#I do have to commend them for their high security though
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Trying to log in to my account on my computer so I can easily update my master list for everyone but can’t get into my account for the life of me because I apparently changed my password and now can’t sign in anywhere. Just grateful I’m still signed in on the app!
#damn adhd brain#damn website#tumblrproblems#I do have to commend them for their high security though#can’t change my email without knowing my password#can’t change my password without access to the email#can’t access the email as it’s soo freaking old#what even is Hotmail anymore
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(OCS) AITA for messaging him when I was drunk and then trying to deny the contents?
So I (32NB) have been dealing with this guy (31M) since high school and he is just. So annoying. He was always acting like he wanted to be my friend even though that's absolutely ridiculous, nobody should ever want to be my friend, and eventually I kinda pushed him away so hard he full-on dropped out (we were roommates). He wasn't cut out for the school anyways, it was a dark magic type place and he's just too good kind soft for that.
Anyways he keeps breaking into my office to tell me not to pass those policies or to call me corrupt for following my parents' instructions or STILL TRYING TO BE MY FRIEND. Now honestly I didn't want to pass those policies either but it's complicated because they have my twin and it just adds more stress when I have to call security in every five minutes. He's so annoying and while his persistence is adorable commendable, the guards tend to rough him up and I'm worried for his safety I need to focus.
This all kinda culminated last night, I was really plastered, it was nothing new, except my drunk ass thought it was a good idea to dm him and I accidentally told him that I love him and always have. The spelling was atrocious, too, so embarrassing. I saw it this morning and freaked out when he messaged me back and told him that I don't love him and in fact I hate him and wish he would fuck off back to whence he came, and he called me an asshole for not accepting his help and continously being rude? I don't see how trying to make things less awkward and ultimately easier because it would never work out being honest is rude, but my twin (32Agender), who lives on the mortal plane and also apparently knows this guy, told me that I can't "keep using them as an excuse for being toxic" (not what I was doing at all) and that I should apologize and try to communicate better, which can't happen for classified reasons. But I figured I might as well ask, so, AITA?
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Tag Game: First 10 Lines Challenge
Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able to and see if there are any patterns!
(Thanks for tagging me, @curator-on-ao3 !)
From newest publication to oldest:
1. Long Shot
(Discovery, 123,907 words)
He ran the data a second time, even though he already knew there was no mistake. He had made quite certain of that.
There it was again. Proof. Incontrovertible proof.
2. Probably
(SNW, 732 words)
"Next week?"
"I'm in the Antares Sector next week. Next month?"
3. We are here, and this is now
(SNW, 794 words)
“Are you alone? Or are there others like you?”
Brown curls bobbed as Khan nodded towards a photograph tacked to the cold grey wall, barely illuminated by the flickering light overhead.
4. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
(Discovery, 1,490 words)
"This is a terrible idea."
Katrina opened her eyes.
5. Tactical Briefings
(Discovery, 1,378 words)
Commander Angharad Jones halted outside the Captain's quarters and took a deep, calming breath. She had carefully rehearsed what she would say on the turbolift ride to deck five. Rule one of crisis management: don’t make an even bigger crisis by saying something stupid.
6. Nutritional Values
(Prodigy, 385 words)
Janeway folded her arms.
“None of the items on this menu provide an appropriate balance of nutrients for - any known species.”
7. Drawn that way
(Lower Decks, 847 words)
"Did you see how her hair moved? All - swooshy? And she had, like, in-di-vidual eyelashes." Eyes boggling, Mariner wiggled her fingers. "So gross."
8. Tap
(Discovery, 1,436 words)
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It’s been more than an hour now. Waiting in front of a screen for a call from - someone.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
9. Lost Cause
(Discovery, 55,980 words)
This one is a little different, and I couldn't work out what counted as the first line, so have the whole chunk...
Personnel File - Lorca, Gabriel
Status: Retired
Current location: [REDACTED]
Service record: [...] 2246.3 Awarded Medal of Commendation for action taken on Tarsus IV. 2246.7 Promoted to Commander, assigned to USS Hawking [...] 2251.2 Assumed command of USS Buran [...] 2256.4 [REDACTED] 2261.7 Retired
-Starfleet Personnel Logs, accessed 2270.3 by <UNKNOWN USER>
*
>>MESSAGE RECEIVED 2261.7.10.22:34<<
TO: Pike, Captain C.
FROM: Lorca, G.
SECURITY: HIGH
Chris,
I don't know if my last few messages reached you. I guess not. I'm hoping this one works.
You'll have heard the rumors by now. They're true. I'm home. Back, anyway. I can't say any more than that here. I need to speak to you, in person. I have so many questions. I'm sure you do, too.
Let me know.
Gabriel
>>MESSAGE DELETED<<
10. Settle
(Picard, 1,819 words)
"We’re safe here."
Laris snorts.
"All of the Romulans on this vineyard are ex-Tal Shiar. Of course we aren't safe."
Pattern analysis:
Hmm. My shorter fics tend to start mid-conversation. My longer fics, though ... they start however they want. I think all of them ask some kind of question, either big - what data? Why has all this information been redacted? - or small - who are they talking to? Who's waiting for what? I don't seem to go for many action starts, though, so maybe that's something I could try in a future fic. Opening lines are definitely something I'd like to strengthen in future projects.
Tagging: @lizardperson, @liz-squids, @ussjellyfish and anyone else who'd like a go!
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Ascilia: Chapter 7, Scene 2 Excerpt
Just a little something from scene two of the upcoming chapter. Progress feels slower than my usual work, as I haven't been in a good mood for much of anything lately. But I'm chipping away at it. Anyhow, Enjoy.
Compared to the ruckus they'd made before their meals were ready, the five had eaten in relative quiet. And with dinner out of the way, the three groups among them went their separate ways. Estinien departed for Meghaduta, where he had been boarding for the past four months at Vrtra's behest. And though Rubedo proved cagey about where she was staying, she assured their group that she would be safe and secure for the foreseeable future. And Y'shtola, in spite of her promises to rest, had hurried on back to Sharlayan. At least they had both agreed to take linkpearls to stay in contact with them. With everyone else gone for the night, that left Lily and Ascilia alone as they made their way to a local inn. Having paid to rent a room for one week, the pair swiftly retired within.
Taking in their room's modest furnishings, Lily couldn't help but feel pleased. Though not quite as large, the room wasn't so different from her private suite in the Crystarium. There was a small table for two on one end of the room, with potted flowers and colorful tapestries hanging from the walls and ceiling nearby. Close to the table was a little kitchen counter, about waist high to herself, and next to it was a crackling furnace to heat the room and power the lanterns on the chandelier above the room's center. Finally, opposite the furnace was a double-sized bed—large and sturdy enough for an arkasadora, to say nothing of a pair of lovers.
As she set her pack down and kneeled before it, Lily began to dig through it for a nightgown to change into. She had no obligations of her own aside from catching up with Y'shtola and Ascilia later that day, but it was still important to get a full night's rest. And so it came as something of a surprise to her when Ascilia kneeled down and embraced her from behind. With a soft gasp she stopped and glanced sidelong over her shoulder, smiling back at her beloved.
"Excited to be alone with me again?" she asked. "The sheets and blankets look pretty cozy, but I imagine they'll be a pain to wash."
"Then we'll use the floor," Ascilia purred as she gave Lily a tight squeeze. "... But before that, I wanted to speak with you about something I've noticed today."
"Oh?" Lily tilted her head ever so slightly. "What is it?"
"Firstly, I wanted to commend you for doing your utmost to keep a level head," said Ascilia, letting go of Lily as she stood up. "I know how difficult it must have been to bite your tongue at dinner, and even earlier with Vrtra. But if you'll pardon my prying, why is it that their words troubled you so?"
Lowering her head, Lily fell silent. Truth be told, she hadn't expected her feelings would be noticed. But if anyone were to see beneath her forced stoicism and calm demeanor, it would surely have been Ascilia. And though she had hoped to simply let go and carry on like nothing had happened, having been granted this opportunity, would it be so wrong to simply speak her mind? And so, clearing her throat, she did so.
"I lived in the city of Radz-at-Han for a little over twenty years," she began, gazing into the depths of her pack. "I hold this city, its people, and this very nation in high esteem. With a clear heart I look back on my days here and see the good that came of them. But this was not always so."
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Just because he had not been successful did not take away the simple act of treason that he had committed. How did Starscream not see that!? Once upon a time, he had commended Starscream's intelligence. After all, the Seeker had earned his right as second-in-command for a reason.
Somewhere along the way, his companion had turned against him, had turned vile in his attempts to overthrow him for his own gain. Where Megatron had once enjoyed his second-in-command's company, he had kept him close only so he could keep a watchful optic on him.
Soon, Starscream's position as second-in-command had purely been a reminder why Megatron had to continue to win, why he had to rule. So no one else, such as Starscream, could take his position as supreme leader.
"I suppose you are right," he muttered. No apology would take away what had happened, and the war was over. But that didn't mean old rivalries died then and there--although perhaps they should have, for the betterment of everyone. Some old habits died hard, though.
"Even if you did apologise, could you blame me for not believing it to be genuine? Stellar-cycles of having a knife in my back? Corrupted or not, the both of us believed what we were doing was right." He scoffed at the very idea. Madness had taken them both, even if Starscream wasn't willing to admit that. At least Megatron had come to terms with it.
"But now? Here you sit. With everything you had ever wanted." He steepled his fingers as he looked to the Chancellor, sitting down in the chair across from him. "How does it feel, Starscream? To finally have that in your grasp?"
"No, I think I'd blame you more if you DID believe it as genuine." He snickers. Perhaps he should write a book— Starscream and the Art of Digging yourself into a bigger hole.
Madness had taken them both. The difference between them now was Megatron seemed to be doing better at pulling himself out of it. But for Starscream, he felt like every stellar cycle he was sinking deeper in it.
"I may have had a knife to yours, but you had a fusion cannon to mine. I think we have had our fair share of near death experiences, If you want to get technical."
Optics watch closely as Megatron sits in front of him. Heh- sitting at his desk. How funny. As Megatron questions him, he gives a smirk. Despite the snarky look and tone, Starscream's visage is what gives him away. The crushing weight of the world upon him is sinking in. The signs of stress and lack of rest are written across his face. He's been cracking- between his paranoia and, more recently, his hallucinations he can't seem to catch a break. That along with a number of empty high grade glasses littered across the desk.. Despite all these tell-tale signs, he won't drop his act.
"Oh, quite wonderful really. And I would advise you address me as Lord Starscream." The seeker sneers. "I am in control now." A sadder statement than he wanted it to be. For so long he wanted to be in control, to have that security. But it's only worsened his paranoid tendencies.
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here comes the bride, all dressed in pride
summary; You and your cousin Doyeon have had beef with each other since the sandbox. When she plucks the last straw, you decide to end your long-simmering fight by claiming that you and her ex—Jeon Jungkook, are now boyfriend and girlfriend pairing; jungkook x reader (f) genre/warnings; fake dating!au, fluff, crack, mentions of cheating, lang, alcohol, mc eats meat, tw sexual harassment, toxic family, dick talk, making out, if u have that one family member that pulls bs on you constantly this is it, this fic is for all the people who have a huge ass family who wont leave them alone w.c; 17.3k a/n: my second fic for gcn’s 23 birthday project! the fact that wedding szn zoomed by us like that... and so bc im sad that so many weddings had to be postponed this fic was born! a huge thank u to vivi @eerieedits / @chillingtae for creating this BEAUTIFUL fic banner and separator pls check vivi out to make your fics all purty
prompts used: “You’ve always been beautiful to me, don’t you know that?” and “I never knew love could be like this, feel like this.”
if you enjoyed this pls consider giving a like and a share💕💕
Doyeon likes to call Jungkook, “the one who got away.”
You like to call Doyeon, “the one who drove him away.”
In secret, of course. In fact, the only person who knows how much you loathe Doyeon and her behavior is your father. And all your co-workers. And your boss. And your boss’ ex-husband.
And Jeon Jungkook, but of course you haven’t seen the man in two years and back then he was far too polite to address his concerns of your hatred of his then-girlfriend.
Okay, so everyone and their mother knows how much you don’t like your cousin. Kim Doyeon and you have had beef since the sandbox, and for whatever reason is always out to one-up you. A strange competitive nature in everything, academics, family, and even boys. The sick, twisted part of you has come to enjoy it. While you’re not a fighter as devout as Doyeon is, you have your own callous tendencies farmed from the seeds Doyeon has planted in your brain. She gives you a comment? You can’t help but throw one back. Since you’re a painfully mature soul you don’t have any mortal enemies as far as you know, Doyeon is the perfect amount of hot water to keep you on your toes.
“I’m really sorry that you couldn’t be a bridesmaid,” Doyeon cooes next to you, swirling her champagne glass with a too-jutted pout, “but if I did there’d be an odd number of pairings and you’re a little too old to be walking as a bridesmaid, am I right?”
Your nails. Are digging. Through your dress. Alas, you’re in public and you have class. Doyeon smiles at you with all teeth, reminding you of the Beldam from Coraline. Aside from that she looks absolutely stunning in that Lirika Matoshi strawberry dress that has her Instagram aching with likes and love from her baseless followers.
“I don’t know,” you reply lightly, leaning back in your seat, “I mean, if Yoojung and Rena can be bridesmaids and they’re three years older than me, wouldn’t I make the cut? It’s okay to be honest and say you just didn’t want me in the bridal party.”
Doyeon laughs, slaps your thigh like you told her the most hilarious joke in the world. Anyone passing by would think you’re best friends. You laugh too, incredulous at the amount of power she thinks she holds.
“Nice party,” you tack on, surveying the room. It’s filled with pastels and beiges, bright and airy. It’s Parisian themed, and while you’re not a fan of theming cultures, you can’t deny that you’re loving the infinite supply of macarons.
“Oh, yes. This is just a taste of the real wedding,” she laces her fingers together, as if she thinks she’s living an Elizibethean love story, “speaking of, you put on your RSVP that you’re bringing a plus one. Am I allowed to know who’s the unlucky date?”
“As if you care.”
“I care if you’re bringing Jimin. That tiny thing nearly gave Aunt Lillian a heart attack when he gave a striptease at Yoongi’s graduation party.”
You smirk softly at the bold memory. That was the plan.
Doyeon sighs dramatically, crossing her legs and popping out a cherry red heel. She plays with the back on the balls of her feet, letting the little pearly rhinestones glisten in the candlelight, “I should really commend you, cousin,” she drawls, “I mean, how kind of you to be so charitable and give your dopey friends a chance to have fun. After all, I’m sure it is difficult for someone like you to find a date.”
It’s no surprise as to how you end up with a date at any family formal gathering. You say you bring a plus one, and then between Jimin, Taehyung and Hoseok. The three of them draw straws as to who gets to gorge on free alcohol and food for that night.
“Difficult?” you arch a brow, “I get plenty of dates.”
Doyeon giggles. She must be feeling extra vindictive today, high on her impending marriage and the taste of bubbly champagne. “By taking turns with those three? You gotta be kidding me,” she snorts, tipping back her crystal, “please y/n. Don’t get so defensive because I’m getting married first. Your time will come. That is, if you stop dicking around with your friends.”
Normally you’d smother any attempt at Doyeon to call out your friends, but now she’s just done that and insulted your ability to get some, and you are livid.
“Actually,” you quip sharply, “I’ve been dating someone. It’s been a couple months, actually.”
“Oh?” Doyeon’s genuinely interested, face falling slightly, “you’ve never mentioned anyone, I don’t see anyone on your social media.”
“Yeah well,” you feign sympathy, pressing your lips together and tilting your head accordingly, “I’ve had to keep it private for a couple of reasons.”
“What, is he ugly or something?” she chuckles, “but really, who’s the person who has the misfortune of being in a committed relationship with you?”
Maybe it’s because Doyeon’s right, the both of you are too old. The two of you have been running around each other for years, with no end in sight. Maybe, the words that linger on the tip of your tongue will be the final nail in the coffin.
“Jeon Jungkook,” you state proudly, clear as day. “Jungkook and I have been dating for three months.”
And you pick up the vanilla macaron that sits innocently on your plate, ravishing it up like it contained all the tension in your table. Between you and Doyeon’s bubble, you could hear a pin drop.
“Jungkook?” her smile is concrete-solid, “my Jungkook?”
“My Jungkook,” you correct, giving her a puppy-eyed look, “I’m really sorry I never told you. I mean, is there ever a right time to tell your cousin they’re dating their ex-boyfriend?” you laugh, either to lighten the mood or because you love the way Doyeon pinches her face, you don’t know.
“How did you two even meet?”
“We reconnected through Seokjin. You know how the two of them play Starcraft together, I just ended up joining the call and he was so funny and nice. We just sorta… felt it.” Doyeon nods like a slow bobblehead, still comprehending in her pea-sized brain, “I just hope it isn’t too awkward. I know it’s been awhile but, if you really don’t want Jungkook to come I can always take Hoseok or something.”
“No, it’s fine,” Doyeon says a little too quickly, masking on her picture-perfect smile. “I’m with Namjoon now, and I’m totally happy. Water under the bridge, it’ll be totally fine.”
“Really?” your eyes practically sparkle, thankful for the amount of glitter and highlighter you’ve dumped on your face today, “I really appreciate it, Yeonie.”
And she quickly downs her champagne glass, and gets up from her seat. It’s haunting, the way she gets up, pink tulle billowing around her ankles. “I have to attend to the other guests,” she says.
“Of course,” you raise your glass.
“But, be careful,” she gives you a little smile, one filled with a last-ditch attempt at a jab, “Jungkook, he’s a little hard to deal with.”
“Oh don’t worry. I know how to deal with Jungkook’s hardness,” you wink, and Doyeon’s face falls like a ton of bricks.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know,” you shrug loftily, “that’s what I meant, though.”
And you don’t bother watching Doyeon stomp off the metaphorical stage, double fisting two new glasses of champagne from an awaiting butler as she finds some other poor guest to pick on. Now, the matter of securing your date. Conveniently so, the most important man in the room is walking your way, and you manage to snag his tie just as he passes your table.
“Ow—ow! I’m choking!” Seokjin grabs, nearly throwing his tall body onto your lap, hands grappling to release the tension on his neck. “Leave me alone, woman! I just wanted to get some chicken tenders!”
“Jin,” you say sweetly, opening his blazer to retrieve his phone, “I need Jeon’s number, now.”
“Jungkook?” your favorite cousin pales, eyes widening as you take out your phone of your own, copying down the digits, “what did you do?”
“Don’t ask questions.”
Seokjin says your name again, firmer. “You’re playing with fire.”
“It’ll be fine, it’s the last time,” you quell, already knowing how much Seokjin hates being in the middle of your fights. Once you’ve secured the phone number, you place Seokjin’s phone back into his pocket, patting his breast. “Thank you. You know you’re my favorite cousin, you know that?”
He grumbles a “damn right I am” before stomping away, resuming his race for his chicken tenders.
You: hey jeon it’s y/n. I see you’re doing great, i saw on instagram that you released your first app w/yoongi! Totally amazing, been playing for weeks, really upset that i can’t get past the flaming frog boss :((
You: Feel free to ignore this, i won’t blame you if you do. Im at doyeon’s rehearsal dinner, and she basically snubbed my friends and said i couldn’t get some prime dick even though im?? Me??? Anyway, im tired of her shit so im gonna throw it back at her, one last time before she ties the knot. I told her you and i have been dating, and im bringing you as my date to her wedding. Really sorry, the demons took over my brain and made the worst and best comeback of my life. So… if you’re up for being the hottest couple on the floor in three weeks and showing how madly in love we are, please text me back? Or not. You might think this family is crazy and i accept partial responsibility.
You: I’ll buy u every meal for every practice date we have if u agree.💕💕💕
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: thanks, i appreciate that. To defeat the frog boss, go back to the coconut cave and find the garnet garter. It absorbs his fire and u can easily defeat froggo w any level 15 weapon
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: and as for the real reason u texted me. Im in. let’s get pork belly tomorrow.
Two years ago, you were surprised that Doyeon could manage to snag a man as fine as Jeon Jungkook. Also unsurprised, because Doyeon is gorgeous and could snag any man she wanted, and has snagged every man she wanted.
Jungkook was different though. He had an air of innocence to him. He loved her, a little too much to be safe. Your heart would betray you every time you would find him at a family gathering, making her plate and counting the calories she so meticulously measured. How can someone so sweet be with someone like Doyeon?
Your heart ached for Jungkook when they broke up a year later. From what you heard, Doyeon was Jungkook’s first serious girlfriend. And then you wanted to rip your heart out a week later when you caught Doyeon smooching with her favorite graduate professor Kim Namjoon, wanting to erase any possibility you’d have at love. At that time, you never wanted to feel the pain you imagined Jungkook was going through.
“Y/n! Over here!” you’re a little taken aback at how much has not changed in Jungkook. His eyes still sparkle like fresh dew, his smile is still pearly white and infectious. He’s even early, snagging a table at his favorite barbeque place and waiting for you as if he is the one organizing your first date.
At the same time, there’s so much that’s changed about him. He’s confident, even going so far as to walk over to you and slip your jacket and purse in his grasp like a gentleman. He leads you by putting a hand lightly at the small of your back, making you feel impossibly small in comparison to his Dorito-shaped body, broad shoulders and a deliciously trim waist.
“How was the walk over?”
“Not too bad,” the conversation is casual, easy. You wipe the sweat off your forehead with a napkin. “Could use a little exercise now and again. I did eat a whole tray of macarons at that rehearsal dinner.”
Jungkook laughs from his belly, causing you to smile. “Nonsense. You look great, by the way,” you don’t mind it, actually, you enjoy it when his eyes rake over your body. After all, he’s now your boyfriend and he needs to get familiar with all the important bits. He leans his arms forward, bracing him against the wooden table so his face is closer to yours.
“You’re not doing too bad yourself,” your eyes gloss over the veins and intricate tattoos that paint his muscled upper half. Your smile morphs into a smirk, letting him know you’re enjoying the view just as well as he is.
And as soon as the tension sparks, it ends just as fast when your waiter comes up to light your grill.
“So,” Jungkook wastes no time in decorating your stove, making sure to add all the appropriate aromatics and infusions to season your lunch, “do you know why Doyeon and I broke up?”
“Cheated on you with Namjoon, I assume,” you keep your eyes trained on the darkening meat.
Jungkook slips a piece of meat in his mouth. Any expression of pain (whether it be from Doyeon or the barely cooked meat) doesn’t reveal itself as he stops to take a sip of water. “Who else knows?”
“Just me and Seokjin. The family loved you too much and Doyeon made up some sob story about how you two were going different life paths.”
He chuckles to himself, taking great care in flipping the meat. “I really was a fool in love, wasn’t I?”
“It… was mildly cute.”
“Tell me the truth, you have no reason not to.”
“Okay, you made me want to vomit rainbows and glitter every time I saw you.”
The two of you laugh, faces crinkling shamelessly as the two of you busy yourselves with setting up the table. Most of the food is done and the aroma of fresh onions wafts around your grill. As you place chopsticks on his side of the table, you think about all the times Jungkook made it abundantly clear how much he loved Doyeon: the love letters tucked into her purse, 100 day anniversaries, even just a simple Americano for her in the morning.
“Is that why you never hung out with us?”
“No,” you reply lightly, “Doyeon made it clear that I shouldn’t talk to you.”
Jungkook frowns, “You really don’t like each other, do you.”
You shrug, “Just always been like that,” you quirk a smile when Jungkook places the freshly cooked meat on top of your rice before serving himself.
“So what’s the plan?”
“We go to the wedding, make out a little, get Doyeon boiling. Even if she’s not interested in you, she’d still be upset knowing we are together.”
“And why is that?”
“Because it’s me,” you grin into your glass, staring at a water-stained Jungkook through the blue tinted glass. “And all you have to do, is enjoy your night and look pretty.”
His eyes crinkle, chopsticks pressing between his lips. “You think I look pretty?”
With a roll of eyes you don’t respond, preferring to dig your chopsticks in your rice. No need to inflate Jungkook’s ego too soon.
Pinning the main theme of your hangout to the side, the both of you dig into your meal. You throw conversation back and forth like pebbles, grains of sand that build and build until you’re caught up with each other’s lives. It feels so strange to admit it’s been two years since you’ve spoken to the man, and all of a sudden the once luscious meat feels dry in your mouth.
“Jeon,” you put your chopsticks down, “are you sure you want to do this with me? I mean, I know it’s all my fault and I dragged you into it. Don’t feel obligated to agree to this.”
“I’m a hundred-percent sure,” he doesn’t stop eating, shoving two spoonfuls of rice in his mouth. His cheeks puff up considerably, and your eyes trail down to his neck as he swallows, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t wanna.”
“Right,” you don’t need a big explanation or a personal confession from Jungkook, just his consent. “Partners, Jeon?” you hold up your glass.
“Partners,” he agrees easily. The smile on his face disarms you, a full-fledged grin decked with pearly whites. Clicking his glass to yours he adds, “And it’s Jungkook, babe.”
Oh, this is going to be interesting.
Seokjin thinks the two of you are the most boring fake-couple.
His eyes dart back and forth between your spot on the couch and his desk, where Jungkook is currently seated. Seokjin is hovered over Jungkook, who’s typing and clicking furiously over his PC game. You’re on your phone, feet pulled up to the coffee table while some old Netflix movie plays in the background. To top it all off both of you didn’t even try to dress like it’s daytime, nearly matching in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. It doesn’t look like a couple coming to visit Seokin, it looks like Jungkook is playing video games with Seokjin while his cousin hangs around like she owns the place.
“Shouldn’t you guys like, I don’t know, go on dates or something?” Seokjin feels like he’s talking to the air. “Maybe get to know each other before the big day?”
Pulling your phone down to your lap and Jungkook taking off his headphones, the two of you shrug at each other, “No, we’re good.” Jungkook says.
“We know enough,” you agree cooly, “Jungkook likes Valorant.”
“I do like Valorant.”
“He likes pork belly.”
“I do like pork belly.”
“He’s ripped as hell.”
“I am ripped as hell.”
“Okay but have you guys kissed yet?” Seokjin interjects, probably compensating for the nonchalance in the room with his own brand of freaking out. You two only see each other when you’re hanging out at Seokjin’s apartment, and while he’s happy that you two aren’t doing the whole 9-yards and creating an elaborate scheme, the both of you are almost too relaxed. His anxiety is spiking.
“Yes,” Jungkook answers, “at the barbeque place we went to.”
“It was nice," you tack on, "Jin, we got this. Don't worry."
"How can I not worry when you're trying to upset our cousin on her wedding day?" he's sweating in his fully air-conditioned apartment. “I get that she’s the devil’s spawn and everything, but she’s still a human being.”
