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princess-of-the-corner · 11 months ago

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Toontown Corporate Clash Recap: Toontown Central Cogs

Okay so, before I begin, let me just explain that Trap Gags were updated a couple days ago so that, when multiple Traps are set on the same Cog in the same turn, all are overwritten except for the most powerful.

Now, on to Toontown Central’s Cogs:

(Note: because of how I split my information up, some information unrelated to the Cogs was mixed in.)

Toontown Central Playground has four tunnels that each lead to different streets:

Puncline Place, which connects to Barnacle Boatyard. The Fisherman is a purple duck named Punchy. Its Cog Population is 40% Sellbots, 40% Cashbots, 5% Lawbots, 5% Bossbots, 10% Boardbots, and every Cog that spawns has a 5% chance of being an executive.

Silly Street, which connects to Ye Olde Toontowne. The Fisherman is a yellow duck named Billy. Its Cog population is 20% Sellbot, 20% Cashbot, 20% Lawbot, 20% Bossbot, and 20% Boardbot. Its Cogs have a 10% chance of being executives.

Wacky Way, which connects to Daffodil Garden. It used to have a white kiwi named Fruity as its Fisherman, but Fruity was removed from the game a while ago. Its Cog population is 5% Sellbot, 5% Cashbot, 20% Lawbot, 30% Bossbot, and 40% Boardbot. Every Cog on this street has a 5% chance of being an executive.

Loopy Lane, which connects to Mezzo Melodyland. The Fisherman is an orange cat named Droopy. Its Cog population is 5% Sellbot, 5% Cashbot, 40% Lawbot, 30% Bossbot, and 20% Boardbot, with a 5% Executive chance.

Most of the Neighborhood’s Cog Level Range is from Levels 1-4, with the exception of Silly Street, which has a Level Range of 1-3.

Level 1 Cogs can create 1 story Cog Buildings, Level 2 Cogs Tier 1 2 Story Cog Buildings, Level 3 can make Tier 2 2 Story Cog Buildings, Level 4 Cogs make Tier 1 3 Story Cog Buildings. There’s a maximum of 3 Cog buildings per street, and Level 5, 6, and 7 Cogs can appear in buildings.

I’ll only be covering the Cogs that can appear on the streets, however.

You can encounter Cogs up to Level 4, allowing you to meet the following Cogs in battle on the Streets:

Cold Caller: Sellbots. Levels 1-5. Has a blue, cube-like head.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Air Conditioning, Ice Cubicles

Dislikes: Space Heaters, the Cold Shoulder

Cold Callers have the following attacks:

Freeze Assets: Summons a cloud to bring gloomy snow down on a single Toon.

Pound Key: Takes out a rotary phone and bounds the keys on it, sending # (pound) signs at a single Toon.

Mumbo Jumbo: Attacks a single Toon with a barrage of meaningless business jargon that goes flying out of its head and swarms the Toon.

Telemarketer: Sellbots. Levels 2-6. Resembles a white man with a scrunched up, angry face.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Persistence, Phone Books, Strong Signals

Dislikes: Caller ID, Hang-Ups

Telemarketers have the following attacks:

Clip On Tie: Yeets a clip on tie at a single Toon’s neck.

Rolodex: Sorts through a rolodex, leafs through a rolodex, sending a barrage of rolodex cards at a single Toon.

Finger Wag: Wags a finger at the target, hitting a single Toon with a barrage of “Blah!”.

Pound Key: Same as before.

Name Dropper: Sellbots. Level 3-7. Pink head with purple hair and massive lips.

Honorifics: Ms.

Likes: Alphabetical Order, Friends in High Places, Rolodexes

Dislikes: Fact Checking, Nobodies

Name Droppers have the following attacks:

Razzle Dazzle: Holds up a stick with a smile on the end in front of her mouth, launching a ring of sparkles at a single Toon.

Rolodex: Same as before.

Synergy: Wiggles her fingers and sends out a wave of dollar signs at all the Toons. Any Toons the attack hits are lifted about a foot into the air and then dropped to the ground. Accuracy is calculated separately for each Toon, meaning it can hit some Toons without hitting ALL of them.

Pick Pocket: Steals a dollar from the pocket of one Toon. As Toons don’t use dollars as currency, this attack only causes the Toon to lose Laff, no Gags, Jellybeans, or Gumballs are lost. The Cog does not regain HP by using this attack either.

Glad Hander: Sellbots. Levels 4-8. Large, round head with pale skin and a large, toothy grin. Also have massive hands.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Enthusiasm, Handshakes

Dislikes: Joybuzzers, Sweaty Palms, Weak Grips

Glad Handers have the following attacks:

Rubber Stamp: After inking up the stamp, they press it against the air in front of them, sending the imprint of the stamp at a single Toon.

Fountain Pen: Squirts a stream of ink at a single Toon from the tip of the pen.

Filibuster: Cog stamps their fist in their palm, sending a string of legal jargon at a single Toon.

Schmooze: Same as filibuster, but the words are now compliments. Painful compliments that cause damage on impact, but still compliments.

Short Change: Cashbots. Levels 1-5. Light blue, smaller recolors of Cold Callers.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Hoarding Cash, Skimming Off the Surface

Dislikes: Checks, Exact Change

Short Changes have the following attacks:

Water Cooler: Squirts a single Toon with a stream of water from the water cooler’s spigot.

Bounce Check: Bounces a pay check along the ground towards a Single Toon’s face.

Clip On Tie: Same as before.

Pick Pocket: Same as before.

Penny Pincher: Cashbots. Levels 2-6. Red, thin head with a scrunched up angry face.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Pocket Change, Clipping Coupons

Dislikes: Holes in Pockets, Mark Ups

Penny Pinchers have the following attacks:

Bounce Check

Freeze Assets

Finger Wag

Tightwad: Cashbots. Levels 3-7. Green, short heads with scrunched up angry faces and massive hands.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Bouncing Checks, Counting Cash

Dislikes: High Payments, the Holidays

Tightwads have the following attacks:

Fired: Wiggles their fingers at a single Toon, sending tiny flames to burn them. (Note: Does not inflict any status effects.)

Glower Power: Literally glares daggers at a single Toon.

Finger Wag

Freeze Assets

Bean Counter: Cashbots. Levels 4-8. Green, thin head under a bowler hat. Their faces are angry and scrunched up.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Accounting, Calculators

Dislikes: Know-It-Alls, Losing Count, Things Not Adding Up

Bean Counters have access to the following attacks:

Audit: Punches the keys of an auditing machine with a sheet of paper coming out, sending the symbols on those keys flying out at a single Toon.

Calculate: Same as Audit.

Tabulate: Same as Calculate.

Write Off: scribbles something on a clipboard, then sends a checkmark flying at a single Toon.

Bottom Feeder: Lawbots. Levels 1-5. They’ve got blue, flattened head, trash-can lid-like mouths that open on a hinge (causing the upper half of their head to go flying open every time they speak), banana peels on their heads, and five-o-clock shadows.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: One Man’s Trash, Leftovers

Dislikes: First Dibs, Recycling

Bottom Feeders have the following attacks:

Rubber Stamp

Shred: Puts a sheet of paper through a paper shredder, sending the shreds at a single Toon.

Water Cooler

Pick Pocket

Bloodsucker: Lawbots. Levels 2-6. They are literally vampires.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Dark Nights, Drinking a Pint, Easy Prey

Dislikes: Silver Spoons, Garlic

Bloodsuckers have the following attacks:

Eviction Notice: Throws a rigid sheet of paper with a red seal stamped in the bottom left corner at a Toon, flattening them if it hits.

Red Tape: Throws a roll of red tape at a single Toon, briefly restraining them on impact.

Withdrawal: Draws some sparkly bits out of a single Toon.

Bite: Cog yeets some wind up chattering teeth at a single Toon, which bites them if it connects.

Liquidate: Cog sends a raincloud after a single Toon, causing it to rain demoralizing words on them and sink them into a dark puddle if it hits.

Pettifogger: Lawbots. Operations Analysts. Levels 2-7. Blue, cylindrical head with a powdered wig and fogged up glasses. Always scowling.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Plea Deals, Litigation

Dislikes: Transparency, Sunny Days

Pettifoggers have the following attacks:

Filibuster

Red Tape

Write Off

Finger Wag

Double Talker: Lawbots. Levels 3-7. Have two faces, both showing unhappiness in different ways.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Confuddled Speech, Double Meanings

Dislikes: One-Sided Arguments, Decisiveness

Double Talkers have the following attacks:

Rubber Stamp

Bounce Check

Buzz Word: Cog wags their finger and sends multiple yellow and black “buzzes” at a single Toon to swarm them.

Double Talk: Signature attack of Double Talkers. They send contradictory words to barrage a singular target.

Jargon: Bangs fist on hand to send difficult-to-understand words at a single target.

Mumbo Jumbo

Needlenose: Lawbots. Field Specialists. Levels 3-10. Blue skin. Red hair in a bun. Needle for a nose in the middle of their large, angry faces.

Honorifics: Ms.

Likes: Crochet, Cross Stitching

Dislikes: Thimbles, Bending the Rules

Needlenoses have access to the following attacks:

Rubber Stamp

Fountain Pen

Buzz Word

Pound Key

Ambulance Chaser: Lawbots. Levels 4-8. Purple skin, angry face, wearing a white cap with a purple cross.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Insurance Premiums, Traffic Accidents

Dislikes: Healthy Habits, Waivers

Ambulance Chasers can perform the following attacks:

Shake: User stomps the ground hard enough to shake it for an AOE attack. Toons who dodge this attack do so by jumping repeatedly, while Toons who get hit all trip and do a belly flop.

Red Tape

Rolodex

Hang Up: User presses keys on an oldfashioned landline phone, then hangs up, damaging a single target.

Conveyancer: Lawbots. Levels 4-8. Metallic, cylindrical head with goggles revealing their absolutely terrifying eyes, above an equally terrifying mouth.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Mass Production, Real Estate

Dislikes: Inefficiency, Indecisiveness

Conveyancers have the following attacks:

Legalese: Bangs fist in hand, sending wave of legalese at a single target.

Eviction Notice

Rolodex

Jargon

Flunky: Bossbots. Levels 1-5. Cute, rounded, pyramid-esque head with massive glasses covering a frowning face.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Menial Labor, Strong Frames

Dislikes: Complicated Tasks, Being Looked Down On, Tutorial Tom

Flunkies have access to the following attacks:

Pound Key

Shred

Clip On Tie

Pencil Pusher: Bossbots. Levels 2-6. Their heads resemble the points of no 2 pencils.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Getting to the Point, Staying Sharp

Dislikes: Erasers, Pens

Pencil Pushers have the following attacks:

Fountain Pen

Rub Out: Erases something off a clipboard, causing a single Toon to briefly disappear, one body part at a time, if the hit connects. (Again, Cog attacks don’t inflict debuffs, so this just deals damage.)

Finger Wag

Right Off

Fill With Lead: Pencil Pushers’ signature attack. They stick a pencil (not their head) into a pencil sharpener and barrage a Toon with the shavings.

Yesman: Bossbots. Levels 3-7. Same exact head as Glad Handers, but smaller.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Agreeable Statements, Staying Positive

Dislikes: Disapproval, Rejection

Yesmen have the following attacks:

Rubber Stamp

Razzle Dazzle

Synergy

Tee Off: Hits a golf ball towards a single Toon’s head.

Micromanager: Bossbots. Levels 4-8. Tiny women.

Honorifics: Ms.

Likes: Small Scale Problems, Butting In

Dislikes: Being Corrected, Proper Supervision

Micromanagers have access to the following attacks:

Demotion: Sends sparkles at a single Toon.

Finger Wag

Fountain Pen

Brainstorm: Sends a thundering storm cloud after a single Toon, raining words on them.

Buzz Word

Con Artist: Boardbots. Levels 1-5. Small, gray head with a big grin and a French beret.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Theaters, Smoke and Mirrors

Dislikes: Slow Decisions, Split Paintbrushes

Con Artists have access to the following attacks:

Bounce Check

Schmooze

Fountain Pen

Mumbo Jumbo

Pick Pocket

Connoisseur: Boardbots. Levels 2-6. Big mustache, monocle, and a tophat on top of their head.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Fine Oil, The Arts

Dislikes: Amateur Hour, Disproportions

Connoisseurs have the following attacks:

Half Windsor: Yeets a tie at a single Toon’s neck.

Jargon

Brain Storm

Finger Wag

Mumbo Jumbo

Swindler: Boardbots. Levels 3-7. Thin, cylindrical, gray head in a bandit’s mask. Also have a mustache in the middle of the scrunched up, scowling face.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Suckers, Deception

Dislikes: Common Sense, Being Exposed

The attacks?

Bounce Check

Hang Up

Rolodex

Pick Pocket

Middleman: Boardbots. Levels 4-8. Two faces with big, toothy grins.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Taking a Cut, Negotiating

Dislikes: Two Man Jobs, Direct Selling

They’ve got access to the following attacks:

Re-Org: Reorganizes a single Toon’s head.

Rolodex

Synergy

Razzle Dazzle

Because I’m tired of recounting Cogs I’m going to save the building exclusive Cogs for the next post. Thankfully, future neighborhoods will NOT introduce as many new Cogs at once, which will give me WAY more breathing room.

That said, there is ONE Cog who can only be found on Toontown Central’s streets.

Duck Shuffler: Level 5 Cashbot Manager. He wears an unkempt Cashbot suit. Red duck head with a slot machine in place of his eyes, tongue sticking out of his toothy bill, lever for the slot machine sticking out of the side of his head, and several playing cards sticking out of the top of his cap. Real name: Buck Ruffler.

Honorifics: Mr.

Likes: Jackpots, Raising the Stakes, Chips

Dislikes: Poor Odds, Bank Statements, Trouble Hands

The Duck Shuffler will patrol a street for 10 minutes. If nobody challenges him, he’ll fly away and choose a new street to spawn on within the next 15 seconds (possibly selecting the street he just flew away from). If challenged to a battle, he’ll automatically spawn on another street in the same neighborhood. The Duck Shuffler will walk through existing Cog battles without joining them. Only one instance of the Duck Shuffler may exist on a street at any one time, though each street can have simultaneous Duck Shuffler instances.

Duck Shuffler groups can be created anywhere in Toontown Central, though they will automatically disband if the leader goes to another Neighborhood.

When a member of the group initiates a battle with the Duck Shuffler, all their groupmates will gain the ability to teleport to the battle. Once the Toon side of the battle reaches capacity, the Group will disband.

All Toons in the Duck Shuffler fight are subject to Content Sync, in order to ensure that experienced players won’t be able to just sweep the fight and ruin the fun for inexperienced players.

The Content Sync is as follows:

20 Laff Soft Cap (with a hard maximum of 28 for Toons at Max Laff, please don’t ask me to explain the formula).

Gag Level 2 Cap (higher level Gags are temporarily downgraded to fit the level cap)

No Boss Rewards Allowed

As long as the Duck Shuffler is present in the fight, Cogs have a high chance of joining. Ordinarily, Cogs will only join fights in Toontown Central to match with the number of Toons, with defeated Cogs being counted towards the cap. Here, Cogs will join the battle as long as the Duck Shuffler is alive and there is a free slot.

The Duck Shuffler ignores all Cog Health formulas. His max HP is instead fixed at 200.

He only has one attack:

Spin: Sends sparkles after one Toon, spinning around them. This spins the target, lifts them in the air, and drops them to the ground.

As a Manager, the Duck Shuffler has access to unique abilities, known as Cheats.

His Cheats are as follows:

Lure Resistance: The Duck Shuffler has a Lure Resistance of 1 round. This means he’ll automatically unlure whenever its his turn to attack.

Wager Management: The Duck Shuffler pulls the lever on the side of his head to activate the slot machine that exists in place of his eyes. This can activate one of the following effects:

Bust: No effect. He did not get three of the same symbol.

Bar: Upon rolling all Bars, gold bars are dropped on both sides of the field, damaging both Toons and Cogs. It is possible for the Duck Shuffler to defeat himself this way.

Ducks: Upon rolling all Ducks, the Duck Shuffler turns all Toons in the fight into Duck Toons and deals 4 laff points of damage to them. The Duck transformation lingers until the end of the battle.

Sevens: Upon rolling all Sevens, the Duck Shuffler will restore 7 Laff to every Toon and 7 HP to every Cog, including himself. This can put all Cogs above their max HP, at which point their health indicators will turn light blue until their HP drops to or below their starting amount.

Jellybeans: Upon rolling all Cherries, the Duck Shuffler will give all Toons at LEAST 20 Jellybeans (more if any of the affected Toons are under the effect of Jellybean Boosters).

When the Duck Shuffler is defeated, he’ll fly away, and Cogs will stop joining the battle. However, Toons will still be under the affect of Content Sync until the battle is over, meaning they still have to defeat the remaining Cogs.

Once a day, the Duck Shuffler will drop a Sweetener. His Sweetener will refresh at midnight (allowing you to claim it again the following day), and your Cog Gallery will tell you when its available.

The Sweetener is as follows:

10 Gumballs*

100 Jellybeans

150 Toon Experience

* There’s a cap on the number of Gumballs claimed from a Sweetener per week. Once you hit 1000 Gumballs from Sweeteners, you won’t be able to collect anymore from Sweeteners until the week is over. Jellybeans and Experience can be boosted by other factors.

