#Anyway thank fuck I I drink or care about coffee what the hell is going on there

[trans-leek-cookie]

ESPRESSO MACHINES COST HOW MUCH

[chanswhxre]

[ 4:10am ]

warnings : smut MDNI

“Chan please.” You whisper as you squeezed your thighs together when you felt the vibration raise a level.

“What? Did you want some coffee too?” Chan asked you with a playful smirk knowing fully well that wasn’t what you were asking for.

He made you wear a vibrating panty while you were in the studio with all the boys as they were practicing for their upcoming comeback. They’re having a break from dancing for 2 hours and Han was taking everyone’s orders for snack time. Han sat beside you on the long couch behind the dance studio finalizing their orders.

“Hey, I haven’t got yours yet.” Han said.

“I’ll have one iced americano and a..ah.” You stuttered and let out a small moan which made Han confused but really it was just Chan raising the intensity of the vibrator. It felt so good as it pressed your clit that feel like you’re about to cum fast from 2 hours of Chan edging you.

“And?” Han asked. You held onto the couch for dear life.

“That’s all.” You managed to answer in one go. Han nodded and placed an order. “You can have a bite of my cheesecake if you get hungry.”

When the food arrived, everyone came to get their food and ate on the floor and some sat on the couch. Chan was sitting on the floor with Seungmin, Changbin, Hyunjin, Jeongin and Felix while Minho and Han were both beside you.

You thought Chan was going to let you breathe and drink your coffee but oh how wrong you were. As you took a sip, you bit on your straw when Chan turned the vibrator on again to the highest intensity making you reach your high faster than record time.

“You alright?” Minho asked and you nodded quickly screwing your eyes shut. If they catch up on what’s happening you’d want the ground to just swallow you alive but not for Chan, He wants everyone to know what he was doing and he wanted the kids to see how hot you looked when you cum.

“You’re shaking. What’s wrong?” Han asked. “Chan hyung!” He called and you felt everyone’s worried gaze on you but soon turned perverse when they caught on what was happening. The vibrating panties were new but doing naughty stuff in front of them wasn’t.

Chan gave a knowing look to Han in which he cursed under his breath and when he touched you, that pushed you over the edge and you shook hard as you came undone on the couch and let out the longest, sultriest moan, not caring about everyone in the room anymore and you swear when you stand up, the couch would be soaking wet as your panties are.

“Fuck. That was hot.” Hyunjin cursed.

“You guys want another one?” Chan asked and everyone eagerly said yes in unison.

This was going to be a steamy practice session you won’t forget.

sorry if this was kinda shit. my work hours are hell this week i was supposed to post a full one shot today ㅠ anyways don’t forget to reblog ! thanks as always.

[sonder-paradise]

Oooh, am I seeing this right? Requests are open! ( ᗒᗨᗕ ) I’ve been waiting for this day..! If you can, can I please ask for Chuuya and/or Dazai drabble or oneshot (whichever you feel like) with an enemies to lovers trope? I’m a sucker.. thanks and I hope you’re taking care of yourself! <3

𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? — 𝐁𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐠𝐬

◊ ft. chuuya nakahara, osamu dazai, gn!reader

◊ genre. enemies to lovers, drabbles, pining the hell outta each other

— 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚

"what the hell was that?"

chuuya's voice echoed from the hallway as the two of you trudged down after a rather inconclusive mission. it wasn't primarily your fault that you had forgotten the new series of instructions he had given you on the spot.

but then again, it was basically his fault for going off-script as well. you frowned, grasping the arm you were currently nursing.

"what do you mean, 'what the hell was that?' what the hell were you doing?!"

"i was doing fine. i thought i told you if things went south to go back to base."

"oh, shut up. i practically saved your life, nakahara."

"i didn't need that help, l/n. you're a pain in my ass anyways."

the two of you shot a glare at the other before the ache in your limbs caught up with you both. he flinched, his leg clearly going through a rather upsetting time in addition to your arm.

"c'mere let's get fix up before the Boss lectures us both," you sighed, pulling him into the room.

he frowned, shifting down on the seat across from you. upon noticing the way you struggled opening up the first aid kit, he clicked his tongue, reaching out a hand to snatch it from you.

"hey!"

"shut it. you're fucking arm isn't even working. i'll do it."

"i don't nee—"

"i didn't ask."

oh, this man! this stupid, idiotic fool! the very thought of his callous tone was enough to burn your bones and grind your teeth.

he grasped your arm, eliciting a loud wince. you expected him to scold you for the noise, but instead he lessened his pressure, holding your arm as if it were porcelain.

"sorry," he mumbled. and you practically didn't catch it if not for the fact he had gotten ever so close to you. his hands carefully bound the arm that you nursed and there was this... odd look in his pretty eyes.

wait, pretty?

you paused, starstruck at the mere thought of finding chuuya nakahara of all people 'pretty.' but there was something fascinating and hypnotizing about the way he gazed at your injuries. he seemed almost upset at them.

"stop glaring at my arm, there's nothing i could do about it."

"yeah, right. at the very least, stop squirming you're fucking up my wrapping."

"it's too tight."

chuuya paused, looking up at you before leaning in just a bit closer. a wicked smile crept into his expression and a spark of something close to lust and hatred seeped into his eyes.

"complain anymore and i'll tie your pretty, little wrists together."

— 𝐎𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐮 𝐃𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐢

"you're infuriating, dazai."

"idiotic, perhaps?"

"antagonizing."

"absolutely vexing?"

"oh shut it, we're supposed to be working right now, not fooling around in a silly cafe."

dazai grinned, cupping his hands around a warm mug of coffee. you rolled your eyes at the smile, finding this situation to be nothing less than nonsensical.

"we're supposed to be looking into the assignment fukuzawa gave us. can you please explain to me what we're doing here?"

you tapped a finger against the desk, observing the foolish man before you. he was certain a character. a wild card, if that was accurate. but, even now, when the two of you were supposed to be at work, he was fooling around.

"what's wrong? do you not like our little outing?"

dazai took a sip from his drink, smiling like a mischievous child. it's clear he's trying to overrun your patience, but you were not willing to let that go.

"i just think we should be working."

"ah, but we are, my darling! i'm working on a side project on my own."

this again. you were certain this was the fifteenth time he had mentioned this silly little side project of his. whatever it was, he clearly was getting closer to the conclusion of it.

"what's wrong, y/n? not liking the company?"

"not at all, actually."

he gave you a brief pout from behind the cup. there's something oddly adorable about it. just from the way he seemed so earnest towards you. as if there's something he wanted to admit for the first time.

"sorry," you mumbled, seemingly surprised at your own apology.

"not need, i'd say you aren't exactly my cup of tea either."

oh, you have half a mind to throw hands with this man right here and now. but you pause that thought when he flashes that familiar grin all over again.

"but those sorts of feelings are what people usually sort out on first dates, no?"

"i suppose so... wait... first date?"

dazai seems amused at this. the laughter that trickles out from him as you burning from the neck up.

"yes, first date. is this not what this is? after all the hard work i put into planning my little side project..."

oh, this little bastard...!

Taglist: @todorokichills @alittlesimp @greenshirtimagines @darlinqserenity @nameless-shrimp @whorefordazai @requiem626k @missrown @nonsense-corner @kiyokoxd @jessbeinme15 @starglow-xx @shadyteacup @scul-pted @kuraxmasha @yochicoz @pompompurin1028 @trashykawahq @swrdemon @life-sus @foolishestchildofchilds @fyodorscello @planetxiao @dazaiaiko @chuuyasboots @allisonlol @questioningmyownexistence @sebtomm @nullified-kiss @nathansside @cuteflowers-101 @sigmafied @boombboi @scarletta-ruan @skgch @daz8i @httpsobi @dazaiscum @thekaylahub @luciferspen @dazaisfavgf @alice0blog @irethepotato @monastary @kageyama-i-want-tobiors @disa-ster @mastering-procrastinating @wonpielle @ay-chuu @killmewithafanfic @aestellia @goldenglow149

[base0h]

Hiii :D

Wanna req some modern au Kid, Mihawk and Shanks with a s/o who always manages to zone out at the worst time possible, (like they're driving and stopped at a red light, not realizing that what seemed a moment later the light turned green and everyone is beeping at them or they're being late, smth distracts them and they literally just freeze in place lost in the most off topic thoughts ever) hcs or scenario, all's good with me gosh I zone out way too much

Gosh sorry for the long ask and since I'm here I just might remind you to go drink some water and take care of yourself, cuz we need ya and your hilarious writings here, to brighten up our days yk? ( ˙꒳​˙ )

love ya <3

a/n - ERROR HOW HAVE I BEEN LAUGHING FOR A SOLID TEN MINUTES AT THIS ASK SUEBDHBDHDBD 😭😭😭😭 awww I’m so glad that I can brighten up your guys’ days that really brightens mine 🥺💜💜

Warnings ⚠️ - cracky, g/n reader, modern au, shanks doesn’t have an arm (let’s just say it got bitten off by a shark because he thought drinking beer while surfing was a brilliant idea)

- watch him ban you from driving 💀

- last time you decided to drive to a coffee shop was the last straw for the poor man

- “Y/n please keep your eyes on the road.”

- *minute passes, now it’s a green light*

- he’s looking at a newspaper while people behind you guys are honking

- you had taken sight of a beautiful monarch butterfly, cruising around just outside your window

- you didn’t even realize the light had turned green

- Mihawk was about to get out of the car and go punch some people for honking but then he realized the light had been green for minutes, and you two were holding up the biggest line of cars he’d ever seen

- “Y/n! It’s green-!”

- He undid his seatbelt and climbed into the seat with you, hitting his head on the ceiling while simultaneously giving himself a bad back

- he pressed the gas while you stared at the butterfly, and you snapped out of it when you realized the car was moving, and Mihawk’s huge ass was right in front of your face

- “Mihawk what are you doing-“

- he sighed and kept driving forward until the light from before turned red right as he started going

- Cars from the right were about to crash into you too when you started screaming at him to go faster

- “MIHAWK GO GO GO GO GO-!”

- “THIS DAMN CAR WONT GO ANY FASTER! GET ON MY LEFT SIDE!”

- he was saying that to protect you, so that he would take most of the damage if you both were hit

- Luckily, you two made it to the next intersection just before getting hit, and there was a long silence in the car on the way home

- “… you’re banned from driving.”

- “BUT-“ “I don’t want to hear it.”

- “thank you for protecting me, don’t pretend like you didn’t do that 😏”

- “😐😑😐”

- he ignored you for about an hour after that (he wasn’t mad, just terrified)

- shanks is a horrible driver himself, so he gets it! He’s usually drunk while driving anyways!

- zoning out is totally fine because usually he’ll just stare at you and think about how beautiful/handsome you are 🥰

- today you both were driving to a movie, you had gotten a nice cup of coffee just before as well :)

- shanks was staring at his phone, struggling to figure out where the fuck he put the tickets

- you saw the most awesome skateboarder who was doing tricks along the sidewalk, and you managed to turn sharp left, almost straight into the sidewalk

- shanks immediately grabbed the wheel with his arm and swerved back, but the absolute boiling hot coffee cup was slipping through your grip

- poor shanks saw that and was starting to panic

- “Baby i only got ONE ARM-“

- the hot coffee spilled all over his lap and this idiot started screaming at the top of his lungs

- “BABE MY BALLS ARE GOING TO MELT WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS IT SO HOT?”

- bigass man baby woke you up and you started driving normally again, apologizing to your almost crying boyfriend for zoning out

- “My dick hurts.”

- “Please don’t ever say that again.”

- “BUT IT’S TRUE?? IT HURTS LIKE- HELL!”

- “also what were you looking at out there?”

- “some cool skateboarding guy.”

- excuse me-??

- “A guy?..”.

- “THATS WHY YOU BURNED MY COCK OFF BABE?! AM I NOT PRETTY ENOUGH?!”

- he started shaking your arm and you were literally about to crash, “SHANKS STOP IM GOING TO CRASH!”

- pls he’s a terrible driver just because of the fact that he will literally scream and flip someone off for not using their turn signal

- I imagine him to obey every single driving law except for the one “don’t be a fucking asshole”

- he oftentimes will ask for your help when he’s building stuff, like asking for tools and such

- “babe hand me the wrench.”

- “hammer.”

- “nails.”

- “water.”

- that’s basically what your job is. 💀

- he was welding today, and needed your help to place something at just the right time so he wouldn’t either burn your apartment down or burn his arm off

- “Babe, need it now.”

- you were tuned out completely, and of course at the absolute perfect time 🙂

- “babe.”

- he waved his other hand in front of your face to try and get your attention but that didn’t seem to work

- “Y/N L/N HELLO?!”

- kaboom

- smoke filled the room as you coughed and grabbed the thing you were supposed to hand him

- “Kidd you need this thingy yet??”

- …

- your audacity.

- his sllooooooooow turn of his head

- his face was stained with black smoke, a nail shooting out of his work and hitting him in the forehead as he stared down at you with the most dead expression

- you were dead. so dead.

a/n - not me being a little cheeky shit and giggling at my own writing 💀

[jishyucks]

Walls, Brawls, & Sudden Rainfalls ‣ hrj

‣ pairing: renjun x reader

‣ genre: enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, fluff!, slow burn (!), college au

‣ wc: 23.6k (gawdamn)

‣ summary: Your first impression of Huang Renjun wasn’t the greatest. In fact, the first two encounters you did have with him were enough for you to conclude that he was just some cold-blooded boy who genuinely didn’t care about anyone else but himself. That was, of course, before the (damn) universe brings you both together to work on the local daycare’s mural.

↳ Alternatively where first impressions blind the fact that you two actually fit quite well together.

‣ warnings?: Brief mention of underage drinking, Renjun and reader argue really childishly lots, when I meant slow burn, I really did mean slow burn, very very brief mention of doing the dirty bc reader chooses to be dirty-minded (but they don't actually do it nonono)

‣ an:  this is the longest fic I've posted ever (so far), so it feels like I’ve incubated it in the womb, went into labour, gave birth, raised it, and now I'm setting it shi free and into the world lmaooo,,, anyways thank you so much to @hoonieji (my bestie) for reading over this and reassuring me that it was going great,, I hope you all enjoy this!!! <333

‣ taglist!: @hoonieji @nanaflwers @dandelionxgal @flowerpotrenjun @renjun-fairy @she-is-dreaming @mosviqu @hibernatinghamster @glamourizz — can't tag @markleeiloveyou @lovehowdream

ONE.

With the hundreds, hell even thousands, of people in university, there will always be a handful of rude, miserable people that you were deemed to run into sooner or later. 

Sure, not all of them mean to be rude. Often, there would be the occasional bump on the shoulder in the crowded corridors… Or there would be those newly woken up individuals who would give dirty looks, obviously not giving a single fuck. You’re a nice person. You understand those people since everyone did had bad days. But there was one man—cough—boy that genuinely had an attitude that needed to be fixed. 

You didn’t know his name, nor did you want to know his name, but you could easily pick him out of a crowd because of the smug look he always repped. Funnily enough, it was the very look you wanted to very badly slap off of his face. 

The only reason you knew of him was that he seemed to have a desire to be a menace to those who got in his way and unfortunately, you constantly ended up being on the receiving end of these situations. 

There was one morning you had been running late to class—no—you were sprinting to the auditorium in hopes of only missing the run-through of the previous class. Your field of vision chose to settle only on the doors of your class, which at the time was a huge mistake. The focal point blocked out everything else, causing you to run into the before mentioned boy in a rough manner. 

“What the fuck!?” You both were on the ground, briefly stunned at the collision, “This shirt is expensive!” You looked up and realized that dark coffee had stained the boy’s light-coloured shirt. The look on his face caused your heart to drop and eyes to widen. 

“I’m so sorry! I really am! I’m just late–”

“I didn’t ask for an explanation,” he scoffed. He stood up, peeling the shirt off of his skin. It tented easily. 

“I can repay you…” You say quickly, speaking before you could even process what you wanted to say.

“Can you pay for a hundred-dollar shirt?”

You shake your head, but you think of alternative ways to repay him. Only him interrupting you even before you could begin listing them indicated that he wanted none of it, “You know what? It doesn’t matter.” And at that he leaves you stunned, belongings still scattered around your puzzled self.

“Well fuck you, then,” you mumbled. Rolling your eyes, you were pulled back into the situation you had been in prior to the encounter. Class was a lot more important than some douche anyway.

Another encounter between you both happened after about a month of the first. The Starbucks found on campus was not at its busiest, yet it was not quite empty either. The baristas and cashiers worked their hardest to satisfy their customers, walking to and from different stations behind the counter. 

“Hi, can I order a grande iced caramel macchiato?” You questioned, one of your earphones sitting in your hand. The cashier nodded, asking for your name and other necessary information before you paid. 

You thanked her before slowly moving towards the serving counter, taking notice of the boy when you did. He had his head down, attention directed at his phone’s screen. He, too, had earphones in, practically blocking out his surroundings. In a way, you were glad he didn’t notice your presence, the memory of last month’s conflict running through your head. 

You placed yourself at the corner of the cafe, away from the boy but close to the counter. When you ordered at a cafe, you would often pay attention to the baristas, watching as they mixed up the drinks. You could see yours being made, which had been quick as there were still people waiting for their drinks. 

When the barista finally clicked a lid onto the cup, you begin making your way to the counter, ready to take it and leave. She slid the designated smaller straw next to the drink, so you grabbed it before the drink, then made your leave. Little did you know, the drink you took wasn’t actually your drink. 

“Excuse me!” 

You genuinely didn’t hear the boy calling you because of music blaring through your earphones. And even though he was waving his arms to catch your attention through your peripheral vision, your attention was poured entirely on the drink you held snugly in your hand, poking the straw in. 

“Excuse me!” 

He finally caught up to you, grabbing your shoulder to stop you. The sudden contact caused you to jump, attention shooting from the drink and up to the boy. You don’t say anything, pausing the current bop that was playing. 

“That’s my drink,” he gestured towards the drink, “Well not my drink but my friend told me to pick it up for him.”

You look down at the name, seeing a Donghyuck printed on the sticker. You blushed and replied sheepishly, “Oh I’m sorry, I genuinely thought it was mine…” You hold it out to him, “Do you want it? I haven't taken a sip from it yet.”

“Of course I want it, I’ve been waiting for ages,” he mutters, promptly grabbing the drink from your hand. Without another word, he walks away, muttering a string of words you couldn’t quite make out. 

“What? No ‘thank you’?!” You yell back. 

He doesn’t turn back, and not because he had his music playing, but because he didn’t want to. You curse under your breath and walk back to the cafe, seeing that your drink with your name on it had been waiting for you. 

Though you didn’t have the right to judge an individual, especially since you didn’t even know his name, the two encounters had given you a bad image of him. Two encounters in two different situations… you were being polite in both situations regardless of how embarrassed you had been only to be returned with cold responses. Who did he think he was? 

“Li Shang.”

“I agree, one hundred percent,” you replied. Yeji held up a hand for you to give her a high-five, which you completed. The conversation topic on Disney Princes had been more entertaining than the chemistry homework due next week, “That’s why you’re my best friend.”

“Him and Prince Naveen,” she kisses her fingers in a ‘chef kiss’ type of movement, “That’s all I have to say.”

“Also!” You hold up a finger, pause for dramatic effect and state, “Tadashi Hamada.”

“He’s not a prince… but I will let it pass because it’s Tadashi Hamada,” she giggles. You watch her sit back in the library chair she pulled out from another table because it had padding for your butt, smiling. She drops her pen onto her textbook, “Taste.”

Before you could reply and add to her comment, a third presence appears to the right of you and the left of Yeji, which puts the conversation on pause. You turn to see Jaemin bent down to catch his breath. He had a wrinkled sheet of paper in one hand and his phone in the other, his bag open at the top. 

“Woah, are you good?” You asked, standing up and assisting him towards one of the seats as if he were one of the elderly you helped once in a while at the old folks home. He nods but keeps silent, taking in deep breaths. 

Once Jaemin finally caught his breath, he began to spew out whatever news he had for you or Yeji, “That’s the… most exercise I’ve… done in years.” He gulps and sighs out, “Anyways, Y/N you’re looking for a place to work or volunteer at right? Like art-wise or something? Kids? Puppies? I don’t know… I forgot what you were going for…”

You nodded, “Just any type of volunteer or temporary job… Yeah, I still have no luck.”

“Well, this is perfect for you then!” Jaemin flattens out the crumpled-up sheet of paper in front of you, “They need some people to help paint a mural for this daycare. No previous experience needed. As long as you can hold a paintbrush!”

Yeji leans in to get a look at the sheet, “Woah, you get paid too! That sounds like fun. I would do it with you if I wasn’t busy with these damn classes.” She sinks back into her chair and begins playing with the sheets of her textbook.

“I ran here because a bunch of people might want the job.” Jaemin says, “The daycare is literally just behind the campus.” 

You stand up, the adrenaline Jaemin previously possessed taking over your veins, “Can you watch my stuff!?” Your phone was already in hand and you were ready to sprint out of the library and to the daycare Jaemin had been talking about. 

“Of cou–“

And at that, you were gone and running towards the building. To your luck, the library was by the back of the campus, so the run wasn’t as far as you anticipated. You could sense other students eyeing you as you sped past, though you didn’t really care since you were merely a flash in their eyes. 

Once you had arrived at the daycare, you entered and made your way to the front counter, “Hello, I’m here for the painting job?” 

The lady at the desk looked exhausted, eyes halfway closed and face struggling to present a welcome expression, “Can you draw and paint? All that kind of stuff?” 

“Yes! That’s mostly why the job appealed to me,” you replied, “Do you need a resum–“

“You’re hired…” she mumbled stiffly, “Please fill this sheet out and show up here on Saturday at one in the afternoon for further instruction.” 

Smiling, partly stunned, you nodded before turning to leave. That was easier than you thought… all that running was worth it.

TWO.

You sat across the street from the daycare, contemplating whether it would be better to come early or right on time. Through the windows, you could see that they weren’t as busy as yesterday due to it being a Saturday. It wouldn’t hurt to show up early right? Standing up, you dust your butt off before making your way to the crosswalk. 

“Hello, I’m here for the job information. I was hired yesterday,” you explained, “My name is Y/N L/N.” The person (wo)manning the desk was a different lady from a few days ago. The woman held a smile on her face, one that reached her eyes so, to you, it seemed like a genuine smile. You squinted at her name tag, which read Joy. 

Huh… fitting…

“Oh good!” She exclaimed, “Now you can sit just over there as we’re waiting for another person.”

“Another person?”

“Of course! We’re not expecting one person to work on the entire mural alone. It’s larger than it looks, so we decided to hire anyone who asked. Those two were you two,” she explained the situation, “I’ll further explain the objective of the assignment when the other boy arrives.”

Your ears perked up as you nodded, Boy? A small little piece of you started hoping that, whoever this other person was, was cute. 

You hear the door open behind you, a small greeting leaving the lips of the smiley woman, “Oh! This must be him! Are you here for the job?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the voice replied. It sounded rather familiar, but you were unable to pinpoint who it could have belonged to. Curious, you turn to look at the owner of the voice. Once you had processed who had been standing a few feet away from you, your jaw dropped. 

You both speak at once, evidently shocked at the coincidence.

“You!?” 

You couldn’t help but feel the sudden impulse to quit the job before it even started. You’d rather accidentally fall into dog shit than work with this unnamed douche of a boy. 

“Do you two know each other?” Joy questioned, “That’s even bett–“

“N-no, not quite,” you interrupted, “We’ve just… had a few encounters on campus.” You choose to turn your body completely towards Joy so that you couldn’t accidentally look at the other presence. 

Joy nods, “Makes sense… Anyways, name?” She directed the question towards the boy, pulling out another sheet from a clipboard. 

“Huang Renjun.” It was funny finally being able to put a name to his face, especially after all this time. But you very much preferred ‘that boy’ over his name. 

You feel him approach the desk, standing beside you as Joy begins going over the job instructions. You two were expected to paint a mural over the next month, about two to four days per week depending on how long you both worked. The theme of the painting is what was expected from a daycare mural, something pleasing to the eye, especially the eyes of kids. The two of you had freedom over what you wanted to paint but were expected to get the idea checked over by Joy before the actual painting started. Once that was approved, they’ll provide all the supplies for the painting process to begin. Easy. 

If only you were working on the project with anyone else but Huang Renjun. 

“Any further questions?” Joy concluded, shifting her glance between you and Renjun. You both shook your heads, “Okay good. I think a rough deadline for the idea should be around the end of next week? The boss really needs this done in a month.” You both nodded silently before turning to leave the daycare. 

“How do you want to brainstorm the idea?” Renjun had muttered before you were able to walk off.

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, “How do you?” 

He scowls, “I guess we can just meet up here during designated hours?” 

“That makes the most sense, doesn’t it?” you don’t feel like replying to him kindly if he spoke with an underlying attitude. Someone really needed to teach him basic manners. 

“Whatever.” Renjun leaves you alone in front of the daycare, giving you a chance to roll your eyes behind his back. 

You choose not to walk away from the daycare until you’re sure he’s left, opting to use your phone and scroll through whatever notifications you’ve missed during the meeting. Your face is left in a painful grimace, one that you didn’t even feel you’ve rendered on your face. 

