#[ interlude 01 ]

[ineruditehills]

its the first 6 pages of the interlude extended for Chapter Four - A Story Together!!!

Comicfury | Tapas | Webtoons

OOf a big 6 pages today, then tomorrow, then friday! we got new, ish, characters coming up!

The Inerudite Hills web comic updates post at 2:10 PM EST on TUESDAYS!!

Support via Ko-fi for sketch requests or Patreon, the latter of which has HD & Textless downloads, misc. art + other benefits! Temporarily without early access, but I am slowly working on it! Definitely by the new year!!!!!

[reclusiveharry]

In the jungle around the beach, close to nightfall. @lina-delgado

The whole damn point of setting up camp in the jungle around the beach was to avoid people as much as possible. And yet, just as she was settling in to rest as much as she could before the whisper in the back of her mind kept hissing about returning to her damn tree, Harry felt footsteps. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the vibrations didn't go away. They bugged her, the pitter patter of human feet, a circling pattern through the undergrowth that Harry had long since catagorised as the footsteps of a person lost. Harry grumbled to herself and fetched her go-bag, heading in the direction of the footsteps. The sun was going down fast, they may not have time to get back to the beach before it got dark. Just wonderful.

[poignant-wcb]

Location: The Media Library @manojoaquin​

Wenzel had to admit that the influx of new blood to the beach had brought some perks. Such as the house he had been gifted by Emre, the expanded farm (even if that came with the loss of the tobacco field), and, of course, the media library. The world had changed rapidly while Wenzel had been a part of it, and after he had come to the island, the world hadn't ceased expanding, growing more awe-some and hideous and beautiful. And all Wenzel had to experience it was the small collection of books in the library.

Apparently libraries were redundant. Who needed a library when telephones (that people carried around (?) in their pockets (?)) had an invention called the internet on it, which was a sort of encyclopaedia. It was a ridiculous notion, Wenzel still couldn't figure it out. His best bet was that the Internet was the name for some Kummerkastentante who they called on their tiny telephones that apparently did not need wires. It all sounded like a type of mass hallucination to Wenzelslaus.  

Give him books any day. Wenzel lost himself in the pleasure of looking over the small shelf of books, steering clear of the electronics on the opposite wall. Yes, he was curious, but his curiosity was the sort where he wanted to break apart the tiny electronic things and see how they fitted the wires inside, which would inevitably lead him to being unable to realign the wires inside. His fingers traced the well-worn spines of the Lord of the Rings series, no, he could not reread his beloved series for the thousandth time. His finger stopped at the spine of an unfamiliar book. Wenzel pulled out the book, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, just as someone else entered the library.

"Ah, potzbiltz," Wenzel gasped, bringing a hand to his chest. "My apologies, you startled me." Wenzel offered the other man a wan smile, unsure whether they now had to endure the niceties of small chatter that he so loathed.

[selinswonderland]

There was a frantic fussing over Chance and his injuries. It was the least she could do, right? Given he had just saved her from being dragged down the edge of a cliff to her bitter demise. But her urgency faltered, her hands dropping to her side as she saw how relaxed Chance was laying on his back, staring up at the clouds with a smile on his face.

Not a care in the world. Peaceful. Even after such a stressful and dangerous encounter Selin smiled, sighing to release the pent up anxiety from her chest. "Yeah...Ok. We'll give it a minute."

Which, was honestly super helpful. Who would have thought taking a moment to breathe, look up at the bright blue sky and not panic could so effectively calm you down? Selin also felt Chance's presence was a factor in her mind slowly unwinding. He just brought that aura of not giving a fuck that Selin knew she never had in her life. He was easy breezy while she overthought everything.

"You know, I feel like Akhila isn't the type to stock playful bandaids when the normal ones work just fine." She joked in return, trying to stretch out her back and massage her shoulder muscles. She was definitely going to be sore for the next few days after this.

Selin gave Chance an appreciative smile as he handed her a piece of fabric from his shirt to wrap her wounds. She let him playfully chatter on about what kind of shots he might need, watching him with a twinkle of admiration in her eyes over how he could be so cool.

"Chance." She spoke up, delicately placing her hand on his shoulder. "Thank you. For everything. You saved my life, I really can't thank you enough for that."

The slice of a smirk that flashes across his face as Selin flushes and scrambles of him was neatly hidden in her - apparently embarassed - rush to 'uncompromise' the compromising position. By the time she's in a less awkward position, Chance remains flat out on his back, loking up at a bluer than blue sky. A few photoshop perfect fluffy white clouds drifting past. Picture perfect... But this picture was more of a Dali'esque perversion of reality... Or maybe even a Dorian Gray. No matter the backdrop, there was no mistaking the seeping poison in this place...

...He just has to find the fucking source.

But this seems to be becoming something of a habit. Save Zaid's dumbass from drowning. Save Darcy from becoming a jammy splatter. Save Selin from a fateful fall...

Chance the - good guy. (In so far as it continued to serve his own purpose). And why not have a few debts outstanding? A few people owing him a favour or two or... Y'know... Their life...

There's a deep breath - inhaled through his nose and exhaled slowly from his mouth. Selin taking in the bloody mess. In all actuality even though his hand ached like a bastard, things could have been worse... Could have. Probably would have. Probably. Probability. --he knows it was no matter of sheer dumb luck. He DID this. Or at least, he pushed this outcome into the reality they now occupied. Perhaps in some other planar or parallel universe, the outcome was different. Pehaps they would have been torn to shreds by the monkeyballs, or dashed to broken bloody pieces on the rocks below. But not in this one. He'd... Felt it. That punch from his chest, the pull and push on the strands of fate, coaxing, weaving, tugging...

"Just..."

He squints up at Selin - the smile on his face this time one of mild contentment.

"...Enjoy this for a sec. Then we can worry about... Stuff... In a minute. Just, breathe it in. Peace. Quiet. Being alive. No monkeyballs."

He offers a few moments of silence before there's something of a resigned sigh and he puches up to sit and take stock. His hand definitely had a fully formed bite mark - teeth marks quite visible. A few other scrapes and scratches. Probably a few more bruises in the morning (also becoming something of a habit). But he doesn't linger on his own misfortune. Because that's not what Chance 'the good guy' would do. Instead he casts his glance toward Selin, scraped knees, visible scratches here and there, forearms and elbows skinned badly from being scraped across the rocks toward that ever looming edge...

"You think the doc has any hello kitty bandaids in the medicenter?"

A slight lilt as he quips, keeping the situation as light as he can without losing any of the gravitas about what might have occured.

And with absolutely zero shame, he's shrugging out of his shirt, trying to manouvre it in his good hand without getting too mugh blood on it. That he wipes on his pants, before starting to tear off strips from the cloth, handing the cleanest and most presentable ones to Selin.

"Here, wrap those cuts. Don't need 'em getting any kind of crap in there before the doc can take a look at you."

The last lengthy strand he does wrap around his own hand.

"You think I'll need a tetanus? Or a rabies shot? You think Monkeyball Bob there had rabies?"

He's grinning as he speaks. Nonchalance in the present.

"C'mon. Let's get you back to our itty bitty slice of civilisation before any more of those Ball-Bobs show up. If they decide to go for round two, we might not be so - lucky."

[formyaisonly]

— like we were before

"was I just a two-year practice round?"

kazuha x reader | social media au ♡

SUMMARY: Kazuha ended your two-year relationship, only for him to offer you a more-than-friends, less-than-lovers set-up. And you, who remain foolishly in love with him, accepted. Alternatively, you spent over a year trying to get over Kazuha, only to come crawling back to him after swearing you learned your lesson. Now, you have to hide him from your friends, and oh wait, a new boy in the mix?

♬ genre: social media au, exes to lovers (?), modern au, angst to fluff, friends with benefits (slightly suggestive), college au

𓊕 status: on-going

PROFILES ᯓ★

chamber of secrets | friends without benefits

PLAYLIST ♪♫~

the lwwb playlist

PRELUDE ᝰ.ᐟ

the end of all things

📀 TRACKLIST

01. never saw it coming 06. freeloader

02. bad publicity 07. downtown lights

03. closure 08. get well soon

04. special guest 09. out of sight

05. last time 10. unknown notes

📀 INTERLUDE

11. connections 16. used to

12. hitch a ride 17. track record

13. friend 18. out of excuses

14. traitor 19. acceptance stage

15. jersey 20. abort mission

📀 DELUXE EDITION

21. game day 26.

22. hear me out 27.

23. situationship 28.

24. you don't go to parties 29.

25. follow back? 30.

♪ note: inspired by niki's before and my failed situationship last summer.

[rinsoap]

THE BIG SEIJOH FOUR'S MUSIC TASTE!

this includes : oikawa tooru. matsukawa issei. iwaizumi hajime. hanamaki takahiro.

note : REMASTERED FROM THIS POST! im back from hiatus! (maybe) please enjoy some music headcanons while i scrape together inspiration for some actual works :p

OIKAWA TOORU

!!? you cannot tell me he isn't OBSESSED with kali uchis. he's been an og fan since her por vida era. i've been pushing the kuchi oikawa agenda for three years and i've been RIGHT for three years! he loves latin music and found out about kali when iwaizumi showed him an odd future song she was featured on. i'm ngl guys, being an "og" fan gave him a complex... wdym "name ten kali uchis songs" she's got 30 million monthly listeners. be fr.

his favourite songs by kali uchis are:

☆ gotta get up - interlude on the isolation album. ☆ moral conscience on the red moon in venus album. ☆ no eres tu(soy yo) on the sin miedo album.

!!? daniel ceaser die hard fan. he loves his on the low bisexual rnb artists, what can he say? he'll listen to freudian on REPEAT, like all ten minutes just looping while he goes through the five stages of grief. iwaizumi called him immediately when he learned daniel was on the new tyler the creator album, they were GEEKED.

his favourite songs by daniel ceaser are:

☆ do you like me? on the NEVER ENOUGH album. ☆ take me away on the freudian album. ☆ LOVE AGAIN on the CASE STUDY 01 album.

HONOURABLE SONG MENTIONS: tonight by summer walker. 360 by charli xcx. get back by britney spears. WAR! by DESTIN CONRAD. sunshine by steve lacy & foushée.

MATSUKAWA ISSEI

!!? #1 frank ocean dick rider. he's actually so annoying it's crazy. type of fan to beg for him to make more music but has barely listened to his pre-blonde albums. type of fan to say "what do y'all know about frank ocean?". type of fan to say "frank ocean mentioned 🤓☝️" whenever someone says one of his song titles in everyday conversations (this might be me).

his favourite songs by frank ocean are:

☆ sierra leone on the channel ORANGE album. ☆ nights on the blonde album. ☆ songs for women on the nostalgia, ULTRA album.

!!? him and makki are crazy underground fans, it's actually not even funny. iwaizumi found out and was like "oh i love the underground, my favourite rapper is MFDOOM, whose urs?" and they were like, "umm Ken Carson 😄" what "the underground" technically is is genuinely a sore subject in the friend group LMFAO

his favourite songs by ken carson are:

☆ murda musik (ft. destroy lonely) on the X album. ☆ ss on the a great chaos (deluxe) album. ☆ yale on the teen X album.

HONOURABLE SONG MENTIONS: of course you won't by lucki. paper soldier by brent faiyaz. purity by A$AP rocky & frank ocean. forgiveless by SZA & dirty ol' bastard. father stretch my hands pt. 1 by kanye west.

IWAIZUMI HAJIME

!!? tyler the creator's #1 fan wdym?!!? goblin era apologist typa fan. "no guys, like, it was supposed to be his intrusive thoughts!" they faces killing me why no one gaf 😭 chromakopia glazer and he knows it! (valid) he was there during the odd future era, like dude was writing OFWGKTA on his desk in sharpie omg.

his favourite songs by tyler, the creator are:

☆ WILSHIRE on the CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST album. ☆ lone on the wolf album. ☆ A BOY IS A GUN on the IGOR album.