Additionally, the Duck Shuffler also has some Very Rare Loot:

Duck Shuffler Sticker

Moneybag Backpack

Every time you defeat the Duck Shuffler, the odds of him dropping one of his Very Rare prizes increase. This will eventually give him a 100% chance of dropping them if you are extremely unlucky. You cannot get duplicate drops.

Additionally, he thpeakth with a lithp, rethulting in hith thpeech looking like thith. Thith ith becauthe of a botched repair job from a fellow Manager.

He was WAY more sane before that incident, but given that he’s more entertaining this way, I’m not complaining.

Every Neighborhood has a Manager patrolling the Streets, and Managers don’t show up in the Cog Gallery until you defeat them for the first time.

Still though, welcome to Toontown Central, I hope this wasn’t too overwhelming.

Next time, we’ll be covering the Sidetasks.

I know I compliment the wordplay every time but GOD that’s fantastic and the visuals sound quite creative for all of those.

Also what happened to Fruity??

#submission

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touyasboyfriend · 4 years ago

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Two Week Notice

Pairing: Dabi x M!Reader

Inspiration: “Two Week Notice,” by Leanna Firestone

TW:// Cheating, toxic relationships

——

The first thing you miss are the texts.

They’d always come from random numbers—different every time—usually from burner phones, every morning and night. They were updates, wishing-wells, or just pictures of random scenery or quotes with the caption, “This reminded me of you.” You realized that they were going to stop coming when the number went from five per day, to 2, then 3 a month. You didn’t want to be the typical overreacting boyfriend, so you decided to wait it out. To see what would happen. You were sure you would’ve heard on TV that the infamous flame villain was captured or dead, right?

Dabi hadn’t visited you for two weeks, and while sitting in your cubicle, a pathetic electric fan pointed at you, in the devastatingly hot summer heat, your thoughts stuck with your boyfriend. Was he okay? Was he alive? You really wanted to know. How would you even go about looking? Dabi never really told you where he went, he just… well, went. Plus, would that be overstepping? Probably. You knew that Dabi liked to keep his secrets, only ever really indulging you late at night on top of some abandoned, broken-down facility in the middle of a practically deserted city, your head on his chest and his hot hands running up and down his back as he told you random things about himself and about the League.

The memories made you sigh as you finished the polishing of the graph your boss wanted in by Monday. With that finished, you were technically free to go, but you knew the older man liked his employees to stay until closing. You could be doing work that was required to be finished by Tuesday, but your mind was still too busy… too busy with your angel. You glanced outside to see it pouring and a pout crossed your face. You hoped Dabi was safe and dry. Your phone suddenly jerked you out of your thoughts. You technically weren’t supposed to have it on you, but… you wanted to be able to immediately know if/when Dabi contacted you.

You eagerly checked the ID and were ecstatic. It was an unknown caller, and they seemed to be calling from right outside of your office building. You hurriedly packed all of your items, grabbed your umbrella from below your desk and sprinted out of the building with a quick, “See you on Monday, sir!” to your boss’s office door.

You glanced around like an excited lunatic, saddened that Dabi had hung up before you could answer. You heard noises from what seemed to be a little further down the road, which is what led you to the most painful sight of your life. In black, concealed with familiar face masks and hats, was your boyfriend, kissing a blond man. You stood there, simply holding your umbrella, your world shattering to pieces. You were cold, so frigidly cold that you almost let go of your umbrella in shock.

The blond had taken all of the heat from you. You suddenly understood why you hadn’t heard from Dabi for two weeks.

You turned swiftly back into the clean, modern building and trudged right to your desk where you sat down and began to work again. You were absolutely terrible with dealing with feelings, so burying yourself in work seemed to be the most reasonable solution.

#dabi x male reader #dabi x m!reader #mha x male reader #bnha x male reader #dabi #league of villains #angst #cheating #dabi is a little shit #reader is depressed

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httpknjoon · 4 years ago

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once again │myg; 1

plot│ How can an eight year relationship turned as a bitter past? Can such thing can be rekindled once again? After your friend invited you to come to your home country after a long time, you decided to visit for three weeks. In three weeks, many things can happen. Including meeting Min Yoongi once again.

genres│ angst, little fluff over there, exes!au

word count│3.4k

pairings │yoongi x reader, taehyung x reader (esp in this chapter)

masterlist | once again — preview

Are you nervous? Happy? Excited? Sad? Or angry?

You don’t know.

Wheels were rolling everywhere. Some people seem to be struggling and hurrying with their own kinds of stuff. While others are just sitting peacefully, knowing that they are still early for their flights. On the other side, you were sitting on a cold, metal, airport seating. Looking around, you were waiting for someone to arrive before you leave.

“Is everything okay? I mean, your stuff? You already have everything you should bring right?”

You panned your eyes to your side. Naeun, your best friend, is looking at you worriedly with her puffed eyes. You nodded with a tight-lipped smile and wandered your eyes around the place again. Naeun watched you at first. She knew you were waiting for someone. And she was also aware that you were nervous based on how your fingers fidget on your luggage’s handle. You kept on biting your lower lip unconsciously.

“Did you two talked already? Did he said he’s going?” Naeun asked.

“Yes and no.” You answered, already knowing who she was talking of. “Yes, we talked. I told him that we can work on our relationship as long as we have our phones or laptops. But, you know how Yoongi feels about goodbyes, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But, I am just hoping that maybe he will drop by to hug or kiss me for one last time.” You sighed deeply, looking down.

A month ago, you were over the moon after receiving an e-mail that you passed for a job as a column writer for a magazine. It was your dream job. Plus, you will be traveling to a new country, Canada. You were literally going to the other side of the world, a thousand miles away. The main reason why your boyfriend was literally against you, accepting this job, in the first place. You and Yoongi have been together for eight years but this will be the first time that you two will be far from each other.

“Good evening, passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight YYZ 2308 to Toronto, Canada. We are now inviting passengers to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes. Thank you.”

Only ten minutes left. You were still hoping for Yoongi to come. Squeezing your eyes close, you secretly prayed for him to maybe arrive somewhere here.

“I think you should go,” Naeun said.

“No, I still have a few minutes.” You tried to sound positive and waited over and over until...

“This is the final boarding call for passengers booked on flight YYZ 2308 to Toronto, Canada. Please proceed to gate 2 immediately. The final checks are being completed and the captain will order for the doors of the aircraft to close in approximately ten minutes. I repeat. This is the final boarding call for passengers booked on flight YYZ 2308. Thank you.”

“Okay.”

That was your final call. You and Naeun stood up from your seats. Naeun began crying once again as she hugs you before you board your flight.

“Take care there, Y/N. Don’t overwork yourself. Don’t skip meals, okay?” Your best friend told you, sounding like a parent to her child.

“Thank you so much, Naeun. I’ll try calling you when I arrive there. I will miss you and everyone. Tell them that I’ll miss them too.” You hugged her tightly.

The hug did not last long and you are now proceeding to Gate Two. The attendant greeted you after you handed your boarding pass and identification card.

“Wait, Y/N.”

Yoongi was the one who runs to you since you were already in the line. His chest was heaving as he hugged you.

“You came.” You were still in disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m kinda late but I want to see you before you leave,” Yoongi whispered. “Take care of yourself while being there, okay? Do well with your job. Call me when you get there.”

That’s when you cried. Two weeks ago, you and Yoongi have been fighting since he cannot let you go there. But you explained your reasons and goals. Back then, Yoongi just agreed with a nod, not saying much and already admitting your win. Now, Yoongi is here, cheering you for your plans. You two hugged as tight as you can before leaning your foreheads together.

“I love you so much. Thank you so much, Yoongi.” You sobbed.

“I love you too,”

For the last time, both of you shared a short but sweet kiss. You smiled as you let go. The flight attendant smiled at you after handing you your identification card. You knew she already has seen a hundred of this same scene you and Yoongi made. You looked at Yoongi for the last time and you wave him a hand while showing you his gummy smile. It made you smile more, knowing that he supports you and you will be calling him once you landed in Canada.

The loud ringing of your phone woke you up. You shuffled on your bed, looking for that noisy device. Your face scrunched. It took you two more minutes to finally find it under some pillows. It was only 6:30 AM, you can't think of someone who will call you this early. But, your eyes immediately lit up as you read who was calling you early in the morning.

“Good morning!” You are already in good vibes as you greeted the caller.

“Good morning, love. Did I call you too early?” His voice is still raspy, indicating that maybe he just woke up too.

“No, it’s fine. I did not hear my alarm clock minutes ago.” You answered, now sitting on your bed.

“Nice! Let’s go to work together, okay? I’ll pick you up later. Let’s buy breakfast on the way.”

“Okay, okay. Love you.”

After the call ended, you immediately went straight to your bathroom. This is how your day began. It has been four years since you had your job as a column writer and you no longer work in Canada. Three years ago, you were offered to work in the magazine’s main office in New York City. And of course, you said yes. It was the total dream that came true for you. You haven’t visited Seoul ever since you left. You were busy and after things changed in between those years, you never had plans of coming back again. You and your best friend, Naeun, never lost in touch anyways. You two always talk through video calls with her little girl, Jina.

‘Will be there in five minutes.’

You read your boyfriend’s text just after you just blow dry your hair. Your makeup was already done and you started fixing your hair for a simple side braid. Minutes later, you were already leaving your apartment in your office clothes and classic black heels. Your eyes were quick to spot the familiar black car in front of your apartment building. One of its windows rolled down, revealing your boyfriend.

“Let’s go?”

You smiled before opening the door to the passenger seat. As soon as you got in, you gave him a quick kiss on his lips.

“So, where do you want to have breakfast?” He asked as he drove.

You went silent and started thinking, “Maybe we should drive-thru into that coffeehouse.”

“You said that you don’t drink coffee.”

“I don’t. But, I heard that they sell great pastries too, Tae.” You responded.

Taehyung did not say anything and turned the wheel to the coffeehouse. He was the one who ordered after you told him what you want. You almost squealed because of excitement when you smelled the delicious smell of freshly baked muffins that you got.

“Thank you, love.” You placed a kiss on his cheek before giving a bite of the chocolate chip muffin. “So good.”

Taehyung could not help but giggle at how cute you look. Tiny crumbs of the bread were left on the side of your lips.

“Hey, be careful about eating. You might re-do your make up after that."

"Then, I will re-do it later. It's just so good."

You grinned once again, not aware that there is some evidence of chocolate on your front teeth. Your boyfriend just laughed and continued driving. Not long after, you two arrived in your office building. You work in the same magazine. Taehyung’s job is a creative director, suited for his artistic mind.

“Was the chocolate gone? How do I look?” You asked him after cleaning yourself up.

“Lovely.” He smiled.

You rolled your eyes, “Yeah, I remembered that I should not have asked you.”

“What? Why?”

“You will always say I look great even though I look shitty.”

You heard him chuckle, “You do look great anytime, love!”

The two of you strolled side by side inside your building. You met your other co-workers in the elevator. When the door opened to the fifteenth floor, the whole place is still quiet and empty. Each of you went to your own cubicle and desks. Since you have been working in this magazine for three years now, your working place was already personalized by you. Many neon-colored sticky notes were placed on the wall. A picture frame sat beside your computer desktop, showing an image of you and Taehyung.

After fixing your things, you began working on your last document. The topic that was given to you was quite hard for you though you experienced a few parts of it. You tried researching and interviewing other people about it, hoping that you will be able to make something from it. But, you found it hard. So, you just type whatever in your head. You thought of asking Claire, your editor in chief, to change your topic. But, on the other side, you also thought that maybe it can help you to explore more. You tried processing every information you got and type it all away. You got busy that you did not notice a phone notification from a particular person.

"Hey, Y/N."

You looked up from your computer screen. It was Jane, your co-worker, and friend.

"Me and Henry’s eating out for lunch. Do you and Taehyung want to join?” She invited you.

"Hmm? What time is it already?" You asked since you never really bothered watching your time while working.

"It's almost one in the afternoon."

“Oh, okay. I’ll join it.”

You stood up from your chair and secured your document to your computer. You picked up your phone and wallet from your bag.

“But, I will still ask Tae if he is joining.” You added.

Taehyung is in his shared office with the magazine’s design team. Since they have a glass wall, you already spotted your boyfriend all alone focused on his desktop. It looks like his other colleague already left for lunch. You knocked three times on the glass, making him look up to you. You mouthed ‘let’s have lunch’. Taehyung was quick to get your sentence and left his work.

“You seem so focused there, love.” You told him as you and Taehyung stay behind your two friends.

"Yeah, the team decided a new theme for this month's issue. I had to change many things with my latest work."

Taehyung kept on talking while you thought of checking your phone. And there, you finally noticed the message you received a couple of hours ago. It was from Naeun, asking you to give her a call in your free time. You and Naeun never lost communication in between those years and it’s not new that she messaged you like this. This time, you feel like Naeun has something to tell you. But after checking the time there in Seoul, you thought that maybe you should call her later.

Henry and Jane lead you to the newly opened restaurant, not too far in your building. You only ordered a chicken salad and tomato soup. While eating, they started talking about what they are currently working on. The four of you shared ideas and opinions to help one another until they asked you about yours.

“My topic is extremely hard for me right now.” You told them.

“Oh, that’s new. You always do good research with your subjects.” Henry responded.

“That’s right. Why? What is it all about?” Taehyung also asked.

You did not hesitate to answer since you expected that maybe they can share their own experiences too. But what Jane had told you took you back for a bit.

“Hey, I think that’s easy. I’m sure you got through a break up before. Hmm? You will get some pointers from that.”

It’s true that you already got through a breakup before. But, you are sure that you will not get anything from it. Your article topic was completely missing with the first and only break up you have encountered. The old memories from the past crashed inside your head again. Your heart began beating like crazy again as you

“Love?”

Suddenly, Taehyung held your unconsciously balled fist. You were clutching it too tight that your knuckles turned white. A hint of worry was found in his expression.

“Are you okay?”

You sighed before nodding slowly. Taehyung played with your fingers by pinching each one of it softly, a thing he always does to calm you down when stuff like this happens. The lunch did not take any longer. You and your friends went back to your jobs.

“Are you okay now?” Taehyung asked as you sat back to your swivel chair.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." You said sincerely.

You felt sorry that he still has to deal with you having an issue from your past. But Taehyung held your hand again and left a kiss on your forehead.

"You don't have to be sorry. I will always understand."

The day went on. You ended up writing nothing since you cannot focus. You tried anything to type something. Your article was left just like what it was before you had your lunch break. It felt like your head is going to burst while forcing it to focus on your article.

The whole ride back home with Taehyung was silent, only the radio produces a noise. You chose to stay in Taehyung's place for dinner. He said he will order some fast food meals. As soon as you got home and get changed with your boyfriend's clothes, Taehyung called for a food delivery while you contact Naeun. Maybe it will help you to think less.

"Finally! I thought you did not read my message." Naeun said on the other line.

"Well, sorry. I thought that maybe I should call you after you wake up there. Remember? Time difference?" You scoffed.

"Oh, okay. Sorry. Anyways, Y/N, can I ask you a favor?"

You can imagine Naeun acting cute with her puppy eyes just for her tone.

"Sure, just don't make it something illegal or what." you joked, making you both giggle.

"Can you please, please, pretty please come here in Seoul? Maybe just a visit?"

"What?" you almost whispered.

You did not expect that even though you know you should have. It was the first time Naeun begged you like this after you left and you understood her. It's been years.

"Come on, Y/N. Everyone here misses you! Especially the gang. Jina, Me, Seokjin, Namjoon, and... Yoongi." She was obviously unsure of the last one since the tone of her voice changed.

"Yeah?"

That was the only thing you can say. There is a part of you who wants to say yes because of course, you miss them too. But there is also the other half of you who is extremely anxious and just wants to decline Naeun's request. You are afraid to see Yoongi again after four years. And you hate how crumbled your mind is.

You heard Naeun let out a big air from the other line, "Listen, if this is about Yoongi, I swear. It's been years! I'm sure he will be happier to see you again than act something bad because you guys broke up. I'm sure that everything will be cool."

"Are you sure?" You were biting the insides of your cheeks. Still, you're glad that she's aware of you and Yoongi.

"Of course! We just want to see you again! You can bring your boyfriend if you want."

As if he heard it, Taehyung sat beside you on the couch. He is playing something on his phone. You looked at him as you talked again.

"Yeah?" You were still unsure. "I-I will think about it or check my schedule or something."

"Okay, Y/N. We just really miss having you here. Love you. Miss you so much!"

"Miss you too."

That's when you ended the call. Taehyung stopped with his game when you noticed you were done already with the call. He can see how troubled you are.

"Naeun and my friends want me to visit them there." You opened up.

"Oh, that's great. Right?" He smiled but you frowned even more.

"Yup, but I'm having thoughts again." You fiddle on the hem of his big shirt you're wearing.

"Well, do you want to talk about it?" Taehyung's voice was gentle.

You looked at him, thinking if he will be comfortable with this conversation you two are having.

"Are you sure?" you asked him and he smiles once again. "I mean, I know I should not be anxious about this. Especially now that I have you and we are together. But, my ex is there and I don't know what can happen."

Taehyung engulfed you with a warm hug. You rested your head on his chest while he repeatedly slides his hand with your hair.

"I know that you feel kind of awkward for telling me these kinds of stuff about your ex but remember that I am your best friend too. I am willing to hear anything and everything from you. I am happy that you are opening up to me like this and I think it would be a great idea to go visit them again."

"Really?" You asked, still snuggled under his neck.

"Yes. It was your home and they are your friends. I am sure you miss them so much too."

You removed yourself from and looked at him.

"And what about Yoongi? Are you okay with him? I mean, we are in one circle of friends. Will it be fine for you?"