You can’t believe you’re working on a team project with this particular boy out of all people. Yes, it was a bit overdramatic, but you’re not quite sure how to work with someone you’ve only had bad encounters with. It also doesn’t help that he seems to have mutual feelings for you—which you find particularly ridiculous since you really haven’t done anything wrong to him on purpose.

It’s somehow the next day when you’re able to tell Yeji about the happenings of yesterday. Though the topic only came up when Jaemin questions you about the gig and Yeji notices how your face contorts into a stiff frown. The both of you are sitting in the dining hall, food half-finished but untouched for the past ten minutes.

“What’s up with your face?” Yeji questions, almost laughing out loud at your shift in mood. This is something you really liked about Yeji. She was talented at reading facial expressions. There could be the tiniest quirk in your brow and she’d be questioning you to world’s end. 

You purse your lips and stare back at her, “What face?” 

“This face,” Yeji contorts her face into an exaggerated glower, “What’s up with that? I thought you were excited about the painting gig?” Jaemin nods along to what Yeji said. 

You don’t reply for one long second, trying to figure out how to explain to your best friend what happened yesterday afternoon. “Do you remember that guy I was really pissed off about a few weeks ago?” 

Yeji pauses to think, “The guy with the coffee?” 

You think about it and realize that both encounters you’ve had with Huang Renjun involved coffee. “Yeah, him! Today, at the meeting, guess who came as my temporary partner for the project.”

“No way!” Yeji’s eyes open, “That’s a whole coincidence! No wonder why you looked all pissed.” You can tell by the new wave of expression on her face that she feels sorry, “Is he still… douchey?”

Your eyes widen as you nod, leaning forward, “Yeah, but what’s new?” You’re about to roll your eyes, mouth opening with an intention to add more, but Yeji’s eyes shift from you to something behind you. She holds her gaze there for a few moments before her brows furrow in confusion. Her eyes flicker back to you.

“You know it’s not good to be talking bad about someone behind their backs right?” You turn and see Renjun with a friend of his. “Someone’s ending up on Santa’s naughty list.”

Your brows knit together, “You’re one to say something…”

Renjun throws you a look before taking a long sip from his drink. You can’t help but look at the beverage, an iced matcha latte, and feel yourself craving it. It looks good.

Renjun clears his throat, “Anyways, we’re meeting tomorrow.” His friend stands awkwardly behind him, looking like he just wants to be there to eat. 

“That doesn’t even sound like a question,” you point out. 

He shrugs, “Because it’s not… I have places to be.”

You look over at Yeji who’s witnessing the attitude of the one and only Huang Renjun. Even you can see that Yeji’s shocked at how Renjun’s interacting with you.

“Fine, whatever,” you wave him off, “Whatever makes you leave.”

“Good, because I wasn’t even going to give you a choice. I’m showing up even if you’re not there.” At that, Renjun and his (poor) friend walk away, leaving both you and Yeji rather stunned. 

In the corner of your eye, you see Yeji turn to look at you, so you look back, noticing her sorry expression, “Good luck tomorrow, Y/N.”

You thank her. Not because it was what people usually replied to the comment, but because you knew you genuinely needed it.

THREE.

Upon entering the daycare and being directed into a secluded room by Irene, another employee who ran the desk, you find Renjun sitting hunched over a sheet of paper. You could see his hand was working fast and that his attention was focused mostly on whatever he was doing. One side of the room gave you and Renjun a look at the main area of the daycare. 

“You’re late,” he muttered, not looking up. 

“You’re early,” you retorted. The clock at the corner of the room tells the truth. You had only been five minutes late. How much brainstorming could the boy have even done in that span of time?

He doesn’t reply to your response, slumping back in his chair to continue his brainstorming. You can’t help but make a face behind his back, slipping into a chair at the same table but across from him, refusing to sit next to him. You didn’t want him looking over your shoulder during your creative process, or else you’d lose your mind. 

But then you remembered that you were here to work with him. “You know, we met up here so that we can work on the idea together,” you point out, “But you do seem like the person who wouldn’t know what the word cooperation means.” Not even two minutes into this so-called meeting and you want to leave. 

Maybe you should just quit.

“You don’t even know me?” Renjun lifts his head towards you and scoffed, “So you can’t say that.” “You’re right,” you nodded, “I don’t know you, but I’ve bumped into you enough times to know you don’t give a single fuck about those you don’t know.” You pull out a pencil from your bag and take one of the spare sheets of paper sitting in the middle of the table. You start to write out random phrases that come to mind, whether it be inspirational or a pop culture reference. 

Renjun scoffs, “I’ll have you know, most of our encounters happened because of you.” You can see he’s adding colour to his draft, giving you no direct attention, “This all would be avoided if you weren’t an accident waiting to happen.”

“You know there’s always better ways to go about those same situations,” you spit back, “Because, I don’t know, accidents happen? Other people wouldn’t make big deals out of them.” 

Renjun mutters a quiet ‘whatever,’ under his breath, huffing out in frustration as he continues with his draft. At this point, you’re halfway done with your draft, which consisted of a cute scene of kids and a generic playground background. It was a bit mediocre, but you thought simple was cute. You both continue on in silence, letting the sounds of the kids playing drown it out. 

The silence wasn’t awkward. In fact, you could listen to the serene, no-sound room as if it were a hit song you’ve been obsessing over the past week. Anything but Renjun’s voice was a blessing, especially in situations like this. 

After about half an hour, Renjun looks over at your draft, “You do know kids can’t read, right? At least kids attending this daycare.”

You scowl. “Yeah and?” You continued with your business, “Haven’t you seen that movie ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’?” 

Renjun thinks for a hot second, “No.”

Your eyes shot up at him, surprised that he hasn’t seen the classic. When you weren’t in the mood to watch other movies, you’d naturally gravitate towards rewatching that one. It was a good movie, one that made you cry, yes, but you liked the underlying meaning behind the movie. “That explains everything.”

“What do you mean?”

You ignore his question completely, “There were words on that daycare’s mural, I don’t think it’s wrong to add some words to the mural, Huang Renjun. Besides, lettering is what I’m best at.” 

Renjun glares at you. “What if I don’t want words on the mural?” He quickly glances down at his own picture. It was more of a realistic picture, one of the skies with balloons floating through the scene. Attached to some of the balloons were toys or items associated with being a kid. It was simple, but he found it rather cute. To him, it beat your average picture of kids by a playground.

“What if I don’t want… whatever that is?” you childishly argue back, “Look, I know my idea is simple, but simple is easier and simple is usually best. Your picture has so much shading… imagine the two of us having to paint that.”

Renjun tries to hold back a laugh, “Are you serious? My picture’s obviously better than yours.” 

You both immaturely argue for another twenty minutes, pointing out the most ridiculous reasons for why your own pictures were one-hundred-and-ten percent better than the other’s. And it was consequently the stubbornness that both you and Renjun possessed that leaves you both with no decision by the time the shift was near over.

Your eyes drift to the clock sitting above the window, “Time’s almost up and we still haven’t figured out what we want to do. Let’s just settle with mine.” You push the picture towards the centre of the table, eyes holding your hopes of your idea being chosen. Maybe Renjun will finally break. 

“I don’t think we should,” Renjun shrugs, voice monotone, “Let’s just… decide on it the next shift. I really don’t want to deal with this—or you—right now.” Renjun picks his phone up and takes a picture of his and your pictures sitting in the middle of the table for reference.

You follow in pursuit before snatching your draft from its spot. You feel a sense of relief knowing that you can finally return to your Huang-Renjun-less life. “Fine, whatever you want. I don’t wanna deal with you either.” 

The shift abruptly ends with Renjun taking his leave first, leaving the room without another word. He bids a quick goodbye to Irene, who has no knowledge of what just happened before exiting the building entirely. 

Renjun feels nothing but irritation walking back to his dorm room. Days ago, he remembers being excited about the gig. He gets paid to do something he truly loves, all while giving such a flat looking building some colour to make it pop, which clearly was a win-win for both him and the daycare. But the fact that you’re there with the apparent purpose to contradict everything he’s planned, the excitement was simply sucked out of it all.

Renjun finally settles back at his shared dorm room, hanging his bag on the back of the nearest dining room chair before sitting himself at the couch, where both Donghyuck and Jeno were playing Super Smash Bros. Although they were rather loud, he’s just glad to be back in an atmosphere he knows he can relax in. 

“Hey, how was your painting thingy?” Jeno asks, eyes glued to the screen. In between Jeno’s question and Renjun’s response, there’s rapid clicking coming from the two boys’ controllers. 

“It was… fine, I guess,” Renjun mutters. He pulls up his phone and mindlessly swipes through social media. 

Both Donghyuck and Jeno don’t fail to notice the bummed tone in his voice. Donghyuck speaks up, “‘I guess’?” There’s more clicking, “You suck at this, Jeno.”

“Remember who I’m working with?” Renjun hints, “She literally contradicts everything I say and do for no fucking reason. It’s draining.”

More clicks. Then Jeno finally replies, “That doesn’t sound fun at all. Maybe she’s not aware about what she’s doing?”

Renjun sighs, “I think she knows what she’s doing. I just think she’s doing it to spite me. You should hear her arguments. They’re so senseless and they make me want to laugh.”

On his phone, Renjun pulls up the photo he’s taken of both of your drafts and enlarges yours. This is the first time today that he’s able to properly look at your picture and he can’t help but actually like it. No, he still doesn’t like your idea about the kids and the playground, but the words you had chosen to letter over top the main picture. 

Adventure Is Out There. Although it was pulled directly from the movie Up, the quote works perfectly well with the daycare’s name, The Adventurers. He liked it. But he wouldn’t admit that to your face. 

Renjun zooms out of your picture to show both of your drafts once again, eyes glancing between both images. The gears in his head begin turning, Renjun’s creative process in the works, as begins mustering up an idea that could possibly work for the both of you.

“How about we take your quote and add it to my picture?” 

It’s two days later and Renjun’s monotonously suggesting the idea that had developed in his mind some nights ago. No other ideas have been brought up since then and Renjun wants nothing else but to start on the project. 

You look up at him with a raised brow, “Oh, so Huang Renjun’s finally admitting that his picture is plain as shit?” You’re not against what Renjun’s suggesting, only because what he was thinking made sense. The balloons that his drawing had reminded you of Up. It did go well with your quote, plus you were able to incorporate your want of lettering. 

Renjun narrows his eyes at you, “It’s not ‘plain as shit.’ I just want to get this over with.” He reaches for a brand new piece of paper and begins drawing a second copy of his drawing. 

You sigh. “Fine whatever. But I get to suggest something about it too.” You eye how quick he was to copy down his drawing, head pivoting back and forth to replicate it. 

Renjun chooses not to look up, “What is it?” Although he was willing to hear you out, there’s still a splash of irritation in his voice. 

“Don’t make it so realistic.”

His head is brought up to look at you, “And why not?”

“It’s a daycare,” you say flatly, “Do you not remember that? Where’s the ‘cute’ factor in making it look realistic? This isn’t a commission from the city, Huang Renjun.” 

You have a valid point, Renjun thinks. He admits he’s been treating this as more important than it really was, but that’s just how he was. “Fine. It will be easier to paint anyway.” Renjun turns back to the new drawing, making it a little more kid-like. He refrains from colouring the picture before sliding it in your direction, “The quote.”

Pulling the new draft towards you, you pick up your own pencil and start your part of the drawing. Looking at Renjun’s sketch, you realize that you can’t place the words exactly how you had it on your original draft. There were areas that you didn’t want to cover. 

“After you’re done, I’ll colour it,” Renjun mutters, “Write down the supplies we need, then we can leave.” 

Only you using your eyes to look at him, you reply, “Sure.” And when he looks back down at his phone, you roll your eyes. Someone needs to tell him to simmer down with his attitude. Then maybe you can tolerate him easier. 

You pass the sheet of paper back to Renjun and sigh. There’s a sense of relief in your chest when you realize that this part of the process was over. Thinking back to two days ago, the way you and Renjun argued over what to do for the mural, you thought that there was no way you were getting it done in time, at least not with both of you being satisfied. 

But that’s all done and over with. Luckily this was the hardest part of the project. 

Right?

FOUR.

“You’re gonna be there for how long?” Yeji peers over her laptop’s screen, eyes wide at what you just told her. 

“Four hours,” you answer, “That’s not even that long, Yej.” You’re laughing quietly as you put your sneakers on, half-assedly tying the laces. The walk there is around ten minutes and it’s already 1:48. You can already hear Renjun’s ‘you’re late,’ along with his deadpan expression.

“I know, but I’m going to be here alone on a weekend afternoon,” she whines. You watch as her face quickly changes expressions, “Wait do you want me to bring you a snack later? Rub it into Renjun’s face that you have a great best friend who brings you food?” She bats her eyes and angles her face to convince you into saying yes.

You shake your head, “It’s only four hours today cause we’re finally starting the mural and we want to get the base done today. And I’ll be fine, I promise. Maybe invite Jaemin here for the time being.” 

“He’s off somewhere with his friend,” Yeji sighs, “But whatever you say. I’ll miss you!”

You playfully roll your eyes, “Bye Yej. I’ll miss you, too.” And at that, you’re off to the daycare. 

The peaceful walk to the daycare can be the calm before the storm, the storm being Huang Renjun. The idea made you laugh a little bit, childishly picturing Renjun like how animators would draw angry anime characters with a crimson face, steam blowing out of their ears and nose, and pupil-less eyes. You feel like that’s the only emotional state you’ve seen the boy in and you can’t help but curiously imagine how Renjun’s smile would look. 

You shake that thought out of your head before you let it run further into nonsense, finally arriving at the building. Through the glass doors, you can see Renjun sitting by the front desk. Upon entering, Joy, who was sitting at her computer, looks up with a bright smile, “Good afternoon, Y/N.” Renjun does nothing but let his attention waver over you for a quick second before going back to his own business. 

“Hi, Joy,” you greet back, “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Renjun finally stands up and stands at your side.

“Oh, no, no! You’re right on time and I will speak to you guys very quickly before I let you guys get to work,” she rounds the counter and leads you both to the meeting room like always, “So since the draft was approved, the supplies you needed, plus ones I’ve added are just in here. Grab what you need and you guys are free to start.” She shows you a closet near the back of the room, opening the door to reveal the many supplies that were ordered.

“Thank you, Joy,” Renjun nodded.

“It’s no problem! If you guys have any concerns, you know who to go to!” Spinning on her heel, Joy flashes one last smile.

“Chalk, white paint, string, ruler,” Renjun mumbles, taking the supplies up into his arms. 

You grab the paint brushes, “Why do we need half of what you just said?”

Renjun’s walking out of the room, paying almost no mind to you and your question. 

“Huang Renjun,” you say firmly, “Can you answer my question?” You both are outside at this point, “Or… or else I’ll chuck this brush at you!” Although it was a joke, you subconsciously knew you would if he seriously didn’t open his mouth within the next minute.

“So I can draw a grid?” He speaks to you as if you were stupid.

Oh, he’s going to get it, you think, but your thoughts and your body think and do different things. Your body decides to stay grounded where you were, “And why would we need a grid?”

Renjun huffs and turns to his bag. He fishes out the draft you both had made last week, only there’s a graph lightly drawn over it, “So we can replicate the picture onto the wall.” Renjun thought this over the past few days. If he and you wanted to mural to turn out exactly how you both had drawn it, eyeing it wouldn’t be the best to go about it. Hell, even drawing out a rough sketch of it could be difficult through eyeing it. 

“Can’t we just free-hand it?” You’re not understanding why Renjun wants to make the job more difficult than it was. There were only two of you. If there were maybe four of you working on the mural, then sure, go ahead and draw a graph, but there were only two of you.

Renjun shakes his head, “I think it’s worth it to draw the graph, that way there’s no chance of messing up.” He fiddles mindlessly with the string he’s been holding. You can tell by the expression on his face that he’s serious about this. You want to tell him that, ‘bro, this is a mural for a daycare, it doesn’t need to be one-hundred-percent perfect,’ but Renjun looks like he’s ready to fight for what he wants. 

“Fine, let’s draw the graph,” you say. 

Renjun looks at you confused. Why’d you back down so quick? “Huh?” 

“But you do it all on your own.” 

Ah… There it is.

“I’ll just sit here and wait for you to finish.”

Renjun wants to laugh out loud, not because the situation was funny, but because he can’t believe you’re actually saying what you just said. “Are you serious?”

You sit down at a nearby bench and nod, “Why would I be joking? You sure do act like you know what you want to do… so, go ahead. Do it.” A spiteful smile rises upon your lips and you wave for him to go on with his task. Being the stubborn boy he was, Renjun gives you one firm look before turning towards the small ladder. He drags it towards the right end of the wall and begins preparing the materials.

You watch him out of curiosity, wanting to know how he’ll manage to do it all on his own. You want to see if he’ll ask for your help, or end up wanting to free-hand the rough sketch in end. But as you do observe Renjun, it’s clear that he’s not going to ask for help or give up.

Renjun measures out string that’s about the height of the wall, 3 metres tall, and then the length, which was near 4 and a half metres long. Grabbing measuring tape, Renjun uses the ladder to measure and divide the wall into foot-by-foot squares, marking the corners of the squares with dark chalk lines. The job’s going to take long, that’s for sure, and watching him move up and down the ladder, while he tries his best to keep his marks aligned, you can’t help but feel bad for making him do it on his own. 

But then again, he wasn’t asking for help. 

Renjun on the other hand is struggling and he hopes you don’t see it. Yes, two hands were enough for the daily tasks he has grown accustomed to, but two hands weren’t enough to do this very task efficiently. There’s a voice at the very back of his brain that was itching him to ask you for help, but as always, Renjun and his stubborn ass refuse to do so, even if he’s on the edge of falling off of the ladder. 

“Can you hand me the black paint?” Renjun asks about forty-five minutes later. His hairline is drenched from sweat and the lack of expression on his face reveals how tired he was, “Please.” He hopes that you’d at least help with this. 

Without another word between the two of you, you stand up and pick up the bucket of black paint. You quickly plop it down next to the foot of the ladder before looking up at him, “Are you done with the graph?” You try your best to sound disinterested, eyes moving across the wall.

Renjun blinks down at you, “Does it look finished?”

There’s a caring instinct in you that notices the exhausted look in Renjun’s eyes. His eyelids are drooping, and he’s sniffling from the constant moving he’s been doing. Renjun’s sweating profusely from the sun beating down on the both of you, and you’re brought to wonder if he was prepared to be worked up to this degree. 

When your eyes meet his, you’re instantly pulled from your thoughts and you remember that you’re not supposed to give a single fuck about Huang Renjun, even if he’s working his ass off like this. He looks like he’s waiting for you to answer or leave to go sit back down. But a rogue idea somehow assembles itself in your head and you decide to just go with it. You roll your eyes, “Well, I’m going to the washroom if you aren’t.”

“Whatever.” He gives you one last glare before turning to the black paint and the string. 

You start making your way to the front door of the building, sending Renjun sneaky glances. The second he’s paying you no attention, both direct and peripheral, you make a break for it and start sprinting towards the centre of campus. There was no doubt that you look like a madman right now, zooming past students who were still on campus despite the day of the week, but you didn’t care. If you want to pull this off, then you need to do this quick—and quick means running like you were in a life or death situation.

Finally reaching your destination, you decide to take a breather, hands on your knees and everything. Your mind wanders back to the day you applied for the gig, getting deja vu from the exhaustion you’re feeling right now. 

Once you finally are able to catch your breath, you make your way into the building and sigh at the air conditioning. 

“Y/N! Hi! The usual?” The Starbucks worker, one you’ve obviously seen plenty of times, looks at you in an odd way but goes with the flow nonetheless. She’s smiling at you, finger hovering over the screen in front of her as she waits for a response.

You nod and add, “Add an iced matcha latte to that too. Make it venti, please.” She nods and continues on with the usual routine. 

You left as quickly as you came, although this time, you’re sprinting with a bit more caution, not wanting to spill the drinks you’ve used your own money for. You can’t help but wonder what Renjun was thinking right now—what were you doing in the washroom for so long? 

The two drinks you were holding in both of your hands said it all, though there was still no explanation why you decided to sacrifice some of your time and money for Renjun. It was just the nice person instinct inside of you that decided to do so. 

You’ll complain about it to yourself later.

When you finally return from your little mission, you’re lucky enough to arrive when Renjun’s distracted with the graph. You notice he’s done the vertical lines within the time you were gone.

“That was a long washroom break,” Renjun muttered rather loudly. He’s pressing the paint-soaked string against the wall, face angled slightly to the side in focus, “I was beginning to think you ditched me.”

You shoot him a glare behind his back and contemplate whether you should throw the drink that you bought for him at him. Instead, you say nothing and put the drink down next to his things, making sure it was in a spot that was safe from the surroundings. 

Renjun looks back at you, instantly noticing that you were now holding an entire Starbucks drink in your hand, completely missing the one sitting by his things. “Didn’t know they had a Starbucks in the washroom.” His tone is dripping with sarcasm and hints of irritation. He still can’t believe he’s actually been working on the graph for almost two hours on his own. 

“Oh yeah, they just opened one a week ago,” you shoot back. You plop into your previous place and sit there, taking out your phone to distract you from Renjun. 

You don’t realize how much time has passed when you see a pair of feet stop in front of you. You’re brought to look up at the owner, “What do you want?”

“I want a break.” Renjun answers flatly, “I’m done with the graph. Now work on transferring it.” He holds out the same draft he had shown you earlier, waiting for you to take it. The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up to show his shoulders and he’s using a small towel, that was originally supposed to be for the paintbrushes, to wipe his forehead. 

“Sure” was all you said before snatching the draft from his fingertips. 

All the hard work was done for you. Transferring it was easy. 

Gathering the supplies you needed, chalk, paintbrushes, and white paint, you get going on transmitting the draft onto the wall. The moment you start the rough sketch of the mural, you feel a wave of nostalgia hit you, remembering the countless activity books you completed as a kid. You can distinctly recall the pages where one side displayed a cute drawing of an animal or character of some sort, overlaid by a graph, while the page next to it shows an empty graph in which you were instructed to redraw the completed picture. This was exactly like that, only bigger and not for leisure. 

Your delight in starting distracts you easily from Renjun, who you unknowingly finally notices the drink you had gotten him not even thirty minutes earlier. Although he’s a bit puzzled by the drink, remembering damn well that he never got the drink himself, he lets his line of sight drift to your half-finished drink sitting by your things. When realization begins settling in, he does one more thing to confirm his thoughts.

Twisting the drink in his grasp, Renjun faces the sticker label towards him, eyes instantly finding what he was looking for. 

*Y/N*

His eyes flicker up to you, standing firmly at the top of the step ladder, unaware of the fact that his eyes have widened and the corners of his mouth have climbed higher on his face. Despite the fact he’s thankful and a bit sorry that he was giving you attitude the second you got back from your ‘washroom break,’ the larger part of Renjun that’s still certainly irritated with you doesn’t say thank you.

Not out loud at least.

FIVE.

Painting a mural required many steps because painting on a giant wall was different to painting on a smaller, feasible canvas. You and Renjun were lucky enough that the wall had already been painted white, which you guess covered whatever was painted underneath.

Two shifts ago, you both had managed to finish the outline of the image you both had prepared for the mural, and the shift after that, you both opted to outline the main subjects of the mural with the base colours. 

Although no problems had really arisen between the both of you (if you didn’t count small arguments about what shade of said colour a balloon should be), one weird thing you both noticed was the fact that none of you will willingly start on the same side as the other. You were no professional artist, nor have you been painting your entire life, but you knew damn well that the process of painting an image often involved starting at one part of the painting (usually the top) before working towards the other end. But regardless, the mural was, to your surprise, looking well done. 

Today was the third day, and counting, of painting said first layer, and if you were being honest, you were having the fun you expected when you first applied for the gig. But you knew it was probably because you and Renjun simply chose not to speak with each other, aside from the simple ‘where’s the thicker paintbrush’ or ‘can you hand me that (mural painting tool here),’ there was an unspoken almost-truce between the two of you. 

Leaning towards the wall, you apply lavender-coloured paint in short strokes, following the shape of the balloon you’ve been working for the past eleven minutes. You have music playing through your headphones, the volume just above half, and you can’t help but bop your head to the music. 

“It’s almost five,” Renjun says quietly to you. He’s been working in silence the past few hours, but he almost loses track of time because of how caught up he’s gotten with painting. If it hadn’t been for the watch on his wrist, he would have gone overtime. 

You don’t reply to him, continuing with your painting while Renjun begins to clean up. He finishes up with what he was working on before climbing down the ladder. He rinses the brush down and dries it, placing it into the paintbrush container that was provided for you both. Noticing that you haven’t moved from your spot, Renjun calls out to you again, “Hey! It’s almost five. We need to start cleaning up.” 

Renjun sighs when he realizes you still can’t hear him, forcing him to walk up to you to catch your attention. He tugs gently at your jeans, which almost immediately catch your attention. You pull one side of your headphones off and glare down at him, “What do you want?” 