“In second grade she pushed me on the treadmill because I was going too slow. I got caught on the roller and got a bald spot for two months.”
“Okay yes one bad example—”
“And in senior year she accused me of plagiarizing her essay just because we chose the same topic. I almost didn’t get into college!” Seokjin sighs, crossing his arms. All valid points, and arguing with you isn’t a route he wants to take. “Jin, the point is that she’s constantly pushing my buttons. I’ve always been the bigger person and now that I’m old and confident I just want one jab.”
“That’s valid,” Jungkook pipes up, pressing the spacebar a few times, “I want a jab too, she cheated on me.”
“See? It’s a mutual decision.”
Seokjin asks, “Why aren’t you more worried about this?”
"Because Doyeon isn't going to chew me out on her wedding day," you checked your aunt's seating chart last week and you are far, far away from the bridal table. "We're just going to show off a little bit. Get drunk, eat some bomb steak. Break up in three months or less.”
"You don't have to just convince Doyeon, it's your entire family! Not to mention you also have to go to the bachelor party!"
"Oh I almost forgot," you reach under the couch for your laptop, "Jungkook, in two weekends from now we're flying to Las Vegas for the bachelor party and wedding. I'll buy your ticket now."
"Thanks, babe!” Jungkook sends a cheeky grin to Seokjin, who is unimpressed. “See? I remember to call her babe.”
“Alright, get out of my house,” Seokjin tugs Jungkook away from his computer, causing the younger man to swivel around in his plush gaming chair.
Jungkook frowns at the monitor, “But I’m still bronze one. I’m aiming for silver one by this weekend.”
“Don’t care. As much as I don’t like this plan, I’m not letting you two slip-up.” Seokjin pulls out his phone, revealing Doyeon’s Instagram story, “Doyeon and Namjoon are at the mall buying swimsuits for Vegas. Go to the mall and ‘accidentally’ run into them.”
You sit up straight, tilting your head to the side. “That’s not a bad idea, actually,” you bound over to grab your jacket, giving Seokjin a big fat kiss on his cheek, “Thanks Jinnie, do you know you’re—”
“I’m your favorite cousin. Yeah whatever, bye.” He waves you off, plopping in his own chair so he can enjoy his games in peace.
“I’m driving,” Jungkook declares, swiping your keys from Seokjin’s opal dish.
“Oh, hell no,” you jump on your tippy toes to reach Jungkook’s grasp on your keys, but he’s so freakishly tall there’s no way you can reach. “I drive my car!”
“I’ve always wanted to drive your car back then,” Jungkook cooes, leaning in so your noses touch. “C’mon, you can trust me.”
“You two are gross already,” Seokjin admonishes from the other side of the room, “see, it’s working!”
Poking his cheek so he gives you some space, you whip your head to hide the flush that burns on your cheeks. “Fine, but if you crash you’re buying me a new one.”
“They’re over there,” you hiss between the racks, shuffling between the plastic hangers to point to Doyeon and Namjoon at the women’s section of the store. They look disgustingly adorable together, with Doyeon pointedly telling Namjoon which swimsuit suits his stature better while Namjoon nods along and goes with whatever she says. You crouch down lower, fearing Namjoon’s tall frame would catch you. “Now we just gotta act all couple-y and they’ll notice us. Or maybe we can walk over to them? What do you wanna do?”
“Do you think we should get matching swimsuits?” Jungkook pays no mind to your sleuthing, holding up a red pair of swim trunks to his thighs, “we could pretend to be sexy lifeguards.”
You tilt your head away from the pair, only because Jungkook has been genuinely interested in this store since you’ve arrived. Putting a hand under your chin, you scrutinize the dark red cutoff shorts. “They’re cute,” you nod appreciatively, “It’ll make your thighs look thick.”
Jungkook’s grip on his hanger lowers, and he regards you with dark eyes. “You think my thighs look thick?” he asks, leaning in and putting one hand on the curve of your waist. His fingers dance on the surface of bare skin between your top and jeans, and while you’ve agreed beforehand that you two could touch each other wherever in public, it still surprises you when gooseflesh rises to the surface.
“Easy there, tiger,” you chuckle, putting a hand on his chest to stop his sudden bout of flirting. “I’m just stating the facts, we get it. You lift.”
“You’re so cute when you try to put your guard up,” he’s brushing noses with you now, and you feel the plastic of the hanger crumple pathetically between you two as the gap closes further. “But you can’t hide from me.”
And just as his lips move to press against yours, a shrill “Jungkook!” echoes throughout the large store.
You nearly flop over the boardshorts rack if not for Jungkook’s arms secured around your waist. Oh right, you think dumbly, this is all for show. Doyeon and Namjoon are right in front of you, purchases already made and looking at you two in curiosity. Well, Namjoon is definitely curious, because you know for a fact that Doyeon speaks very little of you to him and you’ve only conversed with him a handful of times. Doyeon on the other hand, looks a little stiff in the grin.
“Hello to you too,” you remark to Doyeon, who’s barely acknowledged you. You reach over to squeeze Namjoon’s arm, “Hi Joonie,” you crinkle your eyes, and you fight back a squeal when he smiles back with dimples. Doyeon has such a cute fiancé, and if you’re keeping score he’s way too good for her.
Doyeon’s eyes glaze over to where you’ve touched Namjoon, and she links her arms with his. “What a coincidence, you two are buying swimsuits where we’re buying swimsuits.”
“Well, there’s only one mall in this town and we’re going on the same trip in two weeks,” you reply blandly, and you feel Jungkook pinch your side. “Oh, Namjoon. Have you met my boyfriend Jungkook?”
“Can’t say that I have,” Namjoon reaches over to clasp Jungkook’s hand, “nice to meet you, man.”
While Namjoon and Jungkook exchange small talk, you pointedly ignore the waves of negativity Doyeon sends your way in favor of observing the two large men. Namjoon just said it was nice to meet him, therefore he has no clue who Jungkook is. Interesting, considering Doyeon two-timed in favor of Namjoon. It gets you a little antsy, and you wonder if Namjoon is faking this whole interaction or if Doyeon is hiding something.
“Baby,” Jungkook rests a hand on your shoulder, regarding you with concern, “you spaced out there, are you okay?”
“She’s like that, Jungkookie,” Jungkook gently presses your shoulders down, blocking your view of Doyeon as she regards your not-boyfriend as Jungkookie. “My cousin’s a bit of an airhead,” her tone is sweet and jesting, the backhanded jab going right above Namjoon’s head.
“I’m just hungry,” you say, forcing a tight-lipped smile.
“Well, that’s perfect,” Namjoon clasps his hands together, “Yeonie and I were just about to go grab some dinner. Why don’t you join us?”
Doyeon and you both reply immediately, “That really isn’t necessary—”
“Nonsense,” you don’t even have the heart to be upset at Namjoon because he looks so damn genuine, “It’s been two years and I haven’t even bought you a meal, y/n. After all, we’re going to be family at the end of the month.”
“Right,” you answer reluctantly.
“We’re gonna make reservations at the Cheesecake Factory,” he pulls out his phone, ready to make a call, “but you and Jungkook can finish shopping, okay? The wait will be a little long but by the time you’re done our table should be ready.”
You and Jungkook wave off Doyeon and Namjoon as they make their way to the restaurant. Your hand is caught in the air by Jungkook, who regards you with worry in his eyes. “I wasn’t kidding when I said you looked spaced out,” he says, “tell me what you were really thinking.”
Subconsciously, you squeeze his palm for comfort. “I don’t know, it just feels weird knowing Namjoon doesn’t seem to know you at all. Normally Doyeon loves to talk shit about her exes.”
Jungkook scoffs easily, “I mean, if she’s marrying the guy I’m sure she doesn’t want to let him know the details of how they ended up together.”
“True,” you decide to let it go, and follow Jungkook to the register to pay for his swim trunks.
“So,” the little ‘ding’ of the register opens up the money box, and Jungkook quickly hands the clerk his cash, “we’re having dinner with them after this?”
“Only if you want to.”
“We need to, right?” Jungkook thanks the clerk, holding the bag in one hand and threading his fingers through yours as you head out the store.
“Well, do you want to?” you ask again. Jungkook stops the two of you on the sidewalk. It isn’t a fast stop, but a slow down that makes his walk a little more thicker, more deliberate as he trudges you down the lane. You move in front of him, clutching your hands between his. “Are you okay? You barely even acknowledged Doyeon.”
“I’m fine,” you flinch at his harsh tone, and he immediately moves to remedy it by squeezing your hand back. “I’m sorry. It’s just been awhile and I’m definitely over her but,” he bows his head, feeling embarrassed, “she hurt me, you know?”
Going into this is definitely one of the more selfish plans you’ve put your mind to. Your heart pangs thinking about what must be going through everytime he sees her. If he’s reminded about all the good times they shared, or how much he’s over thought every single conversation he’s had with her up until this point.
“Of course,” you completely understand, knowing from the beginning that this whole mess would end up with some dicey feelings someway or another. “I’m just thankful you chose to stick by me. And we can talk about it if you’re comfortable,” both of you being victims of Doyeon’s brand of torture, you hope the two of you can at least be friends after all of this is over, “we don’t have to go have dinner with them.”
“But, Namjoon got us a table—”
“Namjoon will be fine. We can always have dinner with him another time,” you smile softly, “what matters is that you’re okay.”
His gaze melts, and you feel his grip loosen in your hold. He regards you with weak eyes, betraying the confidence he held himself to moments before. “Thanks, y/n,” he says, “I really appreciate that.”
“Anytime,” you reply honestly. “We can go to Cheesecake and order to-go. I can make some excuse about how my stomach hurts and that we should do a raincheck.”
“Sounds good.”
“Do you wanna eat at one of our places or eat at the park or something?” you’re already pulling up your phone, checking out the menu. “We could invite Jin too.”
“The park sounds nice,” neither of you acknowledge the fact that you’re not inviting Seokjin, and for some reason that’s okay.
“Yeah,” you agree simply, “the weather’s beautiful.”
Under any normal circumstances, you would’ve been friends with someone like Jeon Jungkook, easily. A little part of you wishes that you could’ve met Jungkook first, but Doyeon has better connections than you and always had a good crowd around despite her inner motivations. No awkward exchange happens when you suggest to Jungkook to eat together. Even though you’re not technically dating, the two of you know that eating together is better than eating alone.
And you have to admit Jungkook’s great company. The two of you drive to a reserve nearby, overlooking a tiny lake. Instead of a fancy Italian tablecloth the two of you move your car seats down and set a spare picnic blanket in the trunk. Instead of a candlelit dinner the two of you find some emergency electric tealights in the glove compartment, lighting it up between you two as you dig into your to-go boxes.
You’re a little envious that so much time has passed by. You could’ve been a little sneakier and made a better effort to communicate with Jungkook when you saw him regularly at family parties, and maybe you two would have a better friendship today. Nevertheless, the two of you mesh like peanut butter and jelly, exchanging conversation that has your cheeks sore from smiling too hard.
By the time you get to dessert, the moon is out and the stars are floating above your heads. The two of you are at war, fighting with your forks over the last strawberry in your cheesecake slice. After some careful stabbing Jungkook manages to nab it with his fork.
He almost puts it in his mouth, but instead swipes up some whipped cream to press the last strawberry to your lips.
“I think it’s working,” Jungkook says randomly as you chew the sweet fruit, “you could see it on Doyeon’s face today. She’s unsettled.”
“Yeah,” you agree, lying down on the lavender gingham picnic blanket.
“Do you know why she fights with you all the time?”
“That’s a question I’ve been asking myself since the dawn of time.”
“I think I know why.” Jungkook looks down at you with his large doe eyes, licking innocently on a spoon of whipped cream.
“Pray tell.”
“She’s jealous of you.”
“No,” you disagree easily, “she’s jealous that I have you.”
“Bzzt! Wrong,” Jungkook puts his empty container in your makeshift trash can, falling beside you and knitting his hands under his head. You have a little window on the roof of your car, so both of you are able to stare at the navy sky, “she’s always been jealous of you. Think about it. The two of you have similar lifestyles: same career path, confidence, taste, education. But even after all of that? People still like you more.”
You scoff, hands immediately reaching to fiddle with the frayed corner of fabric next to your fingers. “I don’t think so.”
“I’ve met all of Doyeon’s friends,” he informs you, “they’re weird. Like yeah, they care about each other on the surface level. But they’re nothing of substance. They’re not like your friends.”
“Please, Doyeon has everything she could ever want,” you don’t know what kind of complex you have supporting Doyeon’s life, but something deep and insecure wants to separate you two as far away from each other as possible. “Like… she’s Malibu Barbie and I’m Polly Pocket.”
Jungkook turns to face you, resting his head between his palm and leaning on his elbow. “Do you not think you’re beautiful?”
“Yeah, but compared to Doyeon—”
“You’ve always been beautiful to me, don’t you know that?”
You choke on your saliva, feeling small and skittish at the implication behind his words. It’s been two years. You’ve only been friends for two weeks. How can he possibly say that?
“I uh, saw you once,” Jungkook coughs, and you watch the way his pale cheeks unmatch the moon and instead flit to a crimson hue, “we were at some party and you were wearing this really cute black dress with a white bow in the middle. Doesn’t even matter what party because it was random, y’know? I was gonna go talk to you but Doyeon got to me first and well, the rest is history.” He breaks eye contact with you, unable to handle it.
You remember that party, vaguely. It was random, some sort of poetry slam in a shady part of town. Doyeon and you didn’t even go with each other, you were with Taehyung and she just happened to stumble in there from another nearby party. You didn’t even know Jungkook was there that night, or how you were a hair's breadth away from meeting him before Doyeon.
“Don’t ever think you’re lesser than her just because out of all the people she chose to pick on, she chose you. It’s why she never lets you get to know her boyfriends. She’s threatened by you because you’re just as special,” something low sparks in your chest at his words, “and now that you’ve finally decided to stoop to her level and fight back with a taste of her own medicine, she doesn’t know what to do.”
Feeling like your body is on a beach and you’re sinking in sand, you soften over your picnic blanket, mulling it over. “Did I make the right choice? Stooping down to her level.” Your voice is quiet, comparable to the chirping birds and buzzing gnats outside.
“We won’t know until after the wedding,” Jungkook answers honestly, “but I do know I’m sticking with you until the end. We’re friends now, got that? You have no excuse to ignore me anymore.”
You don’t want to ignore Jungkook, never in a million years. Now you know that you are envious of Doyeon, for having an opportunity to love and care for an amazing person like him. So in a sudden bout of emotion, you roll over to straddle Jungkook’s waist.
He’s shocked, hands flying to your waist to make sure you don’t wobble off. But you’re determined, and lean down to press your lips against his. He tastes like cheesecake and strawberries, the taste melding with your own as you relish in the feeling of his soft lips against yours. You melt a little when he squeaks, breaking into a soft moan as he reciprocates the gesture. He’s warm and large and he makes you feel safe. Once your brain returns to your body, you break for air. You only pull back a few centimeters, and there’s no way for you to get off because Jungkook has locked you in place.
“What was that for?” he asks breathlessly.
“Don’t know,” you’re whispering against his lips, unable to pull away, “just felt like we needed a little more practice.”
He blinks, before relaxing in a silly smile. “I agree,” he says simply, dipping you on your back so he can be on top the second time around.
“We’re in Vegas, baby!”
Every single terrible comedy movie set in Las Vegas has brought you to this very moment. You’ve always wanted to say that line. Dumping your luggage next to Jungkook’s, you flop on the nearest mattress. Thank goodness you only wore leggings and a t-shirt on the flight, it’s the optimal sleeping outfit after a long day. Feeling something hard and plastic dig into your brain, you hold up the culprit and squeal excitedly. “Look, Kook!” you wave the crinkly confection in your hands, “they put mints on the pillows!”
Despite your room being a square with two queen beds, the hotel does not skimp on quality. The decor is ornate, the white and gold trim on the doorknobs and metal appliances shimmering beautifully. The beds feel like clouds, as you try to imagine what a cloud could possibly feel like, this is it.
Jungkook immediately follows suit, ripping off his outer clothes until he’s left in his undershirt and boxers, flopping next to you on the mattress. He immediately opens his mouth when you shoot a mint, catching it easily. “I feel like we’re in a deleted scene of Crazy Rich Asians,” he says, letting the hard mint clink around his teeth, “is this the part where you tell me your family comes from old money and I’m gonna be your sugar baby?”
“Don’t be so hopeful,” you narrow your eyes, booping his button nose with your finger.
“I’m just saying, the first class flight threw me off.”
You giggle, slapping his chest, “No. If that was true, we wouldn’t be sharing a room with my cousin. Sorry you have to share the bed with me, I got the hotel with Jin and he doesn’t want to sleep with you.”
“S’okay,” Jungkook replies softly, leaning closer to make grabby hands at you, “you’re softer.”
Tentatively, you scooch over so you can lean on Jungkook’s chest. You two have a little time before Doyeon and Namjoon’s combined bachelor and bachelorette party. The past two weeks have been nice—scratch that, the past two weeks with Jungkook have been wonderful. You never cared to measure how much time passed before meeting him, but now that you’ve begun fake-dating, time is the only thing you regard. You’re already beginning to miss him, knowing that in a week, this whole arrangement will be over.
Well, not exactly over. Jungkook says you’ll remain friends after this, but you don’t really want that. You want more, and it scares you to think he may not feel the same.
But right now you’re snuggling like an old couple, sleeping comfortably between pillow-like sheets and minty breath. Your pretend boyfriend, now your pretend boyfriend with benefits, looks soft and huggable and you want to bottle up this moment forever. You say benefits because, well, the cuddling is an added bonus. Practice practice practice, Jungkook sing songs the words you used that one night under the stars, excuses to seal his lips to your lips. You’ll never argue with that. So when Jungkook’s hand tightens around your waist and pulls you closer, you relent.
One second, you’re closing your eyes and the next, you’re waking up to Seokin’s wide eyes staring back at you.
“Eep, you creepo!” you shriek, scrambling away from him. That’s when you realize Jungkook’s missing from bed, the scent of his laundry detergent lingering between the eggshell Egyptian cotton.
“Jungkook’s in the shower,” Seokjin immediately reads your mind, pulling away so he can unpack his luggage. “My flight just got in two hours ago, you both were out like a light when I arrived.”
“Ugh, I’m really not ready to party.”
“Doyeon just texted the family group chat. She reserved the rooftop, the party starts in an hour,” he talks mindlessly, rifling through his stuff. Seokjin is fiddling with his clothes, despite the fact that you know Seokjin prepares his outfits days in advance so he doesn’t have to choose. He looks concerned, pulling out a flamingo pink boardshort and setting it down on his mattress. Finally he says, “I’m worried about you.”
“Why?”
“Because. It’s clear that you’re starting to fall for Jungkook.”
The words strike you straight in the place you’re trying to avoid. You’ve been living in a fantasy these past two weeks, thinly veiled by the whole reason you two are together in the first place. Doyeon’s wedding is just around the corner, and what then?
“I’m not saying that he doesn’t feel anything for you either,” that gets your heart skipping a beat, and you secretly hold a hand to your chest under the blankets, “but do you really want to start off a relationship like this? A relationship all messy and morally objective because it’s built on revenge?”
“Don’t worry about me,” the words easily fall from your lips, “I can take care of this.”
“I hate it when you say that,” the words are curt and harsh against Seokjin’s plush lips, “I’m allowed to worry about you, y/n. You know why? Because, because you’re my favorite cousin too,” he bites his lip, walking over so he sits on your side of the bed. “So don’t tell me what I can and can’t worry about. I want you to be happy, I want you to stop holding in this anger you have for Doyeon and move on.”
“I’m sorry,” you whisper, leaning over to press your cheek against Seokjin’s shoulder. “You’re right.”
“For the first time in a long time, you’ve finally decided to lean on someone,” and both of you know who that someone is. “I don’t want you to lose him over some petty family issue. You should tell him how you feel.”
“I will,” you wrap your arms around your cousin’s slim waist in a silent thanks.
“Am I interrupting a tender family moment?”
The two of you pull away to stare at Jungkook, leaning against the doorframe that leads to the bathroom. He’s in a plain white t-shirt and the red board shorts that you bought at the mall, cutting off mid-thigh and revealing the bulky muscle underneath. You were right, the shorts do make his thighs look thick.
Seokjin groans exaggeratedly. “Yes, yes you did.”
Jungkook immediately goes to replace Seokjin’s spot, and some stray droplets fall fresh from the shower due to his slicked-back hair. “Do you wanna get ready? First party’s soon.”
“Not really,” you admit, “you’re gonna meet the family all over again.”
“Second time’s the charm,” he winked, “I’ve already met your parents and everything. Not feeling nervous at all.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really,” and the facade cools down a little, “well, maybe a little nervous for your Aunt Lillian. Her stares give me the heebie-jeebies.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from Aunt Lillian.”
“God the two of you get worse every day,” Seokjin has magically changed into his shorts, tucking himself into the bed, “don’t wake me up until we pre-game.”
Doyeon and Namjoon don’t skimp on the festivities, although in taste the ideas are Doyeon’s in its entirety. It’s lavish and colorful, with a beautiful infinity pool in the middle decorated with lavender and pink headlights. There’s a buffet table overflowing with tasty food. There’s petal pink champagne overflowing from fountains, decorated with fresh strawberries bobbing around the fizzy drink.
“I don’t know,” Namjoon and Jungkook have been talking for well over an hour, and it’s clear how well they mesh together. Heck, you’ve accepted that Jungkook may like Namjoon more than he likes you. Jungkook’s eyes sparkle as Namjoon discusses the various genres of rap and hip-hop music, explaining the potency of mature themes in a young community, “but I will say music is like another language, knows no boundaries when it comes to sending their messages to others.”
You fight the urge to chuckle when Jungkook sighs dreamily at the music theory professor. “Wow, that’s so deep.”
Getting up from your cabana, you nudge Seokjin, who’s currently flirting it up with one of Doyeon’s bridesmaids. “Hey, wanna get a drink?” you ask, throwing your wrap on the cushions to reveal your strappy red bikini.
“And chicken tenders,” Seokjin presses a kiss to the bridesmaid’s cheek, bidding her goodbye as he follows you out of the shaded area.
“Do you two lovebirds want anything?” you stare pointedly at Namjoon and Jungkook. While Namjoon’s eyes stay in contact with you, you can’t help but smile a little more when Jungkook has a hard time keeping his gaze in one place.
“I think we’re fine,” Namjoon answers for both of them, swirling his beer bottle. “I’ll meet you two at the bar once I’m done.”
“Sure thing,” Seokjin puts a hand on your back to lead you to one of the open bars. As much as you like being in a handsome hotel with money to burn, nothing beats the fact that your entire family is here to celebrate. The elders have corroborated two cabanas for poker and other games, while your younger cousins are playing ping pong and air hockey on the other side.
“Namjoon sure is a dreamboat,” Seokjin bemoans, handing you an electric orange drink. You take a sip of it, and bug out when you realize it tastes nothing like alcohol. You’re definitely in for a night. “Like I can hear him wax music thingamajib any day.”
“I thought you were into that bridesmaid.”
“A mere diversion,” he sighs, leaning his tanned arms against the bar, “can’t ignore the deep voice Namjoon has, it’s intoxicating.”
“I’m sure Jungkook would agree,” you egg on.
“What are you two talking about?” you straighten up when the man of the hour shows up at the bar, absolutely glowing under the sunset. He orders a round for the three of you, and you immediately chug your own drink to get to the next one.
“Talking about how you’re stealing Jungkook away from me,” you joke, accepting another fruity drink from Namjoon. Damn, this stuff tastes like candy.
“Oh, never,” Namjoon replies brightly, waving the thought away, “do you see the way he looks at you? Hopelessly in love.”
Maybe it’s the copious amounts of alcohol, but you feel your stomach flip-flop at the thought of love. You’ve always known what love felt like, the warmth of Namjoon’s cheeks whenever he sees Doyeon, when your mom takes care of you when you’re sick, when Seokjin makes sure you’re not emotionally constipated 24/7. But the thought of Jungkook and you in love? It’s a feeling you secretly yearn for.
“Right? It’s disgusting,” Seokjin groans with an eye roll, “like, Jungkook wasn’t like that with Doyeon at all when they were together.”
The slip up has the three of you choking on your own thoughts, staring at each other like the three have just been told you’re on a prank show. But it is no prank, and you look at Seokjin who’s absolutely horrified.
“Oh shit,” he squeaks, looking at Namjoon guiltily, “did I say something I shouldn’t have said?”
“I don’t know,” Namjoon replies coolly, “did you?”
The ominous response gets you going, and you quickly place a hand on Namjoon’s arm, placating him. “They dated, yes. But it was only for a short time and we’ve sorted everything out. Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Oh,” Namjoon quirks his head, and regards you two with pursed lips. “I’m not one of those guys who freak out over other people’s exes. I’m just surprised that I’ve only heard this now,” Namjoon takes a slow sip of his drink, and despite your drink also being cold and refreshing, you’re absolutely sweating.
“Well, I’m sure Doyeon didn’t want to worry you.”
At the mention of his future wife, he beams. “You’re right, she’s considerate like that,” and the conversation ends just like that. He holds up his drink to the two of you, and you and Seokjin do the same. With a sharp clink he leaves you two to mull, happily conversing with the next round of guests he needs to entertain for the week.
“That guy is too nice for his own good,” you shake your head, asking the bartender for your third drink within ten minutes.
Seokjin leans over you and warbles, “So you’re telling me that Namjoon has no idea that Doyeon cheated on Jungkook in order to date him?” he’s sweating just like you are, following suit to your actions and asking to make his drink a double.
“I don’t know,” you bite your lip, your teeth worrying the dark skin, “I’ve been thinking about it for a while though. I just don’t want to get involved, you know?”
“But this is different!”
“But Doyeon’s family!”
“And all of a sudden you care about Doyeon’s feelings?” Seokjin gripes back, “it’s not about Doyeon, it’s about the both of them. And if we know something that Namjoon doesn’t, wouldn’t it be in our best interests to warn him before he seals a marriage deal that costs him over a zillion dollars?” he gestures to the extravagant wedding party.
“But we don’t even have any proof that’s the case,” you frown, “Doyeon could have changed—a little, not a lot—since meeting Namjoon, maybe she thinks it’s best to reveal as little as possible.”
Seokjin wonders what kind of family he has. One as chaotic as his takes a lot to stomach, and Seokjin likes to pride himself in his strong appetite. “Fine, let’s just keep a close eye on both of them this week. And if anything remotely fishy happens, we strike.”
“Deal.”
You return to the cabana alone, with a plate of fries for both you and Jungkook. Jungkook is also alone, laying on the lounge chair with his eyes closed. It gives you a chance to ogle your fake-boyfriend a little bit, reveling in the sight of his toned body.
