grits her teeth, gingers clacking speedily against the keyboard like they have never clacked before as she tries to blind herself with all the numbers displayed in front of her.

What was it that they said about hackers.

They were ordinary joes with extraordinary powers.

Shaking her head in frustration, she focuses back onto the task at hand. The sooner she can find that extra variable, the sooner she can be done and go home. She was surely going to have an aneurysm at the rate she was going!

At most forty minutes have passed since the break and she could hear the restlessness growing outside. She swears she could have heard Jian Yang imploring the guards to let them in because what the fuck.

She wonders if Cheng-ge was outside in a similar fashion, looking for her. Worried about her. Gods above!

She frowns, not even entertaining that thought or she would never find the stupid piece of shi-

"Found it!" She growls, her fingers ready to bleed with the way she frantically targets the variable only for her to bite her lips in frustration when another one springs up after she hits backspace.

God, this might take more out of her patience than even Ai Jia and Chen Jinyang's six year on again off again relationship.

She silently hoped the league could provide food for all the no doubt starving audience out there or they might just bite their way in.

Anxious people are restless people and restless people tend to do more damage than anyone else.

---

Lao Mao gapes. There weren't many situations in which the Old Cat understood things easily without Lao K pointing it out. But this.

Their little sis, their little princess was a fucking hacker.

"What, what-"

Forty minutes in and it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. Not with the steady focus the girl was emanating, and especially not when a dual screen keeps on popping up beside their girl's face through the TV, an exact live stream of what she had been doing for the past half hour or so.

And it was insane.

But then Lao Mao frowns as he stares and narrows his vision at Tong Yao's right hand - almost the exact same pattern of injury as that woman had inflicted on his earlier.

Lao Mao swears Ning Jia Qi is going to get ganked not only by ZGDX but by all of the junglers his sister had managed to collect so far. See, he wasn't that oblivious.

"Is that Madam Wang?" Ming God points out as Lu Yue confirms in horror.

"The cameras seem to be moving on their own. Otherwise, we wouldn't be allowed to even see this." Lao K points out, but underneath his cool exterior lay a very concerned older brother.

Lao Mao grinds his jaw as veins pops up on his forehead. His fingers graze his scalp and he suddenly hisses, reminded of his injury.

Which reminds him of Tong Yao's injury.

Because Fatty just pointed out that Tong Yao was bleeding on the mouse.

Well fuck.

Something like glass breaks and they all watch in mesmerized trepidation as Lu Si Cheng, their team captain kicks the door down with sheer force and forcibly storms out despite protests from the guards, snarling at anyone who dared block the mighty Chessman.

Lao Mao and the rest of the team run after him to see what the hell is going on.

---

Tong Yao hisses in pain as her fingers bleed -bleed! onto the keyboard.

Godfuckingdammit.

Cursing like a sailor wasn't her strong suit but after years of exposure to the four Gods , not to mention Team ZGDX (who despite making a silent pact never to cuss in front of her), please excuse her language as she was under stress at the moment.

She noticed someone wipe the blood oozing down the mouse pad and she murmurs a thanks, while the person retreats back without further disruption.

Line 143. Her skin runs cold as she spots an all too familiar logo. The same one that the four gods had thought to have vanquished the last time all of them had been together.

Her hands clam up but don't stop clicking and clacking and sweat beads on her brow but she feels almost sick, nauseated, remembering the putrid breath of that man.

If only her team had known why she had been so afraid of Ah Tai, it was because of a certain person who owned this certain logo. The trauma she had experienced had translated even as she came back to China.

Tong Yao takes a deep steady, breath, willing her consciousness to stay awake and not just faint.

That was all in the past. And the man was supposed to be in high security prison. But then who was using this cursed symbol?!

Deep breaths.

One, Tong Yao could feel her blood sticking to her skin.

Two, Tong Yao could hear muted murmurs.

Three, Tong Yao could smell the lingering aftershave from one of the men beside her.

Four, Tong Yao could still taste the chicken.

Five, Tong Yao could see Lu Si Cheng was inside the arena-

Lu Si Cheng was inside the arena!

-

Mrs. Wang hardly ever saw his son.

And she hardly ever saw him as enamoured as he was, that is in a fantastic creepy 'I'll take down anyone who dares hurt her including you mother' kind of way.

Lu Yue did send her many, many pictures of the two of them after all.

So when Lu Si Cheng and the entire ZGDX along with some stragglers from other teams override the guards stationed at the door, she signals those inside the arena to build a fence around Tong Yao so as not to disrupt her work.

She makes a mental note to deduct wages later on at the insubordination from her security group.

Worriedly, she strides over to her son and his team who instantly begin to ask her questions but with a raise of her hand, she silences them all.

Even the other team managers have glided over to see what the ruckus was about.

Thankfully, Tong Yao couldn't give a rat's ass of what was happening outside of her concentration and Mrs. Wang was glad that this child was the one chosen as one of the four Gods in the underground hacking empire.

She definitely must have her as their daughter-in-law.

Maybe she had misjudged her to just be an errant little girl who didn't deserve a place beside Lu Si Cheng when she saw all those rumors on Weibo.