“I said it’s five,” Renjun reciprocates your attitude, “Start cleaning up.” He turns away and starts gathering his things. 

You blow a stray piece of hair from in front of your face and roll your eyes, though you are surprised that Renjun had the decency to let you know it’s time to go. You climb down your own ladder and do just as Renjun did earlier before carefully placing everything into a large storage bin. Then, once you were sure all the supplies were gathered inside the bin, you go to retrieve the step ladder, folding it so that you could use your shoulder to carry it. Renjun stands at one side of the bin to help you carry it, already having his belongings hanging from one shoulder.

It takes you both no longer than a minute to return the supplies to the closet, leaving with a goodbye to Irene, but no exchanges between the two of you (unsurprisingly). You let Renjun leave first, staying back to text Yeji where she and Jaemin were.

At the library studying!

Jaemin brought brownies 

Say less. 

You arrive at the library within the length of two songs, immediately finding the two sitting in the area that you all usually sat at. You were expecting them to be deep in focus, table drowning in pages and textbooks of their respective classes, but instead, you catch Yeji telling Jaemin to ‘shut up before we’re kicked out.’ 

“I thought you guys were supposed to be studying,” you snort, taking the spot next to Yeji. After standing for hours straight, being able to finally sit down felt good in the knees. 

“Yeah, we were, but then Jaemin decided to bring up the topic of ugliest animals and we’ve been arguing ever since.” Yeji glares at Jaemin, “He claims that axolotls are the ugliest, but I say they’re cute.” 

Jaemin starts laughing but you send him a look that was similar to Yeji’s, “Axolotls are cute, what are you even saying!?” Yeji’s eyes widen as she brings a hand up to cover your mouth. She shushes you.

She removes her hand from your mouth and you repeat yourself, but lower your volume, “What are you even saying? They look like they’re smiling.” 

Jaemin gasps, “Excuse me? Name an animal uglier than an axolotl.” 

“Easy.” You shrug and answer flatly, “You.” Obviously joking, you wave your hand as if to shoo away the statement, “Just kidding. A blobfish. Those are ugly as shit.” 

Jaemin’s brows furrow as he leans forward towards his laptop to search it up. The way his face contorts itself makes you laugh, looking at you as if he’s seen the most disgusting image known to man (which probably did), “Shit, you’re right.” 

You nod, “Exactly.” 

Yeji laughs because she knows she won the argument thanks to your help. She quickly moves on with the topic, twisting the chair to face you, “So, how was your shift today?” Yeji’s expecting to hear something entertaining, especially since you’re working with Renjun. 

“It was fine,” you say, “But it’s been like the past few days where me or Renjun don’t even talk to each other except for maybe the start and end. We work on the opposite sides of the mural anyways, so there’s no conflict. I’ve just been listening to my own music, too, so even if he does want to talk, he has to make an effort, which I know he won’t do.” 

“Oh,” Yeji says, “Well, at least it isn’t as bad as those first few days. You guys just both sound done with each other.” You nodded and play with your phone in hand, not noticing the way Yeji’s attention diverts to Jaemin, “Oh right!”

“Hm?”

“Jaemin, tell Y/N what you were telling me about Renjun!” Your ears perk up at the mention of Renjun and possible gossip. Jaemin, though introverted, loved to branch out which meant he knew people through people. You wonder what type of stuff he’s heard of Renjun through acquaintances. This should be good. 

For the hundredth time within the hour, Jaemin is distracted from his pending paper, but he doesn’t mind. He’d do anything to get away from actually working on it. Besides, he still has a week to work on it. “Oh, right!” He sits up and slides his computer to the side, “It’s interesting actually.” 

The way Jaemin starts has you leaning in out of curiosity. This is probably what Yeji feels when you’re preparing to tell her about your day at the gig. “What is it?”

Jaemin lets out a ‘haha,’ then begins, “So, my friend Jeno knows Donghyuck because they went to high school together, and Donghyuck was the guy that was with Renjun that day at the dining hall, so we all basically know each other. I just don’t know Renjun as well because the dude is M.I.A. almost all the time.”

“Mm-hmm, go on.”

“I was telling Jeno how you were doing the painting gig with Renjun—don’t worry I didn’t say anything ’bout how you sorta loathe the guy—and Jeno was saying how Renjun’s always using his free time doing stuff like that.” Jaemin stops talking as if he’s explained every single detail he can about his small story. 

“What stuff?” You gesture for him to keep going because you’re missing a handful of information, “You can’t just end it there, the fuck?”

Jaemin laughs again, “Okay, okay, sorry. But in fairness, I was curious too so I said the same thing and asked Jeno to explain it a bit more.” The brown of Jaemin’s eyes visibly move upwards as he tries to recall what Jeno told him, “He told me that Renjun is always M.I.A. because he’s been volunteering at different places. He used to work at an animal shelter downtown, then quit to volunteer at the homeless shelter for women and children. But he quit that too, now he’s been volunteering at the retirement home near here. I guess he took up the painting gig for money though.”

You burst out laughing, “Ah, Na Jaemin…” 

“What!?” 

“Thank you for the laugh, Jaems,” you say, “But that’s such a bad joke. There’s no way Renjun’s done those things. If it is true, we’re not talking about the same Renjun.” The Renjun you know doing all that stuff? Please… it sounds like something straight out of a book. 

“His name is Huang Renjun, right?” Jaemin’s head tilts to the side. You nod. “Then, it’s him.” You gawk at your friend, “I’m sorry, it’s just… hard to believe that Renjun—the same guy who acts like some douche to total strangers—has done all of that.” It’s hard to picture it all, but it explains why Renjun decided to take up the daycare gig. It was all adding up now, but you’re not letting the realization settle that easily. “It was hard for me to believe it, too, especially with what you’ve told us about him.” Jaemin uses his arm to prop his head up, “But, I trust Jeno. There’s no reason for him to make all of that up.” Jaemin has a point. You don’t know who this ‘Jeno’ is, but there really would be no use in making this up. 

“You’re not making this up, are you?” You ask Jaemin. It’s still seriously hard to believe that all of this information was plausible. It’s as if Renjun, who you always viewed in a bad light, was now picked up and dropped under a new light. One in which you couldn’t even pinpoint if it were good or bad. Curiosity was getting ahead of you and you didn’t like it.

He shakes his head, “Why would I? Ask Renjun if you really don’t believe me.” 

“No thanks…” You shake your head, “There’s no way I’m going to ask him about anything. Especially not that.”

“Suit yourself,” Jaemin pulls his laptop back to its previous position, “Anyways, I need to get back to writing this paper.” 

With Yeji turning back to her own work, you’re left alone with your thoughts and the newfound idea of Renjun actually being… nice. It coincided with your earlier idea of Renjun repping a smile instead of the seemingly permanent scowl on his face.  No, you weren’t suddenly switching up with how you felt with Renjun because, despite the fact that there is this huge possibility that he spends his free time doing generous deeds, it didn’t automatically dismiss the way he’s been treating you. You guess it was just nice knowing that this sort of mini-hell you’ve been going through because of Renjun can finally be put to a stop.

°•. ✿ .•° 

“For Renjun?”

Renjun looks up from his phone before making his way to the counter. He quickly stuffs his phone into his pocket and grabs the drink he’s been craving for the past few days, “Thank you.”

“Have good one!”

“You as well.”

Renjun makes his way out of the cafe, cold drink in hand. At the back of his head, he wonders where Donghyuck is, because according to the time, his class should have been finished ten minutes ago and he still hasn’t texted. That wasn’t like Donghyuck at all. Usually, he would be bombarding the boy with spam texts asking where he was even though he already knew where Renjun would be waiting.

Even with that thought, Renjun shrugs it off, knowing that Donghyuck would find his way to him somehow. He decides to sit down at a nearby table, placing his bag on the chair next to him before fishing his phone back out of his pocket.

As Renjun finally decides to take a sip out of his drink, his mind frustratingly wanders back to that one shift when you’d bought him the drink without his knowledge. He still doesn’t know how you managed to get him his usual, especially since he’s aware he’s never told you it. 

He rakes through the depths of his brain to recall when you could have seen him with the drink. The one time you bumped into each other at this Starbucks, it was Donghyuck’s drink he was getting, so there was no way you saw it there. The one or two interactions after that, he doesn’t remember having a drink in hand.

Then he remembers. The day before the first shift. 

How the hell could you have remembered that? Were you that attentive? 

Why am I thinking so hard about a damn drink?

Maybe it was because the stupid drink was the reason why Renjun’s been feeling a pang of guilt everytime he’s with you. It took that one small random act of kindness to draw Renjun’s attention to the fact he was the one who often started the arguments and bickering between the two of you and you simply just returned his attitude. 

“Hey!” Suddenly, a body leaps out from behind him, almost weighing both Renjun and the other person down. It takes a moment for Renjun to realize who it was. He doesn’t even need to turn around to look. In fact, he’s not even startled by what Donghyuck had hoped was a jumpscare.

“What’s up?” Renjun questions, “What took you so long?”

Donghyuck shrugs and plops into the chair in front of Renjun, “What are you thinking about?” 

“Nothing,” Renjun retorts. He takes another sip out of his drink and tries to act it off. 

Donghyuck shakes his head, “You’re thinking about something. I know because your eye is twitching.” He brings his finger way too close to Renjun’s eye, “I can see it. Now you have to tell me.”

Renjun gives Donghyuck a look before glancing back down at the iced matcha latte sitting right in front of him. Sure, Donghyuck knows of you, but he doesn’t know of the interactions between the two of you. Renjun just doesn’t see the importance of telling Donghyuck these things. But maybe telling someone will get Renjun’s gears turning. 

So Renjun tells Donghyuck. From the coffee encounters, to the gig, the rough drafts, the drink, and painting. He makes sure not to miss a detail, trying to avoid sounding biased. He wants to know what Donghyuck’s going to say about this situation and he knows that sounding biased wouldn’t grant answers that fit with the situation. 

“It’s the fact that she still found the will to do something nice for me even though I’ve been a literal ass to her,” Renjun taps his index finger against the lid of his drink, “It’s not even that big of a deal but it’s been bugging me.”

Donghyuck sits in silence for a few moments, trying to muster up the perfect thing to tell his friend. “I really don’t know what else to tell you except that you’re stubborn as hell.”

Renjun’s taken aback, “What?”

“Sure, she probably felt bad for making you do the grid thingy on your own, but you’re right. You have been an ass,” Donghyuck bluntly continues. 

“So everything that’s lead up until now… it’s my fault?”

“Well, not completely,” Donghyuck points out, “Both of you guys seem to want to spite each other. Plus, you both seem really stubborn, which, adding both of those together, equals a shit show. But, if I were being honest, you started the whole hating each other thing. I feel like if you were nice to her, then she’d be even nicer to you. A bigger person move would be to apologize and be nice.”

It’s once in a blue moon that Donghyuck’s words made sense. Renjun thinks it through—if he were to apologize, or start being nice to you, how would you even react? Wouldn’t it be odd for him to just switch up like that? 

Renjun sighs. He feels like ripping his hair out. Maybe he won’t apologize just yet, not when his feelings are foggy. And maybe he won’t actively do nice things, only until he finally senses you wouldn’t react weirdly. He’ll just stop trying to spite you. 

“You’re right,” Renjun nods. Donghyuck grins proudly at his friend.

Maybe that’ll do it. 

At least he hopes it will.

SIX.

Painting day… five? Six? You’ve lost count if you were being entirely honest. 

But it’s not that it mattered. 

What mattered was the extremely ironic fact that you had somehow forgotten your earphones at your bedside table when you made it your number one priority on days like these in order to avoid any sort of conversation (or argument) with Renjun. But then again, there was probably a reason why the world had the audacity to pull such a thing. 

Since that day at the library, you had not been able to kick the thought of Renjun doing angelic things during his free time when he’s literally been the human embodiment of bird poop on a windshield to you. The curious part of you was itching to ask him about it, see if the way he spoke about it would bring out that hidden angel in him. But when you continue to think about it, you weren’t sure if you would be overstepping some type of imaginary boundary that the both of you had mutually set up. Was there even a right time to ask him about it all? You can’t imagine a time where you and Renjun would even be close enough to have a conversation with the topic. Even now, just physically, Renjun still chooses to paint near the other end of the mural. 

Well, as far as progress took him.

“You know if you painted as much as you’ve been staring at me, we’d be done this mural.” Renjun’s voice knocks you back into reality and it’s only then that you realize that you’re blatantly looking at him. 

Feeling a rush of heat run through your cheeks, you look away, “Sorry.” You quickly look away and try to make yourself busy with the area you were painting at, brushing the paintbrush despite already having painted that part.

“There’s no paint on your brush,” Renjun points out. He wants to laugh but he tells himself not to because it isn’t ‘on brand.’ Pshh… as if that mattered… but it did to him.

“Oh… oh right,” you laugh awkwardly and dip the paint into the closest colour, bringing it up with no thought.

“And that’s the wrong colour,” Renjun points out again. 

You look over at the mural and see that you’ve painted an entirely different colour on top of another colour. You gasp and put the brush down, “I’ll just… repaint it.” 

There’s silence as you hurry to clean your brush, using a dirty rag to wipe off the wrong paint so that the remaining remnants of it can dry out quicker. You don’t notice Renjun side-eyeing you, contemplating whether he should say something about the constant mistakes you just made. But then he remembers what Donghyuck told him.

“Are you okay?”

You’re thrown off from the words that just left Renjun’s mouth. You almost snap your neck when you turn to look at him, eyes wide, “Huh?”

He isn’t looking at you, instead keeping his attention steady on what he’s painting, “Are you okay? You seem distracted.”

He’s an empath too? Wait, is that even how an empath is?

“Anyone can see you’re thinking about something.”

And a mind reader?

You are very much close to panicking, blinking at Renjun with no words to say. You’re contemplating whether this was the right time to tell Renjun what you know about him and ask him about it. “It’s nothing, it’s just…” 

Renjun turns to look at you for half a second, then turns back to the wall. It’s like he was prompting you to say whatever you were wanting to say. 

“I was just curious,” You start, “I heard that you volunteered at the retirement home near campus?” There was no other way to put it. You hope that you don’t sound creepy, as if you’ve been stalking him recently. 

“Hmm?” This gets Renjun hooked, “Where did you hear that?” 

“Jaemin told me.” 

“Ah~ Jeno’s friend,” Renjun replies. Although the conversation has, so far, been awkward, you subconsciously knew it was an improvement from the bickering you both did. It was more civil, and you were actually glad it's taken a turn towards that direction. “What about it?” Renjun holds back the attitude that otherwise would have been evident if he weren’t trying to be nice to you. 

You shrug and tighten your lips toward one side of your face, “Like I said. I was just curious.”

Renjun tries not to take anything of what you said, turning back to his painting.

Then you quickly add, “Do you have–uh–any stories?”

Renjun looks at you again and he can feel his interest in this conversation rising. He’s had many stories that he wants to share with his friends, but when he does share them, he’s left with the realization that no one’s listening. “I have a few actually.”

“Can I hear one?” You asked, “Sorry…. I have a soft spot for the elderly… you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Renjun shakes his head, “I’d love to, actually.” You begin to paint once again, this time properly, while you wait for Renjun to begin his story.

“My favourite story since I’ve started volunteering at the retirement home is probably when someone had the genius idea to play hide ‘n seek with the active elders.” Renjun snorts at the memory. A small smile rises up onto his face, but you don’t notice. He continues, “I was the seeker, which wasn’t a good idea since I was new and I wasn’t really familiar with any of the residents there, but I thought it would fun, so I still agreed.

I counted to fifty, and there were rules where they were allowed to go and everything. Just on the main floor, and I remember the activities director made it clear that they were only allowed on the first floor. So when I went to look for them, I found all of them pretty quickly, except one.”

“Don’t tell me he… you know…”

“No he didn’t die!” Renjun gives you a look, “Why in the world would that be my favourite story?”

You shrug, “I mean, you seem like the kind of person to.”

Renjun lets this comment slide and continues, “I looked for him for almost an entire hour. One entire hour. It got to the point where a lot of the other volunteers dropped what they were doing and helped out. I was actually panicking because where else could an old man be in a building that wasn’t too big. Then the phone rang and the desk lady answered it, all she heard was snickering and I knew right then and there that it was that man. He was playing us.”

You couldn’t help but laugh quietly, “Wait, so where was he?”

“We gave up looking. We knew he’d come out sooner or later. It was just enough for us that he was alive,” Renjun retorts, “RIght before my shift ended, the same man walks in through the door with a whole box of beer in one hand and ice cream in the other.” Renjun’s laughing now and the sound takes you by surprise. It was probably the first time you’re hearing him laugh. 

You begin laughing along, “That sounds straight out of a movie! How the hell did he get out unnoticed?” 

Renjun shrugs, “Beats me. But I like to think that as my favourite story because he fooled us all. And no one knows what he did in those hours he was gone.”

“I get why it’s your favourite.” You can tell just by the way Renjun told his story that he enjoyed these things. You’d think that, because the old man caused so much chaos, he would not deem that as his favourite moment, but you were wrong. 

“Yeah,” he nods, “Then a close second would be the times they ask me to sing them their favourite songs. You can really see how playing something as simple as here comes the sun affects their day.”

It didn’t occur to you, at first, that Renjun just indirectly told you that he can sing—though you weren’t sure if he was good or not—but you were still dumbfounded, “You sing?”

“Sometimes,” he hums, “But it’s really nothing. Old people are impressed by anything.” Renjun puts the paintbrush down and flicks his wrist up to check the time, “Anyways, time’s almost up. We should start cleaning up.” 

And you both do. You both go through your usual cleaning routine before dragging all everything back into the daycare’s small closet. Once you were both were ready to leave, you go your separate ways, saying goodbye each other with small, subtle waves.

And you know what was funny about all of this? 

For the first time ever since you both met, there was zero negative intent behind any of your guys’ thoughts and actions.

SEVEN.

One new thing that you’ve learned from Renjun was that he was a pretty good storyteller, and alongside that, he had lots of stories to tell. 

Wait that’s two things. 

Nevermind that… The last two shifts of painting were pleasingly occupied with Renjun going on and on about his experiences at his volunteering opportunities. He jumped from talking about dogs giving birth to dressing up as an elf for an event at the children’s hospital—it’s like he’s lived so many lives in one. 

A small part of you was jealous of the fact that he was able to experience all of this in such a small amount of time, but hearing these stories through him made up for that pint of jealousy. After one of his stories, Renjun had stopped what he was doing and turned to you, “Do you have any stories?” 

You were slightly taken aback by the question, “Me?” It was a genuine question. 

He nodded before putting down some strokes of paint, “Yeah. Do you have any stories?” There’s a tone in his voice that told you that he was being serious. He wasn’t being the Renjun that you’ve grown to know the past few weeks—but then again, maybe that Renjun wasn’t who Renjun really was. 

“Not really,” you replied, “But don’t worry about me.” 

“It doesn’t need to be like my stories,” he pointed out, “Just a story.” Renjun gave you time to think of a story, providing some prompts for you so that you were able to come up with one on the spot. 

“How about a time when you thought you were actually done for?” 

At that, you feel a memory surface from your first year of university when you, Yeji, and Jaemin were caught underage drinking in Jaemin’s dorm by the RA, so you told him the story. How you all were completely drained from your first set of midterms and how drugs weren’t the best resort. So why not drink? You remember Jaemin had gotten a bottle or two of soju from his friend from a frat and he’s been keeping it for ‘times like these.’ In the middle of the small binge, someone knocked on the door, and you remember Jaemin saying he was expecting somebody and was stupid enough to not actually look out the peephole before opening the door. 

“And guess who it was?” you questioned. 

“Ummm,” Renjun lined one of the pictures, “His friend?”

“Nope,” you shook your head, “It was an RA. Out of all the people. It really had to be an RA. We were caught and he threatened to tell a higher-up, I’m not sure who.” Though it wasn’t that much of a problem, you remember your seventeen-year-old self feeling fear that was probably harnessed from tens of people. You were scared—no—you were horrified. It hadn’t even been two full months into the semester and you’re already in trouble.. “You should’ve seen how me and Yeji were begging for forgiveness. It was probably the deepest bow I’ve ever bowed.” 

“What happened, then?” 

“Right in the middle of our apologies, the RA and Jaemin started laughing like maniacs,” you recalled, “Yeji and I looked up and they were laughing at us.” You click your tongue against your teeth, “That motherfucker Jaemin pranked us. The RA wasn’t an actual RA.” 

Renjun bursted out into laughter, “Are you serious?” 

You brought yourself to laugh, “Yes. I was so close to ending my friendship with Jaemin. But he treated us to food the next week so… It’s kind of a stupid story but I can still remember how I felt when it happened.”

“No, I get it,” Renjun replies. He stands back from the mural to look at you, “Especially knowing how seriously they act on underage drinking, that must’ve been scary.” 

“Yeah, I think that’s mainly why Yeji and I were freaking out,” you nod. Realizing that you’ve finally finished the section you’ve been working on for the afternoon, you put the paintbrush down and pick up a rag. 

“Are you done for today?” Renjun questions. You look over at him and he’s still putting down strokes of paints, “What time is it?” 

You’re still trying to get used to you and Renjun getting along despite it being a good two weeks since you both had chosen to become civil with each other. But at the same time, it felt like weight was being taken off of your shoulders. It wasn’t like Renjun was a burden, but every time you had a shift at the daycare, you never really had the motivation to go because of him. 

But it was different now.

“There’s still like fifteen minutes before shift ends,” you say, glancing at your phone, “Wanna start cleaning?”

Renjun nods, “Let me just finish this and I’ll be right behind you.”

°•. ✿ .•° 

“Afternoon, Joy,” Renjun enters the daycare with a gentle smile, “How’s your day been?”

Joy grins from behind her computer, “Great, I guess. Yours?”

“Not bad.” Joy nods in response, “I’m sorry, I should have said this sooner, but today’s shift has been moved last minute.” She moves her rolling chair to the side so that she’s able to give Renjun all her attention.

Renjun frowns, “Why’s that?” He’s not sure if he could even think of a reason why a shift could be cancelled and moved, “Have you told Y/N?”

“Forecast says there’s going to be heavy rain today, so I think it would be better not to put new paint on the mural in case it gets washed off easily,” Joy states. At the end of her explanation, you enter the building with a quick greeting, situating yourself next to Renjun.

“But isn’t the rain for tonight? That seems to be enough for the paint to dry.” 

“What’s going on?” You asked obliviously.

Renjun nods, “Our shift’s cancelled for today because of the rain.”

“Yes, but it’s better safe than sorry,” Joy sighs, “But you guys can go and have a rest day for today. I’ll see you both in a few days!”

Without another word, Joy swings herself back to her computer and you and Renjun leave the building slightly confused. The sky looked perfectly normal on the way here. The air was still. There was no sign of a storm happening tonight. But Joy’s statements were confirmed when you pulled out your handy-dandy cellphone and tapped at the weather app. 

“She’s right,” you hold the phone for Renjun to look and he simply nods, “I guess I’ll see you next shift?” Adjusting your bag on your shoulder, you wait for Renjun’s response. He nods. 

“Yeah, I will.” Then you and Renjun begin walking down the same direction. You both hesitate before taking another step, giving each other a look. “Where are you going?”

“My dorm room.” “Oh, me too,” Renjun laughs awkwardly, “Uh… wanna walk together then?” 

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” you joke as you begin walking. Renjun follows shortly, keeping a good distance between you both. He chooses to walk your pace, keeping his eyes trained on the pavement in front of him. Although he feels like it should be awkward, there’s a comfortable silence between the both of you. 

It’s when the air starts feeling more humid than earlier that Renjun notices that it has started raining. At first, he didn’t mind it. The way the rain fell onto his head softly tickled him, but he liked it. It felt like soft kisses, if that even made sense. He looks over at you and he notices that you’re not bothered by the rain either. 

“It’s like Joy has superpowers,” you say, “One second, the sky’s blue, now it’s raining.” You only hope that the rain doesn’t get worse than now. Your dorm room is still a bit of a walk away and you’re not in the mood to get drenched. 

Renjun nods, “Next thing we know, it’s pouring.” 

And as if someone had snapped their fingers, the rain gets heavier, pelting you and Renjun from above. The raindrops completely contrast how they just were, thick and feeling like punches instead of the shower of kisses. You gasp and slip your bag off, bringing it into your arms to protect your expensive belongings inside. 

“What the hell!?” You say over the loud pitter patters of the droplets. You don’t know why you’re frozen in place. Perhaps it was the rush of cold water washing over you.  

Renjun thinks differently, opting to make a break for it. He glances over at you in near panic, noticing immediately that you’re not moving at all. Then, without thinking, Renjun takes no longer than a second to pull you along with him, sprinting down the narrowing pathway as it leads to the nearest building. He swings the door open, careful not to hit you in the process. When he takes out a key identical to yours, you realize then that this was his dorm building, “I think you should stay in my dorm while you wait it out. You might get sick.” You hesitate and think this situation through. Going to Renjun’s dorm? Were you even that close? What if–

“If you’re thinking about what I think you’re thinking, no I’m not,” Renjun grumbles, “Let’s go.” He waves you in and you’re led to impulsively deciding that, yes, you will accept his offer. And it’s mostly because you don’t want to be drenched in the rain, nor do you want to stand in this hot vestibule for however long the rain will last. 