Setting down your plate with a sharp rap of the glass, Jungkook opens one eye. “Hey,” he smiles, drinking in your muted expression, “you okay?”
Damn Jungkook for being able to read you so well. “I think so. It’s nothing, really.”
“Well, will you tell me if it’s something?”
“Yeah, I will.”
“So, I do have something to tell you though.” Jungkook sits up, regarding you wearily. “Can you… stand in front of me?” Confused, you shove a fry in your mouth and walk up to him as directed, your back blocking the entrance as you stand in front of him. “Okay, come closer. Now bend down,” you bend your back 90 degrees, and he presses a hand to your shoulder to stop you, “no, no. With your breasts out, just a little—there! Arch your back. Like you’re doing the Sorority Squat.”
“Excuse me—”
“The music isn’t even that loud,” he mutters to himself, “no one would need to push their boobs in my face to hear me.”
“Jungkook, is someone pressing boobs to your face?”
“Why,” he breaks into a playful grin, “jealous?”
“Not if it’s Aunt Lillian.”
“Unfortunately it wasn’t,” he twiddles with the drawstrings of his shorts. “It was Doyeon.”
Doyeon? She didn’t walk by your cabana all day. Heck, she barely greeted you when you arrived with Jungkook. But when Jungkook’s alone is when she decides to pounce? And with what motive?
“I don’t know,” he’s rambling to himself, “maybe I’m overthinking it. It was only half a second.”
“Jungkook, I have something to tell you,” you say instead, panic in your features.
“Is it something urgent?”
“Well, no but—”
“Then tell me when we get back to the room,” Jungkook easily pulls you onto his lap, and you instantly heat up when you feel your bare butt press against Jungkook’s golden thighs. “Like you said, we’re in Vegas. Let’s have fun while we can.”
“Okay,” you tuck your head between his neck and collarbone, reaching to press a kiss to his smooth jawline.
Relaxing against the plush lounge chair Jungkook feeds you fries while talking about the things he wants to do this week. It’s his first time in Vegas and he wants to make the most of it. He wants to visit all the buffets he sees on Buzzfeed compilations, relax at the pool, maybe catch a show. The thought of spending all week with him and your family is nice, and suddenly you don’t feel so awkward sitting on his lap, and eventually he pulls you between his thighs so you can lay on his chest.
“And between you and me,” he fake whispers against the shell of your ear, as if he’s telling you the biggest secret, “we’re the hottest couple here.”
The next three days leading up to the wedding are relatively uninteresting.
Uninteresting in the best way possible. On Monday you and Jungkook spend time with your little cousins, taking them to The Adventuredome, one of the resort's indoor theme parks. On Tuesday you and Jungkook go shopping at the outlet malls with your parents, blowing hundreds of dollars on cheap Levis that have your luggage bursting with a new wardrobe. In between all of that Seokjin and occasionally Namjoon joins you two in your buffet journey, hitting up the top spots and filling your tummies to the brim with delicious food.
On Wednesday, Jungkook brandishes two gold-foiled tickets in front of you, waving them around like a fan. With one finger, he pushes away your Pokémon battle, “I got us tickets to Cirque du Soleil,” he announces proudly, “waited in line for an hour.”
You gape, scrambling off of your bed and throwing your Nintendo Switch to the side. “Jungkook,” you marvel, “these are so expensive. How’d you manage to get a show for tonight?”
He shrugs, “Looked around.”
“You’ve been impulse buying a lot this week,” you tease, “like really, you don’t need three pairs of the same ripped jeans.”
“This wasn’t an impulse buy,” he says, “I’ve been looking around for shows. Just managed to pick them up today, so go get dressed for our date.”
Did Jungkook just call it a date? Giddy with excitement you throw the covers off, running into the bathroom to get ready. What a surprise, you didn’t think Jungkook would be into spontaneous things like this.
Seokjin left the bathroom open, so when you walk in the room it is steamy and warm. Your dear cousin is still in the shower, probably waiting for his conditioner to pass three minutes of set-in time.
“What are you getting ready for?” Seokjin asks over the rain shower.
“Kook got us tickets to Cirque du Soleil,” you chirp happily, looking through your skin care products.
“I wanna come!”
“Nope! Jungkook called it a date.”
“Oh, a date,” Seokjin drawls, putting his head under the water to rinse his hair clean. “Well then, should I vacate the room for tonight?”
“What, no!” you’ve closed the door, so thankfully Jungkook can’t hear you talking about him. “We’re not doing anything. We’re just two friends who are fake-dating going on a date.”
“Sounds like a real date, though,” Seokjin wraps a towel around himself to cover all his important bits before getting out of the shower, bumping elbows with you so he can brush his teeth. “Either way, I’ll be gone tonight. It’s my turn to watch the baby cousins. Don’t have too much fun while I'm in their room watching Despicable Me for the millionth time.”
“We’ll be sure to stop by with some pizza or something,” you tease, a little wiggle in your hips when you vacate the bathroom.
By the time you and Jungkook are ready, you two are dressed impeccably. Jungkook is wearing one of the ripped black jeans he bought on Tuesday, combined with a white button up and black blazer. A classic outfit with a little bit of Jungkook-themed flair. And to Jungkook’s surprise, you’re wearing the dress that he first saw you in, all those years ago. You’ve gained a little weight since college, but you still fill out the little black dress beautifully, the little white bow in the middle adding a simple yet adorable touch. It took a little sleuthing and searching through your old college clothes, but you were determined to find it when Jungkook reminded you how much you love the design.
Clearly from the way Jungkook is currently gaping at you like a bloated fish, he loves it too.
The show is beautiful and colorful, leaving you speechless and in tears by the end of it. Jungkook lets you hold his hand the entire time, feeling a bout of anxiety anytime the acrobats fall gracefully despite the large height.
Overall, it was a wonderful show, paired with your equally enamouring date. It’s getting harder and harder to distinguish what’s fake and what’s real in your heart, and throughout the night you’re sorely reminded that you should tell Jungkook how you feel.
But by the time you get to the room your parents are calling you, asking to get their suit and dresses out of the car so hotel service can do a last minute press and dry clean.
“I’ll be back,” you say to Jungkook, “I need to go get their clothes out of the car. They’re always so forgetful.”
“Want me to come?” he offers, hand shying away from inserting the keycard in.
“No, I’ll only be fifteen minutes, tops.”
“So I guess this is this the part where I get a goodnight kiss?” he asks cheekily, leaning on his heels so his tall frame reaches yours. You don’t hesitate to give a short peck to his pretty pink lips. He pouts at the brevity, “that was too quick.”
“Go inside,” you insist, “the sooner you get ready for bed the sooner I can get ready for bed.”
“Then more kisses?”
“Then more kisses.”
Jungkook breaks into an all-teeth smile, unable to control himself when he dips down and steals a longer, more lingering kiss to your lips. “I had a great time tonight,” he says, mimicking every single teenage rom-com protagonist who’s deeply in love with the popular jock. “Don’t take too long, okay?”
You nod, pushing him inside, “C’mon, if you stopped talking I’d be back by now!”
Once the door closes shut, you let yourself do a little dance in the hallway, wiggling your butt and giving yourself a mini-celebration. You quickly text your group chat that you just came back from the Cirque show.
Jimin: what, a date with your fake date?
Hobi: jeon jungcock? 👀👀
Jimin: whaaaaaattttt. U’ve gotta have sat in his lap at least. 3 times since you’ve started this ting
Hobi: i’ve heard things in college…
Taehyung: u are all gross and i hate u
Taehyung: but so am i bc im very curious
Just as you’re about to send a heated reply, the elevator dings, revealing a pissed off Doyeon. She’s bare-faced, in a fluffy lilac bath robe and matching puff ball slippers. You slip in right beside her, making sure there’s a comfortable amount of space between you two.
“You’re going to the parking garage too?” you ask, eyes lingering on the lit button.
“Yeah,” she’s looking at her phone, a few stray hairs from her mahogany bun falling onto her forehead, “Aunt Lillian left her medication in the car. I don’t know why she has to send me, I’m busy getting married.”
“My parents left their formal clothes in the car,” you shrug, “you know, my parents and Aunt Lillian share the same brain cell. Gotta help them out once in a while.”
The icy silence in the elevator is probably the calmest you and Doyeon have been since you’ve announced your relationship status with Jungkook. You fight the sigh, opting to take out your phone and open some unread messages.
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: hurry up, the bed’s cold without u
You: lool, why do u look constipated
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: because i am, hurry up. Im bringing ur switch to the toilet and playing on your profile
You: JEON WAIT YAMPERS AT 5HP GO TO THE POKEMON CENTER U HEATHEN
You tilt your head a centimeter, feeling Doyeon breathing down your neck like Puff the Magic Dragon. You look at her with wide eyes. Her long, slender neck manages to snake its way next to your head, “Can I help you?” you ask amusedly, clutching your phone to your chest.
“Are you two really together?” she asks, batting her lashes. All this week she’s left you alone, and you’ve been wondering when she’s going to make herself known. It’s a little self-absorbed you have to admit, but ever since Namjoon’s ignorance to Doyeon’s previous relationship, you’ve been on edge.
“Of course we are,” you spit back, “I love him.”
And you must be very convincing, because Doyeon’s gaze falters just a fraction. You glare at her, staking your claim. Ever since Jungkook told you the reason Doyeon hates you is because she’s jealous, you’ve started to feel a bit of sympathy for her. Doyeon is beautiful and smart, she has no reason to feel this way. But the brain holds fickle thoughts sometimes, bringing darkness to the mind.
“He loved me first,” she bites back, lifting her chin.
“And why do you care?” you laugh tonelessly. The elevator dings open, and you’re met with the open air and concrete of the parking garage. “He may have loved you first, but he’ll love me last.”
You leave the elevator first, a little pep in your step as you make your way to the rental car to gather your parent’s things. While the words you uttered are white in nature and may not hold any sort of weight to them, it manages to bring Doyeon to her knees, absolutely quaking in the elevator.
You’re tasting revenge, and it’s sweet.
“Okay, you need to leave,” Seokjin pulls away the shot glass from your lips, “I didn’t spend days planning the itinerary for you to mess it up. Bridal party in Doyeon’s suite and the groom’s party in Namjoon’s parents suite.”
“That’s dumb,” you chastise, crossing your arms, “we’re all meeting at the same club at 10. Why can’t we pre-party together?”
“Because it’s tradition!”
“Screw tradition,” you stumble on your heels as you purse your lips at Jungkook, “Kook, when we get married I don’t wanna do a whole boy-and-girl party. We’re equals, right?”
“Of course, baby,” he cooes, being careful not to smudge your makeup when he presses his lips to the crown of your head. “But for the sake of Seokjin’s sanity, you should probably go to Doyeon’s. It’ll only be an hour or two.”
You gasp exaggeratedly at the blatant betrayal. He only grins cheekily in response, dipping down to press a wet kiss to your cheek. “Fine,” you cross your arms, snatching back your drink from Seokjin’s grasp to knock it down.
Leaving the bachelor pre-party pains you considerably. They’re having such a good time joking around the suite, telling each other fun stories and relaxing in chairs as they watch TV. This is your kind of crowd, not to mention that you can peacefully check out Jungkook’s ass in those tight dress pants without any crazy club lights distorting your vision.
From past family party experience you already have a feeling what’s coming for you in the ladies’ suite.
Loud music pours from Doyeon’s suite, and it’s completely unlocked. The bridal party is raving, ten seconds away from being completely drunk and immobile. The lights are being manually shut on and off like some sort of cheap rager, and you have to tell Yoojung to tone it down before you get a seizure.
The stench of acidic drinks and the tang of alcoholic air is palpable, and instead of a shot you opt for a glass of peach champagne to slow you down.
As you walk deeper into the suite, you notice a crowd forming by the balcony. Tapping your cousin Nari on the shoulder, you regard her with a hug and kiss. “What’s going on over there?” you ask, heels not helping you see any better.
Nari’s all blushy and pink, hiccuping as she gestures to the balcony. “Her maid of honor got Doyeon a very special gift!”
Managing to weave through the women blocking your view, you fight the urge to gag when you have a clear view of the scene in front of you.
You really don’t understand the purpose of bachelor and bachelorette parties. “One night to be single all over again!” they all say, even though they’re not actually single? Like why does the couple suddenly get one night of forgiveness when you’ve already spent years being in a committed relationship?
Why is it okay that Doyeon’s dry humping a stripper on the balcony? Her white silk dress is ruched dangerously high, soon close to flashing her family. Aunties and friends and the like are cheering her on, and she flips her head perfectly to all the phones shoved in their faces, making sure to get the perfect angle.
Fighting the urge to roll your eyes, you turn back in the hopes that your other family members would be willing to have a good old-fashioned tip back with you.
You squeal when your hands accidentally land on a bare, oiled chest. You look up, mortified at the large man covered in black harnesses. “Hey babe, I’m Wonho,” he says, faking a sultry gaze as he looks at you up and down, “you’re part of the bridal party too? Wanna dance?”
Feeling naked, you push past him, careful not to get anything on your dress. Wonho? Wonno.
Jungkook loves your family.
(Except Doyeon.)
As much as he told you not to worry about him, and he’ll be completely fine when he meets your family, he couldn’t help be a little wary on the flight over. After all, it’s been two years and he didn’t know how things would be different.
Chaoticism and all, your family is a thing to be cherished. Even though Yoongi has been on mood swings that make Jungkook question his sanity from time to time, and Seokjin is secretly breathing down Jungkook’s back every time he so glances at you, he thinks things are right where they should be.
But despite all that they regarded him with familiarity, hugged and kissed him like old friends, something is different. They’ve turned over a new page for him. They don’t bring up Doyeon. They ask about his family, his job, his life in the city. They ask about how you and Jungkook met, and how happy they are for you. How happy they are for him.
Oh, how he wishes everything could be different. In another world, you two would already be together.
He wasn’t lying back at the cabana when he said you two are the hottest couple at the resort, including the bridal party (but don’t tell Namjoon). You look absolutely stunning in your sparkly red dress, accentuating all the right parts and lighting up the whole room.
When he finds you in the club you’re sitting down with your Aunties, keeping the elders company while the younger ones are flagging down the bartenders. He thinks it’s cute, how well you fit in between them, coddling you like you’re still a child in their eyes.
“Dear, your boyfriend is here!” your one Aunt yells over the loud EDM.
You lift your head up quickly, giving him the prettiest smile. Your teeth glow purple under the neon lights, and he fights the urge to laugh when he holds out a hand. “Mind if I steal her from you?”
“Of course, she’s gotta live a little!”
You pout, a little wobbly but nevertheless still in the right mind as you shuffle out of the booth to meet his awaiting arms. “Hey handsome,” your voice is thick and sweet-smelling, “come here often?”
“Only when my girlfriend does,” he replies cheekily, hands immediately coming to your butt to smooth out your dress. He shys a bit when your Aunties hoot and holler at his public display of affection, but all he wants to do was pull the hem down a little bit. No way is he going to let anyone get a flash of your goods.
“Let’s dance!” you take your hand in his, leading him to a comfortable corner of the dance floor.
Clubs aren’t really your scene, aligning with Jungkook’s sentiments towards the loud generic music and terrible smell. But you’re in Vegas, and he feels that it’s all part of the package to experience the nightlife at least once. He puts his hands on your waist and you giggle like you’re in prom, hands coming to rest on the collar of his button down.
“Hey,” he says with a lopsided smirk, “wanna make out?”
“Sure,” he notices that you don’t even check if anyone’s seeing, and it makes his heart flutter when you don’t hesitate to get on your tiptoes to meet him halfway.
He’s always hoped for a moment like this, a moment where the room stops spinning and both your minds click into place. It’s almost comical, how he distinctly notes that the music fades once his lips touch yours. The kiss is hot, yet intimate. Even though he makes excuses to kiss you all the time because of practice, it goes to show that you two definitely never needed it. Your tiny hands grip the collar of his button down, bringing you two impossibly close despite the hot air. His larger hands grip at the strings that hold your measly dress together, grappling at any excuse to get to your soft skin. The two of you are a natural when it comes to each other’s intimacy.
The two of you pull away, mesmerized. You haven’t kissed like that before. He melts under your stare, his thumb reaching to nick off any lip gloss that’s moved in the process.
Seokjin comes down the floor to haul you both by the shoulders, “C’mon lovebirds, they’re taking wedding shots!”
The two of you follow your cousin to the crowd of people that is your family, already with their own drinks in hand. Doyeon and Namjoon are sitting atop the bar, making a very loud toast that consisted of a quick “thank you!” and “we love you!” before downing their drinks with their arms linked together. The room is thrumming with excitement for tomorrow’s festivities, and surprisingly, you and Jungkook included. He tucks himself in your body like a puzzle piece, hugging you from behind while he watches Namjoon’s eyes sparkle with love under the neons.
The nightclub gets a little blurry after that, with the copious amounts of alcohol and shameless actions from your family and friends. By the time it’s twelve Jungkook notices you swaying at a rate that you can’t handle. He knows your limits and knows when you have to urge to pee every five minutes, it’s time to go. With a chaste kiss you leave him at the bar, deciding to make a pitstop to the bathroom before telling Jungkook you want to head up.
You’re locked in a stall when you hear Yoojung’s voice.
“Ugh,” she groans, voice echoing through the tiny room. “Jungkook is so sexy. Do you see the way he’s dancing out there? He’s a literal babe magnet, I can’t believe he ended up with someone like y/n.”
You don’t move a muscle, pressing your ear against the door that hides you. The silly slander isn’t news to you, Doyeon has been feeding her friends all sorts of bullcrap so they wouldn’t bother talking to you.
“Yeah, Jungkook’s a real treat but he dated Doyeon first. Sounds like she’s into sloppy seconds,” Elly replies, another bridesmaid you’ve met in passing. “But I don’t know, they do look happy together.”
“Please, I’m sure Jungkook’s just using her so he can get one more chance at Doyeon before she ties the knot,” you bristle, the thought of Jungkook still having feelings for Doyeon makes your heart thud painfully against your chest, “like, what a downgrade. Namjoon and Doyeon do not deserve this drama. If Jungkook ever liked Doyeon at all, he wouldn’t have come. Period.”
You slam the door open, causing Elly to squeal and Yoojung’s YSL lipstick to fall onto the sink. You’re the epitome of relaxation, walking towards the sink to wash your hands. The bridesmaids simply stare at you, unable to formulate a comeback. When you finally dry your hands, you say your next words.
“Jungkook is here because he loves me,” an act act act. This is all an act. You shouldn’t be this offended because you know it’s all false. “And you’re wrong. It’s not Jungkook that doesn’t deserve Doyeon. Jungkook was too good for Doyeon.”
And you slam your heels against the tile, stilettos pounding to the beat of the music. Your exit is full of anger and frustration as you ignore the burn in your step and the ache in your heart, flagging the first bartender you see to get you a double.
Shot for shot, that anger soon melts into guilt as Yoojung’s words sink in. The thought of Jungkook using you to get to Doyeon is terrible, you can barely stomach the thought. But that’s exactly what you’re doing, right? You’re using Jungkook to get back at Doyeon.
Why did you even want to get back at Doyeon anymore? Why do you have to prove anything to her? If she just continues to push you around, isn’t that more on her than it is on you?
Jungkook soon finds you after you’ve nursed a few drinks, leaning unceremoniously against a barstool. His eyes widen at your state, and he immediately sheds his jacket to wrap it around your waist.
“Why did you drink so much?” he chastises, “it’s the night before the wedding.”
“Jungkookie,” you warble, clutching your stomach, “I don’t feel so good.”
He sighs, bending down. “Get on my back. Make sure the jacket covers you up, okay?”
He doesn’t even grunt when you put all your weight on him, feeling like a ragdoll as he hoists you up. You wrap your arms around his shoulders, letting him carry you to your room. Most of the older family already went upstairs to sleep, so none of your cousins could care less when they see you get hauled away by Jungkook.
You inhale, he smells like sweat and cologne. “I like putting my head between your neck,” you babble, and you feel Jungkook chuckle through his chest, “you smell so nice there. It’s the bestset! Comfiest place ever, ‘specially when m’sleepy.”
“Are you sleepy now, baby?” You love how smooth the petname falls from his lips.
“I will be when we get upstairs,” you reply, happy to see the elevator is empty. “I’m just all up in my head.”
“Is that why you were drinking so much? You said you were gonna stop earlier.”
“Yeah, but,” you shamefully tuck your head in his shoulder, “I was frustrated.”
“Frustrated? At who?” concern laces his tone as he struggles to hold you with one hand and fumble for his key in the other. You tighten your legs around his slim waist until the door clicks open, and he immediately walks over to your bed to plop you down. “Babe, are you crying?” he finally has a good look at your face, horrified to see the streaks of tears mixed with mascara running down your face.
“I wa-was jealous,” you confess tearily, clutching your face in your hands, “some girls in the bathroom were calling you sexy and that you were only here so you could try to win over Doyeon. I know it sounds ridiculous and you would never do that but. The thought of you getting back with her makes me so jealous and I hate it! I’m starting to feel so guilty about this, all of this. I put all of this on ourselves and I’m ruining it.”
“Ruining what? You’re not making any sense.” Jungkook places a hand on your knee, crouching down so he can look up at you.
“I’m ruining us,” you gush despondently, “I’m ruining any potential of us before we even start.”
Jungkook freezes, hand clutching your knee like a lifeline. The potential of you two together? You’ve thought of that? Jungkook didn’t drink much tonight, so his mind is definitely running on all cogs.
Coming to a conclusion, he rubs slow, soothing circles on your knee, his other hand reaching up to wipe the tears from your face. “You’re not ruining anything,” he declares firmly, “that’s impossible. I may have agreed to fake-date you because of Doyeon, but I stayed because of you.”
His heart aches seeing you so upset, and he decides to take initiative to get you out of your clothing and ready for bed. You don’t have any words, opting to let Jungkook take care of you as you try to calm yourself down. He finds a spare t-shirt, a long one so you’ll be comfortable. He doesn’t bat an eye when he unzips your dress, in favor of balling up the shirt and getting you clothed as fast as possible. He rifles through the bathroom to find your makeup wipes, and he’s gentle when he scrubs up the once pretty makeup you spent half an hour doing. Barefaced and fresh, you look sleepy and ready to crash.
But before Jungkook can tuck you in, you clutch his arm.
“Jungkook,” you murmur sleepily, “I think I lo—”
“I know, baby,” he doesn’t want a confession like this, and he’s sure you wouldn’t want it either. You still look a little green and you’re not sober, so he makes the executive decision to pin these feelings for later. “I’m not trying to invalidate you, I promise. I want you to tell me this, all of this in the morning. We’ll talk then.”
“Okay,” you melt in the sheets, pulling the blankets up to your chest. When you see Jungkook move away from the bed, you jolt, “Where are you going?”
Jungkook smiles, reaching over to tuck you back in, “I left my blazer in Namjoon’s room. I’ll be right back, okay?”
He walks out of your room as quietly as he can, making sure to close the door slowly. Once it’s sealed shut, he leaps up, giving himself a silent cheer as he bounds down the hall. You like him back!
The smile on his face is tired but full of fervor as he makes his way to Namjoon and Doyeon’s suite. He doesn’t even care that he probably has to talk to Doyeon to get his jacket back, thoughts filled with the excitement of his requited feelings and going back to his room to cuddle up with you.
He doesn’t even have to knock when the large double doors swing open. Dumbfounded, he looks down at Doyeon, wearing a tiny black nightie and dangling his jacket with one finger. It’s an outfit that leaves nothing to the imagination, and he feels his neck heat up at the feeling he’s encroaching on an intimate moment.
“You left this,” she says slowly, a tiny smirk on her lips.
“Uh, thanks,” he says, making sure not to touch her when he grabs his blazer.
In her other hand she holds up her room’s designated ice bucket. “Could you also get me some ice, please? Namjoon’s fast asleep and I really don’t want to walk out all… exposed.”
He swallows his sigh, knowing it’s going to take significantly longer to get back to you when Doyeon drawls like this. “Of course,” he replies tersely, “after all, you are the bride.”
“Thanks, Jungkookie.”
He makes quick work of getting Doyeon the ice, pumping his long legs down the hall. The ice room is cold and cramped, barely enough for his tall frame to fit in. He jabs the container in the holder, pressing the button ten times per second to get as much ice out as possible.
As soon as he turns around with the ice, he drops the whole bucket.
Like glass, it shatters onto the ground, hundreds of little clear pebbles skimming across the floor like marbles. Doyeon’s pushing Jungkook against the ice machine, freshly manicured hands splayed across his chest. Her body is flush against his, making sure that he feels all of her with her thin silk gown.
“What the fuck, Doyeon get off of me!” a little part of him hopes she’ll come to her senses on her own so he doesn’t have to put his hands on her.
“C’mon, Kookie,” her voice is a sickly candy sweet, her eyes wide with hunger as she takes in his form, “just one more night, you and me. Like old times. One more night before I tie the knot.”
“You’re crazy,” he balks, running his hand through his hair, “this is sexual harassment, do you know that?”
“You don’t mean that, Kookie,” Doyeon dips a red-tipped nail down his chest, “why settle for someone like y/n when I’m right here?”
He grabs her wrists, firm. She winces at the contact, but doesn’t say anything when Jungkook delivers her a scary glare. It gets her quiet, fearful of this version of Jungkook. Doyeon’s never seen Jungkook like this before, so unwilling to bend at her whim and emanating all his power against her.
“Why settle for your cousin?” he whispers like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “because, I love her.”
Her lip curls in disgust, nails digging into the palm of his hand. “But you loved me first.”
“And I’ll love her last,” he spits pack, letting go of her. His anger splits for a brief second, regarding Doyeon with sorrow, “this is low, even for you.”
Jungkook pushes past the ice, wobbling out of the ice room. He doesn’t look back, he just knows that he needs you right now. He needs to tell you everything, figure out a plan to cancel the wedding or something.
But when he crashes inside the room, you’re dead asleep. He can’t find the courage to wake up Seokjin as well, who returned and is sleeping in his club outfit. He groans, feeling useless as he stares at the two of you, ignorant of what just conspired ten minutes ago.
And Namjoon, what is he going to tell Namjoon? Poor guy doesn’t deserve any of this.
Walking up to your side of the bed, he tucks your loose hair behind your ear. You look so peaceful now, so beautiful.
It’s just going to have to wait until the morning.
The morning of the wedding, you wake up alone.
The first thought that runs through your head is that Jungkook has rejected you. The little, insecure bug that will never go away in your brain fills you with rash thoughts. He’s on a flight half way back home and he regrets this whole week.