!!? are we surprised he's a kendrick lamar fan? this was so obvious to me like no other option. relatively new fan, but everyone thinks he's been listening to him since 2011 because he's so obsessed and knows so many songs by HEART. gets into daily debates with mattsun over whether gkmc or tpab is better.

his favourite songs by kendrick lamar are:

☆ DUCKWORTH. on the DAMN. album. ☆ momma on the to pimp a butterfly album. ☆ backseat freestyle on the good kid, m.A.Ad. city album.

HONOURABLE SONG MENTIONS: benzo by blood orange. sunday by earl sweatshirt & frank ocean. talk my shit by childish gambino, flo milli & amaarae. housten old head by a$ap rocky. CYANIDE by daniel ceaser.

HANAMAKI TAKAHIRO

!!? charli xcx superfan dont play! he started listening to her through brat, but he enjoys her older songs better. he likes electronic type of music, but he likes to say he fucks with anything that "goes crazy". him and oikawa almost exclusively listen to charli when they're together and mattsun says it drives him crazy, but everyone knows he's mouthing the lyrics to to girl, so confusing.

his favourite songs by charli xcx are:

☆ claws on the how i'm doing now album. ☆ sympathy is a knife on the brat album. ☆ unlock it (lock it) [ft. kim petras & jay park) on the pop 2 album.

!!? like i mentioned, him and mattsun are annoying underground fans. so let me talk about their other goat, destroy lonely. these mfs are the type to try and start moshpits and fail miserably. they like to say "what do y'all know about lone?" but only like his most popular songs.

his favourite songs by destroy lonely are:

☆ VETERAN ft. ken carson on the NOSTYLIST album. ☆ bane (single). ☆ LUV 4 YA on the LOVE LASTS FOREVER album.

HONOURABLE SONG MENTIONS: glory boy by lucki. tears in the club by fka twigs & the weeknd. immaterial by SOPHIE. nightcore by ken carson. codeine vision by chris travis.

[selinswonderland]

She wasn't really thinking anything of Alex taking her hand on the way to the warehouse, but being tugged along as he started to run took her off guard for a moment. It didn't take her mind off of the pain of the bracelet either, now she was just stumbling over her feet trying to keep up while also trying to endure the pinching and jolts of pain being sent through her arm from the bracelet. "Whoa! Alex! Hold on! Can we-can we stop, I need to stop. I need to take this thing off." She told him in her struggling attempt to keep up with him.

Once they reached the warehouse their pace had slowed down enough for Selin to break apart from Alex's grasp. "I'm sorry, I can't keep this on, it's getting unbearable." she told him as she started fiddling with the band of the bracelet, doing her best to loosen it and pull it off her wrist. When it was off, the weird thing was that it didn't even look like she had suffered any harm. Despite how much pain she was feeling, there weren't any bruises, or burns, or marks of any kind really to reflect that. "Here, you can have yours back, I don't think exchanging works…but I'm sure you'll have to get something at some point." She hoped that might be an uplifting hope for him. "I mean, a normal bracelet wouldn't cause this much harm to someone else wearing it. Maybe it's just waiting for the best time to show it off."

Maybe he'd enjoy the flair of that. He was obviously the type to appreciate the dramatics. She held out his bracelet for him to take back, though despite her aversion for her own ability and being the one to offer it to Alex in the first place, she did hope he would return hers as well. She felt weirdly bare without it. "I'm sorry my experiment was a bust. But it's good knowledge to have, and more info than we had before." Now the only problem was figuring out what it all meant.

"Aw, it's not silly. Adjusting to having an embiggening and ensmallening power is a lot for anybody to take in, even somebody who's used to hearing kids say batshit things all day long. I mean it's your body. How weird is it to have your own body doing stuff that isn't normal at all? It's not like you can read medical casefiles to see if there's any precedent!"

Was this slightly because Alex was getting a touch concerned about what his own eventual mutant power might turn out to be? Maybe, maybe. But giving Selin a pep talk was like whistling a happy tune -- it helped him to be a little less afraid too.

So the experiment with the bracelets seemed a natural step, even if the irritation and unease, the prickling and itching, were getting stronger by the second. "Recalibrating," Alex picked up from Selin and repeated, watching her flex her fingers like a cat showing its claws. He shook his own hands out hard and hopped on his toes, saying, "Warehouse! Yes. Let's do that." Impulsively, Alex grabbed Selin's hand, something in his primordial monkey-brain suggesting that if they kept their bracelets in proximity to the people they belonged to, it might slow down or help with the recalibration pain.

--it didn't, really. So as they headed towards the warehouse, Alex grimly broke into a dead run.

[thebestofoneshots]

SERIES MASTERLIST

Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)

Summary: You meet Sirius and Regulus at a family vacation in the Caribbean, but things don't go as planned and you end up losing contact once the trip is over. Years later your family moves to England and you get accepted at Hogwarts where you finally meet Sirius once again, along with all of his friends. One of them with a mysterious secret, that you'll uncover as you embark on your own Hogwarts adventure. Mostly canon-compliant. This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it.

Read Gilded Constellations on AO3

Read the French Translation by @nagareboshi-chiyo

Paring: Sirius Black x Reader / Remus Lupin x reader / Wolfstar x reader

Chapter average: 5k - 6.5 k

Content: Smut in later chapters, Poly!Marauders, throuple, graphic descriptions of violence, MAJOR and minor character death (this is The Marauders Era guys, you know), jealousy, angst, pining, love triangle, LGBTQ+ themes, The Wizarding war 1.0, implied child abuse, possible proofreading errors, mental health struggles, hurt no comfort, hurt with comfort, period typical attitude, first war with Voldemort, canonical character's death, fluff, Requited Love, F/M/M, mostly canon-compliant.

Status: Ongoing (Weekly updates)

♡ Indicates SMUT

PLAYLIST

01 | Summer Breeze

02 | Escape

03 | Bitter Sweet Symphony

04 | Rainy Days and Mondays

05 | Good times

06 | Crazy Little Thing Called Love

07 | Peaceful Easy Feeling

08 I Fooled Around and Fell in Love

09 | The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke

10 | Black Dog

11 | Do Ya

12 | You really got me

13 | Rebel, Rebel

14 | Maybe I’m Amazed

15 | No One Like You

Interlude (Q&A Event)

16 | Boogie Wonderland

17 | Tonight’s What It Means To Be Young

18 | Friends will be Friends

19 | Silver Bird

20 | Bad Moon Rising

21 | Fox on the Run

22 | Long Long Way From Home

23 | Hungry Eyes

24 | Peace of Mind

25 | I’ll get Even With You

26 | Hooked on a Feeling

27 | Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

28 | If You Want BIood, (You’ve Got It)

29 | With a Little Help From My Friends

30 | Bridge Over Troubled Water

31 | Strange Magic

32 | Come a Little Bit Closer

33 | More Than a Feeling

34 | You Belong to Me

35 | Chill of Desire

36 | Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

37 | Gimme, Gimme, Gimme

38 | Let the Good Times Roll

39 | Running With the Pack

40 | Hot Stuff

41 | Urban Adventure

42 | Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

43 | Sympathy for the Devil

44 | No One But You

45 | Hold The Line

46 | Comfortably Numb

47 | Let Me Take You Home Tonight

48 | Dust in the Wind

49 | High Hopes

50 | Love the One You're With ♡

51 | Some Guys Have All The Luck ♡

52 | Twentieth Century Fox

53 | Too Much Love Will KiII You

54 | Sail Away Sweet Sister

55 | Noone Together

56 | Who Wants To Live Forever

57 | Play the Game

58 | Staying Power

59 | Break on Through

60 | Stone in Love

61 | Mr. Blue Sky

62 | Born to be Wild

63 | Something About You

64 | Put Out The Fire

65 | Spell Binder

66 | Hot Love

67 | What's On My Mind

68 | Mysteries and Mayhem

69 | Livin' Thing

70 | Back Talk

71 | We've Only Just Begun

72 | Relentless 

73 | Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’

74 |

75 |

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.

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BONUS TRACKS:

Your Theories, The Note, The Costumes, Sirius and the Chimney, Sirius and Vix after the bad moon, Evans and Vixen, Remus and Vixen at the infirmary, Remus holding Sirius at DADA, Remus and Sirius’ height difference, the FOXSTAR picture, Art by @nineloseteeth, We're going French,

Leave a comment telling me if you want to join the tag list

A/N: Most Poly!Marauders fics are oneshots, where the relationship between characters is already established, and they're all happy and pleased with it. No issues, no drama, but I WANTED the drama. Couldn't find it, so I set myself up to write the story behind the stablished relationship. I wanted to know how they started dating each other, the jealousy, the will they won't they, because getting into a poly relationship can't be an easy task, and I wanted to explore that story. If you're interested: Welcome to Gilded Constellations!

[timbrhead]

metanoia. | index.

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:

you woke up in a world foreign to you, and in a body that was for sure not your own. you awoke as mei lian, an insignificant attendant to a high ranking general of the luofu that recently went missing with her siblings. in an attempt to give her closure, you and your companions attempt to solve the many mysteries surrounding the luofu, forging beautiful relationships on the way…

𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨:

>> and with that, welcome! my name is 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚, and ill be your scriptwriter (^‿^✿). my story will be kind of an choose-your-own-adventure story with a poll at the end of every part, where you can vote how the story continues.

edit; while we are at it, you can add me on hsr if you are playing on europe server~ my uid is 719601988 !

— part 00 ; reincarnated, i was stargazin‘

— part 01 ; trust, trust who ?

— part 02 ; started with a spark, now we‘re on fire

— part 03 ; forcing a smile and waving goodbye

— part 04 ; i‘m not entirely here, half of me has disappeared

— part 05.1 ; scared to live, scared to die

— part 05.2 ; interlude - extra, extra !

— part 06 ; so i cry, and i pray and i beg ( voting ongoing ! )

— part 07 ; stay tuned !

— part 08 ; stay tuned !

— part 09 ; stay tuned !

— part 10 ; stay tuned !

— part 11 ; stay tuned !

— part 12 ; stay tuned !

— series finale ; stay tuned !

after that, the dreamscape takes you forth, dear readers…

- xoxo, laina

[ateez-himari]

YŪGEN; THE SHOWCASE

Korea's Tiger, Himari, has established herself as an incredible solo artist through an emotion filled concert that left the industry wanting more in the future

January 14, 2025 (6:15PM)

Insomniac is the term used in reference to individuals who often have difficulty finding sleep and has been used as the title of Himari's recently released extended play as the tracks contained in this heart breaking solo debut speak on the extensive mental health issues that have led to this condition. Undisclosed health concerns have delayed the showcase ticketing yet with the temporary conclusion of the group's Japan schedule, Jangchung Gymnasium was able to host the maknae's very first solo performance on January 13th.

Attendees immediately took to social media to inform those unable to attend that the young woman's raw stage presence left them in tears - pictures capturing the large screen uploaded later that night clearly showed those same tears almost glimmering under the bright lights rolling down her own cheeks. Himari's position as lead vocalist lets the audience hear an entrancing steadiness in her angelic voice, but through these emotional verses it went through phases that could be compared to grief; breaking, changing the flow, laced with choked back sobs, and overall heavy compared to its usual seeming weightlessness.

The lyrics are clear mirrors of memories that have broken the maknae over time as it was noticed that when the last note rang out, Himari looked emotionally drained, ending the painful stage slumped over the microphone stand with long raven black hair covering what many imagine to be a sorrowful expression. In order to lighten the heavy emotional silence settled onto the audience, the young woman interacted rather closely with attendees during the interlude prior to shedding the tear streaked clothing and performing unofficial songs that have only been released on the group's YouTube channel.