“I hope the dorm isn’t messy, but it’s mostly my roommate who’s messy.” It sounds like Renjun’s speaking to himself but you know he’s trying to warn you. He’s walking a few strides in front of you, looking back subtly to make sure you’re actually following him down the hall. 

Soon, you find yourself walking through Renjun’s front door, greeted with a waft of some kind of candle scent. You can’t really pinpoint the smell to its exact fragrance, but you can describe it as homey–something warm and welcoming. 

“Lonjoon!” A voice exclaims from the small couch, “You’re ho– oh, hello?”

You recognize the boy who stands up from the couch as Donghyuck, both from the times you’ve encountered Renjun and from Jaemin. You wave awkwardly, “Sorry for intruding.”

Renjun speaks up, “Y/N’s dorm building is by the edge of campus and it’s pouring outside. I offered for her to stay here while we wait for it to stop.”

“I don’t mind,” Donghyuck grins, “Hmm, so you’re Y/N? I’ve heard a bunch of things about you from Renjun! I’m Donghyuck.”

Your brow cocks and you give Renjun, who’s sliding his shoes off and fixing them to the side, a look before turning back to Donghyuck, “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” he says, “You’re just as pretty as Renjun sa–”

Renjun throws his damp hoodie at Donghyuck’s face with the goal of shutting him up, “How about you go to your room and we take the living room?” Renjun approaches his best friend, holding him by his shoulders before pushing him in the direction of one of the rooms. It’s funny simply because he doesn’t even wait for him to reply. 

Once he has gotten rid of Donghyuck, Renjun turns on his toes to face you, “Sorry, that’s just how he is… don’t listen to him, he makes stuff up all the time.” And although Renjun’s actually telling the truth—because no, he’s never called you pretty in front Donghyuck—he knows Donghyuck’s comments are believable to those who aren’t used to his shenanigans. 

There were two ways you could go about it. Ignore him and make the situation less awkward, or tease him and see what he says. Either choice would be funny, especially because you could see that this boy is on edge with what his friend just said. But since you’re feeling nice, you choose the former option, “So, what do you plan on doing while we wait for the rain?” 

Renjun quietly sighs in relief, “We can put something on to watch? I’m just not sure what we should watch though.” He makes his way to the couch and he gestures you to sit in the spot next to him.

It’s crazy how your mind works in times like these. At the back of your head, you almost make sure to keep an array of movies to watch, ones that you’re sure everyone would be content with. But with Renjun, one movie hovers above the others because you could still recall your astonishment when this whole adult man hadn’t seen the one movie you adore with your heart.

“How about the Pursuit of Happyness?” you say, “You haven’t seen it… so why not now?” 

Renjun nods, “Yeah, sure. That sounds good to me.” Within a few clicks of the remote, the movie begins and Renjun’s offering you some snacks he managed to pull from the kitchen (or that have already been there, courtesy of Donghyuck). The rain outside is still going at it, but the movie masks the sound of the raindrops striking repeatedly against the windows. 

Renjun’s incredibly entangled in the film. You can easily catch this in the way his eyes were steady on the screen as he leans towards it. He mutters comments every now and then, ones that complement your own thoughts of the film. 

“It’s… it’s just going downhill,” Renjun frowns. His eyes finally leave the screen about half way through the movie, “I can’t believe you’re making me watch this. If it has a bad ending, I’m holding you against the emotional damage I’ll be experiencing.” 

“I mean you did agree to watch it,” you point out. Biting your lip, you hold a laugh back despite the movie not even being comedic. It’s Renjun and his current state that’s making you laugh. It’s new territory for you, if that was even the right way to describe it. 

So far, you’ve only met the stubborn and spiteful Renjun, and most recently, the generous and compassionate Renjun. His actual character, you’ve learned, sits in the middle of both of those. But the one you’re watching this movie with was different. He was vulnerable, ready to cry whenever the movie finally pushes past his breaking point. But you’re glad to see that he isn’t afraid to show it to you, especially since you both were still just starting this odd friendship.

“What the fuck. I can’t do this shit. What the hell?” You snap out of your mini trance and you realize why a string of profanities are leaving Renjun’s mouth. It was the very scene that had you bawling like a baby the first time you watched it, and tearing up now. The scene at the subway station. 

You let Renjun watch it, keeping silent as you pay attention to the screen, too. You could feel your heart ache, the scene grasping it, as your mouth grew into a frown. 

In a hushed tone, Renjun questions out loud, “Please tell me that this is the worst it gets?” Looking over at Renjun, you notice that he’s actually crying. There were tears streaming down his face and he’s sniffling like he’s caught the annual flu. 

“I don’t want to spoil it,” you retort, sniffling yourself. Looking around, you spot a tissue box sitting at the centre of the coffee table in front of both of you. You reach for it, holding it out to Renjun. 

“Thanks,” he sniffles. Once Renjun’s finished blowing his nose, he falls silent again, attention all on the movie. He’s so attentive that you know thoughts are running through his head at an unreadable pace.

Next thing you know, the movie’s end credits are rolling and Renjun flops into the couch’s cushion, “I get why you were surprised when I said I haven’t seen that movie.” He turns his head to face you, “Because that was a good movie.” 

The way Renjun’s looking at you causes you to shrink under his gaze, though it wasn’t in a way where you were cowering. You felt… shy? There wasn’t a word that was coming up that described it precisely, but shy was alarmingly close. “I’m glad you liked it.” He stretches his lips into some form of lazy grin. There’s a very brief silence between you both but it was enough for you to recognize that the rain had stopped, or at least, it had gotten weaker over the past few hours. 

“Oh the rain’s stopped,” you say quickly, “I guess I’ll get going then.” Within seconds, you’re up and grabbing your belongings. Then, you’re at the door, slipping your sneakers on thoughtlessly. At that point, you’re aware that it’s almost dinner time and the sun’s probably setting if you could see past the clouds. 

Renjun follows you to the door, “It looks dark out, do you want me to walk with you?”

If your life were a reality TV show, this would be when the camera unsteadily zooms into your face as it simultaneously changes expressions into one that’s a mix of confusion and shock. “No, it’s fine, there’s probably some people walking from class.” The door’s open behind you and you’re ready to sprint out. But Renjun stops you. 

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he grins, “I’ll see you around.”

“Goodnight, Renjun.”

Renjun waves and shuts the door. He lets out a huff before turning around to find Donghyuck standing there with the most irritating smirk sitting on his face. 

“What?”

Donghyuck gasps, “Nothing!” 

Renjun pushes past him to turn the TV off before going to fold the blanket he was previously using, “Then don’t make that face if you don’t have a reason.”

Donghyuck snickers and shakes his head in a way that only irked Renjun even more. He chooses not to say anything else because he knows that Renjun’s mind works fast enough to work two and two together. 

That’s how it usually works, at least.

EIGHT.

Routines are meant to be routines. 

Every shift you and Renjun were supposed to arrive, bring the supplies you needed to the wall, paint, realize that it’s time to clean up, and then leave. While you both painted, Renjun’s role was to tell one of his many experiences and your usual role was to listen. If not, comfortable silence or music will often fill that silence. 

But today was different. 

You and Renjun were finally painting the second layer of the mural, and although it initially wasn’t necessary, the second layer of paint gave the painting a bolder look. So you both went for it.

The day was going as it usually would. Renjun had finished a more recent story from the old folks’ home, going on about how he’s excited for Thursday. “Throwback Thursday. We play music and shows and films from their times. Even if they already do that anyway, it’s a bit more special because practically all the residents attend.”

“That actually sounds like a lot of fun,” you say genuinely, “I can’t imagine the nostalgia they go through.” You squat down and dip the paintbrush into the paint. 

“How about you come with me, then?” Renjun offers, “Are you busy on Thursday?” He stands and waits for your reply, watching as you freeze suddenly at his question. You only freeze because this isn’t how it usually was. He’s supposed to say something like ‘it is fun’ or go on to tell you a story about a previous throwback Thursday. But asking you to come with him? 

“Me?” You verbalize, “Come with you?” 

“Yeah!” Renjun nods, “They love getting all the help they can get.” He carelessly strokes the brush against the wall and watches as the concrete completely disappears underneath the paint. “And it would be cool for you to be there. That way we can share one of these stories.” 

“Um…” You don’t like using agendas, but right now would have been the right time to have one. “I’m not sure, actually. I’ll let you know before then, though. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Day of is fine, too.” 

The minute you get home, you feel a strong urge to tell Yeji about the invitation. But knowing Yeji, you know damn well she’s going to convince you to go.

You guess correctly when she peeks over her laptop and over at you after you’re brief ramble about it. “Didn’t you say that you and Renjun were on better terms now?” You nodded. “Well, I think there wouldn’t be any harm in going. Imagine how horrible you’d look if you rejected that opportunity.” 

“Renjun would understand,” you say quietly.

“Well, do you want to go?” Yeji questioned. 

You blink at your best friend, “It’s not that I don’t want to go. It’s just…” You pause and try to think about why you’re stressing about something that wasn’t even that big of a deal. Renjun literally just invited you to volunteer. It’s not like he asked you on a date (and why would he?). It was just the idea of him actually asking you to spend time with him outside of that gig that made you stop and think.

“There’s your answer.” 

“Huh?” your head tilts to the side, “Answer? Where?”

Yeji snorts and turns her attention back to her laptop, “You just said ‘it’s not that I don’t want to go.’ That implies that you do wanna go. Then go.” 

With a little bit more pushing from Yeji, you find yourself standing in front of Renjun’s dorm building that very Thursday with a tote bag and your head filled with thoughts that you couldn’t even comprehend. If you focused hard enough, you could pick out ones about what today’s dinner will be, how the residents were like outside of Renjun’s stories, and what the retirement home looked like. There were traces of what remaining tasks you needed done for the mural and if you’ve somehow left assignments unfinished. Then there were ones of Renjun and–

“Sorry for making you wait.” You jump and find Renjun appear in your field of vision. He’s fixing his crossbody bag over his shoulder, then you watch has he fixes the cap on his head, “I’m excited! Let’s go then?”

You and Renjun make small talk on the way to the retirement, which you admit, thought would be further away. But when Renjun told you that it was just a walking distance from campus, he wasn’t lying. The walk only lasted about ten minutes and the next thing you know, you’re telling the lady at the front desk your name.

“Alright, here’s your volunteer badge,” she slides you a laminated tag, “And here’s yours, Renjun!” You follow Renjun, who pins his own name tag to the left side of his chest. He pats it before saying goodbye to the lady, turning to you to see if you were set to go in. 

Renjun leads the way into the main lounge area. It was a rather large room, one wall being entirely windows. By the front, or what you believed was the front, was a big fireplace, and by that fireplace, a small grand piano. On top of the fireplace was a big TV that was currently playing the news, not that anyone was paying attention. 

Scattered throughout the room sat tables and padded chairs, some of which were occupied by residents. It was almost exactly how you imagined it, almost book-like, or ones you’d see in movies. It was cozy, yet not too cozy for it to be suffocating.

“Oh, Renjun, you’re here!” A slightly older guy seems to appear from the side, waving, “And you must be Y/N? Renjun told us you might be joining. Nice to see you actually did!” He sticks a hand out and grins, “I’m Taeyong. I coordinate a majority of the activities for the facility.” 

You shake his hand, “Nice to meet you, Taeyong. I’m a little nervous.” 

Taeyong shakes his head, “Don’t be! Everyone’s pretty nice here, especially in the afternoon.” He lets out a quiet laugh, “Well anyways, we just called down the other residents so we’re just waiting for them to come. Then we start exactly at five.”

Taeyong turns to Renjun, “You’re taking over for music right?” Renjun nods and cracks his fingers as if he’s about to go step into a boxing ring. 

“I usually take the role as emcee, but I was told I had other duties to go about for the next hour,” Taeyong says carefully, “Y/N, would you mind being the emcee? I promise you it’s not that bad. I even have cue cards if you need it.” Taeyong holds out a small pile of flashcards, holding them out to you.

Renjun lights up at the idea, “It would be fun if you did it! All you have to do is prompt the songs and the residents will raise their hands. Then you go up to them and hold up the mic to their mouths for their answer. Sorta like a game show host.”

“I guess I can try,” you say carefully. What was the worse that could happen? 

“Great!” Taeyong claps his hands together, “Thank you so much, Y/N. I appreciate it!” He hands you the cue cards and goes to leave, “Have fun guys!” 

Once Taeyong was gone, Renjun turns to you, “I know it’s a heavy job but don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. I promise you, the old folks have gone through a lot, so slip-ups won’t matter to them at all.” 

You nodded, “I hope so. You better help me up there if something goes wrong.” You give him a look of warning, though it was playful and meant well. Renjun knew how Throwback Thursdays worked—this was your first one—so you don’t really have a feel of how it should be brought out.

“I will, don’t worry,” Renjun ensures, “How bout this. I’ll do the introduction and then you go from there. That way, you’re not super lost.”

“That would help,” you grin. 

Soon, little by little, the residents begin filling the room, taking seats at what you understood as their usual seats. They chattered amongst themselves, having conversations that mostly consisted of today’s weather or the news that was playing on the TV. From a nearby table, you overhear two ladies lightheartedly trash-talking each other, arguing over who would get the most correct songs for this week’s Throwback Thursday.

You can’t help but laugh at the bickering. Renjun notices this and smiles to himself. He’s glad you’re enjoying it so far. “There’s a leaderboard, if you’re wondering why they’re so serious about this,” Renjun points out, “Well not really an official one, but they keep track of it themselves. I don’t even know how but they do.” 

“That explains it,” you laugh, “I think it’s cute.” 

Renjun nods, “It is. They remind me of kids sometimes. They get happy over the smallest things. I admire it.”

This comment makes your heart do a ball change—two quick beats before settling back into its normal rhythm. It was just endearing seeing Renjun be all soft around what he loves doing. It only hits much harder when this wasn’t the Renjun you initially knew. 

First impressions were not always the best impressions.

“I think we can start with the intro,” Renjun nudges your elbow. He starts making his way to the front of the room. You trail right behind him, respectfully greeting the residents as you make eye contact with them. They obviously weren’t familiar with you, but they still smiled nonetheless. 

Renjun grabs the mic, turning it on before giving it a light tap to test it, “Good afternoon everyone! Can you all hear me?” You see some of the residents nod, others verbally responding with the loudest whoop they can let out. “Perfect! How’s everyone doing this afternoon?” There’s a chorus of different answers, but you can tell that they all were content with their day. 

“I’m happy to hear that! Welcome to this week’s Throwback Thursday! I think you’re all familiar with me, my name is Renjun!” Renjun turns to you, and gestures, “Today, I have my partner Y/N with me to help out! Can we give her a warm welcome?” Similar to earlier, they enter a chorus of replies, greeting you with waves and smiles. This made you feel much more comfortable. 

“Okay! So you know how all this works, I play a song on the piano, and if you know it, raise your hand. I’ll trust Y/N’s judgment on who raised their hands first. She’ll come up to you all and then you can give her the answer! Everything clear?” Again, a chorus of replies. “Then let’s begin!”

Renjun hands the mic over to you, whispering a ‘have fun’ and a ‘you got this’ before sitting down behind the piano. 

You look down at the cue cards given to you by Taeyong and find that it was the list of songs that Renjun was going to play for the night. There were about twenty songs listed down along with the artist. You felt a sense of relief wash over you. 

“Hello everyone! Are you all ready for the first song?” you question. You still feel a bit nervous, but from how Renjun went through with the intro, you knew exactly how you want to host. The residents cheered and you can feel the anticipation. It was nice that they were all willing to participate. “Okay, this one is really easy, so get your hands ready! Renjun, cue the music!”

Renjun smiles and nods, placing his hands on the keys for the first song. He begins playing it effortlessly and you’re a bit taken aback by the way he was playing the song well—it was My Girl by The Temptations. Renjun had only played the intro when hands were already shooting up. Your eyes naturally fall on a man seated near the windows, glasses slipping to the tip of his nose.

You grin and quickly make your way over, “I believe you had your hand up first!” Your eyes find a last name on his walker, “Mr. Moon. What’s your answer?” 

You bring the mic up near his lips and nod for him to answer. Before he speaks, he leans forward, “It is My Girl by The Temptations.” 

Although you already knew the answer, you still look down at the flash cards, “My, my, my…” You pretend that the answer is wrong, frowning and letting your voice trail before switching up, “My Girl by The Temptations is correct! One point for Mr. Moon!” 

You hear some of the other residents chuckle at your improvisation, clapping out of joy. You don’t notice as you walk back to the front, but Renjun’s smile grows wider. 

“Next song!” You read it, and hum, “This one’s a few decades newer, but I know you all will know this one!” You turn to Renjun, quietly signalling for him to begin the song. You watch the residents as they wait for Renjun to start the song’s snippet. Again he plays the intro, an easy-to-recognize sequence bouncing across the room. 

A different man raises his hand first, so you move across the room swiftly. This man doesn’t have a nametag, “Do you know the answer, sir?” 

“Of course I do, I remember going to their concert back in the day!” He speaks through the mic. The people around you react, eyes widening. 

“Oh, so you should very well know it, right?” You question, “Were you a fan of them?” 

“A big, big fan,” the man uses his hands to speak, throwing his arms to gesture something large, “Good ‘ol days. But anyways, the answer is Open Arms by Journey. One of my favourites.” 

“I guess you already know that the answer is correct!” you laugh, “Can’t argue with a fan. One point for you, sir!” He nods his head in pride before you turn to walk back to the front. At this point, you’re gaining more confidence despite it barely even starting. In a way, the interactions came naturally.

“The next song is one that might not come to you all easily since it’s a bit newer, but I guarantee that at least one of you will know it,” you say through the mic. 

Renjun begins with the intro, and you’re familiar with the song because you’ve heard your parents play it plenty of times in the car growing up. So far, none of the residents had brought their hands up to answer. You’re actually quite surprised to see that no one was familiar with the song’s intro. 

Renjun continues to play the song. 

Then he begins to sing. 

You remember when he had first told you about his time here at the retirement home and how he sang for the residents. You remember him completely dismissing the fact that he did sing for these people and after that, the subject wasn’t really brought up. 

Now that you’re here and volunteering with him, you finally get a chance to hear him sing. 

“Oceans apart… day after day… and I slowly go insane…” 

What the fuck. 

You almost say this out loud and through the mic in front of many many elderly people and you suddenly feel compelled to slap yourself. 

Renjun’s voice was unexpected, but it was beautiful. You really didn’t have any idea of how his singing voice would sound but now that you’re hearing it, it perfectly matched his speaking voice. It was satin-like and captivating—a voice you could and you’d honestly like to listen to all day. 

“How can we say forever?”

Your eyes drift to Renjun, who’s focused. His eyes are on the music sheets sitting in front of him. The expression on his face is calm and gentle, words of which could also describe his singing. You hope Renjun doesn’t notice that you’re looking at him, because if he did, it would be humiliating. 

“Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you…”

Then your heart does this thing. 

It was very similar to the little skip that it did earlier, but now, instead of falling back to the rhythm it usually followed, it only sped up in tempo. 

What the fuck. You repeat to yourself. Your eyes widen before dropping to your feet in panic. Because it really shouldn’t be doing that. Not at this point in time. 

“I raised my hand first!” One of the ladies knock you back into reality and you realize that a few people have had their hands raised. She was speaking to another woman sitting at the same table and you recognize them as the two women from earlier. You smile sheepishly, almost forgetting what your job is and opting to listen to Renjun and only Renjun for the rest of the game. You apologize, “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite notice. Can we play a small game of rock, paper, scissors to settle this fairly?” 

They play the game as you make your way up to them. Once it was settled, you bring the mic up to the winner, the lady who claimed she raised her hand first. “What do you think the song title is?”

“Oh, I know what the song title is,” she chuckled, “Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx.” 

“I love the confidence!” You say, laughing, “You are correct! One point for you, ma’am!” The woman cheered, ecstatic she got the point. Then, like before, you return to the front and you start at the beginning of the cycle for the next songs. 

You try your best to keep yourself together, especially when the song’s difficulty requires Renjun to sing part of it. He had a voice to be proud of. You have no idea why he didn’t choose to brag about it. But maybe that’s just Renjun. 

What’s ironic was the fact that Renjun was almost as charmed by you as you were with him. However, it wasn’t because of the way you sang, because if you were ever asked to sing, you’d warn them about temporarily losing the sense of hearing, but it was simply through the way you interacted with the residents. The best word Renjun could find to describe the way you spoke to them was genuine. 

You genuinely seemed to enjoy speaking to them, making small talk throughout the game so that you kept them entertained. Renjun also concluded that you were actually a pretty witty person. Jokes and fitting comments were flying out of your mouth whenever you pleased, giving the residents a reason to laugh hearty laughs.

Though it really didn’t appear to be that big of a deal to anyone else, Renjun found it endearing. It was simply just a trait that he found worthy of adoring. 

Renjun slumps behind the piano relieved that the instrument was helping him hide the smile that was uncontrollably growing upon his lips. And if you see him with that big, fat, doting smile, he wouldn’t know what to do.

At the end of the game and its conclusion, you actually find yourself feeling bummed that it was over. You stand at the side of the room, watching as the residents either take their leave or decide to stay in the lounge room a bit longer. You bow to the ones who cross your path, thanking them for being great participants. 

“Will you be back next week?” a lady stops to talk to you, “You were refreshing to have. That young boy, Taeyong, follows the same script and it does get very tedious after a while.” 

“I would love to, actually,” you say, frowning, “But I’m not sure if I will. Renjun invited me to join but I don’t know if this is just a one-time thing.” 

“Oh, well,” she smiles sadly, “If you ever decide to return, you’re always welcome.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” you mirror her expression before she walks away. 

In her place, another lady stops and reaches for your hand, “Thank you for a wonderful time!” 

You shake your head, “It’s nothing, really. Renjun played a large part as well, I shouldn’t take all the credit.” Over her shoulder you see Renjun speaking to a few of the male residents. 

“Oh! Speaking of that lovely boy, are you two together?” Her head tilts to the side in curiosity, “You two make quite a cute couple!” 

Her comment makes you freeze in shock for a short moment. You and Renjun? A couple?

“Oh!” you shake your head, almost to the point where you could feel your head coming loose from the rest of your body, “We’re not dating! It’s nothing like that. It’s really the opposite! We only started being friends not too long ago!”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” she only picks up your last comment, “You ever go to connect a plug to a socket without looking?” You nod your head but she could tell that you’re confused. “You miss it a couple of times, making small adjustments so you can get that damn plug into the socket. Then, finally, right when you get it in, the electricity runs through it to serve its purpose.” 

“I-I don’t understand what you’re saying, ma’am.”

“I’m saying that it doesn’t matter when you guys started ‘being friends,’” she laughs lightly, “If two pieces fit together, then that’s that. I know a match when I see one.” 

And without another peep, the lady walks away, singing a tune under her breath.

NINE.

“Is this enough?” Renjun’s pouring paint into one of the paint trays at the bottom of the ladder. 

You look down from the top of the ladder, “That looks like it, thank you.” You paint a few more strokes down before climbing back down to grab the newly filled tray. The goal for the day was to finish the second layer so that over the last few shifts, you and Renjun could focus on details and finishing touches. Judging by how much work was left, the two of you were probably going to end up working overtime. But none of you minded. 

“You know, some of the residents were asking for you when I returned a few days ago?” Renjun watches as you pick up the tray. When your feet find their way onto the first step of the ladder, Renjun unconsciously steps forward to keep the ladder steady, “I think they really loved your company.” The corner of his mouth quirks upward at the recent memory of you and your interactions. Not one inch of his bone regretted inviting you. 

“Really?” you light up, “I enjoyed their company, too.”

Renjun replies, “Yeah, really. I guess you made a really good impression on them.” Then Renjun makes a witty, lighthearted comment, “Unlike you did on me.”

You laugh and look down, “The feeling’s mutual.” 

Out of interest, Renjun lets this burning question leave his lips, “Why did you hate me so much anyway?” Then he shakes his head, “I mean I understand why, but I wanna hear your side of the story.” 

You take a seat on one of the middle stairs of the ladder and rest your head on your arm, “I guess… everytime we ran into each other, you weren’t exactly the nicest. I remember I apologized when I accidentally bumped into you that one morning before class and you made a comment about me not being able to afford your shirt or something even when I apologized.” “In fairness, it was before an eight AM and that shit was hot,” Renjun defends, “But you’re right. I could’ve handled it better.” He doesn’t even remember why he blew up that morning. But he does remember a feeling of remorse the moment he arrived in class and was able to reflect on what he just did.

“And that one time when I took Donghyucks’s drink,” you face palm because you don’t know how you even managed to do that, “You didn’t even say thank you when I gave you the drink when I could’ve taken it. Especially since it was you who had gone up to me.”

Renjun’s face heats up. He really was a whole douchebag to you. “I was in a hurry. But I could’ve handled that better, too.” Renjun pauses and drops his head to look at his feet, “I think my apologies are long overdue. But I really am sorry for both of those times. I don’t know… they were sorta both in the heat of the moment… but if I could go back, I’d treat you better. Maybe we could’ve gotten along faster.” 