But after that exaggeration, you notice two aspirin and a bottle of water on your nightstand, along with your phone that’s fully charged.
You pull up the screen to check the dozens of messages that flood your app.
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: morning babe, im sorry i had to leave early. Namjoon showed up at our door freaking out that his suit is the wrong fit and shade. Now im running around vegas trying to find a replacement that doesn’t look like an elvis presley extra
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: but i didn’t forget what you said last night, i promise! Just go get ready and i’ll meet u at the chapel outside the resort.
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: i also have something to say to you
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: wow i didn’t realize how ominous that sounds. Dw, everything will be fine
When someone tells you something will be fine, it’s a universal agreement that no, things will not be fine.
So you get dressed, and put on your makeup mindlessly. You don’t really know what to make of Jungkook’s cryptic message, but you decide to leave those thoughts in the back of your mind as you go to the other rooms to help your family get ready.
Seokjin is busy tying the ring bearer’s tie, looking handsome with his slicked back hair and polished grey suit. “Morning, cousin,” he sing-songs, “you look beautiful today!”
You smooth out your dress, a cascading silver number with starry sparkles. You feel like you’re living out your magical girl fantasies, wrapped up in layers of tulle and a sparkly sweetheart bodice.
“Right back at you. Say, you didn’t see Jungkook this morning, did you?”
“No, but I heard he’s with Namjoon hunting for a new suit. Why?”
“Nothing,” you lean against the guest table, “he just said something really ominous over text.”
“I will never get a peaceful day so long as I’m in this family,” he says this directly to the ring bearer, a toddler who’s obviously confused at his uncle’s weird sayings.
Your phone beeps conveniently, displaying Jungkook’s name.
Jeon Jung-boo-thang: just got his suit. We’ll be there in fifteen. Meet me at the garden behind the chapel, please. It’s urgent
Now you’re just worried. So you tell Seokjin your sentiments, and that he should have his phone on hand in case you needed him. With a confused nod, you leave him to go down to the garden.
The groomsmen and bridesmaids are already at the chapel taking pictures. Only the wedding party is really allowed at this time, but you manage your way through the gardens virtually undetected. Jungkook’s already waiting for you, hiding under a white gazebo overlooking the hotel’s fountain.
He looks gorgeous in his all black pinstripe suit, hair pushed back and pants fitted perfectly around his waist and thighs. When he sees you he gets up, full of skittish energy. You note that his hair isn’t even styled, only washed and curling slightly at the ends, as if he’s in a rush.
“W-wow,” he marvels when you rush up to him, “you look gorgeous.”
You drop the handful of silver tulle, letting it fall to the floor. “Jungkook,” you clasp his hand in both of his, guilt flooding your eyes. You’ve been thinking about this all morning, and you need to cut to the chase. Jungkook tries to open his mouth but you silence him with a finger on his lips. “I can’t—I can’t do this. I know this sounds really stupid and you probably don’t want anything to do with me after this, but I shouldn’t have made this elaborate scheme,” you bite your lip, feeling even more antsy as Jungkook squirms in his grip. He however, is trying very hard to focus with his eyes, confused at your sudden confession. “I like you, Jungkook. I don’t want to parade you around like a revenge plot anymore, it isn’t fair and it’s wrong in so many ways—”
“That’s great,” he says simply, brown eyes swirling with thoughts, “um, ditto. But—”
“Wow,” you frown, “I pour my heart out to you and this is what I get?”
“It’s great that you want to be selfless right now,” Jungkook takes your hand, firm and tight, “but without this elaborate scheme, we wouldn’t be saving asses like we are right now.”
“What are you talking about?” You thought Jungkook rushed you down here so you could talk about each other’s feelings before the wedding.
“Doyeon just threw herself on me last night. I got her ice and she took that as an invitation to seduce me like an episode of Sex and the City. Namjoon needs to divorce her, like yesterday.”
Your face then morphs into something dark and ugly, and you fling your whole confession out the window. The thought of Doyeon going as far as throwing herself on Jungkook as a last ditch attempt to get back at you, has you seeing blood red. “What? Why didn’t you tell me this sooner!”
“You were asleep!” he shoots back, putting his hands on your shoulders. He rubs warm strokes up and down your bare arms, “please relax. You’re shaking.”
“And why didn’t you tell Namjoon when you were driving around all morning?”
“I tried to!” he retorts, hands swinging in the air. You huff when his hands land back on your shoulders, preventing you from running to the chapel to extract Doyeon out yourself, “but he just kept talking shit about how much he loves Doyeon and he can’t imagine being together with anyone but her and I felt so bad! I’m sorry I chickened out. I really don’t wanna be the one to break Namjoon’s heart. I’m just the plus one!”
You pinch your brows, mulling it over. “Fuck it, let’s crash a wedding,” you declare, “where’s Namjoon and how can we get him alone?”
Jungkook exhales, a hand carding up to loosen his thin silver tie. “He’s taking pictures with the groomsmen right now. It’s gonna be awhile before we get a chance to talk.”
“Fuck,” you curse, sitting down on the white bench. Jungkook presses soothing circles on your back. “We have no choice, we have to get to him before the ceremony starts.”
“You’ll have to get through me, first.”
Doyeon’s not even in her wedding dress when she strides up to the two of you. She’s in ballet flats with her hair and makeup done, but the only thing she’s wearing is the thin underdress of her actual ball gown, a simple silk negligee that reaches her ankles. You don’t even know how she’s managed to escape the bridal party, especially without her dress.
Feeling protective, you step in front of Jungkook. “Before you say anything,” you murmur, “I’m not ruining your wedding, and I never wanted to. You’re ruining it because of your mistakes.”
“Oh, boo-hoo,” Doyeon rolls her eyes, playing with her nails, “I didn’t even do anything wrong, everyone knows that on the bachelorette’s night she can do whatever she wants. Namjoon could’ve fucked whoever too if he wasn’t so faithful.”
“Namjoon is ten times the partner you are and would never do that,” You’re seeing red, unable to comprehend the complete garbage spilling from Doyeon’s lips. “You touched my boyfriend without his consent, and I will never forgive you for that,” your voice is scarlet, angry and thin.
“It’s not like he isn’t used to it, I—”
“NO!” the sound that comes out of your mouth has all three of you flinching, and you’re thankful the gazebo is far enough so that the rest of the wedding party is oblivious to your actions. “You’re not allowed to justify yourself anymore, Doyeon. What you did was fucked up, what you’ve done to all of us is fucked up!” You realize now that you didn’t need to get back at Doyeon with a fake date, what you needed was this. You needed a reprieve, a chance to lay down your law. “Jungkook was right all along. You are jealous. You’re jealous and selfish and have no shame. You think you own whatever you set your eyes on, but you’re wrong. We’re not objects, we’re people.”
You walk up to Doyeon, eye to eye. You jab a hand at her chest, pushing her back slightly. You soak up your cousin’s expression, and you watch as Doyeon’s eyes pop out in surprise at your act of boldness. “So you have a choice here. You can either swallow your pride and leave Namjoon at the aisle quietly and save whatever dignity you have left. Take your pathetic ass on the next flight back home and pack up your apartment. Or, we can start a big scene at your ceremony,” you probably look manic, filled with freshly injected power, “I know Seokin’s always wanted to yell ‘I object!’ at a wedding.”
“You have no proof,” Doyeon glares right back, taking a step closer to you. Your noses are practically touching, but you dig your heels in the white-stained wood, puffing up your chest and standing your ground.
“Doesn’t matter,” you bite back, “what matters is that Namjoon will doubt you. Namjoon knows we’d never do anything to sabotage a wedding without a valid reason. Even if you do get married tonight, we have Jungkook’s word and proof of a relationship that overlaps with his. I find this option to be far worse because it’s prolonging the inevitable,” you shrug, “I hope you two didn’t sign a prenup.”
Hot, angry tears mess up her meticulously done makeup. Black rivers carve through her porcelain skin, showing the feelings that have been dormant since been hidden under a facade. Doyeon’s eyes dart back and forth between the two of you. She’s practically vibrating in combined fear and rage, seeing blurry images and memories and regrets of what could’ve been if not for her self-absorption. And finally, your cousin comes to a decision.
“I hate you,” she emphasizes each word with the most concentrated of venoms in her tone. WIth one last look at the two of you, she stomps away. Instead of going to the direction of the chapel however, she takes the shortcut back to the hotel.
Her grave words are unsurprising, but nevertheless disappointing. A thinly veiled smile grazes your lips, sadder than ever as you watch your cousin go. “And I pity you.”
As soon as she’s gone Jungkook doesn’t hesitate to scoop you up, hugging you tightly as you fight the urge to cry again. “Oh babe, that was really hot. The way you stood your ground? That was amazing!” Jungkook takes out his silver pocket square to wipe the stray tears that threaten to ruin your makeup. “You’re so strong, don’t you know that? You did it and I’m so proud of you.”
As much as you want to revel in the affection, go back and bed and fall asleep until noon, you can’t. Grasping Jungkook by the hand, you tug him to the chapel. “C’mon,” you say, “we have to corner Namjoon.”
The groomsmen photos are done by the time you get there. Thankfully, the to-be-groom doesn’t look too occupied. His eyes widen upon seeing you two stumble from the garden of all places.
“Oh, y/n. Jungkook,” Namjoon tilts his head curiously at how winded you two look, equally flushed and out of breath. From your state, Namjoon muses that it must've taken a lot of effort to finally get to the groom unattended, save for a few random family members he’s making small talk with, “The wedding isn’t for another hour but I must say, you two look radiant together. Doyeon always thought you’d end up an old spinster-catlady, but I always told her that you’re too beautiful to be single for long,” he pauses to send the aforementioned man a wink, “Jungkook’s a lucky guy. What were you two doing back there?”
“Uh, things?” Jungkook scratches the back of his head, not wanting to reiterate the fiasco between Doyeon moments before.
Namjoon smirks at the ebony-haired man, “Couple things?”
You can’t take this needless small talk anymore. With a teary groan, you throw yourself at Namjoon. You hug him tight, and you don’t even care when you feel a slosh of his water bottle sprinkle your hairstyle.
“Joonie,” you bemoan, “please, please don’t leave me. You’re the best not-cousin ever. I know it’ll be a pain to face Doyeon after today but you’re a strong independent man and when you’re ready Jin is single and ready to mingle—ow! Jungkook! Did you just pinch my ass?”
“Do you really think setting him up with the next cousin is the best idea right now?”
“I figured a little humor would lighten the blow,” you sulk.
“I’m sorry what—what blow?” Namjoon frowns, pushing you away from him. “Y/n, have you been crying?”
The tears resurface at that moment, like a kettle on overboil. Namjoon’s face is knitted together, unable to grasp at any conclusion. Namjoon feels something grave is upon the sky as he tenderly brushes away your tears with his thumbs before releasing you. Instantly Jungkook pulls you to his chest, patting you soothingly. As much as you two do not want to be the bearer of bad news, the time is now.
“Namjoon,” Jungkook says, finding the strength that was previously stuck in his throat, “we have to tell you something.”
Needless to say, Las Vegas is very forgiving when it comes to last minute wedding cancellations.
The whole wedding party, both Namjoon and yours, collectively feels like a whole ice bucket has been dumped upon your families. You would like to say that the whole issue was handled mess free, but that would be a bald-faced lie.
There was screaming, crying, hysterical laughter from all sides. Doyeon’s parents were of course furious, embarrassed, unable to calm down a hysterical Doyeon as they haul her on the next flight home. You have a feeling they won’t be showing up to family events anytime soon.
Namjoon’s family leaves quietly, frustrated, but classy. After all, they know at the back of their heads they dodged a bullet. Everyone leaves except Namjoon however, who isn’t quite ready to go back to his and Doyeon’s apartment. Namjoon invites Seokjin and some other close cousins to stay in his suite until their flight tomorrow afternoon, wanting to be surrounded by close friends and (almost) family.
As for your family, they decide to find the silver lining. While the chapel was able to cancel the wedding, the reception wasn’t as easy to sway. At the very last second, your grandparents decided to make use of the reception and renew their Golden Anniversary vows instead. The ceremony will be a quick, sweet affair. At this very moment, your cousin Yoongi is getting officiated online.
And for you? You’re in the place where you’ve wanted to remain all week. A fluffy hotel bed wrapped up with your not-boyfriend.
Or?
Would a not-boyfriend be snuggling against your chest like you’re the softest teddy bear in the toy shop? Would a not-boyfriend be hooking your leg atop his lap, forcing you to latch onto him so his hands can roam freely against your soft thighs?
“We have to get ready for the wedding,” you whine against his hold, to no avail when he only holds you tighter.
“But your grandparents are already married,” Jungkook whines right back, nuzzling his nose in your head. “This is like an afterparty fifty years later.”
“I wanna get dressed,” you insist, pushing yourself up, “and we still need to talk.”
Without Seokjin staying with you, the hotel room feels much bigger and freer for the two of you. Your clothes are scattered on the floor, uncaring of any wrinkles or smears that would get on the delicate fabric.
All that matters is that Jungkook is still here with you. Doyeon’s wedding is called off, but he’s still lying in bed with you. You want to burn this image to memory, and keep it forever. Jungkook laying in only his white undershirt and boxers, looking at you dreamily as if he’s still in nap-mode. Hair that was previously windswept and exposing his forehead is now out of place, fluffy and sticking out in all directions. His cheeks are flushed with coral-colored warmth, and a little puffy because you two have been sleeping most of the afternoon.
“Right, talk,” he repeats, letting you hand him his black button up so he can clothe himself.
You throw off your shirt somewhere behind you, not wanting to face him as you walk to the full-length mirror. “So, I think my feelings for you are pretty clear and out in the open…”
“Same, I think I made it pretty clear as well.”
“What? You turn around, looking at where he’s still half-covered in bed. “You did not. I distinctly remember almost confessing my love to you last night. And then this morning, only for you to cut me off and say ‘that’s great’.”
“Oh,” he stares at the white sheets that cover his lower half. “I guess I didn’t then.”
You smile wryly, turning back to face the mirror so you can slip into your dress that’s been pooled around your ankles like a silver halo. “Maybe you thought it in your mind and forgot to tell me.”
That seems about right. Jungkook has a tendency to be a little too passionate for his own good, windswept in thoughts and feelings until they consume him. He hops out of bed, walking only in his dress shirt and socks as he makes his way to the mirror. “Then let me do all the talking,” he says softly against your neck, hands on your hips.
You shiver when you feel the cold silver of the zipper whirr up your body, Jungkook’s large hands splaying across your back to smooth out the waistline.
“You of all people would know that being with Doyeon is a trip,” he chuckles into the crook of your neck, “I thought that was what love felt like. Being codependent, jumping through hurdles, trying so hard to please someone who can’t be pleased.”
Jungkook’s hands wrap around your waist, hugging you tightly. He squeezes you and holds you like the most precious thing in the entire world. Through the mirror, you two are quite a pair.
“But with you, I never knew love could be like this, feel like this.”
“So… are you saying you love me?” you fight the urge to bounce around in his grip, the biggest smile on your face.
“You really just want me to say ‘I love you’ and be done with it, huh?”
Within seconds he’s pulling you from behind, whirling you around to the edge of the bed. He manages to flouce up your skirts to billow around his lap, sitting you down on his bare thighs.
“You look like a cupcake, all sprawled up like this,” Jungkook says cutely, peppering kisses in a trail from your chest all the way to your lips. “You look like a huge, silvery cupcake and I love you. It’s so easy to love you.”
Maybe it was kismet that Jungkook didn’t get to you first all those years ago. Maybe the right time is right here, right now.
“I love you, too,” you say happily, dipping down to press a long, passionate kiss to his lips. He tastes like love and a happy future. When you pull away, you encapsulate his face in both your palms, regarding him like the sun and stars. “But you know, if we date you’ll never get away from my crazy family.”
Jungkook snorts, pressing his forehead to yours, “And miss Yoongi re-marrying off your grandparents tonight, the next year of Seokjin and Namjoon running circles around each other, and a lifetime of happiness?” his hands snake under your dress, finding purchase in your soft skin, “not a chance.”
#jungkook x reader#gcn23#goldenclosetnet#btsghostie#kwritersworldnet#jungkook fic#jungkook fluff#jungkook angst#bts fic#bts fanfic#bts fluff#bts angst
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Spring Pollen
Takami Keigo
word count : 5.0k
[ ✘ (nsfw 18+) ]
genre : edging, gagging (glove use), sex pollen, public sex
bio: You and your coworker Hawks are caught off guard by a villain’s naughty quirk while on the middle of patrol.
author’s note : this is for bnha bookclub’s bingo event, for which i can now cross off the “sex pollen” slot ;) also pls go soft on me if this is rough as it’s my first hawks fic <3 TT
tags : @hawks-senseis @queensynderella @knifeewifee @prismaroyal
also available on AO3 here
─── ・°* ゚✧:* • 。゚:*・☽・*: 。゚•*:✧ ゚*°・ ───
Working beside the number two hero had its ups and downs. For one, you were insanely attracted to him, and you absolutely refused to admit it— to him, yourself, really anyone who asked. Not that it came up in conversation often, of course. You made sure of that.
The blonde was known for his go-with-the-flow, playful attitude, and you were not discluded from such a privilege, despite your many complaints. Deep down, you didn’t really mind his flirtatious behavior. Being a hero, even if you were only a sidekick at the moment, was tiring work. You did not have much time for yourself, let alone time to find men who you could flirt with or even go on dates with. Or even find a fuck buddy.
God, it had been so long since you last received affection from a man. Work was your entire life now, and while you found comfort in knowing you were changing the world for the better— cleaning away the stain of evil on your city— you found yourself feeling lonely when you would return to your empty apartment each night.
So perhaps Hawks’ borderline suggestive comments were nice, welcome even. Not that you would ever tell him that. You would rather die than live with knowing he was privy to your thoughts; the mortification would simply be too much for you.
Little did you know, there was much desire and intention behind his seemingly meaningless flirting— for he, too, found you more than attractive. A walking, talking, gorgeous and independent woman who apparently wanted nothing to do with him— you were more than enough to catch his eye. But alas, you were years younger than the already-youthful hero himself, and you made it very clear to him that you did not want to do anything that could jeopardize your career at the agency the two of you were slaves to.
So the attraction went unspoken between the pair of you. Hawks would make a comment just a little too cheeky and you would roll your eyes or swat at him, and that would be the end of it. It would go on and on like this for months, and before you knew it, it had been almost a year of supporting the ever-popular winged hero. And everything was fine and good…
Until the red string on fate had to show its ugly face. And everything as you knew it was turned upside down on the head— the tall, prison-like walls you’d constructed to keep your feelings locked away all came tumbling down, right before your very eyes.
It had been a rather uneventful day of hero work, if you could recall correctly. Hawks had commented on your winged eyeliner that morning, saying how it made your eyes sparkle and give you an “avian edge”, which he found highly commendable. You had brushed him off, as usual, and the two of you had taken off to start your patrol, much like any other morning.
The sun was high in the sky, hanging cheerfully over the skyscrapers of the bustling city. The spring heat had not yet scorched the asphalt of the winding roads, a cool breeze tickling your skin as you walked beside the blonde hero. His large, scarlet wings were relaxed behind his shoulder blades, the very tips of his feathers brushing against your waist as you were pressed close to him on the busy sidewalk. It was all rather ordinary, looking back at it— you had just thrown away the wrappings from your on-the-go breakfast, feeling strengthened enough to take on whatever the day could possibly throw at you, when she appeared from what seemed like nowhere.
Hawks sprang into action immediately, recognizing the wicked glint in her eye much sooner than you. You were on a dull sideroad, almost an alleyway to be honest— a small street tucked away in the midst of the hasty city, sandwiched behind a few large buildings and the backs of restaurants. It was really the perfect place for a crime to occur, for there were few passerbys and no security cameras.
In just an instant, the number two hero was on his ass, nearly hacking up a lung as the offender sprayed a noxious cloud of pink spores directly into his face. The woman sported a vicious grin as she turned to you, and though Hawks tried his best to warn you of her attack, he found he could not speak— instead crumpling over to hold his stomach as his body seized with violent coughs. Just like that, you had fallen victim to her as well, your knees folding beneath you as your mind clouded over in a haze. You didn’t even register Hawks throwing her into the brick wall behind you, your brian too foggy to recognize anything before you. He was struggling to cuff the woman when he first began to sweat, his body beginning to tremble first in his chest, then spreading to his limbs and rushing into his veins, like the venom from a deadly serpent.
Your body felt hot— god, so hot— it was like liquid fire had been poured into your bloodstream, every cell of your body igniting into an all-consuming inferno. Sweat began to bead along your temple, the valley between your breasts, and the backs of your knees. You slumped onto the concrete beneath you, clammy palms scraping the rough pavement as you gasped for breath. But with each intake the symptoms only seemed to worsen, limbs growing weak and an intense pressure forming in your stomach, like an intruder attempting to burst through a barricaded door.
Hawks was busy fighting his own internal battle— the same feelings bubbling up inside of him as he clicked the quirk-canceling cuffs onto the assailant’s wrists, perhaps a notch or two too tight. He could feel himself coming to life underneath his trousers, fanning the growing fire in the pit of his stomach. “What did you do to us?” he bellowed, a mix between a groan and a growl. The tip of a ruby feather pointed itself at the base of her throat, a slight tremor shaking through the quill as his knees began to tremble.
The woman only laughed, amused by his blatant discomfort. Her eyes traveled over to your figure, curled into a tight ball on the ground. Hawks followed her gaze, distress panging through him as he realized the pained expression twisting your face.
“Reverse it,” he snarled, fists seizing the front of her shirt and pulling her body to sit upright.
But the villain only smirked, her busted lip not seeming to bother her as her eyes twinkled with malice. “Sorry, can’t do that,” she chuckled, though it came out sounding more like a wheeze, “no takesies-backsies.”
Hawks bared his teeth at her, his ferality getting the better of him as he slammed her against the brick wall another time. Her eyes fell closed and her body went limp, signalling she was out of commission for at least the time being.
“Damn it,” he groaned as her clothes slipped from his fingers, the digits opting to push into his wild tawny locks instead. Whatever quirk this woman had used on him was working too fast, and its effects were too strong. His cock was rock hard, straining against the confining material of his pants, and his body was becoming much too strung out from restraining his amplifying desire.
Chills rolled down his spine as you called out to him, your voice breathy and rough. His gloved hands clamped into fists as he shut his eyes, praying to whatever god there was to lend him the strength necessary to keep himself from tackling you and ripping off your clothes. He had never felt so desperate for you before— never had he needed to touch and taste every inch of you like he did right now. Whatever longing he had harbored for you before this morning was nothing in comparison to the emotions clobbering his sense of self-control at the moment— god, if you even called out for him one more time, he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from taking you, right here and now.
Little did he know, that was the one thing you wanted— needed, even— more than anything.
Your arms were crossed atop your chest, your knees tucking in to bend in front of them as you literally held yourself together. You could feel yourself leaking from between your legs, pussy twitching and itchy for any kind of attention you could get. “P-Please, Keigo,” you whimpered, your hands slowly trailing down your biceps, a palm clutching your own breast, thumb rubbing over the stiff nipple that stood out from beneath your hero suit.
Hawks couldn’t stand still for another second— the sound of his name from your lips too arousing, too intimate— he was on his knees before you in a flash. Both of you moaned as his lips slotted over yours, not a moment to spare as your body unfurled and wrapped around his frame, pulling him flush against yourself. His tongue pushed into your mouth, the tip twirling with yours and gliding against the back of your teeth.
Lost in the pleasure of his mouth on yours, your hands wandered over his shoulders, his chest, one taking root in his silky, fine hair. You could smell his aftershave wafting off his cheeks, the stubble on his chin tickling you as he began to kiss and nip at your jaw. He was insatiable, and so were you— your hands groping and wandering all over each other. Neither of you could get enough.
You couldn’t believe that this was really happening, in the middle of this secluded, public alleyway, during your patrol as heroes— figures that the citizens of your city looked up to, no less. Yet you couldn’t find a shit to give, and Hawks had abandoned all sense of rationality the moment you dared to cry out for him. He didn’t seem to mind the public setting, for he didn’t harbor a shred of hesitance as he swatted your hand away from your chest. His own palm squeezed your breast as he suckled on your throat, making his first of many marks that would grace your skin.
It wasn’t long before he had you against the brick wall, your body snug between his firm torso and the roughness of the bricks at your back. His face trailed further south, his absence at your neck leaving your saliva-covered skin to prickle with cold. But you weren’t left pining for more long— his teeth gripping onto your nipple through your shirt, kissing and sucking at your covered chest as his hands careened down your waist, cupping your ass and lifting you off your feet just enough for your toes to drag across the pavement.
Your heart leapt into your throat as Hawks sunk to his knees, folding your legs over his shoulders and pressing his face into the apex between your thighs. His strong arms flexed as he held you up against the wall, your legs twitching as he pressed a line of kisses into your skin. Somehow you managed to wriggle out of your bottoms, your soaked panties now on full display for the winged hero, who only groaned at the sight before his tongue began to lather at the front of the material, right over your aching slit.
You felt itchy, itchier than you’d ever been before, your cunt pulsing and squeezing around nothing as you tried to wiggle your hips closer to his mouth. “H-Hawks,” you gasped as his teeth pinched the cloth, pulling it back and letting go, just to watch it snap against your drooling center.
“No, no, little bird,” he murmured sinisterly, taking a second to rub his nose along your slit, smirking at the clearly visible line of wetness that had soaked through the material. The teasing was torture, your body screaming for him to touch you again, for even more this time.
You cut him off, too impatient for his games. “Please touch me,” you begged, breath ragged in your chest.
Golden eyes turned to slits as he grit his teeth, fighting himself not to just whip out his cock and thrust into you right then and there. “If you’re gonna beg, do it properly. I wanna hear my name, dove.”
You couldn’t handle another second of agony; everything felt like it was on fire, every inch of you ready to be used, destroyed at his disposal. “Please fuck me— I— please Keigo, I need you so bad, I can’t stand it anymore!”
Hawks grinned as he ripped your panties off your body, the splitting of the seams shocking you into looking down at him. If anything, the ferocious action only turned you on even more than before, and you screamed out as his tongue immediately wove into your tight little hole. Your entire body shook as his hot muscle slithered in and out of you, alternating between tracing your entrance and rubbing against your slick, gummy walls.
There was nothing you could do but bask in the euphoria he was giving you, your jaw falling open as his tongue retracted and he wrapped his lips around your clit instead. Your eyes slammed shut, moans escaping you as your fingers delved into those bronze locks, fisting them as you ground against his face. His chin rubbed against your weeping entrance, and Hawks found himself wishing he had two tongues, so he could lap up the delicious slick that poured out of your gushing hole.