The Setlist; Intro; 00:01. Paranoia. AM 4:44. Wake Me Up (ft T.O.P). Interlude; Tear. Outro; Rockstar. Shadow. Interlude (Ment). Take Me Back To Eden. Nobody Knows (unreleased). Want (unreleased). Blinded Red (unreleased). Addict. Ending Ment

Yūgen was chosen to be the title as it is a concept that influences various Japanese arts such as performing arts, literature, painting, etc., and is widely translated into 'mysterious profundity', refering to the beauty that can be sensed in an object. It refers to the beauty which lingers with someone when coming across an art form; in this case these tracks hold such charm due to the fact that each person is able to imagine the past that has influenced these lyrics, the struggles that the vocalist went through for every note to be created.

The Industry Itself Came To Support Their Holy Maknae

Choi Seunghyun also known under the stage name T.O.P, who has not been active in the music industry since 2022 following the release of Still Life with ex-group BIGBANG, made a temporary return through their joint track. The two share none of the other's pain nor history yet the emotions conveyed through Wake Me Up resonated in their own hearts and whether this comes from the numerous weeks spent side by side is unknown, but what can be said for sure is that despite the artists having never interacted prior to this project they have created one of the most harmonious chemistries between two generations.

Taemin, the young woman's mentor of four years, was given special balcony seating which was proudly shown to fans through numerous social media posts and later endeared the internet by fawning over his precious producer after the showcase. G-Dragon on the other hand made a much more discrete appearance aside from one singular picture sharing the carefully crafted nametag attached to his headrest, many suspecting that something is amiss since the five part series 'unmute' was released as he joked that had Taemin not made her his protégée already, he would have done so.

There are certain seniors that have marked the audience at the end of the night by bowing deeply to their much younger junior as this show of respect seemed to hold so much more meaning than simple recognition; Yoongi, T.O.P, G-Dragon and Taemin. While three idols folded their bodies into ninety degree bows to convey their deep respect for the vocalist's incredible talent and likely to give their blessings towards her taking a seat alongside the history makers of the industry, her older brother was on his knees - a type of bow used to demonstrate the utmost respect or apology.

Theories have been circulating regarding the true meaning behind the rapper's gesture as he was seen in an almost grieving state during the track 'Interlude; Tear' that is speculated to discuss the maknae's destructive relationship with someone attempting to take their life - though neither of these things have been officially confirmed. It is reported that attendees seated next to the artist balcony have seen the vocalist's biological brother offering this same bow, and considering that she broke down into tears after catching sight of this there is likely burdened history between the siblings.

The Guestlist Included; ATEEZ. Stray Kids. BTS. Hanzo. Mingyu, Wonwoo, S.Coups, Hoshi, Dino and DK (SEVENTEEN). Jihyo, Momo, Sana and Jeongyeon (TWICE). Bibi. Hwasa. Minho (SHINee). Cha Eunwoo, Sanha (ASTRO). Zico. BOYNEXTDOOR. Xikers. And more

The Emotions Come Crashing Down

Limited footage showing backstage interactions with other artists have been made available to the public and as usual it was the ones between the siblings that caught the most attention, especially when netizens noted the difference between each reunion. Hanzo, who has been living in another continent due to his contract with a foreign football team, immediately engulfed the young woman in a tight embrace before spinning the two of them around with pure happiness, seemingly unable to stop himself from leaving numerous kisses on her cheeks much to his sister's whining protest. Yoongi on the other hand, who has been away to complete mandatory military service, seemed much more solemn when he wrapped strong arms around her with so much care that it would seem she would break should he hold on any tighter - letting Himari bury her unreadable face in his chest.

The maknae's bandmates made much more noise when entering the secured area, holding the cake they previously filmed themselves purchasing to show their fans adorned with sparklers that matched the bright shine in her eyes at the moment. Mingi, the lead rapper that officially revealed his romantic relationship with her last summer on accident, cradled his girlfriend's cheek, securing her smaller body with the other hand on her hip, and pressed their lips together under the loud cheers of their members. Every single one of them was wearing some semblance of merch designed at the hands of their captain, their precious youngest's name etched in some form on their outfits as each held lightsticks customized to look like tigers.

Taemin entered holding the ever so symbolic bouquet of flowers present at each of the young producer's achievements, rambling on about the pride felt throughout this showcase while petting her very disheveled hair. T.O.P was the last senior with whom interactions were shown and it seems that the artists have come to stand on close ground with one another as they too shared an, albeit somewhat brief, embrace and exchanged a few words silenced by editors with bright smiles on their features.

Xikers, despite each member being taller than the young woman, all ran to hug their producing senior and very nearly crushed her in a sea of large bodies while shouting out congratulatory words, almost forgetting to bow in their excitement until Wooyoung scolded their poor juniors. BoyNextDoor, who the vocalist has been producing for since their first extended play, were much more shy when approaching her - except for their leader who has been seeking out mentorship from their senior for some time now - and had to practically push one another to decide who was going to ask for a picture, which she signed at their request.

ATEEZ's Tiger Cub Does Not Seem So Small Anymore

Himari has been producing breathtaking tracks to be used by other artists for six years now, as even group releases showcase their vocal unity rather than each member's individual sound, and used this much more intimate venue to bare her soul to fans that have been wanting to hear her own voice since the immense success of the track 'Shadow'. The intense pain plaguing the vocalist's past was turned into shattering tracks that were perfectly delivered through hypnotizing stage presence that will likely linger in the minds of those present in the venue for the remainder of the year, and which has certainly cemented her place amongst industry royalty.

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[lindiwe-in-camelot]

Morning on the beach was peaceful, when there weren't robot hornets buzzing around, or high pitched noises that made women explode into pillars of salt. Lindi was determined to make the most of the peace while she had it. The tide was going out, the damp sand she walked on was cool on her feet. Lindiwe closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of salt-scented air. The wind was crisp against her skin. The kind of grounding that therapists dreamed of prescribing. She was here, and for a moment, everything was peaceful.

When she opened her eyes again, she spotted someone sitting on the sand. Assuming it was someone she knew, Lindi didn't approach in any hurry. His aura was mostly calm, the kind of movement she saw when people were consumed with their thoughts. It was only when she was closer that she realised that he was a stranger. In a half-daze, with a French accent, the stranger asked her where he was.

"I... I don't know," Lindi admitted to his question, that nasty little caveat to this island paradise. She paused, and then came a little closer, sitting herself down on the beach besides him. "Have you just... arrived?" she asked cautiously, unsure of how to do this. She'd been on a few welcoming committees during her time, but this was decidedly different. There was no aspect of choice to this move.

"This is all going to sound strange, but um..." Lindi smiled, searching for the right words. Were there any right words for this? "A few months ago, myself and about twenty other people all woke up on that cruise ship, plucked from our normal lives. We've been here since. There's no communication with the outside world, no apparent way out of here..." Lindi's heart started pumping fast in her chest, and she suddenly hated herself for enjoying even a second of this place. "But there's plenty of food, shelter..." She couldn't promise him safety.

"My name is Lindiwe, what about you? Where are you from?"

CLOSED STARTER for @lindiwe-in-camelot location: NEAR THE ODYSSEY timestamp: POST EVENT 02 / THE DAY OF CHARLIE'S ARRIVAL

One moment he was in his study, incognito tabs open for cheap last minute trips to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris from Heathrow airport in London, with dates either the next day early or somewhat into next week. One-way tickets as well. The next moment, after what seemed like the blink of an eye, he woke up on a beach.

The temperature change was the most notable. He did like to keep his apartment at a manageable twenty-one degrees Celsius, enough to fog up the window when the night had been especially cold.

There was a breeze on his face and the warmth of the sun up ahead on his trimmed hair.

For a moment he thought he was manifesting, pretending he was on a Hawaiian beach - though it wasn't warm enough for that - before realising that he had not in fact laid down anywhere. Not consciously at least.

So he must've passed out.

Dreams could almost feel like reality to the dreamer, sensations so vivid that it began to make sense. The mind was powerful, it could trick anyone into believing an alternate reality.

He sat up and touched the sand, smelled the breeze, tasted the salt in the air. He could see a beach, a large cruise ship slightly tilted in the water. A figure approaching from nearby, the sound of her feet in the sand. "Where am I?" he asked, reminded of so many movies and shows where characters were transported to new realities. But also of his mother's stories.

[magicshopaholic]

Interlude: Hyung Line

Or

The one where the three oldest members of the group find themselves in deep shit

Summary: Namjoon returns to see everyone in a crisis. Seokjin has a conversation with his girlfriend, while Hoseok wonders if he's going to lose his best friend. Meanwhile, Yoongi ruminates on an impulsive decision.

Pairing: OT3 x OC (different OCs)

Genre: Humour, fluff, angst

Word count: 11.2 K

Rating: 18+

Warnings: language

A/N: It's been forever since I posted and I bring you... *an aftermath fic*!! Takes place the morning after A Stormy Night.

Tagging: @bbl32 @quarter-life-crisis2 @dreaming-with-happiness @faearchives @margopinkerton @purpleseoul7 @confessionsofamarshlily @jiminjhang @xjoonchildx @tarahardcore @infinitehobi @handfullofcandids @whoisbts @jihopesjoint @kflixnet (drop a message if you want to be added)

Listen to: "dope lovers" by dpr ian

seokjin masterlist | yoongi masterlist | hoseok masterlist | main masterlist

When Hoseok wakes up the next morning, it’s to slivers of sunlight through a soft mesh sort of thing on his face. He blinks and shifts slightly; it’s Chaeyoung’s hair, where his face was buried, and he squints towards the window where an apologetic looking sun has reared its head in the sky after a night of torrential rain.

He relaxes slightly; next to him, Chaeyoung hasn’t moved, her shoulders rising and falling peacefully with every breath she takes. His phone buzzes and he turns to reach for it.

Taehyung [08:45] Anyone need a ride to HQ? I’m leaving in a bit Although no one apart from Jungkookie seems to be in the dorm right now

Namjoon [08:48] I’ll reach on my own. I just got off a flight so I came to my apartment to take a shower.

Seokjin [09:00] I’ll reach on my own too.

Taehyung [09:01] Okay. Where were you last night?

Seokjin [09:01] Never you mind. I have my car.

Yoongi [09:02] Me too.

Hoseok stares at the screen, slowly licking his lips.

Hoseok [09:03] Me too.

Taehyung [09:04] This is not suspicious at all.

Jimin [09:04] I’m at my place with Sooah :D:D:D I’ll be there soon - but everybody don’t forget to be at the restaurant for her birthday lunch! No latecomers!

Taehyung [09:05] I take it your night turned out well after all?

Jimin [09:05] Yessss it did, god bless. I have the best girlfriend in the world - but I’ll tell you about it later. I mean it though - don’t be late for the lunch. Hobi hyung - you can bring Chaeyoung.

Hoseok stomach jolts.

Hoseok [09:06] That’s super random. She’s totally capable of coming on her own, you know? She’s not a kid anymore and I’m not responsible for her anyway.

Jimin [09:08] Errrr I meant because the roads are still a bit flooded so she may not want to walk to the bus stop. But I guess she can come on her own too.

Jungkook [09:09] I can pick her up on my way to the restaurant if you want, hyung. 

Taehyung [09:09] You’re alive??? I knocked on your door at least twice last night but I heard nothing. I thought you died in there or something.

Jungkook [09:10] Oh yeah. I was really tired.

Taehyung [09:10] Lol, I’m sure.

Jungkook [09:10] @Namjoon How was your trip hyung?

Namjoon [09:11] Amazing Didn’t want to come back tbh

Jimin [09:11] That feels great to hear But I have a girlfriend now so I get it

Jungkook [09:12] Gross

Jimin [09:12] Don’t be bitter just because you’re single

Yoongi [09:13] Yeah go get laid instead

Taehyung [09:13] I still don’t know where half of you are though. How was everyone out last night despite that horrendous storm?