“You’re forgiven,” you reply seriously, swinging your legs, “Besides, it’s not like we haven’t made any progress.” You look up at the mural and remember how your relationship with Renjun had been when you both started it. It was almost the complete opposite. “I think I owe you an apology, too. It’s not like I’m completely innocent either.”

Renjun turns to go back to his spot, “You don’t even need to apologize. You were just treating me the way I was treating you.” 

“Doesn’t make it okay,” you stand up and dip the paintbrush in paint. 

“True, but still.” Renjun raises his head to look at you, “But I forgive you too. Even though I still don’t think you need to say sorry.”

You don’t say anything else. Instead, you playfully roll your eyes. Despite your reaction, you’re actually glad that you and Renjun were finally at that point where you could joke about about the past. Being able to openly share how you both felt, and just conversing about it proves that your relationship with him has shifted. It’s relieving.

“Hey Y/N?”

You look through the ladder and find Renjun staring up at you. His hair is falling back, fringe brushing past the corners of his eyes. He looks pretty. “Yeah?”

“It’s getting late,” he says, “Want to wrap up and get something to eat?” 

You’re compelled to make a ‘like a date?’ comment, but you hold back. You and Renjun just made complete amends. You can’t be that bold just yet, “Sure. Where to?”

°•. ✿ .•° 

A handful of bites and sips of pop later, you and Renjun are walking back from the closest fast-food restaurant from campus. The topic of conversation had been jumping from one to another, keeping the atmosphere comfortable and busy. Currently, it was about the pet peeves that came along with your roommates despite still loving them with all your heart. 

“Sometimes,” Renjun sighs, “Donghyuck, he literally doesn’t wash the bottom of the cups cause he thinks that only water rinsing it is enough. He only scrubs the rim of the cup. Once, I was filling my cup with water and I see remnants of dried out coke floating from the bottom.” 

You gasp and make a face, shaking your head, “That’s disgusting! Imagine if you didn’t see that. You’d just be ingesting dried coke.”

“He learned from that,” Renjun shrugs, “Cause even he experienced it. He always scrubs the bottom of the cups first now.”

“Good,” you retort, “Because I was going to tell you to remind me never to drink from a cup when I go over to your guys’ dorm.” Renjun laughs but he can’t help but interpret your comment in a way that could be considered overthinking. “For me, Yeji used to wash her clothes without putting them with like colours.”

“How is her wardrobe not fucked up?” Renjun sends you a look, “Especially her white clothing.”

You shrug, “Beats me. But that one time I caught her, I felt like her mom teaching her right from wrong. I have no idea how she’s never been told off in all her years of life.”

“I don’t know what’s worse, that, or Donghyuck’s old habit.” You shake your and head and look down. You wonder if Yeji had any pet peeves about you. What would they even be? You didn’t feel like you were doing anything pet-peeve-worthy. But then again, Yeji didn’t see anything wrong with mixing her clothing up. 

When you see your dorm building growing in your field of vision, your eyes widen and you turn to Renjun, “We missed your building!” You stop in your tracks and try to do a one-eighty to go back to Renjun’s building. The two of you were so caught up in conversation that you missed it. 

“No I did it on purpose,” Renjun shakes his head, “I wanted to walk you back.” A tickling sensation subtly appears and disappears in your stomach. 

“You really didn’t have to!” you say shaking your hands as a way to deny his kind action, “The campus is safe anyways! I could have walked on my—”

“I know it is, but I wanted to,” he shrugs, “There’s a difference.” He’s right. There is a difference. Because it’s one thing to walk you home with some worry that you’d get into some form of accident, you know, to ensure your safety (which you understood as basic human decency), but it’s another to want to walk you home. Even with the knowledge that you’d be safe because there were other students probably walking the same way, he wanted to walk you home and it was probably because he wanted to spend more time with you. 

You don’t know how to react to that implication.

He starts walking towards your building, hands stuffed into his sweater’s pockets. When he senses that you weren’t following, he turns back, “What are you doing?”

“Sorry,” you sigh, “I zoned out.” 

You speed up to reach his side, trying to process whether or not you were overthinking or not. Before you know it, you’re at the doors of your building and you’re fishing your keys out of your pocket, “Thanks for walking me here, I guess.”

“You guess?” Renjun laughs softly.

“I mean like, it was unexp–”

“I’m joking,” Renjun rolls his eyes playfully, “I wanted to.” There it is again.

“Anyways, I’ll head in now,” you say, avoiding any awkward silences, “Goodnight.”

He grins, and you swear you see his eyes twinkle, “Goodnight.”

When you reach your dorms, Yeji’s standing at the entry way, arms crossed with a smirk, “I saw Mr. Renjun drop you off… care to explain?” 

“What are you even doing staring out the window?” you glare at her and kick your shoes off. Walking past her, you tug your bag off your arm and plop it beside the couch, “And explain what? He just wanted to drop me off.” 

“Key word is ‘wanted’,” Yeji walks up to you and digs her index finger into your shoulder, “I’m getting this psychic-netic sense that he’s starting to harbour feelings for you.” You want to laugh because Renjun? Feelings? For you? It’s laugh worthy. “No way. We just made up.”

“Yeah, but you both were all chill before today,” she rolls her eyes, “He’s probably starting to like you like you like him.”

“What are you even talking about?” You’re ready to escape this conversation. Mentally, you’re in a position that runners take when they’re about to begin a race, but in front of Yeji, you’re stiff as a rock, grounded and eyes wide as you react to what she just said. “Nothing,” she shrugs, “You didn’t deny it though.” Yeji cackles and makes her own great escape, sprinting into her room before shutting the door. 

When Renjun finally gets home, he’s greeted with a bear hug from his own roommate. 

“I thought you died or something!” Donghyuck yells, “Why are you home so late?”

“I had dinner with Y/N and walked her home?” Renjun’s confused. He leans forward and notices tears in Donghyuck’s eyes. He doesn’t know whether he should laugh or feel bad because he’s never seen his best friend in such a state, “Are you actually crying? Look I’m sorry, I actually forgot to update you.”

“Yes! I’m crying,” Donghyuck glares at Renjun, “It’s not like I splashed my face with water or anything.” Donghyuck wipes his ‘tears’ away and ‘sniffles’, “If I knew you had a date, I wouldn’t have sobbed my eyes out waiting for you to get home.”

“It wasn’t a date,” Renjun hurriedly denies, “It was just a friendly dinner.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Donghyuck waves off, “Friendly dinner my ass.”

“It was!” Renjun’s ready to jump Donghyuck, “We worked for a long time today and we also formally apologized to each other. It was fitting.”

“You know what?”

“No, I don’t know what.”

Donghuck clicks his tongue against his teeth, “You like her.”

“What even makes you say that?” There’s a bazillion things running through Renjun’s head, but none of those things were coming to a single conclusion that made sense with this conversation with Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes, “The past few days, when you walk through that door from the gig or just being with Y/N, you have this sickening—but cute?—I don’t know… love-struck? Charmed?—Whatever you’d call it—look on your face and it’s painfully obvious that you’re starting to have feelings for her.”

Renjun gulps. He’s at a loss of words only because he’s never heard or seen Hyuck say something so serious in his life, “You’re lying.”

“No. I’m not. I can’t believe you haven’t realized it yourself when you’re usually more emotionally intelligent than me.”

Stunned, Renjun thinks it through. 

Sure the word ‘love-struck’ doesn’t really describe what he’s feeling for you, only because he knows it hasn’t gone that far. He thinks back to the day it suddenly rained, when you both watched The Pursuit of Happyness and he let himself be vulnerable in front of you. Then to the day at the retirement home and seeing your interactions with the older adults. Those few times you were too immersed in painting to comprehend what was happening around you… Hell, he even thinks back to the time you had gotten him that damn Starbucks drink despite how horrible he treated you that day. 

What did all these days have in common? Sure, all these days involved you and him, and progression in the relationship between the two of you. But the thing that persisted was how his chest warmed up in a way that was almost entirely unfamiliar to him. Shit, it has happened so many times that it has become familiar. 

Renjun sighs and he looks at Donghyuck with a defeated look, “I think you’re right.” 

“About?”

Renjun gets deja vu. He remembers the conversation he had long ago with Donghyuck about his attitude towards you. Never would he have thought that it would get this far. 

“My feelings for Y/N.”

TEN.

It was the final stretch. The mural needed no more than final details and cleaning up before it was finished. And after this, you and Renjun would be finished the project. 

You’re excited to see the mural in all its glory—no unfinished patches and pending layers. You can already taste the satisfaction, especially because both you and Renjun had worked your asses off finishing it. 

But there was an elephant in the room. 

It wasn’t a massive elephant, but it was there, sitting right in between you and Renjun and you didn’t know how to address it without him misinterpreting everything. 

The elephant: What would become of the two of you after all of this has ended? 

You look over at him with that lingering thought. 

It was rather baffling because your relationship with him appeared to be nothing more than two co-workers—maybe a little bit more than that. No. That’s wrong. You guys were friends—at least that’s what you considered him. You could easily tell he considers you one of his, too, but you weren’t sure that you were at that point where you would speak to each other after all this is over. 

You’d hate to see your relationship with him falter after everything. 

You’re hoping Renjun’s feeling the same way, simply because he hasn’t said anything all shift. Just a mere ‘hi’ was all that slipped out his mouth towards you, and a soft ‘thank you’ when Joy had come out to congratulate you both for almost completing the project. Otherwise, he hasn’t done more than breathe and paint. 

“You’re quiet,” you say playfully. You’re not sure if you were overstepping boundaries but you wouldn’t have said anything if you weren’t comfortable with Renjun. 

The noise in Renjun’s head nearly blocks your voice out completely, but you’re lucky to have caught his attention. “Hm?”

You finish the details of your current part of the painting and move onto the next. It was one step closer to Renjun, “I said you’re quiet. Is something up?” It’s a good sign that Renjun wasn’t shooting any sort of remark your way, but you can tell he’s avoiding eye contact. You haven’t seen Renjun so out of it. 

“No,” he replies, “No, I… I’m just thinking.” It was Renjun’s turn to finish an area. He takes a hesitant step closer to you to complete the details of a new area. 

 Dot. Dot. You use black paint to add details to a bear’s face. Its eyes. It looks a lot better than it did just moments ago. “Can I ask what about?”

Renjun pauses and thinks about his answer. You. He’s thinking about you. But he’s not sure if it would be odd for him to be honest and up-front. Renjun’s adding details to a toy car. Dot. Line. Dot. Dot. “Things. I’ll tell you when I get it sorted out.”

“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to,” you say. You move on to a toy train. Line. Dot. Two lines. Although you’re still truthful about what you just said, you’re still curious about what Renjun was thinking about. Things was such a broad term. It could be about anything—dogs, the colour periwinkle, even his best friend Donghyuck. But you guess you’ll let him marinate those thoughts. 

“I want to tell you,” he says gently, “They’re just all jumbled and shit.” The best way to describe his thoughts was like a box filled with stray wires. All of them have been thrown in carelessly and now they’re knotted into one messy ball. He can’t even follow one wire if he tried. 

Now you want it out of him ASAP because what the hell is going on in his head that’s causing him to act like this that would be making him want to tell you? Dogs? Periwinkle? Donghyuck? Although you’re panicking on the inside, you remain calm and give a hum in response. You’ll just have to wait until he’s ready.

Time flies and the shift is finished, leaving just a smidge of work left needing to be done for the final shift. Even with the mural not complete, it was already at the point where it did look finished. But with the sun setting, you’re not able to catch a good look at the work with its deserved lighting. 

“I’ll walk you home,” Renjun says from behind you. You’re surprised he even offers to do so, especially since he seemed to be preoccupied with his thoughts. Despite this, you don’t refuse because you’re not sure if this would be the last time Renjun would be walking you home. Besides, you want to spend as much time as you can with him. 

“How are those thoughts in your head?” you question. You both are halfway to your dorm and Renjun’s been mute the entire way. This was your way of pushing some sort of statement out of him because you’d be lying if you said you weren’t curious. 

Renjun huffs and hums to indicate that he’s thinking of a response, “Do you ever think a certain way about something but…  I don’t know, you have some sort of conflict with yourself about those same thoughts and feelings?”

You pause and think about what Renjun’s trying to get at, but he’s being unclear, “In what context?”

Renjun turns to look at you, “It’s hard to put it into words but it’s like… new thoughts you feel like shouldn’t even be there but are there. It’s not like they’re forbidden or bad, but it’s just weird.” He sees your building growing close. 

“Hmm…” A part of you knows exactly what he’s talking about, “I get what you mean.” 

“How would you handle them?”

“I think that those feelings wouldn’t be there in the first place if you weren’t actually feeling them… or considering them at least.” If you could laugh out loud right now, you would. But you weren’t really risking looking like a maniac in front of Renjun. Your response to Renjun was something you’ve been telling yourself ever since Yeji had you questioning your own feelings for your friend a few nights ago. You only came to actually accept them now. 

“But I don’t think you should overthink whatever’s going on up there,” you bring a finger up to his temple and tap it gently, “Chances are that it isn’t as big of a problem as you think.” Then you laugh, “You know, this is one of the things that gave me a bad impression of you at first. You think too much.” Renjun playfully rolls his eyes in response.

You walk ahead of Renjun to open the door. You don’t notice that he’s looking at you with brighter eyes because you’re right. Renjun let pessimism win and its got his mind preoccupied with what can’t happen when there was still chances of you reciprocating his feelings (or at least, what he believed were feelings).

“Wait,” Renjun stops you at the door. He’s standing at the bottom of the steps with you at the top and he realizes now that there’s no turning back from what he’s about to do, “I have my thoughts sorted out now.”

“Okay…” You let the door go and turn to him expectantly, “I’m listening.”

Renjun swallows the saliva in his mouth and he feels his heart pick up in pace. Yeah…  here goes nothing. “You know when I first met you, I really didn’t think for a second that I would even like you as a friend. Almost everything between the two of us clashed, but now looking back at it all, we were being stupid and childish.

“That one day when you bought me a drink during our shift… I think that’s when I knew that there was a chance for us to not hate each other. I know it’s a small gesture, but it was the fact you did something nice despite the fact we weren’t getting along. It was sort of a wake up call for me. 

“Then everything since then and up ‘til now… the conversations we’ve had, the walks back to the dorms, the visit at the retirement home… I feel like my feelings did a whole one-eighty.”

Renjun takes a step up towards you and exhales a quiet breath, “I…I think I like you. A lot.” He doesn’t know where to look. “And it angers me thinking about how the mural is going to be finished because then I won’t have an excuse to see you anymore.” His head drops for a quick second before he tries to gather his last few drops of confidence before finally looking up at you, waiting for a response of your own.

You’re taken aback by Renjun’s confession, simply because you genuinely didn’t see it coming. It’s hard for you to create the perfect sequence of words to say to him. Your mouth hangs open and all you can say is, “Renjun…” 

Renjun’s heart drops immediately with the implication that whatever you’re going to say is bad and he stumbles backwards, almost falling back from the stair he was standing on. “I’ll… see you next shift.” And at that Renjun’s walking away.

°•. ✿ .•° 

You’re sitting across the street from the daycare, staring at the almost-finished mural. You’re waiting for Renjun to come and judging by the time on your phone’s screen, he’s twelve minutes late, which was funny because he never was late. Not even once. 

You can see Joy sitting at her desk through the window while there are kids running around in the play area behind her. You wonder if she’s wondering where the two of you are. It’s the last shift of this gig and you guys are late. Shouldn’t you both be early to get it over with?

Huffing you decide to make your way in. It wouldn’t hurt to get the supplies ready without Renjun. That way, when he arrives, you both can start. 

“Afternoon, Y/N,” Joy looks up and around her computer screen, “Last shift!”

“I know!” you say excitedly, “I can’t believe it. Sorry for being a bit late.”

She shakes her head, “It’s no problem at all. You guys are almost finished, anyways.”

The door behind you squeaks open and you turn to find Renjun slipping through the doorway. His face shows no expression when he makes eye contact with you, but greeting Joy, he offers a small smile. They have a quick exchange, similar to what you just had with her, before you both are sent to grab the supplies. 

It felt negatively nostalgic, the way he was avoiding eye contact with you as you bring everything out. It was awfully similar to when you both still didn’t get along and you didn’t like it. 

You peek at him through the corner of your eye, heart skipping a beat. You can tell he’s forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. He’s leaning in extra close to the wall, shoulder blade turned towards you in hopes to not to feel tempted to talk to you. 

But it was odd. Only because he’s grown so used to your conversations. 

The silence goes on for a while (it was just eighteen minutes, but it felt much longer), and everytime you think Renjun’s finally going to say something, he doesn’t. There’s some kind of heavy atmosphere engulfing the both of you and you could feel yourself practically suffocating because of it. 

You decide to take matters into your own hands. Besides, you were the reason why he wasn’t talking in the first place. You were the reason why there’s this sort of tension between the two of you. “You know you left before I could even give you a proper response.”

Renjun’s breathing hitches at the sound of your voice, his movements halting simultaneously. “Judging by how you first answered, I didn’t think there was anything to hear.” He keeps doing whatever he was doing, but in his peripheral vision, he can see you turn to look at him. “I listened to you,” you say, “So now it’s only fair you listen to me.”

Renjun hesitates for a moment, but he slowly drops his hand before turning to look at you. 

“That night, I was going to say that I felt the same about you,” you say nervously. You’re straight to the point, only because you knew Renjun deserved to hear what you knew he wanted to hear three nights ago. “I just… couldn’t find the words to tell you that. Cause hearing me say that, it’s actually lame as hell compared to your confession.”

Your heart decides to use the inside of your chest as a drum and next thing you know you’re facing the wall. You try to busy yourself by finishing the last part of the mural’s details. Your cheeks heat up and you continue tentatively, “I can’t even exactly remember when my feelings for you started to become more than friendly-type feelings? I don’t even know if that makes sense… I just… started to notice that I couldn’t even handle these weird tickling feelings in my chest when I’m around you and I could not, for the life of me, stop them, but it’s not like I wanted to. Fuck, this is embarrassing.”

You’re starting to ramble. Cute, Renjun thinks, holding back a smile.

Putting the paintbrush down, he swiftly places himself next to you. As distracted as you were with your long, long train of thought, you don’t notice him standing next to you. 

“But I remember, at the retirement home… one of the old ladies put the idea of you and me being a couple in my head and I didn’t hate the idea of it… I think that’s when I actually realized that I liked–” You muster up enough courage to look at Renjun and you’re met with him looking down at you with adoration—the same ones the night that he confessed, “—you.”

There’s an entire marching band of butterflies in your chest and you’re sure as hell that Renjun can hear them with how close he was. The look in his eyes makes you want to melt into a puddle right in front of him, but you’ve embarrassed yourself enough. 

“You have some paint on your face,” he says softly. You gasp and foolishly try to spot the smudge of paint on yourself. 

If only you knew that Renjun was shamelessly lying. 

Without another word, Renjun reaches for your face, lifting it up with the inner edge of his thumb. Then he whispers, “I-I’ll get it for you. If that’s okay?” 

You’re too stunned to even say anything. All you’re able to do is nod. 

Renjun brings his lips down to yours and as if your heart conducted the band of butterflies in your body, they halt for a beat and a half before taking over once again. His lips press against yours softly at first, and once Renjun recognizes that everything happening within this very moment was perfect, he allows himself to fall into the kiss, bringing you two closer. 

The paintbrush in your hand falls to the ground and your hands instinctively find their way up to Renjun’s shoulders, using them to pull you up closer to him, deepening the kiss. 

It truly was perfect—if you ignored the fact that the two of you were probably being watched by anyone and everyone in the daycare—but the moment felt perfect. 

When you both finally pull away, Renjun’s eyes scan your face before he breaks out into a smile, bringing you to mirror it. “Did you get it?”

He nods. “Yeah… I did.”

BONUS SCENE!

When Renjun asked you to come back to volunteer for another Throwback Thursday, you were no fool to refuse. You’ve actually been waiting for him to ask you to join him again right after the first one ended—Renjun was just a few weeks late. 

“That concludes this week’s Throwback Thursday!” You say, looking over at the residents, “I really want to thank you all for participating and I hope you all enjoyed it.” You can see the residents smiling, clapping their hands. 

As the residents start to file out of the room, you turn the mic off, and you spin around to look at Renjun who’s seated behind the piano, “You almost made me cry.” Even after hearing his voice for the first time, you’re still taken aback by how captivating Renjun’s singing was. You don’t think you’ll ever get tired of it. 

Renjun’s brows furrow, “What do you mean I almost made you cry!?” He stands up and approaches you in subtle panic, “Did I hurt you in some way or form or–“

“Jun,” you laugh, “Your singing almost made me cry.”

Renjun pauses and steps back, “Oh… then I guess that’s a good thing?” You nod and bring a finger up to poke his cheek which was pulled into a semi-pout. Seeing your finger from a mile away, he attempts to bite it gently but quickly retracts. 

“Y/N! Sweetie!” You’re attention is pulled from Renjun to the same lady as last time. The one who made the ‘couple’ comment. She’s gotten a hair cut since you last visited, so you almost don’t recognize her, but she has the same smile. She’s waving  for you to come to her and you do without hesitation. 

“You don’t know how happy we all were when Renjun said you were coming in today!” She exclaims, “That’s why there were more people that came in today because they heard good stuff from last time.”

“Do you think I lived up to those ‘good things’,” you question, “I would have done better if I knew people had expectations.”

She nods. “I believe you did. Everyone had fun today.” 

“Well, that’s good to hear then.”

You watch as her eyes flicker between you and Renjun, who was gathering the papers from the piano, “I’m sensing something’s going on between you two.” A smirk appears on her still-youthful face and you suddenly feel your cheeks heat up. 

“You were right about last time, “ you say shyly, “We’re dating now.”

She lets out a sound of delight, hands coming together to make one loud clap sound. “Oh I told you so, sweetheart! This is what I love to see! Does this mean you’ll be coming more often?”

Renjun joins you two quietly and you nod, “I sure hope so.”

‣ an: hey you! you there who finished my fic! I love you sosososososo much for taking your time to actually read this entire thing (༎ຶ⌑༎ຶ) <— [that’s me ugly crying] but I really do hope you enjoyed it,, maybe let me know what your fav part was? If you didn’t enjoy it (even a lil smidge) I’m sorry about that (༎ຶ⌑༎ຶ) I’ll do better next time I swear (despite that though, I’m still thankful you read it <3)

[taintedcigs]

okay so i just saw something on twitter and it reminded me sm of eddie i cannot help it.

anyway, i can't stop thinking about clingy modern!eddie who CANNOT wait to see you a day after your date, you guys recently started dating and eddie is so attentive and cares so fucking much and he's genuinely such a good guy!!!!!! so, you guys went out drinking the day before and you had a little too much to drink so you spend the next day groaning over your pounding head and complaining about how much you needed coffee but you have none, and as soon as you mention that to eddiei he stops answering your texts, so you're like ??? what the hell, and then five minutes later your phone starts ringing and eddie's calling so you answer and he you can tell he's out of breath when he says, "what do you want?" and you are confused since he's the one who called you, "excuse me?" you say, almost annoyed, so he clears his throat giving you a slight chuckle as he realizes how weird he must sound so he rephrases himself, "what coffee do you want?" and you can't help the giddy feeling inside of you, "and how are we feeling about desserts? too nauseating?" he doesn't let you as he wanders off, "how about cupcakes? or cookies? oh! croissants? maybe almond croissants? oooh my god!! how about ice cream, there's this really good ice cream shop that JUST opened down the street—" he rambles and you hate to interrupt him, "what are you talking about, munson?" you can't hide the grin on your face once you realize what he's implying because he's just so!! fucking!! caring!! and!! attentive!!

"im grabbing you a coffee and dessert, what do you want?" he replies so nonchalantly and you want to melt on the spot, but you also know eddie probably has a lot to do and you don't want to bother him so you're like, "oh, thank you! i wouldn't want to bother you!" with such a sweet tone that he swears you're going to be the death of him. "i mean i could just grab some coffee myself, it's no deal—" he doesn't even let you finish that sentence fully as he tsks.

"okay, so... i don't think you understand what i mean, honey, so let me elaborate," the nickname rolls of his tongue so swiftly that you can feel your heart tightening in your chest, voice low as he speaks confidently.

"i missed you, and i wanna see you again, can i come over?" he asks, still so casually that it makes you want to scream, the flutters in your stomach are insane by now, "to bring you coffee?" he adds, and you agree immediately, telling him your order without hesitation.

and then when he comes by your house with bags of dessert two coffees and like 3 bags of coffee you know you should've warned him not to buy all that stuff, but he's so cute when he's smiling, and the dimple on his left cheek is apparent as ever and his nose scrunches up ever so slightly <3 as he says "i couldn't decide so i brought you everything," and you giggle and blush at him because he's so !!!!!! and the two of you gorge on the delicious stuff he brought you <33

[kikiswriting7]

Take a Chance ✵ JJK ✵ MYG - 3

✵ Pairing: Yoongi x Reader x Jungkook

✵Summary: Y/N just move across the world to start her University. She is paired with a roommate who is complete social butterfly and makes a bet, Y/N needs to take more chances. And at the hint of her new found friend, her social and romantic life take a dramatic turn.