But it stopped all too soon, a sob choking out of you when he stopped satiating you with his mouth. His hand guided one of your thighs off his shoulder, placing your foot on the pavement and giving your shaking limb an encouraging squeeze before he took his hand away. His slanted eyes locked with yours as he brought his hand to his mouth, teeth securing the edge of his glove and ripping the accessory off, revealing his long, slender fingers to your lustful gaze. The hero then crumpled the leather into a tight ball, extending his arm up to your face and pressing it against your lips.
“Can’t have my dove making too much noise now, can I?” he mumbled, a feathered brow quirking up to give him a classic, mischievous look. “Too noisy and we’ll have to cut our fun short.”
At that you shyly opened your mouth, allowing him to press the glove past your lips. Once it was secure, his thumb brushed over your cheek as he grinned, his fingers then sliding down to pinch at your nipples. You moaned at the sensation, the leather glove in your mouth muffling the noise almost completely.
Hawks’ smile only broadened at that, leaning forward to take your clit into his mouth again. Your hips bucked against him, the thigh over his shoulder curling tighter and pressing him closer to you. It felt good— so incredibly good to have his tongue entertaining your pearl of nerves, lathering and swirling it, even using his teeth to graze against it. Your head fell back onto the wall behind you, eyelids fluttering shut as his fingers around your leg dug into your flesh, his other hand squishing at your chest before trailing down your waist, then down your thigh.
Suddenly his fingers were toying with your entrance, your slick stringing as he spread his fingers, golden gaze eagerly drinking up the sight of your arousal. Oh, how he’d longed for the day he could finally do this to his sweet little sidekick— to be able to lick and kiss and nip at your most sensitive parts, only to hear you moan and whine his name, gasping for more. It was even better that his glove was shoved into your mouth, muting your saccharine voice just enough so that no one else could hear you— your noises of pleasure were his and only his to hear, to soak up, and indulge in.
You cried out as two digits slipped inside of you, your wetness never having been so overt in your life. The extra slick dripped down the tops of your thighs, your pussy shamelessly slobbering for the man currently knelt between your legs. Your velvet walls sucked his fingers deeper inside, milking them as your cunt clenched uncontrollably, his tongue relentlessly lashing against your swollen clit. Hawks’ fingers pumped into you steadily, sheathing and pulling out just the first two knuckles into your waiting hole time and time again. The movements initially were slow, as if testing the waters. But after a few exploratory thrusts, he pushed the digits inside of you as far as he could, curling them toward himself and prodding your spongy walls.
He wouldn’t stop, he couldn’t stop— you tasted too damn delicious, and his cock was leaking into his briefs at the premise of being inside you, your stifled sounds only adding fuel to the fire in his stomach. Your body was beginning to show signs of near-orgasm, and it only made him more excited to see you so reactive for him. Your eyes were shut tight, fingers pulling on his golden tresses so tightly he could feel his mind practically spinning. And your legs were trembling, almost so badly that he wondered if you were going to collapse on top of him at any moment.
You whimpered as his hand switched angles, the very tips of his fingers rubbing right against the most sensitive spot inside of you. Hawks noticed your body twitch, even though you tried your best to keep your reaction a secret to him, ashamed to already be so close to cumming. But the winged hero was feeling anything but shame— pressing his fingers into that spot again and again, savoring how your cries became louder underneath his glove in your mouth, your limbs quivering against his skin. You tried to warn him, your thigh squeezing tight around his shoulder, your fingers lacing even tighter into his hair, spine stiffening.
Hawks seemed to know what was coming, for his fingers began flicking back and forth inside of you, stimulating that soft, spongy spot that made stars blur at the corners of your vision. Your toes curled tight inside your boots, tears pooling between your eyelashes, your body feeling as though it was trapped inside an elevator surging toward the thousandth floor of a skyscraper. The tension was building, building, oh it was so close— you could practically see the heavenly, orgasmic light shining just before you, and then—
He pulled back.
Had his glove not been occupying your mouth, your whine of anguish would have echoed off the stone walls of the alleyway, your body slumping into his arms in complete dejection. Your brows were furrowed in torment, wondering how in the world Hawks had the strength to pull away from you when you were in such a state— you were practically imploring for his attention, body so hot and willing that you’d let him do anything he could possibly want to you.
You were too lost mourning the lost orgasm to notice Hawks haphazardly shoving his pants down, pulling his black, tight shirt halfway up his abs. His cock sprang up from its confines, his eyes just slits as he focused his gaze on your dripping cunt, still twitching in misery from his teasing torture. You only realized you were being maneuvered once it was too late— he had dropped the leg that had previously rested on his shoulder, instead taking the other and pushing it to press up against the wall, his fingers digging into your thigh. He was upright now, teeth taking the tip of your ear hostage as he rutted his heavy cock against your saturated slit.
Fresh waves of lust rippled through your body, your bones turning cold with white-hot anticipation. You could feel everything— his member sliding against your entrance, gliding against you from head to base, even the veins decorating his shaft as they brushed against your aching core.
Hawks’ breath was heavy in your ear, but that only made you want him more. It was the only physical sign that he was just as affected as you; the soft groan falling from his lips as you bucked against him was proof enough of that. Yet somehow he staved off from thrusting into you, despite your pussy coating his whole length in your slippery love syrup.
You tried to complain, but the glove between your lips jumbled any words into a muted mess.
He seemed to be amused by your efforts, his honey gaze seizing yours. “If I take that out for you, do you promise you’ll be a good little dove for me? Can’t have you singing too loud, alright?” His words were music to your ears, and you quickly nodded your head, eager to prove yourself to him. But he didn’t move a muscle; only his tongue wandered out to swipe across his bottom lip, which then disappeared between his teeth. His eyes darted south, and before yours could follow suit, he pushed inside you to the hilt.
You screamed as he forced your elastic walls to stretch around him, the thickness of his cock taking you by surprise. Intense pleasure burst into your body as he pulled out halfway, sheathing himself back inside almost immediately. Hawks’ eyes were shut tight, savoring the way your cunt hugged him so perfectly. Already you were milking him, and he knew there was no way he could last.
It didn’t matter, really, because the instant his hand slid down your pelvis and his fingers began to toy with your clit, you were gone. Instantly that intense pressure built just like it had before, for a split second it was all you could feel. And then you were crashing through your orgasm, his name the only thing on your brain. You called it out again and again, ecstasy zipping through your veins and toward the intense heat that the villain’s quirk had produced. The sensations clashed in a fiery explosion, your entire body straining as you did your best to handle the pleasure, your pussy wringing tight around Hawks’ cock.
Hawks gasped, his head falling to your shoulder at the intensity— at the snugness of your cunt like a vice around him, at the sound of your muffled cries for him, at the way your body trembled in his hands. He didn’t wait long, though, for after the initial shock of your orgasm arriving, his hips began to ruthlessly smack against yours. His grip was now tight on your body, fingernails digging little crescents into the skin of your thigh and your asscheek, which he pulled back to slide himself even deeper inside of you.
Your head smacked against the brick as it fell backwards, the pleasure flowing endlessly through your entire body. It was only then that Hawks bothered to take his glove from between your lips, and you immediately gasped for the sweet rush of air that filled your mouth. Small noises of content slithered out of you with every crash of his hips against you, impossible for you to silence the constant “hah” and “yes”’es. Not that Hawks seemed to really mind— in fact, he was eating up every sweet noise that left your throat, cherishing the cute, dazed look on your face as he pummeled your tight little cunt with his fat cock.
It was wrong to be this attracted to his sidekick, he knew. But maybe that was why it felt so fucking good, too— the forbidden, unspoken attraction that hung between the pair of you like a heavy shadow whenever you were together. The line had been crossed, and god, was the grass greener on the other side. If this was what being with you felt like, he didn’t want to go back. He couldn’t— he’d tasted your sweet ambrosia and he could never push you away again. You were pouring life into him as you took his cock so perfectly, and he could feel nothing but euphoria as he slammed your cunt onto himself again and again.
His release was building, but goddamn it, he was gonna hold out for as long as he could. He was gonna make you feel as good as he possibly could, and hopefully it was something that could mirror the intense bliss that you were giving him. From the way your irises rolled back in your skull, your nails gripping into his muscles tightly as your jaw hung ajar, his name slipping through your lips every other thrust— he guessed he was doing a pretty good job.
Meanwhile your brain was nearly liquefying in your skull, the aftershocks of your orgasm still stinging your bones with pleasure. Hawks never let you come down from your high, and he was doing a damn good job at keeping you on cloud nine— his hand holding up your thigh so he had a better angle to continue drilling into that sweet, springy spot inside of you. His wings began to flutter and stretch behind him, flapping gently with each swing of his hips. It felt so good that you could barely keep yourself from screaming for him, from letting the entire city know that it was him who was fucking you so good.
“K-Keigo,” you choked, a tear sliding down your cheek. Hawks moaned at the sound of his name on your voice, leaning forward to lick up the saline bead before he pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of your mouth, a shocking contrast to how hard he was pounding into you just a short distance south. “Feels so— agh! fuck— good, oh my goddd.”
Hawks nipped at your throat, burying his face in your neck as his thrusts became more shallow, his pace beginning to falter. “You like my cock, dove?” he growled, chest heaving as that intense pressure started to build in his stomach. “Your pussy is so fuckin’ wet for me— T-Tight! Hah, shit— s’too fuckin’ good baby.”
You could only moan at his words, cunt clenching down on him on its own accord. Hawks gasped at the feeling, teeth sinking into your throat as the heat of the quirk clashed with the heightened tension in his abdomen. The collision of the two sensations proved to be too much for the winged hero to handle, a groan rumbling his throat as he painted your insides white with ribbons of cum, his wings unfurling and each individual feather quivering in sheer ecstasy. His body shook, muscles taut as he emptied himself into your dripping cunt, arms wrapping tight around your waist as he gasped for breath.
The heat from your bodies began to dwindle, the villain’s quirk exiting your systems and rendering the two of you boneless, breathless, and satisfied like never before. It suddenly dawned on you that you were in the middle of an alleyway, the cool spring breeze touseling Hawks’ blonde hair before your eyes. He was still wrapped around you, trying to catch his breath as his cock continued to throb against your silken walls. The pair of you stood still against the brick wall, the fact that you’d just crossed such a serious line with your closest coworker setting in. There was a sense of dread that began to bloom in your chest, your suppressed feelings for the hero unleashed and thriving, now more than ever.
Before you could overthink for another second, Hawks pulled back, warm golden eyes peering into yours. “I gotta say, dove,” he murmured, a hand coming to cup your jaw and stroke his thumb across your skin, “that was definitely the best quirk I’ve ever been hit with on the job.”
You chuckled at that, the weight of the situation instantly lightening up as you gave him a slow nod of agreement. Your heart began to beat quickly as you gathered the courage to take it a step further than his confession. “I’m glad it was with you,” you replied quietly, meekly averting your gaze to the side.
Hawks hummed, thumbing over your cheek again as a smile rose to his lips. He pressed his mouth to yours again, fingers creeping into your hair as he pulled your face close to his. This kiss was unlike any you shared before, conveying only a sweetness, fondness even— a comforting reciprocation. You smiled against his lips, too, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him back, your fear dissipating as fast as it had come.
“I’m glad, too,” Hawks mumbled between your kisses, pulling away to quirk a brow at you playfully. “Can you imagine if I was with Endeavor instead?” he made the both of you laugh before leaning in to press his lips against yours again, the image of the serious, number one hero and your coworker in such a situation too hilarious not to laugh. But just as you started to deepen the kiss, he couldn’t resist throwing in the punchline he’d set up.
“I’d be a damn rotisserie chicken by now.”
─── ・°* ゚✧:* • 。゚:*・☽・*: 。゚•*:✧ ゚*°・ ───
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sdfghj i never know how to end these and also why do i use this many dashes i am sORRY if you enjoyed pls make sure to lemme know~~ 💕
➥ masterlist
➥ BINGO masterlist
#whew its 2am i did it#takami keigo smut#hawks smut#bnha smut#mha smut#takami keigo x reader#hawks x reader#bnha x reader#mha x reader#takami keigo fic#hawks fic#bnha fic#mha fic#skskksks I LOVE GLOVES SHOVE THAT SHIT IN ME MOUTH ZADDY
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Your Prequel Revan AU lives rent free in my head.
Hypothetically, would HK-47 be a part of the D-Squad mission? Do you think they would still find Gregor?
i have honestly not thought about hk-47 being apart of the d-squad mission and now i say it he'd be a part of it just for the sheer comedic value alone. his being on the mission would likely be just a bad (for him) coincidence; revan mostly keeps him out of sight from those not serving directly under them because it's difficult to explain why they have a droid that is very obviously Built For Murder. he primarily works closely with maul (who hates him) and the revenants, so throwing him in the d-squad mission is more a gesture of goodwill than revan making a genuine investment. look at this normal droid they have! yessir he's a good droid! anyway's he's the Babysitter. R2 has never been wiped and revan thinks that's insane. yeah sure, droids are friends, but a security risk is a security risk, and they don't get why he doesn't just backup R2 before every mission and restore him when he gets back. or, you know, make his thought matrix so incomprehensible that he can't be wiped much less hacked, like they did for HK. but that's besides the point. revan asks hk to "try and make sure everyone comes out intact, but don't stand out too much." revan should have been more specific.
d-squad does, in fact, crash on abafar, because hk isn't a pilot and comet storms are comet storms, but there is very little physical resistance that the group faces. hk-47 can take down super battle droids unarmed. gascon is genuinely horrified and a bit scared for his life (hk keeps insinuating he can and will squish gascon, and everytime gascon exclaims about malachor hk laughs), but all the droids think hk-47 is just the greatest. he talks shit about gascon the whole time and kicks so much ass with only mild complaining that he'd rather be killing meatbags instead. he gets a little fan club. r2 and hk become murder friends. hk calls gregor 'useless meatbag' because he's forgotten the one thing hk thinks clones are good for (combat) but he still beats borkus to death because borkus reminds him enough of yuka laka where hk finds it fun. gregor redeems his useless meatbag status by helping them escape, and hk (correctly) makes the decision that revan might find gregor a useful asset and hauls him onto d-squad. they take the venator and park it a safe distance from the fleet at cardia. the republic gets a ship and whole bunch of rhydonium! and look, a commando! don't ask about the details.
it's very easy for republic high command to credit gregor with taking the ship, though gregor insists that he'd be dead a few times over if it weren't for d-squad, never mind still on abafar washing dishes. gascon gets his commendation and he would like to ask about hk-47, who may or may not have led a takeover of the ship and hunted confederate droids for sport, but before he can get a word in High General Revan, rising star of the republic war effort, considered a military genius even by gascon, steps in to thank him. For returning their droid to them safely of course, and oh but they hope HK-47 wasn't too much of a problem on his mission. they smile, and it reminds gascon of a baring of teeth. in that moment he turns to his years spent as a military strategist and decides to keep his mouth shut.
#a sunny day in the void is one of my fav episodes visually#listen HK playing babysitter and being reluctantly good at it#would be funny as hell#prequel revan au#the growing circle of people who realize something is up with revan#but deciding to mind their own buisness#rené.txt
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snippet!
thank you @juliusschmidt @hershelsue @kingsofeverything @princelyharry @infinitelymint @beelou @thebreadvansstuff @haztobegood @littleroverlouis @wabadabadaba and @justalarryblog for tagging me lately! I am going through the final edits of my Grace Kelly AU, so I decided to share this snip because I miss sharing bits of it and I can’t wait to finally post this for Big Bang!!
When the lights go up, their security guards whisk them backstage right away where they’re greeted by more photographers. Alessandro throws his arms open for hugs and the press captures their embraces and kisses on the cheeks. After a minute, Alessandro waves an assistant over, who shoos the photographers away.
“Your Highness, you humble me,” Alessandro says, placing his hand over his heart and bowing slightly. “I was very honored to hear of your attendance.”
“It was a wonderful show,” Louis says earnestly, leaning forward. He gestures toward Harry as he continues, “Harry told me about the spectacle of the Paris show last fall, but I have to admit it’s an entirely different experience to witness it in person. It was very impressive, I commend you on the fashions but also the showmanship.”
“Ah, grazie, grazie, thank you,” Alessandro says, placing his hands on Louis’ cheeks and drawing him in. He makes a show of smooching both sides of Louis’ face and the three of them laugh. Harry ignores the flashes of the nearby cameras that threaten to ruin the moment, used to the occupational hazard. “I am hating to leave you, but I have–”
“Oh, please, don’t let us keep you,” Louis says, resting his hand on Alessandro’s arm. “I just wanted to say hello, and congratulations. We understand, you must have a thousand things to attend to.”
“I’ll see you in a few days,” Harry says, the fact that he hasn’t spoken yet not lost on him. He grins, pleased that his friend and his fiancé are getting along so well. “Harry Lambert and I–”
“Are looking forward to the fitting!”
They all turn to see a flushed Harry Lambert push through the crowd backstage to reach them.
“Lallo, darling! The show, che bello,” he says as they trade kisses. “Hi, Sue! Louis friend!”
“Harry,” Louis says with a bright smile. “Harry didn’t tell me you were going to be here.”
Alessandro melts into the crowd as Harry Lambert cocks a hip. “Oh, really? Even though you took my seat?”
Louis’ eyebrows shoot up and he turns to Harry, looking horrified, but Harry Lambert laughs.
“I’m only teasing! It’s fine, they made room for me at the side, which worked out perfectly, considering I had to run all the way here from Bode.”
“How was that show?” Harry asks. He has a few Bode pieces, and he’s definitely interested in getting more.
“Fucking fantastic,” Harry Lambert declares, drawing a few curious glances from the people around them. “Shall I tell you about it over dinner?”
“That sounds wonderful,” Louis says. “What do you think, love?”
“Come over,” Harry suggests. “We can order in, and I won’t have to worry about getting anything on my boa.”
“We’re entering a boa era, don’t you think, Louis friend?”
“Well, I certainly like this one,” Louis says, ever the diplomat. “Excuse me, I’ll let Daniel know of our plans.”
Harry Lambert throws his arm around Harry’s shoulders, careful not to jostle the boa too much, as they watch Louis consult his security guard.
“Have I mentioned that I really like him?” Harry Lambert asks, keeping his voice low. “You did good.”
“Yeah,” Harry says, smiling as Louis turns and catches his eye. “Yeah, I did.”
I’ll tag you all back!
#grace kelly au#i swear i've read every word of this fic hundreds of times#and i'm still finding things to fix#i need to post alreadyyyy
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White Blood Cell (U-1146) x Gender Neutral! Reader || Maybe I’m in Love
Warnings: Blood. Reader getting hurt. Slight angst but happy ending.
You nonchalantly walked through the body as you hummed your favorite song and swung your arms from side to side. It was a quiet, peaceful day and you could feel it in the atmosphere. Cells were happily talking to each other as they carried out their duties, nobody was running and screaming-
“Bacteria!” a red blood cell’s panicked voice broke the calm atmosphere as he ran in your direction, causing the other cells to scream and to start running in the same direction as him. Looks like you spoke too soon.
You didn’t need to be told twice. You pulled your pink cap down more securely before you took off running in the direction of where the cell came from. “Is it back there?” you asked and pointed ahead of you as you approached the cell who screamed.
He nodded as the two of you sped past each other. Him with a look of pure terror and you with your eyes fierce with determination. You knew you arrived when you saw rubble and a grotesque creature laughing maniacally, “what a wonderful place this body is.”
You noticed some cells standing frozen at the sight, “get out of here!” you commanded as you ran towards them, in case any of them were hurt. That seemed to snap them out of their reverie as they let out petrified yells while they ran away.
There was a whizzing sound and you used your sasumata to deflect the barb aimed towards the cells. You frowned as you looked at the bacteria smiling smugly at you, “you’re just a little eosinophil, aren’t you?” he crooned.
You tightened your hold on your sasumata as you faced off with the creature, “what is your point?” you tried to stall for time, enough for a neutrophil to arrive and finish him off. You knew you could hardly do anything against him, but keeping him away from the other cells would be the best you could do.
“Today must be my lucky day!” he howled in delight as he cackled with laughter, your (e/c) eyes darted around as you looked for any more cells in the area frozen in fear, and much to your chagrin, many seemed to have forgotten how to use their legs. He was too busy laughing to notice you start to move and you were halfway towards him before there was another ‘shing’ and you barely dodged a barb aimed to kill. His laughter turned into a frown, “I’m gonna kill you!” he shouted and you frantically used your sasumata as a shield against the barrage of barbs coming at you.
“Get out of here!” you shouted to the cells across the area who were watching the entire scene play out with wide eyes. That got their attention and they started to move, but that also got the bacteria’s attention as he spun around and shot his barbs in their direction, “hey ugly!” you leapt up and tried to stab his head but your sasumata bounced off uselessly. It worked though, as he was distracted enough to let his barbs falter and the cells were able to get safely away.
“Trying to play the hero, are we?” he crooned as he pulled himself up to his full height and towered over you.
You gulped as you held your sasumata close to you and tried to keep your knees from shaking, “trying to play the villain, are we?” you mentally slapped yourself. That was a dumb comeback.
“Trying?” the bacteria leaned back in laughter, “honey, I am the villain!” his barbs rose up around him as he laughed maniacally, “and I’m going to take over this body!” there was a slash and blood spurted out from him as he fell to the ground. Dead.
You let out a sigh of relief and waited a moment for your knees to stop knocking against each other. Once you got your cool back, you smirked and kicked the corpse, “some villain.” You turned to the neutrophil who had come to your aid and gave a bow, “thank you for your help!”
“Yeah,” he let out a grunt and you looked up to see a familiar white blood cell with his hair covering one eye, “just doing my job.”
You sighed and crossed your arms at the blood covered cell, “one day you should just accept a thanks U-1146. I get that you’re doing your job, we all are,” you went to the edge of the open area and White Blood Cell followed suit, “but being appreciated is nice, y’know? Either way,” you grabbed the hose that was lying on the ground, “it’s good to see you again.” You really did love running into him. Just seeing him seemed to put a smile on your face. You smiled as you looked at the cell and pointed the running hose at him, effectively spraying him in the face with water. He let out a sputter from the sudden burst of water to his face and held up a hand to block the water. You laughed at the dark look he gave you as you put the hose back down, seeing as how he was clean again.
“Hmm,” he gave you an uncommitted grunt.
You sighed as you noticed this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. You walked past him towards the main area, “well, I’ll see you around I guess.” You spun around and walked backwards to give him a grin, “until then, don’t die!” while your face held a joking tone, you genuinely meant what you said. You wanted to see him again, and again, and as much as you could until the end of your days.
He had turned around when you shouted your last words and gave you a small grin, “same to you.”
“White Blood Cell!” your eyes widened as a female red blood cell sprinted past you and towards the white blood cell you were walking away from.
“Red blood cell!” you heard him gasp and you frowned. The two knew each other?
As you entered the main area you overheard a cell mutter, “ugh, what a weakling. Isn’t (pronoun) also a white blood cell?”
“Hey,” you spun around and glared at the cell who just badmouthed you, “how about you do it, then.” You stuck out your sasumata towards her and she stared back with wide eyes as she took a step back.
“That’s crazy! I’m not a white blood cell! That’s not my job!”
“My point,” you brought your sasumata back towards you, “my main job isn’t to fight viruses and bacteria, its to fight parasites, so don’t go around judging people before you know the whole story,” you angrily turned away from her and took a couple steps before turning your head back to let loose one last insult, “your lack of a nucleus is showing!” the girl’s face turned as red as the beret on her head.
↞↟↠
“It must be hard watching over her,” you let your voice precede you before you stepped out to face a certain white blood cell with his hair covering one eye.
“Eosinophil.” He gasped as he watched you approach him.
You let your gaze follow the energetic red blood cell bounding away to do her job as you continued to speak, “trouble always seems to find her, doesn’t it?”
He stifled a laugh, “and you.”
“Hey,” you turned back toward him with a half annoyed, half joking look on your face, “I look for trouble. That’s my job.”
“Did you just happen to be here?” he asked in confusion. Normally it was him who ran into you, not the other way around. And why were you talking about red blood cell?
You opted to ignore his question, seeing as how your explanation of ‘I’ve just been following you all day’ would be difficult to defend, “why? Why do you watch her in particular?”
“She needs it.”
“And the other blood cells don’t?” you raised a dubious eyebrow.
He sighed and rubbed his face, “her more than others. Every time I’ve run into her, she’s been hopelessly lost.”
“That’s rough.”
A small smile grew on his face, one that you saw, “but she’s doing her best, and I commend her for that.”
“You’re not falling for her, are you?” you frowned as you looked at the cell standing across from you.
His face turned red, “no.”
You sighed at his response, he wasn’t being subtle, “make sure you don’t, okay?” your voice softened as you looked at the lovestruck cell in front of you, “I don’t want you to get hurt.” ‘Or me.’ You couldn’t help but add in your head. You knew it was foolish, to fall for the cell who happened to rescue you every time you were in danger. There was no room in cell life for love. It was dangerous. Every day was a battle for life, and the two of you immune cells were the first line of defense. But something about his calm voice, cool attitude and strength drew you in. And perhaps it drew that red blood cell in as well. Maybe, maybe you weren’t the only one falling in love.
↞↟↠
It was another day of fighting in the body and you were struggling. The virus was relentless in his attacks against you. Barbs flew at you from every angle and you could hardly protect yourself, let alone try to attack. And to make matters worse, the place was teeming with other cells. Cells who had decided that instead of running away, they would stand and watch your butt get whooped. “You’re,” you grunted as a barb collided with your sasumata, “not,” another grunt, “revealing,” a yelp as you dodged two barbs coming at you at the same time, “your,” another clang, “plan,” another grunt, “for,” you winced as a barb sunk into your arm and roughly pulled itself out, “body domination?” there was another whiz and before you knew it, your sasumata had clattered out of your grasp.
The virus watched you unamusedly as you scrambled for your weapon while trying to dodge the barbs, ultimately failing as you ended up as a bloody mess from the amount of hits you were unable to dodge. Which was an embarrassingly high percentage. “You’re boring.”
You couldn’t help but let out an annoyed scoff, “that’s the first thing you say to me?” For the entirety of the fight you tried to get a reaction out of him, hoping to get him distracted enough to stop barraging you, but he just wasn’t taking any of the bait. He just silently stood and sent barbs flying at you as you desperately tried to do something.
“I tried to give you a chance,” he shrugged as he looked at you with two bored eyes, “if I was trying to kill you, you’d be dead by now, but all the legends are true.” You gritted your teeth as you glared at him, “all eosinophils are weak.”
“Then I thank you for giving me a chance.”