Namjoon [09:14] Yoongi hyung corrupting the children since 2013

Yoongi [09:14] Me? I think Hobi is doing enough of that for all of us

Hoseok [19:15] What!  Of course not.  Why even would you say that?  What are you talking about

Yoongi [09:16] Sorry, I meant Seokjin

Seokjin [09:16] Errrrrrrr

Taehyung [09:16] I mean, is it me? Am I the lame one for having stayed home last night?

Yoongi [09:17] You were on your way to HQ last night, weren’t you?

Taehyung [09:17] No?

Yoongi [09:17] Not you

Namjoon [09:18] Did I leave my charger at the dorm?

Taehyung [09:18] No idea Speaking of which, you owe me a lock for my door

Namjoon [09:19] Excuse me?

Jungkook [09:19] Taehyung

Yoongi [09:20] Yeah and you need to return my aux cable. It’s still in your car. I couldn’t charge my phone last night and had to fight Miso to borrow hers

Hoseok [09:20] Wait you were with Miso last night?

Seokjin [09:21] @Namjoon I called you to check about the company HQ sleeping quarters too but you didn’t answer

Jimin [09:21] Oh yeah, Namjoon hyung - you weren’t here to give me a pep talk when my night for Sooah was going up in flames either. I had to call Taehyungie and Jungkook instead and they were no help at all!

Jungkook [09:22] Hey!

Taehyung [09:22] Hey!

Namjoon [09:22] One ridiculous problem at a time, please!

Hoseok frowns, already losing interest. He navigates away from the chat and scrolls through his messages, answering some and ignoring others, his eyes now somewhat getting used to the light of the screen. Just as he’s about to close the app, another message pops up.

Chanyeol [09:15] Up?

Hoseok [09:15] Just about

Chanyeol [09:16] Kk. Listen, are you going home anytime soon?

Hoseok [09:17] To Gwangju? Not part of the plan right now, no. Maybe Christmas? Why?

Chanyeol [09:17] We were planning when to go next. Hayoung’s parents are probably travelling end of the year so we’re trying to plan a trip when everyone we want to meet will be there at the same time.

Hoseok [09:18] And I’m part of that list? Chan, you honour me

Chanyeol [09:18] You’d think you wouldn’t be after 20 years of being friends but hey

Hoseok [09:18] You know Seoul is like a train ride away right? Why do you want to wait to hang out in Gwangju?

Chanyeol [09:19] Home and stuff

Hoseok [09:19] Hella senti, I have to say

Chanyeol [09:19] There’s the added bonus of Hayoung and I having to stay with our respective parents when we go home though

Hoseok [09:20] That’s what I’m saying! Come to Seoul

Chanyeol [09:21] I will… I just have to do a Gwangju trip soon. Hopefully when you’re there too

Hoseok [09:21] Why?

Chanyeol [09:22] Okay don’t say a word to ANYONE But I kinda want to ask Hayoung to move in

Chanyeol [09:23] Hoseok?

Chanyeol [09:24] Dude you’re freaking me out. Is that a terrible idea?

Hoseok [09:25] Nope Just recovering from MY MIND BEING BLOWN My boy’s growing up!!!

Chanyeol [09:25] Jesus You scared the shit out of me for a couple minutes there

Hoseok [09:26] I’m gonna dance my ass off at your wedding

Chanyeol [09:26] Whoaaa. Slow down there pop star

Chanyeol [09:27] Anyway, that’s why I want to go back. I want to do this thing where she’s at her parents’ house and I’m at mine and then I bring up all these rules that we used to have at home when we were kids and then just casually wonder what it would be like if we could make our own rules - in our own home.

Hoseok [09:28] Adorable Just adorable Still waiting for how my Gwangju plans fit into this though

Chanyeol [09:29] Are you kidding? I need you there for moral support!

Hoseok [09:29] So, like… hiding outside in the bushes while you’re talking to Hayoung?

Chanyeol [09:30] No, that would be creepy. But this might be the second most important question I ever ask in my life so I need you there. In town. In the vicinity. So I can plan and maybe make some kind of a grand gesture? Unless it’s stupid

Hoseok [09:30] No! Of course I’ll be there. Just let me know when

Chanyeol [09:31] I will. In any case, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to go back until at least January so that gives me some time to prep.

Chanyeol [09:32] Thanks though. You’re a good friend. The best actually.

Hoseok stares at the screen, the smile on his face fading. The faint flowery perfume and the scent of skin on skin suddenly seems stronger. Something shifts next to him and he turns on his back with dread, faced with the sleeping form of his best friend’s half-naked younger sister.

—

“Everything okay?”

Seokjin looks up, instinctively locking his phone as Nari walks into the living room, stopping just shy of the edge of the carpet.

“Yeah. Just… the usual.” He shrugs, placing his phone next to him. He bites his lip, suddenly at a loss for words. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Mhm.” She nods, running her fingers through the top of her hair and letting it fall down one shoulder. “You? Was the sofa comfortable?”

“Oh. Yeah, totally.” He tries to suppress the urge to stretch his back. “How about you? Oh -“ He clears his throat when she frowns slightly. “Right. We just did you.”

Nari nods again, this time slower. “Listen, Seokjin, about last night -“

“Nari, about what happened -“

They pause at the same time and Seokjin feels his ears turn red, the same time as she chuckles awkwardly and looks away.

“You go,” offers Seokjin, regretting it almost immediately.

“No, no, please, you can go first.”

“No, I insist -“

Nari stares for a few seconds, looking hesitant. “I just wanted to say… don’t worry about it. We can just forget it.”

Seokjin processes this, his pulse slightly uneven. “Okay,” he says lightly. “Thanks for, uh… letting me sleep over.”

“I think I kind of forced you,” she reminds him. “I couldn’t quite have your hypothermia on my hands. They’d take away my medical license if I let you go back out in that rain. Oh, and take your time returning the clothes,” she adds suddenly. “Although I think that sweatshirt is yours, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Um -“ He looks down at the faded blue sweatshirt and grey joggers she’d lent him last night. “Oh, yeah. I stopped looking for this, like, three years ago. I thought I left it in some hotel in America.”

“Well, it would’ve been on eBay selling for a million dollars if that were the case,” she says teasingly.

Seokjin cracks a smile. Unlike last night when, for a glorious portion of an hour, things had felt almost normal, he feels more uncomfortable than ever. Part of him feels like screaming into a pillow, for it’s occurring to him now what a terrible position he’s put himself and Nari in, not to mention Seulgi, stranded in Big Hit.

“Oh.” The word escapes his lips before he realises. He scrambles off the sofa, running a hand through his messy hair. “I have to go… I need to pick up -“ He looks up at Nari.

“Yeah, no. That’s fine.” She nods. “I hope you don’t feel weird about last night, though.”

“I don’t.” He pauses. “I don’t feel weird about it,” he says clearly, but this isn’t the time to have this discussion. Not while his girlfriend is elsewhere, not until he’s done the right thing by her.

Nari looks like she’s about to say something but shakes her head at the last moment. “That’s good. I guess I’ll see you around?”

Seokjin observes her, bare face and slightly puffy eyes. She's biting her lip - he’d kissed those lips last night, he remembers and waits for his face to get hot again.

But it doesn’t. He nods. “Yeah. See you around, Nari.” He trudges out, squinting slightly at the sun and needing a coffee so, so badly.

“Seokjin.” She’s standing at the door when he turns and her eyes twinkle slightly in a way that makes his stomach leap hopefully. “Thanks for coming last night, though.”

It takes him a moment. “Of course. Happy half-birthday, Nari.”

The roads are unforgiving. Despite a lot of the water having been drained, the streets are still flowing with ankle deep water, leaves and debris strewn around everywhere, and entire roads blocked for repairs. 

Seokjin reaches Big Hit almost thirty minutes later than he’d intended. Just as he’s about to drive into the basement parking, he spots Seulgi walking out of the front doors, one hand on the strap of her bag and the other holding her phone.

He immediately pulls into the front of the building and skids to a stop, accidentally splashing water from a puddle on her ankles.

“What the -“

“Sorry!” he exclaims apologetically, turning off the car and stepping out.

“Seokjin?” Her shoulders relax when she notices him - but she doesn’t smile. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, the roads are crap. Figured you might need a ride home?” he ventures.

“Oh.” She seems hesitant. Even after spending a whole night at the company sleeping quarters, she looks like she’s stepped out a shower and spent thirty minutes getting ready; there isn’t a hair out of place or a single crease in her clothing. Dressed in an ancient sweatshirt - and what he suddenly remembers with a shock are Nari’s joggers - he feels like a complete slob.

“Unless… you don’t want one.”

Seulgi stares at him. For a second, he thinks she might throw her phone at his face. But a moment later she shrugs.

“That would be nice. Thank you.”

It’s formal and slightly awkward, but Seokjin takes it as a good sign when she opens the passenger door and gets in. He drives mostly in silence; he isn’t sure what to say to her and figures he at least owes her a ride to her doorstep before they have this discussion.

This route is shorter, fortunately, and fifteen minutes later when he pulls up in front of her building, he takes a deep breath. Before he can get a word out, though, she speaks.

“We’re done, Seokjin.”

His heart jolts harder than he expected it would. “What?”

She continues looking out of the windshield, but her voice is calm yet steely. “I spent more time yesterday worrying about our relationship than on my presentation. And that’s not me. Neither is getting in the middle of a situation as messy as yours and Nari’s, but -“ She scoffs without humour.

Seokjin isn’t sure what hurts more: the fact that he wasn’t expecting this right now, or the fact that he can’t help but agree with her.

“Seulgi… I know I haven’t been a good partner lately. I know that and you deserve -“

“Don’t tell me what I deserve. Please,” she says, still calm, but this time he thinks he can hear her voice tremble slightly. “I think you tried. Trying to call me the last few weeks, checking up on me last night, picking me up right now… you’ve been raised to be a decent guy.” She shakes her head and looks out her window. “But it really loses its charm when there’s another woman in the picture.”

Shame trickles down Seokjin’s spine but he forces himself to listen to her and absorb every single word. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I felt for Nari - and I still don’t, but I never meant to -“

“Really? Is that why you’re wearing a pair of pants with her name printed on them?”

His heart stops.

“What?”

Seulgi scoffs again, but it’s followed by the smallest of sniffs. “God, I was such an idiot.”

Seokjin looks down at the joggers, frowning deeply and scanning his leg to see what Seulgi might have until he spots it: right by the edge of the pocket, in faded Hangul… Choi Nari. 

“No. No, no, this - no. No.” Seokjin shakes his head vigorously, for she's got it all wrong. But for some reason, his mouth seems incapable of saying anything other than no, no, no. 

“Spare me. You're literally in her pants,” she says icily. “God - I'm that girl. The one who started dating a guy with a girl best friend that stopped being just a friend somewhere along the way. Talk about a B-grade k-drama.” She begins gathering her bag and unstrapping her seatbelt.

“Seulgi,” he says hurriedly, “I did not - I swear to you, it's nothing like you're imagining.”

She turns to him and tilts her head, but her eyes are shuttered - apart from being wet. “Really? You weren't with her last night?”

“No! I mean, I was at her house but I wasn't with -”

“Goodbye, Seokjin,” she interrupts him, opening the car door and climbing out. “Thanks for the ride,” she mutters, just before slamming the door shut and walking away. 

Seokjin watches her leave in shock. His heart is beating uncomfortably and he feels sick in his stomach, for as much of a right Seulgi had to do this and as much as he even expected her to, hurting her this way was not something he had ever intended.

He isn’t sure how long he sits out there; it isn’t until his phone rings that he’s jerked out of his trance.

“Hello?” He clears his throat and presses his fingers into his eyes, feeling them get wet as he lowers them.

“Seokjin hyung?” There’s a minor commotion in the back. “The meeting has been pushed back by half an hour.”

It’s Jungkook. Seokjin nods, the meeting seeming like a distant problem right now. “Okay.”