✵Tags/Warnings: Smut, College AU, red flag, sexual tension. angst, dirty talking, drinking, friends with benefits, full of cliches, friends to lover, temptation

✵Notes: Hi guys! Took a while to update this on AO3 BUT here you go! Let me know what you think <3

lots of love, Kiki

CHAPTER 3 - DAWN

Once more I wake up with the worst hungover. But this time it feels even worse. What the hell happened for me to get like this? I am still wearing last nights clothes and with make up on.  The last thing I remember is Gabi asking those stupid “Drink If” questions. I groan as I leave the bed holdind my head in between my hands. Ugh Im never touching alcohol again. I get up and go to the bathroom in hopes that washing my face with cold water would chase this terrible feeling away.

I reach the bathroom and splash the ice cold water on my face. The only thing that takes it away is the fogness of yesterdays events and everything comes all at once. Us all getting drunk and deciding to go for a walk at the beach late into the evening. Jungkook showing the constelations holding my hand. Coming back home worse. Falling asleep on the couch. Jungkooks strongs arms carring me to my room. Tucking me into bed and leaving shortly after. I look myself in the mirror with pure shock. 

“Fuck…. Eli” I groan. I gamble that she would’ve slept over and go to Gabi’s room where I find them both laying bed looking at their phones. They both just look over their screens but don’t say a word. 

Gabi moves over a bit and pats over the space in between the two. I crawl to the spot and lay face down on the soft and sweet smelling pillow. I let out a groan. 

“I feel like dying” I say the sound muffled by the pillow. 

“you are not alone sister” I receive gentle taps on my back. I sit back down on the bed facing both of them. 

“I’m so sorry for last night, Eli. I swear I didn’t intend to any of that to happen” I say to her with sorrowfull eyes

“I mean, thank you for saying that. I guess hes not really into me anyway. So its fine. Don’t worry about it.” She shrugs

“I promise I will not do anything with him.” I offer.

“its ok if you do honestly. It good that this bandaid was ripped off sooner rather then later. It would’ve definetly hurt much more.” She shrugs it off. 

“do you still feel like to have that movie night today?” gabi asks “We both totally understand if you don’t” I nod in agreement with her. 

“I can text him not to come. I don’t feel very well anyway. I bet he might not be the best either.”

“I mean, we can still be friends. He geniualy seems like a nice guy, just not interested in me like that. So that’s ok. We can still hang out.” She adds, even though with a sad look on her face. 

I give her a hug laying down on top of her. “Are we good then? I was honestly worried that you would be mad at me”

“We are good, don’t worry” she hugs me back laughing “now get off, you are smashing me” she taps my back and grunts. 

With a smile I lay back down between them. Pulling my own phone out of my pocket. 

My heart races as I see the message I received not too long ago. I gasp and both of them immediately look to find out what cause such a reaction. I spring up and scratch my eyes. 

Gabi sitting next to me and pulling my phone out of my hand reading the text out loud. 

 “Good morning! I was wondering if you are up for coffee? I know a place nearby that is quite good”

She slaps my arm. “why are you not up yet!? Go get ready!” motioning me to hurry up.

“Gabi I feel like death has come for me this morning…. I don’t know If I have the energy to go out right now”

“Girl I don’t care, you are still breathing. Go brush your teeth and change.” She says giving a fake smile. “NOW!”

I look to Eli for support but she just shrugs and goes back to being busy with her phone. 

“plus…” she says with her evil grin  “I already texted him yes.” She shows me the phone “he says he will be here in 10 to pick you up” 

My eyes go wide and yank the phone out of her hand. Reading back the messages. She really did send those messages. Oh my god.

“Im going to kill you” I say under my breath

“Well, better be after you get ready. Chop chop” she claps her hands. 

I immediately get up and rush back to my room trying to fix something else to wear. I exchange the black fluff sweater for a hoodie and try to fix the eye liner from last night that makes me look more like a panda than human. 

Once I think that is good enough I quickly brush my teeth and rush to the door to put on a pair of shoes and leave the house. My keys still in the pocket of my jacket from last night is a blessing. If I rush more then this I think I might be sick. I take a deep breath and get my composure back, taking it easy to reach outside. 

I see Yoongi waiting outside the apartment with his phone in his hand. 

“Hey stranger” I say leaving the building. He looks up and gives a small smile. 

“Was about to text you” he shakes his phone and quickly puts back in his pocket.  

It was a cold day but it was sunny, making it a more pleasureble temperature. The perfect day to not have a hungover. But here I was. 

The walk to the café is pleasant. Indeed its not far from my place and the place looks quite cozy. It full of books and it leads to a nice garden. We find a place at a corner all the way at the end of the place overlooking the garden that must be beautiful during spring and summer. The café was quite busy having breakfast and chitchatting. The atmosphere was defintely inviting to stay hours on end. 

“What is your poison?” he asks me before sitting down

“Honestly, a latte would be a killer right now.” I say following it with a quick thanks.

A few moments later he comes back with a tray with more stuff then I thought he would bring. He places my latte in front of me. 

“I was not sure what you would like right now, but I also got a strawberry short cake. Its yours if you like it.” He takes the iced americano from the tray and the chocolate muffin. 

The cake even though, simple looked perfect. Layers of cake, cream and straberries making the slice very appealing. 

I bite my lip before removing the little plate from the tray giving him a smile “Its actually my absolute favorite. Thank you!” which I only receive a small grin in return. 

“So what have you been up to this weekend?” I ask him between bites of the heavenly cake.

“Nothing much.  I’ve spent most of the night busy trying to fix this track I started to make, other then that nothing much more exciting.” He counters.

“Yeah I wish…” I say sighing getting lost in thought from last night. My heart rushing at the thought of Jungkook. No, I tell myself. Nothing can happen. Even after Eli said it was fine. 

“Rough night for you too?” He asks taking me back to reality.

“I swear I’m never drinking again” and rest my head on my hand. He chuckles 

“Yeah JK said you guys were quite drunk” he says casually. But I almost choke on my hot drink 

“Oh I didn’t know you were friends?” I ask him trying to sound casual but probably failing miserably. 

“yeah we are in the same friend group. Well, that and we all share a house. We’ve all known eachother for some years now.” he says taking his attention back to his half eaten muffin. 

I hope he didn’t see my absolute shocked face. But I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be that lucky. Great. Of course they were friends. Did JungKook say anything else to him? Was this why he was being friendly to me? 

“Ah that’s nice…” which is all I can gather to say. He just nods. 

After some small talk and finishing our food the place seem it got busier, with people coming for brunch. The headache still brewing in my brain not giving me pantience, I pinch the bridge of my nose. 

Yoongi seems to notice “ Hey are you feeling ok?”

“Not really” there is no use in lying right now “To be honest I have the worse hungover.”

“No worries we can hang out more on another day”

“I mean, do you want to come over?” I blurt out as we leave the place “Yesterday night, Gabi, Eli and Kook set up to have a movie chill day, I guess.” Now it was his turn to seem bothered. The frown quickly dissolved from his face as it foes back to its neutral face. 

“What are you guys watching?” He asks

“Honestly, I don’t know… If it were by me I would stay hidden under my blankets and nap the entire afternoon.” I say to him “and I’m not even sure if he will show up, since I guess he also drank a lot last night.” 

“Oh, he will” he quickly replies but before I can ask what he means we reach the apartmetn building again. 

I arch an eyebrow at him after unlocking the door as in question “So are you coming or not?” Looking over my shoulder with the door open.

He doesn’t take long to react, following me back into the building. With a shy smile, I lead the way to the apartment in silence. 

The living room is thankfully empty. Perfect. We sit next to eachother on the couch, and decide that the best thing for hungover cure is to watch random youtube videos. The late morning and afternoon passes fast, we left it to fate to decide what to watch, meaning the suggested tab. And after laughing over funny cats compilations, radom travel vlogs and deciding that Japan is should be everyones number one country in their bucketlist, Gabi comes out of her room walking loudly as if to annouce her arrivel and sporting a grin. 

“Sorry, but you were not responding your texts” she smiles at me “Just to let you know JungKook is on his way, he just called me. By the way very nice to meet you! I’m Gabi” She makes her way to give him a small hug that takes him by surprise. His wide eyes looking over her shoulder in search for help, but all he got was a small chuckle. 

Eli doesn’t take long to come to the living room, introducing herself too but this far with just a wave from her hand and a head nod. As if in cue with Eli sitting down, the doorbell rings. Gabi excitingly hops to the door to open it.  On the other side, wearing some loose jeans and a long sleeve, was jungkook holding a tub of ice cream. Gabi is quick to give him a hug and his smile turns into a surprised look when he notices Yoongi in the living room. 

“Let me put this in the freezer” Gabi takes out the ice cream from JungKooks hands and hops back to the kitchen, meanwhile JungKook greets briefly Yoongi and takes a seat on the empty corner of the couch. Trying to avoid much eye contact with either of us. 

“Weren’t you guys all super drunk yesterday?” Yoongi asked to nobody in particular

“Yup” JungKook replies first

“Is she always like that?” He asks again pointing to where Gabi disapeared. Which gets us all agreeing at the same time 

“She says her superpower is to not get hungover” I add while Gabi gets back to the living room.

“ All righty! Super fun!” She drops the small bowl of snacks at the centre table “I guess you guys know eachother?” she asks looking between JungKook and Yoongi. 

“Yeah we are friends for a few years and we live together now that he is also is studying here” Yoongi replies giving a small grin to Jungkook who only smiles back in return, relaxing a bit more on the chair

“Great! So what do you guys feel like watching?”

The debate gets intense when Eli says she would like to watch a romcom and Yoongi suggests a new spy movie that just come out. Gabi sugests a Disney movie that gets quickly shut down by both Eli and Yoongi. For me, I honestly couldn’t care less about what we watch. Both me and Jungkook are watching the heated argument and when we lock eyes we both give a quiet laugh at the situation that we find ourselves in. 

At the end, since it was hard to everyone accept the same movie, we ended up doing a quiz, which resulted in us watching both of the DeadPool movies. The entire time Eli was disgusted and just like Gabi was quick to be on her phone. Yoongi, JungKook and I would laugh and snort at the terrible jokes made throughout.  When the movies were finally over, Eli bids her farewells earning a pout from Gabi. Shortly after both the boys also leave together. They were definetly were good company, I think to myself. Even though it is a bit strange to have all that tension in the room in the beginning. 

Once I start tidying up the living room I notice Gabi just staring with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, waiting to be acknoledged. 

I roll my eyes and say my own good night and leave her. I definetly don’t wanna talk about it whatever she thinks we need to talk about. 

Classes the next day are boring, and I cannot wait for this day to be over. Unfortunately, even though we are on the same course, Gabi and Eli are on different schedules then mine, leaving me to suffer by myself. 

Lunch time couldn’t come fast enough. Lunch at school was quite fun. The food was made by the first years of our course and managed by the third years. In their semester they learn how to operate different departments and the third years how to run different outlets. After settling for a deliciously smelling creamy pasta, I spot Gabi and Eli searching for a spot to sit. 

A hand shoots up and JungKook calls out for Gabi, which leads to us three sitting at his table with his friends. Jin and Taehyung are also there. I sit next to Taehyung, Gabi and Eli on the opposite side next to Jungkook and Jin. 

Suddenly someone drops on the seat next to mine “You know, we are so hurt that we were not invited to your movie night yesterday.” I look to the person next to me, only to find Jimin pouting. 

“The fact that Yoongi was there, makes it hurt even more” Jin says elbowing Gabi. 

“Hey its not my fault” she says “Shes the one who invited him” motioning to me with her head while taking a bit of her sandwich. 

Her call out earned some smirks from the others on the table except Jungkook who, normally is very talkative, staring at his own plate in silence. 

I roll my eyes “It’s not like that.” Which only provokes a snort from taehyung. “Well if you all are so butt hurt, feel free to also join next time.” I try to ignore but my phone buzzes with a new notification. 

JIMIN added you to a new group .

I roll my eyes but honestly finding it quite fun. I miss having the chaos of my friend group from back home, and I’m eager to create these new friendships here. 

 “Ok so next movie night is tomorrow at your place right?” Jimin asks cocking his head at me.

“You cannot just invite yourself” I say trying to shrug him off.

“Though luck” He says “I just did, sweetheart” JungKook laughs at the audacity of his friend.

“Can we please watch something else then?” Eli is the one to say now “Like some romantic comedy or even a Disney movie..” she tries.

“Yes!” Jimin jumps from his seat earning from me a side eye.

All of our phone’s buzz at once with a notification

Yoongi:  ? 

Jimin: Tomorrow movie night at Gabi and YN’s place

Jimin: Presence is mandatory. 

“Don’t mind him” Taehyung says lower to me “If you guys don’t feel like it just tell him off” he shrugs, clearly his friends energy is something that sometimes needs to be ignored. Well, at this point, I can relate, since Gabi’s energy is much the same. 

When I look back to them Gabi and Jimin are excitedly making plans about what we should eat and watch. Both matching each other’s energy, with Jin, Jungkook and Eli, casually adding or removing things from their plan. 

Here we go, I think to myself.  

Indeed, Gabi and Jimin are the on the same side of the coin. Their similarities don’t end at their energy to make plans with their friends. They burst out singing, dancing or their new favorite activity: bother each other. 

It has almost been a week since the last movie night with all of them, and at this point Jimin is set in making this a tradition. Every Sunday, everyone gathers to watch a movie. The first time we all got together, was a bit strange. All of them showed up. Even Yoongi, who Jimin kept teasing that apparently never leaves his house during the week. The teasing earned him a flick on the forehead earlier in the day. 

JungKook also back down on his flirting since the Beach Incident. Even though the way we held hands keeps finding its way back to my thoughts. Eli also seems to be over her crush on JK since apparently, she and Gabi saw him with another girl on last night, at a bar. Good for him, I guess. 

I told myself that I would only let myself go out on weekends as I can just relax for the next couple of days, and that is how I managed to drag myself to this sports bar.

The same way Jimin has the same traits as Gabi, he also is earning a spot closer to me. Gabi swears she is not jealous of him stealing her spotlight, but that just adds fuel to his bickering. Which is exactly what is happening right now. 

“I already told you to drop it Jimin. I - ” she then points to herself in a very dramatic way  “am the best friend. You just arrived at the train and wants to sit at the window. I think not” 

I roll my eyes “Or…. Hear me out….” I add like it’s a secret  “We could all be best friends” I say with a fake smile

“No” they add in unison. Giving each other a side eye when they realize they said it together. 

“Yeah, I will go get another shot” I say promptly getting up. 

“I will go get it for you bestie” Gabis shoots up

“Sit” I say in a serious tone, and she immediately falls back to her chair with a pout. 

The sports bar that we chose to spent Friday evening was not at all crowded. Jin suggested that we all get together at this sports bar close to campus as there were multiple matches they were interested in watching. Of course, most of them were late. The bar was actually quite cozy. The walls were nicely decorated, big TV’s divided the space with all sorts of sports paraphernalia. There was also a pool table, a tarts board and next to it sitting corner with brown leather couches, where we decided to wait for the rest. 

As soon as I reach the bar, and lean against it, the bartender, a friendly-looking guy with a neatly trimmed beard, approaches with a smile.

"What can I get for you?" he asks, wiping down the counter.

"3 shots of tequila, please," I reply, glancing back at Gabi and Jimin, who are now engaged in a heated debate about who knows me better. Their antics bring a smile to my face.

As the bartender prepares my drink, I notice as familiar faces are entering the bar and make their way casually to the couches in the back. The bartender hands me the shots, and I nod my thanks and quickly pay before making my way back to our corner. As I approach, I catch snippets of conversation.

“Now, this is what im talking about!” Jimin eagerly takes the second shot from my hand and passes to Gabi. 

“and where is our shot?” Jin asks with an eyebrow raised. 

“This is their reward for arriving on time and hello to you too” I say and clink my glass with theirs before downing the strong drink while making a face. Gabi acts like she just had a shot of water. I honestly don’t know what type of mutant that she is. 

We all settle into a comfortable rhythm of conversation and laughter, As the night progresses, the sports games fade into the background, and the focus shifts entirely to our group. We play a few rounds of pool, Jimin and JungKook teaming up against Gabi and me. Gabi’s competitive streak comes out in full force, and we end up winning by a narrow margin, much to Jimin’s mock dismay.

“Okay, okay, you win this round,” Jimin concedes, throwing his hands up in defeat. “But next time, we’re definitely taking you down.”

“Dream on,” Gabi retorts, a triumphant grin on her face.

Eventually, we all go back to being around the couches and we are slightly buzzed from the drinks we had for the last hour or so. The conversation turns to future plans, ideas for the next movie night, and upcoming events on campus.

Just as we’re about to decide on the final plans for our next gathering, the door to the bar swings open again, and a familiar figure steps in.

“Well, now this is going to be interesting” Jimin settles back in the couch putting one arm around my shoulder and we all turn to see who just entered the bar. 

It’s Yoongi, and he’s not alone. He’s with a girl I’ve never seen before, her arm casually linked with his. She has this dumb smile splattered across her face and he has his usual unbothered look. They head toward the couches where our group is sitting. I feel an unexpected knot tighten in my stomach.

“Yoongi, who’s your friend?” Jin asks, his eyes twinkling with curiosity as our friend aproaching. 

“This is Mina,” Yoongi introduces her with a small smile. “We met at the record store a few days ago.”

Mina waves shyly, and the group greets her warmly. I try to force a smile, but it feels more like a grimace. It’s unlike Yoongi to bring someone new into the group, and I can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy seeing him with her.

 “I was starting to think you’d ditch us for another quiet night in.” Jimin is the one to talk now, with a playfull smirk on his lips and I know that he loves poking at people. 

Yoongi chuckles. “Not this time. Besides, I’ve been out all day. Might as well end it with some good company.” He says looking at me with an intense gaze. 

Gabi and Jimin resume their playful banter, and while everyone else seems to be taken with Mina, I can’t shake my irritation. She laughs at all the right moments, shares interesting stories, and fits in seamlessly, which only makes me feel worse. My eyes keep drifting back to Yoongi and Mina, and every time she leans and touches him again and againa, I feel like rolling my eyes until its stuck in the back of my head. 

It seems that JungKook notices my distraction and asks the group if anyone wants more drinks. Everyone states what they are drinking, with a quick thanks, and goes back to the conversation with Mina, who is now sharing about a new exhibition coming to town next week.

“Hey, can you help me out with the drinks?” Jungkook asks closer to me as he reaches out a hand to pull me from Jimin's side.

We reach the bar, and he is quick to order everyone's drinks. I honestly don’t know how he managed to keep up with so many different orders.

“Hey, you okay?” he asks quietly, concern evident in his eyes.

“Yeah, just tired,” I lie, offering a weak smile.

He doesn’t seem convinced but lets it drop. The conversation continues at the corner of the bar, but I honestly don’t really feel like listening. Instead, I’m focused on Yoongi and Mina, trying to decipher their relationship. Are they just friends? Is there something more? My thoughts spiral, making it hard to concentrate on anything else. Mina’s laughter rings out again, and it grates on my nerves. I try to push the feeling down, reminding myself that Yoongi is just a friend. I can’t assume that any guy who is remotely nice is into me.

Mina's drink is the last one to be poured. When the bartender finishes pouring her stupid rose wine, I turn to the bartender and add to the order, “Can I actually also have another shot?” I ask him.

“Make it two,” Jungkook quickly adds, drawing closer to me. “If you’re tired, that will knock you right out, sweetheart.”

I take my glass and clink it against Jungkook’s, and I look back at the others sitting. Yoongi catches my eye, and I lift my drink in cheer to him with a ghost of a smile on my lips, before downing it without making a face this time. The burning is welcomed by my throat.

I help Jungkook bring back the cups on a tray, handing them to each of their owners, and plop down back next to Jimin, who barely notices me as he now starts an argument with Jin over which one is the best video game of all time.

Just as I’m about to excuse myself for some fresh air, Yoongi catches my eye. There’s something unreadable in his expression, and for a moment, I wonder if he can sense my unease. He leans over to say something to Mina, and before he can get up, Jk, stands up first. “Going out for a smoke” he announces “anyone care to join?” he asks generally but his playfull eyes fall on mine. 

“yeah lets go!” Gabi jumps up, and follows Jk. I also get up to follow them, maybe some fresh _smokey_ air will help me clear my head, of this unreasenable dislike of Mina, and improve my mood. I cannot be like this the entire night. I need to get it together, and fast.

As I was about to pass him, I feel a warm hand wrap around my wrist, stopping me. “I thought you didn’t smoke?” he says more in a statement then a questioning tone. 

“I don’t. Just going to make them company” I brush it off.

The frown that crosses his face comes as fast as it goes, and I believe that if I blinked I would have missed it. Mina enthusiastically, turns to him to ask his opinion on some music, that now she was discussing with Jimin, 

“You coming, sweetheart?” Jk asks standing not too far, as Gabi is distractedly putting on her coat. Yoongi lets go of my hand and turns to give her attention.

Outside, the air is chilly thanks to our proximity to the beach. Gabi and Jungkook are already chatting animatedly, the glow of their cigarettes illuminating their faces.  Gabi enthusiastically telling stories of her life back in her home country and  how she got so high once that she hallucinated she was in Paris. Our laughter echoes across the empty street.

Gabi apparently was a quick smoker as she was already taking the last drag of her cigarrate, shivering with the cold. “as much as I love your company guys, I think I lost all sensation to my extremities.” She states, a shiver clearly running through her. I chuckle as shes quickly makes her way back inside. 

JungKook nudges me playfully. “Come on, sweetheart,” he says, his breath visible in the cool night air. “Let’s join the smokers’ club.” He holds a laugh raising his eyebrows. I roll my eyes at his remark. 

“Nah, thanks” I brush him off. “I mean… good for you” he says, taking another drag. “this shit kills”

I chuckle. At least he knows. Jungkook is talking about one of our teachers, and how he doesn’t know how he will pass her exams if the classes continue being this boring. 

“Jungkook, its ethics. How did you expect it to be?”I ask with a small laugh,  but my eyes inevitably drift back to Yoongi and Mina. They’re sitting close, their shoulders almost touching, and I can’t help but wonder what they share. I look back at Jk, who is tossing his finished cigarate away, and I expect him to hush us inside. Instead, he leans against the brick wall, exhaling the last of the smoke. “You know,” he says, “sometimes it’s hard to figure people out.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

He nods toward Yoongi and Mina. “Take them, for instance. Are they just friends? Or is there something more?”

I sigh. “I wish I knew.”

JungKook chuckles. “Life’s full of mysteries, isn’t it? Like why Jin insists on wearing mismatched socks or why Jimin thinks he’s the world’s best dancer.”

I laugh, grateful for the distraction. “And why Eli can’t resist buying every cute stationery item she sees.”

“Exactly.” JungKook steps closer. “But sometimes, the answers surprise us. Maybe tonight will be one of those nights.” He winks and nudges me 

As we go back inside, to the comforting warmth of the bar I remind myself that Yoongi is just a friend—a complicated, enigmatic friend. 

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[the1975attheirverybest]

Real Life — Chapter 3: That Night

A/N: posting this even though i said I wouldn’t.

Warnings: smut implied a bit.

“So,” matty started, his eyes darting around the busy restaurant. “what arbitrary social convention have you broken to incur the wrath of People Magazine?”

“What?” Most people open with what’s your favorite band. Or do you like to travel? on a first date. Why was he doing this. “Nothing! It’s none of your business!” Fuck. Her ex had clearly done a number on her. She’d forgotten how to talk to people.

“Right” he whispered. “Sorry. Was just trying to make polite conversa- never mind.”

Matty was painfully aware of her preoccupation with her phone. He counted the number of times she’d glanced at it since they sat down. Six. Six times. “So, you from around here then?” He tried a different line of questioning. There goes seven. “Right, I’m just gonna leave. Have a nice night.” He grabbed his coat off the chair and walked away.

Claire’s phone dinged again. It was Jazmyn.

You never thought to mention that your date is one of the most publicly hated people in the media??!! And you paraded him in front of PEOPLE MAG)?!!!!?

Her brows furrowed, she mouthed the contents of the text to herself. What was Jaz talking about?

A quick google search of “Matty Healy” gave her an idea. Fuck. What a hot mess.

She rushed over to him clutching him by the back of his coat “you’re not going anywhere. care to explain this???”

“Oh.” Matty began to panic. “Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“Oh, fuckin hell. I— I’m so— fucking people Magazine. I am so sorry.”

They walked back to their table. Matty reached for his wine and gulped down, waving the waiter over for a refill.

“I genuinely am sorry.” He finally spoke again. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I- saw that you were uncomfortable. I thought I owed it to you—“

“They hate you.” Claire stated emphatically.

“Yeah, erm, they- sort of think I’m… a Nazi.”

“Well, are you?”

“What? No! For fucks sakes.”

“Great. I’m publicly dating a Nazi.”