His face morphed into the first expression that you’ve seen on his face other than that perpetual boredness, “die.” All of the barbs came flying at you at once and you froze. You didn’t know what you could do against an attack of that size. They were coming at you from all angles, you couldn’t slip around and past it, and your sasumata was a weak shield. What were you saying, it wasn’t even a shield. You tightened your grip and let out a yell, if this was the end, you were going to go out as loud as you could. You poised your weapon and...he collapsed.
You let out a sigh of relief as blood leaked out from the fatal wound inflicted by a neutrophil. “What a weakling,” you heard a cell mutter, “(pronoun) didn’t even lay a scratch on him.”
“Yeah, and (pronoun)’s basically on the verge of death.” You heard the response and fell roughly to your knees. Now that the fight was over, all the adrenaline dissipated from your body and you could feel the pain screaming from what felt like every inch of your body.
“I thought I told you not to die,” you looked up to see a blood covered neutrophil looking down at you.
You smiled wryly up at him, “not dead yet. Good to see you again U-1146.”
He kneeled down to get on your level, “how injured are you?”
You groaned, “you already know none of the blood covering me is his.”
The single eye you could see widened, “I didn’t.”
“Surprise?”
“Hey!” he stood up and called out to the crowd of cells that were still gathered, “is anyone carrying nutrients?”
There was some muttering but someone’s voice was loud enough for the both of you to hear, “not for a weakling like (pronoun).”
You sighed and hung your head defeatedly. You almost wished the virus finished you earlier. “Your lack of a nucleus is showing!” you jerked your head up to look at U-1146 looking furiously at the crowd of cells, his fists were clenched by his sides and he looked ready to fight again.
“Are those my words?” you grinned up at him.
He looked over his shoulder to look at you, “maybe.” He frowned when nobody else reacted and turned back around to face you. He kneeled down and before you knew it, he was lifting you up bridal style.
“Woah hey! White Blood Cell!” you panicked and clutched at him and your sasumata, “put me down!”
“Don’t worry,” he told you as he began walking to who knows where. It was the opposite way of the main area, and because of that, the lighting seemed to dim, “you’re going to get your nutrients.”
You felt yourself relax in his arms, he was just so warm and comfortable, and his steady footsteps were strangely soothing in its own sense. “Hey U-1146?” you mumbled as you tried to snuggle deeper into his arms. Now that you thought about it, you were really tired, and the dim lighting seemed to be beckoning you to go to sleep. “Thank you.”
“Eosinophil,” he shook you, “hey, Eosinophil!” his voice rose in a panic and his footsteps quickened, “don’t fall asleep okay!”
“But you’re so warm,” you mumbled.
“Stay with me! Eosinophil! Listen to me!” you tried to, you really did, but soon his voice faded into silence as you gave way into sleep.
↞↟↠
You felt yourself rise from a deep sleep and you opened your eyes to see White Blood Cell sitting in a chair by your bed. Asleep. You smiled as you looked at the cell, it was nice to see him. You looked closer at him and your smile morphed into a frown when you saw the dark bags under his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
You sat up in your bed and lifted an arm to flip off your covers but stopped and let out a soft gasp when you saw your arm covered in bandages. You looked at your other arm and even at your chest to see bandages covering nearly every inch of your body. Your face flushed when you thought about the only other cell in the apartment, and how he must’ve been the one who put on your bandages. You buried your face in your hands. How embarrassing!
You tried to be quiet, since it looked like White Blood Cell needed the sleep, but he must’ve been a light sleeper as he let out a groan and blinked his eyes as he woke up. It took a moment for his eyes to focus and for his brain to catch up, but once it did, “Eosinophil!” his dark eyes widened as he looked at you.
“Good morning,” you rasped out. Your eyes widened in shock, how long have you been out that caused your voice to sound dead? You cleared your throat and tried again, “how long have I been out?”
“I’m so glad you’re awake!” he ignored your question and just burst out. His mind was reeling. For the past few days while he sat and watched you sleep (in a protective way of course. He wanted to be there in case you worsened, but he also wanted to be there when you woke up so he could help you.), his mind ran with thoughts of what he would say to you. Things he was afraid of saying but realized he should’ve said them, because if you didn’t wake up, he’d live the rest of his life berating himself for not telling you sooner. “I was so worried!”
You gave him a little bow, “thank you for taking care of me White Blood Cell.” You noticed a frantic look in his eyes and leaned forward in concern, “are you okay? You look a little shaken. Did something happen?”
He could hardly think, let alone hear your concern. His mind was yelling, fighting against himself. ‘Tell (pronoun)!’
‘I can’t!’
‘You might not get another chance!’
‘I couldn’t burden (pronoun) with this!’
‘This is a gift! Take it!’
“White Blood Cell?” he seemed frozen in time as he stared at nothing. You gently put a hand on your knee, “hey, I’m really concerned now.”
The touch seemed to have jolted him out of it as words suddenly started pouring out of his mouth, “Eosinophil! I was so worried for you!” your hand darted back to your body at the sudden movement, “I thought I lost you! I thought you were dead! And everyone else told me to just let you rest, but I couldn’t let you go! They kept on telling me to leave you and let you be, to let you die, but I couldn’t do that!” he gulped and took a breath, his chest starting to heave as if he had just fought a virus.
“Maybe you should’ve,” you muttered to your fists and they clenched around the blanket in your lap, “maybe it was my time to leave.”
“No!” The speed of White Blood Cell’s reaction took you by surprise, but maybe, he was justified in his reaction. He spent how many days by your side? Taking care of you while you were off sleeping. “Please don’t leave me.” He bowed his head into his hands so you couldn’t see the emotions darting around his face or the tears dripping off his nose. “Please, Eosinophil.”
It hurt you to hear him sound so broken, “I won’t leave.” You told him quietly as you leaned forward to rub his knee soothingly.
“Promise me.”
“I promise I won’t leave you,” you agreed in the same quiet tone. His reaction was starting to concern you, but you knew you shouldn’t push anything.
“They all told me you were a lost cause, but I couldn’t let you go because,” he broke off from what he was going to say and took a deep gulp. Was he going to say it? His mind continued to scream at him and he could hardly form a cohesive thought. “I love you.”
You did a double take. Did you hear that right? Did he just confess his love to you? He said it in a really soft voice, so you weren’t really sure what he said. He was expecting a response from you. What were you to say? What if you said the wrong thing? “You what?”
He took a deep breath and finally looked up to meet your (e/c) eyes with his own dark ones, “I love you.”
Your face broke into a grin and you forcefully leaned forward to pull him into a hug, “I love you too White Blood Cell,” you told him through happy tears, “I love you so much.”
You felt him return the hug, “I’m glad.”
Masterlist
#wbc#white blood cell#cells at work#cells at work x reader#cells at work reader insert#white blood cell x reader#wbc x reader#x reader#reader insert#my work#kimi's writing
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Hiro is here!! We've all been waiting for him!!
You know the drill by now, all the yummy details about his background are under the cut ;) Also be warned it is VERY long I went a little feral writing his backstory lmao
Hiro
Age: 17
Hair color: Orange
Eye color: Pink
Element: Psychic & Forest
Okay so a lot of this is gonna be stuff I'm pulling from posts I've already written to make it easier on myself and so I don't have to repeat anything.
Before he was born, the Novune Forces approached Hiro's parents because they knew that he would be born as a dual elemental. Part of their goal was to raise several dual type children to become human weapons--they targeted dual type babies specifically because they're said to be more powerful since they can use more than one elemental type.
It was the perfect opportunity for Hiro's parents because at the time they were not ready for a child despite agreeing that they were going to have it. Ofc the Forces did not reveal their plans so to them it turned into a nice surrogate parent situation where Hiro's mother would give birth to him and he'd immediately be given up for adoption afterwards. It was definitely hard for them to part with him but they trusted he'd be in good care. Well. That turned out great, as you can probably tell :')
Hiro, along with Kaz and Mallary, became the Forces' iconic trio, with Hiro considered to be the golden child and the most dangerous between the three of them because of his high intellect and skill in combat. He grew up under a very strict regimen and would spend hours each day dedicated to training both his mind and his elemental powers. He's an extremely gifted psychic elemental and took to his abilities almost immediately--he’s able to read his opponents movements and set up traps before they can even get to him. He’s usually airborne for most battles he’s in; he finds it easier to strategize from a higher vantage point, and he also just likes to float around and dodge enemy attacks and act like an ass lmao. He’s a pro at immobilizing his enemies so they can no longer move, ending his battles swiftly and cleanly. Physically he’s not very powerful so he uses a magic staff to fight. His intelligence more than makes up for his lack of super strength!
He has a special power like Kaz’s extra dragon typing (and, like Kaz, he has a streak in his hair from the experimentation)—Hiro gets visions of death, basically predictions of the future, and his visions are never wrong. He’s able to see who dies in battle and the Forces use this to their advantage so that they can prepare around any casualties. Hiro hates getting these visions because he doesn’t like seeing people die, he witnesses their last moments and it’s certainly traumatizing for him;; and like Kaz, this power was something he only unlocked through lots of experimentation on him, so he usually passes out for hours after getting a vision since it’s not a “natural” ability he was born with.
As for his second typing, it was something he never really clicked with. Forest elementals have to be very attuned to nature and are generally more kindhearted and gentle people, but since Hiro grew up in a base with only limited access to the outside (and because he’s forced into acting as an antagonist), his forest elemental powers were repressed over the years. He’s already powerful enough as a psychic elemental so he doesn’t feel the need to resort to a second power, especially since his superiors viewed his second typing as useless and he never received proper training on how to use it. He's already a huge threat as he is so they said good enough. The Forces believe that if something is useless, throw it away, so they eventually abandoned any hope of him succeeding in bettering his forest powers, and focused solely on enhancing his psychic abilities and making his death visions clearer.
Before Hiro became the cold-hearted and snarky colonel that the Forces know him as, he was actually a very kind child with an aversion to violence, and cried often. That got forced out of him pretty quickly though--he learned right away that disobedience means punishment and the only way to pay for his mistakes is by verbal and physical abuse. Poor baby :'( He and Kaz and Mallary go through a LOT of unfair shit as kids. The event that really drove home his intense determination and flawless record was the first mission he was ever sent out on.
This happened when he was around 13. Usually members of the Forces don't get to go out on solo missions unless they have a high position or are old enough to, but he was the exception because of his talent and because it was an experiment to see if he could handle it. His mission was to infiltrate a small, family run guild and basically gather intel and find out what their agenda was, as there were rumors they knew of some of the Forces’ plans. Upon Hiro’s arrival to the town where the guild was situated, he ends up rescuing the Guildmaster’s daughter, Lorelai, who is around his age. Unknowingly, he triggered his forest elemental powers, which caused them to land in a field of flowers he’d bloomed. Because of this, Lorelai starts to call him Flower, since he couldn’t come up with a codename in time and he doesn’t have a real name anyway lol
A couple weeks pass and Hiro spends more and more time with the guild, growing closer to Lorelai and being lulled into a false sense of security. He becomes extremely jealous of how the guild lives, and is very emotional at how much of a family they are, and how sweetly they treat him. Hiro starts to ponder over whether or not he should be sneaking around behind their back, when one day the guild is attacked while he’s out. When he returns, the village is set ablaze, and when Hiro demands what’s going on, his superior informs him that he was merely a decoy to get their defenses down, since apparently the Forces had definitive proof that they knew of their plans. His superior orders Hiro to search the village and kill anybody who was left.
Hiro, panicked, searches for Lorelai, and finds her hiding in the forest nearby. He apologizes to her and has a mental breakdown, blaming himself for all of her misfortune. Lorelai realizes that he’s being kept in the Forces against his will and begs him to run away with her. Hiro knows that he’ll be hunted down if he does, and Lorelai could get hurt, so he tells her he has to stay with them. In the midst of this, they are confronted with the current colonel of the Forces, who encourages Hiro to kill Lorelai. Hiro refuses, and the colonel calls him out for insubordination. The colonel then decides to kill both of them in order to get a promotion. Hiro leaps to defend both Lorelai and himself, and in the scuffle, receives the scar on his head, and accidentally kills the colonel. Traumatized, bloodied, and terrified, Lorelai is the one to apologize to him as he cries his eyes out. Hiro numbly reassures her and tells her to run while she can. Lorelai admits that she loves him and bids him farewell, hoping that they can meet again, and that she’s sorry she can’t do more for him.
This is when Hiro decides to become the perfect agent—dangerous, cruel, and flawless, so that something like this never happens again, and so that he can have enough power to make the decisions rather than just following orders to mindlessly kill people. From then on out he does what he’s told without any complaints and has a record for never failing a single mission the Forces have given to him. Any enemy considers him to be absolutely ruthless because he does not hesitate in battles and will neutralize with no questions asked. He’s a cocky little bastard around enemies lmao he loves to snark them and tease them. He’s strictly against killing after what happened to the colonel, so instead, if it’s a high risk operation, he erases the memories of his targets to reduce the threat. Because he’s so uncomfortable with the thought of death in general he reasons that losing your memories is better than dying, and that makes it easier on the Forces as well since they’ll leave less of a trail rather than just killing people left and right.
Growing up, Hiro didn’t interact with Kaz very much, and they usually just saw each other in passing. However they both respect each other a great amount, and they sympathize with each other, being in the same sort of situation. Both the Hiro and Kaz hate their upbringing and hold a grudge against their superiors for their treatment and experimentation on them;; As for Mallary, Hiro became enamored with her because she reminds him a lot of Lorelai (who he later admits to being his first love). He finds her strength captivating and the way she doesn’t give a shit about other people’s opinions admirable. Hiro eventually falls prey to her manipulation and falls over himself to please her, which bothers Kaz because he knows Mallary’s just toying with him.
After the Forces’ plan to kidnap Ginni and use her as a hostage blows up in their face, Hiro finds out that Kaz had escaped with her, and commends him on the extremely smart decision to do so lol. He wonders if he should start considering leaving the Forces as well, seeing as he’s mature and responsible (and smart) enough to make it on his own. He’s ordered to retrieve Kaz which was a HUGE mistake on the Forces’ part because they didn’t realize Hiro’s loyalties lied more with people on the outside. Hiro meets up with Kaz and Kaz eventually convinces him to desert the Forces and work with him to stop their plans. Hiro agrees to work as a double agent for a while, leaking all of the Forces’ information to Kaz, Ginni, and the guild. In the midst of all this, Hiro meets Olivia, who pretty much calls dibs on him and she’s like “Listen Ginni got to give Kaz his name so can I give the colonel a name?? Please???” So she starts calling him Hiro! And finally baby boy smarts up and starts crushing on a girl that actually gives a damn about him and god dammit it’s the cutest fucking case of puppy love since Dusk/Nozomi. Hiro absolutely adores her, but he’s too nervous to actually do anything about it because he’s got huge abandonment issues (thanks again bad parenting! And Mallary!) and doesn’t want to ruin one of the only genuine friendships he’s ever had. But he is head over HEELS for Olivia and it’s so……softe.
Mallary finds out that Hiro’s acting as a spy, and retaliates. Hiro realizes just how awfully she’s treated him and defeats her, allowing him to escape and officially join up with the guild.
After that it’s a whole bunch of crazy action stuff as plans come together and they get to take down the Forces. Hiro falls harder and deeper for Olivia while she remains oblivious (at least, for a little while, until she finally starts noticing). He grows closer to Kaz and Ginni as well, and begins connecting with Kaz on a deep level because of their shared history. (They’re kind of like brothers, and Hiro considers him to be his best friend :’) )
Once the Forces are defeated, Hiro and Kaz both decide to go on a journey of self discovery in order to better themselves and learn more about the world they haven’t seen due to being locked up for so many years. Kaz and Ginni are already on the verge of forming a relationship, but with Olivia and Hiro it’s still tentative since she’s unsure and he still feels inadequate as a romantic partner. Olivia admits that she likes him and Hiro is so happy he’s ready to burst, but then he realizes it’s not the right time for them to be together so he gently rejects her. (Olivia takes this as an actual rejection tho not a “I’m not ready to be in a relationship with you yet tho I WANT to” and Ginni’s like YA’LL ARE SO DUMB I S2G).
Hiro and Kaz go their separate ways, and Hiro travels around for a while! He eventually settles in a lovely little village where he learns about his forest elemental powers and how to use them better. He’s finally able to connect with other people and essentially becomes way softer around the edges, revealing the true personality he had when he was a kid. A year or so passes and suddenly Kaz, Ginni and Olivia show up to reunite with him, and not long after that Hiro and Olivia FINALLY get together and start dating 😔👌 (Ginni: TOOK you look enough, god)
At some point the four of them go on a journey together and Hiro runs into his biological parents again…!! And he finds out he has a younger sister and they all reconnect and it’s SO EMOTIONAL
Other than that I think that’s all I have 🤔 Thanks for reading though this epic rollercoaster ride of a story plot lol!
Extra personality traits
-Hiro’s sarcasm and snarkiness is a defense mechanism to prevent anybody from seeing his vulnerable side, and also a way to trick the fear inside of him. Kaz is the one to point this out actually lol
-Despite that he does enjoy teasing people lightheartedly and being sassy, once he gets comfortable enough with them! There is a difference between his snarkiness towards enemies compared to that towards friends
-Is EXTREMELY loyal to the people he cares about. At first he tends to act prickly and kind of standoffish towards people he doesn’t know well. Over time he becomes more open to trusting others. Once you earn his trust and he deems you worthy of his friendship he instantly becomes softer and kinder haha, it’s like a switch
-Often dismisses people that he thinks aren’t worth his time or aren’t smart enough to hold an intelligent conversation with him
-Spends a lot of time reading and gathering knowledge. He is very book smart—but not very people smart :’D He and Kaz will spend hours in the guild’s library, since they’re both very thirsty for information outside of what they studied during their time in the Forces
-Touch starved as FUCK. He flips his shit every time somebody touches him in a friendly way, and will melt into a puddle if he gets hugged
-He can be very nosy and insensitive sometimes, prying into other people’s personal affairs if he thinks he can solve the issue
-Absolutely a tactics expert. He calculates all of his moves very carefully, and uses prediction tactics to leave no room for error. He enjoys coming up with mock battle situations to challenge himself.
-Very self-sacrificial;; he views the lives of those he cares about to be far more important than his own. He’ll lay his life on the line for his friends in an instant
-Is the person in the group who is the least fond of violence. If he can find a way around injuring someone, he’ll do it. He prefers to restrict his enemy’s movements or slow them down so they can’t fight back. He is VERY good at neutralizing opponents before they can even register it
-SUPER speedy. Due to his small size he’s very quick, most people don’t see him coming
-He’s really sensitive about his height fjmaksldmas he snaps at people who make fun of him for it
-Tends to levitate when he’s in deep thought. Olivia finds this very cute
-Blooms flowers when he’s happy/embarrassed
-He’s actually. A very talented dancer :0 During his year away from the guild he learned a lot of folk dances at the village he was living in, and when the others witness it they get really starstruck because it’s super mesmerizing!! He blooms flowers as he dances
-At his core he’s a very compassionate character!!
-After escaping from the Forces, he’s able to express his emotions more openly, and goes back to the way he was as a child. He’s a crybaby :’) He cries whenever someone he cares about gets hurt
-The only person in the group with the fucking brain cell, and the most rational one. Unless Olivia gets involved, then he gets stupid and flustered lmao
#This got SO long oh my god. I am so sorry. Except I'm not#My character bios keep getting longer and longer!! WHICH IS GOOD BC THEY ALL NEED GOOD DEVELOPMENT#OC#Original character#Character art#Character design#Character sheet#Character ref#Character reference#Art#Digital art#Long post#Shima arts#Shima's OCs#Among the Stars#ATS#Hiro#shima-draws
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A3! Event: Trump the Phantom Thief Episode 4 Translation
Muku couldn’t focus during rehearsal due to something that happened at school.
Muku: Good morning.
Kumon: Mornin'!
Muku: What are you guys doing?
Kazunari: I'm posting our rehearsal pics yesterday to Inste!
Tenma: Looking forward to the play. It's about phantom thieves, right?
Kumon: Performing aboard a luxury cruise sounds nice~.
Misumi: Find me a sparkling triangle while you're there, 'kay~.
Tenma: We're gonna get caught in some bad shit if they bring them home for real.
TV: "Today, we're going to introduce you to this luxury liner, Princess Aurora. Look at this hall. It's beyond gorgeous."
Yuki: Hey, isn't this cruise our performance venue?
TV: "Starting from tomorrow, the most sparkly diamond in the world will be unveiled in Japan for the first time ever."
Kumon: Oh, wow! They're gonna unveil a diamond there!
Muku: I wonder if we can see it when we go to check out the venue.
Misumi: Do they have a triangular diamond~?
Tenma: Do you really think we can bring it home even if they have one?
TV: "Moving on to the next news."
"100 million yen worth of jewelry has been stolen from a jewelry store in Veludo Way early yesterday."
"It's been suspected that the crime is done by several people. Police are currently looking for the whereabouts of the people seen in the security camera."
Kazunari: That sounds like our upcoming play~.
Tenma: Pretty sure the suspects are gonna get caught soon, though, unlike in the play.
Yuki: Because it's non-fiction.
Izumi: Guys, you're going to be late if you don't eat your breakfast soon.
Misumi: Oh no! You're right!
Headmaster: Be it during school break or after school time, do not ever let loose and lead a healthy lifestyle whenever and wherever.
Moderator: We are going to continue with the commendation ceremony.
Women Volleyball Club, second place in the prefectural tournament.
Track and Field Club, winner of Men's 400 meter relay race in Japan Inter High-School Track and Field tournament.
Muku: (Wow! Amazing, they won the relay. They sure did their best to achieve such a feat…)
Doctor: You can participate in track and field matches again.
Muku: (Weird. I already parted ways with track and field so I shouldn't be jealous.)
P.E. Teacher: I'm going to measure your time for the 100-meter dash today. Line up in order.
Student A: Huh!? We're gonna run today?
Student B: This sucks. I'm bad at short distance races.
Student A: Oh, well. it's still better than the long distance one.
Muku: …
(I usually hold back a little bit during P.E. class, but… Guess it's alright to get serious now.)
P.E. Teacher: One, two…three!
Muku: --.
(I don't need to hold back anymore. Run ahead--run ahead… Faster…!)
…
(I ran…)
Recorder: 10.97 seconds. Fast!
Muku: Haah...haah…
Student A: That's awesome, Sakisaka!
Muku: (I'm not as fast as I used to be, but… I did it. I still can run.)
Track and Field Club Member: …
Muku: (I've got some free time before our afternoon rehearsal today. Guess I'm gonna practice by myself once I get home.)
(I should ask Yuki-kun to join me.)
Track and Field Club Member: Sakisaka!
Muku: Oh… Hey. Long time no see.
The track and field club is doing really great, I see. Grats on your victory!
Track and Field Club Member: Oh, yeah. Thanks.
Putting that aside, Sakisaka, you did a 100 meter dash today, right? What's your time?
Muku: 10.97 seconds.
Track and Field Club Member: I knew it! You looked so fast ever from afar, you know. Is your foot recovered already?
Muku: My doctor told me I'm completely recovered now.
Track and Field Club Member: Great to hear that.
Muku: Thanks.
Track and Field Club Member: …
Muku: What's wrong?
Track and Field Club Member: ...So you see, we still need one person for our next relay tournament.
We don't have much time until the preliminary contest. And I know you're doing your best in theater now, but…
If you still want to run, will you return to the track and field club? I don't mind if you stay only until the tournament.
Muku: …
Track and Field Club Member: Consider it, 'kay? No need to give me the answer right away.
Muku: …
Yuki: "It's as musty as always."
Kazunari: "Clean it up."
Yuki: "How about you do it?"
Kazunari: "No way. Geez. This place used to be clean, wonder what happens to it."
Yuki: "That's because we had a clean-freak before."
Kazunari: "Okay. Leader, you do the cleaning."
Muku: …
Juza: ...Muku. It's your turn now.
Muku: Oh, sorry!
Izumi: (Is Muku-kun alright? He's been out of it since we started the rehearsal.)
Izumi: Let's stop here for today, Good job, guys.
Kazunari: Good job~.
Sakyo: Great job.
Muku: …
Izumi: Muku-kun, do you have a moment?
Muku: Sure.
Izumi: You kept spacing out during today's rehearsal. Is everything fine?
Muku: ….M-My apologies! I'm fine! I'll regain my focus tomorrow!
Izumi: Okay…? Do your best in tomorrow's rehearsal, then.
Muku: Yes!
*door closes*
Izumi: (I'm pretty sure something did happen…)
Juza: Director.
...I'm actually a little bit worried about Muku as well.
Izumi: So you realized it too, huh, Juza-kun.
Juza: I'll try talking to him.
Izumi: Maybe he'll find it easier to talk to you, indeed. Can you help me with that, then?
Juza: Yes.
< Episode 3 | Masterlist | Episode 5 >
#a3!#a3! translation#summer troupe#autumn troupe#tenma sumeragi#misumi ikaruga#yuki rurikawa#muku sakisaka#kazunari miyoshi#kumon hyodo#juza hyodo#Sakyo Furuichi
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Ship: Freed x Laxus
Rating: Teen
Prompt: Late Nights, Early Mornings.
Summary: Long distant relationships are difficult, made worse when it's between two men in different colleges. But Freed and Laxus will make it worse, and if secret phone calls late in the night are what's needed then that's what they'll do.
Notes: This was day three for my admissions to Fraxus Week. It's hosted by @fuckyeahfraxus, who you should check out for more Fraxus content.
Links: Event Masterlist ||| Archive of Our Own, Fanfiction
Four Ways to See the Dawn
Year: 1982
Location: Washington DC, USA
"Hey."
"Hey."
Laxus murmured the word, quietly fiddling with the cord to the phone as he glanced at the sleeping man in the other bed. The stranger seemed to be sleeping soundly, snoring without a care in the world, and so Laxus felt pretty confident that he had privacy. So long as he didn't make too much noise, he could speak without being overheard.
Good, this was going to work.
It wasn't ideal. It was nearing two AM, and Laxus had found himself fighting sleep as he'd waited for his roommate to pass out. The guy was apparently something of a party animal, and he was fully taking advantage of the many frat parties, drinking nights and mixers that filled the first weeks of college. Laxus had avoided them all – they were all too loud and rowdy for him – but he understood the appeal. He couldn't be angry that the man was so unpredictable; Bickslow would hardly know that he was stopping Laxus from his phone call with Freed, after all.
Freed didn't have the same problem. His college, which was half way across the country, didn't have roommates to worry about. He'd promised that he'd be waiting by the phone for him whenever he was ready to call, and he'd answered the moment Laxus had rung.
"You sound tired," Laxus teased. "Didn't wake ya, did I?"
"No, but it was close," Freed chuckled, and the sound was incredible. "I missed hearing your voice."