“Yeah, meaning we can probably grab breakfast before it. Do you want the staff to order something for you?”

As if on cue, his stomach churns at the thought of food. “Uh, no.”

“No?”

“Yeah. I’m not hungry.” Before Jungkook can argue further, Seokjin continues. “I have to go. I’ll be there soon.”

Hanging up, he finally pulls out from in front of Seulgi’s building, beginning his drive back home.

—

Sooah’s birthday lunch has been organised in a fancy, chic restaurant in central Seoul, on the top floor with added security and an exclusive invitation list. The sun is mild and there’s a gentle breeze in the air, making the balcony area a popular spot for many of the guests to enjoy the newly improved weather with cocktails and appetizers being served by well-dressed waiters.

Hoseok provides his name at the entrance and enters the party, hoping furtively that the group of girls just outside the building haven't spotted his face. He looks around; evidently, the birthday girl hasn't arrived yet. He declines a passing waiter's offer of a prawn tempura and makes a beeline for the first member he sees.

“Hey, hyung,” he says, slightly breathless as he reaches Yoongi. The older member had ended up bringing Jungkook, Namjoon and Taehyung from the company HQ, especially after the latter two had decided they wanted to drink freely at the party and not drive after that, leaving their cars still parked in the company basement.

Now, Yoongi, who’s been quiet all morning and is holding a glass of what looks like gin, nods in acknowledgement even though his gaze is fixed somewhere on the ground.

However, Hoseok can't begin to wonder what his problem is right now. “Okay, look,” he begins, looking around to make sure there's no one around. “I did something horrible. Well, no, not horrible,” he amends quickly. “It wasn't at all - okay, here's what it is, alright?” He swallows and takes a deep breath. “I hooked up with Chaeyoung,” he confesses in a single breath.

Yoongi, who'd been listening with his gaze still burning into the ground, finally looks at him. “Wow,” he says, raising his eyebrows. “Really? Isn't she, like, fifteen or something?”

“What? No!” Hoseok cries. “She's twenty-three! She's an adult - she’s as old as Jungkook! Well, slightly younger,” he admits.

“How much younger?”

“… eighteen months.”

Yoongi nods, then frowns. “Okay, well… it’s not that bad then. She’s old enough.”

“Yeah, but she’s -“ My childhood neighbour, a family friend, and Chanyeol’s baby sister. “… Chaeyoung,” he finishes uneasily. “Her brother is going to kill me,” he groans, dropping his face into his hands.

“Really? Why?” Yoongi shrugs. “It’s her life, right?”

“I mean, sure. But Chan is really protective of her, especially after their mother passed.” Hoseok doesn’t know how exactly to word it to someone who hasn't been there through it all, watching Chanyeol constantly keep an eye on the most important person in his life. Until she moved to Seoul and he asked me to take over.

“So?” Yoongi shrugs, then takes a sip of his drink. “It's her life,” she repeats. “He can't look out for her forever.”

Hoseok exhales, sensing that Yoongi isn't quite getting the point. “Okay, just imagine that I hooked up with your younger sister.” 

Yoongi grimaces slightly. “Okay?”

“And imagine that I was your best friend, that we grew up together and I saw her grow up and I was… kind of a douche to her back then,” he mutters. “But then everyone grows up and suddenly I’m in the same city as her, you trusted me to look out for her - and instead I ended up in bed with her,” he finishes with a flourish. “What would you do?”

Yoongi squints, clearly trying to process this. “I… I don’t know, that’s a lot to keep track of. And you know what, I don’t have sisters so I really - I mean, I’m not the best person to ask. But you know who is?” he adds quickly, gesturing with his chin at something behind Hoseok.

Hoseok turns to see Namjoon finishing up a conversation with someone, clinking his glass with theirs cheerfully before they part ways.

“He’s your best friend, you kind of grew up together and he has a younger sister.” Yoongi counts them off one by one. “One he’s fairly protective of.”

“Is he?” Hoseok frowns. “Protective of his sister? Like he is with Kaya?”

“Well, it’s not the same situation but he’s protective by nature. And you’re just getting an opinion, not recreating it to the T,” Yoongi reminds him, nudging his shoulder. “He’s your guy.”

Hoseok considers this and nods, making his way over to Namjoon. Namjoon notices him approaching and smiles, which Hoseok returns with a slightly confused one of his own.

“Hoba!” Namjoon exclaims, clapping him on the back and almost knocking the wind out of him. “How’ve you been? Can I get you a drink?”

“Oh, uh… no, thanks.” Hoseok shakes his head but agrees to a wonton on the spread in front of them. Chewing, he observes Namjoon, who looks far happier than he can remember seeing him in recent times. It’s not unexpected, given how long he and Kaya spent apart.

Suddenly deciding he doesn’t want to think about why Namjoon looks so happy, he hurries to speak.

“So, uh… say I hooked up with your sister,” he begins quickly, only for Namjoon’s smile to disappear in an instant.

“You… what?” he exclaims, and his height suddenly seems looming.

Hoseok frowns before rolling his eyes. “Say,” he repeats, “that I hooked up with your sister.”

“Oh. Why?” When Hoseok doesn’t answer immediately, Namjoon raises his eyebrows. “Dude, did you sleep with someone’s sister?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Hoseok takes a step back and raises his hands. “I did not sleep with her. We didn’t have sex - like, it was so not like that. Because sex is… we didn’t… I mean, no sex was had,” he finishes, his throat feeling dry.

“So I take it you didn’t have sex?”

“No, we didn’t.” But I may as well have, he thinks, flashes of last night surfacing in his mind. Her hair, her skin, her voice like he’d never heard it before… Hoseok sighs. “I went over to Chaeyoung’s last night and we… fooled around,” he confesses, hoping he won’t be asked to elaborate.

Namjoon is far too sensible to do that, fortunately. “Right. And… that’s a bad thing,” he states, as though waiting for Hoseok to confirm it.

He opens his mouth, knowing what he should say. “No,” he admits after a moment. “That’s the worst part, that nothing about it was bad at all.” He shakes his head even as his chest feels lighter for the first time all day. “It was incredible. And not just the - the hooking up, but being with her, laughing and talking… God, we talked all night,” he remembers, his eyes dropping to the floor.

Namjoon raises his eyebrows again, this time looking somewhat impressed. “Sounds like the dream,” he remarks deliberately. 

“Yeah?”

“Totally. And clearly you know that because you’re getting that same little smile the thought of it,” he points out. “The one you guys used to tease me about?”

Hoseok immediately straightens his face, not even realising he’d been smiling. “Shut up.”

Namjoon shrugs serenely, finishing his drink and helping himself to a second. “You’re worried about her brother, though,” he guesses.

“More than worried.” He shakes his head and drops his face into his hands. “He’s going to think I totally betrayed him.”

“Did you, though?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you,” he says urgently. “If I hooked up with your sister - your younger sister - while I’m your friend… what would you do?”

Namjoon frowns uncertainly, apparently thinking about it, then exhales. “I wouldn’t be thrilled,” he admits. “It would feel a little like you were going behind my back? Especially since… well, it’s my sister.” He winces, apparently realising he’s not doing a very good job at explaining this. “No guy ever wants to think about his little sister doing that, least of all with one of his friends.”

“That’s perfect,” mutters Hoseok.

“No, but you know - it’s a little different in Chanyeol’s case,” muses Namjoon, now leaning backwards against the table and pointing at the air, as though it’s an interesting problem he’s solving on an invisible whiteboard. “You actually grew up with him.”

“Isn’t that worse? Because not only did I grow up with him, I grew up with her. And Chan is…” He exhales tiredly. “She won’t believe me, but he’s always been extremely protective of her. Especially since their mom died. Emotionally, physically… I know him - there’s nothing in this world he would prioritise over his sister.”

Namjoon is quiet for a moment. “Is it because their mom died?”

“I don’t know. Probably,” he admits. “He was kind of like the golden child when they were young and she was always a little left out and overlooked… he never admitted it but I know he felt guilty about it. He always tried to make up for it and look after her more - even now, when she moved to Seoul.”

“Well, I can see that,” says Namjoon reasonably. “It’s difficult to see your younger sibling as anything other than a kid, especially when they’re that much younger. You thought of her as a kid, too, if I remember correctly,” he reminds him, irritatingly logical.

“But she’s not a kid anymore,” argues Hoseok. “I did think that at first but… she’s really not. She’s smart and insightful and - and she’s focused on her career. And she’s pragmatic - you know last night during the storm, she had hot water and instant ramen stocked up in case the power went out?” His eyes widen and he shrugs hugely. “Six of us in the dorm and not one of us thought to stock up on food. If I’m not wrong, Jungkook ate a bowl of cold kimchi for dinner while Taehyung ate half a block of cheese. And that was with the power on!”

Namjoon grimaces. “What was happening while I was gone?”

“And she made brownies!” Hoseok exclaims, ignoring his friend. “And they were good. And she was crocheting - she…” He takes a deep breath. “She gave me a crocheted bear,” he tells Namjoon in a low voice. “And I don’t know if she put some kind of spell on it, but for some reason, it won’t leave my pocket.” 

Namjoon raises his eyebrows but Hoseok can’t seem to stop talking - not now that he’s finally saying out loud things that have been swimming in his brain for months.

“She’s cute and she’s funny - and she’s got this killer confidence. Where did that even come from?” he demands. “She used to be all shy and awkward before but now she’s… oh, and she’s started giving advice now? Good advice, incidentally, and I just want to… I just want to talk to her all the time because sometimes it really feels like she can solve every single one of my problems. And honestly, after last night…” Hoseok runs a hand through his hair, glancing at Namjoon’s expression and hating it, “Namjoon, believe me… she’s a grown woman.”

There’s a few seconds of silence where Hoseok fights the urge to yell incomprehensibly into the abyss.

“So… I know you guys don’t really like it when I do this,” begins Namjoon slowly, “but if I understand it correctly, your problem isn’t so much that you slept with Chaeyoung -“

“I didn’t sleep with -“

“- it’s that you’re falling in love with Chaeyoung,” he finishes, nodding as though explaining a rather simple maths problem without wanting to hurt his feelings.

“I’m - I’m not,” murmurs Hoseok, even as his heart sinks for more often than not, Namjoon is right.

“But that changes things,” says Namjoon. “If you actually had feelings for my sister - real feelings, and I was convinced that you weren’t just messing around with her… I would actually be kind of okay with it. It would be weird,” he admits, shuddering a little, “but it wouldn’t be the worst thing. I’m sure it would be the same with Chanyeol. No?”

Hoseok shakes his head. It isn’t as if the thought hasn’t occurred to him, but if there’s one person who knows Chanyeol, it’s him.

“You know, it might? Except, when we were growing up, I was a dick to Chaeyoung,” he admits in a low voice, the shame and guilt bubbling deep in his stomach. “He was protecting her from his parents and his step-mom and other kids… but he was also protecting her from me.” 

He doesn’t say it out loud - he can’t, because it’s too shameful, that the one and only time that Chanyeol ever snapped at him, the only time Hoseok ever felt that he could lose his best friend was when he’d warned him to stop making fun of his little sister.

It had been when they were in high school. Hoseok had taken it way down after that, choosing only to tease her in a more playful way or ignore her altogether, usually when Chanyeol wasn’t around. But it was undeniable that even though they’d moved past it, Hoseok had crossed a line.

Until now.

“I’m the last person Chanyeol will be okay with, being with his sister,” he states, knowing it’s true.

Namjoon doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Look, Hobi… that was years ago. You were a kid.” He seems to spot something behind Hoseok’s shoulder. “What’s more important is how she feels about your past.”

Hoseok is about to open his mouth when his phone pings at the same time as Namjoon’s. Similar pings are heard throughout the room and when he checks his phone, it’s to see a message on a group chat.

Jimin [13:04] We’re on our way up. Everyone get ready!