Taehyung cupped both of your cheeks, "Love, I trust you. I understand that you two have been together for almost a decade but I trust you. I know that you will never do such a thing. Right?"

You can see how Taehyung is sincere with everything he said. He gave you a peck on your lips and hugged you again.

"Anyways, think about it. If you're uncomfortable with going back there. Then, it's fine. They will understand."

You hugged him back. The amount of comfort Taehyung gave you for today was amazing. Even though every trouble you had today was connected to your past.

Yoongi.

He is now a part of your past, right?

You thought. Reflecting on what Taehyung said. Maybe visiting your old place will be a great idea. Maybe it will result in something wonderful despite the past.

Maybe.

"Three weeks leave?"

Your editor in chief, Claire, looked up from you after reading your letter. You felt a little nervous though Claire was never strict. But, it was your first time requesting leave and you thought that maybe the days you requested were too long.

"Uhm, yes. But, I will still write and pass my articles and research through e-mail. I am just staying back home for weeks." You explained.

"Okay, I see." Claire nodded, looking back to your letter. "I think this was the first time you ask for a leave. Please, correct me if I'm wrong."

"Oh, yes. This is the first time."

"Okay. You can take your leave. Just send your works through e-mail and we'll be fine." She smiles friendly. "When will you be taking your leave?"

"Three days from now."

Three days later, you are now standing in the line for boarding with your luggage. You took a cab going to the airport. Taehyung cannot come with you since he still has to go to work but he lets you wear a hoodie of his to make you feel he is 'with you'. That's what he said. He asked you to update him with your departure and arrival. Even now, before you leave, you sent him a picture of you pouting. It willl be a fourteen-hour flight and you cannot text him between those hours.

Now, you sat on your seat inside the plane. There's an extremely tiny voice inside your body that says, "No, don't go back there. Past is past." But there was also the larger one who blocks it with "Go, Y/N. It's time to face the past again."

Your head was a little less messy than last week. And you hope that staying in Seoul for three weeks will only bring good memories. You hope that you'll finally find an answer to the article topic you still writing on.

🍒 taglist 🍒 < @ladykadyrova @scalubera @biaswreckeedbybts @scentedsope @whocaresarchives @craftymoonchaos > <and if you anted to be added for next chapter's taglist, leave a reply 🦋>

author’s note │i hope you enjoyed the first chapter of once again! this one may be full of taehyung and y/n moments but next following chapters will include more yoongi and their gang. let me know your thoughts!!

masterlist

#bts au #bts angst #bts smut #bts fluff #bts imagine #yoongi angst #yoongi smut #yoongi fluff #min yoongi #once again #httpknjoon #bts x reader #bts

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dancingbabya-notes · 3 years ago

Text

Stuck together

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Part 1: Connect

Shame on me for forgetting Bakugo’s birthday, any who here is something that I haven’t finished and I’m not sure I am but I hope you enjoy my suffering like all the other ones. (I scheduled the Deku one last week which is usually how I do these long posts)

<-♡—♡—♡—♡—♡—♡—♡—♡—♡—♡—♡ —♡—♡ ->

My hands shook as I tried to correct the message on my latest report. As a sidekick to the retired symbol of peace’s agency I often wrote reports, the letters didn’t matter to me because my focus was entirely on the gold cuff trapping my left wrist. Thick and heavy on my wrist, the partner cuff was thin and watery. But I couldn’t argue, I did this to myself. The events of the night before and the conversation was there but the events that lead to the wearing of the cuff were gone.

“Coral.”

What’s wrong with me? I must be insane. ‘Just because you end up the other woman over and over again you suddenly decide to trap the first person to show you human kindness?’

“Coral Relief!”

Jumping to my feet, I instinctively bow my head and try to peek up at the person trying to catch my attention.

“Um, yes sir?” I mumble.

“I think you should go on patrol; you’re disturbing everyone else,” he points out as I notice the tendrils of water leading to my desk.

“Right away, my apologies,” waving my hand over my desk area everything shuts down.

Grabbing what I need I walk away from the cubicles. Just as I get ready to walk out of the agency my cellphone goes off. Taking a peek at the caller ID, I slide the infernal device into my utility belt before putting on my communicator. The fall chill of Tokyo reminded me that I would need to ask for a break soon. Hopefully, the temperature hasn’t risen back home so I can be helpful.

«Coral are you already going on patrol?» my communicator buzzed from the voice.

“Mhmm, I’m on my way out now, sorry. The wind kind of made me cold,” I mumble before taking the step out into the street.

Stomping down slightly, I wait for the familiar click of the wheels on my boots popping out.

«Good, cause it seems like Deku needs help there’s a fire, the chief asked for your help»

“So, did Deku ask or the Chief?” I sigh before kicking off.

«Will you stop playing around? I’m sending you his location»

“Why not just connect our coms, I can send a water trail to him,” I raise a brow.

«Sometimes I wonder why you decided to be a hero and not a firefighter»

I shrug. “I come from a family of blacksmiths. Our quirks could be used elsewhere but why not try for what we want to do?”

Deku’s voice makes me stop. «Coral, how does your water work again?»

“Well, I can see through it. Is there something wrong?” I follow the directions as I try not to disrupt everyone else.

«There was a quirk malfunction that’s why we need you. Where are you?»

“Coming up on your left, tell me what you need?” I frowned before attempting to stop.

“I don’t know the specifics, but the dancer has a flame quirk that starts when she dances, and she can’t stop dancing,” he calls as I speed past.

“Alright, pardon me while I do this then,” I smile as I skate inside the building.

Smoke surrounded me, and I could only see a few meters in front of me. Trying to move toward the warmth of the fire I could see her. Luckily having a quirk that activates itself means the water was already surrounding her. The fire was the problem though. I couldn’t get close enough especially with no water to cloak me.

«Coral the fire is stopping»

“I can’t get close!”

Trying to push forward the flames lick at my skin. I wasn’t used to the intense heat, and it was a drastic change from the chill of the outside air. Something moves past me as I pause for a breath, looking closer I bolt through the flames not caring for the burns or anything similar. If whoever touches my water bubble she would dance and harm herself more.

“Ground Xero stop, you’ll kill her,” I block him while heaving for air.

My suit sticks to my skin and was burning away as I tried to move the bubble.

“Move out of the way, she’s causing the flames,” he shouts trying to get past me.

I glare up at the man. “Yes, and I made them go down.”

Reaching inside, I grab her hand and paste a water-resistant sticker to her hand. All the flames stop growing. Ground Xero seems to understand what I’m doing and reaches for the woman as I spread the last bit of water supply toward the flames. Ground Xero already made his way out, so I follow suit and skate out of the building. My legs were a bit shaky as I stand by the ambulance.

“Please be careful of her feet, those are the parts most damaged by the incident,” I huff.

An oxygen mask is forced onto my face, and I’m led to sit down. “You did good, Coral.”

“Glad I did something good before my break,” I chuckle awkwardly.

“Wait where are you going?” Deku hovers over me and I cover my eyes with my hand to ease the light change.

A blanket is thrown over my shoulders and I look to the person in front of me. “It’s a family thing. Don’t worry, I do this every year, Kiddo.”

He seems to pause for a second and his face heats up. “I’m the same age as you.”

“That still needs to be proved. Next time I need a better description of the quirk, when she dances fire erupts at her feet. Whoever designed the stage made the base fireproof, but the decorations were a bad idea,” Standing back up I put the mask down.

“Coral sit down now!” one of the firefighters’ shouts.

Sitting down I stick out my tongue. With a quick look at my legs, I feel the sting of the burns and bleeding. “Damn that’s worse than I thought it was. Maybe I should make my uniform fireproof?”

The looks of anger and frustration that cover the people around me are priceless. I manage to smother my giggles before a pair of intense eyes glare me down. Instead of his full costume, his gauntlets lay next to the truck as if he was in a hurry to get inside the building. Ground Xero always felt like an explosion unexpected but loud. Sadly, like a firework, he had a certain bright beauty to him. His breathing wasn’t as ragged as inside the building instead his breathing seemed to make me want to pull the thing currently covering me over my head.

“What the hell were you thinking? Running after me into burning flames like that?!”

What? Does he not realize that is my job? Furrowing my brow, I grumble. “Maybe if you didn’t rush into shit like a kid, I wouldn’t have had to run in like that.”

“All I knew is there was a fire and you had run in.”

“You have not right to shout at me like that, I was doing my job. We have communicators for a reason next time listen to all the information before making a rash decision like that,” sighing I try to stand up, but a large hand forces me to sit back down.

“Give me the fucking bandages for Coral,” he huffs.

“Kacchan, I don’t think you should—” Deku starts.

«Coral, we can’t get in touch with Deku, are you with him?»

“Yeah.” I mumble.

Ground Xero glares at the man next to him. “Do not argue with me. I won’t have anyone touching her am I understood?”

«There’s a runaway villain and he’s the closest that can apprehend him.»

“Kacchan, do you know Coral?” Deku looks to the other male and I frown.

Flinching from the sudden tightening of the bandages. I place my left hand on Ground Xero’s shoulder.

After rubbing at my temple, I hold up my other hand. “Deku! They need you downtown. You think you can make it to cut the villain off three blocks right of here?”

The man pauses for a moment finally listening to his communicator device.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks, Coral,” The green-haired man adored by many runs leaving me to finally let a sigh of relief.

“That childhood friend of yours is very observant,” I grumble.

“When do you finish? I need to talk to you,” he huffs as he cleans at the wounds on my legs.

Looking at it I wince. “From the state of my legs, I’ll be off after changing out of my uniform.”

One of the firefighters laughs. “What’s left of it.”

Ground Xero nods before returning his focus to bandaging my legs. Instead of focusing on the male, I quickly begin typing up my part of the report for the incident. I didn’t get to walk back to the agency, instead, I was carted back. Ground Xero dragged me behind him while he walked past our agency. Sending him a short wave I make my way inside the building to get bombarded with questions on my status and groans at the bandaging on my legs.

“Coral Relief, tomorrow is your day off, correct?”

“Yes Sir.”

“Take that time to finish up your report. If you cannot get control of your quirk, you will be filing reports from home, are we clear?”

“Like water.”

Groans echo as I leave to the changing rooms. My locker was never full of anything but my uniform or my civilian clothes. Pulling off the destroyed cloth and a quick wipe down I returned to my shorts and hoodie. The mini backpack now holding my phone and keys. I didn’t like walking; I couldn’t walk properly so I opted for skating places that I needed to go.

Back in my civilian clothes I almost run into someone. Looking up Ground Xero now in his civilian clothes too stood before me.

“You’re not allowed to walk,” he grabs my hand and leads me to a taxi.

With a pout, I give my address to the driver and off we go. It was usually a thirty-minute ride to my apartment, but without the usual traffic of the afternoon, it was only fifteen minutes. Ground Xero or currently addressed as Bakugo was behind me the whole walk to my door. Opening the door, I held up my arms to shield the man from the bullet of fur bolting for the first person to open the door. Catching the cat, I step past the threshold and slip out of my skates.

“Please make yourself at home. If I had known one of the top fifteen was going to be here, I would have cleaned up more before going to work,” I joke as I try to walk farther into my apartment.

Just as I step the man picks me up with no issue, he walks into my apartment like he owns the place and forces me to sit on the two-seater chair I keep in my living room space. Frowning I wait for him to sit next to me, and he seems to look around at the room.

“You’re a fan of Midnight?” he scoffs.

“Not all of us are All Might fanboys,” I roll my eyes as Banana nuzzles into my lap. “I’m sorry baby, I’m not giving you enough attention, am I?”

Bakugo watches this exchange and grabs my left hand pointing to the cuff. “So, what the hell is this?”

I pout but taking a slow sip of air I speak. “This is a special bracelet made by my mom, it’s called living gold. My dad’s family are blacksmiths sort of, and my mom’s quirk was the perfect one to integrate into the family. But she comes from a family of jewelers.”

“Is there any way to take it off?” Pausing at his question my face hurts as I try to hold the reflexive tears that want to fall.

“No.” Banana jumps from my lap and disappears down the hall.

Rubbing at my eyes, I can’t help the pain digging deep into my chest as I try harder to stop the tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Bakugo doesn’t falter when my tears start, instead, he pulls my head to him. Banana returns with a blanket dragging behind him, I recognize the pattern and reach down to pick both my cat and the blanket up. My head hurt from the tears, but I just shake my head as I wait for them to stop.

“I’m buying dinner,” Bakugo sighs.

I nod, but he only pulls out his phone and starts typing away with his hands leaning on my back. Confused at this action, I stay still. Banana has always found it his goal to fall asleep on my lap when I cry and even if another person was here, he still did it. Bakugo pockets his phone and looks down at me.

People were always a mystery to me. Bakugo wasn’t even someone that I had known for long, but he was someone that I could cry like this in front of.

Calmed down a bit I sigh. “I’m sorry you got tangled up with me. This is all my mother’s fault. She created this stupid thing and trapped so many people in it. I wish there was a way to take it off.”

“Your quirk is water manipulation,” he points out.

Nodding, I don’t move out of his hold. “My quirk is a gift from my dad. Most of his family have water manipulation, my mom can control soft metals in their liquid form.”

He thinks for a moment. “How did we end up back at your place last night?”

“If I’m honest, I have no idea. I remember up till we started talking about what we want to do in the future.”

We only sat on the couch not speaking for a long time. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t want to move. The warmth rolling off of this man was so comforting that I didn’t find the need to move away. Banana napping in my lap reminded me of where I was and what was really going on.

“I was wrong, this is my fault,” frowning I continue to pet my cat. “Look, you can just avoid talking to me if you really don’t want to have anything to do with this stupid thing.”

I hear him grumble. “Will you stop blaming yourself. I could have said no.”

He gets up after the doorbell rings. Sitting still for a moment, I watch my cat walk away from me and leave me to mull over the thoughts in my head. Standing up, I pat the bandages gently gauging the severity of the pain after being covered for so long. Grabbing some chopsticks for us, we sit on the couch before getting ready to eat.

“Deku mentioned that you would be taking a break soon.” He points out.

“Oh, yeah,” Holding the container I look at my phone. “My family does the ice festival, wanna come? We could always use extra hands.”

“I’m not intruding on a family event,” starting to angrily eat he frowns.

Fixing my blanket over my legs I shake my head. “You wouldn’t be intruding. If my sister is there, we can ask her if she can manipulate the metal and possibly remove it.”

“I don’t know.”

I chuckle. “Well tell me if you change your mind. My flight is supposed to be two weeks from now.”

Chapter 2

#bakugo x oc #bnha x oc #multipart story #bnhaoc #mha x oc #prohero bakugo x prohero oc #prohero bakugo

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dcbbw · 4 years ago

Note

Would you ever 📝 AU Romance. Riley having a pregnancy scare or how would Liam would react?

@gkittylove99!!! THIS ASK! THIS.ASK. I have to thank my pre-readers and idea bouncers @sirbeepsalot, @burnsoslow, and @ao719. And to all the folks I sent random snippets to, thank you for not thinking I was crazy!

Warnings for this full-blown fic: Slightly NSFW, Frank discussion of pregnancy termination

I awaken to feel Liam’s weight pressed against my back. His palms cover the backs of my hands as his cock sits in my center, throbbing and twitching.

“Are you awake yet?” His breath, warm and stale, tickles the back of my neck.

I respond by arching my hips upwards; I feel his groin grind against me as he alternates his thrusts between teasingly slow and hard and rough. His teeth scrape my skin between groans of: “Throw that pussy at me,” and “You like how this dick feels?”

The head of his cock is pressed against my spot and I cry out as I release over his shaft; the pillow muffles it. Shortly thereafter, I feel his orgasm splashing against my still clenching walls. He pulls out and rolls over onto his back.

We start every morning with some form of sex. Sometimes it’s oral for me, a blowjob in front of the bedroom mirror for him, or intercourse. It’s always vanilla; we save the kinky for the nighttime.

I stay laying on my stomach; I have been tired lately. And unfocused. I think I need vitamins, maybe an iron supplement. Liam’s voice rouses me, and I turn my head to look at him.

“You need to get up, Riley. It’s time for your shower.”

“I don’t feel good,” I say.

He raises an eyebrow. “Do you have a cold?”

I shake my head. “I just don’t feel good.”

He gives me an odd look before speaking. “I’ll make you some tea and arrange to telework today.”

And then he rises naked from the bed, leaving me alone in the room.

One Week Later

It’s Wednesday, and I am in the office. Chase and Penelope have gone to make the Starbucks run before staff meeting. I didn’t order anything; I am still queasy and it’s strongest in the morning. I feel even more rundown, and there is some heartburn. I am booting up my laptop when my desk phone rings. It’s Lynn, my boss.

“Hey! Come back here and talk to me,” she requests in her signature cheery tone.

I tell her to give me two minutes and hang up. The phone rings again. “Need me to bring you anything?” I answer, sure it’s her again. But it’s Liam.

“Don’t order a car this evening. My car will pick you up at 4:30.”

I stare stupidly at my screen. “Why?”

“You’ll find out.” And the call is disconnected.

I feel uncertainty twist my already roiling stomach as I head into Lynn’s cubicle. She looks up at me, a bright smile on her face. Her hair is in loose waves and falls just past her shoulders; her skin is clear with a rosy glow.

“You look great!” I compliment her. “How do you feel?”

Lynn is entering her fifth month of pregnancy. It’s her fourth; she’s carrying twins.

“Thanks! I feel like I’m hauling around a pod of whales. Sperm whales,” she giggles at her pun.