"Me too."
They'd promised themselves that, for the first two weeks, they wouldn't talk. College was a big thing, and they couldn't fuck it up, so decided they need to fully submerge themselves in college culture instead of becoming shut-ins who only spoke to one another. It was the right thing to do, they both knew it, but Laxus had been missing Freed's presence every day, and no amount of taster classes, tours around campus, and bottles of tequila would remove that.
Freed had always been there. They'd grown up on the same street, played on the same sports teams, and attended the same house parties. Jokes had been made that they were attached at the hip, and that they might as well be inseparable with how much time they spent together.
Laxus had to smirk at those jokes. If only they knew.
It had happened quite randomly, really. Laxus had broken his leg in the last year of high school, and he'd had to sit out on the final game in their baseball tournament. Freed had ended up hitting the home run that won their team the game, and had been rightly commended. Laxus had stumbled into the locker room on his crutches when everyone was left so he could congratulate the man in private. Freed had clearly noticed that Laxus was more melancholy that joyful, and forced Laxus to admit it felt shitty to miss the final game of his high-school career, even if they did win.
Freed had waited for a moment, thinking of what to say. Then, with his thigh resting against Laxus' non-broken leg, he quietly whispered 'I won it for you, you know. Not for the team.' The words were packed with years' worth of friendship and passion, and they were forever imprinted on Laxus' mind.
He'd kissed the man without thinking. Freed had kissed him back.
What followed was a summer of making out, going to the romantic spots around Magnolia under the pretence they were still just friends, and, on the last night before they left for college, they'd slept together for the first time. It had all been incredible.
But the summer had to end, and they could hardly keep going as they had. Magnolia was small, and their friendship was known well enough there for nobody to question how much time they were spending together. Now they lived in different states, a long and expensive train ride away from each other. The making out and the dates and the sex would have to stop, because it didn't make senses for it to continue. All they had left was quiet phone calls late at night where nobody could overhear them talking.
It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for now.
"You, erm, you done many classes yet?" Laxus asked, cringing at the awful question.
"No, they start on Monday," Freed answered, and shifted slightly. Laxus idly wondered if he were in his bed or not. Freed looked good in bed, curled up in a dressing gown with a book. If Laxus was there, he'd content himself by running his hand through his hair. "You?"
"A few taster things, just tryin' to find out what I wanna major in, y'know," Laxus all but scuffed his feet. He hadn't expected this to be this awkward. "Guess you don't have that problem."
"No," Freed agreed. He was training to by a surgeon, Laxus was at college mainly because he didn't know what else to do with his life. "How's your roommate?"
"He's good. A little weird but seems harmless," Laxus glanced at the sleeping man, who was stretched over his bed and drooling. "Seems to be out at parties most nights, so maybe I'll be able to call ya earlier in the night. Not force ya to stay up so late."
"It's worth it," Freed said without missing a beat. "I've missed you, Laxus."
"I missed you too," Laxus whispered.
Neither man spoke for a moment, and Laxus wished he knew what to say. He wished he had a ridiculous story of his fun, interesting college life that he could use to break that layer of awkwardness and entertain Freed with. But he'd done nothing; college was much less interesting than he had been led to believe. He couldn't think of a thing to say, and the electric humming of the phone was getting on his nerves.
Freed must have felt the same way, as Laxus could hear him fidgeting across the phone. Laxus wished he could just pull the man into his arms, as he often had in their quiet nights alone over the summer. But he couldn't. For months, he couldn't.
"It's gonna get easier, ain't it?" Laxus asked. "Doin' this?"
"It will," Freed said, and he sounded sure. "It'll take some time, but it will."
"Fuckin' better," Laxus mumbled more to himself than to Freed.
"It will," Freed repeated. "And thanksgiving is only a few months away, and we'll be able to see each other then."
"Guess so," Laxus nodded, trying to feel encouraged. "You still doing thanksgiving with me and Gramps?"
"If he'll still have me."
"He will," Laxus replied immediately, and then forced a smile onto his face. "And I promise it'll be more successful than last year."
"More successful? Is that possible?" Freed asked sarcastically, and Laxus chuckled.
"You saying that me and Gramps getting into a screaming match, the turkey ending up in the cat's litter tray, the two of us getting covered in cranberry sauce, and the neighbours making a noise complaint wasn't successful?" Laxus scoffed, smiling as he remembered the night the previous year.
He also remembered how, just before Freed drove back to his own home, he'd confessed that it was one of the most enjoyable thanksgiving's he'd had.
"You seem to not realise that, with long hair, pureed cranberries really have a lot of space to hide in," Freed chuckled. "A problem you don't seem to face."
"I'll aim for your face this year then," Laxus grinned.
"That's all I ask," Freed was grinning too, Laxus could hear it in his voice.
The situation wasn't immediately remedied, but they found themselves talking about the ridiculous shared moments they'd endured in Magnolia, and Laxus felt the awkwardness seeping away minute by minute. It was nowhere near as good as driving to the mountains, lying on his car's roof with Freed curled against him, but damn if it wasn't the best couple of hours he'd spent since arriving in Washington.
He didn't remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up sometime later in the morning. The phone was clutched against his chest, the line dead, and the sunlight was fluttering under the curtains. He smiled privately, and closed his eyes, phone in hand.
---
"Freed, you okay? It's four in the mornin'?
"Hey. You're awake. Hi."
Laxus forced his eyes open, groggy and sleep deprived. He blinked a few times, sitting up. The ringing of the phone he'd just answered seemed to still be blaring in his mind, and the overly loud, inelegant words that his boyfriend had just near yelled into his ears made Laxus wince. It was nearly four thirty in the morning. Why the hell was Freed awake?
"Course I'm awake, phone's fucking loud," He complained, sitting up and leaning against the wall. "Why're you awake?"
"Ever and Mirajane," Freed said, as if that answered anything. Laxus waited a moment before he realised that was all Freed felt he needed to say.
"What about them?"
"I told them that it was my birthday tomorrow – or, well, it's today now, isn't it. But it was tomorrow when I told them. Well, technically it was yesterday when I told them, but in the context of me telling them about my birthday, my birthday was tomorrow, which is now today," Freed spewed the mess of words out, and Laxus could hear him frowning. "They said I needed to go out drinking. They wanted to take me out for my first legal drink."
"Yer turning nineteen, not twenty-one," Laxus deadpanned, though smirked.
"Oh yes, so I am," Freed was frowning. "I broke the law many times tonight then."
"Sounds like it," Laxus chuckled. "You only just gettin' in? It's pretty late. Or early, I guess."
"No, we left the club at about one. We've been in the dorms for a few hours, Cana knows someone who can get us beer cheap, so we kept going. Someone made me brownies, but I wasn't allowed to eat them because apparently they had pot in them, so Mirajane slapped the guy and said she'd report him to campus security because we only found out when Jet and Droy started talking about the walls having a face," Freed laughed heartily, and Laxus smiled, imagining the man's expression as he did so. "Why do people always put weed into brownies? It's so overdone. Why do you never hear of a pot carrot cake or banana loaf?"
"Brownies are easy to make, I guess," Laxus grinned.
This was uncharted territory for Laxus. Freed wasn't exactly a total rule follower, but his parents were strict and so alcohol was something he'd never risked. Laxus had always wondered what a drunk Freed would be like. Apparently, he rambled and was happy. It was a nice side of him to hear.
"You think brownies are harder than a banana cake? You know nothing about baking," Freed laughed at him, and Laxus smirked. "Do I have time to bake a pot filled gateau, do you think? It might make mother's book club interesting at last."
"Don't spike your ma with drugs Freed," Laxus instructed, and Freed laughed.
"Yes, it sounds bad put like that," Freed agreed. He was quiet for a moment, and Laxus heard the sound of something hitting the floor. Perhaps one of his boots, given the clunk. Laxus had become something of an expert at figuring out what Freed was doing by the sounds he made. "It'd serve them right. Rather see you than them."
"Come on Freed," Laxus sighed. "They're your parents, they wanna see you."
"Well they didn't on parents' weekend, or at thanksgiving, so why now?" Freed huffed, fabric shifting now. He was probably getting into bed. "They're taking me to dinner, and I saw the place. It's got five stars, Laxus. That means it'll be stifled and pretentious. They won't know what to say to me, so we'll just eat in silence and we'll all want it to end because we know we don't have anything in common and they're only coming because it'll look bad if they don't," Laxus wished he could deny the claim, but he knew Freed's parents and that was probably true. "Would've rather gotten the train to Washington so I could see you."
"Shouldn't I be coming to yours?" Laxus asked, trying to change the subject to something less maudlin. "It's your birthday."
"You saw my campus when you drove us home," Freed dismissed, and Laxus supposed he had. They'd driven back to Magnolia together for some time alone, as Laxus passed Freed's college on the drive back. "It's my turn to see your place. Your classrooms, your student lounge," He paused, and was clearly smirking when he spoke again. "Your bed."
"My bed, huh?" Laxus smirked. "What were you gonna-"
Laxus would have continued, but an airborne pillow slammed into his face. It took his sleep-lagged brain a moment to understand what had happened, and he slowly looked towards his glaring, very much awake roommate. He probably should have realised that the phone would have woken them both up, not just Laxus.
They looked at each other for a moment, Bickslow unblinking. Laxus wanted to speak, but no words came, and Bickslow was the one to fill the silence.
"Look, you know I'm cool with you two being together. Probably been to more of the marches than either of you two, so be as gay as you wanna be," Bickslow's voice was croaky and hoarse. "But don't phone fuck when I'm in the room. It's just bad manners."
"We weren't gonna-" Laxus cut himself off. He couldn't be sure of his words, so instead he said a guilty, "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Bickslow shrugged. "Just give me my pillow back and we'll call it even."
Laxus did as he was told, and Bickslow took it, hooked it around his head so it covered his ears, and turned to lie facing the wall. It was as close to privacy they could get in the small room without either of them leaving, and Laxus appreciated the action. When he spoke again, his voice was more of a gentle whisper.
"You should probably get to sleep," He instructed, and grinned when he heard a yawn overpowering his words. "Make sure you drink water before you crash, okay? And don't bother with yer classes, you'll either still be drunk or too hungover to take anything in."
"Yes, I suppose I will be," Freed agreed. "I'll call you once my parents leave."
"Okay," Laxus nodded. "Happy birthday, baby."
"Thank you," Freed said softly. "Goodnight. Love you."
"Love you too."
Laxus hung up the phone, curled himself back under his covers and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to sleep, he heard the grinning words of his roommate as he said, 'you two are so damn cute.' Laxus' retort of 'fuck you' was only slightly less threatening because of the smile he couldn't shake, and the yawn he couldn't hold back.
---
"Don't talk, I need to say something."
"Laxus? What's wrong?"
Laxus was jittery. He'd been jittery all day. He'd had nervous energy throughout the night, and it kept waking him up and he did whatever he could to get to sleep but nothing had worked, and he'd found himself stressed, awake and jittery. He couldn't stop moving. Couldn't stop bouncing his leg or taping his fingers or flexing his arms because he needed to do something with this energy, but he didn't know what.
At six AM, after a night of awful, interrupted sleep, he'd decided enough was enough. He'd changed into running gear, pulled out his Walkman and stormed from his dorm room. He'd ran for however long, and yet the jitteriness didn't go. If anything, it made things worse.
Calling Freed had been a last resort.
He hadn't returned to campus yet, instead finding a phone booth to climb into. It had started to rain as he'd run, and he was dripping wet as he rang Freed's number. The cold and the wet were the last things on his mind. He just needed to get on the call with Freed, just needed to hear that thing's would be okay and that he was making a big deal out of nothing. Freed was a smart guy, and he wouldn't bullshit Laxus about important things. No; Freed would make things okay.
"Dad's court case was moved forward," Laxus spluttered before he could stop himself.
It was supposed to be in the autumn. It was supposed to be months away. That would give Laxus time to prepare himself, to know what he was going to say. To get out of his own head so that he could focus on taking the bastard to jail. It was not supposed to be next damn week!
Laxus was a character witness. In the trial itself, he wasn't all that important, but he knew that the media would love to know what he thought about his father. Ivan was a well-known businessman, and his scandal had been national news. He'd made many enemies over his years working, and people were relishing in his downfall. Everyone wanted to hear how not only was Ivan a bad businessman, but a bad father too. Laxus wasn't ready for the attention, he wasn't ready for anything.
Freed took a moment to think before he replied.
"Where are you?" He asked. "Are you in your dorm? I can hear the rain."
"Erm, no," Laxus shook his head, looking around. "I'm near a park. Not sure where."
"Right," Freed murmured. "What do you need me to do?"
"I need," Laxus faltered.
He needed to be told that everything was okay. That the court case would just be a single day in his life, and he could get past it and move on. He needed to hear Freed saying that he would get past this, and that his life would return to normal. He needed to see Freed's warm smile, the one he seemed to show only to Laxus. He needed…
"It's nothing. Sorry if I woke you."
"Go back to your dorm, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"What?"
"The trains start running early. I can probably be at yours by ten," Freed mused aloud. "I want you to go back and try to sleep. You mentioned that Bickslow has hypnosis tapes he uses to sleep, borrow one."
"Freed, you don't need to come here," Laxus tried to argue, though he didn't want to. "You don't have the money."
"I'll find it," Freed dismissed. "The next train leaves at seven, I believe. I'll be on it."
"Freed."
"Laxus."
Anyone who thought that Laxus was the more stubborn one out of the two of them clearly didn't know Freed.
"You really don't need to come," Laxus whispered, the rain pounding on the small box he sheltered in. "I'll be fine."
"You deserve to be better than fine, Laxus," Freed whispered back.
Silence hung on the line, and at that moment Laxus' world only persisted of the small phonebooth, the rain clattering down on it, and the man on the other end of the phone. He closed his eyes, clenched them shut, and tried to focus on the soft sound of Freed's breathing. Freed was coming. He was coming to make things better. As much as Laxus wanted to protest more, because Freed couldn't afford it and he was going to miss his classes, he just wanted his boyfriend in his arms. He just wanted him there.
"Are you sure?" He asked in a shaking sob.
"Of course," Freed assured him. "Go back to your room and sleep, I'll be there soon."
Laxus did indeed return to his room. He showered off the rainwater, ignored Bickslow's questions as to what happened, and curled up into bed. The white noise tape that Bickslow gave him cleared his mind, and as he assured himself that the clump of blanket he was clinging to would soon be replaced with Freed, he felt everything become just a little more manageable.
---
Sun hit Laxus' face, a gentle warmth that woke him up. He smiled as it happened.
A roadside motel was hardly the most comfortable place to wake up, but Laxus couldn't think of anywhere better to be at that time. No amount of bitter coffee, cramped showers, awful breakfasts, and itchy sheets would stop that. Not when he was waking up with Freed in his arms.
It was Freed's graduation day, the final nail in the coffin of their shared college experiences. Once today had finished, there would be no more dorm rooms, no more phone calls, no more long distance. They just needed to get through the ceremony, and they would be free to spend as much time as they wanted together, without the looming dread of being split apart by the oncoming semester that had previously seemed ever present.
It was over. They were done with college and free to love each other fully and wholly.
They'd found an apartment they could afford. They'd gotten an odd look when their realter had seen two men wanting to live in a cramped, one bedroom apartment, but they didn't care. Three years split apart was over, and they felt they deserved their own place no matter what other people thought about it. They'd more than paid their dues in being apart; they were owed time, and a home, together.
It worked out well. Freed's career meant he needed to continue studying, and he'd found placement in a hospital on a partial scholarship in New York. Laxus, over his time in college, had decided sports journalism was where his passion lay, and he'd been shortlisted for multiple internships in the city. It was all perfect.
Speaking of perfect, Freed made a small mewling sound as he woke.
"Mornin'," Laxus smiled.
"Morning," Freed croaked. He leant up and pressed his lips against Laxus', resting against his body. "You're awake early."
"Excited to see you get yer degree," Laxus shrugged.
"Excited to see me leaving the dorms, more like," Freed chuckled, resting his head against Laxus' chest.
"Can you blame me?" Laxus asked as he ran a hand down Freed's side and kissed his crown.
"Not at all," Freed hummed, contentedly.
Laxus hummed, watching as the new morning sun filled the room. Flashes of a future where this would be his every morning, where Freed would always fall asleep in his arms and wake up beside him. Freed would be his, and he would be Freed's, as they were always supposed to be.
Their love story was quiet, made up of fleeting moments and late-night phone calls. Not the stuff of fairy tales, but, for them, perfect.
#Fraxus Week#Fraxus#Freed Justine#laxus dreyar#Fairy Tail#Fanfic#Writing#One Shot#1980's AU#College AU#Word Count 3.8k
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saving grace | 5
muses. duke!yoongi x lady!reader
universe. arranged marriage / minor traces of magic in history
concept. driven into a corner with the new king, seokjin, offering to marry you off to a prince in a foreign land and a persistent mother who would seize the chance of a lucrative marriage for her daughter, you’re forced with the only other option to secure your freedom ‒ enter into a beneficial agreement with the man who reaped the seeds of war, the duke of cralon, yoongi min.
words. 6.7k
warnings. mentions of war, it’s cliche and cheesy all in one package
index. 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / finale
x
after your return from the min mansion, your mother, ever the loving parent, greets you at the door. her bright smile can be seen from miles away as she stands with her hands planted on her hips like someone who’s looking at her life’s worth investment.
“well?” she urges with an unfaltering smile.
“well?” you blink once, head lulling to the side as you stare at her for an explanation.
“don’t pretend to be ignorant,” she clicks her tongue but the contorted expression on her face is short lived as the smile returns, its force almost compelling you to take a step backwards, “did you two-”
“oh, ___, you’re back. i heard that you stayed the night at the duke’s.” your father, having emerged out of his office on the second floor calls for you and for some reason causes the woman in front of you to freeze as though haunted by guilt.
oh.
with a disarming smile, you wave at your father before recounting the reason you couldn’t go back right away after the party, “oh yes, it’s because mo-”
“i’m sure our daughter’s hungry, i’ll have the chef prepare something right away and in the mean time, we’ll be having tea in my parlor,” with that, the woman who has her hand clasped over her mouth whisks you away and into a narrow corridor right under where your father was standing.
huffing, she fixes you a displeased frown, “gosh, i only wanted to help my beloved daughter secure a good future!”
“mother!” hands planted on your hips, you fix your mother an incredulous look, “by getting rid of any other means for me to leave the mention in hopes i’d seduce the duke to sleep with me and get him to marry me quickly in fear for my being pregnant with an out-of-wedlock child?” your shoulder line are stiff as you watch your mother not even batting an eye at the issues arising within that narration and instead grins in approval at what seems to be a mutual understanding between a mother and a daughter.
“i knew you were smart!”
not wishing to burst her bubble of joy, you excuse yourself to your room, saying the fatigue of hosting a garden party hasn’t entirely left you just yet. fortunately, she the matter of whether you’ve spent the night in yoongi’s room has dissipated in the air as she wishes you a good rest before murmuring something about writing a letter to marchioness jung to invite her to tea or rather, to boast about the daughter that’s marrying the duke who’s several ranks higher than a count’s.
you wonder how she would react once your matchmaking succeeds and krystal ends up becoming a candidate as seokjin’s queen but you decide that your mother’s wounded pride would be a matter of a future that you need not yet concern yourself with.
“leslie, prepare to go to vivian’s.” you question as the maid pulls down on the zip of your dress and allow you to step out of it until you’re staring at the woman in a white underdress in front of the mirror.
“but my lady, that boutique is...” the woman trails off, eyes slanted to the ground in search for the proper words to describe the handiwork.
you’re not entirely sure why she’s against it either but if there’s anything leslie’s good at, it’s being meticulous in her tasks which includes making sure you don only the best clothes, “don’t worry, i won’t be buying the engagement dress there. i just wish to confirm something.”
with that, her eyes lights up and for some reason, the same way your mother does when she offhandedly commends your ability to think just now, “right away, my lady!” the beam doesn’t go away nor so much as falter throughout the ride.
“we’re here to see mademoiselle vivian for my lady’s engagement party,” leslie approaches the worker that greets you when you came in.
you don’t miss the stare shot your way as you study the dresses wrapped around the mannequins until his jaw drops, possibly from the realization of who you are, “r-right this way, lady ___.”
the room you’re brought in is furnished with leather couches and extravagant patterns on its walls and curtains that make you wonder if there is such a thing as illegally pairing colors together.
only the higher ranking aristocrats, namely those from count families and above, would be able to afford clothes made by mademoiselle vivian, a foreign woman from a country across the seas who moved to cearis in search for a lover she’d met and fell deeply in love with but up until now, she still hasn’t found said lover.
or so the story goes.
perhaps it was a selling point to catch the eyes of helpless romantics - rich ones at that. but either way, she’s proved her talent through her intricate designs that time and time again sets off a new trend when a fairly influential noblewoman goes to a gathering in the dress she makes.
it’s no secret that krystal is a loyal customer to vivian’s. but then again, it has more to do about her looks than the dresses she wear. not that it matters to vivian because she’ll be dropping names of noblewomen who ordered dresses from her to gain trust from new customers.
but you’re not here for that.
“are the designs not to your liking, lady ___?” the woman’s bespectacled eyes bore into you after you let out a troubled sigh, eyebrows pulling together as though in deep dilemma.
“no, no, they’re all beautiful,” you let your words hang in the air for suspense before setting down the catalog and turning your whole body towards the woman, “it’s just... i want something that makes a statement, you see.”
“a statement...” she echoes.
“something like...” you murmur to yourself while she echoes your very words a second later.
“...a dress that tells other ladies that they can’t compare without being loud!” you clap your hands together, pleased that you’ve found the words you’ve been searching for.
it takes a moment of the woman burning a hole into the catalog of her designs while you take a sip of the lavender tea. it’s harder to find such tea and fewer can afford it because of the limited import and the high tax rate imposed seeing as only well-off nobles would usually have them at homes.
“i see it now,” she seems to have returned from a walk down the rabbit hole of laces and ribbons, “i don’t usually recommend this since the ladies that come to my shop need a little bit of help standing out - and my dresses do just that but! i think simpler designs would fit you and enhance your beauty like lady jung.”
you mentally cheer at the mention of the name, adding in a blink of surprise, “do you mean... krystal?”
“oh yes, she has the beauty of a crescent moon. a mysterious allure that attracts men and women alike...” vivian drones on with glazed eyes as though she’s descended over to another realm where the walls are tower high and plastered with krystal’s portraits posing in different dresses and her cat-like eyes seem to move wherever one goes.
“...but it’s a shame that her engagement with duke gillmore’s son’s been cancelled!” she ends with a dejected sigh as her shoulder line falls.
“the engagement’s been cancelled?” the fruit of your visit is turning ripe by the second as you clasp a hand over your ‘o’ shaped mouth.
almost as though realizing her slip up, vivian’s own hand shoots up to her mouth but for a different reason than yours, “oh, i shouldn’t be telling you this that since it’s not officially announced yet,” she meets your gaze with a hint of sparkle in them, whatever remorse she felt for revealing what isn’t due, has dissipated into the air, “bit to think the dress i made specifically for her engagement party would not be seeing the light of the day! it pains me so!”
the gillmores are the fourth and last of the ducal houses with the mins being the first and strong supporter of the royal family for hundreds of years. understandably, only two of the houses bear marriageable heirs to the title but with yoongi taking on the name grim reaper, naturally marquis jung would never allow krystal to marry him which leaves duke gillmore’s son as the only available candidate.
that was... until the crown prince who was engaged to a foreign princess was heartlessly murdered by his half-blooded brother. judging from how objective driven krystal is, she must have her eyes set on a bigger price than becoming duchess of the gillmore’s dukedom. and coincidentally so, as vivian mindlessly laments, the engagement was said to be cancelled two months ago which is around the same time seokjin must have called her to have her spread the rumor about you and yoongi’s engagement.
“my lady, have you gotten what you came here for?” the woman sitting across from you in the carriage finally breaks the silence after loyally following your lead as you bid vivian a half-hearted farewell because ‘i’ve realized i can’t make decisions like this on my own! please have the catalogs to the min residence. i’ll review them with my fiancee once he gets back.’
“leslie,” you feel a smile bloom across your face, “we’ve got ourselves a queen.”
x
for the rest of the week, you find yourself swarmed with letters and invitations to more social gatherings. back then, when you were just a marquis’ daughter and not a duke min’s fiance, invitations have not been scarce yet they’ve never been this overflowing. white envelops with varying house seals litter the white table in front of the window each day. before you can even finish reading those that accumulated in the inbox yesterday, a new bulk would have gathered by the end of today.
so when you hear the knock on your door, you don’t even bother asking who it was, only a short, “come in.”
in your engrossment in reading a letter sent from irene, you fail to notice the lack of footsteps after the noticeable click of the door swinging open and then shutting until it’s too late.
a black gloved hand props itself on the table while another gently settles on your shoulder, a distinctive scent of mint filling your senses. but the husky voice drumming in your ears is no stranger to you,“you’ve been busy.”
“yoongi!” the letter almost slips out of your hand as you crane your neck to gaze into a familiar pair of crimson eyes. but the surprise is short-lived as you become unnervingly aware of how close your faces are, so much so, you can feel his hot breath on your lips.
judging from how he still has his cloak and the formal knight uniform, he must have rode straight to your mansion after entering the boarders of the dukedom. why he chooses to do so, you don’t wish to indulge in.
“w-welcome back, how was the-” the words die on your throat as the coolness of his gloved thumb grazes your bottom lip.
you barely register the delicate “i missed you, ___,” that’s spoken within the minute space between his lips and yours before he closes the distance.
you’ve known those pink lips were soft from the kisses he leaves on the back of your hand but having them on yours are a separate matter altogether. it feels almost unfair that he’s the one who initiated the kiss but wouldn’t go further than a feather light peck before he pulls away, almost as though he thinks you’d break under the slightest pressure.
the faintest smile graces his features as though content to have felt you, to know that you’re not a dream. but on your part, it’s not enough and it will never be once you’ve had a taste of what sweet sacrilege tastes like.
you don’t have the time to admire the way those usually unbothered eyes widen, taken aback as your arm wraps around his neck, locking him within a birdcage large enough for him to stretch his wings but too small for him to escape.
when you break apart for air, you indistinctly register the burning sensation on your lips until yoongi’s eyes slants over them, finger hooked under your chin as he apologizes, “i might’ve been too rough.”
you’re not quite sure what he means, choosing to ignore such statements because he was every bit gentle - passionate, is a whole different story that you rather not think about as you invite him to sit in the chair across from you but instead, he drags it around and plops next to you. your knee brushes against his from time to time but you rather like the feeling of having a part of him touching you one way or another.