“I said I’m NOT a Nazi! Look, I’ll fix this.”

“How!”

“I’ll….i don’t know. Find someone to kiss in public. I’ll post something on-“

“Great; not only am I publicly dating a Nazi, I’m publicly being cheated on by-“

“If you say ‘Nazi’ one more time-“

“I have to go.”

Claire moved to stand from her seat. She felt Matty’s arm reach across the table to grab her hand.

“Please. Claire. Don’t go. Stay. Let— let me at least explain. Have dinner with me.”

***

The waiter cleared away their empty plates, offering them the dessert menu.

“So, what’re you doing now? Hiding out?” Claire asked, playing with the stem of her glass.

Matty shrugged. “Tour’s over. We’re on break. Figured it’s best to lay low.”

“You’re hiding out.” There was a hint of a smile in her voice. She unfolded the dessert menu, glancing at it to look away from him.

“I’m not! I’m still makin’ music. I’ve got a solo project. Might even do some soundtracks for a film or tv show. I’m just….not in the news as much. Well, I suppose after tonight….”

Claire smiled silently.

“I really am sorry.” He couldn’t help but repeat his apology over and over.

***

The restaurant was significantly emptier as they waited for their tiramisu and coffee.

Claire sipped on her drink. “It’s my dad, by the way.” She said. “People Magazine is interested in me because of my dad. He’s well known. Rich guy. He and I….we don’t have the best relationship.”

“Daddy issues. Hot.” Matty giggled. “Sorry, I really don’t know why I say these things.”

She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, they want me to talk about him. I would much rather forget he exists.”

Matty nodded, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table. Suddenly, Claire realized they were the only table left.

***

She tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Well, this is it.” She nodded towards the front door. “Thats my place.” Her arms wrapped around her protectively. Slowly, she tore her eyes away from him. “Thanks for tonight. And for….”

She let her words trail off, turning her back to him. He stood there, in silence for a while.

"Claire?"

She fumbled with her keys, raising her free hand up to him. "No, listen. I- can't." She blushed. "you're very attractive, obviously. I mean, look at you...but it's a bad idea. You're a bad idea."

When she finally gathered the courage to look into his eyes again, she saw that he had a self-satisfied smile on his face.

"I was just going to ask for my jacket back." He watched the blood drain from her cheeks.

For the first time that night, she was speechless. She moved stiffly, eager to take off his jacket, but before she could shake off her embarrassment and restore her feigned, dignified indifference, she felt him get closer, his arms around her shoulders, helping her out of his leather jacket. The scent of his cologne had transferred over to her clothes. Even with her back towards him, she could also smell the cigarettes on his breath.

Am I really such a bad idea?" He said into her ear.

She turned her face towards him. The tip of her nose brushing against his. Their lips locked together, his body slamming hers into the door.

***

Claire awoke to the strong aroma of freshly ground coffee beans filling her nostrils. Even through the curtains, the sunlight pierced through her eyes. She blinked, once, twice, and three times before the blob in front of her took the shape of Matty, standing by the bed with two mugs of coffee in his hands. He’d clearly made himself quite at home in her kitchen.

“Morning.” He offered her one of the mugs.

“Wh- what time is it?” She was groggy.

“7:30.” Matty blew on his hot beverage a few times before taking a sip.

“What? Fuck! I’m late!” She jumped up, setting the coffee mug aside and rushing to her closer.

“Oh. I was going to ask if you wanted some breakfast but I suppose—“

“No, no. There’s no need for any of that.”

Matty tracked her with his eyes as she bounced from one corner of the room to the other, collecting discarded items of clothes from last night and rummaging through her drawers for a new outfit. He trailed after her to the bathroom as she hurried to brush her teeth.

“I understand that the timing isn’t ideal, but, since we’re…..time is off the essence. I— erm, when can I see you again?”

Claire swore she nearly chocked on her mouthful of toothpaste.

“Pardon?” She mumbled, spitting into the sink.

“I mean…could I at least get your phone number? We could make plans later if….”

“What?” She turned around. Matty noticed that her face was cross. “No.” She washed out her mouth.

“‘No’?”

“I mean….we don’t have to do all that pretend politeness. It’s all good.”

“I’m not pretending.” He stated simply.

When Claire took a moment to pause and look directly into his eyes, it dawned on her. “Oh. You’re….being serious?”

Matty blushed. “I— had fun last night. And,

I thought…maybe I thought wrong?”

She was beginning to feel unsure, so she resumed her nervous dashing about. “Look, Matty. Last night was fun and all— it’s just…it’s not you; it’s me.”

He rolled his eyes. “Really? What’re you gonna say next? That it’s just not the right time? You’re not looking for a relationship right now?”

“Well, im not.”

“You’re just focusing on your career at the moment?” He sneered.”

“I am! But it’s not like that.”

Claire sighed, grabbing his arm and rushing him towards the door. “Listen, I really am running late. Last night way great. But— I’m not dating right now. I don’t think we should see each other again. You have to go cuz I need to get out of here.”

Matty wasn’t exactly sure what happened next, but he found himself on the streets again, with his coffee in a to-go cup, feeling incredibly unlike himself.

[i-jus-wanna-writehappy]

Abundance

incubus!Gojo Satoru x black!fem!reader

Warnings/Content: 18+ only cursing, praise kink, some spit (not spit play), blowjob, toy usage, joint (that isn’t relevant until part 2), deep throat, cum eating (both), dirty talk, pet names (baby, pretty girl), porn with plot

Author’s Note: well fuck. I got sick as hell and it pushed back all of my kinktober work. I’ll still publish them all, they’ll just be coming out in through November. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and let me know if you’d like to be tagged in Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2

•••

You gnaw on the skin at the edge of your thumb nail nervously as you look at the shoddy, yet well intentioned miniature hut you’ve built with the help of YouTube, 20 minutes of sleep, and the 4 shots of tequila you guzzled to quell your anxieties after said 20 minutes. If we’re being honest, it doesn’t seem like the kind of offering a deity of abundance would really like, but it’s the best you could do, and you cross your fingers and snap a picture, hoping it’ll be enough.

Not even 5 minutes after sending your photo does your phone ping with Shoko’s personalized ringtone.

It’s kinda plain. Put some flowers or something. Or a money tree… duh

You grumble at the message, but still jump up and throw your feet into two mismatched shoes before sneaking out to your apartment courtyard and ripping some of the flowers from the display out front. Crouched down, you check to see if anyone is around again, the jumbo beads on the ends of your braids clatter and nearly erase any semblance of stealth that you have as you rush back into your apartment, not even breathing until your back is flat against your door.

Looking at your cozy one bedroom with fresh eyes, you notice that not only is your hut plain, but it’s also sitting on your coffee table where no sun can reach it. Taking your thumb back into your mouth, you kick off your fuzzy slide and wedge sandal and get to arranging in a way that will hopefully make Shoko proud.

She’s an expert by zero means at all. She really just sent you the first abundance ritual post that popped up on Pinterest after listening to you freak out about how long you and your colleagues have been striking at the office and what are you going to do with only a side hustle and a half? You’re both as knowledgeable as each other when it comes to summoning anything but a free drink at a club, but only one of you thought to check Pinterest and now maybe the other one is looking for some validation because even if it’s shoddy, she worked really hard and would like to hear that she did good.

So though you send the photo of your hut, now preciously decorated with maybe too many flowers and sitting in the sun with only a “Fuck you, she’s pretty 🥹”, Shoko is quick with her reply, knowing exactly what you’re looking for.

Much better, very pretty. You did a pretty good job honestly.

The praise has a smile growing wide on your face, you did do a pretty good job for your first go at it. You stayed up all night and even added a few symbols (sigils? Fuck if you know) to the bottom for good measure. That kind of dedication deserves a reward, so you decide to take yourself out on a date. These have been a hard few weeks and until the deity, fairy, or whoever does it, you will give yourself an abundance. Of love and care that is.

As you return home an hour or two after the sun has set with two handfuls of bags and leftovers from your lunch with Shoko, you feel satisfied, maybe this was the work of your sweet little hut. “Give back to the universe what it gave to you.” You whisper before places a small wet kiss to the smooth, misshapen roof of what you have now decided to call a cottage, potentially thanks to a few dinner mimosas that were not your idea, but we’re happily consumed.

With your day having been lived and the universe having received your thanks, early or otherwise, you drop your clothing and beauty supply bags beside your couch and set your leftovers on the counter to wait for you until after your shower. You let out a long groan of anticipation as you try to undress without the hands currently pushing your braids into your bonnet.

You’re absolutely right to anticipate your shower. The steaming water is loosening knots in your shoulders you didn’t even notice were there. Just as you go to reach for your body wash and wash rag, a shiver runs down your spine and ends as a warm buzz between your legs. The intensity catches you by surprise, almost making you slip out of your bathtub and wiping away your soft intoxication.

Catching yourself quickly, you push your urges down, you have plans for her already; leftovers, specialty ice cream, a rose-petal wrapped joint, and the cute little rose toy you picked up today. It’s nothing fancy, but you figure that your date should end the right way, and you deserve to be wined and dined before putting yourself to sleep as you throughly plan to. It’s hard, let’s not downplay the severity of this arousal, you’re stalled for nearly two entire minutes, fearing any movement right now ruining your plans, but your brain wins and you’re able to finish your shower with major discomfort, but no worries.

Out of your shower and donned in your favorite panties and flirty nightgown, you begin to set up your bedroom for your eventful night, lighting candles and putting your comfort show on the television all of your friends hate that you keep in your room (until they’re all staying over) while your leftovers spin in your microwave. All the while, you can’t get rid of the infuriating itch in your lower belly, demanding attention. “Guess abundance can mean anything.” You mutter as you cut your eyes over to your cottage while removing your food from the microwave.

There’s no one to blame but yourself, you figure as you shut off the rest of the lights in your apartment, and while the abundance isn’t fully working out how you want right now… that doesn’t mean you won’t wake up to a 30 million dollar check in the mail from a secret admirer.

Though you don’t have time to be amused by your thoughts, instead, you’re frozen in your doorway, petrified by the two icy blue eyes glowing in the darkest corner of your room. As your eyes meet, another wave of arousal rushes over you, threatening to knock you off of your feet, but you’ll be damned if you drop your leftovers, opting instead to squeeze your thighs together softly as his mouth cracks open into a wide smile, teeth just as bright as his eyes.

The man begins to approach you, each step feeling like a vibration in your core, and as your mind reels, you figure that he has to be the deity. Granted, now that he’s out of the darkness, he does look good enough to eat - tall and lean, black dress pants running along the incredible length of his legs to gleaming shoes and a white button-up shirt that looks soft enough to wrap your pillow in, just enough buttons open to show the peek of a silver necklace glinting beneath - but you’d be lying if you said you thought a real person could turn you on to this extent. He stops once the cool tips of his shoes rest against your toes, his burning gaze lazily dropping to the soft pink polish on your toes before dragging its way up past the hem of your nightgown to your chest, lingering there as his Cheshire smile grows even wider and his eyes make one final jump to meet yours. “Hey.”

Having him so close to you is an adjustment you don’t know if you’ll ever be able to make as you feel your pussy flutter around nothing. You have no idea what to say in response, and before you can think about it, or simply whimper instead, your mouth moves without your permission, “Are you a fairy?”

The man throws his head back in a boisterous laugh, his lower lip poking out in a mocking pout when he meets your eyes again, “Awe, pretty girl,” A cool thumb caresses your cheek, your body still adjusting to his pressure, “Were you supposed to be summoning a fairy?” Nodding, your shoulder lifts in a halfhearted shrug, “Or a deity. Of um, of abundance.”

He removes his hand from your face and clicks his tongue, not relinquishing his pout as he pulls one of your cottage flowers from his pocket. “And here I thought you were trying to set the mood.” As he maneuvers the flower behind your ear, you realize that you hadn’t even noticed that his pockets were stuffed with all of the flowers you’d set up to welcome… whatever he was. Luckily, he answers your question after plucking the long stem from the flower behind your ear, “My name is Gojo Satoru, and I am the finest incubus you can summon.”

You’re not given much time to process, your confused (and betrayed) gaze still out of your bedroom door and set on the naked cottage as Gojo takes your hand and pulls you towards your bed. He takes a seat on the edge, releasing a hum of delighted satisfaction at the soft bounce, and rests you so you’re standing between his open legs, the tv flickering colors across his face, all paling in comparison to his eyes. “I summoned a demon?” Gojo nods, smile ever present and hand not yet leaving yours, “Can incubi also bring money?”

Gojo chuckles, “You ask a lot of questions don’t you?” He pulls another flower from his pocket and rips the stem off with his teeth before placing behind his own ear, “I’ll answer that one and any others you’re allowed to ask until we’re done, okay?” His okay is punctuated by his hand releasing yours and instead mirroring his other to slowly trail up your legs and beneath your nightgown.

“For starters, you’re gonna call me Satoru tonight, or however much of it you’re able to get out later.” A cheeky smirk as he looks up at you through his frosty lashes makes you want to feel his mouth on you and see if it’s as chilled as the rest of him is, but he’s also a demon, so using your newly mastered skill of beating your desires back until you just barely have control, you nod and clench your thighs again, “Okay, Satoru.” His hands have reached the hem of your panties now, fingers bunching the material until he clasps the entire sides in both hands, “Good! Now, as far as money goes, usually, no, but, if you’re a good girl for me, I just might reconsider.”

If you weren’t already struggling to keep your breath softer than a pant, you’d probably be embarrassed at how your legs quiver at the label, especially when Satoru acknowledges the shake with a groan deep in his chest and the tortuously slow descent of your panties, which he follows with the burial of his nose in the crevice between your thighs over your nightgown. After he finishes a deep breath, he releases your panties to land on the floor and catches his bottom lip between his teeth as he chuckles again. “I’m a demon, not a monster, you’re not in any danger.” The end of the statement is very pointed, Satoru’s eyes serious as he says it, though they soften again when you nod, some of the returned tension in your shoulders dropping with the motion of your head.

Satoru’s icy hands have made their way back up your legs, his fingers digging into your ass as he kneads the fat of it, the crotch of his pants tightening in response, “Last answer, no more questions til we’re done; I don’t care about your neighbors, don’t muffle any of the sounds you make. I know I won’t be, so it’ll be a waste if you try.” While you heard Satoru, your entire body’s attention has been focused on his cock trying to break through the zipper of his pants, and with one more nod, this one much less invested than your prior, you drop to your knees in front of Satoru. He goes to protest, but you offer a silent trade, offering him your leftovers, though he doesn’t take the plate until you pull your lust blown eyes from the growing tent in his pants to meet his own. Once your eyes meet, Satoru laughs, almost giddy, and takes your plate, “Are you repaying me for earlier?”

Your fingers fumble with his pants, your anticipation so high, you can barely function. You have to taste him, and you most definitely have to do it now, besides, Satoru is counting on you to be a good girl for him, “I’m gonna try.” You mutter as you finally get his pants undone. Satoru takes a forkful of leftovers into his mouth, those paralyzing eyes of his focused on you.

Taking a note from Satoru’s book, you slowly, tortuously pull his pants down, your lips leaving wet kisses along his snowy happy trail. Satoru is about to say something else, but you finally get his pants down low enough to see he isn’t wearing any underwear beneath his perfectly tailored pants and lick a path from one side of his pelvis to the other, forcing him to cut off whatever he was going to say with a breathy groan.

The noise makes you impatient, yanking Satoru’s pants just low enough for his cock to come springing up onto his stomach, long veiny, and begging to be touched. Flicking your eyes up to his flushed face, you guide his tip into your mouth, hollowing out your cheeks and pushing your tongue against the sensitive skin just beneath the head of his cock, a smile constricting your mouth even more when the repeated motion causes Satoru to flop back onto your bed with a long whine.

Taking a deep breath in through your nose while you can, you glide his twitching length over your tongue until the cool, yet angry red tip pushes at the back of your throat. The entirety of Satoru can’t fit into your mouth, the very base of him eluding the warm wet embrace, so to make up for it, you sit up on your knees and extend your tongue to lick what your lips can’t reach, spit pooling into the short shorn hairs you can’t quite bury your nose into. Now Satoru moans, low and lulling, setting your plate beside himself on your bed and tossing his head back. As you lift your mouth from his cock slowly, tongue lazily dragging behind, Satoru’s breaths turn into shallow pants. You can’t remember the last time you wanted to savor something so badly, or the last time you wanted to devour something so grossly it’d be hard to look your mother in the eye. Satoru is using one hand to push his fluffy hair off of his forehead and the other is lying limp over the edge of your bed. His moans and whines have your pussy clenching and dripping, aching for the relief that comes when you slip two of your fingers into your heat.

As the stimulation on your g-spot and the dizzying heat of Satoru’s slack jawed stare make you moan around the head of his cock, you suddenly drop your mouth back down on him until his spongy head makes harsh contact with the back of your throat. The feeling pulls a deep growl from Satoru, the edges of his licked lips curling as you repeat the motion, building a steady pace of slow ascension and burning descent until the sounds of your clattering beads, moans, and squelches of your fingers fidgeting in your pussy are joined by the wet, choked cry forced from your lips every time you make that bruising collision.

“So good, baby. You’re doing so good for me.” Satoru praises you, reaching for something on the small end table beside your bed, sharp blue eyes still trained on you and summoning another wave of arousal over your curling fingers. You moan at the feeling, air in the room growing thick and Satoru sits up now, resting his weight on his left arm as he extends the other to you, revealing your new toy. You still your movements, your aching throat enjoying the reprieve as you gaze up at Satoru, eyebrows scrunched in confusion and your tongue lazily sliding along his twitching length. “I wanna taste you while I fuck your mouth, pretty girl, you can use this.”

You don’t go to move for the toy, not because you don’t want to, of course, but once again, as your eyes flicker from his open hand to his face, his eyes, your body’s actions seem to be incredibly limited, only allowing for your pussy to clench tighter around your fingers and your mouth to release a needy whine around Satoru’s cock. Hissing at the vibration, his expression gets serious, “Take it and use it. Give me your hand.” His demand turns your brain back on and you pull your fingers out of yourself with a loud pop, your wetness dripping onto the floor as you present your sticky fingers to Satoru, your other hand dropping into his own to drunkenly grasp the pink toy.

Satoru is smiling again, pulling another cock muffled whimper from you, “Awe, baby, is that all for me?” He coos, cheeks flushed as he licks at some of the sticky arousal that has dripped down to your wrist. You nod, needy moans and whimpers leaving your mouth more often than breath at the moment, and your heat missing something to grip as Satoru’s eyes roll back into his head as he groans hungrily at the taste of you. When his eyes meet yours again, they’re dark and hazy, almost making his cheeky grin look ravenous, devilish. “You should have told me you tasted so good.” He doesn’t leave any room for response - not that you really could in your state anyway - before his head gestures to your hand, still lying in his, “Use your rose, pretty girl. I want you to cum with me.”

Now that your new toy is turned on and pressed against your clit, Satoru gently grips the back of your neck, his thumb gently stroking the skin behind your ear as he savors the taste of your arousal on your fingers, “Relax your mouth, baby, okay?” This time, Satoru let’s you nod in response before his grip on your neck tightens and he thrusts his hips so he hits the back of your throat again, the sensation making you both moan loudly. He barely pulls back before plunging his cold cock head right back into the increasingly more sensitive spot. Relentless, Satoru keeps his pace, whimpering broken fragments of praises and your name as he sucks and licks at your hand, cleaning you up with a greedy attention to detail that almost makes you wish he was licking into you in tandem with the you making your thighs shake.

Almost. But as Satoru’s thrusts begin to speed up and his licks begin to turn into dragging bites to your palm, you relish in the feeling of having his heavy cock twitch in your warm mouth and his balls gathering and spreading the drool seeping out of your mouth with loud slaps. He’s loud, he’s rough, he’s greedy, and as Gojo Satoru clenches his jaw and interlocks your fingers, begging you to cum with him and telling you how good you feel, you’re sure he’s also absolutely divine. His lidded eyes and slack jaw are enough to have you clenching your thighs and moaning loud and long as your orgasm crashes over you, so strong your vision goes white for a moment.

Satoru lets out a low broken moan as he watches your orgasm rush through you, contorting your face and constricting your mouth around him. His short fingernails are digging temporary crescents into the back of your neck as he holds you down on his cock as far as he can manage, “Eyes up here. Watch what you do to me.” Satoru waits patiently, grinding into your mouth slow and hard until you’re able to lull your eyes back to his.

As soon as you make eye contact, Satoru reaffirms his grip on your neck and begins to piston his hips, making his earlier pace seem geriatric. “Fuck, been so good for me, haven’t you?” Satoru pants out, voice soft and raspy. You hum an acknowledgement around him, a nod barely able to be formed due to Satoru’s rapid thrusting, but your whiny confirmation, the beg for his approval buzzing around his aching cock is all Satoru needs. With his jaw slack to release a loud throaty moan and his snowy eyelashes fluttering, Satoru cums down your throat, warm and so, so filling. As he twitches against your tongue, holding you so far down his length tears slip between your lips and add to the salty flavor of him filling your mouth, Satoru chuckles breathlessly, “That’s right… take it all.”

Satoru doesn’t let his hefty cock slip out of your mouth until you’ve swallowed all of the cum he gave you. Untangling your hands, Satoru pulls you up so you’re straddling his lap and he sets to wiping the tears from your cheeks and sweeping the cum that seeped out of the corners of your mouth up with his thumb. “Open up, pretty girl, you’ve got leftovers.” Satoru coos, the cheeky tone he never abandons for long makes you huff in soft indignation, but the compliment has you moving forward to suck the digit into your mouth, being sure to clean it of Satoru’s salty cum, eyes closing at the flavor and pussy fluttering again.

Opening your mouth to release Satoru’s thumb, you rub yourself against his still stiff member, subconsciously scratching the itch he seems capable of continually causing, “I wanna do that again.” You’re insatiable as you hump your way through your sentence, wanting him so badly you can’t stop yourself from gripping his shirt so tightly your knuckles hurt as you run your clit over his bulbous head, high pitched whimpers falling from your lips at every pass.

You lean in to kiss Satoru and lick the smug grin off of his face, but he moves away, reveling in how your pout after chasing his lips doesn’t result in him meeting you excitedly, tongue startlingly warm and licking a path through your mouth. “No baby,” Satoru flips you effortlessly, standing to slowly discard his clothes as he watches you rub your thighs together, “Now I do my job.” Fully naked, adorned only in the thin, glistening chain and the securely placed flower he set behind his ear earlier, Satoru creeps himself up the bed towards you.

One sloppy kiss after another, Satoru hums his way up your body. As he’s passing by your pussy, Satoru pushes your thighs open and with his tongue flat, he licks one mean stripe up your slit before abandoning your lips entirely and setting to nibbling at your neck. Before you can protest though, Satoru slips one of his long fingers into you, immediately curling to where you’re most sensitive, “You gonna be loud for me while I fuck you full, pretty girl?”

[mamawasatesttube]

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks.” & “I won’t lose you too.” with timkon, konbart, maybe even timkonbart if you really want to :)

combined with this prompt ask from @randomexistentialemo (who tumblr is being weird about tagging, sorry!):

“Who cares about what they think?” for timkon?

Kon is quiet.

That's the first thing that stands out, when Tim slips into his room. The lights are dim enough that the slight glow of his eyes is visible, a luminous cyan against the muted yellow lamplight. The only sounds are the TV and Bart rambling over it, explaining the plot of the game he's currently playing; Kon's eyes are on the screen, but just by looking at him, Tim can tell he's not watching. Not really.

He's too quiet. Kon is a lot of things, but quiet is never one of them. Not unless something is very, very wrong.

Tim deliberately lets his feet fall audibly against the carpet as he jumps down from the windowsill. Bart's head snaps up; Kon, who presumably already knew he was there from his heartbeat alone, flicks a glance over at him, and a vague quirk of his lips, but says nothing.

Bart meets his gaze, wide-eyed with obvious worry. He jerks his head none-too-subtly at Kon and, apparently having noticed his distraction technique isn't working, mouths a desperate help.

Right. Tim's turn.

"I brought pizza," he announces, placing the box on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "And I'm hoping you didn't already polish off all the drinks in the fridge, 'cuz I didn't grab any."

The mini-fridge in the corner opens on its own, and three cans of Zesti float out. So at least Kon's feeling up to that much. That's... something.

"Thanks," Tim says, accepting the can that floats into his hand. He pops it open and plops down on the couch on Kon's other side, so that he can be a sad pile of blankets in the middle of his two best friends, at least.

God, that haunted look in his eyes... Tim knows Clark is handling the lab, now that the kryptonite is gone, and that Clark is beyond pissed at what happened to Kon, but hell if Tim doesn't wish he could go back there and punch every single unethical white coat shithead in there that schemed, plotted, and lied in order to get Supernova alone just to poison, drug, and kidnap him for a wannabe Cadmus successor's next pet project. He went in thinking they needed help, and they betrayed him, took advantage of his kindness, and—

Okay. Getting pissed again won't help anything. Yes, seeing Kon out of his mind with terror in the midst of a flashback while injured and in pain earlier was agonizing, infuriating, and horrifying. No, dwelling on it won't help make Kon feel a little better right now.