I offer her a weak smile as I sit in the only empty chair in her cubicle. She frowns slightly. “Was that HR offensive?” She waves her hand dismissively. “I don’t know and too fat to care.”

I shake my head slightly. “You’re fine.”

She begins to dig into a styrofoam container that holds her breakfast: corned beef hash, sausage links, grits, potatoes, toast, and sunny-side up eggs. The sights and smells turn my stomach even more. As she eats, Lynn prattles about her weekend, possibly hiring a new person to help Coco in IT, and maybe putting together an employee handbook.

I say nothing because if I open my mouth, the water and yogurt I had earlier may come up. Noticing my silence, Lynn looks up me; her eyes are critical as she studies me.

“Riley, are you okay? You look … listless.”

“I’m fine!” I force myself to respond cheerfully. “Just a little tired.”

One of her hands rests lightly against her burgeoning belly; the other firmly grips her fork as she drags it through hash, grits, and egg yolk. “Go home. Get some rest for the remainder of the week.”

“I’m fine,” I protest.

“Then go home and get even better. Answer a couple of emails, take a call and you won’t have to use your leave.” She speaks around mouthfuls of food.

My eyes fall to her belly. “Do you have names for the babies yet?”

“Peanut butter and Jelly.” She sees my surprised expression. “There’s a story there, but it’s definitely NSFW. I’m not dealing with HR today.”

She waves her hand at me in a “shoo” motion. “Go home! See you Monday.”

I rise from the chair and make my way slowly back to my desk. I shut down the laptop. I pick up my desk phone and call Liam.

“What?” His tone is curt. I wonder if he’s busy or doesn’t want to hear from me.

“I’m leaving work now. I’m off until Monday.”

A pause before he speaks. I hear papers being shuffled and him typing on his keyboard. “Call the car, go to the penthouse. Shower. Don’t answer the door for anyone, don’t be a Nosy Parker, and I’ll be there shortly.”

And he hangs up.

Once inside the penthouse, I wander around before I shower. It’s rare Liam leaves me alone here; I find it feels strange without his presence. The quiet sounds different, the sun slants through the windows at an altered angle. The stovetop and counters gleam in the bright kitchen; usually both are filled with pots and pans and food in various stages of preparation. I open the refrigerator; there is a platter of homemade meatballs, perfectly rolled and shaped and filled with onions and peppers, ready to be cooked for our dinner tonight. I wonder what else we’ll have.

As I cross back through the living room, I look up at the staircase; only when Liam requests me in his study do I venture into the upper level of the penthouse. There’s a study, home gym, full bathroom, guest room, and the only ingress/egress to the outdoor space upstairs.

I keep walking until I reach the bedroom. I pass Liam’s chest of drawers and frown; one of the drawers isn’t fully closed. I set my phone on top of the furniture and place my palm against the gleaming wood to push it close, but I hesitate. I wonder what’s inside. I look around, even though I know I am the only person in the house.

I’m going to be a Nosy Parker.

I pull the drawer open cautiously and peer inside: neatly folded stacks of boxer shorts in white and black greet me. Next to them are wife beaters, also in white and black, and short-sleeved undershirts in white. There is a wooden tray on the right-hand side of the drawer; it’s mostly cufflinks and tie clips, but I see two photographs, face down. I look at them curiously; just as my fingers reach out to touch them, my phone rings.

I jump and let out a small yell before pushing the drawer shut and looking at my caller ID. I don’t recognize the number; I toss the phone onto the bed before stripping and entering the shower. By the time Liam arrives home, I am wearing his robe and wrapped in a blanket on the living room sofa. There is a talk show on the television. He stands in the doorway looking at me, carrying a brown paper bag. It smells delicious.

And I am now starving.

His eyes look me over as he passes me the food; it’s a grilled cheese sandwich and cup of tomato soup with basil. I look at him gratefully before I bite ravenously into the gooey, melted cheese and hot buttered bread. The cheese melts against my tongue; a droplet of butter rolls from my lower lip down my chin.

Liam sits next to me; he turns the television off.

“You’re feeling better?”

I am drinking savory soup directly from the container. “I’m still tired, but my nausea has passed.”

He nods thoughtfully. “You haven’t used your supplies this month, Riley.”

The sandwich is at my lips, but my mouth does not open. I’m trying to calculate the last time I had my period. Liam watches me for a few seconds before speaking.

“You’re 10 days late, Riley.”

I stare at him, struggling to come to terms with what this meant. Or could mean. Even the most regular women were sometimes late due to hormones or something.

But I was sick in the mornings. I was fatigued constantly.

The image of Lynn’s hand on her pregnant belly flashes through my mind.

I set my food down; my mouth is suddenly dry. “What … what if I am?”

“Pregnant?” Liam asks as he stands, then makes his way to the television set. He stands there, arms folded across his chest. His burgundy tie is blood against the crisp, white shirt he wears.

I nod slowly.

“You’ll get rid of it.” His tone is calm, matter-of-fact.

A coldness spreads from my belly to chill my entire body. I feel goosebumps rise on my skin. “No,” I whisper. “IF I am, it’s my body!”

“But my child. I don’t want children, Riley.”

“Then you should’ve taken better precautions!” I yell as I stand and get in his face. The robe falls open. I am naked beneath it, but Liam isn’t looking at my body.

“YOU said you were on birth control!” His voices thunders throughout the apartment. He takes a deep breath as he composes himself.

“However, I should have ensured that no … accidents could occur. I’ll be rectifying that situation.”

My eyes search his. He returns my gaze, his eyes steady. How could he be so callous, so cold towards a possible life he helped create?

“I’m not getting rid of our baby. This isn’t something you can throw money at to make it go away, Liam!”

He looks at me incredulously. “It’s a BABY! I will ALWAYS BE THROWING MONEY AT IT!” He shakes his head. “Best to make a one-time payment and be done with it.” He looks at me with hard, dark eyes. “And you either get rid of it or give it up. Those are your only options, Riley. You can’t have us both.”

He steps around me, headed for the stairway that leads upstairs. “Finish your food before it gets cold.”

The heels of his shoes tap against hardwood as he jogs up the stairs. And I am alone.

All alone.

I look around and my glance falls on my lunch. I gather it and take it into the kitchen; I watch red liquid splash against the stainless steel of the sink as I pour the soup out. I wrap the sandwich in its paper, put it back inside its bag, and ball the whole thing up before tossing it in the trash.

Back in the living room, I straighten the sofa cushions and fold my blanket; I carry the blanket with me to the bedroom. I place it back inside the closet; I look at my clothing. Clothing that Liam bought. My fingertips run across the various fabrics: silk, wool, cotton; it causes the hangers to tinkle against each other.

I am standing at the window, the robe belted tightly around my waist, when I hear Liam’s voice behind me. He says I have a doctor’s appointment Friday morning to determine if I am indeed pregnant. I say nothing as my eyes stay fixed on sunlight glinting off the East River, barely visible behind buildings of stone and steel.

I feel him behind me; I smell his cologne and hear his breathing. I feel tears prick my eyes.

“Why do you hate me so much?” I whisper.

“I don’t,” he answers softly.

His arms come around my waist and I feel his face drop into my hair. Then he steps away. “Dinner in an hour.”

“I’m not hungry.”

His footsteps pause. “You should eat.” And then he is gone.

That night, we do not have sex, but we do the next morning. We then spend the remainder of the day avoiding each other and not speaking.

I sit on his ridiculously oversized bed, chin resting on my knees, wondering what I will do if I am pregnant. I have my job; I have the alimony from Maxwell. I would need to find a bigger apartment, a two-bedroom at least.

I would not ask Liam for any child support, nor would I accept it if offered.

Friday morning, we are sitting in a doctor’s office. I fill out paperwork and give the receptionist my insurance information. Liam sits in a chair, an ankle resting on a thigh while he reads a magazine. When my name is called, he walks with me into the examination room.

The nurse is cheerful; she asks me questions that I answer in a dull tone.

No, I have never been pregnant before.

My period is now two weeks late.

The nausea is worse in the morning. I also have heartburn.

No pain.

Liam’s eyes stay fixed on me.

The nurse draws blood; I go to the bathroom to pee in a cup. And we wait.

The doctor comes in 20 minutes later. I am not pregnant. But she wants to do an ultrasound. I feel relief, sadness, and fear. I look at Liam, but his expression is stoic, giving nothing away. I agree to the ultrasound.

There is cool gel. Pictures of my insides show up on a screen. There are white spots on my right side.

I have gallstones; that is why I am nauseous and have heartburn and fatigue.

My surgery is scheduled for a month from Monday.

Liam asks if there is anything that can help relieve my discomfort for the next month. He inquires about foods and drinks to avoid. But he doesn’t look at the doctor when he asks his questions.

He is squatting in front of me, his thumb brushing my cheek while his eyes hold mine captive.

The doctor answers as she scribbles on paper: Ibuprofen to help with pain, and I need to limit my dairy, fats, grease, and fried foods.

At the reception desk, Liam pays the co-pay costs. The receptionist smiles at him. “Dr. Marion will see you Wednesday. Did you receive your paperwork?”

Liam nods, and tells her he will return it no later than Monday before he takes my hand as we walk to the elevator. I want to pull away because I don’t think he would be holding my hand if I were pregnant.

He won.

But I let my hand stay wrapped with his.

“Who’s Dr. Marion?” I ask.

“My urologist.”

“Is it a routine visit?”

I feel my stomach sour even though I haven’t eaten anything.

The elevator car arrives, and we board. He pushes the button to take us to the lobby. His eyes stay fixed on the metal doors as we begin our descent downstairs.

“I’m getting a vasectomy.”

And he says nothing else.

Tagging: @sirbeepsalot @jared2612 @katedrakeohd @jovialyouthmusic @hopefulmoonobject @amomentofsinclairity @ao719 @burnsoslow @bbrandy2002 @janezillow @marietrinmimi @annekebbphotography @merridithsmiscellany-blog @queenjilian @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @indiacater @forthebrokenheartedthings @kingliam2019 @bebepac @zaffrenotes @liyanin @liamxs-world @choiceslife @ac27dj @the-soot-sprite @gnatbrain @sanchita012 @anotherbeingsworld @atha68 @hopelessromanticmonie @amandablink @cmestrella @iaminlovewithtrr @cinnamonspongecake @lifeaskim @starrystarrytrouble @liamandneca @liamrhysstalker2020 @alyssalauren @queenrileyrose @ladyangel70 @yourmajesty09 @gkittylove99 @neotericthemis @twinkleallnight @umccall71 @ritachacha @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @cordonianroyalty @superharriet

#tw discussion of pregnancy termination #tw slightly ns*w #dcbbw answers #UnRomance AU ask #liam x riley #this isn’t Cordonia

79 notes · View notes

sugaabooga · 4 years ago

Text

Chance | 5

Pairing: Seokjin x Reader | Jimin x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, rich!Seokjin, rich!Jimin

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings: PG-13, alcohol consumption, alcohol intoxication, societal classes

Synopsis: Seokjin had no problem of getting girls and also had no problem of getting rid of them. One girl after the next. So why was it that you - a middle-class citizen - was an exception? You - a middle-class citizen - made Seokjin question if he really did have it all. But one thing’s for sure. He didn’t have any of your chances.

Clank.

The glass in Seokjin’s hand nearly shatters at the sheer force he slams it down on the bar counter.

Seokjin grunts, sloppily gesturing towards the wide-eyed bartender who stares at him with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry sir,” he says with a gentle voice. “I’m afraid you’ve had too much to drink. Do you have anyone to pick you up or should I call a cab?”

Seokjin whines, laying his head against the counter and wriggling his body as if there was a rat crawling up and down his body.

“Mur,” Seokjin pouts.

“Excuse me?” the bartender leans forward in hopes of hearing some kind of name of number he could call.

Seokjin lifts up his body feeling heavier than usual and props his hand under his chin to look straight at the young man in front of him.

“Jungcoook?” Seokjin squints at the bartender’s name tag, arm sliding from underneath him.

Jungkook smiles good-naturedly, quite nice for a mere bartender who deals with countless drunkards each night.

“That’s me,” he answers. “It’s getting close to the end of my shift and I would like to send you home before I go.”

Seokjin nods heartily at him. “Yur a nice kid.”

Jungkook shrugs, setting aside a glass he just finished wiping dry. “Just doing my job I guess.”

“You see,” Seokjin sighs, eyeing the bottle of whiskey a few inches away from where Jungkook stands. “I can’t call anyone.”

Jungkook nods. “I’ll hail a cab.”

Seokjin merely hums as Jungkook turns around to place the glasses on the shelf behind him. Taking this as a chance, Seokjin uses all the soberness left in him to reach over the counter and grab the whiskey bottle by the neck, hurriedly and sloppily pouring out the alcohol into his empty glass.

“Which area do you- SIR!” Jungkook shrieks mid-question, turning around to see Seokjin hastily gulp down the remains of the drink. Jungkook snatches the glass from his hand in exasperation before Seokjin can tilt his glass again for the last few drops left underneath the ice cubes.

“No cab,” Seokjin mutters as Jungkook merely sighs. Why was this wealthy man, probably mid to late twenties, drowning himself in drinks tonight?

Jungkook bets this guy wouldn’t even have to work part-time jobs like he had to in order to make ends meet. So why was he so miserable?

Seokjin huffs, yanking out his phone and fingers automatically finding a specific name in his contacts.

He rests his head on the counter once again as he strategically places his phone on top of his ear, letting the rings lull him in and out of consciousness.

“How’d you even know I was working overtime?” you ask Jimin who lazily spins around in his chair.

“I called Hoseok for a drink but he said he was too tired and mentioned how you were working past working hours,” Jimin recalls. “Again.”

“And you just. . . decided to come?”

Jimin nods. “Of course. Can’t have you suffering alone.”

You blink a few times at the man who appears quite nonchalant about this whole ordeal while you were purely confused at how you were supposed to feel. This wouldn’t be weird if that intimate moment a few days back hadn’t happened.

You were sure his hand lingered longer than usual after he had gently tucked your hair behind your ear and his eyes gazed with a look you’ve never seen before.

You quickly shake the thought out of your head, refusing to mull over that moment more than you needed to. He was merely comforting you as a friend. There was no need to overthink anything. Those things can happen from time to time.

Then the rest of his sentence registers in your head. Once again, the fact that Jimin even calls Hoseok regularly surprises you despite it being widely known in your department how Jimin was probably the only one who free-spiritedly joked around with Hoseok. “You. . . You’re close with Hoseok, right?”

Jimin immediately hums in response, as if he didn’t know how intimidated everyone was of the marketing manager and actively avoided any sort of contact with him.

“I mean. . . he’s only a year older than us,” Jimin states, making you turn to him in shock.

“WHAT!?” you gasp. You had assumed Hoseok was at least four years older than you. Now you realize, he did look quite young, but his workplace habits were of an accomplished forty year old who was ready to retire early.

Jimin giggles at your shock. “Yeah. It’s pretty obvious though. That hyung really is youthful. He’s actually fairly optimistic and a great listener. Which makes him the perfect drinking buddy.”

You roll your eyes at Jimin’s alcohol fanaticism making an appearance. “Well, you do know about his reputation in the office right?”

Jimin stops his swiveling, turning to look at you properly. His gaze switches to a more serious gaze as he lowers his voice. “Cold caller baller?”

You break out into a smile, scrunching your nose in the process at Jimin’s genuine inquiry. “What the hell is that?” you laugh. “I meant how everyone treats him like ‘he who shall not be named’. Everytime someone mentions,” pause “Hoseok,” you whisper, making Jimin scoff. “He randomly appears and scolds the whole team.”

Jimin rolls his eyes. “Now that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard about.”

You open your mouth to protest but freeze as Jimin shifts closer, his head just a few inches away from yours.

“It’s probably because Hoseok’s the only one in our department who gives a shit about his job,” Jimin smirks, playfully dropping to a low whisper at Hoseok’s name. “That’s why everyone’s scared. They can’t handle his professionalism.”

You gulp, barely noticing the hidden indirect insult Jimin purposely shot at you with the purpose of agitating you, and instead being able to only focus on why he was so close to you and why you felt like you suddenly couldn’t breathe.

Jimin’s smirk slightly drops into a concerned frown when he realizes you aren’t reacting the way he had expected you to react.

“Y/N?”

Bang.

Both of you look up in alarm towards the entrance of the office that leads out to the elevators at the echo of something crashing into the wall.

Jimin stands up from his chair, leaning his body back to look as far as he can out the glass doors.

“Was someone else working overtime?” he asks, earning a shake of your head. Jimin starts heading towards the doors to check out the sound as you click out of your tabs for the night. Everything else that was left on your slides, you could finish up tomorrow morning. Right now, you were quite convinced that you were very exhausted, especially judging from the way you suddenly froze up in close proximity with your long-time best friend whom you had only platonic feelings for.

You let out a long exhale, forcing the thought out of your brain and logging out of your computer then carefully placing the flash drive with all the project details into your bag’s inner pocket. After half-heartedly organizing your desk area and cubicle, you walk towards the exit, heels softly clacking against the tiles as Jimin comes in through the doors peering into a black bag.

“What’s that?” you ask curiously. Jimin looks up and turns back around to head towards the elevators after noticing that you were done for the night.

“I don’t know,” he answers. “It was dropped against the wall which was probably the sound we heard.”

“Is there anything in it?”

Jimin nods, pulling out a bag of chips. “Snacks.”