“your mother led me to your room,” he says simply, “i assumed you’d been informed.”
almost as though your mother’s scheming smile is ingrained in your head, you barely bat an eye at yoongi’s words as you sarcastically mutter, “i’m sure it must’ve slipped her mind.”
when leslie comes in with snacks, her lingering stare on your face does not go unnoticed but her free smile allows you to shake off the matter almost instantly.
“the inspection resulted in a graver findings,” yoongi apprises, blood red eyes holding your gaze as his next words sends a spear piercing through your heart, “we found children in the basement of the granary. the count’s been involved in human trafficking - nobody knows yet and the knights won’t say a word but once i report this to seokjin, it’ll be the only thing the capital will talk about for awhile.”
no nobility has ever truly lived an honest and clean life. if one were to dig even just the surface of a noble family’s activities, it isn’t hard to find corruption, bribery and even explanation to murders but to have been involved with human trafficking...
the smiling faces of the orphanage not too far from your mansion, flash at the back of your mind. the children had been in the poorest condition the first time you met them. but over time, they’d gained strength from the supplies you’d brought monthly and would come running to you and seokjin whenever you visited. it’s been awhile since you saw them after seokjin’s coronation and the distribution of supplies had been done by the people from the palace with the help of the servants from your house. the circumstances has significantly improved over the year but the thought of someone going as far as exploiting young children, those who were supposed to be under his care and protection makes your stomach churn.
you should have known. should have looked deeper into the activities of that degenerate count-
“not matter how much resource you have, you couldn’t have seen this coming.” the arms that wrap around your body are warm as they pull you flush against a chest. you don’t even realize you have your hands clenched into fists and trembling for the longest time until your shoulder line sags and all the strength inside your body seems to seep out your pores. if yoongi hadn’t held you, you would have hit the ground. either because of unbridled rage or unadulterated hopelessness.
you’re not sure how long time has passed with him holding you in his arms, but you don’t allow yourself the time to mope around more than you should. when you pull away, yoongi seems to have already expect the words that come out of your mouth, “i’ll make sure he’s stripped of his title and so are the people around him who stayed quiet.”
“i don’t doubt your capability,” his thumb rubs circles on the back of your hand, “but that would mean punishing every single commoner in his territory.”
the sound of your gritting teeth drums in your ears as your jaw sores, “they probably didn’t have anyone to turn to when their own lord was behind the atrocities plaguing their village,” a lump forms in your throat, you can only imagine the state the children were found in.
a hand wraps around yours, thumbs smoothing over each of your palms, “you saved them. if you hadn’t thought to suggest the trade, we wouldn’t have a solid reason to inspect the park family’s territory.”
“it was all his doing- he burst out first,” you swallow thickly, “i just reaped the seed he planted.”
a sigh drums in your ears, forcing you to look up and meet the duke’s molten gaze as his shoulder line falls. almost as though he’s surrendering to a fight he knows won’t be in his favor, “no words i say can possibly lift the heavy burden off your chest.”
you don’t deny it.
“would you like to come with me to the palace? i’ll be heading there in three day’s time to report our findings to the king,” his eyes doesn’t seem to search through the windows of your soul, perhaps because he’s learned that he’ll reach a dead end - a wall of thorns. the only way he’ll ever figure you out is if you let him through.
but he at least knows your answer if he’s leaning back against the chair, almost as though he’s turning his back on the wall and chose to tread back to the direction he came from, “i’ll pick you up some time at noon.”
x
yoongi is reluctant to leave the mansion - or rather, you. the look in his eyes when he looks back at you before mounting his horse, reminds you of the puppy you had when you were a child. she would always rub her head on your leg whenever she saw you dolled up to leave for a party your mother was taking you to. as though begging you not to leave. but she’d always been the first to ligh up when she saw you alight the family carriage when you returned.
you find yourself stepping past the doors of the mansion where you’d intend to wave him off and coming to a stop a few feet away from the horse, “yoongi, can i visit you tomorrow?”
the faint smile breathes fire into your soul as those blood red eyes bore into you like a molten lava, “i was hoping you would. every single day until we get married, in fact.”
it is only after you watch the sleek black stallion disappear through the gates and into the streets, do you notice the maids who have gathered at the doors since the beginning. but their huddled forms as they swoon is the least of your concern.
“so something finally happened.” your mother gathers, nodding in approval as you walk past her with full intention to minimize the interaction - you’ve still not forgiven her for failing to alert you of yoongi’s arrival but even if you quiz her about it, she wouldn’t be able to see the wrong in her actions even if it’d slapped her in the face-
“was that your first kiss as a couple?”
whirling around on your heels, you feel the heat creep up your cheeks almost instantly, “mother! wh-what are you talking about? a-and in front of the maids at that!”
it seems that’s all the answer she needs as she laughs to herself, “dear daughter, i’ve been alive longer than you- you think i would believe you if you said that cut on your lips was from you walking into something?”
“what cut-” the memory of yoongi’s unsettling closeness floods your mind before his peculiar apology echoes in your ears, ‘i might’ve been too rough.’
five minutes later, after you all but sprinted to your room and made a beeline towards the mirror that stands a head taller than you beside your bed, does a bloodcurdling scream fill the recesses of the mansion.
“luckily, it’s just a minor cut, my lady,” leslie assures, her ever smiling features doing better to calm your rapidly beating heart and increasing bashfulness than your mother ever could.
you silently weep at the minute red line on your bottom lip. she’s right. it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sort of cut and barely stings as you lather a thin sheen of healing ointment the woman brought after you requested it.
“this is humiliating,” you announce, holding a half-hearted vendetta towards the man whose eyes occasionally glaze over your lips during his visit but choose not to say anything else besides a cryptic indication of his lack of self-restraint.
it takes a whole evening of refusing to have dinner at the dining room and a pity party for yourself with flower petals for the muscles in your body to finally relax.
“what of the report i asked you to gather?” you quiz, hearing the pitter patter of someone’s footsteps going around the bathroom.
“most of them come up with similar information - nothing my lady does not know,” leslie’s fluttery voice reverberates against the walls.
“as expected, i’ll have to ask consult seokjin,” the sound of your teeth gritting drums in your ears, “the thought of him getting so smug just because i had to go to him makes me nauseous.”
with the issue human trafficking coming to light, it seems you can’t go around investigating about the nobles as you please, nor can any of your maids be seen asking around about it. discussing the matter with seokjin and gathering the intel you both have to unravel the nobles’ hidden trails would be a more reasonable course of action since they’ll be on high alert of yoongi since he was the one who brought the crime to light. from now on, even your movements might be closely watched.
x
yoongi bursts into your room the next day in a similar manner - unannounced - with a sort of expression you can’t pinpoint.
“don’t tell me my mother-” at first, you’re just about ready to storm to your mother’s room like a child throwing a tantrum until yoongi refutes, “i let myself in, the countess wasn’t around and the butler was too powerless to stop me.”
it takes you a moment to register what you heard, an image of the old family butler flashing at the back of your head. perhaps, it’s because it’s been awhile since you’ve been on the receiving end of yoongi’s frightening glare that you forget just how terrifying it is.
you’re suddenly pulled out of your thoughts when a hand tilts your chin upwards, leaving you with no other choice but to study the yoongi’s handsome face as he inspects the cut.
“i’m sorry,” the ghost of his touch burns your skin as takes a seat in the chair next to you, “i should have been more gentle.”
silence stretches on for the longest moment as you gather your words and sort out your thoughts but most importantly, you make sure to sound nonchalant about it, “you don’t have to... i liked how you kissed me.”
your mistake is letting your eyes roam up to his at the low hum that escapes him. a smirk curls on his lips as he gazes at you with his head propped against his hand, “should we do it again?”
“th-that-!” you hastily reply only to stop dead as the words get stuck in your throat. averting your gaze to the italic writings on the paper, you murmur, “...i’m not opposed to the idea.”
true to your words, you too easily comply when his gloved finger twirls the end of the ribbon around your neck, pulling you to him until your lips meet. a familiar sense of butterfly bursts in your stomach as you savor the taste of something sweet like chamomile tea on his lips.
for the rest of the day, you spend it by walking down the same street you did when he whisked you away from a dreadful tea party held by your mother right after the rumor of your engagement was confirmed by you dancing together at the ball. except now, you’re wearing a black hat with a veil covering your almost healed lips.
x
the day you’re to meet seokjin, the carriage with the min crest rolls into your residence some time a little past noon. not matter how many times he’s shown his unfaltering interest towards you, you can’t help but be surprised. today, he’s donned in his black and golden yellow knight uniform, signaling the formal business he has with his the monarch of the kingdom.
he presses his lips to your gloved knuckles, murmuring a soft, “how have you been?” as if reserved only for you and him.
“better,” you say, holding in a chuckle when his blood rushes to his cheeks and paints them red at your next words, “now that you’re here.”
you don’t miss the way he peeks at something over your shoulder, possibly where your parents stand at the doorway you just passed through. the chuckle you’ve become familiar of and rings like chimes hits the air, “___, why don’t we quickly get into the carriage and away from the count and countess’ eyes?”
“careful, duke,” a grin spreads across your face, hidden underneath the fan you hold just below your cheekbones, “if one were to overhear, we’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”
and yet you don’t delay stepping into the carriage and plopping down next to the window where you can still see your father’s gentle smile that contrasts greatly with your mother’s deep frown.
“no! you absolutely will not go!” she hadn’t meant the palace - or perhaps, she did mean the palace since seokjin is the one who’ll ultimately decide whether you have permission to travel to-
“yoongi,” your fingers curl around the hand on your cheek, breath coming out heaved and eyes barely focusing as you pull away from the aforementioned man.
he doesn’t seem like he’s interested in a conversation but he’s not chasing after your lips either, almost as though his conscience is telling him to be the gentleman he’s raised to be and listen but the beast in his eyes is restless to continue devouring your lips.
so you go on, “i’m going to ask for seokjin’s permission to travel to the park family’s territory.”
the hand in your grasp remains still so does his entire body. the only indication that he’s affected at all is the way those crimson eyes widen with surprise, “what?”
almost as though belatedly registering the weight of your words a second later, he falls to the spot next to you, the legs cradling both your sides leaving you and even with these layers of clothes, you begin to feel the cold creep onto you, “sure,” he begins after what seems like a moment of pondering, “it’ll take a day at most to gather the knights but a royal notice takes at least three days to arrive-”
“i don’t need them... knights, royal notices... you might as well announce our arrival with horns,” you pause, studying the man’s gaze as it bores into you whilst you meet him head on. your deepset hesitance and worries still hovers over you like a haunting ghost, but you don’t want to keep any more secrets, “there’s something i need to tell you about my mother’s side of the family.”
your mother was from a nameless baron family. nobody truly knew them until she’d made her debut and started mingling with high society. just like you, she was the only daughter. the lineage was to end with her had it been just another penniless noble family.
“they run an informant group and call themselves the kairos,” the carriage shakes, as though trembling with fear at the mention of that name. you would have thought yoongi had known all along - that seokjin had told him, if not for the briefest twitch of his eye, “they supply information for anyone who’s willing to pay but keep an eye for those asking for information that could threaten the royal family - even though the queen was a noblewoman who married into the royal family, my mother, the leader then had been reporting to her up until...”
up until the bells that hung high in the tower at the entrance of the palace rung somberly that day.
all of a sudden, the sun that seemed to shine brighter than diamonds underneath the sky started shutting everybody out, including her husband and daughter. there were times when the door to her study was wedged open just the slightest bit. your mother who had noticed the creak of the hinges that needed oiling, wiped her tears and held her arms out for you.
the 10-year-old you didn’t understood what she meant when she promised she’d started living for you.
all you knew was, that was the point where she started becoming more present in your life. it took you another few years to learn that your family, greatly influenced by the countess rather than the count, had taken a full on neutral stance on the political matter and the rising rumor about the half-bred prince against the crown prince for the throne.
and a few more, after meeting said half-bred prince, to convince your mother to trust you for the decision you were about to make as the leader of kairos - to support seokjin as the next king no matter what it takes.
“i thought we eliminated scums like jimin as soon as seokjin took the throne but...” the words seem to be lodged in your throat, unable to slip past your lips.
yoongi heaves out a sigh, legs stretching over the space between the seat you’re on and the one across from it as he slumps against the cushioned backrest, silver hair brushing against his brows as crimson eyes stare at the cushioned ceiling, “so it was you? the one who tipped us about the king’s illegitimate son being sent to the battlefield?”
the war yoongi had been in had ceded faster than expected - though his victory was as sure as the ground you walk on. it was because yoongi and his men managed to single out the the warring king’s beloved son who he was forced to send to war because the palace had been a different battlefield that he still couldn’t fight, and held him as a war prisoner until the king surrendered.
“one of the enemy kingdom’s spy managed to infiltrate the palace and knew of our reputation from one of the maids who was sent by them since three years ago - we managed to dig out some information from him that not many outsider knew about before we eliminate him,” you muttered simply, the scream of the faceless spy had drummed in your ears and chilled you to the bones. unlike you who had to turn away in the last minute, seokjin had looked at the man’s eye whilst he thrust his sword into the spy’s gut.
he’d only sat on the throne for a month then but it was far from his first kill.
"when we first found the basement where the kids were held captive,” yoongi rasps somberly, “i was glad you didn’t come with - it wasn’t something i want engraved into your head.”
“i understand your wish to protect me from the viciousness of the world,” you slip your hand underneath the gap between his palm and knee, making him crane his neck to look at you, “i would’ve done the same thing even if you’d already seen them all at war but that protection we wish to cast upon each other only serves to paint a faux image of daisies and rainbows - an unrealistic euphoria.”
“your want to change things with your own hands will never cease, it seems,” he comments, crimson eyes clouded with a sort of reluctance yet he presses a kiss to your forehead, “we’re different in that aspect - you and i.”
“how so?” perhaps it’s the obvious question you’re asking the grim reaper that makes him laugh and flick your forehead right after he kissed it, perhaps it’s the childlike wonder but he explains it anyway, “you grasp fate at its neck and threaten to throw the entire world into chaos if it doesn’t let you decide your own path, and i...” callous thumb caresses your gloved knuckles, “...i follow mine with contempt and despise the goddess for the cursed blood that runs through my vein.”
“if it weren’t for that blood, i wouldn’t have considered striking a deal with you and end up marrying you,” your hand slips out of yoongi’s grasp only for it to wrap around his hand with your free one, “the blood that grants the power for its master to swing his sword and protect his kingdom could never be a curse.”
“that’s not what the rest of the world thinks,” he refutes, a dry laugh escaping his lips.
“does what the rest of the rest of the world think matter more than of those who actually know you?” you’re not sure of his answer. or if what you’re asking is even appropriate. the organ beating in your chest writhes with agonizing anticipation as the man’s crimson eyes bore into you like a liquid fire.
but if there’s anything you’re more sure of, it’s the fact that the servants at the min mansion has never shown a shred of fear while you worked with them to prepare for the garden party. the same couldn’t be said for the other noble families who were infamous for their ill treatment towards those who serve them.
grim reaper is but a name that does yoongi no absolute justice. he’s possibly the most dignified noble you’ve ever met.
“no - not anymore,” he murmurs, the faintest hint of smile curling on his lips as crimson eyes melt like ice come autumn.
he gathers you in his arms and you gladly let yours drape over his stomach, cheek pressing flush against his chest. you stay like that, in complete silence as the carriage shakes with each pebble and hole in the road, for the rest of the ride until it rolls to a stop in front of the palace walls.
x
“child trafficking is a serious crime,” seokjin speaks after a long, strenuous pause once yoongi finished reporting his findings within the park territory, “i bet park isn’t showing any sign of remorse, did he?”
a foreboding cloud hangs over the room as the man hunches over the oak table, elbows propped on its surface and clasped hands hiding half of his face. though he hides his expression well, you can see the way his shoulder line tremble with rage until he looks up at the silver haired man.
“actually,” yoongi’s lips press into a flat line as he seem to stare off into nothingness for the briefest moment before frowning, “he all willingly admitted that he’d committed the crime by himself.”
“what about his lackeys?” seokjin quizzes, fully aware that no lord does the dirty work.
“the dungeon was empty of save for the children - most likely they abandoned their lord for their own lives when they heard we were coming,” the head knight deduces.
a pause hovers over the as silence blankets the room.
“it’s suspicious no matter how you look at it.” your voice cuts through the air like knife.
“no man admits to his dirty crime just like that,” seokjin agrees and judging from yoongi’s knitted brows, he seems to know something you don’t.
“we didn’t believe it was that easy either but there was no proof of any other involvement besides the count,” he confesses - they must have raided nearby smaller granaries and questioned the people who you can easily guess, were tight-lipped.
“your majesty,” you take a step forward before dipping into a bow, an arm slanted over your chest as your hand clasps over the spot where your heart it, “i swear upon the honor of the leader of kairos, i will drag every last person involved in this to hell - please allow give me your permission to go to the park territory to investigate this matter further.”
this time, it doesn’t take long for seokjin to respond, “i was wondering why you didn’t storm over the moment you heard about the duke’s findings,” he leans back against his seat, eyes glazing with a ghost of the past, “love changes people, huh?”
“i-i’m not sure where you’re-” before you manage to barely calmly deflect seokjin’s ludicrous assertion, another voice speaks over you, forcing you to swallow the remaining of your words.
“your majesty, i ask your permission to escort lady ___ in her journey,” yoongi mimics your position in your periphery.
it takes a moment for his words to register and another for you to debate on the pros and cons of having a knight, bound to uphold the law, join you in a not so equitable quest for a justified cause.
yet you lower your head, “his grace will be my only other companion, your majesty. please allow it.”
but the answer you thought to receive isn’t one that he gives, “what about miss leslie? you always go with her.”
standing straight, you study seokjin’s deep frown before coming to a conclusion that you’ll probably never understand the man’s way of thinking even if you tried.
“i believe his grace will do a better job at guiding me since he’s been there before.” is all you say.
“this is unacceptable!” the sound of skin smacking a hard surface echoes against the wall, you have to resist to check if his hand is red from slamming it onto the table that hard, but he persists like without blinking, “an unmarried man and woman travelling together without servants... what would people think?”
“the question is, your majesty, why are you thinking anything would happen besides his grance and i working to unravel the people involved in this syndicate?” your voice takes on a dangerously low tone as you meet seokjin’s startled gaze.
“e-either way, i’m the king and i say jungkook will go with you,” he announces.
“y-your majesty? b-b-but-” the man in question’s head snaps in the king’s direction faster than you can blink. almost as though seeing a ghost, jungkook’s complexion pales instantly at the order.
“you’re sending the prime minister to do undercover work. outside of the capital, at that.” you point out in a matter of factly. as the silence stretches on, the more ridiculous the scenario seems to be but seokjin isn’t seokjin if he doesn’t try to refute you.
“he hasn’t taken the governmental examination yet,” he holds his chin high like that of a king.
“he’s been filling in for the prime minister anyway,” you challenge, refusing to back down as you hold the king’s equally defiant stare, “and it isn’t so kingly of you to stop your most loyal subjects from serving the kingdom - his grace and i going as leader of kairos and head knight to carry out your bidding, your majesty.”
it’s the jab at his position that makes his eye twitch. after having spent over five years by the other’s side, you know each other’s strengths enough to trust the other with your lives. but the downside is, you also know the other’s weakness like the back of your hand.
“ah, that’s true,” when his tone turns sweet and his shoulder line relaxes, yours stiffen as you narrow your eyes at the man’s sudden shift of personality - and true enough, you don’t like how he decides to take a jab at your- “since members of kairos have been decreasing and as a result, the guild barely have any influence outside of the capital, i suppose you would benefit from having yoongi come with you.”
he knows full well you hate relying on others because of your chest full of pride. yet you force on a smile that points in all the wrong anger, head lowering as you mechanically mutter, “thank you for your consideration, your majesty.”
x
note. and that is all for this chapter! (apparently we’re not having just 4 chapters + finale).
taglist. @fanfuckingfic @ayujmi @deathkat657
#bts smut#yoongi smut#bts x reader#yoongi fic#bts fic#bts fanfic#yoongi fanfic#yoongi scenarios#bts scenarios#bts imagines#yoongi imagines#yoongi x reader#yoongi x you#bts x you#bts x yn#yoongi x yn
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Red Strings - Fifteenth String
@underc0vercryptid-reads @laraplisetski @omegahighendpro @thooo0t @t3sselated @youngestdelacour
TW: SWEARING, VIOLENCE, ABUSE, MENTION OF SUICIDE, MENTION OF SELF-HARM, SEXUAL CONTENT
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Getting to work used to be a chore, but now Chishiya was looking forward to it.
He looked down at his phone when it buzzed and a new message just came in from Kurenai. It was a simple good morning text, but it was more than enough to put a smile on his face. Many people would say good morning to him. Even his scumbag roommate would occasionally greet him good morning. But it was different coming from Kurenai.
Everything was different coming from her, but he could not quite explain why. It just was.
Kurenai was already there when he arrived in the break room, focused on the screen in front of her. After a couple of weeks working hard, she was finally presenting her idea for a charity fundraiser. Must be a stressful day for her.
“Hey,” she said, a smile on her face as she glanced up for a second to see Chishiya walking in. “There’s coffee in the po-”
Chishiya lifted her chin and leaned down, cutting her off with a kiss. Their painfully passionate make out session was cut short the other day, and they did not have an opportunity since to see each other like this. Either he was busy, or she was busy, or they both were.
As he pulled away, Kurenai was quick to grab him by the collars and prolonged the kiss. It had been frustrating for her too, waiting to see him. Only when she asked Aoi did she realise that this was what it was like to like someone.
Walking into the break room, Honoka’s shift had just ended and she was about to grab herself a cup of coffee before heading home. She was hoping that she would bump into Chishiya before she left too. She did get to see him, but it was a scene she did not want to see. Ever.
There, sitting in her little corner in the break room was Kurenai with Chishiya standing over her, kissing her over and over again.
Honoka could feel her heart breaking into a million pieces.
She spent the last two years trying to win him over and this woman walked in a couple of weeks ago, and here they were making out in a hospital break room. Why? Honoka did everything she possibly could for Chishiya. What did Kurenai ever do for him? Buy him expensive bottled water? Simply because she was rich?
Clearing her throat loudly to interrupt, Honoka walked over to the coffee machine.
“Oh, good morning, Honoka-chan,” Kurenai smiled, tilting her head a little. “I made coffee for everyone.”
“I’ll see you later,” Chishiya said, kissing her one last time. “Good luck on your presentation.”
“There you are! Miss Chuya, the director would like to have a little chat with you. Do you mind coming with me?”
Within minutes, the break room was cleared out save for Honoka. She slammed her mug a little too hard on the counter, spilling the coffee inside everywhere. Not that she wanted to drink the coffee that Kurenai brought the beans for and made.
As she turned to leave in a huff, something caught Honoka’s eyes.
Kurenai’s laptop was sitting right there on the table. Completely unguarded. And she had a presentation today, did she not?
--
For the past half an hour, Kurenai had been searching every nook and cranny of the break room for her laptop. When she came back after a brief conversation with the director, her laptop was gone. She was pretty sure she brought it with her to work, and she did not take it anywhere else. Nor did she misplace it anywhere in the laptop.
So where did it go?
“Hey, the Smile Foundation people are here,” Chishiya said, walking into the break room to see Kurenai trying to lift the sofa. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for my laptop,” she groaned, straining herself but the sofa was not budging. “And why are they here now? They’re early. Too early. And my laptop is gone. My entire presentation is on there.”
“Can I help you in any way?”
“Stall them,” she said. “Do whatever you can, stall them twenty minutes. Maybe thirty.”
And that was what he did for her.
Chishiya took the foundation representatives on an unscheduled tour of the hospital, not that any of them complained or suspected anything out of the ordinary. He did the tour as slowly as he could, spewing information and technical terms at them whenever and wherever he could. He checked his watch every so often, wondering if Kurenai could come up with a solution.
Though, when he brought the representatives back into the conference room, it seemed like he was worried for nothing.
Kurenai was already waiting for them with another laptop set up with the projector. Not only did she whip up a simple presentation within the limited time she had, but it seemed like Kurenai even added to her original idea that the representatives absolutely loved. Even without a proper proposal in front of them, the representatives were already sold on her project.
“It’s a pleasure working with you, Miss Chuya. We cannot wait to see the fundraiser in action.”
“Thank you so much for coming out here,” Kurenai smiled. “I will send you a proper proposal and if all goes well, a contract too.”
“Well done,” Chishiya whispered into her ear.
“As much as I’d love to stay and celebrate with you, there is a thief I need to find,” Kurenai said, dropping her smile as soon as the representatives left. She had an idea as to who would steal her laptop, but she needed the proof to make her case.
--
Being called to the director’s office could only mean two things: either you did a great job and were getting commended, or you did a terrible job and was getting a lecture. Honoka could not think of anything in particular that she did especially well, but she had an idea as to what she could be getting in trouble for.
Surely they did not find out it was her though?
She knocked on the door but the voice asking for her to come in was not the director’s. It belonged to a woman. She walked in, closing the door behind her and approached the desk. Turning around in the chair, Honoka was a little surprised to find Kurenai looking back at her.
“Have a seat, Honoka-chan,” Kurenai smiled, gesturing at the chair in front of the desk. “I needed a place to do this privately, that’s why I borrowed the director’s office. It’s a little intimidating, isn’t it?”
Honoka slid into the chair, feeling the tension in the air already. The office itself was not intimidating at all. It was Kurenai who was intimidating.
“Hara Honoka, that’s a pretty name,” Kurenai said, opening a folder on the desk. It was Honoka’s employee folder. “Hm, pretty smart too. Top of your class in high school, and you’re doing pretty well as a medical student too. So many professors and doctors are recommending you. No wonder they put you on my project team. What a shame though, if your career were to end here.”
Her career ending? She barely started!
“I-I don’t understand…”
“Honour student, and now you’re playing dumb?” Kurenai hummed. She pushed the computer monitor so Honoka could see too, and pressed the spacebar, playing what looked like a security feed. “Is this you?” she asked. “Or do you not recognise yourself? Because I sure recognised you. And I recognise that laptop you threw in the bin.”
“Please don’t fire me! Please don’t kick me off the programme! I really want to be a doctor. I don’t know why I did that. I’m so sorry! Please, Miss-”
“Hm, the sound of your voice is really hurting my ears right now. Please, keep your mouth shut.” Instantly, Honoka shut up. “I think you know why you did it. But don’t worry, I’m not going to kick you off the programme. In fact, I think you should stay on. I like you, Honoka-chan. We’re going to have so much fun.”
#rs ch 15#chishiya#chishiya shuntaro#chishiya x oc#aib#alice in borderland#imawa no kuni no arisu#imawa no kuni no alice
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