Su Luo and any other woman she would even attempt to place beside her son would now pale in comparison to Tong Yao for the foreseeable future.

"Mother, what's happening?" Lu Si Cheng asks, teeth glinting under the dim lights, face looking so much like his father when he had proposed to her and it was at that moment that the Mistress of Lu definitely knew that her son had found the one.

She pinches the bridge of her nose. She supposes a June wedding could be arranged. She just hopes that the grandkids don't come first before that. After all, these two were living under the same roof and she knew her son's tendency to be clingy when he was obsessed with something.

"I'll explain in detail later. But for now, let her work in peace. Or the entire league would crack down and all of you would be left jobless by tomorrow. " She mutters unhappily, more at the fact that the Lu Enterprises would have major losses if this were to happen. Sure they would still be exceedingly wealthy but any lost money was a waste and the league was such a huge investment she wasn't willing to risk it.

Those who were close enough to hear her declaration had apparently assumed the same thing: that Team ZGDX's midlaner was not only pretty and strong but was a government sanctioned hacker if Mrs. Wang was willing to use her to fix things.

Everyone jolts when Tong Yao hisses loudly and Mrs. Wang warns her son to stay put even if she herself wanted to go over there and comfort the girl.

As the former Suzaku however, she couldn't. She had left that life of tasteful freedom a long, long time ago in exchange for this one.

She hears the concerned hisses of Tong Yao's teammates as they warch her grow wven more frustrated and manages to hide a small smile.

This girl was well loved that a bit of envy entered Mrs. Wang's heart.

Not even her own husband loved her to this extent.

---

Lu Si Cheng was going insane.

He was going insanely, undoubtedly, inhumanly, ballistic.

His girl was currently bleeding and frustrated all by her fucking self.

He should be there.

Lu Si Cheng had to be there beside her.

"GOD!" They all stiffen when his girl growls, and he could just see the tears forming in her dark brown eyes as she keeps on biting her lips.

Shit, her lips would probably be bleeding too.

His mother seemed agitated beside him and that nearly put him into unadulterated panic until another screech from Tong Yao has him jumping the several chairs over to get to her, only for him to be held back by her mother's security team.

"Mom!" He could hear his little brother gasp in surprise but his own rage fuels his limbs to move, to just fucking move so he could get to her.

After that fight Tong Yao had at the anime convention, his heart had nearly leapt out of his throat when she pushed that stupid woman on the ground.

She could feel her ice cold rage burning his hand as she asked him to let go of her but he didn't.

Because if he did and Tong Yao got hurt, or much worse ended up suspended like his brother, he would raze them all down.

So he had opted to ignoring Tong Yao for the most part after he had explained to his mother the entirety of that unfortunate event.

Because he didn't know how to rein in his frustration if she somehow provoked him.

He might just end up taking her to his bed which was not the way to start a relationship with the woman of his dreams, past, present, and future if he ever wanted a chance.

But then this happened and now his heart is hurting because she's in pain.

Tong Yao, the girl he tried to forget, with him refusing to be collected like one of her stamps, the girl he had fallen head over heels for, was suffering in the very arena she thrived in.

Someone would have to pay.

---

Tong Yao visibly shakes in anger as she deletes every last fucking logo of that putrid man.

[All variables deleted. Would you like to end this game?]

"Damn you," she mutters loud enough for everyone to hear, not that she was aware of them at the moment.

[If you enter YES, the game will end but at what cost? If you enter NO, the game will not end but you alone will be safe. Make your choice.]

Tong Yao quickly types in the word YES without much thought, wanting this to be over and done with but nothing ever comes easy does it.

Not for one of the four gods at least.

A loud, obnoxious sound startles her as the smoke blasts on stage and the clear VICTORY sign flashes behind her where normally her team would be whooping in joy, she was now a tired and exhausted mess.

She looks up, startled to find so many people blatantly staring.

Then a garbled voice filters through the speakers from the emcees corner, "Congratulations on your first win. I look forward to many more, Smiling, or should I say God Suzaku of the South."

The voice cuts into static and the league restarts, frozen from where everyone presumably left off.

Silence forms in the arena as Tong Yao stands before she succumbs to the call of darkness, several voices chasing her to oblivion.

---

After the incident at the OPL Arena, the teams and anyone else who had witnessed the marveled spectacle had quickly been made to sign non disclosure agreements.

Team ZGDX had all but quickly gotten their girl home before meeting with the top members of the corporation. They refused to let Lu Si Cheng go alone as Tong Yao was their precious mid and anyone who tries to hurt her hurts them.

It was a miracle that none of the audience members or the reporters had learned of the news and it seemed that the teams had kept very quiet about the incident - begrudgingly, Tong Yao wasn't only ZGDX's princess.

She was after all the only e-sports girl in a male dominated area so it was no wonder everyone she had met adored her already.

"Fuck, that's crazy. Our sis is a hacker. That's- that's huge, ge." Xiao Pang shakes his head as they all gather by the kitchen, eating a simple dinner of curry that Xiao Pang had improved on and Tong Yao's favorite RIO.

Their princess had yet to get up after being knocked out for two days which was worrying all on its own but the doctors assured them that it was borne out of years and years of emotional fatigue.

---

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