You can’t help but let your jaw slightly drop at the sight of food after working for hours straight without a proper meal since 2pm.

It was your favorite brand of chips too.

“Gimme,” you pout, making Jimin chuckle.

“I don’t think we should just take it though,” he hesitates. “Isn’t it kind of bad to take something someone else bought? Without permission?”

“But it was literally on the floor,” you reason, not as morally righteous as your friend beside you.

Jimin still debates, fiddling with the handle of the bag. “Hey there’s a lunchbox in here.”

He fishes out the bulgogi meal pack with rice and a few other pre-packaged side dishes. Your eyes widen at the humble meal as if it were a five-star lobster.

“Okay, forget the chips,” you gasp. “We have to eat the lunchbox. If it’s left here uneaten, it’s going to spoil! What a waste that would be!”

Jimin laughs at your logic but still shakes his head. “Let’s just drop this off at the front desk.”

You purse your lips in distaste as the elevator finally dings, indicating its arrival.

Jimin grins, internally cooing at how cute you were.

“Dinner’s on me,” he adds as you begrudgingly press the lobby button.

You whip around to him, instantly perking up with newfound energy. “For real!?”

Jimin is nearly floored by your glistening eyes that were sparkling just because he offered to buy you dinner. He can’t help but match your wide grin as he nods. “Yup. Just name it! Actually, besides the five-star restaurants downtown.”

You snicker as Jimin quickly draws the boundaries to your food choices.

The one time you went out for dinner with him after college graduation, your food suggestion resulted in a $285 check for two steaks and a teeny tiny salad.

Your jaw had dropped all the way down to the floor at the sight of the bill. You tried to split the bill but Jimin had physically pushed you out of the restaurant, insisting to pay for the meal.

Even to this day, you have no idea how Jimin managed to pay the bill as a fellow broke college student who had yet to land a stable income.

“Hm. . . I’m craving donkatsu,” you say, indirectly asking Jimin if he was okay with pork cutlet for dinner.

“Donkatsu!” Jimin exclaims with a wide grin.

“I take it that you agree?” you say with a scoff at his child-like excitement at the mention of his favorite food and playfully nudge his shoulder when the elevator doors open.

Jimin gulps at your playful grin and your bright eyes peering up at him, making his heart stutter and mind going blank.

Geez. What was wrong with him today? Either you were extra attractive or he was just more whipped than usual.

“Jimin?” you ask confusedly when he remains standing still in the elevator with an indecipherable look.

Jimin’s head jerks up at the sound of his name and he glances around, confused at when the elevator doors had opened and when you had already left his side.

“Park!” you yell, catching Jimin’s attention from his distracted glances around the elevator.

“Yes?” he immediately responds, making you look at him with pure bewilderment.

“You good?”

Jimin breathily laughs making you crack a hesitant smile.

“Yeah I’m-”

“Oh Y/N!” the front desk receptionist on night duty calls. You turn around at the sound of her voice and give her a polite smile, walking towards her desk.

Meanwhile, Jimin hurriedly presses the open door button as the elevator doors start to close and quickly follows after you.

“Hey. . .” you trail off, unable to remember her name.

“Soo-ah,” Jimin smiles at her with a slight jog, catching up to you and saving you from embarrassment.

Soo-ah grins back at the charming man in front of her, not even noticing that you had forgotten her name despite the years both of you worked here.

“Soo-ah,” you repeat with a smile.

“Congratulations, Y/N,” Soo-ah says right off the bat.

Your brows slightly raise in question, exchanging a confused glance with Jimin.

“For… what?” you ask.

Did I get a raise I don’t know about?

Soo-ah slightly tilts her head. “I heard you got scouted by JJ Corps.”

“JJ Corps?” you and Jimin ask simultaneously, eyes widening.

Seokjin’s company?

Our company?

“Yeah. The director himself came and asked which floor you were on,” Soo-ah pauses. “Wait. . . I just realized that it’s past the normal office hours. How did he know you were working overtime?”

Jimin frowns. If it was the director, that would be Seokjin.

Seokjin came?

“Did you get his name?” Jimin asks the befuddled receptionist before you can open your mouth.

You shoot Jimin a slight glance, noting how Jimin almost seemed agitated. Last time, Jimin had known Seokjin’s name even though you made sure not to tell anyone since Seokjin was such a known public figure. And now, it almost seemed as if Jimin was on the same page as you, suspecting that it was Seokjin who had come over.

“Um. . .” Soo-ah tries to recall, attracting your attention once again and keep in mind to mention it to Jimin later. Her eyes lighting up in remembrance. “Ah! I think it was Kim. . . Seojik? Seonjin?”

“Seok...jin?” you hesitantly suggest. Soo-ah lets out a sound of recognition and nods.

“Ah. Yes, yes. It said Kim Seokjin, Director of JJ Corps on his business card.”

Jimin holds in his questions and scans your reaction. For the first time in your years of friendship, Jimin couldn’t read your face. Your lips were turned into a grim line and your eyes seemed blank, void of any emotion.

You nod with a wry smile, mumbling a thank you and greeting goodnight to Soo-ah and turn around, walking towards the lobby doors.

Jimin stands watching your retreating figure with slight worry and hurriedly snatches out the bag of your favorite chips and hands the rest of the black bag to Soo-ah.

“Oh?” Soo-ah lets out a noise of surprise at the familiar bag. “This was what Mr. Kim was hold-”

Soo-ah stops mid-sentence at the realization that she was alone. A small smile appears as she scoffs in amusement watching Jimin trail after you like a lost puppy with the chips in hand. Jimin playfully, but hesitantly pokes the side of your face with a tiny, shy smile, forcing you to give him your attention. Soo-ah sighs, plopping back down onto her swivel chair once you take the chips with a roll of your eyes. Jimin’s arm hovers over your shoulder as he debates whether to put his arm around you. His fist clenches as he decides against it and Jimin continues walking with his hands behind his back.

Soo-ah sighs with pity at his internal debate that she just witnessed.

“Will she ever notice?” Soo-ah mutters to herself at the unfortunate sight of Jimin quite obviously whipped for a girl who has no idea of his feelings.

“Bus is here,” Jimin announces nudging you up off the bus stop bench.

You climb up the steps and fiddle around your bag for your pre-paid bus pass. The bus driver softly sighs as you continue rummaging with a apologetic smile.

“Two please,” Jimin intercepts with his own card from behind you.

Beep.

His chest gently presses against your back, his warmth wrapping around your cold frame draped around with a thin cardigan.

Before you can think anything more of how comforting his warmth felt, your feet jut out, walking towards the two seats on the left side of the bus as the driver continues to drive his nightly route.

“Thanks,” you say as you sit down.

Jimin shakes his head as a sign of no problem. He follows after you, plopping down on the cushiony seat next to you and setting his bag onto his lap.

You try to ignore Jimin’s burning stare at the side of your face by mindlessly scrolling on your phone then give up with a huff once Jimin doesn’t look away for a few good seconds.

“What?” you sigh, turning your head to look at your friend. You instinctively shift backwards once you notice the close proximity.

Jimin silently studies your face for a quick second before offering you a small smile. “Finish the chips already?”

You roll your eyes with a light-hearted scoff. “Yes. I told you. I was hungry. I threw them away while you were looking down the street for the bus.”

Jimin laughs with a nod. “Good job. That was the appetizer.”

You smile to yourself, savoring these small moments with Jimin in your life.

“Are you uh. . . Are you okay?”

You stay silent for a moment before letting out a breathy laughing with a smile, looking up at the back of another passenger’s head. “What do you mean? Of course I’m okay.”

“I’m talking about Seokjin,” Jimin specifies bluntly.

You weren’t quite sure if you were okay. All you could think of were endless questions. Why had he come to your office? Why didn’t he call or text instead? It’s been a full two weeks since you last met up with him about the money envelope.

You look back down at your bag perched on your lap and unknowingly fiddle with the end of your gudetama keychain, a nervous habit of yours.

Jimin feels his own fingers twitch, reaching out towards your fidgety ones before he stops himself.

You had made yourself somewhat clear last time. Jimin felt you draw a certain line. Whether it was fear or genuine dislike, he wasn’t sure, but all he knew was that the two of you had boundaries that he had to keep in order to keep your friendship out of jeopardy.

Jimin sighs, reminding himself that your friendship is more important than his confusing feelings and pulls away his hand.

RRing.

At the sound of the obnoxious rings, you dig into your bag, looking for your phone.

The rings continue, attracting attention from the other passengers on the bus, and it’s only when Jimin feels the glares and hears harsh whispers directed in his direction that he fully turns to you, wondering why you weren’t picking up the call.

You stay still as a statue looking down at your phone. Jimin side-eyes your phone, lips slightly parting in realization once he reads the caller id.

Kim Seokjin.

You stare at your screen, reading the name over and over again, tuning out the rest of the bus who were now thoroughly annoyed.

It is only when the call ends and your family picture pops back up that you let out a shaky breath.

You start to put your phone back in your bag when the rings start again. A series of groans and sighs fill the bus.

Kim Seokjin.

Why was he calling? What else does he have to say?

“Aren’t you going to pick up?”

Your head sharply turns at Jimin’s question.

“What?”

Jimin shrugs, avoiding your eyes. “If you’re debating that much about answering his call, just answer it. If you’re over him, tell him clearly so he knows your definite stance in your relationship.”

You stay silent, pondering for a brief moment and finally get enough courage to swipe your finger across the call button.

“H-Hello?” you answer.

“Good evening,” an unfamiliar voice greets back, making your brows furrow and double-check if this was really Seokjin.

“Uh. . . who is this?” you ask as you see Jimin turning to you from the corner of your eye.

“Ah. Sorry about the inconvenience. This is Jeon Jungkook from Sky Lounge and I am calling from customer Kim Seokjin’s cell phone. Mr. Kim seems severely drunk at the moment and I saw that he called you just a few seconds ago so I figured you were somewhat closely affiliated with him?”

“Oh. . .No. . . Well, used to be, I guess,” you answer with uncertainty at the relation you have with Seokjin.

Have a definite stance in your relationship.

“Ah, well we need-”

“I would like to think I have very little relation to Mr. Kim,” you state. “I hope you can get him home safe. My apologies.”

“Wait Ma’am-”

You quickly tap the red button to end the call and toss your phone into your bag.

“Was that not Seokjin?” Jimin asks confusedly as you let out a long exhale.

You shake your head. “It was. . . but. . .”

He’ll get home safe, right? The Jungkook guy sounded nice over the phone. He’ll hail a cab or something right? But Seokjin seems dead drunk. What if he accidentally sleeps with a girl or gets taken advantage of? He’s currently in a vulnerable state. The bartender also mentioned that Seokjin called himself before he gave a second call. Why would Seokjin call me if he’s drunk? Maybe he wants me specifically to pick him up? Does he have no one else to call? Is that why he had no choice but to call me?

“Was it some manager or something? That rude rich people stu-”

“Sorry Jimin,” you hastily apologize, slamming the red button on the side of the bus, indicating for the bus driver to pull over on the curb. “Let’s get dinner tomorrow. I’ll call you later.”

Jimin sputters as you climb over his legs and speedily shuffle towards the open sliding doors.

“W-Wait. I’ll go with you.”

You hop off the bus, Jimin closely behind you as the bus takes off to leave the both of you in the middle of a random sidewalk near downtown.

“Y/N,” Jimin calls, grabbing hold of your wrist to turn you around and forcing you to stop in the midst of your hurried steps.

You’re slightly out of breath when you respond with a quiet ‘yea?’

“Can you please explain what’s going on?” he asks.

You sigh, tugging Jimin’s arm to walk while you explain. “It was a bartender at Sky Lounge. Apparently, Seokjin’s drunk right now.”

You cared. You still cared about Seokjin. Jimin’s lips turn into a straight line as he tries to ignore the bitter feeling entering him.

“I’m sure he’ll get home safe. The bartender will hail a cab for him or call someone else in his contact list.”

That’s rational. That’s the logical facts.

“I. . . I know,” you reply as Jimin catches up the few steps to walk beside you. “But I have to see for myself to get rid of this worrying feeling. What if something happens to him?”

Jimin suppresses the urge to tell you that there’s little to none possibility that someone as tall and intimidating as Seokjin, under the supervision of bartenders at a top-class bar, falls in danger.

“Yeah. I get it,” Jimin lies.

He doesn’t get it.

You look at google maps pulled up on your phone that directs you to Sky Lounge, around a two-minute walk from where you currently are. You turn your head to your surroundings, finding something quite familiar about the buildings and restaurants in this specific part of downtown.

“There?” Jimin points towards the fancy looking bar near the end of the street.

The banner read in cursive, dark maroon red and white light, Sky Lounge.

“Yeah. Seems to be the place,” you pause, looking around once more. You recognize this street. “Hey isn’t that the five-star restaurant we ate in last time?”

Jimin follows your gaze to the said restaurant that he had paid for a while back. Jimin grimaces at the memory of his father pestering him if he had a girlfriend after that big gap in his credit card at a hot romantic dating spot.

“Yeah,” Jimin answers. “Sky Lounge is a luxury bar which is why all the five-star restaurants and stores are gathered here.”

“The elite town,” you smack your lips, adjusting your bag and walking down the sidewalk, past the flashy lamps and designer brand stores.

Soon enough, you arrive in front of the bar and with no hesitation, you pull open the glass doors only to get pulled by the doors yourself.

These were a lot heavier than you thought.

Jimin snickers next to you, nudging you aside and pulling the doors open with ease.

“I told you, you need to hit the gym,” Jimin mutters from behind you while you hurry into the bar with a half-hearted thanks, eyes scanning the tables and counters with all types of couples, businessmen, and businesswoman mingling and getting drunk.

You squint under the dim lights and spot a lone, slumped over figure at the counter. A tuft of dark brown hair poked out between the figure’s arms as their legs haphazardly dangled from underneath them. You glance at the coat draped over the man’s chair and you immediately recognize it as one of Seokjin’s designer brand coats that he wore the most often.

By often, you meant once every three months.

You quickly make your way over to Seokjin and try to shake him awake.

“Seokjin?” you clarify, grasping his arm and simultaneously shaking his shoulder.

You hear a series of incoherent grumbles and with a sudden jerk of his head, Seokjin’s eyes meet yours and they seem to bore into your soul.

Seokjin laughs in surprise, a whiff of strong liquor drifting into your nostrils and making you scrunch up your nose.

“Y/N,” Seokjin giggles.

Oh, he was extremelyyy drunk.

“Seokjin,” you sigh. “Why’d you drink so much? No, actually tell me later. Let’s get you home first, alright?”

Seokjin’s bottom lip juts out as he wiggles out of your grasp. “I aM a big kid. NO. Man. I’m a big, caaaaaapable man. You see thiS fACe? Wuuurldwide hannsum.”

You sigh, rolling your eyes. “Are you now?”

Seokjin nods with a slight laugh.

You slightly pause in your tugging to properly take a look at him.

Despite the fact that he was drinking right now, it seemed that Seokjin still looked as healthy and unaffected as ever. Quite contrary to you whose hair was tied into a messy bun and eyes were slightly swollen every single morning from tearing up or straight up sobbing yourself to sleep.

How was it possible that a dead drunk man could still be so handsome? His reddened cheeks only made his face glow with a child-like innocence and put an odd emphasis to his lack of pores. The dim lighting of the bar only seemed to make his eyes brighter as he sat near the lights on the shelves. His tousled, messy hair only added to his attractiveness as he grumbled under his breath with those pouty pink lips.

“Are you Miss Y/N?”

You’re pulled out of your daze by a familiar voice. Over the counter stood Jungkook, the employee who had called you.

You immediately nod. “Yes. that’s me.”

Jungkook represses the urge to point out how you made it seem like you weren’t ever going to show up in Seokjin’s life again over the phone and instead shoots you a grateful smile.

“Thank goodness. I’m Jungkook. The employee who called you earlier. My shift is almost over so I was just about to call a cab. Having someone Mr. Kim knows to pick him up is a lot more assuring.”

“Yeah. I got a little worried, so I just decided to come myself,” you say with a small laugh.

A movement from the corner of your eye makes you turn your attention to Seokjin who was attempting to stand up from his stool. As if in slow motion, Seokjin’s foot gets caught on the stool’s footrest, his eyes still closed from intoxication. His heavy form starts to lean towards you and before you know it, he’s full on falling towards your small frame, your helpless arms reaching out in a pointless attempt to brace yourself against a full grown man’s deadweight.

But, the impact of his body never comes.

Jungkook curiously eyes the other man in the picture who holds Seokjin in an awkward hug, shielding him from your body.

You peer up at Jimin who huffs as he waddles Seokjin back down onto the stool. Keeping his arm supporting Seokjin’s back, Jimin turns to Jungkook.

“Did this guy pay?” he asks.

Jungkook nods with widened eyes at what he just witnessed. “Yes. I charged everything to his card just a few minutes ago.”

Jimin nods and grabs Seokjin’s coat, poorly attempting to shove the drunken man’s limp arms through the holes with one arm while holding him up with the other arm.

You quickly intercept and help hold up the coat for Jimin who gives you a brief smile before successfully draping the coat around Seokjin and buttoning it up.

“Hey, can you help him get on my back?” Jimin asks with a non arguable tone.

You push away the habitual need to protest whenever Jimin gets too caring and instead nod with a slight sigh.

Seokjin whines as Jimin adjusts him on his back with a grunt.

“Have a good evening,” Jimin greets Jungkook, you doing the same as you swing Jimin’s bag over your own shoulder and trail after him.