As promised, less than a minute later, they hear the lift open and Jimin’s voice sing-song as he speaks. A moment later, he appears at the doorway with Sooah, his face breaking into a cherubic smile as he gestures to the room with a flourish.

“Surprise!”

All the guests chorus together and Sooah, after gasping and seemingly suffering a mild heart attack, begins greeting people who come forward to hug her. Hoseok and Namjoon hang back, allowing her school friends to greet her first, including Taehyung, while Jimin stands beside her proudly, evidently satisfied with her reaction. It’s then that Hoseok sees her.

“Oh, my God, she’s here,” he breathes, instantly turning away but unable to do so for long. He chances a glance at her as he half-hides behind Namjoon’s broad frame; in an oversized striped pink sweater, a short denim skirt, sheer pink stockings and black combat boots, she looks like an ice cream - a cute, pink, irresistible ice cream with slightly flushed cheeks and long wavy hair. Bubblegum punk, he’d said to her once and here she is, clearly embracing it.

“Okay, the worst thing you can do is be dramatic about this,” warns Namjoon. “Just go and talk to her like everything’s - wait,” he says suddenly. “What did you say to her this morning?”

“Oh. Well, I didn’t want to wake her up, so -”

Namjoon turns around with his eyebrows high on his forehead. “You snuck out?” he whispers loudly.

“No! I mean, technically - but I needed to leave for that meeting and my phone was dead so I couldn’t text her. And I didn’t want to wake her up,” he adds defensively, anticipating the question. “Don’t worry, I left her a note.”

“A note?”

“Yeah, and it was a nice note,” he says shortly. “Whatever I do, I’m not going to screw her over like that.”

They go over to greet the birthday girl after that, once the crowd thins out. Hoseok catches Chaeyoung’s eye for the briefest of moments, feeling his heart skip an enormous beat. But she moves away and he follows her slender figure going to place her present on the gift table.

“... thought it was going to be just a small lunch, you and me. You didn’t have to go through all this…”

“I wanted to give you a surprise… don’t you like it?”

“Oh, of course I do, Chim…” 

Sooah leans up to press a kiss to Jimin’s cheek, who looks mollified when he spots them, followed by Sooah. “Hey, guys,” she says, leaning up to hug them in turn as they chorus their own happy birthdays to her. “Thank you for coming, I know how busy you all are.”

“Where’s Seokjin hyung?” Jimin asks, scanning the room.

“He said he wasn’t feeling up to it. He says sorry,” adds Hoseok apologetically, while Sooah waves a hand. “He did look quite off even during the meeting this morning.”

Jimin murmurs something noncommittal but shrugs, evidently deciding to let it go when Taehyung and Jungkook join them as well, deep in discussion that abruptly stops when they come into earshot.

“Namjoon oppa, Jimin told me you just got back from New Zealand,” says Sooah. “How was it?”

“Oh, yeah, you never told us,” adds Jungkook. “Did you do the ziplining thing this time?” he asks excitedly

Namjoon takes a sip of his drink and shakes his head. “No, no, we didn’t,” he answers, chuckling.

“Oh. Well, you must have gone to Milford Sound - he was obsessed with that place the last time we were there,” remembers Hoseok. “Remember? You wanted to stay there longer but the staff made us leave. That’s the kind of place Kaya would like, too.”

“Oh, yeah. It was really nice - but I don’t know, we never really got around to doing that,” he admits.

“Okay.” Jungkook frowns. “What about that Lord of the Rings hike? That’s right up your alley.”

“Er… no. Didn’t end up doing that either.”

Hoseok frowns. “So what did you do for three weeks?”

There’s a few moments where no one speaks and Namjoon doesn’t answer, opting instead to take a long, slow sip of wine and ending it with a soft smack of his lips, all the while when Hoseok finds himself slowly regretting his question.

“Oh. Oh, God.” He swallows before groaning. Jungkook’s ears go red while Sooah and Jimin snort, and Taehyung claps him on the shoulder as they all disperse, clicking his tongue and winking at him.

“Don’t prolong it,” murmurs Namjoon to Hoseok before he leaves, his eyes clearly on Chaeyoung. “Just be normal with her.”

“Right. Normal.” It’s easier said than done, for Hoseok discovers that he’s barely able to look at Chaeyoung without thinking about last night. His feelings for her were tending towards a problematic region long before this, but something had changed irreversibly last night. There was no scope for denial anymore, he realises, not about his attraction to her or deeper emotions that make his stomach flip.

Worst of all, it’s the looming thought of Chanyeol following him every time she enters his mind. He would lose Chanyeol over this, he knows it. Hoseok didn’t think losing Chanyeol would ever even be worthy of consideration in his mind - until Chaeyoung, looking like a cute, pretty, sensitive ice cream.

He drifts towards the table of hors d'oeuvres, trying to force an appetite. Nothing looks appealing, though, not now, but he scans it anyway hopefully. Someone else arrives at the table, and he smells her before he sees her.

“Hi,” says Chaeyoung, giving him a small smile and picking up a small chocolate at the edge of the table.

It’s too much: her summery perfume, her shiny hair, the memory of her naked rib cage underneath his palms while she sighed his name in a way that would make Chanyeol punch him in the face if he knew. He exhales shakily as she takes a step closer to him; even though they aren’t even slightly touching, the proximity makes his heart race and to his horror, he can feel his jeans tighten.

“What are you doing?” he asks in a low voice, dropping all pretense and turning to her.

She raises her eyebrows. “I’m saying hi,” she answers, not sounding even a fraction as frazzled as he feels. She does look… happy to see him, though. The thought makes his heart leap and hurt at the same time.

“Listen, Chae,” he begins, because he just can’t do this. She nods, looking casual and breezy, her cheeks with a hint of pink still on them. 

“Yeah?”

“Look, last night was… amazing,” he admits, noting how, despite the casual demeanour she’s displaying, a smile begins creeping up on her face as well. Her lips are pink, too, and glossy… “It was amazing and - and you’re amazing.” Her smile widens slightly and her cheeks flush a little brighter and Hoseok feels his strength start to leave him bit by bit. “But it can’t happen again. No matter how I feel… Chanyeol is still my best friend and you’re still his sister and… you are so off limits.”

Chaeyoung doesn’t seem fazed. Her smile fades slightly but not completely and she licks her lips, as though able to see right through him. “It’s a little late for that, I think,” she says lightly, brushing a lock of hair off her neck.

Be still, my heart. “No, it’s not. I mean, it… yeah. Maybe.” He looks at the floor and exhales deliberately, trying to gather his thoughts. “But it can’t go further. I - I really hope you understand, Chae,” he implores, meeting her eyes, wide and doe-like. “You’re amazing,” he repeats, meaning it, “but…”

She doesn’t say anything for a moment, then nods. “Okay.” Giving him that same small, nonchalant smile, she pops the piece of chocolate in her mouth and walks away.

—

Seokjin wakes up from the worst sleep he’s encountered in a while - and that includes the tour they’ve just wrapped up.

It had taken him a long time to fall asleep. Once he’d finally managed to somewhat numb himself to the fact that he’d just been dumped because his girlfriend thought he’d cheated on her, he’d tried to close his eyes and get just a little while of nothingness. But he felt wrung out; he was emotionally so exhausted that it was hard to even sleep, especially because he knew, he knew, that while his break-up with Seulgi was affecting him, it was the fact that he didn't even know how Nari fit into all this.

Well, he knew. He had an idea and he was aware of the general area in which Nari was involved, but all his strength was going into not thinking about that right now because it was a Pandora’s box he didn't want to rifle through at the moment.

Then, of course, the moment he’d tried to catch a few winks, his phone had started buzzing with updates from Sooah's birthday lunch. Jimin hadn't taken it too well when Seokjin had told him after the meeting that he wouldn't be able to make it and while he hadn't been able to bring himself to explain why, something in his expression must have done it for him, for Jimin had abruptly stopped pestering him and told him to stop by if he felt better.

He checks his phone now, realising he's slept through lunch. The late afternoon sun is already dimming, as though warning the city of an early sunset. He sits up on the couch, his back hurting and head pounding and heart racing from the vague dream he'd had of Seulgi imprisoning him in an underground jail while Namjoon appeared as a hologram and read a list of his crimes.

You're a decent guy, but it loses its charm when there's another woman in the picture. 

It was like a sick twist of fate, the momentary relief that Seulgi was breaking up with him until it turned to dread when he realised why she was breaking up with him. And the other woman in the picture… Seokjin runs a hand across his face, knowing that it wouldn't have made anything better if he'd try to explain why he was wearing Nari's joggers in the first place. 

No, I wasn't sleeping with her - not at all. I went to her place in the storm to wish her a happy half-birthday in line with a decades-old tradition, we splashed around in the rain for a while where an accidental kiss took place, and then she offered me dry clothes and her couch for the night because she's a doctor and she was worried about hypothermia.

It sounds ridiculous - not to mention like a rather trite story. He'd taken off the joggers the moment he'd entered the dorm, throwing on the first pair of trousers he'd found in his room before driving away for his meeting. He'd chucked it in the washing machine after getting back and then the dryer, and in the absence of anything else to do except overthink his ended relationship, Seokjin stalks over to the dryer and retrieves the washed joggers. Without sitting back down, he collects his keys and prepares to drive over to Nari's.

It will be therapeutic, he supposes, to get rid of the immediate cause of his break-up. Plus, he would get the opportunity to apologise to Nari again - for staying over last night, for accidentally kissing her, maybe for showing up at all.

As he nears her building, he slows down. The street is still empty, although the water guns are no longer where they were last night. It’s almost as though the evidence of what transpired has been wiped away clean; Seokjin can’t decide whether that’s supposed to be a good thing.

There’s a good chance she won’t be home right now, he realises. But he still parks the car where he had last night and steps out, folded joggers in hand, looking up at the corridor window that had blown away her notes last night. It’s open and gives him a direct view of her front door.

Just then, as if on cue, the door opens. Seokjin’s stomach leaps without warning - for she’s home - and despite the bad day he’s had so far, a ghost of a smile graces his face. 

Nari appears at the door, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Seokjin takes a step forward but halts immediately in his tracks when she breaks into a relieved sort of smile and she opens the door wider - and someone else appears into view.

It’s a man. It’s him - Jason or whoever - who she’d brought to dinner at his place. She’d maintained that they were simply colleagues but either she’d been lying or the situation had changed since then, but Seokjin is motionless as he watches Jason kiss her casually on the cheek as she moves aside to let him in.

Maybe it’s the culmination of an already dismal day or it’s the unexpected nature of this discovery, but nothing that’s happened so far has crushed his chest quite so viscerally. Seokjin almost hopes he’s mistaking someone else for Nari or it’s a friendly, platonic, even brotherly situation - he’s grasping at straws mentally, even as Jason steps inside and the door closes behind him.

—

Near the late afternoon, when the sunlight starts to become sparse, the party starts to wrap up. Guests begin saying goodbye, passing by the table piled high with gifts on their way to the lift, many people happily day drunk and stumbling out.

“Did you know Sooah had this many friends?” Yoongi mutters, sidling up to Hoseok. He looks longingly at the drinks table next to them, now with far more empty bottles than when they'd first arrived.

“I didn't know someone could have this many friends,” he admits, somewhat admiringly. Across the hall, she looks appropriately engaged, swaying to the Justin Bieber track playing on the speaker and talking to two people as she sipped on a cocktail with a straw. A little way away, Jimin, Taehyung and two other guys he'd never seen before were aggressively popping to the song while simultaneously filming each other and guffawing.

“Sounds like a lot of work.” Yoongi sighs and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “When do you want to head out? Because I could use a drink.”

“Oh, is that why you've been sober all day?” Hoseok chuckles. “That’s adorable, hyung. You're like the mother hen trying to get her chickens to walk in a straight line before doing anything else.”