Tim takes a breath.

"I'm not too hungry," Kon says, and god, his voice is still raw. Bart clearly hears it too, because he puts down his slice of pizza and turns to wordlessly snuggle into Kon's side. "Sorry. You brought it all this way, and..."

"Kon." Tim rests a hand on his shoulder. "If you don't wanna eat, don't force yourself. That's fine. It's not like it's gonna go to waste anyway. We've got Bart right here."

That at least makes Kon smile ever-so-slightly, just for a moment. But it fades far too fast, and he sighs, hangs his head, and stares down at the Zesti clasped in both his hands.

Bart lifts his head slightly and meets Tim's gaze again. The worry in his eyes hasn't lessened; Tim is sure his own face mirrors it. He's not sure he's ever seen Kon break down like that before, in all the years they've known each other.

"...People saw, didn't they?" Kon asks, his voice carefully neutral. He doesn't lift his gaze. "Bet someone recorded it. Now everyone knows their great hero Supernova starts screaming bloody murder 'cuz of a fucking needle. Is it trending on Twitter how pathetic I am yet?"

Bart's head flies up in rage. "Who cares about what they think?" he demands. "Even if it is, I don't care what anyone else thinks! I'd have been freaking out really bad too! Grife, Kon, what they did to you was fucked up, and it's not pathetic that you're not okay!"

Tim presses a little closer into Kon's side, hoping it'll ground him. Kon has always sought out touch when he's upset. Judging by the hesitant brush of TTK against his hip, it was a good call; emboldened, Tim reaches up and strokes a hand through his hair, too. "Bart's right. And also... it's not trending or anything. There was one recording, from the security system, but I got rid of it. And Oracle is on high alert for any duplicates that might crop up. It's not getting out. I promise."

"Oh." Kon lets out a slow breath. Some of the tension in his shoulders seeps away; somehow, curled into himself between them both, despite his stature and his broad shoulders, he seems small. "That's... good."

"Yeah!" Bart agrees. "And Tim and I are on high alert to sit on you for the rest of the week. Right, Tim?"

"Right," Tim agrees. Bart fist-bumps him; it brings another tiny smile to Kon's face. This one lingers.

"Okay." Kon finally, finally lifts his head. He glances first to Bart, then to Tim, and sighs, drawing the blanket a little more tightly about himself. "So long as you guys don't mind me being pathetic."

"Pffff, as if." Bart nudges him. "Besides, you used to wear Axe. That's way more pathetic than anything you're doing right now. And I still stuck around."

Another tiny smile. Tim mentally congratulates Bart. He slips his arm around Kon's waist, leaning into his side fully, and reaches for the box of pizza. "So, what were you playing before I got here?"

Bart lights up, grabs the controller, and launches into a delighted spiel about his game. Kon goes back to watching, and Tim settles in to quietly bask in both of their presence, stalwart in his resolve to protect Kon. They'll both take care of him. God knows he's always taken care of them when they've needed it.

And Tim won't call him out on it or anything, but when a piece of pizza levitates its way out of the box toward Kon's mouth, all the same, Tim can't help but smile.

♥ angst/fluff prompts ♥

[dancingwiththoughts]

Medwhump May Day 23: Resisting Treatment

“Ya’ look like shit.”

“What a keen and poetic analysis, Angel,” Alastor rasped.

“He ain’t wrong,” Husk chimed in from behind the bar,”You do look pretty fucked up.”

Alastor rolled rheumy eyes, before coughing into his sleeve. It was mid morning, and the three of them were sitting at the hotel bar.

“I’m just sayin’, toots, why’re you even up if you’re sick?” Angel sat down on the stool next to Alastor.

“I’m not sick,” he spat the world like it was poison,”It’s just a minor inconvenience.”

Husk and Angel didn’t look convinced.

“Fine, run yourself into the ground for all I care,” Husk grumbled, going back to cleaning the glasses.

“Thank you kindly,” Alastor grinned cheekily, before his breath hitched.

He folded forward, letting out a string of violent sneezes. Angel and Husk jumped back as antlers sprouted from his head, before retracting as the fit subsided. Alastor sniffed, sounding congested as he wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Husk and Angel exchanged looks which clearly meant the same thing: stubborn asshole.

“Good morning, everyone!” Charlie entered the room, her typical cheerful demeanor dripping from her voice.

Vaggie trailed behind her, gazing at Charlie fondly.

There was a chorus of returned greetings as the couple sat down at the bar. Husk passed them each a mug of their preferred drink.

“So, I heard about this new bonding activity the other day, and I think that it would be super fun to try,” Charlie began,”So we’ll need four identical chairs with backs, and then four people at a time will go. Everybody sits in a certain direction, and then they lean back on each other's legs. The other people who aren’t playing then remove the chairs and-”

Charlie was cut off as Alastor began to cough, the sound rough and filled with static. He attempted to muffle the sound, but it didn’t do much as all eyes turned to stare at him. He finished quickly, seemingly out of breath, but he kept up appearances anyways.

“Terribly sorry for the interruption dear,” He apologized.

“You don’t sound too good, Al,” Charlie’s eyebrows knit together,"Are you feeling okay?"

“I’m positively splendid, darling. Just a tad bit off is all.”

“You should take a break if you’re sick. You really don’t look too good.”

He really didn’t. His nose was raw and red, cheeks beginning to flush lightly. He looked tired and run down, and just not like himself.

“I’m fine.”

“Please, Alastor? I don’t want you to be overworking yourself if you aren’t feeling great.”

“Charlotte, I’m-”

“Bullshit; You sound like you gargled nails and look like you got trampled by an angel,” Vaggie said, crossing her arms,”I used to be a nurse, and I can tell when someone’s ill. I can diagnose the fact that you have a low grade fever from here.”

“I am not ill.”

“Oh really? Then why didn’t you notice that you were drinking decaf coffee?” Husk questioned.

Alastor froze at this, seeming not to have a rebuttal.

“Please, Al?” Charlie pleaded,”Just go lay down for a bit.”

Alastor opened his mouth to argue, but Charlie held up her hand.

“I’m not saying you’re sick, but I’m saying as princess of Hell, the owner of this establishment, and your friend that you are going to go to your room, and will not come out for at least,” Charlie paused, glancing at Vaggie,”At least two hours. Do I make myself clear?”

Alastor looked slightly intrigued at the show of power Charlie had put on, but he mostly looked… defeated.

“...Fine. Despite how ridiculous your assumptions are, I will retire for exactly two hours, but no more.”

He stood up from the bar, striding towards the stairs.

“Feel better!” Angel called after him snarkily.

The comment was responded to with Alastor’s coffee cup being hurled at the spider’s head, smashing against the wall.

[sotvtaughtmehowtofeel]

Okay okay okay. Had this in my head.

So like Ellie plays with her knife a lot right, and I just imagine Joel being like “Ellie be careful honey, you’re gonna cut yourself” but she just ignores him and continues to flip it anyway.

But like one day when Joel’s sitting on the porch, drinking his coffee, he hears a loud hiss and a clatter come from inside the house. The doors ajar due to it basically being summer, and he turns toward it, calling her name. “Ellie, you alright in there?” She’s quiet for a moment, to quiet. “Ellie?”

“Uh yeah I’m fine.” He obviously doesn’t believe her and keeps his ears open to listen for anything that could be wrong. “Fuck.” At that he stands up, placing his mug on the table next to the rocking chair. “Ellie I’m coming inside.”

“No wait I-” And there it is, her bloody knife laying on the floor, along with a trail of blood leading all the way to the kitchen. “Ellie!?” He calls a bit more panicked, racing to the kitchen. She’s standing over the sink, hand under a stream of warm water as her eyes glaze over. “I um, I cut my hand.”

“Shit kid.” He quickly grabs a towel from the drawer, moving her hand so he can take over. “How many times have I told you?” He stops the water, wiping off her palm. “I know.” She says quietly. “You’ve gotta be more careful dammit.”

“I know.” She let’s out a long sigh, staring out the window as he walks away to grab the first aid kit. “What the hell even happened kid.”

“What the hell do you think happened?” She turns to him as he puts some ointment on the cut, not realizing that a few of her tears had escaped. He freezes, chest constricting at the thought of her being upset. “Woah hey, why you cryin?”

“Nothing, it’s stupid.” She says, wiping off her eyes with her sleeve. “Try me kiddo.” He puts on a little bandage, shoving away the stuff to focus his attention fully on her. “I said it’s nothing.”

“And I said tell me. You don’t just get to cry and not tell me what’s wrong, that’s not how it works with us kiddo, got it?” She nods, cradling her wrist to her stomach. “I just-fucking scared the shit out of me is all.” His eyebrows furrow, he’s confused. “Well I mean, we’ve seen worse. Hell you’ve patched me up a time or two.”

“I know.” She says, desperately begging for him to let it go, defeated that he doesn’t understand. He waits for a moment, seeing the disappointment on her face. “C’mon. Talk to me Ellie. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I just, after everything that’s happened I don’t like the whole blood on a fucking knife thing. By themselves it’s fine, I’m fine, but the second they’re together I just freeze. It’s like everything is happening all the fuck over again and I just-I hate it.” A knot forms in his stomach at her words, and he swallows thickly, not sure what to say. “You know you can talk to me about this stuff, right?”

“I know.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me before.”

“Because it’s stupid Joel, it doesn’t fucking matter.”

“If you’re crying about it, it fucking matters Ellie.” She nods, turning away from him as more tears try to force their way out. “Hey.” He says gently, placing a hand on her back. “C’mere.”

And she just melts into his embrace, wrapping one arm around him as he holds the others hand, laying light kisses against the bandage and around it. “It’s alright baby girl. It’s alright.”

I’m so sorry this is so long but broooooo 😭😭😭😭I can’t get this out of my head

Thank you for sharing this!! I love it.

I love Ellie trying to hide it and like desperately willing Joel to let it go. I love Joel being Exasperated Dad who has told her to be careful so many times but kinda just lets it go this time bc she’s hurt. I love how everything else shuts off for him once she’s crying. He has to help his babygirl 😭.

“If you’re crying it matters” 😭😭😭

[mossy-mushrooms]

The dark harvest

Pt 4

A week had passed since the incident, Ryu and his guardians were more cautious at night and when they had to be near the forest.

Right now he was sitting in the principal's office, sitting quietly while Yuuki was talking to the principal to enroll Ryu.. again, for the fifth time.

"Well I think we're all set, I'll assign him a guide for tomorrow. He will give him his schedule and lock combination" the principal talked to Yuuki, but when Ryu heard about what he cared he heard it all before so he just promptly zoned out while staring out the window that was in the office.

"alright thank you sir, come on Ryu how about we go get something to eat?" Yuuki turns to him while standing up and Ryu just nods before walking out of the office. "Ah... Sorry about him, he's not used to talking to people" he says before getting his coat and walking out after Ryu

....

Ryu was silently eating his fries, looking out the window at the perpetually foggy town. He had already seen a few same faces twice or thrice, "so.. do you think you'll like it here?" Yuuki asked as he drank his coffee, Ryu looked up at him and put up a finger up as he chewed.

"it's creepy as hell here. Not to mention the people, they all stare at me like I'm a plague that should be avoided" he grimaces as he says that, clearly annoyed. Leaning back on the booth seat as he crosses his arms, "I'm sure they're just cautious this is a small town and they're not used to new faces" Yuuki reassures him as he leans on the table with his forearms. "Isn't that what you said like three times before?" Ryu retorts as he dips another french fry into mayonnaise before eating it in one go.

"where are Santos and Sam anyway? They're running late" the teen grumbles as he looks back out the window. "Uh let me see" Yuuki mumbles as he fishes his phone out of his pocket and sending a text to both of them, he sets his phone down on the table and takes a bite of his steak. "I bet Sam will reply first" Ryu remarks and takes a sip of his tea, he hums at the taste. Forest fruit was always his favourite tea, "cuz he's always on his phone? I bet he's playing games or something- oh speak of the devil" Yuuki picks up his phone and reads the message resulting him to sigh heavily. "What?"

"they're lost, they are somehow In a park and if memory serves, that's on the opposite side of town." He groans, running a hand through his dark curls as Ryu just stares, his mouth slightly open.

"you're fucking with me. Oh my goddddddd, how!?" He groans as he puts his face in his hands. "Yeahh, I dropped out location to them, I'm guessing Santos was leading the two of them.. neither of them are capable for shit." He sighs and turns off his phone. "So what now? It'll at least be an hour untill they get here, should we just go home and get them some take out?" "You think we won't be gossiping for the next hour? Also I have money so we can order more don't worry about it" at that Ryu perked up and leaned forward. "Work gossip already??"

...

"look who's finally here" Yuuki snarks as he looks at the two disheveled guys that are standing at their booth. "Dude. There were strays" he wheezes out as he plops down next to Ryu while Sam sits next to Yuuki quietly but still panting. "Oh shit, all explained then, wait how many dogs were chasing you?" Yuuki asked as he flagged down the waiter "there we six I think" Sam answered as he stole Santos coffee "what the hell man? Why do you drink coffee black??" Sam gags as he sets down Yuuki's drink.

"you really are American.." Ryu mumbles as he drinks his second mug of tea as the other two just nod. "What the hell is that supposed to mean??" "Nothing, nothing" the teen quickly says while the others look away in any direction that isn't where Sam is sitting, much to Sam's annoyance.

....

Ryu sighed as they are finally home and immediately plopped down onto the black love seat in the living room. Sam sat on the faded purple couch while Santos went upstairs to who knows where in the lodge and Yuuki went into the kitchen to prep the chicken and potatoes for tomorrow's breakfast so he wouldn't need to rush.

"Ryu don't go to bed too late okay? You're gonna be going to school in a few days" Yuuki's voice was reassuring but the teen already knew that the man didn't want anymore incidents like that night. "I won't stay up to late don't worry, I don't wanna hear the wind at night more than I have to ugh" he shakes his head slightly as he thinks about the creepy noises.

"okay then, if you need anything I'll be in the office room" the teen nods at that and Yuuki ruffles his hair before walking off.

The teen sighed and grabbed a blanket and covered himself while scrolling through Pinterest, after a while he slowly fell asleep on the couch as the warm fire kept him warm..

[life-with-a-4yearold]

Rambling about shit really.

Life-with-a-4yearold back again, hope everyone is doing well and not to stressed over the thought of the school holidays coming up ? because I no I am! She only goes to pre school 3 days a weel 9-3 but they are lovely days, I can get things done or I can lay up my sofa and do fuck all. Because you no what WE DESERVE a break every now and then. Anyway what the hell are we going to do to keep the kids entertained for so long ? need to be a millionaire to do anything these days. Im tired just thinking about it. All honesty I love spending time with my daughter but 6 weeks of a 4 year old that acts like a 14 year old is far to long for me. Thinking about setting up a baby sitting group in the village and then we can all get a break. Not sure how I feel about other peoples kids I don’t really like them so maybe its not a great idea…..

I would love to be one of the mums that has all the neigbourhood kids over and lets them play and you no the “cool mum” but I just aint got it in me. I avoid eye contact at the school in hope no one speaks to me then as soon as she walks through the gate with the teacher I scurry of home back to my happy place till 3pm then I have to do it all over again. I no terrible. Since when did everyone become so talkative I don’t care that your kid shit in the toilet for the first time, that’s their business you wouldn’t say “I had a shit in the toilet today” to someone you hardly no? like great now I no your kid had a shit, life complete. Yes I get it it’s a milestone well done but im sure there are people who you are closer to that you can tell, not someone who avoids all communication. Talk about making things awkward. They has their taster day at school the other day for then to go in to reception. I had this weirdo going round asking for peoples numbers so they can set up at whats app group for the new class. Now im getting random messages of people I don’t know asking when the next coffee club is ? THANKS VERY FUCKING MUCH. Probably come in handy as I am the one who forgets everything and have to text the one person I actually like to find out whats going on that day nearly missed sports day.

I need to try and find things to do with her as shes a very active child and wont sit and watch the tv or ipad and yes I do let her have ulimited screen time as she never watches it really anyway, not that I begrudge anyone that lets their kid have screen time. Sometimes it’s the only way to get on with something.

We try and make things fun the child isn’t deprived of anything shes well fed well looked after and quite frankly spoilt rotten! She has a 15ft swimming pool, 12 ft trampoline and a climbing frame along with multiple toys in the garden. Its good for her but then we always get the neighbour hood kids wanting to come over, even though they aint friends with my kid. Or I get their mums messaging me asking what im up to and if I fancy a coffee, then comes the “your house or mine” knowing they want me to say my house. This is all before ive even answered the fucking question lol. I sound so miserable but im here for a good time I don’t wanna be used for the things I have. I like to sit in the garden with a glass of wine or a bottle of beer and have a good old chat putting the world to rights, I don’t need the fake shit. I don’t need to be friends with everyone. I will never stop my daughter playing with certain kids and id still let her have sleep overs. Im happy with the few friends I have that we can meet on a Saturday afternoon at the local have a few to drink and then come home order a Chinese and watch a film. They are the friends I like they all have older children im the youngest of the group Im 28 and most of them are in their late 30s early 40s my partner is 44. We all get on great.

Dreading September, I no its going to be crazy and stressful but trying to put all that behind me and try and enjoy the summer holidays before she goes to school full time, till shes 18! Unless she drops out like I did, which wont be encouraged! I want her to be successful and have a good career unlike me. Stuck working behind the bar because I didn’t get any qualifications, and no one would employ me… I started to look at collage courses then I found out I was pregnant so give up on that idea. Now im doing nothing apart from being a bad house wife blogging how bad I am haha. Got to think if some ways to keep me entertained I suppose!! This should be fun. Day 2 complete!

Life-with-a-4yearold.

[soutcftime]

Big brother - Human AU?

so in Argentina started the Big Brother reality show again and i just found it would be so funny to see Dream of the Endless/ Morpheus struggle in a house full of unknow people hsajhsk so here I go:

Dream is a full on drama actor (no funny interviews, no social media, anything but the :| face and the brat TM mark) and his siblings (Desire mostly and Delirium but just because she thinks it would be absolutely funny) put him in the Big Brother house. Somehow, don't ask me just enjoy?

The first day Dream just come and he's like WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE???? and there's people everywhere and cameras and oh my god where is he?? he does not understand what is happening?? (his fans are screaming and melting out over so much content in so less time? like oh there is our caveman living in a house with other people and we can see him ALL THE TIME??!!)

Anyways, he's just there with the "i hate people" face and pout, and the first thing that get out of his mouth to the camera is an absolutely serious "I want to go, can I? There's no legally thing that keep me here right?" and the host of the show is like "WE WILL ASK TO THE PEOPLE!!" and C'MON THE PEOPLE WILL SAVE HIM EVERY-TIME!!!

After that, his first week past along with out problem. He's just there, standing without talk with anyone. He just look at them with the most hating look that he can have and being honest no one cares about him. One of the guys, Matthew, start to call him the plant man.

One night at three o'clock the people just start to freaking the hell out on twitter and instagram because Dream is talking to someone! just a small talk like "you want coffee?" "i don't drink coffee" "a tea then?" "...yes, thanks" and Morpheus' stans just start to love the professor Hob Gadling.

Hob is the new fandom protected. A whole new shipp for the fandom. And Hob's students are like NO FUCKING WAY THE PROFESSOR AND DREAM OF THE ENDLESS????? THE TWO GOLDEN GLOBES AWARDS WINNER???? AND OUR NERD HISTORY TEACHER???? bastard.

[bambisgirl]

not just lovers — 04. heeseung buff era?

previous | m.list | next

note: every chapter has small parts of social media for the sake of the story!

warning! swearing and profanities

“baby baby, you’re a caramel macchiato... your scent is still sweet on my lips...”

“boo!” you scared heeseung by placing your hands on his shoulders all of a sudden. he was so startled by your presence that he almost fell off the chair.

“sorry!” you laughed as you took the seat in front of him. “you were so caught up in the song that i had to scare you... it’s human nature.” you said truthfully with a smile still on your face. “what song were you humming anyway?”

“bts.” he sighed, his heart still beating rapidly because of the earlier jumpscare. “it’s called coffee, an older song of theirs.”

“it sounded nice.” you were honestly astonished by his warm, heavenly voice. “were you singing it because we’re in a café?”

“yeah.” he laughed. “and it’s one of my favorites from them.”

“i might listen to it one day then.” you grinned and he couldn’t help but smile back at you.

one week later...

“you know that because of you following me i’ve gained about fifty two thousand instagram followers?” 

it was the third weekend you and heeseung met at the same café. 

“what can i say...” he smirked. “i’m a strong man with a lot of influence.” he took a sip of his coffee. 

“it’s the first time i see you drinking coffee.” you noticed.

“yeah, i don’t like coffee that much.” he chuckled. “plus, i’m following quite a strict diet to be honest and the coffee i like has a lot of calories.”

“why though? you look really fit and healthy.” you subtly checked him out. 

“thanks.” he shyly smiled at your compliment. 

“i hope it’s because you want to look like this.” you continued. “not because your company makes you do it.”

“uh... it was my choice to become a gym addict.” he joked. “i’ve always been into sports since i was little, but lately i’ve been dealing with some stuff.”

“you don’t have to tell me—“

“you obviously don’t know since you aren’t quite familiar with me and the members, but this one time a few months ago we had a fansign as we needed to promote our new album. fans always bring us gifts and accessories, like headbands and other cute stuff.” he sighed. “this one time, a girl brought me a freaking bonnet.”

“a bonnet? like a baby bonnet?” you widened your eyes.

“yeah. because we had our first cute concept and stuff.” he looked down, clearly embarrassed.

“you’re not thirteen years old, heeseung.” you frowned, disgusted by that fan’s behavior.

“but everyone treats me like i am.” you could see his knuckles turning white because of how hard he was clenching his fist. “i really wanted to get a tattoo but no, all i got was a freaking bonnet. i started going to the gym everyday and sometimes even several times a day because... i don’t know... i want to be healthy, of course, but on the other hand i’d like to look manly and be myself more. i’m afraid i’m going to disappoint my fans and— don’t get me wrong, i love my fans with my whole heart and soul. but some of them treat me like a literal child even though i’m the oldest. i’m not allowed to do anything. and i feel like i’ll never get up to their expectations. you see, i’m clearly not good at everything... and it’s goddamn hard to please everyone since i’m not a robot.”

you carefully listened to heeseung and felt extremely bad for this dazzling, sensational guy.

“if you want a tattoo, then go and fucking get one!” you replied firmly. your cheeks immediately turned red, you felt like you and heeseung weren’t close enough for you to swear in front of him. “oh, sorry for using bad words—“

“fuck yeah!” he exclaimed. “i was really careful with my words while telling you stuff but thank god— can i swear now?” 

you nodded and he laughed.

“i think you should do whatever the hell you want.” you began talking. “i know being an idol is mentally exhausting and depressing sometimes, but doing what you want might be the only thing that’s gonna keep you sane in this goddamn industry.” he strongly agreed on what you were saying. “get a tattoo, grow your hair out, wear revealing clothes— show your body to the world if that’s what you want and feel like doing. you’ve been working a lot for it. people not supporting can choke on my toes.”

he watched you mesmerized as you spoke.

“you deserve the best, heeseung. you make millions of people happy, why can’t you be happy?”

“you make me happy.” he whispered to himself, unexpectedly breaking eye contact. 

“sorry, what was that?” you truly didn’t hear what he said. 

“pardon?” he made a funny face that made you laugh hysterically, you snorted like a pig and instantly covered your mouth in embarrassment.

“sorry, that was ugly.” you giggled, still disgusted by the creepy sound you made.

“you’re incandescently beautiful, y/n, and beauty is the least of you.” he said, his beaming doe eyes fully on yours. 

you skeptically raised one of your eyebrows. 

“what?” he adorably frowned at you. “that’s shakespeare, missy, thank you very much.”

“shakespeare my ass.” you rolled your eyes, adding a spoonful of extra sugar to your tea.

“shush, he might be dead but he still can hear you.” he softly whispered to you. 

“mhm…” you hummed, continuing playing his game.

“anyway, i think it’s finally the time for me to reveal the purpose of our meeting today, miss y/n.” he opened the smallest compartment from the gigantic black backpack next to him. “i bought you a brand new phone!”

“oh damn— here we go again.”

previous (bambi) | m.list | next (we’re all in this together)

PAIRING. idol!heeseung x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS. an old japanese myth once said that you’ll hear bells ringing when you and your soulmate meet for the first time. that’s what heeseung believed his whole life, not wanting to settle down for anyone else but his one true love. what should he do after he meets you in the most terrible timing possible and the universe keeps making you see each other every weekend? you just proved him soulmates aren’t just lovers, after all.

GENRE. soulmate au, strangers to (kind of) lovers au, idol au, short series, fluff, humor, slice of life, romance, hints of social media au

taglist! (open): @bluesoobinnie @jjhmk @wonswondrland @nishmrriki @taliah-haderson-gilbert @dxlicateee @auulraual @ahalya25 @nvertheless @ryujinsenbylover @bigtoewinwin @nar-nia @heeseungsluvr @lost-leopard-beanie @jwsflower @mingyuswrld