Jungkook gives you a slight bow and quickly wipes down the counter where Seokjin was slobbering over before leaving. He tilts his head as he takes off his apron with genuine amusement at the relationship dynamic between the three of you.

It was quite obvious you had some kind of history with Seokjin judging from the tone of your voice over the call and after, your reaction. Perhaps an ex? Then, Jimin. Where did he fit in the picture?

Jungkook hums with a shake of his head, checking out with a beep of his employee card. If Jimin wasn’t romantically interested in you yet, he sure will be soon as seen from the way he was constantly putting himself between you and Seokjin.

How interesting, Jungkook muses. There would definitely be heartbreak between that trio.

#bts #networkbangtan #btsboulangerie #btsguild #bangtanhq #bangtanidx #btsbookclub #btswriterscollective #bts fanfic #seokjin fanfic #jimin fanfic #seokjin x reader #jimin x reader

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conceptrewritten · 1 year ago

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Miscellaneous pieces of Cold Caller Cubicles concept art, specifically relating to the thermostats.

#toontown #toontown rewritten #toonblr #toontag #ttr #sketches #concept art #image #Sellbot Field Offices #Cold Caller Cubicles

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oohfluffy · 5 years ago

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TIHM Ch.15 | BBH

Group: EXO

Member: Byun Baekhyun

Theme: Angst | Fluff | Rated M | University!AU | Football!AU

Word Count: 3,065

chapter 15

"Is this Lee Saejin?"

You just got home from school, and the phone rang as soon as you got in.

"Ah, yes. Who's this?"

"This is the Family Care Hospital."

You quickly ran out of the house as soon as the caller told you about what happened.

Your grandmother was hit by a truck, and she's now in a critical condition.

"Grandma..." Your tears streamed down your cheeks as you hastily got inside of the hospital. You frantically asked the nurses on the counter, lips quivering in fear and anxiousness. "W-Where's she?"

"Ms. Lee?" A nurse called you and gently led you to the waiting area. You looked around with your eyes wide, breathing fast as your hands clasped together. "Calm down, Saejin-ssi. Your grandmother is inside the operation room. They're trying their best to..."

Everything was fading rapidly.

You couldn't hear what the woman was saying. You were in this black hole, and all you wanted to do was cry and scream in fear.

You couldn't lose her.

Not her.

"P-Please." Your voice broke as you sobbed on your seat. Your shoulders shook while your tears continuously flowed down your face. "I-I can't lose my grandma."

But it seemed like you weren't really favored by luck.

"I heard she lost her grandmother."

"Suits her right for being a slut."

"Maybe karma is working!"

"She shouldn't have done that, what a shame."

You were still in that black hole. Still in that corner. Still crying. Still being consumed by sadness.

Still alone.

You started to learn how to hurt yourself to refrain from being numb.

You pinch your skin too hard. You punch the wall too hard. You scratch your wound too hard. You tug on your hair too hard. You hit your head too hard.

You needed to feel.

And those kids in the university were making it easier to do so.

Your body straightened as the coldness hit the top of your head. Laughters and snickers were heard as soon as you locked the door of the cubicle you were in.

"Oh damn! That must be so cold!"

"Shush! Let her enjoy it silently."

"I'm surprised she didn't scream."

"Let's go!"

Your lips quivered as you slumped down on the toilet. With water droplets trickling down your hair, your clothes dampened. You shivered as you felt your skin getting too cold.

Despite the bad intention, you were grateful for those bitches.

Your hand gripped on the cutter in your pocket. You let out a pained sigh as you shook your head.

You would have used a more painful way to feel.

"Saejin-ah."

You slowly closed your locker door. With blank eyes, you turned your head to the person who called you. You didn't bother gasp as you felt your lips dry.

Park Yong Sun.

"I-I'm sorry, Saejin-ah." She cried as she looked down, her dark hair falling on her face. You just stared at her vulnerable state. Everyone around you seems to be interested and curious about what's happening in your life. "I-It's my fault."

Your eyes watered as you looked at the person who you trusted your everything with. Your best friend that grew up with you, stayed with you, and cared for you.

What made her do this?

Was it the cuts on your wrists? The bruises on your temple? Maybe the red marks on your neck? Or was it your busted lip? Which one made her feel guilty?

"I-I'm so sorry—"

You walked past her, limping as you went out of the hallway. You didn't want to hear the rest. You didn't want to listen to her lies, or her justifications why she did that. You didn't want to see her again.

She didn't deserve it.

"She's here!"

"Is it true that she's the reason?"

"How can she appear here as if she didn't do anything?!"

You were wrecked when you heard the news. You weren't supposed to care or to be involved.

"Park Yong Sun is dead. She killed herself."

And you cannot comprehend how it is your fault again.

—

"Say ahh." Baekhyun said as he carefully nudged a spoonful of ice cream on your lips. You complied quickly and ate it, trying to avoid a much more embarrassing scenario in public. "Good girl."

"Shut up."

Wondering what you are doing with that puppy?

It's just your first date with him—let's change that.

It's your first acquaintance gathering with him.

"Let's go play!" He excitedly said as he threw the empty cup away, dragging you again around the mall. Girls were ogling at him as he walked past. You couldn't help but to roll your eyes. He was just wearing a plain oversized white shirt that slightly shows off his broad chest, and a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose.

He looks like a good boy, and everyone digs it as usual.

You were supposed to be taking a day off alone, but then Baekhyun knew, and he just couldn't leave you to spend the day alone. He's been stuck on you for the past few days, and it was annoying but comforting at the same time.

After a few minutes of walking, you got inside a game station. There were a lot of kids and teens playing, and it was almost crowded. You felt uneasy as Baekhyun easily got through it.

You both walked until you were in front of a huge screen with two guns in front.

"I'm not good at these things, Baekhyun." You whined as he gave you a huge weapon that supposedly kills zombies on the screen. He just grinned and patted your cheek before getting his. "We're just going to die, I'm telling you."

"We're not, baby. I'm here." He winked as he clicked the start button. Your heart thumped loudly as the game began. "Just follow my lead, okay? If you didn't know, I'm a damn good player."

"Oh I know that, Byun. You are a player."

Baekhyun grunted as he knew you were talking about a different thing.

You almost squealed when a zombie suddenly appeared in front of you, making you instinctively pull the trigger of your gun. And another one on the side, and on top, and on the farthest left!

Baekhyun watched as you single-handedly killed the zombies attacking you. He smirked as he looked at the screen, keeping up his game so he won't lose to you.

"I think I should be threatened, baby. You're a good player too." He laughed as he quickly pulled the trigger, killing as many zombies as he could. You grunted as you breathed in and out loudly, hands gripping on the weapon tightly.

After an hour of playing around the game station, you sat down on a bench with a tired smile on your face. Baekhyun went to find a vending machine to buy water, so you waited for him outside the game station.

You were looking around the place, taking in the sight of the stores and stalls, when a group of girls were approaching while giggling.

"I saw him here earlier!" The one in front said as she led her friends to the game station.

"Was he alone? I bet he wasn't!" The other girl exclaimed incredulously behind her.

"I don't think so. But hey, we can separate them for a while, don't you think? And we can play with him instead."

They all giggled together like fucking bees, pushing each other to the place until they all stopped. It was quiet as you leaned your back on the glass, becoming a bit impatient already.

"Babe. Sorry, did you wait long?" The familiar gentle voice that Baekhyun has been using on you said, making you look up at him. He was kind of sweating as he held out a cold bottle of water. "The vending machine inside was broken, so I needed to get to the working one outside."

You smiled gratefully as you took the bottle and quickly took a sip on it. You glanced at the girls, who were surprisingly still at the entrance, and looked back at the boy in front of you. Baekhyun has his eyes only set on you.

"Sit down." You patted the space on your left, and he easily complied like a dog. You took another gulp of water before giving it to Baekhyun, who took it with hesitation. "Aren't you thirsty? You're even sweating." You pulled out your handkerchief from your pocket.

"Ah, it's okay—" Without a word, you patted his face with your hanky. His eyes were wide as you willingly wiped his sweat. His lips parted when you wiped even his neck. He glanced around a bit, and saw that there was an audience behind him. He smirked at you.

"It's not good to just dry off your sweat—" You said seriously as you glared sideways at the girls watching.

You were fully composed until Baekhyun decided to join your little roleplaying.

"Anything for my baby." He said loudly as he leaned on your touch, lightly kissing your wrist as he did. Your cheeks were instantly in flames as you watched him. "I just love getting tended by you like this."

You bit your lip as your hand stopped on Baekhyun's cheek.

Your eyes went to his own, feeling drawn to his gaze. His hand held yours that was on his cheek, he smiled as he gave it a peck, letting his lips linger on your skin.

"Thank you." He mumbled as he sighed in relief. He slowly intertwined his fingers with yours, letting your hands rest on his lap. He drank from the opened bottle of water that you gave him earlier, drinking from the same spot you drank. You gulped down the lump forming in your throat before looking away.

"L-Let's go?" You asked as you glanced back at the murmuring girls behind him. Baekhyun nodded and stood up hand-in-hand with you. You led him out of those girls' gazes, taking lead in dragging him around this time.

You let out a breath of relief when you were finally out of the people's curious gazes. You stepped onto the escalator with Baekhyun behind you, and still had your fingers intertwined with him. You were deep into your thoughts when you felt warmth on your neck.

"Where are we going next, Saejin-ah?" Baekhyun whispered, his breath tickling your ear as he leaned on your shoulder. You almost shivered at his low voice.

Am I out of my mind already? This guy is a freaking playboy! He knows how to play!

"We are eating. I'm hungry." You mumbled as you got off the escalator, dragging him to follow you. You saw your favorite fast food chain, and grinned. You pointed at it. "There. We'll eat there."

Baekhyun watched as your eyes twinkled while you waited in line. He can sense your excitement and happiness at the moment, and he's loving every second of it. He was just behind you when a guy kept on bumping on your shoulder. You glanced at the man and furrowed your brows.

You chose to ignore it until the man almost fell over you. Baekhyun was quick to think and tugged you closer to him before the man fell. The people around were shrieking and asking for help. That man, with no question, is drunk.

"You alright?" Baekhyun asked as he hugged you from behind, feeling your body turn rigid as you looked at the man before you. "Were you hurt?"

The man was already being carried by the staff, and finally got out of the line. Baekhyun squeezed your arms as he didn't hear you responding. He decided to be the one who orders for the both of you.

With you in his arms.

Yes, you saw that right.

Unbeknownst to Baekhyun, you couldn't think and speak clearly because of him. Because he was too close to you. Because he is currently hugging you from behind as if he was a koala bear!

Is he crazy? Well, I guess I am too because I'm letting him do this!

"Yeah, that will be all." You heard Baekhyun say to the cashier, arms falling from you for a second to grab his wallet. You instantly walked to the side, surprising him and the cashier. You didn't dare look around because for sure, everyone was watching the scene unfold before them.

"Come on. Let's grab out seats." Baekhyun mumbled as he grabbed your hand and walked around the place to find empty seats. Fortunately, there was a two-seated table near the counter.

You couldn't look at him straight. You just looked at your hands on your lap. The hands that finally got used to holding hands with someone else because of him. Your cheeks blushed as you recalled the times you held hands with him.

Oh no, Saejin. No.

"Saejin-ah? Baby?"

Your head snapped up at Baekhyun, eyes wide as if you were a deer caught in headlights. Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in worry.

"You okay?" He asked, lips pouting as he looked all over your face. "You didn't get hurt earlier, did you?"

My heart is wavering, Byun. I'm not liking it.

"No, I'm fine." You said as you weakly smiled at him. He frowned as if sensing you weren't. "Really. I'm just kind of tired."

His body was warm.

He suddenly smiled.

"Were you getting possessive earlier, baby?" Baekhyun leaned on his hand on the table, his eyes crinkling in delight. "I saw those girls you glared at. Were they looking for me?"

Your eyes widened as your eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Was that being possessive?! I just disliked the fact that he's getting attention everywhere!

"Tss. No way." You spat as you looked away, sighing in relief when the waiter arrived.

Baekhyun just wouldn't drop it though.

"I'm certain you were claiming me at that moment, Lee Saejin. " Baekhyun grinned as he watched you quickly shoving fries in your mouth. "I saw it in your eyes, and they don't lie."

"Think whatever you like. I was just being kind, that's all."

He took a sip on his coke, eyes never leaving your face. You were angrily chomping on your burger, making him chuckle while he watched you.

"I wish you'll always be kind then." He mumbled, making you look up at him. "I won't look anywhere else anymore if you're just right here."

You probably look like a hamster now, with all the food stuck in your cheeks. Realizing this, you quickly chewed on it and gulped them down. You drank your soda, hoping to clear both your throat and mind as you did.

"I'm serious, baby."

You stopped moving as you heard his deep voice, one that he hasn't used often when he casually talks to you. You looked at him again with wary eyes. His gaze was gentle, but at the same time, hard.

He's serious. Damn serious.

"Let me court you."

Your mouth gaped at his words.

Byun Baekhyun courting me?! Is this a scam?

"Y-You? Courting? Me?" You stuttered as you pointed at yourself. Baekhyun nodded. You chuckled humorlessly. "You should think about it—"

"I have." He said sternly as he stared into your eyes intensely. Your lips parted. "I've been thinking about it everyday since I met you. And I've only got one conclusion, Saejin."

You shook your head at him, losing your appetite.

"You don't know me, Baekhyun. You might fancy me now, but I'm sure you'd be out of my sight in a few days." You said bravely with a straight face. The happy and soft atmosphere before was ruined in one moment. "You're used to change, Baekhyun. I'm not sure if I can take that in. I'm not sure if I'll be strong enough to be broken again. I'm not sure if I can bear with it."

Baekhyun's eyebrows furrowed as he watched your eyes welling up. He didn't want to see those tears flowing on your cheeks. He didn't want to make you cry.

"Hey, hey." He quickly stood up and dragged his chair beside you. You sniffled as you looked away. "Baby. Hey. Don't cry. Okay, I'm not gonna push this courting shit on you. I'll wait, okay?"

What if he knew about what happened before? Wouldn't he be like everyone else? Would he disappear too? He's popular, and to stay popular, he needs to. He would be ruined because of me. I don't want to start something that I know will just bring pain to both of us.

You silently cried as he hugged you, pressing your head on his broad chest. You felt comforted by his warmth and his scent. His hands caressed your back as he quietly spoke to you.

"I just wanted to prove to you that I'm willing to court you and make you my only one."

You unexpectedly snorted at his cheesy words, making him pout. You chuckled as you saw him looking down at you.

"Sorry, that was too cheesy I couldn't handle it." You whispered on his chest, a smile tugging on your lips. "I understand, Baekhyun. I hope you can understand me too, until I'm ready to open up to you."

He smiled at your reply, pushing away the fact that you just snorted at his wonderful line.

"Okay, deal. No courting." He mumbled as he kissed your temple. You groaned at his sly advances. "Flirting then?"

"Oh shut it."

"You like me too, right?"

"I didn't say anything about that—"

"You do, Saejin-ah. You're just fighting it."

Your lips jutted out as you realize he was right—

AM I? AM I LIKING THIS PLAYBOY?! NO WAY, LEE SAEJIN.

"I like you, Lee Saejin." He whispered as he hugged you tighter. "Being this close to you makes me so happy." He nuzzled his nose on your hair like a puppy wanting attention.

"And you smell damn amazing—"

You quickly pushed him away and sat up straight. You ate your burger again as if nothing happened. You wiped your eyes with your sleeves, and chewed on your food. Baekhyun was still beside you, frowning at your response.

"Eat, Baekhyun." You sternly said as you nodded at his food. He sighed as he grabbed his food, but stayed beside you as he ate. Your lips tugged into a smile as you drank your soda.

You're scared, but maybe, just maybe...

—

Tagging my loves: ❤

—

♫ Ch.16

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sleepytyongie · 4 years ago

Text

the lakehouse (jung jaehyun)

Summary: In which Jaehyun finds peace in a lakehouse.

Word count: 1628

Tags: Fluff, boyfriend!Jaehyun

(Also available on Ao3)

_____

For as long as you could remember, you dreamed of a slow life. A life where there is quiet — a life with very little care of what goes on in the world. Maybe in the countryside, with rolling meadows of lush green, and a sky so blue that you think nighttime might show up a little late. Or maybe at a quaint beachfront, where you could hear the gentle rolling of waves, with tall coconut trees that provided ample shade for a peaceful nap. You wanted a slow life — simple, neither frugal nor excessive. A slow and simple life where there is just enough.

But as cars incessantly honk in city traffic, and the fluorescent white lights slowly blind you in your office cubicle, you’ve realized lately that a slow life isn’t exactly your reality. The first time you realized this, you rested your head in your hands and groaned inwardly when you failed to brush away these distractions. So you relabeled them instead: retirement plans, and you still had a long way to go.

When you’re not dreaming about settling down in a rural countryside town with the love of your life, you daydream of summer. If retirement plans are too far for you to grasp, then dreaming of a summer break will have to do for now, you always thought to yourself. Quiet living just for several weeks of the year — it was the only thing that motivated you through difficult work tasks.

On one particularly terrible Tuesday at work, your phone started to buzz without end. You knew you needed to get this paperwork done as soon as possible, but you decided to take a quick break by answering the phone and stretching. You didn’t bother looking at the caller ID before you picked up, greeting curtly: “Yeah.”

“Baby,” the voice on the other line crooned, and you felt your heart soften hearing it.

“Jaehyunnie,” you replied, and felt yourself smile saying his name.

“Working hard, I assume?”