“That's me. Do you see the other chickens around? Namjoon and Jungkook are sharing a cigarette on the balcony,” he notes.

“Jimin and Taehyung are over there, although I’m guessing Jimin will be with Sooah. I don't think they're all Sooah's friends,” he says after a moment. “They aren't close friends at least. I think they're mostly old classmates and stuff that she's kind of in touch with. Jimin just goes all out.”

“He told you that?”

“Not exactly,” he mutters, his gaze moving to the one figure he's been glancing at continuously. Chaeyoung is by the appetiser station again, a clear drink in her hand as she fingers the edge of one of the food cards. Her bottom lip is between her teeth and she's frowning. 

As he watches, a friend of Sooah's joins her and says something, to which she nods and laughs politely. He responds and she shrugs, a bit uncertainly, before picking up a single French fry and popping it in her mouth.

“Did you talk to her?”

Hoseok doesn't bother beating around the bush and inquiring who Yoongi is referring to. “Kind of. Went better than I anticipated, actually.”

“Really?” Yoongi raises his eyebrows. “What did you say to her?”

“Told her last night was fun and all but it can't happen again.” Hoseok turns away from her. “She seemed fine with it.”

“You don't sound fine with it.”

“What do you mean? I'm the one who suggested it.”

“You don't sound fine with the fact that she was fine with it.”

Hoseok glares at Yoongi but doesn’t argue. He turns to Chaeyoung again, this time a bit more alert when he notices her grabbing her sling bag, clearly ready to leave. He follows her pink, wavy-haired figure as she floats over to Sooah and presumably wishes her again before giving her a hug.

He frowns as their interaction continues: Chaeyoung asks her something and Sooah responds easily, tilting her head and giggling as she points to Jimin. Chaeyoung’s face falls for a fraction of a second before it’s replaced with a smile and a nod. They hug again and this time, Chaeyoung starts to leave. 

As she does, she meets Hoseok’s eyes. His heart stops briefly but she simply gives him a casual wave and a small smile, before stepping into the lift and waiting for the doors to close.

Hoseok swallows, his mind going a mile a minute for the next few seconds. “Hyung,” he says, “you’re taking the rest of the chickens back to HQ?”

“You know it.” Yoongi follows Hoseok’s gaze. “You have your car?”

Hoseok nods before clapping him on the back and dashing off in the same direction as Chaeyoung. He takes the stairs two at a time and spills out into the lobby of the building, head darting around and spotting a telltale pair of pink stockinged legs disappearing around the corner outside the glass doors.

He follows her, jogging a bit until he’s within earshot. He calls her name and she turns, looking surprised but not altogether disappointed at his presence. 

“Hey,” she says, as though they’ve coincidentally run into each other on a normal day. Behind her, the sun is far away at the horizon, a bright spot peeking through the clouds as it prepares to set. Right now, though, it’s difficult to pay attention to it.

“Leaving already?” he asks, a little uselessly, but it’s just occurred to him that he has no idea why he followed her out.

“Yeah, I guess. Most people are gone,” she says. “Plus… I don’t really know anybody there apart from Sooah herself. And you,” she adds with a smile when he raises his eyebrows. She doesn’t say anything else but Hoseok suddenly feels guilty, for three hours at a party not knowing anyone can’t be easy.

“You know the other guys, though,” he says after a moment. “Jimin and, uh…”

“Yeah, I was hanging out with Jungkook for a while.” She nods, fingering the strap of her bag. “It’s getting late, though.”

The decent thing to do would be to offer her a ride. He’s on the verge of doing it; now that he’s here in front of her, everything he’d told her earlier today seems vague and blurry and, frankly, unimportant.

“I’m sorry, Chae.”

She frowns. “Oh, don’t be. It wasn’t that bad - like, the food was good and I got a few nice pictures -“

“No, not about that.”

“Oh.” She licks her lips and nods once. “About that… don’t be sorry about that either. I get it - it’s weird. We’re practically family and you and my brother especially are -“

“Nope. Not that either.”

She stares at him blankly. “I’m out of guesses.”

“I'm sorry for…” What’s more important is how she feels about your past. Namjoon, ever the wise one, had touched upon the only element in this mess that could bring Hoseok out of his pit of guilt about Chanyeol: Chaeyoung.

“Yeah?”

He takes a deep breath. “I'm sorry for everything. Everything I did when we were kids, everything I said…” He bites his lip as she processes this, her eyes flickering slightly before they fall to the ground. “I was a huge jerk to you. And I know I was a kid, too, and so were you… but that doesn't mean that it all just disappears when we grow up. I know over the last year we've… gotten closer -” 

Her lips twitch and his cheeks grow warm. He hurries his next words.

“- but I still want to say, explicitly, that I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Chae.”

Something massive seems to have been lifted off his chest but a dull pressure still lingers, pulsating in rhythm with his heart beat. Chaeyoung nods again, slowly, and meets his eyes.]]

“Apology accepted,” she says softly.

The pressure recedes; she feels more within reach than ever. It seems unbelievable that not twenty-four hours ago, she'd been on his lap in a state of undress, kissing him while it poured outside, making every other thought in his mind disappear. 

“And I'm sorry, too,” she says after a moment, jerking him out of his dangerous train of thought. “I wasn't mean but I was… pretty clingy. Kids get teased mercilessly at that age over a haircut so I'm sure a kid who acted like… well, like me wouldn't have been easy,” she admits, two pink spots appearing on her pale cheeks. 

Hoseok wants to kiss her, so desperately. It takes everything in him to stay rooted to the spot, even though there isn't a single part of him that wants to stay away from her. He should, but for the life of him, he can't quite remember why right now.

Chaeyoung exhales, looking slightly awkward but somewhat relieved - or maybe Hoseok is and he's projecting. Either way, she rocks backwards on the heels of her shoes and shrugs. “Well, I'm going to head,” she says abruptly, the pink tinge on her cheeks still visible. “And… thanks.”

“You're walking?”

“Yeah. After the rain last night it's actually kind of nice. And not totally dark yet,�� she adds, looking up at the sky.

He should offer her a ride. 

“Can I walk you home?” he blurts, pausing internally as he thinks about his car in the parking lot.

She looks surprised, too. “Um, are you sure? Don't you have to get back to the party?”

“Oh, no, the party is almost dead, anyway,” he says, waving a hand dismissively. “Even Sooah and Jimin seem to be almost done. I'm sure they'll leave in a bit.”

“And to no one's surprise, she's going back to his place.” Chaeyoung shakes her head. “Wow, I've clearly had one too many mojitos.”

Hoseok snickers. “Don't worry about it. With what I think their plans are tonight, you don't want them in the room next to you.”

She wrinkles her nose and then laughs. “True. But you don't have to walk me home. I'm fine.”

“I don't mind. Really.”

“It's, like, a thirty minute walk.”

“Fortunately, I’m kind of good when it comes to stamina.”

Chaeyoung narrows her eyes and folds her arms across her chest. Ice cream, he thinks instantly, and begins to smile without meaning to.

“Why did you apologise?”

“What do you mean?” He shrugs. “It's the right thing to do.”

“Sure, but why today?” 

His heart starts to race - or skip, and he simply shrugs. “Seemed like as good a day as any.”

Chaeyoung doesn’t change her stance. “Are you sure?” 

The way she asks it, she seems to have caught onto something. It’s too knowing and Hoseok feels his smile getting wider.

“You’re a pain in my ass, caterpillar.”

That makes her laugh - an open, confident laugh and Hoseok’s heart soars.

“Have been, since two thousand four,” she agrees. “Except, obviously, you apologised for all that.”

“You’re going to be a handful.” The words are out of his mouth before he can control them but he finds he doesn’t mind. Chaeyoung’s smile fades slightly and she bites her lip, the sun starting to set behind her.

“You can walk me home,” she says after a moment, turning around but not moving. Hoseok hesitates for the briefest of moments but joins her as she starts walking, their fingers only inches apart.

—

Yoongi drives in silence, while Namjoon, Jungkook and Taehyung sing along to an old song from a TV show. For members of a world famous band, they all sound terrible - but he supposes that is a talent in itself. In the shotgun seat, Jungkook bounces to the song in the passenger seat while Taehyung adds his own ad-libs throughout, but Yoongi has no energy to tell them to stop.

They near the building and he drives into the basement parking, somewhat dreading going up to his studio. He parks and everybody climbs out; Jungkook mumbles something about the gym while Taehyung makes a phone call and they drift away. Namjoon hangs back, waiting for the younger members to leave their earshot before turning to Yoongi.

“Are you alright, hyung?”

“Bitchin’.” He catches Namjoon’s eye and sighs. “Yeah, I’m fine. Had a rough night, that’s all.”

“Because of the rain?”

That, too. “Yeah. The good news is, I get to go edit debut tracks for a rookie group for the next eight hours.” He clicks his tongue.

Namjoon nods. “You want some company?”

“Maybe later. Once you sober up,” he adds, cracking a smile. Namjoon chuckles good-naturedly before clearing his throat. 

“I, uh, didn’t want to say anything in front of the others, but… I found this in the back seat.” He fishes something out of his pocket and hands it to Yoongi. Yoongi opens his hand automatically, his stomach turning weakly when a small, bright green earring falls into his palm.

The hook of the earring digs into his palm when he enters the top floor of the building. Yoongi takes a seat at an empty table in the open floor pantry and pulls out his phone, scrolling through his emails. The floor is busier than usual; some team seems to be celebrating a colleague’s birthday at another table, a cake with white icing and a couple of slices messily cut out sitting in the centre of the circle; one producer sits alone at a table with noise cancelling headphones on and typing aggressively on his laptop. 

Yoongi looks around absently when his eyes land on the coffee station where - something pounds into his chest - he locks eyes with Miso. She holds his gaze for a couple of seconds before turning her back on him and dealing with her coffee. 

The earring feels heavy in his hand and all of a sudden, he feels the urge to hurl it out of the window. There is next to no way it’s making it back to its owner in any case. After Miso had icily got into her car outside the motel this morning and Seungwan had driven her away, Yoongi had walked out of the room and watched her leave, proceeding to smoke two full cigarettes in the chilly morning.

The receptionist from last night had also appeared and he’d offered her a cigarette voluntarily, for she looked rather drained as well. Something about how quiet and isolated the place was, not a sound anywhere or even a breath except for the person next to him, made Yoongi feel so disconnected from everything that he felt numb. It was too early, too cold and too unfair. Next to him, the receptionist had chucked her half-smoked cigarette on the ground.

“You didn’t finish that,” stated Yoongi, not really caring.

She’d glanced at him before turning to look ahead, and Yoongi noticed for the first time the carnage from the storm in front of the motel: tree trucks, piles of scattered branches and leaves, water accumulated and overflowing from a ridge in the ground. 

“Fuck it,” she’d said.

Maybe it was the aftermath of a terrible night or some sort of shared dissatisfaction with the world but fifteen minutes later, they were in the backseat of Yoongi’s car. It was quick, casual and ended almost as abruptly as it began, with both of them adjusting their clothes and going their separate ways with a brief, formal goodbye. 

It seems like ages ago now, with Miso across the room from him, getting coffee outside her studio. Yoongi lowers his head and stares at his phone screen, not reading anything. From the corner of his eye, he sees her turn around and walk in his direction; she would have to pass him to return to her studio.

He can’t think about their argument last night any longer. It’s been rattling around in his mind all day: the rage, the guilt, the desperate desire to sit her down in front of him and read her damn mind. Most of all, there’s an inkling of shame somewhere, deep down, in knowing that his reaction last night had been exactly what she’d expected. 

That’s what it had looked like, at least; her eyes had shuttered over at some point and she’d reverted to the old Miso, the one who seemed to live to annoy him and gave nothing, no indication of who she was or what she was thinking. Her walls that he’d worked so hard to make a crack in had gone up instantly, except this time there was a disappointment there he’d never encountered before.

A flash in front of him jerks him away from the table: a hand appears momentarily, placing a cup of iced coffee in front of him with a small thud, before disappearing. Heart racing in mild shock, he turns to see Miso walking away without a second glance, her fingers wrapped around another cup as she turns the corner of the corridor.

He stares at the cup. Sip it first, he’d say ordinarily, straight-faced with only a hint of irony. You’re just going to have to trust me, Min Suga, she’d say, shrugging and settling into her chair, giving him a challenging raise of the eyebrows.

Yoongi takes a sip of the cold liquid, feeling it coat his throat and savouring the hit of caffeine. After a moment, he gets up and heads down the corridor, stopping at Donghyuk’s studio and pausing before he knocks. 

“Come in,” comes Miso’s voice, dry and uninterested.

Yoongi pushes open the door slowly to see her alone at the console, a laptop open in front of her and a singular lamp at the other end of the room being the only source of light. She looks at him very briefly before going back to her work. It almost seems as though she expected him to follow her; he can’t tell if she’s happy about it, though.

“Thanks for the coffee,” he says.

She simply nods in response, scrolling through something on the laptop.

“Listen,” he says again, placing the coffee on a table next to him and running a hand tiredly through his hair. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

“Last night…” He trails off for a moment, wishing he’d rehearsed this a bit before coming in here. “Well, firstly, I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have… anyway. Sorry.”

Miso finally turns to him, looks him up and down, and then turns back around. “‘Kay. Is that it?”

“No.” He exhales. “I hooked up with someone this morning. After you left, the receptionist and I… we had sex.” He cringes inwardly at his own words but he can’t fathom how else to say it without mincing words. She’s still looking at her laptop; he isn’t sure if he’s imagining it, but her shoulders  stiffen slightly. “Anyway. I just wanted to let you know.”

There’s a beat of silence. Then -

“So?”

“So?”

“Why are you telling me?” she asks, shrugging and turning around briefly. “I’m not your girlfriend.”

“I know you’re not. But…” He frowns, trying to suppress the annoyance in his stomach that’s already threatening to bubble up. “I’m just letting you know. Transparency and all that.”

“But it’s none of my business.”

Yoongi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, counts to three and slowly exhales. “Right. Well. It’s just something normal people do, I guess. Talk to each other and communicate when they’re…”

She turns around properly this time, her legs folded and her elbows resting on her thighs. “When they’re…” She raises her eyebrows. “When they’re hooking up? We made out a few times… are you telling me because of that?”

He doesn’t respond; he can barely look at her right now, anger and embarrassment creeping into his chest now.

“This is exactly what I was afraid of, Yoongi,” she says knowingly, as though she’s pointing out an unsatisfactory edit to a track. “I told you to stay away. But you didn’t listen. You stayed, you got attached, and you’re telling me about a one-night stand you had. And now you have some kind of… expectation of me when what you really should have done was stay away right from the start.”

“You know what? I’m starting to think the same thing,” he snaps, shaking his head and going to grab his coffee. “I guess forming an attachment with an ice queen is my lesson.”

“You got me attached, too.” It’s the only thing that makes him stop in his tracks. “And that’s the problem with getting attached - you start to care. And then when you find out something that you can’t help, something that’s out of your control and doesn’t fit the image of me you have in your mind - the damsel that needs saving because, admit it, that’s what I am to you right now - it shatters everything.”

Yoongi grits his teeth, but somewhere his throat starts to hurt. He grips the cup and turns around slowly to see her still sitting in the same position, face and voice unnaturally calm.

He needs to choose his words carefully, he knows, but she makes it impossible to think. “I do care,” he begins slowly in a low voice, staring at the floor. “You can make it out to be whatever saviour complex you want but I do care and I do want to help you and be there for you. What is wrong with you that you won’t let me?” he demands tightly, clenching his fist at his side.

“Because it won’t work,” she continues in that same state of forced calm. “This - this challenge? You can spend weeks and months and do all-nighters and collaborate with whoever you want but it’s not going to work. It’s beyond you now. And once you realise that, it’s just going to be an abandoned project. A file somewhere in your computer you just couldn’t crack. I don’t need to be saved,” she says after a moment. “So it’s better for you that you stop trying. And maybe you won’t be so disappointed anymore.”

Yoongi stares at her, her impassive eyes and slouched figure. It’s exhausting; he’s tired and drained and helpless and she simply moves farther and farther away each time.

“You got it, Kang Chanel,” he mutters. “I’ll stay away.” Not wanting to spend a second longer in here, he turns around and walks out of the studio.

Miso watches him leave, using every bit of strength in her to keep her mind blank, to push every single thought and emotion out and, for just a few hours, focus on something that isn’t her clusterfuck of a life. She spends the next few hours alone in the studio, eating take-out from a box and going on a Zoom meeting with Donghyuk.

When it’s nearly midnight, hours longer than she’d thought she’d stay (but wishing she could for longer), she begins to wrap up, saving and closing demo files and packing up her notebook, when her inbox pings.

“Damn it, Donghyuk,” she sighs, bending over to squint at the screen in the dark. Her heart skips a beat when she sees an instant message from Min, Yoongi. Index finger hovering over the mouse, she takes a deep breath and opens it. It’s a screenshot of what looks like a folder on a Mac laptop, but empty. She frowns when her laptop pings again.

[Prod Suga] [00:02] [screenshot] This is all the abandoned projects I’ve had in ten years. Happy to stay away, but don’t you dare call yourself a project ever again.

—

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to leave a review :)

[moiderahart]

the HAPPY BUSTER comics index!

A-SIDE

ISSUE 00 - BEAUTIFUL MORNING WITH YOU - 8 pages - A robot gets a call from another world... ISSUE 01 - I'M SERIOUS, I'M SORRY - 21 pages - Now in the world of the gods, HB meets with a strange, egotistical bird...

B-SIDE

ISSUE 02 - HYBRID RAINBOW - 19 pages - A meat man tends the fields, only to notice a gigantic satellite in the skies above... ISSUE 03 - SIBLING RIVALRY - 25 pages - A camping trip! Nothing eventful happens! Nevermind that HB is camping with two incredibly strong magical girls, and the mountain has a habit of dredging up people's pasts. - INTERLUDE - IF YOU HAVE LOVE IN YOUR HEART (Coming soon!) ISSUE 04 - SMALL GREEN BOY - 27 pages - In an attempt to find out what's happening to her friend, HB and her new pal ascend the mountain, only to run into the feds. ISSUE 05 - THREE SUMMERS - 47 pages - It ends.

ISSUE EPILOGUE - ANOTHER MORNING - (Coming Soon!)

[angelsgame-au]

Lore Masterlist (Chronological)

Chapter 1

Something is off…

The First Night

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06

Interlude 1

“You remind me of them…”

“What’s behind the door…?”

Chapter 2

The Voice

01 | 02 | 03

DEALS DEALS DEALS

01 | 02 | 03 | TBA

Important lore asks (no order)

“How long have you known Angel?” Angel’s original Vessel First real conversation with Angel Something is off… “Have you ever done a weird route?” “Thoughts about the church?” “Do you feel sad for this?” “Can anyone see you?” “Who discarded your vessel?” “What’s behind the door…?” Powers Shared feelings “What are you, Angel?”

Character Refs

Angel | Kris | Ralsei | Noelle | Vessel | Susie

[selinswonderland]

It was difficult at first, to control this new ability, especially every time she realized that poor Lindi was right there having to witness it. Even though it was something out of her control, it still felt like her fault. Maybe because in a way, a lot of things were considered her fault growing up, seeing as she almost always ended up as the one in charge. If she wasn't careful for one second and something broke, or someone hurt themselves, even if she didn't directly cause it, it was her problem. It brought her right back to feeling like a helpless kid in her parents home, lacking any control and just meant to feel shameful if something unpredictable happened.

But she wasn't in this room with either of her parents who would probably look at her and yell, 'why did you do that? stop that right now and go back to normal and stop causing problems!'. She was in here with Lindi, who was kind and gentle and comforting when she could see Selin was struggling. Feeling her hand against her arm, it did help her start to feel more real in a way. Even if she had somehow doubled in size, cramped in this small room, she felt less like a monster or freak and just felt like herself.

"Right, um…I really liked art. Kids always draw the wackiest things. I tried to incorporate a lot of drawing related elements in my lessons. Just cause it helped keep the kids engaged and seeing their imaginations in action was always fun." Selin answered slowly, taking deep, calming breaths between words. Thinking about her students and her classes really was a helpful way to calm her down. "There was one girl I taught, her name was Maya, she always doodled all over her homework and tests. Little hearts, flowers, animals, you name it, I don't think I've ever seen her turn in anything where the borders weren't completely filled in. And I want to support that passion in kids, instead of stamping it out and making them feel like they've done something wrong, I don't want them to lose that creative spark."

As she spoke, she did her best to focus on her own words, trying to ignore the situation they were in and express her interests and desires as a teacher. So as her spoke, her stress levels decreased, along with her size. Progressively she began to feel less cramped, less constricted, Lindi's hand on her arm feeling less tiny as she began to return back to her normal size. It was a relief to say the least.

"Thank you, for that. I'm…so sorry about that. This place, this…bracelet I guess, it's been causing things like this to happen from time to time. I don't really know how to control it or stop it. But I feel like sometimes when I get scared I grow or shrink but it just kind of happens randomly." she explained to Lindi, knowing it sounded crazy but also knew she wasn't the only one experiencing weird abilities that shouldn't be possible. "Maybe it's best if we just, grab the clothes we want and get out. Or take these suitcases to the beach and figure out what we want out there."

Lindi knew panic intimately, but it was a different thing to see Selin switch from the proud, gushing teacher, to an apologetic, panicking mess. Her eyes were wide, her breath was coming in short, brief bursts. While it was difficult to see her aura when Selin was this big, Lindi glimpsed brief flashes of it agitated and spiking. Having to be brave for someone else helped Lindi quench her own anxiety, or at least to push it to the side.

"It's okay, it's okay," she said calmly, even though it definitely wasn't okay, and her own thoughts were currently tumbling down the worst case scenario of them both being trapped in the room together and slowly starving to death. "This whole situation is new and terrifying." Lindi reached out and touched Selin's forearm. Her hand looked like a doll's in comparison, and she was surprised to feel that Selin was warm, that her skin was soft to touch. Lindi rubbed her hand up and down Selin's arm, hoping to ground her, connect her with something that wasn't her own thoughts.

"What's your favourite class to teach?" she asked, hoping to distract Selin from this horribly uncomfortable situation. "Art, maths? Tell me about it?" she prompted, hoping to return Selin to her previous, bubbly self.

[pinescent-and-gingerbread]

🌱Blog rules and requesting! Requests are currently closed. 🌱My AO3 🔮 What I'm currently working on! 🌲My writing process and some writing tips

Musical interlude

The World is living

The Jackpot (Smut)

To pick up a Peach

Pretty Lies (Low!Honor Arthur) (Suggestive ending)

Rye Whisky (I), Sweet Coffee (II) During Sean's return party, a completely drunk Arthur confesses to you. Considering his state, you're not quite sure about the veracity of his words. Could it be the sparkle you were waiting for?

Through my eyes

All the graces from Heaven (Smut)

Fantasies in the Dark Part I, Part II (Smut) Arthur catches a glimpse of your naked form through the canvas of your tent. The vision haunts him until he finally gives in to his urges...

Night Moths (Smut) Part 2 in progress...

[Serie, ongoing] On a mission for your gang who need your thieving skills, you end up playing a high society woman at Lemieux's party in his manor. Little did you know, you were about to meet a blue-eyed outlaw who had the exact same target as you...

Arthur makes you your favorite tea

Arthur drawing your children

Arthur and calling his mare good girl

His lasso

Modern!AU Arthur

Last updated 01/10/25. Thanks again to everyone who interacted!

🌱Pine.