You laughed, “All for that bread, baby. Are you proud of me?”

“Always, sweetheart.”

You giggle quietly, keeping your voice down to match the office environment.

"So what’s up?”

“You know how you always say that you want to run away from it all, just for a couple weeks?” He asked.

“Yeah?”

“I found this charming little lakehouse, one that Taeil-hyung recommended.”

"I like where this is going," you chimed.

“And I found a way to rearrange my schedule for next month.”

You hummed your approval into the phone, beckoning Jaehyun to continue.

“Could you get two weeks off?”

“You know I can,” you laughed, “Thank you for arranging this, Jae.”

“Anything for you.”

“I love you so much."

“I love you too, babygirl,” he chuckled, “Now get back to work, don’t let your boss catch you wasting your time talking to me.”

Jung Jaehyun was magic, you thought to yourself, your very own magic.

The next month, the both of you packed up your stuff for a quiet two weeks away. Jaehyun drove you two up into the mountains, where a beautiful blue lake sat with its crystalline water sparkling in the sun. On the far end of the lake perched a humble summer cottage of oak that overlooked a lush expanse of grass before the ground dipped into the cool waters. Sunlight illuminated the tops of the slanted roof, with tall trees that shielded the little home with cool shade. You loved it.

“So, do you like it?” Jaehyun asked quietly as you stood in front of the porch, pulling you closer to him and pressing a kiss into your forehead. You could only hear Jaehyun breathing, his steady heartbeat, the sound of the water lapping on the shore, the gentle chirping of bluejays, and the slight wooshing of the breeze. It was quiet, and it was wonderful.

You hummed into the base of his neck: “It’s perfect.”

You lived the slow life you dreamed of having in your two weeks at the cottage. During the day, you spent every moment slowly. On most mornings, you laid down on a blanket on the grass, basking in the warm sunlight. Jaehyun would smile at the sight of you sunbathing, pulling off his shirt, grab a book and his sunglasses, then came down to join you. When the afternoon approached, he pried you off of the blanket to go and cool off in the lake. Jaehyun would joke around in the clear waters until you got too tired of laughing, and you admitted defeat by taking another nap in the blanket.

“You’re not going to be able to sleep tonight if you take another nap this late,” he would often remind you chidingly, “just come back into the water with me.”

“Or, you could just let me nap in peace,” you joked. You did mean it as a joke, but most of the time you actually fell asleep anyway.

On other days, the two of you would climb hand-in-hand up a nearby hill and have a picnic under the shade of a cherry tree. The two of you had made kimbaps the night before to bring to the picnic and filled lemonade into a bottle before leaving for the hill. After you ate, you would spend the afternoon reading together under the tree — or at least, it was you who read as Jaehyun rested his head on your lap while he napped. Then you would come down the hill before the sun got too low in the sky, back into your cottage, his arm slung around your shoulder as you kissed him on the cheek.

Your nightly routine often involved cold cuts, cheese, fruits, and wine. Jaehyun had simple pleasures when it came to quiet dinners, and wine was a very big part of it. Jaehyun had brought along his record player and put on his favorite Chet Baker Sings album to accompany your laughter. When he felt particularly romantic, he would pull you into his arms and sway you slowly to the music. You willed yourself not to melt into his chest, but it was difficult not to when you felt warm and content just being there in his grasp.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on,” you murmured quietly into his ear as you danced.

“And you mine. I don’t know where I would be without you.”

As you kissed, you tasted the sweetness of the wine you had just moments before. There was gentleness there too, like he couldn’t fathom anything like you. You knew before this that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with Jaehyun, and this kiss made sure of it.

Eventually, when both of you got too sleepy, the day’s activities tiring you out, Jaehyun pulled you towards him under the blankets and you slumbered together in peace. But on some nights when it got too hot, both of you would peel off your clothes and try to sleep nude. For the most part, this was a win for you, especially since you could only fall asleep if you were cooler. When it was like this, you tried to keep your distance from Jaehyun’s body because you hated the stickiness of sweat on your skin. It also didn’t help that Jaehyun radiated his body heat, your very own human radiator. This was to your advantage in cold harsh winters, but not during sticky summer nights where you just wanted to doze off quickly. Jaehyun, however, felt that your keeping your distance was the torture of another level — he needed to hold you close as you slept, and you often rejected his touch every time you slept nude.

He reached for you in the middle of the night the first time you rolled away from him. The moonlight streamed in through the window by your shared bed, illuminating his pale face and soft skin. Even half-asleep, Jaehyun looked princely and beautiful, you noted as you watched his face. Jaehyun’s eyes were half-lidded, his large hands searching blindly for your hips to roll you back into his arms.

“Baby,” he mumbled lowly, still half asleep, “where’d you think you’re going?”

“You’re sticky,” you murmured into the crook of his neck before planting soft kisses on his collarbone. You traced your fingers along his bare back, feeling every one of his muscles relax into your touch.

“Go to sleep, Jae,” you whispered, only to garner another mumble in response.

“Not if you’re not in my arms.”

He kissed your temple lazily — a gentle kiss goodnight. Soon, you felt your breath falling into sync with the rise and fall of his chest, and you continued to run your hands lightly along his back.

You gave in to him. Just for tonight, you promised yourself, but you knew that this would repeat every single night after. You couldn’t keep away from Jaehyun even if you tried. Eventually, you’ve come to enjoy the feel of his bare skin while you slept, the stickiness of summer and all. But for the sake of your pride, you smiled to yourself and decided he didn’t need to know.

Your summer came to an end far too soon. You and Jaehyun had to part with the little cottage house that you fell in love with and return to the chaos and responsibilities of everyday life. You didn’t know when you would come back. But if anything, you knew that someday, two weeks at this lakehouse would turn to entire summers, and eventually into the rest of your life. Someday, you’d come back married, and the next time with kids, and the next to retire with Jaehyun holding your hands the entire time. Someday, it would be summer forever.

_____

A/N: I wrote this about a month back when I really needed a break from Uni. All that pent up frustration kinda just manifested into calming myself down by writing my own little bit of paradise. It’s been up on AO3 for a long while, so I think it might be a good time to post it here. Enjoy!

-Matt.

#jung jaehyun #jaehyun #nct jaehyun #nct jaehyun imagine #nct jaehyun fanfiction #nct imagine #nct 127 imagine #nct u imagine #nct fanfiction #nct 127 fanfiction #nct u fanfiction #nct #nct 127 #nct u #sleepytyongie

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kazieka · 5 years ago

Note

what DOES the rest of the institute even DO if the archive was always the whole point?????

oh you KNOW there’s a nice big department strictly for PR and fundraising, bc jonah magnus was a rich white british aristocrat who DEFINITELY just threw parties whenever he needed money and the institute has continued that well into the present day. most of the main floor is office space and open-concept cubicles with a low-paid team of cold callers, a few managerial staff to sort out the boring shit, and a small group of professional event planners. elias’s office is on this floor

the archives are in the basement, because it’s creepier that way and the authorities in charge of the institute have always been gay dramatic bitches who live for the aesthetic. bonus for ease of having tunnels behind the walls

top floor is the research team. this is where u go if u got a master’s degree in like. folklore or mythology or some shit but you still need to make a living. this is the party floor. the researchers r up there snorting coke off haunted snowglobes and writing down whatever they want about the artifacts. one time maureen (who has a major in Anthropology and a minor in Art History, making her exceptionally unemployable) was in charge of investigating a set of paintbrushes that reportedly would paint the scene of the user’s violent death, and within three weeks the painter would be found dead in a scene identical to the one painted. this was in fact a hoax and maureen used the paintbrushes to paint herself getting railed by a werewolf, saying to her bemused coworkers, “that’s how i wanna go out, y’know?”

#meanwhile one floor below: elias stops writing #very briefly #two floors below: jonathan sims puts a box on the wrong shelf #and no one will ever correct him on it #and that's the REAL horror here #halberdierminister #lindsey shut up #an ask? wtf #tma #the magnus archives #also i don't CARE what jonny said in the q&a i will ALWAYS believe the institute staff r WAY overpaid

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turtle-steverogers · 6 years ago

Text

petrified

hmmmm

warnings: guns, gunshot wounds, mediocre planning as far as the story went

editing: nein, es tut mir leid

ship: platonic spralbert

Spot kicked open the door of the warehouse, the resistance sending a jolt through his knee. He hissed in pain, taking a moment to shake out his leg before hoisting his gun more securely under his armpit. He ran up the stairs, his partner, Race, on his heels. They weren’t entirely sure where they were headed, but Spot’s gut willed him to keep running.

Eventually, they reached the top floor, stopping in the dimly lit hallway to catch their breath as they strained their ears, searching for any signs of movement.

A gun cocked behind them and both men were facing its owner in an instant, their own guns yielded and ready to shoot.

Spot heard Race gasp next to him as they took in the person standing in front of them. Cold fear and shock ran down his spine and he lowered his gun a fraction of an inch in surprise.

No one said anything as the three men stared at each other, two dumbfounded gazes meeting a pair of vacantly challenging eyes.

Race was the first to break the silence, his voice a near whisper as he managed, “Al?”

Three Months Earlier

“Yo, yo, yo here’s your stupid bean juice,” Albert handed Race a venti Starbucks cup as they entered the tall agency building, taking a sip from his own to-go cup as he did so.

Race scoffed, “Like your fucking leaf water is any better.”

“Excuse me,” Albert rolled his eyes, sticking his pinky out dramatically as he slurped his tea loudly, “It’s au naturel.”

“So’s coffee,” Race pointed out as they made their way to their offices, which were located adjacent to each other on the fourth floor.

Things had been generally quiet in the agency lately, their biggest cases being low brow robberies and various hit and runs. But Race and Albert’s other partner, Spot Conlon, had called them in a little early that day, claiming that he’d gotten wind of a new criminal reigning terror over the city.

He hadn’t given many details besides the basics. Older man, responsible for several brutal murders around the city, notorious for his ability to kidnap and convert people to his ideals. A regular nightmare, but nothing the agency hadn’t handled before.

Granted, the three of them in particular hadn’t taken on such a big job yet, but they’d seen it be done and Spot seemed pretty confident that they would succeed.

“Dasilva, Higgins, y’all in here already?” Spot’s voice rang outside Race’s cubicle and he poked his head out, grinning when Albert did the same.

Spot stared at them, eyebrows twitching slightly before he chuckled, “You guys are weirdly in sync, like, all the time and I hate it.”

Albert winked, “Sorry, Spottie-”

“Don’t fucking call me that, how many times-”

“Anyway,” Race interjected, “Spot, you had a case for us?”

“Yeah,” Spot held up a file unceremoniously, “He calls himself ‘The Warden’,” he paused, glancing around, “Hang on, let’s go to my office and I’ll explain.”

They crossed into the office diagonal from Race and Albert’s and sat themselves around Spot’s little desk. Albert made himself comfortable, shifting so that he was sitting sideways in his chair with his legs dangling haphazardly over one of the armrests.

He sipped his tea expectantly, fixing Spot with a pointed look, “So, what’s the tea, sisters?”

“I swear you’ve been watching too much James Charles,” Race muttered, taking a long drink out of his cup.

Spot laughed as Albert squawked indignantly, “Hey! His content is funky and fresh,” he shrugged a bit, “You guys should take notes.”

“Okay, buddy,” Spot chuckled, gesturing to the papers he’d laid out in front of them, detailing the various incidents involving this so called ‘Warden’, “Anyway, so this guy’s real name is Snyder. Real douche it seems,” he stuck his tongue between his teeth as he rifled through the papers, snapping his fingers triumphantly as he pulled a yellow sheet out with a flourish, “Aha, yeah, so he’s apparently been around on the downlow for a while; started out as a successful drug dealer, but started to snap-”

“Sister snap?”

“Albert.”

“Sorry, continue.”

Spot rolled his eyes, but plowed on, “His first major recorded felony was the kidnapping and murder of a little girl after her mother apparently didn’t pay her dues for some hard shit. After that, he seemed to take a liking to killing people. Led a few shootouts, took a few more people for his growing gang presence, the works. But, recently, he’s been messing up. Was almost caught by local police a few times. Finally got enough of a lead from the local station to start a proper investigation and that, boys,” Spot leaned back in his seat proudly, pushing the file towards Race and Albert, who hovered over it excitedly, “Is where we come in.”

Race and Albert took a moment to read through the details. Anticipation, followed almost immediately by eagerness blossomed in Race’s chest and he exchanged an apprehensive look with Albert.

“Let’s get started.”

Two and a Half Months Ago

Race was abruptly pulled from his sleep by the sound of his phone ringing next to his ear. He took a moment to wake himself up, becoming acutely aware that he had fallen asleep in his street clothes. He cracked his neck, pulling himself into a sitting position as he answered his phone, not bothering to check the caller ID.

“Race?” Spot’s frantic tone bled through the speaker and Race frowned, anxiety bubbling in his stomach.

“Spot?” Race rubbed his eyes with his knuckle, glancing across the room to his alarm clock, “What’s wrong? It’s, like, 4:00 am.”

“Uh,” Spot sounded slightly breathless and Race stood up, already leaving his bedroom to put on his shoes. Something was very wrong.

“Spot, talk to me,” Race demanded, tucking his phone between his ear and shoulder as he fastened his holster to his belt, “What’s wrong?”

“I went over to Albert’s apartment just now, because he sent out an emergency alert through his phone,” Race sucked in a breath, dreading the rest of the sentence, “He’s not here, Racer. His shoes are. His phone is. Hell, his wallet’s even here still, but he’s gone.”

“Shit,” Race cursed, hand frozen on his doorknob as he processed the information, “Do you think that…” He trailed off, hoping that Spot could fill in what he hadn’t said.

“Yeah,” Spot said, sounding slightly breathless, “I think Snyder’s got him.”

Race closed his eyes, forcing the panic that had seized his chest to disperse, “Okay,” he said, his tone shifting into the authoritative voice he used while on duty, “I’m on my way.”

When Race arrived at Albert’s apartment, he wasn’t surprised to find the door locked. He texted Spot to let him know he was there and waited for him to let him in. The apartment itself was eerily untouched. There weren’t any clear signs of a breaking and entering and it didn’t seem as if Albert had struggled too greatly as he was taken.

“I thought it was weird, too,” Spot muttered and Race looked at him in silent question, “Everything’s the same as usual,” Spot clarified, waving his hand around the apartment, “Albert didn’t fight it.”

“Or he didn’t have a chance to,” Race said, stepping beside the couch and kneeling down. A few small drops of liquid were scattered there, almost invisible against the wooden floor.

Spot noticed, too and crouched beside Race, dipping his pinky tentatively into the substance and holding it a short distance under his nose. His face scrunched up and his head moved abruptly away from his finger. He stood quickly and crossed to the kitchen. A moment later, Race heard the sink turn on.

“Chloroform?” He called, voicing his suspicions.

Spot walked back into the living room, rubbing a paper towel tensely over his hands, “Yup.”

“Damnit,” Race hissed, rocking back on his heels as he thought, “Fuck, shit, we shoulda known that Snyder’d be onto us.”

Spot shook his head, leaning his hip against the back of the couch and pinching the bridge of his nose, “No ones fault but ours. We shoulda been more careful after that run in by Jacobi’s.”

“Yeah,” Race set his jaw, eyes fixed on the leftover chloroform, “We’ll getcha back, Albie,” he murmured to no one in particular.

One Month Ago

It had been six long weeks since Albert’s kidnapping and Spot and Race were running out of leads. They’d been to every abandoned building and vacant underground in the city, only to come up with nothing.

Spot was beginning to lose hope. The surmise that Albert was beyond finding became more and more likely each day. Race had withdrawn from his normal, charismatic demeanor. It seemed as if the absence of his partner in chaos had drained him in a way he couldn’t entirely explain. Nothing seemed right.

Even as Spot stayed for hours with him to work on the case, Race didn’t seem in high hopes. It was like he already gave up. Like Albert was already gone.

“Holy shit,” Spot looked up at Race’s stunned voice. It was early on a Friday morning and both men had already been working for close to three hours on the Snyder case. Even through searching seemed ruthless, they plugged on.

“What?” Spot asked, abandoning his own file to leaned over the back of Race’s chair, peering at the computer screen over his shoulder.

“I think I found something,” Race scooted forward in his chair and Spot could see his hands shaking with overwhelming hope.

“What is it, though,” Spot squinted at the screen, where an advertisement for an old auto body warehouse was magnified.

“‘Snyder’s Auto Body’,” Race said, eyes flashing as he clicked to another page, which contained the growing portfolio for Snyder that Spot and him were creating, “Located out in Newark.”

“Is it owned by him?” Spot asked, pulling his chair up so he could sit.

Race shook his head, “No, it was his dad’s, but it’s abandoned.”

“Do you think…” Spot glanced at him, fear intermixing with hope in his gut.

“Yeah,” Race breathed, “I think that’s where he’s at.”

“So that’s where….”

“Yep,” Race took off his glasses, scrubbing a hand down his face, “If Al is alive, that’s where he’ll be.”

“Okay, wow,” Spot heaved a deep breath, a new ambitious flame igniting in him, “We’ve got some planning to do.”

Two Weeks Ago

“There’s been another murder,” Spot entered Race’s cubicle in a frenzy, slamming a new case report down onto his desk, “Snyder’s back out there, but get this, the killer was someone new, take a look.”

Race picked up the provided photograph, eyes widening as he recognized the familiar shock of red hair that belonged to the person holding a gun, rounding a corner from the crime scene.

“Oh my fucking...that’s not-” He looked up at Spot, pleading for him to tell him that it was fake. A joke. A cruel, stupid, sick joke.

“It is,” Spot grimaced, taking the picture back.

Race let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, “But, he wouldn’t do that...he-”

“I know he wouldn’t,” Spot sighed, gently pulling Race’s hand away from his bicep, where he’d been gripping tightly enough to leave marks, “I don’t think he’s himself right now. Not while he’s in Snyder’s hands.”

Race bit his lip, completely lost for words, “well,” he muttered, “at least we know he’s alive.”

One Day Ago

“Are you ready?” Race asked, entering Spot’s cubicle and passing him a cup of coffee. Spot sighed, pushing himself away from his computer and rubbing at his stinging eyes. God, he’d been there too long.

“Define ready,” He said, lifting the coffee to his lips and allowing the hot liquid to replenish his energy.

Race scoffed, nodding in agreement as he took a sip from his own cup. They sat in silence, both men contemplating what might be to come of the next few days. They were hopefully going to find Albert, but at what cost?

It was evident that they both had given thought to what condition Albert might be in, but they were too scared to venture into the possibilities out loud.

“Are you scared?” Race’s voice was small, young, and Spot couldn’t help but be brought back to their first mission together, when he’d ended up in the hospital with the prospect of losing an arm. The same lost look lingered behind his eyes and Spot softened.

“Yeah,” Spot admitted, “terrified.”

“Of what?”

“Him,” saying it felt like ripping off a bandaid, “I want Al back, but I have a feeling Al won’t want us back.”

Race swallowed and looked down and Spot’s stomach sank as he realized he was holding in tears.

“Yeah,” Race sniffed, “Me too.”

Present

“Al?”

The flash of recognition that passed through Albert’s cold, brown eyes was gone almost as soon as it had appeared.

“Boss ain’t gonna like that we have visitors,” Albert snarled, the grip on his gun tightening as he took a step closer to Race and Spot.

Spot saw Race cast him a worried glance in his peripheral vision, but he refused to look away from Albert’s eyes. He knew from experience that it was ten times harder to kill a man while you were staring straight at them.

“Snyder’s here then?” Spot asked, matching Albert’s dangerous tone as he, too, stepped forward, pressing his chest to the barrel of Albert’s gun. Albert’s gaze flicked down for a moment, peering at the place where his gun met Spot’s shirt and Spot could see him swallow. Some part of him was nervous. He wasn’t completely gone.

Albert looked back up, setting his jaw, “Yeah, and he’s been pretty bored lately. Might like to have fun with some newbies.”

“Newbies? Al, you know us,” Race blurted out before he could stop himself. Spot cursed mentally as Albert turned his gun on Race instead, who took a millimeter of a step backwards. Spot couldn’t blame him. It was jarring being threatened so lifelessly by the man you used to call your brother.

“Don’t mean I’m fond of ya,” Albert quipped, hitting away Race’s gun with his own and shoving the barrel under his chin. Race flinched, eyebrows scrunching up as an involuntary whimper forced its way out of his throat.

“Yeah,” Albert laughed cruelly, “You always were the jumpy one.”

“Oh, Albert, you brought guests,” Albert’s cocky facade dropped as a new voice rang down the hallway and he winced, backing away from Race as his shoulders flew up to his ears. Spot’s stomach clenched as the first signs to Albert’s trauma became evident.

“Actually, they brought themselves, sir,” Albert mumbled as he stepped back to allow Snyder to approach them. He was an older man, pushing his late fifties with a neatly chopped mustache and side-parted grey hair.

Spot wasn’t too worried. Race and him had enlisted Jack and Davey, two other agents in their field, as well as a team of SWAT officers to wait on standby in case they found Snyder there. Microphones were implanted under their clothes, and at the first sign of trouble, backup would be at their fingertips.

“Even better,” Snyder grinned wickedly, “How can I help you boys?”

Race glared at him, nose twitching as he made a decision, “Oh, we won’t be needing the help, sir.”

Then, the world around them exploded. Race shot his gun aimlessly at the ceiling, providing a distraction as he lunged forward to tackle Snyder. Albert jumped backwards, shooting his gun defensively several times as a flood of SWAT officers swarmed the room behind them, immediately moving to help Race detain Snyder.

Spot made to assist them, but stopped when he saw Albert, frozen in fear, eyes fixed somewhere on the side of Spot’s head. Spot frowned, changing course to move toward him, but stopping when a nauseating pain consumed his entire being. He sluggishly reached up, fingers skimming his temple and his stomach lurched when they came away bloody.

He had a split second to be thankful that there wasn’t a literal bullet lodged in his head before the floor rushed up to meet him, the world going black.

One Week Later

“Welcome back, Spottie,” Race leaned on the doorframe to Spot’s office, smirking when Spot groaned and rolled his chair away from his computer, happily accepting Race’s offered coffee, “How you feeling?”

“How’s one supposed to feel when a fuckin bullet grazed their head and took off some of the fucking skin?”

Race shrugged, “Fair point,” he sat down opposite of Spot, “I’m proud of us.”

“Me too,” Spot agreed, “We took down Snyder, got Al back in one piece, got ourselves back in mostly one piece.”

Race’s smirk seeped off his face, “I wouldn’t necessarily say Al’s back in one piece. Guy’s pretty fucked up.”

“Yeah,” Spot said with a resigned sigh. He’d been confined to the hospital for the days following Albert’s rescue, so he hadn’t had a chance to talk to his friend one on one. He had a feeling that even if he did, it wouldn’t blow over too well, “Is he even talking?”

Race nodded, “He’s mostly snapped out of his, uh, trance, but he’s so on edge. Poor guy’s had more panic attacks in the past week than all of us have had in the past three years combined.”

Spot whistled, “Damn.”

“Yeah,” Race leaned back in his chair, “Won’t let nobody touch him. Figure it’ll be like that for a while, though.”

Spot frowned, “Not even you?”

“‘Specially not me,” Race said, “I think he feels guilty or whatever.”

“Then he definitely won’t wanna see me,” Spot muttered, unconsciously rubbing at the bandage on his head.

“He didn’t mean to shoot you,” Race said, a certain seriousity consuming his tone.

“Oh, I know that,” Spot shakes his head, “But does he?”

“Fair point.”

Race propped his head on his hand, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, “Think we’ll ever get our partner back?”

“I hope so.”

A Month and a Half After the Rescue

“Spot, Racer,” Mush, the resident therapist at the agency, peeks his head into Race’s office, where the two men are pouring over a new file.

“‘Sup, Mush?” Race asked, eyes not leaving the paper he’s reading through.

“It’s, uh,” He scratched at his head, stepping further into the room, “Albert’s asking for you guys.”

Spot perked up as Race immediately abandoned his chair, already hurrying to follow Mush to where Albert has been staying.

As predicted, Albert hadn’t been able to be in the same room as Spot and Race for weeks following the incident. Any time one of them would get near him, he’d either freak out or dissociate and it would take hours to bring him down. Eventually, Race and Spot had resigned to allowing him to ask for them, not wanting to setback his healing process any further. He’d gone through something more traumatic than any of them could have imagined and it took time to move past that.

Albert was sitting criss-cross in the armchair of Mush’s office, a mug of tea cradled between his legs. He was staring at the ground, eyes slightly glazed over as if he’d been crying. His fingers were fiddling with the string to his tea bag, which Spot could smell was sleepytime, and he didn’t look up when they entered.

“I’ll be right outside the room,” Mush whispered, backing carefully back out of his office once Spot and Race were situated in chairs in front of Albert. They didn’t sit too near to him so as to give him the chance to get up and leave if he wanted.

“Uhm,” Race cleared his throat and Albert’s eyes flicked up to him for a moment before returning to the ground, “How are you holding up?”

Spot contained his laughter at the pathetic question, “Ignore him, he’s still an idiot.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Albert’s face, “Yeah,” his voice was impossibly quiet, “I know.”

Race let out an audible sigh of relief at Albert’s words, “Hey, buddy,” he murmured.

Albert looked up for the first time and Spot counted it as a win when he didn’t flinch, “Hi, guys,” he paused, swallowing and looking to the side, “Sorry it took so long for me to reach out.”

Spot rushed to assure him, “Man, it’s totally okay. What you went through,” he shook his head, “Damn, I’d need even longer than just a few weeks. I’m just glad you feel like you can reach out now.”

“Thanks.”

“You know that we’re here for you, right?” Race asked, his voice softening.

Albert met his concerned gaze, lip trembling as tears tried to force their way out of the corners of his eyes, “I missed you guys, I’m sorry.”

Race looked to Spot, helpless, and Spot jumped in, “You don’t have a thing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong.”

“I almost killed you, Spot,” Albert choked out, breaths heaving as he tried to keep them somewhat even, “I don’t know what I woulda done if-”

“But, you didn’t,” Spot scooted his chair forward, moving his hand slowly to hover over Albert’s knee. Albert nodded and Spot rested his hand softly on his leg, giving him the chance to shake him off, “Everyone’s out and alive and so are you. I know you went through hell in there, but it’s over now and we’re all okay.”

Albert nodded, hiccuping, “Yeah, I know,” he reached out a hand to Race, who eagerly scooted forward and took it, squeezing it reassuringly, “I know, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, no one’s mad,” Race said, kindly.

“I miss work,” Albert admitted once his cries had slowed, “But I dunno when I’ll be able to come back.”

“Take your time, man,” Spot said, smiling, “We’ll be here waiting.”

“Thanks,” Albert said, taking a sip of his tea.

Race scrunched his nose playfully, “I see that you still like leaf water, though.”

Albert glared, “Shut up, sister.”

Things were far from okay and it would be awhile before everything returned to normal. But Albert was safe, alive, and on the road to doing well and for that they were eternally thankful.

oof yea

thanks for reading, chiefs

hmu to be added to my tag

TAG LIST: @bencookisagod @we-dont-sell-papes @suddenly-im-respecsable

@aw-jus-let-em-try

@well-the-kids-do-too @spot-conlon-king-of-brooklyn @felix-loves-albert-and-ralbert

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@andthewoildwillknow @the-newsies-justice-for-zas-blog @sunshine-e-cigarettes @have-we-got-news-for-you @musical-shitposts @thebroadwayaesthetic

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#Newsies #newsies fic #racetrack higgins #ralbert #spralbert #spot conlon #albert dasilva #this is kinda trash im sorry #oof #skjafl;dkjf #dakjsd;l #yell at me #its late

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exo-trashbean · 5 years ago

Text

In Honor of the Summer Ending

I heard some pretty wacky stuff while working at my summer job as an intern in an I.T. Department. Here is a some banter I recorded.

Sidenote - there are two Brians in my office (”Brian”, or “B″ is my boss, respectively, and “Other Brian″ is the jackass that stops over to roast me and the other intern), as well as two Dereks ("Derek " (”D”) is the other intern, and "Other Derek" is the one that sits a cube over -- all of the stuff he says is always heard from over the wall). [Also, when I refer to a “cube” it means a group cubicle with 4 people in it]

The chats/quotes separated by return spaces are all from different conversations, to clarify.

Enjoy!

"That is a lovely Shade of booger" "Try again" beep. beep. *beeps get more impatient* beepbeepbeep “Ok stOP-”

loud bang heard from across the department. “Are You having fun yet?” “Nope”

“I- I can’t” “What is it?” “A sandwich with no bread”

Clinking of change. “It’s crazy that there are 50 year-old quarters... just chillin”

“Think fast.” *Sound of can hitting the ground* *Deep sigh*

“I support equal robot rights”

Brian: *making whistle noises like bombs dropping whilst pelting interns w/root beer barrels*

Not exactly a quote, but I stand up to stretch in the morning and on the board in the cube next to me says “Cheese life! Go Cheese!”

[Testing workflow website for company] Wes: Just make sure when you comment something, you submit an attachment. It can be anything. Brian + me: Anything? *Wes nods* *Entire cube goes onto DevHumor for memes*

Ezra sneezes. Brian sneezes 2 seconds later, but with the Dad Sneeze™. Brian turns to me [2 hrs after learning what “boneless” means]: “See, his sneeze was boneless, mine was not.”

Brian: Do you know what the use of a GoTo() [Statement] is? *leans forward* THERE IS NONE Coworker walking by: GoTo the unemployment line Brian: If I find a GoTo() statement in your code, there is gonna be a coffee mug-shaped dent in your forehead

[Cube next to me after debugging] Other Derek: Thanks for solving the mystery Lucas. do you want to be part of the scooby doo club? Thomas: *offhandedly* The mystery gang? Lucas: What kind of snacks do you got? Other Derek: uh, combos- *Sound of footsteps fading away*

[Other Cube] “Is that jam?” “Yeah it’s Derek’s” “Do you want some? You can have some only if you eat all of it right now” “You’re nuts!” “No I have Jam”

Derek: We got state fair corn dogs and my brother eats like 2 or 3 for breakfast- Brian: He eats 3 corn dogs for breakfast?! Other Brian: My kinda guy

“I don’t eat things I can’t pronounce”

“Password is DonutsRgood”

“I’m trying to separate it into two columns [on ms word] but it keeps wrapping weird” “Then tell it you don’t want to listen to its music” “The exit door is right there Derek”

[Derek making checklist for supervisor on dry erase board] “NOT GARISH” written @ bottom Me: you know what you gotta do is *starts to point* Derek: YES DIFFERENT COLORS *grabs all the markers*

D: ah ye scallywag B: what D: nabbed me pen ye did B: Ah, ye see it looks a bit like mine D: it’s fine I already got another one B: arrr D: thief of the seas

Me: did you play clue or clue junior? Derek: uh... I have *giggles* no clue

Kathy, older woman that could kick anybody’s ass, total savage, etc. goes to open door - all I hear is a thud as she kicks it(?) and an “OW”: *Walking back to cubicle* “well I WAS having a good day”

“your positive attitude just sucks”

B: *Messes something up* Nergh [Unknown from other cube]: argh B: ugh

B: did you just call Dairy Queen unhealthy? D: Blasphemy. They have salads.

[Talking about hot pockets Brian made] me: why’d you put swiss cheese on it? B: swiss cheese has no lactose- D: does it at least have feet? because it lacks toes? Other Derek, from over the cube wall, before I can even sigh: Is that why swiss cheese has holes? B: oh so when HE makes the joke-

Other Derek: I need new friends. A guy I know is listening to a spotify playlist called “White Trash Bash”

[other cube mocking a caller that had a webpage problem] Zach: I REfrEsHEd Other Derek: you refreshed? I want a refresh *sound of repeated banging on keyboard* is it working?

D: it smells like pickles over here *gesturing to fridge* B: *goes over to fridge to inspect* That’s Wes’s Pickle (Referring to Wes’s lunch). *giggles* B: *turns to me and holds up 4 fingers* I’m this many.

Ezra: *Excitedly* I did a thing. There’s code! *waving arms at computer*

Nicole: [to Brian] “I’m supposed to ask if you could be any dog what you would be” Other Derek [from over the wall]: Hot dog. Say Hot Dog.

Ezra, who sits 5 whole feet away from me: *messages me over skype* “How are you holding up? :)”

“Do you know what day it is?” “No I wanna go to lunch, you guys stink” “do you know what day it is?” “... it’s hump day?”

[other cube after returning from lunch] Thomas: Yee, and I cannot stress this enough, HAW

B: don’t buy a house you can afford childless. *Very seriously* because childs happen. Me + Derek: childs happen??

Brian, my 46 y/o boss: *Opens 2 cheese sticks and sticks them in his mouth like a walrus*

[Cube over] “Could you sip your tea any louder man?” *sound of obnoxious tea sipping* *sound of choking on hot water*

“It’s not that you broke it, it’s that I had it not-fixed in the first place”

D:*cups hands over mouth to amplify sound* I WILL CONSUME YOUR DATA

5 minute conversation about pronunciation of “Worcestershire”

Aavery, the other intern besides Derek: “Teaspoons you use to stir tea. Table spoons you use to stir tables”

[talking about Spanish] B: I can order a cold beer, count to 10, and say “socks”. I can older a cold pair of socks!

Kathy: I can’t wait to retire so I can smoke weed.

[about testing] D: Aavery and Autumn did some testing for the help desk and broke a bunch of stuff [sidenote: breaking stuff is a good thing when it comes to testing] Me: I only broke like one thing, Aavery did the rest D: Well, one thing is... *trailing off* better than... none things...

Brian tells Derek to answer the phone if Mr. Duemann (one of the managers in the plant) calls. [Derek & I talking about how to answer the phone] D: *hewwo rp voice* Misteww Doowman, Bwian says to come heyuw :3

B: $1400 worth of cheese Me: jeez B: no, CHEESE

Derek, proudly after testing: There will no be bug. [yes, that’s typed correctly]

Other Derek, from over cube [talking to somebody else]: I knew it! you always smell like Jumbalaya B: WHAT

[backlog refinement, which is basically planning work stuff] B: we’re gonna have to give Autumn the password to the Service Account, and *turns to me* you’re gonna swear to use all your brain cells that day

“INventory stuf on servers” written as the title of a scheduled work task

[heard from across the office] “It’s NOT a dad joke, I thought it was cool!”

“The person that IS an alcoholic isn’t here today”

[free nacho day] Ezra: “if you taste each individual item you’re not using enough cheese”

#my entire office is a shitpost generator #like seriously this stuff is word for word #summer job #intern #IT #funny #shitpost #quotes #banter #this better not flop istg #lmk if you want a part 2 #because i have plenty of shitty quotes #lmao yeet

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